Set Apart?

I’ve been having some conversations lately with a couple of good friends and people I really admire and respect who have been living life beside me for awhile and I have to confess – I’m troubled.

Lately God has been doing a lot of moving and shaking in my heart – dust is flying off and new doors are being opened and it is a lot to be taking in.

I’ve been struggling with Romans 12 where Paul calls Christians to “not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” What does that mean? How do I apply this to my life?

What does it mean to live in todays world – be a part of a community yet also be a Christian who is “set apart.”

What distinguishes us from everyone else?

I think essentially it all revolves around humility and forgiveness. Humility and forgiveness…

I mean think about it, humility and forgiveness is totally countercultural. They are things that go against every grain of our nature because we are fundamentally driven by pride – we are – lets just openly confess it to each other. The stink of it is – pride is the original sin – wanting to be like God.

Everything we are taught in the states from the second we leave our mother’s womb is to embrace our pride – “go for it” and “be all you can be” – you will accomplish anything you set your mind on! Parents and teachers and tv and internet tells us that we are important and that we can make something of ourselves. Even our economy is structured in such a way that we want more – we want more wealth, more prestige, more respect, more significance – more more more!

Pretty much everything we do is for the bettering of our lives and leaving a legacy behind.

Yet Christ’s example was self-denying and an other focused existence.

Think about what Christianity could look like if we stopped being so self-obsessed. What would the world do if every Christian stopped trying to make themselves look good or sound smart, humbled themselves to a place where they realized it’s not about them?

What if we decided to live simpler lives and consume less – instead we give more resources away instead of spending money on useless stuff.

What if we stopped obsessing over twitter updates (myself included), facebook wall posts, and having that new outfit for next weeks party and took a step back and said to ourselves, “its really not about me”?

And I realize its hard and I openly confess that I have a hard time going here. I do – I like stuff. If I could check myself into a “stuffanynonomous” program I would! But…what if I just started walking with God. What if I started opening the scriptures every day and just immersing myself in the story of God – His revelation to mankind about who He is and His intentions for those who love and follow Him.

What if by doing that – I would truly be set apart because the Word was impacting my life.

What if I started following Christ’s example of self denial and being focused on others first?

What if…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous

Gaining Credibility

I came across a great post the other day by Brad Lomenick titled, “Gaining Credibility,” and thought it would be a great share – especially for you seniors out there fixing to make the jump to the big fish pond called “the real world.”

I remember struggling to gain credibility in the work force when I first graduated and it some ways felt like I was entitled credibility just because I had a college degree – regardless of the fact that half the stuff I learned in college wasn’t really guiding anything I was doing…

Brad gives great introspection – you can read it HERE or follow the points below:

1. Be Self Aware- first, you have to have an accurate understanding of who you are and where you are in life. A very clear and realistic picture of your self identity and current reality. If you are 24, you have to understand that life experiences and job experience probably aren’t something you can hang your hat on.

2. Listen, Listen, Listen. Ask great questions of those around you, and then LISTEN to the answer. Don’t talk until you have something to say. But learn to ask great questions and learn from them. This is especially true in a team environment.

3. Experience creates expertise- this is obvious, but sometimes we forget. Credibility comes with action- doing, not just thinking or talking. Jump in and get involved.

4. A platform takes time- it’s just a reality. Most of us aren’t patient enough to spend adequate TIME at DOING something until we gain a platform or credibility. We usually lose interest, get bored, or just simply move on to something else. The key- stick with it.

5. Connect with leading organizations, networks and individuals- connect with companies, teams or individuals who are highly respected, and you’ll gain respect. But the key on this- connect with them and ask how you can HELP them, not how you can gain from them.

_______

Good stuff – I have a “leadership thoughts” journal that I keep – dropped this one in it…

Filed under: Leadership, Personal, Reflection

Never Let the Gospel Get Smaller…

I came across this post from John Piper the other day and it knocked it out of the park for me. I truly do hope that the Gospel gets bigger as I age and not smaller – great to pray through!!

