Live in the Moment

      Do you know for so many years of my life I lived for another day? I remember years of my life spent wishing my location, circumstances, or relationships were different. Either looking back to what was...or looking forward to what I wish it would be. 

• When I was in my young teens and my Father was stationed in Germany ... I wished I was back in the USA.
• When we moved back from Germany and I was sent to a private Christian High School - I wished I was back in Germany with my friends
• When I was in College - I wish I had more "alternative/artsy" Christian friends
• When I moved to "alternative/artsy" Portland, Oregon - I wished I was back in Texas with my strong Christian friends

It seemed I was always looking back to what I once had (even though I complained when I was there) or I was looking forward to what I wished life would become. I spent so many years not stewarding the moment and relationships that God had me living in. When I lived in Portland I did not value the friendships that I had in my life because of religious (rule based) mindsets and strongholds in my thinking. Religion sets unrealistic expectations on ourselves and those around us and it has a tendency to ruin relationships. 

 God has people in your life right now. Maybe these relationships are not the easiest and maybe they do not flow naturally...but God can use the most interesting situation and people to mold our lives and hearts. Perspective may come years later when you look back and see God's hand forming you through those relationships that did not seem fun or easy. 

Or maybe you live with extreme mindsets like I once did...

• Instead of "I am going to become a better musician" - It became "I am going to buy all the instruments a whole band would have and buy recording equipment and record my own music and become famous."
• Instead of "I am really going to start trying to spend some time with the Lord every day." - It became .. "I am going to fast to seven days and then commit to spend an hour a day getting up at 5:30am to seek the Face of God."
• Or maybe when you Sin you have a tendency to go big - I remember when I fell into sin and took a drink - It turned into 2 drinks and then 3 drinks then smoking a joint...and then nine months later I would wake up from a nine month hazy dream...I am not kidding

This mindset is the unhealthy version of living in the moment. We get deceived that radical actions will propel us to a new place in life or offer some relief or escape. That is not the case. God has a balanced and healthy life for us but we have to hear His voice and follow His leading. These extreme mindsets can bring us to a place of chaos if we don't discern the hearts motive when giving into them. That is not living in the moment... that is living in the flesh...and it is a mindset of death. 

God has you in certain situations right now that you cant stand. He has relationships in your life that are less than ideal. Maybe instead of wishing we were in another time in our lives or looking to a place in the future that is not here yet...we should live in the moment. With a mind set on the Spirits leading. 

You want to get healthy....eat a salad today for lunch...go walking tonight. 

You want to get married...concentrate on building healthy relationships with both sexes...get involved in a singles group..this week. 

You want to know God more...spend some time in the Word today...take some time and ask to hear His voice...today.

You want to get your finances in order....Go buy Dave Ramsey's Extreme Money Makeover ...read it tonight.

Do you get the point? If you steward today well and then focus on stewarding tomorrow you will start to live the full life that God has in store for you. I learned this when walking out of addiction to take one day at time. Tomorrow is not guaranteed. Make the change you want today... one baby step at a time. Hang with the friends you have today. Call someone and ask if you can pray with them today. What happens when we steward well? We form habits that lead to living a full life regardless of circumstances that don't change. We start becoming the people we always wanted to be. 

I have tried to start to steward each day ... and I have seen the Lord bless me with those days I always longed for. They do not look exactly like I thought they would.. but they are full of the fruit of the Spirit and His Goodness. 

Of Foundations and Faith

Faith is the currency of heaven and the value of it cannot be underrated. I was praying this morning and asking the Lord what faith was. He went on to talk to me about various levels of faith. One of the first things He showed me was in the parable of the House built on the different foundations. (see Matthew 7:24-28)

One thing He pointed out to me in this story is that the building material was faith and it was the same in both contexts. One house was built on Rock (good foundation) and one was built on sand (unstable foundation). The parables emphasis was really on the Foundation of what the house was built on. I believe the house speaks of where our Heart abides. Building the house on the Rock symbolizes faith in Christ and an active lifestyle of relationship with Him. The foundation on the sand represents the plethora of things we can put our faith in here on earth. (Relationships, Hobbies, Title, Position, Power, Looks, etc…) The building is built with faith.... it is faith in something that brings the action of building. Trusting, hoping, relying, and believing that these things will bring fulfillment, purpose, meaning, and substance to our existence leads us towards the action of Faith. This can have negative and positive application. Jesus stated that real fulfillment can only be satisfied in the context of faith in His completed work on our behalf, and the subsequent invitation to enjoy LIFE with Him.  (present & eternal Life)

