The Cross
Bill Shorey brought a message a few years ago at Christ Community and man oh man, it was powerful. Bill was "on" like I've never seen him. He is an evangelist at heart and today he pulled no punches. The message was on the Cross.
The modern church seems to shy away from the brutal honesty of the Cross. The church avoids the brutality of Christ's death on the Cross and unfortunately, we seem to shy away from the finality of the Cross. The Cross is the one and only and final way to God. God cannot be accessed except through Jesus and the Cross. Period.
As an aside, I was speaking with a lady this week about a retired Pastor here in town. She was saying that he preached the "we're all going to heaven" message his entire life. His funerals were always, "Pete's going to heaven, we all are going." The message of the modern church is more and more politically correct. "God doesn't exclude anyone, the Bible is a pathway to personal prosperity, you too can be successful, you're a winner in God", etc. Hogwash.
God is good and graceful and merciful but there is only one way to Him. Yes, God is love but God hates sin. Over and over in the Bible are stories of God dealing with sin. Adam expelled from the garden. Cain and Abel. Noah and the flood. Sodom. Pharaoh and the wrath of God. God hates sin.
All through the Old Testament, God sets up a system of sacrifices. Lambs, sheep, doves, goats, etc. were given as sacrificial offerings to pay for the sins of the people. God hates sin and He ALWAYS required blood to be shed to pay for sin. Always.
Yet, the church seems to shy away from that. It seems to exclude. It seems to paint the picture of God not loving us. So, we gloss it over and we shy away from it. There is but one way to God and it is through the incarnation and death on the Cross of His one and only Son.
Bill gave an example of a church in New England. The architect built the church and right up front there is a huge Cross. Right down front. A big, huge, very rough, heavy timber Cross. Right there in the middle of the church. Right in the way. When the preacher preaches, the Cross is right in front of him. It is in the way. To listen to the sermon, you have the Cross in between you and the preacher and you have to move your head to see the preacher and he is moving all around to see the people around the Cross. It is in the way. When there are funerals, there is barely any room up front for the casket. The Cross is in the way. There are stories of brides tearing their wedding gowns against the rough hewn timbers of the Cross.
Outside on the lawn of the church there is a large metal Cross. In the winter, the rust runs down the Cross and it quite literally looks like blood. It isn't pretty. It isn't esthetically pleasing. It isn't politically correct. It is the Cross.
See, here's the thing - God isn't trying to win a popularity contest. He isn't trying to please the world. God is just. He has His way. What happened on the Cross was brutal. There is but one way to get to God and it is only by way of the Cross. It isn't by charity. It isn't by being a good person. It isn't by good deeds. One way. The Cross.
Unfortunately, the Cross seems to be in the way for the world. We'd really rather not deal with it -surely, we don't have to talk about sacrifice, blood, torture, separation from God, pain and death. That is just so messy. Surely God is so good and I am good that He won't require me to deal with the Cross.
No my friend just like the Cross in that chapel up north, the Cross is in the way. You can't avoid it. You must deal with it, face it and embrace it.
Soar!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Tuesday, July 05, 2011
Why I "shut down" my facebook page...
I have effectively closed my facebook page. I didn't close it entirely - I remain friends with my family and a few pastors I am close with. I enjoy using facebook as a family photo album more than anything else. We can put up pictures of our life and those memories are easily accessible to me via my computer or ipad. So I didn't want to close the account completely but today, I deleted about 350 friends.
I have enjoyed facebook because it enabled me to reconnect with hundreds of people from high school and college that I otherwise probably would never have seen again. That's been very cool and, if managed properly, is very good and valid. Its been neat to see how we've all grown up, caught up on lives and seen their children.
My decision to "privatize" my facebook is a personal choice. In no way, shape or form do I seek to judge anyone else and how they use their facebook.
My first nagging came about a year ago...I just found myself getting tired of it. I began to "manage" my friends - hiding posts from some where I grew tired of their comments (OK - red flag here...that's not good) but not wanting to "de-friend" them less they think I was a jerk (another red flag). But I just kept thinking, "I'm tired of this..."
I have tried to teach my daughters that this cyber world is not "real". Texting and facebook are not "community". Yet for most teenagers, they have come to believe that they simply cannot do without their connection to their world. Their phones are glued to their hands and texts and facebook posts are constantly being checked. Teenagers live their lives through their cell phones. That's not good. That's not healthy. They are addicted to being connected to their world. They begin to think they won't survive this world unless they are totally plugged into it.
I'm not a teenager but that is one protest I personally have with facebook and texting.
But my real issue has been this feeling of creeping into other people's lives. Peering. We open up our homes, our vacations, our events and our lives for the whole world to see. Others peer into our lives. We welcome them in to look at our lives and our families and they can begin to think "they've got life pretty good". Or...we can peer into our friend's lives and see their successes and their beach trips or Italy trips or lake homes and we can begin to think..."They've got life pretty good". Some of that is good. It is right to celebrate other's success and happiness but there is something here that just nags at me. I really can't put my finger on it but it is a new paradigm - this ability to look into our friends daily lives and their daily postings of their trials and success - and for me (and please don't take this in ANY way personally)...but for me, it just has started to trouble me.
It is a well documented fact that facebook has enabled many a marriage to break apart. It provides yet another vehicle to reconnect with former loves or to establish new electronic relationships. Sadly, it is being frequently cited in divorces as a major contributor.
So my nagging feelings have some justification. There are valid reasons to be very careful with this electronic world we live in.
And then there is time. I rarely look at facebook during the day but I'd fallen into the trap of checking it at night. I have an ipad and usually most nights, I have it with me while watching TV and I'll spend 10-15 minutes scrolling through facebook. Most Saturday mornings drinking coffee, I'll scroll through it. Time. I'm devoting a couple of hours a week...peering, looking and wandering through 350 people's lives. That is -- for me -- a lot of wasted time.
So I've rebooted. Cleared the decks. I'm sure I've offended some people with this. That certainly is not my intention. It's just personal. It's a God-thing for me. He very clearly gave me this direction (God does not particularly like our devotion to our worldly gods). I woke up Sunday morning knowing what I needed to do and I followed.
I have effectively closed my facebook page. I didn't close it entirely - I remain friends with my family and a few pastors I am close with. I enjoy using facebook as a family photo album more than anything else. We can put up pictures of our life and those memories are easily accessible to me via my computer or ipad. So I didn't want to close the account completely but today, I deleted about 350 friends.
I have enjoyed facebook because it enabled me to reconnect with hundreds of people from high school and college that I otherwise probably would never have seen again. That's been very cool and, if managed properly, is very good and valid. Its been neat to see how we've all grown up, caught up on lives and seen their children.
My decision to "privatize" my facebook is a personal choice. In no way, shape or form do I seek to judge anyone else and how they use their facebook.
My first nagging came about a year ago...I just found myself getting tired of it. I began to "manage" my friends - hiding posts from some where I grew tired of their comments (OK - red flag here...that's not good) but not wanting to "de-friend" them less they think I was a jerk (another red flag). But I just kept thinking, "I'm tired of this..."
I have tried to teach my daughters that this cyber world is not "real". Texting and facebook are not "community". Yet for most teenagers, they have come to believe that they simply cannot do without their connection to their world. Their phones are glued to their hands and texts and facebook posts are constantly being checked. Teenagers live their lives through their cell phones. That's not good. That's not healthy. They are addicted to being connected to their world. They begin to think they won't survive this world unless they are totally plugged into it.
I'm not a teenager but that is one protest I personally have with facebook and texting.
But my real issue has been this feeling of creeping into other people's lives. Peering. We open up our homes, our vacations, our events and our lives for the whole world to see. Others peer into our lives. We welcome them in to look at our lives and our families and they can begin to think "they've got life pretty good". Or...we can peer into our friend's lives and see their successes and their beach trips or Italy trips or lake homes and we can begin to think..."They've got life pretty good". Some of that is good. It is right to celebrate other's success and happiness but there is something here that just nags at me. I really can't put my finger on it but it is a new paradigm - this ability to look into our friends daily lives and their daily postings of their trials and success - and for me (and please don't take this in ANY way personally)...but for me, it just has started to trouble me.
