Category Archives: Discipleship

Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Mission, Personal Leadership

The Fifteenth Year

15 years ago I had just returned from a semester overseas studying abroad in Athens, Greece. My small Christian college seemed even smaller after exploring the world but I was ready to get back to classes and earn my degree in Youth and Family Ministry.

That’s when I got the call.

A graduate student had recommended me to a small church just outside of Little Rock to serve as their part-time youth minister. He told me about the church and all that the job entailed. I would teach classes on Sunday, Sunday Night, and Wednesday night. I would also occasionally lead singing and participate in the life of the church.

He said that the job was mine if I wanted it.

I said, “Yes!”

With that invitation and with my agreement to work and serve that little church, I officially began as a full-time minister following God’s calling in my life.

So much has happened over the last 15 years. 

We have moved from AR to AL and back to TX. I have taught hundreds of classes, led thousands of songs, read countless commentaries, and attended numerous conferences. I’ve held new born babies, prayed over men and women going into surgery, spent late nights in the ER, and stood by those who have lost loved ones. I’ve welcomed new families in the church and said goodbye to others. I’ve been to the mountain top and I’ve trudged through the dark valleys. I have seen God work wonders and I have seen Him transform myself and those around me.

My focus for this year is Fitness.

I want to be Spiritually Fit.

I want to be Physically Fit.

I want to be Emotionally Fit.

I want to be Intellectually Fit.

As I think about what it means to be fit in ministry and in life I remember the challenge Paul shares with the church on Corinth:

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Corinthians 9:24–27)

Over the last few weeks I have been praying over and planning some pretty ambitious goals for this year. I feel God is calling me to abandon the average life and ministry in order to go deeper into His Story and His Kingdom. No one stumbles into fitness. No one wanders around the track and crosses the finish line. To run the race and finish well takes training, focus, passion, and faith in the One who provides the strength needed to endure.

I live a great life.

I get to live out my calling doing the thing that I love with people that I love for a Savior that I love.

As I begin my 15th year in full-time ministry I have never been more excited about what God may have in store. I’m ready to dig deeper, reach higher, abandon average, and run the race full out.

Here’s to the start of another 15 years in ministry.

 

Discipleship, Grace, Mission, Worship

Thanksgiving Proclamation

Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863

By the President of the United States of America.

A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.

By the President: Abraham Lincoln

William H. Seward,
Secretary of State

Discipleship, Jesus, Preaching, Sermon Series, Sermons

Bringing the Heat

This Summer, I’ve been preaching out of Proverbs for my Summer Sermon Series: Wisdom for Living. Since it’s 4th of July weekend I decided to stick with the fireworks theme and talk about what God’s Word has to tell us about handling Relational Conflict. Light that fuse!

Where there are relationships, you will find conflict. When people interact and bump up against each other there will be conflict – big and small. Our culture loves to disagree over so many things: race, religion, family issues, politics, world views. You name it and people are fighting over it.

Now you might say, “Micheal, surely those of us who love Jesus don’t have to worry about conflict in the church!” After you’ve stop laughing and finished wiping the laughter-tears away, read this story:

In 1995, a man named Chuck Noland was stranded on a desert island after a horrific crash. He was alone on the island for nearly twenty years until a passing freighter spotted him on the beach last February. When his rescuers told him that they were there to take him home, he was overjoyed. Noland asked them if they would accompany him to the shelter he had built so that he could retrieve some of his belongings. When the group arrived at the shelter, they were amazed at how big and beautiful his island home was. Then someone noticed another structure to the right, larger and more grand than his home. When they asked Nolan what the other structure was he told them that it was his church – the place where he worshipped. Amazed at what Nolan had been able to build there in the jungle all by himself, the group turned to head back to the rescue ship. That’s when the saw a third building just as large and grand as the other two. They asked what this was and Nolan said in a hushed tone, “That’s the church I used to go to.”

BOOM!

The truth is that there is no perfect church because there are no perfect people. Churches split and relationships crumble, not due to conflict, but though the way we handle conflict. There are ways to approach conflict that can be life-giving and there are ways that can be soul-crushing. The number one reason that the church is irrelevant, ineffective, and gasping for air can be tied back to our unwillingness to deal with and work though conflict biblically.

As followers of Jesus Christ we must learn how to effectively deal with conflict when it arises. It is my hope through this lesson will help us, in light of our relationship with Jesus, RETHINK conflict and RELEARN how to effectively and positively deal with it in your life.

Here is what I truly believe: when we learn how to biblically handle conflict we will REVEL in our relationship with Jesus, experience RESTORED relationships with one another, and we will better REVEAL to the culture around us the God who pursues and redeems relationships broken by conflict.

