Our Greatest Danger

"This time of waiting on God was also necessary in order to teach them the greatest lesson of the Christian life--to cease from themselves. The greatest danger about these men was not in what they may fail to do, but in what they might try to do. The greatest harm that we can do is the attempt to do anything at all when we are not prepared, and when we do not understand the Master's will. There are times when the most masterly thing we can exercise is inactivity, and there are times when the most mischievous thing we can do is to do anything at all."
--A.B. Simpson referring to Acts 1:1-5 in his book "The Holy Spirit."

I've so many times been guilty of leading myself, my family and ministries I've been leading into things before I've gotten clarity from the Lord. Our passions, leadership drives, and addiction to action and productivity have the possibility of motivating us to action that is good, even right, but is not necessarily God's intent for us at this time.

Praise be to God that He has given us the Mighty, Faithful and All Wise Counselor who knows the Father's heart perfectly to guide, lead and empower us at the right time for the right task. I am finding more and more it is not necessarily the "what" I am off on, it is most often the "how" where I get myself int to trouble. The Spirit of God is sure to lead us not only in a God glorifying "what" but also in a manner in which brings the Father and Son the greatest amount of praise and glory.

My prayer is that our Student Minsitries and our Christian communities for that matter would be full of men, women and teenagers who are learning the secret, freedom and power of waiting on the Holy Spirit and then acting bodly, immediately and radicially in obedience to both the "what" and the "how".

Six Questions for Evangelicals to Ask Themselves On Reformation Sunday

Some good questions from Chris Castaldo’s blog:

1. Ad Fontes. Do we read the Bible as often as we read books about the Bible?

2. Sola Scriptura. Is Scripture alone the supreme authority to which we direct thoughtful attention each day?

3. Priesthood of Believers. Do our neighbors and friends see in us a commitment to gospel ministry worked out in a regular routine of service?

4. Solus Christus. Do we enter God’s presence directly and with confidence by virtue of the high priesthood of Christ?

5. Sola Fide. Do we rest in our Lord’s finished work, accessed by faith alone, as the sole basis of our right-standing with God?

6. Soli Deo Gloria. Do we regularly communicate the good news of Jesus’ death, resurrection, and new creation, believing that the Holy Spirit will extend redemption through the foolishness of this message to save lost people and transform the world?

Are you Verse 20 or 21?

19 I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. 20 For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. 21 They all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. Philippians 2:19-21

My pastor spoke on these verses on Sunday. I can't get them out of my head. Verse 21 has got to be the saddest verse in all of Philippians.

Obviously Paul, while in prison, is surrounded by others than just Timothy, but only in Timothy does he find one is concerned deeply for the church, the Bride of Christ for which he suffered for. The others, they are there, but Paul sees in them a "self interest" and apparently no burden for the Bride.

So here is my question: If our pastors or elder councils were thinking of who they could send to plant a new church in another area of our community, or to send in order to encourage a missionary partner, or to be of encouragement and mentor another young believer or pastor, would they put us in the catagory of v. 20 or v. 21?

Oh God...Teach Me your way, that I may walk in your truth!

The Sum of all Blessing

So I am reading "A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer... by Jonathan Edwards. It is also known as "An Humble Attempt..." as the full title is 36 words long. Edwards stated this which has me pondering anew:

“The sum of the blessings of Christ, sought by what he did and suffered in the work of redemption, was the Holy Spirit. Thus is the affair of our redemption constituted; the Father provides and gives the Redeemer, and the price of redemption is offered to him, and he grants the benefit purchased; the Son is the Redeemer who gives the price, and also is the price offered; and the Hoy Spirit is the grand blessing obtained by the price offered, and bestowed on the redeemed.

The Holy Spirit, in his indwelling presence, his influence and fruits, is the sum of all grace, holiness, comfort and joy, or in one word, of all the spirutal good Christ purchased for me in this world: and is also the sum of all perfection, glory, and eternal joy that he purchased for them in another world.” (Edwards, Jonathan. A Call to United Extraordinary Prayer…. Christian Focus Pub. Great Britian, 2004.)