Yet so many are deceived…let me explain. Faith is more than just a confession….it is a lifestyle of pursuit of the ONE. What you have faith in will be displayed by your actions... not by just your words. This is why the book of James talks about showing your faith by your works (or actions). Yet, I continue to meet so many believers who have a confession of faith in Christ and yet their lifestyle indicates that it is a mere belief system. The foundation of a structure should help dictate what the building or structure looks like... just like the fruit of our actions reveal the trust issues of our heart. (I say “issues” because we “issue” trust to what we believe it) God is interested in our mind, but He longs to sit upon the throne of your heart. Once he has your Heart (and yes…I mean your Passionate Love Heart) he has your mind, body, and soul at His disposal. So many of us spend time dealing with the fruit of lives that we forget that the root actually dwells in the heart.

For instance…. We want to be “better people”, go to church more, stop cussing so much, give more, be “better Christians” and so on and so forth. These things are all noble, but if we focus on these issues we are just trimming the tree. The DNA of a tree dictates what type of fruit it’s producing. Meeting the Creator who dictates and creates  DNA is where we find lasting change. This is the kind of change that creates stable foundations. When we surrender and push all our cards onto the table to follow Jesus he gives us His Spirit. 


When I speak of the God who dictates our DNA I think of the person of the Holy Spirit who is mentioned in the first Chapter of Genesis. He was present during creation. When the Spirit of God resides in you and he is there to produce in you the Life of Jesus….therefore transforming your hearts DNA and laying the solid foundation. As people of faith in Christ we have the privilege to host the presence of the Holy Spirit.  When the Spirit is present in our lives it will be followed by transformation. (Practical tip….pray for the Lord to continually fill your with the Holy Spirit)

Good belief systems are just that…good. Knowing a Good God is so much higher of a calling and leads to a transformed lifestyle. It’s faith in the right thing. Faith in Jesus, that is the currency of Heaven and becomes an ETERNAL investment that will never fade, spoil, or tarnish. True wealth because the foundation is true ROCK. Maybe it’s time for a foundation check…and subsequent heart check. I encourage you to recalibrate your heart to rest on the foundation of Christ’s perfect love & life for you…… ask the Holy Spirit to lay the perfect foundation in your heart. You know what? He will. 


I happen to know He builds a pretty good house....

Thoughts on Leadership…

During the last few years I have been in the training grounds of leadership. I have had several opportunities and positions that have helped me in the leadership molding process. I do not feel like I am fully molded, nor do I feel I have even the fundamentals down. This is interesting because for years people spoke into my life about leadership qualities that they said were natural. What I did not realize, during the early years of my life, is that possessing passion and charisma does not always translate to being a good leader. People will follow passion for awhile but if the character is not there to sustain the direction the fruit will not last. I like to always say that this life (and various roles) is not a 100 meter dash, but should be lived as a marathon.

I used to have a huge desire to be a leader, but the more I have been able to lead and understand the challenges and difficulty of being a leader, the more hesitant I am to quickly assume that role. Not that I don’t want to lead, but when the rose colored glasses come off … that idea of becoming a cage fighting mixed martial artist doesn’t seem so fun.  So with that said here are a few simple lessons I wish I could have known a few years ago.

People will talk and some will throw stones

Reality check. No matter how cool you are, how consistent you are in your behavior/character, how nice you are, and how much you do for others… people are going to talk about you and some will throw verbal stones. It’s the nature of the position. Hey…stand up there for awhile … now that you’re up there I can see all your flaws and you’re an easy target for all my frustrations. We live in a culture that loves to drink beer and watch professional athletes. When they drop the pass or miss the play our couch potato friends love to say “Oh come on!” or “Get the stinking ball!”….seriously when is the last time couch potato worked out? Yes, we love to be spectators and it is looks so easy from our perspective and comfortable seats. Why don’t you get out there and wait until Mr. Big Muscle guy is about to smash your face in…you’re perspective changes. It is always harder when you are in the game or when you are the leader. People tend not to understand the hours of administrative planning or having to navigate the different personalities and their subsequent strengths and weaknesses. So, they will talk about you. I remember this last year walking into a room and everyone stopped talking, put their heads down, and then just walked off in different directions. Awkward.

