Have you ever watched an eagle or a hawk sail on the power of the wind?  That’s a picture we see in Isaiah 40: “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles;they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”  (Isaiah 40)

The original audience for this song were prisoners. The Israelites were slaves.  In Babylon. They were under oppression, in a desperate place. They were required to work incredibly hard every day.  They were not in control of their daily schedule. So, more than even, they had to pray and persevere. They needed rest.

Why would God use the image of a flying eagle in this situation to encourage these prisoners to wait on God and trust him?  Here are some things we can learn from eagles that will help us:

Riding the Wind   

Eagles use horizontal wind currents to glide long distances with minimal effort.  By angling their wings and adjusting their feathers, they can catch the wind and control direction and speed.   They often fly into headwinds to gain lift.  They also fly with tailwinds to travel faster over long distances.

Eagles fly to incredible heights with very little effort because they know how to catch the hot updrafts of air. They know how to sail along above a mountain ridge because the air has hit that mountain and is moving upward.  An eagle can travel an incredible distance with small amount of energy simply by spreading their wings out and riding on the wind. This is just like the empowering of Holy Spirit, who helps us when we don’t know what to pray.  We don’t need to “flap our wings wildly”, just rest in God and tune into the Holy Spirit! Quiet and silence is the way to resting in God.

In the Old Testament, “wind and breath” often is a symbol of spiritual power. The Hebrew word "ruach" can refer to literal wind, or the spiritual realm, including the Spirit of God  Genesis 1:2: “The Spirit of God (Ruach Elohim) was hovering over the waters.” Ezekiel 37: God breathed life into dry bones through His Spirit (Ruach). 

Trust that the Holy Spirit is with you to help you rest as you pray.  Learn to wait and be still, “youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength”.  

Early church fathers and mothers emphasized prayer as resting in God.  St. Gregory of Nyssa (335–395) said:  “To pray is to rest in God who alone gives peace to the soul.” 

Julian of Norwich (1342–1416) said: “Rest in the goodness of God, for all shall be well.” Madame Jeanne Guyon (1648–1717) said: “Prayer, rightly understood, is nothing but the loving presence of God, in which the soul rests.”  Thomas Merton (1915–1968) said: “Prayer is not so much a way to find God as a way of resting in Him… letting Him love you.”

I’m coming up to a big milestone in my life – 50 years of knowing God and being part of the Vineyard church movement.  It all began when I was a 17 year old university student.  I was invited to attend a Vineyard worship service and that was the beginning of a major transformation. 

I was a shy kid who only played my guitar in my bedroom.  A year into this new journey, I was leading worship in a small group, and soon after that, in larger groups.

My life would be strongly shaped by and marked by the Holy Spirit through worship music. More importantly, my reason for living made a major shift. 

I started asking myself and God, “how can I serve him; what should I do with my life, what occupation is God calling me to?”

It was a step-by-step process that eventually became a vocation as a minister, worship leader and song writer.  Over the years I’ve tried to seek God’s kingdom first, taking small steps of obedience.

My wife Linda and I have 8 adult children and 6 grandchildren. Family life has been a huge blessing and also challenging. Being married and having kids has grown me and matured me.  Marriage and parenthood has brought my faults to the surface and I think I’m slowly maturing. 

I’m starting a series of posts on Instagram, Youtube, Facebook and TikTok that are motivated primarily by a desire to share with people in their 20’s and 30’s anything I can that will be helpful in surviving and thriving in young adulthood.  But I think these thoughts will apply to anyone.  I’m committed to being a lifelong learner and helping others do the same.

A life of worship is about so much more than music. Looking back, I see many reasons why survived and thrived in life.  First, the goodness and grace of God, second, I have an amazing wife who is tremendously faithful to me and our children.  Third, I’ve tried to follow Paul’s encouragement to “offer my body as a living sacrifice of worship”.  Which means I’ve tried to develop habits and priorities that honor God and invite his formation in my life.  Fourth, I’ve allowed myself to be shaped by the wisdom and fellowship of friends and mentors.  And I’ve been inspired by reading and listening to authors from every era of church history.  Kenn Gulliksen, the pastor of the first Vineyard church I was part of, taught us to abide in Christ so that we would bear fruit that remains. 

Fifty years into this journey I am just as filled with vision and anticipation for the coming years as I have ever been.  I have enjoyed many powerful breakthrough moments of revelation from God but I know that what has enabled me to keep going is the long obedience in the same direction fueled by daily contact with God.  The last 6 years has been marked by tremendous times of intimate fellowship with God.

