SHALEHARBOR

Daniel Chapter 1

* Satan is on a mission of destruction.
* Israel did not listen to God, therefore God put them in a timeout for 70 years.
* We live in a world that looks like God is getting his butt kicked. But in reality, our world is a mess because we have not listened to God. Wonder what would happen if people, nations would come back to God?
* If I want to obey God, I have to purpose it to obey in my heart first. I then have to live out that obedience regardless of the outcome.
* Values are not what we claim, but what we do.
* Take a stand, then God comes in. God is waiting for us to take a stand.
* Do I follow God to change my marriage, or because He’s God?
* Do I follow God to help my family, or because He’s God?
* Do I follow God to get a big bank account, or because He’s God?
———–
Chapter 2

* No matter how rich or secure we get, there is always something troubling.
* I will come across things in this world in which there is no answer.
* The things that I’m good at, I typically do without God.
* Who/what does my life and gifts promote?
* Am I building an earthly kingdom or a heavenly one?
———–
Chapter 3

* Obedience = sacrifice
* I can’t serve two masters
* Things that get me in trouble… Fame, Fortune, Females.
* Light is brightest in the storm.
* Save me from the storm, or get me through it.
* Christianity is a call to be set apart, not blend in.
* Whose script am I following, mine or God’s.
* What idols keep me from God? History shows me my idols.
* Some idols that keep me from God, or “good” idols.
————
Chapter 4

* There is a big difference between pride and arrogance. There is nothing wrong with a healthy pride, but everything wrong with arrogance.
* What are areas where arrogance pops up within me?
* I need to remember all the hands that helped me get where I am.
* I need to ask “what’s in it for God?”, instead of “what’s in it for me?”
* I need to share credit much more.
* I don’t ever want a Nebuchadnezzar experience!
* Arrogance leads to disgrace, quarrels, and destruction, while humility leads to wisdom.
* God has a day in store for the arrogant. They will be humbled.
———–
Chapter 5

* One of the craziest, unexplainable stories in the Bible.
* King went from arrogant to helpless and fearful in mere seconds.
* Am I religious to have God bless me, or fix my life?
* We all live with danger around us. How do I live because of this danger? Fearful?
* My days are numbered, I have not measured up well.
* Who is the star of “my show?”
* Do I chase things eternal or temporary?
* What is my reputation with outsiders?
* Who do I call when I have no answers?
———–
Chapter 6
* The world doesn’t know God, but are great critics of Christianity because they watch me.
* Daniel was faithful for over 60 years in a corrupt government. How about me?
* Being a light in this world is not just doing my job, but doing it well.
* Past faithfulness is preparation for future faithfulness.
* My greatest challenge to faithfulness is my possessions and position.
* God is looking around the world for faithful people. Will he find me?
* Daniel was about 80 years old when he was thrown into the lions den.
* Integrity and faithfulness are huge in God’s eyes.
———–
Chapter 7

* There are a bunch of weird dreams and prophecies.
* Prophecy has two main purposes… 1) provide hope and confidence, 2) provide recognition not to satisfy curiosity. It is designed to recognize it when it happens, not so we have inside information.
* Speculation about prophecy makes Christians look stupid.
* Speculation is also more likely to produce arrogance than godliness.
* Why do I run to the Bible? The only reason is to figure out how to live.
* Spiritual people obey Jesus.
* Daniel didn’t understand the details of his own prophecy.

Thanksgiving is here again.

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, etc
Football, family friends
Days off work
Christmas Shopping season begins!

And with Thanksgiving, comes the church service we’ve grown to expect.
The message of the service is clear.
We are not thankful enough for our families, friends, jobs, and God.
We live lives that are too busy to be genuinely thankful, so we need churches
around the world to remind us of how thankful we should be.

AND THIS IS ALL VERY GOOD

We commit as a result, to be more thankful people, living lifestyles to be thankful.

AGAIN, THIS IS ALL VERY GOOD

But have you ever wondered if we’re missing something in the whole thanksgiving conversation?
We’re easily convinced to thank God for the things that have gone right in our lives;
But what about the things that have brought us pain?
What about those things?
Should we thank God for those too?

Can we possibly trust God enough to thank him for the teenager who refuses
to give God a chance?

Can we thank God for the divorce that left us helplessly broke and alone?

Can we thank God for the loneliness we feel when there honestly doesn’t seem
to be a Mr. Right, or a Mrs. Right?

Can we thank God for the inability to conceive a child?

Can we thank Him for the loss of a loved one?

For the lying co-worker

For the overbearing boss

For High Cholesterol

For the unexplainable cancer

Can we possibly acknowledge the greatness of God by giving Him thanks for
these things too?

Job put it this way, when explaining this concept to his wife…
Job 2:10 “Shall we accept good from God & not trouble?”
Later he would put into terms what we should never forget….
Then he fell to the ground in worship and said…
“Naked I came from my mothers womb, and naked I will depart.”

