Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 21

Cee has asked some really good questions this week! So here I am sharing my world!

1. What is most memorable about your high school years?
   I think the most memorable thing about high school was youth group. I am so thankful to the couple that were my youth pastors. They gave us such a great foundation and blended that with a lot of fun. We were never at a loss for things to do: Youth conventions and fall camps, Bible quiz and Teen Talent, Softball Tournaments and Speed-the-light rallies. I can honestly say I was never bored.
2. What was the last URL that you bookmarked? I don’t book mark things but I do add new blogs just about every week. Some of the newest blogs I am reading are http://steveatwood.wordpress.com/ and http://ayaslife.wordpress.com/
3. Name one thing not many people know about you.
   Man! in this venue there is so much to choose from… how about this? I play three instruments: flute, piano and didgeridoo (badly on that last one but I still play it)
4. What physical attribute do you like about yourself?  Can be anywhere from beauty to heart to physical strength. Ahh! glad this didn’t have to be about physical appearance. I love me for my mind! 🙂

Thanks Cee! Can’t wait to read everyone else’s responses.

 

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 20

Here are this week’s questions from Cee Cee. My favorite not surprisingly is question number 1. Thanks Cee!

1. Do you believe in the afterlife?  Reincarnation?
   I do believe in the afterlife but not in reincarnation. The writer to the Hebrews says “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:” Heb. 9:27 I believe in a literal Heaven and a literal Hell. perfect righteousness attains us Heaven and imperfection earns us Hell. Since there ain’t none of us perfect God sent His son Jesus Christ to die in our place. He went to Hell for us and on the third day broke the power of Death by rising from the dead. Now all who believe in Him can have everlasting life in Heaven! That’s some good news!
2. For your computer Mac or Windows-based computer?  Desktop, laptop or other? Radical shift in questions here. Whoa! My head is still spinning. I use a windows based computer but only because I don’t have an apple. I love my laptop!
3. If you could witness any event past, present or future, what would it be?
   Oh there are so many events I long to see. Picking just one is so hard! I have to pick at least two maybe three. How about the parting of the Red Sea (past event).  Reinhardt Bonke crusade in Africa (current event). The return of Christ to Jerusalem with all the host of Heaven (future event).
4. What are you reading fiction or non-fiction or studying and would you recommend it?  Currently I am reading Radical: Taking Back your Faith From the American Dream by David Platt. I would recommend it!

Thanks Cee!

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 19

Catching Up is fun. I get to answer eight questions this week instead of four. Here we go! Next round:

1. What calms you down?
   Prayer. I love to sit under the sound of soft worship music and commune with God!
2. Whats your favorite fantasy sandwich?  Spaghetti sauce and peanut butter. It’s really good you have to try it!
3. What was your nickname growing up either as a kid or now?
   J is my nickname probably because my real name (Joseph Elon Lillie V) sounds really pretentious. My youth group has dubbed me simply Pastor Wrinkles.
4. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Burnt Sienna. I just like the way it sounds. 🙂

Here are a few more Holland pics:

The old gatehouses at the locks have been converted to apartments

Ancient cathedral sanctuaries were built in the shape of crosses. This is the ceiling at the center of the cross.

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 18

I am so glad Cee is back with her questions. I have been away for a bit myself on ministry assignment. So I am just getting caught up on all my blog reading (man my friends have been prolific in my absence!). I am very excited to be back answering these questions! So here we go:

 

1. What is your favorite comfort snack food?
   Most anything involving chocolate cake and cream frosting. SuzQ’s with a tall glass of ice-cold milk are my all time favorite!
2. At what time in your recent past have you felt most passionate and alive? Probably on my flight to Holland to visit my sister. The prospect of discovering a new culture was soooo exciting!
3. What is your favorite outdoor activity?
   Gardening. Although this year schedules has left me little time for it.
4. If you could have your own TV channel, what would it be about? That’s simple; It would be a God/mystery/SciFi Channel. 🙂

Here are a few pics I took in Holland:

Dutch church along the Zaan

Warning In the Wind by JE LIllie

 

Lessons I Learned In the Summer Wind

I believe life is a lesson to be learned. Even the very hardest parts have benefit if we can somehow draw out of them the lessons hidden in darkness. As my lead pastor likes to say life is just “training for reigning!”

This summer has passed by in a whirlwind. Tonight as I prepare to venture onto summer’s last leg I am pondering what lessons I have learned.

The summer started with us sending two children overseas on Missions internships.

Joe with New Friends in Yangon

Joe ventured first to Bangkok via Dubai and then after spending some time along the Thai border he landedin Yangon, Myanmar.

Riding bareback

Melanie flew West to Japan  on to Bangkok and then Chang Mai where she learned to ride an elephant and taught English (not necessarily in that order). I learned….

1. Contrary to popular opinion fathers do not worry more about daughters than sons.

2. Worry feeds on perception not on reality but when your perception is skewed reality doesn’t really matter.

3. Prayer refocuses  perception onto reality and does away with worry.

Brenda and the Windmill

This was a summer of international travel for the Lillie clan.  I hopped a plane to Holland to visit my missionary sister.  I was introduced to peace and quiet again and I learned…

4. Rest is necessary and for me unplugging is the best way to get it.

5. Unplugging takes planning.

I became a Red Sox fan. Mom and I have watched many games together. From this I learned…

6. Television can be a community activity. I never knew it was possible to watch the tube without shushing everyone around me.

7. Being a fan is not for fair weather people especially if you are a Red Sox fan (there hasn’t been much fair weather this year). Yelling at players together is fun!

I hiked Doanes Falls in Royalston MA twice.

The Lower Falls, Doanes Royalston MA

Once with my daughter and once with a friend who just likes to hike while we talk rather than drink coffee.

