The pages of the Bible come alive

Have you ever experienced a situation where you are involved in an experience and a Scripture from the Bible suddenly becomes crystal clear to you?  Almost as if you are actively involved in the situation from Scripture or the Scripture "literally" leaps off the pages and becomes vivid and clearer than you had ever imagined before.

I recently returned from a mission trip to Pignon, Haiti - where a group of 16 of the most amazing Christian disciples I have the honor of serving alongside, glorified God through a variety of avenues.  We helped to train a group of six Haitian men on how to tape and mud drywall, so that when more containers are delivered to the surrounding churches in the future, they will be able to step right in and get the walls prepared for painting.  They will also be able to pass along the training they received to other men who can take that trade to other villages and use it when the need arises.  We honored God by perfoming Vacation Bible School for three days at two completely different towns and fed approximately 200 children and adults each day at both sites.  Our group was also able to witness the life-transforming effects of the micro-loans that many churches have been supporting in the Haitian countryside.  For informational purposes, a micro-loan is a small amount of money (starting at $25) that is given to around five people/families that are members in the church being supported.  Those five members are given training on how to invest the money in a business that can hopefully prosper and allow them to pay back the loaned amount.  On that note, the group can only get the next highest amount of micro-loan when the entire group of five has completely paid back the initial amount borrow (plus 1% interest).  The accountability built into the ministry has around a 94% re-payment history.  People are able to earn money  in ways that would have never possible for them without the micro-loans.  One of the recipients mentioned that he wanted to get to the final loan amount and then begin a micro-loan venture of his own, to pay forward the gifts that God had bestowed upon him.  There were so many other things we experienced,but those will be discussed in future blog posts.

With regards to Scripture lifting off the pages and becoming vivid and real.  One member said about the time when we walked to the market, that it must have been what it was like when Jesus had a person touch his cloak and He felt the power go out from Him (Luke 840-48).  The crowds in the market were at times overwhelming, with people crushing into very small spaces and several people trying to get your attention at the same time.  It was at times, overwhelming to all of the senses.  I also felt this way when walking through the marketplace and it reminded me of the sights and sounds that must have been going on when Jesus walked into a town for the first time.  With our group, all eyes were on us because we were "different" from the local people and they all wanted our attention.  I imagined that some wanted to sell Him food and various other goods, while others wanted to be healed.

Another experience occurred when I was invited to join our group and attend a choral concert across the street at Pastor Jepthe's church.  He was our host for the eight days we were in Pignon, Haiti.  When I arrived in the church, I was not sure what I expected to find.  I witnessed youth groups from all over Pignon, Haiti joining together, regardless of faith and making a "joyful noise" in worship of their savior (Ps. 100:1-3).

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving grateful praise.

1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2     Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

During the service, the power went out several times and the groups that were singing never lost a beat, they just continued to sing praises to the King.  The church attenders just lifted up cell phones to help light the sanctuary.  It was truly a moment for me where the psalms came alive and I gained a deeper awareness of what it means to worship joyfully.

The final thing I was blessed to learn from the Haitian culture was to be a better steward of God's resources. 

 "From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked." (Luke 12:48).  

I saw a robustly creative culture of people who utilize every resource available to them (and they don't have many) in ways that serve a functional purpose and in ways that serve a spiritual purpose.  I realized that I am "spoiled" in my country.  I can use my computer to look up key verses - instead of actively opening my Bible and searching.  I can also use my computer to spread the Gospel and glorify God - and yet I have let this blog sit dormant for months because it became difficult for me to come up with new topics on Spiritual Formation.

God has inspired me to glorify Him in every creative way possible through the Haitian people and I hope I am able to use this blog as one pathway to do just that.  What about you? How are you using the resources with which God has given to you? Listen to what Jesus says: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25).

I pray that this blog entry finds you doing well and working every day on strengthening your relationship with the Creator.  I would love to hear any feedback or stories you feel moved to share in the comments section.  You never know who may be reading and who can prosper from the wisdom and discernment given to you by the Holy Spirit.

Recharging my Spirit Daily,

Bill Blanck

Prayer ... Whoa ... What is it good for ... Absolutely Everything!!!!

