tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-61653297011528526172024-03-05T07:29:30.413-07:00Shipwrecked PilgrimWeekly thoughts to encourage the conversation begun in our weekend gatherings.Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-27878165587801578662017-04-03T16:53:00.000-07:002017-04-03T16:53:25.994-07:00Felix Culpa<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><i>O Happy Fault, O Happy Fault</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><i>That gained for us, so great a Redeemer</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><i>Fortunate Fall, Fortunate Fall</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: 18px;"><i>That gained for us, so great a Redeemer</i></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">This past weekend we sang the Audrey Assad song "Fortunate Fall". We have sung it previously, so it wasn't new, but this time it generated a number of discussions. Do we really want to sing that the Fall was fortunate, that somehow sin coming into the world is counted as a blessing? I had two conversations about this on Sunday morning and then my Sunday evening community group spent a fair amount of time talking through this - it was a great conversation. I have appreciated our church in that when something like this comes up, rather than just rejecting it and criticizing, we use it as an opportunity to think deeply so that even if we come to different conclusions, we have all moved closer to God. Speaking about the value of theological discussion, J.I Packer says, "It helps me appreciate the greatness, goodness, and glory of God - lifting up the sheer wonder and size and majesty of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The truth I try to grasp and share is truth that enlarges the soul because it tunes into the greatness of God. It generates awe and adoration." </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;">So, to that end I would like to share a few insights to the song we sang this weekend. Again, you can agree or disagree on this one but hopefully in thinking more deeply, our souls will all be enlarged! </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Although the music is new, the words are not. The phrase used in the song is taken from a Latin phrase most often attributed to Augustine from the 4th century.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; orphans: 2; widows: 2;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>Felix Culpa,</i> meaning blessed fall or blessed fault. As sung in the the Easter Vigil of some traditions it is rendered: <i>O felix culpa </i></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><i>quae talem et meruit habere </i><i>redemptorem - </i> meaning "O blessed fault that earned for us so great, so glorious a Redeemer." Concerning the phrase Augustine took this view: "For God judged it better to bring good out of evil than not permit any evil to exist." Thomas Aquinas stated "But there is no reason why human nature should not have been raised to something greater after sin. For God allows evil to happen in order to bring a greater good therefrom." Saint Ambrose reflected "We who have sinned more have gained more, because Your grace makes us more blessed than our absence of fault does." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "whitney" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">In a nut shell what they each imply is that there was something gained for us that would have never occurred had not Adam sinned. Paul states a similar idea: "...where sin abounds, grace abounds more." That could mean that grace is just greater or it could mean that </span><span style="color: #222222;">there is an enlarged manifestation of grace in the world because of sin's presence. Of course that doesn't mean we should sin - Paul says, "may it never be" nor does it make God the author of sin nor does it mitigate that gravity of sin. What is being said is that something is manifested, made known about God that would not have been seen or experienced if there had not been the Fall. </span><span style="color: #222222;">Jesus says that those who are forgiven much, love much. </span><span style="color: #222222;">We know grace, and redemption, and what it means to be united in His death, burial, resurrection and ascension because of the cross and the cross came because we were wrecked in our sin. Ephesians 1 tells us that He had planned to redeem us before the foundation of the world.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">A friend from my community group wrote this out of our discussion:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I love this liturgy because it captures the magnitude of the cross. The fall was not merely an accident of a weak creation—it was not a mistake that the Father did not account for. The Father did not cause us to fall but through His perfection He redeemed it completely to manifest glory through Christ and to bless humanity. The cross of Christ did not merely restore us to the condition we were in before the fall; but to something greater. Through it we can begin to grasp a little more of the depth of his love for us and the greatness of His mercy.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>I like what C.S. Lewis has to say about it: “For God is not merely mending, not simply restoring a status quo. Redeemed humanity is to be something more glorious than unfallen humanity would have been, more glorious than any unfallen race is (if at this moment the night sky conceals any such). The greater the sin, the greater the mercy: the deeper the death the brighter the rebirth. And this super-added glory will, with true vicariousness, exalt all creatures and those who have never fallen will thus bless Adam’s fall.” — C.S. Lewis, Miracles</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>God’s plans are perfect and I love this liturgy because it hits on this. The world we live in is not plan B. It’s not the result of an experiment gone horribly awry. It was the plan all along because it is the way that brings the greatest glory to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost AND it’s the way that we find the greatest blessing. This does not mean that God caused us to sin or that He is culpable in any way. Our failings our purely our own. However, it speaks to the greatness of our God that even in sin, the ultimate of all failure, there is no failure to be found because His cross covers it all.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, is it possible to say that because there is nothing of greater value than the manifestation of the glory, nature and character of God, that even the fall into sin, can be seen as a blessing because through it we know God as our Savior and Redeemer, that we can know Him and glorify Him in a way that would not have otherwise been possible?</span></div>
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Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-16689283511632385202017-03-22T09:38:00.001-07:002017-03-22T09:38:09.932-07:00Simple(written on 3/16/17 in the Sonoran Desert somewhere north of Benson)<br />
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So back into the desert again for my yearly rhythm of wilderness, solitude, silence and listening. I came again, as I do each time, with some books for reading, a hymn book, journal, and some notes to help me embark on my discipline of resting, sitting, reading, writing .... This year I came eager to get direction, insights, to be challenged, connected, encouraged and renewed and was waiting on "what would the Lord show me this year?"<br />
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The answer ... Nothing New!<br />
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In my journal from last year, at the end of the week I wrote that I felt the Lord saying,<br />
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"Chris, just pay attention to Me."<br />
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It was like the parent who is trying to settle down the child who is running all over the place and unable to hear their parent's voices. I jotted down a couple action points, 2-3 things I believed I should be doing in addition to just making more space to pay attention to Jesus.<br />
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Now I am hearing the same thing again - likely because I didn't really pay attention this past year to the extent He longed for me to but also, perhaps, because that is simply the central thing that I should always be focused on. Could it not only be our central calling but even our only calling. "Just pay attention to Me," He says, "and everything else will follow." The Lord is patient and just keeps beckoning - pay attention, sit with Me...<br />