Now, remeber in Luke 11 when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray he instructs them to pray in the manner in which we call "the Lord's prayer" (which really should be called "the church's prayer and John 17 should be "the Lord's prayer" but that is for another time).

Then, in verse 13, Jesus says, "if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Fatehr give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him." That seems like a weird little addition to the end of his instruction, but if we truly see the Holy Spirit, GOD IN US, as the sum of all blessing, then this little addition makes glorious sense.

Remember John 14 where Jesus says, "it is TO YOUR ADVANTAGE that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you." Could the joy set before Christ that caused him to endure the cross be the joy of knowing that the sum of his grace, the gift of the Spirit would be poured out upon all men just as his Father had promised through the Prophet Joel? Is the Spirit of Life within us not the epidemy of God's reconciling grace, where the infinite, holy God comes to dwell in me? And for what purpose, to exalt Christ by restoring my ability to bear His image in character, purpose and passion!

Here is my question: IF SO, then my friends, why have so many of us evangelicals been so timid about the Holy Spirit? What dependence, interaction, and joy are we to have in the person of the Holy Spirit not just in awakening us to salvation, but in every moment of grace we experience on this earth? How would a deeper, richer theology of the Spirit change our churches and youth minsitries...our very lives?

Wow...Teach me your way, Oh Lord...that I may walk in your truth....

"No Mader Where you Our"

My oldest son is seven.  Last night as we were praying in the back yard around the little fire pit, Isaac decided to pray for one of our neighbors.  

Isaac: "Dad, is something wrong with so and so?"  

Dad: "Why do you ask?"

Isaac: "He doesn't say much.  Dad, I think he's sad.  I think something happened in his life."

Dad:  We need to have him over sometime don't we so we can hear his story.

We pray and Isaac prays for our neighbor.

Isaac:  Dad, I think our neighbor needs a card.  Can I stay up and make him one?

Dad:  If that is what you think God would want you to do.

Isaac: (20 minutes later)  Dad, here is my card, look it says:  "Dear so and so, we love you.  nomader were you our.  We hope you com here soon!!!  love Isaac. (In Isaac's spelling and with a picture of the neighbors house, the neighbor, his dog...and Isaac standing by his side.)

Dad:  That is great buddy, I know he'll love it.

Isaac:  My favorite part is where it says, "No matter where you are."  (Grinning ear to ear)

God is working his compassion into a young heart.  One of the Lord's little ones is teaching his dad simple ways to love our neighbor.  Isaac's motivation is not to convert our neighbor, but to simply love our neighbor.  There is something that feels holy and pure about this.  

God, may you raise up this next generation to be who notices that people may have had "something happen in their life" and be willing to cross  fences in an act of innocent love.

Faithful Opponents

1 Kings 1:9-10 reminds me that God's gift to me on any team is a "faithful opponent".  This is someone whom I trust and respect but also has ability to frustrate me because they ask the right questions.  The questions I am referring to are not just ones of wisdom, logic, experience, or clarity.   No, these are the questions or statements that challenge me to consider my values, convictions, and the implications of my course of direction.  These are the questions that cause me to slow down and consider the people around me rather than simply the outcomes.  Thse are the sorts of questions that at times hurt my pride, challenge my decisions, and come at the issue from another angle.  

Adonijah does just what I have done many times in the past (and I'm sure a will do a few more times in the future).  He avoids consulting his faithful opponents.  He doesn't ask for their council.  He doesn't even invite them to the meeting because he knows that they will spoil his current leadership trajectory.  And by not doing so, Adonijah brings great shame and nearly death to himself and to those who followed him.

If you have a "faithful opponent" on your team, they probably have a tendency to frustrate you.  I challenge you to thank God for them today and the gift they are at causing you to see all sides of a decision, their ability to slow you down to have you evaluate how the decision aligns with your stated values,  walk humbly and purely before those you lead, and most of all, point you heavenward whether directly or indirectly. 

If you don't have any "faithful opponents" on your team, I encourage you to find one.

