Wisdom - Day 2 of the experiment

R U trying out this 30 day experiment? Here's my verse for today:

Proverbs 31:30 "Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised."

[Prov. 31 is my least favorite of all the Proverbs. For years the "noble wife" verses bugged my wife - it seemed so impossible to be this kind of "perfect" woman. But seeing how much she's cherished by God and her three boys - Gordon, Marcus, and me, has changed that for her]













Verse 30:

• My wit, my strength are all temporary. What natural talents, personality traits, and skills do I trust in most? They are usually not enough - I need more!
• My outward strength, poise, and smile; all can be good, but they still are not long lasting enough. I still need more!
  
• WHAT LASTS THE LONGEST? Fear (one of my "Oh WOW" verses is I John 4:18) in this context means "deep awe." I'm in awe towards my ultimate heroes in life. My father became so large in my life that I would often get goosebumps when I was with him. My dad so touched others with a sense of love, hope, and authentic value, that I felt such inspiring awe seeing God breathe through him. Whenever I read the word "fear" in the Old Testament I must decide if it represents "awe" or "terror."
• Another similar Hebrew word for fear can be seen in Prov. 28:14 - it's the same idea.
• High value = great respect. What I value most, I cherish. Those things which are of greatest value I stand in awe of - I worship!
  
• To have this kind of relationship with God keeps other things (even my strengths) as "less" than my passionate friendship with Him. How big is your awe of God right now?
  

What counts most in your life? What do you value above all else?

Can You Hear Me NOW?

It's been a busy day full of connections - with other leaders, previewing a "Financial Freedom" seminar, doing our weekly campus pastors meeting and then hanging out with Josiah in Portland . . . driving back to my Clark County office . . . Suddenly the words of my old British Chap friend hits me; "Nothing touches our lives but it is God Himself speaking." (read) (Updated English Version)





WOW! Do I really believe that God uses every kind of stimuli, every coffee shop, every rain-enhanced Portland traffic jam . . . absolutely everything to speak to me? Wow - God talks to me all the time, I should start listening more! So it's a middle of a "power-nap afternoon" for me and I just wanted to say, "God's been saying a lot of cool things to you. Can you hear Him now?"

I do think this idea by my UK friend, from the past, is something found in the Bible too - check it out: Romans 1:20, James 1:17, and Romans 8:28.

30 days - Wise guy Experiment

I've got several friends trying this 30 day experimental dig into one of the most ancient wisdom sources ever given - the book of Proverbs, written by King Solomon.

Here's the deal - Read one chapter in the book of Proverbs every day. (If you start today, you would read chapter 30.) Each day read the chapter that matches the date on your calendar. If you miss a day, jump to today's date. Try it for 30 days and see how close you come to building a new relationship skill (good habit). Try marking one verse that impacts you each day, then send it in a text or email to someone else. Invite them to try this experiment. (If you break this chain, you are in danger of making beautiful children cry, and perhaps, maybe, you could be so unlucky as to win $10 million dollars - so, don't break this chain. Right?) I'll try blogging each day on the verse I've chosen.

Here's my verse for the 29th of January:

Verse 1 - "Whoever stubbornly refuses to accept criticism will suddenly be broken beyond repair."

• Stubborn refusal - What makes me afraid of mistakes? Why do I need people to only point out what is wonderful about me?
• God takes mistakes and mess-ups and uses them (if we allow Him).
  
• What do I do when I'm criticized? Beat myself up? Become defensive? Attack? Run?

I read Psalm 23 yesterday and then re-wrote it to fit my day (a good thing to read after spending some time thinking about Prov. 29:1). I have always loved Prov. 29:18 (It's a great verse to do a "Word study" with (try it)

Today's verse: Proverbs 30:33 "As the beating of cream yields butter, and a blow to the nose causes bleeding, so anger causes quarrels."

• I meet almost daily with individuals or couples who struggle with anger. Often anger is the sign that there's poison from the past that needs more a deeper level of forgiveness. Forgiving is like anything in relationships, it takes time.
• Anger can sometimes be fed by a lack of passion. (God's clear design for you TODAY!)
• Anger and defensiveness go hand in hand. "Bruce, when you're defensive, your ability to 'hear' the other persons heart - what they mean, is a very difficult thing!" Great communication has a lot to do with being able to send "you count a lot" messages, not defensive "you're dangerous and not so good for me" messages.
  

Passion!

I saw the passion in the eyes of several who were at our amazing breakfast last Sunday at Laurelhurst. I felt such an ignition of God's fire - His love yesterday. Danny Joe's talk and the music drama at the end simply capped a power-filled passionate weekend.

I was so thrilled to see the number of new people interested in a 24-7 coffee/performing & visual arts kind of place; a presence in Portland where people come and feel the acceptance, love, and passion of God without the scar of religion. Want to come dream with us? You are welcomed.

Here is one of our passionate leaders at our Portland campus - Jeff wears several hats (passionate dad, mad-in-love husband, prayer leader and fearless leader of our "Men's" hang-out group). He's started a new gathering experience on Monday nights at Laurelhurst. (If you're interested, email me and I'll pass it on to him; brucea@livinghopechurch.com).

Tomorrow - "The 30 day experiment" begins (check it out!).


I'm not sure if these are Jeff's ten rules for dating but you might want to check them out (they're old but fun).

