Last week I got a glimpse, a moment where I saw a little of the past and a bit of the future while living in the present. When we began this journey of a new work in Hamilton, and as we started to sense that we were moving in the direction of small house fellowship, a vague image of what that might look like began to form. I could begin to imagine what a group meeting in a living room, singing, praying, studying and asking how God wants to work in us and through us to impact the world might look like. As we have begun to move forward, a small group of us has started to meet here at my home each Tuesday evening and we have begun to paint that picture together. We live out some of those principles and pray about the group growing as we move forward. Last night, however, I got a bit of a glimpse of things to come. We did things a bit differently last night as we kept our kids, youth and adults together for the evening. Included in our group were our two Korean students. There was a memorable moment where I looked out over the group huddled in my living room as I strummed the chords for the hymn we were singing. Here was a multi-generational, muti-cultural group, all at different levels of maturity in the faith, singing of our Saviour. This group would spend time singing, praying and learning together. For me, it was an encouraging vision as I saw our house fellowship moving towards that picture in my mind. The picture in my mind's eye is a bit impressionistic in nature, every little detail is not in focus which gives us the freedom to allow the group to develop as it will, but the general forms are all there. What we saw last week was a glimpse of what things might look like as they come into focus. It was an encouragement to keep moving forward and working to develop this image. So we will continue to meet, to sing, to learn and to pray as we participate in the creation of this work of art, as we bring this image to life.
If you are interested in some of the thoughts and initial ideas then feel free to follow the link below. It was one of the first attempts to organize and articulate what we thought God was calling us to begin. The Update Tuesday posts that followed fleshed out some of the ideas a bit further. Some of the language has changed a bit, and some ideas have been refined but the basics are all still central to what we are doing.
Vision
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Friday, January 27, 2012
Free Art Friday 27/01/12
Sometimes art is about creating, bringing something into existence. Other times it seems more about noticing what is already there. This is the case with this piece below. It is actually the desk in my office. I just finished it this past week. It is made from a reclaimed beam that was replaced when my house was being renovated. I found it in the back yard and put it aside one day as I thought it was a great piece of wood. As I began to work with it, I began to like it even more, falling in love with some of the rough saw marks, uneven edges and knots. I did a bit of work to finish it and coat it, added some pipe for legs and, voila, a custom made desk for that unique spot in my office.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Update Tuesday 24/01/12
"I'll tell you one thing that has made a difference...reading the bible."
It came almost out of nowhere, standing in the rain and at then end of a brief conversation. There was not much opportunity to follow up although we did chat for a few more seconds about what he had said. What it was, however, was an open door, the beginning of a spiritual conversation that I hope to be able to follow up on in the days and weeks to come.
As I was thinking about what I might be able to share this morning as I sat down to write this weekly update, this conversation, as well as a number of others came to mind. I have had a number of what you might call "spiritual" converstations. They have happened in the neighbourhood, at the Beer Store, in my home and even over Face Book. I don't want to give the impression that they happen everyday or that they happen right away with people I meet. Many have taken weeks and months to get to a place where there is the slightest interest in something spiritual, but they have begun to happen. And that is really what we have been praying for, opportunities to invite people and walk with them as they consider Jesus and have the chance to make a well informed decision for themselves. I am thankful this week for these opportunites, and I would ask that you pray that there would be opportunities for follow up. And if one of these exchanges happens to have been with you, thank you for the opportunity and the privilege of sharing a bit of my passion with you!
By way of an update, I mentioned last week that a friend of mine that I met at the Beer Store (where he recycles empties that he finds on the street for money) was grieving the loss of his father. I had the privilege of meeting with him, listening and sharing a little in his time of need and was able to help him arrange the details of getting up north where the funeral would be held. He is on a bus as I write, and we have an appointment for when he returns.
Thanks again for all the prayer and support. It is a privilege to have you walk this journey with us!
It came almost out of nowhere, standing in the rain and at then end of a brief conversation. There was not much opportunity to follow up although we did chat for a few more seconds about what he had said. What it was, however, was an open door, the beginning of a spiritual conversation that I hope to be able to follow up on in the days and weeks to come.
