The Phil Files

In my Heartlight.org article today, I talk about our real Independence Day being on Sunday … every week. Sunday is the day of resurrection, the day our victory was assured and the power of death over us was defeated (Hebrews 2:14-18 NLT) . So let’s think through a few things:

How has Jesus brought you independence?

How would Sunday, and Communion, be different if we celebrated it in light of the resurrection and Jesus victory and not just remembering the crucifixion?

Do you think there is something important about the early Christians taking the Lord’s Supper on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7 NLT) , the day of Jesus’ resurrection, rather than taking it on the day of his crucifixion?

I’d love to hear from you in the response section below.

We are back home. On Tuesday, we got up at 3:30 Alaska time and arrived in our house at 9:30 Texas time. Connections went well, but it was a long day — the last hour was 25 minutes late boarding, 23 minutes waiting in line to take off on the DFW runway, and 22 minutes of flight time from DFW to Abilene. While we were exhausted, we felt for the mom of a two year old who was laughing hysterically waiting to board, but crossed that threshold from laughing hysterically to crying hysterically about 5 minutes on the plane. We were picked up by my mom and step-dad, threw our luggage in the house, watered our nearly expired plants, and then rushed to the hospital to see Donna’s mom. All in all, the day began at 3:30 a.m. in Alaska and ended at 1:00 a.m. in Abilene (that’s bed-to-bed). We got up early to head back to the hospital and work and were informed the next day my step-dad would have a heart cath and stint on one of his arteries. So … we’ve been home 2 days, spent more time in hospitals than at home, gotten caught up on most of our stuff, and are glad to be home. Looks like life is back to normal!

BTW, everyone appears to be doing better after heart procedures, major back surgeries, and driving each other crazy in the hospital room. For a light-hearted look at air travel, our daughter’s blog has a bit more fun take on flying!

Alaska was beautiful, cool, and wonderful. It was a gift to Megan for her graduation from college and acceptance into physical therapy school. I’ll post some pics somewhere — flickr, google, facebook — when I get some sleep and get past Sunday!

Being in around Alaska this last week has reminded me of the dynamic, ever-moving, always changing, contantly in motion nature of life. This movement is necessary for life. Tides come and go, stirring the oceans and impacting our atmosphere with constant motion. Seasons change, the amount of daylight varies, temperatures shift and life is enhanced. Glaciers move, ice melts, rivers run and life is stirred. People move from region to another — for a variety of reasons and lives collide and life is changed.

Clearly, some things shouldn’t and mustn’t change. Jesus IS the same — yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NAS). But even in His steadfast love and mercy, the LORD is constantly bringing fresh surprises into the lives of His people (Lamentations 3:22-23 NRS). Renewal and transformation are the vital dynamics, the ever-moving and always changing, constantly in motion parts of a living walk with God — the are evidence of the Holy Spirit’s essential work of conforming us to Christ Being in around Alaska this last week has reminded me of the dynamic, ever-moving, always changing, contantly in motion nature of life. This movement is necessary for life. Tides come and go, stirring the oceans and impacting our atmosphere with constant motion. Seasons change, the amount of daylight varies, temperatures shift and life is enhanced. Glaciers move, ice melts, rivers run and life is stirred. People move from region to another — for a variety of reasons and lives collide and life is changed.

Clearly, some things shouldn’t and mustn’t change. Jesus IS the same — yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8 NAS). But even in His steadfast love and mercy, the LORD is constantly bringing fresh surprises into the lives of His people (Lamentations 3:22-23 NRS). Renewal and transformation are the vital dynamics, the ever-moving and always changing, constantly in motion parts of a living walk with God (2 Corinthians 3:17-18 NRS).

So the question comes to me … and to you as well:

What needs motion a d change in my life and what needs to be more centered on what is unchangeable?

Ministry can grind up people emotionally and spiritually in frightening ways. In my experience, it does so with frightening regularity! On the other hand, “professional ministry” can sometimes be a place for lazy people to hide, creating deep resentments in churches, making them cold to respond to those in ministry (church, non-profits, and other high care-giving vocations). So resentment, burn out, frustration, and exhaustion knock at the door of many I love in ministry. Off on a bit of break in the georgeous coasts of British Columbia and Alaska, I can’t help but hold in prayer those for whom I’m deeply concerned.

In my Heartlight.org, Moving Beyond the Ashes, I talk about burn out and how Elijah over it. Here are some follow up questions I would encourage you to consider and the respond to in the comments section at the botoom of this!

Many things can contribute to our spiritual burn out:

• Overextending our ministry to the point of exhuastion and fatigue
• Unaddressed sin in our lives
• Not having partners or apprentices to help & invest our time
• Trying to do ministry all by ourselves while not equipping others
• Having an over-inflated estimation of our importance and ability
• Losing touch with God in regular quiet time
• Direct and relentless opposition from the devil or others in our community of faith
• Family and health crises
• Serving in a survival-focused situation where we see no immediate reason to hope things can change

So which of these is hardest for you and which is your biggest threat?

