DON”T follow your heart!

I’ve been thinking the past few days about how much the culture has shifted us to depend on our feelings. We may think that we are being logical but I think more often then not we are just making decisions based on feelings and not logic.

Exhibit A: We are emotionally touched by that romantic comedy with slightly immoral content. We resonate with the plight and feelings of the main character. Sure, her values are different than ours, but we like her and we’re rooting for her. We justify the inappropriate content, because watching this film makes us feel good.

Exhibit B: We’re indignant. That fellow Christian did something that offended us. We find it unacceptable, not because it violated a Scriptural command but because it hurt our feelings. Surely something that upsets us that much is wrong. And we certainly won’t be the first to seek reconciliation.

Exhibit C: We often say things like “I like Skip* or Wendy*.” Even though Skip nor Wendy exhibit signs of spiritual maturity and is clearly not pursuing (just) us, We feel this strong pull toward him. This must mean something deep and significant, right?

In each of these situations we are allowing our feelings to be my primary guiding factor. There’s one big problem with that: Our heart is the last thing we should be trusting in these circumstances!

Jeremiah writes: The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

This message flies in the face of our culture’s obsession with “follow your heart.” Unless your heart is captive to the Savior, it is the last thing you should be following. Jesus offers a different mantra: follow me. Comparing Himself to a shepherd, Jesus says: “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.”

So don’t let your heart deceive you. It’s not infallible. In fact, its default mode is to lead you the wrong direction. Don’t follow your heart; follow your Savior.

*Fictional names – no one has recently talked to me about liking a guy or girl named skip or wendy…

Filed under: Culture, Religous

Tear Down my Idols

The dearest idol I have known,
Whatever that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
and worship only thee…

- William Cowper, “O For a Closer Walk with Thee”

Filed under: Quotes, Reflection, Religous

Remove our Idols and Hindrances…

Lord Jesus,
take from us now
everything that would hinder the closest communion with God.
Any wish or desire that might hamper us in prayer
remove, we pray you.
Any memory of either sorrow or care
that might hinder the fixing of our affection wholly on our God,
take it away now.
What have we to do with idols anymore?
You have seen and observed us.
You know where the difficulty lies.
Help us against it,
and may we now come boldly,
not in the holy place alone,
but in the holiest of all,
where we should not dare to come
if our great Lord had not torn the veil,
sprinkled the mercy seat with his own blood,
and asked us to enter.

- Charles Spurgeon

Filed under: Reflection, Religous

Can we say this…

I was reading out of Taste and See by John Piper this morning and he smacked me across the face…

Here’s what he smacked me with:

Can we say the following with Augustine?

How sweet all at once it was for me to be rid of those fruitless joys which I had once feared to lose!…You drove me them from me, you who are the true, the sovereign joy. You drove them from me and took their place…O Lord my God, my Light, my Wealth, and my Salvation.”

Or are we in bondage to the pleasures of this world so that, for all our talk about the glory of God, we love televeision and food and sleep and sex and money and human praise just like everybody else? If so, let us repent and fix our faces like flint toward the Word of God in prayer: Oh, Lord, open my eyes to see the sovereign sight that in your presence is the fullness of joy and at your right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Filed under: Quotes, Reflection, Religous

What if Peter Twittered?

I came across a post awhile back entitled “What if Peter Twittered.” I thought it was worth sharing as it’s both humorous as well as a thought provoking way to take a look at what the heck was going through Peter’s mind during his time with Jesus.

And…shameless promotion – if you’re interested you can follow me on twitter by clicking HERE

You can also follow our college ministry, College Life, on twitter by clicking HERE

Here’s the post I was talking about above:

⁃ Just met this guy named Jesus–He changed my name, interesting…wonder what else He’s going to try and change?

⁃ Holy smoke…just landed a HUGE catch of fish by doing what this Rabbi said.

⁃ Just left the family business to follow Jesus–this guy captivates me.

