The journey continues, it's just not being journaled here . . .

Check out what's happening in regular updates on Conversations@Intersections, a Jill Shaw blog about conversations, interactions, relationships, with a bit of humour, philosophy, technology and other stuff thrown in for now extra charge.

Find Cheryl Belding at her own blog In the Life of a Busy Woman
and Shanda Oakley at her blog A Pause on the Path

Follow, Friend or link in with these women for regular input as they journal real life faith in real life families and contexts. From Louisville to LA, incarnational, intentional and integral faith defines these women.

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Cheers,

Jill

My Rock

9/16/10

Yesterday my sister and I went on an incredible beautiful gorilla hike up a mountain with an inactive volcano. It was lush, scenic, covered in large ferns and bamboo forests. Half way up the mountain we came up on a gorilla family and were able to spend one hour watching these incredible, almost instinct animals. A day spent just in nature, experiencing the ache of memories of the past; the quietness and beauty of the bush.
I’m in Rwanda, the “country of 1000 hills”. The country is small with one hill/mountain after another popping up into view. They are steep and have gardens and houses on almost every square foot of land. To the naked eye, the ground appears so unstable that a good rain would wash every house and plant into the valley.
Memories of Costa Rica come to mind. When the earthquakes would violently shake the ground, pictures would fall of the walls and dishes crash to the ground. Even so, my house was built to withstand these quakes and the house remained intact.
Sometimes I feel life is like an earthquake. The ground underneath me is shaking, and constantly changing. I move. I make friends. I move again. I leave behind those friends. My children are growing up and moving on. I have to find my place in life all over again. I am not longer a stranger living in a foreign land, but a stranger living in my own country. At times the ground beneath me is shaking so suddenly that I almost lose my balance and fall.
But I don’t, because I have built my life on the solid Rock. And there is no rock like my God. Sometimes I think I am falling but when the ground stops shaking, I am always left standing.
If someone were to ask me to define God I would say He is my sure foundation, the ground that never moves. Life changes. I lose my security. My friends, family and even my church may fail me. But Jesus never fails. He never changes. That is all I have to cling to.
We moved to Changuinola, Panama just after the earthquake of April 22, 1991. I heard the story of a mother and her two children. When the earthquake occurred, the ground opened up beneath the feet of her children and they fell in. She managed to pull one child to safety. But as she was reaching for the hand of her second child, the ground shifted again and the earth swallowed up her child.
I won’t be swallowed up! I am building my house on the solid rock. God will have victory through my fragility and my weakness, through my insecurities and search to find myself.
I love 1 Cor. 15:54 “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where O death is your victory? Where O death is your sting? But thanks be to God. He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord. Because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

Even though one day the earth will cover my earthly body, I have victory. There is no Rock like my God!

Search Me, O God

The spirit of man is the candle of the Lord,
searching all the inward parts of the belly.
---Proverbs 20:27

My sixteen year old daughter hasn't felt her best the past few days. One of her eyes was unusually sensitive and tender. The following morning there was swelling and a painful lump on the edge of her eyelid. After self-diagnosing her with a sty, I made a call to our family doctor.

Form a picture of God walking through your body, your personality, your heart. Imagine Him using the Spirit as his candle of light shining it in the dark, sensitive, and painful areas of your heart.

"It is not frightening that God desires to straighten, inform and correct for our good because it's also to comfort and encourage us. As we believe that he really does love us, then we can begin to pray heartily..." ---Dallas Willard

My goal is to cooperate with God and respond, "Lord, bring Your light on any area of my life. Examine me, please, and see if there is anything I need to correct. Guide me, Lord, to find out what is wrong and amend my heart."

Dr. Chad, our family doctor, is a trusted friend. When he examines my daughter's physical condition this afternoon, I have no doubt he'll have her best intentions in his care and diagnosis. How much more can we invite our Heavenly Father's diagnosis to straighten and inform us for our good. Psalm 139 says has this to say about His watchful care over us...

"...you have searched me and you know me....you
hem me in—behind and before...you have laid your hand upon me..."


and with my heart I cry...

