What JD could learn from Slater

It It was 1993 and hopes were high.  For many of us in our preteens, we had seen the end of an era and the dawn of a new one.  The show that impacted our lives more than any other, Saved By The Bell, had just ended. The gang (and if you are keeping score that would be Zack, Slater, Kelly, Jessie, Lisa, and Screech) had graduated and would finally be out of Mr. B’s ever receding hair.  But luckily not only did we have syndication to fall back on, but NBC had fulfilled many of our hopes and dreams and would follow the gang (albeit partially) to the ever popular CalU.  Now we could watch them live, learn, grow, and have fun in an entirely new environment that would be nothing like good ole Bayside High.  But  hold one minute.  Not only would we get to follow our heroes, role models, and friends to college, but we get to meet an all new group of students at BHS who would keep us involved with Belding until his son (also named Zack) met the 9th grade.  

But as we all know, the college years tanked (probably because SBTB was never intended for prime time), Screech some how made it back to Bayside to work/intern and the New class, fizzled out a few years later.  Apparently, using old plot lines with new characters really doesn’t work.  Sadly, Saved By The Bell came to an end… and not when it was on top.

Why this dribble about  preteen soapcoms (yes, it did just combine  a sitcom and soap opera to describe one of the best shows ever, get over it!)?  Actually it has nothing to do with SBTB.  Many of us have grown fond of Scrubs.  We have followed it through 8 seasons (or partial seasons), laughed at many of the jokes, can sing along with the entire Scrubs The Musical episode, bounce with it from one national tv station to another, watched comedy central (one of the only reasons),  and saw the series end… come back, end again… and come back again!  But maybe the Scrubs folks should take a page right out of the Bayside manual.  I’ll continue to watch Scrubs, but with each new episode I think the same thing. We are watching the last season.  So here’s to you Scrubs. Thanks for making me laugh so many times. And thanks for giving me reason to remember those laughs when I’m not laughing at the new episode.  Maybe you really cant go home again.  Unless you’re Screech, but that’s another post.

A Return

I remember when I was younger. I grew up an Alabama fan. Both my parents graduated from Bama. I grew up with stories of Bears, Championships, goal-line stands, etc etc etc.  Then it happened. I went through my rebellious stage and around the 2nd grade I became a traitor.  I was (gasp) an Auburn fan. Now my best friends  were Auburn fans, mind you, and that’s what led to my family back turning.  However, a few years passed and I was a Bama fan again.  I guess blood is thinker than water… but Bama is the Tide, so maybe water is thicker than water!

Why did I write such gibberish? Well, I played around with Tumblr for the past few months.  I really thought that all the cool stuff it did would suit my tastes better.  But I soon grew tired of the tumblr experience (which seemed like a facebook/myspace/twitter/blog with way too many pictures), and came back to the reliable wordpress blog.  So thanks to all of you who tolerated the switch and didn’t give me grief about it.  I promise this wont happen again.  I hope we can start the friendship back all over again.  Thanks

all good things must come to an end

It’s been a good relationship.  It’s lasted quite a bit longer than I’ve ever expected. But I’ve found something new. Something that gives me more options. Something that’s more my personality. Thanks WordPress. You’ve been great. Really.  It’s not you, it’s me. We’ll always have Paris.  There’s other fish in the sea.  It’s better off this way.  I love you, but I’m not in love with you.  Just go…

 

to my new blog morethanstatic.tumblr.com!

Forgotten God – Overview

I finished reading Forgotten God by Francis Chan yesterday, but delayed blogging about it right away. While yesterday was just a rough day after recovering from my first (of what will be many) FIX Quarters, the delay wasn’t due to exhaustion or busyness – but I wanted to soak in the book for a day to try to collect my thoughts. FG in many ways was a great deal like Crazy Love, but in many ways I believe it was more challenging, more hard hitting, more to the core of modern Christianity than much that I’ve read in the past few years. I am still trying to digest all that was written in FG so for my first (well technically my second) post about it, I’m just going to pull our some quotes and write a few things about them for you. Watch for future posts concerning FG and my struggles with it and how it’s challenged me on a deeper level than did Crazy Love

“I also believe that the Spirit is more obviously active in places where people are desperate for Him, humbled before Him and not distracted by their wealth or comforts (like we are)” p. 17 – I read this post and it immediately slapped me in the face.  I moved my mp3 player,  cut the Tivo off, turned off my TV, and put away any other distractions and felt the weight of this statement.  (ok, that was just for effect… I didn’t have my mp3 player with me).  Sometimes you read something that you knew was true, but you choose to ignore it for whatever reason.  You know, maybe you just didn’t like how it made you feel like junk because you’re not living up to it. My life, minister or not, does not show a desperation for the HOly Spirit to act and work in my life. Sadly, I can do ministry without Him and probably do it sort of well.  May I cast off the worry of my comforts and be desperate for Him.  

People are more likely to describe the quality of the music or the appeal of the sermon than the One who is the reason people gather for “church” in the first place p. 31 — Well, if that’s not a slap in the face of my life, I dont know what is! You have pretty much described me well.  Thank God that I am in a church now that focuses more on the Spirit’s moving than the music, but it’s so easy to slip into this way of thinking.  

In Chapter 3, Francis lays a simply but effective theology of the Holy Spirit that rivals my seminary classes. I wish that my class work would have been this good to read! (no offense Mr. Grudem) In doing so, Chan asks “When was the last time you were saddened because your sin pained the Holy Spirit” (72) – Sadly, I cant remember the last time I thought about paining the Holy Spirit. I think about sinning against God – but not about paining Him. Maybe I should more.

