A poem I've grown to love

Holy One,
there is something I wanted to tell you
but there have been errands to run,
bills to pay,

arrangements to make,

meetings to attend,

friends to entertain,

washing to do...

and I forget what it is I wanted to say to you,
and mostly I forget what I'm about,
or why.

O God,
don't let me forget, please
for the sake of Jesus Christ...


O Father in Heaven,
perhaps you've already heard what I wanted to tell you.
What I wanted to ask is
forgive me,

heal me,

increase my courage, please.

Renew in me a little of love and faith,
and a sense of confidence,
and a vision of what it might mean

to live as though you were real,

and I mattered,

and everyone was sister and brother.



What I wanted to ask in my blundering way is
don't give up on me,
don't become too sad about me,

but laugh with me,

and try again with me,

and I will with you, too.

-Ted Loder, Guerrillas of Grace

Old Guys Rule!

I hope I'm as cool as this guy when I turn 61...

Don't Forget!

I spent a week with the MCYM Staff at the annual MCYM Welcome/Goodbye Conference in Wildberg, Germany and God spoke into my life clearly and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you through this medium. Who is this God? and Who are we? Two questions that were posed during two sessions of the Conference. The speaker Dave Sanders used a quote from a book called Creation / Temptation by Bonheoffer that said, "Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God." It seems easy for us to forget sometimes the God we serve:

How good He really is...
How Holy...
How merciful...
How He is full of light and in Him there is no darkness at all...
How strong...
How eternal...
How matchless...
How complete...
How victorious...
How loving...
How gracious...
How BIG...
How true...
How Glorious...

And then we not only forget who He is, at least as I speak for myself: I often forget who I am:

I am accepted.
I am God's child. John 1:12
I am Christ's friend. John 15:15
I am united with the Lord. 1 Corinthians 6:17
I am bought with a price, I belong to God. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20
I am a member of Christ's body. 1 Corinthians 12:27
I have access to God through the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 2:18
I am complete. Colossians 2:10
I am secure.
I am free from condemnation.
I am assured all works together for good. Romans 8:28
I cannot be seperated from the love of God. Romans 8:35-39
I will be perfected. Phillipians 1:6
I can find grace and mercy in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
I am significant.
I am the salt and light of the earth. Matthew 5:13-14
I have been chosen and appointed to bear fruit. John 15:16
I am God's workmanship. Ephesians 2:10
I may approach God with freedom and confidence. Ephesians 3:12
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Phillipians 4:13

What would happen to God's people if we reminded oursleves daily through His Word and prayer... Who He is and Who we are in Him? I think the world and our lives would be turned upside down. I think people would be loved and experience true love. I think people would come to know God and hearts would bow down in worship before Him. I don't wanna forget who God is and I don't want a false perspective of myself. It is no longer I that live but He is alive in me! Thats why I wanted to share this with you. It's changing my life, and I pray it will change you.

Lives Change in His presence...

Bryan is the founder of WalkingonWater.org and one of my favorite guys. I had the chance to hear him speak at UNF last year. I just wanted to share this clip of his testimony with you. Give it a few minutes and listen to the change. The Lord works in the lives of people. He wants us to know Him.

That's My KING

"Christian" ...what?

It's a hard life. People are hurting in every direction. Kids are wanting to grow up quick and make money, parents work hard just to keep up, just to keep their head above water. Culture is a flood of perception, the media comes in quick and quite often unchecked, and we wonder where our materialistic impulses come from. I wonder why it's so easy to notice someone in new clothes but we try our best to look away when we see signs of pain or conflict? Is it just easier to complement then to get tangled in the emotions of human interaction on a real level? And when did we learn to put on a fake smile and just do what it takes to make it through the day? I understand that on some level composure is necessary but when is the right time to be real? We are christians. But what does that mean? When the whole world walks by with blinded eyes, what is our response? Is it enough to be a good person or believe that Jesus exists or is being a christian something more, something completely other? Is a christian someone who goes to church and hears the truth or is a christian someone who does truth, who lives in accordance with it? What does the Bible say a christian is? John 5:24: "I tell you the truth; whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” The word “Christian” appears in the Bible only 3 times. A Christian is more often described as “a person in Christ” or “Christ in you.” Followers of Jesus Christ were first called “Christians” in Antioch (Acts 11:26) because their behavior, activity, and speech were like Christ. The word “Christian” literally means, “Belonging to Christ” or a “follower of Christ.” It's all about having a relationship with Christ. It's out of the overflow of that love that we should come together to confront injustice and humbly rise up against the flow of desperate living that seeps through the cracks of our culture because of our nature. We need a new nature, we need rejuvenation... we need a new heart, a new mind a new Spirit at work in our lives. This is being "in Christ" 2 Corinthians 5:17: Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,” he is a new creation;” the old has gone, the new has come!” I've been asking this question "what is a Christian?" from a small group resource we are using. A true Christian is a person who has put faith and trust in the person and work of Jesus Christ, including His death on the cross as payment for sins and His resurrection on the third day. A true Christian is indeed a child of God, a part of God’s true family, and one who has been given new life in Jesus Christ. How do you become a Chrisitian? By admitting that you have sinned, believing that Jesus Christ, who was sinless, died in your place, He did not deserve death but accepted this penalty on our behalf and committing your life to Jesus, the risen Lord, by asking Him into your heart to change your life and make you more like Him. Romans 10:9-13: That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame." For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, For, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."

