Category Archives: Faith in Action

Faith in Action

The Good News

““We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestorshe has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm:

“‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’


God raised him from the dead so that he will never be subject to decay. As God has said,

“‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings promised to David.’


So it is also stated elsewhere:

“‘You will not let your holy one see decay.’


“Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed. But the one whom God raised from the dead did not see decay.

“Therefore, my brothers and sisters, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

“‘Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.’”

As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.” (Acts 13:32-43 TNIV)

Discipleship, Ethos, Faith in Action, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

The Thought In My Head

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I was listening to an interview with Erwin McManus yesterday and something he said has been floating around in my mind ever since.

I don’t believe in balance. I believe in living a skewed life. I think balance is a very Buddist thing. It’s not very reflective of Jesus at all. Balance comes from Mr. Myagi in The Karate Kid.

I challenge you to go find anything Jesus said that implies that we should be balanced. In fact Jesus said, “Put first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added to you.”

He is saying, “Be skewed. Don’t be balanced. Move your life entirely for the purpose of the kingdom of God. Then everything will magnetically begin to revolve around that.”

What a great truth! I think as Christians we strive too much for normalcy. That is evidenced by the fact that survey after survey concludes that Christians live lives no different from those who do not know Jesus. We have the same divorce rate, the same addictions, the same attitudes. Normal is killing our witness. It’s time to live skewed. It’s time to be wierd. It’s time to be different.

Live off balance.

2008, Collecting Experiences, Discipleship, Faith in Action, Youth Ministry

Workin’ My Way Back to You Babe

Work Camp 2008 is in the books!

We had a great week painting and fixing houses. The weather cooperated with us this year. No running from storms like we did last year. The temperatures were mild and we didn’t No one got hurt and for the first time in a long time our teens got some press coverage for heir hard work.

I have been doing work camps since 1994 first as a camper then as an intern and now as a leader. The way that this WC was organized I led a group of teens none of which are in my youth group. It gives me a great opportunity to mentor and work with teens that I haven’t had contact with and it gives my teens the chance to connect with other adult leaders from around the city.

I am headed back over to our house today to pick up some supplies and to do a small amount of touch ups. I have been doing a lot of repairs around our house so I’m becoming quite the amateur handy man. We’ll see if I can replace the outdoor water faucet at our Work Camp house today. It is feeling like a big maybe.

Have a great day everyone!

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Leadership, Ministry, Wrestling With Scripture

Curveball

Just when you think you’ve got everything together something flies in and obliterates the wall of security that you’ve fashioned around your self. It could be in your home life, business, relationships, church life- every area of your life is fair game for Satan to throw a curveball at you high and inside. It is in your reaction to the curveball that speaks to your innermost self and screams volumes as to who you put your faith into.

What curveball is life throwing at you right now?

What’s your reaction?

I have found comfort in some passages from Isaiah this weekend (44-46). They remind me that the things of this earth- blessing and curses, triumphs and disasters, good times and bad times- are all temporal whereas my God in now and forever. He is a constant guide and constant comfort. He alone is true and he alone is faithful.

With that I can take what ever is thrown at me- big or small, huge or insignificant- because I am not alone.

And guess what? Neither are you.

Discipleship, Faith in Action, Film & Theology, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Youth Ministry

GATM: Iron Man

gatmironman2.jpgLast night I kicked off a new series called (creatively) God @ the Movies and we started with the first big movie of the summer, Iron Man.

Until last week I knew virtually nothing about Iron Man. I spent about three hours in a crash course study of all things Tony Stark. I was extremely thankful for two books that helped me craft my lesson for last night. First, I learned a great deal from Iron Man: Beneath the Armor by Andy Mangels. This a brand new resource that I would define as the definitive tome on the Iron Knight. Mangels takes the reader from the jungles of Vietnam where Tony Stark was injured, captured, and forced to escape his captures in the first Iron Man suit through Stark’s battle with the bottle to the film and the current story lines found in the comic book pages. The book contains some great artwork and gives you all you’d ever need to know about Iron Man.

