quOTE 4 the DAy

I’ve been studying this week in preperation to teach at Journey on Sunday. We’re in the middle of a series called, “God At the Movies.” Pretty great series and I’m pumped about it’s overall purpose. In my study, and pouring over materials I’ve gathered I came across an old quote I had written down. I heard it years ago, but it just really struck a cord with me today. It challenges me and encourages me to be the man that is talked about.

This quote’s credit is given to Teddy Roosevelt:

“It is not the critic who counts:  not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled or where the doer of deeds could have done them better.  The    credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; who does actually try to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs even though checkered by failure, than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”

prIde

Ya know every time I think about the crimes we commit against either our creator or each other, I realize that they are usually steeped in the sin of pride.

When you speak against others, gossip about them, cause problems for others, treat people disgracefully – you fill in the blank – all you’re doing is allowing your pride to get the best of you. “I can say what I want to say” – “I’ll do what I want to do” – “They treated me bad, so I’m gonna treat them bad.”

I find that the most humiliating command in scripture is when Jesus says, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  This is a command that reduces our pride and whittles it away to nothing. To treat others as you want to be treated means that regardless of how OTHERS treat YOU, YOU must still treat THEM how YOU want to be treated. This command takes the YOU out of everything. It takes offense out of everything, it takes anger and frustration and retaliation and revenge out of every action we commit toward others. B/c to fulfill this law it requires us to lessen ourselves in order that we might do good to others.

I once heard someone say that if you get easily offended, it’s just another form of selfishness. I would amend that to be pride as well. When people get easily offended they usually talk about THEMSELVES a lot. I’ve been hurt & offended by people a lot in my life, but ya know what, I realized that it’s not about me. There are bigger issues that are going on in the world than what so-n-so said about me – and I find that people that are like this usually care more about material possessions and the things of this world than they do about the things of God, b/c their focus is on earthly things and not of things not of this world. THEY are the central focus of their lives – not God, and certainly not others (unless they are the target of their attacks in order to make up for a lack of self-confidence and self-image that they have).

We say the exact same things when we sin against our God. We think that we know more and know better than He does. Isn’t that the basis of the sin in the Garden? Eve was deceived into believing that God didn’t tell them the whole story, that they could have more and do more than what God allowed them – that they could choose their own way instead of what God had already layed out for them. Their story, is our story. We do the same things, not necessarily with forbidding fruit, but with our speech, our actions, and our ways.

So examine yourself. See if what I say is not truth. Pride is the downfall to sin, and it is the thorn in the side of the Church and will suck the life out of us unless we are willing to say with John the Baptist…”I must decrease, that He might increase.”

What Do We Really Know?

I figure people have better things to do then to read about what I do each day, so I have tried to make my blog more about things I think about on a daily, weekly, monthly basis. Of course, some people and their blogs seem to have inspirational thoughts every day of the week and twice on Sunday when they like to post on Facebook how great their church service was (which I sometimes wonder what they mean by that – seriously, watch the Facebook status’ pile up that say the same thing)…I’m not one of those people. So my thoughts come on a whim at times.

I’m not downing those blogs, it’s just that I’m not that way. If I don’t have something to say then I don’t bother saying anything at all. I find it makes me appear less foolish b/c then I just let other people say all the foolish things and I just chime in when I have an inspirational thought. So now I’m lumped in one of those groups of people that get on a soap box and just ramble on and completely miss the point of what really started this blog to say to begin with.

I’m reading a book called, “Prey” by Michael Crichton. One of the best authors of all time I think! When I read Jurassic Park I reverted back to my childhood when I first saw the movie in the theater and freaked out b/c I thought dinosaurs had been brought back to life and that a velacaraptor was going to eat me in my bed while I slept.

This book is about the advancement of nanotechology, biotechnology, and computer technology. What I love about Crichton (R.I.P.), is that he researches a topic, then mixes real facts with a fictional story – so as you read it you’re thinking, “Wow…this is possible! Why hasn’t anybody really brought dinosaurs back to life yet!?”  “Prey” is about a cloud of nanoparticles – micro-robots – that escape a laboratory. This cloud is self-sustaining and self-reproducing – it’s intelligent and is preying on us! Pretty sweet book.

