Who told you?

Kids are some of the funniest people I know. Every single day I have a conversation with a kid at work or at church and I end up laughing with them about something. This may be because I am a big kid and tend to get along with them as if I were their age. Kids can provide some of the most wonderful blessings in your life as they grow up. One reason that they are so funny is that they are so inquisitive, and they are always learning. Sometimes they are learning a new sport, new words, new jokes, or even new things that they might be good at. It is especially rewarding when you are able to see them enjoy something new for the first time, them watching their first NBA game, or them scoring their first goal, or making their first good grade on a test. It is especially rewarding when they let you in on their excitement; running to you not being able to contain the joy of their good news. However, one of the most heartbreaking things to watch is a when a child learns about shame. As we grow up, or at least as I have grown up, I have ignored the shame that has existed. It has become something to cope with and not something that needs to be taken away. We learn cover it up. We put calluses around it so that we do not have to deal with it and we conjure feeble attempts to protect ourselves against it. In other cases we are overtaken by our shame and we compensate for our shame by indulging ourselves in vices in order to numb the shame we experience. We are familiar with guilt, with right and wrong. Sometimes shame comes from this, but shame is different in that it can come from something else. It can come from a lie someone else has told us, or one we have told ourselves. Shame puts us in bondage, limits us, and inhibits us from becoming our full selves. One story in particular from working with kids plays itself out when I think of this. Every little girl wears their pretty little dress that their mother picks out for them. They are so excited because that day they are beautiful. However, sometime during that day they are lied to and I have found them in a corner hiding. Crying. I go up to them to make sure that they are ok; to make sure they are not hurt. My first thought is that they fell down and scraped their knee or that someone has hit them or pushed them down. Often it is far worse, they have learned about shame. They have been fed a lie, that they are not beautiful, that they are ugly, plain, dirty, stupid, rejected. That she is not loved, that she is somehow repulsive, that she is unwanted. It is in those moments that I find myself at a loss for words. It is at these moments that I am let in on their pain. What can I say? Someone has just taught this young girl shame. We all have known shame, the feeling of being reproachful and unwanted, rejected. Who told us? Who told you that you are unlovable, not beautiful? Who told you that you are not masculine enough, that you cry too much? Who told you that you can never be the woman your sister was, that are not girlie enough, or that you are too girlie? Who told you that you would never be wanted or desired by another? Who told you that you could never have dreams, that you are a failure? Who told you that you would never amount to anything? Who told you that you are not good enough for first class, that you are dirty, that you are ugly? Who told you about shame? Who told you…? God asks this question to His first children after they were lied to. Adam and Eve ate the fruit and ran in hopes to flee from the face of God and embrace the sepulcher of shame. They realized that they were naked. When God found them the first thing that he said was not condescending, or condemning. It was a question. Who told you that you were naked? At that moment shame entered into humanity and stole our affirmation from our Creator. It stole our value and made us feel reproachful, unlovable. We now need someone to take our shame. We need someone to give us a new identity, to tell us a greater truth about ourselves than we have been told so far. We need a Shame Thief. One who has come to steal back shame and its vices. One who will absorb our reproachfulness in order that we might have acceptance, value. Someone to tell us we are loved. If I were ready for when this little girl let me in on her shame I would ask her, who told you? I would tell them that someone has lied to them. That the lie that they were told is not the truth they should believe. I would tell them of one who accepts them, who loves them. I would tell them that someone has come to take their shame, and has told them that they are beautiful.

Radical Together

Just finished this book.  It's kind of Platt's sequel to his book, Radical, extrapolating the same ideas to a church body.  The book report is set to release October 1st.  Be looking for a picture to upload to facebook with my face, a guitar, and some sweet aviator glasses that will have "October 1st" and "Book Report" strategically located on the picture.  Until then (get hype!) I want to let some amazement out. 

How can people read this stuff and not be inspired, excited, and moved to leverage all that they have for the Kingdom of God?  To join the movement that He has started and will finish?  To quicken His coming by resourcing the church to take the gospel to unreached people groups in our backyard and around the world?

I'll tell you how.  We have to get it through our heads that this life is a story.  You, me and the bourgeoisie are all a part of a grand narrative, and there is a shocking twist to this story that many people are missing.  Surprisingly, we are NOT the main character in our own life story!  In every story being told on earth right now, represented by all 6 billion of us hanging out on the planet, God is the main character...in every single one!  Romans 11:36 says, "For from him, and through him, and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!" 

Not only does every individual story have God as the main character, but all of these stories are working together in His grand masterpiece.  God is giving a free gift of life to humanity, which is dead in its sin, through the sacrifice of his one and only perfect son, Jesus.  Don't be overwhelmed, we know as much from John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son that whoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life."   So, if our own personal story is really about God, and our collective story is really about God saving as many as will believe, then what on earth are we doing holding on to "our" stuff?   

Let it go!  If we do not love our eternal Father enough to let go of these temporary safety nets, these temporary pleasures, things that moth and rust will destroy, then what love do we have, exactly?  Some of us are all too ready to "hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters" in relation to our love for Christ.  But our love for personal satisfaction, happiness, or comfort leaves us disastrously chained to things that will pass away. 

"No one can serve two masters," so Father I pray that we separate our identity from our possessions and securities that will fall away, and rather we would anchor our souls in your promise of Life.

Priesthood of the Believer

After discussions with Matt on posting I have been informed that no topic is too controversial, and since the most controversial topic we’ve had thus far has been about race, I figure, its about time to get deep on in it!

I’m talking about Priesthood of the Believer.

For those who are unfamiliar, “Priesthood of the Believer” is a historically Baptist/Protestant doctrine that states that every individual is their own “priest”. This principle was a driving force in the Protestant Reformation.

