I know that the largest shopping day of the year is the Friday after Thanksgiving. I also know that I avoid all shopping experiences on that particular day. I have these flashbacks of News reports that show images of people being trampled entering the mall at pre-dawn hours and that just does not appeal to me. Having briefly worked in retail I also know that many retailers plan for months if not the better part of a year for that one day. Sales are through the roof... they move merchandise at break-neck speeds... everyone is exhausted at the end of the day... and many consumers arrive back home broke, physically spent, and emotionally hungover.
It's the biggest shopping day of the year!
But what about life in the church world? I have spent the last twelve years of my life preparing annually for the "biggest spiritual shopping day of the year". We refer to it as Easter. As an insider in the church industry I have been acutely aware that there will be people (lost people) who will go to church on Easter Sunday who will never walk in on a regular weekend during the remainder of the year. So what do many of "us" do? We market our product, we plan and prepare for the biggest shopping day of the year, and all with the hope that our spiritual-sales receipts are among the highest to date.
Here's my tension point: To whom much is given... much is required. So if you attend or serve at a church who does things big, then you probably experienced a big Easter Sunday presentation which may have included music, drama, and maybe even an imitation Jesus, covered in blood, walking with a cross and eventually bustin' up out of da tomb! I love it. I love how we attempt to replay the story (really I do, please don't read any sarcasm on this one). I know that God blesses churches with an attitude of excellence and expects excellence each and every week.
But what about all of the other Sunday's in a year? Do we slack off our edge of excellence because it is just "another Sunday"? I must admit that I wonder what Jesus himself thinks when we do our "Easter rituals"... don't get me wrong... we hide Easter eggs at my house, we still make-up a downplayed version of the Easter bunny and baskets and the like... but what does He think about when He sees us in our worship?
On the ONE day that should be the most important day of celebration and remembrance for all believers... how do we treat Him? How do we honor the Son of God?
So where is all of this coming from? This Easter Sunday was the first in many years that I did not have a "responsibility" on Easter Sunday morning. As I woke up and watched my girls open their baskets my mind began to rest on this thought... "Today, keep it simple. Set my eyes, heart, and thoughts on the Jesus that loves me more than I could ever imagine." Let all of the pageantry and pomp fall away and just look for Him.
Hopefully, around the world, yesterday was the biggest spiritual retail day of the year... I just hope the consumers got what they were looking for.
Monday, March 24, 2008
Thursday, March 20, 2008
The Evidence of Things Not Seen...
All of my life (at least the parts I actually remember) I have heard people say that "we live by faith and not by sight" but what does that actually mean? I mean I understand that my faith & hope in God is something that I just believe in and depend on even when I can't see Him... but really what is faith? Blind trust? My optimistic view of my little life in this BIG world? Maybe it is jumping without knowing what's below... or even needing to know. Why is it that we use the word FAITH when we describe our overall experience as a believer... for example; "My faith is very important to me."--- I actually said that to someone today and just began to wonder why I used it that particular way.
Here's a good definition... "The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living." (Hebrews 11:1, The Message).
And how do faith and reality live together? I believe I have a complete kind of faith. I mean I completely believe that God is who He said He is, He will completely do what He said He would do, and that He completely loves and adores me... even with all of my junk.
But what happens when my faith gets a little crazy? Like I believe He's gonna come through for me when I just can't imagine how? I know Him well enough to consider Him more than faithful... but sometimes things look very bleak.
Maybe I'm not the only one who views the Almighty with this irrational perspective (in fact I know I'm not alone on this one). I guess faith sometimes goes directly against my better, human-judgement. Maybe faith even goes against what everything inside me says are the facts. Maybe... just maybe that's what makes it faith... the firm foundation underneath everything.
William P. Young says in The Shack... "There are times when you choose to believe something that would normally be considered absolutely irrational. It doesn't mean that it is actually irrational, but it surely is not rational. Perhaps there is suprarationality: reason beyond the normal definitions of fact or data-based logic; something that only makes sense if you can see a bigger picture of reality. Maybe that is where faith fits in."
