RandomThoughts

"The Need to Be Held"

2012-01-25T08:03:00.000-08:00

Several months ago, our daughter, Anna (5 yrs. old) was crying for no noticeable reason. It was bed time so I knew, in part, it was because she was tired. I came into her room, sat on her bed and asked her what was wrong. She did not know what was wrong.

I said, "Anna, do you just need to cry?"

At that question, the dam broke and a flood of sobs spilled out. She fell into my arms and said, "Yes, Daddy, I just need to cry and I need you to just hold me."

I held my baby girl in my arms, rubbed her back, listened to her cry and told her, "Its OK, baby, you can cry as much as you need." Minutes later, we were wiping her tears and blowing her nose.

"Thank you, Daddy," she said, "I love you."

"I love you too, baby. Good night."

Sometimes we all need is to be held. Especially a child.

My son Seth (3 yrs.) has never had the same need to cry for no reason, but he also expresses a need to be held. He does so in a more assertive manner. I've noticed that by the time my day off rolls around, he is in need of some Daddy time. Usually some time on Friday, he will suddenly stop whatever he is doing and make his way over to me. If something is in my lap, he simply moves it. Then he climbs up and takes a seat. I wrap my arms around him, plant a kiss on his head and say, "I love you, bud." Then I love to hear him say, "I wove you too, Dad."

Sometimes a child just needs to be held.

The same story will go untold in Indianapolis Super Bowl weekend. While the city fills with football fans ready to enjoy the game of the year, some evil folks will be looking to make more money on this annual event than they will at any other event in the USA. Across Indianapolis, motel rooms will be stocked with children, boys and girls. The average age for underage sex is 10, but some will be as young as my daughter, Anna.

I can hear them crying out in their hotel rooms. Crying to be heard. Crying to be held. Crying to be rescued. Others have been held in this modern day slavery so long they have stopped crying. To protect their young hearts and minds from another night of disappointment, they have given up all hope of ever being set free from this hell on earth.

And so, on their behalf, Jesus cries out. Jesus said he came to "preach good news to the poor, set captives free and open the eyes of the blind" (Luke 4:18). The question is, will we his church be about the same business? Will we open our blind eyes to the 27 million of our world forced to have sex or do work as slaves? Will we not just say, "how awful", but will insist on joining Jesus in setting captives free? Will we preach good news or will our faith be nothing more than empty words in a Sunday sermon?

Women...join us at Living Hope this Saturday anytime between 6-9 PM for a WAR (Women at Risk) international party. You can purchase hand made items that children and women have made so they no longer have to be slaves.

Men...take next Wed. off work and register today for the STAND in Indianapolis. Register today at www.elivinghope.com. Last year 61 victims were rescued from the Super Bowl. What if our part could rescue more? "America's Most Wanted" TV Show will even be there to follow the efforts of the day.

Come on...if it were your child, no excuse would get in the way of you holding him or her in your arms. And I can't think of any excuse worthy of telling someone else, "I won't help you hold your child again?" How about you?

"When was the Last Time you Went Roller Skating?"

2012-01-18T06:19:00.000-08:00

Up until this past Saturday, the last time I had gone roller skating was when I was in my early teens. Its funny...the skating rink was much like I remembered it when I was a child: The same old skates. The same old signs hanging on the walls. The same disco looking lighting. And the same old fun.

It is funny how you out grow your appreciation for activities like roller skating at some point early in life, but then you reach a point when you have a renewed appreciation for things that had once become old. I suppose what made me enjoy skating all over again was because of the memories it brought up.

I remembered elementary school skate parties (life seemed so much simpler and yet so much bigger back then). I remembered watching my dad skate with his arms around my mom and being amazed at how they could skate together like that (Kimberly and I would kill ourselves in such an attempt). I remember my second cousin who use to run a skating rink in Florida and how he could do flips and spins and other amazing stunts. I remember how my Grandma skated for the first time at the urging of us grandchildren and fell and broke her tail bone (I don't know why I remember that memory as a positive one; I guess because she was willing to break her tail bone to do something fun with her grand kids). The point is, Saturday's skating experience was elevated by my past skating experiences.

The same is true in our journey with Christ. Every day, month, year, decade you walk with Christ, your present experience is elevated by your past experience.

We American Christians are so impatient...myself included...we want everything now. We want the experience of a 50 year journey with Christ in one year. It does not happen. This journey with Christ is about a daily following of him in relationship. It cannot be rushed. Too rush a relationship, is to rob from the relationship.

I think this is why when Moses asked God for his name, God answered, "I Am." God invited Moses and all of us to know him as the "I Am" right now God. Sadly many Christians only know God as "I was". Other Christians are looking for the God, "I will be". But, God says let me be the God, "I Am." Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow may not be. All that you ever have is right now. Let God be the God of right now.

What's happening this very moment in your life? Stress, happiness, sorrow, business, confusion, laughter, work, parenting, marriage, divorce, applying for medicaid...what's going on in your life right now? What if where you are right now is exactly where God wants to give you the opportunity of a life time? And what if the more I learn to walk with him as the God, "I AM," the more your present experience will be amplified by your past steps.

That is one of the reasons we make such a big deal about small groups around here. Each group gives us intentional community in which together we can experience God as "I AM" and every day I experience that I am paving the way for a deeper, richer and more mature relationship with him tomorrow.

"Sometimes God Calls Me Martha"

2012-01-11T10:56:00.000-08:00

Saturday night my mind was racing with things to do, plans to make and people to contact. As I would toss and turn in bed I would watch the clock...midnight...1 AM...2 AM...Finally, at 4 AM, after thinking of everything I could think of that needed to be thought of I was ready to go to sleep.

I prayed a prayer that I often pray, "Lord, if there is anything I need to see, hear or know, please, I give you permission to make that clear." As soon as I ended that prayer God spoke. In my heart and mind he reminded me of Jesus' conversation with two sisters in Luke 10:38-42. "Martha, Martha, you are worried and upset about many things," I heard Jesus say to me. Yes, sometimes God calls me Martha.

Like Martha, I am more comfortable being busy than sitting around "relaxing" whatever that means. Like the original Martha, I too want God to kick some people in the seat of the pants and get them busy doing something for Jesus. But, if I am not careful I, like Martha, will exchange a call to action for Christ for becoming "worried and upset about many things." That is what I heard God saying to me on Saturday night.

So, in prayer I began to focus on God calling me Martha. I began to ask him about why I was worried and upset about many things. The more I focused on that the more I seemed to become worried and upset about many more things. Then God reminded me that what Jesus said to Martha did not stop there. Jesus went on to say, "Martha, Martha you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better and it will not be taken from her." Earlier in the text it tells us that Mary was sitting at the feet of Jesus listening to him. In other words, Martha, she and me, was upset because instead of our activity bringing us to it was taking us way from sitting at the feet of Jesus.

So, I stopped and sat (actually, I laid). Next thing I knew, I was sound asleep. Jesus was right. What Mary chose was better. May be someday God will have grown me enough in him that if he calls me by a woman's name it won't be Martha.

"What's Your Word?"

2012-01-04T09:50:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine shared that this year instead of making a resolution, she had been challenged to choose a word for 2012. The purpose is to pray for God to show you a word to focus on for the year and then you let God shape you by that word.

That idea resonated with me. So, I have been asking God for a word. The word that I have come to is "Rejoice". My verse for 2012 is going to be "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Philippians 4:4). Each day, with God's help, I will turn my attention to the word "Rejoice" and ask God to teach me anything he wants me to know, see or hear about what it means to rejoice in him always.

I have to admit that I am somewhat intimidated by the word rejoice. Let's face it...if I were in a Winnie the Pooh story (Can you tell I have kids who are 5 and 3?) I would definitely be type-cast as Eor. The word rejoice is not natural to my personality, but I believe that God can so transform us that he can even change the negative points of our personality. I am not saying that by the end of the year God will make me into a Tiger who bounces around all the day, but I do think that God will grow me in the depths of the truth called "rejoice."

Its interesting how God begins to birth a truth in a person. On New Year's Eve I was driving to LH and turned on the radio. I was listening to K-99.1 and they were posing the question about New Year's resolutions. A caller said, "This year I want to stress less and appreciate more. I want to not sweat the little things so that I am less miserable. I fear that I often make it so others do not want to be around me because of the way I let things get to me."

As I heard those words, they might as well have been God's word to me. They rung true. The only difference between me and the guy on the radio was that I know that I can't change myself. I need a Savior to change me. So, this year I am going to the word "rejoice" every day and asking the Lord to change me by whatever he wants to teach me through that small but powerful word.

What's your word for 2012? I would love to hear about your word if you choose one. Happy New Year!

"The Power of an Invitation"

2011-12-21T12:21:00.000-08:00

He sat in her salon. As she was cutting his hair, the conversation turned to the topic of family. His story was not a pretty one. It was a story of brokenness and estrangement from his grown children. This normally strong and gruff man now seemed sad and small as he expressed his regrets. Tonya, then shared her story. It too was a story of estrangement from her dad, but one to which God has brought healing. She then said to the man, my husband and I would love you to spend Christmas Eve with us. She handed him an invitation. If you would like to come to worship with us, we'll even pick you up.

Bud came to me with a big smile on his face and full of praise to God. "Everybody I have put on the wreath has told me they will come to the Christmas Eve service with me." He was so excited to see God working first-hand in the lives of those he loves.

Rose said, "My friend does not go to church. I told her I would come and pick her up." Her friend said, "Yes."

Brenda used Facebook as her invitation. She invited one who said that he was not good enough to come to church. She assured him that at LH you did not need to clean up before you can come. He sent her a message back saying he would be there.

Sometimes I think we underestimate the power of a simple, but personal invitation. Even if the person we invite turns us down, the invitation still shows that we thought enough of them to invite them. Furthermore, personal invitations removes barriers that would otherwise not be overcome. Think about it...all of the people who have been invited to the Christmas Eve services would not have a reason to come with out an invitation. An invitation is not as much about a Christmas Eve service as it is about relationship. When people respond to a personal invitation out of a personal relationship with us, it opens the door to a personal relationship with Christ.

On the first Christmas, God sent an Angel to invite shepherds to come and see the Savior born in the city of David lying in a manger. The shepherds would have never have felt comfortable to go into the presence of the Savior without an invitation. But once they received the invitation and saw the Christ-child, they then went to the streets inviting others to come and see the one they had seen.

Never underestimate the power of an invitation. When we invite people to share with us in our faith journey, we do not go it alone. God is right there in the midst of that invitation because he is the one who seeks and saves that which is lost.

This week we continue praying for the names you have placed on the wreath and we invite you to keep inviting your friends and family to be with you for the Christmas Eve services.

"Holy Interruptions"

2011-12-14T12:32:00.000-08:00

I'm not a big fan of interruptions. I have a personality that appreciates schedules, order and tasks. I do not like surprises unless I have helped plan them. My idea of spontaneous is planning to do something that is different than my normal routine. (Yes, I know that you with opposite personality traits are thinking of less positive words to define what I have described, but before you voice them, please know that people in my camp have our negative words to describe you. Let's both just leave it alone :-). Needless to say, I do not typically value interruptions. However, if I am to experience anything of value during Christmas, then I must be willing to embrace interruptions as holy.

The 1st Christmas story is a litany of Holy interruptions:

Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth had settled into the twilight years, having long-since accepted they would never have children. It may not be what they planned, but by this time in life they are planning on nothing more. Suddenly, an Angel appears and interrupts their plans with God's plan--you will have a son and call him John. He will be the one who the Prophet Isaiah said would prepare the way for the Lord.

Mary is preparing for her wedding day. She has been arranged for marriage with a really good guy. She and Joseph will have a simple, uneventful, but nice life together. Suddenly, an Angel appears and announces that God has a different plan. Mary will conceive by the Holy Spirit and carry the Son of God in her womb.

Then there is Joseph and the Shepherds and the Magi all of whom experience the 1st Christ-coming as an interruption to their lives. The 1st Christmas story is all about God breaking into our world with a different plan. His plan was such an interruption that there was no room, for indifference. Either you allowed the interruption and went with God's new plan for your life or you resisted and did whatever you could to put this new plan of God to death. That is what the religious leaders of Jesus day did. They put the Interruption of God to death. But then, praise God, life interrupted death with Resurrection.

Holy Interruptions...that is the story of Christ's birth, death and resurrection. Why should I think that God would do anything different this Christmas? Will I let God interrupt my plans this Christmas with his plan? Will you?

"Untapped Power"

2011-12-07T04:42:00.000-08:00

Something weird is happening. Get this...my toaster refuses to toast without being plugged into the outlet. Yeah, I know, strange, right? The same thing with our microwave. It will not micro anything until it is plugged into the outlet. Isn't that odd? It is like all of our appliances are rebelling against us. Not one of them will go to work without electricity. You may call it a mutiny or a union strike, but from where we sit it is just down right spooky. Wait! Shhh! Why is the blender starring at me like that?

Before you organize an intervention, let me make my point. We would never expect our appliances to work without being plugged into the outlet. We understand that an appliance has now power in and of itself. It must receive power from another source if it is to carry out its designed function.

Why do we accept that reality for appliances, but not for ourselves? Why do we try to live as though we can power ourselves? Why do we live as though we do not believe that we only live out our design when we are tapped into the power of the One who designed us?

This is what we do when we make time for everything in our lives but prayer. A prayer less life is like an unplugged appliance. It has much potential, but with out power it is merely taking up space. You were made to do more than take up space. God wants you to live your life plugged into his power.

James 5:13-18 invite us to tap into the power: "13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."

I am looking for 20 people to tap into the power with me tonight at our 1st Wednesday Prayer Gathering, 7-8 PM, at LH, child care provided.

"Mountains"

2011-11-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Do you ever have one of those days when you feel like you are trying to plow through a mountain with a sandbox shovel? Man...that is how I feel today. I feel like everything I have set out to do today has turned into a mountain because of my lack of motivation and focus.

As I was thinking about feeling like I was stuck this side of a mountain, I was reminded of something Jesus said about mountains. "I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you" Matthew 17:20.

I am struck by what Jesus did NOT say would move the mountain. He did not say my strength, motivation, focus, determination or will power would move the mountain. Nor did he say if my faith is big enough, I can see the mountain move. Rather he said that if my faith is as small as a mustard seed, which is about the smallest of the smallest seeds, then I can see mountains move. The reason the size of my faith is unimportant in moving a mountain is because it is not about me, but about Him. Its is not my faith, but the one in whom I put my faith that holds the power to say to this mountain move from here to there. Its about releasing self-reliance and becoming God-dependent. Its about me coming to the point where I throw down my sandbox shovel and say, "God I can't." And then looking up and saying, "But God, I believe you can." That is when, Jesus says, you experience that "Nothing will be impossible for you." Once again, Jesus turns my thinking upside down...or may be it is right side up...when I admit what is impossible for me, then nothing is impossible for me.

What about you? Standing on the wrong side of a mountain? I guess you can try to climb it, go around it, tunnel through it or just decide to live there. Or Jesus says you can climb on his shoulders and watch mountains move.

"Wipe Your Own Behind"

2011-11-15T12:02:00.000-08:00

This a conversation I had with my three year old a while a go:

"Daddy, I am done going poopie," Seth called from the bathroom.

"That's great, Seth. Wipe your bottom, flush the toilet and wash your hands," I replied.

"I can't wipe my bottom. Daddy, can you do it?" Seth asks with the most pitiful voice he can muster.

I think to myself, "I can't blame the kid...why would he want to do the nasty business of wiping, if he has someone else willing to do the job?"

"Seth, you can do it, buddy."

"No, I don't want to. Pleeeeaaasssseee, Daddy."

"Seth, there comes a time in every big boy's life when he must learn to wipe his own behind. Today is that day for you," I said, followed by detailed instructions of which I will spare you.

The bathroom was quiet for a moment. Then I heard a flush of the toilet. Followed by a small, but very enthusiastic, "I did it, Daddy! I wiped my bottom all by myself!"

"Great, job, bud, I knew you could do it," followed by some applause and cheers on my part.

Church, there comes a time when every Follower of Jesus must wipe his or her own behind. It is called spiritual maturity. While it is much more pleasant for each of us to let other mature Followers of Jesus wipe our spiritual behinds, it is also spiritually deadly.

The Apostle Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 4:11-16. Here he offers a great encouragement to those who are willing to grow up in their faith:

"11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work."

I am thankful that you, my brothers and sister of Living Hope are willing to grow up in your faith. I was sharing in Living Hope 101 on Sunday that about a year ago a gentleman asked, "What are the perks of membership at Living Hope?" I am so glad he asked that tongue-in-cheek question. It has allowed me to directly state why we value membership at Living Hope.

Membership at Living Hope has only one perk and that is death. When you become a member of Living Hope you are making a commitment to die with us.

The members of Living Hope are committed to dying in being real. "Confess your sins one to another and you will be healed," James 5:16. To risk that kind of vulnerability requires a death to pride, fear and personal preference.

The members of Living Hope are committed to dying in being transformed. Romans 12:1-2 says, "Present you bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--which is your spiritual worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." Giving your whole self to God so that he might change you from the inside out from now until the day you see him face to face requires a death. It requires a death to justification of sin and rationalization of selfishness.

The members of Living Hope are committed to dying in being connected. Romans 12:15 says, "Rejoice with those who rejoice and mourn with those who mourn." Connecting with the Body of Christ requires a death to expecting the Body to connect with me before I will connect to it. It is your and my responsibility to take the effort it requires to connect and stay connected. It requires a death to the lie that I can grow in my faith as a solo Christian.

The members of Living Hope are committed to dying in being poured out. In Matthew 25 Jesus makes it clear that one day we will be judged based upon whether or not we fed, clothed, cared for, visited the "least of these brothers and sister of mine." Jesus makes it clear that if we are unwilling to die in giving our time, money and effort to those in need, then we will one day die forever. We do not serve others to save ourselves, but if we are saved then we will serve those in need in following the example of our Master, Jesus Christ.

This Sunday we will welcome 12 new members who are willing to accept the only perk to membership we offer and that is death in being real, transformed, connected and poured out. I want to thank all of our members who faithfully live up to the commitment you made to dieing with us. If we ever reach a point in our faith in which we are unwilling to die in being real, transformed, connected and poured out, then we are nothing but dead weight to the Body of Christ that needs to be cut off.

So, thank you for being church that does not expect any one else to wipe your behind. "Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ" Ephesians 4:15.

"Making Leaves Fall"

2011-11-09T04:56:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, when we were taking a walk, we passed a lady who was pulling the leaves off of a tree in her yard. Apparently, the leaves were not falling fast enough for her. I assume she wanted to be done with raking. So, she figured, yesterday was the last day she would rake even if it meant her hand pulling every remaining leaf off of her tree. Seeing her make the leaves fall faster, made me laugh, shake my head and say, "What's the hurry?"

Of course, anyone could ask me the same question. Why do I tend to treat my kids bath time like a race? I often use the words, "Hurry up and get your clothes off so we can get you bath so you can have a snack before bed time." When I read books, I am a notorious skimmer and even skipper as I constantly look for what I deem important in a book. When I watch TV, I am a flipper...I watch 2 or 3 shows at the same time...flipping back and forth...drives Kimberly crazy. I have even been known to spend more time thinking about what needs to be done tomorrow, than appreciating today. I too have a tendency to try to make leaves fall faster. Any body else out there relate?

The question is why? Why do we try to make leaves fall faster? Why do we rush through today? Why do we focus on tomorrow before it is here? Why? So we can get to our casket sooner? I mean, really, why do we do this? What is our hurry? All we have is today and we are pulling leaves off the trees of life trying to make life pass more quickly? Are we crazy?

King Solomon was considered the wisest man in the world and yet he reflected on his life and realized that trying to make leaves fall faster makes life meaningless. He concluded that rather than make leaves fall faster, the one who lives with meaning is the one who comes to accept that,

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw a way, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace" Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

In this poem, Solomon reveals great wisdom from hard, learned experience. Rather than rush through the good or bad of life, take the time to walk through it all, learning from it all everything that one needs to live a well, meaning-filled life. Solomon is saying, "If we are not careful, we will try to make leaves fall faster and miss how good the good of life can be or we miss how beneficial, albeit painful, the difficulties of life can be."

This is my prayer for you and me today: "Father, help me to trust you enough to let the leaves fall at their own pace. Shape me in your contentment so that I may be able to appreciate the beauty of this life until the last leaf falls. Shape me in peace so that I may be able learn from every mess life gives me to rake up. But whatever, happens, Lord, please give me the wisdom not to make leaves fall faster, because life goes fast enough as it is. Thank you for the gift of today. Whatever it holds...positive or negative, in and through your love I can discover value and meaning."

"Today"

2011-11-02T04:54:00.000-07:00

"This is the day the day the Lord has made let us rejoice and be glad in it," Psalm 118:24.

This is the first Bible verse we taught our children. Just about every morning we say it together because it reminds us of some important things about this day we call today.

"This is the day." Yesterday is gone. For good or bad, what happened yesterday is now part of the past. Tomorrow may or may not be. I must be careful not to be so focused on what is to come that I miss what is come. Will I live in this day?

"The Lord has made." Today is a gift from God. No matter what will or will not happen today, this day holds within it something that God wants me to see, hear or know from him. Even the worst of today need not be a waste when we see it in the hands of the one who promises to take all things and make them good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Ro. 8:28). Will I approach this day as a gift?

"Let us." It does not say, "Let me." This idea of embracing today as a gift from God is not something we are to do alone, but something we as Followers of Christ are to do together. In the context of real Christian community we find accountability, encouragement, challenge and support to make a choice to live this day as a gift from God. If we are struggling, then the question we are asked to confront is, are we going it alone or are we walking, intentionally and openly with other Followers of Christ?

"Rejoice and be glad." This is not a suggestion, but a command. Our culture lies to us and says we cannot do what we do not feel. The Bible reveals the truth our culture does not what us to hear. The truth is sometimes the only way to feel anything is to first act. Action invites feeling. If I will choose to rejoice, I can expect to then be glad. Will I make a choice to rejoice whether I feel like it or not?

"In it." In what? Today. If today presents you the mundane or the insane, celebration or tribulation...the "it" of today is not the determining factor of the value of your today. Rather the one who gave you this day is the one in whom you find value regardless of what "it" this day is made. The one whose love is the same yesterday, today and forever, is the one from whom we find a gift of love every day for which we have reason to rejoice and be glad.

Perhaps you say, "Wow! Chad, must be having a good day to write such words." The truth is this is my annual Random Thoughts dedicated to those who struggle with seasonal depression. I have once again entered into this time of seasonal blues. I will continue to watch my eating, exercise daily and take some vitamin supplements. However, with all that I must put my focus where this Psalm commands. My focus once again this year, during this time, with this struggle, must be on one...HIM...the one who gave me this day and gave gave me others with whom to walk through this day. And because He gave me this day it means there is a gift to unwrap which means I have reason to rejoice and be glad in it.

Good Medicine

2011-10-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Our three year old son, Seth, often requests me to sing "Twinkle Little Star" to him at bed time. The reason he asks me to sing it is because I can never remember the lyrics. Rather than try to remember, I simply make up words to the song that are silly.

The other night, I was doing this and Seth giggled so hard I thought he might pee himself. His giggling then made me laugh. Then he asked me to sing again, so I made up another silly line and he about fell off the bed in laughter. Then he saw me laughing and decided to get in on the action. He made up a silly line to the song, which made me laugh out loud. We just laid there in his bed and belly-laughed for a good 5 minutes. When I walked out of his room, he shouted, "I Wove you, dad." "I love you, too," I said back.

As I closed his door, I said, "Thank you, Father." I have no doubt that my Father in heaven used my son to lift me up. You see it had been one of those days all day long. I was feeling discouraged and beaten up by some circumstances. Through a silly song with my son, God gave me exactly the medicine I needed. It is the medicine the Bible talks about in Proverbs: "A cheerful heart is good medicine." How true? A cheerful heart allows you to release stress, see things from a fresh perspective and to be reminded of all you have for which to be thankful.

That is one of the reasons I am so excited for this Sunday's celebration! It will be good medicine to rejoice with parents and help them bless their children. It will be good medicine to clap and cheer with brothers and sisters in Christ who will share their fresh stories of God's love and life-change. It will be good medicine to share a meal together and know that by eating some chili or PB&J we will be helping our teens serve Native Americans in need. It will be good medicine to hear the laughter of children as they play in bouncers, have their faces painted and play games. It will be a day of good medicine!

I don't know about you, but I could use some good medicine like that. Who do you know that could use a dose of that? Invite them to join you. Who knows, it may just save their life.

"Do you Believe what you Believe?"

2011-10-19T15:05:00.000-07:00

This week, I was writing in my prayer journal. It was the start of a day that had a somewhat stressful looking to-do list. I was already beginning to feel the weight and anxiety. I simply wrote, "Father, I need you to do what I can't today."

No sooner had I penned those words, then I heard this scripture in my mind, "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world."

Then a question entered my mind. "Do you believe that?"

"Yes," I wrote, "I believe that you are greater than anything I will face today."

"Do you really believe that?"

"Yes, I really believe that you are greater."

"Will you live like you believe that?"

I paused. I had to think about that. Now, God was asking this not just to be a verse I have memorized, but a truth by which I would live. What does it mean to live like "Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world"?

It means that I will face the day with hope rather than dread. It means I will look away form the negative what ifs and worries and looks to the God for whom nothing is impossible. It means I choose to rejoice to in the day God has given me knowing that my security is in him and not in what did or did not happen that day. It means I choose to put my faith in what God can do rather than what I or others can do. It means I choose to find my worth in him and not in what I accomplish.

It means I have to figure out if I believe what I believe? Do you believe what you believe?

"Failure Isn't Final"

2011-10-12T15:54:00.000-07:00

The people of Israel wanted a king like all the other nations had. The prophet Samuel warned the people that they did not want a king. A king would tax them, take their land and force them to serve him, warned Samuel. But the people insisted and so God told Samuel to give them what they wanted. God even told Samuel who to choose as the first king of Israel; a man named Saul.

Saul started out serving God as king, but ended up serving himself. It got so bad that God rejected Saul as king. It is at this point in the story that we pick up in 1 Samuel 16:1, "God addressed Samuel:'So, how long are you going to mope over Saul? You know I've rejected him as king over Israel, Fill your flask with anointing oil and get going. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I've spotted the very king I want among his sons."

