God and/in Food

Apples, Mahi Mahi, Ice Cream, Fresh Bread, Good Coffee...

A while back I met with Aaron Youngren, pastor of The Line in Chicago.  As we walked and talked from a local bar, he told me about to chefs from the neighborhood (Lincoln Park) who were going to assist him in a teaching about Food and Worship.  It's a great topic and the idea of giving God glory while eating the fruit of His creation is perhaps one of the most tangible ways worship happens in our everyday life.

When I was a pastor on staff at a local church, I remember eating in my office one day the standard lunch fare, which was either a peanut butter and jelly or leftovers...neither of which made a huge impact on my life because I can't even remember what it is I ate that day...until dessert.  That day it wasn't tiramisu or molten cake or even ice cream, it was a beautiful Royal Gala apple.  While I can't remember anything distinctive about its appearance, I can even now, two or three years later, remember its crunch, taste and texture.  I've had apples all my life, but that day I remember a sense of the Divine while eating what I undoubtedly picked up from the local Jewel, mixed in with dozens of other apples.

Worship and food go hand in hand.  Read this post from The Line's food & worship experience.  It's only natural to taste how good God is in His creation, and I was reminded of this the other day when my beautiful and amazing wife made this...and tasting absolutely killed me, it made me once again thank God for how good He makes creation...for the purpose of us to enjoy and then to worship Him. 

Eat something good, and thank God He created it in the first place...especially if its a recipe that someone who loves you made...

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firestarter

I think too much and do too little. It's a constant battle of theory and action, of potential and kinetic.

 Trying to sync my brain and the rest of life can be like setting up a blind date destination for agoraphobic xenophobes.

 I get lost in my goals. I can start one million fires, but managing the flame and watching them burn, I have no patience for or aptitude.

 I rely on the people around me to keep me grounded, focused and simple.

 Maybe I need a new metric system, something concrete and custom to measure myself against.

 Maybe I need a new location to churn out the work within me.

 Maybe I need to relax and manage the sparks as flickers and flames grow into fires of progress.

Posted via email from lifestream of a basic being

My usual breakfast meeting

- Mike

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My life next to a snoring dog

Max is a Boston Terrier we "rescued" from Craigslist.

I say rescued because we bought him from his previous owners who we think were apartment dwelling Jews (Maxwell use to freak out at the sight of Christmas trees and enjoys laying on our deck in the sun). I don't think we actually rescued him from some horrible fate, but it makes us feel better to use that language.
 
Max lives with us in a home where he has his choice of premium napping places; the couch, chair, our bed, his bed, in the sun through our patio door and so on...Yet without fail Max always chooses to lay next to myself or my wife and snore. He is constantly snoring. This isn't a cute baby snore like our newborn daughter graces us with (the sound of fresh lungs enjoying the life-long process of every inhale and exhale), this is a squish-faced snot-nosed snore that sounds like a wet rubber ball trying to fit through a crack in a glass door. Its loud. It can be annoying, and its anything but subtle.
 
However there is something about it that seems relaxing and without fail it constantly makes me wish I was napping too, without a care in the world.

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Who Do I Think I Am?

I've been going through an identity crisis. Perhaps it is the lack of continual sleep I gladly suffer for the sake of our new born daughter, perhaps it is the lack of concentration I feel on a daily basis. Maybe its God shaping me, or maybe (and I do hope this is not the case) it is me shaping myself. I know I'm no alone in this dilemma. There are plenty of people who suffer through this same type of battle. The symptoms include plenty of motivation but a lack of movement, the continuous temptation to compare oneself to others and to constantly be aware of ones' shortcomings. Scarcity, anxiety, and to be honest, guilt are all there as well, yet they can all be dressed up as a type of passion and motivation; however these are not the tools God uses to shape His own.

Israel and Saul are my Biblical touch points for my current condition. I say that as though I am some sort of hypochondriac. Israel's covetous lust for a tangible king in order that she may be like her neighbors caused them to settle for Saul, a man with a lot of promise, but whose own feelings of inadequacy, impatience, and scarcity caused him to not only lose God's blessing, but threw him headlong into a life of constant turmoil.

Israel, if only you could have found satisfaction in your King and Savior...

Saul, if only you could have sought God as the momentum and not your own power and wisdom...

I ache for Saul, and Samuel. These two leaders whose lives were designed for one another, and yet whose action caused the other to grow angry, resentful and left both wondering where they went wrong.

Father shape me. Rid me of the lust of success and bring me to a place where my unique and divine design can best serve your Kingdom and bring others into a lifesaving knowledge and relationship with Jesus. Let the Gospel have a hold on every part of my life and I pray that I may lead through the wisdom, power and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Hello 30, I'm Mike.

...or Michael, I haven't decided yet. In fact there's a lot I'm still not a 100% on, even when entering into this third decade of life. Spicy food is a good example. There are times when I love me some spicy salsa, but I'm not going to go out and eat a jalapeno for a snack. At 30, I also don't feel I can say I'm a democrat, or a republican, although I know where I stand on certain key issues. I can't tell you with absolute certainty that we'll never own a cat, or that I won't go golfing. It would also be wrong to promise that I'm not going to the ice capades sometime in the next ten years.

However, 30, I will promise you with absolute certainty that I am ready for this decade. I am ready to try, ready to fail, ready to succeed. I'm ready to define, redefine, refine, renue and at times reject and be rejected. I'm ready to hold steady and at a moment's notice jump off course, do a u-turn and go another way. I'm ready to spend, and ready to save. I'm excited to plan for the unknown and walk unknowingly into certainty.

30, a while back 25 came along and messed me up. It told me I hadn't accomplished anything, it lied to me about its expectations and it left me thinking I had failed to live.

You are just the beginning of a decade of new. You are the newly paved road, the hallway of unopened doors and the mysterious woods at the end of the property line that undoubtedly hold both danger and fun, but invite all to sure adventure and will make for great stories to share and relive sometime while sitting out next to the fire when I'm old...like 75.

30, you will be conquered.

Somethings From The Past

This morning with an insatiable desire to worship like I did in the days of my youth. I wanted to crank up some David Ruis' "Sweet Mercies" or Darrell Evans' "Freedom". I wanted to bask in an atmosphere of God with my best friends Jake and Ted. I miss those times.

Don't get me wrong, I love today. I love my wife, my son, my soon-to-be daughter. I am more than blessed by these people and every situation God has entrusted me with, but I miss the fellowship and worship I had with these great guys.

I guess this is where reading through the Psalms is becoming real for me. To read about David yearning so for God, to read about his appetite for the things of God, to read about his true desire to be with God...I think I'm getting there, or at least starting to.

God, continue to wreck me. Give me a true hunger for You, a, ever-increasing love for your Son, and a desire to walk more and more in the power of the Holy Spirit.