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
Thursday, August 05, 2010
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
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
"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
Thursday, July 22, 2010
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
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
Thursday, July 15, 2010
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
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
Thursday, July 08, 2010
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
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
Thursday, July 01, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 17, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 10, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 03, 2010
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
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
Thursday, May 27, 2010
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
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
Thursday, May 20, 2010
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
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
Thursday, May 13, 2010
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
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
Thursday, May 06, 2010
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
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
Thursday, April 29, 2010
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
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
Thursday, April 22, 2010
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
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
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Chapter 2: Accessibility
There is only one way to effectively change the world for Christ: to get the message of Christ to the world! But sometimes we make that so difficult. The world will not be won to Christ because the programs at our church run really smoothly, the by-laws cover every possible scenario, or because our building is amazing. The world won't be won for Christ until Christians decide to make the love, joy, and life found in Christ more accessible to everyone.
There are many things that stand in the way of people coming to know Christ. Arron deals with two physical things in this chapter, because they should be an easy place to start working: Clothing and Church Buildings.
We've all heard the debate about what you should wear to church. On the one hand, if you don't wear a suit to church then you don't love God, and on the other, God doesn't care what I look like so I'm coming in my pj's. It's funny that we don't have this conversation many other places than church. I understand dress codes. I understand that when I go to a wedding, I need to wear a suit. I understand that when I play basketball, I'm going to need shorts and basketball shoes. I understand that when I come to work, I need to wear 'business casual' clothes so that I can interact with people without intimidating them. So dress codes aren't really a problem for me, but the problem is that God doesn't really give us one! Arron hits it right on the head when he says, "I just refuse to clothe the grace of God in a suit or a dress and require that lost men and women meet a dress code before they can meet Jesus."
Just because someone doesn't wear a tie to church doesn't mean he doesn't love God. It probably means that he hates wearing ties (who doesn't), and that he enjoys breathing. This doesn't mean that I think we should be sloppy, but there is no dress code for church!
He also says that church buildings can be an obstacle. Many of us don't think of them that way, however they can be nothing more than big boxes that 'isolate Christians from the world (and each other) and sap huge amounts of time, energy, and money that could otherwise be used for outreach and staffing needs.' The first century church didn't have buildings, and they seemed to get along just fine. They met wherever they could and found ways to spread the gospel. Church buildings aren't bad, but they need to be viewed for what they are, a tool. They are not the end all, they are ONE method of getting the message of Christ out. If the building becomes the only method, and we spend all of our time, energy, and money on the building, we are missing the point.
"The church was never meant to be viewed as an immobile box sitting on the corner of Eighth and Main; God intended for us to view the church as a healthy, mobile body of believers moving, walking, through this world." We need to stop spending all of our time hiding inside the church building waiting on people to show up. Odds are that they won't. We need to be thinking of creative ways that we can take the message of Christ to a world that is thirsty to hear it.
"When people who are searching for meaning in this life encounter us, they should find hope, not hate. They should find love, not judgment. They should find us clearing a path, not cluttering it. They should find clarity, not confusion. No one should have to wear the right clothes or walk into one of our church buildings to find life, help, hope, peace, joy, truth, and love. No, accessing these blessings should be as easy as sitting down for a meal with you or me."
Enjoy the Journey
There is only one way to effectively change the world for Christ: to get the message of Christ to the world! But sometimes we make that so difficult. The world will not be won to Christ because the programs at our church run really smoothly, the by-laws cover every possible scenario, or because our building is amazing. The world won't be won for Christ until Christians decide to make the love, joy, and life found in Christ more accessible to everyone.
There are many things that stand in the way of people coming to know Christ. Arron deals with two physical things in this chapter, because they should be an easy place to start working: Clothing and Church Buildings.
We've all heard the debate about what you should wear to church. On the one hand, if you don't wear a suit to church then you don't love God, and on the other, God doesn't care what I look like so I'm coming in my pj's. It's funny that we don't have this conversation many other places than church. I understand dress codes. I understand that when I go to a wedding, I need to wear a suit. I understand that when I play basketball, I'm going to need shorts and basketball shoes. I understand that when I come to work, I need to wear 'business casual' clothes so that I can interact with people without intimidating them. So dress codes aren't really a problem for me, but the problem is that God doesn't really give us one! Arron hits it right on the head when he says, "I just refuse to clothe the grace of God in a suit or a dress and require that lost men and women meet a dress code before they can meet Jesus."
Just because someone doesn't wear a tie to church doesn't mean he doesn't love God. It probably means that he hates wearing ties (who doesn't), and that he enjoys breathing. This doesn't mean that I think we should be sloppy, but there is no dress code for church!
He also says that church buildings can be an obstacle. Many of us don't think of them that way, however they can be nothing more than big boxes that 'isolate Christians from the world (and each other) and sap huge amounts of time, energy, and money that could otherwise be used for outreach and staffing needs.' The first century church didn't have buildings, and they seemed to get along just fine. They met wherever they could and found ways to spread the gospel. Church buildings aren't bad, but they need to be viewed for what they are, a tool. They are not the end all, they are ONE method of getting the message of Christ out. If the building becomes the only method, and we spend all of our time, energy, and money on the building, we are missing the point.
"The church was never meant to be viewed as an immobile box sitting on the corner of Eighth and Main; God intended for us to view the church as a healthy, mobile body of believers moving, walking, through this world." We need to stop spending all of our time hiding inside the church building waiting on people to show up. Odds are that they won't. We need to be thinking of creative ways that we can take the message of Christ to a world that is thirsty to hear it.
"When people who are searching for meaning in this life encounter us, they should find hope, not hate. They should find love, not judgment. They should find us clearing a path, not cluttering it. They should find clarity, not confusion. No one should have to wear the right clothes or walk into one of our church buildings to find life, help, hope, peace, joy, truth, and love. No, accessing these blessings should be as easy as sitting down for a meal with you or me."
Enjoy the Journey
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Over the next several weeks we will be going through Arron Chambers' new book called 'Eats with Sinners.' If you have any questions or comments please feel free to post them here or email me.
Eats with Sinners Chapter 1: Integrity
One impurity in our lives can pull us and others off course. But this is our problem, not God's. He never changes, He has always been and always will be the same. Perfect. We on the other hand are not. That is why we swear on our momma's grave and sign contracts.
There is only one human in history who has ever had absolute integrity. And I'm not sure if it really counts because He was also fully God. His name was Jesus. As soon as He came up out of the waters of baptism He was lead out into the desert to be tempted, and He passed with flying colors. Scripture says that He was tempted in every way, just like we are, yet He was without sin.
In those moments when we are tempted, we have the opportunity to grow into something more, or shrink into something less. Before we can even think about leading others to know Christ, we too must face our deserts of temptation. None of us are perfect, but that doesn't mean that we can't live a life of integrity. We can't allow the mistakes we make to pull us permanently off course and away from integrity. If we are willing to learn from those mistakes God can and will use us to do great things. "You can have integrity without a ministry, but you can't have a ministry without integrity."
Jesus tells us to pull the log out of our own eye before we try to remove the speck of dust out of our friend's eye. In other, words, don't be such a hypocrite! Jesus wants our lives to be characterized by integrity. "Hypocrisy is cancerous to evangelism, rendering Jesus a joke and His message a punch line in the hearts and minds of lost people."
Hans Christian Andersen tells a famous story about an Emperor who was tricked by two swindlers. They claimed to be able to make the finest clothes, but only those with great taste could see them. So naturally, everyone in the palace raved about the clothes when they were "finished." The king even agreed to have a parade to show them off. Everyone in the kingdom pretended to see these fine articles of clothing until they passed by one little boy who yelled, 'the king isn't wearing any clothes!' Relieved that someone had finally said it, everyone in the kingdom, including the king had to admit that he was parading around naked! Is that how our spiritual lives are? Are we pretending to clothe ourselves in righteousness but in reality parading around naked in our sin? This has to stop.
Sin makes us cowards, but integrity makes us bold. Its hard to help someone come through a sin that you are stuck in yourself. If you are addicted to porn it would be extremely hard to preach about the evils of porn. "Private sin is an evil warden that Satan employs to keep us locked up, silent, and hopeless in a dungeon that reeks with fear. But private sin is also an illusion. We can't fool God." He already know what we do when no one else is looking, and He wants to forgive us if we'll just ask!
God doesn't expect perfection. Only faithfulness. You see God knows that we are all flawed and that we are going to sin everyday of our lives here on earth. But He wants us to be faithful to Him. Don't let your life be defined by a moment of weakness, but rather by years of loyalty to the One who redeems us from sin.
At the end of the chapter Arron gives 3 tips toward walking with integrity:
1. Personal Devotions- are you doing them? Are you spending time in the Word of God?
2. Accountability Partner- find someone of the same gender who will help you stay on track.
3. Local church- find one and stick with it. We need each other!
Enjoy the Journey
Eats with Sinners Chapter 1: Integrity
One impurity in our lives can pull us and others off course. But this is our problem, not God's. He never changes, He has always been and always will be the same. Perfect. We on the other hand are not. That is why we swear on our momma's grave and sign contracts.
There is only one human in history who has ever had absolute integrity. And I'm not sure if it really counts because He was also fully God. His name was Jesus. As soon as He came up out of the waters of baptism He was lead out into the desert to be tempted, and He passed with flying colors. Scripture says that He was tempted in every way, just like we are, yet He was without sin.
In those moments when we are tempted, we have the opportunity to grow into something more, or shrink into something less. Before we can even think about leading others to know Christ, we too must face our deserts of temptation. None of us are perfect, but that doesn't mean that we can't live a life of integrity. We can't allow the mistakes we make to pull us permanently off course and away from integrity. If we are willing to learn from those mistakes God can and will use us to do great things. "You can have integrity without a ministry, but you can't have a ministry without integrity."
Jesus tells us to pull the log out of our own eye before we try to remove the speck of dust out of our friend's eye. In other, words, don't be such a hypocrite! Jesus wants our lives to be characterized by integrity. "Hypocrisy is cancerous to evangelism, rendering Jesus a joke and His message a punch line in the hearts and minds of lost people."
