Tag Archives: God

Pastor Wrinkles: Happy In the Heart Attack Pt. 6

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We have been talking about steps to take in order to survive and thrive through life’s heart attacks. Yesterday we made the point that  we must be ready to embrace God when He shows up.

If you have missed any of our conversations you can catch up here:

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Jesus told this parable about being ready for God’s move…

25 “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps.5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

6 “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’

12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’

13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

There is a day of healing and forward advance coming to you. When that day comes will it find you ready to embrace the work of God or will it find you calling out “sour grapes
because you have not prepared for the fourth step to being happy in the heart attack? That step is… See you tomorrow!

Pastor Wrinkles: Chapter Charts Pt. 152

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The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

The Word of God is a bridge that connects Earth with Heaven and Heaven with Earth.- Joseph Elon Lillie

 

King Solomon was a builder. While David spent his entire reign fighting and establishing the kingdom, Solomon turned his considerable wealth towards the pursuit of building up what his father had won through warfare.

Here’s what I see in today’s chapters:

I Kings chapter 6 sermon topics/ titles:

1. God’s Golden Cottage: I Kings 6:1-3

2. The “If…then” Of God: I Kings 6: 12,13

3.  Gentiles In the Doorway: I Kings 6:  31-33

I Kings chapter 7 sermon topics/ titles:

1.  Of Forests, Pillars and Justice: I Kings 7: 1-7

2. Half the Time For God: I Kings 7:1

3. God’s Swimming Pool: I Kings 7: 23-26

Now tell me what you see! 🙂

 

 

Pastor Wrinkles: The Lenten Journey Pt. 23

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100_0220My daily dose of revelation today came during our morning intercessory prayer meeting. On Thursdays I run the sound board and Pastor Brad, our youth pastor, runs the meeting. We shared the needs from our congregation and missionaries.  Brad shared his devotional and then released us into private prayer for about 20 minutes before calling us together to pray over the needs.

As I settled into my spot in the sunlight I heard God tell me , “Just be still and know that I am God.”

As I wandered down the holy rabbit hole deeper into the presence of God the Lord began to show me that fulfillment in life comes from obedience to God’s plan and not from results. He showed me that I am called to the journey of ministry and that I am wired in my inmost being to receive satisfaction from obeying that calling. He showed me that when I pursue the calling, satisfaction comes from the proper pursuit NOT from the fruit.

All my life I have been taught that success and satisfaction lie in reaching the goal and the goal is to outdo everyone else. I see now when that relative said “J. will never be a success nor will he be able to take care of himself.”  He was speaking out of his paradigm that success and caring for oneself meant having the most and being better than everyone else; Because of this I have understood excellence only in the context of competition and so I had no need for excellence because I didn’t want to compete with anyone.

The Lord has shown me, though, that excellence is found not in reaching the goal ahead of everyone else or better than everyone else. In fact excellence does not deal directly with the goal at all. It deals with the way I walk this journey. Excellence deals with how fully I obey the calling of God. Excellence is found in being true to God in living. I see if I can just be true to the calling…if I can just focus on following God I will be satisfied and God himself will take care of the results. How liberating is that?!?

Pastor Wrinkles: Happy In the Heart Attack Pt. 5

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Yesterday we finished by saying… waiting is not just doing nothing while we are waiting for the God bus to show up. Biblical waiting is continuing in what we know to do until God shows us what we don’t know how to do. It is continuing in what we know even though we know that the continuing is not the answer. It is continuing in what we know because that is all we have of faithfulness to God and because  waiting will always eventually lead us to step three in becoming happy in the heart attack which is…

To Embrace God when He shows up…John 21:7-14 says,

 Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. 8 The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards. 9 When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.

10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them,“Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. 14 This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

As soon as Peter realized that the Lord had shown up, he abandoned his fishing and put all His focus on getting to God. So many people miss God when finally He does arrive because they have let bitterness blind them. In your waiting look for God and keep yourself in readiness to jump into the water like Peter did!

Have you ever been tempted towards bitterness because you thought you were being forced to wait too long? What did you do?

Check in tomorrow for Pt. 6

Pastor Wrinkles: The Lenten Journey Pt. 22

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100_0220

Well our group coaching session didn’t happen today.  Our coach was ill and with winter storm Saturn roaring down upon us  promising another foot of snow we won’t have a make-up day for a few weeks. Oh well, blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape! Still I am a little sad. 😦

Segue…

water under the bridge!

water under the bridge!

It’s hard to believe that we are more than half way through the season of Lent. Resurrection Day is right around the corner! This is a season preparing the body for new life… new direction…change!

God has been speaking to our lead pastor about changes coming. Oh, how my heart longs to see what things God has in store for those of us who are believing for forward advance. I am not so naive as to believe that those changes will come without curves, twists or bumps in the road, but I am OK with what may come because I know that” God works all things together for good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose.” (Ro. 8:28) I am more settled in my heart than ever before. I am in love with the Savior of the world AND  He has called me to the kingdom for exactly this time. I know that I know that I know that I am where I need to be. Further I am doing what God wants me to be doing.

