Everything in the New Testament accords with this Old Testament picture
Everything in the New Testament accords with this Old Testament picture. Ransomed men need no longer pause in fear to enter the Holy of Holies. God wills that we should push on into His Presence and live our whole life there. This is to be known to us in conscious experience. It is more than a doctrine to be held, it is a life to be enjoyed every moment of every day.—AW Tozer
The Pursuit of God
3 Words For 2012
When I first started at LifeChurch, I saw a blog post from my new boss, Terry Storch: “3 Words for 2010”. I was new to LifeChurch (and LifeChurch culture) and I remember thinking, “Can he really be that clairvoyant? Can he really see 12 months ahead and know for certain that these words will define his year?” However, I’ve learned from Terry (and others at LifeChurch) that goals have less to do with the extrasensory and more to do with just being intentional.
So I join the ranks of fellow Team Digerati like Brian Russell, Terry Storch, Alex Tran, and Adam Bouse (link forthcoming, right Adam?!) and post my three words for 2012.
…think of how you want to be successful in 2010. Then, try to think in even broader terms. Extrapolate on the broader terms, and find one word to hang the idea on. -Chris Brogan
People | Pursue | Patience
(apologies for the alliteration in the 3 words — it just happened, I swear)
People
I write code for a living — lots of it. In 2011, I built 11 web apps (I’d worked on about 3 or 4 in all my years previous). Coding is not intrinsically an anti-social vocation (see: pair programming), however, it is for me. Because of the structure of our team, I’m usually the only programmer on the project. In addition, I have a few things going against me here: 1) I’m easily distracted, and 2)
As a result, I’ve learned to sequester myself in order to be productive. Unfortunately, this can lead to me ignoring a whole side of me — the side that loves people.
ENFP, woo, communication, empathy — I love people. I love talking. I love talking to people. But 2011 was about writing code — all day, every day. While balance is not always possible in all things, I think I need a little bit of it here. I need to better organize my day and my work such that I can be more of an asset to my team in the things that come more natural to me.
I know how “people” applies to my work, but I know it will extend beyond this sphere and I’m excited to see where it takes me.
Pursue
I wrote a post a few weeks ago about “cultivating” a relationship with God. I still don’t fully grasp all that I wrote, nor do I fully grasp what this will mean for me this year. However, I know that my pursuit of God is — as Facebook puts it — “it’s complicated.”
I once heard John Maxwell say that in the Church, “we’re educated way beyond the level of our obedience.” I’m living proof of this. I’ve worked so hard at “learning God” that I’ve completely muddled up what true relationship is like. As a result, my time with God is more akin to a business meeting than time alone with the Creator.
I want to pursue God — not learn more doctrine. I like how AW Tozer put it:
We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.
Patience
…or “slow down” as I’ve been referring to it recently. This one started to emerge all the way back in August of 2011. It kept showing up throughout the Fall and — despite my attempts to push it aside — it kept bubbling up. Ironically, I had to slow down to even understand what this meant.
I’m driven by change. I crave it. If something is not moving, I can spot it and get it moving again. This trait has served me well in several areas of my life, yet there is a nasty side effect — impatience. If I don’t feel like change is happening at the proper rate, I will try to “help it along.”
Everything in me resists the urge to slow down. Slowing down means stagnation. Slowing down means missing opportunities. But slowing down can also mean solid growth — not “flash-in-the-pan” bravado. Slowing down can also mean waiting for the “right time” — not just jumping at the best option available in my time.
I’m learning that some things just take more time than I’m willing to give them and this year I want to give them that time. I have the ability to make things happen just fine on my own … without God. My challenge is simply to resist this urge. To not step out in front of Him — to not feel like I must “help things along.”
This is terribly difficult for me — which usually means its worthwhile.
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Ok, now it is your turn…share your 3 goal words!
Our woes began
Our woes began when God was forced out of His central shrine and “things” were allowed to enter. Within the human heart “things” have taken over. Men have now by nature no peace within their hearts, for God is crowned there no longer, but there in the moral dusk stubborn and aggressive usurpers fight among themselves for first place on the throne.—AW Tozer
The Pursuit of God
Father, I want to know Thee
Father, I want to know Thee, but my coward heart fears to give up its toys. I cannot part with them without inward bleeding, and I do not try to hide from Thee the terror of the parting. I come trembling, but I do come. Please root from my heart all those things which I have cherished so long and which have become a very part of my living self, so that Thou mayest enter and dwell there without a rival.—AW Tozer
The Pursuit of God
We must simplify our approach to Him
We must simplify our approach to Him. We must strip down to essentials (and they will be found to be blessedly few). We must put away all effort to impress, and come with the guileless candor of childhood. If we do this, without doubt God will quickly respond.—AW Tozer, “The Pursuit of God”
It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table.
It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table.—Tozer
You must learn to wrestle
You must learn to wrestle against the things that hinder your communication with God, and wrestle in prayer for other people; but to wrestle with God in prayer is unscriptural. If you ever do wrestle with God, you will be crippled for the rest of your life. If you grab hold of God and wrestle with Him, as Jacob did, simply because He is working in a way that doesn’t meet with your approval, you force Him to put you out of joint.
I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine
I’d imagine the whole world was one big machine. Machines never come with any extra parts, you know. They always come with the exact amount they need. So I figured, if the entire world was one big machine, I couldn’t be an extra part. I had to be here for some reason.—Hugo Cabret
Cultivating a Relationship
Erin and I just celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary. Depending on where you’re at, that might be a drop in the bucket for you, or an eternity. Regardless, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time together. We’ve seen each other cry, wrestle with tough decisions, mourn the loss of family, and laugh so hard it hurts. When we need to communicate with kids around, we can sometimes talk through mumbling and eyebrow movements. (get a toddler and you know what I mean here) My point is this: we work hard on this thing. Really hard. We didn’t wake up one day with a relationship — we built it. It’s messy and it’s not perfect, but no one knows me like Erin. And no one knows Erin better than I do.
Bless You's
Hi there, I'm Jon.
Writer. Musician. Adventurer. Nerd.
Purveyor of GIFs and dad jokes.