Created for Connection

I'm reading slowly... very slowly... through Erwin McManus' Soul Cravings again. He's such a profound writer... he says things we already know to be true, and in amazingly simple... yet profound... ways.

I love this quote from the book:

"Why is it so hard to move from 'me' to 'us'? In our guts we know we're not supposed to live simply for ourselves... Our need for relationship comes from the core of our being. It would be the greatest of tragedies to sacrifice others in the effort to find ourselves. Our souls crave to belong. The experience of love, though it emanates from God, is not limited to him.

We are created for each other."

Tuesday Thought

GREAT QUOTE from Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan... from his latest book, The Prodigal God:

"Jesus's teaching consistently attracted the irreligious while offending the Bible-believing, religious people of his day. However, in the main, our churches today do not have this effect. The kind of outsiders Jesus attracted are not attracted to contemporary churches, even our most avant-garde ones. We tend to draw conservative, buttoned-down, moralistic people. The licentious and liberated or the broken and marginal avoid church. That can only mean one thing. If the preaching of our ministers and the practice of our parishioners do not have the same effect on people that Jesus had, then we must not be declaring the same message that Jesus did."

What's your thoughts on this... do you agree? Disagree?

What churches are "nailing" it, and are drawing the kinds of people that were following Jesus?

On Greatness...

"In most of the world today, we equate being first with being the greatest. First place, first string, first chair, first class - all expressions of what is thought to be the greatest and best. Jesus taught us that greatness is not a matter of winning a competition; greatness is a matter of humbly living the life God gave you to live. And God is much more concerned with who you're helping in the race than who you're ahead of. He's not asking, "Will you get to the finish line before anyone else?" He's asking, "Who are you going to help cross the finish line with you?"

-- Tom Holladay, The Relationship Principles of Jesus

Shadowlands

Those who know me well, as well as those who follow this blog, know my great admiration and respect for Pastor Wayne Cordeiro. He's one of the wisest men I've ever met, and his messages speak to me in ways that are unlike any other pastor (in fact, the only other pastor that has had that type of impact on me is this guy). So, I was reading his blog today, and he wrote a statement that just floored me. It wasn't something I'd never heard before, but it really ministered to me at a time when I've been quieting my heart before the Lord... away from the "lights" of ministry. Here's what he said:

"Who I am in the shadows, rather than in the floodlights, is what God really measures."

DANG!!

But it's so true... as leaders, we thrive in front of people. We live for that... and that's not wrong in itself. But when who we are in the shadows is different than when we're in the spotlight, we're in a dangerous place.

There's an old song I used to like alot called When the Music Stops... and I loved it, because - as I was then primarily leading worship - the lyrics spoke to me so powerfully:

When the music stops... that's when I live my song
When the band goes home... that's when I live my song
When we've said, "Amen," and the crowd begans to fade away
That's when I live the life that I sing about in my songs.

To God, the dark is the same as the light... nothing is hidden from Him (Heb 4:13). When we step into the shadows... when the lights are dimmed, and the crowd is gone... is He pleased by what He sees from our lives?

Dang!

Too often this is me:

"It's easy to fill ourselves up with other things and then give God whatever is left. Hosea 13:6 says, 'When I fed then, they were satisfied; when they were satisfied, they became proud; then they forgot me.' God gets a scrap or two only because we feel guilty for giving Him nothing."

-- Francis Chan, Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By a Relentless God

Great Quote!

Okay... so, I'm reading Francis Chan's Crazy Love: Overwhelmed By a Relentless God, and it's kicking my butt... big time. I've been slacking somewhat with my book reviews, so I promise to review this one once I'm done. But for now, let me give you a brief taste of what Chan is doing to me... hopefully, it will kick your butt, too.

When I am consumed by my problems - stressed out about my life, my family, and my job - I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a 'right' to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities... Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives. Stress says that the things we are involved in are important to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.

Basically, these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff of my life is exceptional. Both worry and stress reek of arrogance. They declare our tendency to forget that we've been forgiven, that our lives here are brief, that we are headed to a place where we won't be lonely, afraid, or hurt ever again, and that in the context of God's strength our problems are small, indeed.

Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are?

The Authority of Compassion

Last Sunday, Joel Vestal challenged our community on being people of compassion... and it really struck a chord with many of us. Living beyond ourselves as Christ followers has been heavy on my mind all week... and then, I ran across a passage written by Henri Nouwen, that couples compassion with authority. It spoke powerfully to me; I hope it does to you, as well. Here it is:

"We usually think of people with great authority as higher up, far away, hard to reach. But spiritual authority comes from compassion and emerges from deep inner solidarity with those who are "subject" to authority. The one who is fully like us, who deeply understands our joys and pains or hopes and desires, and who is willing and able to walk with us, that is the one to whom we gladly give authority and whose "subjects" we are willing to be. It is compassionate authority that empowers, encourages, calls forth hidden gifts, and enables great things to happen. True spiritual authority is located in the point of an upside-down triangle, supporting and holding into the light everyone they offer their leadership to."

