A Near Year…A New Day

This song totally captures what I love about the rawness of life.  This video was shot backstage by artist Charlie Hall at the turn of 2009.  The lyrics to this song have always connected with my soul — especially this verse:

“Where hope can hold my hand of sorrow

And we can walk into tomorrow

Where peace is found in troubled days

And the joy of Jesus carries pain”

It’s the hope of Jesus and the joy of knowing Him…and continuing to discover who I am in Him…that should and will carry me in 2009.

Please take some time to listen to this song and find your true hope for a new day in 2009.

 

A Christmas Prayer

If you’ve been praying for God to do a work in work in me, well, He definitely is.  The last couple of days, God has opened my eyes to a ton of things and seems to be pruning in all of the right places.

Having a few days away from work has really shown me how important it is to be a good parent.  Jace, our 2 and a half year old son, has been eating up my time at home.  He loves it.  For whatever reason, God has broken my heart for him so many times the past few days.  God has reminded me of some major shortcomings I have as a father — mainly a lack of patience, focus and intentionality.  The realization has hit me like a ton of bricks and at times has literally brought me to my knees in repentance.  I’m not sure why this heaviness and introspection has come on, but I am thankful for it.  Why?  Because I am already changed.  Repentance is a healthy thing…it means an opportunity to “go a different way” and live differently.  I already feel like a different person.  And, most people would probably say that I am a really good dad.  And, I probably am.  But, God is pushing me to be better.  To leave a legacy with my children.  To truly be present when I am home.  To truly invest in my kids when I have the opportunities.  May God continue to push me, break me, restore me and make me better — more like Him.  That is my Christmas prayer.

 

Jesus Can Be Messy

Can Jesus really be messy?  Well, over the past several years the Holy Spirit has really opened my mind to a few things about salvation and following Jesus.  Here’s what I’ve learned:  when people come to Jesus, it’s rarely the result of some formulaic result.  I mean, how can you truly try to tame, explain or box-in the Holy Spirit?  How can you truly measure steps to a major  life change?  For a person like me — who likes to be organized and have a plan — unknowns and anomalies can be a bit tricky.

But, think about the New Testament:  There are so many amazing examples of people who receive Salvation, and/ or the Holy Spirit at times that totally defy a formulaic expression.  I mean, a thief receives salvation in an amazing moment of grace; whole families are welcomed into the Kingdom through the cleansing of baptism; the faith of a friend brings healing and salvation to a paralytic; the laying on of hands brings about the indwelling of the Spirit; we even read of Jesus saying “Salvation has come to your house today” to a crooked tax collector, who took repentant actions to give back to the people he robbed and give to the poor. These kinds of things don’t necessarily fit into a nice formula, tract, brochure or denominational stance.  Thankfully, there is a great mystery to God.  It’s wonderful to know that I live for a God who loves me…yet I am totally unable to wrap my mind around His character, love, actions, creativity etc. etc.  Author Donald Miller expresses some related thoughts in his book, “Searching for God Know What.”

Imagine a pamphlet explaining the gospel of Jesus that said something like this:

You are the bride to the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is Jesus Christ.  You must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood to know Him, and your union  with Him will make you one, and your oneness with Him will allow you to be identified with Him, His purity allowing God to interact with you, and because of this you will be with Him in eternity, sitting at His side and enjoying His companionship, which will be more fulfilling than an earthly husband or an earthly bride.  All you must do to engage God is be willing to leave everything behind, be willing to walk away from your identity, and embrace joyfully the trials and tribulations, the torture and perhaps martyrdom that will come upon you for being a child of God in a broken world working out its own redemption in empty pursuits.

I love what Miller has to say here because it’s so true.  Coming to Jesus is messy?  Why?  because it’s always a relational thing…not necessarily a cookie cutter, step by step process.  We are the sheep and He is the Shepherd; He is the Father and we are His children.  The only constant in the pursuit of Jesus is…Jesus, His Grace and the result of an act of faith that screams:  “I love this Jesus.  I want to give my life to Him.  I want to live for Him.”

So may you focus on Immanuel — God with us — this Christmas.  Think upon His relational qualities and thank Him for not being able to be defined by human minds and standards.

 

Choosing the Right People…

As a young leader, I am very interested in finding someone to mentor me right now.  I am hungry for someone to heavily invest and challenge me as a follower of Christ, a man, a husband, father and a pastor.  There’s also a strong desire in me to find someone willing to stretch me as a leader.  As a youth pastor, I see the HUGE need to invest in a few…and go far deeper with a couple of students than what you normally would in a program.  Last year, I even attempted a relationship like this with a few students.  My goal was to: awaken and inspire them to God’s reality.  I also focused on unleashing their dreams and visions. But, I remember thinking this: “I have no idea how to mentor these kids because I’ve never been mentored.”  However, I quickly realized that this kind of thinking can often be an excuse for not investing in anyone…so I did what came natural to me and it seemed to have an impact.

So, my question to you is this: Do you have a mentor?  If so, how did you go about finding one?  Did they find you?  Or, did you seek someone out?  If you sought someone out, what qualities did you look for?  Any feedback you could lend me would be greatly appreciated.