⁃ Today Jesus fed over 5,000 men with a kids happy meal…and even multiplied the surprise!

⁃ Walked on water today for a little while–Thomas doubted whether or not I could and Judas was giving four to one odds on me drowning.

⁃ YEAH…I got it right! Jesus is the Messiah…He encouraged me.

⁃ Jesus just called me satan…I am thinking I got something wrong.

⁃ Trying to sleep…I think Jesus is praying over there…

⁃ Just cut a guys ear off, Jesus fixed it–no problem.

⁃ I think it’s over–He’s dead.

⁃ I think we’re next!

⁃ I think somethings happening…He’s not in the tomb.

⁃ He’s alive–he just walked through a flippin’ wall!

⁃ It’s ON–He just did that fish catching thing again!

⁃ He just said something about having all authority–after what I just saw…I believe it!

⁃ Just preached my first public sermon, 3,000 people received Christ…was waterlogged after the baptism service.

⁃ Two people lied about the offering today – God killed them for it – giving increase 462% afterwards.

Well, Peter didn’t Twitter…but we do get to read about him in Matthew, Mark, Luke & John and his journey with Jesus.

Filed under: Random, Religous, Technology

Bless Everyone

I’ve really been chewing on Matthew 10:12-13 lately and how it applies to ministry. Jesus sends out his disciples on their inaugural mission with these words: “Whenever you enter a town or village, search for a worthy man and stay in his home until you leave for the next town. When you are invited into someone’s home, give it your blessing. If it turns out to be a worthy home, let your blessing stand; if it is not, take back the blessing.”

I feel like In too many instances we, as Christians, have it backwards. We expect people to belong before blessing. Jesus instructed his disciples to bless before belonging. Fundamentally, we are called to be a blessing. But I think we’re so afraid of blessing the wrong people that we tend to withhold the blessing. Jesus tells us to bless everything that moves! And if they aren’t worthy, we take the blessing back. If they are, the blessing stands!

I feel that by viewing it this way if frees us up to always be loving the unlovely in our communities. It frees us up to try new things – to love on people – to always be proactive instead of reactive. I don’t know – still chewing on all this but thought I would share.

Filed under: Reflection, Religous

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

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

Don’t pray enough? Have a web service pray for you!

I’m a little late rolling this guy out – he caught caught behind some other blog posts but…

I came across this article first covered over at TechCrunch and essentially it is a website for “digital prayers”

You essentially pay informationageprayer.com to pray for you.

Here’s the info from their site:

Information Age Prayer is a subscription service utilizing a computer with text-to-speech capability to incant your prayers each day. It gives you the satisfaction of knowing that your prayers will always be said even if you wake up late, or forget.

We use state of the art text to speech synthesizers to voice each prayer at a volume and speed equivalent to typical person praying. Each prayer is voiced individually, with the name of the subscriber displayed on screen.

At Information Age Prayer we think our service should be used like a prayer supplement, to extend and strengthen a subscriber’s connection with God. Traditional prayer is an integral part of this connection and should never be forgone, even after signing up.

You can subscribe for yourself, or you can purchase a subscription as a gift to friends or family.

And don’t forget to check out their plug for children:

If your children don’t pray anymore sign them up for one of the many daily prayers available for each religion (click categories at the left). You may also want to have a prayer said for them directly. The prayer for children is the cheapest Information Age Prayer service at only $1.99 a Month. Pray for a child here.

Please tell me that I am dreaming – why do we do this to ourselves????

Filed under: Church, Random, Religous

Pocket God

I generally try to stay away from the lists that can be found in the iTunes store because I always end up buying stuff that I don’t really want or need but I do because it is sitting next to that number 1 on a list.

But…

Today I was looking a the top paid apps and one caught my attention – it’s called “Pocket God.”

