Walking and Wondering

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...