Tag Archives: Francis Chan

Reading, studying, & thinking…

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I’ve been re-reading (which with books that one has read before is more like visiting or revisiting an old friend,) “A Long Obedience in the Same Direction” by Eugene Peterson. I love the familiarity of the Songs of Ascent, & Peterson’s thoughts on discipleship, faithfulness, & perseverance in the face of the times of life that are seemingly mundane, humdrum, boring, uneventful, & lonely.

And it gives me great joy to learn & keep learning from those that have gone before me, walking a similar path to the one I’m on… & those that are a few steps ahead of me in life.

For the last few weeks, I’ve been pondering a blog post I read from a guy I look up to… in it he mentions some identifiers, “measuring sticks” really, of spiritual maturity…

1. Our spiritual maturity is measured by the degree which we communicate the love of God to & with others.
2. Our spiritual maturity is also measured by how we encourage others in their spiritual growth & development.

Both of these indicators aren’t fantastic, spectacular, or even… spiritual, in the way that many see spirituality. One thing that stands out to me is that they aren’t focused on the individual, but rather look to others, their lives, & how they can be encouraged, helped, & blessed.

Currently in a series at church called, “GOD – the Holy Spirit”… which came out of an increasing awareness that the Holy Spirit, the 3rd part of the Trinity, seems to be largely misunderstood, ignored, or feared by large segments of the Church at large… & that many (myself included) weren’t really aware of the work, let alone the person of the Spirit. My studies & prep have taken me from the book Forgotten God by Francis Chan to perusing Scripture, with eyes especially looking for where the Spirit is at work & is revealed…

Something I read the other day still rings in my head… it was in Ezekiel 3:24 where Ezekiel has fallen on his face due to the glory of the LORD being revealed. Here it says that the ‘Spirit entered me & made me stand on my feet…”

The Spirit gave Ezekiel strength to stand, & then gave him direction at what to do next. Wow.

Its very encouraging to me to see the Spirit, God’s indwelling representative in me today, actively participating in the “what to do” & the “how to get there.”

musings on a quiet Wednesday night..

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Sitting at theGiant table with theWeez. She’s currently paying the price for having missed several days of school. She was suffering in Hawaii with a friend & her family. Paying the price, you ask? Catching up on HomeWork – 9 days of accumulated Stuff. I’m trying to mind my own business, but she’s trying to take advantage of the fact that I’m sitting here to pick my brain to attack her History. Science. Algebra.

History, maybe. Science, occasionally. Algebra? Please.

Really, honey. I’m doing my best.

In the blah. The day started so well, up early, 5ish, ready to take on the day. Then, I hit the wall at 3, feeling like 5 day old helium balloon. Pushing through.

One of the things that I’ve been occupying my free time with has been the video podcasts from Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley – most of the teaching by Francis Chan. I’m greatly enjoying it.

The series I’m listening to/watching now is from 2Peter 1… which is where I’ve been studying through for our Thursday Night Live Series, “Knowing God.” Which of course caught my eye. Ear. You get the picture.

He’s talking about verses 8 & 9 – about being near-sighted. Getting so focused on the immediate wants, cravings, desires, & needs that any potential consequence of our choices is forgotten or treated as being unimportant, compared to ‘being in the moment.’

Makes me ponder. I’ll be coming back here again.

Dinner time arrives, & the smell of chicken fajitas wafts throughout the house. Smoky pepper seasoning hangs thick, drawing everyone to the kitchen. TheBean strikes again.

Which is hard for her to do, esp. considering that she somehow found a way to make dinner & have it ready at a time she isn’t even here – Wednesdays are ‘double-days’ – where she works a split shift. And it turns out that in the 90 minutes of her ‘break,’ she made a great dinner for us.

Unbelievable.