Semper Vita

Faith in Action

"...continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling."    Paul in Philippians 2:12

One of the groups I try to attend regularly is KIROS, a group of business people who meet for breakfast once a month in various locations in the Greater Seattle area. I attend the Bellevue meeting. KIROS consists of mostly Christians who seek to do business in such a way that it demonstrates their faith in Jesus and brings honor and glory to God. Don't worry, they don't go around preaching and being "weird," but they work in such a way that demonstrates their faith in action.

One of my friends, Darrell, owns his own business and is passionate about living out his faith at work - both in the way he treats his employees and in the way he runs his business. He's known for saying, "do what you say you will do." Darrell has trusted his business to God. At times, he's referred potential customers to another business rather than compromising his principles. Good for you, Darrell!

The Apostle Paul tells us in Philippians 2 that we need to "work out our salvation in fear and trembling." This applies to all people who believe in Jesus. It's nice to do this on a Sunday morning as part of a Christian clique, but it is far more important to do this visibly, every day as we live and work in our business, volunteer in the community, attend school and live in the neighborhood.

Fear and trembling is not about being so scared of God that we are terrified to do something wrong lest he'd slap us. It also does not mean we are trying to earn our way into heaven or into God's favor. 

Working out our salvation means to finish it through spiritual growth and development. It's a process that needs to be worked out daily, especially in our every day life. It's easy to look good for an hour a week on Sunday morning. Working out your salvation or faith refers to living our faith and growing in our relationship with God. It's a process of humility, service, perseverance, and spiritual growth.  

Only through faith in Jesus can any of us have right standing before God. As a result of that right relationship, we continue to work out how to live our faith in a way that brings honor and glory to God. Salvation and faith in this context is all about our relationship with God. And, just like any relationship, it requires work! We have to work out our faith because a life of faith is very different from our regular, everyday-without-God life.  To most of us who have jumped into this life with Jesus, it all feels, well, upside down. It's not about power, money, beauty or fame - but about respect, servanthood, gentleness, love, peace and hope. It's the life Jesus lived while he was on earth.

In order for people to rediscover the real Jesus, his people need to live in such a way that those who do not yet know him can see him in our lives, as we live out our faith in action. 

That's our goal - living our faith through acts of volunteering in a way that shows Jesus. Are you living your faith in action? Looking for a way to connect with others living this way? Please join the movement of volunteers and partners...so we can do more good together.

Thankful for Hope

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1

Giving thanks for the good things

Let me start out by wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! May this day be filled with gratitude for what God has done in us and for us.

Though this year has been filled with challenges, tests of faith and difficult times for me and my family, there have been so many good things that I am thankful for:

• Great friends - you really get to know who your friends are during the hard times. I am so blessed with awesome friends who have supported us and prayed for us. Their prayers have lifted us up and carried us through the hardest of times. "Thank you dear friends...and please keep praying!"
• Wonderful family - while you can choose your friends and not your family, I wouldn't have chosen anyone else. My husband, son, mother and sister are wonderful. "I love you and am so grateful for you."
• Beauty and provision - living in the Northwest is an opportunity for daily gratitude. It's so beautiful here. And, God has provided for us in all the various ways. I love my house and surroundings. I'm grateful for God's provision.
• Meaningful work - having a purpose and worthwhile calling makes my life worth living - without it I feel only partially alive. (Of course I would never want to be without my friends and family!) Semper Vita is that call for me. I am beyond grateful to God for inviting me on this journey with him.
• God - well, what can I say? There would be no life, real life or hope without God in my life.

Thankful for hope

This year really has been amongst the most difficult. It's been challenging on all fronts - relationally, spiritually, mentally, physically, financially and emotionally. So much so that earlier in the year I didn't feel hope. Of course I still had the hope given by Jesus but I didn't have hope for my everyday life. In fact, I would have been happy to learn that my expiration date was coming up. Now I'm glad it didn't!

God has taken me on an immense growth journey. He's allowed me to experience the depths of loneliness. My faith has been tested. And, most significantly, he's invited me to learn about his great love, deep comfort and powerful presence. God showed me things about myself I didn't know and revealed things about him I couldn't have imagined.

