#robbenson

[pastorrobbenson]

The Incarnation

As Christmas is fast approaching I’ve been surprised by momentary glimpses, into the ‘Reason for the Season.”  It’s real meaning seemingly more and more obscured, God choosing to step into humanity, literally the Divine willingly entering into the flesh and bones of a man as a gift for all men!

What does this mean?  Why does this ACT of God matter?  How does this change the game for humanity, for me?

If this is true…why are we, as a culture, as living and breathing miracles, each one of us, running head long away from this most beautiful and meaningful reason?

Those are the questions that have been haunting me…in quiet moments…I find myself caught up in awe and wonder as I wrestle with the overwhelming flood of possibilities that cross my mind.  They bring hope…light…life…purpose to my being…to your being…yet I still run.

John, one of Christ’s closest friends, left us with these thoughts… “Christ became human flesh and lived among us. We saw His shining-greatness. This greatness is given only to a much-loved Son from His Father. He was full of loving-favor and truth (John 1:14, NLV).”

Perhaps in the confusion, weightiness of pressures and pain of life it just seems too impossible to believe that God stepped into humanity…that He chose to incarnate as a man because He is for us?  In all our fixing, buying, working, crying, thriving, surviving and even dying we just can’t pick our heads up enough to see this TRUTH.  But I do believe it’s right in front of us, we just aren’t used to seeing God, His TRUTH and that He is for us, so we miss it.

The day after Thanksgiving the Arbutus Town Hall, The Greater Arbutus Professional and Business Association and caring citizens came together to decorate this small town, that seems buried in the surrounding urban and suburban sprawl, for the coming Christmas activities and celebrations.  This year was no different than any other, but I was blessed to glimpse Jesus in the flesh as I served alongside those who gave of their time, talents and finances to transform Arbutus into a special place…a place where it’s possible to touch and see God incarnate.

This might sound CRAZY, but I encountered God…  And you can too!  You can see Him at work in the unity of heart, as different folks from different walks of life gather to serve to love on their community.  Their were the homeless, the addicted, a dentist, small business owners, construction workers, florists, fire fighters all working hand in hand to make something beautiful happen down on East Drive.  There is more evidence to consider the up coming festivities: The Train Garden at the Arbutus Fire Hall, the gathering of children at the Santa House where they receive gifts, Southwestern Emergency Services annual Christmas shopping spree for the poorest in our community so that they might be able to have a heart felt celebration in their homes this Christmas.  All this begs the question why?  What are we preparing for?  What are we looking forward too?  What are we celebrating?  Why are we serving?  Why are we giving?  And, Why are we caring?

I think deep down inside we all know the answer, but we’ve chosen to minimize it…reject it…or just plain ignore it…yet it haunts us…there are glimpses of the TRUTH all over and it oozes out during our Christ-mas celebration.   While your wondering the streets of Arbutus this year listen and hear the lyrics of the toons being played over the loud speaker system…there you will find a glimpse of the reason for the season; or catch a glimpse of the used to be homeless-alcoholic sitting on the bus stop encouraging another lost soul to find restoration like he did…again the reason for the season becomes obvious; or maybe you’ll catch it in the eyes of a child as she is given a gift by a stranger for no other reasons than…it’s the reason for the season; or perhaps you’ll catch it when you see the volunteer army that comes together to make Christmas possible for hundreds of families that never dreamt it possible…the reason for the season; and maybe…just maybe you’ll stumble across the reason yourself like I did time and time again while hanging around that beautiful small town hidden on East Drive and Sulfur Spring Road…the reason for the season as far as I can see…God loves us.  

Can you see it, in the love, the love for one another, that’s the reason…the truth…that’s a glimpse of God’s greatness…of His love and His favor for mankind.  

Consider the possibility of just seeing and believing “God Loves You,” this season…

[faairy-queen]

Had such a fun time with #deadshotmary last night!! The show is such an amazing tribute to a phenomenal woman who is most definitely long overdue for her much deserved accolades! Thank you so much for the extra time you spent with us after the show and the fantastic feedback! We can't wait until we meet again! You are divine! Long live #maryshanley !!! #rachelmcphee #robbenson #stephenkaliski #thunderingword #marshallspeechteam #weaintnevascared

[pastorrobbenson]

Christ Is GREATER!  

