Another Auld Lang Syne (or something clichéd like that)

I guess it’s time for the clichéd New Year’s Resolution Blog. You know, where I tell you how great God has been in 2008 and how you ought to resolve to live for Him more next year. Maybe then write about reading your Bible more or getting more involved in church or (gulp) tithing.

Well, God has been amazing in 2008. But instead of me using that to tell you what resolutions you should make, what if I just let Him have the last word and you do with it what you like?

Okay, here goes, from Micah chapter six, verse eight:

He has showed you, O man, what is good.

And what does the LORD require of you?

To act justly

and to love mercy

and to walk humbly with your God.

What Can We Do About It?

According to the Bible's book of Malachi, God hates divorce. Well, after over a dozen years as a pastor, I’m coming around to His point of view. Divorce sucks.

Of course, I also hate screwed-up marriages and people forced to endure those affronts to His nature. (Marriage is intended to be a picture of Jesus’ relationship to His people, so a bad marriage isn’t just emotionally trying—it’s a form of blasphemy.)

Strong words, I know. But I’m ticked.

I just found out a college buddy is getting a divorce. One of my family members has the kind of marriage that makes my stomach hurt. And who knows how many of the marriages in our church are in trouble? (I’m sure it’s way more than I know about.)

Good marriages aren’t rocket science. Challenging, yes. Complicated, no.

But with each successive generation of people who learn about relationships by watching their parents’ broken marriages, good marriages get more and more difficult to find.

So, what’s the church to do? How can we do a better job training people to have successful marriages? (I know they’re possible—I’m in one.)

Your ideas would be appreciated because I’m pretty sure one sermon series a year isn’t cutting it.

Penn Video

Excellent (and thought-provoking) video from magician and atheist Penn Jillette (of Penn and Teller)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JHS8adO3hM

It Must Be Love (Even If I’m Still Uncomfortable With the Word)

I came across an extremely challenging quote from John Piper recently:

“If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”

It made me do some soul-searching, but I came to a surprising conclusion. See, I’m not one of those highly-emotional people when it comes to religion—or much of anything else. Passionate, yes. Emotional, no.

I don’t say, “I love Jesus” (or anyone else) easily. Matter of fact, I usually distrust people who say it easily, almost flippantly. I tend to be analytical about everything, including faith. I’m not even one of those people who is anxious for Jesus to come back. (There’s so much work left to do, so many more people to reach.) Frankly, I figured I’d fail the Piper test.

But as I pondered and dug down deep, I got a shock. For me, not only would it not be heaven without Jesus, it would still be heaven without all that other stuff but with Jesus.

I wouldn’t call it an emotion. It’s not like that. But after all these years spending time with Jesus each morning—and learning to (inconsistently) live in His presence all day—a longing has developed. Not a longing for an emotional event, but for a person. To no longer see Jesus “in a mirror darkly” but to know as I am known. To have the full dose of Jesus’ presence instead of the nibble I get now. And that realization made me feel good.

Not emotional, but good.

You Tell 'em Perry!

Great blog post on spiritual whiners!

http://www.perrynoble.com/2008/12/11/five-arguments-you-just-cant-win-part-three/

I Snack Amazed

Amazement sneaks up on me sometimes.

I was nuking a couple frozen burritos in the church kitchen, grabbing a paper towel on the way back to my office, and it hit me. This is really a cool place.

I savored the inviting look of the coffee bar, strolled in and admired the auditorium, sat back in my comfortable chair in my wonderful office, looking at the names of the hundreds of people who’ve crossed our paths this fall alone, and let myself feel good about all that God has done in just three years.

And I thought, what kind of limits can I possibly place on what He wants to accomplish through Spout Springs Church? How many lives is God planning to impact in this place? How many marriages is He going to save, how many discouraged people will find purpose, how many searching people will find God?

How many lives will God transform in West Virginia through our LifeSprings WV ministry? How many people will be kept warm and fed because of all the Coats and Cans we’re bringing in this year (and in years to come)? How many people will we touch overseas through Operation Christmas Child and meaningful gifts purchased through WorldVision.org? How many Rwandan coffee growers and entrepreneurial widows will be impacted because we chose to make a difference through what coffee we drink?

I don’t know the answers to these questions, and probably never will on this earth.

But I’m sure it will be amazing.

Helping Myself by Helping Others

What do you want to be when you grow up? Not for an occupation. What kind of person do you want to be?

How about “strong, blameless, and holy”? Sounds good to me, too.

Bad news, though. You can’t do it. Only God can pull off a trick like that one.

As a result, Christ will make your hearts strong, blameless, and holy …. 1 Thessalonians 3:13 (NLT)

It’s a God-task, not a me-task.

But check out the first three words of the verse: “As a result.” The NIV misses it, but the Greek backs it up. In verse 13, God’s work of making our hearts strong, blameless, and holy comes as a response to whatever is in verse twelve. And that says…

May the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else... 1 Thessalonians 3:12 (NLT)

In other words, as your love grows and overflows to others, God transforms your heart.

Too often, we act like service (reaching out to others) and transformation (God changing us from the inside out) are two separate things. But the Bible is clear. God transforms us as we reach out to others.

And Paul is very clear who we’re to reach out to. “Each other and everyone else.” Those who attend church with us and those who don’t. Or, simply put, everybody.

Now think about that a second. Have you ever considered that when we reach out to others, when we go all out to help other people connect with God, it strengthens our own connection with God and helps us grow to be more like Him?

So, when we start doing all the things we’ve been discussing to help reach more people for God, we’re not just helping them.

In pouring God’s love into their lives, we’re pouring God’s power into our own.

Leadership Blogs

One way to keep up with what’s happening in cutting-edge churches is to follow the blogs of cutting-edge leaders. Some of the ones I don’t read as often as I should are Perry Noble, Nelson Searcy, Ed Stetzer, Matt Fry and Craig Groeschel. And if you use Twitter, you can follow some of these people to find out when a new blog is online and also to get some idea what they do to stay on top of their game.

Now, that’s not a very complete list. I’m sure your blog lists are much cooler. So, who are you reading and Twittering, and where is your personal blog? (My Twitter is stevedavis1 if there's not already enough boredom in your life.)

PS-Was about ready to post this blog, when someone sent me this. Well worth a read.