Church
Seattle Update 2
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Seattle Video Update 1
Just a quick video update from Seattle for the Text and Context Conference.
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God has other plans..
Isn’t amazing how God works things out sometimes. I’m not necessarily a chatty person when I’m flying. I know there are some of you out there who look forward to taking flights just so you can talk to your seat mate. I’m not that person. I like to read or better yet sleep. So I wasn’t looking for someone to chat with on the plane today. But God has other plans.
After shoving my bag into the overhead storage I took my seat by the window. My seat mate commented about how he ripped his bags on his way to Africa a few months ago and had to duct tape them back together for the rest of the trip. Now you chatty types would see this as an opportunity to hop into a wonderful conversation about Africa and his trip. I don’t do that…I smile, nod, and say, “That had to suck.” I figure this is sympathetic, but keeps me from having to talk anymore.
But God has other plans. A few minutes later, my seat mate asks if I’m originally from Seattle. I told no that I live in Albuquerque and that I’m going to a conference in Seattle. He asked what conference. Now honestly I was thinking about lying and saying I was going to some UPS conference or something…but I decided to say that I was going to the Resurgence conference. At this point he told me he was going to the same one.
After talking about the conference a little, he started telling me about his ministry. He is part of a record label called Reach Records and a ministry called ReachLife. And for the next hour he showed me videos and had me listen to audio that his ministry has produced. I must say they are really using their culture to present the gospel in a way that people understand. You need to check them out at http://www.reachlife.org/. Pretty awesome stuff.
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Confessions
photo by: meyshanworld
The following post is from my friend Sandra Bauman. Sandra and I met at City on a Hill a while back. Sandra is the type of person that you can become instant friends with, but one of the things I like to talk to her about the most is how her Jewish heritage her current relationship with Jesus. The following is an email that she recently sent out to all her friends. I hope you enjoy.
[Ash Wednesday] got me thinking — and got the Holy Spirit reminding me — about something that struck me this fall, which I fully intended to implement….but didn’t….
Every so often I miss a bit of the liturgy, the Hebrew prayers, and the traditions of my Jewish upbringing. So, this past Yom Kippur - (the Jewish “Day of Atonement” - the one day of the year a Jew has the potential to be forgiven everything one did last year and hopefully be written in God’s “book” to live another year) - I went to Adat Yeshua.
At one point in the Yom Kippur service the congregation confesses together out loud a litany of sins. The list was intriguing because I could identify something I had done in practically every line. My natural tendency, at the end of a day (or week, or month…or never), is to look back and not be able to specifically identify anything I would call “sin.” This list of sins totally blows that out of the water.
My intention after that YK service was to type the list up handily and go over it every evening before going to sleep. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. But now that I’ve confessed that please feel free to hold me accountable - ask me about it!
I also offer it to you (at the bottom) as a potential tool to use (and share) as we, individually and as a family, enter into this Lent season with the charge Dave and Donovan offered: to truly agree with God about our sin and need for Him, and allow Him to work an amazing transformation within us.
I love you and look forward to the adventures this challenge will bring!
Sandra
Confession*
The sin we committed in your sight forcibly or willingly
And the sin we committed against you by acting callously
The sin we committed in your sight unintentionally
And the sin we committed against you by idle talk
The sin we committed in your sight by lustful behavior
And the sin we committed against you publicly or privately
The sin we committed in your sight knowlingly and deceptively
And the sin we committed against you by offensive speech
The sin we committed in your sight by lewd association
And the sin we committed against you by insincere confession
The sin we committed by contempt for parents or teachers
And the sin we committed against you willfully or by mistake
The sin we committed in your sight by violence
And the sin we committed against you by defaming your name
The sin we committed in your sight by unclean lips
And for the sin we committed against you by foolish talk
The sin we committed in your sight by evil impulse
And the sin we committed against you wittingly or unwittingly
The sin we committed in your sight by fraud and falsehood
And the sin we committed against you by bribery
The sin we committed in your sight by scoffing
And the sin we committed against you by slander
The sin we committed in your sight in dealings with men
And the sin we committed against you in eating and drinking
The sin we committed in your sight by usury and interest
And the sin we committed against you by a lofty bearing
The sin we committed in your sight by our manner of speech
And the sin we committed against you by wanton glances
The sin we committed in your sight by haughty airs
And the sin we committed against you by scornful defiance
The sin we committed in your sight by casting off responsibility
And the sin we committed against you in passing judgment
The sin we committed in your sight by plotting against men
And the sin we committed against you by sordid selfishness
The sin we committed in your sight by levity of mind
And the sin we committed against you by being obstinate
The sin we committed in your sight by running to do evil
And the sin we committed against you by talebearing
The sin we committed in your sight by swearing falsely
And the sin we committed against you by groundless hatred
The sin we committed in your sight by breach of trust
And the sin we committed against you by a confused heart
*(Paraphrased from the High Holiday Prayer Book, Copyright 1951 by Hebrew Publishing Company, New York, and 1979 by Philip Birnbaum)
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Lent - Tips for the Season #3
photo by: moriza
We are almost two weeks into the Lent season now. I’m sorry for the delay on this last post in my Lent series. Things haven’t allowed me to sit down and write it. But for those who have been waiting patiently (and I guess the impatient ones too), here is the final post.
