Fantasy World

No, I'm not talking about "WoW"-type fantasy, but the fantasy that I create certain things to be.

Last night I was struck with the way that I make certain things in life so much bigger/better than they are in reality. Two of the main things that came to mind were these:

Relationships:

I am engaged to the most perfect person for me I can imagine. I've told Hannah before and will tell her again and again until we go Home someday that she isn't my dream girl... she's way better than my dream girl: she's God's dream girl for me. I could never have dreamed of someone as wonderful as she- someone who sharpens me, challenges me, loves me when I don't deserve to be loved, is so full of grace, and is a complement to me in numerous areas.

That being said, however, before we were engaged, I built up the idea of engagement and an emotionally intimate relationship to be something that it's not. It's not easy, but rather quite difficult. I've been hurt more deeply than I thought I ever could be. I've been discouraged and there have been times when I've thought 'is this really how it's going to be, Lord? This isn't the way I imagined it!?' You see, I have watched too much TV and too many movies without stepping back and saying "what does God say about relationships?" So when all problems and difficulties are resolved in 90 minutes time, I think 'I guess that's how it happens in real life!' Nope. We're redeemed people who still struggle with sin, learning to be more like Jesus.

But at the same time, I've felt more loved and encouraged than I ever thought I could be. I've been more humbled than ever before, recognizing that God has given me such a joy and blessing in my wife-to-be (someone I will never "deserve"). I'm so excited to live out the prayer that I prayed before: "Lord, when Your timing is right, bring a woman with whom we'll be better together than we ever could be on our own", because I know that this will be true through Hannah and me. She is one of, if not the, greatest answers to prayer I will ever receive. I can't imagine walking this journey of engagement with anyone else...

Serving Overseas:

God willing, I'll be able to write more about this from experience in a few years. But for now I'm just writing from short overseas experiences.

I used to 'dream' about how fantastic it would be to live among the bedouin tribes of the Sahara desert, not having any electronics but merely living off the land and sharing the good news of Jesus with these people. While this may still be where God calls Hannah and me, I have found that it's not quite as grand as I once thought.

I spent a month in East Africa this past year, and while I was over there spent 5 days in a desert-town with very little technology. The only wireless connection was at the university, and it was so.stinking.hot. I didn't come anywhere near bedouin-type living, but I was so relieved when we got to the more-advanced capital city at the end of five days. I found that I had built up this idea of serving Jesus overseas to something much more than it actually is...

But I also know that, in the same way that Hannah's not my dream girl, but God's dream girl for me, I know that serving Him overseas will not be like my dream, but far better. Far more satisfying. Far more joy-filled (especially during trials and difficulties). Far more sanctifying. Far more glorifying to Him. It won't live up to my expectations, it will blow so far past them that my expectations will be long-forgotten and revealed to be as small as they truly are.

You know what's most exciting, though? We can never over-estimate Jesus. We can never say, "man, Jesus is THAT Good" and He not live up to it. Yes- He won't be our 'plastic Daddy' that gives us whatever we want, but as long as we're fixing our eyes on Him as He calls us to, He will always blow so far past our expectations that whatever small picture we thought Him to be will be long forgotten.

Isaiah 55:9 says: "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

He is and always will be greater than we think Him to be. One of our main goals in life should be John 3:30: "He must increase, but I must decrease."

Increase more and more in and through my life, Precious Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 34

I find it a great joy and blessing that I have been able to say over the past few years at this time that "this past year" has been the best year of my life. And I wholeheartedly know that this continues with 2011. Without question. I mean, think about it: spending a month in East Africa, spending two weeks with like-minded people at training school in Phoenix (twice), there meeting my wife-to-be (my joy and beloved) Hannah, hearing God speak again and again (most prominently in the move to AZ and knowing that Hannah is "the one" for me), seeing Him provide without fail, great times with family, and so much more...

Here are some thoughts from my time in Exodus 34:

The chapter is about Moses making new tablets after he broke the previous Ten Commandments tablets upon seeing the Israelites worshiping the golden calf they made while he was away (Exodus 32). In doing this, the LORD stood before him on the mountain and proclaimed His Name:

"The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." (34:6b-7)

We love to call God many different things: Provider, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Majestic, All-Powerful... all of these are great! But I think it's especially fantastic when we find the LORD naming Himself to someone! See the things that are important to God about Himself:

-Mercy and Grace

-Being slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness

-Forgiveness of iniquity, transgression and sin

-Justice ("who will by no means clear the guilty")

I love how He will forgive, but doesn't just clear the guilty by anything they try to say or do. The guilt has been paid for: on the cross through the perfect sacrifice of His Son. How wonderful!

