What Have You Done This Week?

That mattered. For eternity. Listened to a great sermon this morning by Francis Chan on "Living a Life that Matters." He used a great visual illustration on how important this is. He uncoiled a rope that was maybe 100' long. On one end was a little red tape wrapped around maybe 3 inches of it. He said, this red part - this is your life here on earth. And all the rest that comes after it, this other 97 feet and 9 inches is eternity (if you imagine the rope going on forever). This time we have is so small, yet so significant. What we choose to do with the time in the red part determines what we will be doing for all the rest of time. Either we choose God, or we choose not God, and we spend eternity with Him, or not with Him (hell, in agony from the absence of God's presence).

He asked two questions at the end of the sermon. First, "what have you done this past week that matters in light of eternity?" And second, "what have you done this past week that will not be remembered in eternity?"

Thankfully, I was able to recall things done that have mattered - maybe this was a good week for me. But there were a LOT more things that were on the list of things I've done that won't matter in the end. All the TV I've wasted time watching comes to mind.

What have you done this week that really matters in light of eternity? What will you start doing? What will you stop doing? When will you stop saying, "I'm going to" and start saying "I am" or "I will." There will be a day when all who stand before Jesus have to account for the way they chose to spend their life. Make that day a day He is proud of you. Live a life that matters.

The Choice is Simple

The more I study in depth the Sermon on the Mount, the more I become convinced that there is a very simple point that Jesus keeps bringing you back to. In everything, you're either choosing God, or you're choosing yourself. When he talks about not being like the hypocrites who draw attention to themselves when fasting and giving to the poor - they're doing that for their own benefit and those things are supposed to be for the benefit of God and others. They're choosing themselves, not God. He also says, you can only serve one master - you cannot serve both God and money. What'll it be - God, or your own greed?

The more I thought about it, there really is only those two choices in just about every aspect of life, no matter who you are. The main difference between Christians and non-Christians? One has chosen God, the other has not. There are lots of ways to argue around this that I'm sure many people can come up with, but reading through chapter 6 of Matthew, it seems Jesus is trying to draw out this point - you have a choice, and there's only two options. Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

An Empowering Statement on Faith

My cousin, Paul, posted on his blog this evening one of the most interesting and insightful ideas that I have read in a while. It deals with the way Jesus used His faith, and it directly correlates with how we are using ours. It's very thought-provoking and I highly recommend reading it - you can read the entire thing in a few minutes. You can read it HERE.

Great stuff!

Grinding out the Sermon

The Sermon on the Mount, that is. I am co-teaching a high school class at my church on Sundays and we have been studying the Sermon on the Mount since oh, about early December. We're about halfway. I think I once taught Revelation in a shorter time frame than this. But I was younger then... Anyway, it has been really great. Our class is comprised of various age high school students, military academy students, and one young man who is an atheist. There is nothing better for young folks to hear about and to be challenged with than the way Jesus told Christians to live life. The Sermon on the Mount was counter-cultural when it was first given and it is just as counter-cultural today. And that causes a lot of questions.

Questions are great though - I wish more churches did like Erwin McManus does at Mosaic where he incorporates a question and answer time at the end of some of his sermons. People have questions, we need to let them ask them, and do our best to answer. I realized this recently. We (the teachers) dictate what few verses we will study each week, and it's all focused around that narrow topic. We usually end 10-15 minutes before our hour is up so we are using that time now to allow any and all questions that the students may have. Of course, when you allow teenagers to ask "any" question, you don't get easy ones like 'what's the book right after Acts called?' No, we get more of this type - "Why does God always get credit for the good stuff that happens but not the bad stuff He allows too?" "Why do you need God to get through life?" "What is your definition of adultery?"

But this is one of the most important things we can do I think - allow them to ask questions and do our best to answer them. They have the questions in their minds, whether you allow them to ask or not, so wouldn't you rather let people ask and get them closer to figuring things out? I would. We get a lot of questions during class too that point to the problem mainstream Christianity has today. Jesus says, you can't serve both God and Money. Hand goes up - "Don't lots of Christians today do both?" YES! And that's the point! Even among the Christians, these ideas from the Sermon on the Mount are counter-cultural. Hardly anyone actually does them. If they did, Christianity would have quite a different reputation. Is it any wonder that Jesus refers to many of the bad examples as hypocrites, and Christians today are believed to be many things by non-Christians, and one of the main things is hypocritical? It's no surprise. The hypocrites back then were the Jewish leaders. The hypocrites today are many of the Christians still.

