Around ten years ago, I decided to continue my theological education at the seminary attached to my Bible college. I had just completed my undergraduate degree in Bible, but I felt that I should start working toward the M.Div (the Masters of Divinity – ahem…). I was barely 22 years old and felt a touch too young to be a youth pastor somewhere, plus I was truly and gloriously single. So I needed two things to go into ministry: time and a wife. After checking with all of my cute girl–friends to see if any of them needed a green card to stay in the states, I realized that maybe seminary would be a good place to begin. Now the seminary that I chose did not permit women to attend, a fact I remembered when I sat down in my first class and saw 30 male faces staring back at me.

I took two classes that fall, the first was Church History, taught by an amazing man of God that taught us not only what to think, but how to think. His influence in my life went well beyond the classroom, which was something I had never really experienced before. Even to this day he will send me a message on Facebook asking “How is the inner man?” He is definitely a hero of mine. The other class I took was called “Daniel to Revelation” and it intrigued me in the same way that many of us love to talk about the end of the world. I thought that maybe we would talk about all the scary stuff at the end of the Bible, and maybe even watch the 70’s Christian Classic Film – “The Thief in the Night”. What I experienced was a class that so boring and confusing to me that it honestly didn’t just put me to sleep, it nearly put me in a catatonic state. I stopped going after a few weeks. I don’t think the professor noticed.

That was the last time I graced the hall of a seminary. I spent the next several years defending my lack of a masters degree by using lines like “I go to seminary every day!” or “I don’t want my head knowledge to destroy my heart knowledge”. These were sort of true – I do read a lot of books and dive really deep into the text and languages and study hard for messages and writing, and I also have a fear of the “academic spirit” that can leave real people and their needs in the dust because of cold and stoic responses.

So here I am again – trusting God to help me deal with the fear that grips me when I walk into the halls of higher learning, “Help me remain grounded in who You have made me to be. May my heart remain first and foremost in love with You Jesus. Please don’t let me turn your precious Word into a textbook, may it always be something that I huger and thirst for. This is for You and Your Kingdom, not mine.” Will you hold me up as I step back into this world? Pray for my heart, for my marriage, for this church, and pray that I will learn truth not just for me, but for all of you as well.

It’s over.  40 days.  960 hours.  God moved in mysterious and obvious ways.  The Young Adults of Woodside Bible Church (the Lighthouse Collective) prayed all day every day without a break in the chain.  Over 40 service projects were completed in Detroit, Pontiac, and the rest of the metro area.  Many young adults sacrificed time and social lives to read through the entire Bible in 40 days.  The Bible was read from cover to cover in the prayer room, chapter by chapter, hour by hour by everyone who took an hour in Room 177. We studied the story of Nehemiah – verse by verse – in our devotional times, and we also talked about his story on Sunday nights in Lighthouse.   We celebrated what God did in us and through us with a big finale in the Troy Worship Center and passionately poured out our praises to Him.

So now what?  What does this mean to us as we move forward?  Will the summer of 2008 be viewed as a mountaintop experience, the heights of which we can never scale again?  With all of my heart, I pray against this.  I pray that this taste of God’s presence, this glimpse of His glory, would not be enough.  I pray that this experience would arouse a sort of divine discontent – that mysterious phenomenon of the insatiable essence of his presence.  The more you feel – the more you want. 

I pray that we can continue this journey that we are on together.  That as we kickoff a new ministry year as a church, that we would be willing to sacrifice our time, sleep, energy, and efforts to attempt something huge for God together.  All generations!  How amazing would it be to serve in our community together – to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the Detroit Metro area?  To be known in the area as a church that truly loves God and loves people – by caring for the least of these.

Can you imagine joining together with your family around the table to read your chapters for the day, with a shared goal to read the Bible together? Instead of waiting until January to make resolutions only to abandon them in March, what if we resolved to finish 2008 stronger than we started it?

40 may be over for us – but our God is bigger than our calendars, seasons, and plans.  He is worthy of so much more than we offer Him, and I pray that we can continue to lay our most prized possession before Him daily, our hearts.  May they beat as one as we move forward into the future God has created for us.

