Giving Up

Giving up- it seems to be a common theme in the world around me. I have certainly felt like throwing in the towel with some aspects of my life lately. I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes back in December and have drastically changed my approach to eating. My life has changed in terms of routine and I have had to begin some annoying rituals that sting and leave my fingers sore. For the first time in my life, I am on a medicine regiment and it is annoying to have to remember each dose. Man, it sure would be easy to give up and eat what I want and forget the blood checking and pills. Wouldn't that be convenient and serve my desires?

Community is tough. Getting a handful of people to agree on something and see the significance of something is like pulling teeth sometime. It would just be easy to give up when there is tension and disagreement. When things don't fit into my square, it would be easy to walk away. I have certainly felt/thought that lately.

When the world puts Christians under the microscope, it is easy to feel insecure about our beliefs. The enemy wants us to give up.

When things are difficult and what was once fun has become mundane and routine, it's easy to just seek out something else. This is when we start to neglect commitments, promises, and just give up. We started up the mountain but the climb just gets more strenuous and it is certainly easier to repel down than it is to climb upward.

I am baffled at how easy it seems to just abort mission these days. It all seems to point to selfishness. I'm not happy, I want adventure, I want freedom. The focus becomes on getting out of circumstances instead of persevering and seeing the work God is doing in the season. The problem is, if our lives are built on how we feel, we will just leave people, projects, communities in our wake as we pursue happy feeling after happy feeling.

Giving up. It's so easy but, it's not rewarding. It is self serving, which isn't loving (1 Cor. 13)

Dying to ourselves is one of the largest barriers between us and God and one of the biggest things that prevents perseverance.

Bad Seasons

After a bad football season, it is common to hear talk of firing the coach or at least part of the staff. Surely, someone else can put a better program together and achieve a winning season. In life, we often get mad at the coach when we have a bad season. Our circumstances steer us in a new direction. Surely, things will get better if the calls are made differently. I am currently in a tough season. With the premature birth of twins, having one home and one in the hospital. Not getting ideal news at the doctor, and various other stressors. When I evaluate the season, the true coach has been revealed and he must be fired! I have let the circumstances of the season determine my loyalty and my faith. I have been trying to call the plays. God is still good when life is difficult, when things don't go as planned. If God's existence and goodness hinged on how I feel, my physical condition, financial condition, or relationships, then he wouldn't be Lord. Often, we give our lives to the Lord but turn our backs when circumstances are bad, when the season is not so great. We must ask ourselves who has the coach been? If our relationship with God depends on what makes us happy and makes the season good in our minds, then God is not the coach. We have been running the season on our terms. Lately, my attitude has been effected, my attitude has been blah and I have learned that I have been relying too much on ideal circumstances and not on the author of my life. The good news about a bad season is that another season is on the horizon. Make sure you have the right head coach even if that means firing yourself!

Anticipating what's next

There is mystery in a television series. What direction will it take? How will the story develop? What will become of the character? Faith is similar. What will God do next? How will God work through our current situation. Often times, mystery keeps the viewer watching the program. What if mystery kept us faithful to God? I have often been left in wonder of how God has shown up and brought me through tough times. Where is the expectancy? Instead of waiting in wonder, many just give up. We often give our time to entertainment, anticipating next week's episode. We give little thought to what God will do in a week. It's tough to have patience with God's timing. When we reflect on what he has done, when we remember where he has led us. The Exodus from our past, anticipation should be our response! Isaiah 43:19

Your Arrival

I prayed. In that moment, I remembered God's promises. "Call to me and I will answer you." "Fear not for I am with you always." I was scared. Nervous. If anything checks faith, it is uncertainty. The doctor said best case scenario would be to delay your arrival. I told God that I trust him and believe in his timing. Before I knew it, you guys were on your way. You didn't come like your sisters. This was a whole new experience. I didn't know what I should do. My attention bounced from mom to baby, mom to baby..wife to child. Gibson, they were quick to get you breathing and they rushed you away. I was overwhelmed. Another baby had to be born. They rushed your mom down the hall. I wasn't sure what to do. I prayed. The bible says that the Spirit hears our sighs and intercedes for us. Wordless groans... I prayed! Neely, it wasn't long before my attention floated from you to your mom, wife to my child. Watching heart rates drop, praying. Your mom got to kiss you before they took you downstairs. Downstairs, beeps, blinking lights, ambient noise. I was ushered down, torn between two rooms. Torn between floors. Your mom upstairs, you guys separated. Your sisters at home. I prayed. Now life is treading highway, precious moments, watching you learn to thrive. Praying. It's tough to know that you are there and we are here. I trust in God! This may not be the hardest distance that we face. You may one day move across the country, overseas, far away. You may not be just a drive away. Thankful. I'm thankful that you're here. I have seen you, touched you, smelled you. I have been praying for you all along, now I've prayed over you, with you in wordless groans. I pray that you two come home soon. I trust God's timing and what is best for you. While we wait, we pray... Not because it's all we can do but because it is what we do.

Lay Down Your Armor

I am the demographic. If we are talking about worship as marketing, or branding, I am the demographic. I am a musician who loves slick guitars, flickering lights, loud crashing symbols. Worship style is something that has become the mark of the church. The problem with this, is that marketing by practice is all about image, looking better, more appealing than the competition. Competition?.... The fight over worship styles has been going on for decades. I literally cannot remember a church experience where it wasn't an issue. It seems like it has been going on for an eternity...that's just it though, it's not eternal.

What Is The Church? Acts chapter 2 gives us a great model for what the church started out to be. In my Bible, the header reads something like, "The fellowship of believers." We read about people working together, sharing together. The word daily pops up often throughout the section. Those inspiring words "Many were added to their number daily, those who were being saved" is what the church of today wants. Why did the people come? Why did they seek to be a part of the early church. I have looked it over time and time again and there isn't much about personal preference, music, church building, or formulas. The early church was a community that gave and sacrificed for one another in the name of Jesus, who came to put others before himself even to the point of laying down his life. Jesus told Peter that if he loved him, he would feed his sheep. Jesus did not tell Peter that if he loved him, he would run his business. I have worked for several businesses that had a C.E.O, I never got to know them, I certainly didn't have a personal relationship with them. That C.E.O expected us employees to run the business well, to represent the company well. God is not a C.E.O, he seeks personal relationship, he calls us to love, not to a product.

1 Samuel 17:38-39 (MSG) Then Saul outfitted David as a soldier in armor. He put his bronze helmet on his head and belted his sword on him over the armor. David tried to walk but he could hardly budge.
David told Saul, “I can’t even move with all this stuff on me. I’m not used to this.” And he took it all off.

The church today faces a giant. How will we proceed? How will we make it? How will we add to our number daily without it being about the number? Saul thought he had the formula for battle figured out. Saul fitted David in his armor, after all, every soldier needs to be fitted in the best armor for battle. David took it off, it didn't fit him. David couldn't even walk in it. It's a sad state to be in, when the church can't even walk. Putting on the armor that has worked for another congregation, may not fit your congregation. It's time to look beyond what has been successful for others. All David needed was what he had and faith in God, who had always been with him and could not be stopped. The early church loved Jesus, and that is what drew the people in. The church needs to take off the armor, and just love Jesus! Forget the ledgers, the attendance records, the service planning and just lay everything at the feet of Jesus. There is no perfect formula, there is no sure fire answer. There is only Jesus, and he is all that we need. The armor wasn't what David needed, trust was. If there is a reoccurring theme about approach in scripture, it's that God does big things when people trust. It never looks the way everyone thinks it should, God is creator, he is creative, and he created us to be too.