the future past the present

You know why you have trouble being "in the moment?"

You never are.

It takes a fraction of a second for neurons to pass through the brain, so your perception of the "present" is actually the past.You're always "slightly off."

But there is good news.

God is eternal... which means He is with you in your past, present and future.

He always is.

So whether you're "in the moment" or "slightly off," you can be with Him.

Open up about where you've been, where you might be going and where you think you are.

Allow Him to speak to you about all of it, especially if His perspective is different than yours.

Be with Him.

"Be still and know that I AM God." (Psalm 46:10)

hang in there

Remember that time Indiana Jones rode a Nazi submarine hoping it wouldn't submerge?

And then later on... we see him again in action.
 So... your crazy thing?

Hang in there.

You got this... and even if you don't, how epic it would be to go out trying something epic?

One thing is clear is that God's got you.

Even when you're surrounded by opposition, He is the one thing you can always hang onto.

"Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD. " (Psalm 27:14)

a behind-the-scenes prayer request to my church

For the past several months (and more), folks within my church have been pulling together to prep for Easter weekend. This is not only an amazing few days in itself every year, but this year represents our relaunch as a church - something we aim to do every five years.

In case you're a part of a church or wonder what some healthy priorities are, I hope you join me/us in praying like this. Here's what I shared with some of our core leaders today:

This is it! "All hands on deck."

Easter weekend. Our relaunch. Replant realized.

The city has been "egged." The building has been prepped. The sign has been made. The sermon has been created (and almost finished).

Counting Good Friday, we have FOUR services this weekend to "love and lead all people into a fully-alive connection with God."

Now... PRAY. Don't just sit there and nod your head like you're going to do it, but actually do it. Jesus prayed so intensely before the cross that the Bible said his sweat was like drops of blood. Can we expect that our prayer life should be any different?

Pray like you've never prayed before:

• Home plate: Pray for your relationship with Christ. Fix your eyes on Jesus, "the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Heb 12:2)

• First base: Pray for your character. Don't go through this weekend confident in your own self. "Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7)

• Second base: Pray for your church community. May we be people who speak honor of each other, believe the best in each other and overlap ourselves into one another. "And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24-25)

• Third base: Pray for your calling. God has put you in the lives of other people for a reason. Invite Him to use your abilities, resources, finances and more to further what He's doing. "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it." (1 Cor 12:27)

• Home plate: Pray to once again give it all to Jesus. Anything we "score" is for Him and for the "team." That we would "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

What are you waiting for? Let's get to praying! Jesus Christ is Lord... and His cross and Resurrection are about to get elevated. Get on your knees, and let's humbly get this party started. SO excited to share this journey with you!

This is only the beginning!

bland faith

People often talk about blind faith, but what about bland faith? After all, this is more common in our culture.

It's "Casual Christianity" or "seasonal religion" - God on "my terms, when I feel like it... which isn't that often." It is like almost eating an amazing steak and stopping short half-way between the plate and your mouth... and then wondering why we haven't tasted anything "worthwhile" in Jesus Christ. Or it's putting it on your teeth, but never swirling it around in your mouth - instead, you stay guarded so you can spit it out.

If you won't commit to the meal, is it any wonder why you may be missing out on the flavor?

Bland faith doesn't belong in our lives any more than blind faith does. Open your eyes, and open your mouth. Or as it says in Psalm 34:8 said it most clearly, "Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."

and now, I must pray...

I've been busy as of late, within my relationship with God, my kids, my church, and finishing writing another book.  Needless to say, I've not written much here, so I want to reclaim this discipline.

And I want to start with a prayer:

Lord,

May I become surprised this week at the true character of who You are beyond my current understanding of You...

May my wife be blessed with strength and wisdom beyond her means to discern life as she concentrates so much energy in a day on the rest of us...


May Joshua be strong and courageous; may Daniel have faith in the lion's den, may Johanna know and overflow that you are gracious...

