The Story I promised . . . (sorry)

For all six of my faithful readers, please accept my most humble apologies for not finishing my story when I said I would. (Parents, I messed up so many times by promising my kids time with them and then not following through - learn from my screw-ups, OK!). Woe, I wrote this and left it in draft mode for the last several seasons . . . years? This is beyond saying I'm sorry. Does it make sense to say, "We've been really busy"? Anyway here's the story and we'll see how much I improve at blogging on a regular basis.

Mike Miller was our guest speaker at Living Hope several weekends ago, and I smiled when the key passage he choose was Romans 8:28 - EVERYTHING works out for good for those who are linked up with Jesus! How well I know that! I had just blogged about it two days before . . . funny how God links us up to each other.

Here's the story: (Want to read my set-up blog? Check it out: "sitting on the throne" intro.) My difficult start with preaching via my cell phone to a large number of people in India, was offset by a story that God brought back to my mind; I call it "the Bird Lady Story."

My oldest boy, Gordon, was about three and a half and loved to go to the gym with me. It was a gorgeous day, sunshine, and absolutely perfect! As I drove past the golf course it called out wonderful promises to me. I had the stereo turned up and my custom Z28 was sounding fine . . . Oh what a wonderful life!

After the workout at the gym (Gordon worked out hard in the daycare) we were walking across the parking lot and were just crossing through an alley when Gordon let go of my hand and started running. He was so cute. So full of energy. Then I saw her; "Oh no!" I thought, I knew exactly what Gordon was up to -He was running to greet "The Bird Lady."

Ok, just hang on for a moment. I'm fully aware that my labeling of this person was cold, yes, even mean. It's totally fine for you to judge me, but please DO remember how easy it is to judge otheres without even consciously thinking about how harmful it is. Living in the bliss of ignorance doesn't make us once ounce less responsible. The scary thing is how easily we can do it while playing brain dead.

I had seen this woman once before. The lady was anorexic, with shoulders that hung down as if almost all the life was gone from her. If I had taken time to really let my heart recognize her, my heart could have cried out for someone who had so little hope. Her unwashed hair covered her entire face except for that huge beak-like nose. She walked as if she was an extra in the cult classic "Night of the Living Dead." And here was my innocent little boy running towards her.

I began to call out after my son, "Come here son. Daddy's in a hurry, come here." But the truth was that this preacher-dude was very uncomfortable. I felt uneasy around this person who appeared to be so messed up. Gordon didn't listen (at least to me), but began to jump around this shuffling shell; he was leaping all around her, and with warm laughter in his voice crying out, "Hello! Hello! Hello! My name is Gordon. How are you? What's your name? Hello, hello . . ." His merry little dance with this new, potential friend never lost its intensity. In the eyes of this uninfected boy, this lady was just like any other person, as beautiful as all other humans.

I eventually grasped Gordon's arm and pulled him towards the Z. The entire time Gordon was waving and shouting to his newly discovered friend, "Goodbye, Goodbye, Goodbye!" I'm so glad God reminded me of this story! I remember the beat-down, rejected, nameless child of our Creator lifting her head just an inch. For one second there was a connection with my son. Then her head returned to it's defeated stance and she continued on as if we didn't exist.

My worship of being safe, in my comfort zone, detached from what I viewed as ugly and messy, had so imprisoned me that only later that day did I hear what God's Spirit had been saying to me all along. God had to use one of his most powerful agents to open my eyes - the heart of a little child!

The entire mess of not being ready to preach in India let me to cry out to God. He brought back one of my most cherished stories. I was a preacher, but not in a light that reflected God's love. I find so much joy in viewing others as GOD'S KIDS. Some will say that until you accept God's love into your life you are not one of His children. From our perspective I agree. A relationship of friendship is always a number greater than one. But from God's perfect perspective He views ALL OF US as His kids! We may be kids who don't know who our Heavenly Father is; we can be rebellious kids in denial. We can be brain dead to the reality that the Creator of the Universe chose us and loved us long before He even created our planet! He had chosen us in His Eternal Heart before time even existed. The Bible says that God considers us His even when we hated him and are in a non-existent relationship with him (check out the verses please)!

The more I believe God will never fall out of love with me the more I allow Him to remove the fear that keeps me from loving everyone and seeing everyone for the true beauty that no one can remove from their hearts. God HAS already planted eternity in every one of our hearts!

Please take a moment to think about my son. The love God put in his heart for that lonely child of his and the promise of love made to everyone of us! It's what Christmas is all about - The free gift of love!

All (big word) things work out for . . . (what a morning!)

I can't wait to see some (most :) of you this Sunday morning at the Greek Cusina! (hint, hint). Living Hope Church Portland is meeting on the second floor (go to my blog about this here) at 10am. I'm going to be sharing the exciting vision of being at Living Hope in Portland. Little did I know how much God would touch my life this morning in preparation for my sharing this Sunday!

Bible Guy, Paul (wrote most of the New Testament), had one unusual life - wow; big "theology guy", religious zealot, passionate Christ-follower, a guy beat up by the church he loved and served, misjudged constantly for the letters he wrote, physically beaten several times, shipwrecked, and finally beheaded! The words he wrote in Roman 8:28 sang out to my frontal lobes this morning: "And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them." I like how the Message Bible says it; "That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."

My morning started with some uneasiness, @ 5:08am, when I woke with the realization that even though I had not confirmed preaching in India (via my cell phone - see previous story) it might happen anyway (a cultural thing?) Dr. Kumar had asked me to speak at 6:30am. I had decided I couldn't do it, but . . . I still thought he might call anyway. . . well he did. But did my doctor friend call at 6:30? NO he waited until 7:05am. That's a BIG problem. I had already assumed he wasn't going to call and by 7am had begun to do some paperwork (see picture) - Then the phone rang ("Oh crap!"). Preaching via cell phone has it's advantages (having to wait for the translator to speak does too) . . . by the time I finished preaching I was in my car, up at Q.F.C. (the best cell reception) . . . AND sure enough, GOD fulfilled His promise, given to all His kids, in Romans 8.

This evening I will blog (I hope) about the amazing story God led me to tell (it's a story of when Gordon was 3.5 yrs old and how the "Bird Lady", who we met in the alley by our gym, changed the way I view the "untouchables" of our world.) Little did I know how Gordon would speak again into my life when we had coffee together after I was done preaching . . . please come back and read the story when I've posted it. Once again, God used my family, and some strange "circumstances" to speak to me and through me (ONLY GOD!).

Bottom line: AS FOR ME AND MY HOME . . . we will continue to believe that God is BIG enough to take care of all our environments and situations. EVEN BETTER, GOD IS GOOD enough (so very good) as to always work out life-changing miracles of renewed or new "forever friendships!"

