Living Life in Exile

I am a follower of Jesus - a citizen of the Kingdom of God - who happens to live in the United States of America. Yes, I'm an American because this is where I was born. And the Bible tells me to submit to the earthly rulers who are over me. But my primary allegiance and identity is as a member of God's Kingdom. He is literally my King. And until Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom here on this planet, I am an alien in a foreign land.

Jeremiah 29:5-11 was written to the Jews while they were in exile. The nations of Israel and Judah were no more. The people had been scattered. Many of them had been taken to Babylon and God told them they would be there for seventy years! In those days, that was more than a lifetime. So God gives them His instructions - through Jeremiah -  for how they should live during their time of exile.

The instructions He gives them are also applicable to us today. Not only because we, as believers, are also living in a foreign land, under foreign leadership. But also because many of us often find ourselves in times of waiting for God to change things for the better.

• If only I could find someone to marry
• If only I could have children
• If only I could find a better job
• If only I could be freed from this physical illness
• If only I lived somewhere else

God's words through Jeremiah give us four things that we can do during our times of waiting, when we are living in circumstances that are not what we would choose if it were up to us.

Put Down Roots

"Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there, do not decrease."   Jeremiah 29:5-6

During times of waiting for God to act, put down roots. Don't make the mistake of forgetting to live life while you are waiting. Don't just sit around wishing for life to be different. Whatever your circumstances might be, be present where you are. God has you in that place, at that time, for a purpose. 

Serve Your City

"Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper."   Jeremiah 29:7

Connect with the community around you. Help those who are in need. Seek to be a person of peace - sharing God's love and mercy and grace and encouragement with those around you. Walk in the way of Jesus in your community. 

With all the technology we have available to us today, we are aware of things that are going on all around the world. And we often feel responsible for all of that; for doing something to help. And there are times when we can give money to help meet a need somewhere else. But for the most part, we can't do anything about the things that are happening 1,000 miles away from us or on the other side of the world. But God  tells us that our primary responsibility is to the people in need right around us. The ones who live near us, in and around our own city. The ones we can actually help. So if you feel passionate about helping the people in need that you hear about on the news or online, channel that passion into action in your own community. Serve the people of the city where you live. If every believer would do that, this would be a different country and a different world.

Practice Biblical Discernment

"Yes, this is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says; 'Do not let the prophets and diviners among you deceive you. Do not listen to the dreams you encourage them to have. They are prophesying lies to you in my name. I have not sent them.' declares the LORD."   Jeremiah 29:8-9

Know what the Bible actually says. And then believe it and obey it. Don't be deceived by lies that are perverting the truth. God wants us to know the truth. That's why He gave us the Bible, the Old Testament and the New Testament. It's the whole story of God and man and this world. It is His instructions for us on what is true and what is not; on what is good and what is not. As you read it and study it, accept it as simple truth. Then live in the way of God, and stand firm in the truth of God's Word.

Hang on to Hope

"This is what the LORD says: 'When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, ' plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."   Jeremiah 29:10-11

Trust in God's plan for your life and for this world. He is in control. His plans will be established in your life and in this world. And the best way to hang on to that hope is to stay close to Him - read His Word, talk to Him, spend time listening to Him, worship Him. Abide in Him and His Spirit will fill you with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control... And He will fill your soul with hope.

Gleanings from the Inside Covers of My Bible

I've had a big, heavy inductive study Bible for a lot of years. I got it back in my Agoura days sometime in the 90s, because that's when Kay Arthur opened up a whole new world of Bible Study to me. And I've been using it ever since. It's filled with so many notes and lists in the margins and colorful underlinings (Thank you Kay!). 

This morning I was reading through James since the church I'm going to this morning is currently teaching through the book of James. And I happened to look at the inside of the front cover of my Bible. I don't know if your Bible is like this, but mine has one blank page at the beginning and one at the end. And over the years I've used the inside of the front and back cover and those blank pages to write some random notes of "things I've heard or read that I really want to remember." I read back through them just now and was taken back through a lifetime of learnings as God has grown me up in Him over the years. And I'm sure there will be more added in the years ahead because I still have a lot to learn!

So I thought I'd share these random notes that for some reason were significant to me at some point over the years. Maybe some of them will spark an interest and lead you to do some studying of your own.

Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.

Lord, let me be indifferent to everything that isn't a part of your plan for my life.

David's tabernacle - I Chronicles 16. Continual worship!

