GrowthStarts

Quotable Quote ... Carl Jung

Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.

HT: The Quotations Page

Previously @ NorthStar ... Seasons of Change

Labor Day weekend at NorthStarMike Linch shared the message "Seasons of Change" as we thought about how to make sense of the seasons of life, especially the difficult ones.

Miss Sunday's service? Click here to download audio of Mike's message or to view or print sermon notes.

Some bullet points from the day:

• The seasons of life are beyond my control (Daniel 2:21). And God requires no explanation. So let go.
• The seasons of life include both good and bad times (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). We would only choose good if we had the choice, but we are not in charge.
• The seasons of life are often confusing (Ecclesiastes 3:11). We have a limited perspective. We get discouraged, frustrated, upset. But God's timetable is different from ours.
• God has a purpose for every season of your life (Romans 8:28). We are defined by the tough times. God never wastes our experiences.
• What I sow in one season, I will reap in another season (Galatians 6:9). Always keep doing what's good and what's right. It's never wrong to do what's right and it's never right to do what's wrong.

How can I make the most of each season? Ask:

• What can I learn in this season of life? Don't ask "why?" but "what?"--"What are you trying to teach me, Lord?" (The problem is we don't really want to know "why?" We want to know "why me?")
• What can I enjoy right now in this season of my life? Don't wish your life away.
• What should be my priority right now in this season of my life?
• How can I help others right now in this season of my life? How can I give back in every season of life? (This helps me get through.)

This Week @ NorthStar

• NorthStar in the Community: Join us as we serve in our community at the following places this week: MUST Marietta laundry; MUST Smyrna pantry; concessions at North Cobb High School; the Great Locomotive Chase 5K; the Great Allatoona Lake Cleanup; and the Taste of Kennesaw. Volunteer online.
• The Clothesline: The Clothesline will be open to the community this Saturday, September 12, 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Join us as we set up and sort clothes on Thursday, September 10 and Friday, September 11, 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Help for 30 minutes or as long as you can. We also need folks with pickup trucks to help us move the clothes from the trailer to the building on Thursday, September 10 beginning at 7 a.m. And we need people on Saturday, September 12 at 2 p.m. to help clean up and turn the building around for weekend services. Volunteer online.
• Communion: Drop in anytime from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the True North Auditorium this Friday, September 11 for prayer and communion.
• New Series: The new four-week series Honeymoon: When Marriage Meets Reality starts this Sunday, September 13 in all services: 9:30 a.m., 11 a.m., and 5 p.m.
• Game Day: This Sunday, September 13, wear your team colors and show your support! And stop by for a hot dog after the service courtesy of the Men of NorthStar!
• Membership Class: This Sunday, September 13, 9:30-11 a.m. in Center Court. Find out what being a member of NorthStar means. Register online.

More Upcoming

• Big Give: "Undie Sunday": September 20.
• Men's Fall Retreat: September 25-26.
• GrowthStarts Class: "LOVE DARE: Fireproof Your Marriage": Six-week study beginning Sunday, September 27.
• Baptism Service: Sunday, September 27.

To receive Previously @ NorthStar weekly  in your inbox, send your email address to randy.elster@northstarchurch.org  and request Previously @ NorthStar!

When I'm overwhelmed

I'm going through an interesting season in my life. I have felt so attacked spiritually, like never before. I have felt overwhelmed and at times bordered on despair and depression.

But at the same time I have a peace and a hope that don't really match up with what I'm feeling. Very hard to describe.

As we talk in Digging Deeper this week about going through trials, I feel as if I'm living it at times. I've been reading through the Psalms lately in my quiet times, and yesterday a couple of verses leapt off the page at me.

Psalm 55:22 (NIV):

Cast your cares on the LORD 
    and he will sustain you; 
    he will never let the righteous fall.

Psalm 57:1-2 (NIV):

Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, 
    for in you my soul takes refuge. 
    I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings 
    until the disaster has passed.

[2] I cry out to God Most High, 
    to God, who fulfills his purpose for me.

Here's what stands out to me from these verses.

When I feel attacked or overwhelmed, God reminds me to:

1. Cast my cares on the Lord. I need to constantly remind myself to turn my worry into prayer. Prayer is the spiritual equivalent of worry. Prayer is just taking my worries to God, instead of just mulling them over in my mind or talking endlessly about them to others.
2. Let my soul take refuge in Him (in the shadow of His wings). I need to run to Him the way a child runs to his father for safety. This is a good time to solidify and deepen spiritual habits (like a quiet time) and maybe even start new ones.
3. Cry out to God Most High. Even Christ suffered from loneliness, depression, despair, discouragement, etc.--without crossing the line into sin in those areas. Jesus cried out to His Father. This is a time to develop very down-to-earth prayer habits. All those spiritually sounding phrases tend to go out the window now.

As I do these things, God begins to remind me that:

1. He will sustain me. When I feel like I can't go on, I draw near to Him once more and He gives me the strength to take the next step. I may not feel I have strength for the entire day, or even for the entire hour, but I at least have the strength to take the very next step.
2. He will never let the righteous fall. Even though people and situations seem to fail us, and even though I may fail at some things, He will never let me fall. He will teach me through it all and make me stronger.
3. He will have mercy on me. He knows the pain I face. He will not give me more than I can bear.
4. He will fulfill His purpose for me. His ultimate goal is to develop me into the person He wants me to be, and to do things through me that He could not have done otherwise if I had not gone through this trial.

Have you experienced this kind of trial in your life? What brought you through it?

Are you pumped about 2009?

So here are 7 reasons why I am pumped about 2009 because I am living at peace:

1.    It’s a great time to start over.  Hey, starting over has its benefits.  You can cut away a lot of the dead weight that you gain over time, trying to make something happen.  You start out lean and mean, and all of a sudden you end up bloated and tired.  Cut away some of that stuff that you don’t need and start over.