As I attempt to describe what God did in Lighthouse during 40, I am tempted to list all that was done. But to be honest with you, all we really did during the 960 hours was to OPEN OUR EYES. That’s all. We opened our eyes and began to look for God.And we found Him. Wow – did we ever. We found Him at 3 in the morning in the Prayer Room as we wept over the cries written on the Wailing Wall. We found Him in the tears shed by a couple that found love and compassion after losing yet another round to infertility. We found Him in the pages of His brilliant and inspired Word that He has given to us. We found Him in the healing that he gave to those who fervently asked Him for it. We found Him in the YES. We found Him in the NO. We found Him in the silence. We found Him in the artwork that flowed from awestruck worshippers. We found Him in the poetry that was composed in the tear-stained journal. We found Him in the eyes of the poor and needy that were fed and encouraged.We found that He was there all along. We had just been walking through life with our eyes closed. I want to keep my eyes open. I want to live wide-awake. I pray that we will never again doze off into an apathetic catnap – putting down our sword and taking off our armor. I pray that when my head starts to nod that my brothers and sisters would help me stay awake. I want to continue to look for God through prayer (we prayed for 960 hours in a row), His Word (many read the Bible through in 40 days), in serving others (completed over 40 service projects in Metro Detroit), and in worshipping Him with our lives.Now that our eyes are open, “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Amen and amen.

For the last 40 days, Angela and I have been reading through the Bible - literally.  One of the things that really stood out to me and caught my attention was the description that God used to guide the craftsmen as they built the temple.  Some have said it makes for the most boring and monotonous reading of the entire Bible - but I think we need to think about it a little differently… The exacting detail that God gives as He describes the type of curtains, lampstands, wall materials, precious stones, and precious metals can either be a test of discipline and endurance or it can reveal something more.  

Ask deeper questions…  What does his description reveal about the character of God?  What does it tell us about his creativity?  How does that impact how we design and craft things for him (worship services, buildings, songs, etc.)?  Another question to ask is, where else is the temple talked about in the Bible?  Is it mentioned in the New Testament?  Is it always referring to the literal temple that was constructed?  Or is it sometimes used to describe something else?

1 Cor 3:16 - Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s  Spirit lives in you?

Hmmm…  Interesting.  I have always heard this verse and others like it as a reason to not smoke or drink or dance or play cards or get tattoos or return library books late.  But what if there is a more positive spin to put on it?  What if Paul by inspiration of the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us something deeper about our bodies?  When he connects us to the temple, we need to think about the detail and design and care that went into the every last part of that building.  Our bodies, just as they are, have been designed by the master craftsman to be the way they are down to the last fingernail and ear hair.  Does that mean anything to you?  You have been crafted precisely by God to be His Spirit’s dwelling place! 

Let this truth encourage you as you stare into the mirror and ask why… 

I wanted to give you a peek into what God is doing in the hearts of the Young Adults in our 24/7 prayer room…

“Let FORTY be the beginning of something, God, not the thing in entirety. Help me to stay focused on You and Your will for the Body, not my own. Give me unrest for the day until I’ve delved into Your holy love better. Let me fall, God- make me fall. I know You’ll catch me. Protect me from the enemy, God. Don’t let Him deter me from running this race for You. I see You at the finish line. I see Your smile.”

“Make me a vessel for dispensing your love. Let your light shine through me to a darkened world. Make me a radical. Forgive my pride about what others may think. Let me evangelize unabashedly, pray unceasingly, love unreservedly.”

“I am broken by all of this… God, teach us to truly love, worship, and depend on You. I love diving deeply into Your word. You are brilliant and beautiful. I love you so much!”

“Lord, I weep as I read the good and the bad that have been written on these pages. I pray for all of these people. For those who have experienced You- that they continue to do so. For those who need You- may they receive. Show them who You are, God. The cries for mercy- may they be answered. For those who need love- may they experience the warmth. Those who have pain- may they feel relief. Lord, reign in all of us! I love You!”

“After we’ve prayed for near 1000 hours straight, done over 40 service projects, expanded Your kingdom, and done Your will, where does that leave us? We can’t go back to “normal” life. The possibilities are endless and scary. Your vision is impossible to see or even understand, but I do know after all of this is said and done, we will not have time for mediocre in our lives anymore.”

One thing I have noticed as it relates to my walk with God and how I view Him, is how much my view of God is related to my stage of life. When I was a little boy, my faith was a response to the threat of hell that deeply scared and disturbed me. The concept of relationship with Jesus was a little bit beyond me, but I really understood the concept of behavior and consequences. This would go a long way to explaining my multiple “sinner’s prayer” moments during my younger years, thinking that my actions had invalidated the insurance policy that I had signed at the age of 4. My mind couldn’t understand nor comprehend that my sin was not more powerful than the everlasting love of God, I just merely assumed that because I had broken the rules, I would lose the reward as punishment. I carried that same tension toward my father during those years, that fear/love balance that would have me happily at his side in the morning, and cowering in fear later because of my disobedience. I guess I viewed my father less as a father, and more of a judge that would reward and punish when necessary.

