living out a life of faith: 2008

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 31-12-2008

Category : God, hope, live for the eternal, sharing faith, trust

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

  

Humility.  That’s what 2008 means to me. 

Professionally I find myself entering 2009 without a job.  The first time that’s happened since I was about 12.  This presents challenges and opportunities.  It’s challenging because more of my pride and self-identity are wrapped-up in working than I realized.  It’s hard to let go of that.  It’s also hard to let go of the money and sense of security a job brings.  But it’s also an opportunity.  I now have the time to visit friends.  I have a chance to learn new things.  And I also am in position to explore new writing and speaking opportunities. 

By allowing myself to be humbled, instead of rebelling in pride, I’ve been able to see the good as well as the bad.  Humility has a way of allowing us to realistically deal with the bad, while not losing sight of the promises God makes to us.  I’m not going to say this process was easy, but I will say it was worth it. 

On the personal side, writing R3 has been humbling in it’s own way.  Receiving feedback, (mostly positive!), knowing people are interested in what I write, and the slow realization that people get upset when I miss a scheduled post (you know who you are!), has all come as a bit of a shock.  Sometimes it even feels surreal.

But the most humbling aspect of R3 has to be the fact that writing for all of you is a huge honor.  One that I don’t take lightly, nor do I take it for granted.  I feel a sense of responsibility for R3 and of teaching what I think God is doing in my life.  Or, as Spider-Man once said, “with great power comes great responsibility.” 

All of this leads me to one last thought for 2008 – one of the themes I’ve touched on time and again is the idea that God can take anything and turn it into an important lesson.  Pain, suffering, joy, excitement – they all can teach us about God.  Every lesson we learn brings us one step closer to our creator.  It doesn’t matter if we’re losing our jobs or getting $100,000 raise.  In every instance there is something we can learn about God.   

We may not know what lessons we will learn in 2009.  And I am sure they will often be unexpected, taught to us by sadness and happiness, calmness and activity.  But we can always count on God turning even the greatest disaster into an opportunity to learn more about him. 

Which is why in everything that we do, we must strive to learn how to live out a life of faith.  A life that is ready to do great things for the Kingdom.  Because that’s really the point of everything, isn’t it. 

a Christmas lesson

1

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 26-12-2008

Category : God, different, faith, fear, hope, sharing faith

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

  

As I’ve mentioned a couple times on R3, I will not have a job come January.  Knowing that has been an interesting experience.  But maybe not in the way you would expect. 

I find I’m focusing more on the things I have than the things I don’t.  I’m also realizing all of the things that used to bother me, such as not having a house, are now blessings.  (No house = No mortgage payments)  

The biggest challenge has been learning to not buy things for myself.  Games, books, CD’s, movie tickets, that sort of stuff.  Things that I never really gave much thought to, are now out of reach.  So what does this have to do with Christmas?  Well, for the first time, in a very long time, I’m really excited about Christmas.  I am now being given presents that I could never afford on my own.  Even simple gifts such as a CD or a book is a big deal, and I am grateful for each and everything I have received.

Sometimes we think the solution to all of our problems is money or comfort.  That if we could only get more stuff, then we’d be happy.  Yet I’m learning that’s not true at all.  Sometimes the best thing that can happen to us is to struggle.  Because it’s in those moments we are forced to rely on God.  And anytime we trust God, miracles happen.

So I may soon be without a job, but even in the midst of that, God is working miracles.  I am learning things I never expected.  Funny how God works like that.

 

rest

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 27-10-2008

Category : Exodus, R3, trust

Tags: , , , , , ,

  

R3 has been in existence for almost 1.5 years.  And during that time I’ve never taken a leave of absence.  The most time I’ve taken off is over the weekends, or occasionally a day or two when I’ve been sick.  But all that’s about to change!  For the first time since R3 started I plan on taking a few days off.  Two weeks to be exact.  But don’t worry.  You’ll get regularly scheduled posts over the next two weeks.  I have lots of content pre-written. 

I’ve never been very good at taking time off from anything.  Because I get bored easily, I look to keep myself occupied.  Which means I tend to ignore the idea of a Sabbath.  But there’s a reason God tells us to rest.  Nothing was made to always work.  Not even a website. 

For me this rest will allow me to catch up on some reading.  It will also let me refill my “creative well” so to speak.  Those are important reasons to rest.  But perhaps the most important reason is to simply see that the world goes on even if we don’t.  We often talk ourselves into believing that if we stop working, the world (or perhaps just your house) will fall apart.  It doesn’t.  The world always goes on.