It is a well documented fact that facebook has enabled many a marriage to break apart. It provides yet another vehicle to reconnect with former loves or to establish new electronic relationships. Sadly, it is being frequently cited in divorces as a major contributor.
So my nagging feelings have some justification. There are valid reasons to be very careful with this electronic world we live in.
And then there is time. I rarely look at facebook during the day but I'd fallen into the trap of checking it at night. I have an ipad and usually most nights, I have it with me while watching TV and I'll spend 10-15 minutes scrolling through facebook. Most Saturday mornings drinking coffee, I'll scroll through it. Time. I'm devoting a couple of hours a week...peering, looking and wandering through 350 people's lives. That is -- for me -- a lot of wasted time.
So I've rebooted. Cleared the decks. I'm sure I've offended some people with this. That certainly is not my intention. It's just personal. It's a God-thing for me. He very clearly gave me this direction (God does not particularly like our devotion to our worldly gods). I woke up Sunday morning knowing what I needed to do and I followed.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Brookstone School Baccalaureate address May 22, 2011
I offer these to you as a father – advice I’d want my daughter to hear if I couldn’t be here to give it. Fortunately, I am here and so is she. So I give this advice to Hannah but also to you – many of you I love like my own sons and daughters…
1. The book on you is already being written.
If I was from Chicago and came down here, I could find out a lot about you. I could talk to your teachers, your coaches, your friends and I could look at your facebook page and figure out what kind of person you are. Are you trustworthy? Are you willing to work hard? Are your priorities in the right place? Will you put others ahead of yourself?
So don’t kid yourselves – people that matter are already forming their opinions of you. What you do does matter. All of this will start to matter even more as you get into college and start thinking about the job market.
Frame your story for where you want to be in five years. Take control of your story and how you want it to look. Don’t let others. Know your road map. Know where you are going. Know what you stand for.
2. Path principle
So how do you frame your story? It is the Path Principle. The Path Principle is simply this – Direction, not intention, determines your destination. The direction you are heading, not your intentions, will determine where you end up. It isn’t what you dream for or hope for or even pray for – it is the path you choose that will determine your destination. You can dream, hope, plan and pray for your trip to the beach but if you get on the highway and go north, you won’t get to the beach.
So as you enter college, know where you’re going. Know your objective. Write down where you want to be in five years. Develop your business plan and sharpen your focus on that goal. If you are intently focused on where you want to be at the end of college it will help you stay out of a whole lot of trouble along the way. And you will be tempted. Many things will come along to try to pull you off your path. It is sort of like trying to get into shape or training to run in a marathon. If you know what your path is and what you goals are, you can say “no” to a lot of temptations.
3. 4 years is going to go by in the blink of an eye.
You’ve waited and waited for college to arrive so you can go away and “be free”. As long as you’ve waited, you’re going to be amazed at how quickly it will pass. Five years from now many of you will be working in full-time jobs and a few of you will be married. College will be over and you will think “Wait…what just happened?”
4. Resist the temptation to take short-cuts
There is no human invention quite as beneficial as hard work. Don’t make compromises in your integrity to advance. Do the hard work to get ahead. The desire to work hard, the ability to work hard and willingness to do hard things are all incredibly valuable assets. Hard work will take you a lot farther in life than a 4.0 GPA.
5. Your competition is about to ramp up significantly
For some of you the work at Brookstone has been a fairly low bar to get over…you’re just that smart. College will not be a low bar. I see where some of you are going – Davidson, North Carolina, Tulane, the Georgia honors program, Furman, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest – but for all of you regardless of the school you’re attending, you are jumping into the pool with the best of the best, some of the very brightest kids in our nation and in the world. Your competition this fall will be awake, alert and razor focused. They are also very driven and very hungry. Your incoming competition won’t view college as a country club or a frat party. They view it as a catapult to launch them into high paying, successful careers. They are going to hit the ground running. Will you?
6. You’ll never quit learning
Learning doesn’t end four years from now when you graduate from college. Learning is a lifelong process. 25 years after graduating from college, I am learning every single day. I am reading, studying and talking to others to gain knowledge and insights. You’ll never quit learning. Embrace it. Welcome it. College is the training ground to equip you for a lifetime of learning.
If you will allow me, I’d like to share three truths with you…
1. You are a Masterpiece
First of all, I want to tell you that you are a Masterpiece…a work of art. I know almost each and every one of you. As much as some of you have tried to blend into the crowd and look and be like your peers, each one of you is different. God has blessed each of you with unique talents and abilities. Your parents have nurtured those gifts along. You have worked hard in many cases to develop and build on your talents. When I see where many of you are going to college, as I’ve watched you excel in athletics, when I marveled at your talents in The Music Man, when I heard all of your accomplishments at Senior awards the other day – it is just crystal clear to me….this is a class of superstars, this is a class full of priceless works of art.
I personally believe God dreamed each one of you up like a painting. He started with a blank canvas and crafted you out of nothingness. I also personally believe that a God that would craft each of you like a work of art…cares. He isn’t distant, far off and removed. He is present and he cares. He dreams great dreams for you. To the creator, you truly are a priceless work of art.
And so…you matter. You are very important. Protect yourself. Don’t let the world tear you down and convince you that you don’t matter. You do.
2. You have been blessed
You are incredibly blessed. You are healthy, smart and talented. You were born in America. You don’t lack for food, clean water, medical care or clothing. Right there, you have a leg up on about 98% of the world’s population.
Brookstone….I know you can’t wait to get out of here but let me tell you, you have been incredibly blessed by this place. You’ll go to college with kids from Montgomery Academy, Savannah Country Day, Stratford Academy, Athens Academy, Pace Academy, etc. and none of them hold a candle to Brookstone. I think we take a lot for granted. The new Upper School, the Quadrangle, the ball fields and athletic facilities, the creek, the 40 acres of woods surrounding the school, the Chapel, the Sam Pate outdoor classroom – this is a special, special place. In today’s dollars, more than $75 million has been invested to make Brookstone the physical beauty it is.
When I went to Brookstone 30+ years ago, almost none of this was here. Bradley Park Drive was mostly woods. The only other structure on this road was the bowling alley. There was no Chick-Fil-a, Starbucks, Target or Panera Bread just right down the road from here for us to enjoy. There was no soccer field, no Turner Center, no softball field, no Quadrangle, there were no mini-buses, technology, smart boards or snack bar and y’all remember what the old Upper School looked like.
And your teachers…you’ve had some incredible teachers. You’ve had teachers that have poured their lives into you. Almost every one of you have had a transformational teacher – a teacher who was there working with you when the light bulb came on and you “got it”. It may have been Mrs. Pate or Dr. Byrd or Dr. East or Mrs. Jarrell or Mrs. Flournoy but it also may have been Mrs. Krause in 4-K or Mrs. Kennedy in 3rd grade or Mrs. Yancey in Middle School. But somewhere along the way each one of you’ve have had a teacher that has blessed you.
Your parents – if you’ve been here all 12+ years – they’ve invested more than $125,000 to get you a Brookstone education. $125,000 is a lot of money. There are thousands of families in Columbus where $125,000 given to them would absolutely change their lives. That much money could help a family buy a home or pay their home off. It could send a kid to college that otherwise would have no chance to go. It’s a lot of money and it has been poured into you.
And stuff – you all have ipods, ipads, iphones, itouches. You have nice clothes and drive really nice cars. You live in nice homes and take nice vacations.
You should not be ashamed of this but you should realize you are incredibly blessed.
For those of you that attended the FCA this spring where Coach McGee from Carver spoke to us you will remember that he said 90% of the kids at Carver are on the food program – they eat breakfast and lunch at the school and for most of them, lunch is their last meal of the day. He has football players who eat lunch, finish school, lift weights and practice and go home to no dinner. Their families cannot afford to feed them. That isn’t some far off, distant third world country – that is right here in Columbus, Georgia.
There are many things that you and I take for granted.
1 billion people on this planet live on less than $1 a day. 2 billion live on less than $2 a day. For the cost of an order of fries down Bradley Park Drive at Chick-Fil-a or a Starbucks coffee…you could feed a person for a day.
