Warm Up: Exodus 20:9-11, Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
Stretching: Genesis 1- Genesis 2:3. Run: Rest and recovery may be one of the most overlooked aspects of a proper training plan. In the natural, it would seem that working out on that extra day would give you a competitive edge. Those who relieve stress or get their ‘highs’ from working out, find it a nuisance to take a day off from training. It’s like trying to wean your self from an addiction. The body needs time to rest and recover. Certainly part of this is God’s natural intention for his creation. Today’s Stretching is the story of creation and how the entire notion of ‘Sabbath’ came to be. It was a holy day; a day to stop and consider all that had been accomplished. The original language refers to a sense of “joyous delight” in the Sabbath. The whole notion of stopping to ‘reflect and consider’ the great deeds that God has done is throughout God’s interactions with Israel. Certainly the festivals and holy days in the Jewish calendar were established with the idea of pausing to reflect on the goodness of God and his mighty deeds. And there was nothing better than God’s work in creation. At the end of each day God delighted in his work and called it “Good”. He did that every day, a rigorous training regime, until the last day when he noted that his handiwork was ‘Very Good’; so good in fact that God created Sabbath. It wasn’t that God needed to rest; certainly he wasn’t weary from his work. It was more a pause for dramatic emphasis and showed a pattern to be established for all history that reflection and remembrance are important. Did you ever consider that the fourth commandment is a key that links the other nine? Besides being the longest commandment, it is also strategically placed in the list. The first three call us to remember God while the last five call us to remember others. The Sabbath rest keeps us balanced between remembering the things of God and remembering the needs of others. It is as vital for our spiritual man as a day of rest is for our physical man. Sabbath is holy time; it’s God’s time. It’s eternal time when we remove ourselves from the demands of this world and focus on kairos instead of kronos. It’s our ‘trial run’ for heaven. Cool Down: “Lord, forgive me when I don’t keep the Sabbath. I have neglected my ‘spirit man’ and grieved your Holy Spirit in me by maintaining the busy-ness of the world thinking I can make up time by neglecting your command. Help me to see that it’s nothing more than running on a treadmill and getting me nowhere in the long run. Impress upon me anew this command and help me to joyously anticipate the restoration you want to do in me in time as I obey your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
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Warm Up: Ecclesiastes 3: 11, He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Stretching: Exodus 16 Run: I’m writing this devotion from my running experiences. I don’t read a lot about running and I don’t follow running plans. I don’t participate in running groups and I don’t run a lot of races. I’m not a student of running. I’m a runner because I run. But I do have credentials in other disciplines. For example, I have an advanced degree in writing. It’s this discipline that helps me craft running analogies from my spiritual walk. So, I do know something about writing other than just my writing experiences. Here’s something that connects writing and running: Each has a beginning, middle, and end. I know that when I run, I will start and I will finish. Somewhere in between that distance is a middle part. This may seem like useless and obvious information, but it is relevant when you consider that we use it to pace ourselves during a run, right? The vital part of story is transformation. There are more technical terms for story structure, but the nature of transformation in the primary character (the protagonist) is central to the power of story. Somehow, the journey changes the protagonist from who they were when they began the race to when they finished it. As it relates to running, who could argue that we are ‘changed’ during the race we run? I’ve shared several stories about memorable runs and how running has taught me about life and eternity. At a minimum, I’m not the same man I was when I started running simply because of the roads I’ve traveled. Ultimately, this is a spiritual truth and it’s one of the more compelling reasons why story is still the most powerful form of communication we know. The nature of transformation in the journey is the cry of our hearts. It is the eternal and subconscious hope of every life. We all want a story that ends “happily ever after” because it is already implanted in us and the work of transformation in the story speaks to us in a language that is not of this world. Let every time you run be a reminder that you are being transformed in this life through the story God is writing in you as you run this (human) race. Cool Down: “Lord, life’s a rat race down here. Sometimes it seems like my story is going nowhere and so I want to take the pen and rewrite it; as if I could somehow erase what I’ve done in the past and rewrite it with a better ending. But taking control of my own life is not the answer. Like the children in the wilderness, I need to trust you for one line at a time. As I recount the chapters of your faithfulness in my