"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know
my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting."
verses 1, 5, 23, 24

"Bring the light of the candle of the Lord to bear upon my life, please."

Ponder. Choose. Live.

This is not naval gazing so much as it is an approach to living intentionally, the life God created you, as an individual, to live.
Ponder. Choose. Live.


What do I want to be remembered for?

What do I want to be doing 10 years from now?

Am I living a balanced life? Should I be?

What elements of my life deserve more time?

Is my life/heart most comparable to good, rocky, cluttered or hard soil?

What can I begin to do today to cultivate a heart God can use?

My areas of special interest are...

My areas of passion are...

My gifts & abilities...

What are my primary motives for serving God?

Which of my ministry experiences have been most fruitful/fulfilling?

If I could do anything -no limiting factors - I would...


IMAGE: Julia Lucich www.landingpartygallery.com

Religious or Intimate?

We can be a religious people and not be a spiritual people.
I daresay, many Christians are acquiring greater proficiency, but not deeper intimacy.

Cheryl writes a Diagnosis

....A lot of us are doing Christianity at a putt-putt level.

We want to be forgiven without following Jesus.

We're afraid to follow Jesus, because then we'd have to die and rise with him. We'd have to mortify our old self with its "fondest lusts," as Jonathan Edwards described them. Then we'd have to vivify Jesus' excellent virtues in their place. The truth is, we're mildly attracted to his virtues, but we're strongly attracted to our vices. We wouldn't like to lose them because they please us, and the prospect of a significant life with Jesus doesn't so much. Do we expect a new Christian life will just happen without our having to make inconvenient changes in how we live Monday to Sunday? If so, we are like people who want to be solvent and who also max out their credit cards. Or people who want to be sexually pure and who also bookmark porn sites. Or people who want to speak Japanese without all the tiresome study that's normally required.

Here's Willard's devastating summary:

The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we know to be right and the condition we want to enjoy. This is the feature of human character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

See Cheryl's In the Life of a Busy Woman

Friends. Journey. Community.

The Interpreter

I had a conversation with a muslim woman last week. She is a refugee from Iraq and I was driving her to an appointment. As we began to pull away, another car parked behind us and flashed the lights.
Another woman, wearing modest dress with her head covered, approached and got in the car with us. She introduced herself as the interpreter. Greetings flew in two languages, or maybe three.
Using a printout of an online map, complete with turn-by-turn directions, we arrived punctually before the scheduled time.
I took myself off to a nearby cafe to read my book on Thomas Merton and to prepare for a Bible study that evening. The tea was good. The restrooms were not. The hostess was gracious and the time passed nicely.
Returning to collect the ladies, I found the interpreter quietly reading her Quran. There was an intersection. Now for the conversation.
The map, held this time by the interpreter, guided us back to familiar territory as we discussed the common ground of our faith and practice. I too carry a diminutive holy book, the New Testament.
We parted, each blessing the other, clearly holding eachother's gaze as we contemplated the many similarities lurking not far beneath the surface of two women from very diverse backgrounds.
We shared a conversation, at an intersection of several lives, and I am richer for being there and listening.

Taking Jesus Seriously

Between my regular exposure to missionaries at my home church & camp, I was softened up to the idea that missions was a viable option for someone who claimed Jesus was Lord.

Like what Robert Coleman said in Master Plan of Evangelism,

“The plan of Jesus has not been rejected; we have just done without it. It has been converted into something worthy of remembering, that belongs to the past, but it has not been taken seriously as a norm of conduct for the present.”

Do we take Jesus seriously? Have we forgotten what He went to the Cross for?
It wasn't for my salvation. Or for yours. It was for everyone, for every tribe, tongue & nation.

We don't pray for the lost, the remote or the forgotten. We tend to worry about whether we are comfortable in church, or not. We don't sacrifice so others can hear the news which will make all the difference between whether they spend eternity in hell, or not.

Being a missionary, or participating in the gospel getting right round the world, is to take Jesus seriously.

Anything else is a mockery of naming Him as Lord.


