I'm a Hypocrite

Have you ever been hurt by a spouse and then heard the words, "I love you but . . ."? Have you ever wanted to say, "your action speak so loud, I can't hear what you are saying"? Have you ever had someone offer you some kind of help saying how much they just love to help people. They offer things like mentoring, helping you fix your car, baby-sitting, or helping you find a job, etc., and then you never hear about it again? Have you ever seen people chastise others for their own weaknesses?

In some of these cases, you would call the person a hypocrite. In other cases you are hurt by their otherwise good intentions.

What about all of the promises we make to God? Have you ever told God that you loved Him with all of your heart? That you would follow Him anywhere? That you would do anything for Him? Have you ever said silly things like "teach me patience" or "I want to share in your sufferings"? Have you ever said "Lord, I just want to hear from You"? "I really want to know you"?

I know I have. In fact yesterday morning, I was saying a few of them. And then it occurred to me, if I really want to know someone I have to spend lots of time with them. I have to make them a priority in my life. So I had to close my prayer that morning with "I'm sorry Lord, I'm a hypocrite." I decided I need to really try to get to know Him rather than just telling Him I want to know Him.

What if I spent 15-30 minutes talking to my wife in the morning, telling her how much I love her and want to know her better, then dumping all of my problems on her and asking her to fix my messes? Then I would call her every hour to tell her all the things I need from her and want her to do for me? Then I come in at night and do a lot good things like help with kids, laundry and dishes (no comment, Gina) but spend no time talking to her? Then when we go to bed, I can imagine her saying, " I thought you said this morning that you wanted to know me." I would probably respond, "I know honey, but it is late, maybe tomorrow." How would she feel?

I wonder if that is how God feels?

From Strange to Great

The most profound statement that I have heard this week comes from Steven Furtick.

If you ever put your finger on what makes you different - maybe even a little bit strange - you’ve just discovered the reason you were born. And you’re well on your way to greatness. -read the entire post here.

I'll Be Back

I received an email a few days ago that someone had posted a comment on this old post of mine.

Here is the comment:
The problem I have with the "relevancy" concern of many churches is that it rests on a false assumption, namely, that human nature changes throughout the ages. It does not. Therefore, the gospel message and the biblical methods are always appropriate. God provides not only the message but also the means.

My first thought was, "this must be a friend or blog reader trying to get me riled up to blog again. If that's true, it worked. This is my first bog of 2008 and it's the middle of February. I actually checked my stats today for the first time this year and still have at least half of my readers. They're probably accidental Google hits.

Anyway, if the comment was not from someone trying to get me to blog again, I hope anonymous is still reading.

Here are some thoughts to ponder:

• What exactly is this unchanging nature of humans?
• If human nature can be defined as some thing as vague as "sinful" or "prideful", rather than being attached to a Worldview, then I would agree that human nature doesn't change. But, then again, I don't think many people are trying to be relevant based on that assumption.
• Could it be that being relevant has to do with meeting people where they are rather than where we are? Like Jesus did when he met the woman at the well (John 4:4-26). He used a symbol taken from her need to be at that well and he deflected her argument about the true place of worship to point her to the kind of worshiper the father seeks.
  
• I think that most people who try to be relevant would agree that the Gospel message and the biblical methods are always appropriate.
• Jesus was the creator of relevance. His consistent use of parables and departure from the established religious methods are pretty clear.
• I agree that God provides both the message and the means. What exactly do you think is wrong with relevance when you say that God provides the means?

If Anonymous really believes this stuff I would love to hear from him or her. But if this is an attempt to get me to blog again, then I'm back baby!

Top Blogs of 2007

The top 3 Blogs I read this year.

3. StevenFurtick.com
This post is about the results of the Dominate Campaign. The church is less than 2 years old, the campaign is only for 2 years, and they had no specific project they were raising money for. The results? $6.4 million. Only God could do that.
-Read the full post here.

2. VinceAntonucci.com
They have a church service that meets in an open bar on Tuesday nights. Open Bar. People drinking at the bar listening to a preacher talk about Jesus. I think Jesus would do this. This post is about a guy in the bar service so moved by the church service that he asked if he could hire them to come have a service in his backyard so he could invite all his friends.
-Read the full post here.

1. PerryNoble.com
Guest Blogger and Worship Pastor Lee gives some insight into his respect for his pastor. I hope someone can say this about me one day. I have a long way to go.

Perry won’t broadcast this, but ever since i have known him, he gets up at 5am or earlier, spends an hour or two with God, and then spends hour or two in the gym. And then he hits the office. So, when i go into a meeting and he tells me something i don’t really agree with, i keep my mouth shut and i listen before i say anything in response; i know he walks with God and i have tremendous respect for that. It’s much easier to follow a leader who is more disciplined than you.

-Read the full post here.

Vince Antonucci and Forefront Church

This past weekend I went up to Virginia Beach to hang out with Vince Antonucci and check out Forefront Church. It was great to get to know Vince. He is the real deal. He's an incredibly popular guy, but someone forgot to tell him. His creativity is amazing and he uses it for his passion to reach those far from God.

Vince has been the tool to push me closer to the edge for the great commission. Forefront is an amazing church. They do a fantastic job of getting the lost into their services and getting them to unfold their arms and listen to a life changing message. They write all their own worship music and they have some hilarious videos out their on you tube. And finally, I think they may be the only church in America who has a church service in and open bar.

Vince is the one on the left.

Spiritual Disciplines

Check out these spirirtual disciplines from Perry Noble.

Life Dreams (3/3)

Finally, their is a third group or way of determining if our life dream come from God. This is a group has a noble dream and experiences the supernatural blessing of God as they pursue that dream. God turns a chance meeting into a great ministry. He makes a check mysteriously appear in the mail the exact moment it is needed. He sometimes literally speaks to these people in dreams or audibly.

We see it in the Bible in main Bible character. Many Christians simply don't believe that these kinds of things still happen today. The cessationists. Then there are still others like me who would love to experience God in that way. In seminary, I read the George Mueller biography and saw for the first time a modern Christian experiencing supernatural answer to pray like in the Bible. It was Jim Cymbala's book Fresh Wind Fresh Fire that had the most influence on my passion for church planting. I saw the way that prayer permeated his life and church and God answered supernaturally over and over again. I wanted that.

The one sure way to know if your life dream is from God is for Him to tell you audibly or continue to supernaturally lead you in this dream. The problem with the first 2 groups is that while there is no clear supernatural confirmation of God's hand, God may still be leading in their apparent success or failure. He may be leading a person who experiences many failures to an ultimate future plan for greatness (eg. Job) or suffering (eg. martyrs) for His glory. He may be leading some by blessing everything they do.

So how do you know if your dream is really from God? I can't answer that. I am still in the middle of mine. Waiting. I think that is why God put the book of Job in the Bible. So that we would know that 'it could be worse' and that staying focused on God ultimately leads to our best life. What I know is this, "His ways are higher than our ways." We should not too easily attribute our success or failure to God. While it within His power to heal and to hurt, it is not within his character to build up the proud or destroy the humble. So stay humble and grow deeper in your relationship with Him. As with any relationship it only gets deeper when you spend more time together.