Stanton Lanier / Sky Whisper Sound, LLC

Scripture inspired piano to refresh your spirit

Seizing Your Divine Moment

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These are my notes from 2004 that I kept from Seizing Your Divine Moment (retitled Chasing Daylight) by Erwin McManus. They had a powerful impact in my life then, and they still do now. I hope these thoughts and questions inspire your journey today…

When we play it safe, we squeeze God out of the formula.  If we go only where we know and do what we’re certain will succeed, we remove our need for God.  Whenever we take on a God-sized challenge, self-sufficiency is no longer an option.

This is the challenge that is set before us – that we not only take initiative, that we not only move with confidence into the reality of uncertainty, but also that we maximize our sphere of influence as we grow in depth of character.

The Christian cliché “the safest place to be is the center of God’s will” has eliminated the place for risk and insulated us with a comfort-and-security theology. This view runs counter to what is found in the Scriptures. The center of God’s will is not a safe place, but the most dangerous place in the world. God fears nothing and no one.  God moves with intentionality and power. To live outside God’s will puts us in danger, but to live in His will makes us dangerous. When we begin to seize our divine moments, we do not begin to live risk-free, but instead become free to risk.

You have already been authorized to move forward, so advance (Phil. 3:12-14).  Impact your world by fighting the battles that are on God’s heart.  Move with an urgency that creates a movement. Engage in an adventure so compelling that it causes the awakening of the dead in spirit. In this moment, each of us will have to choose. Will you seize your divine moment or let it slip away? Will you choose to go to the left, or will you go to the right?

Vote for Abnormality

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Inspiring words from Chasing Daylight (originally titled Seizing Your Divine Moment), by Erwin McManus. What is one area you can focus on taking more initiative?

I must resolve not only to leave the path of doing evil, but also to passionately pursue a life of doing good.  Maybe there is a touch of insanity to think that you or I could really make a difference, knowing who we are, that we could somehow change the course of human history.  If it’s normal to wake up in the morning and just try to make it through the day, then I vote for abnormality.  I choose insanity.  Wake up tomorrow morning asking the dangerous question, “What can I do today to make a difference in the world?”

What Will I Choose?

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A few thoughts about the choices we make each day, from Chasing Daylight by Erwin McManus. These words crossed my path in the early 2000s when I was a financial planner, and my heart was being stirred to compose new music. They are just as special and profound in my life today…

In my moment of truth what will I choose?  Will I choose the wilderness or the adventure?  Have I confused the blessing of God with wealth, comfort, and security?  Have I considered that His greatest blessing comes when He calls us to be pioneers, explorers, and even conquerors?  Will I dare to live a life of adventure?  When I do, I will live in the epicenter of God’s activity.

Adventures Unlimited – Part 2

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Over the years I have grown in embracing life as an adventure. I grew up loving basketball and piano, but was also good at math, science and numbers, so my approach to life was overly practical for a long time. Yesterday’s blog, “Adventures Unlimited – Part 1,” spoke to adventure sometimes being embarrassing, noisy or crowded.

Working at Adventures Unlimited also included moments of silence and solitude (by the way http://www.adventuresunlimited.com is still operating today in the Florida panhandle. It is a fantastic escape from life’s hectic pace). My favorite job at Adventures was called “the top.” Whoever worked “the top” would get dropped off around 7am on a weekend morning. A sunrise caravan of vehicles would leave at least 100 canoes to be unloaded by one guy for the most popular “day trip.”

I began to learn the importance of including times of solitude in my life as I would work to unload all the canoes, then rest in the river listening to the breeze, the birds and the flowing water. Solitude plays a vital role in pausing to listen for God’s voice in my life and in the creative process. Remembering Adventures Unlimited reminds me that life’s adventures can involve hard work and activity, as well as times of rest and solitude.

How about you? Are you nurturing the “adventure” part of your heart? Are you overly “practical” when you have opportunities to embrace adventure?

Adventures Unlimited – Part 1

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My first real job in high school was at a canoe rental called Adventures Unlimited.  It was the summer of 1981 after my junior year.  Somehow I didn’t end up bagging groceries, waiting tables, or flipping burgers at a fast food restaurant.  I had my new driver’s license and I was going to drive old trucks and vans full of people going canoeing or tubing on the Coldwater River near Milton, Florida.

Canoeing down the Coldwater River with my son’s Boy Scout troop brought back wonderful summer job memories.

One of the first things I learned was that there are a lot of vehicles in the world that do not have an automatic transmission.  My boss was assigning vehicles for one Saturday and asked, “Who wants to drive the bread truck?”  Picture a UPS truck, make it about forty years old, retrieve it out of a river with a crane, beat dents into it with a baseball bat, spray paint it sky blue, and feel the tremor of an old engine with a three foot long stick shift and you will have some idea of the bread truck.  As you may have guessed, I volunteered to drive it for that day.  So, I went over, put the keys in and cranked it up.  It started rocking like a giant amusement park ride.  I didn’t know I was supposed to hold down that third pedal (the clutch) with my left foot and at the same time turn the key and give it gas with my right foot.  You should have seen the guys laughing.  I thought I was going to show them I could do anything.  I ended up discovering I had a lot to learn.

