I have a dream????

This morning, on a day when we celebrate one of the greatest leaders of the civil rights movement, I went to youtube and watched Dr. Martin Luther King’s famous “I have a dream” speech. If you have never listened to the speech, it is worth the 18 minutes of time it takes Dr. King to deliver.

One thing that struck me was Dr. King’s ability to paint a picture of a better future. He passionately paints a picture of a country that can do better – but brings the challenge all the way down to the individual people and neighborhoods.

As I was watching and listening, I was struck by how easy it is today to “not have a dream” today. What do I mean?

If I want something in life I simply go after it.

If the kids want a new toy, we go get it.

If we want a new house, we find a way to go buy it.

If I don’t like my job, I leave it.

If I see, hear of, experience too many problems in my community I move to a new community.

The suburban life of the “here and now” has replaced many of our dreams. We simply live for the moment and allow the dreams of greater good to escape us. All the while our souls are dying without a dream – something greater than our own selfish desires to pursue.

What would my life, my family, my neighborhood, my work place, my community look like if I truly had a dream? What if my dream involved the heart of God? What if my dream involved…

my daily priorities reflecting the goodness of a loving God?

reflecting a loving God to my family instead of simply providing stuff?

loving my neighbors as Jesus loves me, instead of pointing out all of their flaws on the HOA (Home Owner’s Association) website?

working an honest days work without grumbling about how much more I deserve?

sacrificing for the weaker in my community to give them a living picture of the redemptive love of Jesus Christ?

What is your dream?

Do you remember?

Jesus probably had plenty of times where he could have gotten really upset at his disciples. Their ability to listen and learn often seemed stunted at best – like in the following passage:

Matthew 16:8 (ESV)

But Jesus, aware of this, said, O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet perceive? Do you not remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you gathered?

I find the same “stunted-ness” in my life! Perhaps the greatest hole in my faith today, much like the disciples, would be my not remembering.

What happens when I do not remember?

When I don’t remember, my current behavior is not influenced by my past understandings. I may not have any experience in dealing with a certain problem, loss, temptation – but the promises of God assure me of His presence and guidance. Did I remember that?

When I remember, my current actions are different.

Remember and Keep Moving!

In the age of global communication – there are days when even the most optimistic person finds themself a little depressed. We hear about the crime in our neighborhoods on the evening news along with every major crime in the world at times. How does a person keep their sanity?

While reading the book of Nehemiah, I came across this gem today.

Nehemiah 4:14 Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

The scene is tough as these men are facing persecution for rebuilding the city of Jerusalem. But the answer is simple and straight forward:

REMEMBER and stay in the FIGHT!

Mondays are days that I need to remember this verse. My heart is to see people challenged, to grow into their God ordained life work, to stand and influence those around them for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These are lofty goals – with lots of setbacks. However, I need to remember that it is the Lord who I am working for – not the accolades of men – and His promises that drive me to stay the course when things do not look great.

Feeling a little dow today? Grab your Bible and begin to REMEMBER who it is that you serve. Then, get back in the game! You will have an energy and persistence for the things of God when you begin to remember God.

Promise in the Darkest Hour

The Bible is full of such richness. I am always amazed at how I can read a passage that I am familiar with and find new insights over and over again.

In my journey to read through the Bible this year, I came across these verses that occur immediately after the record of the flood:

Genesis 9

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds,15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.

The great thing about this passage – with every storm there a rainbow.

A few years ago, my family and I got caught in a thunderstorm while on vacation along the gulf coast. We were in a boat not far from shore when a very threatening storm struck. Within minutes, we were lost in dark clouds, rain that cut visibility to almost nothing and lightening popping all around our heads. We had to make a dash for the shoreline, ditch the boat and take shelter. It was not until the storm started to break apart, several hours later, that rainbows become visible through all darkness.

There are so many times in my life when I get surrounded by these “storms”. These scenarios that consume all of my emotion and attention – mostly because of my perspective. While in the middle of them, they feel like they will last forever. It seems impossible to see the edges of the “storm” – the relief on the horizon.

Rainbows move with the light and the moisture in the air. You cannot always see the rainbow while in the middle of the storm. However, God, with His omnipresence, can see the rainbows carried in every storm!

When I cannot see the rainbow, He can. When the storm seems overwhelming, remember His promise of the rainbow. What APPEARS one way to us has a totally different view from His perspective.

