The Theologion and the Philosopher

"I think we dream so we don't have to be apart so long. If we're in each others dreams, we can be together all the time."
- Hobbes ( of Calvin and..)

In my reading this morning I ran across some great quotes about dreaming. Among them was the quote from Hobbes, the stuffed (but perceived as real) tiger of the imaginative 6 year old Calvin. Calvin was named after the 16th century reformation theologion, John Calvin, and Hobbes after a 17th century philosopher, Thomas Hobbes. The interaction between the theologion and the philosopher lends itself to some interesting insights into social issues of our day. Calvin sees Hobbes as a live tiger, while other characters see him as a stuffed animal. If you ever had a stuffed animal friend, which most of us did at some point in life, you can appreciate this comic strip.

Dreams.... A great thing to ponder.

Grape Conscious or Giant Conscious

I read an article this morning written by L Alton Garrison about one of my favorite portions of Scripture. The account of Moses sending out the twelve spies to check out the land that God had promised to the children of Israel. It was a place of promise. The two reports that came back were opposite in focus. Ten of the spies came back with a report that said there would be no way that they could possess the land. They said there were giants there that would be too strong to defeat. Two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, said the land is wonderful and had the biggest clusters of grapes they had ever seen. The first group asked, “Didn’t you see those giants?”. Joshua and Caleb asked “Didn’t you see the size of those grapes?” The minority was grape conscious. The majority was giant conscious. The minority did not deny the existence of the giants, but they believed with God’s help they could possess the land.

That is the kind of passion God is looking for in His people. He has placed inside of you a vision of promise. If you choose to be giant conscious, you will opt for the safety of hunkering down where you are and you will miss the blessing God intends for you. If you are grape conscious, you will step out with faith as your safety net and find blessing. Big dreams require you to trust God. Have some God sized dreams today and go for them. You are equipped, empowered and released today to do wonderful things. Don’t get to the end of life with regret that you settled for mediocrity when excellence was available.

Dream Big

Here are a few questions I read this morning that challenged me in my quiet time :

What was the last big dream you had?
Was it big enough for only God to accomplish?
If not, what will it take to get you to dream bigger?

I am attending an equipping and encouraging ( E squared ) pastor’s conference this week that is challenging my thought processes about going after bigger things. We are being challenged to understand that the size of our church should have nothing to do with whether or not we go after quality and excellence. The seed for the great dream is in place, perhaps in the size of an acorn that will one day flourish into a giant oak tree. The “giant” part of that may be a description of quality of faith more than size of congregation but as we grow in faith we will grow in influence and consequently more people will want to get on board.

We live in an interesting time where the economy of our nation is in volatile territory. I am glad that Wall Street is not our resource. We can still go fro the dream because God’s economy is sound.

Philippians 4

6 Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. 8 And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. ……….19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus.

Go for It !

In Ron Clark’s book, “The Essential 55” he takes rule # 51 to talk about dreams. As I was reading it this morning, all kinds of emotions and thoughts ran through my mind. The one thing that we do not want to happen in life is to get to the end and find we have regrets about the way we led our life. Here is Rule 51:

Live so that you will never have regrets. If there is something you want to do, do it! Never let fear, doubt, or other obstacles stand in your way. If there is something you want, fight for it with all your heart. If there is something you want to do, go for it and don’t stop until you make it happen. If there is something you want to be, do whatever is necessary in order to live out that dream.”

Keep in mind though that there are always consequences to our decisions. Be sure that the goal truly is something worth going after. The good dreams inside of us are put there by God and are achievable at some level. There are plenty of dream killers out there to give you reasons that you should play it safe and ignore the dream. The Bible is filled with examples of people who were more concerned with going for the goal rather than playing it safe. There are always reasons out there of why not to do it, but the over riding concept in my life is that the only thing that really matters is what God wants. Once we figure that out, we have a green light to go after it.

