Let's all get circumcised...

I've always said that Genesis is one of the "R" Rated books of the Bible. This morning I was reading out of chapter 34 and it's a bit sketchy.

You should read the chapter for yourself, but in the meantime, here's the summary: Jacob's daughter Dinah is raped by a man named Shechem. He then wants to marry her so he gets his dad to go to her dad to work out the marriage details. Dinah's brothers get involved and come up with the price of the marriage, which is really just an attempt to get revenge on Shechem for defiling their sister. The price is that every man, not just Shechem, but every man in their village/area had to be circumcised. Surprisingly, Shechem, his dad, and the men all agreed to this price.

Now let me ask you: What kind of influence would you have to have to talk all the men of an entire village into circumcising themselves?

During their "recovery" time, Dinah's brothers came in and killed all of the newly circumcised men and plundered the village it get vengeance for their sister.

It was greed that motivated these men to undergo an embarrassing and painful surgical procedure to a very private body part... the lengths we'll go to for power and money.

I would like to think I would have opted out of this deal, but this got me wondering: Who is influencing me? What voices am I listening to? Who am I allowing to speak into my life? 

In Proverbs 13:20 Solomon writes, "He who walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools suffers harm." 

All of us are listening to somebody and something. Most of us don't even realize the influence those voices are having on our lives. 

Be careful who you listen to. Walk with the wise. 

I think I need to share this story with my boys tonight. Male body parts are common topics at our dinner table. Now I have a story with a male body part to leverage for good.

My shower epiphany

I had an epiphany this morning in the shower.

I've been reading Eugene Peterson's book, The Pastor, which is his memoir about becoming and being a pastor. He begins the book by looking at how his upbringing shaped him into a pastor. Reading his story got me thinking about mine.

I grew up an Army brat. Maybe it's because I didn't know better, but I loved moving around, living everywhere from California to Germany. Moving 10 times before I turned 18 shaped me in ways that I won't get into here.

My epiphany had to do with attending military chapels. When we lived in Germany we really only had two churches to choose from: The Catholic Mass, or the Protestant service. They shared the same building. My parents were from Baptist and Presbyterian backgrounds so we really only had one choice.

Each Sunday we would worship with people who were different from us, but who had one thing in common: We were Christians who were trying to love and follow Jesus. We didn't agree with everything. Sometimes we had good chaplains. Sometimes we had not-so-good chaplains. But we figured out how to get along. We worshiped Jesus, even if the worship style was a bit uncomfortable. We focused on what we had in common more than what we disagreed about. Everybody tried to do their part to make the chapel a church.

We live a church culture in America that's defined by choice. Consumerism has infected the church so deeply that we think choice is normal. This is a topic for another day, but I think consumerism is going to eventually kill the church in America. It's a disease.

The way church feeds our consumerism is not only by offering all kinds of ministries to meet people's needs, but by changing how we, as Christians, think about church. Now we think we need certain things: A certain worship style, a certain Bible translation/interpretation, a children's ministry, a youth ministry, a women's ministry, a men's ministry, a Christian pre-school/school, a young-at-heart ministry, a ministry to goats, a ministry to (fill in the blank).

Be honest with yourself: How many of you think you need a children's ministry for your kids? How many of you think you need a youth ministry for your teens? How many of you think you need some form of religious goods and services that the church provides for you? 

It's not that those ministries are bad, but do we need them? None of them were available during the first century. Most of them aren't available in most churches around the world. Heck, America is really the only country where "choice" is even an option.

It's ironic that in our land of choice and options that the church is shrinking, but in places where choice isn't even a thought, the church is growing.

My epiphany was that my lack of choice in church in my formative years contributes to my anti-consumeristic approach to church today. It's one reason Hub City doesn't offer what other churches offer. It's why I'm so angered by church-hopping. It's why I'm becoming more and more anti-church-growth (even thought I desperately want to see Jesus grow His Church).