But in his introduction Crichton makes some true statements about the advancement of technology and this is what the point of this blog is about:

“We think we know what we are doing. We have always thought so. We never seem to acknowledge that we have been wrong in the past, and so might be wrong in the future. Instead, each generation writes off earlier errors as the result of bad thinking by less able minds – and then confidently embarks on fresh errors of its own.”

Now, Crichton is referring to our advancement of technology and our “not always able to handle it” attitudes. I would have you reread that statement and apply it to life and faith. As a young pastor, as a young bible college student, I think this statement applies greatly. I have grown up in a generation that critiques and criticizes older generations of people b/c we don’t agree with their methods and thoughts. And yet…we embark on fresh errors of our own.

I am confident that the day will come when my son and grandson’s generation will arise and call my generation stupid and irrelevant. I hope, I HOPE, that my generation will realize that we have to change to be relevant to a changing world at every stage of our development as church leaders – but I can’t promise anything.

When I was a student pastor in OK I realized that even YOUNG PEOPLE are traditional – they’re just traditional about different things. The camp they go to, the type of service they want, even the type of music they expect…seemingly just as traditional as an older generation – but traditional about different things. I’m not saying that being traditional is wrong, listen to this quote that was posted on the bulletin board at Stones Folly Catholic School:

“Tradition is the faith of those now dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those still living.”

Pretty incredible statement. I have one more for you:

“The god an atheist does not believe in is usually not the God of the Bible. Unfortunately, the god of the believer is also often not the God of the Bible.”

That was stated by Gerald L. Schroeder in his book , “The Science of God.”

What’s the point? My point is this: How is your view of God NOW, in comparison with how you viewed Him as a child? How do you really view God? In his book, “Searching For God Knows What” Don Miller (great author!) mentions the idea that in the Old Testament, when people encountered God – they fell on their faces and were literally afraid of DEATH! The first words out of even the ANGELS’ mouths were, “Fear not!”

Where is the “fear” of God? Are we afraid of sinning against Him? Do we still believe that “it is a dangerous thing to fall into the hands of an angry God”? Yes God is full of grace and mercy, but have we made God into some kind of pansy that doesn’t give a crap how we live, move and have our being? And when you mention the fact that God is a warrior who comes with a sword in his hand and carrying out his wrath at times…people think you’re not being Christ-like (meek and mild).

What I’m trying to say is that we must always be willing to change. Our doctrines, our belief systems, our view of life, love, faith and yes, even God. I haven’t read “The Shack” yet, but I’ve listened to a LOT of people talk about it. I love the fact that God is an old-black-woman. I love seeing peoples’ faces as they talk about it – whether they like it or not. Personally, I love the idea that God appears to a man in a form that he does not expect.

Why? B/c it forces us to realize that God is not what we expect Him to be! THAT’S MY POINT! Not a revolutionary idea, but sometimes I think we forget it. We forget how incredibly amazing, huge, transcendant and completely seperate and “OTHER THAN US” God really is. That God just kind of…exists. Early Hebrew Rabbis described God as being “the very essence of existance.” Wow!

Think about that the next time you pray. Think about that the next time you yell at your kids. Think about that the next time you sing a silly song at church. Think about that the time you choose “Prey” over the Bible. Think about that the next time you ask God “Why?” Think about it the next time…_____________________…you fill in the blank.

frUit

I was mowing the yard the other day and was thinking about my live and where I am at in my journey. I started thinking about all the energy that people I know and myself put into our labor for the Kingdom.  I thought of all the people that I know who have, in essence, burned out. Both in ministry and in life it would seem.

And a very simple reminder came to my mind. God cares more for us than He does about the fruit we produce.  Think about that. I’m not saying that fruit isn’t important b/c it is. But what does it accomplish to build the Kingdom of God and yet lose our own souls in the process. I sat down on a bench that’s in our back yard and just stopped for a moment. I was reminded of God’s incredible love for us. And yes, He has purpose for our lives and He wants us to accomplish it – but at what cost? I don’t believe He wants us to complete our tasks only to forfeit our souls.