Lesson Learned

 In order to be a good leader, at a certain level, you have to stop worrying about what people think of you. I am not talking about arrogance and not listening to constructive criticism or feedback. I am talking about leading out of insecurities and trying to make sure people like you all the time. You must walk through the process of transformation that God brings us through from insecurity to being secure in who you are. For me that process took years and years. But I can honestly say that I am more secure in who I am and who God has made me to be. I am more concerned with His approval than I used to be. That allows me to listen for His approval and direction instead of the approval and direction of others. Once you start following the approval and direction of others you are chasing after the wind.

No matter how well you lead and how many good decisions you make people will talk about you and you can’t do too much about it. The thing I have learned from seeking God about this issue is to be consistent in my Character and in my actions. I am not always good at doing this, but I feel like I have a compass to guide me in the hard times. Here is a simple tool to use when the gossip, speculation, and backbiting is at its worst. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Treat others how you would want to be treated. If you do this consistently and purpose in your heart not to respond in anger or attacking others… it will work out in the end. Even if it does not work out at least you will be able to stand before God and men with a clean heart.

Confrontation & and Speaking the Truth… is Part of the Job

Man, I remember back in the 90’s at a Highland Baptist Church training for Lifegroup leaders. There was a young man who talked on confrontation in the context of leadership and leading small groups. I remember thinking this was odd talk for small group training. Actually, it was a solid teaching on how to speak the truth in love and confront difficult situations. This has been the hardest lesson for me to learn and quite honestly I still need to grow a lot in this area. I have gone through seasons where and I am good about this and then seasons where I become passive. When you lead you will be confronted by difficult people and situations. If left unchecked those people and situations can ruin organizations and hurt others tremendously.

Lesson Learned

Sometimes a Pastor is called Shepherd (that is what the Greek word means) and sometimes Shepherds have to fight off the lions and bears. My father was a Pastor and I remember him telling me that he once told a guy to leave his churches singles group and not to come back. (In a church! Who would dare?) When I asked him why, he said the guy had been talked to multiple times, would not change, and was preying on young single moms in his group. He was a wolf in sheep’s clothing. After the guy left he ended up having an affair with a married woman from the congregation. My dad was being a good leader and protecting his sheep. That’s life and true leadership and is not what you always think of as a role of being a pastor. But, it was the right move.

I try to read the book of Proverbs through every month. (31 chapters = 31 days) One theme I see is that when you speak the truth it is better than flattery and is actually the mark of true relationship and friendship. I true friend is going to help hold a mirror up or a sign and say “Man, you are not looking so good…or STOP you are headed for the edge.” Those conversations are not fun, but they are necessary. You can actually develop a skill set to help navigate confrontation and hard conversations, but I don’t think it ever gets easy. If you love confronting people and is easy for you…then you most likely have a problem. I remember years ago a boss I had told me I was not good at accepting constructive criticism. My response was “Yes I do”… I was blind to the problem. He graciously gave me several examples of times that I had not responded well and how defensive I got. That was ten years ago, and I have grown since then, and now I understand that listening to valid criticism is one of the biggest tools for accelerated growth. That weakness has become strength.     More lessons to come…….  

Knowing Whose and Who

So some of you may know that we started a new ministry late last year called Equip. Our desire is to see people Equipped for the work of ministry. I believe every person who is a believer in Jesus is also called to the ministry. We are each called to be ambassadors and  representatives of His Goodness. The "Gospel" means "good news" and it is not just a select few who are called to spread this news...it is all who belong to Jesus. I don't subscribe to the philosophy of clergy and laypeople. Sure, some may be in full time ministry and others may function in an office in the church (teacher, pastor, evangelist, bishop,etc.) But when Jesus gave the great commission and said go into all the world and preach the good news of the Kingdom... he did not add a clause that said (only if you have a theology degree and serve in full time ministry!) We are His hands, feet, and voice.... he chooses is US!