I've heard and I know that we need to swim in the culture we're in. But what if that culture is taking us somewhere we don't need to go? What if Jesus is calling us to a counter-cultural way of living and being church and doing church where consumerism doesn't have a place at the table?

Maybe then we'd focus on loving one another, making disciples and building the kingdom. Isn't that what we're supposed to be doing anyway?

Intimacy with God

One of the major reasons Hub City Church is doing a seven week series on Prayer and Fasting has to do with my number one desire for people. More than anything I want people to have an active, growing and intimate relationship with God. 

Prayer and fasting are essential to that intimacy.

Mark Batterson, in his 40 day prayer challenge, Draw the Circle, says this:

The reason most people don't feel intimacy with God is because they don't have a daily prayer rhythm. They may have a weekly rhythm of going to church, which is wonderful, but doing so in and of itself won't produce intimacy with God. Can you imagine talking with your spouse or child once a week? God wants a day-by-day, hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute relationship with you.

I want everyone to have that kind of relationship with God. So how's your daily prayer rhythm?

This past Sunday I said that the only way we learn to pray is to actually pray. Dive in. Start talking with God.

An intimate relationship with your creator is at stake, and there's nothing greater than that.

On the Physical Death of Jesus

This is what's called "Holy Week" on the Christian calendar. It's the most important week of the year for Christians. It's even more important than Christmas.

What's the big deal about this week?

We remember and celebrate Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. 

Christians believe that if it weren't for the death of Jesus we would all be dead in our sin and separated from the possibility of having a right and restored relationship with God. If it weren't for Jesus' resurrection, the fact that he rose from the dead, then our faith would be useless.

This week is all about those two pivotal events.

As I was preparing for this week's sermon (which you can listen to if you come to Spartan 16 Movie Theater on Sunday at 10 AM... shameless invite, I know), I came across a fascinating article that was published in 1986 in the Journal of the American Medical Association titled, “One the Physical Death of Jesus.” 

It's worth your time. I'm going to use some of it on Sunday, but you owe it to yourself to read the whole thing, even if your not a Christian.
 

Never put a period where God puts a comma

A few weeks ago I heard Mark Batterson say something that I had to rewind and listen to again and again. I'm still letting it sink in. It was both encouraging and challenging. I immediately wrote it down and am using it at the end of my sermon on Sunday, but thought I'd share it ahead of time. May it encourage and challenge you as well, especially those of you who are going through a tough time.

Never put a comma where God puts a period and never put a period where God puts a comma. All of us hit spots in our life when we think our life is over. But it’s not over. Oswald Chambers said, “Sometimes it looks like God is missing the mark because we’re too short sighted to see what he’s aiming for.” Before God adds he usually subtracts. Before God multiplies he usually prunes. Before God brings something to life, something usually dies. There’s a tendency to hit the panic button when God subtracts, when there’s a pruning in your life, when something is dying. But it may be that God is getting ready to do something in your life that you haven’t seen before. – Mark Batterson

For those of you in the Sparkle City vicinity, join us at Hub City this Sunday, 10 AM. Spartan 16 Movie Theater. For you out-of-towners, feel free to listen online next week. 

Attitude is everything in marriage

I'm reading a fun and practical book on marriage called Creating an Intimate Marriage by Jim Burns. If you are married I strongly suggest you clicking on the link and buying/downloading this book. 

Today I read a chapter called Attitude is Everything.

We know attitude is everything, but we sometimes forget how important attitude is in a healthy marriage. Jim shares five important attitude adjustments that are too good for me to keep to myself. I hope these help you in your pursuit of intimacy.

1. Stop Complaining. Philippians 2:14 says, "Do all things without complaining and disputing." Complaining is negative. It shuts down intimacy. Cut out the complaining.
2. Show Gratitude: Paul writes for us to "Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Happily married couples aren't happy because of their bank account, physique, or the fact that they never have arguments. What they do have is an attitude of gratefulness for their spouse. Make gratitude a daily habit.
3. Practice the Golden Rule. Jesus says in Matthew 7:12, "In everything, do to others what you would have them do to you." Show appreciation, honor, respect and love to your spouse even if he or she doesn't immediately reciprocate that kindness.
4. Control the "If Only's." James says to "Let your 'yes' be less and your 'no,' no (James 5:12). This involves misplaced expectations where you expect your spouse to be the one to make you happy. Don't expect the other person to be your solution. 
5. Choose Fun and Optimism. Fun and optimism can change a marriage for the better. Small pleasures make for strong marriages.

