Word of Beard

The new year is an interesting life-marker isn't it. It's this invisible line drawn in time that very strangely affects our worldview. It's an excuse for a do-over, or a second, third or fourth start at something.

It's very freeing to think that come January 1st we can actually start afresh. But it's also confining too isn't it? At the same time that we hope for a new start to our diet, we're limiting ourselves to that timeline, as if starting today would be futile.

I was reading about discipleship again and this time in relation to the new church campus plant I'm involved in. I was thinking about our Vision and Values and how they ought to connect us with Jesus on a molecular level. I was thinking about this in relation to a new year on the horizon and how I want to live and lead with clarity, at least as much as the Spirit allows in this crazy season.

In order to map out the coming year I've been convicted to view my life's Vision and Values in direct relation to the Gospel holistically. For instance, let me share my definition of each (Breen and Cockram sent me in this direction):

Vision: Gods kingdom at work in this culture through the Gospel.
Values: Gods grace at work in this body through the Gospel.

This Vision forces me to view all of ministry (personally and corporately) as the expansion of Gods kingdom here in Medina. And this expansion, penetrating the heart of this community and culture, coming solely through a practical understanding and outworking of the Gospel (to the unbeliever in Romans 1:16, and maturing believer in Colossians 1:6).

This definition of Values stirs within me a greater desire to enter into a Gospel lifestyle that applies divine grace to every relationship, situation and context in real time both within this local body and within the greater community.

Can you imagine what life would hold in the new year if I/we resolved to unite our individual and communal Vision to actual Gospel centrality on any and every front?! Our worldviews would be rocked and we might usher in the kingdom in this town with miracle and wonder.

What if our Values shifted dramatically as well. That in the new year we'd resolve not only to eat healthy or live at peace with the universe but to give grossly abundant amounts of grace to others as the Gospel demonstrates for us and demands of us. That our value system would be defined by a Gospel of grace and not unconvincing and discouraging law.

That our Vision for our lives and the Values we function within would be Gospel centered is quite simply the only way a new year resolution will come to fruition. I want to challenge us all to keep this in mind as we begin to ponder what the new year might hold.

Enjoy the journey in 2013 - in fact, why not begin now...

Read 'Building a Discipling Culture' by Breen and Cockram

The Naughty, Naughtier and Righteous

It's that time of year again where we reflect on relationships. We stroll through our mental Rolodex of family, friends, co-workers, neighbors - and we rearrange our Naughty or Nice list.

We lose sleep over who gets the awkward family holiday sweater Christmas card.

We justify the emotions we feel toward that brother or sister who ruins everything and base our holiday cheer on their existence. We meditate on how impressive a gift our spouse deserves either based on their awesomeness or our own screw-ups over the past year. Whatever the case - the more awesome they have been OR the greater the jerk you have been will equate to a larger gift in their favor.

Some of us wrestle with the needs of the rest of the world in this season - in particular the amount we'll spend on 'stuff' when others suffer, struggle and mourn. And again we attempt to discern the appropriate place of their needs vs our own, or their needs vs our children's desires...

Our holiday-relationship-meditative-discernings are often painful and wracked with tension, frustration and even guilt. Why is it so hard to enjoy this season of celebrating the First fruits of Salvation, that is, the Incarnation of Jesus?

'He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth...Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.'

We spend so much time wondering which list people will land on. We struggle, argue and lose sleep over these relationships when right before us we have an ancient Word describing the rule by which the Lord was going, did and does discern and judge the world.

Through Isaiah the Lord proclaimed this. While this passage isn't prescriptive of our own actions it does present a model of righteous thinking, of set-apart discernment, of just and pure action.

First we see that the Lord will not simply judge the world (people) by what he sees. He knows your heart and the overflow of it in your daily life. This is a key element in our decision making abilities. Dig deeper, look harder, forgive.

Next we see that he doesn't judge based solely on what he hears as we're imperfect people incapable of expressing ourselves appropriately - again He looks to the source of our being, that Spirit within us groaning for Truth and Justice and Holiness. Are you listening past the hurt and frustration?

Instead, with Righteousness He will judge the needy. With Justice He will decide fairly on behalf of the poor of the earth. Christ will discern with mercy and grace the nature of His relationship with all people and their standing before Him.

He will judge the world with the very same 'divine nature' He offers us, one that we are called to partake in.

We discern who gets a Christmas card, a text, an e-card, a gift, a smile, a hug, a visit, a phone call, a family video-update, a hand-written letter...modelled after and based upon Christs interaction with us and not our twisted-and-emotionally-flesh-driven response to their past actions, words, thoughts. No matter how long-standing the bitterness may be. No matter how true the hurt is. No matter how tempting the Naughty list is. No matter.

No matter how poor. No matter how angry. No matter how hurtful. No matter how broken and bruised and bitter. No matter how distant and cold and closed off...He made himself nothing to bring you and I into Everything...'and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers' as well (1 John 3:16).

Review your list. Revise it.
Reconcile it with Christs reconciling of you.
Redeem your actions, thoughts and words according to His standard.
Repent where you find yourself unable to forgive. Believe that He can bring about wholeness.

The Naughty list may not disappear but it can be handed over to the Lord for sifting and judging. Stroll through your Rolodex and seek an unburdened Merry Christmas.

Read Matthew 5:1-12 for a description of what criteria God judges us on. Read 2 Peter 1 to realize the call to a divine life - one based on Jesus' commands and commission.

Ss...Ss...Synergy

Synergy is an interesting concept. The 'whole' working together is greater than the 'part, individual or localized element' and ultimately more fruitful. If you're like me you have to push aside the cheesiness of such a corporate sounding concept to unlock its deeper meaning (very much a self-help statement...I know).

When the synergistic attitude - a vision for and unity of a body that is larger than any one person - is replaced with selfish motives or personal desires this can give birth to an overarching unhealthy competition within the member and the body.

It's amazing how important clear communication is in creating and sustaining synergy. That the leaders model and profess this attitude daily is vital and they must do it clearly. Perfection isn't the goal here, debates and disagreements are healthy when processed well, but living out a vision is more important than speaking though they're two sides of the same coin.

Think about your parents marriage. Think about the synergistic, holistic, functional, pragmatic, dysfunctional, devastating moments and seasons and for all of us in very different forms. Marriage is divine, it's a symbol, an analogy of the greater relationship not only between us and God but the Trinity at that.

Healthy marriages however aren't perfect. That said, healthy marriages are synergistic. The couple is so intent on clearly understanding the other that grace and humility abound alongside the individual desires to please the other. This interesting combination of give-and-take is ultimately fruitful to the marriage as a whole. Disagreements may abound but love for the other abounds more.

