by Aarron Pina | Oct 20, 2011 | Uncategorized
Recently, North Point Community Church featured a sermon series called “Recovery Road”. It was, of course, timely considering what our family and this ministry is experiencing. For those who don’t know, the vision of Seasons of Life Ministries has always been to see those who follow Christ reach maximum devotion to Him in their day to day life, not out of striving and effort but by seeing the roadblocks of their faith removed by His strength, power, and grace. This comes not as we “submit to His will for our life”, rather as we submit to His will for our “now”.
I hope you all get to see this series – it is available for viewing online through NP’s website at this link.
Much of it hit me right between the eyes – personal responsibility, etc. The more recent series is called “When God?”, or possibly more appropriately “When, God?”. It’s about when God seems to be inattentive, uncooperative, or late. At times, don’t we all wrestle with God’s timing and/or response? “Did you hear that prayer, exactly as I prayed it?” Trying to learn what it means to recover from the burnout, wounding, and depression that can so easily befall us in pastoral care ministry, on top of the clinical PTSD diagnosis for Cristine, have forced us both to look at what the word has to say about sabbath rest. We’re often in the business of putting out fires in other peoples work, marriages, relationships, yet we’re called to be available only as and when God would have us. Ultimately, it’s up to the individual/couple to do business with God in the area(s) that’s troubling them.
Would you believe it if Cristine were doing better than I am in entering into that rest? Alright, cat’s out of the bag, right? We spent an entire Sunday at home – watched two church services online, but did everything we could not to “work”. By the end of that day, Cristine was tired, but peaceful. I, on the other hand, looked like a truck had run me over. When she looked at me and said “Are you comfortable just not doing anything, ever?” it pierced my heart. I know mentally I’m comfortable with it, but at a heart level I was challenged in a Holy Spirit get off my chest I can’t breathe kind of way. Challenged to truly ask and answer the questions: “Can you walk through a messy garage the day after the garage sale and not put anything away?” “Can you not look at Facebook, Outlook, or your cell phone for a day?” “Can you trust that all the work you think just has to be done yesterday will still be there for you tomorrow?” and the biggie – “Can you trust God to remind you of that thing you just have to write down, tomorrow and rest?”
by Aarron Pina | Oct 3, 2011 | Uncategorized
Tullian Tchividjian (just call him “Tull”) is one of my favorite writers over at The Gospel Coalition and an excellent thought leader and communicator. He’s Billy Graham’s grandson, so no wonder, right?
One of the things that remains front and center in disciplship conversations every week, month, and quarter is “saving the saved”. Often, as followers of Christ, we forget the gospel is what both saves and sanctifies us, falling into the trap of performance. The good news is… the Good News. It’s also good news that getting back on the log of grace is just as easy as falling off. Abiding in Christ – “you’re never more than one prayer away from grace. You’re never more than one prayer away from access to the full resources of Heaven.”
Take a click over to Tullian’s article: http://theresurgence.com/2011/09/29/did-you-forget-youre-saved. Clear thinking, simple application, a lifetime to practice. Abide, gang.
by Aarron Pina | Jul 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
Sola Scriptura…
Some believe that using scripture as the ultimate authority for Christian life is merely a means of using a term to define itself – of course. But, we see it as something far more valuable – a crucial tool for sorting out what seem to be inconsistencies, “contradictions”, or ambiguities in the text, especially as it refers to application and worldview. That is, “interpret scripture with scripture” is a vital hermeneutical guidepost that helps insure that we do not “make scripture say whatever we want it to say”.
Effective use of this tool may have saved the lives of
by Aarron Pina | Jul 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
What Does Ministry Look Like?
“Trust in the Lord and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” (Prov. 3.5)
I’m a planner. You know that, right? That’s why God married me to an executor (a doer). Perfect match. I’ve always been able to look at the finished/future product and reverse engineer it into a set of steps – a “blueprint” if you will. For example, while running a friend’s company and working for him as a home theater installer, I also planned my own wedding, all the way down to an automated seating chart in Microsoft Excel. It’s part of my DNA.
