Growing a God sized heart

There are many things that matter in life but few as important as growing hearts that are God sized. That is a lifelong pursuit because His heart is so vast, so caring, so loving, so truthful, so courageous, so merciful, holy and gracious that all eternity will not suffice to get close to His heart. But there is no better pursuit.

Think about how having His heart impacts our relationships, actions and priorities:

• My care for the hurting - and they are all around us
• My responses to those who are irritating - we all have them in our lives
• My response to the crises that hit our world like the current crisis in Nepal
• How I choose to invest my gifts - for His purposes or primarily for mine
• How I choose to invest my funds - generosity for Him or selfishness for me
• The lens through which I make decisions - simply pragmatic or personal gain or through Jesus' eyes
• How I view my own personal sin - unimportant or deeply hurtful to God's heart
• How I view position, power and influence - as something I deserve or a trust that I hold

All Scripture reveals God's heart but if you really want to understand His heart read the Gospels for there we see it put into action in real life situations. What surprises us when we read carefully is how counter intuitive His heart is compared to what we would expect and to what society sees as normal. He surprised people around Him, His own disciples, those who were guilty, those who were resistant and the Pharisees. The more we develop His heart the more that will be true of our own lives as well. 

Posted from Oakdale, MN

All of T.J. Addington's books including his latest, Deep Influence,  are available from the author for the lowest prices and a $2.00 per book discount on orders of ten or more.

Is your heart rested or restless?

How is your heart today? Rested or restless? A restless heart is often a sign of inadequate time with God who is the One who brings profound peace and perspective to our lives regardless of our circumstances. We are restless precisely because our focus is more on ourselves, our work, and our challenges than it is on the source of our lives - Jesus. Ironically this is true for many in Christian leadership who are so busy doing things for God that they miss the point of being with God.

A rested heart, on the other hand, is one that is at peace with itself because it has the perspective of God. Truly rested hearts come only out of regular time with Him and a daily life that is deeply interconnected with His in prayer. 

It is not based on the circumstances of life but on the person of God. It is expressed well by the Psalmist when he says, "Be still and know that I am God." And that is the key - being still before God and understanding that He is God - and we are not! Being reminded daily of who He is brings a perspective on life that nothing else can bring.

Leaders are especially prone to restless hearts because we run too hard and must deal with too many pressing issues. We of all people need rested hearts as our perspective will spill out to others whom we lead. Restless hearts are anxious hearts, impatient hearts and even angry hearts. Rested hearts are peaceful, patient and trusting hearts in a sovereign and good God who can be trusted in all situations. Which kind of heart do you have today?

(Posted from Oakdale, MN)

15 minutes of fame or 45 years of faithful ministry

The ministry world is deeply impacted by its culture when it comes to who we pay attention to, admire and even follow. Our church makes the top 100 growing churches in a certain year, a book hits the big time on the latest and greatest ministry idea or sudden success in an arena engenders attention. Even in ministry 15 minutes of fame can trump 45 years of faithful ministry. And that is an indictment on how we think. 

Why do we chase the spotlight or those who are in the spotlight? Why do we assume that their few minutes in the sun means that they are worth emulating or their new idea worth trying? In fact, what does it say about us?

I am always interested in new ideas or good books or new strategies. But I am more impressed with those who have a long track record of faithful ministry, who have gone the distance and who see long term results. Chasing fads or the newest and greatest idea is not a value to me. Chasing those who are enjoying the spotlight is not a value to me or to God - I suspect. It is also not good for the one in the spotlight in many instances who start to believe their own press.

Jesus wants us to chase after Him.

(Written today from Berlin, Germany)

Choosing a healthy path even when others don't

Many people work in organizations that have significant issues, or attend churches with the same. Welcome to our world which made up of people is highly imperfect. While I wish we all were in healthy workplaces or churches we are not. That being said, we always have a choice: Do I contribute to dysfunction or to health?

The issue is not whether there will be dysfunction in my church or place of work - that is a fact of life. The issue is whether I will deliberately and consistently choose healthy attitudes and practices in spite of what others around me are doing. That is my choice!

Truly healthy individuals simply choose a healthy path even when others don't.

Think about the choices we have:

• I choose whether I get pulled into other people's stuff or avoid triangulation.
• I choose whether I engage in gossip and the putting down of others or choose only to speak well of others.
• I choose whether I keep short accounts in relationships or allow bitterness and conflict to fester unresolved.
• I choose whether I am honest and transparent while still being diplomatic and kind or whether I am cynical and angry.
• I choose whether I live with personal integrity or skirt the edges.

The powerful common denominator in all this is that we always have a choice. No matter how dysfunctional our surroundings we always have a choice. That is empowering to us and powerful in its influence with others.

