Now is the Time

We mark our lives by keeping time and I believe we need to understand what time it is. There is ordinary time (chronos) and extraordinary time (kairos). We are living in an unprecedented time of worship!

There is a call going forth right now that is the fullness of what Christ spoke when he was here; “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23).

I have this gut feeling, this suspicion that the angel of the Lord spoken about in Revelation 14:1-7 is right now calling the nations to worship. “….worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea, and springs of water,” (v.7b) The question is are we hearing this call? Is that call to worship being heard in our community?

It is my sense that there are marks of worship; “radical, rooted, relative, revelatory, and relational.” I think that you can see the youth’s radical expression, I also think that there are those who understand that worship must be connected to our continuum of history (rooted in the truths). I understand the need to relate to those who don’t know our story or language. There is also a need for revelation or prophetic insight in the midst of our worship. And worship is intensified in the context of our human relationships. It is my sense that worship should be; “radical, rooted, relative, revelatory and relational.”

I truly believe that there is a renewal of the convergence of these basic marks of worship within our community right now. There is always an emphases on one or two of these markers but all are needed in our lives.

“The hour is coming and NOW IS…” This is the time to worship Him with a new or renewed passion. There is truly something in the air that is refreshing. I am trying to blow the trumpet so that all can hear.

Come and encounter the Goodness of God in the midst of His People! We as human beings are changed by being exposed to the very presence of God that is encountered in the midst of worship. I fully believe that there is a call being issued for worship. Help me give this call.... "come and worship."

Pastor Quintin

It's All About His Prsence

Is was a Presence, not faith, that drew Moses to the burning bush, and what happened there was a revelation, not a seminar. It was a Presence, not faith, which drew the disciples to Jesus and what what happened then was not an educational program but his revelation to them of himself as the long promised Anointed One.

Their lives, just like Moses, were changed radically by that encounter with a Presence which upended all their ordinary expectations.

David said, "Cast me not away from your Presence, take not your Holy Spirit from me." I wonder today if we cherish the Presence of God the way we should. Jesus promised to be with us when we gather together.

I am living in such expectation of our being together and His Presence! I hope you are too!

Lets Go Swimming

Life with God is an ongoing, ever-changing, relational adventure. It is not a matter of being driven through life, and then ever once in a while stopping and looking around. No, God expects us to journey with Him, breathing in the breath of life, feeling the blood of life flow through our hearts, and experiencing the very wonder of having been given a body with which we can see and hear and smell and taste and touch this amazing world that He has provided.

Sometimes I wonder if we truly want a life with God? This God who is a Spirit and who has created us to live in the revelation of Him desires us to live in spiritual union with Him. We have the ability to live in the created order as spiritual beings, "his divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness." (2 Peter 1:3). We have been given "everything needed" because God wants an active partner in relationship.

The Spiritual life is just that -- A LIFE!

We learn as we as we go. We learn as we do. As we go and do with God, we are changed along the way. Thus we are called into the struggle and the joy of being changed by the relationship with God. We are either drifting along in the world around us, or we are moving with the very currents of God's love.

What we are called to intentionally live within the Spiritual Disciplines (or exercises), which are merely directed actions, that place us in a position to receive from God the power of His loving presence which enables us to accomplish what we can not do on our own.

"For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13). These exercises will allow God to work in our lives that which alone we are unable to do.

Michael Phelps is propelled through the water by the use of human strokes. Spiritual disciplines or exercises are the strokes that move us into the transforming streams of God's Presence. In order to learn how to swim you must overcome several fears, so it is with learning how to move in the very Spirit of God. We must shed our dependency upon self and trust in God's provision.

We are all being called to learn some strokes (ways and means) by which we can move into this Spiritual life. We have all been caught up in worship, or prayer and sensed God's Presence. There are some exercises (practices) that will give us some ways of finding our way into His Presence where we belong and where we are called to live continually.

Let's swim for the REAL GOLD!

Over the last several weeks Stephan has been asking me all kinds of questions about how to grow in his spirituality. Of course we all know the usual answers, but his questions have required a more thoughtful and ordered response. The truth is that you can't get a perfect body in one fell swoop, no matter what the latest magazine headline tells you! Michael Phelps did not become the gold metal athlete that he is over night.

We can learn a lot about being "spiritually fit" by understanding physical fitness. There are many people who suffer from attitudes toward spirituality similar to their attitudes toward fitness; namely, wanting the results without really understanding the process that leads to results. We want to have inner peace, a sense of meaning, a connection to other people, a knowledge of God and the World -- and we want it now! Generally we realize the need for spirituality in the midst of a crisis. We realize that something is missing and we try to quickly find whatever it is so that we can feel better right now. But it doesn't work that way. We must come into reality and understand that this will take time and accept the fact that our work and dedication to spirituality will pay off in the end.

What is spirituality?

Unfortunately, a lot of people think that spirituality is just about themselves -- it becomes a "self-help" exercise, just another kind of consumer product. If spirituality is to have any meaning at all, it must be about God. Spirituality is what leads us deeper and deeper into the mystery of life, of beauty, of truth, of goodness -- in short, into the mystery of the person we call God.

Ignatius said, "spirituality is the practice, a regular endeavor through which we come to build our lives on the love of God -- to order our lives according to God's plan for us." Therefore, its focus, then, is not primarily ourselves, but God.

"A regular endeavor through which we come to build...." We then are called to develop a long-term spiritual "workout." A workout that first and foremost confronts the reality of God and the reality of ourselves. The first step is to "repent," or identify the wrongs ways of living and don't do them again. Secondly, is to build good habits in place of the bad ones. This may sound overly simple, but truthfully it is the only way to begin. If we want to develop spiritually we must learn what we're doing that is harmful to us and we must also learn to do those things that are helpful to us.

Thus spiritual "workouts" or "endeavors" will help us to become better human beings by practicing the love of God and neighbor.

I will try to walk you through some of these endeavors.... so come walk with me!!!