Grace must be so big!

In my personal Scripture time this morning, I noticed something obvious. It seems that every single Bible character was severely flawed. "Character" really is a great title for them, because they were so human, so inconsistent, such characters!

Consider Jacob - such a liar, thief, and deceiver, but he's still a Biblical-super-hero! He stole a birthright, he stole a blessing, yet he is still the Mighty Jacob!

It is a beautiful thing to consider, though, that the flawed Abraham and his flawed family produced a flawed nation all to produce the flawless Christ.

Grace must be so big! For God to put up with us, yet still love us as much as He does . . . Grace must be so big! Flawed people that will one day stand flawless. Wow...

Journaling and Writing

Sometimes I journal. Sometimes I don't. For instance, I have a prayer journal that I write in during my devotional time. I (obviously) also blog from time to time. I write a monthly leadership resource. The thing that's been on my mind is the fact that it's okay NOT to write and journal and blog.

If one feels the pressure to write or journal, then it becomes a duty. Duty is not what relationship is about. God doesn't want obligation, He wants relation. We can never allow our tactics to become obligatory actions that we assume will lead us closer to Him.

Write, read, blog, and journal when you want. But sometimes it's okay to just rest in Him - not doing one thing except resting in Him. Don't be obligated. Be in love.

Fully Prepared?

Oswald Chambers once asked, "Am I fully prepared to allow God to grip me by His Power and do a work in me that is truly worthy of Himself?"

Just can't get away from the weight of that question. I just keep asking myself, am I willing to allow Him total access to every fiber of my existence and let Him overtake me. Honestly, I get a bit scared. I get a little timid because I like being in control.

I must get to that point of total and complete surrender. I must get to that point where I am not afraid of failure, only afraid to not give Him 100% of my total being. Am I fully prepared?

NAYC 2007

Today I returned from North American Youth Congress (in Charlotte, NC). Wow.

16,000 students and young adults gathering to focus on Christ - amazing. My biggest 'take away' from speaking at this event is the continual move of God that occurred there. I had a special moment Friday night when Todd Gaddy asked the entire crowd to bow a knee to Jesus. I witnessed 16,000 people one a knee, totally focused, totally consumed. Wow.

I will also always cherish the priviledge of being involved such an event. I personally believe that a shift happened in countless lives. I believe that life-change took place in countless lives. It's moments like these that make me realize that I am apart of something that is so much larger than I alone could ever be. What a blessing. Wow.

Lastly I want to thank everyone who purchased a copy of "Thirtyoneanothers". I totally enjoyed meeting all of you who came by the booth to chat. I love meeting new people, and this week I met a ton of them. Some very positive feedback is coming in for the book that I will post soon. For more information or to order the book, visit www.TheMonthlyNugget.com.

Thanks for allowing me to share with you. Love God, Love Others, Love Wins!

Plastic Plants

Waiting is difficult. Waiting can be very, very difficult. Our natural tendency is to speed along the process. We get tired of waiting on God. We think we can short-circuit the system. We assume we can speed things up a bit by doing life our own way. That's the exact moment that things begin to go really wrong. I once read "the longest possible distance between two points is called a short-cut."

 

Think of it as if you want to grow a nice, beautiful plant to decorate your room or office. Instead of working through the process of planting, nurturing, and caring, you go out and you buy plastic plants.

 

Instead of embracing the uncertain, yet totally invigorating process of growth, you try a short-cut. Plastic plants are cheap imitations of the real thing. Plastic plants are never what they appear to be. Neither are plastic Christians.

Renewal

I've been thinking about the importance of my own spiritual renewal. I'll not be preaching to you blog-folk, just expressing my own heart and feelings.

If Jesus had to go away and spend some alone time in devotion, meditation, prayer, renewal, whatever term works here for you . . . how much more do we need to do the same? I know, I know, you've heard this before. So have I. My question is: why don't I do this more often? Why do I (as Mark Batterson said) do ministry out of memory? Why don't I treasure time spent with the Timeless One more than I do? Bill Hybels wrote an entire book about being too busy NOT to pray. Where am I on this spectrum of busyness?

I'm not saying that I need to spend 12 hours a day in prayer, but I am saying I need to spend some amount of time in prayer every day. Dr. Jeffers once leveled me with this question, "Are you so busy doing the work of the Lord that you have forgotten the Lord of the work?"

I'm not casting stones at anyone. I'm publicly asking myself about my renewal time. I'll privately answer.

Starbucks and Greyhounds

I was recently reading an online post and the writing led me to think about how to get people to say "yes"; or more importantly how marketers are placing opportunities that make it easier to say "yes". Have you ever noticed how there are no Starbucks in bus stations or in the welfare office? Ever noticed that Nordstrom's doesn't build new stores in flea market arenas? More often than not, you'll see Starbucks on the way to Nordstrom's.

Not long ago I did a very small amount of work with the homeless and noticed that there was a liquor store right across the street from the shelter. Did the liquor store guys know what they were doing or what?!?!

What are you trying to get people to say "yes" to and how are you going about it?