Samuel was moping over the failure. He had done what God told him to do and it it failed. Saul had a free will. His will led him to act contrary to God's will. The "King Saul plan" failed and Samuel was sick over it.

Been there? I have. Just because we do what God asks of us does not mean we will reap success. Sometimes we can be doing everything right and yet still nothing goes right. Some people (we call them Fundamentalists in theological terms) are offended by this. They back peddle and say in order for God to be sovereign he has to determine all that happens in this world--the good and the bad. The truth is other world religions believe this about their God, but we don't. We believe that God has a will, but that our will can divert or detour God's will. That is what Samuel was experiencing as he mourned the failed "king Saul plan".

But God said, enough will the moping, "get going." There is a time to mourn the failure and a time to get up and get going. Just because the will of people can divert and detour God's will does not mean God cannot redeem and reroute all things, even failures, back in line with his good and perfect will. Now that is the power of sovereignty--God allowing free will to ruin his plan and yet God being able to use even what we have ruined to accomplish his will.

I wonder if anyone reading this needs permission to quit mopping and get moving forward from failure. I can relate to that? How about you? The message of God to Samuel and to us is the same, failure is never final where we let God give us permission to quit moping and get going!

Well, enough of this...I am going to get going...

PS I want to thank Dr. Doug Van Nest for sharing these thoughts with a group of pastors today. I know God used it to speak to me.

"Blessed are the merciful..."

2011-09-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

This Sunday, through your actions during our "Don't Go to Church, be the Church Day," you will preach the message on Jesus' 5th beatitude: "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."

Jesus explains what is meant by this beatitude in the story he shares found in Matthew 18:21-35:

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”

22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.[a]

23 “Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[b] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.

26 “At this the servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ 27 The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.

28 “But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins.[c] He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.

29 “His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.’

30 “But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were outraged and went and told their master everything that had happened.

32 “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

35 “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”

Those who do not show mercy have either never asked for forgiveness and so have not experienced mercy or they have forgotten all the times God and others have shown them mercy and so in their forgetfulness they do not extend mercy to others.

Mercy is not giving one what they deserve. That is called justice. Mercy is about being offered forgiveness and love even though you do not deserve it.

My wife, my kids, my friends and above all else my God have shown me mercy of which I have no right to claim, but for which I am eternally grateful. In view of the mercy I have been shown, how can I not offer mercy to others?

Sunday morning you will be participants in mercy. Whether what you give is appreciated or in your opinion deserved, give out of a heart of love. As you work along one another perhaps someone will say or do something that rubs you the wrong way, instead of taking offense make a choice to show him or her mercy.

As you choose to act out of a heart of mercy, this Sunday will turn into one of the most meaningful worship experiences you have ever experienced and you will understand why Jesus said "Blessed are the merciful..."

Thank you for being the church!

"One Slow Bagel"

2011-09-21T11:10:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, I had a breakfast meeting at Tim Horton's. I meet at this particular Tim Horton's regularly and have come to know the owner on a first name basis. I always compliment him on how smoothly his team handles the crowds that pull through the restaurant in the morning. However, this Tuesday I just kept my comments to my self because there was nothing smooth happening.

I was there when the problem occurred. Right after my order a new trainee started working the bagel station. Apparently, the newbie got the order wrong. Then in trying to figure out was wrong and make the order right, he fell several orders behind. Then in trying to catch up he messed up more orders causing him to fall farther behind. I felt for him.

Actually, I can do more than feel for him, I can relate. It is very easy in life to mess up, fall behind and before you know what has happened stuff has piled up higher than you feel like you can dig your way out. Do I need to make up examples or can you insert your own? I know i can insert my own. Whether it is in relationships, finances, health, spiritual vitality...all it takes is a little mess up and the next thing you know stuff starts piling up fast.

The look of panic on the poor guys face made me want to climb over the counter and try to help. Fortunately, the owner stepped up. He did not yell or criticize, he simply started helping the new guy out. Did the new guy say, "No, I got this" and refuse the help? No way! With a look of great relief, he let the owner help him.

Will we humble ourselves and let God help us through others? Isn't that what James 5:16 is all about. I have mentioned Scripture enough that by now, you probably know what it is. If not, I encourage you to revisit it. Come on...what are you waiting on...stuff is piling up this minute and help is available in James 5:16.

"Spinning"

2011-09-14T04:45:00.000-07:00

Our kids love rides that spin. We climb in, sit in the circle shaped capsule and then it is, "Faster, Daddy, spin us faster!" With all my strength, I spin us round and round as Anna and Seth scream and giggle in enjoyment.

There is only one problem...these rides make me sick. Seeing the world spinning faster than my eyes can keep up with makes my stomach feel like I have chugged a gallon of sour milk and my head feels like someone is hitting it with a hammer. However, since this is my kids favorite ride I had to figure out a way to enjoy the ride with them while not becoming sick for the rest of the day.

Of course, the solution was simple: I can ride this ride, spin as fast as possible and not get sick, by simply keeping my eyes fixed on what is inside the ride and avoiding, at all costs, even peeking at what is spinning outside.

I found the same to be true on this ride we call life. I don't know about you, but most of the time I feel like life is spinning faster and faster than with which I can keep up.

When you look outside and see life spinning faster than you can focus on it is easy to become overwhelmed, discouraged and just ...well... get sick. I am convinced the fast speed spin of our daily lives is why so many of us experience the consequences of spiritual, emotional and physical illness. We have spun ourselves into a whirlwind that is impossible to keep up with and it literally makes us sick in one way or the other.

So, what do we do? Some decide to simply get off the ride. These folks shut down spiritually, emotionally or physically. They can't keep up, so they figure the only way to survive its to get off the ride. However, this option back fires. Instead of saving us, when we shut down, it actually kills us.

How many relationships have been killed because one or both people have gotten off the ride and simply shut down? How many people have fallen into complete financial ruin simply because it was less overwhelming to do nothing with their failing finances than to try to do something? How many people have invited otherwise preventable health problems simply because they decided to stop taking care of their bodies and let whatever happens happens? How many people have gotten distracted by the things of this world that won't matter past tomorrow and have run after them while leaving behind their faith in Christ? Yes, getting off the ride...shutting down...is an option, but instead of giving us relief from a life that is spinning out of control it actually makes chaos spin faster and the symptoms of its related sickness turn fatal. However, there is another option.

When the world is spinning faster than you can keep up with, the best thing to do is take your eyes off what is spinning and focus on the One that is the same today, yesterday and forever. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the Bible understood this and wrote the letter with an urgent plea to the church to not get off the ride called faith in the face of persecution. Many in the church at that time had had their property confiscated, been imprisoned, beaten and even killed all because of their faith in Christ. Persecution was spinning around them, some had jumped ship and many more were considering that as their only option. But, the writer to Hebrews reminds them that they and we have another option.

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for
the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at
the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition
from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart" Hebrews
12:2-3.

When we try to focus on what is spinning, we will get sick. When we fix our eyes on Jesus, we do not grow weary and lose heart. To those who would say, "If only it were that simple", I would push back and say, "Why do we make it more complicated than that?" If the ride called life is spinning faster than you can keep up with, then the worst place to try to focus on is what is spinning and the best place to focus on is what is constant. Not only will such focus keep us from puking our guts out, it will even let us enjoy the ride.

Can I share something from my heart with you as my brothers and sisters in Christ? That is why we do the "Don't Go to Church, Be the Church" day each year. It is a way of both reminding us of where our focus as a church needs to be and measuring whether or not our focus as a church is actually where it needs to be.

Are we a church of people who go to church on Sunday or are we a church of people who go from church services on Sunday to be the Church every day? Right now, we have 110 people signed up for "Don't Go to Church, Be the Church Day" (Thank you to you who have led the way!). In the next two weeks, we are asking at least 200 more of you to help us get our focus where it needs to be on Jesus who said all that matters hinges on loving God by loving others.

Each year, this "Don't Go to Church, Be the Church day" becomes more and more important as it is a litmus test of where our focus lies. If we as a church have our focus on what is spinning we will fight over things that do not matter, we will become self-righteous and judgmental and we will be more interested in being fed than feeding others. But if we will get our eyes off what is spinning, and that includes ourselves, and on to what is constant, and that is Jesus who lived, died and rose again to show us what it means to love God and others,then we will never grow weary and lose heart...who knows you may even find yourself screaming and giggling, "Faster, Daddy, faster!"

It will be great to be back with you this Sunday!

"Cowards Wanted"

2011-08-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was reading the story of Gideon in the Bible in Judges 6-7. I encourage you to take some time to read this account. Gideon was...well..there is no kind way to say it...he was a coward. Yellow-bellied, no spine, mouse of a man...pick your metaphor, Gideon, was the poster child for cowards.

In his cowardliness, even when he heard God speak, he needed confirmation after confirmation, to even have the courage to believe he heard God in the first place. And it was this coward named Gideon, that God called to be a warrior. Isn't that great! When God goes looking for a warrior, he finds a coward. Why? For one thing a real, warrior would have been more convinced of his strength than God's. God did not need someone who believed in themselves but someone who believed in him. By the way, that principle still remains. The self-help call to "just believe in yourself and you can do anything" may give warm fuzzies, but it is a complete lie.

Gideon was just a coward enough to know that without God's strength he would never stand a chance on the battlefield. So, with confidence in God, Gideon raises up an army of 32,000. But God says, "That's too many. If you win, the army will brag on itself." So, God grew the army down to 10,000, but He said that is still too many. Long story short, Gideon ended up with only 300 soldiers. Here is another valuable principle to keep in mind: What does not add up to us, makes perfect sense in God's mathematical equation.

That night they came upon the enemies camp. The enemy had thousands in his army. Gideon divided the army into three companies, gave each trumpets and empty jars and torches. At the signal, three companies from the distance blew trumpets, shouted, broke the jars and waved the torches. The enemy awoke in panic and began killing one another in confusion thinking the enemy was numerous and among them. Guess who would try a tactic like that? Yes...a coward. A brave man would have went in with an army of 32,000 fighting as any good warrior would. But the coward, Gideon, didn't enter the battlefield and won the day.

That's what God can do with cowards. He can take their lack of confidence in themselves and turn it into a huge confidence in Him that can defeat an army. Got any enemies threatening you? Got any armies camped just over the hill? That is the perfect opportunity for you and me to find out what God can do with cowards.

"Father, let me be the first to admit that often I have more fear than courage. I have more doubt than faith. I have more questions than answers. You give me a sign and look for two more. God I am weak. I am a coward. So, with no confidence in myself and all confidence in you, I pray be my strength...be my courage...let your power fill me so I can see how your strength is made perfect in my weakness. Through you the battle is already one. Amen."

"Saving Worms"

2011-07-20T11:21:00.000-07:00

We watch a lot of PBS cartoons in our house. One of my kid's favorite shows is the Kratz brothers--Two guys that now have an animation to help kids learn all about animals. In a recent episode, the brothers talked about worms and the important role they play on earth. They then showed them talking to real kids as they showed worms coming to the surface after a big rain. They showed 100's of worms stranded on the sidewalk in the sun. The brothers said,"Somebody has got to save these worms. Hurry...rescue the worms by picking them up and setting them on the grass so they can dig back into the ground before they dry out and die." I thought to myself, "My kids are afraid of worms. They would just let the poor things die." However, a few weeks later, we were outside after a rain. Sure enough the worms worked their way to the surface and many were stranded on the sidewalk. I remembered the show and jokingly shouted, "Somebody save the worms!" To my surprise, my kids overcome their fears through compassion and started rescuing the worms. "Come on, Daddy," they shouted. The next thing I knew I was saving worms too.

I suppose there is a lot of fear and prejudice when it comes to human trafficking. I have heard some say they just don't believe that it is a problem in Ohio even though government and independent studies all agree that 1800 American-born and immigrant children are enslaved in Ohio each year. I have heard some say that prostitutes make a choice for this lifestyle so they have to live what they choose. Of course, I doubt that most people know that the average entry age to prostitution in the US is age 13. In light of that, how many prostitutes really had a choice in the matter? I have heard Christians say, "Why are we talking about this? It is not like we can change it?" This is most bothersome, considering Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Others say I do not want to get involved so I can protect my kids. Even though we know that it is our suburban kids who are in as much danger for this modern day slavery as anyone and to do nothing puts our kids in more danger, not less.

I have had thoughts such as those run through my mind in the years leading up to this series. But Jesus has come to exchange my/your/our fears and prejudices for compassion.

Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrated his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners (might we say, worms?), Christ died for us." He was not afraid of being dirtied or offended by our sin. He took it on. He let it pierce him because he knew "by his wounds we would be healed". He did not hold our choice to sin over us. He came to forgive us and to set us free. He came down from heaven, picked me up, even a worm like me and Jesus saved me. Jesus is saving me!

The writer of the hymn, Amazing Grace, was a former Slave Ship Captain before he was found by God. He then became a preacher. At the end of his life, he began to loose his memory, but he would say, "One thing I always remember: I am a great sinner, but Christ is a greater Savior."

Living Hope Church...let fear and prejudice be turned to compassion not for worms on a sidewalk, but for boys and girls, men and women---27 million of them-- who are dying in modern day slavery today. Register today for the Human Trafficking Awareness Event on August 27 at www.elivinghope.com. Tell some body else about the event. And the next thing you know, you will look around and see people every where saving something of much greater value than worms.

"No Fear"

2011-07-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

My kids are often confused about what to and not to fear. For instance, both of my kids use to be terrified of flies. I would tell them, "A fly will not hurt you. It may bug the heck out of you, but it cannot devour you." But still they were afraid. On the other hand, they are not afraid of cars in a parking lot. In the past, both of them have taken their turn darting off with no fear of being hit by a car. They now stay close by, but I am convinced they do not really think there is anything to fear in the parking lot.

The truth is we adults also struggle with fearing the wrong things and not fearing the right things. For example, evil is very good at deceiving us into fearing the truth. Why are we so afraid of the truth? Its true...people are terrified of the truth.

This week I was told that "there are people in our church" who are uncomfortable with having me, their pastor, openly talk about my past sin of pornography. Of course, I do not know who "these people in our church" are or I would be happy to address this with them. But I do not get address this directly because these folks (for all I know it may only be one person) are afraid of the truth. Being afraid to speak the truth is being afraid of the truth.

Guess what? Hell wants us to be afraid of the truth. Because if we are afraid to hear and speak the truth to one another then we will not be real before God and others. And if Hell can keep us afraid of being real before God and each other then Hell knows it will keep us enslaved. The number one way Hell keeps us imprisoned in past hurts, present addictions, pet sins, destructive habits, lies about ourselves, God and the world is by convincing us to fear the truth.

However, God tells us the truth about truth and that is you never have to be afraid of the truth. The truth may not always be fun or easy, but it never need be feared. Here are just a few truths about truth from God's Word:

"Confess your sins one to another and you will be healed" James 5:16. I openly share my past sin of pornography and present issues God reveals to me about myself because confession leads to healing and it invites others to have permission to confess their sins so they can be free.

"Jesus said,'If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." John 8:31-32. This is why we need not fear truth...the truth always sets us free...where we receive and speak truth we discover freedom!

"Your truth always protects me." Psalm 40:11. We think we are protecting ourselves and others when we lie. Jesus says Satan is the Father of Lies. So when we lie we are working with Satan. And Jesus said Satan's self-imposed purpose in this world is to "Steal, kill and destroy." Therefore, when we use a lie to protect ourselves or others we are actually joining with Satan to kill, steal and destroy. The truth is what protects us, not lies.

I encourage you Living Hope Church family never be afraid of the truth because the Bible says where there is truth there is healing, freedom and protection! After all, it was Jesus who said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life."

"The Race"

2011-07-06T13:47:00.000-07:00

My wife Kimberly is one among many here who are are training for races in the fall. I will admit that I do not understand the appeal of running. I take a brisk walk every evening and greatly enjoy it, but I tell our kids the only way I run is if something is chasing me that could kill me. As Whether you value running or not, the Bible uses the race as a metaphor for our faith in Christ.

At the end of his life, as he sit imprisoned awaiting his martyrdom, the Apostle Paul wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day--and not only me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing" (2 Timothy 4:7-8).

Whenever I am feeling weary in my faith, when I am tempted to run off to my own ways and whims, when I feel like I would rather just indulge in what the world says isimportant rather than what God says is important, this passage of Scripture comes to mind. I actually think of the words of one of my seminary professors, Dr. Weigelt. He was genius of a man who some time in mid-life had a major mental breakdown. He openly shared his past mental collapse and his ongoing recovery. The man I knew was far from unstable. In fact, he was an example of one who had come to find complete peace with himself and his God. Perhaps it was his example in this way that made his words stand out all the more. One day in class he said, "The reward of our faith is not for those who start the race. Many start running this race, but somewhere along the way become weary or distracted. They sit down. They give up. They walk off in a different direction. The reward of faith is not for those who start the race, but for those who finish the race. The reward is not for those who run the fastest or for those who run and never stumble. The reward of our faith is for those how finish the race--be it fast or slow. The reward of our faith is for those who finish the race no matter how many the obstacle nor how many times they stumble and must get back up to their feet again. The reward of our faith is what makes the race worth it. But that reward is only for those who finish the race."

Probably the hardest things for me as Follower of Christ is to watch brothers and sisters in Christ who had once started the race, to quit running. Its funny...as much as we all like to say going to church does not make us a Christian (which is very true), but we forget that staying in our faith has very much to do with being the church and you can't be the church alone on the couch at home. I've yet to see a follower of Christ start missing coming together with the Body for worship and transformation to ever finish the race alone. Most likely, the folks to whom I am referring will never read this post. If by chance you are reading, please know that your church family is not here to kick you while you are down, but to help you on your feet again so you can finish the race.

There is a much greater chance that someone is reading today and you feel like giving up...temptation is pounding on your door or the mountains seem too big for you to overcome...I know...I've been there...it feels like it would be easier to give up than to finish the race. The truth is, it would be easier. It is always easier to give up. But before you give up, I urge you to remember that it is better to run while it is hard now and get the reward forever, than to give up because it is easier now and miss the reward forever. I urge you, I beg you, brothers and sisters...finish the race!

Attractive or Effective?

2011-06-29T04:31:00.000-07:00

Imagine...Your neighbor is in his driveway washing his newly purchased vintage 1967, mint condition, stingray Corvette. O, it is a beauty. It shines...it glistens...it looks too good not to be noticed. You go over to congratulate your neighbor on his new ride.

"That is one good looking car," you say as your neighbor finishes drying it.

"Thanks," says your neighbor. "Since you are here can you help me push it back into the garage?"

"Sure," you say, "Still has some work, huh?"

"Well, it doesn't run, if that is what you mean by work, but I do not plan to do any work to make it run again."

"What? Why not?" you ask.

"I bought this corvette for how it looks not to drive it."

"So, you are going to just look at this beautiful '67 Corvette...you aren't going to ever drive it?" you ask in astonishment.

"That's the plan," says the neighbor as he shuts the garage door.

And you walk away thinking its not just the car that is not running on all of its cylinders.

As ridiculous as that story sounds, the reality is we are encouraged every day to buy into what is attractive but not effective.

You have heard John Colegrove share the statistics on youth ministry in the U.S.--75% of church kids walk away from their faith after they graduate from high school never to return to Christ again. So, then why is the church at large still doing what does not work? Because, while the youth ministry that is producing these negative results is not effective, it is very attractive. It is attractive because it makes parents feel like someone else is taking care of their kids spirituality and because kids say it is fun.

Living Hope's leadership has decided we will not be satisfied with attractive. We want our ministry to teens to be effective. But, frankly, it does not matter what the leadership decides...what will truly decide if we will have an effective teen ministry is if every parent, teen and person God calls steps up by attending one of the three informational meetings, the first of which is tomorrow night at 7 PM at LH. The decision of having an attractive or effective teen ministry is now in your hands. And from where I sit, knowing the heart you have for the next generation, I know our teen ministry is in good hands.

Furthermore, every day, we are told as parents of young children to settle for what is attractive. We are told that as long as our kids are happy and entertained, then all is well. As we buy into this lie we find we have lots of children who are spoiled brats who throw fits every time they do not get their way, show disrespect toward anyone and everyone in authority and are so used to being served hand and foot that they have no sense of personal responsibility let alone any sense of God's call to serve rather than be served.

Can I be honest? (If your answer is no, please stop reading at once :-). If I hear one more parent say they will ask their child if he or she wants to participate in, for example, Vacation Bible School this weekend I think I may very well blow a gasket. Since when do we ask our kids if they want what is good for them now and for eternity? We give them what they need even if they do not want it (Interesting side note--we do not let our kids not go to school or not eat or not bathe, just because they do not want to, so why do we feel like what is good for their soul should be entirely their decision?). This is why we are doing Vacation Bible School in a new format. The old way was attractive for getting a big crowd here, but that crowd was mainly kids from other churches and it was primarily used as a babysitting service so parents could have a break. This new format allows our LH kids to be discipled and to invite unchurched friends (our neighbor and child are coming this weekend) and it requires parents to engage with their child in faith building activities.

As a parent, I know why we have settled for the attractive over effective parenting: it is easier. I did it last night. My daughter began to whine and I just gave in ...I even said to her, "Does it feel good to know you got what you wanted because you cried about it?" (By the way, that is why I am attending the Parenting on Purpose class tonight at LH, 7 PM, child care provided-- I need to learn to be more effective as a parent). You see it is easier to just keep your kid happy and entertained than to intentionally prepare your child for life.

Attractive or effective? It is a question that applies to all of life--work, education, church, health, relationships...everything...Jesus sums up the attractive vs. effective debate in one question. It is a question that cuts through all of our excuses, objections and so-called reasons. Jesus asked, "What does it profit a person to gain the whole world and yet forfeit his/her soul?"

This is my prayer for me today..."Jesus, I need to hear this today as much as anyone. As the urgent of this day demands my attention, give me the wisdom to make what is important most important. Give me permission to let the less than best take a distant second place. Give me the courage to go after what is effective even if it would be easier, with the rest of the world, to just be happy with what is attractive. Thank you, Jesus, that you lived, died and rose again to show me how to live for what matters now and forever. As it is written in your word, "These three remain: Faith, hope and love." Help me to make those three my priority today because that is where life becomes more than a pretty car to look at in the garage. Faith, hope and love are the engine that drives a life to effectiveness. Amen."

"Made for Danger"

2011-06-15T11:07:00.000-07:00

What stands out to me about a circus is that most every act has a sense of danger. In a circus people don't just ride on horses, they stand on horses, a man is shot from a cannon across the stadium, the lion tamer puts his head in the mouth of a lion, Walking the tight rope without a safety net, getting elephants that could crush you to learn to step over you, the clowns choreographed falls, hits and spills...it all requires an element of danger. Isn't it that element of danger that keeps crowds coming back every generation?

As we approach, Father's day, I wonder if the reason that the church universal has more women than men is because we have robbed our faith of danger. We have worked so hard to make God out to be safe and secure that we forget that the Bible offers one true story after another in which men and women were required to follow God not away from, but through great, death-defying and some time, death-bringing danger.

Joseph was asked to trust God when his brothers sold him as a slave and told their father he was dead.

Moses was commanded by God to return to Egypt where he was wanted for murder and to tell the most powerful nation of the ancient world to let God's people go.

Joshua was asked to set aside what he had learned at the military academy and to march around the seemingly insurmountable walls of Jericho 7 times.

Esther was required to set aside self-preservation in an attempt to preserve her people by barging into the King's court without being invited as the Persian law required.

Nehemiah, a mere cup-bearer, was burdened to risk his job and life by requesting a foreign King to allow him to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.

Peter, James and John were invited to leave behind their livelihood and trust that their needs would be provided for as they followed Jesus.

Jesus modeled the danger of following God as he was nailed to the cross.

The Apostle Paul was beaten, stoned, imprisoned, ship wrecked, bitten by a poisonous snake, falsely accused, imprisoned and martyred for his faith.

To follow Jesus, is not safe. To follow Jesus is to accept that I will be called to move outside my comfort zone and onto the battlefield. We are not guaranteed safety or survival. However, we are promised that in all things and at all times, if Christ is our Lord and Savior, then nothing shall separate us from him.

To all who accept that we are made for danger, Romans 8:31-39 gives us this promise, "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[j]

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[k] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

"The End is the Beginning"

2011-06-08T13:14:00.000-07:00

As you know, in January, I enrolled in Weight Watchers. Last month, I reached my goal, loosing 42 pounds (By the way, I want to give God praise. During this time of weight loss he has shown me in one more way how he can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves as we let him strengthen us through his Spirit and use others to hold us accountable--Thank you Kimberly, my Life Group and my accountability partner, Damon Price). Now that I am at the end, I have spent the last few weeks realizing, this is just the beginning of continuing to live and eat in a whole new way.

The Kingdom of God is like that--the end is always the beginning!

Baptism is not where our faith in Christ ends, but where it begins.

Dedicating ones child to the Lord was not an act that was done once and for all on Sunday, but a commitment that now begins to be lived out every day.

A Graduation is not an end, but a beginning of a new stage of life.

A wedding does not end a romance, but where a romance is truly to begin.

A funeral does not recognize the end of a life, but the beginning of eternal life for those who die in Christ.

The end of the world as we know it is not the end, but the beginning of the new heaven and the new earth that Jesus will make as one.

In the Kingdom of God the end is the beginning because the cross of Christ was followed by the empty tomb!

In Christ Jesus, we have this forever hope: The end is always the beginning! May God help us to live what we believe!

"What did you like best?"

2011-06-01T10:43:00.000-07:00

When we began our trip home from our small smoky mountain get-away last weekend, I asked the kids, "What did you like best about our trip?"

Seth shouted, "Swimming!"

Seth has become a dare devil in the pool. He cannot yet swim, but he has no fear...actually his lack of fear is somewhat scary for his mom and I. He likes to stay under water as long as he can...I guess, we should have warned his Grandma Kalbaugh about this. I fear she lost a few years off of her life when Seth jumped in the pool and did not come up quickly. (Sorry, Marianne, I admit I saw the panic in your face and I could have put your mind at ease, but some sick part of my sense of humor made me stay quiet and just watch).

"What did you like best, Anna?" I asked.

"Just being together in the mountains...just me, Seth, Mommy and Daddy," she replied.

What about the Hatfield/McCoy dinner theater? What about the momma bear and three cubs we saw in the wild? What about the Ski Lift and Alpine slide? What about the small fortune I wasted on that Pigeon Forge fun house? What about all the fun things we did?

