Hearing Enhanced or Hearing Impaired?

Sorry for not posting last week. I was sacrificing for God on the beach with my good friend Stacey and his high school group doing camp at Bigstuf camp in Panama City, FL. We had a great week. I introduced one student to Christ, met with another about a situation in his life that we have in common, and, with Stacey, met with another student about the possibility of surrendering his life to student ministry. Plus. . .we had incredible worship, weather, and fellowship.

Ok - on to today's post.

During the twelve plus hour ride to Panama City I was thinking about how much more sensitive I have become to God's voice and leading in my life as I travel through the valley of life. But I wonder, is it always like this? Do we valley experiencers tend to be more sensitive to God's small, still voice? Or is there the possibility of tuning God out all together or at least losing track of what his voice sounds like?

If I know one thing there is always an exception to the rule. So yes, I believe we can tune God out while we are in the midst of the valley. In other words, we become hearing impaired. I'm not completely sure how this happens, except to say that it could happen when we become angry, depressed, frustrated, or insecure. We could also become hearing impaired if/when we experience guilt or shame about being in the valley. There are probably as many reasons as there are people in the valley for tuning God out. Let's just say that if we become hearing impaired while we are in the valley it's our fault. God is always there. It says in James 4:8, "Come near to God and he will come near to you." God is waiting for us, not the other way around. He has given us the Good Shepherd, Jesus, to guide us through the valley. The question is will we listen for his voice and follow him when he leads?

Some of you have heard the voice of God. You are hearing enhanced. What has that been like for you? What would you share with other valley experiencers to help them hear God's voice? I would say:
Don't rush it.
Find some quiet places to go to hear from God.
Find where or how you best connect with God - nature, solitude, with other believers.
(for me it's my office with nothing on but my desk lamp - yes I do wear clothes, sometimes)
Journal - it helps me sort out things as I listen for God's voice.
Don't get frustrated with the progress - God has his own time table.

Hope this helps. I hope and pray that you will begin listening for God's voice. It helps in the valley to be able to hear. It keeps us from being fodder and prey for lifes temptations and trials.

Listening and learning,
Mike

Comments

My sitemeter says that my blog has had 1,000+ hits. Now I know that I haven't checked it that often. If you have something to add, ask, or say about something I have posted don't be afraid to share. Click on "Comments" link at the end of each post. If you are not a registered blogger, please leave your name so I know who I'm hearing from.

Remember, these are lessons that I have/am learning as I travel through the valley of my life at this point. You may have something to add or a question that I need to consider that will help me and other valley experiencers.

I want to hear from you.

Mike

Barriers to Momentum

Before I begin this post I want to acknowledge a book and its author that has recently had an impact on my life. As a matter of fact it led to some of the things I suggested in my last post. If you have not read Messy Spirituality by Mike Yaconelli then get it, read it, and let it soak in. Don't reject it too easily. He really challenged me and made me take a closer look at me, others, and our relationship with God. Thanks Mike for a fresh perspective on spirituality and what it means to become more like Christ.

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Momentum, the unimpeded force of God in our lives, can be stopped in its tracks as soon as it encounters a barrier.

What's a barrier? Let begin with what a barrier doesn't include. Barriers don't include:
people
situations
relationships
circumstances

While these absolutely have an affect on us and the unimpeded force of God in our lives, these, in and of themselves are not barriers. They are simply outside influences that impact our lives.

A barrier would include any response to an external influence. Allow me to go a little deeper. A barrier would include:
our attitudes
beliefs
perspectives
heartset
mindset

Barriers are any repsonse to an outside influence that would hinder, restrain, restrict, or get in the way of God having complete and unlimited access to our lives. Barriers are like hurdles in the wrong race. Hurdles have a place on the track - 100 m high hurdles, 300 m intermediate hurdles, but when it comes to experiencing spiritual momentum in our lives - HURDLES DON'T BELONG!

In high school I used to run the 880 (back when we ran 'merican distances not this metric stuff kids are forced to run today!). Every race I ran at home my brother would stand in the final corner and yell, "Kick! Push it!" At his encouragement I would put my head down and give it everything I had through the last 100 yards. Now what do you think would happen to my momentum if I looked up with 10 yards to go and ran smack dab into a hurdle? Yeah, I would come crashing down to the ground along with all the momentum I had built up over the previous 870 yards. It would take a great deal of momentum to get back up and stagger across the finish line.