What counts most

PORTLAND ADVERTISEMENT: 8:30am this Sunday (Jan. 27) you are invited to a very cool (and hot) breakfast! Come to the Laurelhurst campus and have breakfast while we share the latest dreams and happenings in Portland. Just show up. (Worship follows at 10am.)

I haven't blogged about a movie for a couple of years but last night we went and saw The Bucket List and I couldn't resist encouraging you to go see it too. It's a great movie to schedule coffee or dinner afterwards for some fun reflections. My friend Don and several others encouraged me to see it a couple weeks ago after Mike Miller's "Today" talk at Living Hope.
I'm always looking and anticipating God's voice in all the arts. (Acts. 17 is my base for this way of thinking). I hear, see, and respond to the picture of an "Absolutely Good God" who has the "best plan" for each of us in many movies I see. It's very likely the writers and directors were not intending to paint such a picture. But God seems to talk with me well in the arts.

I love the way the word "nowhere" can be used to say, "I want to live 'nowhere' but 'here now!' "After reading my old friend from the other side of the pond I agree: " 'Consider the lilies of the field . . .' (Matthew 6:28). They grow where they are planted. Many of us refuse to grow where God plants us. Therefore, we don’t take root anywhere."

Being in the present tense "now" with my friend Jesus is simply "the best!" Life is often complex, confusing, and very much a cover-up, a medicating hiding game. All that numbing out stops when BEING in a friendship with Jesus, right NOW, becomes our reason for living.

Watch the movie and let me know how it touches your life. Hope to see you at breakfast (It IS the most important meal . . . " Can you hear your mom's voice right now?").

Setting Goals for 2008

[added thoughts on 1-26-08 . . . one friend may have not read the last paragraph of this blog . . . without it, everything, goals, tools, things matter for NOTHING. I'm still re-writing my "steps" and adjusting my goals as I continue to listen to God's best for me today.]


So I've been doing the whole "New Year's" goals off and on for 27 years with a hiatus several times. I find spending the time writing down on paper my priorities and dreams is in itself very helpful. This year one of my sons encouraged me to add the famous "Steps to Goals" details. I've also built a team that is checking up on me, encouraging, and some of them are even team participants.

You can do this too - start simple. Here's a few of my goals (I'll show you a couple of examples of steps I list). Good luck. NOTE: at the end of this blog

2008 Bruce Avery Directions

Relationships: to deepen, prioritize; grow in awareness, appreciation, & participation

1) Make list, prioritize, people and relationships I want to invest in – . . . (example of steps)
Steps to goals: List my “10 most important” by end of Jan. Prioritize by - How I can add to their life, their benefit to my family, ministry, . . .2) Do 12 most influential people party Steps to goals: Write invitation by end of Feb. Reviews of idea back by . . .3) Do six visits to bar/book store/coffee shop/park to meet 1^st X people Steps to goals: Have list of possible locations by Jan. 31. First visit in Feb. 3) Pray with Laura every night before going to bed. Re-establish our weekly dates, and do quarterly get-away. Have date with Marcus twice a month. Work on a book with him. 1^st setting before Jan. 31. First draft by End of March.

Other goals for 08 -

Mind: to expand, sharpen; use to aid in speaking, writing, and communicating

Body: to rejuvenate, invest; developing reserves and immunity for more energy

1) Record Body goals sheet daily – send out reports every month to my team

2) Make list of people I want to influence in the physical realm – finish by April

3) Pick one sporting events to enter (run or ride? STP? Bridges?) – set dates by April

Spiritual: fuel passion, friendship; growing trust, adventure, and authenticity

Ministry:

1) Develop Portland Leadership team:

Steps to goals:

2) Acquire, train, and pre-launch new Coffee shop ministry center Steps to goals: Dream team recruited and 1^st meeting by end of . . .

There you have it -a slice of my direction, focus, and passion for 2008.

Here's my important note: IF you write down goals (even if you don't write them down) make sure to pray through them, spending considerable time listening for the Spirit to give direction. I started my process of writing goals in Dec. and have this Thursday as my deadline for sharing it with my personal coach.


Goals don't make you more valuable to God or anyone else. They are tools - if used to keep us focused on my life mantra (Love people and use things - never love things and use people) then they are so good! God will give you direction - ask!

Feeding the homeless tomorrow

Want to come feed about 150 homeless youth with us tomorrow? Check with Tiffany regarding any openings - we will leave shortly after the service tomorrow (Sun. Jan. 6).

If you would like to help fund this ministry, you can use one of the envelopes provided at our Sunday service or email me regarding this and other outreaches to our homeless friends in Portland (Brucea@livinghopechurch.com).

Also, I'd still love to hear your stories from the "Charlie Brown cards" we did.


For our family, Christmas is a very extended tradition. We try to leave our trees and some decorations up as long as possible. Our big tree is being returned to nature this weekend and my little village (pic. to come) will be packed on Monday (that's our final day for Christmas to end). We are editing a holidays video and hope to have it up for your viewing pleasure soon. If you hate Christmas or just need to move on - ignore the pics and upcoming video.

I'm so excited about living beyond any box my creature-comfort nature has formed in 2007. I believe life is an adventure of dangerous journeys (most of them unscripted). The goal - forever friendships!

Yes I do set goals every year. This year I'm adding a spiritual element to the whole process that is very exciting. I'm also following one of my son's leads in a new way of listing them. I'm very pumped about them.

God is up to some really big things at Laurelhurst and I can't wait to see how many people's lives with be changed forever. Happy New year!