The Flesh

I've been reading a book on fighting sin and wanted to share this quote with you. "You can feel the hostility of the flesh whenever you approach God - it makes real love for him into work: Digging around the Bible to find a juicy new insight to impress your small group is like sailing the Caribbean, but poring over the Scriptures to find the Lover of your soul is like skiing up Mount Everest. Conjuring up a happy mood with some music you don't even know the words to is like solving 2 + 2 with a calculator. But savoring the glory of Christ and his tender love until your heart is softened toward him is like using mental math to calculate pi to the thousandth place. And giving a birthday present to your best friend is like forcing down some double-fudge brownies. But giving up your extra bedroom to a homeless person in the name of Jesus is like eating the Rockies for breakfast." - Kris Lundgaard, The Enemy Within

Where do you see the flesh most at battle with God?

Soli Deo Gloria,
Jon

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Inspiring Young Girl

A young girl (9 years old) decided to raise money to build a clean water well, to the tune of $5000. Yikes! That is a ton of money for a 9 year old. Read about her story here: http://www.parentdish.com/2010/06/30/california-second-grader-sets-goal-for-clean-water-worldwide/

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Study Habits

I found this NY Times article on study habits. If you need to study or know someone who does you should read it. http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=654664&single=1&f=26
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Amazing Quote

So I just purchased Church Planter by Darrin Patrick on my Kindle3 (actually it is my first book I've paid for on it. I also just got it and I must say it. The Kindle is amazing). In the preface he has a prayer he prays with his son almost every night. It is so great I needed to share it. "God, make me a man with thick skin and a soft heart. Make me a man who is tough and tender. Make me tough so I can handle life. Make me tender so I can love people. God, make me a man." That is a prayer worth praying every day if you ask me. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

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The Unresolved Story

I just gave this sermon on Sunday and I wanted to share with you all. 

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Either/Or Mentality vs Both/And

I found a great blog post about either/or mentality as opposed to both/and. I found it extremely helpful. http://tonymorganlive.com/2010/03/08/and-instead-of-or/

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http://www.catalystspace.com/content/read/five_tests_a_church_planter_will_face_noble/

Found this great article on tests for church planters by Perry Noble.

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Stop Stalking God

Last week I realized something about my spiritual life. God gave me a picture of what I have been doing in my relationship with him. Something that I have been doing for a long time, or at least it seems like a long time. He gave me a very clear picture. 

The picture I received was of a boy in high school searching around finding out all the information he could about a girl he really liked, or maybe even loved. He loved her so much that he wanted to know everything possible. He asked her friends about her, he continually checked her Facebook, and occasionally he would even creep close enough to listen to her talk. He would hear her talk but it was never directed at him, unless he bumped into her in the hall and he ran away scared when she began to open her mouth (he feared she would ask him something he didn't know the answer to or he would make a fool of himself in front of her and stumble over his words). He was essentially stalking her even though she would have had a friendship or relationship if he asked.

As I was picturing this it began to sink in what I had been doing. I was stalking God. I was learning about him in seminary, I was doing things for him by working at a church, I was discussing him with friends, I was reading my Bible and even praying some. And you know what? All that is good stuff. But something was missing. Whenever I bumped into God I would run with fear. I would run from any genuine relationship with him. It was easier to do all those thing than to have a relationship with him. It was easier to do it because it didn't require and response on my part. I was 100% in control, and I love control. As I continued to reflect on this I realized it was motivated by fear. I was afraid of God. I was afraid of what he would ask me to do. What he would require of me. All the while I was missing the point. He simply wanted to interact with me.  He wanted a genuine relationship with me. He wanted an intimate connection. He wanted me to experience the blessing of his presence, something we lost in the Garden and regained at the Cross. 

So now I am trying to regain that relationship. I'm not exactly sure what it looks like now but I know I want it. I'm walking towards him again with hope and love, not fear or angst. 

I also have a question for you. Are you stalking God?

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Make Every Effort

I just posted this to Saddleback's Internet Campus Blog.