The entire Bible is worth studying in depth and reading over and over. It's a work that must be taken as a whole. But if you just want to start living the way a Christian is supposed to - OR if you want to know what those people you know who say they are Christians are supposed to believe and act like - just read the three chapters of the Sermon on the Mount - Matthew 5 - 7. That will get you started. After Jesus finished preaching that, the people "were amazed." If you want some amazing guidance for your life, read the Sermon. It's life changing!

One

Listening to an old sermon series from Elevation Church today (from last summer). It was entitled One and involved some prominent pastors from around the country preaching to many (over a thousand) churches about their ideas on if they got one prayer, it would be ______. Craig Groeschel preached to Elevation the second week and it was pretty awesome stuff on the idea of the Church becoming One. It's something I've been passionate about for a while now - ideas like how denominationalism has been so divisive and how critical we are of each other instead of working together, etc. This was his final thought:

"When the world stops hearing about Jesus and actually sees Him through the Church, they won't be able to say No to Him. What would happen if we the Church across the world united and took all the resources that God has given us and we became one? What do you think God could do through us this week if we became one? Here's what God could do: By Monday - starvation around the world could be eliminated; by Tuesday - every person could have access to clean drinking water; by Wednesday- everyone with a medical need could receive proper medical attention; by Thursday - poverty could be completely irradicated; by Friday - every orphan with a need could receive adequate attention; by Saturday - the whole world could not only know the name of Jesus but they could see Him, if we became one; and on Sunday we would worship like we've never worshipped before, because the world would know the glory and the power and the love of Jesus through His people. That's why if I had one prayer to pray, it would be "Father in Heaven, make us One."

This is my prayer too.

Peculiar People

Listening to Purple People Leader series on iTunes this morning, by Steven Furtick of Elevation Church. Great message! My favorite quote from the first sermon - "Stop trying to fit in and stand out for the glory of God!" Cool is not what we try to do to be like them. Cool is what we do that is different - fidelity, not getting drunk, telling the truth, living with integrity. Start being exceptional! He's rocking this sermon series in a big way! I'm pumped up. "You're not an abnormal person living in a normal world, you're a normal person living in an abnormal world."

I am trying a new multi-media experience this morning too, which I am really liking. I have iTunes on, listening to his sermon, but I also have some KJ-52 on in the background on Windows media player, playing at the same time but at a little lower volume. It sets his whole sermon to a rocking soundtrack and I love it!! It's really neat to see how the music changes and how that influences how you "read" what he's saying. I'm going to be doing this with a lot of people/soundtrack mixes in the future. I am a big fan of multi-tasking. So, this morning, I'm working, listening to a sermon, and music all at the same time (while drinking coffee! - OH!!!).

Work as for the Lord, and not for men.

Here's the link to his sermon - http://www.elevationchurch.org/mediaPlayer.php?sermon=158

Keepin it Real

I love the internet! It has been such a good friend to me over the last few years. It has helped me get jobs, informed me on tons of stuff, showed me the upcoming weather, and allowed for many a game to be played during boring times. But it has also been an interactive network of people who are inspiring me and influencing my life in a big way. I download sermons through iTunes and listen to them while driving or while at work. I read tons of blogs - thank you Google Reader! I check out church websites, and other websites that have helped to really get me thinking. I also read tons of books. Ok, not as many as some people I know, but more than the average bear. I finished three books last week!

And it was in one of those books - "it" by Craig Groeschel - that I was reminded of something very important. I need to make sure I am worshipping God, and not the things written about God. It was something Craig said he had gotten caught up in one time. He was reading everything he could get his hands on about churches and worship, and leadership - but in the meantime he hadn't been spending significant time with God, and it hurt his ministry. I too fall into this temptation. How tricky is that? Reading books about God (when done in excess) can lead us away from Him. The truth is, you'll never get more benefit than having that personal relationship with God. And that means spending significant time with Him, and in His Word, every day. Books and the internet are certainly good tools, but all things in moderation.