It’s comforting knowing that when I come back in two weeks, R3 will be chugging along, even without my direct supervision.

administrative note: click comments

2

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 03-10-2008

Category : R3

Tags: , , ,

 

A little house keeping item today. As some of you may have noticed there is now a green tree logo next to the click comments button. This was added by click comments so you can donate a dollar to charity. The charity may be perfectly acceptable, but I don’t know it. Nor do I feel comfortable lending my support to it at this time.

I want a way for you guys to interact with me without needing to send emails or opening up the comments thread. But for many, talk of faith and God is a difficult subject. A lot of us come into the conversation with painful experiences around money and giving. Sometimes we’ve trusted people in a church leadership role, only to find out they were stealing or using it for improper things.

While I’ve been fortunate enough to have never experienced that, I know that many of you have. Which is a major reason you don’t see any advertisements on this site. I don’t think God has a problem with money or wealth, but I don’t want to confuse those two issues. Maybe at some point there will be some kind of financial “system” (whatever that means!) – but if that day ever comes, it’s a long way off.

This is just a long winded way of saying I’m thinking about removing the click comments button. I asked them for a comment regarding the tree to find out if it was temporary or permanent, and they never responded. So I’m assuming it’s permanent.

The bottom line is this: if you like the click comments button let me know. If you don’t like it, let me know as well. If no one says anything, I’ll take the indifference as, well, indifference, and in that case I’ll just remove the tool.

So go ahead, let me know what you think of the button either by clicking on it or leaving a comment in this thread. (Fun = Keep; I disagree = We lose it)

Thanks.

reader comment: ups and downs

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 13-08-2008

Category : God, faith, reader comments, taking action

Tags: , , , , , ,

 
I’ve been sitting around all day wondering how I was going to write an introduction to this post. What could I say that would add more impact?  Then it occurred to me, maybe I should just let the comment speak for itself.  So here it is – I received this in response to some of the ideas discussed in the ups and downs of faith.  Naturally these reader comments are more insightful than my own.  Don’t you just hate that?! 

As far as R3 goes.. I can see why you wouldn’t want to write, and I can totally relate to feeling like if you did it’d be a fraud, but I think that writing in times like this is just what R3 is about :o ].  I mean, R3 is a blog where people learn how to live out a life of faith.  How else can we learn to live out a life of faith if our faith isn’t tested at times, if we don’t want to just throw in the towel some times, if we don’t want to give up and call our losses?  I think that this time in your life is the perfect time to be writing on R3.  I think that you should talk to your readers about what you’re going through and by telling your readers what you’re going through they may see what it is that they need most – a demonstration of what it looks like to live a life of faith.  And that, in my opinion, is more impactful than hearing someone write when things aren’t hard (not to say that those writings aren’t important – but I’m sure you know what I mean :o ]).

prayer thursday: dreams

1

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 19-06-2008

Category : God, faith, prayer, prayer thursday

Tags: , , , , , , ,

     

I am convinced that God answers prayers.  I’m also convinced that praying is the quickest way to build a relationship with him.  No matter how much you read a biography about someone, or no matter how many times you’ve heard someone describe a stranger, you never really know someone until you talk to them. 

So I’m going to start a new regular feature on R3: prayer thursday. 

On every “prayer thursday”, there will be something to pray about.  Some days it will be for others, some days it will be for ourselves, and other times it will be for whatever you feel like.  I’m also opening up comments so anyone can post their prayer.

Dreams

God – it’s all too easy to live a life where we don’t follow our dreams.  We all have unique skills that you want to use to change the world.  Help us to live out those dreams and not settle for something less.  Something that doesn’t feel so daunting.  Let us reach for the dreams you’ve given us.

comments are open

the power of words

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 21-05-2008

Category : God, book review

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

   

R3 has a regular feature called “what i’m reading”.  It’s a way to share the things that are influencing me and my journey with God.  Not everything I read makes it into this spot – just the things that make me think about how I should live out a life of faith. 

Wide Awake falls into this category. 

As a result, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about dreams.  Not the kind where you fall asleep, but the kinds that make you live “wide awake”. 

Erwin McManus is a brilliant speaker, and a gifted thinker.  But where he truly excels is giving you a framework to understand yourself, the world, and God.  And somehow he does this in two word phrases. 

The Barbarian Way (which is technically three words) showed me that God wasn’t a wimp, and even better, he doesn’t want us to be wimps!  A Barbarian wouldn’t shy away from helping someone just because it was difficult – he (or she) would charge right in and do it.  Because that’s what Barbarians do.  Now, whenever I am afraid of taking action, I think about being a Barbarian.  And it encourages me to act.

