2010: A Year in Reflection

Without writing a book, I will simply base this post on Proverbs 13:12 "Not getting what you want can make you feel sick, but a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree."

I look at this past year and thank God for all that He has given me and hasn't given me. I think that we can all be too quick to focus on what we didn't get or what didn't go right for us, but we rarely look at what did go right. I think that this is built into us.

I get to reflect and see how God helped launch the first multi-site campus of Vineyard Community Church and how He used me and my wife to do it. I see how my wife got to quit her job to stay home and be with our kids. I see all the meaningful relationships that have been created this year in my life and those around me. I see how I have started a Bible reading plan and I am 160 days into it with out missing a reading. There are so many more positive things that I can reflect on but it would take forever. I choose to focus on the good rather than on what could make me "sick".

God is good and He is that life-giving tree. I am so thankful that I serve a God who loves me and chooses to extend grace and mercy to me despite my shortcomings. So as I prepare for this new year and I make my resolutions, whether they are physical, emotional, or spiritual, I will reflect on what truly gives me life. And that is Jesus.

My Modern Day Proverbs

Now I don't claim to be the wisest man in the world. That title belonged and will always belong to King Solomon (1 Kings 3:12). But while reading the Proverbs I was inspired to write a few myself. I hope that these words might speak to you as they did to me while I wrote them.

Let all that you do honor the Lord who has nothing but grace and mercy for you.

He has given you all you need when you need it where you need it.

The Lord might need to do more in you before He can do more through you. Not because you are a failure but rather you are a success in process.

Why question your existence? But rather question your purpose. Obviously you are alive, but for what reason.

Your hurt is not meant to keep you down, but instead it is meant for God to pick you up.

If you find yourself in a pattern of destruction, then you might want to redesign that pattern in your life. Patterns lead to paths, paths lead to an end. Which end do you want for yourself?

Faith is not living life blindly. Faith is knowing that you know that you know.

Death is the absence of life, darkness is the absence of light, evil is the absence of good, and a life not worth living is the absence of God.

Classical Music Radio Station commentary

Why is it that some of the most beautiful music is commentated by the most boring people in the whole world? No matter where in the world you listen to it, the person that begins speaking at the end of each piece of music can put you to sleep in a matter of seconds. Is it that they are not passionate about it? Is it that the music doesn't excite them? Is it a quiet reserve that prevents them from doing one of those screaming rock voices? What can it be?

Are we like that as a majority with our Christian walks? Do you find yourself in love with the most beautiful thing in the entire world, but the only thing you have to show for it is a monotone lifestyle? I think that the majority of us are guilty of this. Not because we choose to be, but because we have been told as Christians that it is the way we represent Christ. We don't want to ruffle any feathers. So after the adagios and the crescendos of our walks that excite us or bring us peace we are relegated to a very dull "and that was the Apostle Paul with a performance of his Second Corinthians Chapter two Verse three." God is more exciting than that.

Let us be more like a Howard Stern (minus the filth) or a ManCow (minus the junk) and really let people know how Christ makes us feel. He is alive which should make you feel alive. No more of this Classical Music Radio Station commentary.

To obey or not to obey? That is the question

As I continue to make my way through Deuteronomy I can't help but pick up on the theme "if you obey you will be blessed". Of course there is the opposite, "if you disobey you will be cursed". So if you obey God you will be prosperous, and if you live a life of disobedience you will experience frustration and failure. It sure seems that way sometimes. But why? How does our decision to obey or not obey affect how our life plays out? It is because the Lord has the best for us, and by choosing to obey Him it leads to the fulfillment of the promises He has made to us. When we choose not to obey we remove ourselves from the will of God and His provision. Now this is easier said than done. The reason for this is because we are human and no matter how much we know what we are to do our own wills get in the way. We think that we know better than God. The problem is we can't see the big picture. It is a matter of perspective. Place the palm of your hand directly up to your face no more than an inch a way. What do you see? A big flesh colored blur. Now pull it back about a foot or so or until it comes into perfect focus. What do you see now? Wrinkles, lines, and so much detail. God can see the big picture. He can see the details. We can't even though everything is right in front of us. This is where we need to trust God and what He tells us.

So obey His commands and we eventually will see the big picture.