 

 

Discipleship, Prayer

Join The Prayer Team

Yesterday official marked the beginning of the Easter season. The 40 days leading up to Good Friday is  traditionally known as Lent. This is a season that calls Christians to prepare their hearts and minds through repentance, worship, fasting and prayer. Personally, I am using this time to refocus and recommit to praying for my life, family, and ministry.

I recently read Turnaround Pastor by Don Ross and he uses the acrostic P.R.A.Y.E.R. T.E.A.M. as a great approach to give you clarity and to help you stay focused as you pray. I’ve been using this as my prayer agenda over the last few weeks and I have experienced an increase in my capacity to concentrate and articulate what is really on my heart.

I want to share this with you today with the hope that it will help you gain a better handle on the time you spend with God in prayer each day. If you’ve ever been able to spend much time in prayer, I think this guide with help you create a strong foundation for a consistent and beneficial prayer life.

Try and spend at least one minute praying through each of these areas of focus.

1. Praise: How can I praise God my Father? Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. Psalm 100:4   

2. Repent: Is the Spirit convicting me of sin? For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. Psalm 51:3–4   

3. Ask: What “Big Thing” am I asking for? Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Matthew 7:7–8   

4. Yield: Am I regularly obeying the Spirit? If you love me, keep my commands. John 14:15 

5. Example: Father, make me an example others can follow. Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I Corinthians 11:1   

6. Relationships: How can I love others in my relationships? My marriage, children, friends, neighbors, etc. A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. John 13:34–35   

7. Three: Who are three people the Spirit is asking me to pray for and invite to our church? Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:5   

8. Eyes and Ears: Pray that each person has a soft heart so their eyes and ears are open to the gospel. You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Matthew 13:14–15   

9. Attitude: How does my attitude need to change to be more like Jesus’ attitude? Have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:5   

10. Mission: How is God asking me to move the mission forward in helping people discover, trust, and love Jesus Christ? I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Matthew 16:18

adapted from Turn Around Pastor by Don Ross

Discipleship, Life, Music

Watered-Down Love

Happy Valentine’s Day!

A few years ago I purchased the Bob Dylan Collection, a digital box set, from iTunes. The collection included every single Bob Dylan song, bootleg, and album from Bob Dylan (’62) to Modern Times (’06).

As I sifted through all the tracks, I came across a handful (ok, more than a handful) of songs that I had never heard before. One of the songs that I came across wasWatered-Down Love from the 1981 album Shot of Love.

The first time I listened to this song the lyrics seemed instantly familiar to me. The song is a contrast between pure love and the cheap, imitation that the world tries to pass off to us as love. Bob seems to say to us what Paul had to say to the church in Corinth.

Watered-Down Love
Shot of Love
Bob Dylan

Love that’s pure hopes all things,
Believes all things, won’t pull no strings,
Won’t sneak up into your room, tall, dark and handsome,
Capture your heart and hold it for ransom.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure, it don’t make no claims,
Intercedes for you ‘stead of casting you blame,
Will not deceive you or lead you to transgression,
Won’t write it up and make you sign a false confession.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure won’t lead you astray,
Won’t hold you back, won’t mess up your day,
Won’t pervert you, corrupt you with stupid wishes,
It don’t make you envious, it don’t make you suspicious.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

Love that’s pure ain’t no accident,
Always on time, is always content,
An eternal flame, quietly burning,
Never needs to be proud, restlessly yearning.

You don’t want a love that’s pure
You wanna drown love
You want a watered-down love

I hope that no one would ever dedicate this song to you or me. Jesus said that people will know that we are his disciples by the way we love others. For too long, the people of God have been known more for what we hate than for what we love.

Paul writes, “If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. Itdoes not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil butrejoices with the truth. It alwaysprotects, always trusts, alwayshopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” (1Corinthians 13:1-8)

Let’s resolve to live everyday loving those around us with a pure and unadulterated love. A love that lifts high the name of Jesus. A love that seeks to bring hope and healing. A love that is fueled by the Holy Spirit.

Let there be NO watered-down love around here.

An earlier version of this essay was posted on August 28, 2009.

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Thoughts

Coda

As I wrap up the last few minutes in my office on this final day of 2013, I wanted to post a thought or two here before I power-down the Mac, lock the doors, and head home for the evening.

I keep thinking back over the previous 364 days and I’ve come to the conclusion that this past year was a bridging year for me and my family. We had to cross a mighty river and we experienced a myriad of emotions, setbacks, triumphs, near-tragedies, exhaustion, much grace, and lots of mercy.

