Inconceivable

I love a good story don't you? Let's look at some good stories together...Do you remember the one about a 12 year old kid, while taking a care package to his brother, ends up fighting a mammoth of a man and killing him with nothing but a sling and stone...that was a fun one.
   Or how about the story of a guy building a boat and expecting to fit two of every living creature on it...and to have to deal with something called rain...what the heck is rain?..he didn't know!
    Do you remember a guy named Gideon...hiding and scared because of the atrocities that his people's neighbors constantly heaped upon them...and how he ends up being a war Hero and leading his people to some crazy victories...
   Or the time that a guy named Jonathan climbed up a cliff and defeated 20 guys at an enemies watch post with only his armor bearer by his side.
    Hmmm...there is always the former prince of Egypt with a speech impediment leading a whole nation from bondage...(you should check out some of the other things he was a part of!) Should I go on? Okay...
   How about a young lady being found pregnant that had never been with a man...(do you know the rest of the story?)
    How about a guy getting out of the boat to walk on water...there is always the story of taking water and turning it into the choicest wine...Shall I continue?
   Maybe one more...(and trust me...I'm leaving many behind) How about the time that God chose to step out of heaven because he loves us...only to die for us...
   What do all of these have in common? A couple of things...1) They all happened. These weren't fairy tales of a heroic nature they were real people...in real moments stepping out and doing or being a part of what seemed utterly impossible. 2) Everyone one of them overcame their own concerns to step out anyways. Even Jesus...don't believe me...read what he was going through in the Garden of Gethsemane. 3) These accounts of History weren't presented for us as reading pleasure (even though they are amazing to read), they were put before us as a model.
   I heard something the other day that has stuck with me and brought into question how I live and respond to what God is calling me to be a part of. God often puts the impossible on our heart...we often live out only what we see as possible.
   We are a very pragmatic creature. Which definitely has it's place at times. Planning and forethought are gifts given by a creator of systems and design... We are also very predictable and fearful when it comes to living out the LIFE that God has called us to. We confine ourselves very quickly to what we can see right before us...and they're we live...
    There was another story out of the same book that had much different results...You might remember it. That prince of Egypt...Moses...leads his people to a land that was described by it's awesomeness...It's a place you'd want to live!!! The problem...it's full of a huge amount of people...big and nasty and the type you wouldn't want to mess with. Spies are sent out to survey the land and when they come back with amazing fruits of the land and also stories of terror...huge fortified cities and giant people.
    One man...named Caleb...assures them that they should go and take the land that the Lord had promised them. The rest of the people rebel. They can't see past the impossible...It's to hard...it doesn't make sense...we don't have what it takes...we don't have the resources!!! So the story goes, they end up avoiding the land and through the people's grumbling and fear, God (who wanted to destroy them) ends up sending them to the dessert to wander for forty years. Fun huh!
    What life do you want to live? What do you want your story to be? How will you be defined? God has put greatness upon your heart, it will be your decision whether or not you live it out. My church community...let us pursue the inconceivable!

Stuck

Do you ever feel stuck? You know what I'm talking about...just a general feeling that life is about a sense of survival mired in a bunch of rules that if lived out correctly, somehow make me feel OK...but certainly not free.

   I was spending sometime reading this morning and it wasn't very long before I came across a statement that stopped me in my tracks. It reeked of truth fullness. I say reeked because however it true it may be, it stinks.

   The book is called 'Crazy Love' and is written by a man named Francis Chan. A man I deeply respect. Let me share with you what he wrote - It's a simple statement about his own walk growing up but let's see if it gets at you a bit - "Christianity was simple: Fight your desires in order to please God. Whenever I failed I (which was often) I would walk around feeling guilty and distant from God."

   Does it get you a bit? Maybe I'm on this island alone, but I don't think so. I find that a lot of people's relationship with God is encompassed in that statement..."Fight your desires in order to please God". The problem is, it's such a narrow view of who God is and it's completely self defeating. You will never live in freedom while living dominated by that mindset.

  I'm not telling you to go live it up and do whatever you want...letting your desires rule you while kicking your inhibitions out the door. What I want to present to you is a perspective change. Instead of living life trying to figure out how not to do "wrong", life should be born out of loving our saviour and realizing how big His love is for us. The essence of our relationship with God is love. In that place comes a fulfillment and rightness in life that is not burdensome but completely freeing. We spend to much time focusing on trying to kill things instead of trying to nurture a real relationship...because we are trying to kill junk in our life without a relationship....we feel defeated...In fact, we are defeated.