So I want you to see that you are incredibly blessed. I want you to acknowledge that teacher that made an impact on your life. Go find them tonight at Graduation and look them in the eye and just thank them. Find that coach that worked hard teaching you how to succeed at your position and was there to listen to you when you needed to talk. Find them and thank them.
Thank your parents or in some cases, grandparents. They have made huge sacrifices to get you here and are about to embark on another enormous sacrifice to send you to college.
Many have poured much sacrifice into helping you succeed. Realize you are blessed. Don’t take any of this for granted.
So you have all of this blessing – what are you going to do with it? The Bible teaches that “To whom much is given, much will be required.” There are 2 billion people on this earth living on $2 a day. Will you hoard this blessing you’ve been given and keep it to only advance yourself –- or -- will you take this blessing and leverage it to improve the lives of others?
Said another way – as a father to his children – I want you to wake up to the “bigger picture” … that life isn’t all about what we can take from it but rather what we can give back to others.
So my charge to you today is a question …
What are you going to do with this blessing?
God has dreamed you up with unique talents and abilities. The community has sacrificed to build you and equip this great school. Teachers and coaches have poured their talent and hearts into you. Your parents have made great sacrifices to give you the Brookstone education. You’re about to go off to world class universities. You are in the top 1-2% of all people on this planet. You’ve been equipped. What now? What are you doing to do with this blessing?
I will leave you with this last truth – and that is -- that optimism is a great asset to possess. I want you to be optimistic.
I want you to be…
So strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To see the glass as being ½ full and never ½ empty.
Be the one that sees the opportunity rather than the one that points out the problem.
Think only of the best.
Work only for the best.
Expect only the best.
Be just as enthusiastic about the success of others and you are about your own success.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Spend so much time reaching to improve that you have no time to criticize others.
Be too large for worry.
Be too noble for anger.
Be too strong for fear.
This is my favorite -- The pessimist sees things as they are and asks “why?” while…
The optimist dreams things that never were and asks “why not?”
We want you to be the kind of people that dream things that never were and asks “why not?”
You’ve been equipped.
You’ve been blessed.
You’re ready.
Now go and seize the day.
Thank you very much for giving me this one last chance to speak to each of you.
I offer these to you as a father – advice I’d want my daughter to hear if I couldn’t be here to give it. Fortunately, I am here and so is she. So I give this advice to Hannah but also to you – many of you I love like my own sons and daughters…
1. The book on you is already being written.
If I was from Chicago and came down here, I could find out a lot about you. I could talk to your teachers, your coaches, your friends and I could look at your facebook page and figure out what kind of person you are. Are you trustworthy? Are you willing to work hard? Are your priorities in the right place? Will you put others ahead of yourself?
So don’t kid yourselves – people that matter are already forming their opinions of you. What you do does matter. All of this will start to matter even more as you get into college and start thinking about the job market.
Frame your story for where you want to be in five years. Take control of your story and how you want it to look. Don’t let others. Know your road map. Know where you are going. Know what you stand for.
2. Path principle
So how do you frame your story? It is the Path Principle. The Path Principle is simply this – Direction, not intention, determines your destination. The direction you are heading, not your intentions, will determine where you end up. It isn’t what you dream for or hope for or even pray for – it is the path you choose that will determine your destination. You can dream, hope, plan and pray for your trip to the beach but if you get on the highway and go north, you won’t get to the beach.
So as you enter college, know where you’re going. Know your objective. Write down where you want to be in five years. Develop your business plan and sharpen your focus on that goal. If you are intently focused on where you want to be at the end of college it will help you stay out of a whole lot of trouble along the way. And you will be tempted. Many things will come along to try to pull you off your path. It is sort of like trying to get into shape or training to run in a marathon. If you know what your path is and what you goals are, you can say “no” to a lot of temptations.
3. 4 years is going to go by in the blink of an eye.
You’ve waited and waited for college to arrive so you can go away and “be free”. As long as you’ve waited, you’re going to be amazed at how quickly it will pass. Five years from now many of you will be working in full-time jobs and a few of you will be married. College will be over and you will think “Wait…what just happened?”
4. Resist the temptation to take short-cuts
There is no human invention quite as beneficial as hard work. Don’t make compromises in your integrity to advance. Do the hard work to get ahead. The desire to work hard, the ability to work hard and willingness to do hard things are all incredibly valuable assets. Hard work will take you a lot farther in life than a 4.0 GPA.
5. Your competition is about to ramp up significantly
For some of you the work at Brookstone has been a fairly low bar to get over…you’re just that smart. College will not be a low bar. I see where some of you are going – Davidson, North Carolina, Tulane, the Georgia honors program, Furman, Georgia Tech and Wake Forest – but for all of you regardless of the school you’re attending, you are jumping into the pool with the best of the best, some of the very brightest kids in our nation and in the world. Your competition this fall will be awake, alert and razor focused. They are also very driven and very hungry. Your incoming competition won’t view college as a country club or a frat party. They view it as a catapult to launch them into high paying, successful careers. They are going to hit the ground running. Will you?
6. You’ll never quit learning
Learning doesn’t end four years from now when you graduate from college. Learning is a lifelong process. 25 years after graduating from college, I am learning every single day. I am reading, studying and talking to others to gain knowledge and insights. You’ll never quit learning. Embrace it. Welcome it. College is the training ground to equip you for a lifetime of learning.
If you will allow me, I’d like to share three truths with you…
1. You are a Masterpiece
First of all, I want to tell you that you are a Masterpiece…a work of art. I know almost each and every one of you. As much as some of you have tried to blend into the crowd and look and be like your peers, each one of you is different. God has blessed each of you with unique talents and abilities. Your parents have nurtured those gifts along. You have worked hard in many cases to develop and build on your talents. When I see where many of you are going to college, as I’ve watched you excel in athletics, when I marveled at your talents in The Music Man, when I heard all of your accomplishments at Senior awards the other day – it is just crystal clear to me….this is a class of superstars, this is a class full of priceless works of art.
I personally believe God dreamed each one of you up like a painting. He started with a blank canvas and crafted you out of nothingness. I also personally believe that a God that would craft each of you like a work of art…cares. He isn’t distant, far off and removed. He is present and he cares. He dreams great dreams for you. To the creator, you truly are a priceless work of art.
And so…you matter. You are very important. Protect yourself. Don’t let the world tear you down and convince you that you don’t matter. You do.
2. You have been blessed
You are incredibly blessed. You are healthy, smart and talented. You were born in America. You don’t lack for food, clean water, medical care or clothing. Right there, you have a leg up on about 98% of the world’s population.
Brookstone….I know you can’t wait to get out of here but let me tell you, you have been incredibly blessed by this place. You’ll go to college with kids from Montgomery Academy, Savannah Country Day, Stratford Academy, Athens Academy, Pace Academy, etc. and none of them hold a candle to Brookstone. I think we take a lot for granted. The new Upper School, the Quadrangle, the ball fields and athletic facilities, the creek, the 40 acres of woods surrounding the school, the Chapel, the Sam Pate outdoor classroom – this is a special, special place. In today’s dollars, more than $75 million has been invested to make Brookstone the physical beauty it is.
When I went to Brookstone 30+ years ago, almost none of this was here. Bradley Park Drive was mostly woods. The only other structure on this road was the bowling alley. There was no Chick-Fil-a, Starbucks, Target or Panera Bread just right down the road from here for us to enjoy. There was no soccer field, no Turner Center, no softball field, no Quadrangle, there were no mini-buses, technology, smart boards or snack bar and y’all remember what the old Upper School looked like.
And your teachers…you’ve had some incredible teachers. You’ve had teachers that have poured their lives into you. Almost every one of you have had a transformational teacher – a teacher who was there working with you when the light bulb came on and you “got it”. It may have been Mrs. Pate or Dr. Byrd or Dr. East or Mrs. Jarrell or Mrs. Flournoy but it also may have been Mrs. Krause in 4-K or Mrs. Kennedy in 3rd grade or Mrs. Yancey in Middle School. But somewhere along the way each one of you’ve have had a teacher that has blessed you.
Your parents – if you’ve been here all 12+ years – they’ve invested more than $125,000 to get you a Brookstone education. $125,000 is a lot of money. There are thousands of families in Columbus where $125,000 given to them would absolutely change their lives. That much money could help a family buy a home or pay their home off. It could send a kid to college that otherwise would have no chance to go. It’s a lot of money and it has been poured into you.
