In the Grip

Tribes

2010-02-10T11:11:00.002-06:00

So a couple of years ago I was at Catalyst (a next gen leadership conference) and I got a free book. I like getting free books, but I am not always good at reading free books. The book was Tribes by Seth Godin. Well I finally read the book. I wish I would not have waited so long to read it. I found it fascinating. First it was written in an unorthodox style. One would expect a book written by a business/marketing guru to be very pedantic, organized, and filled with objectives, steps, and evaluations. Not so with this one! It was a collection of short stories around concepts in no particular order. But one could still get the message of the book, it wouldn't be much of a book if you couldn't discern the message. So here is the message of Tribes.

1. Tribes have become the main avenues for influence and change in our culture.
2. A tribe is a group of people who share a common interest and have a way to communicate.
3. Tribes that are super successful become movements.
4. Tribes have leaders not managers.
5. Leaders see the future, are not bound by the status quo, embrace change, and take risks.
6. Traditional management skills do not apply to the leaders of Tribes.
7. Instant global communication makes the formation and leadership of tribes more accessible.

These are the main thoughts, but not the only ones in Tribes. I have to say that Tribes has changed my thinking. When I consider change that needs to happen my first response is how do I form a tribe and lead it to advocate this kind of change? I hope you will give Tribes a read, I think it is worth it.

By the way this is my second blog post this week! The world may very well be coming to an end and the Cubs my win the World Series.

Missional Community

2010-02-08T11:34:00.003-06:00

On Sunday I had the privilege to preach at the worship gathering of the young church plant of which Judy and I are core team members. I spoke about Missional Community. The Biblical text was 1 Peter 2:9-10. If you are interested you can listen to the audio of the sermon here. But, I thought I would give you the high points now. Missional Community essentially means that believers are united by their common faith in Christ in relationship and partnership for the purpose of carrying out the Mission of God which is to see people redeemed by God, in Christ, through the Spirit lead work of Church, for the Glory of God. Here is the text,

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Here is how I see this text teaching us about Missional Community.

"A chosen race" Missional Community is God's choice or plan for his people. It is indeed God's will that His people whom He saved would live in community with one another and together live out the mission of God. If indeed this is God's will for us (his people) then it is good, pleasing and perfect.
"A royal priesthood" Part of what it means for God's people to be a missional community is that they, each one, would function at priests that each one would be worshipers, intercessors, and ministers.
"A holy nation" God's people must live as though they are set apart as God's possession for His purpose. I know this raises the question how "set apart" should we be? Let me offer this suggestions when something in our lives keeps us from fulfilling God's purpose then we need to be set apart from that thing, whether it be action, attitude, influence, or relationship.
"Proclaim" God's people functioning as a missional community must proclaim who God is and what he has done in Christ.

This is the essence of the message yesterday. Yesterday was definitely one of those days that I was preaching to myself. I have been thinking about missional community all day. Missional Community is not something we do, it is what we are. We can either embrace it and live it or fight against it. Which will you do?

Blogging Again?

2010-01-22T07:47:00.004-06:00

OK, I need to say upfront this may be my only post of 2010. Let's be honest I am not a good blogger. But, there is a lot going on in my life and in my head these days. I would have to say that I am learning a lot.

Parenting - I guess I thought I was done with active parenting, but that is not the case. Don't get me wrong I like the fact that my 18 and 19 year old sons still want my advice, opinions, and help from time to time. I also find that I have a greater opportunity to disciple my nearly adult children now than I thought I would. Actually much greater. I will be making the most of this opportunity!

1 Thessalonians - I have been studying 1 Thessalonians this year and have been struck by how much Paul (writer of 1 Thessalonians) genuinely loves the church. He has deep compassion for their sufferings and a real affection for them. He takes great pleasure and encouragement from their faithfulness and growth in the Lord. He makes personal sacrifices for their spiritual well being. He calms there fears, commends their victories, and instructs their weaknesses. It is abundantly clear that his is not simply a job for Paul.

Knee Pain - So I am having problems with my right knee now. I had an MRI and I have several problems with my knee. The first is Arthritis, then a sheared medial meniscus, an asymmetrical grinding knee cap, and excessive fluid. All of these ailments are inoperable. My doctor has told me to do what I can and deal with the pain. I know this sounds a little strange, but I am kinda looking forward to enduring this pain. Pain is not always a bad thing. Pain can bring humility. I could certainly use some humility.

Family - We have had extra family around this winter and it has been great. I have found encouragement from extended family being with us. The insights, prayers, encouragements, companionship, and synergy has been uplifting for me. I love my family.

The Windy City

2009-07-07T15:05:00.002-05:00

So, I am sitting in a meeting of Church Planting Strategist in Chicago. As we sit here, we all share a love for this city. The need here for the proclamation of the Gospel, the making of disciples, and the planting of churches is great. Chicago is one of the most under churched, under reached cities in America. Chicago is a wonderful city with a rich cultural diversity. it is truly a cultural center. I love the business of the city. Chicago is a diamond in the rough. I simply love Chicago!