It is also very freeing. Getting wrapped up in bad attitudes, unhappiness, emotional triangles, unresolved conflict are all massive energy wasters and bondage makers. Choosing a healthy path is freeing. It is also a quiet but powerful influence for health when things are not healthy.

We have far more power over our circumstances and attitudes than we often think. And more influence than we know if we will choose a healthy path even when others don't!

Five temptations leaders face

Leadership positions are a mixed blessing. For those wired to lead it is a joy to be in one's sweet spot. However, leadership brings with it a set of very real temptations that trip up CEO's, pastors, presidents and ministry leaders. Given these temptations, the first priority of every leader ought to be health: emotional, relational, spiritual, leadership and skill health. In the absence of that kind of care, there is a high likelihood that a leader will suffer one or more of the following temptations.

Isolation
Leaders find themselves in a difficult place. They higher one rises in leadership responsibility the more isolated it feels. Good leaders, while collegial and approachable are not "one of the boys," or "one of the girls." They must push the missional agenda with those they lead and while the culture may well be collegial, they are still the leader and their focus on the missional along with decisions they must make will not always leave them popular.

Leaders who are promoted from within their organization quickly realize that the relationships they had with their peers have changed. It must if one is going to lead well.

Isolation, however, is a trap because we were not made to live in isolation. Isolation breeds loneliness and loneliness breeds unhealthy habits and addictions in a desire to fill that hole of loneliness. Leaders must face that temptation squarely and intentionally foster deep, meaningful relationships with peers at their level and friendships outside their organization. Isolation is dangerous so there needs to be a strategy to counter it.

Feeding a dark side
As noted above, feeding a dark side is often the result of isolation. Long hours, loneliness, constant travel, lack of genuine friendships all leave one vulnerable to unhealthy addictions: pornography, affairs, gambling, drugs, alcohol or other risky behaviors. The unconscious justification is "I need an outlet to my hectic leadership responsibilities."

Isolation and dark sides go together. Wise leaders have a deliberate strategy for avoiding isolation and the development of healthy habits that minimize the need to feed the dark side - which is simply a way to fill some emotional, spiritual or relational hole.

Running on empty
Many leaders have bought the lie that in order for them to lead well they need to be constantly on the move, running from one important meeting to another, one city or country to another. One cannot run a sprint twenty hours a day, day after day, and not pay the price.

God did not design us to run on empty. It can feel good - after all I am so important that I have this incredibly busy schedule - my input is needed all over the place: balderdash! Busyness may feed our self importance but it is not a necessity of leadership. Wise leaders set a livable pace, building in relational time, think time, rest time, and they say no to tons of good things in order to say yes to the most important things. Run on empty long enough and your leadership will be compromised

Taking short cuts
It is amazing how many leaders run aground on the shoals of ethical issues. After all, I work so hard, I give so much of myself to the organization, I am owed something too! Above all, leaders must model the highest ethical behavior and go the extra mile to avoid any appearance of ethical short cuts.

Arrogance
Arrogance is both the end result of the first four temptations and feeds them further. Arrogance is an attitude that the rules don't belong to me, I am the one with the needed wisdom, as the leader, I am different, and this ministry or company revolves around me.

Many leaders fall to this temptation. In the end it severely compromises their ability to lead because those around them will not give themselves to an arrogant leader - if they have other options.

Leadership is a high calling and for those who lead well a most satisfying job. But we will only be good leaders to the extent that we are healthy leaders. Healthy leaders live lives of significant discipline with a great deal of self knowledge because leadership 101 is avoiding the five temptations that will unravel my leadership!

Never forget

Every December 4 through January 14 since 2007 I daily read the blog www.reachtj.blogspot.com as a remembrance to the hope we have in Jesus and the grace that he extends so freely to us. The blog is the account of my 42 day hospital stay from which I never should have survived - but God gave my family hope and He extended to me  the grace of an extension of life for which I am eternally grateful. 

The battle between life and death started on December 4 when I entered the hospital unable to breath. They quickly determined that I was in congestive heart failure and had massive pneumonia and a huge pleural effusion (a collection of fluid in the wall of the lung-like having a liter of pop stuck inside your lung wall). What they would not know for a week was that it was MRSA  or Methicyllin resistant staphylococcus aureas- a "super bug" pneumonia. This would lead to septic shock, Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome, a failed mitral valve in my heart, high fevers that required ice cooling jackets, the shutting down of some of my organs, heartbeats of 220 or higher without the ability to shock my heart back into rhythm - all this while I was in a coma and on a ventilator. On a number of occasions the doctors gathered the family to prepare them for my imminent death.

