At this year’s Global Leadership Summit Bill Hybels opened with a session on the “The 5 Intangibles of Leadership” with the first being that great leaders have grit. Hybels referenced a Grit study and test from The Duckworth Lab at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences.

One of the definitions of GRIT is an “indomitable spirit.”  It’s when a person is incapable of being overcome by any adversity or challenge. They have grit.

I quickly took the GRIT test and I scored a 4.63 out of 5, which means I have more GRIT than 90% of the country. I wasn’t surprised by the findings but was intrigued by trying to understand where GRIT comes from. What fuels my GRIT?

That Kenyan father has an amazing level of GRIT but also noticed he had an unlimited amount of gratitude. He was thankful for what he had and it propelled him to fight through anything that might discourage that attitude.

I have come to realize that I believe the fuel of GRIT is gratitude. When we have a grateful soul for what we have, we are willing to persevere through great adversity. I am grateful for my wife and our children. I am thankful for my role as a pastor and teacher. I am blessed with amazing friendships that pour into me. I am grateful and it propels me through challenges. I am fueled by what I have in grace from a God that loves me despite my flaws.

I have gratitude. I have fuel. I have GRIT.

When was the last time you longed for something? You were filled with an energy of anticipation that you could not put out of your mind. Maybe it was a special trip to a place you always wanted to visit or a class with a professor that you could not wait to attend. Maybe it was a concert, a reunion or a sports event. That feeling of a growing eagerness and expectation to be in that space is what the bible calls longing.

Do you have a “longing to learn?” The bible speaks of this type of desire to learn from David himself.

I open my mouth and pant, longing for your commands. Psalm 119.131

Do you have that sense of anticipation to be changed from the leadership experiences of others? To hear from God through others?

Learning happens best when we can remove the resistors that we have in place. Resistors are those expectations and limitations that we place as guidelines for our learning. As I prepare my heart, mind and soul for the Global Leadership Summit experience this week I must consciously “let go” of these resistors.

I will let go of whom I can learn from: Open your mind to the possibility that you can learn from anybody. Have you ever experienced this? I have had hundreds of people with varying levels of faith and no faith that God has used to teach me something profound and transformational. Throughout history God has used the most unlikely people to empower others toward great change. Will you let go and allow him to teach you? At the 2013 GLS, Vijay Govindarajan‘s talk on innovation was my favorite session. I had no idea who he was or what his faith journey was but I could hear God speaking to me to break the box I had formed for what the bride of Christ could be.

I will let go of where and how I will learn: Be on the alert and surprised by where and how you will learn. Every moment and place that God has us provides the potential for insight and direction for our lives and leadership. Last year’s GLS produced one of the most unexpected transformational moments when members of the special needs ministry danced and sang. That moment grew my appreciation and desire for that ministry in our church and community. It reminded me that in the midst of leading a staff and church I cannot lose the compassion for those in need.

I will let go of what I am going to learn: Remove your agenda and to do list for what you’re going to learn. You might end up learning all that you came for, but be open for what God has for you to learn. I have found it more rewarding and transformational to come with a blank piece of paper and let God fill the page. Last year the Crucial Conversations session with Joseph Grenny not only surprised me but compelled our entire staff to relook at our call as followers of Jesus to speak truth in love and become peacemakers, not peacekeepers.

No matter who you are, where you’re from or what your faith journey is, we can all let go and embrace the hunger to learn and become better leaders in our lives. Last summer I had the opportunity to jump into a canoe in the http://www.ontarioparks.com/park/quetico for a week. No agenda, no guides, no schedules — just letting go and drinking in whatever was in front of us. May we as leaders all enter into the GLS as a great learning adventure.

Let go and learn.

The way I have grown to understand integrity is simple, who you are when no one is looking is the same in public, no secrets. It’s not that integrity demands we tell everyone everything but we are completely honest about who we really are, even our flaws. This “Deflate-gate” saga is less about balls and more about who is more committed to being right than being honest. It makes me ask myself how far will I go to protect the perception of me being right than revealing that I am not. Why do we resist? Where is the pressure to have integrity?

I would suggest that integrity is deflated when we inflate other values. We have commitments we are unwilling to break and therefore deflate the others values that are less important to us. What do you hold as more important than integrity? What are you defiantly committed to? Allow me suggest a few examples.

“Committed to being [or feeling] right” – This where a person decides that to face being wrong they will pour inexhaustible energy in finding any part of being right. In other words, they are never wrong. Even in the face of being found wrong they will find some “rightness” to their efforts and justify their posture.

“Committed to looking right” – This is when a person who knows they are wrong but is unwilling to allow people to see them as such. They will then spin everything to make themselves look right no matter the inner cost of violating personal integrity.

“Committed to taking no responsibility”  – This is when a person has decided that no matter their choices in life they will not and cannot take any responsibility for those choices. They posture themselves as victims and refuse to look at themselves with courage.

All of us have commitments we place on the thrones of our lives that we worship and defend. What are you committed to?

Terrorism bases is approach on being invisible thus creating a panic-like fear while trying to figure out where and when the next attack will come. Fear has a profound impact on how people live.

While the evil of terrorism continues throughout our world I believe we have a long list of terror “isms” that do not fight us physically but attack our souls. Our hearts and minds are bombarded by this evil everyday, every hour and minute. We are surrounded by these attacks and are largely unaware of their presence. I want to expose the terrorist called hedonism.

The practice of hedonism is the doctrine that pleasure or happiness is the sole or chief good in life. The idea of people seeking happiness is not a bad pursuit and I would say we all desire it but to have that as the “sole or chief good” in life is counter gospel. There are extreme pictures of this in resorts that allow for any pleasure you desire to pursue. I am more focusing on the subtle more silent enemy of hedonism on those who claim to follow Jesus.

We can  become “christian hedonists.”  When we know God but look to our own sources for pleasure and happiness we have fallen victim to this “ism.”

Where do I look for pleasure? Where do you look? The prophet Jeremiah speaks the warning from God to the Israelites.

Jeremiah 2.13                                                                                                   “My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me, the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns (wells),
broken cisterns (wells) that cannot hold water.

What well have you dug? The chief search for your personal pleasure is an all out terroristic attack on your soul. The irony is that God himself promises that he will bring a fulfillment that far surpasses any hedonistic activity.

