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From Seeing to Worship

Posted in Beautiful Places, God Stories, Travel, worldview, Worship, tagged bible, Christianity, faith, faith building, god, Jesus on October 10, 2026| Leave a Comment »

It’s been a full week. A week of travel, of teaching and work, and also of time with family, beautiful places, and a lot of pictures. Today the outside is gray, windy, and rainy. There isn’t much to do outdoors. So I’m sitting beside my wife, resting in God’s grace and thinking back over the week. As I do, my mind keeps returning to one idea: the path things travel from our eyes, into our minds, and down into our hearts.

The Heart Behind the Eyes

By heart, I don’t mean the muscle that pumps blood. I mean the center of our being, the place where our true self lives. Scripture treats the heart that way, as the seat of what we think, love, and choose.

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” — Proverbs 4:23 (ESV)

What reaches the heart usually comes in first through the eyes. Jesus made that point with startling force in the Sermon on the Mount:

“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away.” — Matthew 5:29 (ESV)

He was using hyperbole, of course. The truth underneath it is real, though. What we let into our minds through our eyes affects us and changes us. A little later in the same sermon He said it another way:

“The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.” — Matthew 6:22–23 (ESV)

So what is the path from the eye to the heart? As I’ve reflected on it, I see a progression.

Recognition and Awareness

It begins with recognition. We see something and recognize it for what it is: beauty, value, worth. Recognition is the door. Nothing gets to the heart without first passing through it.

Close behind recognition comes awareness. Here we start weighing and judging what we’re taking in. Is this good? Is this true? Is this worth holding onto? Paul gives us a filter for exactly this moment:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” — Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

Appreciation and Gratitude

Once we are aware of what is good, appreciation follows quickly. These are the things that register in us as lovely and valuable, the things we like.

This week gave me plenty to appreciate. Driving through Canada, the fall foliage was stunning, and the deep blue of Lake Superior stopped me in my tracks. But the smiles, the laughter, and the kind words we shared while gathered with family in Gaylord, Michigan were just as beautiful. So was a visit to Boyne Mountain. And then many hours of travel where my friend Red and I talked about the Lord and the life lessons He has taught us along the way.

From appreciation, it isn’t a big step to gratitude. Once we value something, we become thankful that we were able to see it, perceive it, and enjoy it at all. And this week, gratitude was flowing.

Where Gratitude Leads

Gratitude is a platform. From it, we can go one more step, if we recognize the One who is the source of every good thing.

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” — James 1:17 (ESV)

That last step is not automatic. Paul describes people who saw God’s handiwork in creation and still stopped short:

“For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” — Romans 1:21 (ESV)

They had recognition but no gratitude, and so no worship. Their path ended in darkness instead of light. That’s Jesus’ warning about the eye, seen from the other side.

When we do recognize the Giver behind the gift, gratitude becomes worship. Worship is the highest level of recognition. It flows through appreciation and gratitude and turns back to the One who made the beauty, who made the people we spend time with, who made the ones who add value to our lives and make life worth living.

“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.” — Psalm 19:1 (ESV)

“Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!” — Psalm 100:4 (ESV)

Thanksgiving is the gate, and praise is the court. Gratitude walks us right up to worship.

A Gray Day, a Grateful Heart

I find it fitting that I’m writing this on a day with no blue sky and no bright leaves outside my window. The beauty of this week doesn’t depend on today’s weather. I can look back over it, recognize it, appreciate it, and give thanks. And as I do, I’m moved to worship.

“This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” — Psalm 118:24 (ESV)

That includes the gray, rainy ones.

Looking back over your own week, what beauty did you recognize? And did it make it all the way from your eyes to your heart, through gratitude, and into worship of the One who gave it?

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Good News in Unexpected Voices

Posted in Bible Study, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Priorities, Responsibility, The Father, Travel, worldview, Worship, tagged faith, hearing God, Jesus, holy spirit, god, bible, Christianity on October 2, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Reading: Luke 2 and Matthew 1

Today the Gospel’s counter-cultural view of women stood out to me. Jesus’ message was so often aimed at the poor, the overlooked, and the marginalized, and that thread is quietly present from the very first pages of both Luke and Matthew.

Two Women, Two Songs

Yesterday the chief characters were Mary and Elizabeth, two women pregnant in the most unusual of ways: one too old, one never with a husband. And both of them lift their voices to God in rich, Scripture-soaked praise. Elizabeth cries out, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:42). Mary answers:

“My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.” (Luke 1:46–48)

“He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate.” (Luke 1:52)

The Women in the Family Tree

Today we read the genealogy of Jesus, and amazingly, there are women in it. Ancient genealogies traced the line through the fathers. Yet Matthew deliberately names four women before Mary, and not the ones you might expect:

“and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar…” (Matthew 1:3)

“and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth…” (Matthew 1:5)

“and David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah…” (Matthew 1:6)

Tamar, whose story in Genesis 38 is one of deception and scandal. Rahab, a Canaanite prostitute from Jericho. Ruth, a Moabite, from a people Israel was forbidden to welcome into the assembly. Bathsheba, named only as “the wife of Uriah” the Hittite, a reminder of David’s adultery and murder. Gentiles and scandals, written right into the bloodline of the Messiah.