The doctrine comes with the following pieces:

1.) Each believer has equal standing before God. While the scripture clearly calls us to respect the authority of our leaders, ultimately, there is no distinctive between clergy and laity as far as their ability to receive instruction from God or to understand and apply Scripture.

2.) Each believer must stand before God for themselves at judgment. This is self-explanatory, but no one else other than Jesus will stand with us in Judgment. It doesn’t matter how much my momma prays for me, it ain’t helping me once I’m dead.

3.) Each believer has direct access. A fundamental tenet of Protestantism is the ability to pray directly to God and Jesus and not through any other person or object, living or dead.

4.) Each believer has the right to interpret the Scripture for themselves. Being a priest with equal standing as others under God, having direct access to God through prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit, and our own ultimate responsibility to God for our life’s work brings the logical conclusion that we each have the freedom to interpret Scripture as the Holy Spirit moves in our lives.


In my opinion, it doesn’t get controversial till piece 4. The right for believers to interpret Scriptures for themselves cast a lot of gray areas and perhaps even more shadows on the topic of the “Priesthood of the Believer”.

I agree with this theory in part. The biggest reason I give, is the topic of alcohol. The Bible does not condemn the intake of alcohol, only the abuse of it (i.e. “too much wine”). In fact, in order to settle his stomach, Paul recommends Timothy partake of a little wine. Yet, many theologians make it a point to absolutely condemn getting near it. Southeastern Seminary mandates that none of its students even look at it. I recognize that some people may be more tempted to become alcoholics than others, and I believe that with prayer and guidance from the Holy Spirit, God may say to some “don’t do this at all, you don’t want to open that door” and to others, it may simply be the Biblical directive of “not too much”. At this point, I agree that the priesthood of the believer allows for individuals to determine what God’s will is in their life on their own.

However, there is a slippery slope here that I fear, and it’s a quick trip into moderate theology. It becomes easy for a congregation member to say “I’m reading Scripture and to me it says that taking care of my family is of top priority, but I really can’t afford kids right now, so getting an abortion is okay because I wouldn’t be able to take care of it as the Scripture’s request”. Or “Jesus is certainly one answer for salvation, but I know that God is love, so He wouldn’t be so exclusive, it must mean that all religions lead to God”.

Without having a firm set of doctrine that gives you a standard of historically understood Biblical truth, the “Priesthood of the Believer” becomes almost a hall-pass to believe whatever you want since each believer is just as “correct” as the next.

For a Pastor in a church whose congregation believes the extreme of “Priesthood of the Believer” your sermons must devolve into touchy-feely speeches on being a better person and how to promote friendship. Knowing that everyone will interpret Scripture differently means that it can hardly be used to preach authoritatively from, in which case you can only barely mention it in passing as you move on to discuss why God wants you to recycle, or not recycle if you don’t feel like it. Ugh, who would want to sit through that garbage?

On the flip side, there are pastor’s who become so dictatorially authoritative that they try and govern their congregations choice of vehicle and tell them what to believe or not believe.

So how should the doctrine of the “Priesthood of the Believer” be rewritten, or "re-understood", to address the concern of individuals reaching up to God in a one-on-one relationship while respecting the volume of church history and understanding of what certain passages mean?

The Good Life

The Good Life

I want to live the good life, or at least a good life. More specifically, I just want the good things in life, to have them and experience them. Who doesn’t? I think that if given a choice, everyone will not choose bad things for themselves. Even if what they choose is bad, it has to be perceived by them that that it is good for them, even if they admit that it is “bad.” So I took it upon myself to evaluate some of these good things in life. What is it that makes life good, or gives you those good moments in life?

So in thinking about all that is good in life, the first place that I landed is at Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Now, to all you healthy people: do not judge me. I might get to the goodness of sports later. Anyways, the Krispy Kreme doughnut for some, is all that is right with food. In fact, it is all that is right with America. It in and of itself is why I love and hate this country equally at the same time. And I’m not talking about just any doughnut at Krispy Kreme. Forget the cream filled or the chocolate iced ones. I’m talking the warm, fresh out off the conveyor belt, dare I say moist…doughnut. It’s temperature is combined with the perfect amount of icing.And they do not come alone. They bring friends. If you are real lucky, they come in 12’s. They make their way into a nice spacious box that elicits the perfect amount of warmth on the way home in your lap. Your self control wavers, and you find yourself fumbling at the tab that keeps the box closed. And we haven’t even gotten to the taste yet. Oh the taste! … Sorry, I know yo just had a moment. You take the first bite and you get the immediate feeling to powder your face with its sweet goodness. It just melts in your mouth. Before you know it your eyes are closed and you are inviting another into your mouth because they are just that good. They are smooth; man are they smooth. If you are not careful a half dozen can make their way into the bottomless pit that is your stomach. You sigh and think to yourself, “I hope heaven is this good.” A roommate may ask you for one and at that moment, you know what jealousy is. How dare they ask for your Krispy Kreme! Krispy Kreme has embodies all that is good.

But…

These little Turkish delights have their consequences. By the way, you are awesome if you just got the reference to Turkish delights, and no that does not mean doughnuts from Turkey… I still refuse to look up the nutritional value of these things. Once you get to the end of however many you eat, you are more than full (We all know we can't have just one. I once asked a Krispy Kreme employee if they ever sold just one doughnut. She laughed). They contribute to a big gut, thunder thighs, and a big ole badonkadonk. (Yes that is how you spell.) Your hands are sticky, and sometimes the napkin you wipe your hand with sticks to the tips of your fingers. You are too lazy to take the box out because of what is settling in your stomach so the box collects dust beside the trashcan in your house. Which of course reminds you how much you need Krispy Kreme later. By that time you forget all the consequences that came with eating them. Finally, they end, they run out, they expire, they do not last. At the end of the day you are left with an empty box or bag, and a gluttonous filled stomach. Let us not mention where full stomachs empty themselves. They promise to be appetizing at least for a while, but they leave you completely empty and longing. They pose as little angels of light only to leave you wanting. They end in high blood pressure, cholesterol, heart attack and death. Not always the perspective we have when we are thinking about the wonderful promises that Krispy Kreme doughnuts will give us as we watch them come off the conveyor belt. Their goodness runs out. Now I am not saying that we should not ever eat them. I am probably saying less is more. But this is an illustration has more implications than just doughnuts.