Here’s the post:

Here is a simple exhortation that I have been trying to implement in our family:

Seek to see and feel the gospel as bigger as years go by rather than smaller.

Our temptation is to think that the gospel is for beginners and then we go on to greater things. But the real challenge is to see the gospel as the greatest thing—and getting greater all the time.

The Gospel gets bigger when, in your heart,

* grace gets bigger;

* Christ gets greater;

* his death gets more wonderful;

* his resurrection gets more astonishing;

* the work of the Spirit gets mightier;

* the power of the gospel gets more pervasive;

* its global extent gets wider;

* your own sin gets uglier;

* the devil gets more evil;

* the gospel’s roots in eternity go deeper;

* its connections with everything in the Bible and in the world get stronger;

* and the magnitude of its celebration in eternity gets louder.

So keep this in mind: Never let the gospel get smaller in your heart.

Pray that it won’t. Read solid books on it. Sing about it. Tell someone about it who is ignorant or unsure about it.

Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel…. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. (1 Corinthians 15:1-4)

You can read it HERE too!

Filed under: Church, Personal, Religous

Help us die daily.

O God,

who for our redemption

gave your only-begotten Son

to the death of the cross,

and by his glorious resurrection

delivered us from the power of our enemy:

Grant us so to die daily to sin,

that we may evermore live with him

in the joy of his resurrection;

through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,

who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,

one God, now and for ever. Amen.

Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous

8 phrases I love to hear…

Want to immediately gain my attention or draw me into a conversation – all you have to say is any of the following phrases:

1. What if we…

2. No one has ever tried something like this…

3. Here’s something that will help us be more effective at what we do…

4. It’s free…

5. I had this idea…

6. Not sure how this will work but I feel like God is pushing me to…

7. I know this might sound crazy but…

8. Would you like to grab lunch sometime…

Just sayin…

Filed under: Leadership, Personal, Random

Hope.

I about fell out of my chair this morning as God smacked me across the face with His Word.

This morning I read:

So God has given us two unchanging things: His promise and His oath. These prove that it is impossible for God to lie. As a result, we who come to God for refuge might be encouraged to seize that hope that is set before us. That hope is real and true, an anchor to steady our restless souls, a hope that leads us back behind the curtain to where God is (as the high priests did in the days when reconciliation flowed from sacrifices in the temple) and back into the place where Jesus, who went ahead on our behalf, has entered since He has become a High Priest forever. – Heb 6:18-20

So rich. A hope that is real and true – an anchor to steady our restless souls. This is our God.

Filed under: Bible Journey, Personal

Just sayin…

1. I want God to fix the world, but He wants to fix me.
2. I pray for ease, but he gives me endurance.
3. I keep trying to improve to impress Him, but He’s not impressed
4. I call it being frugal with what He has given me, but He calls it lack of trust.
5. I’m trying to add Him to my life, but He’s waiting for me to die.
6. I worship with songs & sermons, but He wants discipline & dedication
7. I read the Word to learn, but He wants me to read the Word to live.

Just sayin…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

True.

“When you are doing what God has made you to do, and spending most of your time there, you have more energy for family, God, ministry, and everything else.”

I know that when I am doing what God has created me to do, utilizing my giftedness, empowering those around me to utilize their giftedness, and depending on God at every turn – there’s nothing like it.

I also know that when I am not doing that – I’m stressed, tired, grumpy, and dependent on myself.

We’ve got to try like crazy to stay where God has us!

Filed under: Leadership, Personal

What do you choose?

• When you are faced with the difficulty of doing something exceptionally well or good enough, what do you choose?
• When you are tired and want rest but you need to close out a project, do you go to sleep or finish the job?
• When you are faced with a great opportunity which may mean embarrassment should you fail, what do you choose?
• When you commit to do something and that commitment later becomes inconvenient, what do you choose to do – stick with it or bail out?
• When you feel like you could lay down and die or press on in spite of the pain because people depend on you, what do you choose?

We make choices every day that speak volumes about the type of person we are – the make up of our integrity and character. And…I am also convinced that I often, and you too probably, live far beneath our true potential because we are scared or lazy or tired. I want to be a guy who makes ripples but to do that means I have to put in the time, the work and effort – what will I choose?

