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Random Thoughts

I'm hanging out in my office preparing for this weekend and I have to tell you - it is challenging the heck out of me! I love all that the Word of God has to say about fasting! I truly believe that as we, as individuals and the church, learn to practice this discipline it will change our lives forever. I know it already has for many of us.

Rumor is my blog is getting a new look pretty soon. It could be today, or tomorrow, or early next week, but sit on the edges of your seats because it's going to be good!

Yesterday I found out that we have approximately $45,000 worth of hail damage! Everything got slammed! Our house and all of our cars. ("All" being 3 for those of you who like to track things - Robin's Burb - My Accord - and Christopher's 98 Pathfinder) I'm really grateful for insurance.

Robin and I had dinner last night with Herbert and Tiffani Cooper from People's Church. They are some of my favorite people of all time! If you live in North OKC I highly recommend their church. They are great leaders, communicators, friends, etc. God is using them in a huge way! If I were not a pastor I would love for Herbert to be my pastor.

I have to confess Rod called me out last week on my secret love for Hyundai cars. It all started when my parents helped me buy a 1988 Excel. I drove it for 5 years problem-free! We only paid $7,999! It even had a sunroof. Now that Hyundai has come out with the new Genesis, I just wanted to confess my hidden secret. I thought it was time to come clean.

I told you they were random thoughts for today.

Deep - Part Five

Today is the final thought (for now) on answering the question, "What is deep?"

One of the things I have noticed about every person I have ever met that has spiritual depth is that they are passionate for the lost! 

I'm not talking about that they try to reach out to one person a year, they don't "hope" people get Jesus, they intentionally live among those that don't know Christ! Don't get me wrong - they have solid relationships with believers also, but they understand the role of the 2 types of relationships. They never compromise their values when they are with non - believers! But they do spend time reaching out to them!

One of the things that breaks my heart is how many people never do anything to reach out to the lost! It is as if we simply don't care! Wow - that bugs me! How could we ever be so selfish that we make our faith about ourselves instead of God and others? That's why the whole "deep" things bothers me so much! Most people (there are exceptions) who want to go "deep" aren't doing jack to reach out to a lost and dying world. Matter of fact, they sit around judging the activities of the church versus just living a missional life.

I want to spend my life (and will) reaching out to others! My dream isn't to get fat and happy, it is to live a life consumed by God's compassion for those who don't know Him. I'm pretty sure Christ was so consumed by this He gave His life! 

I want to spend my life (and will) leading a church that is consumed by God's heart for those who don't know Him! While we will grow (and are) in spiritual depth, I have no desire to stop reaching the thousands of people within our community that don't know Him! 

I don't think that when I stand before God that he'll say, "Well done" because I knew the Greek word for shelter. (although it does help to know the Greek) I hope to hear those words because I lived a life focused on furthering Christ's mission in the world!

Deep - Part Four

Man, I am jacked up after yesterday! It will go down in history as one of my favorite Sundays! I loved everyone's response to a series on fasting. I'm telling you - God is doing miracles in people's lives and there is a lot more to come.

I just got a call from Kyle (our Worship Pastor) and his vocal chords are great! The doc was blown away! Now he just has to rehab them a little and he is on his way. 

SERVANT'S HEART

I've never met a person of spiritual depth that didn't have an attitude of a servant! They are the ones who come in asking, "What can I do?" instead of, "What do I get?" They serve countless hours to create environments for God to move in others' lives. They don't walk in seeking recognition or reward, they simply want God to use them in helping others.

People with this attitude will always challenge the status quo, but never take low-level shots at authority. I love these people!

For me personally, our leadership team represents this attitude. These are 5 people who serve like crazy in our church, they encourage, they pray, they give, but they get in my face in a great way! They don't manipulate, they don't challenge without offering solutions, and they don't let the petty stuff become the focus of ministry. They simply serve and challenge.

Why is service and challenging important together? I think many people love to challenge, but they do not give, outside of their opinion. If they do, they want something in exchange for their sacrifice - a voice! People do more to divide than to build up. 

A person that has spiritual depth has a servant's heart! 

President Elect Obama

While I have had a lot of fun the past couple days talking about being "deep", today I want to share a few thoughts about the "Obama Nation". Now, please do not worry. I'm not finished sharing my thoughts on Spiritual Depth. There are a lot more thoughts inside my "uneducated" mind.

Thoughts about President - Elect Obama: 

• FIrst, and foremost, all computer spell checks will have to be updated ASAP!
• While I did not vote for him, I am optimistic about having a young leader who is willing to be innovative. I might not agree with all of his philosophies, but it will be fun to watch if he really is a "change agent."
• I love the fact that I am alive in a day that a Black man won the presidency! I think that is really extraordinary knowing how far our nation has come.
• I love that President - Elect Obama's campaign leveraged technology to rally people! For people to have influence in the future they have to understand, or at least appreciate the new language of technology. (It really is a language and you need to learn it!) 
• I hope that Obama will be as innovative with our economy as he was with his campaign! To simply mess with taxes, and try to salvage aging industries without drastic change will not help. ( That is simply my opinion.) 
• "Obama Nation" - that term excites some and freaks others out. Bottom line: One nation under GOD! The sooner we get that, the better off our future will be. 
• I'm not sure what to think about the President of Iran (Don't want to try to spell his name), and Hugo Chavez, being excited about Obama. Honestly, it doesn't do much for me. Only time will tell!!  
• I would like to go through his acceptance speech (which was executed perfectly) line by line. For instance - he alluded to "all of our responsibilities" - does that mean we are going to have a flat tax rate for all? Just a thought.
• I think Obama has a better chance than any other president to reach across party lines and generational lines. He has the charisma to do it, only time will tell if he has the character to do it.      