I'm so optimistic about God's future (and very excited to see His next great move)! Yes, Microsoft stock did crash (drop) to $20 a share yesterday. . . P.S. - I stopped watching the "news" a long time ago (and my health keeps improving). I stand in such awe at how great it is to be in a long-term friendship with Jesus! We are "Difference Makers!' Talk to you soon - Bruce

This Sunday

It will be a great adventure meeting at the Greek Cusina this Sunday (10am) and I still believe God has that perfect place for us in Portland. As several of us loaded vehicles this afternoon at Laurelhurst I was struck by how temporary everything is and how permanent our friendships can be.

We get to invite others to join us for a forever-friendship with God. This Sunday I'm going to share about God's focus for the time we are in - Our hope when things don't look so hopeful. Come join us for the adventure of a lifetime.

New Adventure For Portland

[Need information on Living Hope's NEW location for Nov. 16 - jump to the bottom of this blog] Not sure if you're a "glass half full" or "glass half empty" kind of person. Many of us have environments that change the way we view life (I tend to be a "half empty" guy in terms of politics). But I look at God's love moving in stronger waves in Portland. If you look at the challenges Living Hope has faced in the greater Portland area, let me share my "half full" perspective. We have been in three very different locations, had multiple staff help lead, and even had a traditional Baptist black church join us. We've seen people who used to attend a conservative denomination in Vancouver join us, and now we are in a very difficult economic time. And yet I see God raising up people who LIVE IN Portland to passionately desire to reach out and love people with the love God has put in them! Our Life Groups are growing and more and more people are finding our church to be the place where God meets them just as they are! We are moving once again, and the search for a new location has been a bit of a "boot-camp" experience. Just yesterday Don Taylor showed me a very cool venue that is being rebuilt, and again my hope took off. We will be walking in the dark for a few weeks more as we look for this new home. Pray with us, join us if you feel God's Spirit leading you. We are on God's adventure! We may have some wandering to do (like Abraham - no GPS). We may be tempted to doubt God's promises on "Mondays" (Abraham struggled with this too). And like Abraham's grandson, Jacob, we might have to wrestle with an American Gladiator all night (perhaps in the morning we'll find we were wrestling God - see Genesis 32). But God will shine out in Portland and religion that dresses up like a safe place to become friends with Jesus will either be reborn or die! Guilt, judging, and focus on external rules will no longer be called by the name, "Christian". I dream and believe God IS doing this even now. The dream to open an Arts Center where we can worship and then serve seven days a week is still burning in my heart! We are still looking. Next week (Nov. 16) will meet for church at: The Greek Cusina (404 SW Washington St, Portland, OR 97204)

We are meeting at 10am and then will order food afterward. (We can help if you don't have a budget to eat there - there are some excellent breakfast or lunch options for cheap.) We won't have children's classes next week. Together we will explore this next stage of God's journey. DON'T WORRY, WE DON'T DO ANY GREEK DANCING! Check out to the Greek Cusina's website, look at their menu too).

It's going to be fun! See you there!

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Story continued . . . (sorry)

Shorts story continued (Want to start at Chapter one?) . . . so, I'm all messed up because Dr. Kumar called me 30 min. early . . . now I've just finished my opening prayer and I lose phone signal. I drop everything and race up the stairs to our bedroom. There are a not-overused pair of shorts laying on the floor (no one picked them up in the middle of the night). Like a "drunken-Jackie-Chan" master I'm in the shorts and racing back down the stairs. Bible, notes, cell phone, oh, I need my keys . . . I'm just sliding into our car when the phone rings: India! I answer and hear Dr. Kumar say, "We sorry, you continue to preach Pastor Bruce." Preaching, driving, putting on my seatbelt and trying to pull up my shorts (hadn't even got them fastened properly yet), and pulling out my notes from my Bible makes for some very disjointed thoughts. I was so, so grateful to have to stop every sentence and wait for Dr. Kumar to translate.

After parking at QFC I tried to settle in and focus on the story I was telling (the Good Samaritan). I told of how each of us follows a path trying to please someone . . . our god or gods. I spoke of how so many people tell us which path to follow. I told them the story of Cain and Abel in Genesis chapter four. I talked about how all try to be more loving or kind. I then highlighted the Priest in Jesus' story as representing a "holy man" who had too many things to do to stop and help the dying man by the road. The Levite was the highest Caste in their culture. He wouldn't even sit in the market where a Samaritan had been. He also crossed over to the other side of the road and followed his own way.

It was so hard preaching on a cell phone with no one to look at . . . I did get a couple funny looks as people drove by what looked like a naked man from their view (I wished I at least had socks on). Here I am feeling like I sound fake on the phone, getting cold and starting the car, and praying that God would somehow use this to touch the lives of those who don't know how mad-in-love He is with them.

When I came to the Samaritan in John's story, I highlighted how much he was rejected, didn't go to the temple enough, and definitely wasn't as good as the holy man who had passed by. But in his heart he heard God's call of love and chose a path that was not his. He stopped and cared for the man and took him to a hotel to recuperate.

I told them of how my little brother was saved from drowning and what it means to have someone save you when you are powerless to do anything. I reminded them that good parents love their children before their children ever know how to love them back or try to please them. I read to them John 3:16-17 and Ephesians 1:4-5. I then explained what it meant to accept Jesus' way, His gift of eternal life, free. I told them that being with Jesus forever meant there would be no fear, no more pain, tears, or death, but God's love being shared with each other forever.

I had to explain very carefully what it would mean and the following steps they would take if they stood up and let me pray for them. I was told that a good number had stood. I prayed and said goodbye. I felt relieved it was over. I so wished I had been ready for that early call.

It was two days later that my Blackberry buzzed and I looked at a new email that had arrived . . . it was from Dr. Kumar. He spoke with such honorable words and as I read tears filled my eyes. 1,200 people had come to hear an American speak to them. My voice was heard over a loudspeaker and when I explained what it meant to accept Jesus, 79 people who had never known the True God or His Son Jesus stood and are now planning with pastors that were there to be baptized.

It's really not about us, is it? We are God's Shadow (I spoke this weekend at Living Hope on being made in God's image and being connected in Jesus - more about that soon . . . I hope). We are not the spotlight, we are to reflect God's forever love. "Christ lives IN you, your hope of glory!"

You and I are difference makers . . . we are reflecting, encouraging, or tearing down everyone around us . . . I so want to share some practical prayers, thoughts, and a couple books that have touched my life. We were never meant to do life solo. Is there a part of your life you're living all by yourself? (It will always be small and disappointing if it's not including others.) Do you have lonely moments, hours, or maybe days? (I have a friend who's been lonely and depressed for several years.) I want to share the stories I shared this weekend, but in greater detail as they have so powerfully touch our families lives. These are not just self help stories, they are the path of our Creator God, the one who's nuts about us. The one who pursues us and waits for us to believe what He says about us. See you tomorrow. (Sorry it took me so long to finish the story.)