The Bible was not given to increase our knowledge, but to change our lives.

"These men who have upset the world have come here also." Acts 17:6 
 I love that!

The Sabbath - Isaiah 58:13-14
This is a fairly recent addition, and I wish I'd discovered it fifty years ago!

A form of religion - Isaiah 29:13

Don't strengthen the hand of evil doers. - Jeremiah 23:14
When professing Christians choose to sin and live lives based on lies, instead of walking worthy and pointing lost people to God, they are strengthening the hands of evil doers.

What does God require of us? - Deuteronomy 10:12-13, Micah 6:8

God's instructions for when in exile. - Jeremiah 29:4-14
Great thoughts for us to remember. As a follower of Jesus, I am a citizen of God's kingdom, who just happens to live in the United States. I am an alien here in this fallen world. But I am here, for now, for a purpose.

God's will - Romans 12:2

Divided nation:  Israel/Judah - II Chronicles 15:1-4  They chose differently.

To become a child of God we need to receive Him, not just an idea about Him. Knowing about something, and actually experiencing it, are two different things. (Jude)

Turn to God, not men - Ezra 8:21-23

The story of the Old Testament - Nehemiah 9

When you walk in darkness, trust God. - Isaiah 50:10
This verse was my lifeline back in 1987 when my mom was dying of cancer. And God has brought it to mind so many times over the years since then. 

Professing Christians who are choosing immorality - I Corinthians 5

Use of the word Christian - Acts 11:26, 26:28, I Peter 4:16

Use of The Way

• Acts 9:2, 18:25-26, 19:9,23, 22:4, 24:14-22
• John 14:6
• II Peter 2:2 - The way of the truth
• II Peter 2:15 - The right way
• II Peter 2:21 - The way of righteousness

Random thoughts from the journey of my life... so far. I'm excited for the next learnings that God has for me!

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time

I've spent the past 40+ years of my life helping build and strengthen the organized church. First in Agoura Hills, CA. Then in Phoenix, AZ. And then in Los Altos, CA.

And before I say anything else, I feel like I should add a disclaimer - What I'm about to write is in no way meant to say that the organized church is a bad thing or that it should be done away with. Please keep that in mind. I love the organized church. I've spent the majority of my life giving my time & talents & money & a lot of other stuff to the organized church. It has been the life work that God called Dave & I to way back when we were twenty-somethings fresh out of college. And we have loved being a part of God's work in that way. And we truly believe that we have been right where God wanted us to be, doing what He wanted us to do, all those years. But...

There is a huge paradigm shift going on in my heart and mind. It's been brewing there since 2008 (see my Simple Church blog post from back then). And during these past seventeen years God has been adding more and more fuel to this shift in thinking. And now Dave is even feeling the same awakening going on in his mind and heart. Which is huge!

It began with watching my son Brent and his wife Danielle living out their Christian life in community with other believers and with the unbelievers who lived around them. They and some of their Christian friends even moved into a particular neighborhood in Pasadena for that very purpose. It was awesome.

Then my journey progressed to reading The Tangible Kingdom, followed by The Gathered AND Scattered Church. (Great books!) Then Dave agreed to come with me to a Missio conference put on by the guys who wrote those books. Which led us to begin studying through the Tangible Kingdom Primer with a small group in our home. (It was life-changing!) Then a few years later reading Francis Chan's book "Letters to the Church." The biblical truths I've been learning through all these resources have been rocking my world.

The bottom line of the "new" thing God is teaching me has to do with what it truly means - what it biblically means - to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. Here are some random thoughts about the things I've been studying and pondering.

Most evangelical churches, along with all three of the organized churches we've ministered at, have in some way said their purpose is to help (1) bring people to Christ, and help people (2) become like Christ. And the intent behind those words is very biblical. But as I look at the majority of churches in the United States, there isn't a whole lot of bringing people to Christ happening. Most churches are lucky to have a handful of people come to Christ each year, even though there may be hundreds of believers in the church. And as far as becoming like Christ, that usually means a list of things like the following: spend time with God praying and reading/studying His word; attend church regularly; give money to the church; find a place of ministry in the church; invite people to church; and be prepared to witness to lost people if the opportunity ever comes up.

