Encounter

Passages: There the angel of The Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush… When The Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush,… God said,… “I am the God of your father,…” – Exodus 3:2a, 4a, 5a, 6a

See also Acts 2; 9:1-20

I’m laying down, ready to go to sleep here in Redding, California. This is my first time in California. I’ve wanted to visit for quite some time, but it was the particular conference and church I will be at that provided the opportunity for God to bring me here. Kingdom Come! This is the yearly conference that Risen King Community Church in Redding, Ca has been doing for 4 years now. It has been a pivotal experience in the lives of so many who have come. I know I’ve needed to come, and I am so excited this was the time. But why am I here?

If I can sum up why I’m here in one word, it would be encounter. It’s a word that we’ve probably heard so many times. Encounter. But what does it mean?

I’m in a season in life in which God is stretching me and growing me in ways I did not expect. There is rich ministry happening at Nyack College and I am really enjoying the growth in areas of development and care that God is doing in my own life as I connect with the students. But I feel this season will continue to grow and develop and other areas of ministry that I have not tapped into in my own life will begin to come out. I can sense it. But I’m not fully prepared. Why? Encounter.

The passages I wrote up there are somewhat known. Moses was called to deliver the people out of Egypt. The disciples were instructed to go and preach the word through the world, making more disciples and baptizing them. Saul,… well, that’s just another story in and of itself. He [then Paul] was the proponent of the greatest expansion of Christianity. They were all called. God used them tremendously in their own scenarios. But what is important to note is that it began,… with Encounter.

Moses didn’t just get up on a whim one day and decide to go back to Egypt. He encountered God and God sent him. Before Moses going out to do the work he was to do, He met with God… He had an Encounter.

When the disciples were in the upper room, they were there because Jesus told them (prior to ascending into heaven after his resurrection) that he would leave them a counselor. They were waiting. Holy Spirit came and filled them. They had an Encounter. It was after this that Peter preached and nearly 3,000 came to The Lord.

Saul was on an entirely different path. He was going to persecute Christians. Instead, he has an Encounter with God that changed the trajectory of his life and became the crossroads that thrust him into the ministry God had for him.

Why am I here? Encounter! I know God has something coming. I have heard it. I have sensed it. But I don’t want to jump into it until I have an Encounter!

what now? how does this affect me?
Simple. Some of you have been trying so hard to go and do the things that God’s called you to do. Maybe… just maybe, all God wants to do with you, is encounter you. Maybe he just wants to meet with you. He’s here to meet with you. Would you stop and meet with him?

Becoming the Dream

I really like this remote control. It controls a few electronic devices around my TV/Entertainment area. It controls my TV, my BluRay player, my Cable Box, and my Bose Cinemate Sound System. If you’re anything like me, you’d like this control also. While it’s not as fancy as those expensive-as-what universal controls that are like $100, it still does the trick. I can control what I need to control.

Control seems to be something that all (ok, maybe most) of us enjoy having. We like being in command of the outcome of … whatever the “thing” is. We control our TV… we control our game systems… we control our phones… we control our cars (and when we’re passengers, we sometimes respond to things others do as THEY control and not us). We are control freaks, whether we care to realize it or not.

The issue comes when we do not have control of something, or better yet, are asked to relinquish control of something.

There’s a constant tension in relinquishing control and the title of this post, “Becoming the Dream.” What are your dreams?

Dreams come in many forms. When I was growing up, I had vivid dreams that I was Superman ( my favorite superhero). There are those dreams that are potentially attainable, like, I have a dream of being a doctor. Some of these dreams change with time, as desires morph and you learn the things that really make you unique. Then there are dreams that you really, really, REALLY want to achieve. You set your entire life up so that your dreams become reality.

You get the right job… you go to the right school… you live in the right city… all so that the dreams you have will come to pass.

Then… IT happens… everything comes crashing down, and your dream(s)… well, not gonna’ happen. Maybe not ever, maybe not for now… but either way, your best-laid plans just got thrown into the crapper. And it SUCKS.

What happens as a result of this is crucial. For many of us (me included), we get so frustrated with things that we see it best if we simply stop dreaming. At least that way, we will not be disappointed when our dreams don’t come true.

That’s not the point though. We’re missing out on the reason we were frustrated to begin with.

I don’t think it’s because our dreams didn’t come true… I think it’s because we were not able to control the outcome… we were not in control, and that got at the core of who we were.

—

Last night, during a lecture at Personal Spiritual Formation class, Ron led us through an exercise in journaling, whereby we quiet ourselves and remove distractions and write as if God were speaking truth to us.

It wasn’t as simple as, “I love you, I’m God, you’re gonna’ be rich.” It wasn’t writing what you wanted to write, it was creating space so that through the writing God could speak to you.

It’s amazing what God can say when you remove the distractions.

In the midst of all the things I wrote, I remember one.

“I want you to dream… I want you to have visions.”

It’s interesting that He did not tell me to go and do something. Even as I write now, I’m realizing something. The point is not for me to make things happen. The point is for me to dream and have visions.

I’ve gotten so wrapped up in the “T’s” and the “I’s”, and been frustrated when things do not go my way, that I have forgotten what it was like to dream… or better yet, I decided not to dream anymore.

Last night, God called me out to dream again.

—-

So… what’s the whole “Becoming the Dream” part? Well… that’s the beauty… I don’t have to “DO” the part of becoming the dream. I think I just dream and let God do.

Still figuring this out and how it applies to me.

thoughts?

Now What?

I wanted to share some of my recent happenings. It has been quite some time since I wrote more often. I find that there are many things pre-child that I did more often. These days are filled with care taking of a now 9 month old. It’s certainly enjoyable, but not a stranger to stresses and frustrations.

I recently completed my coursework for my Master’s degree. I had been going to Crown College since January of 2009. I began studying towards my Masters of Arts in Christian Studies. It fit well within the more sporadic nature of the schedule I had while working at my previous church. This fit well, and I went with it.

Well, I just finished. Two years later, I have a Master’s degree… but while this was received with much excitement and a sense of accomplishment, there is an inevitable feeling that has risen in the days immediately following receiving said diploma.

What Now?

You see, I am “content” with what I am doing… or better yet, what some would argue I “get” to do. I work from home as an administrative assistant for a small business… a plumbing business. The work itself is easy, and being that I am very computer savvy, there are times in which I sit around literally looking for things to do.

The tremendous blessing of this job is that my boss lets me work from home while I take care of our daughter… which means, no daycare costs. However, while I enjoy it, I have come to realize that doing this without much of a break at the same time is not what I would consider life-giving to me. There are things we do that are monotonous and dragging. There are other things that, while challenging, stir in us a continuous desire to do more… you know, the things that do not feel like work or tasks.

I think my sentiment would be different if I was simply not working. I live in NY, and we got bills, so that scenario is not gonna’ fly, lol.

And while I enjoy what I am doing, having finished school I come back to that question… what now?

It’s not a question asked in complaint of what I am currently doing… but one asked in hope and seeking for what God has called me towards.

It goes beyond leading worship at church. I’d do that regardless. I love it.

I’m not sure what the “next” thing is. I am ready to find out.

So Lord, I keep going forward… to wherever you will lead me.