So....with all that said, I do believe that we need to be equipped for the work of ministry, and that not only involves correct thinking but should also translate into the practical experience of a demonstration of Gods power. Jesus method of teaching the Kingdom of God was show and tell. God Loves you...and let me show it by healing the sick and casting out evil. It is very effective...this show and tell method. We live in a society that promotes knowledge above actual experience and thinks knowledge transfer without practical application is enough. (I know this is not always the case) Leading a Muslim to the knowledge of Jesus is much more effective after his daughter just got healed by Jesus. But...that is not what this post in about. I believe the first step in this process of becoming an equipped minister of the Gospel is - Knowing Who He is Knowing Whose We Are-  We watched a teaching about this last week and afterwards the Holy Spirit showed up in such a way to demonstrate how much he loves us and demonstrate how God views us. It was pretty awesome.

For this Blog post I want to talk about Knowing Who He is.This statement talks about having a proper view of who God is. Growing up as a Pastors kid I remember feeling like I should be better and had this overall feeling that God was displeased with me most of the time. I could never measure up. I knew I sinned and quite frankly sinning seemed better to me than hanging out with some folks who followed God. It seemed there was this unending list of things that I should be doing, but did not do, and whenever I had an inkling of doing something good it seemed futile because my bad list was far longer than my good list. Frustrating. I thought the Gospel was "Repent, God is coming back for His church and you will be left behind to face Hell!" It was very effective as scaring the living daylights out of me, but not so effective at transforming me to follow Jesus. I finally gave up and put two middle fingers in the air and just walked away. This God business was lame and Christians did not seem so cool...they were kind of not really happy people and seemed condemned. (I later met real joy filled believers) I went to a Christian School and we were encouraged to get rid of "bad" music because it had demonic messages in it. Maybe it did...but at the time I really loved that music and dealing with the external fruit of someones life is not the most effective way to present the Gospel. Deal with the Heart in the Way of Love.

1 John 4:8 - Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

My view of God was very much an Old Covenant (Testament) view of God. Do things right and you will be blessed. Mess up and suffer the wrath and Judgement of God. Ironically, Jesus came to SAVE us from the wrath of God. Jesus tells a story of Father God that talks of a son who blew all his inheritance and went and partied like a rock star. Ended up in the projects eating out of In&Out dumpsters. Then he realizes his Dad's employees got it better than this. Maybe his dad will take him back as a low end employee? He comes back and Dad is stoked and gives the kid a new Armani suit and throws a huge block party to welcome back His son. He was lost, now he was found! His older brother (who represents the mindset of religion...you gotta earn it) is not happy because his brother did not deserve that treatment. I mean he did blow all his money at the clubs on Red Bull&Vodkas and high end weed.... ( OK I am paraphrasing Luke 15:11-32... read it for yourself)

God is Love and does not pay us back for what we deserve. The Father reaches out to us and wants to bring us home. Our true home is the Love of the Father made available through Jesus. Jesus takes your report card with your measly C's, D's and so many F's and does a great exchange. He will trade you His straight A's for your jacked up report card. See, Jesus was the perfect one that towed the straight line on our behalf. He did the hard work for you....he measured up so then you can measure up. Our work consists in believing that God is really Good and he wants us to come back home. Man...high end weed is nothing once you know the love of the Father. (Note: I challenge you that this love should not be just a head knowledge thing..but by the Holy Spirit we can really experience His love NOW)  Our work is to believe in Jesus's perfect report card that He give to us. That's so awesome..and really is Good News. He not only takes us back but brings restoration. Who is God? He is love, He is a perfect Father, He is Good, He is Almighty, He is Holy... and He wants to adopt you into his family.

My prayer is if you have drifted away from home you will find your way back. Just ask Him and he will listen and bring you Home again. Much Love - Now..isn't that Good News?