  Are there things that need to die in our lives? Absolutely!!! However, I can't do it by myself and fail when I try...especially under the mindset that this is what I need to do to please God. I need to love God and live out that love in every area of my life. When that happens those things in my life that need to die will die because I'm not giving them life anymore. Loving Him and living out that love, that pleases God.

  We often feel stuck in our lives because of a broken mindset. I'm not good enough...I don't measure up...I won't ever defeat this... So let's kill the elephant in the room! It's true!!! All of those are true, but when God loves us all of that doesn't matter anymore - He defines us...He lifts us up...He is the one that defeats the unconquerable. The broken part of the mindset is the belief that somehow we have to correct all of our deficiencies and kill all of our wayward desires before God can really love us. That's what so many believe it means to be a christian...trying to get God to love us!!! That is a broken and narrow view of God that simply isn't true and keeps us stuck in our little survival patterns.

  I want us to move beyond survival...beyond mindsets that keep us locked in chains we create ourselves...I want us to be free. Freedom comes in relationship with a God that loved us first...so...

“Awake, O sleeper,

    rise up from the dead,

       and Christ will give you light.”

 

Drowning

Yesterday was a glorious day...do you know why? Freedom!!! There is nothing like getting on a bike and hitting the road for a day long venture. Hurricane ridge from the vantage point of a Harley is unbeatable!

As you first sit down on the bike...slowly turn the switch to ignition and then fire it up...you are overwhelmed. The sound hits you like an unstoppable force...you're pretty sure the earth has tilted off it's axis just slightly but at the same time everything in the universe has reached a state of utter perfection...to make for a perfect day.

When you hit the streets the sound let's loose it's fury on those unfortunate (or fortunate) enough to be within a 5 mile radius..THEN, you've really hit the road. Around mile 50 something happens. You don't notice it anymore. It's still there....the sound hasn't lessened...it just doesn't grab you the way it did when you first welcomed it. Sure, you have times that it becomes obvious...going through tunnels or through a city with longing eyes following the thunder...Being immersed or drowning in the sound has created a level of comfort and almost complacency to what 50 miles ago was jaw dropping.

Getting home last night from a wonderful day and being able to have some wonderful conversation with my wife, brought the thunder back to my mind...but with a little bit of a different emphasis.

What in my life...that at one time was jaw dropping...have I drowned in to the point of letting it be okay. No longer noticeable... As much as I enjoy the sound of thunder pipes...there is so much other noise...or visuals...or heart attitudes that blare their thunderous voices that seem to go through my life unnoticed...where at one time they we're jaw dropping in their taintedness they have become normal and a regular part of life.

There is a tension that exists within the heart of every believer... This tension is strung between  the oppression of legalism and the out of control tendencies of liberty. We know a couple of things...It is for freedom that Christ set us free. We also know that in our freedom we are not to sin. Both are in the bible...both create a tension. Am I free to do this over here...or should I not do it because it leads me to sin...whether through thought or action.

It all comes down to one thing. THE HEART. Why do I say that? In the Jewish culture the heart was considered the center of one's being. Everything flowed from that place. The bible tells us that out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The heart is that place that intertwines with the Holy spirit of God...convictions are found in the heart...attitudes are found in the heart...thoughts flow from the heart...my heart is what I've given to Christ... my heart is what I give to the world. Unfortunately...yes...the world still finds ways to get into my heart. How? I let it in. It may start off as jaw dropping...thunderous...but let enough in and around mile 50...it just all blends together.

I want my heart to focus on what matters to God. I want my heart to focus on all of the good that flows out of an incredible...loving creator. It's not boring...it's pretty darn fun. God created fun so He knows how to have a good time (ever seen Hurricane ridge from a Harley???). What I don't want is to entertain myself...or unwind with the things that Christ died for.

I have for years liberally talked about my favorite movie. Braveheart. It's an impassioned story of a man's drive to set free an entire nation of oppressed people...and do whatever it takes to make it happen. Great story...I've seen the movie countless times...and watched a man sleep with someone who was not his wife...language that is something that I wouldn't say to my kids or anyone else...and the severing of so many limbs that I still grimace when I see it. It's a beautiful story...with so much brokenness...so much garbage...so much stuff that nailed Christ to the cross packaged together for me as entertainment...and I've drowned in it...and somehow said it's all OK...because I'm free...right?

It's not an issue of being a goody too shoes...it's not an issue of legalism...it's an issue of love and my heart. I want to love Jesus so much that nothing gets in the way of that love. I want to love Jesus so much that nothing gets in the way of Him being able to use me and love other's through me.

