God's A Fire Hydrant!



Have you ever seen a fire hydrant when it is going full force? What an amazing amount of power! I was thinking about that this morning as I passed by one on my daily run.

God wants to be a fire hydrant in our lives! His desire is to cause us to experience "rivers of living water coming from our innermost being". He wants us to have abundant, fruitfull lives. He wants to make us "more than conquerers in Christ, Jesus"! He wants us to abide in Him and allow His Word to abide in us! He wants us to be a fire hose hooked up to Him!



Why do we so often come to God with a garden hose or a little bitty drinking straw? We begin to plug in to Him and receive from Him and then take the attitude:"OK, God, that's enough". He wants to keep pouring in to us full force. We often want just enough of Him to get through the present trial, or overcome some circumstance, or feel a little blessed. God says to us: "where are you going, I'm just getting started with you?"



Father, God, help me to come to you as a fire hose! Don't let me be content with just a little bit of You! Let your river flow into me that I may overflow into the lives of others!

A Life Well "Spent"

We had a fair amount of discussion on a few blogs a while back about the idea of how we "spend" our lives. It started out, I think, with a post by Brent on his blog about our epitaph and what would be said about us after we are gone. This has made me think about a good friend of mine who has "spent" his life well and continues to do so. His name is Wayne Shuart.

I have had the privilege of knowing Wayne for more that 10 years. He has been a businessman in Phoenix most of his life. He is 69 years old. He is about the most genuine, loving, enthusiastic Christian I have ever known. He was recently featured in the Christian Network Team's national newsletter under the title: "Restructuring Work Days to 'Influence Influencers'" You see Wayne has spent most of his life sharing his faith in Christ and leading other men in discipleship(brand new believers and untrained older ones).

More often than not, over the years, when I have visited his office I have been introduced, not to a business associate working with him on a deal, but to a new believer that Wayne lead to Christ and is now leading in discipleship. Hardly a day goes by in which Wayne doesn't have some story of how he turned an ordinary human encounter into an opportunity to introduce someone to his Lord and Savior.

It has been my privilege to have Wayne as a personal mentor over the past year or so. He has challenged me to find new opportunities to convert my business time into ministry time, to convert conversation about things in business into discussions involving sharing my Christian testimony and offering the gift of salvation through faith in Christ. As a financial advisor, it has become quite easy for me to move from talking about someone's financial plan to asking them if they have taken care of their "eternal plan".

Wayne has recognized that, at 69, his time on earth is becoming shorter (although there are literally hundreds who pray that it is not so). He wants to be as effective as he can be for the kingdom in his remaining years. So, he has changed his focus to training those who would be willing to duplicate what he has been doing for many years. I am very thankful to be one of those he is investing his time in.

And the impact of his life has not been limited locally. Over the years, Wayne has participated in more than 10 short term international missions trips, including Russia, Poland, Mexico and India. In September 2004 he trained 2,500 key Indian leaders in personal evangelism and discipling in 16 conferences in nine cities.

Wayne has a plaque he displays in his office that sums up his attitude. It reads:

"Only one life will soon be past, Only what is done for Christ will last".

That is what Wayne wants on his grave stone. As Paul writes in Philippians 1:21, "for to me to live is Christ and to die is gain". If you get to meet Wayne in this life, your life will be richer for it. If not, you will have to find him in heaven and hang out with him for a few years or so. I know I will!