Amazingly God gave my wife, Mary Ann, hope two days into this ordeal. Two days later was the day that I told her I believed I was going to die. It was the day that they would put me on a ventilator from which I should not have woken up alive. It was the day that I could barely breath as I felt I was drowning in my own fluids. But two days before that day as she sat by me bed she asked Jesus, "How should I pray?" And God replied in an audible voice (to her), "It will be very close, but T.J. will live." A voice of hope when there was no human hope. A voice of hope that she clung to during the next weeks of a life and death struggle. When the doctors gently told the family there was no hope she stood on the hope God had given her. She was a rock of faith as were my sons Jon and Chip who walked through the dark days with her and became men in the process. I owe a deep debt of gratitude to the love and perseverance of Mary Ann, Jon and Chip!

Our family experienced amazing grace during and after those days. Our prayer partners came to pray and love on the family. Friends gathered around and sheltered them in their love. And time and again, God gave His grace when it was needed. One night as my youngest sister was standing by my bed angry with God tired and discouraged, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Immediately she knew that it was going to be OK whether I lived or I died. She turned to see who was there but there was no one. She knew she had been touched by God or an angelic being. On another day, a nurse came in tears to Mary Ann and said through tears, "I was just in T.J.'s room and God gave me a vision of him alive and well!"

People often ask me what I remember from my coma. Only one thing. I knew that my lungs were ruined but that God had a set of perfectly healthy lungs for me. That was the Spirit's encouragement to me when I was deeply sick and unable to process what was going on. Another blessing!

Most of all we were blessed through the thousands who prayed for God to do something miraculous and extraordinary. It is the faith and prayers of thousands around the world whom God answered in His sovereignty in choosing to heal my broken heart, clear my lungs, defeat MRSA, septic shock, cool the fevers until the day I walked out of the hospital on January 14, a product of His grace.

God gives us hope in all situations and His grace is with us always. Think back to the situations you have been in where He has shown you His hope and His grace and never forget. Never forget! It is His grace that sustains us day to day, it is His hope that walks with us through the dark nights of the soul that we all experience. Someone asked me, "How do you remember?" One of the ways I remember is to read the blog put up for me daily from December 4 to January 14. It is a month of remembrance for me.  I will follow that practice until I see Jesus face to face and can thank Him in person. 

I am a walking billboard of God's hope and grace. So are you. Never forget. Always live in thanks for His hope and grace. 

http://www.reachtj.blogspot.com/

Two deadly distractions

There are two distractions that each of us face in our lives - and which all church leaders fight against with those they lead. They are the distractions of the numerous options that we have for our time and attention which often keep us from intentional and Christ centered living and the distraction of selfishness which keeps our focus on me instead of Him.

I love the options that our world affords us. Options that just a few years ago were not readily available. Those options, however, are both a blessing and a curse. They are a blessing if carefully chosen but a curse if carelessly lived.

I am often reminded of Ephesians 2:10, that "We were created in Christ Jesus for good works which he prepared in advance for us to do." Each of us has a mission in life designed by God. That mission is connected with the gifting and wiring He gave to us and He wants us to use them on His behalf. This is our highest priority.

The options for how we spend out time often crowd out the very ministry that Christ created us for. Accidental living and busyness are the killers of intentionality and focus. Options are great - as long as I keep my focus first on what it is that Jesus has for me to do on His behalf. I love the options I have in this life but if our love for Jesus is primary we keep Him central, His work central and are not distracted from our central focus by all the ways we can spend out time and energy.

The second distraction is even more difficult than the first. Is life about me or about Him? The selfish natures of our hearts keep pulling us back to thinking that life is about me. It impacts my interests, my energy, my activities, my money and my priorities. Going back to Ephesians 2:10, we are reminded that life is not about us but about God.

Getting this right is a game changer in our lives. It changes everything and impacts our philosophy of life, the way we structure our lives, the world view we embrace and the daily activities we pursue.

In fact, conversion is all about recognizing that life is not about me but about God. It is not simply a ticket to eternal life but a revolution in our perspective on everything.

Each of us fights these two diversions. Our personal challenge is to get these right. Our ministry leadership challenge is to help others get it right as well.

Rekindling passion for the next run

I spoke recently to a long time friend in ministry who is tired. I could hear it in his voice. With the tiredness has come questions about whether he is in the right place and what his next run looks like. As the pastor of a church that has experienced significant growth over the past three years he realizes that if he is to ramp up for a new phase of ministry that he is going to need to rekindle his passion and make some strategic changes.

In conversations with colleagues in their fifties, I find this to be a very common struggle.

