The Body at Work

Our family had a shock this weekend. My Mom and my niece and nephew were in a very serious car accident. (If you want to know details you can go to the update page I set up for them here but this post isn't really about that.) One of the things that has been so incredible to see over the last five days is the Body of Christ at work. We each have been given different gifts and talents and mine tend to be fairly public. I teach, I sing, I lead worship and people see me using my gifts. That doesn't mean that my gifts are more important than the next persons they are just more public. But this weekend it was the quiet gifts that we rarely see that made the difference. In the stress and confusion of the weekend simple things like someone bringing a bag of Taco Bell tacos up to the hospital meant so much. The hundreds of people praying has worked miracles. The folks who watched our kids for us so we could be where we needed to be. The people who chipped in and helped finish the Bible school projects my wife has been working on and the list can go on and on.

It is in the little things that Body of Christ can be truly seen at work. Jesus taught about the "cup of cold water given in my name" and loving your neighbor not hermeneutics and worship techniques or church grow methods. He knew that if we spend our time on building true relationships with those around us, both believers and unbelievers, so many of the other things would take care of them selves. We reach our world by loving it not by preaching to it. The body is healed by care not criticism.

In the midst of this our pastor is preaching on stewardship. Steward ship is being faithful in the little things. When this happens we will be trusted with much. I've heard it put this way as well, "When you watch the pennies the dollars take care of themselves."

Watch your pennies, mind the little things, do the good that is right before you today.

May your life be faithful - Dan

Moby

It's official, we are insane! Yes the 2nd grader, the kindergartener, the preschooler and the infant were not enough. The Wilson's decided they needed to add a dog as well. Moby came to live with us last week. She is an English Springer Spaniel and is about a year old. We adopted here though the English Springer Rescue Society. She lived with a family that loved her a lot but didn't have enough time for all her energy. Well I'm not sure about time but the girls definitely have enough energy for her. She has been a great addition and we're having a ball.

Tyler!

Man it feels great to write a little bit again. I’ve had to take a bit of a hiatus the last few months. Life has been CRAZY! There is a new baby at our house. Tyler Henry Lane Wilson was born on December 8th – he was 6 lbs 4 oz and 19 in long. He is awesome! I’d forgotten how much energy it takes to care for an infant though. I’m tired most of the time. Between midnight and 3 am feedings and chasing around three little school girls the rest of the time life has kept us hopping. But God is good and he keeps on blessing.

Perception or Reality?

"They say that God is everywhere, and yet we always think of Him as somewhat of a recluse." - Emily Dickinson

I ran across this quote today and it got me thinking about our perceptions of God vs. reality. Reality is that God is indeed everywhere. Perception often tells us that he is reclusive because we don't "feel" his presence. We almost universally react not to what is truly real but our perceptions, our felt reality. Our actions are dictated not by what we say we believe or consciously would agree too, but rather by what we subconsciously believe - what our experiences have taught us is reality. Two of us may hear the same person give the same political speech and one may feel moved to action while the other distrusts the speaker’s sincerity and perhaps morality. How do we get our emotional/perceptual reality in line with our intellectual reality? Or actually the better question is “How do we realign to God’s reality?” In some ways I think this duality is reflected by Paul in chapter 7 of Romans when he talks about the good he wants to do and the evil that comes so easily.

One of my favorite artists is Charlie Peacock. He poses this problem this way in his song Heaven is a Real Place.

Oh for the eyes to see beyond this flesh and bone
To my final destination, to the city I’ll call home
Well it’s crazy to pretend and try and act like
I’m one of the locals
Every body knows that I’m really just a tourist
not by accident but by my own choice
Still so much of the time I live like this spinning
ball of land and ocean is my reality complete
Would you say a prayer for a change in me
This is what I want
This is what I need

I want to live like heaven is a real place
I want to live like heaven is a real place
In my everyday time and space
I want to live like heaven is a real place

God didn’t give up on the idea of Eden as
some misguided episode
The garden has given us place to the city where the
walk of God with man will be resumed
May my whole life reflect my belief that Heaven is
where I’ll spend eternity
That would be something, something to see
Till death is swallowed up in victory


So what is the answer? How do we experience this perception change? In the Old Testament we are told that when Moses went up the mountain to receive the 10 commandments He asked to see God’s reality and when he came back down he glowed with the fading radiance of God. In 2 Corinthians 3:18 Paul talks about this happening in our lives when he says "And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. This comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." Tim Hughes puts it this way when he says "The more we gaze at Him as we worship, the more like Him we gradually become. BEHOLDING IS BECOMING!"