It seems to me that in practice the primary focus of the organized church over the past 100+ years has been to build the organized church. And again, don't get me wrong here. The organized church does great things. But when you really stop to think about it, the organized church has been about building a body of believers who are dependent on the organized church. (Now they wouldn't say that's what they're doing, but it sure seems to be the reality of it.) The organized church becomes the center of our lives and our spiritual life.

In the 20th century, that's what the organized church wanted. Just center your life around the church and we'll teach you and your kids and keep you on track. Give us your money and we'll make sure it's used to build God's kingdom (which mainly means the organized church, with a small percentage given to missions). We'll plan programs for you and your kids, and lead times of worship for you, and make your Christian life as easy as possible. Just join up and we've got you covered. Oh, and don't forget to invite others to come to our church too.

But I don't see the Bible ever telling us that should be the priority. I don't see Jesus ever telling us to create these set apart places where we can all hang out together away from the world. Where an organization will coordinate and oversee our Christian life. Where it's easy and safe. Where we can keep learning more about God and hanging out with people we're comfortable with and not have to worry about the messy stuff out in the world.

From what I see in Acts, when the early followers of Christ gathered together it was to encourage each other to get out there and live their lives in the world like Jesus would. And it didn't just happen for an hour on Sunday morning. They would get together in homes for holy huddles where they'd eat together and the apostles or elders would teach them what Jesus had done and what He had taught, and they would all pray together and sing/worship together. They'd share their frustrations and their fears and their successes. And they'd find ways together to show love to the unbelievers they were all sharing their lives with. Together they'd provide for the needs of each other and of those around them in their community. They would live life together as they walked in the way of Jesus.

And after they gathered for encouragement, they'd get back out there where life gets messy and it costs something as they let God lead them and use them to touch the world around them. The main focus of their lives - their priority - was watching for God's leading. Spending time on their own with God and in His Word. And spending time with unbelievers, getting to know them, loving them, sharing life with them, and being ready to answer them when they asked "Why are you so different?!"

Somehow we've gotten a long way off from that. And there's a longing in my heart to be living like that. But all the time and effort and money it takes to keep the organized church going and growing keeps getting in the way.

Bill Hybels is known for saying that the local church is the hope of the world. Ever since I first heard him say those words, I've felt that something was slightly off with that...if by church He meant the organized church. I think the hope of the world is fully devoted followers of Christ who choose to make it their priority to live their lives as Jesus would - walking in His way - banding together with a group of like-minded believers (the church!) and stepping out of the organized church walls to live life day by day in community with the lost world around them. With the goal of letting God use them to bring people to Christ, not to church.

I have felt for many years that the goal of the organized church should be to raise up believers who are not dependent on the organized church. As Francis Chan says, he feels his job as a pastor is to raise up believers who could be transplanted into any new city, make connections with others, band with other believers and new "disciples" who come to Christ, and become the body of Christ together - the Church meeting in homes or community rooms or coffee shops. Worshipping together. Studying God's Word together. Praying together. Serving the community together. Holding each other accountable to walk worthy. Taking care of each other. That's the body of Christ. That's what can happen if each believer is trained to be a fully devoted follower of Jesus. A disciple who makes disciples. Isn't that what Jesus commissioned us to do?

I'm not sure where this is all heading. I know God is doing something in my mind and heart. Where it's leading, I don't know. Is there a way to tweak the organized church so our priority is on getting believers out into the world instead of inside the church walls? Are we training believers to actually be disciples, able to "be the church" out in the world with other believers who live near them? Without needing an organized church to tell them what to do and when to do it? 

I think our time with Covid was a wake up call from God. And an opportunity for the Church to realize that those of us who are believers ARE the church. Even if all the organized church doors are closed. We shouldn't miss a beat. Because we should already know how to gather with other believers, on our own, to be the body of Christ together.

Remember the Sabbath

 

Growing up in an evangelical Protestant church and home, we didn't talk about the Sabbath very often. Of course I was taught about the Ten Commandments, and it is one of them: "Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy." But I mainly remember hearing about the Sabbath as a Jewish thing. It's what they did. But as Christians, we now celebrated the Lord's Day, which is Sunday. Because that's the day of the week when Jesus rose from the dead. That's what I remember being taught.

It wasn't until recent years that I started wondering about the Sabbath, I guess because I realized... it's one of the Ten Commandments! And we see the other nine commandments as God's instructions for holiness and righteousness for all people, not just the Jews. They are relevant to all people. It's His desire for all people. And though we know that we are not legalistically bound by those Laws - that our salvation does not depend on us obeying them - we also know that God's desire is for all people to obey those commands. That's how He wants us to live. That is what holiness and righteousness look like. So why do we Christians separate out the one commandment about the Sabbath? If it was one of God's top Ten Commandments, it must be important to Him. There must be a reason why it's in that list.