I would like to discuss the topic of prayer today.  This is a topic that I often get questions from the youth about what is confusing or has them grappling with in their mind.  One question I often get is:  what is the correct way to pray?  My quick response is that there is no one proper and "correct way to pray" - but there are many different ways to pray and even the Scriptures cite praying while kneeling, sitting, standing, facing the skies, etc.  I tell them that I often pray while I am driving in the car (with my eyes open of course) and just have a conversation with God, like I would have with any "earthly" friend - I learned that one from my wife.  Some people pray while they are in the shower, or during their morning exercises.  It is a personal choice and develops over time as you develop your personal relationship with God.

I like to give resources on this blog to help you research and continue to read and learn about your spiritual development, so here is a great website about prayer http://christianity.about.com/od/prayersverses/a/basicstoprayer.htm  and it tackles the many questions that may be on your mind or you may even have been asked by others, bt were not quite sure how to answer (there are three pages to look at - so don't miss the robust information on pages 2 & 3).  I want to give credit to May Fairchild on About.com, because she does a very in-depth discussion on prayer and provides plenty of Scripture for you to research, reinforcing the need for daily prayer to supplement everything else you are doing to grow your spiritual formation.

If you are looking for someone to model your prayer life after, look no farther than Jesus.  Although the New Testament does not give an actual number count of how many times Jesus prayed, it does describe the frequency of His prayer life. According the Nelson Study Bible, Jesus prayed day and night and throughout the day. The New Testament also gives numerous accounts when Jesus prayed, such as on the mountain, in the Garden of Gethsemane, in the wilderness, the Lord's Prayer, in distress, for comfort, after the Lord's Supper and at the crucifixion. Jesus prayed endlessly, as noted throughout the New Testament.

Have you ever been in a situation where you have either said or have had someone say to you, "I will pray for you?"  If you are anything like me, you are more likely to forget unless you pray with that person right then - on the spot.  It also shows the intentionality of you on behalf on the person.  What I mean by that is sometimes people may feel like you are offering them a platitude by saying you will pray for them, when they know that you probably won't.  I had a professor at seminary who was in charge of our spiritual formation group that once shared with us a story about how he had been praying for each student in his formation groups, as well as for various friends and family members for decades and used to keep the prayer journal manually, but now has it on his PC.  He will often update the prayer journal, when he is given an update about an answered prayer or a change in an individual's status to a new or different prayer need.  This level of devotion and dedication to prayer and worshiping the Lord showed me how powerful prayer can be and also how dedicated we demonstrate to God we are in our spiritual formation and the formation of others in their journey.

Have you gone to the Lord in prayer today?  If the answer is no, consider starting by saying the Lord's prayer aloud right now.  Matthew 6:9-13 states,

"⁹ “This, then, is how you should pray:

“‘Our Father in heaven,

hallowed be your name,

¹⁰ 

your kingdom come,

your will be done,

    on earth as it is in heaven.

¹¹ 

Give us today our daily bread.

¹² 

And forgive us our debts,

    as we also have forgiven our debtors.

¹³ 

And lead us not into temptation,^[a]

    but deliver us from the evil one.^[b]’"

I just returned from a men's bible study group where about fifty or so men are involved in the study of Scripture and daily devotion to God's Word, which involves Scripture memory each week, time together discussing how things went each week (accountability) and prayer together as a group (Mtw. 18:19) "

¹⁹ “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven."

If you begin to see a pattern here, that is a good thing.  The overlapping of spiritual practices will start to happen without you even trying to make them happen.  You will find yourself involved in doing things that stretch you beyond your normal comfort zone and nudge you into volunteering or going on missions trips in foreign countries, finding more time in each day to build upon your relationship with your heavenly Father and preparing a way for you to share the joy that resides within you to everyone around you.

As always, I welcome any thoughts or feedback you may have on this entry and would love to hear any personal testimony about you spiritual formation journey so that others may prosper from reading it.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck

These are NOT the lyrics you are looking for ... Move along!!!

So far we have discussed being in God's Word daily, memorizing Scripture as a part of your daily devotional time each morning, the friends and small groups we associate ourselves with.  This entry will be about worshiping God through the type of songs we lift up to Him and the lyrics we subject ourselves and others to in the process of listening to music to entertain ourselves.

To be honest, I have an extremely eclectic music listening style, but over the last dozen or so years (and even in the last two or three years) I have become more discerning with what I listen to and why I listen to that style or genre of music.  Let me explain!