Once again, I’m not the most generous person you’ll ever meet (that’s probably why this list is shorter than the other ones). I don’t even like to share candy. But I’ve realized my short comings and here are some things that I’ve learned that help me to be a little more generous with my time and money.
- Make it a priority
You’re not going to do it until you make it a priority. As I said in another post, I learned this from a wise friend when I was in college.I had a moment of enlightenment when I was in college. I was a poor college student (which for some is a load of crap statement…but that is another blog), and I went out to eat with a group guys. At the end of the meal, an older gentleman in the group paid for the meal. I remember telling him how I wish I could do the same. And he responded in the kindest of words, “If you aren’t generous when you have nothing, then you won’t be generous when you have everything.”
You have to make being generous a priority in your life. There are too many other shinny things that will take center stage if you don’t (this comes from the guy with the iPhone…I know about shinny things taking center stage…and I’m still learning). Make it a daily, weekly, monthly, yearly task to look for ways to be more generous in your life.
- Have a budget
You won’t know what to give until you know what you have. This works for both your money and your time. For your money, you should have a budget for every month. This takes away the excuse of saying, “I just don’t have any money to give.” You don’t have money to be generous with because you don’t plan.
When Shannon and I first started budgeting, it was like I got a raise. Before we budgeted, we just tried to keep an eye on our checking account and when it got to low we stopped spending (don’t judge you know you do the same thing). When we started budgeting, we were finally able to plan. We were able to make our money work for us instead of the opposite (check out DaveRamsey.com for more information on budgets).
You also need to budget your time. Some of us don’t have time to serve our fellow man because we never have any extra time. I’ll give you a tip…there is no such thing as “extra” time. There are 24 hours in a day and that is all you have. Just like you’re pay check only has a set amount of money, your life only has a set amount of time. You have to budget your time wisely so you serve those around you (check out ZenHabits.net for more information on budgeting your time). - Give first
This is has two implications. You can take the idea of biblical “first fruits.” This was the commandment given by God that everything that you received (animals, harvest, children, ect.), the first of it was to be given to God. The top line of your budget should have a line for a certain percentage of your money that you want to give away. When you get paid you should automatically take that percentage of money out of your check to give away. No questions. No ifs, ands, or buts. Just do it. Then budget the rest to live off. If you don’t do this…you’ll just make excuses and never be generous with the money you have. This will teach you to be generous.
The other implication is if you have the option to serve someone or to do something else with the “free” time in your life, serve. Give of yourself first. Generosity now has the priority. So skip the basketball game and go do a generous act. - Have a separate checking account
This is a little trick that Shannon and learned when we weren’t part of a local church for awhile. We didn’t have a place that we could write a check to for a weekly tithe. So we opened up another checking account and we transferred a percentage of our pay checks into the account every time we got paid. Then we knew we could use this account to be generous whenever the opportunity presented itself without having to worry about whether we were using money that was needed to pay the bills.
When we started going to City on a Hill we started giving our tithe to them. We still transfer the money into the account so we don’t get it mixed up with the rest of the money we have, but we enjoyed having the freedom of the extra checking account so much that we transfer an additional amount of money into it every month so we can be generous when the opportunities present themselves. - Give first ask questions later
Now this might sound like I’m say to give money to anyone on the street who asks you for it (in fact I would say not to do that…give them food, clothing, bottled water, a cup of coffee…but don’t give them money. Read “Under the Overpass” to see why). What I’m saying is that my tendency and I know some of your’s tendency is to ask the question “Why?”. Why should I be generous with my time and money. The reality of it is that I can’t answer that question truly. I could give you scripture. I could give you stories in my own life. I could paint a picture of a vision of bringing heaven to earth. But you won’t get it.