This is a striking departure from the safe, sanitized, male-dominated world that would normally have been the audience for written material. God’s reach is universal. All are welcome. All are invited to enter in.

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:28)

An Old Man and a Widow

After 400 years of silence, the Holy Spirit lets two people know that the Messiah has arrived, as a baby. The first is Simeon:

“Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” (Luke 2:25–26)

He takes the child in his arms and says what no one in that Temple expected to hear:

“Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.” (Luke 2:29–32)

Then comes Anna:

“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.” (Luke 2:36–38)

I have to wonder what everyone else in the Temple was thinking that day. How easy it is to disregard the elderly. How easy to patronize an old widow spouting off what sounds like nonsense about the Messiah. Here was a woman who had somehow survived fifty or sixty years as a widow in a society with no welfare system, and she was ecstatic. The Messiah is here!

As I sit and ponder the scene, I can see the whispers spreading. I can see hope stirred, only to be followed by a letdown when the child and His family disappear back to Nazareth. And yet God was preparing the soil. God was planting seeds. An old man at the end of his life speaking of the inclusion of the Gentiles, easy for faithful Jews to dismiss. A widow, easy to discount because she was a woman. But God didn’t dismiss or discount them. He gave them the Spirit, gave them a prophetic voice, and gave them the responsibility of announcing the arrival of the coming King. And He made sure Luke recorded Anna’s name.

Humble Circumstances Don’t Disqualify

Humble circumstances do not disqualify us. In fact, they are often the exact environment God uses to reveal Himself. The first announcement of Jesus’ birth went to shepherds in a field: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people” (Luke 2:10).

“But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)

God does not despise our failures:

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” (Psalm 51:17)

Does He hate sin? Yes. Did He die for the sinner? Yes. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). No one is too far from His love and mercy.

The only ones who miss the fullness of God’s grace are those too proud to respond to His kindness. Those too busy to think about things eternal. Those who can’t be bothered to listen to the humble who are pointing to Jesus.

“God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)

A Song in the Terminal

Here is what amazed me this morning. I’m sitting in an airport getting ready for an early flight. The terminal is chaotic, under heavy construction, and seating is limited. I’ve had a hard time concentrating because of a group behind me, friendly banter, but loud. Then suddenly they left. In the brief lull, I could hear the music playing over the loudspeaker, and I was stunned.

It was an instrumental version of “Goodness of God.” Playing in a secular airport, in the Midwest, at the very moment I was pondering how the Good News is so often carried in subtle, unexpected ways.

By an elderly widow. By an old man at the end of his life. By a barren woman pregnant long past childbearing age. By a teenage girl with no husband and a mighty strange story. And through a gospel song drifting over the public address system in an airport in Omaha.

It reminded me of Elijah, who didn’t find God in the wind, the earthquake, or the fire, but in “the sound of a low whisper” (1 Kings 19:12). Sometimes the noise has to clear before we can hear it.

“I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living!” (Psalm 27:13)

We bask in the goodness of God for sure.

For reflection: Who in your life might be an “Anna” or a “Simeon,” someone easy to overlook who may be pointing you to Jesus, and what noise might you need to quiet in order to hear them?

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Consistency, Not Perfection

Posted in Beautiful Places, Bible Study, Prayer, Priorities, Travel, tagged bible, Christianity, Consistency, faith, faith building, god, Jesus, Prayer on September 19, 2026| Leave a Comment »

Areliablefaith Reflection

A few days ago, on a beach in Marina di Ragusa, Sicily, I found myself staring at a McDonald’s. Not because I wanted a hamburger, but because of where it was sitting — right on the water, in about as prime a location as you could ask for, surrounded by genuine, family-run trattorias that had clearly been there for generations. It struck me as strange. How does an American fast-food chain end up on a stretch of coastline like this? And more than that — would it even survive next to businesses built on real family history and craft?

That question sat with me for a couple of days, and it pulled up a memory from a book I read a long time ago: Tom Peters’ In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies. McDonald’s was one of the companies Peters studied, and one line from it has stuck with me for years. He observed that McDonald’s never set out to make the single best-tasting hamburger in the world. What they pursued instead was consistency — a hamburger that tasted the same whether you bought it in the U.S., in Canada, in Japan, or, apparently, on a beach in Sicily.

Lisa and I ended up going back to that same McDonald’s — not for the burgers, but for a cappuccino and, of all things, a croissant, which is not exactly a McDonald’s staple back home. And as I drank that cappuccino, I realized it tasted exactly like the one I’d had in Michigan a few months earlier, and the one I’d had in South Carolina before that. Different continent, different culture, same cup. That’s not an accident. That’s the entire business model.

It got me thinking about my own walk with God.

God isn’t asking me to be the spiritual equivalent of the “best-tasting hamburger” — spectacular, polished, impressive from day one. What He seems to be after isn’t perfection out of the gate. It’s surrender, and it’s consistency — showing up again and again, letting Him shape the heart a little more each time.

