Magnifies the Greatness of God

So many times we (and others) come to church with so much on our mind that there is no room for God. "What size does God appear to be when our mind is preoccupied with all the cares, worries, and concerns of life? Very small. But God is not small. He is great. Magnifying and cherishing His greatness is at the heart of biblical worship."

J.I. Packer writes,
"Today, vast stress is laid on the thought that God is personal, but this truth is so stated as to leave the impression that God is a person of the same sort as we are-weak, inadequate, ineffective, a little pathetic. But this is not the God of the Bible! Our personal life is a finite thing: it is limited in every direction, in space, in time, in knowledge, in power. But God is not so limited. He is eternal, infinite, and almighty. He has us in His hands; we never have Him in ours. Like us He is personal; but unlike us, He is great."

Our perspective of God changes all the time, depending on what we are focused on. It's like looking at the stars. Sometimes when you walk out at night you hardly notice them. They just look like little dots up on the skyline. One writer says they make the sky look like a back-lit canopy with holes punched in it. But when you look through a high-powered telescope, your entire perspective changes! You will see that they are actually massive balls of fire, millions of times larger than earth! Have the stars changed? Nope. Our vision has. Our job as worship leaders is to help people see God for who He is. Greatness personified.

In order to do that, we have to paint a specific (and accurate) picture of God. A puritan pastor wrote, "We must not allow ourselves to be satisfied with vague ideas of the love of Christ which present nothing of His glory to our minds." Vague ideas about God don't help anyone. "If our songs aren't specific about God's nature, character, and acts, we'll tend to associate worship with a style of music, a heightened emotional state, a type of architecture, a day of the week, a meeting, a reverent mood, a time of singing, or a sound. We'll think of all the things that accompany worship rather than the One we're worshiping. Worse, we'll create our own views of God, portraying Him as we like to think of Him." The problem here is that God has already told us who He is and what He is like. That is not something we get to decide.

So to magnify God's greatness we need to magnify His word, His nature, and His works.

"No matter what we do with lighting, video, sound, or drama, our purpose isn't coming up with the best video images, the hottest musical arrangements, or the most creative props. We want people to leave in awe that God would speak to us-encouraged by His promises, challenged by His commands, fearful of His warnings, and grateful for His blessings. We want them to see God's greatness in His word."

We could talk about the nature of God forever. The list of His amazing characteristics is endless! How can worship of God be boring? There is no limit to His holiness and glory, no end to His riches, wisdom, and righteousness. He holds everything together, He is the source of all goodness. How can we not love and praise Him!?

His works are astounding. The Psalms are full of praises about His works, our songs should be too! The greatest of His works has been sending Jesus to Calvary in our place. It is only through Jesus' blood that we can come near to God at all! "In the cross we find a perfect reconciling of God's blazing holiness, holy justice, incomprehensible wisdom, omnipotent power, and unfathomable love." There truly is no one like our God! That is the picture we need to paint when we are leading others in worship. That is why many of the most helpful books for worship leaders (such as yourselves) are not daily devotionals that bring God "down to our level," but deep theology books that stretch our understanding of who God is.

"Magnifying God's greatness begins with the proclamation of objective, biblical truths about God, but it ends with the expression of deep and holy affections toward God. We aren't simply reciting facts about God, like students reviewing their multiplication tables. God wants us to delight in Him. He is exalted when all our energies are directed to one end-being satisfied in who He is. 'The engagement of the heart in worship is the coming alive of feelings and emotions and affections of the heart,' John Piper writes. 'Where feelings for God are dead, worship is dead.'"

In other words, we need to have two components in our personal worship, and in the worship we lead others in. We need to have an intellectual knowledge and right understanding of God, and we need to have a strong emotional attachment to Him. Many times we lean one way or the other. We are either afraid people will think we are too emotional and so our worship becomes stiff and lifeless, or we want to show others how much we love God and our worship of Him gets lost in our emotional experience. God wants us to show emotions, but He wants our emotional response to come from a right knowledge of who He is and what He has done for us.

"Magnifying God's greatness, then, involves proclamation and passion. Our responsibility as worship leaders is to make sure that in both ways-biblical truth and strong affections-people have every opportunity to magnify and encounter our great and awesome God."

Enjoy the Journey

A Faithful Worship Leader

Worship has hit the big time. There are several worship projects in the top fifty Christian albums right now. Tomlin, Redman, Crowder, Hillsong, and others have become household names. They can influence the way we think about and the way we lead worship. "But the worship industry isn't the standard God has given us to determine our effectiveness. His Word is. And if we don't understand that distinction we could miss God's unique plan for our lives. We'll be tempted to surrender to discouragement. And we'll fail to see that God hasn't called us to be successful or popular-He's called us to be faithful.

Being faithful means that we allow God to define our ministry. We put His desires above our own and even above the desires of those in our congregation. Having a massive following does not mean that we are doing what we should be doing. The best worship leader I ever worked with, who I believe to be the best in the country, served at a church smaller than the one we are in right now. He never produced a CD, in fact we never (to my knowledge) did any songs he wrote! We need people in our lives to remind us that "leading worship on a best-selling worship project isn't a sure sign one way or the other that God is pleased with what we're doing. It just means a lot of people have bought our CD."

We need to choose who we emulate very carefully. Just because someone is popular doesn't mean that they are worth following, sometimes the opposite is true! We cannot judge our success by the number of people in our church either. "More people doesn't always mean we're pleasing God. It could just mean we're good at marketing." We will use the technology that we have to bring the message of Christ to people in our congregation, but the moment the technology becomes the message, we have lost the plot. Our goal is to "impress upon people the greatness of the Savior whose glory transcends our surroundings and technology."

Romans 12:8 says we should lead 'with zeal' (or diligence). "Leading people to praise God involves energy, intentionality, and thoughtfulness." We have to point everything to the glory of God, and when we do people will come away praising Him, not us, which is the whole point! "n order to do that we must faithfully paint a compelling, attractive, biblical picture of the Savior. God isn't hiding from us, waiting to see if we'll find the right combination to unlock His blessing. He is eager to work through us as we faithfully lead our church into a clearer understanding of His glory."

Another thing we have to remember is that being a faithful leader doesn't always get you commended, applauded or even appreciated. In fact, sometimes we will be criticized for doing what we believe is biblical because it takes people places they either haven't been or don't really want to go. We have to remember that being faithful to God means that we will be rewarded by God. Knowing that we are pleasing Him makes things so much easier (not easy, but easier). Our story, our journey as a church will be completely unique and we will do things that work here that wouldn't work other places. We are not trying to become 'just like' anyone else. "Our goal isn't success, popularity, or personal fulfillment. It's anticipating-by God's grace and for the glory of Jesus Christ-that we'll hear on that last day, 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'" I can't wait.

Enjoy the Journey

So What Does a Worship Leader Do?


As far as terminology goes, the term worship leader really hasn't been around that long. It only came into existence in the early 1970's. Sure there have been people leading singing and doing the things worship leaders do, but they've been called by other terms such as priest (in the Old Testament), music directors, song leaders, and many other titles. A worship leader is under a tremendous amount of pressure. Let's face it, many people pick a church based on whether or not they like the music. "Music in the church is important. But is it more important than solid biblical teaching that helps me grow in knowledge of God and obedience to His Word? In a word, no." I think that sometimes we make the worship leader more important than he/she really should be (and that's saying something considering I am one!).

There are a couple of reasons I think that. The main one is that people expect us to 'lead them into God's presence,' as if He isn't already here. It's like they think that since the music has started, God will show up. 'If you play it, He will come.' We are not 'musical high priests' who bring God near through our amazing abilities. Jesus is the only way to come into God's presence, and if He is in your life, God is always present.

The term worship leader can even be confusing. It can communicate (however unintentionally) that the only time we worship is when a musician is leading us, or that worship = singing. The truth is that anyone who encourages us to praise God is a worship leader. Yes worship can involve music, but it also involves listening to or preaching a sermon, giving, praying, and much more. Some aspects of the modern day worship leader's job are inferred in scripture, but we are by no means commanded to have one (this is getting dangerous huh?)!

"No matter how important we think the worship leader role is or isn't, every week those who lead congregational worship have significant opportunities to teach, train, and encourage God's people in praising Him rightly and living for His glory. In that sense worship leaders follow in the footsteps of Old Testament Levites who taught the Israelites what God required in worship and how they could faithfully follow Him."

So what is a worship leader and what do they do? Kauflin came up with a definition that is the basis for the remainder of the book, and I think it is a pretty good one. Check this out.

"A faithful worship leader magnifies the greatness of God in Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit by skillfully combining God's Word with music, thereby motivating the gathered church to proclaim the gospel, to cherish God's presence, and to live for God's glory."

Enjoy the Journey

My Life: What Do I Model?

When we start talking about the great worship leaders of the Bible, probably the first name we would mention would be David. I'm not sure we would even mention Paul's name. I mean after all just about the only singing he did was a hymn-sing that he lead in prison after getting a beating! So why even bring that up? Because Paul modeled how to be a worship leader with his life. He showed us how to live like a worship leader. "Leading worship starts with the way I live my life, not with what I do in public. It's inconceivable for us to see ourselves as worship leaders if we're not giving attention to what we do every day." You see it doesn't matter what we're doing. Glorifying Jesus should be our goal whether we are in our car or on the platform.