Next, I love how He sheds light on the importance of the Sabbath:

"You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but on the seventh day you must stop working, even during the seasons of plowing and harvest." (34:21 NLT)

I can see myself trying to justify not resting on the Sabbath during a time when the 'harvest' is plentiful. 'But God,' I might say, 'look at how much work is being done! Look at how great a harvest is being reaped! And you want me to rest?' But when I say things like this, who am I thinking is accomplishing the work? Me or God? Because if I am truly depending on God to accomplish the things He has prepared in advance for me to do (Philippians 2:12-13), then if He says "rest one day a week", it won't matter how good or bad things are going: I will obey. This is an area in which I need to grow tremendously- honoring the Sabbath.

And finally, "As you harvest your crops, bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the Lord your God." (34:26a NLT)

Again- it would be easy to say, "Well, giving is important, but taking care of myself is something that God wants me to do, too. So let's pay our bills and then we'll see what we can give afterwards." The way the NLT puts what God says, though, "bring the very best of the first harvest to the house of the LORD your God." Wow! He calls us to not just give, but to give the very best of what we have first. This is a beautiful picture of how we should trust Him to provide, for the people in Exodus didn't know for sure how many good harvests each season would bring (I'm guessing). If they committed to giving 'at some point' during the harvest, they might get greedy and end up not giving very much. But by giving the very best of the first harvest, they are showing God that they trust Him to provide the rest of their needs (see Matthew 6:33 for more).

So I need to worship the Lord for His mercy, grace, abundant love, forgiveness, and justice, honor Him by resting on the Sabbath no matter what "excuses" I can come up with, and give Him the first and best of what I am given. Really- all my money is provided by Him, and as one of my mentors puts it: it's a pretty good deal when 100% of it is His and He only asks us to give a percent (cheerfully) back to Him, right?!

Seeking to treasure Jesus...

Luke

Comparisitis

In my time with Jesus this morning, I discovered a disease from which I suffer: comparisitis. The Werriam-Mebsters definition is: "the cancerous disease that causes you to compare yourself to everyone around you". It is only fatal if you try to fight it on your own.

Sometimes I have to take a step back and say, "seriously, Luke? Even that?" Like- I might compare how much food I'm eating to the person next to me in the lunch room at work. I'm comparing how much weight I'm lifting (oftentimes significantly less) to the guy next to me (the most humbling are when the older guys are lifting the same or more than I). How creative I am. How attractive/unattractive. How successful. And the list goes on...

I'm discovering more and more that Jesus is the only cure. You can 'treat' it with things like getting angry at yourself, confessing it to friends, or ceasing to eat, lift, or share around people. But these are just temporary band-aids. They don't heal the disease.

CS Lewis says that humility is: "not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less." Jesus embodied this:

Philippians 2:3-11
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better (more significant) than yourselves. Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross. Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place, and gave Him the Name that is above every Name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

This is one of my favorite passages- a passage that breaks me every time I read it. If Jesus compared Himself to us and suffered from comparisitis, He would never have come to die and give us the opportunity to know the glory of the Father. He would have considered us unworthy to come even close to. But He "did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing."

Gracious God... please heal me of this comparisitis. I need You to wash away my iniquities and cleanse me from my sin. Against You, You only do I sin and do what is evil in Your sight. Conform me to Your Son's image... He must increase in my life, I must decrease.

If you ever see or hear me displaying my comparisitis, please remind me that Jesus is the only answer.

Peter

The Rock. On whom the church has been built. One of the "Big Three" (sorry 'Bron, Wade and Bosh). Peter was such an instrumental person in the history of the Church. I can't say for sure, but my guess is that my buddy Peter was named after him (at least he is one of the namesakes).

Peter was one of my best friends growing up here in Arizona. He was one of the three friends I chose to join me as "ninja turtles" for a birthday party, and he was also a basketball teammate on a few teams growing up. He came out to visit my family in the first year or two that we lived out there. But after that, to my knowledge, I hadn't spoken to him in over a decade.

Flash forward: the wife of the leader of my internship here in Arizona is in nursing school and made the connection with her instructor that I used to be best friends with her son. Yep- you guessed it: Peter's mom! So we made the connection and scheduled to hang out a week ago. We spent the evening eating pizza and watching a football game and while we chatted about life, I recognized that he kept making reference to a desire to check out church sometime with me.

