Archives For Faith

Anchor [great listen]

August 19, 2012 — Leave a comment

this song just keeps resounding in my mind…

Anchor (Beautiful Eulogy featuring Josh Garrels)

Anchor of my soul, You sustain
When I’m in the storm You remain, good to me, good to me

When it’s a quarter past midnight, and the grey skies fade
to black. The waves splash and set me off track. So my vessel
might crash or collapse, when I’m attacked. And start
wrestling in my head with these bad memories from my past.
I’m aware of my guilt, overwhelmed and the smell of my
blood has the sharks that surround me cast under a spell.
They waited for me to fall but when I fell the water got
still. And the blood that was spilled protects me, it’s
the same blood that cleansed me. My only defense against
my nemesis, now I can rest knowing that nothing can come
against me unless the Father gives consent. Evil intentions
will not disturb God’s purposes or interfere so, who
shall I fear if my Anchor is secure? Learning to consider
it pure joy when I’m facing tribulations, praising God
instead of complaining or getting overtaken with bitterness.
Looking at the pages of the book of James and seeing
the ways that God works through the trials to make us more
mature in our faith. It reminds me how desperate I am in
this desert land, thirsty for your mercy and plan while you
give me the strength to stand. You’re my greatest pleasure,
yeah, no matter the weather I face, Lord you never forsake,
my fragile life is safe under your sovereign grace.

Continue Reading…

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you;
he will never let the righteous be shaken.

– Psalm 55:22

I read this today…so many aspects to chew on:

  • Cast: to throw or hurl.  I like this – God doesn’t need us to gingerly surrender.
  • On: so as to be attached to.  Such a departure from the far away or unapproachable description that is so wrongly assigned to God. This is up close and personal!
  • Will: not may or might!
  • Never: a powerful state. We often throw this word around lightly…”you never” or “we never”
  • Shaken: a difficult one. It’s quite possible that my definition of this word is different than God’s.  Maybe I underestimate myself in comparison to what God sees me capable of handling. 

Training Journal – 5/31/12:

  • Current plan: Half-marathon program
  • Today’s session: 6 mi Easy Run @ 9:19
  • Comments: I did 6.5 @ 8:32. While running, I thought about the fact that I was supposed to be at a 9:19 pace. I know I need to practice that pace thing, but I get in the mode… Maybe I need to re-assess training pace.

Numba 1 Fo Timoty 3:16

February 4, 2012 — 2 Comments

I’ve been reading through the Pauline Letters and was in 1 Timothy this morning.  Sometimes I like checking passages out in other versions – Da Jesus Book (the Hawai’i Pidgin Bible) is often a favorite:

We all say dis:
Da stuff bout God, dat befo time was secret, dass importan fo real kine.

Christ wen come, wit one body jalike us.
Godʼs Spirit wen show proof dat Christ stay right.
Da angel guys from God wen see him.
His guys wen teach da diffren peopos all ova da world bout him.
Get peopo inside da world dat trus him.
God wen take him back to da awesome place inside da sky.

– Numba 1 Fo Timoty 3:16 – da Jesus Book


Training Journal – 2/4/12:

  • Current plan: 10K Training
  • Today’s session: Rest
  • Comments: Slept in!

Responsive Trust

November 14, 2011 — 1 Comment

Pastor John spoke a bit from Lamentations 3 yesterday in church…

19 I remember my affliction and my wandering,
   the bitterness and the gall.
20 I well remember them,
   and my soul is downcast within me.
21 Yet this I call to mind
   and therefore I have hope:

 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,
   for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
   great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion;
   therefore I will wait for him.”

The handwritten note in the margin near verses 22-24 reads: “Respnsv Trust

I wrote that back in 2009 while reading the Bible in 90 Days at church…I recall blogging about it as well:

August 5, 2009 · 17:53

Responsive Trust. 3:22-24. How can the writer say “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.”?  The statement about His great love, compassion, and faithfulness are from a heart that has experienced them and heard about them in the lives of ancestors of old.  How can we say this?  The same way – we’ve probably experienced them and heard about them in the lives of those we know.  It is easy to forget these testimonies in the midst of trials, but we must cling to the TRUTH of God’s unchanging character! THANK YOU GOD!!

Good stuff…

…true Stuff…

…Faithful God!

Good words…

O Love that will not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.

– George Matheson

Just Like Me

September 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

I find these quotes comforting.  Not solely for their content, but the identity of the person who thought/penned them:

“The burden is too heavy for me.”

— Moses, Numbers 11:14

“Life’s been nothing but trouble and tears”

— Jeremiah, Jeremiah 20:18

“How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and
day after day have sorrow in my heart?”

— David, Psalm 13:2

“When anxiety was great within me,
your consolation brought me joy.”

— Psalmist, Psalm 94:19

easy btnI have one of these on my desk.  I’ve had it for a while, although it did get pushed to the back by magazines and papers (I have some piles…don’t judge me).  As I was cleaning the desk the other day, I saw it and got to thinking about how, if we are honest with ourselves (and God), we would much rather have something like this in life than depend completely upon God or even come before Him in prayer.

We are in good company.  In Mark 9:14-29, we see that Jesus’ disciples (the ones He picked to follow Him first), still occasionally defaulted to primarily relying on their own ability (sound familiar?).  In this passage, we read that they couldn’t cast out a demon from a possessed child…and the crowds and the boy’s father are not happy.  The bible doesn’t describe that scene, but can you imagine the disciple’s frustration and repeated attempts?  Not to be sacrilegious, but the image of trying to start a lawnmower repeatedly comes to mind…

Continue Reading…

Abidin’

May 21, 2009 — Leave a comment

I started listing to Andy Stanley’s podcast series, “Defining Moments” the other day – very good series!  One verse that has been resounding in my head since starting has been John 8:31-32:

31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

The main reason for this rocking around in my head is because I’ve been teaching through Crazy Love this past quarter at church.  There is a ton of stuff in there (and the accompanying scripture) that is life changing and challenging – it hit me when I first read the book, now in teaching through it, its pounding me!

Continue Reading…

fear_faith

[That was fun to say wasn’t it! Feel free to say if again a few times before reading on…]

So I was preparing for a meeting recently and – quite honestly – was a little nervous…OK, afraid (but in a macho way, dude!).  Maybe you’ve been there… maybe not with a meeting; but hey, everyone get’s nervous! Not that I wasn’t or wouldn’t be prepared – I had and was taking the steps to get ready – that was not the issue.

The issue was a fear or nervousness about who I was meeting with – the person and their title is not really relevant, though it was a representative from the US Government (who, BTW are always “here to help”…just kidding, I have many friends in the government!  If you’re reading this and you are with the Government – you ROCK!). Anyway…the key here was the fact that I was getting worked up over this and letting it impact my morning. I don’t want to make light of this, preparation is key for anything and nervousness is good in some forms, but misplaced fear can be stifling.

I am a huge fan of the Our Daily Bread resource and the reading that particular day was based on Hebrews 13:5-16 (which was the scripture passage). The verse I keyed on was verse 5: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” – really a quote from Psalm 118:6.

WHAT AN AWESOME PASSAGE ABOUT AN AWESOME GOD!!!

Continue Reading…