The weeds – hmmm….there is a scene in The Shack, where Holy Spirit and Mack are both weeding out a garden. At the time, I wondered if that garden happened to be Mack’s own inner man. Turned out it is – but what got my inner attention was that both Mack AND Holy Spirit were weeding out Mack’s heart to provide more space for the wonder of Kingdom growth to become established. Bingo!! The inner light turned on. Holy Spirit revelation. Heard the gentle whisper “Son, you are never alone in this beautiful work of Mine that I am doing in you. We are weeding out your heart for more Kingdom establishment together”. What a delightful partnership. Gets to me all the time……..like Brennan Manning discovered and passed onto Rich Mullins apparently. Now there is an awesome and beautiful redemption story……
you just went up several notches in my appreciation of you P S.. knowing who you read ..the Shack was good Brennan Manning was even better! Ragamuffin Gospel .. gave me more hope than any book I’ve read next to the Bible
I have also read The Ragamuffin Gospel and discovered beautiful encouragement – had Holy Spirit all over it for me. Readjng the book began a demolishing of an unfriendly and harsh view I was interpreting Father God through. That was years ago.
Since that time, I know Him as Papa….and The Shack has been part of that movement and revelation.
Additionally, The Passion Translation has also been part of that demolition of a harsh view of Papa God too. Despite the theological hardliners amongst us going absolutely nuts about it, Holy Spirit has often engaged with me as I meditatively read TPT. Speaks my heart language.
Suggest you look at The Passion Translation. You may like it…..
Indeed. The Ragamuffin Gospel became a close companion to me after hearing Rich Mullins talk of his experiences with Brennan Manning in the early 1990s’s. Came away from that getting that Papa God liked me. Before that, found Him hard to approach because I had, unbeknown to myself, that Father God was hard and unfriendly to approach. Very poor teaching from my childhood years plus some satanic deception thrown into the mix. God was holy, very holy, unapproachable and I was living under a real sense of unworthiness.
The Ragamuffin Gospel became the beginning of stepping into the wonder that Papa God really is for me.
Added to that was reading The Shack and purchasing the movie. Holy Spirit is still all over both of these for me, causing a demolition of the hard and harsh lens that I was looking at Father God through. Purchasing a copy of The Passion Translation has also been a Holy Spirit invitation too. That translation speaks my heart language and is being well used by Holy Spirit to engage with me to reveal Who Papa God really is for me, even though the theologians amongst us are presently going nuts over the authenticity of that version. I heard the gentle whisper inside my heart early one morning, awakening me from slumber while it was still dark – “Son, look into my heart. Tell me, what do you see?” At the time, I had received the revelation of my Savior’s heart from Matt11:25-30 The Passion Translation. Got my inner man’s attention!! I intuitively perceived this gentle whisper being an invitation from Father God as I was calling him at the time. So I responded “I see the gentle, humble, easy to please, self – giving unassuming SERVANT heart of my Savior and Lord, and Holy Spirit too.” “Well answered son” came the response. “Now, what would you like me to do for you today”. Like Brennan Manning, with Father’s response, I became as a man undone!! Since then, Father has become Papa to me.
If you have not yet looked at a copy of The Passion Translation, I suggest you buy a copy for yourself and your awesome wife. I guarentee you will find the heart passion of your Papa God for both of you. It will initiate an inner spiritual revolution within each of you……
Wow quite a prayer…weeds are a nuisance aren’t they? You’re right Bryan, they need to be pulled up. What comes to mind is God’s judgement of us, separating the sheep from the goats when we die. Could it be that He gives us weeds to show us what it’s like? The only nice thing about some weeds is they have flowers…just not roses or anything to go in a bouquet!
I’ve heard if you sing to your flowers they’ll grow better and the weeds will become jealous. LOL. You’ve got quite a few songs in your repertoire to make your flowers happy. They’ll be smiling big and “blooming all over”. God’s taking care of the weeds in our lives. I don’t doubt it— everybody sing “a little bit at a time”.
Austedo & Abrismo! I just discovered your podcast thanks to having YT randomly give me your interview on CCM LegacyCAST tonight. I’ve been introducing your music to my girlfriend recently and reminding myself just how much I loved your stuff when I was growing up. I always found it funny that I was a big metal head (and Conservative Baptist at the time) growing up, but I had this big soft spot for other artists I’d hear on KLRD. Oddly enough, my girlfriend back then was a big fan and got me turned onto your stuff and I got her turned onto Ken Tamplin/Magdallan. So needless to say I was stoked to stumble onto that podcast, which even though its already over 2 years old, it was great to hear how you are doing after all this time. My girlfriend now has been re-exploring her faith in Christ and its been fun sharing all of these early sources of inspiration of my own faith and telling her the stories I had behind them. Like when I saw you perform at “This Side Up” youth conference one year in the mid to late 90s.