Beautiful Golf, Amazing Pics, & Brotherhood of the Traveling Shorts

Yes, I will tell my "Traveling Shorts" story of preaching in NOTHING but my shorts to 1,200 people in India - "True Story". And no, it's not a dream or some "play on words", it really did happen . . . BUT first:

Last call to play golf this Sat. (Oct. 11). Our tee time is 10:30 -11am. I've only got 3-4 spots left open. We will play at Beacon Rock Golf Course (east of Vancouver WA on Hwy 14). It's a 30 min. drive from Vancouver and so beautiful this time of year. The course is small - some narrow fairways - very beautiful shots of Beacon Rock. (Have you ever climbed it? Very cool!) Let me know soon if you want to go! I hope there's a spot open for you.

Catch this: Our granddaughter, Elena Renee Avery, at 4 months of age - Wow (I hope to open a YouTube account and post the video clip I showed last week at Living Hope in Portland)!




Traveling Pants story: I was scheduled to preach for the first time ever on a cell phone to a group of people in India. Dr. Kumar had contacted me through our ONLY GOD network and spoke with me by phone last Thursday night. He had instructed me to be ready to preach at 8:30 a.m. our time. He said that they would all be ready when he called so I was to pray as soon as he said, "You pray Pastor Bruce". Then I was to preach my heart out (easy)! I had been up for 2.5 hrs. Friday morning when my cell phone rang, but . . . it was 8 a.m., not 8:30. I was still in my robe. I heard Dr. Kumar say, "Now you pray for us Pastor Bruce. We ready." I wasn't! I didn't have my Bible or notes and I was still in my robe. I multi-task well. I prayed, gathered notes and my faithful Bible and moved to our formal living room (the best reception). I had a few moments between each sentence as I was being translated into their Hindi (or maybe something else?). I had finished my prayer and was into my opening story when I lost our signal - the phone connection died! I had planned to be sitting in my car, up at QFC and next to Blockbuster Video (I had checked it out the day before). That's where the "Preaching in my Shorts" comes in . . . (oh no - I have another appointment coming up soon - must go . . . I promise (I hope) to continue this story tomorrow . . . (I'm speaking 7 times this week . . . very excited about it).

Hello planet EARTH, I've just touched down!

OK, 5 of my 6 faithful readers have so consistently encouraged me to blog that I've "reassessed" and "recalculated my route" and I'm back on my blog. (I even forgot my password . . . too many years gone by . . .)

This weekend I'm going to share one of the cutest videos ever made. (Thank you Terry L for the early morning shoot!) And I'm throwing in a clip just for guys too! All this takes place at our Living Hope Church in Portland.
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I'm speaking at our Portland church at 10 a.m. and I'm so excited to have my oldest son leading us in music. Come hang out with us!

ALSO - on Oct. 11th (Saturday) a bunch of us are doing a little "golf outing" in a beautiful, yet inexpensive, location . . . let me know if you'd like to join us. . .

And either tonight or tomorrow I'll be sharing some 4 month old pictures of our first granddaughter and a story about last week when I preached to 1,200 people in nothing but my shorts (no shirt, no socks, no footwear)! No it was not a dream! I didn't plan it this way, but what happened is so amazing that it literally made me cry! I'm so anxious to share this story . . . soon . . . promise! I am back!

Everything we seem to initiate is already a response!

Even my desire for God's love is something I didn't create. My desires are fed by a Hope someone else gave me as a gift.

Yesterday I helped load $750 + worth of groceries for the homeless (Living Hope drive this weekend) from Costco to my friend's rig and then at Living Hope. They were thanking me, but what looked like my part of my doing was not at all. I didn't call my friend, he called me and invited me along for the adventure. I didn't help pay for any of the food (still thinking about that). I've been gone on vacation so I didn't even know about the food drive. What I keep thinking I'm initiating is almost always a response to something someone else has already done.

God so loved US (everyone in the whole wide world) that He GAVE his much loved son . . . to win us back! Read John 3:15-17. Even before He made this world, He was already thinking of us and in love with us and CHOSE US!

How would my life be different if I viewed everything as something I'm responding to - not making, creating, taking credit or blame for?

Here's my Thomas Kelly quote for the day: "In this humanist age we suppose we are initiators and God is the responder. But the Living Christ within us is the initiator, and we are the responders. God the Lover, the accuser, the revealer of light and darkness presses within us. 'Behold I stand at the door and knock.' And all our apparent initiative is already a response, a testimonial to His secret presence and working with in us."

"The secret places of the heart cease to be our noisy workshop. They become a holy sanctuary of adoration . . . where we are kept in perfect peace, if our minds be stayed on Him who has found us in the inward springs of our life."

Vacation Pictures & Intro to the "Deepest Little-Big Book"

So playing golf on the lake's "Old Course" is a must - Marcus and I played 5x, Gordon 4, and Laura 2x (Laura and I played near Spokane on the way home). Gordon squints at 8 a.m. - 1st tee. Marcus had several NOT-OB 300 yd drives (This one was a birdie - drove 315 and was on in 2 - par 5). The lake is just over the hill.

Laura got free lessons - She's so much fun to hang out with - We had a grand time!


Laura and I read every summer Thomas Kelly's little book, "A Testament of Devotion". This book was given to me as a gift by one of my favorite professors some 14 years after I graduated. The edition I have is an abridged, with some slight editing of a few words. It's a HarperCollins '92 publication (I've been trying to find another one like this - still can't). I think it's much better than the original (it's rare for me to say that).

Kelly died in 1942 unaware that two or three articles would be put together and go on to influence millions (Richard Foster says it changed his life). Like Watchman Nee and Oswald Chambers, Kelly had no idea that God would use him to set free so many caught up in Religion and Legalism.

I didn't read this 69 page book until some 6 years after it was given to me - I may read it every year until I die. Laura and I read it while on vacation at Flathead lake. We've read it together for the last six years.

Thomas Kelly was a professor who failed his second PhD and then went into deep depression. He visited Hitler's Germany in 1938. He taught Eastern Philosophy while growing a deep friendship with his forever friend and savior Jesus. He wrote of what we call today Quantum Physics. He understood how his Quaker roots led him to go beyond performance and outward obedience. He died of a heart attack at age 47. I'll let the following quotes on my blog (for the next few days) speak for the power of this book. I hope you like it.

Back from Vacation

Hello out there . . . I'm back from vacation. Our whole family spent a week at Flat Head Lake in Montana. I've been there for 30 or 31 summers. Laura's grandfather homesteaded this lake property and it's a wonderful time of swimming, water sports (jet skis, boating fun), and golf. I got to read and write, and do some great BBQ new stuff at the lake. Only 16 of us this year (a couple of guests and a few "friends for the day") but we had a blast. Laura and I ending up coming home by ourselves (wow, we still know how to have tons of fun after 33 years of M).