[pastorrobbenson]

Christ Is GREATER

As we focus on Paul’s Letter written to the church in the small town of Colossae, located by the Lycus River, in the then Roman Province of Asia, today’s modern day Turkey it is important to recognize that Colossae was once a thriving “populace city, wealthy and large,” during the Persian and Greek empires rule and reign, but the system of roads changed, and Colossae was reduced to an insignificant market town by human standards, God had not forgotten the Colossians! (Lightfoot, “St. Paul’s Epistle to the Colossians and to Philemon,” London, Macmillan, 1879, p.16; Vaughn, EBC, “Colossians,” p.163).

But before we talk about Colossae and the Colossians lets remember Paul, writer of this letter and the troubled times he lived and died in. Paul wrote this letter while he was imprisoned in Rome, probable around 62-63AD. Nero began the first of ten rounds of persecution and execution of Christians.

Paul would eventually be summoned to his execution by Nero, an eye witness account, by Abdias reports that Nero sent Ferega and Parthemius to tell Paul that he was going to be put to death; both they and others gathered asking Paul to pray for them, so they might believe, after which Paul instructed them to be baptized; then the Roman soldiers came and took Paul escorting him outside the city to the place where they would execute his death sentence, Paul again prayed, Abdias reports, “he gave his neck to the sword” (Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, p.13).

Take note, these words Paul penned were some of his last! He was not fainted hearted, fickle, or a Follower of Christ for convenience sake ONLY, NO Paul was absolutely committed to Christ and His Gospel and it cost him his comfort, security, and ultimately his life.

As we explore this Letter of Paul’s to the Colossians lets not forget the back drop, following Jesus and sharing the Gospel just might cost you everything, even your life. The times were serious, the church in Colossae was being attacked from within also, a group called the Gnostics were bringing a New Gospel, fundamentally different from Christ’s Gospel. The Gnostic Gospel focused preached a new, but old way to salvation; a salvation NOT through Faith in Christ, but a salvation obtained through acquiring special knowledge, and the practice of superstitious rituals, and astrology and angelology; this salvation was a mystical and magical experience to become a “Gnostic” or a “knowing one.” They believed the material world, including the flesh was evil, and therefore, attacking Christ’s Incarnation and his Deity, Christ could not be both God and Man, because the two could never co-exist. Paul as a counter, to their teachings/philosophies writes this letter to the Colossian church and encourages them to stand firm in their faith, beyond belief, proven in their action to love and care for one another through self-sacrifice...faith in action!  Paul in his opening lines, commends these Christ Followers for their dedication to their God and the tangible results.

Temperature Check...

Where is your Dedication to God...Your “All In” commitment to your life being IN HIM?

Where is your Dedication, “All In it-ness,” to God and His work in your life and in this world through YOUR life?

[pastorrobbenson]

The Hammer of Truth

The "Truth" bites! All of us have tangled with truth, if your human that is, and it most often is NOT EASY, but if we deal with it we change, life gets simpler!  But we aren't always looking for simple or less confusing, or less painful living are we?  I often think I like confusion, pain and hardship...how about you?

What I love about the "Truth" is that when I ignore it long enough...when I've run myself to exhaustion...when I've excused, justified and lied myself into a corner...and when I've let the sharp teeth of "Truth" bite deep enough then I finally cry-out "enough is enough" Jesus I SURRENDER!  Jesus I'm ready to listen to your life restoring WILL and live according to your life giving WAY!  The hardened mud in my life that covers the Master Piece that God made me to be must be chiseled away when I don't let Jesus wash it away.  Thankfully Jesus doesn't give up on me, He never stops pointing me to His TRUTH, He never stops wanting to lead me down the road of His WAY, He never stops trying to pour His LIFE into mine, but we MUST be WILLING to PARTICIPATE because He does nothing against our WILL.  

A Hard head and a Hard heart that WILLS against what is:  Absolute TRUTH, The only right WAY (Path), and living a never ending LIFE that is abundant and being restored to perfection REQUIRES "The Hammer of Truth" to bust away the hardened mud that obstructs the view of the beautiful Master Piece that YOU ARE.