My life used to be extremely fast paced and filled with stress and self-induced goals about things that I felt would fill me up with joy and satisfaction.  I used to pick my music based on the tempo and beat and maybe a line or two, or the main chorus - without ever really paying attention to the entire rest of the song's lyrics to see the message they may be putting forth.  If it sounded good or fit the mood I was in at that moment, I listened to it. If I am being truthful right now, this has led me to find out about some truly amazing artists and genres of music over my lifetime and that is a great thing.  On the other hand, it has also led to many a time, when I would listen to very long periods - even days of sad, depressing, or dare I say hopeless lyrics that had a profound impact on my general mood and demeanor.  This is not difficult to test, all you have to do is think about the type of music you listened to the last time you were extremely upset, sad, depressed, or even thoughtful, relaxed, upbeat and maybe even overjoyed.

So what does all of this have to do with spiritual formation?  A lot!  It took me a very long time to slow down and begin to listen to the music of life.  When you are able to listen to some of the lyrics of your favorite songs in entirety, you may become surprised, even appalled at what their actual meaning and message was aimed at saying to the world.  I could go on and on about various artists and give specific examples, but that takes this entry off the topic.  The point is that music that is done to worship God is often done with a Scripture or several Scriptures as its basis.  As a long time listener of Christian Rock groups like:  Petra and Stryper, and also of Christian artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, Amy Grant and to be more current with artists like Tenth Avenue North, Third Day, LeCrae, and Group 1 Crew; I have found most of these artists will include a direct quote from a Scripture verse in the song and will often put that reference in the liner notes on the CD insert.  My favorite group Building 4:29 based the name of the group on Ephesians 4:29 which says, "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (emphasis added)

If you are a not a regular listener of Christian worship music I encourage you to give it a try.  There are plenty of ways to sample all of the various genres of Christian music for free.  You can go to the local library that you support with your taxes and check out a few CDs to listen to; you can also use online music listening sources like Pandora, Songza or IHeartRadio (to name a few).  The beauty of the online radio sources is they are free and you are able to let the station know the songs and artists you approve of with a thumbs up and those you don't like with a thumbs down and it with adjust the station to your preferences.  What you will find is that as you listen to Christian music more often, it will supplement your daily reading and Scripture memorization and you will often say to yourself that you recognize the verse that was just vocalized in the song.  You may even find a certain joy and peace that starts to build as your "walk" with God begins to strengthen and build "layers" during your day.  

Spiritual formation is about maturing in your relationship with God.  It is about finding ways to continually expand and grow in your faith.  There are many ways to investigate and learn about our Lord and Savior and there are many ways to offer up our worship to Him as we continue in the process.  As we walk down the path of life, we will find it beneficial to partner with Him by seeking out music that uplifts and edifies others and Glorifies His name in the process, versus the plethora of alternatives we are offered down the dial that has another agenda in mind.  

I treat each song like a trivia game now, I listen to the song and try to figure out the Scriptural inspiration the artist had for writing the song.  Sometime I will even jot myself a quick note and go online and look up the lyrics, there are also plenty of free websites that will provide you with the entire songs lyrics.  A quick Bing search will give you plenty of options.  I like to use http://www.azlyrics.com/l.html to find lyrics because they have a pretty vast selection of artists.

You will find that with each post I am attempting to show you that this process is like the opposite of peeling back the layers of an onion, we are adding on a layer each post and each layer adds to your spiritual formation journey.  As Paul states in 2 Timothy 4 6:8, "⁶ For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."  

As we go through our life, we will add layers to our formation spiritually, and this will take faith and determination, but our goal is to "finish the race" and I pray that you will remain in the fight and continue in your devotion to know Christ and to grow to be more like him each and every day.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck

Friends, how many of us have them?

Today I want to talk to you briefly about the people you surround yourself with and those you may even call close or "best" friends.

One thing I learned quickly in the corporate world is that you surround yourself with the people that you along most with in terms of goals and aspirations.  In other words, if they are goal oriented, leaders with a passion and zeal for similar things that you also have a passion for, then I would surround myself with those people.  I found there are plenty of "Eeyore" types, who are happy only when there are trying to tear down another person, through things like gossip or by stealing credit for their accomplishments.  I am sure you have met this type of person.  The eternal pessimist, who can't stand working where they do, and is always happy to complain about something and to try to get you involved in that gossip or complaining.  What I also learned is that it can be very hard to trust people who you think are your friends, because in business, it would seem that everyone is looking out for themselves to get the next promotion and if you get in their way, sometimes people overlook their morals or trade them for "perceived" success and prestige.