What will you choose?

Filed under: Leadership, Personal

10 Things I Love about My Wife

I love my wife a lot.

I’ve been thinking about how much I love her a lot lately.

Awhile back there was a facebook trend of “top 25 things about you” going on – I never did it, though I loved reading other peoples stuff.

Thought I would change it a little bit and tell you about 10 things I love about Michelle.

1. She loves Christ A LOT. She pushes me a lot in my relationship with Him and I always feel like she is one step ahead of me. It’s great to get to be challenged by her for the rest of my life!
2. She has an amazing voice. She won’t admit to it but she does. I love hearing her sing.
3. When she cries – I melt. She is the sweetest, most fragile crier there is out there. You have to hold her one she cries because everything within you breaks when you see her.
4. She loves underprivileged children of an african american nature. She truly has a heart for changing their lives.
5. She can connect to just about anyone. She’s one of those people who can carry on a conversation with anyone who comes through the door – they can be singled, married, old, or a little baby – Michelle can hold a conversation with them all.
6. She is EXTREMELY intelligent. She blows me out of the water. She doesn’t flaunt it but you don’t want to mess with her in a game of scrabble. Sometimes when we fight – I have to ask her to use highschool words and not SAT prep words…
7. She is a great cook and she loves cooking for people. Fortunately I love eating and eating with people so that’s a good match!
8. She’s an optimist and she has helped my pessimism greatly – we are a great counter balance for each other.
9. She loves barefeet and soft grass. I love being outside with her and because she loves soft grass she lets me do whatever it takes to keep our lawn that way…
10. She loves me. I mean, she really loves me.

Just thought I would share!

Filed under: Personal

Significant marks in my journey.

Been visiting my past journals over the last couple of days – been great reflecting on how God worked in my life and how he continually is shaping me along the way.

During my trip down memory lane – a couple of significant light bulbs have happened for me that I thought I would share…

Here we go:

• I can’t do it alone…and neither can you. We need each other. Why do we consistently put ourselves through the ringer trying to do things ourselves when God has expressed His love for us through the church?
• People need us. Our story is not unique and needs to be shared. Your greatest source of pain could very well be someone else’s source of healing.
• Growth, unfortunately, can never happen without pain. And now for the worse news – it’s often the most painful things that you endure that bring the most growth. Don’t hate the growth – embrace the growth and ask God for the strength to persevere well and to grow in the midst of the pains
• Community is worth fighting for. Fight for it.
• You get out of community what you put into it. You want to be known – make yourself known. You want to develop deep relationships – seek people out to develop those relationships. If you put in the effort, your rewards will be great!
• Hold on tight to what you know is true – even when your not even sure you believe it. Remember that faith is hoping in what is unseen – hold tightly to that hope.
• Just be real, honest, and who God made you to be. Life’s too short to waste it on being a superficial person that you are not – be you.

Just some things that God has been teaching me.

Filed under: Leadership, Personal, Reflection

Set Apart?

I’ve been having some conversations lately with a couple of good friends and people I really admire and respect who have been living life beside me for awhile and I have to confess – I’m troubled.

Lately God has been doing a lot of moving and shaking in my heart – dust is flying off and new doors are being opened and it is a lot to be taking in.

I’ve been struggling with Romans 12 where Paul calls Christians to “not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” What does that mean? How do I apply this to my life?

What does it mean to live in todays world – be a part of a community yet also be a Christian who is “set apart.”

What distinguishes us from everyone else?

I think essentially it all revolves around humility and forgiveness. Humility and forgiveness…

I mean think about it, humility and forgiveness is totally countercultural. They are things that go against every grain of our nature because we are fundamentally driven by pride – we are – lets just openly confess it to each other. The stink of it is – pride is the original sin – wanting to be like God.

Everything we are taught in the states from the second we leave our mother’s womb is to embrace our pride – “go for it” and “be all you can be” – you will accomplish anything you set your mind on! Parents and teachers and tv and internet tells us that we are important and that we can make something of ourselves. Even our economy is structured in such a way that we want more – we want more wealth, more prestige, more respect, more significance – more more more!