Many reading this blog have been in a similar position. Certainly I have, at a number of junctures of my career. While it is a frustrating place to be, these junctures represent a significant opportunity because they force us to look at ourselves, our gifting, our wiring, God's call on our lives and rethink our assignment for even greater ministry impact.

Obviously I do not know what is right for my friend. However, I do believe that there are some guiding principles that can help us evaluate how we respond to our lack of passion and the rekindling of that passion.

First, recognize that long ministry runs at high energy levels inevitably deplete us and we are naturally left tired, empty and wishing there was a different way of doing life. In many respects that personal depletion is a result of good things that God has done but our bodies and spirits cannot sustain that kind of pace for ever.

Second, there are natural junctures over our career where unless we refocus our energies so our time is more directly spent in our areas of greatest strength and get out of areas of weakness, we will increasingly become bored and unfulfilled in our work. It is natural for this to happen in our fifties because by then we are pretty aware of who God made us to be, what fills our tanks and what depletes us.

We look at the years before us and think to ourselves, I have a limited number of years left, I know how God has made me and what I am really good at, and I don't want to squander my time doing things that I am not made to do. How we respond to this inner prompting - indicated by our lack of passion may well determine whether we coast to a finish, keep on our current trajectory or figure out how to ramp up for an even more effective next run. We also know that our pace is not sustainable and ultimately not fulfilling.

Usually, significant tiredness indicates that we are moving too fast, probably doing things that are not in our sweet spot and need to refocus what we do if we are going to re-engage for the next run.

The last time I faced such a juncture, I went to those who knew me best, inside and outside of my organization and asked the question, "Knowing what you know about me and how God made me and where I am most effective, and my organization, what are the things you think I must do and what are the things you believe I ought to give up?" It was fascinating to me that the response I received was pretty uniform and I was able to refocus my personal role around four areas where I uniquely gifted - and give up some things where I am not.

Rekindling passion almost always involves letting some things go that others can and should be doing and refocusing our energies around our greatest strengths. It is doing less in order to do more and it is slowing down to do "more" better.

Third, recognize that refocusing your role may create a crisis of sorts in your organization because it often means reorganizing your leadership structure which brings advantage to you (you are better positioned in your sweet spot) and brings perceived loss to others.

The loss may be to congregations who expect their senior pastor to take care of all of the pastoral care and no longer does, to other leaders who are used to more access to you who no longer do or other scenarios depending on your situation. There is no refocusing that does not bring some loss for you as you give something up or to others who are affected by your revised focus.

One of the reasons that pastors often leave a successful ministry at this juncture is that their leaders who love them do not understand the need to refocus and rather than fight that battle a senior member of the staff may choose to move on. It is often an unnecessary loss for both the pastor and the church had they understood the dynamics involved.

This leads me to a fourth principle. You may need to bring in an outside adviser or consultant to help you refocus and to help a board or staff understand the value and importance of that refocus. You are not then left as the one trying to convince others that this is a good thing or be seen as looking out for yourself when in fact it is a matter of what will best serve the organization.

My final observation is that what is best for you in refocusing your role in order to rekindle passion for the next run is usually what is best for the ministry as well. Your ability to live in your area of greatest strength is a huge plus for the ministry. Their flexibility in allowing that repositioning is to their advantage because your renewed energy, engagement and effectiveness is the result.

Paying attention to the hidden inner terrain of our lives

It is the inner terrain of our lives that determines who we are and who we become. Hidden, it is known to us alone although it's residual spills out in ways good or bad, depending on what is there. We often seek to ignore it, sometimes depress it but wise individuals develop a deeply sensitive barometer to their inner terrain - knowing its importance from a spiritual and personal perspective.

Let me suggest that there are seven rooms in our inner terrain that need to be understood and which we need to pay close attention to. These seven rooms are the source of much of who we are. When neglected they hurt us. When attention is paid to them and the Holy Spirit is allowed to inhabit them, they change us and help us. Seven rooms for seven drivers of our lives, hidden deep in the recesses of our hearts.

Conscience
Our creator endowed sense of what is right and wrong. It is a delicate gift because when we ignore it we harden its impact and to the extent that we set it aside it becomes increasingly less reliable which is why sinful tendencies can become normal in our lives when we neglect it. 

Motivations
We can be motivated by Godly motivations or the motivations of our lower nature. Knowing the difference makes all the difference! Even those in full time ministry can be fooled that their motivations are spiritual when in fact they are base: success, fame, personal gratification, power or some other drive of our lower nature.

Thoughts
Hidden from others, we choose whether we take all "thoughts captive" in the words of Paul or whether we entertain baser instincts. Thoughts of envy, pride, anger, lust, impurity or those thoughts that lift self and suppress Jesus can be hidden from others until they spill over in our words, attitudes or actions. 