So I started studying what the Bible actually had to say about the Sabbath. Not what other Christians had to say about it, but what the Bible actually said. And much of what I found was a bit surprising to me. 

In the Bible, the Sabbath is actually first spoken about (though the word Sabbath was not used at the time) way back in Genesis, in the creation account. In the very first week of life on this planet! I've read this passage and been taught this passage many times over the years, but I never really grasped the importance of what was being said here. 

Genesis 2:2-3   "And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made. 

From the very beginning, God set the seventh day apart from the other six days of the week. He blessed it and He sanctified it. It was to be a holy day, set apart from the others. The other six days were for work. The seventh day was for rest - for God and man to fellowship together. In a sense, the first six days of work happened so there could be a seventh day. Adam and Eve, and their kids, and their kids etc all knew this. Noah knew this. The seventh day was different than the first six days of the week. It was to be a day of rest. And this was all before there were any Chosen People or Jews or Jewish laws. There were just... people. All people that God wanted to have fellowship with.

The next mention of the seventh day being different (and this is also the first mention of the word Sabbath) is in Exodus 16. It's the account about God providing manna to the Children of Israel after they had left Egypt. And again, this is before the Ten Commandments were given by God to the Jews. Before they were a nation. It was just a really big family now turned ethnic group - all related, all descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and his twelve sons.

Exodus 16 tells us how God provided manna for them to eat while they were in the desert. It was there each morning for the first six days of the week. But there wasn't any on the seventh day. But God provided twice as much on the sixth day each week so they'd have enough to cover the seventh day. And why? Because...

On the sixth day He said:  "Tomorrow is a sabbath observance, a holy sabbath to the Lord." 16:13 It was just a fact to them. They knew this. The seventh day was different than the other six days of the week.

Then on the seventh day He said:  "Eat it today for today is a sabbath to the Lord... Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day, the sabbath, there will be none... See, the Lord has given you the sabbath; therefore He gives you bread for two days on the sixth day. Remain every man in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day. So the people rested on the seventh day."  16:25-30

Then we come to Exodus 20. The passage we're all familiar with. The Ten Commandments. This is when God sets the rules for His Chosen people, the Jewish people, the descendants of Abraham, who would now  become a mighty nation set apart for Him. Through them He is going to show the world who He is, and what righteousness and holiness mean. And through them He will ultimately send the One who will fulfill all of these for us. But in the meantime, in His top ten list of rules - the most important things He wants them to know and remember - we find...

"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant, or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."  Exodus 20:8-11

And notice that it says "Remember..." They already knew the seventh day was different from the other six days of the week. That God had sanctified it and blessed it. Ever since the very beginning of life on this planet. This information had been passed down from Adam and Eve all the way to Noah and to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob...

I discovered that the Bible is very clear that the Sabbath is not just a Jewish thing. It's not just something that "they" do. It was a thing for 2,000 years before there even were any Jews.

Some interesting historical facts... 

To the Jews, and in the first two generations of Christian literature, the Sabbath meant Friday night to Saturday night (the seventh day). Sunday was most likely referred to as the Lord's Day. And for those two generations, early Christians celebrated the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. In fact, for several hundred years many Christians celebrated the Sabbath and the Lord's Day. They celebrated the Sabbath not because it was a Jewish thing, but because it was a God thing. 

It wasn't until the beginning of the second century that Ignatius of Antioch, one of the Church fathers at the time,  approved non-observance of the Sabbath. So for the first time, after about 100 years of Christianity, Christians were told they didn't need to "Remember the Sabbath" anymore, but they could just observe the Lord's Day instead. 

The current "Christian" position of only observing the Lord's Day, and not observing the Sabbath, didn't happen until after the New Testament was completed and all the apostles had died. In 321 AD, Constantine issued the first civil Sunday law, compelling all the people in the Roman Empire, except farmers, to rest on Sunday. This, with five other civil laws decreed by Constantine concerning Sunday, set the legal precedent for all civil Sunday legislation from that time to the present. Then around that same time, the Council of Laodicea urged Christians to honor Sunday by abstaining from work on that day if at all possible, and prohibited them from abstaining from work on the Sabbath. So for some reason, over 300 years after Christianity began, it was decided that Christians should worship on Sunday, and should not observe the Sabbath.