Barriers are exactly like this. We are serving, loving, giving, investing, growing, accepting, and all the dynamics of experiencing momentum in our lives. Then, there's a hurdle. We hit it and come tumbling down, along with all the momentum we had gained.

What we need to realize is that our response to outside influences will either be a channel for God's incredible force or it will be a hurdle that brings us down.

What will your response be?

I'm selling a house, buying a house, painting (and I dislike painting more than I dislike yard work), cleaning, making the bed every morning (Karen's influence), preparing for the transition of moving, dealing with financial decisions that were a headache. Will these influence serve as a channel of God's force in my life or become a hurdle? To be honest there are times when the switch begins to be flipped and I begin to get frustrated and want to lash out. I mean, don't these credit card companies know that my wife's dead - she can't call or contact them!! Then I just let God take charge. When I do I experience the peace and unimpeded force of God. It is sooo cool to watch God work. He's already found a buyer for my house (after only 5 days on the market). He's provided a house. He's worked out the financial stuff. He's organized my steps for the month of June! Channel or Hurdle? For me . . . Channel (today).

So what do we do when we experience a hurdle in our lives. Take a page from the life of Joshua. He encountered a hurdle called Achan (who stole some stuff God said to leave alone) What we must see is that Achan wasn't the only one who saw the pretty robe, silver, and gold. Thousands of Israelites saw them. They left the stuff alone. Through their response to these outside influences they avoided a hurdle in their lives, but Achan . . . poor, poor Achan couldn't resist. In doing so he not only ran into a hurdle in his personal life, but he brought the people of Isreal tumbling over a hurdle as well. God gaveJoshua some steps to take that we could learn and apply to our lives. When the Israelites tasted defeat at the hands of the people of Ai Joshua begin whining to God about how they should have been content where they were, yadda, yadda, yadda. God told him to "Get up!" Not once, but twice! Then he told him to address the barrier, then to get rid of it.

What does this have to do with our lives? If we are to deal with hurdles in our own lives then we, like Joshua, must:
recognize that God does not want barriers between us and he
address the hurdle in our lives
get rid of the barrier

Now, I am the first to admit that getting rid of hurdles can be very, very difficult as well as painful. But if our desire is to experience the unimpeded force of God in our lives then hurdles must go not matter how painful or difficult the going part may be.

Valley experiencers will run into what could become a hurdle. Don't let your repsonse to a circumstance, person, or situation become a hurdle. Rather, recognize it for what it cab be and allow it to become a channel of God's unimpeded force in your life.

Runnin' with my head down!
Mike

It Can Get Messy!

One thing I've come to accept while going through the valley is that life in the valley can get messy.

You know what I mean - things don't always make sense. Things seem to be out of order. Feelings can't be justified. Actions may be questionable. I think this may be due to the change we experience. It could also be due to the fact that where we are is new, it's unknown, and we're not sure what we are supposed to do, feel, or how to act.

Here's the good news - God likes messy! And I am so thankful. Know what this means? It means you and I don't have to "have it all together" when BEFORE we meet Jesus. It means I don't have to know what to do or think or feel. It means I get to come to Jesus just like I am. And so do you!! When we are in the valley it's tought to know where to turn next. I'm just glad I don't have the added pressure of being all cleaned up and churchy to come to Christ.

In The Big Mo'-continued I spoke of Jillian, a young, college-agedgirl I met in Mobile who explained to me the object she was wearing on a chain around her neck was the zipper to an ex-girlfriend's pair of pants. How do you think the church would respond to her if she said something along those lines when she visited worship, Bible study, or small group? It's funny, as much as we talk about being relevent and seeker friendly (blah, blah, blah) when I share this with Christians, young and old, I get similar responses - shock, gasps, sighs. What would Jillian think if she saw the faces of those same people? What would her friends think about the church and about Christ? I'm afraid she would see condemnation, judgement, and rejection, instead of love and acceptance. You see, the problem is we want people to get "cleaned up" before they come to Christ. The fact is, they won't until they meet him.

Ok . . . so I rant a bit, but this is quickly becoming one of my pet pieves of the church. How do we reach a lost world with rejection, condemnation, and judgement?