For her the what was only as good as the who. I pray she never looses sight of that. I pray that she lives and dies knowing that the only thing that makes what we do matter is with whom we did what we did.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 encourages us to impress this upon our children: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

That's what this Sunday is about...its about parents dedicating their children to God as a way of saying, the best thing we can give you is not what money can buy, but in who a heart can believe. Its about people making a public skeptical of their faith as a way of saying nothing I do matters if following Christ does not matter most. It about we as a church family being reminded that loving God and loving others is more important than anything else.

Because one day, our end will come and as Jesus takes our hand and walks us through the new heaven-earth he might just ask about our lives, "What did you like best?" And the only answer that will matter in eternity will be all about "who".

"Credit Where Credit is Due"

2011-05-18T14:42:00.000-07:00

Each year, the Church of the Nazarene asks its pastor's to write a report to give account for the past year of ministry. Our church year ends on May 31 so I just submitted the report for Living Hope. I want to share with you what I reported because this is your report, but also because we need to give credit where credit is due. All praise and glory be to Him from whom all of this has come!

•99 people made commitments to Christ.
•64% were involved in small groups.
• About 154 children were fed every week in our community who would have
otherwise gone hungry on the weekends through our Food 2 Go.
• About 20 at-risk children were mentored every Thursday through our Bloc 25.
•Elderly we were loved, houses were repaired, specials needs children were
served and much more on our “Don’t Go to Church, Be the Church” Sunday.
•Over 100,000 meals packaged through Kids Against Hunger.
•We have partnered with 10 others Nazarene Churches to partner in ministry and
share in mission through the “Synergy Network.”
•One mission team was sent to Ukraine and 24 orphans were sponsored all year
through an on-going partnership with World Light Foundation.
•30 people fully surrendered themselves to Christ to be transformed by the
renewal of their minds.
•We partnered with “30 Days Homeless” to raise awareness and money for aged-out
foster kids who are now homeless in Montgomery County.
•We gave 100% of our offering away to help families in need one Sunday in
January.
•People are finding real transformation through Celebrate Recovery, The Prayer
Ministry for Inner Healing and Freedom From Anger for Women.
•People in our church family have been responding to God’s call and finding
their own mission in the world such as nursing home ministry, working with an
Indian Reservation in South Dakota, providing housing for the homeless, Dayton
Street Ministry, school supplies for children in need, encouraging our
military and much, much more.

In these first ten years we have found what I believe will also be true for the next: "For nothing is impossible with God!" (Luke 1:37). Thank you for being a church that is real, transformed, connected and poured out!

"We Understand in Part"

2011-05-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, our dog, Butterball was neutered. It was funny and some what scary to hear Anna try to figure out exactly what was being done to him. Before his surgery, I over heard her comforting Butterball with these words, "Butterball, this is a big day for you ("If only Butterball knew how big of a day it was," I thought.) You are going to have surgery. They are going to cut you so they can take something out. I don't know what they are going to take out, but it really needs to come out so they can fix you. You want to be fixed don't you? It will be OK."

Then she turned to me and I thought, "O, Lord, please don't let her ask me what I think she is going to ask me."

God denied my prayer.

"Daddy," she asked, "What does Butterball need fixed?" I replied, "Sweetie, sometimes we just need certain things fixed and that is what Butterball needs."

Finally, God came through for me and she was satisfied with my answer.

As adults it is hard for us to see that next to an all-knowing God, we seem like kids trying to figure out life. We try to make sense of what does not make sense in this life. But the Bible urges us to get honest with ourselves about the reality that this side of heaven we can only see in part.

I Corinthians 13 explains: "8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

As much as we want to understand all things here and now, the Bible asks us to acknowledge that we can't...we won't. Can I accept that? Can you? Can I live in the tension of trusting God's love while not yet understanding his ways?

"The Kingdom of God is like..."

2011-05-04T05:09:00.000-07:00

The Kingdom of God is like people taking the bread and cup of Christ to others. These are your stories...

Christ to one who did not feel worthy:
"When they passed out the communion packs on Easter Sunday the friend I invited didn't take one because she said it wouldn't be right because she wasn't living right. I told her that she was exactly who Jesus had in mind when his body was broken and his blood was shed. When I dropped her off at home we took communion in my van in her driveway. We didn't know all the right words to say but for me it was the most powerful communion I've ever experienced."

Christ to the lonely:
"Today I stepped way out of my comfort zone. When I accepted the communion packet Sunday I kind of had an idea who I would share it with. Needless to say...God had someone else in mind. I had thought i would share it with a friend of mine. I figured she has seemed a little down for awhile and could use a boost. Well, today i woke up with the image of my elderly neighbor in my mind. He lives alone and never has visitors and we try to keep an eye on him since he is alone. Throughout the day i had about 4 or 5 moments where out of the blue he would pop in my mind. I kept saying "no way...that will make him uncomfortable and besides I don't even know his beliefs." Well finally at about 2:10 I decided to put my shoes on and peek over in his back yard. He was on his little fenced in patio. Well i grabbed the packet and walked to the fence and after a minute or two i said "OK God...I am not gonna yell for him so if this is you then let him see me over here" Just then he lifted his head and looked over the privacy fence he was behind and waved and yelled hello. When he came out of his gate he began talking about how muddy the yards were and I said "yes...its just awful...but i have a question for you." I told him about the communion and he said "Oh no! I'm not Catholic!" I laughed and said "Well that's ok cause neither am I! We do this because we love Jesus and its to remember His body and blood that he shed for our sins." His face actually lit up and he practically yelled "Well I WILL do that!" So right there in the mud and muck we stood over a rusty chain link fence and shared communion. After we were done he told me how much he loves us and how much it means to him to be cared for. He wanted to repay us for all the help we have given him over the years and i told him there is no need to give us a thing. He said " Its the caring...isn't it." and I said "yes...that's what its all about!" In 20 years of living beside this man he was finally comfortable taking my hand in his and patting it with the other he said "I love you guys and thank you". He left the fence with tears in his eyes."

Christ to the troubled marriage:
"I think this story started a week or two ago. I was speaking with a friend that is going through a divorce and he told me he was depressed. After we talked for a little bit I told him God does everything for a reason, he never said it was going to be easy. But this could make him grow in another direction he don't even see yet or another plan. I said I know it doesn't help much now but listen to him (meaning God) and he will lead you. My friend said back to me I wish I had your faith. I replied the cool thing is you can. So when you said to take the communion to some one I thought of him. I did not take communion with this person though, at first it was to help him through his divorce to try and give him peace. Then when I went to talk to him about communion he told me that his wife contacted him and she want to try counseling one more time. (They have been through counseling two or three other times.) So I told him to take it and split it with her before they started counseling so that they could have the best shot to get through this rough time. And I am not going to lie I also told him not to think I was crazy for giving it to him."

Christ to the widow:
"I brought mine home and on Sunday evening I gave it to my Mom. She was really tired from the day and she set it aside. I wondered if she heard me say that we were supposed to break bread together and share this communion. The next day when I talked with her, she had already taken the communion. She chose to take communion alone with her memories of my Dad and their unfailing trust in Jesus Christ. She shared that moment with God. Mom really appreciated the fact that communion was brought to her when she could not attend church."

Christ to the dying:
"I do want to tell you about taking the communion to one of my hospice patients in a nursing home. When I entered the nursing home I saw the family in the lobby. I went to them and asked their permission to give communion to her.(Her son in law who was there is a minister and I had no idea how he may have felt about it.) They graciously gave their permission and their blessing for me to do this.After talking to the nurse hoping there would not be any dietary restrictions, I was on my way to her room. She is a devout christian so she knew exactly what I had brought to her. But it was also very meaningful to her because Sun. was her 90+ birthday. I can not tell you how appreciative she was that someone would do this for her on Easter. Even though she was in bed when I left her room her hands were raised and she was praying aloud."

Christ to the elderly:
"I took the to go containers to the nursing home yesterday. I shared why we do it and invited Loretta, My Mom and two other residents, Rolland and June to join with me , they were eager to take part.. I prayed and asked for the Holy spirit to fill them as they took in the body and blood of Jesus. Afterward, Junes son, who was there visiting his Mother (probably late teens, early 20's) asked if he could also take communion. He said, I have never done this but I like what you said,and since you have it , I will do it too! Loretta was very happy but she wanted me to put the head of her bed down first so she could see the picture of Jesus hanging above her head. She let me put the wafer on her tongue after I dipped it in the juice, she had a beautiful smile on her face and my Mom closed her eyes, I think she was praying, and then she cried. It was a very moving and spiritual experience!"

Christ to a mother with cancer:
"Mom was unable to attend worship on Easter because she is too weak from cancer. When I came home from worship, I gave shared communion with her. She wept as she received this gift."

Christ to the discouraged:
"I have a friend who I invited to Easter services. He has been so discouraged that he did not come. I took the bread and cup to his house after the service, but he would not even open the door. I put it at his door with a note. Later that day he sent me a text saying he had received communion and how much it meant to him."

Christ to the neighbor:
"For five years, I have lived across the street from a good neighbor. He is always friendly. Easter Sunday, he came to mind. I knocked on the door. When I told him why I had come to share the bread and cup of Christ, he invited me inside. This was the first time in all theses years I was invited into his home. We shared communion together and then sat and talked for some time."

Christ to the homeless:
"Last night during the Dayton Street Ministry, I took my two cups and was looking for the opportunity. During the rain and as darkness fell I came across Mark Anderson. Mark was panhandling at STRT48 and the east bound entrance ramp to I-35, with a cardboard sign, I just caught a glimpse of the word “homeless” and couldn’t read what he wrote. A college girl in a compact car rolls down her window hands Mark a can of Mt Dew, and he thanks her. As he puts the can w/ his belongings the college girl mouths “Thank you “ to me. Mark sees us and asked us to give him a moment while the cars clear, as Mark didn’t want to miss any opportunity for charity. Once the cars cleared he stepped away from his perch where he had positioned cardboard to protect his feet from the saturated ground. He had long white hair, unshaven, thin, a blue ball cap to keep the rain off of him and wore a “smile”. I offer him a couple bottles of water which at first he refuses because he has Mt. Dew to drink. After some casual conversation, Mark accepts 2 bottles of water and a couple burrito’s/pudding cups Charlene Karacia had made and donated to tonight’s event. Mark was focused on us now and not the cars waiting for the light to turn green. Mark put the food and water with his other belongings and thanked us. Mark’s willingness and accepting was so warm, gentle and appreciative I recognized Marks needs we’re greater than what we had seen in this ministry before. God spoke and I moved. I offered him some dry clothes (t-shirt, a polo and a pair of sweat pants), which I carry for just these God moments. A lady with us gave him a plastic Kroger bag to keep the clothes dry, which Mark tied up and placed on the wet ground. We asked if we could pray with him as a group and he gladly accepted. This was the time when we would leave and find our next “customer”, but God spoke again and I moved. I have something for you, I said. I peeled back the wrapper and exposed the wafer. Mark then said … “I KNOW WHAT THIS IS … THANK YOU!!” He ate the wafer and then I opened the cup which he took and drank. I then told him “Jesus’ body was broken and his blood spilled so you may have ever lasting life. I pray for your health, shelter and nourishment my brother”. He then took the cup, as not to trouble me and said “I’ll throw this away”. As we left and waved good-bye Mark returned to his post, perched on the curb standing on cardboard in the rain hoping some motorists would provide him some food or spare change."

This is the kingdom of God...a network of Christ touching people who in turn touch others who are in turn touched by Christ who in turn touch others who...

"Easter isn't Over"

2011-04-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

This week, I caught myself saying, "Well, another Easter has come and gone."

I could not have made a more inaccurate statement. Easter isn't over!

Jesus' Resurrection started something that will never end! Easter is not about a holiday; it is about every day! New life, fresh starts, forgiveness, freedom, hope...it is available through the resurrected Christ every day. On the days when it is easy to sing and on the days when it is hard not to cry...every day...Jesus Resurrection has changed everything for all time.

1 Peter 1:3-9:
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Are you you receiving what Jesus overcoming death has made possible for you and our world? Receive and you will discover that Easter isn't over.

"Themes of Lent: Love"

2011-04-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

As we walk through this Holy Week, we look back and reflect on the themes of Lent we have explored so far--commitment, obedience, purpose, sacrifice and trust. Jesus is our example for each and he shows us the motivation for each.

It is His motivation that it would seem many fear. And yet, the Bible said when this is our motivation for commitment, obedience, purpose, sacrifice and trust all fear is cast out. So, what is this motivation that many fear and, yet, has the power to dispel all fear? The motivation is LOVE. All of the other themes of Lent are empty of meaning and power if they are not fueled by love.

The Bible explains, "God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. Love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The man or woman who fears is not made perfect in love" 1 John 4:16-18.

It goes back to what we talked about on Sunday. Why do want a "Warrior" image of God? Why do we say, "God is not just love" and then reference God's judgment as though it is some how separated from His love. No...No...again, NO! The Bible says, "God is love." End of statement. Period. Any addition to God's nature is our addition, but it is not biblical. God is love! Why do we resist this? Why do so many fear this? Why do we hesitate to simply and humbly receive that God is love. Because God is love, he is just. Because God is love, he will judge the living and the dead. Because he is love, he will discipline us as a parent disciplines his or her child. All that God does flows out of who God is--love!

"There is no fear in love." How much of your relationship with God is driven by fear and its comrades, guilt and shame? Jesus suffered, died and rose again to free you of that not enslave you in it. Perfect love drives out fear. What is it going to take for you to have fear driven out of your view of God and how you relate to him?

Jesus' answer to that question was three words, "It is accomplished", which he punctuated with the cross. Will you receive his answer? His death has accomplished fear being chased away by love. Will you let what what his love has already accomplished be accomplished in you? If you will, then commitment, obedience, purpose, sacrifice, trust...it all becomes about his love.

His love is what we reflect on this Friday as we force ourselves to stare at his blood. His love is what we celebrate this Sunday as we stare into an empty tomb. Brother and Sister in Christ, will you--not the unbeliever--but will you, receive his offer of perfect love that casts out all fear?

"Themes of Lent: Trust"

2011-04-13T17:07:00.000-07:00

Our Son Seth (3 years old) sometimes will stand up on a chair and shout, "Daddy!" and jump! No warning. He just jumps and expects me to catch him whether I am right next to him or across the room. He scares me to death when he does that and, yet, I am so thankful he trusts me to catch him. However, I know what he will one day learn that even a dad who loves you will sometimes let you down.

It is there that many of us get stuck. Don't we? The person we counted on catching us lets us fall. Sometimes it is an accident...we know that...but it still hurts. Other times the person we trusted, lets us fall on purpose. We jumped and with cold, mean hearts they watch us hit the ground and do not even offer us a hand to help us up. That breaking of trust cuts very, very deep.

How many people...how many of us are stuck in broken trust? People who are stuck in broken trust are people are willing to give help, but not receive help. People who are stuck in broken trust are chained by hurt or bitterness or both. People who are stuck in trust only let people get so close. People who are stuck in trust don't just apply their suspicion to other people, but also to God.

The themes of lent we have discussed these last several weeks--commitment, sacrifice, obedience, perseverance, purpose--flow in and out of trust in Christ. Trust is the key that unlocks the door to them all. Without trust commitment is to be feared. Without trust sacrifice becomes abuse. Without trust obedience is a burden. Without trust perseverance is a punishment. Without trust purpose is pointless. With trust all these themes of lent unlock the door called blessedness in our lives. Blessedness is a state of being prosperous in happiness. Are you prosperous in happiness? Do you want to be? Then may be it is time to have a good, honest talk with Jesus about when and why you got stuck in broken trust. Ask Jesus to free you from projecting your distrust of others onto him.

Hours before Jesus' trust was broken by Judas, Jesus said, "Trust in God; trust also in me...I am the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:1&6). Will you trust Jesus today?

"Themes of Lent: Purpose"

2011-04-06T15:36:00.000-07:00

Is your life driven by necessity or by purpose?

Are your priorities arranged according to the urgent or according to what is important?

Are you making a living or making a life?

Are you investing your time and money in anything that makes someone other than your own life better?

Do you get up every day to do what you have to do or what you want to do?

Would you know what you would want to do if every day you could get up and do it?

Is life more about frustration or fulfillment for you?

Why did God give you life today?

These are the questions of Lent because this season asks us to take an honest inventory of where we are going and why.

Matthew 16:21 records how Jesus answered that question: "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life."

Themes of Lent: Perseverance"

2011-03-30T11:09:00.000-07:00

As I sit here in my office with a space heater warming me as I see snow falling outside my window, I can't help but think, "Are you serious? You've got to be kidding me! It is suppose to be spring, not winter the sequel! AAAAHHHH!" You may say I am overreacting, but to a guy who struggles with seasonal depression, it is no joke. I want sunshine! I need sunshine! Come on, Spring, don't let me down! Well, now that I have gotten that out of my system, let me use my whining for something productive.

Lent is a season that asks us to stare in the face of our Springtime that will not come. Have you ever felt stuck in a winter? May be you are there right now. Stuck in a winter is...the teenager that feels very much alone, but who is also too shy to take the step that is required to make friends...Its the couple waiting and praying that this month they will discover they are pregnant...its the woman who is begging God for her husband to become hungry for God...its trying to force yourself to pound the pavement another day when yesterday was full of rejections...Stuck in a winter feels cold, long, tiring, frustrating, gloomy, hopeless...what words would you use to describe how it feels to be stuck in a winter?

I keep seeing Mel Gibson's portrayal of the Passion of Christ in my mind's eye. Jesus' back torn open, flesh mangled, blood splattering. The soldiers mock him and spit in his face. The long walk to the place of his crscifixion as the cross burdens his shoulders. The nails pounded in his writsts and feet. The hours of struggling to breath on the cross as those he came to love hurl insults at him one last time. It only lasted hours, but the depth and length of that winter cannot be denied as we hear our Savior cry out in winter's agony, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"

Winter is dark...it is evil...it is painful...it breaks one's heart...it crushes one's mind...it smothers one's spirit...flowers don't bloom in the winter...grass does not grow in the winter...winter is a time when things die. Have you ever been stuck in a winter?

What do you do when you find yourself stuck in a winter? Before you give your answer, will you let Jesus give his?

What is all the blood and gore of the crucifixion about? Is it it about Jesus love? Yes. Is it about his mercy? Yes. Is it about his suffering with us? Yes. But it is also about something more...it is about something we all need when we find ourselves stuck in a winter. This something we need for winter is not glamorous or appealing, but it is the only way to get to spring. Jesus in his humanness shows us how to walk through a long, cold winter in our humanness. The blood and gore of the crucifixion is about perseverance.

Friends, it still may be cold, gray and snowy outside, but be that as it may, Spring is coming! Warmer, brighter days lie ahead! Winter can kill a lot, but it can't stop Spring's new life!

Lent is a season of facing our "stuck in a winter" places and leaning into the hard, but, o, so hopeful lesson of perseverance. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" James 1:2-4.

"Themes of Lent: Obedience"

2011-03-23T12:04:00.001-07:00

We have signed up to take our dog to obedience school. On the application form the question was asked, "Are there any particular problems you hope to see addressed in obedience school?" I wrote, "Biting and poops in dinning room." I get the biting--I mean, I suppose (though I have never had a dog before, so I may be I am assuming wrong) that all puppy's like to bite and chew--but I do not get the pooping in the dining room. It is the weirdest thing, the puppy goes to the door to tell us he needs to potty, but if he gets any where near the Dinning room its as though pooping becomes involuntary. I am very curious to see what obedience school has to teach us about dining room pooping.

I can say that I think the $80 bucks we are paying is every bit worth learning how to train your dog in obedience. Like, I said, this whole dog thing is new to me (By the way, I really do not want to receive 100 emails telling me dog raising tips; I'll save that energy for obedience school :-). But I know enough to know I want an obedient dog. How nice to have something called obedience school. Heck, I'm even open to seeing if what I learn for my dog applies to my kids :-)! Of course, God could say the same thing about me--I too could use obedience school.

One thing is for sure, the reason me, my kids and my dog need obedience school is because obedience does not come to us naturally. Disobedience...doing what I want, my way...now that comes as naturally as breathing; but obedience, well, that seems as foreign as breathing under water. However, maturity is about accepting that obedience does not withhold the good life from us, but opens us to the good life. I tell my kids all the time, "When you listen to me and your mom, life is a lot more fun." No sooner do I tell my kids that, then I open the Bible and hear Jesus telling me the same thing. We read it on Sunday in John 15:10-11, "If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Obedience is not God's kill joy, it is God's invitation to having your joy made complete.

However, the truth still remains that obedience is not natural. Obedience must be learned. The problem is there is obedience school for dogs, but not for us. On second thought, that is not true. The Bible explains there is an obedience school that we are invited to allow God to enroll us in.

Look at Hebrews 12: 7-11: "Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it."

The word discipline does not mean punishment, but all that goes into raising a child to be healthy. We are invited to "endure hardship" as our obedience school. In other words, rather than let the hardships of life come and go with out any lasting benefit, learn to let God train you in and through hard times. No one says that is easy, but the harvest it produces is worth it.

Well, our dog, Butterball, is signed up for obedience school regardless of whether or not he wants to be enrolled. God, on the other hand, will not require any one to sign up for obedience school. He leaves that up to you and me?

"Themes of Lent: Sacrifice"

2011-03-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

The couple I have in mind are here every Sunday at the 11 AM worship experience. The only time they miss is when they are out of town. Then, every week, they sneak into the building and make their way to the Food 2 Go room to stock the shelves and take inventory. In spite of their faithfulness, they are not known by many people. It is not because they do not have warm personalities, but simply because they have the personality type that is quite content not being noticed. However, I cannot help but notice them because yesterday they taught me a lesson on a theme of Lent I would just as soon forget. Yet Jesus make sit clear that this lesson is par for the course in following him. The couple taught me a lesson on sacrifice.

Jesus said, "If any one would come after me he/she must deny him/herself and take up his/her cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his/her life will lose it, but whoever loses his/her life for me will find it" (Matthew 16:24 & 25). Let's be honest...we want to follow Jesus, but we don't want to make the sacrifice. But Jesus is honest when he says that no following of Him happens without sacrifice.

To follow Jesus means we will let him show us what of ourselves must be set aside. What of you is Jesus asking you to deny? I don't know about you but regularly, Jesus is showing me that I need to deny myself of my comfort zone, convenience, my time, my money, my personal preferences, my right to be angry, my permission to be negative (I can be really good at that)...the point is, to follow Jesus means sacrifice--small or big. Of course, verse 25 reminds us to keep the sacrifice in context of the promise. Those who loose for him...well, they don't loose...they gain...they gain more than all they could have ever held onto in this life time or the next. Those who lose for Jesus gain life...life to the full now and forever!

That takes me back to the couple in our church family. You see the wife has one kidney that has stopped functioning and another that is failing. She has a portion of her brain that has stopped working and the doctors cannot explain why, but it does explain why her neck involuntarily and painfully turns to the left. She talked about how challenging that makes it for her to read the Bible every morning. On top of that her blood count is off which has the doctors concerned of other, to this point, undiagnosed illnesses. And as if that is not enough, she has severe chronic pain caused by inflammation of her joints. Because of her kidney condition the only over the counter relief she can take is Tylenol. All the while, her husband watches her go through this every day, stands by her side, supports her, encourages her and yet carries the burden of not being able to fix this for her.

And what are they doing? They are gathering with other believers for worship every Sunday? Do you think she feels like being here very Sunday? Don't you think it would be easier for both of them to stay at home? Would anyone blame them? I wouldn't. Believe me, I know plenty of other folks that consider corporate worship an option they can only choose if all the planets in the universe are in perfect alignment. So, why is this couple with legitimate excuse here to worship with other believers every Sunday? The Bible calls it a "sacrifice of praise" in Hebrews 13:15. It is sacrifice that the Bible says God honors in delight. God forgive us for being tempted to make our time of set aside worship together as something that is only important if it is convenient and if it serves our preferences and needs. A sacrifice of praise is beautiful to heaven.

But this couple does not just make a sacrifice of praise on Sunday, they live out the rest of the verse. Hebrews 13:15-16 reads, "Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased."

This couple could very easily say, "Well, we made it to worship on Sunday. There... we did our part. God understands our physical problems. We'll let the healthy serve others." We might think that for them or for ourselves, but they do not think that. You see, they understand that to follow Jesus involves sacrifice. And the sacrifice that makes God smile is when we "do good and share with others." Every week, they make their way to the Food 2 Go room to do good and share with children who would otherwise go hungry on the weekends in our community. Not only to do they do what God has called them to do to help hungry children, but they do it with a smile and an attitude of joy.

So, I want to thank James and Diane Van Nest and all of you who week after week make a sacrifice of praise as you gather for corporate worship on Sunday and then make what you do on Sunday matter by making a sacrifice of doing good and sharing with others. I hope you never forget the words of Jesus, which are his promise to you as you deny yourself: "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." Sacrifice will only cost you, but when done for the sake of Christ, it will always gain you a life worth living! Thank you for your sacrifices of time, talent and treasure!

By the way, wouldn't it be great if we showered James and Diane with cards of encouragements this week? Whether you know them or not, why not send them a card? Their address is:
Van Nest
658 Loxwood
Centerville, OH 45458

"Themes of Lent: Commitment"

2011-03-09T04:53:00.000-08:00

On Monday night our Pastoral Staff went to a District communion service for pastors and spouses. Our District Superintendent shared. One of the questions that he asked keeps ringing in my ears: "Are you willing to die where you are?"

I don't know if there could be a more relevant question in our present, American culture: "Are you willing to die where you are?" We are a culture that values keeping our options open. We are experts in seeing greener grass everywhere but where we are. We consider it normal to move homes and jobs every 3-5 years. One might argue we consider that same time frame to be normal for our friendships, marriages and church commitments. We are so immersed in the culture of looking for a better option that we don't even think about the option of simply living and dieing where we are.

However, one of the themes of the Lenten season (40 days of preparation for Easter)is commitment. In other words, Lent challenges us to ask the question, "Are you willing to die where you are?" Are you willing to surrender your options? Are you willing to stop looking for greener grass and start depending on God to show you how to be content with the yellow patch of grass you are standing on? Are you wiling to stand against the stream as one person who does what he or she says while others give no thought to being swept up and away in broken promises? Does your spouse know you will be there no matter what? Do your children see you living out what you say or have they learned you say lots of things and do little of them? Does your employer know that every day you will give an honest and full days work? When you volunteer, do you follow through or leave others to try to follow through for you? Are you a follower of Christ that is on fire one minute and as cold as a cucumber the next? This is one of the questions of Lent: Are you willing to die where you are?