So after studying what the Bible had to say about the Sabbath, and spending a lot of time thinking about it and praying about it, and reading a few others' thoughts on it, God led me to some conclusions that I feel He wants me to apply to my life, in obedience to Him. And for my benefit too. As Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." Mark 2:27 (And by the way, He went on in Mark 2:28 to say that "the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath." He didn't abolish the Sabbath. He affirmed it.)

It's not meant to be a legalistic thing for us. But it is a God thing. It's something that was important enough to Him that He included it in the Ten Commandments. And it was never just meant for the Jews. It's something that He wants all of us to do. And it's simply a fact that whether we observe it or not, Saturday is the Sabbath. The day of the week that God blessed and sanctified.

So here's my list of reasons why I am now observing the Sabbath:

• To be obedient to God. It's one of the Ten Commandments! He wants me to do this. He blessed and sanctified the seventh day, and set it apart from the other six days of the week.
• To rest.
• To stop my normal routine. I need this, because it is so easy to live life on auto-pilot simply doing all the things that need to be done or that I want to do or that others want me to do.
• To remind me who God is and who I am. His plans and work are what's most important. I am not the center of the universe. He is.
• To relinquish dominion over my own life, and recognize God's dominion over it.
• To remind me that there is something bigger going on than "my stuff" and that in His time God will provide and work out His plan, and I want to adjust my life to Him.

Today as I'm writing this it's my 39th Sabbath Day. Well, it's the 39th time that I've actually intentionally observed the Sabbath. Every Saturday for my whole life has actually been the Sabbath. I just didn't pay attention to it. And how it plays out in each person's life will vary depending on how God leads each of us. But for me the seventh day of the week - the Sabbath - now looks something like this...

• No scheduled plans ahead of time, unless they are unavoidable.
• See interruptions as divine appointments.
• A technology fast - no TV, Facebook, Instagram, email, etc. Though I do allow Christian content - podcasts, worship music (I have a great Sabbath playlist!), etc.
• Extended time reading my Bible. Which often leads me to...
• Extended time studying my Bible.
• Journaling. I love to write, but I've never been a daily journaler. Except now on my Sabbath days.
• Read Christian books.
• Spend extended time listening to God.
• And spend extended time in prayer. I have a special Sabbath prayer list I use each week. And I also (weather permitting) take a walk to an awesome prayer garden at a Catholic church not too far from our house. There are six stations that relate to specific things for Catholics. I skip the Mary one, and use the other five to pray through the Lord's Prayer, spending some time on each of the five areas that Jesus told us to include in our prayers.
• Whatever God leads me to do! The Sabbath was His idea. It's His plan and schedule, not mine. I simply want to rest in Him, and with Him.

The Sabbath was never meant to be a legalistic set of rules (though the Jews added on a ton of those to what the Bible actually told them about the Sabbath!). So there are two questions I ask myself as I'm trying to decide what I will, or won't, do on the Sabbath:  Is it rest? Is it worship? If it's some kind of work or chore that's on my normal "to do" list, I don't do it on the Sabbath. But if it's something that will refresh my soul and be an act of fellowship and worship with God, then I do it. 

So for your take away from all this, it would be awesome if you actually started observing the Sabbath in whatever way God leads you. He gave it to us as a gift because He knows how much we need it! But at the very least, from now on you can be aware of the fact that Saturday is the Sabbath, whether you observe it or not. I actually keep a candle lit all day on the Sabbath simply to remind me that today is a day that is special to God. He blessed it. He sanctified it. And He gave it to us as a gift.

And if you're thinking "This sounds weird, Bernice. How could we have possibly missed this all these years?" My challenge to you is to do your own study of what the Bible actually has to say about the Sabbath. Starting with this passage...

"If because it is the Sabbath, you stop doing your own pleasure on My holy day, and you call the Sabbath a delight, and you say, 'The holy day of the Lord is worth honoring,' and you honor it; desisting from your own ways, and from seeking your own pleasure, and from speaking your own word; then you will take delight in the Lord, and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth."   Isaiah 58:13-14

My Thoughts About Things That I'm Learning From Others

I'm going to start adding a new kind of post to my collection. Instead of just my random thoughts about things, I'm also going to post things I've heard others say that God has used to make me think; to stretch my heart and mind; to continue to grow me up. Because... whenever I hear things like that, I really want to share it with others. So I often mention what "they" said, to some family members or friends. But I think posting things here will be a good way for me to pass along some of the things God is teaching me through the teaching of others. So if you're interested, read on! If not, no worries. There are a lot of other things to read out there on the internets.

