Friday, November 23, 2007
Obedience Part 1 of 2
I was recently talking with someone who had to make a very difficult decision. They sought advice from those they respect, they prayed about the situation, they had those that care about them pray about the situation and then something happened....God provided an option for this person to take. Now things at this point can go in 2 different directions. This person can either choose to acknowledge the opportunity and so then act on it, or choose not to acknowledge it and keep moving on and keep praying about it. I believe when we pray for things the Lord answers those prayers by providing options of how we can deepen our faith in Him. If we recognize these moments and seize them, I believe we are acting on FAITH, and when we act in faith we are walking in OBEDIENCE to how Christ wants us to live.
There's a BABY on the way!!!
Words can not express how excited I am to let everyone know that Violet and I recently found out that we are expecting our first child! I'm so stinkin-excited! I will be giving updates on how Violet and the baby are doing periodically, but for now that's all we know! But that in itself is amazing!
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
THE GOD'S AREN'T ANGRY....
Tonight I went to see Rob Bell, he was in town on his speaking tour and as expected, I walked away saying "wow". One thing that I love about listening to Rob is that he will talk about a story in the Bible, but he will tell that story from a different perspective, and it doesn't change the message of the story, just causes you to think about from a different angle.
Tonight I walked away with several different things I just wanted to list the few that hit me the hardest:
1. through out time, man kind has always had gods that they choose to worship, we can never give enough to these gods, and we can never appease these gods. But still we try. I was reminded tonight that there are still gods today, the names have just changed. They are now called "Job", and "acceptance", "money", and more. With any of these gods and more of them too, we can never give enough/sacrifice enough or get enough, it will still leave us trying for more.
However, Christ changed that, he is the one that actually made the sacrifice for us, so instead of me having to do something to earn my way to him, he already made it possible to go to him...HE made it possible! I love hearing that....HE made it possible. I don't have to do a thing...but TRUST.
2. REPENTANCE is not something that you have to do to be changed, REPENTANCE is the celebration of what Christ has already done, if we have excepted and trusted it.
Over all I was really challenged to remember daily that my GOD is a loving GOD and I want to celebrate HIM each and every day, by how I live my life.
Tonight I walked away with several different things I just wanted to list the few that hit me the hardest:
1. through out time, man kind has always had gods that they choose to worship, we can never give enough to these gods, and we can never appease these gods. But still we try. I was reminded tonight that there are still gods today, the names have just changed. They are now called "Job", and "acceptance", "money", and more. With any of these gods and more of them too, we can never give enough/sacrifice enough or get enough, it will still leave us trying for more.
However, Christ changed that, he is the one that actually made the sacrifice for us, so instead of me having to do something to earn my way to him, he already made it possible to go to him...HE made it possible! I love hearing that....HE made it possible. I don't have to do a thing...but TRUST.
2. REPENTANCE is not something that you have to do to be changed, REPENTANCE is the celebration of what Christ has already done, if we have excepted and trusted it.
Over all I was really challenged to remember daily that my GOD is a loving GOD and I want to celebrate HIM each and every day, by how I live my life.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Let's clear this thing up....
So I've had a few people ask me about the whole "Postmodern Pastor" thing. And to tell you the truth I was a little surprised. But the "postmodern" terminology is many times put into a bad light. I'm really tired of reading things about "Postmodern" pastors that only teach fluff, or that they are the "new Christian liberal" whatever the heck that means, or that the postmodern movement is only about being culturally relevant. I will say this...should I worry about being culturally relevant? Well in order for me to be effective in reaching PEOPLE who do not know JESUS CHRIST, then yes, I need to be culturally relevant. And being relevant doesn't mean that I change the powerful life changing message of Jesus who said, "I am the WAY the TRUTH, and the LIFE, nobody can come to the Father except through Me."
What some miss out on about the postmodern movement or generation is that this is a generation that is really relationship driven. They crave and are driven by relationships, and as someone who is in that generation I have really found that when I share the life changing message of Jesus, and how He changed me personally, I found that almost every time I share my story that God uses it to draw people to Himself. I don't have any off the hook story about how I was a drug addict or anything like that. Simply Jesus changed me and I'll never be the same again. That's personal, and when we make things personal they will make an impact. That's what Jesus did, why shouldn't we do the same.
So bash on the "postmodern", but realize this, you are surrounded by them and instead of giving up on how to share Christ with them, maybe try a different tactic next time....try LIVING IT OUT, and make it personal, not preachy.
What some miss out on about the postmodern movement or generation is that this is a generation that is really relationship driven. They crave and are driven by relationships, and as someone who is in that generation I have really found that when I share the life changing message of Jesus, and how He changed me personally, I found that almost every time I share my story that God uses it to draw people to Himself. I don't have any off the hook story about how I was a drug addict or anything like that. Simply Jesus changed me and I'll never be the same again. That's personal, and when we make things personal they will make an impact. That's what Jesus did, why shouldn't we do the same.