As I was thinking about what I might be able to share this morning as I sat down to write this weekly update, this conversation, as well as a number of others came to mind. I have had a number of what you might call "spiritual" converstations. They have happened in the neighbourhood, at the Beer Store, in my home and even over Face Book. I don't want to give the impression that they happen everyday or that they happen right away with people I meet. Many have taken weeks and months to get to a place where there is the slightest interest in something spiritual, but they have begun to happen. And that is really what we have been praying for, opportunities to invite people and walk with them as they consider Jesus and have the chance to make a well informed decision for themselves. I am thankful this week for these opportunites, and I would ask that you pray that there would be opportunities for follow up. And if one of these exchanges happens to have been with you, thank you for the opportunity and the privilege of sharing a bit of my passion with you!
By way of an update, I mentioned last week that a friend of mine that I met at the Beer Store (where he recycles empties that he finds on the street for money) was grieving the loss of his father. I had the privilege of meeting with him, listening and sharing a little in his time of need and was able to help him arrange the details of getting up north where the funeral would be held. He is on a bus as I write, and we have an appointment for when he returns.
Thanks again for all the prayer and support. It is a privilege to have you walk this journey with us!
Friday, January 20, 2012
Free Art Friday 20/01/12
Here are some more lyrics that I have been working on recently. Like the last lyrics I shared, they are semi-biographical as they begin with some stories and experiences that I have had in the past few weeks. I have taken those initial nuggets and then filled in a fictional back story.
The Ballade of Kelly O'Malley
Met him on the street corner one cold but sunny day,
Sipping on a beer at ten am.
He stuck out his hand to me and told me of his name,
That's the day I met this Kelly O'Malley.
I looked at the little man standing before me,
Knuckles were as crooked as his nose.
Told me once upon a time a fighter he had been,
Once a champion inside the ring.
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Once known as the Tempest Irish Sting,
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Another nameless man out on the street.
Another nameless man out on the street.
Life has been a little hard retired from the ring,
Now he finds it hard to hold a job.
Years of taking blows upon the head have left there mark,
Only now d'we know the damage done.
Once they stood around the ring cheering Kelly on,
Damaging his brain to hear their roar.
Now they pass him on the street barely noticing,
No one even cares to know his name.
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Once known as the Tempest Irish Sting,
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Another nameless man out on the street.
Another nameless man out on the street.
The Ballade of Kelly O'Malley
Met him on the street corner one cold but sunny day,
Sipping on a beer at ten am.
He stuck out his hand to me and told me of his name,
That's the day I met this Kelly O'Malley.
I looked at the little man standing before me,
Knuckles were as crooked as his nose.
Told me once upon a time a fighter he had been,
Once a champion inside the ring.
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Once known as the Tempest Irish Sting,
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Another nameless man out on the street.
Another nameless man out on the street.
Life has been a little hard retired from the ring,
Now he finds it hard to hold a job.
Years of taking blows upon the head have left there mark,
Only now d'we know the damage done.
Once they stood around the ring cheering Kelly on,
Damaging his brain to hear their roar.
Now they pass him on the street barely noticing,
No one even cares to know his name.
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Once known as the Tempest Irish Sting,
This is the Ballade of Kelly O'Malley,
Another nameless man out on the street.
Another nameless man out on the street.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Update Tuesday 17/01/12
Barry's dad past away last week. He was on vacation when he had an accident. Barry is not exactly sure what happened or what will happen next. When things happen out of the country details and arrangements can be difficult to figure out. They are especially hard to arrange when you live in a shelter and have limited access to the many modes of communication that many of us take for granted.
Barry is one of the guys I go to meet on Monday mornings, one of the bottle re-cyclers that I meet out side of the Beer Store each week. He is there fairly regularly and, in fact, I met him the very first week I visited. Yesterday, I saw him approaching and as he got closer I waved and asked if he wanted a coffee. He looked up, greeted me with a "Hey" and indicated he would love a coffee. He came straight over and as he poured the coffee he immediately began to share about his week, about his dad, and about the uncertainty that this upcoming week held. It may have just been the cold, but I am fairly certain that I noticed his eyes glassing up with tears. I had the opportunity to pray with him just before he headed back out into the street. I gave thanks for God's promise and the hope for a future time and place with no more tears, sickness, dying or mourning and I gave thanks for His presence and comfort in the here and now.
