Archive for November, 2009

Rejection

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 25 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments

When I think about the Bible and the story of Jesus I immediately think about the magnetism of Jesus. I reflect on the stories of deliverance, healing, and salvation. I have often “lusted” after the manner in which he was able to attract people to the life change He modeled. I realize that some of the things that he did were pretty big attention getters like raising dead people, feeding multitudes, opening blinded eyes, etc. However, there were other times when Jesus would approach people in a one on one environment and “connect” to people in amazing ways.

Today I had a thought of how Jesus must have felt when he wasn’t successful in reaching them. I wonder if the prevailing emotion was pain, pity, anger, frustration or a mixture of all of them. As we witness to people and they reject Jesus it impacts us (or at least it should) but I didn’t leave heaven to die a cruel death for them. I can’t speak for anybody else today but “Jesus I am sorry for the times that I refused and rejected you.  I am sorry for taking for granted what you did for me on Calvary. I am sorry that I have broken your heart more than once.”

John 3:18-21 (NIV)

18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. 19This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.”

35lbs Since Christmas

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 18 November 2009
in My Life
. 2 Comments

A little over a year ago I set out on what is probably the biggest spiritual journey that I have ever taken. I was reminded of it today as I “squeezed” into some pants and realized that I have put on 35 lbs since Christmas. I would like to give 5 of that back and am working toward that but this is not what I want to journal about today.

This past year has been probably one of the most challenging of my life. Looking back now I am reminded of how Satan tempted Jesus in the desert during His fast. At the time I had some thoughts of what that might look like and expected it to occur during or immediately following. Now I understand that would have been a mistake because in the natural a person would be weakest after an extended fast, but in the spiritual the opposite is true.

So today represents day 328 since I finished that fast and it is just now dawning on me that my fast may be the reason that I will survive the desert temptation. To be quite transparent the last 6 months have been filled with a lot of temptations. Not to leave my wife for somebody else or other obvious temptations. But those ones that make you want to quit, give up, walk away, stop fighting, stop pursuing, question, doubt, blow-up, get frustrated, be angry, become needy, self centered, lethargic, and just not care.

It has come from things such as the multitude of resumes that were not responded to, unreturned phone calls, the promised phone calls that never came, opportunities that were on the radar that apparently developed stealth technology, financial challenges of unemployment, the process of piecing life back together, the feelings of abandonment, etc.   

Frankly it has made me mad at hell. No that isn’t a misprint. For the past few months I have been on an emotional roller coaster. The 4 people that read this blog know me fairly well and this is not normal for me. I confirmed this with my wife today because I didn’t want to misrepresent myself. She concurred (fun word to use) that I am pretty emotionally stable and that I do not normally get bent one way or the other.

I am glad that God brought back to my memory my fast and helped me to realize just what is going on with me. God also reminded me yesterday that unemployment is not part of my calling. (I have a secular job now, thank God, but I have been unemployed from ministry for 7 months) Even though I am trying to be found working and am having a lot of fun witnessing to coworkers and friends I miss the rush of being a “missionary”.  I miss the pleasure of feeling like I am doing and being exactly what God created me to be.

God, I know You have plans for my family and I. I am trying to be patient while waiting for them (even though You know it is crazy hard for me). I want to thank You in advance for those plans and I also want to thank You for leading me in a season of preparation almost a year ago to help through my desert experience. I pray that You will continue to remind me of who You are and what You have already enabled me to overcome. I pray that You will continue to remind of specifics in Your Word that I can use as my sword in this battle. I pray for Your favor, Your direction, and Your will. Amen.

Focus on the Family… Hate Mail

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 16 November 2009
in Parenting
. 2 Comments

 My wife was watching the “Bringing Up Boys” DVD series this last week trying to get some updated advice on how to discipline our soon to be 6 year old son. This book has brought us through the first five years pretty successfully but in recent months we have faced some new challenges.

I am sure some of it is linked to the life changes that we have underwent as a family and our son trying to express that but regardless we needed some fresh (and hopefully effective) ideas.

My son picks up the DVD case, reads it over and says, and I quote “Dr. Dobson, I hate that guy! He’s the one who told you to spank me.”  Around our house we have taught that hate is a very strong word and we are not supposed to hate other people. It is ok to be angry with someone but we are not to hate…

In this case my wife was too busy laughing to turn this into a teachable moment and I had a hard time not backing him up on his thought process. It might upset me a little if I believed one person was responsible for every spanking I received. LOL 

So we have read “The Strong Willed Child” and “Bringing Up Boys” but we could use another book reference on how to deal with “The Strong Willed Boy Who is Too Smart, Sarcastic (Like His Mother), Knows How to Work the System, Cute and Funny (Like His Dad) so He is Tough to Discipline.” Thanks.