Love Takes Time is one of my all time favorites and after I shared that song with her, she’s placed it in rotation on our Easy Listening/Love songs list. Sorry this is so long, but in short: thank you for everything you’ve done creatively. I hope God continues to bless you and your family! -Jerome
well this makes my day Jerome to hear from you and reconnect.. I never wanted to do something else until I needed to stay home as a care giver! Nutshells have been cathartic in so many ways even for me and my “Re-exploration” of my own faith! I’m proud to know about your ‘girlfriend now’she has my vote of confidence!
Isn’t it funny how weeds grow everywhere? They grow between the cracks in the sidewalk even…with little yellow towers. No fruit…they grow in all bad conditions…why is it that we have to baby our seeds and care so much for a bloom? Cause ours have fruit? Or seeds? Weeds don’t have either, they just Spring up! It’s hard to kill a sidewalk weed too…can’t find roots under sidewalk. Just cement…you’re the expert on cement and gardening, Bryan. God sure made it hard for us with those weeds!
Poor Elmer fund. We have ~6000 sq feet of garden. Talk about weeds. Its always an effort “weed” out the bad from the good. That’s a daily process in my life
B, I’m in the process of doing a little lawn & garden maintenance myself at this time so this weed talk resonates with me ! I remember as a kid picking weeds out of the different plant beds around the yard it was not exactly my idea of a good time. Once I got into it though, I did get a satisfaction of grabbing hold of a good size weed and pulling it all up from the root ! Other than that, the satisfaction of seeing my labor transform a weeded wilderness into a weedless bed or garden did feel good to me . Today I ain’t much into getting on my knees and pulling them up by hand anymore but I do have something that helps me tremendously. Matter of fact I bring these guys with me to the garden party every time now and It’s Say Hello to my Little Friends – 2 bottles of ” ROUND UP”! I guest the weeds that we see and work to get rid of acts as a reminder and teacher of many lessons. The way they can come up overnight it seems, and you didn’t even plant them. This lends to the thought that maybe our garden may not be thought on only by us and to be diligent in observing and caring for our garden. Who likes to go in a garden and can hardly find the things you planted because the weeds are plentiful and actually stunting the growth of the things you wanted to grow there? Weeding ain’t easy but necessary, whether it’s in the garden in the back yard or in one’s own heart!
21 Replies to “Dear God Whadcha Make Weeds For?”
The weeds – hmmm….there is a scene in The Shack, where Holy Spirit and Mack are both weeding out a garden. At the time, I wondered if that garden happened to be Mack’s own inner man. Turned out it is – but what got my inner attention was that both Mack AND Holy Spirit were weeding out Mack’s heart to provide more space for the wonder of Kingdom growth to become established. Bingo!! The inner light turned on. Holy Spirit revelation. Heard the gentle whisper “Son, you are never alone in this beautiful work of Mine that I am doing in you. We are weeding out your heart for more Kingdom establishment together”. What a delightful partnership. Gets to me all the time……..like Brennan Manning discovered and passed onto Rich Mullins apparently. Now there is an awesome and beautiful redemption story……
you just went up several notches in my appreciation of you P S.. knowing who you read ..the Shack was good Brennan Manning was even better! Ragamuffin Gospel .. gave me more hope than any book I’ve read next to the Bible
I have also read The Ragamuffin Gospel and discovered beautiful encouragement – had Holy Spirit all over it for me. Readjng the book began a demolishing of an unfriendly and harsh view I was interpreting Father God through. That was years ago.
Since that time, I know Him as Papa….and The Shack has been part of that movement and revelation.
Additionally, The Passion Translation has also been part of that demolition of a harsh view of Papa God too. Despite the theological hardliners amongst us going absolutely nuts about it, Holy Spirit has often engaged with me as I meditatively read TPT. Speaks my heart language.
Suggest you look at The Passion Translation. You may like it…..
i may have passed by that once or twice…
Indeed. The Ragamuffin Gospel became a close companion to me after hearing Rich Mullins talk of his experiences with Brennan Manning in the early 1990s’s. Came away from that getting that Papa God liked me. Before that, found Him hard to approach because I had, unbeknown to myself, that Father God was hard and unfriendly to approach. Very poor teaching from my childhood years plus some satanic deception thrown into the mix. God was holy, very holy, unapproachable and I was living under a real sense of unworthiness.
The Ragamuffin Gospel became the beginning of stepping into the wonder that Papa God really is for me.
Added to that was reading The Shack and purchasing the movie. Holy Spirit is still all over both of these for me, causing a demolition of the hard and harsh lens that I was looking at Father God through. Purchasing a copy of The Passion Translation has also been a Holy Spirit invitation too. That translation speaks my heart language and is being well used by Holy Spirit to engage with me to reveal Who Papa God really is for me, even though the theologians amongst us are presently going nuts over the authenticity of that version. I heard the gentle whisper inside my heart early one morning, awakening me from slumber while it was still dark – “Son, look into my heart. Tell me, what do you see?” At the time, I had received the revelation of my Savior’s heart from Matt11:25-30 The Passion Translation. Got my inner man’s attention!! I intuitively perceived this gentle whisper being an invitation from Father God as I was calling him at the time. So I responded “I see the gentle, humble, easy to please, self – giving unassuming SERVANT heart of my Savior and Lord, and Holy Spirit too.” “Well answered son” came the response. “Now, what would you like me to do for you today”. Like Brennan Manning, with Father’s response, I became as a man undone!! Since then, Father has become Papa to me.