The Apostle Paul taught this. To the Corinthians he described all the members of this new life in Christ as a body. And each person another part of the body until it's completely unified in vision and purpose...that is Glorifying God. Each member of the body with a purpose and the body as a whole with a purpose and these uniting to create something divinely blessed.

Synergy. I smirk when I say it, I don't know why but I can't help it. Yet it describes something that the Scriptures have been teaching for centuries. It provides modern language for an ancient concept. If each member is equipped to unite to both the body and to Christ through the counsel and wisdom of the Spirit and are reminded regularly that this is the most fruitful path to Kingdom living and building...then synergy has done it's job - it has created a language and an ethos of unity in Christ on mission.

Read 1 Corinthians 12 for synergistic thoughts. Study the relationships around you...are you synergized?

The Wise say What?

'But where can wisdom be found? Where does understanding dwell? Man doesn't comprehend it's worth; it can't be found in the land of the living.

The deep says, "It's not in me";
the seas says, "It's not with me."

It can't be bought with the finest gold, nor can it's price be weighed in silver...nor in ophir or sapphires...nor can crystal or jewels compare with wisdom.

Where then does wisdom come from? Where does understanding dwell? God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens.

God even said to man, "The fear of the Lord - that is wisdom, and to shun evil understanding."'

I was reading the interaction between Jesus and Pilate the other day. Pilate attempts to figure out who Jesus is or at least claims to be, a king. In response Jesus says, 'You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I am incarnate, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.'

Interesting that Jesus turns the conversation of power and right and authority on it's head and gets to the heart of the issue...Truth. 'What is truth?' is the famous response of Pilate and one that everyone must ask at some point in their journey through life.

Truth. Where can it be found? The very same place that wisdom and understanding are found. In fact Truth is the source of wisdom and wisdom is the overflow of truth in a persons life. Understanding is the bridge between truth and wisdom.

In the sinner it enlightens them to the truth of the Gospel and then displays itself in the life of the believer through orthopraxy, right living, according to the truth of God. It is the development of a truly orthodox disciple, one who desires and wisely understands the truth of the Gospel.

Where do these things come from: wisdom, understanding, truth? They come from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth...that is Christ. And they appear in the one who confirms this truth through a humbles confession of Christs kingship in their personal life and the universe at large.

Read Job 28 on finding wisdom. Read John 18 on Jesus' eternal claim and Pilate's ongoing question.

Pretty Freakin' Serious

Seriously. That's how I take myself too often. Very seriously.

I often feel as though I intrinsically have something to protect that's so important I need a specialized-overestimated-emotionally-charged-internal-security-system that sounds an alarm when this important aspect of my life is called into question and defends with 'seriousness'.

What's all the more interesting is that in any given circumstance or interaction with anyone other than myself I have to be reminded that I don't have to feel like a child. That I am developing talents and abilities to offer others. That the Spirit of God has actually equipped me with gifts able for building up His kingdom.

How does a person feel like a five yr. old sitting at the adult table and simultaneously take themselves unnecessarily serious?

Pride. The underrating of who God has created me to be destructively mixed with an over-saturated attitude of the worldly self.

Imagine flipping those on their faces. Wringing out the soggy view of self that so drains my spirit and being saturating with the fantastic Spirit of God Who is Life.

Seriously, how awesome that would be to maintain that mindset daily. Pretty freakin' awesome if you ask me.

Read through creation and the cross in the Scriptures - you'll be reminded of the uniqueness of the human and the value and love God has for us in both creation and death and, of course, reconciled creation.

Waves and other...Waves

So my son started body surfing this week in NC. We run into the water about 20 feet where the waves roll in sandy and foamy. He turns toward the beach and dives into the rolling water and drifts 10 feet or so, drinks a little salt water, rubs some sand in his eyes and then jumps up and runs back in to do it again.

So incredibly awesome to watch this fearless excitement take shape.

Being a tiny bit more experienced with body surfing I understand the power of the waves more than he does. I've experienced the crushing destruction the wind/water combo brings when it drives ones face into the sand. The rag-doll in a toddlers mouth soggy-tortured feeling when it doesn't go as planned.

I also understand the childlike joy in victoriously riding a primo wave. So on both counts, as I watch my son take to the water without fear of the power of the ocean yet full of the same joy in victory I can't help but experience that internal awesome cacophony of emotion fatherhood brings.

This is such a spiritual endeavor isn't it? Creating and training up. Encouraging and Admonishing. Walking alongside and then stepping back. Holding hands into the water and the then sending off to ride the waves.

I wonder - what is God equipping us for in this season of life? What wave am we soon to be sent off to ride?

Whatever the case, the Scriptures are filled with the story of a God who loves His creation. Exponentially more than I, loving my son as he ventures off on new experiences, is a God who glories in our joyful ventures in His creation with Him.

Ride the waves. Enjoy them. Understanding the power and fury and joy. And then enjoy all the more watching your children ride the same waves...it's exhilarating. I can't even imagine how much joy the Lord truly experiences in journeying with His people as we enjoy Him.

Awesome.

Word of Beard

'Can a mortal be more righteous than God? Can a man be more pure than his Maker?' Job 4:17

...Says a spirit, a mysterious form in the night, to Eliphaz a friend of Job. He's in the midst of dreaming when all of sudden he's terrified at the presence of this being who then begins to whisper conviciting nothings in to his ear.

It doesn't whisper murderous threats or haunting growls - even more powerful it begs the questions above. It challenges his (or maybe this is a vision for Job) claim to goodness, power and righteousness in his own right etc. It causes him to discern his own attitude toward the Creator and his own understanding of his place in the world.

'Why do you call me good? No one is good - except God alone' replied Jesus to a young man seeking to follow Him.

It's true. The Son of God was solidifying what the wild spirit from Eliphaz's vision was positing. That God is good, righteous and pure and no imperfect human (that's all of us in case you were wondering) could be more so than Him.

How we view our position in relationship to God affects how we worship or fail to worship Him.

Read Luke 18:18-30 for the story of the young man.

King and the Half-King

Tanacharison, the Half-King of the Six Nations during the formative years of George Washington's life, was quoted in Washington's journal from his early years in the military as saying something incredibly humble and yet provocative, even offensive to some:

'We live in a Country between, therefore the Land does not belong either to one or the other[English or French]; but the Great Being above allow'd it to be a place of Residence for us [Seneca Tribe].'

How awesome it is that a tribal leader and representative of so many people, nations that had lived in this particular land for hundreds of years prior, would claim no right to the land, but only that it's been a gift to his people, though 'God-willing' would remain one.