Occasionally I like listen to sermons by pastors at other churches and recently I heard a sermon based on 2 Peter 1:5-8. After hearing the sermon I decided to go read the whole passage for myself. After reading it I felt that I should share it with you.

 

2 Peter 1:3-11 states: "3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to 3 his own glory and excellence, 4 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, 5 and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities 6 are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers, 7 be all the more diligent to make your calling and election sure, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (ESV)

 

As I read this I noticed the progression starting in vs. 5 where Peter states "Make every effort to" and then goes on to list out things that we should be striving for. If you will notice he starts with faith, which is where we all begin. Then he ends in vs. 8 stating that we will grow and be effective in our faith if we continue to do these things. So what are they?

 

1. Faith

2. Virtue

3. Knowledge

4. Self-control

5. Steadfastness

6. Godliness

7. Brotherly affection

8. Love

 

If you are anything like me you like to have specific things you can strive for. In this passage (and list) we are given specifics to strive after. So next time you are looking for something to work on try applying yourself to these standards and see which area you need to work on. However please know that these are not things you attain once and then forgotten about. You need to constantly be striving for them. 

 

If you would like more information on growing spiritually check out the Spiritual Growth Center. 

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Unplug

I just posted this to Saddleback's Internet Campus blog and wanted to share with you.  Sometime during the past few weeks I came across the image below and I wanted to share the concept it relates. It is the focus of a webpage (http://analogsunday.com/). There actually isn't much to the webpage. Just the title and a short description about the goal of Analog Sunday. In our modern world we do not unplug very often, we are constantly connected to the entire world. Constantly being connected has an impact on our souls. It does not allow time for reflection or for God to speak. We are always on the go because we constantly need to respond to what is happening. We are not allowed the freedom to get lost on a Saturday or just spend time with our closest friends without the possibility of being interrupted. Because of our constant connection people assume they should be able to get a hold of us at any moment. In our overly connected society we do not experience the freedom to breathe. We are not allowed the opportunity to drink deeply from the fountain of life, Jesus Christ. If you have read some of my other posts you will know I am in favor of you getting away or slowing down. I want you to hear something and hear me loud and clear. You are free to get space and unplug. You can remove yourself from the technological society occasionally. Now this doesn't give you the freedom to ditch your commitments but you can start to build this into your life. Build in a time of intentional disconnection. Now may you experience the freedom of disconnection. May it be a time where Christ encounters you in a new way. May it be a place where you experience refreshment.  If you would like more information on growing spiritually check out the Spiritual Growth Center.

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Ash Wednesday

Yesterday I had the opportunity to attend an Ash Wednesday service at a Lutheran Church. I think this was the first time I had ever been to an Ash Wednesday service. These types of services are something people in the low-church (Non-Liturgical) denominations often miss out on. To prepare for the period of Lent the service focused on the ash that was placed on our foreheads, for we are dust and to dust we shall return, but it does not end there. At the end of Lent we will celebrate the resurrection of Christ and with him our future resurrection. While we are dust that is not the final story about us. There is one statement I wanted to share with you that the pastor said. He said "Who you follow will dictate how you follow." This statement is very profound. When we have an accurate picture of who Jesus is we can follow him accurately. During this period of Lent you might want to take sometime and focus on who Jesus is. Let's be honest here, Jesus is the point of Lent, not us giving things up or doing additional things. Jesus is the focus. I hope as you focus on Jesus you will have a more accurate picture of who he is.

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Flee

I found this video today and I thought it portrayed a very important concept well. I am going to read into this film possibly beyond what the director, producer, writer, or anyone else that worked on the film intended (but that is the beauty of the postmodern interpretation of art; you get to add your own interpretation). In this film the young man is fleeing from the man in black. He doesn't try to resist him. When he realizes something is up he takes off. This is something we need to do with temptation. The Bible calls us to flee certain temptation, not resist them head on. We are called to flee from sexual immorality, idolatry, love of money, and evil desires of our youth. So often in life we attempt to resist temptation instead of fleeing from it. We need to flee from those temptations. We are however called to resist the Devil. As you think about this video and this concept use it as an example to follow in life. Do not be afraid to flee, it is what God called us to.

