It's Time to Grow Up!

He pulled up to the light next to me… inching forward… His engine revving… Without even looking I knew who was there… It was one of those young country boys with an ego bigger than his Wranglers… in his lifted Dodge pickup truck decked out with all the goods, wanting to race off the light through the intersection. How did I know? Because this is a rural, “good ‘ol boy” ranching community and 20 yards after the intersection two lanes will narrow to one.  The race for ego, pride, and ultimately respect in small town livin’ was on!

I gripped the wheel tight… tapped my gas petal, feeling for the response… and waited for the light to change! If I could just get a jump on the light, I could do this… 20 yards, I would be in front, he would be eating my dust and I could slow down before I passed the CHP office up ahead.

He revved his engine again as the crossing light turned yellow, knowing the time was close… I had to take a glance… What I saw made everything within me want to break out in laughter! The “lifted Dodge pickup truck decked out with all the goods” was actually an old, beat up, Chevy work truck… The “young country boy with an ego bigger than his Wranglers” was actually an old roughed up, over the hill, gray hair with a scruffy beard and a Taco Bell burrito in one hand… I did get a couple of things right though… He had an ego bigger than his Wranglers and he wanted to race!

I was caught off guard as the light changed and his engine roared! He got the jump and was halfway through the intersection before I hit the gas on my soccer-mom minivan… trying, unsuccessfully, to hold back the laughter! Had I really just engaged in that nonsense, allowing my mind to descend into the abyss of high school, new driver, stupidity?! I had! And I was so glad that time had long passed!  

But a quick word for the “old roughed up, over the hill, gray hair”… It’s time to grow up brother! You’ve been sitting in that seat too long! The steering wheel cover is showing wear and the dice on the mirror have long since been faded by the sun… It’s time to grow up!

And then conviction sets in… and I see the state of the Church… Sitting in the same seat too long… The wear beginning to show… The dice quickly fading… 

Hebrews 5:11-14 is paraphrased in The Message explaining, “I have a lot more to say about this, but it is hard to get it across to you since you’ve picked up this bad habit of not listening. By this time you ought to be teachers yourselves, yet here I find you need someone to sit down with you and go over the basics on God again, starting from square one—baby’s milk, when you should have been on solid food long ago! Milk is for beginners, inexperienced in God’s ways; solid food is for the mature, who have some practice in telling right from wrong.”

Church?! It’s time to grow up!

APATHEISM, Father forgive us...

(Disclaimer... I am not apologizing here for what I am saying, but I see the following attitude not as an attitude attributed to my particular church only, but to the church in America as a whole with very few exceptions. Not making excuses, just making honest observations... If this attitude weren't present in today's church, things would be VERY different in this nation. If you are reading this as a part of the church community I am directly a part of and ministering in, please don't see this as judgement, but, if you are feeling upset, it could possibly be conviction... The Spirit of God calling you to something more... Join me in this, what Platt would call, "Holy discontent" and don't run away with your tail between your legs, but step up and say, "Father, what do you have for me today?" and do it!)

Last week I was introduced to a term I had never heard before... APATHEISM... I’m not sure where I heard it. I believe it was while reading a blog or scrolling through Facebook, but I can’t get it out of my head.  Apatheism... a combination of “apathy” and “theism” referring to an apathetic view of God.  The idea that “ya, I believe in God, but I just don’t really care” that is rampant in today’s society.  As I’ve been thinking about this word I have been wrestling with some things:

1. Where does this attitude come from?

-Is it because we have been raised in a “Christian society” where people were just expected to have morals and belong to a church? And, since that attitude is changing in today’s culture (seems like there are more people who don’t go to church these days than do... the question isn’t “where do you go to church?” anymore, but “DO you go to church?”), people have just decided that it’s easier to just not care. 

-Could it be because real relationship with Jesus leads to life change?

-Maybe it’s because following Christ closely involves risk? 

-Maybe it’s just because they just don’t see the urgency of it... They don’t realize how important it really is. (Could this be the church’s fault?!)

      2.Is this attitude of apatheism just present outside the church?

-NO! I think a big part of the problem is this attitude WITHIN the church! When there is a need in church for a volunteer and the response you get is “I’ve already done my time”... that shows apatheism. “I don’t really care if there is a need. I’ve already ‘earned my salvation’” so why should I give up my study... where i’ve been for 30 years... after all I have to learn what the Bible says so I can live it out! (Problem is... by the time we know the book well enough to live it out, we won’t have enough life left in us to make it happen!)

