Are You Famous?

I read a great quote the other day:

If you have to tell people you're famous, then you’re technically not that famous. - David Spade

First off, that made me laugh. Especially since I heard it in my head with David Spade's voice. But then I really got to think about it. It's like when someone has to explain to you that they are cool or they are nice. My initial reaction is always, "Are you sure?" Usually if you are a nice person I can figure it out on my own, I don't need to you to tell me.

Is this true of out faith too? It hurts to read, but put your relationship with Jesus into that statement. "If you have to tell people you're a follower of Christ, then you're not technically that much of a follower of Christ." That sounds painful and wrong, but is it? I'm not saying anyone who sees you from a distance should know what you believe by what you wear or something crazy like that, but if you are so dedicated to Jesus it emanates from you do you need to explain it?

One of my favorite verses: But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him. ~ II Corinthians 3:18 (TLB)

Generally if people see a reflection in a mirror, no one needs to explain it...

T

"Can Anything Good Come From Nazareth?"

I've heard this quote before. It's from a man named Nathanael talking about Jesus. A friend had told Nathan they had found the Messiah, but when Nathan heard He was from Nazareth he didn't believe it.

For so long I've heard this told from a hoity-toity point of view. From a "better than you" type mindset" but something I read the other day challenged that. Nathan was from Galilee, an area also considered by the rich and religious to be the armpit of Israel.

The question is, when Nathan said this was he thinking he was better than Jesus? Or was it more of a, "we're all from the slums, how can anything good come from us?"

How often has the second idea stopped us? I'm not good enough, smart enough, people don't like me, whatever it may be, we wear that badge and see God through our circumstances. We don't see God working in our lives because we see ourselves as in the slums and God can't work here.

Maybe this is also why Jesus praised Nathanael the first time He met him. Jesus gave Nathan a huge compliment and built him up. Called him a man of complete integrity (wouldn't you like Jesus to say that about you?).

Now, after knowing the whole story we who are thousands of miles and thousands of years have no problem saying God can do something amazing in Nazareth. But are we able to say God can do that where you live too?

T

When Was the Last Time You Were Excited About Something?

Did you talk about it a lot?

So how do we get ourselves to feel that way about Jesus?

We're Being Taught Not To Wait

I'm learning this more and more with my daughter. Not because she's an impatient toddler or anything, but more because of how we live today.

She has no idea what it means to wait for a television show to be on. Or a specific episode. Everything is instant. Need food? We have so much of it. It only takes a few seconds to warm up, if you need it hot.

So now she has this mindset that we are constantly trying to help her with. Everything is the way I want it now. Again, not in a bad way, it's just the world she is being brought up in. As she has told us many times now, "It's hard to wait."

But Jesus is different.

There are hundreds of verses that follow the themes of patience, waiting, God's timing, etc. God is not about the microwave, He is all about slow roasting. Even now I'm reading a book about how Jesus shared the Gospel and although we may be fooled into thinking it was quickly to crowds Jesus more commonly shared His Gospel message slowly to individuals.

So now in our smartphone society we are trying to teach our daughter about waiting. Not just because she will need it later in life, but my bigger fear is her missing what God has for her because He doesn't move as fast as she thinks He should. As is often found in the Gospels: Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” (John 2:4b)

We need to learn to wait. It's that simple.

T

How Offended Were You On Easter?

You should have been...

We try too hard to make sure people aren't offended these days. I was reading about a new position at publishing companies, sensitivity editor. They read your manuscript and edit it to make sure you don't offend a certain group, target demographic, etc. They change the story to make sure it's nice and palatable.

The problem is, that doesn't work. If you have a story that will truly resonate with someone at some level they will be offended. If you love someone with your whole heart at some point you will offend them. The story of Jesus offends, it has to. If I'm not offended by it something is wrong. I am a sinner, I am in need of a Savior, death was the only way to make me whole, God loves me so much He would do this all for me, all of these statements are offensive. I'm not as good as I think I am, I'm not as self-sufficient as I want to me, I don't like Someone had to die, I don't deserve this love.

It's a fine line we need to walk as those who love Jesus and others. We need to lovingly offend people. We can't back away from sharing Jesus with others because they might be offended. We just can't.