Got home Monday afternoon and then had to fly out Tue at 6:20 a.m. for Boise (my mother's husband had a heart attack). Everything's cool now and I'm back at work.

Hope to post some of the "best of Thomas Kelly" on my blog this week. Laura and I have been reading this "deepest little-big book" every summer for the past 5-6 years. It gets better every year. You can read it out loud in three settings. I'll also try to post some pics of the lake.

Pictures - Finally! And those Great OC quotes

Bring back the iPray bumper sticker: This was from a series a couple years ago and it's one of the coolest B stickers I've seen (the color of blue makes this one of the most visible stickers I've ever seen). I do hate bumper stickers (my one and only one is on my Volvo and it was so I could get a discount at Les S. tire store - it's my Volvo service shop)! I often rant a bit on how passive-aggressive religious types put bumper stickers on their car to make those behind them see "who" they are - then they drive like they got their license at K-Mart and tick people off - bumper stickers are not so cool in my book. I do like the iPray Living Hope one because it reaches across so many cultures and uses something a lot of people have in common. It's not "in your face" (turn or burn) and it piggybacks the iPod in a clever way - it's not bad . . . I might even be willing to put one on my car (I'm still working on letting Jesus give me input when I drive). Sometime I'll have to write about how the Hebrew words behind the commandment "Have no other gods before me" tie into the whole bumper sticker issue (Don't hold your breath).

Great memories from last week when a bunch of us went to the Beavers game after church - while there Katie sent me these pics of her and Kate (Katie has the "Big Brain").

Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite writers. After listening to Paul Young (The Shack) speak last weekend these two comments from O.C . hit home runs in my brain and heart.

ONE: "Jesus Christ did not come only to teach— He came to make me what He teaches I should be." Wow! I grew up in the Western mindset that INFORMATION was what you needed! Information removed from a heart-connection (friendship) is worth little. In fact, it made me more confused and afraid of God. Paul Young grew up with LOTS of religious facts, doctrine, and theology - but seeing a God who is smiling and waiting to swing you around and walk with you into your Shack is not the gospel that "information" gave him. O.C. back in 1917 saw this and invites us to the "more." I can BE in relationship! And with Jesus living IN me HE does work out love in a mysterious, marvelous way!

TWO: "As long as we have a self-righteous idea that we can carry out our Lord’s teaching, God will allow us to continue until we expose our own ignorance over some obstacle in our way. Only then are we willing to come to Him as paupers and receive from Him. 'Blessed are the paupers in spirit.' This is the first principle in the kingdom of God. The underlying foundation of Jesus Christ’s kingdom is poverty, not possession; not making decisions for Jesus Christ, but having such a sense of absolute futility - 'I cannot begin to do it.' Then Jesus says, 'Blessed are you . . .' ( Matthew 5:11 ). This is the doorway, and yet it takes us so long to believe that we are poor! The knowledge of our own poverty is what brings us to the moral frontier where Jesus Christ works."

I want to view all of life as a gift. I want to be a "learner" forever! Poverty strips away the illusion of "rights" and my supposed "justice." It lets me view everything as a "gift." I need to relax and let Jesus bring me into the Shack. God's there - smiling, and so loving all that He will do in us!

Living Hopes Best Bumper Sticker & Oswald Chambers

Off to Portland this morning to look at some new possibilities for our campus (exciting)!

Two of my Oswald Chambers' quotes will have to wait (and that LH bumper sticker), BUT . . . today's OC was very good, especially the last paragraph.

This is why I've been reading this guy for 11 years (The same book . . . Laura's going on 8 years and Gordon 9)!

"When I pray, 'Lord, show me what sanctification means for me,' He will show me. It means being made one with Jesus. Sanctification is not something Jesus puts in me— it is Himself in me ( 1 Corinthians 1:30 ).

This is opposite of what most of the "big boys" who wrote in England and America in the 19th and 20th century taught. When I was a boy, I was taught (in our little clap-board church) that this BIG word "Sanctification" meant that someday I would have my character so like Jesus that I would be able to stand alone (without the Holy Spirit) for a "short while" before Jesus returned.

Even today many churches focus on "becoming" like Jesus. We tend to want to "work" at overcoming something. "I need to get rid of . . ." and we end up focusing even more on what we want to be free of; we end up looking and worshiping ourselves. Our love and care for others lessons and we become proud, stiff, and very useless when we get caught up in this deadly self-absorption.

Being holy (the Greek word for Sanctification) is not something Jesus gives us or puts in us! It's a relationship! Jesus in us! Read John 15 and you will see - go back to John chapter one and it will all become easy.

Later: Great pictures from the weekend. Two more amazing OC ideas (they so fit The Shack), and that LH bumper sticker we should resurrect!

The Day After Paul Young spoke at Living Hope

I've only asked for four autographs at this point in my long, long, life. I once asked a cat. 1 female bike racer to sign my boy's riding jerseys when they were kids. I also had the Ray Brown Trio sign their album in Seattle. And then Joe Montana on his comeback Sunday after recovering from back surgery. (He was standing in front of the hotel we had both stayed in - a fun story.) Saturday afternoon, Paul Young (author of The Shack) who spoke at Living Hope, signed a book for my sister and brother-in-law. I've never been big into signatures. But after hearing Paul speak this weekend I must say his book has shot up MY best-book list to become one of my top 25

(Good to Great, The Jesus I Never Knew, A Testament of Devotion, The Ragamuffin Gospel, The Richest Man Who Ever Lived, Abba's Child, My Utmost for His Highest, The Normal Christian, Grace Walk, Seizing Your Divine Moment, The Cost of Discipleship, Dare to Desire, The Amazing Body Human, The Kosakovsky Brothers, Night, The Signature of Jesus, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Princes of Ireland, Epic, The Kitchen God's Wife, Team of Rivals, The Bible (Have you read this one?), and . . . (The one book I forgot).

Anyway . . . What struck me about Paul's story was what birthed this book - a desire to leave, out of the pile of crap, a legacy for his family and friends. The book is a monument to all those who are willing to let God rescue the "through the fire" instead of insisting God take them around, over, or under it! It's a walk up to the door of everything "hidden" and the joy of opening all this ugly stuff (memories, scars of self-mutilation, guilt, shame, broken relationships, shattered dreams, and betrayal) only to find that God is behind that door (literally in the shack of "shoot" you've been hiding from others (and yourself). God is in your pain, so very close to you in your agnostic moments (or years), and loves you so much that waiting (and being misunderstood) will never make our Creator-Friend force love on us - simply wait and overwhelm us when we want with the realization that "love is always both gift-based and relational." There is no God outside of relationship (that's why God appears as a Trinity (3) in Genesis one and John one.

I will now be recommending that people first watch the Living Hope video of Paul Young (William P. Young is his book name), then reading (or re-reading) the book. Our life group has been going through The Shack this summer and I must say that it may very well become a classic in history (like Pilgrim's Progress).

