The Gurleyman

"It takes a manly man to be a Gurley man." ~Sommer

Never Once

September 30, 2011 by Chris | 0 comments

Standing on this mountaintop
Looking just how far we’ve come
Knowing that for every step
You were with us

Kneeling on this battle ground
Seeing just how much You’ve done
Knowing every victory
Is Your power in us

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Never once did we ever walk alone
Never once did You leave us on our own
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Scars and struggles on the way
But with joy our hearts can say
Never once did we ever walk alone
Carried by Your constant grace
Held within Your perfect peace
Never once, no, we never walk alone

Every step we are breathing in Your grace
Evermore we’ll be breathing out Your praise
You are faithful, God, You are faithful
You are faithful, God, You are faithful

Driving north last night to meet my brother for dinner, God was lighting up the sky with His power. Is there anything in all creation that cries out like fire arcing the heavens? I gave thanks. My brother’s visit was a pleasant surprise all by itself and then the bolts came to brighten my world that much more.

Matt Redman’s 10,000 Reasons album has been the theme of this fall thus far. The title track, also known as Bless The Lord, ushered in our young adults’ retreat over Labor Day and streamed on to Asia with our team ministering there. Since returning and especially today, the theme song has faded to Never Once.

In beautiful fashion, it looks back to the Lord’s unceasing presence through our histories. Reflecting, we see Him now, though we sometimes despaired in the moment. Then on that foundation, we kneel to consecrate the active battlefield. The war is not over, but we are not abandoned. We have joy because the Lord of hosts is with us. And we declare that never once did we ever walk alone.

Scanning the horizon, we know that our greatest challenges may lie ahead. The darkness is foreboding, but there’s also light. “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light” (Psalm 36:9). Our legs may get knocked out from under us, but we will kneel. And when that too is taken, we will worship prostrate. If at last our heads are surrendered, then we will truly be victorious–we will be home.

The journey is long. With earthly vision it can seem impossible. But with heavenly eyes we see our Father running. He comes with blazing speed and carries us through the conflict. We are safe in His arms. And in the intermediate pastures and meadows, we bask in His warmth, rejoicing in His grace, until the storm returns and we are held again.

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September 29, 2011
by Chris
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Wait.

The Lord reigns, let the earth rejoice…
…His lightnings light up the world;
the earth sees and trembles.
~Psalm 97:1a,4

“Wait.” What child likes to hear that? I remember as a child on road trips asking, “Are we there yet??” I would have given anything for the answer to be “Yes!” But nearly every time it was instead, “Not yet. Be patient.”

Twenty years have passed since that time, and as an adult, I’ve learned to suppress the audible expression, but my heart still asks the question. Unlike a child, though, I foolishly think that I can improve upon the answer. Maybe the Lord just needs help. I must have misheard Him. Wait? Surely not…

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September 26, 2011
by Chris
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Voyage

“Voyage” from The Valley of Vision

O Lord of the oceans,

My little bark sails on a restless sea,
Grant that Jesus may sit at the helm and steer me safely;
Suffer no adverse currents to divert my heavenward course;
Let not my faith be wrecked amid storms and shoals;
Bring me to harbour with flying pennants, hull unbreached, cargo unspoiled.
I ask great things, expect great things, shall receive great things.
I venture on thee wholly, fully, my wind, sunshine, anchor, defence.
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September 25, 2011
by Chris
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East to West

Eight friends and I returned from the Far East today after more than a week of rich ministry and testifying to the glory and grace of God. I entered the trip in a better place than my last international venture, but I think I was still walking mostly in my own strength. I wrestled with God’s independent, active, passionate movement among the nations, and at the same time, His passionate response to the prayers of His people. How does His sovereignty interface with the prayers of His people, of which He says they avail much when fervent (James 5:16)?

Day by day He broke my heart. Sometimes my Father softened it through the love of the local church shining in such a dark place. At other moments, what worked on the knots in my heart was my teammate who prayed for God to surprise her and believed that He would. Still more, my precious Lord opened my heart as we patiently waited on Him to awaken dead lives with the gospel…and then saw Him do it! I struggled with distractions that I thought would tarnish my memory of the trip, but now see that God was humbling me there, too.

