Do We Heed The Warning

Many times we hear the story of Peter denying Jesus the night before Jesus is crucified. Before the rooster crows Peter will deny Jesus three times.

But there's a little something in there people miss.

In Mark 14, it says this: Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” (Mark 14:30, NLT)

Then, when Peter is in the courtyard, this happens: Meanwhile, Peter was in the courtyard below. One of the servant girls who worked for the high priest came by and noticed Peter warming himself at the fire. She looked at him closely and said, “You were one of those with Jesus of Nazareth."
But Peter denied it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and he went out into the entryway. Just then, a rooster crowed. (Mark 14:66-68, NLT)

It wasn't just that the rooster would crow, the rooster would crow twice. Peter was given a warning in the middle of his denying Jesus that he needed to check himself.

This made me start wondering, do you think we get warning signs from God? Whether we're about to do something wrong, or to help us do something right, is God giving us warnings that we need to heed and pay attention to?

What do you think would have happened if Peter had listened to the first crow of the rooster and think about what was going on...?

T

Spiritual Adjustment

If you've ever come to anything at FIRE & WATER, you've probably noticed something. Your eyes have to adjust to the light levels.

The Wharf is a little darker than most rooms (on purpose), and if you come in from outside it can be a real adjustment. When we do our prayer nights, it's done in the dark (again, on purpose) and for some it can take a while for your eyes to adjust to the darkness.

But then something amazing happens. Our eyes adjust. Then when we go in the gym or turn on the lights to clean up you hear the collective groan and people cover their eyes. Suddenly, what was not that bright before is "too bright" and hurts. Why?

Because we adjust.

This happens spiritually too. If you put yourself in a horrible situation spiritually, eventually you will adjust and learn to be comfortable in it. Likewise, if you put yourself in a good situation spiritually you will adjust to that too. Many are uncomfortable serving on the first day of a mission trip, by they end they miss it.

This is one of the purposes of Lent, we force ourselves into a spiritual adjustment. If you are giving up something for Lent simply because it's "the thing to do", yeah, it may not make a great deal of impact. But if you give up something as a dedication to God, you replace it with something that will help you grow spiritually, by the end of 40 days you may start to notice something different about yourself and your relationship with God.

Here's a prayer to all you taking on Lent, may your spirit start to adjust to your new lifestyle and may you grow closer to Christ, so close that when Lent is done you will want to keep your change because you've adjusted to it.

T

Sharing Is Caring

For Christmas I was given a book about robotics, how we are doing, new discoveries, etc. It's both amazing and intensely terrifying...

But one story I read the other day was intriguing. There was an experiment done with little robots collecting "food" (plastic discs). After each try, the robots who failed had their memory wiped and replaced with a combination of the successful robots memories. Eventually, the thinking is, you will have the best robot brains for the task.

So they continued to do this and eventually they had the best robots, with one small side effect. The robots shared. They worked together and shared the food so that no robot was in last and would get it's memory wiped. They learned the best thing they could do was to share food.

That's why we do the 30 Hour Famine. It's the best thing we can do for our world, share our resource. Share food. Sign up today to be a part.

And you can watch the robots I mentioned before here: http://www.wired.com/2011/05/robot-altruism/

T

Would You Do It?

Yesterday I was reading the story of Jesus coming to Jerusalem for the last time, the Sunday before He was crucified. It's a popular story, people love Jesus, waving branches, singing, etc. But there was one little part that stuck out to me in a different way.

Jesus asks some disciples to go get a colt for Him to ride into Jerusalem on. It would be tied up and they were just supposed to take it and say, "it's for Jesus." So they go into town, see the colt, and just take it. Some people see the disciples taking the colt and ask what they're doing and they respond how they were told. "It's for Jesus."

And everyone let's them take it.

Here's my question, would you do it? If someone came and started to drive away in your car and you tried to stop them, but they said, "it's for Jesus," would you let them go? If Jesus were to really ask something of us like that, would we do it?

T

Skin In The Game

It's a new book by a great author, Rick Lawrence. Here's a blog he wrote for the upcoming release. Enjoy.

Jesus Wants Your Skin In the Game

By Rick Lawrence

There He is again, playing a game of verbal “Battleship” with the Pharisees in the temple court—they take a shot at him, and he fires right back. Jesus has, once again, so grossly offended the teachers of the law that they intend to stone him to death… Typical of His in-your-face style with the teachers of the law, He’s just pulled the pin on this little grenade: “You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him” (John 8:44).

