No worries I am still alive.

Yup, I am still alive. Still thinking, still reading. Just ready to pass out for a long winters nap. At this time of the year I am just trying to stay alive actually. I am tried and feeling a little burnt out actually. How is that for honesty for you? Well leaders get there I am sure. Some are honest about it and others, well....they just are not.
So that is why we shut things down for a while at BTown. We just take messages, do not return emails and just stay in the pajamas and read and focus our attention on resting and refreshment. I believe that this is good. That it is a vital part of each leaders life. To be rested, to be alert and available. You cannot do this if your always going, going, going. So what will I do while on by break?

1) Read - I have a few books that I am going to read. Some from C.S. Lewis and a couple of Fiction as well, not sure what those are yet. I love to read. Recently I was floored by a tweet from Rick Warren from Saddleback. He said that he was reading a book a day. I could not believe that, I mean, I m thinking how in the world does one read a book a day? So I googled it. There were some general strategies but the one the grabbed me was the read a book in a week. That sounds more my speed actually. That could be pretty cool if you think about it. Reading 52 books a year. This is a lot of reading. Can you imagine how much you could learn, how many new ideas could come to you? So I am putting my reading list together for the 2011 year. Hoping to grow and learn a lot.

2) Rest - just plain close my eyes whenever I want to.

3) Play - Hoping to get some time with the family and travel a bit to eastern Washington to see friends and family.

4) Think - Think about stuff, think about life.

Well there is a bit of an update for those that care. If not - well I just worked out a little of my stuff in my head.

Looking forward to tomorrow as we head down to see a friend of mine speak in Lebanon, Oregon.

Got kicked out of a band because I was a liberal......

The other day I received a message on my Facebook account from a friend.

Hey Marshall, I got fired from my new Christian band for being a liberal! They let me go last week. The whole experience was pretty unbelievable, I'll tell you about it when I see you. Darn Obama sticker on my car.

What is wrong with us? A bumper sticker has separated people from doing something for God together. I am always amazed at what we let separate us. I remember talking to a older man one time and he had a friend from an opposite political party and their friendship ended over it. I always found that to be a pretty shallow thing. I am sure that there are "critical" issues but are we trying to say "this is how Jesus would vote if He were to vote."

I know that this friend of mine loves Jesus with all his heart. I know that he serves in his local church. I know if people actually sat down and talked with him they would find that he loves people. Besides he is a good guitar player as well. All of this blows me away.

When your world view is your political party you have a problem. We need to remember that political systems are created by man not God, which means that people could be wrong. Their view could be wrong, and of course it could be right. Should't we approach it that way? Shouldn't we be able to have a conversation rather than just making a "judgement" on someone because of a "bumper sticker?" Wow!! I wanna give these people the benefit of the doubt and hopefully there were other reasons they wanted him to leave the band.

I know - a rant, a rave...oh well. I told him that it was a band that he didn't want to be a part of anyway.

A great week.

Such a great week this last week. Makes me so thankful for what my family and I get to be a part of at BridgeTown Ministries. I saw so many lives impacted this last week.
Two teams came into Portland to help us with our mission to "Love people because people matter", Colorado Christian University and Bethel Church from Tri Cities area in Washington. Each group posessed a strong passion to be used, to be challenged and to see God do things in their
lives. I watched them spend themselves in loving people. I so injoy witnessing sights like this


Watching high school students reaching out to the least of these. Letting God speak thru them. It never gets old. It always challenges me, always moves me to want more, to be more. To empty myself and be fully aware, available and present in every moment that I am blessed with.
Each time we finish one of our Adventures I am extremely tired, but it is a different tired, a tired in body but a freshness in spirit If you know what I mean.
I wonder about are participants, will they take the challenge to be world changers, will they decide to say yes to making a difference or will they just assume the posistion that so many assume, a consumer just accepting their faith as a "sin management program" or just a "fire insurance policy".
My hope is that they will take up the keys that have been intrusted to them by our Lord and run to the broken and hurting of this world with a message of love and redemption.
Each one of us bring something, we have something to give. We are created by a master designer a master builder one that can weave spirit and flesh together and then with the inspiration of the Holy Sprit, cause us to extend our heads, hearts and hands to others and let them know they matter, that God is aware of them, He knows their name, He knows that they are hungry and cold and weary and lost. Then through the eagerness of a young person He extends His hand to humanity and says, "I know you."

"God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you." 2 Corinthians 5

A great night

This never gets old. Watching the church be the church. Conversations of hope and encouragement. Letting people know that they matter. That someone cares, that God cares. God is working in Portland in a special and unique way.
We are celebrating that we have been under the bridge "loving on people because people matter" for 6 years. It always blows me away to be used this way to watch year after year people come together to learn, laugh and love about, with and on others.


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Keys

And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven...Matt. 16:19

So what does toilet paper, diapers and a pair of tube socks all have in common? They are really keys to the kingdom of heaven. They are answers to some of the greatest questions like, "does God know I exist?" and "does God know my need?" "does He hear my prayer?" This simple items become a key to the heart of people. The answer th

ese questions again and again and again.

Something as simple as a roll of toilet paper that is given to a working poor family makes a difference. This simple item becomes a key that unlocks a persons heart to listen to the words of God.