The Question

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 16 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 0 Comments

This week I got “the question”. This question is one that I get asked frequently and every time I wish I had a one size fits all answer… preferably a good one. But every time the circumstances surrounding “the question” are dramatically different. Combining that with varying levels of emotional ties, maturity levels, faith levels, etc. makes “the question” a challenge every time.

So maybe you have a go to response but for me I have to work through my response on a case by case basis. So this blog entry is going to be nothing more than me responding to “the question”: How can God allow (insert bad thing here)? Or another variation: How can there be a God if (insert bad thing here) is happening? Continue reading ‘The Question’

The Church of Facebook

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 13 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 2 Comments

My blogging revival continues. I am trying to stay sharp and writing a blog isn’t quite the same as writing a sermon it is a way of processing thoughts and putting them into communicable vehicles. (I have no idea if that made grammatical sense or not but “communicable” popped into my head and spell check said it was ok)

I am reading a book (because we don’t have cable LOL) entitled The Church of Facebook - How the Hyperconnected Are Redefining Community by Jesse Rice. Now I am only two chapters in so I am not ready to put my name on a recommendation. (Not that it would mean a whole lot to him.) Anyways… so far the author has written a lot so far about the importance of community and the studies that show the negative impact in not participating in community. I am assuming there will be future discussion on the fact that Facebook doesn’t reflect true relationship. Or it might talk about the value of community in the church. I am not real sure where the book is going yet but maybe I’ll write a continuation blog in a few more chapters.

My question is this: If being in community is so critical and happiness can be found there, why does nobody seem to want to do it? Why is it so hard for all of us to interact with each other? Why is it that people could seemingly care less about those around them? How as a culture did we get to be so self centered that nobody has time for anybody else?

I am not saying that I am not convicted by these questions but is anybody tired of trying to create community when it is unwanted, unappreciated, and a ludicrous thought altogether? Well if you are STOP IT! It is time that we “Christ Followers” look rejection in the face and smack it around. The world needs to be reminded how the world can be transformed by a community of believers.

The size of your community is irrelevant. You could be in a bible study of 10 or a church of 10,000. At the end of the day it is about making up your mind and impacting your “community” with the love of Christ. Since leaving the mssion field of our church plant in South Florida I have had to evaluate what the Great Commission looks like for me. What was the City of Weston,FL 6 months ago is now the office of Cuhaci & Peterson Architects.

You may say that I have lowered my expectations. No,  I just improved my odds. Let’s face it winning an entire city is highly unlikely but 86 employees? Ok so all of them is unlikely also but I have to start somewhere and considering I have 8+ hours a day 5 days a week to walk out my faith out in front of them…  I have an opportunity to interact in their day to day lives and be an influence. My prayer is that this influence would be a good one and reflect my God.

So here is the challenge: Live what you know. (I stole that from a sermon series title) We all know what Christ called us to do and showed us the impact it can have. So let’s do it!

What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 10 November 2009
in Random Ramblings
. 3 Comments

Have you ever done something for no apparent reason only to have God reveal to you shortly after why? For me I do most things for no apparent reason… at least that is what most people tell me. I don’t get it either how I can be a micromanager on some things and a fly by the seat of my pants sort of guy in other areas but…

So my bookworm wife brings home new books all of the time. We have a library full of books on a variety of different topics. I will be honest I am a bipolar reader and will read a whole bunch for a while and then read nothing for a while (okay that while usually lines up with football season). I like to read but it better be a good book because otherwise it winds up on the shelf with bookmark placed where I got bored reading it.

She recently brought home What to Do on the Worst Day of Your Life by Brian Zahnd. As a side note check out this blog post… it is pretty good.  Harmony usually acts as my pre-reader and after she is done she evaluates as to whether I will enjoy it or not. She said that I would so I gave it a shot.

You might ask why I chose to read this book. Did I experience the worst day of my life recently? The answer is no. I have had some disappointments lately. I thought that today I would be in a different place with different challenges. I thought that I may be involved in full time ministry somewhere. I believed that our recovery plan would be going a little differently, etc. but worst day? Certainly not.

But it was just one of those things that I just did. Even though it is a fairly short book it is good that it wasn’t the worst day of my life because it took me a week to read what to do on it. But with that said it was a fantastic book with some fantastic advice. It is a book that I would recommend to anybody going through “the worst day” of their lives or those who often times are in position to minister to those who are.

So many times we have opportunities to help people but we have a short period of time to do so. Going back to the opening question… this is exactly what happened to me this week. I am so thankful that I was able to refer this book to a friend that I may not ever have the opportunity to set down with. It was pretty cool how the whole conversation started and if it never goes any further (which I hope it does) I was able to refer them to this great book.