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Is it really as simple as "pay attention to Me?" It reminds me of the disciples on the Mt. of Transfiguration when the Father said "This is my Son, listen to Him!" That's straightforward and clear! We hear in other places as well - "draw near to Me" or "remain in Me" or "seek first the Kingdom."<br />
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A simple plan - clear, focused, inviting - hard to do for hurried souls like mine. What would the year look like if my first and foremost "agenda" item and the guiding element for each day was "pay attention to Him", "abide in Him"? This is more than "devotions" of course - it is a frame of mind and heart that connects all my moments.<br />
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From Calvin Miller: "The highest kind of obedience does not come from always asking, "What will You have me to do?" but in the moment-by-moment rehearsal of our love for Christ."Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-43271058867122756952017-03-10T11:05:00.001-07:002017-03-10T11:06:05.196-07:00solitudeAs a church we are going through a mini series on Spiritual Disciplines; this weekend is on solitude. Following the service I am going on my annual trek out into the Sonoran Desert to "flee, be silent, pray always." Sounds very spiritual and committed! In preparation I though I would sit down and do a short blog on the value of solitude. I got to my blog site... embarrassing and revealing! It has been almost a year since my last post which I sent just prior to my last trip in the desert!! Good intentions of faithfully writing and also following up on what God invited me to the last time have apparently fallen by the side of the road. I came away from the last trip with the words of God echoing in my mind, "Chris, just pay attention to me!" Spoken with force, longing and grace. Now a year later and I am about to spend another week in the desert. Different building this time as the former place is deteriorating - the new one - still isolated looks like a luxury compared to the usual.<br />
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So what has the past year brought - what has come from His speaking to me? If measured in activity and accomplishment - I suppose it has been a full and fruitful year. If measured in depth of relationships, having a stilled and listening heart, being above all things attentive to my Lord ... I don't think I measure up too well. <br />
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It is remarkable how clearly we can sometimes hear the beckoning voice of God and how it rings so true and yet move along through the moments of our days, months, a year ... and give our best attention to everything but....!<br />
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So once again I return to the desert to let God do surgery on my life as T. Merton describes.<br />
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“Society . . . was regarded [by the Desert Fathers] as a shipwreck from which each single individual man had to swim for his life. . . . These were men who believed that to let oneself drift along, passively accepting the tenets and values of what they knew as society, was purely and simply a disaster."<br />
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That happens to me everyday as I choose activity over intimacy, demands over longings, the urgent rather than the essential. The follow up, of course, is to the enter back into society and community and ministry and family; but re-entering renewed and reshaped and that should impact everything around me. To this end I am seeking his heart as I let Him develop for me a "Rule of Life" in order to bring the rhythms and clarity of the desert into my everyday ordinary moments. To bring solitude into today, not just one week a year.<br />
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So may these words of Henri Nouwen mark our alone times with Jesus:<br />
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“We enter into solitude first of all to meet our Lord and to be with him and him alone. Our primary task in solitude, therefore, is not to pay undue attention to the many faces which assail us, but to keep the eyes of our mind and heart on him who is our divine savior. Only in the context of grace can we face our sin; only in the place of healing do we dare to show our wounds; only with a single-minded attention to Christ can we give up our clinging fears and face our own true nature. As we come to realize that it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us, that he is our true self, we can slowly let our compulsions melt away and begin to experience the freedom of the children of God”<br />
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Excerpt From: Henri J. M. Nouwen. “The Way of the Heart.”Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-88868599523597375302016-04-16T16:23:00.003-07:002016-04-16T16:23:46.426-07:00receiveThe weekend we are on Matthew 5:17-20 and are discovering that the righteousness the Lord calls is to is a righteousness that is completely different from the Scribes and Pharisees - it is a righteousness RECEIVED - not worked for. I have spent the better part of my life creating a righteousness of my own devising, working it out in my own strength - it is exhausting and unfulfilling even though it often earns pats on the back and the words "well done" by those around me. Jesus came and offers His righteousness - He just wants to dress me in it - receive.<br />
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My family gets frustrated buying me gifts because usually if I need something I just go get it. They try to figure out what I need and of course I have already taken care of it - on my own and so I miss receiving. Its how I live - do it myself - do it well - believing all along that this is what God wants of me - that what I offer earns His praise. What a terrible lie to have believed for so long. He offers something so much better.<br />
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This week I am heading out into the desert for my yearly time of solitude and silence. As I have reflected back in preparation for going I have realized that I o to be still and listen and I end up bringing a bunch of work to accomplish and a list of tasks to do.... and the I miss Him. I have been asking today as I pack to go, "why are you bringing me out to the desert, Lord?" The answer I am hearing is - "Chris, its not to do more work, rather its to cast off the lie and instead receive. Receive My righteousness, My undeserved acceptance, receive My deep delight in you, give it a rest and let Me do the work in and through you."Once again I am reminded - intimacy before ministry. Receive!<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><b>My All in Thee</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica'; font-size: 10.000000pt;">Lyrics by Charles Wesley and Eric J. Marshall</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">When gracious Lord, when shall it be</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">That earth will find her all in Thee?</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The fullness of Thy promise, prove</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Seal me with Thy eternal love</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Thee, only Thee I'm fain to find</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I cast the world and sin behind</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">O my Redeemer, hear this plea</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Show me Your Way, my love, my Lord</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Draw me to grace, so strong and sure</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I run to Your mercy, where I am free</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Lord I am blind, be Thou my sight</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Lord I am weak, be Thou my might</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A helper of the helpless be</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Show me Your Way, my love, my Lord</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Draw me to grace, so strong and sure</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I run to Your mercy, where I am free</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Please mend my soul, my frame, my life</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">A contrite heart, Thou won't despise</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Take now this pain and misery</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">And let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Show me Your Way, my love, my Lord</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Draw me to grace, so strong and sure</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I run to Your mercy, where I am free</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Let me find my all in Thee</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: 'Neue 55', sans-serif; font-size: 16px;" />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-8023480999963222862016-01-20T11:47:00.000-07:002016-01-20T11:47:05.246-07:00astonishedAt the Vineyard we have begun our series "By Every Word" while at the same time embarking on a 40 day reading of the New Testament. Yesterdays reading was Luke 4:14-9:50 and the word <i><b>astonished </b></i>showed up three times! We had first seen it when Jesus was found teaching in the temple as a boy - his parents were astonished by what he said. Now in our reading it says they were ALL astonished. Although some other translations use the word amazed I have found that he word astonished has captured my attention.<br />