In the right time, doughnuts have their purpose, and there is some element of them that is good, I think. But they were created as a means, not an end. Good is not sustained in them. We could go to any other area of life and break it down and show how it can leave us wanting. Exercise can leave us unsatisfied, frustrated, or vain.

Friends are good right? People to experience laughter with. People to lean on. Someone that at the end of the day, you know you they have your back. But friends have let us down, intentionally or unintentionally. They, at some point will frustrate and fail to meet your expectation. What about family? The idea of family and what it represents is good right? We all know that there is something in our family that is not perfect. We all know families that are broken or split. And even if they are not, the tension that exists leaves the environment hostile and undesirable. Not always, but it happens. While a father and a mother is supposed to be loving, comforting and safe, yet there have been fathers who have abandoned families, mothers who have hated their children. What about love? Everyone believes in love. Sometimes, in its pursuit, you are hurt. Some fall in and then out of it. It is perverted and abused. Some rob and scar others making them afraid to ever love themselves, so they prostitute themselves in exchange for false comfort. Or they retreat and become unbreakable, hard, and callused. They forsake the one thing they once had faith in and become self-serving and then steal the idea of love from everyone else because they think they are not allowed to have it. To the extreme, they isolate themselves and end their lives because a life alone is not life at all. For all intents and purposes, they died when the idea of love died in them. Friends, family, and love are good. But they can be perverted, broken, and marred.

Something is radically wrong.

Good things are not always completely good. We are trying to live the good life but these good things do not guarantee it. Sometimes the absence or perversion of these good things can be a major source of pain. How can good be sustained? We have seen glimpses of it. But it falls away when it does not meet our ideals. Why is it that even the “good things” in life let us down?

I have an answer. We have made idols of those good things and they have let us down, and that idolatry has separated us from the source of good. When we put hope in these good things and not in the One who is good; we fail to see where good comes from or what good truly is. We are left longing, wanting, empty, and dying. This problem goes back to the original idol, the desiring of knowledge and the lack of faith in the goodness of God. We thought we could be the source of our own happiness, that we could be good. But we were created to be in a relationship and from that relationship goodness flowed to us from the One who created it. We severed that relationship. The result of that was evil, death.

There is good news.

It does not end here. Creation has cried out from that point on for a restoration of good. The reason that all of those “good” things let us down now is because we seek them without their Author. God is good. He is the embodiment of good. It is through Him that things were made and created and it is only through Him that things can be seen and experienced as good. Not only that, but He has gone to universal lengths to restore goodness to us. He entered into humanity as Jesus, took up our death and put it on Himself in order to make a way for us to once again experience a good God. Through Him, we have access to the goodness of the Father. God took it, and is taking it, upon Himself to restore goodness. In Him we hope for the restoration of that which was severed.

It is here that I find hope, and that I have peace. Jesus is restoring me and giving me a good life. He is the only one that can give a good life. He is the source of it. There is no reason to look for good anywhere else, because goodness lies in Him.

There are good things in life: friends, family, and love to name a few. These gifts are a pale reflection of the richness of the peace in Christ. With Christ these good things can fall away and our world will not be shattered. It is with Christ that when these things are shattered, they can be put back together. It is only in knowing Christ that we can recognize good things to be truly good. In Christ, everything that is good finds its meaning.

Need we say more...

"O death, where is your sting?
O hell, where is your victory?
O Church, come stand in the light
Our God is not dead, He's alive! He's alive!"

Praise God!

The Gospel, Grace, and Race

I guess it's fitting that the black guy pull out the dreaded "R" card. Yep. Race. My brothers, isn't it amazing how a something created in such a awful time in U.S. history has been adopted to stay away from each other on perhaps the ONE day in the week (at Least) where we should be coming together. And if it's not separated by skin tone and preference, it's through theological differences. Now I am not saying that we should Rob Bell on 'em and say everyone is going to heaven, nor am I saying go out and find you a black/brown/white/etc friend, but I am asking for a little bit of Voltron/Power Ranger Unity (by the grace of God). Learning to hang out with people of differing races, and to a certain extent, some like minded Christians from different backgrounds, allows you to see God from a different facet. It troubles me when people can only see that their church is the only one in an area doing something with the gospel, like they've got a hold on what God is doing. It can start to sound like the Jews for a minute, who thought they had dibs on what God is doing and everyone else was "unclean".

This thought process has been brewing for a minute after pastor JD referred to the minorities at summit as heroes for putting aside their personal preferences for the sake of the gospel. I was conversing with another brother and he suggested sarcastically that I was a "hero". Due to the nature of my brother's comment, it seemed to me that he missed the bottom line of what JD was saying. For example, being black, a couple of months ago, had I just stayed for praise & worship, I probably would have dipped. Let's be honest-it's just not my style. However, I am glad that I stayed to hear the Gospel for the first time. It wrecked my world, and I don't think that I have been the same since. It has altered my though process in dealings with other people, especially with my wife. Matt A. and Ninjattitude are great brothers, and I pray that we would continue to draw other brothers that don't look like us, but are drawn to the glorious message of the gospel. This is the only thing that can bring us together. God gets glory when anyone comes to trust in Him, but what a picture to share the gospel with people who look like you, and don't look like you! When we get outside of our comfort zones and preach the gospel to ALL nations, our Pop in heaven goes crazy! So I pray that we would continue to spread the message of the gospel, that draws people from different backgrounds, racial, ethnicities, people groups, and nations.

