Holy Cross Lutheran Ministries - Lake Mary, Florida

adventure and a lion

Ben Hoyer - Monday, October 26, 2009

I've been reading Wesley the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe before bed. Some nights he's more into it than others. Last night we got to a part where the Lion and the oldest boy are standing at an overlook and they can see much of the land down to the ocean on the horizon. C.S. Lewis is a good descriptive writer and he describes how beautiful the land is as the sun sets the clouds and rolling hills change colors. Then the Lion (a God figure in this children's story) tells the oldest boy that he is going to be king of all he can see, and that just on the horizon is an ancient throne on which he'll sit. It's the position he was born for and it has been waiting for him. It sounded pretty adventurous for a kids story.

I pray for Wesley as I put him to bed, and last night (having just read about that adventure) I prayed that God would give Wesley courage to view life as that sort of adventure. One where there is opportunity to make a difference in the world, where a significant calling has been laid upon his life. One where there is a sense of duty and honor about the act of living.

It's hard sometimes to look at life that way, when everything else says our life banal and boring: all work and t.v. It takes faith to believe there is something significant and adventurous about my life, and it takes courage on top of faith to pursue that adventure. Father...give me more faith...then also courage

Comments (0) | Permalink

elsewhere

Ben Hoyer - Monday, July 20, 2009

Last week I stumbled on this little passage that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on the earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own...they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

I feel like I've had trouble communicating the coolness of this passage to people. I read it and kind of get a, "yeah...and" response. But I love to think of people who had that kind of faith. That trusted the promises of God even when they never received them. I love to think of a person who believes, and lives like, they don't belong here. Like they are only passing through. I want to be this sort of person; who enjoys life here, but knows that he was created for more and is headed for a transcendent eternal life elsewhere.

Comments (1) | Permalink

dreaming

Ben Hoyer - Monday, July 13, 2009

A friend of mine told me about a dream he had the other day. He doesn't usually remember his dreams and this one was really vivid. I told him to write it down, and mention it to the person who was in it with him. Sometimes dreams are tough to make sense of, but I think God can speak to us through them. I suppose dreams are a pretty crazy phenomena when you think about it, and people have been thinking about dreams for a long time. Even the scriptures mention dreams.

Last year dreams even came up at the Home Run Derby. There was one player: Josh Hamilton who broke the single round record. He hit 28 homers over the course of the derby! Afterward he was interviewed by ESPN, he told the reporter that three years ago he'd had a dream that he would be there. Three years ago Josh had been out of baseball. In 1999 he was a top prospect, but from 2001-05 he was out because of a serious drug addiction. It looked like he had lost baseball forever, and was simply fighting for his life. When he came to faith he began to find strength to fight addiction, then the Lord gave him this dream: hitting in a home run competition at Yankee stadium and interviewed after by a woman (the reporter turned out to be Erin Andrews). When there was little to know hope that he would ever play at the major league level again God told Josh he would make it to the home run derby. Josh remembered that dream, and God delivered. I have a friend who was there in the Stadium. He said as Josh was hitting it felt almost like a holy moment, he'd never heard that many people be so quiet.

What are you dreaming about and do you dare to believe it could come true?

p.s. home run derby tonight 8pm ESPN...go Pujols!

Comments (0) | Permalink

share your faith2

Ben Hoyer - Tuesday, June 16, 2009

So, last night I was at an L Team reunion of sorts. We had met regularly through the winter and spring but been off for the last couple months. Last night wegot the folks together to reconnect and talk about faith and life. It was anice conversation, the sort that encourages you and gives you some perspective.

A question came up "Do I really need to feel an obligation to convert my friends." This sentiment has been expressed to me in several permutations. Last night it was in the context of God's judgment. What do you do? We all have friends or family whom we love. Sometimes they are even good people, and their life seems to be going o.k. To think that we have to convert them makes us feel like the shamwow guy. Like we are trying to hawk something we’re not even sure they need. It makes me think of that line from Don Miller, “every time I go to share my faith I feel like some one in a pyramid scheme trying to add to their down line.”

