Author Archives: Senti

What we need these days is love!  And it is not just any love, but what is meant by the Christian Church from the Greek word, “Agape”.  That is sacrificial love.  That kind of love is described in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians chapter 13:

Love is patient, love is kind…  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs…  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

That’s what this song comes from.  But it goes further into the chapter and talks about how we are like children now. But a Day will come when we will see Jesus as He is and then we will be known for who we are.  Because He created us He alone knows who we really are. 

But one of the biggest things this set of verses points out is that this side of heaven we see through a glass dimly.  That should make us humble about our views.  We don’t have the corner on the truth, but we are in a relationship with the Truth, when we are in relationship to Jesus.  Jesus claims to be the truth.  The truth is not just an idea but a Person.  Yet we as humans do not know that truth exhaustively.  So it’s best for us to speak of what we know for sure and admit that we don’t know everything about everything.  Especially it is important to recognize that we may be wrong about some things. 

There’s nothing wrong with claiming to know the Truth, for instance when we as Christians say that Jesus is the Truth. But when we make our opinions equal with truth we are in dangerous territory.  There may be things which we need to admit we don’t know for sure, such as our political views in this very divided time. 

This song is part of an album that you can download for a small donation on our media page: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

This song’s title is taken from the introduction to Habakkuk 3 which refers to a musical term in the Hebrew tradition called “Shiginoth”. The song itself is a vision of God’s power and Habakkuk’s joy in the midst of dire circumstances.

I think that picture of having joy even when things all seem to be going wrong is important for us in our time, with the recent pandemic, wildfires, more natural disasters, and riots in the streets.

Habakkuk struggles with God allowing evil in the world, as have most of us i’m sure. Then he sees a vision of God, who he has heard of from the past, but now he sees before whom mountain crumble, the sea is churned up and the sun and moon stand still. But in all that Habakkuk finds hope.

Listen to some of the lyrics:

Though the trees are all cut down and though the fruit no longer grows and though the farms are shutting down and though the cows are dying off, yet I will sing a song of joy to my King who is my strength. He has made my feet run, like a deer on mountains, my love.

Even though all these things are happening we can still choose to have joy, mainly for me as a disciple of Jesus this is because i have hope for eternity, not just this life. But also because I know I’m loved no matter what happens. That love comes from God and has been proved by Jesus Christ in his death and resurrection. He died not only for me but for all, especially those who will trust in Him, even when things are not seeming well. We can be well, even when all things don’t seem well.

Check out the whole album on our media page: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

When we see all the troubles of our time, sometimes it may be that we want to hide ourselves from it all.  Although ostriches don’t actually do it, the idea is often suggested that we should not hide our heads in the sand like an ostrich. 

But is there a time to hide ourselves, even while we live our lives?  Is there even a way to do that?  I believe there is.  As a disciple of Jesus there is a mystical way to hide ourselves in Him.  When we pray we can rely on Him. We can also even as we read His Word and live by His way, rather than trying to figure it out ourselves.  There is a deep assurance when we do this that we are on the eternal path of life. And that is at least one way to hide ourselves in Him.

Sometimes I even give my burdens to Him, that I can feel sometimes physically- usually on my upper back- and I can feel Him taking them away and giving me life in exchange.  As I ask for forgiveness and literally lay down on a bed and rest in Him, I can feel like I’m laying my head on His chest. 

So my song, “Hide Yourself” goes:

Hide yourself in Jesus, hide yourself in Him, hide yourself in Jesus; He’ll give you rest, my friend…all your bitterness and your lustful heart, give it all to Him, come just as you are.  And your selfishness, and your prideful thinking, in his shadow hide and watch your sin start shrinking!  Hide yourself in Jesus…

And that track ends by flowing into another song as a medley, a song of praise that just simply goes:

You, I sing to you a beautiful melody, just for you…

This song can be heard on the album: “Our Eyes Are on You” on the media page:http://www.envisionmission.org/media

“They” is a word that can be used to separate ourselves from others very easily.  When Jesus identifies himself with the “they”, than it probably means we should also.  “us” is better. 

I remember being out on a street night for one of the first times back in 2005.  In those days prostitutes hung out around Railroad and Holly pretty openly.  I remember seeing a guy pick up a gal from his van and just thinking, how sick is that?  Then I remember seeing a drug dealer right on the corner and thinking the same.  When I got back to my apartment that night the Spirit convicted me that I had judged all those people, but I myself had issues with pride and wasn’t as grossed out by that, even though Jesus was a lot more tough on the Pharisees than the prostitutes of His time. 