Recently our church took part in the My Hope Campaign with Billy Graham... a campaign designed to bring Graham’s evangelism rallies into the home by hosting small private parties where a video is shared and an invitation to salvation is given.  We provided our church with resources and training... Over 350 names were written down of people we were praying for, who we hoped would respond to the hope of Jesus through this event.  

When the time came... apart from church staff and the church parties, less than a handful of parties were hosted... and the number of people who attended the church parties who didn’t already attend the church could be counted on 2 hands.  Why?  Is this apatheism? Does the church just NOT CARE about their friends who are living outside a relationship with Jesus? Or are they too afraid (afraid of reputation or rejection) to invite them?  Or... do we think we have done our duty just because we prayed? Hmmmm? 

And now that the “parties” are over the attitude I sense is “whew! Glad that’s over!”  No need to feel convicted anymore because the campaign is over. Too bad I missed my chance, guess I can go on with my comfortable christianity now.

I think you can probably sense my sarcasm and frustration.... You see? God’s call to follow Him and His call to MAKE DISCIPLES isn’t a call to participate in a campaign or a program... It is a call to deny oneself daily, take up ones cross and follow!  It’s a call to sacrifice... to give of ones self for the sake of another... It’s a call that doesn’t end but remains 24/7/365 until the day you die.... “Well, I did my time! I taught Sunday School for 3 years without a break!”  Good for you... Jesus did His time too... all the way to the cross!

Maybe we, in the church, are too isolated from the world. We don’t have any “unsaved” friends.  Then we need to get out into the world and MAKE SOME NEW FRIENDS!

Maybe we, in the church, are too comfortable with our lives... we don’t want to have to give up our big screen tvs and blueray collections... and we let our neighbors (remember the good samaritan story!) go without food and heat.

Maybe our church community has finally made it to a place where there are no major scandals or issues... we can’t let anyone into the inner circle who might bring problems with them! I seem to have read somewhere that Jesus came for the sick not well... hmmm?

OUR HEARTS are SO FAR from where God and His Word call us to be. We want what Bonhoeffer calls “cheap grace”... and as we seek after this grace without sacrifice we are dying inside and killing the church, the bride of Christ, in the process.

Apatheism?  Father forgive us... we know what we are doing, but sometimes it seems we just don’t care.

Knock, Knock... Who's there... Ghosts and Goblins Everywhere

Wouldn't it be great if somehow people would come to you that you could take just even a short moment to share Jesus love with them... not preach at them, but just love them... I mean, what if a needy kid knocked on your door and all it took was a smile to give him just a little glimpse of hope? What if you took it a little bit further and were to say "Jesus loves you"? What if you really loved them and handed them a small gift as a token of that love... say a piece of candy? What if you could bring just a little bit of light into their dark world?

Now... What if 100 kids all knocked on your door on the same night... looking for that hope and not even knowing it? And you were able to share your smile and your kind word and maybe even a small gift with them?... many of them with there parents looking on?! Bringing a little bit of light not only into the child's life, but the whole family's life!? 

Wait! Thursday is halloween... 100+ kids just may be knocking on your door... stepping out of the darkness for just a few small seconds into the light... What can YOU DO this halloween to shine a little bit of JESUS' light into the darkness of their lives? To bring them a little bit of HOPE in the midst of the storm... Hmmmm? Think about it... maybe Jesus is looking to you... I seem to remember something about... whatever you do to the least of these..........

MOUNTAINS, MOCHAS, AND MINISTRY

And the Boss said, “You are spending too much time in the office!”

What? Too much time in the office?!  How could that be? Right now on my desk are my lessons for the next 3 weeks of Sunday School, the message I am beginning to plan for “big church” in November, the material for the outreach program that is 3 weeks away, my small group stuff, the plans for our new discipleship ministries team, promo material for the webcast I’m hosting on Saturday, new devotional materials to review, and a to-do list that includes activities for young adults, teen leadership, youth outreach, and so much more! If I don’t spend more time in the office ALL THIS MINISTRY WON’T GET DONE!!  And I rush off to an appointment in a small town 30 minutes away.