DISC Profile

2009-05-07T15:22:00.002-05:00

Today at staff meeting we spent the morning working on the DISC personal discernment inventory which is an instrument for understanding yourself and others. The instrument uses a descriptive word list to help the participant discover their personality/relational/work style. There is four categories; Dominant, Influential, Steady, Conscientious.

So I didn't really learn anything new about myself that i didn't already know. I am a high D which stands for dominant and I am also a high I which stands for Influential. But it was good to see how the other people on my team are wired and what their particular styles are.

So, have you ever taken the DISC profile?

Blogging

2009-01-12T20:52:00.002-06:00

OK! So here is the deal. I would rather say my thoughts than write them. Not only is that true, I would rather say them to your face than record them. Otherwise I could be a video blogger or a pod-caster. The sad truth is, no matter how much I want to be, I am not wired for blogging. I am not giving up on the medium, just trying to be realistic. Maybe I will write something tomorrow....

Vision

2008-12-10T11:39:00.006-06:00

We are at a meeting to do some planning for our organization's 2010 goals. We began the day with a discussion of our team vision which is;

"A New Testament Church in easy reach of every person in Illinois."

I really like this as a vision statement for a number of reasons.
1. It requires some thinking to unpack. We need to think more!
2. It communicates the Incarnational and transformational nature of the ministry of the Church.
3. It recognizes that what we need is a reformation not a revolution. In other words we are
talking about getting back to what is radically old not doing something that is radically new.
4. It identifies that either geographically or culturally the church in Illinois is not in easy reach
of many people in Illinois. We need all kinds of churches to reach all kinds of people.
5. It focuses on the Biblical foundation of the Church.
6. It is easy to remember.

Odds and Ends

2008-08-07T13:00:00.003-05:00

Here are some things I have been thinking about lately.

Authentic Christian community
Journey (the band)
Africa
Christian involvement in justice issues
Do we really need Christian curriculum?
My children leaving the house
My wife (she is awesome)
Disciple making
The Shining (Stephen King novel)
The Revelation

Greetings from SI

2008-07-22T10:19:00.003-05:00

Wow, I haven't posted here in a long time. I have been posting regularly on my other blog Transplant Your Life. So I am sitting at the McDonalds in West Frankfort, IL using the Wi-Fi (which I had to pay for.) I have a series of meetings this week down here in Southern Illinois and i thought it would be a good time to see my parents and spend some much needed time with them. Even thought I had to pay for the Wi-Fi, I do want to give the West Frankfort McDonalds props for having styro-foam cups for cold drinks. I am a big fan of the foam cup over the plastic cup.

Tonight I am speaking at Catalyst, which is a gathering of college age adults in Southern Illinois. It meets at Anna Heights Baptist Church at about 7:30pm. I am looking forward to this teaching opportunity tonight. I will be teaching from Romans 8, if you want to know more, then come to Catalyst Tonight at Anna Heights.

Hope

2008-06-30T13:46:00.002-05:00

I have been thinking about Hope a lot lately. I mean in the biblical sense. In casual conversation we may say, "I hope the Cardinals win." or "I hope it doesn't rain on Saturday." When we use hope that way we mean wishful thinking. I have no assurance that the Cardinals will win or that it won't rain on Saturday, my desire is for a win and no rain, but I really only have wishful thinking. When the Bible talks about hope, especially or hope in Christ as Christians the word means something completely different. Hope carries this meaning in Scripture, the absolute assurance of something you don't fully have yet. Here is my favorite passage about the absolute assurance of God's promises in Christ, our hope.

For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, "Surely I will bless you and multiply you." And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise. For people swear by something greater than themselves, and in all their disputes an oath is final for confirmation. So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
(Heb 6:13-20)

Here is how secure our hope is in Christ. It is dependent on God being God. God swears by Himself and makes an oath with Himself that all of His promises will be fulfilled in Christ. God connects His promises with His very character and person. If our hope in Christ fails, God isn't God. Talk about hope security!

Podcasts

2008-06-22T22:08:00.002-05:00

I am a big fan of the podcast. I am sure that part of that is I am a big fan of audio. I have always enjoyed music and audio books, so it would follow that I would enjoy podcasts. There is a huge variety of podcasts out there. I started with sermons by some of my favorite and most respected preachers, guys like John Piper and Mark Driscol. Then I discovered the interview podcast. I really enjoy the catalyst and fermi podcasts that expose us through interviews to some of the top thinkers and practitioners in ministry, theology, and culture. I have also discovered the old time radio podcasts which are simply old time radio shows like the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and the Abbott and Costello show. There's more, much more, perhaps too much more. What are your favorite podcasts?