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I cannot remember the last time I was astonished. I could make the excuse that I haven't seen the miracles that were happening in these chapters of Luke but then there are daily miracles in my life when I understand that "from Him, and through Him and to Him is everything." But there is more - they were astonished at His teaching. I have His teaching in front of me every day - speaking to me with His authority,,,, but I am not astonished by it.<br />
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So, today I am reflecting on my great lack of astonishment in the face of such good gifts as His constant care and work in my life and His Word. Perhaps it is as we considered last Sunday - I have just forgotten how much I need it - I have been too filled up with other things and it has dulled my appetite for His word and clouded my eyes to His work. Or perhaps I don't let the Word penetrate deep enough and don't readily give thanks for His work...<br />
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So Lord, today, "open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of Your word."ps. 119Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-63228812351801178102016-01-05T11:31:00.003-07:002016-01-05T11:31:58.189-07:00By Every Word<div style="-webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial; font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: normal;">
In the middle of this month the Vineyard will begin our New Testament Immersion: a 40 day journey through the New Testament. As a church we will be reading through the whole New Testament and then having a variety of "hands on" opportunities to interact with one another over what the Spirit shows us as we read and wait on His Word. At the same time we will take a short 8 week break from our teaching series in Matthew and embark on a winter series titled: By Every Word in which we will look closely at what we really believe about the written revelation and examine how we can understand it and be transformed through our interactions with it.</div>
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I have been pondering recently about why I so dearly love the Word of God. From my earliest memories it has always been there. Coloring pages from Sunday School with the verse on top, family devotions as a child from Our Daily Bread, Bible memory contests in the boys Sunday School class at the Wheaton Evangelical Free Church, my Bible verse memory trophy from Awana, the Jr. high Bible quiz team. Do they still do those? There were also times of falling asleep as a little kid with my head on my Bible, my first leather bound Scofield Bible from my Dad that still sits tattered on my shelf, the old woman who sat next to me at Maranatha when I was 12 and showed me - from the Word- why I could know that I had eternal life. And there were those unforgettable times when I just heard a verse and began to weep or experience calling or conviction or when I shared a passage and saw the light go on in someone else's heart.</div>
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The Word has brought comfort, guidance, encouragement and answers. At times it has just overwhelmed me with pictures of God and other times it has sat unlooked at and I have been the poorer for it.</div>
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Man shall not live on bread alone but By Every Word! When I am not eating and chewing on and relishing in the good taste of the Word I begin to languish and doubt and ultimately become disoriented in this confusing world. When I take it in, I don't always understand it and it's flavors are sometimes foreign to me but it satisfies, ministers the presence of God in my life and it's voice is always familiar - the voice my God and my redeemer.</div>
Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-63394525354313688172015-09-26T11:43:00.001-07:002015-09-26T11:43:51.217-07:00Learning My Own Sermon<div class="MsoNormal">
Woke up on Thursday morning – asked the Lord to be in my day
and committed myself to paying attention to Him in all of my ordinary moments –
just as I had spent three weeks preaching about. – then off to the church
office where I had blocked out the day to finish my message and some desk work.
Of course this is “important” “valuable” work and time well spent!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Somewhere along about 1:30pm I just got stuck
in my sermon prep and instead of working through it I decided to find a
diversion – the men’s bathroom in the sanctuary needed a new float mechanism –
maybe I will just do that …<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Master
plumber that I am I shut the water valve off by the back of the toilet, pulled
out the float, put in a new one, reconnected the water line and turned the
water valve back on – simple… except there wasn’t any water coming through.
HMMM – turned the valve off again and pulled off the water line to see if it
was clogged – nope – looks good, and then I noticed that there appeared to be
something blocking the actual valve coming from the wall; that’s when it
happened - <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>without warning – a couple
pebbles along with the interior parts of the valve shot out the top of the
valve followed by an unstoppable explosion of water halted only by the ceiling
of the bathroom!! I turned the valve shut – but it just spun round and round as
the bathroom began filling with water. In a feat of incredible strength I
stopped the water with my left thumb, grabbed my wet cell phone and began dialing
the office upstairs – no answer! So I began to shout for help in between the
occasional moments I could not hold the water back and it would blast up in my
face.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Finally I just let go and raced
upstairs for the water box key, back down the stairs and outside to shut off
the water and then back inside only to see water pouring out into the sanctuary
– wrong valve –back outside, around the building and finally shut it down…..<o:p></o:p></div>
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Completely soaked I began to mop up the mess which also included
the basement bathroom since the water had found its way down there through the
ceiling… I went over to see the Ace “helpful hardware man” down the street<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- I didn’t even have to tell him the problem
as he looked at me – completely soaking wet holding out the old valve. That was
embarrassing! Back to church, a couple trips up and down the stairs and I replaced
the valve – all is well again – I better get back to ”valuable” work at my
desk… except that somewhere along the line I had locked my keys in my office! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>GRRR! Using a credit card – a trick I learned
in college – I finally got the door open – 15 minutes later.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I could say things got better as I applied myself to my work
but it didn’t. I was so wet I didn’t want to sit at my desk – and I wasn’t of a
very spiritual mind at the moment anyways – so back to another diversion – the
kitchen sink drain in the Discipleship House had been draining super slow. All
I can say is that after much investigation I discovered that just under the
sink cover plate there was probably 30 years of buildup completely blocking any
drainage – I would include a picture but it was far too disturbing <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>for public distribution– I scooped it out, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>- yuck - scrubbed it down and got it running
clean and free again.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back at my desk – after several hours – I sat down and
started back into my message – we are on the genealogy of Jesus in Matthew 1.