As I pull into the parking lot of the coffee shop where we are to meet I receive the dreaded text message. “Pastor, sorry I have to cancel. Something came up.” Now, not only do I find myself 30 minutes from the office where I have a stack of work a mile high, but I find myself with 60 minutes of “wasted time” with nothing to do before my next appointment in this same small town.  I could drive back to the office, but by the time I get there it will be time to return... so I grab a cup of coffee and sit down... forced to take some time to... to... to breathe.

Finding a seat in the corner where I can observe the action and see out the window, the first thing I notice is the people... coming and going, doing their business... grabbing a cup of coffee or a quick sandwich before rushing off to their next appointment. After 30 minutes, an everything bagel and a cup of coffee I finally turn my head to look out the window... and I see it. Wow! What a view.  Just past the little motel across the street and through the trees with their fall leaves... is the mountain.  Not just the mountain, but THE MOUNTAIN.  In about a month it will be white with snow, but now at the beginning of fall just small white patches remain. I begin to reflect on just how firm and faithful THE MOUNTAIN is.

You see? Through the years and through the seasons the mountain remains.  The leaves change... the blanket of snow comes and goes... month to month it looks different... but THE MOUNTAIN remains.  Firm, faithful and true. I could never get used to seeing that mountain. And my mind wanders off to the mountain...

Then all of the sudden with the drop of a mug full of coffee behind the counter, my mind comes crashing back to the reality of the moment. The barista scrambles to clean up the mess and my brief daydream flees. My mind returns to the mountain of work that remains just out of my reach in my office a half hour away... but now I’ve been reminded of the mountain.

I realize the mountain in my life is JESUS... the firm, the faithful, the true.  The mountain in my ministry is NOT all the paperwork and plans piled high on my desk, but Christ’s call to GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES.  What that looks like may change with the seasons... maybe one method now and another method next year, but THE CALL never changes... so in the midst of the changing methods how do I remain faithful to the call? I get out of that office where the piles are high and spend more time in the coffee shop where I can engage others who are making the journey with me... towards THE MOUNTAIN.

My Hope is in the Lord

“I can’t believe the school is teaching evolution! What about creation?!  What has our country come to!?!”

“What do you mean they are not going to display the nativity scene in front of the courthouse this year?!  It’s tradition! They’ve had that nativity scene out there every year since I was a child!”

“It is so sad that our government would pass that into law! I thought we were a Christian nation! Our forefathers would be rolling over in their graves!”

It seems like in the “Christian community” we are hearing more and more statements like these... Christians are getting upset because as a nation we aren’t what we used to be. Things are changing and not for the better. People are seeing the fall of Christianity in America and are beginning to get fired up.  I mean we are part of a nation that needs to step up to the plate morally and take a stand for what’s right! We are citizens of the United States and if we can’t come together as a nation UNDER GOD then we are all going to hell! Right?!?!

Hmmm? Just the other day my 6 year old was looking at a piece of US currency. He read the words “In God We Trust” and asked, “Dad? Why does it say that?”  My heart broke as I tried to explain to a 6 year old the state of our union.... where we once were, ... and where we are today?  Then I began to really mourn in my soul as I began to think about where we will be someday soon if we keep going the same direction.

As I wrestle with this today, the passage from Philippians 3 came to mind... as a believer my citizenship is in heaven. What does that mean? To me that says first and foremost I am a follower of Christ not country... my allegiance is to the Father, not the nation... My hope is in my adoption as HIS child not my elected officials... This is not to say that I don’t feel proud to be an American or I am not patriotic... I feel EXTREMELY blessed to be born in this country and I LOVE what we stand for as a nation. I just struggle with the idea that we have come to believe that God and Country go hand in hand... After all Jesus said, “Render unto Caeser what is Caeser’s and give to God what is God’s.” I respect and love my country and believe that we are the greatest nation in the world, but I cannot expect my country to take the place of God in my life. 

The bride of Christ is not the US of A... The bride of Christ is the church, and that is where my hope must lie!

Matthew 6:21 says, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” As a believer I cannot throw my moral investment into a man made government. My investment must wholly be in the Father... because where my investment is, there my heart is... As long as I am trusting in and expecting my government to do (through school curriculum or legislation) what God has called the Church to do, then I will continue to be frustrated and disappointed. 