If you have not yet looked at a copy of The Passion Translation, I suggest you buy a copy for yourself and your awesome wife. I guarentee you will find the heart passion of your Papa God for both of you. It will initiate an inner spiritual revolution within each of you……
Wow quite a prayer…weeds are a nuisance aren’t they? You’re right Bryan, they need to be pulled up. What comes to mind is God’s judgement of us, separating the sheep from the goats when we die. Could it be that He gives us weeds to show us what it’s like? The only nice thing about some weeds is they have flowers…just not roses or anything to go in a bouquet!
LOL yes.. I like broad leaf weeds.. they blend in to the lettuce and the carrot tops! ROFL
I’ve heard if you sing to your flowers they’ll grow better and the weeds will become jealous. LOL. You’ve got quite a few songs in your repertoire to make your flowers happy. They’ll be smiling big and “blooming all over”. God’s taking care of the weeds in our lives. I don’t doubt it— everybody sing “a little bit at a time”.
nice add P.C. I don’t sing to my flowers but I do name my plants!
Austedo & Abrismo! I just discovered your podcast thanks to having YT randomly give me your interview on CCM LegacyCAST tonight. I’ve been introducing your music to my girlfriend recently and reminding myself just how much I loved your stuff when I was growing up. I always found it funny that I was a big metal head (and Conservative Baptist at the time) growing up, but I had this big soft spot for other artists I’d hear on KLRD. Oddly enough, my girlfriend back then was a big fan and got me turned onto your stuff and I got her turned onto Ken Tamplin/Magdallan. So needless to say I was stoked to stumble onto that podcast, which even though its already over 2 years old, it was great to hear how you are doing after all this time. My girlfriend now has been re-exploring her faith in Christ and its been fun sharing all of these early sources of inspiration of my own faith and telling her the stories I had behind them. Like when I saw you perform at “This Side Up” youth conference one year in the mid to late 90s.
Love Takes Time is one of my all time favorites and after I shared that song with her, she’s placed it in rotation on our Easy Listening/Love songs list. Sorry this is so long, but in short: thank you for everything you’ve done creatively. I hope God continues to bless you and your family! -Jerome
well this makes my day Jerome to hear from you and reconnect.. I never wanted to do something else until I needed to stay home as a care giver! Nutshells have been cathartic in so many ways even for me and my “Re-exploration” of my own faith! I’m proud to know about your ‘girlfriend now’she has my vote of confidence!
Isn’t it funny how weeds grow everywhere? They grow between the cracks in the sidewalk even…with little yellow towers. No fruit…they grow in all bad conditions…why is it that we have to baby our seeds and care so much for a bloom? Cause ours have fruit? Or seeds? Weeds don’t have either, they just Spring up! It’s hard to kill a sidewalk weed too…can’t find roots under sidewalk. Just cement…you’re the expert on cement and gardening, Bryan. God sure made it hard for us with those weeds!
well weeds are good to discribe how fast kids grow! LOL
Poor Elmer fund. We have ~6000 sq feet of garden. Talk about weeds. Its always an effort “weed” out the bad from the good. That’s a daily process in my life
weeds have stronger roots too by the way.. it’s like crab grass!
Overall some great tid bits….
I kind of wish Adam could have followed that one rule. Enjoyed meeting you in Ohio two weekends ago.
good to see ya on here too Chad… thanks for the endorsements!~
B, I’m in the process of doing a little lawn & garden maintenance myself at this time so this weed talk resonates with me ! I remember as a kid picking weeds out of the different plant beds around the yard it was not exactly my idea of a good time. Once I got into it though, I did get a satisfaction of grabbing hold of a good size weed and pulling it all up from the root ! Other than that, the satisfaction of seeing my labor transform a weeded wilderness into a weedless bed or garden did feel good to me . Today I ain’t much into getting on my knees and pulling them up by hand anymore but I do have something that helps me tremendously. Matter of fact I bring these guys with me to the garden party every time now and It’s Say Hello to my Little Friends – 2 bottles of ” ROUND UP”! I guest the weeds that we see and work to get rid of acts as a reminder and teacher of many lessons. The way they can come up overnight it seems, and you didn’t even plant them. This lends to the thought that maybe our garden may not be thought on only by us and to be diligent in observing and caring for our garden. Who likes to go in a garden and can hardly find the things you planted because the weeds are plentiful and actually stunting the growth of the things you wanted to grow there? Weeding ain’t easy but necessary, whether it’s in the garden in the back yard or in one’s own heart!
guess I’m still used to doin weed pulls like the olden days
I’m weawy bad at sifting through the weeds and coming up with a comment, but I’m always on the back row here, listening and cheering you on….
I have also dipped into the honey you sent.. apple butter is Cassies.. not sure what conserves? are.. do I put it on toast? LOL