Psalms 37.4                                                                                                  Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The reality of our humanness is that when we find ourselves in routines, schedules, a frenetic pace and we can no longer feel the freedom to embrace the simple fun that is all around us. We become dull and uninterested in the richness of relationships, experiences, places and sacred moments. We become bored with life.

I remember the first time I had the chance to speak at a Green Bay Packers chapel service. It was December 22, 2003 and I was sitting in a hotel with my wife in Oakland, California running through my message notes with nervousness and a childlike energy. I remember so much about that experience. The room, players. coaches and even what I spoke about. I was a tourist drinking in everything. Why does this perspective fade?

I have thought about Murphy’s words to me that day on an even deeper level and have taken the challenge to become a tourist of my own life. To look at my faith, family, friends and experiences as brand new opportunities that I get to enter into for the first time.

I think about the friends around me and how deep the well of wisdom and love exists for me. I need to acknowledge them and be thankful.

I see a church that is worshipping God with their lives together and its like music to my soul.

I have an amazing and beautiful family that loves God, each other and me. To sit and observe who God is shaping them to be is spectacular.

I am in love with a godly woman who’s beauty runs so deep that I am energized to be in her presence.

I serve a God that places a miraculous world before me, like carnival rides at night, that show his love for me.

I am a tourist in my own life. Are you a tourist in your life?

I am loving Paul Tripp’s book Dangerous Calling and read this morning a section about familiararity. He addresses the tiredness and complacency we can fall into from becoming so familiar that we lose something so powerful in our spiritual transformation: awe.

Awe defined is a strong feeling of fear or respect and also wonder. Do I still have that wonder, respect and fear of God? Do you? What causes me to be lulled to sleep by so much of God’s greatness? Can our religious rituals lull our souls into a lifeless existence? How do we forget?

Tripp’s answer is also my answer: familiarity.

I must lose the familiar and replace it with awe. I must view each opportunity to read the scriptures as a a holy, life-giving breath of air that can transform me. I must look at every person with wonder as I see the fingerprints of God in them. I must stop and be in amazement as I receive provision and protection every moment of my day. I must stop and listen to the songs we sing and let it rekindle the majesty of such a powerful God. I must feel the fear and grace giving by God as I confess my rebellion. I must look to everything that enters each moment of my life and consider it divine and wondrous. I must never let my regular disciplines become so common that they lose life. I must stop allowing the familiar to dull the awe of God in me.

Sound familiar?

Belief

• a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing 

• conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence

Belief in Jesus Christ would then, by definition, mean one would have placed trust and conscience in Him living with the conviction that His claim of being God’s son is true. That kind of belief would change a person’s life both inside and out.

What we believe is a powerful force in directing our lives. Our belief is based on agreement with our life experience which then produces a conviction that changes how we live. Does your belief translate into a deep conviction that guides how you live?

When Americans say “I am a Christian and I believe in God” what does that really mean? Do they place their confidence in him? Is there a deep conviction to move toward him? Do they say “believe” but instead mean “I like the idea?”

To call yourself an atheist means you believe there is no deity, therefore, you practice a lifestyle that supports your belief. You don’t pray. You don’t read a Bible or any other spiritual books. You don’t talk about God or any spiritual aspect of life. You don’t trust God for anything, you depend solely on yourself.

So many Americans can say they “believe” something about Jesus but live like they do not place any trust in him.

Do you know any Christian Atheists?

2 Corinthians 10.5 [ The Voice ] We are demolishing arguments and ideas, every high-and-mighty philosophy that pits itself against the knowledge of the one true God. We are taking prisoners of every thought, every emotion, and subduing them into obedience to the Anointed One.

I realize how true this is of me. I love my independence or the illusion I have of it. The word independence means to have freedom from outside control or support. I find that my life has cycles where I am struggling to be free of any outside control and support. I am simply looking to myself for my identity and sense of personal freedom. The more I struggle to find this elusive independence the more I realize how dependent I am. I need God and I need the support of others.

We work so hard to have this personal relationship with Jesus but fail to live the interdependent way Jesus asks us to. We need God and we need the support of others. Why do we work so hard to be independent of God and others?

David wrote often in the psalms about his full dependence on God even though he had his failures with seeking independence. He will often use words like trust, hope and refuge to describe his overwhelming need to be dependent on God. Read his words of confession.

Psalms 71

1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;
    let me never be put to shame.
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
    turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
    to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
    for you are my rock and my fortress.

May we all embrace our independent decision to trust and follow Jesus, acknowledge our full dependence on God for everything and live wholly interdependent with others.

As much as I like to be a part of this universal art project of ideas and opinions I have witnessed the fight I have had for my thoughts to matter. In other words, when I contribute some concepts and ideas I can’t help but hope that others will agree and join me in “my” dialogue. Sounds self-centered and a bit arrogant. Who am I? I know what I know. I don’t know what I don’t know but I live and act like I know everything. Why do I do this? Why do we think and act this way? Look at the apostle Paul’s words to a city full of Christ followers.

Galatians 4-6 I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

7-10 You were running superbly! Who cut in on you, deflecting you from the true course of obedience? This detour doesn’t come from the One who called you into the race in the first place. And please don’t toss this off as insignificant. It only takes a minute amount of yeast, you know, to permeate an entire loaf of bread. Deep down, the Master has given me confidence that you will not defect. But the one who is upsetting you, whoever he is, will bear the divine judgment.

Reflect on James words in James 4.

4 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? 2 You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.

We can agree that Jesus is my only hope and happiness in this life and ransomed me from my sin and eventual death.

We can agree that this amazing love story is written by God and given to us as the Holy Bible.

We can agree that the interpretation of this amazing life-giving truth is challenging and a life long daily commitment.

My thoughts really don’t matter but the Creator’s words are everything. He matters.

Do you agree?

My last blog “Legal Never Meant Moral” was not a jab at one side of the current issue about same sex marriage but a challenge for either side to look deeper for our source of morality. I have been seeing the phrase “Love wins” and wanted to look at 1 Corinthians 13 and write it for my own reminder. My fight is not against people with different beliefs or legislation but with my own struggle to love God and others with all of me. I hope it inspires us all.

If I speak and write with beautiful words that inspire people, but do not have love, I am only a loud noise in the social media space and in the pulpit.

