So some of our church body has decided that we will be planting a pretty monstrous garden. A few of us proceeded to till a plot and build a pretty sweet compost, and then we presented it with the intention of allowing others to participate. Already we have a number of others who are, and some already have window boxes started!

So I've been elected to kind of head up any publicity this thing may need, so you may begin to see the occasional note or pic on here.

Thinking about being a farmer, not just a gardener but a farmer, has really become very exciting to me. I think there must be something more to this mindset which almost helps me to align myself more biblically. I really think modernization has created a huge gap for the masses in general conceptions about life.

This is especially crazy to think about when understanding that in every culture in history, nature and much more specifically farming has been much more of a close and tangeable operation, so that even merchants, scholars, and aristocracy had a general knowledge of what it looks like and involves. I mean even the richest of nobility in cultures past had to live close enough to crops to have them transported easily, so most had some clue of what was takes place.

And now we have what some might sadly call the "luxury" of only seeing food in processed form, neatly packaged on store shelves. We live in fear of germs. My personal experience and what I can tell from others affirms that most of us are not usually very interested in non-processed food, but at the same time we fear contamination. For 99% of human history, we ate raw things right out of the ground, but now we mess with it and then fear what might be in it.

Sorry for the rabbit trail. The garden should be great.

So today was a nice dreary day, perfect for going out to try and better master the manual controls on my digital camera. I don't think I got much accomplished, but here are some of the cooler shots I grabbed.

We say "The Lord works in mysterious ways."

I think this is a foolish human perspective.

God is the creator. Everything He has ever touched has flourished with originality. He is unable to act in the same way twice, He has too many good ideas for how to do things in new ways. We act simplistically without much faith, and become frustrated at every turn because we don't understand how God is working. Duh. What makes us think we should be able to comprehend the creative expressions of this YHWH in any circumstance? We use the afore mentioned phrase as a way to settle our faithless confusion. The truth is that if our faith in the Leader was at all sufficient we would be able to enjoy the ride and seeing what He makes up along the way instead of becoming frustrated at every curve ball. We are so blessed to be given characteristics of Him in this vein, and to be commissioned to live fruitful lives. The command to be fruitful is always taken simply as a call to make more humans. But it entails much more. It is a call to have purpose, to creative and make new things. This is one of our highest and most intimate callings before God.

GO CREATE!!

God is so good, He moves in such timely ways, and we are often blessed with open eyes to see His glorious action upon the earth! All I can do is pray!

God, destroy the flesh which is constantly looking to creep back into my heart, and fill me with Your Spirit to the point of overflow!

Give me desire more greatly for Your will, and nothing else, may all that I partake in be rooted in a love and desire for you!

God, continue to move in this place, sweep down and fill this place with Your Spirit, unify Your Bride, raise up leaders from all churches to seek this end and to call others to it as well. Bring all Christians together to glorify You and seek Your praise together as one! Fill us so greatly with your Spirit that we can do no other thing than fill this place with Your name! Move in this city, break down the hearts of men, and give your servants a heart of evanglism, as missionaries seeking out the darkest places. Send us into the brothels and ghettos, out of the church doors and into the places of the destitute and the broken! Change hearts!

Who is like YHWH!?!?!?!

I returned to town just under a week ago from ihop, the International House of Prayer. Myself and a group of friends spent 4 or 5 days out in Kansas City, and the the time spent there has had a pivotal effect that I believe will only increase.

While ihop hosts a variety of courses, programs, and other ways to be involved, the main force of what they do lies within their prayer room. This prayer room is continually hosting hundreds who seek God in fervant, tireless prayer, while live worship is played 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. So students and visitors from across the world are in constant pursuit of God in this place literally all the time.

God's Spirit is markedly upon this place. Seeking Him become a new thing in this place. I know for myself personally, God became even more of one who I honestly want constantly. I seriously came away feeling homesick for ihop, even the strangers I spent time in the prayer room with, and mostly, missing God. I don't know if that sounds bad, but I miss God all the time now. Any time I'm not talking to Him, I miss Him. The most similar concept I can think of is when someone falls head over heels in love. I think most people can relate to a time when you constantly are thinking about being with someone you are in love with, when you miss someone from the moment you leave them until you see them again. That's how God has become to me, and I am so thankful to Him for turning my heart more greatly to Him!

I want to go back immediately!!

Read Colossians 4:2.

Depending on your translation, the verse says something to the effect of...

Always be in constant prayer, and watch what for how the Lord will honor this.

(personal paraphrase)

I read that this morning, and it is a pretty appropriate summary of recent events, not to mention very self-fulfilling. God has been faithful as of late to consider myself worthy of His blessings, and I have seen them poured out in an ability to be more passionate about Him. We have been seeking Him and found Him more faithful and abundant than any man can ever fathom without being in the midst of such circumstances.

Over the past few months, my single male friends and I have been pursuing Christ with a hope to live in closer community for fellowship, accountability, and general discipline. God has shown Himself faithful in that He has provided vision within the leadership of our church to go one step further, and a few of us will be entering into a 3-month "boot camp" program which is specifically designed for these goals, along with greater accountability, enhanced discipline for more responsible living, and purposeful mentorship from older men who seek to see us mature and take on church leadership. And to think all we asked for was more interpersonal discipline!

God is also showing Himself faithful as we seek to find more unity among the churches of this community, of this entire city even! We desire to see churches as He sees them, overlooking the numerous flaws and recognizing those redeemed for His Glory. I am broken when I realize that all believers hold on fiercely to some viewpoints or doctrines of God which are not true, even when they are seeking Him, and yet He remains faithful to men! We believe and pray for unity among denominations, that churches would partner together to see Him and His glory reaching out to the world, and the specific places where we are involved. This past week in Over the Rhine, Dave and I were able to participate in a Bible study which we were unsure about attending, and the Lord blessed it amazingly. It was an unbelievable experience to go into a completely unfamiliar situation and seek God's praise with new people in earnest. Let cultural boundaries be broken and all voices join as one!

God desires us to be pursuing Him in prayer. We know not how to follow in ourselves, so we must simply pursue Him to have His way with us, and then actually allow this to take place. We must pray for Him to act through us, because we won't know what to do with His will and more of Him in us. We don't only need wisdom, but we also need His action to counteract any appearances of flesh within us. Fill us with your Spirit! Destroy the flesh within us daily!

Lord, kill me if I don't preach the Gospel!