Next Steps - Aug 23

It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.” (1Samuel 14:6 ESV)

Hi everybody,

What a week it has been. If you are used to reading my "Next Step," you know they come on Tuesday. Today it is coming late because as you may know, I broke my wrist in multiple pieces on Tuesday. So now I am figuring out how many things are way easier when you have both hands. And because of that this will be a very short email. "Whether by many hands or few hands God is able to finish it."

When you think back to last week's message, what did you see in the example of Jonathan's stepping into a divine moment that challenged you? What divine opportunity might God be inviting you into? If you weren't concerned with acceptance, approval, comfort, money, security, is there anything -- even a small thing to start -- that might be a divine moment in your work, school, family or any other area of your life?

Your divine moments are all around you to see and to step into.

Peace, hope, love

Doug

Next Steps - Aug 16

Isaiah 58 is an amazing chapter. In a lot of ways it is presents a future bigger than one that I can dream of.

Slowly read Eugene Peterson's paraphrase. It is long, but let the words sink flow over you. Consider printing it out and keeping it around. After you have read the passage, think about the two following questions:

• What is God saying to you through the voice of his Prophet?
• Is there a simple first step you could do?
  

If you can't think of anything then pray for God to show you something, and then do that one step and tell somebody about it or e-mail me at dough@ecreekside.com

Have a great week!

Peace, hope and Love
Doug

Next Steps - Aug 9

Take care lest you forget the LORD your God . . . lest, when you have eaten and are full and have built good houses and live in them, and when your herds and flocks multiply and your silver and gold is multiplied and all that you have is multiplied, then your heart be lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery, who led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, who brought you water out of the flinty rock, who fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end.

Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day. Deut 8:11-18

Hi Everybody

I hope you had a great weekend. Sunday's installation service and the BBQ at Anderson Park was a great time, a great celebration. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. As I said on Sunday, it was a marker, a "remember moment" in the life of Creekside. Isn't it interesting to be in a "remember moment," a marker and be able to recognize it as it is happening? So often our markers are only seen in the rear view mirror of life. So often we do not take the time to even look back and identify or acknowledge the markers as such. And so, we forget and repeat experiences that we would never have chosen to go through in the first place, or we miss the comfort of knowing God's provision for us when we again are in difficulty.

So, this week:

1. Make a list of 10 significant markers in your life. They can be good or they can be bad, but try to get to 10.
   
2. Ask yourself how you can -- looking back -- see God in those markers.
   
3. Try this week to actively remember God, to recognize his presence in the goodness of his gifts all around you -- good food, conversation, memories, whatever.
   
4. Consider buying a small notebook like a moleskin or something similar to carry around with you. When you see God in your life, write it down, record your remember moments, and share them with somebody else.
   

Peace, hope and love
Doug

Next Steps - Aug 2

Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. -Matthew 6:25-33 ESV

God is the provider of everything. He gives us the very breath that we breath. And yet, so often, we look at the ways that others are blessed (or are perceived to be blessed) and we want for ourselves what they have; we measure what we should have -- and therefore our happiness -- by what others gifts, abilities or life situation. And that is a real trap. Living a life of comparison makes us anxious, it makes us discontent, it makes us question God, and ultimately creates in us a suspicion that God really cannot provide all we need, that really he is not good.

So, this week, take some time out and look at God's provision for your life. Don't just think about it as you read this, but actually sit down and think through all the things that God has blessed you with (as I sit at my desk here in the Creekside Ministry Center, I think of the ability to see and to talk, taste buds and friends). So, just stop and think -- maybe make a list. And then, thank God for the things he brings to your mind. Ask him to continually bring to mind the gifts that he has and regularly brings to you. Then, look around your neighborhood(s) (where you live, where you work, the mom's group, the gym, whatever) and find someone who you can bless -- in a big or small way. Do you know anyone who today might be feeling as if they are not able to think of one blessing? Could just coming alongside them to listen or simply be with them be God's provision for them?

As you bless others, you will feel God's presence, share your story and how you felt God with at least one other person -- and let know as well.

Peace, hope and love,
Doug