He Is So Good

At times over the years I would hear people talk about how they are, "looking forward to heaven" or how they, "wish they were in heaven now". I did not agree with their sentiment.

In fact, for a long time, I was pretty upset with the idea of heaven. Partly because of the enormity of eternity, it scared me when I tried to imagine it. It felt like I was falling.

The main reason I was not real excited about heaven was because heaven was described as worshipping God all day long.

With my viewpoint of worship at that point... heaven sounded more like a punishment.

I grew up in a pretty traditional church, where we sang mostly hymns led with a piano and organ. I have since found other styles that I tend to prefer, but I still love many of the classics; however, my issue was not the style of worship.

The issue was my perspective of worship; or more accurately, my perspective of God.

I viewed God as big, powerful, holy, angry, and terrifying. My interactions with God, started and ended with, a long list of profuse apologies.

Worship for me, was trying to sing God's anger away. It was not pleasant for me, and I am not so sure God was super excited about it either.

Worship, much like Christianity, is much simpler than many make it out to be. Christianity is about relationship; a relationship with Jesus. Worship is one part of that relationship.

When you sing a song about how good God is, that should reflect your observation of God's goodness. When you sing about God's love, that should also reflect your appreciation for the love God has shown you.

God is not self conscious, needing your affirmation to remind Him He is doing a good job. God is not angry with you, and the purpose of your worship is not to sing God's anger away.

Worship is about your response to God in your life. If during worship you find yourself awkwardly standing there mumbling through the words, hoping they do 4 songs instead of 5; I would suggest this is not a style issue, it is a you issue.

The real issue is your perspective of worship; or more accurately, your perspective of God.

Follow me on this thought.

When we walk with Jesus daily, we are constantly reminded of the goodness and the love of God. His work in our life leads us to talk to others about Him, and causes us to sing about His goodness.

Worship when done from a viewpoint of relationship, becomes so easy and freeing, regardless of the style of music. Heaven becomes an exciting reward. It's an eternity of worshipping God!

That sounds good to me, because He is so good to me.

Wouldn't You Rather Be Happy?

I know we are approaching the season of celebration, family, and giving. Yet, it seems that during this time, some of us struggle to even crack a smile.

For many of us, there are days where smiling would take as much effort as running a marathon.

Let's be honest though, those days are not every day.

So if you are struggling to get happy and stay happy, I hope to help.

Let me start off by saying, smiling is not happiness. People who smile when they are unhappy, look like someone who is lifting something very heavy.

You aren't fooling anyone.

You aren't helping yourself either. In Proverbs 17:22 it says, "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." 

God isn't asking us to fake it. Joy is more than just the impression we give those around us. Our end goal is not to make people see us as a joyful person. Joy is for us too.

As this verse in Proverbs eludes to; joy builds us up physically, emotionally and spiritually. A lack of joy has the reverse affect. It kills us from the inside.

Part of the difficulty in finding joy in our life, is many of us attach joy to circumstance. If things are good, we feel good, if things are bad, we feel bad.

That is not a good way to live.

We are putting the control of our health in the hands of chance and circumstance.

Chance and circumstance are not your friends, they don't care about you.

In the Bible there are quite a few verses that instruct us to be joyful whether in all kinds of circumstances; Romans 12:2, James 1:2, Philippians 4:4, and 1 Thessalonians 5:16.

God wants us to detach our happiness from chance and circumstance.

Why?

True joy, true happiness comes with being close to God. We can be close to Him regardless of what's going on.

In Psalms 16:11 it says, "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand. 

Joy comes from being in God's presence. As we walk through life close to Him, we are constantly reminded of the love of God. We are never alone. When we can remember that, when we can keep that on our mind, we will have joy.

So stop trying to force a smile, it isn't working; and stop looking for happiness in circumstance. Circumstances change all the time.

Find your joy in God's presence, He will give you perfect joy.

Sure, control over your circumstances would be nice, but when you think about it, wouldn't you rather be happy?

It Will Make Things So Much Better

Ever wonder how you could be an encouragement to your Pastor? Allow me to help you with that.