Attitude is everything. Put these attitude adjustments into practice today. You can choose your attitude. Choose wisely. 

When Life Hurts

One of the few things every human being who has ever walked on this planet have in common is that sometimes life hurts.

Hurt does not discriminate. Rich or poor, first world or third world, black or white, we all suffer at times. 

While the degree of suffering may be greater for some than others, we all experience hurt.

I know a lot of people who are hurting right now. Walking with them in their pain got me thinking about all the Bible has to say about suffering which led to what we’re going to talk about at Hub City Church for the next four weeks.

We’re not going to address every Bible passage that has to do with suffering. That would take over a year. We are going to talk about four things that will hopefully give us a more complete and healthier theology of suffering.

If you are looking for a church family then I invite you to join us at Spartan 16 Movie Theater this Sunday for week 1 of When Life Hurts.  If you’re out of town or already a part of another church, but this topic intrigues you, then I invite you to listen online.

For those of you who are a part of the Hub City Church family: Don't miss the next four weeks. I believe God is going to meet with us. Do whatever it takes to be there and invite someone who is hurting to come with you.

There are too many of you

I love the Old Testament story of Gideon. You can read his story in Judges 6 - 7. 

I love that Gideon is this insecure, unqualified, oppressed, reject that God uses to deliver his people. God has this thing for using those nobody else would use.

I love the counter-cultural way God uses Gideon to defeat the Midianites. Gideon starts off with an army of 22,000 men. God tells him there are too many men, so he should let all those who are afraid go home. 12,000 leave. God then says there are still too many men and devises the infamous water-lapping test to whittle the army down to a whopping 300 men. And with 300 men, God defeats the mighty Midianite army.

We live in a culture that tells us bigger is better. Sometimes it is.

But the story of Gideon teaches us that sometimes smaller is better too. This is highly counter-cultural in our day. 

God used a puny army of 300 to defeat one of the greatest armies in the world. He did it so that neither the Israelites nor Gideon would receive glory. 

He did it so that God and God alone would receive glory.

Gideon's story is an encouragement to me today. May it encourage you, and my we all live lives for God's glory and not our own.

A piece of marriage advice

Yesterday we finished up a short series on Marriage at Hub City. The goal was to go back to a few basic and foundational principles that many of us know, but all of us need to be reminded of regularly.

I thought I'd wrap things up with offering one final piece of a marriage advice. Personally, I think this is the most important thing in a marriage after having a growing relationship with God through Jesus.

Prioritize your spouse above everything but Jesus.

What do I mean by everything? Everything.

Your spouse should take priority over your kids, your job, your hobbies, and even yourself.

This is what God is telling us when he says that a husband will leave his father and mother and be united with his wife. We forsake all for the sake of putting our spouse first.

Many people have a problem with that. Maybe that's why so many marriages either don't make it or they don't achieve the intimacy that could be achieved.

So, if you're married, how can you prioritize your spouse this week? 

It take work. It's countercultural. It's hard. 

But it's worth it.

Mostly we prayed for...

What do we mostly pray for?

Prayer has been on my mind a lot lately. I'm reading a lot on prayer. I'm learning a lot about prayer. I'm burdened that Hub City become a praying church. 

I want to share something I read last week. It came our of James MacDonald's book, Vertical Church. In talking about persistent prayer he says:

Mostly we prayed for God to come in power and make our weekend service a place of supernatural outpouring. We prayed that God would be heard in the preaching, that worship would be a fervent and heartfelt adoration of Jesus’ worthy name, that people would be saved, prodigals would come home, and families’ hearts would turn back to the Lord and to each other. The question is not will God answer our prayers, but do we have faith to petition Him persistently?

