New Wine

“Soon afterward Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him, along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons; Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s business manager; Susanna; and many others who were contributing from their own resources to support Jesus and his disciples.” Luke 8:1-3 NLT

Recently, I came down with some sort of virus. I was sick for a week and a half - draining, coughing, aching, and having no energy. During that time, I was confined to the couch…mostly because I had no energy to do anything else. Normally, if I am sitting on the couch, I watch a lot of TV. It passes the time. This time, I felt really convicted to not watch the junk that I am normally drawn to. So instead, I decided to re-watch The Chosen. If you don’t know what The Chosen is, it’s a series of episodes on the life of Christ. You can download the app and watch it for free. I love it.

As I watched, I noticed how Jesus included the women in his ministry. He took them with him on trips. He included them in teachings and the experiences. They were frequently there, serving and joining in. As I thought about this, two thoughts popped into my mind.

First, Jesus was always surrounded by people. He went to weddings, dinners, crowds followed him everywhere. He was always surrounded by both men and women. During those times, custom would dictate that the women would hang with the women and the men with the men. How ingenious! If the women weren’t part of the group, who would minister to and disciple the other women in these gatherings? Jesus needed the women in his group to continue to share the gospel to places that He or the men in his group couldn’t normally go. And, some of these women had tremendous influence. Not only did they minister during these functions, then they went home and ministered in their homes and communities.

Next, including women in his teaching was complete out of the box thinking. It was unheard of in Jesus’ day for women to be disciples. Women were frequently not educated unless it was in their home. Jesus encouraged them to join in and learn of God. He included them on purpose. He stepped out of the cultural box to bring the change that needed to happen.

Jesus said “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.” Mark 2:22 NLT

This was new wine — everyone is a disciple, no matter what their social standing, race, or gender. Trying to fit that into the customs of the day would have definitely caused cracks in the old wineskins. He didn’t try to force this new wine into the current system. He did what He knew needed to be done so that His Father’s Kingdom could flourish. He created new wineskins.

How many times do I look at what I can see with my eyes and make decisions on “what is normal?” How many times do I try to do what Jesus is telling me to do (new wine) by cramming it into the old way of doing it? It’s not going to work. When I try to take the “new” that Jesus is giving me and put it in the “old” that I am comfortable with, I dilute the new and water down the Message. I water down Jesus.

Oh Jesus, I know this is my tendency. My humanness wants to feel safe and not take risks. Please help me to step into the “new” that you call me to, no matter what the outcome. Please help us all. Pour out your Holy Spirit on us so we follow your lead. We love you, Amen

Wild Good Chase

“The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (NLT)

My friend Jen and I went off for some church training. We attend Cohorts on church multiplication and planting. We go because we feel that God gives us next steps in the plan he has for our churches and for us as leaders.

We attended one of the Cohorts last week in Kansas. We debated not going (because of Covid) but God showed up in so many ways as we registered for these courses and prayed about this trip, we felt He was giving permission. As we were flying to Kansas, Jen looked at me and said “When I was packing, I felt the distinct impression that I should pack for another day.” My eyes widened. I’ve had these God impressions before and they are no joke. She went on to explain that she discounted the idea because we were flying home on Thursday but she had the impression again so she threw some extra clothes into her suitcase. I asked her jokingly why she didn’t call me so I could pack extra too! Then I said, “I hope we don’t get stuck in Kansas.”

Thursday morning as we were packing, I remembered what Jen said. I filled up my contact case and put it in my purse. I don’t normally do that but I figured...you know. We might get stuck somewhere.

We boarded the plane, pushed back from the gate and proceeded to sit on the tarmac for 2 hours waiting to take off. High winds in Chicago (our connection) were grounding all air traffic. You guessed it, we missed our connecting flight. As the people around us grumbled and complained, we were at peace. We knew that God had gone before us and no matter what happened, He was in it. We decided in that moment to be on the look-out for whatever it was that God was doing. This peace stayed with us even as we landed in extremely high winds with the plane leaning too far to the right and too far to the left.

We checked into our hotel with no bags, no clothes not even the extra clothes Jen packed, and no toiletries. We did have the food we packed for supper because our layover would be too short to eat and my contact case. We found out that the airline was routing us to Ogdensburg, NY first and then home. Who the heck ever flies into Ogdensburg, NY? We prayed that God would lead and if we could be of service to Him in some way that He would show us.