Now I'm sure there's a larger context to the statement and I assume his desire truly was to keep his land free from the effects of the Europeans, at least the negative effects. That said, it's a truly fantastic worldview. I immediately think of Paul's comments regarding the Believers state of being in this land:

'So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal...We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.' (2 Cor. 4:18, 5:8)

Paul does something often in his letters. He spends time noting how thankful he is that God is working _____, or that his audience is _____, or that the Spirit has been _____. So on the one hand we set our hope on the eternal land that God has set apart for His people, yet we remain thankful of our current blessings, which God allows and/or provides. Paul notes that our bodies are temporary and all the while he models a spirit of humble thankfulness.

We still live in a land in between. In between what was perfect in the Garden of Eden and what will be perfect when The Great Being (Jesus Christ) redeems His creation in full. Claim nothing, but humbly honor what has been given, most notably reconcilliation with the Creator through Christ.

Read 2 Corinthians 5:1-10 for a discussion on the temporary nature of the body and the real purpose of life. Read His Exellency George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis

Noah, James, Grace...and Me

I recently started reading through the Bible again - in fact I'm only in Genesis 9 but a few things have caught my attention, 6:8 in particular.

'But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.'
Short. Sweet. But what the...? Corruption so intense (:11-12) that even the acts of the animals had became a disappointment! How far creation had wandered from perfect design only several chapters and several hundred years earlier. This is the socio-spiritual climate Noah enters into - and yet he remained 'just', 'perfect' and even 'walked with God' (:9).

God dispensed grace on Noah. Noah's life fostered a grace-filled response from the Lord. And this when all of culture and creation were fostering judgement from the same God.

Sp now, where does a Christ follower go to dig into the application of such a thing as abundant grace here and now?

In just four verses James manages to squeeze in 10 imperatives for the Christian seeking to experience 'more grace.' Though we're imperfect, only through a deepening relationship with Christ and away from dependence on anything or anyone else (people, self, work, money, governments, desires), can we hope to experience this divine sanctifying grace of God.

Isn't it interesting as well that in order to experience God's abundant grace - something so fluid and forgiving, grace so freeing and comforting, a divine gift - that we MUST do certain things. These imperatives go against all our cultural instincts (to be free to live however we choose and still be accepted to receive this beautiful thing called grace from God). I'm not speaking of Gods grace for salvation which is free to all who repent from sin and have faith in Christ - but grace in sanctification, that which transforms us into Christ-likeness as a believer.

Now if we take into account that God is Holy and we aren't - that He created everything and is behind the perfect design of life - if we can comprehend that He alone defines truth and love and justice and mercy and grace...then we can begin to understand that we must interact with Him, through Christ, in specific ways in order for Him to interact with us. And He decides what these ways are.

What are these imperatives James lays out?

Submit: to whom? God. Great starting point.
Resist: whom? Satan and all that is evil, corrupt, anti-righteousness.
Draw near: to God - and this only after submission - a true longing for God.
Cleanse: your hands. Temple priests would ceremonially wash themselves for service as externally/physically holy (set apart for Gods work).
Purify: your hearts. This is an internal reconciliation with Gods truth and love. Thoughts, desires, motives, attitude...these are transformed in Christ-likeness.
Lament: experiencing misery at the realization of your sinful state and depravity away from God.
Mourn: an inner cry to the Lord with a broken heart for your sin.
Weep: an external display of lamenting and mourning. The overflow of a heart desiring reconciliation with God.
Let: all laughter and joy turn to gloom and sorrow. Those things that bring you pleasure, replace with mourning and weeping, know they aren't the source of or expression of this abundant grace. Only Christ is.

These 9 imperatives, these actions and positions of the heart - these are summed up in the 10th. Humility. Noah's life, to an incredibly high degree at this point (remember he was called 'just' and 'perfect') resembled this list in James. Of course Christ hadn't come in the flesh in Noah's time, but the same holy character that is expected in the Christian was expected in the saints of old.

Humility: the act of bringing oneself low in relation to Christ. Acknowledging his supremacy over all things as noted in Colossians 1:15-20. Professing his Lordship over not just the world...but you and I personally (Romans 10:9-10). Confessing the work of the cross in the face of your demons (read Romans 8).

Noah received a special grace in a difficult season. He didn't demand it, he simply lived a life that fostered that response/blessing from the Lord (though let's not idolize Noah...a year or so after the flood he too abuses this grace).

All of us experience a taste of Gods divine grace, life itself displays this. Disciples of Christ experience and understand the spiritual aspects of this grace through Christ. Maturing believers experience this all the more.

I'm processing these imperatives of a grace-filled life...and it's intense. I receive more than I will ever understand from Christ. Though I also tend to offer to others immeasurably less than I ought.

All This Convenience...

...and yet I still continue to wrestle daily with time spent studying the Word, conversing with the Lord, being with His people and intentionally in the world.

I didn't wake up and build a fire. I didn't harvest and roast my own beans. I didn't grind the coffee. In fact, this morning I didn't even prepare the coffee or push the button. I simply poured it into my cup and sipped...slowly.

I like technology. I like the accessibility and the freedom. I like the convenience. But I say that I love Jesus. I say that I only want to glorify Him. I say that I'm eternally thankful for salvation. And I believe that I am...but why so little time focused on Him when so much more time is available to be with Him thanks to these modern conveniences.

'As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him - you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood' 1 Peter 2:4-5

How awesome a house this is! We are a priests and priestesses. We aren't couch potatoes or workaholics neither of which own a righteous focus or offer 'acceptable sacrifices.' We are recreated to move and breath and live and serve and all very intentionally for the glory of God in Christlikeness.

Use the coffee maker. I will. I can't imagine life without it. But the moment you and I, the living stones, abuse this convenience for self devotion...we've missed the blessing of it.

Rather than wasting that beautiful coffee time...use it. Use it to fullest to 'come to Him, the living Stone.'

What conveniences in your life need to be reevaluated or redeemed or rejected?

Students of Students of Teacher

Always students.

'Go and make disciples.' Now this is imperative. This is no special call to a handful of believers but is a mandate of the Messiah to the entire Church.

There's a word most of us despise in our culture, an idea really, and that's obligation or indebtedness to another. That Christ would not simply say something is good, or great, or even the best choice for a Christian...but an obligation! is crazy talk.

Paul notes the obligation we have in living according to the Spirit those who are in Christ. He doesn't simply say that it would be best if we stop living according to our worldly desires, lusts and Americanized dreams...he says that only true heirs of God will cease this faulty mindset and lean into the fullest picture of life that exists, one of faith and hope and love and all from Christ.