If I have the gift of insight and wisdom to look ahead for people and can unpack the deepest of biblical theologies and have spiritual knowledge, and even if I have a faith that can move people toward doing great things, but do not have love, I am nothing. Love loses.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give my life to working hard and not living comfortably but sacrificing with others, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love loses.

Love wins when I love people who don’t love me.

Love wins when I love when I am right and even when I am wrong.

Love wins when I love and engage with those who don’t believe like I do.

Love wins when I forgive those who harm me.

Love wins when my acts of love look like Jesus.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. It always wins.

[taken and phrased from 1 Corinthians 13]

What makes anything “legal” or “illegal?” An appointed group of people that make up the Supreme Court are officially given the role of choosing what is moral and immoral. Think about how many times our government and others throughout history have made decisions for nations around morality. In the early years of our country’s formation we legalized slavery. Bestiality is currently legal in many states. Marijuana is legal in some states. And in other states it’s legal to marry a cousin. What makes any of these legal laws moral? What reference point do they use outside of themselves to make these ethical choices for culture?

I would imagine that if we looked across the globe at a variety of governments, we would be morally disturbed at what is legal and not legal. If we surveyed history we would be horrified at the “morality” that was legal. Legal does not equal moral.

I love our country and believe people do have the right to choose how they want to live. Our government has never been the consistent moral compass for our country and morality has never been a democracy.

How do we know what is moral? We cannot believe that morality is found and discovered through government. We must look for a source outside of ourselves to know what is moral. No one is perfect and all have flaws that distort our views on life and truth. May we begin the journey of seeking the source of morality and our identity from the one that created us and created marriage.

1 Corinthians 1.25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

It should not be a surprise to me or anyone else that our Christian culture has created several shades of gray that accommodate people’s spiritual preferences. It’s not very popular today to clearly articulate “right vs wrong.” Our world bristles at painting lines that define morality for anyone else other than yourself. The modern motto is to define yourself however you want and that is what is right.

The word secular is defined as a spirit or tendency, especially a system of political or social philosophy that rejects all forms of religious faith and worship. Pluralism is defined as a theory that there is more than one basic substance or principle. In short the phrase secular pluralism then means “unlimited shades of gray,” no black or white. My struggle with this is that my Bible is full of definitions of right and wrong and Jesus himself does not allow for gray in our faith.

2 Timothy 3.1-7  But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 

We would never allow for a heart surgeon to define what it means to be a heart surgeon. We do not allow for fireman to decide what it means to fight fire and save lives. We would never allow for a pilot to define what it means to be a safe and effective airline pilot. There is no gray. In most of our world defining a right way and a wrong way is not only tolerated but demanded. Why do we struggle when being a disciple of Jesus has a very clear definition of black and white, with no gray?

John 14.6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

May we all embrace the beautiful path set before us to follow Jesus and live under that definition of right and wrong.

I am looking at the picture of Dylann Roof and asking the questions, “Why?” and “Where did this rage all begin?” Looking into his eyes, I wonder what short-circuited his thinking and beliefs about creation, life and God’s greatest work of a diverse humanity. What would cause anyone to hate so deeply that they would go to extremes to feed its appetite? I think of horrible black eyes in our world history like the Crusades, Rwanda, Nazi Germany, the KKK, and Charles Manson and see that hate has been with us for some time.

When I read the reports of the people in Charleston that lost their lives at the hands of this 21-year-old, I feel a seed of hate beginning to root inside my heart, a hate for Dylann Roof. That deeply frightens me.

Where does hate begin and can I identify it before it distorts every part of me? The bible actually tells us that God hates evil and we are to hate evil, but then asks us to not hate others.

1 John 3.15 — Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

As I look further into this word hate, it means to “have disdain, a horror of, dislike intensely.” I should be horrified by any seed of hate that begins in my heart of hearts, and attempt to  aggressively remove it from my thoughts. I realize how quickly hate can consume a life that seeks to destroy others. Hate transforms a person into an evil destroyer of life like a lion that tears into its prey without remorse. The prophet Amos and the apostle Paul have some insight on where this destruction begins.

Amos 5.7 — There are those who turn justice into bitterness and cast righteousness to the ground.

Ephesians 4.31 — Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

If you are a follower of Jesus you know that Satan is set out to destroy you and me. He will use anything to feed the bitterness, rage and hate in a soul to move it far away from God. Satan isn’t wearing a hockey mask or carrying a running chainsaw. The bible describes him as beautiful and a liar. His goal is to destroy a life by distorting a person’s thoughts and beliefs. It puts me on alert.

I don’t know why Dylann Roof committed his crimes of hate. I do know that it started with a seed. I grieve today for those families and friends in Charleston and join with them in hating evil. I pray that God’s promise of taking what is intended for evil and using it for his glory will be true in this case. I am also committed to removing any seed of bitterness from my thoughts so I do not give hate any place to grow in my life.

I am an American citizen, born and raised in the capitalistic dream of “work hard and get rich” that can quickly find its way into our church. The fact is that we exist as a spiritual entity called the church but operate with buildings, budgets, salaries and legal responsibilities that make us businesses. I know that I have had to come to grips with the idea that we have these responsibilities and need to be honest with our church that there is a demand for finances to maintain and manage these areas of business. I have even suggested that we could sell the entire church property and rent a facility or even better, meet in homes but usually never gets a yes vote. My point is that the article is spot on with the discovery of much manipulation and guilt given by church leaders to “make or guilt” people to give and I could not be more opposed to that methodology and theology.

What is our responsibility in giving? How do we talk about such an abused topic? Which of the three is it, an obligation, option or an opportunity?  Does God care if we give at all? I have recently been struck with these verses below.

Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God. Leviticus 19:10

Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God. Proverbs 14:31

Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done. Proverbs 19:17

A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed. Proverbs 11:25

Whoever shuts their ears to the cry of the poor will also cry out and not be answered. Proverbs 21:13

The generous will themselves be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

One who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and one who gives gifts to the rich—both come to poverty. Proverbs 22:16

Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses. Proverbs 28:27

Cornelius stared at him in fear. “What is it, Lord?” he asked. The angel answered, “Your prayers and gifts to the poor have come up as a memorial offering before God. Acts 10:4

I do believe the scriptures gives us the call to give but maybe in some unique way its all three, an option, obligation, and an opportunity. As for me, I will continue to teach [ 2 Corinthians 9] that when God invades a heart it will in turn become “hilariously” generous.

