This I Believe by Pastor Russ Fochler

If someone asked you what you believe; about what some of your core values are – what would you share? 

Recently, I was intrigued to learn about a national project that solicited and broadcast brief essays about what individuals believed:

During its four years on NPR (National Public Radio), This I Believe engaged listeners in a discussion of the core beliefs that guide their daily lives. 

Now, “This I Believe” http://thisibelieve.org/ is an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. Some 100,000 of these essays, written by people from all walks of life, are archived here on their website, heard on  public radio, chronicled through their books, and featured in weekly podcasts. The project is based on the popular 1950s radio series of the same name hosted by Edward R. Murrow.

As you consider this question about your own core beliefs, you may be surprised by the deeply-felt values that now rise to the surface.  They may be as earthy as believing in the transformational value of growing a garden.  Or community focused, like the man who believed in inviting a new group of strangers to his house for dinner and conversation each week.   They may be as practical as a strong belief in the value of keeping things organized and neat….

One of my favorites essays in “This I Believe” was by 6-year-old Tarak McLain of Texas.  Here are seven of the 100 beliefs that Tarak came up with:

·      I believe we’re all equal.

·      I believe we can help people.

·      I believe everyone is weird in their own way.

·      I believe we should be generous.

·      I believe I should not whine.

·      I believe that God helps us to have a good time.

·      I believe people should go outside more.

So, what core beliefs guide your daily life?

When we consider what we believe in and what we value, we then make more room for them in our daily life.   What are we “tuning into” in the moments that we have?  What are we planning for and sowing into for the days, months, and years that we have on this earth?

One of the things that I received last summer through almost dying, was a heightened sensitivity to the gift of each moment: To cherish the ones I love and to “drink in” the beauty around me. 

And I’m convinced that one doesn’t need a “close call with death” in order to live more aligned with our deepest values....  

Years ago, the original Blazing Fire Elders recognized and wrote down the core values of this fellowship.  These core values are not what we’re “supposed to believe” in order to please God.  Rather, they reflect our understanding of Father God’s heart for us.  And we embrace them as keys to living well in Father God’s family. 

You can read these core values at: http://www.blazingfire.org/corevalues.htm . 

Do they resonate with what you value in a spiritual community?

To further encourage you to write down your own “This I Believe” statements, here are some of mine:

• I believe that not all truth in the Bible has equal priority.  Some things are more important to God’s heart.  As I read the Bible with the Holy Spirit, He helps me understand how all aspects of life-giving truth fit together.  (Thank you to Kris Vallotton for passing along this revelation)
• I believe in being authentic with everyone.  And I seek to be vulnerable with people to the degree that they value and receive my vulnerability.
• I believe in "drinking in" the glory of sun-lit leaves in the late afternoon.
• I believe in keeping grace and truth together.

I’d love to hear from you about the core beliefs that guide your daily life.   I invite you to send me some of the ones that speak most uniquely and powerfully to you. 

And keep in mind Tarak’s observation:

“I believe everyone is weird in their own way.”   ; )

Russ Fochler

rfochler@yahoo.com

Unrestrained Extravagant Love by Pastor Karena Lout

When Todd and I were engaged, he'd often put his affection for me on display by extravagantly proposing to me over and over again when we were out on a date. But if you know Todd, this probably doesn't come as a surprise. Whether we were at a restaurant or a park, onlookers would applaud every time as I said, "Yes!" Love makes you do crazy things. You want to shout it out across every mountaintop. Embarrassment and restraint are pretty nonexistent.

I revel in the unrestrained, radical love that Jesus continually lavishes over me. Love tore the veil and broke down any wall that would separate. Christ took death upon Himself to guarantee that we would enjoy inseparable union together for eternity. Our hearts can't help but respond in sweet adoration and abandoned devotion.

"Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil." John 12:3

Mary of Bethany was a young single woman, with no known public ministry. She unashamedly spent a year's wages, her whole inheritance, as she poured her costly perfume out over Jesus. This was simply her response to love. She was mocked for what was considered a "waste" but Jesus openly received it with love and honor. He says in Mark 14, "Wherever the Gospel is preached throughout the world, I want what this woman has done to also be told." This is His value for intimate relationship. Mary wasn't known in the courts of men during her lifetime, yet her devotion would be remembered all throughout history. Mark 14:8 says, "She has come beforehand to anoint My body for burial." Mary saw the cross before it happened. Her heart was postured in a way that she could recognize her inclusion in Christ's burial and resurrection. The sweet fragrance of her love would forever be intertwined with her Beloved's.

I love the song "Dress Us Up" by John Mark Mcmillan. As you read some of the lyrics below, I encourage you to dive into this uncontrolled, uninhibited ocean of LOVE with Jesus right now:

"Dress us up in your righteousness

Bring us in with a ring and a kiss

When you walk into the room you know we can't resist

Every bottle of perfume always ends up on the floor in a mess"

Jesus is the author and finisher of this kind of intimate relationship. He can't take His eyes off of you. You ravish His heart in a way that causes the earth to sing out and the heavens to resound with the heartbeat of His love for you. If you're feeling apprehensive or afraid to let Him that close, I encourage you to ask Jesus to show you what it would look like to have this kind of intimacy with Him. And I pray you feel the sweet kisses of His love and pleasure over you like never before!

Love, Karena

Thought Provoking Questions by Brent Lokker

Last Saturday during Blazing Fire's worship service, I asked many questions to provoke people into higher places with the Lord (The Lord often asked questions in the Scriptures to invite us into deeper places with Him).  I have included some Scripture verses, not as proof-texts, but as a starting point for you to explore greater truth with the Lord.  Enjoy the journey with Him!  Rather than just zipping through these, stop at the ones that hit you and talk with Papa about it--He loves the time with you!

What if we knew we were Daddy’s favorite ALL the time?
(Luke 4:19; John 1:16; 2 Corinthians 6:2)

What if we were absolutely certain God wasn’t disappointed with us in any way?
(Romans 5:1-8)

What if we gave ourselves the exact same value and worth God does?
(1 Peter 1:18-19)

What if we always knew that God was good?
(Psalm 106:1; Romans 8:28)

What would our relationship with God be like if we were convinced we were blameless?
(1 Corinthians 1:8; Ephesians 1:4; 5:27)

What if we always operated in our true nature of perfect love so that fear did not exist?
(1 John 4:16-18)

What if we really believed we died to sin and sin wasn’t our master anymore?
(Romans 6:6-7; 17-18)

What would happen if we always lived as free people under the covenant of grace?
(John 8:36; Romans 8:2; 2 Corinthians 3:17)

What if the only addiction we had was to the all-consuming love of God?
(Ephesians 5:18; Matthew 4:4; Romans 8:38-39)

What if shame and condemnation were feelings we knew nothing about?
(Romans 8:1; 10:11)

What would happen if we actually believed we hear the voice of God?
(John 10:3; 16)

What if we saw money as a powerful tool in our hands for the sake of the Kingdom instead of something that would save us?
(2 Corinthians 9:8-11; Luke 19:17)

What if we lived with no impossibilities, knowing that we would never die?
(Mark 10:27; Philippians 4:13; John 11:26)

What would our lives be like if we continuously rested in God, never working for what’s already ours in Christ?
(Matthew 11:28-30; Galatians 3:2-3; Hebrews 4:1-11)

What if we were never tempted to doubt that Jesus is totally infatuated with and love-struck for his bride?
(Song of Songs 4:1; 7)

What would the family of God look like if we never got offended at each other?
(Colossians 3:3; 13)

How would husbands and wives treat each other if we always knew we were one flesh?
(Ephesians 5:25-33, especially in The Message Bible)

