by Jason Joyner | Jun 14, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
Whenever I lack the words to express something, I can usually turn to the esteemable Rich Mullins.
Lord, it’s hard to turn the other cheek
Hard to bless when others curse you
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be a man of peace
Lord, it’s hard, oh it’s hard,
You know it’s hard to be like Jesus
I know that I wasn’t “cursed” last week. God is sovereign and in control. Yet, it is human nature to want to know what happened. Why? It’s the toughest question to answer so often.
I don’t really have any more answers on why than I did last week. It isn’t easy to swallow my pride and walk in the doors of my job each morning, knowing that they don’t want me in 3 months. My heart is to be a witness in how I leave. If I can walk this out in grace and peace, I think that will speak something.
But as dear brother Rich says: It is HARD. It ain’t easy! It was hard last week, and it remains hard this week. I’m sure it will ease some, but it won’t be the same until I pack my last box out.
It is also hard to walk like Jesus. It is the narrow way for a good reason – it takes a lot of effort. Yet God has been very faithful to me to bring encouragement time and time again.
Go read the lyrics to Rich’s song (course, it is always better to go listen to it!), and see if you can’t relate to how the Christian life is “hard”. There can be a comfort there in knowing that I’m willing to tackle the hard road, but I know it is only by His grace and power I’m able to walk at all.
I don’t want this to be sob posting every time, but I wanted to share about the struggle we all deal with from time to time.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 14, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
Whenever I lack the words to express something, I can usually turn to the esteemable Rich Mullins.
Lord, it’s hard to turn the other cheek
Hard to bless when others curse you
Oh Lord, it’s hard to be a man of peace
Lord, it’s hard, oh it’s hard,
You know it’s hard to be like Jesus
I know that I wasn’t “cursed” last week. God is sovereign and in control. Yet, it is human nature to want to know what happened. Why? It’s the toughest question to answer so often.
I don’t really have any more answers on why than I did last week. It isn’t easy to swallow my pride and walk in the doors of my job each morning, knowing that they don’t want me in 3 months. My heart is to be a witness in how I leave. If I can walk this out in grace and peace, I think that will speak something.
But as dear brother Rich says: It is HARD. It ain’t easy! It was hard last week, and it remains hard this week. I’m sure it will ease some, but it won’t be the same until I pack my last box out.
It is also hard to walk like Jesus. It is the narrow way for a good reason – it takes a lot of effort. Yet God has been very faithful to me to bring encouragement time and time again.
Go read the lyrics to Rich’s song (course, it is always better to go listen to it!), and see if you can’t relate to how the Christian life is “hard”. There can be a comfort there in knowing that I’m willing to tackle the hard road, but I know it is only by His grace and power I’m able to walk at all.
I don’t want this to be sob posting every time, but I wanted to share about the struggle we all deal with from time to time.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 9, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s always interesting how God uses times in our lives for His purposes. He seems to especially delight in seeing what we say, and then checking back with us to see if we REALLY MEAN IT. You post one day on your blog about living life “spoiled for the ordinary,” seeing how God can lead us on His adventure. You might have the opportunity to speak at church, and talk about riding the rapids with Jesus. How in the river of God, the best place to be is in the middle of the river where it is deep riding His currents, rather than wading in the shallow water and getting caught up in debris on the sides of the shore. Even if you go over the waterfall and have some turbulence. You might even get called in to a meeting at work and be told that your contract is not being renewed.
Huh?
What did you say?
Is that a snicker I hear?
Yes, God does have a sense of humor. And yes, that would be yours truly, who had an eventful week, to say the least. Seems I’ve been spouting off lately about really trusting in God and going wherever the Spirit takes you. I would caution people that if you want to do that type of thing, be ready to have Him take you up on it! Because there is a very good chance that He will.
The rest of the story is, my employers decided to exercise a “no cause” clause in my contract, stating that even though they liked me as a person, and couldn’t really fault my work, they didn’t think I was a fit with what they wanted to do. Interesting. Thus I get to live up to my bold talk, or eat my words. Let me tell you, I’m not really up to second helpings. It’s been a hard week (with that and Blogger, I haven’t been able to post), but I’m determined to say, “Okay Jesus, You are in control, even when I can’t see it”.