Here's what I know. I trust Him. He's never left me before and I don't see Him leaving me now. He didn't bring me this far to leave me.
And here's the best part... He isn't going to leave you either. Trust Him.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Last 15 Days
Wow... I almost forgot my own password. It has been more than two weeks since I've been on here simply because my computer has died or partially died... it is still in the process of being resurrected. In the meantime, I have joined the faithful few each day at the Hoover Public Library to simply check my email. The greatest set back is that you only have 60 minutes each day to work and then the system kicks you out. I am forced to utilize my new office space and time in the office with the utmost fruitfulness... (only 16 minutes left today).
Anyway, the last 15 days have been a ride to say the least. Days of anxiety followed by Karie and I seeing God's hand of provision and peace work in us like never before. My favorite thought from a week ago is simple..."In a time when we should be devastated... we are calm." Mind you that we are not to be credited with this one... we know where our peace comes from.
I mentioned "a time when we should be devastated"... let me explain. I have been unemployed for almost a month... (which translates in Spanish as... no income). I actually accepted a job here in BHAM and then about three days before I thought I would start work... the man who was about to hire me (Executive Director of a Christian non-profit) was actually let go from his job. Now we were both on the employment trail. Freaky almost but Karie and I have prayed very specifically from the beginning for God to "open the right doors and close the wrong doors." Anyway... closed door.
Each day since then has been filled with excitement of talking with some amazing people. I have turned over more "job-rocks" than I ever knew existed. Again, all we know is that God spoke to us about taking a chance and trusting Him in a new way and we did. The rest is truly in His hands and oddly enough it is fun.
Also within the last 15 days I have enjoyed some non-spiritual things as well. I hooked up with an old roommate from college and enjoyed my first NASCAR experience at Bristol this past weekend. And to think I was ever referred to as a red-neck. WOW at the style involved in a racing weekend. Anyway, I had a blast... the smells of the raceway, the sounds of the cars, the pageantry and adrenaline were almost more than a man can endure in one weekend.
So today... still in His hands, loving NASCAR, turning over "job-rocks", hanging out @ the Library with only a very few seconds left on my time at the computer and (times up).....
Anyway, the last 15 days have been a ride to say the least. Days of anxiety followed by Karie and I seeing God's hand of provision and peace work in us like never before. My favorite thought from a week ago is simple..."In a time when we should be devastated... we are calm." Mind you that we are not to be credited with this one... we know where our peace comes from.
I mentioned "a time when we should be devastated"... let me explain. I have been unemployed for almost a month... (which translates in Spanish as... no income). I actually accepted a job here in BHAM and then about three days before I thought I would start work... the man who was about to hire me (Executive Director of a Christian non-profit) was actually let go from his job. Now we were both on the employment trail. Freaky almost but Karie and I have prayed very specifically from the beginning for God to "open the right doors and close the wrong doors." Anyway... closed door.
Each day since then has been filled with excitement of talking with some amazing people. I have turned over more "job-rocks" than I ever knew existed. Again, all we know is that God spoke to us about taking a chance and trusting Him in a new way and we did. The rest is truly in His hands and oddly enough it is fun.
Also within the last 15 days I have enjoyed some non-spiritual things as well. I hooked up with an old roommate from college and enjoyed my first NASCAR experience at Bristol this past weekend. And to think I was ever referred to as a red-neck. WOW at the style involved in a racing weekend. Anyway, I had a blast... the smells of the raceway, the sounds of the cars, the pageantry and adrenaline were almost more than a man can endure in one weekend.
So today... still in His hands, loving NASCAR, turning over "job-rocks", hanging out @ the Library with only a very few seconds left on my time at the computer and (times up).....
Monday, March 3, 2008
Message @ Metro
Well, it has been one week since I shared my final message at Metro as the Student Pastor. In part, it was my families next chapter but there was also some good stuff for us all. Here's the nuts and bolts of what I shared...
Karie and I have many wonderful memories of Metro.