life, how could I think I might do better? Let me stay behind the stroke of your pen filling up the page of my life today, fixing my eyes on you. Be the author and perfecter of my faith today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10 Warm Up: Exodus 20:9-11, Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. Stretching: Genesis 1- Genesis 2:3. Run: Rest and recovery may be one of the most overlooked aspects of a proper training plan. In the natural, it would seem that working out on that extra day would give you a competitive edge. Those who relieve stress or get their ‘highs’ from working out, find it a nuisance to take a day off from training. It’s like trying to wean your self from an addiction. The body needs time to rest and recover. Certainly part of this is God’s natural intention for his creation. Today’s Stretching is the story of creation and how the entire notion of ‘Sabbath’ came to be. It was a holy day; a day to stop and consider all that had been accomplished. The original language refers to a sense of “joyous delight” in the Sabbath. The whole notion of stopping to ‘reflect and consider’ the great deeds that God has done is throughout God’s interactions with Israel. Certainly the festivals and holy days in the Jewish calendar were established with the idea of pausing to reflect on the goodness of God and his mighty deeds. And there was nothing better than God’s work in creation. At the end of each day God delighted in his work and called it “Good”. He did that every day, a rigorous training regime, until the last day when he noted that his handiwork was ‘Very Good’; so good in fact that God created Sabbath. It wasn’t that God needed to rest; certainly he wasn’t weary from his work. It was more a pause for dramatic emphasis and showed a pattern to be established for all history that reflection and remembrance are important. Did you ever consider that the fourth commandment is a key that links the other nine? Besides being the longest commandment, it is also strategically placed in the list. The first three call us to remember God while the last five call us to remember others. The Sabbath rest keeps us balanced between remembering the things of God and remembering the needs of others. It is as vital for our spiritual man as a day of rest is for our physical man. Sabbath is holy time; it’s God’s time. It’s eternal time when we remove ourselves from the demands of this world and focus on kairos instead of kronos. It’s our ‘trial run’ for heaven. Cool Down: “Lord, forgive me when I don’t keep the Sabbath. I have neglected my ‘spirit man’ and grieved your Holy Spirit in me by maintaining the busy-ness of the world thinking I can make up time by neglecting your command. Help me to see that it’s nothing more than running on a treadmill and getting me nowhere in the long run. Impress upon me anew this command and help me to joyously anticipate the restoration you want to do in me in time as I obey your Word. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Warm Up: Ecclesiastes 3: 11, He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end. Stretching: Exodus 16 Run: I’m writing this devotion from my running experiences. I don’t read a lot about running and I don’t follow running plans. I don’t participate in running groups and I don’t run a lot of races. I’m not a student of running. I’m a runner because I run. But I do have credentials in other disciplines. For example, I have an advanced degree in writing. It’s this discipline that helps me craft running analogies from my spiritual walk. So, I do know something about writing other than just my writing experiences. Here’s something that connects writing and running: Each has a beginning, middle, and end. I know that when I run, I will start and I will finish. Somewhere in between that distance is a middle part. This may seem like useless and obvious information, but it is relevant when you consider that we use it to pace ourselves during a run, right? The vital part of story is transformation. There are more technical terms for story structure, but the nature of transformation in the primary character (the protagonist) is central to the power of story. Somehow, the journey changes the protagonist from who they were when they began the race to when they finished it. As it relates to running, who could argue that we are ‘changed’ during the race we run? I’ve shared several stories about memorable runs and how running has taught me about life and eternity. At a minimum, I’m not the same man I was when I started running simply because of the roads I’ve traveled. Ultimately, this is a spiritual truth and it’s one of the more compelling reasons why story is still the most powerful form of communication we know. The nature of transformation in the journey is the cry of our hearts. It is the eternal and subconscious hope of every life. We all want a story that ends “happily ever after” because it is already implanted in us and the work of transformation in the story speaks to us in a language that is not of this world. Let every time you run be a reminder that you are being transformed in this life through the story God is writing in you as you run this (human) race. Cool Down: “Lord, life’s a rat race down here. Sometimes it seems like my story is going nowhere and so I want to take the pen and rewrite it; as if I could somehow erase what I’ve done in the past and rewrite it