So take a moment and think about that statement, “God cares more for US than He does about the fruit we produce.” Take it and apply that to your life.

DrEAmS oF SuCCeSS

I can’t tell you how many preachers/motivational speakers I’ve heard say these words, “DREAM BIG!”  Am I right? Even you, the Reader, can remember times in your life that you have heard this phrase spoken to you.  When I was in bible college I heard this phrase over and over again. “Dream big! Go make a difference in the world! Dream big!”

A year after I graduated college, my wife & I went to be Student Pastors at a church in Oklahoma. Not a small church, around maybe 400-500 people. There are people that flipped out when they heard we were going to be Student Pastors. While I was there I heard a story about an old preacher that still came and visited the church office sometimes. A friend of mine was talking to him and he started telling my friend about his life and ministry and, in lesser words, this is what he said.

He said that he had never, in his over 50 years of pastoral ministry, pastored a church larger than about 30 people.  [When I first heard this I was both surprised and, in my arrogance, thought, 'Gosh I hope that isn't me when I'm that age."] He said that God had called him to heal broken and hurting churches. He would come into a church that had split or had a pastor run out on them, and he would stay there and bring emotional, spiritual and mental healing to it until another full-time pastor could come in. Then, he would move on to another church…b/c we all know churches that are in that situation.

In my time of meditation this story wouldn’t leave me. I kept playing over “fears” [and I put that in quotations to denote that they weren't really fears] that I would end up like that man. I had always been told to “DREAM BIG!” and normally that had visions of granduer of pastoring or teaching 1000s of people! And what if I ended up like this man? Would my talents be wasted on a just a few? [Arrogant, I know]

And then it hit me…it’s not my job to dream big. In fact, it’s not my job to dream, really, at all.  It’s simply my job to obey.  This man, this servant of God, went about his life doing what God had commissioned him to do: to heal hurting people – what greater call can there be?  I couldn’t help but think that this man would be rewarded more than most. And it was in that moment I repented and asked God to simply help me obey. I asked him to help me dream HIS dream for my life. I surrendered my life to Him all over -  I had flashbacks to when I was 12 and first heard the call of God – and I felt as though He was calling me all over again. I felt…free! Free from the chains of “success.” Free from what others might expect from me. Free from what I expected from myself.

Our society looks at people with large bank accounts, large cars, large houses and large churches and says, “Wow, they’ve been successful!” But doesn’t God judge success on a much different scale? I’m not saying people with those things aren’t successful…I just simply believe that they are dreaming God’s dream for their life. In the world’s eyes, this man I’ve spoken of would not be considered successful…but in God’s eyes…?

I have friends that are pastoring small country churches, I have friends that are on staff at churches that have 1000s of people attending, I have friends that are in roles right now that are preparing them to be who they will be in the future. I find myself involved in the best work of my life helping to plant Journey Church in Denton.  It’s so easy for us to look at other people (and ourselves at times) and when they aren’t doing the things WE think they should be doing, to consider that they aren’t going to be or will be successful – when, in fact, they may be one of the most successful people in God’s eyes.

I simply want to challenge the reader, as I have been challenged…don’t dream big…dream God’s dream, and that will be enough. Learn to accept & learn obedience, learn to accept your role in this world, learn to accept who God made you to be and what He has tasked you to do. Because whether you are successful in anyone else’s eyes or not, in the end, isn’t God’s opinion the one that matters most?

CONfidence

2000 years ago people were confident that the Roman Empire would go on forever

1000 years ago people were confident that God wanted them to kill Muslims in the Crusades

500 year ago people believed that the earth was flat

100 years ago people still didn’t believe true flight was possible

50 years ago people thought it was impossible to go to the moon

We as a human race become confident in our confidence.  The things we choose to believe, whether about faith, purpose, technology, etc, is all that we can see. For the modern world, it seems ridiculous to think that the world is flat. It is horrifying to believe that God would want us to kill people of a different culture & religion and absolutely stupid for us to think that flight can’t be possible.