Over these past few months, I've been learning a lot about listening for God in prayer and doing things in faith. I felt the Lord put it on my heart to share about a new obedience-based way to study the Bible that I've been learning in my internship, unsure if he would be interested. We started studying in Luke 16 together, and by the end of the passage we got to the part about writing an "I will..." statement to commit to obeying the passage. I challenged him to pray and ask the Lord to speak to him, and while we were both bowed in prayer, I was praying like crazy, "God, PLEASE speak!" And speak he did.

Peter wrote and shared one of the most beautiful I will statements I have heard! It was super heart-felt and, when asked where that came from, he said, "I don't know where it came from, but it felt really good." We then closed in prayer and by the end of our prayer time, he was in tears. I left him with more passages to study and, because he's truly in the Father's hands, he is equipped to learn straight from the Word and the Spirit on his own!

God is amazing. He really does speak! Hallelujah!

Know Nothing

God has been really speaking to me recently. Really, really speaking to me. It's amazing. I love it. I am so thankful for it. God has used my fiancée Hannah and the internship in which I'm learning more about listening for His voice and following His leading in my thoughts. Recently, I feel like He spoke some really great things that I'd like to share, and maybe God will speak to you through this:

1) 1 Corinthians 2:1-2
And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. 2 For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

I love to speak in front of people. I believe that God has given me some gifting in teaching and it's a passion of mine. While I was asking God, "what do you want to say to me? What do you want to tell me or do you want me to do?" I felt Him put this on my heart: "Stop preaching principles. Just preach Jesus."

Sometimes I can get caught up in talking about principles. Talking about what we should or shouldn't do, how we should live, etc. While this isn't necessarily a bad thing, it can be very easy to fall into letting my own beliefs slip in. These beliefs can often come from my culture, not the Bible. This is probably why God put it on my heart- when I just point to Jesus when I speak, the listeners are able to discover for themselves how He wants them to live. Truly, I believe that if we fall deeply in love with Jesus, the life He wants us to live will naturally flow out of us!

So what do I mean when I say, "preach Jesus"? I'm still trying to figure exactly what it means, but I think it is pointing people to Jesus whenever I can. Not trying to give the 'five steps to a better life' or anything of that sort, but just encouraging people to fall in love with the greatest Treasure the world will ever know: Jesus. The rest of life will sort itself out.

I spent part of my morning meditating on Colossians 1:15-20. If you read nothing else in this blog post (or blog, for that matter), soak up these words:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

Wow. I love this passage. It's such a beautiful picture of Jesus! The image of the invisible God- we can't see God plainly, but He reveals Himself to us through Jesus' life. Amazing. All things were created "by Him", "through Him and for Him". Seriously- there is no part of your life that is not meant to be given wholly to Christ in surrender, for it was all made by and through Him. I sometimes forget that He is my "head" as I am a part of the church, but that doesn't mean He is any less the head. "that in everything He might be preeminent"- in every part of my life- before Hannah, before ministry, before family, before my own very life, He is to be preeminent. The line that got me the most that morning was, "For in Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell"- the immeasurable, incomprehensible God was pleased to dwell in Him! It was not under compulsion or forced to... it was pleased to do it. Isaiah 42 speaks to this, as well: (speaking of Jesus) "He is my Servant, whom I uphold, My Chosen, in whom I delight." May my life be one in which You delight, Father...

I'm excited to meditate on this passage more and more as I learn to Treasure Jesus and how He wants me to preach Him, period. It's the greatest thing ever.

2) I have found pride to be one of my greatest struggles in life, and God spoke to that. He revealed to me that a lot of my pride comes from comparing myself to other people. You may have heard me make statements like, "the church does a bad job of this", referring to the Western church, or "why do Americans behave like this?" Confession: typically, I am subconsciously elevating myself when I make those statements, thinking "well, at least I'm not doing too poorly at that".

God showed me that I need to worry about myself and how I am living for Jesus, and let Him worry about the rest. This doesn't mean I should just ignore the rest of the world. I pray that I will continue to grow being burdened for the state of the church worldwide and for my friends and family who are still learning who Jesus really is. But whenever I feel myself comparing me to them, I need to just stop. The conviction is definitely there, and I have already seen a change in my heart-set since He spoke that to me. Hallelujah! May He continue to teach me the humility of Christ: (Philippians 2:5-11)

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Quick illustration God also put on my heart (it's only been a few days since I've been hearing more clearly- can you IMAGINE what the next 50+ years are going to be like, God willing I live that long?!):

Mom and Dad gave me the name of Robert Luke Sjogren, naming me after my Dad, Grandaddy and other relatives (Robert) as well as the good Doctor in the Bible and one of my Dad's mentors (Luke). But at the name of Robert Luke Sjogren, will every knee bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord? At the name of Robert Luke Sjogren, will the dead be raised, the sick healed, sins forgiven? At the name of Robert Luke Sjogren, will sinners enter the kingdom of God? Last I checked- nope. Then why strive to make a name for Robert Luke Sjogren? For the fame of that name?

