Jun
26
Posted by : | On : June 26, 2009
Beginning in the fall of 2009, our team of people, including me (Doug) and my wife (Judy) want to begin hosting a morning gathering for adults in their 20′s and 30′s – college, university, working or otherwise. Throughout the past years, we have been fortunate enough to see so many incredible high school teenagers grow into young adults, leave high school and begin a new life. And, through this transition, we have had many of these fine people – maybe even you – sit with us in our living room, backyard, supper table or over a cup of java, and tell us that you need something. You have expressed a true desire to talk about the great things happening your life, and feel supported by others when things aren’t so great. You still want to talk about issues of life and faith, your careers and hopes and dreams, your deepest longings. You still want a place where you can really be yourself. And, more than ever, you want to be connected to others who are in the same kind of life space as you.
Our mission has led us to share this possibility with you and seek your input. Ultimately, we can have a whole lot of great ideas but if they don’t meet your needs, they are vain. We need you to answer a few questions for us. If the need we have heard from you is real, they we are putting ourselves at your complete disposal to help you create and connect and begin something truly life-giving for all of us.
Would you, if you are interested IN THE LEAST, send us an e-mail with these questions and your answers? Be totally honest and straightforward. We will hold your answers in complete confidence.
Copy and paste the question in blue into your e-mail and send them to:
java-at-intothewilderness-dot-com (remove the dashes, add the @ and .)
Describe the closest community that you feel a part of.
What are some things you wish you could talk openly about? Examples might include relationships, faith, money, pressure, busy-ness, etc.
What part of your life do you really need support right now? Again, total honesty and in total confidence.
If you were to name the three things in your life that you spend the most time, thought and energy on, what would they be?
If time, money and life allowed no restrictions, would those three things change? What would they change to?
Would you like to have a time once each week where we would reserve a coffee house and you could gather with other adults like you and have a coffee (or tea or Italian soda) and just enjoy talking and connecting and being supported?
If you answered “yes” then the only other thing we want to know is what time of the week would be your preference?
We truly look forward to hearing from you!
P.S. This is a collaborative effort of Judy and myself, along with our current mission team, Oblate Youth Ministries.
Sincerely,
Doug and Judy
(Mike, Dan and Dana!)
Jun
05
Posted by : | On : June 5, 2009
“Were going to say a prayer right here. Lord thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to change lives again. We will not let you down. In Jesus’ name – amen.”
“Now let’s go get the motherf—–.”
I had the pleasure of going to hear and see the infamous “Dog the Bounty Hunter” speak the other night at the River Cree Resort (Thanks Suede!). Talk about a cult following. There were people there ranging from the piss ‘n vinegar, wannabe, MMA (mixed martial arts) tattoo freaks to 76 year old grandma and grandpa’s. Not to mention half the crowd who showed up to see Dog’s wife, Beth, who has her own following. About 2000 people gathered to hear the famous Christian bounty hunter share war stories of his exploits hunting down all manner of felons, from rapists to drug dealers.
I knew going in that Dog was Christian. I also knew he lived a rough life, and what I would call, “morally flexible” in some cases. I wasn’t prepared for the depth and the conviction of his sharing in such an obviously secular and public venue. But the Dog didn’t hold a word back. He clearly spoke of his prayer life, his hard times, accounts of God stepping in and saving his bacon. And he spoke honestly of his fallen person – his crime in the 70′s, his swearing and his relationships. And, honestly, as a public and motivational speaker, he wasn’t at all eloquent or even prepared.
And herein lies my point. We live in a world of “perfect Christianity”. A world where you can only comfortably and confidently call yourself a Christian if you’ve “got it figured out” and you’ve “rooted out the sin in your life”. Fact of the matter is, right after Christ left this earth, His church was a church of immoral and fallen people trying to live and love others the way He lived and loved others. We now live a version of camouflage Christianity where you go to church on Sunday, hide all the crap in your life for one hour, and then go home and start living reality again.