One of the first Pastors I ever worked with, was Burney Heath. He is one of the most wonderful men of God I know.

Burney helped me with many of the practical parts of Ministry. He was an open book to me, and his guidance helped me to avoid countless pitfalls.

I did still manage to find a ton of pitfalls; I can only image how it would have been without his help.

One of the things Pastor Burney taught me about was the Monday Slump. I don't know if every Pastor deals with it; but Monday's can be tough because of the high you come down from on Sundays.

Personally, I set Monday aside as the day I torture myself with all the things I could have said, or should have said on Sunday.

I exaggerate for your reading pleasure... sort of.

The pressure of bringing a Word from God to the people that He loves so desperately, multiple times a week, is pretty overwhelming. To counsel and encourage people during the week, to help bring adjustments where they are needed, all of this can pile up quickly.

Your Pastor needs encouragement, and God has placed you in your church to be the encourager.

In Hebrews 13:17 it says, "Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you."

This may seem over simplified, but it is powerful.

I was asked to share a couple weeks ago at our Wednesday teen guys group. They had prepared some interview questions, and one of them was, "What did you have to sacrifice to pursue your career?" I answered honestly and quickly, but didn't realize how my response sounded until I saw their faces.

I said, "I gave up everything. My hopes, my dreams of a future, my ambition. I had to submit everything to God, and embrace His plans for me."

It was the best choice I ever made. Being a Pastor is such an awesome calling. I wouldn't trade it for anything. Regardless, this is the investment each Pastor makes. That is the cost.

Try to keep that in mind when reading Hebrews 13:17.

So what can you do? Have confidence in your Pastor as you follow them.

Just like Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Follow your leader as they follow Christ.

I know it sounds simple, but trust me. Follow your Pastor, follow them with confidence. It will make things so much better.

Getting Thankful

During this time of the year, we are reminded that we need to be thankful.

If you are one of those having a hard time finding things to be thankful for, I am writing this for you.

There have been so many times I have struggled to be thankful. I would look at my possessions, the state of my relationships, my account balance, or my overall circumstance and find it difficult to be thankful.

For many, this probably sounds all too familiar.

I used to operate on the premise that good Christians were supposed to look at their circumstances, regardless of how good or bad they were, and say thanks to God. Most of the time, I would offer a half-hearted, "thanks". The same kind of "thanks" we force our kids to say when they get socks or a sweater from Grandma for their birthday.

God isn't asking us to fake it.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 it says, "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." 

This verse seems so impossible to live out, but stay with me here.

In Psalms 107:1 it says, "Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"

When we read 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, in light of Psalms 107:1, things start to come a little more into focus.

The verse in Thessalonians ends with, in Christ Jesus; and the passage in Psalms says to give thanks to God, because He is good.

Look carefully at these.

It doesn't say, rejoice for Christ Jesus. He isn't asking us to perform for Him. It says rejoice, pray, and give thanks because that is God's will for us, as we live in Him.

It doesn't say give thanks to God because you are popular and rich. It says give thanks because God is good.

We need to turn our focus away from what we possess, and choose to remember what we have. We may not possess everything we want, but we have the love of God.

So when Paul and David write, rejoice all the time, pray all the time, give God thanks; what are they saying? They are saying, stay focused on, and in communication with God.

When we focus on God, we are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for.

So wherever you may be today, whatever you have or don't have, remember to spend some time with God. Nothing works better than God's presence, when we need help getting thankful.

Even In The Good Ones

I got a new dog this week.

Like all new things that come into my life, they cause me to think and reflect.

My dogs name is Lola. She is half German Shepard, and half Black Lab. She is beautiful, kind, and smart. She is also a puppy. So we are in the training phase of our relationship.

As far as personalities go, I may not be the best for training dogs. I tend to read quite a bit into the looks she gives, and think about how this training might make her feel. Yet, we are still working our way through it. I am determined to help Lola become a well trained dog.

As much as many of us may not like this comparison, people, are in large part a product of their training.

This is becoming painfully clear for me at this current time in my life.