Paul couldn't.
"If I were no longer preaching salvation through the cross of Christ, no one would be offended." (Galatians 5:11b, NLT)

Jesus couldn't. After teaching:
Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you?" (John 6:61 NLT)

I am offended by the Easter story. And that's not a problem with the story, that's a problem with me. And I will offend others with the same story. I'm okay with that, are you?

T

FOMO

It is quickly becoming the biggest fear, overtaking public speaking. The Fear Of Missing Out.

Nobody wants to be left out. Nobody wants to miss the next big thing. But if you had something no one should miss out on, would you share it?

Btw, Easter is Sunday. You could invite someone and/or share the story of Easter with them. I'd hate for someone to miss out on Jesus...

T

Why Just For Lent?

I have run across a couple of people who are giving up things and/or doing something more for Lent. That's fantastic, but I have a question...

Why just for Lent?

Have you ever noticed we have put rhythms in our lives to start or try new things, but we also put times for them to end? We come up with resolutions for the new year, we do things at Lent, some people do things at Advent too. But why do we put ourselves in a box and only better ourselves for that period of time?

Here's my challenge. Start praying more. Start today. What's the significance of today? Nothing, other than it's today and you can start today. And end... well, never if you can help it.

What's one thing you can do to grow closer to God that doesn't start and end by a calendar date?

T

Why We Ate Dinner at 8:30 Tonight

Because of the time change.

Changing our clocks is a great idea. Daylight at times we are awake, saving energy, it's all great stuff. But there's one big problem.

Just because I change my clocks doesn't mean I have adjusted. I'm still tired, hungry, etc. at the same time I have been for the past few days (or weeks, or months). The number on the clock doesn't change that.

Until I make a conscious effort to change my rhythms to those numbers.

When I force myself to eat at the new time repeatedly, then my body will adjust and I will get hungry at that time. If I go to sleep at the new time over and over and over again then I will start to get tired when I should (or even better, if I wake up at the new time over and over and over then I will get tired when I should). The only way to adjust is continually follow the new time zone.

The same is true for our souls. It's amazing how often people want to go deeper with Christ so they start to attend church or try a Bible Study or whatever and we expect to feel holy and changed overnight. But that's not how it works. Our souls are still conditioned to our old lives. The only way change happens is by continual effort and conditioning to our new plan.

If you want to start going to church, you can't expect that going once (or twice) and not "feeling" anything is the fault of the church or God so you give up on church. You haven't given your soul enough time to start to grow into this new life. If you try serving once, hate it, and give up, of course it didn't work. A life of self-sacrifice doesn't happen with a half-hour service project. It takes serving over and over and over and over and over until it becomes second nature.

I now have two choices. Adjust to the new time and eat when the numbers say 6:00 or keep eating dinner at 8:30. Whether I like it or not, it's up to me.

T

The Long Game

The other day I saw a book entitled "30 Days to Understanding the Bible". Sounds great, right? Wouldn't that be a good book?

It's a lie.

Sorry to the authors and I admire what they are trying to do with helping people understand the Bible. That's all well and good. But people spend their entire lives trying to understand the Bible. And they still don't get there. But I'm supposed to believe that in one month I will understand the entirety of God's Word?

I want to understand the Bible. I really do. But I know I can't do it in 30 days. Will books like this help? Of course. But will they deliver on the promise in the title, that I will understand the Bible in the 30 days? Nope. I don't think I could even read the entire Bible in 30 days, let alone add in more time to understand what I'm reading.

Play the long game. Look to understand the Bible but not in a quick fix. Every day growing a little more in your understanding of God's Word, of who Jesus is, of who you are in Christ. That will bring about real understanding, and hopefully real life change.

T

Bravery

My daughter is incredibly brave. I mean, life-threatening brave. The highest slide, the fastest car ride, there is absolutely nothing she will not do.

As long as daddy is holding her.

Without daddy, forget it. She won't even watch a new TV show or try a new food. But the second she knows I will do it with her, watch out.

What if we had that attitude with our Heavenly Father? What do you think we would be brave enough to accomplish...?

T

Sifting For Jesus

The other night our daughter asked me to help her find a few of her Disney toys. Of course, the ones she wanted were about an inch high and were in a huge tub of other toys. So I did the only thing I could; I started sifting.

At first I found three toys. But I kept going, after all I had no idea how many of these toys were in there. And after a few more minutes of sifting I found two more. So I kept going, and as I continued sifting I kept finding more and more toys. After about ten minutes we have a whole handful of tiny little toys.

