Summertime Faith

You see it every summer. At a swimming pool anywhere in America. There are very young kids wanting to get in it but they are not sure about it. It looks scary and deep. They know they can’t swim. But then something incredible happens that changes their fear. Dad gets in the pool.

It doesn’t matter whether he is in the shallow, middle or deep end, those kids see dad. He holds out his arms and they jump in, unafraid of what lies in front of them. They crawl out of the pool, run to the spot where dad is and jump in again.

As people of God who believe that God is real, we should be doing more of this in our life. There’s a story that really spells this out for us in Genesis 22. Abraham, the father of the Israelites, is old. So old, we’d have already taken the car keys away from him. God has continually told him the world (let that sink in…THE WORLD) is going to be blessed through him and his child. The only problem is two-fold: he’s very old and there is still no child…not one kiddo. But finally, Abraham has a son when he’s, get this, a hundred years old!

You have to believe Abraham and Isaac loved being together. So many memories and fun times in the pool. But then God ask the unthinkable. God tells Abraham that he wants him to sacrifice this son Isaac to him. God wants to know how much Abraham loves God.

Now what kind of a God would ask a dad to sacrifice his only son?! But, Abraham knows God and understands everything he has and is has come from God. So, I would imagine with very heavy feet, Abraham and Isaac set out for Mt. Moriah, the mountain of God, to worship.

At the base of the mountain, Abraham tells his servants they don’t need to go with them. Both he and Isaac will both go to worship and both he and Isaac will come right back. Interesting. Abraham knows God’s requirement yet says with the faith of a kid jumping into the arms of a dad, “We will be back.” He says the pronoun, “we”. Abraham didn’t know how but trusted God to provide whatever was needed to fulfill the promise God had made way back in Genesis 12.

So, on the way up, Isaac asks where the ram is for the offering. Abraham replies, “God will provide.” And God does provide. After the altar has been built, the flame lit, Isaac tied up and the knife raised above Abraham’s head, the Angel of the Lord says, “WAIT!” God now knows Abraham trusts God to provide. He loves God more than his own son.

It’s a great reminder for each of us this holiday season. Each of us will be missing someone at the dinner table. Each will experience a loss. Each of us will hope for a different outcome in a relationship. Each of us will pray for a stronger marriage. Each of us will hope to make ends meet financially. Each will plead for a prodigal to come home. We all are trudging up the mountain.

And this story in Genesis 22 is a foreshadowing of the greatest story of all time. Thousands of years later, God will send his only son, Jesus, who will eventually die for all of us. God will give us his only son in order to gain back all his children.

What we each must verbalize and live out is that we serve a God who will provide. He is the keeper of promises and giver of life. He will provide the proverbial ram in the bush. So, this holiday, lean into the only one whose arms you can jump. The only one who can catch you while you fall. The only one who truly loves you for who you are. Blessings on your journey.

All in the Family.

You have had those moments when you had that fight with your sibling from coming into your room while you were gone. That moment when your parents and you didn’t see eye to eye on the person you were dating. And that embarrassing moment with your grandparent corrected you in front of everyone…and you were 32 years old. We’ve all had difficult moments in our physical families but that didn’t mean we left and never came back. They are family so through thick and thin, good and bad times, you stuck it out.

That’s the type of stick-to-itiveness that Paul calls us to with our spiritual family in Ephesians 4. Look, we’ve all had moments when we’ve been annoyed with someone’s actions and words in our church family. There have been heated discussions about theology and ministry where we didn’t see eye to eye with the one “running the show”. But that is never cause to leave because we are family with Jesus being the oldest brother.

We learn through the example of the New Testament church, that although we are many people, we are one family. And in our family, we should be able to be authentic and real. Even in dire moments, we know we have each other’s back because that’s what family does. We take time to listen to our stories, pray together, encourage each other, do life together (see Acts 2:42-47).

Jesus calls us to be salt and light in the world (Matthew 5:13-16). And when we stand with each other and support one another, the world takes notice because it doesn’t have that. We may disagree on some things but we never let that stand in the way of our exhibited love for each other.

