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.
Friday, October 30, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Distraction!
- 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!
- 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.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
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.
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.
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