All posts in Jesus
Just Friends
I read the above and think, “That’s what a friend does.” That’s not what a Facebook friend does. That’s what real friends do. They help each other find strength in the Lord especially when they’re in a desert. You’re reading this right now and I bet you know at least one person who’s just in a dry place searching for God knows what. DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
I’m challenged to be more than the average friend. Yes, let’s hang out, let’s laugh, let’s eat, let’s shop, let’s hoop, but could it be that I’m friends with the people I’m friends with right now for a reason? Could it be that God strategically placed them in my life and I in theirs for a reason? Come on. We’re better than we’ve been. We’re not meant to be just friends. We’re meant to come alongside each other and strengthen one another in the Lord to help them fulfill the mission that God has placed on their life.
Open Mic
One thing I’ve noticed in my life since I was a teenager was that whenever I encourage someone, 9 times out 10 they say, “I really needed that.” A lot of these people were strong “joyous” Christians yet they found themselves in a place of discouragement. Discouragement isn’t a sin, but what is it? I would define discouragement as the enemy replaying negative thoughts in a person’s head over and over again to get them to a place where they lose focus of what God has called them to do. Whenever I meet someone who would honestly say they’re discouraged, I would simply say they’ve believed lies.
I heard Bishop Jakes say, “Never give your stage to the devil.” He was referring to being very cautious about what outside issues you address in church and which ones you do not. When I think of discouragement, I think of a person’s mind being a stage, it’s open mic there, and the enemy is going to town. “You’re too young, you don’t have enough experience, you don’t enough swag, you’re too radical, you’re not unique and people want unique, you’re good but not great.” And here’s the deal, every single time you read the Bible, it’s like you’re giving God the mic on a stage in your head.
Stop giving your enemy a mic in your head. It’s dumb. He doesn’t belong on that stage.
Kings Go To War
Watching the Bible Series has really been interesting for me. I try to watch it slow by pausing and rewinding so that I can read the Bible while I do it. And during the David and Bathsheba scene, this was the first verse I began to read.
It just challenged my leadership on two levels:
1.) To be where I’m suppose to be… when I’m suppose to be there. As the author sets up this story, is he telling us that David had a lust issue, or a placement issue? Or did he feel entitled to Kingship so much that he didn’t need to go to war? Had he killed enough and had so much confidence in his army that he thought they didn’t need him? I have no idea, but I simply can’t be afraid to ask myself hard questions about my own leadership and placement. The lack thereof only leads to disaster.
2.) To fight more. There’s a season where kings go to war. There’s times where, as a leader, it’s not about giving the most eloquent, clear, and concise orders that make your followers melt in loyalty to your vision and instructions. At some point, people need to see a sword in your hand to keep them believing in the vision. Sometimes when we achieve great success, we live under the notion that our success merits more money, stature, fame, and… less grunt work, less fighting. Kings go to war.
That’s what I had to preach to myself after verse 1. What do you guys think about the Bible series? I loved the black Samson with dreads.
The Tension Between Being Spiritual & Being Practical
There 2 schools of thought when it comes to measuring spiritual growth. One school sums up a person’s spiritual expansion by: 1.) The quantity & quality of their time in prayer and reading the Bible. (the longer you pray, and the more you read, the better) 2.) The level of commitment they give to their to church. (the more involved and the more you serve, the better) This school is very inward focused. If you can spend 3 hours on your face before God, then that’s a big W in this circle.
The second school of thought grades one’s spiritual improvement by: 1.) Their community. (small groups or life groups are key here. “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future”) 2.) Their philanthropy. (how much of their money & time they give to causes, responding to natural disasters, involvement in city programs and community engagement is critical here)
It’s a shame that these schools of thought have opposed each other for years, but I’m beginning to see a new school that has a balance of both. I don’t think you can make your bed in either school and boast about anything you’ve done. “Pentecostals” have way too often found themselves inside the doors of the church expecting lost people to want to come in. And “non-denoms” have way too long found themselves outside the doors of the church at ground zero of some lost people’s hurt and pain with no spiritual potency to actually do anything about their hurt and their pain. It’s almost become bragging rights to simply be around lost people.
You could provide scriptures to support whatever it is you want to do, but no matter who you are, we all could use a little balance one way or the other.
You Never Know
Mary Gillerstad. Unless you’re attending the Passion Conference 2013, I’m pretty sure you’ve never heard of Mary Gillerstad. In fact, I’m not even sure I’m spelling her name right. But her most recognizable earthly assignment was simply being the youth director of Andy Stanley and Louie Giglio in the 70′s at First Baptist Atlanta long before youth pastors were a staple staff position in a church.
Andy and Louie (pictured left) have been good friends since middle school, and I just have to imagine what it must have been like for Mary Gillerstad. As 60,000 college students pack the Georgia Dome to worship the God of the universe for 3 days (led by Louie Giglio) and as 25,000 people come through North Point’s campuses every weekend (led by Andy Stanley), one must conclude that you simply never know who you’re pouring into. It had to have been rewarding for Louie and Andy to bring Mary on stage last night to simply honor her. Louie said, “She always believed in us.” What a simple statement that is perhaps token and tossed around as if it weren’t often true, but when it is true, I guess you just never know what can happen.
I hope I can be like Mary Gillerstad. I hope that when people share their dreams and visions with me, that I’d be a person that believes the best for people. They already have enough haters to do all the other stuff.
What do you think?
The Best New Year’s Resolution You Can Make
Amongst starting a new business, working out more (just playing basketball more often), eating better, and studying the Word more, I’ve decided to add one resolution to the infamous list that doesn’t normally make the cut: Help other people with their’s.
I’ve just decided that the conversation I want to have with people close to me for these first couple of weeks isn’t about merely sharing what we’d like to be better at, but shifting the paradigm to how we might be able to help each other achieve those goals. The biggest mistake you can make with making New Year’s resolution… is thinking you can achieve them on your own. We desperately need our Jesus and we desperately need each other.
Church Homeless
When it comes to finding a church home, there’s so many variables that can be factors in choosing a church home. Do you simply pick the church that has… the most people? The best preacher? The best worship leader? The most creative? The most relationships you have there?
Is it your church home because you work there? As we grow up the variables change even more. The question goes from, “Is this the church for me?”… to… “Is this the church for my family?”
I’ve never been homeless, but I’d imagine that it would suck pretty bad. And I’d think that there’s some people out there that, perhaps, feel church homeless and maybe they walk through the doors of my church and yours this coming Sunday. And I just hope that we’re not trying to sell them on our pastor, our worship team, or our creativity. I would hope for two things: that we expose them to as much Jesus as we possibly can, and that we make them feel at home.
Whether they “join the church” or “become members”… is irrelevant, but my prayer is that we could be a people that would bring people in close to where they feel like they’re family whether they come once or they become regulars.