Desires
What we desire is what truly defines our lives. Others may not know but we know. And Jesus knows. Paul described his desires this way: "I want to know Christ - yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead (Philippians 3:10-11)" but also acknowledged that he too fought the fight between desires of the higher and lower nature on a daily basis (Romans 7). Every day we define our lives by the desires we entertain and pursue.

Convictions
Our convictions are a direct result of the terrain of our inner lives. Those with strong and righteous convictions have cultivated their inner compass to align with God's Word and truth. Those who lack conviction do so because they have not. What we hold convictions on is a direct indicator of the place we derive those convictions.

Passions
Passions drive us toward good or toward evil. They are that inner force that compel us in ways that we don't always understand but they are the result of what constitutes the inner terrain of our lives. Those who have a passion for justice, or God, or righteousness have  this because of what they have cultivated. Those whose passions reflect those of the world have them because they have allowed the priorities of the world to crowd out those things that God counts important. 

Temptations
They are common to all of us. We either nurture them or starve them. There is no in-between. While temptation may not diminish until we see Jesus, our ability to deal with them can be strengthened depending on how we treat the inner terrain of our hearts and lives. The Holy Spirit is the difference maker along with whatever disciplines we nurture to keep Jesus central. 

The inner terrain of our lives matters - a lot. Jesus says that what comes out of a man comes from the inside. Nurture the inside and we directly impact our attitudes and behaviors. To the extent that we neglect our inner lives, we pay the price both internally and externally.

When God gives us a full cup to hold

Full cups of anything are hard to hold, my steaming cup of coffee in the morning for instance, without spilling. Many of us hold full cups of something which are trusts from God. It may be a full cup of success, or of responsibility, or of money, it could be a full cup of suffering, or of significant gifting, or maybe wisdom or even vision. Whatever it is, we know the cup is full and others know the cup is full and we must decide how we are going to handle that full cup.

Full cups are made to be held with a steady hand. 

A steady hand comes from a quiet settled confidence that what we hold is from the hand of God and we hold it on His behalf. It is not for us to be proud as it did not come from us. It is not ours to be used indiscriminately as we hold it in trust. 

Steady hands understand the source of what they hold in their cup and the one they hold it for. 

What do you hold in your cup and how well are you holding it?

Life is a pursuit: we are all chasing something

Life is a pursuit. We have dreams, goals, desires, inner drives, and our own dysfunctions and pride that all contribute to whatever it is that we are pursuing. Understanding what we are chasing is a complex undertaking. But we are all chasing something!

In his advice to his protegee, Timothy, the Apostle Paul gives him some clear and salient counsel about those things he should chase. "But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith...(1 Timothy 6:11:-12)."

What he was to flee from is exactly what the world chases after - the love of money, discontentment, the "foolish and harmful desires" that drive so many. What he was to chase after were the spiritual qualities that define a person who looks like Jesus. We are all chasing something. Paul says be clear about what you are chasing and make sure that it is worthy of the chase.

We are defined by what we pursue in life. Chase the wrong things and we are like those Paul talks about who have "pierced themselves with many griefs (1 Timothy 6:10). 

In the end it is a person who defines our pursuit: God! Paul trips over his words to try to define the only one worthy of our pursuit. "God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen (1 Timothy 6:15-16).

What or whom are you chasing today? If you lead others, your chase will impact everyone you lead. 

Understanding what truly motivates us in ministry

For those of us who lead others in ministry, understanding what motivates us and drives us is a complicated but important question. There are many possible answers to even ministry motivation. They can include joining God in His work, our own ego, recognition, the applause of others, fulfilling someone else's motivations, personal ambition, or just wanting to be successful. On any given day or period in our lives, the answer could be different. 

Every leader is building something. That is the nature of leadership. Who we are building for is a far trickier question. Here is the issue that should give us pause. The pull of our lower nature is strong and when we are not highly sensitive both to the call of God on our lives and are not intentionally staying in close fellowship with Him, our inner motivations gravitate toward us and our own fulfillment rather than keeping Him and His call preeminent in our leadership. In other words, it is very easy for us to be meeting our own needs in our Spiritual leadership rather than leading on His behalf. It is a subtle but massive shift in motivation.

Why does it matter? Because we lead people toward the individual we lead for. If we are truly motivated by God's call and mission we will lead people on behalf of and toward Him! If we are actually motivated by our own ambition and a personal mission we will lead people on behalf of and toward us. Thus the motivations of our hearts have very real consequences for those who we lead. It is a subtle but it is real!

