Stretching

I am not the most flexible man in the world (flexible as in limber although I am not super flexible in convictions/stubbornness either) and I am certainly not an expert on the subject, however, one thing I do know is that the more time I spend stretching the more flexible I become. If I were to never exercise or stretch, i would become much more stiff and inflexible and I wouldn't be able to do the same things that I could when I am consistently stretching and improving my flexibility. In fact, I would probably hurt myself if I tried to do something to suddenly without gradually working up to it.

Have you noticed that our spiritual lives work the same way. I have found the God works us up to many of the more challenging things that he wants us to do. This has played out over and over again in my life. One such time was the time leading up to and including being laid off from a job. When I look back at that time now, I see how God was gradually preparing me for that difficult time. The path God took me to my current job as a pastor was one of gradual stretching which ultimately led to me being able to get to the point of becoming a pastor at a church plant.

I bring all of this up because I now find myself in yet another time of stretching. Over the last several months, I have been arguing and fighting God on my openness to adoption. My wife has wanted to adopt since before I even met her and once we started having kids, I never really considered it or wanted it. But God has been telling me, for at least the last few months, that he wants me to pursue adoption. THIS IDEA FREAKS ME OUT. I have no idea how it's going to work in many different respects. What I do know is that I have seen God come through time and time again and every single time it has involved me being stretched and even if somewhat reluctantly, I am going to be obedient to Him and do what He asks.

God is gracious with me and never asks me to do something unless he has already prepared me or is preparing me for whatever it is. Muscles grow better when they are properly stretched. So do Christ followers. Are you allowing Him to stretch you?

15 Years

What sparks moments of reflection and/or recognition of blessings for you? For me, it usually takes some sort of a break in my daily routine; something like a significant holiday or event. Last week I had just such a thing happen, my 15th wedding anniversary. Now a wedding anniversary should spark a few things in a husband's head every year, things like; telling your wife "Happy Anniversary", getting some sort of gift, you know, recognising the fact that she has put up with you for 1 more year.

But, whenever there is a 5 or a 0 at the end of the number of years, the significance of the anniversary increases. That was the case for me this year, not only in the gifts/recognition but also in the reflection. Like all couples, we have had some rough times and we have had good times. In fact, I would say that right now, our marriage is as strong or even stronger as it has ever been. The thing I realized most during my time of reflection and celebration, however, is just how amazing my wife is, how much I love her and how important she is to me.

Thank you Kristina for saying "I do" 15 years ago, for putting up with my faults and for loving me so well. I love you!

The Entire Bible in 90 Days

Just like the end of every year brings top-10 lists and reviews of the year coming to a close, a new year brings resolutions and/or goals for the year to come. I don't really get too much into resolutions, but, like everyone else, I have made many of them, some of which lasted for a week or two, some of which lasted longer. What I am more a fan of and have had to do in some form or another for most of my work life is goals. I am not really sure what the technical difference is between resolutions and goals, but I think that goals are more concrete and therefore more likely to be accomplished.

This year, one of the things that I am trying to do is to read the entire Bible in 90 days. Fortunately, I am not doing this on my own, we are doing together as a church body which will likely help me stick with it. While I have read the entire Bible in a year a couple of different times, it wasn't that long ago where reading my bible 90 days in an entire year was a stretch for me. It wasn't that I didn't love Jesus and didn't believe that His word was important, I believed it was, I just didn't let it direct my life like I should have.

One of the dangers of reading through the Bible at this pace is that it can become just a task to check off of a list so I have to be diligent about taking in God's Word and letting Him speak to me through it. So far, I am on schedule and 13.6% of the way through the Bible. I have had new things stick out to me and familiar stories have become fresh again.

God's Word is amazing and I am falling more and more in love with it every day. Even if you don't try to read the entire Bible in 90 days, I encourage you to get into God's Word every day. Spend time with Him, apply what you learn, and go back for more. While many books can be enjoyable and helpful, this is the only one that is living and active and the only one written by the God who created us. What an amazing gift!

10 Applications from 2010

2010 is coming to a close which means you have probably seen countless lists this last week or so. You know what I'm talking about, right? The top whatever songs, movies, videos, sports highlights, etc, of 2010. Well, I would like to add one more list to the, um....list.

Since May, I have been using the acronym SOAP for my devotional/quiet times. The way this works is you record the Scripture that you read, write down any Observations, determine the Application for yourself and then write out a Prayer. I did this, on average, 3-5 times per week and I would like to share with you 10 Personal Applications from 2010:

1. There are times when it feels like nobody else is following God, that I am alone. The fact is that I am not alone. (based on Romans 11:1-10)
2. My job is to be obedient to Jesus, to glorify Him and to point people to Him. I can't judge other people for their actions or try to make them follow in the exact way that I do. (based on Romans 14:1-12)
3. If Christ, who is God, can come to serve, then shouldn't I, a mere man, who owes my life to God, be able and willing to serve? I mostly serve myself right now - that needs to change! I look to many things, other than God, for hope, joy, peace, satisfaction, etc. None of them work for long, if at all. I must look to God, I must dwell in Him. (based on Romans 15:8-13)
4. If God takes sin seriously, so should I. I need to not mess around with it, not look past or dismiss it and not justify it. (based on Ezra 10)
5. I have received more grace than I can really even understand, yet, so often I don't extend grace to others. Grace isn't just to be received but also to be given. (based on Matthew 18:21-35)
6. How often I am more concerned with how I appear to others instead of my heart. I need to be right in my heart with God and not pretend to be right for others to see. (based on Matthew 23)
7. Jesus deserved better. He was on the cross literally dying for those who were mocking and chastising Him. He didn't have to, he chose to! I often lose sight of the fact that my sin placed Him on that cross too. I have just as much responsibility for His death as everyone else. Jesus still deserves better. Better from me! (based on Matthew 27:27-44)
8. I am not one to make hasty decisions, but I don't think anyone is truly able to count the cost of following Jesus before choosing to do so as the costs change. It is kind of like being "ready" for marriage or children. I must daily pay the price. When I do, I get a bargain. When I don't, I go broke. In other words, it is far more costly not to follow Jesus. (based on Luke 14:28-33)
9. What do I smell like? Do I smell like manure, do I smell like nothing? Which is worse? People should be attracted to Jesus by the way I live, I should have the aroma of Christ. When I yell at referees and umpires, I smell like the polluted world I live in. I need to put aside my ideas of right and wrong and my desire for "justice" and I need to give off the aroma of Christ. (based on 2 Corinthians 2)
10. Far too often I depend on myself and doing so makes me like a bush in the wasteland, on my own, desperately trying to survive. I need to draw from the spring of life where I will never struggle for life no matter what may happen around me, as I will always be connected to life giving water. (based on Jeremiah 17-18)