First Century Cosmic Ride

The book of Acts ha some fascinating stories of how God began building His Church. Embedded in those stories are reminders that I often miss – reminders about how my life and faith should be lived out.

Acts 8:4 Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word….39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he passed through he preached the gospel to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.

How often do we allow our circumstances to dictate our response to the Word? When things got tough in Acts, to the point that the disciples were scattered from each other and their homes, they responded by continuing in their faithfulness to the Word.

How shocked was Philip when he was “transported” out of his conversation with the eunuch? He “found himself” in a whole other place and simply began to do what he had been doing before his cosmic ride through space and time!

Where will I find myself today? This question really does not matter!

What matters? Will I continue to “preach the Word” with every fabric of my being?

Brit Hume appeals to Tiger Woods, Become a Christian!

This  Christmas season has been filled with all kinds of celebrity scandals from the world of sports. My old university added to the chaos – firing Mike Leach in the midst of allegations by Adam James.

As people, we seem to gravitate towards scandals, accusations and arm-chair commentary as if we are experts in the lives of people we have never met. And through the speed of posting opinions online, information and misinformation can leak out in seconds.

I was very impressed to see this interview (click here)  of Birt Hume posted on a blog this morning. Brit makes a bold, courageous and compassionate appeal to Tiger Woods.

Thanks, Brit, for bringing grace and hope into a very sad situation – reminding us that there is the possibility of healing and redemption!

Has Christianity Lost its Soul?

I just finished reading Mark Batterson’s third book,

PRIMAL – A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity

The book was provided to me for review by WaterBrook Multnomah

Before I give you some highlights, let me just say that I am really excited to recommend this book. Mark has set some very tough goals in his life, one of which is to write a book a year! While the goal is impressive, I must admit that I often play the role of the skeptic. Writing a book a year would certainly translate into adding more verbal “vomit” in a culture overly saturated with too much dribble. However, Mark’s book is anything but dribble. I found it to be a fresh read on some very core parts of my faith that often go unattended. Mark is an insightful story-teller who does a great job of causing me to engage my faith in an effort to do all things for the glory of God (I Cor. 10:31).

PRIMAL begins with Mark reminiscing about a trip to Rome and his encounter with some very ancient landmarks. These ancient paths are the source of his search to look backwards in order to live forward. His goal is to get the reader to think hard about the beginnings of Christianity as compared to what we experience in our world today. Mark’s conclusion -  the greatest problem today is that “we’re not great at the Great Commandment. In too many instances, we’re not even good at it.” (p. 7)

The rest of the book is an expansion of Mark 12:30 – learning to love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Mark uses stories and personal illustrations to challenge us to reconsider how the culture of today has invaded the full expression of our Christian life – putting most of us in the position of simply “acting” like Christians. Unfortunately, our “reactions” give us away and reveal the massive gap that exists in our lives – a lack of truly learning to love God with our whole hearts.

PRIMAL is a good read for the person struggling with the foundational issue of trying to “rightly” live the Christian life. Too many of us are guilty of looking for the next quick fix or undiscovered “truths” that will set our lives on the path of least resistance. Mark reminds us towards the end of his book that every generation is in need of a reformation. However, “reformations are not born out of new discoveries. Those are often called cults. Reformations  are born out of rediscovering something ancient, something primal.”

If you are looking for something to stretch and grow your walk with God through his Son Jesus in the new year, I would recommend PRIMAL as a place to begin your journey!

You can purchase PRIMAL direct from RandomHouse.

“Please pray for the Cowboys….”

Our little church plant is working hard to learn how to love God and love others. We believe that Church is becoming a people of influence for the Gospel of Jesus Christ within the communities in which we live – not just sitting in a building marked “church”. With that in mind, a few of us went up to a local rehab hospital yesterday morning.

A rehab hospital is a place where you go after major surgery, heart attacks, strokes, car accidents – anything that causes such damage to your body that you need to relearn how to use that part of the body again. It is a place of great pain, struggles and frustrations.

Our goal was to relieve a little suffering through conversation and a Christmas ornament to brighten their rooms.

As we were waiting to go back and visit the patients, a man walked through carrying a bag containing lab tests for many of the patients in the hospital. He paused briefly and we had a quick conversation. The courier made a comment that almost made me gasp for air.

Before I tell you what he said, let me tell you about some new friends I made in the hospital.