Displease your Children

 I Kings 1:5-6 are  great verses to motivate me as a parent to "displease" my children.  Obviously, this is not my hope in parenting, but there is something important to see here.  Adonijah's arrogant behavior is explained by the actions of his farther "never to displease him by asking "why are you doing that?"  Instruction over impatient denial (i.e."No, because I said so!) or mere destructive appeasing (i.e."Fine, you can have one more.") takes time, consistency,courage, thoughtfulness, love, and a Godward view of parenting (and at times a tough skin).  I encourage those of us who are parents to read 1 Kings 5:6 often as we raise our children.  

Priority of Prayer

"Prayer cannot be retired to a secondary force in the world  To do so is to retire God from moving in our lives.  It is to make God secondary.  The prayer ministry is an all-engaging force; it must be all engaging to be a force at all.  Prayer is the sense of a need for God and the call for God's help to supply that need.  How we estimate and place prayer is how we estimate and place God.  To give prayer a secondary place is to make God secondary in life's affairs." - E.M. Bounds - The Weapon of Prayer

"How we estimate and place prayer is how we estimate and place God."  I believe this to be true.  A few years ago I remember reading this and realizing that to overlook prayer is both incredibly prideful and incredibly foolish.

May our student ministries, churches and families be filled with men and women who elevate prayer and in so doing elevate the supremacy of God in their lives and ministries.

Do you agree with Bound's statement here concerning prayer's priority?  What are you currently learning and practicing in the area of prayer?

Spurgeon Preaching

A couple weeks ago a quote from Jesus caused me to ask the question, for whom am I teaching? Some reading this weekend led me across some thoughts from Charles Spurgeon which cause me to ask: What am I teaching?

“It is better to fail attempting the right subject, than to succeed in the wrong; and the right subject is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. To even attempt that subject is a noble thing in itself.”

“I am content to live and die as a mere repeater of scriptural teaching, as a person who has thought out nothing and invented nothing, as one who never thought invention to be any part of his calling, but who concluded that he was simply to be a mouth for God to the people, mourning that anything of his own should come between.”

“I always feel that I have not done my duty as a preacher of the gospel if I go out of this pulpit without having clearly set before sinners the gospel. I sometimes think that you have so often and so long heard me tell this story, that you will get weary of it; but I cannot help it if you do—I had better weary you than be false to my charge.”

These are words I need to hear and ponder as I live in a world that is addicted to new ideas, being relevant, and innovative thinking. I believe the bible is not boring, teachers are boring. I also am learning that the Gospel is powerful. In fact, the apostle Paul calls it the power of God. It does not need my help. But, oh how I need it's help.

What do Spurgeon's thougth stir in your heart and mind?

For whom are you teaching?

 ¹⁶Jesus answered, "My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me. ¹⁷If anyone chooses to do God's will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own. ¹⁸He who speaks on his own does so to gain honor for himself, but he who works for the honor of the one who sent him is a man of truth; there is nothing false about him.  John 7:16-18

One of the penetrating questions those of us who teach must ask continually is: For whose honor am I speaking?

It's always difficult to evaluate our motives for the heart of a man has immense depths.  Questions like those below can be of some help:

1. Prior to speaking, are my prayers full of a deep love and concern that the people see God and His truth or are they focused on me simply speaking clearly and well?
   
2. Prior to speaking, have I prayed through the text I am teaching and allowed it to teach and recalibrate my own heart and life to it's truth?
3. Is any anxiousness or nervousness that I am feeling flowing from a fear of speaking to man or a fear of speaking for God?
   
4. When I am speaking, am I using language of guilt and pressure or am I keeping my focus on shining a light onto God and His truth allowing the Spirit of God to be the one who moves people to his desired intention? 
   
5. When I am finished teaching is my first concern whether or not the people were pleased or whether God was pleased?

I've been guilty of speaking for my own honor.  May the Church be filled with those who speak for the honor of the Lord rather than the honor of themselves.

Two more words

Proclaim. Perform.