  Again, overall I am optimistic of what will happen in the next four years. 

The two options: 

1. President - Elect Obama will be guided by God and lead our country in a great direction.

      2.  President - Elect Obama doesn't lead well and we finally get desperate enough as a nation to ask God for help. (Story of Gideon - Judges)  

Either way - God will win! 

P.S. - Obama did say on ESPN that he was for a playoff system in the NCAA. Take the top 8 teams and let them rumble. Things could be heading in the right direction. (We'll see.) 
  
  

Deep - Part Three

Continuing down the track of defining what "deep" really is let's talk a little bit about:

HUMILITY

A humble person has the ability to walk into any situation and find the good that God is doing in it. They are people who are not centered on their own opinion, but the needs of others. Humility aligned with confidence in Christ is a amazing thing! 

Spiritual arrogance is nasty. It looks bad. It smells bad. It is overall offensive. People that walk in spiritual arrogance are always pointing out others shortcomings, trying to make themselves look deep. 

Humility honors - Spiritual arrogance tears down.

Humility is disciplined - Spiritual arrogance is undisciplined.

Humility will build people and ministries up - Spiritual arrogance will criticize to excuse its apathy.

Humility empties itself to make others and the organization better - Spiritual arrogance whines if it doesn't get fed the way it wants and takes all it can get.

I don't know about you, but I think I'll take the path of humility. I have been tested in this when I have worked in, or attended, churches that would have been easy to judge. Instead of judging I have tried to pour encouragement into them, helping them push into their potential.

Deep - Part Two

Today I'm continuing the path of describing what I see as "Spiritual Depth". The whole "deep" thing is a big deal in the church today. What is interesting is that I get the opportunity to talk to some of the greatest spiritual leaders in our country and they all deal with the same issue. It can be a church that reads out of the Greek every week, worships for 2 hours, and has a prayer meeting every day, but they are still "shallow". So I'm trying to take a few days to wrap my mind around this issue.

Today's characteristic: ENCOURAGER

Every person I have ever met that I consider to have "Spiritual Depth" is a tremendous encourager. That doesn't mean that they don't challenge you, they just do it in a way that adds life instead of knocking the air out of you. The encourager views relationships differently, the world differently, churches differently, and their role differently. They look at the possibilities in every situation instead of pointing out people's shortcomings.

When it comes to being involved with a church, they are always the ones who serve the most, pray the most, invite the most, etc. They are realists, knowing things aren't perfect. Trusting God's power is what makes a difference. They are full of opinions, but choose to keep the nonessential ones to themselves until they are asked. They are asked for their opinions because they challenge the heck out of you, but they don't demean you.

These people don't walk around with their "meter" on rating what is shallow or deep about a place or a person. They don't rate the worship, the talk, the Bible Study, etc. from a "Me First" point of view. They simply trust God, hear His voice, encourage everyone, and allow God to use them to help people to live into their potential.

They have a Spirit of Encouragement versus Spirit of Criticism.

I guess you could say they are "Christ like"! Christ was always encouraging people who were in over their heads that with Him all things were possible!

I want to live life as an encourager!

"Deep" - Part One

Wow! Yesterday's post stirred up some emotions! One person even suggested that I was a "shallow, uneducated, ex-youth minister, and in over my head"! Wow! He nailed it! I actually greatly appreciate the compliment because I'm pretty sure that Jesus hung out with, and even used, some people like me. And there is no doubt I am in over my head - I like to call it faith. I hope I always pursue things that are bigger than me. I think it honors God.

All the emotions did cause me to ask myself a question: What does spiritual depth look like? Great question. I will take the next few posts to share some of my thoughts.

SELFLESSNESS

When I think of people that I know that are mature in Christ, they are selfless. They are people who are always allowing the Holy Spirit to work through them to encourage others in their journey. They are indeed full of the Word of God and it share it in life-giving ways with others.

Selfless people are not as concerned about what they get out of church as they are what they give. They are so centered on fulfilling Christ's mission that it is seen in everything they do. They serve, they pray, they give, they worship, they invite, they encourage, they challenge (in life-giving ways), but most importantly, they trust God with His church and they do not judge.

One of the things I am grateful for is that Journey is full of thousands of selfless people! That it is full of people who know things won't always be perfect, or how they like them, but they can live with it because they see God at work.

To go "deep" you have to put selfishness aside and live a selfless, obedient life!

Brain Dump

Man, I have so many thoughts running through my mind! God is doing so much in our church and it is rocking my world! I am humbled to have the opportunity to do life with such a great group of people.

Yesterday I simply tried to share my heart about where we are as a church and where I see the Lord leading us. I don't know why, but I was really nervous! That's weird. The more I thought about it, I think the nervousness was the tension I feel every moment of my life over where we are versus where God is calling us.

I know for some that might seem crazy, but I live with this aching feeling that people are dying and going to an eternity separated from God! That tears me up! Just to think about OU's stadium being filled to capacity and that number representing the amount of people in Norman alone that don't know God. WOW! It messes with me.

I appreciated everyone's encouragement yesterday. It feels good to lead an organization with a massive group of people that are willing to surrender to something bigger! God is honoring that in a BIG TIME way!

I look forward to sharing more details in the coming weeks and months about what God is doing to help us in some areas of weakness. I love that God has given us a team that is capable of chasing after the dream hard! 

You are an incredible church!