In fact Paul goes on to say to believers, mind you, that death occurs if the professing Christian continues to live according to the flesh! What he's saying is simply that without a renewed mind that leads to a renewed lifestyle...the professing believer most likely isn't actually a follower of Christ! Christ = Life. Flesh = death.

Back to the discipling mandate. Go - Baptize - Teach. These three elements are rooted in the making of disciples.

'Teaching' is really a way saying that those who teach will have students whom they are pouring into. To pour into someone is more than simply inputting knowledge, but is sharing the experiential wisdom of knowing Christ and being Christlike.

This is a personal process. It's organically centered around authentic relationships. It's slow and messy and fruitful and exciting. It's passing on the life of faith, through Scripture, one day at a time.

Now the 'go' part isn't a call to find your place in a foreign country, at least not always. For most it's finding your place in your current world structure. Your daily rhythm. Go into your context and make things new. If sent, go elsewhere too.

'Baptize' of course is that beautiful element the Church has been commissioned to display the renewal externally of life internally.

Making disciples is not a strategic method or form of church and community coming back around for another go of it. It's THE call. 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth,' and what does Christ do with that eternal authority and power...He tells us to make disciples. It's a slow. Messy. Gritty. Personal. Painful. Joy-filled. Community building. Gift releasing. Faith inducing and producing...call.

Now of course what discipleship looks like is more defined in how Jesus did it, how Paul relates to his own disciples and so on...which may not be mandated but should and does give us a good taste of what Jesus meant when He spoke of discipleship.

And by the way, 'I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'

We are always students of Christ. For each us this tangibly looks like being a disciple of a more mature believer for a season. For all of us this looks like being a discipler at some point. Regardless we're always students of Word.

Read Matthew 28:18-20 - Romans 8 is a great call to the Spiritual life as well. The book of Acts will solidify the tension between obligation, call and renewed passion. And read Robert Colemans 'The Master Plan of Discipleship'

terrible nights yet...Hope

'my heart is  breaking for my sister and the con that she called love
but when I look into my nephew's eyes man you wouldn't believe
the most amazing things that can come from some terrible nights'
- fun. some nights

Hope. Even after a night or a season of ill-fated, mis-defined, un-love...something beautiful was yet revealed. Though emotional, mental, spiritual, physical baggage may and will remain in differing degrees, one can still look into the eyes of an unplanned child from a broken beginning and be encouraged. See hope. Note faith. Feel a particular sort of supernatural love.

'Now these three remain: faith, hope and love.' 1 Cor. 13:13

Hope. It finds its root in Christ (1 Tim 1:1). It exists because He exists. Because He holds the fabric of life together (Colossians 1), everyone is capable of experiencing this prompting. It's supernatural at it's core, that mankind would seek something 'other'.

Archias of Mytilene (pre-Christ) bewailed the birth of boys, believing there was nothing in life but relentless evils awaiting them and that physical death alone was the cure. How depressing it must have been/be to assume life is nothing more than evil waiting to pounce and relief alone comes from the grave. To have accepted a worldview that rests on despair and gloom. And this according some of the greatest minds in history.

Yet another message contrasts with Archaias' greatly, the message of Christ. One of hope. Hope that the Kingdom of Heaven is moving onward and upward. Hope that love truly is abounding and that reconciliation with God truly means life, and life to the fullest.

Paul proclaims that Christ is hope.

While Christ was the usher of hope in the flesh, He sent the Spirit to continue the message and experience of hope in everyone who believes. To remind the world that while sin abounds, hope abounds all the more. That even in the life of a mother whose con-artist lover left her and her child feeling robbed and abandoned...hope had abandoned no one. The very life of that child in that particular song, in that particular story is a testament to a divine love touching us all.

That while earthly fathers may not fulfill their call to love, God has, does and will - and all through His own son, Jesus.

Hope abounds. Even after a terrible night. Even after a terrible season loaded with undesirable consequence. Hope.

Read 1 Corinthians 12-14 - Read Johns Gospel to feel truly loved here and now - Listen to fun. and hear a culture seeking faith, hope, love, all that Christ offers and is...how to connect this culture with Christ.

Emotion and Truth and Four

This morning my little boy displayed his first truly defined bout of sadness regarding our recent cross-country move. In other words he freaked out for a while.

Some little frustration, like not being able to play the Sonic video game he wanted with his cousins, was the catalyst to being able to express his general sadness, pain and frustration about the move. In his own way at that.

He misses his friends. He wants to sit at his desk chair and watch Octonauts. He wants to be in control of his environment. He wants to know that the same God that made the trees in Wisconsin is here as well, right now.

Now of course his tears set the stage for my wife's and, not surprisingly, my own.

So I was reading in Romans this morning. That the Spirit brought me into the fold of Gods family is comforting beyond compare. We're made in His image and comprehensively at that, so the sadness I partake in with my own son and wife is a mirror image of the pains and burdens the Father carries on my behalf.

My wife and I continue to remind our little dude (and ourselves) that it's not only okay to feel sad, but it's a sign of truth, that love does exist even when unexplainable and that Christ-like community is so good that when it's gone, even for a moment, it should leave us wanting.

Read 1 Corinthians 12 for the importance of community - Romans 8 for the awesome work of renewal the Spirit brings - Study the 'one anothers' and discover the necessity of true community to live these out appropriately. Read!

Word of Beard

'Remind them of these things...' 2 Timothy 2:14

So in order to remind other believers of Truth...you and I actually have to remember it ourselves. We actually have to embrace it deep within our guts. Jesus promises the Spirit to help remind disciples of His teachings - so if the Spirit is within us and we're filled with the living word - then remembering and reminding others is not simply a good Christian thing to do, but it's imperative that all believers do it!

In order to remind others of Truth we must remember it ourselves. In order to remember it we must meditate on it daily. If we meditate on it daily we'll plant it deep within our souls. Word planted deep within us transforms us from the inside out. We are made new, new creations with a transformed attitude in line with Christ.

Remember these things...

Die with Christ and so live with Him. Endure struggle and persecution in His name as a reborn disciple and experience the honor of reigning with Christ.

However if we deny Him, if we reject Him, He will deny us and hand us over to what we're actually embracing. If we're faithless in our relationship with Him...He remains faithful, in line with His character and promise...He remains faithful to His people.

Nomads and Discernment

1)  Physical: An experiential reminder of what we truly need in order to do life...no computer, ipod, personal library etc.

2)  Social: With community: shared meals, shared parenting, shared laughs, shared life, shared imperfect-but-beneficial-to-all Christ-based-community.

3)  Mental: Appropriate time to ponder what Christ is doing through His Spirit in this season...without said modern distractions. As one famous punk singer called this sort of thing 'a cerebral scrub!'