A diaper can be the answer to a mother's prayer for provision in a great time of need. Again another key on they key chain that opens another part of the heart.

The heart is where the kingdom of God resides in us.

It is the heart that God changes. He speaks to the heart, he does a work in the heart. It is the heart that God is after. Our need is a matter of the heart. And when that need is met it does something to the heart.

What kind of keys has God given you? For me it all started with a pair of white

socks and some hot soapy water and a question "do you have any prayer requests?" A key?

A reflection and Prayer for today.

I just finished listening to the Daily Audio Bible. I am not sure what you do for your reading times. I know there are many options and all are good for sure. DAB has been good for me as I endeavor to daily intake the Word of God into my life. The DAB is a daily audio reading of the bible. The reader, reads a selection from the Old Testament then the New Testament. He then reads a Psalm and a reading from the Proverbs. It is an app on my iphone and I also have it in a podcast stream app as well. So many times I grab my iphone and just plug into it and listen. As much as I can I try and follow along in the translation the reader is reading out of. He trades off each week into a different translation of the scripture. He then makes some comments on what we read together. I listen to those at times but other times turn it off and think on what was read. You can find it at www.dailyaudiobible.com. Give it a try and see what you think.

Today's New Testament reading was from Matthew 6. I love these 3 chapters of the NT. The Sermon on the Mount is always fresh to me each time I read it. I find a lot of comfort in the teachings of Christ. I can imagine sitting and listening as He shared this to the people around them. What a change from the norm for these people. A new way of looking at things. Not a bunch of rules and regulations, or steps to being "right" with God. Here is God himself speaking to the people about life. I love it!!

Matthew 6:31 “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ 32 These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. 33 Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

34 “So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.

I have read this portion of scripture many times. I have quoted it as I have spoke and really try to live by it but if you are like me it is a great reminder of the daily grind of life and the reality of our society for more and more stuff. Stuff can mean a lot of different things. It can mean material things such as clothing or different products. It can also be things that clutter up our minds such as ideas or things which need to get done. It can be calendar dates and meetings and these things can "dominate our thoughts" which can distract us from hearing the voice of God.

I find myself having to think through this portion of scripture this morning, asking God to show me the areas of my life I worry about. It is easy to take control. It is easy to try and make it happen to solve it. What a trap if we are not careful.

The end of this is such a great way to start out this day. To be about today. To live today. To enjoy today and all it brings. Being present in this day is my focus is my plan.

- Father, thank you for your word. Thank you we are not left to try and figure out what to do. Thank you for providing for our today and that today has its own things to do and be and focus on. Help me to grasp your love for me today as I go about my day. Lift my eyes and heart so I can recognize your working throughout my day.
I confess I am a worrier Father. I worry about life, the future. I worry about tomorrow and I see the need for your word to resonate in my life to echo into the cavern which holds these worries. I submit my life to you on this day.
I lift my family to you today that you would touch each of them, that your hand would reach to them and protect them. Help them to see your face today in their days as well. Encamp your angles around them and give them peace today.
Be with Lesley as she does her visitations. Provide divine appointments with "people of peace" today. May she encounter your Spirits work as she "Loves on people because they matter."
Thank you for your peace that surpasses understanding Father. Bring peace to the day. AMEN

What Can I learn from this guy?

A convicted felon, a homeless guy, a alcoholic, a drug addict...what can I learn from these people. I can learn a lot. I can learn about the brokenness of humanity, I can learn about the frailty of life. I can learn that they still have dreams and the ability to learn and laugh. I learn that I can be right where they are and in some ways I am. That I am capable of making mistakes and that I do. I learn that human touch is appreciated and that conversation is a wonderful tool to hear someone's story. I learn that these wonderful human beings are someone's father, someone's son, uncle, brother or sister. I learn what real need is, and that it is so much more than just a bowl of food but that it is a kind word and an encouragement. I learn a lot actually...

I can and do learn every Thursday night that I am there under the Burnside Bridge and Night Strike. Maybe we will see you there.

Personal Reflections on Matthew 14

Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!"

Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" Matthew 14:29 - 31

This account has been in my mind this week. It has challenged me and really given me peace. My week has already started with so much. So many things in the natural that want to take my focus off of Christ, things that want me to turn my head to the left or to the right or to look down into the darkness of the unknown, instead of keeping my focus on "coming toward Jesus."

When I look down the natural takes over, the fear, the competitiveness, the ambition and lack of faith. These splash up on me and cause me to look at the natural rather than keeping my eyes straight ahead on Christ. I have had to literally self talk myself a couple of times "keep your eyes on Christ" "look straight ahead..." I realize how much I need Him. To keep my focus on Him. It is inevitable that I will be like Peter and get emotional and focus on the natural, but He will be there, He will reach out His hand and catch me...and for that I am so thankful. Be at peace.

Why I have hesitated to blog.

Hmmm. Well here it is my first blog post. Well, not really. I actually have started a couple of these only to abandoned them after a while. I have struggled with this form of communication. I am not a good writer, my wife says that I write like I talk, and that might make it difficult for people.

So I am hoping to make this work for me and for those that are interested at all in what I am working out in my life. I am not sure how I will use this yet. My friend David K. is a great blogger and thinker. I think out loud. I process out loud so maybe this will work for me and maybe not. Let me know will you. Hoping to post something once a week or so.

We shall see. Peace