Shut Up & Pray

I believe the kingdom of God is so much bigger than we can fathom and yet we are constantly trying to contain it and rationalize it with our own thinking. 

No one beats up their own like "Christians" and yet we wonder why the "nones" are the fastest growing sect of religious affiliations. Before we beat up another, know that it really boils down to who Jesus is. There are incredible people having a tremendous impact on this world and we get caught up criticizing the words they used, how they said it, or their interpretation of scripture. Really, ask "but who is Jesus" in all of this. You might be surprised.

I'm not sure love is expressed by publicly criticizing before you have confronted the one being criticized. Shut up, pray, then confront (provided you feel compelled after actually praying about it). Okay, stepping off now...

I Can't Hear You Through the Complaining

As so often happens, I was recently in a church running audio for the weekend services. This was the second time I had operated audio for this church. There were no less than five comments made about the audio levels. I know that when someone new comes in to mix there will always be a difference. It got me thinking though, how  often do we listen to the one negative comment and adjust to it. 

As far as i know there was one comment made by someone in the front row that it was too loud. I;m not sure what was too loud but the comment was delivered to me and I was instructed to turn it down a couple of notches (whatever a notch is). When the adjustment was made, I then received a couple of comments that it needed to be turned up a bit. Perhaps I went three notches instead of two.

Most likely there were several hundreds people in the space that enjoyed how it sounded or at least they were not offended by anything, but because one person spoke up changes happened that precipitated more changes, ultimately resulting in an inconsistent audio quality.

I have a suggestion: How about we determine the environment we want to create and do it. Make no apologies for it, be intentional. This doesn’t mean we don’t listen to the negative feedback, in fact, I encourage you to provide a forum for such feedback to occur. I suggest though that we do not try to make everyone happy, we will fail and be miserable while doing it. Don't you think?

Enemy of Average

Have you ever thought you are just average? I am sure we can say that about many things in our own personal lives. Perhaps I am an average golfer, or an average housekeeper, or an average driver, or average weight, or... The list could go on and on.



Here is a quote from John Mason's book "An Enemy Called Average"

"Mediocrity is a region bounded on the North by compromise, on the South by indecision, on the East by past thinking, and on the West by a lack of vision"



There are some things in life I am okay to be "average" in. Honestly, to be an average golfer would be a step up for me, but there are some areas of my life that I can not be satisfied with average. There are areas that are just too important in this life to be average.



One area is my professional life. I have been given the opportunity to lead a group of folks at a local Church here in Austin, Texas in the technical arena. One way to look at the technical side of things is that you are there to only support the "artist" whether that be the musician, the producer, etc. I have found that is certainly part of the occupation but even more than that I believe God has placed within each of these "techies" gifts that He desires to use. There are stories to be told that can only be told through them. With our video team, our mission is to find what Jesus is up to and capture it to tell of His greatness. We could settle to only do the tasks that are handed down like an average team but no, we will not settle for average.



A.W. Tozer is quoted: "Refuse to be average, let your heart soar as high as it will"



Another area that finally hit me was in marriage. I know many would look at my marriage and say "your marriage is not average", but when you know it could be better, are you settling? So Lynn and I decided to dive in again and do some more hard work and have a marriage that will soar.



I'll close with one last quote from Henry Louis Mencken: "The average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe"

Church, Nation, Injustice...

I know, it's been a while...

So I have been thinking about the talk that seems to have accelerated about our Country not being a Cristian nation any longer, has it concerned you at all? Really, my thinking is that we have not been a Christian nation for a long, long time if ever we were one. I do believe that our nation was founded on Biblical principles but as a nation, a people, have we been doing the works of Jesus? Clearly the answer is "no". If we had been, there is no way we would be where we are today. We didn't get here over night. This is making more ill the more I think of it. We are the most prosperous people in the world. When the least wealthy in our land would be considered rich in other parts of the world we know we have an issue.

It appears to me that the church has become part of the problem though. We have become the consumer, part of the indulgent society. We use our faith for bigger houses, nicer cars, more clothes... You know, more stuff for me. Of course while being sure to donate our 10% to our local church. Though we have become part of the problem, I believe we ARE the solution, NOT the government.

The good news is, we as Christ followers have an amazing opportunity to make wrongs right. There truly is so much injustice in the world and even in our own back yards that we can make a difference. With such huge problems going on in the world today you think, "I am just one person, how can I make a difference?" I am reminded of Zach Bonner from Tampa, Florida. Zach, at age 7 pulled his little red wagon around his neighborhood collecting water for victims of Hurricane Charlie, he ended up collecting 27 pick up truck loads. Once he began making wrongs right, he couldn't stop. Zach started his own non-profit charity called the Little Red Wagon Foundation and has gone on to push for awareness of homeless children in America. This started with one 7 year old boy and a wagon. 

What is your little red wagon? What does your heart cry for?

There honestly should be no need at all for government programs for the homeless, handicapped, child care, disaster relief, food stamps, housing, etc. if the church was doing it's part. So rather than rail on the fact that I don't believe we are a Christian nation and think that it is up to our government to determine that it is, I think we as the church should do our part in our own sphere of influence.