So bash on the "postmodern", but realize this, you are surrounded by them and instead of giving up on how to share Christ with them, maybe try a different tactic next time....try LIVING IT OUT, and make it personal, not preachy.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
how is that fair?
I just received a phone call a little bit ago from a parent in our church that could hardly talk, what she did say was that a young girl in our church that had been fighting with cancer passed away..... How is that fair? I mean really, how is it that a young girl with her entire life ahead of her had to struggle with such a nasty deadly disease like cancer? And why is it that I can't seem to process that kind of stuff in my head? As the Pastor of Compassion at our church part of my responsibilities are to care for people's needs locally, regionally, and globally. Right now my heart aches for this family. Then Mom is a strong single parent. And again when I think of things like this my mind can't grasp it, a child is gone, and now a single parent is left to care for the rest of the children and also for herself, how is that fair?
Last month our Pastor, Greg, did a series on "Uncertainty", and one of the messages was titled, "Why does God allow Suffering", and even now I have to go back to what God says, and I have to focus on TRUTH, and know that God is GREAT and He does care. Psalm 56:8 is a great comfort and reminder to me, "you keep track of all my sorrows, you have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recored each one in your book." This was a Jewish custom that would happen at funerals. They would pass a bottle around and each person would put their tears in a bottle, then they would take it to the wife, family, or children of whoever it was that suffered the loss and, it was to be a reminder that they were hurting with them. That's an awesome picture of what a church is to be. Romans 12:15 says that we are to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn." In the midst of grieving the loss for a loved one, or in this case the loss of a child in our church, I have to come back to Truth, and that truth is that Christ loves each of us so intimately, the Bible talks about how Jesus even wept after hearing his good friend died. Jesus wept, I find comfort in knowing the God of this universe loves us so much that he wept over one of his children who passed. In Matthew it says, "what is the price of two sparrows, yet when one falls from the sky, I know. And I care so much more for you." I'm so thankful that I serve a God who is close and personal, and not distant or far away.
Last month our Pastor, Greg, did a series on "Uncertainty", and one of the messages was titled, "Why does God allow Suffering", and even now I have to go back to what God says, and I have to focus on TRUTH, and know that God is GREAT and He does care. Psalm 56:8 is a great comfort and reminder to me, "you keep track of all my sorrows, you have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recored each one in your book." This was a Jewish custom that would happen at funerals. They would pass a bottle around and each person would put their tears in a bottle, then they would take it to the wife, family, or children of whoever it was that suffered the loss and, it was to be a reminder that they were hurting with them. That's an awesome picture of what a church is to be. Romans 12:15 says that we are to "Rejoice with those who rejoice, and mourn with those who mourn." In the midst of grieving the loss for a loved one, or in this case the loss of a child in our church, I have to come back to Truth, and that truth is that Christ loves each of us so intimately, the Bible talks about how Jesus even wept after hearing his good friend died. Jesus wept, I find comfort in knowing the God of this universe loves us so much that he wept over one of his children who passed. In Matthew it says, "what is the price of two sparrows, yet when one falls from the sky, I know. And I care so much more for you." I'm so thankful that I serve a God who is close and personal, and not distant or far away.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Divine Appointment...what the heck does that mean..
I hate that phrase. Divine appointment, I think it makes us Christians sound so stupid because we make up our own words. Words that really have no meaning except to Christians and if you are not a Christian they sound stupid, and if you are a new Christian you are made to feel like you have to understand the terms or you don't somehow fit in or are not spiritual enough.
Tonight I met with a young guy at my favorite place, Starbucks. Until today I'd only spoken to "J" once, never even met him. In fact he he doesn't even go to our church which made meeting him a little more interesting to me. Sometimes with ministry you can get so bogged down by doing "stuff" that you totally miss out on what the Lord may really want you to do. And that could have been the case here. I had so much "stuff" I could have been doing, and one thing I have learned while being in ministry is that there is always "Stuff" to do. So I put the "stuff" the every day trying to get ahead paper work, calls, contacting, planning for events, meetings, and more, I put that to the side so that I could meet with J tonight.
As I was sitting Starbucks, reading a great book by a guy that I would say has had the BIGGEST impact in my life besides my dad, and my youth pastor and that would be Andy Stanley. I was reading his book, " Visionering", (great book by the way)when J walked in. He immediately approached me and introduced himself and then proceeded to order his coffee, as he did I prepared myself for whatever I was about to hear, all I knew was that he was just finished with a nasty divorce and now a battle over the children was going on, and I was pretty sure that he wasn't a follower of Christ. So I prayed, just asking the Lord to use me in whatever way He would choose.
"J" sits down and proceeds to tell me what has been going on in his life. As he did I thought to myself, "there is no way that us meeting at Starbucks was an accident". "J" was hurting, and my heart ached for what he was having to carry all on his own. I shared with him that Jesus said his yoke was light and that he wants to carry our burdens and that we were not designed to carry things on our own. I asked if I could share what Christ had done in my life and he said he'd love to hear it. So I shared how Christ made a difference in my life, and that he could change "J's" life too if he would only give his life to Christ.