 

<object width="400" height="225"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7152063&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=7152063&server=vimeo.com&show_title=1&show_byline=1&show_portrait=0&color=&fullscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="225"></embed></object><p><a href="">Nocturne</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/laforet">Vincent Laforet</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

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Flee

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Preparing for Success

I just posted this to the Internet Campus blog for Saddleback. 

This week I spent time learning from Peter Scazzero in a large class setting at Radicalis (the Latin term for Roots), a conference we had at Saddleback. Peter is known for writing Emotionally Healthy Spirituality. On the first day he shared with us about setting up Daily Offices. A Daily Office is something monks do throughout the day to call them to prayer. For several years Peter has practiced these in his life and they have had a tremendous impact on his relationship with Christ. Peter encouraged us to add these to our lives as well so that our relationship with Christ might flourish. He suggested we practice three Daily Offices. To do that we would stop, pray and reflect on God three times a day. If you are like me your first thought probably was "How on earth am I supposed to remember to do that three times a day?" As I thought about it I realized something, I needed something to help me succeed at this. I needed something to remind me to practice the Daily Office at the right time. So I decided I would set three alarms on my phone to remind me each day to stop, pray and reflect on God. Each day at 8AM, 12PM and 7PM my phone reminds me to practice my Daily Office.

If there is one thing I have noticed in life it is you can help yourself succeed or fail (Why do you think musicians and athletes practice so much? They want to succeed). In life we need to prepare ourselves for success not failure. And that is what I want to encourage you to do. If you want to pray more find ways to remind yourself, whether it be your phone, Outlook on your computer, or note cards. If you want to know more Scripture then write it everywhere or read your bible more, maybe both. If you want to overcome an addiction get help, don't try to do it on your own. If you want to spend more time playing with your kids get rid of Cable or Satellite Television. I don't know what you want to accomplish in your life but I know with God and wisdom you can succeed. When we combine God's help and wisdom we can succeed at a lot. Setting ourselves up for success is a way of exercising wisdom.

Now may you find power in God and wisdom to overcome or succeed at the task before you. If you want additional tips or help for succeeding at your relationship with Christ check out the Spiritual Growth page.

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A Different Perspective

It isn't very often that people in America get a chance to see pollution that is found in other countries around the world. I found this picture of pollution going on in China, more can be found at here. The amount of pollution is scary. Use this as an opportunity to be thankful that our country does at times regulate what we produce. 

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Slow Down

This is a blog I wrote for the Saddleback Internet Campus Blog (http://saddleback.com/blogs/internetcampus/). So I decided I'd share it with you too.

Slow Down! If you've ever been pulled over for speeding, these are the words you dread. You’ve been caught and you know it. You just hope he wasn’t paying attention to exactly HOW FAST you were going, or maybe he’ll be nice and let you off with this simple warning… Maybe.

In life there is seldom someone telling you to slow down until it's too late. You fill your life till it doesn’t have any space. You are constantly on the go. If you are like me you like the fact that you are constantly busy. You don’t know what to do when you have free time. It is weird to not have anything to do. So when I tell you what I am about to tell you I am also telling myself. Remember how I said we don’t have anyone to tell us to slow down. Guess what? Now you do. SLOW DOWN!!!

When we look at the life of Jesus we will notice he always moved at a deliberate pace that rarely involved rushing to something. He didn’t even rush to save Lazarus from death. I for one think he knew what he was doing. Do you? If Jesus is our example, maybe we should follow his lead.

We need to slow down.

This is a simple habit we can develop that will aid us greatly in the end.. If we put this habit into practice we will be less stressed out, we will have deeper relationship, we will have greater patience, we will see what really matters, and most importantly we will have a better relationship with God.

