Walking and Wondering

My favorite definition of POTENTIAL on dictionary.com is ..."a latent excellence or ability that may or may not be developed."  A close second is ... "capable of being or becoming."  I really like those definitions!  I started thinking about POTENTIAL yesterday as I was picking my 7-year old son up from school.  As we were walking back to the car talking about his day, I noticed his shoe next to mine.  I know ... crazy thing to think about right?  But I noticed how his size 4 was dwarfed by my size 12.  And yet, it struck me that he wouldn't stay a size 1 for long.  Sooner or later, that size 4 would become too small to handle the growth he would be experiencing. The fact is that he has incredible POTENTIAL for growth already built inside of him.  And not just growth in the physical realm, but emotional, spiritual, relational, and so much more.  It's all packed inside of him by the Lord, who "knit him together in his mother's womb."...

     My good friend Edmund Kee passed away suddenly last weekend.  At 31, no one saw his death coming.  After all, strong, influential, entrepreneurial Christian men like Edmund don't die young.  They build an amazing legacy well into their retirement years for others to experience, learn from and carry on after they are gone.  Right?  Someone who saved himself for his wife like Edmund doesn't pass away 10 months into his new marriage.  Right?  Not so.      I couldn't have been more surprised last Tuesday when I received the call telling me that Edmund had passed away leaving behind his new wife Charlotte.  How do you process that?  How do you come to grips with the finality of that moment?  It all seems like such a waste of talent and passion for the kingdom of God. But I've found that questions like these don't often get answered, at least not with any satisfaction.  Even our best attempts...

One thing I love to do is spend time talking to my kids at night before they go to bed.  I love those moments when life slows down enough to communicate at a deeper level than the hectic pace of life normally allows.  And it's in those moments where my kids amaze me with the wisdom they possess and the purity of faith that they walk in. Recently, as I was talking with my 10 year old and my 12 year old sons, I asked the question.  "If  evolution was in fact true, what does that mean about the bible and about who we are as humans."  Okay, not your normal bedtime conversation, but I love to challenge them to think deeper.  The reality is that, as students in public school, they are going to be presented with blatant anti-Christian beliefs.  Our job then is to help them spot the lie, discern the truth, and understand the implications on what they believe.  And as always, my sons answers amazed me.  You don't have to look any farther than Genesi...

Whenever you see the word therefore, go back and see what the therefore is there for.  Before we can get to the "going", we need to have a good understanding of the conditions in which we are called to go.  Let's back up to verse 18 in Matthew 28.  There Jesus said ... And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." This statement by Jesus is huge.  How often are we guilty of running off to accomplish something without seeing the full picture?  Jesus didn't call us to go in our own might.  He didn't call us to go in our own wisdom.  He didn't call us to go in our own authority.  He called us to go with His!   Authority is defined as 'the power to determine, adjudicate or otherwise settle issues, the right to control, command or determine.'  Our movement for the kingdom is driven by the authority of God Himself.  We are no longer under the authority of Satan, the en...

Ever have one of those days where every time you turn around, you keep hearing the same thing over and over.  Every conversation makes its way to the same subject somehow or another.  That's what happened to me this week.  In fact, in one day, I had 4 conversations and 1 dream all about the same thing.  Okay Lord ... I think I got it!  But the tricky part is acting on it. In the end of the gospel of Matthew, Jesus leaves the disciples (and us) with this statement: And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.   Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Go ... Make ... Baptize ... Teach!  Pretty clear instructions for the disciples wouldn't you think.  The problem comes ...

   Talked at Surrender about PRAYER tonight.  In reading Jesus' prayer before going to the cross in John 17, it struck me how prayer is like a flashlight AND a laser pointer.  (My son was actually just given a laser pointer with a flashlight built into it.  Very appropriate to this analogy.)  Here's what hit me.    In John 17:9, Jesus says, "I am praying for them. (the disciples)  I am not praying for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."  That's laser-like focus ... very specific and very focused.  I wonder if often God doesn't respond to our prayers because they're just not specific enough.  What if the Lord is waiting for us to get so focused in our prayer life that we hear what's on His heart and pray along with Him.  Often my prayer life can be so scattered and so broad that it lacks any specific focus.  Jesus' focus ... faithfulness with the relationships God had given Him. ...