It’s a reminder that we also stand for each other. We actually want each other to succeed. So with patience, forgiveness and love, we stand together knowing none of us are perfect. Only one family member is and his name is Jesus Christ.

Paul reminds us that we, the church, are like a human body. Every member is important. No member can say “I don’t need that person or that family”. We discover that when all the parts of our spiritual family are functioning, the body of Christ is everything it was designed to be. We can fulfill our mission.

Finally, we discover that together, we can accomplish the mission. The mission of God is realizing our call to tell the Gospel story. It’s the story of a God who loves his creation so much He sent his Son to die for us so we might live. And when the family of God is loving on each other, we have the opportunity to be that storytelling salt and light in this chaotic world.

Together we are stronger for Jesus. Together we can get through anything. Together we represent Jesus and everything this world needs. Blessings on the journey.

Time for lavish living is now!

When you’re young and in junior high, you are searching for yourself and ways to fit in, be cool, grow up. I lived in Glenwood, AR in the 7-8th grades and I was searching for myself. About 3 years ahead of me at church was a guy named Doug and he seemed way cool. He had long hair, drove a cool car, seemed to know what he wanted in life. I wanted to imitate him, hang out with him, be him. I’m certain he had many flaws (which I did not see) but one he had I began to imitate. He cracked his fingers. So I began doing that because I thought it was cool. Now, I’m 51 and I still crack my fingers all the time. I wished I had set me sights on loftier things to emulate.

It makes me think about our goals for what we want to emulate. What is it that we truly desire? Who do we want to look like? What habits are we latching on to that will help move us toward where we’d rather be?

It’s time. It’s time we lived in a way that screams “we love Jesus”. It’s time to live lavishly so the world will take notice. It’s time to literally live in a state of worship to God everyday of our lives, not just on Sunday. Paul says in Romans 12:1-2, “…give yourselves to God because of ALL he has done for you…YOU be a living sacrifice for him.” Paul is calling us to imitate Jesus with our very lives. We realize to do that, we’ll need to worship him every day of the week, not just on Sunday mornings. So, how can we worship every day?

Well first, we must submit our schedules to him. Give him time, which includes coming together as God’s people on Sunday. But you and I must also commit to daily prayer and reading God’s Word if we are going to discover how we are called to live in this world and know how to imitate Jesus from Nazareth.

Too many do not submit their calendar to God and pay the price of shallow follow-ship. We all want to be followers of the risen King not just traveling with him. Find a rhythm in your daily journey to be in prayer and be in God’s Word, the blueprint for how we are called to live.

Secondly, we are to use our gifts, our talent to serve other people. The Holy Spirit has gifted us with at least one talent. Some of us have multiple talents. But whether great or small, use what you’ve been given for God’s glory every single day. Let your light shine for him. We must become less so that he becomes more. Find a way to serve in ministry at your local church, in your community or at your workplace. Worship Jesus with your servant heart.

Lastly, use your resources to spread the story of what Jesus has done for all of us. If you’re not giving to your local church, then you’re not submitting to the leadership of the church you are a part of. Our call as people who follow Jesus is to share in multiple ways the story of God and how much He loves this world he created. It’s a scary thing to give up something you’ve worked so hard for but doing so will remind you that you trust God to provide for your needs while you are helping someone else discover that Jesus cares for them just like he cares for you.

You see, worship is more than a Sunday morning event. It’s something we do Every. Single. Day. Worship will cost you something. It may cost you time, the use of your giftedness, or your resources. But that’s our call as people who follow a risen Savior. Every day, live lavishly as you sing your praises for what God has done for you by the way you live your life! Blessings on the journey.

White as Cotton.

My dad grew up in Western Tennessee on a farm. He was actually born in a farmhouse in Obion County. He has related to me the opportunities he had to milk cows, harvest corn, shell peas, well, farm life. He has also told me about hoeing cotton. He said it was an arduous job…long and tiring…row after row. But at harvest time, the field was white with cotton bowls.

