Jars Of Clay

Today was a good day at Discovery Park Church On The Streets.

The faithful Discovery Park team was amazing as usual with their bright loving smiles and inviting hello’s when greeting everyone.

 I have the blessing of being one of the members who gets the privilege of talking with everyone who lives in the park. These have truly become our friends. It has been an interesting transformation from ministry to a relational interaction at Discovery Park.

 Today I had the honor to speak to two men, Bob who I met for the first time today and Robert who I have become friends with over the past year.

 Bob is a Vietnam Veteran. He told me he still has problems staying inside due to his problems with Agent Orange exposure. He just feels more comfortable outside. As we talked he told me he was married and had two sons. He lost his wife, he didn’t tell me how. He lost one son who died in Afghanistan who was a Navy Seal. His other son died in Iraq. Bob also told me he and his wife use to work with displaced kids. Who were homeless for one reason or another. He told me how the two of them loved changing the lives of lost children who had nowhere to go and no hope. I was moved. There was a sincerity of heart. He looked deep into my eyes, almost piercing through, as he told me about how he and his wife were almost like shepherds and guardians for the children they loved and worked with. After his wife died that all came to an end.

 He told me about how he was spit on and scorned when he came back from Vietnam. How he was so confused that he and other men who put their lives on the line to serve their country were treated like they were the enemy and not heroes when they came home.

 The conversation I had with Bob had some amazing sagas to it. It had the makings of a good auto biography or even a short film. But there was one thing missing. As he related his experiences there was no life to his stories. I don’t think Bob was fabricating anything, I just believe he was tired .

 He told me he suffered loss from the Agent Orange exposure in Nam, now with one lung, and one kidney. He also told me he was an Army Ranger so he was tougher than the Agent Orange and it wouldn’t get the best of him. Bob was empty in side. When I asked him if he ever went to church he said he wasn’t ready yet. I was able to hear Bob’s story today and interject that God indeed loved him through all his life’s situations he described to me, that the Lord was with him through the atrocities he endured through war, the loss of his wife and both sons. How he was able to experience the heart of God being expressed through him and his wife as they reached out to a hopeless situation when they helped the homeless children. So he could hear of the love God had for him today. Bob acknowledged my remarks. I was able to pray with him before he left and I believe the God of love touched a man who got caught up in the hardships handed out by life, and I am firmly convinced that God in his infinite wisdom touched Bob’s soul today. Bob will think about the things we talked about.

For that I am grateful to the Holy Spirit.

 I also talked to Robert today, my friend of a year now. The sense of thankfulness carried through from my conversation with Bob. It amazes me that the more of God’s word we have in the reservoir of our hearts and minds God is able to go from one conversation to the next, both unrelated and he draws from that reservoir ministering in each situation.

 Robert is one of the local guys who always shows up for our COTS gathering, every Wednesday and every third Sunday of the month. Robert one of the friendliest men there. He has usually had too much to drink. The conversation usually stays on the surface, not going too deep. Today was different. God had other plans for Robert today. We sat saying hi to each other and talking about the where abouts of other men we’ve made friends with. Then the sun broke out through some clouds. Robert made a comment of how good it felt. I was telling him how thankful I was about having the ability to experience God with all my senses. Then I was reminded about the 10 lepers in Luke 17:11-19. Jesus healed 10 lepers only one returned to give thanks. Robert listened intently as I told him the story. Then I told him about the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. I told him my story, how I accepted Jesus as my lord and savior when I was 18, and how thankful I have been each day since. I told Robert, who was sober as a nun today, how I cared for him, his safety; and for his health. Then I asked if he had ever asked Jesus into his heart the way I did when I was 18. He told me he had. I believe him. I got to pray for him that God would keep him safe and draw him to his heart and into an intimate relationship with him.

 Today was a good day. I looked around and saw others being prayed over. The Good News of Gods loving heart was being handed out today. Prayers were being answered today.