One of our Pastor's the other day was about to enter a store when she saw a homeless person out front. She stopped to talk to her and asked her what she needed. She said she needed some shoes. The Pastor took her inside the store and bought her a pair of shoes right then and gave her money for lunch. I am praying that I can live this way.

I want to live in the moment, not be in such a hurry that I can't stop for a moment and talk to a stranger that might need some help and then offer it. Sure, maybe it is an inconvenience, but think of what has been given for you, but not only you, for this stranger too. Christ, for the joy set before Him endured the cross, not terribly convenient.

Let me hear your thoughts... I'm just rambling...

Amazing Boy

Every night I pray for my boys I end the prayer with "Thank you for making Michael/Daniel a Winner, a Leader, and a World Changer." One night Daniel asked me about this phrase, where it came from and what it means. I love that.

You are a winner, no matter whether you actually win at something or lose at something, you are a winner, in my eyes and in God's eyes, you are a winner.

You are a leader, you have an opportunity every day to lead people. God has given you this ability to influence people for good, lead them. You don't have to follow what others are doing, you can create a new way - lead.

You are a world changer, even at your young age there are things inside of you that this world needs and God has a Divine plan and purpose that He is working in you now. In the class room, on the ball field, or where ever you may be, that is your world and you make a difference.

I see these things working in my sons lives. I tell them all the time "I want to be like you when I grow up." I love to see what God is doing in their lives.

So yesterday, Daniel our 8 year old, had one of those days for sure. 

He has a classmate at school that challenges him and others. Daniel sits at their table now. He is being asked questions by them all the time he says, so I asked him how he handles it. He said he just helps them, doesn't give them the answers but helps them on how to do it. Loves them.

Later that day our whole family was at the grocery store, Lynn went inside and the boys and I stayed in the van. A girl came up to the van and asked for money, she was out of a job and needed some food. I of course said "sorry, I have no cash", she apologized and moved on. Daniel quickly said "but dad, we have all those granola bars we got for the homeless, you should give her those" (did I say I want to be like him when I grow up?). Well, it was too late she was gone. Then Lynn calls me because she can't find where I parked and I hear this same girl come up to Lynn and ask for money, Lynn says "hang on babe" while she gets some money out of her wallet to give to her. When Lynn gets back to the van Daniel says "mom, we've got those granola bars" so Lynn gets some granola bars and goes and finds her. Mean while I feel like a complete schmuck. I have some growing to do. Lord, forgive me for being such a cynic.

And still later that same day Lynn and Daniel deliver dinner to an elderly couple where the gentleman just had surgery. The plan was to just drop off the food and come back home but they stayed for a while. Daniel had the opportunity to entertain them, ask them questions and answer some questions too. I am sure there was much laughter as well. I wonder when the last time is they had a young boy like that communicate such value and love.

God, I thank you for making my sons winners, leaders and world changers. I really do want to be more like them when I grow up, help me to grow. Thank you for using my sons to teach me.

More Money!

Ugh! I seem to be frequently frustrated by money. Several years ago, my wife and I found ourselves in financial trouble. Well, we could have gone a couple of routes 1) file for bankruptcy and wipe the slate clean and start over or 2) dig in and do the hard work to get out of the debt load we were carrying. We chose door number 2.
It seems to me that filing for bankruptcy is an easy way out, humiliating I'm sure, but easy. What about all the money you spent but didn't have, who pays for that now? I am all for sticking it to credit card companies for the fees and all that they tack on, but legitimate purchases should absolutely be the purchasers responsibility.
Lynn and I cut expenses, we whittled down to the bare minimums. In four years time we were completely out of debt other than a mortgage. Now I drive a 17 year old car with 257,000 miles on and we don't have the latest and greatest of all the gadgets, housewares, furniture, clothes... Stuff.
What we do have is dignity, integrity and a really good credit score. So now how is it that companies that can't manage money get bailed out of their issues. But not only that, they get bailed out by an organization that can't even handle their own money, no check that, our money. I suppose that's how they feel the freedom to spend (read: waste) money, it's not theirs. It is very easy to spend money that is not your own.
Why can't someone be held accountable for what they spend. During this election season, think about how these candidates are spending, of course things seem to really change once they get into office.
Ugh, you see my frustration?

Shut the door

One of my favorite podcast to listen to is Liquid Church with Pastor Tim Lucas. This last message was titled "Don't Stop Believin'", you know, like Journey from the 80's. Pastor Tim spoke about entering into chapter two from chapter one. For so many of us I know we can relate to this. As I was thinking about this journey we are all on one side of a door.



A door is any gateway marking an entrance or exit from one place or state to another. Have you ever been in a place you just wanted to exit? Or another place you wanted to enter. How many times are we in a place we know we should leave but are afraid to? Perhaps it's because it is all we have ever known. It could be a dark place we fear to leave because of what we may encounter if we do. Or maybe it is a place that we are just too comfortable.



Interestingly enough, Jesus calls Himself the door.



I imagine many of us open the door and maybe even go through the door but we leave it open. Don't you just hate it when the door is left open? Sometimes maybe we position ourselves so that we can see through the doorway, remembering the past. Why? I believe too often we may be physically in the right place but our thoughts are in the past, perhaps in darkness. Close the door to the past and set you sights on things above. I love Philippians 4:8 - Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

Learn from the past, live in the present, hope for the future.