Every day 100,000 cars go over the Auckland Harbour Bridge. The people in those cars think they are going to work or to school or shopping or for a manicure . . . .. when in reality they are going one of two places; either to heaven or to hell.

They are oblivious.

We know the God who gives choice in the matter.
We know the Son who provided the choice with His own blood.
We know the Spirit who equips us to speak redemptive analogies into every culture of the world.

And we often wander around as oblivious as the lost, and we ought to be ashamed.

Anyone can be a missionary.
If they know Jesus.
If they know someone who doesn't.
If they are willing to cross whatever cultural barriers exist between themselves and that other person so as to communicate the message, they can be missionaries.

Missionaries have a unique role in that they see obstacles like language, culture socio-economic differences, and they devise plans to hurdle them. They figure out ways around them or through them.

Evangelism is you talking to someone very much like yourself. We gotta do this or our friends & family are at risk!
Missions is seeking out someone who is very different from yourself and creating dialogue in which Jesus can join the conversation. We gotta do this or the effectiveness of what Jesus did on the cross is gonna be limited to a bunch of people who look and sound like us. God is more creative and diverse than just "us".

To have Africans and Latinos worshipping with us at the throne!
To have Asians & Europeans in the crowd!
To have islanders and Eskimos! That will be a party I wanna be at!

Are you in?

On my Way to USA!

I've been at home for the past week with an intestinal ailment that I don't want to discuss. Who knew I had a week out of my busy schedule to stay home? I am preparing for Discipler Equipping Seminars 28 April & 5 May! Ahhhh! We need more disciplers, but time is short. I'd rather do things better than to just do things in time, but this is where we are. Reuben is overseeing teaching ministries at Shore and we are working together within the time frame we have.

So please pray that a leader, or two, will arise to take responsibility for connecting those who are keen with prepared disciplers to accompany them on their journey.

I look forward to 1-2 June @Rainbow Camp!
I hope you can join us . . . . about 8 have chimed in so far from Ohio, Kentucky & Indiana . . . . for Bible study and talking and prayer and walking and . . .

Spring should be showing herself in the US as Summer comes to an end in NZ.

The seasons we share together sustain me.

Gratefully yours.

Bible Study & Prayer Retreat, without the fluff!

Watch this space for word of a Bible study & prayer retreat I'm organising, with a little help from my friends. It'll be either may 25 & 26 or June 1 & 2. I'm leaning toward the 25th, but we have to get the go-ahead from the good folks at Rainbow Christian Camp. The retreat will be free of charge! You'll need to bring your Bible, food to contribute to our communal meals, sleeping and personal items, mosquito repellent, good walking shoes and an open heart.

This will not be overly scheduled. We will gather & pray on Friday evening, dedicating our time to God. We will then sit together with open Bibles & discuss the things we care about most deeply, seeking answers & perspective from Scripture.

Saturday morning will likely include an intercessory prayer walk . . . at speed! Then more Q & A guided Bible study with some good Inductive tips thrown in at no extra charge.

Friends will be coming from Kentucky, Ohio & Indiana, but why not as far away as GA or even Central America? I'm coming all the way from NZ!

For directions to Converse, IN and Rainbow Christian Camp.

Interested? Drop me an e-mail and let me know. It'll only be better if you are there.

2 Links & a Question

On a trip from NZ via San Francisco I was able to visit Grace Cathedral which has a labyrinth in the garden outside. Walking a labyrinth is a metaphorical journey. It is not intended to confuse you, as a maze might do, but to take you within yourself and to take you out clear in heart & mind. Read further!

Another site that has caught my attention lately is John Piper's, especially his message on Prayer and it's vital connection to Missions. What do you think? See what Piper has to say and add your comments here.

I've been reading in Isaiah, one of the OT books I have least mastered. I'm good in Jonah, taught Amos & Hosea in Zimbabwe, have spent a reasonable time in Psalms, remember Dr. Black's antics in teaching the Pentateuch at JBC. Nehemiah has taught me much about leadership, project management & passion in mission. I avoid much of Jeremiah; the single & grumpy prophet. Which OT book or books do you appreciate most and why? Thanks for giving us a glimpse into your heart & mind! :-)

Diagnosis

Dallas Willard writes....A lot of us are doing Christianity at a putt-putt level. We want to be forgiven without following Jesus.