   Here you go ... my top ten reasons why I love being a Children's Pastor and why I love Kid's Church so much : (drum roll please ............................ hey .................................. DRUM ROLL!) 10.  Because we get to play "old fashioned" dodgeball again.   Believe it or not, the dodgeball that those of us who are ages 35 and up used to play is nearly extinct.  You know ... where two people, officially called "enders" stand on either end of the field and throw overinflated rubber kickballs at a mass of people in the middle who have to avoid being hit by the ball or they are out.  And oh yeah, you can't catch the ball and get the ender out ... nice try though.  Apparently this game is no longer being taught in our schools and it is to our nations detriment that it isn't.  Somebody needs to call somebody ... just saying! 9.  Because it's church with themes.   That means we get to dress up and act like kids again. Cowboys...

   "And He said to them, "O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!  Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into "His glory?"  And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself."   (Luke 24: 25-27)   As our story continues to unfold, we see the Jesus "taking the disciples to school."  He has joined them on their walk to Emmaus and listened to them complain about their disappointment in HIS failure to meet their expectations.  (Remember, the disciples still don't recognize Jesus is with them!)  After having listened to their understanding of what just happened concerning His arrest and death, Jesus responds.  Here's the challenge ... can we find ourselves today in this same place?  Oh, we may not be complaining about the same issues as the disciples, but we find ourselves complaining about G...

   What is it in us that insists on being able to figure out every step of this journey called life?  Is it pride?  Is it a desire to always be in control?  Or is it simply a lack of faith?  We spend so much time trying to take the raw data of our lives, crunch the numbers, and project out a determined end with our best interests in mind.  After all, we think we KNOW best right?  And we also think we know the heart of God.  So therefore, we should be able to easily calculate His next steps and comprehend how He is bending the laws of the universe to satisfy our every desire.  (It's okay to smile ... we've all been there before!)  But what happens when the events and circumstances surrounding us don't make sense to us?  How does that effect our focus, and our understanding of God?    As you read about the "Heroes of Faith" in the bible, it seems like they never had it all figured out.  In fact, it seems like God...

   In Luke 24 we meet two disciples who are walking to a village called Emmaus, which the bible tells us is about 7 miles outside of Jerusalem.  They were talking to each other about all that had happened recently surrounding Jesus; namely His arrest, His death and resurrection.  In verse 15, it says that while they were discussing, "Jesus Himself drew near and went with them.  But their eyes were kept from recognizing Him."  What an amazing verse!  I just can't stop thinking about this scene lately.  Picture it and put yourself there ... you're walking along and Jesus just shows up!  And the crazy thing is that they missed it.  The person that they are talking about is walking with them.     I have to admit that the thought crossed my mind that if I was there, I would never have missed out on this encounter.  Come on fellas ... wake up here.  The very guy you are talking about is behind you.  And then I re...

   I don't get star struck very easily.  I don't know why ... I just don't!  I've met a few celebrities in my life, but I just don't get star struck.  (Okay ... maybe New Orleans Saints football players, but that is an entirely different matter.)  Once, while working at a movie theater in New Orleans, I served Susan Sarandon popcorn and a Coke.  (I think I even suggestively sold her on up-sizing her popcorn and drink to larges so she could take advantage of free refills for only $.50 more!  I should have been a celebrity for that one!)  Anyway, I had NO IDEA who she was ... not even the slightest clue.  After she left my register, my co-workers started asking me if I realized who I just overcharged for popcorn and high-fructose corn syrup.  Again ... NO IDEA!  When they mentioned that it was Sissy Spacek, you can imagine my reaction ... STILL NO IDEA!  (Caution ... the next sentence will cause me to date myself.)  App...