Yesterday was our mission Sunday at church. We’ve been talking about it for weeks and weeks, encouraging the congregation to be in prayer about what they might give toward our goal so other people might have the opportunity to hear about Jesus. I don’t know where we are at on the numbers yet but I do know this church is a very generous group of people.

We support and go as far away as Kenya, Africa to help an orphanage of 40 deaf children. We buy Bibles through Eastern European Missions which puts the Bible in schools in places that the USSR used to prohibit. We support a church in Campamento, Honduras, helping create a clean water source and a daycare for the locals. During the summer, we cook all the meals all week long at a camp in Texas for at-risk-kids from the Dallas area. We serve our own community through the Big Event, Meals on Wheels, GP Pregnancy Center, Lifeline Chaplaincy, and GPISD.

Our group is a generous, selfless bunch who just want to look more like Jesus. It’s fun and exciting to be with people who want nothing more than Jesus’ story to be told and do that telling in lots of different ways. But don’t wait for the big “splash”. Don’t wait for the “right moment” before you jump in to help tell the story.

You see, this weekend, I was at a local mall trying to sell my book, Beautiful Interference, which published in June. Sales were…okay. But what struck me was the conversations. I was reminded people are hungry for the truth and a church (or group of people) who also are living for Jesus and the truth. The conversations I had were genuine and authentic. They were people who have been looking for something their life has been missing. His Name is Jesus.

We are called as Jesus’ disciples to share the good news. To BE Jesus to those around us and you don’t need to go to Kenya, Europe, or Honduras to do that. Your neighbor is looking for truth. Your coworker is looking for the answer. Your family member is hoping to find something worth fighting for. The mission field is right around you.

So don’t forget a simple smile, holding the door, allowing someone in the traffic line, a kind word at the bank or post office, sharing a meal with someone in need of a listening ear…these are all mission fields you can be a part of today. Go out and BE Jesus today. Jesus said to his disciples in John 4, “The fields are white, ready for harvest.” And he says that to you and me today.

Take some time this week. Look around. Jesus story needs to be told or even better, shown to all those looking for answers. Be the light. Look around. The field is white and we get to walk among the rows! Blessings on your journey.

Road map

For the longest time, my wife and I kept a Rand McNally atlas in the car. For you millennials that was a larger grouping of paper highway maps…every state in the USA. At the back of that “book”, we wrote down every state we had been too and where we had lived as a couple. We just called it “The Book”. I still keep in my vehicle, under the front seat.

But there really is only one road map…only one “The Book”. It’s the Word of God. What we call the Bible. Within it’s pages you’ll find the road map for the type of life you’ve been praying for. It is the blueprint for the most abundant life you or I could ever ask for. It offers a well spring of life to all who would adhere to it’s calling to follow Jesus, the risen Savior.

Now, if we aren’t careful, you can make it a rule book and offer up a lifestyle of legalism. That’s where you think God’s Word is good but not quite good enough so you add your own rules to how God has called us to live. Jesus addressed this with the religious leaders in his day. Just read Matthew 23 and you’ll discover how opposed Jesus was to legalistic thinking. It doesn’t fit for those who call themselves Jesus-followers.

But one could also move to the liberal side of reading God’s Word. It’s the thinking one believes God’s Word is good but we filter it due to culture. For example, you might read and believe Jesus calls us to care for the poor but you never reach out to the poor. You might believe God’s Word calls us to a daily prayerful life but you find you only pray when you’re in trouble. You might discover Jesus-followers gather to celebrate Jesus as a church but you only attend when it’s convenient for you. It’s the spirit of saying, “I know God’s Word says this, but I’m going to do that.”

What we all need to grasp is the Word of God is our map…it is our blueprint for life…the light to guide us on our way. When you and I decide to be in God’s Word every day, discovering how the carpenter from Nazareth has called us to follow him, we’ll discover we have the most blessed life possible. So, get into God’s Word. Follow the risen Savior. Get illuminated with God’s words. Blessings on your journey.