There are days that I never want to get up. Those are the days I need something more to rise and take on the day. Have you had those mornings where you’re asking, “Why?” Life can beat us down to a place of discouragement and disillusionment about our place in the big struggle of living. When we can look outside of our agenda and schedules we might be able to find that reason for rising from Paul’s words to the Corinthian church.

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. 1 Corinthians 15.58

Our battle to live each day for our Father in heaven is not a waste.

If the oceans could speak they would tell us about the thousands of ocean battles that were fought at sea. Historians say that when ships would leave a harbor they would fly their nation’s flag or their “colors” as they ventured toward the enemy. When the battle was fought and lost you would sail back to the harbor, with the colors down, defeated. If you had won the battle then those colors would fly high on the mast. There are rumors of those that before they would leave the harbor for the day’s battle would climb the mast and “nail their colors” on the mast, making the decision not to accept defeat. This determination and confidence sent a message to all in the harbor and on the ship: We matter and we will not surrender to any adversity.

Every morning we make the decision to see our day differently. Our colors can be nailed to the mast of our lives like a beautiful mosaic of stained glass in a cathedral because Jesus already won the battle. I rose today with a different hope and confidence. “Nail your Colors!”

When I was a young boy I can vividly remember the dreaded call from my parents for bedtime. Every muscle would readily tighten for the hours of fear in the darkness of the night. My fear had no rational basis but it was very real and demanded all my attention.

What do you fear? What captivates your full attention?

Sadly, most of us were taught to “not fear” and turn it off like you would a light switch in a room. We grow up hiding the things we fear or projecting a false sense of confidence that only leaves our inner self lonely and insecure. I realize that we cannot be paralyzed by fear but could there be any good in having it?

I have been meditating on the reality that God asks us to fear:

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. — Proverbs 1.7

Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly. — Proverbs 14.2

The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death. — Proverbs 14.27

Wisdom’s instruction is to fear the Lord. — Proverbs 15.33

Through love and faithfulness sin is atoned for; through the fear of the Lord evil is avoided. — Proverbs 16.6

There are many more verses in the Bible that give a clear challenge that fear is essentially linked to faith. The consistent message is that without fear my faith does not exist or I don’t have a proper view of God. Think with me for a moment and imagine just one of the heavenly beasts mentioned by the prophets or in John’s revelation appearing in your home today. What would you do or more importantly, what would you feel? Fear.

I believe that a proper theology of God would grow a sense of awe-like fear for who he is and that I would be so humbly grateful that his wrath toward my sin has been paid for. Fear for God captures my full attention. I do not look to fight him or give flight from him but to fall down before him. I believe this is called worship.

There is something so sacred when you witness someone coming to know Jesus. The moment is so deeply etched in your heart that you cannot forget the story. When was the last time you felt an electricity, a moment of captivating wonder, around Christians telling stories of sharing the mystery of Christ? I haven’t in a while. I am trying to understand where and when we forgot our own story of rescue? When did we transition into a group of “fishermen” that don’t fish? Max Lucado wrote in his book In The Eye Of The Storm  that “when fishermen don’t fish, they fight.” I not only believe it, I see it. Somehow we lose sight of the transforming purpose of our life to fish for people and we end up fishing for our own comfort and pleasure.

Jesus could not say it any clearer “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” Matthew 4.19

Following Jesus has a purpose beyond our own salvation. We are to get out and fish. I am amazed at how many people fill our church gatherings as “fishers of men” who have become cranky, complaining, frustrated, lifeless, directionless disciples of Jesus. There is self-centered infighting that exists in our fellowships today where fellow followers of Jesus are failing tests they never know they are taking. Lucado nailed it. When we are not fulfilling the very purpose of our lives, “to fish,” we fight.

Paul’s words to the Colossian Church are clear and practical.

 2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone. Colossians 2.4-6

What fishing story do you have? When was the last time you set out to fish? May we all experience the electricity of being “fishers of men”!

Newton’s first law of motion states that “Every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it.” Newton presents a universal rule that I believe applies to our leadership in the workplace.

I have experienced that when I desire to see growth or movement in our organization. I must exert some force that begins the motion. I have discovered that this happens best when I create spaces where I can interact with people with a new idea. This is best done when it is raw and “whiteboard brainstorming” because it will draw them into the idea. By drawing them in, the motion begins. I might not even have all the details, implementation plan, structure or timing complete, but it will only draw movement from those who are skilled in those areas. To say it another way, I begin to move our organization by moving myself into spaces that are discussing growth.

When I look at the teachings of Jesus I am struck with his strategic methods of movement. His teaching was short and created much tension. He asked his disciples to walk with him and thus created life spaces to train them on moving the cause forward. He did not organize like we understand it. He did not leave many details or specific instructions on how to build and grow a church. Jesus just moved forward and caused a profound divine reaction of redemptive force for the entire world. Jesus calls us to move.

Start moving.

 Dale Kuehne: Human Purpose and Identity in a recent video states that philosophers claim that “we can’t know who we are without a reference point.” His talk dives deep into the struggle of sexual identity as not the real struggle and not our identity. We are all in a search for our identity and often find ourselves looking in all the wrong places. Our obsession for marking ourselves with preferences, tattoos, work, money, friendships, accomplishments and even ministry fails us on this quest for understanding. We have fallen into a dead end road when we look for our identity without a reference point. Paul David Tripp addresses this from a different angle and calls it “two competing kingdoms” and the war for our hearts that Jesus talks about in Matthew 6. He points out that we are in a war for the heart.

Can we understand who we really are by simply identifying with what makes us feel good or OK with ourselves? Our social media culture has not helped us in this search for identity by looking at what everyone is saying or doing. Oxford dictionary defines this syndrome as FOMO.

FOMO is the anxiety that an exciting or interesting event may currently be happening elsewhere, often aroused by posts seen on a social media website or app.

We are so addictively looking at what everyone else is saying or doing or trying that we miss right where we are. Where we are at present will tell us more about ourselves than anyone else. Are we missing out on who we are right where we are?

What are you referencing for your identity? I must discipline myself to remember that no one steals my identity. Rather, I give it away to lesser ideas of love. May we be reminded that we are amazing created beings with original unique design and that our reference point for knowing who we are is a creator who loves us.

1 You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
5 You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.  Psalm 139

I’m not surprised because I believe we have a warped definition of what it means to be a Christian.

