Dream
This is great.
Never stop dreaming.
Things that make me smile
For some reason I’m in a funk today, and yes Nelson I know what you think 
Maybe partly because there is so much on my mind and partly because I’ve been listening to melancholy music all morning. Then for a change I dialed up Lincoln Brewster’s newest offering “Real Life” Cut number 5 is one of my favorites of his called “So Good”.
So here it is for your listening, and viewing pleasure. I hope it makes you smile too.
Times of Refreshing
This morning Carlos Whittaker posted about his recovery process. It got me thinking.
I haven’t had a “super high emotional and spiritual experience” but I have had a very busy and productive couple of weeks. In the midst of God doing a lot in our midst, seeing great things come to conclusion and great things beginning, I haven’t taken time to refresh.
Being outside is what feeds me. I love being outdoors usually on a bicycle. I’m also a wimp in the cold so I don’t ride in the winter which means I get fat, out of shape, and unrefreshed. Why do I live in a cold climate you ask? I don’t know.
Jesus spent lots of time going away to a quiet place to be with the Father. The sabbath rest is a big deal and I need to make it more of a priority. What’s your routine? What feeds you? What’s the biggest obstacle to your resting?
Would love your thoughts.
A Spirit of Power, Love, and Sound Mind
I’ve never seen 2 Timothy 1:7-8 in context before.
It says:
7. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord.
I know I’ve read this passage dozens of times but I’ve never seen it this way before.
God has given us a spirit of power, of love, and of a sound mind so we would not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. In other words. We should not be fearful of sharing the gospel.
It is the proclaiming of the Word of God that, protects the truth, drives out heresy, and disciples believers.
Don’t be ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Declare it boldly. God has equipped you to do it.
Goals
I used to be obsessive about goals.
Personal, business, spiritual, family, financial, etc. etc. Then the action plans and benchmarks. Reviewing and rewriting as necessary. You’ve all heard that a study of Harvard grads showed that if they had their goals written down they were more likely to achieve them.
It never really worked for me and the goals became a prison. A source of stress and angst as it became obvious they weren’t going to happen. So I quit writing goals.
So for a number of years no goals until last year. If you read this space you know I had three. I met none of them.
God had different ideas for me. I’m glad He did.
This year I’m setting one goal. Draw near to God and let Him direct my path.
What do you think? a cop out? lazy? unfocused? overspiritual?
Would love to hear your thoughts.
Christianity and “The American Dream”
This morning my friend ElijahPaul pointed me to an interesting article at CNN from David Platt, P.h. D., senior pastor of the Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. It’s an interesting take on how he sees the church rejecting “The American Dream“.
Much of what I see written about this topic is about “Social Justice” and how the church should embrace government meeting needs as a Christian virtue. It’s refreshing to see a church take the responsibility on themselves.
Dr. Platt finishes the article with this idea:
I believe God is saying to us that real success is found in radical sacrifice. That ultimate satisfaction is found not in making much of ourselves but in making much of him. That the purpose of our lives transcends the country and culture in which we live. That meaning is found in community, not individualism. That joy is found in generosity, not materialism. And that Jesus is a reward worth risking everything for.
Click through and read the whole thing, I would love your thoughts.
Are Christian values and the American Dream mutually exclusive? Is materialism keeping us from being the hands and feet of Jesus?
H.T. ElijahPaul
To All People and For You
Two years ago almost to the day I had a small post entitled “To You“. Those words come back to me again this year.
The word “people” literally means “a people” which differentiates it from the word meaning “one’s own populace”. Jesus was born for everyone not just the Jewish Nation. He was born to be King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Savior of the whole world. And He was born
“To You”
I think of the scene in Aladdin toward the end when the villain is gaining power and Genie reminds him he still doesn’t have the power of a genie. He realizes this to be true and for his final wish he wishes to be an “All Powerful Genie!”. Instantly as he feels the power well up inside him he is sucked into a bottle. To which Genie states.
“Phenomenal Cosmic Power!! itty bitty living space”.
Jesus is the creator of the Universe yet He chose to leave the splendor and 24/7 365 worship directed at Him to be born in a manger. The manger speaks of the very purpose He came. To be the lamb of God. He was born to die. Simply because of His love for you. There was absolutely nothing in it for Him but relationship with you.
Tomorrow as we begin to wind down from the hectic pace of Christmas and look towards the Christmas Eve and Christmas Day activities remember. Jesus was born for all people. But most importantly He was born to you.