4)  Emotional: Time outside the norm. Time to be separate. Time for distance. Space for renewal. Who doesn't like a good cry?

5)  Familial: Simply being with my family through heat, cold, rain, thirst, packing, cooking, firing, kids, bugs, swimming, sand, tantrums, laughs, challenges, joys, new experiences. Growth.

6)  Hygienic: Well, it's camping, not to much say about that...fresh undergarments anyone?

7)  Spiritual: All of the above and more combined to create a very real, very tangible movement of the Spirit in real time, away from the normal rhythm of life and regular time in the Word.

This camping trip has been a metaphorical taste of the greater nomadic journey my family and I are venturing out on. No place to attach our name to - though borrowing a room in a home to live in until the Lord provides other means. No job to commit my time to, nor receive compensation from - until that door opens in due time. New social arena. New environment to ponder life in and about. New spiritual season in which to set up camp with all it's challenges and joys, many of which are parabolic to the very nature of camping itself.

I am exhausted and yet refreshed. I am humbled and yet filled anew with confidence. I am discerning what's best and yet banking on the Spirits guidance, yet knowing little of what's in store.

'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion' (Romans 9:14-16). Is God unjust in saying this to myself and my wife, who are giving up our home, community, comfort for His work? I don't think so.

He is the Creator of life and definer of purpose and justice. We are the created and the receptors of His purpose and His justice. He died on our behalf so that we would know Him personally, eternally. I may miss out on the American Dream version of comfort while serving Him in this indefinite season and yet still be blessed more than I will ever comprehend.

He remains merciful by allowing me to know Him. He is gracious in calling me to follow.

So we'll continue on with a camping mindset, in His love and care, filled with the knowledge of His goodness and provision, whether meager or bountiful. Is it possible for every believer to live as called wanderers? Is it necessary? I don't know, but it's a good experiential reminder of what we're really about.

Read Hebrews 11 and Romans8:18-9:29 and spend some time in the forest, see the trees.

Processed Goodness (and all my subjective crap)

I remember trying to process 'goodness' as a teenager. Trying to define what it meant to be a good person and if I really wanted to be a good, kind, upright son and citizen.

I remember wrestling internally with those parts of me that wanted so desperately not to care about what good and evil meant. I remember wanting to be free to do as I pleased regardless the consequence, a subjective goodness I suppose. Yet I also recall wanting to be free from my careless selfish thoughts and actions. I fought internally to hold onto a definition of goodness as I understood it in my context without the knowledge of Christ.

'God's invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen...' - Paul noted this in Romans 1.

He goes on later to explain that the Law of God made sin apparent. The Law, in pointing out and defining some of the characteristics of God, His nature and His holy expectations, also pointed out sin and evil.

Even before I heard the Gospel story I was witness to it's power in all of creation (Romans 1). Having been made in God's image my spirit, my heart, soul and mind, longed for unity with a creator and yet also longed for selfish desires too, and were they different? The Law, by nature of God's presence in creation and obvious residue in all our aspects of American law, justice, love, peace, grace, truth, hurt, pain, equality, unity etc. - brought about a struggle within me that desired deeper connection with truth...while I was aware of truth thanks to Law and creation and culture, I wasn't yet able to define it.

'through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death,' Paul goes on to say in Romans 8.

In being reconciled to my Creator, definable Truth brought about victory over my selfish desires, perfectly in an eternal sense and yet physically it remained in tension. The struggle has changed, I'm no longer confused about goodness and it's role in life, Truth demolishes absolute confusion (though maturing in Christ brings about clarity). Goodness is defined by Christ and victory comes physically, mentally, emotionally when I'm willingly obedient to Him, let me say again, eternally it never changes.

Wrestling with this stuff as a teen was crazy. Wrestling with this Truth as an adult in Christ is healthy. Truth is fact in Christ and conceptual in it's foundational principles in this culture. It illuminates and guides. It defines and causes one to question other 'truths.' It's universal and personal at the same time. Eternal and immediate, here and now.

Years later, I'm thankful that I can define goodness and sin. I am thankful I am not still foraging for definitions that sound, look and feel good in a particular moment in such an imperfect life. I'm free from the slavery of confusion and indecision and bound to unchanging truth.

'In the beginning was the Word...In him was life and that life was the light of men.' John 1:1,4

Wrestle with this stuff. Read John's story of Christ. See how the Spirit moved throughout the early church in Acts. Read Paul's letter to the Romans to wrestle alongside Paul with these concepts of goodness, evil, truth etc.

Real Time Benefits...in Christ

Peace. Grace. Hope. I sat down to process these truths from Romans 5 when for the umpteenth time my son called out from his bedroom. We have a rule that once teeth are brushed, stories told, prayer's said and light's turned then demands are disallowed. Once he's down it's my time to read, pack (we're moving) and relax. I want it. I need it.

After a stern word of clarification regarding the bedtime operation and tears from a sensitive little boy in the middle of transition, I realize that peace, grace and hope were not the overriding tones in my response. I don't know what's more frustrating, his neediness or my selfishness.

'Therefore since we have been justified through faith [in Christ]...'

Four things follow Paul's remark here regarding the justified - those who believe and trust in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. What a stinkin' awesome series of benefits we gain in Christ:

1) Peace with God. Christ's victory over sin and death came at the expense of Him taking the full weight of God's wrath reserved for sinners. He took it on our (my) behalf, covering us and cleansing us. The very same peace that Christ bought for us we're called to model here and now...even with my son well past his bedtime.

2) Stand in Grace. Our faith in this Christ brings about the wild opportunity to live in grace. That is, to live a life connected to the God of the Universe, outside of condemnation and within eternal glory. How convicting it is to receive this grace in the midst of my own graceless confrontation with my little boy.

3) Rejoice in Hope. Hope for what? My fulfilled dreams - The perfect job, family, retirement fund - Long life and health and comfort? No. Hope in God's glory. Glory that's in and about those who have faith in Him. His eternal glory within our now justified souls. While I may fail in any given moment with my son, I rejoice in the hope that my Lord has His hand upon my little dude.

4) Rejoice in Suffering. Why? Because it sanctifies the disciple of Christ. Because through suffering we see that 'God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.' The Spirit, through suffering and struggle, conforms us to the Christ's image. Thank God.

My selfishness is unacceptable. How frustrating it is to succumb to my own selfish desires, even at the end of a long day in a crazy season. Yes, my son should obey his parents, and yes, it's my job and my honor to train him up to do so...yet with grace and joy and appropriate discipline in His love.

My son's neediness for me is only a reflection of my own neediness for my Savior. I pray I remember this truth in the morning.