1 Timothy 4:12 says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in faith, in love, and in purity." We are supposed to be setting examples for people. Make no mistake about it, people are watching you, not only on Sunday but throughout the entire week. Too often as worship leaders we focus so much on how we act on Sunday and completely forget about the rest of the week!

But we have to set an example in our speech. "Every word we say has potential to either confirm our example of genuine worship or take away from it. If our words our foolish, sensual, or sinful during the week, it's hard for people to take us seriously when our mouths are suddenly filled with God's praise on Sunday morning." That doesn't mean that we can never joke around or talk about things that don't have anything to do with church or God. However scripture says that we will be held accountable for "every careless word" we say.

Worldly musicians can play well and live crazy lives and no one thinks twice about it. Worship leaders don't have that option. God wants us to set an example for people in the way we live our lives. We have to understand that it isn't what we sing or play that defines our worship, it is our lives. That being said, God doesn't expect us to live perfect lives. That has only been done once (by Jesus). But we should display a consistent lifestyle of godliness.

We have to set an example in the way we love. "God describes love as being 'patient,' 'kind,' humble, polite, thoughtful, forgiving, hopeful, and enduring. Are those your attitudes after a worship service where the mix was bad and the vocalists were out of tune? When members of the church criticize you, do you respond with blame-shifting and accusations, or do you respond with patience and humility?" God wants our words of love that we preach on Sunday morning to be backed up by our deeds.

Our faith should be an example to others. "Every Sunday morning I'm seeking to point people to God. My role isn't to direct people's eyes to me, but to the God in whom I trust. The primary way I do that is by making sure I'm looking to God myself." What is faith? Faith is confidence in things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. If we are worried all the time and our lives don't show that we trust God, how do expect to lead others to do so?

We have to set an example for the believers in purity. "Purity is the quality of being undefiled, unmixed, and undiluted, free from evil or contamination. The first area this applies to is our motives. God calls us to guard against being 'led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.' Leading worship for financial gain or public recognition dishonors God. God wants our worship to be sincere, not hypocritical; willing, not forced; wholehearted, not distracted. In other words, pure." This idea applies to all areas of our lives. We worship a Savior who died to purify us from our sins, let's worship Him with pure hearts.

We need to understand that worshipping God is an eternal occupation. We won't stop worshipping God when we die here, and as we've said many times everything we do here is worship. "If we aren't exemplifying a genuine yearning to bring glory to God that touches every aspect of our existence, then we have no business leading worship on Sundays." We, like Paul, need to set an example of worship...with our lives.

Enjoy the Journey

My Hands: What Do I Practice?

We've all been in worship services where those leading were genuine, but if we are honest, were not very skillful. In fact, they were down right distracting. As a musician this is about as bad as it gets because we start having thoughts like, 'well I would have done it this way' or 'that wasn't a very good transition.' While our attitudes are not right, there is something equally wrong with leading worship that way. What is lacking in those moments is skill. "Rightly understood and pursued, skill can mark the difference between ineffectiveness and fruitfulness in our leading." There are some things that we need to remember about skill. First, that it is a gift from God that is to be used for His glory. It is easy to think that because we work hard at our craft, we should get all the credit when we succeed. But we have to remember that it is God who blessed us with the ability to play and sing in the first place! C.J. Mhaney says, "All gifts from God are intended to direct our attention to God and create fresh affection for God."

Skill must be developed. 1 Chronicles 25:7 says that the musicians who worked at the tabernacle were those "who were trained in singing to the Lord, all who were skillful." Just because we are 'doing it for God' doesn't mean that we should do it well. In fact, we should be working harder than anyone because we are singing and playing to the God of the universe! Many performance majors are required to practice 3 to 4 hours a day! I'm not suggesting that you have to do that, but if you want to get better at what you do, you have to practice! Even if it is only 15 minutes a day, it will pay off over time. All of that being said, we have to remember that skill doesn't make worship more acceptable before God. "While God values skill, He doesn't accept our worship on the basis of it." So many times we struggle when we miss an intro, forget the words, or play a wrong chord. Other times we think that it was the best service ever when everything goes smoothly. Remember that God isn't judging our worship on the sound of our music, but by the attitudes of our hearts. We will never impress God with our musical abilities, so just get over that now. Psalm 51:17 says that what God is looking for is "a broken and contrite heart" that recognizes our weakness and puts our faith in Jesus.

We should allow our skill to be evaluated by others. Not just by anyone, obviously asking someone who has no clue about music what they thought about the modulation from F to G that occurred in measure 52 will do you absolutely no good! We need the eyes and ears of those on this team to help us. Gracious feedback from each other is invaluable. When you are giving feedback, make sure you do it in a way that encourages people to continue to work on their skill.

Sometimes we value skill too much. When we do this it can become an idol. We should work really hard to make sure that when we play or sing we are doing the best job that we can possibly do. But "God wants us to realize that the point of our practice isn't to receive the praise of others. It's to bring Him glory."

Once we have a right understanding of skill, it can be very helpful. It helps us focus on God. "The more comfortable I am with practical aspects of leading, the more I can think about the One to whom I'm singing. I focus on developing skill so I'll be able to focus more on god. We want to get to the place where, musical, administrative, and leadership issues become second nature as a result of rehearsal, repetition, and careful planning." Again, God can use us even when we are not at our best. However, our lack of skill can be distracting to others and ultimately take the focus off of God. When that happens, we are not doing all we can to help everyone join us in worship, even if we are worshiping God. Skill helps us serve the church. When we get to the point where we do not have to think about every little detail, our faces show it. We are free to express praise to God by the look on our faces because we aren't having to think about the coming key change, and that will serve the people we are leading.

Some might say that we are talking about being perfectionists here, but that is not the case. Our goal (as John Piper puts it) is "undistracting excellence." "It's a proficiency that doesn't draw attention to itself but rather points away from itself."

As we lead others in worship of God, we have to remember that this requires more than a sincere heart and good intentions. It does require skill. Skill requires work, time, and preparation. However, we can not worship the pursuit of skill. God wants us to be skillful, but He wants us to use that skill to produce genuine worship that affects our entire lives.

Enjoy the Journey

My Mind: What Do I Believe

We say we love God, but do we really know Him? God doesn't just call us to love the idea of Him, but to 'love the truth' about Him (2 Thessalonians 2:10). We can sing, play music, dance, kneel, and raise our hands, but "there is no authentic worship of God without a right knowledge of God." With that thought we come to a couple of words that people dread: Theology and Doctrine. "Sadly, doctrine and theology rank fairly low on the popularity scale these days. But biblical worship is impossible without them." Theology means 'the study of God,' so every Christian is a theologian. Some are good theologians, and some are not so good. Whether or not we are good theologians depends on whether our view of God lines up with what the Bible teaches or not. Doctrine means 'what is taught.' "The study of doctrine isn't opposed to studying the Bible; it is studying the Bible. It's how we find out what God is like, what He wants us to believe, how He wants us to worship Him. So that means we need to be reading. We need to be studying. Because we'll be learning about God for the rest of our lives."

"I've met guys who don't read theology books because they don't want their understanding of the Bible to be influenced by anyone else. What they're saying is: 'God couldn't possibly use another person to help me understand His Word more clearly.' That's ridiculous. I need all the help I can get. So do you." Charles Spurgeon said, "He who will not use the thoughts of other men's brains proves he has no brains of his own."

What was the last non-fiction, theological book that you read? Our reading needs to go beyond best-sellers, novels, and music magazines. We need to take advantage of other people's ideas, even though sometimes we might disagree with them! That is where our study of the Scripture will be our guide.

There are a few misconceptions about doctrine and theology that Kauflin points out:

1. Studying this Stuff Shouldn't Be So Hard: "Studying doctrine and theology is hard. Becoming a good theologian is harder than learning a new riff, and initially not as much fun." But "there are no shortcuts. Only a grace-movitvated, steadfast, lifelong pursuit of the god who created and redeemed us for His glory."

2. We Know God Better Through Music Than Through Words: I understand that many of us musicians prefer playing music than reading a book or listening to a sermon. Music stirs the emotions and helps us retain the words that we sing. The problem is that if we are bad theologians, we will not know if what we are singing about is grounded in Scripture or if it is just a clever tag line someone made up! For that we need our Bibles. We need good theology. "Good theology helps us keep music in its proper place. We learn that music isn't an end in itself but rather a means of expressing the worship already present in our hearts through the new life we've received in Jesus Christ."

3. Theology and Doctrine Cause Problems: Some people say they aren't interested in theology because it only causes divisions. But "when we're dodgy about our theology, we're really saying we want our own Jesus. But our worship isn't based on people's personal opinions, ideas, or best guesses about Jesus. Nor should we base our understanding of Him on anyone's individual experiences. He has a name, a particular history, and a specifically revealed body of teaching. god has theology; will we sharpen our own biblical understanding to find out what it is? Will we worship the Son of God, the Redeemer, the second person of the Trinity, the Alpha and Omega, our High Priest, sanctifier, and the intercessor and seek to understand what all this means?" Does doctrine divide the church? "Yes and no. Sure, Christians often disagree over doctrinal issues of secondary importance. Given the degree of sin that still remains with us and the enemy's desire to separate us, that's no surprise. But divisions have also protected the church. The New Testament warned us that false prophets and teachers would infiltrate the church's ranks. Many of the most precious truths we live by were more clearly defined as a response to heresy. The result has been clarity and agreement on foundational truths from God's Word that the church has cherished for centuries. Truth has often been tested and confirmed in the fires of controversy and conflict." The truth is that "theology and doctrine make life simpler. They protect us from reading verses out of context, restricting our diet to our favorite passages, and making decisions based on impulse rather than truth. They put meat on concepts we tend to use mindlessly like glory, gospel, salvation, and love. They help us understand what we're actually doing every Sunday. What complicated life is not doctrine but ignorance of doctrine."