God above all gods

You may have had a conversation recently with a non christian and they may have challenged your belief and the existence of God. Hopefully your faith was not shaken but rather strengthened. I say that because the god you serve is not like any other "god" in existence today. I put god in quotations, because today there are too many "gods" people have made for themselves. I am not just talking about other religions' gods, but also things that we have put in place of God.

The thing that separates the one true God from all the others is His active involvement in our lives. He is not a passive god sitting in some celestial dimension on a throne caring less if we are suffering or not. Rather He reveals Himself to us daily. It is up to us if we are looking for Him or if we even see Him.

In Deuteronomy 4, Moses is reminding the Israelites how God came down from Mt. Sinai and revealed Himself to the people. He also tells them how no other "god" has ever done that. This is true of our Father.

The question is, are you looking to your God or looking to your "god"?

Nostalgia: Not A Bad Thing

This morning, my wife found and broke out some old photos from our childhood, high school, and few years before we were married. Of course when we began looking at them a rush of memories flowed. We remembered old boyfriends/girlfriends, friends, and events in our lives that shaped us. Now there was a potential to get in emotional trouble. If we began comparing where we are with where we were and longing for those times again it could lead to discontent and dissatisfaction. It could lead to a spiral of wishing that we were somewhere else entirely. This then could lead to our questioning of God and His plans for us.

In Deuteronomy, it opens with Moses giving a speech. In this speech, he begins to give an account of what the children of Israel have been through while in the dessert. He does so in a way, that he points to God and how He has led them on their journey. He reminds the Israelites of when they were down how the Lord had delivered them. He reminds them of when they were disobedient how God corrected them. Most importantly he reminds them of where they were going. To the Promised Land.

So if you are currently in a place of nostalgia, be careful. It is okay to remember where you've been. Its not okay to dwell there and not move forward. You are where you are at for a reason and a purpose. Just remember that God has a plan for you. Ask Him and He will reveal it to you.

Hillsong, Flogging Molly, NOFX, and You

I am currently on a fast from secular music. Not because when I listen to it, does it make me do bad things. I take complete responsibility for my actions. I am doing this rather as a way to maintain my focus on God and not on the things of this world. While I said that listening to secular music does not "make" me do bad things, it does lend itself to unwholesome thoughts and a distraction from God. We are a very distracted society. Everything from music to television to billboards on the highway create daily distractions with the hope of tricking us in to buying whatever they are "selling". We are to stay focused on the Lord at all times, not just on Sundays or in our quiet time. In your conversations with friends, to driving to the store, always fix your eyes on Jesus.

The reason that I titled my blog the way I did, was for a few reasons. One, while running this morning, I listened to Hillsong. One song in particular, Tear Down the Walls. It is one of my favorite Hillsong songs. It evokes emotion every time I listen to it and breaks my spirit for the Lord. While running I was reminded of my children lifting up their voices while singing the lyrics and it just made me overjoyed that they could connect even at such a young age.

The second thing is that of Flogging Molly and NOFX. Great bands in their own right, but while listening to them, I was distracted with thoughts of the past and that of just plain nothing. The songs that I listened to didn't have explicit lyrics, but it was just the emotion and thoughts that accompanied them. Not God focused.

Now I am not saying that you shouldn't listen to these bands or other secular ones, or that I am never going to listen to them again. Rather that each individual is responsible for your relationship with God, no matter how strong or even existent it is. Don't let something as petty as music distract you from what God has for you. Don't let anything distract you from God. You will miss out on the best thing that you could ever have.

Break the Law: Pursue Christ

Is the Word of God a book by which you live your life, or something that points you towards Christ? Is it something that becomes like a law to you, or acts as a compass that leads you to a relationship with our Lord and Savior? For many of us we are like the early church in where we look more to Scripture as a "how to" rather than a "where to". What I mean by this is that we take the Word that God gave us and live by it alone. But we are missing a very simple part of the equation, JESUS!! The word of God is meant to be a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. Our "walk", pardon the pun, doesn't stop with the Bible, but rather it begins there.
In Timothy, Paul wrote to this young leader because there was false teaching going on among the leaders of the Church in Ephesus. They were teaching that the only way you could be saved was through the law. They only got it half right. The law was/is something that is given to man from God but then written, interpreted, and enforced by man. MAN!! Not God. Whenever God is not part of the equation we will fall short 100% of the time. In chapter one of 1 Timothy Paul says, "We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers–and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine" (vs. 8-10). It acts as a beacon to the lost. It is revealing and open. It opens our eyes to our sin and shows us who can restore us.

