Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Beautiful Let Down

I'm a huge Switchfoot fan. One of my favorite songs from them has a fantastic verse about the Church. It's highlighted below. Enjoy.

It was a beautiful let down
When I crashed and burned
When I found myself alone unknown and hurt
It was a beautiful let down
The day I knew
That all the riches this world had to offer me
Would never do

In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt
I was trying so hard to fit in, fit in,
Until I found out
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
But I don't belong

It was a beautiful let down 
When you found me here
Yeah for once in a rare blue moon I see everything clear
I'll be a beautiful let down
That's what I'll forever be
And though it may cost my soul
I'll sing for free
We're still chasin our tails and the rising sun
And our dark water planet's
Still spinning in a race
Where no one wins and no one's one

I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I'm gonna set sight and set sail for the kingdom come
I will carry a cross and a song where I don't belong
But i don't belong
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
Kingdom come
Your kingdom come

Won't you let me down yeah
Let my foolish pride
Forever let me down

Easy living, not much like your name
Easy dying, you look just about the same
Won't you please take me off your list
Easy living please come on and let me down

We are a beautiful let down, 
Painfully uncool,
The church of the dropouts
The losers, the sinners, the failures and the fools
Oh what a beautiful let down
Are we salt in the wound
Let us sing one true tune


I don't belong here
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
Feels like I don't belong here

Monday, January 19, 2015

I have a dream

On this MLK Day we need to be reminded of Paul's words to the Christians living in Galatia.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Galatians 3:28.

Paul's key phrase is in Christ Jesus.

Jesus and being in Christ Jesus is the only hope for racial reconciliation. 

May those of us who call ourselves followers of Jesus lead the way.

Wednesday, January 14, 2015

What needs to be done?

I'm going to talk about this at Hub City in a few weeks, but I came across the most amazing question the other day, and it's too good not to share now.

It came from a parenting book I'm reading, that I would highly, highly, highly recommend (yes, that is three "highly's"... it's that good). The book is called Spiritual Parenting.

In a chapter talking about how to teach your kids to serve, Michelle shares a question that she asks and that she wants her kids to ask in every situation: What needs to be done?

That is an incredible question.

What needs to be done?

What if, in whatever situation you find yourself in you were to ask, What needs to be done?

This question would change your world.

You can ask it at home, at church, at work, when you're on a date, when you see a mess... the list is endless.

It forces you to take responsibility for doing whatever it is that needs to be done wherever you find yourself. Most of the time we see something that needs to be done but we want someone else to do it.

So, don't just ask the question. Once you ask it, do what needs to be done. 

Our families, churches, workplaces and world would be changed if all of us started asking, What needs to be done, and then doing what needs to be done. 

Thursday, January 08, 2015

Four Ingredients that will shape the Future

I love to cook. In my dreams I own and run a food truck. It could be fun.

As every chef knows, the quality of the product that's eaten is dependent on the quality of the ingredients that one uses to prepare the dish. But not only do you need quality ingredients, you need the right quality ingredients. 

This coming Sunday I'm going to talk about four ingredients that you can do in the present to shape your future. I believe this might be the most important message all year because these four ingredients are foundational to the rest of life.


I look forward to seeing you Sunday at Hub City Church. Bring a friend.

Tuesday, January 06, 2015

Two resources I mentioned

I wanted to share two resources that I mentioned this past Sunday at Hub City. They both have to do with prayer. 

When it comes to prayer most of us need help. That shouldn't make us feel bad. Jesus' disciples needed help too. 

A great book, that's pretty easy to read, is Mark Patterson's The Circle Maker. It has a companion called Draw the Circle. A number of us are starting off the year doing this 40 day prayer journey together. It's only $1.99 on kindle.

I would recommend both of those books.

I also mentioned praying for the world. If your like me then that is a pretty overwhelming thought. That's why I'm grateful for Operation World. Every morning in my inbox I get a guide to help me pray for the world. I highly recommend this. We need to expand our praying and Operation World's prayer guide is a huge help.

I want you to learn how to pray better in 2015. Prayer is an essential piece for shaping your spiritual future. Hopefully these resources will help. We'll also be talking about this more this coming Sunday at Hub City. Don't miss it.

Monday, January 05, 2015

Six Questions to help shape The Future

We started a new teaching series yesterday at Hub City Church called The Future.

The future is unpredictable and unknowable, but it is shapable. The way we shape the future is with the present. 

I shared the following six questions and challenged people to take some time and answer these questions this week. (A quick disclaimer: I learned these questions from David Platt and thought they were so good that they should be reshared.)

  1. How will I fill my mind with truth? This has to do with Bible reading, meditation and memorization.
  2. How will I fuel my affections for God? You were created to have a love relationship with God. Here are some sub questions to ask:
    • How will I worship?
    • How will I pray?
    • How will I fast?
    • How will I give?
    • How will I live, work, play, eat, and drink to the glory of God?
  3. How will I share God's love as a witness in the world?
  4. How will I show God's love as a member of a church?
  5. How will I spread Jesus' name and fame around the world? This involves praying, giving and going.
  6. How will I disciple a few people in 2015?
Spend some time working through these questions this week. The answers you discover and put into practice will shape your future.

Friday, January 02, 2015

A.C.T.S.

I got an email this morning asking for some help on how to pray. This is a great request. It's an important request. Even the disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray.

I remember learning an acronym back in middle school that has helped me pray. What's funny is that I've just started using this outline again to shake things up with my own prayer. I thought I'd share it for anyone looking for prayer help.

It's based on the acronym A.C.T.S.
Adoration – Spend the first part of your prayer time praising God, acknowledging him for who he is, quoting verses back to him about his greatness and holiness. Adore him. Prayer is one of the main ways we grow in our affection for God so begin your prayer time with adoration.
Confession – Spend the next part of your prayer time confessing your sins to God. This is the natural follow-up to adoration because when we see how holy God is, we see how sinful we are. Confess specific sins, not general sins. We have a God who forgives us when we confess our sins.
Thanksgiving – Spend the next part of your prayer time giving thanks. This naturally flows from confession since we have a God who graciously forgives all of our sins. We have so much to be thankful for. This time gives God credit for all he’s done for us. As James says, “Every good and perfect gift is from above." An attitude of gratitude is essential to a fulfilling life, so give credit where credit is due.
Supplication – Spend the last part of your prayer time bringing your requests to God. Too often, we start here, but God already knows what we need before we ask him, so there’s no need to start with supplication. But we are told to present our requests to God. No prayer is too big for God. No prayer is too small. God cares about the big and little things.