A season for every activity under heaven!

/ Brenda from the Bridge / 1 Comment

Well hello there!

I have heard people say “fear not”.   I began to think…how?  How do we walk through moments like this and not give into the spirit of fear knocking on our door?  The answer is simple, and hard…we are so used to getting things done under our own strength but this…we cannot do this in our own strength.  We must admit our need for HIM (That’s the hard part.  Putting our pride and need to be in control down)! We must turn our eyes to the Lord.    We need to dive into His word.  We need to spend time talking to our good good Father in heaven.

His word tells us there is a time for everything.  EVERYTHING. And a SEASON for EVERY ACTIVITY!

Ecclesiastes 3 New International Version 

A Time for Everything

3 There is a time for everything,
    and a season for every activity under the heavens:

2     a time to be born and a time to die,
    a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3     a time to kill and a time to heal,
    a time to tear down and a time to build,
4     a time to weep and a time to laugh,
    a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5     a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
    a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6     a time to search and a time to give up,
    a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7     a time to tear and a time to mend,
    a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8     a time to love and a time to hate,
    a time for war and a time for peace.

This means…

THIS IS JUST ANOTHER SEASON.  Yes, it is not a season we have seen for a long long time. It is disrupting our normal. This is what scares us.  But His word tells us  this is NORMAL! It is just a NEW SEASON! One that is uprooting what HAS BEEN to plant seeds for NEW THINGS.  New ideas, new dreams, new goals will be discovered during this season!  That is exciting!!! It is a season where so much looks as if it is being torn down.  While this is an end of how things have been…it creates the space and place for the NEW THINGS WE ARE ABOUT TO BUILD! 

 

We will mourn those things we lose, those things we are letting go of.  We must be careful not to skip this step of letting go, of mourning the loss of what was.  Or we will be tempted to go back to business as usual when this season changes.  AND IT WILL CHANGE.  Right now so many people are having to think out of the box to keep things going.  It is scary, we had gotten so comfortable with what was.  We even thought, “This is how God wants it.”  And now suddenly EVERYTHING IS DIFFERENT.  It doesn’t mean God was not in what was. He was in that season, but it also means, He is in WHAT IS. He is in THIS SEASON TOO! Embrace what God is moving you to and through.  Understand what God is asking you to let go of.  AND DESIRE NEVER TO GO BACK.  Don’t go back to comfortable.  Stay out of the box, hand in hand with Jesus- be bold, be courageous, do not shrink back!  Dance for joy, for all that God is doing in and through and for us in this season!

It is a time we must refrain from an actual physical embrace!  Yes social distancing is a thing. Business and churches are shut down.  Some are fighting against this out of fear.  Suggesting we get back to work now, sacrificing a few for the good of all. It might even sound noble.  But my bible tells me the “love of money is the root of all evil.”  We can and will make more money.  But we can not replace a human being. To say a human being is less important than money…IS EVIL…we must call it out.

We are in the season where we must ride out this storm til its end.   The old way of life is passing away, and something new will be birthed in its place. We can not just go back to business as usual, any more than we can say to FALL “Stop right now…don’t move one day more!” All because we don’t want to see Winter come.

Seasons come and seasons go. This season will pass.  Let us learn the lessons that are here for us in the midst of it. Let us embrace the blessings that it offers to us.  Let us make the changes we need to make, plant the seeds for new things so that when their time comes we can reap the harvest!  Let us throw away the old and pick up the new.

FAITH REQUIRES YOU TO STEP OUT OF THE BOAT….WHO’S WITH ME?!  HERE COMES FREEDOM ~ HE IS MAKING ALL THINGS NEW!!!!

 

 

Voices

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The world today is filled with voices calling to us. The problem is not in hearing the voices. It is in knowing which ones to listen too and which ones to shut out, because not all the voices are equally valuable or helpful.

So, do I listen to….FOX, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, BBC? Do I listen to the Republicans? Do I listen to the Democrats? Or do I listen for a voice deeper…older than all those voices? Do I listen for the voice of God?

In all the noise that is circulating in the world is it even still possible to hear the voice of God? The answer to that question is “yes”, but it is a qualified “yes”.

If we are going to hear the voice beneath all the other voices, then we have to spend time listening for it. If we want to hear God, then we had best shut off the TV, put away the phone, shut off the radio and get quiet. If we want to hear the voice of God, we had better get out our Bibles and we had best start by reading a few chapters in the Book.

