ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES!!!

People have been asking me what I see from the Lord in 2010, I will be giving a “state of the Kingdom” address at the church on Jan 3rd and it will be posted on our sermon.net site however I wanted to write some preamble for my blog/Facebook community.

The verse that has come to me over and over is:

2 Corinthians 9:7-13 (New American Standard Bible)
7Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed; 9as it is written,
"HE SCATTERED ABROAD, HE GAVE TO THE POOR,
HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ENDURES FOREVER."
10Now He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness;
11you will be enriched in everything for all liberality, which through us is producing thanksgiving to God. 12For the ministry of this service is not only fully supplying the needs of the saints, but is also overflowing through many thanksgivings to God. 13Because of the proof given by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedience to your confession of the gospel of Christ and for the liberality of your contribution to them and to all,

Last year our thrust from the Lord was to build authentic community, to work past the differences and intentionally find the Love of God in our hearts and learn to express it to Him and each other. We intentionally built bridges to each other’s heart; we got honest about what has kept us apart. This was not an easy year for many but those who lived transparently had a great break-though. We wrestled as a community to find that tension between open heart living and learning to trust and be trustworthy; the tension between having the freedom to be you while living out that freedom responsibly within a community context.

2010 is a time of alignment;
“Each one must do as he has purposed in his heart” like never before we must allow God to reveal what is in our hearts and ask Him to reveal the desires of His heart. I am challenging you my friends and family to align your heart with God’s in 2010. Discover what He desires for you in this year of life and then surrender it to Him and do it willingly as an act of worship and love. For me and I believe the Bridge as a community I believe He wants us to SERVE our neighbors with extravagant faith and generosity this year. I have found the best way to build authentic community is to serve together!!! Serving brings out many things, it reveals heart…it challenges our motives…it develops integrity…it pleases God!!

At Christmas we joined with Son Valley Fellowship and delivered 25 hampers. It was a great evening and there was a sense of excitement and team work. We worked along side one another with anticipation of the joy this was going to bring to many families. As we prayed together for those families to receive the gifts with the love they were given real heart felt prayers of concern and love came out from our hearts. It was an awesome time in fact several people said I can’t wait for next year…NEXT YEAR!!!! I thought we DO NOT have to wait for a year to be a blessing, we do not have to wait for lights and trees and Santa to actually serve!! Let’s make it a life style in 2010!

Micah 6:8 says 8He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

Lets purpose in our heart to “do justice” that is serving our community; to “love kindness” that is serving each other; and “walk humbly with our God” that’s serving HIM!!

So my friends and family ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES here we go!!!

Mark is a motivational speaker with a difference - he connects right to the heart of the audience. This year Mark is hoping to see his faith community find a deeper connection to the "what" of their mission. Mark's favorite thing about the Christmas season is spending time with his family.

Authentic Relationships

Relationships can be the most complicated painful part of your life. The paradox is they can also be the most rewarding and greatest blessing. My parents were married 60 years before my dad passed away and I don’t remember one fight. They were a great couple, my dad used to joke that they didn’t need a dishwasher because he was a built in one. The thing is that he always treated my mom like a queen honoring her at every opportunity. I was talking to a friend the other night and helping her navigate through a relational issue and I made the following statement which I believe came from the heart of God!

“The key in every relationship is that if you can’t be yourself in it, then you need to look inward and ask, ‘Why can’t I?’” I think if I can’t be myself with people I hang out with then there is something wrong, either in my heart or theirs (I can only change mine). In thinking about all this and asking those questions I realized how much of our lives we spend on trying to make people like us. Insecurity and the desire to be accepted make us do all kinds of crazy things that just aren’t who we are. If people don’t like me “for me” then are they really a friend? Then if they get to know the “fake me” do they love me or the person I pretend to be. Imagine with me for moment if we actually invested the same amount of time working on authentic relationships, strengthening them, investing in them and enjoying them. Battling through the tough times but sticking together. If you had to do an inventory of your relationships and had to separate the real from the fake how many friends would you have left. Personally I would rather have one or two real authentic relationships then a hundred shallow fake ones. I would rather be unpopular and loved by a few then popular at the cost the authenticity. Jesus said no greater love is this “that they would lay their lives down for a friend” then He did it. That is the kind of friend who accepts you for who you are and sticks with you through everything. Jesus lived for us long before He died for us. So how can you tell if someone is authentic?