How do we know what really motivates us? It takes a great deal of introspection, thought, personal evaluation and being aware of our own drives and needs as they intersect with God's call on our lives. Ultimately the closer we stay to Jesus, the more sensitive we will be to Him. When we become distracted from Jesus (even by ministry) we become less sensitive to His call and are easily diverted by our own "shadow mission." It is possible to start our leadership with high sensitivity to leading on His behalf but over time to allow it to become about us rather than Him. 

Never take your motivations for granted. We are all building something and motivated by something. Knowing who we are actually building for and whose motivations we are fulfilling is vitally important. We don't want to get to the end and realize we were chasing the wrong thing. Our hearts are deceitful and we are easily deceived unless we are constantly being transformed by Jesus.

The real test of the depth of our faith

Here is an interesting question to ponder. What is the real test of the depth of our faith? One could answer the number of years we have walked with Christ. Or, the depth of our theology. Perhaps the ministries we have been involved in. Our work for Jesus.

I don't think it is any of those and I don't think it is dependent on how long we have been Christ followers.

The real test of the depth of our faith is when we face a situation or adversity where all of our own resources have been exhausted and we choose to trust God for the outcome no matter what it is. That is the point at which our true depth is tested and revealed. Not in the good times but in the very tough times.

It is in those times when we must grapple with the question of whether God is sovereign over our lives and if yes, if He is also good, no matter what the outcome. It is in those times when we must choose His hope over our despair and trust over disillusionment or bitterness. I have watched young believers respond with amazing faith and old believers with bitterness toward God. When adversity comes, the true depth of our faith is revealed - without exception.

In an ancient day, when calamity was about to come on the people of Judah, God's man Habakkuk said this:

"Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no food, 
though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls, 
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to tread on the heights"
Habakkuk 3:17-19

Habakkuk passed the test. Will we and do we? Life is very complicated and inevitably we come to those junctures and seasons where we have exhausted our own resources. Then life becomes amazingly simple: do we trust Him with the simple Child like faith that Jesus spoke of - and in the end - that is the deepest faith.

Eternal perspectives on ordinary issues

Here's an interesting concept. Many of the ordinary things we do and activities we engage in have eternal consequences. So here is the question: Is it possible to develop eternal perspectives on ordinary issues?

Last year I became a grandfather - which of course means I am gentle and kind and wise (at least in his eyes). An ordinary occurrence (nothing ordinary about my grandson of course) but one that has eternal consequences. How I see my stewardship of this important relationship will impact his relationship with God, with others and perhaps with his divine calling on life. Thus I desire to take an eternal perspective on this special relationship.

Every month I make decisions on my finances - an ordinary issue. Yet, Paul says that we are to be generous and willing to help others and in doing so we store up treasures in heaven. In saying that, he removes my monthly financial decisions from the ordinary and suggests that I take an eternal perspective on my decisions.

Or, take my friendships in our neighborhood with people I like and love and who don't know Jesus. If Mary Ann and I can influence them to look at Jesus and His life changing relationship, our common friendship just took on an eternal perspective. So for the waiters and waitresses in our favorite restaurant - the Downtowner Woodfire Grill. Every meal there presents an opportunity to relate to and love those who serve us and know us and all of a sudden our meal takes on an eternal perspective.

Then there are my deep friendships with those who do know Jesus and are fellow pilgrims in the journey that is life. How I encourage them and influence them - and they me - has eternal results. If we encourage one anther toward a closer walk with Jesus and support one another in the hard times and rejoice in the good times, what are special friendships take on eternal perspective.

When you think of it, there are many ordinary activities in our lives that can actually have an eternal perspective if we pay attention and think them through. Life is more connected with eternity than we often realize. What happens here often has eternal impact. In that perspective, much that we see as ordinary is actually not ordinary at all.

Our culture and Kingdom culture

Here is an interesting question to ask yourself. What parts of the culture in which you live  would God celebrate? He was, after all, the originator of differing cultures and languages back at the Tower of Babel. Many things in our cultures are good and healthy. 

Take the emphasis on family and friendships in many cultures. The long meals - lasting hours - in some where the gift of food and drink and fellowship come together. Or, the respect for the elderly (those of us over fifty say wise) in other cultures. Or weddings that last three days with great celebrations. There are many wonderful and unique cultural differences that bring color and richness to all of us. It is one of the reasons I love my job which takes me to many different cultures and the wonderful friends I meet there. I learn so much from other cultures as I travel, interact and minister.

There is a second question though that is equally important. What are the parts of the culture in which I live that God would not celebrate. It is an important question because we are often rather blind to the deficiencies in our cultures (we are part of it) and while we may easily spot deficiencies in the cultures of others we are blind to our own.