We actually got married in the old building... We have dedicated both of our children here in this room... We’ve been a part of your families big moments… from funerals to weddings, to baptisms and baby dedications... I have had the privilege of sharing family communion with many of your families and have been a part of some tough times with you as well.
As I look back over the past twelve years of my life… there have been numerous happenings that both I and the youth group have been involved in… some of which I have been directly responsible for and others I have been only indirectly responsible for…
(as I read these, please remember that many of these were your children)
(1) We have been kicked out of a mosque in Washington DC
(2) We failed to stop at the border crossing between Mexico and the United States
(3) I have been threatened by hotel security because I had about a dozen high school students playing on the fire escape outside of a fifth floor window in San Francisco
(4) I lost $800 in San Francisco
(5) I lost $700 in Gulf Shores… both of which I found
(6) I left two students in Gatlinburg, TN
(7) I’ve been kicked off the ski slopes in Snowshoe, WV
(8) I was a passenger on a bus that actually slid through the front wall of a ski shop in Keystone, CO
(9) I have spent a total of 56 nights sleeping on the floor of a school
(10)I’ve been personally liable for countless numbers of broken items in hotel rooms (ranging from beds to air conditioning units)
(11)I have driven a church bus for 1,743 road hours (468 of those well after midnight)
(12)I have employed the services of two K-9 drug-sniffing dogs
And…
(13)I have witnessed first hand a gang brawl in Orlando, FL
Over the last year and a ½ I have also been learning a deeply personal lesson. On the mirror in my bathroom at home has been a piece of paper with the following scripture on it. There have been some days I read it and some days I completely overlooked it…
It is a simple and familiar passage, but one that for me has a new level of meaning.
Proverbs 3:4-6 (New Living Translation)
“Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
This scripture uses the term “path”… and today I want to ask you to take an introspective glance back over your life and revisit the “path” that to this point in your life you have been traveling.
Some of our paths have been rocky and treacherous. Some of our paths have been full of blessing. Maybe some of our paths have been a mixture of both good and bad.
But nonetheless, we have all traveled a distinct path to get us to where we are today.
As we examine our path of the past and look forward to our path of the future, let’s look at our journey from the viewpoint similar to that of a story.
It has a beginning. It one day will have an ending. It has adventure and maybe romance. Your story is full of characters. Your story has chapters and pages
Imagine with me that you have a blank sheet of paper in your hand. On this blank page is where you will continue your story…
You have full writers rights. You can write the next chapter any way you want to. No one else can write it for you. It is the NEXT PAGE in your book.
As you sit there ready to write… what your NEXT CHAPTER will look like… it becomes a little blurry…
You experience writer’s block. You know how you want it to end but it is difficult to put in to words. Maybe you are even contemplating your dissatisfaction with the previous chapters.
You are stuck in the moment of not knowing exactly what to write.
And maybe one of these thoughts comes into your mind…
I didn’t know I only got one sheet…
Allow me to let you in on a little secret about life… everything counts.
Everything you say counts.
Everything you do counts.
Everything you don’t do counts.
Every time you tell someone that you love them… it counts.
Every time you skip over the chance to tell someone you love them… it counts.
Every hand you offer to someone else… counts
Every time you ignore someone… it counts.
I’m not referring to grace here because God’s grace allows you a re-do for the things that you royally messed up. What I’m trying to simply say is that everything you do or choose not to do is recorded in the paragraphs of your life’s story.
These actions are the things that make us who we are. These actions of our everyday life are literally our biography.
Your not coming back one day as somebody else and getting a chance to do it over again… you only get one chance.
James 4:14 says that “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
You only get one piece of paper to work with. Make it count.
As you sit there with your blank sheet of paper, maybe you feel this way…
But my paper is all wrinkled and torn.
I think about my two daughters on this one. As a parent, one of my responsibilities it to protect them. But already, no matter how hard I may have tried… they have been banged up and bruised. At times I worried about sending them to school/daycare because their little legs were so bruised where they had fallen when playing and running.
Bruises unfortunately are a part of life. Not just physical bruises but emotional bruises. Scars of the heart are all too common.
