Eyes Wide-Open

Pastor of Worship and Staff, David Dillon

We are very blessed to have many photographers at Centennial with an eye for capturing beauty.  One Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, eight of them did a morning outing in downtown Denver seeking to capture “Urban Life” with their cameras.

As a place to gather our creative work and let others enjoy it, we created a Flickr group called “Centennial Covenant Photographers” that you can view here http://www.flickr.com/groups/2214230@N20/pool/ Go ahead and look – there’s some beautiful work from that morning from people you probably know!

Our plan is to continue with these outings on a monthly basis through the summer. We have tentatively planned our next outing for Sunday, July 7 shooting downtown at sunset. If you have a love for photography we would welcome you coming along or joining our Flickr group. Just let me know of your interest.

Let’s watch and see where God takes us as our eyes are wide-open to the world around us!

David Brown

Cassie Britain

David Dillon

Brian Hatak

Steve Johnson

How to Avoid God?

Senior Pastor, Steve Thulson

Writing 50 or so years ago, British author C.S. Lewis wrote an essay called "The Seeing Eye" -- a response to atheist Soviet Cosmonauts who said they had not seen God in space. He compared that to assuming you might meet William Shakespeare by reading Hamlet. 

Lewis also talked about "avoiding God."  It's "extremely easy," he's said. "Avoid silence, avoid solitude, avoid any train of thought that leads off the beaten track. Concentrate on money, sex, status, health and (above all) on your own grievances. Keep the radio on. Live in a crowd. Use plenty of sedation. If you must read books, select them very careful. But you’d be safer to stick to the papers."

It's even easier in our time, isn't it? We're bombarded with information, voices, media, and noise that flood their way into any potential silence and solitude. 

Yet God himself does not get crowded out. He's more than "there." And he's ready to welcome our open hearts to fill them with his grace and truth. 

This summer, why not stop avoiding God and step into his loving search for you? Go on some walks with him. Let what you see reflect his glory. Let what's on your mind be channeled into a conversation. Open a Bible and listen. Get with a friend and ask about any God-sightings. 

"My times are in your hands" (Psalm 31:15). What about this time for you?

Summer Witness

I am hiking the Twin Sisters Trail.  After a long series of switchbacks, nestled in a pine forest with NO view at all, I break out at the top.  What lies before me is spectacular Longs Peak only a short distance away.

I am sitting in a family room with a dying friend.  Everyone knows all too well that this may be the last conversation we will have this side of the resurrection.

I am sitting on the living room floor, surrounded by a chaotic tangle of toys and puzzle pieces.  Suddenly I am tackled by a chattering, somewhat wobbly one year old and we fall down together in a joyous heap.

I am driving with my nine year old grandson discussing various wars he has become aware of and quite interested in.  On his own, he suddenly refers to Gideon’s battle with the Midianites and how God fought for the Israelites and gave them a supernatural victory.

I have just witnessed an amazing sunset on the drive to visit a disabled friend who has not seen a sunset in years.  Her apartment has no western exposure and she only gets out to go to the doctor during the day.  I sit with her and prayerfully listen as she describes hours of relentless pain and feeling let down by the Medicare system.

I sit on the shore of Lake Galilee with my best friend and a life partner (same person) taking communion.

What do all the above have in common?   

Jesus, himself, is present.  Not only is he present, but engaged and drawing me to himself to know him as the author of creation, beauty and love; and the companion and comforter during dark nights on my life’s journey.

This summer, remember the “with-ness” of Jesus wherever you are!

Sawdust: An Aroma Holy and Pleasing

“When I make sawdust I feel His pleasure.” 

So would have gone the famous quote by Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Liddell, had he been a woodworker. He wasn’t though; his passion was running, and God met him and he met God through that simple act.

I am not much of a runner, but I do have a lot of passions, and I understand Liddell’s sentiment of communing with God as I engage those passions. Lately, woodworking has had my attention, and specifically, building my first guitar. This project began on April 30 last year. After a long winter hiatus, where my garage/workshop was too cold to be functional, I am nearing completion.

Not only do I hope that this instrument will be a tool for worshiping, but also there have been moments of worship even during its creation. Especially the distinct and pungent smell of walnut being cut by my band saw, or the sheen that I start to see in a highly polished ebony fretboard—these cause me to praise the God who gifted us with senses.