Don't forget to keep it real by staying in the real world and worshipping the real God.

New Video Tool - Animoto

One of my friends showed me this the other day and I loved it. This is a video of Ross's first 7 months. The song choice isn't an exact fit, but I still liked it. Enjoy!

Prophetic Words from the Past

I just finished reading God in the Wasteland by David F. Wells. I had to read it for class, and I cruised the entire thing this afternoon/evening. The book mainly deals with the church's struggle with modernity, but towards the end there was a few ideas that really stuck out to me. Here is what he said:

"...a church that can find in the midst of our present cultural breakdown the opportunity to be God's people in a world that has abandoned God. To be the church in this way, it is also going to have to find in the coming generation leaders who exemplify this hope for its future and who will devote themselves to seeing it realized.... They will have to rise above the internal politics of the evangelical world and refuse to accept the status quo where that no longer serves the vital interests of the kingdom of God. They will have to decline to spend themselves in the building of their own private kingdoms and refuse to be intimidated into giving the church less and other than what it needs. Instead, they will have to begin to build fresh, in cogently biblical ways, among the decaying structures that now clutter the evangelical landscape. To succeed, they will have to be people of large vision, people of courage, people who have learned again what it means to live by the Word of God, and, most importantly, what it means to live before theholy God of that Word. These leaders must successfully accomplish two major projects. First, the church is going to have to learn how to detect worldliness and make a clear decision to be weaned from it.... Second, the church is going to have to get much more serious about itself, cease trying to be a supermarket serving the needs of religious consumers, and become instead a force of countercultural spirituality that draws from the interconnected lives of its members and is expressed through their love, service, worship, understanding, and proclamation."

Now, the most interesting thing about all that is that he wrote it back in 1994 - 15 years ago. That's why I believe it was in some ways prophetic. From my perspective, these things are coming to pass. There is a new generation of leader being established that is doing things differently - better. The past is the past, and I'm not saying there was anything wrong with the way things were done. But continuing to do the same thing in the future is just poor logic and a lack of wisdom. The things he wrote about back then are happening now. If you don't see that, take a look around at the many failing and dying churches that were started within the last 50 years. Then, if you want to see what the new era looks like - go visit the websites I list under "My Influences" on the right side of this page. You will find that these guys are doing things in a new way - but they have reclaimed a tight grip on the Word of God and are letting it determine their worldview once again.

When you look around the landscape of Christianity in America - what do you see?

I have the song "God of this City" stuck in my head tonight...

Fatherhood Fraternity

One of the coolest parts of being a dad is talking with other dads about being dads. I just recently caught back up with a friend from college and we were both discussing how great fatherhood is and how cool it is that we both were. I have another friend from where I vacation who posted a video on his blog of him tickling his daughter, and it was almost the same thing I do with Ross. It was great! There are a couple guys at work with older kids, so it's nice to talk to them sometimes and they let me know that the current crisis I am facing will be shortlived, or not nearly as bad as so and so that will happen later.

There's always been the brotherhood of men, and I greatly enjoy sharing stories of feats of strength, hunting and fishing, and other things that only guys find entertaining (like how I lost part of my big toenail). But there's another fraternity within all men that is comprised of those of us now raising little men and women. For those of you who aren't yet fathers, I can only say that it's like nothing you can imagine. It's both the most challenging and rewarding thing you'll ever do. And once you are one, you won't be able to ever imagine what life was like before and you wouldn't have it any other way than now.

And from my wife's experiences and discussions with her friends, I know there's a sisterhood of mothers out there too. When you think about it, it's what life is all about. Finding groups to belong to, sharing common ideas and interests, and supporting those in your group. This idea encompasses all realms of society from biker gangs, to the Ruritans, to well, hopefully, local churches. It's called community. And it is integral to making it through life. We all need people around us and we all need support and friendship. As Seth Godin says in his book Tribes, people tend to break out into groups of similarities. My current one happens to be fatherhood.

Take some time and think about what communities and tribes you are in right now and what those mean to you. Jim Kallam Jr. wrote a book several years back that is one of my absolute favorite books about how churches should be, called Risking Church. If you want to learn more about why community is important in the church and how to begin cultivating a good one, this is a must read. Without God, and without each other - we will struggle horribly with life. But with God, and with a supportive community around us, we will, as Jim says, "struggle well with life."