How quickly would the world believe in Jesus if all the Believers valued each other as God does?
(John 13:34-35; 17:21)

What would happen if we extended the same forgiveness, grace and mercy to each other that God has extended to us?
(Colossians 3:13; James 2:13)

What if we believed God that each and every member of the body of Christ is completely indispensible?
(1 Corinthians 12:12-26)

What if we believed that every single person in this world all had the very same Father?
(Ephesians 3:14-15)

What would we be doing if we believed God all the time?
(Hebrews 11; 1 John 5:5)

What would the world look like if the sons of God were revealed?
(Romans 8:19)

What would our lives be like if we always believed Christ lives in us?
(Galatians 2:20; 3:27)

What would happen if we trusted God with our whole heart and didn’t lean on our own understanding?
(Proverbs 3:5-6)

What We Do for God's Heart by Pastor Susan Fochler

In the Song of Solomon 4:9, the Shulamite’s lover says to her, “You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; you have ravished My heart with one look from your eyes”.  It astonishes me that our God, dwelling in heaven in all perfection, could be so touched by us finite, sometimes struggling human beings.  His view of what is beautiful and desirable clearly is far beyond mine.   I began processing these thoughts with Papa.  And I recognized how at times I have compared myself to others in my insecurity, and wondered what He could possibly see in me that so touches Him.  He started sharing His heart with me.  So this is a little stream-of-consciousness from my journal:

We are each uniquely special and known to God
“How can I compare one sunset with another?  A radiant moonlit night, a majestic waterfall, one with another?  All have intrinsic beauty and worth.  They are incomparable.  So are My children.  Each of you, incredible, with intrinsic beauty and worth, individually created with unique facets of My glory integrated into your life.  I love those things that touch your heart and make you cry.  I love how you think and approach issues; I adore how you enjoy the beauty of your world.  I even appreciate those moments when offense comes and your heart hardens; for in those times I see ahead to the instant your heart will melt again as My kindness and truth warm you and insight comes.  I’m not expecting, ever, that you figure everything out.  I am with you; that’s enough.

“You are all beauty, all desirable to Me.  I never tire of watching and enjoying you.  I enjoy you with all My senses; I see you, I smell you, I taste you, I hear you.  I listen to your every word, as well as your unspoken thoughts.  I have given my whole heart to you, without reservation.  I am not capable of feeling rejected; I will never be offended in those moments when you forget I am there because I understand your human limitations.  So please do not be so quick to judge yourself.  I am ever eager to help you; however, my desire to help will always be tempered by My wisdom to choose the best way, even at risk of being misunderstood.  I understand your misunderstandings.

“My love for you flows with the same holiness, the same tenderness, the same firey passion that inspired Me to plan your life from before the beginning of time.  I so desire that you would see yourself as I do!  The colors, the hues, the sounds, the melodies; the unique, indescribable aroma of your life fills My senses.  I can actually taste your life...truly a feast that satisfies My heart!  Your life flows as a river to Me, as My life flows as a river to you.

Being with us is God's deepest passion
“You really do ravish Me, dear one; with one look of your eyes.  One small effort to invite Me in touches Me so deeply that My passion rises up fresh and new all over again.  Every day my thoughts toward you are re-invigorated and newly inspired.  For Me there is no mundane, “same old, same old”.  Every contour of your soul, every yearning of your spirit fascinates and draws a response of deep affection from Me.

“Never underestimate the power of your attractiveness to Me.  I so look forward to our eternity together, yet I see it all in every present moment.  To be with you is My hearts delight.  It doesn’t get better than this for Me:  to have your thoughts, your desire focused upon Me, acknowledging whatever you can of My essence, to whatever extent you are able.  My infinite, all-knowing and all-powerful Self is satisfied by your finite love.  Your small measure, poured into My measurelessness meets Me.

"I am your consuming fire, a fire that burns holy but tender, and I’m all yours.  I hold, with you, all the passion we need, together.”