Following means Family

Sometimes families are weird. We’ve all got a crazy uncle. We’ve all got moments that wrecked is for just a little bit. I remember I had a cousin who was several years older than I was and he worked for a security company. Once at his house, he used his handcuffs to cuff me to a door knob and walked away. I cried forever. That is a little crazy. You’ve got moments with your family like that too.

It’s interesting and appropriate that the New Testament talks about our fellow followers of Christ as family. Paul mentions that idea to Timothy in 1 Timothy 3 where he says, “…if I’m delayed, you’ll know how everyone who belongs to God’s family ought to behave.” Paul and other followers acknowledged that as followers of Jesus, we are all family.

Now, we don’t always get it right. We mess up, stub our toe, don’t say the right thing, look hypocritical in the church. We’re human. But we’re like family. While we love Jesus and try to look like him everyday, we don’t always shine.

And Jesus calls us to really follow him. In Luke 14, there’s a large crowd traveling with Jesus. Jesus uses some hyperbolic language to make the point that you’re either following him or just traveling with him. And if you’re following him, it’s going to cost you something. You’ll have to give something up. So Jesus calls us to love him more than our parents, our spouse and kids, more than our physical brothers and sisters. If you’re following him, you’re called to love him more than anything else.

As we look at Jesus’ life and that first century church, we come to realize that you can’t follow Jesus by yourself. You become part of the family, or the church. See you can’t follow Jesus solo. We follow Jesus as a family. Many of us believe that we’ve got to get it all together, be close to perfect before we start following. But that’s just not true.

You look at some of the guys that Jesus called to follow him. Matthew a tax collector was a that bottom of the “sin ladder” in Jesus’ culture. By all accounts, Matthew was far from having it all together yet Jesus called him to follow. Simon the Zealot, a Jewish assassin, wanted to get rid of the Romans in Israel and was willing to kill them to do it. He was far from having it all together. Yet, Jesus called him to follow. All of these people were called to be part of the family…to follow.

And Jesus calls you too. None of us have it all together. But Jesus is the one who will make us perfect. He’s calling you to be a part of his family…a part of his church. So together, as family, we’ll follow Jesus and He’ll transform us as we go. Blessings on your journey.

Beautiful Interference

What does loving God will all your heart, sou, mind, and strength look like? How would someone, looking at my life, agree that I have given my everything to love my Creator? How would I, at the ripe old age of ninety-four (I have years before I hit that magic number, by the way), look back at my life and feel the satisfaction that in every facet of my life, I gave it to God? What would the fruit of my desire to put God first in my life look like?

It doesn’t stop with just loving on God. It also means I must love other human beings—no matter their skin color, physical disability, nationality, socioeconomic status, sexual orientation, number of tattoos, political party affiliation, preference of music style (although in my opinion, country music is the best), marital status—I love people exactly as much as I love myself, no exceptions.

Alright already, I get that; I understand what Jesus has said. But what does that look like, as it comes to realization in my own life? How could I feel confident that I am journeying in the direction that the Rabbi, Jesus, is walking? How could I know I’m following close behind him? When do I know that his dust has settled on me?

I believe too many times, as followers of Jesus, we get wrapped up in the “rule-following” of religion rather than the tidal wave of love that is Jesus. As followers, we believe that using the “spiritual clipboard” to check off the things we are doing or not doing is what God, through his Son, Jesus, wants us to do. However, based upon Jesus’ scathing rebuttal of the “clipboard checkers” (that is, the religious leaders of his time) in Matthew 23, I feel God has called us to live a life that many of us miss—a call to love God and love people with no strings attached…unconditionally. Jesus reminds us to love God with everything we have, and to love people with that same intensity in Mark 12:30-31.

Jesus calls us as his followers and says, “The most important commandment is this…you must love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. No other commandment is greater than these two.”

So, how have you loved today? What has your tone and body posture been like with others? Did you start the day in prayer and God’s Word? How have you positioned yourself to live this out in your family, in your work place, in your neighborhood? People know you claim to be a follower of Jesus. Live in such a way that there is never any doubt! Blessings on your journey.

