Category "Uncategorized"

You know what time it is?

It’s back-to-school time.

It’s lawn-mowing time.

It’s football time.

It’s leaf-raking time.

It’s apple cider time.

It’s sweater time.

It’s Christmas decoration buying time (according to Costco anyway).

Being aware of the times and knowing what is needed at this time is vitally important.

In agricultural terms, if you don’t know when to plant—you’re probably not going to see a harvest.

“Make hay while the sun shines—that’s smart; go fishing during harvest—that’s stupid.” (Proverbs 10.5 MSG)

The Bible describes leaders from the tribe of Issachar as people “who knew what to do, and knew the right time to do it.” ( Chronicles 12.32)

I want to be like Issachar’s leaders. I want to know what to do, and know the right time to do it.

As a leader, I am sensing that it’s time call people to dig in…

“It’s time to dig in with God…” (Hosea 10.12 MSG)

You ready to dig in?

It’s time!

A friend recently said, “The rhythm of life returns with school routines.”

I feel that.

Summer can be so random.

It’s fun and full of adventure—and it’s also rather undisciplined.

Summertime is kinda like grandchildren spending time with their grandparents: they get spoiled, eat things they don’t normally get to eat, stay up past their bedtime, watch CSI, Bones, and Fox News on TV, get away with stuff…

And when they return home, they’re spoiled little monsters—obviously in need of disciplines and routines.

That’s what summertime reminds me of.

We enjoy the relaxed schedule, trips, adventures, BBQ’s and s’mores…

But when the school year finally rolls around, we are in serious need of healthy routines and disciplines.

It’s that time of year now.

It’s time to dig in.

God said something similar in the Old Testament: “Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season, so that you may not sow among thorns.” (Jeremiah 4.3 AMP).

The old school language used in this verse says, “Break up your fallow ground.”

Fallow refers to ground that was once cultivated, but “rested” for a season (wasn’t used for planting or harvesting).

In essence, the ground went on summer vacation—it spent some time with the grandparents.

This uncultivated ground is now in serious need of some cultivating.

God’s reminder to his people is one that we need too: Break up your ground left uncultivated for a season.

It’s time to dig in! We need to dig in to:

—Healthy routines

—Disciplines—worship, prayer, Bible reading, journaling, etc.

—Church attendance and involvement

—Relationships

—Serving

Here’s the good news: when we dig in (when we cultivate, sow, and tend), there will be a harvest.

There is blessing on the other side of your investment.

As Lenny Kravitz said, “Once you dig in, you’ll find you’ll have yourself a good time.”

I love popcorn.

I consider myself somewhat of a popcorn connoisseur.

My favorites: Black Jewel, red popcorn, blue popcorn, popcorn from Indiana…

But I’m not a popcorn snob—I’ll gladly eat movie theater popcorn. I’ll even eat microwave popcorn.

Tangent: Have you heard of Halfpops? A-maz-a-zing! Local company. Great snack.

Checkity-check it: http://www.halfpops.com/

OK, back to life, back to reality…

I prefer the little salt packets for movie theater popcorn.

Why?

It’s granulated. It doesn’t just dump in one place and stack up on the top layer of popcorn. It’s easy to spread it out.

I really don’t like the big metal shakers with powdered salt at the movie theaters.

It dumps out, stacks up, doesn’t spread well.

You end up with an overly-salted top layer of popcorn that burns your mouth.

After you’ve eaten that layer, you have unsalted popcorn again.

Lamesauce.

Salt works best when it is spread, not stacked.

Same goes for butter in my opinion.

Same goes for God’s Kingdom.

God’s Kingdom is ever-expanding, ever-increasing, ever-widening… it’s growing, reaching, spreading.

It’s meant to be spread, not stacked.

This is why we bless our community with backpacks and school supplies.

This is why we give frozen turkeys and groceries at Thanksgiving.

This is why we throw a huge Halloween Carnival for a few thousand people.

This is why we go to Swaziland and build homes for single moms and put on soccer camps for kids.

This is why we are constantly dreaming up new ways to reach out to our city, region, and world.

It’s meant to be spread, not stacked.

“So the message about the Lord spread widely and had powerful effect.” (Acts 19.20)

“I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.” (1 Corinthians 9.23)

Jesus said, “You are the salt of the earth.”