Wouldn’t it be just like God to spot me leaning on my own understanding and kick my crutch out from under me? What I mean is, is this: when we formally “launched” the ministry, I had a plan. In fact, I had lots of plans. I even had plans to make more plans. I had plans to find and publish statistics, show returns on donor investments, deliverables for our board, prayer and praise reports, and so on, and so on. I went to seminars on best practices, scheduled planning time, and got my wife’s accountability on executing those plans. Then, with white knuckles wrapped around the plans, we set out to execute them.
That’s when God kicked my crutch. “Lean on me, not your understanding…”
When God gives a vague calling to a specific person, it can be confounding. Yet, it can also be quite liberating. In our situation, God called us to teach, exhort, and encourage people to become fully dependent on Him. Praise God that He wanted us to do it by example, as well, even if we wanted to fight Him on it. Today, we stand grateful that our only choice for obedient living is to “commit our plans to the Lord” as long as we understand “commit” to mean “tell God your plans and when He’s done laughing, be prepared to watch Him unfold something inordinately more awesome in front of your eyes.
“Aarron, the title of the article is ‘Update’, can we have an update, already?”
With ruthless reliance and dependence on God as the backdrop, take a look at a few recent updates on all things Seasons of Life.
Updates:
The Way Forward – Recap and Upcoming
Speak Life: She Got the Car, Her Mom Got a Future
Where Does it Hurt?
by Aarron Pina | Jul 1, 2011 | Uncategorized
“That Day” was (and continues to be) a fantastic success. In April, Men Step Up (Gwinnett) celebrated 5 years in ministry. They thought the best way to celebrate it would be to invite every guy who’d ever walked through the door at the Gwinnett location to come back any Friday in March. On top of it all, they decided the best way to cap off a series about “the value of being present” was to have a dinner theater production of “That Day”, where the main character gets to see the value of the presence (or lack thereof) of a godly man in the lives of those around him.
So, they hired us to perform this one man show (“two man” if you count Rolin Williamson, who played [awesome] guitar and sang [awesomely], or “14 man” if you include all the characters I play… But, you get the point) at Crosspointe Church, in Duluth, GA. The house was sold out at about 150 people – men, women, and children, who came hungry for truth, food, and entertainment. Thanks to California Dreaming and the Lord sustaining me through this 90 minute “monologue (?)”, none left disappointed.
California Dreaming had appetizers ready for the sold out crowd as they piled into the performance room watching video clips of Men Step Up testimonials/interviews. Rolin Williamson offered up a sweet version of U2’s “Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” to set the tone for the show. Then, after a few moments of awkward silence, Dan Matthewson (Aarron Pina) busied his way to the stage with an abrupt opening line that defined the character from the outset: “Can we just get to the point, please?! I hate wasting time…”
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Annette Creekmore listens as John Woodward shares his
reflections on eternal rewards at the judgment seat of Christ. |
Aarron delivered over a dozen characters in a moving first act, making for a very suspenseful intermission. During intermission, attendees were treated not only to a fantastic, catered dinner, but a family style rendition of “table talk” Men Step Up style. Audience members who had just witnessed a man “unprepared for his own judgment” got a chance to wrestle with scripture and their own thoughts on what their judgment will really look like. Rob Marbury, an audience member, said the show took him “beyond salvation”. Bullseye.
The second act proved equally moving and poignant. After great performances by both Aarron and Rolin Williamson, Casey Sanders led the crowd in a brief “popcorn” forum where participants got to share their reflections on the show, the performance, and the truth of God’s word. Gears were definitely turned, hearts were moved, and paradigms stretched. Another bullseye!
In fact, Aarron received a standing ovation and by the time everyone who wanted to talk or ask him questions was done, it was almost an hour before he could get out the door! Wow – God really “showed up”. In the coming months, a local singles ministry hopes to have us perform for them, and a private party is planning to have us in Dallas, TX for a command performance. Additionally, two business men who attended April’s performance will be talking with Seasons of Life later next week about how to put the show in front of several groups of local Christian business owners forums later this year.
Once again, nothing like we had planned. But, as God ordained, a thousand times better. Look for more updates on Twitter, Facebook, or our web page at www.thatday.info.