When we talk about evangelism we must understand that there are two key intertwining ideas that must always be before us and at work within us. One without the other is not sufficient.

The gospel must be performed. By performed I that we must ask ourselves does who God is and how he work in this world come to bear on my life as his witness in such a way that I seek to flesh out the sacrificial love of God that unselfishly seeks what is best for others. see john 13:35

The gospel must be proclaimed. By proclaim I mean that work of God in Christ must be put into words. see Romans 10:14-15

Beautiful pictures of both of these is found in Acts 4, Philippians 1.

God help us in being the church in this generation that both performs and proclaims the gospel with our lips and our lives.  One without the other is not enough!

Two Words

Two words are consuming my thinking these days. Two words that are helping me to better understand what Jesus called the Great Commandments (remember there are two).

Commune. Cooperate.

This is what I want my life to be about. I want to grow in an ever deepening communion with the living God through Jesus Christ. I want to cooperate with God in caring for his creation, namely that part of creation that he treasures most: people.

What does communion and cooperation look like for you today? I think it may be that simple.

Fully Awake

Luke 9:32 32 Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw his glory..."

This is my prayer for myself, my family, and the North American Church today. Like Peter, James and John, we've been invited into deep communion with Christ. Christ has done everything needed to bring us to a place of encounter with Him.

The problem: I'm sleepy. My spiritual eyes are heavy and my heart dull. Feasting on this world brings my soul into a post thanksgiving dinner sluggishness.

The answer: Become fully awake. I can't do this. I'm crying out to the Lord today for a heart and mind that is fully awake.

Why? I want to see the glory of the risen Christ. I want to see.

God, make us fully awake!

Why you need to be a part of a Learning Community

Seth's Godin blog post on June 4, 2009 was really encouraging to me because this is the type this is the type of learning experiences we are seeking to build with our Learning Communities which we are hoping to launch throughout the EFCA later this month for youth workers.

My friend Bill Allison says that we need more guides on the side than we need sages on the stage. Another friend, Steve Hudson drilled into me that training (or reading books) is for understanding but we need coaching to help us work on implementation.

Only about 20% of people, once they get new information...information they need...really know what to do with it. Most people know it's good information. They know they need that information. They know it's important. The problem is their not sure what to do with it or there is no one keeping them accountable to make the changes or adjustments that need to be made.

Seth's post is the longest one from him I've ever seen. Here is the portion I most connected with:

Learning: The educational lesson that I found the most striking is that the book knowledge was easy to transmit and not particularly essential. Once you get this far, it's sort of a given that you're good at school. We read more than a hundred books, and the book learning happened quickly . Our culture has done an amazingly good job at teaching talented people how to learn concepts from books.

I taught for five to twenty hours a week, and very little of it was about the books. So, if concepts from books are easy, what’s hard?

Doing it.

Picking up the phone, making the plan, signing the deal. Pushing ‘publish.’ Announcing. Shipping.
We spent a lot of time on this area. Every morning, each person came in prepared to push someone in the group to overcome the next hurdle. This is what growth looks like, and it was energizing to be part of.

Lacking Focus?

Here is a link to a tool from Bob Beihl and the Master Planning Group that I plan on using later this summer at my annual planning retreat. This is definetly something worth sitting down with for a day or two and praying, reflecting and writing on.
http://www.masterplanninggroup.com/FreeDownload.lsp

Where can you see yourself using these questions?

Some Things Worth Thinking About...and Acting On

I realize that almost everyone and their mother has posted these thoughts from Andy's Stanley's presentation at Catalyst 08 this past year, but these are things I personally wanting to be thinking about often and I want my friends thinking about.

1) To reach people no one else is reaching, we have to do things no one else is doing (Craig Groeschel) We have 175,000 people within 10 miles of Northpoint, and we aren't reaching them. We aren't going to reach them by building another church building. We have to do something no one else is doing. Become preoccupied with those you want to reach rather than those you are trying to keep.