How have you been hard headed and hard hearted...running from the inevitable, ever deepening bite of TRUTH in your life?  Look the at areas in life that cause you the most pain, what TRUTH are you not seeing or are you intentionally ignoring?

I was talking to a friend last night that is being choked out by the strangle hold of his addiction to drugs.  He is literally being suffocated to death, though he has so much to live for: a girl who loves him and hasn't left, a new baby on the way, and two other children that need his love and attention, but he refuses to see these life giving gifts in his life.  Why?  His dad walked out on him when he was two, yes, he had a step-father who he calls his dad, yes, his dad suddenly re-appeared a few years ago and apologized for disappearing, but my friend still hasn't acknowledged the reality that he lives out of a mentality of worthlessness.  Why does he feel worthless, because he still hasn't acknowledged and worked through the reality that he was abandoned by the man, his father, who was supposed to be there for him...who was supposed to love him unconditionally...who was supposed to really protect...care for...and provide for him.

His unresolved "Abandonment" and subsequent feeling of "Worthlessness" have caused great pain and suffering in his life.  Crime, jail, homelessness, joblessness and addiction are all the baggage or the bite of the HAMMER of TRUTH that he must face.  His daddy abandoned him, but that TRUTH doesn't make him "Worthless" it just points to the brokenness that requires restoration.  My friend's need can only be met in Christ Jesus...who NEVER abandons, NEVER leaves, NEVER stops loving and always through the TRUTH points to the only WAY (path) that always leads to NEW LIFE, now and FOREVER!  

Now that's GOOD NEWS for us all!

[pastorrobbenson]

Mud & Masterpiece...

Our new series, based on John Burke's, book, "Mud and The Masterpiece" will take us on a journey into our own mess, and God's deep desire to bring restoration at the Master's hands and it will help us to be more like Christ in how we demonstrate the love of God in a broken and messed up world.

Have you ever asked yourself why so many people, when asked about Christians, label us as hypocrites, judgmental, egotistical, self-righteous, stick in the mud, Bible thumping, unkind people?  Now on the flip side, when you ask folks about Jesus, even those who don't follow Him, they describe him as: kind, gentle, wise, morally superior, caring, sacrificial, compassionate, merciful, etc., etc., etc...

Why are Christ Followers described so differently than the one they claim to Follow?  How did we get here as Christians?

This hard hitting, grace filled, new series will challenge you as a, Christ Follower, to the core of your being.  It will ask the hard questions, and provide life restoring answers that will not only change your life and relationship with God, but will change how you do life with and love on others in this messed up world.

[pastorrobbenson]

Holy Ghost...

The Holy Ghost, isn't just an insignificant part of the Triune God Head!  He's the tangible guarantor that God is with us, He's the voice that speaks healing and life to our thirsty souls, He's the power that changes us, He's the promise that connects us to the hope that awaits, He's the comforter and the guider.  He is "I AM!"

The Holy Ghost, often even in Christian circles, is a part of the God Head we reference but avoid getting to know, because we Greek trained thinkers of the western world, are enraptured by the "Enlightenment."  Our way of thinking, our incredible "Reasoning" skills and mental prow-els often restricts us from subject matter that defy's our "Reasoning."  If we can't see it, if we can't touch it, if we can't smell it, if we can't somehow make something our "Bit#$" we ignore, we excuse, we minimize it into insignificance, thus the Holy Ghost remains unknown, and we remain ignorant of this powerful part of the Trinity who has so much to offer our empty souls; and who can and will enable us to live the abundant life Christ promised those who are adventurous enough to Follow Him.

Yes, I'm one who likes clean answers, that I can somehow master mentally.  It makes me believe the illusion, or should I say, delusion that somehow I'm in control, I'm safe, I'm secure, I've got the intellectual "where with al"l to KNOW it all, yes I AM Rob Benson.  But, really deep inside I know, just like everyone else that I don't know everything...so I'm left wanting to know...I'm limited.

How about you, do you find yourself coming up short of all the answers sometimes.  Do you find yourself without the necessary, reasonable explanation...