The great thing is that we are all like Jillian - marred with a sinful nature. We all have fallen short of the glory of God and have sinned. Our sin is no better, now worse. In light of this, we all have the wonderful opportunity to come before a forgiving God and receive his love and forgiveness. As a matter of fact, the Shepherd is waiting for people like Jillian and me (and even you). He desires to care, love, and nurture us. I'm so thankful he's not like the church who would rather take sick and hurting sheep out back and "put them out of their misery." When it's just an easy way for us not to have to deal with them.

Here's an idea, as the flock, maybe we should come around them, protect them, make them feel like part of the flock, maybe . . . just maybe we could get the Shepherd's attention and bring them to him. Just a thought.

Valley experiencers - rest assured there is a Shepherd who loves you. When you're feeling "messy", trust the Shepherd. He likes messy.

Flock - see the messy and love 'em.

Makin' a mess,
Mike

A Look at Karen

I just realized that some of you reading this blog may not know what Karen looked like. So here are some pictures taken since March and up to her passing.

Enjoy!

Karen and her friend, Tama

Karen and her brother, Junior

Karen and her neices, Haley & Sydney

Karen with my Mom (on right) and friend, Debbie (center)

Karen and her nephew, Dallas (she loved him very much)

Karen with our god-children Seth (left), Spencer (center), and Aubrey (only girl)

Karen and me at Starbucks (our 2nd home)
For Karen - Grande, non-fat, decaf, 2-pump mocha mocha with extra whip
For Mike - Grande (or Venti) stongest, boldest drip - no room

There are more pictures of Karen with other friends and family members. I will try to post more of these.

Building and Maintaining Momentum

When we speak of the unimpeded force of God in our lives as momentum we must think along the lines of building and maintaining momentum. As believers we begin the process with courage and obedience, but we must build the momentum (to keep us moving forward) and maintain it (so we don't fall back).

To build momentum we must "Remember when . . ." This means using the past as a launching pad to move forward. Remembering when keeps us from forgetting. It's like the movie The Notebook - this was one of the last movies Karen and I watched together - it's a wonderful movie guys, get it and watch it alone with your sweetie. In the end Noah (played by James Garner) is sitting in his bed looking over old pictures of he and his wife, who is suffering from alzheimers. He then picks up a book that he has been reading to her all day. The pages flip to the front page where you see the title of the book, Our Life Together and her signature underneath. Then the camera pans down to see a little note she has written, "So you'll never forget."

Now I know God's Word to forget the past and not to dwell on thing that took place before, but I think God is talking to a lot of us who live in the past, ala Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite who continues to live in 1982. He can't let go of the past. The church, and many of its members are just like Rico. If all you hear is, "remember when we/i used to . . ." then you know there is no momentum. But God does want us to remember what HE has done for us. In Joshua God tells Joshua to build a monument so that when their children ask about it they can tell their children what God has done.

Remembering what GOD has done for us, in us, and through us helps us remember the faithfulness, power and presence of God in our lives. THAT gives us hope for the future. But only if we use it to move us forward and not camp out on the past. Another great example is Stephen's message to the church leaders in Acts. His entire message is a message of the incredible things God did in the life of Israel. The leaders could have used this as a momentum builder, but they chose, instead, to use it as a momentum killer (and a Stephen killer).

Once we build momentum we will need to maintain it. That comes in the form of "Looking forward." Looking forward prepares us the hills in our lives. If we are not ready for them we will loose momentum. Think of an "S" curve. You begin at the bottom, building momenum. Then you slowly maintain momentum as you overcome the "S" curve until you reach the top. When you reach the top you look for the next "S" curve. If you don't then you head back down creating a bell-curve. Whatever you do, you DO NOT want to experience a bell-curve. You will loose every bit of momentum you had created.

For me, as a valley experiencer, my first "S" curve came in the form of Karen being diagnosed with cancer. My next "S" curve, or hill, if you like, is learning to live life without Karen. My desire to remember when God provided the strength and the peace to get through my first "S" curve. This helps me know that my Shepherd loves me, cares for me, and wants to lead me. Now I must trust him to get me through this next "S" curve in my life. I know he did it before. I know he will do it again.

I will admit not all hills or "S" curves are as traumatic as loosing a spouse. But you will have to decide what they are. Only you can identify them and decide to climb them. The shepherd and the flock will lead you, encourage you, push you (at times), and love you. But it's up to you.

If you are in the midst of the valley remember what God has done for you in the past and look to the future with confidence that what he has done in the past he can do in the future.