Hans Christian Andersen tells a famous story about an Emperor who was tricked by two swindlers. They claimed to be able to make the finest clothes, but only those with great taste could see them. So naturally, everyone in the palace raved about the clothes when they were "finished." The king even agreed to have a parade to show them off. Everyone in the kingdom pretended to see these fine articles of clothing until they passed by one little boy who yelled, 'the king isn't wearing any clothes!' Relieved that someone had finally said it, everyone in the kingdom, including the king had to admit that he was parading around naked! Is that how our spiritual lives are? Are we pretending to clothe ourselves in righteousness but in reality parading around naked in our sin? This has to stop.
Sin makes us cowards, but integrity makes us bold. Its hard to help someone come through a sin that you are stuck in yourself. If you are addicted to porn it would be extremely hard to preach about the evils of porn. "Private sin is an evil warden that Satan employs to keep us locked up, silent, and hopeless in a dungeon that reeks with fear. But private sin is also an illusion. We can't fool God." He already know what we do when no one else is looking, and He wants to forgive us if we'll just ask!
God doesn't expect perfection. Only faithfulness. You see God knows that we are all flawed and that we are going to sin everyday of our lives here on earth. But He wants us to be faithful to Him. Don't let your life be defined by a moment of weakness, but rather by years of loyalty to the One who redeems us from sin.
At the end of the chapter Arron gives 3 tips toward walking with integrity:
1. Personal Devotions- are you doing them? Are you spending time in the Word of God?
2. Accountability Partner- find someone of the same gender who will help you stay on track.
3. Local church- find one and stick with it. We need each other!
Enjoy the Journey
Thursday, February 04, 2010
Creatives
Don't allow yourself to be standardized. When you do, your soul slowly starts to die. God didn't create us all to be the same! He gave us desires and passions that are uniquely our own. Some religions would tell you that the way to ultimate peace is to rid yourself of all desires. Ever tried that? Good luck. Its torture! You were created to grow, dream, achieve, and create! Your life came from God and He intended it to be God-sized and God-inspired. Jesus was a man of emotion and passion. He definitely wasn't a man who had gotten rid of all desires. Quite the opposite in fact! He was so passionate for God's house that He drove people out with a whip! He was so passionate for you that He gave His life for you! And He made us just like Himself! Why would we think that people created in the image of God should be unpassionate, desireless people? God has called you to be passionate and to create. The destination of our spiritual journey is not nothing, on the contrary, it is an adventure beyond measure.
Enjoy the Journey
Don't allow yourself to be standardized. When you do, your soul slowly starts to die. God didn't create us all to be the same! He gave us desires and passions that are uniquely our own. Some religions would tell you that the way to ultimate peace is to rid yourself of all desires. Ever tried that? Good luck. Its torture! You were created to grow, dream, achieve, and create! Your life came from God and He intended it to be God-sized and God-inspired. Jesus was a man of emotion and passion. He definitely wasn't a man who had gotten rid of all desires. Quite the opposite in fact! He was so passionate for God's house that He drove people out with a whip! He was so passionate for you that He gave His life for you! And He made us just like Himself! Why would we think that people created in the image of God should be unpassionate, desireless people? God has called you to be passionate and to create. The destination of our spiritual journey is not nothing, on the contrary, it is an adventure beyond measure.
Enjoy the Journey
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
If Only
I saw an interesting movie tonight. 'The Book of Eli.' The book was the Bible, and everyone wanted it. There had been a great war and the whole earth was in shambles. There was only one copy of the Bible (although they didn't tell you it was the Bible until the end) left, and everyone wanted to get their hands on it. Eli (the main character) had it, and he read it everyday. Late in the movie you realize that he has the entire Bible memorized. If only we desired the Bible the way the characters in this movie desired it. If only we would commit it to memory like Eli does in the movie. What would our world be like? What would our churches be like? If only...
Enjoy the Journey
I saw an interesting movie tonight. 'The Book of Eli.' The book was the Bible, and everyone wanted it. There had been a great war and the whole earth was in shambles. There was only one copy of the Bible (although they didn't tell you it was the Bible until the end) left, and everyone wanted to get their hands on it. Eli (the main character) had it, and he read it everyday. Late in the movie you realize that he has the entire Bible memorized. If only we desired the Bible the way the characters in this movie desired it. If only we would commit it to memory like Eli does in the movie. What would our world be like? What would our churches be like? If only...
Enjoy the Journey
Monday, December 14, 2009
Israel=Egypt?
I just started reading Rob Bell's book 'Jesus Wants to Save Christians.' Chapter 1 talks about the cry of the oppressed. God is the God of the oppressed. Even after He kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden and everything descended into chaos, He responded to the Israelite's 'cry' when they were in Egypt. Egypt was a place of slavery, a place where they were forced to build things using bricks, and they were treated in an inhumane way. God delivers them from that using a man named Moses, and then He takes them to Sinai, where God finally breaks His silence. Here He meets with His people and gives them the 10 Commandments. The commandments were given so that they could have a way to remember who they are and the God that saved them from their slavery. The first commandment is that they should have no other gods. If they did, they would forget about the God who brought them out of Egypt, the God who heard their cry. The rest give them instructions on how to live and treat others in a humane way, something that they were not used to while living Egypt. God wanted them to be the opposite of Egypt.
Fast forward a few years to the reign Solomon. We see Solomon amassing a huge amount of wealth and building military bases, palaces, and even a temple for God. But how did he build all of these things? He used slaves! The slaves had become the oppressors. Those who God rescued were now doing the very things to others that God had rescued them from! But it didn't stop there. Solomon married many women, and they lead his heart astray, and he began to worship other gods. That was rule #1! This puts God in an awkward position, He told them not to, but here they are doing it anyway! He warned them not to even charge interest to their neighbors, or He would 'hear their cry,' and they are making slaves of people! Israel had become just like Egypt. The people who had been saved from Egypt moved up north and created a kingdom just like the one they had been saved from!
So throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God is trying to warn them that they need to get it together through the prophets, but they won't listen. Eventually God has enough and as He always does, He hears the cry of the oppressed. He sends the Babylonians in and destroys everything that Israel had built and carries them into exile. They began as slaves, then they tried to be masters instead of taking care of the poor like they were told to do, and so they ended up as slaves once more. Its weird how much Israel and Egypt have in common!
Enjoy the Journey
I just started reading Rob Bell's book 'Jesus Wants to Save Christians.' Chapter 1 talks about the cry of the oppressed. God is the God of the oppressed. Even after He kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden and everything descended into chaos, He responded to the Israelite's 'cry' when they were in Egypt. Egypt was a place of slavery, a place where they were forced to build things using bricks, and they were treated in an inhumane way. God delivers them from that using a man named Moses, and then He takes them to Sinai, where God finally breaks His silence. Here He meets with His people and gives them the 10 Commandments. The commandments were given so that they could have a way to remember who they are and the God that saved them from their slavery. The first commandment is that they should have no other gods. If they did, they would forget about the God who brought them out of Egypt, the God who heard their cry. The rest give them instructions on how to live and treat others in a humane way, something that they were not used to while living Egypt. God wanted them to be the opposite of Egypt.
Fast forward a few years to the reign Solomon. We see Solomon amassing a huge amount of wealth and building military bases, palaces, and even a temple for God. But how did he build all of these things? He used slaves! The slaves had become the oppressors. Those who God rescued were now doing the very things to others that God had rescued them from! But it didn't stop there. Solomon married many women, and they lead his heart astray, and he began to worship other gods. That was rule #1! This puts God in an awkward position, He told them not to, but here they are doing it anyway! He warned them not to even charge interest to their neighbors, or He would 'hear their cry,' and they are making slaves of people! Israel had become just like Egypt. The people who had been saved from Egypt moved up north and created a kingdom just like the one they had been saved from!
So throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God is trying to warn them that they need to get it together through the prophets, but they won't listen. Eventually God has enough and as He always does, He hears the cry of the oppressed. He sends the Babylonians in and destroys everything that Israel had built and carries them into exile. They began as slaves, then they tried to be masters instead of taking care of the poor like they were told to do, and so they ended up as slaves once more. Its weird how much Israel and Egypt have in common!
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, December 04, 2009
Why do we care?
Do you ever wonder why we have this need, this desire, this longing to be someone, to create something, to make a difference? No other species has this desire. My dog is laying at might feet right now, and I'm pretty sure she isn't thinking about what her personal destiny is (she's probably wondering when I'm going to tell her she can go get the rawhide bone that is on the other side of the living room). This is something that is unique to humans. We have a desire to make the world better. Even those of us who don't believe in God feel the need to be humane. Whenever a tragedy strikes, humankind rushes in to the rescue. Why is that? If the world is truly evolutionary, we should be motivated by a survival of the fittest mentality, but we are just not. We know that there is just something not quite right about living like that. Without God there really is not justification for it, but none the less we feel compelled to care about other people. Why do we care about other people? Because we are created in the image of God, we have within us the need to believe that this world can be better, and that we can help. Gandhi was the one who said that we should become the change we seek, and I completely agree.
Enjoy the Journey
Do you ever wonder why we have this need, this desire, this longing to be someone, to create something, to make a difference? No other species has this desire. My dog is laying at might feet right now, and I'm pretty sure she isn't thinking about what her personal destiny is (she's probably wondering when I'm going to tell her she can go get the rawhide bone that is on the other side of the living room). This is something that is unique to humans. We have a desire to make the world better. Even those of us who don't believe in God feel the need to be humane. Whenever a tragedy strikes, humankind rushes in to the rescue. Why is that? If the world is truly evolutionary, we should be motivated by a survival of the fittest mentality, but we are just not. We know that there is just something not quite right about living like that. Without God there really is not justification for it, but none the less we feel compelled to care about other people. Why do we care about other people? Because we are created in the image of God, we have within us the need to believe that this world can be better, and that we can help. Gandhi was the one who said that we should become the change we seek, and I completely agree.
