When I was a teenager, one of my best friends and I would go bowfishing in a canoe on the St Croix River. The beauty of God's creation in the quietness of the morning with no one else on the water is a memory I can still see, hear and smell in my mind. In the back areas of tributaries of the river, we would discover different levels of large bodies of water due to the beavers creating damns. We would have to portage our canoe and gear up a foot to the new lever of water. We found one body of water that was over 3 feet higher with 5 or 6 beaver huts in it. Simply amazing.
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We would listen for the carp slurping the reeds for breakfast and stealthily make our way in their direction. In total silence, when we were close enough, we would let our arrows go... The carp did not have a chance. I remember starting with a normal bow. Then we moved to a compound bow. The compound bow was always ready to fire with massive tension in the string. But, the regular bow would lose tension after many shots. It would not shoot the arrows as fast, hard nor accurate.

I was gripped the other day by Job's description of how God blessed his life.
"My roots will reach to the water, and the dew will lie all night on my branches. My glory will not fade; the bow will be ever new in my hand." Job 29:19-20

As Job sought the living God through out his life, he experienced God refreshing his soul like roots of a tree with plenty of water, like branches with fresh dew every morning and like a freshly strung bow at ultimate tension. Let these images soak in your mind. Let these images bring you into the presence of God. Let these images be tools to let Jesus refresh you.

What is your soul like these days?
Are you sensing Jesus refreshing your soul like this?
Do you put yourself in a position to let your soul drink in God's refreshing living water daily?
Are you still enough in the presence of the Holy Spirit to soak in the refreshing dew daily?
Are you spending personal time with Jesus so that He can restring the bow of your soul so you are ready to go any where and do anything Jesus leads you to do?

Taking the time each day to be refreshed and restrung by Jesus,
Pastor Chris

As Jude and I hiked just one of the countless parts of the Appalachian Trail yesterday, we walked out of the green luscious woods to a breathtaking sight...

As we sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking the vast valley of the Blue Ridge mountains to eat our packed lunch, a brown hawk soared looking for his lunch about 20 feet below us. With a little wing motion, he swooshed about eye level with us. Wonderful. Marvelous. Fabulous. 

We could hear God’s still small voice speaking very loudly. Something similar to what Job heard...

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food? Is not wisdom found among the aged? Does not long life bring understanding? “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” Job‬ ‭12:7-13

This summer, what are your spiritual plans and goals to connect deeply and lingeringly with Jesus?
Will you focus on a book, a chapter, a paragraph or just one verse from the Bible all summer long?
Do you have a study plan, memorization plan, a contemplative plan to let a God speak to you?
Does it include walks, jogs, long sits in His splendid creation?
Does it include some family or friends
Let’s take advantage of this summer to grow more intimately with the Trinity and The Word.
Pastor Chris

What causes someone to move to another country, put not only their lives on the line but also the lives of their children on the line to serve people of another ethnicity, another religion in order to show them and tell them the love of Jesus?

Would you ever risk your career, your livelihood, your marriage, your children in order to tell someone that Jesus loves them?

It was a privilege to spend a week with a team of people who are doing just that. These men, women, married couples, singles and families have invested years training; in undergraduate school, graduate school, theology, profession, language, culture and so much more.

Every day, they wake up with totally different sights, smells, tastes, touches, culture, religious background to meet privately with Jesus. To engage this different group of people. To befriend them, to identify their needs, to meet those needs freely, to serve them, to listen to them, to become a student of them and to follow the Holy Spirit's direction to start a conversation about Jesus. Knowing that the conversation about Jesus puts them at risk and in danger.

Its one thing to do this as an individual. Its another thing to invite your spouse to be fully involved. Its a whole other thing to bring your children to grow up in this.

Each person on this team is so inspiring.

It reminds me that 2,000 years ago, one man invited 12 to join him to go to the world, serve the world, love the world, die for the world, then be miraculously resurrected for the world. Then his followers, 11 with one defector, along with about another 120, changed the world to be a better place. To bring love, joy, peace and hope to people who were unloved, uncared for, marginalized, unwanted, discarded, hurt, wounded and in need.

I am reminded that it only takes one person, one family, one small team of people to make a dent in history.

Have you responded to the Holy Spirit's calling to join Jesus and a team of Jesus followers who are intentionally befriending, serving and talking about Jesus with those who are far from God?

"If serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. (the gods in our current culture). But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”  Joshua 24:15

Seeking to risk more for Jesus,
Pastor Chris