One day Jesus was teaching about how he was the Bread of life as it is recorded in John 6. He was making the point that until a person learns to become dependent on and find fulfillment in Christ, regardless of what he or she has or does not have in this life, he or she will never be fulfilled. The Bible says, "Many of the disciples of Jesus (Jesus originally had more than 12) heard this and said, 'This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?'" At that moment it is recorded that many who had been following Jesus walked away from him. They turned their backs on him and went their own way. Jesus then turned to the remaining twelve and asked, "Will you leave me, too?" Peter spoke up saying, "Lord, to whom shall we go?" We can poke fun at out-spoken Peter as much as we want, but that ol' boy got it. He got that following Jesus takes commitment. And commitment is not about will power. It is about surrendering all our other options to Jesus until day by day, year by year, Jesus is our only option. It is amazing how much easier it is to stay on course with what matters in life and death when you have developed the attitude of Peter that looks at the options of the world and says, "To whom shall I go?"

What could happen if for just this first week of Lent we evaluated our commitments? What would happen if we took all our commitments to Jesus this week and said, "Lord, if you were my only option what would that say about my commitments? What commitments do I need to break to make Jesus my only option? What commitments do I need to keep, even though I wish I had never made them, so that I might have Jesus as the option that I know will fill me now and forever? Lord, what do you want me to hear, see or know this week about this question, "Am I willing to die where I am?"

Let this question prepare you and draw you to gather with our church family from Living Hope and other Synergy Network churches for the Ah Wednesday service tonight, 7 PM at Living Hope.

"What Do You Do When the World is Caving in on You?"

2011-03-02T11:58:00.000-08:00

"Dead Battery"

2011-02-16T05:16:00.000-08:00

This morning Kimberly came back into the house from the garage and said, "The car won't start." Those are not the words I want to hear to start the day. To make matters worst, the reason the car did not start was because of my doing. When I arrived home from work yesterday, I left the keys in the ignition. I did not leave the car running, but I left the key in the on position meaning the battery was used up all night. So, this morning the battery was dead.

What in the world was I thinking? Why did I leave the key in the ignition and the battery running? The answer is simple: my mind was not focused on what I was doing. My mind was dancing with other thoughts about 100 other things rather than the task at hand. As a result this morning the battery was dead.

God used that dead battery to remind me that I was doing the same thing to myself this week. Monday and Tuesday I was "too busy" to really stop and meditate on God's word and to talk and listen to His Spirit in prayer. While I was allowing my mind to dance with 100 other things, I was letting my battery go dead. I am thankful that the Father loves me enough to warn me when my battery is running low.

This morning I was reading in Acts 13 and the last verse grabbed my attention. It reads, "And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit." If you take this verse out of context, one might be led to assume that something really good must have happened for the disciples to experience such joy and filling. However, just the opposite is true. Right before this verse it says, "The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. But the Jews incited God-fearing women of high standing and leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit."

How could the disciples be filled with joy, let alone the Holy Spirit, when their circumstances were providing any reason but joy and filling? Why isn't their battery dead in light of persecution and rejection? Apparently, they realized what I forget...joy is not dependent on one's positive or negative circumstances, but on one's connection to the Holy Spirit who has the power to keep us full in the face of draining circumstances.

How is your battery this week? Are you plugging into the circumstances of this week? If so, then your battery is as good as dead. Come, with me, unplug from everything else that you have to do this week and plug into the Holy Spirit. Trust me...the time you you think you don't have to do this will be more than made up for by the fresh charge of joy the Holy Spirit will pump into your battery.

Holy Spirit, forgive me for thinking I can run on my own power. Holy Spirit, thank you for turning me back to you before my battery went dead.

"A Picture is Worth a 1000 Words"

2011-02-09T06:31:00.000-08:00

If you are a fan of Living Hope on “Face Book” you have seen this (if not, I invite you to join us on FB). Today, my thought is the same as what I posted on FB yesterday: If you had to draw a picture of the Church, what would you draw?

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I could not agree more. Thank you to everyone who has responded so far…you are painting an incredible picture! Anyone else have a picture come to mind? Send it my way!

I can’t wait to be with you this Sunday as we explore the next part of the story of God. This is where it gets really exciting! Also, we are going to do something this Sunday that we have never done. Its been 10 years and God is still doing new things among us! Invite a friend and come and see. This would especially be a great day to invite friends who have a poor opinion of the church or have been disappointed by the church. It shouldn’t be hard to find folks who fall in that category. See you Sunday!

"Storm of the Century"

2011-02-02T05:53:00.000-08:00

I suppose I have reached that point in life when I now join with those who have gone before me and say, "When I was younger..." You know...the whole, "I used to walk in snow up hill to school with no shoes" routine. Be that as it may, I must say it...when I was growing up, a few inches of snow, a little wind and ice did not constitute a winter weather emergency. Honestly, my mind is clear on this...we did not consider 3-5 inches a big deal. It was not big news. As a child, you went to bed with no hope of school canceling. But now, if the threat of snow is on the radar we go into winter storm advisory mode two days before the snow is to hit.

So, just humor me and say that I am on to something...that we now consider a little, snow, ice and wind to be a major storm...if that is true, why is it true? Hang with me here...could it be that for a people that have relatively little threats and problems, small problems like a few inches of snow seem huge?

For instance, a year after the earth quake in Haiti, people are still dieing. People in Haiti are dieing in their tents (they have no hope of rebuilding their homes)of cholera because they still do not have clean drinking water. (By the way, for a one-time gift of $55 you can purchase a filter system that will produce clean water for 60 people for life...Star 93.3 is talking about it today). And it is not just in Haiti...one child will die every fifteen seconds today because they do not have clean drinking water.

The examples could go on and on...40% of the world's population (outside the US, of course) live on less than $2 a day. 143 million children live as orphans every day.
15 thousand Africans will die today of preventable, curable diseases because they do not have access to the medication we take for granted. 30,000 children...half of Paul Brown's Stadium...will die today of starvation in a world that throws away 30% of its food. Over 25% of kids who age out of foster care in Montgomery County become homeless.

Do you see where I am going with this? What if the reason weather storms are such big news to us is because our problems are so small compared to the problems of our world. As we have been studying the Story of God, I keep hearing the words of God to Abraham in Genesis 12, "I will bless you to be a blessing to the whole world." There is no doubt about it...if we see a little ice, snow and wind as the storm of the Century, we are blessed...and so the question for us to ask is, are we being a blessing to others for God?

It is an important question to ask considering what happened to the people of Israel when they chose to stop being a blessing and start oppressing as King Solomon led them to build the temple on the backs of slaves (1 Kings 9:15). God has shown us what happens when his people forget to be a blessing so that we do not have to experience exile. Will we choose to listen?

I thank God that you are a Church family that is open to learning to listen. I praise God that you are growing in in what it means to be a people of both righteousness (love God) and justice (love others). Last Sunday was a great demonstration of your heart and action for being a blessing. This Sunday, we will share the details!

"Getting Our Big 'Buts' out of the Way"

2011-01-19T05:17:00.000-08:00

On Monday night our doorbell rang. It was Seth Zellers. Seth is a high school senior in our Living Hope family and a part of our Teen FUEL ministry. He had called me the week before to see if he could do a Knife demonstration for us. So, Monday evening, I sat down for his sales pitch. I respect any young man who takes the initiative to work, but I was curious about for what he was working. So I asked, "Why did you take this job?" I expected him to say the usual..."I'm saving money for college" or "I'm saving up for a car" or "I want to go to Florida for Spring Break with my friends." However, that was not Seth's response. Seth said,"This is how i am going to pay my way to go on the Expedition Ukraine Trip."

To be honest, from that point on, Seth could have been selling poop and I would have listened intently and bought it. Something inside of me jumped up and down and sang praises to God! "That young man, is one of our own," I thought to myself. He could be making a lot of plans for a lot of things for the summer after he graduates and he is out selling knives to make sure he can serve orphans. I pray that Seth never looses his ability to hear God's voice nor the willingness to do whatever he has to do to follow God's call.

Let's face it...I bet there are at least another 50 or more people in our church family who have said, "I would like to go and serve orphans and street children in Ukraine, but..." I wonder how often our big BUTS get in God's way? I wonder how often our big buts keep us from experiencing first hand God's personal power, provision, peace and presence. I wonder how often our big buts keep us sitting on our butts, when God had planned to use our hands and feet to bring his hope to the hurting.

If the Story of God teaches us anything it is that the difference between those who see God work in real ways in their every days lives are those who surrender all their "buts" and just say, "yes!"

Think about it...
Had Noah said, "but," the world would have come to an underwater-end...
Had Abraham said, "but," he would have died believing he and his wife were
infertile...
Had Joseph said, "but," he would have never seen how God can take what the
Devil means to use as evil and turn it around for good...
Had Moses said, "but", the story of God's people would have ended in slavery...
Had Joshua said, "but," God's people would have missed the promised land...
Had Daniel said, "but," he never would have known that God can keep lions
mouths shut..

Had Esther said, "but," she would have been comfortable in the palace and her
people would have been dead...
Had Isaiah said, "but," we would never have seen Jesus centuries before he was
born...
Had the 12 disciples said, "but", the truth of Jesus would have ended with
their generation...
Had Paul said, "but," only Jews would have been given the opportunity to know
the life -changing love of Christ...
Had Seth Zellers said, "but" he would not be going to Expedition Ukraine and who
knows what of God he and orphans would have missed out on...
Had Pastor Ryan Riddell said "but" he would not be preparing for an interview
with Diane Sawyer to help children aging out of foster care have an
opportunity other than homelessness (www.30dayshomeless.TV)

What "buts" have been getting in the way of the story God has for you? What "buts" are getting in the way of what God wants to do in your life? What "buts" of yours and mine are keeping others form experiencing the love of Christ first hand?

"Viral"

2011-01-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

A man made a "Youtube" video talking about drawing personalized cartoon, stick figure cats. He has had thousands of hits and orders....yes, people are paying him to draw stick figure cats. Then, just last week, an Ohio homeless man's voice received national attention because of his internet video. It is amazing how the smallest ideas can now go viral because of present technological conveniences.

But what if something could go viral that is about more than silly attention-getters and self-promotion. What if something of meaning could be made to go viral? We are seeing that happen with www.30dayshomeless.TV. We along with the other Synergy Network Churches are a part of this viral phenomena.

Pastor Ryan Riddell's 30 days homeless to raise awareness for homelessness in Dayton and in particular those children who age out of foster care and become homeless over 25%) has gone viral. Last night channel 7 highlighted his mission(see http://www.whiotv.com/video/26458088/index.html), this Friday K-Love will air an interview with him every hour nationwide and we will see what comes of the interview he had today with ABC.com. All of this started with one simple web site and 9 churches coming togther to spread the word. Thank you for being a part of it!

Going viral is great imagery for the Church. We, the followers of Christ, ought to make Jesus' justice and righteousness go viral. Our lives are to tell his story to our world. Is my life telling the story of Christ to others? Is yours? By God's grace make God use you to make his love go viral in our world!

"Over 25%"

2011-01-05T05:25:00.000-08:00

That statistic...over 25%...blew me away. Over 25% of children aging out of the foster care system in Montgomery County become homeless. So, this week, what is on my mind is http://30dayshomeless.wordpress.com/

Please take some time this week to check it out! All the Synergy Network Churches (9 churches sharing together in being real, transformed, connected and poured out) are participating. Let's have a huge viewing of www.30dayshomeless.TV from Living Hope.

Also, know that a portion of our annual 100% offering give away on January 30 will be going to "New Family Tree Ministries" which will give the "over 25%" another option...an option besides being homeless. Together, in Christ, we can change this statistic to 0%!

After all, one person and one church doing something, even small, always does more than many people doing nothing!

"Discussing Hell with a 4 and 2 Year Old"

2010-12-29T11:31:00.000-08:00

We are are morning family. I leave for work at 7:15 and the kids are usually up by 6 AM at the latest. On Saturday I kind of wish they would sleep in, but during the week I am glad they are early birds because that means I can sit down and have breakfast with them. During breakfast you never know where the conversation might turn. Today's topic was the devil and hell. It went something like this...

"Daddy, the devil is bad and people who do not love Jesus have the devil in their hearts," says Anna. (This sounds offensive, but the truth is her theology is right--1 John refers to anyone who does not Follow Jesus as "anti-Christ"--probably a little different than what we are use to thinking of when we think of the term anti-Christ, but the truth is, Jesus said either we are for him or against him and if we are against him we are "anti-Christ").
"What the 'Debil', Anna?" asks Seth.
"The Devil is red with horns," replies Anna.
"Where did you learn what the devil is like, Anna?" I asked.
"From TV. I saw him on TV. He is red and has horns and has a sharp thingy," explains Anna.
"Where the 'Debil' live Daddy? He live in my heart?" asks Seth.
"No, he only lives in people who do not want to love Jesus," Anna again explains.
"The Devil use to be an Angel named Lucifer. The Bible tells us he wanted to be the boss instead of letting God be the boss. So, God made a place called Hell so Lucifer, the devil, could be boss there. All the other angels who wanted Lucifer to be boss went to hell with him and they became, what is called demons. Now, every person gets to decide if they want God to be boss of their lives", I shared this because I did not want the TV to be the final word my kids receive on any topic, especially biblical topics.
"Yes," Anna chimed in, "The people who do not want Jesus in their hearts go to the bad place. But if you let Jesus in your heart, heaven is beautiful and fun and you get to be with Jesus all the time."

At the end of this conversation with my kids, I heard another voice. It was not an audible voice, but a voice that was just as real and deep within me. God asked, "Do you still want me as boss of your life?" It was a good question for me to be forced to answer as I approach a New Year. May be it will be a good question for you to answer for yourself as well.

Do you want God to be boss of our lives? Sometimes I fear that I want God to love and forgive me, but I don't want him telling me what to do. However, I know the truth is that he is not satisfied with anything less than having complete control of my life..funny thing is...when I give up control everything always turns out better...why do I so often protest?

"Enough Light for the Next Step"

2010-12-15T11:23:00.000-08:00

This morning I prayed in reference to a particular situation, "Father, I need your clarity and direction." No sooner had I prayed that, then God responded by putting this Scripture verse in the forefront of my mind: Psalm 119:105, "Your word is a lamp to my feet." I smiled and said, "Thank you, Father." This morning, right when I was seeking direction, he sent his word of truth to me and it was exactly what I needed to remember.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet," reminds me that God has not promised to light up the path like an airport run way. I would prefer that, but he does not promise that. Instead he promises to give me enough light for the next step. If I will learn to trust him for the next step, then he will give me enough light for the next step and with each step, I will find the direction I seek.

The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light to give us the next step, the more we learn to walk through open doors and not try to break down closed doors. Today, I had a door close. With that Bible verse in mind, I was able to back up and say, "OK...that door is closed for a reason. Now, it is time for me to look for the next open door. God give me light for the next step to take."

The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more we learn to listen to his Word. God will never lead me to do anything that is contrary to the teaching of the Bible. I can trust that and let it guide me.

The more we learn to trust God to reveal enough light for the next step, the more seriously we take our connection to the Body of Christ. God gives us the church--that is the people of God--to help us hear from him. Many times God has used the experience, challenge or encouragement of a brother or sister in Christ to point me in the right direction.

Most of all, that verse reminds me that God wants to light up the path for me. He will not leave me stranded in the dark. In fact, if I am running in the dark it is probably because I quit walking in the light he gives me for each step and have tried to run on out in front his light. Learning to follow Christ is about learning to depend on him one step at a time.

"Who then Will You Please?"

2010-12-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

Recently, I received a call from someone in the community. The individual explained that they had just moved here from another state. I welcomed her and thanked her for calling. She then got straight to the point. She said, "Are you a hell fire and brimstone preacher?" Before I could answer, she went on to say, "I mean are you like John Hagee (a well-known TV preacher)I want a preacher like John Hagee. Well, are you?" I said, "If you are looking for a preacher like John Hagee stay home and watch him on TV because all you get here is me. And to be very honest, I have no interest in being likened to John Hagee." She hung up and so far as I know has not visited Living Hope.

The Bible gives a great challenge in Galatians 1:10 that is difficult to live, but the more you do, the more freedom it brings. "Am I now trying to win the approval of people, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." I think these are good words for us to hear as we approach Christmas. As you think about how you will fit in all the extra holiday parties and as you try to figure out how you will buy all the gifts that are expected that you can or cannot afford, I encourage you and me both to remember the words of Galatians 1:10.

Christmas is a time when we are all put to the test of this verse: To whom will we play? Every person in your life has there own set of expectations of you. If you try to please one person you will offend another. Some of us will have yet another Christmas of stress and depression as we try to make everyone happy. But if you do that it is not the fault of the others in your life, it is your own. Just because people have expectations of you, does not mean you have to try to live up to them or down to them. Instead, Galatians 1:10 says to play to an audience of one...the ONE and only One that really matters. In fact, when you seek to live to the approval of God's love and purpose for your life, then you find yourself becoming, as one woman in our church family calls it, "Comfortable in your own skin." What a gift of God it is to know who you are and who you are not! What a gift of God to play to an audience of one rather than an audience of a 100 different expectations! What a gift of God to know that when I seek God's a approval it leads me to become more free in the me he made me to be!

Friends, let somebody else try to make everyone else in your life happy. Then you can concentrate on pleasing God and enjoying the freedom and acceptance that comes in and through Christ. So, again I say to my disappointed caller, "If you want John Hagee, watch him on TV." Because I am learning to be less and less interested in being who others want me to be and more and more hungry to let God make me who he made me to be!

"Mine!" Warning:You will either like this post or hate it

2010-12-01T05:09:00.000-08:00

I find it interesting that children demonstrate such a strong sense of possession. For instance, Anna and Seth may not have any interest in a particular toy of theirs, but the moment the other wants to play with it he or she is quick to proclaim their domain with a loud and clear, "Hey, that's mine!"

Early on children learn to hold on tight to what they call,"Mine!" Of course, what makes a young child's sense of ownership even more interesting is the reality that everything they possess is given to them. My 4 and 2 year old cannot say they have worked for anything they have received. They call my and Kimberly's house theirs, but their names are not on the title. They say the vehicles are their van and their car, but last I checked they have never made a car payment. The truth is everything they have is mine, not theirs. However, they live as though they are the reason they have what they have.

Of course, our children learn this from us adults. Just because we earn a pay check and pay the bills, we believe that all that we have is ours. Its my house, my car, my TV, my bed, my snow blower, my money...because I have it, we conclude, it makes it mine. Just because we believe that does not make it true. The truth is, that is the farthest thing from the truth. The truth is, nothing we have is ours.

The Bible says, "The earth is the Lord's and everything in it." The Creator is the only one on earth who has the right to claim domain over anything on earth. Its not my house or my car or my money...its His! I would not have anything without him having created the substance out which all that I have is manufactured. God is the source of all and there by the rightful owner of all. Everything that I have is merely entrusted to me by God. My house is really God's house. My car is God's car. My money is God's money. This means that what I have I am to treat with care and to hold loosely because, after all, nothing is mine; it is all His.

This is one of the reasons Kimberly and I give tithe and offerings. A tithe is 10 percent of one's income. Malachi 3:10 says that if we do not give God 10 % of the money we earn to his work on earth then we are robbing God. Yeah, that is a strong statement, but it is a true statement...if everything is God's and he asks us to give a portion of what is his back to him, then if we do not do so we are robbing Him.

But then Malachi 3 goes on to explain that we are not just robbing God, we are robbing ourselves. It says, "Test me on this [that is give God his 10%] and see if I don't open the flood gates of heaven to you." Kimberly and I have tested God on this and we have found him to be true to his word. He has never left us without what we need. In fact, he has opened his flood gates to us. I could share many examples of how God has asked us to give over and beyond our tithe and we do not know where the money is going to come from, but we give it and then, in amazing ways, money comes from unexpected sources. I can also share how God has opened his flood gates to us in non-monetary ways by us being willing to give what he asks of us. The truth is...if you do not trust God enough to give him what he asks, you are not holding on to what you need, you are robbing yourself of what God wants to pour into your life.

Do you realize that if everyone who says they believe in Jesus would do what Jesus says with tithe and offerings, then 30,000 children would not be dying daily of starvation, 1 child would not die every 15 seconds from unclean water, 15,000 Africans would not die to day due to preventable and curable disease, 40% of the world's population would not have to survive on less than $2 a day and 143 million orphans would be cared for in a way that today they can only dream of?

People regularly ask me, "Pastor, how can I tithe in my current financial situation?" My answer is, you must do what Kimberly and I do. We adjust our lives to live on 90% and then we always have at least 10% to give. It will mean you have to decide if you trust God or not. This is not a money issue. It is a trust issue. If you trust God when he says test me on this and I will open the flood gates to you, then it will be worth you adjusting your living to the 90% he entrusts you with...what will that mean for you? I don't know. I know for us, God has asked us to give over 10% and so it has meant we have made a choice not to have cable and not to have texting and not to ever by clothes unless they are on sale at the end of the season, etc...the point is, when God asks us to do something we must decide if we are going to trust him.

So, next time you hear a child holler, "Mine", ask yourself if your life is teaching him or her that everything they and we have is "HIS."

"Life is Hard"

2010-11-17T05:36:00.000-08:00

My high school history teacher use to start most every day by saying, "Life is hard and then you die." (Yeah, he was a really upbeat and positive guy...but his message stuck.) I do not know anyone who is living in reality that would not agree that life is hard. The news media acknowledges this reality every day and we all shake our heads and agree, "Yes, life is hard."

However, there is something about life being hard that it seems the majority are not willing to accept as reality. Call it ignorance or out right denial, but I am willing to argue that the majority of the world has not accepted that while it is true that life is hard, our choices make my life harder or less hard.

For instance, the economy is hard right now on most all of us. But that reality does not remove the choice we have to be wise or foolish with our money. Making a choice to not live within your means is a bad choice that will make life all the harder and no one should be expected to rescue you from living that way. Learn to live according to what you earn, even if you wish it were more, and you will make a good choice that helps ease the burden of a bad economy and does not try to put the burden of your poor choice on someone else.

The same is true in our relationships. Relationships are hard work. But a poor choice of talking at each other and not hearing one another, only makes it more difficult. The choice to quit trying to win an argument and to start trying to bring resolution to a relationship is a choice that simply makes life easier.

The same is true for our health. We are all guaranteed that disease or injury will get us all. However, that does not mean we have to be stupid about it. The choice to take care of this body, which the Bible calls God's temple, only makes life easier. (Now, that is one hits me square between the eyes).

It is also true of what we think and speak. Life is hard enough, with out us making the choice to consume our minds in negative thinking and our mouths in speaking death. The Bible says we live what we think and what we speak gives power to God or Satan in our lives. So, make the choice to think on whatever is good as Philippians admonishes and speak life and guess what...you are making a choice to not make a hard life even harder.

These words I have written may sting, but the reality is God gave us a choice as an act of love. He could have removed our choice, set everything in stone and said, "Now live what I give and you have no choice about it." But our Father loved us so much that he limited himself by giving us free choice. Then he showed us all the more love by showing us the way to make choices that lead to life and blessing rather than curses and death. Choosing God's way does not mean life will cease to be hard, but it does mean that it will free us to have a good, whole, free, even joyful life in the midst of the hard. But, again, even that requires a choice. And it is no simple one. It requires nothing less than all.

Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Acknowledge the Lord in ALL your ways and he will make your paths straight." Do you believe that? If you do, then you will make the choice to acknowledge him; that is put him first in ALL--your relationships, finances, health, past, present, future, etc. Then, even when life gets hard, at least your path will be straight for matter what you will know that be it easy or hard, your path is leading you straight to the arms of God and his best.

One way to acknowledge God in all is to make the choice to do the small things you can to bring the presence of Christ to others every day. What is one small thing you can do in that way today? Life is hard, but it does not mean we can't make it a little easier on someone else in the name of Christ.

"Bo-ba"

2010-11-10T12:03:00.000-08:00

"Bo-bah"--pronounced: bow-bah is one of our 2 year old's favorite words. Bo-ba is Seth's word. He made it up some time ago. While we do not know how he came up with this word, we know exactly what the word expresses for him. Bo-ba is his joy-word. It is the word he uses when no words he knows can express the excitement he is feeling. For instance, when Ma maw knocks on the door he lets out a, "Hey there ma maw...bo-bah" or when we announce that we are getting ice cream he may let out a loud bo-ba. He often takes off running or leaping in enthusiasm as he shouts, "Bo-ba; bo-ba."

For many people, the upcoming holidays are bo-ba thieves. The stores start playing Christmas music and you start going to a dark place. You associate Thanksgiving and Christmas with stress, family arguments, unmet expectations, the loss of a loved one and a whole slew of negative emotions. O, yes, the holidays can be a major trigger for all kinds of negative emotions, can't they be?

That is one of the reasons we have begun looking at a Christmas passage in the Bible from Isaiah 9 so soon in the season. It is my prayer that rather than be blindsided by the holidays, you will experience the presence of Christ this Christmas by bringing his presence to others.

Last week, we accepted the challenge to seize any small or big opportunity God will give us to bring his light of love into someone Else's' darkness. In fact, I have an opportunity for you right now. Lori Fearn a member of Living Hope was diagnosed with inoperable liver cancer. Lori is young and her children are in high school and college. The only option for Lori is a liver transplant. What if we flooded Lori's email box with emails of care and prayer? Even if you don't know her, you can express your concern as a brother or sister in Christ. Would you send a email to lorifearn@yahoo.com ?

Make this Thanksgiving and Christmas less about putting presents under a tree and more about small and big acts of bringing God's presence to this Christmas and I won't be surprised at all, if some Sunday this season you spontaneously shout out a loud and strong, "BO-BA, BO-BAH." At least that is what I am praying and believing for you!

"Cheering or Booing?"

2010-11-03T10:51:00.000-07:00

Here we sit the day after elections...Certainly some in our church family are cheering and some are booing. (By the way, that is one of the things I love about Living Hope--we make a big deal of Jesus not politics!) And someone will want to ask if I am cheering or booing over the election results? Over the years people have wanted to pin me down...get me to openly show my allegiance to one party or the other...Some assume the reason I don't is because of fear of loosing tax exempt status for the church. The truth of the matter is, I do not reveal my political passion because I have very little.