But as I was doing this I thought about how sifting through a toy bin is like finding Jesus. It takes continual concentrated searching for Him. Sometimes we get frustrated because He's hard to see. Sometimes we find a little bit and are satisfied and stop. But to really, really find Jesus it takes sifting through a toy bin over and over and over.

Many people know the "I know the plans I have for you" verse in Jeremiah, but do you know what comes after it? In Jeremiah 29:13 God says If we look for Him wholeheartedly we will find Him. That's not a casual "stumble upon" Jesus. We need to actually focus and search for Jesus to find Him.

In this Lenten season, as we give up or take on things may we use that time and that effort to search for God wholeheartedly. If we continue, even as we grow a little closer to God we press on for more, we may be surprised how little we know about Jesus, and how much He wants to love us.

T

Why Do We Always Give Something Up?

Lent begins this week. On Valentine's Day (which seems kind of fitting). So here's my question. Why do we always give something up?

Seriously, I had someone ask what Lent was this week and before I could answer a student chimed in, "It's where you give stuff up." They seemed to have forgotten why you give something up, to replace that thing/time/whatever it is with Jesus.

Instead, I have a novel idea for this year. Why not try doing something different? I will serve someone each day. I will read a little more of God's Word each day. I will do something that will help me grow closer to God each day, or even better, do something that will help someone else grow closer to God each day.

Because really, has giving up chocolate for a few weeks helped your faith? (for those of you to whom it has, great! For me, not so much...)

T

Could You Answer?

Yesterday before the Superbowl I had a student ask to meet with me and interview me for a class. She asked me what I believe, why I believe it, how it affects my ministry, things like that.

Here's my question: Could you answer that? These are all scary questions that I had no preparation for. But I answered them in part because I push students all the time to think about what they believe and why, and I can't ask them to do that if I'm not constantly doing it myself.

I Peter 3:15 says, "If someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it." The truth is, rarely are people going to bring up in conversation, "Hey, why do you believe in Jesus? Think about it and get back to me in two weeks." We should be ready to talk about our faith at the drop of a hat.

So, can you answer those questions? If you're looking for help in defining your answer maybe it's time to join a Bible Study and start talking with other disciples of Christ.

T

Why Do We Complain So Much?

I realize I do this too, this is definitely not finger pointing. But something happened this week that made me realize this more than normal. I saw "The Last Jedi".

I know, I'm the last person to see it. But with being sick over Christmas and trying to catch up with everything this past weekend was the first "break" I've had in a while so we I got to see the movie. And then I got to do something else, go back on the internet...

And the amount of complaining about the movie is astounding. But that's not what hit me.

It was the amount of complaining by people who really have nothing to do with the product. I started thinking, you didn't take the time to write a story, develop it, get funding, hire actors, make costumes, etc. etc. and this got me thinking how often do we complain about things that we have absolutely nothing to do with. We're quick to complain but incredibly slow to actually do something, especially something so significant it will touch someone else so deeply they would want to complain about it.

Instead of complaining, let's try doing something about it.

T

You Can't Rush Growth

Sorry it's been a while, but there's a reason. I was sick. Actually, I am sick. Pneumonia. It's been awesome.

But there's something about being sick that I have learned over the years. There's nothing you can do. Literally nothing. You can take a few meds and rest, and that's it. There is no way to rush back into being healthy.

I think often we'd like that to happen when it comes to growth, we'd like to be able to rush it. I heard today about a woman who knew some people who were not acting as they should and her reaction was, "Well, they just should do it!" She's right, but that's not how it works. Personal growth, spiritual growth, whatever it is takes time. Rushing never helps, as much as it hurts.

So I'm still sick, and I'm okay with that. It means I'm tired and can't do as much. Yup. I know there's no way to rush this, and that realization helps me do the healthy thing every day and get a little bit better as slowly as it takes.

As you start your New Year's Resolutions today, take your time. Don't do crazy crash diets or plan to read 14 hours a day. Small, incremental growth is always healthier and more sustainable than wild jumps and bounds.

What are some small, consistent ways you can get to know Jesus better in 2018?

