Another Journey

In less than 24 hours I will be back in Show Low, Arizona at the American Indian Christian Mission. I have been going out there for so long now (9 years and 14 different trips) that I consider it a second home of sorts. I am always grateful for the chance to see good friends and to hopefully be a help to the full-time mission work that they are doing. There will be a lot of hard labor and just as much emotional and spiritual stretching as our team comes together. It is an incredible opportunity to pour into other people-those in Arizona & our friends from Florida and Georgia. The nights of sharing and simple acoustic worship are always filling to my soul. There will be laughter, good food, tears, frustration, exhaustion, satisfaction, and unity.

Each trip has been a blessing in its own unique way and I am certain this week will be no different. I don't know exactly what will unfold or how God will reveal Himself, but I know it will be a powerful time of growth for our team.

Broken Hallelujah

Music speaks to our souls and is a reflection of the intense passion we feel for life and ultimately for God. It is a way that we express our need for Him and recognize His constant presence and provision.

Our devotion, however, is imperfect. We lift our hands in surrender to the King as our spirits painfully stretch to communicate with His Holy Spirit. Our voices strain in honest moments of worship as we battle the confinements of physical life. It is not always fueled by a heart overflowing with happiness, but it is rooted in a desire for joyful understanding of His abiding love. 

There is something beautiful and sweet in the fragmented hallelujah of our flawed worship. God is able to take the meager portions that we offer to Him from our wounded insecurities and transform it into glorious perfection. He takes delight in the murmurings of honest praise from broken people.

Fortune 500

In Luke 7, we see the story of a woman who was worshiping Jesus while He was at the house of a church leader. She was so grateful for Christ that she wet His feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, and then poured ridiculously expensive perfume on them. Naturally, this offended the owner of the home and gave Jesus a teachable moment. He asked a loaded question regarding fiscal debt: if one person owes $50, another owes $500 and they both have their debts forgiven, who is more grateful? The answer is obvious to us and was to the church leader as well.

I don't believe that Jesus was trying to say that this woman (although described as "sinful") actually owed more than the Pharisee. He was making a point about our recognition of sin and gratitude for forgiveness. She realized how far her life choices had taken her from God's plan for her, and was worshiping Jesus for the new life that He offered.

An authentic relationship with Christ involves recognizing the depth of our sin, turning away from it, and worshiping God as a response to His grace and mercy. Fooling ourselves into thinking that our debt is minimal leads to a lack of spiritual intimacy and a sense of religious entitlement that is not only inappropriate, but sinful.

Catalyst Thoughts

I was in Atlanta at NorthPoint Community Church on Monday for an event called Catalyst One Day. It was led by Andy Stanley & Craig Groeschel (two godly pastors and leaders) and was a stimulating day of teaching on developing the culture of a church. It's going to take a while to process everything I heard and determine exactly what to do with it, but here are a few thoughts:

• To create a healthy, dynamic culture you need healthy, dynamic people.
• You have to manufacture ways of assessing culture to keep it new.
• If we care about our mission, we have to focus on productivity-this means we have to look at our culture.
• Healthy cultures never happen by accident. They are created.
• The number one force that shapes your culture is your values.
• If things aren't as they should be change them.
• Vision leaks & culture drifts. That's why constant attention to both is vital.
• You can have high control & low growth or low control & high growth.
• Leverage your authority for the good of other people.
• The local church should be the best place to work. 
• Your personal glory is too small a thing to live for. Attach your glory to the church.
• Are there things you are believing about yourself that weren't spoken to you by God?
• We can't overcome the problems we can't identify.
• Our church needs our leadership more than our "preacher-ship."

Restful

I don't always do "rest" well. I get that it's important to my overall health and I completely understand God's command to do it. It's just that I struggle with sitting and not doing anything. Part of it is a feeling of guilt over not always reading, writing, or trying to get better. Honestly, part of it is a continual drive to prove my value by constantly working. I feel that I have to work a ridiculous schedule so that I can take an afternoon off and not feel badly that I was resting.

I did manage to take that time this afternoon. I talked with my wife, watched my kids play outside, played some guitar, read in my hammock (fiction too-simple brain candy), perused the internet and even watched some of the UF basketball game online. 

I struggled with it some as I kept wondering if I should be focused on something more productive, but I am slowly beginning to regain the understanding of my need for rest. It makes me appreciate the down time and provides the necessary energy to be more productive during the rest of the week.

Slow Fade

One of the benefits to reading large chunks of the Bible at once is that you get a big picture of what is happening & understand cause and effect more clearly. I just finished reading through 1 & 2 Kings this morning and was struck by how quickly things fell apart for Israel due to their sin. What was once a powerful nation that worshiped God had become a scattered group of exiled slaves with no identity of their own. The once beautiful temple and palace had been stripped of anything of value. It was now a ghost town with only faint echoes of the power and promise that once lived there. It is a sad and cautionary tale of the results of choosing to ignore God after being blessed for so long.

How can this happen to us even today? I know of far too many churches that once had God's hand of favor on them, but have now dwindled in size and glocal (global & local) impact. My mind turns to families that once lived strong, passionate lives for Christ, but are now splintered and broken after unrepentant sin has ruined them.

How do we make sure this doesn't happen to our own families or to the church? By continually asking God to examine our hearts and reveal sin to us so that we can repent, confess, and receive forgiveness. It takes a concerted effort (individual & group) to study God's Word and seek His direction in constant prayer. When we humble ourselves before a great & mighty God as a people, we will find that we are following His will and honoring the covenant we have made with Him.

Middle of the Road

From my experience in ministry (and my own relationship with God) I have seen that people turn to God when things are going poorly. When we have no other solution for health, relationship, or financial problems, we will fall on our faces before God & beg Him for mercy and healing. We are also quick to jump into the fray for others that are struggling with similar issues.

I have also found that we will seek God to give Him credit when things are being blessed beyond our imagination. When the job promotion comes through, financial windfall occurs, the healing we asked for is given to us, or a relationship is restored, we throw our hands in the air (like we DO care) and sing out praises to how awesome God is.

My hypothesis (proven in my own life) is that we struggle with praising God when life is in the middle of the road. It's unfortunate that this is true since most our life is lived here. This is the relationship that He desires-not just when we press in close to Him because we are desperate for His solutions or are highly grateful for some magnificent, divine providence. Can we gain the realization that He is in all details of our lives even when we don't give it much thought?

It's the perseverance of faith that is shaped in the mundane that actually has value. We show our confident dedication to God when we stick closely to Him in the day-to-day and not just the highs and lows of life.