You see, 29 years ago, my American Citizenship took a far back seat to my citizenship in the Kingdom of God. The longer I follow my King, Jesus Christ, the less I cheer or boo over election results. Its not that I don't care. I do care..I vote at every election...I have my my personal opinions, but I do not believe the hope of America or any nation, for that matter, rests in any political party or candidate. My hope, our hope, the world's hope is in Jesus Christ alone. And, as much as it will disappoint both sides of the aisle, Jesus refuses to give his support to any political party.

Jesus made it very clear in his life, teachings, death and resurrection that he did not come to be made king by any political party, but to be made KING of every person, every where. In John 6 Jesus fed the multitudes and the people loved it. They thought for sure, having that kind of power, Jesus would be the new king of Israel. But John 6:15 says, "Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again into the hills by himself." The people wanted a political Messiah, but Jesus would have nothing to do with it then. Why would we think Jesus would have anything to do with it now? I guess, the reason we want to get Jesus to choose political sides is because it would be easier to have him be king of a nation than to allow him to be KING of our lives. John 6 (I encourage you to read the whole chapter) goes on to reveal a conversation in which Jesus tells the people who wanted him to be king that he had come not to give them what they wanted politically that would merely satisfy for the moment, but to give them BREAD to eat that would make them never hunger again. The response of the people was that many of them stopped following Jesus that day. They wanted a king, not a KING.

I am not saying to not care about or to not be involved in the political process. But what I am saying is that we let Jesus put things in perspective for us whatever our political preference. Jesus came to be the Savior of the world and at the end of the day he will do that regardless of who is or is not in office. And if Jesus was interested in saving the world and not winning an election, it makes me wonder if that ought to tell we the Church, about where our priority ought to be?

"To Be or Not to Be?"

2010-10-27T04:59:00.000-07:00

We live in an amazing time of of technology!

Technology allows us to be with one another without needing to be near one another. There is great advantage in this. For instance, our children are able to "Skype" with their grandparents who live 3 1/2 hours away. I have friends, who are missionaries, who are able to easily stay in touch with family and friends through email. I pray with a soldier in Afghanistan through Face book. We live in amazing day of technology that allows us to be with one another without being near one another.

However (You could tell a "however" was coming, couldn't you?)...However, while this technology enables us to be with folks we cannot be physically near, our technology can also become a tool of enabling that excuses absence of physical presence from those with whom we are geographically near enough to be present.

It is possible to use technology as an excuse to not be physically present. For example, when I was growing up, my dad's job had him travel a lot. However, he paid close attention to my and my brother's schedule. I never remember him not being physically present at those games and events that meant the world to us. Today, we have the technology to excuse our physical presence even if we could physically be there. Rather than paying attention to the important events of one another's lives, we can simply have someone give us a live video feed from their phone and we can watch the little league game or the kids choir concert from our desk while we work. Rather than visit a friend who is struggling, technology can give us an excuse to send a quick email. Rather than listen to the joy in the voice of a loved one celebrating, we can click a "like" button on Face book and quickly be on with our day.

Don't miss hear me..I am not saying to not use technology...I am using it right now...what I am saying is, like anything else technology can enable us to connect or it can enable us to excuse ourselves from taking the time to truly BE with others. Yes, "to be or not be?" That is the question in this day of technology.

Will I BE at my child's game or will I watch it on-line later? Will I talk to my spouse or shoot off an email? Will I pick up the phone and ask a hurting friend how she is doing or tag her in FB about Farmville? Will I enter into being real, transformed, connected and poured out in a community of faith or watch TBN on TV or Living Hope sermons on-line? Will I take my eyes off the screens of technology and look in the eyes of another to see the image of God in the "least of these"?

You know, that is why we make such a big deal about this Sunday. Because we cannot find a substitute or make up for not BEING here to celebrate the crucial spiritual steps that are taken in baptism and child dedication. We are not just a church service on Sunday, we are the Body of Christ. I know some come here each week simply to warm a seat, sing a song and hear a sermon, but I also know that the many more of you are here because you truly are participating in helping us BE a church that is real, transformed, connected and poured out! I want to thank you! I also want to encourage you. You may not feel like you are doing much watching people being baptized, but Romans 12 says this is what the Body is about, "Rejoicing with one another when one rejoices!" This Sunday, you re going to be doing that. Please pray for those being baptized...Satan tends to really attack people before they take this step. Please cheer...if thousands can cheer over an over-paid jock scoring a touch down, how much more should the people of God rejoice over God's saving grace?! Don't hold back! Be obnoxious in your praise! It is going to be a great day! What God will do in you and through you this Sunday is nothing that can be captured with even the best of our technology.

BE present with God and others, because one day we will happily or despairingly realize that all that really mattered in this life is all that will matter in eternal life and that is BEING with God and Being with others. Isn't that what Jesus said the greatest commandment was, "Love God and love others"? And how can we love without Being with God and with others. "To be or not to be?" Don't make it a question....just BE...Be the Church...Be a friend...Be a parent...Be husband/wife...Be with...Be for...Be in...Be at...BE!

"Won't You be My Neighbor?"

2010-10-20T13:43:00.000-07:00

Stephen and Debbie Gilliland hosted a block party in their neighborhood for "Don't go to church, Be the Church" weekend. Over 50 of their neighbors, children to Seniors, came to their house to eat and meet. A few of their neighbors that came, up to that day, they had only seen in passing. That night they did not just learn their neighbor's names, they laid a foundation of friendship that they are continuing to build upon.

The Gillilands shared how this has opened the door for them to share about their faith in Christ and their church family. The reason they are sharing is because their neighbor's are asking. Then, last Saturday evening their was a knock on the door. Three little girls, sisters, were standing in the cold when Stephen opened the door. The girls said, "Grandpa Steve, can we have a cup of milk?" The mother was too embarrassed to make the request, but the girls were not. Stephen had just bought a fresh gallon that day. He gave it all to the girls. All of this because they opened their home and said come on in.

How can we love our neighbor as Jesus commands, if we do not even know our neighbors? I will be the first to admit, I am quite comfortable not knowing my neighbors, but from the day we moved in three years ago, God challenged us that loving our neighbors requires us to get to know them. So, Kimberly and I have seized every opportunity possible to get to know our neighbors. What we have discovered is we truly do love our neighbors. We have great neighbors. Of course, you wonder if they think the same of you. Then this month we received an invitation from two different neighbors to come to their homes.

My point is, this: God does not have you in your neighborhood, country home, apartment complex or condo so you can keep to yourself and escape the world. He has you there to be the Church where you live. You are there to make Christ's love tangible. The question is are you?

If not, it does not take a lot. A simple wandering across the street and knocking on the door is a great start. Making sure your light is on to hand out candy on Halloween is an even easier opportunity--your neighbor's will actually come to you. Just do something to love your neighbor and then don't be surprised when you are the one God uses to fill a child's cup with milk and a families hearts with hope.

"Everything I touch I mess up"

2010-10-06T12:57:00.000-07:00

It seems that everything I do this week, I mess up. I have sent people the wrong letters. I confused a meeting with the wrong date. I thought I was helping a situation and found out I was just messing things up. Everything I touch I seem to mess up this week. I am not looking for pity. I can wallow it that all by myself. This week in a very real way, I have been reminded of how weak I am. This week, in a fresh and real way I have been reminded of how prone I am to error.

So, what shall be my response? In days past I would relentlessly beat myself up. In some sick way, I really believed that if I punished myself long enough, then some how that would make up for my mistakes. But that is the old and Jesus has and is continually making me new "by the renewing of my mind." Even today he has reminded me that "in my weakness, his power is made perfect." Even now he reminds me that, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Even now I am reminded that "apart from Christ I can do nothing" but "I can do all things in Christ who gives me strength." Jesus even looks me in the eye through his Word and says, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made."

The old Chad would have wallowed in pity and then beaten himself up for days, making me of no use to God or anyone, but I just want to give credit to Jesus' healing truth. I stand on who Christ is and what he has done and not on who I am or what I can do. Hallelujah!

Thank you for listening and if you are struggling today, I pray that even now you will be lifted up!

"A Jogger's Invitation"

2010-09-29T11:00:00.000-07:00

This story was shared with me from this past Sunday.

A first time guest joined us for worship. Someone asked her how she found Living Hope. She replied, "A jogger told me about you." She went on to explain,"I was driving around town looking for a church. I saw a jogger. I pulled over and asked him if he knew of a good church for me to visit. The jogger told me to check out the church two doors down at Mcewen. He told me that the church was 'good people and they do a lot to help others.' So, I came in for a visit."

Living Hope Church, thank you for BEING the church! I hope you receive this as encouragement and affirmation that stepping out to be poured out is making a difference. Even a jogger who does not attend Living Hope, but lives in the community, sees something of God in you. Praise God! Praise God!

See you this weekend for our "Don't Go to Church, Be the Church!"

"The Waves"

2010-09-22T12:34:00.000-07:00

When we were on vacation we spent some time at my cousins home. They live about 15 minutes from the beach. One day we all packed up and spent half a day playing in the sand and splashing in the sea.

It was interesting that both Anna and Seth specifically and separately asked me this question, "Daddy, you won't let the waves knock me over will you?" They both wanted to enjoy playing in the ocean, but they wanted to be certain that they would not be knocked down and drug under the water by a wave. As a father who is well aware of his weaknesses, I was quick to give a very honest reply, "Anna," I said, "Seth, " I said, "I will do my best to keep us from being knocked down by the waves, but I can't promise we will not fall. But if waves do knock us down, I will make sure we both get back up." They both seemed OK with that answer and so in the water we went.

As I was thinking about this, my first thought was to write, "You know, as an earthly Father I cannot promise the waves of life won't knock us down, but our heavenly Father can make that promise." Now, that sounds very nice and I very much appreciate such assuring words. It is comforting to think that God will always keep me safe.

However, God does not make us that promise. When we ask, "Father, you won't let the waves knock me down will you?" We want him to say, "Of course not, my child. I will keep you safe." But he does not make that promise. He says the rain falls on the just and the unjust and yet that does not at all diminish his love for his children ( my paraphrase of Matthew 6:45). Faith is not knowing that God will not let the waves of life knock us down. Faith is knowing that even if the waves knock me down, God will get me back up.

I wonder how many Christ Followers play it too safe? You are waiting for clear skies and calm seas before you set sail in trusting God in anything. You might as well leave the marina, because God does not promise you or me smooth sailing. In fact, there are many more biblical references that warn you of wild waves than tranquil seas. Noah went on a 40 day nightmare of a cruise, Jonah saw the inside of a fish, Daniel slept with lions, 3 faithful Hebrew friends faced the furnace, Moses wandered the dessert with complaining people for 40 years, Paul was stoned, imprisoned, beaten, shipwrecked and bit by a snake...o, and, well, Jesus was hung on a cross. Does God promise you not to be knocked down by waves, let me put it as gently as I know how, "NO!"

And yet, he asks you to walk out into the ocean any way. Without apology, he asks you to risk everything not knowing what the outcome will be...will you be found standing? Or will you be swept away by the rip tide? Faith is moving forward before you know the answer.

But one thing you can know is that whether you stand in the waves or they knock you down, your Father will be there to pick you back up. Water may fill your mouth, the salt may sting your eyes, you may feel like you are going to die...you may even die...but one way or the other, if your are his, then he will pick you up.

Normally, it is at this point that I find a nice Scripture to sum it all up. The truth is the Bible is full of stories and verses that say what I have just shared. You don't need me to find one for you. You need to find your own. Find your own promise of God's to stand on because one thing is for sure: If you re going to follow Jesus, he is going to call you out into the deep and where he calls you there will be waves and where there are waves you may get knocked down.

"The Cherry in Pepto-Bismol"

2010-09-01T06:02:00.000-07:00

I just want to publicly thank the folks that came up with the idea of flavoring Pepto-Bismol with cherry. For years I have turned to Pepto-Bismol for digestive aid (hope that's not TMI). All those years, the original taste about made me gag. However, the cherry flavoring has completely changed the experience. I actually enjoy taking two tablespoons of the pink product. So, thank you for using modern technology to not only aid my digestive tract but comfort my taste buds. I am a grateful customer.

I think we could all learn something from Pepto-Bismol. Its manufacturer figured out that if you can make it taste better, people are more likely to swallow it. I wonder how beneficial learning this lesson could be for our relationships with others? Most of us, even the least confrontational of us, when we are pushed far enough manage to blurt out words of truth, that may be truth, but because they lack flavoring, the one who needs to hear it the most won't ever swallow it.

Proverbs 15:1, puts it like this, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."

Now, there is truth to live by! What kind of impact could this make on our marriages, our conversations with our children, our interactions with our co-workers, our dealings with customer service, etc? Proverbs 15:1 tells us what would happen. Truth in our relationships is just like Pepto-Bismol...its a whole lot easier to swallow when flavored with the cherry called gentleness.

"Pulling Weeds"

2010-08-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

It seems that the only thing really growing in my yard these days are weeds. Up until the past month I was especially proud of how green and weed-free my front yard had remained. Those days are gone!

On Monday, I bent over a pulled a weed..then I pulled another...then another...before long I had pulled every weed in the main part of my front yard. Last night I started pulling weeds on the side of my house. I pulled one weed, then another, then another...Next thing I knew, Anna was pulling weeds, then Kimberly and then Seth started taking piles of weeds to a pile in the back yard.

As I was pulling weeds, I noticed something. As long as I focused on one weed at a time, I made progress. The moment I stood back and saw all the weeds in the yard, I wanted to give up. I think the same applies to the weeds in our lives. I wonder how often we defeat what God could do in us because we see how far we have to go, become overwhelmed and give up before he can start. What if all God is looking for is someone to let him pull one weed at a time? What if instead of looking at loosing 70 pounds, we just looked at loosing one pound? What if instead of trying to work on ten things wrong in our marriage, we sat down and began to look at just one? What if instead of trying to read the entire Bible, we determined to read just one chapter or even one verse a day? What if instead of wrestling with all our hurts, we started bringing just one to the Father? Then, as we watch God pull that one weed, we would be ready, open and energized to let him take us to the next. I really think Satan helps us see everything that is wrong, so that we cannot focus on the next one thing God wants to make right.

Over and over again that is how Jesus said the Kingdom of God works in our world. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough" Matthew 13:33. The weeds of our lives and of this world can be eliminated...hunger can be stamped out, human trafficking can be brought to an end, every orphan can be cared for, poverty can be broken one weed at a time. And if every church would pull just one weed, just think of how beautiful the landscape of this world could become!

Let's go pull a weed!

"100 MPH"

2010-08-18T14:06:00.000-07:00

Do you ever feel like you are going 100 MPH? For those families whose children started back to school today, you may even feel like you have whiplash. It is go here...run there...back to the house...grab a bite to eat and don't let the door hit you as you leave...zoooom...daaaash...(hey, give me a break...it is hard to make fast car noises in type)...100 MPH! If you ever feel like that, then know that you are not alone. I feel like I have been going 100 MPH today.

Let's face it...we live in a culture that values speed. Our culture gives us the message every day that the prize goes to the one who can cram the most in and get the most done in the fastest time. Of course, no one knows what the prize is... Unless, you count heartburn, headaches, short-tempers, negative attitudes and insomnia as prizes. I don't count them as prizes, but I can count on them to be my norm when I expect of my self, my life and my family to keep going 100 MPH, 7 days a week.

However, can I let you in on a little secret our culture does not want you to know? I am looking over my shoulder as I type, hoping that the cultural KGB will not bust down my door for what I am about to share. Are you ready? This could change everything for you and me...here it is:

Just because our culture tells us everyone has to go 100 MPH every day, does not mean we have to live that way.

I know...its completely counter cultural, but is true! I can pull off the highway. It OK to take a side road where the speed limit is only 25 MPH. Heck...you can even pull off at a rest area for a while. I know..this is hard for most of us...we feel like we need to be going all the time. We feel like rest is a waste. We feel guilty if we are not being productive every second. We think it is normal to be busy from dawn to dusk. Friends, its not normal...its INSANE!

I am drawn back to the Scripture we looked at on Sunday in Isaiah 40:31, "But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint." The truth is pulling off the highway and being intentional about rest, recreation and reflection is not counter-productive it helps you to be more productive because it renews your strength.

We all complain about our busyness. Why not quit complaining and do something about it?! There is no better time than the first day of school to be intentional about being counter cultural in this way. Here are some ideas:

* Establish a "Nothing" night one night a week. Whether this is the same night every night or determined at the on-set of each new week. You and your family will come to look forward to this night in which nothing is planned...nothing has to be done at home or any where else...it will become an evening of refuge that you will anticipate together.

* Establish a daily time of quiet for just you and your Father in heaven. I use a time of journaling and Scripture reading to help me find my Center for the day. An evening walk is also a great time of re-focusing on God for me. It is amazing how this renews my strength. God is near. The question is where are we?

* Block out sabbath time. What do you do before and after worship? Don't just count the hour here on Sunday as worship. Give yourself an hour before worship to begin changing channels. Keep the TV off and find ways to turn your heart and mind on to the things of God. Do this as a family. Then after worship use the ride home to talk about not just what was said, but what it was speaking to you personally. Let the conversation go as long or as short as needed. Then pray silently or out loud together that what God said on Sunday stays with you and is played out all week.

* Budget for a vacation. We have made a decision we will do without many other things during the year (Cable TV, texting, eating out, etc.) so we can save enough money each year to get away. Whether you can get away for a day, a weekend or a week, getting away does the heart good. It is like an annual sabbatical.

The list of ideas could go on and on, but ideas mean nothing unless they are put into action. I challenge us, church, to be boldly counter cultural in this way. If others want to go 100 MPH, 7 days a week, they can do so. I will pray for them as they crash and burn. But as for me and my house, we be intentional about pulling off the highway so we can enjoy the scenic route occasionally and the rest stops regularly.

"The Well"

2010-08-11T12:38:00.000-07:00

When the well is dry, you can either die of thirst or dig deeper.

Jesus had something to say about that in John 7:37 & 38.

"Daddy, when is Friday?"

2010-08-04T10:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening our family was taking a walk together after dinner. Anna and I began talking about Living Hope's Father/Child camp out.

She asked, "Is it time for the camp out today?"

"No," I said, "that is not till Friday."

"Friday?" She said, "When is Friday?"

Friday will not get here soon enough for her. She can't wait! She is in full anticipation of this special time. She has been asking about it since last year and talking about it regularly since I told her I signed us up a few weeks ago. Anticipation comes easily for children. Wonder, awe, hopes, dreams and even wishes come naturally to their wide-eyed perspective on the world.

Of course, we have all lived past the day of such child like luxury. We've taken a a few courses at the school of hard knocks. We long since learned that stars are just stars and nothing to wish upon. We've quit wasting money on wishing fountains. "It is what it is," we moan as we march in the ruts of life.

But, if we'll let him, Jesus has come to get in our face and challenge our lack of anticipation.

Jesus came teaching a gospel of anticipation. (By the way, just in case any one wonders, the word "gospel" means good news). He came teaching us to anticipate what is and what is to come in the Kingdom of God. Take some time to read through the parables of Jesus on the Kingdom of God. He preached anticipation into existence. He also prayed it into existence.

The Lord's Prayer is a powerful example, "Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be they name, they kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil."

The first word prompts anticipation. Jesus tells us to approach God as "Father." Actually, even our translation of Father is too formal. The word Jesus uses is "Abba" which is better translated, "Daddy." That is a word of anticipation. Even human daddy's, at least the ones who have earned the right to be called daddy, don't withhold their love from their children. How much more so is it with your Daddy in heaven? The first words of this prayer evoke the image of a young child running shouting, "Daddy, Daddy" as his Father enters the house after a long day of work.

"Hallowed be your name" is a prayer of anticipation. It is asking God to make himself known in our lives and in our world. It is taking a realistic look at what our world puts in the spot light and saying, "Daddy, put the spot light on you."

"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." That is a request of bold anticipation. Jesus challenges us to not just go through the motions, but to actually, pray, act, live, expect God's Kingdom of heaven to break in on earth. What in the world are we the church doing shaking our heads at the evil and suffering of this world? our job is not to shake our heads and let the world go to hell. Our job is to redeem the world in which we live from the grips of hell's suffering and evil. 30,000 children may die daily from starvation and 200 children may be going hungry on the weekends in our community and the only option Jesus gives his Church is to do something in the name of Christ about it! Thank you for being a church that understands that this line of the Lord's prayer can only be prayed with your hands and feet moved to action as the hands of feet of Jesus' love.

"Give us this day our daily bread" is also a supplication of anticipation. Few of us know what it is like to go to bed not knowing how our basic needs will be met in the morning (However, let us not close our eyes to the millions around the world for whom this is true). But Jesus says that as his Follower we can lay our head down at night not knowing from where what we need will come, but fully anticipating that it will come. He will meet our needs.

"Lead us not into temptation and deliver us from evil" are also prayers of anticipation. Why do we assume defeat before the battle begins? How many of us have resigned ourselves to the fact of continual, habitual failure to sin? How many of us tell others, "That's just how I am? Its how my family as always been. Its how I will always be"? How many of us look at the mountains of evil in this life and say you can't overcome that? Jesus does not let us get away with such small thinking. He challenges us to anticipate what his death and resurrection has already guaranteed...VICTORY!

"Daddy, when is Friday?" was my daughter's question of anticipation. Jesus invites us to live in anticipation through Him..."when" is coming and he wants to make "when" now and one day "when" will be way beyond now. Will you be a Follower of Christ who prays and lives out this anticipation? Will church who anticipates God's Kingdom breaking in? Will we be a church whose love in action allows others to anticipate God among us?

"Roller Coaster Rides & Rocks"

2010-07-28T12:53:00.000-07:00

I will always be loyal to the Beast as my favorite roller coaster, but I have to say the Diamond Back at Kings Island is a cool ride. I enjoy a good roller coaster...the anticipation as you make your way up the first hill...your stomach jumping to your throat as you race down that hill...the twists and curves at break-neck speeds...I love it!

However, I wish I could leave the roller coaster at the amusement park. You and I both know life can be quite a roller coaster. For instance, this week I have visited with a Mom and her newborn (Congratulations, Cameron and Marci), prayed with friends before surgery (Praying for you Heather) and met with a family to plan their loved one's funeral (We express our sympathy, Darlann).

See what I mean? Life is roller coaster...life is full of ups and downs, unexpected turns and twists and sometimes it can feel like it is going by at break-neck speeds. The roller coaster called life can leave you crying tears of joy one minute and tears of sorrow the next. Some of us do our best to try to manage the ups and downs, but the truth is most of life is completely outside our control. Our best laid plans cannot plan for the twists that lie ahead of which we presently are clueless. How do you deal with the roller coaster?

I look for a rock. Life may be a roller coaster but that does not mean I cannot get off and stand on the rock. When was the last time you stood on a huge rock? I encourage you to find one. Then climb up and stand on it. Feel how strong and stable it is under your feet. Ask a friend to push on that boulder and then stop and think about the fact that you cannot even feel the effect of all the energy they are exerting to move you. Stand on top that rock and perhaps you will have a divine encounter.

The psalmist had such an encounter. If there is one thing Israel is not in want of, it is rocks. Rocks are everywhere there! I can see the psalmist standing on one of those dessert boulders and praying these words:
"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted
me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and
gave me a firm place to stand" (Psalm 40:1-2).

Just because life is a roller coaster does not mean you can't get off the ride and stand on the rock. Better put, since life is a roller coaster we cannot afford not to regularly get off and stand on the rock. As I think about this, I feel a strong pulling to the Rock. When I force myself to step off the ride and just stand on him, it is amazing how things make more sense...its incredible how peace finds its way back to my heart and mind...its astounding how much more clearly I can hear the still, small voice of God's truth...its encouraging to be reminded that no matter what happens next, in Christ, one way or the other, I will be OK. In him, my Rock, I find permission to enjoy the ride and I find something to hold onto when the ride is more than I can bear. This is no religion...this is no self-help technique...this is not about positive thinking...this kind of rock can only be found in a real and personal relationship with Jesus. He is the Rock!

I invite you to step off the roller coaster for a few minutes today. Set aside the cell phone...turn off the TV...stop doing whatever it is the roller coaster tells you that you must do...and take just a moment to stand on the ROCK.

"Not Responsible"

2010-07-21T11:48:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed just how many "Not Responsible" signs are posted here and there?

"We are not responsible for lost, stolen or damaged property," warns one parking
lot sign.

A dump truck traveling down I-75 in front of me, throwing rocks at my
windshield, had this sign plastered on its rear, "Not responsible for damage
caused by thrown debris"

Kings Island reminds me at every ride that I ride at my own risk and that it is
not responsible for my bodily harm or death.

I seem to be seeing "Not Responsible" signs in more and more places. It makes me wonder, who is responsible?

Never is that question more important than when it comes to our children and teens. Who is responsible for the physical, emotional and spiritual health of the next generation?

The first answer to that question is obvious. We parents are first and foremost charged with that responsibility. Somewhere along the way it seems our culture has deceived us into delegating the responsibility of our children to others. We were told to leave the teaching to the schools, the preaching to the church, the playing to the recreational league, the babysitting to the video game and so forth. Our culture has even gone as far as to suggest that your role as a parent is less significant with each year your child ages. Its as though our culture is handing us a "Not Responsible" sign and urging us to put the responsibility for our child into some one else hands.

I want to encourage you, parents, don't let anyone or anything diminish your influence in your child's life. God gave that child to you. You and I can either play the role of the victim or we can play the role of parent and make sure that for every voice our child hears, they also hear ours.

That being said, I have already felt the overwhelming responsibility of parenting and my kids have not even started school. That is why I am thankful that at Living Hope, so many of you take on the role spiritual parents to my and the other children and teens of our church family. One of the reasons we do not hire a Children's Pastor is because we do not waqt to do anything to lessen the participation and buy in we have from so many of you in our children's ministry. It is powerful for a child to see multiple adults pouring into their lives every week in the Kidz Zone classes, Transitions (6th graders), FUEL Teen ministry and Kidz Bible Quizzing. The children experience first hand that it is not just mom or dad who says loving God and others matters most, but many, many others!

