The Sonder Place

It is so interesting to watch how people engage God in their lives. We do things  for  God, we receive  from  God, we want God to  use  us to accomplish things in the world.  But it is not so much that we think of God wanting to be  with  us.  Isaiah 7:4 says  " Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel".  Immanuel (or Emmanuel) means "God With Us". Even in his name, God is establishing that his disposition towards us is not one of a removed ruler, but of a personally present God.  We often give God distance in our minds and in our lives. For some, it's out of reverence. For some, it's out of fear. For some, it's because they think He is indifferent. But God is actually a God of presence. He is greatly concerned with being able to be in deep, intimate relationship with each of us, and with all of us. Jesus, an exalted, high-above-all God, comes down and lives with

"The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. Instead He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" . -2 peter 3:9- My wife and I moved in June. Right now I'm in a new place, in a new position, in a new season of life. When we moved, I had a lot of grand plans and visions that I have for what things could be at my new job. But even after almost half a year it's evident that a lot of these plans are going to take a lot more time, effort, and patience than I would like to admit. God is a God of patience and timing. As you read through the Bible, you begin to see more and more that God is always working towards the restoration and reconciliation of all things. You see that Jesus is always present in a plan that unfolds over years and centuries. This song lyric from Hillsong's Seasons  exemplifies this idea so perfectly. A sequoia is one of the largest of trees, and yet takes a long time

Snow came way too early this year. I was in charge of a end-of-fall bonfire on October 30th. I was expecting it to be cold, but not snowy! Lo and behold, about halfway through the night, we had the start of what would eventually turn into lots of snow over the next day and a half. I had to start to layer up before going outside, which was annoying, but worth it. The t-shirt and light hoodie I had grown accustomed to wearing in the fall wasn't going to cut it anymore. If I tried to keep doing what I was doing and wearing what I was wearing, I was going to pay the price-and soon! Colossians 3:14 tells us that "...over all these virtues, put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity". The verse before is talking about living with kindness, compassion, humility, patience...all great and amazing things! But above all, we are to clothe ourselves with love. It's the thing that holds everything else together. It's the big cozy jacket that makes the ha

I had the chance to go back home this weekend and attend a service at my former church, which was a good and relaxing thing! There was one point that really struck me as a unique way to view our relationship with God and each other. (well, two ideas) 1: The Christian life is to be lived in mutual submission to God, and to each other.  2: Mutual submission is the consistent laying down of self for the good of the other. One way it can be defined as trying to "out love" each other.  Think about that. Out-loving each other is how we are to live life. This is an amazing concept that I need to embrace more! Ephesians 5:21 simply says that we should "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" . Out of our desire to be more like Christ, out of our respect and awe of the Triune God, we are to submit to one another. We are to put the needs of others above ourselves, we are to try and out-love and out-serve one another. What kind of world would we have i

This past weekend was a crazy one! I had the privilege of performing a spoken word at an amazing youth conference on Saturday night a couple hours away. The next day, I got to preach for the first time in front of our new church home. It was a weekend that encapsulated a wide range of what I've gotten to do as I join God's work in this world. I went from crazy kids and big lights to a sanctuary with stained glass. It was the biggest swing in mood, setting, and atmosphere that I've experienced in quite a while. One of the themes of this conference was Jesus Over Everything, and it came up in my sermon the next day, too. It's interesting to think about just what that means. We grow to expect God to speak in certain ways and situations. We get accustomed to how we want God to interact with us. For some people it's in the routine and in the expected, the familiar prayers and creeds. For others, it's in the crazy and in the unknown, the raised hands and hoarse voi

"From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I." [ Psalm 61:2 ESV ] Fall is in full swing, with the threat of *whispers* snow on the way. Schools are rolling, extracurriculars are in rhythm, plans are starting to be made for holidays. We are busy and getting busier as we head towards Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are times and seasons where we are simply busy. Where we become consumed with work, school, kids, friends, family, and things to do. It's possible, that in these times, that we begin to feel overwhelmed. We are discouraged; feeling like we are always a bit behind, like we just can't climb out of the hole. We feel like we are at the mercy of the river of our responsibilities and engagements. We have nothing to hold on to. When we are overwhelmed by life, a lot of people have a tendency to dig in harder. They try to rearrange the schedule, optimize the time they have, j