Well, there you go, 10 personal application from my devotions in 2010. I hope that these are beneficial for you and maybe even encourage you to record your time with God in 2011.

Happy New Year. May it be a year that brings you closer to the one who made you.

Turn Lemons into Lemonade

I heard a story this morning on the radio about a woman who was planning a wedding which ended up being called off. Unfortunately, she had already paid a $4500 deposit for the reception at a restaurant and it was too late to get the money refunded. Since she had already paid for it, she decided to go ahead and have a party anyway. Instead of this party being a wedding reception, she turned it into a fundraiser to help the poor of her community. This woman was able to raise over $10,000 at this fundraiser, all of which she gave to a local church for their feeding program. She didn't even pull out the original $4500 that she spent.

Usually I don't pay very much attention to "The Good News Story of the Day" on this particular radio station. In fact, many times I change the station because I don't want to hear the story. This one made me think though. What would I do if faced with a situation like this? Would I take on the role of the victim and whine and complain about the $4500 that I couldn't get back? Would I boycott the restaurant for being so insensitive in keeping my money? Would I just invite people to dinner so it wasn't a total waste? I can pretty much guarantee that I would do one or all of these. I am also pretty sure that even if I did come up with a great idea to bless others like this lady did, I probably would withhold the initial $4500.

What do you do when things don't go as expected or as planned? My initial instinct is to worry about myself, to feel bad for myself and for self preservation. What is less instinctive is to trust God, to lean in to Him and to realize that He can take the hard and difficult things and use them for good. I am trying more and more to get to that spot more quickly and to look for what God may want to do in me and through me in those situations. Imagine how we can change ourselves, our communities and our world if we would choose to let God turn our lemons into lemonade.

Season of Reason?

Does anything about this time of year seem reasonable to you? This time of year is known (at least in our culture) as a crazy and expensive time of year and if you look around you, there probably isn't anything reasonable about it. This year, more than most, I seem to be hearing about scaling back or cutting back and getting back to what Christmas really means. One commercial and one TV show that I have seen recently both seem to be trying to give this message.

In the commercial that I am thinking of, you see a few different people celebrating Christmas in extreme, over-the-top ways (having an actual reindeer instead of a fake light up one, creating an expertly designed gingerbread house, super exquisite stockings, etc.) while the voice over talks about how extravagant Christmas has become. Then you proceed to hear about a reasonable Christmas event, the Season of Reason event at your local Acura car dealership. Seriously? Like buying an Acura for Christmas is much more reasonable than a crazy detailed gingerbread house.

The TV show I saw was the Christmas episode of "The Middle" (side note, this is a hilarious show which is more like real life than probably any other sitcom that I have seen) where the parents decided that they needed to scale back on activities and gifts and focus on what really matters. After pitching the idea to the kids and carrying it out, they come out Christmas morning to see that the grandparents had no such intention of scaling back and have filled the living room with tons of presents.

It is hard to get past all of the ads, parties, presents, commercialization, etc. to really make this time of the year reasonable. My hope, though, is that you can take time to look beyond all of the stuff and spend time with your family but mostly I hope that you take time to spend with Jesus. While Christmas largely has become something different than celebrating His birth, the truth is that is why we have Christmas. Jesus coming to earth as a baby changed everything, yet for so many people nothing is different. My encouragement to you is allow the single greatest gift ever, Jesus, to change you this Christmas and for the rest of your life.

Just Another Day at the Office

As I write this, things are pretty quiet at the church office, but today is not your typical day. Most days the church office is quite a hub of activity and discussion. While I and the other staff do work in the office and have various meetings and discussions, the flurry of activity is not from us. In fact, when just the staff is in the office it is really pretty quiet and calm, even tranquil (compared to the average day anyway). Instead, the bustle usually emanating from the lobby is from our frequent visitors who are here for a variety of reasons. These reasons include;

• Getting a cup of coffee, cocoa or hot cider
• Using the bathroom
• Grabbing some cookies, candy or other snacks that may be available
• Taking a shower
• Having someplace warm and dry to sit
• Saying hi and visiting with us and others
• Getting the latest 411 on what is going on in town
• Spreading the latest 411 on what is (if true) going on in town

We do get a fair share of more "normal" church office activity as well; appointments with the pastors or other staff, people with questions about the church or events, people dropping stuff off or picking stuff up, etc. However, most of the activity is related to the above list. For that reason, things can get pretty interesting here at the office. Sometimes interesting equals funny, sometimes it equates to frustrating and maybe even sometimes angering or disappointing. One thing we can always count on though, is we never really know what to expect.