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Archive for the ‘Formation’ Category

Preach the Kingdom

Posted in Formation, Grace, Missions on March 9, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today I was reading through Luke chapter 9 and ran across these verses.  Jesus was giving the disciples their daily marching orders.  He told them that they had the power and authority to heal the sick and cast out all kinds of demons.  He also left no question as to the fact that they were to “preach the kingdom of God.”  When I read this, I was reminded of a quote that is typically attributed to St. Francis of Assissi.  The quote:  Preach the gospel always and when necessary, use words.

Jesus told his disciples that as followers of the Way, they needed to be about caring for others and preaching the kingdom.  Is that still our calling?  I believe it is.

So what does living out these verses look like today?  I think St. Francis hit the nail on the head.  We are to live our faith in the way we love and care for others.  But don’t miss the fact that we are to share our faith verbally.  Obviously, if our life does not reflect the love of Jesus, then our words will make no difference at all.  But if we are trying to rely on our actions alone, how will anyone ever make the connection between compassion and the love that God wants to offer them.

Preach the kingdom of God today – using words and actions.

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How’s Your Connection?

Posted in Formation, Motivational on March 4, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I am in Fort Worth today for a board meeting.  I flew out last night and got to the hotel late.  As I unpacked, I noticed that my shirt that I was planning on wearing today was wrinkled beyond what even I would normally wear.  So I did what every liberated man would do – I got out the iron and the ironing board.  (No wise cracks please – yes, I know how to use an iron)

I plugged the iron into the outlet and waited for it to heat up.  And I waited – and I waited.  After two or three minutes, the iron was no warmer than when I pulled it from the closet.  I checked to see if it was on and tested the plug – still nothing.  After a few seconds, I determined that the outlet was not working.  I moved it to another outlet and – heat!

It reminded me that we are to be instruments in the hands of God – but just like the cold iron, we will be unable to do what God wants us to do if we are not connected to the Father.  I could have tried to iron my shirt with a cold iron, but I am pretty sure it would not have done much.

The same is true of us.  When we try and do things on our own power, not much happens.  But when we are connected to the source, the Bible says here that God can do some amazing things through us.

How’s your connection today?

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Another Milestone

Posted in Community, Formation on March 3, 2010| Leave a Comment »

Today marks a milestone in this blog “ministry” I started last April.  Today is post number 200.  That doesn’t even seem possible.  It has been a real blessing and a growing experience for me.  So today, I thought I would reflect for a second on what God has done in me through this effort.

The first thing that I would mention is that when I began this ministry, it was because I felt compelled by God to do it as a means of expressing what God placed on my heart as part of my journey along the Way.  But I counted the cost, just as Jesus said here.  I knew that committing to post 3 to 5 times per week would be a huge commitment.  I was nervous that it would cease to be meaningful and just become rambling.  But I took the step for several reasons, not the least of which was the idea that it would force me to be in the Word daily and to spend time in prayer and meditation – that has proven to be the case.

I confess, many days it may not be very meaningful to everyone, but another humbling thing I have learned is that God uses our efforts, no matter how insignificant they may seem, to make a difference in someone’s life.  I have received emails and comments on Facebook and Twitter, as well as comments directly to the blog, from people all over the world who God has touched through these simple ramblings.  So the lesson today is that each of us has something to contribute.  God does not call us to be successful, just faithful!

I sincerely appreciate all of you!  I pray that as we move forward together, that the next 200 posts will be used by God to draw us even closer into the community of Jesus followers that God wants us to be.

Be blessed today!

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God’s Image Revealed

Posted in Formation on March 2, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I have referred to a little devotion book on my desk before – it is a daily devotion put together by Eugene Peterson entitled, A Year With Jesus.  The reading for March 1 was titled “Father.”  The passage was a very familiar one – the Model Prayer, Matthew 6:9.  In that devotion, Peterson offered this prayer:

Our Father: reveal yourself to me not as I have imagined you and not as others have stereotyped you, but as you really are: creator of all that is, loving redeemer of all your people.  Amen

What image of God do you have in your mind and heart when you pray?  Our minds naturally try and paint a picture of abstract ideas.  Because we have not seen God, we tend to think of God in whatever image we can imagine or in a way that has been described to us by someone else.  But do we really want to know what God is really like?