Peace to you. I pray you too stand in His grace. Always rejoice. Again, I will say it again...rejoice.

Read Romans 5:1-11 (4:1-6:23) for a deeper appreciation for our righteousness in Christ through justification.

The Malady Mill

According to Dictionary.com, 'malady' may be defined as an undesirable or desperate condition even socially and spiritually.

So I was listening to a song the other day entitled Grist for the Malady Mill. How appropriate a description for some seasons of life. I have experienced two incredibly different ends of the spiritual spectrum in the previous month, experiences that are yet currently spilling over into my heart and soul and mind and effectively shaping my attitude to varying degrees.

I have felt the unexplainable prompting of the Spirit to move in extreme ways causing me to move on from my ministry position, my home, community, friends/family etc. for a new version of everything in a new town with no immediate promise of reward.

I have also experienced, directly related to the move of the Spirit above, that sinking feeling of desperation in dramatic change and loss of all control and concrete plan. A sadness from leaving what I've come to love and a pride in wishing I had more to show for what has burdened my heart in this season.

From prison Paul challenged the Philippians through his immediately personal story. He claimed that 'I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.' This said in the midst of the Malady Mill. His imprisonment itself providing enough grist to cause even the best of us to lose heart. Yet this same grist carrying Paul into the Malady Mill was never void of his faith. A faith founded in Christ who alone gives strength in desperately challenging seasons lacking personal ability to overcome.

What Mill are you tossed about in? What have you come through or foresee in the future? What's your source of Strength in the midst?

Malady. I'm not sure I could put my finger on the social, mental, spiritual malady consuming much of my journey in this season, however, while I look around and see the inner workings of the Malady Mill about me, I also confidently and humbly see the Spirit at work amidst the grist. I am not despondent by any stretch of the imagination. And while I'm not kicking my heels together in excitement I am confident He is at work.

Even I can do anything through Him alone, who provides all I need for life and breath and reason.

Read Philippians - a an encouraging letter written from a prisoner on behalf of Christ. Listen to mewithoutYou's Grist for the Malady Mill.

Word of Beard

'"For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways," declares the Lord.' Isaiah 55:8

Thus...my assumptions never quite line up with His actualizations. 'For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength' (1 Cor. 1:25).

Yet His promises, which are revealed, can be clung to.

Word of Beard

'He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.' John 1:10

Imagine if your family didn't recognize you in the morning. If you had to demonstrate your love for them in very explicit ways again, a deep love that only a deeply connected father/husband figure can display for his family.

Imagine pointing out the elements of you that were inside each of them. The characteristics of yourself in and through them. While speaking against those character traits that you hadn't planned for them.

Modeling, not forcing.

Function Junction

The game is happening. Realistically the 'play' button never ceases to be in use. But the most important may be the 'function' key.

Each of us has malware within causing us to malfunction on some level. Addictions, poisonous relationships, sub-par family baggage, abuse, self-deception, disease, dysfunction...malware. And each virus perverts the perfect functionality we all have access to in and through Christ. He incarnated a new code, a new list of options.

Function. Change your settings, the script - something only the Holy Spirit can do: the Counselor, the Guide, the heart and mind Renewer. Once the Spirit begins that work in you...He never ceases.

The Spirit gives us the unction to find the malfunction junction in our lives...have you?

Read: Philippians 1:3-11, 2:1-13 / John 14:25-27, 16:5-11 / 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

Spacesaver...

Spaces.

All of us live within a wild matrix of relational spaces. While there are four key spaces that all of us ramble about in, most of us only utilize a couple within our regular rhythm of life. And of those two-three spaces we only intentionally develop healthy relationships within one or two.

Public - 100 or more people/ work, concerts, community events, church services
Social - 25-75 people / parties, family gatherings, large classes, clubs
Personal - 5-15 people / immediate family, small groups, gangs
Intimate - 1-3 people / mentors, accountability, coffee groups, card nights, discipleship

The numbers may vary, that's not the important piece. What is important is a healthy use of space and defined relationships.

Who knows everything about you? Yes, it's awesome that your spouse does, but guys need other guys who know their strengths and weakness' etc. We need these intimate relationships that meet the deep 'one-anothers' in Scripture.

What small group are you part of? Who are you regularly sharing meals with, enjoying family time with? Who do your kids regularly get to hang out with and see you model life alongside?

What social gatherings are impacting your life and are you giving yourself to? Do you know your neighbors and hold bbq's? Is your small group a part of a larger community of 35 or so? In other words, do you have a good size spiritual family you don't get lost in.

What about the public sphere. Why is this important? To belong. Belonging to something bigger than ourselves and our spheres of influence is vital to remaining teachable and humble. The greater church is good for this: worship service, corporate teaching, greater vision, huge mission and simply the physical display of the body of Christ at large!

Spaces. We need each of them. In the last post I noted how Jesus displayed them with the ultimate goal of making disciples...the eternal use of space in action.

Weirdly Normal...

Graffiti art at one time was simply vandalism. Then it became artistic vandalism. Then it turned into a form of artistic expression, only some of which was purely vandalism. Now it's a full blown artform where money is made and graffiti is commissioned worldwide...and in some cases still vandalism.
Most things that seem weird to us at first are simply another persons normal. Normal doesn't make something right and quite honestly some peoples definition of normal is pretty stinkin' weird. Weird doesn't make something wrong though it does warrant healthy questioning.

Jesus was weird.

Even today, the average church leader if witnessing it first hand here and now, would disagree with his methodology (blanket statement not supported with factual evidence). We would wonder at his miraculous works, question his passion and doubt his teachings. Even as we hold his Word in our hands and hearts I doubt we would legitimize his ministry.

However, my desire isn't tear down the modern church, I'm a part of it and wouldn't consider abandoning his bride. My desire is to see the same ethos of Jesus' ministry play out in our own. The same mindset he had while on earth carry us through our days. The same philosophy of ministry shape our own. The same practical elements he displayed in building the church be lived out here and now.

His Personal Style:
He personally stayed close to at least 3 men whom he trained and shared life with, almost all of life for several years. Close enough that at least one was willing to speak up against the Lord...only to be put back in his place!

He built a solid team of 12 with whom he trained and sent. These he spent only a little less time than the 3 above.

He interacted regularly with at least 70-120 other followers he would call disciples. And he taught regularly to crowds in the hundreds and thousands.

He even spent massive amounts of time during his public ministry healing, eating with and talking with the masses between Caphernaum and Jerusalem.

To Jesus this was normal ministry. To others only some of this was normal for a Rabbi. For others yet this was blasphemous living.