1. They aren’t in a hurry - It takes time, don’t be in hurry, be at peace with who you are and you will attract people who know who they are and both will be patient in the process. My best friends are the longest relationships I have.

2. They are transparent - if they can’t be transparent about themselves then they won’t care what is going on in you. They know they have weaknesses and will be honest about them.

3. They listen well – Authentic people genuinely care about what you have to say. They practice active listening to ensure they understand your heart more then the information you share or what you can do for them.

4. They stay in the storm – when troubles do come through misunderstandings they seek to make things right, they can say sorry and take responsibility for their part. If it is always your fault it’s not real.

5. They love God more then you – if they demand your love above God’s it is a problem. Authentic people will not be insecure about you loving other people or God. They don’t demand all your attention they give you space to grow other relationships in addition to theirs. In fact they encourage it because they know it will enrich both your lives.

Hope this helps you look at your relationships and invest most of your time with the authentic ones…God first, Family…Friends!

Mark has worked hard to see these type of relationships become the cultural norm at The Bridge. It is definitely a place of family and authenticity. Mark is gearing up for Christmas and looking forward to time with family.

RISE UP! - If not you then…WHO?

Tonight Sandi and I watched 20/20 a news magazine show on ABC. They were doing a special on kids living in poverty in America. Well it totally broke our hearts - the children interviewed were amazing and I was so proud of the way they carried themselves and articulated their heart. There were a couple of things that jumped out that I want to share. First of all was a young 5 year old heading off to kindergarten for his first day. He was so excited because he knew at 5, that if he got an education, he could get a good job and get his mom a house. You see they were homeless and had gone through several close opportunities to get a place to stay just to have the rug pulled out under their feet at the last moment. His only request from God was to have their own home to start kindergarten. Well that didn’t happen but there he was on his way to school thanking God that he could go. No home, no breakfast but grateful just the same.

The teacher was working on counting to three with him and one of the exercises was to answer a question that would be simple for anyone, even a five year old, to answer but it stumped him. I was holding my breath for him thinking why doesn’t he answer he had been counting to three all day long and was so proud of his achievement. What was the question that stumped him? How many meals a day do we eat? The answer of course is three…you see he could count to three but in his short five years he had never had three meals in one day, he simply did not know the answer because it was foreign to him. I thought come on are you telling me that no one can get this kid three meals in one day in five years. This leads me to the second thing that stood out the lady reporter had a spot after a commercial where she said some of you may be asking why ABC didn’t help this and other families they were interviewing. Her lame answer was because they wanted to present it the way they have to live and work it out on their own.

I thought to myself, “WHO IS GOING TO RISE UP!” Immediately God said to me If not you… who! I thought of Samuel who said “Here I am Lord” I felt conviction in my heart and I know I am to rise up. No pointing fingers, no expecting government to help, no blaming the rich, or the poor. What am I GOING TO DO! I can’t help the 20 thousand kids in this New Jersey town that are in third world conditions but can I help ONE in Kelowna. Last week we heard that many kids in Kelowna go to school hungry! This is unacceptable this is my city, these are my kids, this is my problem and it is my responsibility to be the solution. Can you imagine a city that all thought that way? What could we do to change a life? It takes so little effort to make a huge difference. The bible says don’t pray for the hungry and then send them away hungry. Its time we ALL rise up and put an end to poverty…not just financial poverty but spiritual and emotional poverty as well. How about you? We all have a choice of which direction we will point a finger…to someone else…or at yourself.

Mark has always had a heart to see the church be at the center of fulfilling the social needs of the community. As such, The Bridge does many programs that make a difference in the community. We all wish Mark a happy holiday as he leaves this week for a long-awaited time away with his wife.