And stuff – you all have ipods, ipads, iphones, itouches. You have nice clothes and drive really nice cars. You live in nice homes and take nice vacations.
You should not be ashamed of this but you should realize you are incredibly blessed.
For those of you that attended the FCA this spring where Coach McGee from Carver spoke to us you will remember that he said 90% of the kids at Carver are on the food program – they eat breakfast and lunch at the school and for most of them, lunch is their last meal of the day. He has football players who eat lunch, finish school, lift weights and practice and go home to no dinner. Their families cannot afford to feed them. That isn’t some far off, distant third world country – that is right here in Columbus, Georgia.
There are many things that you and I take for granted.
1 billion people on this planet live on less than $1 a day. 2 billion live on less than $2 a day. For the cost of an order of fries down Bradley Park Drive at Chick-Fil-a or a Starbucks coffee…you could feed a person for a day.
So I want you to see that you are incredibly blessed. I want you to acknowledge that teacher that made an impact on your life. Go find them tonight at Graduation and look them in the eye and just thank them. Find that coach that worked hard teaching you how to succeed at your position and was there to listen to you when you needed to talk. Find them and thank them.
Thank your parents or in some cases, grandparents. They have made huge sacrifices to get you here and are about to embark on another enormous sacrifice to send you to college.
Many have poured much sacrifice into helping you succeed. Realize you are blessed. Don’t take any of this for granted.
So you have all of this blessing – what are you going to do with it? The Bible teaches that “To whom much is given, much will be required.” There are 2 billion people on this earth living on $2 a day. Will you hoard this blessing you’ve been given and keep it to only advance yourself –- or -- will you take this blessing and leverage it to improve the lives of others?
Said another way – as a father to his children – I want you to wake up to the “bigger picture” … that life isn’t all about what we can take from it but rather what we can give back to others.
So my charge to you today is a question …
What are you going to do with this blessing?
God has dreamed you up with unique talents and abilities. The community has sacrificed to build you and equip this great school. Teachers and coaches have poured their talent and hearts into you. Your parents have made great sacrifices to give you the Brookstone education. You’re about to go off to world class universities. You are in the top 1-2% of all people on this planet. You’ve been equipped. What now? What are you doing to do with this blessing?
I will leave you with this last truth – and that is -- that optimism is a great asset to possess. I want you to be optimistic.
I want you to be…
So strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To see the glass as being ½ full and never ½ empty.
Be the one that sees the opportunity rather than the one that points out the problem.
Think only of the best.
Work only for the best.
Expect only the best.
Be just as enthusiastic about the success of others and you are about your own success.
Forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
Spend so much time reaching to improve that you have no time to criticize others.
Be too large for worry.
Be too noble for anger.
Be too strong for fear.
This is my favorite -- The pessimist sees things as they are and asks “why?” while…
The optimist dreams things that never were and asks “why not?”
We want you to be the kind of people that dream things that never were and asks “why not?”
You’ve been equipped.
You’ve been blessed.
You’re ready.
Now go and seize the day.
Thank you very much for giving me this one last chance to speak to each of you.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Path Principle
Andy Stanley teaches this principle and I want to share it with you. It is so incredibly valuable and is valid for believers and non-believers alike but is particularly powerful for believers. It is common sense and yet, it trips up so many of us. It is the Path Principle - "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Say it again...Direction, not intention, determines our destination.
If you want to go to Destin this weekend, you can pack your swim suit, suntan lotion, load up your car, fill it up and pray for travel mercies. But if you cross over into Alabama on the North Bypass and come to US 280 and go right instead of left, you will NEVER get to Florida. You'll get to Birmingham. As nice as Birmingham is, it isn't the beach. You intended to go to the beach, you planned to go and you even prayed about going but your direction took you north instead of south.
We make this mistake in life. We say we want to marry a nice Christian girl. We'll date her, go to church with her and pray with her and it'll be great. That's my intention but that isn't the kind of girl I am spending my time with. No, I'm partying at the Frat house with the wild party girls and my actual screening mechanism for choosing girls is "If she is hot, I'm going after her...". Or - shoe on the other foot - girls who go off to college seeking "nice, Christian boys" probably aren't going to find them partying at the Sigma Chi house on Friday night. And so then you say, "How did I end up here?" when the boy you are dating is out partying with his friends or hooking up with random girls behind your back. Well, I know how that happened...
Direction - not intention - determines our destination. What you said you wanted is different from the path you chose.
Some will say "I want to get into a real good school so I can have lots of opportunities" but their actual path is vastly different when it comes to the hard work and studying that it takes to get there. You're not going to Vanderbilt if you're not willing to work very hard to get there. You can intend it and pray about it but it won't happen unless you get on the right path.
What of the kid that wants to be a great athlete? Will he make the choices that get him there - working out, practicing, practicing, practicing - or will he choose to just sit back and not do the hard work and hope the coach puts him in?
Gary Player was one of the great golfers of all time. At a tournament, he hit his shot off the first tee and heard a spectator say, "Man, I'd give anything to hit a golf ball like that." On the next hole, the same thing happened. After a few more holes of hearing this, Player turned on his toes following a great shot and that same comment and approached the spectator. He looked him in the eye and said, "You wouldn't give anything to hit the ball like me because if you would, you would have gotten up every morning at 5:30am to go to the range. And you would have hit 1,000 balls until your hands started to swell and bleed. You would have left the range and gone into the clubhouse to soak your hands in ice and to wipe off the blood and you would have bandaged your hands and headed back out to hit 1,000 more. And you would have done this day after day...every day. But you didn't do this. I did and that is why I hit the ball this way and why you won't "give anything" to be able to hit the ball like me."
It is not what you dream for...
It is not what you hope for...
It is not even what you pray for...
It is the path that you choose.
We do this with our money. We think God is calling us to be debt free and we say we are going to down size and learn to do without so we can be free of debt and yet month after month, we spend more than we bring in. Saying "God is leading us to be debt free" sounds good but for many of us, we are not on the debt-free path. We're not willing to do the hard things now to get to the freedom down the road. We just talk about it, wish for it but we're not willing to do the work to get there.
The path always wins...100% of the time.
So why do we choose the wrong path? If you can understand this, it will save you a whole lot of pain in the years to come.
Things will come along in life that will capture our attention - some of them good, some of them really bad.
Have you ever had a girl come along and your head turns? You know you're not supposed to look...but you look. As a teenager in this situation your Dad says, "Son...she's trouble" and you said... "I know she is...I'm going to prove it." Or for teenage girls, that guy grabs her attention and her Mama says, "You don't need to be going out with boys like that..." Captured. The emails start flying. The text messages. We get consumed with this person. We spend crazy money and crazy time pursuing them. We disconnect from everything else. Parents wonder what on earth you could be doing spending all of your time obsessing over this boy or girl. School work falls off, etc.
Or for us men - another woman comes along. We know we shouldn't cross some lines and we know we should stay on our path but she just turns our head and changes our direction. Alcohol does this. Porn does this. Drugs. Possessions - i.e. I know we need to get out of debt but I sure do want that new boat or Plasma TV.
You know. You've been there. You know what it is like to be "captured" with something that you know will pull you off the path you are on.
How many of us would admit now that some of the people or things or vices we've turned our entire lives towards are now - in hindsight - obviously mistakes? How many teenage girls have given it all to a boy that she just knew was never going to do her wrong only to find out a short while later...he did? How many married men have turned away to another women lured by the short-term and now see the huge long-term implications and wreckage?
We know that when our attention is captured that it completely steers our entire lives in a completely different direction.
Proverbs 7 is a great picture of this. Solomon sits in a window and sees a young man walking up the street. A woman comes out and calls to him. He turns up her street and heads towards her. Her husband is away and she seductively lures him into her bed. He thinks it is all about him. "She wants me." He hears the song Born to be wild playing in his head as he struts towards her. Solomon hears the soundtrack to Jaws playing. He's toast and he hasn't a clue.
Or what of David? Great King David - "a man after God's own heart" - a man who sought God's direction. God prospered David, expanded his kingdom and honored his faithfulness. And then...he saw Bathsheba. He knew the path to stay on...but he just wanted her. He knew it was wrong and tried to cover it up. But he "just wanted that". And as a result, God brought death upon his house.