Paul's Big Ideas: (as my mind gathered them)

1) We all have a shack (our past failures, expectations, and hidden stuff). We ARE as sick as the stuff we keep hidden. (Learning to let it out in a healthy, healing way IS a process, never an event!)

2) Religion is very often a tool that keeps "hidden" what needs healing. Religion can be used as a drug. (Performance is a very big drug; Jesus spoke of the religious types who kept the outside of the cup very pretty, but never washed the Giardia from the inside). The way out is almost always from within (Guard your heart for out of it comes everything.)

3) Jesus came to save you, AND this means to heal your broken Shack. It's through the fires of pain, sorrow, and great loss that you gain that simply best gift, a forever friendship with Jesus.

Paul speaks of being free of measuring up, needing the measurement and approval of others, needing success, and "doing", to be at peace, and having a renewed love with his wife and kids.

Several hundred years ago I said to a professor I couldn't stand; "I can't respect you at all!" To which he calmly replied (to that very mature, brilliant, soon to be great scholar, Bruce Avery) "If you move close enough to an enemy they will very likely become a friend." I must honestly say I never tried out his advice in our relationship, but I learned, and am so thankful for what he said to me that day (I should thank him in person, and ask forgiveness - you think?)! I really believe those who have so strongly expressed, before thousands, their belief that William P. Young's book, The Shack, is heresy should, First - read the entire book first! And then Second, try to meet the author, or at least listen to his motives and purpose for writing before ripping on him.

Most of the criticism has been for what he didn't write (as if he was obligated to write a dull, often worthless, apologetic). Paul Young's journey is similar to many who have found healing at Living Hope. His freedom from legalism and his story of finding God as a friend (the greatest compliment God ever gave to a human) is powerful. We need hundreds of books like these. Last night I met with two inmates at the Clark County Jail. Both have been passing around The Shack to the other inmates. One said to me, "Several of the guys who won't read anything religious have been willing to read The Shack. It's changing their lives." He went on to tell me about an inmate who is very hard, and far from a relationship with God, who after reading the book has said, "Please tell me about God. I want to know Him." How many of our "Christian books" are reaching and touching the lives of those who don't yet have their hope in Jesus? I rest my case. (Cheering sounds in the background!)

I've long walked with a permanent limp in my heart, and loved Paul Young's retelling of Jacob's fight with God. Jacob, the one named "thief and liar," gets a new name after wrestling all night with God (disguised, not as a large black woman but rather a UFC fighter who dislocates Jacob's hip. Ouch! I had my shoulder dislocated on a black diamond ski hill once, and also, upside down under a kayak . . . not fun!), THEN God says, "What in the world do you want Kid?" To which, after 6.5 hrs of wrestling, Jacob replies, "I need real peace. Please bless me!" God then whispers, "Already done dear friend. You now have a new name, it's "Israel". (The guy who fought God and finished last!)

You really can go to your own personal, private, unique shack and discover that God is there already. You can wrestle, throw punches and do a round-house kick or two. God can take it (and give it back), but God's motive for winning (beating you up) is always the same: (I want to be your best friend ever) so that you will say yes to my healing (freedom).

Buy the DVD! Read The Shack, then read John one; chapters thirteen through 15, and the entire book of 1 John (especially I John 4).

"Perfect love," (that's God!) "throws out fear. Because fear has to do with punishment . . . we are able to love BECAUSE God first loved us! If you have (a friendship) the Son you have life. If you don't have the Son (you can heal, raise people from the grave, write and preach very religious stuff, be a "good person" and still not have a friendship with Jesus) you don't have life. Today, right now, you can KNOW that you are forever connected with God! Will you say yes to love? God IS love! We get to reflect, shadow, live it out to others!

Thank You Paul Young for not hiding! Thank you for sharing what was given as a gift to you. Thank you God for not having any big "Christian" publishers publish this book (God has an amazing sense of humor!)

A side note (grinding my ax): If you call a book "Christian" or a "Song" Christian you often take away the neutral choice of those who read or listen to it. I got this idea from my son Gordon. As he shared with me this morning, "If you have a "Christian" coffee shop then people who drink your coffee and don't like it are very much influenced to associate your "bad coffee" with the name "Christian." I believe we often fail to see how dangerous labels can be - that's why I don't like bumper stickers (I don't drive that safe and I hate making others read my opinions from my most unattractive side).

Don't miss tomorrow's blog: Two amazing Oswald Chambers quotes (so like Paul Young's story) and the ONE bumper sticker Living Hope I would consider putting on my car (I'll tell you why . . . maybe we can get this bumper sticker brought back?) - I'll share it ALL tomorrow!

Friendship Frenzy # 3 - personal dirt on the author of the Shack!

Just got out of our weekly pastors meeting and I'm blogging and eating lunch in my office. Having pastors who really are friends, meeting and sharing our "real" stuff is so refreshing. After years of seeing pastors "look good" while with other pastors, its so inspiring to live and work with friends in God's ministry. Pastor John founded Living Hope on friendships. Those core couples are still doing life together and it's rubbed off on those "newbie" pastors who are living this dream.

So I ended my blog yesterday talking about SIN! I made the statement that sin's root, the basement level core, isn't selfishness. I do think this ties into my series here on "friendship." Here's what I suppose --- Sin is a relationship word. It simply means, "I'm into me more than you!" Sounds like selfishness don't you think? But I still don't think the self-mush-ness is the core! I love the A&E story. Two lovers lusting after a tree ripe with avocados! They were warned about the guacamole mojo but somehow forgot (?). The first thing the dragon (want to refresh on this story right now?) says to them is, "Is God holding out on everything wonderful in your life? Did He say you couldn't eat any of the great treats from ANY of the trees in this luscious garden? Sin is DISTRUST! The very first fall was Adam and Eve questioning, then believing that maybe God wasn't 100% good! It's not that they saw their Creator-friend as bad, just off on the current avocado tree they were about to chip into (Who said it had to be an apple?).

Sin takes us away from that vital friendship with the one who makes us whole. Sin's result is we become more isolated, pulling away from friendships (hiding from God and each other . . . "Don't look at me like that!"). Our selfishness is a result of distrust!

Oops I ran out of time (tomorrow I'll attack those who are afraid of "The Shack"). To call a book heretical is a very, very strong statement at best . . . tomorrow I'll examine Tim Challies' review of the "The Shack". Tim is a self-employed web designer, and is a pioneer in the Christian blogosphere, having one of the most widely read and recognized Christian blogs. He is also editor of "Discerning Reader". It seems to me Tim needs a God with big steeples and great "Otherness." Tim gets a bit wrinkled with a God is our friend and can understand even our outbursts. This is from Tim's review:

"This portrayal of the relationship of man to God
and God to man is a far cry from the Bible's portrayal.
And indeed it must be because the God of The Shack is
only a vague resemblance to the God of the Bible.
There is no sense of awe as we, through Mack, come
into the presence of God."