Let’s be salt spread, not stacked.

Salt spread is awesomesauce.

Salt stacked, lamesauce.

We’ve been watching some new playground equipment go up.

It’s one of those “big toys” with multiple slides and stuff.

As Shari and I stood outside the playground admiring the new big toy, she said: “Future generations of kids will enjoy this playground—children that Lance and Dorothy will never see.”

Who are Lance and Dorothy?

They’re the ones who paid for the playground installation.

They love the church.

They’re investing in things that will continue long after they’re gone.

Lance and Dorothy are in their 70‘s. They won’t be playing on the big toy.

Their children are in their 50’s. They won’t be playing on the big toy.

Their grandchildren are in their 20’s. They won’t be playing on the big toy.

Their great-grandchildren don’t live in the area. They won’t be playing on the big toy.

Lance and Dorothy choose to give beyond their own borders.

They see beyond their circle. They want to be a blessing to others—even those whom they’ll never know.

When the great cathedrals of Europe were being built, people dreamed, gave, and worked to create something that wouldn’t be complete until many years after they were gone.

Several years ago, I was in York, England, and toured the York Minster.

This amazing cathedral took 250 years to build, between 1220 and 1472…

And it is still there, 790+ years later.

Amazing.

I want to be like that.

I want to be like the builders of York Minster.

I want to give beyond my own borders, stretch outside my circle, see past my own lifetime.

I want to have been a blessing to future generations—to those I will never know.

There’s a funny line in the Bible describing people who can’t see beyond themselves and the immediate:

“…these flat-earth people who can’t think beyond today.” (Psalm 17.14 MSG)

I don’t want to be a flat-earth person.

I want to be like Lance and Dorothy.

When I hiked the Grand Canyon, I kept noticing goat trails.

These weren’t hiking trails created or maintained by the Parks Department—they were made by mountain goats.

The animals walked the same route so many times that a trail was beat into the ground.

When I lived in Yakima, I made my own personal little goat trail.

I went from my house to Starbucks to the office to the gym to the grocery store to my house to Blockbuster Video and back to my house again…

Repeat.

Every day.

It felt like I was beating a trail into the ground.

I was doing the same things and going to the same places day after day.

If you connected my stopping points (house, Starbucks, office, gym, grocery store, video store) on a map, you would draw a circle.

And my life was lived within the boundaries of that circle.

I think we tend to do this with many areas of our lives…

Like relationships. Don’t believe me? Check your frequently called numbers in your cell phone.

Like our personal disciplines. Disciplines are good—they build the life we live. They can also limit and contain us.

Like our work. When was the last time you took on a new responsibility, invented something or developed a new solution to a difficult problem?

God doesn’t want us to spend our lives within a static circle.

His Kingdom is an ever-expanding Kingdom.

He calls us to look beyond our borders.

Think about it.

We’re here today, saved by His grace, because His followers pushed outside their borders some 2,000 years ago.

If they hadn’t looked beyond their borders, the church would only have existed in Jerusalem.

Do you remember the prayer of Jabez?

“Oh, that you would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that your hand would be with me, and that you would keep me from evil, that I might not cause pain.” (1 Chronicles 4.10 NKJV)

Let’s believe like Jabez—that God will help us to look beyond our borders and enlarge our territory.

It’s time to add some new stopping points and redraw the circle…

It’s time to beat a new trail!

Have you seen the YouTube video Charlie Bit My Finger?

It will change your life.

Not really.

It’s kinda cute and funny.

This viral video has nearly 400 million views.

My daughter has the Charlie Bit My Finger iPhone App…

So I’ve heard quotes from the video about 125,000 times.

I wonder if Charlie’s parents ever dreamed their little home video would spread so far?

I don’t know what the original intent of the Charlie Bit Me video was, but I do know that God always intended for the Gospel to be seen, heard, shared, expressed, demonstrated, and spread throughout the world.

The Gospel has spread around the world and has continued to grow for 2,000+ years now.

An estimated 6 billion Bibles have been printed and distributed.

The Bible has been translated into more than 2,500 languages.

The Gospel was never meant to be contained.

It was always meant to be shared, given… to go viral.

We don’t want the Gospel to only be experienced by a small, exclusive circle of people.

We want the circle to always be expanding, reaching, and including.

