Living and Suffering

"I discovered later, and I'm still discovering right up to this moment, that is it only by living completely in this world that one learns to have faith. By this-worldliness I mean living unreservedly in life's duties, problems, successes and failures. In so doing we throw ourselves completely into the arms of God, taking seriously, not our own sufferings, but those of God in the world. That, I think, is faith."
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

I am on a bit of a Bonhoeffer kick right now.  I am intrigued by the concept of a man who would willingly surrender his life for the gospel as he sought to deliver the oppressed.  When I think of the daily stresses of life, the losses great and small, the hopes realized and crushed, I find great comfort in knowing that this is how God makes disciples. We aren't born holy.  We are born evil and broken into perfection.   Just as we think we are doing well, avoiding sin and doing good, God reminds us that Christianity isn't just about being good.  It is about being like our Savior who was well acquainted with grief (Isaiah 53:3).

This week, I have spoken to several friends who are in the midst of trials.  Their trials aren't brought on by their own sin.   They are simply facing great pain.  As is often the case, they are doubting their way to increased faith.  One friend told me that in his hurt, he wondered for a while if there was any benefit in being a Christian.  Then he said, "Who else is worth of worship?  He's the only thing worth living for."  That's a great response to suffering.  I'm honored to have friends like that.

Do you have any stories of suffering and increased faith to share?  A few good stories might really encourage my friends.

Losing the Gospel

"A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honored in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despised." --George Muller




This Sunday begins The Adventure of Greatness at Open Door.  Together, we will take our next step in Christlikeness through Spirit-led service.  Jim did a great job setting up the series by asking one of the greatest questions a leader can ask: "Do I seek to serve or be served?"  I've been thinking about this question today, and I've realized something as a result.  


There are two distinct mentalities among Christians: 

1. Those who follow Christ for blessings (friends, money, connections, eternal life),
2. Those who follow Christ for God's glory as they live in relationship with Him.  

I used to think that self-centered Christianity was limited only to what I saw on TBN, "the health and wealth gospel", as it is called.  It was easy for me to cast judgement on the makeup, big hair and expensive jewelry as I boldly proclaimed that the gospel was all about me getting into heaven.  For me, not sinning was a good way to not offend God, but there wasn't much else to Christianity.  


God renovated my view of the gospel with Romans 1:16-17 when it says that in the gospel, "the righteousness of God is revealed."  I was surprised that it didn't focus on the fact that in the gospel the blessing of eternal life is revealed (though that is also true).  My paradigm realigned when I realized that while the gospel has many benefits for me, it is ultimately about God's glory.  


When I lose site of God's glory, I lose site of the gospel.  


Consider this.  The gospel is the story of God humbling himself, becoming a servant and dying the most humiliating death possible in order to pay our sin debt (Philippians 2:5-11).  This is how God chose to bring himself glory.  This is how He reveals himself.  


I don't want to lose site of God's glory.  I want the thought of His greatness to consume every breath, every thought, every step.  I want Him to get the glory when I step out of bed, when I kiss my wife, when I talk to my son and when I go to work.  I don't want to forget that every moment is for His glory, and as such every moment should be used to glorify Him by serving others.  It's all about God's glory.  


If you haven't signed up for the Adventure of Greatness, its not too late.  Click here to join a Life Group and the Adventure of Greatness.    

Four Things to do When You Feel Overwhelmed in Leadership:

Last week, I felt myself sinking into the chaos of good things (new ideas, new leaders, new ministries, new initiatives).  I take shepherding very seriously.  I don't want to miss one opportunity to see a person take their next step toward Christ.  I don't want to see even one leader burnout, because they weren't getting support from me.  I want to make sure that I am doing everything possible to make disciples.  Sometimes doing "everything possible" can be overwhelming, and I was feeling the pressure last week.  

So, in an attempt to preempt desperation, I spilled my guts to a few teammates and asked for prayer.  Along with prayer, Pastor Jim gave me a suggestion that I won't forget.  He told me to write out all the things I am responsible for (ministry, family, etc.) on a piece of paper and lay it out before God.  I did.  Since then, I have had one of the most effective ministry weeks in the last 2 years.  God is good!  