Merry Christmas.
The Love of God
Recently I’ve been struck by the love of God.
I’ve always known He loves me but the last couple of weeks as I’ve meditated on it I realize not only that He loves me but how much He loves you.
Again not that this is a great revelation it’s just that I’ve been thinking about how much He loves you and what that should mean for me.
I can get so frustrated with people. There are times when I’m behind someone on the on ramp to I-25 and they’re trying to merge with 75 mph traffic at 45 mph while talking on their cell phone and I just want to scream. Sorry if that shatters your opinion of me it’s just the truth.
However as I’ve been thinking about how much God loves all people and how He longs for everyone to know Him and walk in close intimate fellowship with Him it changes my reaction. I also realize He is my rear guard and I don’t have to worry about being crushed by the 75 mph traffic coming behind me.
C.S. Lewis in his sermon “The Weight of Glory” says we have never met a mere mortal. It is impossible to think too much about the potential glory of our neighbor and the weight of their glory should be placed upon my back. A load so heavy only humility can carry it and the backs of the proud will be broken. Everyone on earth is either an everlasting splendor or an immortal horror and all day long we are helping each other to become one or the other of these.
Everyone has a story. They are coming from somewhere and going somewhere. Before we make any judgments we need to understand their story and make sure we are helping everyone become and everlasting splendor not an immortal horror.
Pastor
What do you think of when you hear the word pastor?
Do you think preacher, counselor, leader, shepherd, or any number of other descriptors?
Since standing in the office of pastor for the last 2 1/2 months it’s something very different than what I thought it would be. I’ve preached before, given "pastoral care" before, but never stood in the office of pastor until being invited to be the interim Sr. Pastor of Life in Christ Church in Limon CO.
It’s been amazing. Amazingly hard but an amazing blessing as well. I’ve always known God has a special place in His heart for those who shepherd the people of God but have never experienced the love God has for His people in such a personal powerful way.
Standing in front those who He bought with His own blood every week has caused me to see people in a very different way. My heart breaks sometimes as I sit in the evening with my family knowing the very real challenges those God has entrusted to me are facing. It’s also been amazing to see God working in peoples lives. I routinely get emails thanking me for what I’ve done when most often I just happened to be present when God has moved.
I don’t know what the future holds for me but I will always be grateful for the opportunity to serve the people in Limon for this season.
Please remember to pray for your pastor. It matters.
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Healthy Things Grow
This morning I ran across an article in response to the question “What do you think of the Purpose Driven model?”.
To their credit they didn’t attack Rick Warren or Saddleback rather they chose to outline from their perspective what a “Biblical local church” looks like. Here it is in part:
First and foremost, a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation. The Bible does not implore pastors to grow their churches. Rather, it is God who adds to the Body of Christ (Acts 2:47). If a pastor waters down what he teaches, or avoids teaching certain things like sin and repentance, regardless of his sincerity or motivation, it is called “tickling the ears” and is wrong (2Tim. 4:3). It would be far better for a Believer to attend a small church where a humble pastor knows everyone’s name and spiritual gifts while making it his priority to nurture individual’s spiritual growth and formation. On Judgment Day (Rom. 14:11) pastors will not be judged according to how large their churches were, but for how well they Biblically armored His flock for service (2Tim. 4:2)
Therefore, regardless of the size, the purpose of the local Church is:
To equip Believers for service (2Tim. 3:16; Eph. 4:12)
Armoring Believers, not evangelism of non-believers, is to be the focal point of the local church. Individual Believers are instructed to exhibit God’s love and be used by the Holy Spirit to evangelize the community (2Tim. 4:5 ). All examples of early church activities have believers doing the evangelizing (Acts 4:1-2, 13:5, 17:2). Therefore, the focus of the pastor and his number one priority should be the equipping of those the Lord has put under his ministry. From the Sunday sermon, youth activities, home Bible studies, to miscellaneous activities, ALL should be focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love. It is not the church’s purpose to attract non-Believers for evangelism and growth.
It’s a fairly lengthy post. I don’t disagree with all of it. Mostly the foundational premise that “a Biblically successful church has zero to do with the size or growth of the congregation.” and how that translates into Sunday morning should be “focused on the Believer and his/her spiritual armor and growth in God’s love.”
I’ll post a rebuttal in the comments later but wanted to hear your thoughts on the bit above. You can tell by the title of the post a little bit about my response and the angle I’m coming from.
Thanks for commenting, I appreciate this community.
My Songs