We're afraid to follow Jesus, because then we'd have to die and rise with him. We'd have to mortify our old self with its "fondest lusts," as Jonathan Edwards described them. Then we'd have to vivify Jesus' excellent virtues in their place. The truth is, we're mildly attracted to his virtues, but we're strongly attracted to our vices. We wouldn't like to lose them because they please us, and the prospect of a significant life with Jesus doesn't so much. Do we expect a new Christian life will just happen without our having to make inconvenient changes in how we live Monday to Sunday? If so, we are like people who want to be solvent and who also max out their credit cards. Or people who want to be sexually pure and who also bookmark porn sites. Or people who want to speak Japanese without all the tiresome study that's normally required. Here's Willard's devastating summary:

The general human failing is to want what is right and important, but at the same time not to commit to the kind of life that will produce the action we know to be right and the condition we want to enjoy. This is the feature of human character that explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

What are we reading in '07?

Chero and I have found a fun blog for booklovers. It is not a spiritually oriented blog, just interesting to read what others are writing about what they are reading.

It offers several challenges . . . to read books that are already unread and on your shelves, to read classics or old books you've loved before in a different season of your life, to read books from other countries or cultures . . . .

I wonder what kind of challenge we might share?
Or, if not a challenge, then at least to think and plan intentionally for what we might to explore or to what we expose our minds and hearts.

Biography is great! What of a dash of history and a bit of travel? Some literature and a rhyme or two? It's totally up to you.

So, comments please. Suggestions or challenges or proposals. It's all good.

C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity, "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of---throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself."

And Sue Monk Kidd writes in When the Heart Waits, "Transformations come only as we go the long way round, only as we're willing to walk a different, longer, more arduous, more inward, more prayerful route...when you wait, you're deliberately choosing to take the long way, to go eight blocks instead of four, trusting that there is a transformtion discovery lying pooled along the way."

God has issued an invitation to me. A call to wait. He is asking me to abide...to humble accept without complaint or grumbling the 'construction work' that surrounds me. At times I feel it is more that I can endure.

In recent weeks, I have been blessed in my 'construction zone' with a visitor that has filled my cup and made this tough journey bearable. When a friend comes along side you and listens...I don't mind taking the long way round...I don't mind walking eight blocks instead of four...

Proverbs 17:17
A friend is always loyal,
and a brother is born to help in time of need.

God's Ability

I found a quote today by Corrie ten Boom. "It is not my ability, but my response to God's ability that counts."

Sometimes when I sit at the piano to prepare for a worship service, discouagement overwelmes me. My playing never seems to improve and I know if I attended a 'big' church, I wouldn't even be needed or used. Yet, I am here and God put me here.

On Sunday mornings I pray no one would notice me, that I would hide behind the cross. And each Sunday His presence fills the room and the sound of angels praising God comes from even those who cannot carry a tune. It is no longer I who play, but Christ who plays through me. It is not longer I who sing, but Christ who sings through me.

May I forever respond to HIS ability.

May I never be held back from serving by MY ability.

Whom do I have in heaven but you?

Grappling with several issues the other day, I cried out to the LORD for ...something. I don't really know what I thought I needed...I just stopped...and knew I was right in the place I needed to be at that moment. I sat in silence for quite sometime, considering my heritage in the faith, the opportunities and blessings he has RICHLY poured out on me. I remembered...who I am, who died for me and who loves me.

Later that day, I was helping one of my daughters with a passage she is trying to memorize, Psalm 73. She had plateaued with understanding on why the wicked continue to prosper. So I picked up reading aloud for her trying to personalize it. As I read the remaining verses, tears slipped down my cheeks as the LORD answered my prayer of earlier in the day.

"Then I realized that my heart was bitter, and I was all torn up inside.
I was so foolish and ignorant--I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.
Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth.
My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever."