His New Normal:
As the rock-star of his day - the miraculous healer, fantastic teacher, homegrown prophet and 'possible' messiah - Jesus did not pull away from the crowds outside of his teaching to create space. He spent more time with them.

Jesus didn't spend all his time alone with his 3 closest friends/disciples. He spent much time with them and balanced it with the masses.

Jesus managed to raise up leaders, lead a small group of men passionately willing to follow him anywhere, and regularly share his life with the world around him...all the while mapping out and equipping his disciples for the greatest missional movement ever set in motion in the history of mankind.

And he even managed to spend quality time with the Father amid his sacrificial mission.

His weirdness created a new normal.

He was obedient to his authority. He was humble in action. He was confident in theology and mission. He was gracious in confusion. He was direct in opposition. He was firm in condemnation. He was solid in clarification. He was passionate about reconciliation. He was committed to salvation.

Can we as leaders of the church: pastors, evangelists, teachers, prophets, preachers, apostles, administrators...disciples - both lay and vocational - can we really create a better system for unfolding the kingdom here and now? While Jesus never said, 'only do church the way I have done it' - out of all the models he could have implemented during his short time with his people he chose intimate, life-sharing discipleship with a few and large community teachings with the many...and intertwined the two beautifully under his watchful eye.

Let's disciple a few for a season of time. Then repeat.

Let's enter into smaller Christian communities and do life together.

Let's meet the masses, meet their needs and be and share the word.

Let's gather and worship with great teaching regularly.

I'm not sure the church is truly using Jesus' life and ministry as the model for how we do life and ministry today. We've got some things down. Others, maybe the more important things, not so much. Let's rethink the weird and the normal in life, ministry and Scripture...and keep transforming until our disciples look like Jesus'.

Word of Beard

'But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out it's by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes; it's leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.' Jeremiah 17:7-8

What is a true disciple? This is.

All of one's life, attitude affected by the truth of Christ. And this spoken by the Father several hundred years before the incarnate Christ. He is the same yesterday, today and forever and His desire for His church is the same as well.

Question: Are you this sort of disciple? Is there any other?

Ravaged & Redeemed: Guys, Games and Porn...

The other night I attempted to lead a discussion with PatrisMC, a young adult community I lead. I say attempted because it may very well have been the most chaotic 'discussion' I've ever experienced...and I've spent years leading elementary and junior high discussion groups.

Now, let me say that I genuinely love this group. I truly believe the Spirit has created and spear-headed this community launch and is working to shape a new generation of disciples. That said, in several folks there is, quite simply, an inability to focus on the word, on others, on one topic...on one fruitfully developed thought for more than 60 seconds at any given moment.

I need movement. I enjoy technology. I track well with many transitions and rabbit trails - things movies and video games provide - and yet there's no replacement for genuine, respectful, honest exegesis and whole-hearted, whole-minded wrestling with the Scriptures in a group setting. Many voices. Many thoughts. Many experiences. One Word.

Jeremiah 17:5-10 was the focus of the discussion. A descriptive contrast between the person who trusts in mans strength, the flesh, the material world and worldly wisdom - and the person who confidently trusts in YHVH through Christ, the Word.

The cursed and The blessed. The ravaged and The redeemed.

I've been pondering that chaotic discussion in light of this passage all day. And in the mean time I stumbled across this article titled The Demise of Guys.

It's rare to meet a young dude (and more and more young ladies) who isn't or hasn't been addicted to some form of fast paced, insatiable, ever expanding, always renewed and yet extravagantly-destructive and life-depressing drug: video games, vulgar movies, social media, porn, ______.

To Jeremiah, God described what a truly free and purpose filled life is founded on and the fruit that comes of it. The Lord also terrifyingly described the cursed man, his foundation and the blindingly-depressed life that is his reward.

I felt this tension in the room the other night. In the midst of that discussion on Gods words to Jeremiah I could feel the spirit of the cursed pressing in on the Spirit of the blessed. I couldn't focus. I became  frustrated and many times quietly asked the Lord to bring focus and freedom to those in the room enslaved by the idea that 'whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it is good and right and healthy.'

That false mindset founded on the quick fix and immediate gratification of self-pleasure and fulfillment has enslaved so many in the coming generation. It hasn't brought freedom, growth and maturity but only a perverted sense of empowerment and an atrophied and, if existent, faith to those who claim to believe in the very Christ who actually is life and who actually teaches against the temporary lusts of man.

The article above only reinforces what Jesus and the Apostles taught. That there is a path that leads to destruction, and as intense as that statement is, our bodies and the perverted abuse we put them through preach this to those who know us best and beyond.

It's quite the focused statement isn't it, to say that trusting in the Jesus of the Scriptures is the way to eternal life, purpose, freedom and fulfillment. And yet it takes so much faith, so much awareness of the correlation between the spiritual, philosophical, scientific life around and within us. It's such a simple truth loaded with all the complexities life offers...

Needless to say. It was a chaotic discussion the other night and yet I get it. There are supernatural forces vying for the hearts and minds and souls of each person during each hour, of each day.

Read Jeremiah 17:5-10 and Read The Demise of Guys. Cursed? Blessed? Ravaged? Redeemed?

Word of Beard

'You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit.' 1 Thessalonians 1:6

Paul and his co-authors were speaking directly to the Thessalonians in their context, but we've much to learn from these notes. If you suffer for the Gospel in any way as an imitator of Christ, and you've been convinced of the Truth of the Gospel and you know the model that was Paul's life...then the work of the Spirit in the Thessalonians is also at work in you.

So in this verse we see that the Holy Spirit carried the message along from town to town and generation to generation (2 Peter 1:20-21), stirred within them a perseverant heart allowing them to stand firm in the Truth (James 1:2-3), and transformed them into models of Christ-likeness (Philippians 2:13).

The Spirit also brought about joy, one of the key elements in the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). He brought joy to the Thessalonians and He brings it to us through the Word here and now. He is the embodiment of it and is given to all disciples of Christ. No disciple can be a fully functioning imitator of Jesus without also experiencing His supernatural joy.

Joy frees us from the trap of self-esteem, depression, circumstance and suffering...and this only comes from the divine power of the Spirit.

So, be imitators of Christ.

The Thessalonians were transformed by the Gospel and their new lives were models to those who knew of them. How about your life?

Word of Beard

'"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.' John 7:38-39a

Now the streams of living water thing is awesome but it's not the focus of my thought here. I recently connected with a couple of young and passionate Latter Day Saints (Mormons to lay person) and it simply reignited my study of and faith in the Text that has been carried along by the Spirit, the Counselor and reminder of Jesus' teachings, a Truth that has been tested and approved.