Pretty much everything we do is for the bettering of our lives and leaving a legacy behind.

Yet Christ’s example was self-denying and an other focused existence.

Think about what Christianity could look like if we stopped being so self-obsessed. What would the world do if every Christian stopped trying to make themselves look good or sound smart, humbled themselves to a place where they realized it’s not about them?

What if we decided to live simpler lives and consume less – instead we give more resources away instead of spending money on useless stuff.

What if we stopped obsessing over twitter updates (myself included), facebook wall posts, and having that new outfit for next weeks party and took a step back and said to ourselves, “its really not about me”?

And I realize its hard and I openly confess that I have a hard time going here. I do – I like stuff. If I could check myself into a “stuffanynonomous” program I would! But…what if I just started walking with God. What if I started opening the scriptures every day and just immersing myself in the story of God – His revelation to mankind about who He is and His intentions for those who love and follow Him.

What if by doing that – I would truly be set apart because the Word was impacting my life.

What if I started following Christ’s example of self denial and being focused on others first?

What if…

Filed under: Personal, Reflection, Religous

You HAVE strengths!

Here’s what I know…

You have strengths and you have weaknesses and I am constantly learning that focusing on my weaknesses is like trying to breathe without oxygen. I may not die immediately but sooner or later…I will die.

But…

Focusing on my strengths really lets me fly – it’s like getting a breath of fresh air!

Here at Wildwood Community Church we are big fans of the Servants by Design strength testing. Granted – there are tons of strength testers out there, and while interviewing with many churches I had my shot at most of them, but this one I found the most helpful.

Servants by Design is unique in that it approaches your personality in an all positive way – kinda makes you feel good about yourself. This test approaches your personality as a house – your foundation is what makes you stand up and your attic is part of the house, though, you don’t spend a lot of time in the attic. This means that whatever your foundation is is where your core strength is and what’s in your attic doesn’t mean it’s a weaknesses because you have access to the attic – it just means you don’t go there often.

This has helped me instrumentally in leadership. Knowing what my foundation is and building people around me that have the gifts that I store in my attic makes leading TONS more easier – plus – those that are strong with my attic area – it’s their foundation – so they are happy too!

In the years to come, the College Life leadership team is going to take this test together at the beginning of each year because I think it will be great to understand the giftedness of everyone on the team – I’m really looking forward to this!!

Out of this test – here’s my strength / weaknesses or better put my foundation and my attic space – the first is my foundation and the last is my attic:

1. Achiever – At the bedrock of my personality is an organized, logical, and analytical achiever part. I love to gather data, sort facts, categorize and solve problems in a clear-thinking manner – I love the question, “Does it make sense?”
2. Persister – This kinda goes hand in hand with my achiever – I firmly believe if you spend enough time and effort setting the course then you should not hesitate in the direction you are heading – you should persevere. It also means that I maintain a high standard and I am motivated to influence others leadership abilities to impact others.
3. Dreamer – the dreamer is my attic space. I can access it but I access it very rarely. This may be a surprise to people because I am a brainstormer but I am a brainstormer primarily because I just like writing things on the board (think data intake) while others are really doing the “brainstorming.” I like taking dreamers “dreams” and putting them into action. Therefore – I know that for certain events and activities I rely a lot on dreamers who can shoot the moon and then I get to be a part of building the rocket that gets us there…

That’s a little bit about me. What are some of your strengths and weaknesses??

Filed under: Leadership, Personal

A Different Sort of 10 Commandments

Recently I stumbled across a book titled, “Anyway” by Kent M. Keith.

This book is one of those books that as you are reading it you find yourself saying, “yes” out loud – it’s that good.

In his book he talked about his 10 commandments of leading a Christ like life in the midst of a fast paced crazy world.

1. People are illogical, unreasonable, and self centered. Love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
4. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
5. Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
6. The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. Think big anyway.
7. People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend years building my be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
9. People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. Help people anyway.
10. Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the best you have anyway.