As I entered my teenage years, my understanding of the world began to change a little bit – as did my relationship with God. I went to Christian school for most of my life, and so when the concept of God’s will and his sovereignty was presented to me – I became obsessed with it. I now treated God as responsible for all that was happening to me, good and bad. I completely abdicated myself from any responsibility, even getting upset with Him for a tear in my new jeans while playing a silly youth group game – as if it was part of His twisted plan to tear my Levi’s. Instead of viewing His sovereign will for my life as a beautiful and loving plan that is full of His love and protection, I viewed it as a magic eight ball that I would shake to get answers to my deepest and shallowest questions. I was strangely intrigued by Gideon, big surprise, and how he ascertained God’s will for his next move. Since I didn’t have any fleeces around to lay outside, I turned my Nerf basketball hoop in my room into the God’s Will-o-Meter for my life. Does Carly like me? Swish! Yess!!!! Should I ask her out? Airball… Hmmm – well – I guess she would have said no. Thanks God.

Through some trips and other experiences, I slowly began to stop treating God as my personal fortune cookie, and started to understand the essence of prayer and relationship. I took 1 Thessalonians 5:17 to heart (“Pray without ceasing”), and began to have an ongoing dialogue with God in my head, and out loud (when the coast was clear). This began an amazing stretch in my spiritual journey, one in which I finally felt God’s call on my life to be a Pastor, and in which I started to date girls.

I enrolled in a Bible college to begin my Biblical studies so that I could begin my calling to be a pastor. I took lots of classes on the Bible, studied it, exegeted it, memorized it, and even preached it. But something happened – I stopped spending quality time with God. My prayers had ceased. The way I had once naively known and loved and pursued God, had now been replaced with my knowledge about God. Instead of allowing these facts and dates and truths to deepen my love and affection and desire to know Him more – it had the opposite effect. A seismic shift had taken place, and after the rubble had settled there was now a huge chasm between my head and my heart. It is so hard to admit it now – but this was who I was for a few years. But God wasn’t done with me yet.

I dated a decent amount in college. Now if you listen to urban legends, you may feel inclined to exaggerate the exact number, but don’t bother. Suffice it to say that I “donated plasma” and sold clothes out of my closet to fund my dating life. Then my heart changed forever. Her name was Angela, and she was one of my best friends. We flirted on occasion, but she was too close a friend and too delicate a flower for me to consider adding her to the wake of my dating history. Then it happened – like stepping on a metal garden hoe and then being surprised at how much it really does hurt when it connects with your face – I realized that she was the one for me.

Our dating experience was like that glorious moment when the vanilla latte with extra foam becomes a caramel macchiato – the addition of the caramel sauce takes a great drink and makes it a cultural phenomenon. CliffandAnge became a new word to describe this inseparable, passionate pair of lovers (well before the days of Brangelina – but with less press coverage) that were speeding toward the altar. Our wedding day was nothing less than epic – complete with the sobbing groom as his gorgeous bride came toward him with a love in her eyes that was full of purity, passion, and a promise.

Suddenly, everything changed between God and I. I started to view Him differently now that I had this miraculous love story waking up next to me each morning. I started to see his love in a new light. I realized what it meant for God to be “jealous” of me – because I felt that way about my wife. She knew me as no one else in the world did, we trusted each other completely, and couldn’t wait to be intimate with each other. I began to understand God’s expectations for me not as prison walls, but as boundaries meant to deepen our relationship and my joy. I saw in my desire to change the parts of my life that hindered my intimacy with my wife, the picture of the pursuit of holiness in my relationship with God. I was now living life to please Him, not because of the requirements of my title as a Christian, but because of my deepening love and closeness with Him. I saw my burgeoning need to be a selfless husband who humbly loves his wife and would die for her, with the heart-stopping demonstration of love in the cross of Jesus Christ.

We don’t have any children. I am sure that if God gives us one or two that my understanding and love of Him is going to grow and change even more as I wrestle with what it means to be a father that loves his children and wants what is best for them.