John records what happens next with elegant simplicity: “Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.” If an angry mob picked up stones, intending to kill you, “hiding yourself” would require a) Harry Potter’s “cloak of invisibility” or b) fast feet. John leaves out the details. This is all merely the prequel to a bigger drama that’s about to unfold…

Likely breathless from his escape, Jesus runs across a man who is blind from birth (John 9). When the disciples catch up, they ask a question that’s quintessentially human: “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” They want to know why bad things happen to good people—a conundrum that’s fundamental to our life in a broken culture.

“It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents,” Jesus replies, “but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Then, without permission or hesitation—or, it has to be said, apparent rationality—the Master spits on the ground, fashions a little clay, then smears it all over the man’s eyes and face.

As shocking as all of this must have been for a blind man who’s suddenly been sucked into a big moment, the next words out of Jesus’ mouth must have seemed no less astonishing: “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (John 9:1–7). The pool is on the other side of town, a long trek away. And this man has just been told to walk there on his own. Still blind, his eyes smeared with spit and mud, he’s supposed to find his way to a specific pool where he can wash his face. If he can find the place…

What’s the point?

Why would Jesus ask this man to do something that will so obviously require him to take a great risk?

Why, when He has healed multitudes with a simple touch, does Jesus ask the man to jump through hoops in order to find his freedom?

It makes no sense—unless Jesus wants the man to put his skin in the game.

Risk, Jesus says, is our primary language for communicating the great works of God. And when the man offers his skin in the game, he’s really setting the stage for God to be known and worshiped.

The blind man is used to poor treatment, and getting clay smeared on his eyes smacks of same-old, same-old. So why should he obey Jesus’ bizarre instructions, after an equally bizarre and inexplicable act of apparent disrespect? We don’t know the calculus going on inside the man’s head, but we do know his response. He accepts Jesus’ challenge and finds his way to the pool of Siloam, where he washes the clay from his eyes—and then runs back through town to declare the impossible: He can see! For the first time in his life, he can see!

We may not like the hard edge of risk, but Jesus requires it of those who would wash away their blindness. And so, we must consider the dimensions of the man’s risk, and our own, because our courage is proportionate to its impediments. Like the man born blind, we’ve heard an Accuser’s voice our whole life, planting lies in our soul.

On a men’s retreat a couple of years ago, my friend Bob Krulish asked a group of sixty gathered in a mountain auditorium to answer this simple question: “What’s one lie you are right now believing about yourself?” Here’s a sampler of their anonymous responses:

I’m not really desired by my wife

I’m not enough (listed multiple times).

I always feel like a failure.

If you really knew me, you’d reject me (listed multiple times).

I’m not worthy or capable of success.

I’m invisible.

I’m inadequate.

My life isn’t worth much or special.

I’m dirty.

I’m a loser.

I can’t do it.

I don’t have what it takes

I can do it all by myself—don’t need others.

There is something wrong with me.

What about the man born blind, with mud smeared on his beaten and weathered face? His own interior collection of lies may well be legion—a toxic stew of the entire bulleted list. But he chooses to risk anyway, stumbling his way through town, past the averted eyes of others, all the way to Siloam and a miracle that exceeds his deepest hopes. For the man is about to gain more than his eyesight alone. His newfound vision will turn the tables of his entire life. Before, he was defined by what he needed, but henceforth, he will be defined by what he gives.

This blog is adapted from the just-released book Skin In the Game: Living an Epic Jesus-Centered Life.

- To order the book, go here: http://www.amazon.com/Skin-Game-Living-Epic-Jesus-Centered/dp/0825443598/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1422569041&sr=1-1&keywords=skin+in+the+game+epic+Jesus+centered

-  To connect with Rick Lawrence, go here…

Web Site: RickLawrence.com

Twitter: @RickSkip

Facebook: Facebook.com/RickSkip

Rick Lawrence is an author, ministry leader, and the longtime executive editor of GROUP Magazine, the world’s leading resource for the “Navy SEALS” of ministry—youth workers. He’s the general editor for The Jesus-Centered Life Bible (Fall 2015), and he’s the author or co-author of 37 books, including his newest, Skin In the Game: Living an Epic Jesus-Centered Life (Kregel).

Unplug

First off, never fall asleep watching the movie "Transcendence" while you've been reading a book about the technological advances in robots.