The Earthquake Scare

2008-06-18T19:49:00.004-05:00

On Friday, June 13 at around 6:45 pm central time an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale shook Iwate Prefecture in Northern Japan. Now, my youngest son, James, is visiting Japan with a group from his school from June 9 to June 26. At about 7:25 pm central time on Friday, June 13 I was informed about the earthquake and immediately got the location of the quake from Fox News website as Iwate Prefecture. I then looked at James' trip itinerary to see where he was in Japan. I was then faced with the very unwelcome surprise that James was in Iwate Prefecture. I spent the next 2 hours; looking at maps to determine how far James was from the epicenter, monitoring aftershocks, making phone calls, and sending e-mails. Finally, I got a response from someone in the International Exchange Office in Iwate Prefecture in broken English that said all of the students were safe, then shortly after the email one of the students on the trip called his parents to tell them everyone was safe and that parent called the rest of us. It was a very harrowing experience. Here are some thoughts from that experience.

My son is in the hands of a Sovereign God.
Prayer and the prayers of others is very comforting.
Friends who attend you in a crisis are of immeasurable value (some friends were over when I got the news.)
The quick and easy access to information via the world wide web is a blessing for which I am grateful.
My wife is a strong woman of great faith.
I am deeply grieved for those who do not have faith in God to sustain them during times of difficulty, fear, doubt, anxiety, and trouble.
Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith.

We got an email from James today, the first since he left on the trip. This is what he had to say about the earthquake

The earthquake was pretty sweet and since my family`s home is in the mountains it was violent.

Not only did the boy get to go to Japan, he got to experience a 7.0 earthquake that was "sweet" and "violent" That email totally made my day.

New Project

2008-06-17T19:35:00.002-05:00

Hey some of you who read this blog may be interested in another project I have going on. I have a blog called Transplant Your Life. It is actually the IBSA Next Gen blog. You can find it here. It will be a challenge to try to keep up with two blogs. Many of you are probably chuckling about now because you know I don't keep up with this one very well. Here are a few reasons why I think this will work.
1. The Next Gen Blog is part of my job. I had better keep up with that one.
2. The two blogs are going to be very different in content. This blog will continue to be more about personal thoughts and experiences and the other one will be about trends, resources, and issues concerning next gen ministry.
3. I think the practice of regularly posting in one will make me better at posting in the other.
4. I keep telling more and more people about my blogs and feel an obligation to give them something to read.
5. I will try real hard (I know that is lame but I really felt like I needed five reasons)

So tomorrow I will tell you about the great earthquake scare!

Community

2008-06-07T20:04:00.005-05:00

Thursday, June 5, 2008 this date is significant because we launched a community group meeting in our home. Some folks from our church family attended and I think we had a very good start. Let me just briefly give you the purpose of the group. It is to be both a Gospel centered and community centered group. That means we will equally emphasize biblical study and building authentic Christian Community (which we can only know through biblical study) We began with a meal together and conversation and then moved into a Bible study time. Here is the text we studied,

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
(Act 2:42-47)

We noticed the activity of the early church, what they did and how often they did it. It was amazing to see how connected the early church was to each other. They studied together, they spent time getting to know each other, they ate together, they prayed together, and they were with each other doing these things daily. They shared their possessions with each other and they cared for one another's needs. Wow, what a picture of authentic Christian community! We realized that this is an example of the Church being the Church. We also concluded that we don't have community approaching this example, and we want it. The most amazing part of our discussion was the realization that the early believers were devoted to building this kind of community as it says in the text. We decided we would never have this kind of community if we too aren't devoted to cultivating it. We were also struck by the result of this kind of Christian community, the Lord adding daily to the number being saved. Wow, the power of community in evangelism!
Here is the other text I thought we would study, but we ran out of time.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.
(Tit 2:11-14)

This passage talks so much about the wonderful, amazing, glorious grace of God expressed in Christ that brings us salvation. We get a beautiful and powerful description of the effect of that grace in our lives to transform us. One of the transforming effects of God's grace in Christ is that it makes us into God's people. We are a community of faith, because Jesus made us into a community of faith by his grace, through his sacrifice and triumphant resurrection. In a very real way, when we live in authentic Christian community, we are living the Gospel. When we fail to live in community we are missing out on part of the effect of salvation in our lives. We sell ourselves short, we miss out on a blessing, and perhaps worst of all we misrepresent the Gospel.

Just a Dog

2008-05-31T08:36:00.003-05:00

Sadness at the Smith house. Our 9 year old cocker spaniel named Katie passed away this morning. It was very sad to say goodbye to our four legged companion of so many years. I wish I cold say her ending was peaceful, but it was not. She suffered with seizures for about 18 hours that began mildly but increased in severity. The veterinarian said that she most likely had cancer, a brain tumor. Sandy and I tearfully buried her in yard under his bedroom window. It is amazing how quickly pets get into your heart. I think we all shed some tears today, we loved our dog. I know I often talked like I didn't like our dog. As my wife, who knows me so well, said about me, "He's all talk he loves the dog." I probably cried the most or at least the ugliest when Katie passed. Katie was a great dog who was fiercely devoted to us and especially Judy. so here's to Katie.