Have you noticed this in your life? I could write so much more about this – how God taught and changed me through the lens of suffering, spiritual warfare, friendship, 24/7 prayer, worship, and so on… I pray that your relationship with God will deepen, grow, and morph as you journey through life. He loves you so much that He is patient with where you are and what you can handle and understand. Try to fathom that – God (insert theological understanding of who He is, what He’s done, what He’s yet to do here) loves you (insert personal understanding of who you are, what you’ve done, and yet to do here). He knows you – and He loves you.

Recently some truly sad news hit my wife and I. Our reactions to this news were absolutely opposite – my wife cried and I got mad. I wanted someone to pay. I wanted answers. I wanted reasons. I wanted someone to be held accountable. She just dropped her head and wept. My anger that was originally aimed at the failures of men, quickly became questions aimed at God. “Why God? Why are you allowing us to go through this? We were so ready… You know our hearts, we trusted you with our hearts… And yet here we are, broken again.”

Once my blood pressure came back down to a reasonable level and her tears had dried, the questions remained – but there came over us a strange clarity in the midst of dense fog. It was in those moments of prayer and reflection and wounding that God impressed a simple verse upon our bruised hearts – “Be still and know that I am God.” It was in this simple yet world changing truth that our hearts began to find rest. A strange supernatural peace embraced us in the middle of our pain. The cup of suffering wasn’t taken from us, but a feeling of God’s grace in the midst of enduring as He works out His will in us.

As I sought camaraderie in the Scripture with those who have gone before us, God reminded me of those who thought they were ready for God’s promise, but as it turned out, God wasn’t ready to give them their heart’s desire. The drama of their story wasn’t heightened enough yet, for man could still be credited with the gift. God loves to move in ways that confound our “wisdom”, He loves to intervene when all is nearly lost, when the army is bearing down, when prosperity has been reduced to poverty, when menopause and old age have settled in, when the fire is seven times hotter than usual, when true love is dead and buried. In those moments there is nothing the ocean, well intentioned friends, biology, physics, or common sense can do to stand in the way of what God is going to do. “Be still, and know that I am God.”

The idea of “Be still” has to do with being silent, speechless, finding rest. To me it evokes the picture of a child asking lots of breathless questions in between tears after being hurt by a sibling. “But… why… did… he… hit… me…?” What is the parent’s response? “Shhhhhh… There there… Shhhhh… It’s gonna be alright…” The child runs to its parent to find safety, comfort, and love in those protective arms. The child knows that it will find healing and peace in that embrace.

As we age, the cause of our pain is different, but our response is much the same. “Why… did… this… happen…?” Who do we run to now? Do we keep God at arm’s reach, directing our anger at him? I know I have. Can we return to the loving arms of our heavenly father, to find safety, comfort, and love? If we know that He is God, if we know His character and how He loves us, can we then find peace and stillness in the midst of profound pain? Our love and trust in the character of God, truly knowing Him and what He has done, allows us to lay our heartbreak at His feet and embrace the peace He offers. The pain isn’t always taken away, but the anger and fear are replaced with His love.

I’m sorry, will you forgive me? There are a few moments after these words are spoken when there is a tremendous amount of power that the recipient wields. Will I forgive immediately? Or do I wait a little while, with each second elapsed revealing the depth of the offense committed. I have withheld forgiveness from the penitent until a time arrives in which I am “ready” to forgive. Sometimes, our forgiveness is not easy to give.

On the other side, to apologize is a humbling and humiliating act in itself. To look someone in the eye and verbally admit to them that you were wrong and now feel bad about it – that is not easy to do. Of course, there are varying degrees of “I’m sorry”. There’s the “I’m sorry” offered for bumping into someone in the line at Starbucks, or the “I’m sorry” for calling off our wedding because I met someone in the Starbucks line. Same words – different weight. Sometimes, the apology is offered too quickly and flippantly to indicate genuine repentance – especially if it is a repeat offense. There is an art to the whole apology/forgiveness ritual, and if any part of it feels off – it falls apart. The upper hand definitely belongs to the one who was wronged. They decide when to give the desired restitution to the defendant. This is how it works.

So – we see how hard it is to apologize. We see how hard it is to accept the apology. We see how hard it is to forgive. But what about jumping to forgiveness without apology? Is it possible to forgive someone who isn’t sorry? Many of us carry the weight of things done against us, whether years ago or even days ago. Some of us fantasize what it will be like to hear our oppressor ask for our forgiveness. We see that moment as the key to restoring our fractured hearts. But what if that moment never comes? What if our abuser doesn’t even realize or recognize what he’s done? Will our healing and wholeness still be controlled by the one who damaged it in the first place?