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 1:6

“Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” — Philippians 3:12

But here’s where I have to be honest with myself, because I’ve recently caught myself twisting that very idea. I’ve been using YouVersion to read the Bible daily, and somewhere along the way, “consistency” quietly turned into “streak.” I started feeling real stress about keeping a number going, rather than about actually meeting God in the text. The goal was never a badge or a counter. The goal was to see Him in His Word and let it inform my heart. Somewhere along the way, the tracking became the target.

It’s not a new problem. It’s the same thing Jesus called out in Matthew 23 — people who were relentlessly consistent in the letter of practice while neglecting “the weightier matters.” Or Isaiah 29:13 — a people whose lips were near God while their hearts stayed far away. Discipline is not the same thing as devotion. It’s possible to be perfectly consistent and still miss the point entirely.

“These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” — Isaiah 29:13

The consistency worth pursuing isn’t the visible, countable kind — the streak, the box checked, the record kept. It’s the invisible kind: returning to Him, again and again, not because a number depends on it, but because that’s where life actually is.

A Question to Sit With

Where in your walk with God has faithfulness quietly turned into a performance metric — and what would it look like this week to return to the relationship instead of the record?

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Out of the Comfort Zone

Posted in God, God Stories, Jesus Christ, Mission to Kenya, Orphans, Prayer, Service, Spiritual Growth, Travel, Trials, worldview, tagged comfort, faith, faith building, Following God, friends, orphanage, Orphans, Prayer, spiritual growth, Transformation, Travel, travel-blog on December 9, 2023| Leave a Comment »

In 2019 I traveled to Kenya to support some friends who were serving in an orphanage and Christian school in Nairobi. It was an awesome trip, and I was greatly encouraged by the Davis family’s faithfulness in serving the Lord and the dozens of young people under their charge. I told a friend afterwards that the trip was amazing, but somehow that word really wasn’t sufficient. My wife and I travel for leisure a fair amount and seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends is not a new experience for me. My common response is that a trip is “amazing”. This was so much more than that. It was inspiring. It was hard work. It was uplifting talking to LJ and Danee about the work. It was wonderful to hear from the Lord frequently and be able to obey with the encouragement and activity that He directed. It weighed on my heart to see the poverty, filth, and lack of opportunity that is so much more prevalent than in the USA (or any of the places we travel to for fun). But as heavy as that was, the light of God’s goodness in the work being carried out stood out in stark, yet highly desirable contrast. There are many lessons that I have taken from the trip. Some were fully formed while I was there. Some are still being processed. The following are my keys take-aways.

Maturing in faith and becoming a seasoned Christian will always include steps out of our comfort zone.

Growth as a believer is an on-going series of steps that progressively move us from a place of comfort and ease into new territory that will often be a little scary and uncomfortable. But it is in stepping into the new that we learn to trust in Jesus’s presence and provision more than our own abilities and strength. I used to think that the word comfort meant ease and leisure. The actual root of the term comfort means “with strength”. Com = with, fort comes from the same root as fortress or fortification – a place of strength. When we are comforted, we are given strength to endure whatever difficulty, trial, or challenge we are encountering. Being comforted is a good thing. Being comfortable is in itself not a bad thing. However, there are times when the good can become an enemy of the best. And God wants the best for His children.

The path to intimacy with God isn’t always comfortable.

So, what is the problem with being comfortable and why does God want us to move out of our comfort zone? The issue is not that God is a killjoy. Joy, comfort, and peace are great gifts He provides. But these are by-products not the end product. The goal is a deepening relationship with Him and a greater intimacy with the lover of our soul. It is God’s desire that each one of us grow to know Him so well that we live in constant communion with Him. Prayer without ceasing is more than a pious platitude, it is an accurate description of the life God wants to lead us into. Which is where our personal comfort zone can become a hindrance rather than a good thing.

The Creator of the universe is without limits. His love is truly beyond our comprehension, but He wants us to experience it in ever greater amounts. To do so often means we must let go of our current familiar and comfortable understanding to experience the next greater level of His love. The same is true of His wisdom, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace. Each time we let go of our current state of satisfaction and lean into a holy hunger for more of Him, we will experience a stretching and growth that reveals more of God’s nature, and a lessening of the negatives of the world’s perspective. For me personally, this stretching often includes a letting go of self-reliance in some area to gain a greater God-reliance.

One family’s pursuit of following God in Kenya.

I saw this in Kenya. It was evident in my friends LJ and Danee. It was also true in me. God’s specific word to LJ was “to prepare the land”. The orphanage had fallen into disrepair. Mismanagement had resulted in the loss of the license as a children’s home and much of the 14-acre compound was overgrown with brush and vegetation. The entire family responded to the call to prepare the land.

Now for many of us, traveling overseas can be a daunting experience. That increases when the travel is to a third world country. Raise it another notch when we are placed next to the 2^nd largest slum in the world. Oh, for good measure, take the entire family with children ages 15, 14, 13, and 9 in tow. I know very few people who would be able to be stretched that far. But the path the Lord has led Danee and LJ on has been a path of consistent next steps of trusting God as they go a little further out of their comfort zone, only to see Him provide exactly what was needed after each step.