with a better ending. But taking control of my own life is not the answer. Like the children in the wilderness, I need to trust you for one line at a time. As I recount the chapters of your faithfulness in my life, how could I think I might do better? Let me stay behind the stroke of your pen filling up the page of my life today, fixing my eyes on you. Be the author and perfecter of my faith today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” “The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10 Warm Up: James 1:2-4, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. Stretching: Numbers 14. Run: The term, “a pebble in your shoe” usually is a reference to something that is hindering or slowing you down. It can be a metaphysical description of holding on to grudges or being unwilling to forgive someone who rubs you the wrong way. The very nature of this metaphor comes out of the context of walking or running. Even the smallest piece of rock, a splinter of wood, or a few grains of sand can hobble us. If the annoyance is not dealt with, it can lead to more prolonged pain like a bruise or a blister. Of course, when you’re running a race, it’s frustrating to take the time to stop and fix the problem. Still, if the race is going to be of any distance, it is imperative that you deal with the irritant. We all pick up ‘pebbles in our shoes’ in life. Trials and tribulations tend to expose some of these pebbles. My pastor used to say that you don’t know what’s in someone’s cup until they are bumped and then what’s inside spills over. And as James reminds us, dealing with these issues shouldn’t aggravate us. Today’s reading out of Numbers reminds us how extensive the repercussions of a ‘pebble’ can become. God’s dealings with his people in the wilderness of Sin weren’t the result of his inability to lead them into the Promised Land. It was all about their inability to let go of their old ways and prepare themselves for what was ahead. A trip that should have taken 10-14 days took two and a half years while the Israelites continued to wrestle with their unbelief despite the many miracles of God. After these tribulations came a time of testing in Numbers 13 and the results were disastrous. The massive failure to deal with the issue of their unbelief resulted in the loss of an entire generation before God was willing to bring them to the next level of their spiritual training. Sometimes, I wonder what I have missed out on because of my unwillingness to deal with issues that would allow me to know God better and experience his faithfulness even more in my life. Like the Israelites, I murmur and complain about those annoying pebbles, but fail to take the time to pick them out of my shoe. As a runner who understands the nature of the metaphor because of personal experience, I miss the mark in my spiritual walk. Cool Down: “Lord, it’s hard to look at the tribulations I have to go through with joy. How can adversity be good? So many things happen that I don’t understand. While I know that a fallen world and my own sin nature cause a lot of what happens in my life, I also understand through your Word that you send tribulations to show us our weaknesses in areas where you want to bring victory and strength. Like the psalmist, I need to learn that every lament is an opportunity for praise. Please help my unbelief and let me be reminded in your Word of the many ways you use a ‘refiner’s fire’ to purify us into your image and prepare us for the race that lies ahead. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” Warm Up: 1 Thessalonians 4:14, “Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.” Stretching: Psalm 23 Run: I was running in Augusta, GA one evening in the spring. I knew it was getting late to start running, but there was this trail; a converted railroad track that I had run on before. Besides, it was a beautiful night and the temperature was just right. I knew I would be running into dusk and night, but I felt comfortable enough with the situation to give it a go. Now, I’ve written in other places of this devotional about running into the evening in unfamiliar territory, but this was a different experience with a different application. This time the trees completely blocked out the sky above. It was pitch black and I could hardly see my next step. But the last ¾ mile of the trail was straight and led to a bridge that crossed a river. From far away, it was just a small hole of light and like that night I used the sky above to keep me on the path, this time I used the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ to guide me. As I got closer and closer, the circle grew bigger and clearer. Even in the utter darkness there was a light that led me to the end of the trail. Last night, I went to a high school baseball game to watch a young man play. He lost his father to a sudden heart attack. I sat next to his mom who is a dear friend. She talked about life and shared her concerns for her two sons in a world that has lost all meaning. She knows all about my faith and understands religion, but right now, she’s lost hope. It’s a scary thing to lose hope. I think HOPE is the defining attribute of our faith, isn’t it? I mean, we can hold out hope despite all circumstances. As Paul so confidently boasts, “If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. (Romans 14; 8,9) That night I was running in darkness, I still knew that there was