Friendships (WOW advice today) and The Shack, day # 2

Let's start with The Shack! I told you I had a theory as to why some have gotten so tweaked about the book. So!!! Here's my Frankl Theory:

"Every person searches for personal meaning. Some can only relate to the God who is totally OTHER than them. This Bigger, Beyond, UN-like, and Perfectly Omnipotent Powerful-all-the-time GOD is what enables them to continue to hope. Without something to hope in, life loses all meaning. People lash out at whatever appears to be attacking their continued search for meaning."
So, those who relate totally, only, or mostly to this picture of God can find stories, Bible texts, and theology that supports this view. But when a book comes along that touches millions of people and presents God as a being who wants to be so close that S/He takes on human form (a large motherly black lady no less) and lets Jesus play with her feet after messing up breakfast . . . , well, that's way too much! From this sense of protecting the LARGENESS of God, some may be tempted to construct some very creative, unusual arguments to protect their view! In medieval times this was done by building HUGE churches that would "blow away" the poor peasant who felt unworthy even to enter such a vast "Disney-and-beyond" fantasy structure. I've stood in a few of Europe's churches and felt overwhelmed, small, and very "other" than God. I felt like kneeling, asking forgiveness, and hoping for Grace. I must admit, I'd much rather be in the observation chapel overlooking Clark County at the Grotto (Portland) when I listen to God's smile.

There I said it - REMEMBER, IT'S ONLY A THEORY (I find so much built-in custom prejudice in some of my previous sentences . . . I relate to the God who speaks as one would to a child, giggles, and wrestles with me in a "WWF, Unlimited Fighting" kind of way. I smiled deep within myself as I read The Shack - over and over again. It' s my way of refueling up on HOPE. Is my way the only way? Of course (And you're an idiot if you don't agree with me . . . that was a joke! Relax)! I really think we need a kind of Yin-Yang in our picture of God (The Yin-Yang has a history before Eastern religion - Really!). God comes in clouds, and sunshine. He speaks in thunder, a whisper, and even when we only hear silence. But God speaks over and over to us a friend! John 14-17 presents one of the most perfect pictures of God. "Remember," says Jesus, "Every time you really see me you are seeing the Father." Read John 15:15 three times, or more, a day for a couple weeks and then tell it's dangerously wrong to portray God in a way that cracks our hollow "holy" pictures that keep us from trusting Him deeply. The Shack is willing to mess with you in an attempt to bring you to the promise of Hebrews 4 (read it and believe). God wants to sit with you over fish and chips and ask you three questions: "DO YOU REALLY LOVE ME?"

Friendship is about expanding to become more of who God made you to be. To do this we need:

1) to move towards someone other than our own "self-limiting self " (proximity always benefits friendship)! Laura and I have been together about 35 years. We keep looking for things that keep us close - physically, emotionally, spiritually - in every part of our being! You want great friendships - draw close . . . walk , crawl, limp, take little-bitty-baby steps. Keep coming closer. The first perfect day in a perfect world was spent doing NOTHING better than just BEING together - To enjoy our being in our connected friendship is what makes us alive (it's the master plan - the perfect CAD drawing).

Check it out: What does that "other person like?" Cycling (Laura is watching the Tour de France with me for the first time - it's just one more "proximity" experiences). Maybe your friend hates running but loves shopping (Bribe a friend to get you a pass to the Nike employee store - wow . . . think and plan proximity into your life!). I can find something in common with anyone if I want to grow closer!

Listen to others. Listen to their fears (be still and you will hear them come out), their dreams (also hidden from one's first layer of what we usually see), and their daily happenings! If you listen to others (and respond), you will find yourself coming closer.

2) What activities can you do with "friends" that recharges their battery the most? This takes the proximity practice and super-sizes it because it leads you into another key factor of friendship practices (tomorrow I'll focus on this key). When you do things with others that they "love to do" it so fills your sails with life. Do you know what your spouse, friend, or co-worker gets jazzed about? Read up on it. Buy them something fun that has to do with your friend's hobby or interest.

By the way, I was very touched by Frankl's life about 20 years ago. He's a cool guy. Frankl is thought to have coined the term Sunday Neurosis referring to a form of depression resulting from an awareness in some people of the emptiness of their lives once the working week is over. If you don't have moments to look forward to, dates with friends, then you might be suffering from nothing to look forward to after work. (Men struggle with this when they're not working.)

Another - off the subject thought: Sin IS NOT selfishness. Selfishness is the radioactive after affect. More on that tomorrow as it relates to the idea that true friendships make us less selfish! I'll try to convince you that Sin finds it's roots at a deeper level than self-focused selfishness!

Vital Friends - The Shack, day # 1

So, hopefully I've cooled my jets and can talk about "The Shack" without sounding self-righteous and condescending towards those who are so "narrow" and "closed-minded" and "totally ignorant" about what really matters (sound OK?)!

Here's what I think is wrong with "religion" in America - I believe we are far more devoted to a "cause" than we are a "person." Knowing religious facts, possessing missiles of destruction wrapped in the "King Jimmy" holy language of "TRUTH" can make one feel so safe, so right, and so able to depend on oneself. I'm like Nick in John's gospel (John 3) - I start arguing "left-brain" details about doctrine when I feel the uncomfortable call to trust the Wind ("You can't tell where it began or where it will end!").

You can't expect me to talk about friendship without quoting my favorite author, OC, right?

"There is a difference between devotion to a Person and devotion to principles or to a cause. Our Lord never proclaimed a cause— He proclaimed personal devotion to Himself. To be a disciple is to be a devoted love-slave of the Lord Jesus. Many of us who call ourselves Christians are not devoted to Jesus Christ."

In the next few days I'll examine some of "questions" raised by those who write "with great passion" against the author of "The Shack". I find it interesting that several of these "well-known" writers have no problem with C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia or the classic Pilgrim's Progress. I can understand someone finding fault with the "Left Behind" series which attempts to promote "just one" doctrinal position regarding the End Times (I don't like the fear-based emphasis in this popular series). I could even get someone questioning a series like Frank Peretti's "Present Darkness", but why "The Shack"? (I think maybe I know - this is a guess at best as none of us can get inside another person's motives - more on a later blog.)

"The Shack" is now #1 on the NY Times best seller list (paperback fiction). It's pretty amazing considering the lack of a major publisher. A local Portland guy writes and prints at Kinko's a few copies for his kids, family, and friends. Paul Young never planned to publish a book for millions to read (over 1,000,000 in print as of now)! But the book has touched off a fire. I've personally seen it's affects on those burned by religion, those who are currently stuck in our county jails and by many friends who don't read much! I started reading this book before it became such a huge bestseller (I was very skeptical because it was praised so highly). I actually heard of the book about a year ago from a very dear friend in Idaho, but because he rarely reads, and I'm not so impressed with his reading choices, I blew it off. To date Laura and I have bought 36 copies of the book. I really don't think this book will go away anytime soon.