While I was there, I witnessed LJ assuming the new role of overall Operations Manager for the entire compound. By his own admission, LJ is a country boy from rural South Carolina. He did not aspire to running an orphanage and school, but as I witnessed while I was there, LJ and Danee are faithfully doing whatever is required in leading, guiding, and serving the community. And the land itself is beginning to flourish. A ¾ acre vegetable garden is up and growing. Soon it will be a major supplement to the food provisions for the 84 children getting their meals at LifeSpring. The livestock are multiplying. The third fluffle of rabbits are being nurtured and rabbit hutches were built while I was there. Chickens roam the grounds during the day with baby chicks sticking close to mama hen for protection. Goats graze on grass where brambles once grew. To support the growing campus, LJ has hired widows and young men in desperate need of employment. The land is well on its way to being prepared.

LJ’s work as an instrument and controls technician prepared him for some of the work. I chuckle though because Google has come to the rescue many times as they encounter new situations they have never dealt with before. (Like letting me know that a group of baby bunnies is called a fluffle!) In one instance they were talking to one of the widows who had been hired to tend the garden. In Kenya all the schools are in English, so if you have had the benefit of attending school you are liable to speak decent English. This widow, who cares for her grandchild in the Kibera slum, knows zero English therefore she has never been to school. Trying to communicate to her that LJ had bought four tin sheets to replace the plastic she was living under in Kibera was both humorous and deeply touching. Google translate had to translate into Swahili so the widow could understand that some men would be coming by to help her. Kenyans don’t cry. Stoic persistence to survive doesn’t leave room for expressing much emotion, but the emotion flickered on her face when she realized the act of kindness being done for her.

The Bible’s witness to life outside the comfort zone.

I think of Paul heading to Jerusalem where he would be arrested. God clearly told him to go to Jerusalem. And he was also clearly told that difficulty was ahead. But God gave Paul an assurance that walking this difficult path was God’s will and that God would be with him. Paul was called out of his comfort zone over and over again. In stepping into God’s call out of the comfort zone and into the unknown, Paul grew into the apostle God created him to be. Today the Church is blessed because of Paul’s faithfulness in living outside of his comfort zone since much of the New Testament was written by Paul.

As the Lord opened my eyes to the reality of our growth as believers being tied to stepping out of our comfort zone, I realized that all the saints mentioned in the Bible were taken out of their comfort zone. Abraham left his family, his land, and ventured many long and difficult miles (and years) to a “promised” land. There was comfort in the land of Haran, but God’s call was to step out and follow Him.

Mary was a young teenager engaged to a kind carpenter, when an angel said you have been chosen but it will take you out of your comfort zone. Mary said “let it be done to me as you have said” and she stepped out of her comfort zone and into God’s plan for the salvation of humanity.

Jesus was a good Jewish lad, well versed in the law, but God had a plan and a call upon His life. Jesus was unique. He was fully God, but at the same time fully human. Being fully human, He experienced a degree of comfort as a carpenter son, then apprentice, and finally working as a carpenter in His own right. But when God said step out of your comfort zone and into my call upon your life He did.

Jesus ministered for 3 years outside of His comfort zone – forty days fasting in the desert, speaking to crowds that wanted signs and wonders, but not necessarily the all-in life with God He was espousing, doing battle with the persons of power and influence who chaffed at His familiarity with God, and finally suffering a painful and humiliating torture and execution at the hands of both Roman authorities and Jewish leaders. Jesus modeled a life of stretching our human boundaries of comfort in faithful response to God’s call to something better, something richer, to life in union with God and His unique plan for each person.

What next step outside your comfort zone is God calling you to?

Friends I am deeply stirred that God has a call upon every person into a life that is beyond amazing. He has a call upon you. But it is a journey that will frequently take us out of our comfort zone. God will ask us to take steps in faith in Him and not in sight by using our own wisdom and strength. We will have to rely upon Him. We will be stretched. At times it won’t be “fun”. At times it will even be difficult. But as we listen and lean upon Him, He will be with us to bring about His good will in us and through us. And this is so much better than the “good” we might experience in the comfort zone. Because it is the best.

What burden or desire has the Lord put on your heart that gets shelved because it is outside your comfort zone?

Where do you see injustice, need, or sin that really pushes your buttons, but thus far you have done little beyond complain about it?

Do you get a passion for something the Word says to do, yet thus far you have not truly considered the possibility of you doing something just because?

Take a few moments and ask the Father to bring your next step into clear focus. Ask with a willingness to take the next step. Realize these will not usually be huge leaps out of the blue, but a gradual revelation where God draws you to a faith place that makes each progressive step a stretch, but doable with a little courage and trust in the One Who has provided for you in the past. For the Davis’ it was a few years walking out many progressive next steps into mission work. For me going over to help them was similar, taking about a year of progressive faith steps. Having been, my faith is stirred to help even more. Will I be more comfortable? Walking in God’s grace and lifted by His love, I reckon I have all the strength a person needs. So, the answer has to be yes, but in a new way. When we walk His path, taking new steps into the unknown that He directs, we will be comforted with His great comfort.

And that is way better than just being comfortable.

Be blessed my friends and be a light of blessing in the places where the LORD has placed you today, and always!