The answer brings us back again to Romans 12:1-2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” The solution is intentionally, daily focusing on the Father. It comes from daily seeking His face, His presence, His touch. It is in this daily focus we are bit by bit shaped, bit by bit molded, bit by bit changed into the people we were created to be. The reality of this world fades and his surpassing glory – the true reality takes it’s place.

Father, mold me and shape me. Cleanse me with your fire. Sanctify me and may my reality be your reality. Amen

Seek His Presence
Dan

My Dad!

Wow what a busy month. I haven't got a chance to write much. God has been teaching me some awesome things I hope to get up soon.

Today I ran across a great picture of my Dad. This was taken several yeas ago when he was out west fighting a fire. I thought I'd put it here to share with all of you.

Keep Growing
Dan

Transformers - more than meets the eye

God wants to transform your life. Did you know that? As I have let the Father step by step take over my life there are some areas that are very easy to let him step into and cover with his grace and his strength. There are other areas which I struggle with in a cyclical fashion. There is a Chris Rice song “Clumsy” that my heart identifies with every time I hear it.

I’m coming to grips with the reality of sanctification and regeneration as processes not as completed acts. I look at the ideals laid down in scripture and at time feel so unworthy and then I am reminded that God’s grace covers my weaknesses and I am strong because of Him not by myself – AND THAT’S OK! I am in the process of becoming the person I was created to be – I am not there yet nor will I achieve it on this earth. All I can achieve is to continue in the process and to revel in grace.

For many years Romans 12:1&2 have been verses I have tried to live my life around. Phil. 2:12&13 parallels it and the concept is this: by presenting my self as that living sacrifice daily (working out my salvation with fear and trembling) I am continually being transformed into what I was created to be (God works in me to will and to act according to his good purpose).

Transformation is real and it is possible but it is also rarely instantaneous. The scars of our own sins and the sins of others go away slowly (if ever in some folks). To be transparent, many of my scars come in a way from being raised in the church. I never felt I could be quite good enough to earn people’s love and respect let alone God’s and so I learned how to appear holy and yet lived terrified on the inside that people would find out that I was not this perfect person I tried to project. This irony is that as I began releasing the expectations of others many of the hidden sins began falling away. I was being held in captivity by my own self imposed isolation. The voids that the sin had once filled were replaced with relationships.

I think that while we are exploring the past and some of the issues that have brought us to where we are we must work even more actively on building the spiritual disciplines into our lives that will transform us. Our church worked through “The Purpose Driven Life” last year. I was not hit with new truths or lightning bolts form heaven but my life was refreshed and reinvigorated because I was reminded of the basics. I had learned Warren’s "purposes" years ago from a Navigators illustration called “The Wheel”. It depicts a life in spiritual balance. I think we underestimate the simple truth of things like the wheel, how having all of these things in balance creates the spiritual environment in our lives where we can grow and be transformed. Perhaps this is the real truth of Romans 12 and Philippians 2 – if our focus is on Christ it creates a spiritual openness to the transforming power of God in our lives.

May you let God’s transforming power run wild today!

Dan

The Million Dollar Home Page

I ran accross a really fun web site today. There is a kid in Britan who is going to the college this year. His brother had just graduated with $30k in debt and he decided he didn't want to do that. Late one night he came up with a plan. He created a home page with 1,000,000 pixels. He is selling the pixels at $1 each (in 100 pixel blocks) to business as ad space. If you click on a pixel you are taken to the company's site. His site went live on August 26th - just over a month ago - and he has already taken in well over $250,000! Awesome man! Not only will he have paid for his school, if he plans right he will have seed money to start his own business when he finishes. To see his site click here.

Fun Stuff
Keep reading

Dan