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, October 09, 2009
Hope is Born
Who would have thought sitting out on a hillside
Watching the sheep by night
We'd be surrounded by thousands of angels
Your glory shining so bright
And who would have thought that a baby's cry
Would change this whole world and give us new life
And now that I know, all that's within me sings
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Who would of thought that three kings from afar
Would leave their land and their home
To travel by night and follow a star
In search of a King of their own
And who would have thought that the King of all kings
Would be born in Bethlehem cause you see
We all know nothing good comes from there
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Who would have thought that this King would grow up
And find Himself nailed to a tree
And what held Him there? Not the cross or the nails
But His love for you and for me
And who would have thought that three days would go by
He'd rise from the grave turning death onto life
And all creation joins in as we sing
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Who would have thought sitting out on a hillside
Watching the sheep by night
We'd be surrounded by thousands of angels
Your glory shining so bright
And who would have thought that a baby's cry
Would change this whole world and give us new life
And now that I know, all that's within me sings
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Who would of thought that three kings from afar
Would leave their land and their home
To travel by night and follow a star
In search of a King of their own
And who would have thought that the King of all kings
Would be born in Bethlehem cause you see
We all know nothing good comes from there
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Who would have thought that this King would grow up
And find Himself nailed to a tree
And what held Him there? Not the cross or the nails
But His love for you and for me
And who would have thought that three days would go by
He'd rise from the grave turning death onto life
And all creation joins in as we sing
You are the One we've been waiting for
You are the Lord of all lords
You are the One we've been waiting for
And tonight is the night hope is born
Tuesday, October 06, 2009
Searching for Significance
One of the basic needs of humanity is significance. We spend our whole lives trying to do something meaningful, something that will be remembered, something that will make an impact. Many times we start off looking for success, and sometimes we even get it. But when that leaves us empty we start looking for significance. And that need in and of itself can be an argument for God. If there weren't a God, then everything truly would be meaningless, just like Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes. Take God out of the picture and as Erwin McManus says in his book 'Soul Cravings' "...all your future holds for you is a splat and then its over." So where does the desire for significance come from? I would argue God. You may not be able to 'prove God in a tube' but take Him out of the equation and you can feel it in your gut.
Enjoy the Journey
One of the basic needs of humanity is significance. We spend our whole lives trying to do something meaningful, something that will be remembered, something that will make an impact. Many times we start off looking for success, and sometimes we even get it. But when that leaves us empty we start looking for significance. And that need in and of itself can be an argument for God. If there weren't a God, then everything truly would be meaningless, just like Solomon talks about in Ecclesiastes. Take God out of the picture and as Erwin McManus says in his book 'Soul Cravings' "...all your future holds for you is a splat and then its over." So where does the desire for significance come from? I would argue God. You may not be able to 'prove God in a tube' but take Him out of the equation and you can feel it in your gut.
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Prayer- of God and Gandalf
I've been thinking alot about prayer lately. When you pray, do you pray like you are talking to a person? Because until recently I don't think I did. I found myself saying the phrase 'God I pray that...' alot during all of my prayers. I don't know I guess I thought maybe God forgot I was talking to Him or that I was even praying at all! Its amazing that when you really start to picture that you are talking to a person when you pray, your prayer life changes instantly. I was talking with the middle school boys a couple of weeks ago about this and we were talking about how annoying it would be to have someone say your name at the beginning of every sentence while they were talking to you? How long could you listen before you wanted to slap them!? I know God has way more patience than me, but it hit me that maybe God gets annoyed when I talk to Him! Maybe I'm completely off base here, but I don't talk like that when I talk to anyone else... except God. So I've really been working on actually talking to God conversationally in prayer, and it has revolutionized my prayer life.
So picturing someone helps, but what do you picture? Revelation 4 gives a pretty amazing picture of God sitting on the throne. He is a gigantic jeweled man with all kinds of crazy looking creatures flying around and yelling worship to Him at the top of their lungs, with lightning and thunder all around. Now there is a picture for you. When I was teaching the Kindergarten chapel we were talking about creation, and how God made everything out of nothing, He just spoke things into existence. One of the kids raised their hands and said, "Is God a wizard?" It was all I could do to contain my laughter, but then I started to think about it and it is amazing how a kid can pull a concept like that together so easily and just accept it. I'm not saying that God and Gandalf have anything in common, but it helped this child understand that God is not like us at all. To Him God is magical, powerful, and mysterious, and in that sense he nailed it. And I have to admit that a couple of times when I've prayed over the past week, I've pictured myself talking to an old man with a cool staff and a white robe :)
Enjoy the Journey
I've been thinking alot about prayer lately. When you pray, do you pray like you are talking to a person? Because until recently I don't think I did. I found myself saying the phrase 'God I pray that...' alot during all of my prayers. I don't know I guess I thought maybe God forgot I was talking to Him or that I was even praying at all! Its amazing that when you really start to picture that you are talking to a person when you pray, your prayer life changes instantly. I was talking with the middle school boys a couple of weeks ago about this and we were talking about how annoying it would be to have someone say your name at the beginning of every sentence while they were talking to you? How long could you listen before you wanted to slap them!? I know God has way more patience than me, but it hit me that maybe God gets annoyed when I talk to Him! Maybe I'm completely off base here, but I don't talk like that when I talk to anyone else... except God. So I've really been working on actually talking to God conversationally in prayer, and it has revolutionized my prayer life.
So picturing someone helps, but what do you picture? Revelation 4 gives a pretty amazing picture of God sitting on the throne. He is a gigantic jeweled man with all kinds of crazy looking creatures flying around and yelling worship to Him at the top of their lungs, with lightning and thunder all around. Now there is a picture for you. When I was teaching the Kindergarten chapel we were talking about creation, and how God made everything out of nothing, He just spoke things into existence. One of the kids raised their hands and said, "Is God a wizard?" It was all I could do to contain my laughter, but then I started to think about it and it is amazing how a kid can pull a concept like that together so easily and just accept it. I'm not saying that God and Gandalf have anything in common, but it helped this child understand that God is not like us at all. To Him God is magical, powerful, and mysterious, and in that sense he nailed it. And I have to admit that a couple of times when I've prayed over the past week, I've pictured myself talking to an old man with a cool staff and a white robe :)
Enjoy the Journey
Thursday, July 02, 2009
Ancient Worship Leaders
One of the best things we can do as artists (or just as people) is learn from those who have come before us. As artists we have plenty of people to learn from. One group of people would be the Levites. I like to say that the Levites were kind of like the roadies of the Old Testament. They were in charge of music, but also of moving the tabernacle, set-up, tear down, maintenance, the whole bit. They worked along side the priests. If the priest was the Senior Minister, the Levites were the Worship Leaders. The things about the Levites was that they were unified. They are the ones who stood together when the rest of the Israelites were still trying to decide who they were going to worship...God or the golden calf that Aaron made. As artists in the church we are the best example of unity a congregation will see on any given Sunday. Think about it, everyone else does their job by themselves (most of the time). The preacher preaches alone, the teachers teach alone, but the worship team has to play together or it won't work!
Another thing about the Levites that we learn from scripture is that they were given to the priests by God as 'gifts.' The relationship between the artists and the preacher is so important. If it isn't the most important relationship in the church, its in the top 5. If the artists and senior minister don't get along, it is easy to see. Then the rest of the people have to pick sides, and worshiping God takes a back seat to the feud between the artists and the preacher! Can you honestly say that you are a 'gift' to your senior minister? That doesn't mean that you will always agree and everything will always be great, but it does mean that you don't bring your junk with you into worship. Issues should be resolved one on one, and no one else should ever know about it. You are on the same team, worshiping the same God, and after all, isn't that what is about to start with?
Enjoy the Journey
One of the best things we can do as artists (or just as people) is learn from those who have come before us. As artists we have plenty of people to learn from. One group of people would be the Levites. I like to say that the Levites were kind of like the roadies of the Old Testament. They were in charge of music, but also of moving the tabernacle, set-up, tear down, maintenance, the whole bit. They worked along side the priests. If the priest was the Senior Minister, the Levites were the Worship Leaders. The things about the Levites was that they were unified. They are the ones who stood together when the rest of the Israelites were still trying to decide who they were going to worship...God or the golden calf that Aaron made. As artists in the church we are the best example of unity a congregation will see on any given Sunday. Think about it, everyone else does their job by themselves (most of the time). The preacher preaches alone, the teachers teach alone, but the worship team has to play together or it won't work!
Another thing about the Levites that we learn from scripture is that they were given to the priests by God as 'gifts.' The relationship between the artists and the preacher is so important. If it isn't the most important relationship in the church, its in the top 5. If the artists and senior minister don't get along, it is easy to see. Then the rest of the people have to pick sides, and worshiping God takes a back seat to the feud between the artists and the preacher! Can you honestly say that you are a 'gift' to your senior minister? That doesn't mean that you will always agree and everything will always be great, but it does mean that you don't bring your junk with you into worship. Issues should be resolved one on one, and no one else should ever know about it. You are on the same team, worshiping the same God, and after all, isn't that what is about to start with?
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Relational Skills for Artists
Relational skills often go undeveloped in artists because we focus so much on our art we neglect everything else. The problem with that is you can be the greatest artist in the world, but if you are a jerk, no one will want to work with you! Artist need to be able to initiate meaningful conversation. Meaningful conversation goes beyond, 'how bout this weather?' and into things like 'are you happy?' Taking relationships beyond surface level is key. We also need to listen attentively. As an artist and a guy, this one is sometimes hard for me. Listening means more than just sitting there facing in the other person's direction. Don't let your mind wander to other things! James tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak, not the other way around. Artists have the potential to be great listeners. So much of our art draws on emotion, we can often perceive exactly what emotions others are trying to express.
Artists need to develop the skill of blessing others verbally. How ironic is it that artists, who are sensitive by nature, can be some of the most insensitive people in the world!? Sensitivity is no good if it is always directed inward, then it is nothing more than selfishness! When giving affirmation to others, be as specific as possible. 'Good job,' just doesn't cut it. Another thing we need to do is listen to how we come across. There are things that need to be said, and there are ways that they need to be said. Our minister (Mike McGinnis) puts in nicely when he says, 'I could say to my wife, 'Jennie, your face makes time stand still.' or I could say, 'Jennie, your face could stop a clock!' They are the same, yet will get very different reactions! We see the same thing in the Old Testament when Joseph is trying to tell his brothers about a dream he had. He told them about a dream in which everyone else's sheaf of grain bowed to his. His brother's quickly caught on to the fact that he was saying he would rule over all of them. They resented him so much they sold him into slavery! Be careful with your words. Proverbs 12:18 says, 'Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.'