NOW DON”T MISS THIS RIGHT HERE

“The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

It’s one thing to thank God for the good stuff.
It’s another thing entirely to thank God for the Bad, Unexplainable, Doesn’t-make-sense-at-all stuff.

God never promises that we’d live safe, uneventful lives.
But in the middle of it all, He promises us that He is, above all…

GOOD.

Thanksgiving is here again. Will it be the same?
1 Thess 5:18

The laughter heard from the neighbors house, the scraped knee in need of a bandage, the baby sitting up by herself, the young man holding a Bible for the first time, the spicy food that makes you choke, the random man who is hoping to “get lucky” tonight, the wind whipping your face at 90 km per hour, sitting atop an elephant, the woman weaving the silk by hand, the colors of the sunset, flying halfway around the globe in an airplane made of steel, the first experience with a slip and slide, being chased by rabid dogs, observing monks in worship, dancing freely to American hip hop, praying for a woman’s healing… These are the moments of life…sacred moments…moments that we all experience daily.

Some moments are forgotten almost instantaneously, while others are recounted for decades with a vibrancy that would seemingly date them only moments prior. We write about them, photograph them, tell stories about them, draw them, paint them, sculpt them, reenact them for others, and sing about them. Abraham Heschel suggests, “Something sacred is at stake in every moment.” If that is true, then the most ordinary of moments in an ordinary moment could possibly become extraordinary, showcasing not only our humanity but also His Divinity, if only we had ears to hear, eyes to see, and a heart ready to receive.

In his book, Seeing What is Sacred, Ken Gire offers a unique perspective on the exchange that happens through the written word. He suggests that books are sacraments that provide a communion of sorts between author and reader. They provide a medium in which the musings of one heart are made available to another, like wafers that represent a remembrance, given by one and taken by another. Gire writes, “It is not the words that are sacred but God who is sacred…and the person to whom He comes…the heart that writes the book and the heart that sits in silent communion to take and read what has been written.”

Is this true only of written words? Can this idea of sacraments for communion not also be applied to all forms of creative worship? Creative worship is the opportunity to share your relationship with Him with brothers and sisters in Christ. What is He telling you? What are you learning about yourself and about the world around you? How are you being changed and being transformed? What are you laughing about? What are you fighting about? What are you learning of the Kingdom? What is He revealing to you about Himself? What intimate moments are you sharing? What ordinary moments have become extraordinary because of Him?

Creative worship is not about having a magnificent piece for others to “ooh and ahh” over. It’s also not about creating for the sake of creating. Creative worship is about your communion with Him, your fellowship with Him, your life with Him, expressed in a sacramental form and offered for communion with Him and with others.

As we prepare for art Sunday, may we not be limited by our considerations of what others will think or by our own judgment of what is artistic. Rather may we come joyously to the altar together sharing with one another the treasures that He has given, the secrets He has shared, and the hope that we have in Him alone. There is great cause for celebration! In Him, the ordinary has become extraordinary!

See you September 2nd at the altar…

Ashley Vass

Kitty showed up on my doorstep almost a year ago to date. She was a tiny little thing and stole my heart with her first “meow.” My roommates did not want her in the house, so Kitty and I spent time daily together outside cultivating our relationship. When winter came, their hearts softened and she was allowed indoors. Despite all the comforts of indoors Kitty still loved to roam the great outdoor “wilderness”, even in the bitter cold. She found delight and challenge in every butterfly, chipmunk, and even opossum that roamed the wooded lot. She would climb trees, hide in the bushes, and run free…then enjoy a quiet safe night curled up on my pillow.

Quite suddenly my roommates all moved out of state this summer. I had to move my belongings into storage and take up temporary residence with a friend in her apartment. The place is small, the neighbors are noisy and quite disruptive, the smells are less than pleasant, and I often have to park some distance away when arriving at home at night. I am discontent, longing for space, for quiet, for my things, and a yard for Kitty to once again roam in. I am convinced that I must be settled, have stability, and all of the comforts I once knew restored to me.

Kitty is quite discontent as well. Her meowing has not stopped since we left the old house. She doesn’t eat, and she doesn’t sleep. I hold her, pet her, feed her, play with her, and still she sits by the door and/or the window and cries. So I resort to talking with her. My conversation with her is almost verbatim everyday, “I’m sorry. I know that you are sad, but this is our new home. I’m sorry that you can’t go outside here, it’s just not safe.” The crying persists and so I continue, in more of a lecture format now, often extremely frustrated at this point (largely due to my lack of sleep), “I love you. I have given you a good home. I take care of you. I feed you. I protect you. I could have left you at the other house, but you would be all alone. Isn’t it enough that we are together? What else do you need?”

