Steve

Let me tell you about Steve.  His is 70+ years old; he often wreaks of nicotine.  His flannel jacket with an attached sweatshirt hood is his favorite, and seemingly ONLY, garment.  He has a thick (and impressive) handlebar mustache attached to his leathery, spotted skin; stained by 2 1/2 packs of Pall Malls a day.  His hair is a greasy salt and pepper; mostly salt.  His voice sounds exactly like the old cowboy at the bar in "The Big Libowski" mixed with cough. Steve has seen a life full of wandering the country as a nomad.  Traveler + bum = nomad.  His body is weary from his lifestyle.

Why am I telling you about Steve?

Because I want to paint a picture of a favorite prayer. Pray-er.  One morning was a typical prayer by Steve as we opened a group session.

"Good morning Father!  I probably should have talked to you about this earlier, before we got started.  I have been spending time with you a lot lately and learning a lot about myself.  It has been good to know you more.  Thank you for loving us and being with us..."

Then I trailed off in my attention because I was thinking about how much I loved hearing Steve pray; I checked in again in time to hear him say,

"Amen"

 

Ragamuffinpc on His Way to iTunes

Today, I was able to update my sermon audio hosting by moving to Portable Sermons. I am looking forward to the opportunities this affords me and YOU (assuming you even WANT my sermon audio). You are now able to do a couple things you were not previously able. 1. DOWNLOAD Now you are able to download any of the sermons instead of only listening to them on the site alone (though you CAN still listen to them on the site if you wish).

2. SUBSCRIBE Now you can click the "Subscribe to Podcast" button in the upper right hand corner and be notified each time I add a new sermon. I realize we might not be ready for that level yet. No worries; we can take it slow.

3. ITUNES I have submitted my archives to iTunes in hopes of hosting all the audio there as well. I am only awaiting the go ahead right now. When that happens, I will let people know of the availability.

SO HERE IT IS: GO HERE TO BEGIN LISTENING

Who invited the fat kid?

Once, I was reaching 300lbs a few years ago, and a combination of doctor-induced fear, some rigid diet, and unknowingly acquiring Type 1 Diabetes, I lost more than 100 lbs. I was emaciated and sunken in until I realized I was diabetic, got it 'under control', and put on the healthy amount of weight I needed. It was an incredible amount of weight loss, and by all means, I was a new person. I had more energy. I could wear clothes I was never able to before. I felt the incredible effects of being a new person.

But there are days I look in the mirror and see the 'big me'. There are days I can only see the old me and it is discouraging. Those are the days my eyes and brain see and believe something that no longer exists. That was the old me, but some days I still that person.

I have a student who has come out of a life of sexual sin, and she has become a new person in Christ with the freedom, redemption and mercy that comes with it.

But there are days she remembers her past and feels the shame and guilt once more. There are days she makes her past a point of residence instead of simply a point of reference.

How often we come into this!

We are promised in God's word that once we come to Jesus, He makes us a new creation. We die to our old self. Our old self is no more. We are and continue to be new creations.

But there are days we remember our old self and feel ashamed and guilty. We become stand-offish with Jesus, and forget THAT person is dead. That person is gone, and we are made NEW!

"Oh that believers would stop looking at their old nature so much!"

Living life in the dangerous mist

The life of faith in Christ and being lead by Christ is risky. Doing ministry is risky. Parenting is risky. There is no way for you to avoid risk in a life of faith and trust in Christ. Trust requires risk in order to be defined as trust. There has to be a step out on to nothing in order to land on something.

That is difficult for our time-bound human minds to really get around. We assume we have no time for the risk on the incredible call God places on our lives. But as Christians, we are not products of time. We are products of eternity and that is a reality we need to reminded of from time to time.

But in James 4 we are told, "What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a a little while and then vanishes."

We are reminded that all the things you build in your precious time are passing. Your entire life and everything you wrap your life up into is a vanishing mist.

That project you have invested so much time in? Mist

That entire ministry you built from the ground? Mist

How big is your church now? Mist

How is business lately? Mist

How is employee and costumer satisfaction? Mist

That relationship you think is (and may be) "the one"? Mist

That child you have wrapped up your entire life into?