But I was trying to think of what to write about last week's Winter Retreat (why there was no blog last week, sorry) and I started thinking about the idea of unplugging. For those that don't know, we don't allow any cell phones on our retreat. Some students hate this, some don't come because of it, but it's something we push. What's the point of going away to retreat from the world if you bring your phone with you?

The biggest reason is it's hard to hear from Someone quiet when there's lot of noise around you. We spent our Sunday morning in the woods (luckily it was 55 degrees). Students were asked to pray quietly in God's creation, for 20 minutes at a time. Each time we gave them something to pray about and focus on. We did this three times (we ended up in the woods about 90 minutes). And then something amazing happened.

Students heard from God.

Because they took the time to be away, they were somewhere quiet, they unplugged, some students actually heard from God. We had one student ask if he could stay an extra few minutes. Because they put themselves in a place to hear from God, they did.

When was the last time you prayed without distraction? Sometimes it's good for our soul to unplug.

T

Hidden In Plain Sight

Have you seen this article?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/01/14/the-mystery-of-the-132-year-old-winchester-rifle-found-propped-against-a-national-park-tree/

I keep trying to think, how many people passed by that rifle in over 100 years? The second picture does it justice, it would be really hard to see, especially from a distance. But really? How many people? What if a child playing had found it? How does a piece of history just stand there for decades?

I wonder if sometimes Jesus is like this rifle. He's standing right there and people keep passing by because they can't see Him, possibly because they aren't looking. Imagine how much of Jesus we could find if we look? (Ask our students about that one when they get home from the Winter Retreat).

T

Tonight I Was Mezmorized...

...by what I think was one of the simplest pieces of cinematography I have ever seen.

I watched "The Lone Ranger". I'm not going to comment on what I thought of the movie or how it was reviewed, give away the plot or anything like that (although it should be known I have a 6' Lone Ranger poster downstairs that was my father's when he was a kid along with comic books from the 50's, it's a part of my growing up), all that's necessary to know is the movie is done as a frame story. It's Tonto many years past telling the story of long ago.

The movie ended, the credits rolled. I was done. However I stopped to watch the credits because they used a fun font and moved the lettering around in a cool way (which thanks to my wife interests me).

Then it happened.

The credits stop and the camera opens on a wide shot of beautiful scenery. An aged Tonto walks away from the camera, his back to you. Johnny Depp shuffling like an old man trying to walk in the wilderness with four chords playing a simple string part. And that is it. For the next 5 minutes while the credits rolled the old storyteller walks away into the distance with this melodic phrase repeating.

And it was brilliant. I couldn't turn it off. I couldn't fast-forward to see if there was anything else. I simply watched this person walk into the distance.

I think it spoke to me more than the movie that evoked childhood memories. He told his story and when it was done, he simply walked away, fading into the distance. I don't know if it's the idea that I have a story to tell, or am telling, and when it's done can I simply walk away. Or if it was an ending without a finale. Or if it meant this part may be done but the story continues somewhere else. Or does it mean... I don't know.

Do you have a story to tell? Are you still in that story and are you sharing it? And when it's time, can you walk calmly into the next chapter?

T

Trusting The Source

I read an interesting story the other day. Some of you many know I love reading about Disney, mainly the behind the scenes things. How things work. Dedication to story. Employee relations and why they love what they do, things like that. I came upon a story I had not heard before...

The Peter Pan ride is the oldest operating ride at the Disneyland. It has been going since the park opened almost 60 years ago. That may be why it is one of the longest lines in the park. But it comes with a large problem. Everything on that ride is old technology, including the generator that powers the entire ride.

The generator is so old that Imagineers are worried that if they ever shut down the generator it will not start up again and they will need to redo power for the entire ride, which can lead to redoing other problems with compatibility, etc. Because of this, the Peter Pan ride never stops. It is always running. This leads to all sorts of protocols that are different for this ride than other ones. Like if there's a problem and guests need to be evacuated from the ride, on other rides you stop the ride and get people off. On Peter Pan, the ride slows down and guests are evacuated differently all so the generator will never stop. Because Disney does not trust the source of power for this ride, everything they do is different for this one ride.

Likewise, we will act differently in our lives depending on if we trust our source or not. Maybe we keep moving like the ride because we don't trust what will happen if we slow down and get to know the source. Maybe we keep doing the same things because trusting the source would mean change. I don't know, but I do know that I drive differently when I trust my car than when I don't. What would our lives look like if we fully trusted our Source?