The Name of Jesus does all that and more. That's what I'm living for.

Big Day

As many of you have heard... by the glorious grace of God, Hannah Rayes agreed to marry me! It is a privilege just to know her- as I'm continuing to learn more and more as I get to know her and her community out here- much more to call her my fiancée! I'm super grateful... if you haven't seen it already, please check out this video we made to announce it:

So here's our engagement story, for those interested...

Hannah's perspective:

Luke and I met at a two week class for training to take the Good News to the nations. After the two weeks ended, he flew back home to Virginia and I stayed in Arizona. When our first skype conversation ended up over 2 hours long, I knew I was talking to someone very special so I said a prayer asking that God take my heart and show me what He wants to happen. I decided to just enjoy the time getting to know Luke as a friend and to let God lead. It wasn’t too long into our friendship that Luke stated his intentions for me, and he defined our relationship just one and a half months after meeting and after he asked my parents for their permission to date me. Shortly after that Luke moved to Arizona and I was so excited that we were going to live in the same city!

With the progression of our relationship I didn’t ever doubt what I saw and learned about Luke and my feelings didn’t betray me, he was genuine with nothing to hide and I felt accepted and free to fall for him and so I did. One week before he told me he loved me I admitted to myself that I really loved this man, and in that admission I knew I could spend the rest of my life with him. We started talking about marriage and engagement soon into our dating relationship and having those open conversations was key to letting my heart process what was transpiring so quickly before me.

When Luke said he wanted to have a picnic in the park I didn’t think anything of it. I knew he had been talking about not being able to afford a ring so I put the possibility of a proposal out of my mind. When he picked me up I was so hungry and had one thing on my mind: get to the park quick so we can eat. Little did I know that was the furthest thing from his mind! After we unloaded his car, guitar, chair and picnic basket, I got to work right away making our sandwiches while Luke sang me a song he wrote. Unfortunately the loudest thing was my stomach so I wasn’t listening to the words he was singing. But after he repeated the song the last line stood out to me “And I want to worship the Lord by your side for the rest of my life.” Still dismissing the possibility of a proposal I exclaimed my happiness at the words and asked that we eat soon! However Luke had more to say. After explaining to me that he felt that I was the one for him he got on one knee and proposed with, of all things, a twisty tie as a symbol of the poverty we may face at times as a couple. I gleefully shouted my "yes, yes of course I’ll marry you"! He then got back down on his knee, saying that God will also bless us abundantly at times, pulled out a ring and said it was his Grandmothers ring. She had given it to him when we visited her in Tennessee on our trip across the states. I was overjoyed, shocked and ecstatic. This was really happening!


Luke's perspective:

Many people have told me in the past that "when you find the right person, you'll know." I was very resistant to this idea, for in many areas of my life, I solely walk by faith and the Lord leads and guides as I go. When I first started getting to know her, I didn't hear anything from the Lord- though I prayed a lot about it- so I walked by faith. When we started dating, same situation. So when I was praying about marrying her, I figured it would be the same deal. And I told her that... woops. Tip to guys who are dating someone: never tell your young lady, "I don't think I'll ever know if you're the one". That doesn't inspire a vote of confidence.

But God was laughing as I said that (and Hannah was very gracious in her response), for that same night, not 30 minutes later, He put on my heart, "this is the lady you're going to marry. She's the one for you." Wow! I was SUPER excited and 100% confident that it was God and not just feelings (although there are plenty of feelings there, as well). But I didn't tell her about it right then...

Later that week, after discussing it with a few friends, people I respect, and family, I asked her parent's permission and they gave me a "yes" (I was hoping they would, but was still nervous, because we haven't been dating too long... but glory to God!). My grandmother was tremendously generous in giving me her old engagement ring so that I wouldn't have to buy a totally new one! But I also came to discover that Hannah likes the more simple style, so I had the stone fitted in a much more simple band and setting, and picked it up Tuesday night.

We were planning on going on a picnic together Wednesday night, and I'm glad I only had the ring in my hands for less than 24 hours... it felt like it would burn a whole through my bag/pocket if I had it for any longer! But in my usual, "on the go" way of doing things, I hadn't checked out this park to know where we could see the sunset or where would be a good, private place. So we drive to the park (after I got off work and to her apartment late), rushing to try and see the sunset, and after unloading the car, I ask if I can sing a song for her. She replies, "Luke, I'm really hungry. Can we eat first?" I'm not about to have this happen (food>engagement), so I compromise and let her make the lettuce wraps while I sing. At the end of the song, I ask if she had heard any of the lines (the last one: "I want to worship the Lord by your side... for the rest of my life"). She says.. "not really". Again- hunger trumps song. So I played it again and then asked her for a hug (I had to get her on her feet).