I came away from my time yesterday grateful for the privilege of serving Barry. I was amazed that he felt comfortable enough to share with me, and honoured that Barry would consider our relationship worthy of opening and sharing about his life. Some guys open up and tell you their story right away, but many others are a bit more reserved. In fact, many are pretty skeptical of others. I have seen them down right ignore someone they did not know and did not trust. Barry isn't that extreme but is a bit more reserved, until yesterday that is. I realized an important lesson about people, about sharing and about discipleship. I have been going to the store weekly for about eight weeks now. It has been eight weeks of investing time and energy in being present, serving and listening. And now, after eight week's Barry trusts me enough to open up, share and allow me to pray for him. Real exchanges, and real discipleship are going to require an investment of time and energy. It may be a bit slower than any of us would like, but in many cases, before we can speak into someone's life we must earn their trust. We must be there, be interested, love and serve.
I realize that I am exactly the same. I am slow to trust. I do not let just anyone speak into my life. In fact, people often come up and ask if I have heard of this writer or that, this blog, or that preacher, read this new book, or that new song etc. They are often surprised when I say no. The honest truth is I am very reluctant to put faith in people I don't know, those who have not earned my trust and about whom I know little except for their public persona. If I don't know someone, don't know their heart or their motives I am reluctant place confidence in what they have to say. I should expect that others might be the same with me, and thus I need to invest time and energy earning trust. I had already been thinking about the phrase below when my experiences with Barry helped me to better understand it:
There are many who would speak into my life,
Far fewer who would enter into it.
True mentorship requires someone to enter into your life in order to speak into it. I will look for friends and mentors and I will seek to be a friend and mentor.
In whom are you investing time and energy in a personal and direct way?
I want to thank everyone who prayed for, contributed to or joined us in our outreach to the homeless last Sunday. We served, fed and clothed many on a very cold winter afternoon and have enough supplies to both support one of the shelters and to go out again ourselves. A huge thanks to Michael and Annabelle for all their time and energy in helping us to organize this ministry! We will be heading out again in February and I will communicate the details as they arise.
Barry is one of the guys I go to meet on Monday mornings, one of the bottle re-cyclers that I meet out side of the Beer Store each week. He is there fairly regularly and, in fact, I met him the very first week I visited. Yesterday, I saw him approaching and as he got closer I waved and asked if he wanted a coffee. He looked up, greeted me with a "Hey" and indicated he would love a coffee. He came straight over and as he poured the coffee he immediately began to share about his week, about his dad, and about the uncertainty that this upcoming week held. It may have just been the cold, but I am fairly certain that I noticed his eyes glassing up with tears. I had the opportunity to pray with him just before he headed back out into the street. I gave thanks for God's promise and the hope for a future time and place with no more tears, sickness, dying or mourning and I gave thanks for His presence and comfort in the here and now.
I came away from my time yesterday grateful for the privilege of serving Barry. I was amazed that he felt comfortable enough to share with me, and honoured that Barry would consider our relationship worthy of opening and sharing about his life. Some guys open up and tell you their story right away, but many others are a bit more reserved. In fact, many are pretty skeptical of others. I have seen them down right ignore someone they did not know and did not trust. Barry isn't that extreme but is a bit more reserved, until yesterday that is. I realized an important lesson about people, about sharing and about discipleship. I have been going to the store weekly for about eight weeks now. It has been eight weeks of investing time and energy in being present, serving and listening. And now, after eight week's Barry trusts me enough to open up, share and allow me to pray for him. Real exchanges, and real discipleship are going to require an investment of time and energy. It may be a bit slower than any of us would like, but in many cases, before we can speak into someone's life we must earn their trust. We must be there, be interested, love and serve.
I realize that I am exactly the same. I am slow to trust. I do not let just anyone speak into my life. In fact, people often come up and ask if I have heard of this writer or that, this blog, or that preacher, read this new book, or that new song etc. They are often surprised when I say no. The honest truth is I am very reluctant to put faith in people I don't know, those who have not earned my trust and about whom I know little except for their public persona. If I don't know someone, don't know their heart or their motives I am reluctant place confidence in what they have to say. I should expect that others might be the same with me, and thus I need to invest time and energy earning trust. I had already been thinking about the phrase below when my experiences with Barry helped me to better understand it:
There are many who would speak into my life,
Far fewer who would enter into it.