Yet what will future generations criticize US for believing and having confidence in?  Will they look back at some of the things we believe in so confidently that WE are the ones who appear ignorant? Will they look back and say, “How could people not believe that Mars would be Earth’s first colony?” Maybe you don’t have time to think about some of these things…

When we look back over church history, the Church has been confident in some jacked up things in the past (i.e. the Crusades, Spanish Inquisition, etc). But what will future generations in the Church say about us?  What things are we so “confident” in, that future generations will say, “Wow, they made a big deal about THAT?”

What I’m simply saying is that we so often say, “This is the way it is” in regard to just about everything in the world…so, what are we saying that about in our belief systems? I worry about people who say, “This is the way it is, so just believe it! This is the way it is.” My youth pastor growing up taught me an incredibly important thing that I’ll never forget…”Question everything.” One of the things that annoy me the most are closed-minded people. Those people that you present an idea to and they simply dismiss it b/c it doesn’t fit with what they are “confident” is the “right way.” Why not question? Why not dig a little deeper? I’m not saying that everything we believe is wrong, but there are issues that people have such great confidence in that I think it deserves to be revisited: tithing, tongues, Church leadership, prayer…I could go on and on.

These are all just thoughts on paper, and my simple point is this:  we put such great confidence in things that sometimes turn out to be wrong. So sit down and start evaluating the things you are most confident in. Keep the things that are true for all time (sacrifice of Christ, etc). Identify things that are questionable, study them, show yourself approved, discover where your confidence can rest.

I think in the end, we just have to realize that we don’t know everything about everything in regard to God & faith…we say that we don’t…yet sometimes we act & live as though we do.

bUildINg

Every Tuesday morning the leadership team of Journey Church gathers together for prayer.  We meet at our Lead Pastor’s house, and right out back you can see they are building a new house.

Now, I’m one of those people that usually likes to walk around or sit quietly when I prayer, and yesterday morning I was in the mood to walk around.  As I was meditating on what God is doing in us and through us, beginning a new community of believers, I started watching a team of guys building this house.  It interested me b/c we’ve watched this house being built from the ground up.

This house had it’s foundation poured and now they are putting up the studs and I-Beams that will support the second floor.  All the little, seemingly, insignificant steps in building this house are being looked over by a foreman who has in turn received the blueprints from the architect.  If you had never seen this building before, you wouldn’t know it was going to be a house until it started to take more shape.

In this house being built, I started to see Journey Church. The foundation has been laid, which is Christ and His call & direction for Journey, and we are slowly taking shape.  What we will eventually be, I don’t even think WE know that yet, but we know that the architect has the plan.  When we look back over the last 7 months that we’ve lived in Denton, I begin to see all the little things that seemed insignificant at the time, to be some of the most important things we’ve done!

What we have to remember is that a house isn’t built overnight, and neither is a community of believers.  And in reference to building the dreams that God has placed inside each person, too many people get impatient.  And in so doing, they give up when they lose sight on the completed work.  None of us may know what the completed work looks like, but we have to trust our Architect knows the plan and knows how to get us there.

Yet in our patience to see the work completed…we must not cease to work. We can’t become complacent and satisfied with the build so far…we have to keep going, we have to press forward, we have to add more/new team members who are specialists at their particular trade to help make the building as quality as it possibly can be. The person that does the concrete doesn’t also do the electrical work. The person that does the electrical doesn’t lay the carpet…

Wow – the comparisons go on and on. Think about the dream in YOUR life…have you given up building up? Are you passionately pursuing it? Are you patiently building and following the plan? Sometimes steps seem insignificant and a waste of time…but don’t fall into that trap.

KEEP BUILDING!

INfluences

So I was on Facebook this morning, as I’m sure many of you do at times. I wasn’t really doing anything, but I’d kind of zoned out and was clicking on random friends just to see what they were up to.  I find it interesting how many of them have changed from when I last knew them, perhaps many years ago. How much I have changed as well.  I think back to when we were around each other and what kind of “place” we were at in our lives. High School, College, very impressionable, shapable…and yes, ignorant places.

It’s not that we’re different in jobs and money and things like that (though we are), but in belief systems, world views, how we approach God & our relationship with Christ, the method in which we share our faith & life with the world.