The concept of forgiving someone is a step on the road to healing. But the idea of forgiving someone who isn’t sorry is a step on the road to holiness.

Remember Jesus… How he was falsely accused, betrayed, beaten, mocked, humiliated… And in those most intense and wounded moments of his short 33 year life, as his executioners were affixing him cruelly to his cross, Jesus did not wait for apologies. He forgave them and they weren’t even sorry. “Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they are doing.” Jesus saw beyond the soldiers and their perverse pleasure in administering capital punishment, and He saw them as people in need of what He was doing for them and He loved them. To forgive when someone is sorry is commendable. To forgive when they aren’t sorry is Christ.

In honor of the most romantic month of the year, I want to discuss the dream day of every little girl who has ever lived - her wedding day. One day. 24 hours. Same amount of physical time, but each minute carries with it a weight of expectations that cannot possibly be fulfilled this side of the silver screen. For a girl, the wedding day has the same dreams attached to it as a young boy would in pitching Game 7 of the World Series. Everything must be perfect, from the hall for the reception, to the color of the pastor’s suit.

With so much pressure and weight given to the wedding day in our culture, we sometimes end up with dream weddings and nightmare marriages. Doesn’t it break your heart to be living in a country where nearly 1 in 2 marriages end in divorce? What can the church do to try to better the odds? At Woodside, we want to make your wedding day unforgettable, and you’re marriage unbreakable. Let me tell you how we plan to do this at Woodside…
“Yes! YESSSSSS!! I’ll marry you Johnny!” After several emotional kisses and strong embraces, Susie calls her mom. And her sister. And her friends. Then she logs on to Facebook and changes her relationship status to “Engaged”. He sits stunned and suddenly scared to death.

Before I go further, let me tell you my story… Angela was one of my best friends, someone I absolutely loved to be around. When I finally realized that she might be the one for me, I sputtered out a calculated line (“I’d like to pursue you romantically” was the wording) and after she recovered from my Shakespearean bombshell, she warmed to the idea. Since we had been in a healthy platonic relationship for a long time before the dating began, I already knew many things about her dreams for engagement and marriage. One important detail was that she wanted to be surprised for her engagement (of course), but she wanted her family to all be there as part of the surprise and witnesses to the moment. This made things a little bit tricky for me. Christmas was an obvious choice, but too obvious for my taste. There was one other time that she wouldn’t be expecting: homecoming at our alma mater. So the stage was set, the family in town for the big weekend of soccer games and bad buffets.

One little problem crept up 2 days before the big event was to go down – I was admitted to the hospital with the most extreme case of Mononucleosis that anyone had ever seen. It was so bad that my room became a required stop for medical school students to study my condition. This entire engagement plan that I had hatched had one big requirement – me! The doctors wanted to keep me for a week to be safe, or at least until my skin faded from the color of a yellowed bruise to at least my normal autumn pale pallor. I plead my case with every nurse that tended to my needs. I used guilt. I begged. I reasoned. I used every ounce of salesmanship that I could muster from my exhausted and depleted frame to convince them of the worthiness of my cause. With the help of some crafty nurses that couldn’t resist a good happy ending, the doctor very reluctantly discharged me just hours before the event was to happen. Now 25 pounds lighter after 3 days in the hospital, I sought to force myself to imagine eating something besides apple juice at dinner that night. After a cutesy trip up the stairs reading poetry that I composed and collecting roses, Angela walked into the living room to see her whole family there and her emaciated boyfriend attempting to get down on one knee without crumbling. She said yes! No kisses for me – lest you have forgotten my condition.

And so began our 8 month engagement… Tuxes and dresses were found – cake, invitations, reservations, down payments, travel arrangements, diets, were all waves crashing on us from this ocean of details. We had a few counseling sessions with the pastor that was to marry us, and unfortunately for us, the only thing I remember about it was a very impassioned talk on the difference between a traditional IRA and a Roth IRA.

The wedding day was memorable and beautiful, but I was soon to find out that marriage is a lot different than dating. My own selfishness and thoughtlessness which had gone before undetected was now deafening and embarrassing. How I wish we would have spent as much time preparing for our marriage as we had for our wedding! It has been nearly 8 years since our wedding day, and In spite of my own inadequacies and failings, God has blessed us with an amazing marriage. We definitely have our ups and downs, our trophies and tourniquets, but the joy that being together brings us is overwhelming.
At Woodside, we want to see our people get married, not just have a wedding.