Wisdom from Willard

Dallas Willard wrote a great book a while back that I read for school called "The Spirit of the Disciplines." I am currently listening to him on mogulus.com/monvee. He just said something really profound. He said (in effect) "no Christian should spend any amount of time worrying about the longevity of any local church." John Ortberg, who was interviewing him, asked him to repeat it just to make sure everyone got that. He said, Jesus Christ is building His Church, so we shouldn't waste time worrying about whether it will last or not - it will, and Jesus has it under control.

This struck me as so insightful. SO MANY PEOPLE are focused on their local church and whether or not it is growing, how it's doing financially, etc. That is not really what we're supposed to be focused on. We're supposed to be focused on being Jesus to the world - meeting the needs of those outside the church, reaching out, spreading the good news of the Gospel. When it all comes down to it, the longevity of any given church should have nothing to do with those other things. We should always be doing those things and spending our time thinking about them. Jesus is taking care of the Church.

Now, this is not to say that the Church isn't vital and important - it absolutely is. It was set up by Jesus, it is the bride of Christ, it is His Body. But it is not contained in a congregation or a building or a name. It is all of us, every Christian man and woman living and being that Body and working out the Gospel message in our lives and making a positive difference in the lives around us. That's what matters. We do that in part THROUGH the various functions of a church, but there is a distinction here that bears thinking about. Are we putting our time and energy in the right places? Are we letting God be in charge enough? Are we fighting the right battles - the ones that make an eternal difference?

Essentially his main message today is that we need to live out a radical trust in God. Don't worry about results, don't worry about anything really - trust it all to God. Let Him account for the numbers or whatever. It's about living deeply. It's about trusting deeply, and the freedom that comes along with it.

Deadly Vipers

I am listening to the audio version of the book "Deadly Vipers: Character Assassins" by Mike Foster and Jud Wilhite right now. I've listened to the first three chapters so far. It's really great. The premise is that as a Christian leader, I ought to be living out a life of radical grace, and radical integrity. And there are assassins who try to sneak in and destroy me in the process - such as the assassin of Zi Qi Qi Ren, the assassin of essentially lying to yourself, or presenting a false reality so that everything looks good. This book is written for anyone, but it really catches the ear/eye of guys who, like me, really enjoy martial arts movies. The one statement that has already been committed to memory is from Master Po - "The greatest warrior is the one who has conquered himself."

This reminds me of something I read in an Oz Guinness book on doubting - we need to stop listening to ourselves and start talking to ourselves. Essentially these two concepts mean the same thing. When we listen to ourselves, or let our minds run wild, we think of all kinds of doubts, fears, lusts, fantasies, and many other things that ruin our integrity, composure, and grace. This is to allow the assassins to come in and kill. But when we begin to talk to ourselves, speaking out loud the things we know - the words of God, our knowledge from past experiences, our determination, our inner spirit begins to roar and drown out the many whisperings of doubt and enticement that lead us astray. We have eyes to see the enemy sneaking in and we turn on him and defeat him before he has a chance to attack.

But, as everyone who has watched a martial arts movie knows, it is a very difficult thing to master yourself, but it is absolutely essential in defeating your enemy. We must first conquer ourselves.

Good Theology

I am currently taking a semester of Systematic Theology in seminary. Before I got into school, there were some confusing words that all seemed like they meant the same thing to me. I now know the difference and will explain. "Exegesis" - this is essentially where you are figuring out what was originally said in the Bible, to what original audience, and in what historical/cultural context. "Hermeneutics" - this is taking exegesis (the original message) and applying it to a new audience today. "Systematic theology" - this is sort of combining exegesis, hermeneutics, and philosophy and using it to help people understand who God is and develop a Christian worldview. So, the theology part is the goal of the church leader/teacher - to help people develop right ideas of who God is and what a Christian worldview looks like.

