Posts by: Brian Dolleman

Before my daughter had a real vocabulary, I was able to recognize her voice.

I could identify her laugh or cry in a noisy room full of babies and toddlers.

I knew her sound—not just her words.

Jesus said, “The gatekeeper opens the gate… and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (John 10.3 NLT).

Jesus calls us by name. I love that! He knows us personally—we’re not just a number to him (sheep #1,245,973).

Yes, Jesus knows us… and we know him.

We recognize His voice.

We follow Him.

Voice recognition is important.

We like formulas. We try to predict what God will say and how he will say it—what he will do and how he will do it.

If we’re not listening for His voice, we could miss out on what He’s saying because it didn’t fit our formula.

Remember the story of Elijah on the mountain?

“A mighty windstorm hit the mountain. It was such a terrible blast that the rocks were torn loose, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, there was the sound of a gentle whisper.” (1 Kings 19.11, 12 NLT)

In this instance with Elijah, God wasn’t in the wind or the earthquake or the fire… He spoke in a whisper.

In other instances, He was in the wind, earthquake, and fire (day of Pentecost, Isaiah’s vision, Moses’ call).

God is bigger than our formulas of how he works.

Formulas are what religion is all about.

Unfortunately, our formulas sometimes void or cancel out what God is actually saying and doing.

“You cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition.” (Mark 7.13 NLT)

We need to be more confident in Him—knowing Him and knowing His voice—than we are in our formulas.

“His sheep recognize his voice…”

Sometimes, no matter how hard I try, I can’t find what I’m looking for at the grocery store.

Usually, the item I’m looking for was there the whole time—right under my nose.

The hangup: my mental picture of its packaging and/or location in the store.

I walk by the thing I’m looking for multiple times but just can’t see it.

The item is there, by my mind isn’t open to the idea that THIS is the place or the packaging for it.

When Jesus came, people were looking for the Messiah.

They were looking for the Messiah and they had a mental picture of this Messiah’s packaging…

But He came as a baby. He wasn’t born in the capital city to a royal family.

He didn’t have a national or political agenda.

He colored outside the religious lines.

He hung out with the wrong people.

Many were blinded by the unexpected packaging.

They scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. (Mark 6.3 NLT)

When he was a baby, his parents brought him to the temple to be dedicated.

At the temple, two older folks—Simeon and Anna, recognized baby Jesus as the Messiah.

There’s no way Simeon and Anna could have ever pictured the Messiah coming the way he did.

Yet, they recognized Him. They knew God was among them.

I don’t want to miss God’s work today because my mental picture of how things should work frame Him completely out of the picture.

I want to be like Simeon and Anna.

I want to recognize God—his work, his voice, his presence… even in unexpected packaging.

We like to flirt with the edge…

We want to see how far we can go, how close to the edge we can get without falling off.

God’s grace is huge. I think His grace is bigger than I will ever fully understand.

My job isn’t to define the lines of who is in and who is out.

I’m leaving that one for God.

My job is to love Jesus and point others towards him too.

When Israel moved into the Promised Land, a few of the tribes decided they wanted to live outside the lines.

Rueben, Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh chose to live on the East side of the Jordan rather than inside the borders of the new territory that God had prepared for his people.

I don’t think this scenario was the best—but God allowed it.

They chose the East side of the Jordan even though God was giving them the land on the West side.

I’m not sure how good this was for them from a national security point of view…

But there was grace for them there.

I guess you could say they were flirting with the edge.
?Yes, God’s grace is huge.

There are a lot of things we can do and still be under the umbrella of His grace.

It’s just that when we flirt with the edge, we usually miss out on something better.

“Everything is permissible—but not everything is beneficial. Everything is permissible—but not everything is constructive.” (1 Corinthians 10.23 NIV)

I want what’s beneficial, constructive, healthy, good… what’s best.

I don’t want to settle for OK, acceptable or good enough.

I don’t want to flirt with the edge.

I want God’s best.

God’s not ripping you off, keeping things from you.

He’s not trying to ruin your life and make you miserable.

Don’t forget—the devil is a thief and liar. The Bible says he comes to steal, kill and destroy.

Jesus came to give us life—life to the full, life more abundantly.

Quit chasing the edge and start following Jesus…

This is where life really gets exciting.

Do you have good lines?

I’m not talking about clever sayings or effective pick-up lines.

I don’t mean lines that develop on your face because you laugh so much.

I’m talking about necessary boundaries that keep you living—healthy, whole, and safe.

Two years ago, my wife and I hiked the Grand Canyon.

We started at Bright Angel, hiked all the way down to the Colorado River and spent the night at Phantom Ranch.

The hike was about 10 miles one-way with an elevation change of around 4,500 feet.

There were plenty of signs, markers, and warnings along the way.

With sheer cliffs dropping thousands of feet at the edge of the trail—I honored the boundary markers faithfully.

These were good lines—necessary boundaries that kept me alive, healthy, whole, and safe.

We all need good lines.

Boundaries and borders help define what belongs to us and what doesn’t belong to us.

In the case of the Grand Canyon hike, certain parts of the Grand Canyon do not belong to hikers (and that’s good).

Perhaps there are some good lines, border markers or boundary signs that are missing in your life.

Maybe you’ve been flirting with the edge of some territory that doesn’t belong to you.

It could be time to redraw the lines and establish new boundaries.

We all need good lines.

Do you have some bad lines?

I don’t mean cheesy pick-up lines or corny sayings…

I’m talking about false boundaries that keep you from living as you could, living as you should.