I am not talking about being quiet for a minute or two minutes or even five minutes. God is not in a rush to speak to our angry, anxious, worried hearts. t’s not that He doesn’t want to speak, He is just not going to rush for anyone including you. So if we want to hear His voice in the midst of all this craziness, then we had best determine to settle in for a good long chat. HEre’s how:

  1. Open the Bible. Read starting in Psalms and don’t stop until something stands out to you. That which stands out is the start of God’s voice to you.
  2. Jot down what stands out to you and then think about why it stands out. What does it have to do with your personal life? Write that down.
  3. Congratulations you have just heard God speak to you!

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phil. 4:8

It’s time we started listening for better voices than the ones on TV!

BE UNSTOPPABLE!

/ Brenda from the Bridge / 1 Comment

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

I have wrestled throughout the day whether to post or not post.  To be honest I wasn’t “Feeling it”.  I wanted to lay in bed today and let the world slip.  But a small voice kept whispering into my despair,  “Get up. Get moving. You are going to be OK.  I have you.”

The roller coaster of human emotion that is the Pandemic COVID19, has made me a bit unsettled today. So, I took my own advice this after noon, and stopped listening to the voice of fear and panic and I breathed in Jesus and breathed out His peace.

These are unsettling times.  The prevailing winds are panic and fear.  But Ladies and gentlemen, we have the power to CHANGE THE NATURE OF THE WIND!  Our strength does not come from how much toilet paper we have, or how many pounds of meat we hoarded.  OUR STRENGTH COMES FROM THE LORD…HIS JOY dismatles fear  in a second!  HIS LIGHT bursts forth and decimates panic.

It is not time to shrink back in fear and woe.  It is time to be STRONG AND COURAGEOUS.  When everything in us screams, “You can’t handle this storm.” Breathe in Jesus and Breathe out, “I AM THE STORM!!!” Let’s change the very nature of the prevailing winds from fear and panic, lack and greed; to that of LOVE and JOY , COMMUNITY and UNITY!

Stop looking at the grocery store as if it will save you.  Take a breath and recognize where your help comes from!

Psalm 121 1

I lift up my eyes to the hills– where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The Lord is not shocked over what is happening.  He is standing in the midst of this with us.  Together (with the Lord) we are UNSTOPPABLE!

A Professional Meetinger No More

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment
Photo of Man Leaning on Wooden Table

So I spent 19 of the last 36 hours in meetings of one kind or another. It feels like every last ounce of glory and strength has been drained out of my body. Amanda and Brenda are no better off. Brenda was out even longer than I was by about 6 hours.

When people used to ask me what I did I used to tell them I was a “professional meetinger”. That period of my life was annotated by a long series of meeting minutes and action items I had to get done in order to build the Kingdom of God.

The last 36 hours has made me realize that I am not a “professional meetinger” anymore. I still have a deep passion for the Kingdom of God but I realize my job is not to “meeting” the Kingdom into existence any more (if it ever was). I am going to try really hard not to meeting myself into a stupor ever again.

Today when people ask me what I do for work. I am not exactly sure what my answer will be…artist, prophet, pastor, caregiver? What I do know is that I will never again tell people I am a “professional meetinger”. That is a part of my past. It doesn’t fit me anymore.

Dance Your Rhythm

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

What do you do when life shifts from march time to a waltz? What do you do when the rest of the world is still marching and you’re waltzing? What do you do when the rest of the world starts noticing that you aren’t marching to their rhythm anymore?

Since returning from The Philippines, my life rhythm has changed radically. There are days when the world still pulls at me and I am tempted to march again. But, most days I am pretty much settled into the slower waltz rhythm that was put on me by God at the end of 2019.

The rhythm is pretty repetitive: My morning’s go one way. My afternoons go another and my nights…well they are still a work in progress but even they have done some major shifting. The framework around all of it seems to be breakfast, lunch and supper.

I am not good at the waltz rhythm yet. I haven’t got all the nuance down, but clunky as I might look, I have changed pace. What I know is that I will not be going back to marching for a while.

People are starting to notice that I am not on the same foot as them anymore. I am OK with that. Everyone else may need to march. I need to dance in order to accomplish what God needs me to do at Cornerstone.

I was praying about it this morning and I felt impressed by the Lord that much of what I am waltzing through is preparation and discovery for the next phase of ministry.

No I am not leaving Cornerstone, people, so don’t worry. God has made it clear that I have work to do in this city still.

But God is changing the nature of the ministry I do. I have known that for a while and have been very open with the whole church about this. He started changing me three years ago and He isn’t finished yet. The change is going at His pace. As with everything else at the church, God has it firmly in hand and He is in charge of the results.