It is a great picture of allowing things to capture our attention and turn us off the path we know we are supposed to be on.
If a good athlete wants to be a great one, he's going to have to bust his butt and pass on some "opportunities" offered up by his buddies. Drinking beer and stuffing pizza will not reap the rewards that running sprints and lifting weights will bring him. He can say he wants it but if he's on the wrong path, he will never get there.
Girls (I have teenage daughters) aren't going to stay pure hanging out and partying with the wild crowd. I can just about guarantee it. If they want to be pure, if they want to stay on God's path, they are going to have to stay away from some of their peers.
I cannot sit and wish that I was debt free and still keep spending money the way I do. The math just does not work.
If I am overweight and out of shape I can talk all I want about desiring to get healthy but it won't happen unless I exercise 5-6 days a week and eat right. Period. It just won't happen by talking about it. I've got to do it and stay focused on the end goal and avoid the distractions that come along to my goal.
What path are you on?
What have you been saying you want to do but your present actions offer you almost no way to get there?
Where do you want to be in 5 years? Write it down.
What kind of life do you aspire to? Where is God leading you?
Get on that path and focus your attentions on God and His direction and be careful - very careful - about the things that will come along to try to capture your attention.
The direction you are heading - not your intentions - will determine where you end up.
Soar!
Andy Stanley teaches this principle and I want to share it with you. It is so incredibly valuable and is valid for believers and non-believers alike but is particularly powerful for believers. It is common sense and yet, it trips up so many of us. It is the Path Principle - "Direction, not intention, determines destination." Say it again...Direction, not intention, determines our destination.
If you want to go to Destin this weekend, you can pack your swim suit, suntan lotion, load up your car, fill it up and pray for travel mercies. But if you cross over into Alabama on the North Bypass and come to US 280 and go right instead of left, you will NEVER get to Florida. You'll get to Birmingham. As nice as Birmingham is, it isn't the beach. You intended to go to the beach, you planned to go and you even prayed about going but your direction took you north instead of south.
We make this mistake in life. We say we want to marry a nice Christian girl. We'll date her, go to church with her and pray with her and it'll be great. That's my intention but that isn't the kind of girl I am spending my time with. No, I'm partying at the Frat house with the wild party girls and my actual screening mechanism for choosing girls is "If she is hot, I'm going after her...". Or - shoe on the other foot - girls who go off to college seeking "nice, Christian boys" probably aren't going to find them partying at the Sigma Chi house on Friday night. And so then you say, "How did I end up here?" when the boy you are dating is out partying with his friends or hooking up with random girls behind your back. Well, I know how that happened...
Direction - not intention - determines our destination. What you said you wanted is different from the path you chose.
Some will say "I want to get into a real good school so I can have lots of opportunities" but their actual path is vastly different when it comes to the hard work and studying that it takes to get there. You're not going to Vanderbilt if you're not willing to work very hard to get there. You can intend it and pray about it but it won't happen unless you get on the right path.
What of the kid that wants to be a great athlete? Will he make the choices that get him there - working out, practicing, practicing, practicing - or will he choose to just sit back and not do the hard work and hope the coach puts him in?
Gary Player was one of the great golfers of all time. At a tournament, he hit his shot off the first tee and heard a spectator say, "Man, I'd give anything to hit a golf ball like that." On the next hole, the same thing happened. After a few more holes of hearing this, Player turned on his toes following a great shot and that same comment and approached the spectator. He looked him in the eye and said, "You wouldn't give anything to hit the ball like me because if you would, you would have gotten up every morning at 5:30am to go to the range. And you would have hit 1,000 balls until your hands started to swell and bleed. You would have left the range and gone into the clubhouse to soak your hands in ice and to wipe off the blood and you would have bandaged your hands and headed back out to hit 1,000 more. And you would have done this day after day...every day. But you didn't do this. I did and that is why I hit the ball this way and why you won't "give anything" to be able to hit the ball like me."
It is not what you dream for...
It is not what you hope for...
It is not even what you pray for...
It is the path that you choose.
We do this with our money. We think God is calling us to be debt free and we say we are going to down size and learn to do without so we can be free of debt and yet month after month, we spend more than we bring in. Saying "God is leading us to be debt free" sounds good but for many of us, we are not on the debt-free path. We're not willing to do the hard things now to get to the freedom down the road. We just talk about it, wish for it but we're not willing to do the work to get there.
The path always wins...100% of the time.
So why do we choose the wrong path? If you can understand this, it will save you a whole lot of pain in the years to come.
Things will come along in life that will capture our attention - some of them good, some of them really bad.
Have you ever had a girl come along and your head turns? You know you're not supposed to look...but you look. As a teenager in this situation your Dad says, "Son...she's trouble" and you said... "I know she is...I'm going to prove it." Or for teenage girls, that guy grabs her attention and her Mama says, "You don't need to be going out with boys like that..." Captured. The emails start flying. The text messages. We get consumed with this person. We spend crazy money and crazy time pursuing them. We disconnect from everything else. Parents wonder what on earth you could be doing spending all of your time obsessing over this boy or girl. School work falls off, etc.
Or for us men - another woman comes along. We know we shouldn't cross some lines and we know we should stay on our path but she just turns our head and changes our direction. Alcohol does this. Porn does this. Drugs. Possessions - i.e. I know we need to get out of debt but I sure do want that new boat or Plasma TV.
You know. You've been there. You know what it is like to be "captured" with something that you know will pull you off the path you are on.
How many of us would admit now that some of the people or things or vices we've turned our entire lives towards are now - in hindsight - obviously mistakes? How many teenage girls have given it all to a boy that she just knew was never going to do her wrong only to find out a short while later...he did? How many married men have turned away to another women lured by the short-term and now see the huge long-term implications and wreckage?
We know that when our attention is captured that it completely steers our entire lives in a completely different direction.
Proverbs 7 is a great picture of this. Solomon sits in a window and sees a young man walking up the street. A woman comes out and calls to him. He turns up her street and heads towards her. Her husband is away and she seductively lures him into her bed. He thinks it is all about him. "She wants me." He hears the song Born to be wild playing in his head as he struts towards her. Solomon hears the soundtrack to Jaws playing. He's toast and he hasn't a clue.
Or what of David? Great King David - "a man after God's own heart" - a man who sought God's direction. God prospered David, expanded his kingdom and honored his faithfulness. And then...he saw Bathsheba. He knew the path to stay on...but he just wanted her. He knew it was wrong and tried to cover it up. But he "just wanted that". And as a result, God brought death upon his house.
It is a great picture of allowing things to capture our attention and turn us off the path we know we are supposed to be on.
If a good athlete wants to be a great one, he's going to have to bust his butt and pass on some "opportunities" offered up by his buddies. Drinking beer and stuffing pizza will not reap the rewards that running sprints and lifting weights will bring him. He can say he wants it but if he's on the wrong path, he will never get there.
Girls (I have teenage daughters) aren't going to stay pure hanging out and partying with the wild crowd. I can just about guarantee it. If they want to be pure, if they want to stay on God's path, they are going to have to stay away from some of their peers.
I cannot sit and wish that I was debt free and still keep spending money the way I do. The math just does not work.
If I am overweight and out of shape I can talk all I want about desiring to get healthy but it won't happen unless I exercise 5-6 days a week and eat right. Period. It just won't happen by talking about it. I've got to do it and stay focused on the end goal and avoid the distractions that come along to my goal.
What path are you on?
What have you been saying you want to do but your present actions offer you almost no way to get there?
Where do you want to be in 5 years? Write it down.
What kind of life do you aspire to? Where is God leading you?
Get on that path and focus your attentions on God and His direction and be careful - very careful - about the things that will come along to try to capture your attention.
The direction you are heading - not your intentions - will determine where you end up.
Soar!
Tuesday, February 08, 2011
The wake of your life
We all have a wake that follows us through life. Oftentimes, we cannot see the wake but it is there. You'll see it in this picture of a 737 on approach. The conditions have to be just right in order to see these wakes and in this picture the temperature and humidity was just right in order to capture the swirling vortex that is a jet wash.