2.    It’s a great time to see new opportunities.  And they’re everywhere, absolutely everywhere, because the mediocre middle is just simply getting bigger during down times and leaving so many opportunities on the table.

Read the rest of David Foster's reasons HERE.

HT: Mike Linch

Anyway: The Paradoxical Commandments

People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered.

Love them anyway.

If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives.

Do good anyway.

If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies.

Succeed anyway.

The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow.

Do good anyway.

Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable.

Be honest and frank anyway.

The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds.

Think big anyway.

People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs.

Fight for a few underdogs anyway.

What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight.

Build anyway.

People really need help but may attack you if you do help them.

Help people anyway.

Give the world the best you have and you'll get kicked in the teeth.

Give the world the best you have anyway.

Written by Kent Keith. A copy of this hangs in a prominent place in one of Mother Teresa's orphanages in Calcutta. Check out the website here.

HT: The Power of Serving Others: You Can Start Where You Are by Gary Morsch and Dean Nelson (San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc., 2006)

"Give me three wounds"

This is a great article from Miles Welch, college pastor at Crossroads Community Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. (This appeared on the Catalyst site.)

I believe that as we walk through life, we are on two journeys: the outer journey, which is defined by what is happening to us and what we do, and the inward journey, which is defined by what is happening in us. One of the challenges of living a great life is the skill of keeping these two journeys connected.

A recent trip to the Holy Land reminded me of how easy it is to walk through the outer journey of life while neglecting the inward journey. As part of an organized tour group, I got to explore most of the key Holy places with an expert. However, the pace of the tour often moved faster than I wanted. Instead of soaking up and connecting with the history of our faith, it felt like we were running through the sacred.

I don't know about you, but my life is often like this. In fact, I think the greatest danger for me is to have a new mark on my passport, without a new mark on the pages of my heart. Reflecting on this reality, I came upon a prayer prayed by Lady Julian of Norwich. She lived some 700 years ago and is credited with being the first woman to write a book in English. Her prayer has instructed me on my inward journey, and I trust it will for you as well.

Read the rest of the article here.

Reticular Activating System

Mark Batterson at evotional.com (one of my favorite blogs) has a great perspective on goals and your reticular activating system. You'll have to read it to understand:

I continue to update and revise my Life Goal list. I'll post them once I get a rough draft. I'm at about 65 goals and I really want to come up with 100. I thought I'd post some thoughts on why I think goal-setting is important. Basically, it all comes back to the reticular activating system.

The Reticular Activating System (RAS) is a cluster of nerve cells in the brainstem that regulate alertness and attention. We are bombarded by thousands of stimuli every second--different sights, sounds and sensations. It is the job of the RAS to regulate which stimuli you pay attention to and which stimuli you ignore. It is the gatekeeper or screening device. Or think of it as mental radar. The RAS determines what you notice and what goes unnoticed.

Here's how it works. When you purchase a cell phone or clothing or a car, it creates a category in your reticular activating system. You notice if someone's cell phone has the same ring tone don't you? Because you go to answer yours! You notice if someone is wearing your outfit at the same event. Can you say awkward? And the second you drive your new car out of the lot, it seems like everyone is driving your model car.

Read more HERE.

Discovering the Kindness of God

Margaret Feinberg is a speaker, blogger, and author of more than a dozen books, including her latest, The Organic God.

Kindness contains an unmistakable transforming power. It's disarming - especially when delivered in unexpected moments. Kindness has the ability to change our attitudes and responses, transforming the way we interact with others and the world. Even hardened hearts melt in the presence of kindness. Something about the nature of kindness pierces the soul, accentuating our own humanity and reminding us that we, too, can be kind.

In the search to know the Organic God, I have been surprised to discover that he is abundantly kind. Sure, I was familiar with his love and grace, but his kindness caught me unaware. Now it's hard for me to read more than a portion of Scripture without encountering his abundant kindness.

God's kindness reached down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. One of the key motivations behind this extravagant grace was kindness. God saw humanity beyond redemption and sent a redeemer. It wasn't deserved or the fulfillment of an IOU - but rather an act of love which manifested itself in kindness, an expression of covenantal love - a willingness to honor the commitment to love, even when treated badly. Titus 3:4-5 acknowledges, "But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy."

Read more HERE.

Wassabi punch statements from Jesus

Shawn Wood has a great post on wassabi punch statements Jesus made in Scripture:

This whole mercy issue in Matthew 5:7 is one of the few wassabi punch statements that Jesus makes in scripture.

Have you had wassabi?

I will never forget the first time I encountered wassabi, it was in 1998 and I was eating sushi for the first time. I did not want to let everyone at the table know that I had no clue what I was doing and I figured that the little blob of green stuff on the side of my plate was some type of Japanese butter…I like butter, everyone likes butter.

So I did what anyone would do with Japanese butter and I coated the top of the sushi with the Japanese butter and took my first bite of sushi.

Wow. If I concentrate hard enough I can still feel the pain that is associated with the feeling of your sinuses having liquid fire shoot through them and your stomach having a bomb explode while trying to smile at the people around the table looking at you like you just forgot to enter the secret code into the computer on the hit show “lost”.

I call it the wassabi punch.

In scripture Jesus has a few wassabi punches…little cute statements that when you start to process them punch you in the spiritual gut as you realize what He has just asked you to do.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

HT: Monday Morning Insight

"Do whatever He tells you"

Perry Noble has a great post on something Mary (Jesus' mom) says...and it's something that we need to heed today. In fact it would make our lives much simpler if we would heed it. Read the post HERE.