Let’s be honest with ourselves: Some people don’t see God as relevant because they have reduced him to some simple religious affiliation. They form a version of God from a menu of feel-good thoughts and ideas.

The Pew report says 7 in 10 Americans still identify with Christianity. But do you believe that 70 percent of people in the United States are committed followers of Jesus who are humbly living like he instructed? I don’t. I’m not shocked by the rise in people leaving this affiliation from what some call “empty religion.”

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “religion” as an organized system of beliefs, ceremonies and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods. Could it be that our generation has drifted from relationally knowing Jesus in a daily journey to knowing information about Jesus? Have we affiliated ourselves with crosses, T-shirts, Christian music, bumper stickers and tattoos that look spiritual but never permeate the surface of our lives? Have we modeled and passed on religious habits rather than our love for God?

How can this happen? No matter the denomination, liturgy or practice, we are all flawed and have contributed to the demise.

The apostle Paul writes a letter on this dilemma to a church in the first century, and it sounds a lot like today:

Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They’ll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they’re animals. Stay clear of these people: 2 Timothy 3.1-5 (The Message)

Consider the prophet Amos’ warning from God to the Israelites, who were very religious:

I hate all your show and pretense — the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies: Amos 5.21 (NIV)

My mother-in-law died a few years ago, and I can remember the day she made that shocking announcement that she had cancer. We hated and feared the disease, but we embraced that it brought our whole extended family to our relationship. We will always remember those few years of struggle because we returned to what mattered — each other. Our religious family practices became more than things we did, they became a space for us to enter back into what the traditions were for: connection.

How can we leave religious affiliation and move toward an authentic, passionate relationship with Jesus? Let me make some suggestions:

• Realize your private decision for Jesus is to be lived out in public. Many disenfranchised religious people are like married couples that live, eat and spend time together in the home but once in public no longer acknowledge one another. Our faith and relationship with God will — not should — radiate in public. We broadcast the things we love most in life. Ask your peers what you love most. You might be surprised.

• Stop reducing your affiliation to God to knowing some spiritual information about him. Our relationship with God is a gift from him, and collecting some credits to offset our sinful choices is not what he asks of us. Your Bible is filled with stories of men and women who struggled to give God their hearts, just like you and me. God is not the great professor in heaven grading your every thought and action. He is a creator who is calling you back to how he designed you to live. He wants a relationship.

No, I am not surprised by the Pew findings, but I am hopeful that through the disappointment of our institutions of religiosity we might return to having a relationship with God through the sacrificial gift of Jesus.

Maybe religion is the cancer we need to embrace as a gift that will cause us to return to being in relationship with Jesus and our fellow man. Could we be a generation walking away from religion and now looking for a relationship? I hope so.

A study on attention span and the effects of technology recently found that “students were only able to focus and stay on task for an average of three minutes at a time and nearly all of their distractions came from technology.” The study also identified some amazing culprits: smartphones and laptops. They even went further to research and discover that people checking Facebook within 15-minute spans of time had a dramatic reduction in being effective students. We wonder why we feel alone.

Have the advances in technology regressed our relational skills to actually be known and loved? Do we stare at the bridge of entering into relationships and settle for the digital distraction? Relationships are hard. They require a deeper commitment, more than a simple post here and there. Deep relationships that can shape our lives for the better need a commitment and trust to work through pain, conflict and disappointment. The inner longings we have to not be alone require time and trust.

Our dog Thor, a Boston Terrier, is full color entertainment for our family.  Twice a day Thor is given food necessary for his growth and health. When we pour that food into the dish he will with a laser focus consume that food without disctraction except for one exception: a ball. Once he sees this bright orange wonder he will walk away from all that will sustain his strength and development for a few moments of bliss of fetching a ball. Strange that we can see a dog’s behavior as silly, mindless and even dumb but do not see the slow subtle destruction we choose every day. Relationships are not an option for your life, they are a necessity.

You must choose the bridge and cross it.

In the same way that iron sharpens iron, a person sharpens the character of his friend. Proverbs 27.17

This memory reminds me of what it feels like when faced with a person that I am called as a disciple to forgive, even if I don’t want to do it. I know the Christian words and the right bible verses, but it still feels like ripping the band aid off a fresh wound. The band aid becomes my safe cover to not see or think about what is festering underneath.

Forgiveness can be a hard, painful and sometimes a dangerous journey into the dark reality of our own hearts. Forgiveness calls for us to open a high voltage area in our souls and reconcile with grace to fellow broken human beings.

The word in the hebrew language means “to lift, bear up, carry, take, to send away.” Jesus is teaching the disciples in Matthew 6 how to pray and ask God to “forgive us our debts.” The greek meaning of forgive means “to send away – to let go, give up a debt, forgive, to remit – to give up, keep no longer.” To say it more simply, let it go.

We cannot pick and choose to whom we want to give grace. Jesus warns against this conditional shallow forgiveness and commands us to extend the grace we were given, to forgive others’ small debt because of the death-deserving debt God relieved for us. “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” Matthew 18.35

We cannot simply say the right words either. It must be with our heart.

Rip the band aid! Ouch.

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3.13

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15.12-13

In the new testament the word honor has a root meaning that is defined as “accounted as of great price, precious, costly.”   When you consider all those who did not know what war they would be called to fight but willingly were ready, committed, loyal to the death. We should count it as worth something very costly to us.

There is a beautiful tradition in Israel for remembering those who have died. It comes from the old testament years when Israel was wandering in the desert and people would place stones on their graves to memorialize them and not forget. They would circle through the desert for forty years and pass hundreds of these piles of stones and remember. To the Israelites these lives were pricless and were counted of value to them. They wanted to remember.

Today there are roughly 22 million veterans who have served in the U.S. military living today who all made a choice to lay down their life for you, for your freedom. They were not in charge of picking the war but they honorably stepped into those footprints and made a promise to you and me to fight to protect to the death. I am not a fan of war and its gruesome and inhuman results. I sit on this Memorial Day and think of the warriors.

My we all remember and honor the great price these warriors gave for us, for you.

I dont regret my early years of leadership training and experience but I wish I had learned much sooner that while the components of the phrase are real and practical parts of leading, they simply are in the wrong order.