Arnel Pineda

2008-05-28T19:12:00.002-05:00

I am a rock and roll fan from way back. One of the bands I grew up listening to was Journey. Neil Schon's guitar licks and Steve Perry belting out the high pitch lyrics was awesome. You can still find some classic Journey songs on my ipod. Well Journey is back, they have a new album and a new lead singer. His name is Arnel Pineda from the Philippines. The way he became the lead singer for Journey is amazing. Basically Neil Schon, the bands founder, saw Pineda on youtube, contacted him and then before you know it he is the lead singer of Jouney.

Vacation is Over

2008-05-27T10:00:00.002-05:00

Well, I have been on vacation for the past week or so. My wife and I went to Seattle, Washington for a few days. It was great! I really like Seattle. It is a great city. Here are a few of the things I enjoyed about Seattle.
It is a clean city (I guess it is all that rain)
It is easy to get anywhere in Seattle. Many things are in walking distance and there is a great mass transit bus system.
It's beautiful. Seattle is surrounded by mountains and ocean.
Some unique history.
Lots of really fun things to do indoors, outdoors, spend money, or free.
Cooler weather!
Good food!

So, for my Sunday School Class, I will be writing again next Tuesday on topics relevant to our study in Revelation. For the rest of you, I will try to write more on topics other than my Sunday School Class study in Revelation. Thanks for reading (assuming anyone is actually reading this)

Holy, Holy, Holy

2008-05-14T17:51:00.004-05:00

So last Sunday we studied Revelation chapter 4 in Sunday School. Of course it is a dramatic description of the worship that takes place around the throne in Heaven. The mental picture this description paints is awe inspiring. I love the way everything in heaven is centered on God. I am moved by the description of heaven as the place God is, and not the place where we have no pain, streets of gold, and fellowship with loved ones. God is the reward of heaven. But an interesting thing happened during our discussion of the passage. We were discussing verses 8-11.

8.And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!"
9.And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
10.the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11."Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created."

I asked the question,

For what reasons is the Father worthy of worship? Which of His deeds or attributes is praised in 4:8-11?

And the students were very quick to name several of God's attributes like Creator, eternal nature, etc. But no one mentioned God's holiness. Yet God's holiness is the one attribute that is emphatically lauded in this passage the four living creatures say "holy, holy, holy." Now, I am not trying to say that the particular students in class Sunday were not observant, to the contrary they had some great insights into this text. I think what I am trying to say is that God's holiness, one of his greatest attributes, is so foreign to us that we simply don't see it like we should. We don't understand it's significance. We don't display it in our lives.

Holiness doesn't only express God's pure or sinless existence. It literally means set apart, like no other, separate. That describes all of God's character. God's love is holy love, it is love like no other. God's grace is holy grace, grace like set apart from any other grace. God's wisdom is holy wisdom, it is wisdom with no equal. God's wrath is holy wrath, it is wrath set apart from any other wrath.

God is holy! His holiness ought to guide, fuel, and fill our lives of God centered worship.

Politics

2008-05-12T16:01:00.003-05:00

So a friend is coming over this evening to drink Cafe Cubano and talk politics. This is a new one for me, not because of the coffee, but because of the political conversation. I usually don't like to talk about politics. And to be completely honest, I really only have a cursory interest and knowledge of the American Political scene. I know who is running for President, I know which party controls congress. I have an idea of the major hot spots in the world as far as The United States is concerned. I think I know who I am going to vote for. I am aware of some of the political issues facing our country right now. I have an opinion on things like health care, immigration, Iraq, the environment, etc.

The real issue for me is that I have lost confidence in our political system. I am just not sure that anyone who can get elected in our country can make a difference. It just seems like we will have the same kinds of people making the same kinds of decisions and the real significant change that I think our country needs will never come because we have a self perpetuating system that is broken. George Washington when leaving office warned the young government to avoid the trap of bipartisan politics. I think he was right.

The Normal Christian Life

2008-05-06T15:13:00.003-05:00

Sunday we finished the letters to the seven churches in Revelation. We looked at Philadelphia and Laodicea. I am not going to go over everything we discussed in class, but I wanted to explore one concept that we touched on Sunday. In light of the message to Laodicea and really in light of the cumulative message to the church in Revelation, the question arises, have we made mediocrity the norm in Christian life?

Based on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation I would have to say yes. By what Christ affirms in the churches, predicts for the churches, and chastises in the churches, His message seems to be one of work hard for the Kingdom, oppose sin and false teaching, be radically different from culture, embrace suffering, and most of all persevere.