Well, God does have the answers, the question is will you admit you don't, and seek something beyond yourself, something bigger than you to gain insight you don't have, give you the comfort you need, the healing and understanding that man can't give, how about, POWER that is in-explicable in the natural and opens you up to the super-natural.

If that's the case, if you're willing to seek...then you WILL FIND!  Risk It!  What's there to lose...NOTHING, but there is MUCH to gain!  

[pastorrobbenson]

A Grateful Love!

26 years later, I'm still grateful for God's gift! Not only a partner in day to day life, but a partner in the highest priority any life can have...to bring the Gospel of Christ to a hurting world that desperately needs it's message, "God Loves YOU!"  "God is for YOU, not against YOU!"

Grateful today to have a partner that has the same passion and priority I have, to be loved by God, to love God and to love others by making Christ known not just in word, but deed!

Thank YOU God!

Thank You Allison!

[pastorrobbenson]

Love Challenge!

There is nothing more fulfilling than witnessing normal everyday folk stand up to take the ultimate challenge.  It's incredible when you consider how many chose to take up the IceBucket Challenge that has been plastered all over Facebook recently.  Why was did this particular challenge  take off?  I believe love had something to do with it.  Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems that somewhere down deep inside of all of us there is this need to care for someone or something.  A need to know that somehow we can make a difference, even if it's getting dowsed with ice cold water and sharing a bit of our financial gain.

Recently, I've witness people from different backgrounds and walks of life choose to step up and into total strangers lives.  Now these strangers that I'm talking about are the type that most of us try to avoid coming into contact with: The homeless, a prostitute, the alcohol or drug addicted, and even the mentally off.  If your honest with yourself, I'm sure as you read through the list of societal outcasts in that previous sentence a few thoughts came to your mind about why you stay away from "those people."  That's assuming, of course, that you're honest with yourself.

But to those who are willing to take great risk, there is great reward!  And some of my friends have chosen this Love Challenge and in-spite of their own fears and apprehensions they have stepped into the lives of the unwanted.  So, what happened...

Well, that will be for the next blog entry...suffice it to say, Love Changes Everyone!

[pastorrobbenson]

A Tribute

To my Oma, Edith Koppe,

A truer love is most rare!  Born into a house where love was not often heard, seen, or known she became what seemed impossible based on her circumstance and example.  More often than not, our circumstance and example define our trajectory.  An abused child either becomes an abuser or a consummate life long victim.  In this case the abused child, who encounter very little of love, became a most affective lover!

It wasn't just her words, her concern, but how she lived her life that evidenced her love.  If we take the time to listen, look, taste and reflect on who a person is we will soon discover something very divine, something image bearing, a human being.  Oma was one of the greatest lovers of people and life that I have ever known, and this I am most grateful for.

I am sure I will write of her more, suffice it to say, if you ever met Oma you would have surely tasted love.  It was what defined her being!

Her love touched many who were love starved, regardless of whether they recognized it in that moment or not.

Love Truly does Always Win!

R.I.P.  Edith Koppe August 31, 1924 - April 4, 2014

A "Life Well Lived" never stops bringing forth good fruit, and one thing I know is my Oma's love is changing eternity for the better, by God's design!

Our challenge, now is refusing to live for and with anything less than True Love, as God designed us to live.  Will you join me on this life long endeavor and truly live, or not?

Love Always…Robert

[pastorrobbenson]

REAL DEEPENING RELATIONSHIP

I did a bit of work today on website redesign.  Working through the brief description of Matt's House Church I wrestled with the word REAL.  Being REAL is one of the values that our church planting Core Team believed was critical to people feeling welcome at Matt's House, a safe place to be who you are regardless of where you've been, where you are, or where you're going.

Over the last couple of years as newer folks have joined our ranks, those walking with Christ and those who would consider themselves far from Christ, often state they feel at home, like they don't have to pretend to be somebody they're not.  This has been wonderful to hear, it truly is the grace of God at work, who else can do the impossible, making imperfect people, which we all are, feel accepted and loved just like they are!  