Air traffic controllers know this wake is very dangerous. If you will remember the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise looses control of his F-14 Tomcat because he got too close to another F-14 and crossed through his wash. The blast from the jet engine when it blows into the intake of a jet trailing it can shut down that jet's engine. All that air blasting into the intake will literally blow that engine out. So controllers keep a very safe distance between jetliners on approach to an airport so as to keep the planes out of each other's wake. Sometimes this safe distance is as much as 7-8 nautical miles.
We too have wakes trailing us in this life. Often they are not visible. Sometimes they are strong, good wakes. Other times, they are a wake of destruction. My brothers were 5 and 6 years older than me and when I was in middle school, I remember their struggles with peer pressure in high school particularly around athletics. There was a senior who was a good football and basketball player and a leader on both teams. He was also a leader in the school. George Flowers had a great reputation. Parents knew it. He stayed clear of the drinking and partying and stayed true to his beliefs. It was not easy. I can remember George facing some tough struggles from his peers. But as a 6th grader literally looking up to George, he became a role model for me. A road map if you will. I can remember family talks around the dinner table about the issues and about George and how strong he was being. I remember my parents telling my brothers, "Stick with GG (as he was called back then). GG is being strong. People respect him. If you stick with him, you'll be fine."
GG had a wake behind him. A wake of good. He was a trailblazer and a pioneer and he got a few arrows in his butt because he was willing to say "No, I'm not going to do that." But he also made things a LOT easier for my brothers and 5-6 years later...for me. When it was my turn in high school, I could ski in GG's wake. He had proven to me it could be done and I respected him.
Some wakes are not so good. We had a very unfortunate incident last week here. A guy I grew up with and knew pretty well killed another man and ended up taking the police on an 8 hour manhunt through the woods. He eventually turned the gun on himself. He was exceptionally bright and a gifted trial lawyer but he also had some very bad personal problems and unfortunately they got the best of him. His marriage fell apart and his wife left him.
Tragically, he killed another man -- the father of a 14 year old girl. He left behind three sons. All of these kids now are left wondering what happened to their fathers. He left behind a huge wake of destruction.
I have another friend of mine that I attended high school with. He got mixed up into too much drinking and drugs in high school. He was cool back then. When there was a party, he was always there. To some, it was funny back then. It was cool. But he never grew out of that phase and kept partying through college and into adulthood. Very sadly, he became an addict and ended up taking his own life a few years ago leaving behind a child.
That's the thing about addiction...for some of us, it gets its teeth into us and we can't simply choose to stop. Look at Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan. What started out as cool teenage partying and ramped up into even cooler heavy drug use became a toxic addiction and master of their lives. Charlie Sheen is the highest paid TV sitcom actor playing a drunken sex addict. It is a true picture of his real life.
That's the thing about Satan. He doesn't play fair. He lies to us and tells us the partying and booze and pot and cocaine and sex is all just about having fun and blowing off a little steam. There is nothing permanent about it. There is no cost it is just a bunch of high school buddies blowing it out on a Friday night. Sex is the same way...there is no cost, it just feels good and no one is getting hurt. Just do it because everyone else is...but there is no "permanent" cost to it.
These are lies straight out of the gates of hell.
The Bible says Satan is the father of all lies. He is a seductress tempting us with these things and telling us we can stop whenever we want. And yet, addiction recovery is a multi-billion industry in America. For many of us...we simply cannot stop.
And so we have this choice, what kind of wake do I want to leave behind me as a 10th grader or senior in high school? We have kids in the 2nd grade looking at us. Little girls who tell their Moms that they want to be a cheerleader just like _____ or the 5th grader who looks at the running back and says, "I'm going to be just like him when I'm in high school."
If those kids could see what we do on Friday nights after the game.....would you be proud of it? And that's just the thing, they are watching us. They are looking for the kind of wake we leave behind. Like it or not, you're a role model.
God offers us relief from the crushing assualt from Satan. There is a better way. Jesus came (John 10:10) that we might have life and an abundant life at that. My role model George had an abundant life in high school. He was a great football player and basketball player. He had a lot of fun and he was a leader but he didn't sink into the muck and crap. He stayed above it and cleared a path for a lot of us to follow.
Jesus didn't come to condemn you. He came to liberate you. He came to free you from the bondage of sin and that lifestyle. While that lifestyle looks fun and promising it is really death. Jesus offers life. He died for us that we might be willing to die to self. That we might want to give up that way of life and die to that and stand the ridicule that might follow. He was willing to die for you to take that sin and bury it on the Cross. All you have to do is invite Him into your heart and ask Him to takeover and be the Lord of your life. Acknowledge your weakness, acknowledge your temptations, admit your failings (we all have them)...surrender your pride and ego and let Jesus in to Quarterback your life.
What kind of wake do you want to leave behind?
Soar!
We all have a wake that follows us through life. Oftentimes, we cannot see the wake but it is there. You'll see it in this picture of a 737 on approach. The conditions have to be just right in order to see these wakes and in this picture the temperature and humidity was just right in order to capture the swirling vortex that is a jet wash.
Air traffic controllers know this wake is very dangerous. If you will remember the movie Top Gun, Tom Cruise looses control of his F-14 Tomcat because he got too close to another F-14 and crossed through his wash. The blast from the jet engine when it blows into the intake of a jet trailing it can shut down that jet's engine. All that air blasting into the intake will literally blow that engine out. So controllers keep a very safe distance between jetliners on approach to an airport so as to keep the planes out of each other's wake. Sometimes this safe distance is as much as 7-8 nautical miles.
We too have wakes trailing us in this life. Often they are not visible. Sometimes they are strong, good wakes. Other times, they are a wake of destruction. My brothers were 5 and 6 years older than me and when I was in middle school, I remember their struggles with peer pressure in high school particularly around athletics. There was a senior who was a good football and basketball player and a leader on both teams. He was also a leader in the school. George Flowers had a great reputation. Parents knew it. He stayed clear of the drinking and partying and stayed true to his beliefs. It was not easy. I can remember George facing some tough struggles from his peers. But as a 6th grader literally looking up to George, he became a role model for me. A road map if you will. I can remember family talks around the dinner table about the issues and about George and how strong he was being. I remember my parents telling my brothers, "Stick with GG (as he was called back then). GG is being strong. People respect him. If you stick with him, you'll be fine."
GG had a wake behind him. A wake of good. He was a trailblazer and a pioneer and he got a few arrows in his butt because he was willing to say "No, I'm not going to do that." But he also made things a LOT easier for my brothers and 5-6 years later...for me. When it was my turn in high school, I could ski in GG's wake. He had proven to me it could be done and I respected him.
Some wakes are not so good. We had a very unfortunate incident last week here. A guy I grew up with and knew pretty well killed another man and ended up taking the police on an 8 hour manhunt through the woods. He eventually turned the gun on himself. He was exceptionally bright and a gifted trial lawyer but he also had some very bad personal problems and unfortunately they got the best of him. His marriage fell apart and his wife left him.
Tragically, he killed another man -- the father of a 14 year old girl. He left behind three sons. All of these kids now are left wondering what happened to their fathers. He left behind a huge wake of destruction.
I have another friend of mine that I attended high school with. He got mixed up into too much drinking and drugs in high school. He was cool back then. When there was a party, he was always there. To some, it was funny back then. It was cool. But he never grew out of that phase and kept partying through college and into adulthood. Very sadly, he became an addict and ended up taking his own life a few years ago leaving behind a child.
That's the thing about addiction...for some of us, it gets its teeth into us and we can't simply choose to stop. Look at Charlie Sheen or Lindsey Lohan. What started out as cool teenage partying and ramped up into even cooler heavy drug use became a toxic addiction and master of their lives. Charlie Sheen is the highest paid TV sitcom actor playing a drunken sex addict. It is a true picture of his real life.
That's the thing about Satan. He doesn't play fair. He lies to us and tells us the partying and booze and pot and cocaine and sex is all just about having fun and blowing off a little steam. There is nothing permanent about it. There is no cost it is just a bunch of high school buddies blowing it out on a Friday night. Sex is the same way...there is no cost, it just feels good and no one is getting hurt. Just do it because everyone else is...but there is no "permanent" cost to it.