Life in the Kingdom of God is about freely giving to others what we have freely received, whether that is showing kindness to my family members or serving the poor in my community or visiting a distant nation to share my time and gifts.

Some of the themes I'll be talking about in this series of three-minute talks are

Daily stoking the fire of your love for God

Trusting God in all situations

Growing with God through times of suffering

Taking steps of faith and risk in your journey with God

Learning to hear from God in all kinds of different ways

Knowing who you really are in Christ and living from that place

Making love for others your highest goal

The theme of my song, “Circle of Love” is much more fully expanded in my book called The Worship Journey: Fully Alive in the Circle of Love.  This article is an excerpt from the introduction to that book.

“In the beginning was…God.”  It is equally true to say, “in the beginning was the relationship between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”  There has never been a time when God was alone.  The very nature of the members of the Triune God is to be pouring out and receiving love.  The beauty of the Gospel is that all of us are invited into that circle of love. 

Picture your kitchen table or dining room table—wherever you eat your daily meals.  This is a safe, familiar place where you enjoy sustenance and fellowship with family or friends.  Picture the Father, Son and Holy Spirit seated there with you.  This is the intimacy that is the wonder of the Gospel.  This is where we speak to our Abba—loving Father.  It’s where we chat with Jesus, who calls us his friends.  It’s where we experience the comfort of the Holy Spirit in moments of anguish, exhaustion and exhilaration.  This Holy Three moves with us wherever we go, whispering encouraging words.

The Flow of God’s Love Among All Circles

One way of illustrating our life intertwined with the Trinity and with all of creation is in three concentric circles.  In the innermost circle, we are in union with the Trinity.   In the second circle are our family, friends and brothers and sisters in Christ, with whom we are joined.  In the outer circle is all of humanity and all of creation.  In each of these circles, there is a flow of divine love and energy. 

The first circle shows our union with the Trinity.  The Triune God enjoys a never-ending flow of communion, conversation, mutual love and service and honor.  This is an eternal circle that pre-existed the creation of the earth and all of us—and we are invited into that circle.

This is exactly what the Bible describes—it’s all about the flow of love!   History shows us that love is the most important element in the universe.  The amazing Good News is that God has included all of us!  No striving necessary to get into God’s inner circle.  You belong right in the center of the table of divine fellowship.  Don’t ever buy into the evil lie that you’re “an outsider.” 

The Father, Son and Spirit didn’t have to create us, but they gladly chose to do so!  Their love overflowed through their desire for relationship with us.  They included us in their circle of perfectly loving relationship.  Darrell Johnson says:  “because the love of the Lover and Beloved cannot be contained, God creates us to be co-lovers with him. That is, God expands the circle to include us mere mortals within the circle of his knowing of himself.”  If you’ve ever been worried about being left out and forgotten, the power of this truth is your answer.

Jesus explains that he and the Father will make their home in us and that we can make our home in them.  This is mutual indwelling—a beautiful mystery that our minds can’t fully grasp yet we can intelligently participate in the flow of that love and energy. 

Second, we share a mystical union with the body of Christ.  Each member of the Trinity is One with the others.  Each believer is one with the Trinity, one with Christ.  Each believer is one with the entire body of Christ: “in Christ we who are many are one body, and each member belongs to one another...” We are members of one another.  We are in spiritual union.  We spend our whole lives learning how to live and walk in this unity.

Third, the love of God is poured out on all of humanity.  He creates every human in his own image.  God shows no discrimination against anyone.  God’s love extends to every ethnicity, every nation, every man, woman and child, regardless of what they may believe.  We partner with God to love every person, good or bad, and every orphan and widow. 

To be fully alive in the circle of love, we step into the flow of his love which goes in every direction.  We receive love from God, which enables us to love ourselves.  We love our neighbors as we love ourselves (Matt 22:39).  Our love is extended to all family and friends and Christian brothers and sisters. 

We all have a unique sphere of influence; sharing God’s love with the world is expressed differently for each one of us.  We don’t originate the love, we step into the flow of God’s eternal, never-ceasing love.  Christ in us (Trinity in us) in a fountain of love that never stops flowing.  We participate in his generosity. 

We experience the maximum flow of God’s love only as we give that love away.  John expresses this truth in his first letter: “…if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us.”(1 John 4:12). The divine flow of love doesn’t find its full expression in us unless we actively love one another.  In Jesus’ story of the Good Samaritan, he sends a clear message:  everyone is our neighbor, whether we like them or not.  Our call is to be love for the ones we meet on our path. 

This article is an excerpt from the book: 

The Worship Journey: Fully Alive in the Circle of Love, by Andy Park

The Worship Journey is available on Amazon.com (and Amazon online stores in several other countries) in two formats:  e-book and paperback.