Feeding your Soul

Peace. Easy feeling. Energized. Whole. These are the ways you feel when things are as they should be. As a follower of Jesus, we can look at his life to discover how we might attain to and get that peaceful, easy feeling. Jesus himself was at one with God. He had moments of alone time, talking with God. Moments when he was in the Hebrew Bible and debating those who had different ideas of what it meant to be a peace with God. He served those everyday with whom he interacted. He had close friends who believed in him, shared meals with him, and interacted with him on a daily basis. He worshiped every weekend at the synagogue or the Temple. He was a man at peace with God.

Jesus tells us how to be at peace as well in Mark 12:30-31. He says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength….love your fellow human the same way.” If you are going to allow Jesus to beautifully interfere with us, in what ways do you fulfill Jesus’ calling? I wanted to take a minute to pull back the curtain on my life. While I don’t profess to have all the answers and I am still discovering how to be better transformed into the image of Jesus, here are a few things I do to lean in personally to the calling and I’ve found it to bring me peace and a centeredness that nothing else has done.

In John Ortberg’s Soul Keeping book, he talks about a discussion he had with Dallas Willard. Dallas explains our life has concentric circles. He explains it as follows and I’ll add what I do to discipline these areas of my life.

Dallas says the inner most circle is your WILL. Based on Mark 12, I call it heart. I love to sing. I do a lot of singing in my car while driving. People may look at me funny at any given red light but I just smile because it centers me. Every day, I’m also in the Word of God, becoming intentional about the person Jesus has called me to be. This summer I spent a lot of time in Ephesians. In Ephesians, Paul reminds us of what God has done for us which should lead us to a life transformed. I also love to hang out with friends who encourage and live in uplifting ways. My goal is to surround myself with positive Godly influence. If you are a negative person or always talking poorly about people, you don’t get any time with me. I love creating with my hands. I am made in the image of the Creator so I believe we are called to create. I have a company called Weathered Canvas. You can find it on FaceBook.

The next circle is your MIND. I train my mind by reading both spiritual books and God’s Word. I’ve got written goals published on my desk so anyone on staff can hold me accountable. One of my goals is to read 20 books this year. I also write a blog once a week (which you are reading) and I’m writing my next book. I also teach a parenting class and a marriage class during the course of the week.

The next is your BODY. I committed to working out each week although I’m not doing it as often as I hoped. I have a membership at the local YMCA with my wife. We also walk a three mile stretch around our neighborhood when weather permits. I have committed to getting better sleep so I try to go to bed about 10:30pm every evening. I also try to not eat everything I see, especially after 8pm.

And finally, the last one represents your SOUL. I have a realization that my soul is connected to God so it’s at the center of who I am. It pulls together every other piece of me to fall in step with the story God has set out for me to live. Deep down, my soul longs to be connected to Jesus and people who are also moving in that direction. By doing all three of the things above, I better reconcile myself to become more like Jesus day by day.

Each of these pieces of me, heart, soul, mind and body, come together to make the whole me. It was all created to give God glory and fall in love with Jesus. When you commit to giving God glory in every aspect of your life, it’s only then that you’ll discover peace. My hope is you’ll commit to transformation. It doesn’t have to be over night but one move in a positive direction one day is the step needed to create change in you. Blessings on your journey.

Deep Down Prayer

You’ve had moments when you just had to be there. They were indescribable. It may have been when your child was born or they day you got married or the day you retired. We’ve all had those days when it was difficult to put into words how we were feeling. That’s Jonah 2. Jonah has been thrown overboard during a massive storm at sea and now finds himself in the belly of a large fish that has been provided by God himself.

One thing we learn from this part of Jonah’s story is that God is in control of ALL THINGS. No matter how big or small, God is in control. While you may think God’s abandoned you because of the current storm in your life or the massive thing in front of you that’s going to swallow you whole, know that God’s trying to get your attention. He’s pursued you since the day you were born. He wants you to be a part of his story that is unfolding right in front of you.