I'm in Germany right now, almost a week.  My grandmother, an incredible fighter BTW, has endured 4 surgeries is awaiting another on Thursday when she should be closed up, if all looks good, after having 130cm of her intestines removed at the age of 89.  Crazy right!  That's a German for you!  Anyway, during this unplanned journey I've been made aware of God's love for me through some very dear friends in my life.  They've called me to check on me and tell me they are praying for me and my family.  They've offered to help in anyway possible.  They've even shared some of the struggles they are facing, by God's grace of course, the only way to face struggles!  I am encouraged by these my newer friends who seem so concerned about me and my family.  I wonder why they care so much, and I think I have part of the answer at least.  They are all individuals who have been through real hell in their lives, they truly appreciate and know what it means to be a friend in the hard times.  A friend who seems to be able to step out of their life struggles just to "Be With" a friend in the middle of a life crisis.

Developing Ever-Deepening REAL relationship isn't just a value for me and my friends at Matt's House Church it is a life long experiment that leaves us changed and better at loving others!  Thanks Matt's House, I do love you!

[pastorrobbenson]

Grateful

It's so good to be involved in the lives of so many former Campus Life kids who are now incredible adults, many now turning 30! Wow, how time ticks by so quickly. They've become great, caring adults many are parents who are doing a wonderful job of loving there kids well. It's been a privilege to witness their process of becoming who they are created to be! They are all still works in progress, but so many have broken away from the many and varied family brokenness/curses they've been hand down from past generations. By God's grace they are taking a better path! My prayer is that they continue to be open to God's abundant love for them and that they allow His love to invade their hearts and change them more and more into who they were always intended to be. Beloved children of their Heavenly Father! Thank you God for this honor, being a father to so many fatherless! Who says you don't work miracles through your people! I know you do, and thank you that I am part of your restoration and rescue plan! PS-Written at the Fish Head Cantina in Arbutus, MD at a 30th Birthday party of one o my adopted daughters, Jamie! What an awesome mom and young lady, so proud of her! Love Always Wins!

[pastorrobbenson]

Truth Can Hurt

Remember when seeking the truth you risk the greatest pain, heart break! Yet it's crucial that we never stop pursuing truth, though it is heart breaking, it produces life and the freedom for us all to become our very best selves! Be courageous and choose to live in the truth, life is to precious to waste away in lies!

[pastorrobbenson]

Affect

What do I do with what I've heard from Erwin McManus and John Burke today at the Generate Conference in Austin, TX? A great question? The answer I give determines whether or not I'm interested in being changed or not! Jesus offers a new life, a life of growing freedom from the attachments of life that essentially take life away...leaving me to die a slow, painful death in a grave of my own design. So am I listening? What is Christ speaking to me about me...my life? Am I being, living in the skin God designed specifically for Rob Benson or am I striving to embody someone I am not, an idol in epidermis? This question is simple, but my answer is more complex than I can ever grasp. Only God knows the totality of my heart, the purpose behind His design of me. At least part of the answer is I have and do waste a lot of time, energy...life if you will, trying to be somebody I'm not. This is a narcissistic cesspool that leaches my life away! An absolute, death trap that leads only to disappointment and despair and demise! Fear often is my greatest enemy, the narrative I've adopted for my life born out of my attachment to attachments...people, places and things all evidenced by observing my life pursuits. So, what are your pursuits? What are your attachments? Why are these your attachments? What might God be speaking to you through His Spirit? Wrestle and lean into the Lover of your soul. He alone knows questions your asking and He alone knows the answers and He alone can and will lead you into a new life...YOUR life! The life only you were meant to live! Jump into the adventure of discovering who you are and lean into the only One who knows and can by His grace lead you into you! This is God's joy! Love Always Wins!

[pastorrobbenson]

Witnessing The Divine

Well, another remarkable day!  Is life meant to be anything less than REMARKABLE?

I definitely don't want it to be…though much of my life, sad to say, has been spent on the UN-Remarkable.  How about you…is your life Remarkable or NOT?  I really hope it's remarkable, if not there is always an opportunity for change.