This is the heart of what drives our Mentoring Program. We have a group of Godly couples that desire to invest many hours into our engaged couples, working through a book, sharing meals, and creating a safe space to share hopes, dreams, and fears. We want to have our couples as prepared for marriage as possible, working through important issues and unifying the couple relationally, emotionally, and spiritually.

After the engagement happens, call your mom then call us! We will immediately check for availability on one of our three campuses and reserve the date for you. Not only are there different worship center choices, but there is also a new outdoor wedding option in a brand new gazebo at the Troy Campus which will be ready by this summer. There is no rental charge to use our buildings, Woodside is YOUR CHURCH! Our only fees are kept as low as possible for our sound and lighting professionals so that everyone can afford to have a magical wedding at Woodside. Our information packet will be sent to you that will answer all your questions about the process. A meeting with one of our pastors is then set up before you are paired with one of our mentoring couples. During this engagement time, you are encouraged to join our Young Married/Engaged Group, called Fusion, which has a Sunday morning AFG, small groups, and a social calendar.

We are committed to seeing our people enter into marriages that are as beautiful and breathtaking as the wedding itself. So if 2008 is the year that you tie the knot, please consider getting married at Woodside. It would be our honor and great delight.

Ahhhhh… New Year’s Resolutions. What a great time of year. The definition of the word Resolution that we use around this time of year is “a firm decision to do something”. I love that definition. “I’m gonna do something this year!” As opposed to the last few years in which I apparently firmly decided to do nothing. It usually involves losing weight, working out, getting that pesky degree finished, finishing that remodeling project that was started awhile back. You know, the kind of resolutions that you have already tried and failed by the second week of January.

But there is another definition of Resolution that I really like – and maybe we can think about it this way in 2008. It is also used as a musical term, to describe the movement of a note or chord from dissonant to consonant. In other words, the resolution is the moment of the music where pleasing harmony is restored. The unpleasant dissonant notes that provide tension and complexity to the song and allow for the climactic payoff that the pleasing consonant notes bring. The resolution is that moment where all that seemed chaotic and maybe even out of control is brought to a beautifully stirring and harmonic peace.

If I were to analyze my life within this framework, I would have to conclude that at the end of 2007, there are some relationships, decisions, tensions, concerns, oversights, hesitations, and so much more that are in a state of chaotic dissonance. I have allowed once treasured friendships to languish in a state of disrepair. I have pain and regrets in my family that I ignore. I have allowed laziness to dominate my physical choices. I have put my own desires before others on far too many occasions.

To take this further – everywhere I look I see things in need of beautiful resolution. I see poverty just a few miles away. I see homelessness. I see sickness and pain. I see brokenness. I see hopelessness.

In ancient Jewish thought, the Kingdom of Heaven was thought to be bringing peace (shalom) from chaos. In their minds, the ultimate expression of chaos was the seas - the forceful rapids of the Jordan River, the unpredictable storms that would rise on the Sea of Galilee. The creation account itself speaks of God forming the beautiful land and skies from the waters (chaos). Think of how Jesus brought peace from chaos. The healings, the miracles, his teachings… His reading in the synagogue, from Isaiah 61“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”(Luke 4:18-21) Peace from chaos.

This is the kind of Resolution that God wants me to make this year. Instead of breaking promises to myself about eating better and running more, maybe I can ask bigger questions this year. How can I bring these deafening dissonant notes that are being played all around us to any sort of harmony? How can I be used by God to bring this sort of peace to the chaos of this world? I feel that God is asking me to give all I have to see harmony brought to the chaos of this area. And as I attempt to do this, He will bring the peace to my own heart that seems so elusive. As I put others needs before my own – my own needs are met through the grace of God in my life. As I seek to end poverty and homelessness in my state through love and service, my own poverty of heart is healed. As I seek to heal other’s hearts, my own pain is healed by the grace that God showers down. As I seek to forgive those that aren’t sorry, the depth of my own salvation and forgiveness are made more precious.
God, please use me to help bring peace to this chaos, healing to the broken, and a beautiful harmony to this dissonant land - until the day when the most gorgeous heavenly symphony resounds to the ends of the universe.

May our lives be the Resolution in 2008.