As we learn more, we must be careful that we do not become too proud of our knowledge and start looking down on others who do not study like we do. "The more we study God, the more we should realize that what we know will always be dwarfed by what we don't know. If we are arrogant because we use big theological terms or have memorized more verses than our friends, we've lost sight of the God we claim to know. As Paul remind us, that kind of knowledge 'puffs up, but love builds up.' Good theologians are increasingly humbled and amazed by the God they study. Instead of causing problems, doctrine and theology rightly applied will solve problems. They inform our minds to win our hearts, so we can love God more accurately and passionately."

"Mind and heart belong together. Strong, passionate desires for God flow from and encourage the faithful, thoughtful study of God-His nature, character, and works. We're deceived when we think we can have one without the other. God intends us to have both. If our doctrine is accurate but our heart are cold toward God Himself, our corporate worship will be true but lifeless. Or if we express fervent love for God but present vague, inaccurate, or incomplete ideas of Him to those we're leading, our worship will be emotional but misleading-and possibly idolatrous. Neither option brings God glory. My prayer for myself and every worship leader is that we'll become as familiar with the Word of Truth as we are with our instruments. Hopefully even more so. If we do, there's a strong possibility people are going to walk away from our meetings more amazed by our God than by our music. And that will be a very good thing."

Enjoy the Journey

My Heart: What Do I Love?

As worship leaders, we face many challenges. However the greatest challenge that we face is our own hearts. "For years we've read about or experienced firsthand the 'worship wars' -conflicts over music styles, song selections, and drums. But far too little has been said about the worship wars going on inside us. And they're much more significant." What it comes down to is this: "Each of us has a battle raging within us over what we love most-God or something else."

We have to take a careful inventory of our lives and see if there are any idols that we need to get rid of. "Idols are all around us. Can you spot them? They come in different forms. Material comforts. Financial security. Sensual pleasures. Musicians have their own special idols. New gear. Electronic gadgets. Hip clothes. The most powerful idols are the ones we can't even see. Things like reputation, power, and control. As Christians we're sometimes like the people described in 2 Kings 17:33: 'they feared the Lord but also served their own gods.' We fear the Lord externally, doing all the right things on Sunday morning-singing, strumming a guitar, lifting our hands-yet actively serve false gods throughout the week. We profess to love the true God but actually love false idols. It's a condition that God, in His mercy, is committed to changing."

In the chapter Bob Kauflin talks about the struggles that he has gone through with this. He says, "I'd been in a relentless pursuit of glory. I relished hearing my name mentioned, reading my name in print, and being commended by others for my wisdom, my musical gifts, my parenting, and my care-even my humility. I bristled inwardly when someone questioned my integrity, gifting, or planning. I tried to avoid any kind of criticism ad worked hard to persuade others that I was an exceptional (but humble) Christian, pastor, and worship leader. I wasn't depending on a Savior-I was searching for an audience." Now that is a pretty powerful admission, and I think that if we are honest with ourselves, most of us have been there or are there right now.

One thing that we have to understand about worship is that "worship isn't primarily about music, techniques, liturgies, songs, or methodologies. It's about our hearts. It's about what and who we love more than anything." We have to understand that we can be leading others in worship of God and worshiping something else in our own hearts. Do we love God more than anything else? "While it's simplistic to say that worship is love, it's a fact that what we love most will determine what we genuinely worship."

"God wants us to love Him more than our instruments and music. More than our possessions, food, and ministry. More than our wife and children. More than our own lives. That doesn't mean we can't love anything else. Or that we shouldn't love anything else. But we can't love anything in the right way unless we love God more. Our desires will be out of whack. We'll look to temporary pleasures like concerts, video games, and sports to fulfill eternal desires. We'll love things that aren't as worthy as God to be loved."

"How do I know what I love the most? By looking at my life outside of Sunday morning. What do I enjoy the most? What do I spend the most time doing? Where does my mind drift to when I don't have anything to do? What am I passionate about? What do I spend my money on? What makes me angry when I don't get it? What do I feel depressed without? What do I fear losing the most? Our answers to those questions will lead us straight to the God or gods we love and worship. That's why as worship leaders our primary concern can't be song preparation, creative arrangements, or the latest cool gear. Our primary concern has to be the state of our hearts."

Isaac Watts wrote:
"The Great God values not the service of men, if the heart be not in it: The Lord sees and judges the heart; He has no regard to outward forms of worship, if there be no inward adoration, if no devout affection be employed therein. It is therefore a matter of infinite importance, to have the whole heart engaged steadfastly for God."

Is having your heart engaged steadfastly for God of infinite importance to you? It is to God. And when it becomes infinitely important to us, we are starting to grasp the heart of leading worship.

Enjoy the Journey

The Important Things

As we start a new book called 'Worship Matters' by Bob Kaulfin, we by talking about 'The Important Things.' When you lead worship, you are pulled in a hundred different directions at once, so it is important that we remember what we are doing and why we are doing it. One of the things that losing focus can cause is burnout. Many worship leaders struggle with having to "get up and do it again" for the two-hundredth time. We have to resist just going through the motions and "mailing it in." "Don't get me wrong. I think leading God's people in worship is one of the most fulfilling, enjoyable, exciting, sobering, life-changing jobs on the planet. We're helping people connect with the purpose for which they were created-to glorify the living God. We're pointing their hearts toward the Sovereign One who is greater than their trials and kinder than they could ever imagine. We get to display the matchless Savior who died in our place, conquering sin, death, and hell in the process."

We are here for one reason, to worship God. Otherwise what we are doing here is pointless. But "worship matters. It matters to God because He is the one ultimately worthy of worship. It matters to us because worshiping God is the reason for which we were created. And it matters to every worship leader, because we have no greater privilege than leading others to encounter the greatness of God. That's why it's so important to think carefully about what we do and why we're doing it."

I know that I am not adequate for this task, and if you don't feel adequate for the task...you're in the perfect place for God to use you.

Enjoy the Journey

You Can Trust Him

Just because we know that God is God, that He created everything and that He is all powerful, doesn't mean that we know we can trust Him. Think about John the Baptist. While he was sitting in a prison cell hearing about Jesus' miracles, do you think he ever thought, 'why doesn't God help me out here?' 'If the Messiah is right outside, why I am stuck in here?' "We've all been there, wondering if God really is who we think He is-and if He is why He doesn't come and change our circumstances." Well if you know the rest of the story, you know it didn't end well for John...he lost his head. God doesn't always change our circumstances. But sometimes things that don't make sense to us at the time are even better for us than we could imagine.

"The death of Jesus on the cross in what appeared to be a senseless murder was actually divine intervention. When it seemed that God wasn't powerful enough (or big enough) to stop the chaos, God was actually being both big enough and good enough to orchestrate our redemption through the sacrificial death of His only Son. Never before had the world seen love like this. God came down to do the dirty work of buying back our lost and doomed souls in the most staggering act of grace and mercy ever known."

"I hope you see it clearly today: the cross of Christ is the place where trust is born. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is an act of kindness from a loving and trustworthy God, an undeniable demonstration of His goodness that we can cling to when our sight and understanding fail to make sense of the circumstances that surround us. The skies declare that I AM is huge; but Calvary affirms that I AM has the best interest of every 'i am not' in mind at all times. Our God is in the heavens and the whole world is under His command, but now because of Christ we can personally know how much He loves us and believe that He is using everything that comes our way for His glory and for our ultimate good."

The days are coming when you will be questioning, hurting, searching, wondering, struggling, and asking, and you will find that He is sufficient. For every cry, there is an answer. "I need help. I AM. I need hope. I AM. What works? I AM. What lasts? I AM. I need a fresh start. I AM. I need a bigger story. I AM. Nothing's real anymore. I AM. Who can I trust? I AM. Nobody's listening to me. I AM. I don't have a prayer. I AM. I can't hold on. I AM. I'm pouring into others, who's pouring into me? I AM. If we fail, who will get the job done? I AM. I'm not sure why I'm here. I AM. I've given all I can give and it's not enough. I AM. I'm tired. I AM. I quit! I AM. I can't! I AM. Somebody just hold me. I AM."

"And what does this great I AM say of Himself? He says to you and to me: 'I am the way, I am the truth, and I am the life. I am the resurrection and the life. I am Savior. I am Jesus-the solution, the restorer, the builder, the answer, the Wise One, the Coming One, the Mighty One. I am the Lord and there is no other. I am God and there is none besides Me. I am the First and the Last. I am Alpha and Omega. I am the Beginning and the End. I am the Lord, that is My name, and I will not give My glory to another, or any of My praise to idols. I AM THAT I AM, and that is My name-My memorial name to every single generation."

As we work each day to exchange our starring roles in the tiny stories of us for supporting roles in the story of I AM, we do so with full confidence that He is worthy of our trust. We move forward through the story with confidence, knowing that I AM is beside us all the way, and that the ending of the story is already written...