From this I learned…

8. I am gloriously out of shape.

9. It is time to change that if I want to go on in my work for the Lord.

I got a note from someone in our congregation when I returned from Holland. Included with it was a candle and a picture of Tuscany. The note was a prophetic word saying the Lord had given me rest away but a time of heavy labor lay ahead and that I would not be getting away on vacation again for a while. The writer told me the candle and the picture were to remind me that even in the midst of mighty ministry it is necessary to take breaks and breathe the free air.

The word proved to be true. Since returning from Holland I have had one of the busiest seasons of ministry I can remember. There have been nights I  packed up the puppies and slept at the church because one day just folded into another. I have visited. Prayed. Led worship. Preached. Written. Met with leaders and artists.Driven Van for VBS. Now I am getting ready to travel with my daughter to lead worship in Connecticut for Special Touch Ministries. From all this I have learned…

10. I do not know why God has graced me with this time, this opportunity or this freedom but for Him I will not waste one more moment,one more chance, one more ounce of strength. I will build His kingdom!

Warning In the Wind-JE Lillie

What have you learned this summer?

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 17

Ah yes! it is the Olympics and so two of our questions are about them this week. On the surface it may seem simple but to a geek like me who has trouble keeping track of which sports have bases and which have goals…not so much. Still I shall endeavor to do my best.

1. If you were or are a writer do you prefer writing short stories, poems or novels?
   It was good of Cee to start out with an easy question. If I am writing a story then I write novel length. I like to have space for my characters to stretch out. If I am writing theology then my work tends to be a little shorter. I feel you should be able to cover a Bible Study in 6 to twelve weeks using a one hour format for each lesson.
2. If you had only one book you could write what would it be about?  Assume it is a top 10 seller of any genre. I would say theology. I have always thought we all need to know more about God.
3. Did you watch the opening of the Olympics in London?  What was your favorite part of the opening?
   I actually did this year! That is more shocking to me than probably to anyone else. I liked the smoke stack thing and the entrance of the rings.
4. What is your favorite summer Olympic event or events? The family responses to the Olympians. If that’s not an event it really should be. 🙂

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 16

These are some fun questions this week Cee! A little break in the difficulty factor…I like it!

1.  What type of pets do you have or want?
   I have two Maltese dogs: a boy Jacopo (yacahpoh) and a girl Mercedes.  
2. Would you rather take pictures or be in pictures? Oh definitely take pictures.
3. What household chore do you absolutely hate doing?
   I try not to say I hate anything because that makes it harder to do when I’ve gotta do it. I find it harder to do the ironing.  🙂
4. What’s your least favorite mode of transportation? Hmm. I’m not a big fan of anything I have to pedal or push. Things that tip over easy or think for themselves as modes of transportation are also low on my choice list.

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 15

…or 32 depending on how you look at it! Since I came into this game half way through I shall call it 15. The questions are getting harder! I love it!

 Which would you prefer:  a wild, turbulent life filled with joy, sorrow, passion, and adventure–intoxicating successes and stunning setbacks; or a contented bordering on happy, secure, predictable life surrounded by friends and family without such wide swings of fortune and mood? I would choose the quiet life. I do choose the quiet life. But in this world adventure finds us all. I have learned that what determines a quiet life is not the events but our reactions to them. We really do carry our own weather!

Would you like to be famous?  In what way? This depends on the day and how rejected I feel. There’s nothing like a little rejection to make you wish you were the  toast of the town.

I guess I view this as one of the weaknesses I am still working on. I think other people have turned the desire for fame into a healthy ambition. I’m not sure I’ve quite made it there yet!

If you could cure one disease, what would that be?Definitely cancer! So many in our church are struggling with it.

If you were invisible, where would you go? I would sit at home and enjoy the peace of no one being able to find me for a while.

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 14

I have been away for a few weeks. It is good to be back answering Cee’s insightful questions.

Here we go.

1. You are invited to a party that will be attended by many fascinating people you never met.  Would you attend this party if you were to go by yourself? Yes indeed I would go. I would probably feel self-conscious. I might even be a wall flower when I got there but nothing ventured nothing gained (and if I did end up just holding up a wall at least I wouldn’t have anyone there to be disappointed in me).
2. If you were the original designer of one existing corporate logo, which one would you select? I would choose His Coffee because it combines two of my favorite things, Jesus and java! 
3. If you could be a student of any university in the world right now, where would you enroll?  Irregardless of which university assume they teach what you want to study.  I think I would like to study at Oxford in England.
4. If you had to spend one weekend alone in a single public building or institution, which building would you choose? Woosh! This is hard. There are so many places I would love to go for a quiet weekend of concerted prayer. How about this place? Definitely an institution not sure how public….
   

   Monastery Agios Triada, Greece

Share Your World With Cee Cee Pt. 14

This week’s questions required some deep thought on my part. I hope tomorrow I still like my answers.

1. If 100 people your age were chosen at random, how many do you think you’d find leading a more satisfying and joyful life than yours?
   I am truly blessed. My life is far from perfect but I know that this has been the life God chose for me so I am pretty satisfied. I guess we all have things we would change if we could but we can’t; So I think the trick to being satisfied in life is not in getting everything right or perfect but making the most out of the road you are on.
2. Which would you rather have, 100 million dollars or true love? Jesus has shown me true love and it is worth more than all the gold and silver in the world.
3. If you had to cancel one month of the year forevermore, so that period of time no longer existed, which month would go? And Why? January. Because it is dark and cold.
4. You’re given one million dollars, what do you spend it on? I would give the tithe. Then I would pay off the kids college, Fix the things around the house that need fixing and then maybe travel a little.

This week’s pictures are from an outdoor wedding venue I recently ministered at:

The Bridal Path

The Wedding Chapel!The Witnesses to Every Weeding!