While connecting with a new friend out side of a motor cycle shop garage today, I was blindsided by the divine.  It's what I like to call a Divine Encounter, you've probably had one of these encounters and maybe didn't even know it.  This time I became a willing participant in a very "Remarkable" moment, standing at the cross roads where we as human, finite, beings have the privilege of meeting the Divine.

In the cold we stood, him building a crate to ship a cycle motor he'd just sold, and me just being neighborly, and of course, God being Divine.  Out came the hard luck story, "For the first time since I've had this shop I wasn't able to pay the heating oil bill."  "Normally, Rob, this would have sent me over the edge and I would have went and got high or drunk, but this time something was different."  "I didn't fly off the handle, I didn't run and hide and drowned my pain, somehow it came to me to stop, slow down and see if there was another more healthy solution."  Immediately I jumped in and said, sounds like "Divine Intervention to me."  

He went on, with the excitement of a kid who just made a new discovery that would change his total out look on life.  "Rob, I looked at the numbers and figured a way to make it work for this month and I was able to purchase the heating oil today."  "I figure, next month I will work on how to pay my home mortgage."  "Rob, you always say God provides!"  I agreed, "Yes he does!"  Then he went on to share how he had never experienced this much peace in the middle of a life struggle, he had never responded in such a healthy, life giving way.  He was absolutely dumb founded!

You ever been dumb struck by God's goodness!  Well, this cycle shop owner was fully aware of Divine Intervention, and this is someone who has done life on his terms his entire life.  And due to the less than "Remarkable" results he has begun a new journey to see if there is a better way.  

Divine Encounters are absolutely "Remarkable," because they leave you changed forever, and when you share those Divine Encounters they never  leave your audience the same.  The other thing about Divine Encounters is that no matter how hard people try to convince you that it was luck or karma or your incredible intellect that extricated you from the mess you created, you know better, you know it was Divine, because you experienced something Super Natural.  You did something unnatural for you, you did something different than the normal, default insanity that is how you've lived, you've trusted someone "Bigger," "Smarter," and more Powerful than you and his "Peace" is just a deposit left as the evidence of this Divine Encounter.

So, today I left different from when I arrived at the cycle shop, because of my friend sharing his Divine Encounter, had a Divine Encounter!

His Love Always Wins, because it's Remarkable!

[pastorrobbenson]

Wrestling with Restlessness!

I was wrestling with this sense of inner turmoil, a restlessness in the soul if you will, this morning. Actually it has been plaguing me for a while now I just haven't stopped long enough to reflect on what I've been feeling. You ever do that? Keep on going though you know something is off. It's like driving down the road with a flat tire. The steering is off, there is a sound and a shake that point to something being wrong, but your focused on getting from point A to point B. In-spite of all the evidence that there is a problem that needs to be addressed, ignore the facts, and just keep moving forward. Some how you even convince yourself that there is actually nothing wrong. Can you identify with this at all? After settling down, getting silent and inviting Some One much greater than me into my confusion some clarity emerged. My focus had shifted. Instead of leaning into my God who is always Present with fresh revelation and understanding I've been trusting in the promises and commitments made by people; and the "hoped" for out come of circumstances. Since people are like me, limited and foul able, and circumstances are beyond my control I insanely believe in that which is imperfect. Imagine that, I put my trust in that which is not trustworthy. Of course the outcome is predictable, fear, anxiety and restlessness what else can I expect? People just can't love perfectly and circumstance don't bend towards my every whim and desire, I'm not that powerful. In the silence I heard a whisper, "I Am" sufficient for you and always Present!" You are never alone, there is no where you can go where "I Am" is not!" "I Am" has got you, and this church plant thing under control." "I Am" has got this!" "Rob, just be thankful and trust My guidance, "I Am" with you." Sometimes we miss the signs that were slipping and tripping, but when we stop moving, get quiet, ponder the difficult question we discover the answer we all desperately are seeking. "I Am" never leaves you where He found you, He always invites you into Truth which we all know sets the heart free! In freedom we live in the moment by moment reality that we don't have to strive at all, we just need to trust in the only One who is Trust Worthy, the GREAT "I Am" He was, is and is to come! He really does "Got this!" Love Always Wins! So, cry out to Jesus, He's got your back!