Today as I was talking with her, I heard the same words echoing in my own heart. “I’m sorry. I know that you are sad. I love you. I have given you a good home. I take care of you. I protect you. Isn’t it enough that we are together? What else do you need?” And then it hit me; my discontent is no different than Kitty’s. I have tasted freedom, adventure, and life on my own. Now I cry, scream, and fight for what I think I want and am convinced I need. I complain, I whine, I persist, in hopes that maybe His answer will be different. All the while professing I want more of Him and less of me, my heart betrays me. I want Him plus everything else.

“But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith” (Phil. 3:7-9)

To have Him, to really have Him, means that if I had nothing else, I would truly have all that I need. Has He really given me all that I need in relationship with Him? What about my stuff? What about the husband I haven’t found, let alone married? What about the children I haven’t birthed? What about the relationships that haven’t been restored? What about the financial freedom that I haven’t acquired? Am I willing to relinquish those things if it meant I would gain more of Him? Do I consider knowing Him something of surpassing greatness and everything else by comparison rubbish? Sadly, my relentless pursuit and dependence on these things and others testifies to the contrary.

I am learning there is nothing that is hidden that will not be revealed. If He is to be enough, my contentedness will continue to be tested and refined and I will continue to be stripped and broken until at last, He is all I have. I don’t know if it is worth it. I am scared. The pain seems overwhelming. I don’t want to let go. Will I choose to continue this journey knowing what it will cost me? Will I trust Him? Do I love Him enough?

He is exposing my heart and revealing Himself through conversations with my cat. Listen closely…He whispers to you too.

Ashley Vass

“What good will it be for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul?” (Matthew 16:26) While I imagine that most of us read this verse and reason that we have not “sold our soul” (as depicted in the new box office movie, Ghost Rider), we should be challenged to consider what we have compromised in our own life to achieve the image and status we have created for ourselves. What expense have we paid and are continuing to pay in order to maintain our station in life?

This challenge is appropriate for all ages; whether a student or an adult, what have you compromised, presented falsely, or kept secret to “fit in” with the people in your circle? Consider for a moment your closet of secrets. What do you see when you open these doors? Do you find inappropriate relationships with others, a violation of sexual boundaries, affairs, same sex involvement, and/or addiction to alcohol, drugs, pornography, shopping, food, or gambling? Perhaps there are financial concerns, debt, overspending, bankruptcy, poor financial planning. What about your conduct in business? Is there stealing from the company, embezzlement, failure to complete job responsibilities? And last but not least, what about familial concerns? Are there ongoing quarrels with family members, failing marriage(s), divorce, children who are out of control?

What is in your closet and how long have those issues been in there? What has it cost you and/or profited you to keep those secrets hidden? What keeps you from opening those closet doors? What do you imagine might happen if those doors were open for others to see? Would exposure cost you a job, a relationship, personal freedom, jail time, loss of personal property, your reputation, acceptance by family and friends?

Universally, it would seem that what largely dictates our exposure of ourselves is the reaction that we anticipate from others. More often than not, we fear that certain exposures might result in rejection and abandonment as well as the imposition of consequences. In the same respect, we anticipate that other (more positive) exposures might gain us acceptance and sometimes even career or social advancement. Thus, from an early age, each of us begins to create a persona that we project to others while maintaining the “incongruent” pieces of ourselves in secret. The longer that we live life this way, the heavier the burden and the more fearful we become at the idea of being “discovered” and fully known.

The Bible admonishes us with this truth, “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open” (Luke 8:17). Whether in life or in death, it is true that at some point for each of us, all will be made known. If you are a parent, there is a strong possibility that your children will “out you” given time, and for those who have experienced this, how much better to “out yourself” than to be “outed” by someone else! Thus we are all faced with the choice to continue to conceal or to reveal. If we wait until the truth leaks out, our hand will then be forced to come clean, to be honest by default or extend denial in a continuing effort to “save face”.

Truth has a price, and so does deception. While we have reasoned and justified it as something altogether different (unique to our own situation of course), the question we must all wrestle with is, “what have we given into in exchange for our soul?” Life is not a popularity contest. At the end of the day, there is but One to whom we offer an account. Each of us must come to terms with the journey that we walk and the choices that we make. To live a life of integrity is to live a life of freedom. To live a life of secrecy is to live a life of bondage. Indeed, the Truth will set you free. Only when our commitment to do the right thing is accompanied by an honest exposure of our inadequacies/failures/mistakes, coupled with accepting the consequences for our choices (past and present), and then moving in a different direction, can we expect to find freedom and truly live.

Is the payoff of freedom greater than the humiliation of exposure? Am I willing to let the chips fall where they may in pursuit of a life that is pleasing to Him?

Life as a popularity contest…

What will you choose? What will I choose?

Ashley Vass