I am reading through "No Perfect People Allowed" by John Burke right now. Yesterday I read two chapters that were far and away the two best pieces of theological writing I have read to date. When more time affords, I will be putting up individual posts on each of those chapters. But suffice it to say, that book is on the top of my "Must Read" list. The best part - I've seen John in person, I've exchanged a couple e-mails with him, and I listen to him preach via iTunes. He's a regular guy, down to earth, funny, etc. But he has a heart for God and a wisdom from God that few possess, and that makes him really worth listening to. He is the lead pastor of Gateway Church in Austin, TX. I mention him a lot because I believe when you find good theology in the world, you should point to it. So that's what I'm doing. There are lots of good writers out there who have written good Christian books, but this is really good theology like I haven't encountered many places. What good theology have you encountered lately that you should share with others? If the answer is none, why not?

New Beginnings

I am starting another semester of school today. It promises to be a hard one. I think I'm ready for 16 weeks of Christian Theology though.

A follow-up to my last post on depression. I'm much better now, and was in fact even before I went to bed that night. I was able to get working on my small group lesson for the next day (with the high schoolers) and getting involved in that helped take my mind off of other things. I had a good prayer session at the end of the evening and went to bed in a good state. It never lasts long (at least it hasn't yet), but it happens to us all sometimes.

I guess I never told anyone about one of my secret weapons. It's a Presbyterian Book of Common Worship that I have. I have NO IDEA where I ever got it from, or even when I got it. I've never been to a Presbyterian anything until recently (I go to a men's community Bible study at a Presbyterian church on Thursday mornings). But, one day about 2 years ago, my eye caught it lying on a shelf in my office and I picked it up for the first time ever and began to look through it. I found a series of prayers, divided up by morning prayers and evening prayers, and there's one for each day of the week (so 14 in all). I really like these prayers. They give me a place to start, and things to focus on, and it's a great way not to meander in my prayers too much. They also focus on praying for lots of different people (the government, the lost, the sick, the many others), and the Church on various continents, etc. It's a great reminder to pray for all these different folks. But it's also very eloquent. I love the way some of them are worded - they say just the right things.

I haven't always prayed these every morning and evening, but during the times that I have, I have felt much closer to God. It in a way helps me remember to spend a decent amount of time praying, and remembering what to pray about. We went on a mission trip last year and I had it with me, and I offered to lead morning and evening prayer time. It was a really powerful thing for us that week, and the prayers had huge applications for what we were doing, and even lined up with our daily activities sometimes. It was cool.

So, that was the last thing I did the other evening, was go through my evening prayer in my book of common worship, and it really helped me reconnect with God. My question to you is this - what little insignificant, overlooked, hardly noticed thing has been sitting right in front of you for a long time that you need to pick up and examine for once? It just might change your life.

It's not always good

Tonight I'm in a bit of a depression. I've got a lot of things weighing down on me. If I spent too much time dwelling on them, they could surround and overtake me. Just got me to thinking that if someone read my blog up until now, it would seem like my life is always on the positive, and always moving forward - like there are no real problems that slow me down. Guess that's cause I write about the good things. But tonight I'm writing about the not so good things.

Transparency. I've heard this word so much in the last 4 months. I think it's a key word. It means not sugar-coating life, being authentic and real. Admitting what's really going on. I want to be more transparent. I get depressed sometimes. I have a great life - great job, great family, great future. But I get depressed sometimes, like tonight. I want to give up sometimes, to just stop caring about the things that are weighing me down. It would be easier that way, or so I think - I don't actually know. I want to go to bed and just sleep it off, and feel better in the morning. But part of me wants to stay up and deal with it - figure things out, get through it.

It's times like these that God strangely seems silent and far away. He's not of course, but this is an area of weakness and Satan and his demons are experts at taking advantage of weakness. I'm not saying people who get depressed are weak. I'm saying it can be a chink in our armor and the enemy guns for it when it's exposed. Every time I try to think about God or talk to Him tonight, it's like my thoughts are immediately cloudy or diverted and it's almost as if I get whisked away before I know what's happening. I KNOW God can help me through this, but it's almost like I can't quite get to Him. Alone, that's what the enemy is pushing for, me to feel alone, even though I'm not. But it feels like it, and alone is a heavy place to be. It weighs down and doesn't let up.

I'm not going to keep writing on here until I "work things out," but I know I eventually will. My depression is usually short lived. But I just wanted to say to everyone out there, this is who I am. I have a good relationship with Jesus, but it's not always good in my life. Just bein real.