After driving every van and truck that summer, including the bread truck, the next summer I graduated to the old school buses.  Driving a 1960 five-speed school bus is good training for life.  Especially when it has forty people on it with paddles, life jackets, coolers, beer, cigarettes, and occasionally some kind of cigarette that didn’t smell like a regular cigarette.  I was growing in responsibility, confidence, and the realization that the world is made up of all kinds of people, including some that really like to party. To be continued…

What was your favorite summer job growing up? Did you have an embarrassing moment? Did these experiences influence your spiritual journey?

Solitude Refreshes

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You will often see themes of simplicity, silence, solitude and surrender interwoven in my music and life stories. Solitude makes me think of the saying about how the quality of our private life produces the quality of our public life. Solitude refreshes, renews and revives. A few memories of solitude and current practices of solitude for me are:

  • Sitting all alone at the top of my favorite tree when I was ten years old
  • Going on a childhood bicycle ride to a friend’s house
  • Working at a canoe rental and being outdoors in the river all alone
  • Driving or camping all alone in open spaces, like northern Minnesota in grad school
  • Going for a run and listening to peaceful music
  • Waking up early for quiet time while most of the world is still sleeping

What are your favorite memories of solitude? What are your favorite practices of solitude?

Striving or Abiding?

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I met with a great friend this morning. We were talking about the many areas in our lives where we are striving and wanting to succeed – spiritual, family, work, relationships, etc. Striving involves hard work and faith. Resting involves hard work and faith too. I was reminded about a time several years ago when I shifted my focus from “Striving to Succeed” to “Abiding to Receive.” This is a delicate balance, but it helps me remember that God’s definition of success is different than mine, other people’s, and the world’s. Instead of striving in my own strength, by abiding in God’s strength my perspective shifts off of depending on myself to depending on Him. The results of hard work can be the same whether I “strive” or “abide,” but there is a healthy dynamic when I am grateful for receiving results versus celebrating achieving results. Striving is a great word and attribute, so if you still like this word, maybe you can add “striving to abide” to your mindset. Check out John 15:5 if this subject stirs you.

Where are you striving or abiding? Where are you achieving or receiving?

Beautiful vistas = reminders of receiving vs achieving

Outside of Time

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I wrote the words below after composing Alleluias Dancing as the final melody for the A Thousand Years album, recorded in April 2011. As I look back on this, it was a powerful symbol of how “a thousand years are like a day, or a watch in the night to God.” Sometimes a whole day’s work can seem like it gets done in a few hours. This song was like that. Every day is different, but keep creating and keep pursuing your gifts with a heart to love others.

The hymn “All Creatures of Our God and King” was written by Francis of Assisi in 1225. The music first appeared in a Roman Catholic hymnal in Cologne, Germany in 1623. Beginning yesterday evening through this morning and this afternoon, an arrangement of this verse and chorus was inspired that begins in quiet worship and builds to a joy filled dance. It was hard work at times getting all the touches completed in recording the piano, but in the end it was well worth the afternoon hours in the studio. The last minute of the song will symbolize a wedding feast with friends and loved ones in heaven, as vocals, English horn and guitar join the dancing piano. Another amazing day all in all, and such a great feeling to realize that 12 new piano pieces have been created and recorded that will soon offer peace, rest, hope and healing to listeners around the world.

Where do you need this attribute of God, how He is “outside of time,” in your life right now?

Simplicity = Peace & Rest

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The idea of living a simpler life came to me in the mid 1990s through an excellent (and very small) book titled Intimacy with the Almighty, by Charles Swindoll. His reflections were founded on Ecclesiastes 7:29 that says, “God has made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.” Here are a few more thoughts on simplicity that have interwoven their way into my thinking:

  • Each day has enough trouble of its own. Focus on getting a few things done well.
  • Take time to pause. Take in your surroundings. Take time to listen to and serve others.
  • Take periodic vacations. Working hard requires faith. Taking a break requires faith.
  • Seek out memories to cherish more than stuff to accumulate.
  • If you’re a spender, stretch by saving a little. If a saver, stretch by spending a little.
  • Grow in generosity. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
  • Proverbs 13:7 – A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life.

Has this given you any ideas on how you can live a simpler life?

Achieving or Receiving?

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I have found that “peace and rest in a hurried world” is more received than achieved. Here are a few ways I am growing in receiving peace and rest:

  • Early morning quiet time and solitude
  • A good night’s rest and some swimming, running and stretching a few times per week
  • Making daily progress little by little, rather than striving too hard
  • Living in the moment, treasuring relationships and shared memories
  • Having a mindset to more of a creator than a consumer
  • Thinking of life as an epic story, an adventure to live, a beautiful film in living color

This was a great exercise for me, and more thoughts will probably follow. How about you? What things are helping you receive “peace and rest” today?

Nature’s simplicity and wonder inspires peace and rest.