Great Quote!

"Christian Science... has no Christians or science, and reminds me of Grape-Nuts, which has no grapes or nuts." -- Mark Driscoll

Great Quote!

I'm just starting a new book by GARY THOMAS, called THE BEAUTIFUL FIGHT... awesome, awesome, awesome (as is everything that he writes). I'll definitely be reviewing this soon... but, for now, here's a snippet of what I'm enjoying:

"Far too frequently, Christianity becomes a list of prohibitions. I'll never forget talking to one young woman, who said, 'Why would I ever want to become a Christian? All they want me to do is dump all the good music from my iPod and wear ugly clothes.' Her words tell me that , at least in our preaching, if not in our minds, we have lost our vision for the glorious, transforming presence of Jesus Christ -- how he really makes a difference.

"Here's the challenge of a small-minded faith based only on prohibitions: we still sin. If a successful Christian is defined by what she or he doesn't do, we're all in trouble, because the Bible tells us that 'we all stumble in many ways' (James 3:2). Preaching mere moralism is the surest way to tire people out, because in one sense we're all going to fall short of the ideal, and in another sense, spending our lives trying NOT to do something is far less than what we were created for. Such a faith will never capture our hearts.

"If a young woman won't even empty her iPod for that faith, why would she ever give up her life for it?"

Great Quote!

In preparing for my message on compassion last night, I came across a quote from a book I've had on my book shelf since my early days of walking with Christ. It was from Bill Hybel's and Mark Mittelberg's book, Becoming a Contagious Christian, and it really connected with me, and reminded me of why it is so important for Christ-followers to be people who show compassion. Here you go!

"One of the primary reasons God calls his followers to be extraordinarily caring people is because acts of mercy open up people's hearts like nothing else can. Put another way, there's tremendous pulling power in the expression of even a single act of kindness. And God wants that power to draw people to the reality of His Son... As we express compassion to each other, people will recognize it as an earmark of authentic Christianity. It helps them better understand what God is like, who His children are, and why they should personally trust Him too."

Great Quote!!

"I have heard it said, 'God didn't die for frogs. So he was responding to our value as humans.' This turns grace on its head. We are worse off than frogs. They have not sinned. They have not rebelled and treated God with the contempt of being inconsequential in their lives. God did not have to die for frogs. They aren't bad enough. We are. Our debt is so great, only a divine sacrifice could pay for it."

-- John Piper, The Passion of Jesus Christ: 50 Reasons Why He Came to Die

Great Quote!

"Successful people accomplish more than others because they go ahead and do it before they are ready."

-- An Enemy Called Average, John L. Mason

GREAT QUOTE!

"The early church may have met in homes and hung out near the temple, but they also lived in the community and shared their lives with others who were not yet part of the Way. Too often we require others to come to us to find God rather than allowing what God does among us to spill over into the lives of those who have not been with us in that "one place."

-- Eric Michael Bryant, Peppermint-Filled Pinatas

That's Quotable: Sarah Cunningham

"Perhaps the greatest reason twentysomethings don't want to be labled is that we don't want to be known for who we are now. We want to be known for who we are striving to be. For who we are becoming."

-- Sarah Cunningham, Dear Church: Letters from a Disillusioned Generation

Great Quote!!!!!

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

--THE BIBLE, Romans 5:6-8

Kingdom Living

I'm reading through Bob Franquiz's book, Elements, and came across this awesome quote:

"What would your life look like if you made God's kingdom your primary concern? Would your conversations be different? Would they move beyond box scores, movie reviews, and the weather? Would they center on issues like why we were put on this planet? Would your relationships change from functional to influential -- where one encounter with you would change the way people live?"

On Preaching Styles...

"Through the years I've heard too many preachers and teachers play the style card to keep from having to change and improve. Boring is not a style. Boring is boring. Confusing may be a style. But it is still confusing. Each of our communication habits, both good and bad, are part of our style. But bad habits need to be eliminated from our style, not defended as part of it."
-- Andy Stanley, Communicating for a Change

Discovering the Kingdom

"Jesus invites us to live out the historical reality of His kingdom in our contemporary post-everything culture, but we have to face a hard truth: Most followers of Jesus have grown accustomed to a spirituality that doesn't remotely resemble revolution. We call Him Lord but not King, and we've gone deaf and blind to the 'whole' gospel He came to share."

Rick McKinley, This Beautiful Mess

On Humility... Pt. 2

"At every stage of our Christian development and in every sphere of our Christian discipleship, pride is the greates enemy and humility our greatest friend." -- John Stott

Wow...

"More than any other single thing, ... the practical irrelevance of actual obedience to Christ accounts for the weakened effect of Christianity in the world today..."
-- Dallas Willard, "The Divine Conspiracy"