This resonates with me. It has become a prayer of mine over the past seven days. Maybe it can inform and deepen your prayers for the church as well.

What might happened if we prayed like this more for the church? Stay tuned for some ways we're going to incorporate more prayer into the life of Hub City Church.

What inspires me

I learned something about myself today. Reading good writing inspires me to write. When I read good writing I want to be like those authors. They use words like a great chef uses food. I don’t just read their books. I savor them.

The opposite is also true. Poor writing is uninspiring. Actually, it’s worse. It gives me permission to take short cuts and do half-hearted work.

I’ve read a few great books lately. The Giver series by Lois Lowery is so well written I was depressed when I got to the end of the series. I started Donald Miller’s new book, Scary Close, today. Don is a great writer. His Million Miles in a Thousand Years still ranks as one of the best books I’ve had the privilege to read.

Unfortunately, I’ve also read a few poorly written books lately. I’ll let those popular, yet poorly written works, remain unnamed. I quit reading some of them. And it wasn’t because they had a bad story. The writing wasn’t good, and they couldn’t hold my attention.

Like I said, reading good writing inspires me to write. Hearing good public speaking inspires me to speak better. Learning something new inspires me to share that knowledge.

I don’t know if you ever know what you want to be when you grow up. Life is more like a Polaroid that becomes more focused over time. At least that has been my experience. Things that inspire me give me clarity on who God made me to be.

All of this has me wondering something about you.

What inspires you? Or better yet, what inspires you to do what you were created to do and be who you were created to be?

Why not spend your time there? Why waste your time on things that aren’t helpful?

I want your Polaroid to come into focus.

I also want you to read something good.

Marriage Mentoring

Liz and I were talking this past Saturday about marriage and some of our good friends who are currently struggling in the marriage department. It got us thinking about offering up ourselves as mentors.

Let me be very clear about a few things:

• We don't have a perfect marriage, but we have a really great marriage, and believe we have something to offer. 
• We don't have all the answers, but we've learned some things that we think could help other couples.
• Central to our marriage is our relationship with God, so that will permeate all of our mentoring.

If you're interested in a marriage mentorship, particularly those of you who are a part of the Hub City Church family, then let us know.

We want to help you have the best marriage possible. 

Ripe

One thing that amazes me about reading the Bible is that God is always pointing out new things to me, things I've read a hundred times, but never noticed.

That happened today.

In John 4:35 Jesus says this:
You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest.’ But I say, wake up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest.

In Luke 10:2 Jesus says something similar:
The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.

The phrases ripe for harvest and the harvest is great jumped out at me.

Jesus is talking about evangelism, and specifically, the harvest refers to people who are moving from death to life by putting their faith in Jesus.

Jesus says that the fields are ripe and the harvest is great.

That means there are people all around us who are ripe--ready--to put their faith in Jesus. 

I don't know about you, but I'd really love to not only see, but be a part of a great harvest. Let's be on the lookout for those who are ripe.

Eternity is at stake. What they were created for is at stake. 

The fields are already ripe for harvest.

Pain and Suffering

It's been so long since I've posted anything that I feel like I've fallen off the blogging planet. But never fear. A new post is here.

I know a lot of people who are going through tough times right now. They are suffering. 

My own family is experiencing it's own challenges too.

No one is immune. 

I wish I could swoop in and fix everyone's situation.

Unfortunately, not even God does that. Actually, that's one of the main reasons people have a problem with God. It may be why you have a problem with God.

They Bible is filled with the stories of people who experienced pain and suffering. 

Sometimes God rescued them. Many times he didn't.

But one thing stands out over and over again. Even though God didn't alway relieve people of their suffering he was always with people in their suffering. 

In a few weeks we're going to begin a series at Hub City Church where we look at some of these stories. 

I'd love for you to be a part of this series. I'd also like some help in naming the series. My creative juices are dry. 

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

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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.