a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. I was not lost; everything would be fine. My friend has lost hope because she’s looking for it in the wrong place. Until we find hope in the light of Christ, we can never know the peace of God which passes all understanding. Cool Down: “Lord, I’m troubled about many things. When I look around me, everything seems so unsure. Sometimes, I feel like a the man who built his house on the sand and I live like everything I have will be swallowed up or swept away. Forgive me for putting my faith in myself and what I have. Help me remember today that you knit me in my mother’s womb; that you knew me before I was born; that you love me with an unfailing love and you promise that you’ll never leave me NOR forsake me. I find my strength in you; you are my rock and my strong fortress. In you I find my HOPE. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” “Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it’s all about.” – PattiSue Plumer, Olympian. Warm Up: John 14:27, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. Stretching: Matthew 14: 22-33 Run: Running has taken me to some unexpected places: in the middle of a herd of goats in rural Kostroma, Russia; through a salt marsh near Accra, Ghana; downtown Singapore in the middle of the night; high into the stunning beauty of the Austrian Alps; through the quaint canals and waterways of Christ Church, New Zealand in late Spring; deep into the Central American jungles outside of Guatemala City; and on and on. Since I run everywhere I travel; my travels and my running are synonomous. What I know of a place, I feel like I found when I ran through its city streets and over local terrain: Cape Town, South Africa; Penal, Trinidad; Jakarta, Indonesia; Lima, Peru; Yellowstone National Park; all over the world. Obviously, there was some danger involved and I did have to be careful. Often, I ignored warnings that I shouldn’t be running in these places. But, I think back on the experiences I would have missed if I would have always chosen the safest route. I wonder how often Jesus’ disciples reflected on their life experiences after they decided to follow him? Did they ever regret their decision? I wonder if it made them nervous to hear Jesus say things like: “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” (Matthew 8:20); “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54); “Whoever wants to be my disciple has to deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24). Do you think the experience of seeing the miracles, hearing the words, and living in the presence of the Giver of Life was worth the sacrifice? Do you think they had regrets? After many deserted Jesus, Peter put the question to rest in John 6:68, “Master where (else) would we go? You have the words of eternal life.” I love the adage, “If you want to run with the big dogs, you have to get off the porch.” Talk about running with the lead pack! Even facing the certainty of following Jesus in his death could not diminish the fervor these eleven men showed in their devotion. As another devoted follower of Jesus’ would later write, “For your sake, we face death all day long; we are like sheep led to be slaughtered.” (Romans 8:36). Do you know that the most oft-repeated notion in the Bible is some version of “Do NOT be afraid”? Yet in a world of paranoia that breeds fear, we are conditioned to live in it. If this were not so, selling insurance would not be a gazillion-dollar industry. Let the only fear that controls you be the ‘fear of God’ in your life and you’ll be amazed at where the path leads. Cool Down: “Lord, I am fearful about so many things. I don’t want to be afraid. I know that reveals my lack of faith in you as my Protector and Defender. Help me to discern between foolishness and faith and when you call me out of the boat, let me not be bold enough to walk on the water. In Jesus’ name, Amen.” I just received this letter from Ann Casey, a patron of our resources who has used our materials for years in her ministry. Recently, she sent me this very encouraging note that I would like to share with you: Dear Jeff, First I want to wish you a wonderful, Merry Christmas! Second, I want to say thank you for your ministry. It has had a huge impact on our church’s creative ministry program. We started a group over 10 years ago by using some of your videos to instruct us and we are still going strong. We recently held our annual fall performance in our small church and I wanted to share one of the original movements we choreographed to a song by Matthew West – “Do Something”. The theme for our program was “Service” and this song just touched my heart as I listened to it and seemed to be what we needed to use to end the program. We did as we often do, sat down and listened to the words and let God lead us with ideas to pull it together. I am very proud of the result and wanted to share it with you, particularly since we used the “God Rods” in the movement. I hope you enjoy it. You may or may not remember our group, but we’ve run into you several times at the SC Baptist Creative Ministries conference, most recently held at White Oak Conference Center. Our group, the Creative Crusaders, always presents a piece at the conference – you may remember one in particular – “Think Before You Thay It” where we had a young man in jail for using his words in a mean way. It was sort of a mime-lip