I've really enjoyed the first entry in the small group book called, "My first 30 quiet times." We are going through this book with some of our middle schoolers and that question just couldn't escape my mind. What is a Christian?

LOL

This made me laugh so much I had to put it on here!

Chapter 3 type Faith

Truly these must be days of grace. One thing I've learned about God, when you hang on through the storms and let faith sustain you in the dark times... He always reveals Himself to be good and full of life. I've still got crazy passions and misunderstood notions of what I should do with my life and where I should be, which road I should take but I am in Christ. Wherever I go, whatever I do, I pray that I will do it unto the Lord and make what little vapor I have count. What's the use in trying to be someone else. I am willing to go anywhere, but just to be transparent... I can't discount the fact that the Lord may want to use me in ways that are different than my desires to serve Him... Yet I serve a risen Savior that also wants to give me the desires of my heart. Still, the closer I get to Jesus the more I see that my heart is desperately wicked and can't be trusted. None are righteous, no not one. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us!!! I want to live for Him. I want to be willing to do what He calls me to, even if it's embarrasing, awkward and uncomfortable... even if I have to go against the grain and learn to speak up for truth and testify to what is right. I wanna learn to worship Jesus despite the circumstances, despite my will but in adoration of His. I want to be willing to live near or far from glassy peelers and waist high rip curls. I long to learn to love, even when I can't be loved in return. I want to be commited to the calling that God has on my life and be found faithful in the small things. I want to be a light that shines on the top of the hill into the darkness and never feels ashamed of the Spirit that's changed me. I want to be less religious and more in love with Jesus. I want to give myself and my time when I feel I've got nothing left to give, to serve in ways that people don't even notice but in ways that God sees Himself represented in me. I want to be more like Him and less like me. God change me more, give me Wisdom to live in this world for you, in Spirit and in Truth.

in the stillness...

my december from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

This video is so contemplative... Think about life, behind the beauty, there is love. In the silence, in the stillness. Every moment is a moment made by God for Him. I'm so glad I'm a part of His family, His story.

Changes...

Changes-Chris O'Rourke from WalkingOnWater on Vimeo.

Changes Everything...

Back from Italy...

The world is so big and full of wonder, glory and mystery. The Lord paints the sky and gives breath to flesh, changes our hearts toward truth and mercy by grace. The people are what matter, those souls that roam the land and the sea are spiritual beings on a human journey. It's not about the car you drive or the clothes you wear, the money in the bank or what's left in your wallet, it's not about the bling or even your biggest dreams... It's about Him. God's plan for your life is for you to know Him and make Him known. Hearing the Gospel changes me to this day. hearing of who Christ is, the power and the grace, hearing of what He came to do, His finished work on the cross, hearing of His ressurection, how He conquered sin and death, hearing about His Spirit, that He is alive forever more, in me... Changes Everything. His life, death and ressurection have turned the world and trusting hearts upside down. Now our lives are poured out into the darkness and people see His light, His splendor and He is glorified because of what He has done. I've never been so aware of my sin, how I have nothing to offer... Yet I am forgiven through faith and clothed in garments of grace. There's nothing for me to do but rest in the ways He uses me. Try not to be anyone else and just press on in this skin, with my faults and my insecurities, with my fears and my worry I just take another step toward Him and He slowly shapes me to be like Him. I'm so far from done, yet He is faithful to complete the work He has begun in me... This is my hope, that He will finish what He started when He met me where I was. He loves me the way I am, but He loves me too much to leave me this way. That's why I trust in Christ, because He is. There's nothing to trust in apart from Him. These are my thoughts as I return from two weeks in Italy, two weeks with the Gospel working on my heart...

Forgotten Promises of God.

Here's a link to a great walking on water blog post I just read: Forgotten Promises of God. I thought you may be encouraged by this blog post!