Work is Worship

Yesterday I was racing through the bedlam of an Indian market with my friend Punit and a few of his cousins. In the midst of the crazy tumult of traffic, Punit pointed out a delivery truck that had pink writing in Hindi on its bumper. He explained that all such trucks carried this inscription meaning "Work is Worship". It was a way of thinking that these workers had adopted because they worked long hours for very little pay. So they chose to see something sacred in their daily grind - an attempt to rise above their circumstances by offering their work as worship.

As Christians, worship is something that we often seem to relegate to a two hour weekly timeslot at a church building. We can have trouble connecting our everyday tasks and jobs to something as sacred as worship to God. Intellectually I can understand the concept that worship is a lifestyle and encompasses all that I do in my life. But putting it into practice isn't as easy. Because we live in a very compartmentalized society it can be difficult to avoid artificial divisions between secular and sacred actviity. If the sacred does somehow break in to my daily routine it is still limited to moments when I see or feel God moving in my day. But this is not a limit that God places on worship.

In Psalm 96:11-12 it says, "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad. Let the sea resound and all that is in it. Let the fields be jubilant and everything in them. Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy." Now, understandably this is poetry and something of a metaphor, but I also think that there is a truth here. All of creation is called to worship its Maker. Yet how do fields and forests worship God? I believe they worship by being a field, by being a tree.- by being what they were created to be.

However, fields and trees do not choose who they worship but we must. As someone recently put it to me, "We are not so much born to worship as we are born worshipping. We are always worshipping but we have to choose whom to worship." From birth we are faced with the continual choice: Will we worship self, sin or any other false gods? Or will we surrender our lives to our Creator, thus fulfilling what we were created for and making our lives an act of worship to God? When we live in this surrender, resting in who God has created us to be, worship flows effortlessly from our being. Then all the areas of our life become worship - from church to work to our home life - everything. And we can take the workers' motto even a step further saying, "Work is worship. Life is worship! To God be all of my worship."

Ben Gumienny is always looking for ways to improve the mediums and methods of communication so that more people can be reached. Currently he is on a trip in India attending two weddings along with his wife.

Add more “C” to Community

1. Contact – put your-self in a position to contact people…chamber, service clubs etc. Involvement in community automatically puts you in a position to make contacts.

2. Connection – You want to make a connection it is impossible to get to know everyone so mingle until you make a connection with someone. There are different levels of connection…interest based, heart based, people based, industry based.

3. Collaboration – Once a connection is established find common points that would mutually benefit both parties. The sharing of resources, ideas and problem solving etc can also be powerful ways to benefit each other.

4. Care – People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care. Authenticity is important to a lasting relationship. To many people are in it for themselves and break relationship when they are not getting what they want from it.

5. Challenge – The opportunity for skill development. Steel sharpens steel so we grow when someone has the freedom to challenge us. This can go beyond professional into personal lives as the relationship grows.

6. Coaching – Create accountability for achieving goals. Be the solution you want to see. Challenge without help is judgment.

Mark is a "coach" himself - helping coach people in their lives with grass roots wisdom and uncanny depth in his counsel. He will be cheering his Lions on in the CFL playoffs starting this weekend.

Less is More

1 Timothy 6:6 says “Godliness is actually of great gain WHEN accompanied by contentment”

Contentment it seems has left our society and do I dare say the church…we tend to spend more time looking at what we don’t have rather then being grateful for what we do have. The message the world gives is you need “more” to be happy but “more” never ends; it is a bottomless pit of striving and hope deferred. Even in the good things we desire to do we can move into discontentment. I love to dream and have so much vision that it is overwhelming at times. I must confess I spend too much energy and time dreaming of what could be “if only” we had money. I sometimes think “What if I actually spent that time actually working on the vision or praying into it and waiting on the Lord to release it.”

The fact is that God gives us everything we need to live out HIS plans for our lives. Everything is from HIM for HIM. So tonight I began looking at what HE has done in our lives and ministry and thanking HIM and I was blown away with how much HE has done with very little. I pondered what if someone had handed us a money order for a million dollars - would we have even stopped to say thank you? Would we have built a shrine to our great leadership? Or worse, would we have missed the Lord of the work for the sake of the work of the Lord?!? Less Is More in so many ways - less wishing - more believing…less complaining - more thanking…less taking - more giving…less me - more GOD…you get the idea! In verse 7 it goes on to say we came into the world with nothing and we can take nothing out of it either.