Now I'm overflowing with hope. God is so good. He really, really does work in all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).God is good - all the time. He knows just what we need (even the hard stuff) to get us to where we need to go. 

Blaming God?

In the midst of the turmoil I did have very honest conversations with God. At times I told him I could not go on. Other times I told him that this was not the script! (He reminded me that it was his script and we were right where we needed to be.) I told him I didn't like it. I told him that I could not do what he was asking of me. And, each time, after I poured my heart out, I re-surrendered to God and told him that "of course I would follow." After all, who else is there? Who do we have but God?

These experiences and conversations did lead me to think about the fact that so often we blame God when things go wrong. We might even be tempted to turn our backs on him or decide there cannot be a God. Are you there now or have you been there? Can I challenge you to a new thought? I dare you to persist through the hard times. Trust God to get you through it. And then watch...just watch and experience how awesome God is. He restores our life. He gives us back our hope.

Thank you God - for the hope!

Life is not totally back on track and we still have challenges...but we are not without hope. God will see us through. I rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2)and remember that the source of my hope is Jesus. As Colossians 1:27 states, "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

This Thanksgiving, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Do Good - Endure Suffering

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can."

John Wesley

Do good - it's rewarding

As Thanksgiving is approaching, it always prompts in me a sense of wanting to do some extra good. Of course I believe that doing good should be part of every Christian's life - but at Thanksgiving it seems like we should do more. This started me thinking about doing good...

When I do good I associate it with reward - not monetary but the intrinsic reward of feeling good and having helped. My particular brand of this often comes as people face their last chapter of life. I know it is not the norm but it's how God wired me. I love to come alongside a family when they've lost a loved one and do the memorial service. Tamara Dull jokingly calls me the "Last Chapter Pastor."

Now, rest assured, that's not my ultimate focus. In fact, it's because God's called me to be missional and serve beyond the walls of the church that serving families in time of need appeals to me. People without a church want a pastor to come alongside them and do the memorial. I get to love them and be Jesus' hands and feet. I get to share God's comfort. To me that's an honor and privilege.

How about you? How do you do good?

Suffering for doing good   

It is better, if it's God's will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil...So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."    

1 Peter 3:17; 4:19

Doing good when there's a real cost and even pain is a lot harder. We don't often hear sermons about suffering for doing good. I suspect that's because pastors might fear that the people wouldn't continue attending their church. But suffering is mentioned a lot in the New testament. Obviously Jesus suffered and he made it clear that we shouldn't expect any different. He told his disciples, "No servant is greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20).

Paul talks about the need and normalcy in suffering. Peter also makes it abundantly clear that suffering is part of the package. However, it should not keep us from doing good!

Wow. How does that change my view of doing good? Do I still want to do it? I've been tested this year and many times I wanted to walk away. Sometimes I hid for a while. I like the "doing good and being rewarded" idea better. And yet, we are called to do good and be willing to suffer. It's a tough call. But Jesus bids us to follow him.

Semper Vita and doing good

As we get ready to launch Semper Vita this coming March, we are asking people to step into a life of doing good. We will make it easy through our software. We believe that people will benefit and be rewarded as they do good. Are you ready to do good regardless of the cost? Will you follow Jesus?

Called - Now What?

"Before calling has anything to do with doing, it has everything to do with being that essence of yourself that God knew before the foundations of the earth..."  

Ruth Haley Barton

Have you heard the quip that we are human beings not human doings? As we look at the idea of calling, the distinction between those two ideas is significant. In the previous post, we looked at calling as: 1. belonging to God - and fully becoming who we are; and, 2. saying "yes" to his summons to serve him.

When we try to say "yes" to God we seem to start on a quest to do for God. So often, in our pursuit to make a difference in the world we become obsessed with accomplishing tasks to answer our call.

Even pastors, or maybe especially this group, fall into that trap. People look to them as spiritual leaders above the tug and pull of everyday life. Yet even in response to a full-time ministry calling, doing can supplant being. The result is a frazzle of activity in pursuit of responding to a genuine call.