May my family now and forever love and serve You, Lord...

May Your church that I serve break through the barriers of doubt, sin, holding back from giving, and "me-centered living" that even solid Christians get tempted by... 

May my/our faithfulness become the stuff that people talk about in our area to the level that "church" as a word gets redefined... 

May You use my voice into the community through public channels and private conversations to stir up a renewed way of thinking... 

May every place I go be left not with the memory of me but the memory of what You told someone in that moment.


And may the miracles we occasionally hear about and read about become more frequent in our midst, from renewed marriages and households to the wild supernatural stuff that can't be explained.

In Jesus' Name and for His glory, Amen.

-- Praise: God, thank You that even now as I was writing out this prayer for my wife You spoke to her and moved her to come down and talk with me with the very wisdom I was writing out in that prayer request.  Just that alone affirms my faith in You to do so much more than what I ask or imagine.  You rock.

loving our neighbor as we love ourselves

You really learn a lot about a town and its people by cleaning its gas station and restaurant bathrooms.

Then again, you really learn a lot about yourself, too, and what it means to serve as Jesus served.

From the strangers we may never see but served today at the Waffle House and a whole line of gas stations, it's quite joyful and amazing to love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Or as one of my sons put it as we were scrubbing away in a gross restroom, "Dad, I'm not sure why, but I really feel good doing this kind of stuff. Like it just sort of makes sense."


Maybe because his quote tracks back another, "Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet." - Jesus, John 13:14

fight the funk

The other day I was in a bit of a funk. I'm not really sure it was anything internal, but I was feeling the burden of the people around me. It really weighed me down, and I found myself broken and literally weeping for their pain. It got me to the point where I was too exhausted to even eat dinner, and barely got through bedtime with the kids before collapsing into sleep around 9pm (early for me).

You don't need to worry about me, I am totally fine now. But that day I wasn't.

The sleep I ended up in started out as prayer... I decided it probably wasn't a good idea for me to do much else but talk with God. I first dropped a minor comment on Facebook about it, but quickly realized I needed more than what human interaction could offer. So I prayed... and it ended up becoming a rest that cleared my spirit.

The book of Lamentations is full of this kind of holy venting - sort of like a cross between social media and prayer. But listen to what is written here in the midst of all the pain:

"Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.'"  (Lamentations 3:22-24)

I know sleep can do wonders, but I also sense there was something about falling asleep in prayer. It allowed me to wake up more than physically refreshed, but spiritually refreshed, too.

Because let's face it - pain can suck the Life out of life, be it your pain or someone else's pain. And at some point you need to get back to doing what you do. Get back to the business of being a parent, sibling, friend, blue-collar or white-collar worker, and so on.

So that morning I woke up and determined to fight for the opportunities in my friend's lives, even if they weren't able to. It's certainly not a quick-fix solution, but it is biblical direction. Some days it's easy to get so focused on yourself or others that you forget God has given you a purpose within all of that.

Today, if something has you down, I want to say to you:

• Feel it, then...
• Pray it, then...
• Release it, then...
• Overcome it.

If that means a tough conversation you've been putting off, pony up and have that conversation. Or if it's time for you to get some spiritual depth you need that you think you're just not disciplined enough to have, dig deep and get over your apathy.

Get back to the God-given purpose of your life.... with God. If that needs to start with exhaustive prayer, then pour out your heart so that He can refill it to the brim with something that will powerfully overflow.

on the firing of a friend

Once upon a time, a company named Youth Specialties was born. The world of youth ministry was never so blessed by a group of crazy, wide-eyed believers who thought that you could enter the life of a teenager in the name of Jesus and help turn their hearts toward Him. They believed this could be accomplished through many avenues... be it through props and object lessons or contemplative prayer and creative worship outlets.

A whole generation of pastors emerged out of this movement... people who caught that vision and realized it was the same one God was birthing in their hearts.