Woman and man dancer latino international dancing

So…What do you do when life shifts from march time to a waltz? What do you do when the rest of the world is still marching and you’re waltzing? What do you do when the rest of the world starts noticing that you aren’t marching to their rhythm anymore?

You figure out how to be the best dancer you can be …and brother you dance!

Man Doing Airborne Stunt

Control

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

In this season of intensive prayer leading up to and including Lent, I have journaled many personal revelations/ realizations about my life which I think may mean something to the larger body of Christ.

Here is one thought which came to me on January 31 regarding the idea of “CONTROL”:

It is time for me to learn I do not control God. It is time for me to start allowing God to control the outcomes of my life. So many times, my service to God, my prayer to God, my devotional life before God is about me trying to control the outcomes of my life. My religion, my relationship to God is too often about me achieving some personal goal rather than me totally surrendering to God no matter what the outcome of that surrender is. This insistence on control is a very great sin.

It is time to embark upon the great and terrible and mysterious adventure with God. It is time to resign myself to the current of God’s river and to allow it to carry me away where it will.

Do you ever feel like you are trying to control God?

Empty

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

During this corporate season of prayer I have filled my journal with hundreds of entries from my personal prayer times. Here is one of the thoughts I have been contemplating since Jan. 26.

“We are only empty vessels. The sooner we recognize that, the sooner we can stop trying to accomplish things in our own power and we can allow God to fill us and flow through us with His power. In His power we can accomplish eternal things if impossible magnitude.”

I am aware that God is bringing me into a place where I recognize my powerlessness. This sense of my own fragility is the key to operating in the supernatural power of the Living God.

Are you becoming aware that you are not equal to the task in front of you? What is your answer to it?

A Time To Chat.

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The Bible says there is a time to every purpose under Heaven. I know you thought it was The Byrds, but actually ….no… The Byrds liberated it from King Solomon and his book of Ecclesiastes.

For all those who follow this blog, you know that God has been changing up my schedule rather severely over the last few months. He’s been causing me to ask what it’s time for in my life. He’s been asking me to discover what is important to me at this stage..and what is not. It’s been harder than I thought it would be. I thought I would just easily slide from one gear into the next, but this has not been so much a shifting as it has been a process.

Part of that process has been an evaluation of what my life is supposed to become. I said yesterday that I knew my life was supposed to include both more prayer and more creative connections with art. I also know that this time with my mother, as her health declines, is something that I will value forever, Her situation is the fulcrum which gives power to this whole movement of life. As I press into the situation with my mother, I am also discovering I do really value time spent relating with people.

Over my many years of ministry I have gotten so involved in the act of ministering to people and being an event coordinator to bring people together for the act of relating that at times I found myself loving people but being really sick of being with them…Too much of a good thing I guess.

Now as I am being pulled out of the middle of everything I am finding that I really do crave relationship with people. I so enjoy just being with the staff on Tuesdays. I love seeing the congregation on Sundays. I love sitting with people one on one just having a good chat. And I love having to go home to Mom so I can resume the quiet lifestyle I need to process all that comes out of those times of relation.

There is a time to every purpose under Heaven: A time to write, a time to draw, a time to take photos, a time to do house work, a time to take care of Mom and a time to be with people for a good chat.

I feel like I am becoming more balanced than I have ever been!

Ready! Set! Draw!

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Morning came early today. By 6:30 I had showered, walked and fed the dogs, had breakfast, done laundry, got the bills ready for mailing and loaded the car for the dump run. By 7 I was at prayer in the church and by 8 I was loading the car with my travel piano in preparation for the funeral I am performing this afternoon. By 9 I was peeling potatoes for the potato salad I am taking to the funeral. Then, I headed off to the bank to make a deposit and to withdraw money for mom’s daily needs for the next few weeks.

Brenda had a great night in Southington CT. Two more people gave their hearts to Jesus last night and she got to pray with a man who has had five strokes and lost his voice.

That is the power of story. That is the power of art launched into conversation.

I think it is for this reason I have felt over the last several months that I need to spend more time in two things: Prayer and creation of art.

Sometimes I just practice my hand at simple things I think I will have to draw a lot

This image I actually saw in a vision I had before one of our recent board meetings.

I am learning God has skills He would make available to us if we would both seek Him and practice. These skills remain latent in us until we need them and choose them for the purposes of His kingdom! Who knows but maybe this is one of the reasons for the shifts going on in my life right now. I am being called out of certain things in order to help my mother. That said perhaps I am also being called into other things by the shifting which will make me of greater use for God’s kingdom.