Follow through with your responsibilities! I don't know why, but sometimes artists get the idea that because they are artists, they are excused from acting like responsible adults. If you are an artist (or if you are not), BE ON TIME! Artists are notorious for being late. And to put it bluntly, it is inconsiderate and rude. The message is that your time is more important than everyone else's. If you are forgetful, write things down, its just not that hard! Artists are also known for being bad with money. If you don't take care of your family, the scripture says you have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever! Get your finances in line and stop being irresponsible! Stay away from debt. Money is also the number one cause of divorce in North America. So artists, if you want a happy marriage, you better get your act together! Money won't make a happy marriage, but doing things God's way will, and He says you need to be able to take care of your family.
Enjoy the Journey
Relational skills often go undeveloped in artists because we focus so much on our art we neglect everything else. The problem with that is you can be the greatest artist in the world, but if you are a jerk, no one will want to work with you! Artist need to be able to initiate meaningful conversation. Meaningful conversation goes beyond, 'how bout this weather?' and into things like 'are you happy?' Taking relationships beyond surface level is key. We also need to listen attentively. As an artist and a guy, this one is sometimes hard for me. Listening means more than just sitting there facing in the other person's direction. Don't let your mind wander to other things! James tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak, not the other way around. Artists have the potential to be great listeners. So much of our art draws on emotion, we can often perceive exactly what emotions others are trying to express.
Artists need to develop the skill of blessing others verbally. How ironic is it that artists, who are sensitive by nature, can be some of the most insensitive people in the world!? Sensitivity is no good if it is always directed inward, then it is nothing more than selfishness! When giving affirmation to others, be as specific as possible. 'Good job,' just doesn't cut it. Another thing we need to do is listen to how we come across. There are things that need to be said, and there are ways that they need to be said. Our minister (Mike McGinnis) puts in nicely when he says, 'I could say to my wife, 'Jennie, your face makes time stand still.' or I could say, 'Jennie, your face could stop a clock!' They are the same, yet will get very different reactions! We see the same thing in the Old Testament when Joseph is trying to tell his brothers about a dream he had. He told them about a dream in which everyone else's sheaf of grain bowed to his. His brother's quickly caught on to the fact that he was saying he would rule over all of them. They resented him so much they sold him into slavery! Be careful with your words. Proverbs 12:18 says, 'Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.'
Follow through with your responsibilities! I don't know why, but sometimes artists get the idea that because they are artists, they are excused from acting like responsible adults. If you are an artist (or if you are not), BE ON TIME! Artists are notorious for being late. And to put it bluntly, it is inconsiderate and rude. The message is that your time is more important than everyone else's. If you are forgetful, write things down, its just not that hard! Artists are also known for being bad with money. If you don't take care of your family, the scripture says you have denied the faith and are worse than an unbeliever! Get your finances in line and stop being irresponsible! Stay away from debt. Money is also the number one cause of divorce in North America. So artists, if you want a happy marriage, you better get your act together! Money won't make a happy marriage, but doing things God's way will, and He says you need to be able to take care of your family.
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, March 20, 2009
All I Want is You (new song)
A love that's never ending
And the kindness in Your eyes
Speaks more than words could ever say
Hold me in your arms while my soul cries
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
Only You can satisfy
This emptiness in me
So now I offer You my life
I lay it all down at Your feet
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
And when I hit the bottom
You are there to pick me up
And I know
That Your grace is more than enough...for me
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
A love that's never ending
And the kindness in Your eyes
Speaks more than words could ever say
Hold me in your arms while my soul cries
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
Only You can satisfy
This emptiness in me
So now I offer You my life
I lay it all down at Your feet
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
And when I hit the bottom
You are there to pick me up
And I know
That Your grace is more than enough...for me
Your love will never fade away
You walk beside me all the way
And all I want is You, all I want is You
By Your wounds You set me free
You opened my eyes now I see
That all I want is You, all I want is You
Keeping Your Passion Alive
There is something about a passionate person. They seem more alive than everyone else. You want to be near them in the hopes that some of that passion will rub off on you and make your life more meaningful. I think that is exactly how Christ intended us to live our lives. In John 10:10 Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." In order to really be passionate about something, it has to consume your life. Several times in Scripture we are told to love God with everything that we have, our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I think that is everyone's goal, but there are some things that get in the way.
Routine is one of those things. If you are always doing the same thing the same way eventually the excitement dies down and you end up just going through the motions. Other things that kill our passion are pressures, distractions, and perfectionism. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to deal with those things? If you find a way to get around those things, please let me know...
In order to find your passion, ask yourself a series of questions (1 rule, the answer can't be 'pay off the house' or 'get out of debt'):
If you could do anything with your life, what would it be?
What would you do with a millions dollars?
The answers to these questions will more than likely tell you what your passion is. By focusing on that thing you will find life to be much more exciting. For me that passion is music. I have been fortunate enough to be able to channel that passion through my job. But I realize that the quickest way to lose passion for what I do is to settle for superficiality in my life. I have to keep stretching myself continually, or that passion will fade. In ministry, its easy to get so caught up with the busyness of church that we don't have intimate time with God. This is where our passion for ministry starts to fade. It fades because we forget the reason we got into ministry in the first place...God! The key to maintaining passion in your ministry is to maintain an intimate relationship with God, without it all the pressures and distractions begin to take hold, and the passion begins to fade.
Enjoy the Journey
There is something about a passionate person. They seem more alive than everyone else. You want to be near them in the hopes that some of that passion will rub off on you and make your life more meaningful. I think that is exactly how Christ intended us to live our lives. In John 10:10 Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." In order to really be passionate about something, it has to consume your life. Several times in Scripture we are told to love God with everything that we have, our heart, soul, mind, and strength. I think that is everyone's goal, but there are some things that get in the way.
Routine is one of those things. If you are always doing the same thing the same way eventually the excitement dies down and you end up just going through the motions. Other things that kill our passion are pressures, distractions, and perfectionism. Wouldn't it be nice if we didn't have to deal with those things? If you find a way to get around those things, please let me know...
In order to find your passion, ask yourself a series of questions (1 rule, the answer can't be 'pay off the house' or 'get out of debt'):
If you could do anything with your life, what would it be?
What would you do with a millions dollars?
The answers to these questions will more than likely tell you what your passion is. By focusing on that thing you will find life to be much more exciting. For me that passion is music. I have been fortunate enough to be able to channel that passion through my job. But I realize that the quickest way to lose passion for what I do is to settle for superficiality in my life. I have to keep stretching myself continually, or that passion will fade. In ministry, its easy to get so caught up with the busyness of church that we don't have intimate time with God. This is where our passion for ministry starts to fade. It fades because we forget the reason we got into ministry in the first place...God! The key to maintaining passion in your ministry is to maintain an intimate relationship with God, without it all the pressures and distractions begin to take hold, and the passion begins to fade.
Enjoy the Journey
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Spiritual Disciplines of the Artist
My ministry is a direct result of my relationship with Christ. The theme verse for my ministry is John 15:5 (also the name of this blog): "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." With that in mind it is hard to get too prideful. The realization that I can't do anything without help really keeps my ego in check. It is only then that God blesses ministry. When ministry stops being about you and begins to be about Him.
When I fail to remember this, I run the risk of beginning to do ministry without God. Yes, you can play 'Christian' music without God. Think about it, one of the most popular songs during Christmas time is the 'Hallelujah Chorus,' but does the average person listening to that song think about God while it is being sung? Sadly I would think not. Most of the time we focus on the singers, and for those of us music nerds, maybe the conductor, but rarely God. Without being intimately connected to Him, we can very easily do the same thing in our ministries!
So how do you do that? The answer is both simple and hard. Spend time daily with God! This can be difficult to do, especially for artists because we get bored easily. We all have a little bit of ADD in us, and we are easily distracted with things that are 'more important.' The cure to this is to do different things with God everyday! The time you spend with God doesn't have to look exactly the same everyday. There is no formula! As artists, we should be just as creative in the time we spend with God as we are in the time we spend with other people. If you did the exact same thing with your friends every time you hung out, eventually that would get boring too! Stay connected to God, and your art and ministry will be blessed. Remember, without Him, you can't do anything!
Enjoy the Journey
My ministry is a direct result of my relationship with Christ. The theme verse for my ministry is John 15:5 (also the name of this blog): "I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." With that in mind it is hard to get too prideful. The realization that I can't do anything without help really keeps my ego in check. It is only then that God blesses ministry. When ministry stops being about you and begins to be about Him.
When I fail to remember this, I run the risk of beginning to do ministry without God. Yes, you can play 'Christian' music without God. Think about it, one of the most popular songs during Christmas time is the 'Hallelujah Chorus,' but does the average person listening to that song think about God while it is being sung? Sadly I would think not. Most of the time we focus on the singers, and for those of us music nerds, maybe the conductor, but rarely God. Without being intimately connected to Him, we can very easily do the same thing in our ministries!
So how do you do that? The answer is both simple and hard. Spend time daily with God! This can be difficult to do, especially for artists because we get bored easily. We all have a little bit of ADD in us, and we are easily distracted with things that are 'more important.' The cure to this is to do different things with God everyday! The time you spend with God doesn't have to look exactly the same everyday. There is no formula! As artists, we should be just as creative in the time we spend with God as we are in the time we spend with other people. If you did the exact same thing with your friends every time you hung out, eventually that would get boring too! Stay connected to God, and your art and ministry will be blessed. Remember, without Him, you can't do anything!
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, February 06, 2009
The Artist and Sin
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This we know, but the daily battle against sin should be just that, a battle. It is not something that we should just resign ourselves to, it is something we should fight! Do we expect everyone involved in our ministry to be sin free? Of course not! But we do expect everyone to be actively trying to live lives worthy of Jesus Christ. Having a strong moral fiber is a sign of character.