Love

Love is supposed to be the cornerstone of the Christian faith. Jesus said the whole idea of the Old Testament law is summed up in Loving God with everything and loving your neighbor as yourself. I don’t know how many times I have heard that, but I would put it up into the thousands. Sometimes it’s so easy to hear something so much you actually think you know it. Knowing something experientially and knowing something via a knowledge transfer is a whole different ball game. Would you rather follow someone into battle that was top in their class at West Point with no combat experience, or a five time tour of duty combat veteran? I’ll get behind the veteran please. Well, there are a lot of similarities when it comes to talking about the love of God. Sure millions of people can quote these scriptures and the 1 Corinthians love passage is read at almost every wedding. So this brings me to ask….. Have you experienced the Love of God? Are you continually experiencing His love? I propose that we need to be five time tour veterans of His love…..it’s the only way to roll. Check out what Ephesians 3: 14-19 says as Paul prays for the Ephesian believers…

14 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 15 the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 16 I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

This is a pretty cool prayer that Paul drops right here… that our roots will grow down into Gods Love and that we will experience the love of Christ. We all need a root system that is anchored in something immovable.

We recently bought our first house and it was an exciting adventure. The back yard had three large mesquite trees along the back fence. The week before we moved in a storm hit and the middle tree just fell right over. So we had the fallen tree cut up and moved out the day we moved in the new house. Since then I have done some yard work and I discovered the root system to that fallen tree running all over the back yard only about six inches under the dirt. Sure, it looked like it was stable but, when a storm came…boom…its only good use now is to smoke some BBQ.

Likewise, it is the same in my life. Let me tell you, as a believer, I have been hit with some storms that have taken me out for awhile. As I reflect, it seems during those times I seemed to have lost touch with the Love of God. Sure, I understood God loved me, but my heart was not connected with the knowledge in my head. This walk had become a religious exercise and there is no life in religion. Keep your rules please…. I want real Life. I want real Love. Shoot…I want something Real. Don’t you….I know the answer…We All Do.

It’s so easy now to launch into a message about the immense Love of Jesus and the fact he not only forgives but does an amazing job as a Restorer. But let me tell you about a time when God rocked my world and I experienced the love of God. I was nineteen and had just moved to Waco Texas. I was young with no direction and I hated God…or what I thought God was. My father was a pastor and I was the typical preacher’s kid….and I thought Christians were the biggest hypocrites. I remember renouncing God in my bedroom at the age of seventeen…just a little angry. Well…my dad knew this guy who was a Trucker, loved God, and when he prayed things happened. Yep…you heard right… God used a trucker to blow my mind. Long story short…this guy prayed for me…and I have never felt anything like that in my life. I literally felt waves of electricity pulsing through my body and it seemed like I was bathed in a sea of real tangible Love. I had lived my life in so much anger and rebellion and this God (whom I had renounced) encountered me with Love. Wow…He Loves me. Its real….it’s as real as anything I have ever encountered. I have never been the same since. I have had ups and downs have tried to run from God but the fact of the matter is…..I have NEVER been the same since.

If you are reading this, it’s my prayer and desire that you experientially know this Great and Good Love of God for yourself. If you want a place to start why don’t you pray the prayer above out of Ephesians for yourself. We all need a fresh fix…and I am addicted…to God’s Love.

In the Drivers Seat

Well look at that. I came across my old blog today and realized that I haven't posted since 2008. Had to blow off some cobwebs and then decided to fire this bad boy up again. Time to get back in the DRIVERS SEAT. Speaking of the drivers seat it kind of makes me think of a crutch.....let me explain.

Have you ever heard the old cliche' of God being your crutch. I have....I had a work associate years ago say I needed God as a crutch... and then he immediately apologized because he thought he offended me. He didn't. The truth of the matter is that the more I walk in this journey with God the more I discover a simple truth. Simplicity. A mentor of mine tells me the more he grows and matures in God, the simpler things become. It seems maturity in this relationship with God goes in cycles where I keep going back to the basics.... When you come back to the basics there is a new discovery and some beautiful hidden truth that was there before, but lay undiscovered. There was a book once written called Freedom of Simplicity and that sounds about right. Which takes these thoughts full circle again to talk about the crutch.