• One lady was struggling to eat pudding and almost brought to tears as she struggled to communicate with us.
• A strong, retired military man sat parked in a wheel chair.
• Another lady began talking with us as if she had known us for 30 years
• One gentleman kept saying, “You are such nice folks for coming to visit.“

13 residents. All in pain. Most were lonely. ALL commented on how nice it was to be able to visit with someone. Each of them with a story to tell and very few people willing to listen. It was one of those experiences that sticks in your mind more than you would have anticipated. In the end, we had some great visits and even prayed with several patients.

But the explosion to my soul – the thing that most marked me during my visit – was the comment made by the courier, the man shuttling tests and results that would further shape the lives of these people who were in such suffering.

What did he say to us in our brief interaction with him?

“Remember, pray for the (Dallas) Cowboys this afternoon.”

Prayer – suffering – the Cowboys – people in need….

This comment has solidified in my thinking that sports arenas have become the modern version of houses of worship. I am as guilty as anyone in allowing my allegiance to a sporting event or team to become my source of inspiration during the day – especially when it involves the Dallas Cowboys. It is amazing how when you stand close to real suffering that the trivial nature of your own life becomes so offensive!

This week – I hope to take a new pulse on my life by asking the simple question, “Who am I praying for today?”

If it turns out to be the Cowboys, I want to pause and remember my new friends from the rehab hospital. I am not anticipating team sports in heaven. However, I do expect to see one of my new friends from the rehab hospital again. I would hate to look them in the eyes and admit that I was “praying for the Cowboys” instead of the relief of their suffering.

³⁷Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? ³⁸And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? ³⁹And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ ⁴⁰And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ -Matthew 25 (ESV)

Football, Priorities & Worship

I like to follow several blogs of guys who may not be on the radar of many people. In doing so, I am often challenged and impressed. Don is a church planter who has realized some things as a young father that I am not sure I learned as a young dad. Check out how he wrestled with football, priorities and worship in his current blog.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

I just read an article about a Methodist Church in Arizona that lost a court appeal and has been ordered to stop offering meals to the homeless on their property in a Phoenix neighborhood. The truth is that many of the comments in the article actually reveal exactly what the people in the community think about church in general.

One protester of the “pancake worship” breakfast said,

“It’s not a homeless issue, per se, it’s the fact that you need to have some control, and that’s what the zoning ordinance provides,” he said. “It’s not a problem with homeless people in wealthy neighborhoods. That would be a matter of prejudice. This issue would be setting churches up to avoid zoning ordinances.”

What is the purpose for the existence of the church? Hopefully the community around us sees our existence as far more important than avoiding “zoning issues”.

Maryann Pickering, a Glendale zoning administrator, said because Glendale has a prescriptive ordinance, it’s unlikely churches would have regular, on-site meal and worship services for the poor and homeless.

This condemns the church in general today for its lack of living into the gospel in a way that would inform the public exactly who we are by our actions. Sometimes I think churches have gotten so good at masking our identity in the world that Tempe’s planning director could make this comment:

“We would see feeding the homeless as ancillary of the church,” she said. “Churches have activities to support the community. We don’t have any regulations that would prohibit something like that.”

Feeding the homeless is ancillary? Supporting the community does not involve feeding the homeless that live or drift through? That is awfully hard to reconcile with the picture Jesus paints in Matthew 25…

^41-43“Then he will turn to the ‘goats,’ the ones on his left, and say, ‘Get out, worthless goats! You’re good for nothing but the fires of hell. And why? Because—

I was hungry and you gave me no meal,
I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was homeless and you gave me no bed,
I was shivering and you gave me no clothes,
Sick and in prison, and you never visited.’

⁴⁴“Then those ‘goats’ are going to say, ‘Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry or thirsty or homeless or shivering or sick or in prison and didn’t help?’

⁴⁵“He will answer them, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored, that was me—you failed to do it to me.’

⁴⁶“Then those ‘goats’ will be herded to their eternal doom, but the ’sheep’ to their eternal reward.”

Here is my thought: If our ordinances keep the homeless out of our sight, our ordinances will also serve to keep the homeless out of our minds. Our neighborhoods may appear safe but we will have effectively failed to do one of these things to someone who was being overlooked or ignored!

Be the church.

Is injustice out of sight in your community?

Fight to keep injustice in your mind!

Do not let the ordinances become your excuse not to follow Jesus’ commands.