synch piece that was funny. Anyway, we always have our young people attend your classes at that conference [and we adults do too!] I think you are even friends on Facebook with Carrie Vaughn who is one of our leaders and also does the solo lead in this movement. I hope you enjoy the piece because it is because of your ministry that we now have ours! Best wishes – May God bless you and continue to bless your ministry! Ann Casey Note: I love to see the choreography that others are doing. Thanks to Ann for sending me this one. Feel free to send you me your creations too! This is a picture of the creative ministries team at Church of God in Desmarines, Philippines. It's a very large and vibrant church that fully utilizes the arts in worship. As you can see from this picture, there were a lot of youth here and they brought a lot of energy to the training day. We talked about creativity and creative process, acting skills and exercises, and shared some storytelling ideas too. They were a great group eager to learn and excited to share their giftedness. This was just one of the training events we offered while were with the team led by Tony Lane from the Church of God HQ in Cleveland, TN. We spent two days in seminars and training with the Asian Christian Missions Seminary outside of Manilla. The team of twelve member team led classes in pastoral leadership, youth ministry, creative arts, administration, etc. They gathered computers, curriculum, books, athletic equipment, toiletries, and a variety of other items that might meet the needs of the school and the 120+ students that attend the seminary. Tony Lane is the head of children's ministry for the Church of God in Cleveland, TN. The team He assembled consisted of pastors, evangelists, and lay leaders that have a heart for equipping the saints around the world. They all volunteered their time, talents, money, and energy. Each of these folks was a great blessing and brought a unique giftedness to the mission. As Tony likes to say, "God puts the people on the bus that he wants to be there." We also spent some time at a local orphanage and had an awesome time in community outreach there. The staff who serves on location are an inspiration and their stories of sacrifice and commitment truly blessed me. For me, I learned that you just can't out give God. The law of sowing and reaping is immutable and unchanging like God himself. I believe that all the seeds that were sown in Manilla will bear good fruit. I know it has already blessed me in abundance. Just got back from a ten day ministry trip working with children’s pastors and ministry leaders in South Africa. It was a magnificent time of training and encouragement; both for me and for the participants. The conference is run by Lisa Ekman, a representative of Ivangeli, which is loosely connected to Gospel Light. This was Lisa’s 20th year of running a children’s ministry leader’s training conference in South Africa. Additionally, she travels most Saturdays throughout the region and works with churches, training their children’s ministry leader teams. Her work has been steadfast and effective. This was my 7th time being involved in this particular training event and it has always been a blessing. Many of the participants are volunteers at their churches and travel long distances to come to the conference and get training. Because of the support I receive from donations to Jeff Smith Ministries, I am able to provide resources for reduced prices and for free. I also leave Lisa product as follow up for ministries in the area that might want to get some of these resources well after I’m gone. In this picture, I am leading the ministry teams in prayer for the conference and for their ministries. It was part of my keynote address: Praying with Purpose. During this session in Johannesburg, I was teaching storytelling and getting participants involved in a rousing rendition of a favorite parable. This group of volunteers works with Jackson Ridge Children’s Ministry Training Centers in Magailesburg, South Africa. The students all were trained in using the God Rods, well before I got there. They have a wild and infectious enthusiasm for children’s ministry and it was great to meet and work with them. Can’t do a conference without some movement ministry classes, right? We taught, “When Love Was Born” as a Christmas piece and “You Can’t Keep a Good Man Down” for Easter. In the middle of the week, I get to take a small hiatus with Colin, Lisa’s husband, who is a pastor at Village Church in Lone Hills, but just getting ready to retire in April. (Congratulations Colin! Well done my good and faithful servant!) This year, we went to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and had wonderful (and relaxing) time. Victoria Falls is a wonder and a glorious place to soak in the presence of God. I was able to spend some valuable and important time in ministry with Colin while I was there. The Falls were filled with rainbows. It was a wonderful reminder of God’s promises to be faithful in all things.As always, my thanks to those who give to make these trips possible. Next up is a trip to Lima, Peru to be with Rich and Wanda Ferguson and working with children’s ministry leaders and creative ministry teams that support their mission there. I’ll be heavily involved in camps, training conferences, and VBS programs this summer. |
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