Then the moment came that I asked him if he would like to give his life to Christ and he looked at me and said he had tried everything but Jesus and that he wanted to have Him. At that moment, my heart was so taken back, I wanted to make sure that he wasn't feeling pressured so I said we don't have to do this right now, and he said he wanted to. At that moment, we prayed, right there in Starbucks "J" became a follower of Christ!
We talked for a little while and after that we headed our ways, but committing to getting together on Wednesday nights.
As I got in my car I could not get that thought out of my head....divine appointment. what the heck does that even mean? Appointment meaning a meeting set for a specific time or place, and Divine meaning proceeding from God. So as I thought about it, a divine appointment is a meeting that God wanted to happen, He put it on His calendar.
I was so thankful to be apart of what God was doing. I hope that I'm always available for those God appointments and that I never get too busy with the "stuff" of ministry that I miss out on what the Lord has on His calendar.
Tonight I met with a young guy at my favorite place, Starbucks. Until today I'd only spoken to "J" once, never even met him. In fact he he doesn't even go to our church which made meeting him a little more interesting to me. Sometimes with ministry you can get so bogged down by doing "stuff" that you totally miss out on what the Lord may really want you to do. And that could have been the case here. I had so much "stuff" I could have been doing, and one thing I have learned while being in ministry is that there is always "Stuff" to do. So I put the "stuff" the every day trying to get ahead paper work, calls, contacting, planning for events, meetings, and more, I put that to the side so that I could meet with J tonight.
As I was sitting Starbucks, reading a great book by a guy that I would say has had the BIGGEST impact in my life besides my dad, and my youth pastor and that would be Andy Stanley. I was reading his book, " Visionering", (great book by the way)when J walked in. He immediately approached me and introduced himself and then proceeded to order his coffee, as he did I prepared myself for whatever I was about to hear, all I knew was that he was just finished with a nasty divorce and now a battle over the children was going on, and I was pretty sure that he wasn't a follower of Christ. So I prayed, just asking the Lord to use me in whatever way He would choose.
"J" sits down and proceeds to tell me what has been going on in his life. As he did I thought to myself, "there is no way that us meeting at Starbucks was an accident". "J" was hurting, and my heart ached for what he was having to carry all on his own. I shared with him that Jesus said his yoke was light and that he wants to carry our burdens and that we were not designed to carry things on our own. I asked if I could share what Christ had done in my life and he said he'd love to hear it. So I shared how Christ made a difference in my life, and that he could change "J's" life too if he would only give his life to Christ.
Then the moment came that I asked him if he would like to give his life to Christ and he looked at me and said he had tried everything but Jesus and that he wanted to have Him. At that moment, my heart was so taken back, I wanted to make sure that he wasn't feeling pressured so I said we don't have to do this right now, and he said he wanted to. At that moment, we prayed, right there in Starbucks "J" became a follower of Christ!
We talked for a little while and after that we headed our ways, but committing to getting together on Wednesday nights.
As I got in my car I could not get that thought out of my head....divine appointment. what the heck does that even mean? Appointment meaning a meeting set for a specific time or place, and Divine meaning proceeding from God. So as I thought about it, a divine appointment is a meeting that God wanted to happen, He put it on His calendar.
I was so thankful to be apart of what God was doing. I hope that I'm always available for those God appointments and that I never get too busy with the "stuff" of ministry that I miss out on what the Lord has on His calendar.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
My Suns!
I am probably the BIGGEST suns fan that I have ever met. I would say that I have a healthy appetite for basketball, but those who know me best, especially my wife, they would probably say that I am all but obsessed with the Phoenix Suns.
We where hanging out with some people one night and I said something about my suns room, and they looked at me really funny, and said, " I didn't know you had a son." No my SUNS room, we have a room in our house that is painted orange and is completely done out in ORANGE! I am a citizen of planet orange! I love the suns, I've been a suns fan for as long as I can remember, and I Love the fact that my wife loves basketball too and she loves the suns(not as much as I do)and can tell you who the players are where they have come from, and can follow the game and loves to go to games as well! When I found out that she loved basketball on our first date, and not just loved it but played it in High School, I fell in love!
Basketball is a passion, a love, something that I just can't put into words about how I feel about it, but I really do love this game!
We where hanging out with some people one night and I said something about my suns room, and they looked at me really funny, and said, " I didn't know you had a son." No my SUNS room, we have a room in our house that is painted orange and is completely done out in ORANGE! I am a citizen of planet orange! I love the suns, I've been a suns fan for as long as I can remember, and I Love the fact that my wife loves basketball too and she loves the suns(not as much as I do)and can tell you who the players are where they have come from, and can follow the game and loves to go to games as well! When I found out that she loved basketball on our first date, and not just loved it but played it in High School, I fell in love!
Basketball is a passion, a love, something that I just can't put into words about how I feel about it, but I really do love this game!
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