This week is fantastic example. Almost 80 adults are serving almost 200 children in our High Seas Adventure Vacation Bible School. It is powerful to see men and women, many of whom do not have children who are VBS age, investing so much in our children. Thank you! As a pastor and, even more so, as a parent I say, "Thank you for not putting up the 'Not Responsible' sign."

Next week our teens will head to Nashville for a Mission Trip. They will have a blast while they make a significant difference. But none of that would happen, if not for the committed adult leaders, many of whom, who do not even have teens of their own, taking vacation days from work to serve your teens. Because these adult leaders do not hang up a "Not Responsible" sign, the teens of Living Hope not only will make an impact and be impacted on the mission trip, they have that opportunity every week in our FUEL small group at the Nuckols home in Springboro. (Just on a side note, I cannot for the life of me figure out why some parents make it a priority to get their teens to everything but the youth ministry).

In short, be encouraged, parents, to take full responsibility for your child. Living Hope Church, I encourage you to not weary in the good you invest in children and teens here. You are all doing an incredible work of God and only time will tell, and perhaps only heaven will fully reveal, just how much of a difference you have made by changing a diaper on Sunday, going to a quiz meet on a Saturday, piling in a van for a teen mission trip in the summer or passing out snacks to 200 hundred little hands in VBS.

Deuteronomy 6:4-7 affirms your value as it says, "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your children. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."

"Consumer or Consumed"

2010-07-14T12:33:00.000-07:00

I have a pet peeve with those who work at fast food cash registers. I hate it when I walk up to order and the cashier just stares at me. I hate it when he or she says nothing...no, "Hi, how can I help you? or "May I take your order?" More and more I seem to be meeting cashiers who just stare at me. How am I suppose to know if he or she is ready to take my order? So, I have started staring back. I refuse to guess when they are ready to take my order. If they're ready, they can tell me. Otherwise, I will stare as long as they want. It is now a meter of principle. I can feel my blood pressure rising even as I type.

Why do I feel so strongly about this? I suppose it is because some where along the way I bought into the message that "The customer is always right." So, when the fast food clerk refuses to have the decency to ask for my order I feel he/she has violated my consumer rights.

Ah, yes, consumerism runs thick in my veins. I suppose there is a place for it. After all, we are all consumers. We consume air, food and so forth. However, consumerism is a spiritual growth killer for the individual Follower of Christ and for the Church. What is really frightening is that the consumer mind set is so brought with us into the church that we even say out loud, "We are shopping for a church right now." What? One cannot shop for a church. A church is not something you buy or some place you go, a church, the Church is a people, not a product. Being involved in the life of the church, God's Body on earth, is something that is costly--it costs time, money, talent, energy and more. Church is not something I attend, but something I live. The hour on Sunday, is merely the place to come together as one Body to be sent out to serve and live out the love of Jesus 24/7. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 16:25, "Whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but whoever looses his life for the sake of the gospel gain it." That completely blows my consumer mindset to kingdom come!

I want to thank you for being a church that has always allowed us to not be a consumer driven church. That day we start catering to what church people want, need or prefer, is the day we become ingrown and absorbed in self-preservation. Like it or not, we are who we are at Living Hope. We don't care about how you dress, whetehr or not you spill coffee on the carpet or if you like the music or not.

What makes you an incredible church is that instead of being consumer-driven, you are letting God consume you in a real relationship with Him and others that is transforming you more and more into his likeness because you recognize that to grow we have to be connected, which then fills you up to be poured out to Be the love of Christ to others!

This Saturday is a great example. The total number of sign ups for the Kids Against Hunger Factory are 392! Consumer driven people don't sign up o serve even when 1 person + 2 hours = 1 child fed for 1 year who would otherwise starve to death!

"For Nothing is Impossible with God"

2010-07-07T12:40:00.000-07:00

Last month was my 11 year anniversary at Living Hope. I vividly recall, my first month here in Centerville. I was handed the keys to a building that housed a church that had completely disseminated. Everyone I met, seemed to say, "For some reason a church never seems to fly there." I was young, inexperienced and very much aware of my inadequacies.

One night, I laid in my bed, unable to sleep and sobbed. I mean I broke. Had anyone been with me, I would have been embarrassed. As I cried, I prayed...better put, I wallowed in fear and self-pity...I cried out, "God, I don't know what I am doing. I don't know how lead a church that is established let alone start a new church. I don't have enough experience. I am so young that people look at me as a kid not a pastor. What if this all fails? What if everyone figures out how scared I am?" I poured out my honest confession to the Father. And somewhere in the midst of my crying, questioning and doubting, the Father interrupted me. His word to me was clear and concise, "Luke 1:37, 'For nothing is impossible with God."

God was asking me to make up my mind where I would put my faith. Would I put my faith in myself, my abilities, my resources, my experience, my education or would I put my faith in him? Would I dare to believe his promise, "For nothing is impossible with God." What choice did I have? I knew I could not do it. And that day, by his grace, I dared to believe he could do anything! I have carried that truth with me ever since. Sometimes that truth encourages me and sometimes it convicts me, but for 11 years now it has been a rock on which I have found solid ground. Praise God! Hallelujah! Our Father is faithful to his word!

I write these words after just returning form Centerville High School. I was invited to represent our (and 6 other churches and multiple local businesses and organizations)Food 2 Go ministry. I shared the heart of Food 2 Go to 20 High School Students and three adult advisors, who deemed Food 2 go to be one of four finalists for Spirit Chain (an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for charity).

I was given the honor to share that 6 churches and multiple other groups are working together to wipe out child hood hunger in our community. One of the School District's social workers rearranged her schedule to come and speak with me about Food 2 Go. A high-up administrator saw Linda Parks, who came with me, and shared how Food 2 Go is valued by the school district for the impact it is making on the children, the Elk Enterprise Special Needs Students and the community as a whole. (That reminds me, last month, I had the honor of praying at the Dedication ceremony for the new Public Works building. The Mayor, started the ceremony by sharing with the audience about Living Hope and the 5 churches that work together through Food 2 Go).

What is this? A public School inviting a church to share? What is this? Government officials talking about churches at public events? Al I can say is, "For nothing is impossible with God!"

And you know, what, that is just one example. This Sunday I will share a huge "For nothing is impossible with God" moment as I share about the Pancake Breakfast giving. And then the list could easily go on from there...from the 52% who are taking their faith so seriously they are involved in small groups and discipleship, to our healing ministries (Celebrate Recovery, Prayer Ministry for inner Healing, Freedom from Anger), to Bloc 25, to Vacation Bible School, to our Mission Ukraine Orphanage Partnership, to the Home Repair team, to Don't go to Church Day, to the 100% offering give away, to 100 people coming to know Christ last year...and I could keep going!

And do you know why? Because nothing is impossible with God! But in order for God to do the impossible, it takes more than a pastor to believe it, it takes a whole church. Thank you for being that church! Thank you for being a church that stands up, lives out and dares to believe, "FOR NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD!"

What's the impossible thing for you today? Come on...take my hand...climb up on this rock of truth and believe with me, "For nothing is impossible with God!"

"How Secure is Your Freedom?"

2010-06-30T07:03:00.000-07:00

I hope you have a very happy Independence Day! I also hope you will consider this question as you celebrate: What if my freedom is only as secure as the freedom of others? Think about that...your freedom is only as secure as the freedom of others.

On Friday night I went to the WPAF Tattoo at which one of our Brother's in Christ, Bernie Delong, was honored for his service during the Korean War. On Sunday, Karen Alexander, gave me the Afghanistan address for her son, Jake, who is now serving his country in combat. I am quite sure these two men understand the implications of this question: What if my freedom is only as secure as the freedom of others?

You see, it is easy in the Land of the Free to not give much thought to all the other lands that make up this world that are not free and to think, "Well, that is too bad, but thank God for our freedom." However, every soldier on the front lines today understands in a very real way that the lack of freedom of others puts our freedom and their lives at stake every day.

Do you see what I mean? Your freedom is only as secure as the freedom of others. For instance, the human trafficking market is bringing in around 34 billion dollars a year. For years, people have been sold as sex and labor slaves around the world and yet little noise was made about it here in our country. And while our heads were turned to this sin, it moved into our homeland. People are now trafficked through the US into slavery. When we turn our heads to the bondage of others, Hell starts building a prison camp in our own backyards.

Furthermore, as Followers of Christ we have been given a freedom that is greater than any country, including our own, will ever know. However, our freedom in Christ (and our freedom as a nation for that matter) does not give us permission to be apathetic toward the lack of freedom toward others. I am so thankful to be a part of a church family that not only believes that but dares to live that! Thank you! Praise God for you!

That is the point of this Sunday's Pancake Breakfast! It is a reminder to us as Living Hope Church that in Christ we are never given permission for any reason to turn a blind eye to the suffering of others whether they be next door or a continent away. Sunday is a tangible way for all who participate to step down from the sidelines and get involved in doing something for 30,000 children who die every day in a world that throws 30% of its food away. Sunday is also about witness. It is a chance for us to say, "We did not cancel worship services for a Pancake Breakfast. No, this pancake breakfast is a worship service!"

If you missed the video on Sunday or want to see what we did not have time to show, go to nomorehunger.us and click on videos. It is the "Sam and Esther" story.

See you Sunday any time between 8-10 AM. Invite lots of friends and family and let's BE the CHURCH!

"Through"

2010-06-23T11:35:00.000-07:00

What if many people encounter a crisis of faith and some even lose faith simply because of a failure to understand the importance of one word. That word is "THROUGH." For instance, take a look at Isaiah 43 which serves as one among many examples of the place of "THROUGH" in our journey with Christ.

Isaiah 43: ¹ But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

² When you pass through the waters,
I will be with you;
and when you pass through the rivers,
they will not sweep over you.
When you walk through the fire,
you will not be burned;
the flames will not set you ablaze.

The Bible and, in particular, the above verses are full of God's promise to we his children. He promises us that he will be with us, he will not allow the waters to sweep us over or the flames to set us ablaze. However, he does not promise we will not go THROUGH the waters, rivers and fires. If anything, he is very honest with us. He says here that it is not if, but when we face the waters and the fire that he will sustain us with his presence.

I wonder how many people get mad at God or believe he no longer cares because some where along the way they were not informed of the THROUGH. Our Faith is a THROUGH faith. As Followers of Christ we are not exempt from or somehow protected from going THROUGH the waters and the fire. Jesus put it must straight forward when he said, "In this world you will have trouble." If you live in this world, you will walk through the waters and fires. God promises us that.

Our faith becomes real to life when we come to expect, believe and reply on God's promise to us in whatever we go THROUGH. He promises to be with us. He will go to hell and back with us...he will never leave us...we need never go it alone. He promises not to allow the waters to sweep over us. We may be neck deep in the THROUGH, but he promises to give us what we need, when we need it (not before) as the waters rise. No matter how hot it gets as you walk THROUGH the fire he promises you will not need to stop, drop or roll. Rather He will give strength, resources, hope and more so that you can keep on walking until you come out on the other side.

When we accept the THROUGH of life and what that means for our faith see the water rising and the fire spreading, instead exerting what little energy we have on wondering why God does not care or blaming God for what he has allowed, we can use that same energy to look where God is and what he has promised to do for us in the THROUGH.

What are you going THROUGH right now? Isaiah 43 is God's word of promise to you! Why not pause, meditate on it and give God a chance to make that ancient promise personal.

"What if?"

2010-06-16T10:35:00.000-07:00

What if the difference between those who see God working where others do not even see God has to do with the "what if?" The Bible, from beginning to end, is a story of people daring to pray and live out the, "What if?"

Noah asked, "What if that really is God telling me to build a huge ship in the middle of the desert?

Abraham asked, "What if its not too late for me and my 90 year old wife to have a baby of our own?"

Joseph asked, "What if my own brothers selling me off as a slave was the best thing that could have ever happened not just for me but for my whole family; including my brothers?"

Moses asked, "What if I did give up shepherding, walk into Egypt and say, "God says let my people go?"

Joshua asked, "What if marching around Jericho could bring down walls?"

Ruth asked, "What if staying with a bitter mother-in-law in her grief is the right thing to do?"

Samuel asked, "What if a shepherd boy that no one else sees as anything but ever being a shepherd could be greatest king of Israel?"

David asked, "What if God can forgive adultery and murder in such a real way that you become known as 'a man after God's own heart'?

Nehemiah asked, "What if we stopped talking about rebuilding the temple and started actually doing it?"

Job asked, "What if instead of cursing God in my pain, I kept on trusting him?"

Isaiah asked, "What if God could take my unclean lips and use them to to turn God's people back to his love and way?"

Daniel asked, "What if I remain faithful to God even if it means the lion's den?"

Hosea asked, "What if marrying a prostitute will preach louder than any message I could ever preach?"

Shepherds asked, "What if God is as close as a baby in a manger?"

Peter, Andrew, James and John asked, 'What if there is more to life than making a living?"

Matthew asked, "What if God is not afraid to hang out with sinners like me?"

Paul asked, "What if God did not come to save a people but all people; what if in God's eyes there is no Jew or Greek, rich or poor, male or female?"

James asked, "What if trials are a reason to rejoice?"

John asked, "What if Jesus is knocking on the heart of the church, but he will only knock so long before he returns?"

The list of biblical examples could go on and on...The real question is will we carry on the example? Will we dare to pray and ask the, "What if?" Its no surprise that those who do are the ones who see God working where others can't even see God.

What would your what if be this week? Email me your, "what if's?"

Here is one to get us started: What if this summer Living Hope Church and Franklin Church in working with Kids Against Hunger could offer children something more than dirt to eat in Jesus name?

"Beauty in the Rain"

2010-06-09T04:55:00.000-07:00

I am a sunshine and blue sky person. I do not handle gray and gloomy days very well. However, as a Father I try to teach my kids to see what even I have trouble seeing so that eventually one day they will be able to see better than I. So, whenever it is a rainy day I tell Anna and Seth, "Look at how God is helping the flowers, trees and grass grow. Thank you, Jesus, for the rain!" I say it as much to convince me as I do to teach them. Then, last night the four of us were taking a walk and it began to sprinkle. Anna said, "This will help us have beautiful flowers and help the grass grow." I smiled to myself and thought, "Now she is teaching me."

It is a lesson we are all well served to learn. Obviously it is natural for all of us to want sunny, blue sky days, but we also know that "in this life," as Jesus said, "you will have trouble." Dark clouds will roll in and the rain will fall. And when it does I am confronted with a question, "Am I willing...am I able... to find beauty in the rain?" It is not a beauty that you celebrate so much as it is a beauty that you respect. Just as rain has its place in nature so can it have its place in our lives. It does not mean that we have to enjoy it or want it, it just means that since we know life's rain will fall we can either curse it or some how, by God's grace, learn from it.

Today I have attached this link. It is a song called, "Bring the Rain." This song sings it better than I can write it. I invite you to set aside a few minutes today to stop everything, close your eyes and just listen. As you listen to the song, invite Jesus to let you hear his voice. What do you need to hear about the rain in your life? Can you find beauty in the rain? I welcome you to share your own story with me. Here is the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8HgAVenbUU

"The Hardest, Easiest Thing"

2010-06-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

Today I attended the Funeral of Vic Cassano. Around here his name is a household word because of his success with his business, Cassano's Pizza. However, around Living Hope, some of us had the chance to get to know the man behind the "Pizza King," through his son, Chris, and family. Vic would occasionally worship with us here even though he was a devout Catholic. I always knew that when he visited he would hunt me down after the service to ask questions about the sermon. We had some really good after-service conversations.

Today one of those conversations really stands out. I see a man like Vic and I think to myself, "There is a man who has it all together. He is successful and he makes it look easy." However, Vic was the first to admit that his personal life and his business life had its share of ups and downs. For instance, Vic had polio when he was a child and had the last rites. He also faced major set backs over the years in his business. But it was through those setbacks that he learned the hardest, easiest thing to do.

He explained it to me this way one day after a worship service: "Chad,I can tell you a day that my life and my faith took a major turning point." He then described a series of major set backs in his life and business. He said, "I kept praying for God to fix this and give me that." Then he said, "One Sunday my Priest was talking about Jesus praying in the Garden of Gethsemane the night he was arrested. As Jesus sweat blood he prayed, "not my will, but yours." Vic said,"All of the sudden it hit me. I was praying for the wrong thing. I was praying for what I thought I needed, when what I needed to do was give it over to God and ask him to give me his will. His will is always best isn't it? "

"I believe so, " I said.

He said, "Me too. From that day on I learned that when things are not going well, the best prayer for me to pray is not what I think should happen but to trust him to give me what he knows is best."

It was obvious Vic was not just saying empty words. He was speaking from real faith and life experience. This is how Jesus had taught him to live and he lived it!

Friends, that is the hardest , easiest thing to do. It is the hardest because it is so hard to come to the point where we trust that God's will is better than our own. It is the easiest because the more you let go, give something fully into God's hands and trust his will more than your own, the more you get see God move and work in ways that you could not have even imagined.

I have found this to be true in my life. Peace, joy, hope, strength, freedom...it is all available to us through Jesus Christ every moment of every day. He is withholding nothing from us...he gave everything for us. But every time I find myself lacking it is because I am holding on to something that belongs in his hands.

You can trust his will. It may not always be what is most comfortable or desirable for the moment, but eventually we will find what Jesus showed us...when we pray God's will even death can't hold back a Resurrection...a fresh start...new life...hope eternal!

Who needs to do the hardest, easiest thing in the world today? Who is holding on to something and all the worrying, trying and crying can't change? Its as hard and simple as praying, "Father, not my will, but yours."

Today I need that prayer. I am wound tight with stress. I am holding onto things that the Father is wiling to hold for me. I trust his will. "Father, you know...I give you....not my will, but yours."

Vic it was an honor to begin to get to know you. I wish we had more time. Thank you for reminding me of the hardest, easiest thing in the world. You are right...it works!

"Thy Kingdom Come"

2010-05-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

I am again blown away and praise God for a church family that remains consistently and boldly open before God. Sunday, was a significant day in the spiritual journey of 170 brothers and sisters in Christ in our church family. That is the number of people who made a once and for all decision to completely submit their kingdom to God's Kingdom.

On Sunday, I promised to send a follow up letter to encourage those making this decision this week. I have decided the most appropriate way for me to do that is through this weekly blog, which I will also print for anyone who may be among those who do not have internet access. Furthermore, since this is a step that Jesus will lead everyone Follower of Christ to take, I figured it would be an encouragement to all of us no matter where we are on our faith journey.

Submitting my kingdom to God's Kingdom involves the following:

OUR CHOICE:
Central to every step in our journey with Christ is our will. God has made up his mind that he will never violate the human will. To violate the human will would be to rob humanity of love. For without the choice to reject and deny love, one does not have the freedom to truly receive and give love. Thus, every step we take with Jesus shares one common denominator and that is our choice.

This includes submitting our kingdom to His. Jesus imitates the invitation, "Anyone who would come after me must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." In response we have a choice: Will I deny myself--Will I put my will and wishes second to God's will? Will I take up the cross--voluntarily give myself to the work of God's Kingdom on earth?"

A choice is simple and yet challenging. It is as simple as saying yes and as difficult as really meaning it. Nonetheless, the decision 170 people made on Sunday was made by a choice of the will. Let us not underestimate the power of this God-given freedom to choose.

GOD'S GIFT:
Just as every step we take with Jesus involves a choice the choice for every step is the same: In our relationship with Jesus a new step always requires a choice to receive what God gives. Just as we do not earn our salvation, we do not earn the reign of His kingdom in our lives. The choice that was made on Sunday was a choice to receive from God what only God can do. Only he can make his Kingdom of love reign and rule over our hearts and minds. As much as full surrender is a choice, it is even more so a gift from God. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 says, "May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The one who calls you is faithful to do it." Read that last line again. That says it all!

THE PROMISE:
"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me" Galatians 2:20. Many people, including myself at one time, are afraid to make a choice to receive God's full reign in our lives because we believe a lie. We believe to surrender everything to Christ will mean that we will lose out, miss out, not have fun, not achieve our dreams, etc. The point is, we believe that to submit our Kingdom to His, will in some way produce negative results. The opposite is true. In the verse mentioned above, Paul writes the truth about this step of faith...the truth is whenever we die, then we are free to truly come to life. Remember, Jesus promised to give us abundant life now and forever. The decision to submit to God's Kingdom merely puts one in a position to freely and increasingly discover what it means to live in this new life. Jesus says it best in Matthew 16:25, "Whoever tries to save his/her life will lose it, but he/she who looses his/her life for the sake of the Gospel will gain it."

THE PROCESS:
This step in our journey with Christ is by no means the final step. This is merely one more step in a process of steps that will continue until we see Jesus face to face. We never arrive in this life. The journey with Jesus is a continuous and daily following. Therefore, this step of full surrender is a once and for all decision but it is not at all a final decision. It is a once and for all decision with daily implications. Every day in small and big ways for the rest of my life I will be called upon by Jesus to live out my full surrender to him in what I do with my time, talent, money, suffering and so on and so forth. The decision you made on Sunday simply means that from here on out every time Jesus asks for you to deal with something or give something for him the answer has already been settled. To Jesus our answer from here on out will always be, "Not my will, but yours."

THE GOAL:
The goal of every step we take with Jesus can be summed up in one phrase, "Christ-like Love." If you want to know where Jesus is taking you take a look at his life. In Christ we see that God's love is not passive it is active. God's love is not simply for the individual, it is for the entire world. God's goal for every believer, and that is the Church, is well put in the prayer Jesus taught us to pray, "Thy Kingdom come thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus dares us to pray, believe and live in such a way that our lives usher in his Kingdom into our world!

I am praying for you this week! Please do not hesitate to email or call me with any questions or thoughts on this subject.

Three of the Most Hopeful Words in the Bible

2010-05-12T11:05:00.000-07:00

"Where are you?" I think these three words offer some of the most hopeful of all the words in the Bible. The larger context of that question may help you see why I have drawn that conclusion:

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "

4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?"

Adam and Eve have just turned their backs on God. They have broken trust and intimacy by believing a lie over truth. In place of open companionship, they now hide in shame. The separation from one another and God is overpowering. They hear God call out to them. Instead of running to him they remain hidden.

What will the Father do? Will he rant and rave? Will he send down lightning? Will he simply walk away from them as though he never created them? Certainly, something like that is what Adam and Eve expected. Perhaps we expect the same. But God is not limited by our expectations. God, instead, asks, "Where are you?" In that question God shows that he is not only their Creator, but their Pursuer. God did not just give them life, he now offers to restore their lives. God asks that question not because he does not know where they are but so they can see for themselves where their sin has taken them. He offers this question to help them see that the distance they now feel from God is not because he has moved, but because they have. He asks this question to show them that even though they are hiding in shame, he wants them to be found.

Can we slow down the pace of this day long enough to hear that question for ourselves?

"Where are you?"

"Where are you?"

Hear the love in that question...hear the hope...hear the promise...Hear the voice of God initiating relationship with you.

Now, allow his question to do what questions are designed to do...they are asked to evoke a response. What is your response to God's question, "Where are you?" Does your answer surprise you? Does your answer convict you? Does your answer put you to shame? He asks that question not to condemn you, but to redeem you. Will you keep hiding or will you walk out into the open and let the one searching for you, find you?

"The Jar"

2010-05-05T05:15:00.000-07:00

For the past several Sundays we have been praying together over a jar in our worship area full of relationships. Each week the jar has been added to and each week God has been answering our prayers. Here are a few true, jar stories:

• Two friends have been reconciled after 6 months of not speaking.
• A marriage had a major breakthrough and God is resurrecting what was all but
dead.
• A mother and daughter are finding that fresh starts can happen.
• A man has begun to identify his destructive role as an enabler in a
relationship.
• Two brothers are now beginning to act like brothers again.
• Two people have discovered a personal relationship with God through Christ.

Today, I am writing to ask you to write the “Random Thoughts” for this week. What can you add to my bullet point list above? It would mean a great deal to hear what God is doing with the “jar” relationships for which you have been praying. Let’s give God credit! Send me an email.

As you consider your response, please keep on remembering this: Jesus said, “Wherever two or three are gathered in my name there I am with them and whatever they ask will be given to them.” The context of this promise is nothing more and nothing less than relationships. The sooner we accept that the sooner life with all its joys and tragedies will begin to make sense….the point God wants us to get is all that matters in life and death are relationships…relationship with God and with one another. Nothing else matters compared to that. And until nothing else matters compared to our relationship with God and one another, then we will continue to miss out, live for less, be confused, chase after futility and perhaps reach our last breath realizing we completely missed the point. But as we continue to make this faith journey about one we are to make together rather than solo, by God’s grace, we can throw off the lies of the urgently unimportant and live and die for what is most important.

So, again, I ask, how has God been working in you and your relationships with God and/or others these past several weeks? Thank you for being a church family that remains real and receptive!

"Minutemen"

2010-04-28T11:25:00.000-07:00

"Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name," states Wikepedia.

Perhaps the greatest need in the Christian Church today is for minutemen/women. The need for Christ Followers who are highly mobile and rapidly deployed is greater than ever. There are plenty of Christians with whom God must first check their schedule. There are many more Christians for whom God knows not to even bother to ask. But even in a Church full of the apathetic and unavailable, the Kingdom of God continues to be ushered into existence on earth because in every generation God still has his minutemen/women.

I just got off the phone with one of his minutemen. One of our High School Students, Michael Collins called. He explained that in a high school assembly today a women shared her story of past drug abuse and imprisonment. She will be given her freedom next week. She shared her story to encourage teenagers to choose a different path. After the assembly, Michael and his friend stopped to talk with her. They asked what she would do when she was released from prison next week. She explained her plan was to contact a local homeless shelter until she could restart her life. Michael invited her to Living Hope and shared about Celebrate Recovery. He then called me to see if she could call me for us to see if there was anything we could do as a church. I love it! Praise God! That is being a minuteman for God...You see a need and in the name of Jesus Christ you don't sit around and wait for someone else to act; you act!

I have seen minutemen/women in action every week this school year. They are folks in this church and six others in Centerville. We Had no idea how Food 2 Go would feed 100 children a week who would other wise go hungry on the weekends. But every week...did you hear me? Every week, the food has come in, sometimes just in time, but always in time. Why? One reason...minutemen/women of God are highly mobile and rapidly deployed.

I have watched minutemen/women of God step up every time we have listed the need for people to serve children in our classes on Sunday mornings. We do not have childcare at Living Hope. We have life-changing ministry for the children of Living Hope. The reason we have it is because minutemen/women of God see a need, step up and go the extra mile to ensure children are experiencing the love of Christ.