“We hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working.”
(2 Corinthians 10.15, 16 NLT).

Do you really think your excuse is any better?

Gideon was insecure.

Noah got drunk and naked.

Jacob cheated and deceived.

David had an affair.

Paul murdered.

Jonah ran.

Thomas doubted.

Miriam gossiped.

Martha worried.

Sara was impatient.

Peter swore at a little girl, cut a soldier’s ear off, and got called “Satan” by Jesus.

Elijah was moody.

Moses stuttered.

Zacchaeus was short.

Rahab was a call girl.

Jeremiah was young.

Abraham was old.

Lazarus was dead.

None of these “excuses” prevented God from calling, choosing, or using these Bible characters.

Do you really think your excuse is any better?

It was his time. It was his turn.

He was from a wealthy, influential family.

He was tall, strong and really good looking.

Saul had been selected by God to be the first king of Israel.

The prophet Samuel anointed him. The Spirit of God rested on Saul, and he began to prophesy.

The Bible says that Saul became a new man—that God gave him a new heart (1 Samuel 10.6, 9).

On the day of the big ceremony, all Israel gathered for the crowning of their new king.

The prophet kicked things off with an important speech.

The time had come for Saul to take the reigns and become the king of Israel.

It was his time. It was his turn.

The prophet makes the big announcement: “Our new king: Saul!”

Deafening applause. Shouts of joy. Cannons shooting confetti into the air. Fireworks exploding.

The band begins playing Rock Party Anthem. Dancers dance…

And everyone looks around awkwardly.

Where’s Saul?

The celebrating stops. A search party is assembled. People start praying.

Finally, someone gets a word from God: “Go look in the janitor’s closet.”

They open the closet door…

Sure enough, there’s King Saul—hiding among the supplies (1 Samuel 10.22).

What a story!

Saul had everything going for him: He was chosen by God. He was anointed. People liked him and wanted him to be their king. He came from the right side of the tracks. He was photogenic.

And he was his own worst enemy.

I think this is true for all of us: we are our own worst enemy.

Usually what’s holding us back isn’t stuff around us, it’s something inside us…

Fear, insecurity, anxiety—wanting everything to be perfect, and a 100% guarantee of success before we begin.

So we hide in the janitor’s closet.

It’s quite silly, really.

“…From his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.”
(Ephesians 3.16 NLT)

It’s your time. It’s your turn…

Don’t spend it in the janitor’s closet.

Too many of us are waiting…

Waiting for the perfect me.

Waiting for the perfect time.

Waiting for the perfect training.

Waiting for the perfect qualification.

Waiting for the perfect endorsement.

Waiting for the perfect opportunity.

Waiting for the perfect situation.

Waiting for the perfect invitation.

Waiting for the perfect place.

Waiting for the perfect role.

Waiting, waiting waiting.

As long as you’re waiting for the perfect______________, nothing will happen.

Why?

Because we’re imperfect.

Here’s the good news: God chooses, calls, empowers, and uses imperfect people.

People like…

Jeremiah—who thought he was too young & felt like he had nothing to say.

Deborah—a woman who lived in a time when women weren’t really allowed to lead.

Moses—a murderer, stutterer, a guy who felt like a failure.

Abraham—thought he was too old.

Rahab—a prostitute.

Gideon—a guy who struggled with low self esteem.

Mary—a girl, a teenager

Matthew—a tax collector.

Peter—a blue collar fisherman who swore like a sailor.

Timothy—half Greek, half Jewish

Paul—former persecuted of the church.

God chooses, calls, empowers, and uses imperfect people, young people, old people, white collar people, blue collar people, prostitutes, murderers, has-beens, and failures.

And, oh yeah… I forgot one more on the list: YOU.

“For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” (Ephesians 2.10 NLT)

“…From his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.”
(Ephesians 3.16 NLT)

God chooses, calls, empowers, and uses imperfect people—people like me, and people like you.

The wait is over!

If you are perfect, there’s no need to read any further.

But for the broken, stained, and scarred—there is good news for you.

“He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds.” (Psalm 147.3 NLT)

God’s specialty is restoration.

He invites the sin-stained. He welcomes the brokenhearted. He receives the imperfect with open arms.

So we come—broken, stained, and scarred.

He does what only He can do.

He causes us to be…

Restored.