"He's got children of many colors, He goes hard in the paint!"- Sho Baraka

Mike B.

The Process

I do not think anyone would disagree that we live in a society that is obsessed with what they can get now. It seems at least in the western world that everything is driven and designed to make things happen immediately, and if they cannot happen immediately then as quick as possible. From the “get rich quick” schemes to even the downloading of information, we do not really want to wait or fight for much of anything. I mean no one likes getting stuck behind a slow driver because it delays wherever they are going. No one has the patience to really slave in the kitchen to cook a good meal. But that is ok because if you don’t get stuck behind a slow person on the road you can have your food now. Someone just sticks his or her arm out a window and you just drive by and swoop it up. It seems that in everything there is a short cut to get to where we are going because we want everything now. All day long we are bombarded with ways to get what we want now. What I am getting at here is that instant gratification and the desire to have everything now removes us from the process.

Have you ever noticed during Christmas time you can’t wait till Christmas morning? Then when it comes it is gone very quickly and not really as good as you thought it would be. However, if you look back at the process leading up to Christmas, that is where all the hype came from. You got caught up in the process. The process was the Christmas lights, the music, and the anticipation of being around family. Lets not forget about the making of Christmas cookies, the shopping with family, the fat ham, and the weighted gained. The process was the best part not the end result. When we skip the process and are so focused on the goal and so focused on what we think we need now, we miss all the nuggets of truth and revelation the process has for us. It is really in the process that all things take place. Because once you arrive at whatever it is that you had to have now or had to learn now it is gone and something else has consumed our thoughts to obtain now.

I am going through the process right now. I am living in Mijas, Spain serving at G42 Leadership Academy. When I came I did not think I would be sweeping the floor and being the maintenance guy. In this process there has been greater growth for me in humility and servant hood, than there would have been if I had been put in a leadership position from the onset. I am also learning that in this process you can serve your way to greatness. Jesus said in Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” So what processes are you’re currently in that you are trying to skip over? What are you trying to get right now that could have a process involved? There is much joy in the process. I will end with this quote from Donald Miller, “love the process more than the results.”

Gospel Idolatry?

I was in a meeting yesterday with a bunch of very smart dudes and one of them raised the question, "Do you ever think we make an idol out of the 'Gospel?'" What he meant was, do we ever prioritize the "Gospel" (what God did) so highly that we are worshiping that instead of God.

What a great question.

Is it possible we idolize the gift more than the giver? Absolutely. Is this idolatry? Absolutely. We don't worship God because Christ came and lived the perfect life and then died in our place; we worship Him because He is God.

The beauty of the gift of the Gospel is what it shows us about the Giver. What God gave us was not a way out of hell, or world peace, or even happiness. What He gave us was Himself. The beauty of the Gospel is not just what was accomplished, but who He is. Is it possible we emphasize Jesus living, dying, and resurrecting while neglecting the Incarnation - God quite literally giving us Himself in a way and shape that we would know (and thus love) Him better? 

So, do we love the Giver because of what He accomplished, or do we love the gift because it helps us know and love the Giver more?

Thoughts?

Well

Well

My soul, wait in silence for God only,

For my hope is from Him.

He only is my rock and my salvation,

My stronghold; I shall not be shaken.

On God my salvation and my glory rest;

The rock of my strength, my refuge is in God.

Psalm 62:5-7

I was thinking the other day about an old song, a hymn called It is well. I know what you are thinking and the answer is no, I don’t normally think about hymns. Normally my thoughts consist of the most recent sports headline, or what’s for dinner, or the why gas is costing twice as much as it did last year. Anyways, I was thinking about it, and wondering is it well? How am I really? Am I at peace? Is it well with my soul? I think this is a question that a lot of us ask. It comes in different forms, like do I have peace, or am I happy? It normally does not end there either. Even if we do not ask this question outright, we pursue the things that try to make us “well.” People pursue God, money, fame, sex, success, family, drugs, education, adventure, friendship, television, food, and the list goes on and on. However, I wasn’t thinking about this question for other people, I was thinking about it for me.

I had a time that I was brutally honest with myself. I think that we like to see ourselves in a good light, and quite honestly, do a disservice to ourselves by thinking we are better than we really are. I mean I could tell you that I grew up in a good home, with loving parents. I have had only one speeding ticket, and other than that have no other qualms with the law. I work with kids and I go to church. Those things are not bad, in fact, others would consider that I am doing just fine and have nothing to be ashamed of. That with a little effort I can be anyone I want to be. From the immediate perspective, they’d almost be right. But, if we are being honest… and I mean really honest, then my state is not that good. Actually, it is really bad. How do I mean? Well since you asked I will tell you…