Are those qualities indicative of the church today? That may not be a fair question for me to ask so how about this one. Are those qualities indicative of my life as a Christ follower? The picture of a Christ follower in Revelation and really through out the New Testament is one of a person who is radically following Christ so that their actions scream out, "I belong to Jesus?" The "normal" Christian life is meant to leave no doubt in any one's mind who and what we are. If someone has to ask me if I am a Christian, then I am probably not living the "normal" Christian life, but rather some poor, pitiful, blind, and naked version that I have convinced myself is normal.

So what is the answer? I am no ultra wise sage. In fact most of the time I barely know what is going on, but I think Revelation gives the answer in verse 1 of chapter 1, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." I know it seems simple, but the answer to poor, pitiful, blind, and naked Christian life is a radical Christ centered, Christ saturated life. Jesus said it to the church in Laodicea, "I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see."
In other words, come to Jesus! Come to Him for strengthening of faith, for cleansing from sin, for sight of the truth.

Good Works?

2008-04-28T19:27:00.007-05:00

Last Sunday a question about good works came up and I promised to answer it on my blog. Here is the question to the best of my recollection. "What would you say to someone who says, 'I don't need Jesus, I am a good person, I do good things.'" We have a perfect example of how to respond to someone like that. Jesus gives us a perfect example.

17. And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
18. And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone.
19. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'"
20. And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth."
21. And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."
22. Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Jesus confronts a man who thinks his own "good works" are enough to make him in right standing with God. Jesus does two things. First, He makes an important declaration, "No one is good except God alone." Second, he shows the Rich young man that he is not as good as he thinks. I think this is the pattern we must use in the scenario mentioned at the beginning of this post. Now, let me say that tact, kindness, and compassion must be part of the conversation. That being said, we must communicate that God, who is holy and perfect demands that same from people, yet we are not holy or perfect. Therefore any deed we do that might be thought of as good pales in comparison to God's holiness. The unregenerate man will always have some selfish motives even it it is to gain God's favor it is a selfish and sinful motive and therefore cannot be good. No matter how many positive things I might do, if I tell one lie, or give one lustful look, I am not good. When someone says they are a good person then they must be measured against God's standard of holiness, like the ten commandments. Then the only conclusion is we are not as good as we think we are. I welcome your comments, follow up questions, or other questions related to our study of Revelation.

Thyatira

2008-04-22T20:35:00.000-05:00

I hope I am welcoming some new readers to In the Grip. As you know I have started team teaching the college Sunday School class at my church and have decided to use my blog as a discussion platform for our study of the book of Revelation. So I welcome your questions and comments.

Last Sunday we looked at the message to the church in Thyatira. That message begins like this. "The words of the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze." This picture of Christ has intrigued, startled, and comforted me this week. I think, based on the description, and the tone of the message to the church in Thyatira, that this vision of Christ is as the One who sees all with the penetrating eyes of justice and who has the strength to carry out that justice. I am reminded of a passage from the book of Hebrews that seems to draw attention to this quality of Christ's sight. It is Hebrews 4:13, "And no creature is hidden from his sight, all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account."
The dark reality is that I do not live with this vision of Christ in my mind. I don't live like I am naked and exposed before Christ who is both loving savior and righteous judge. I make poor choices, speak idol or hurtful words, have impure thoughts, behave selfishly, and, well you get the picture. And this is what has startled me about the Christ of Revelation. But then there is also this message to the church in Thyatira, "But to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not learned what some call the deep things of Satan, to you I say I do not lay on you any other burden. Only hold fast what you have until I come." I find this very comforting. To those who are under attack, but have not given in, Christ says I put no more burden on you , just hang on till I come. I want to be one to whom Christ says, "hang on till I come." Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Football

2008-04-15T07:43:00.000-05:00

Man I miss football. I know all you baseball fans out there are cursing me right now. But I love football. To me, there is no greater sport that combines strength, skill, and teamwork like football. After the NFL draft on April 26-27 we will be in football purgatory. That place of waiting, filled with boredom, withdrawal, weeping and gnashing of teeth. But wait, there is the AFL. That's right the Arena Football League plays football until July 27. I know arena ball is filled with guys who couldn't make it in the NFL and they have that weird guy running full speed to the line of scrimmage. But is is still football and pretty exciting. And if you are a Monday Night Football fan, guess what? There is an AFL game televised every Monday Night on an ESPN channel. Talk about high scoring, last week Orlando beat Grand Rapids 75 to 56. If you love football, check out the AFL.

The Center

2008-04-07T08:11:00.000-05:00

So, yesterday I had the privilege to teach the first chapter (or at least most of the first chapter) of the book of Revelation. It was a real wake up call for me. Revelation 1 and (I am convinced) all of the book of Revelation is about knowing and obeying Jesus. No, that is an understatement, it's all about living a Christ centered, Christ saturated life. In verse 1, we are told that this is a revelation of Jesus Christ, meaning both from and about Christ, concerning the things that must soon take place. Revelation is really only about times and events as they relate to who Jesus is, what He does, and why He does it.