After the hug, I told her how God had shifted in my heart to knowing that she WAS the one for me, dropped to one knee, and told her that "there will be times in our life when we will be poor... but even then, will you allow me the privilege of being your husband?" and pulled out a twistie-tie to symbolize the poverty. She said, "are you proposing?" I said "yes." Then she said, "Yes, of course!" and gave me a big hug! Then, I said, "but wait! There's one more thing." Dropped to one knee again, and said, "but there will also be times when God blesses us abundantly..." and I pulled out the ring, and asked, "Hannah, will you marry me?" Her eyes got big and she said, "yes!"

We then proceeded to eat (finally), I washed her feet (took a page from my buddy Kyle's book- symbolizing Christ's love for the church and serving His disciples- I hope to love and serve her like Jesus did), we prayed and read some Scripture together, and then started calling family!

Please keep us both in prayer as we go through this exciting time of engagement! Pray that our hearts are open to hearing what God wants us to learn and are always seeking to love and build up each other.

Exciting times!

Salesmen

First of all- I'm currently listening to the new "Man Up" CD by 116 Clique... it's tight. Go listen to it soon, seriously.

I have had the privilege of working for a sending agency over here on the West Coast, sending people to love and serve people in the name of Jesus. A part of my job is to do some "recruiting", getting people to consider living out the Great Commission as a goer (going overseas- not just a sender, prayer warrior, etc). But as I was considering this idea of "recruiting" people to live out globally what Jesus has already commanded us (see: Matthew 28:19-20), a lot of it left a very sour taste in my mouth and heart.

The main issue I have with this is that it appears that we have to become "salesmen", trying to sell people on how 'good' it is to serve the Lord overseas. My question is: shouldn't the 'product' sell itself? Shouldn't the weight of what Jesus did- coming to earth and giving up a million times more than we will ever call 'ours'; humbling Himself that we might have the opportunity to intimately know the Father- compel us to at the very least be willing to give up everything we own to take this good news to the farthest parts of the world where the Name of Jesus isn't even known!? Why does "recruiting" have to be a part of sending people overseas? Shouldn't it be more of what my organization calls itself: a sending agency, where we sift through those who are ready to go now and those who still need to grow before they are ready to go (as desperately as they long to go) so we can give them adequate training?

I found this need for 'recruiting' to be true in college ministry, as well. Consider American Idol- there are hundreds of thousands of people that try out every year for a program where the ultimate prize is 15 minutes of fame as one of the thousands of artists out there. Yes- some 'make it' for a while (see: Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood), but most don't (who the heck is Kris Allen? Lee Dewyze?). At JMU in Harrisonburg, VA, we have been blessed with one of the largest IV student orgs in the nation (450+). Yet we had trouble finding 8- yep, 8- guys willing to apply to become small group leaders. It's one thing to have trouble finding 8 competent guys, but 8 guys to even apply?! And some of the eight we had to convince just to apply! What's the deal? One of the options gives, at most, a few record deals that get lost in the masses over time... and at the very most it will be temporary rewards. The other gives us the opportunity to live out the Great Commission and store up treasures for eternity. Why do 100x more people try out for American Idol than apply for small group leading (or ministry positions)?

So again, why should there even be such a thing as "recruiting" for anything ministry related? The simple answer is that I believe we haven't been living out the Great Commission in the recent past, so we're raising up "Christians" who are more concerned with the clothes they wear to church than the fruit (or lack thereof) they wear all the time. If we actually tried to understand the great love that the Father has lavished upon us (1 John 3:1), we would echo Paul in 2 Corinthians 5- "Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others... For the love of Christ controls us..." and be controlled by Christ's love to tell the Good News to people all around the world, or pray about it and discern that God wants us to be senders (or both!).

Some of you who read this are probably already involved in some capacity sending people or going overseas yourselves, but please do not just stop there- see how you can influence others to follow the example of Christ: going Himself and sending others! Treasuring Jesus is the ultimate goal, but I believe that the more we treasure Him, the more we will identify with Him, and the more His love will compel us to go and to send.

Please pray for God's glory to be revealed among all tongues, tribes, nations, and peoples as soon as possible. We want to see Jesus high and exalted, as He is intended to be (Philippians 2:10-11)!

Luke