Hi everyone!
It's the new year, and I know it has been a long time since I've blogged. Sorry about that. Sometimes when you have seven children, life just gets busy. I'm not complaining because I'm probably one of the most blessed men you will ever know.
However, my wife gave me the Dragon voice recognition software for Christmas this year, so I am actually not typing but rather talking as I write this blog. I know! Pretty cool right? I'm hoping that since I can talk and work at the same time now, that I will be able to take multi-tasking to a “whole nuther level”!
Check back every few days to see if I have been able to work this out and blog again on a regular basis!
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
God is Not a Man
I was told about this video for a song by one of my new favorite artists "Gungor". I'll let the song speak for itself.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WybvhRu9KU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WybvhRu9KU
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Love Like Breathing-Final
A New Direction
Immediately, I knew that we needed to make a major shift in our ministry focus and that it wouldn’t be an easy process. Years of investment would need to be adjusted.
We would need to develop a true balance between loving God and loving people. Our unspoken checklist would need to be redirected while a spoken desire to see teenagers in a deep relationship with Christ would become a major focus. Deep surrender to God’s call would allow teenagers to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit each day.
Rather than create mission-based programs and trips, we would need to teach the teenagers to be “missional” in every aspect of their lives…at school, at home, and even at church. We hoped that we could all learn to love like breathing.
Living It Out
The week that we returned to Tampa, I walked down the street to the basketball courts near the projects. The courts were all packed with kids playing pick-up basketball like they did everyday. I had driven past them every day for nearly a year. I walked around and invited them to come to an open gym time after church on Wednesday night. Even though they looked at me like I was crazy and out of place, within six weeks most of them were coming to our air-conditioned gym for a short Bible study and a great game of hoops.
We never drove 15 hours again to find people who were in desperate need. Instead, we walked the 15 minutes down to the projects near our church and tried live out what it truly meant to love like breathing.
This article was published in the Winter 2010 edition of Glad Tidings, my first appearance in a Canadian magazine, eh!
Immediately, I knew that we needed to make a major shift in our ministry focus and that it wouldn’t be an easy process. Years of investment would need to be adjusted.
We would need to develop a true balance between loving God and loving people. Our unspoken checklist would need to be redirected while a spoken desire to see teenagers in a deep relationship with Christ would become a major focus. Deep surrender to God’s call would allow teenagers to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit each day.
Rather than create mission-based programs and trips, we would need to teach the teenagers to be “missional” in every aspect of their lives…at school, at home, and even at church. We hoped that we could all learn to love like breathing.
Living It Out
The week that we returned to Tampa, I walked down the street to the basketball courts near the projects. The courts were all packed with kids playing pick-up basketball like they did everyday. I had driven past them every day for nearly a year. I walked around and invited them to come to an open gym time after church on Wednesday night. Even though they looked at me like I was crazy and out of place, within six weeks most of them were coming to our air-conditioned gym for a short Bible study and a great game of hoops.
We never drove 15 hours again to find people who were in desperate need. Instead, we walked the 15 minutes down to the projects near our church and tried live out what it truly meant to love like breathing.
This article was published in the Winter 2010 edition of Glad Tidings, my first appearance in a Canadian magazine, eh!
Monday, April 25, 2011
Love Like Breathing-Part 3
The Breakthrough
After we returned home to Tampa Bay, I continued to struggle with our youth ministry strategy and philosophy. I knew we needed to make some changes, but I wasn’t sure where to start. The answer came from a book about social justice I was reading one afternoon.
The book pointed me to the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats found in Matthew 25:31-46. The parable starts…
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
This is a scene of judgment where Jesus separates people based on an incredibly simple checklist: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, providing for the needy, and visiting those in prison. In short, caring for people in need.
It struck me that this list was so much different than the unspoken list that existed in our ministry. I was shocked by the answer of the righteous sheep on His right.
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
How could they not remember doing all of these things? It seems to me that someone would remember visiting prisons or feeding the hungry or providing for the needy.