Here’s what the creators have to say about the app:

“What kind of god would you be? Benevolent or vengeful? Play Pocket God and discover the answer within yourself. On a remote island, you are the all-powerful god that rules over the primitive islanders. You can bring new life, and then take it away just as quickly. Exercise your powers on the islanders. Lift them in the air, alter gravity, hit them with lightning, the possibilities are endless.”

Obviously I had to keep some of my typical gag reflexes in check as I got past the first sentence of the games explanation but in the end – one question stuck in my head. If an app like this is on a top ten list of apps then it shows us that the culture is fascinated with the “concept” of God but aren’t really interested in following Him.

Filed under: Culture, Random, Religous

Creating Communities of Grace

Just saw this over at the resurgence blog and I thought it was well put…

1. Make the connections



We need to teach, speak, sing, and pray grace. But we also need to make connections for people. We can believe in justification by faith for the final day, but doubt justification by faith for the next day. On a Monday morning in the workplace we are still trying to prove ourselves, to find identity in our achievements.

2. Welcome the mess



Welcome messy people. Don’t suppress conflict. Don’t hide problems.

3. Stop pretending



Don’t hide your own problems. You’ll need to exercise some discretion: let everyone know you struggle and let some people know what you struggle with.

4. Stop performing



Don’t put on a show. Don’t push people to perform, to produce results, to get it right all the time. Give people permission to fail. We’ve realized, for example, that polished Bible studies and articulate prayers disenfranchise semi-literate people.

5. Eat and drink with broken people



Jesus eats and drinks with sinners. It’s a powerful expression of community. We think we’re enacting grace if we run projects for the poor, but we’re only halfway there. We still act from a position of superiority, proclaiming that we are able and they are unable. The dynamic is totally different when we eat together. We meet as equals, share together, affirm one another, enjoy one another.

6. Give people time to change



How long did it take for you to become perfectly like Jesus? Of course, you’re still changing. There seem to be some sins we’re prepared to work on over a lifetime, but others where we demand instant change. Why is this? The answer, of course, is that we want people to be respectable. We don’t want a messy community.

7. Focus on the heart



All too often we focus on the behaviors we would like someone to stop or start. But Jesus says our behavior comes from the heart (Mark 7:20-23). Our focus needs to be on the heart. Our job is help people find joy in Christ.

_____________________

I really loved the parts on “making connections,” “welcoming people,” and “stop pretending” for several reasons:

I love being intentional about making connections – I really believe that we all long to be part of something – especially in the younger generation – why do you think social networking is skyrocketing the way it is – people want to connect and hopefully they will find opportunity to connect within Christian community.

I loved the part on welcoming the mess because these are the people that if we are honest – we kinda cringe when they show up but God loves them and we should love them and stop thinking about how different they are for us! Instead – focus on how God has uniquely created each of us differently to fulfill different roles in the body – what role do they potentially have in the future?

And lastly – I loved the stop pretending part. We have issues and hopefully if it is truly authentic Christian community we can share and be encouraged and supported through those various issues.

Though – I will say with caution that living by the “stop performing” and “stop pretending” mantras that this is not a license to continual sin with no intention of getting past it. We should be honest and we should be walking, growing, and living the grace of Christ through our lives instead of scripted lives and we can do this by not pretending and by not performing – it is a heart issue.

Good things – the post came from HERE if you are curious.

Filed under: Church, Religous

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

How to Change.

How to Change

“If you want to conquer a besetting sin, you need to stop loving it.”

-Matthew Elliott

Filed under: Religous

What Joshua Harris has learned since he kissed dating goodbye…

Not real sure if the college kids are still reading this book by Joshua Harris but I remember when I was in college it was the go-to book. I’ll admit – when I read it it made a lot of since but I hated the actual application of not “dating.”

However, it seems that as Josh gets older he has been rethinking the application of his book and has made his “rethoughts” known through a series of sermon messages that you can find on his site.

Interested in learning what he’s thinking now? Check it out HERE

Filed under: Book Review, Religous

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

Great quote

I just read this from Richard Foster the other day:

“If worship does not propel us into greater obedience, it has not been worship.”