Dog is a Christian. Hands down. He’s doing stuff wrong. He’s imperfect. But he’s got something over on 95% of the church-going folk that I know. He’s taking action as God has stirred something in him. He’s doing something with the change God’s affected in his life. He’s in it! He’s engaged! He’s taking risks! Yes, he cusses alot. That’s the world he lives and runs in! That’s the language of the crime culture he’s witnessing to. It’s absolutely both completely forgivable and completely necessary for his mission.
20To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. To those under the law I became like one under the law (though I myself am not under the law), so as to win those under the law. 21To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law. 22To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. 23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.
God bless Dog and Beth and all his family. If only we approached our Christian calling with the same “go git ‘em” attitude of the Dog.
Love it? Hate it? Leave me a comment.
Doug
May
08
Posted by : | On : May 8, 2009
There are times when others just say it better. Today, I would like to quote a very special man who has changed my life through his life in Christ.
Recently, he was asked about the losses we suffer in our lives. For all of you suffering great loss, I pray his words give you comfort.
Going where called,
Doing what is asked,
Doug
*******
The other day [Eddie] asked Father Dale this question: “How would you advise a person who has suffered a great loss in their life?” I was so taken by his response that I wanted to share this with others.
Loss is part of life. It happens everyday. Right from the time we grow up we are losing things, and losing people in our lives. We learn to handle it as part of “growing up”. We can’t have and we can’t keep everything we want.
There are a few times in our lives where we face great loss. This is something different. Great loss, such as the death of a loved one, a divorce, loss of a job etc. can rip our hearts out. When it happens, it hurts on a level deeper than we thought we could feel. Great loss RE-ARRANGES our lives. Usually, it re-arranges our lives AGAINST our wills and desires. When our lives get re-arranged we can fight or we can embrace it. To embrace it, we need the gift of COURAGE. Courage is a grace, it is a gift, it is an option. When we choose courage, we can experience GOD. God didn’t necessarily cause our re-arrangement….but God does not abandon us. He makes himself present.
In my own life, loss has been heavy. But the gifts in my life were abundant. When they were taken away, the last thing I wanted to do was to try to be courageous. But, God was there. God is there.
Because of my own loss, my heart aches for those who suffer loss. Without my own loss, I don’t think I would have understood it so deeply. I can feel for others, like I never did before. That is good. I also have become aware that there were many people in my life who have never suffered real loss. They are the ones who no longer want to be friends. They don’t get it. But someday, they will suffer LOSS. I pray that I will be able to be there for them, with true compassion and love.
Loss doesn’t always make sense. But, it’s part of life. Courage doesn’t always make sense either. But, it’s a great way to meet a God who courageously died for us.
Apr
08
Posted by : | On : April 8, 2009
I’ve lost count the number of times I’ve sat on the floor with teenagers and adults just like you and heard from you some EXTREMELY TOUGH QUESTIONS.
Questions about life, relationships, faith and your purpose for even being here.
I’ve sat and listened to dozens who were both angry and disappointed with the answers they did find or could not seem to find to their very tough questions. Just in the last few weeks, I’ve heard from three different teachers that they had a list of questions from high school teens.
Questions that are really, really tough.
I know you have questions. So we want to provide you with an opportunity to both ask your questions AND possibly have your question podcasted here at Into the Wilderness. We want to take the next month to assemble a list of questions and then, one by one, we are going to team up with some incredible people to do our best to offer you the answers that we can.
In the boxes below, give us your name, e-mail and your question. We’ll update the progress of the list and show you samples of the questions. Please, as you do this, be completely honest about the questions. No question is too tough.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
P.S. After you submit your question, you will receive a confirmation e-mail in your mailbox. There will be a link to click on to confirm your question, just as a safeguard against spam for you and us. Please click on this link. Your question will not be submitted unless you complete this step! Thanks!
- Doug
Apr
06
Posted by : | On : April 6, 2009
When I first started in youth ministry, we generally held that we had lost one generation and we were working on the second. Now, as the days progress, I believe we’ve lost that second generation and are getting started on the third.