BTW, Danee and LJ are still serving in the same place although it is now called Oasis of Hope, and the Lord has done amazing things. The vision has shifted to rescuing young girls from forced marriages. The school now holds over 110 students, and the ministry is expanding more and more into the slum and areas around the school. The oversight organization is Serving Orphans Worldwide. Check them out at https://soworldwide.org/oasis-of-hope/

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Out of the Comfort Zone

Posted in God, God Stories, Mission to Kenya, Photography, Service, Spiritual Growth, The Father, Travel, tagged Christianity, faith, family, Kenya, lessons learned, life, missionaries, Orphans, religion, Travel, widow on May 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

I recently traveled to Kenya to support some friends who are serving in an orphanage and school in Nairobi. It was an awesome trip and I was greatly encouraged by the Davis family’s faithfulness in serving the Lord and the dozens of young people under their charge. I told a friend last night that the trip was amazing, but somehow that word really isn’t sufficient. My wife and I travel for leisure a fair amount and seeing new places, experiencing new cultures, and making new friends is not a new experience for me. My common response is that a trip is “amazing”. This was so much more than that. It was inspiring. It was hard work. It was uplifting talking to LJ and Danee about the work. It was wonderful to hear from the Lord frequently and be able to obey with the encouragement and activity that He directed.

It weighed on my heart to see the poverty, filth, and lack of opportunity that is so much more prevalent than in the USA (or any of the places we travel to for fun). But as heavy as that was, the light of God’s goodness in the work being carried out stood out in stark, highly desirable contrast. There are many lessons that I have taken from the trip. Some were fully formed while I was there. Some are still being processed. Yesterday we hosted friends for our home group and the Lord brought a new consideration to light that I want to share today.

Maturing in faith and becoming a seasoned Christian will always include steps out of our comfort zone. In fact, growth as a believer will be an on-going series of steps that progressively move us from a place of comfort and ease into new territory that will often be a little scary and uncomfortable. But it is in stepping into the new that we learn to trust in Jesus’s presence and provision more than our own abilities and strength. I used to think that the word comfort meant ease and leisure. The actual root of the term comfort means “with strength”. Com = with, fort comes from the same root as fortress or fortification – a place of strength. When we are comforted, we are given strength to endure whatever difficulty, trial, or challenge we are encountering. Being comforted is a good thing. Being comfortable is in itself not a bad thing. However, as I have discussed in previous posts, there are times when the good can become an enemy of the best. And God wants the best for His children.

So what is the problem with being comfortable and why does God want us to move out of our comfort zone? The issue is not that God is a killjoy. Joy, comfort, and peace are great gifts He provides. But these are by-products not the end product. The end is a deepening relationship with Him and a greater intimacy with the lover of our soul. It is God’s desire that each one of us grow to know Him so well that we live in constant communion with Him. Prayer without ceasing is more than a pious platitude, it is an accurate description of the life God wants to lead us into. Which is where our personal comfort zone can become a hindrance rather than a good thing.

The Creator of the universe is without limits. His love is truly beyond our comprehension, but He wants us to experience it in ever greater amounts. To do so often means we must let go of our existing beliefs and understanding to experience the next greater level of His love. The same is true of His wisdom, His faithfulness, His mercy, His grace. Each time we let go of our current state of satisfaction and lean into a holy hunger for more of Him, we will experience a stretching and growth that reveals more of God’s nature, and by definition, will result in a degree of loss of the negatives of the world’s perspective. For me personally, this stretching often includes a letting go of self-reliance in some area to gain a greater God-reliance.

I saw this in Kenya. It was evident in my friends LJ and Danee. Masai Village-14 It was also true in me. God’s specific word to LJ was “to prepare the land”. The orphanage had fallen into disrepair. Mismanagement had resulted in the loss of the license as a children’s home and much of the 14-acre compound was overgrown with brush and vegetation. The entire family responded to the call to prepare the land. Now for many of us, traveling overseas can be a daunting experience. That increases when the travel is to a third world country. Raise it another notch when we are placed next to the 2nd largest slum in the world. Kibera Children's Center-43 Oh, for good measure, take the entire family with children ages 15, 14, 13, and 9 in tow. Kibera Children's Center-53 I know very few people who would be able to be stretched that far. But the path the Lord has led Danee and LJ on has been a path of consistent next steps of trusting God as they go a little further out of their comfort zone, only to see Him provide exactly what was needed after each step.

While I was there, I witnessed LJ assuming the new role of overall Operations Manager for the entire compound. By his own admission, LJ is a country boy from rural South Carolina. He did not aspire to running an orphanage and school, but as I witnessed while I was there, LJ and Danee are faithfully doing whatever is required in leading, guiding, and serving the community. And the land itself is beginning to flourish. A ¾ acre vegetable garden is up and growing. Kibera Children's Center-91 Soon it will be a major supplement to the food provisions for the 84 children getting their meals at LifeSpring. The livestock are multiplying. The third fluffle of rabbits are being nurtured and rabbit hutches were built while I was there.

Chickens roam the grounds during the day with baby chicks sticking close to mama hen for protection. Goats graze on grass where brambles once grew. To support the growing campus, LJ has hired widows and young men in desperate need of employment. The land is well on its way to being prepared.

