Well, Jack is back. Bauer that is.
Back to save the world.
I think that maybe he should write an autobiography - after all, he has saved the world seven times from disaster on the television show, 24.
Reluctantly, he jumps back into the fray this season.
Here's what I know:
Jack cares about people. He is willing to risk his life and put it continually on the line so that others might live.
Jack is "Teflon coated" when it comes to running away from the bad guys (killing two men in the process) nearly getting blown up from a missile and beaten up when a cop mistakes him for a killer. And yet he goes on - none the worse for wear.
Still - it's a great show.
The one thing I like about Jack Bauer is that he is persistent. He keeps on going until the job is done. Nothing can hold him back.
He will do "whatever is necessary" to finish his assignment.
That's a great attitude that I would suggest we all need to have.
I seriously doubt if anyone reading this blog is going to go through what Jack has already gone through in the first four hours of this year's series.
Yet we are all called upon to be persistent at something.
What is God calling you to finish - no matter what the cost?
For some, it might be a marriage that in the natural is on its last legs. It seems to be on life support - but you know that God is calling you to stay committed.
For others, it might be a job that you "hate" and want to get out of as fast as possible. But there are one or two people there that have listened, I mean really listened when you have shared your faith with them - and if you leave, there will be no one there to connect them with Christ.
For others still, it might be a ministry at the church. It seems like you are spinning your wheels, that no one is growing in God or coming to Christ. Yet, there is seemingly no one else to take your place.
- you are just about ready to give up praying for someone you love to come to Christ. Keep on praying.
- you are just about ready to give up on one of your children (or one of your parents) - they've done too much and you're not wanting to keep the relationship - try one more time.
- you are just about ready to throw in the towel in your attempt to lose weight - go to the gym one more time.
Here's what I know: that God is just as interested in seeing you grow in Him as he is in changing your situation.
God cares about whether you finish the task or not. But more importantly, he cares about you - and being persistent and finishing the role, job, task, ministry that he has given you is part of his working in your life.
I encourage us all to - be persistent!
Not all of us will face situations like Jack Bauer. But there are lots of stories out there happening on a day to day basis that show us that there are people that continue to be persistent - and achieving their goals.
Here's one:
"When Sumner Spence expressed his desire to attend college, many people scoffed because he suffers from cerebral palsy. Sumner can't read books because his eyes won't focus. He can't hold onto things very well because his hands clench uncontrollably. Taking notes in a classroom would be out of the question. Anyone who knew Sumner would have thought it perfectly understandable if he had never set a goal beyond learning how to operate his wheelchair. But that wasn't good enough for Sumner. And it certainly wasn't good enough for his mother, Susan Spence.
Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, Sumner Spence enrolled at the University of Delaware. His mother attended all his classes, faithfully taking his notes for him. Each evening she would enter the lecture notes into a special computer program whose digital voice read the notes back to Sumner as he studied. Over the course of 2½ years, Susan Spence scanned more than 5,000 pages of textbook material and edited the scanned text for accuracy so Sumner could effectively study.
One particular class assignment called for Sumner's mother to go the extra mile. The students were asked to read Liam Callanan's first novel The Cloud Atlas. The famous author was going to be a special guest lecturer on the campus. Sumner's mom was not aware an electronic version of the novel existed, so she re-typed the entire book into their home computer.
When the class hosted an informal lunch to chat about Callanan's book, Sumner offered a number of insightful observations and questions. Later that evening, Callanan received a phone call from the professor of the class.
Sumner's mom had just spoken with the professor, tearfully telling her how before that meal Sumner had never eaten in public with anyone other than a family member. He was always afraid he would repulse people who didn't understand. Since he loved reading, though, he wanted to talk about books, and the lunch that day had given him the opportunity.
On the evening of May 24, 2007, Susan Spence took a seat in the back of the auditorium, and she watched as Sumner wheeled himself across the platform to receive his Associate of Arts degree. After addressing his fellow graduates at the commencement ceremony, more than 300 students and family members in attendance erupted in a standing ovation for this determined boy and his loyal mother."
Great stuff...don't give up...keep going....
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
A culture of discontent
It seems like lately I have been interacting with a lot of discontented people.
And...to be candid...there is a lot out there to be discontented about.
Living in the worst economic times since the Great Depression would discourage anyone, especially those who have experienced the loss of their jobs or homes. My heart and my compassion goes out to them.
The negativity and bad news that we all receive on a daily basis is relentless.
There is much to be discontented about.
That can apply, and many times especially applies, to God's people.
It's tough to remain positive in a negative culture. It's tough to remain content in a discontented culture.
Discontentment and her children - ingratitude, complaining, and grumbling - are serous temptations for us in the Kingdom of God.
Oh, we might not directly let it come out of our mouths, but it does come, in all kinds of subtle ways.
Do any of these statements reflect you?
"I regularly wish I had a different job."
"I possess a bad attitude when I'm at work."
"I am consistently disappointed in my relationships, whether they are with my spouse, my parents, my friends, my kids, or my church."
"People don't meet my emotional needs."
"My church doesn't meet my needs."
"I'm pretty resentful about that."
"I deal with disappointments and discontent in my life by doing one of the following:
- watching a lot of TV
- going shopping more than is healthy
- viewing pornography on the Internet
-drinking alcohol and doing drugs."
"I am losing a sense of hope about life and becoming more cynical as I grow older."
"I get really ticked off at the good things and circumstances people around me seem to have and enjoy."
Do any of these statements fit your life?
Author John Cheever writes that the main emotion that the average American feels is disappointment.
Ashton Kutcher, when asked what he missed about growing up and living in the Midwest (Iowa) said, "I miss being around people that don't complain. I'm in the drama business, and there are a lot of dramatic people that seem to be not very happy with where they are."
I'm not really wanting to give you pat answers or cliches at this point.
But maybe, just maybe, the answer to our discontentment is not finding solutions or answers or having our "if only's" met - but God himself.
Psalm 37:4 says: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
The Psalmist doesn't say the Lord will give you whatever you want. He says he will create in your heart desires that are appropriate. When you delight yourself in God, you're going to discover that the things you use to long aren't a distraction anymore.
In his book The Pressure's Off, psychologist Larry Crabb uses a story from his childhood to illustrate our need to delight in God through adversity:
"One Saturday afternoon, I decided I was a big boy and could use the bathroom without anyone's help. So I climbed the stairs, closed and locked the door behind me, and for the next few minutes felt very self-sufficient.
Then it was time to leave. I couldn't unlock the door. I tried with every ounce of my three-year-old strength, but I couldn't do it. I panicked. I felt again like a very little boy as the thought went through my head, "I might spend the rest of my life in this bathroom."
My parents—and likely the neighbors—heard my desperate scream.
"Are you okay?" Mother shouted through the door she couldn't open from the outside. "Did you fall? Have you hit your head?"
"I can't unlock the door!" I yelled. "Get me out of here!"
I wasn't aware of it right then, but Dad raced down the stairs, ran to the garage to find the ladder, hauled it off the hooks, and leaned it against the side of the house just beneath the bedroom window. With adult strength, he pried it open, then climbed into my prison, walked past me, and with that same strength, turned the lock and opened the door.
"Thanks, Dad," I said—and ran out to play.
That's how I thought the Christian life was supposed to work. When I get stuck in a tight place, I should do all I can to free myself. When I can't, I should pray. Then God shows up. He hears my cry—"Get me out of here! I want to play!"—and unlocks the door to the blessings I desire.
Sometimes he does. But now, no longer three years old and approaching sixty, I'm realizing the Christian life doesn't work that way. And I wonder, are any of us content with God? Do we even like him when he doesn't open the door we most want opened—when a marriage doesn't heal, when rebellious kids still rebel, when friends betray, when financial reverses threaten our comfortable way of life, when the prospect of terrorism looms, when health worsens despite much prayer, when loneliness intensifies and depression deepens, when ministries die?
God has climbed through the small window into my dark room. But he doesn't walk by me to turn the lock that I couldn't budge. Instead, he sits down on the bathroom floor and says, "Come sit with me!" He seems to think that climbing into the room to be with me matters more than letting me out to play.
I don't always see it that way. "Get me out of here!" I scream. "If you love me, unlock the door!"
Larry Crabb writes, "Dear friend, the choice is ours. Either we can keep asking him to give us what we think will make us happy—to escape our dark room and run to the playground of blessings—or we can accept his invitation to sit with him, for now, perhaps, in darkness, and to seize the opportunity to know him better and represent him well in this difficult world."
Good stuff for a Wednesday.
And...to be candid...there is a lot out there to be discontented about.
Living in the worst economic times since the Great Depression would discourage anyone, especially those who have experienced the loss of their jobs or homes. My heart and my compassion goes out to them.
The negativity and bad news that we all receive on a daily basis is relentless.
There is much to be discontented about.
That can apply, and many times especially applies, to God's people.
It's tough to remain positive in a negative culture. It's tough to remain content in a discontented culture.
Discontentment and her children - ingratitude, complaining, and grumbling - are serous temptations for us in the Kingdom of God.
Oh, we might not directly let it come out of our mouths, but it does come, in all kinds of subtle ways.
Do any of these statements reflect you?
"I regularly wish I had a different job."
"I possess a bad attitude when I'm at work."
"I am consistently disappointed in my relationships, whether they are with my spouse, my parents, my friends, my kids, or my church."
"People don't meet my emotional needs."
"My church doesn't meet my needs."
"I'm pretty resentful about that."
"I deal with disappointments and discontent in my life by doing one of the following:
- watching a lot of TV
- going shopping more than is healthy
- viewing pornography on the Internet
-drinking alcohol and doing drugs."
"I am losing a sense of hope about life and becoming more cynical as I grow older."
"I get really ticked off at the good things and circumstances people around me seem to have and enjoy."
Do any of these statements fit your life?
Author John Cheever writes that the main emotion that the average American feels is disappointment.
Ashton Kutcher, when asked what he missed about growing up and living in the Midwest (Iowa) said, "I miss being around people that don't complain. I'm in the drama business, and there are a lot of dramatic people that seem to be not very happy with where they are."
I'm not really wanting to give you pat answers or cliches at this point.
But maybe, just maybe, the answer to our discontentment is not finding solutions or answers or having our "if only's" met - but God himself.
Psalm 37:4 says: "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart."
The Psalmist doesn't say the Lord will give you whatever you want. He says he will create in your heart desires that are appropriate. When you delight yourself in God, you're going to discover that the things you use to long aren't a distraction anymore.
In his book The Pressure's Off, psychologist Larry Crabb uses a story from his childhood to illustrate our need to delight in God through adversity:
"One Saturday afternoon, I decided I was a big boy and could use the bathroom without anyone's help. So I climbed the stairs, closed and locked the door behind me, and for the next few minutes felt very self-sufficient.
Then it was time to leave. I couldn't unlock the door. I tried with every ounce of my three-year-old strength, but I couldn't do it. I panicked. I felt again like a very little boy as the thought went through my head, "I might spend the rest of my life in this bathroom."
My parents—and likely the neighbors—heard my desperate scream.
"Are you okay?" Mother shouted through the door she couldn't open from the outside. "Did you fall? Have you hit your head?"
"I can't unlock the door!" I yelled. "Get me out of here!"
I wasn't aware of it right then, but Dad raced down the stairs, ran to the garage to find the ladder, hauled it off the hooks, and leaned it against the side of the house just beneath the bedroom window. With adult strength, he pried it open, then climbed into my prison, walked past me, and with that same strength, turned the lock and opened the door.
"Thanks, Dad," I said—and ran out to play.
That's how I thought the Christian life was supposed to work. When I get stuck in a tight place, I should do all I can to free myself. When I can't, I should pray. Then God shows up. He hears my cry—"Get me out of here! I want to play!"—and unlocks the door to the blessings I desire.
Sometimes he does. But now, no longer three years old and approaching sixty, I'm realizing the Christian life doesn't work that way. And I wonder, are any of us content with God? Do we even like him when he doesn't open the door we most want opened—when a marriage doesn't heal, when rebellious kids still rebel, when friends betray, when financial reverses threaten our comfortable way of life, when the prospect of terrorism looms, when health worsens despite much prayer, when loneliness intensifies and depression deepens, when ministries die?
God has climbed through the small window into my dark room. But he doesn't walk by me to turn the lock that I couldn't budge. Instead, he sits down on the bathroom floor and says, "Come sit with me!" He seems to think that climbing into the room to be with me matters more than letting me out to play.
I don't always see it that way. "Get me out of here!" I scream. "If you love me, unlock the door!"
Larry Crabb writes, "Dear friend, the choice is ours. Either we can keep asking him to give us what we think will make us happy—to escape our dark room and run to the playground of blessings—or we can accept his invitation to sit with him, for now, perhaps, in darkness, and to seize the opportunity to know him better and represent him well in this difficult world."
Good stuff for a Wednesday.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Faith or fear?
At our deacon meeting last night, I brought up "worst case" scenarios concerning our relocation project and our church.
In other words, I tried to "predict" some of the challenges that we might face in the future.
It's all part of being "good stewards" as leaders of our church family.
Yet, to a man, we all agreed that faith and the leadership of the Holy Spirit will overcome any challenges that we are going to face.
To a man, we believe in God.
To a man, we believe that God is going to see us through.
I would suggest to you that the difference between a church that fulfills God's calling is often the difference between faith and fear. It is the line between stepping out and holding back.
It is the line between control and empowerment. It is the line between taking action and thinking about it.
When fear gets into a system, it clogs up the works. Decisions come more slowly. Risks get managed. Everyone becomes cautious, calculating, and conservative. Instead of living tiptoe on the edge of expectation, people become hesitant.
Eventually we try to protect ourselves, and our passion is gradually restrained, starved, and weakened. We begin to feel less alive as a result.
In my opinion, the most fundamental issue holding back the any church is, “Are we truly willing to live by faith and risk it all?”
The only power on earth stronger than fear is faith.
We have to believe that God is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he’ll do. We cannot believe our eyes. Faith is the substance of things not seen.
Faith calls us to go and not to take much in the way of supplies. Faith calls us to put our lives at risk.
A man falls off a cliff but miraculously catches a branch on the way down. He begins yelling, “Is anyone up there?”
An answer comes back. “Yes.”
“Who are you?”
“I am God, and I am going to save you.”
“Wonderful. What should I do?”
“Let go of the branch.”
After a long pause, the man yells, “Is anyone else up there?”
Warren Bennis wrote a book, entitled "Organizing Genius", in which he looked at leaders who turned around impossible situations. They shared some common traits.
They had high energy. But they also had an almost delusional confidence. They had no success to protect. Their lack of experience was an asset. They did not know what was supposed to be impossible. They had a completely unrealistic view of what could be accomplished.
Spiritually, we need this. If age, experience, cynicism, and success have robbed us of our pioneering spirit, then we need to return to a vibrant, young faith.
The Bible says we can’t please God without it. It is also impossible to achieve our goals without it.
We desire to be led by the Holy Spirit. As we are lead by the Holy Spirit, the Lord will bring opportunities for which we cannot plan.
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:4,9, “The Lord works out everything for his own ends…In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”.
Our approach to planning at Stone Church is less like a cannonball fired at a fortress and more like a heat-seeking missile tracking a moving target. When the pillar of cloud and fire moves, we’ll move with it. We are continually looking for the genius of the Holy Spirit as we chart our course.
Isn't it true that when our plans – no matter how big – are always too small for God?
In this relocation process, we are attempting something so big that it is doomed to failure unless God is in it.
The question we want to ask is not, “Can we afford to do it?” but, “Is it a great thing for God?” We want to let go of the arrogance of knowing and move toward wonder and reverence. We want to move from the black-and-white zone of control toward the gray zone of greater openness.
A lot of planning in churches pushes the present into the future. The better and biblical approach to the future involves prayer and preparation, not prediction.
Long-range planning can be an attempt to turn life into a predictable science. Sometimes complicated plans can be a subconscious attempt to avoid doing, to avoid growing, to avoid faith.
At our church, we live with an emotional paradox. On one hand, we revel in the joys of accidental discovery. On the other hand, being human, we don’t want to feel out of control. Yet real control is the ability to respond automatically to altered and unpredictable circumstances.
As Scripture instructs us in Galatians 5:25, "we want to “keep in step with the Spirit”. Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind – it blows unpredictably. It is critical that we continue to ask, “Where is God at work, and how can we join him in that?”
In other words, I tried to "predict" some of the challenges that we might face in the future.
It's all part of being "good stewards" as leaders of our church family.
Yet, to a man, we all agreed that faith and the leadership of the Holy Spirit will overcome any challenges that we are going to face.
To a man, we believe in God.
To a man, we believe that God is going to see us through.
I would suggest to you that the difference between a church that fulfills God's calling is often the difference between faith and fear. It is the line between stepping out and holding back.
It is the line between control and empowerment. It is the line between taking action and thinking about it.
When fear gets into a system, it clogs up the works. Decisions come more slowly. Risks get managed. Everyone becomes cautious, calculating, and conservative. Instead of living tiptoe on the edge of expectation, people become hesitant.
Eventually we try to protect ourselves, and our passion is gradually restrained, starved, and weakened. We begin to feel less alive as a result.
In my opinion, the most fundamental issue holding back the any church is, “Are we truly willing to live by faith and risk it all?”
The only power on earth stronger than fear is faith.
We have to believe that God is who he says he is and that he will do what he says he’ll do. We cannot believe our eyes. Faith is the substance of things not seen.
Faith calls us to go and not to take much in the way of supplies. Faith calls us to put our lives at risk.
A man falls off a cliff but miraculously catches a branch on the way down. He begins yelling, “Is anyone up there?”
An answer comes back. “Yes.”
“Who are you?”
“I am God, and I am going to save you.”