My home culture suffers from some deep deficiencies: the thinking that materialism and success is a guarantee from God. Chasing after things instead of pursuing Jesus closely. A can do attitude (good) which often leaves dependence of Jesus out of the equation (bad). A morality based on personal preferences rather than on righteousness and which pervades the church as much as it does our society.

The reason these two questions are important is that as Christians we actually live in two different cultures simultaneously. Our home culture and God's Kingdom culture and they are not the same. In entering His Kingdom we take on a set of Kingdom cultural practices that supersede our earthly home culture and which unite all Christians from all cultures across our globe. That is why Christians from many cultures can be together and feel a great unity and oneness.

Those who travel oversees in ministry often come home with a new set of eyes as they see their own culture from the outside for the first time. What God desires is that we so immerse ourselves in Him and His culture through His word and His people that we are able to distinguish what is His culture is compared to our own - and when they clash, to choose Kingdom practices over our home cultural practices. 

All of life is influenced by culture. Think about your own culture in light of His Kingdom culture and be discerning as to those elements that call us to adopt His culture over our own. We are, after all citizens of heaven first and aliens and strangers in this world (1 and 2 Peter).

Moments of clarity - don't ignore them

One of the gifts God gives us from time to time are moments of clarity when something about life or God become crystal clear. It may be the goodness of God when He intervenes on our behalf, or a sinful pattern that He gets our attention on, a job we know we should give up or a family matter that grabs our attention. 

It is a moment when a bright light shines on our soul and we wake up to something that we had not experienced before.

Saul had a moment of clarity when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. David had a moment of clarity when Nathan confronted him regarding his sin. Moses had a moment of clarity at the burning bush. 

Moments of clarity are precious moments, holy moments when they  move us closer to God or point out something in our lives that demands our attention. The loss is when we either ignore them or forget them which we often do.

Think about the moments of clarity God has given you over the years and then consider whether you are living up to the clarity you were given in that moment. We become poorer when we ignore those moments when truth and understanding shine through. It may just be that God is speaking to us at that moment.

The heart of a Christian leader: sacrificial service

I have recently been mulling on the words that Paul wrote to the Corinthians in 2 Corinthians 6:3-10 and their implications for Christian leaders everywhere. The Corinthians were not an easy bunch to minister to. They were full of themselves it seems and rather ungrateful for Paul's ministry to them. He had opened his heart to them but they not to him (2 Cor. 6:11-13). All of us can relate to that at times in leadership.


Read carefully what he said about how he ministered to them.


"We put no stumbling block in anyone's path, so that our ministry will not be descredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of god with weapons of righteousness in the right and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as imposters; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed: sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything."


These themes stand out:


- A life and ministry that are above reproach
- Kindness and patience toward those he ministered to
- A life lived in the presence and power of God
- A willingness to suffer hardship for the sake of the Gospel
- A spirit of joy in spite of those hardships


There was no sense of entitlement on Paul's part. Rather, there was a willingness to endure hardship, misunderstanding and physical deprivation for the Gospel. He did not envy those who had more (the Corinthian church was wealthy) because he understood what he did have in spite of all his difficulties. He took a humble posture even toward those who had a posture of pride.

This is evident from the last sentence which is profound: "having nothing and yet possessing everything."  He fully understood that whatever his personal circumstances he actually possessed everything in Jesus. 


It is very easy in ministry leadership to feel sorry for ourselves, to think about what we do not have that others have and to feel a sense of entitlement and pride. But the heart of a true Christian leader is one of sacrificial service that gets its true satisfaction from the One we serve.


I want the heart of Paul because it is the heart of Jesus.

There is always more: don't settle

Is this all there is? Have you ever asked yourself that question? Realizing that life is different than you expected and maybe you are on the other side of fifty? Perhaps life as we dreamt it would be and life as we know it to be brings a certain dissapointment and restlessness of the soul. Is this all there is?


Jesus says NO! There is always more: don't settle. He says, "I have come that they may have life and have it to the full (John 10:10)." He wants us to have a life that is fully lived, fully realized, fully filled up and full of Him. He is the giver, the source and the goal of the "more" that we long for.


As long as we have life, there are six areas of life where we can always experience more. 


Dreams to pursue. Who is the giver of our deepest longings if not God? I knew as a young child that I would write but it took over fifty years to get the first book out and now there are four and several on the way. He is the giver of dreams so don't settle. Our world is made better every day by those who pursue God given dreams.


Relationships to develop. God gave us the capacity for close, meaningful relationships but they take time and nurturing to grow and flourish. Relationships with fellow pilgrims are what bring some of the greatest richness to life. Each one changes us in some way. That is why the loss of a friend through death is so traumatic. We are enriched when we invest in those relationships.