Why the big hoopla about this book? It's a picture of "Friendship." A picture so appealing, so attractive, that you want to believe it's true. IN FACT I DO! I really believe we are only Human when we are IN friendship (I just spoke at Living Hope this weekend - check out the story of John and Bob at our Living Hope Resource Center - ask for my DVD from last weekend).

Vital friendships are what we are described as BEING (Genesis 1). Tomorrow I'll elaborate more on two of the most important elements of growing a fantastic, authentic friendship. They are 1 - Proximity, and 2 - Being Invested. Laura and I have been working these out for 33+ years now and I really think you will see how simple, hard, and good they are . . . tomorrow!

Sponsor our friends

Our friends have decided to go to India. Audrey is already there, but Dustin and Ashlin are now going to be going to our new children's center. Laura and I love the Lewis family so much. Here's an ONLY GOD experience that was born out of our Portland campus. I feel this is a wonderful opportunity for so many of us to invest in eternity. Check out Dustin and Ashlin's blog. God may be setting you up for a huge blessing!

Lewis family Blog


All this week I'm going to be blogging on Vital Friendships AND, William Young's book, "The Shack"!

Our own Audrey is in Korea

Take a moment and send our little violinist and Laurelhurst friend a note - You can post a comment on her new blog. Read about Korea and be ready for her arrival in China. Check out her blog. Give her some encouragement!

Audrey's blog site

Final "Letter" in MaskS (Status)

This is the final installation of my acronym called MASKS. This is a test in the discipline of consistency. (Yes I do grade myself on the curve!) SO, here it is - we are all hard-wired with those famous 5 senses (the sixth sense is a great movie, but not science). Society naturally follows A&E's lead (don't blame those gorgeous avocados) and judges by their senses and therefore has created a mask of value which it willingly (forcefully) attaches to humans. Our true value gets lost, covered up, in this self-evaluation. These masks deaden the song of our heart (God's Spirit singing into our heart) and create illusions of being ok. But masks never seem to stay in place and we keep finding ourselves disappointed, and tempted to believe life, love, and true friendship to be a joke. We believe even more lies and then have to create mini-masks, stacked at multiple depths, to try and keep believing the mistruth that what we do makes us valuable. Religion is one of the biggest peddlers of such poison. Only the TRUTH can set us free. The truth is never found in ivory tower or some Eastern philosophy (Yoga is great for the physical well-being), but in a being - a real live, I want to be your friend being - JESUS who lived and walked and looked like a Jew. (Maybe because He was/is one?) Here are my jumbled thoughts on the last letter of my word MASKS

Money
Appearance
Skill
Knowledge
STATUS

I wanted a fake Rolex watch! I thought "how cool to be riding on a plane and kind of hang my hand out there . . . just look at me." This was in the early years of "knock-off" watches. We were in Mexico and I had found one for $25. It looked amazing. The good ones were made in Hong Kong at the time. (Laura and I had looked at those while in the Orient - people were paying a few grand for what they thought was a real Rolex only to find out when it was looked at in the US that they were incredible fakes - they probably lasted as long as the real "R".)

I begged for my sweet, so-easy-to-get-along-with wife, but she is "tight" when it comes to money (it's a good thing) and said it was one of my 10 greatest "stupid spontaneous spending ideas" ever. I did get one, but I had to wait a few years. I had told this story as a guest speaker in Boise, ID. A year later I was speaking there again and a businessman who travels to Mexico on a regular basis gave me one. He had bought one and had saved it until I returned. Wow! When he gave it to me, a lady who didn't know either of us was waiting to talk to me. She became very upset at the way I kept laughing when I got this "expensive" gift. She almost left without me having a chance to clarify (another great sermon for another day). Anyway I got my watch and did wear it for social experimentation purposes. At times, with certain people it really did work.

Status can be a watch, a title ("My son is a doctor!"), or any of several "social idols." Some of the reason the "rich and famous" waste money is that it's part of that Status mask. But if anyone could be a poster child for Status being a poor measurement of value, that Charles fellow has got to be the man (He once hung out with that Lady Di lady). All the High English blood in the world still can't fulfill what God alone can do!

Do you have something in your life that gives you that sense of "being ok?" Last week it was my BBQ Monster (Mine is bigger than Kasey's- Ha . . . Summertime is here and watching Shrek again would be a great idea).

Perhaps you hang onto the the fact that you're a "great parent"? It may be your status title. What a great thing to value, your investment in your kids. But what a poor way to know why you are valued. I'll end with one of my top 50 verses in all the Bible - It's why we're valuable!

"Before God even got around to making this amazing world, he was daydreaming about how in love He was, already, with you! He already looked at you as unique, perfect, and 100% real! This wasn't blind sentimentality, God knew we would take a side street, but He predetermined to win us back through His Son."

Warning: Someone has determined that "Knowledge" can be harmful to your health

[This continuation has been in draft mode for the past couple weeks -long weeks with a cold, stress, and some personal wrestling. Letting God lift you back up on the horse and heading out with the wagon train is a wonderful, refreshing experience. We are not yet meant to be Settlers. We are on an adventure, a rescue mission of love. Heaven has not come down yet, it will, and I believe soon. But I leave the "soon" up to God. I'm so anxious to write about again about the book The Shack. Our life group is going through it and looking at God through Scripture and this creative novel. It's been so wonderful. I've been puzzled by those who DON'T just dislike the book, but feel compelled to write against it and use their platforms of influence to attack it. I mentioned not relating to Frank Peretti's book "This Present Darkness" in an earlier blog (I dislike the book a great deal), BUT I've never put it down when preaching or attacked it in writing. I have seen God use it to touch other friends' lives. It's a novel too and I hesitate to apply apologetical questions and require it to give definitive, proof-texting, type descriptions of God. I want to reply on one of my blogs to these attacks but must "cool" down a bit and listen to God's plan for this hothead. I most likely will blog on it, as the author of "The Shack" will be coming to Living Hope in July! But for now, let's try and finish my MASKS acronym.]

So I've been blogging about "false identity" and I've been doing this acronym called MASKS. It's taken me like 600 months to try and finish it, so if you're older than 29 you may need to jump back to my earlier blog and refresh.

Money
Appearance
Skill
Knowledge
S (still to come)

I've never struggled with trying to wrap my sense of value around my IQ. In fact I was told at the end of high school that I would have a hard time finishing even a 2 yr. degree at a community college. I did, in accounting, and then went to work with my father in his businesses. I returned about four years later and finished a BA in theology, with a minor in Biblical languages (Greek). I then went to Michigan and finished a M.Div. (Masters of Divinity). That's when I realized that the knowledge mask can sneak up on you in various shapes and forms.