“Wonderful. What should I do?”
“Let go of the branch.”
After a long pause, the man yells, “Is anyone else up there?”
Warren Bennis wrote a book, entitled "Organizing Genius", in which he looked at leaders who turned around impossible situations. They shared some common traits.
They had high energy. But they also had an almost delusional confidence. They had no success to protect. Their lack of experience was an asset. They did not know what was supposed to be impossible. They had a completely unrealistic view of what could be accomplished.
Spiritually, we need this. If age, experience, cynicism, and success have robbed us of our pioneering spirit, then we need to return to a vibrant, young faith.
The Bible says we can’t please God without it. It is also impossible to achieve our goals without it.
We desire to be led by the Holy Spirit. As we are lead by the Holy Spirit, the Lord will bring opportunities for which we cannot plan.
The Bible says in Proverbs 16:4,9, “The Lord works out everything for his own ends…In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps”.
Our approach to planning at Stone Church is less like a cannonball fired at a fortress and more like a heat-seeking missile tracking a moving target. When the pillar of cloud and fire moves, we’ll move with it. We are continually looking for the genius of the Holy Spirit as we chart our course.
Isn't it true that when our plans – no matter how big – are always too small for God?
In this relocation process, we are attempting something so big that it is doomed to failure unless God is in it.
The question we want to ask is not, “Can we afford to do it?” but, “Is it a great thing for God?” We want to let go of the arrogance of knowing and move toward wonder and reverence. We want to move from the black-and-white zone of control toward the gray zone of greater openness.
A lot of planning in churches pushes the present into the future. The better and biblical approach to the future involves prayer and preparation, not prediction.
Long-range planning can be an attempt to turn life into a predictable science. Sometimes complicated plans can be a subconscious attempt to avoid doing, to avoid growing, to avoid faith.
At our church, we live with an emotional paradox. On one hand, we revel in the joys of accidental discovery. On the other hand, being human, we don’t want to feel out of control. Yet real control is the ability to respond automatically to altered and unpredictable circumstances.
As Scripture instructs us in Galatians 5:25, "we want to “keep in step with the Spirit”. Jesus compared the Spirit to the wind – it blows unpredictably. It is critical that we continue to ask, “Where is God at work, and how can we join him in that?”
Monday, January 18, 2010
running up the score and other things
Okay, the Dallas Cowboys deserved to lose yesterday. They played poorly, often making me wonder why they even showed up.
Yes, I do understand that poor tackling will lead to touchdowns.
But....that is no reason, I repeat, no reason to run up the score at the end of the game.
It's called respect for the other team and for the game.
I always teach, "in order to gain respect, a person (team) must show respect".
Yes, I do understand that Minnesota Viking fans will not agree with me.
Perhaps you read recently of a Vikings football fan who was almost killed in a tragic horse accident. He fell from the horse and was nearly trampled to death. Thankfully the manager of the K-Mart store came out and unplugged it.
What do you call a Minnesota Viking with a Super Bowl ring? A "thief".
How many Vikings does it take to win a Super Bowl? Nobody knows. (They've never won one).
One season, the Vikings and Packers ended the year tied. Every tiebreaker the NFL had was used to break the tie, but the tie remained. Which team would be the NFC Central Champion? The NFL office was consulted. They said to figure it out locally, something like a coin toss would be fine. Well, Minnesota and Wisconsin being the fishing states they are, someone got the idea of a 3-day fishing contest. Both teams agreed.
On the first day, the Packers caught 100 fish, while the Vikings caught none. On the second day, the Packers again caught fish, 200 this time. Once again, the Vikings were skunked. Things were looking bad for the Vikings - the Viking coach was desperate. He called one of his players aside, and dressed him in green and gold. "Go over to the Packer camp and find out what they're doing!" he was told.
The Viking player returned a couple of hours later. "I know what they're doing Coach!" he reported excitedly. "Well what is it? asked the Coach.
"They're drilling holes thru the ice!"
It was 27-3. Not much time left. And Minnesota goes in and scores another touchdown to make it 34-3.
That is rude, classless and tasteless.
Sports etiquette says "thou shalt not run up the score."
My personal feelings? I hope that the New Orleans Saints go all the way. I hope they blow the Vikings out. I hope that Brett Favre goes 5 for 23 in the passing game.
Even little leaguers know that to run up the score doesn't show much class.
Anyway.....are you getting how I feel about the game yesterday?
Now then, let me take off my "trash talkin sports hat" and put on my "following God with all of my heart hat" again....
Forgive me for my verbal transgressions.
We had wonderful services yesterday, especially around the altar. "God is moving," as my friend David Dewes says.
It's beginning to be a new day at our church. I am excited!
I can see the level of anticipation and expectation of God's Spirit raise each week.
And then at our life group last night...wonderful stuff. We are watching John Ortberg's DVD series, "When the game is over, it all goes back in the box."
Great stuff. The lesson, when all is said and done, we need to focus on eternal things and not temporal things - because all temporal things go back into the box. We can't take anything with us - it is all left behind, except:
The lives that we influence.
People we have lead to the Lord.
Raising our kids in a godly way.
Serving others
Helping people in the time of need
These are things that stay out of the box after our time spend on this planet is gone.
John Ortberg says this:
"Actually in some ways it’s really ancient. There were manuscripts back in the Middle Ages that compared life to chess. They said, "Pawn or king—they all go back in the same bag." But the particular metaphor that I talk about, I had actually heard used first by James Dobson. It reminded me of playing Monopoly with my grandmother back when I was a kid. She was this ruthless Monopoly player. She would always win. She understood that money’s the name of the game. You’ve got to acquire everything. I would always lose. I’d have to give her all my money and get really depressed and disappointed.
And then one summer I played all summer long with a kid who lived in my neighborhood, and I gradually learned what it took to actually win at the game. I was finally able to defeat my grandmother—my moment of great glory—until the final lesson came: when the game is over, it all goes back in the box. All the houses, all the hotels, Boardwalk and Park Place, all that money—everything is going back in the box. That really is sort of the central metaphor for the whole deal of life.
We get messages from the media, from ads, from school, from our peers that life’s about nothing more than trying to become master of the board. That money is how you keep score. It will give you identity, make you secure. And there are very bright people who play the game really well. They only forget this one small detail: that the game is going to end; and when it ends, it all goes back in the box."
Let's remember this day to focus on the eternal and not the temporal.....It will do us well...especially when our football team loses the game....
Yes, I do understand that poor tackling will lead to touchdowns.
But....that is no reason, I repeat, no reason to run up the score at the end of the game.
It's called respect for the other team and for the game.
I always teach, "in order to gain respect, a person (team) must show respect".
Yes, I do understand that Minnesota Viking fans will not agree with me.
Perhaps you read recently of a Vikings football fan who was almost killed in a tragic horse accident. He fell from the horse and was nearly trampled to death. Thankfully the manager of the K-Mart store came out and unplugged it.
What do you call a Minnesota Viking with a Super Bowl ring? A "thief".
How many Vikings does it take to win a Super Bowl? Nobody knows. (They've never won one).
One season, the Vikings and Packers ended the year tied. Every tiebreaker the NFL had was used to break the tie, but the tie remained. Which team would be the NFC Central Champion? The NFL office was consulted. They said to figure it out locally, something like a coin toss would be fine. Well, Minnesota and Wisconsin being the fishing states they are, someone got the idea of a 3-day fishing contest. Both teams agreed.
On the first day, the Packers caught 100 fish, while the Vikings caught none. On the second day, the Packers again caught fish, 200 this time. Once again, the Vikings were skunked. Things were looking bad for the Vikings - the Viking coach was desperate. He called one of his players aside, and dressed him in green and gold. "Go over to the Packer camp and find out what they're doing!" he was told.
The Viking player returned a couple of hours later. "I know what they're doing Coach!" he reported excitedly. "Well what is it? asked the Coach.
"They're drilling holes thru the ice!"
It was 27-3. Not much time left. And Minnesota goes in and scores another touchdown to make it 34-3.
That is rude, classless and tasteless.
Sports etiquette says "thou shalt not run up the score."
My personal feelings? I hope that the New Orleans Saints go all the way. I hope they blow the Vikings out. I hope that Brett Favre goes 5 for 23 in the passing game.
Even little leaguers know that to run up the score doesn't show much class.
Anyway.....are you getting how I feel about the game yesterday?
Now then, let me take off my "trash talkin sports hat" and put on my "following God with all of my heart hat" again....
Forgive me for my verbal transgressions.
We had wonderful services yesterday, especially around the altar. "God is moving," as my friend David Dewes says.
It's beginning to be a new day at our church. I am excited!
I can see the level of anticipation and expectation of God's Spirit raise each week.
And then at our life group last night...wonderful stuff. We are watching John Ortberg's DVD series, "When the game is over, it all goes back in the box."
Great stuff. The lesson, when all is said and done, we need to focus on eternal things and not temporal things - because all temporal things go back into the box. We can't take anything with us - it is all left behind, except:
The lives that we influence.
People we have lead to the Lord.
Raising our kids in a godly way.
Serving others
Helping people in the time of need
These are things that stay out of the box after our time spend on this planet is gone.
John Ortberg says this:
"Actually in some ways it’s really ancient. There were manuscripts back in the Middle Ages that compared life to chess. They said, "Pawn or king—they all go back in the same bag." But the particular metaphor that I talk about, I had actually heard used first by James Dobson. It reminded me of playing Monopoly with my grandmother back when I was a kid. She was this ruthless Monopoly player. She would always win. She understood that money’s the name of the game. You’ve got to acquire everything. I would always lose. I’d have to give her all my money and get really depressed and disappointed.
And then one summer I played all summer long with a kid who lived in my neighborhood, and I gradually learned what it took to actually win at the game. I was finally able to defeat my grandmother—my moment of great glory—until the final lesson came: when the game is over, it all goes back in the box. All the houses, all the hotels, Boardwalk and Park Place, all that money—everything is going back in the box. That really is sort of the central metaphor for the whole deal of life.
We get messages from the media, from ads, from school, from our peers that life’s about nothing more than trying to become master of the board. That money is how you keep score. It will give you identity, make you secure. And there are very bright people who play the game really well. They only forget this one small detail: that the game is going to end; and when it ends, it all goes back in the box."
Let's remember this day to focus on the eternal and not the temporal.....It will do us well...especially when our football team loses the game....
Thursday, January 14, 2010
mentoring
At our elder's breakfast the other day, I encouraged each man there to mentor someone in our church.
By that I mean praying about another man in the church in which they can pour their life to as a mature follower of Christ.
I asked them to do the following:
Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to a man in the church that needs spiritual coaching.
Ask that person if they are open to receiving mentoring.
Touch base with the a couple of times a month.
Establish some kind of accountability with them. Ask them accountability questions, whether it be verbal or email.
Pray with them on an as needed basis.
Be available to them, especially during times of crisis.
I shared with the elders that I am not really interested in starting a ministry at this point of "how to coach" other men - but that we "just do it" and begin to reach out to those around us.
I believe in mentoring. I believe in accountability.
I believe that every man should seek to have three individuals in his life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy.
A Paul is an older man who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life. Not someone who's smarter or more gifted than you, but somebody who's been down the road. Somebody willing to share his strengths and weaknesses--everything he's learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you'll want to imitate.
A Barnabas is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who's willing to keep you honest, who's willing to say, "Hey, man, you're neglecting your wife, and don't give me any guff!"
A Timothy is a younger man into whose life you are building. For a model, read 1 and 2 Timothy. Here was Paul, the quintessential mentor, building into the life of his protege--affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, praying.
Do you have these three guys in your life? Are you mentoring someone?
If you are interested in this, please feel free to email me.
By that I mean praying about another man in the church in which they can pour their life to as a mature follower of Christ.
I asked them to do the following:
Pray that the Holy Spirit will lead you to a man in the church that needs spiritual coaching.
Ask that person if they are open to receiving mentoring.
Touch base with the a couple of times a month.
Establish some kind of accountability with them. Ask them accountability questions, whether it be verbal or email.
Pray with them on an as needed basis.
Be available to them, especially during times of crisis.
I shared with the elders that I am not really interested in starting a ministry at this point of "how to coach" other men - but that we "just do it" and begin to reach out to those around us.
I believe in mentoring. I believe in accountability.
I believe that every man should seek to have three individuals in his life: a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy.
A Paul is an older man who is willing to mentor you, to build into your life. Not someone who's smarter or more gifted than you, but somebody who's been down the road. Somebody willing to share his strengths and weaknesses--everything he's learned in the laboratory of life. Somebody whose faith you'll want to imitate.
A Barnabas is a soul brother, somebody who loves you but is not impressed by you. Somebody to whom you can be accountable. Somebody who's willing to keep you honest, who's willing to say, "Hey, man, you're neglecting your wife, and don't give me any guff!"
A Timothy is a younger man into whose life you are building. For a model, read 1 and 2 Timothy. Here was Paul, the quintessential mentor, building into the life of his protege--affirming, encouraging, teaching, correcting, directing, praying.
Do you have these three guys in your life? Are you mentoring someone?
If you are interested in this, please feel free to email me.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Walking in dignity
Conflict is inevitable in all spheres of life. Wherever you find people, you find conflict.
Sometimes we in the kingdom can get a little got of guard when it happens - because we expect the best of people - but as long as we live on this side of eternity - we will deal with difficulties in relationships.
I came across a piece of advice today that really spoke to me. It's something that I am going to try to apply to every facet of my life.
The "punchline" is this (and then I encourage you to read the story below): "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It should start with you."
May you be prayerfully challenged as I have today.
In an article for Leadership journal, Gordon MacDonald shares the story of a friend who was caught in the middle of a nasty church conflict that had spun out of control.
When MacDonald asked his friend how the situation had been resolved, his friend told him that he had been confronted with a piercing piece of advice: "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It really should start with you."
MacDonald's friend took the wisdom to heart, and it worked wonders in the situation.
MacDonald took the wisdom to heart himself and had the opportunity to apply it when caught in the middle of an airport fiasco.
Here's the story:
"MacDonald was scheduled to fly from Boston's Logan Airport to Chicago, but the boarding-pass attendant realized that he was scheduled to fly not out of Boston, but Manchester, New Hampshire. MacDonald asked whether she could solve the problem for him. She could—but for an extra $360.
MacDonald was shocked. "I'm a 100k customer on your airline. I give you guys a lot of my business. Can't you just get me on the flight for free as a courtesy?" But the boarding-pass attendant said her hands were tied. MacDonald would have to pay the $360.
The testy situation had reached its decisive moment. Though the problem was a result of MacDonald's incorrect booking, he felt "depreciated, blown off, victimized by a big company that seemed to put a monetary value on every transaction." As he points out in his article, "the ungodly part of me wanted to say something sarcastic (about friendly skies, for example) that would hurt the other person as I felt hurt. Hurting her would help me to feel that I'd hurt the rest of the company—all the way up to the CEO. Perhaps she'd call and tell him how I felt so that his day would be ruined like mine was about to be ruined."
But then he remembered the advice his friend had been given: "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It really should start with you."
MacDonald swallowed his pride and applied the advice to the situation at hand. He writes about what happened next:
I said to the boarding-pass lady, "Before I pay you the $360, let me say one more thing. Six weeks ago I came here to take a flight to the West Coast and discovered that the airline had cancelled the flight and hadn't told me. They said they were sorry, and I forgave them.
"Then two weeks later, on a flight to Europe, the airline lost my luggage (for two days). They said they were really, really sorry. And, again, I forgave them.
"Last week, on a third flight, they got me to my destination two hours late.
Your people fell all over themselves saying how sorry they were about the delays. And you know what? I forgave them again. Now here I am—fourth time in six weeks—wanting to fly with you again. See how forgiving I am?
"But this morning the problem's mine. I forgot that I scheduled myself out of the other airport. And I am really, really sorry that I made this terrible mistake.
"You guys have said 'sorry' to me three times in the last six weeks, and, each time I have forgiven you. Now I would like to say 'sorry' to you and ask you to forgive me and put me on that flight without charging me the $360. You have three 'sorries,' and now I'm asking for one. Does that make any sense to you?"
The boarding-pass lady took her own time-out and considered my idea and then said, "It really does make sense to me. Let me see what I can do."
She typed and typed and typed into her computer—as if she was writing a novella—and then looked up with a smile. "We can do this," she said. Two minutes later I was off to the gate with my boarding pass.
That morning dignity won. The airline forgave me. The skies were indeed friendly. I didn't have to pay an extra $360.
MacDonald offers these closing thoughts: "This increasingly crowded, noisy world is generating more and more of these kinds of moments where no one is really doing something bad … just stupid (me, in this case). But because our human dignity is eroded by these constant clashes, even our innocent mistakes point to the possibility for hateful exchanges and vengeful acts. You have to keep alert lest you get sucked into saying and doing things that you'll regret an hour later."
May we all walk in dignity today
Sometimes we in the kingdom can get a little got of guard when it happens - because we expect the best of people - but as long as we live on this side of eternity - we will deal with difficulties in relationships.
I came across a piece of advice today that really spoke to me. It's something that I am going to try to apply to every facet of my life.
The "punchline" is this (and then I encourage you to read the story below): "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It should start with you."
May you be prayerfully challenged as I have today.
In an article for Leadership journal, Gordon MacDonald shares the story of a friend who was caught in the middle of a nasty church conflict that had spun out of control.
When MacDonald asked his friend how the situation had been resolved, his friend told him that he had been confronted with a piercing piece of advice: "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It really should start with you."
MacDonald's friend took the wisdom to heart, and it worked wonders in the situation.
MacDonald took the wisdom to heart himself and had the opportunity to apply it when caught in the middle of an airport fiasco.