The older I get and the more I walk on knowing the Sovereign One - Jesus. The more I realize that I don't need Him as a crutch....and more important He doesn't want you to use Him as a crutch. When you use a crutch you are using it as a tool to facilitate movement with your remaining strength. There is still some of you involved (Yea...you see where I am going) Remember the other name of Jesus that always pops up around Christmas time? Emmanuel - which means God with Us. Amazing. He is with us and doesn't want us to use him as a crutch. He said the WORK that you have to do is BELIEVE. Do you know the Amplified Translation says in Galatians 2:16?

....through faith and [absolute] reliance on and adherence to and trust in Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

Absolute reliance is what I we are asked to have in our faith. In the big things (money, relationships, job, future, health issues, life and death) and the small things (good nights sleep, typing a blog post, buying a gift). These are fundamental truths that we will continually learn till the day we die. I think the point is to let our level of trust to get to the place where we allow Him to take the Drivers Seat. Forget the crutch.

I was praying for a person one time and they were trying so hard to get all of their ambitions done and goals moving forward towards completion. I felt God was saying to her that He was asking her to get out of the drivers seat and sit in the back and let Him drive... and that's not easy...especially when we are wired to want to call the shots.

I don't need a crutch....thank you very much. I need a wheelbarrow with me in it and Jesus pushing me along. Total trust, Him calling the shots, driving the car, taking me to the other side ..... and I am not there yet, but I am ready for the freedom that comes with trusting instead of worrying. How about you? You don't need no stinking crutch

Kingdom and Politics

Yes...it has been awhile since I have last made a post. I had this great desire to post all during the pre-election process but I never got around to it. I have many thoughts about all that...politics that is. About four years ago I was very opinionated about politics and did not hesitate to debate my ideas with anyone who wanted some good discussion. I was not rude, I listened to others out of respect, but I felt passionate about what I believed. I called my best friend from college and started talking politics....I got shut down. He said he valued relationship with me more than discussing politics... which is so many times divisive. Slightly confused (I was sure he believed that same ideologies as me) I allowed the conversation to shift...Quite frankly at that point in my life I was allowing those political differences to really get to me, and change the way I looked at people. No major revelation...just a simple I VALUE RELATIONSHIP OVER MY OPINION.
I still voted and I still do vote. Don't think I am advocating inaction...I think it is important that we have this privilege. We can have a bloodless revolution every four years. Amazing. So the way I approached it this year was to educate myself, pray, fast, and vote. I did my best not to take the bait when politics was brought up. For me this election season was radically different than the past. I did not stress, get mad, become a hater, feel self-righteous, or loose any sleep. All of which I had in the past. I did not sell out or did not back down. I just shifted my priorities to reflect the true government of which I follow.
TRUE GOVERMENT. I have submitted my self to a true government one ruled by a mighty King who is a great leader because He was a great servant. I am a representative of that Kingdom. It is around us all the time....sometimes it's reality invades our reality and it becomes apparent that we live in a shadow image of the real. I believe we have a responsibility to govern wisely and to make sound judgement....but one day the real Wise Governing and True Sound Judgement will be upon us. He came once as the humble servant King of Mankind. Showing us true love so he could win us for himself....a Love story indeed. The first guy to enter this Kingdom was a thief being killed for his crimes.....Showing us all the gates are open and we can walk into this Kingdom. He took a man who used to hunt down and kill his followers to write about this way of life in the Kingdom and give us new Scripture.
Someone is reading this right now and you are having a reaction to the Kingdom talk I just mentioned. That is because you think the Kingdom of God is the spirit of religion...the same spirit that tried to kill the King. (He only died by his own choosing) Jesus only got mad when he encountered this religious spirit. Religion...putting a weight on people to earn more...so arrogant you don't recognize God in your midst...self righteous and blind to your own condition.
The work of God is to BELIEVE. Ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you truth....He will. You don't know me or the journey I have been on, but I can tell you that He did that for me ...over and over. He would do the same for you. One day...all the kingdoms of this world will be shown to be the KINGDOM of God. All the revolution, truth, justice, equality, love, peace, passion, desire, and dancing joy we all want will be made manifest. I VOTE FOR THAT! Much love....