Maybe it was the hateful words of a clueless mother or father.
Maybe it has been the foulness of a spouse who didn’t know how to love themselves much less someone else.
Maybe it was the belittling of an employer or the mistreatment from a fellow church member.
No matter where it came from, it hurt. The pages of your story have become wrinkled and it’s not your fault.
Have you ever heard the saying, “With friends like that… who needs enemies?” It is no secret that the people, who are often closest to us, hurt us the deepest.
Maybe the pages of your life have been scribbled on by someone else and all you can think about is what a mess your story is.
Maybe it is increasingly difficult for you to see how your story can ever have a happy ending.
Happily ever after just doesn’t seem to fit for you.
Or maybe you have this thought…
I wrote in pen and now I can’t erase it.
(for this one to work… ignore the fact that erasable pens have been invented)
Have you ever felt the anxiety that something from your past was going to come back and haunt you? It’s that skeleton in the closet feeling that lingers throughout your life.
It is true that you can’t “un-do” things in your life but let me just remind you that being spiritually paralyzed is not what God intended for His believers.
In fact He even said in John 10:10, “I have come so that you may have life and may have it more abundantly.”
My trusty online dictionary tells me that the word abundantly is defined as: “more than adequate” and “richly supplied”.
I can’t un-do things in my life that I am ashamed of no more than I can annul the birth of a child … but according to Jesus Himself… I can have freedom from the spiritual paralysis of my past sins.
What seems like is written in ink can only be erased and covered by blood.
Or maybe this is where you find yourself…
I don’t know what to write.
Wouldn’t it have been nice to be born with an innate capability to make the right decision every time?
Imagine how successful you could be in the marketplace… every decision is the right one.
If I had that in me, I’m afraid I’d be moving to Vegas…
I once heard it said that “Instinct is a booger… because you never know if it is right until much later.”
The truth is none of us know exactly what to do or how to write the stories of our own lives. It’s been proven that when solely left up to us humans… we mess it up.
That’s why the leading and direction of God’s Holy Spirit is crucial.
Psalm 25:8-10 (Message) says, “God is fair and just, He corrects the misdirected, sends them in the right direction. He gives the rejects his hand, and leads them step-by-step. From now on every road you travel will take you to God. Follow the Covenant signs, read the charted directions.”
My favorite phrase is “He leads them step-by-step”. That is my truest desire. God, I am bound to get lost, I am sure to loose my own way. I’m just like the hymn we sing…
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,Seal it for Thy courts above.
How can I alone write the next chapter of my life? I can’t.
Lead me O Lord as my story unfolds… step-by-step.
And lastly, maybe these are your thoughts as you sit there with pen and paper…
I don’t like what I’ve written; can I start over on the back?
Listen to these words: Fresh start… clean slate.
Imagine the people that would have loved to hear those words…
Adam & Eve…
Judas…
Martha Stewart…
Mike Price…
Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Andy Petite, Roger Clemons
Bill Clinton…
Here is the beauty of the story of our lives…
Even though the pen is in our hand and the paper is laid out in front of us… the God who created the universe in all of its mystery and massiveness, the same God who set our life into motion with a single breath, the God to which every knee will bow...
He has made the provision for you and me to turn our messed up and scribbled on pages over and start again.
Fresh start… clean slate.
In the words of the not-so-great secular theologian Natasha Bedingfield in her song Unwritten…
The pen is in your hand… ending unplanned.
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window let the sun illuminate the words that you can not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins…
The rest is still unwritten.
Not only do you have an unwritten story… but Karie and I have a story that is also in the process of being written… (our story & our future)
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
Thank you for allowing me to serve you for 12 years. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. Thank you for allowing me and Karie to be a part of the spiritual development of your children. Karie, thank you for chasing dreams with me. I thank God for each of you. It’s been a beautiful chapter of my life that I will always cherish. It’s been a great ride.
Karie and I have many wonderful memories of Metro.
We actually got married in the old building... We have dedicated both of our children here in this room... We’ve been a part of your families big moments… from funerals to weddings, to baptisms and baby dedications... I have had the privilege of sharing family communion with many of your families and have been a part of some tough times with you as well.