I can be incredibly insecure. I try to find ways to validate myself. Often times, I use sports, and if I can’t win against adults, then I play the kids that I work for even though I am supposed to be there for their benefit. I think that its cool or that I have done something when I dunk on a 9 year old or block their shot with fierceness while yelling. Yes, some of it is a joke when I block them and they laugh, but other times, well lets just say I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it. I am scared of rejection. From friends, from girls, even from those who have loved me all my life, and there is truly no reason to be. I long for attention, I long for a good position at my job, I long for a pat on the back every time I say something I think is funny. I am un controllable need to be understood. Are you understanding now? . I am selfish. I still take my laundry to my parent’s house sometimes for my mom to do it. I said sometimes. I want people to do what I want to do and play what I want them to play. I whine when I don’t get my way. I cannot stand when people take my food. I want the praise owed to me. I fight against my constant need to be entertained and satisfied now. I want the lane afforded to me on the road. I am a glutton. I eat to prove what I can eat. I get it and satisfy myself instantly. My god is my stomach. I judge people who don’t eat, think, or act like me. I feel like I’m smarter, better, holier and better put together than most of the people who I meet. This comes from both my pride and insecurity. Explain that! I am an adulterer. If you talk to PETA then I am a murderer. I have stolen, lied and cheated. I have fought, slandered, gossiped, held prejudice, adulterated, hated, rebelled, self- fulfilled, and am a glutton. I am completely vile, depraved and evil. I deserve nothing but hell. It is not well with my soul…

Here I feel utterly helpless, without joy, hope, or love. Here it is low, it is the pit. Here is the truth about me. Just me. It doesn’t matter who I am or where I came from, the fact is that is who I am. Here I feel unlovable, unredeemable, lost, and rejected. Dead.

It is only by grace it does not end here…

There is a greater truth about me… and at the same time as nothing to do with who I am or what I have done. I have only given you half of the picture of my life. Call it deceitful, I told you I am that already. Call it suspenseful, or even good writing, or bad if you wish… but what I gave you was only about me. However, there is another who has placed a redemption upon me and as given me a different identity.

The state of myself that I described is similar to all other people. We are not perfect and our souls are at unrest. However, I know of a greater truth, one about me that has been given to me by another. God has seen my soul’s unrest and that I am evil. God saw this problem and entered into history to live and be everything that I could not, perfect. He came to offer himself for my imperfections. He offered Himself up for my gluttony, insecurity, and adulterations. He came as the man Jesus, and lived a life that I could not live, and then died a death that I should have died. Why? Because there is something that He finds valuable in loving me, in loving man. He saw that it was worth it to lay aside heaven, and come to earth, and experience hell on it. He thought it worth it to be rejected, slaughtered and killed. He thought it worth it to take what I deserve for my evil and place it on Himself. To state it clearly: though I deserve death and hell, Jesus came so that I can have life in Him and what He has done. Not only was he perfect, blameless, without sin. He then by his death and resurrection conquered it and passed it on to me. I am here with you not in the bondage and hell that I deserve, but in the life that has been graciously given to me by Christ. In this great exchange I get Christ’s righteousness, blamelessness, and perfection. My old truth dies and the truth about Christ becomes my identity. I get His identity. I become heir with Him and inherit, well I get Christ. You ask me, is that it? I say that is all I need. He is life. He has given me peace and freedom from the man that I am. His truth is greater than my truth. It is because of Him that I get rest. It is because of what He has done that I can have peace beyond any circumstance I find myself in. It is because of Him my heart sings: Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul. It is well, It is well with my soul.

Farmville Witnessing

This blog is inspired from a conversation that took place in my small group at church regarding witnessing.

To elaborate on the background a little, one member of the small group was lamenting that after bringing a coworker to church for three Sunday's, that coworker had not made a decision to accept Christ yet.

I feel that this is analogous to Farmville. Farmville is a ridiculously popular (for no reason in my opinion) game on Facebook where one can manage a virtual farm and raise crops. I'm sure its as thrilling as it sounds. However, it is hyper successful due to the fact that it constantly rewards players with a series of achievements that they can illustrate to their friends via incessant postings on how many stupid chickens they kicked out of their corn that day. Hurray!

People have even rearranged their sleep schedules to make sure their crops are getting watered when they need to be, and they check in on their neighbors farms to get more points. Ultimately, what has this game brought them?

They are not ever going to be real farmers, but they get to "reap the benefits" of a virtual farm in a fraction of the time a real-life growing season would take. I think sometimes we look for this in evangelism. We plant a spiritual seed and expect to see immediate results.

This is despite the fact that the Bible clearly tells us that one man may reap what another sows and that there are clearly people who invest into someones life and never see any "results" from it as the harvest will not come till after that person is through.

I also think that this may in fact hamper our desire to even attempt to plant a seed. Afterall, who wants to put in work if we can't see any results? We crave those little "achievements". But I'd propose that it is actually easier to scatter seed than to reap in the harvest.

I challenge myself, and each of you, to scatter as much seed as possible. If you get to reap, or water, or get punched in the face, great! But if we scatter as much seed as possible, we're doing our jobs! Also, if you see any chickens in my corn, feel free to kick them out.... or make nuggets out of them.

Amazed by God recently?

Last Friday the Catholic Church celebrated the Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord (or Feast of the Annunciation). For those non-Catholics among us (I assume that's all but me) that aren't quite up to speed on their Catholic feast days, I will explain. This is the day where the Church celebrates the announcement made by the the angel Gabriel to a young Jewish girl in Nazareth that she would become pregnant with the Word, that the Holy Spirit would come upon her to conceive, that the long-awaited Messiah was finally coming, that God of the universe would take on our flesh. Pretty big deal in the course of history.

Why last Friday? Because its March 25th. Think ahead 9 months...what's the date? December 25th. Christmas. The Incarnation. (Yes, of course Jesus was the perfect pregnancy lasting exactly 9 months, or so the Church celebrates).

As with all feast days involving Mary or any other saint, none are about the people themselves, rather they point to God. Yes, Mary's "yes" was a big deal and her faithfulness a model for us to follow. But the bigger reason the Church celebrates this day is that its the moment when Love decided to come to earth, to live in our shoes, to humble himself for our sake. It also points to the amazing reality that God used humanity in his plan of salvation; that he uses me and you in the plan of salvation for others. Unreal. I'm always humbled by that.