That... That... That...

None of these things are wrong or unimportant. They are simply mist.

It is important to remember this when we consider what keeps us from living life with a faith and trust in Christ that may not fit into our perimeters for how life should work or play out.

We cannot continue using a misty world's indicators as to whether or not we are successful.

Fallacy of Gandhi

The Church and its members are messy. This much is understood. The reality leads to a common quote of Gandhi in our churches. When we speak of the way we treat one another and the connection with the gospel, we quote Gandhi. (anyone else see the strange reality in that?) The quote is something to the effect of: "I would become a Christian if they were more like their Christ." or "I would have become a Christian if it weren't for the Christians." or "I would have become a Christian but they are so unlike their Christ."

Any look at logic reveals a large list of what are termed "logical fallacies". These are the ways of approaching logical conversations, which automatically deter the conversation from being logical or reasonable because they are false ways to communicate a point.

A conversation with a student last week had me thinking this statement by Gandhi commits several of these fallacies.  Just a few might be:

Fallacy of Illicit major - majoring in the minor Fallacy of False Attribution - attributing importance to something that is not Definist Fallacy - Defining one notion in terms of the other

Today a common phrase is similar to Gandhi's; "I won't become a Christian or go to Church because they're all hypocrites."

The fallacy lies in that Christianity is about Jesus, not its Christians. Becoming a Christian is becoming a follower of Jesus Christ; not Christians. Just because Christians are hypocrites does not change the sacrifice, resurrection, call, and promise of Jesus Christ.

Gandhi and the like are majoring in the minors. They are focusing importance on the notion that is NOT important. Christianity is about Jesus Christ; not its Christians.

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What say you? Am I crazy?

No Christians in Your Community

Part of being a Christian in a culture is simply engrossing yourself enough in that culture that you know enough of its needs, its celebrations, and even its hurts. Part of reaching any culture or community in any capacity is having an educated understanding of that culture. It seems many Christians are without regard for their local community. We are prone to get in our car (parked in the garage), drive to work, and return to our garage to go straight into the house without any interaction toward or for our neighbors or our community.

Though this is the practice of most Americans in general, it is a physical example of an attitude that runs within us.

Though it is an attitude of most Americans, it cannot be the attitude of missional Christians.

Our attitude must be one, which desires to love our communities enough to reach them from an integral and sincere place.

Chris Huertz said, "Remember your community and celebrate the local--most people know more about happenings in Libya and Japan than our own zip codes."

That place within you has to be one that understands what is going on in the community around you. It means being able to answer two questions:

1. Where does my community hurt the most? 2. What can I do to help meet that need?

Answering those questions require our attention to some details we often overlook. We have to read those incessant community bulletins that flood our mailbox. It means we actually attend the community events in the local park, farmers market, community centers, etc.

It means we take notice of the ways our community is struggling by asking questions of our city officials and local organizations. These are the people who can likely tell you exactly where your community struggles or hurts most.

Be involved in your community. Care enough about your community.

It is the first step toward being a Christian in our culture.

Honorable Mention Catalyst Debrief

After this week of Catalyst Debrief, I thought I would just give you some other random quotes, which also stuck out. Enjoy! "Demons and the Holy Spirit are similar in that they both whisper to you...You have to know your word to know which is sweet and which is a lie." -Matt Chandler

"When young leaders stand on the shoulders of older leaders, they can see further ahead." -Nancy Ortberg

"I [a pastor] need to know to know [my congregants] workplace when I don't see them, but they also need to know what I do when they don't see me." -Eugene Peterson

"The tortoise always wins the race, and we live in a culture full of hares (you win battles with a thousand cuts; not one swipe of the machete)." -Dave Ramsey

"If I lead in ministry but not at home, that is not a leader; that is an actor." -Jon Acuff

"Secrets influence the way you lead because you compensate for it in the way you lead." -Andy Stanley

"'Come to Jesus and get _____.' If we fill that blank with ANYTHING but Jesus, we preach heresy." -David Platt

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What of these quotes sticks out to you most? WHY?