2) The best idea for reaching the next generation isn't going to come from the existing generation, it's going to come from the next generation. If you are over 45 years old, you aren't going to have any good ideas. It's your job to recognize the good ideas. Don't do to the next generation what the previous generation did to you.
Be a student, not a critic.

3) I'm looking for what can't be done in church, but if it could be done would fundamentally change the church. It always used to drive me nuts that the communicator and the leader had to be the same thing. Multi-site solved this. Now the great leader doesn't have to be the teacher. Like that, you may be the one to crack the code on something no one else has figured out that will fundamentally change our "business." Pay attention to people who are breaking the rules. It's the rule-breakers who are oftentimes the problem solvers.

4) If we got kicked out by our board, and they hired a new guy, what would the new guy change or do different? Let's walk out the door and walk back in, and make those changes. The problem with ministry is that we've fallen in love with the way we've done ministry. It's not "no pain, no gain" -- it's "no pain, no change." Without pain, there typically isn't any change. A question you need to ask is: Ask: "Where are we manufacturing energy?" What are the things we aren't very excited about that is taking energy to get it done, but the results aren't stellar? Now own up to why you aren't doing anything about it. What is it you fear? You need to deal with that. It is a leadership lid for you.

5) When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near. You look back with smiles and lots to celebrate, but you don't have a lot to work forward to. Are you willing to be involved in the future more than the present? Don't let success overshadow your vision. Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure.
October 10, 2008

Which of these thoughts most grips you as something you and team really need to be thinking about?

Four Questions to Ask when Facing Obstacles

For the last 15 years, the end of May has been a time to pause between the school year and summer minsitry in order to reflect, evaluate and refocus on the coming year.

These questions were given to me by a friend a while ago. I don't know who these questions orginated with, but they've been helpful to me as I look at the obstacles I and my ministry are facing. I believe they are God glorifying questions that keep me listening to Him, trustings His Soveriegnty and in the proper place as "follower"while letting Him lead.

In facing this obstacle:

1. What do you/we need to STOP doing? Is this mission critical? (You may call this "planned abaondonment")



2. Which of these "obstacles" are actually God's way of showing us His "opportunities"?



3. Am I/Are we willing to fail? Do I/we believe that there is greater wisdom to be gained from our failures than from our successes?



4. What is God trying to show me/us through our greatest limitation?

What's one of the biggest obstacles that you are facing in your ministry or life right now? How many do these questions give you another lens through which to view that obstacle?

8 Reasons Why Every Youth Pastor Should Read 2 Thessalonians

1. It will focus you on the fact that Christ IS returning (2:1).
2. It will remind you that you and your students live in an age of mercy where God is restraining a greater evil that is yet to come (2:6-7).
3. It will assure you of Christ’s incomparably victorious power and ulitmate triumph over present and future evil (2:8).
4. It will raise a holy fear and sense of urgency by reminding you that God’s patience with mankind will not last forever (2:11-12).
5. It will keep you boasting in and depending on God’s work in salvation and sanctification in your own life and that of your students (2:12; 16-17; 3:3).
6. It will elevate the preciousness, power and purpose of the gospel (2:14).
7. It will give you (your graduating seniors and their parents) peace in knowing that enduring faith is a gift from God and a work of his grace and might in you and your students (1:11-12).
8. It will teach you how to pray for yourself, your students and your church (1:11-12; 3:1-5).

Challenge 2010

I'm getting pretty excited about Challenge 2010 Conference which will be held in Columbus, OH.

The team has been working on some additions this year. One of which is that usually we plant 1 church, this year there is the possibility of planting up to three churches in the Columbus area.

Also, we are working on developing high quality training tracks for students that would involve "on location" labs. For instance, apologetic training would take place at the Columbus Science Center. Although participants will be able to mix and match recreation, training and service like in years past, those who choose will be able to focus in on a specific skill or area and train one day and then put it into practice the next day as they serve in the city of Columbus. The web site is being built and will be up by mid to late July.

Who's World are You Showing Up In?

