wow this is a long vacation...

...and i'm having a great time - no stress, no worry, sense of confidence that ww is doing great in my absence

but i've been off so long it doesn't feel like vacation, it feels like unemployment

(which, btw, it's not...or, at least it wasn't when i left :)

i'm having lots of fun with carmel and the kids, but i miss my job. i really love what do and i love where i'm doing it. the winds has given me a place to follow my convictions and lead in ways that feel right and true - and i can't wait to get back into the saddle with john and dive into the fall (no freudian readings here please...and, sorry for mixing the metapors)

anyways, 10 more vacation days to go.

loving vacation

loving vacation right now...kids, fun food, family, adventures

having fun fooling around with tumblr, squidoo, and weebly as well. i left my mac in j-town, so i'm back in pc-ville (which sucks, btw, i'm sooo happy with mac)

anyway, things are good. i'm destressing about genesis...i think there's good fruit bound for the winds. my aim really is to help us grow in our understanding and knowledge of god, and to help our kids grow in the same way. we're at an impasse with science and the christian world, and i think our series in genesis will push us toward a god-honoring + scripture-loving reconciliation between the two.

i'll need some prayer for that series though - it'll either be the best ever, or my last ever :)

tumblr micro blog

i know i said i wouldn't be blogging on my vacation (because it'd feel like work) but i've been playing around with tumblr and i think i'm gonna use it as my travel blog.

there's a tumblr roll on the bottom left side of this blog where you can follow my updates, or just go to guerillahost.tumblr.com.

jesus, make us right

God –

I accept responsibility for all I’ve done wrong.
I refuse to abandon my guilt, my will, and my liability for my own sin.

I refuse to pawn those sins off because I feel like a victim.

I want to make things right
With you
With those I’ve harmed
With the world
And with myself
But I need your help to do so.

Give me the presence of your peace
To walk the long road of reconciliation.

Make me bold enough to face my accusers and set things right.

Make me soft enough to repent when I’ve indulged
And firm enough to hold others accountable when they have wronged me
And gracious enough to forgive them as you have forgiven me.

I know your grace allows me to enter Heavenly rest in the next life,
But I also ask for your grace to assist me in cultivating rest in this one
For myself and for those who’ve been affected by me.

I once was an agent of harm.
Please make me an agent of reconciliation
In you.

Amen

vacatio

prior to the 4 days i spent with my extended family this past may, it had been almost 22 months since i'd taken any vacation.

actually, that's not entirely true. i did take 4 days during those 22 months, but i also came into work on each of those days to help trouble-shoot/problem solve various things i should've just ignored.

anyway, i get 4 weeks + 10 weekends + 10 personal days per year which is an excellent vacation package by any standard.

if, that is, you make use of it...which i will very soon.

this past winter we had some new faces on our elder team and that created a lot of really positive movement there. the team was always good, but this change came at a good time and has acted as a catalyst for a few things - one of those being the elders' insistence that jvo and i actually use our vacation time this year (and that we carry over an additional week from last year and take it as well).

so, ever the one to submit to my peers, i'm off on vacation beginning tomorrow.

5 weeks of vacation, to be exact.

i'm leaving my blackberry here.

i'm leaving my mac here.

i won't be checking email.

i won't be blogging.

i won't be twittering.

i will only read magazines, not theology texts or rabbinical commentaries

i will only watch fun movies, not vodcasts of great teaching.

i will play with my kids

i will laugh with my wife

i will nap in church after arriving late.

it's gonna be good

wisdom from my friend glen

David,

As a missionary and as a teacher working with Filipino missionaries I have spent a lot of time thinking about motives for missions.

While thinking about the "invite" value that we have pushed at WW for a long time and our current need to grow I believe this is a good conversation.

When I step back and try to look at the big picture the conclusion I come to is: The most important reason to introduce someone to Jesus Christ is to satisfy God's desire. Because He is the Creator, His desires are far more significant than our needs. We love Him, and bringing Him pleasure is the greatest good we can do.

While I believe this is true I don't believe that it would be valuable to try to make the point to someone who has no relationship to the Lord. They would have no basis to value His desire. Until a person is "in Christ" the notion that God is seeking a relationship is an inviting sentiment but not a compelling motivation.


We make the appeal of the gospel based on self interest. Improvement of our life situation, rescue from eternal condemnation, personal peace, peace with God, restoration of interpersonal or family relationships are some of the appeals that I have heard. I think the scripture demonstrates and authorizes some of these. We select the appeal based on cultural and personal considerations.

I have seen Christians motivated to share Christ by guilt and shame, compassion on the lost, and personal ambition. Phil. 1:18 indicates that Paul was not too disturbed by bad motives but more concerned with "Christ being preached". However in this over-marketed consumer culture, North Americans are sensitive and suspicious of the motives behind the message. Therefore we need to be sensitive to how we encourage folks to share and reach out. My suspicion is that sincere love for God and sincere love for people will eventually be the only thing that is effective.

It has been a good week thinking about these things. I hope it is can be of some value to you. It is a privilege to set under your teaching. I appreciate not only the skill of your presentation but also the maturity and wisdom in what you have selected to teach.


Because HE lives,


Glenn

Jesus, make me clean

God –

I feel dirty
And used
And infected by the filth of this life,
My experiences in it,
And the awful choices I’ve made.

Please
Make me clean.

Please
Wash me,
Cleanse me,
Make me pure
Like snow,
Like light,
Like gladness.

I ask for your Spirit to come and sterilize this infection.
I want to be unpolluted.

Please take away everything that is making me dirty
And replace it with everything I need to feel clean.

Replace the lies with lye
And the dirt with worth

As I give myself wholly to you.

Amen