 We are blessed to be trusted to handle the only words that give life to a lost and dying generation. In all our frailty and personal struggles, the creator of the universe makes the choice to put such a treasure in jars of clay. What an unspeakable honor we have been trusted with. Look for every opportunity to give away what has been freely given to each one of us. His love.

Happy are the feet of those who bring good news.  

Creative Thought

I have a friend in Church who referred to our minds and hearts as a reservoir. Her statement was “We need to fill our reservoirs with God’s word.” That was the first time I heard that term regarding to storing God’s words in our hearts. That’s the perfect term because that is exactly what our minds and hearts are. We store knowledge and experiences in our hearts and minds, from there God will minister to us and others through us. Daily life is then lived out,  then new things and experiences are gained.

 Our minds and hearts are designed to be like a reservoir. Whatever we take in we speak and live out. If we store God’s word in our hearts meditating on it we will begin to live it out. God knew that when he said “study to show yourself approved’ and ‘out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”, because a man will draw out of his heart what is stored up in it, either good a or bad.

 I recently read an article about creative thinking from a business blog. I won’t go into detail about what the author wrote but I do want to express some thoughts about what the Lord revealed to me through it.

I don’t want to ramble on so I’ll get to the point.

 In John 10:10 Jesus speaks about life in abundance. The term abundance reflects different ideas to all of us. So for argument sake let’s use two definitions for abundance.

Abundance from the Free Dictionary by Farlex on line:

a·bun·dance  (-bndns)

n.

1. A great or plentiful amount.

2. Fullness to overflowing

Abundance from the Greek New testament:

per-is-sos'     Adjective

Definition

1.               exceeding some number or measure or rank or need a.            over and above, more than is necessary

 So why am I writing about abundance and creative thought, joining them in the same article? Because one leads to the other. I found that when there is an abundance of life in me, when God’s word is alive in me, according to Colossians 3:16, joined with a balanced amount of service that I am involved in (James 2:14 -18.) Then comes creative thought. God is amazing for many reasons. I love that that he gives creative thought when we spend time with him and in his word. God is very relational. When we are in a relationship with God he loves to share his heart with us showing us his creativity in what he has made, things we see and what we don’t see. According to John 16:13 God placed his Spirit in our hearts for the purpose of showing us what is in his heart. God isn’t selfish and doesn’t have a cloke and dagger relationship with us. He wants us to know him and the things he loves. He gave us 5 senses because he wants us to enjoy what he has created. He knows what speaks to each one of us. According to Psalm 39 he knows each of us intimately because he created us uniquely as indivuals who relate to him. That’s why he calls us personally. The call to be born again into new life is never a corporate decision but always a personal decision.

·        We read and study God’s word, filing the reservoir of our hearts and minds.

·        We meditate on it by talking about what we have in our reservoir with God (prayer) and each other (fellowship).

·        We play out what we are learning by putting it into action (James 2:14 -18 and Matthew 28:19.) 

·        God’s Spirit moves his word 18 inches from head to heart and we begin to see it through revelation Ephesians 2:17.)

·        God’s words become alive in us according to Colossians 3:16 and our relationship with God is transformed to more than just words we hear on Sunday morning in church and become personal.

·        Life becomes abundant with the richness of more experience and revelation, my wife calls this a flowing cup, she draws that term from Paul in Philippians 2:17.

 That is when creativity comes, through great thought and action. God begins to drop his thoughts in our minds and hearts. This is the place that great ministries are born, books are written and art is expressed through the very expression of a relationship with the maker of all things. All gifts come from above. There are no wrong gifts just miss guided gifts. Depth and abundance comes from relationship with God who knows us intimately because he created each one of us uniquely the way we are. He alone knows the depth of each heart.

 Abundance and creativity go hand in hand but not in a way that is expressed by a void of a relationship with God who burns to lalvish his love on us and through us because he all about relationship, he always has been and always will be.

Abundant creativity comes through him and having a relationship with him. It’s never too late to get started.