It makes me wonder, where are we at with this?  Do we really treat folks that are the least of these like they are Jesus in disguise or could be?  Certainly we must love our neighbors as ourselves, but what does that mean?  Maybe you have some ideas. 

“There’s a man down there on a street corner road, and I see that he’s dealing.  Thank you Jesus, that I’m not like that man, I say in my heart, but you see right through my feeling.  And there’s a woman hanging out, waiting for a ride.  I must confess I’d be no different if I’d grown up in another kind of home, without love, and a choice or two.  Help me Jesus to show Your kind of love as if they were You…”

If interested in this song it’s on our CD, “Our Eyes Are on You” on our website on the media page: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

What is the cause of random acts of violence? We know, more recently, why some folks are rioting and looting it seems, but what about when someone starts shooting folks at random?

Would it be best to take away guns? Would that stop violence, or lesson it? Maybe assault weapons?

What is going on in our society? Could video games where kids are randomly killing people be the cause? Why are most the killers angry men or young men?

Could this be a sign of a crumbling society? There is violence in our streets, in our entertainment? What if we need a return to old fashioned values? Christians call it revival.

I think ultimately that we need Jesus Christ, to whom great violence was enacted and His response was to pray for them, not resist them. And I think all of us are at fault. You see, Christians call it sin. And it is our rebellion against God that has brought us out of harmony with Him and with each other. But Christ has made forgiveness of sin available to all through taking the penalty for sin on Himself on the cross. Anyone who changes their thinking and receives that forgiveness begins to have a heart change that leads to true transformation. If folks would do that the world would change and there would be peace.

More recently as we consider issues of white privilege and riots, I think all need to repent. I as a white person can identify with the sin of racism even if I don’t think I’m personally guilty and say, “I’m sorry” to those who experience racism. Those who respond with violence and stealing should also repent. We all need forgiveness and transformation. God help us and give us courage.

I believe the Lord of the universe is allowing this corona virus to spread because it reminds us that we are not ultimately in control. There are some healthy ways we are called to practice self-control, but there are many unhealthy ways we try to control things that we cannot. And the more we try to take control the worse it gets.

We cannot lengthen our life-span or ultimately control the economy, our health in terms of the day of our death, and we cannot control other people. There is so much in this life we don’t have control over. And this is a stark reminder of that reality, whether we like it or not.

The best thing for us to do is to humble ourselves, change our thinking, let go and let God. Certainly we can wisely take precautions, but instead of panic, we can submit to God. We can submit to His Lordship because He let death take Him, but He also conquered it. He let go, trusted His Father, and rose again.

Those who trust in Him can also be free from the power of the fear of death. Let’s pray for our leaders and love each other in the midst of this, friends.

See related youtube video: https://youtu.be/a42UyTkHB-o

What is the cause of climate change? Most scientists say carbon levels have contributed greatly to climate change and global warming. Some scientists, very few, and conservatives, especially evangelicals, have said it is caused by the natural rhythms of the earth.

But what if greed has been a main factor? Would it be surprising? To my evangelical friends: look around at the effects of the industrial revolution. Look at how it has changed society. We want more, build more factories, we need more cars, bigger houses, more things made in China, overseas, in Mexico, more pollution, more plastic packaging, more traffic…

Would it be surprising if God were judging us by letting us feel the consequences of our greed in the weather itself? My friends in India tell me that it gets hotter by one degree at the hottest time of the year, every year. More folks die…

Revelation 16:8-9: “The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun and the sun was given power to scorch people with fire. They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify Him…”

What if God is allowing this to wake us up to our greed in the hope that we would repent and change our ways, be content with less, walk or ride bike more? But most importantly He wants us to turn to Him and learn to give Him the glory instead of ourselves.

What do you think? Even if it’s not, would harm would it do if we were better stewards of the earth?

Check out other media on our media page: http://www.envisionmission.org/media

Someone stole something from me. Have you ever had that happen? When we are stolen from we have a feeling of violation afterwards. I confess, when I found out that someone had stolen the two deep cycle batteries on my trailer, I wanted to curse them. See picture below:

In my series on real life, I think it’s important to point out that many of us have things like this happen. If you think you’re life is worse than others, think again. You are not alone. Neither was I. This is real life.