Oh, and the writer in me has already pondered how to use the emotion and experience of this week in my writing! Powerful stuff…
Stay tuned as the adventure unfolds.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 9, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
It’s always interesting how God uses times in our lives for His purposes. He seems to especially delight in seeing what we say, and then checking back with us to see if we REALLY MEAN IT. You post one day on your blog about living life “spoiled for the ordinary,” seeing how God can lead us on His adventure. You might have the opportunity to speak at church, and talk about riding the rapids with Jesus. How in the river of God, the best place to be is in the middle of the river where it is deep riding His currents, rather than wading in the shallow water and getting caught up in debris on the sides of the shore. Even if you go over the waterfall and have some turbulence. You might even get called in to a meeting at work and be told that your contract is not being renewed.
Huh?
What did you say?
Is that a snicker I hear?
Yes, God does have a sense of humor. And yes, that would be yours truly, who had an eventful week, to say the least. Seems I’ve been spouting off lately about really trusting in God and going wherever the Spirit takes you. I would caution people that if you want to do that type of thing, be ready to have Him take you up on it! Because there is a very good chance that He will.
The rest of the story is, my employers decided to exercise a “no cause” clause in my contract, stating that even though they liked me as a person, and couldn’t really fault my work, they didn’t think I was a fit with what they wanted to do. Interesting. Thus I get to live up to my bold talk, or eat my words. Let me tell you, I’m not really up to second helpings. It’s been a hard week (with that and Blogger, I haven’t been able to post), but I’m determined to say, “Okay Jesus, You are in control, even when I can’t see it”.
Oh, and the writer in me has already pondered how to use the emotion and experience of this week in my writing! Powerful stuff…
Stay tuned as the adventure unfolds.
by Jason Joyner | Jun 5, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
(Best read while listening to King’s X)
In less than a month, I will be posting in southern Germany! I am leading a team from my church to the Calling All Nations event in Berlin on July 15. It is a worldwide worship event, with a call to missions. We’ll spend the first several days in southern Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. We’ll spend a night in Salzburg, Austria, before heading to Berlin for the last part of our trip. We will participate in worship and intercession prior to the main event.
We’ve been planning this for over a year, and I can’t believe it is almost here. I know that is always the case when something major is coming. We’re taking our three boys, and I know that promises to be an adventure. We are believing that it will be a great adventure with them. There’s three more women, one of whom is taking her teenage daughter, and another man joining us. We all feel called to go, even if we’re not fully sure what we will be getting into!
If any of you out there think about it, we’d appreciate your prayers. I’ll give a couple updates as we prepare to go, and hopefully I’ll be able to post from Germany, including pictures! And no, I won’t make any of the World Cup football games, although I’d love that! And if anyone out there happens to be going, we DO happen to have an extra ticket…
by Jason Joyner | Jun 5, 2006 | Blog, Uncategorized
(Best read while listening to King’s X)
In less than a month, I will be posting in southern Germany! I am leading a team from my church to the Calling All Nations event in Berlin on July 15. It is a worldwide worship event, with a call to missions. We’ll spend the first several days in southern Germany, in the Bavarian Alps. We’ll spend a night in Salzburg, Austria, before heading to Berlin for the last part of our trip. We will participate in worship and intercession prior to the main event.
We’ve been planning this for over a year, and I can’t believe it is almost here. I know that is always the case when something major is coming. We’re taking our three boys, and I know that promises to be an adventure. We are believing that it will be a great adventure with them. There’s three more women, one of whom is taking her teenage daughter, and another man joining us. We all feel called to go, even if we’re not fully sure what we will be getting into!
If any of you out there think about it, we’d appreciate your prayers. I’ll give a couple updates as we prepare to go, and hopefully I’ll be able to post from Germany, including pictures! And no, I won’t make any of the World Cup football games, although I’d love that! And if anyone out there happens to be going, we DO happen to have an extra ticket…