Enjoy the Journey

Embracing Smallness

Sometimes in life we like to embrace smallness. I remember when I used to work at Boston Market, there were things I purposefully would not learn just so I wouldn't have to do them! Why? I didn't want that much responsibility! It's funny how things are so much different when it comes to our lives though. We are control freaks! We don't want to embrace smallness, we want to be in charge! In order to really live a life where we understand that i am not but i know I AM, we have to die to ourselves. But "If there's one thing we can all be sure of in our quest to live for His glory and His fame, it's that the flesh will not die quietly. No, our mortal selves will scrap and claw for every once of self-promotion they can get their hands on." We have to have humility. Humility can be defined as 'seeing God for who He is.' Pride, on the other hand, is 'an admission that I haven't seen God at all.' When you see God and His glory, you are instantly resized, and that is humility. "Once we see how glorious His glory really is, we realize that all other glory is futile and fading, and totally inconsequential in the grand scheme of things."

What is it that makes you feel small? What is it that helps to 'resize' you when you see it? For me it is space, or really old things like the pyramids, anything in Egypt really. Or the Coliseum, or St. Paul's Cathedral. "Or when I consider that hundreds of generations have passed before me and not a single person among them ever knew my name."

"When you get right down to it, trading in the little story of me is not really all that big of a sacrifice after all. Who wouldn't want to abandon a script you could fit on the pointed end of a pin for a chance to get in on the glorious epic that is so enduring that its screening will require all of eternity? Glimpsing His glory makes me want to say, 'Your name and renown are the desire of my soul.' Seeing His true fame makes me want to live for a bigger purpose, doing everything I do in such a way as to shine the spotlight on Him." That sounds great right? But how do we do that on a day in and day out basis? You do everything you do to glorify God. You don't have to be a preacher, worship leader, missionary, or work in a church. The truth is, you probably have a better chance of amplifying Christ to the world if you don't do any of those things! You see everyone expects people who "work for Jesus" to live for a bigger story, but I think it speaks more for people with "secular jobs" to do what they do for Christ.

When Paul writes, 'And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him,' he is saying "that living for God's glory is not so much about what you do as it is about doing whatever you do in such a way that it reflects Jesus Christ to those around you and ultimately points people to Him. In other words, you don't have a better chance of glorifying God by being a preacher than you do by being a bond trader, or by being a missionary verses being a mother. You don't get more credit in the kingdom of God for being a songwriter than you do for being a student."

Sometimes I think we do a really good job at redirecting all the glory to God. Other times we fail miserably. How do we know when we are slipping? "When I live like I'm privileged, I have lost the plot. In other words, when I start acting like I deserve a certain outcome or a higher standard of life, I have failed to strike the fatal blow to self and am living like I actually have rights in this world apart from God. When I am demanding, I have lost the plot, insisting that God and others meet my needs on the timetable that I see fit. When I act pompous, I have lost the plot, thinking that I am somebody while only proving that I haven't had a good look at God today. When I crumble under the pressure, I have lost the plot, declaring that the outcome of life rests squarely on my shoulders, not His. When I start protecting, I have lost the plot, marking turf as though it were actually mine and forgetting that everything I have comes first from above. When I crave the spotlight for myself, I have lost the plot, losing sight of the story line and the one true Star. When I fail to celebrate the successes of others who are living for His fame, I have lost the plot, thinking that possibly we are on different teams when we actually share supporting roles in the same story. When I dwell on feelings of being unloved, unnoticed, or insignificant, I have lost the plot, abandoning the miracle of knowing God on a first-name basis."

Dying to self is not an easy thing. And looking up doesn't make all our problems magically go away either. However it does remind us that God is still I AM, and that His greatness, goodness, and God-ness is the best lens through which to view every day of our lives. It is time to embrace our role. You know...the small one.

Enjoy the Journey

Furious Rest

The Sabbath. It is something that I struggle with because I can't seem to slow down. Even when I'm still, I'm not still...can you relate? There are always 100 things to do and I need to multi-task to get them done on time so that I can do the other 100 things that need to be done. Sound familiar? Even working at the church I can get so caught up in getting 'stuff' done that I miss the most important thing, God. When that happens, I put myself above God, I have allowed the current of self to sweep me away. "The current of self is deceptively strong. So strong, in fact, that Sunday is slowly being blurred into Monday, and nobody in the church or the world seems to care. Well, nobody except the folks with the humorous cow commercials. It's interesting that these guys don't seem to be losing any money. On the contrary, the company is expanding rapidly. I think the folks at Chick-fil-A are doing exactly what God had in mind way back in the Garden. They've created a great product, forged a memorable ad campaign, and worked really, really hard-creating great demand for their product and a loyal following. They have faithfully served the American consumer Monday thru Saturday for almost sixty years. And on Sundays they've closed the doors and gone to worship, and in the process honored God not with busyness, but with stillness. Their unattended drive-through lines proclaim that they really do believe in the the God who formed the universe without their help, or anyone else's."

Sabbath rest is furious rest. It's the kind of rest that powers our journey as we follow Christ with every ounce of our energy. It's "giving all we have for the sake of God's fame, yet carrying Sabbath rest as we go, knowing that His life within us enables us to accomplish what He has called us to do."

We have to learn to be still. In doing so we may be required to sacrifice some of our 'moments in the sun,' and some of our 'stuff' might not even get done. John the Baptist said it this way, "He must become greater, I must become less." You see there really is just one star in the story. And if that's true, "our challenge is not so much to shun the spotlight as it is to redirect any bright light that comes our way onto Him. Success would mean people loving Him more than any of us, clamoring for His touch more than ours."

"That's why worship and Sabbath go together. By ceasing from our efforts when God asks us to, we make much of Him. When we trust Him by resting in Him, we exalt the Lord, championing Him as all-powerful in our purposeful inactivity. Furious rest, you see, is not about doing nothing. It's about doing everything we do with the quiet confidence that our lives, families, businesses, ministries, relationships, and dreams are in His hands."

Enjoy the Journey

Be Still

Be still, is anybody good at that? I'm terrible at it. Even when we went on vacation, our days were filled with things to do, places to see, and a little rest while sitting on a train going to the next place. It's true, Sabbath is a foreign concept to most of us. What is the Sabbath? "Sabbath is not so much about a day off as it is a "day up"-a day to remember that He is God and we are not. Without Sabbath, we forget who we are and lose sight of who He is, leaving us to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders. When there is no Sabbath in our lives we become intoxicated by the lie that the sum of our lives depends on our effort alone. We get to the place where we truly believe that the outcome of the story fully depends on us."

After all, remembering the Sabbath is one of the 10 Commandments! "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy."

So "apparently, Sabbath rest is not just a suggestion for the betterment of your life and mine, but an essential, nonnegotiable command, an intrinsic part of the rhythm of life. Clearly, Sabbath is about ceasing from labor, but at its core Sabbath is about a whole lot more than sleeping in or catching a nap. Sabbath rest is about a state of mind, a deep-seated belief that God is the creator and sustainer of all things-an acknowledgement that He is sufficient and that He can be trusted. Because one of the symptoms of sin is short-term memory loss, we quickly forget that He set in motion the entire universe before we arrived on the scene. We need to get our memories corrected and our trust renewed by stopping long enough to remember that His name is I AM and our names are i am not."

"To remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy is for us to say: Everything doesn't hinge on me. If I stop doing my part, the whole world will not fall apart. I am not in control. God made the world in six days without any input from me, or my assistance. God doesn't need me to accomplish His work. I am little. God is huge. I trust him." We do all of this by being still. "But how do we find stillness when finances are tight, tragedy overwhelms, the kids seem out of control, nations are at war, relationships are strained, and there's just too much left to do at the end of the day? The only place true stillness of the soul can be found on planet earth is in super-close proximity to the God of all Creation."

When we are closest to God, that is when our lives seem the smallest. That is when our problems seem small. "We go to sleep and God goes to work. And we wake up to see what God has done. Oh, we still go to work when we wake up, but as we go we carry the spirit of Sabbath rest with us, believing that we have been invited into an already-in-progress Story in which God was doing just fine long before our little feet ever hit the floor."

If we rely on ourselves, we will never slow down, we will never get enough done, so we will always be busy and stressed. By ourselves, we can't even keep the ten rules God gave to Moses, much less manage everything we need to manage to "run our lives." But "Paul writes of a new mystery when he exclaims, 'It is Christ in you, the hope of glory.' He does not say it's Christ and you that brings the hope of a glorious life, but Christ IN you. In other words, Sabbath is not about God and me operating as a dynamic duo. Sabbath rest is about me realizing that He is the only one capable of doing anything eternal in and through me."

Enjoy the Journey

The Little Leader

Nobody likes to come in 2nd or 3rd, after all, 2nd place is the 1st loser right? We all want to win, to be 1st! Its part of human nature, but its a part that we need to learn to set aside when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. John the Baptist got it. "'Behold!' John cried. 'There's the One we've all been waiting for!' Every head turned to look at Jesus Christ, the eyes of an entire crowd now riveted on one man. But scan the crowd and see if you can find John. Just a sentence ago all eyes were on him. All the attention was his. People hung on his every word. Now he was out of the spotlight, just another face in the crowd with his eyes glued on Jesus. And John seems so content-and even genuinely thrilled-to point people away from himself to one he believed was greater. As the crowd locked its gaze on the Christ, he continued, 'This is the One I meant when I said, 'A man who comes after me has surpassed me because He was before me.'"

That is an amazing statement. First of all it takes a little thought to decode it. Jesus came after John on this earth, but in a greater sense He came before John because He is I AM, and has been since the beginning! John was a little leader. "Like John, all little leaders know who comes first in the story. When they do accomplish great things or taste success, they do so with the realization that God had been on the scene for a long, long time, and that He is the source of their vision, gifting, opportunity, creativity, energy, and breath. (No matter where we finish among men, Christ already has a permanent hold on first place.) That's why John was never happier than the day all eyes turned to Jesus.

When I say John was a little leader, "I don't mean he was small in stature or vision or courage, or short on influence. Just that John knew who he wasn't and who HE is. THere's something pretty powerful about knowing who you are-and knowing who you're not. Because John knew his name was i am not, he was free from the seduction of fame, the tyranny of comparison, the delusional current of self-deception, the never-ending scramble to the top of the heap, ego, jealousy, backbiting, and a massively swollen head. And he was free from the ultimate rip-off-holding onto the starring role in a tiny story that was quickly vanishing from view."

In the days and weeks that followed, Jesus' ministry really took off. It got so big that it was making John's disciples jealous. They would complain and they wanted John and Jesus to have a showdown to see who was the best, but John already knew. One day John's disciples were trying to convince him that he should take Jesus on, "And then John uttered the words that pierce the flesh but free the soul: 'He must become greater; I must become less.'" Just think on that for a minute. What could you accomplish in your ministry if that were the theme? "He must become greater, and I must become less."

When we can say that and mean it, our ego and our desires get pushed to the side, and Christ can be glorified. Until we become little leaders, we cannot glorify Christ, we will only glorify ourselves. Until we become little leaders, we are clinging to the starring roles in the tiny stories of us. "In John's mind he wasn't losing his people to a bigger ministry. He was just doing what he came to do-holding wide the door for the arrival of heaven's King." That is what ministry is about. It's not about numbers, it's not about making the most people happy, it's not about making a name for yourself. It's about becoming a little leader and holding the door wide for heaven's King. Are you ready?

Enjoy the Journey

Big River

I've only been white water rafting a couple of times. We went on the Ocoee River in Tennessee, and it was really fun. Sure we got tossed around a little bit, but nothing too major. In this chapter, Louie is talking about rafting down the Zambezei River in Africa (which flows out of Victoria Falls). Now that is a big time trip. It is a river filled with class IV and V rapids that kill hippos and some "that could drag a bus under." He says that they made it half way through when they decided to take a break and celebrate their survival on the shore, when their guide told them that they could continue if they wanted, but it was going to get even more dangerous the farther they went. The group decided unanimously to call it a day and just say that the river had won. Currents are dangerous, and if we aren't careful they can sweep us away.

Even more dangerous than a rushing river current is the current that still flows out of Eden. It's called pride, it was the downfall of Adam and Eve, and it is still our downfall today. It all started so well for Adam. Here he was, in a perfect world (literally) that was just days old walking and talking with the Great I AM! Then, as if it couldn't get any better, God made Eve! Soon they realized that the story wasn't about them, I mean they didn't even come on stage until day 6, and all creation was praising I AM, and not them. The problem occurred when they decided that supporting roles weren't enough for them. They wanted to be as big as God. They wanted to be I AMS instead of i am nots.

"When someone named i am not decides to live as though his or her name is really I AM, one consequence always follows: death."

The danger to trying to make ourselves out to be bigger than we are is this: "...we might succeed-at least in earthly terms-in making a name for ourselves. We night draw a crowd, grab some fame, amass some riches, hear the roar of applause. We might succeed at building a tower to the sky with our name emblazoned on it. All that hard work, only to have the River Pride deposit us on a sandbar called "The End." And in that moment, when the tiny story of us comes to a close, all the glory we could garner for ourselves will fade to nothing." But Jesus "gave Himself for us so that we could die to self-fame, self-glory, self-effort, self-centeredness, and the self-stories that are quickly coming to an end."

You see we don't need the spotlight, because we already know the star! "Not only do we know I AM, but I AM lives in us. He displays His power in us and glorifies His name through us. And in so doing we stake our claim in immortality, sowing our lives for His renown, investing in the applause of heaven that never, ever ends."

There will still be times when we are swept away in the current of pride. But we can rest easy in the fact that I AM is there to save us from the death we deserve. "The truth is we can be free of sin's power when we die to pride and self, and live instead in the powerful current of Christ's life in us-that eternal kind of life flowing in the veins of all who put their trust in Him."

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 3: BEcame

I've never been to Israel, although I've always wanted to go. Louie talks about a church called the Church of the Annunciation at the beginning of this chapter. It is located in Nazareth, where Jesus grew up. It gets its name because it was in that little village that the angel appeared to Mary to give her the news of Jesus' birth. Inscribed above the entrance to the church is a Latin phrase which means, 'And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us,' which we read in John chapter 1. He says that he dwelled on those words for the next several days, one word per day. The first day was simply the word 'and.' I don't know about you, but I don't know how much time I could spend just thinking about the word and. Louie however pointed out that when you put this word in its context, it summarizes the entire Old Testament! It is as if God is saying, you remember all that stuff that happened back there? The flood, the parting of the Red Sea, Goliath, all of it...you haven't seen anything yet! The next day he got to the word 'the.' Well, the only thing more exciting than 'and' is 'the' right? But think about this, the whole verse hinges on this word. "God did one thing. He sent one Son to be the way. John doesn't right that a Word became flesh. Or that some Word became flesh. Or that the flavor-of-the-day Word became flesh. And certainly not that one of many Words became flesh. John carefully wrote the Word. He was saying that Jesus is the Christ, the only Word there has ever been or ever will be.

Next he comes to 'Word' with a capital w. He is talking about Jesus. Next is the word 'became.' It is a great word! 'Do you see it? Became is a compound word, meaning it is comprised of two words-the word be and the word came. Wow, now do you see it? This verse is about Jesus, the one who bears the same name as the God who appeared to Moses at the burning bush. That day God revealed Himself to Moses as I AM-I AM THAT I AM-the present tense, active form of the verb, to be. Or, simply, BE. God told Moses His name is BE, the very name Jesus used when He claimed, 'Before Abraham was, I AM.' In an instant, became became BE came, and I wanted to shout for joy. Wake the world. Jesus came! BE came! I AM came! But in a most surprising form."

Flesh is the next word in the verse. "BE came flesh. God arrived with skin, the Divine in the form of a sweaty, laughing boy playing with other kids in a narrow street on a summer afternoon. Why does it matter? Because you can touch flesh. You can identify with flesh. You can wrap your arms around flesh and feel its heartbeat. You can hear the voice of flesh and look into its eyes. And if you're searching for a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, you can pierce flesh and it will bleed. You can nail flesh to a cross."

We'll move quickly through the rest. Next is 'and.' Jesus didn't just come in skin and move into Nazareth, there's more. Next is 'dwelled.' He didn't come to sit in a palace, he came to be one of us, to live like us. To feel all the joy and the hurt and the pain that everyone else feels. Next is 'among.' Not only did He come and live here, but He did it with people! He didn't just live out in the desert or on some island, His passion was for people. So he lived with them. And finally 'us.' Jesus didn't just come for certain people. He didn't just come for a chosen few. He came for us, for all, for everyone. The great I AM came to earth for all the little i am nots. Wow. 'The Word became flesh and dwelled among us.'

Enjoy the Journey

Light Flies

Light does fly. It flies at 186,000 miles per second. Snap your finger one time. Light just traveled around the globe seven times! Astrophysicists have discovered what is the farthest known object from earth that is 13 billion light years away! A lightyear is the distance light travels in a year, and it travels 186,000 miles per second, so a lightyear is 5.88 trillion miles! Wow. I thought driving to Kentucky was far. To put that in perspective. It is about 3,000 miles from Atlanta to LA. We live on a tiny planet that orbits our sun, which is 25,000 light years away from the center of the Milky Way. And just like our planets orbit the sun, our sun orbits the center of the Milky Way, but it will take it 250 million earth years to complete one rotation! To sum it up, "We have no idea just how big the universe is, but it's so big we have to use a ruler that's 5.88 trillion miles long to measure stuff. The ruler is called a light year."

That may seem a little overwhelming, but all of that is just a speck to God. Scripture says, "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of His mouth. He spoke, and it came to be; He commanded, and it stood firm. God is the one who makes light fly. He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers (to Him). He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. 'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One. Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing."

"God is constant. He blinks and a lifetime comes and goes. To Him one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day. All of human history could be written on His fingernail, with plenty of room left over for more. And God is doing well today, thanks you. He has no dilemmas. No quandaries. No counselors. No shortages. No rivals. No fears. No cracks. No worries. He is self-existent, self-contained, self-perpetuated, self-powered, and self-aware. In other words, He's God and He knows it."

Us on the other hand..."You and I are tiny. Miniscule. Transient. Microscopic. A momentary and infinitesimal blip on the timeline of the universe. A seemingly undetectable alliance of dust particles held together by the breath of God. If this fact makes you just a tad bit uncomfortable, you're not alone. Invariably, when I talk about the vastness of God and the cosmos, someone will say, 'You're making me feel bad about myself and making me feel really, really small,' as if that's the worst thing that could happen. But the point is not to make you FEEL small, rather to help you see and embrace the reality that you ARE small. Really, really small."

But the great thing is that though we are just dust particles held together by the breath of God, we are loved by the God of all Creation! So we can say proudly, "I am not, but He knows my name. I am not, but He has pursued me in His love. I am not, but I have been purchased and redeemed. I am not, but I have been invited into The Story, I am not, but I know the Creator of the universe. I am not, but I know I AM!" We are small, but we are on a first name basis with I AM! We are galactic nobody's...99.99% of people on the planet have never heard of us, but God knows everything about us.

So I can live with that shrinking feeling. Because at the end of the day, the only One who really matters, the great I AM, knows me and loves me! That is awesome.

Enjoy the Journey

Divine Invitation

"God is always looking for ordinary people to play significant roles in His unfolding story." That is a cool thought isn't it? God is looking for people just like you and me to play big roles!? That isn't how we do it. If we want to get something done, we don't look for 'average' or 'ordinary' people to help us. We look for the best and the brightest. We look for people who could really probably do it themselves. Think about it, if you were God, would you have chosen a stuttering 70 year, murderous old shepherd to go to the most powerful man in the most powerful empire on the planet and demand that he let your people go? Probably not. But that is exactly what God did.

So here was Moses, on the side of a mountain, living out his days in peace, when he got an invitation to join the story of God. A bush nearby caught fire, but it wasn't burning up! So naturally he went to investigate and then he got the surprise of a lifetime. God starts talking to him from the bush! What would your reaction have been? After he got over the initial shock, God starts revealing His plan. He said that He was going to free the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt, and then came the punchline..."So now, go, I am sending YOU to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt." What!? God had been talking in first person the whole time and now he was asking, ok telling, Moses to go!

BUT, "When He said, 'You go and bring them out,' He wasn't thinking Moses was going to actually do the delivering. God wasn't counting on Moses' skill or power to break the chains of bondage that held His people captive. God was going to do all the work, He just wanted a leader with skin to speak on His behalf and lead the people to His promised destination. All along God was counting on Himself to pull the story off-not Moses. Definitely not Moses. When God said, 'You go,' He was implying: 'I am going to do this with or without you, Moses, but I've ben searching for just the right partner, a regular guy who will believe that I am able to do exactly what I have said I will do.'"

You see, "When God invites us into His story, assigning us various roles that are seemingly too big for us to carry out, His affirmation is always the same-I will be with you. It's as if He was saying to Moses, 'Don't worry about who you are, just focus on the reality that I'm going, too. And if I go with you, trust Me, everything's going to work out fine.' Bottom line: God and anybody else is an overwhelmingly powerful team."

So Moses is still making excuses, trying to find any way out of this that he can. He asks God who he should say sent him, because no one is going to believe this story. This was a significant moment, because "since the dawn of time, God had been referred to as Yahweh, meaning Most High God-a name so revered by the generations preceding Moses, they rarely even wrote it out in full (choosing instead to abbreviate it). But that revered title was really more of a description than a personal name. No one knew God's personal name. And, as far as we know, no one had dared to ask."

God tells Moses His name. He tells him that His name is "I Am." "God knew it was imperative for Moses to know who He was-that He was I Am. I Am is the present tense, active form of the verb to be. As God's name, it declares that He is unchanging, constant, unending, always present, always God. God was telling Moses: I AM the center of everything. I AM running the show. I AM the same every day, forever. I AM the owner of everything. I AM the Lord. I AM the Creator and Sustainer of life. I AM the Savior. I AM more than enough. I AM inexhaustible and immeasurable. I AM God."

That puts everything in perspective. You see, if God is all of those thing, it means that we are NOT any of those things. If God's name is "I AM," then our name is "i am not." "i am not the center of everything. i am not in control. i am not the solution. i am not all-powerful. i am not calling the shots. i am not the owner of anything. i am not the Lord." As God was explaining all of this to Moses, He said, "This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation" (Exodus 3:15). This is cool because it puts us in the same story as Moses! "God is big. We are not. He is calling the shots, directing the script, and determining the plot. We are not. And, what's really wild is that while He doesn't need any of us, He is choosing to include us, inviting us into the story that never ends. Try to fathom it-little you and me invited into the massive and mysterious story of the great I AM. Are you up for it?"

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 2: Look Up

When was the time that you felt most small? For me it was when I was walking around the streets of Rome. In particular when I was walking along the path that was once the Circus Maximus. There is something about standing in a place filled with biblical history that makes you understand the depth of your faith and really understand how big God is. It was then that it hit me that Paul walked these same streets proclaiming the name of the same Jesus that I have come to believe in and love. In the book Louie is talking about sitting in St. Paul's Cathedral in London, which is a magnificent church building. The ceiling towers 9 stories above the floor. He says that as he look up, everything about St. Paul's screams, 'God is really big, and you are not.'

It's good to be reminded of that. We often spend our lives trying to make a name for ourselves, to climb the ladder so to speak. We climb and we climb, trying to grab all the glory we can, and all the while God is saying, 'this isn't even your story.' We are a part of the story of God, so why are we wasting our time trying to make the story about us? Maybe we need to 'look up' more often. We need to take time to realize how big God is, because that really puts it all in perspective for us. The amazing part is that this massive God loves us enough to know how many hairs are on our head, we don't even know that! God has a role for each of us to play in His story, and we never get too old to be a part. After all, Moses was over 70 when he got an invitation to change history. Why should we think it will be any different for us? All we have to do is 'look up.'

Enjoy the Journey

Start Here

As we start a new book (i am not but i know I AM) we are introduced to the Story of God. "Life is the tale of two stories-one finite and frail, the other eternal and enduring. The tiny one-the story of us-is as brief as the blink of an eye. yet somehow our infatuation with our own little story-and our determination to make it as big as we possibly can-blinds us to the massive God Story that surrounds us on every side."

So often we get so wrapped up in our life and our problems that we forget that we serve a God who is much bigger than we are. The things that we think are huge are things He doesn't even break a sweat over. I don't say that to put anybody down or to say that you don't matter to God. I'm not even saying that you aren't part of the story of God. In fact, the opposite is true. All I'm saying is that we have to keep in mind that the story we are a part of already has a star, and its not us! We have to remember this because when we forget, everything gets messed up. We start living life as though it is about us, and pride begins to well up in our hearts.

The problem is that so many people live this way. But in the end, that is why so many people are hollow shells of humanity. Because when the story is about you, in 80 years or so the curtain will fall, the screen fade to black, and a few people may even clap, but that will end the story of you.

So we have a choice. "We can choose to cling to starring roles in the little-bitty stories of us, or we can exchange our fleeting moment in the spotlight for a supporting role in the eternally beautiful epic that is the Story of God."

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 13: Vision

This is the last chapter of the book and perhaps the most convicting...

I can't see anything without my contacts, do you have vision problems?

"Jesus didn't have any vision problems. He saw lost people. They weren't invisible to him. He didn't rush by them. He didn't ignore them. He wasn't too busy for them. He saw them crying by themselves on the back row of the church. He saw them dropping off their kids at day care so they could make it to their second job. He saw them with a scotch in hand, looking overwhelmed at the class reunion. He saw them riding bikes outside his window while he was writing his fifth book. He didn't step to the right side of the sidewalk when he saw them standing on the left. He didn't make assumptions about them because of the way the dressed. He didn't avoid being seen with them because of how that might impact his ministry. He didn't look at lost people as if they were second-class citizens. He didn't see their tattoos and piercings as obstacles to their salvation. He didn't see their 'will work for food' sign and think cynically, yeah, right. He didn't see their addictions as disqualifiers that needed to be conquered before they could come back to church. He didn't see them as sin, but sinners who needed salvation. He didn't see lost people as lost causes, because-to Jesus-there are no lost causes! Jesus loves lost people, so he saw them."

So many times we fall into one if not all of those categories. Something that we often do is expect people to come and meet us where we are, but Jesus went TO the people who needed him most. Take the story of Zacchaeus. Jesus didn't make Zacchaeus come to him, Jesus met him at "the spot." The spot is the place where sin and grace meet, and its the place where hope is born.

"Jesus didn't expect Zacchaeus to find him. He didn't send Zacchaeus a home mailer with directions to his spot. He didn't put a map in the yellow pages showing him ten different ways to get to his spot. He didn't hang a banner with the words "Come Worship at Our Spot!" on his church building. No, Jesus didn't expect Zacchaeus to do all the work, so he met him where he was. Fish don't jump into the boat. Good soil doesn't jump onto the seeds. Disciples don't make themselves. Sheep, coins, and sons don't find themselves. We have to go to their spots and look for them."

People want to be seen. That is why so many people dress the way they do. They want people to notice them. That is why so many men obsess over their car or their lawn, and why so many women try to preserve, improve, and show off their bodies, they want to be seen. They want to know that their existence matters. Zacchaeus wanted to see Jesus, but even more than that he wanted to be seen by Jesus. Jesus saw him, and then he spoke to him. Jesus actually invited himself over (which is sort of rude, but I guess you get a pass if you're Jesus). Because of Jesus' interaction with Zacchaeus, his entire life changed. He was a tax collector and notorious thief, but after his meal with Jesus he vowed to give back 4 times the amount he had taken! Being seen can be a powerful and transformational experience.

In this story Jesus reminds us "That he was at this spot to seek and save what was lost, Jesus showed everyone that he sees lost people not as distractions but as his purpose for being on this planet." What do you see when you look at the lost?

"I pray that you'll see people who are not where they are supposed to be, go to their spot, look at them, and simply say, 'How about you and I get something to eat? I pray that you'll join me in eating with sinners and in making our dinner tables the most challenging places...not where life ends, but where it begins."

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 12: Joy

What we celebrate says a lot about us? What do you celebrate? What you celebrate tells us what we really love and who we are. Jesus celebrated when lost people were found. Again 'lost' simply means not being where you are supposed to be (with Christ). Lost people were drawn to Christ, but it seems today that most lost people are running away from Christians. They wanted to be around Jesus because He wanted to be with them. They wanted to hear what He had to say because He was giving them hope. And that is what everyone is looking for, hope! Jesus gave them hope because He welcomed them, accepted them, and loved them, and it wasn't fake! This didn't make everyone happy, it made the religious leaders 'mutter.' Sometimes when you are living out your faith it makes people who aren't living out their faith uncomfortable and they begin to 'mutter.' So if you think about it, if people are 'muttering' about what you are doing, it could be a good thing!

The religious leaders muttered because Jesus was associating with people who were 'sinners.' They were lost because of what they had done, and the religious leaders wanted them to get their act together before they could be accepted. But Jesus doesn't care what we've done to find ourselves where we shouldn't be. All He cares about it getting us back, and when He finds us, He throws a party. It's not our job to determine if someone is 'good enough' to be found. In fact, no one is 'good enough,' you aren't good enough now even if you've already been found! The grace of God knows no limits, but we limit it far too often. "George Barna estimates that there are between 180-190 million people in America who are not born-again Christians. Imagine there's a huge fire coming toward this country and that everyone who wants to get out safely must come to you. If you could save 1,000 people a day, it would take you 521 years to save 190 million people. Good news: you don't have to save 190 million people by yourself. Bad news: there is a fire coming."

As most of you know, I tear up just about every time someone gives their life to Christ. That is the reason I am in ministry. I celebrate when lost people are found. And after reading this chapter, I'm going to start celebrating when people mutter about our passionate love for the lost. What do you celebrate?

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 11: Investment

Eating with sinners is not something that comes with no cost. It requires an investment of time, energy, money, our whole lives. Ironically, that is what being a Christian costs as well. You see they go hand in hand. Christianity isn't something that you just say you are, Christianity is who you are and what you do all the time. Before you become a Christian, or before you continue your life as a Christian, you need to count the cost. Are you willing to do what it takes to be a Christian? Are you really? Because Jesus asks for it all, and that is a lot to ask.

He asks for our resources. "What resources do you have? Which are you willing to give up to reach lost people? Are you willing to write a big check? Are you willing to sell that old sports car sitting in the garage that hasn't been driven for years? Are you willing to let the church use your home as a small group location? Are you willing to buy groceries for a needy family? Are you willing to spend money or supplies to an overseas missionary? Are you willing to start giving at least 10 percent of your income to your church? Are you willing to give up anything and everything to reach someone for Jesus? 'Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.' (Jesus)

There is a popular line of thinking today that says once you become a Christian all your problems will go away. You'll become 'healthy, wealthy, and wise.' I hate to rain on that parade, but that is far from the picture Jesus paints. Jesus says that there are no uncrucified disciples. He says be ready and willing to take up your cross. He says that if we aren't willing to invest our lives in following Him, we are not true disciples.

"If we're looking for a comfortable faith, then we're not going to want to follow Jesus. If we're looking for a faith that won't cost us too much, then Christianity is not the right choice for us. It's time for you, me, and any others who call themselves Christian to put on our big boy and big girl pants, man up (and woman up too), pick up our crosses, and start investing our lives in our faith by inviting people to the great banquet."

We say that we want a world filled wit the light of Christ. A world filled with the light of Christ costs a lot. It costs everything. Are you ready?

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 10: Humility

Humility is the quality of having a modest view of one's person, rank, and importance. "William Beebe, the naturalist, occasionally visited the home of former president Teddy Roosevelt. President Roosevelt and Beebe would go out on the lawn at night to search the skies for a certain spot of light near the lower left-hand corner of the Great Square of Pegasus constellation. Then they would recite: 'That is the Spiral Galaxy in Andromeda. It is as large as our Milky Way. It is one of a hundred million galaxies. It consists of one hundred billion suns, each larger than our sun.' Then President Roosevelt would grin and say, 'Now I think we are small enough. Let's go to bed.'"

Sometimes it is really hard to be humble. It must have been hard for Christ to be humble. I mean after all, He is God. Yet He was willing to die on a cross. The cross was designed to both humiliate and kill its victim. Check out what Philippians 2:5-8 has to say about this. Our attitude should be like His? Now that is a tall order.

"As we eat with sinners, it would be wise to start each meal with a slice of humble pie, because it seems to me that it's too easy to position ourselves safely on a comfortable perch and look down with pity on those so far below us. This is absurd and un-Christlike. If we really want to reach lost people, we must be humble=and true humility comes from standing next to the cross."

An acronym is a word formed from the initial letters of each of the successive major parts of a compound term. What are some famous ones? CEO, FBI, SCUBA, RADAR, ect... Arron gives us the acronym HARD:

Healing is perpetually possible with Jesus.
Always remember the well.
Reseat yourself if necessary
Dinner should be a party to which everyone is invited.

As Christians it is tempting to separate ourselves from everyone else for fear that we might 'catch their sin.' I'm not saying that we should all go down and spend the rest of our time in the bar drinking with everyone. But what I am saying is that we can't expect people to come to Christ on our terms. We can't expect people who don't know Christ to act like they do before we are willing to spend time with them. We can't look down on people from our perch of holiness and pray for their pitiful souls and expect God to bless us by using us to bring people to Christ.

When Christ healed a man on the Sabbath who was suffering from dropsy, He immediately asked the teachers of the law if the had an ox who fell in the well on the Sabbath if they would pull it out. This was to prove His point that they didn't care about this man, they only wanted to trap Jesus. We've all been 'trapped in a well' from time to time, hopelessly flailing about in our sin. "With true humility, Jesus resolves never to leave the well until every last person who is willing to follow Him is rescued." That is our mission. True humility calls us to help people who we think are "worse" than we are. People who are trapped in a well of sin and need help getting out. That is what Jesus did, think HARD on it.

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 9: Mercy

What is grace? A simple definition is 'giving someone something that he doesn't deserve.' What is mercy? A simple definition is 'not giving someone something that he does deserve.'

We tend to like it when people get what they deserve don't we? We like it when the bad guy gets caught and goes to prison forever. We would like it if Osama bin Laden was found dead. We like revenge. It sells, it sells movies, books, revenge is sweet! That is how we are, but its not how we should be. We should be concerned with their salvation. We should be concerned about giving them the same chance to receive mercy that we were given. "Mercy doesn't sell a lot of books or movie tickets, and it may not make you popular at the Pentagon or as a UFC competitor, but it reflects the heart of God and it's an essential ingredient to any meaningful effort to reach lost people for Jesus."

Jesus told a parable about mercy. We know it as the parable of the Good Samaritan. The story began with a question from one of the teachers of the law. The question was this: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" Its an odd question really. "I have to caution him about thinking that there is anything we can actually do to inherit eternal life. The cool thing about an inheritance is that you don't have to do anything to receive it-it's a gift from a father to a child. Like many of us, this guy has it all wrong. Our salvation is not about what we do or have done, but about what God has done for us."

As the parable unfolds, it turns out that the hero of the parable is the Samaritan. Of course the one person that the teacher of the law would hate the most ends up being the protagonist! Jesus also holds him up as an example of what a neighbor is! This was devastating, because Jesus had just told him that to inherit eternal life he had to love his neighbors. Jesus had just blown the social hierarchy right out of the water. "Like the Samaritan, Jesus was merciful to people regardless of who they were, what they'd done, or whether they liked Him," and He expects nothing less of us. As we eat with sinners, we need to leave revenge at home, and replace it with mercy. That's what everyone deserves, and we want them to get what they deserve right?

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 8: Urgency

Captain Sully knows about urgency. Shortly after takeoff, he realized that a bird had been sucked into the engine of his plane. He was going to have to make an emergency landing, but there was nowhere to land! He had 155 people on board, and he had to do something fast. So Captain Sully landed in the middle of the Hudson River!

When the alarms started going off, he acted with a sense of urgency. You may not know it, but the alarm is sounding. Each day 146,357 people die. That is 6,098 per hour, and 102 per minute! The alarm is sounding.

Have you ever had fruit or vegetables that were harvested too early? Too late? Its disgusting. The trick is to harvest them at just the right time. Jesus said that the harvest is ready, but the workers are few.

The harvest "looks like a coworker who starts crying at lunch when you ask her about things at home. It looks like an elderly neighbor who sits by himself on his front porch in the chair next to the chair where his wife used to sit. It looks like an angry boss who asks you why you go to a men's prayer group before work on Thursday morning. It looks like your kid's teacher. It looks like the guy in the 7-Eleven on Saturday night, waiting to spend fifty dollars on lottery tickets, hoping to finally have something that will change his miserable life. It looks like the classmate you've reconnected with on Facebook. It looks like the attractive woman with the low-cut top sitting next to you on the plane and trying to flirt as you discuss the weather. It looks like the young couple at the end of the street who seem overwhelmed taking care of their three little kids. It looks like your alcoholic father. It looks like your teenage daughter who acts like she doesn't want you around only because she needs you so desperately. It looks like the person you're going to eat with at McDonald's next Wednesday because you want to eat with him in Heaven for all eternity."

There was a girl who was awoken by her families grandfather clock, it was ringing 4, but it didn't stop there, it rang 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14! She was so frightened that she ran upstairs and told her family, Get up! It's later than it's ever was!