A few weeks ago, I was in Los Angeles, attending the 50th anniversary of the Westside Vineyard Church in Los Angeles.  Back In 1975, when I was 17 years old, I was invited to vist that church by my new friend, Bill Bower.  The realms of heaven began to open in those first worship times at the Vineyard.  The young crowd of worshipers were immersed in a sea of glory as we sang simple love songs to the Lord. 

God’s kingdom of love was breaking into earth’s realm and into our hearts, minds and emotions.  In those early years I grew and struggled and was showered with epiphanies of God’s love and greatness.  I was entering into adulthood and trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life.

This was the same year I began my university studies.  That was a great experience that expanded my life but by far the biggest transformation in my university years was a spiritual one. 

I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Environmental Studies but when I graduated I knew it wouldn’t be right for me to pursue that line of work.  I went straight into Christian ministry, first as a pastoral intern, then as a staff member in the Langley Vineyard in Canada in 1985.

Where I live in Vancouver, B.C., in the sky there is often a beautiful mix of white and black and grey clouds.  Late in the day, the black and white clouds,  back-lit by the sun, against a blue sky background can be stunning.

For me, that’s a picture of great struggle and great blessing.  Life in this world is full of dark against light, good against evil, victories and defeats.  In the end, it will all take a turn for the good.  A quote from Julian of Norwich comes to mind:  “All things are well, all things shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well.”

I am so grateful to be enjoying the beginning of another summer, grateful for the nearly 5 decades of life with a loving God.

What do you think of when you hear the word “innocence”?  Is it a word you would use to describe yourself?  More likely, that word makes you think of a newborn baby or maybe a little puppy dog.  “How could I possibly be seen as innocent”?  Because we know we’ve stumbled many times, we struggle to grasp the idea that we are declared innocent. 

But through the cross, we are declared innocent by God.  Paul writes:  “And by the blood of his cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again!”[i]  “And in love he chose us before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.”[ii]  When we lose sight of our innocence, we become spiritually blind to our blessings.  We forget that the blood of Jesus continually cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:6).

Because of a historic over-emphasis on “original sin” in Western Christianity, I have found that many believers are more conscious of their imperfections than the innocence and righteousness that God has gifted to us.  There is too much focus on our sin, and not enough realization of all that God has accomplished on our behalf.  I’m not being soft on sin.  I’m saying that a life of “Christ-consciousness” is much better than a life of “sin-consciousness.”  Being Christ-conscious leads me towards walking in righteousness.

Instead of being depressed that you still make mistakes, how about focusing on “original goodness,”[iii] the cross, and Christ, who is your holiness? Don’t worry about what happened with Adam and Eve!  God made you good, and declared you holy, righteous and innocent through his cross! Enjoy God, enjoy life, and enjoy every good gift he gives you.  Don’t mope around depressed because you had an impure thought.  Confess it and move on.

Let’s review who we are in Christ.  We are united with Christ, one spirit with him.  “…whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit” 1 Cor 6:27 (NIV).   Since you are united with Christ, shouldn’t you feel good about yourself?  Paul writes: “God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin[iv]

My new song Home with You highlights the hope of heaven as a way of enduring earthly trials.  Heaven will be our home.  We get a taste of that home right now because Jesus makes his home in us and we make our home in him.[1]  In times of struggle, pain and disappointment, getting a glimpse of heaven really helps me.  The main way I taste heaven is through prayer, meditation, worship and reading. Once in a while I’m super encouraged about the reality of heaven by reading about NDE’s (Near Death Experiences).

 Over the past forty years, much research has been done on NDE’s by many authors.  Many or most of the researchers are non-Christian.  Some of them become Christians just by being exposed to these stories.  There are thousands of accounts of people who encounter some combination of these things: they are overwhelmed by very realistic experiences with Jesus and the incomparable amazing beauty of heaven. Many of them are escorted and encouraged by angels in their NDE.  People from all countries, all ethnicities, and all religious persuasions have NDE’s.  Many people from non-Christian backgrounds encounter Jesus in NDE’s. 

Aside from the obvious things like praying and reading the Bible, I can think of no better way to encourage about the reality of heaven than to share with you these stories!  Here are some amazing quotes from people who have had NDE’s and DBE’s (death bed experiences).