Is there something else you have found that leads to burn out not listed? How have you seen that at work?

What have you found to be a solid path to walk to find yourself restored from being absolutely scorched with burn out?

I’d love to hear from you on my blog about this in the comments below!

We were flat worn out by our travel yesterday and the hard work we did to get off on our trip. So when we finally all got to bed about 3:00 a.m. Texas time, we slept … then we got up and ate and walked around a bit and read and watched a little TV (okay, I watched Tiger’s charge at the US Open), and took naps. But, we also enjoyed the cool, the sun, and the view! (Yep, that’s the view out the 7th floor balcony window at hotel.)

We rested today, because we have an all day trip to Victoria tomorrow, including “high tea” and a great boat ride. So … don’t expect much tomorrow, but there should be a lot to praise God about on Sunday!

Donna and I left for a vacation to Alaska with our daughter, Megan. Megan graduated from college in December and will start physical therapy school in August. This was the trip she wanted for her graduation — actually, it’s something she’s wanted to do for a long, long time. So we saved our pennies and planned our trip.

The pictures show us at the start of our trip, after going through the security check — thanks folks for being patient with us and providing us bigger baggies for our “necessaries” for the trip! Megan is in the first one, with her doodle pad to pass the time — along with her sarcastic humor to keep us light. The second image is of Donna, who is thakfully keeping up with everything — since I am renown for leaving my passport or grabbing Zach’s passport on the eve of a trip out of the country requiring a break-neck trip home to fetch the correct documents! The final pic is of me, it seemed fitting to include along with the discussion of our flight from Abilene to Dallas and nausea.

Many months ago, I stayed up late working with a very accomodating American Airlines person who helped us use our frequent flyer miles to make the trip. While the flying was free, our flights were a little out of sync, but the connections were pretty good. We had one extra leg than usual — Abilene to Dallas, Dallas to Seattle, Seattle to Vancouver — and got off to a bit of a late start. It was mid-afternoon when we left, and hot. Once we got to Dallas, everything went smoothly on the flights.

The Abilene to Dallas flight, however, was a bit of an adventure. It was 93 degrees in Abilene when we boarded our old Saab prop job to Dallas — you know, the planes AA is discontinuing. The fuselage is about the size of a big sewer pipe and the temperature inside felt considerably hotter than it was outside. The plane was full, so the air was stuffy and soon pulsated with that odor of an atheletic locker room on Monday morning — you know, not full blown b.o., just a dampish odor that puts you a little on edge. I’ve flown into Africa, Thailand, Mexico, and South America in the summer — this plane was hotter than any I could remember.

“It will get cooler when we are in the air,” the flight attendant said. “Let’s keep those window covers down till we take off to minimize the heat.”

“Too late for that,” I thought. Once in the air, my instincts proved true. Flying no higher than 15,000 feet, the planes temp controls couldn’t make a dent in the oppressive heat. Everyone kept the window covers down and kept their tiny air vent, directing what little air that moved, pointed at himself. In fact, some folks just about wore out that little adjuster piece on the vents trying to will out more air flow.

Just about the time we felt we were going to make it with the heat — slurping down our Cokes, ginger ales, and waters — we hit turbulence. We’re not talking bumpy, we’re talking thump, bump, rock, roll, and pitch. With the heat, humidity, no one able to see outside, and the hard bouncing, instantaneously everyone shuffled through the emergency instructions and inflight magazines in the seat flap in front of them to locate the … well you know … the barf bag.

Talking stopped … everywhere on the plane. The flight attendant sat down and didn’t say a word. Everyone hung on — not to keep from bouncing around the cabin in the turbulence, but to keep the Coke, Ginger Ale, and water from bouncing into the barf bag. Fortunately, we all managed to maintain control of our own situations, because if one had lost it, well, I’m afraid it would have done everyone else in.

Never has an airport terminal been a place of such bliss! Cool air! Room to breathe! A place to walk! Yee-hah!

Our flights were all on time. All of our luggage made it. So as we stood in the cool waiting for the shuttle in Vancouver, exhausted but glad to be on our way, we were pretty much amped up to be in cool weather. Bleary-eyed? Of course — it was 4 a.m. Texas time before we got to bed. But we were out of the heat, started on our adventure, and were about to settle into comfortable beds in a beautiful city in Canada. We slept with our sliding door cracked open all snuggled up in our beds, saying prayers of thanks for safe travel and thinking to ourselves, “Thank you God for the beauty of the Northwest — the mountains, rivers, ocean, and the cool!”

When you are from Texas and you’ve already had 18 days of 90 plus degree heat in May, the cool of Canada and Alaska are more than a treat, they are a taste of heaven. And let me tell you, we are going to enjoy every taste of it!