You know the what the trouble with light is? The trouble with light is that it is awfully hard to hide it in the darkness.  Around other light, not so much of a problem.  But in the midst of darkness, light has a way of standing out doesn't it?  In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus uses the following illustration: You (my followers) are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.   It struck me when I read this recently how powerful a truth this is.  I've skimmed over it dozens of times, but something jumped out at me this time.  As believers, we won't be able to hide who we are and what we stand for in this world.  God has made us to stand out!  As light in the darkne...

Surrender 21-Day Challenge - Day 1 Matthew 4:1 - Then Jesus was led up BY THE SPIRIT into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.   This is an interesting verse.  "Jesus was led ... by the Spirit ... to be tempted by the devil.  In my limited view of things, I think if you asked me to led one of my children to be tempted by the devil, I would say, "NOT A CHANCE!"  I mean, what parent in their right mind, if they had a choice, would sit by and let their child walk into a place of temptation ... much less led them.  Yet this is exactly what the bible tells us the Father did.  Curious? Watching my kids grow up has been such a joy.  And as they have grown, my wife and I quickly realized that we can't protect them from the world.  In fact, our job as they grow is to equip them to influence the world.  As much as we would like to keep them in their Christian cocoon, we can't.  And it's hard to watch them discover how sinful and broken t...

For the next 21 days, we have challenged Surrender, the young adults group at Destiny Worship Center, to read through all 4 gospels.  Our goal is to focus on Jesus and to "make more room" for Him in our schedules and our lives in general.  We want to expand the discipline of reading and praying through God's Word.   So yesterday was day 1 from Surrender's 21-Day Challenge.  In reading through the genealogy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 1, the thought hit me ... I never think much beyond the generation before me (my parents) and the generation coming after me (my children). But think about this ... one day, will we be standing next to those who went before us for the past generations? Who will we meet in our family line? Will there be any spiritual giants who's prayers are being answered through us right now?  What about the stories of redemption through the ages?  It prompts me to begin praying with more of a generational view. You never know what...

Christine Caine, an evangelist with Hillsong Church in Australia, spoke at church this weekend.  I love when speakers come who are engaged in a global ministry.  It always opens my eyes to a bigger picture of the church and challenges me to get my vision off of my own little world.  She through out a couple of lines that, on the heels of the Passion 2012 conference, are continuing to mess me up.  Here's a few: The church has mistakenly adopted the idea that following God is about reaching a place of safety ... as if we can control our lives in the first place anyway.  But we can't run from risk. The truth is that Jesus didn't come to earth to make us safe.  He came to set us free so we could be dangerous to the kingdom of darkness. We aren't a product of our time here, but a product of eternity. Some of us live our lives as if the purpose of our lives is to arrive at death safely.  And you avoid any kind of situation where miracles can happen....

I'm just back 2 days from going to the Passion Conference in Atlanta, Georgia with the young adults group (Surrender) from church.  The worship, the messages, the themes, the people ... they're all still rattling around in my brain as I figure out how to process it and what to do with it all.  In one of the messages, the speaker, Francis Chan, related a conversation he had with some Jehovah's Witnesses.  After sharing their faith, he shared, not his belief, but what God was doing in His life in response to prayer.  Curious!  He didn't argue theology, history or anything of the sort.  He just declared what God was doing in his life RIGHT NOW!  So this morning as I sat to read, believe it or not, I had a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses come to my house.  They were both young adults from this area, a guy named Brandon and a girl named Hannah.  I was able to ask them about their story and talk about mine.  When I asked the guy how he got plu...

So I'm going to give this a try.  I've thought for a while about starting an on-line blog and I figured it's time to go for it.  I've had the itch to write for quite some time now, and I'm pretty excited about it.  As we step into 2012, it just seems like a natural time to start.  The word that resounds in my spirit these days is INTENTIONALITY.  I can be so guilty of allowing my days to dictate what I do rather than the reverse.  And days turn to weeks, and weeks to months, and months to years.  But lately, as I'm sure I'll get into more, I'm being stirred to be super intentional about my life and what I'm both committed to and living for.  It could just be that I'm getting old ... but I feel like it's more than that.  I just have a sense of expectancy about the future.  So here goes.  Let the year begin and let's see where Jesus takes us this year!