This video surprised me and gives me hope.
Apr
04
Posted by : | On : April 4, 2009
Lord,
Transform my frustration into patience.
Hatred in to love
Irritation into compassion
Cynicism into kindness
Chaos into order
Tears into joy.
Amen.
Mar
11
Posted by : | On : March 11, 2009
Good morning! Oh my Lord. There is SO much in my little ol’ pea brain right now! Right now, I wanted to share with you that if your group, company, church or other organization is in need of some renewal, focus, vision or bonding, Judy and I are available for a very limited number of speaking and facilitation engagements in the next year!
We want to hear from you and see if there is a place we can serve you and your mission. From one hour consultations to three day retreats.
Please contact us and book early!
We can cover any number of topics. Have a look around the blog and you’ll get an idea of our vision and mission.
E-mail me at intothewilderness@gmail.com.
Looking forward!
Doug and Judy
Feb
19
Posted by : | On : February 19, 2009
Oh my dear friends. Especially you, Josh. I know you are suffering and aching for loved ones who have left this world. I am so sorry for your loss. I have wept with you this morning.
How do we handle it? How can we possibly keep going with this massive hole in our heart where our mom, our spouse or our friend once lived?
Death has touched me and my life too but I deeply fear the day that it reaches deeper and affects me again, and more.
Is that what hurts so much? Is it fear? I believe fear is actually the absence of love. And nowhere does this feel more true than when the ever-present love of someone dear to us dies. They and their love are physically absent and we fear so many things. We fear forgetting them. We fear replacing them. We fear no longer making memories with them at the center. And so much else.
God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love. (The Message translation, 1 John 4:18)
“We live in God and God lives in us.” Life and death are all one. Death is not separation from life, though that’s where the deep pain seems to take us. But life, and death, are undeniably and inextricably linked. Just like the life of a baby in a womb ends and transforms into a birth into this world, so does our time in this world end with a birth into the next world. And the next world, Jesus promises…
But there’s far more to life for us. We’re citizens of high heaven! We’re waiting the arrival of the Savior, the Master, Jesus Christ, who will transform our earthy bodies into glorious bodies like his own. He’ll make us beautiful and whole with the same powerful skill by which he is putting everything as it should be, under and around him. (The Message, Phillipians 3:20-21)
“We are citizens of high heaven!” Citizens. Our second birth, the movement from this world to the next, brings us to the place where nothing dies again in the place we will call our permanent home.
Oh so much easier to be read and said than it is to be done. And, likely, it will be a thought in our heads much sooner than it actually takes root in our heart and becomes true for us in our grief.
But let it be true in your life, now that your loved one has gone. Let it be true. Let it first be a thought. And hold this thought constantly.
“Mom has been born into heaven.”
“Grandpa has been born into heaven.”
You will weep and it will hurt to say this. You will struggle deep and long with the possibility. You will question its truth. I promise you will.
But the weeping and the struggle and the questions are transforming. And your only role is to weep and struggle and question. But just at the butterfly doesn’t know the day the cocoon will give way, so it is with the transformation of our grief.
Weep. Struggle. Question.
And let me do the same with you in the coming days.
I love you. If I can do anything, please let me know.
Doug
Feb
18
Posted by : | On : February 18, 2009
I start getting the words out and I realize how overdone it can sound. You can hear it out of the mouths of any celebrity just exiting re-hab and turning over a new leaf. You can hear it from any one who has just had a transformational experience with this speaker or that event.
I, by no means, want to diminish or judge those experiences. I have had several myself.
This weekend was one of those.
There is healing here for the wounds left in you by life’s events. There is insight into forgiving and being forgiven. There is a beauty in a new understanding of the unseen and eternal.
And, at the same time, I know these are not “magic pills”. Some of you will hate it. For others, it will hurt too much to read. I can’t filter that for you. I can only share with you that I recommend very few books. I am compelled to recommend this one to you.
Please read this book. (Order through this link for the best price. My gift to you.)
Doug