No wonder I was stuck.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This was not how
this day was supposed to go – have I done anything of value?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I read though the genealogy again – lists of
people, generations, some very faithful and some not so nice and more than a
few who were of a very poor reputation … and then Jesus! <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was suddenly reminded of all these lives
lived, lives full of opportunities, failures, strengths, weaknesses and years
and years of ordinary moments…. And Jesus was born into that family tree and
into those same moments and moved through His days like us, and probably
experienced ordinary, maddening days like mine had been. Their stories were
much like ours and the genealogy showed that the Lord was in those lives and
days All the moments are part of the whole picture, part of my shaping,, all enfolded
into God’s greater story.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Then I remembered our series on “Sanctification of the
Ordinary” – that all our work was of value and how we were reminded to use the
ordinary moments – even the difficult and frustrating ones – as an opportunity
to turn freshly to Jesus – to see Him in all those places and also to learn to
stop amidst all the moments and remember that He is the one who does the work –
to be refreshed in the stopping. <o:p></o:p></div>
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And so finally I stopped and rested and reflected and
listened.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sermon prep, toilet and drain
repairs, locked doors, wet trips to the hardware store – all were gifts
–opportunities to pay attention to Him, to be more like Him, to reflect Him no
matter what work I was doing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I Cor. 10:31 -<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">So, whether you eat or drink, or
whatever you do,<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Helvetica Neue";">do all to the glory
of God.</span></i><o:p></o:p></div>
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Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-26837199447113229172015-04-12T19:44:00.001-07:002015-04-12T19:44:18.689-07:00entranceWatch the video to the left and enjoy this - beautiful!<br />
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Entrance - Liz Vice<br />
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There you were hanging, transforming the pain into<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Entrance into your heart<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Before we could come in, you had to destroy within<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The dark that kept us apart<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Before we had heard of you, but had no concern for you<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Darkness was all around<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />The wall was so high, no way to get by<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But then you tore it all down</div>
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We crossed the threshold and death lost his control<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />As the sun rose in our hearts<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />We felt the warm embrace, of your sovereign grace<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Now, every day we can start<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />To live and love with you, follow and worship you<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />With songs that flow from our soul.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Filled with the light of you, as we are led by you<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Longing with joy to be home</div>
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Jesus come, take our hand<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Lead us into the promise land (X4)</div>
<span style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-family: proxnov-reg, arial, sans-serif; line-height: 16px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /> </span>Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-22722312933193494902015-03-15T08:38:00.000-07:002015-03-15T08:38:04.899-07:00Not graspingMy thanks to Cameron who was leading worship on Saturday night - left after the service and wrote down these reflections and so I share them with you. We were in Philippians 2:5-11. The message is online at the church website<br />
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“To those who received him, he gave the right to become children of God.”<br />
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Receiving him. Welcoming him. Believing in him. Accepting his finished work. If it’s all gift, there’s nothing to be grasped at. Nothing to earn that is not freely given. What are you believing right now about what it will take for God to accept you, love you, like you? Could your zeal no respite know, could your tears forever flow, none of it could atone or make you good enough. All that’s required is receiving him, believing you are his valuable child; because he says so, and because he did the work.<br />
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But it’s a value he gives to all, and not a value by degree that you can outwardly earn. Not by competition, attractiveness, or being the most-efficient. Not through selflessness or self-flagellation, by being holier than your spouse, or through any other religious fervor. Nothing is earned. It’s all a gift. In Jesus alone your atonement is known. The rock on which you rest, sleep, stand, cook — enjoy your life — is Jesus. And his gift is freely given.<br />
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Or did he not finish his work? Did he leave something undone that you by your sweat and striving and inner judgements will complete?<br />
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What would it be like to just believe that it’s finished? That it’s all just given as a gift? Your sonship, your daughterhood, your unshakeable identity. Who would you be in the world? What kind of kingdom would be modeled in your life to others? As Pastor Chris said, if you didn’t earn it, no one else did either. Could you forgive them for not being holy? If the ground on which you rest is only grace, isn’t there boundless room to stretch out that grace like a warm blanket for others?<br />
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I want to lift up that one. I want to bow my knees for him. The kindest, gentlest, humblest king. All things were made through him, the Word who was the formation of all that is hidden and unspoken in the unfathomable mind of God. That one came to us offering universal acquittal, full reconciliation. He came to his own and his own did not receive him.<br />
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He comes to us, and we don’t receive him.<br />
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All that we so noisily run after, abuse and manipulate others for, compete, strive, and grasp after, he humbly offers in a quiet inner quiescence. Just receive. It’s free. Just receive. Peace, rest, belonging, value, and love are offered freely, without cost. You who cannot afford it, come buy milk and wine without money and without cost. But we insist on paying. How can we have anything of true value to offer others if we’re still busy striving to earn our worth — grasping at it — the same way as everyone else? We reflect our king poorly, and so the world doesn’t see a king worth lifting up.<br />
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They don’t believe in the goodness of the gift, because we don’t either.<br />