All this to get us from where we are now to where God intends for us to be.

I look forward to the new year because I can see a hint, a glimmer, of hope and God-sized possibilities. This vision has been born out of the crucible of this past year. I wouldn’t trade the last 12 months for anything because I believe God gave us this past year to lay a foundation for what is to come.

I’m ready to live in 2014.

My prayer is that you are too.

Let’s live a better story together as we move forward into whatever God has in store for us this next year.

 

Discipleship, Life

Legacy

Last Sunday, I began a new sermon series entitled, “Legacy.” All of us desire to leave something of worth to those we leave behind. Our legacy can be an inheritance, character traits, or a passion for a cause or people group. Leaving a legacy then is really about STEWARDSHIP.

Traditionally, when we have heard the word stewardship we automatically begin thinking about finances or writing a check to the church or another organization. Stewardship encompasses much more than just our money. Stewardship is about living the life that God has given us in such a way that all the glory and honor goes to Him.

If we are going to understand the true, biblical understanding of stewardship then we have to understand 3 things:

  1. God is the owner of everything. He owns our money. He owns our things. He owns our livelihoods, and ultimately, He owns our lives.
  2. We are merely stewards of all that God owns. When God created Adam and Eve, he made them stewards of the Garden. They were placed in charge of all that God created and they were given the responsibility of taking care of God’s creation. The same is true for us. We get confused when we begin to believe that everything we have is ours and that it is owned by us. We can get possessive. We can get territorial. We can get selfish. However, when we begin to see that everything we have – our families, our things, our relationships, our lives – has been entrusted to us to care for, tend, and nurture than that can change our hearts and the way we live.
  3. We have the responsibility to manage everything for God’s glory. Everything that God has given us isn’t ours to own but ours to manage. You don’t own your finances, God has blessed you with income so that you can take care of your family and bless others. Your job isn’t yours to own, you have been put in your position in order to interact with and impact those around you. You aren’t just a student, you are using the gifts and cognitive abilities that God has given you in order to learn and grow.

So, if God owns everything and if we are merely stewards of those things, talents, and abilities than leaving a legacy is really about how we live.Your legacy won’t be determined by how much money you have when you die. Your legacy won’t be determined by how many buildings or organizations are named after you.

The truth is, your legacy will only be determined by the way that you steward the life and relationships that God gives you.

Discipleship, Ethos, Hope, Jesus, Life

Only One Life

Two little lines I heard one day,
Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart,
And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet,
And stand before His Judgement seat;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, the still small voice,
Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave,
And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, a few brief years,
Each with its burdens, hopes, and fears;
Each with its clays I must fulfill,
living for self or in His will;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

When this bright world would tempt me sore,
When Satan would a victory score;
When self would seek to have its way,
Then help me Lord with joy to say;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Give me Father, a purpose deep,
In joy or sorrow Thy word to keep;
Faithful and true what e’er the strife,
Pleasing Thee in my daily life;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Oh let my love with fervor burn,
And from the world now let me turn;
Living for Thee, and Thee alone,
Bringing Thee pleasure on Thy throne;
Only one life, “twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Only one life, yes only one,
Now let me say,”Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call,
I know I’ll say “twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last. ”

Only one life, ’twill soon be past,
Only what’s done for Christ will last.
And when I am dying, how happy I’ll be,
If the lamp of my life has been burned out for Thee.

– CT Studd

Discipleship, FPU, Mission

New FPU Kits Have Arrived!

Good morning everyone!

Summer is less than one week away and I can’t believe this year is flying by so fast. I am getting so excited about the summer. One of the reasons I’m so excited is because we are starting a whole new semester of Financial Peace University at our church. This class has truly impacted the way I view and interact with money. Dave Ramsey’s material is practical, fun, and most importantly, biblically driven.

Dave teaches that personal finance is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. Taking contra of your finances is more about what you do than what you know. FPU helps with both of these aspects in order to challenge you to use your money God’s way.

Last Fall, Dave’s team released an update to its FPU material. Our new Member Kits arrived this week and I wanted to show you what you get when you register for Financial Peace University. There is some great stuff in these new kits!

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When you open the box you are greeted with an awesome reminder: Your Story Begins Today. That’s right! You have decided to do something different. When you choose to start using your money and finances according to God’s Word, it will impact your future. It will change you. It will change your kids. It will change your family tree. FPU really does change your story. Let’s take a look at the tools you’ll be using to write that new story.