Here is an excerpt from Nancy Rynes’ book Awakenings from the Light: 12 Life Lessons from a Near Death Experience.   Nancy was in a terrible accident—while cycling, she was struck by a distracted driver of a big SUV.   Her body was dragged 50 feet before the driver stopped the car.  She tells about her beautiful and life-changing heavenly experience while in surgery.  As the anesthesiologist administered the drugs for her surgery, her body went into an unconscious state. This is what happened:

“I abruptly found myself standing in a spectacular landscape unlike any I’d ever experienced. Warm breezes drifted across my skin. Beautiful vistas of meadows and distant mountains surrounded me. And a pervasive, loving presence overwhelmed me in its intensity.

“Surrounding me was a landscape of gently rolling hills, flower-filled grassy meadows, towering deciduous trees in full leaf, trees taller and more grand than any here on Earth, and a sense of a light mist floating through as if it were a humid summer morning. The sky gleamed a very light, pearly blue, similar to what you might see at the ocean’s shore, with wispy clouds and a very bright but somewhat diffuse light…

“My surroundings captured most of my attention. Below the surface forms and colors of everything in the landscape, I somehow also saw or sensed vibrating energy. I’m not sure how to describe it. It seemed I could see the surface of a leaf, for example, yet also see below it to an energy, a vibration of love or compassion or kindness that made the leaf take on a subsurface radiance. Everything had this radiance: trees, grass, sky, flowers, and clouds. Colors seemed intensified by this radiance. The feeling of love flowed through everything and heightened this radiance. Through it all I sensed and somehow physically felt an incredibly profound feeling of peace, rightness, goodness, and love flowing through my body. I cried, literally wept, at how beautiful it all was…

In her book, Nancy tells the story of her recovery, her struggles after surgery, and the 12 themes that became her guiding principles for life.

Here are a variety of much shorter quotes taken from the book

NDE of a man dying from pneumonia:

“Jesus was really there. Jesus was there. He was kind, warm, gentle, loving, and he cared about me. He received me. He is REAL. I always believed in Him before...but now I can promise that he is REAL.

NDE of a U.S. Navy Sailor during a near-fatal choking:

“When I spoke with Jesus and felt his love radiating to me I knew once and for all that all I had been taught in Sunday school and church was absolutely true. No doubt now.” –

Anonymous quote:

“When I got to the other end I actually saw Christ! He was smiling and standing with His arms open like He was going to hug me…. His hands still carried the marks of the cross…and there was Christ and he was standing with a very white robe…. And as I got closer and closer I tried to detect everything in order to convince myself that this was indeed Christ waiting on me. And I looked at his hands and there were the scars where the nails had gone through.” 

Six-year-old having her tonsils removed:

“I look up and I say: “Jesus!” and He comes down and grabs my hand…Jesus was magnificent! I felt such serenity and peace!...He said to me: ‘Don’t worry, baby, everything is going to be all right. I’ll always be with you.”

Many people report that these encounters are more real than their day to day existence on earth.  Thank God for the way he sends signs of the glory of heaven to all of humanity!

The song “Mystery of Christ” is about our union with God, who is Love.  Jesus said: “Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God…” (Luke 8:10a KJV). The union of the Trinity is a mystery, and so is every believer’s union with Christ.  “God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery [the Greek word mysterion], which is Christ in you, the hope of glory”[i].  The mystery of the ages is living inside us, his Spirit co-mingling with ours. The real, eternal part of you is your spirit.  Your spirit is joined to the Holy Spirit.  To the Corinthians, Paul writes: “But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with him in spirit.”[ii]  In this verse, the Greek verb kallaó means “to unite, to knit or weld together,” “to mingle,” or “to join together,” and “to make two into one.”

Paul writes to the church in Colossae:  “There is a divine mystery—a secret surprise that has been concealed from the world for generations, but now it’s being revealed, unfolded and manifested for every holy believer to experience. Living within you is the Christ who floods you with the expectation of glory!” Col. 1:26-27 TPT.

“For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”  Col. 3:3

Many of us have read this so many times that we pass over it quickly.  We might think we really know it when we really have only begun to scratch the surface of its full meaning.  “Your real life is hidden with Christ in God.”  The real you is hidden—you have to dig deep to understand the full wonderful truth about who you are. 

God wants to carry us by the wind of Ruach, the Holy Spirit, into an experience of heavenly realities.  Paul wrote: “…feast on all the treasures of the heavenly realm and fill your thoughts with heavenly realities.” (Col. 3:2)   If it’s a feast, then it sounds real and delicious and experiential.  And it sounds like I can consume a lot of it, just like at a feast of good food among friends!

Jesus spread this message: “The kingdom of heaven is near you.” He told his disciples:  “And as you go, preach this message: ‘Heaven’s kingdom realm is accessible, close enough to touch.’” Matthew 10:7 TPT

Heaven is inside of us and all around us.  The Father and Jesus are one; together they make their home in us (John 14).  In a sense, we never have to reach for God, because Trinity dwells in us.  If Trinity lives in us, that’s like heaven living in us.

