Monday, May 28, 2012

From The Heart Is Always Better

The other night I was watching a documentary on a popular band talking about their biggest album ever. The company had asked them to make another album and gave them everything they could possibly need to make it. And I mean everything. They spent 3 months writing and recording this CD and cost the studio over $1 million. It was supposed to be amazing. Except the band was struggling. They weren't getting along. Things in their lives were in chaos. They were about to break up.

After the three months and millions spent on the CD they were about to play their final show (unknown to anyone). But they hadn't played in a while. And it was fun. And they wanted to play more of the music they love. So they did something crazy. After the show they went to the singer's house, went in the basement, and recorded a whole new CD in a week.

Guess which CD the label chose? Guess which CD has become their best selling CD to date? The one from the heart. Money, production, time, none of these match someone sharing from their heart.

When it comes to sharing our faith, to telling someone about Jesus, what do you think people want? You to take them to a church with the coolest light show, a friend who has all the answers, maybe a polished speech to tell people about Jesus? Or do you think they just want to hear from your heart...?

T

Monday, May 21, 2012

Remember Why You Do It

I was reading an article the other day about the rules at Burger King. Many of you know them, they're at most fast food places, no shirt, no shoes, no service. At one particular Burger King a family ordered their food, sat down and started to eat. But a few moments later an employee approached them and asked them to leave, they were breaking the rules. And this employee was correct, someone didn't have shoes on. However, it was the six month old daughter sitting in her chair...

Sometimes we get so bogged down in doing what we've always done we forget why we do it. Sometimes it's good to take a step back and ask, "why am I doing this again?" The answer may surprise you.

T

Monday, May 14, 2012

The Cookbook In The Cupboard

Shortly after Lorie and I were married her mom gave us a gift, one we used last night to make awesome french toast. A cookbook. 800 pages of recipes guaranteed to taste good. We use this book all the time. We've written notes in the book, put little pieces of paper to remember things, all the while using this to get the best possible food for us. The recipes aren't only tasty, they're pretty healthy too (except maybe last night's french toast).

But here's the funny part. When we got the cookbook, we thought we knew all we needed to know. We were cooking awesome meals of frozen chicken and tater tots, what else did we need? So we put the cookbook in a drawer, and left it there for about five years.

After using it last night, I wonder how often we do that to the Word of God. We know enough, we hear what we need to know Sunday, so it sits on a shelf. And we keep living our lives, filling our spirits on frozen chicken and tater tots thinking this is as good as it gets.

But what if it can be better? After all, Jesus said, "Blessed are all who hear the Word of God and put it into practice." (Luke 11:28 LB). I wonder what a blessed life is like? Maybe like our meals have become, with way yummier french toast then I ever thought I could make...

T

Monday, May 07, 2012

Is It Awkward Because We Make It Awkward?

Last week at Drink Deep we were talking about sharing our faith and in our conversations I ended up talking with a student who went to a Christian camp one summer. Not a bad thing, I've done it, Christan camps are nice. But he said something that stuck out to me. At this camp they wanted students to be able to talk about their faith. Also not a bad idea. So they took the students to a soccer field, spread them out, and had them stand there while adults randomly walked around and asked them to defend what they believe. Bad idea...

Really? Someone thought this was the best way to have children learn to share what they believe? Maybe talking about God is awkward because we've made it awkward. No one has ever knocked on my door in the middle of dinner (because they knew we'd be home) to try and convince me to cheer for their favorite baseball team. I've never listened to a band because someone stood on a street corner handing out little pieces of paper with the four laws of why I need this band in my life.

What if we shared our faith the same way we shared other things that affect our life? We tell people to try a restaurant because of how much we liked the food. We get excited when talking about our favorite football team. We tell a friend about a sale because we benefited from it and want them to share in that benefit. We invited people to a movie by simply saying, "Hey, want to go see a movie?"

Maybe we're overcomplicating this a little...

T