Steve Carter (Student Ministries Pastor at Mars Hill) recently wrote a very good post on more of a professional-type of mentoring relationship.  His post talks about people in his life who offer both healthy critique and encouragment for his teaching.  You can check his thoughts out here.

 

I’m Loving It…

I recently saw a commercial that completely articulates how I often feel.  Believe it or not, this commercial was for none other than…McDonald’s.  That right…McDonald’s.  The advertisement focused on the fact that they now offer cappuccino.  Now, you might be thinking, “big deal”, but let me tell you why this commercial was both hilarious and packed full of truth.

The commercial starts out with two trendy looking guys sipping cappuccino together, while engrossing themselves in some deep, philosophical literature.  The setting appears to be your typical “artsy” or “intellectual” coffee shop or cafe.  I am not saying these places are bad, but you know the ones, where if you aren’t feeling especially “cool” that day, then you probably should go through the drive-through, or if you don’t have the right lap-top or reading material, then you might as well be ready to get stared down by the regulars (if you’re smart, you can just forget to shave for a few days and stop combing your hair…then you’re good to go ).

Anyway, the environment appears to be one thing, but the scene is set in such a way that the two men in the shot have a simultaneous Epiphany.  One of the men blurts out, “McDonald’s sells cappuccino now?!” And this is where the commercial get hilarious and spreads some serious truth (at least in my mind ).  The other actor looks up from his reading and says, “You mean, I can shave this thing off of my face?” (making reference to his dark, thick soul patch forming a nice triangle between his bottom lip and chin)   To which the other actor responds, “Yeah and we can stop calling movies, films.” And then the conversations goes back and forth like so:

“Yeah, and I can watch football…I really like football!”

“And, I can get rid of these glasses…they’re fake!”

The shot ends with a sense of freedom for the two men.  The reason why I love this commercial is because I think a lot of us struggle with identity and being comfortable in our own skin.  It’s tough when we feel that we have to live up to someone else’s expectation and lose the freedom to just be ourselves.  As a young adult Christian…and especially as a Youth Pastor, I often feel the pressure to be what is labeled as “cool.”  You know what the cool Christian looks like.  If you don’t, try opening an issue of “Relevant Magazine” or go to any 40 and under Christian conference.  You will see a lot of what is depicted in the McDonald’s commercial.  You will see the trendy hair, the trendy glasses, and the tight T-shirts.  Now, it’s totally cool if this is who you are, but I think a lot of times, people are just trying to fit a certain mold.  Well, if that’s the mold for what a young adult Christian or Pastor should look like, or read, or drink, or talk like, then I would be lying if I tried to live that way.  I’m just going to try and be me.

I am who I am.  I’m trying to love myself the way God created me.  I often speak to Middle and High School kids about finding their true identity in Christ, yet I still feel confused, at times, as to what I should look like, or how I should speak, or who I truly am.  Thank you McDonald’s for bringing me some clarity and reminding me of just how silly it can be to try and fit a “mold” that truly isn’t me.

I wrote some another blog post here that continues some discussion on identity.  You should check it out some time and give me your thoughts.  I would love to talk with you.

 

Our Family Values

My wife and I spent some time last week dreaming up values that we desire our family to live by.  As I said in my vows at our wedding, Amber is a gift from God.  I am excited to live out these values with her and lead our family toward a Christ-Centered life.

::Our Family Values::

Jesus

Others

Love

Gratitude

Giving

Honesty

Creativity

Laughter

Effort

Wellness

Rest

 

The Story — At Just the Right Time

I don’t usually do this, but at the encouragement of a friend, I thought I would.  I am posting a message I did for Middle and High School students yesterday during worship service.  The message was a continuation of a series we created called “The Story.”  During this series, we focused on Creation, The Fall and The Exodus.  Yesterday, our focus was on how Jesus entered the story at just the right time.  In order to hold students’ attention and to make them think, I wrote a story which had an “epic” feel and focused on some themes we wanted to concentrate on that morning:

- At just the right time, in the story, Jesus came to be with us.

- Jesus came to free us from all that holds us hostage.

Check it out and I hope that God is able to bless you through it (this is my entire message…so it may take some time to read through.)

 

Searching For God Knows What

That’s the title of a book I started reading from Donald Miller.  So far, the book has been a great read, but I really want to discuss the title.  Many times in my life, I have felt exactly what the title describes.  As a young leader, there’s often a stirring within me as I believe God stretches and prepares me for different things.  Often, I find myself in search of a lot of things other than God.  Like so many others, I think that my searching is for something that will appear to bring me happiness (typically something materialistic, recognition or something completely selfish) but  never truly satisfy.  Lately, I have felt this phrase coming from God:  “It’s not (fill in the blank) that you want, it’s me.”  It’s interesting because I had a great conversation with some friends about this today.  They heard a great message on hyper-consumerism the day before and it was interesting to dissect our lives and culture together .

So, take a look at the title to this book (and if you get a chance, read Miller’s writings) and leave some comments as to what you believe you’re searching for.  Are you searching for meaning? Material things? Recognition? Love? Intimacy? Obscurity? A slower pace? God? Something new? Or are you completely confused as to what you are searching for? I would love to hear about your journey.