Lava Flow

A few years ago my son and I traveled trough Guatemala and enjoyed climbing Volcano Pacaya. We walked right up to the lava flow and watched as the molten rock oozed out of the side of the mountain and slowly flowed, in a blazing stream, down the side of the mountain.

The sight is something that is incredible beyond belief and beautiful in its bizarre uniqueness. It radically changes the landscape and consumes everything in its path.

But eventually it slows and cools and stops. No longer flowing and beautiful it hardens into rocky crags and sharp edged formations that cover the land and snuff out all life for generations. Impenetrable, unmoving, bleary, unattractive.

Sometimes our passion for Jesus is like the lava flow - bright, hot, radical, flowing, beautiful. Attracting, amazing to watch, yet fully consuming and transforming.

And then it cools.

I think that sometimes the cooling happens when we have "figured out" what God is up to and we consolidate his activity into an easy to follow program of rules and regulations. Life is always easier when we have a path to follow. But sometimes the path becomes what we follow - more than the Person on the path ahead of us who keeps beckoning us to follow Him here... or there...

When we lose the ability to flow, life changes. And soon the rules and regulations we form become what we live for and death slowly creeps in. A life of following Jesus ALWAYS requires us to be willing to flow, to be open for surprises, to pursue a transformed life that more and more reflect Him!

... just some thoughts from listening to the last of the ONE CHURCH series of messages at The Meeting House with Bruxy Cavey and guest speaker, Mike Krause (Southridge Community Church). Thanks for your words.

Burn baby! Burn!

(see the video)