Climbing the curve,
Mike

The Big Mo' - continued

Here's a real valley story for you:

I find myself in a hotel room in the middle of a potential hurricane in Mobile, Alabama. "Why in Mobile?" you might ask. I will be moving here to serve as the Education Pastor for First Baptist North Mobile (it's actually in Saraland). The plans are to begin serving July 1. Which means I am in the midst of a different kind of valley right now. One that is focused more on "things to do" than personal issues - like living life after loosing a spouse. I need to sell my house in Lufkin, find and buy a house in Saraland/Mobile, move, go on a student camp trip to Panama City, FL (so the stuff I have to do is not all that hard, but I still have commitments to keep), jump in at FBNM and get the ball rolling to kick off the fall, yadda, yadda, yadda.

What does this have to do with momentum? It has everything to do with it! It is the unimpeded force of God that brought me here. It is the unchecked, unrestrained, unobstructed force of God in my life that allows me to be here. How I got here is something only God, in his mysterious way, could orchestrate. That story is for another time.

All I can say is that when I stepped out on courage to be nothing BUT obedient then I found myself going and doing and saying things I thought would never be a part of my life.

Example: Last night while eating at Logan's Roadhouse in Mobile with the Executive Pastor, Dr. Mike Cook, I struck up a conversation with the waitress. Stop right there! Those of you who know me are already thinking, "Mike, talk? No kidding!" (I'm rolling my eyes right about here). Anyway . . . her name is Jillian. Jillian had a unique object hanging from a chain around her neck. When I asked about it she replied that it was a zipper from the pants of her ex-girlfriend. I continued to joking with her about it. (It's right about here that I'm thinking how many of our churches would open our hearts and arm and wrap them around Jillian?)

Later in the evening I found out we were the only table she had shared her name with and that we were her nicest table. As we were leaving she told us that she was ready to go home. The night had not been kind to Jillian. Here's the amazing part, I offered to pray for her, asking God to help her get through the night. Her response? "Thank you," and a wonderful smile. What a night!!

You see, people's lives are their own and I usually don't like to interfere or get too close. But when I stepped out on courage and was obedient to the Lord's impressing . . . man what I wouldn't give for Jillian to experience the love of God first hand. That was my prayer, not just that Jillian would get through the night and finish her shift, but that she would experience God's love first hand, maybe for the first time. I felt the momentum, the unimpeded force of God run through my veins - what a rush!

It's about the Big Mo'. When I found out about momentum in the life of the believer I began seeing the valley in a whole new way. If your a valley experiencer, grant God compete and unlimited access to your life, then have the courage to be obedient. It will renew your strength, your spirit, and your trust in him. It will give you fresh eyes - eyes that see other, not just our own journey, but the journey of those God puts in our path each and every day.

Moving with momentum,
Mike

The Big Mo'

I know I haven't posted anything in a while, but Wedndesday I began a new series called The Big Mo'. As I thought about it and what it has meant in my own life as I walk through the valley I thought other valley experiencers might want to know about it as well.

The Big Mo' is about momentum in the life of the beleiver. When it comes down to it momentum in the life of the beleiver is the unimpeded force of God in his or her life. "What does that mean?", you ask. Great question!

It means that the force of God is unobstructed, unhindered, unchecked, and unrestrained. In its most simple of term it means granting God complete and unlimited access to your life. Now, before you start nodding your head in agreement and wanting to virtually high-five me and giving me the mental "Amen" in your most churchy internal voice STOP! Think about what this means in the life of the beleiver. Think about the implications. Think for a moment of the depth of what this means. It grants God complete - entire, whole, nothing left out - and unlimited - not just once a day, once a week, or once in a while - access to every part of your life. You ready for that?

What I have found out about the valley experience is that I want to hang on to or hide some of me so I can justify feeling sorry for myself or being angry at someone else or make me feel superior in some goofy way. Can't happen if you want to experience the unadulterated force of God.

That leads to another question. What's the force of God? I believe it's the love, passion, truth, mission/vision, assignment and all the dynamics of God and who he is lived out in our lives. To tell you the truth I'm not sure I can give you a definition, but I can tell you what it looks like. It looks like men and women of God who are lifted up by the rest of us and made role models for us who say, "That's what the force of God look like." The problem is that most of us would rather wish for the force of God and point to others, than do what it takes to experience the unimpeded force of God.