True mentorship requires someone to enter into your life in order to speak into it. I will look for friends and mentors and I will seek to be a friend and mentor.
In whom are you investing time and energy in a personal and direct way?
I want to thank everyone who prayed for, contributed to or joined us in our outreach to the homeless last Sunday. We served, fed and clothed many on a very cold winter afternoon and have enough supplies to both support one of the shelters and to go out again ourselves. A huge thanks to Michael and Annabelle for all their time and energy in helping us to organize this ministry! We will be heading out again in February and I will communicate the details as they arise.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Free Art Friday 13/01/12
Well, speaking of Free Art I thought I would use today's post to put in a plug for the first Art Crawl of 2012! Tonight, Friday the 13th is the first Art Crawl of the year happening on James St. N in Hamilton. If you are in the area then make sure to stop by. Many of the artists will open their lofts, galleries will open and all will invite the community to come and check things out. Best thing is that it is free!!! For more specific info and to read about some of the featureds check the link below:
Art Crawl
Art Crawl
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
Update Tuesday 10/01/12
I am weird, I admit it. It seems that I never really fit in and yet I never really stand out either. At times it seems like I am a combination of contradictions that make up the whole, an living paradox. I am analytical and logical but at the same time emotional and sensitive. I like sports - both playing and conversing while at the same time I love the arts - both watching/listening and doing. And really these examples are just the tip of the ice-burg, don't even get me started about rural/urban or politics! I have been thinking about this part of my personality again this week as I have been considering discipleship. On the one hand, I have been thinking about the process that we use and excited by the prospect of new diagrams and flow charts as we consider moving people from point A to point B. But then there are those very people we are trying to disciple, and my heart starts to long for time over a cup of coffee, to hear their stories, meet them where they are and share in a very organic, relational way. At the end of the day however, maybe these aren't two mutually exclusive things, and maybe by embracing both these sides of my personalty I may come up with something that works.
Maybe it is because I am reading the Gospel of Matthew as I follow my reading plan this year that I have been thinking about discipleship these days. My wife, who is also following the same reading plan and thus reading Matthew, was commenting on the structure of Matthew around Jesus' five main discourses and about the underlying theme of discipleship. I then immediately began think about the possibilities of using this as the basis of laying out a program, a specific process to walk people through. How could this complement what we are currently doing? Is this better and could it replace what we are doing? Is there a more direct way of walking with people from point A to point B? I think that these are valuable questions, and ones that I will continue to contemplate. After all, the reality is that much like anything in life, where there is no plan or process things rarely just happen naturally. Discipleship is a process with purpose and direction as we move towards becoming more Christlike and more obedient to what Jesus would have for us to be and to do. I have learned that if we want to see lives transformed and if we long to see a movement begin in which people are discipled to Christ and eventually become those who are discipling others, there must be intentionality. It will not just happen on its own, especially if people do not see the need nor feel equipped to do so. What I need to avoid, however, is just creating a program - a checklist to run people through and check them off the list. I also know that my greatest flow chart, slickest power-point, and hippest logo won't see changed lives either. I know that if I focus too much on the program it will only lead to frustration in the end. Things rarely go exactly according to script, run perfectly smoothly and follow a predictable path. I prefer to use the term process rather than program for this very reason, if only to remind myself of the reality that, no matter what we are using, we are walking with people through life and people and lives are messy.
"I was never a crackhead 'till I turned 50."
"I am on disability cause of head trauma from when I had a pro boxing career."
"I took my son to the doctor this morning because he had a cold that he could not get rid of. They said he had leukemia, sent me here and told me we could be here for months."
"I have fallen and I think I broke a rib but I have a turkey in the oven, can you come and take it out of the oven and carve it for me?"