As a result, I have a few suggestions for anyone in the position I was last week:

1. Consecrate your work to God rather than trying to work yourself out of the hole. I'd been trying to work myself out of the hole, but the e-mails, ideas, needs and great commission never stops.  God was reminding me that He needs to be in control of ministry, because I will never be.  I gave back to Him what was already His.  
2. Get organized.  Map out the next steps for every area you oversee.  Keep it somewhere you will check often. I started using Google Smartsheets to organize ministry and Gmail to organize my e-mails.  Google is the electronic equivalent to Mary Poppins.  I'm pretty sure I could hear "Spoon Full of Sugar' play as I watched my e-mails organize into threads to be archived, deleted or answered with ease.  Seriously, this thing is awesome!  
3. Hold your leaders accountable to their commitments, even if they are volunteers.  Leaders feel valued when they are held accountable.  It is a very real way of saying, "What you do matters."  
4. Trust your leaders to take on more.  God doesn't want you to do more than you can.  If He has given you responsibilities, He has also given you leaders to help you get the job done.  Look around.  They are already there.  

It is a good thing that Christ has promised to build his church (Matthew 16:18).  I'm just here to obey as He does the building.

So, what do you do when your responsibilities seem too much?  Have I missed anything?  

The Right Words

(If I were to add a slice to this graphic, I would add "Hearing Christians say the right thing and do nothing about it.")

Many of you know that I teach a theology class for Liberty University Online.  The discussion board is an important part of the learning process in the class.  Students must form, articulate and defend opinions about the Word of God and the Church.

In the second half of the course, we ask students to give two things churches can do to better minister to their communities.  Consistently, students say things like "love more," "stop bickering," "get involved in community events," etc.  It occurred to me today that nearly 100% of my students and (statistically speaking) nearly 100% of the Church believes we need to argue less, love more, and connect with lost people more.

When it comes to understanding what we need to do at an abstract level, we have the right idea.  What concerns me is that out ability to practically and effectively apply these principles is currently inversely proportional to how much Nickelback is ruining American radio.

(For my tasteless readers who enjoy the mind-numbing repetition of Nickelback, I would like to affirm that they have one good song.  My concern with them is that they have re-released that song with a different set of cliche  lyrics nearly 10 times now.  They seriously need to write some new material, perhaps under the influence of some classic artists like Hendrix, Floyd or Skynyrd.)

James 1:22-24 warns us against knowing the truth and doing nothing.  One of the things I challenge my students to do is give me two very practical ways churches can redeem relationships within the church and engage the community.

Do you have any?  What can we do to better engage the community?  Are you willing to commit to do something?  Can anyone do something about Nickelback?

What is the difference between judgement and accountability?

Many times I have allowed friends acquaintances and churchgoers sin without confronting them. Usually, the end result is that they suffer and the church is defamed.

In the other hand, I have also confronted fellow Christians of sin and have been accused of judging. Well...I've heard them complain about people judging them and been afraid to say anything.

Here's my dilemma: If accountability can be confused with judgment, how do I support and challenge my friends?

I believe this tension is keeping many of us from our biblical role to sharpen one another. So, here are a few principles to apply to accountability:

1. God is holy. He doesn't tolerate sin. Letting sin go is not an option.
2. God is gracious. He forgives sin. Unforgiveness is not an option.
3. Accountability should be done in relationship. Paul confronted people and churches he knew.
4. Accountability should be done for restoration. If your goal is to point out sin, you have failed at accountability. If your goal is to walk with your friend to restoration, you are on the right track.
5. Prayer is vital. You can't change anybody, and they can't change themselves. Ask the Holy Spirit to do the changing.

Can you recall a time when someone lovingly kept you accountable?

The Cost of Discipleship

Things at home and the office are pretty busy, so I have kept the blogs short.  Look for more content soon.  In the mean time, let's discuss a quote from one of my heroes, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.


"Cheap grace is the grace we bestow on ourselves. Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession.... Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate." 
— Dietrich Bonhoeffer (The Cost of Discipleship)


It is impossible to understand grace without the devastating realization that we are sinners.  What do we need to do to communicate unconditional love and grace to a culture that believes there is no such thing as sin?  

Something Fun

Its always exciting to hear about someone coming to Christ.  This past Sunday, we had 7 people surrender their lives to Christ at Open Door!   I'm in the process of working on a couple of blogs, and we haven't had a video testimony in a few months, so I thought I'd share this.  I hope you enjoy: