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The New Year and Fresh Starts

As the sun began to creep over the Cascade mountain range this morning I felt the fresh hope of the new year. The resolutions are in place with the promise of still not having been broken. While I believe in the sovereignty of God,  I also believe that somehow, in the midst of his almighty will, I have choices to make. I can choose to serve him today or not. I can choose to live by faith or trust in my own strength. So, I choose to live for Christ again this year. I choose to renew my commitment to him. I choose that even when I fall down, as I'm sure will happen sooner than later, that I will get back up and thank God once again for his amazing grace.

Here is to new year that we can each choose, and by God's please him in the process.

Steps Towards Manhood. (Guest Post by Rebecca Susuico )

A friend of mine, Rebecca Susuico, posted this on Facebook a few weeks ago and I thought is was worth passing along. 

Noah's Mountain Climb: I asked Noah if he would climb the mountain with me about 3 weeks ago. He said yes without hesitation. I knew I was asking a lot of him since he isn't the outdoors type and having done it myself, I know it takes a lot of determination to get to that 10,188 straight up in the snow to Camp Muir. But he didn't know that. It was a perfect Washington day, not a cloud in the sky and he started off strong, even if I had him overdressed, poor kid. But fatigue and burning muscles started to take their toll at about 7,000 feet and he wasn't having fun anymore. He pushed on slowly with me starting to agonize on whether to call it a day and stop his discomfort or push on to our goal. Every time I asked if he wanted to stop he answered with a quick "No" and we pressed on. Until we got to about 9,500. He fell into a heep in the snow in tears and despair. I told him that of course he had already accomplished so much and I was so proud of him. We had been getting the attention of many climbers already and their first question was "How old is he?" You don't see kids do this climb. They all told them how proud they were of him. We had a lot of cheerleaders along the way, which is another thing I love about climbing. There are no strangers on the mountain  We sat there just a couple more minutes before heading down. I helped him up but to my surprise he said, "I just want to crest this hill and then we can go back." His heart was broken that we had not reached our goal. I was so proud already and I helped him up and we made it another 30 feet to the top of this hill, very slowly. He saw the camp, that's all it took. He didn't say anything, he didn't have to. I saw it in his face. He wanted to get there. I loaded him up with ibuprofen and he trucked his little hiney up that mountain for another 1 hour and 30 minutes with the camp in sight the whole way. He fell into this heap on the closest rock we came to in the camp and I cried. We had an audience and they were proud too. Now I know the kind of grit and determination my little boy has and my hopes are high and my heart is full of joy. I am so excited for his future because when the going gets tough my son will get tougher, and I pray he gives God the glory every step of the way as I give God the glory for entrusting him to my care for a few short years. The downside is that we made it back to the car at 9:10 p.m., an 11-hour climbing day, a 1 hour 45 minute car ride ahead of us, and a very worried daddy at home with no cell phone service until 1 hour into the drive. But it didn't take long for Daddy to understand that it had to be done. That is the story of Noah's first mountain climb.

When Waiting for God Means Staying Where You Are

1 Samuel 24

The Philistines may have slowed Saul down from pursuing David for a little while but He’s back at it here in chapter 24. David and his men have been pushed to their physical limits while they have fled from Saul and yet still he has trusted that God would protect him and one day put him on the throne. Now David’s endurance will be tested in another way.

            This time Saul isn’t just close to capturing David, but he is unwittingly in the very cave that David and his men are hiding in. However, while David and his men are in the cave in order to hide, Saul has simply sought some privacy in order to relieve himself. You heard right, you couldn’t have made this up if you tried. As you might imagine this leave Saul a bit, umm….vulnerable. Is this David’s chance to kill his nemesis? Is this God directing him to take matters into his own hands? Could this be his chance to stop running for his life and take hold of what God has promised him? If we are honest with ourselves, many of us wouldn’t even hesitate in taking an opportunity like this to benefit ourselves. While David surly is not a perfect man, we see him care far more about God’s timing than his own. Saul is still the king that God put on the throne and David refuses to undercut that authority in this way.

            Although David lets Saul do his “business” unhindered, he does have the hutzpah to cut a piece off of Saul’s robe so that he can prove that he had ample opportunity to kill Saul if he wished. In fact, when Saul is a safe distance from the entrance of the cave, David calls out and shows the peace of robe that he had taken. David makes it clear by what he says here that although he has shown Saul mercy, he expects God to exact justice on Saul for his wrong doing.

            It’s interesting that Saul sounds very contrite for what he has put David through and even acknowledges that God has called David to be king. He even asks David to spare his family when he sets up his kingdom. David agrees and they go their separate ways. This was very counter-cultural to let the family of your opponent live and shows great mercy on David’s part, even further displaying his faith in God to protect not just his present but his future.

            Notice that although Saul is sounding repentant, David in no way lets his guard down. In fact he heads strait to a fortified place where he and his men can defend themselves. Saul may warrant some respect because of the position that God has placed him in, but he has lost his right to be trusted. David’s trust in God is not dependent on his trust in Saul.

Lessons:

We should constantly be evaluating our lives in a way that seeks God’s glory in the decisions we make, even as we attempt to do his will. Doing God’s work doesn’t automatically mean that we are doing work for God. We need to humbly and faithful do what God wants from us, even if it might mean waiting where we are at or being faithful in an uncomfortable position. He wants us to be faithful and to trust in Him, not to be comfortable for our own sake. 

Follow God Beyond Yourself

Follow God Beyond Yourself

1 Samuel 23

David seeks the Lord and is successful, even at great risk.

            David and his men seem to only barely stay one step ahead of Saul as they roam through the wilderness, hiding from the kind that seeks his life. In the midst of this cat and mouse game David gets word that a Judean city is under attack by the Philistines, the current greatest enemies to Israel. His heart tells him to intervene for the people he loves but his head knows that it would be incredibly risky, exposing him and his men to King Saul. He does the right thing and seeks the Lord’s direction in the matter. Remember David now has a priest tagging along with his band of misfits. The Lord says go and they save the city.

            Of course Saul finds out and jumps at the opportunity to pin David in to a fortified city where he can’t escape. David again does the right thing and seeks the Lord for weather to stay for flee. They flee at God’s direction and continue to live a life on the run.

Jonathan encourages David

            Even though David knows that he is the promised next king of Israel, his mediate desperate circumstances must have been exhausting and discouraging. The current king was literally pursuing him to kill him and he never knew from day to day how desperately he would need to run. Enter Jonathan once again perhaps his only trusted friend. Jonathan is an amazing friend once again for at least 3 reason. First, he risks his own life by committing an act of treason against his father to seek out David and encourage him. Second, this is literally the son of the King, and by all rights the next legitimate heir to the throne, who loves his friend and his God more than the riches and power that could be his. Lastly he goes to his friend not just to encourage him and renew their friendship, but he strengthens his hand in God. He knows that what David needs more than anything else is the hand of God at work in his life and this is what he seeks to encourage David with.

God is faithful to his promises

 Shortly after this the men in the wilderness that David and his men are staying in rat him out and they are once again on the run from Saul. This time Saul is literally on the opposite side of a hill from David and closing in quickly when all of a sudden Saul gets a report that Philistines are attacking the borderlands. David is saved by a hairs breathe. He lives another day by God’s direction, the God who is faithful and will keep His promises.

Lessons:

            The safest place we can ever be is in the will of God. David’s story has proven this to us over and over again and we need to hear it and live it out. God might call you to something risky, at least by your perception but really the riskiest thing you could do is ignore our outright deny the voice of God in your life.

            We all need godly friends who will be there to encourage us to do the will of God even in the midst of what seems to be a hopeless situation. We also need to be that selfless, loving friend to others. Who can you be a Jonathan to?

            God keeps his promises even if we have a hard time knowing how He is going to accomplish them. He often will put us in situations where we are forced to trust him because He knows that we wouldn't otherwise. When we trust God and do what he says, even in the midst of scary or difficult circumstances and we see Him deliver us, our faith can be strengthened in ways that it never would be otherwise. 

Honoring Your Mother Beyond the Day

Honoring your mother beyond the day.

Candid interview mash-up about moms. 

Mother's Day interviews from Greg Olson on Vimeo.

Good Friday With Plastic Jesus

All of us will worship this coming Sunday. Music will play, songs will be sung, warm fuzzies will be felt, but will we worship the real Jesus? This Friday should be a sobering reminder to us that even at our best we can be fickle, ignorant and selfish with our adoration. Without even realizing it we shape Jesus into who we want him to be and worship our self-made son instead of the genuine article.

            Many of us smugly review the Passion story this time of year, patting ourselves on the back because we would never be like the fickle crowds who shouted “Hosanna!” one day and “Crucify Him!” the next. We are proud of ourselves for not having a taste for blood when it comes to unmet expectations and unwittingly think that this somehow means we are on the right track when it comes to Jesus. The truth for far too many of us however, is that instead of having a taste for blood, we have a taste for candy.

            When the real Jesus isn’t exactly what we want him to be we replace him with what I like to call the Santa Jesus, the Rock Star Jesus, or simply the universal Plastic Jesus. The Santa Jesus is the one who only wants to give us the things that we want. When we pray to Santa Jesus about the girl or boy we’re dating he always tells us that we should do what makes us happy. We should by that car, take that vacation, or perhaps even divorce our spouse because they no longer make us happy. This Jesus, conveniently always tells us what we want to hear.

            Rock Star Jesus works hard to keep us entertained at all costs. This becomes the most important feature in the churches we choose and even weather we are part of a church at all. Rock Star Jesus lets us party, go to sporting events, or stay home for march madness because he understands the importance of feeling good and having fun above all else.

            Plastic Jesus is kind of the catch-all for everything else we would like Jesus to be. Maybe we need Jesus to be our boyfriend, or to tell us that our choices don’t have consequences or any number of other pseudo-realities.

            As we worship this Sunday, let look into ourselves while also looking into God’s word and ask him to help us see and worship the true Jesus. May we seek to follow the real Jesus. May we be conformed into his likeness instead of conforming him into ours.