In this frenzy to say "yes" by doing things, we often fail to accomplish the essence of the call because we're too busy to spend time with the Caller. If God is the one who calls us then checking in often and spending time being with him ought to be our first priority.

So how are we doing?

I get the concept. Really I do. However, living it is another matter. When I was in full-time ministry I often looked more like a human doing than a human being in the process of answering God's call on my life.

My friend Rita Nussli invited me to read Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership. "Thank you Rita!" This book has been a great source of encouragement. In this book Ruth Haley Barton writes that our calling "is first and foremost the calling to be yourself, that self that God created you to be."

Take steps to get there

God is calling each one of us to be the person we were born to be. Can we reconnect with that person? Can we grow to be that person? How do we get there?

It starts with spending time with God. Genuine time in prayer, worship and reading the Bible. Understanding ourselves is also very significant.

At Semper Vita we believe that discovering your true self and God-given wiring is essential to living the life God intended you to live. It's about fulfilling your calling on earth - whether in the church or in the world. It's about being all that God intended you to be reflecting your piece of his glory. After all, each one of us is made in his image.

One way to discover more about your true self is to uncover your basic wiring. Semper Vita's personal discovery training uses the Myers-Briggs assessment to explore personality, the Gallup StrengthsFinder assessment to uncover your God-given talents, and a Spiritual Gifts inventory to assess your special skills given to fulfill your assignment in God's Kingdom.

Is God Calling You?

"When God calls you to go he knows the end before you know the beginning."

Josh Hebert

Who is called?

Many people think that if God still "calls," this calling is for pastors and professional ministers. They are the ones that are supposed to do the religious stuff, right? Now that would certainly make life easier for the rest of us! So is this view correct?

I don't think so. In fact, all people are called by God at one level. What does "God calling" mean? It's his invitation to each of us for a personal connection. According to Ruth Haley Barton in Strengthening the Soul of Your Spiritual Leadership, it is all about God and you!

She explains that God called each one of us into being. He desires to save us from who we are not and calls us to be who we are. The call, first and foremost, is to belong to him. Secondly, it is to answer "yes" to his summons to serve him in a particular way.

It's about saying "yes" to God.

What does saying "Yes" to God mean? Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that we are God's workmanship (or poem) created in Jesus to do good works that God designed especially for each one of us in advance (Eph. 2:10). He knows exactly who we are and the best uses of our talents, personality, skills and passions. If you think about it, the call from God has us - we don't have the call. It does not originate from us. We didn't decide to issue the call. We can only choose to respond.

When Isaiah the prophet overheard God say, "Who shall we send?" He responded, "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8). He had already responded to the call to connect personally with God and now he responded to God's call to go.

How do we respond?

At Semper Vita, we believe that all of us are designed to answer both calls. Once we answer the call to a personal connection with God, he longs to have us join him in the work he's doing around us. That's the second call. Our particular call will align with our personality, talents and gifts. Semper Vita provides personal development tools to help you understand your personality, talents and gifts. Contact us if you want to discover how you can better say "Yes" to God.

Semper Vita: a White Water Adventure?

Seeing the parallels between following Jesus and going white river rafting.

Why did I sign up for this adventure?

This past Saturday, Tamara Dull, my husband Fred and I joined a group from Life at the Ridge on a white river rafting trip down the Wenatchee River. It's a Class III/IV adventure that leaves from Leavenworth, Washington, and ends in Cashmere, Washington. When we signed up in early May it sounded like a great idea. River rafting was always something I'd wanted to do. Now, in a rented wet suit, booties and a life-vest, serious doubts set in. Will I get tossed out of the boat? Should I have updated my will? Why did I want to do this?

Of course I wouldn't back out or tell people that I feared for my life. No way. So, I swallowed hard, followed directions and got in the boat. At first, the guide trained us and had us practice paddling on a very calm part of the river. We learned to paddle together: forward, backward, left back and right back. Then we headed lazily down the river. The guide still held little practice sessions. It was fun but a bit slow. I wondered if we were being lulled into a false sense of security. There would be rapids, right?