The phrase is credited mostly to Thomas Paine but others like General George S. Patton and media mogul Ted Turner, who “is reported” to have the saying mounted on his desk brought it into pop leadership culture. The phrased mostly used to inspire those to step up and lead in the midst of adversity, war and the competitive business climate. Not to diminish it’s use in these contexts but from a broader view of leadership, does this really work? Is leadership really all about us. Our modern North American culture is intoxicated with itself, “me” is more important than “we.” Is leadership about building our identity or about something, or someone else?

I suggest a re-ordering, “Follow, Lead, then get out of the way.”

Follow first. Joshua is without doubt one of the great accomplished leaders in the Old Testament. If you reviewed his life you would immediately noticed that he followed Moses for over forty years. We have become so impatient in trying to become great leaders but miss the opportunity to become a legendary follower. It’s the place that leadership greatness is cultivated. Joshua is finally given the leadership of the nation of Israel, a perfect time to announce his greatness and lead! Instead he announces that it’s not about himself or the hero leader Moses, it’s about God.

“Remember the word that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, saying, ‘The Lord your God is providing you a place of rest and will give you this land.’ Joshua 1.13

Lead second. In order for me to be a great Godly leader I must regularly remind myself that it is not about me so that when I get the chance to lead it is for a cause bigger than myself. Leading with this perspective creates a healthy weight for God and others that I carry as a steward not an owner. Consider the life of Nehemiah who passionately took on the enormous project of rebuilding the walls in Jerusalem for a very short season in his life. When we get the chance to lead we must all view that it is for a season and it’s not about us.

Finally, get out of the way. It might be the most difficult challenge for any successful leader to know when and how to step down, support and celebrate a new leaders call to steward the cause. When we have a Biblical worldview around leadership we gain clarity that this life is not where we make our name famous, we are to give glory to His name. I love leadership and the chance to lead but I realize that at some point I am to step aside and it will most likely not be in my planned timing. My belief is that great leaders follow, lead and get out of the way many times in their life because they realize it not about themselves. It’s about Him.

So we are now representatives of the Anointed One, the Liberating King; God has given us a charge to carry through our lives—urging all people on behalf of the Anointed to become reconciled to the Creator God.                    2 Corinthians 5:20 The Voice

An article by Medical Press cites this research discovery.

“Dartmouth researchers conclude in a new study, [the brain’s “mental workspace”] lies in a widespread neural network…  that consciously manipulates images, symbols, ideas and theories and gives humans the laser-like mental focus needed to solve complex problems and come up with new ideas.
Their findings, titled “Network structure and dynamics of the mental workspace,” appear the week of Sept. 16 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

Translation, our brains structure or create a “space” to create, think and dream. The structure of the brain is not to keep it clean and tidy for order sake but to create a space to freely use the gift that God gave us.

The word most often used in scripture to talk about this creative space is “meditate.” It means to put forth, mediate, muse, commune, speak, complain, ponder, sing. Sounds messy. Not much order but space to be free and sit in thought. I have made the mistake of thinking that structuring and ordering my spiritual life will produce growth but soon found that it was the space that was created where I could meditate on him.

I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. Psalm 119:15

We spend so much effort trying to make our spiritual lives a structure of do’s and don’ts only to lose the joy of sitting in the spaces God allows for us to think, create, muse and speak to him.

What is your energy spent on? A constructed concert hall with a microphone and speakers is not the end goal. The space is structured for an artist to think and muse over notes and instruments to create something spectacular. May you spend energy to create the spaces to meditate on him.

For moral sentimentalists, our emotions and desires play a leading role in the anatomy of morality. Some believe moral thoughts are fundamentally sentimental, others that moral facts make essential reference to our sentimental responses, or that emotions are the primary source of moral knowledge.

I am not against reminiscing the “old days” but the habit of hanging our morality on a feeling sounds dangerous. I look back with gratefullness on many emotion-filled moments with our family, our church and friends but can I trust what I feel more than the truth? Is truth simply what we feel at the moment? Can every person decide what moral code they believe in simply by how they feel?

My friend is not a prophet but he is a wise deep artistic thinker who embraces his emotions. Maybe he has found that emotions can sabotage truth. Like the painted sign in the London subways says to “Mind the Gap” we also must watch for the slippery slope of allowing our emotions to overshadow truth. As I look at my own journey to know and understand truth I am more aware of the danger of trusting my feelings to guide my morals.

Psalm 25:5 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.

The scripture is full with the spiritual metaphor of the eyes being the window or the sense of the soul. In Psalms 19 David writes “the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;.” There is this unique biblical insight that our living within Gods design gives us clear sight. Eyes that can see God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Matthew 5.8

The word “pure” in the greek language has some insight to this concept. The meaning of “pure” is “unmixed” like a metal that has no impurities or a vine pruned from all the sick and wandering limbs. It means a heart that has no corruption. When are hearts are pure they see that God has never left but is present. When the heart of a person is unmixed with other impure motives they can see God.

My brother in law has a beautiful dog named “Ebony.” What captures me about him is his eyes. The purity of his intention to be loved and accepted by his master. Do you long for him? The next time you can’t see God or cannot feel his presence, look at you heart. What motive is mixed into it? What secret sin has found its way into you life? Purge it, confess it and open your eyes to a God that is longing to love you.

God created us to live within a divine PSI that would allow us to experience the most happiness from life, but we arrogantly begin to look at the margins of design for a better way. Many historians have claimed that the Greeks defeated Rome by pushing the Roman morality limits and introducing a hedonistic view of life. Pushing the limits of design means we move away from what was intended and best.

I believe we all struggle with this sinful pull toward the edges of how God designed us. We continue to look for an edge on life for our own pleasure and gain. We forfeit integrity for ourselves. We answer the inner longing in our souls by trying desperately to numb its pain. We rebel against our creator’s design. We find our selves deflating the very life given to us.

Where do we find the standard PSI for us as created beings? God has offered the Bible as our guide. It’s not a rulebook but a story of God restoring his creation that was lost from sin. I see God’s intent for my design as what is best for how he made me. That is not subjective for each person to decide but Truth. It’s a story of design and redemption for all humanity to understand. God is not some commissioner in heaven guarding the shield of faith waiting for you to break a rule. He is a God that is crying out to live how he created us to so that we might experience his best for us. In Romans 7 Paul writes about his own struggle of wanting to live as God designed but rebelling and doing the very things that he knows he was not designed for. Sound familiar? I realize that I can quickly become the “Deflategate Disciple” pushing the margins of design and deflating his design for me.