You won’t get it until you take a homeless guy across the street to Arby’s for lunch. You won’t get it until you mow your elderly neighbor’s yard for them without them asking or paying you. You won’t get it until you help your wife’s single-mother-coworker pay her rent. You won’t get it until you pay for lunch for you and your friends knowing that you might not be able to eat dinner.
If you decide that you aren’t going to be generous until you understand why, you’ll never be generous. The reality is you need to give first and then ask questions, because by giving you’ll find the answers.
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Check out my Ash…
This past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday for most is the first day of the Lent season (more on Lent in a post tomorrow). For the first time I participated in the imposing of ashes. If you don’t know what this is, in the simplest of terms someone makes a cross on your forehead with ashes.
While it is just ashes on your forehead, this act touched me at the deepest level. You see the ashes are a symbol of repentance. In the Old Testament times people would cover themselves with ash as a sign of repenting of their sins. It was a symbol of their mortality before God. There was the fact that their sin brings death into their lives.
A common verse used when they put the ashes on your head is Genesis 3:19. “Remember, O man, that you are dust, and unto dust you shall return.” I’m very good at passing over the sins in my life. It was a wonderful time to stop and confess my short comings before God. To be reminded of my mortality and need for a savior. My need for the Savior.
I know it’s to late to participate in Ash Wednesday, but it is never to late to confess your sins to God. When was the last time that you stopped and realized your place before God? I think this is an essencial discipline for the Christian to stop before God and realize how much we suck. This is the essence of Christianity.
If we don’t realize how much we suck, there is no need for Jesus. Jesus just becomes this bobble head on the dash of our car, this cool figurine in our lives that has no real purpose. We need to stop daily and realize our need for Jesus, and Ash Wednesday for me was a great time that I was able to do just that with my church family.
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City on a Hill Mini-Documentary
This is just a mini-documentary that was done of City on a Hill (the church I’m part of). Thought I would share it with you.
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Use S.O.A.P. - Simple tips for spending time with God.
A few months ago I listened to a lesson by Wayne Cordeiro that changed the way I spent my time in the Bible every day (you can listen to it here…scroll down Plenary Session 1). The lesson was so practical but also so relevant and inspiring. The reality was that I wasn’t going to the Father with my needs. I wasn’t going to Him and growing in my relationship with Him. I was basically getting spiritual crumbs from books, podcasts and my pastor. I was living vicariously through others’ relationships with God.
Wayne’s lesson was a needed kick in the pants. He reminded me of my need for a one-on-one relationship with God. While it’s good to learn from others, Jesus calls us to follow Him (not follow others who are following Him). This has always been one of my biggest struggles. After listening to Wayne, I knew that I needed to go to the Source.Wayne gives some helpful tips for spending time in the Bible. Being the nice guy I am, I’ll share those tips with you (and some others that I picked up along the way).
Tip #1:
The first tip is actually from zenhabits.net and writetodone.com. The author of both of these blogs (Leo Babauta) talks about putting triggers in you life to make you do the things that you don’t want to do.
What’s a trigger? It’s the event that sets off your habit. For example, when I used to smoke, I had a number of triggers: I would smoke upon waking, when stressed, after a meeting, etc. When I wanted to change that habit, I had to change each trigger so that I had a new habit to replace smoking. Upon waking, for example, I would exercise instead. To create a new habit, you need to strongly associate your habit with a trigger. For example, let’s say you want to write in the morning — you might awake, use the bathroom, make your coffee, and then start writing. So making coffee is the trigger for writing, and using the bathroom is the trigger for making coffee, and waking is the trigger for using the bathroom. And as you wake every day, you have no problem. Choose a trigger that you know you’ll do every day, and then do your writing right after it, without exception.
My trigger is getting dressed for work. Like Leo’s example above, I have other triggers before that, but this is the trigger for me to spend time with God.
Tip #2:
Have all the right resources. Wayne suggests that when you sit down to spend time in the Bible, you should have the following items.
- A Bible - This is a no brainer. But make sure it is version that you can understand (different versions of the Bible are written at different reading levels). I use the ESV…but you might find another version to your liking. Just go to your local book store and test a few out. See how easy they are to read and if you can understand the words that are being used.
- A Journal - This is where you are going to write down your thoughts. I use a blog to keep my daily thoughts, and it works well for me. Plus, I can share with my friends my daily reflections. Otherwise Wayne recommends using a paper journal and using the first few pages to keep an index of what you are learning. This way you can look back and see what your have been learning (another reason I use a blog…this is done automatically for me).