LJ’s work as an instrument and controls technician prepared him for some of the work. I chuckle though because Google has come to the rescue many times as they encounter new situations they have never dealt with before. (Like letting me know that a group of baby bunnies is called a fluffle!) In one instance they were talking to one of the widows who had been hired to tend the garden. In Kenya all the schools are in English, so if you have had the benefit of attending school you are liable to speak decent English. This widow, who cares for her grandchild in the Kibera slum, knows zero English therefore she has never been to school. Kibera Children's Center-98 Trying to communicate to her that LJ had bought four tin sheets to replace the plastic she was living under in Kibera was both humorous and deeply touching. Google translate had to translate into Swahili so the widow could understand that some men would be coming by to help her. Kenyans don’t cry. Stoic persistence to survive doesn’t leave room for expressing much emotion, but the emotion flickered on her face when she realized the act of kindness being done for her. Kibera Children's Center-93

LJ and Danee went to Kenya following the Lord’s clear leading. But following the Lord’s leading and knowing all that we are getting into are often two different things. In some cases, the Father will give us a degree of insight into what’s ahead. I think of Paul the apostle heading to Jerusalem where he would be arrested. God clearly told him to go to Jerusalem. And he was also clearly told that difficulty was ahead. But God gave Paul an assurance that walking this difficult path was God’s will and that God would be with him. Paul was called out of his comfort zone over and over again. In stepping into God’s call out of the comfort zone and into the unknown, Paul grew into the apostle God created him to be. Today the Church is blessed because of Paul’s faithfulness in living outside of his comfort zone since much of the New Testament was written by Paul.

As the Lord opened my eyes to the reality of our growth as believers being tied to stepping out of our comfort zone, I realized all the saints in the Word were taken out of their comfort zone. Abraham left his family, his land, and ventured many long and difficult miles to a “promised” land. There was comfort in the land of Haran, but God’s call was to step out and follow Him. Mary was a young woman engaged to a kind carpenter, when an angel said you have been chosen but it will take you out of your comfort zone. Mary said “let it be done to me as you have said” and she stepped out of her comfort zone and into God’s plan for the salvation of humanity. Jesus was a good Jewish lad, well versed in the law, but God had a plan and a call upon His life. Jesus was unique. He was fully God, but at the same time fully human. Being fully human, He experienced a degree of comfort as a carpenter’s son, then apprentice, and finally working as a carpenter in His own right. But when God said step out of your comfort zone and into my call upon your life He did. Jesus ministered for three years outside of His comfort zone – forty days fasting in the desert, speaking to crowds that wanted signs and wonders, but not necessarily the all-in life with God He was espousing, doing battle with the persons of power and influence who chaffed at His familiarity with God, and finally suffering a painful and humiliating torture and execution at the hands of both Roman authorities and Jewish leaders. Jesus modeled a life of stretching our human boundaries of comfort in faithful response to God’s call to something better, something richer, to life in union with God and His unique plan for each person.

Friends I am deeply stirred that God has a call upon every person into a life that is beyond amazing. He has a call upon you. But it is a journey that will frequently take us out of our comfort zone. God will ask us to step in faith in Him and not in sight by using our own wisdom and strength. We will have to rely upon Him. We will be stretched. At times it won’t be “fun”. At times it will even be difficult. But as we listen and lean upon Him, He will be with us to bring about His good will in us and through us. And this is so much better than the “good” we might experience in the comfort zone. Because it is the best.

What burden or desire has the Lord put on your heart that gets shelved because it is outside your comfort zone?

Where do you see injustice, need, or sin that really pushes your buttons, but thus far you have done little beyond complain about it?

Do you have a passion for something the Word says to do, yet thus far you have not truly considered the possibility of you doing something just because?

Take a few moments and ask the Father to bring your next step into clear focus. Ask with a willingness to take the next step. Realize these will not usually be huge leaps out of the blue, but a gradual revelation where God draws you to a faith place that makes each progressive step a stretch, but doable with a little courage and trust in the One Who has provided for you in the past. For the Davis’ it was a few years walking out many progressive next steps into mission work. For me going over to help them was similar, taking about a year of progressive faith steps. Having been, my faith is stirred to help even more. Will I be more comfortable? Walking in God’s grace and lifted by His love, I reckon I have all the strength a person needs. So the answer has to be yes, but in a new way. When we walk His path, taking new steps into the unknown that He directs we will be comforted with His great comfort. And that is way better than just being comfortable.

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Kauai

Posted in Beautiful Places, love, Marriage, Photography, Travel, vacation, tagged anniversary, Beach, flightseeing, happiness, Hawaii, islands, Kauai, natural beauty, nature, nature photography, photography, Wailua Falls, Wailua River, Waimea Canyon, Waimea Falls, Waimea Valley on April 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

I wanted to finish posting pics from our anniversary get-away. It was a fun way to celebrate 33 years of being married to a wonderful woman who is simply a beautiful person through and through. Heading to a tropical paradise just as the grip of winter seems to finally be slipping seemed like a good idea and the following pics show off the beautiful island of Kauai where we visited for 2 days at the end of our vacation.