When a person is carried away with desire, lured by lust, and when desire becomes the focus and takes control, it gives birth to sin. When sin becomes fully grown, it produces death. James 1.14-15  (The Voice)

One of the big reasons terrorism creates terror is that you don’t know who they are and when they will attack. Since 9/11 our country has been on guard and aggressively creating ways to protect itself. We are now always waiting for the attack to hit us.

I feel this alertness with my social media accounts today. I enjoy many of the benefits of social media but one negative makes it hard to justify my involvement. The “terroristic” use of destructive words. Like a Molotov cocktail, words thrown to harm are relationally devastating. The bigger concern is that those who claim Christ as their King are equally brutal. Why do we use words this way? Aren’t we as disciples of Jesus to be different? There was a day before the cowardly battle grounds of social media when you had to face a person to deal with a conflict, hurt or disappointment. I believe that social media can be a great space to learn and encourage but we must first think about our mandate as disciples.

If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. James 1.26

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. Ephesians 4.29

The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6.45

With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered. Proverbs 11.9

Ironically this same tongue can be both an instrument of blessing to our Lord and Father and a weapon that hurls curses upon others who are created in God’s own image. James 3.9

The Bible is full of men and women “declaring” the God they love, serve and obey. In biblical history, religious symbols meant something. They were a declaration of allegiance. In our North American culture today crosses are very much a decorative element. Last year, an ABC poll found that 83% of people in America claim that they are Christians. Decoration or Declaration?

To decorate means to look more attractive by adding extra items or images to it. I wonder how many of us are not declaring but decorating. The martyrs of our present day and days of old never viewed their faith as decoration but a life ending declaration of who they love and serve.

The cross is a polarizing symbol. Like a colorful collection of shotgun shells the cross forces the answer to the question of why was the world impacting life of Jesus lived? It visually confronts us all to deal with the claim that Jesus died, rose from the dead and is the Messiah. The Apostle Paul instructs us that declaration begins in the heart.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10.9

When we are convinced in the most inner part of our hearts that Jesus is who He claims to be. That he lived a sinless life, died a horrible death, victoriously rose and defeated death. Can you say that? The Psalms have many songs and poems of declaration that can be your own declaration check up. Read though them and ask yourself, “can I say that?” Even more appropriate…can you Declare that!

I will declare that your love stands firm forever,
that you have established your faithfulness in heaven itself. Psalm 89.2

When was the last time you were in the middle of a tough situation and said, “Thank you”? Isn’t  it more like “How do I get out of this?” “How can I void this” or “God, can we make a deal?” Our human condition is that we don’t like trouble or discomfort of any kind. Many have designed a religious system that identifies any problem as an assault by “the devil” or the problem is God correcting us because we are out of line. Some will claim they are victims of all the evil around them and try to remove themselves from the situation. Why is it so difficult for us to see adversity with a kingdom lens?

Our Bibles are filled with stories of fallen and broken people struggling through lives of adversity. Men and women who anguished over death, illness, rejection, abuse, war, racism, slavery, poverty, and the list goes on. What if Joseph had never been sold into slavery? What if Moses wasn’t given away by his mother and put into a basket? What if the Israelites went straight into the promise land?  What if these heroes of the faith had never experienced the adversity that shaped their faith and lives for God?

Could it be that James is on to something. Adversity, struggle, tough times can grow us. Our perspective in the middle of adversity must change from being a victim of some cruel cosmic play to the gift of an opportunity for growth.

Next time you realize you are in some trouble, stop and change your view. Ask God what character quality can be shaped through this. Look for the end goal and not the broken glass in front of you. Ask for wisdom through the struggle. Lastly, endure! The word in the greek means ” to remain under.” Don’t plan an escape but sit underneath the weight of the adversity. The repetition of remaining under these tests will only strengthen you.

Phycologists and cultural gurus are watching and studying the effects of our digital distractions. Their research is showing that even though we are physically present, we are not emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually present. Not fully present means we are somewhere else. Absent minded. Not satisfied with who is in front of us. We miss the beautiful blossoming moment unfolding before us just begging to be enjoyed. Being fully present means being right where you and not somewhere else in mind or spirit.

God himself knows what it means to sit in those moments. To be present and enjoy what is right before you. After God creates the universe and humanity, he pauses, looks and drinks in its goodness.

God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. Genesis 1.31

I struggle with being fully present. The distractions of digitally posting news and pictures only reveals the disillusionment that somewhere else is better than here and now. Don’t get me wrong, I love modern digital tools but I think I can miss the simply profound moments set before me that change me for the better. I remember hearing the last breath of a dear family member, the cry of a new baby girl, the eyes of a bride starring into mine, the voice of a child singing a worship song, a daughter’s tears of joy as she shares her engagement news, the sacredness of a church community praying and taking communion, the late night laughter of friends sharing stories, the touch of a child’s hand reaching for mine….do I need to continue?

Years ago I snapped the photo of the boy in a brick room in the rural parts of Nairobi, Kenya. I am grateful to have taken the photo but I missed the moment. I always wonder what he was thinking and how I could have embraced a fully present moment. What would I have learned about his life?

Next time your feel a digital distraction coming on, stop. Ask yourself, “Is the digital allurement to somewhere else better than than the real moment?” Listen, lean in, be a fully present participant in what the Father is painting for you.

Secrets destroy.  They erode at our souls, slowly. They eat at our self confidence and authentic self. They cost us enormous amounts of energy to keep hidden. We doubt and live in fear that if discovered we would not be loved, accepted or esteemed.

As a young boy I remember being terrified of the dark. The shapes that would form in darkness would paralyze me with fear. My mind would play tricks on me with questions and doubts? My imagination would run wild with speculations. Am I safe? Will I be harmed? Am I alone? Over time, my fears were exposed, and I saw what was real.

I know many people live with these skeletons in their closets and fear being found out. Bound to the dark imagination of “What if?”

I love this picture I took in a local museum when the girls were younger. Not one of them felt fear. But shove the skeletons in a closet, in the dark, they would have been terrified. Skeletons displayed, remove all fear and give us a chance to be real, authentic and free. The irony about our skeletons is that God sees them…in our closets. Despite his HD view of our secrets, he still loves us and whispers for us to not be defined by secrets.