OK, ok, ok. I'm getting to the questions you are probably really wanting to know about.
Why do I need the unimpeded force of God? and
How do I experience it?

First, Why do I need the unimpede force of God in my life? We need the unhindered, unobstructed, unrestrained, unchecked force of God because it keeps us...
1) moving forward (even when we don't feel like it)
2) experiencing the refreshing presence and power of God (not on a weekly or even daily basis, but on a moment-by-moment basis)
3) doing great and might things for God (even when we don't realize it)

I came found these to be true in my experience and in the experience of a man named Joshua, son of Nun. Read Joshua 1-6. Through Joshua's expereince you will see a man who allowed God to have complete and unlimited access to his life and in doing so we find a man who kept moving forward, experiencing the power and presence of God in his life, and did great and mighty things for God.

Now, the second question, How does one experience the complete and unlimited access of God? I go no further than Joshua.

First, you must have courage. No less than three times in the first 8 verses of Joshua did God tell him, "Be strong and courageous." Why? I beleive Joshua felt like a lot of valley experiencers - What in the world is this?! He was just doing his job. He was simply being faithful to what God had appointed him to do. He was just an assistant, an apprentice. NOW he was going to be the leader of GOD's people to claim their most prized possesion (next to the Ark of the Covenant) - land of their own, for the first time in their history as God's people.

Courage - Winston Churchill said it was the quality on which all other human qualities are built. In other words, without courage you can't have integrity, character, bravery, leadership. The Duke (John Wayne) said that courage is being afraid and still saddling up. Way to go Duke! Did you get that? In the midst of the valley most of us are scared/afraid of something, but courage is still getting up in the morning, it is continuing putting one foot in front of another, in spite of the fear, in spite of the circumstances. Courage makes us do stuff like listen and obey. When we have courage we will stand when no one else will stand, we will go when no one else will go, we will do when no one else will do. Courage makes us look stupid to the rest of the world, but to God we look wonderfu. AND . . . we begin to experience the unimpeded force of God in our lives.

With me? Check this out: Courage leads to obedience!

Obedience. Joshua, Moses' assistant, apprentice, helper, is put into a place of leadership - one that cost his leader and friend his chance to see the promise land. In the book of Joshua we read of God telling Joshua to remember the teachings of Moses; to meditate on them day and night, and to "obey" them. You can't have obedience without courage. Why? because to experience the unimpeded force of God you will have to act like a "barbarian" sometimes. You will have to go against cultural norms and church traditions. When you are obedient to God, you will look insane to others. Don't beleive me check out Moses - what do you think people thought when the Eqyptians were coming and they saw their "fearless" leader standing and pointing a stick toward's the water? Or what do you the neighbors (and probably some family members) thought of a guy named Noah when he began building a boat for the "rains" that would come. Oh, by the way, there had never been rain up to that point. Or what the people of Israel thought when a barbarian named Elijah said, "pour more water on the offering. Pour water until the offering is soaked up and water fills the pores of the ground." Or what about the time when a young, teenage girl said "Yes!" to an angel when she was told she had been chosen by God to have his baby?

Obedience leads us to do some wild and crazy things for God. Or at least it appears that way to others. But it is obedience that opens the floodgates of God's unhindered, unobstructed, unchecked, unrestrained power and presence in our lives. It's when we obey God that we step out and go on that mission trip, or pack up everything, load up the wife and kids and go to an unknown land to minister to a people group, or take a position in a ministry that doesn't even exist, or asks a friend/neighbor about his or her relationship with Christ. THAT'S when God's power is free to flow into and through us!

The problem is we in the church have become comfortable with regulations and rituals. These are what make us comfortable. I beleive in the valley we have to become uncomfortable again so we CAN experience the unimpeded power of God. I believe that churches have forgotten what it's like to stand when when no one in our community will stand. I beleive we, the church, have forgotten the excitement and passion that comes when we step out in obedience for God. I believe the church is in desparate need of some momentum: the need to move forward, to experience the refreshing power and presence of God, and to do great and mighty things for God!

Those of you in the valley, don't wait! Have courage, be strong and courageous, and obey the living creator God. Open up and give God complete and unlimited access to your life - don't hold anything back from him. Then experience what it's like to move forward in your own journey, to experience the refreshing power and presence of God in your own journey, and know what it's like to see God do great and mighty things in your own life. Experience momentum - the unimpeded force of God in your very own life!

Feelin' the force,
Mike