I said that Sunday was a wake up call for me. As I studied for and taught Revelation 1 I was confronted with the way that my life has gone away from being a Christ centered, Christ saturated life. Colossians 1 15-18 gives a wonderful description of the beauty and power of Christ culminating with the phrase, "that in everything He might be preeminent." The disappointing bottom line is that I don't live a life so Christ centered and Christ saturated that says, that in everything Christ might be seen to be preeminent.

Jesus, I want to know you, obey you, love you, you are preeminent.

The Apocalypse

2008-04-03T12:31:00.000-05:00

I am excited that I get to teach college students this Sunday. The college Sunday School teacher at my Church asked me to team teach the college class with him so this Sunday I get to teach. We are going to teach through the book of Revelation. So I get to kick of the study this week. So here are some thoughts of mine on parts of Revelation chapter 1.

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. Revelation 1:3

There is a blessing for those who hear and keep what is written in this revelation of Jesus Christ. I think the focus needs to be on "keeping" this word. The word "keep" implies obedience. I think all too often the approach to the book of Revelation is not obey, but figure out the hidden meaning or figure out the date of Christ's return. I wonder how our approach to a study of Revelation might change if we simply focused on obeying the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, Revelation 1:5

What does it mean for Jesus to be the ruler of the kings of the earth? It means that Jesus reigns and rules over all. He and He alone decides who becomes king. Christ determines what the kings of the earth do. Jesus orders the world for the good of God's purpose for and through His Church.

So, just a couple of thoughts from Revelation 1

Humor

2008-04-01T17:51:00.000-05:00

I am struck by how valuable humor is. I found an Abbott and Costello old time radio podcast and have been laughing like crazy since.....and I simply feel better. As many of you know, my oldest son has struggled with adolescence and that struggle has led to some behavior that has been, to say the least, frustrating. One of the ways Judy (my wife) and I have dealt with the frustration is to laugh about it, to use humor to ease the pain of our disappointment, fear and frustration. When it comes to preaching or teaching a little humor goes a long way to keep attention and communicate hard truths.

Is This Still My Blog?

2008-03-31T19:57:00.000-05:00

Wow! I haven't blogged in a long time. As you can see I have the ability to state the obvious. S0 here are some random thoughts.

Arthritic knees really suck.
It could be worse.
God is good.
Sleep doesn't come when you want it most.
My wife is awesome.
I really, really, really, like coffee.
The book of Malachi is very challenging.
Politics are frustrating.
I miss being on campus everyday.
I just don't read enough.
I am a big fan of Lost.
Grace really is amazing.
I use "really" a lot.

So, this was my step back into the blogging world. I hope I am here a little more often, but you know how I am.

New Year Resolutions Update

2008-01-14T16:29:00.000-06:00

I think I promised both of you who read my blog that I would update on my progress concerning my New Year Resolutions. So here goes!

Well, the daily to do list has been incredibly helpful to me in getting tasks done everyday in a timely manner. I have been making my to do list every work day when I am not traveling. I probably need to make the to do lists on work days that I am traveling or out of town, I probably still have tasks that I need to do on those days as well. As far as trying to lose some weight, I have lost 5 lbs. so far. I weighed in at 210 lbs. today.

the new bench press weight lifting routine seems to be going well, I am certainly working harder in the gym. I have faithfully lifted weights 3 times a week since the beginning of the new year without missing once. I even found a place to lift on my recent trip to Huntsville, Alabama.

The prayer guides have helped me to be more disciplined in my prayer life and overall I have seen improvement, but I don't always use the prayer guides and on those days I am not so prayerfully minded. Certainly there is room for improvement in this area.

Wisdom

2008-01-04T10:18:00.000-06:00

In my previous post I mentioned that one of my New Year Resolutions is:

To cultivate a more prayerfully minded life by using a daily prayer guide, reading a daily prayer blog and reading a prayer article once a week.

Well along those lines my wife and I have covenanted together to read one chapter of Proverbs a day and pray for wisdom for our children (two teenage boys). So today I read Proverbs 4 here is part of what I read.

Hear, O sons, a father's instruction, and be attentive, that you may gain insight, for I give you good precepts; do not forsake my teaching. When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, "Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you. The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honor you if you embrace her. She will place on your head a graceful garland; she will bestow on you a beautiful crown." Hear, my son, and accept my words, that the years of your life may be many. I have taught you the way of wisdom; I have led you in the paths of uprightness. When you walk, your step will not be hampered, and if you run, you will not stumble. Keep hold of instruction; do not let go; guard her, for she is your life.
(Pro 4:1-13)

These verses clearly extol the value of wisdom in the life of the young (and old for that matter). Wisdom is a protector, a clear path, a lover, a prize, a key to long and fruitful life. I certainly want these things for my sons and it was easy to pray that they would get, guard, and love wisdom. The real convicting part of those verses for me in my own life is the entire tone of the passage of a father constantly teaching and imparting wisdom to his sons. I also prayed that God would make me the kind of father who intentionally teaches and imparts godly wisdom to his children.