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The first stop is to unpack the Start Here box. Inside you’ll find a handful of goodies including stickers, bookmarks, and some old school “budget tools” (aka: A pencil and an eraser. What, no abacus?) The most important thing you’ll need is your Online Member code which will give you access to a dozen or more online resources, forms, and articles. This really is an invaluable tool and as an FPU student, I’d encourage you to take full advantage of everything available online.

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Next, you’ll find two books. The first is your Workbook. This will be your constant companion and the the thing you must bring with you to class each week. This new and improved workbook still provides you with an outline  and fill-in-the-blanks for each lesson but it is much more user-friendly than its predecessor. There are more forms, more articles to help you understand the concepts, and I believe the contents is just presented in a much more concise and engaging way.

The second book is Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide to Money. This is a brand-new book created specifically for this material. It is the supplement text to everything you’ll be learning in FPU. The previous version of the kit came with Dave’s Total Money Makeover. That book focused more on the 7 Baby Steps where as this book really is a companion guide for the class.

If you have been a part of FPU in the past, you may know what that blue case is. It isn’t a check book. It’s your Envelope System! The Envelope System is introduced in Lesson 3. Basically, you fill each envelope with the cash that you have allotted for it in your budget. Then you are free to spend from the envelope but when it’s gone, it’s gone. It is a basic tool but a game changing one as well. This latest incarnation comes with plenty of envelopes for the future and the ledger on each envelope has more spaces for you to record your activity on.

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There is another blue case in the kit. This case houses all of the Audio Lessons from each session. Since we are teaching a summer session of FPU, I know that you are bound to miss at least one of the lessons due to traveling for the summer. That’s ok! You have all the lessons at your fingertips. These 9 discs are the audio from each of the video lessons we will watch at FPU. You can listen to them around the dinner table and fill out your workbook. You can listen to them in the car. You can put them on your iPod and listen during your workout. I love having access to these lessons so that I can go back and be reminded of something from class or get some clarification on something I may not have understood. In fact, this is my favorite part of the kit.

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So there you have it! The new Financial Peace University Member Kit not only looks great but is filled with some many great tools to help you start using money God’s way. I have a couple of these kits left for you to purchase at $89. Once these are gone, the price increases. Sign up today and get ready to change your life!

Our class begins on June 20th and I hope you will be a part of it. You can click here to find out more details about the class, time, and location.

Discipleship, Stories

The Greatest Thing You Do…

A few numbers for you this morning:
2 Billion.
16.
6.

2 Billion.
In 1970, Neil Borlaug received a Nobel Peace Prize for helping to increase the world’s food supply and help to alleviate world hunger on a global scale. He and his team set out to hybridize crops like wheat and corn so that they could grow in arid climates. These crops were hearty enough to withstand the harsh elements and food production was able to overcome these climates. As a result, 2 billion people were saved from famine and starvation.

16.
In 1941, Henry Wallace became the 33rd Vice President of the United States and served under FDR until 1945. Before becoming Vice President, Wallace had served as the Secretary of Agriculture. His father, a farmer and college professor at Iowa State, had held the Secretary post a little over a decade before him. Shortly after becoming Vice President, Wallace created a program called the Cooperative Wheat Research and Production Program which set out to focus on soil development and corn/wheat production so that these crops could be grown in dry, arid climates. Wallace established the program and Neil Borlaug spent 16 years in it developing and breeding wheat and corn for 2 billion hungry people all over the world.

6.
In 1894, George Washington Carver was a student studying botany at Iowa State – the first black student at Iowa State. He was not allowed to stay in the student dormitories because of his race so one of the professors took him in and allowed Carver to stay at their home. This professor had a 6 year old son and would allow Carver to take the young boy out into the fields on nature walks and botany expeditions.  After Carver left for Tuskegee, the boy he mentored, Henry Wallace, continued working with agriculture and plants. This boy’s fascination with plant breeding and the potential of agriculture to impact the lives of many only grew over time. Years later, George Washington Carver would rise to prominence as a great scientist and his work with plants, especially the peanut, changed the world as we know it. However, one of Carver’s greatest accomplishments might have been the time that he spent with that 6 year old boy teaching him about plants and nature and life.

These stories represent a great truth that I was reminded of last week. The greatest thing you may do as a leader might not be what you accomplish but the impact you make on someone who watches you. The greatest thing you do in this life may not be something you achieve but someone you serve.

George Washington Carver mentored a 6 year old Henry Wallace who grew up to become Vice President and start a program where Neil Borlaug received the Nobel Peace Prize for developing crops which helped save 2 billion people from starvation.

What you do today in the lives of those around you- your co-workers, your children, your students, your spouse- is laying a foundation for a future harvest.

Go out today and serve those around you. 2 billion people’s lives may hang in the balance.