Here's the story:
"MacDonald was scheduled to fly from Boston's Logan Airport to Chicago, but the boarding-pass attendant realized that he was scheduled to fly not out of Boston, but Manchester, New Hampshire. MacDonald asked whether she could solve the problem for him. She could—but for an extra $360.
MacDonald was shocked. "I'm a 100k customer on your airline. I give you guys a lot of my business. Can't you just get me on the flight for free as a courtesy?" But the boarding-pass attendant said her hands were tied. MacDonald would have to pay the $360.
The testy situation had reached its decisive moment. Though the problem was a result of MacDonald's incorrect booking, he felt "depreciated, blown off, victimized by a big company that seemed to put a monetary value on every transaction." As he points out in his article, "the ungodly part of me wanted to say something sarcastic (about friendly skies, for example) that would hurt the other person as I felt hurt. Hurting her would help me to feel that I'd hurt the rest of the company—all the way up to the CEO. Perhaps she'd call and tell him how I felt so that his day would be ruined like mine was about to be ruined."
But then he remembered the advice his friend had been given: "Someone has to show a little dignity in this thing. It really should start with you."
MacDonald swallowed his pride and applied the advice to the situation at hand. He writes about what happened next:
I said to the boarding-pass lady, "Before I pay you the $360, let me say one more thing. Six weeks ago I came here to take a flight to the West Coast and discovered that the airline had cancelled the flight and hadn't told me. They said they were sorry, and I forgave them.
"Then two weeks later, on a flight to Europe, the airline lost my luggage (for two days). They said they were really, really sorry. And, again, I forgave them.
"Last week, on a third flight, they got me to my destination two hours late.
Your people fell all over themselves saying how sorry they were about the delays. And you know what? I forgave them again. Now here I am—fourth time in six weeks—wanting to fly with you again. See how forgiving I am?
"But this morning the problem's mine. I forgot that I scheduled myself out of the other airport. And I am really, really sorry that I made this terrible mistake.
"You guys have said 'sorry' to me three times in the last six weeks, and, each time I have forgiven you. Now I would like to say 'sorry' to you and ask you to forgive me and put me on that flight without charging me the $360. You have three 'sorries,' and now I'm asking for one. Does that make any sense to you?"
The boarding-pass lady took her own time-out and considered my idea and then said, "It really does make sense to me. Let me see what I can do."
She typed and typed and typed into her computer—as if she was writing a novella—and then looked up with a smile. "We can do this," she said. Two minutes later I was off to the gate with my boarding pass.
That morning dignity won. The airline forgave me. The skies were indeed friendly. I didn't have to pay an extra $360.
MacDonald offers these closing thoughts: "This increasingly crowded, noisy world is generating more and more of these kinds of moments where no one is really doing something bad … just stupid (me, in this case). But because our human dignity is eroded by these constant clashes, even our innocent mistakes point to the possibility for hateful exchanges and vengeful acts. You have to keep alert lest you get sucked into saying and doing things that you'll regret an hour later."
May we all walk in dignity today
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Being all that we can be
"Be all that you can be", is an old army commercial that used to blare out on the television.
And God desire the same thing for us - He wants us to "be all that we can be"!
God desire that our church family reach and fulfill the potential that He has given us. God desires that we be running on all cylinders - in ministry, in fellowship, in worship and in evangelism.
So what is holding us back?
Every church in America deals with the following three "weights" that hold them down in this kingdom race that God has called us to.
Serving God is not a 100 yard dash and with a burst of speed we make heaven. Serving God is a marathon race - a long-distance race in which we need endurance to complete.
My desire is that we finish our portion of the race well. Each generation, from the beginning our church to the current generation has handed off a baton. Some have handed off the baton weary, worn out and sad, while others have handed off their baton full of God's power, anointing and strength.
Let's be the latter!
As we transition to 183rd street, let's ask ourselves, are we running our race faithfully?
What we do as a church family this year, 2010, will affect those who attend our church for generations to come.
Serious runners always strip down for a race. They don’t carry a lot of baggage or extra clothes.
Even in winter. I have seen joggers in Chicago lately, in the middle of winter, running in jogging shorts and T-shirts. They don't want anything to slow them down or hold them back.
That’s how God wants us to run the race of life – with as few distractions as possible. So many people in our churches aren’t living up to their full potential in Christ. In fact, many are being held back by three particular struggles we need to overcome to be all God wants us to be.
Let go of your worries.
Worry is emotional garbage that hinders our people’s progress to spiritual maturity.
The more we worry, the more it slows us down. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Worry weighs a person down.” Think of what God’s people could do if we weren’t being dragged down by worry. Think of the people we’d reach, the evil giants of the world we’d conquer.
Worry exhausts our energy. It exaggerates our problem. And it wastes our time. Instead of doing what God has called our church to do, many are often stuck in their worries. So what do you do with your worries? How do you deal with them?
Start by having them identify those worries. You can’t release your worries until you know what they are. One of the reasons why we’re often stressed out is we have a vague feeling that “something is wrong,” but we don’t know what it is. If you carry this vague sense of anxiety, it’s harder to deal with.
Then we need to take those worries to God. Psalm 55:22 says, “Give your worries to the Lord and He will take care of you.” He says, “Let it go. Give it to Me. I’ll take care of it.”
You don’t get rid of worry through therapy, fads, diets, pills, seminars, or conferences. You get rid of worry by prayer.
If you prayed more, you’d worry less. Philippians 4:6-7 in the Message paraphrase says, “Instead of worrying, pray. Let your petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness…will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Don’t waste any more time with your worries; let them go.
Let go of your wounds.
Many things wound us emotionally. Lies, broken promises, conflict, and betrayal are just a few. And internal wounds are much more serious than external ones. For example, you don’t remember the cuts, scrapes, and bruises you got on the playground as a kid, but I would guess you remember the painful words that were said to you.
We remember emotional wounds a lot longer than physical ones. Why? Because we rehearse those hurts in our mind over and over again. We replay the tape.
That’s dumb. Your past is past. If you keep rehearsing a past wound, you allow someone to hurt you over and over again. There’s a word for rehearsing a hurt over and over again in your mind – resentment. That literally means, “to cut again.” Every time you nurse an old would, you’re cutting yourself again.
The Bible says in Psalm 37:8, “Let go of anger and leave your rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil.” When you rehearse the pain, you just reinforce and reinvent the hurt.
There are those in our church family who week after week, month after month and year after year, nurse their wounds. They can’t let go. They’ll never reach their God-given potential and purpose for life until they let go of the past.
What hurts do you need to leave behind? The only antidote for those hurts is forgiveness. There’s no other way to get past your hurt and pain. Some people say, “The person who hurt me doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”
There’s a great answer for that: neither did you. You don’t forgive people for their benefit. Resentment doesn’t hurt the other person. It hurts us.
Let go of your wrongs.
In order to move on and "be all that God wants us to be", we’ve got to let go of our sins, mistakes, regrets, and failures – all the things we wish hadn’t happened and we feel guilty about. Many people have been carrying the same guilt for 40 years. No wonder they’re not growing spiritually!
We need to help people come clean. There’s no time to waste. Every day we live with guilt is another day it’s dragging us down. Why is it important to come clean?
Guilt disconnects us from God.
Isaiah 59:2 says, “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” When you have a bunch of guilty garbage piled up, it separates you from your God. You can’t connect to God with sin in your life.
Guilt affects your health. Psalm 32:3 says, “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.” When you’re dealing with guilt in your life, you’re always worried about being “found out.” That takes a toll on your health.
Guilt dominates your mind. Psalm 51:3 says, “I know about my wrongs, and I can’t forget my sin.” When you feel guilty about something, you can’t think about anything else. You can’t become what God wants you to be when your mind is dominated by guilt.
In the next few weeks, take a moral inventory. Make a list of everything that’s between you and God. God has given us a wonderful promise in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God is ready and waiting to forgive us if we just confess our wrongs to him.
Worries, wounds, and wrongs are holding back Christians in our churches. Let's go beyond that and "be all that we can be"!
And God desire the same thing for us - He wants us to "be all that we can be"!
God desire that our church family reach and fulfill the potential that He has given us. God desires that we be running on all cylinders - in ministry, in fellowship, in worship and in evangelism.
So what is holding us back?
Every church in America deals with the following three "weights" that hold them down in this kingdom race that God has called us to.
Serving God is not a 100 yard dash and with a burst of speed we make heaven. Serving God is a marathon race - a long-distance race in which we need endurance to complete.
My desire is that we finish our portion of the race well. Each generation, from the beginning our church to the current generation has handed off a baton. Some have handed off the baton weary, worn out and sad, while others have handed off their baton full of God's power, anointing and strength.
Let's be the latter!
As we transition to 183rd street, let's ask ourselves, are we running our race faithfully?
What we do as a church family this year, 2010, will affect those who attend our church for generations to come.
Serious runners always strip down for a race. They don’t carry a lot of baggage or extra clothes.
Even in winter. I have seen joggers in Chicago lately, in the middle of winter, running in jogging shorts and T-shirts. They don't want anything to slow them down or hold them back.
That’s how God wants us to run the race of life – with as few distractions as possible. So many people in our churches aren’t living up to their full potential in Christ. In fact, many are being held back by three particular struggles we need to overcome to be all God wants us to be.
Let go of your worries.
Worry is emotional garbage that hinders our people’s progress to spiritual maturity.
The more we worry, the more it slows us down. Proverbs 12:25 says, “Worry weighs a person down.” Think of what God’s people could do if we weren’t being dragged down by worry. Think of the people we’d reach, the evil giants of the world we’d conquer.
Worry exhausts our energy. It exaggerates our problem. And it wastes our time. Instead of doing what God has called our church to do, many are often stuck in their worries. So what do you do with your worries? How do you deal with them?
Start by having them identify those worries. You can’t release your worries until you know what they are. One of the reasons why we’re often stressed out is we have a vague feeling that “something is wrong,” but we don’t know what it is. If you carry this vague sense of anxiety, it’s harder to deal with.
Then we need to take those worries to God. Psalm 55:22 says, “Give your worries to the Lord and He will take care of you.” He says, “Let it go. Give it to Me. I’ll take care of it.”
You don’t get rid of worry through therapy, fads, diets, pills, seminars, or conferences. You get rid of worry by prayer.
If you prayed more, you’d worry less. Philippians 4:6-7 in the Message paraphrase says, “Instead of worrying, pray. Let your petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness…will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life.”
Don’t waste any more time with your worries; let them go.
Let go of your wounds.
Many things wound us emotionally. Lies, broken promises, conflict, and betrayal are just a few. And internal wounds are much more serious than external ones. For example, you don’t remember the cuts, scrapes, and bruises you got on the playground as a kid, but I would guess you remember the painful words that were said to you.
We remember emotional wounds a lot longer than physical ones. Why? Because we rehearse those hurts in our mind over and over again. We replay the tape.
That’s dumb. Your past is past. If you keep rehearsing a past wound, you allow someone to hurt you over and over again. There’s a word for rehearsing a hurt over and over again in your mind – resentment. That literally means, “to cut again.” Every time you nurse an old would, you’re cutting yourself again.
The Bible says in Psalm 37:8, “Let go of anger and leave your rage behind. Do not be preoccupied. It only leads to evil.” When you rehearse the pain, you just reinforce and reinvent the hurt.
There are those in our church family who week after week, month after month and year after year, nurse their wounds. They can’t let go. They’ll never reach their God-given potential and purpose for life until they let go of the past.
What hurts do you need to leave behind? The only antidote for those hurts is forgiveness. There’s no other way to get past your hurt and pain. Some people say, “The person who hurt me doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.”
There’s a great answer for that: neither did you. You don’t forgive people for their benefit. Resentment doesn’t hurt the other person. It hurts us.
Let go of your wrongs.
In order to move on and "be all that God wants us to be", we’ve got to let go of our sins, mistakes, regrets, and failures – all the things we wish hadn’t happened and we feel guilty about. Many people have been carrying the same guilt for 40 years. No wonder they’re not growing spiritually!
We need to help people come clean. There’s no time to waste. Every day we live with guilt is another day it’s dragging us down. Why is it important to come clean?
Guilt disconnects us from God.
Isaiah 59:2 says, “It’s your sins that have cut you off from God. Because of your sins, he has turned away and will not listen anymore.” When you have a bunch of guilty garbage piled up, it separates you from your God. You can’t connect to God with sin in your life.
Guilt affects your health. Psalm 32:3 says, “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long.” When you’re dealing with guilt in your life, you’re always worried about being “found out.” That takes a toll on your health.
Guilt dominates your mind. Psalm 51:3 says, “I know about my wrongs, and I can’t forget my sin.” When you feel guilty about something, you can’t think about anything else. You can’t become what God wants you to be when your mind is dominated by guilt.
In the next few weeks, take a moral inventory. Make a list of everything that’s between you and God. God has given us a wonderful promise in 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” God is ready and waiting to forgive us if we just confess our wrongs to him.
Worries, wounds, and wrongs are holding back Christians in our churches. Let's go beyond that and "be all that we can be"!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Yesterday
In ministry, I do my best not to ride the high's and lows of church life. I try not to allow myself to get too excited at the good, or too discouraged at the difficult.
It's important to remain steady at the helm.
Yet, I must say, yesterday was just phenomenal. There was a powerful sense of God's presence, of God's spirit.
I have been receiving emails all morning - stating how much our church family enjoyed experiencing God's ministry presence.
I was so pleased as our teenagers were at the altar seeking God. I must admit I teared up in seeing them standing in a line at the altar, and having our older saints pray for them. Wonderful stuff.
Robert Madu did a wonderful job in giving an anointed presentation of the gospel.
Who can ever forget his visual of dirt and the gift?
His thought was that we are all made from dirt (Genesis 2:7: "The Lord God formed the man from the dust (dirt) of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
God made us from dirt. Yet God has also gifted each one of us with a gift (if not many gifts). Each one of us has been tasked by God to use our gift in Kingdom ministry.
What really spoke to me personally was that we are called upon to celebrate each other's giftings, while at the same time accepting each other "dirt" with love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Powerful, powerful, thought.
We were also thrilled to have Mike and Christine (along with little Elijah) Trevino with us as fill-in youth pastors. Christine sang for us - beautifully.
Let me say, "Thank you, Lord," for the way you ministered to us yesterday. You are so good to us - we desire MORE of you Spirit in our lives!"
Can you pray that with me today? "God send us MORE OF YOUR SPIRIT!"
BTW, the Dallas Cowboys won Saturday evening.....they play the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday....Go Cowboys!
It's important to remain steady at the helm.
Yet, I must say, yesterday was just phenomenal. There was a powerful sense of God's presence, of God's spirit.
I have been receiving emails all morning - stating how much our church family enjoyed experiencing God's ministry presence.
I was so pleased as our teenagers were at the altar seeking God. I must admit I teared up in seeing them standing in a line at the altar, and having our older saints pray for them. Wonderful stuff.
Robert Madu did a wonderful job in giving an anointed presentation of the gospel.
Who can ever forget his visual of dirt and the gift?
His thought was that we are all made from dirt (Genesis 2:7: "The Lord God formed the man from the dust (dirt) of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."
God made us from dirt. Yet God has also gifted each one of us with a gift (if not many gifts). Each one of us has been tasked by God to use our gift in Kingdom ministry.
What really spoke to me personally was that we are called upon to celebrate each other's giftings, while at the same time accepting each other "dirt" with love, acceptance and forgiveness.
Powerful, powerful, thought.
We were also thrilled to have Mike and Christine (along with little Elijah) Trevino with us as fill-in youth pastors. Christine sang for us - beautifully.
Let me say, "Thank you, Lord," for the way you ministered to us yesterday. You are so good to us - we desire MORE of you Spirit in our lives!"
Can you pray that with me today? "God send us MORE OF YOUR SPIRIT!"
BTW, the Dallas Cowboys won Saturday evening.....they play the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday....Go Cowboys!
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
The power of fear
I think it was President Franklin Roosevelt that said, "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
So true....powerful.
As we approach this coming year as a church family - I must say that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Fear will hinder us.
Fear will slow us down.
Fear will cause us to be less than we can be.
Times of transition can cause us to fear the loss of control, things aren't as they normally should be.
God's word says, "God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of peace and love and of a sound mind." (2 timothy 1:7).
What is fear? Fear is really the desire to avoid pain. It's the avoidance of pain. Sometimes, if not most of the time, the fear of a situation or circumstance, can be more debilitating than the circumstance itself.
And yes, fear can cause us to do things we would not normally do otherwise.
In his book "Fearless", Max Lucado writes about the power fear possesses to turn us into beastly people:
[Fear] turns us into control freaks … [for] … fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control.
When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage:
our diet, the tidiness of our home, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people.
The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered.
Martin Niemöller documents an extreme example of this. He was a German pastor who took a heroic stand against Adolf Hitler. When he first met the dictator in 1933, Niemöller stood at the back of the room and listened.
Later, when his wife asked him what he'd learned, he said, "I discovered that Herr Hitler is a terribly frightened man." Fear releases the tyrant within.
As we walk through this transitional year together, let's remember what I am writing here. Let's remember to walk in love, peace and forgiveness.
And let's remember that God is in control.
So true....powerful.
As we approach this coming year as a church family - I must say that "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Fear will hinder us.
Fear will slow us down.
Fear will cause us to be less than we can be.
Times of transition can cause us to fear the loss of control, things aren't as they normally should be.
God's word says, "God has not give us a spirit of fear, but of peace and love and of a sound mind." (2 timothy 1:7).
What is fear? Fear is really the desire to avoid pain. It's the avoidance of pain. Sometimes, if not most of the time, the fear of a situation or circumstance, can be more debilitating than the circumstance itself.
And yes, fear can cause us to do things we would not normally do otherwise.