T

Consuming vs. Sharing

Last week we had the wonderful opportunity to go to Walt Disney World. It is truly a magical place to us and one of our favorite places to go. And when we are there we try to be as nice as possible to the Cast Members (employees) who work there. We have seen people treat them horribly for things they can't control, and after taking that from so many people we'd rather build them up then tear them down.

What I realized in doing this on our last trip is how we had a different focus than many others. There are people there who are showing up to consume the magic of Disney. They deserve the best things. They paid for this trip and are going to get everything out of it.

But there are others who are there to share the magic. People make cards for Cast Members to say thank-you. They pick up trash even though it's not their job just because they see trash on the ground. They don't get mad when a ride breaks down because they understand it's not the Cast Member's fault and yelling isn't going to do anything but make everyone unhappy. Instead they try to find other magic to focus on and share.

After watching this all week I started to wonder if we do this to church on Sunday morning (or whenever you worship). Am I there to "consume" my time with Jesus? Does everything have to go my way, do I complain about the temperature, do I make sure I get my seat and if not those in it hear about it? Or am I "sharing" Jesus while at worship? Am I welcoming, hospitable, do I genuinely live-out Jesus to everyone I see while I am worshipping Him?

Worship, like Disney World, can be all about you or all about others? Which do you choose, and how do your actions reflect that?

T

Thankfulness

A moment of reflection:

You just spent the last weekend focusing on being thankful. So how did you show you were thankful? To whom and for what?

Sometimes being thankful is like eating healthy at Thanksgiving. We say we're doing it but have a plate full of stuffing. To really eat healthy at Thanksgiving you have to think about it, a lot.

So think about it, how were you thankful? What ways can you be thankful this week?

Just like eating healthy, it takes a while to see a difference. But if you keep at it everyone around you will notice the change in your thankfulness.

Always give thanks for everything to our God and Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. ~ Ephesians 4:20 (TLB)

T

When Reality Hits

Last week we celebrated our daughter's birthday. The interesting part of the day? She was way more excited for the anticipation than the actual event.

She had been asking for a present for about a month. She got it, then cried. She said we can't sing "Happy Birthday" until we have the candles in the cupcake. We did it, started to sing, she runs out the room crying.

Sometimes we live in a world that is completely in our mind and we don't realize it. We have a view of God or church or ______ and when reality hits it doesn't line up and so we want to give up.

But there is an alternative.

On her birthday we also told her we were going to the "bouncy slides". She had been before and loved it. But she wasn't sure. A couple of times during the day we did something that were way better than the bouncy slides could ever be. Eventually we had to convince her we were just going to see them or just to walk in.

She went crazy, ran around for the entire time with a smile on her face, and didn't want to leave.

Sometimes we just have to power through and show up when we don't want to or when the initial reaction isn't what we imagined in your head. Because if you can make it thought that one moment, you can enjoy the bouncy slides, love your cupcake, and play with the wonderful toy you wanted (all of which eventually happened).

Don't give up on God or a God experience too quickly...

T

Happy Thanksgiving

What are you thankful for?

No really. Don't play it off or do less here. Not the one word answer at the table Thursday waiting to eat. Stop and actually think about it.

What are you thankful for?

T

The Importance of the Whole Story

I hate driving. Really, I don't mind the act of driving, it's the time spent driving that I can't stand. If we had teleporters sign me up. Because of this I have been watching news of self-driving cars very closely. If I can afford it I will be a very early adopter.

But they keep getting in accidents. Google's cars have been in accidents over ten times. And last week a new driverless shuttle at the Vegas airport got into an accident on its first day.

They must be really bad then... or are they?

That was the headline I saw at first. "Self-driving bus involved in accident on its first day." And most people jump to the conclusion right away there was an error in the technology.

And that's why we need the whole story.

Google's multiple accidents in the self-driving car, all were the other person's fault. The error of the other driver. In the crash by the airport shuttle, the truck in front of it backed into the shuttle. The shuttle wasn't even moving. Even if it were a human driver there still would have been an accident and it still would have been 100% the other driver's fault.

We live in a society that loves headlines and the Twitter version of a news story. The problem is in cases like this reputations are damaged and fear is incited when the real story is something that happens every single day, just this time it happened to a robot car so it's news.

When it comes to Jesus, make sure you're getting the whole story, read the Bible for yourself and join a Bible Study. When it comes to church and family and friends, make sure you are getting the whole story. Without it all you get is fear and damage.

T