Sometimes training looks like positive affirmation when we do something right; but it can also look like being ignored so many times, that we stop trying to get people's attention. It may even look like a negative attitude, because even if things are good now, they will surely be turning sour soon.

We don't really think about how we have been trained, it just becomes the way we live, the way we are.

It doesn't have to stay that way.

In my current season of life, Treasa and I are experiencing blessing like we never have before. We are in a beautiful home, we have cars that start every time you turn the key, and our kids are happy and healthy. We also love the church we are a part of, and they frequently express their love for us in return.

The strange thing is, I don't really know how to act in this season. It seems that most seasons of our life have been littered with hard times and hurt. So, I know how to keep my guard up and how to press through difficult times. I know how to keep my nose to the grindstone hoping that someday my hard work will pay off.

I don't however, know how to receive random acts of kindness.

In Ecclesiastes 3:1 it says, "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens" It goes on for the rest of the chapter to explain there are many types of seasons. There are seasons of death, life, healing, building, laughing, dancing, war and peace.

Which brings me to this thought. If life is just going to roll through all these different seasons, what am I supposed to do with that?

One constant I find, whether in times of blessing, or times of difficulty, is the overwhelming love of God. He is always drawing me to Him; either through His Word, or by His Spirit, He expresses a desire to be close to me.

Seasons come and go, but God never changes, never ceases in His love for us.

So wherever you may be today, whatever you may be walking through, know that I, and others who love you, are praying for you. I am praying that you would draw close to Jesus.

As we are close to Him, we become more like Him. He can retrain our heart to trust, retrain our minds to be creative, and retrain us to desire to connect with others.

God is able to help us walk through all seasons of life, even in the good ones.

Changed Not Distracted

It is a peculiar thing, just how sticky words can be.

At times I can be walking through my day, and something ugly that was said to me comes rushing back from my memory. I get this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It is a terrible surprise; and it is hard to know what to do in those moments.

I used to use the method of thought distraction. Whenever a thought of failure or hurt came to mind, I would distract myself by doing something else. I would turn on some music, watch a movie, play a video game, or just go do something else. I didn't like the way it made me feel, so I would drown it out, and eventually redirect my focus elsewhere.

This tactic worked for a while, sort of.

One day, I realized I was distracting myself full time. The thoughts that I wanted to avoid had pilled up so high, they had consumed me. I was having to keep myself so busy, so consumed with activity just to keep my mind free.

But my mind wasn't free.

I had gone to God's Word many times to find help. Nothing seemed to work.

There was a verse I had read quite a few times before, but this time it was different. In 2 Corinthians 10:5 it says "We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

On this day, as I read this verse, one word jumped off the page. Captive. I began to think about this word; then I began to think about it, in context of the verse.

I am supposed to take my thoughts captive.  

This verse doesn't say distract yourself, it doesn't say just forget about it and move on. It says take the thought captive, make it your prisoner. I hold the key, I choose whether or not it is let out.

This revelation changed my thought life.

In addition, I was to do more than just take these ugly thoughts, and throw them in their cell. They also needed to be made obedient to Christ.

So if the ugly thought consuming my mind were, "I have no worth", I would take that thought, and hold it beside what Christ says about my worth. In 1 John 3:16a it says, "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us. 

Christ saw so much worth in me, that He chose to lay down His life for me. In light of this, I know, the thought that was tearing me up inside, the thought of, "I have no worth" is a lie.

So don't drown out your thoughts, or distract yourself to avoid them. Don't believe that you should just move on. Rather, take these thoughts captive, smack them around a little, and throw them in their cell.

Then let the light of Christ show you, just how wrong they are.

It is an Act of Kindness

In my early 20's I met Dan O'Leary. Right away I realized there was something different about him. At first, I mistook him as confrontational, later on, I realized he was showing me kindness.

In my youth, I believed the way you dealt with hurt feelings, was to talk about them.

When I had a problem with someone, whether they had intentionally or unintentionally hurt me, I would work it out, by talking it out.

So, if Bobby said something mean to me, I would go directly to Franky and tell him all about it. I would explain why I was hurt or mad. I would tell in detail how they had done this before; and perhaps even mention how they likely did this to others as well.