All that aside, my wife and I have been through some trying times over the last year plus. Long story short, having been married 4.5 years and desiring a family, we've been unable to conceive. God put a passion for adoption on our hearts through this period. Then last fall a God-orchestrated opportunity came about and we pursued and adopted our son, only to have him taken back by the birth mother after about a week.


It was obviously a difficult experience, and we've learned and healed a bit since then. You always ask the "why me" question in the midst of suffering. Where was God and his plan and his love in that moment? The answer is not that God doesn't love me, but that he loves everyone. For our faithfulness in times of suffering give others strength, it bears witness. And God's plan is not to give us our desires, but for our salvation, that's his ultimate goal.

Then last night the Holy Spirit gave me another word. In saying goodbye to our son (Josiah) before we gave him back to his birth mother, we prayed over him and I baptized him (we can talk apologetics in another post). And last night it hit me that in some weird way, God affirmed my wife and I through the experience by saying, "I wanted you to be parents to Josiah even if you'd have to give him away, because I know you will lean on each other and me in tough times, and I trust your faithfulness." But it was never about us being parents to our son. It was about God using the week that we had with Josiah to culminate in baptizing him, so that he could be GOD'S SON.

God used us, not for Josiah to be our son, but for him to be God's son, for he is baptized into God's family now. That doesn't mean he's assured salvation, but no matter which way his birth mother goes, which way his family goes, Josiah is under the grace of God.

We are spiritual parents to him now. It was never about us and our desires, but God using us to particpate in his plan of salvation. How humbling! That God would use us in our humanity to help others know the Divine. The Annunciation of the Lord lived out. That is what God desires for us, for everyone...salvation.

To realize that hard as the experience was, God would use us as parents for just one week, not to fulfill our desire for family, but to adopt Josiah into HIS family...the whole thought of it...just blows me away. Praise God!

We are never called to match our intellectual ability to God's divine plan. And that means we may never understand how he works, but praise God that his plans are so much bigger than we could ever imagine.

What if...

What if you actually believed that God's dream for you and your dream for yourself were the same? I mean believed in it so much that you acted on it, took the first step towards achieving it.

Does having a dream and not pursuing it equate to being a poor steward of the gifts and talents that God entrusted you with?

What if you really did rely on Him for your daily bread? No savings accounts, no 401ks or IRAs. Maybe even no mortgage payment; or at least a MUCH smaller house and payment. Think about that for a second....what if you were literally broke at the end of each day, having provided for your family and used every cent of the remainder doing God's work?

What if the idea of "Go-ers" and "Senders" is just a logical way to rationalize not having to put yourself in an uncomfortable position? Maybe even take that a step further...what if "Senders" is just a politically correct way of saying, "They lacked the faith to take action."?

What if you took money out of the list of decision-making criteria? How many dreams/ideas/solutions/inventions/etc. die on the drawing board because of financial decisions? What if you were to say, "OK, here is what I'm going to do. Now how can I make it work financially?"

I'd love to know what you guys think about this, and feel free to ask more questions of your own. I'm certainly not pointing any fingers here at all, but for the most part, American Christian lives look like more polite versions of American non-Christian lives. I'm wondering if He has more for us. Thoughts?

Decisions

Note: I'm aware that I am taking this verse slightly out of context. However, the principle remains the same and is applicable in other areas of life.

Romans 14:23 "...and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

Your 20's are filled with tons of decisions, some that you expected but feel unprepared to make, and others that you had no idea you would even encounter. My generation (I'm 28) seems to have a particularly hard time making decisions. Maybe that's because we are spoiled, or lazy, or have too many options to choose from. Cases could be made for all of the aforementioned, but I'm beginning to believe that none of those are it.

I think this generation is more socially aware. We recognize hurt and injustice in the world and want to do something about it, but there seems to be a HUGE chasm between where we are and where we want to be. It would appear that the lion's share of indecisiveness comes in discovering a way to bridge that gap without settling in comfortably on the "knowledge without action" side. Which bring us to Romans 11.

When I first read that verse this morning I was bummed. I have huge plans and dreams, and about 75% of the time I fully believe that God will come through because my dreams and visions are from Him. But then 25% of the time I doubt that He will because it all seems so impossible, and according to Romans those doubts are sinful. Just what I needed to start my day, the awareness of yet another habitual sin.

But then I looked at it from the other end. The opposite of sin is God and His will, mercy, love, etc. So then if you're acting in accordance with the Bible and the Spirit, and your actions come through faith, then you are in accordance with God. What at first appeared restrictive is actually really freeing.

The sin isn't that we try something in life even though we're not sure if God is "calling" us to it or not, the sin is actually not having faith that God will get us across the chasm no matter which route we choose to take! It's time to stop waiting for some divine confirmation. Test the scriptures, say Amen, and make a plan!

Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus

We’ve all heard that familiar phrase based on the best-selling book. It is clear than men and women are different, so different in fact that the author of the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus” proposes we are from two different worlds entirely!

Hyperbole aside, the differences between the sexes, emotionally and spiritually, were brought to the forefront of my mind recently with a situation going on in my family. I’ve already discussed this with Matt A., and received some solid understanding and truth, but I’m opening the floor a little to the anti-bloggers.

Here is the deal:

We’re in the process of an international adoption. We know this is God’s will for our lives. We view adoption as a form of international mission work and both of our hearts yearn to fulfill this desire God has placed in us through the adoption of a baby boy. We initially started the search for our son in Ukraine. We were drawn to Ukraine because we were told it had an abundance of boys, it was a very desolate and hopeless place for orphans, and it had a unique adoption structure. Ukraine has strict rules against working with adoption agencies and is not a Hague country, as such, it is much cheaper to adopt from there than many other countries in and around the same area.