New Year Post

2008-01-02T09:02:00.000-06:00

Well, a new year is upon us. This is the obligatory New Year Post with my New Year resolutions or goals or whatever you want to call them. I really only have three New Year resolutions so here they are.

To cultivate a more prayerfully minded life by using a daily prayer guide, reading a daily prayer blog and reading a prayer article once a week.

To accomplish non-relational tasks but necessary (I am still not sure these exist) tasks in a more timely manner by making a daily to do task checklist.

To be more disciplined in caring for my body's health and fitness by losing 3o lbs. and increasing my maximum bench press to 300 lbs.

I am actually pretty excited about these three goals. There's plenty of other things I need and perhaps should do in the coming year, and I hope that I am mindful of other growth areas in my life but these are the big three for 2008. I will try to keep you updated on my progress through out the year.

This month I am using the North American Missions Prayer Gram prayer calendar for my daily guide and I am reading the IBSA Prayer Ministries Blog. I plan to read an article from my wife's copy of Prayer Magazine. On January first my max bench press was 240 lbs. and I started my new bench press and weight lifting routine today. Up till now I was sort of making it up myself, but I did some research and now have a new routine. Oh, I weighed in at (gulp) 215 lbs. So do you have any New Year Resolutions?

What the Heck?

2007-12-21T06:41:00.000-06:00

That is what I ask myself when I notice I haven't posted anything here since October! No excuse! So I am sitting at the Panera Bread Company in Cleveland Tennessee with my brother-in-law, Bill, drinking coffee and using the free wifi. I seem to be in this end of the year mode. For me end of the year mode means evaluating the past year and excitement about the coming year and a renewed commitment to the things I need to be much better about doing. Of course posting regularly here in this blog is one of those things I feel I need to do better with.

So my birthday is in 9 days, I turn 41. For the first time in my life I feel kinda old as my birthday approaches. I blame in on teenage children, bad knees, and nose hair.

Service or Serve Us

2007-10-05T07:44:00.000-05:00

I usually don't "need" to blog. I like blogging, it is one way to communicate to different groups of people, but I don't have this self expression need that drives me to blog, usually. This is a post I "needed" to write.

I am in Atlanta, GA. at this

One of the speaker this week is Andy Stanley

He was sharing from John 13 about Jesus and a principle of leadership that he displayed.

Joh 13:1-15 Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. (2) During supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him, (3) Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, (4) rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. (5) Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. (6) He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, "Lord, do you wash my feet?" (7) Jesus answered him, "What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand." (8) Peter said to him, "You shall never wash my feet." Jesus answered him, "If I do not wash you, you have no share with me." (9) Simon Peter said to him, "Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!" (10) Jesus said to him, "The one who has bathed does not need to wash, except for his feet, but is completely clean. And you are clean, but not every one of you." (11) For he knew who was to betray him; that was why he said, "Not all of you are clean." (12) When he had washed their feet and put on his outer garments and resumed his place, he said to them, "Do you understand what I have done to you? (13) You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for so I am. (14) If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet. (15) For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.

Andy pointed out a good principle of leadership, but something else really spoke to me out of this passage and it has to do with verses 3-5 and 14-15. It says that Jesus knew his own exalted position, "that the Father had given all things into his hands." Yet the next verses tell how the exalted Christ who has all things put in subjection to him, laid aside the symbol of his authority, his garment, and humbled himself and washed the disciples feet. The Creator of the universe stripped off his clothing and wore a towel. The very expression of the Glory of God, pure and holy, dipped his hands into increasingly dirty water and scrubbed the filthy feet of twelve men.
Jesus, who had the praise of angels and the worship of heavenly creatures became a servant. the very light and Lord of heaven condescended (in a good way) to service in order to show the full extent of his love.

I just have to say, that blows my mind. Wow! What a mighty, loving, and unsearchable God!!
Then in verses 14-15 Jesus makes it clear that he is calling his followers to a life of service following his example of service. I am afraid I all to often have an attitude of serve us instead of service. Jesus said no servant is greater than his master. When I want to be served instead of serve others am I saying I am greater than my master, he who said, "the son of man came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many.

God forgive me

Perspective

2007-09-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

I have been thinking much lately about putting things in perspective. Again, a theme that God has been working in my life. I think it started with several videos, blogs, and articles about the lack of clean water in the third world, especially Africa. Here are some statistics to put into perspective. Americans spend more on makeup than it would cost to provide good wells with clean water for the third world. My dog drinks better water than most of the third world. Americans flush more clean water than most of the third world has to drink.

Then I read this blog about persecution of Christians in India. Here is a quote from Pastor Sudhakar about the persecution he and his congregation have suffered.

"On 9th( Sunday) of this month a group of 20 young people came while we were worshipping and beaten me and some women of our church and in return they have lodged a counter complaint on me putting allegation on me by saying i am converting lot of Hindus into Christianity. Kindly pray for me as the case is in the court."