I can’t help but think too about God’s passion for extravagant beauty in worship. Sometime read Exodus 31:1-11. Here you see God giving his Holy Spirit to artists and artisans for the purpose of beautifying the Israelites’ place of worship. I believe this was a beauty not only for the Israelites to enjoy as they worshipped God, but also a beauty that God enjoyed. Art is a communal gift. By the way, this was one of the first recorded instances of God filling someone with his Spirit. Think about the significance of God giving that kind of attention to art and artists!
 So as I stand in a carpet of sawdust in my workshop, I stand in a great line of worshiping artists with a passion for beauty and a passion for God. What about you? What are you passionate about? Can you see those passions as an opportunity for worship?

Community

The first Thursday of every month, I get together with a group of pastors from Covenant Churches on the front range.  Arvada, Longmont, Ft. Collins - we come from all over. All of us are in some way part of the student ministries at our churches.  Every time I walk away thinking, "I love meeting with these people. There is something encouraging about conversation with people walking the same journey as you."

Who are the people like that in your life?  Who are the people that you meet with and walk away feeling refreshed?

I am convinced more and more that we NEED these people in our lives.  Without honest, challenging, uplifting conversation with trusted friends it is so easy for life to become heavy.  

How would you describe the rhythm of your life right now?  Light?  Heavy?

If your answer is, "light."  Awesome!  I challenge you to find someone to share that with.  Let the blessings you receive in life become a blessing to others.  Let the good things you experience become a testimony of God's grace present.

If your answer is, "heavy."  Maybe it's not so awesome, but I challenge you also to find someone to share that with.  And I don't mean the vague, veiled, "pray for me," kind of sharing that can make us feel like we have done just enough.  Yes, it's appropriate that we don't share every detail of every struggle with every person we meet. However, there needs to be at least one place, at least one person where we can let down every wall and be brutally honest.

Do you have a person in your life with whom you are brutally honest?  Who is the person that allows you to drop every wall and barrier?

My prayer right now for my life, and for each member of our community, is that we would seek, find, and celebrate these very relationships in our midst.

Do you have these places of honesty and trust?  Celebrate!  Let them know how much they mean to you.

Do you need a place like this?  Pray for God's guidance.  Then, with discernment, lean into a relationship that you think could go deeper.  Take the next step of trust.  Confess the struggle you have bottled up inside; admit the fear that weakens your knees.

The body of Christ is a place to find healing, strengthening, transformational relationships.  We have the very presence of God in our midst, and that is something to celebrate.

Heavy seasons aren't necessarily joy filled, but they definitely ARE seasons God wants to work in and work through.  Let us be a community of people God works in and works through as we share both the heavy and the light of our lives together.

Thank you Christ, for your presence among us. Amen.

Financial Peace

Sixty-five individuals just finished a 9 week course called Financial Peace University.  It was awesome.

Here are some of the highlights straight from the mouths of our participants.

- "I just saved $1,000 for the first time in my life."

- "Having an emergency fund in place gives me peace."

- "My spouse and I are now communicating regularly about finances, it's wonderful."

- "I did my taxes on my own!"

- "I paid off $2,500 in debt!"

- "My husband and I now have a shared language about money.  Now we can have money conversations instead of money fights."

- "I cut up ALL of my credit cards.  I will NEVER go into debt again."

During our course, we learned the "Seven Baby Steps" of financial peace:

1) Save a $1,000 emergency fund (do this fast, do this now, have a garage sale this weekend!)

2) List all of your debts, smallest to largest.  Pay minimum payments on every debt and then ATTACK the smallest debt with every other dollar you can find.  Once you pay off that smallest debt, roll your payment over to the next smallest.  This is called the debt snowball.

3) Save 3-6 months worth of expenses.  This is a complete emergency fund.

4) Put 15% of your income toward retirement in a 401K, IRA, Roth IRA or other tax-favored accounts.

5) Start saving and investing for your kids college education.

6) Pay off your mortgage early.

7) GIVE LIKE NO ONE ELSE.

During our time together, we regularly looked at one another and said, "I have never really talked to anyone about this before."  Conversations about handling money God's way can be so freeing when they lead to new behaviors, greater purpose and clearer vision about how to handle the resources God has given us.

At the end of the day, it's not about getting out of debt, it's not about saving more for yourself, it's not about giving more to the church.  Rather,

It's about becoming more and more like God.  God is the ultimate giver and he wants you to experience the joy of becoming like him.

If you weren't able to make it to the course, but are interested in learning more, go here.  Also, let us know if you would be interested in going through Financial Peace University and we can point you toward other courses in our area or even consider offering the course again here at Centennial Covenant Church.

Between this course, our Sunday morning connecting hour class on Jesus and finances, and the High School curriculum "Generation Change" more than 90 people have been learning about and growing into lives of handling money God's way. 

Praise the Lord that he is moving in this way in our community.