Paul said it like this:  “God…made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ.” Eph 2:5,6

He didn’t say someday you will be in heaven.  He locates us in heaven now.  So, you could say that we are multi-dimensional beings.  We are on earth and in heaven at the same time. Sounds like the kind of life Jesus lived.  And he wants us to have access to all the of heaven’s blessings now.  This is what Paul prays for all his churches to experience.  He doesn’t just pray for them to intellectually know they are near Christ. He prays for them to experience this reality.

This past tense accomplishment of our location in heaven is echoed by the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering…” Heb 12:22

How does his work out practically?  It makes prayer a different experience.  Awareness of our oneness with Christ changes the way we see ourselves.  If we are one with him, we don’t need to get closer to him.  He is part of us.  A good prayer is: “unveil heaven in us” or  “Open our eyes to see that we are seated with you.”  Or, “thank you for joining us to yourself and pouring on us all the blessings of heaven.”

Knowing God is mysterious and therefore is in some ways a paradoxical experience.  I don’t fault anyone for wanting to feel closer to God.  I want to feel close to him all the time.  But I’ve found in recent years that it makes a big difference to see myself as already joined to him.  It makes a big difference to locate myself in heaven.  It leads to a deeper experience of God if I agree with what he says about me and my permanent connection to him.

It’s one of those spiritual principles that works like this:  “believe it and then you can receive it.”  If you don’t believe what God says about who you and and where you are, you won’t receive all the good stuff he has for you.  No striving is necessary, just a calm affirmation of truth.  “Thank you, Lord that I am with you in heaven now.  I turn to you now to hear from you and be with you.”

Recently I was interviewed by David Welker, a long-time Vineyard pastor in Ohio, USA.  (You can access this video on this right side of this website page).  David asked me some questions about my history in the Anaheim Vineyard and in the whole Vineyard movement.       Looking back on my life always brings up a lot of gratitude and amazement for all the good times.  It reminds me that everything in life is a gift—even the things we work hard to accomplish.  As Jesus said, “apart from me you can do nothing.”

In this interview we talk about all kinds of things, including how God inspires us to write songs, and a few specific stories of the magic (Holy Spirit) of song-gifts.  We discussed how God enables us to work with one another even though we are all imperfect human beings.  It’s essential that our faith is in God, not in one another.  Our of our trust in God, we are faithful to love and forgive one another.

Also in the past month, I spent a weekend at the Mountain Vineyard in Washington State.  My long-time friend JimmyJohn Morris is the pastor there.  We reminisced about stories from the early 90’s—the great expectation we had to meet with God when we gathered at worship conferences. Tony, a lifer at the Mountain Vineyard (and a really good drummer in the worship band) reminded me that it was 1988 when I first visited that church.  A mere 35 years ago!

After all these years, I am looking forward to whatever is coming next.  I believe God is going to bring as season of awe and wonder to the worldwide church in the years to come.  Bring it on, Lord! 

Jesus showed us what love really is.  Washing one another’s feet, and even laying down your life for your friend. Jesus taught his band of disciples from diverse backgrounds to love one another despite their predisposed prejudice.

He told the story of the “Samaritan hero” – two words that would never be used together in the language of a 1^st century Jew.  This hero rescued a half-dead Jewish man and paid his medical expenses, even though his culture taught him to reject all Jews.  Jesus taught us to love our enemies.

These days, there might be more conflict than ever, between every imaginable sector of society.  We are divided because of religion, nationality, race, views on politics, gender, and a thousand other things.

I’ve noticed that every one of us “likes it like we like it.”  We have very strong views on the right way to do things.  And sometimes we are not willing to give an inch to someone with a different view. We know we’re right.

Paul encourages us: “So I’m asking you, my friends, that you be joined together in perfect unity—with one heart, one passion, and united in one love. Walk together with one harmonious purpose and you will fill my heart with unbounded joy.  Be free from pride-filled opinions, for they will only harm your cherished unity. Don’t allow self-promotion to hide in your hearts, but in authentic humility put others first and view others as more important than yourselves.”

Wow.  Seeing others as more important than ourselves? If God is asking us to do that, it must be possible. 

Jesus prayed for us to live in the same kind of unity we see between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  Living that way will convince people that the Father really did send Jesus to be the Savior of the world.

“I pray for them all to be joined together as one even as you and I, Father, are joined together as one. I pray for them to become one with us so that the world will recognize that you sent me.”