What are you hiding? I suggest you open the closets and humbly display your skeletons. Sit with a friend and practice being real, honest and open. Take the hinges off the closets in your soul. Let someone listen to your secrets and experience the love that “bears all things.” In these moments of truth telling, we cultivate the soil of a deeper relationship with God and others.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Luke 12.2

Why do we as followers of Jesus spend so much time trying to fight the world? People? Organizations?

“FIGHT. FIGHT. FIGHT.”

I feel the pull of religious fervor to change the world and win battles for God. I get fired up about immorality, government, politics and culture thinking that I have this profound role to play in setting it right for God. How do I get here? Does my battling the forces of the world even matter? Does the God of the universe need me to fight His battles?

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6.12

I love the sobering power of truth. I am to fight. Fight the battle of faith in me. Makes sense. My soul is a battlefield of thoughts and choices and I am to fight and hold the position…wait…He’s already won. Jesus did not die so I could fight the world, He died and won so I could live in that victory.

How much energy do we spend in fighting battles everywhere else except in our own life? I have found we are often frustrated and angry with the things that are most true about ourselves. Think about your fight today.

May the never ending God of the universe restore your perspective in seeing the victory already won for you and I. Fight the good fight!

Sometimes we simply don’t want to know. We numb our lives with activities to forget. The pain is too much.

My good friend, a cardiothoracic surgeon, gave me the opportunity to photograph and watch him work on a patient that had given me the approval. It was truly an amazing experience. I had this powerful feeling of being in a very holy sacred space. Chest was open, their exposed broken heart was visible. I did not know the patient, his life, his family, his beliefs, his views on politics, morality or God, but in that space, I hoped and prayed the best for him.

I can’t help but wonder how many people feel nothing when seeing the lives of people being broken by natural disaster, disease, poverty, injustice, slavery, abuse. It reveals something about us when we can reverently enter into the pain of others. Only God can move our hearts toward compassion and empathy for others. I am more aware these days of when I am broken, afraid and others enter into my pain and it moves me to respond with compassion for others’ pain.

Jesus is often described as “having compassion,” being moved to respond, entering into their lives. Compassion means to have your intestines moved. His heart was affected by the pain not just because he was God but because he was human and was moved.

Feel something? Move into their pain. Walk into the sacred space of a broken heart. Pray. Volunteer. Give. Just respond.

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  Ezekiel 36.26 

FEBRUARY 5th 2011 – THE NIGHT BEFORE THE SUPERBOWL

ROYAL

We often think of “royalty” in terms of Kings, Queens, great palaces, wealth, easy living, independent….in control.

Spiritual “Royalty” looks different.

Esther originally named Hadassah, meaning, the myrtle, a tree whose leaves only release their fragrance when they are crushed. is the heroine of the Biblical book that bears her name. Hadassah received her name of Esther when she entered the royal harem.

Esther’s cousin Mordecai raised her as his own daughter since she had neither father or mother. They were Jews living in exile and she grew to be very beautiful.

King Ahasuerus was looking for young virgins in the land to be in his harem and chose Esther to be Queen.

Not such a Royal path.

Mordecia told Esther to not reveal that she was a jew but

while in the Kings palace King Ahasuerus gave authority to Haman to kill all Jews in the Persian Empire. Haman was King Ahasuerus’ prime minister. Haman called for this ruling to be given because Mordecai refused to bow to Haman. Haman felt ridiculed and stripped of his authority by Mordecai’s refusal to bow down to him and so he went to the king to claim that all Jews were the same and should be killed.

Esther is in a place that did not feel so right or “royal” but in a place so such a time as this….

Esther 4:13-15

13 he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. 14 For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?

Can we find ourselves in places that are not comfortable, painful, dark and out of control that are exactly where God wants us to be?

A place of Royalty.
ODDS
We always looking for good odds.

We want to reduce the chances for failure. We want as much control as possible. To control the outcome.

“I will bet my life on that?”

“Doctor what are my odds?”

Gideon is a Godly man that is faced with an enemy, the Medians of 135,000 that God has asked him to conquer. The problem is all he can muster up is 32,000 men of his own to fight. [Judges 7]

Bad odds.

Judges 7:1-2

Early in the morning, Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) and all his men camped at the spring of Harod. The camp of Midian was north of them in the valley near the hill of Moreh. The LORD said to Gideon, “You have too many men for me to deliver Midian into their hands’

Too many! God wants the credit. No one will be able to steal that from Him. He asks Gideon to ask all those who were afraid to go home.

22,000 leave. 10,000 left to fight.

Horrible odds. You never bet with odds like this.

God then tells Gideon trim the troops even more.

Judges 7:3-8 But the LORD said to Gideon, “There are still too many men. Take them down to the water, and I will sift them for you there… So Gideon took the men down to the water. There the LORD told him, “Separate those who lap the water with their tongues like a dog from those who kneel down to drink.”

300 left.

Stupid odds. Insane….but ROYAL.

There are times that God places us in the worst of situations that we call terrible, bad odds but God calls…ROYAL ODDS.

Gideon destroys 135,000 man army with 300 men.
God delights in using weak vessels to display His strength and faithfulness.

When you are faced with a situation where the odds do not look good and you have lost control….look to the One who might have placed you in that time and place to display His glory through you and call it …

“ROYAL ODDS”

When we move we are not stuck and will be in a new place. A new view. I find it surprising today to see how many times we desire a destination but are paralyzed by fear, doubt and insecurity. I am no expert at paddling but just putting your paddle in the water and learning along the way is a great step.

After six days we had paddled over 70 miles and drank in breathtaking views every day. You can experience new destinations.

Where are you just sitting? Not moving? The view never changing? Is it at home, work, church, your soul? Wherever you are just start to paddle.

So no matter what your task is, work hard. Colossians 3.23 [The Voice]

To be Transparent means to be honest and open : not secretive.  Jesus was vulnerable and perfectly honest but he didn’t tell everything. In John 16.12 jesus said to his disciples “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. Jesus held truth from us because we could not handle it. I remember the early years of our marriage and having the “bills” conversation with my wife. Our stress was high and the conversation was heavy about our future. Imagine if I had pulled one of our daughters at 5 years old and shared with her the truth about our uncertainty of paying our bills. Then think of her reaction when I told her what might happen if we could not pay the bills. Do you think she could handle it?  I believe that we can be honest and transparent and not share everything. Somethings are not meant for others to bear.