Dangers of D.I.Y. spirituality

Every fall school reconvenes, and sports teams reassemble. Why? Because most of us do not excel studying and/or training independently. Classes and sports remind us that life is done best when it's done together with others. Do-It-Yourself can be an unproductive -even dangerous- way to do life, and faith as well. Case-in-point: Aron Ralston. He gets pinned down by a loose boulder while canyoneering solo and is trapped for 127 hours and finally frees himself by breaking his arm and then cutting his forearm off with a dull knife. Or Abby Sunderland: the 16 y/o who had to be rescued from the Indian Ocean when her boat was de-masted in a storm. A D.I.Y. lifestyle can become a danger zone. At least Abby had notified people where she'd be -and was rescued as a result. Aron hadn't told a soul, and had resigned himself to inevitable death. The bible (Ecclesiastes 4:10) notes in that "Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble." Aron will always bear the scars of his solo strategy, and live with the diminished potential a missing limb can create. Why is it that American Christians are so prone to D.I.Y. spirituality? We've drank our culture's cool-aide -- bought the lie that life is best lived independently, rather than interdependently. Evidence: 1 out of 6 of us professed Christ-followers do not belong to a church. 1 out of every 3 of us who belong to a church are not gathering as church on any given Sunday, and 4 out of every 5 of us Christ-followers does not gather in any sort of Small Group. Classes, Sport's Teams, even the Geese who all regroup every fall remind us that you'll grow faster, develop further, and execute better when you learn, train, and go together with others. Equally as important: you're safer together, than you are alone. Solomon states: Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer." (Eccl. 4:11-12a) How often do we get pinned down, or paralyzed by big problems we've tried to tackle by ourselves, or struggled through life's storms we've tried to navigate on our own. Does anyone else fully know where "you're at" spiritually, emotionally, morally.. in life right now? Are you trying to navigate through some tough decision, dilemma, or challenge on your own? Are you "at-risk" as a result? Does anyone have your back... gotcha covered? Who's following Jesus right alongside of you? Do you have a spiritual training team? If not, it's time to regroup, and stop trying to do-it-yourself. Listen to the rest of my message "The Danger Zone" @ www.discoverchurch.net, under Media, Sept. 12, 2010.

The kind of faith that really matters.

Only faith that acts is faith that matters. That's what the Christian Scriptures assert, and -more importantly- what Jesus claimed. Jesus said “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. (Matthew 7:21, New Living Translation). King Herod is a poster child for those of us who give mere lip service to serving God. When Jesus was born and the three wise men showed up looking for him, Herod publicly told them: Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!”(Matthew 2:8) But submitting himself to this promised King of the Jews was the last thing on the mind of this self-professed Jewish King. Jesus said that putting his teachings into practice was God's litmus test of wisely accepting them. Dr. Neil Anderson notes that no one can consistently behave in a manner inconsistent with how they actually believe. The question that these truths should provoke each of us to reflect upon is this: What beliefs about Jesus does my lifestyle reveal? Since we're all prone to the "halo effect" (inflating the good that we do, and minimizing our conflicting conduct) this is a question that is best answered with the input of others who know us well and see us often. For example, the Apostle James writes: "If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless." (James 1:26, NLT). Think about this: What's my talk like, and am I walking it out? I'll share more on faith that really matters tomorrow.

Time

I received my Alumni Update form to fill out yesterday. I attended Wheaton College in Illinois, and was in the class of 1980. Big bummer is that our 30th class reunion was bumped off of Homecoming weekend and to "Alumni Weekend" -on Mother's Day weekend this year. How many of us are going to leave our kids, or drag our spouses to our Alma Maters on Mother's Day w/e??? Ticks me off. I'm protesting! Won't attend. Had a conversation about aging with my classmate and close friend Dave Iglesias a month ago; he commented on the fact that we're a lot closer to our 70s than our 20s. That was a painful reminder that provoked some thought, and prayer. I've been praying the prayer of Moses, found in Psalm 90, where he speaks of the brevity, and difficulty, of life: "Teach us to number our days" Moses prays. "Another translation reads: "teach us to realize the brevity of life, so we will gain wisdom." Reminded how precious God's gift of time is, and considering how to best leverage my remaining years on planet earth for maximum benefit. I've concluded that -for me- it involves investing in the generations below me: my children, their peers, the kids I coach, and investing in what's most important: faith and character. Faith is the only thing that'll get you to heaven, and character is the only thing you'll personally take with you to heaven. I want to take with me as many family and friends as I can, and am looking to leverage what's left of my life to inspire them to place their lives in Christ, and allow Him to shape their character and conduct to become more like him. Teach me to number my remaining days, God (and help me to stay healthy so I can continue running until I step into eternity --please)!