Paddle through a ten-foot wave

Then we hit the white water. The guide steered us right into the roughest part of the waves, told us to paddle, raised his voice so that we paddled harder, and insured that we experienced the full splash of cold river water. Brrr. That water is cold!

Now soaking wet, we had experience the rapids and survived! This was fun!The guide took us through more thrilling sections of river getting us thoroughly wet as we enjoyed every minute.

What about my fear? Most of the time I focused so much on paddling that I forgot to be afraid. We had a blast! Once we completed the rafting, we loaded the boat, boarded a bus and headed back for dry clothes and a BBQ lunch.

Follow the right guide

Reflecting on our adventure, it occurred to me that launching Semper Vita reminds me a lot of this rafting trip. Sometimes I find myself on shore afraid to get in the boat because the rapids might get me. And, sometimes I float lazily along the river forgetting how serious our mission is. Then other times I just paddle hard following Jesus and forget I felt scared.

This Semper Vita adventure feels like riding the rapids. It's intense but great. After a stretch of wild waves, we get to the next patch of calm water - soaked but feeling exhilarated. As we emerge from the spray, we dry off, regroup and get ready for the next set of white water.

How's your adventure? Who is your guide? Want to join us?

"Follow Me" - Jesus

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest." Matthew 11:28 (The Message)

Just a nice story?

Jesus says to his disciples, "follow me." In my imagination I see him walking down the road in "Jesus-clothes." He talks with his team while traveling through a relatively barren landscape. As I look past this group of men and women, I see sun-baked, brown rolling hills, sparse vegetation, and white, flat-roofed houses in a small village just up ahead. It's serene and safe, reminiscent of vignettes in those Jesus films.

Follow right there

However, I live in Redmond, WA. Jesus says, "follow me," here! He's not in a tan robe, it's rarely sunny and it's not brown. As I look out my window I'm surrounded by evergreens. It rains a lot, there's pavement, concrete, houses and glass-clad skyscrapers, people are rushing, there's homelessness, a down-turned economy, teenagers with issue, and elderly struggling to make ends meet.

Even here Jesus still says, "Follow me." This means in good times when it's sunny and easy, and in bad times when it's overcast and dreary. He invites - no gently urges me - to follow even through darkness, while I'm in pain, when I can't see, when I don't understand, when I'm too tired, or when I'm overwhelmed by my life. Following is most important when it's not my envisioned ideal scenario. It's harder too.

A promise to guide

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 32:8 where God promises his followers, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you and watch over you." This is good news in these confusing times. It's what I'm counting on as we build Semper Vita.

(I get up from my desk and rush out the door) "Wait up, I'm coming!"

Living So It Counts

It's your life. It's my life. Let's live like we mean it.

Lost time

As I realize that another month has flown by and I've hardly done what I want to do - no, need to do - frustration rises. Life continues to happen and everyday brings new challenges. I long to do more to grow Semper Vita but stuff gets in the way. It's my life and I want it to count! I want to live like I mean it. Is that your heart's cry too?

In March, I presented a workshop on missional volunteering at the NW Ministry Conference. The group of pastors, church leaders and ministry workers positively responded to the message. Living life intentionally to make a difference appeals to most of us I think. I wonder if their recent six weeks have been filled with life's challenges hindering them from getting to what their soul is calling them to do? Or is it just in my life?

Newsboys, sing it to me

Tamara Dull just gave me the new "In The Hands of God" CD by the Newsboys. We saw them in concert at the NW Ministry Conference in March. Great stuff!

I've been listening to the CD while driving. And then God spoke to me via the lyrics from "This Is Your Life."

You had a dream but it got lost in a life of regret.
The devil knows you get just one shot.
You had a dream, are you still dreaming? Or did you forget
that heaven's calling for your best shot?

Ouch! I don't want to look back on a life of regret. I need to give God my best shot...and it's now. The chorus of the song urges me to get on with it:

This is your life
Treat yourself right
Treat others right
Live like you know you should.
This is life
Fight the good fight
Fight for what's right
Do what you know you should.

My prayer today is, "God, please help me to live my life right, doing what's right, living a life that counts, a life without regret."