Two questions pop into my head as I read Seth Godin's blog post today. I’ll just quote this line here, but encourage you to read the whole thing: "Showing up in your world (or your staff's world, or your volunteer's world, or your favorite preacher's online world) is not nearly as important as showing up in the world of the person you're actually trying to reach." (I added of course, what is in parenthesis.)

Question #1: Is your teaching content and style focused more reflective of your current place in life and your style of learning or is it focused on the place of life a 14 year old finds himself and the way he learns?   

Question 2: If your primary role as a youth worker is to “make disciples”, what percentage of your week are you spending with students in their world or equipping other adults to make disciples (meaning being ones who follow Jesus closely and who are sent out to impart life to others, inviting them to follow Jesus closely)? Are you satisfied with that percentage?  If not, what do you need to put on your "not to do list" so that you incrementally increase it?

I love you Dad

This school year we started a tradition that each month each of the kids gets to have a special lunch with dad. Yesterday, it was my oldest son's turn. We went to a local park, kicked around a soccer ball, sat on a bench and ate a brown bag lunch together. There wasn't much conversation. I've wondered at times whether these little investments of time, that are usually not full of all sorts of meaningful conversation, have any sort of significant value.

On the way back home from the park, Isaac broke the silence with a phrase that every father loves to hear...an unsolicted, "I love you, dad." On my way back to work I pondered the short experience with my son. I couldn't help but consider that the great works of God do inspire awe in my heart, but it is the simplicity and consistency of His presence, made accessible through Jesus Christ, that causes me to look to heaven often and say, "I love you, dad."

Are you and your youth ministry asking the right questions?

There is a great need in youth ministry and in the church as a whole to refocus our absolute attention on the person, work and priorities of Jesus Christ.

Could it be that all the questions we're asking like, "What does youth minsitry or the church need to look like today" are simply the wrong questions.?The greater questions we need to ask today are being recommended by Michael Frost and Alan Hirchsh. They are:

• What ongoing role does Jesus the Messiah play in shaping the ethos and self understanding of the movement that originated in him?
• How is the Christian religion, if we could legitimately call it that, informed and shaped by the Jesus that we meet in the Gospels?
• How do we assess the continuity required between the life and example of Jesus and the subsequent religion called Christianity?
• In how many ways do we domesticate the radical Revolutionary in order to sustain our religion and religiosity?
• And perhaps the most important of all, how can a rediscovery of Jesus renew our discipleship, Christian community, and the ongoing mission of the church? (ReJesus: A wild Messiah for a Missional Church. p. 5)

Too many of young people are leaving our churches, youthgroup gatherings and retreats experiencing a lot of wonderful things, but of the most concerning things they are leaving with is being convinced Jesus is to be worshipped but not followed.

What can we do to change this? What can we do to reboot our youth minsitries and churches (and our leadrship!) to Jesus?

China's Freedom

I'm sitting at YMEC meeting in Virginia Beach, VA. I just got done with a certain ministry director here at the conference. In a convesation about prayer and renewal ministry my friend said something to me that stopped me in my tracks. He said, "as you seek to be a part of accomplishing the Great Commission, pray for the complete freedom of China. There are currently 1 million international missionaries throughout the world. The Chinese church has a vision to tithe it's people to world evangelism, sending 10% of it's people worldwide to accomplish the Great Commission. This would be 10 million additional international missionaries. I've prayed for God to send missionaries to certain countries. I've prayed for the church to be built up in certain countries. I've prayed for believers to around the world to have a vision to reach lost people. I've never prayed for a country to become a major sending country. As I ponder my conversation with my friend, I am both humbled and stunned. Does my ministry vision for youth minsitry or the church involve any thought of tithing our people towards the final people groups to be reached with the Gospel? I've got a lot to learn from my brothers and sisters in other countries.

The Wrong End of the Telescope

I am speaking at a retreat at my church this weekend on how we can't answer the question "WHO AM I? until we answer a more important question: WHO IS I AM? I'm using this video I found on Youtube. It's from a famous sermon from S.M. Lockridge.

