heart...

Prov. 23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:
Luke 6:45 for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

Yes, both of these are the conclusions of two different verses, but both are in reference to the thoughts of the heart. I am reading a book called, Good to Great in the Eyes of God, by Chip Ingram. I have just started, but one of the keys points he reminded me of from the beginning was that in order to be great in the sight of God. You have to think great thoughts. You know, whatsoever things are good, whatsoever things are lovely, if there is anything praise worthy think on these things.... paraphrase. So over the last couple of days I have been pretty conscientious of what I am dwelling on. Sure, we should always be, but what I noticed was the significant difference in the way that I have slept. When I have spent some extended time in worship: singing, reading the Word, prayer, just sitting, giving God a chance to clear my head and resolve any "outstanding issues" my sleep is much more peaceful. Not groundbreaking news to many I know, but it is a reminder for me.

Thus, the reason for the quotes at the beginning is that I am trying to be more intentional about speaking into other people's lives out of the overflow of the Lord's work in my life. However that is not possible if, my heart is not absorbed by the Spirit of God and the things of the Lord; whether that is Scripture, wisdom, a song, or even just a peace. I can't speak peace, if I don't have peace....that's real. I would say that is a big struggle that I am facing - resting in the peace of God. Peace about where I am physically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally with others and relationally with God. Peace. Pray for me that the peace of God would saturate me, even my very life, so that I am swift to hear the voice of the Lord, and slow to speak aside from the leading of the Lord. That my eyes would be open to see the great things that He is doing in my life and even that I can remember the great things he has done...whether in the valleys or on the mountaintops.

hope for the hopeless?

When I went back to Cincinnati for the Thanksgiving holiday, I had a great time. However, when I showed my younger cousin my blog she said, “It looks like all you do is travel around a lot”. Then I realized that most of my blogs … if not all have revolved around my travel to some place or another. Hence, the outcome was the façade that my whole life is just one big trip. Not so. Thus, although I am writing this blog after returning from yet another trip, I have decided to share more of my feelings about life and stuff. Is that alright.????

My thought for this entry is this: Have you ever looked into the eyes of someone and saw desperation? This weekend, I had the distinct opportunity to connect with a few people that I know and meet some new friends. The unfortunate common link between them all was the emptiness of an unfulfilled life. I don’t think that any of them know the Lord. At least not 3 of the four. The image that remains etched in my head from each of these 3 guys is the desire to know answers… I don’t know if I can accurately describe the look. For two of the guys, it was weariness from working for years and years and not having too much to show for it. A flat screen, a nice car, a well taken care of child and/or grandchild(ren); but a look of being lost and confused. These guys were saying, I’m at the end of my rope .. I know I need more but I don’t know where to turn or what to do. However I didn’t feel that I had the authority or the platform to speak into their lives. So, I listened. That’s all I could do. Each of them was defensive … in their own unique way.

It is said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. How do you respond to looking into a big, gaping hole of emptiness? Staring into a shell of a person, knowing that they need the Spirit to fill them. I guess the first step is to pray. I felt utterly hopeless because I didn’t have the direct answer. Yet… they didn’t ask any questions? This is the tension of ministering to people. Most people don’t eve realize that they have a problem.

Which leads me to one of the discussions that we had in our time here at the School of Ministry. There are green apples and red apples. Green apples are not ready to the hear the truth of the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ - whereas red apples are ripe to receive the gospel. Thus, do I pray for more red apples or an opportunity to help the green apples mature and open their eyes to the fulfilling truth? How do I pray?

Last week.... a full week part 2 of 2

Well, I sort of lost momentum and now what was recent news has become stale. To finish that week it was good. Friday night went to a high school football game and rooted for the Prairie Ridge Wolves. It was cool to reminisce about the days of being a drum major in my high school band at Princeton High... sigh.. that was cool. Anyhow, that was Friday.

Saturday morning I taught at a men's breakfast from Ephesians 4 on how we can grow in unity in the body of Christ. There were about 35 guys there, and I think I was well received but I don't like to evaluate myself.