The cursed goats on the left were judged by the exact same criteria.
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
Read the goat’s answer…it is exactly the same as the righteous on the right! Even though I had read this passage numerous times, I had never noticed this before.
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
I had always assumed that this was an obvious contrast between those who are clearly saved and those who chose lives of wickedness and eternal punishment. Looking closer, it now seemed to be a comparison of the righteous sheep and those who thought they were righteous sheep but were actually cursed goats and didn’t know it. The cursed goats were living their lives for God according to a sort of checklist of obligations. The goats thought they were living for God because they worked through the checklist God required
Look more closely at the answer of the sheep.
“Lord, when did we…?”
Now look closely at the reply of the goats.
“Lord, when did we…?”
The answers are the same but they represent two different perspectives. For the goats on the left, they were wanting to know where this list of new responsibilities were on their checklist.
“Lord, when were these added? If you had told us you specifically wanted us to do this, we would have been right on it!”
The goats would be people who would wake up everyday and ask, “What am I going to do great for God today?”
This sounded so similar to my answer to God driving out of the projects. “But God this is what we are supposed to do! You told us that we needed to care for those in need and here we are.” Check!
This contrasts sharply with the sheep who seemed surprised by all of this. Apparently, they had been caring for the needy all along without even realizing it. Caring for those in need was simply part of their spiritual DNA and came as easily to them as breathing. Instead of ministering for Jesus, they were ministering to Him. Notice verse
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
The sheep would start each day with the question, “God, what are we going to do today?” By walking in relationship with God closely each day, they were naturally able to love others like breathing. And by doing so, they were loving the very people about which God was most concerned.
After we returned home to Tampa Bay, I continued to struggle with our youth ministry strategy and philosophy. I knew we needed to make some changes, but I wasn’t sure where to start. The answer came from a book about social justice I was reading one afternoon.
The book pointed me to the Parable of the Sheep and the Goats found in Matthew 25:31-46. The parable starts…
"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
This is a scene of judgment where Jesus separates people based on an incredibly simple checklist: feeding the hungry, giving drink to the thirsty, welcoming the stranger, providing for the needy, and visiting those in prison. In short, caring for people in need.
It struck me that this list was so much different than the unspoken list that existed in our ministry. I was shocked by the answer of the righteous sheep on His right.
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
How could they not remember doing all of these things? It seems to me that someone would remember visiting prisons or feeding the hungry or providing for the needy.
The cursed goats on the left were judged by the exact same criteria.
"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
Read the goat’s answer…it is exactly the same as the righteous on the right! Even though I had read this passage numerous times, I had never noticed this before.
"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
I had always assumed that this was an obvious contrast between those who are clearly saved and those who chose lives of wickedness and eternal punishment. Looking closer, it now seemed to be a comparison of the righteous sheep and those who thought they were righteous sheep but were actually cursed goats and didn’t know it. The cursed goats were living their lives for God according to a sort of checklist of obligations. The goats thought they were living for God because they worked through the checklist God required
Look more closely at the answer of the sheep.
“Lord, when did we…?”
Now look closely at the reply of the goats.
“Lord, when did we…?”
The answers are the same but they represent two different perspectives. For the goats on the left, they were wanting to know where this list of new responsibilities were on their checklist.
“Lord, when were these added? If you had told us you specifically wanted us to do this, we would have been right on it!”
The goats would be people who would wake up everyday and ask, “What am I going to do great for God today?”
This sounded so similar to my answer to God driving out of the projects. “But God this is what we are supposed to do! You told us that we needed to care for those in need and here we are.” Check!