As I look back over the past twelve years of my life… there have been numerous happenings that both I and the youth group have been involved in… some of which I have been directly responsible for and others I have been only indirectly responsible for…
(as I read these, please remember that many of these were your children)
(1) We have been kicked out of a mosque in Washington DC
(2) We failed to stop at the border crossing between Mexico and the United States
(3) I have been threatened by hotel security because I had about a dozen high school students playing on the fire escape outside of a fifth floor window in San Francisco
(4) I lost $800 in San Francisco
(5) I lost $700 in Gulf Shores… both of which I found
(6) I left two students in Gatlinburg, TN
(7) I’ve been kicked off the ski slopes in Snowshoe, WV
(8) I was a passenger on a bus that actually slid through the front wall of a ski shop in Keystone, CO
(9) I have spent a total of 56 nights sleeping on the floor of a school
(10)I’ve been personally liable for countless numbers of broken items in hotel rooms (ranging from beds to air conditioning units)
(11)I have driven a church bus for 1,743 road hours (468 of those well after midnight)
(12)I have employed the services of two K-9 drug-sniffing dogs
And…
(13)I have witnessed first hand a gang brawl in Orlando, FL
Over the last year and a ½ I have also been learning a deeply personal lesson. On the mirror in my bathroom at home has been a piece of paper with the following scripture on it. There have been some days I read it and some days I completely overlooked it…
It is a simple and familiar passage, but one that for me has a new level of meaning.
Proverbs 3:4-6 (New Living Translation)
“Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”
This scripture uses the term “path”… and today I want to ask you to take an introspective glance back over your life and revisit the “path” that to this point in your life you have been traveling.
Some of our paths have been rocky and treacherous. Some of our paths have been full of blessing. Maybe some of our paths have been a mixture of both good and bad.
But nonetheless, we have all traveled a distinct path to get us to where we are today.
As we examine our path of the past and look forward to our path of the future, let’s look at our journey from the viewpoint similar to that of a story.
It has a beginning. It one day will have an ending. It has adventure and maybe romance. Your story is full of characters. Your story has chapters and pages
Imagine with me that you have a blank sheet of paper in your hand. On this blank page is where you will continue your story…
You have full writers rights. You can write the next chapter any way you want to. No one else can write it for you. It is the NEXT PAGE in your book.
As you sit there ready to write… what your NEXT CHAPTER will look like… it becomes a little blurry…
You experience writer’s block. You know how you want it to end but it is difficult to put in to words. Maybe you are even contemplating your dissatisfaction with the previous chapters.
You are stuck in the moment of not knowing exactly what to write.
And maybe one of these thoughts comes into your mind…
I didn’t know I only got one sheet…
Allow me to let you in on a little secret about life… everything counts.
Everything you say counts.
Everything you do counts.
Everything you don’t do counts.
Every time you tell someone that you love them… it counts.
Every time you skip over the chance to tell someone you love them… it counts.
Every hand you offer to someone else… counts
Every time you ignore someone… it counts.
I’m not referring to grace here because God’s grace allows you a re-do for the things that you royally messed up. What I’m trying to simply say is that everything you do or choose not to do is recorded in the paragraphs of your life’s story.
These actions are the things that make us who we are. These actions of our everyday life are literally our biography.
Your not coming back one day as somebody else and getting a chance to do it over again… you only get one chance.
James 4:14 says that “You do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.”
You only get one piece of paper to work with. Make it count.
As you sit there with your blank sheet of paper, maybe you feel this way…
But my paper is all wrinkled and torn.
I think about my two daughters on this one. As a parent, one of my responsibilities it to protect them. But already, no matter how hard I may have tried… they have been banged up and bruised. At times I worried about sending them to school/daycare because their little legs were so bruised where they had fallen when playing and running.
Bruises unfortunately are a part of life. Not just physical bruises but emotional bruises. Scars of the heart are all too common.
Maybe it was the hateful words of a clueless mother or father.