So here is my confession…I am content with whatever JESUS has for me! Less or More it is all yours JESUS!

Mark Gordon excels at encouraging and releasing others into greater freedom and destiny in their lives. Mark is a homebody who can be found sitting on his deck relaxing throughout Kelowna's great summers.

Seeing and Sending

Recently I was reading in John 9 about the man who was born blind. I feel a kinship with him. Sometimes I feel like I am trying to apprehend my environment but am fundamentally incapable of really seeing and understanding what is going on. I am blind but don’t know because I am surrounded by blind people. None of us know what we are missing and just assume that life is difficult to navigate. It is not as though there is some skill we could add to make it easier for ourselves we just fumble along and wonder if there is more. We have coping mechanisms to make sense of our lives and to try to make it along as best we can. However, we were born blind. We have never had the privilege of sight. We don’t know what color, shape or size the environment around us is. We don’t know what obstacles are in our way. We don’t even know what colors, shapes, sizes or obstacles actually are.

It is challenging to live in this situation. I think a life of blindness is probably more about survival than abundance. You are trying to develop a routine that meets your needs – all the while trying not to get hurt. The world moves rapidly around you while you attempt to make a life in it. You cannot know everything that is happening around you or even really imagine possibilities so you can better your life. You rely on the sight of others and hope they are doing right by you and that they know what they are talking about.

So, Jesus enters the situation of the man born blind. Earlier in chapter 9, He calls Himself “the light of the world” and the “light that leads to life”. Now He demonstrates it powerfully. He mixes His spit with dust to make mud and puts it on the blind man’s eyes. In doing this, Jesus takes something ordinary and mixes it with His DNA changing it into something miraculous. Walking through life, especially in our blind state, everything can blend together after awhile. When I lived in Thailand, I was amazed by the beautiful, lush environment. I loved the green (having grown up in Calgary), the palm trees, the abundant plant life and fresh fruit. At first. When I had lived there for two years, I found that I didn’t notice my surroundings as much. I had to work hard to see the beauty because it had become the backdrop to my everyday routine. I’m guessing that no one who had walked that road that day in Jesus’ time would have ever thought that the dust beneath their feet had anything special about it. I’m sure that no one was clamoring to rub the dust on their ailments. It was just ordinary dust. Ordinary, that is, until Jesus mixed it with a part of himself.

This is a good metaphor for our lives. Ordinary until mixed with the DNA of Jesus. When you add Jesus to the mix then it becomes miraculous. You have the possibility of really seeing –seeing in a way that you never have before. This is not just getting perspective or trying to be thankful. It is not the restoration of something that was lost. This is something new - a gift that we were all meant to have but were born without. It changes everything. Life moves from the humdrum natural into the supernatural. When we meet Jesus and allow Him to mix His essence with our surroundings the light of the world comes on in our life – the light that leads to life.

It’s interesting that there is still another step before the blind man can see. It makes sense that he must wash off the mud that is on his eyes. If I had mud on my eyes I would not be able to see either. But it is interesting where Jesus sends him to be washed. It is not clear whether it was the closest place to wash in, but Jesus sends the blind man to wash himself in the Pool of Siloam. Siloam means “sent”. Maybe I am reading too much into it, but I think there is a truth in that name. Jesus mixes Himself with our world and sends us to wash in the “Pool of Sent” - a place of commissioning. Washing usually is related to forgiveness (our sins washed white as snow) or the Word (washing in the water of the Word). After receiving the essence of Jesus and being washed we can really see! However, it is not just for our own enjoyment. We cannot divide the experience of the healing from its missional purpose. We are given the miracle of true sight so that we can be sent to others and tell them what we see and hopefully lead them to a place of seeing for themselves.


