Going to the Quiet Place

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Michael

 

"Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

I received a call this past Sunday.  It was the director of the Martha Retreat Centre calling to offer me a place in an upcoming retreat in June that had been booked solid for sometime.  Apparently there had been a cancelation and as my name was on the waiting list…

I have been wanting and praying for an opportunity to do a 7 day guided retreat but a number of life factors were making that a challenge – in prayerful discussion with Andrea (my wife) she encouraged me to go for it.

The description of this retreat was encouraging to me:

We often live life from the outside, pushed in all directions by many voices, frequently superficial and promising instant gratification.  During this retreat we will gently and slowly return to the “inner room” where the source of all life addresses us in secret.  Our hope is to explore some secrets that can lead us to break open living our lives more fully from the inside out.

The pressure of life seems to be towards superficiality – the manic pace that life often is just doesn't seem to allow for anymore than that – the net result is a life of pressured mediocrity.  It seems in being deliberate to step off the treadmill and step out of the fast lane is necessary, from time to time, to unwind and then to engage life once again – wound less tightly.  Jesus seemed to know the value of stepping away from the crowds and the schedules for some quiet time, some time alone with Himself and with His Father.  Jesus no doubt understood who and what was His source.

So I am grateful for the opportunity to step away knowing that there are many irons in the fire – many things I will have to leave up to God to care for. I would appreciate your prayers as I step off the grid for seven days in June.

 

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Breathe – The Breath of God

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Michael

I have been experimenting with video and various ways of sharing faith.  These often take the forms of rich ancient thoughts and prcatices which have been a blessing in my own life.

Explore the idea of breath – specifically the breath of God and how God breathes life into us. Explore along with Michael how we can experience the life of God in breathing – allowing our breathing to become prayer.

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Authentically Authentic

Posted on May 2, 2012 by Michael

Authenticity is "popular" today. It's the hip buzz word and as such leaders are all jumping on the band-wagon. Authenticity is all about being real – our words and actions flowing from what is really inside. It is genuine, not an imitation and sadly the temptation is put on a veneer of authenticity without ever having to risk being truly vulnerable. If we listen, genuine authenticity has a very distinct ring.

Consider, from The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams Bianco:

“Real isn't how you are made,' said the Skin Horse. 'It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.'

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My Book: Becoming Love- Coming Soon

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Michael

It is so exiting to get down to the short strokes of completing any project.  It is certainly the case with my soon to be published book  “Becoming Love: Avoiding Common Forms of Christian Insanity”.    The process of putting my thoughts and my heart down in a clear, concise way is exhilarating and yet spooky as all-get-out!  Spooky because never have I been this vulnerable, to offer my life, my story and much of what God has grown in my heart with so many.   In it I offer many of my personal blunders and in several other places offer what might be considered by many as some startling thoughts on some sacred cows.

My hope with this project when I started was to run through my heart and thinking to make sure it was cohesive, with the goal of offering it as a gift to my sons.  They have had the misfortune of walking through life with me and I am sure at times, they were left scratching their heads.  Regardless, my heart was to offer my life in hopes that it would be a blessing and encouragement to them.

At its heart is the belief that authentic love changes everything.  That we are transformed by the consuming fire of Gods crazy love as it works its way through our lives.  It is a transformation that starts in the heart, and fills us and spills out of our lives to the world around us.  It is in fact a becoming – Becoming Love.   With us rooted in this reality, in the person of Jesus Christ, it brings an unfathomable peace which renovates our life, in real, life changing ways.  I term this the "Love Paradigm" in which we allow love to shape our world-view and inturn shape the how we mature in Christ, form community, the way we lead and the way we do mission.

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LOL- The Title is too Long!

Posted on April 16, 2012 by Michael

Blinded by Complexity. Tripping over the Simple into Profundity

The wrestle of what it means to be deliberate has its ebbs and flows and in it there is more peace.   I continue to be fascinated with healthy, authentic Christian community in whatever form it takes really.   I see the richness, faithfulness and beauty in more traditional ways of being church and I see and experience the wonder of simple community, of the few gathered to share faith and life together.  I appreciate the intimacy of it personally.

Regardless, I am convinced that healthy, authentic communities are founded upon the person of divine love – Jesus and this alone is the basis for their unity.  In Christ, there is no male or female, Jew nor Greek, slave or free, Republican or Democrat, no liberal or conservative – just Christ.   It doesn’t mean that we are uniform and we live out our faith in exactly the same way but we do share the same heart and mind – that of Christ.  In Christ, the demarcations we use to judge, marginalize and exclude others no longer exist.  What matters is Christ.

What so enamors me is that these communities who genuinely are learning to love each other, serve one another, who accept and care for one another become a sign and a wonder to a world that excludes, judges and marginalizes all the time – "Conform or be cast out!"  The Kingdom of God is quite different, it is a Kingdom of inclusion in Christ on the basis of the unfailing love of God.