I experienced a downside to this though. My work travels the next week took me to western New York where the temperature never got above 40 F and it snowed almost every day. My blood had gotten used to the tropics so I think my suffering (and whining and complaining) were justified and I guess maybe a little amplified. And my wonderful wife that enjoyed our get-away so much… yeah, all she could do was laugh when I would talk to her on the phone from NY.

Did I ever mention that 34 years ago I prayed for humility right before I met my wife….

Enjoy the pics.

The south shore of Kauai, also known as the Sunny Side.

The spouting horn doing what it is famous for.

Ferrel chickens were everywhere. While not endemic to the islands they have been there since the earliest people. The numbers increased greatly though when Hurricane Iniki blew over all the chicken coops and freed the entire population of caged birds.

Hanapepe Canyon

Caves that also served as burial sites for Hawaiian leaders and royal families.

Statue of Captain Cook where he first landed in the Hawaiian Islands at the mouth of the Waimea River.

Waimea Canyon which is often referred to as the Grand Canyon of the Pacific.

The highest swamp on earth, the Alaka’i Swamp is on the top of the old volcano that formed the island.

The Waimea Falls near the headwaters of the Waimea River is the cause of the canyon.

The central highlands of Kaua’i are over 5000 feet above sea level. The trade winds constantly blow, hitting the highlands and creating clouds and rain. So much so that Kaua’i has the title of wettest place on earth receiving between 400 and 600 inches of rain a year.

Waimea Beach. Wai means fresh water. Mea means red. The name is for the river which runs red after heavy rains from the high iron content in the soil. Obviouslly the waters off the beach experience this too. The sand itself is a mixture of black, green, red, and grey sand. It is not dirty at all.

View through the entrance of the Waimea Plantation, an old sugar cane plantation turned into a resort.

Coffee shrubs.

The largest coffee plantation in the US.

Trail to Fern Grotto.

Either Pine Ginger or Pineapple Ginger.

Fern Grotto.

Weddings used to regularly be held inside the mouth of Fern Grotto.

Final morning in Paradise.

Ancient fishpond.

The Hawaiians were among the earliest people to practice aguaculture. They build these fishponds which had small openings that young fish could swim through into the “safe” water inside.

The Hawaiians would then feed and nuture the captive fish inside the ponds. Before long the fish were to big to fit back through the openings to the open sea. As the fish grew, for them the ponds became increasingly less safe. Yes, fish was a primary component of the Hawaiian diet.

Sea turtle sculptures…

And Sea Monstors on shore.

While blustery and cloudy, the temperature never got below 70.

From a distance I could almost hear the rooster preaching a sermon and all the other birds bobbing in agreement.

Flightseeing around Kaua’i was the perfect way to wrap up our trip. Desi was our pilot and she was great.

Leaving the airport at Lihue under a fair cover of clouds we headed south.

And the Sunny Side of the island did not disappoint.

The largest coffee plantation in the US is the Kauai Coffee Plantation.

Port Allen. Note the big solar generation station just outside of town.

It had been a very rainy season which was lasting a bit longer than usual, so the waterfalls were plentiful.

When Desi would lean us into a tight turn to share views both left and right, it made for some cool pespectives.

A closer view of Waimea Falls than from the lookout.

Down the Waimea Canyon to he sea. Notice the lookout on the plateau on the center right.

Desi turned from the Waimea Canyon and then headed into the clouds over the top of the island. We were in a white-out for about 30 seoncds and then, BOOM the Na Pali coast burst into view.

Captain Jack Sparrow had a run in with some natives on these two beaches.

The Cathedrals.

This is the favorite surfing hangout of Bethany Hamilton, the surfing champion who lost an arm to a great white shark.

Wailua Falls.

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Blessed!

Posted in Beautiful Places, God, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, Marriage, Photography, Priorities, The Father, Travel, vacation, worldview, tagged anniversary, Beach, blessing, God's favor, God's provision, Hawaii, natural beauty, photography, surfing, truth, vacation on April 21, 2018| Leave a Comment »

A recurring prayer for me goes something like this. “Thank you Lord for all the blessings you’ve poured out on my family and on me. I don’t deserve it, but I thank you for it.” And then I wonder why I am so favored. Now I need to put this in context before I go too far. We have had our share of difficulties. Perhaps not the tragedies some have experienced, but difficulties just the same – my wife’s shattered leg in 2012, my near heart attack in 2014, my job loss at the beginning of 2015, my broken shoulder in 2017 to name a few. Yet, whatever direction I look, I see God’s goodness poured out… not just on me, but on so many people that I know. He is indeed good… all the time. And I wonder anew, “Lord why are you so good to me?” Today as I have thought of this I think I have at least a little different perspective to share.

Being a father for 33 years, I know a daddy’s love for his children. We just finished souvenir shopping for our four children and four grandchildren. This is my wife’s time to lead and I dutifully follow. As I watch and respond to her questions I realize she is seeking the perfect balance. She wants to get them something they will enjoy, but that is also beneficial. No to excess sugar and candy, yes to clothing that says laid-back Hawaii. No to things with sharp edges or that can choke a little one, yes to cuddly and cute. Since God is the perfect Father, He wants to give us gifts that achieve that perfect balance in our lives. He knows our talents, our personality, our likes and dislikes. He knows what is best for us. His gifts are meant to draw us to himself since a deep and growing relationship with Him is what we are created for. And just like giving gifts to our children warms my wife’s heart, I sense that God is also pleased when He is able to give us good gifts that bring us joy. Oh, and when we recognize and give Him thanks, the mutual joy is amplified.