This contrasts sharply with the sheep who seemed surprised by all of this. Apparently, they had been caring for the needy all along without even realizing it. Caring for those in need was simply part of their spiritual DNA and came as easily to them as breathing. Instead of ministering for Jesus, they were ministering to Him. Notice verse
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
The sheep would start each day with the question, “God, what are we going to do today?” By walking in relationship with God closely each day, they were naturally able to love others like breathing. And by doing so, they were loving the very people about which God was most concerned.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Love Like Breathing-Part 2
Time for a Change
When we arrived back at the dorms, everyone was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. We planned to go downtown after dinner to talk with the homeless so everyone settled in to rest for the afternoon.
I began to think about the question God asked me. Honestly, I was frustrated because I had worked so hard to develop a strategy that actually inspired the youth to be excited about our church. And yet, somehow, it seemed that we were missing the point.
As I lay there, my mind wandered to James 1:27…
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Meditating on this verse it seemed that God wanted my ministry to focus on two main things: teaching teenagers to love and honor God with their lives and to care for people in their need.
Then I thought of Matthew 22:34-37…
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love you neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.’
Again, this passage seemed to say the same thing. My ministry should focus on two main things: teaching teenagers to love and honor God with their lives and teaching them to care for people in need.
Simply put, both passages encouraged me to help build a ministry that would challenge teenagers to love God and love people. Obvious right?
While our ministry offered opportunities to be involved in both areas, our greatest focus was on loving God. This trip was one of the few opportunities our youth would have all year to actively “look after orphans and widows” in their need. The rest of our programs and activities were designed to grow students into maturity in Christ, to help them become more like Him.
It occurred to me that we had created an unspoken checklist of activities that serious Christian teenagers would follow to honor Christ. This list was predictable. A serious Christian teenager would: read the Bible and pray everyday, share their faith with their friends, attend church programs and trips, not smoke, drink, or use drugs, not have sex before marriage, not listen to inappropriate music or watch rated R movies. The list was extensive and always growing.
Was it possible that my ministry was out of balance? Were we overly focused on loving God with very little focus on loving people in need around us?
When we arrived back at the dorms, everyone was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. We planned to go downtown after dinner to talk with the homeless so everyone settled in to rest for the afternoon.
I began to think about the question God asked me. Honestly, I was frustrated because I had worked so hard to develop a strategy that actually inspired the youth to be excited about our church. And yet, somehow, it seemed that we were missing the point.
As I lay there, my mind wandered to James 1:27…
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Meditating on this verse it seemed that God wanted my ministry to focus on two main things: teaching teenagers to love and honor God with their lives and to care for people in their need.
Then I thought of Matthew 22:34-37…
Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested Him with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love you neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.’
Again, this passage seemed to say the same thing. My ministry should focus on two main things: teaching teenagers to love and honor God with their lives and teaching them to care for people in need.
Simply put, both passages encouraged me to help build a ministry that would challenge teenagers to love God and love people. Obvious right?
While our ministry offered opportunities to be involved in both areas, our greatest focus was on loving God. This trip was one of the few opportunities our youth would have all year to actively “look after orphans and widows” in their need. The rest of our programs and activities were designed to grow students into maturity in Christ, to help them become more like Him.
It occurred to me that we had created an unspoken checklist of activities that serious Christian teenagers would follow to honor Christ. This list was predictable. A serious Christian teenager would: read the Bible and pray everyday, share their faith with their friends, attend church programs and trips, not smoke, drink, or use drugs, not have sex before marriage, not listen to inappropriate music or watch rated R movies. The list was extensive and always growing.
Was it possible that my ministry was out of balance? Were we overly focused on loving God with very little focus on loving people in need around us?
Monday, April 18, 2011
Love Like Breathing-Part 1
“You have five minutes to pack up and load your vehicles. When you are loaded, we will escort your group off the property.”
In shock, I turned to the police officer and asked him to explain.
“There’s trouble brewing outside and we believe your group is in danger. We would like you to leave as soon as possible.”
Apparently, some gang activity had flared up and the police was worried that having a group of rich white kids from the suburbs running a puppet show in the community center might set off a real confrontation of some sort outside.
As soon as our puppet group completed the next song, I abruptly ended our show and instructed our students to pack up the stage and puppets and wait in the hallway.