Ben Gumienny has a heart to see people apprenticed to Christ through developing methods of turning everyday life into encounters between God and man. He loves to watch movies and is looking forward to breaking out his Christmas favorites soon.

Distraction!

So it seems that a lot of people are distracted right now. Many people in my community are in a season of frustration and distraction. Many of them have hopes and dreams and a vision that God has given them for their lives but it seems when people discover their vision very quickly they get distracted. It like the enemy knows when to send distraction just at the right time. It seems to come when a vision starts in your heart and you act on it. It comes in many forms but for the purpose of this blog I would like to address three that I see.

1. Opportunity – It is amazing how quickly we humans will give up the “BEST” for what is good. Opportunities seem to come right in the middle of moving towards your vision. They may be good but a distraction never the less. I have noticed for example with youth that they will go to a retreat or camp and be powerfully touched by God and leave on fire ready to launch into a vision when all of a sudden a special “boy” or “girl” will come into their life or they get a job and can’t make it to youth events or church. Now I am not saying we shouldn’t work or have a boy/girlfriend (depending on age). I am simply saying we need to ask the Lord first. Seek ye first the kingdom! Then everything else is added. God has the master plan and knows what you need to fulfill it. I would encourage you not to rush into opportunities until the Lord gives you the green light. It is easy to settle for good when He has best in His heart for you!
2. Criticism – For as many ideas as you have you will also have critics. There will always be someone who doesn’t understand and has a negative opinion of what you feel called to do. Often the smallest comment from the wrong person can lead you to give up on your dream. The very nature of vision is indefinable in the beginning it starts with an idea or thought. It’s ok that you don’t have all the answers or can’t answer certain questions. Don’t give up - many times the very question I can’t answer pushes me to dig deeper and in helping me find the answer it actually helps move my vision forward. The thing is that vision is so much a part of your heart that it is fragile. What overcomes criticism is conviction. If you know in your heart the vision is from God then there is nothing that can shake you off your tracks. Seek God for a strong conviction for the vision He gave you. Every time you get knocked down dust off and get back up. After all, if the vision seems too outrageous it is more than likely from GOD!
3. Fear – Fear is the hardest one to overcome because it is internal. Opportunities and criticism are externals and we can often see them for the attack they are. However fear is internal - it is at the base of who you are. We all struggle with some form of fear. A wall of fear often leads way to a wall of defense. For example if you fear rejection your defense could be to be a “people pleaser”. In my case I struggle with a fear of failure at times in my life so my defense was to try and look successful. The problem was that I never gave an honest assessment of my vision. I would always dream about what it could be rather then making it what it should be. In the end it would fail thus confirming my original fear. This would cycle over and over. You can put your own story in there. I am grateful God has broken that fear in my life and has healed the defenses. The bottom line is that fear is usually based on unknowns and assumptions based on our experience. The externals above tend to confirm the internals that are in our heart. Interesting hey? For example you may pounce on an opportunity because criticism came your way in something else that confirmed a fear in your life. So the opportunity made you feel good about yourself but it was based on fear not vision or faith. We are a crazy bunch. Anyway God’s perfect LOVE casts out all fear. ALL fear. Not a little bit but ALL. So when you get scared run into the arms of Jesus and just rest there for a bit until the conviction of the vision rises up to overcome the fear.

So you can overcome distraction by setting your eyes on Jesus the Author of your faith! Live out His dreams!!

Mark Gordon is an avid supporter of dreamers and especially loves to see people released to pursue and achieve those dreams. He has worked for many years in helping people do just this. Mark enjoys kicking back and watching a good hockey or football game after a long day at work.

Word Up

Words are powerful, they carry life or death within them, they can create or destroy, they can plant seeds of faith or uproot hope and toss it out in minutes. The power that words have is so profound that they have made kingdoms fall and nobodies famous by someone who simply decided to use the right words at the right time. Think about it for a moment, everything you see and know was created by words spoken. The toaster in your kitchen may have started as an idea but somewhere at sometime someone shared the idea and those words set in motion the invention of the toaster. The Bible says that God “spoke” the world into existence. He spoke what was in His heart and we were created, a loving God had you in mind and spoke of that love and you were formed in your mother’s womb.