The other book that really helped me out was Who Needs a Superhero? by H. Michael Brewer. Brewer connected the life of Tony Stark with the life of King David. Both men had issues with their hearts. Tony Stark has a piece of shrapnel that inches closer and closer to his heart threatening to kill him at any moment but he struggles with the heart go deeper than mere flesh. He is unlucky at love (one girlfriend shot him) and business (he has made fortunes and lost each and everyone). All the pressures on his life drove him to battle with alcoholism. King David’s issues with the heart are also well documented. Bathsheba, Amnon and Tamar, Amnon and Absalom, Absalom and David. Heartbreak after heartbreak all because David began to trust in his armor over his God.

After his sin with Bathsheba, David penned this psalm:

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my 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; so you are right in your verdict and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb; you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.” (Psalms 51:1-12)

So what can we learn from this multi-million dollar summer blockbuster and what can we learn from this ancient shepherd-king of Israel? We can look for purpose and joy in the things of this world and trust in the strength of our hands but it won’t heal our broken hearts.

Our hearts can only be made whole again in the hands of our Creator. When we give him our hearts of stone he will give us hearts of flesh (Ezekiel 36:26). Only then will we find true purpose and lasting joy.

Yes Lord, create in me a pure heart!

Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Leadership, Theology, Wrestling With Scripture, Youth Ministry

Cracking Under the Pressure

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A few years ago we were out at dinner with a few friends at a brand new restaurant. The place had only been open a week or so when we gathered together for some cheddar biscuits and conversation.

That night I ordered a big, tall glass of Coca-Cola. When the waiter brought me my drink I grabbed it, lifted it to my mouth, and the glass shattered into a million pieces mere inches from my face.

I would like to blame the demise of the glass on my bulging muscles but the truth is that the glass shattered because it couldn’t take the pressure.

This brand new glass succumbed to the pressure of the heat from the dish washer and when it came to doing its job, holding cold drinks, the glass cracked. Its integrity gave way.

So it is with us.

I spoke to a group of High School students yesterday about submitting to authority (a cracker-jack topic, I know). I told them that this is one area where their integrity can be compromised everyday. It is such a temptation to defy authority or to fail to understand the importance of living under authority. For us, God is the ultimate authority and learning to live under human authority figures helps strengthen our reslove and honors our heavenly Father.

I was honest with them and told them that I have struggled my whole life to live with integrity on this issue. I am independent and I am strong willed. I take issue with poor authority figures and struggle with following men and women I perceive to be weaker leaders. However, God doesn’t put caveats on submitting only to strong leaders or wise authority figures. In Romans 13, Paul states that Everyone must be subject to authorities. That’s a pretty definitive statement.

Standing before them I realized that I was 10 years older than those in the Senior class and I was about 10 years younger than most of the teachers. Every single one of us was under some authority. Some of these authority figures are good, godly, wise, nurturing individuals. Give thanks to God for these men and women. Some though are weak, selfish, and incompetent. Learning to live under both of these types of leaders ultimately gives glory to God and honors his commands.

Often times I have had to learn the hard way and have made many mistakes. Thankfully God keeps repairing the cracks in my heart. Learning to live under authority, good or bad, is just one way to make sure that you are living with integrity.

Don’t crack under the pressure and try to take out your King (1Sam 24). Honor them as you honor God. He is ultimately in control and the ultimate authority of our lives.

By the way, I still had to pay for that Coke. What’s up with that?!?!

2008, Discipleship, Ethos, Experience, Faith in Action, Giving Thanks, Leadership, Life, Ministry, My Life, My Wife Rules, Theology

Proverbs 6:1-5

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This is the year that we get out of debt.

Over 7 years of marriage we’ve managed to keep our heads above water but we have accumulated a little bit of debt. We used our credit cards to travel to see family, we moved, we bought a few pieces of furniture, and we bought a few stupid items.

After taking a step back and looking at our finances we concluded that something had to change or we would run the risk of getting into terrible financial trouble. It doesn’t matter that our level of debt was just under the national average. We were failing in our call to be good stewards of our money and so we decided to do something about it.

Today my wife told me that our credit cards have been completely paid off!!!

In just three months, we paid off a (ahem) crapload of money on those plastic traps. We went and did our taxes, found out that we didn’t owe anything, and then used the money we had set aside for taxes to completely pay those puppies off. We are done!!! No more plastic!

The next step is to pay down our car notes. That’s right, we have two of them and owe money on both. It’s ok though. We shouldn’t have bought my car when we did. I had a truck that was paid off but I was tired of driving that big boy around and I wanted a smaller car. Lesson learned. The plan is to have both of our cars paid off by the time 2009 rolls around.