It wasn't too long ago that Youth Specialties and the entire world of youth ministry had a tragic lost when one of its co-founders, a guy named Mike Yaconelli, died in an unexpected, tragic way. The staff of this flagship organization felt the loss, and then rallied together to honor God.

Times become tough, though, and soon YS entered into a relationship with Zondervan. For those of you who may not know, this is another flagship ministry in the Christian world - specifically in the products, resources, and occasional events they put forth on a regular basis. The new umbrella of this parent organization meant (and perhaps, still means) some of the old will have to adjust to the new.

As a reflection, more recently, another key leader - Tic Long - stepped out of his role at YS. Tic was a former YS President who in recent years had assumed duties that took him into the heart of the YS events. When this happened, other positions were also eliminated. This also was a hit, and the staff rallied together to honor God.

And then this week, the President of YS - affectionately known as "Marko" - was let go by the parent organization Zondervan. And again, the staff is rallying together to honor God.

While much can be said on the negative side (and already has been), I just want to convey my absolute respect and prayers for everyone involved who is attempting to turn this into a God thing... in every hurt and hit.

Sometimes Christian businesses convey "Christ." Other times they convey "business."

In my opinion (and experience), it should always be the former.

Always.

That doesn't mean you don't act as a business, but it means that even when you do you need to convey Christ.

I know after all that build up I have presented, I should conclude with an opinion about what has happened. Pardon me for sidestepping that, but I am simply not in the position to do so. In fact, hardly anyone is... because we simply don't know all the details.

So to take my own advice - and perhaps to give some - that's it... that's all I have to say about that. I have reached out as God has led me to my friend Marko, but I am often struck by the temptation to become a peanut gallery beyond God's leading.

So... may God be honored in what has happened, is happening, and will happen.

And may that include those of us on the sidelines.

a friday quote: believing or depending

Many people today are in some form of crisis, whether it's one that seems new or another that all too familiar. Leaders are often exposed to this more than others, whether it's the crisises of the people they serve or their own. I'm reminded of this quote and the difference between believing and depending on God.

[After] nearly three weeks in Zimbabwe in Southern Africa, I was astonished at the dichotomy between extreme poverty on one hand, and extreme praise and passion for Christ on the other.

I asked one of the pastors from the town of Bulawayo where I had preached, “How can a people so poor and with so little to be thankful for, come a full hour early to the tent meeting simply to praise God with such zeal and gladness?” Praise and worship in the States sometimes barely appears as a “blip” on the radar of a 60-minute Sunday morning church service.

I will never forget his response. “Steve, in America you believe in God. In Africa, we depend on God.”

His words sank into my chest... believing but not depending. In crisis, Christ is magnified. He becomes the God who can do “exceeding abundantly above all that we could ever ask or think.”

I call Him the God of the ridiculous. However, we do not need the God of the ridiculous to do the same things we’ve always done before. I believe that somewhere in the crisis, Christ is calling us in all of our decisions to decide to depend on him even if it means doing the ridiculous.

- Steve Fitzhugh, national spokesman for Fellowship of Christian Athletes

the difference

Someone was asking me recently about my "ministry strategy."

My ministry strategy is to please the heart of the Lord.

I know that this comes across as a churchy-answer, making me sound like "one of those" who allegedly don't appreciate or understand goal setting.

Don't quickly label such a response - reconsider how that conclusion it stands up.

To refresh, I'm essentially a Type-B who was saved in a Type-A led church. And so I've learned to use the lessons of the Type-A folks, but a few years ago I discovered that there is a value to letting the Type-B side guide things.

In this matter, it's the difference between asking God to bless your goals and join you in what you're doing, versus asking God what He is blessing and how you can join Him in that.

Consider your prayers - are they more, "Be with me in ______" or "God, how can I be with Your agenda today?"

Do you see the difference? Because I wonder how each of us are or aren't fleshing that out in the everyday conversations we have with the One we call "Lord."