I think these are good rules to live by. They help remind me to continually be looking to Christ in all things I do and not to others or situations around me.

“When people realize it is the living God you are presenting and not some idol that makes them feel good, they are going to turn on you, even people in your own family. 22 There is a great irony (a paradox) here: proclaiming so much love, experiencing so much hate! But don’t quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. 23 It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! Before you’ve run out of options, the Son of Man will have arrived.” Matthew 10:21-23

And no – these 10 should not replace the original 10 commandments of the Bible.

Filed under: Book Review, Personal, Reflection

Missional Ministry

I thought the fellas over at the swerve blog hit it out of the park with THIS post.

If you plan to reach the next generation for Christ, don’t ask them to believe what you believe, instead invite them to do what you do.

Beliefs are a dime a dozen. This generation has seen every variety of spiritual beliefs you could imagine (and many you couldn’t imagine).

They’re extremely turned off by people who don’t live what they claim to believe.

This generation doesn’t want to hear about what you believe. They want to see your beliefs in actions. And if you’re daring enough to live like Jesus, you’ll have a shot at reaching the next generation.

* If your version of Christianity is limited to what you’re against, you’ll not likely reach many.

* If, on the other hand, your faith is so alive you must feed the hungry, clothe the naked, heal the sick, and love the outcasts—all in the name of Christ, the King, you will attract interest.

As strange as it might sound, if you truly live a missional and Spirit filled life, the young generation might join you and do what you do, then one day believe what you believe.

_____

On a personal note I still get frustrated at times when the older generation knee jerks against these kind of statements. I think their fear is that by saying, “if your version of Christianity is limited to what you’re against, you’ll not likely reach many” means that we, the younger generation, are bucking doctrine, absolute truth, and core values to the curb but WE ARE NOT!

I firmly believe that my generation cares about doctrine and absolute truth because it’s the basis for what drives us to action – a desire to live out the truths that have been taught to us.

I just think the younger generation has come to a place where we say, “If we are going to do this – let’s go do it!”

I like it and it refreshes me.

Filed under: Church, Culture, Personal, Reflection, Religous

Back from Ski Trip.

That’s right – back in the saddle after spending last week in Winterpark, CO with the college life posse – man was it a great time!

Here are some of the highlights of the trip for me:

• Being amazed by God in His Creation. I love it – it just flat out refreshes me. There’s something about growing up in Dallas that I really feel like I missed – the fact that I look at buildings, skyscrapers, huge highways and glory in the creation of man. Getting away to Colorado helps me to glory in the Creation of God.
• It was awesome that we could squeeze all our college guys in a condo and all our college ladies in a condo – I like tight proximity because I truly believe that’s where relationships are grown.
• Mark Robinson led us in a devotional for two nights on some “mountain tops” that Elijah was on. It was awesome – I love hearing Mark teach – pretty creative and interactive guy. It’s always hard for me to focus on what he’s talking about because I’m making mental observations of his style of teaching – highly relational.
• Ate at Hernandos pizza as you can see from the pic above – if you are ever in Winterpark – this is the place to eat!
• Eric Miller sent me a text one morning that reads – “I love you so much and can’t wait to see you at lunch.” – It was really sweet – even though it wasn’t meant for me or…was it…
• Thought taking the vans was cool – maybe think of a wait to switch out whose in what van during the trip just to mix the flavor up.
• My wife was awesome! She couldn’t ski because she is pregnant which made her sad but she held down the fort and the bottom of the mountain and helped out a ton with injuries. I love her very much

Lots of good stuff and good times – can’t wait for next year – Crested Butte here we come!!!! Wahooo!!!

Filed under: Personal, Reflection

Punched in the Gut.

Brennan Manning punched me in the gut last night as I was re-reading Ruthless Trust.

Brennan wrote:

“The great weakness in the North American church at large, and certainly in my life, is our refusal to accept our brokenness. We hide it, evade it, gloss over it. We grab for the cosmetic kit and put on our virtuous face to make ourselves admirable to the public. Thus, we present to others a self that is spiritually together, superficially happy, and lacquered with a sense of self-depricating humor that passes for humility. The irony is that while I do not want anyone to know that I am judgemental, lazy, vulnerable, screwed up, and afraid, for fear of losing face, the face that I fear losing is the mask of the impostor, not my own.”