I walked away feeling validated and empowered. I was right to be upset, and now I had a witness who agreed with me.

I was determined to avoid becoming an unhealthy person who keeps everything in.

Okay, back to Dan. We met in El Paso while I volunteered as Youth Pastor, and Dan was a board member.

It wasn't long after I met Dan that he did something completely unexpected. Dan approached me, and talked to me about something I did that offended him.

He said it right to my face.

He had chosen a time where no one else was around. He also said it kindly, in fact the content of our conversation was extremely positive. Yet I still couldn't believe he talked to me face to face.

It felt so foreign. I felt like I should be upset, but I walked away feeling encouraged. It was very confusing.

In Matthew 18:15 it says, "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother."

I had read this verse so many times, but I honestly never considered trying it. It seemed impossible. Yet, Dan had applied this to our relationship, and I was okay with it. I actually trusted and appreciated him more, I felt safer around him.

As the next couple years went by, Dan would take the opportunity to say something when needed, and I grew to expect it.

One day, during a time in my life I wish I could erase, Dan spoke one of the hardest things I ever had to listen to.

It wasn't mean or rude, but it was hard to hear. The heart of what he said was, "It doesn't matter what you say Daniel, it matters what you do".

His statement changed my life. I became determined to live the life God had called me to. I was tired of only talking about change, and never changing.

I have come to call Dan a dear friend, and a mentor. More than that, I have chosen to apply Dan's way of living Matthew 18, to my own life.

When I am upset or hurt, I talk it out, to work it out. The difference is, now I talk with the person I have an offense with. I also encourage others to do the same for me.

When people look quizzically at me during these conversations, I understand why. I remember feeling the same way.

Most people want to be nice to others, so they don't say anything when they are hurt; or they don't say anything directly. The problem is, silence is not the definition of nice.

If you are a believer like me, this isn't how God directs us to live. If we want to be good to people, we need to tell them the truth.

Tell them as kindly as you can. Tell them they did something that hurt you. You will find in the end, it is an act of kindness.

Instead of doing generous things, choose to live generously.

I want to know God, and become more like Him. In that process, God has revealed countless things in me that need to change. 

If you ask me what God is doing in me today, I would give you a list. The list God is walking me through this year, is completely different from last year. In fact, many of the things God is doing in me now, I was unaware of a year ago. 

What I'm saying is, it is by God's love that He gives us bite size pieces of change to process and grow in. 

Just because we have worked through the challenges of last year, does not mean there are not a new set of challenges this year. Even if we spent time in a season of personal or corporate revival, there is work in us, that has yet to be accomplished. 

So embrace the change, seek it, embrace the transformation process. It is a life long journey. God is speaking to you, that is good news and a tremendous blessing. 

So here is one of the things from my list of what God is working on me today. 

Generosity is a way of life. It is not a choice we make from time to time. God is not asking us to choose to be generous in particular circumstances. God desires that we live a generous life.

In the book of Leviticus, God instructs the people on what they should do with their crops as they harvest them.

Leviticus 19:10 "Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. I am the Lord your God."

God tells His people not to go back through their crops to get every last bit, rather leave it, so those less fortunate can have what remains.

God instructed His people to leave a portion of their crop for others to come and gather.

I am not trying convince anyone what they should or shouldn't do with their belongings. I am asking you to look at God's heart behind this instruction. 

God is saying, in your abundance, and in your hard work, consider the less fortunate. There are people who don't have what you have. So leave some for them too.

God is calling us today, to consider others in all we do. Whether we are working diligently, or just walking through our day; we need to happily consider the needs of others. Mainly, being open and willing to share with others out of our abundance.

Instead of doing generous things, choose to live generously. 

Especially in the Little Things

Something that hurts my heart, is how the choices of a select few believers have driven unbelievers away from the church. Perhaps it's a story of how a church leader hurt them, or an angry debate they had with a judgmental Christian. Whatever the reason may be, they are done with church.

Sometimes I am frustrated with those believers for their part, and sometimes I am frustrated with the unbeliever for being so easily deterred. Yet, most of all I am ashamed of the negative impact I may have had on others by my choices.