People to love. Being Jesus to others through our love, help, assistance, encouragement, and kindness brings joy to the heart and richness of life. We find life as we give it away in a Jesus sense. Life is not found in what we get as much as in what we give. There is no shortage of people to love and to be Jesus to. In fact there are now 7 billion to choose from so enrich your life daily by being Jesus to someone.


Growth in Jesus to experience. He is the source and goal of the "more" we long for. Learning to live in His presence, focusing on allowing Him to transform us, letting His Word marinate in our minds and walking in His Spirit is an ongoing, never ending process of growth. It costs nothing and is the most rewarding life giving and soul satisfying thing we could do.


Things to learn. Who created us with the capacity to learn and to grow if not our Creator? Those billions of neurons in our brain were designed by a creative God for His creative people. As part of the Image He endowed us with, He created us to create and to learn and to stretch our minds because the more we do, the more we appreciate the One who gave the gift. It is never too late to learn and grow.


Creation to enjoy. Why are we drawn to the shore, or to mountains, or to the streams to fly fish? Why are we awed by the sky on a clear dark night? Why does the sea fascinate us? Why is my 16 month old grandchild smitten by the funny looking creatures he sees at the zoo looking back at him? He made all this for us and as we consider it and play in it we experience the Creator in a new way. And, His majesty is greater than the sum of it. 


There is always more so don't settle. And in the end, the MORE with Him in His presence will be so much more that it will take a new and heavenly body to experience it - replacing this present one that starts of fail us. Don't settle!

Essential life questions

1. The one thing in my life I could not give up is...
2. If I could change one thing about my circumstances it would be...
3. My besetting sin is...
4. My greatest spiritual growth came as a result of...
5. The thing that brings me greatest joy is...
6. If I could fix one relationship it would be...
7. God uses me the most through...
8. My greatest need for prayer revolves around...
9. My greatest regret is...
10. I feel closest to God when...
11. I find it hardest to trust God regarding...
12. The issue God is talking to me about currently is...
13. If I knew I had one month to live I would...
14. God's greatest gift to me has been...
15. I am deeply thankful today for...

Is there anything you should do as a result of your answers?

Biblical illiteracy and its implications in the evangelical world

My parents generation knew their Bibles because they actually read it regularly and were taught the major theological terms/themes and their implications. My generation knows about the Bible because we read Christian living books once in a while but basic theology is weak. So what happens with my children's generation and the next? 

Each generation of believers is one generation away from biblical illiteracy and that illiteracy is very real today among evangelicals. As I pointed out in another blog (An essential Biblical vocabulary), many believers, including church leaders cannot even define the most basic theological terms which the Bible uses to define faith, our human condition, God's work on the cross, His work in our lives nor do they understand that God is calling them not only to salvation but to join Him in His work.

This illiteracy problem is also tied to the content of our preaching today which is often so geared to be "practical and relevant" that it becomes more self help and about us than about God who is the source and goal of our  lives. In fact, whenever our teaching and preaching is more focused on us than on God we know that the balance has shifted from Him to us - a subtle but deadly shift. The Scriptures are living water for our souls because the lead us to Him. The more we drink the more satisfied we are.

The result of this is inevitable: A cultural Christianity with a general knowledge about God but not a biblical Christianity with a specific knowledge of God. That is a subtle but deadly shift.

We vastly underestimate the power of God's word to actually bring change to people's live through the work of the Holy Spirit - including our own. As Paul said in 2 Timothy 3:16-17, "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Notice the the integral connection between our understanding of Scripture, its formative work in our lives and our resulting work on behalf of God and His Kingdom. These are all tied together and all related to our interaction with His Word and His Spirit as we read that Word. There is no substitute in our spiritual formation for direct, regular, honest, personal interaction with His Word. 

I would encourage all church leaders to consider these questions:

1. Do we have an ongoing plan to influence our congregation to be in God's word regularly so that there is no-one who calls themselves a Christ follower who is not regularly in the Book?
2. Do those in our congregation understand and can they articulate the theological concepts of the Bible? (If they cannot they most likely do not have a Scripturally based understanding of God and man)
3. Are you raising up a generation of young people who know their Bibles and interact with it regularly? Do they understand the basics of of the faith? Can they articulate them?
4. Finally, what is the quality of the church leaders' interaction with Scripture and are they theologically literate? If not it starts with you!

We would not settle for illiteracy when it comes to reading. Why do we so easily settle for illiteracy when it comes to God and His Word? Speaking of relevance - there is nothing more relevant than what God wants us to know about Him, to do in response, to understand and to apply to our lives. That is real relevance.