When I left the corporate world and moved into ministry I though that things would be different, and they were, but human sinfulness stayed basically the same.  Why do I bring all of this up?  I bring it up because I have found that it is crucially important to continue to trust in The Lord that He will surround you with amazing and upright people in your life, who will uplift, edify and also hold you accountable when you backslide (and we will all backslide).

I first found an amazing group of people by joining a small group.  I was deeply entrenched in my corporate world, filled with stress and accomplishing the newest "title" and pay promotion and would often show up to the group with all of this stuff showing all over my face and general countenance.  I thought I was doing a great job hiding it from this amazing group of people, but after a period of time, it was apparent to some of them and they began to ask me very pointed and powerful questions.  It seemed like the particular individual was delving deep into my innermost thoughts.  How is this even possible?  As I stayed in the group, I found that my entire personality changed when I was around the group.  I could be free to be myself.  I could share what was really on my mind and had been troubling me.  I still have many of these same people involved in my daily life and I am happy to call many of them my close personal friends.  It was also during my time with that group that I made an extremely difficult decision to leave my corporate life and nice paycheck to pursue a life of ministry on a full-time basis.  I am deeply grateful to this powerful group of people that God placed in my life and I am certain that without the leanings of the Holy Spirit and a few amazing people calling me in ways I was too scared or stubborn to challenge myself, I may have never taken this path.

Do you have a group of like-minded Christian friends that you meet with on a regular basis?  It can be youth ministry groups, adult singles, young married couples with or without kids, older small groups, a mixture of ages doing life together, you name it.  Most churches offer small groups to the attendees and if you have been holding off or are just not sure because you feel like you may be judged or you don't feel like you have anything to contribute, let those concerns go.  Lift them up in prayer to God.  Ask Him to help provide you with guidance and patience to step out of your comfort zone and to join in the spiritual life journey together with a group of strangers, who by the way, will not be strangers to you for very long.

What about other friends that you hang around with?  Do they all have to be Christian?  Do they all have to share your same views or doctrine?  Of course not, in fact that is what makes it possible to expand our diversity and have potential opportunities to be open-minded and experience other cultures and religions.  My wife's best friend for years (and still is) at work is a Jewish woman who is twenty some years older than her.  We have had amazing conversations with her over the years and forged a powerful friendship that will last forever.

In closing, I would just want you to think about the people that Jesus surrounded himself with.  Look up the background of the disciples as homework.  It will truly open your eyes. Who did He regularly see when he traveled to the various cities on His journeys?  Was it the people who were strong in their faith or those who others would have ignored as not important enough to preach to?

I look forward to any comments or feedback you may have on this entry - Blessings.

Daily recharging my Spirit,

Pastor Bill Blanck

Devo - and I don't mean the pop group :)

I mentioned that being in God's Word on a regular basis will help with your spiritual formation on a previous post.  There are many ways to accomplish this.  You can pick up the Bible and just start reading (although I don't recommend this because many have tried this method and lost interest quickly); you can read the Bible from front to back (that is an even faster way to become daunted and overwhelmed - in fact most people don't make it bast the book of Leviticus); but then you can choose a reading plan or a daily devotional to help assist you in your daily time reading God's Word and meditating on what you just read.

You may be asking:  but how do I know where to find a reading plan or a daily devotional and even if I do, I can't afford one?  Well you may be happy to know that there are plenty of websites and apps that are offered free of charge that are a simple Google or Bing search away from your fingertips.  I use several each day, depending on which device I happen to have with me at any given moment.  I have the YouVersion Bible app on my phone and it has the option to select a reading plan from tons of options (things like: reading the Bible chronologically; reading the Bible in one year; men's devotional; women's devotional; teen devotional; you name it - the topic is most likely offered to read in a daily format).  On my Ipad I have several options that I can choose from to read in a devotional format.  I have a Bible version through a Pastoral software company called Logos called the Faithlife Bible and it allows me to access a plethora of devotionals which connect to the study Bible and it all connects to the Scriptures and commentaries electronically (NOTE:  Logos is a subscription based software and is note Free - in fact it is quite costly); I will state that the apple marketplace does have tons of free apps available in terms of devotionals offered to download that are very good to utilize in conjunction with your daily reading.

