Greetings

Greetings to any and all who might read this! I know that I haven't posted since early December, but things have been really busy and I never want to force a post simply for the sake of posting. I hope that you had a joyous, God-filled Christmas and that this year is beginning filled with a deep sense of His love for you!

Dream and the girls in our "arena" with a metal cross we
were given when a neighbor passed away.

Happy girls!

Last year was a very good one for our family, but one in which were were heavily invested in, and surrounded by, many, many lives that were hurting very deeply. It was a year of seasoning in ministry that was probably one of the hardest, but most growing I've ever had. I feel honored and privileged to be used of God in other people lives, and I hope I never resent or grow weary of that. I found seasons in which I found religion deeply unsatisfying if in any form that it substituted for Jesus Himself. He alone is the deep well we must drink from and the life we must let flow through us. Anything that doesn't point us to Him, but substitutes for Him, will never satisfy or sustain. Yet . . . how easy it is to replace Him with things about Him, to let things meant to be a means to Him as the end become instead an end in themselves. Jesus—He is life . . . yet it is easy to miss that in the busyness of our world, or even in doing things about and for Him.

One of the neat things that happened for our family in the later days of 2013 (in addition to the amazing trip we were able to take that I've already posted about) was being given a horse. The girls named her "Dream" as she is their dream come true, and we are blessed by the instruction the couple who gave her to us have been giving us. She is about 8-years-old, and an Appaloosa pony. We are very excited to have her in our family, but desperately needing rain to get the grass growing we need to supplement her feed.

I look forward to sharing more of our life and some things God has been showing me with you in the weeks and months ahead, and I thank you for sharing in my life. The body of Christ is fully the body when it is interconnected one with another, and I love hearing from you as well. May God bless you in the coming months and may we all grow in a never ending awe of Him and His holiness, and joy at our adoption. Blessings   —Erick

Note: This blog began, and remains, as a place for me to share slices of my life, thoughts, things God is showing me, etc. If that description ever ceases to be something you are interested in please feel a freedom to unsubscribe using the link on your email. In this day and age of constant electronic bombardment in many forms we must be careful in what we choose to read and invest our time in, or one day we may find that while we are surrounded with things about God, we are empty and dry in God. If you enjoy hearing about our life, great! If my posts play some small part in drawing you closer to God or encouraging you, great! And if not, please have God help you find things in your life that better serve to draw you to Him. I understand, and encourage you in that direction.

"Real Life" or the Bible?

When teaching, be it adults, children, or youth, there seems to often be this false dichotomy that we either teach Scripture, or we teach "real life." (I use the expression "real life" the way some people talk about it, as if God and the Bible are something for Sunday and funerals and hard times, but that aren't relevant in the "real and immediate" day to day "real" stuff that presses in on us.)

The separation of Scripture and "real life" by teachers teaching any age group is a tragic error which perpetuates this trend toward doing our "church stuff," and then doing our other "life" stuff. To reference my last post, I think that this, also, has to do with a false understanding of the Gospel, and an emphasis on salvation and heaven at the expense of the Kingdom calling and war we are in.

It strikes me that in life too many people have God and church things as one of many spokes on the wheel of their life—with themselves being the hub about which all the spokes revolve. Intentionally or unintentionally, when we draw distinctions, or unBiblical separations, between Scripture and "real life" we only fuel this—and for youth determining where they will build the foundations of their life it cripples the Bible's chances of being that foundation because they don't see its relevance, and hence have no choice but to trust science, doctors, psychologists, teachers, etc., more than God and the Bible for non-religious things.

Rather, I believe that all Scripture study should end at "real life," and that all "real life" discussions should end at Scripture. We need a radical shift in which God moves to the hub of the wheel of our life, and all of our spokes revolve around Him.

There is no part of our life which Scripture should not give us insight in to, and which God should not be our source for dealing with. Be it depression, financial issues, job decisions, voting, etc., God provides our insight, our world view, our strength, and our answer. If we look at Scripture in the right way, we are hard pressed to find parts of it that don't have solid application in to our life—from practical instructions, to deeper insight about the character and nature of God that strengthen our faith we walk by. Likewise, if we look at "real life" properly, there is no part of it that God and the Bible shouldn't be our ultimate answer and perspective on, and strength we rely on and draw from going through.

There is no greater evidence of God's activity and relevance in our life than Jesus walking among us. He made us, He understands us, He faced the same temptations as us, He ate the same food as us, He got tired like us, He needed money like us—on and on and on. God is very interested in every part of our life, and every part of our life we try and "solve" apart from Him is a part we make a grave, and very costly error in.

It is no wonder that we have generations falling away from the church when we teach, and live, like there is the "God stuff" and then there is "real life." How can we wonder why generations are rising up that see scientists and teachers and doctors as the be all, end all of wisdom for anything not directly and overtly "religious" and "spiritual"? How can we truly find solutions that are eternal apart from the One who made eternity? It is truly a very grave, serious, even deadly error to allow ourselves to separate God and "real life"—and an even more serious error if we teach or model that to others. All Scripture study should end at "real life," and all "real life" discussions should end at Scripture.