So what am I supposed to do!?! 

As a follower of Jesus I am supposed to “raise up my child in the way he should go.” I must take up that responsibility! I am must be the chief influencer in my child’s life... and if every Christian parent took up this calling?! Our world would be a different place!

As the Church? You know all that energy we put into getting frustrated at what our government is doing?...  and communicating just how upset we are with our current leadership and how scared we are about where we are headed as a nation? What if we took all that energy and instead of focusing it on how bad things are, we focused it on teaching this next generation the values and morals found in Scripture? What if we taught them how to discern the Truth of the Gospel from the lies of this world?  What if we shared the HOPE found in Jesus Christ and grace we can have through a relationship with Him... 

What if we lived like our citizenship really was in heaven? What if we really were storing up our treasures in the right place? What would our world look like then?

The only way we, as the Church, are going to change the direction of the downward spiral our nation is on is to find our HOPE in the right place?  My HOPE is in the Lord! Where is yours?

Why Fight the Current?

As I sit here this morning my heart is heavy and my mind is wrestling with the Church and the church. The Church, big C, being the universal disciples of Jesus... all of us doing our best to follow after HIM. The church, little c, being the individual churches... the walls of our buildings that divide us for as many different reasons as there are buildings.... different locations, styles, types of people, personalities... different theologies, teachings, interpretations of Scripture. 

Here is the crux of the matter for me... Why? As Rodney King once was quoted saying during the LA riots of 1991, “Why can’t we all just get along?”  I know that was in a different setting and under different circumstances than the topic of this blog, but I think to the outside world, so often what is going on in the Church looks a lot like what’s going on during racial riots... a lot of unorganized chaos brought on by disagreements escalated to the point of fighting and unrest.  Could the world really be looking in from the outside and seeing a state of riot that they know they would be better off avoiding brought on not by disagreements between races, but disagreements between churches (little c)?

Now I am not saying that we all need to jump into one big ship and set off on the journey in some form of faux unity... But I do think that we need to join the same armada riding the current of JESUS deeper into the adventure and journey of God’s overlying story... maybe each ship has a different set of oarsmen, but they’re willing to travel together towards the same destination.  Make sense?!

To be quite honest I am tired of feeling the tension between churches and between pastors who each feel like their way is the right way and if I don’t jump onboard their ship, then I need to just walk the plank. I have no problem supporting and encouraging your ship along on the journey... in fact sometimes I think my ship can tag along with yours, maybe tying a rope to the stern for a season and likewise, I’m willing to throw you a rope through a season as well and then set you free when the right time comes, but I don’t think we all HAVE to be swabbing the same deck... although if you need me to help you swab your deck please don’t hesitate to ask. We need to remember as long as we are all riding the current of JESUS of the Gospels doing our best to follow God of the Bible, the one true God, then those tensions have no place on these seas!

This morning as I gathered over coffee with pastors from 2 other churches reading emails, talking through input and putting together the efforts of pastors from at least 7 other churches to organize an annual community wide youth event I got a picture of what the Church is supposed to look like. The focus was investing in the lives of the students who walk our streets with the HOPE and LOVE of Jesus Christ. Each of us leaders willing to lay down our own pride, sacrifice our own time and budgets, and set aside our own churches for a season in order to lift up the Church so that a student’s life can be changed for eternity. 

And so the wrestling continues... And as it does, the prayer effort intensifies... Why can’t the church see the Church and accept it for what it is? Each church (in their individual, unique vessels) riding the current of Jesus deeper into the story allowing the Author of it all to receive all praise, honor and glory... and because of it the world be changed.

(and so goes my personal contribution to National Talk Like a Pirate Day)

Fruitful Daily Habits- Good Intentions vs. Actual Reality

My day begins as the sun rises... I roll out of bed right as the automatic coffee maker finishes brewing my coffee.  Pouring a cup of coffee I sit down with my Bible open and God begins to whisper His words of comfort and challenge into my soul. As I finish up my devotional time I hear my wife begin to stir... I cook breakfast for the 2 of us as she does her morning devotions and we both eat before she goes off to prepare for the day. I wake the kids begin my morning workout. I finish my workout in time to take a quick shower, shave, brush my teeth and get dressed for the day. I get my kids breakfast and pray with them before sending them off to meet the day.  LIFE IS GOOD!