Filed under: Quotes, Reflection, Religous

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

The Least of These.

I came across the below post somewhere at sometime but I’m not sure where it came from but I saved it for later reflecting – that time is now and hopefully you will reflect with me.

God is Shuffling Along

He didn’t lift his feet, he slid them, as if skating on the concrete sidewalk.

Maybe he was old, but I couldn’t tell because he looked like a cave man, and it’s hard to read a cave man’s age.

Eyes looked out from sunken pools in his head, down at the ground where he shuffled.

And wild, long hair stuck out from all directions on his head. Some of it was matted.

I don’t know if he had lips. His beard had crept up his cheekbones almost to his eyes and crawled back down his face, past his neck, until it disappeared into his ragged coat.

From behind the wildness he mumbled.

I think he must have been saying, “Someone help me. God is in here somewhere, but no one can’t find him no more ‘cause he’s all crusted over and hid.”

God is Running Scared

Something was chasing him from up in the sky. Demons I guess.

He ran with a look of terror, and I thought in this heat that can’t be healthy because he’s old.

He was panting and sweating and grunting in terror.

He tripped, lost his balance and touched the ground with his hand. He didn’t fall, just stumbled and kept running.

Good thing, because I’ll bet those things in the sky chasing him might have caught up to him.

When he ran past I looked up to see what was terrifying him, trying to run him down so mercilessly.

Just blue skies. ‘Cept maybe those things from his memory. Demons from some war. Vietnam? Korea? Boyhood abuse?

I don’t know. But they had him running scared.He was too scared to talk, but I think he probably would have said, “Someone help me. God’s prints ha’ been swallowed up by all this fright and that terrible thing what happened to me long ago.”

Jesus Likes the Big Mac Value Meal

I once prayed walking to the McDonald’s in Santa Monica, “Jesus, I’d like to have supper with you.”

I stepped up to the counter to order and I saw him.

He was really skinny and ragged, but he did have that long hair, beard and mustache I had always imagined. Though I never imagined the body odor.

He was ordering just a cup of water.

“Would you like something other than water?” I asked.

“Sure.” He said. “I’ll have a Big Mac Value Meal. It’s number one.”

I knew this guy was Jesus because when we sat down to eat together he said right away, “You know, I’m sorta like Jesus. ‘The foxes have holes and the birds have nests but the Son of Man has no where to lay his head.”

I smiled.

“I have schizophrenia” he said, which is something I never knew about Jesus.

After dinner we tried to find him help, but it’s hard to help someone like that.

He’s alienated himself from everybody because he gets spooked by people easily.

“You can’t get close enough to see Jesus in me.” He says as he slips away, throwing me a suspicious glance. “He’s hidden here, and I don’t want no one to steal him.”

Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you mentally ill and shuffling or scared or hungry, and did not take care of you?’

Matthew 25:45 (NRSV)

Filed under: Church, Culture, Reflection, Religous, Social Action

More thoughts on Words.

In reference to yesterdays post on “words” – here are a couple of GREAT quotes on the use of words:

• If someone were to pay you 10 cents for every kind word you ever spoke and collect from you 5 cents for every unkind word, would you be rich or poor? – Author Unkown
• Speak when you are angry – and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret – Laurence J. Peter
• Kind words can be short and easy to speak but their echoes are endless – Mother Theresa
• By swalling evil words unsaid, no one has ever harmed his stomach – Sir Winston Churchill
• Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complane – and most fools do. – Dale Carnegie
• Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing – Proverbs 12:18
• Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul, health to the bones. – Proverbs 16:24
• Death and life are in the power of the tongue – Proverbs 18:21
• You’ll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious – the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise and not curse – Phillippians 4:8
• We will have to give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word spoken – Matthew 12:36

I pray that God would continue to help me guard my tongue and others from my tongue as it is so powerful.

Filed under: Reflection, Religous