Can you pray this prayer today?

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Grace and a Bicycle

Posted in Formation, Grace on February 25, 2010| 4 Comments »

My brother and I are very close and always have been.  I cherish our friendship and the relationship with which God has blessed us.  But, as with any relationship, we have had our disagreements.  Fortunately for us, ours happened when we were kids.

One time in particular comes to mind in which my brother instilled in me the meaning of consequences for my actions.  I do not remember doing anything to him – I am sure I was minding my own business – ok, truthfully, I don’t know what I did but I am sure it was not loving and brotherly.  At any rate, he chased me out of the house.  I beat him to my bike and rode off.  Of course, being the mature older brother that I was, I then proceeded to ride back in forth in front of the house mocking him each time I rode by.  What came next was a lesson I have never forgotten.  He grabbed a broom and would attempt to hit me when I rode by.  I am not sure that his strategy included his next stroke of genius but the last time by, he stuck the broom handle into the spokes of my front wheel.

Now I am sure you understand the ramifications of such actions.  At 15 to 20 miles per hour, when a front tire ceases to turn, the bike stops.  Unfortunately for me, the rider does not.  I face planted onto the pavement in the street in front of our home.  Of course this was long before the thought that one should wear a helmet while riding a bike (helmets were reserved for motorcycles or when jumping our bikes off 15 foot embankments).  Now that I think about it, the fact that I wasn’t wearing a helmet could explain a lot!

At any rate, I learned the hard way that day that it is not polite nor acceptable to chide and mock another person.  However, the lesson from this painful story is this:  relationships work because of grace, forgiveness and understanding (and in this case, a hard head).  Through the years, our relationship has grown because of his willingness to forgive me and my willingness to forgive him – all because of the love we have for each other.

God provides this grace with no strings attached.  So if today, you feel you have gone too far and God can never accept you as you are with all your faults, I am here to tell you that he offers grace, forgiveness and love.  Your actions will always carry consequences but God’s grace is sufficient to see you through.

Lean on God’s grace today!

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Exercise Those Muscles

Posted in Formation, Motivational on February 24, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I have had a renewed realization that I need to be getting exercise.  It really hit me a few weeks ago when I took the boys for a suicide ski trip to Ruidoso.  We skied all day and then made the four hour drive home.  By the time I got out of the car at home, I could hardly walk.  My legs had tightened up and the next few days were somewhat uncomfortable.

So this week, I decided it was time to get back into the gym.  I went on Monday and eased into my old workout routine thinking I would minimize the soreness that way, and for the most part, that strategy has worked.  But this morning as a I went through my routine, I was reminded that I have a long way to go to get back in shape.

This experience has reminded me as well, that there are other “muscles” that atrophy when we don’t use them.  I am thinking of the spiritual muscles of listening to God, of showing Jesus’ love to those around us and other similar muscles.  Why is it that these muscles need to be exercised?

Two things to think about today: 1) We need to exercise these muscles because it is here that we grow our relationship with God.  So we have to be intentional and fierce when it comes to focusing on our relationship with God.

2) Exercise is necessary because without it, our spiritual life will atrophy.  The world in which we live does not put any priority on a relationship with God.  In fact, Jesus showed us just how counter-cultural following God with the heart really was in his time – today is no different.

So exercise those muscles today – it may be difficult to get into the routine at first, but once you get started, you will be glad you did!