- A Reading Plan - Use whatever you want. Just have a plan. I am using the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan to read through the Bible each year. But you could make it as simple as reading two chapters a day or two pages. Whatever you do use a plan or else you’ll spend half your time trying to figure out what to read.
- A Planner - It’s going to happen. You are going to be in the middle of having a wonderful time with God. Journaling your heart our…and you are going to remember that you’re out of milk. This is where your planner comes in handy. You can write down, “get milk” and go right back to your journaling. If you don’t have a planner, just use a scratch piece of paper. This is probably the best advice that I got from Wayne. I don’t know how many times my God time was hijacked by random thoughts of things I need to do for the day.
Tip #3:
Use S.O.A.P. This is Wayne’s structure for your time with God. It stands for the following:
Scripture: Start off with the Bible. Read the verses that are on your plan for the day.
Observation: As you read, write down any observations that you have from the text. I use the questions, “Who is God?,” and “How do I enjoy Him?,” to focus my observations even better.
Application: Based on what you have read…what should you do? I try to make this practical and realistic. I set a goal for the day based upon my reading. Write it down and hold yourself accountable to it.
Prayer: Last but not least, spend some time in prayer to God. Confess and repent of any sins that were brought to light while you were reading. Spend time thanking God. Also spend some time in silence listening to God.
Tip #4:
Keep it simple. The goal of your time with God is to try to grow closer to Him. It’s not to check off your list. Don’t add extra burdens to this focus. “I have to make at least 15 observations.” “I have to write at least 5 pages in my journal.” “I have to pray for at least 45 minutes.” The goal is to spend time with God and to grow closer to Him. Do what it takes to do just that…the rest is just distractions, burdens, and religion.
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It’s Messy
I just got done reading a blog by a guy named Gary Lamb. It was a very weird experience. It was weird because I know that three years ago, my emotions wouldn’t have been the same. As I read his words, my heart broke for the people that he was talking about. Even now I have this weird mixture of sorrow, compassion, passion, and shame.
It broke my heart to hear about about the person who joined his church for selfish reasons. How many people do I know that are like that. They just join a church because they want to be edgy. There is no desire for the lost. No desire to serve. It’s just about their own selfish desires. This breaks my heart because people are looking for the hope that we have, and we’re just filling our own personal pride. It’s depressing.
Then my heart starts to break for those that are involved in his church. As he told the stories about the people committing suicide and lives being destroyed by drugs, I couldn’t help but feel compassion. Over the past few years, my heart has been drawn to those who are outcasts of the church. My heart goes out to the guy who only lives for the next fix, the single mom who strips to make ends meet, the guy who tries to fill the void in his life by sleeping with every girl in sight, and the girl who sleeps with him because she has never really known the love of a true father. Gary’s stories hit me at my core.
More than ever this gives me a passion to plant a church. The church in America is dying. Over the last 100 years, “the number of churches increased just over 50 percent while the population of the country has almost quadrupled. This decline in church-to-population ratio helps to explain the decline of the North American church during the past century.”* Plus a lot of the new churches being planting aren’t reaching people who don’t know God. Like Gary said, they are reaching Christians who are just tired of their current church. We need churches who are showing the love and hope that is only available through Jesus. But they are few and far between.
This is why I felt shameful. I know that for some time my only hope was to plant a church that was “cool.” I wanted to be known as the edgy church. I wanted to plant a church that religious people wouldn’t come to, but that cool and edgy Christians came to. I didn’t want to get my hands dirty. I didn’t want reach out to the outcasts. But I know now that I need to repent of that mindset. I know where God has called me and it’s time to get my hands dirty. I don’t know if I have what it takes…but I do know I have the One who can take me through it all.
*Ed Stetzer - Planting Missional Churches pg. 9
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The Week in Review
Here’s a quick recap of last weeks blogs:
Monday: I forgot to write a blog (ok I was just lazy)…so I vowed to do two on Tuesday.
Tuesday: “Give it up.” was a post about the lack of generosity in the the church and people today. Huckabee Hater was one of my most commented blogs for the week. I talked about my dislike for Huckabee’s Christian platform.
Wednesday: You got another two for the price of one as I talked about the Belkin Podcast Studio and how I need one. I also put out a desperate plea for some suggestions for the use of my iTunes Gift Card.
Thursday: In Waaaaa. I’m Not Getting Fed, I commented on Vince Antonucci’s posts by the same name.
Friday: The The Black Screen of Life covers our need to get rid of distractions.
Saturday: The book UnChristian gave me the idea to post my own survey.
Sunday: I used this Week in Review as a sly way out of getting to write a new blog.
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