I guess the question I have for you...what are you drowning in? What do you justify in the name of freedom only to let your heart be saturated by things that were never supposed to take up residence there? Is it a popular movie right now? Is it a video game? Is it a type of joking or conversation? I don't know what it is for you...I only know what it is for me. I guess I find myself at mile 50...and all of a sudden I've noticed the rumble again. How about you?

Philippians 4:8 Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

What's my story again?

What will your story be? It's one of the big questions we need to be asking ourselves right now...I know a lot of who are a part of the community of Lifeway God spoke to you in some fun ways on Sunday. I am so excited!!! I believe it's not a one time opportunity and it's opening the door for more opportunity to hear and respond to and incredibly big GOD as we live out what matters to Him most...loving other people!


Being a youth pastor for a number of years I came to recognize something that became extremely dangerous in the hearts of young people...now being a lead pastor, I find that it's not much different in the hearts of adults. We are prone to mountain top experiences that seem to be followed by falling into deep pits...The enemy comes quickly to rob anything God might have spoken directly to our hearts. Have you experienced that before?

The enemies language is self doubt...insecurity...the 'Who am I' attitude...a mocking voice...FEAR. Have you ever heard any of that before? One of the reasons we succumb so quickly to the pitfall of these voices is that we suffer from SGML...What is SGML? I'm glad you asked! It means short-term God memory loss. God speaks with power in our lives and we forget...Have you ever struggled in a situation even though God has brought you through that very situation before? I have as well... Have you ever wondered if God really spoke desires into your heart and if He has the power to fulfill them? I've been there...

In the Old Testament they did something pretty cool. They set-up altars. All throughout the Old Testament they set-up altars where they would offer sacrifices to God as a way of thanking, honoring, remembering...At that moment when the sacrifice was made God was the focus of the heart for those making the sacrifice...It was a place of covenant where you were committing your heart to God and recognizing the awesomeness of who He was.

We don't need to make sacrifices like they did in that day (no animals needed) but if we throw this concept to the winds and just think of it as "Old Testament Theology"  then we lose what God is trying to establish in our lives.

Christ was sacrificed so that life was given. He gave you life. He established a new covenant in our lives that set us free from the law of sin and death. Christ was the last blood sacrifice ever made and is the last blood sacrifice ever needed...however...sacrifice did not end.

Listen to this...

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Romans 12:1

We become living sacrifices...and the altar are those moments that we put God first...that we give Him our attention and time. The reality is that every moment of our lives should be an altar to God...our lives, not a one time sacrifice...but a lifetime sacrifice. It comes back to abiding (remaining) in Christ that I have been talking so much about recently.

When you abide in Christ...and your life is a living sacrifice to Him...you don't lose sight of His promises...you don't forget the good that he's done and is doing. Life loses a bit of it's rollercoaster effect because you find Him in every moment of your life and you find every moment of your life in Him (beautiful and ugly). He's always right there...and you're always with Him...It's impossible to forget something that is at the center of your life.

I admit...I still claw out of the pit at times...I haven't figured this out perfectly yet...but I am purposefully choosing to put myself on the altar daily so that I can find that place of really remaining in Him. Yes...in good moments and bad...and as I do that I find that it becomes easier...and I also find that when life get's tough...I don't forget who He is and how He loves me and joy is still present.

What will my story be? God is continuing to shape it through my sacrifice and abiding in Him...I am excited and no one can take away the desires that he has placed in my heart...no matter how impossible they seem at times...no matter how great the odds look...It doesn't matter to a really BIG GOD who accepts my sacrifice and loves me with abundance...THE SAME IS TRUE FOR YOU.......................

PLEASE - ALL OF ME...