Rather than sit paralyzed with frustration, I have chosen to focus on how I am living now. I want to live in a way that would draw people to Jesus, rather than drive them away.

On the way to work today I saw a man standing on the side of the road, smoking and holding his thumb up. I felt compelled to stop, so I did. I asked where he was going, and he said it was the town after where I was driving. So I offered to take him as far as I planned to go; I was secretly happy because he would likely send me on my way, and wait for a better option.

Instead he suggested I change my plan to take him fifteen minutes further than I planned. He explained that this was a compromise on his part, because he needed a ride twenty-five minutes further.

Needless to say I felt a bit put off, but I was determined to be the light of Christ to this man.

As we approached our compromised drop point, he boldly asked if I would just go ahead and take him the rest of the way. I did not appreciate him pushing his luck, so I said no.

Then God reminded me of Matthew 5:41 "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles." Pretty clearly applicable to my situation.

So instead of slowing down I told him, "I am a Christian, and the Bible says if someone asks for a ride for one mile, we should take them an extra mile too; so I am going to take you all the way there."

I honestly felt pretty silly saying that. I felt how my kids likely feel when I tell them to say sorry to their brother or sister, and demand they hug them too. God had spoken, and I wasn't going to argue.

What happened next was pretty amazing.

For the last part of the trip, he began to share of his deep hurt from his past experience in the church. He explained that he would think about going back to church, but just couldn't bring himself to do it.

I asked him his name as we stopped, he told me, shook my hand, then smiled and said goodbye.

So there I was, driving back to work in shock. I had reluctantly and accidentally had a positive impact on this man. God was able to use me to draw him into the kingdom; rather than pushing him away.

We can all have a positive impact on people. We may even change their impression of the church, and more importantly of Jesus. Especially in the little things we do for them.

What Matters

This past week my wife's uncle Nathan passed away. Nathan was an incredibly wonderful man.

I remember the first time I spent time around Treasa's Mom's side of the family. Treasa and I were dating, and I was so nervous. People were coming and going, and of course in my mind each person that didn't stop to say hi, was purposefully snubbing me. This was the type of wisdom I possessed as an 18 year old.

Then this man with the warmest of smiles walked right up to me. Nathan was so kind to me, he asked me about where I came from, and talked about how much he loved Treasa. Looking back, it wasn't the deepest of conversations, but Nathan immediately made an impact on me. His very presence showed love, kindness and acceptance.

Each time after that day, when I was around Treasa's family I would always seek Nathan out, and he was always so kind. He would remember things that we had talked about before; and he always asked how our growing family was doing.

After the service this weekend, Treasa described the stories people told of Nathan, about what impact he had on them. The same story held true, he was a kind, honorable, loving man.

This morning I find myself stirring with emotion. Mostly I am just sad that I won't be able to have another conversation with Nathan this side of eternity. Yet, I am also driven. I am driven to live my life with the kind of impact Nathan lived his with. I want to impact and surprise people with love and kindness.

I have often said the verse I try to live my life by, is 1 Corinthians 9:19-22; especially focusing on the end of verse 22, "I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some." Nathan showed me that this can be lived out; and the impact when you do, is long lasting and far reaching.

What matters in life, is how you treat people, and how you make them feel. Thank you Nathan for making me feel welcomed and loved, I miss you.

Be Weak With Me

I am pretty sure I am not alone when I say, I want to spend all my time doing what I enjoy, and what I am good at. So, I would suppose that I am not alone in wanting to avoid what doesn't come quite as naturally. The sad thing is, in this type of living we miss out on a big part of the joy of Christian living. 

Paul talks about in 2 Corinthians the joy of weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9 "But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me."

When we allow God to move through our weakness we have an opportunity to see God do something great in and through us. Of course it feels great to accomplish something that you love to do, or something you are great at. Yet, there is a uniquely gratifying feeling in accomplishing something, when you had little chance of success. 

So let's choose to be weak, to allow God to use our strengths and our weaknesses. Who knows, you may inspire someone else to do the same. 

You may even find that your perceived weakness, was your strength all along.