Even though I wanted to curse whoever did it, the Holy Spirit of Jesus reminded me to bless them and pray for them. So I did. But I had to repent about my attitude towards them.

In the end, I spent $200 to replace them. Thank God for Walmart. But yes, I had to go to Walmart. And I haven’t yet tried to reattach the broken cables. That in itself will be a challenge. Have you ever had something like this happen?

When something is stolen, someone in our community has broken the law of God. But who of us haven’t broken God’s law in some way? There is hope for us all though. We can be forgiven through Jesus’ costly death on the cross on our behalf and a new life through His resurrection. When we were God’s enemies He chose to love us, thus we can love each other. That’s what creates authentic community in Christ.

Check out more thoughts on authentic community in Christ on this website: http://www.envisionmission.org/about

So this closes out my series on Real Life. The reason I did this series is that social media tends to give us a fake picture of life. Then we compare ourselves to each other and feel bad about our lives. Hopefully seeing someone’s life that isn’t perfect helps us to see that it’s okay!

What are the effects of a busy life?

It makes it difficult to keep up on basic things, like keeping your desk clean. Here’s a picture of my home desk: pretty pathetic.

When one is trying to keep track of a lot of details, if one gets behind, there can be a lot of clutter. The brain can become cluttered. Usually that affects our ability to stay organized in our home. Our outward lives reflect our inward lives.

I do take comfort in the thought that geniuses usually have messy desks. But that doesn’t mean those with messy desks are all geniuses.

Our culture is very fast-paced and few of us like that, but we all don’t know what to do to stop it. So what do we do with a busy life?

One of the things I notice about the early Christians according to Acts 2 in the Holy Bible, is that they praised God with simplicity of heart. That simplicity of heart led them to share with each other and from the text it seems that they had simple lives. Simplicity of heart leads to simplicity of life.

How to we obtain simplicity of heart? The same way these early Christians did: by trusting the simple Gospel. God loves us in Jesus and so we don’t have to worry. We don’t have to go after what the world goes after. We don’t have to prove ourselves.

God proved that He loves us by sending His Word in human form- Jesus- taking on all the stuff in us that causes the problems in this world, putting it to death on the cross, reversing it in His Resurrection, and giving us His Spirit to give us peace!

That’s what Envision is about also- you can read about us in the About section of our website: http://www.envisionmission.org/about

As part of my “Real Life” series I’d like to blog a little about home ownership. It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.

You will notice that my main water pipe is leaking in my front yard. This is the second time this year it’s started leaking. Your water bill goes way up and this likely means I’ll have to dig a trench and replace the whole pipe.

Good thing I have some cool plumber friends that don’t charge an arm and a leg for these things. But do you ever feel like a lot goes wrong mechanically or technically on your house, but other people don’t seem to have that problem? Actually, most people that are home owners face these problems because when you own a home, you have to take care of it.

Now don’t get me wrong, there is also great freedom in home ownership and its a good investment of money, but i’m just saying it’s not all roses. And it can be expensive if your house is old. Ours is from 1900. Yes, the year 1900.

I’m a busy guy and it’s difficult to get everything done around the house. For instance here’s a picture of our front screen door handle: yes, that is duct tape holding it together! I’ll get to it sooner or later, but I have more important things to do.

There are many folks who don’t know why the world is as messed up as it is and don’t know the meaning of life, so I want to spend my time sharing that with my family and with others. So I let other things go.

Why is the world messed up? Because we as humans have lost touch with God and therefore one another and the very creation around us. God became human to enter into our mess and show us the real problem. The human heart is very deceitful and self-centered.

Christians call that sin. Jesus is God in human form and when He came to this world, humanity crucified Him. But He used that very sin, took it on Himself, including death and the consequence of sin, which is the separation from God we call hell, and conquered it. It couldn’t hold on to Him because He is God. He is Love’s very definition. He rose from death, from sin and hell, and then gave Himself- His very Spirit- to those who would receive Him so we could be changed from the inside out. And we can live out the meaning of life, which is to love Him and to love others!

So I guess I can put up with a few problems around the house, even harder things, as long as I can have the peace of God living in me. I know I’m loved by Him and can also love others, including my family.

God bless you one and all if you read this far! That’s what our ministry is all about- read about it more in http://www.envisionmission.org/about