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What does it look like to cut the rope to which we cling, alone and freezing to death? To let go of our own grip and find that we are already held. What is the death of self? What part of you dies if you cut the rope of your own earned-holiness and rest only on his word about you? If it’s all a gift and nothing that you earn, why do you insist on paying? Why do you want the law? Don’t you know that the only thing that writes the law into your very heart is love? While those sinners are yet sinners, he loves them. While you currently fall short, he loves you.<br />
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Jesus, I need faith to receive you fully. To trust you not only for my identity, but for joy, for pleasure, for enough food and enough money, for direction and meaning, for a lady. You said I am your son, and all you have is mine. May I thank you for the gifts even before I see them or fully understand them.<br />
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<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-80094017736799986432015-02-26T11:04:00.001-07:002015-02-26T11:04:04.024-07:00mercyA great meditation on God's mercy as expressed in a really beautiful hymn.<br />
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<a href="http://shereadstruth.com/2015/01/28/hymns-ii-day-3/">http://shereadstruth.com/2015/01/28/hymns-ii-day-3/</a>Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-61405421429769105962015-02-17T11:18:00.000-07:002015-02-17T11:18:00.133-07:00LentHere are two outstanding daily reading resources to help in making Christ central and to freshly engage in the wonder of the Gospel and the mission of God during the Lent season:<br />
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<a href="http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/">http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/</a><br />
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<a href="http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2013/02/Journey-to-the-Cross.pdf">http://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/files/2013/02/Journey-to-the-Cross.pdf</a><br />
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<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-75154965896959852722015-01-17T15:01:00.001-07:002015-01-17T15:05:29.397-07:00tableHave not posted forever - time to get back on track. I will start with this great post by my friend Peter Santucci since it touches on some of our frequent themes here at the Vineyard... besides it is a great vision to support as well.<br />
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<a href="http://eco-pres.org/blog/welcome-to-the-table/#.VLrbp3LBS_A.blogger">Welcome To The Table: Partnering With A Church Plant | ECO Presbyterian</a>Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-18369413863348928452014-06-25T10:28:00.002-07:002015-01-20T06:27:36.738-07:00Pigeons"Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matt. 6:25-26<br />
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"Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.... you are of more value than many sparrows." Matt. 10:29-31<br />
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Wow - really? God actually applies care and compassion and lends his thoughts to sparrows! I wonder if that applies to pigeons as well? I will be honest - I really don't like pigeons - particularly since they have overrun our church recently. There was a whole group of them living above the sanctuary ceiling - I could hear them walking around on Sunday mornings. We eventually drove them out and closed up their access but they have just settled onto other places - windows, ledges, door tops, roofs, building entrances. I shoo them away but they return the moment i leave. They are everywhere and don't seem to serve any useful purpose other than to snicker behind my back and leave huge messes for everyone to see! Who could possibly care for them?<br />
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I came down to the church early this morning and discovered three dead pigeons. One was in pieces on the lawn - probably a victim of the large hawk that lives in the neighborhood. One was lying by the fountain - looked like it had been sickly for a long time. The third was on the roof - like many this time of year - it was probably due to the endless days of 100 plus temperatures. My first thought - forgive me - was "good, that's three less to mess up the building". My next thought surprised me - my Father in heaven saw these pigeons fall - knew the loss of them - birds he had created and cared about. It is almost too crazy to be true - God's compassion and love even extends to these!<br />
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Jesus took time to describe the Father's care for birds and flowers- He has great compassion for them and clothes them like kings - and then He reminds me that there is no comparison to his love for birds and the flowers and the soon to wither grass... and His unending love and care for His own children - us! "How great is the love the Father has given to us that we should be called the children of God!" I John 3:1 "In love He has adopted us." The riches of His grace have been lavished on us! (Eph. 1)<br />
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As I sit this morning considering his care for birds that are here today and then gone - I am struck by how great His love must be for me - indescribable...<br />
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So, do not be anxious - we are of endless value to our creator - that should change our day!Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-25789586242285717862014-06-11T08:35:00.004-07:002014-06-11T08:54:46.047-07:00SabbathSo here at the Vineyard Christian Community we are having a unique Father's Day gathering. We normally have a Saturday evening service and then a Sunday morning service. This weekend we actually cancelled our Sunday service - yes, we cancelled "church" on Father's Day and invited everyone to pack in together at our Saturday service. Our intent ... to practice as a body the God designed and practiced rhythm of work and rest - a pattern us dads often neglect. Our plan was to gather in community and in worship - to begin our "sabbath resting" as one body united around the word and the table. Then we scatter and spend the next 24 hours seeking ways of refreshment in the Lord, ceasing our labors, celebrating life in Him and being reshaped for the full week of work that we will re-enter on Monday. You can listen to the message after june 14th at <a href="http://www.vineyardcc.net/">www.vineyardcc.net</a><br />
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The next step is to read this article by Ruth Haley Barton. It re-outlines some basic principles and then gives some specific and practical steps to experiencing the joys of sabbath - God's gift of time.<br />
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You can read it here:</div>
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<a href="http://www.transformingcenter.org/2013/07/part-2-leading-in-rhythm-rhythms-of-work-and-rest/">http://www.transformingcenter.org/2013/07/part-2-leading-in-rhythm-rhythms-of-work-and-rest/</a>Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-64745242993091864432014-06-01T08:22:00.000-07:002014-06-01T08:22:23.873-07:00PaddleSo I am in Michigan visiting my daughter and staying in my parents - now empty - home by Lake Michigan. A chance to rest, enjoy the green and the water - peace. My brother has a couple of Stand Up Paddle Boards that I have been using each day. Both early in the morning and later in the evening as the sun goes down I paddle up the channel and out into Lake Michigan - an escape into stillness, gliding along untethered, unhindered, just the splash of the paddle and the coolness of the water washing periodically over my feet.<br />