I am always inspired and impressed by writers who can take you on a journey with words. It is said that “a picture can speak a thousand words” and it is true. But who thought of saying that? The words alone invoke a picture in your mind. They create a thought - so what came first the picture or the words? Recently I experienced the power of words in both the negative and positive. Now I know the negative were not necessarily meant to be, I am sure that the people thought they were just trying to help me be a better leader but the words chosen sunk deep into my heart. They shouldn’t have bothered me at all. They were innocent enough and normally they wouldn’t have but on that day somehow they had a sting to them.

We must realize that every word spoken from our mouths will land somewhere. Think of them as arrows launching from a bow. In the Bible it speaks of negative words being like fiery darts. Those references come from a roman army tactic where they would take little arrows or darts and dip the tips in a hot tar poison. The opposing army would be covered in armor and had better weapons. They would laugh at the little darts coming at them but they were designed to land between the armor in the little gaps and they only stung a little bit. They would pull them out and laugh and jeer at the roman army. What happened though is that the poison would slowly enter the blood stream and as time passed they would die a horrible death. The lesson is clear if I leave those negative words that seemed minor but had a little sting, to fester they will eventually kill me spiritually and emotionally. In Ephesians 5: 10-23 the Bible says to extinguish them with the shield of Faith. In other words I have to choose whose words I am going to believe. Am I going to believe God’s words that bring life and create success in my life or am I going to believe the words of satan who uses words to kill, rob and destroy.

I have to make a choice every time I am going to speak or hear “words” do I choose life or death? Dr. Dobson released a study that found it takes 7 positive words to negate one negative. Lets be a generation who speak life and love to each other, let’s understand that we don’t fight against each other, but an enemy that wants to destroy you. Let’s speak to our dreams and passions with a positive word, encouraging one another and spurring each other on to good works. It all starts with words, words from God’s heart to yours and then from yours to someone else’s. You are the mouth of God on earth…or are you?

Mark Gordon enjoys "translating" between people groups experiencing obstacles to communication. He knows how to adapt language to fit each different situation. Mark loves boating and dreams of someday owning a beautiful Cabin Cruiser.

Don't Stop Believin' (Part 2)

Quite often, however, it is hard for us to hear God’s voice when our buttons are being pushed. We wonder why everything is going wrong and if we have a bull’s-eye on our chest. This is especially true when we have unfulfilled hopes and dreams. The longing to see our hopes fulfilled can create an ache in our hearts so large that makes it difficult to focus on anything else. Whether it is for a mate or your family, your future or (in my case) to have a baby, waiting can seem unbearable at times.

Why does God seem to be taking so long to answer our prayers and fulfill His promises to us? We become like God’s backseat drivers – totally focused on the destination and missing the journey. At each twist and turn we say, “Why are You going that way? Don’t you know the highway would be faster?” And we’re all edgy sitting there – wincing at His decisions and sure that if we were behind the wheel we would be doing it better. Yet all the while God has purposed that there are many things we need to learn through the journey. One turn different or one change in timing and we miss out on the experiences and lessons that God has designed for our lives in order to make us who He has called us to be.

He is not just concerned with our hopes and dreams for our lives, but also with His hopes and dreams for our lives. Romans 8:28 is a famous and oft-quoted verse in Christian circles: “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” The next verse tells us that He “has chosen His people to become like His Son.” (Rom 8:29) Placing these verses in context together, we can see that the “good” that God is working for in our lives is His best for us: to become like His Son. God’s dream for us is that we would become like Jesus.

In fact, I believe that He is calling us to entrust our hopes and dreams to Him. God wants to be the shepherd of our hopes. It seems like a scary thought in many ways; to take those things that we most hope for – are most wrapped up in – and give them out of our hands and over to God to take care of them. This means trusting that He will nurture and grow our hopes. And it also means that we choose to believe God when He says that He works all things for our good – even when the “working” is on our hopes to change them and shift them, redirecting them towards that which would truly bring us life.