I know all the practical people out there are thinking “What does this look like or require of me?” It is simple really. Next time you are at the grocery store go to the longest line, not the shortest. Next time you schedule something give yourself more than 15 minutes to get there, i.e. don’t have back to back appointments. Next time you find yourself with an opening in your calendar, use it to relax, whatever that looks like for you (and if you don’t know what that looks like, figure it out). Next time you are sitting in traffic don’t change lanes, just sit there. Next time you are looking for something to do with a loved one go to the park watch the clouds. Next time you find yourself with a day off commit to spending some of that time with God reading your Bible or talking with him (i.e. praying).

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Prepared to Worship

Over the past few days I have been thinking about preparing oneself for worship. I've been thinking about the ways people used to prepare themselves for worship and the connection they found with outward appearance as opposed to what most people I know currently do. As I've reflected on this concept I realized something. Both groups have it wrong. Let me tell you the two groups I am thinking of here. Let me make a qualifying statement here, these are generalizations. This is not true of all people all the time. One group is the group that finds that they must prepare themselves externally and must wear their "Sunday's Best" to go to church. They require that your outside appearance be exemplary. You need to dress nice and if you don't there is something wrong. They are only concerned with the outside appears. There is no attention to the internal. If you wear a hat you a degrading the worship environment, as a man at least. They are unconcerned about what is going on inside the heart. If this is your tradition I am not advocating you stop dressing nice. I actually think that it is good that people come to church dressed nice. It is not a bad thing. The problem arises when the singular purpose of dressing nice is to impress people. We should heed Jesus words "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 6:1 ESV). We need to be wise of our motives when we come to worship the Lord. There is another group that has a completely different problem. This group comes to the Lord completely unprepared. They do not examine their heart or concern themselves with what Jesus has said. They generally come to church as if it was a social gathering and that is the only thing they are concerned about. This group fails to recognize Jesus teaching as well as Paul's. "So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift." (Matthew 5:23-24 ESV), and "Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:28). This later group is the group I often find myself in. Rarely have I found myself examining my heart when I approach the Lord in worship. I generally show up to worship excited and glad I am going to hear the preaching of His word and praise Him through music. But it is not a habit of mine to examine myself before coming into his presence. 

My goal hear is not to bash any one group, as you can see I identify with one of them. My hearts desire is to encouraged all of God's people to examine themselves before they come into his presence on Sunday morning, or any other day for that matter. With the Psalmist we must cry out "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" (Psalm 139:23-24 ESV). So next time you prepare to come to worship God may you look into your heart before you look to your outward appearance or your social calendar. Let your worship of the Lord be your guiding thought. Let your desire to meet the Lord be your primary focus. May you meet Him and find that you are prepared for your encounter. May your heart be prepared to encounter Him in His full glory. 

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The Mark of Cain

I was just reading a blog, here, about the Ghost of Cain. The author mentions how the desire to kill flared up in him while learning self-defense with a hand gun. The Ghost of Cain is not something we often experience in the civilized world but we do experience another ghost every day. We experience the Ghosts of Adam & Eve, so to speak. Each and every day we encounter humanity's sinfulness, whether it be in ourselves or in others. The inherent sinfulness of humanity is something that plagues us, often more than we understand. We do not see things clearly because of our sin. We think of ourselves more than others. Sinfulness is inherently a self focus, a desire to do things our way instead of another's. We lack our own ability to overcome sin. But it is a good thing that we don't need to overcome it ourselves. We simply need to accept what has been done for us and choose to walk a new life with Christ. While it will not always be easy to walk in this new life and we will often fail we now have the power to overcome sins effects in our lives thanks to the work on the cross. 

I know this is short but I also hope it is sweet. I don't have much else to say. As you reflect on this look to see where you are being influenced by sin that you previously did not notice. Also may you have the ability to see those areas where it is effecting you and do something about it. Relief from it is a choice away. Whether that be a relationship with Christ or resting in the power he has already given you. 

Soli Deo Gloria,

Jon

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