Resolution to Blog more

I suck at blogging! There, I admit it. So many thoughts running through my head each day that I could openly share, and yet I don't make sufficient time to jot them down in a format you can follow. Last night I was reflecting on Living For Bigger Things in preparation for Sunday's message. Reading the book of Haggai and God's complaints about His people during that period. It was a heady time for Israel: they had been granted access to their homeland once again -after 70 years in a foreign country (Babylon) and had this wonderful opportunity to return and rebuild. They launched into an ambitious plan to restore their temple and rebuild their culture, but they soon lost the big picture, gradually narrowed their focus to just their selves, and homes, and left the temple in disrepair. They lost sight of the forest by focusing on the trees. God inspired Haggai to chastise and challenge them: don't just focus on yourself and your house; get going again on my house. That's not because God is into buildings; but the temple would enable them to perpetuate their faith -including their hope in His promised Messiah, who the whole world would benefit from. It's easy to let the blinders grow; to narrow your focus; just worry about your household, and care less about God's agenda, and others' welfare, than your own. God challenged them to look beyond themselves and live for bigger things --for His purposes, and His plans for them, and -in turn- for us! We face the same temptations: to neglect God's bigger agenda in favor of our own agendas. Woe to us if we do. There are some bigger things that God wants us living for than even our own families' welfare and prosperity. That's what I'll be focusing on this Sunday. I face the same challenge: to focus God's bigger vision for my life: to share His truth in relevant, appealing, and understandable ways. I pledge to do a better job -in part- by blogging regularly about what He's revealing to me, and provoking me to reflect on. We'll see if I can stick to it! Read Haggai chapter 1 today.

Getting a Grip on Reality

Want to make a clean slate of things? You've got to first get a grip on reality. Jesus said that knowing the truth is what sets us free; the problem is that we have an almost unlimited capacity for self-deception and rationalization. In order to get a grip on reality you first must identify and admit your part in your problems. Our biggest problem is that we want to call our own shots, direct our own lives, be in charge --that's the "original sin." It's been said: 'The very heart and root of sin is an independent spirit" (Richard Cecil). It manifests in each of us shortly after we begin to walk and talk... we get defiant, and dishonest -even as toddlers. We need to recognize where we desire to "be God" and also play God: to try to control our lives, our problems, our image, our pain, and others. God is about cooperation, and collaboration --with His will and wise agenda for your life-- rather than control. Step one in getting a grip on reality is to look where and how you're trying to be God and play God in your life, to admit it, and ask forgiveness for it, and release control to God. That's what it means to "let go, and let God." May you have the courage and conviction to do so.

Scrap that New Year's Resolution!

Here we are again, that time of year so many of us make the obligatory resolution to change something, only to revert to old patterns and broken promises to ourselves within a short time. Why is that? It's because Resolutions are really symptoms of deeper issues that need to be resolved between ourselves and God. The first is that each of us want to be God: we want to decide for ourselves what's right & wrong for us, and the best course of action. The second is our desire to play God: to control our image, problems, pain, and others; the third is our tendency to do wrong --our inability to execute our decisions for good. These three inconvenient truths must be realized in order for us to take the first step toward personal transformation: Realize that I'm not God, and admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do wrong, and that my life is unmanageable. That's Recovery Step #1. It's the truth behind Jesus first beatitude: "God blesses those who are poor and realize their need of Him, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs" (Matthew 5:3). I'll be unpacking this principle at Discover Church on January 3rd, but will lay out some pertinent points the rest of this week.

Sorry, too busy to blog!

Sorry I haven't blogged in nearly a week. Christmas is a brutally busy season, and -this year- has sent me it's share of needs and crises. Pastoral care is something that often is not scheduled in advance, or planned for. I think that we best approximate the spirit of the season in giving, and in serving others. It's always nice to treat yourself, but -if that's the only giving that's going on in your life- you're truly impoverished. Christmas is about God showing His love for us in a tangible way: by giving the most expensive gift possible: His one and only son; and Jesus giving up his spot in heaven so that we could gain access to heaven. Christmas is a season of sacrifice, of selflessness. May I encourage you to lift your sights up off of yourself, look around, and see who you can serve, enrich, comfort, provide for, or encourage. Jesus said that if we give, He'll return serve abundantly. Generosity begets God's generosity, so why not take Him up on His promise this Christmas. Give! "God so loved the world that he gave... his one and only Son." --Thanks for the wonderful present: your presence, "Emmanuel" -God with us. May God be with you, and show His love through you, this Christmas.