In the middle of the night I woke up and thought “This is a wild goose chase.” I chuckled because in one of Mark Batterson’s books he tells that in some language (I think it’s Gaelic but I can’t remember for sure) that they refer to the Holy Spirit as the “Wild Goose.” If you think about it, that is so appropriate. If you are chasing a Wild Goose, you zig this way and zag that way trying to catch him. You put all your effort into it but it’s really the Goose that is in control. I think following the Holy Spirit is like that. As Jesus said, we don’t know where He comes from, we don’t know where He’s going, we just know He was there and because of that, we follow.

The rest of our flight was uneventful....except we spent more time talking to God and looking for where He was at work. We don’t know why God did what He did with our flight. We don’t know why He told us in advance that He was going to allow it. We just know He did.

We got to see the Wild Goose for a brief moment and it totally changed the trajectory of our trip. We knew we were right where God wanted us and that with Him in it, no matter what happened, it was all good.

I want to go on more Wild Goose Chases. I want to experience the Holy Spirit over and over again in my life. Even when I end up scratching my head wondering why God did that, there is nothing better. Ever.

Forgiving Deep Down

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. Genesis 50:20 (NLT)

The other day during a Bible Study, we started talking about forgiveness. One person shared that they had someone in their life they forgave, but they were struggling with feelings about it that kept popping up. It felt like they were burying those feelings. You know, intellectually forgiving but not really forgiving deep down?

I suggested that they take all of those deep down buried feelings and talk to God about them. Tell Him how they felt - really felt - not hiding anything. God knew already so He wasn’t going to be surprised. God meets us in our real selves, not in our facades.

The next morning during my worship, I decided to take my own advice and talk to God about someone I had forgiven. I said to him “While all of that was really painful, I know you used it for good and it actually turned out to be a good thing.” Today’s Bible text popped into my mind. Joseph said the same thing to his brothers. They were so afraid he had not really forgiven them, they lied to him thinking he would take revenge on them now that their dad had died.

I pondered. Joseph went through a lot more than I did. His life was really horrible as a slave and then a prisoner for so many years. What made Joseph totally, deep down forgive them and not hold any hard feelings toward his brothers? And why did he cry? Did he cry because he was overwhelmed at God’s goodness? Did he cry because after all of these years they couldn’t see he truly loved them? Did he cry because the grace of God lived in his heart and he hurt for them? Truly, Joseph’s heart was full of love for his brothers. That love only came from God.

I prayed about this some more and a few days later realized that the reason Joseph could acknowledge God’s plan in spite of his horrible situation was because he knew and trusted God. He leaned on Him the entire time he was on that journey and he saw first-hand how God had worked it out. And then I realized that this is the only reason I can forgive. I saw what God did with that very bad situation and realized that even while it was painful and it hurt, God used it for His glory. He used it to grow me and in the midst of that really hard thing, He changed me. He grew me to know and trust Him more.

I know walking through life’s pain, especially when it is inflicted by someone you know and love, is really hard. I know forgiving is hard. But I also know that it becomes a lot easier when we trust that God will work it out. He will use it. He will love and grow us through it. And I believe that it is only through our knowledge of Him, our relationship with Him, that we can like Joseph say “God worked it all out. It’s OK.” and truly mean it.

Master Planner

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” Proverbs‬ ‭16:9‬ (‭NIV)‬‬

I think I’ve told you before that I am a planner. I remember when my kids were teenagers they’d suggest something they wanted to do and I’d say “We can’t do that today. We have this planned.” My son got into the habit of saying “Well, let’s just do what yyooouuuu want to do” emphasizing the ‘you’ to make his point.

As I look back, I think I was pretty rigid with my plans. I made them. We did them and I didn’t like it when they changed. I look at my life now and marvel. Somehow, even though my tendencies are to want to plan and stick with the plan, my life has not turned out like that.

Right now, I am working on a project at work that constantly changes. I’ll have meetings scheduled for it and they may or may not happen. We are planting a church and so far most of it has been me asking God “What’s the next step?” The overall impression I am getting is that for this, we are doing it one step at a time. One step, when He’s ready. Not a lot of advance planning.

Don’t get me wrong. Planning is not a bad thing. I still plan. What I think I am learning is to not worship the plan but the Master Planner. I am learning that no matter what I plan, if God interrupts it, His plan is always better than mine.

There are days when my schedule is packed so tight, I can’t imagine how it’s going to work. He intervenes and things cancel or they move. I breathe a sigh of relief. Other days things happen that are very stressful. I don’t like it. Both days I try to look up and say “It’s your day. What do you want to do?”

I’m still not great at being flexible with the plan but I’m learning. Each day I pray and say “Let’s just do what YYYOOOOUUUU want to do.” And I mean it.

