Meet Me On Belmont

It has happened again, but did it ever stop?

Back on the road again.

This month is a mix of celebrating friendship, learning a new ministry trade, and developing partnerships for what God is doing in Germany. And those tasks are going to require a month of almost equally split days in the four different time zones of the contiguous United States. And that means that I need to pick up my backpack and get back to the nomadic lifestyle.

Walking the earth in solitude provides ample opportunity for reflection. You discover the joys of unexpected hospitality as well as the horrors you carry in your own soul. The beauty of a gift of friendship is resplendent with an other-worldly glory when it is seen in the midst of the nomadic life. Nine hours in a car by oneself will have a similar revelatory power, one that results in a return to humility and much needed repentance.

These relationships, with others and with self, are put to a test of purity in the traveling lifestyle. But there is yet One more who is seen differently in the throws of a sojourner’s displacement. There becomes a beautiful revelation that occurs as one experiences God in a multiplicity of locale.

You see, He’s not bound to one place… and yet, the context of a specific environment comes into the nuances of how one experiences our God. The way that He is still incarnating Himself around the country and around the world displays a complexity to the person and character of God that is mesmerizing.

God is not a Starbucks God. Though there is a constancy to who He is, You will not find a repeat of the exact same product in every location. It seems that God is much more like a local coffee shop, displaying unique character of a certain community in ways that make you smile in wonder. This Master of Creation is not finished in His work. He’s moving through His body and through His Spirit in the world around us.

And sometimes that means some beautiful prayer with a group of older folks in a suburban church… and sometimes that means some beautiful prayer with a 26 year old friend outside an Alameda brewery.

And sometimes that means that Jesus meets you with the addicts and homeless who are chilling outside the coffee shop that I write in today, Stumptown Coffee on Belmont in Portland, Oregon.

But will I be open enough to listen to how He is presenting Himself to me today? Will I see Jesus as He is over how I want Him to be? I don’t know if I have strength enough to see correctly, but I sure can pray.

And so, this morning I pray, would You meet me on Belmont?

Still Wandering,

Tony Cole

One Response to “Meet Me On Belmont”

  1. Bre Soucie

    You constantly amaze me Tony Cole. How blessed I am to see what God is doing in your life. Such great thoughts and truth here. Thank you for bringing us along on the journey God has you on!

    Reply

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