Rhythm of Time
1 Comments Published by Bryce Ashlin-Mayo on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 9:18 PM.
I preached on rest last Sunday and what it means to keep Sabbath rest in our lives. In tackling the subject, I used the illustration of rhythm. Interestingly, what makes a beautiful rhythm or melody are not just the notes played (the musical activity done) but equally important are the rests, or the ceasing/resting of activity in the music. If the ceasing of sound did not occur, then it would be just noise. I related the Genesis creation account to this (on the seventh day God rested/ceased then blessed it and called it holy) and that God has establish a rhythm of rest that we as humans, too often, war against. This warring comes at great cost to our lives and relationships as it was never how we were created to live.What would it mean to live in a proper rhythm of activity and rest in our lives, that when working together, would create a beautiful sound scape?
How ??? is your God
5 Comments Published by Bryce Ashlin-Mayo on Tuesday, September 09, 2008 at 12:23 PM.
This Sunday I preached on the concept of time. Among other things, I communicated that time, unlike our marred concept of it, is beautifully and wonderfully created by God and in Genesis is called 'good.' In the process of my sermon preparation I keep coming back to the popular, yet not completely accurate, phrase: "How big is your God?" The reason I wonder about the accuracy of the phrase is that since all matter is created by God, then God isn't "bigger" than it. God is not bigger than anything, because God created the conceptional nature of size. God would, by definition, be "beyond size." That does mean, even more profoundly so, that the universe pales in comparison to God who created all that we know and experience.So..."How 'beyond' is your God?"
Being the full "you"
0 Comments Published by Bryce Ashlin-Mayo on Friday, September 05, 2008 at 1:10 PM.
The following stems from conversations I have had with recent graduates who are attempting to determine where God is calling them. It is meant as a reminder to both myself and others:
If you truly believe you have been called by God to serve in the capacity your in…and…If you truly believe that you are in the place God wants and desires for you…and…If you believe God only ever desires us to be real, authentic and without pretense…then…you must also equally believe you must be yourself and yourself alone. You can’t be anyone else, no matter how great or gifted they might be. It is not only impossible but a worthless exercise that only will end in disastrous disappointment.
This of course is difficult. It is difficult because people often project their opinion of who you should be. However, the only expert, besides God, on you is, well, you. Then I would simply ask: What are you waiting for? Who are you trying to be? Why are you spending so much energy trying to be someone or something you can never be? Why, instead, don’t you just be you and allow God to profoundly use you as the exact person he wants in your present location and circumstance. To be anything else would simply be hypocritical and dishonoring to yourself and, more importantly, to the God who wonderfully and beautifully created you.
If you truly believe you have been called by God to serve in the capacity your in…and…If you truly believe that you are in the place God wants and desires for you…and…If you believe God only ever desires us to be real, authentic and without pretense…then…you must also equally believe you must be yourself and yourself alone. You can’t be anyone else, no matter how great or gifted they might be. It is not only impossible but a worthless exercise that only will end in disastrous disappointment.
This of course is difficult. It is difficult because people often project their opinion of who you should be. However, the only expert, besides God, on you is, well, you. Then I would simply ask: What are you waiting for? Who are you trying to be? Why are you spending so much energy trying to be someone or something you can never be? Why, instead, don’t you just be you and allow God to profoundly use you as the exact person he wants in your present location and circumstance. To be anything else would simply be hypocritical and dishonoring to yourself and, more importantly, to the God who wonderfully and beautifully created you.
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