Filed under: Church, Personal, Quotes, Reflection, Religous

Whats wrong with us.

I openly admit that before you even get into this post that I have no answers but these thoughts have been plaguing me over the last couple of weeks as I have been digging into the Apostle Paul’s prayers throughout the New Testament.

So here goes…hold onto your seat:

• Why is it that churches in America compete with each other?
• Why are we happy when a church down the street doesn’t do well
• Why are we upset when a new church starts in our area?
• Why are we good at talking about each others flaws but not so good at helping and partnering with each other?
• Why do we not challenge the art of church hopping?
• Why do we let neighborhood churches die?

All tough questions and all questions that I wish I had the answer to. I firmly believe that as we begin to look at different churches within the same denominational context that we begin to see a more well rounded view of God. I think that’s a good thing. I also believe that as churches decide what their missions are we see different ways that God loves on the world – some churches are committed to local outreach, some churches are committed to global outreach, some churches are committed to poverty, some to those with handicaps – God loves all of that.

I wonder though – if churches have the same mission within the same proximity if partnership between the two could happen. Think of what you could accomplish with double the resources instead of each of the churches doing their own separate things.

I love Paul’s heart for the unified church.

Filed under: Church, Personal, Reflection

Tools of the Trade

I love it when people post the tools that they are using to help them accomplish various tasks in both their personal and business life – so I figured – why not jump on the bandwagon myself??

So here are the tools that I use on a daily basis:

Computer: Mackbook Pro

Web Browser: Firefox

Firefox Plugins I use daily: readitlater and twitterbar

Cell Phone: iPhone 3g

Iphone Apps that I use daily: vlingo, tweetie, facebook, evernote, theweatherchannel, USAToday, & NYTimes

Music: iTunes shuffle all

Task Management: Evernote

Social Networking: Twitter with the twitter plugin to facebook

Twitter Desktop Client: Tweetdeck

Video Chat: Skype

Identity Protection: Lifelock (though I will not put my social on the side of a truck)

Personal Finances: Mint

Blogging Desktop Client: Ecto

URL Shortner: TinyURL

Videos: Vimeo

Photos: Flickr

Email: Apple Mail (though I am desperately trying to switch to google but I can’t handle the loss of folders)

Bible Software: Logos for Mac

Filed under: Personal, Random, Technology

Healing Words.

Sometimes it’s just so hard to say words that are important and powerful for both us and others.

But…often times, healing & restoration will only come through these little phrases or words.

Here are a couple of phrases that God has really trying to get me to be more intentional about getting them out of heart and through my mouth.

1. I’m sorry.

2. I was wrong.

3. You’re right.

4. Please forgive me.

5. How can I improve?

6. I don’t know.

7. What do you think?

8. I’m listening.

9. Let’s pray.

10. I love you.

Here’s the key (and in my opinion the hard part) is to do it with no manipulation and/or cynicism. To really mean it – to look the person in the eyes – and, patiently receive their response.

It’s also important to say them without attachments. Michelle taught me early in our marriage that I had the tendency to apologize conditionally. Essentially meaning that most of my apologize came with an explanation of why I did what I did – to Michelle – it didn’t matter why I did it but for me to admit that I was wrong and to apologize for my action.

I group these words in the category of Christ’s continual transformation that is taking place in my soul. The truth is that I think most of us instinctively put ourselves first and try to protect ourselves but Christ’s calls us to die to ourselves and put others first. SO DIFFICULT. But – as we continually push into the person of Christ – I believe change WILL happen.

Relationships require deliberate, loving and proactive work – yeah, WORK. It’s not enough to just say these things, but we must communicate them from our hearts – in order to reveal a sincere desire for change, healing and restoration.

“Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the

tongue of the wise brings healing.” Prov. 12:18.

Filed under: Personal, Reflection