My answer is simply this: we allowed different things to influence us.  We’ve read certain books, listened to certain teachers, and been shaped by different circumstances. I think the foundations of our faith are the same, yet how we live out that faith is what is different. I’m certainly not saying that anybody is wrong, I am just simply reflecting on the fact that what we allow to influence us is what shapes our lives & views. (Nothing new)

So my question to you, the reader, is what is influencing you?  Do you think that you are being influenced by circumstances, people, teachers and other things and you don’t even realize it? I think some of the most major influence that shapes us happens to us and we don’t even realize it.

I’m just reflecting on that today and measuring my own life and what has influenced me. There are particular people, authors, circumstances that have shaped me. And all those things are under the umbrella of God’s influence for my life.  I think it’s okay for everybody to be different. There is an immeasurable number of different people today, and if we were all the same then WE wouldn’t influence THEM.

So think about that today.  What has influenced you? What IS influencing you right now? And what effect has that had on your journey of life?

WhY foLLow jEsUs???

For those readers that have made a life-decision to follow Christ…why do you follow Him?

My guess is that somewhere along the line someone told you that you could go to hell. Right? And while I believe that living life according to our own designs instead of trusting in Christ and living the way He shows us will earn us eternal consequences, I strongly believe that we must see our redemption as far more than a ticket out of hell. Many might agree with me upfront, but let me explain further.

Now, I’m not one to usually deal with hypotheticals, but sometimes they can help show us what our true motives are, and perhaps what they should be. So ask yourself this hypothetical: If hell weren’t an issue, would I still follow Jesus? Or would I ever have STARTED following Jesus in the first place?

Seeing redemption as simply a way out of hell is much like someone getting married so that they won’t have to live alone.  What kind of a marriage would that be?  What kind of relationship would be there?  I submit that the marriage would have little relationship and be driven more by fear than love.  And isn’t that what should drive every relationship? Love?  Whether marriage, friendship, father to a son, daughter to a mother, a creation to it’s Creator?  Shouldn’t love be the driving force behind each of these?

I would submit that if we only see salvation, or our redemption, as merely a way out of eternal destruction, then our relationship with our God is not driven by love, but by fear.

I would further say this, if we follow Jesus only because He “saves” us, then basically, we are following Him because He has done something for us, right?  And while in itself this is not a bad thing, if we love Him only because of what He has done for us then what ever so slightly happens  when “life” takes place and we don’t feel like He is doing anything for us?  When family dies, when we lose our job, when the income isn’t there, when He is silent as we cry out to Him…when it seems like He isn’t doing anything for us…does our love, commitment and devotion for Him seem to decrease?

I didn’t marry my wife because she did anything for me.  I didn’t marry her out of fear of being alone and seperated my whole life.  I married her because I choose to love her. Because our hearts and souls connected.  Because I determined that I couldn’t and wouldn’t live my life on this earth without her by my side.  She didn’t have to do anything for me in the past, nor does she have to do anything for me in the future for me to love her any more or any less.  That is why my love & devotion to her doesn’t waver.

My reasons for following Jesus are much the same.  He gave His life for me, which enables me to be in this beautiful relationship that connects us. My devotion is driven by love, not fear. I’ve learned that as my Creator, He has the right to determine the best way that I should live, and I’ve learned that living His way is a much better way than my own.

I hope you’ll sit down and consider this simple question in your reflection time…why do I follow Jesus?

Resistance

Have you ever sat down and realized that you still have a lot of rough edges that need to be smoothed out? I think facing difficulties has a way of showing us those things that we need most to work on.  To plant a thought, I’m not sure that you can even become more defined unless you face resistance and difficulties.

Think about it like this, working out…is NOT fun! Why do you think I don’t work out!? Because it takes work, because I don’t find it fun AT ALL and b/c it hurts when you’re done.  I’m the guy who watches Biggest Loser while eating a chili dog.  But my point is this: the only way you build muscle is by facing resistance. It’s the only way you grow!

So the next time that you face resistance or difficulties in your life – remember that it’s an opportunity for growth. I’m not trying to make it sound easy because it isn’t. But whoever said that living life as a follower of Christ has to be easy?