In his book "Fearless", Max Lucado writes about the power fear possesses to turn us into beastly people:
[Fear] turns us into control freaks … [for] … fear, at its center, is a perceived loss of control.
When life spins wildly, we grab for a component of life we can manage:
our diet, the tidiness of our home, the armrest of a plane, or, in many cases, people.
The more insecure we feel, the meaner we become. We growl and bare our fangs. Why? Because we are bad? In part. But also because we feel cornered.
Martin Niemöller documents an extreme example of this. He was a German pastor who took a heroic stand against Adolf Hitler. When he first met the dictator in 1933, Niemöller stood at the back of the room and listened.
Later, when his wife asked him what he'd learned, he said, "I discovered that Herr Hitler is a terribly frightened man." Fear releases the tyrant within.
As we walk through this transitional year together, let's remember what I am writing here. Let's remember to walk in love, peace and forgiveness.
And let's remember that God is in control.
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
A new thing
Let me share with you what I sensed the Lord saying to us as a congregation (I talked about this last Sunday in our corporate prayer time).
God is in the midst of doing a new thing.
Obviously, one of the new things that God is going to do is to help us to move our church campus to another town, Orland Park.
That is huge in and of itself.
New campus
New town
And now we are challenged to bring on new staff.
But the "newness" that God is going to bring will be deeper than that.
God is going to give us a new sense of His Spirit, His Presence in our lives.
And....God is going to give us new direction.
I'm not quite sure how to articulate it yet with words, but there is within my spirit and distinct rumbling of the fact that God is going to lead us to new heights, a new ministry capability.
Isaiah 43:18, 19, tell us, "Forget the former tings; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
In a sermon John Ortberg once reflected on one of the greatest enemies of the human spirit.
It's a worthy goal for us as a congregation in 2010.
Ortberg writes:
"For many years, Max Depree was the CEO of an innovative Fortune 500 company called Herman Miller. Depree has written classic books on leadership and anchored the board of trustees at Fuller Seminary for 40 years. Max is asked to speak a lot about leadership, and at one session somebody asked him what the most difficult thing was that he personally had to work on. This was Max's response: "It's the interception of entropy."
Entropy is a term from physics that has something to do with the second law of thermodynamics and the availability of energy. It speaks to the fact that the universe is winding down. It's the idea that everything that is left to itself has a tendency to deteriorate.
Entropy. It's not only one of the great enemies of the universe; it's one of the great enemies of the human spirit. A person becomes apathetic or complacent or settles for the path of least resistance in some area of life. Dreams die and hopes fade.
A terrible thing happens: a person learns they can live with mediocrity.
Entropy is a great enemy of the human spirit, so the writers of the Book of Proverbs have a lot to say about it. One thing they say is that the wise person is always on the lookout for early signs that entropy is setting in.
Proverbs 27:23-24 shows us the picture of someone who has livestock and how they need to monitor its condition.
Though the words speak of livestock, they are true in any area of life:
"Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations."
Everyday you have to be on the lookout for entropy. Though things might have been okay yesterday, that doesn't mean they stay okay forever.
Put any important area of your life on autopilot, and risk entropy that is both subtle and destructive."
I'm am thrilled that God is going to take us to places we have never gone before as a church family!
God is in the midst of doing a new thing.
Obviously, one of the new things that God is going to do is to help us to move our church campus to another town, Orland Park.
That is huge in and of itself.
New campus
New town
And now we are challenged to bring on new staff.
But the "newness" that God is going to bring will be deeper than that.
God is going to give us a new sense of His Spirit, His Presence in our lives.
And....God is going to give us new direction.
I'm not quite sure how to articulate it yet with words, but there is within my spirit and distinct rumbling of the fact that God is going to lead us to new heights, a new ministry capability.
Isaiah 43:18, 19, tell us, "Forget the former tings; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
In a sermon John Ortberg once reflected on one of the greatest enemies of the human spirit.
It's a worthy goal for us as a congregation in 2010.
Ortberg writes:
"For many years, Max Depree was the CEO of an innovative Fortune 500 company called Herman Miller. Depree has written classic books on leadership and anchored the board of trustees at Fuller Seminary for 40 years. Max is asked to speak a lot about leadership, and at one session somebody asked him what the most difficult thing was that he personally had to work on. This was Max's response: "It's the interception of entropy."
Entropy is a term from physics that has something to do with the second law of thermodynamics and the availability of energy. It speaks to the fact that the universe is winding down. It's the idea that everything that is left to itself has a tendency to deteriorate.
Entropy. It's not only one of the great enemies of the universe; it's one of the great enemies of the human spirit. A person becomes apathetic or complacent or settles for the path of least resistance in some area of life. Dreams die and hopes fade.
A terrible thing happens: a person learns they can live with mediocrity.
Entropy is a great enemy of the human spirit, so the writers of the Book of Proverbs have a lot to say about it. One thing they say is that the wise person is always on the lookout for early signs that entropy is setting in.
Proverbs 27:23-24 shows us the picture of someone who has livestock and how they need to monitor its condition.
Though the words speak of livestock, they are true in any area of life:
"Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations."
Everyday you have to be on the lookout for entropy. Though things might have been okay yesterday, that doesn't mean they stay okay forever.
Put any important area of your life on autopilot, and risk entropy that is both subtle and destructive."
I'm am thrilled that God is going to take us to places we have never gone before as a church family!
Monday, January 04, 2010
Unconditional friendship
You probably won't think that this is funny unless you work or minister full time with people.
Working with people can be the most rewarding thing in the world - or the most frustrating.
What am I referring to?
I bought a t-shirt over the holidays that said this on the front:
"I can only please one person each day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either."
Some days (and they are few and far between) I just want to wear that t-shirt where ever I go.
You see, working with people is not like building a house for instance, being a carpenter or an iron worker.
Those guys (or gals) get to physically see the results of their hard work at the end of the day - if not at the completion of the project.
People aren't like that.
You and I are never fully "completed". We are always a work in progress. I know that I am.
That's why it's important to know that God never looks at us as we are - but as we will and can be.
I am thankful for that.
I need to do the same with those I minister to.
God doesn't call me to change anyone (only the Holy Spirit can do that) - but to continue to love them and and be their friend.
Be their friend no matter what. Let's call it "unconditional friendship."
More than receiving that type of friendship this coming year (2010), my goal is to give that kind of friendship - to be a friend that continues to like and to love no matter what.
Working with people can be the most rewarding thing in the world - or the most frustrating.
What am I referring to?
I bought a t-shirt over the holidays that said this on the front:
"I can only please one person each day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either."
Some days (and they are few and far between) I just want to wear that t-shirt where ever I go.
You see, working with people is not like building a house for instance, being a carpenter or an iron worker.
Those guys (or gals) get to physically see the results of their hard work at the end of the day - if not at the completion of the project.
People aren't like that.
You and I are never fully "completed". We are always a work in progress. I know that I am.
That's why it's important to know that God never looks at us as we are - but as we will and can be.
I am thankful for that.
I need to do the same with those I minister to.
God doesn't call me to change anyone (only the Holy Spirit can do that) - but to continue to love them and and be their friend.
Be their friend no matter what. Let's call it "unconditional friendship."
More than receiving that type of friendship this coming year (2010), my goal is to give that kind of friendship - to be a friend that continues to like and to love no matter what.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
2010 and Stone Church part two
Well, this is part two of a two part blog on "2010 and the Stone Church".
What are our goals for 2010?
As a Pentecostal church, we would like to grow in the way the church did in the book of Acts.
It was explosive growth – from about 120 to possibly as many 100,000 in 25 years. Who wouldn’t want that?
Let's review: We saw yesterday four principles:
1. We must minister in the Holy Spirit's power.
2. We must maintain a warm fellowship.
3. We must multiply small groups.
4. We must continue to be faithful in giving.
Three more:
5. We must magnify our vision of God.
In Acts 4:24, the apostles had been taken prisoner and questioned before the Sanhedrin. Then they came back and prayed. Notice the prayer: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.”
In the midst of a time of crisis, the apostles acknowledged that God was ruler over everything and ultimately in control.
We know the church is on the winning side. We’ve read the last chapter. We know how it’s going to end. If someone asks why we don’t get discouraged, we can answer: “We know who is going to win. We’re part of a mission that can’t fail.”
That’s why we must continually find ourselves on the offensive.
The Bible says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”
Are gates an offensive weapon or a defensive weapon? They’re defensive. You build gates to keep people from getting to you.
So that means Satan isn’t attacking us. We’re attacking him! We’re trying to snatch people out of his grasp. A lot of churches want to play it safe and avoid being tainted. But I believe in a big God who doesn’t want us to hide from the great evils of this world.
Let's not be afraid to rock the boat if Jesus Christ is the captain. We’re on the winning side. When we focus on God, circumstances will seem inconsequential to his greatness. He’s got all the resources we need.
6. We must maximize the power of prayer.
Our annual week of prayer will be January 11-15, 2010.
I am looking forward to this time of fasting and having conversations with God.
If you look through the book of Acts, you’ll see the phrase “they prayed” 48 times. We will have power like the church in Acts when we pray like the church in Acts. Think about it. There was a first-century apostle, James, whom they called “camel knees” because he prayed so much!
The early church was engaged in a spiritual battle. So are we. Spiritual warfare requires the use of spiritual weapons. That’s why we must maximize the power of prayer if we’re going to be like the church of Jerusalem. Jesus said that his house would be “a house of prayer.” Is our church a house of prayer?
7. We must all participate in ministry
People didn't sit on the sidelines in the early church. The church mobilized everyone for ministry. Acts 6 shows this. The church was growing so fast the apostles couldn’t keep up with all the ministry needs, so they mobilized others to meet those needs.
We need you in 2010! We need everyone involved in ministry! We are a team - "Together Experiencing A Ministry".
What are our goals for 2010?
As a Pentecostal church, we would like to grow in the way the church did in the book of Acts.
It was explosive growth – from about 120 to possibly as many 100,000 in 25 years. Who wouldn’t want that?
Let's review: We saw yesterday four principles:
1. We must minister in the Holy Spirit's power.
2. We must maintain a warm fellowship.
3. We must multiply small groups.
4. We must continue to be faithful in giving.
Three more:
5. We must magnify our vision of God.
In Acts 4:24, the apostles had been taken prisoner and questioned before the Sanhedrin. Then they came back and prayed. Notice the prayer: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.”
In the midst of a time of crisis, the apostles acknowledged that God was ruler over everything and ultimately in control.
We know the church is on the winning side. We’ve read the last chapter. We know how it’s going to end. If someone asks why we don’t get discouraged, we can answer: “We know who is going to win. We’re part of a mission that can’t fail.”
That’s why we must continually find ourselves on the offensive.
The Bible says in Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it”
Are gates an offensive weapon or a defensive weapon? They’re defensive. You build gates to keep people from getting to you.
So that means Satan isn’t attacking us. We’re attacking him! We’re trying to snatch people out of his grasp. A lot of churches want to play it safe and avoid being tainted. But I believe in a big God who doesn’t want us to hide from the great evils of this world.
Let's not be afraid to rock the boat if Jesus Christ is the captain. We’re on the winning side. When we focus on God, circumstances will seem inconsequential to his greatness. He’s got all the resources we need.
6. We must maximize the power of prayer.
Our annual week of prayer will be January 11-15, 2010.
I am looking forward to this time of fasting and having conversations with God.
If you look through the book of Acts, you’ll see the phrase “they prayed” 48 times. We will have power like the church in Acts when we pray like the church in Acts. Think about it. There was a first-century apostle, James, whom they called “camel knees” because he prayed so much!
The early church was engaged in a spiritual battle. So are we. Spiritual warfare requires the use of spiritual weapons. That’s why we must maximize the power of prayer if we’re going to be like the church of Jerusalem. Jesus said that his house would be “a house of prayer.” Is our church a house of prayer?
7. We must all participate in ministry
People didn't sit on the sidelines in the early church. The church mobilized everyone for ministry. Acts 6 shows this. The church was growing so fast the apostles couldn’t keep up with all the ministry needs, so they mobilized others to meet those needs.
We need you in 2010! We need everyone involved in ministry! We are a team - "Together Experiencing A Ministry".
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
2010 and Stone Church
2010 is going to bring to us all kinds of opportunities and challenges as a church family.
I am excited about what's going to take place in our church in 2010, and I sense that you are also.
God has some great things in store for us!
One of our goals is grow spiritually and numerically.
We don't focus on numbers for numbers sake - I always say, "we are not here to fill up empty pews with people, we are here to fill up empty lives with Jesus Christ," - but when people are being touched by God - they come.
So what is to be our model in the coming year? What is to be our focus?
The early church in the book of Acts gives us a great model for a growing church.
Dr. Luke writes in Acts 2:47, “The Lord added to their number daily.” That means at least 365 new people every year! Some have estimated that the early church in Jerusalem had 100,000 members – half the size of the city.
We can learn from the New Testament Church.
Here are four quick principles and goals that we have for the coming year:
1. We must minister in the Holy Spirit’s power.
We must rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to minister through us each day. No ministry paradigm, strategy, or dynamic staff can replace the power of God’s Spirit.
Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
To have the kind of church they had in the New Testament, we need the kind of members they had in the New Testament: Spirit-controlled members.
That’s anyone who’s making Jesus Lord of his or her life. To make Jesus Lord is to let the Spirit take control of your life.
That's taking advantage of the tools that God has given us by His Holy Spirit: Using our prayer language, ministering in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
A lot of people try to minister without the Holy Spirit, and it doesn’t work.
Not only does it NOT work, but we end up exhausted, never having enough energy to minister in the way that we want to.
But if we lean on the Holy Spirit, we’ll have all we need.
Jesus knew all that was before the apostles. He knew they couldn't’ do it without the Spirit, so he said, “Don’t leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit.” That’s where all ministry begins.
2. We must maintain a warm fellowship.
The New Testament church gives us a great example of warm fellowship.
In Acts 2:42-44, Dr. Luke writes, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
Notice that when Luke wrote this account of the early church, he didn’t write, “See what great buildings they built.”
He said, “See how they love one another.”
That’s a crucial mark of a world-changing church. A church that makes a difference in its community is one that truly loves one another.
When God has a bunch of baby Christians and soon-to-be baby Christians, he looks for the warmest incubator he can find. God blesses a warm church with new believers because he doesn’t want them in the church of the Frigid-Air. He wants them in a warm environment where they can grow.
Ten times in the first five chapters of Acts, the Bible says the early church was unified.
Luke uses phrases like, “They were of one accord…one heart…one purpose…one spirit...all united in thought.” God can overlook a lack of facilities, a lack of programs, and a lack of leadership. But he won’t overlook disharmony in the church.
3. We must multiply small groups.
Acts 2:46,47 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
You see two gathering places for the church in this passage: “house to house” and “temple courts.” Both types of meeting places were used by the early church.
Why use small groups?
They are infinitely expandable. No matter what size of a building that we are building, at some point we are going to max it out. We will have to start more services to continue to grow (take that any way you desire - either as a prophecy or the natural progression of what will be when we move out to 183rd street).
In small groups, we can grow through homes.
Why life groups in homes?
They promote fellowship. Put a guy in a classroom on Sunday morning in a suit and tie for Bible Study, and he won’t say a word.
But you put him in a Bible study in a home on a sofa on a Friday night with a cup of coffee in his hand, and he’ll talk his head off. Why? That home environment is relaxing.
They are unlimited geographically. If we have people attending services that live far away, they can’t be all that involved in our church.
But they can be a part of a small group in their neighborhood. We can have small groups across a wide spectrum of geography.
4. We must continue to be faithful in our giving.
Again, we go to Acts 2, which tells us in verse 45, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
Let's don't miss the point of that verse. No one is asking anyone to sell their possession and goods. But let's all continue to be faithful with our tithes, our giving to missions and giving to the building fund.
As our national economy continues to struggle, we know that God can work miracles in the coming year! I encourage all of us to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us in this area. Thank you for your faithfulness!
We need you!
I could say a lot more - but for today - this is enough.
May God bless us as we endeavor to build His Kingdom!
I am excited about what's going to take place in our church in 2010, and I sense that you are also.
God has some great things in store for us!
One of our goals is grow spiritually and numerically.
We don't focus on numbers for numbers sake - I always say, "we are not here to fill up empty pews with people, we are here to fill up empty lives with Jesus Christ," - but when people are being touched by God - they come.
So what is to be our model in the coming year? What is to be our focus?
The early church in the book of Acts gives us a great model for a growing church.
Dr. Luke writes in Acts 2:47, “The Lord added to their number daily.” That means at least 365 new people every year! Some have estimated that the early church in Jerusalem had 100,000 members – half the size of the city.
We can learn from the New Testament Church.
Here are four quick principles and goals that we have for the coming year:
1. We must minister in the Holy Spirit’s power.
We must rely on the Holy Spirit’s power to minister through us each day. No ministry paradigm, strategy, or dynamic staff can replace the power of God’s Spirit.
Jesus says in Acts 1:8, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
To have the kind of church they had in the New Testament, we need the kind of members they had in the New Testament: Spirit-controlled members.
That’s anyone who’s making Jesus Lord of his or her life. To make Jesus Lord is to let the Spirit take control of your life.
That's taking advantage of the tools that God has given us by His Holy Spirit: Using our prayer language, ministering in the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
A lot of people try to minister without the Holy Spirit, and it doesn’t work.
Not only does it NOT work, but we end up exhausted, never having enough energy to minister in the way that we want to.
But if we lean on the Holy Spirit, we’ll have all we need.
Jesus knew all that was before the apostles. He knew they couldn't’ do it without the Spirit, so he said, “Don’t leave Jerusalem without the Holy Spirit.” That’s where all ministry begins.
2. We must maintain a warm fellowship.
The New Testament church gives us a great example of warm fellowship.