Blessed When It Doesn't Feel Like it

“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” Matthew 5:3 (MSG)

A few years ago God allowed a journey that took me to the end of my rope. There was a hiccup in the business, actually, it was more than a hiccup. It was a traumatic event that left me wondering if we were going to have to close….for good. I laid people off. I wasn’t getting paid. I had bills to pay.

In my panic, all I could do was pray “Please help me.” I was so numb from the events that took place that I couldn’t even think through a plan...except to pray “Please help me.” It was during that time that God said “Wait.” When you have bills to pay and no money, waiting doesn’t sound like the best plan. As a matter of fact, it sounds downright ludicrous. My logical mind said, “If I can do something about this, I should.” But He was very persistent and the message was always the same. Wait.

So, I told him I would wait as long as he provided. And He did. For a year and a half. For eighteen months I did not get paid but, every month money showed up in all sorts of miraculous ways.

You know what I did for that year and a half? I prayed and asked him to please send work so I could make money again. Finally, I guess I got tired of praying that prayer and I said “You have been providing all this time. I’m not praying that prayer any more. Do what you want.” And I let it go. I think it was at that moment that I was at the end of my rope.

The release and the peace I experienced at that moment was palpable. I can’t help but wonder if that’s what being blessed feels like when you get to the end of your rope. The assurance that God’s got this. The knowledge that He is there and that no matter what He decides will be fine with me. Even if it’s hard.

Another amazing thing that happened during those eighteen months was that He called me to ministry. There was definitely less of me and more of God at the end. I am so very thankful He took me on that journey.

The Promise

“After King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon exiled Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, to Babylon along with the officials of Judah and all the craftsmen and artisans, the Lord gave me this vision. I saw two baskets of figs placed in front of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem. One basket was filled with fresh, ripe figs, while the other was filled with bad figs that were too rotten to eat. Then the Lord said to me, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” I replied, “Figs, some very good and some very bad, too rotten to eat.” “Then the Lord gave me this message:”

“This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: The good figs represent the exiles I sent from Judah to the land of the Babylonians. I will watch over and care for them, and I will bring them back here again. I will build them up and not tear them down. I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.” Jeremiah 24:1-7 NLT

This vision of Jeremiah was about the people being captured and taken into exile. That was a horrible event. The city was burning, people were dying and they were being taken captive to live in a land of people that did not worship God.

When reading this I expected God to tell Jeremiah that the bad figs were the ones taken into captivity. It’s always better to be free right? You can live where you want to live, do what you want to do. But that was precisely the problem. The people of Israel were doing what they wanted to do and what they wanted to do was contrary to what God wanted for them.

God tells Jeremiah that the good figs are the ones being taken into captivity. He says these are the people He was going to look after. Sounds counter intuitive doesn’t it? We think and we say out loud that when bad things happen God can’t be controlling it. We express our disbelief when the events of the world don’t go the way we want them to go. We ask in our hearts, even if we don’t say it out loud, where is He?

But we are forgetting.....we are forgetting that God’s ways are different than ours. If we followed the logic that says when bad things happen God is not involved, then we would have to totally discount the birth of Jesus. Mary and Joseph went through quite a few unpleasant situations. How would you like to deliver your baby in a barn? How would you feel if the life of your child was threatened just because he was the right age? Not to mention the shame and humiliation they suffered because Mary “got pregnant” out of wedlock. They suffered to fulfill God’s promise of a Savior.

And fast forward to the cross. Before Jesus was crucified, the people welcomed him as the Messiah. There was a parade and crowds were honoring and worshipping him. How fast the tides turned. Pretty soon he was being arrested, his faithful followers fled and he was pronounced guilty. Then, he was crucified. To the human eye, this looked like a failure. Defeat.

But it wasn’t. It was our beginning. We can’t look at what is happening in the world, in our lives, and determine that God is not in control. We cannot assume He is not good and that He is not working because what we see doesn’t “look” right. The Promise is alive and well. That Promise is Jesus.

I suspect as humanity continues down this path of doing what we want, when we want, just like the Israelites did, there will be more tragedy, more sickness, more hate. Will you make decisions about God based on what’s happening all around you or will you stand firm because you know who God is? Will you hold on to the Promise and remember that God’s Plan is perfect?

God wants most of all is to be in a relationship with us. He wants to be our God and for us to be His people. Will you hold onto Him? Will you hold on to the Promise?