Maybe it has been the foulness of a spouse who didn’t know how to love themselves much less someone else.
Maybe it was the belittling of an employer or the mistreatment from a fellow church member.
No matter where it came from, it hurt. The pages of your story have become wrinkled and it’s not your fault.
Have you ever heard the saying, “With friends like that… who needs enemies?” It is no secret that the people, who are often closest to us, hurt us the deepest.
Maybe the pages of your life have been scribbled on by someone else and all you can think about is what a mess your story is.
Maybe it is increasingly difficult for you to see how your story can ever have a happy ending.
Happily ever after just doesn’t seem to fit for you.
Or maybe you have this thought…
I wrote in pen and now I can’t erase it.
(for this one to work… ignore the fact that erasable pens have been invented)
Have you ever felt the anxiety that something from your past was going to come back and haunt you? It’s that skeleton in the closet feeling that lingers throughout your life.
It is true that you can’t “un-do” things in your life but let me just remind you that being spiritually paralyzed is not what God intended for His believers.
In fact He even said in John 10:10, “I have come so that you may have life and may have it more abundantly.”
My trusty online dictionary tells me that the word abundantly is defined as: “more than adequate” and “richly supplied”.
I can’t un-do things in my life that I am ashamed of no more than I can annul the birth of a child … but according to Jesus Himself… I can have freedom from the spiritual paralysis of my past sins.
What seems like is written in ink can only be erased and covered by blood.
Or maybe this is where you find yourself…
I don’t know what to write.
Wouldn’t it have been nice to be born with an innate capability to make the right decision every time?
Imagine how successful you could be in the marketplace… every decision is the right one.
If I had that in me, I’m afraid I’d be moving to Vegas…
I once heard it said that “Instinct is a booger… because you never know if it is right until much later.”
The truth is none of us know exactly what to do or how to write the stories of our own lives. It’s been proven that when solely left up to us humans… we mess it up.
That’s why the leading and direction of God’s Holy Spirit is crucial.
Psalm 25:8-10 (Message) says, “God is fair and just, He corrects the misdirected, sends them in the right direction. He gives the rejects his hand, and leads them step-by-step. From now on every road you travel will take you to God. Follow the Covenant signs, read the charted directions.”
My favorite phrase is “He leads them step-by-step”. That is my truest desire. God, I am bound to get lost, I am sure to loose my own way. I’m just like the hymn we sing…
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,Prone to leave the God I love;Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,Seal it for Thy courts above.
How can I alone write the next chapter of my life? I can’t.
Lead me O Lord as my story unfolds… step-by-step.
And lastly, maybe these are your thoughts as you sit there with pen and paper…
I don’t like what I’ve written; can I start over on the back?
Listen to these words: Fresh start… clean slate.
Imagine the people that would have loved to hear those words…
Adam & Eve…
Judas…
Martha Stewart…
Mike Price…
Mark McGuire, Barry Bonds, Andy Petite, Roger Clemons
Bill Clinton…
Here is the beauty of the story of our lives…
Even though the pen is in our hand and the paper is laid out in front of us… the God who created the universe in all of its mystery and massiveness, the same God who set our life into motion with a single breath, the God to which every knee will bow...
He has made the provision for you and me to turn our messed up and scribbled on pages over and start again.
Fresh start… clean slate.
In the words of the not-so-great secular theologian Natasha Bedingfield in her song Unwritten…
The pen is in your hand… ending unplanned.
Staring at the blank page before you
Open up the dirty window let the sun illuminate the words that you can not find
Reaching for something in the distance
So close you can almost taste it
Live your life with arms wide open
Today is where your book begins…
The rest is still unwritten.
Not only do you have an unwritten story… but Karie and I have a story that is also in the process of being written… (our story & our future)
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
Thank you for allowing me to serve you for 12 years. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. Thank you for allowing me and Karie to be a part of the spiritual development of your children. Karie, thank you for chasing dreams with me. I thank God for each of you. It’s been a beautiful chapter of my life that I will always cherish. It’s been a great ride.
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