Nothing Ordinary . . .

Yesterday I was visiting the blog of Denise Mira (http://denisemira.com/blog/). She is a mother of five boys who has homeschooled them and written the book, No Ordinary Child. We haven't read it, but the little we have heard about her intrigued Mary Ann and me. I went to her blog to check it out, and I really liked the paragraph she has as her standard paragraph at the top of her page. I found it reflected my heart as well, and I thought I would share it with you. It reads:

Ordinary is not good enough. Normal will not change the world. We are No Ordinary People, created by No Ordinary God, for No Ordinary Purpose. I refuse to live a Beige life, carrying out Business As Usual. Boring. I choose to live an adventure as a daughter of the King of Kings. I invite you to join me! It won’t always be pretty, but it will be genuine, and we will have an impact where we live.

When I read that I thought, "Wow, that expresses my heart, and the heart I have for why I started my blog and have invited others to read it and take part in it." (This is not about the job you have, or don't have, or the house you live in, or anything like that---this is about your heart and excitement and joy.) Really, Denise's quote is a reflection of my heart for my life, and ultimately the lives of my family, and the church I pastor. (For me it is absolutely critical that things don't end with my blog, but that the things I write and share in this blog find their end lived out in a life, beginning with mine---otherwise it is theology for theology's sake and I desperately need to have the fruit of my meditation and discussion be ultimately transferred in to my daily life. My prayer, as I pass what God has shown me down to my girls, is that, as Bill Johnson says, "My ceiling will become their floor"---that they will begin at their tender young age where it has taken me 43 years to get.)

Reflecting on Denise's quote, I have found that, in my life, I have let so much slip in to ordinary that could be extraordinary---whether I am "doing" or just resting. Like I have said to Mary Ann so many times when things are rough or we're just in a rough place, "The devil steals enough. We don't need to gift wrap things and hand them to him." So much of my life I have allowed to just go by, sort of mundane, when every moment has the potential to be an adventure with my Father, the King. I don't beat myself up for those lapses, I just want to make them fewer and farther in between.

Just this morning I was sitting with Mary Ann (with two mugs of fresh ground drip coffee, of course!) in our garden area under some misters talking and watching the water collect on the leaves of the tomato plants and strawberries. Thinking over Denise's quote I thought, and then shared with Mary Ann, "We could just sit here and think, 'this is pretty,' or we could notice the way the water pools on the leaves, the colors reflected in the mist, the bees and hummingbirds that flit around performing their essential roles, the deep blue of the immense sky above, the intricate pattern of the leaves of the plants, and find ourselves in awe, at this moment, of our amazing God and Creator."

I thought about all the times I have swam in my pool of worry and stress and glumness and routine when I could see each overwhelming moment as an exciting chance for the King of Kings to break in and show off how the impossible bows before His presence.

I thought of how many times I just "exist" when, if I paused to reflect on it, wherever I am, having asked Christ in to my heart as my personal Lord and Savior, God is with me. God is right next to you, right now, as you read this! How can THAT be ordinary!

If we bring our thoughts captive to true reality, every moment is a moment with God who is with us. Every broken heart or body or life is a chance for God to perform a miracle through us. Every glimpse of creation is a reflection of God. Every breath and everything good in my life is a gift from God. Every encounter with darkness or the results of darkness is a chance to exercise our privilege and authority as the children of God. Every person we meet---at work, in a store, at school---is a chance to show them the image of God. Every opportunity to love is a chance to partake in the heart of God. Every moment of stillness is a chance to commune with God and hear the voice of God whisper His secrets to us. Every second of our life we are, as Christians, soldiers in a spiritual war raging around us with a very real enemy who seeks to devour not only us, but that which we love and that which God loves. Every prayer we lift goes in to the throne room of God. Every miracle Jesus did is a landmark for us to aim for---we of whom He said greater things than even He did we would do.

I, and you, if you have Jesus as your Lord and Savior, have the same God as Moses, as the children of Israel, as Elijah, as Peter, and as Paul. You have the same God as all the millions of people who have had Him work miracles in their lives. You have the same God who brought love and hope to an adulteress, acceptance to social outcasts, healing to lepers, life to the dead, forgiveness to sinners. He is your God, and He is mine.

No. I really, really don't want an ordinary life. I want to live, with great expectancy, as the child of the King I am, for however many years I have left here until He takes me home for eternity. I want, wherever I am planted, to reflect Him and His love and His power in all I do, and be aware of His love and presence in every moment. And I am so blessed to be able to walk out this journey and adventure with all of you. What a privilege to be a part of the body of Christ. May we lift up, encourage, and love one another into who God calls us to be! As, Bill Holdridge, a former pastor of Mary Ann and mine who spoke at our wedding and was instrumental in my coming to Christ shared recently in his blog (http://pastorbillholdridge.wordpress.com/ ---Pass the Chocolate), we need to live in the moment, aware of the moment, secure and resting in His love, not dwelling in the past which He has paid for, nor in the future which is in His hands and eternally secure, but in the moment---aware that we share that moment with the Creator of the Universe who is absolutely crazy about us and calls us His very own!