Does Your Life Make Sense?

April 15, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I walked into the office this morning and I couldn’t get this passage out of my mind:

“Do not deceive yourselves. If any of you think you are wise by the standards of this age, you should become “fools” so that you may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written: “He catches the wise in their craftiness”; and again, “The Lord knows that the thoughts of the wise are futile.” – 1 Corinthians 3:18-20

This is such an important and practical passage to me. I can’t get the main question of this passage out of my head: “Does your life make sense to the people of this world?”

Have you ever taken the time to think about that? If I profess faith in Jesus Christ, my life should not make sense in accordance to the ways of this world. Every decision I make, every action I take, should make a person stop and consider why I am doing what I am doing.

See, I know that this can sound ridiculous, it can sound difficult, and ultimately, you may still say that this is impossible. But, I submit to you that, this is impossible to not be true for the believer that truly walks in faith. If a person continually takes the next step of faith in their life, if they continually walk toward Jesus on the water of life and trust Him to provide everything that they need, how can their life possibly make sense?! They’re walking on water!?

My point here is this: If we are walking in faith, then my life will never fail to boggle people’s minds. Faith is not something that comes from this world. It’s not something that I can just muster up. Faith comes from believing. Faith comes from God and God alone. That is a supernatural thing. That is a “foolish” thing in the eyes of men, but it is the only thing that makes sense for those who believe in Him.

So- Does your life make sense? If it does, what are you going to do today that is going to take the next step of not making sense. What is your faith worth to you?

Filed Under: Life Updates, Ministry

What if Rainbows Weren’t So Gray?

February 11, 2013 By 1 Comment

What if the world as we know it, isn’t as bad as we think it is? What if the way that the world is progressing is really not completely evil and the people that are in each of our lives aren’t so bad either? What if everything that was happening in the world, wasn’t inherently destructive, but was actually just happening for the best? What would that mean for you?

I’m not suggesting a Truman Show type of experience, but I am suggesting something different from a whole lot of perspectives in the world. I’m not suggesting that you have absolutely no free will, but I am suggesting that maybe you have less control than you thought. How would that change your life?

So, it’s no longer evil that Barack Obama is your President, he just is. It’s no longer evil that you have a boss that doesn’t know how to communicate to you, they just don’t. Your family isn’t falling completely apart, it’s just adjusting a bit. I realize that last one gets tricky and it gets really tricky when we get into other situations like divorce: rape, death, sickness, etc. But maybe it doesn’t. We invest so much, emotionally, into our experiences, and neglect the relative objectivity of the situations themselves. Those situations, don’t care how much it hurts, bothers, or confuses you, they just are.

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Filed Under: Life Updates

What’s Your Excuse?

February 4, 2013 By 1 Comment

I was reading Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline and came across the portion on Fasting. I got convicted, so I wrote about it.

Why don’t we fast? As Christians, why don’t we fast? It is the central thing that is talked about in Scripture to refocus us on keeping Christ at the center of our lives. And yet, I’m not sure I know (not that I should know, I know Christ’s command) 3 people that regularly fast.

So, what if I was to invite you to join me to fast together on a certain day each week, for a certain amount of time? What would you say? What would your excuse be?

I mean, the opportunity is out there for all of us, it isn’t a command in Scripture, but even Jesus assumes that we would do it. And yet, we don’t. So clearly there is a reason for not participating.

So, what is your excuse? Is it really good enough? Is it legit? Mine aren’t, so I am wrestling with it.

What’s your excuse for not wanting to continually realign Christ with the center of your being? (bet you don’t like it worded like that, do ya?) :)

Filed Under: Life Updates

The Reality of Prosperity

January 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Have you ever seen the people you look up to, struggle? I mean really struggle?

Some of the greatest people that I know, have been through a ton of tough stuff. They have hit hard water and had to paddle upstream, been thrown on the ground and beaten down, they have faced hardship! You know how I know? Because nobody there is something that they have learned that gives them wisdom to be able to speak into your life.

I recently was given the chance, through some of my own tough stuff, to actually take the time to see into the things that got my parents to where they are today. You know, I had heard them talk about what it was like when I was young; too young to know about the efforts they had to go through to get to where they are today. But, I had never actually witnessed it; I never actually felt the tough times. It’s pretty amazing how much more you respect people and love people when you see what they have gone through.

The fact is, I don’t know everyone’s story. I go through life, see people that seem to have it together, and forget that it took something, some effort, to get them to where they are now. That thing is:

Discipline Forged by Fire.

Every person that has done something great, especially for Christ, has gone through the fire and has come out on the other side, prepared to do greater things than when they went in. They lived life, pressed into Christ, and had a life so full, they can pour into you and me.

So who is that in your life? Who has gone through the fire? Have you gone through the fire? Are you ready to go through the fire? Are you willing to trust Him through the fire?

John the Baptist said this in Luke 3:16: “…I baptize you with water. But one who is more powerful than I will come, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.” See, it’s our perspective that changes this whole ballgame called life. I want the fire, because when I get to the other side, I’ll be more like Christ; ready to be more like Christ.

Let’s get ready for the fire.

Filed Under: Leadership, Life Updates

Why You MUST do a LITTLE Thing TODAY!

January 28, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In moments of lethargic life and mediocrity, I have found myself asking many questions that all point back to one idea: “Why is life the way that it is?”

I was recently in Chicago, with some friends, visiting a friend. That friend that we were visiting is a big blogger and has a pretty big following and he challenged me the way that he challenges all of his readers by communicating one idea: The reason you haven’t changed is because you have failed to put forth the effort it takes to change.

You can’t start a blog without writing a blog post. You can’t start a non-profit that reaches homeless people without trying to reach homeless yourself. You can’t preach great sermons without writing great sermons first.

You have to do the little things before you can do the great things because little things lead to great things. So, today, I’m doing a little thing. A little blog post.

What is the little thing that you are doing today?

(Seriously, this post just took me 6 minutes to write. You can do a little 6 minute thing, right?)

Filed Under: Life Updates
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