These are just some of the conversations that I have been a part of over the last few weeks that help to remind me that no matter what process or program I intend to use, nothing is going to be as smooth and direct as my flow charts. People are real, living beings, existing in a broken, messy world and that reality demands authentic, organic relationships to be the heart of any plans for discipleship. Everyone has a story, everyone is at a different place and until we spend time listening and getting to know an individual, it is almost impossible to meet them where they are in order to walk with them towards God's best for them. And as we walk it will be messy, it will not take the shortest route from point A to B, and there will be victories and set backs, sprints and stalls. If I am more concerned with my program as it looks on paper I will only be frustrated. But this stuff, this messy life stuff, these amazing stories and amazing people are extremely exciting and invigorating to me. I am learning that rigid and formulaic programs are probably not flexible enough to meet the realities of people and of life.
So there are two sides of discipleship, the need to process and direction and then the reality that life is messy and these two aspects seem to appeal to different parts of my personality. But I think that there is somewhere in the middle that I should be looking for, aiming to be. To use a sports analogy, there is a sweet spot that we should be aiming for that when we connect at just that right spot on the bat we might be able to drive the long ball. Or maybe for an artistic analogy, it is like painting. We can begin with a very basic background wash over which we draw our foundational sketch. It maps out the painting, provides a basic image and enough structure that we know the shape of the final product. But then the real art begins as we experiment and mix colours to get just the right colour and hue, we layer in lights and darks and textures to bring it to life, and add the finite details to take what was a colour by numbers sketch and allow God to craft a masterpiece.
We appreciate your continued support as we meet our neighbours in the city, those next door and those on the street, and prayerfully look for opportunities to meet people where they are and walk with them towards God's best for their lives. Please also be in prayer for our next outreach to the homeless in the city as we collect hats and gloves to deliver along with a meal on January 15th. If you have hats or mitts to donate, let me know and we can arrange to get them from you. Thanks again for all the support.
Maybe it is because I am reading the Gospel of Matthew as I follow my reading plan this year that I have been thinking about discipleship these days. My wife, who is also following the same reading plan and thus reading Matthew, was commenting on the structure of Matthew around Jesus' five main discourses and about the underlying theme of discipleship. I then immediately began think about the possibilities of using this as the basis of laying out a program, a specific process to walk people through. How could this complement what we are currently doing? Is this better and could it replace what we are doing? Is there a more direct way of walking with people from point A to point B? I think that these are valuable questions, and ones that I will continue to contemplate. After all, the reality is that much like anything in life, where there is no plan or process things rarely just happen naturally. Discipleship is a process with purpose and direction as we move towards becoming more Christlike and more obedient to what Jesus would have for us to be and to do. I have learned that if we want to see lives transformed and if we long to see a movement begin in which people are discipled to Christ and eventually become those who are discipling others, there must be intentionality. It will not just happen on its own, especially if people do not see the need nor feel equipped to do so. What I need to avoid, however, is just creating a program - a checklist to run people through and check them off the list. I also know that my greatest flow chart, slickest power-point, and hippest logo won't see changed lives either. I know that if I focus too much on the program it will only lead to frustration in the end. Things rarely go exactly according to script, run perfectly smoothly and follow a predictable path. I prefer to use the term process rather than program for this very reason, if only to remind myself of the reality that, no matter what we are using, we are walking with people through life and people and lives are messy.
"I was never a crackhead 'till I turned 50."
"I am on disability cause of head trauma from when I had a pro boxing career."
"I took my son to the doctor this morning because he had a cold that he could not get rid of. They said he had leukemia, sent me here and told me we could be here for months."
"I have fallen and I think I broke a rib but I have a turkey in the oven, can you come and take it out of the oven and carve it for me?"
These are just some of the conversations that I have been a part of over the last few weeks that help to remind me that no matter what process or program I intend to use, nothing is going to be as smooth and direct as my flow charts. People are real, living beings, existing in a broken, messy world and that reality demands authentic, organic relationships to be the heart of any plans for discipleship. Everyone has a story, everyone is at a different place and until we spend time listening and getting to know an individual, it is almost impossible to meet them where they are in order to walk with them towards God's best for them. And as we walk it will be messy, it will not take the shortest route from point A to B, and there will be victories and set backs, sprints and stalls. If I am more concerned with my program as it looks on paper I will only be frustrated. But this stuff, this messy life stuff, these amazing stories and amazing people are extremely exciting and invigorating to me. I am learning that rigid and formulaic programs are probably not flexible enough to meet the realities of people and of life.