Logically, it made sense, because it met my self-imposed time frame, cost, and ease of completion requirements.


Months into the process, the country came under some political turmoil and the threat of closing to international adoption to become a Hague country loomed over us. Word spread throughout Ukrainian adoption message boards we subscribed to that the country was in fact closing. We decided to look elsewhere before we became too invested in the process. After all, the news we received was that the Church in Ukraine was helping to support a large amount of the orphans there… this created a diminishing “mission field” which gave us the extra push we needed to switch our focus to a new country.

We stumbled into Russian adoption next. Why? Because it is just as desolate for orphans, just as many boys, and there was a region in Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, which would actually let us follow the same exact process Ukraine had via an “independent” adoption. Granted, we would need help, and we began the process of getting an agency to help us through this.

Logically, it made sense to pursue this, the cost would be only a little bit extra, the time frame still manageable, and my wife was darn good at paperwork so the ease of completion factor was pretty good too.

Clearly this must have been God’s will for us, right? So we started sprinting toward this goal. We had all documentation, plane tickets, visas, and even our bags packed 3 weeks ahead of time. The count down was on. Two weeks to go and we hear, again, the region we’re looking at going to is shutting down thanks to a terrible parent who went on Dr. Phil and showed the world how she poured hot sauce down her adopted Russian child’s throat as punishment.

Our sprint skidded to a halt. We had to back up and make some decisions. Why did this happen if it was God’s will? Were we doing something wrong? What do we need to change to make this happen?

Logically, it made sense that the next step would be to determine how much damage we’ve taken. What money had we actually lost due to this change? What could we do to retain some of the money? Are all regions of Russia closed or just this one? Will our paperwork transfer? Do we need to look at other countries? Once all of these questions were answered we could make a rational choice as to how to proceed…..

This is where my wife and I diverged.

At each step in this process, I felt like we had made the rational, logical choice. Did I have emotions invested into this process? Absolutely. I wanted to be a father. But, if the process took 3 or 6 months longer, it didn’t bother me. I knew that God had our son waiting for us, and in His time He would make this happen.

My wife, on the other hand, took it hard. This was the second time she was moving backwards from getting her son. She invested her emotions more and more at each stage of this lengthy process. We had finished our son’s nursery room, purchased cribs and clothes, and already had all of his bath toys. She was ready for our son to be home. Getting the news about our region in Russia closing was hard on her. However, unlike me, she viewed the closing of that region not as a sign to back up and re-strategize, but to pray harder and prepare for God to do big things.

She didn’t want to cancel the plane tickets to recoup any losses early; she didn’t want to unpack our bags so we can wear those clothes. She didn’t want to look at other options or countries; she didn’t want to wait for a better time. My wife fully believed that with the faith of a mustard seed, God would work it out to get us to Russia in the same time frame or better. She started looking at all of the varying options for other regions and found out, with the help of the agency, that there was a potential to turn in our adoption dossier by hand in Moscow, running the risk that we could be designated a child from any region in Russia that was accepting adoptions. This scared our adoption agency representative because she doesn’t have contacts in every region of Russia and we’d essentially be flying blind. My wife, though, new God could and would work it out.

So my questions are these:

- Clearly guys think more logically and girls think with more emotion, but in this situation does my wife’s faith that God will take care of it outweigh my faith that God will handle it no matter the situation?

- Did I demonstrate a lack of faith that God can do big things?

- Did we overlook a purposely closed door and try to knock the closed door off its hinges?

- As leader of my household, I found myself debating about how to pause and approach the situation logically or if I run full steam with my wife who still sees us leaving in the same time frame, how do you make that choice?

- I clearly don’t want to discount her faith, perhaps she sees what I cannot, how do you balance that in a marriage?

- Why would God create a pairing with such disparate ways of viewing things?

- What happens when a married couple prays for the same outcome but different methods?

- Am I not leading my household as God intended if I let my wife pursue a direction if I feel differently?

The Heart of the Matter....

James 1: 19-20-" My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, 20 because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

NCLEX Student Status: Fail. The words hit me like an uppercut from Kimbo Slice. My heart drops into my stomach and leaves a crater where my guts used to be. Fail? No way- I've worked too hard to fail-This can't be right. But on the screen, just as defiant as it wants to be, that 4-letter F word- FAIL. WAIT- NO! ALL THOSE QUESTIONS! ALL THAT TIME! FOR THIS? Slowly, the feeling that I know all too well begins to flood my senses: Anger. My heart sprints, and my palms are sweaty. NO, PLEASE, it was supposed to be different this time- I was supposed to PASS!

I think at some level, everybody deals with anger. But when it comes to guys in general, it seems that we can just blow up at the drop of a hat. Or maybe this is just me. I have had a long love/hate relationship with my friend/nemesis Anger-I hate what I do when he is around, but I have caught myself loving how it makes me feel and especially how people react when I am angry.

Take the scenario from the paragraph above- I just found out yesterday that I didn't pass my boards for Nursing. I am devastated to say the least. I've have been working so hard to do the best that I could, and I failed. Now, instead of looking to the next thing that I had to do yesterday, I decided to stew. My wife (who is an awesome Godly woman) asked me the most important question I had thought about all day-"Michael, have You talked to God about it?"

In my heart of hearts, I KNEW that prayer was the best thing for me to do, but some part of me just wanted to be upset.mad. Angry. And the truth of the matter is not that I didn't want to talk to God because I was upset at failing my boards, I was upset because my proud and selfish heart was wounded, and I didn't want to bring that to my Dad. I was more worried about how everyone would look at me for failing my boards, and how I was going to save face, instead of being worried about how God can change my heart so the next time I feel let down or disappointed, I don't point a finger to the sky saying, "What? Did you forget about me?!"

"Because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires."