And so are my intentions... But, to be honest, intentions and reality don’t usually match up. I would LOVE for my morning to look like that. I really would! But in our home, that’s not usually the case. A typical morning in my house usually looks a bit more like this:

My day begins as my anxiousness rises... I really can’t lay here anymore! I have to get up or I’ll be late! I roll out of bed as my daughter hits the shower using up the last of the hot water.  I shiver through a cold shower and throw on my clothes, dragging my boys out of bed in the process... Telling them to get dressed I head to the kitchen to fix breakfast. I pull out the cereal and milk and throw some bowls and spoons on the table. I yell from the kitchen, “KIDS! BREAKFAST!”  I scramble to make a cup of coffee and get my stuff together as I pour cereal and slice bananas for my youngest son. I send the kids off to school with a quick, “Goodbye! I love you!” as I throw on my shoes and look for my keys.  I rush out the door on the way to work only to trip over the lunchbox the middle kid forgot... As I pick it up to make the delivery I feel frustrated and stressed... I didn’t get a bite to eat, I haven’t worked out in weeks, my devotional life is lacking and my life reflects it. Something has to change!

Galatians 5:22-23 says, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”  

These are my intentions, but in reality sometimes I think I have it all wrong.  How do I get the chaos of my life to fit into that mold? I’ve tried! I’ve reorganized my schedule and pinned it to the wall. I’ve filled out the covenant card and asked my accountability partner to hold me to it. But somehow the scheduled gets filled with other tasks and the covenant fades over time and I find myself once again in the midst of the chaos... Frustrated and stressed I throw in the towel and crumble into my chair... defeated!  

And that’s when God whispers... “It’s the fruit of MY Spirit...If you intend to fit your life into that mold then you have to ALLOW ME TO MOLD YOU. You cannot do it on your own strength. You CAN do it in MY strength.”

So once again... I lay my chaotic schedule aside with a new understanding of who HE is and what HE desires of me... I set my recurring daily alarm a little earlier and as I do, I surrender to His grace that encourages me and invite His Spirit to mold me... and as I do I notice some blossoms begin to bloom out of the chaos of who I was.

A New Adventure

Today I set out on a new adventure.  For sometime now I've known that I've had a longing in my heart... That uneasy feeling of knowing that you're supposed to be doing something but you're not quite sure what.  The notion that you were meant for something more... something bigger... that God's given you a voice and that voice needs to be heard but you're not exactly sure how to share it.  Well, that's where I find myself today.

I have a sense of uneasiness in my spirit that I've had for sometime. Not long ago someone (I can't remember if it was David Platt or Francis Chan) put a label on that feeling in my soul. They called it a 'holy discontent'.  You see deep in my heart, more than anything else, I want to seek JESUS with everything that I am... but I continually find myself wrestling with this messy world. I find myself wanting to be the best disciple that I can be. I find myself longing to lead others on the journey. Part of my heart struggles with the leading within the established church and its framework... the other part knows that it has been placed in the church and almost feels like its supposed to lead those within this established community back to the Jesus of the Gospel.

So here's the struggle... How does one stir up a passion for Christ in the midst of a world that continually drags people away from His call.  Good people with good intentions... even with hearts for God... being dragged away and enticed, by the evil one.  Boy, that sounds harsh as I write it, but it is reality. I think one of Satan's greatest tools against the Christ follower today is distraction! He's like the creepy guy in the van with the puppy dog and handful of candy trying to lure the young child away from his set path home from school.  He knows our intentions and our destination, but he does everything he can, through the busy-ness of life, to distract us from taking the next step on the journey. And as I look at my personal calendar and the lives of the people in my own church community I see that he is succeeding.  We are a people with all the best intentions in the world, but who struggle to 'take up our cross daily and follow' because we tend to get steered off the course towards JESUS by the candy in Satan's hand... and we don't even realize that it's Satan... "but the things I'm involved in are ALL good things!?!" ... and Satan knows it.

So the adventure begins... not the adventure of following (that started YEARS ago) nor the adventure of leading (been attempting to lead since the mid-90s), but the adventure making my voice heard... sharing the struggles with other like minded followers as we journey together towards Christ! .... through the world of blogging... SEEKING HIS LEAD... together on the journey.