Here are a few questions for the day:

Are you at peace with your position?

What has to change?

What is your mission?

What things in life need to change so that you can fulfill that mission?

I look forward to your answers.

Pastor Wrinkles: Happy In the Heart Attack Pt. 4

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We’ve been chatting over the last few days about learning to be joyful in the midst of life’s heart aches. If you missed the last conversations they can be found here:

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We finished last time by saying… grieving doesn’t last forever; But it can hold up our next step to joy or happiness in the heart attack if we don’t give it voice. That next step is:…

In the midst of life’s heart attacks Go back to what you know and wait patiently for God.

John 21:1-3  Afterward Jesus appeared again to his disciples, by the Sea of Galilee. It happened this way: 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (also known as Didymus), Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. 3 “I’m going out to fish,” Simon Peter told them, and they said, “We’ll go with you.” So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

Many people criticize Peter for going back to fishing after Jesus resurrection. Some think it was a sign that he was going back to his old life. I don’t. I think Peter was simply at loose ends. Jesus had risen from the dead, but what did that mean? What was Peter supposed to do with that knowledge? He didn’t know. So I think he simply went back to doing what was available what he knew while he waited for God. This is good advice. So many of us go through a bad spot in life and the first thing we do is change everything. We start making major life decisions before we have grieved or before we have sought God for His direction.

Charles Spurgeon said, “Stand still- keep the posture of an upright man, ready for action expecting further orders, cheerfully and patiently, awaiting  the directing voice; and it will not be long ere God shall say to you  as distinctly as Moses said it to the people of Israel, ‘Go forward.’      If the Lord Jehovah makes us wait, let us do so with our whole hearts; for blessed are all they that wait for Him. He is worth waiting for. The waiting itself is beneficial to us; it tries faith, exercises patience, trains submission, and endears the blessing when it comes. The Lord’s people have always been a waiting people.”

And John Ortberg says this about waiting for God. “Biblically waiting is not just something we have to do until we get what we want. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what God wants us to be.”

Waiting is not just doing nothing while we are hanging around for the God bus to show up. Biblical waiting is continuing in what we know to do until God shows us what we don’t know how to do. It is continuing in what we know even though we know that the continuing is not the answer. It is continuing in what we know because that is all we have of faithfulness to God and because  waiting will always eventually lead us to step three in becoming happy in the heart attack which is… See you tomorrow.

Pastor Wrinkles: The Lenten Journey Pt. 21

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Tomorrow is our church staff’s first group coaching session. For the last two weeks we have been filling out  surveys regarding learning styles and personal approaches to team building. I have to tell you I am excited about this opportunity that has been  provided for us. My excitement indicates a big change in mental attitude. Two years ago I would approach trainings like this with great fear and judgment. Now I find them synergistic.

This morning our coach sent us three questions to consider as we prepare for the session tomorrow:

1. What areas should we develop? Maybe this question would be  better asked…
“What area(s) should be developed first? There is so much to work on as we prepare for the move of God that is coming and is even now upon us. But what can we work on together as a staff?
I am learning that while God is constantly moving in a thousand ways about me I can only join Him in a few of those movements at a time. So what does God want us to focus on now?
If the rest of the staff is like me they have created a huge list of “vision” things for the year. Yet I know that we are not called to be overwhelmed. While God has given us a vision that stretches perhaps far into the future we only have to concern ourselves with the step we are on now.  So how can we know what is supposed to be first on our list? By asking question 2.
What area if  focused on would make the biggest difference for us?
I think for us this has to be discipleship, leadership training and activation. We need both to raise up new leaders and to put them into action while at the same time continuing to change the paradigm of the congregation to a lay- led model; But those are just my thoughts. I am interested to see how all our ideas work together tomorrow to come out with a direction for the next quarter.
What is holding us back from being the best that we can be?
As a staff I think the only thing that holds us back is intentional unity behind a purpose. I am holding out great hope that tomorrow’s session will show me how some of the things God shared with me at the beginning of the year fit into the big picture of what God is doing in the church.
So how about you in your personal life, family life, corporate life, church life…
What areas should  you develop?
What area focused on would make the biggest difference for you?
What is holding you back from being the best that you can be?
 

Pastor Wrinkles: Happy In the Heart Attack Pt.3

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Yesterday we finished off post two by saying… “When life’s heart attacks come they can be opportunities for great joy if we will just follow God’s path.”

If you missed the first two portions of this study you can find them here:

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When Peter had the first of his life’s heart attacks (see our Scripture reading from Pt. 1), he did four things that are a pattern for us to follow when we face our own  heart attacks.

The first thing Peter did was to grieve the heart attack.

Luke 22:60-62-Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61 The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62 And he went outside and wept bitterly.