It's not just limited to this pastor and his congregation. Four anti- communal groups called RSS, VHP, Bajarangdal and Hindu Vahini have been and continue to be responsible for attacks upon Christian churches in India. Hindu Vahini seems to be the worst among these groups. They killed two pastors brutally three years ago. They poured acid, cut the pastors into peaces and put them in a gunny bag and threw their bodies in the outskirts of the city.

Finally, this morning my wife and I were taking a walk and we were talking about how last year so much corn was used for the production of ethanol that other corn products and corn fed products went up in price because there was a "shortage" of corn. Now this year more corn was grown to meet the demand, but less wheat was grown so now there is a "shortage" of wheat so wheat products have increased in price. Then my wife said, "But it's not a shortage like so many other places in the world."

Perspective: here I sit fifty pounds overweight, with a cup of parasite free coffee in one hand and an unpoisioned diet coke in the other typing away on my laptop with a wireless high speed Internet connection confident that no one will grab me, pour acid down my throat, cut me into pieces and throw my body on the edge of town because of my faith.

Worthy is the Lamb!

2007-09-24T16:26:00.000-05:00

I recently was studying in Hebrews chapters one and two. Chapter one gives a wonderful verbal picture of the exalted Son of God. I mean the description of Jesus in Hebrews one is intense. Read this out loud and listen to it....

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
(Heb 1:1-3)

I simply think that it beautiful! Jesus is the Son of God, the very agent of creation, Everything owes its existence to Christ both its creation and continuation. Christ is the radiance of the glory of God, that aspect, or part of God's glory we get to see, we see it in Christ. He is the exact imprint of God's nature. Jesus is God!

And then Hebrews chapter two begins like this..

Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Heb 2:1)

I hear in this verse an admonition to meditate on the exalted nature of Christ, to dwell upon the reality of Jesus being God, to embrace all of the glory of God in Christ Jesus. So I decided I needed to write at least once a week in a journal (or a blog) about the exalted nature of Christ, make a written record of paying much closer attention to what I have heard.

Repentance

2007-09-19T20:38:00.000-05:00

God often works thematically in my life. In His infinite wisdom and with extreme patience, He teaches me from His Word over and over on a particular theme, while at the same time uses books that I am reading and sermons to which I am listening to speak to that same theme. I love the way God does that work in my life. I think that is how I learn best, total immersion. Well, the present theme in my life is repentance. I am not exactly sure when my Heavenly Father raised this theme in my life. I originally thought it was in August, but the more I ponder, I think it was earlier, like maybe late May or early June. I was reading in the book of Judges and the following passage really opened my eyes to God's feeling toward sin.

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD and served the Baals. And they abandoned the LORD, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the LORD to anger. They abandoned the LORD and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the LORD was against them for harm, as the LORD had warned, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress.
(Judges 2:11-15)

I think this is when God began to teach me about repentance. So here is some of the stuff God has taught me about repentance.
1. Repentance is a turn/return to God which involves mind, heart, will, body, and spirit.
2. Repentance and faith are two aspects of one event/action called conversion.
3. Jesus called people to repent.
4. Repentance is what God commands all men everywhere to do.
5. The first sermon preached after Pentecost called for repentance.
6. Initial faith/repentance are necessary for salvation, continued faith/repentance are a
characteristic of conversion.
7. Repentance produces fruit.
8. Repentance is glossed over way to often.
The last two are the gleanings about repentance that I have most impacted me. Repentance produces fruit, in other words, others can see the change and are impacted by the attitude of humility and submission to God's purposes in words and actions. Repentance is glossed over way to often (especially in my own life) I will confess to my accountability partners that I ignored prayer, didn't do anything to share the Gospel with someone, or let my mind dwell on lustful thoughts and then say, I need to do better next week. No! what I need to do is repent!

So, Thursday night I am teaching at BASIC, I am pretty sure we will be looking at what the Bible has to say about repentance.

My New Blog

2007-09-18T08:14:00.000-05:00

So I started this new blog. I decided I needed a fresh start at blogging. I read other people's blogs a lot and find them very helpful, insightful, intriguing, or entertaining. I found that I couldn't produce anything like that at my old blog. I thought a change of venue might give me some new inspiration and vigor to produce something worth reading. It's not that I want my blog to be read so I can have some kind of blog fame, but I want to encourage thought and discussion through the medium of blog. Maybe my aspirations are unrealistic, but we will see.

I was at a conference back in July and I was in this breakout session about using the internet for church planting and the guy Drew Goodmanson talked about the different kinds of blogs. He says there's three kinds of blogs; The virus blog-that spreads and infects other blogs, The Boss blog-a leader who has a readership and kind of teaches through the blog, The Cat Blog-Me and my cat went for a walk today that kind of stuff. My favorite kind of blogs are the virus and the boss blog, the cat blog is good when it is funny. What do you think?