Christianity

Developing

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

My motto for this year is SHIFT YOUR FOCUS TO WONDER. In sharing that with my artist’s group back in January one of our artists wondered what God meant by wonder… that is, was I supposed to shift my focus towards looking at awe-inspiring things? Or was I supposed to shift my focus to ponder things more?

Now that I am in my third month of “SHIFTING”, I think God meant a little of both. On January 13th my sister and I embarked on a 10 day journey to The Philippines to attend my son’s marriage to Kristine Bernadette Causing Barrameda.

Those 10 days filled me with awe for sure.

I was awestruck by the fact that I was being privileged to witness such a sacred moment in the life of someone I had actually helped bring into the world.

I could not be prouder of the man he has become. I could not be more honored that a family a world away has entrusted us with the care of their beautiful daughter. I am awestruck that God has chosen to add another godly young woman full of talent and power to our family.

During that time I was often struck dumb by the overwhelming beauty of my daughter-in-law’s homeland. And I was floored by the total otherness of this place called The Philippines. Kristine said in the wedding video that she and Joe were from different worlds and she was completely truthful when she said it.

But during those 10 days in the developing nation that is The Philippines I was more than awestruck. I was left to ponder what God was and is DEVELOPING in me. Honestly, to my way of thinking what is transpiring inside of me is as foreign to my knowing as The Philippines was to my experience.

I am daily aware of the fact that my current spiritual reality is new ground for me. I have no memory of this place and precious little context to explain it.

I have often said to my boss that what God is going to do in our church may leave us looking somewhat unchurchy. If that is so for our congregation, it means that as individuals we are going to experience things that take us out of our understandings of who and what we have been. That is certainly something that might require some wondering.

I am mindful that historically, most powerful moves of God leave the people involved scratching their heads. As those moves DEVELOP people are left to fall back on the only thing that doesn’t change in the midst of life-altering change. That would be the Triune God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Well I am wondering at what God is doing in my life this year and I am wondering what to do about it. In all the wondering I am securing myself to God who is showing me through prayer, through the solid ground of His Word, the Bible and through the fellowship of believers. In that security I am DEVELOPING into the new thing that God wants me to be, in order to do the new thing that He expects from me as a part of Cornerstone Church.

Now what has God shown me in the midst of all this wondering……

A New Way

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Our fellowship has a very structured method for our member missionaries to raise funds. When Brenda came home last April she jumped right into using that method and following the rules to the “T”. While not great rule lovers we Lillies tend to be pretty stringent rule followers in most things.

Sadly the rules which are set up and which work for many of our member missionaries do not work well for all and they didn’t work at all for Brenda. She was actually losing money and driving herself nuts (literally) in the process.

Come October she was emotionally and spiritually exhausted and everyone who knew her understood that she could not go on with the process as it stood. Brenda’s leadership gave her three months sabbatical. Brenda used that time to pray and recuperate.

During that time God gave her an idea for a new play called “My Hiding Place.” The play is about a real life Christian heroine of the twentieth century, Corrie TenBoom. Brenda got permission from the TenBoom museum to write and perform the piece and began setting up shows for her return to ministry.

The show has made all the difference. It has activated Brenda’s creative bent and hitched it to the fundraising need. Bookings have begun to come in and the show is a roaring success. I have seen it three times now and each time I am moved to tears. Further the anointing is on this thing. 14 people have received Christ since the beginning of the year and Brenda has prayed with a host of people who profess Christianity but continue to walk in bitterness and unforgiveness.

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Here is Brenda’s booking schedule. She is currently looking at breaking out of New England she is currently working on a tour of some Southern States and Pennsylvania. Anyone interested?

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Home Again! And Ready For A Fight!

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

Amanda picked us up at Boston Logan Airport at 9:30 A.M. yesterday. Because of the time change we arrived in Boston at the same time we left South Korea! Can you say jet lag?

Actually it hasn’t been that bad. We got home at noon and visited with Melanie, James, Daniella and Mom for a bit. Once the Franklin family headed home to Lynn, Brenda and I took naps for a few hours. Once I was up I pushed myself to stay up until about 11 P.M.

This morning I began getting back into routine. I was up for prayer at 4 A.M.. I walked the dogs and then went to the store for mom’s papers, scratch tickets and morning cigarettes. Then Amanda and I headed off to the church for staff/ board prayer.

Cornerstone is in a 21 day season of fasting and prayer. The church is open to those who sign up for prayer 24 hours a day. So I prayed for an hour and then had meetings until about 10:30.

Then it was home for some lunch and a nap before walking the dogs again. I did a little house work and then sat down to catch up on some writing. Which of course brings me here.

As I prayed this morning the Lord really impressed upon me, through the writings of other congregants in our congregational prayer journal, that the winter season of our church is over and we are heading into a Spring time season.

The Scripture the Lord gave me to meditate on as He impressed the idea of Spring on me was 2 Samuel 11:1

“In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.”

The word of the Lord to me was that Spring time is a season of spiritual warfare. In this Spring that is upon us we will have to fight as the armies of Israel did. If we do we will possess the land. Conversely, if we make David’s mistake and do not join the fight then we will be taken.

Lord find me ready for the battle!

Philippines or Bust Pt. 6

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

After a final four hour delay in Manila, Brenda and I made it to IloIlo City., We discovered I am severely allergic to volcanic ash though, I was miserable during my time breathing the air of Taal Volcano. I was fine as soon as I got on the plane.



Went to supper with these guys

A

Born And Bred Pt. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / 1 Comment

The Vicarage is what we call our home. We call it that because it is a place where we three ministers of the gospel live. I know…I know…we are not really vicars but I couldn’t bear the thought of calling our little cottage the parsonage. It just doesn’t ring right. It is not just the place where we live though. It is the place where we ministers have grown up. Actually there have been Lillie’s on this block in our tiny town since the year 1940. From my back yard I can see the house where my father grew up.

But the Vicarage is not the Vicarage just because we live there. This old house has housed ministers of three different churches over the course of its life. God keeps putting His men in this house and I have to believe there is a reason for that. We have a purpose here in little Winchendon. We have a job to do which has been assigned by God. He has provided us a space from which to do it. The present troubles facing us do not compare to the power of the promise we have been given.

So no matter what may come, we will carry on.

My Hiding Place

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments


When last we spoke, one of the things I told you was that Brenda was put on sabbatical after her conferences in August. Her leadership told her she needed to take off through the end of October. I was relieved because she was emotionally and spiritually exhausted (and anyone who has ever done the work of full time ministry knows how difficult spiritual exhaustion can be).

During her time away from the itineration trail Brenda sought spiritual guidance and spent a lot of time praying. The Lord led her during that time to write a one woman show based on the life of Corrie TenBoom one of the 20th century’s great heroes of the faith. Corrie Tenboom’s name rises to the level of Graham, Bon Hoeffer, Elliot and Mother Theresa.

That show is almost ready to go up. The first production will be on January 10th. I have sat through two workshops of the play and a few rehersals. It is gripping.

As Brenda once again hits the itineration trail she is offering the show as an outreach to churches and civic groups. Here is a snippet she did for our church during the month of November. She was out of costume but worked it into a presentation she gave to our church. The full production is being hosted at Cornerstone in April.

Brenda is travelling across Southern New England with the show and is also looking at a tour in Michigan. She is wiling to tour your area as well and will come for the cost of travel and a love offering. If you would like to book her contact me in the comments section below.