When it really gets down to it, do we think that good people whom we love will have a horrible eternity if they don’t believe the message about Jesus?

That’s a tough question to answer. Espescially when you have a particular person in mind. I can’t answer it for you. In fact I have trouble answering it for myself (it is a hard thing to say out loud). But that’s not really what motivates me. I want the people in my life to engage Jesus personally, less because of eternity, and more because of right now. I am convinced that life right now is better (not easier, but better) with Jesus than without him.

That being said, my primary mode of evangelism is prayer. I don’t feel the urge or need to push Jesus on people, or to sell his good qualities. I know the Holy Spirit converts, so I ask him to convert the people I love. Then I prepare myself for the opportunity to provide them with an answer for my engagement with Jesus. I know all I have to do is answer honestly why I would believe and follow Jesus, and the Holy Spirit will do the rest.

Comments (0) | Permalink

sharing your faith

Ben Hoyer - Wednesday, May 27, 2009

I had a friend come into the office the other day and ask a simple question: how do I best share my faith. It's not that he didn't know what his faith was in, I think he was just trying to think about where to start when sharing it.

Then on the way home I was listening to a podcast (the radio in my classic ford ranger pickup doesn't work so I put one headphone from my ipod in my ear). They were telling stories of people who had lost belief in things. This one girl had lost faith in God when a friend of hers died. Through a series of funny and interesting events she ended up on the phone with a pastor/football coach. The podcast played their phone conversation as the pastor/football coach tried to share his faith.

I had told my friend earlier to remember that it's never his job to convert. All we are asked to do is "provide and answer for the hope that we have." We just put in out there, and allow the Holy Spirit to do what he will with it. A guiding principle for me in conversations of faith has been to be as transparent as possible. I don't try to sound holy or give a good answer, just the one that occurs to me.

The guy on this podcast slowly walked the girl through philosophical proofs of God, and refutations of evolution. He tried to explain to her the problem of sin, and the importance of objective truth. She got off the phone confused and frustrated. All she wanted was someone to hear her out about the loss of her friend, and help her process where God was. But instead of really listening and having a real conversation the guy loaded is barrel full of excerpts from tracts. It was pretty disheartening, and reminded me why I focus on helping people create authentic relationships; cause sharing our faith is not about proving anything it is a moment of authenticity and vulnerability...at least it otta be.

Comments (4) | Permalink

Yes, but

Ben Hoyer - Wednesday, May 20, 2009

So I found myself today, as I have been lately, trying to answer the question "So you are wanting to start a church right?" I was in the office of an old friend and hesitated as I answered.

Here's the thing. I do feel like the next couple years of my life will be spent helping people understand, apprehend, and live out the life that Jesus bought for them on the cross. I am excited about doing that with and for people in the City of Orlando. This will involve things like studying the Bible together, worshipping God and engaging in missions (locally and globally). The community that develops will be church in every sense of the word. I just don't think that's what people are asking when they say, "So you want to start a church?"

It's the same sort of feeling I've had when people ask me, "So you're a pastor?" or "So you're a christian?" Like they have a specific notion of what that means, or how it looks that I may or may not be uncomfortable with. Or worse, that one of these terms lumps me with people they've known in their past or seen on T.V. Maybe you know what I'm talking about. It makes me hesitate to answer. Not because I'm ashamed. Just because I want to avoid being put into a box.

For the record, here's how I'd like to answer those questions:

I want to help people step into the full life, to live love and learn.

How would you answer?

Comments (5) | Permalink

HCLM BLOG

adventure and a lion

Comments

Post a Comment

elsewhere

Comments

Post a Comment

dreaming

Comments

Post a Comment

share your faith2

Comments

Post a Comment

sharing your faith

Comments

Post a Comment

Yes, but

Comments

Post a Comment

Recent Posts

Tags

Archive