For I am about to do something new.
    See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
    I will create rivers in the dry wasteland. Isaiah 43:19

For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11

Thankful

We loved you so much that we shared with you not only God’s Good News but our own lives, too. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 (NLT)

I went to a Christian boarding school during my high school years. I loved going to school there but I was definitely a rebellious teen and didn’t want to have a lot to do with the religious “establishment”.

During my junior year, I was friends with this guy. Most of his friends called him Seenarine. He was fun. We hung out at times and for the most part I enjoyed our friendship. One thing that I remember as a little bothersome was he would frequently talk to me about Jesus. He kept saying that Jesus wanted to be my friend and that he wanted me to get to know Him.

I don’t recall being really interested in this but he would mention it during our conversations, walking the halls of the buildings, during the sporting events.....you get the idea. One day, I think I was expressing my disbelief that God was involved at all and he said “Why don’t you test it? Ask him for something and see what happens.”

At the time I worked part-time in the school auto body shop as a Teacher’s Aide. The “office” was gray. It was always dusty and dirty and bare bones as far as chairs, desks, and office supplies was concerned. There wasn’t even a trash can in the office. So, I prayed “Lord, if you are there please send something new for the office.”

A couple days went by. I forgot about the prayer. One day I went to the office and as I was working I went to throw something away and realized my trash can was missing. I said out loud “Hey, who took my trash can. It was brand new. I just got it!” Then it hit me. The trash can had showed up in the office right after I prayed. I didn’t even notice it. It wasn’t until it was gone that I realized that God had answered my prayer.

All these years later I still remember this like it was yesterday. It was my first realization that God was real and he did want to be in a relationship with me. It was such a little thing but the profound movement in my soul was undeniable.

Why am I sharing this on Thanksgiving? Because as I look back over my life I realize that God showed up over and over again so our relationship would grow. It took years for me to commit my life to Him and become a disciple that makes disciples. But He never stopped trying to get my attention. I am thankful that He loves me that much.

There are so many circumstances and people that were put into my life so I would learn to love Him. I am thankful for people like Seenarine who were willing to share their love of Jesus with me so I could see Jesus. I am so thankful for this God-journey.

I bet if you thought back through your life you would see God’s hand leading and guiding you too. I bet you would remember the times that He showed up and touched your life so you too would fall in love with Him.

I can’t think of anything more worthy of thanks. Can you?

Yard Sales and Obedience

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
“Go to Purcellville and ask people questions about the city.”
“Lord, that’s going to be hard. People are not going to want to do that.”

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
“Go to Purcellville and ask people questions about the city.”
“Lord, that’s going to be hard. People are not going to want to do that.”

“Lord, what do you want us to do for our gathering?”
No response.

I knew there was no response because I know that when he tells me to do something, he usually tells me once and doesn’t repeat himself. 

So, for weeks I delayed sharing this with the church plant. I thought it was a little scary to go somewhere, walk around and find people to start questioning. I was sure people were not going to want to talk to us. I was sure the church plant folks would think so too.

But the thoughts kept persisting and I knew this was the next step we had to do to be obedient. When I went to God to talk about it some more, he reminded me that my job was to be obedient to him and not worry about what everyone else was doing or going to do.

So, I shared with the church plant and we planned a trip to Purcellville on October 10. The plan was to meet there mid-afternoon at the building we’d been prayer walking. We would walk around and find folks on the street and ask them two questions; ‘What is it you like about your town?’ And ‘What would you put in place to improve Purcellville?’ The idea was to figure out how we could serve.

As we neared the town and I looked around, I was shocked (and confused) because there were people everywhere. I am talking lots of people walking all along Main Street from the start of it all the way through the center of the town. I want to say hundreds. I also noticed that all along the side of the streets were tables and booths set up with items for sale on them. Turns out it was their yearly Tag Sale. This is basically a town-wide yard sale that the city hosts once a year.

Oh my goodness! Suddenly it became very apparent that God lowered the bar so we could step into his plan and obey what he asked us to do with so little effort. Now, I know this is not always the case. I know sometimes obeying God is hard and takes courage but that is not what he decided for us today. Today, he allowed our obedience to be easy....and fun.

We walked around the town, stopped at different booths and tables and talked to people. We found out about the town, connected with people and had a really, really great time. God is so amazing. 

I am learning to step past my fears and obey. I am learning that he does things that I could never possibly expect or imagine. I am learning that whether it’s easy or hard, the best path is to always follow where he’s leading. 

I am still filled with joy over the field trip to the little town God has placed on our hearts. Not sure what he is going to do there, but I know he is going to do something....and I want to be involved.