So... my first offering of "Awesome Things I've Learned From Others" is from Isaac Bennet's message from last Sunday. He was talking about what it means to be A LIVING SACRIFICE. He was teaching out of Romans 12. He said...

It's one thing to die as a martyr. It's another thing to live as a martyr; as a living sacrifice. And that's what God has called us (His followers) to do.

• Jesus said...“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.  Matthew 16:24-25
• Paul said... Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Romans 12:1

If you are truly a follower of Jesus, your life is now about Him, not you. 

As a living sacrifice, we bring a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving before God...

• With a surrendered will - conformed to His ways, and not conformed to the world.
• By loving others without hypocrisy - don't just say you love others, but actually live a life of love toward others with your heart and hands. Put them before yourself.
• By hating evil things - turning away from all sin. Not just the ugly, evil looking sins, but also the ones that satan (or our own mind) makes look very appealing, and even rational.
• By persisting in prayer - steadfast, always talking with God, open communication, always listening for His voice.
• By blessing those who persecute us - those who are mean to us, or harm us in some way. Be kind to them. Pray for them. Show them grace and mercy and love. Trust God to deal with them.

May your life be a living sacrifice, day-by-day, offered to God in praise and thanksgiving.

The Book that Didn't Get Written

 "This Ain't Heaven But We'd Like it to Be" is the title of a book we've been thinking about writing for years (decades actually) but we've never gotten around to it. The idea got started as we would travel for vacations and stay in cool, beautiful places - or even just drive through them - and we'd always say "Oh man, wouldn't it be great if we could live here." (The funny thing about that is, at that time we were living in a beautiful area in the Southern California coastal hills about 12 miles from Malibu beach! What were we thinking?!)

As we began to think more about that concept - of always thinking that there's something better out there - we realized that we all have a lot of "If only..."s in our lives. As human beings, we often find ourselves thinking that life would be great if only we had...

• A spouse (or a better spouse)
• A home that we owned
• Kids
• A better job
• More money
• A home at the beach or in the mountains or...
• The perfect church
• A skinnier body
• A healthy body
• Nicer clothes

For years we've thought about this problem that we all seem to have. We can be very stable, happy people, who enjoy the life that we have; thankful for the life that we have. But there's still something inside us that thinks, "But what if we had..." A seed of discontent. A longing for something more. Something different. Something better.

Years ago we decided that what we were really talking about, and what was at the bottom of that longing for something more or different or better, was actually a longing for heaven. A perfect world, with God, like He intended from the beginning. That's the world human beings were created for. But we messed it up along the way, and we messed ourselves up along the way. And now there's something within each one of us, whether we believe in God or not, that longs for that perfect world, often without even realizing that's what we're really longing for. 

I'm thinking about this topic now (and that book we haven't written yet) because as I'm writing this it's the beginning of 2023 and I spent some time on January 1 just listening to God and talking to Him about some things I have been longing for over the past couple years. And this morning I realized that though in the past I've thought of this longing in terms of worldly things that we long for that are actually a longing for heaven, this time for me the longing had to do with relationships. And as I was talking to a friend on the phone about what I had gleaned from God as I spent that time with Him, I realized that this longing for relationships - for significant community - is also actually a longing for heaven.

Throughout our entire adult life, Dave and I have been involved with three consecutive churches where he was the Lead Pastor: twenty-five years in Agoura Hills, seven years in Phoenix, and then eleven years in the Bay Area. At each of those churches we had a ready-made group of people to build community with. And I don't just mean going to church for an hour on Sunday morning or joining a Sunday School group. We enjoyed a special bond with everyone in those churches, but in each church we also had smaller groups of people that we lived life with. We ate together, and played together, and raised kids together, and worshipped together, and went on vacations together, and prayed together, and cried together... 