Desperation...Do you ever feel it? I think everyone has from time to time. Sometimes we're desperate for a yummy piece of chocolate...sometimes we're desperate for a job...we might be desperate for the attention of a spouse. People express desperation in all kinds of moments...all kinds of situations.
As I sit here this afternoon...rain pounding on the windshield of my car...I ask...Am I desperate for Christ. Desperation is that feeling that overwhelms us to the point of doing whatever we need to do to have the object of our desperation.
I am really good at giving Jesus pieces of my heart. You can have this part, but I'm not so sure about this part over here. It's amazing how I may be desperate for healing...desperate for a touch...desperate for something to change in relationship to those other pieces of my heart, but my level of desperation isn't as intense towards the healer as it is towards the brokenness. I can stress over the situation...desperately seeking the answers and yet not desperate pursuing the giver of the answers. It's a paradox.
Whenever I put a puzzle together with my kids, it drives me crazy when there's a piece missing. If a piece is missing you never get the full picture. The puzzle isn't complete and will never be complete without those missing pieces. How many times do we desperately search for those missing pieces in our own lives only to find that we were the ones hiding them...Why? Because we are desperate in our brokenness but not desperate for the one that knows where those pieces go and has the power to reshape them if need be. So we hide the pieces...thinking they're lost...pretending they're lost and living desperate with no destination.
WHY? Because we don't live desperate for the author and perfector of our faith. We say we're going to spend more time...We say we're going to dig deeper...We say that we're going be obedient...and then...
Maybe I should change the we to I, but I wager there are some others who fall into the same category. We give pieces to God and live desperate in life...instead of giving it all to God and living desperate for Him. I don't know if I write this as an encouragement as much as I write this in light of the truth of my own heart at times.
I have moments of giving my all...but I'm tired of being so fragmented. I spoke with a young man at RLT this last Tuesday who was hurting. In fact, he was desperate. He told me he knows he lives in the gray but he’s still better then other people so that should count for something...he couldn't understand why his life was so desperate.
All I could tell Him over and over again is that God wants all of you. He wants you to be desperate for Him. As I was telling him that i realized that I was telling myself that as well.
My prayer is simple...maybe you would pray it with me...'LORD - Please have all of me.' Imagine what happens when he does...

The End

Is the end near? Is it time? The year 2012 is coming up...The end of the Mayan calendar...what about Nostradamus...

I am always amazed our ability to be worked up into a frenzy. I'm not talking about fervor or being zealous even...I'm talking about a frenzy. A frenzy means 'extreme mental agitation; wild excitement or derangement'...The church is just as good at creating hype and a frenzy over things as the world around us...

I'll never forget Y2k. I remember going to sleep that night wondering if something was going to happen. I was up until midnight and it didn't seem like anything happened...and yet, at three o'clock in he morning I woke up in a panic. I could have sworn the sky outside my window was red and their were weird sounds all around me...THE END HAD COME! Amazing what imagination will do.

I love Jesus. He is everything to me. I know, based on scripture, that Jesus is a returning king. He is coming for his people. I don't know when that will be. However, it seems that allot of other people think they do. I remember the book '88 reasons why the rapture will be in 1988'. Obviously it didn't happen so the book that came out the next year was called 'The Final Shout – Rapture Report 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993.' Hmmm covering some ground there!

Here's the deal. I know Jesus is coming back. I know the scripture tells me I won't know the day or the time. Can I know the season? I believe so...I know that there are things happening in our world that cry out for God. The sickness of our world is so apparent. Read in Matthew 24 and you will read things that we read about in our newspapers all the time. I guess what bothers me is the frenzy that we succumb to. Movies (2012), books, prophetic web-sites with time lines...whatever catches your fancy...and all of a sudden we are operating out of fear and panic.

I am much more concerned about my friend who doesn't know Jesus and who could get in a car wreck today then I am about the end of the world. My focus is on people knowing an incredible God who redeems us...not trying to rally the troops because the end is near...Could it be? Sure it could...But if I am growing...pursuing Christ and bringing people along with me...then it doesn't matter when it is. I am doing what I am supposed to be doing! It was what we were supposed to be doing a thousand years ago...It is what were supposed to be doing today...it is what we are supposed to be doing a thousand years from now (if God gives us another thousand years).

It's not confusing...It's not frenzy based or hype driven. It is born out of a transformed life and a desire to give back to the one who gave everything to us. I am passionate about the love I have for Christ...out of that, everything I am and everything I do flows. I don't know when my end will be...It doesn't matter...I don't know when Jesus is coming back...It doesn't matter. All that matters is that He is my Lord...and I will always be ready for Him...

I am sitting in a coffee shop...listening to some music...trying to figure out what it means to keep up. Blog this...Twitter that...and not to mention face book. It's easy to make ourselves available at any given moment! And I'll admit I fall into those little techie marvels just like anyone else...

But sometimes I wonder... What would it look like if I chose to make myself available for God in the same way that I make myself available to everything else. There is always a new demand, a new thing to try, a new course of action to take - which are often very legitimate. In fact allot of those ventures I would put under the God category...but in pursuit of doing things for God, how often do I miss my intentional time/availability/openness to God?

Every day I wake and a new adventure lays before me. Instantly I recognize the lists of things that have to get done today, the people to reach out to, the "problems" to solve. Somewhere in those moments I hear a whisper. I will be the first to admit that I ignore that whisper...again...I have so much to do!

That whisper speaks to my heart. Are you available to meet with me today? Are you available to move to the beat of my heart? Are you available to answer my call...CHAD, ARE YOU AVAILABLE TO ME?

I want my answer to be yes! However, my life must be a reflection of the words that come out of my mouth...Will I be available? Will you be available?