What does a typical devotional offer to you?  It typically is written by a pastor or theologian of some sort and they start off with a set of Scripture and then write a short synopsis that connects to the Scripture and may even have an illustration that adds to the Scriptures from modern day.  The devotional will typically also have a thought or question at the end to provoke you to think about or ponder throughout your day.  It may even give you additional Scripture to look at for the remainder of your day.

When should you do a devotional and for how long?  This is asked of me all the time.  I would say that if you are currently not doing a daily devotional reading, you should find one that interests you and spend between ten to fifteen minutes each MORNING to start off your day in God's Word.  Why the morning?  Because when we begin each day worshiping and honoring our Lord and Savior, it has been my experience that the remainder of our day tends to go better than if we leave the devotional to the end of the day when we are tired and stressed out and don't have the focus of attention to give to Him.  It shows Him that He is The most important thing and that we are offering the first portion of our morning to Him as a sacrifice.

We also have tiny daily calendars in our house that have Scripture verses on them and often I will take some time and look them up and do a little bit of research on them to see what was going on in the times, why the person was saying what they were saying and who they were saying it to.  Knowing the background behind the Scriptural verse can help you to be a whole lot less confused and more interested in wanting to investigate God's Word deeper.

I hope this entry has deepened your interest in wanting to go deeper into the Scriptures and to research his Words more and on a daily basis.  Get creative!  Ask your friends what they are doing for their quiet time with the Lord.  How are they staying actively interested and engaged with the Word?  What will keep your mind active?

As always, I welcome your thoughts to this entry and look forward to hearing from anyone about their own spiritual journey.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck

Memories ... In the Corners of our Minds !

In the news of the last several weeks have been a couple incidents with Carnival cruise ships and how they have left their passengers on board without power or amenities like cell-phones or activities to distract or "entertain" them.  While I was recovering from my recent knee surgery on the couch, I saw a family being interviewed after the cruise ship was being disembarked.  What struck me was the little girl in the family that spoke to the CNN correspondent and told him about how she was able to stay at peace during the troubling times by reciting the over two-hundred Bible verses that she had committed to memory.

This same little girl went on to tell the reporter her favorite verse, and that she was able to hold Bible study time for several other family groups on the ship during the stressful ordeal.  I watched many other people being interviewed and most of them were not upset with the Cruise ship staff and were grateful to be on solid ground, but I just kept seeing multiple networks interviewing this family with the little girl.  I felt as if God was using this little girl for a greater purpose and in that moment it occurred to me that (if I am being honest) I don't know 200 Bible verses by memory and I have two Masters degrees from seminary.

I know that one of the main purposes of this blog website is to educate and inform you about spiritual formation and I feel that this topic is one where spiritual formation can be hugely impacted.  Let me give you an example that I have used in youth ministry before and I hope that it impacts you and moves you to want to build up your Scripture memory.

Imagine a scenario where you have a group of people (can be any group - in this scenario it was a group of high school students) and they are suddenly rushed into a room by a group of people dressed like soldiers.  They are told to remain silent and to sit down and review their Bible until told otherwise.  If they do not have a Bible, they are told to sit quietly and think about the Bible as much as they can.  After a time period of about ten to fifteen minutes, the soldiers return back into the room and then instruct the students to give them their Bibles and they are each given a piece of paper and a pencil.  They are told to write down as many Scripture verses - including the Chapter and verse reference by the quoted verse and the soldiers will be returning in ten minutes.  They are also told that this is not a group exercise and talking is not tolerated.  The verse must be exact and the reference must be correct.  After ten minutes, the soldiers return and check what the students had written down on their sheet of paper.  They erase anything that is not 100% correct and re-write only what is accurate and give each paper back to each student.  Upon each paper being reviewed, THEN the students are told WHY all of this has been done.  They are told that this will be their Bible that they can use for the next ten years of their captivity and they are each sent to a cell to reflect upon that Bible for the next hour.

What type of Bible would you have?  How many verses do you think you would have down on the paper?  Would that Bible serve you well over the course of a ten year time period? These are tough questions, and most of us are not likely to be taken prisoner any time soon.  But what about being stuck on a cruise ship with no power or phone and not really being sure if you are going to make it home?  What about being in an enclosed MRI chamber for an hour and having to sit very still and needing something to provide you some peace?  