J.R.R. Tolkien wrote, “I will not say, do not weep, for not all tears are evil.” Yet we live in culture that is largely afraid to grieve. Maybe this comes from our ancestral roots. I don’t know, but we often act like grieving is an evil thing. Yet when heart attacks come they cause pain. We have to grieve that pain: privately, or publicly, through therapy or mountain climbing, primal scream or prayer. We have to grieve to be healthy.

Harold Kushner says, “We can endure much more than we think we can; all human experiences testify to that. All we need to do is learn not to be afraid of pain. Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don’t deny it. Don’t be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever. One day the pain will be gone and you will still be there.”

Kushner is right grieving doesn’t last forever; But it can hold up our next step to joy or happiness in the heart attack if we don’t give it voice. That next step is:… Tune in tomorrow to find out! 🙂

Pastor Wrinkles: The Lenten Journey Pt. 20

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“There are only two things that pierce the human heart. One is beauty. The other is affliction. And while we wish there was only beauty in the world, each one of us has known enough pain to raise serious doubts about the universe we live in. From very early in life we know another message, warning us that the Romance has an enemy.” Brent Curtiss, The Sacred Romance

I have been writing about the calling and the romancing of God these last few days. The Bible sometimes reads like a fairytale (with the exception of  it being absolute fact). The call of a loving God beckons  each of us to a happily ever after; But just like in every good fairytale there are dragons and dark castles filled with nightmares between us and the Love of our lives.

It is in discovering and conquering our dragons and monsters that we gain access to the plans of God and the intimate relationship that God wants us to have. One thing I have learned during this season of Lent is that sometimes our dragons lie invisible. Just beneath the surface of our hearts they rest slumbering under deep spells of denial. Yet even slumbering dragons have the power to keep us back from our dreams unless they are committed into the hands of  the Savior who can defeat them all.

God has been faithfully revealing things in my heart and life that I didn’t even know were there: A fear of success planted in my heart by a relative who said I would never be capable of taking care of myself; a fear of standing out planted by someone who took every opportunity to make fun of the way I looked; a fear of standing up for myself.

All of these are like arrows lodged in my heart making me afraid to take the voyage all the way to God’s plan even though I believe it is the best for me and will lead me on the greatest of adventures.  I am like a boy standing high on a limb over a lake holding fast to the rope swing. My heart is pounding with the excitement of taking the plunge but I am afraid to step off of the limb.

But this season is all about bringing my hurts and fears to God and allowing Him to heal them. I am no longer standing on a limb that holds me back. I am standing on the promises of God that propel me forward.

What promises from God’s Word have the potential to propel you forward?

Pastor Wrinkles: Happy In the Heart Attack Pt. 2

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What follows is part 2 of Pastor Wrinkle’s latest sermon.

Dick Cheney was once questioned about his physical health by a  white house reporter. His answer to the question was “ Except for the occasional heart attack I never felt better.”

Isn’t that true for all of us? Life is full of occasional heart attacks. No one is exempt. No one gets out of life pain-free. No one: Not the President; Not the Queen of England; Not the storekeeper in his shop; Not the doctor in his operating room; Not even the Pastor in his pulpit. Everyone is subject to the occasional heart attack.  I’m not talking about the physical condition caused by heart disease although that is one form of heart attack. I am talking about those things in life which cause us to wish we had died: It can be the death of a loved one; A long-term illness; A divorce; Or a child hooked on drugs. We all have our own personal heart attacks. Some of them catch us by surprise and knock the wind right out of us and others are of our own making. So it was with our Scriptural passage yesterday. Peter  made a tragic error in choosing sides and it sent his life into a tail spin.

Now I know we would all like to get out of life scott free. We all want heart attack free lives, but we have to face reality; That isn’t going to  happen. This world is a heart attack zone, bad things happen here ever since  Adam and Eve blew our chances at Eden by eating the apple. Bad things are going to continue to happen until Jesus comes back and sets things right. Yet somehow still we think we can try in our own power to fix things.

You may have heard recently that a meteor hit Siberia. This meteor it is said struck the ground going forty thousand miles per hour  and injured over 1,000 people as it struck the earth and blew out windows in a city of 1,000,000.

The response of the world is to ask “How can we stop this from happening again?”

I have a simple answer. “We can’t.” Meteors fall and you can’t tell them to stop. Heart attacks happen and you can’t hold them back. It’s part of living in an imperfect world.

Further you can’t stop a heart attack from hurting. By definition they are things that strike at the heart of who you are. You don’t just wave them off like yesterday’s bad chicken. They are more than mere annoyances. They are painful things that you have to work through.

So you can’t stop them and you can’t stop them from hurting

But what you can do is learn to be happy in the heart attack.

“How does that work Pastor J?” You ask.

“We are supposed to be happy about falling meteors, divorces,  loved ones dying and real life heart attacks?”

No we aren’t supposed to be happy about tragedy but we can be joyful in tragedy.

James 1:2 says “2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.”

When life’s heart attacks come they can be opportunities for great joy if we will just follow God’s path.

More tomorrow….