I pulled the church van up against the building and our adults made a human shield as our students crawled into the van and laid down on the seats and in the floor. Under police escort, I was the only person who could be seen as we drove through one of the most violent housing projects in New Orleans and out onto the interstate.
As I was driving through unprotected from gunfire or attack, God seemed to speak directly to me. In a nutshell God said, “Why did you drive these kids 14 hours to place them in danger? Aren’t there projects back in Tampa…why did you drive past those to come here?”
My head spun as I tried to formulate an answer. I tried to think of all the spiritual reasons...we had raised thousands of dollars, conducted months of training, and driven half way across the United States. I sensed that God wouldn’t believe any of them so I just tried to tell the truth.
“Because it’s my job and the kids and their families really thought this was an impressive trip. Plus, this is what good Christians are supposed to do, right?”
Honestly, this trip was another thing to mark off the checklist of expectations I worked from as a youth pastor.
Then God gently asked me, “Do you love these people here enough to give your life for them? Think about your answer...because I do”
The answer was obvious and painful…absolutely not.
In shock, I turned to the police officer and asked him to explain.
“There’s trouble brewing outside and we believe your group is in danger. We would like you to leave as soon as possible.”
Apparently, some gang activity had flared up and the police was worried that having a group of rich white kids from the suburbs running a puppet show in the community center might set off a real confrontation of some sort outside.
As soon as our puppet group completed the next song, I abruptly ended our show and instructed our students to pack up the stage and puppets and wait in the hallway.
I pulled the church van up against the building and our adults made a human shield as our students crawled into the van and laid down on the seats and in the floor. Under police escort, I was the only person who could be seen as we drove through one of the most violent housing projects in New Orleans and out onto the interstate.
As I was driving through unprotected from gunfire or attack, God seemed to speak directly to me. In a nutshell God said, “Why did you drive these kids 14 hours to place them in danger? Aren’t there projects back in Tampa…why did you drive past those to come here?”
My head spun as I tried to formulate an answer. I tried to think of all the spiritual reasons...we had raised thousands of dollars, conducted months of training, and driven half way across the United States. I sensed that God wouldn’t believe any of them so I just tried to tell the truth.
“Because it’s my job and the kids and their families really thought this was an impressive trip. Plus, this is what good Christians are supposed to do, right?”
Honestly, this trip was another thing to mark off the checklist of expectations I worked from as a youth pastor.
Then God gently asked me, “Do you love these people here enough to give your life for them? Think about your answer...because I do”
The answer was obvious and painful…absolutely not.
Friday, March 11, 2011
March Madness 2011-Dare I Believe?
The Memphis Tigers pulled off another improbable victory in a game they should have won against Southern Miss winning 66-63. Joe Jackson showed flashes of his potential scoring a team high 15 points and hitting two free throws to seal the win in the last few seconds. As always, I start to believe. But should I?
Should I believe that Memphis can beat East Carolina today in the semi-finals? Should I believe that the players, most of whom are 5 star blue chip recruits, will actually play with urgency? Should I believe that the Tigers will actually make some big 3 point shots today? ShouldI believe that this team that was at one time ranked #13 in the nation can actually win the C-USA Tournament and go Dancing in the Big Tournament?
Dare I believe?
I just can't help myself.
Go Tigers Go!
C-USA semi-final #2
East Caroline vs. Memphis
5:30pm CST
Should I believe that Memphis can beat East Carolina today in the semi-finals? Should I believe that the players, most of whom are 5 star blue chip recruits, will actually play with urgency? Should I believe that the Tigers will actually make some big 3 point shots today? ShouldI believe that this team that was at one time ranked #13 in the nation can actually win the C-USA Tournament and go Dancing in the Big Tournament?
Dare I believe?
I just can't help myself.
Go Tigers Go!
C-USA semi-final #2
East Caroline vs. Memphis
5:30pm CST
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