"It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis." ~ Oswald Chambers
I saw this Oswald Chambers quote on Ben Arment's blog this morning (benarment.com). Being a pursuer of God's vision for life and ministry (not my own, mind you--God's, this struck a chord. When we do not wrestle out God's plan and allow a vision to emerge we fall into the plan of each and every day. The tyranny of the urgent controls, whims take us down dead end roads, and we come to the end of the journey wondering if we accomplished anything of significance.
I know some church leaders who chase any direction that strikes their fancy. Call it "flavor of the week". When you change visional direction as often as you change your socks you will lead a confused and aimless group of people.
Yeah, I'd rather just get out of bed every morning and make life up as I go. That's fun for a while. But the vision keeps me on track, not because it creates a busy to-do list for me, but because it gives me the joy of seeing a marvelous plan unfold. God's vision, the one I participate in, is a really great vision. It not only keeps me focused, but it makes it worth getting out of bed in the mornings. The grand and beautiful vision gives me energy to press through the "stuff" of life because I can see in my spirit what it looks like when the goals are met.
It is easier to serve God without a vision and just go with the flow of whatever comes my way--at least in the short term. But, I choose to follow a better way (look for the word "better" throughout the book of Hebrews). I choose to let the hands of the potter shape my life each and every day.
David Delp, http://aGoodDeposit.com
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Making a Mark
The theme for our network conference is "make your mark on our movement". It is good to stop and ask ourselves whether or not we are making an impact, whether or not we are relevant, and whether or not our obedience to Christ is affecting anything beyond our own world...because it should. Without any aspersions to the former question, the question I must ask myself is, "Have I allowed Christ to leave his mark on me?"
I am very much aware that those who have made deep contributions to the betterment of the world, of our Fellowship, and have affected many lives usually were not aware that they really were making much of a difference. It was their hope and desire, but the mark of the master on them evoked a passion propelling them to simplistic and faithful obedience.
Our great leader shared with us a story of a missionary couple who lost their firstborn son to disease while in process of faithful obedience in the African wilderness, decades ago before advances in transportation and technology. These missionaries had not yet left any marks of significance and, while they went on to do things we consider great and spectacular, in the moment of their loss I would venture they felt quite insignificant and wondered if it was really worth it, but they stayed faithful to the mark the master had left upon them, probably not thinking much about the mark they might leave on the kingdom of God.
What enables men and women to accomplish things that we, with full 360 degree view, admire as spectacular? First of all, when we set out to do the spectacular it is rarely spectacular, but when we set out to just be faithfully obedient to our master and allow him to place his mark upon us, we will accomplish his good and pleasing will in our lives.
For me, I need to focus more on positioning myself in proximity to to Master so he can make a deep and indelible mark upon my life. Wherever he leads me and whatever passions he evokes in me will lead me well. At the end of my life how will I measure the mark I've left behind...it will only be revealed in eternity.
These days I don't think a lot about the mark I will make, but I think a lot about the mark of the Master on my life through the cross. Oh, I think I will make a mark but it will be because of the mark he has made upon me.
- David Delp . AGoodDeposit.com
I am very much aware that those who have made deep contributions to the betterment of the world, of our Fellowship, and have affected many lives usually were not aware that they really were making much of a difference. It was their hope and desire, but the mark of the master on them evoked a passion propelling them to simplistic and faithful obedience.
Our great leader shared with us a story of a missionary couple who lost their firstborn son to disease while in process of faithful obedience in the African wilderness, decades ago before advances in transportation and technology. These missionaries had not yet left any marks of significance and, while they went on to do things we consider great and spectacular, in the moment of their loss I would venture they felt quite insignificant and wondered if it was really worth it, but they stayed faithful to the mark the master had left upon them, probably not thinking much about the mark they might leave on the kingdom of God.
What enables men and women to accomplish things that we, with full 360 degree view, admire as spectacular? First of all, when we set out to do the spectacular it is rarely spectacular, but when we set out to just be faithfully obedient to our master and allow him to place his mark upon us, we will accomplish his good and pleasing will in our lives.
For me, I need to focus more on positioning myself in proximity to to Master so he can make a deep and indelible mark upon my life. Wherever he leads me and whatever passions he evokes in me will lead me well. At the end of my life how will I measure the mark I've left behind...it will only be revealed in eternity.
These days I don't think a lot about the mark I will make, but I think a lot about the mark of the Master on my life through the cross. Oh, I think I will make a mark but it will be because of the mark he has made upon me.
- David Delp . AGoodDeposit.com
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Of Trees and Transformation
I have an evergreen tree in my yard that I mow around every week during the mowing season. We had one at the last place we lived and, if at all possible we will have one wherever we live as long as I am mowing my own yard. Why? So I can mow around an evergreen tree.
It's one of those markers in my life that reminds me of something very important every time I do it.
There was an old mentor in my life some years ago that loved trees. He had planted most of the trees on our conference center grounds. One day I was on the grounds and this old man in his 80s was angry. He motioned me into his car and we drove, literally, all over the grounds looking at the trees. He was angry because the grounds keepers had been damaging the low hanging branches of the evergreens with the mower. Because he was old and a bit eccentric they ignored his vehement protests. He rode me around showing me the damage and then drove me into town to show me a specimen of how a healthy evergreen should look. Our tour concluded with him charging me with the task of protecting the trees after he was gone. I agreed, what else could I do?
Some months later the old mentor was informed of his impending death so he sat me down and shared with me the secret of life as he understood it. He didn't say anything about the evergreen trees but he did mention another "tree". He said to me, "it's all about the cross".
He shared with me how, throughout his life, things happened to break him and decrease him so that Christ could be increased in his life. He taught me about the crucifixion of self (Galatians 2:20) in a way no one else had ever explained it bringing to bear his 80 some years of faithfully following Jesus. It was one of those moments that I knew my life was changing. I experienced transformation in those few short hours.
As the years have passed I could possibly forget the lessons and the transformation I experience that day, except for one thing... Every time I mow around an evergreen I remember his chastisement over the trees and my promise to look out for them. I smile to myself and without fail my mind shifts to his last words to me: "It's the cross... Remember, it's all about the cross."
As long as I have the strength to mow my own lawn I will always make sure I have an evergreen to mow around so I will remember the sage words of my old friend.
"I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ who lives in me. For the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." -- Galatians 2:20
- David Delp . AGoodDeposit.com
Thursday, May 5, 2011
We Always Want to Do What We Cannot
Human beings are a bit peculiar in that they always want to do what they cannot do. Granted, there is a difference between what we cannot do and what we are not supposed to do, but the two are related in the way they evoke the desire for the forbidden or the seemingly unobtainable.
I watched a little bit of Space Odyssey: 2001 the other night until I couldn't take any more of the music. The 1968 perception of what would be available in 2001 was interesting. For instance, a phone in a "phone booth" presented as a big computer console with a 19 inch color screen. You put your credit card in a slot and make a video call. They could not envision cell phones that will do the same in the palm of your hand or Skype that will make a video call to anywhere in the world without the $1.70 charge to your credit card.
The interesting thing to me is that we have gone more text based than video based. The first long distance communication was the telegraph, now we "telegraph" from the palms of our hands. We want to text because it is clean, quick, not messy, just to the point, and we don't have to answer back if we don't want even in the middle of a conversation.
Why the facination with video capabilities, when all we would eventually want to do is still send typed words... simple, because we couldn't do it. Since we couldn't do it we (they) perceived that it would be the apex of communication achievement.
I'll admit this line of thinking embraces a lot of speculation.
The first thing God said to man was that he could eat anything in the garden except the fruit of one tree, and if they ate of that one tree they would die.
The first thing Satan said to man was that if they ate of the fruit of that same tree, they would not die.
The same interchange is present today. God tells us there are consequences for our actions and Satan tells us there are no consequences. I'd rather believe personified truth than personified deception.
We press to new heights when told we cannot. We push to new lows when we are told we should not. Its something in our nature. That nature needs to be redeemed. The new heights are a good thing, the new lows are not.
We need to focus our curiosity, our entrepreneurial spirits, our reach for the unreachable to noble, God-honoring, and eternally significant tasks. How does our reaching take ourselves and humankind closer to God? How does our reaching demonstrate the compassion of Christ, so others, too, may know him? How does our reaching make us better, and others better? Some questions to ponder as we press into new things and new places.
I watched a little bit of Space Odyssey: 2001 the other night until I couldn't take any more of the music. The 1968 perception of what would be available in 2001 was interesting. For instance, a phone in a "phone booth" presented as a big computer console with a 19 inch color screen. You put your credit card in a slot and make a video call. They could not envision cell phones that will do the same in the palm of your hand or Skype that will make a video call to anywhere in the world without the $1.70 charge to your credit card.
The interesting thing to me is that we have gone more text based than video based. The first long distance communication was the telegraph, now we "telegraph" from the palms of our hands. We want to text because it is clean, quick, not messy, just to the point, and we don't have to answer back if we don't want even in the middle of a conversation.
Why the facination with video capabilities, when all we would eventually want to do is still send typed words... simple, because we couldn't do it. Since we couldn't do it we (they) perceived that it would be the apex of communication achievement.
I'll admit this line of thinking embraces a lot of speculation.
The first thing God said to man was that he could eat anything in the garden except the fruit of one tree, and if they ate of that one tree they would die.
The first thing Satan said to man was that if they ate of the fruit of that same tree, they would not die.
The same interchange is present today. God tells us there are consequences for our actions and Satan tells us there are no consequences. I'd rather believe personified truth than personified deception.
We press to new heights when told we cannot. We push to new lows when we are told we should not. Its something in our nature. That nature needs to be redeemed. The new heights are a good thing, the new lows are not.
We need to focus our curiosity, our entrepreneurial spirits, our reach for the unreachable to noble, God-honoring, and eternally significant tasks. How does our reaching take ourselves and humankind closer to God? How does our reaching demonstrate the compassion of Christ, so others, too, may know him? How does our reaching make us better, and others better? Some questions to ponder as we press into new things and new places.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
It was Simply Necessary
Only once did my father ever rebuff me for asking a sincere question, "Dad, did you kill anyone in the war?" To which he sternly replied that killing another human being was never something to be proud of, necessary, perhaps, but not something to be proud of. It seems there were two kinds of WWII vets, those who wore the hats with their insignias and unit numbers, and those that quietly and courageously went about their lives, but never forgetting doing what was necessary, and never forgetting the things they saw and the friends that were lost.
Dad's military medals and a few mementos were always tucked away in his dresser drawer under his clothes. Never displayed, never pulled out to show off, just in the drawer. It was only in his final years that he began to tell me of some of the things he experienced. There was always the memory of the B-17s that didn't make it back to the base, planes that carried friends and men he knew. There was always the wondering of who was in those factories and installations bombed.
Once, on a family trip to Disney World, we sat taking a break from the walking and Dad was lost in thought looking at a family, a German speaking family with their grandfather. I asked Dad what he was thinking, and he replied, "I can't help but wonder where that man was in 1943." It wasn't from the perspective of viewing a possible former enemy, but from the perspective of wondering what hurt and pain that man and his family may have experienced simultaneous to his own.
I must admit, I am a patriot, I am thankful and proud to be an American. I must admit that it goes down hard for me when I hear the world, particularly Europeans (with sincere respect to some of my friends), criticize the United States. Not because we are always right, but because I do believe that through the generations we have tried to do right. Some may question our motives, but I believe the motives of the American people, by and large, have been benevolent and giving. My dad's life, and subsequently my life, and probably to some degree the lives of my children, was affected by the willingness of that generation to stand for what was right.
All of these things color my view of current events. I believe Osama Bin Laden had to be stopped, whatever that took. I am thankful he was stopped. I am grateful for our military and our leaders who finally put an end to his insanity. It was simply necessary. I do, however, recoil a bit when I see images of Americans taking to the streets with alcohol and U.S. flags and dancing gleefully like we just won the World Cup. I am relieved, and even feel some satisfaction, but I think the character of the majority of Americans is to take pause, feel relief, and understand that something necessary was completed in a world that can be savage at times. In the character and nature of Christ, I can't be full of joy that because of evil in the world it was necessary to take a life to stand against evil -- again, it was necessary, but giddy joy is not the emotion I feel.
After almost ten years my eyes still brim with tears when I even think about the tragedy and emotions of 9/11/01. We will not forget and we did the right thing hunting down and stopping the person most responsible for this tragedy. But, I have to say, I don't feel joy over any of this. It is simply the completion of the necessary measures that must be taken to survive in a world that can be savage and evil at times.
Dad's military medals and a few mementos were always tucked away in his dresser drawer under his clothes. Never displayed, never pulled out to show off, just in the drawer. It was only in his final years that he began to tell me of some of the things he experienced. There was always the memory of the B-17s that didn't make it back to the base, planes that carried friends and men he knew. There was always the wondering of who was in those factories and installations bombed.
Once, on a family trip to Disney World, we sat taking a break from the walking and Dad was lost in thought looking at a family, a German speaking family with their grandfather. I asked Dad what he was thinking, and he replied, "I can't help but wonder where that man was in 1943." It wasn't from the perspective of viewing a possible former enemy, but from the perspective of wondering what hurt and pain that man and his family may have experienced simultaneous to his own.
I must admit, I am a patriot, I am thankful and proud to be an American. I must admit that it goes down hard for me when I hear the world, particularly Europeans (with sincere respect to some of my friends), criticize the United States. Not because we are always right, but because I do believe that through the generations we have tried to do right. Some may question our motives, but I believe the motives of the American people, by and large, have been benevolent and giving. My dad's life, and subsequently my life, and probably to some degree the lives of my children, was affected by the willingness of that generation to stand for what was right.
All of these things color my view of current events. I believe Osama Bin Laden had to be stopped, whatever that took. I am thankful he was stopped. I am grateful for our military and our leaders who finally put an end to his insanity. It was simply necessary. I do, however, recoil a bit when I see images of Americans taking to the streets with alcohol and U.S. flags and dancing gleefully like we just won the World Cup. I am relieved, and even feel some satisfaction, but I think the character of the majority of Americans is to take pause, feel relief, and understand that something necessary was completed in a world that can be savage at times. In the character and nature of Christ, I can't be full of joy that because of evil in the world it was necessary to take a life to stand against evil -- again, it was necessary, but giddy joy is not the emotion I feel.
After almost ten years my eyes still brim with tears when I even think about the tragedy and emotions of 9/11/01. We will not forget and we did the right thing hunting down and stopping the person most responsible for this tragedy. But, I have to say, I don't feel joy over any of this. It is simply the completion of the necessary measures that must be taken to survive in a world that can be savage and evil at times.
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