God seems to be doing a lot of this in my life lately. There is deep heart surgery going on through life’s circumstances as God redirects my hopes and dreams into something better and higher. It is not easy – sometimes it feels as if disappointment will crush the life out of me and other times it feels as though the most sensitive places in my life are like raw nerves being touched and prodded. I take comfort in this promise: “A bruised reed will He not break, and a dimly burning wick will He not quench” (Is 42:3) No matter how far I am pushed through the process, God is compassionately making sure that it doesn’t go beyond what I can bear.

He is giving me new ways to look at the circumstances in my life. I guess you might call it “being transformed through the renewing of my mind” (Rom. 12:2). Instead of seeing God as someone who is “pulling the rug out” as soon as I trust, I have a new picture. It is of a baby learning to walk. He is holding a walker and feels secure, but his father moves the walker just out of reach. At first he might fall, but slowly his little leg muscles get strong enough to stand. Then, he begins a new venture – one little faltering step at a time. The walker keeps moving as the father helps his son to gain strength and skills that are fundamental to the rest of his life. He will falter and even fall again. But the son has a Father who will always walk with him step by little step into His hopes and dreams and on into the Son.


Ben Gumienny is blessed to be a part of a spiritual family at The Bridge in Kelowna. He is excited about watching the new NHL season and his team the Calgary Flames. Ben hopes that God will use this post to minister to your heart and draw you closer to Him.

Don't Stop Believin' (Part 1)

Recently I was watching a movie called '500 Days of Summer' with my sister. We both felt quite stirred by different themes in the movie and spent some time talking about them later. This is the result of that conversation. The movie is about a man who is in love with a girl who is afraid to commit to him. Throughout the movie, he is continually reaching for the security of a clearly defined, conventional relationship but it seems to keep eluding him. It seems like a metaphor for my spiritual journey. As I have been walking by faith, the seasons change and periodically I think, “Now I’ll finally have security”. Yet just as I think I am going to walk into a time of clarity and stability it dissipates like a vapor before me.

At that point, it begins to resonate on my family of origin issues. Often when I was growing up, it would seem like things were taking an upward turn but as soon as I began to believe and let my guard down they would explode again. It felt like the rug was pulled out from under me. Then I would close off my heart and believe the message that “it is not ok to trust” or that “everything good will blow up in your face as soon as you believe in it”. What I didn’t realize at the time was that this was actually a belief about God and that it would affect my relationship with Him.

Fortunately, God does not leave well enough alone but chooses to confront wrong beliefs in us with the truth of His love. For that reason, He often “pushes our buttons”; allowing circumstances into our lives that bring up the hurts and issues that cause these wrong beliefs in the first place. This is so that they can be dealt with and we can be made whole.

God did much the same thing with the nation of Israel when they escaped from slavery in Egypt. The system that they were leaving was abusive and brutal – demanding that they complete back-breaking tasks under the threat of death or torture and then withholding from them the very materials they needed to complete them. Then finally, their cries for deliverance are answered by God in the person of Moses who leads them out of slavery. At this point, one would think that it was time for a bit of a honeymoon with God. They needed some time to heal and should be coddled so that they can get over their deep wounds at the hands of their evil oppressors.

But that is not what God does. He continually allows them to be in situations that test their faith and expose how their previous experiences have built up wrong beliefs about God in their hearts. First they’re trapped by an army, then are out of water, then have no food, etc. Each time, God shows up and miraculously delivers them once again. Yet each time something goes wrong they seem to drift right back into their unbelief. Why the cycle? Because God is continually confronting them at the place of their wrong beliefs, to a deeper and deeper level each time, showing them who He really is; showing them that He is not like their brutal taskmasters or the gods of the land they have escaped from. He speaks to their past experiences and hurts saying, “I’m not like that.”

Look for Part 2 coming soon...

Ben Gumienny helps build bridges at The Bridge Kelowna. He is passionate about connecting people to their purpose in life and to each other in community. Besides writing, he also loves hockey, reading and "The Office". Ben would like to credit Ray Stokes Jr. for how his wisdom influenced this post.