Big PROPS to my wife because she does our finances.

Thanks babe for doing the hard work and for giving me a generous allowance each week. 🙂 I love you babe!

Discipleship, Ethos, Faith in Action, Leadership, Ministry, Preaching

Sermon Prep

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My follow-up posts on the Paradoxes of Leading from the Second Chair have been put on hold (surprise, surprise) while I prep for my sermon this week.

I am preaching on the importance of Leadership Vision. It is a topic that really gets my heart going.

Proverbs 29:18 says that where there is no vision (khaw-ZONE), the people perish (KJV).

I love how the Message interprets this verse:

If people can’t see what God is doing,
they stumble all over themselves;
But when they attend to what he reveals,
they are most blessed.

It is this message that I want to get across this week.

Leadership Vision isn’t about crazy dreams or overly creative ideas birthed by high and lofty positional leaders.

Leadership Vision is for all people who humbly and reverently seek to make sure that their vision is God’s vision.

It is the ability to see what God is doing and the desire to attend to his revelation. If you can’t or are unwilling to see what God is up too then I would suggest that you are in the way.

We will be specifically looking at Nehemiah, the cupbearer of the king. He wasn’t an important official. He wasn’t a member of the royal family. He was a humble servant. His vision was to see that God was glorified through his life and the lives of those he led. His eyes and heart were opened to God’s vision for living and he let God lead him to do great and wonderful things that brought glory, not to Nehemiah, but to God.

Leadership Vision is never about YOU. It is about bringing glory to Almighty God.

I’ll post updates about the sermon throughout the week. Until then, have a great day and keep seeking out God’s vision.

Awesomenessness, Discipleship, Faith in Action, Ministry, Podcasts, Preaching, Questions, The Word, Theology, Wrestling With Scripture

Goodstuff

I have been just living inside of a great study on the Holy Spirit by Francis Chan, pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, CA.

Last summer, Chan preached a 7-part series on the Holy Spirit to his congregation and I have just now been able to begin working through the podcasts. Chan is an incredible teacher and his passion and desire for God is made evident when he is expressing this gift.

The podcasts have been great but I have been able to go deeper into the study by following the small group study page Cornerstone provides their people. (they are available for every lesson on the Cornerstone website. Main>Media>Sermons)

I have never heard lessons on the Holy Spirit this revealing, tempered, and powerful. Like Chan, I too believe that our greatest sin to the people we lead is neglecting the power of the Spirit.

The last few days have been eye opening for me. I have been able to approach this (too often) delicate subject without fear and trepidation. I have just found myself meditating and marveling at some passages of scripture that I feel like I have missed over the years.

My heart is so full right now that I find it difficult to put my thoughts in blog form.

The long and short of it is this: the Holy Spirit, promised by Jesus, sent from the Father, is a mysterious truth that we will never fully understand. I am grateful that through these podcasts and through the Word of God I am scratching the surface of this mystery.

Discussion Question:
Why do we neglect teaching about or learning about the Holy Spirit?

Discipleship, Faith in Action

One Body

I preached from Ephesians 4:1-16 yesterday. The passage begins with reminding us that our differences, the things that normally tear people apart, pale in comparison the things that unite us. Paul says that the mystery of the gospel is that we’ve been united to God through adoption in Christ Jesus (ch 1), we’ve been united to a new life (Ch 2), and that different cultures have been united into one body, the church (Ch 3).

He says,

“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6 TNIV)

Beginning in verse 11, Paul even states that Jesus gave his body “gifts of grace.” These gifts are to be used to glorify God and to build up the church body. When members of the body embrace these gifts and use them to God’s glory and the benefit of everyone else, then the whole church begins to look like Christ, there is a measure of spiritual growth, and the church matures.

As I was wrapping everything up this morning I came across a great quote from one of the early church fathers. I wish I had used it yesterday.

Clement of Rome asks this:

Why do we divide and tear to pieces the members of Christ and raise up strife against our own body, and why have we reached such a height of madness as to forget that “we are members one of another?”

That is the $64,000 question isn’t it. If we are called to live as one body with Christ as the head, if we have been united as Paul says, and if walking in this unity brings only good things, the why do we tear each other to pieces?