So there are two sides of discipleship, the need to process and direction and then the reality that life is messy and these two aspects seem to appeal to different parts of my personality. But I think that there is somewhere in the middle that I should be looking for, aiming to be. To use a sports analogy, there is a sweet spot that we should be aiming for that when we connect at just that right spot on the bat we might be able to drive the long ball. Or maybe for an artistic analogy, it is like painting. We can begin with a very basic background wash over which we draw our foundational sketch. It maps out the painting, provides a basic image and enough structure that we know the shape of the final product. But then the real art begins as we experiment and mix colours to get just the right colour and hue, we layer in lights and darks and textures to bring it to life, and add the finite details to take what was a colour by numbers sketch and allow God to craft a masterpiece.
We appreciate your continued support as we meet our neighbours in the city, those next door and those on the street, and prayerfully look for opportunities to meet people where they are and walk with them towards God's best for their lives. Please also be in prayer for our next outreach to the homeless in the city as we collect hats and gloves to deliver along with a meal on January 15th. If you have hats or mitts to donate, let me know and we can arrange to get them from you. Thanks again for all the support.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Free Art Friday 06/01/12
It is not everyday that someone turns and says to you..."I wasn't ever a crackhead, eh, until I turned fifty..." Although it isn't everyday, such things are becoming a bit more frequent in recent weeks. It got me thinking about some of the stories I have been hearing lately. I took some time this week, while sitting with my guitar, to put pen to paper. Here is a first draft of some lyrics that are a bit of an amalgamation of the stories I have been hearing as of late.
Minus five, with windchill minus twenty,
Counting all the bottles that I find,
Can't wear gloves when counting people's empties,
Numb, I left my dignity behind.
Up at four and out before the sunrise,
Toughest means to thirty buck I know,
Hard to sleep in loud and drafty shelters,
Up and out onto the streets I go.
I was never a crackhead 'till I turned fifty,
At fifty-three I'm all messed up it's true,
New Year's Day and time for resolutions,
At fifty-three what can I do?
Is this the year that I come through?
I'm fifty-three and all messed up its true.
Lost my job it's coming up on four years,
Broke my back and couldn't work the same,
Lost my money, pride and all my purpose,
Just one hit to ease me of the pain.
Sunken face beyond all recognition,
Now Niagara Gorge runs cross my face,
Skin and Bones and Yellowish complexion
Where there was a smile just gaps and space
I was never a crackhead 'till I turned fifty,
At fifty-three I'm all messed up it's true,
New Year's Day and time for resolutions,
At fifty-three what can I do?
Is this the year that I come through?
I'm fifty-three and all messed up its true.
Minus five, with windchill minus twenty,
Counting all the bottles that I find,
Can't wear gloves when counting people's empties,
Numb, I left my dignity behind.
Up at four and out before the sunrise,
Toughest means to thirty buck I know,
Hard to sleep in loud and drafty shelters,
Up and out onto the streets I go.
I was never a crackhead 'till I turned fifty,
At fifty-three I'm all messed up it's true,
New Year's Day and time for resolutions,
At fifty-three what can I do?
Is this the year that I come through?
I'm fifty-three and all messed up its true.
Lost my job it's coming up on four years,
Broke my back and couldn't work the same,
Lost my money, pride and all my purpose,
Just one hit to ease me of the pain.
Sunken face beyond all recognition,
Now Niagara Gorge runs cross my face,
Skin and Bones and Yellowish complexion
Where there was a smile just gaps and space
I was never a crackhead 'till I turned fifty,
At fifty-three I'm all messed up it's true,
New Year's Day and time for resolutions,
At fifty-three what can I do?
Is this the year that I come through?
I'm fifty-three and all messed up its true.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
Update Tuesday 3/01/12 - Happy New Years
I am not really one for resolutions, but there is something about the beginning of a new year. The flipping of the calendar to a fresh, blank page (or screen as is most likely the case these days) and beginning at 1/1 again does lend itself to thinking of new beginnings and possibilities. 2011 was quite the year for my family, full of ups and downs and new beginnings. We saw God do some amazing things and felt the support of so many who came around us in so many ways to see The Hamilton Fellowships get off the ground. We look expectantly to 2012 wondering and dreaming about what God may do this year. My heart's desire is to see lives changed by Christ this year, but today I find myself taking one step back from that and looking first at myself.