Are you ready to work? Jesus needs workers who will pray. He wants us to be ask to be sent? Seems kind of silly doesn't it? Why do we need to ask Jesus to send us to do what we already know He wants us to do? "Maybe He wants to know that we want lost people to be saved as much as He does. Maybe He wants to know that we know that without Him, the Lord of the harvest, there would be no harvest. Maybe He wants us to ask Him to send workers because it confirms we understand that we can't do this by ourselves."

Second Jesus needs workers who will go. We can't just sit around and wait for people to come to us. Jesus expects us as a church to GO to the world and make disciples. The best way to reach people for Christ is to go where they are and share Jesus with them.

It's time to get to work, and we need to hurry, because it's later than it ever was.

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 7: Resolve

Have you ever quit at something? What was it? What is the hardest thing you've done that you refused to quit?

Jesus refused to quit. His mission was to get to Jerusalem and die for the sins of the world. He had a clear goal, and unmatched resolve. "You are going to face obstacles on the way to Jerusalem. We all have a place God plans for us to go, our destiny, a place of extraordinary service and sacrifice, a higher purpose for which we were placed on this planet." Jerusalem meant death for Jesus. What is your Jerusalem? What are you resolved to do?

It takes a lot of resolve to get significant things done. Beethoven was resolved to create great music. He did, even after he went completely deaf! He wrote some of his most famous pieces, including several symphonies! Can you imagine writing a symphony that you could only hear in your head? Talk about resolve!

Whatever your Jerusalem is, you can't let anything get in the way of you getting there. We can't let anything keep us from eating with sinners. "Set your face on your Jerusalem and don't let misguided disciples keep you from following God's plan and fulfilling your destiny."

As we work to reach people for Jesus, we are going to face challenges from outsiders. However, we must understand that we will also face challenges from insiders! We have to be ready to follow God's lead no matter the cost. Jesus had his face set on Jerusalem. What is your face set on?

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 5: Tolerance

This was by far my favorite chapter in the book thus far. He says that there are two things that you never want to do. 1: Scream fire in a crowded theater and 2: whisper the word tolerance in a church. How true that can be. Tolerance has become a bad word, especially in churches. Many people associate tolerance with accepting sin, watering down the gospel, and letting everyone do anything they want to all the time. However there is a difference between tolerating sin and tolerating sinners. Tolerating, at least in the sense that we are talking about, is simply allowing someone or something to be.

Continued unrepentant sin by a Christian should not be tolerated. Paul teaches us in Romans that just because we have grace doesn't mean we should keep sinning. We all do, we are by nature sinners, but that doesn't mean that we should willfully sin all the time. "Sin in the church is like a caner that, if left untreated, leads to death. We are supposed to eat with non-Christian sinners but not with unrepentant Christian ones." We read in 1 Corinthians 5:9-11: "I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people-not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world. But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." "Sinners should always be allowed in our presence. It's their only hope. It's our only hope for reaching them."

Remember the story of the woman who came and washed Jesus feet with expensive perfume and her hair? She had a reputation of being...a sinner (probably a prostitute). The people who were there couldn't believe that Jesus was allowing her to hang around. But Jesus wasn't condoning what she had done, He was just loving her. "Jesus was more tolerant of lost people than most of us will ever be, because He loved lost people more than most of us ever will. Tolerance is viewed by many in the church as watering down the message of Jesus, but when we look at how Jesus interacted with sinners who were in need of salvation, we learn that tolerance toward sinners was key to how He reached out to them. He chose to be with sinners because He wanted them to have hope. He allowed this prostitute to be in His presence at this dinner because He wanted her to be with Him at the banquet He will host in eternity." Had this woman made bad choices in her past? Absolutely. But that didn't make her intolerable, just sinful. But with Jesus there are no lost causes.

One thing that we have to remember is this: in Jesus, we are not our worst sin. We are not defined by the bad choice we made on prom night, or the people that we slept with before we were married, or the wrong things we did so that we could get a promotion, or anything else that we have done. We are sinners who sin, but we are not sin. There is a huge difference. Sinners are loved by God, sin is hated.

"Do we really believe that all lost people can have the hope of forgiveness-that God can forgive anyone of anything? If so, then that will change everything. We will tolerate sinners-allowing them into our presence-because we believe that God has the power for positive change." With Jesus there are no lost causes.

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 5: Intimacy

The word intimacy brings up different thoughts to men and women. Women think of long walks on the beach, staying up talking all night, romantic candlelight dinners, and things like that. Men on the other hand think of...well...other things. Jesus thought of eating with sinners. You see eating with someone in Jesus day was equivalent to saying that you accepted, were friends with, were connected with that person.

"'In first century Palestinian Judaism the class system was enforced rigorously. It was legally forbidden to mingle with sinners who were outside the law: table fellowship with beggars, tax collectors... and prostitutes was a religious, social, and cultural taboo.' Manning writes that in the Near East today, for an orthodox Jew to say, 'I would like to have dinner with you,' is a metaphor implying 'I would like to enter into a friendship with you.'"

Eating with people was a big deal. And frankly, it still is. It is one of the best ways to get to know people, and people generally eat with people they are trying to get to know and become close friends with. It is one of the best opportunities that we can have to share the story of Jesus. And one of the best ways we can share the story of Jesus is to share our own stories.

We can not isolate ourselves from people. 'When we isolate ourselves from people, we lose the ability to connect with them on any level.' This is not how Jesus worked. After all, " Saving someone who is separated from you by a barrier is impossible."

We put up barriers all the time. We associate with people who look, talk, think, dress, and smell like we do. How can we be used by God to save the lost and at the same time not associate with them for fear that they will 'drag us down?' The answer is we can't. Its impossible. "Devotion to our points of view can hinder our efforts to reach lost people and help them get back to where they are supposed to be."

It's time that we start being known for being people who eat with sinners. People who aren't afraid to step outside the bubble of Christianity and associate and become close friends with people who have different points of view and ways of life! That is what Jesus did, and He expects nothing less of us.

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 4: Faith

With God there are no lost causes.

Jesus was a master fisher of men. He also put the fishermen who became His disciples to shame. Now the fact that He is God and can tell the fish to do whatever He wants might be considered cheating, but whatever. One day He saw some men fishing on the Sea of Galilee and He went over to them and just got in the boat! Then He asked them to put out into deep waters and let the nets down for a catch. I don't know why they did it, they had been fishing all night and hadn't caught a thing, but for some reason they just did what He said.

They put out into deep water. That is exactly what Jesus calls us to do today. You see big fish live in deep water. You can't catch big fish unless you are in deep water. If we want to reach people for Christ, we have to dive deep into the community in which we live. That means that we have to be involved in things outside of our churches! How many of our churches local outreach programs amount to little more than sticking our head out the door and whispering the name of Jesus? We wonder why people aren't coming to know Christ, its because we aren't listening to His call to us to go deeper!

Why is that? Because we fall into the trap of linear thinking. Linear thinking is "drawing conclusions about the immediate future based on the immediate past." Linear thinking says that we can't bring people to Christ today because we've never done it before. "Linear thinking says there is no hope for the prostitute, the abusive alcoholic, the adulterous spouse, the murderer, and the northern Colorado farmer convicted of dealing drugs, but faith disagrees- because with Jesus there are no lost causes."

I'm not a fisherman, but I do know this: If you want to catch fish, you have to put your line in the water. "Its one thing to want to catch fish, its another thing to put your bait in the water. It's one thing to have faith in Jesus and put our into deep water; it's another to put your faith into action and let down the nets for a catch."

"As we eat with sinners, we must have faith that God wants to save them. We must also be willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they know that."

What are you doing that constitutes putting out into "deep water?" What can you do this week to "put your bait in the water?"

Enjoy the Journey

Chapter 3: Grace

Christians have been hated since the first day they were called Christians, and really even before that. But we used to be hated for the right reason: loving Jesus. Now it seems that we are hated because we don't love people enough and we're too judgmental. This is unfair to most Christians. However you can see where people are coming from, there are plenty of angry Christians out there screaming at the world that they are going to hell. This wasn't the way Jesus did it, He ate with people! The scary thing is that many people do not know who Jesus is and what He was like, so they assume He was just like the angry Christian yelling at them from the street corner, or standing outside the gay rights rally with a sign that says, "God hates fags." Jesus was never mean to people...truthful, but not mean. "He was a grace-filled Savior intent on helping people find their way to heaven."

Jesus came to preach good news to the poor. He treated the poor so much differently than most of us do.

"If you're honest, you might have to admit that most of the time you think poor people are a nuisance. I'm a preacher, and we can be the worst offenders. Preachers have "important" things to do, and honestly, it can be annoying to be trying to finish my sermon on service, only to have my admin call to say there's a benevolence case waiting for me i the reception area! So we usher the poor away quickly with a can of Vienna sausages, an oatmeal pie, a pat on the back, and directions to the shelter downtown. Shame on us. Shame on me."

Wow. I can definitely relate to that. I could easily substitute the words 'preacher' for 'worship minister' and 'sermon' to 'video.' Can you relate?

It's our job to proclaim freedom to those who need it. Satan tries to shackle people with hopelessness and despair. Many people can't see a way out of the life they are living, but Jesus offers hope. Let me rephrase that, Jesus uses us to offer hope to those He died to save. Hope of freedom. Freedom changes lives.

"Jesus was full of grace. He had the heart of a loving Savior, not of an angry street preacher. Isaiah prophesied about Jesus: 'He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.'"

Maybe its time for a new approach. Grace.

Enjoy the Journey