In Acts 2:42-44, Dr. Luke writes, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common.”
Notice that when Luke wrote this account of the early church, he didn’t write, “See what great buildings they built.”
He said, “See how they love one another.”
That’s a crucial mark of a world-changing church. A church that makes a difference in its community is one that truly loves one another.
When God has a bunch of baby Christians and soon-to-be baby Christians, he looks for the warmest incubator he can find. God blesses a warm church with new believers because he doesn’t want them in the church of the Frigid-Air. He wants them in a warm environment where they can grow.
Ten times in the first five chapters of Acts, the Bible says the early church was unified.
Luke uses phrases like, “They were of one accord…one heart…one purpose…one spirit...all united in thought.” God can overlook a lack of facilities, a lack of programs, and a lack of leadership. But he won’t overlook disharmony in the church.
3. We must multiply small groups.
Acts 2:46,47 says, “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”
You see two gathering places for the church in this passage: “house to house” and “temple courts.” Both types of meeting places were used by the early church.
Why use small groups?
They are infinitely expandable. No matter what size of a building that we are building, at some point we are going to max it out. We will have to start more services to continue to grow (take that any way you desire - either as a prophecy or the natural progression of what will be when we move out to 183rd street).
In small groups, we can grow through homes.
Why life groups in homes?
They promote fellowship. Put a guy in a classroom on Sunday morning in a suit and tie for Bible Study, and he won’t say a word.
But you put him in a Bible study in a home on a sofa on a Friday night with a cup of coffee in his hand, and he’ll talk his head off. Why? That home environment is relaxing.
They are unlimited geographically. If we have people attending services that live far away, they can’t be all that involved in our church.
But they can be a part of a small group in their neighborhood. We can have small groups across a wide spectrum of geography.
4. We must continue to be faithful in our giving.
Again, we go to Acts 2, which tells us in verse 45, "Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need."
Let's don't miss the point of that verse. No one is asking anyone to sell their possession and goods. But let's all continue to be faithful with our tithes, our giving to missions and giving to the building fund.
As our national economy continues to struggle, we know that God can work miracles in the coming year! I encourage all of us to allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us in this area. Thank you for your faithfulness!
We need you!
I could say a lot more - but for today - this is enough.
May God bless us as we endeavor to build His Kingdom!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
A White Elephant Christmas
Every year at our deacon/elder/staff Christmas dinner we have a "white elephant" gift exchange.
It is always a lot of fun - this year's exceptionally so.
One disclaimer: I walked away with two, real, authentic, "raggedy Ann" dolls, which I will promptly give to my granddaughter when I see her.
I came across something today that is challenging, especially during this Christmas season.
The bottom line: We must continue to put Christ first this Christmas.
By now, if you are like me, you have reach that stage of "Holiday Exhaustion" that leaves you sitting in a dimly lit room with drool running down the side of your face," mumbling, "when is it ever going to end, when is it ever going to end."
I exaggerate (for those of you who need that disclaimer) to make a point.
No matter how hard I try to focus on Christ, it is easy to get distracted.
Let me give you this quote from Pastor John Huffman:
"One year we hosted the annual church staff Christmas luncheon at our home. We exchanged "white elephant" gifts, laughing until something stopped all of our fun.
The tenth or so person to pick a gift lifted from a gift bag a little baby Jesus in a manger. My wife, Anne, was stunned when she saw it. It looked just like the central figure in the nativity scene that was on our living room table.
She left the room to check our nativity set, and sure enough, the baby Jesus figurine was missing. Somehow it had fallen off the table and into the gift bag on top of the tissue paper in which the real gift was wrapped. We all had a good laugh and returned Jesus to the nativity scene.
The more I thought about it, though, this little incident was quite telling. So often Jesus is swept off center stage in all of our Christmas festivities, relegated to a kind of "white elephant" status. How sad, when he is so central!"
Just a thought for a Tuesday....
It is always a lot of fun - this year's exceptionally so.
One disclaimer: I walked away with two, real, authentic, "raggedy Ann" dolls, which I will promptly give to my granddaughter when I see her.
I came across something today that is challenging, especially during this Christmas season.
The bottom line: We must continue to put Christ first this Christmas.
By now, if you are like me, you have reach that stage of "Holiday Exhaustion" that leaves you sitting in a dimly lit room with drool running down the side of your face," mumbling, "when is it ever going to end, when is it ever going to end."
I exaggerate (for those of you who need that disclaimer) to make a point.
No matter how hard I try to focus on Christ, it is easy to get distracted.
Let me give you this quote from Pastor John Huffman:
"One year we hosted the annual church staff Christmas luncheon at our home. We exchanged "white elephant" gifts, laughing until something stopped all of our fun.
The tenth or so person to pick a gift lifted from a gift bag a little baby Jesus in a manger. My wife, Anne, was stunned when she saw it. It looked just like the central figure in the nativity scene that was on our living room table.
She left the room to check our nativity set, and sure enough, the baby Jesus figurine was missing. Somehow it had fallen off the table and into the gift bag on top of the tissue paper in which the real gift was wrapped. We all had a good laugh and returned Jesus to the nativity scene.
The more I thought about it, though, this little incident was quite telling. So often Jesus is swept off center stage in all of our Christmas festivities, relegated to a kind of "white elephant" status. How sad, when he is so central!"
Just a thought for a Tuesday....
Monday, December 14, 2009
Thoughts from the weekend
Thoughts from the weekend:
I was very grateful and pleased at the response of our youth leaders yesterday, as we met and dialogued about next year.
Each one is "stepping up" to the plate to help us out.
Making sure that ministry continues to our youth group is a top priority of mine - I am in continual prayer for their spiritual, emotional and relational well-being.
I am also pleased to announce that Mike and Christine Trevino will be our "fill in" youth pastors until God leads us to another one.
Mike and Christine come to us with rich background of ministry experience, having served the last few years as the head of "Youth Alive" for the district.
They are just a great couple, full of love for God and for people. They have one son, Elijah, who is almost a year old.
I thought it was interesting the way that the Lord moved at the end of the second service yesterday.
We were worshipping God - and all of a sudden I felt led to lead us in a moment of quietness before God. God gave us a word - "Everything is going to be okay."
It was a "Be still and know that I am God" type moment.
In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus decides to visit the home of a woman named Martha. When he arrives, he finds Martha distracted by all the tasks that come with being the host.
Despite her harried efforts, it is the posture of her sister, Mary, that Jesus praises. With little concern for a successful social event, Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus as he teaches those who have gathered for the meal.
As the story comes to a close, Jesus says it is Mary who "has chosen what is better."
Though at first glance this doesn't appear to be a story we should look at during the Advent and Christmas seasons, but writer Mayo Mathers thinks otherwise.
In an article for Kyria.com, an on-line resource for Christian women, she confesses that hosting parties, cooking up delicious buffets, and shopping for gifts brings out the "Martha" in her.
She had never given this much thought until she attended her church's annual Christmas pageant.
She writes of her breakthrough moment:
As I sat in the candlelit sanctuary absentmindedly listening to the peaceful strains of "Silent Night," I wrestled mentally with a list of things to be done. When the congregation stood to sing carols, my lips moved unconsciously to the words while my brain mulled over various menus for our annual Christmas Eve buffet.
As in every Christmas pageant, the usual parade of bathrobe-draped children marched down the center aisle. A pseudo-weary Mary and Joseph shook their heads in dismay as the innkeeper turned them away. Having watched so many similar renditions of the Christmas story, it had become commonplace to me.
Realizing this, I felt a stab of guilt and bowed my head. Father, I prayed, let me see the story through your eyes tonight.
The young girl portraying Mary began to sing a lullaby to the child in her arms. Her voice was so pure, so full of love and awe, that I stared at her, transfixed, my distracted musings forgotten.
Suddenly, it was as if the congregation had disappeared as if I had been transported back in time to the actual stable in Bethlehem.
As I listened to her song, wonder and immense gratitude settled upon me. Into my heart God whispered, If ever there was a time to worship me, it's now! This season is about me only, but each year you crowd me out with the inconsequential!
Mathers closes her article with these words: "Beautiful, delicious dinners are nice. 'Just right' gifts are delightful. But I'm learning that only one thing really matters: while I tend to be more like Martha, at Christmas, 'tis the season to be 'Mary!'"
What a great Word in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.
I love our church. I love the people in our church. And...I am thankful for the way that god is beginning to move in our services.
Debbie did a great job last night in putting up our Christmas decorations in our house. They look magnificent. George comes home tomorrow evening, Becky on Christmas Eve. Andrew, Christie and Georgia are spending Christmas this year with Andrew's parents.
The Dallas Cowboys..what can I say. They lost again in December. I am beginning to believe that they can't win when "crunch time" comes.
I think that teams take on the personality of their coach, and it is showing as there seems to be a lack of a will to win when the game is "on the line."
And now, the New Orleans Saints are next. They are undefeated, and Dallas will be playing them in New Orleans.
Not good.
I was very grateful and pleased at the response of our youth leaders yesterday, as we met and dialogued about next year.
Each one is "stepping up" to the plate to help us out.
Making sure that ministry continues to our youth group is a top priority of mine - I am in continual prayer for their spiritual, emotional and relational well-being.
I am also pleased to announce that Mike and Christine Trevino will be our "fill in" youth pastors until God leads us to another one.
Mike and Christine come to us with rich background of ministry experience, having served the last few years as the head of "Youth Alive" for the district.
They are just a great couple, full of love for God and for people. They have one son, Elijah, who is almost a year old.
I thought it was interesting the way that the Lord moved at the end of the second service yesterday.
We were worshipping God - and all of a sudden I felt led to lead us in a moment of quietness before God. God gave us a word - "Everything is going to be okay."
It was a "Be still and know that I am God" type moment.
In Luke 10:38-42, Jesus decides to visit the home of a woman named Martha. When he arrives, he finds Martha distracted by all the tasks that come with being the host.
Despite her harried efforts, it is the posture of her sister, Mary, that Jesus praises. With little concern for a successful social event, Mary chooses to sit at the feet of Jesus as he teaches those who have gathered for the meal.
As the story comes to a close, Jesus says it is Mary who "has chosen what is better."
Though at first glance this doesn't appear to be a story we should look at during the Advent and Christmas seasons, but writer Mayo Mathers thinks otherwise.
In an article for Kyria.com, an on-line resource for Christian women, she confesses that hosting parties, cooking up delicious buffets, and shopping for gifts brings out the "Martha" in her.
She had never given this much thought until she attended her church's annual Christmas pageant.
She writes of her breakthrough moment:
As I sat in the candlelit sanctuary absentmindedly listening to the peaceful strains of "Silent Night," I wrestled mentally with a list of things to be done. When the congregation stood to sing carols, my lips moved unconsciously to the words while my brain mulled over various menus for our annual Christmas Eve buffet.
As in every Christmas pageant, the usual parade of bathrobe-draped children marched down the center aisle. A pseudo-weary Mary and Joseph shook their heads in dismay as the innkeeper turned them away. Having watched so many similar renditions of the Christmas story, it had become commonplace to me.
Realizing this, I felt a stab of guilt and bowed my head. Father, I prayed, let me see the story through your eyes tonight.
The young girl portraying Mary began to sing a lullaby to the child in her arms. Her voice was so pure, so full of love and awe, that I stared at her, transfixed, my distracted musings forgotten.
Suddenly, it was as if the congregation had disappeared as if I had been transported back in time to the actual stable in Bethlehem.
As I listened to her song, wonder and immense gratitude settled upon me. Into my heart God whispered, If ever there was a time to worship me, it's now! This season is about me only, but each year you crowd me out with the inconsequential!
Mathers closes her article with these words: "Beautiful, delicious dinners are nice. 'Just right' gifts are delightful. But I'm learning that only one thing really matters: while I tend to be more like Martha, at Christmas, 'tis the season to be 'Mary!'"
What a great Word in the midst of all of the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.
I love our church. I love the people in our church. And...I am thankful for the way that god is beginning to move in our services.
Debbie did a great job last night in putting up our Christmas decorations in our house. They look magnificent. George comes home tomorrow evening, Becky on Christmas Eve. Andrew, Christie and Georgia are spending Christmas this year with Andrew's parents.
The Dallas Cowboys..what can I say. They lost again in December. I am beginning to believe that they can't win when "crunch time" comes.
I think that teams take on the personality of their coach, and it is showing as there seems to be a lack of a will to win when the game is "on the line."
And now, the New Orleans Saints are next. They are undefeated, and Dallas will be playing them in New Orleans.
Not good.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Waiting at Christmas
This Sunday, my message is entitled, "Waiting for Christ at Christmas." It's going to be fun looking at the subject of waiting.
I would submit to you that no one, I mean no one, like to wait. And waiting is difficult for us, particularly at this time of the year. You go to the supermarket and the lines are longer than normal, and you have to wait. You go to the mall and the stores are filled and you have to wait.
Then there is Christmas morning (or Christmas Eve depending upon your tradition) where the kids are waiting for their gifts. Yet it is not just kids that are impatient, how many adults sneak over in the days before Christmas, pick up their gift and shake it a little bit?
I am not a patient person. I guess I have come to terms with that and am comfortable enough with myself to say that.
I don't like to wait.
Have you ever felt that a driver was really slow in pulling out of a parking space for which you were waiting? It turns out your imagination may not be playing tricks on you. A recent study of 400 drivers in a shopping mall found that drivers took longer to pull out of a space if someone was waiting than if nobody was waiting there to claim the space.
On average, if nobody was waiting for the space, drivers took 32.2 seconds to pull out of a spot after opening a car door. If someone was waiting, drivers took about 39 seconds. And woe to the person who honks to hurry a driver: drivers took 43 seconds to pull out of a space when the waiting driver honked!
I like the true story (told by Paul Harvey) of a woman in Hershey, Pennsylvania who had been patiently waiting for a parking space to open up (she was driving a Mercedes). The shopping mall was crowded.
The woman in the Mercedes zigzagged between rows - then up ahead she saw a man with a load of packages heading for his car.
She drove up, parked behind him and waited while he opened his trunk and loaded it with packages.
Finally, he got into his car and backed out of the parking space.
But before the woman in the Mercedes could drive into the parking space, a young man in a shiny new Corvette zipped past and around her and he pulled into the empty space, got out and started walking away.
"Hey!" shouted the woman in the Mercedes, "I've been waiting for that parking place!"
The young man replied, "Sorry, lady; that's how it is when you're young and quick."
At that instant she put her Mercedes in gear, floor-boarded it, crashed into and crushed the right rear fender and corner panel of the flashy new Corvette.
Now the young guy is dumping up and down shouting, "You can't do that!"
The lady in the Mercedes said, "That's how it is when you are old and rich!"
Here is what I know: "Waiting is not just the thing we have to do until we get what we hope for. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what we hope for."
God is doing something in us while we wait!
As a church family, we are waiting on our building to be finished.
We are now waiting on a new youth pastor.
But just as important as seeing the end result of moving out to 183rd street and bringing on a new pastoral staff member is what God wants to do in us while we wait.
Let's use this time to grow!
Let's use this time to draw closer to God!
And let me tell you - as we grow - it will be worth the wait.
I would submit to you that no one, I mean no one, like to wait. And waiting is difficult for us, particularly at this time of the year. You go to the supermarket and the lines are longer than normal, and you have to wait. You go to the mall and the stores are filled and you have to wait.
Then there is Christmas morning (or Christmas Eve depending upon your tradition) where the kids are waiting for their gifts. Yet it is not just kids that are impatient, how many adults sneak over in the days before Christmas, pick up their gift and shake it a little bit?
I am not a patient person. I guess I have come to terms with that and am comfortable enough with myself to say that.
I don't like to wait.
Have you ever felt that a driver was really slow in pulling out of a parking space for which you were waiting? It turns out your imagination may not be playing tricks on you. A recent study of 400 drivers in a shopping mall found that drivers took longer to pull out of a space if someone was waiting than if nobody was waiting there to claim the space.
On average, if nobody was waiting for the space, drivers took 32.2 seconds to pull out of a spot after opening a car door. If someone was waiting, drivers took about 39 seconds. And woe to the person who honks to hurry a driver: drivers took 43 seconds to pull out of a space when the waiting driver honked!
I like the true story (told by Paul Harvey) of a woman in Hershey, Pennsylvania who had been patiently waiting for a parking space to open up (she was driving a Mercedes). The shopping mall was crowded.
The woman in the Mercedes zigzagged between rows - then up ahead she saw a man with a load of packages heading for his car.
She drove up, parked behind him and waited while he opened his trunk and loaded it with packages.
Finally, he got into his car and backed out of the parking space.
But before the woman in the Mercedes could drive into the parking space, a young man in a shiny new Corvette zipped past and around her and he pulled into the empty space, got out and started walking away.
"Hey!" shouted the woman in the Mercedes, "I've been waiting for that parking place!"
The young man replied, "Sorry, lady; that's how it is when you're young and quick."
At that instant she put her Mercedes in gear, floor-boarded it, crashed into and crushed the right rear fender and corner panel of the flashy new Corvette.
Now the young guy is dumping up and down shouting, "You can't do that!"
The lady in the Mercedes said, "That's how it is when you are old and rich!"
Here is what I know: "Waiting is not just the thing we have to do until we get what we hope for. Waiting is part of the process of becoming what we hope for."
God is doing something in us while we wait!
As a church family, we are waiting on our building to be finished.
We are now waiting on a new youth pastor.
But just as important as seeing the end result of moving out to 183rd street and bringing on a new pastoral staff member is what God wants to do in us while we wait.
Let's use this time to grow!
Let's use this time to draw closer to God!
And let me tell you - as we grow - it will be worth the wait.