Chasing Daylight was just as influential.  If being a Barbarian was about going to places others wouldn’t, Chasing Daylight was about seizing a moment in time when no one else could.  It made me realize that some opportunities only come once, and if we don’t act, no one will.

Soul Cravings showed me just how much we need relationships and our dreams.  It isn’t that we just want these things in our lives; it’s that we crave them.

Wide Awake is no exception to this rule.  But instead of receiving the benefits for myself, it’s shaping the way I see other people.  It’s given me a framework to help other people live out their dreams. 

Each of those phrases has a deep meaning for me.  They allow me to sum up hundreds of pages of thoughts and examples, and boil it down into something that prods action.  I might not be able to think of a 10 point argument as to why I should act, but I can remember a phrase.

They also serve as a reminder of how God works.

For instance, my dream is to help people develop a relationship with God.  I want people to connect the dots of their faith, with the lines of their lives.  By writing R3 I am able to live out that dream.  But without The Barbarian Way to help me become a Christian, and without Chasing Daylight to prompt me to start this site, I never would have been in position to be asked to review Wide Awake.

Funny how acting in faith works out like that.

agendas: God’s or yours?

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 31-03-2008

Category : God, choice, faith, mission

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

     

“We believe God has an agenda for you, but at Laity Lodge,
we don’t have an agenda for you.”  – Laity Lodge

Sometimes it is difficult to separate God’s agenda from your own.  Or God’s agenda from someone else’s.  And this confusion can have dangerous consequences.  We’ve all been in situations where we instinctively feel that there is more going on than meets the eye.  It’s usually these moments that we feel like we’re dealing with a “used car salesman.”  Where you know that while everything looks legit on the surface, there is something lurking just out of sight. Such reactions make us naturally suspicious, and resistant to God

That’s why I find this quote to be so interesting.  It quickly summarizes the approach everyone should take in any ministry.  Including the times we’re talking about God to our friends. 

I am a contrarian by nature, that means my instincts tell me that as soon as a few people agree on something I should disagree.  If someone would have been pushing an agenda down my throat when I first started going back to church I would have rejected it.  Instead, God allowed me to come to my own decisions.   And he let me come to it at my own speed. 

Now I have no one to blame buy myself!

This is also the philosophy I have tried to adopt at R3.  I don’t want this website to burden people.  You can get guilt from enough places in your life.  Instead R3 should be a place that challenges you, but lets you make the decision.  After all, that’s what God does – he challenges us with a radical way of thought and then says, “you’ve seen the evidence, now decide.”

unburdening the burdened

Posted by e. barrett | Posted on 01-08-2007

Category : Bible thumping, mission

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

   

 “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.” (Luke 11: 46)

As I searched to understand God, I started to read some blogs on the internet. Like all things in life, there are good blogs and bad blogs. But I have to admit, I was often surprised by the anger, bitterness, and argumentativeness with which so many Christian blogs are written. I almost always stop reading these blogs. “How can someone so angry teach me of God’s love?” I ask myself.

Before I started this blog, I gave a lot of consideration to what my motives were. Why was I writing? What was my purpose? Certainly I didn’t have anything to offer. After all, I’m not a Bible scholar, I’m not a brilliant theologian – I’m just a guy that wants to know who God is.

Of course being “just a guy” often means I’m no different than anyone else. I can be every bit as angry, bitter, and argumentative as the next guy. But Jesus wasn’t. Jesus was this guy who always knew the right way to handle the situation. He always knew when to get angry and when to act in love. Of course for him those two things went hand in hand.

As I thought about some of these “angry” blogs, I realized I would leave them feeling a huge sense of burden. I would feel the guilt of not trying hard enough, or feel bad about being a failure at living up to lofty standards. I never felt encouraged or “built into”. I felt weighed down.

But that’s not the impression I get of how Jesus left people. I think whenever someone encountered Jesus they knew they had met someone different, someone who made broken people whole. For certain he challenged everyone. But being challenged is entirely different than weighing people down with burdens.

Jesus frees us to pursue God by lifting our burdens and placing them on himself. That’s an amazing thing.

I don’t want R3 to be a place of burden. I want it to be a place of challenge for both you and for me. Sometimes hearing the truth can be difficult. Sometimes knowing we need to change our lives is hard. Sometimes doing the right thing feels impossible.

But I won’t run away if you won’t.

Next