Later that day we went to Davenport, Iowa to visit a church plant that Harvest Bible Chapel has in the city. It was an enjoyable trip full of Midwestern casseroles, deserts and down to earth people. As I visit a larger number of the current church plants I get a better picture of the work of God (present)... and the hope of the future work of God which is yet unseen in my life!

He's faithful. More to follow....

Last week... a full week Part 1 of 2

The saying is true… if you don’t write down what has happened in your life.. you will definitely forget it. So this two part entry is the result of me trying to recount an entire week in a two entries... I think I am going to try to make two entries per week instead of one. It'll make it more interesting for you and less cumbersome for me. This is a pic of my class of guys.. with Joe Stowell IV in the center - he's the executive pastor at Harvest

A few of my friends have asked me whether I have had any teaching. Sunday morning I had the privilege of completing the third class of a course on Characteristics of Biblical Leadership. The first week I was a little frustrated in the fact that there were only 4 people that showed up. Wait! The reason I was frustrated was because I was expecting 7 people! So just more than half of the expected number showed up. God doesn’t measure ministry by numbers but by hearts! I went ahead with that truth and poured out my heart to these saints. We had a good time!!! Talking about Character, responsibility and disciplines of a godly leader. God convicted me to continue to strive for excellence in each of these areas and I learned as I taught. God is so good.

Then during the first part of the week we went to a Waterpark… Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Steven, the high temperature in Chicago is about 50 degrees right now. How in the world did you go to a waterpark? Well, to top it off the park we went to was in Wisconsin! The city of Wisconsin Dells is like THE waterpark capital of the Midwest. The School of Ministry guys, their wives and kids all went and owned this park for about a day and a half. Here’s a link to check it out if you want. If ever in the area it would be worth your time. I even had a chance to ride this thing called a flowmaster. It’s a “wave machine” that you can use to train to surf or boogie board. I was able to ride it for a couple of minutes, although I wiped out a few times. Check it out: http://kalahariresort.com/hub/

While I was there, I was able to experience a time of refreshment. I was able to step away from distractions of the television, class, computer, cooking, everything…. I was able just to think and sit. During some time of extended prayer and meditation God calmed my heart and reminded me that I was exactly where I need to be for this season. I am praying that He’ll continue to reveal his will in my life step by step! I am sure He will.

We returned on Wednesday night and I hustled to a nearby barbershop that I had previously visited but experienced horribly unfriendly people. This time I found a good barber at that same shop! Even though it seems small, finding a good barbershop is critical! Here’s the story - I drove down to the shop and it was Halloween. As I walked in at 3:24 p.m. the barber said, “We close at 4 because we have to get ready for the Halloween party”. I responded, “ So, what? Is it going to take you thirty minutes to cut my hair?” He laughed and said, “I’m just saying…” Then I said, “Hey, so I’m not invited to the party?” this short discourse started a friendly banter. Dewon was a great barber, who was down to earth and friendly. It was cool. Hopefully this will continue. He was a little crude in his speech, but it was comical and I was able to share with him the reason that I was here in town. I opened a door for spiritual conversations, and he shared how he was turning his life around from some bad decisions. I thank God for not only a good barber, but also an opportunity to witness and be a light. Faithful God.

Thursday nights I go to Harvest’s Young Adult Ministry meeting called Connect. One of my prayer requests that I have shared with many of you has been that I could meet some good like-minded people. I’m not just talking other Christians, but people who value genuine fellowship and want to reach out to others. Well, this past Thursday I had the task of running the 1st Connect Cornhole tournament. Now , Cornhole is a Midwestern game similar to horseshoes. However, instead of tossing horseshoes and trying to get them around a pole, you toss a bag fills with corn kernels and try to land them in the hole of the board on the opposing side. By running this tournament I was able to meet about 50 people. Now really,…. I don’t have a problem meeting people, but I have not found Chicagoans to be particularly friendly. This role of organizing this little tourney allowed me to interact with people who I may have otherwise never spoken to. It was a lot of fun, even though I was at church until about 11 o’clock at night. Hahahah. Playing Cornhole.. funny huh? Time well spent. And yet another praise that God has allowed me to connect with people.