American Prisoners of War in Vietnam kept their faith, their sanity and their hope alive by sharing the Scriptures, prayers and sacred songs they had long ago stored up in their hearts. And thus even though they were deprived of the printed word, the Word was yet able to sustain them. Memorization takes effort and time, but the rewards are worth it all.

There may be many areas that you may find yourself alone for short or long periods of time and having Scripture memorized to rest into and reflect upon will be a source of great peace and spiritual formation in your life.

You may be saying, but I am getting older and I find it much harder to memorize things.  I know I have that same issue.  If you are younger, I implore you to read God's Word daily and make it a practice to memorize a verse or multiple verses each day.  How should you do this?  That is a deeply personal thing and every person will have vastly different ways they can relate to memorizing things.  I recently found an App for my Ipad called Scripture Typer and it is a program that allows you to first type the verse (it shows the verse in light grey and you type the first letter of each word - including the verse references).  Then it allows you to move onto Memorizing the verse (when you are ready) by typing the first letter of the verse again (but only every other word appears).  Finally, the program allows me to "Master" the verse - where none of the verse appears and I still have to type the first letter of each word, including the reference.  There are a lot more options to the app like - recording your voice reading the verse, drawing an illustration of the verse, flashcards, etc. and I think that is helpful since people learn in lots of different ways.  I have only been using the app for about a week and have already memorized six verses - so it gets my two thumbs up.

Straight memorization is one thing, but being in God's Word daily will help to bolster and familiarize you with the verses that you are attempting to memorize.  In the app I mentioned, I am attempting a collection called "top 100" and I was surprised how many of that collection that I actually did already know, but just needed to "brush up" on the references and I also like the face that I could adjust the translation of the Bible to fit the way I had learned the verses over my lifetime (instead of trying to teach an old dog a new verse ;)

God taught Israel to memorize His message, "⁶ These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. ⁷ Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:6-7) 

Spiritual growth depends on knowing God's Word. "² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, (1 Peter 2:2).  Food must be taken into the system and digested before it benefits the body, so must the Scriptures to strengthen the soul. 

The Word of God stored in the mind provides powerful assistance in soul-winning. From infancy, Timothy had, "¹⁵ known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus." (2 Timothy 3:15).  When memorized, the gospel which is the power of God unto salvation is instantly available for every need (Romans 1:16). Whether you meet someone at the gym, in the coffee shop, at your place of work, or on a blog about spiritual formation, you can teach them. 

My prayer is that He has used these words to inspire you to seek out more knowledge about Him and His Word by reading the Bible daily and by looking for ways to commit these powerful verses into your heart and into your memory to provide you peace during times when you are away from your printed Bible.

I welcome your thoughts to this entry and look forward to hearing from anyone about their own spiritual journey.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck

Update to readers

Open Note to all readers:  
My deepest apologies for not having posts on here on a daily (or semi-daily basis).  I had surgery on my knee and I have been focused on recovery and rehabilitation of my knee.  I have spent a lot of time on my back doing some reading and I also realized that updating the blog from my Ipad has lots of "glitches" - but fear not - I am up and about and I will be making frequent updates to this blog on a go-forward basis.

Pastor Bill Blanck

Dad was Right? (U just gotta get outta your own way son)

Some people have remarked that I have an "eclectic" taste in music and they may be right.  I grew up with a father who listened to country music, a mother who listened to the standards and 50's & 60's, and a sister who listened to heavy metal music.  I married a wife who listens exclusively to Christian worship music and radio stations.  That is simply to give you some perspective for today's (and future posts) comments about the lyrics from a song by a Christian rap artist named LeCrae in his song "background" from his recent album titled "Rehab."

I mentioned in my opening post that I would be focusing on spiritual formation and this can take many avenues and formats.  Music is one avenue that we can worship The Lord and develop our spiritual formation and relationship with Him over time.

One of the things my "earthly" father used to say to me all the time before his passing, was that I cold accomplish great things in my lifetime, if I would just "get out of my own way."  To be honest, I never really paid that statement much thought until recently.  I would never assume that you know my story and there will be time I suppose to share personal testimony on this blog.  For now, I will say that my own journey has led me to give up a job in the corporate profession and go to seminary full-time to gain a Masters degree in Christian Studies and another Masters degree in Counseling Ministries.  That path has lasted for three years now as I continue to find the right fit at a church and in a ministry that honors and glorifies God.

This brings me to the lyrics of LeCrae's song.  
"I could play the background.  I could play the background.
Cause I know sometimes I get in the way 
So won't you take the lead, lead, lead?"