He's Off and RUNNING!
On Monday night Christian came to visit one last time. He hit the road Tuesday morning on the first step of what promises to be an amazing journey. He is headed back to New Hampshire for a few months to save up for a trip of several months to Tanzania.
Christian came into our lives about seven months ago. It has been my priveledge to get to know him and have some small part in encouraging him to pursue his dreams. It was hard to see him go, but incredibly exciting to watch him answer God's call.
We are proud of Christian for not taking the easy way out. He had an opportunity for a very good job here in Phoenix. He also had the option of returning to New Hampshire and settling into an ordinary life there. But God has something a bit differant in store for him for the next few months or more. And Christian decided that he was going to chose something that will give him a better chance of having a meaningful and abundant life.
I remember one time we were doing a little exercise with our group of young adults. We asked them to list out things that they thought were their passions in life. Christian wrote out a pretty long list, and then he said: "the only thing is that they don't really have anything in common." I looked at his list and began picking out a few of them. I said, "you're right, Christian, there is nothing there that could fit togther. I mean how could adventure, missions, travel, flying, and archetecture possibly have anything in common. He looked at me with a big smile and said: "Dennis, you got me again!"
I don't know what this decision will ultimately lead to in Christian's life. But I am confident of this: he will not be the same man this time next year that he is today. I also am confident that "God, who has begun a good work in him, will complete it."
Watch for more reports about Christian and how he is really "getting a life" in the months ahead!

What weighs me down?

I was talking to Dennae today about doing things outside our comfort zone. She was saying how the more we push to do things outside our comfort zones, the harder it is to find new things that are outside. That is because we actually get comfortable with the actual fact that we are outside "the zone". I think that is a good thing because we are more likely to venture out and go for something. I also challenged her to begin praying for God to challenge her to something that is outside her zone.
As I have transitioned my focus of ministry from Crisis Pregnancy Centers leadership (way outside my comfort zone a couple of years ago - way inside it now) to doing something that isn't quite defined with "young adults", I have certainly thought I am stretching. As I look at it now, it is only stretching because the "success" of it is not clearly defined, nor the steps to make it successful. I am totally in my "zone" reaching out to this age group.
So, what have I done that is outside my "zone". The answer to that was quite obvious. I have enthusiastically encouraged my 21 year old daughter to run for what God is calling her to do. She is not only my daughter, but one of my best friends in the whole world. As I occassionally struggle with the pull of the flesh (or more likely the soul) to think about how much I miss her and am tempted to be hurt that she is choosing to be away from me. As I resist the temptation to be angry, bitter, resentful, or to build a wall of protection around my heart and be cold toward her, I have to take those thoughts captive. I reach for what is truely love and embrace her decision, even though they are painful to my flesh.
I love you, Dennae, more than you will ever know. My heart aches at our seperation. And, I cheer for you as you embrace what God moves you to do. I will continue to hope that His direction will bring our paths close together throughout our lives. If not, I will continue to remember how short life is on this earth compared to eternity. And I will look forward to the first hundred years or so in heaven, as we tell each other great stories of how God showed up in our lives in mighty ways. YOU GO GIRL!!!

Testimony or Excuse?

Have you ever read stories of the lives of great men and women? One thing I have noticed they all seem to have in common is that they overcame something big in their lives. For some, it was an abusive childhood. For others, it was abject poverty. Some were orphans in a setting that was far from normal family life.
We all probably have something in our life that we can point to and say:"this is why I have not been all I could have been." We give ourselves an excuse to fail (or not try something that we consider risky).
The way I see it, we have a choice. Those things in our lives can be an excuse, or they can be our testimony. The decision we have to make, and it is a decision, is this: Will I hide under my past and circumstances and use them as an excuse or will I stand on top of them and testify to the greatness of God as He has transformed me to what He created me to be?

Check this out for transformation:

“And you He made alive, who were dead (separated / cut off) in trespasses and sins in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of the flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh, and on the minds, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love, with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)." Ephesians 2:1-5

• But you don’t understand: I tried to pour my life into people and love them, but they have taken advantage of me and hurt me. BUT GOD!
• I was abused as a child and it is hard for me to trust people. I understand; BUT GOD!
• We all have “stuff”. The difference is what we do with it.

Don't Just Settle ... Get a LIFE!!!

In the Gospel of John Chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus said:

"The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to
destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly."

In other words, He promises us life (eternal) and something more than life. This blog is dedicated to encouraging and challenging believers to live the kind of life that they were indended to live. Let's not settle for an ordinary life, but rather let's go for a LIFE!!!!

What do you think God might be calling you to do? What challenges do you face (real ones and imagined ones)? Share your experiences when you stepped way out of your comfort zone and did something because you knew it was supposed to be done.