These are lies straight out of the gates of hell.
The Bible says Satan is the father of all lies. He is a seductress tempting us with these things and telling us we can stop whenever we want. And yet, addiction recovery is a multi-billion industry in America. For many of us...we simply cannot stop.
And so we have this choice, what kind of wake do I want to leave behind me as a 10th grader or senior in high school? We have kids in the 2nd grade looking at us. Little girls who tell their Moms that they want to be a cheerleader just like _____ or the 5th grader who looks at the running back and says, "I'm going to be just like him when I'm in high school."
If those kids could see what we do on Friday nights after the game.....would you be proud of it? And that's just the thing, they are watching us. They are looking for the kind of wake we leave behind. Like it or not, you're a role model.
God offers us relief from the crushing assualt from Satan. There is a better way. Jesus came (John 10:10) that we might have life and an abundant life at that. My role model George had an abundant life in high school. He was a great football player and basketball player. He had a lot of fun and he was a leader but he didn't sink into the muck and crap. He stayed above it and cleared a path for a lot of us to follow.
Jesus didn't come to condemn you. He came to liberate you. He came to free you from the bondage of sin and that lifestyle. While that lifestyle looks fun and promising it is really death. Jesus offers life. He died for us that we might be willing to die to self. That we might want to give up that way of life and die to that and stand the ridicule that might follow. He was willing to die for you to take that sin and bury it on the Cross. All you have to do is invite Him into your heart and ask Him to takeover and be the Lord of your life. Acknowledge your weakness, acknowledge your temptations, admit your failings (we all have them)...surrender your pride and ego and let Jesus in to Quarterback your life.
What kind of wake do you want to leave behind?
Soar!
Wednesday, January 05, 2011
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
For God (The greatest lover)
So loved (The greatest degree)
The world (The greatest number)
That he gave (The greatest possible act)
His only begotten son (The greatest gift)
That whosoever (The greatest invitation)
Believeth (The greatest simplicity)
In Him (The greatest person)
Shall not perish (The greatest deliverance)
But (The greatest difference)
Have (The greatest certainty)
Everlasting life (The greatest possession)
It is that simple. Soar!
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
For God (The greatest lover)
So loved (The greatest degree)
The world (The greatest number)
That he gave (The greatest possible act)
His only begotten son (The greatest gift)
That whosoever (The greatest invitation)
Believeth (The greatest simplicity)
In Him (The greatest person)
Shall not perish (The greatest deliverance)
But (The greatest difference)
Have (The greatest certainty)
Everlasting life (The greatest possession)
It is that simple. Soar!
Saturday, December 04, 2010
Radical
I have just finished reading the book Radical by David Platt, pastor of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham. I had breakfast Friday morning with my pastor and we shared our hearts - he shared why he's been in a bit of a funk over the past few months and what God was stirring in him. He was sort of struggling with how to even articulate his thoughts with me. Much of what stirs Keith has been stirring in me for some time and I too haven't been able to put my arms around all I feel God is doing. So I shared a lot of what I got out of this book and it was exactly the things that were stirring in Keith. He's called a meeting of the Board of the church for a day of retreat to dig into this. God is calling Christ Community to "Break through". Break through to the other side and to "more". A deeper, more passionate, more devoted walk with God. To get there, we're going to have to tear down some walls. Some strongholds (personally and corporately) need to be broken. Families need to be fixed. Finances need to be fixed. Freedom from bondage needs to take place.
I can't sleep and it is 1:30 on Saturday morning (now its 2:45). I need the sleep but this is moving me and I need to get it down. These are some of the things I am wrestling with and then some comments from the book....
The church is under attack. I've been able to share a few times with the men in our church and we've talked about some of this. Marriages in our church are in trouble. Marriage all over America is under attack. Satan's attempted "death blow" to the church is taking place in our homes. If Christian marriages fail or are full of contempt or seething anger, our witnesses fall apart.
Money is a huge issue. We are a nation of consumers and consumerism has invaded God's church. Joel Osteen tells us that God wants to prosper us financially - that Jesus' death was about lifting you and I out of mediocrity - that "because of the price He paid, we have a right to live in total victory not just a good family, good job and good health but victory over our finances as well. He has paid the price that we may be totally free...free from poverty and lack..." God's church is consumed with consumerism. The "American dream" is "God's dream". Really? Is that really why God gave up his Son to suffer a horrific death...so I can be wealthy?
Manhood is under attack in the church. I've written about this numerous times but we have a generation of men in their 30's and 40's that are ill-equipped to lead their homes as a Christian. In many cases, their wives have stepped up into that void and not only do these women work in corporate jobs, they serve on local boards, lead the PTA, attend three bible studies a week and "know" the bible a lot better than their husbands. And so what does the man do? Shrink back.
This isn't politically correct but it has been on my heart for years - we have a generation of young black men in America and especially in the South who have no future. They are aimless. They don't stand a chance. They have no hope. The church has done a poor job of making our own backyard a mission field.
Lastly, this notion of "fully alive" or in John 10:10 that "He came to give us abundant life". It is one thing to accept Christ but something quite different to be radically alive in our walk with Christ. To be completely "sold out" on Jesus. To not fear the condemnation from our father or brother or wife or co-worker if we just totally throw ourselves into Jesus. To be willing to spend 5 hours on a Friday night in prayer and the Word. To be willing to sell everything we have and give up the "American dream" to pursue and follow God wherever He may lead us. A guy told me one time that instead of practicing a lucrative medical practice, he chose to give away his medical talents. He opened a free medical practice in Augusta. People told him he was crazy. His father is a successful real estate developer. He was raised in a "money" family. His uncle is a local physician. He could have just fallen into line and had the big house, beach place and boat. People told him "you'll be poor" and his answer always has been "Yeah, only for about 80 years and in the framework of eternity, that's nothing."
As David Platt says, "Am I willing to hear the Word...even if it convicts me. Am I willing to obey the Word...even if it costs me?"
So these things have been stirring in me - some of them connected and some of them not and I picked up the book Radical. Wow. Oh my.
"It is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. But we don't want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. "Jesus wouldn't really tell us to not bury our father or say good-bye to our family (Abraham). Jesus didn't literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor. What Jesus really meant was....And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away all that we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are."
Oh my.
He then talks about a trip he took to Hyderabad, India. He says that Bonhoeffer said "the first call every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world" and that as we spend our time pursuing the American dream, literally billions of people will remain in the dark to the Gospel. On a hill in Hyderabad, "God gripped my heart and flooded my mind with two resounding words, "Wake up". Wake up and realize that there are infinitely more important things in your life than football and your 401(k). Wake up and realize there are real battles to be fought, so different from the superficial, meaningless battles you focus on. Wake up to the countless multitudes who are destined for a Christ-less eternity."
Yes.
He goes on and talks about his experiences with the underground churches in China and in Muslim controlled nations -- people that sneak out together early in the morning to worship God in secret. 60 people crammed in a room with a light and their Bibles. No plasma TV's on the wall, no cushioned seats, no praise band, no cool video clips to sell the point of the message, no time limit so we can get to the club by 12:30 for lunch -- just people starving for God's Word. People so hungry, they will meet for 3-4 hours to just read the Bible and pray. "I want to know him. I want to experience him. I want to be a part of a people who delight in him like the Asians who have nothing but him. And I want to be a part of a people who are risking it all for him."
That taste. Oh, to have a taste of that in America where we care more about how comfortable the chairs are in church -- or -- we complain that the nursery workers who tend to our kids for an hour aren't organized like we think they should be. I too hunger for that passion. I crave an abundant, abandoning faith. I crave being in places where God has to show up. I'm sick of the prosperity/comfort Christianity. I want to be uncomfortable. I want risk in my faith.
I'll end this long post with this last image he talked about. I used this Friday with the FCA kids. We all stand alone on a beach with a wall of water 1,000 feet high coming at us 100 miles per hour. That water is our sin. We own it. No one helped us get it. It's ours. And we can't run from it. We stand alone on that beach with no one to turn to. As we stand there that crushing wall of sin comes at us like a freight train. We can't outrun it. Our time is up. We must face and own our sin. In that moment, we don't just "accept" Jesus. Jesus doesn't need me to accept him. He isn't a facebook friend I decide to add after an emotional weekend retreat and then I go back to my nice, comfortable, American consumerism life. No, in that moment, I BEG for a Savior. I cry out. I fall to my needs at the horror of my life's work and the depravity of my soul. Without a Savior, I'm doomed.