You can read a portion on Amazon or my five blog readers can trust me that David’s Ziklag story can help you or somebody you know everyday, even if it’s only your 232nd worst day.

Friendly Reminder… courtesy of God

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 4 November 2009
in The Word
. 1 Comment

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” – Joshua 1:9

I challenge you to read this passage of scripture along with the previous 8 verses of this chapter. As you read these verses I want you to notice that the command to be courageous and brave came just 2 & 3 verses before. So not only did God feel that He needed to tell Joshua multiple times, give him specific tools to equip him to be courageous and brave, He also had to remind him about what He said.

Joshua had seen some pretty amazing things in his life. We are talking about some of the most used Sunday School and message material of all time. Yet, he needed to be told over and over again that God, the same One who had parted the Red Sea was with him.

That is a pretty interesting train of thought (at least to me) because it shows the level of humanity in even the superheroes of the Bible. But what caught my attention this morning was that God also reminded Joshua in verse 9 that he had made God his God.

Grammatically I don’t know if that made sense but the key to the fulfillment of any of this was contingent on God being invited and allowed to be God. God told Joshua that because you have allowed me to be Lord of your life I will be with you.

You have invited me into your life and on this journey and because of that “…as I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Joshua 1:5)

So you want God’s help, you want His promises; you want His commands to carry weight in your life… MAKE HIM LORD. Is this easy? No. Today God reminded me to allow Him to be Lord so I am reminding my friends.

God, today I thank You for reminding me to allow You to be Lord. You know better than anyone what my journey looks and feels like. You know that I need You to not only be with me but to direct my footsteps. Holy Spirit, empower me to crucify any unbelief and to stand on the promises of God. Remind me of the God’s amazing grace and the provision of the past. Chase out any doubtful thoughts and restore to me strength and courage that can only come from my Lord. Thank You. Amen.

Let the Wild Rumpus Start

Published
by
Nathan Griffis
on 2 November 2009
in Church Planting and My Life
. 0 Comments

A few years ago my church planting career started with a trip to South Florida to “check out” a potential area named Weston, FL.  Well, three years later it is another trip to Weston, FL that shakes things up a little. This last weekend we went and visited InDependence Church in Weston, FL.

The music rocked as it has for a long time and the venue at Sagemont has greatly improved since we have been there with some permanent installs. There were many other changes but in the end I was impacted mostly by people. Some of the people live in Virginia, Singapore, Texas, Boston, South Florida and soon San Diego. There are people that have come and gone and others that have remained but they are lives that God impacted through what He allowed us to start there.

In the 3.5hr trip there and back Harmony and I had a lot of time to reflect on our successes and failures. We were able to remember the good times and the bad, the victories and the defeats but in the end it always came back to the people.

I often told our congregation that we started the church for a sea of blank faces. Over time some of those blank faces were replaced with real people with real issues. We were privileged to be able to introduce them to a real Jesus and inspire them to share what they found.

The family in Virginia had to go to a church meeting in a school because the kids didn’t think church could happen anyplace else. My own son gets mad when there isn’t anything to tear down when we visit a church in a permanent building. There are stories of reunited marriages after two years apart. There are men taking steps of faith after operating in their own fears.  There are others who came for one reason but found their callings and how they are to live out the Great Commission. There are those continuing to stand and fight for the people of Weston, FL.

So with all of that said we are making a conscious decision to go after more people. What that means today I am not really sure. Will it mean planting another church? I am sure at some point it will but for now we are going to live out the Great Commission in the manner that God has equipped and called us to. We have spent a lot of time in the last few weeks discussing this and I have come back to the Great Commission every time. If God leads us to plant a church out of ministering to some people… so be it.

I believe that everybody is called to live out the Great Commission but the way that it looks for you may be different then it is for me. Inside of me God has planted a seed that to be honest festers and burns inside me every day.  I was reminded this weekend of what it looks like when you let it out and I am tired of the heartburn.

So this time around this thing is probably going to look very different for us. At this point we don’t have a location or really any ideas were God will send us. We don’t have any money (see previous posts as where all of that went). We don’t have any denominational support. What we have is the Great Commission, a calling, a passion, some experience, some knowledge (not near enough), new ideas as to how Harmony, Owen and I can work as a team, and that is enough.

So let the wild rumpus start… This is the intro prayer to a new unwritten chapter to the story that is my life.  God may you bless our endeavors as we set out to broaden Your Kingdom in whatever manner You allow and direct us to. Thank You in advance for Your grace, mercy, love, wisdom, knowledge and power. I pray that You will release these things to me, and my family’s life. We love You and want nothing more than to make You proud. Amen.