I think in our churches today many are looking at God through the wrong side of the telescope. They believe in God, but He is small, insignificant and at the edge of the horizon of their lives. We need to find ways to help turn the telescope around and see the God who is huge, near, and is is the not on the horizon, but is the sun in the solar system of our lives that whose holy gravitational force holds all things in our lives and world together (Col. 1:16-17).

One thing that young people need today is a greater vision of God. One of the ways which they will see that of course is through what and how we teach, but what will capture them most is when that teaching is coupled with the lives of adults and peers around them who live "radically" different from the world, risk much, joyfully abaondon the American dream, are generous with their resources, take action when they see a need and view people they encoutner with eyes of compassion rather than comparison. Our theology needs to drive our living. For far two long we've allowed them to be seperated.

Videos like this aren't the answer, but they do help me to ask myself some good questions. When young people...my children...my neighbors...observe my way of life, will they gain a large view of who God is because of how I am responding to Him with all that I am?

Of First Importance

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6 Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me." 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 3

Paul said that to him, what was of FIRST IMPORTANCE was Christ crucified and risen. In the Church today we assume that we all agree this is of FIRST IMPORTANCE. I'm not sure that is the case. Sure, tomorrow it will be as it is Easter Sunday. But I am not convinced that the majority of those who are part of the North American Church would say on tuesday afternoon that what is of "first importance" is Christ crucified and raised. (i'm not sure this would be my first answer either...and this troubles me deeply.)

The death and resurrection of utter importance...and more than that...it is of "first importance"! Without the cross and the empty tomb, the Christian life is both impossible and pointless.

How does the cross shape our view and role in marriage, parenting, friendship, citizenship, pastoring, leadership, etc? In each of these roles, if I can not say that Christ's death and resurrection is of first importance then I do not understand the majestic grace of God in how the cross and empty tomb free, sustain, uphold, and empower me through faith to fulfill all these roles for the good of those on the other side of them rather than for myself. (2 Corinthians 5:15 15 and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.)

What would happen the other 364 non-Easter days of the year if what was of first importance to you and me was the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus the Christ?

Ten Questions that will Change your Life

I was in a meeting with Tim Addington today and he shared with us the 10 questions that have the potential to bring the 1000 various pieces of our lives into focus. Those questions are:
1. Why am I here? Pinpoint your purpose.
2. What is my sweet spot? Understanding how you are wired.
3. What will I leave behind? Looking toward your Legacy
4. What really matters? Establishing Clear Priorities
5. What is my plan? Determining effective ways to grow and develop
6. How do I best recharge? Recognizing the rewards of refreshment
7. How can my life have a ripple effect? Initiating ways to influence and inspire others
8. How do I relate to God? Deepening your spiritual connection
9. Will I say YES to God? Responding to the Creator’s Call
10. What shall I do next? Creating a plan for the years ahead

Faith

A friend sent me this quote a couple months ago. I found myself reading it again today:

When you know God wants you to do something and you can't fathom how you are going to do it, you are right...until you move on it. If you are sure it's from God, and even though you have not power in yourself...DO IT! That is faith. The moment you decide to do it the power of God is released to you, and you can move forward in full confidence. Then, God gets the Glory!

Vision and Patience

Vision and Patience are married. The larger and clearer the vision becomes the greater the need for patience. For there is often a great distance from where one is standing to where one sees we could be and ought to be. Paul prays specifically for the people of Colossae (Col. 1:21) would be strengthened by "God’s might" or to say it another way…filled with faith in God’s capability and power to bridge the gap in HIS perfect timing between where they were and where they wanted to be. Paul was calling them to put their hope in GOD'S infinite might while they waited in the gap. The result of this faith in God’s ability is a joy filled patience.

So, the clearer the vision becomes for your community, ministry, marriage, or life, the increased need for fresh faith in HIS MIGHT to get you from where you are to where you want to be. In fact, your confident hope in Him should arise joy filled patience instead of discouragement when it doesn’t look like you've made much progress.

We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus rather than our current PLACE or PACE as we wait for HIM to supply every needed resource and remove every internal and external obstacle that is keeping us from reaching what we believe to be HIS preferred future.