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Father, Mold Me

Posted in Formation, Grace, Leadership, Missions on February 18, 2010| Leave a Comment »

This morning I spent some time looking back through Brian McClaren’s book, Finding Our Way Again.  The book deals with regaining a sense of the contemplative life – the life that spends time in the interior aspects of our being.  McClaren does a great job reminding us that our focus on our relationship with God is not an end in and of itself – our relationship with God serves as the platform from which God affects the world.  At the close of one of the chapters I had written this prayer in a blank spot on the page – it is my prayer today and I hope it could be your prayer too.

Father – I am utterly inadequate to be an apostle.  Mold me through your word, your touch, your community – into one empowered by your Spirit – committed to making a difference around me in my world.  Not only in the lives of my family and friends but also in the lives of strangers – even in the lives of enemies!  An apostle!

Amen

Be blessed today!

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Cancer of Complacency

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on February 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

During my prayer and reading time this morning, I was struck with an idea and I can’t let it go.  As I pray for our church and the entire movement of Christ followers, I am reminded that a true follower of the Way should be fully committed to living for Jesus and loving as he loved.

However, so often, we lose that passion.  Part of the reason, I have observed, is that we grow numb to God working around us.  In fact, we often reach a point at which we feel we have arrived – we are mature in our faith.

Unfortunately, “maturity” too often is actually complacency. Complacency is a cancer that is eating away at the very heart of the church today.

Why is it that once we have been a Christ follower for a number of months or years, we become less effective as disciples?

It is because we have lost the fire, the passion, the excitement of what it means to live for Jesus – to love like he showed us to love.

Complacency is a cancer – don’t let it go untreated any longer!

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Just a Snapshot

Posted in Formation, Hope, Motivational on February 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

This morning I heard a song I have never heard before, Before the Morning, by Josh Wilson.  There is a line in that song that has really stuck with me, and in fact, is the title of the album, “life is not a snapshot, it might take a little time but you’ll see the bigger picture.”

A snapshot is just that – a snap shot – a split second in time.  It is not life defining.  As followers in the Way, we live with the big picture in mind – or at least we should.  Whatever you are experiencing today is temporary.  Life ebbs and flows.  Some days are better than others.

So if you have been living in the shadow of suffering, hang in there, it very well could be the darkness before the dawn.  Another line in the same song speaks to this: “the pain you’ve been feeling can’t compare to the joy that’s coming.”

Dare to believe – the snapshot you are living today is just a moment in time – there is more.  God is going to do something amazing today, you just watch!

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Worship Can Get Messy

Posted in Community, Formation, Motivational on February 10, 2010| Leave a Comment »

In my prayer and reading time this morning I got all the way through one verse in Romans (now you can see why it is taking me multiple years to make it through the book – I’m up to chapter 12 now).

Romans 12:1 tells us that we should consider God’s mercy – that undeserved gift we have been given.  Upon considering this gift – we should act appropriately by sacrificing ourselves to God.  This is a verse we all know.  But there is something here I want us to think about today.

Paul specifically ties some things together for us here that makes all the difference for those of us who call ourselves Christ followers.  He says that in light of God’s mercy shown to us, we should offer our bodies (our physical beings, the flesh and blood you and me) as a living sacrifice – not some animal we sacrifice by killing on an altar but our living, breathing selves.

Now don’t miss this part – this is to be our reasonable, spiritual act of worship.  I know that different translations use either reasonable or spiritual here and normally I would not point it out but I want us to think about this specifically today.  Not to be a Greek geek, but the original word here is logikein – which can be translated as reasonable or spiritual.  But the point is this, which ever way you choose to translate it, the word carries the idea of our inner being – our spirit.

So what Paul is telling us is that our spiritual, intellectual worship is hollow without our physical commitment as well.  So often, we see our devotion time or sitting in a worship service and singing a few songs and listening to teaching as being where we truly worship.

But Paul is specific – spiritual worship takes physical action!  The Way is not for sitting – it is for getting knee deep in the messiness of life – in the time-consuming awkwardness of demanding relationships.  That is worship!

How will you worship today?

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