Marc’s Musings

I remember I was at this time in 2001.

Shocked.

Terrified.

And very aware that much of the world lives with this level of uncertainty.

I pray to God we won’t experience this again. But I also pray I won’t be smug in viewing world events.

I’m so glad the authors expand the concept worship:

But please don’t confine your worship to the inside of any building. It’s not just natural…It involves discovering the gifts and talents God has given you, and using those talents to bring joy to God. This is the worship God wants–and it’s probably more exciting than you ever imagined.

This is the kind of adventure I want to be part of!!

This reading starts with this quote from the Message’s version of Isaiah 42:20-22:

You’ve seen a lot, but looked at nothing.
You’ve heard everything, but listened to nothing.
God intended, out of the goodness of his heart,
to be lavish in his revelation.
But this is a people battered and cowed,
shut up in attics and closets,
Victims licking their wounds,
feeling ignored, abandoned.

This says so much. As a church-planter, I am amazed at how often people choose to “lick their wounds” instead of receiving the revelation God’s pouring out on them.

I starting to learn that I can’t make them want healing. Starting to learn it…

I’m a bit behind on the blogging!

This week’s readings focus on the “you” part of the fountain: your relationship with God.

I love their comments on the movie Harvey.

I particularly liked their description of a relationship with God. This is from page 59:

Fresh, unexpected thoughts will “pop” into your head. Steve [Sjogren] calls these “flutter-bys”–fleeting, almost imperceptible whispers of God’s will, small voice flickering through your head. You’ll perceive them as whispers, not shouts, so it’s easy to mistake them for your own thoughts. But as God continues honing your spiritual eyes and ears, you’ll begin to tell the difference.

Loving, generous whispers–the ones that stretch you to bo beyond what you would normally do–wil stand out from everyday, self-focused thinking. The more God tunes your spiritual senses through Bible reading, Christian mentors, and time spent in prayer, the more you’ll recognize the kinds of ideas that come from God and the kinds that don’t. (Here’s a clue: The condemning inner voices that call you a loser, tempt you to exploit others, or go against clear biblical teaching–those aren’t coming from God.)

This is good stuff!

Hanging out with my parents, Em, and my kids today, I decided to try a whirl at Dance Factory.

Now, I’m no hip-hop star.

But while trying to move my feet to the Tobey Mac’s “Hey Now,” I didn’t expect to hear from my wife and mom, who were sitting behind me, “Hey it’s like watching The Jerk.”

*sigh*

We don’t see things as they are.
We see things as WE are.
- Anais Nin

End of the first week of reading!

Boy are the writers of Outflow right! We are easy to deceive!

If we could’ve done any better than Adam and Eve, God would’ve put us in the Garden!

I love the way they end this week’s reading too:

If you’re thristy for a life less ordinary, more passionate, and unpredictably powerful, the next section will point you toward the biblical antidote to the dissease of self-centereedness. If you place a high value on knowing God more deeply, then you’ll like what’s coming.

Great reading today!

Although God created us to “love God and to use things,” the Thief convinces us to reverse that order. We start “loving things” and “using God or people” as a means to get what we want. In doing this, we not only destroy the flow of good things God intends for us, we open the door to all sorts of evil.

That’s what I meant in my Outflow 1.1 post!

I loved this quote to, on page 40 in a section called “A Life that Sucks”:

When you dance to the Thief’s tune, your life begins to suck in instead of flow out.

I think we’ve all been there (or are there now!). But I’m glad to be part of a church that’s committed on working on an “outward” focus!

If you look up the word blessing in the dictionary, you’ll find out that it’s “an indication of God’s special favor or protection.”

What a great reminder! And I love Sjogren and Pings look at the list of blessings included in Dt 28:1-14.

Check it out in the Message:

1-6 If you listen obediently to the Voice of God, your God, and heartily obey all his commandments that I command you today, God, your God, will place you on high, high above all the nations of the world. All these blessings will come down on you and spread out beyond you because you have responded to the Voice of God, your God:

God’s blessing inside the city,
God’s blessing in the country;
God’s blessing on your children,
the crops of your land,
the young of your livestock,
the calves of your herds,
the lambs of your flocks.
God’s blessing on your basket and bread bowl;
God’s blessing in your coming in,
God’s blessing in your going out.
7 God will defeat your enemies who attack you. They’ll come at you on one road and run away on seven roads.

8 God will order a blessing on your barns and workplaces; he’ll bless you in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

9 God will form you as a people holy to him, just as he promised you, if you keep the commandments of God, your God, and live the way he has shown you.

10 All the peoples on Earth will see you living under the Name of God and hold you in respectful awe.

11-14 God will lavish you with good things: children from your womb, offspring from your animals, and crops from your land, the land that God promised your ancestors that he would give you. God will throw open the doors of his sky vaults and pour rain on your land on schedule and bless the work you take in hand. You will lend to many nations but you yourself won’t have to take out a loan. God will make you the head, not the tail; you’ll always be the top dog, never the bottom dog, as you obediently listen to and diligently keep the commands of God, your God, that I am commanding you today. Don’t swerve an inch to the right or left from the words that I command you today by going off following and worshiping other gods.

Wow. May we all get to the place in our life where we believe that, rather than having to beg and plead for a morsel of blessing, we’re serving a God as generous as this!!