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August 28, 2011
by Chris
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I Don’t Need Anything

Finding satisfaction in Christ is a running theme and chorus in my life these days. Whether it is the “Boy Meets Girl” series at The Porch or the song playing in my car, the message is that I don’t need anything more than Jesus. And “satisfaction” is the key word, not just “contentment”. When I think about contentment, it strikes me as just enough and a state of pause or rest, which I suppose fits well with the metaphor of food and eating as well as biblical contentment. But in satisfaction, I see a joy and even an overflowing that stirs a response like that of the song, “You”, by Patrick Ryan Clark (excerpt below).

I don’t need anything / I don’t need anything / I don’t need anything more than You / You’re sufficient / You’re complete / Your power is full when I am weak

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July 29, 2011
by Chris
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“Four Waves of Change in Missions”

By John Piper on July 7, 2011
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/four-waves-of-change-in-missions

If God would be pleased to breathe on the ripples from the pebbles these speakers drop at our conference this year, they might become waves that break over thousands of lives and churches. The waves I am praying for are:

Wave #1: Putting world evangelization into the passions of a new generation.

Missional is the in word today. But missions is not always in the word. Missions means crossing an ethno-linguistic barrier (that may take 20 years) in order to root the gospel in a people that has no access to it. Missions strategizes to reach not just unreached people, but unreached peoples. “Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!” (Psalm 67:3). Wave #1 would result in missions becoming part of the DNA of missional.

Wave #2: Weaving the dark thread of hell back into the fabric of our compassion.

I pray that the watchword of world missions would become: We care about all suffering, especially eternal suffering. All these words count: suffering, eternal, especially, all, care, we. Each carries freight. Wave #2 would result in that freight being loaded into ten thousand gospel trains headed to the neighborhoods and the nations.

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June 27, 2011
by Chris
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Amos, Acts, and the Way

“Those who swear by the Guilt of Samaria,
and say, ‘As your god lives, O Dan,’
and, ‘As the Way of Beersheba lives,’
they shall fall, and never rise again.”
~Amos 8:14 ESV

In Amos, we see followers of “the Way” which was a deviation of Judaism, created by the kings of Israel in the northern kingdom after the split under Rehoboam. These the Lord condemns, and after the exile, the people of Judah remember the judgment that fell upon the followers of the Way, and they never return to it.

“But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”
~Acts 9:1-2 ESV

Then in the book of Acts, we see the church being referred to by Saul and other persecutors as “the Way”. I always thought this was what the church called itself in the early days because they adopted the name, “Christians,” in Antioch, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

Instead, the orthodox community appears to be linking this new development out of Judaism to a time 800 years prior. And with a passion for the purity of their faith, with which I can actually sympathize, they seek to snuff out the supposed heresy before it brings down judgment once again. This time, however, the Way is from God.

Does anyone else see this connection? Hebrew and Greek scholars, is this a valid correlation? I’d love to hear feedback or correction.

6/28/2011: Further thought…

Considering that Luke is the narrator of Acts 9, it is unclear whether Saul and the chief priests called the early Christians followers of “the Way” or whether Luke is conveying the name by which the early church referred to itself.

May 24, 2011
by Chris
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Embracing Prayer

Before I unwrap this nugget of thought, I need you do something that will make it a little more real. Ready?

First, find (or imagine) your most comfortable chair. You know, the big, plush, comfy one that you sink into like a marshmallow? (If you’re already in it, you’ll need to get up ;) Now, act like you’re about to sit in it, but hold yourself an inch above or just barely in contact with the cushion. From experience, you know that it will be oh so delightful and that you’ll find rest in it, but right now, it’s just a thought, a memory. Keep holding. Is it as wonderful as you know it could be?

Alright, let go and fall into the wonderful embrace of good, chair-y bliss. How does it compare to that hovering position you were in a few moments ago?

That overstuffed chair is what prayer has been to me lately. I know it exists and there’s goodness in it–God promises over and over again–but I’ve rarely let go, fallen into it and trusted it to hold me up and embrace me. It’s the difference between praying with faith and without faith.

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