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Growing in the midst of impossible situations
There's a story told about Sir Edmund Hillary, who was the first person (along with Tenzing Norgay) to reach the top of Mount Everest.
It happened on his third try. On Hillary's previous attempt he not only failed to reach the summit, but his team also lost one of its members.
After their failed attempt, Hillary spoke to an audience about the experience. Behind him on the platform was a huge photograph of Everest. Hillary turned toward the photograph and said, "Mount Everest, you have defeated us. But I will return. And I will defeat you. Because you cannot get any bigger ... and I can."
That's a great story. As the old cliche goes, "whatever doesn't kill you helps you to grow."
What impossible mountain are you facing today?
I have several.
All I can do is to trust in God (and have faith) and know that He is in control.
And when I do that - I grow.
When it comes to facing mountains, do you know how we 'get bigger'?
It starts with faith. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
Edmund Hillary became "bigger than Everest" through better planning, more detailed research, greater teamwork, and tenacious perseverance. And it started with faith -- the faith that this mountain could be conquered.
No doubt you're facing a mountain or two today: a mountain of debt, a mountain of fear, a mountain of uncertainty. Mountains don't move without determined effort, thoughtful planning, or courageous perseverance.
And these things all begin with faith. It is faith that gives you the ability to attempt something bigger than yourself. Not faith in ourselves, but faith in the God for whom nothing is impossible.
It happened on his third try. On Hillary's previous attempt he not only failed to reach the summit, but his team also lost one of its members.
After their failed attempt, Hillary spoke to an audience about the experience. Behind him on the platform was a huge photograph of Everest. Hillary turned toward the photograph and said, "Mount Everest, you have defeated us. But I will return. And I will defeat you. Because you cannot get any bigger ... and I can."
That's a great story. As the old cliche goes, "whatever doesn't kill you helps you to grow."
What impossible mountain are you facing today?
I have several.
All I can do is to trust in God (and have faith) and know that He is in control.
And when I do that - I grow.
When it comes to facing mountains, do you know how we 'get bigger'?
It starts with faith. Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matthew 17:20)
Edmund Hillary became "bigger than Everest" through better planning, more detailed research, greater teamwork, and tenacious perseverance. And it started with faith -- the faith that this mountain could be conquered.
No doubt you're facing a mountain or two today: a mountain of debt, a mountain of fear, a mountain of uncertainty. Mountains don't move without determined effort, thoughtful planning, or courageous perseverance.
And these things all begin with faith. It is faith that gives you the ability to attempt something bigger than yourself. Not faith in ourselves, but faith in the God for whom nothing is impossible.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Looking at Christmas from God's persepctive
I have often wondered what God thought the day that Jesus was born. How did he feel, what emotions did he experience in sending his only son to walk this earth in a fleshly body.
What kind of "concerns" did God have?
It's an interesting question.
I came across this story today (and I quote):
"In a short devotional for Christmas, writer Paul Williams reflects on why he still remembers one particular Christmas pageant from 1981. It all starts with a strep-stricken son. He writes:
The dull eyes tipped me off before he could open his mouth. Jonathan had strep throat. It seemed the children in our family picked up strep two or three times a year, and someone always had it during the holidays.
Jonathan had been excited about the nursery school Christmas play for a couple of weeks. He would be Joseph. Mary would be played by a Jewish girl from down the block. Yes, her parents had given permission for her to be in the Christmas pageant.
With neck glands swollen and his voice a nasally whine, Jonathan begged to go to the festivities. Against our better judgment, we acquiesced.
Bundling our son in his warmest coat, we drove the five short miles to the Central Islip Church of Christ. By the time all the parents had squeezed into the small auditorium, Jonathan was as white as the pillowcase he was wearing as a head covering. He looked fragile and diminutive.
Cathy and I sat on the front row. Jonathan came down the aisle hand in hand with Mary, and the two sat down on the second step below the manger, recently retrieved from its usual home in the boiler room.
Jonathan was looking paler still, all the light out of his big blue eyes. He looked at us and managed a weak smile.
As soon as the play was over we hauled Jonathan off to the doctor's office. Since our family doctor was a friend, we sneaked in and out in no time. Filled with penicillin, our son was feeling better the next morning. I do not remember much about the rest of that Christmas season, though I am sure it was utterly delightful, as all Christmas celebrations are.
I have often pondered why that is my only remembrance of that Christmas, in December of 1981. Of all the memories of all our family Christmas experiences, what makes that one event stand out?
I know the reason.
Christmas is truly about frail vulnerability, freely chosen. With heart in throat God watched his infant Son cry and squirm in the cold manger, where there was no penicillin.
I know how I felt watching my son with his head resting in those small hands, wanting to be brave, but weak and unsteady. I can only imagine what my heavenly Father thought, seeing his infant Son in the hands of a frightened young girl."
Have you ever thought about what God thought about Christmas?
What kind of "concerns" did God have?
It's an interesting question.
I came across this story today (and I quote):
"In a short devotional for Christmas, writer Paul Williams reflects on why he still remembers one particular Christmas pageant from 1981. It all starts with a strep-stricken son. He writes:
The dull eyes tipped me off before he could open his mouth. Jonathan had strep throat. It seemed the children in our family picked up strep two or three times a year, and someone always had it during the holidays.
Jonathan had been excited about the nursery school Christmas play for a couple of weeks. He would be Joseph. Mary would be played by a Jewish girl from down the block. Yes, her parents had given permission for her to be in the Christmas pageant.
With neck glands swollen and his voice a nasally whine, Jonathan begged to go to the festivities. Against our better judgment, we acquiesced.
Bundling our son in his warmest coat, we drove the five short miles to the Central Islip Church of Christ. By the time all the parents had squeezed into the small auditorium, Jonathan was as white as the pillowcase he was wearing as a head covering. He looked fragile and diminutive.
Cathy and I sat on the front row. Jonathan came down the aisle hand in hand with Mary, and the two sat down on the second step below the manger, recently retrieved from its usual home in the boiler room.
Jonathan was looking paler still, all the light out of his big blue eyes. He looked at us and managed a weak smile.
As soon as the play was over we hauled Jonathan off to the doctor's office. Since our family doctor was a friend, we sneaked in and out in no time. Filled with penicillin, our son was feeling better the next morning. I do not remember much about the rest of that Christmas season, though I am sure it was utterly delightful, as all Christmas celebrations are.
I have often pondered why that is my only remembrance of that Christmas, in December of 1981. Of all the memories of all our family Christmas experiences, what makes that one event stand out?
I know the reason.
Christmas is truly about frail vulnerability, freely chosen. With heart in throat God watched his infant Son cry and squirm in the cold manger, where there was no penicillin.
I know how I felt watching my son with his head resting in those small hands, wanting to be brave, but weak and unsteady. I can only imagine what my heavenly Father thought, seeing his infant Son in the hands of a frightened young girl."
Have you ever thought about what God thought about Christmas?
Monday, December 07, 2009
Thoughts from the weekend
Well, a busy weekend...
Friday, Debbie and I went to visit Cecil Swanson (and Jeanette was there as well) at Christ hospital. We had a great visit and prayed together.
Cecil is having a heart catherisation today with a possible stint.
We then went to the Royal Ranger banquet and had a great time - I'm grateful for all of our leaders and their hard work and faithfulness!
Saturday was busy as well with the Saturday morning prayer time - it was great to hear Rick's testimony that after being laid off - God gave him a new job, created just for him - in 22 days (in this down economy that is a miracle).
Saturday evening, Debbie and I snuck away and saw "The Blind Side", a movie about a family in Memphis taking in a homeless high school young man, who is now in the pros playing football.
It is a wonderful movie (even though I am not a big Sandra Bullock fan) with a storyline of redemption, compassion and reaching out to those in need.
I love being surprised in movies that I go into with low expectations.
The movie showed that there is good in the world, there are people who desire to reach out and that it is a good thing to help those who are disavantaged.
Sunday morning....wow...a powerful move of God's spirit.
It's been eight years since I have felt God's presence as I did while praying for people after my sermon. Truly powerful.
And we continued to worship well into the second service as well.
I am grateful for God's moving. May he continue to move in our services?
Last night at life group - we had a wonderful time of prayer for needs, as well as eating Tom Janel's chili (thanks Tom, delicious stuff). We also brought canned good to give to our church food pantry and gave monies to give to needy families in our church.
Debbie and I love going to our life group - it's not only a lot of fun - but it is encouraging and helpful to us as well in our own lives.
Busy, busy, time!
Friday, Debbie and I went to visit Cecil Swanson (and Jeanette was there as well) at Christ hospital. We had a great visit and prayed together.
Cecil is having a heart catherisation today with a possible stint.
We then went to the Royal Ranger banquet and had a great time - I'm grateful for all of our leaders and their hard work and faithfulness!
Saturday was busy as well with the Saturday morning prayer time - it was great to hear Rick's testimony that after being laid off - God gave him a new job, created just for him - in 22 days (in this down economy that is a miracle).
Saturday evening, Debbie and I snuck away and saw "The Blind Side", a movie about a family in Memphis taking in a homeless high school young man, who is now in the pros playing football.
It is a wonderful movie (even though I am not a big Sandra Bullock fan) with a storyline of redemption, compassion and reaching out to those in need.
I love being surprised in movies that I go into with low expectations.
The movie showed that there is good in the world, there are people who desire to reach out and that it is a good thing to help those who are disavantaged.
Sunday morning....wow...a powerful move of God's spirit.
It's been eight years since I have felt God's presence as I did while praying for people after my sermon. Truly powerful.
And we continued to worship well into the second service as well.
I am grateful for God's moving. May he continue to move in our services?
Last night at life group - we had a wonderful time of prayer for needs, as well as eating Tom Janel's chili (thanks Tom, delicious stuff). We also brought canned good to give to our church food pantry and gave monies to give to needy families in our church.
Debbie and I love going to our life group - it's not only a lot of fun - but it is encouraging and helpful to us as well in our own lives.
Busy, busy, time!
Thursday, December 03, 2009
how to handle change
Coping with change
Change is difficult. Especially when it involves someone we love.
We are all going to miss Pastor Erik and Bethany as they leave to fulfill God's new calling upon their lives.
I know that in the new few weeks, you will want to join me in expressing your love to and for them.
Let's talk about how to handle change.
There are now over 2000 classified fears in the medical encyclopedia.
Many of them are well known but some you’ve probably never heard of. For instance: butterphobia – the fear of peanut butter sticking to the top of your mouth. That is a legitimate fear for some people. Or, Photophobia – the fear that you don’t ever look good in pictures.
Some fears we’re very familiar with and some are more obscure.
For instance, we all know about agoraphobia – which is the fear of open places. But, some of you don’t know about angoraphobia – which is the fear of soft, fuzzy sweaters. We all know about zoophobia, which is the fear of animals. But have you heard about Furbyphobia – the fear of weird talkative toys that are impossible to turn off? And how about the fear that you are going to spend too much on Christmas – that’s called ho-ho-ho-phobia.
Just kidding.
But all of us have this fear – and it’s a big one – the fear of change.
There are some changes that we love.
But when we lose a loved one, or get fired from a job, or experience some changes in other areas of our lives, we cry foul. There are so many changes that come into our lives that we don’t like.
We resent change: We don't like it; but we don't do anything about it. We just get upset. We seek for someone to blame. I mean, "How can Erik and Bethany leave us, surely something must be wrong." "Surely someone is to blame."
Well, if we are to blame anyone, it would be "God" for leading Erik and Bethany into another form of ministry.
We resist change: we fight it and oppose it.
We run from change: We go in the opposite direction.
What are the positive results of change?
1. It causes us to grow.
2. It takes us places we would never go.
3. Change gets us out of a rut
4. Change gives us a new sense of God's direction
Experts tell us that the most successful people (churches) are the ones who learn how to cope with change.
Change can cause frustration in our lives. Stress. Pressure
Change can cause fear in our lives. We wonder where we are going and that's scary.
Change can cause fatigue in our lives.
How do you deal with the fear of change?
Disclaimer: Most of the rest of my blog is a lengthy quote.
"There are at least three changes taking place in America that are causing a great deal of anxiety and tension today. Let's try to identify them and then look at what God has to say about some antidotes to help us cope with change.
1. Everything is moving faster.
The pace of life is speeding up. Progress, in general, always causes things to go faster.
If there is one one that defines our modern, technocratic age, it is acceleration.
We’ve become a quick-reflexed, channel-flipping, fast-forwarding people.
It's like the story of a man who was out in his front yard mowing his grass when he saw his neighbor come out of the house and head straight to the mailbox. He opened it, then slammed it shut, and stormed back into the house. A little later he came back out of the house and again went to the mailbox, opened it, and slammed it shut again.
A couple minutes later, he came out again, marched to the mailbox, opened it, and slammed it harder than ever. The neighbor was puzzled, so he went over to the man and said, “Is there something wrong?” To which he replied, “There certainly is. My stupid computer keeps saying, “You’ve got mail!”
Things are changing, aren’t they?
I read this week that King George of England wrote in his diary on July 4, 1776, “Nothing much happened today,” because it took weeks for him to discover that the colonies were in rebellion and there was a full fledged American revolution going on.
Today, King George would hear it instantly on CNN and be flooded by emails and "twits".
And everybody else would be aware of it, too.
Things are moving faster.
Everything is moving faster.
2. Every decision is getting complicated.
Even simple decisions are very complicated in our lives. There are a couple reasons for this.
One is that technology has connected everything. The world has gotten smaller. Things that happen on the other side of the world affect my life today.
But more than that, the real reason life has become complicated, is that we are being inundated with multiple choices.
Do you know that there are twelve different varieties of Edge shaving cream? There’s Normal Skin, Fragrance Free, Tough Beard, Regular, Skin Conditioning, Sensitive Skin, Menthol, Medicated, Extra Moisturizing, Extra Protection, Extra Refreshing, and Extra Soothing.
And, do you know what? No matter which one I buy, I still cut myself, get razor burn and miss whiskers when I shave!
There’s a third thing we’re seeing that’s causing great stress.
Not only is everything moving faster, and every decision getting more complicated, but also every value is being challenged.
3. Every value is being challenged.
We see this everywhere. Right is being called wrong. Wrong is being called right. There are people today that don’t even believe there is such a thing as right and wrong. Every value we have had in America is being challenged by some group in some way today. Political correctness has created all kinds of crazy ideas. We now live in a society where everything is plausible and nothing is certain.
Did you hear about the new web site where you can bid on which model you would like to be the mother of your children?
For an opening bid of $50,000 you can arrange things so that your child will hopefully look like a beautiful model when he or she grows up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want the personality and character traits of some of Hollywood’s finest to be evident in my children.
How are we supposed to live in this kind of environment? When things are getting faster and life is getting more frantic, when things are getting more complicated, and when all the values that have held families and society together are now thrown out the window, how in the world are we supposed to live?
Alvin Toffler, who wrote the best-selling book Future Shock says that when people go through rapid times of change they need what he calls, “islands of stability”. Those are things that do not change in your life.
God made human beings to be very adaptable and flexible. But, when everything is flying off the wall, coming unglued, and the hurricanes of change are blowing through our lives, we need to have something that does not change. As we face the 21st century and the new millennium, we’ve got to be able to say, “I know a lot of things are going to change around me, but I know these things for sure. I can count on this and this and this.”
Is there anything like that in the world? Are there any islands of stability? My guess is there are probably some things in your life that you thought were unchangeable two or three years ago but have already changed. And they weren’t reliable. Is there anything that never, ever changes?
The Bible says that there are three things that won’t change.
1. GOD’S LOVE NEVER CHANGES.
In Malachi 3:6, God says, “I, the Lord, do not change.” There’s a theological term for that called the immutability of God. That means He’s always been the same, He is the same right now, and He will always be the same. Why does God never change? Is it that He can’t? Is it that He doesn’t want to? Is it that He’s stuck in His ways? Why does God never change?
It’s because He’s perfect. And because God is perfect, He can’t get any better – and He can’t get any worse. If you’re perfect there is no reason to change, because you are perfect. So God says, “I never change.”
In Jeremiah 31:3, He says this “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” You were created as an object of God’s love. You were made to be loved by God. You want to know why you’re here on this earth? You were created to be loved by God. His love is continuous. It is everlasting. It is consistent. The Bible says that God is always unchanging in His love toward us.
That is such good news. Because while God is consistent, I an incredibly inconsistent. The Bible teaches that God loves me just as much on my good days as He does on my bad days. He loves me when I feel it and He loves me when I don’t feel it. He loves me when I think I’m close to Him and doing the right thing and He loves me when I’m not close to Him and I’m not doing the right thing. His love is not based on my performance. His love is based on His character.
It is consistent. It is continual. It is everlasting.
No matter what happens to you in the year 2000, or even tomorrow, there is one thing you can be sure of: God is not going to stop loving you. No matter what you go through, nothing is going to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 119:159 proclaims, “Your love never changes.” You can count on God no matter what happens in the new millennium, or even tomorrow, because God is never going to stop loving you.
The point is this: We always get into trouble when we doubt God’s love. Always. I never need to doubt His love for me. There are a lot of things I could worry about but I don’t have to worry about that one. No matter how I feel, no matter what I’ve done, or what I’ve thought, God’s love is based on His character.
Romans 8:38 is a marvelous verse. Listen to it in the Message translation: “Nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable or unthinkable -- absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love.”
That means you can go to bed tonight, confident of the fact that tomorrow morning when you get up God is not going to have changed His mind about you. You will never be loved by God any more than you are at this very moment. You will never be loved by God any less than you are at this very moment. God’s love never changes. That is something I can anchor my life to.
2. GOD’S WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE
In Isaiah 40:8 God says, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God shall stand forever.” It’s timeless, enduring, and eternal. It never withers; it’s always fresh. It doesn’t get stale. God’s Word is never out of date.