A great way to counter sin is to counter quickly. I love this quote by William Gurnall: "Christian, this is imperative for you to realize: When wicked or unclean thoughts first force their way into your mind, you have not yet sinned. This is the work of the Devil. But if you so much as offer them a chair and begin polite conversation with them, you have become his accomplice. In only a short time you will give these thoughts sanctuary in your heart. Your resolve- not to yield to a temptation you are already entertaining- is no match for Satan and the longings of the the flesh."
In other words, put those thoughts out of your head as quickly as they enter! Being tempted is not a sin, but don't test your resolve by entertaining thoughts you know to be sinful! The two keys to battling temptation are knowing scripture and countering quickly. This is the model that Jesus used when He was tempted, and it would do us well to remember this as artists.
Enjoy the Journey
All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. This we know, but the daily battle against sin should be just that, a battle. It is not something that we should just resign ourselves to, it is something we should fight! Do we expect everyone involved in our ministry to be sin free? Of course not! But we do expect everyone to be actively trying to live lives worthy of Jesus Christ. Having a strong moral fiber is a sign of character.
A great way to counter sin is to counter quickly. I love this quote by William Gurnall: "Christian, this is imperative for you to realize: When wicked or unclean thoughts first force their way into your mind, you have not yet sinned. This is the work of the Devil. But if you so much as offer them a chair and begin polite conversation with them, you have become his accomplice. In only a short time you will give these thoughts sanctuary in your heart. Your resolve- not to yield to a temptation you are already entertaining- is no match for Satan and the longings of the the flesh."
In other words, put those thoughts out of your head as quickly as they enter! Being tempted is not a sin, but don't test your resolve by entertaining thoughts you know to be sinful! The two keys to battling temptation are knowing scripture and countering quickly. This is the model that Jesus used when He was tempted, and it would do us well to remember this as artists.
Enjoy the Journey
Monday, February 02, 2009
Leading Artists
Being a leader of artists requires that you fulfill two rolls at once. Being an artist requires that you be a feeler, while being a leader requires that you be a thinker, and balancing the two can be extremely difficult. As an leader/artist, make sure that your gift does not get neglected. God gifted you as an artist and you need to really work hard at continually improving. This is the easy part to let slide because there are alot of administrative things that need to be done. Make sure that you are a full time artist. At the same time we can not neglect the paperwork that needs to be done either, we must be full time leaders. This can be a daunting task, there just are not enough hours in the day! That is why we must not be too proud to involve others in key areas of our ministry. Its ok to give others things to do, delegation is a sign of a good leader! Without delegation, you will burn out very quickly, and then in spite of all your talent, you will be benefiting no one. Giving others ownership in your ministry will increase loyalty and improve morale as well as give you some much needed down time! Being a leader doesn't mean doing whatever you want with your ministry, it means doing whatever God wants with His!
Artists are a different breed. There are some leadership styles that just don't work with them:
The Demanding CEO- 'its my way or the highway'
The Overbearing Coach- 'no pain, no gain'
The Overly Protective Patron- spoils artist because they are 'so misunderstood'
The Silent Type- gives no feedback or direction
Artists need to be encouraged, but they also need to be challenged to get better constantly. Like anything else, when you stop growing in your art, the quality doesn't stay the same, it diminishes! A true leader of artists is one who can celebrate with them and help build a solid team of artists where the focus is, where it should be, on God.
Enjoy the Journey
Being a leader of artists requires that you fulfill two rolls at once. Being an artist requires that you be a feeler, while being a leader requires that you be a thinker, and balancing the two can be extremely difficult. As an leader/artist, make sure that your gift does not get neglected. God gifted you as an artist and you need to really work hard at continually improving. This is the easy part to let slide because there are alot of administrative things that need to be done. Make sure that you are a full time artist. At the same time we can not neglect the paperwork that needs to be done either, we must be full time leaders. This can be a daunting task, there just are not enough hours in the day! That is why we must not be too proud to involve others in key areas of our ministry. Its ok to give others things to do, delegation is a sign of a good leader! Without delegation, you will burn out very quickly, and then in spite of all your talent, you will be benefiting no one. Giving others ownership in your ministry will increase loyalty and improve morale as well as give you some much needed down time! Being a leader doesn't mean doing whatever you want with your ministry, it means doing whatever God wants with His!
Artists are a different breed. There are some leadership styles that just don't work with them:
The Demanding CEO- 'its my way or the highway'
The Overbearing Coach- 'no pain, no gain'
The Overly Protective Patron- spoils artist because they are 'so misunderstood'
The Silent Type- gives no feedback or direction
Artists need to be encouraged, but they also need to be challenged to get better constantly. Like anything else, when you stop growing in your art, the quality doesn't stay the same, it diminishes! A true leader of artists is one who can celebrate with them and help build a solid team of artists where the focus is, where it should be, on God.
Enjoy the Journey
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Managing your emotions (chapter 7)
In the Christian church/Church of Christ movement showing emotion in worship is often times viewed as someone showing off and trying to draw attention to themselves. However that is not the Biblical picture of worship. Worship is something that is done with everything you have. As artists we should be pouring our emotion into our work, otherwise it will be shallow and lifeless. Emotions do not need to be suppressed, but by the same token we cannot allow them to cause us to sin. It is a sign of character to do the right thing even when you don't feel like it.
Don't take yourself too seriously. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't work on your skills and try to be the best artist you can be. It means do not lose your sense of humor and the ability to laugh with other people and even at yourself. An artist without a sense of humor can be one of the most miserable people in the world. When you face disappointment (and you will) do not let bitterness set in to the point where you can't function. Disappointment is part of being an artist, it is something that will cause you to grow, you may even create one of your best works after going through disappointing times. Don't be impatient, be willing to wait on God's timing. Learning to delay gratification is a sign of maturity. Often we don't get what we want exactly when we want it.
Use your emotions to create your art. But be careful that you are not ruled by your emotions, or you will become unbearable to those around you.
Enjoy the Journey
In the Christian church/Church of Christ movement showing emotion in worship is often times viewed as someone showing off and trying to draw attention to themselves. However that is not the Biblical picture of worship. Worship is something that is done with everything you have. As artists we should be pouring our emotion into our work, otherwise it will be shallow and lifeless. Emotions do not need to be suppressed, but by the same token we cannot allow them to cause us to sin. It is a sign of character to do the right thing even when you don't feel like it.
Don't take yourself too seriously. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't work on your skills and try to be the best artist you can be. It means do not lose your sense of humor and the ability to laugh with other people and even at yourself. An artist without a sense of humor can be one of the most miserable people in the world. When you face disappointment (and you will) do not let bitterness set in to the point where you can't function. Disappointment is part of being an artist, it is something that will cause you to grow, you may even create one of your best works after going through disappointing times. Don't be impatient, be willing to wait on God's timing. Learning to delay gratification is a sign of maturity. Often we don't get what we want exactly when we want it.
Use your emotions to create your art. But be careful that you are not ruled by your emotions, or you will become unbearable to those around you.
Enjoy the Journey
Jealousy and Envy (chapter 6)
Jealousy and Envy are things that we all struggle with as artists. There will always be someone who is better than you. There will always be reason to aspire to be better. The problem is when our admiration turns to resentment. It is a very subtle change, as respect turns into dislike. Once you wished you could be like that person, now you wish they would just go away and stop making you look 'bad.' When that happens, you have to confess it as sin, because that is what it is. You also have to learn to appreciate your God-given talent. God made you exactly the way you are on purpose, and He gave you the gifts that you have, you need to appreciate them and use them for His glory. You must give credit where it is due. When someone performs well, you can't say they only got the gig because they have connections, acknowledge the hard work they put in and the excellence of their performance.
The root of the problem is that we are constantly comparing ourselves with each other. Like I said before, God doesn't ask us to be someone else, if He wanted us to be like them, He would have made us that way. He made each person the way they are with the gifts they have on purpose, so stop comparing yourself to other people! One way to get rid of jealousy and envy...pray for that person. You will find that it is impossible for you to remain jealous of another artist if you are constantly praying for that person. Remember this: when someone else is paid a compliment, it doesn't take anything away from you!
If someone is jealous of you, be careful not to flaunt your abilities. Frankly, it is not flattering, and people who really have it don't need to flaunt it. So stop showing off. Jealousy and envy are very strong emotions that can break a team apart very quickly if not handled properly.
Enjoy the Journey
Jealousy and Envy are things that we all struggle with as artists. There will always be someone who is better than you. There will always be reason to aspire to be better. The problem is when our admiration turns to resentment. It is a very subtle change, as respect turns into dislike. Once you wished you could be like that person, now you wish they would just go away and stop making you look 'bad.' When that happens, you have to confess it as sin, because that is what it is. You also have to learn to appreciate your God-given talent. God made you exactly the way you are on purpose, and He gave you the gifts that you have, you need to appreciate them and use them for His glory. You must give credit where it is due. When someone performs well, you can't say they only got the gig because they have connections, acknowledge the hard work they put in and the excellence of their performance.
The root of the problem is that we are constantly comparing ourselves with each other. Like I said before, God doesn't ask us to be someone else, if He wanted us to be like them, He would have made us that way. He made each person the way they are with the gifts they have on purpose, so stop comparing yourself to other people! One way to get rid of jealousy and envy...pray for that person. You will find that it is impossible for you to remain jealous of another artist if you are constantly praying for that person. Remember this: when someone else is paid a compliment, it doesn't take anything away from you!
If someone is jealous of you, be careful not to flaunt your abilities. Frankly, it is not flattering, and people who really have it don't need to flaunt it. So stop showing off. Jealousy and envy are very strong emotions that can break a team apart very quickly if not handled properly.
Enjoy the Journey
Monday, August 25, 2008
Handling Criticism (Chapter 5)
As artists, we tend to be defensive. However, when it comes to criticism, defensiveness can kill you. It keeps us from the truth. Recognizing the truth and speaking honestly is a sign of high moral character. Defensiveness on the other hand, is a serious character flaw. Don't be quick to take offense, or you will find yourself constantly being offended. You have to have thick skin, not everyone is going to like what you do.