Two years ago, after 40+ years of being a Lead Pastor, Dave transitioned into the next phase of his ministry life. He passed his Lead Pastor position at Bridges on to a young pastor and his wife who we had grown to love and respect while he was on staff with us and who was also one of the teaching pastors with Dave. Dan & Beth & the boys became the next generation, in the Bay Area, of what Dave & Bernice & the kids had been in Agoura. We were (and still are!) so excited to see what God has ahead for them. And for us as we began following God's leading into His ministry plan for us as we moved to a new town where we could be near our three kids and their families.

Dave is now on part-time staff with Venture Church Network as their Director of Church Health. God is using Him to help churches and pastors and elder boards all over Northern California who are in times of transition or trouble. God is using all Dave's years of experience in some very cool ways, And it's right where God wants him to be for now. 

But... now that Dave is no longer on staff at a church, that "instant community" is no longer there. We moved out of the Bay Area to a small town in Central California where all three of our kids and their families live, so we have instant community with all of them, which is awesome! We love it! But when it comes to community with other believers, I'm having a tough time with that. I really miss the intimate friendships that we've always had before. The small groups of people that we lived life with. I continue to pray a lot that God would bring those people - whoever they are - into my life here in Merced. But in the meantime, I've been longing for what I don't have right now. And I realize now that the longing for deep relationships is another longing for heaven.

When we get to heaven, or when Jesus comes to reign on this planet (whichever comes first!), and when God creates the new earth for us to live in with Him forever, and we have glorified bodies and sanctified souls, we will have perfect relationships with each other and with God. All of our relationships will be deep and meaningful and full of love. We will have the most incredible times of worship together. We will come before God together in awe and wonder and praise. We will accomplish whatever tasks God puts before us together. It's going to be awesome. It's what we were created for!

But in the meantime, we long for even just a portion of what we will experience then. 

If you are a follower of Jesus and you have a group of other believers that you are living life with at a deep level (not just an hour on Sunday morning or Tuesday night or...), cherish those relationships. Invest time and energy and even money into them. Together, you are the church! That's what the body of Christ is all about. Eat together. Pray together. Share what God is teaching you from His Word. Worship together. Take communion together. Hold each other accountable for walking worthy. Laugh together. Cry together. Minister together to those around you who are in need. Be the body of Christ - the Church - together.

If you don't have that type of community with other believers but are longing for it, like I am, pray that God will lead you to those people. That He will bring them into your life. (And don't be surprised if it's not the people you would have expected. Look at the random group of people that God brought together to be His disciples!) Don't let sitting in a building for an hour on Sunday morning be enough. 

I'm still in process with this new phase of our lives and with this search for community, so I can't give you a list of things to do to make it happen. I wish I could because I'm definitely a list person. But I'm trusting that, as we wait for that perfect world that is ahead, God will lead us into deep relationships with other believers that we can live life together with as the body of Christ.

Blind Spots

I’m usually a very organized, perceptive person. I can see the big picture and also details. But there was one very trivial event in my past that comes to mind every now and then to remind me that we all have blind spots. Things we just don’t see until something comes along that opens our eyes, and then we find it hard to believe that we didn’t see it before.

Ten years ago God moved us from Southern California to Phoenix. When we got there we found a great house and bought it. Selling a house in California and moving to Phoenix is easy. The reverse… not so much. Our house in the desert was even on a golf course since I needed to see grass.

A year after we moved into that new house I discovered that there was another drawer in the kitchen that I had never seen before. A whole year!! I don’t know what led me to pull it open, but when I did, there was a big drawer with nothing in it. And for most of us, finding extra space in our kitchens is priceless. I still can’t figure out how I went a whole year without noticing that empty drawer was there just waiting to be used.

Now in my defense, the kitchen had one of those stove tops that was not above and connected to the oven. It was simply set into the kitchen counter above some cupboards. So the part of the cabinet directly under the stove top looked like one of those fake things they put in front of sinks since there isn’t room for a drawer there. But in this kitchen… there was a drawer there under the stove top!

It’s been ten years since I found that empty drawer. And even now, whenever I find myself thinking that I have something all figured out – that I’ve got all the answers – I remember that drawer. Even though it was a silly insignificant thing, it reminds me that we all have blind spots - things that are totally off our radar until all the sudden we see them, and we wonder how in the world we didn’t see them before.

It reminds me that I need to always be open to growing and learning. And I need to constantly be asking God to help me see what’s true and what’s not. What’s really important and what’s not. Because blind spots happen to all of us. We just don’t know what they are until something comes along that opens our eyes. And it happens with more important things than just an extra kitchen drawer.