We believe God’s Word is eternal – it will guide us today and it will lead us into the new millennium.
Psalm 119:152 says, “Long ago I learned from Your statues that You established them to last forever.”
God’s Word will last forever because it is eternal. Jesus said it like this: “Heaven and earth will pass away but My word will never pass away.”
Did you catch the cover of a recent U.S. News and World Report? Alongside a dramatic painting of Adam and Eve, the title of the cover story asks, “Is the Bible True?” Based upon some new archaeological evidence, the article answers the question with a confident, “Yes!” Brothers and sisters, we have nothing to fear from scientific inquiry into the Bible. We should welcome it. Why? Because the Word of God is true and will never change.
When the American astronaut Alan Shepherd was getting ready to go up into space for the very first time, a reporter asked him “What are you depending on in this flight?” His answer is classic: “I’m depending upon the fact that God’s laws will not change.” Great answer.
These laws do not change because God’s Word does not change. What would happen if gravity worked every other day? Would that put a crimp in your lifestyle?
In the same way, God has established some moral and spiritual laws for the universe. God gives these parameters for our good. When we ignore these spiritual laws, we don’t break them – they break us. We get hurt. Every time I ignore God’s laws, I hurt myself. They’re there for my benefit. When I go against what God says, it causes stress. It causes worry. It causes guilt. It causes anger. It causes conflict in relationships.
God says to you and He says to me, “I want you to listen to My word.” Do you know what the most basic fundamental temptation is? It’s the temptation that Adam and Eve had and it’s the same one you have every single day of your life: the temptation to doubt God’s word. We hear it like this: “Did God really say, don’t do that?”
If Satan can get you to question God’s Word, you’re going to fall for anything.
Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:24: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Jesus is saying if you want to have a stable home, you’ve got to build it on an unchanging foundation. You’ve got to build on a rock.
The same is true for your life. If you want to build your life in a way that is solid and significant and handles the stress and the changes of the 21st century, you’d better build it on the truth of God’s Word, because it is bedrock. It is not going to change. Popular opinion is going to change, psychology books are going to change, what the talk radio hosts talk about is going to change. Everything else changes. But God’s Word does not. So if you want stability, build your life on God’s unchanging truth.
Here’s a secret stabilizer from personal experience: if you want to lower the stress and raise the confidence in your life, memorize scripture. That is probably the most significant habit that I can encourage you to develop in the 21st century. As you read the Bible and you find a verse that really speaks to you, take out a pen, write it down on a three by five card and memorize it.
Some of you say, “I can’t memorize.” Actually, we memorize what we’re interested in. I know guys who say they can’t memorize but they remember every baseball statistic for the last ten years.
3. GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE WILL NEVER CHANGE
That’s the third thing I can understand and know confidently. God’s purpose for my life will never change. 1 Samuel 15:29 teaches that: “God is not a man. He doesn’t change His mind.”
I’m really glad for that verse. Long before you were born, God planned you. And that plan has never changed. He created you for a purpose. You were made for a reason. If you are alive today, God has a purpose for your life.
Have you noticed that your plans often get changed? Why? There are at least two reasons: One, you can’t see the future. You don’t have foresight. You don’t have the perspective. None of us can know what’s going to happen tomorrow, much less ten years from now.
The other reason your plans often get changed is you don’t always have the means to pull them off. You may have a great plan, but you don’t have the time or you don’t have the money, or you don’t have the energy or intelligence or the opportunity or the power to pull it all off.
Contrast that with God. God never has to change His plans. Never. Why? Because God is all knowing – He’s omniscient. And God is all-powerful – He’s omnipotent. So God never has to change His plans. He already knows everything that’s going to happen and He already has the power to do anything He wants to do. So He doesn’t ever have to change His plans. His plan for you has never changed – and it never will.
Since God says, “I made you for a purpose and that plan doesn’t change,” that brings up three very important questions:
1. Can I miss God’s purpose for my life? Absolutely. Of course you can miss it. Millions and millions of people miss God’s purpose for their life all the time. You can miss it by neglect. You can miss God’s purpose for your life by arrogance – by doing your plan and not God’s (we learned about that last week). You can miss it by disobedience, by rebellion, and by laziness. You can live your entire life and never fulfill the reason you were actually put on this earth. That’s a tragedy, but God never forces His purpose on us. It’s a choice where you say, “Jesus Christ, I want You to be my Lord. I want to follow Your plan and purpose for my life.”
2. Can I get back on track after wasting years of my life? Absolutely. Psalm 33:11: “His plans endure forever. His purposes last eternally.” That means that no matter what has happened in your life to date, God’s purpose for your life has not changed because He’s unchanging. His purposes never change. Some of you may say, “But you don’t know about that moral blowout I had three years ago or ten years ago. You don’t know about that sin, that stupid decision I made where I took the wrong turn in life and wasted ten or twenty years or more. You don’t know.” I say this: Regardless of what has happened in your life up to this point – God has not given up on you. And He never will. No matter what’s happened.
Let the truth of Proverbs 19:21 penetrate your life: “You can make many plans but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”
That brings up the third question:
3. What about all those dumb things I’ve done? What about all those stupid decisions and bad choices? Those things that I regret and wish had never happened and I’d like to go back and do over?
Romans 8:28: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose.” We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. It doesn’t say in some things. It doesn’t say in the good things. It says in all things.
It does not say that all things are good. No, not all things are good. There is a lot of evil and heartache in the world. I’ve experienced some of it and so have you. It says in all things God works for good. He can take evil and tragedies and turn them around and bring good out of them. He loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections.
The Bible says, in all things God works for the good. For everyone? No, this is not a promise for everybody in the whole world. It is a promise for those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose. Only when you say, “Jesus Christ, I want to be Yours. I want to take all the pieces of my life and let You give me Your peace for my pieces. I want to give You all this.”
Think about the biggest disappointment or hurt you’ve ever had. Or think about the thing you regret most in your life. Think about the dumbest thing you’ve ever done, your most unwise choice. Think about the most hurtful thing somebody else has done to you.
God saw it all before it ever happened. And He has found a way to weave it into His plan and purpose for your good, for your growth, and for His glory. What a God! He is good – all the time. No matter what you’ve gone through, whether it was your fault or somebody else’s. God can use it for good if you give Him the pieces.
What are you afraid of? When you think about the future, what’s your stomach in a knot about? When you think about the changes that are coming in your life, what is it that causes your back muscles and neck to tense up, or your face to feel flushed, or your mouth to go dry, because you wonder, “I don’t know if I can handle this or not.”
Regardless of what it is that’s got you stressed out this morning, why don’t you do what David did in Psalm 56:11: “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” Why should I be afraid? I trust in God. Then he says this, “God is our refuge and strength, a tested help [He’s proven reliable] in times of trouble. And so we need not fear even if the world blows up [or Y2K causes some problems] and the mountains crumble into the sea.” The truth is I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what the next millennium holds and either do you.
But I do know three things. And I know if I build my life on these three unchangeable facts, on these three islands of stability, I can handle enormous stress and change in my life.
I know this:
• God will never stop loving me, even when I feel unlovable.
• God’s Word is always true. It may not make sense. It may seem unreasonable and unpopular, but it is always the truth.
• God’s purposes are greater than my problems.
Any time I start doubting these things – these three grand truths – I get myself in trouble. When I start doubting God’s love, I start disobeying Him. When I start doubting God’s Word, I tend to do my own thing. When I begin doubting that God has a purpose, I start saying “Why are all these problems happening to me? Why me? What’s going on?” And I start doubting that God really is in control.
So if you want to face the future confidently and cope victoriously with change, all you need to do is respond. You see, it’s not automatic. God offers us stability, but we must respond in order to activate His power in our lives.
3 Responses:
• Accept God’s love
• Believe God’s Word
• Commit to God’s purpose
Can you pray with me, "Dear God, I realize there are many things in my life that are beyond my control. You know that sometimes I have a difficult time adjusting to all the difficult changes around me. I need Your stability in my life, Jesus. I want to start focusing on the things that will never change. Thank You that You will never stop loving me. Thank You so much. Today I accept Your love through Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your unchanging word. Help me to learn it and live by it. Thank You for making me for a purpose. In this next year, I want to get to know You better and Your plan for my life. I ask You to forgive me for the years that I’ve wasted, but I want to get back on track today. I open up my life to You, dear Lord. Come in and take control."
Good stuff
Change is difficult. Especially when it involves someone we love.
We are all going to miss Pastor Erik and Bethany as they leave to fulfill God's new calling upon their lives.
I know that in the new few weeks, you will want to join me in expressing your love to and for them.
Let's talk about how to handle change.
There are now over 2000 classified fears in the medical encyclopedia.
Many of them are well known but some you’ve probably never heard of. For instance: butterphobia – the fear of peanut butter sticking to the top of your mouth. That is a legitimate fear for some people. Or, Photophobia – the fear that you don’t ever look good in pictures.
Some fears we’re very familiar with and some are more obscure.
For instance, we all know about agoraphobia – which is the fear of open places. But, some of you don’t know about angoraphobia – which is the fear of soft, fuzzy sweaters. We all know about zoophobia, which is the fear of animals. But have you heard about Furbyphobia – the fear of weird talkative toys that are impossible to turn off? And how about the fear that you are going to spend too much on Christmas – that’s called ho-ho-ho-phobia.
Just kidding.
But all of us have this fear – and it’s a big one – the fear of change.
There are some changes that we love.
But when we lose a loved one, or get fired from a job, or experience some changes in other areas of our lives, we cry foul. There are so many changes that come into our lives that we don’t like.
We resent change: We don't like it; but we don't do anything about it. We just get upset. We seek for someone to blame. I mean, "How can Erik and Bethany leave us, surely something must be wrong." "Surely someone is to blame."
Well, if we are to blame anyone, it would be "God" for leading Erik and Bethany into another form of ministry.
We resist change: we fight it and oppose it.
We run from change: We go in the opposite direction.
What are the positive results of change?
1. It causes us to grow.
2. It takes us places we would never go.
3. Change gets us out of a rut
4. Change gives us a new sense of God's direction
Experts tell us that the most successful people (churches) are the ones who learn how to cope with change.
Change can cause frustration in our lives. Stress. Pressure
Change can cause fear in our lives. We wonder where we are going and that's scary.
Change can cause fatigue in our lives.
How do you deal with the fear of change?
Disclaimer: Most of the rest of my blog is a lengthy quote.
"There are at least three changes taking place in America that are causing a great deal of anxiety and tension today. Let's try to identify them and then look at what God has to say about some antidotes to help us cope with change.
1. Everything is moving faster.
The pace of life is speeding up. Progress, in general, always causes things to go faster.
If there is one one that defines our modern, technocratic age, it is acceleration.
We’ve become a quick-reflexed, channel-flipping, fast-forwarding people.
It's like the story of a man who was out in his front yard mowing his grass when he saw his neighbor come out of the house and head straight to the mailbox. He opened it, then slammed it shut, and stormed back into the house. A little later he came back out of the house and again went to the mailbox, opened it, and slammed it shut again.
A couple minutes later, he came out again, marched to the mailbox, opened it, and slammed it harder than ever. The neighbor was puzzled, so he went over to the man and said, “Is there something wrong?” To which he replied, “There certainly is. My stupid computer keeps saying, “You’ve got mail!”
Things are changing, aren’t they?
I read this week that King George of England wrote in his diary on July 4, 1776, “Nothing much happened today,” because it took weeks for him to discover that the colonies were in rebellion and there was a full fledged American revolution going on.
Today, King George would hear it instantly on CNN and be flooded by emails and "twits".
And everybody else would be aware of it, too.
Things are moving faster.
Everything is moving faster.
2. Every decision is getting complicated.
Even simple decisions are very complicated in our lives. There are a couple reasons for this.
One is that technology has connected everything. The world has gotten smaller. Things that happen on the other side of the world affect my life today.
But more than that, the real reason life has become complicated, is that we are being inundated with multiple choices.
Do you know that there are twelve different varieties of Edge shaving cream? There’s Normal Skin, Fragrance Free, Tough Beard, Regular, Skin Conditioning, Sensitive Skin, Menthol, Medicated, Extra Moisturizing, Extra Protection, Extra Refreshing, and Extra Soothing.
And, do you know what? No matter which one I buy, I still cut myself, get razor burn and miss whiskers when I shave!
There’s a third thing we’re seeing that’s causing great stress.
Not only is everything moving faster, and every decision getting more complicated, but also every value is being challenged.
3. Every value is being challenged.
We see this everywhere. Right is being called wrong. Wrong is being called right. There are people today that don’t even believe there is such a thing as right and wrong. Every value we have had in America is being challenged by some group in some way today. Political correctness has created all kinds of crazy ideas. We now live in a society where everything is plausible and nothing is certain.
Did you hear about the new web site where you can bid on which model you would like to be the mother of your children?
For an opening bid of $50,000 you can arrange things so that your child will hopefully look like a beautiful model when he or she grows up. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I’d want the personality and character traits of some of Hollywood’s finest to be evident in my children.
How are we supposed to live in this kind of environment? When things are getting faster and life is getting more frantic, when things are getting more complicated, and when all the values that have held families and society together are now thrown out the window, how in the world are we supposed to live?
Alvin Toffler, who wrote the best-selling book Future Shock says that when people go through rapid times of change they need what he calls, “islands of stability”. Those are things that do not change in your life.
God made human beings to be very adaptable and flexible. But, when everything is flying off the wall, coming unglued, and the hurricanes of change are blowing through our lives, we need to have something that does not change. As we face the 21st century and the new millennium, we’ve got to be able to say, “I know a lot of things are going to change around me, but I know these things for sure. I can count on this and this and this.”
Is there anything like that in the world? Are there any islands of stability? My guess is there are probably some things in your life that you thought were unchangeable two or three years ago but have already changed. And they weren’t reliable. Is there anything that never, ever changes?
The Bible says that there are three things that won’t change.
1. GOD’S LOVE NEVER CHANGES.
In Malachi 3:6, God says, “I, the Lord, do not change.” There’s a theological term for that called the immutability of God. That means He’s always been the same, He is the same right now, and He will always be the same. Why does God never change? Is it that He can’t? Is it that He doesn’t want to? Is it that He’s stuck in His ways? Why does God never change?
It’s because He’s perfect. And because God is perfect, He can’t get any better – and He can’t get any worse. If you’re perfect there is no reason to change, because you are perfect. So God says, “I never change.”
In Jeremiah 31:3, He says this “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” You were created as an object of God’s love. You were made to be loved by God. You want to know why you’re here on this earth? You were created to be loved by God. His love is continuous. It is everlasting. It is consistent. The Bible says that God is always unchanging in His love toward us.
That is such good news. Because while God is consistent, I an incredibly inconsistent. The Bible teaches that God loves me just as much on my good days as He does on my bad days. He loves me when I feel it and He loves me when I don’t feel it. He loves me when I think I’m close to Him and doing the right thing and He loves me when I’m not close to Him and I’m not doing the right thing. His love is not based on my performance. His love is based on His character.
It is consistent. It is continual. It is everlasting.
No matter what happens to you in the year 2000, or even tomorrow, there is one thing you can be sure of: God is not going to stop loving you. No matter what you go through, nothing is going to separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Psalm 119:159 proclaims, “Your love never changes.” You can count on God no matter what happens in the new millennium, or even tomorrow, because God is never going to stop loving you.
The point is this: We always get into trouble when we doubt God’s love. Always. I never need to doubt His love for me. There are a lot of things I could worry about but I don’t have to worry about that one. No matter how I feel, no matter what I’ve done, or what I’ve thought, God’s love is based on His character.
Romans 8:38 is a marvelous verse. Listen to it in the Message translation: “Nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, thinkable or unthinkable -- absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love.”
That means you can go to bed tonight, confident of the fact that tomorrow morning when you get up God is not going to have changed His mind about you. You will never be loved by God any more than you are at this very moment. You will never be loved by God any less than you are at this very moment. God’s love never changes. That is something I can anchor my life to.
2. GOD’S WORD WILL NEVER CHANGE
In Isaiah 40:8 God says, “The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the Word of our God shall stand forever.” It’s timeless, enduring, and eternal. It never withers; it’s always fresh. It doesn’t get stale. God’s Word is never out of date.
We believe God’s Word is eternal – it will guide us today and it will lead us into the new millennium.
Psalm 119:152 says, “Long ago I learned from Your statues that You established them to last forever.”
God’s Word will last forever because it is eternal. Jesus said it like this: “Heaven and earth will pass away but My word will never pass away.”
Did you catch the cover of a recent U.S. News and World Report? Alongside a dramatic painting of Adam and Eve, the title of the cover story asks, “Is the Bible True?” Based upon some new archaeological evidence, the article answers the question with a confident, “Yes!” Brothers and sisters, we have nothing to fear from scientific inquiry into the Bible. We should welcome it. Why? Because the Word of God is true and will never change.
When the American astronaut Alan Shepherd was getting ready to go up into space for the very first time, a reporter asked him “What are you depending on in this flight?” His answer is classic: “I’m depending upon the fact that God’s laws will not change.” Great answer.
These laws do not change because God’s Word does not change. What would happen if gravity worked every other day? Would that put a crimp in your lifestyle?
In the same way, God has established some moral and spiritual laws for the universe. God gives these parameters for our good. When we ignore these spiritual laws, we don’t break them – they break us. We get hurt. Every time I ignore God’s laws, I hurt myself. They’re there for my benefit. When I go against what God says, it causes stress. It causes worry. It causes guilt. It causes anger. It causes conflict in relationships.
God says to you and He says to me, “I want you to listen to My word.” Do you know what the most basic fundamental temptation is? It’s the temptation that Adam and Eve had and it’s the same one you have every single day of your life: the temptation to doubt God’s word. We hear it like this: “Did God really say, don’t do that?”