When we speak of deliberateness, it speaks to the way in which we embrace this reality as individuals and together as communities.  Are we deliberately living our lives in love with Jesus and others?  Are we deliberately choosing love over control, manipulation and self-centredness?  How does this life spill out of and into the world around us?

I was reminded again, it really all comes down to this living loved by Father and living lives of love, together with a few faithful forgiving friends.

 

Sample Resources from IamSignificant.ca

 

 

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Yes, Wash my Feet

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Michael

Peter persisted, “You’re never going to wash my feet – ever!”  Jesus said “If I don’t wash you, you can’t have any part of what I am doing.”

- John 13:8

I used to have a difficult time receiving a compliment.  “Gee Mike, you look nice" or "Great Message".  For whatever reason I had a tendency to feel a little awkward towards the compliment.  My face would flush, I would looks down at the ground and say something that sounded humble – Ah, this old thing? or “I hope what I had to say was okay”.  I have learned a healthier response is as simple as “Thank you” and receive it gratefully as the gift it was intended.  

In the same way, sometimes it is just plain hard to receive love.  To just receive it as a gift and be at peace with it.  I think part of it is because deep down we believe we need to be worthy of that love, or if you like – we feel we have to earn that love.  I think for many of us, if we are really honest,  really don’t love ourselves that much for a whole host of often silly and really, irrelevant reasons.  We reason because of these deficiencies that no one else could possibly love us.  When we hear – “I love you” or some other gesture of love, in a deep sense we feel like we truly do not deserve it.

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Intentional Heart

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Michael

 

Well, it has been a week and a bit since my last post and so much has happened.  No time for that today but I have been reflecting upon my last post and the gathering with my faithful, forgiving friends last Sunday.  I was wrestling with deliberateness in our community and what that looks like in healthy life.  I am more and more convinced that healthy love must have feet.  That simply means that for love to be truly love, it needs to be expressed somehow.  It seems to me Jesus had the right idea about healthy love as he demonstrated it by serving people.  In fact, more than just a corporate slogan, motto or sound bite, he really did mean it when He said, no greater love than this, that one lays down his life for his friends.   Easter is just a week away and as we progress through Holy Week we will remember and celebrate a very deliberate act of love of Jesus – laying His life down for us.

As I reflect upon this and our community,  I see in a deeper way that deliberateness is so very crucial in healthy community, especially if we value relational, transformative community.   As I lamented last post, the challenge is to ask questions and seek new ways of community without defaulting to old paradigms and how this doesn't necessarily mean all the structures we utilized before are automatically wrong, they may be good tools for certain jobs however what seems more important is intentional heart.  The intentionality of heart will naturally produce actions that are deliberate and more genuinely connected to who we are as a community.

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Life in Healthy Structure

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Michael

A few friends and I have been experimenting over the past number of years with being and doing church together.  Some aspects have worked better than others but it has been a really rewarding journey with folks I have become very fond of.  We have had some new folks join, and some folks move on, but the core group of folks remains committed to one another.

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“Oh Shit” – a heart felt prayer

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Michael

© soupstock - Fotolia.com

Awoke this morning a little relieved to see that the 5 cm of snow we were promised hadn't arrived.  I walked to the kitchen to greet my wife and get a cup of coffee and she announced that while looking out our kitchen window this morning, she noticed a $20 bill had blown into our yard and rested under my sons play structure.  The day was starting off pretty good.

I poured a cup of coffee and went to my office to catch up on the emails, etc. that had arrived only to be greeted by a message that a friend of mine was involved in a serious motorcycle accident.  As you can imagine, I was shocked, afraid for my friend, his wife and feeling completely helpless.  I connected with a mutual friend and the report back was my friend was in stable condition.

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An Uncommon Grace

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Michael

The following is a scene from Les Miserables (1998) starring Liam Neeson.  In this clip we see an encounter between Neeson's character Jean Valjean and a Bishop (Peter Vaughan).  

 

Today, I can identify with Jean Valjean.  A person who sometimes feels there is just no other way or just simply doesn't have the courage to walk the way he knows he should and feeling busted, exposed, caught and guilty as hell.  Expecting to be rejected by God for my misdoings, heck, my mis-beings, and realize that it is only I that has indicted myself to the highest degree.  To come face to face with the Judge and expect my self indictment to be upheld by this higher court only to discover a Father who judges for the love of you and I, His beloved children. Judgement that leads to life, to wholeness and true justice. That we too may learn to love, not for fear of exclusion and rejection rather in response to perfect love.  We become love or if you like, we take on the image or Christ (2 Cor. 3:18) or partakers in the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).  In this learning to love, we quite naturally turn from our brokeness and in doing so, sin is destroyed!  The good Father in His mercy and love satisfies justice by making us the executioner, the destroyer of sin as in Christ we turn to Him – to love. 

I imagine, in this moment as I hear Jesus in my heart, I hear the words of the Bishop as he says to Jean Valjean:

"Jean Valjean my brother you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I have bought your soul. I've ransomed you from fear and hatred, and now I give you back to God." 

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