Awfully Small and Not as Strong as We think We Are

So this past weekend I had the privilege to speak at Creekside for the morning services. You can download it if you would like to here.  My text was Matthew 14.22-36.  This is the Story of Jesus walking on the water.  Pretty amazing story, and something that struck me about this was how weak and insignificant the disicples were in the face of the storm.

We humans really are miniscule little beings in this universe and I think we get too far ahead of ourselves and make our selves out to be more that we really are.  And one of the key principals that I am taking from this text and trying to apply to my own life is that I need to recognize that even though I am weak and small and frail, Jesus isn’t and I need to trust him completely.

I was reminded of a song by Rich Mullins and I thought I would share the lyrics with you:

We Are Not As Strong As We Think We Are

Well, it took the hand of God Almighty
To part the waters of the sea
But it only took one little lie
To separate you and me
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

And they say that one day Joshua
Made the sun stand still in the sky
But I can’t even keep these thoughts
Of you from passing by
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

CHORUS
We are frail
We are fearfully and wonderfully made
Forged in the fires of human passion
Choking on the fumes of selfish rage
And with these our hells and our heavens
So few inches apart
We must be awfully small
And not as strong as we think we are

And the Master said their faith was
Gonna make them mountains move
But me, I tremble like a hill on a fault line
Just at the thought of how I lost you
Oh, we are not as strong as we think we are

CHORUS

And if you make me laugh well I know
I could make you like me
Cause when I laugh I can be a lot of fun
But we can’t do that I know that it is frightening
What I don’t know is why we can’t hold on
We can’t hold on

CHORUS

When you love you walk on the water
Just don’t stumble on the waves
We all want to go there somethin’ awful
But to stand there it takes some grace
‘Cause oh, we are not as strong
As we think we are

If you don’t have any Rich Mullins CD’s go out today and Buy Songs vol 1 and vol 2.  They are amazing.

Some Quotes from “Whoever Makes the Most Mistakes Wins”.

Here are some great thoughts that I’ve picked out so far from this book.

“When we look back on our lives, the parts that once seemed triumphant can pale in significance, while episodes that appeared trivial at the time now look crucial.  Successes we see in hindsight, made us complacent,while our set backs pushed us.”

“It’s not success or failure but success and failure.  When it comes to this issue both/and is a far more useful concept than either/or.  We can’t cleave these two so clearly and shouldn’t try.  using success and failure as a yard stick limits our ability to create, innovate, and take risks . . . Pursuing success is like chasing the horizon, and failure is an integral part of an interesting life.”

The Almost – Dirty and Left Out.

I’m just chillin’ in the Lynnwood Library, working on this weeks Sermon and shufflin’ through my iTunes when I came across this Gem of a Song, and thought I would post the lyrics.  Maybe someone out there could use the encouragement.

The Almost – Dirty And Left Out
Hello, I swear I won’t be too long
Hello, I promise I’ll be real strong
Wait up, I just wanna tell you
Hold up, why are you still here?

I’ve been dirtier than you wanna know
I’ve left earlier than you’ll ever know

Why do, you wanna be all listenin’ to me
Why do, you spread your arms and tell me I’m free
Why do, you wanna be in my life
In my life

I’ve been dirtier than you wanna know
I’ve left earlier than you’ll ever know

Jesus, Jesus,
There’s something about your name
Master, saviour, Jesus

I’ve been dirtier than you wanna know
I’ve left earlier than you’ll ever know
Jesus
Jesus

What a great song, I love how Jesus uses my iTunes to remind me of his love for me and the world.  Pretty incredible.

Guest Speaker -Brandon Cameron

Last Sunday Creekside had a great chance to hear from an old family member Brandon Cameron.  He used to be the youth pastor back in the day when our church was called North Seattle Christian Fellowship.  He is a great communicator and an all around nice guy.  I just listened to his message and it’s a great one.

You can listen to it here.

Much To Write Just Not Much To Say

The past couple of weeks I have been a little lax on my posting.  It’s not that there isn’t anything to write.  I have lots of things to write.  I just don’t have much to say here.

Sometimes I think the best thing to do is say nothing at all.  Not just if you don’t have anything nice, but just in general.  It’s Ironic that I’m writing that because I’m just pointing out my point and being incredibly redundant.  Anyway.

Mondays w/ Mitch

I was walking by a dry cleaner at three a.m., and it said “Sorry, we’re closed.” You don’t have to be sorry. It’s three a.m., and you’re a dry cleaner. It would be ridiculous for me to expect you to be open. I’m not gonna walk by at ten and say, “Hey, I walked by at three, you guys were closed. Someone owes me an apology. This jacket would be halfway done!”

-M. Hedberg