Dag, Dad. I need You. Because this ebb and flow anger is going to be the end of me. Please change my heart- or could you just give me a fresh new heart that is slow to anger, and has deep desires to please You? I don't know what this setback means right now, but Lord, could you show me? Lead me? Forgive me for being so angry.

a window into our hearts

A few weeks after Campbell had finished the new chapel on campus there was a little bit of fuss concerning how distracting the clear windows were during worship. Outside you could plainly see students, their hustle and bustle to class, guys skateboarding and throwing footballs.

Though I have no way of knowing the actual architectural intent, I for one am glad those windows are see through. Too long has the Church hidden behind its stained glass, hiding behind iconic pictures of the God-Man who in reality spent just as much time outside the temple than in. We have turned the church into an impenetrable stronghold, one where insiders feels safe and comfortable and outsiders seem timid to encroach upon. Instead of being a lighthouse on a hill we have become like a young boy playing with a flashlight in his tent.

I am reminded of the song many of us learned growing up which goes, "This little light of mine, I'm going to hide behind some stained glass, my race, my socio-economic status, the way we've always done it, and definitely my comfort." As complex as those lyrics sound, it doesn't seem long for even the youngest of children to learn the song well. Obviously that isn't how the lyrics really go, but listen to the real ones. "This little light of mine, I'm going to let it shine." Even in our kids' music we imply that it is my light, my Church, my Gospel, my Jesus, My God... and not yours. Matthew 5:14-16 says:

¹⁴ “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

See that "you" at the beginning of verse 14, and the "your" in verse 16? In the greek these are both plural, not singular. So it's not "This little light of mine" which implies a possessive singular, but it's "This little light of ours." Ours as in the Church's... and light as in Jesus... and we must let Him shine.

Instead of stained glass, Campbell's new chapel has clear windows. Clear windows that seemingly distract, but actually focus us on God's mission and therefore our own. As we look through the windows of our church and see people, and consequently can be seen by those people, we remember that Church is not about us, it's about our God. Our God is about bringing outsiders in, not keeping insiders comfortable.

How about we let our Light shine?

Running Cows and Jesus

If you think about it, how you feel about what you pay for an item really is based on how you feel about the item.

6 bucks for a steak, good deal. 6 bucks for a pair of shoes, super deal. 6 bucks for a running cow, super good deal. See how this works?

What we give up to get something is based on what we feel that something is worth.

If we truly understood the blessings, the love, the mercy, the Life that God is willing to give us if we believe in His Son, then the amount we are willing to pay to get that would be all that we had!

How can we not give up our lives to get God?

If we are not willing to "pay" that much, then we don't really understand what we are getting in return.

What is He worth to you?

scared of scripture

I read the Bible a lot.

Actually, what I should say is that I read the Bible a lot to my three year old son, Carson. At the very minimum, Carson and I read multiple chapters of The Jesus Storybook Bible or the Big Picture Story Bible before every nap and each night before bed. He loves it. "Just one more story Dada?!" he'll proclaim at the conclusion of every chapter regardless of how many we have just read.

But, there is one part of scripture that he does not like - and by "not like" I mean is deathly afraid of. His little body starts to shake with fear as we are finishing the chapter before it. "Not this one Dada, not this one." There have been multiple times that instead of skipping it, I have tried to calm him reminding him that God is our courage, and that He will always protect us; but his fear is not assuaged and the trembling Carson demands we move past this part of God's story.

Can you guess which part of the Bible he is afraid of? No, it's not the crucifixion, or the resurrection for that matter. He's not scared of Daniel's lions, or David's giant, or even Jonah's whale. "It's a fish Dada, not a whale." Thanks Carson. The part of scripture that scares my son to the point of mortal trembling is not the storms, shipwrecks, snakes or Pharaoh, but is Judas and Gethsemane.

It's not that Jesus gives himself up to die that is frightening, or even that it is a horrible tortured death on a cross. What is scary and revolting and causes my tiny son to tremble, is that we put him there. Our sin, our deceit, our rebellion betrayed the One who loves us. True, it was Judas who was paid for the betrayal, but was it so different when Peter, James, and John traded in Jesus for a little bit of sleep in the garden? Is it different it when we trade Jesus for a second lustful glance at a woman in the parking lot, or just one more little white lie to our spouse, parents, or boss? No. Our sin, our deceit, our rebellion.

If we could only understand, as Carson does, that the Jesus' death on the cross is not the scary or sad part of scripture, but is the victory! What is scary is not the cross, but what, or should I say who, put Him there.

The spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again;
rather, the spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship.
Romans 8:15

the antiblog

A few years ago I definitely ripped Catherine for starting her blog.

"Do you really think anyone is going to read it, or really even cares what is going on in our life?

Five years and 200-300 views per day later, I still maintain my rightness and that no one really cares... they just like the pictures of Carson and Mary Grace. Therefore, considering my aversion to blogging in general, I decided to create Adopted to Sonship, the antiblog. (yeah that's right, I definitely just linked to my blog, from my blog. take that.)

"Umm... Matt your antiblog is a blog. How is it any different?" I'm so glad you asked. Adopted to Sonship is an antiblog primarily because of the outright admission of the following:

• No, we do not think anyone is actually going to read this... and that's cool.
  
• No, we do not think anyone cares about what is going on in our lives... also something we're totally fine with.
  

"...and who exactly is this 'we' you are talking about?"

Adopted to Sonship is an ongoing dialogue between Christian brothers who have different backgrounds, personalities, denominations and even beliefs, but are unified together in our common hope and redemption that is Jesus Christ. Intending to encourage and build one another up, in both the knowledge of, and living in the Gospel, the following is our journey towards what it means to be an authentic male Christian.

Let the antiblogging begin.