This week I received an email from the "No Restrictions" Life Group. They are now partnering with Gospel Mission to serve meals to the homeless. This group has also responded to serve those in Appalachia, Ky and to help visit the sick and shut-ins in our church family. The whole group is made up of minutemen/women of God!

In the next month we will watch as minutemen/women of God respond to the need of Ukraine orphans by committing to one of the Expeditions in 2011. The people who respond will not submit to all the reasons why they can't go; they will simply submit to the call of God and watch him make happen what they could not...they will watch him clear schedules, overcome fears and provide the resources. Minutemen/women get to see God do what few others see simply because they are highly mobile and rapidly discharged. People who have to wait for all the ducks to be in a row before they will trust God enough to go don't see God do the impossible, because they don't give him the chance.

We have an incredible number of minutemen/women who make up the church called Living Hope. I thank God for you! You are a powerful force that scares hell to death! Don't back down! Don't give up! And never let those around you, even other so-called Christians, discourage you from going after what God has for you next!

"One Tulip"

2010-04-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Last year I had two nice rows of big, beautiful red and yellow tulips. This year, I have one small, but pretty yellow tulip. That's it...just one. It appears that something ate the others. Every time I look at my front yard I think, "I wish the other tulips would have bloomed." I was thinking that just the other day as I pulled out of the garage..."I wish the other tulips would have bloomed." Then, it hit me...something inside of me said, "Why can't you enjoy the one you have?" Its true. Apparently, I needed the others to enjoy the one. Why? Why couldn't I let the other tulips go, accept that they were not going to bloom and simply enjoy that single, pretty, yellow bloom?

I have been known to do that with more than tulips. How about you? Do you ever find yourself wishing life was like it used to be to the point that you miss out on what life is now? Do you ever long for more even though the reality is you have enough? Have you ever found yourself dwelling on all that is going wrong so much so that you cannot embrace the one thing that is going right? Do you ever miss the beauty of the little things in your pursuit for that which seems so important in the moment, but even a year for now, not to mention 100 years from now, will mean nothing? Do you ever get so focused on what you do not have, that you become blind to what you do have?

God, help us! Help us not to miss the tulips even when only one blooms. Help us not to trade what is most urgent for what is most important. Help us to celebrate what we are given instead grieving what we are not.

For someone like me, it takes a lot of intentionality and work to appreciate the one, but with God's help, each day that yellow tulip is looking better and better.

I think that was what Solomon was getting at when he wrote these words in Ecclesiastes 3:

1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:

2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,

3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,

4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,

5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,

6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,

7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,

8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.

9 What does the worker gain from his toil? 10 I have seen the burden God has laid on men. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 12 I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live. 13 That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his toil—this is the gift of God. 14 I know that everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it. God does it so that men will revere him.

"Bigger"

2010-04-14T14:24:00.000-07:00

Recently, the four of us went hiking at Germantown Nature Reserve. It has been a long-time favorite spot of mine. I wondered how the kids would do. They did great! They loved taking this "adventure' as Anna called it. The only time Seth did not enjoy the hike was when Mommy said he was too little to walk the the rock path across the stream. He threw a fit, but Daddy rescued him and let the poor boy just be a boy (Come on, Mom, the worst that could have happened was he fall in a three inch stream and get his clothes wet and dirty). Long story short, we had a great time.

However, there was one part of the journey neither Anna nor Seth could make. They hiked down the large hill with no trouble, but what you climb down, you must climb up and therein was the problem. A big problem. It was a big incline for my long legs, but to them that hill might as well have been Mt. Everest. They could not do it. I was so proud of both of them. Instead of trying to do something they could not do, they turned to someone who could do for them what they could not do for themselves. Seth said, "Mommy, hold me." Anna said, "Daddy, can you carry me?" On our backs they went and up the hill we all went. And at the top, the kids proclaimed, "We made it!"

"We?" I was the one with sweat rushing out of every pour of my body, heart pounding and wheezing like I had emphysema...Was it "we" or "me"? My answer...it was "we." "WE" made it. Anna made it because she asked me to carry her. I made it by putting one foot in front of the other. And at the end of the day, "we" all made it.

Friends, why are you trying to climb the mountain on your own? Are you aching? Are you sweating? Are you trying and getting no where? Learn from my kids...sometimes the reason a mountain is put in front of us is not so we can struggle our way up it, but so we can learn to ask for help. "Jesus, will you carry me?" "Church family, will you hold me?" What if the mountain you cannot climb, is there not to climb, but to get you to accept what Jesus lived, died and rose again to teach us. He can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves...let HIM! Jesus said, "What is impossible with man, is possible with God."

I can see a pretty big mountain from where I am sitting right now. You know what, I am not going to take another step. I falling on my knees and asking, "Father, will carry me?"

What's that...its strength that is not my own...its hope that is beyond wishful thinking...its love that I don't deserve...yes...its, my Father carrying me where I could never go on my own.

There's plenty of room on his back for you too.

"Potty Time Epiphany"

2010-04-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

Several months ago Seth, on his own, began going poo-poo on the potty. (This is an interesting stage of life for me...a time when such things as poo-poo and potty training are where I see God moving--no pun intended). I kept hoping he would do the same thing when it came to pee-pee. Well, Kimberly decided it was time to move from hoping to helping. Yesterday, she began the training process. Then, today, before leaving for work, Kimberly took Seth to the potty, congratulated him on a job well done, put his "big-boy underwear" on him and reminded him of everything he was learning. Right as she was heading out the door, his little voice said, "I have pee-pee Mommy." The kid had just gone less than 5 minutes ago and now he had to go again? My gut said it was a false alarm and I just ignored him. Kimberly took him to the potty and it was no false alarm. She is so much better with the kids when it comes to things like this. Honestly, both of my kids would still be wearing diapers when they were twelve if it were left to me.

And, honestly, you and I will stay in spiritual diapers if we leave our growth in the hands of best intentions and wishful thinking. At some point I have to decide if I am satisfied with living in my crap or if I am ready to let God help me grow up. God will not force us to grow, but he is completely comfortable with letting us sit in stench and discomfort if that is what it takes to get us to start following him down the path of maturity.

Hebrews 5:12-14, puts it to me straight in these words, "Though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God's word all over again. You need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil." Whoa! I don't know about you, but that puts me in my place.

I find the last line especially interesting and challenging when it says "have trained themselves." First, this is a call to take personal responibility for our own spiritual maturity. It is not the job of the Church to feed me or you. That would be like you going to a restaurant, ordering a meal, not eating a bite, leaving and then complaining that you are still hungry. It is not the restaurants' job to feed you nor is it the Church's job to feed you what you need to grow spiritually. That job, brother and sister in Christ, is solely yours. That being said, "have trained themselves" is also in the plural. While my spiritual growth is my responsibility, it is not to say that endeavor is a solo one. Spiritual growth never happens in isolation but always in the context of community. After all, what is spiritual growth other than learning to selflessly love God and others. You cannot learn to love others by yourself. Love is only love when it is received and given and that takes relationship. Spiritual growth requires me taking responsibility for my maturity along side of others who are taking responsibility for their maturity.

I want to thank you for being church that is committed to doing that. One way in which this is demonstrated is through the small groups. For example, in March an average of 447 people attended Sunday morning worship and 321 of you were involved in some form of connecting for the purpose of spiritual growth. That is incredible! Keep pursuing maturity! Seth will one day be glad his mom took the time to help him get out of diapers and as we train ourselves in maturity we will find meat is a whole lot more filling than a bottle.

"What if Worship is..."

2010-03-31T09:48:00.000-07:00

What do you think of when you hear the word worship? Do choirs, songs, sermons and prayer come to mind? May be you have walked with Christ long enough to have had your vision of worship expanded outside the "worship service" to understand that worship is anything I do for others in the name and love of Christ. For instance, the Bible reminds us that giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name is worship.

Certainly worship looks up to God and out towards others. But what if there is another aspect of worship that involves both the upward and outward look at the same time? What if God also desires our worship to be witness? What if worship as worship should be should be is as strong a witness as it is anything else?
Would you take some time between now and Sunday to think and pray about your worship being a witness? Perhaps there is no more important day for us to consider this than Easter Sunday. On the day when people who normally do not attend worship suddenly find themselves there, what better day for Followers of Christ to make our worship witness?

To make our worship witness means we outwardly express what God is doing in us. We make sure that even a stranger knows that we believe in a God who so loved the world that he died on a cross and overcame sin and the grave to give us new life now and forever! And because we believe that, we can sing when the world says we should cry; we can praise God when the enemy says to curse God and die; We can celebrate the victory that we have in Christ before we see the victory come to pass.

So, this Sunday, Follower of Christ, do not hold back! Sing loud even if you can't sing! Praise God will all your heart and mind! Put your whole Body into it...that is why often you see me raise my hand in worship...as I sing words that ring true in me, I raise my hand to say, "Yes, yes...I know that is true!" The only wrong way to worship God is to hold back. Make your worship witness this Sunday and just may be somebody sitting next to you will hear a sermon much more powerful than any words I could speak. Don't underestimate the power of your worship both in heaven and in earth.

Finally, why would we do anything less in our worship? After all, Jesus died for you and overcame the grave for you, so why would we hold back? Watch out...I am about ready to shout my praises to God...in fact, I think I will...HALLELUJAH! PRAISE GOD! NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH YOU, LORD! CHRIST IS RISEN!

"I Messed Up"

2010-03-25T11:52:00.000-07:00

I blew it. I completely missed an appointment yesterday. I had it in my head that it was next Wednesday. However, it was yesterday. The people came to meet with me and I was no where to be found. I was fulfilling a different appointment. When I realized what I had done, I felt awful. I called the person but only received their voice mail. So, I left a message. I explained my error and asked for their forgiveness. This morning the individual responded to my call. The person was full of grace and mercy toward me. I was extremely grateful for their undeserved understanding.

Other times, I have offended some one with out any knowledge or intent on my part. I have tried to talk with them about the issue and work toward reconciliation, but the door was slammed shut so tight that they will not even acknowledge I am knocking.

That's how it is with us people, isn't it? Sometimes we offer forgiveness when it is not deserved and other times we hold a grudge even when the other person did nothing to deserve it. And guess what? There is really nothing you can do about it. As Romans 12:18 says, the only thing you can do is, "If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone."

Of course, it is a different story with God. Jesus explains that through the stories in Luke 15. Give these old stories a new read, ask God which character you most relate to and what that means you most need to hear from Him.

"Happy St. Patrick's Day?"

2010-03-17T07:50:00.000-07:00

It is amazing how over time, meaning can be lost. For instance, I cannot figure out how St. Patrick's day became associated with green beer, leprechauns and the luck of the Irish. It seems that the only true meaning associated with the day that has remained is its namesake. And St. Patrick did not bring to the world an excuse for a drunken search for a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Rather, he offered faith in Jesus Christ in place of blind luck.

In fact, St. Patrick was not even Irish. Irish raided his Roman Britain home taking Patrick captive and forcing him to be a slave-shepherd for the Irish King. Though Patrick was raised in a christian home, he had little personal interest. However, long months of isolation as a slave made him take another look at the faith of his parents. As a result, he had his own encounter with Christ. He wrote, "I would pray constantly during the daylight hours and the love of God surrounded me more and more." Eventually, God showed him an escape and he was finally home.

However, 30 years later, God called Patrick to return to Ireland to offer them the love of Jesus Christ. The Irish of the fifth century were a pagan, violent, and barbaric people. Human sacrifice was commonplace. Patrick understood the danger and wrote: "I am ready to be murdered, betrayed, enslaved—whatever may come my way." In response to his faith and courageous obedience thousands committed their lives to Christ.

So, whatever your plans might be this St. Patrick's day, I urge you to make them in light of this prayer of St. Patrick:

I arise today
Through the strength of heaven;
Light of the sun,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of the wind,
Depth of the sea,
Stability of the earth,
Firmness of the rock.

I arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me;
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's hosts to save me
Afar and anear,
Alone or in a multitude.

Christ shield me today
Against wounding
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today
Through the mighty strength
Of the Lord of creation.

To that I say, "AMEN!"

"Why is it so Dark?"

2010-03-10T08:08:00.000-08:00

On Sunday morning before the worship service, I heard someone ask the question, "Why is it so dark in here?"

I thought to myself, I bet others are wondering the same thing. Let me offer an answer. It is dark because Lent is a dark time of year. It is a time when we are called upon as Followers of Jesus to take our blindfolds off to just how dark it can get in ourselves, in our lives and in our world. Easter is a time for the LIGHT to breakthrough the darkness, but we cannot see the LIGHT until we first acknowledge how dark it is.

That is what Jesus is doing on the cross. By volunteering to endure the pain and shame of the cross he is challenging us not just to see his suffering, but to acknowledge our own and that of others. He is showing us what sin of every shape, size and form really looks like. Your sin, my sin, the sin of this world only ever paints a bloody, torturous, humiliating, sickening picture. It is a picture we rather not see, but one we need to see both for our sake and for the sake of others.

Associated Press Writer, Jon Gambrell, writes, "The killers showed no mercy: They didn't spare women and children or even a 4-day-old baby, from their machetes. On Monday, Nigerian women wailed in the streets as a dump truck carried dozens of bodies past burned out homes toward a mass grave."

What initiated such a massacre? What awful act had these men, women and children done to deserve this death? Their offense was the land on which they lived and that they would not hide their faith in Jesus Christ. A crowd sang, "Jesus, show me the way," as rubber-gloved workers tossed the bodies into Nigerian mass graves.

Perhaps, you read a story like that and with me find yourself wondering, why is it so dark? The only way I know to answer that question is to say, Look at the cross. That is what sin does to us, to others, to our world. Sin is nothing to laugh at or flirt with...sin only leads to suffering and death as it tears us away from the One who only desires to give us life.

So, yes, the worship area is very dark these weeks because Lent is a very dark time that challenges us to see what sin looks like. But in the darkness, on the cross, the LIGHT that is being snuffed out, burns bright in this truth...a truth that was prophesied 700 years before Christ was even born in a manger....Isaiah 53 says,

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

"Harder Before it is Easier"

2010-02-24T11:16:00.000-08:00

There is a principle of life that we learn early on, but as adults we seem hard pressed to remember. That principle is this: It is harder before it gets easier. As young children we may not be able to say this, but we certainly accept it. None of us would have learned to walk, talk, feed ourselves or to use the potty had we not accepted that it is harder before it gets easier. However, when we become adults it is as though we forget or refuse to accept the reality of this principle. For instance, if you choose to join me in these days of Lent leading up to Easter in taking off the blindfold and seeing what you do not want to see about yourself, your life or your world, you will fully experience this principle at work: Its harder before its easier.

Giving God permission to help us see what we have been trying to avoid and then actually being obedient to what he says to do about it is never easy. In fact, the first step or two you take in that direction will mostly likely be incredibly difficult. You will probably even stir up pain and discomfort that you did not even realize was there and be tempted to put back on the blind fold. But remember, had you done that as a baby you wouldn't be able to walk or urinate by yourself today. Just because it is harder before it gets easier does not mean it won't eventually get easier. It will get easier...change is possible...freedom can be your reality...love wins...truth does set us free, but the difference between those who see it happen and those who don't is the difference between those who accept that it is harder before it gets easier and press on until they see pain give way to healing.

I have heard from some of you this week. You have shared a blindfold you have removed. You have described some initial steps you are taking to see what you have tried to ignore. Now, I encourage you: Don't give up at the first sign of resistance. Resistance always precedes a breakthrough. You had the courage to let God take off the blindfold, so don't settle for less than the truth and freedom God promises you will find at the cross.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything" James 1:2-4.

God does not want you to lack anything! Keep the blindfold off and press on no matter how much harder it is before it gets easier!

"Did You Notice that It Snowed?"

2010-02-17T10:51:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you noticed or not, but we have a pretty good snow covering. Have you noticed the snow?

"What kind of question is that?" you ask.

"How could anyone not notice the snow?" you wonder.

"For the past few weeks all we have seen is snow and you ask, 'Have I noticed
the snow?' Of course, I've noticed the snow...all I can see is snow," you
shout back.

Now before you conclude, I have completely lost touch with reality, let me explain. The above question, as you would suspect, has nothing to do with snow. It has everything to do with God. God is as real and present in our life as the snow that we can see everywhere at this moment. And to not recognize God with us every moment of every day is as absurd as asking you if you had noticed that it had snowed.

The psalmist writes, "Where can I go from your presence? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast" Psalm 139:7-10.

God is everywhere I can think to go says the psalmist. However, while we can't miss the snow, who doesn't find it hard to NOT miss God's presence in the routine of every day life?

It is for that reason, that I particularly appreciate this season of the Christian calendar. Lent is 40 days of intentional and focused "noticing." It is about noticing God's personal, powerful presence in our every day lives so that when Easter rolls around it won't just be another holiday of family gatherings and egg hunts, but will be truly and undeniably life-changing.

I invite you to join us tonight for our Ash Wednesday service at 7 PM as we begin this journey of noticing. Then walk with us each Sunday morning for our message series, "At the Cross," to discover what is to be found at the cross that we cannot find any place else.

"Open?"

2010-01-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

Today in my personal time with God, I read Matthew 13. When I read the Bible, I watch for a word, phrase or sentence to stand out to me, then I stop reading and spend time talking and listening to God about it. This morning, I focused in on these words of Jesus, "For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them."

In those words, Jesus is referring to the people of God. As a Follower of Christ, I am asked to hear his words to his people for myself. He forces me to consider whether or not I am open to him. Have my ears become shut and my eyes closed to his Spirit? As I prayed about this, he brought to my mind an issue in which I did not want to hear from him. I wanted to deal with it myself. I wanted to think what I thought and not hear what he thinks. It was not enjoyable to have to admit that I was closing myself off to his spirit in that issue of my life. I was strongly resisting him.

Then I read the last line again, "Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn and I would heal them." What was I resisting by not letting God speak to that issue? I was resisting his healing. All Jesus wants to do is bring me healing and I am closing my ears and eyes to that? Why would i ever resist letting God give me something good?

"God, forgive me I prayed. I want to be open. Speak to me." He did. It was uncomfortable...it was difficult...but when it was done, I experienced his peace and freedom. That which had a hold of me was released, so that Jesus could carry me.

Regularly, we must honestly evaluate our present openness to Jesus. Christianity is not a religion we can shelf between Sundays, it is a relationship in which Jesus must be free to invade any part of our lives at any time.

Is there any part of your life in which Jesus is not welcome? Is there any part of your lifestyle Jesus is not given permission to speak to? Is there any relationship that you have closed your eyes to seeing what God wants you to see? Is there any good God is asking you to do that you have don not want to recognize? Are you open to the Holy Spirit's ongoing healing, freeing, maturing work in your life?

"A New Thing"

2009-12-30T05:00:00.000-08:00

When this time of year rolls around, I think of Isaiah 42:9, in which God says, "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you."

The first part of that verse speaks volumes: "See, the former things have taken place." God is asking us to "see", to recognize, to take note of what has taken place. Sometimes we run so fast through life that we do not pause to look back and see what has transpired in a day or a year. What do you look back and see in 2009?

"The former things have taken place." All those things you can see when you look back have taken place. It is what it is. Look back to see them, but don't look back to try dwell on them. I don't know about you, but sometimes I hold onto what was as though it still is. Acceptance is the healthy way of handling the past. Acceptance sees the pleasant moments of the past, smiles and says, "Those were good days. Thank you, God, for being with me in them!" Acceptance sees the unpleasant moments of the past, cries and says, "Those were difficult days. Thank you, God, for being with me through it." Acceptance allows life to be what it is, sometimes wonderful and sometimes horrible, but it refuses to hang on to either one as though it will always be...it simply acccepts what was as it was.

Then, acceptance opens the door to embrace a new thing. It is hard to receive something new from God when I insist on holding on to something old. OUr God is a God of the new! New beginnings, fresh starts and clean slates are his expertise. Let him speak to you through these words, "and new things I declare." He wanst to declare a new thing for you! Will you let him? Will you give yoruslef permission to anticpate what new thing God has for you this New Year?

"Before they spring into being I announce them to you." God has already set them in motion...they are coming...he is telling you so your heart and mind and hands can be wide open to receive them. Expect..Hope...Pray...Seek...and then watch God do what he does best...He brings about the new! Happy New Year!

"I Believe"

2009-12-22T09:47:00.000-08:00

Luke 1:37 says, "For Nothing is impossible with God." If you have been around Living Hope anytime at all you know that is one of my favorite verses from the Bible's Christmas account. But you probably do not know that every once in a while I ask myself, "Do you really believe that?" It may sound odd for a Pastor to ask such a question, but the truth is in my position it is dangerously easy to do get so use to saying the right thing that you say it more than you believe it.

When Living Hope began 10 years ago, I had no choice but to believe that verse. I was single, fresh out of college, 25 years old, with no experience. My resume showed several years of janitorial and lawn mowing, but nothing to do with leading a church let alone starting one. I was scarred into believing that verse. But I believed it. Every night, when I would lay there unable to sleep thinking of everything that had to be done that I did not know how to do, I would cry out, "Lord, I believe that nothing is impossible with you." All I can say, is that I watched God do the impossible! He is amazing! Praise Him!

Ten years later, to be honest, I often find myself just as scared. Now, I look back and think I was more equipped to start a church from nothing than to try to Pastor the great church you all are and will become. Now, I am driven to believe in that verse not out of fear, but out of necessity. This verse reminds me to work hard, do my best and then step aside and let God do what no amount of work and my very best could ever do and that is let him change our lives and then let him move through us to change the lives of others in our community, country and world.

I do not know why I am rambling on about this...this is truly some "random thoughts" today. I guess I have just been thinking a lot about the Christmas story and how God's coming to save the world required a few key, but extremely ordinary people like a Priest in the temple and a virgin teenage girl from Nazareth to be willing to believe, "For nothing is impossible with God."

And every Christmas, God seems to ask us again, "Do you believe? Do you still believe?" That is a question you will have to answer for yourself. As for me,all I can say is that the more God gives me the courage to believe that with him all things are possible it is amazing how much more I see God overcome the impossible. Merry Christmas!

"Unfriend"

2009-12-16T04:53:00.000-08:00

The publishers of New Oxford Dictionary have deemed "unfriend" as the 2009 new word of the year. To unfriend means to remove someone from your friend list on a social network like Facebook or MySpace. Christine Lindberg, Senior Lexicographer for Oxford's US dictionary program said it is an excellent choice because of the word's, "currency and potential longevity." Now, we not only have a legitimate word for ending friendship, we also have the convenience of doing so simply with the click of a button. "Unfriending" someone in cyberspace is much less messy than having the guts to do so face to face.

And why would we ever unfriend someone? The answer to that question is easy enough. I unfriend someone who sees the world contrary than I, someone rubs me the wrong way or simply annoys me by their status updates. To unfriend someone Facebook or MySpace gives me permission to make friendship all about me. As long as the friendship gives me what feels good, then I keep you on my list, but say the wrong thing and without you even knowing it, I will unfriend you.

Now, I am all about healthy boundaries. And to be frank, there are some "friends" that are so unhealthy that they should have been unfriended a long time ago. However, one has to wonder if our culture has so turned friendship into "what's in it for me" that we are missing out on a key element. The true value of friendship is not just receiving what feels good, but being able to learn to love someone and be loved by someone even though our opinions differ, our personalities clash and view points are polar opposites. It is very interesting to me...in a day that so espouses the value of tolerance, we seem to be increasingly intolerant. Rather than see our differences as something to either work through or to learn to accept and still love one another, we have now created a word to legitimatize only keep friendships that always make me feel good or never challenge what I think.

While they New Oxford Dictionary may name "unfriend" the word of the year, the Christmas story of the Bible tells me that in God's vocabulary there is only one word that ever deserves to be named word of the year...if God was allowed to truly be in control of this world, our lives and of the church, then the same word would be named word of the year every year, "LOVE." The kind of love that loves like this: "You have heard that it was said 'Love your neighbors and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons and daughters of your Father in heaven," Jesus in Matthew 5:43-45. Well, when he puts it like that, it does not give us much room to leave the 2009 word of the year in our vocabulary, does it? At least not if we want to consider ourselves His sons and daughters.

"Dirty Windows"

2009-12-02T06:12:00.000-08:00

The windows in my car have been dirty for over a year. I am not talking about the exterior, I mean they were dirty on the inside. How dirty were they? They were so dirty that even on a bright sunny day it looked like it was foggy and dreary outside. For over a year now, every time I would get in the car, I would think, "I have got to clean these windows." It was getting to the point that it was actually dangerous to drive at night...Yes, the windows were that dirty. I even told Kimberly, "I have got to clean these windows before it causes an accident."

And do you know what I found? This is very interesting...All my talking, all my promises, all my intentions and even me sharing this situation with my wife did not clean my windows. No matter how much I talked or thought about it, my dirty windows remained dirty. The only thing that cleaned my windows was when I stopped off yesterday to have my car washed and made the decision to have the inside of my car cleaned as well. When I left the car wash it was as though I was driving in a brand new car and seeing the world for the first time. I could actually, clearly see out my windows. I have to say I enjoyed driving a whole lot better, with clean windows. But again, for a year all my talking and thinking about it did not clean my windows. The only thing that cleaned my windows was when I made the decision to do something about it and then did it!

From where I sit, I see a lot of people who want to talk, think and even pray about their "dirty windows." They have dirty windows that they know are ruining their vision and dampening, if not destroying their lives. They are ready to recognize it and talk about it, but then Weeks, months, years go by and 20 years later they find themselves still talking about how they need to clean their windows, but their windows are dirtier than ever. And then, together we cry and say, "I have had dirty windows for 20 years, when is this ever going to change? Why won't God clean my windows?" The truthful answer is, "He never will. He won't clean your dirty windows as long as you are doing what I did with mine...talking, thinking, sharing, but making the decision to do nothing." James 4:17 puts it this way, "Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn't do it, sins." To know that it is time to have our windows cleaned and make a decision not to is simply sin and all sin does is separate us farther and farther from the very one who can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. To be very honest, this side of ministry gets very discouraging...it is exhausting to see people you care about choose to live with dirty windows even after they have long since realized this is less than God's best for them.

However, what keeps me going is that for every person who chooses to live and perhaps even die or be killed by dirty windows, there are folks every week around here who stop talking about it and make the decision to pull into the car wash and do what they can so God can do what only he can do to clean their windows.