A major difference in performing and being in ministry is putting on a facade. When you are performing, you have to own the stage. If you are having an awful day you still have to look self-confident and enthusiastic. But that is not how ministry works. It is not entertainment, it is worship. You have to be authentic, you have to be real. Replace fake confidence with humility. Ministry demands that we allow the Holy Spirit to own the stage, and not us!
As artists, we need to be willing to welcome feedback, good or bad. Scripture says that it is foolish not to be open to feedback (Proverbs 1:7). So how do you respond? There are 3 things you need to do:
1. Be quick to listen. Shut your mouth, stop trying to defend yourself for a minute, and listen to what the other person is saying. If what they are saying is untrue, you don't have to justify yourself anyway. God loves you, they don't have to.
2. Be slow to speak. Take some time and think about what the person had to say. Again, stop trying to defend yourself! If you are wrong, you don't have a defense, if you are right, you don't need one!
3. Be slow to become angry. This is a hard one. Take a step back and cool down. Sometimes criticism comes across a lot more harshly than it is intended to. Most people (and I say most) are genuinely trying to help.
We have to ask ourselves what we can learn from this criticism that can make us a better artist. If you can't figure it out, run it by someone else. Find out what parts of the criticism are valid. Work on those things, and just let the others slide. We also need to learn how to fail. We don't like to fail, it is never a good feeling, but sometimes it is necessary to succeed. Just because you fail doesn't mean you are a failure. Sometimes we learn how not to do things before we learn how to do them.
Keep all of this in mind when you are giving criticism as well. Think through what you need to say and say only that. Put yourself on the other side of your comments and speak the truth in love.
Enjoy the Journey
As artists, we tend to be defensive. However, when it comes to criticism, defensiveness can kill you. It keeps us from the truth. Recognizing the truth and speaking honestly is a sign of high moral character. Defensiveness on the other hand, is a serious character flaw. Don't be quick to take offense, or you will find yourself constantly being offended. You have to have thick skin, not everyone is going to like what you do.
A major difference in performing and being in ministry is putting on a facade. When you are performing, you have to own the stage. If you are having an awful day you still have to look self-confident and enthusiastic. But that is not how ministry works. It is not entertainment, it is worship. You have to be authentic, you have to be real. Replace fake confidence with humility. Ministry demands that we allow the Holy Spirit to own the stage, and not us!
As artists, we need to be willing to welcome feedback, good or bad. Scripture says that it is foolish not to be open to feedback (Proverbs 1:7). So how do you respond? There are 3 things you need to do:
1. Be quick to listen. Shut your mouth, stop trying to defend yourself for a minute, and listen to what the other person is saying. If what they are saying is untrue, you don't have to justify yourself anyway. God loves you, they don't have to.
2. Be slow to speak. Take some time and think about what the person had to say. Again, stop trying to defend yourself! If you are wrong, you don't have a defense, if you are right, you don't need one!
3. Be slow to become angry. This is a hard one. Take a step back and cool down. Sometimes criticism comes across a lot more harshly than it is intended to. Most people (and I say most) are genuinely trying to help.
We have to ask ourselves what we can learn from this criticism that can make us a better artist. If you can't figure it out, run it by someone else. Find out what parts of the criticism are valid. Work on those things, and just let the others slide. We also need to learn how to fail. We don't like to fail, it is never a good feeling, but sometimes it is necessary to succeed. Just because you fail doesn't mean you are a failure. Sometimes we learn how not to do things before we learn how to do them.
Keep all of this in mind when you are giving criticism as well. Think through what you need to say and say only that. Put yourself on the other side of your comments and speak the truth in love.
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, August 15, 2008
Write Love on My Heart
A song I wrote...
Verse 1:
Broken on the street corner
A scene that's too familiar, a world that's passed her by
Emptied of all feeling, she can't bring herself to cry
Another day, another heartache, you're born and then you die
Pre-Chorus:
Is there no hope?
Is there no love?
Is there nothing real?
Chorus:
Write love on my heart
Teach me to love like You do
More than words or an idea, make it something that is true
Write love on my heart
Cause its all we'll ever need
In a world falling apart
Help me, write love on my heart
Verse 2:
Three nights in a row
A broken hand and no place to go
Rejection is everywhere, and no one seems to care
The hurt is deeper than we'll ever know
Pre-Chorus:
Is there no hope?
Is there no love?
Is there nothing real?
Bridge:
How long, how long
We will stand here pretending it's alright?
How far will we let them fall?
Until they cannot see the light?
Chorus:
Write love on my heart
Teach me to love like You do
More than words or an idea, make it something that is true
Write love on my heart
Cause its all we'll ever need
In a world falling apart
Help me, write love on my heart
A song I wrote...
Verse 1:
Broken on the street corner
A scene that's too familiar, a world that's passed her by
Emptied of all feeling, she can't bring herself to cry
Another day, another heartache, you're born and then you die
Pre-Chorus:
Is there no hope?
Is there no love?
Is there nothing real?
Chorus:
Write love on my heart
Teach me to love like You do
More than words or an idea, make it something that is true
Write love on my heart
Cause its all we'll ever need
In a world falling apart
Help me, write love on my heart
Verse 2:
Three nights in a row
A broken hand and no place to go
Rejection is everywhere, and no one seems to care
The hurt is deeper than we'll ever know
Pre-Chorus:
Is there no hope?
Is there no love?
Is there nothing real?
Bridge:
How long, how long
We will stand here pretending it's alright?
How far will we let them fall?
Until they cannot see the light?
Chorus:
Write love on my heart
Teach me to love like You do
More than words or an idea, make it something that is true
Write love on my heart
Cause its all we'll ever need
In a world falling apart
Help me, write love on my heart
Monday, August 11, 2008
Excellence vs. Perfectionism (Chapter 4)
As artists it is all too easy to fall into the perfectionism trap. This happens many times because we think too much in black and white. Our performance was either all good or all bad. I am either a really good artist or I don't deserve to be called one at all. As an artist we need to be careful not to find our self-esteem in our performance, but in our identity as children of God. We also need to have realistic expectations of ourselves.
We need to savor the positive. What that means is not patting ourselves on the back for doing a good job, but letting God pat you on the back for doing what He called you to do. This turns a performance into a worship experience. Maximizing the negative is really self-centered (although it doesn't seem so at first) because it focuses on us and our shortcomings.
Instead of pursing perfection, we should pursue excellence. A good definition of excellence is "doing the best you can with what you have." We should always do the best we can, because that brings glory to God, which is the purpose of our art in the first place. Check out this quote from Rory Noland: "Excellence is also a powerful witness for Christ. Most non-Christians who ever end up in church expect the music to be lousy and outdated. They don't expect to be moved by drama or dance or the visual arts. Wouldn't it be great if they were to come expecting the worst but instead found the arts produced with creativity and excellence?" It is our responsibility to bring glory to Christ with excellent art.
As Christians we should be committed to quality. After all, God deserves nothing less. We should not be looking for excuses to produce second rate stuff. This doesn't mean that there isn't room for experiments and growth, but it does mean that there is no excuse for continuing mediocrity. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David insists that he will not offer the Lord anything that cost him nothing, we should do the same. We should hone our skills so we can offer Him our best.
When we talk about effective communication, we have to talk about stage presence. 'There's been a sentiment in the church for far too long that singers who perform without any facial expression or emotion are somehow less distracting and more spiritual. When we're talking about something important to us, we don't stand at attention like robots. We move our arms to emphasize our point. Our faces register an emotion that matches our words. Vocalists, when you rehearse, do you give as much attention to how you're going to communicate a song as you do your technique? Do you know what the payoff lyrics are, the ones you don't want anybody to miss? Does your face reflect what you are singing about? We in the church need to take communication seriously, because we've been given the charge to communicate the Good News!
We also need to be prepared spiritually. It is just as important as rehearsing the songs. If a song doesn't minister to the person singing it, it won't minister to anyone else. Make sure that your walk with God is a daily thing, and you will be amazed at the things He tells you through song.
Enjoy the Journey
As artists it is all too easy to fall into the perfectionism trap. This happens many times because we think too much in black and white. Our performance was either all good or all bad. I am either a really good artist or I don't deserve to be called one at all. As an artist we need to be careful not to find our self-esteem in our performance, but in our identity as children of God. We also need to have realistic expectations of ourselves.
We need to savor the positive. What that means is not patting ourselves on the back for doing a good job, but letting God pat you on the back for doing what He called you to do. This turns a performance into a worship experience. Maximizing the negative is really self-centered (although it doesn't seem so at first) because it focuses on us and our shortcomings.
Instead of pursing perfection, we should pursue excellence. A good definition of excellence is "doing the best you can with what you have." We should always do the best we can, because that brings glory to God, which is the purpose of our art in the first place. Check out this quote from Rory Noland: "Excellence is also a powerful witness for Christ. Most non-Christians who ever end up in church expect the music to be lousy and outdated. They don't expect to be moved by drama or dance or the visual arts. Wouldn't it be great if they were to come expecting the worst but instead found the arts produced with creativity and excellence?" It is our responsibility to bring glory to Christ with excellent art.
As Christians we should be committed to quality. After all, God deserves nothing less. We should not be looking for excuses to produce second rate stuff. This doesn't mean that there isn't room for experiments and growth, but it does mean that there is no excuse for continuing mediocrity. In 2 Samuel 24:24 David insists that he will not offer the Lord anything that cost him nothing, we should do the same. We should hone our skills so we can offer Him our best.
When we talk about effective communication, we have to talk about stage presence. 'There's been a sentiment in the church for far too long that singers who perform without any facial expression or emotion are somehow less distracting and more spiritual. When we're talking about something important to us, we don't stand at attention like robots. We move our arms to emphasize our point. Our faces register an emotion that matches our words. Vocalists, when you rehearse, do you give as much attention to how you're going to communicate a song as you do your technique? Do you know what the payoff lyrics are, the ones you don't want anybody to miss? Does your face reflect what you are singing about? We in the church need to take communication seriously, because we've been given the charge to communicate the Good News!