Before I ask for the privilege of sharing Christ with others and walking with them on a spiritual journey this year it behooves me to first begin with a commitment of my own. I am praying that over the course of 2012 I continue to be molded more and more into the image of Jesus. I am praying that I continue to grow in love, knowledge and imitation of Christ, thanking God for his amazing grace as I walk, and often fumble my way through this journey of faith. I am praying that I grow in sensitivity and obedience to the Spirit in my life, guiding, leading, teaching and empowering me to live the life to which God calls me. I am also praying that I grow in sensitivity and obedience to the Word.
With regards to the Word, I first heard my wife speak about looking for a year long bible reading plan a few weeks before the end of the year. Although I have been endeavoring to be in the Word daily, it has been a few years since I have followed such a plan and so I suggested that we could do one together. Since that time, a number of our fellowship have committed to following a common plan that will see us read through the bible in a year. We chose a plan that we found at The One Year Bible Online (which can be found here: One Year Bible - we opted for the one year as opposed to the one year chronological) for a number of reasons including it was easily accessible so that any one could find it and use it and that it happens to be available on my YouVersion IPhone App. We are praying that God would speak to us powerfully as we commit to reading the whole of His Word, and that we see amazing growth in our own lives as we try to share Christ with others.
So those are some of my thoughts beginning this new year. Our service to the homeless continues and is growing quickly, we are meeting people and expect to see our fellowships grow and I believe we are beginning to build a good reputation in the city. But underlying all of this must be our continued growth in Christ including a commitment to the Word. If you have been thinking about your commitment to the Word and would like to read along then I invite you to join us. We thank you again for all your continued support of our family and of The Hamilton Fellowships. We are looking forward with anticipation to all that God has in store for this year! Thank you for walking this journey with us!
Our next outreach to the homeless is scheduled for Jan. 15th and we are collecting new and gently used hats and gloves to hand out with meals. If you are interested in joining us or have hats and mitts to contribute then send me a note.
Before I ask for the privilege of sharing Christ with others and walking with them on a spiritual journey this year it behooves me to first begin with a commitment of my own. I am praying that over the course of 2012 I continue to be molded more and more into the image of Jesus. I am praying that I continue to grow in love, knowledge and imitation of Christ, thanking God for his amazing grace as I walk, and often fumble my way through this journey of faith. I am praying that I grow in sensitivity and obedience to the Spirit in my life, guiding, leading, teaching and empowering me to live the life to which God calls me. I am also praying that I grow in sensitivity and obedience to the Word.
With regards to the Word, I first heard my wife speak about looking for a year long bible reading plan a few weeks before the end of the year. Although I have been endeavoring to be in the Word daily, it has been a few years since I have followed such a plan and so I suggested that we could do one together. Since that time, a number of our fellowship have committed to following a common plan that will see us read through the bible in a year. We chose a plan that we found at The One Year Bible Online (which can be found here: One Year Bible - we opted for the one year as opposed to the one year chronological) for a number of reasons including it was easily accessible so that any one could find it and use it and that it happens to be available on my YouVersion IPhone App. We are praying that God would speak to us powerfully as we commit to reading the whole of His Word, and that we see amazing growth in our own lives as we try to share Christ with others.
So those are some of my thoughts beginning this new year. Our service to the homeless continues and is growing quickly, we are meeting people and expect to see our fellowships grow and I believe we are beginning to build a good reputation in the city. But underlying all of this must be our continued growth in Christ including a commitment to the Word. If you have been thinking about your commitment to the Word and would like to read along then I invite you to join us. We thank you again for all your continued support of our family and of The Hamilton Fellowships. We are looking forward with anticipation to all that God has in store for this year! Thank you for walking this journey with us!
Our next outreach to the homeless is scheduled for Jan. 15th and we are collecting new and gently used hats and gloves to hand out with meals. If you are interested in joining us or have hats and mitts to contribute then send me a note.
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