And Jesus takes that wall of water and we are lifted up presented to God in Christ's glory -- none of our own doing. In that, we praise him, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The one that is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings, you are my everything and I will adore you."
How on earth we've taken that picture of salvation and turned that into a "Jesus wants to make me rich" theology is beyond me. In the context of that wall of water crushing down on me and my salvation through Christ, my 401(k) no longer matters. 1 billion people on this earth have not heard the name of Jesus. That matters. The Gospel needs to be shared and Jesus doesn't do it by himself. We came to Christ through others who shared their faith with us. So too for us...we are to go. Go share the Gospel to all corners of this earth. And if that means we "give up" all that is the American dream...so be it. Go. He commands...Go.
Soar!
I have just finished reading the book Radical by David Platt, pastor of Brook Hills Church in Birmingham. I had breakfast Friday morning with my pastor and we shared our hearts - he shared why he's been in a bit of a funk over the past few months and what God was stirring in him. He was sort of struggling with how to even articulate his thoughts with me. Much of what stirs Keith has been stirring in me for some time and I too haven't been able to put my arms around all I feel God is doing. So I shared a lot of what I got out of this book and it was exactly the things that were stirring in Keith. He's called a meeting of the Board of the church for a day of retreat to dig into this. God is calling Christ Community to "Break through". Break through to the other side and to "more". A deeper, more passionate, more devoted walk with God. To get there, we're going to have to tear down some walls. Some strongholds (personally and corporately) need to be broken. Families need to be fixed. Finances need to be fixed. Freedom from bondage needs to take place.
I can't sleep and it is 1:30 on Saturday morning (now its 2:45). I need the sleep but this is moving me and I need to get it down. These are some of the things I am wrestling with and then some comments from the book....
The church is under attack. I've been able to share a few times with the men in our church and we've talked about some of this. Marriages in our church are in trouble. Marriage all over America is under attack. Satan's attempted "death blow" to the church is taking place in our homes. If Christian marriages fail or are full of contempt or seething anger, our witnesses fall apart.
Money is a huge issue. We are a nation of consumers and consumerism has invaded God's church. Joel Osteen tells us that God wants to prosper us financially - that Jesus' death was about lifting you and I out of mediocrity - that "because of the price He paid, we have a right to live in total victory not just a good family, good job and good health but victory over our finances as well. He has paid the price that we may be totally free...free from poverty and lack..." God's church is consumed with consumerism. The "American dream" is "God's dream". Really? Is that really why God gave up his Son to suffer a horrific death...so I can be wealthy?
Manhood is under attack in the church. I've written about this numerous times but we have a generation of men in their 30's and 40's that are ill-equipped to lead their homes as a Christian. In many cases, their wives have stepped up into that void and not only do these women work in corporate jobs, they serve on local boards, lead the PTA, attend three bible studies a week and "know" the bible a lot better than their husbands. And so what does the man do? Shrink back.
This isn't politically correct but it has been on my heart for years - we have a generation of young black men in America and especially in the South who have no future. They are aimless. They don't stand a chance. They have no hope. The church has done a poor job of making our own backyard a mission field.
Lastly, this notion of "fully alive" or in John 10:10 that "He came to give us abundant life". It is one thing to accept Christ but something quite different to be radically alive in our walk with Christ. To be completely "sold out" on Jesus. To not fear the condemnation from our father or brother or wife or co-worker if we just totally throw ourselves into Jesus. To be willing to spend 5 hours on a Friday night in prayer and the Word. To be willing to sell everything we have and give up the "American dream" to pursue and follow God wherever He may lead us. A guy told me one time that instead of practicing a lucrative medical practice, he chose to give away his medical talents. He opened a free medical practice in Augusta. People told him he was crazy. His father is a successful real estate developer. He was raised in a "money" family. His uncle is a local physician. He could have just fallen into line and had the big house, beach place and boat. People told him "you'll be poor" and his answer always has been "Yeah, only for about 80 years and in the framework of eternity, that's nothing."
As David Platt says, "Am I willing to hear the Word...even if it convicts me. Am I willing to obey the Word...even if it costs me?"
So these things have been stirring in me - some of them connected and some of them not and I picked up the book Radical. Wow. Oh my.
"It is entirely possible that he will tell us to sell everything we have and give it to the poor. But we don't want to believe it. We are afraid of what it might mean for our lives. So we rationalize these passages away. "Jesus wouldn't really tell us to not bury our father or say good-bye to our family (Abraham). Jesus didn't literally mean to sell all we have and give it to the poor. What Jesus really meant was....And this is where we need to pause. Because we are starting to redefine Christianity. We are giving in to the dangerous temptation to take the Jesus of the Bible and twist him into a version of Jesus we are more comfortable with. A nice, middle-class, American Jesus. A Jesus who doesn't mind materialism and who would never call us to give away all that we have. A Jesus who is fine with nominal devotion that does not infringe on our comforts, because, after all, he loves us just the way we are."
Oh my.
He then talks about a trip he took to Hyderabad, India. He says that Bonhoeffer said "the first call every Christian experiences is the call to abandon the attachments of this world" and that as we spend our time pursuing the American dream, literally billions of people will remain in the dark to the Gospel. On a hill in Hyderabad, "God gripped my heart and flooded my mind with two resounding words, "Wake up". Wake up and realize that there are infinitely more important things in your life than football and your 401(k). Wake up and realize there are real battles to be fought, so different from the superficial, meaningless battles you focus on. Wake up to the countless multitudes who are destined for a Christ-less eternity."
Yes.
He goes on and talks about his experiences with the underground churches in China and in Muslim controlled nations -- people that sneak out together early in the morning to worship God in secret. 60 people crammed in a room with a light and their Bibles. No plasma TV's on the wall, no cushioned seats, no praise band, no cool video clips to sell the point of the message, no time limit so we can get to the club by 12:30 for lunch -- just people starving for God's Word. People so hungry, they will meet for 3-4 hours to just read the Bible and pray. "I want to know him. I want to experience him. I want to be a part of a people who delight in him like the Asians who have nothing but him. And I want to be a part of a people who are risking it all for him."
That taste. Oh, to have a taste of that in America where we care more about how comfortable the chairs are in church -- or -- we complain that the nursery workers who tend to our kids for an hour aren't organized like we think they should be. I too hunger for that passion. I crave an abundant, abandoning faith. I crave being in places where God has to show up. I'm sick of the prosperity/comfort Christianity. I want to be uncomfortable. I want risk in my faith.
I'll end this long post with this last image he talked about. I used this Friday with the FCA kids. We all stand alone on a beach with a wall of water 1,000 feet high coming at us 100 miles per hour. That water is our sin. We own it. No one helped us get it. It's ours. And we can't run from it. We stand alone on that beach with no one to turn to. As we stand there that crushing wall of sin comes at us like a freight train. We can't outrun it. Our time is up. We must face and own our sin. In that moment, we don't just "accept" Jesus. Jesus doesn't need me to accept him. He isn't a facebook friend I decide to add after an emotional weekend retreat and then I go back to my nice, comfortable, American consumerism life. No, in that moment, I BEG for a Savior. I cry out. I fall to my needs at the horror of my life's work and the depravity of my soul. Without a Savior, I'm doomed.
And Jesus takes that wall of water and we are lifted up presented to God in Christ's glory -- none of our own doing. In that, we praise him, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty. The one that is and is to come. With all creation I sing, praise to the King of Kings, you are my everything and I will adore you."
How on earth we've taken that picture of salvation and turned that into a "Jesus wants to make me rich" theology is beyond me. In the context of that wall of water crushing down on me and my salvation through Christ, my 401(k) no longer matters. 1 billion people on this earth have not heard the name of Jesus. That matters. The Gospel needs to be shared and Jesus doesn't do it by himself. We came to Christ through others who shared their faith with us. So too for us...we are to go. Go share the Gospel to all corners of this earth. And if that means we "give up" all that is the American dream...so be it. Go. He commands...Go.
Soar!
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