Jesus breathed and poured the Spirit on them (John 20/Acts 2), an awesome picture of an intrinsically unified God. And that Spirit of power was received, is here and will continue working in the Church until Christ returns 'and finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God' (Luke 22).

At no point from Christ's ascension to this very day has the Spirit left the Church to our own demise as the Mormons may propose. He has been and is on the job until Christ returns to redeem His Church in the great finale! If the Spirit truly was sent for all as Jesus prayed in John 17 - then the Mormons Extra New Testament of Jesus' Vacation in the 'Merica's is all the more shown to be in the least unnecessary and at worst unbiblical and destructive.

And while the conversation may be greater than this tiny thought on a partial passage...it isn't anything less.

Fathering A Wocket...

Fathering.

Think about the weight of this. It's something you are - a father. And something you do - father. It's both a noun and a verb. This isn't a role a man steps into lightly.

He may be paternal or adoptive but his relation is only as important as his action. He cares for, protects and provides. He assumes responsibility for...but all that's still just technical stuff. Stuff that's assumed when father is your state of being.

My daily fathering is all of that technical stuff with skin on - It's:
laughing at 'bargains' (what my son calls a fart)
break dancing after a long day
reading about Jonah and the Wocket in My Pocket
learning patience amidst tantrum...after tantrum...after tantrum
answering the question again
wiping
feeding
modeling
missing when I'm gone - aching to return
discipline...again and again...with grace
fostering joy
discerning frustrations and anger
encouraging without exasperating
hoping without faulty expectations
praying often...though not enough
guiding and providing and professing and being.

Sometimes it's simply staying.

Always it's loving.

And right at this very moment it's quitting the blog post and building with play-tools...It's always here and now. Fathering is my nature, it's my state of being until I die. It's who I am and what I am.

Read John 15:9 to catch a glimpse of fatherhood discipleship...What He gives us, we pass on to our own.

Word of Beard

'In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.' 1 Corinthians 11:17

Can you imagine the conviction of the guilty believers listening to this letter from Paul - sitting in a room with those you've put down, thinking of the imperatives of Jesus you've abused, making eye-contact with the overseers whom you've disobeyed or worse, pridefully judged.

Yet Paul's desire isn't to condemn is it? It's to clarify and call back to faithful living. It's to directly point out the fault, no matter how intense, so that Jesus can once again be glorified.

What is it that you, your friends, your small group, your local church body, your denomination are doing when you gather that Paul would have issue with. Not just Paul but his Lord Jesus! What freedoms are you abusing, what imperatives are you ignoring, what good are you avoiding and evil or ignorance are you running to?

Examine yourselves (11:28). Judge your own actions and motives (11:31. And work this out with fear and trembling beneath the awesomeness of God and you and I will hear this instead...

'Well done my good servant, you have been trustworthy...'

Word of Beard

'...he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you...And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going...[to] complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me - the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."' Acts 20:17-24

Moving on is hard. There are moments in life when change doesn't simply happen but is intentionally sought out in order to glorify God in uncharted waters...though exciting it's no less difficult to traverse.

Moving is crazy difficult as well for those staying behind, no longer sharing life with those setting sail. Without a doubt I will miss some dear friends. Community builders. Church Planters. Missionaries. Family.

Thanks for all the sweet times my beloved 'merican.

'When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him...Then they accompanied him to the ship.' Acts 20:36-38

(picture in honor of the called onward...real nice)

Counting & Nothing Needed

'if I come without a thing, then I come with all I need...'

One of the greatest lines in a song I've ever experienced. I say experienced for a reason. Most lyrics, words, phrases, rhymes, etc. I listen to and once in a while even hear...but the lyric above is an experience.

It describes the fruit of evangelism. This is that place in the Gospels where most of the crowds following Jesus leave Him because His teachings are hard to understand and accept. However, the rest that stick around, who are continuously taking in the Gospel (The Message of Christ - The Story of the Scriptures), these are partaking in evangelization.

These people experience the Message. Over time they discern it's weight and the role of the One at the heart of the story. They eventually understand enough about Christ to know that:

1) His life and death and resurrection are all they need.

2) There is a cost to following Him...they are willing to begin counting that cost as earnest followers.

3) They can bring nothing to the table, nothing to His feet, nothing to the throne of God in exchange for the hope of His message.

Evangelism is a journey isn't it. It took time for me to discern the weight of the message and even more time accept it as reality.

Maybe evangelism is less 'turn on a dime or burn for all time' and more...

listen. hear. count. experience.

Read John 6:25-71 'many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed...'

Song: 'in a sweater poorly knit' mewithoutYou

Commit Myself?...that's right.

Commitment is this interesting ghost of a trait.

It's almost a dirty word in certain circles among my generation on down. It's a heavy idea. In fact that's all that it is for many of us...an idea, a notion, a thought of an ideal that doesn't need to exist.

What's interesting is how this non-committal mindset has entered the Church (though not new). And what's more it has spread throughout all generations, cultures, races, genders, traditions etc. Commitment as an 'idea' has infiltrated the Christian worldview.

Now if we're in Christ and His Spirit is in us and this Spirit is from the Father and the Father promises to continue working in us until the day of completion...and we're called to be like Him...then how did we end up with an 'idea' of commitment in place of actual commitment (which even Christ demonstrated most intently on the Cross Himself)?

'...confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.' 

Commitment is hard. It's messy. It's incredibly sacrificial. It's at the heart of the character of the Lord. It's tangible. It's a mixture of passion and perseverance. Joy and anguish. Sanctification and suffering. Glory and depression. Ultimately redeemed and completed reconciliation.

Commitment is this ghost of an idea for many of us.

But what if we actually committed to our families, marriages, vocations, kids, friends, communities, groups, time in the Word, worship, prayer, joyful living, truth, our purpose, the Lord...

Commitment would no longer be an intangible entity but an actual way of doing life...and doing life well. It would bring inner peace, productivity, spiritual growth, emotional wellness, physical health, discernment, healthier/muddier relationships, respect...if done in humility and with the Spirits guidance it brings Christlike transformation. Transformation is anything but easy yet it holds all the good stuff.

Sounds crazy but maybe we need to commit ourselves.

Read Philippians 1:1-11. In fact read through the whole book for a 'chained' commitment to Christ.

Word of Beard

'Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.' 1 Corinthians 4:2

Need I say more?

No...But I think I will anyways.

If we're given an awareness of God. An understanding of His love. A relationship with His Son. A unity with the Spirit. Not only should we believe that there's a responsibility to do something with this knowledge, but shouldn't we, by our love for God and for others, prove faithful in this divine trust?

I said too much.