Cory's Blog

Do you ever wonder if what you know about faith and the Christian life is seriously missing something? How about those times when you don't even wonder because you know categorically that it is. Tonight I am confident that my faith is weak and that I really do not know God intimately. No, I am notdoubting His existence, His revelations, or anything like that. On the contrary, I am marveling at how little I have put confidence in Him.

Here's the deal. I have been reading stories to my family about men and women who have given their lives to the serve others and tell them about the greatest friend they could ever have. Yes, Jesus is the one I am referring to. We refer to such people as missionaries. These are not the kind of folks who spend a week doing puppet shows and hammering nails. (Very good missional works indeed) They also are not the kinds who spend a summer or even a couple of years on a mission assignment. What I have been reading about and thinking about are people who gave their entire lives.

Crazy as it may sound, it is becoming more clear that the giving of their lives was merely the beginning. Along the journey these people develop an ever deepening trust and relationship with the Creator of the universe Himself. They live in confident assurance of His provision. They hear His voice. They follow without knowing where He is leading. Yet, they rest in full assurance that the destination will be right.

Why is it that we read the Bible and listen to it tell of a God that is knowable, who leads His people, and performs miracles and yet we still do not really know this God, follow His leading or even believe in His miracles. Sure we may acknowledge that He can and does still do miracles, but we don't live believing that He will use us in any of those miracles. We doubt that we will see Him do miracles in the lives of those around us.

Are you are tired as I am of hearing about people who truly walk in active believing miracle experiencing faith and still not knowing God that way?

Tonight I was reading God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew. The pages were filled with miracle after miracle for daily provision and protection. I have read of countless biographies of people who have prayed prayers confidently knowing they will be answered. They lived lives full of adventure with their best friend Jesus and have helped many others know Him along the way. Over and over again I have chocked back the tears as I have seen Jesus revealed in the lives of His missionaries.

Lord, please don't keep yourself from me. And more so, don't allow me to keep myself from you. I want to see you do miracles. I want to pray believing you will answer. I want to know you and hear you speak to me. I want to have confidence that I hear your voice. I want to experience proof that you still communicate to your people and lead them like your word describes and like I read about in so many books.

Lord, be my friend, talk to me, and help me to be part of your living Church!

The last 3 nights my family and I had the extreme pleasure of being the living Church in communion with the Cary and Lois Green and family. One of the phrases I used frequently when talking about various Christian experiences was “meeting Jesus”. Cary asked me to clarify that phrase and I do not think I articulated it very well. I have been reflecting on the last 3 days and have a much better answer to what I mean when I talk about meeting Jesus.

As the Green’s and the Isakson’s lived together for a few short days I met Jesus in several ways.

In a little girl celebrating her first year of life outside of her mama came a meeting again of the life giving Jesus. Her birthday also reminded us of the amazing mercy and grace of the Father, who in Jesus lets us live as long as He does.

By the constant yes mamas and yes papas that flowed from all of the Green children I met again the Jesus of incessant obedience to the Father. In the few short days they were here my own children were encouraged to act in a similar way toward Angela and I. Their example alone was worth more than months of Sunday Schools. It was apparent from the attitudes and actions of the children that they are also confident in the security of a loving family connected to The loving Father.

I met the serving Jesus in Lois Green as I saw her serving her family. I also saw her family emulating the heart of their mother and their Lord. As guests in our home they worked hard to bless us and show us Jesus right up until they walked out the front door to continue their journey.

In Cary Green I met the truth loving and shepherding Jesus. Always steering toward the written Words of Father while gently caring for flock, Cary aches for his family and for Germany to know the Father as Jesus revealed Him to us.

Meeting the Green family was meeting with Jesus. Living with the Green family was experiencing the living Church of Jesus. What a treat it was to share a few short days with this wonderful family.

I hope that you meet Jesus through His living Church with families like the Greens as frequently as possible!

A few months ago our family read Bruchko. It is a fantastic account of the life of Bruce Olsen and his adventure into South America where God asked him to go. A websitetelling his story indicates that the Motilone Christians are my kind of people! May we all be encouraged to be like Bruce Olsen and our Motilone brothers as they follow Jesusabove Western forms of "Christian" religion.

After reading the first 10 chapters of the Jake Colsen story I wrote an Email to some brothers describing the book. I decided I would share that brief note with the world as well.

I finished the 10 published chapters of the Jake Colsen online book, So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore? I highly recommend it. It takes you through the faith journey of Jake Colsen who begins as an associate pastor at a thriving church. Over the course of several months God uses a man named John to help Jake know Jesus apart from any system of organized religion. John even helps him see that house church can be as much a distraction from life in Jesus as any other system. The book covers many struggles that I believe are common among people going through these kinds fo transitions. Jake gets mad at John, blames God, wants to destroy his old church and back stabbing pastor, struggles with finances, and much more. It is truly a story of relationships between several people and especially Jake and God. I think you will resonate with Jake many times as you read his journey. I found chapter 9 to be quite fascinating (not minimizing the awesomeness of the others) as that is the chapter when John visits Jake's home church group. I loved it and John accurately depicts what I personally am working toward. Chapter 10 was beautiful as we see the restoration of Jake and Jim (former back stabbing pastor) begin. I will not reveal any more now. Go read this book, I can't recommend it it enough, especially for those of us who have strong opinions about traditional curches and who struggle to trust that God is working in people in every place.

I just finished reading Chapter 11 of an online book by Jake Colsen. Only 2 more chapters remain unpublished and I absolutely cannot wait to read them. The book is titled "So You Don't Want to Go to Church Anymore: Memoirs of an overjoyed traveler". The book is fictional, but it reflects the journey of many Christians and deals frankly with a lot of difficult questions. This is not your typical Christian Living book. I have never read anything like itbefore, but I certainly hope to again.

Jake Colsen's story is very relational. Each chapter is a mini-story itself as Jakecrosses paths with a stranger named John. Could he be John the apostle? Throughout the book that is a thought Jake has. After allJesus' answer to Peter's question in John 21 does leave opensuch a possibility. John comes beside Jake, as a true elder would, and encourages him to know Jesus in a way so many of us long to. He helps Jake to become free in the way Christ intends for all of us. Every chapter of this book is a new liberation for Jake and others as John is used by God to ask key questions and repeatedly point people to Jesus for answers.

I encourage you to read the book for yourself. Let me know what you think. I know that I am moving ever closer to the Jake in chapter 11. What chapter do you find Jake most like where you are at? Do you find the whole story to be so far out there it is unbeleivable? If you do I'd love to chat about it. I find it refreshing filled with life!

There are way too many excellent quotes in this book to even begin listing them all. Here are a couple I pulled out of chapter 11.

Jake speaking: "God has opened up so many relationships to us and we’re seeing people capture a hunger for Jesus like we haven’t seen since the earliest days in this faith. We are seeing new people come to know him and grow to know him. I rarely have a conversation now where Jesus isn’t the focus of it somehow."

Does your heart cry out as mine does for this to describe your life? More and more I am discovering that this is not a fantasy Christian life.

John speaking: "The church thrives where people are focused on Jesus, not where they are focused on church."

That one is all to close to home for me. I certainly had my focus in the wrong place for along time.