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But - each time as I get started - there has been an intrusion - a breaking in upon my mind and heart - a wave of worry and anxiety - unlooked for, unwelcome, but all very real and difficult to shake. I have always considered myself to be fairly free of anxiety - to be good at "be anxious about nothing" but in truth I just cover it up and bury it in busyness - so it is there, remaining and having its impact while I go on deciding to believe all is well in my soul.<br />
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I am not sure if we can ever just stop being anxious but I do know that I can hand it over to Jesus, to have Him come alongside and carry it for me - and the first step towards that is to face it, call it out, see it there weighing upon my heart. So off I go paddling along and in that still place of quiet and solitude the worry comes - as it always does when I fist go to places of solitude - but as I keep paddling along and the worry is unmasked and revealed - I can then hand it over or more often see the Lord take hold of it for me. The troubles don't always go away but the anxiousness gets lifted and my board glides along more peacefully.<br />
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Soon I begin to notice more along the way - the Canadian Geese and their little ones, the Crane hiding along the shore, the fish skirting under my board, the glimmers of sun reflecting on the water, the rest that comes when I remember Jesus is bigger and even more present than any sadness, or care or hurt and uncertainty.<br />
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And there it is again - the door to renewal, rest, peace and life comes through a pathway of quietness, and time and space and pulling away - not always comfortable at first but always reviving at its conclusion.Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-57212979295990125812014-05-13T09:15:00.001-07:002014-05-13T09:15:57.388-07:00Pot PiesI was recently ill for a few days and not really into our dinners. Instead I had a hunger for a pot pie; my mom always gave us Swanson's Pot Pies when we were sick - its not for every day - just sick days. TV dinners on the other hand are good anytime! (I never claimed that this blog was a good source of nutritional information) I love how TV dinners are all divided up - each food with its own proper place - I can take them on one at a time - never messy, it is neat, clear, and I know exactly what I am eating (well, maybe).<br />
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I have written and spoken on this before but it has intersected my heart once again - I like to treat life like a TV dinner - I have work, family, leisure, projects, church, worship, sports - each is in its own select spot and I live them out one at a time. Whenever they try to interact - think mix - with each other - like foods in a pot pie -I frantically try to regain order and put each back in its place.<br />
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<b>Truth</b> - it doesn't make for a very healthy and tasty life - it leaves me hungry, a bit anemic and wondering why my days seem to be lacking some spark of life. In truth, we are to see life more like a pot pie - everything is mixed together.<br />
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I have two favorite perspectives on worship:<br />
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"When a person, yielding to God and believing the truth of God, is filled with the Spirit of God, even <i>his faintest whisper will be worship!</i>" </div>
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(A W Tozer)</div>
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We are not created to worship. Nor are we created for worship. </div>
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We are <i>created worshipping!</i></div>
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(Harold M. Best)</div>
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As God's creation, an image bearer, - all I do is worship - resting, working, talking, reading, doing laundry, getting beat in basketball in the back yard by my son, washing the dog, preaching a sermon, driving across town, hugging my wife, answering an email, taking a walk, eating ..... all is worship! And it is not always neat, doesn't always feel like worship ... but it is all designed to celebrate that we live in the context of a loving, creating God who shows Himself through the most insignificant of our activities when were are not aware of His working and also in those moments when His Spirit makes Himself clearly known.<br />
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So Lord, in the varied mix of activities and living that make up this day - the worshipping You that is my life - may I breath out worship in every moment. AmenChris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-37489132600238690272014-05-06T09:33:00.003-07:002014-05-06T09:33:44.541-07:00RestlessSo, just finished almost 3 days on Mt. Lemmon praying with close to 50 other pastors from Tucson; to wait on Him to move, direct, encourage, challenge, unify. Some generous friends made their cabin available to that I was able to arrive at the Prayer Summit a day early and stay an extra day afterward. Some time for quiet, solitude, rest, listening, planning...<br />
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It was a perfect place- the trees were incredible, the cabin comfortable and quiet - the only sound was the creaking floor and the wind - I had plenty of coffee - comfortable blankets - perfect! So Wednesday afternoon, evening and Thursday morning were all mine...<br />
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But I was so restless!! </div>
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I kept getting distracted from my time and its purposes and kept feeling this urgency to make the short drive back to a full busy life, responsibilities, opportunities, my list that was waiting. The other voice reminded me that I was up here for something of value with just the Lord, to rediscover what makes a truly "full" life...<br />
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But I was so restless!</div>
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Each year I spend 6-8 days out in the desert near Cascabel - it is completely isolated, silent, absolute solitude. I get restless there as well - the rest of life has a very loud, persistent and compelling voice - but in this desert place, I can't leave - I literally have no way out till my arranged ride comes to pick me up .... so, restless as I am, I persevere through it. It takes a couple days or so, but those loud voices that make me restless begin to quiet down and the benefits of solitude and silence begin to break through.<br />
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Up on Mt. Lemmon it was too easy to leave, to give in to the restlessness and so.... I headed down earlier than planned and drove straight to my office, and my mail, and my lists! As a result, some of the shaping that God desired to do in me - didn't happen.<br />
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I have come to realize that the restlessness is actually there Holy Spirit letting me know that I have allowed to much in, too much clutter in my heart and mind and soul - the restlessness I feel in my quiet moments are a warning as well as an invitation... an invitation to stillness and rest and fullness and peace and eventually work that is empowered by the Spirit.<br />
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So today - stop long enough to feel the restlessness and the invitation. It is only when we hit the brakes and lunge forward that we notice how fast we are going and often how far away we have gotten.<br />
<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-70990514141873299532014-03-10T10:33:00.001-07:002014-03-10T10:33:44.189-07:00LentWow - can't believe my failure to update this - weekly! I will get back in that good habit. Just wanted to recommend a great site for daily devotionals around the Lent Season. Each day includes music, art, scripture and a prayer. A great way to start each day.<br />
