2009.01.26 - Ministers and Spouses Retreat

We had a relaxing drive down to Newport, after stopping at the Woodburn outlet stores. The weather was clear and the skies were blue. Our first glimpse of the ocean was unbelievable, but then subsequent views just kep getting better.

My last post showed the web site hotel ocean view. This picture is actually from our room, albeit late afternoon with the light already fading. We can see a lighthouse, but my camera phone can't catch it; it's just too far away. Our church leadership was thoughtful enough to spend a few dollars more to get us an ocean view room, and we can't thank them enough.

We've already met new friends, and got to talk with people who were at the Installation Service, but who never got a chance to say, "Hi."

Pastor Jim Lyon (our speaker) shared in our keynote session this evening about wholeness in six areas: emotional, mental*, social, spiritual, physical, and intellectual. He connected these to the Church of God teaching on holiness, and made the statement that one cannot be holy (or whole), without being whole in all six areas.

Maybe I'll get to share more tomorrow... but I'm not here to blog. I'm here to retreat and regroup and reconnect, with my God and my wife.

* I did not take notes and this is the only one of the six that I'm not sure I have recalled correctly. I looked at several Internet sites that talked about six areas of wholeness or wellness and they listed occupational in place of mental, but that doesn't sound right from tonight's talk.

Spiritual Fruit and Invitations

It is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16 - NIV)

This isn't really a 365 post, because we don't get to the 1 Peter passage until late December, just before Christmas. I wanted to touch on this because this is something that God has been teaching me over the last several months in a fresh way. Maybe it's always been clear as crystal to you, but if not, I think I can help.

Jack Hayford writes in his wonderful book Rebuilding the Real You, that since God is our father, we share his DNA. Because he is holy, we can consider it a promise that he is working into our lives his own holy character. We can find this DNA of God's character broken down in Galatians 5:22-23, which reads: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. I came to more fully understand the fruit of the Spirit as God's character, which he wants to grow in our lives, when I was preparing to teach in Michigan's Institute of Servant Leadership on The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.

It was in reading Watchman Nee's The Release of the Spirit and Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life that I more fully came to realize God's methods of helping me grow in his character traits (the fruit of the Spirit). For instance, If God sees I have a need to grow in peace, he will allow circumstances entrance into my life where I am predisposed to anxiety. I have a choice to make: I can either worry, and continue on as I always have, or I can believe in God's promises and his love for me (in other words I can choose peace). If I choose peace, I grow to be more like my heavenly Father in that character trait.

In fact, watch and see in which areas you're challenged the most. If you have a high number of opportunities where your natural response is one of impatience, it's probably because God is inviting you to grow in patience. If you find yourself confronted with numerous people needing a hand or a word of encouragement, maybe God is inviting you to grow in the spiritual fruit of kindness. God knows we cannot grow in peace by never experiencing any challenges in life. We cannot grow in love by being surrounded with people who are easy to love. According to Warren, God helps us grow in spiritual fruit by confronting us with circumstances where we are tempted to respond in just the opposite way.

God knows where we need to grow and loves us enough to give us the opportunity!

Where is God growing you?