Paul says in vs. 5 that only through love with a pure heart, clear conscience, and a sincere faith can we know God. Then in vs. 14 he speaks to the fact that the grace that saves us was poured out "abundantly" with the faith and love that is in Christ. So there is the Word of God pointing to Christ. It commands us to do something and reveals to us what we should do, but it goes further and shows Christ who lives how we ought to.

So don't let it end with your reading of the Word, but rather dwell on it, meditate on it, and seek to where it is leading. Which is Christ. Once you have your sights focused on God then you will experience what the Word is saying in its fullness.

Just a thought

In I Corinthians 15 Paul is talking to the church about the end and what it all entails. A verse that stood out to me more than all the others was verse 31 where he says "I day every day- I mean that,..." That really hit me. Do I "die" every day for my Jesus? Do I continually press in regardless of my current situation? Whether I am in a season of joy and peace, or whether I am in a season of pain, sorrow, depression, addiction, whatever? This really challenged me in the fact that I cannot live for tomorrow. At least as my main motivation. I must live for today and the opportunities that Christ gives me to grow spiritually and through that growth, the furthering of His Kingdom and not mine.
I am guilty of the fact that I am not proactively pursuing Him every minute of every day. I want to. I want to be able to live like my life doesn't matter except for how I can live it for Him and His will. He is God. I am not. He is my Father, my friend.
Instead of beginning all my prayers with all that He has done for me, I should begin them with how awesome and grand He is. Praying continual reminders that He is my Healer, my Provider, my Comfort, my Salvation, my Everything. Now that might sound like I would be speaking of all that He has done for me, but I disagree. I feel that it is prioritizing Him as the first, as the one and only. He does all of those things. All I do is receive. It is like the dynamic of His grace and righteousness for us. WE CAN DO NOTHING TO EARN IT!!!! It is all through Him and from Him.
So I pray that I may begin to die daily for Him and those He has called me to serve. I don't want to live a life that from a distance looks good but rather closely examined it is a life of fulfillment and completeness.

It's Been a Long Time, I shouldn't have left you.....

"Without a dope beat to step to. Step to. Step to" Sorry. I couldn't resist repping my girl Aliyah. Anyway.....

Well it has been a while since I have written and thought that I would take some time to catch up. Especially all of you who have waited with baited breath. All 2 of you. Ha ha ha. But seriously.

The Lord has been doing a lot in me the past couple months. Some of it welcomed, most of it received reluctantly. Most recently it has been dealing with the multi site or the Norfolk Campus as I am calling it now. I have reserved the fact that the only way it is going to launch "smoothly" is by God and only God. That doesn't mean that I am to sit on my hind quarters and kick up my feet, but rather let God do His thing through me. WHEN we launch and WHEN it is successful, He will receive all of the glory. I will redirect EVERYTHING towards Him. It is not of my own power but rather by His. He is too big and I am too small. The box that I have kept Him in needs to be ripped open, cut up, and thrown into a fiery furnace. I then need to stop ordering those boxes and storing them for the next big thing. Time and time again God has proven Himself faithful.

I am reminded of Elijah and of the time after God had done miraculous things through him. He finds himself being threatened and running from Jezebel. He is in fear for his life and just runs. God takes him to a place where he calms him down and teaches him some powerful things. One is that he needs to rest. The other is that he needs to stop listening to lies and hear the truth. Next is to listen to the whisper of God's voice. I struggle with this one so much because of the chaos I create by "doing the work of God". I cause so much "noise" that I can't hear God's soft soothing voice. SLOW DOWN AND SHUT UP!!! Finally, after all is said and done I need to get back doing what I am called to do.

I think that we can all relate to Elijah. I know that I can. A lot of what happens is alluded to in my blog title. "Its been a long time, I shouldn't have left you." We get so focused, or distracted, that we lose sight of what God wants. Then before we know it, it feels like an eternity has gone by since we have had a real good God time. So we need to routinely recalibrate.

1. REST

2. TRUTH

3. QUIET

4. DO

May God bless you and keep you. Until next time.