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<a href="http://ccca.biola.edu/lent/#" target="_blank">The Lent Project</a>Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-86066311635995014282013-12-04T08:16:00.002-07:002013-12-04T08:16:58.616-07:00No Want<div class="MsoNormal">
Christmas time always had a different feel from the rest of
the year growing up – we definitely did more together as a family, there were
longer conversations, my dad worked a bit less and my two older brothers and my
younger sister and I spent hours playing hockey in the basement or 2 on 2
football in the back yard. Cares that quietly burdened my heart through the
year were pushed into the corners during those times.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was 16, both brothers were away at college and had some
other plans that were going to limit their time at home during Christmas, the
house felt too quiet and the cares and pains felt heavier. It seemed nothing
was happening in preparation for Christmas so I told my mom I was going to take
care of everything. I purchased a tree, put it up with its decorations, hung
fresh wreaths inside and outside and covered our many pine trees along the
driveway with lights and strings of popcorn and cranberries. I was desperate to
make a time of "feeling good" happen – to meet my needs and what I thought my family
needed. But – as we all know – those moments pass and we are left once again to
face our days.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The song we sang in church the other day by Audrey Assad
really took hold of me…</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From the love of my own comforts<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From the fear of having nothing<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From a life of worldly passions<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From the need to be understood<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From the need to be accepted<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From the fear of being lonely<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Deliver me, O God<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Every statement rang true for me - as they always have. I
can work so very hard to meet or resolve those things in my own way and through
my own striving but the fears and needs remain and holding them is
unsatisfying and crippling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">And I shall not want, no I shall not want<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">When I taste Your goodness, I shall not want!<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The chorus isn’t something “to do” but rather a declaration
of what is true. As a child of God, as one who can say that Jesus is Immanuel –
God is with me - it is a chorus to sing over and over and over – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want</i>!
Though the struggles or pain or temptations or fears may often still whisper to
me, there is peace and rest with the One who always cares for my soul.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p> </o:p> </div>
Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-60684160661432615932013-11-23T18:20:00.000-07:002013-11-23T18:20:24.089-07:00miscellaneousIt seems that no two days are alike lately - each day seems to be a cafeteria of unrelated happenings served up in one big pile on my plate.... doesn't sound too appetizing. Even with a few desserts mixed in it still feels like days without purpose. Of course there is work each day at the church, yet often "interrupted" by things that can seem to drain more life than give it, I have been sick on and off for the last two weeks, lost my voice, sleep eludes me, the starter on my Jeep keeps playing games with me, too much driving, I had to cancel the church BBQ for tomorrow because of rain - in Tucson??? The one delight was having the Cats upset Oregon today!! Are days filled with the miscellaneous what this life is about? Where are the great things?!<br />
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As I reflect on this - in between sneezing and blowing my nose - I realize that Jesus' days were not much different. Pressed in by people, no time to eat, trouble all around, complaints and demands, dusty roads, meals at odd times - days filled with the demanding and mundane..... Yet - Jesus embraces each one as a gift, each moment as it is - filled with the works of God - yes, He had some momentous moments but a lot of the miscellaneous as well.<br />
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So on this day Lord - give me eyes to see Your presence in every normal and even frustrating moment and give me a heart that is filled with gratitude that I walk through each of these with You!Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-8043728928837200022013-10-19T16:55:00.002-07:002013-10-19T16:55:47.024-07:00MindI am in my 3rd full day of my annual hermitage in the Sonoran Desert. Woke up just before the sun came up highlighting the beautiful hills. Had a small cup of coffee as I sang a hymn, read the Gospel of Mark and then enjoyed a chapter of a compelling book by N.T. Wright. What a great way to start ... apart from the world, alive to Christ with my mind on Him. I decided to take a short walk in the cool of the morning and then - unknowingly - started humming a song ... I suddenly stopped and realized what I was humming. It was the theme song from Laverne & Shirley!!<br />
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Where did that come from and to have it intrude upon this place! Then, as it so often happens, I tried to get it out of my mind and it just kept coming back. Yes - we are new creatures in Christ but our minds have a ways to go to being fully transformed.<br />
<br />
Last year when I was here in the desert the Lord asked me "what do you want me to do for you?" Down at the deepest level I wanted to know His presence. This week He has been asking me "What do you want Me to do IN you?" Two answers have been settling on me. 1) To bring upon me a regular, ongoing poverty of spirit. I can't produce this and so I look to Him to do it. 2) The other answer has been for Him to produce in me the "mind of Christ." To be able to see the world as He does, to see Him as He really is, to see myself as He sees me... It will take His transformation to accomplish this especially seeing that on such a perfect morning my mind goes to Laverne & Shirley.<br />
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Of course there are things I do that can hinder that renewal of mind and there are things we can do to encourage it and open the door to the Holy Spirit's renewing work. "You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee." Is. 26:13 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your mind...." Ultimately- as I look to Him - it is the work of the Holy Spirit to create and produce the "mind of Christ."<br />
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I Cor. 2 is an encouragement. Who can understand or know the mind of God? It is the Holy Spirit, and because He dwells in me I too can have the mind of Christ. "but we have the mind of Christ."<br />
I Cor. 2:16 There it is, by virtue of the indwelling Holy Spirit the mind of Christ is in me!<br />
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So Lord, let Your thoughts and heart and words explode forth in my mind that it may be filled with You today.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
May the mind of Christ me Savior</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Live in me from day to day</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
By His love and power controlling</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
All I do and say</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