If Satan can get you to question God’s Word, you’re going to fall for anything.
Listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 5:24: “Everyone who hears these words of Mine and puts them into practice, is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Jesus is saying if you want to have a stable home, you’ve got to build it on an unchanging foundation. You’ve got to build on a rock.
The same is true for your life. If you want to build your life in a way that is solid and significant and handles the stress and the changes of the 21st century, you’d better build it on the truth of God’s Word, because it is bedrock. It is not going to change. Popular opinion is going to change, psychology books are going to change, what the talk radio hosts talk about is going to change. Everything else changes. But God’s Word does not. So if you want stability, build your life on God’s unchanging truth.
Here’s a secret stabilizer from personal experience: if you want to lower the stress and raise the confidence in your life, memorize scripture. That is probably the most significant habit that I can encourage you to develop in the 21st century. As you read the Bible and you find a verse that really speaks to you, take out a pen, write it down on a three by five card and memorize it.
Some of you say, “I can’t memorize.” Actually, we memorize what we’re interested in. I know guys who say they can’t memorize but they remember every baseball statistic for the last ten years.
3. GOD’S PURPOSE FOR MY LIFE WILL NEVER CHANGE
That’s the third thing I can understand and know confidently. God’s purpose for my life will never change. 1 Samuel 15:29 teaches that: “God is not a man. He doesn’t change His mind.”
I’m really glad for that verse. Long before you were born, God planned you. And that plan has never changed. He created you for a purpose. You were made for a reason. If you are alive today, God has a purpose for your life.
Have you noticed that your plans often get changed? Why? There are at least two reasons: One, you can’t see the future. You don’t have foresight. You don’t have the perspective. None of us can know what’s going to happen tomorrow, much less ten years from now.
The other reason your plans often get changed is you don’t always have the means to pull them off. You may have a great plan, but you don’t have the time or you don’t have the money, or you don’t have the energy or intelligence or the opportunity or the power to pull it all off.
Contrast that with God. God never has to change His plans. Never. Why? Because God is all knowing – He’s omniscient. And God is all-powerful – He’s omnipotent. So God never has to change His plans. He already knows everything that’s going to happen and He already has the power to do anything He wants to do. So He doesn’t ever have to change His plans. His plan for you has never changed – and it never will.
Since God says, “I made you for a purpose and that plan doesn’t change,” that brings up three very important questions:
1. Can I miss God’s purpose for my life? Absolutely. Of course you can miss it. Millions and millions of people miss God’s purpose for their life all the time. You can miss it by neglect. You can miss God’s purpose for your life by arrogance – by doing your plan and not God’s (we learned about that last week). You can miss it by disobedience, by rebellion, and by laziness. You can live your entire life and never fulfill the reason you were actually put on this earth. That’s a tragedy, but God never forces His purpose on us. It’s a choice where you say, “Jesus Christ, I want You to be my Lord. I want to follow Your plan and purpose for my life.”
2. Can I get back on track after wasting years of my life? Absolutely. Psalm 33:11: “His plans endure forever. His purposes last eternally.” That means that no matter what has happened in your life to date, God’s purpose for your life has not changed because He’s unchanging. His purposes never change. Some of you may say, “But you don’t know about that moral blowout I had three years ago or ten years ago. You don’t know about that sin, that stupid decision I made where I took the wrong turn in life and wasted ten or twenty years or more. You don’t know.” I say this: Regardless of what has happened in your life up to this point – God has not given up on you. And He never will. No matter what’s happened.
Let the truth of Proverbs 19:21 penetrate your life: “You can make many plans but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”
That brings up the third question:
3. What about all those dumb things I’ve done? What about all those stupid decisions and bad choices? Those things that I regret and wish had never happened and I’d like to go back and do over?
Romans 8:28: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purpose.” We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. It doesn’t say in some things. It doesn’t say in the good things. It says in all things.
It does not say that all things are good. No, not all things are good. There is a lot of evil and heartache in the world. I’ve experienced some of it and so have you. It says in all things God works for good. He can take evil and tragedies and turn them around and bring good out of them. He loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections.
The Bible says, in all things God works for the good. For everyone? No, this is not a promise for everybody in the whole world. It is a promise for those who love Him, those who are called according to His purpose. Only when you say, “Jesus Christ, I want to be Yours. I want to take all the pieces of my life and let You give me Your peace for my pieces. I want to give You all this.”
Think about the biggest disappointment or hurt you’ve ever had. Or think about the thing you regret most in your life. Think about the dumbest thing you’ve ever done, your most unwise choice. Think about the most hurtful thing somebody else has done to you.
God saw it all before it ever happened. And He has found a way to weave it into His plan and purpose for your good, for your growth, and for His glory. What a God! He is good – all the time. No matter what you’ve gone through, whether it was your fault or somebody else’s. God can use it for good if you give Him the pieces.
What are you afraid of? When you think about the future, what’s your stomach in a knot about? When you think about the changes that are coming in your life, what is it that causes your back muscles and neck to tense up, or your face to feel flushed, or your mouth to go dry, because you wonder, “I don’t know if I can handle this or not.”
Regardless of what it is that’s got you stressed out this morning, why don’t you do what David did in Psalm 56:11: “I trust in God, so why should I be afraid?” Why should I be afraid? I trust in God. Then he says this, “God is our refuge and strength, a tested help [He’s proven reliable] in times of trouble. And so we need not fear even if the world blows up [or Y2K causes some problems] and the mountains crumble into the sea.” The truth is I don’t know what the future holds. I don’t know what the next millennium holds and either do you.
But I do know three things. And I know if I build my life on these three unchangeable facts, on these three islands of stability, I can handle enormous stress and change in my life.
I know this:
• God will never stop loving me, even when I feel unlovable.
• God’s Word is always true. It may not make sense. It may seem unreasonable and unpopular, but it is always the truth.
• God’s purposes are greater than my problems.
Any time I start doubting these things – these three grand truths – I get myself in trouble. When I start doubting God’s love, I start disobeying Him. When I start doubting God’s Word, I tend to do my own thing. When I begin doubting that God has a purpose, I start saying “Why are all these problems happening to me? Why me? What’s going on?” And I start doubting that God really is in control.
So if you want to face the future confidently and cope victoriously with change, all you need to do is respond. You see, it’s not automatic. God offers us stability, but we must respond in order to activate His power in our lives.
3 Responses:
• Accept God’s love
• Believe God’s Word
• Commit to God’s purpose
Can you pray with me, "Dear God, I realize there are many things in my life that are beyond my control. You know that sometimes I have a difficult time adjusting to all the difficult changes around me. I need Your stability in my life, Jesus. I want to start focusing on the things that will never change. Thank You that You will never stop loving me. Thank You so much. Today I accept Your love through Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your unchanging word. Help me to learn it and live by it. Thank You for making me for a purpose. In this next year, I want to get to know You better and Your plan for my life. I ask You to forgive me for the years that I’ve wasted, but I want to get back on track today. I open up my life to You, dear Lord. Come in and take control."
Good stuff
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Speaking (and singing) to demons
A while back, a friend and brother asked me, "should we be singing, 'Satan the blood of Jesus is against you' (A song from the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir). Should we be addressing Satan in song?
Great question.
A broader rephrasing of the question would be: Why do people speak directly to demons today and command them to leave, rather than just praying and asking God to drive the demons away. Isn't it safer just to pray to God about this?
Let's use this parallel.
In a way, this is similar to asking why Christians should share the gospel with another person rather than simply praying and asking God to reveal the Gospel to that person directly.
Or why should we speak words of encouragement to a Christian who is discouraged rather than just praying and asking God Himself to encourage that person directly?
Why should we speak a word of rebuke or gentle admonition to a Christian, whom we see involved in some kind of sin, rather than just praying and asking God to take care of the sin in that person's life?
The answer to all of these question is that in the kind of world God has created, He has given us an active role in carrying out His plans, especially His plans of advancing the Kingdom and building up the Church.
In all of these cases, our direct involvement and activity is important in addition to our prayers.
And so it seems to be in our dealing with demonic forces as well.
Take for instance one of your kids. They get into an argument at their school on the playground.
A wise father doesn't step in right away and settle all of their disputes. He let's them try to settle the disputes themselves.
In the same way God encourages us to enter directly into conflict with demonic forces, in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament pattern seems to be that God routinely expects us, as followers of Christ, to speak directly to the unclean spirits.
Jesus did this, as did his 70 disciples.
The 70 said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name?" (Luke 10:17)
Paul did this in speaking to the demon in the soothsaying girl at Philippi, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her." And the spirit left.
True, Satan is not to be the centerpiece of our worship, nor of our prayers. I completely concur.
But there are times when we are in the midst of a spiritual battle, and spiritual weapons must be used - to bring victory in His name.
Great question.
A broader rephrasing of the question would be: Why do people speak directly to demons today and command them to leave, rather than just praying and asking God to drive the demons away. Isn't it safer just to pray to God about this?
Let's use this parallel.
In a way, this is similar to asking why Christians should share the gospel with another person rather than simply praying and asking God to reveal the Gospel to that person directly.
Or why should we speak words of encouragement to a Christian who is discouraged rather than just praying and asking God Himself to encourage that person directly?
Why should we speak a word of rebuke or gentle admonition to a Christian, whom we see involved in some kind of sin, rather than just praying and asking God to take care of the sin in that person's life?
The answer to all of these question is that in the kind of world God has created, He has given us an active role in carrying out His plans, especially His plans of advancing the Kingdom and building up the Church.
In all of these cases, our direct involvement and activity is important in addition to our prayers.
And so it seems to be in our dealing with demonic forces as well.
Take for instance one of your kids. They get into an argument at their school on the playground.
A wise father doesn't step in right away and settle all of their disputes. He let's them try to settle the disputes themselves.
In the same way God encourages us to enter directly into conflict with demonic forces, in the name of Christ and by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The New Testament pattern seems to be that God routinely expects us, as followers of Christ, to speak directly to the unclean spirits.
Jesus did this, as did his 70 disciples.
The 70 said, "Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name?" (Luke 10:17)
Paul did this in speaking to the demon in the soothsaying girl at Philippi, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her." And the spirit left.
True, Satan is not to be the centerpiece of our worship, nor of our prayers. I completely concur.
But there are times when we are in the midst of a spiritual battle, and spiritual weapons must be used - to bring victory in His name.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
2012
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, I went with my son, George, and my son-in-law, Andrew to see the movie 2012.
The special effects were phenomenal. At times, you literally sat on the edge of your seat as people were trying to survive disaster after disaster - that was bringing on the end of the world.
(A disclaimer here: the rest of the movie was fairly horrendous. The acting was poor, the plot basically non-existent, outside of trying to survive. They tried to combine character development with a disaster flic theme. Tough to do.)
The movie is based on the premise that the end of the world will come on December 21, 2012 - which comes from the Mayan calendar predictions of years ago.
I sense a little uneasiness in our culture with this. Whether or not it is true or not (which I don't believe it is - many things have to happen according to biblical prophecy for it to happen that quickly) it is causing some to think about the end, about life and about death.
So much so that (and I quote):
"The studio (that made the movie 2012) also launched a viral marketing website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where film goers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction.
The fictitious website lists the Nibiru collision, a galactic alignment, and increased solar activity among its possible doomsday scenarios. David Morrison of NASA has received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine and has condemned it, saying "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end. I think when you lie on the Internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong."
People have always been particularly entranced by end-of-the-world scenarios - especially we Americans!
Perhaps that is because our own national history is so relatively short - or, perhaps it is because our roots are less deeply planted, making uprooting less intimidating - witness the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, a Protestant religious society commonly known as the Shakers; the Ebenezer Society, a group of seven (7) villages known as the "Amana Colonies" - consisting of radical German pietists who settled in the state of Iowa - also known as the "Community of True Inspiration;" and, the Millerites - followers of the American Baptist preacher, William Miller (1782 - 1849), credited with beginning the Advent Movement in North America, who publicly shared his belief that Jesus, the Christ, would return in 1843 - all of whom lived their entire lives preparing for the end!
Those individuals that jumped on the apocalyptic bandwagon were those who had the least to lose in the event of a widespread materialistic meltdown!
Recent immigrants, already uprooted, sometimes decided to send their hopes heavenward instead of seeking roots earthward! The poorest, the disenfranchised, those individuals pushed to the edges and margins of life because of their race, their education, their disabilities; or, just plain poverty have always been rich soil for the germination of apocalyptic angst - the feeling of anxiety, especially that accompanied by unhappiness!
From the ancient Mayans to the late Michel de Nostradame (1503 - 1566), better known as Nostradamus, to "Y2K" and now "2012," there has never been any shortage of end-of-the-world scenarios!
The predictions of a "nuclear winter" have been replaced by "global warming;" and, there is still a debate over whether the devastating climate changes will bring drought or floods to vast regions of the earth - however, the general agreement among all of these scenarios is "it’s gonna be bad!"
The grimness of our environmental condition is relentlessly apocalyptic! Technological breakthroughs - unaccompanied by spiritual breakthroughs - can be apologetic - however, their is no such thing as a happy ending apocalyptically speaking!
Apocalypticism is all about attitudes - and, it’s a bad attitude! That was the message from the "Sermon on the Mount," that Jesus, the Christ, preached - don’t dwell on the unknowable - don’t dwell on the uncontrollable - don’t dwell on the unfathomable!
As a follower of Jesus Christ, these kinds of predictions don't disconcert me at all.
I believe in life after death. Eternal life. Whenever I die, I live with God - forever.
I believe in the Bible. I believe that before the end of the world comes that Jesus Christ will come back for his church in what is called the "rapture."
As Christians, we will be caught up to be with the Lord - and then the end will come. 7 years of tribulation. Armageddon. The Second Coming.
Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knows no man, neither angels of Heaven nor the Son, but my Father.”
No one knows when the "end of the world" will come.
December 21, 2012 will definitely be an interesting day...and so will December 22, 2012 when the sun will rise and sat - just as it has being doing for over six billion years - give or take a few centuries.
The special effects were phenomenal. At times, you literally sat on the edge of your seat as people were trying to survive disaster after disaster - that was bringing on the end of the world.
(A disclaimer here: the rest of the movie was fairly horrendous. The acting was poor, the plot basically non-existent, outside of trying to survive. They tried to combine character development with a disaster flic theme. Tough to do.)
The movie is based on the premise that the end of the world will come on December 21, 2012 - which comes from the Mayan calendar predictions of years ago.
I sense a little uneasiness in our culture with this. Whether or not it is true or not (which I don't believe it is - many things have to happen according to biblical prophecy for it to happen that quickly) it is causing some to think about the end, about life and about death.
So much so that (and I quote):
"The studio (that made the movie 2012) also launched a viral marketing website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where film goers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction.
The fictitious website lists the Nibiru collision, a galactic alignment, and increased solar activity among its possible doomsday scenarios. David Morrison of NASA has received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine and has condemned it, saying "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end. I think when you lie on the Internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong."
People have always been particularly entranced by end-of-the-world scenarios - especially we Americans!
Perhaps that is because our own national history is so relatively short - or, perhaps it is because our roots are less deeply planted, making uprooting less intimidating - witness the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Coming, a Protestant religious society commonly known as the Shakers; the Ebenezer Society, a group of seven (7) villages known as the "Amana Colonies" - consisting of radical German pietists who settled in the state of Iowa - also known as the "Community of True Inspiration;" and, the Millerites - followers of the American Baptist preacher, William Miller (1782 - 1849), credited with beginning the Advent Movement in North America, who publicly shared his belief that Jesus, the Christ, would return in 1843 - all of whom lived their entire lives preparing for the end!
Those individuals that jumped on the apocalyptic bandwagon were those who had the least to lose in the event of a widespread materialistic meltdown!
Recent immigrants, already uprooted, sometimes decided to send their hopes heavenward instead of seeking roots earthward! The poorest, the disenfranchised, those individuals pushed to the edges and margins of life because of their race, their education, their disabilities; or, just plain poverty have always been rich soil for the germination of apocalyptic angst - the feeling of anxiety, especially that accompanied by unhappiness!
From the ancient Mayans to the late Michel de Nostradame (1503 - 1566), better known as Nostradamus, to "Y2K" and now "2012," there has never been any shortage of end-of-the-world scenarios!
The predictions of a "nuclear winter" have been replaced by "global warming;" and, there is still a debate over whether the devastating climate changes will bring drought or floods to vast regions of the earth - however, the general agreement among all of these scenarios is "it’s gonna be bad!"
The grimness of our environmental condition is relentlessly apocalyptic! Technological breakthroughs - unaccompanied by spiritual breakthroughs - can be apologetic - however, their is no such thing as a happy ending apocalyptically speaking!
Apocalypticism is all about attitudes - and, it’s a bad attitude! That was the message from the "Sermon on the Mount," that Jesus, the Christ, preached - don’t dwell on the unknowable - don’t dwell on the uncontrollable - don’t dwell on the unfathomable!
As a follower of Jesus Christ, these kinds of predictions don't disconcert me at all.
I believe in life after death. Eternal life. Whenever I die, I live with God - forever.
I believe in the Bible. I believe that before the end of the world comes that Jesus Christ will come back for his church in what is called the "rapture."
As Christians, we will be caught up to be with the Lord - and then the end will come. 7 years of tribulation. Armageddon. The Second Coming.
Jesus himself said in Matthew 24:36, “But of that day and hour knows no man, neither angels of Heaven nor the Son, but my Father.”
No one knows when the "end of the world" will come.
December 21, 2012 will definitely be an interesting day...and so will December 22, 2012 when the sun will rise and sat - just as it has being doing for over six billion years - give or take a few centuries.
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