So, like Jonah, what do you do when God finally catches up to you? How do you respond when God’s got your full attention?

The first thing we learn in Jonah 2 is that we call to the Lord. In verse 1-6, we discover Jonah calls out to the Lord. When you find yourself in a mess, in a tight spot, in a place where it feels like a dark cloud has covered you, your starting place must be calling on the Lord.

We feel guilt in our lives because we run from God and until we turn back to him or repent, our guilt is going to be overwhelming. Jonah’s story reminds us when we’ve had enough of carrying our guilt around with us, we turn back to God and call on his Name.

The second thing we do is remember the Lord and all he’s done for us. Verse 7 tells us that Jonah remembered the Lord. Every Sunday, we partake of the communion which is the bread and wine which represents Jesus’ broken body and shed blood. We remember what Jesus did for us but our remembering gives us hope for the future. God is faithful. He has been faithful in the past and he’ll be faithful in future. God’s amazing grace is available to everyone who turn back to him.

When you can’t run anymore…when you are out of breath…when you are just plain tired of your decision making and God catches up, what do you do? Well, you worship the Lord with everything you have. Verses 8-9 tell us that Jonah worship God. The best way to deal with guilt is worship. We are called to worship the God of second chances. I mean, why would God give Jonah a second chance? Because God wasn’t done with Jonah yet and Jonah admitted he needed God and repented.

There is a God who has been pursuing you since you were born. You were meant to be a part of His story so stop running. Call on the name of the Lord, remember what he’s done for you through his Son Jesus Christ, and worship him with everything you have! Blessings on your journey.

Rise Up.

Did you ever not want to do something? For example, you didn’t want to go to school so you pretended to be sick. Or you decided to go to the lake instead of work so you called in that your car wasn’t working properly. The early days of my adulthood were that way. I wanted to do what I wanted to do and that didn’t include following God. So I lived a few years in the dark, making poor decisions and wrong choices.

When you read the story of Jonah, that’s just what he does. Jonah is a prophet and preacher for God in the Old Testament and God says, “Get up and go.” Jonah got up but went the opposite direction. Every decision Jonah made put him further from God (or so he thought). Notice the text in Jonah 1 says he got up and went DOWN to Joppa and got on a ship where he went DOWN into the hold. Eventually, he was thrown overboard where he went DOWN into the water and finally DOWN into the belly of a large fish. Instead of rising up to meet God, Jonah went down and went down hard. Jonah’s story reminds me of a few truths about God.

One, you can never escape God. He is always with you no matter where you go. Notice what King David says about God in Psalms 139. “I can never escape from your Spirit. I can never get away from your presence. If I go up to heaven you are there. If I go down to the grave, you are there…even in darkness I cannot hide from you.” No matter what you and I try to do, God is always present. What an incredible blessing! No matter the distance I try to put between me and my creator, he’s always there.

Two, God always wants what’s best for you, even when you don’t believe it. Jonah ran because he couldn’t believe his God would want others to be saved. He was fearful to go because he wanted the town God was hopeful for repentance to perish.

Jonah went through a difficult time because of his decision. He endured isolation, the power of the storm, and refusing his calling in life. It was a growing time for Jonah. Sometimes in my life, I’ve endured being uncomfortable, isolated, and unhappy but those were moments when God was growing me, strengthening me, and helping me become what he’d created me to be. Sometimes God will allow you to feel like Jonah in order to get your attention and grow you.

Finally, Jonah’s rebellion didn’t just effect him. His rebellion sent ripples out to effect others he touched. His own family missed him and the sailors on the boat lost cargo and felt as though they’d lose their lives. Never believe your sin is just confined to you. It effects others in your life as well.

So, what do we learn from Jonah? Realize God is with you always. He is always in pursuit of you. God wants the very best for you so follow his plan for your life. That can be found in the life of Jesus Christ. Finally, realize the choices you make, however seemingly small, affect more than just you. Lean into God. He’s got a plan for you. Trust him and discover the incredible life he has for you. Blessings on the journey.