(1925)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"And let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ...." Phil. 2:5</div>
Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-64056774414799949762013-09-03T13:16:00.001-07:002013-09-03T13:22:49.874-07:00sandI have had the chance to spend some time with family in Michigan this week and we spent a good part of our time gathered on the shores of Lake Michigan. My niece has a 1 year old little girl named Harper who loves being at the beach but has no love for sand. She is happy on the towel or sitting on the paddleboard but refuses to put her hands or feet in the sand. At one point she was sitting on the paddleboard but slipped backwards till she was sitting on the dreaded sand. Her feet were still up on the board and she had her hands up as high as she could and had a horror stricken look on her face. She kept trying to get up on the board but there was no way without putting either her hands or feet into the sand. She was going to have to go somewhere she desperately wanted to avoid - the sand - in order to get somewhere she desperately wanted to be - back on the board. She wouldn't do it and her cries eventually convinced mom to rescue her from her plight.<br />
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I thought of the disciple Peter as he was on the beach with Jesus after the resurrection.(John 21) He was struggling with the future, his failures, his own shame and in that difficult place Jesus kept trying to call him into a more difficult place - a place of confession and dependence and service and the unknown- he didn't want to go there! Jesus kept calling and in the end we see Peter following Jesus.<br />
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Peter on the beach, little Harper in the sand - it is picture of me. My own shortcomings, habits, patterns, failures - or just life - lands me in a hard place- a place I don't want to be and the Spirit comes along and says that the way out is down further into difficulty - the step to freedom first requires going to a more difficult spot - and I don't want to do that! Then - sometimes because of trust and sometimes because I have no choice - I go there - fearful - and my hands and feet get "covered in sand" and I look and find Jesus there - waiting, ready to heal, ready to restore, full of life - completely present in that place I did not want to go. Like Peter on the beach - a breakfast and a Savior is waiting with love and life!<br />
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I have found that in times of trouble God sometimes just picks me up and rescues me from it all - much like Harper's mom did - but sometimes the rescue is a step further - as Cameron's song - "a step into fear" ... but Jesus always meets us there and that place actually becomes a place of peace.<br />
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<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-50042132820395062012013-05-28T07:02:00.002-07:002013-05-28T07:02:19.279-07:00Fathers Father's Day is coming soon and I have been wanting to write something particularly about the importance of teaching and modeling the primacy of "being" prior to "doing" as I am often prone to pushing for right behavior over and above identity in Christ. To that end I am directing you to a really good blog post that I read this morning; it is by Kevin East. His blog is called "Following to Lead" You can read his latest post at:<br />
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<a href="http://followingtolead.com/family/is-the-christianity-you-teach-your-kids-not-really-christianity-at-all/">http://followingtolead.com/family/is-the-christianity-you-teach-your-kids-not-really-christianity-at-all/</a><br />
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<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-65715602672781054822013-04-23T09:13:00.002-07:002013-04-23T09:24:15.848-07:00kneesI don't actually get down on my knees to pray very often. I remember as a kid kneeling by my bed - the last thing I would do before resting in the Lord. It was a good habit - long abandoned. I recall at a service one summer at Maranatha Bible Conference, the teacher had everyone kneel ... there were old wooden benches and bark for the flooring - I spent most of the prayer moments trying to rearrange the bark.<br />
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Getting on my knees means I really need help - John 15:5 says "apart from me you can do nothing."<br />
I am always in desperate need of help yet I will usually only get to my knees when all else fails or when our worship leader instructs us to get on our knees as Cameron did this past weekend! The song we sang by Seryn goes like this...<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>On my knees, I can see, where my heart needs to be</i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>When this life, gets to me, I'll be found, on my knees</i></div>
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Truth is, when life gets to me I first ignore it, pretend all is well. When that fails to sustain I then jump in on my own and try to wrestle it into submission - I usually get beat up in the process. Eventually I begin to wilt and then - ever so slowly - start dropping to my knees - one at a time of course - there in that moment I do begin to see my heart and where it needs to be - it is desperate, hurting, needy - it is also held, embraced, loved by the Father and made alive in Christ. In those good moments that I come to so haltingly - I don't necessarily see how to manage life - but I do see a great God, a companion, a healer - and on my knees I do find rest.<br />
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For a great reflection on our kneeling experience this past weekend I would recommend Kirsten Phillips blog and her post "undignified" - see it here:<br />
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<a href="http://www.thekirstentree.com/">www.thekirstentree.com</a><br />
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<br />Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6165329701152852617.post-48781380211807674602013-04-17T13:01:00.001-07:002013-04-25T19:22:34.844-07:00ShakenLast week we finished our look at John the baptist and glossed over the statement in Luke 7:24 ff...<br />
"Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John:"What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?"<br />
<br />
The implied answer was of course - No! The one who came in the spirit and power of Elijah seemed to be anything but a reed shaken by the wind. Even in his times of questions and doubts, Jesus commended him for his steadfastness of work and mission. John had a confidence and conviction about who he was, who Jesus was and clarity about his own calling and mission. This gave him a foundation that enabled him to move through his day and step aside when it was time.<br />
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I am not like that! On the outside I can appear confident and focused and at ease with all that comes along... but inside I am often uncertain, confused and way too often just responding to the needs and demands of any given moment. Jesus never seemed pressed by the moment, he was not ruled by the urgent or distracted away from His primary callings. When I am tossed and shaken like a reed, my days become unsatisfying and I trade the Lord's call and work for something else altogether.<br />
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So - what is the solution - I am not altogether sure but i seem to always be taken back to the need for regular Sabbath days and moments - stopping when all is pushing and then yielding. Everything in me screams not to do that but when I do - the screaming quiets down, the striving ends, and the way gets clear again.Chris De Haanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03097951153522549637noreply@blogger.com1