Israel, I am your LORD. I am your source of life. ~ Isaiah 44:24a (CEV)

T

The Magic of a Number

In a few days, magically everything will be new.

Think about it, 2014 ends and 2015 begins. In reality, Dec. 31st and Jan. 1st will have no real difference between them. If some monk 700 years ago had designated those days as March 15th and 16th we would care at all about them. But because they decided a new cycle around the sun would begin that day suddenly we go crazy. We party. We celebrate. We change.

What if we tried to change on December 15th, or June 12th, or April 22nd? What if we didn't wait for a magical number to encourage us to better ourselves and we simply tried to be better because we wanted to...

T

"I'll Remember"

I had a great idea for this blog this week. Something to do with Christmas, I'm sure. It was awesome if I do say so myself.

And I have no idea what it was.

It came to me while driving home from Chicago on Sunday. Right as I got on I-65 (I even remember where). And I thought to myself, "this is a great idea. I'll remember it." And now it's gone.

Usually I would make a note (I love Evernote), but this time, people were asleep in the car. There's nothing to do but drive, of course I'll remember. And then, the baby wakes up, Lorie isn't feeling well, we need to stop for gas,was I hungry when we stopped for gas? I don't want to spend the money on a $4 candy bar, get back on the road, will the baby wake up, I hope we get home before she gets hungry, what was I thinking about before?

And it's gone.

I know I have lots of ideas that disappear (some are probably for the best), but how about at this busy time of year? What about the ideas of inviting someone to a Christmas Eve service (I'll see them later, I'm too busy right now, poof, forgotten), or giving to the Salvation Army ringers (I don't have the cash, I'll do it next time, I come here all the time, and gone), maybe even just checking in with someone this holiday season (how many of those ideas have disappeared)?

Don't let the good ideas get away this Christmas. Act on them right away!

T

Are You Sharing Christ at Christmas?

I came across this story the other day. DL Moody, a public speaker for Jesus, was talking with a lady who did not like the way he was sharing Christ. The story goes that Moody said to her, “I agree with you. I don’t like the way I do it either. Tell me, how do you do it?” The lady replied, “I don’t do it.” Moody retorted, “Then I like my way of doing it better than your way of not doing it.

Too often we criticize how people share Christ when it's not the way we would do it. But the question is, is it worse than doing nothing at all?

At this time of year, people are expecting to hear you talk about Jesus. Why don't you oblige them?

T

But That's Not How I Remember It...

Every year the same things happens. And for some reason every year it astounds me.

We talk about the Christmas story and there are so many mistakes.

For most people, they have head the story of Christ's birth a hundred times. But they have never actually read it themselves. Instead, they've heard the G-rated edited for children version or they've seen it acted out by four-year-olds. Instead of the actual story of our Savior's introduction into the world they remember the version from so long ago and choose to believe that over the real one (I have actually had students argue with me about things they just heard about the Christmas story that can't be true because it doesn't line up with the story they already knew, even if I give them Scripture references). We would rather hold onto the childish version of the story than learn the real one.

My fear is this is only the beginning. So we have a childish view of the Christmas story, so what? What about Christ's teachings, are we going to stay at a four-year-old version of that too? His love, His grace, His majesty, His holiness, His death, His resurrection, at what point to we start to examine these as adults? In Hebrews 5 the writer talks about how just as people move from milk to solid food we need to do the same thing spiritually, we need to look at God as adults.

My challenge, try reading the Christmas story through the lens of an adult. Then, keep reading...

T

When Was The Last Time You Thought About Christ's Birth?

With the start of Advent yesterday, I was wondering this. How often do people actually think about Christ entering this world? I know the holy answer is "all the time", but I mean really. In July when you were sweating at the beach were you thinking about Christ's birth?

It's something we should be thinking about all the time, Christ entering our world, entering our lives. If you want to get an idea of how often this type of thing enters your mind, when was the last time you thought about Easter? When was the last time you contemplated the cross?

The whole point of Christmas is to get us to Easter. Isn't that something that should be on our minds all the time...?

T

Thanksgiving

No real message today, just after a week of rest I hope all my American friends can do the same over the next few days. Safe travels!

Fresh Eyes

Have you ever done something or heard something so many times that you're almost immune to the message?


This past year I've been challenged by this in two ways. First my soon to be one-year-old. Everything she sees is for the first time. How is she seeing it? What does she think? Does she like it/hate it?