That is what this Friday night is about here at Living Hope as we are invited to gather with Celebrate Recovery for two hours of help and hope. This Friday night is for people like you and me who are honest enough to admit we have some dirty windows and are tired enough of living with them to make a decision to do something about it. And for those who make that decision...interestingly enough...positive change from God always comes...it may not be easy or fast, but those who make a decision to to what they need to do so God can do what he can only do always see God work.

So, how about you? Tired of trying to see through dirty windows. Join me and others this Friday at Living Hope from 6-8 PM (come anytime you can; child care provided). I'm telling you...it is so much better driving with clean windows!

"Give Thanks"

2009-11-25T05:27:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is not something that comes naturally. I have never heard of a child for whom their first word was "Thank you." That was certainly not the case for my children. No, children have to be taught to give thanks. And so parents, like a broken record, say to his or her young child, "What do you say?" and then the child looks at the parent as though they are from a different planet, speaking a different language and the parents ask again, "What do you say?" Then to save both themselves and their child from further embarrassment, the parents prompt the child with, "Say,'Thank you'." Finally...hopefully...the little one, at least, pretends to mean it when he or she says,"thank you," right before dashing off to the next item on his or her little agenda.

The point is thanksgiving is something we must learn, if we are to learn it at all. In fact, I think it is something that we adults must continually learn and re-learn as we make this journey called life.

You can always tell the difference between the folks who have learned to put thanksgiving into practice and those who have not. Those who have are not optimistic, they are realistic...they see the difficulty and pain of life, but they never loose sight of all the reasons they have to give thanks no matter how small those reasons might seem to others. Thankful people are incredibly resilient people because instead of seeing every challenge as the end of the world, they maintain a perspective that there is more to life than this new problem. Thankful people are just more pleasant to be around...when you leave them you feel like you have been filled up rather than having had the last drop of life sucked out of you.

But again, thanksgiving is something we learn. Regardless of your personality or your present life situation, thanksgiving is something we can learn. In fact, as followers of Jesus, it is something we are commanded to learn. I Thessalonians 5:18 says, "Give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." It does not say give thanks "FOR", but "IN" all circumstances. This is something we can learn to do and we are given good reason to learn it..."this is God's will for you." If you have any kind of genuine relationship with Jesus at all then you know that God's will is not to make you miserable. Jesus said God's will is that we might have life and life abundant. Therefore, the command to learn thanksgiving is one of the keys that unlocks God's promise of abundant life in our lives.

I am grateful that we live in one of two countries in the world that have Thanksgiving as a holiday. Once a year, we are specifically and intentionally reminded that thanksgiving is something for which is worth stopping everything! I encourage you, brother and sister in Christ, re-learn to give thanks this thanksgiving...Be intentional about it...Be out loud about it...Make it personal... Make it real. "Give thanks for the Lord is good", Psalm 136:1.

"The Waiting Room"

2009-11-18T12:48:00.000-08:00

The last few days I have spent a lot of time in waiting rooms. Where your loved one is, while you wait in the waiting room, much is being done…medical staff is prepping and doctors are working, but from where you sit in the waiting room you can see none of that. All you can see is the clock’s hands moving painlessly slow. In the waiting room there is nothing you can do for the one you love. You can pray, but by this point all the words you can think to say have already been sent up to God. No, the waiting room is appropriately named because all you can do is wait.

I am no fan of waiting rooms…I am much better at doing than waiting. I am less likely to stop and smell the roses than I am to plant, prune and weed the roses. However, life seems to not care what my personality type prefers. At times, life forces us all to take a seat in the waiting room. Sometimes life forces us to sit in an actual doctor’s office waiting room…waiting to see how things go for one we love or waiting to hear from a doctor what the tests revealed…there we all hope for the best as we fight not to think of the worst. Sometimes life puts in a waiting room that we cannot see, but certainly can feel…waiting for someone to at least acknowledge they received your résumé as you wait in the unemployment line…waiting for your child to see that you don’t exist to make them miserable, but your rules are out of love…waiting for that someone to show up in your life to move you from being alone to being with someone who wants to be with you…waiting to see God answer prayer…waiting for answers, waiting for help, waiting for direction, just waiting…

The waiting room is not an easy place to sit because the rules of the room are clear…in the waiting room the one thing you are suppose to do is wait. Don’t act, don’t think, don’t worry, don’t try to fix anything...just wait…wait in the waiting room and you have done your job. Are you willing to receive that assignment from God? Isaiah 40:31 says, “Those who wait upon the Lord renew their strength; they mount up with wings as eagles...they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” Waiting on God is not a waste of time; it is the best use of time. Because the more I learn to wait in the waiting rooms of life, the less I will interrupt what God is doing that I cannot see.

For instance, if you were in a hospital waiting room and grew so impatient that you barged into the surgery room, you would delay if not prevent the surgeon from doing his job. The same applies in our relationship with God. When God tells us to wait, he asks us to trust that he is working even when we cannot see it. If we will be still and wait upon the Lord, eventually we will see God’s work come to completion. But if we jump out of our seat and barge in and try to do what we cannot, could we delay or possibly even prevent God from working? I don’t know, but by his grace, I am learning the very hard lesson of simply staying in my seat and waiting when I find myself in the waiting room.

"Remember"

2009-11-11T13:27:00.000-08:00

Today is a day of remembrance. The speaker at Centerville's Veteran's day ceremony put it well when she said, "Veteran's day is not a holiday it is a memorial day." It is a day to remember what others have given to gain and preserve our freedom as a Nation. As we remember the service of our veterans we naturally turn to gratefulness for their service. So, today we remember and thank our veteran's.

On another day, some two thousand years ago, Jesus called his disciples to remembrance. He took the cup, broke the bread and said, "Do this in remembrance of me." Every time we participate in Communion we are invited to remember that Jesus' body was broken and his blood was spilled out so that through his act we can come into and live in relationship with God. Our remembrance then most naturally turns to gratefulness. As Romans 5 says, "God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were yet sinners he died for us." Praise be to God!

So, where are you today? Has this been the best day of your life or the worst or just another ho-hum day of routine. I urge you to stop and remember. Remember Jesus. Remember his sacrifice. He loved you so much he received a punishment for which he was not guilty, he experienced pain he did not have to go through and he died so you could live. Receive his love for the first time or for the 1000th time as though it is the first. Then let your remembrance turn to thanks. Thank God out loud for his love for you. Thank God for his faithfulness in your past. Thank God for the fact that he will make a way for you in your future. Thank God for being with you and promising to never leave.

When we make time to remember it leads us to gratitude and where we find reason to give thanks we remember what makes life worth living!

"The Town's Spring"

2009-11-04T04:59:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a town that sat along a natural spring. The town was a nice place to live and its natural spring made it beautiful. A path was created along the spring so that the people could enjoy the view of the spring with a stroll, a bike ride or a jog. Everyone loved their town and everyone enjoyed the spring. Of course, everyone also knew that the spring was poisonous. Decades ago the town's founding father's recognized that even animals did not drink from the spring and when one of them drank it to find out why, he soon grew very sick. Had he drunk more, he most certainly would have died. Nevertheless, what the spring lacked in function it more than made up for in beauty.

However, one summer grew hot. It was hotter and dryer than even the oldest citizen of the town could ever recall. It was a drought like none other. Farmer's fields shriveled up, the ground was parched and cracked and worst of all their drinking wells were quickly growing shallow. It was a desperate situation. People were hungry....people were thirsty...everyone wondered what they should do...how would they survive?

Oddly enough, the spring, still ran deep and cold...The local Mayor said, "It was a reminder that this too shall pass."

As it normally happens at times like these, leaders emerge form the background to the foreground. In this town, two well-respected men came to the town meeting each with a different plan.

The first man stood and said, "Fellow citizens these are difficult times. The drought is hot, long and the end seems to be far off. I suggest we all pull our resources. We collect our water and ration it. Instead of every farmer trying to save his own farm, we count them all a loss, but one and from its land have food for our families. The times are tough but together we can get through it."

The town people nodded their heads in agreement. "That makes sense," they said, "Together we can get through this drought."

Yet, one man disagreed. He stood and said, "My friend is right. The times are hard. The drought is hot, long and the end seems far off. But we are overlooking the most obvious solution. The spring. The spring has plenty of water to fill our wells and irrigate our farms. Even in this drought our spring has proven faithful. Let's turn to the spring and let it bring to our town all that we have lost."

The other man was quick to respond, "What are you saying? This is crazy. The spring is poison. Even animals know better than to run to it to quench their thirst. Not even grass survives where the spring flows. It is a beautiful, but it is deadly. Have we forgotten the lesson of our grandfathers?"

The other man rebutted, "Fellow citizens. Now is no time to hearken back to the days of superstition. Let's be realistic. Without the water we are all going to die any way, at least this water can get us through. If we are careful and we monitor how much we drink, any damage will be far outweighed by the benefits." And to make the point, the man drank a small glass of the spring water himself.

The towns people had quite a discussion, but in the end they believed the best option was to drink from the spring. The man who voiced the idea became the local expert. He created charts and measurements for how much a person could drink based upon their weight and size. And so, in the hot, dry drought, the people found a cool, refreshing supply. The truth was the water tasted good. People laughed and said, "Why did we go so long without drinking from our beautiful spring?" And so it seemed all was well.

Until about a month later a cry broke forth in the midnight sky. A cry of anguish. A cry of a mother whose little boy had died. "Its the water she cried...the spring killed my boy..."

The people were sorry for her loss, but no one could believe that the spring had killed her boy and if it had then it was her fault for the good man with the idea carefully prescribed how much was too much.

But then another grew sick and then another and then another until one after another the good people of this good town by this beautiful spring watched the spring prove not to be their savior but their murderer.

Disillusioned, heart broken and physically weak, the people of the town came to the man with the other idea and said, "You were right. The water is poison. The end did not justify the means. Tell, us friend, is it too late, can we turn back."

The man with the other idea, looked down. his eyes filled with tears. Though he wanted to give the people good news, he had none. It was too late to pull their resources for everyone but him had filled their wells with the poisonous spring water and everyone but him had water their fields with it. So, what they had to offer was poison and what he had to offer was not enough.

Now many years later, there is a beautiful spring where once sat a nice little town.

"The Fear Factor"

2009-10-28T12:55:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't life be wonderful if all we had to fear were werewolves, vampires and the occasional witches brew? That would be nice, but we have much greater things to fear. Let's see...where do I start? Well, there is H1N1 that experts estimate will infect 65% of the population...and then there is the ongoing economic and unemployment threat...Terrorist are still blowing up cars and we are all too aware that their eye is on bigger targets that will cost a greater number of lives...North Korean and Iran are just fascinated with testing nuclear missiles...and, then there is Jon Gibson, at least he frightens me sometimes (Just kidding, Jon...well...no, I am kidding)and those are just global fears not mention more local and personal fears.

With all these things to fear in our world, it makes me wonder, how much of what I do or don't do is driven by fear? Before we are too hard on fear, let's be thankful for fear. Fear can be healthy. For instance, I want my kids to fear sticking their finger in the light socket. However, it is very easy for fear to very quickly leave the realm of healthy. You can always tell when fear crosses over to being unhealthy, because when we have unhealthy fear it keeps us from living.

You see, healthy fear helps us live (not sticking my finger in the light socket helps me live without being electrocuted). Unhealthy fear keeps me from living by causing me to withdraw from life and others. Unhealthy fear paralyzes. It isolates. It convinces me the only way to be safe is to stop living in some way...For example, since H1N1 is spreading so quickly, unhealthy fear says, "Don't leave the house." Unhealthy fear says, "Terrorists may high jack an airplane again so never fly again" or "The economy may never improve so cash out and hide your money in a mattress." Unhealthy fear moves fear from serving as a healthy safe guard to an irrational trying to control what we cannot.

Recently, I heard another pastor say, "As the world gets darker, the church ought to shine brighter." Of course, he stole that from Jesus in Matthew 5:14-16, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before all people, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

In other words, for the Follower of Jesus our response to the fears of this world is not to deny or ignore them, nor to hide from them. instead, we are to shine all the brighter. We are to live life to the full in Jesus and as we live by faith and not fear may others see God and praise him.

"The Point of No Return"

2009-10-21T12:18:00.000-07:00

The other night I went through a Yellow traffic light and said, "Past the point of no return." I suppose I said it out loud to some how try to justify that I hit the gas when the light turned yellow rather than slow down (What are you looking at me like that for...Like you've never done that). The truth is I learned that phrase in driving school many years ago. In all reality it is a phrase not of justification but permission. When the light turns yellow and you are already committed to go, it is better for you to keep going that to try and stop after you have gone past the point of no return.

I was thinking about how life is regularly calling us to go past the point of no return; to commit ourselves to going all the way in one thing or another. For instance, when you jump off the diving board you go past the point of no return. You are going in the pool whether you change your mind in mid-air or not. Marriage is going past the point of no return. Dating is easy to get in and out of but marriage makes a spiritual and legal commitment that is costly to end. Major purchases such a house require a past the point of no return choice. No Bank will agree to let you sign a loan that says, "I agree to pay on this House the next 30 years unless it would seem otherwise financially inconvenient". Everyone who does anything valuable at all in their life does so because they make "a past the point of no return" choice...it applies to relationships, jobs, education and 100 small choices every day. The reason we move forward in life is because we hit the gas and go past the point of no return.

The same is true spiritually speaking. If I am to keep moving forward in my relationship with God, then regularly God will bring me to "past the point of no return" choices...some of them are small such as will I incorporate corporate worship into my weekly schedule, while others are as significant as teh decision to be baptized.

Baptism is a choice to go past the point of no return. It is saying, "Father, you went all the way for me and I am ready to go all the way with you." In baptism my faith is no longer merely personal, it is public meaning that God can use my faith not just for my benefit but anyone he should so choose. It means that I am committed to living in his forgiveness and following him wherever he leads. For our spiritual forefather's, this meaning of baptism was nothing to be ignored. During times of persecution, when people made a decision to be baptized they were most literally putting a target on their backs. And yet, they chose to follow Jesus' command to be baptized. That is going way past the point of no return!

Romans 6:1-4 expresses this past the point of no return faith: "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live any longer to it? Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore, buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life."

So, far 12 people have signed up to go past the point of no return in baptism this Sunday! It is not too late for you to make this decision as well (just email or call me). For those of us not being baptized, our presence is just as important. Their baptism will remind of us of our own. Furthermore, it is our chance to celebrate and support our brothers and sisters in Christ in going past the point of no return in their faith. It is going to be a powerful day of celebration. See you Sunday!

"She Noticed"

2009-10-14T15:45:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday he came to worship with a cast on his broken hand. As he stood in line to pick up his child from the Kidz Zone, a little girl noticed his hand. Sierra is her name. (Sierra is a little girl that our society would say has special needs, but around here we just call her special). She signed with her hands to her mom and asked, "What happened?" Her mom asked and he explained he had broken his hand. Then Sierra asked, "Does he need an IV?" Sierra has had to many IV's in her life to keep track of...she has been through so many surgeries and has many more to come, so she was concerned that perhaps he would need one too. He explained he did not need one. Then she asked, "Did it hurt?" He said, "Yes, it did." Then Sierra did something he did not expect...her eyes filled with tears...she hurt for him...with him. Already in her young life she knows all too well physical pain. And because of what she has been through, already she has learned a lesson that many adults fail to learn that when you hurt, it means a lot to have someone else notice. It means a lot to know someone else cares. It means a lot to have someone cry with you. He said to me, "Chad, I just met an Angel" and then he told me the story.

I was going to find a Scripture to go with this, but then I thought, isn't this what the entire Bible is about?

Thank you, Sierra, I needed to be reminded of the powerful ministry of noticing!

"Message in a Bottle"

2009-10-07T11:44:00.000-07:00

I read in the news this week about a bottle with a message written by a woman who tossed it in the ocean in 2003 off Cape Ann in Massachusetts. The bottle was recently found 3000 miles across the Atlantic off the coast of France. The message came from Ann Hernandez, a lighthouse keeper on Thacher Island where she had thrown bottles with notes into the water every October on her birthday since 1991. In the note she identified herself and urged the finders to send a card to her. The people who found the note in the bottle tried to fulfill that request but learned that she had died unexpectedly last year at age 61 from complications from surgery.

Obviously, I never knew Ann Hernandez, but as I read the story something inside of me hoped that she would get her message answered. And then to think that someone did respond but it was too late...for some reason the story left me feeling disappointed for her.

I think I know the reason I felt that...We send out a message hoping that someone will hear, someone will care, someone will respond...We put up a prayer hoping the same thing of God--that He will hear, care and respond. And then we wait...hoping the reply will come before its too late.

To all of you who have sent out a message and put up a prayer and are now in that uncertain time of waiting, The Bible invites us to be certain of this: "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:5-7.

"How are you Growing?"

2009-09-30T11:49:00.000-07:00

This morning at 5:54 AM I was awakened with a little face starring into mine and saying, "Daddy...Daddy..."

"Yes, Anna?" I replied.

"Daddy, can you measure me so I can see how much I 'growed'?"

Well, at 6:15 I finally got up and measured her. I don't know how she knew, but she was right. She had grown a half inch since Kimberly last measured her in August.

We adults have long since given up our interest in checking the growth chart. O, perhaps, we measure our weight but for most of us, myself included, that's usually more out of frustration than excitement, but for children measuring growth is exhilarating enough to get you out of bed at 5:55 AM.

If only God could renew that childlike love for measuring our growth in us. God does not save us from our sin and ourselves so that we can sit on a shelf until we expire. He saves us so that we may grow in the promise of Jesus for the abundant life here and now as well as in the life to come. We are invited to desire, hunger and get excited over the reality that what we have in relationship with Jesus can just get better and better. As Followers of Jesus we ought to expect and anticipate spiritual growth.

One of the best ways, I know, that God ignites that desire for continued spiritual growth in us is through what the Bible points to as one of the number one ways God grows us and that is service. Service inspires us to grow and service grows us in Christ. In fact, to be a non-serving Follower of Jesus is to be a non-growing Follower of Jesus. You cannot be growing in your faith and not at the same time actively involved in serving God by serving others.

This past Sunday was once again a great example that service inspires growth and services grows us. Story after story has come in from you about that reality.

I heard that one child who was serving with her dad asked, "Why do we only do this once a year?" My answer is we do this once a year to remind ourselves and our community of what being a part of the church is to be about everyday of the year.

We have been averaging 451 people for Sunday worship and 351 of you participated in worshiping by serving on Sunday. 70% of you are involved in regular service is some way in the ministry in the church and to the community. I just want to say thank you! Thank you for being a church that understands that service and spiritual growth go hand in hand! May God keep growing us in that truth!

Philippians 2:1-11 reminds us of that:

"1If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.

5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father."

"The Choice"

2009-09-24T04:39:00.000-07:00

Right now, at the start of a new day, I stand a fork in the road. One path leads to serenity, gratitude and hope and the other path leads to just the opposite. Too often I fall into the trap of assuming I have no choice. That is an easy trap to fall into in a society that encourages us to blame others, our circumstances and even God for the path we take. However, the reality is, each day the choice is mine. To be honest, yesterday, I chose the wrong path. I chose to go down the path of focusing on the negative, wallowing in self-pity and half way through the day I had a stress headache the size of Texas. O, yes, what a joyous day I chose.

That evening as I walked into the door of our home, I breathed a simple, yet desperate prayer, "Father, help me not to bring my bad day home. They don't deserve it." (That's the great things about the choice; you can change paths at any time). Right then I heard a little voice cry out, "Da-dee" followed by the sound of little feet on the linoleum floor. My son, who tends to be more like me when it comes to hugs--that is to say he is not real big on them--threw his arms around my legs and squeezed as tight as he could. It was like God cleansed me from my negative choice and gave me a new start even though the day was nearly over.

That is what God does for all of us at the start of each new day. He gives us a new opportunity to choose for this day. We can blame others, our circumstances and even God, but the hard truth is the path we find ourselves on each day is really our choice. Others don't have the power to "make me have a bad day". Circumstances do not have the power to "ruin my day." Even God has limited himself of that power as he loves and respects us so much that he will never violate our will even if that means letting us choose a path that takes us away from Him.

So, today, by God's grace and fully dependent on his help, I choose life.

I choose to let go of yesterday...what's done is done and me holding onto it does not do me or anyone else any good.

I choose to let go of what may or may not be tomorrow...I neither know the future or am guaranteed it, so I might as well fully embrace what I do know and what I do have and that is now.

I choose to speak what is possible with God rather than dwell on what is impossible without God.

I choose to forgive before anyone does anything to offend me knowing that I will need as much forgiveness as anyone else today.

I choose not to expect perfection of myself or others and in that way we will all be a little more free.

I choose to give myself permission to enjoy the little things God will send my way today rather than miss them in my insistence on being sour.

I choose to let God lead me rather than everything else in this world that will lead me if I do not choose Him.

I choose to let God show me at any point and in any way today when I begin to get off course and head back to doubt, cynicism and negativity.

"This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life..." Deuteronomy 30: 19-20.

What's it going to be today? Life or death? Blessings or curses? The choice is ours!

"I Give Up"

2009-09-02T12:11:00.000-07:00

Perhaps Winston Churchill's most famous speech was his shortest. He stood and said, "Never give in. Never, never, never, never, never give in." I deeply admire and respect his sentiment in this speech. His call to perseverance is one we all need to be reminded of in this fallen world where pain, injustice, selfishness and out right evil demand our daily attention. However, I am learning that sometimes the most deeply spiritual step I can take is to just give up. Perhaps you can relate to some of my prayers to this end...

"Father, I give up on depending only on myself. I need you."

"Father, I give up trying to please everyone. I as an imperfect person will never be able to please imperfect people."

"Father, I give up trying to control that which is out of my control. I can control my feelings and behaviors and that of no one else."

"Father, I give up trying to be perfect. Even on my best days my judgments will not always be perfect, my words will not always come across the right way and my actions will not always be received as I intended."

"Father, I give up my right to demand my rights. Who am I? You are God, not I. You know better than I and if what you want is different than what I want then who am I to try to tell you otherwise."

"Father, I give up my right to excuse sin in my life. Whether my sin is to do wrong or not to do the good you tell me to do, it is sin. Sin is nothing less than shaking an angry fist in your face and it always separates me from you. I need you more than my sin."

"Father, I give up my permission to have a negative attitude toward life and others. It is easy to let what others do or say or what life sends my way to give me permission to be negative, but in you I have permission to give praise and thanksgiving in all circumstances."

"Father, I give up putting my security in possessions and money. There is no such thing as financial or job security. What we have today can be gone tomorrow."

"Father, I give up my need to hold a grudge. My unforgiveness does nothing but keep me imprisoned."

"Father, I give up any justification to ever not see everyday as your precious gift. One day life will come to an abrupt end. I would rather live each day living for what matters in death-- faith, family and Friends-- than get to the end and wish I had."

You see, I have found that while there is a time to hang on, there is a time to give up. Is God inviting you to give up in any way today? Resist the temptation to fight him...just give up...and then don't be surprised when you see God come through! Its what Jesus taught us to pray in what we call the "Lord's Prayer"..."thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."

"Morning is Coming"

2009-08-26T11:38:00.000-07:00

"My soul waits for the Lord more than watchman wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning." Psalm 130:6

On ancient city walls, watchmen stood guard through out the night. While others slept, they kept watch. Their shift did not end until dawn broke through the night. No matter how long and how dark the night was, they knew morning would come.

Using that imagery, the Psalmist says in the same way that the watchman knows morning is coming, so I am waiting on God to break trough the darkness of life. It is a courageous confidence not in the circumstances of life but in the character of God. God will come through. As certain as we are that night will pass and morning will come, so are we that the darkness life can bring will give way to God's light. God's light will overcome our present darkness.

It is such a simple cliche, and yet, it is so very true..."this too shall pass." When you are on guard during a night time experience of life, it is easy to think, "This is never going to end...this pain, this struggle, this problem...is never going to pass." But our hope is not in the circumstances, it is God alone. And in him, we have the same certainty that the watchman had in the middle of the night..."It may be dark now...the night may be long, but if I keep my eyes open, I will see the sun rise."

I don't know who this is for today...but whoever you are, I urge you...hang on...don't give up heart...the Morning is coming!

"New Name"

2009-08-19T12:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was sitting in court. I was there as a witness for an adoption. When Levi was 7 months old he was brought to the home of foster parents Mark and Sue Atherton, who are a part of our church family (you know, Mark from preaching while I was on sabbatical). Levi was considered a "special needs" case because of his birth-home environment. But, to Mark and Sue, he has always just been special. Levi is now four years old and the only Mom and Dad he has ever known is Mark and Sue. As far as he was concerned, Christopher, has always been his big brother. Step by step, this family followed God's lead to love and yesterday the court put on paper what had already happened in their hearts...Levi became their legally adopted son.

When the judge announced, "Your name is now Levi Ewing Atherton, " Levi lit up. I wish you could have seen his reaction! It was so cool! His hands shot up in the air in excitement and he looked straight at Sue. She nodded her head as if to reassure him that it was true. He now had a new name. He has the Atherton name and that means he is in their permanent care and responsibility. What is theirs is his.

Through adoption, Levi became the fully legal son of the only Mom and Dad he has ever known. Afterwards, Levi, with eyes wide open and a big smile on his face said to everyone, "I've got a surprise for you...we have cake and ice cream back at my house!" "My house"...that's right Levi...you now don't just have a place to stay, you have a home. Thank you Mark and Sue for giving me a picture of what Being the church looks like. It is one of those moments I will put down as one of my top ten best days of being a pastor.

As I was driving back to Living Hope, I prayed, "Father, thank you!" You see, as Levi was adopted, I couldn't help but remember what Jesus did for me when I was seven years old. I prayed and asked Jesus to come into my life. That day I was given a new name. I was no longer just Chad Arlen Current. I was Chad Arlen Current, son of THE KING of kings. He put me in his family and has taken on permanent care and responsibility for me. What is his, is mine! And some day, when this life ends, he will take me by the hand and say, "Earth was a only place for you to stay for while, but now you have a home."

Have you been adopted by the Heavenly Father, yet? Have you made a decision to not just know Jesus but to walk in daily relationship with him? Do you want to know more about what being adopted by him means? I am always available to talk about that.

The Bible says in Romans 8:15-17, "For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption. And by him we cry, "Abba, Daddy." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory."