What is the Measure of Your Love Quotient?

We are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. So the question is, “How are you doing? Do you love God today with your complete being?“

We want to say, “Yes”, but we recognize that in our spiritual development we are still woefully shy of perfection. One of our LifeGroups wrestled with this recently and I have had discussions with a few of the group members. Here are a few of my thoughts coming out of that discussion.

Sanctification is the process by which God changes us to become more life Jesus and less like the world. In the process of sanctification God presents us with challenges to change and grow spiritually. As we accept those challenges and allow him to work his character into our lives we are changed. He increases our capacity to respond in loving obedience every time he adjusts our character to become more like his.

A real life example can be drawn from our missionary friends – Jay Bowyer and Colette Ladan. Both were career oriented ladies, each having success in their respective companies. They were involved in a small group in their home church that was studying this very concept. As a group they were of responding to the challenges that God brings to their lives to grow in their Christ-likeness. The members of the group decided together that they would be obedient to God and spent two weeks of their vacation time working with a camp in the country of Poland. While the two week mission was a significant step in obedience it was really the first step of many that saw Jay & Colette resign from their corporate positions and move to Poland to begin to pursue that to which they believe God has called them.

That’s usually how God works in our lives, leading us step-by-step, challenge-to-challenge, as he works his nature into our lives. God is leading us toward holiness and away from sin. Consider someone who is convicted by God of their own self-centered attitude. Their response to God’s challenge may be a very small first step in doing something for others – a simple cup of cold-water action. But that action awakens in them something significant and soon they are serving like they have never served before. Pretty soon their service has become habitual and the godly character of sacrifice has replaced the sin of selfishness.

These are examples of what I mean by the increased capacity that God gives to us so that we can love him more completely. With all the capacity we have we should be able to say I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. As we honestly respond to God’s growth challenges that come into our lives we will discover that next week or next month I will be able to say with greater understanding and a greater depth of experience that I love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

I'd like you to meet Mike Breen

We are on a journey. All of life is a journey, of course, but as a church and more specifically a leadership team, we have been on a journey for the past 9 months or so. Through a fairly circuitous route, God has lead us to learn from and be mentored by 3 Dimensional Ministries (3dm).



This organization, lead by writer, teacher, pastor Mike Breen has a great deal to teach us about what it means to be disciples of Jesus Christ. The tools they are supplying us with are fantastic and the coaching is excellent. I would like you to get a sense of what God is teaching us by reading Mike's blog. Start here and read up through the posts of the past several weeks and see if God does not stir a longing in your heart.

Don't forget to post your thoughts.

Getting creative about a Sabbath rest

This past Sunday I spoke about God's design for creation to have rest and restoration through a regular pattern of Sabbath rest. A member of our church who heard that message sent me an email and asked, "In order to make a living and support my family, I'm required to work every other Sunday and there's really nothing I could do to change it. How does today's sermon apply to someone in a situation like mine." That is a great question and has implications for many in our congregation so I thought it appropriate to answer it here.

One of the big points of the passage we studied on Sunday (Mark 2:23-3:6) was that the principle of the Sabbath is more important than a legalistic approach to Sabbath keeping. I suggest you find another chunk of uninterrupted time that you can spend with God on the weeks when Sunday mornings are not available to you. Download the Sunday sermon from the website and allow God to speak to you just as he would if you had been able to gather with us.

I also spoke about using the Sabbath rest to sure up our covenant relationships, namely our relationship with God, our spouse, our children, and our church family. On the weeks when Sunday is not available to spend refreshing those relationships find another time. If you have another day off in the week, make that your Sabbath day. It is really more about finding the time and then reorienting what you do with that time. Be intentional by thinking about which of your relationships is getting your attention during your time away from work.

And finally, find time to be with other church friends where you can have deep, meaningful interaction. This could be with members of your LifeGroup or ministry team. Just make sure you are being open about how you are growing spiritually and listen to others to prompt that same openness in them.

To listen to the above referenced message of 05/08/11

Two things that amaze me ...

I continue to be amazed by two things - first, that God provides for his people through the systematic teaching of his word and second, the casual and sometimes willful way that we neglect His provision.

Planning a preaching schedule and listening to God for what he has for his people is an exciting journey. Despite our best efforts, it is impossible to see what may be coming in people's lives. Yet week after week the topics and scripture texts that are chosen weeks and months in advance become exactly what God will use to speak to someone's life. That is both exhilarating and sobering.

The disappointment for me is when those to whom we minister take such a casual approach to their attendance in Sunday worship. It thrills me when in my preparation I see the needs of individuals being addressed by the text. How gracious of God to lead me to a text that will address specific need in someone's life. I wonder if He is as disappointed as I that they missed what could have effected their growth and spiritual development.

Saturday Morning at Panera

My Saturday mornings at Panera Bread have almost become a habit. After I drop Ruth off at work I make my way next door, order a coffee and find my regular table. I open my laptop, check my email and then spend some time tweaking my sermon for Sunday. (Let's be honest - sometimes it is actually finishing my sermon - thankfully it has never been starting my sermon.)

I find that the buzz of humanity around me is a great background as I think about presenting my message to real people with real lives. I'm sure every person who presents regularly - teachers, preachers, motivational speakers - all ask this question from time to time; Do my words make any difference in the real world where our people live?

As I sit here this morning, I'm over-hearing a group of guys sharing together in an accountability group. They are talking about their failures to regular have a devotional life, one dad is struggling with help his son to learn to save money, another talking about his job difficulties.

A few tables away a ladies study group is winding up and the ladies are involved in friendly chit-chat. Apparently they are all from different churches but once attended the same church - one where a friend of mine is on staff. There's a story there I'm sure, but I don't really care to know.

Around the room are friends quietly talking over coffee and a bagel, others (like me) are lost in their laptops and some even hold a real honest-to-goodness book as they sip their beverage. Saturday mornings at Panera are just a cross section of this community - not that different from the folks who I will stand in from of tomorrow morning.

As much as I would love to keep spilling my thoughts I really need to get back to my conclusion of 1 John. There will be a bunch of real people hoping that I have found a way to bring a practical application of truth to their lives, or at least that's what I think they're expecting.

Happy Mother's Day

I have two mothers in my life. One mother gave me life and raised me - the other mother I married before she was a mother. The funny thing is that I have known my mother only about a year longer than I have known my wife. (I know - that's taking "childhood sweetheart" to a whole new level.)

My mother, Dolly Dorey, is probably the greatest example of selfless love that I have ever known. She worked very hard to raise five boys and a girl. Her days often started well before ours and often didn't end until well after we were all sound asleep. There were times when the money didn't go far enough and the extras weren't plentiful but there were always healthy, wholesome meals on our table, clean clothes in our closests and a sense of well-being in our home.

Mom very seldom just sat and did nothing. Occasionally she would watch a TV show with us or participate in a game of Scrabble. Sometimes she would escape to another world through a good book but usually she had housework that needed to be done. Her love for us was demonstrated through the care that she gave to our needs.

I discovered that the place to get my mom's attention was in the kitchen. That was her "office" and much wisdom and nurturing was dispensed at the kitchen table while I ate the cookies that she was baking.

Mom was also a major spiritual influence in our home. She instructed, encouraged and even guilted us toward God. Her life has always been a testimony to the love she has for Christ. She desires for her own children the same relationship she has with her heavenly Father.

It is interesting to me that the characteristics that I admire in my mother are also the traits that I see in my wife, Ruth. Her selfless attitude for our family often plays itself out in the same way as it did in my childhood home. My invitation to sit down and relax is greeted by that phrase repeated by mothers worldwide, "The works not going to get done by itself, now is it."

Our son Shane has learned that when it is a sympathetic ear he needs - he goes to mom. I'll usually tell him to "suck-it-up" or "shake-it off" while Ruth will tell him "I understand - I'm sorry that you're hurting". But in offering the listening ear, I have observed that Ruth also has the opportunities to speak spiritual truth into Shane's life that I sometimes miss.

So, on this Mother's Day I am thankful for the two mothers that God has placed in my life. Both are unique but in some respects they are quite similar. I love you both very much!

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all." Proverbs 31:28,29

Celebrating Life

A couple of weeks ago a friend of our family passed away. My dad sent a brief email telling us that Alvin Sangster had not regained consciousness after suffering a stroke a few days earlier. My immediate thought was, that's not possible, Alvin is about the same age  as my dad! 

Dad's email gave the brief particulars of the funeral and also let us know that he and Mom were going to make the five hour trip to be present to pay their condolences to the family. In person, my dad can talk the leg off a horse but he's not very verbose in his electronic communication. He had written enough to let us know the basics but there was something that unsettled me about his note. For the next several days, I found myself thinking about these friends so far away and whom I had seen so seldom of late.

I found my mind going to my childhood memories of visiting the Sangsters in their home on the eastern shore of Nova Scotia. I had loved the energy and vigor of this family.  Two of Alvin and Hilda's five children where just a bit older than I, their middle daughter the same age as me and then their younger two the same age as my younger siblings. Our families always enjoyed being together whenever an occasion would present itself. 

The Sangsters were fishermen. Alvin, his brother Terry, and their father Victor spent their lives on the sea and there seemed to be a certain "old world" ruggedness about how they lived their lives. Although their boats were very modern and decked out with all the latest gear, to me there was always a sense of adventure and mystique about the life of one that lives that close to nature and the elements.

The morning of Alvin's funeral I went online to read his obituary. It always surprises me how someone's life can be reduced to two or three inches in a newspaper column. As I scanned the list of possible internet links, I saw several that lead to videos posted on "youtube".  I clicked and discovered that Alvin's 70th birthday party had been recorded and posted online for those family members who were not able to attend. 

It was just as if I were reliving my childhood as I saw the images and heard the voices of old friends. Although uninvited, I was able to share in the celebration in that little house in Port Bickerton on the windswept coast of the Atlantic ocean. Better than the most well-crafted obituary were the expressions of love, the laughter and the tributes of family and friends. Even the guest of honor took a moment to thank those who had come and commented that he had waited 70 years to have a surprise birthday party in his honor.

In those moments as I watched the video account of his birthday party, it occurred to me that Alvin's family was gathering for his funeral with very few regrets. This was a family that had loved their dad out loud! They had celebrated him enthusiastically just a few months earlier. I'm sure their grief is deep and the pain of separation will be felt for a long time - but the memories of a life well lived will be a balm that will soothe and heal the pain.

And so from my musings and reflections of the past few weeks come a couple of challenges. First, that when I attend the funeral of those I hold dear I want to be able to come having celebrated and honored them while they were alive. And secondly, to live my life in such a way that when I am gone those whom I loved and who loved me will be able to come to my funeral with no regrets. I'm not planning to check out of this life anytime soon - nor am I planning to sit in the mourner's bench in the near future - but I am thinking about the parties that need to be planned and those that need to be celebrated.