My favorite Selah song is “Press On”

When the valley is deep
When the mountain is steep
When the body is weary
When we stumble and fall

When the choices are hard
When we're battered and scarred
When we've spent our resources
When we've given our all

In Jesus' name, we press on
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on

In Jesus' name, we press on
In Jesus' name, we press on
Dear Lord, with the prize
Clear before our eyes
We find the strength to press on
To press on

Tap into God's Dream

I read an article this week where they interviewed Erwin McManus, Pastor of Mosaic Church in Los Angeles. I have enjoyed his approach to approaching God and diverse cultures. There are over 50 nationalities in that congregation. The interview was designed to discuss why the church needs to keep on dreaming. I have gotten to the place where I have decided to make a conscious effort to tap into what God is doing rather than trying to get God to get on board with my agenda. That means I may need to let go of the tight grip I have on rational thinking and academics. Since imagination and dreams have been given to us by God, we should access that potential. Living the life God created us to live should be our goal. The one quote from that article that I have been chewing on for two days now is this, “I don’t maintain hope; it maintains me!” It seems so many around me have lost their dream. They had a promise given to them and since they have not seen it happen “yet”, they have given up on it, or at least have decided to make it happen on their own like Abram did in Genesis 15 when he decided that the promise would need to come through his servant Eliezer. God stopped him, took him outside of his tent and gave him the assignment to count the stars. God reminded him that day that the promise would be accomplished the way it was given. We serve a big God who has given us big dreams. They are there for a reason. Go for it !

Intuition training

I was reading about risk this morning and found 5 living points to use in arranging my priorities today. They give the freedom to do the battle of life correctly. They are in the book “Risk” by Kenny Luck:

1. Knowing and loving God
2. Connecting to other men of God
3. Becoming like Christ
4. Having a ministry to believers
5. Reaching out to those without Christ

These are things that will train our intuitions and make us free in the fight. The freedom occurs because as we get close to God, confusion is eliminated, decisions become clear and we have instincts for effectiveness. Connecting with what really matters today will make the difference between bondage and freedom.

Galatians 5:1 So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law.

A quote from my sermon Sunday about the emerging definitions:

The Dream emerges and the boundaries get defined when we spend time with God

Let God direct your understanding today.

Spiritual Adventure

“… pursuing a God ordained passion, no matter how crazy it seems, is the most responsible thing you can do.”

Mark Batterson

The above quote from the new book, “Wild Goose Chase” catches something inside of me that tells me to go for it. The concept of challenging old assumptions and setting God-sized goals drives my pursuit of spiritual adventure. Enjoying the storms of life is something that will catapult us into a level that is never experienced by those who cower in fear at the prediction of a coming storm.

You can also learn more about the book, “Wild Goose Chase” by following these links:

http://ChaseTheGoose.com and http://MarkBatterson.com

Mark Batterson is the pastor of National Community Church, a thriving community of believers in the heart of Washington, D.C. He has planted an exciting church. That utilizes technology and fresh style to reach many who were falling through the cracks. Mark is in demand as a guest speaker all over the world. I have sat under his teaching several times and have thoroughly enjoyed both of his books “In a pit with a lion on a snowy day” and now “Wild Goose Chase”.

God designed us for spiritual adventure. Let’s take off our sandals and go for it!

Finishing touches

“There are rooms in your world that need your special touch-your child’s classroom; your coworker’s office; your neighbor’s heart.

There are regions in your world that need inspiration-your community’s poor; your state’s policies; your nation’s leaders.

God has given you a blank check to create a better world-just sign your name.”

-from Bill Johnson’s book, “Dreaming with God”

Reading that this morning I was reminded that although I do not hang a shingle that says I am a designer, I do have a responsibility to do some designing. The place God has planted me is not a finished product. It is as though God has roughed in some of the areas and given me the options on the finishing touches. I can certainly exist in the roughed in rooms but some color and trim would be nice. Even if I am satisfied with my roughed in conditions, I still should trim it up and make it pleasant for those who might come visit my life. I need to remember that the best novel and plays have yet to be written and the best songs have yet to be sung. “The best is yet to come!” Don’t let your memories become bigger than your dreams.

God is Good!!!!