Quoting Seth Godin from his new book Poke the Box:

“My dog wears one of those Invisible Fence collars. There’s a wire around our small yard, and if she gets near it, her collar buzzes. If she goes a bit farther, she gets a small shock. (I think she’s been shocked exactly once.) The dog associates the buzz with the shock and never goes near the edge.

The thing is, the wire broke a year ago, so the system doesn’t work. But Woodie now associates the collar with the behavior, and leaves the yard only if we take the collar off.

The boundary is in her head, not in the system.”

So, back to my question—do you have some bad lines?

Do you have false boundaries that keep you from living as you could, living as you should?

Are you “playing old tapes” that reinforce your fears, insecurities, hurts and issues?

Maybe you’re like Woodie, Seth Godin’s dog.

Maybe the boundary is just in your head.

Maybe you have some bad lines.

Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, encouraging them to remove the bad lines:

“Dear Corinthians, I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life. We didn’t fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren’t small, but you’re living them in a small way. I’m speaking as plainly as I can and with great affection. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively!”
(2 Corinthians 6.11-13 MSG)

My paraphrase:

We’re not fencing you in or shocking you with a dog collar—the limits are just in your head. You’ve got some bad lines. Time to erase those lines and live big, live full… live as you could, live as you should.

Big grapes or tiny grasshoppers, which has captured your attention?

Let me explain: when the 12 spies went into the Promised Land, they returned with a report of their findings…

“They cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes so large that it took two of them to carry it on a pole between them! They also brought back samples of the pomegranates and figs.”

“All the people we saw were huge. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers.”

Joshua and Caleb saw big grapes in their Promised Land.

The other 10 spies saw themselves as grasshoppers.

Joshua and Caleb said, “We can do this—Let’s go now!”

The other 10 spies said, “We can’t. We’re too small.

Big grapes = God’s provision and blessing.

Little grasshoppers = our own smallness, insecurities and weaknesses.

In your life, which has captured your attention—the big grapes or little grasshoppers?

Big grapes. Tiny grasshoppers. What are you seeing?

Your faith perspective will affect your future position.

Every obstacle is an opportunity in disguise.

Yes, there is pain in progress, but don’t forget… there is also pain without progress.

Pain is part of life. Whether you’re growing or sliding backwards, there will be moments of discomfort and pain.

If we’re going to have pain either way, we might as well choose pain and progress.

Let’s keep going, growing, learning, advancing, moving forward…

‘Cause our best days are ahead and we see big grapes!

Joints are points of connection.

They are important, necessary, and can often be a source of pain.

Ephesians 4.16 says, “He makes the whole body (the church) fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.” (NLT)

God put us (the church) together. According to Him, we fit together perfectly…

And I think God has a great sense of humor.

What a strange combination we are!

Who but God would have ever imagined us together?

Most of the pain and drama in the church comes FROM people TO people..

Most of the pain in the church is joint pain—where we fit together and how we work (or don’t work) together.

I’ve heard pastors say, “Ministry would be easy if it weren’t for all the people.”

The answer to “pain up in da joint” isn’t amputation (although a case could be made for amputation when one part of the body is stuck and threatens the life of the entire body—like James Franco cutting off his arm in the movie 127 Hours).

God brought us together and put us together.

Individual parts don’t live when separated from the body.

God’s plan for us never included isolation.

The truth is, we’re better together.

In the book of Acts, it says “Those who believed were baptized and ADDED to the church.” (Acts 2.41).

Each time someone is added, a new point of connection is established in the church—a new joint forms…

And that is why the church should always be having some growing pains.

Pain up in da joint is a sign of life, growth, and health.

Growth comes in waves…

And it seems to have a cycle that goes something like this:

Growth—Discomfort—Working thru the Pain—More Growth.

In its earliest days, the church experienced waves of growth and cycles of growth:

Growth—
“As the believers rapidly multiplied” (Acts 6.1)

Discomfort—
“There were rumblings of discontent” (Acts 6.1)

Working thru the Pain—
“The twelve called a meeting and said…” (Acts 6.2)

More Growth—
“So God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased” (Acts 6.7)

We’re always somewhere in the cycle of growth.

I think how we deal with the pain/discomfort of growth will determine our future growth.

My daughter will occasionally complain about growing pains in her legs.

The truth is, nobody likes pain or discomfort…

But pain is sometimes a very natural, normal, and even necessary part of the growth process.

If you’re growing, you will likely experience some discomfort or pain.

People are suckers for pain-free formulas, schemes and magic pills….

“Get rich quick!”

“Lose weight fast without dieting or exercise!”

The Bible says, “Wealth from get-rich schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.” (Proverbs 13.11 NLT)

Pain-free growth is usually short-lived, but steady growth over time (with some pain) has staying power.

When Israel crossed over from the desert-side of the Jordan River into the Promised Land, their new address meant change and growing pains.

One major change was how they got food.

God no longer provided manna (bread from heaven) for the people.

The Israelites now had to harvest crops and store food for the other seasons.

This took effort, planning, work, new systems, new thinking, and new ways of doing things.

For 40 years, they received manna in the desert…

No planting. No irrigating. No weeding. No harvesting. No storing.

Now, they had to deal with the pain of change.

Growth and pain often go hand in hand.

As Israel received their inheritance—their Promised Land, they were simultaneously growing through the discomfort and pain of change.

A total absence of discomfort or pain in your life may not be a good sign.

Life was pretty easy for the Israelites in the desert…

But the desert wasn’t their destination—it was just a detour on the way to their destiny.

Don’t get stuck in a life of ease, comfort and no-growth.

Embrace the discomfort of growth.

Remember, growing pains are a good sign.

We will not hide these truths from our children…

We will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders…

So the next generation might know them—even the children not yet born. (Psalm 78.4, 6 NLT)