That is what is called the "hook" in the song.  As pastors, we are trained to have a "hook" in every sermon.  If I am honest, this particular "hook" stopped me in my tracks and made me reflect upon my dads words.  It immediately made sense to me.  I even have a shirt that I wear from our youth ministry program that says "it's not about me."  I thought to myself - How dense can you be?  Just get out of your own way and allow the Spirit to take charge of the gifts that are flowing inside you.  After all, you may be injured right now, but you have time to reflect on God's Word and love technology.  Why not combine both and share what you feel He is proving to you online so others may benefit from that knowledge.

Verse 1 from the song also goes on:

It's evident you run the show, so let me back down

You take the leading role, and I'll play the background

I know I miss my cues, know I forget my lines

"I'm sticking to your script, and I'm reading all your signs (Aye)

I don't need my name in lights, (Aye) I don't need a starring role

Why gain the whole wide world, If I'm just going lose my soul?

And my ways ain't purified, don't live according to Your Word

I can't endure this life without Your wisdom being heard

So word to every dancer for a pop star

'Cause we all play the background, but mine's a rockstar

Yeah, so if you need me I'll be stage right

Praying the whole world would start embracing stage fright

So let me fall back, stop giving my suggestions

'Cause when I follow my obsessions, I end up confessin'

That I'm not that impressive, matter of fact

I'm who I are, a trail of stardust leading to the superstar

What is booming loudly from LeCrae's song (besides the Bass) is the amazing fact that as soon as we realize we need Christ in our lives, He is the architect, Not us.  If we allow Him to take center stage in our lives, we glorify Him and not our own self-interests. 
 Dallas Willard puts it this way "

Spiritual formation in Christ is the process by which one moves and is moved from self-worship to Christ-centered self-denial as a general condition of life in God’s present and eternal kingdom.

I guess my father was right, if we all just get out of our own way and allows or a relationship to begin and to strengthen with our Heavenly Father, we will be Blessed.  If we continue to make excuses, or choose the television show, or book, or magazine, or time spent playing a video game, He will take that, but it will affect our relationship with Him and ultimately we will have to realize that it is us that are "getting in the way" of the formation of our spiritual formation and not our Savior.

I welcome your thoughts on this entry and look forward to hearing from anyone about their own personal spiritual journey.

Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck

Welcome to the journey :)

Welcome to the journey.  I hope you have your favorite beverage by your side.  I typically brew some coffee in the mornings, see my kids off to bus stop, and then spend time with a great cup of java and with Jesus.  This blog is designed to spend each day in God's Word in daily devotional time, taking a moment to reflect upon Scripture and how it can be transformative and spiritually forming over time, if we immerse ourselves in "regular" relational time with our Lord and Savior.

What does "regular" and spiritually formational time with the Lord look like?  This is an extremely important question and deeply personal and passionate topic to each and every person, so I shall approach the topic with deep respect and humility.  Statistically speaking, it can take over a month to form a new habit.  I bring this up, because if you are not in the habit currently of reading the Bible, you would need to consider "the little picture" or as other have put it "baby steps" to get to that 30 day mark.  Once you break through that one month threshold, you will find that your morning cup of coffee (or whatever your beverage of choice is) has become second-hand and you can't even imagine a day starting without your devotional time spent reading, studying, learning, talking with (possibly crying, shouting at, or even singing to) and praying with Your Heavenly Father.

To truly grow in Christ, we need to hear His call.  Christ calls us to deny ourselves and to take up the cross (Mtw. 16:23-25), which is extreme discipleship.  It is a call to cancel out our own will so we are able to submit to His.  By confessing Christ as our Savior, it means He is our Lord and we thus surrender to His direction, leadings and purpose for us. 


²³ Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan!You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
²⁴ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. ²⁵ For whoever wants to save their life^[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.

I will also be spending time on this blog attaching links to family resource websites, youth ministry resource websites, articles, and I welcome discussion to any topics that I bring forth on the page and any suggestions that may enhance or edify the blog regarding page links to websites, speakers, resources, organizations, ministries, etc.

I find myself presently as a pastor without a church and so I figured, why not try to contribute in some small way to His kingdom.  

Glorify The Lord with me, let us exalt his name together. (Psalm 34:3 NIV)


Recharging my Spirit daily,

Pastor Bill Blanck