We also need to be prepared spiritually. It is just as important as rehearsing the songs. If a song doesn't minister to the person singing it, it won't minister to anyone else. Make sure that your walk with God is a daily thing, and you will be amazed at the things He tells you through song.
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, August 08, 2008
Purity and Proximity
"If you practice only purity apart from proximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatist, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from fallen culture and useless in God's kingdom."
This is a quote from Mike Metzger that I read today in the Book UnChristian. It was in the middle of a chapter about how sheltered Christians often are. It has been something that I have felt for a long time but never really put it into words before. If you know me you know that I absolutely loath the 'Christian' subculture bubble. In my opinion we are not far off from the money lenders Christ drove out of the temple many times. Put Jesus' name on it and sell it to Christians, doesn't matter if its a piece of garbage, they'll buy it because they are Christian. Fake. We become so caught up in the Christian subculture that we isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. No wonder they think we don't have a clue, because we don't. How can we have compassion for a world that we want nothing to do with? If we are unwilling to engage the world because they are offensive to our beliefs, we can never introduce them to Christ.
In the midst of this I came across an organization today which I had heard of before, but had never really looked into. The organization is called 'To Write Love On Her Arms.' It is the exact opposite of what I just talked about. This is a group who is out there helping the hurting. It started with a group that was helping a young girl who was struggling with cutting herself. If you want to learn more about them you can visit their website or their myspace.
Being compassionate means being willing to stand with people who are hurting. It will take many more people living that way if we are to shake the 'UnChristian' label.
"If you practice only purity apart from proximity to the culture, you inevitably become pietistic, separatist, and conceited. If you live in close proximity to the culture without also living in a holy manner, you become indistinguishable from fallen culture and useless in God's kingdom."
This is a quote from Mike Metzger that I read today in the Book UnChristian. It was in the middle of a chapter about how sheltered Christians often are. It has been something that I have felt for a long time but never really put it into words before. If you know me you know that I absolutely loath the 'Christian' subculture bubble. In my opinion we are not far off from the money lenders Christ drove out of the temple many times. Put Jesus' name on it and sell it to Christians, doesn't matter if its a piece of garbage, they'll buy it because they are Christian. Fake. We become so caught up in the Christian subculture that we isolate ourselves from the rest of the world. No wonder they think we don't have a clue, because we don't. How can we have compassion for a world that we want nothing to do with? If we are unwilling to engage the world because they are offensive to our beliefs, we can never introduce them to Christ.
In the midst of this I came across an organization today which I had heard of before, but had never really looked into. The organization is called 'To Write Love On Her Arms.' It is the exact opposite of what I just talked about. This is a group who is out there helping the hurting. It started with a group that was helping a young girl who was struggling with cutting herself. If you want to learn more about them you can visit their website or their myspace.
Being compassionate means being willing to stand with people who are hurting. It will take many more people living that way if we are to shake the 'UnChristian' label.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
The Artist in Community (Chapter 3)
To know and be known is a basic human need, and artists are no exception! Especially in the church, how can we be at our best if we don't work together? We have to come together to do what no one of us could do alone. That is called teamwork, and it is vital to a music ministry. There are several things that can kill teamwork:
1. Selfishness- This one is pretty obvious, if you are being selfish, you aren't thinking about the team.
2. Grumbling and Complaining- Philippians 2:14 instructs us all to "do everything without complaining or arguing," because grumbling and complaining are like cancers that grow and spread and eventually kill a team or even an entire church.
3. A Competitive Spirit- This one is really hard as artists. We are competitive by nature. We want to be the best their is in our area. But in the church we need to learn to cooperate, and stop competing.
4. Unresolved Relation Conflict- This usually occurs because the three mentioned above are occurring! When problems arise between team members, they need to talk to each other and work it out. Often they will find that things are not as bad as they seem. But left unchecked, things grow into big problems.
Team unity is absolutely essential. Don't ever think unity is optional. It's required if we're going to do anything together in God's name. There are several things that need to happen for this to become reality. One of them is that you need to be willing to bring a 'healthy self' when you come. This means physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Take care of your body! Just because you are an artist doesn't mean that you don't need to take a walk every once in a while! If you are not doing well physically, it will translate into your art. The same is true spiritually and emotionally. If you are a spiritual and/or emotional train wreck, it will translate to every area of your life, including your art. We also need to get past caring who gets the credit. This is a big one, because artists like to be recognized. But there comes a point when you have to decide that it is more important that the work gets done than it is that you get recognized for it. Once you get to that point, it is amazing the things that can be accomplished.
Enjoy the Journey
To know and be known is a basic human need, and artists are no exception! Especially in the church, how can we be at our best if we don't work together? We have to come together to do what no one of us could do alone. That is called teamwork, and it is vital to a music ministry. There are several things that can kill teamwork:
1. Selfishness- This one is pretty obvious, if you are being selfish, you aren't thinking about the team.
2. Grumbling and Complaining- Philippians 2:14 instructs us all to "do everything without complaining or arguing," because grumbling and complaining are like cancers that grow and spread and eventually kill a team or even an entire church.
3. A Competitive Spirit- This one is really hard as artists. We are competitive by nature. We want to be the best their is in our area. But in the church we need to learn to cooperate, and stop competing.
4. Unresolved Relation Conflict- This usually occurs because the three mentioned above are occurring! When problems arise between team members, they need to talk to each other and work it out. Often they will find that things are not as bad as they seem. But left unchecked, things grow into big problems.
Team unity is absolutely essential. Don't ever think unity is optional. It's required if we're going to do anything together in God's name. There are several things that need to happen for this to become reality. One of them is that you need to be willing to bring a 'healthy self' when you come. This means physically, spiritually, and emotionally. Take care of your body! Just because you are an artist doesn't mean that you don't need to take a walk every once in a while! If you are not doing well physically, it will translate into your art. The same is true spiritually and emotionally. If you are a spiritual and/or emotional train wreck, it will translate to every area of your life, including your art. We also need to get past caring who gets the credit. This is a big one, because artists like to be recognized. But there comes a point when you have to decide that it is more important that the work gets done than it is that you get recognized for it. Once you get to that point, it is amazing the things that can be accomplished.
Enjoy the Journey
Monday, July 07, 2008
Servanthood Vs. Stardom (Chapter 2)
As an artist it is so hard to be a servant. Most of the time we are up on stage and everyone is looking for us to do something great. Servanthood is all about humility. Often we have the wrong idea when it comes to humility. We think that humility means that we don't think that we are any good. It doesn't mean that at all! It means that we have an accurate view of ourselves. Don't beat yourself up and pretend that you are humble. Don't mistake a poor self image for humility. The focus then is still on yourself, it is just a negative focus instead of a positive one. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses, and give glory to God. I say give glory to God because without Him we wouldn't have any of the talents that we have to begin with! The prideful person says, 'Look what I did!' But the humble person says, 'Look what God used me to do!'
In Luke 17:10 we learn that when we do what God has gifted us to do we have 'done our duty.' Don't expect to be patted on the back all the time for using your gifts. You should be using your gifts to glorify God, that is why He gave them to you! Another thing we 'artsy types' struggle with is an intense desire to be better than everyone else. This is pride. C.S. Lewis says, "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man."
Artists in the church need to keep all of this in mind. But perhaps the most important thing for an artist in the church to remember is that the message is first and foremost. If 'tricking' your voice makes a word harder to understand, don't do it, no matter how good it makes you sound! If you are an instrumentalist, don't crank it up to 11 to draw attention to how great your solo is. Don't draw undue attention to yourself. As artists in the church, we are to serve the message, not ourselves.
What is the secret of humility? I think Rory Noland put it very well when he said, "We are all background. Jesus Christ is center stage, not us. He must increase and we must decrease."
Enjoy the Journey
As an artist it is so hard to be a servant. Most of the time we are up on stage and everyone is looking for us to do something great. Servanthood is all about humility. Often we have the wrong idea when it comes to humility. We think that humility means that we don't think that we are any good. It doesn't mean that at all! It means that we have an accurate view of ourselves. Don't beat yourself up and pretend that you are humble. Don't mistake a poor self image for humility. The focus then is still on yourself, it is just a negative focus instead of a positive one. Know your strengths, know your weaknesses, and give glory to God. I say give glory to God because without Him we wouldn't have any of the talents that we have to begin with! The prideful person says, 'Look what I did!' But the humble person says, 'Look what God used me to do!'
In Luke 17:10 we learn that when we do what God has gifted us to do we have 'done our duty.' Don't expect to be patted on the back all the time for using your gifts. You should be using your gifts to glorify God, that is why He gave them to you! Another thing we 'artsy types' struggle with is an intense desire to be better than everyone else. This is pride. C.S. Lewis says, "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man."
Artists in the church need to keep all of this in mind. But perhaps the most important thing for an artist in the church to remember is that the message is first and foremost. If 'tricking' your voice makes a word harder to understand, don't do it, no matter how good it makes you sound! If you are an instrumentalist, don't crank it up to 11 to draw attention to how great your solo is. Don't draw undue attention to yourself. As artists in the church, we are to serve the message, not ourselves.
What is the secret of humility? I think Rory Noland put it very well when he said, "We are all background. Jesus Christ is center stage, not us. He must increase and we must decrease."
Enjoy the Journey
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
Character (Chapter 1)
Having character as an artists (especially in the church)is so important! Why? Because people can tell if you are real, or if you are a fake. I ask our artists in the church all the time to make me believe them! People can tell if you believe what you are singing, playing, writing, painting, etc. Your character gives you credibility.
I love this quote from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA men's basketball coach: "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
As artists in the church, we are expected to live lives of high character. We expect our pastors and leaders to live godly lives, but we address the same people with the same message that they do! We should not be living double lives either! A life of character brings blessing and fulfillment.
Enjoy the Journey
Having character as an artists (especially in the church)is so important! Why? Because people can tell if you are real, or if you are a fake. I ask our artists in the church all the time to make me believe them! People can tell if you believe what you are singing, playing, writing, painting, etc. Your character gives you credibility.
I love this quote from John Wooden, the legendary UCLA men's basketball coach: "Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are while your reputation is merely what others think you are."
As artists in the church, we are expected to live lives of high character. We expect our pastors and leaders to live godly lives, but we address the same people with the same message that they do! We should not be living double lives either! A life of character brings blessing and fulfillment.
Enjoy the Journey
Artsy Types (Introduction)
Musicians and others with 'artsy' personalities often get a bad reputation for being overly sensitive and moody. Admittedly, this is often times true. However we cannot overlook the importance of the arts. When commended on his excellent 'entertainment' by Lord Kinnoul (who was talking about The Missiah Handel said this, "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertain them. I wish to make them better." The arts do entertain, but that is not their sole purpose. This goes for the church as well. Often times people sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, and sometimes as artists we like it that way. This should not be so, we too, like Handel should be letting God work through us so that we may 'make them better.'
If you are an artist, and you don't like what you are doing, stop doing it! Especially if you are serving in a church. Do not use the church as a stepping stone to a 'better' field. Work in the area of your passion, you...and everyone else will be much happier.
Arts in the church are vital. Why? Because the arts speak to the heart. A well read poem or a song well sung will stay with a person for a long time. It used to be that the premier artists did their work in churches. Work at your craft and make it the best it can possibly be. But even more than that, we need artists in our churches who are known for their art...and their character.
Enjoy the Journey
Musicians and others with 'artsy' personalities often get a bad reputation for being overly sensitive and moody. Admittedly, this is often times true. However we cannot overlook the importance of the arts. When commended on his excellent 'entertainment' by Lord Kinnoul (who was talking about The Missiah Handel said this, "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertain them. I wish to make them better." The arts do entertain, but that is not their sole purpose. This goes for the church as well. Often times people sit back, relax, and enjoy the show, and sometimes as artists we like it that way. This should not be so, we too, like Handel should be letting God work through us so that we may 'make them better.'
If you are an artist, and you don't like what you are doing, stop doing it! Especially if you are serving in a church. Do not use the church as a stepping stone to a 'better' field. Work in the area of your passion, you...and everyone else will be much happier.
Arts in the church are vital. Why? Because the arts speak to the heart. A well read poem or a song well sung will stay with a person for a long time. It used to be that the premier artists did their work in churches. Work at your craft and make it the best it can possibly be. But even more than that, we need artists in our churches who are known for their art...and their character.
Enjoy the Journey
Thursday, June 12, 2008
He gave His one and only Son
God gave His one and only Son for me. Now there is a humbling thought. Me, the guy who can't drive to work in the morning without sin, much less go a whole day. God gave His son to die for me so that I could be with Him! Are you kidding me? What part of that deal was fair? People complain all the time that life isn't fair. I for one, am glad it isn't, because if it was I would go straight to hell. I am glad life isn't fair!
Jesus is the one and only. That is a pretty crazy thought. He is the one who has the ultimate power. The guy everyone pretends to be when they are little. Everyone wants to be in control, but He actually is! He can calm storms or create them, he causes the sun to rise and set. He is one with the Father, and He came to die for me! Now that is love.
God gave His one and only Son for me. Now there is a humbling thought. Me, the guy who can't drive to work in the morning without sin, much less go a whole day. God gave His son to die for me so that I could be with Him! Are you kidding me? What part of that deal was fair? People complain all the time that life isn't fair. I for one, am glad it isn't, because if it was I would go straight to hell. I am glad life isn't fair!
Jesus is the one and only. That is a pretty crazy thought. He is the one who has the ultimate power. The guy everyone pretends to be when they are little. Everyone wants to be in control, but He actually is! He can calm storms or create them, he causes the sun to rise and set. He is one with the Father, and He came to die for me! Now that is love.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
For God so loved the world...
The love of God is an amazing thing. It isn't like the love of this world. There is alot of fragile love in this world. Love that grows old, cracks, fades, and breaks. God's love isn't that way. It is a love that endures for all time. A love that caused Him to come from heaven and save my sorry soul. The things about God's love is that I don't deserve it. It is something that He just gave to me. I can't do anything to earn His love, but the great part is I don't have to earn it. It has already been given.
God's love will never let go. I love the words penned by Matt Redman:
"Oh no, You never let go
Trough the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord You never let go of me."
That is such a comforting thought to me. Even though at times it seems like everyone else has left, I know that God will not ever leave. He won't ever kick me off the team or vote me off the island. His love for me runs deeper than I can even fathom. Wow.
The love of God is an amazing thing. It isn't like the love of this world. There is alot of fragile love in this world. Love that grows old, cracks, fades, and breaks. God's love isn't that way. It is a love that endures for all time. A love that caused Him to come from heaven and save my sorry soul. The things about God's love is that I don't deserve it. It is something that He just gave to me. I can't do anything to earn His love, but the great part is I don't have to earn it. It has already been given.
God's love will never let go. I love the words penned by Matt Redman:
"Oh no, You never let go
Trough the calm and through the storm
Oh no, You never let go
In every high and every low
Oh no, You never let go
Lord You never let go of me."
That is such a comforting thought to me. Even though at times it seems like everyone else has left, I know that God will not ever leave. He won't ever kick me off the team or vote me off the island. His love for me runs deeper than I can even fathom. Wow.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
The Most Famous Conversation Ever
Nicodemus was a man well respected in the community as a religious leader, yet he finds himself sneaking around late at night going to talk to a homeless carpenter from Nazareth. He comes and and pays Jesus a compliment saying that he knows he is a great teacher from God, probably expecting Jesus to return the compliment. Jesus does not. He gets right to the point and says, 'unless you are born again, you can't get to heaven.' Nicodemus is really confused and probably thinks it is a bit of a joke. After a few minutes it became quite clear that Jesus wasn't joking around.
Think about it though, how much work did you do when you were born? Nicodemus lived in a culture that preached works to get to heaven, and Jesus was totally turning that idea inside out! Your mom did all the work when you were born the first time, and God is going to do all the work the second time! You can't earn your way to heaven, it is a gift of grace.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
Probably the most well known verse of scripture. Sometimes it almost becomes cliche. But take a few minutes and look at the hope that springs from this verse. God isn't an angry God waiting to send us all to hell! It says He loved us so much He would rather send His son to die than send us to hell! All we have to do is believe and follow. Amazing. Nicodemus was the first to hear these words of hope, it what may have been the most famous, and most important conversation of all time.
Enjoy the Journey
Nicodemus was a man well respected in the community as a religious leader, yet he finds himself sneaking around late at night going to talk to a homeless carpenter from Nazareth. He comes and and pays Jesus a compliment saying that he knows he is a great teacher from God, probably expecting Jesus to return the compliment. Jesus does not. He gets right to the point and says, 'unless you are born again, you can't get to heaven.' Nicodemus is really confused and probably thinks it is a bit of a joke. After a few minutes it became quite clear that Jesus wasn't joking around.
Think about it though, how much work did you do when you were born? Nicodemus lived in a culture that preached works to get to heaven, and Jesus was totally turning that idea inside out! Your mom did all the work when you were born the first time, and God is going to do all the work the second time! You can't earn your way to heaven, it is a gift of grace.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life."
Probably the most well known verse of scripture. Sometimes it almost becomes cliche. But take a few minutes and look at the hope that springs from this verse. God isn't an angry God waiting to send us all to hell! It says He loved us so much He would rather send His son to die than send us to hell! All we have to do is believe and follow. Amazing. Nicodemus was the first to hear these words of hope, it what may have been the most famous, and most important conversation of all time.
Enjoy the Journey
Monday, November 05, 2007
The Passion Worship Conference was an awesome time. We talked about being pit dwellers. How many times do I find myself in a pit that I can't get out of! I don't need a 'pit expert,' I have Jesus. He came down into the pit that I was sinking in and died in that pit. He absorbed all of the mud that I was sinking in, it was the only way I could get out! Doing that killed him (literally), but he rose!
Heaven isn't for good people. It is for sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors.
Another thing we talked about was trouble. Everyone has trouble. There are two things happening all the time:
1. A messed up world
2. An overcoming Savior
God turns bad things into good things. Example: The cross! Can you think of something worse than the son of God being crucified? He didn't even do anything wrong and he suffered the most horrible death known to man! When it happened it was the worst thing in the world. But in just 3 days God turned the worst thing in the world into the best thing in the world! Can you think of anything better than what happened as a result of Christ dying? I have salvation because that happened! On Sunday God turned horrible Friday into good Friday!
There are not always answers to the bad things that happen to us. When those times come we need to cling to the cross. Our message is never louder than when the bottom falls out. The world expects to hear us praise our God on sunny days, but when the bottom falls out they listen to our song.
Enjoy the Journey
Heaven isn't for good people. It is for sinners, prostitutes, and tax collectors.
Another thing we talked about was trouble. Everyone has trouble. There are two things happening all the time:
1. A messed up world
2. An overcoming Savior
God turns bad things into good things. Example: The cross! Can you think of something worse than the son of God being crucified? He didn't even do anything wrong and he suffered the most horrible death known to man! When it happened it was the worst thing in the world. But in just 3 days God turned the worst thing in the world into the best thing in the world! Can you think of anything better than what happened as a result of Christ dying? I have salvation because that happened! On Sunday God turned horrible Friday into good Friday!
There are not always answers to the bad things that happen to us. When those times come we need to cling to the cross. Our message is never louder than when the bottom falls out. The world expects to hear us praise our God on sunny days, but when the bottom falls out they listen to our song.
Enjoy the Journey
Friday, August 17, 2007
Extreme Makeover
Here at FCC Clearwater, we are getting ready to undergo a major project. Repainting, resigning, and generally repairing the building. We have decided to call it, Extreme Makeover Church Edition. It really is a pretty fitting name since the church will look entirely different once it is completed. Each room in the building will go up for adoption. Once adopted the room will be made over. We are so excited about this project, and hope we can get the whole churhc involved in Extreme Makeover Church Edition.
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
Rooted
Being rooted in scripture is something that is vital to life as a Christian. As we journey towards our goal (heaven) we must stand rooted or we will be knocked over by the storms of life that come our way. I am so glad that I have a God whose roots go back before time began. Christianity is not a new thing, know your roots!
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