Thoughts of a mentor

I have been thinking about those who don't care about being the center of attention...a mentor from my past comes to mind.

I've asked myself...what attracted me to this person? Do others easily dismiss this person because of her selfless nature? She has a simplicity that draws me in and makes me curious. I want to ask her questions. Do you like your life? Do you see yourself as a square peg in a round hole world? I would like to ask her to describe the clearest moment she's had in God's presence. Do you see the work you are doing today as intensely as the day you began leading and guiding women?

I continue to ask questions to myself...What do I need to see in myself that needs tweaking? Remolded? What do I need to know about myself that's obvious to you Lord? Show me Lord--the good that your Spirit has formed w/in me and the ugly that fights to take over if I don't hold on to you!

May the fruit we bear be Christ.
May the harvest be ripe.
The fruit won't fall so far from the tree.
Abide in you abide in me. And the father is glorified.
May the fruit we bear be Christ.

Let us agree...
that we will be signs of a life to come
and may we believe and freely receive
all that God has done...


(Lost and Found/LIMB records)

Which your strength? Which do you wanna explore?

The following Common Disciplines are based upon the six traditions of Christian faith and witness identified by RENOVARÉ.

Contemplative: The Prayer-filled life
By God's grace, I will set aside time regularly for prayer, meditation, and spiritual reading and will seek to practice the presence of God.

Questions of Examen:
In what ways has God made his presence known to you since our last meeting?
What experiences of prayer, meditation, and spiritual reading has God given you?
What difficulties or frustrations have you encountered? What joys and delights?


Holiness: The Virtuous Life
By God's grace, I will strive mightily against sin and will do deeds of love and mercy.

Questions of Examen:
What temptations have you faced since our last meeting? How did you respond?
Which spiritual disciplines has God used to lead you further into holiness of heart and life?


Charismatic: The Spirit-Empowered Life
By God's grace, I will welcome the Holy Spirit, exercising the gifts and nurturing the fruit while living in the joy and power of the Spirit.

Questions of Examen:
Have you sensed any influence or work of the Holy Spirit since our last meeting?
What spiritual gifts has the Spirit enabled you to exercise? What was the outcome?
What fruit of the Spirit would you like to see increase in your life? What disciplines might be useful in this effort?


Social Justice: The Compassionate Life
By God's grace, I will endeavor to serve others everywhere I can and will work for justice in all human relationships and social structures.

Questions of Examen:
What opportunities has God given you to serve others since our last meeting? How did you respond? Have you encountered any injustice to or oppression of others? Have you been able to work for justice and shalom?


Evangelical: The Word-Centered Life
By God's grace, I will share my faith with others as God leads and study the Scriptures regularly.

Questions of Examen:
Has God provided an opportunity for you to share your faith with someone since our last meeting?
How did you respond? In what ways have you encountered Christ in your reading of the Scriptures?
How has the Bible shaped the way you think and live?


Incarnational: The Sacramental Life
By God's grace, I will joyfully seek to show forth the presence of God in all that I say, in all that I do, in all that I am.

Questions of Examen:
In what ways have you been able to manifest the presence of God through your daily work since our last meeting? How has God fed and strengthened you through the ministry of word and sacrament?

On A Journey - literally!

My favourite part of a journey is very possibly the time that I am in the air, between countries, often arriving to find I have skipped a day. Being aware that there is a day on the calendar that I have not actually lived makes me think in wierd ways. Am I really as old as my birth certificate attests since there are some days I have not really had heart beats used up on? What did I miss? What might I get to enjoy because of that wrinkle in time? Does time travel suit me? If so, why do I always arrive feeling so tired? You don't see THAT in the movies!

All this just to say, I'm enroute to another land, the land of my birth, to meet people with whom I share a meta-journey. I'll reconnect, learn, encourage, and give thanks.

I'll also ask you why you haven't signed in and joined in our discussion here!

AKLD-SYD-SAN FRAN-DNV-TAMPA-IND-SAN FRAN-SYD-AKLD