20 Simple Ways to Live Well

It's possible to make a difference everyday by choosing humility, kindness and service.

If you have a Bible, grab it, find the book of Romans and look for Chapter 12. It's been a favorite of mine for many years. In high school, one of my guiding quotes from this book was: "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone" (Romans 12:18).

Undoubtedly, my motivation in those days centered around being liked. I'm past that now. What seemed simple then through a teenage lens now looks quite difficult. It means I have to not insist on my rights.

Simple advice for an upright life

Yesterday, I read Romans chapter 12 again. There's a lot of sound advice in it - simple but not easy. Check out some of the ways it challenges us to live well:

1. Think of yourself with sober judgment - neither to high or to low
2. Use your gifts, talents and abilities to benefit others and bring glory to God
3. Love sincerely
4. Hate what is evil and cling to what's good
5. Be devoted to each other in brotherly love
6. Honor one another above yourself
7. Keep your spiritual fervor and don't lack in zeal while serving God
8. Be joyful in hope
9. Be patient in troubled or hard times
10. Pray faithfully
11. Share with each other - especially those in need
12. Practice hospitality
13. Rejoice with those who rejoice, mourn with those who mourn
14. Live in harmony with each other
15. Do not be proud but be willing to hang out with people who are less fortunate
16. Do not be conceited
17. Do what is right
18. Live at peace with everyone - as far as it depends on you
19. Do not take revenge, do not curse, do not repay evil for evil
20. Do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good

Imagine if we all took this seriously. How would our family, our friendships, our neighborhood or community change? Which one is hardest for you?

Be Wise, Check With God

It's tempting to look inside instead of up.

Don't worry, we know what to do!

We were just “window shopping” at a car lot. Immediately we spotted him. He looked like “the sales guy.” We were ready. We knew that his job to get us to say, “Yes.” We felt ready to face him. After all, our mind was made up – whatever the great incentives, we didn’t need a different car. So he asked what we were looking for. I tried not to engage by stating that we were “just looking.” He created some space but circled back with charm and friendliness. Soon he presented compelling reasons to take a look inside. I fired back some great sounding comments and questions. He provided additional information. I pushed back. He flattered us, then invited us to just take it for a spin. “Check it out. There’s no obligation.” We tried to hang on but resistance was futile. We looked inside, we entered the car, we took it for a spin and soon sat across from his desk making the deal. The end result: we drove off with the new car.

Oh no!

The next morning we were hit hard with “buyer’s remorse hangover.” We tried to return the vehicle. They don’t take cars back. Who knew?

Spiritual buyer's remorse

Joshua, leader of the Israelites and protégé of Moses, experienced major BRH (buyer’s remorse hangover) too. He couldn’t return the deal either. What deal? The one he made with neighbors, a deal that turned out to be disastrous.

The book of Joshua chapter 9, tells the story of the Gibeonites who set out to mislead Joshua and his people. They pretended to come from afar but actually lived nearby. Their motive was to try to prevent annihilation. Good motive.

Joshua questioned them:

• perhaps you live near us?
• Who are you and where do you come from?

The Gibeonites flattered him. "We’ve heard about you and your God. We’ve heard how God has wiped your enemies out." They told of their travels and how when they started out their bread was fresh. “Look for yourselves,” they said. “See how the bread is dry and moldy, our clothes worn out and patched.” Joshua and the leaders sampled the provisions to check the story. They relied on their own ability to discern the truth and evaluate the situation.

Makes sense, right? What’s the problem? Well, they did not inquire of the Lord (Joshua 9:14). They didn't check his plans and so ended up disobeying his commands. They made a treaty and sealed it. Then a few days later they discovered the truth but it was too late to turn back. Joshua and the leaders couldn't return the deal and the Israelites suffered for it from then on out.

Simple solution: Stop and ask directions

It's very simple, really. If Joshua had asked God he'd found out that these were neighbors. All it requires is to stop and ask God. Why is it so hard to look up rather than rely on what's inside us? What are you facing today that you're tempted to solve on your own? Should you stop and ask directions?