I got bit by thinking I knew a lot about God. I loved to debate with other "believers" about theology, ethics, and Bible truth. I loved to discuss "free will" and "Calvinism." I thumbed my eternal nose at those who were blinded by 1,600 + years of darkness in history. I felt sorry for people who worshiped traditions and theories that were never part of Scripture.

I WAS BLIND to my mask of spiritual knowledge. It hurt me very badly. One of the ways this false mask got glued to my face is that I never saw how much I was trying to play the Holy Spirit's role in others' lives. I was so worried about others misrepresenting God that I felt compelled to correct them. I would point out how what they said was not in sync with the Bible. The end result was very consistent. They seldom, if ever, saw "the truth" but instead became even more entrenched in their "error." I no longer had the same influence on them (at least not in a positive way) and everyone around us were drawn into attitudes of negativeness.

I've seldom seen people in Biblical swordplay come closer as friends, or even understanding something in a new way. There is almost NEVER a positive result from such apologetics. So why did I get so sucked into this cover-up? (Isn't it wonderful to say "I'm no longer bitten by this snake!" Ha!) I believe I was so concerned about others being "lead astray" that I didn't realize the sense of value I was deriving from "playing God." This is not to say there isn't a time and place (and way) to share with others God's love, His plan. But as I was re-reading a review by a "big time" cyberspace Christian blogger I felt the mask reappear.

How does the Knowledge mask grab you? Any attempt to use things, or my abilities to measure value will always result in a performance-based relationship, not one of love as a gift!

Christians, I fear, are too often bitten by this false sense of superiority because of their "it's-all-figured-out" theology! God is so close to us - He will be our best friend, AND God is so different, so beyond us, that we will always be in a "mystery" relationship of total "awe" because God is beyond all that I could ever think, dream, imagine, or even believe! God IS GOD and I am not! To think that a God so vast that I can never understand Him is able to come so close and relate in my human ways so that I can love, trust, and grow a friendship with Him forever! Wow - ONLY GOD!

There's only one "letter" left in our MASKS of false value - Status! I'll share with you my "Rolex".

Check out Aria's web site

It was so cool to have Aria lead us in great worship and share passion and gifts. Here are two links to her web sites:

My Space

Aria Anaforian

Learning to Risk . . . God's Adventure today

One of God’s “Big 10” values has got to be adventure!
In Genesis we see Adam invited into an adventure on his very first day of life (in a perfect, brand new world)! In this perfect world there was no fear in adventure. But with our natural distrust of anyone but ourselves, we often feel uneasy or perhaps even terrified when God invites us into His adventure.

Last night I was visiting with a couple who greet at our Saturday night service in Vancouver. They’ve been married 44 years, but it looks like they must have gotten hitched when they were 9. They are one cool couple, inside and out. He’s got some killer tattoos (they actually look good on him) and she matches him perfectly! Together they exude a rare joy, and they're are on God’s adventure together. They are a couple who have left the safety of the calm bay and let God take their Viking ship out into open water. The big waves have carried them away from “church people” who go to church to “hear deep sermons” and enjoy their “church music".

After the 5 pm service they said to me, “We live to be a part of a church that is more about lost people (I would add, “people at sea without clear direction") than about those who already have a close relationship with God.” In all their years of “doing church”, they have never seen a church like Living Hope. Last night was no exception; Living Hope opened with three classic rock and roll songs (no worship) and used this as a way of connecting people to the idea that God’s priorities are upside down in relationship to societies. When we did worship via music, at the end of the service, it was so powerful, so clear, because of what Pastor John had shared in God's world.

Perhaps you saw the news clip of the elderly man being hit by a car and no one stopping or coming to his aid for over a minute. People jay-walk across the street, passing within a couple feet of the man. Cars slowed and drove around him; one car even backs up and turns around. No one comes to his aid. Was it Fear or an unwillingness to risk that hardened so many people? God help us in our idol worship to "safety!" (See more regarding this story on Pastor John's blog)

Laura and I have only a few (maybe 50) years to live and nothing has brought us closer to God than risking, moving out of our “safety bay” and into unknown, uncharted waters. (Yes, I’m currently reading a book about early Vikings traveling to Iceland.) We've used up some of our retirement funds, refinanced our home, and worked harder and for less money than ever before - BUT we are so abundantly blessed, so constantly overwhelmed with God's amazing love. In the last four years we've seen more miracles, more baptisms, more lives dramatically changed, more deep friendships established, more joy deep in our hearts than at any other time in our lives. Living in life's calm, protected bay is wonderful. Having our boat moored, connected to electricity, cable TV, and being close to grocery stores is real nice; but worth nothing compared to the open water adventure of God's plan! What is God calling you to risk? If you cut the ropes that keep you moored to the dock and allow God to take you wherever He knows best, you will KNOW Him deeper! No one can tell you what "cutting the ropes" means for you! Cut them, you will know, and then you will see God's plan as He knows best to show it to you.

I was thinking these thoughts and read Oswald Chamber's devotion this morning – Wow, catch this, “If you do not cut the moorings God will have to use a storm to break them and send you out. Launch all on God, going out on the great swelling tide of His purpose, and your eyes will be opened.”

Are you still waiting to see the map before you row out into open water? Do you need to hear a voice from Heaven before you become a Barbarian for Jesus? (Check out Erwin McManus’ book.) There is always a counterfeit for following God’s plan, it’s called “self-manufactured sacrifice.” Israel’s first King chose this “human-doing” sacrifice over risking God’s unknown adventure. We sometimes sacrifice in order to remain the Martyr-Hero, to keep the focus on ourself. The very first murder was all about this (Genesis 4) – Cain wanting to offer to God what he had produced. God invites us to risk and follow His adventure over our own hard work and effort (I Samuel 15:22).

Don’t focus on what you once did for God or how you used to be so close to Him: look to the open water, risk, and let God lead you into a deeper closeness (true knowledge) with Him. What is your open water today? Again, it’s not necessarily someone else’s adventure.

I’m looking and listening right now, because all this week I’ve been tempted to stay moored in the bay that’s so nice, so safe, so full of wonderful shops and restaurants (my own “good life). I've felt fear, the unknown this week. I've prayed for Portland, for people far from God, and my own "safety bays" that God is inviting me to sail out of. So, sharpen your knife, cut the ropes . . . there are far too many "civilized" religious folk. God needs a few more barbarians who will follow him before they see how! Is it fun? Not always. For some, it can mean suffering for a long time. Is it worth it? God's friendship and any adventure with Him is worth everything! Drop everything; your diamonds, baseball cards, and even your nachos -push away from the dock and sail! What your open hands and open heart will receive is far greater than anything we can create or get through human means. Let sail out into open, uncharted water right now!