The other is the story of Jesus. In II Timothy 2:8 Paul reminds Timothy to remember Christ risen from the dead. Why on earth would Paul need to remind a young man who has grown up knowing Jesus and is now the pastor of a church of such a basic concept, the crux of the story, of his faith? Because we forget. even this season that's coming, Christmas, do we just glance through the story or do we see it with fresh eyes and all the craziness and miraculousness that ensues inside our culture's number one holiday?

And soon, those two start to converge. How will I tell the story of Jesus to my daughter for the first time...

Here's a challenge, look at the Christmas story with fresh eyes. You may be astounded with what you missed (or just accepted as truth without thinking about it).

T

Convenient Jesus

This past weekend at our annual Real World Retreat we focused on one thing. Music. Kinda.

We took a look at how music has changed in the last 15 years. Not the style of music, but the quality. The music we listen to now has been changed so much to make files smaller that the music is actually distorted and compressed with piece of musical information missing. And there's only one reason why the general population has put up with it. It's more convenient.

The music industry (and other industries have followed suit) have learned that people will sacrifice almost anything for convenience. Make it smaller, lighter, crappier, whatever you need to do to make it more convenient for me. If I really wanted to hear better music I would need to find a stereo system and get some actual physical recordings, but that's really hard to jog with. So instead I'll listen to 2 hours of music, the files shrunk down to fit on my iPod through the horrible little earbuds I got for free with my phone. The quality of the music is horrible, but it's convenient for me to listen to wherever I am, right?

So, the question we led this to was this: How do we shrink down the symphony of Jesus to make Him more convenient for our lives? What are we trading out to have a convenient Jesus? I'll probably have a better quality relationship with Jesus if I take some time to spend alone with Him, reading His Word and talking with Him, but how convenient is that? What if I just listen to the podcast of a sermon while driving and call it a day?

The interesting part of this whole thing to me while researching this was seeing some of the interview of musicians and how they feel about this (I wasn't able to show it at the retreat, just a slight bit of bad language from musicians). It makes me wonder how Jesus feels about it, Him trying His best to have a relationship with the one He loves and getting a "when it's convenient for me" answer.

The real question is when it comes to knowing Jesus Christ, is it about quality or convenience?

T

The Blame Game

I was reading a book the other day that with a very interesting statement...

I’ve always found it interesting that people ask why bad things happen to them, but they rarely ask why good things happen to them. - Altar Ego by Craig Groeschel

That's a pretty good question. Have you ever noticed how often we play the blame game with God but seldom the thank-you game? If something bad happens, "God, why me?"

What if instead of blaming God for bad things we started thanking Him for good things? What do you think our outlook on life would be then?

Be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants from you in your life in union with Christ Jesus. ~ I Thessalonians 5:18 (GNB)

T

System Crash

Sorry this blog is a day late. Yesterday my system crashed.

I don't mean my computer. I mean me. I was done. I did incredibly little yesterday. I just couldn't do it. I doubt I could even form coherent sentences.

But I did have a thought yesterday. What if I lived in a place or society where that was not even possible? If I was in a village in Africa or a serf in the Middle Ages or even someone living day to day in America, I wouldn't have been able to just stop and rest. If my well of fresh water is a mile hike away, I don't get to just sit and have water enter my house through the magic pipes, I would have to walk tired or not. If I didn't have a fridge with food in it and a microwave or even have the ability to make a phone call and have food delivered to my house, the work necessary to catch and cook my food would have been astronomical to me yesterday. I even got to lie on a couch in an insulated house with the heat on rather than go out and collect firewood and make sure the fire was constantly burning to keep warm.

It's amazing the blessings that we not only take for granted, we count them as necessities or inalienable rights we deserve. Yesterday my system crashed for one reason, it was able to. And for that I am incredibly blessed.

T

Is It "Us" Or "Them"?

If you want to know how much you really care about someone or how connected you are in your world, ask yourself when something happens if it happens to "us" or to "them".

Who is hurting right now, "us" or "them"?
Who had a bad day at school/work, "we did" or "they did"?

Who contracted the ebola virus, "us" or "them"?

Who succeeded on the project, "we did" or "I did"?

 Whose church is this, "ours" or "mine"? (or Jesus'?)

When it happens to you, does it also happen to "them" or "us"? What it happens to us, does it also happen to you?

T