I believe the Father loves to hear us laugh and this is frequently one of the purposes of God’s blessings. In some cases it may be the only reason. But at other times God has multiple motives behind the gift given.

Being open to and responsive to the Lord’s leading in gift-receiving and gift-giving is an acquired wisdom. God will bless us so that we can in turn bless others. Giving of tithes and offerings is a tangible demonstration of finding our place in God’s economy of blessing. Less formal but just as important is being open to the Holy Spirit’s leading to provide help for someone when the Lord prompts us to. Our home group purchased a moped for a young woman in difficult circumstances recently and we know it was a God assignment. Today we are excited to see what God is going to do through this simple act of passing His blessing on.

There is one other aspect that I believe the Lord wants us to understand about His blessing, but I hesitate for fear I will not be able to adequately explain. It is that obedience brings blessing. As we live life the way God desires us to live, we will experience His protection, His provision, and His favor. The Holy Scriptures contain God’s blueprint for life. Everything necessary to know how to enter a personal relationship with the Creator of the Universe is there. However, it is spiritually discerned. That means God Himself must be living within us by His Holy Spirit for us to read, understand, and apply the truth contained in the scriptures. Sadly just knowing the scriptures isn’t enough. The Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day were thoroughly knowledgeable of the scriptures, yet they crucified the one the scriptures foretold.

There is a progression in this flow. The first is to recognize that there is a Creator of all that is. He has been called many things… El Sahddai, Elohim, The LORD God, Almighty God, but it is safe to call Him God.

Second is to search for Truth. When we honestly and openly search for Truth, asking God to guide us to Truth we will run into Jesus. There are numerous reasons this is true, but suffice today I’ll point out the one I know to be true and unassailable. Jesus’ resurrection proves He was Who He said He was – God’s one and only Son, sent to redeem mankind through His sacrificial death on the cross.

Third, once we recognize Jesus for Who He says He is, it is only right to surrender our life to Him and take up the life He is calling us to. It is a life of dying to poor life choices, bad decisions, and irresponsibility. It is letting go of living according to your own agenda and morality and learning how to live a life that aligns with God’s game plan for life. It is saying yes to Jesus in how we live.

Fourth is to ask Jesus to help us to know Him better and to live the life God desires us to live. Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit to help us live life the way God intends. He never takes away our ability to choose whether to follow or not. In fact He partners with us in the work of transformation, but He will do the heavy lifting if we simply turn to Him and ask for His help.

As we live a life of consistent obedience, God’s blessings will flow. It is not that we are immune to difficulties, but knowing God and trusting Him provides a solid place to stand even when all around is shaking and unsettled. And when we thank Him in the midst of the hard and difficult, when our suffering is wrapped in thanking God for being with us in the storm, we will know His peace and comfort, which is one of the greatest of His blessings to His children.

As I shared in an earlier post, my wife and I are celebrating our 33rd anniversary in Hawaii. I am going to post a few more pics of our trip for those who are interested. The week has contained a snapshot of life. We’ve experienced a good bit of clouds, rain, and wind. The conditions were not always ideal. But through it all God has been with us, showing us His love and care. We have thrilled with new adventures and quiet times together. Today the sun broke through and it is gloriously beautiful. It happened just in time for a morning helicopter ride… with the doors off and a sunset on Waikiki Beach.

Wherever you are in life, know that God loves you and He is for you. If you are at one of those points of progression that I mention above and you would like to know more, please drop me a comment. I would be happy to chat and pray. It’s what I’m supposed to do. In the meantime, enjoy the pics. and be blessed today. And don’t forget to pass the blessing on!

Waimea Beach on Oahu’s North Shore. A big wave surfing tournament is held here when the conditions, at least 30 foot swells, allows.

All the commercial pineapple operations have moved to other countries. Everything grown on these pineapple plantations are for consumption on the islands.

Kualo Range where Jurassic Park and Lost were filmed.

Dole Pineapple Plantation and maze behind the gift shop. The pineapples are so sweet on the islands.

Jordan, our pilot, is hanging loose behind us.

Sunset Beach on the North Short where the World Championships of Surfing are held each November / December.

Kane’one Bay where we snorkled around “Gilligan’s Island”.

View toward Diamond Head

Sandy Beach on the east coast of the island.

Waikiki Beach. Our hotel was on the beach at the pier on the farthest left of the photo.

View along Waikiki Beach toward Diamond Head from our hotel beach.

View from our room.

And it appears she says yes.

I watched this young man hurl himself into wave after wave and then body surf to shore.

And then I thought of our daughter-in-law with her children tenderly loving and playing with them.

Look closely at the person with their hand on their head. They are walking on water… I caught them just as they lost their board but before they splashed down. Funny!

Coming in for a landing.

These last three reminded me of our children when they were babies and how our weekends we would often squeeze as much fun out of the play days as possible.