Chapter 5 (which was my absolute favorite chapter) really challenged me to take my relationship with the Holy Spirit seriously.  My life is too safe and too loud too much!  The story about the man locked away for his faith and how, upon getting his freedom, longed for the persecution he once endured. I’ve heard similar stories before, but this one really stuck with me. If today, I was hit with persecution, how would I respond? How would I act.  May God help me to quiet my life and not worry about running toward safety and more running toward the cross.

The last thing I want to talk about is something I saw a long time ago in Experiencing God – God’s Will “for my life.”  It’s not the point!!! God wants me to be concerned with His will. period.  It’s about walking with Him daily. “God cares more about our response to His Spirit’s leading today, in this moment, then what we intend to do next year.” (120) It’s so easy to get caught up in what God is going to do than what He’s doing right now!  

FG really made me stop and think and ask this one super important question – Am I letting the Holy Spirit do anything in my life and if so, what?  After you read it, I believe you will be asking the same questions and will end up at the same place I am right now – desperately wanting to remember daily the Forgotten God.

Powerhouse Ignition

At 10:00 am this morning, I began to really get ready for our big event, POWERHOUSE Ignition tonight.  I, along with the help of several able bodied men of our church, pulled the stage out from it’s garage, tore down the stuff on the stage and tried to get it cleared off as much as possible for the band coming in this afternoon.  It’s going to be a busy day of setting  up and  quick planning with visions of logos, t-shirts, backpacks, cd’s, and paper airplanes flying in my brain. (all of that makes sense if you will be here tonight!)

I am so excited about the possiblity that God will change lives tonight. There will be people who will walk into this gym tonight who maybe dont know anything about God’s love and forgiveness.  Tonight they will hear and God will be honored above all else that is done.  But all this prep work got me thinking – what if we didn’t do this? What if, instead of giving away $10,000 for a paper airplane contest, we gave away free cups of water?  What if instead of bringing in Shane Baker to rock the house, we played soft piano music without any lyrics?  What if instead of giving away a ton of free door prizes, we just showed people the love of Christ by serving them in whatever way we could? Then I asked myself a new question – is God more honored in the small things than in the big things, or vice versa?

A thought occurs to me as soon as I type that last question.  The answer is simple and one that I should have seen way before – God is not honored in things. God is honored in the hearts and the lives of the people.  Things are good, but Jesus didn’t die for things.  He did not die so we could have great events, big blowout celebrations, gymnasiums, incredible sound systems, lights that flash, boom, and sparkle.  No Jesus died for people.  So may God be honored tonight not really in what we do – but who we become.

forgiveness

This morning I woke up and grabbed my devotional guide that I’m doing along with our students at Highland Park.  What I read this morning stuck with me a little more than I thought it would. The Scripture for today was the 3rd chapter of John.  I read how Nicodemus couldn’t wrap his mind around the phrase “born again.” When I hear that term, I immediately think “second chance.”  My mind goes right to the fact that I screw up way more than I should, but God continues to love me and give me more chances to serve him anyway.  I guess God’s forgiveness knows no bounds.

However, I think that there is an idea that has caused this to stick with me so far today.  Not just about God’s forgiveness or what it means to be born again.  But what I’ve thought about is how Nicodemus was so trained to “do” the right thing that he had trouble believing the right thing.  It seemed as though maybe he didn’t get the “you must be born again” from Jesus, not because it was that hard to understand, but because it went against what he had been taught. Maybe it was more about him not believing it than him not understanding it.  Whether or not this is true, one thing we can all agree on – Nicodemus was very short sighted.  His mind was wrapped up in what he had to do to earn God’s forgiveness; Jesus was more caught up in God’s forgiveness. Period.  May I and  whoever else reads this be overwhelmed with God’s forgiveness today.

Excitement

I think I am way to easily excited from time to time.  I get caught up in the normal, everyday stuff in my office and forget that there’s a world that God wants to change.  There are tons of lives in which God wants to invade and totally mess up!  As I see our church baptize more people who have given the control of their lives over to Jesus, I get so pumped up and it makes me want to celebrate what God is doing in the midst of His people.  However, I must stop and consider something – there are still so many more that need to hear the message of Christ – that need the forgiveness that only he offers.  I can get so caught up in the movement of God within our walls that I lose track of what is happening outside them.  While I do not want to make it seem thta what God is doing to and in those within our church, I want to make sure I stay humble and reconize how much God is looking to do in the lives of those outside of the church.  I want to make sure students are aware that God doesn’t just work in our gym or in our sanctuary, but in the halls of the school, on the practice field, in the parking lots.  I think one of our biggest problems is that we seperate and try to classify some things as spiritual and some things as secular way,way, WAY TOO MUCH! May God help us blend that dividing line once and for all so that all we do, we see as having spiritual significance.  Then, and only then, can we get excited like I believe, we are really supposed to get excited!

Forgotten God – the warmup

I received an email today that made me happy.  As I checked out the tons of junk e-mails I had (and by checked I mean deleted) I saw an email about Francis Chan’s new book, Forgotten God.  It was an email like I have been sent in the past – check this new book out (we send it to you free) and write a review on my blog about it.  So in a week or so, I should be getting Chan’s newest writing.
The book is about the Holy Spirit.  I’ve only read the sample first chapter so far, but I am sure it is going to be an excellent book.  So until I finish the book and write my reivew, here’s a question I will leave you to think about: How much do we take the Holy Spirit for granted?

Your Story

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see… John 9:25

There are so many tatics and ways to share the gospel with others today that do a good job of presenting what Christ has done for us.  I can think of 3 of the top of my head that I have encouraged students to memorize and use regularly: the G.O.S.P.E.L acronym from Dare 2 Share (Shred the Gnar bro!), the ABC’s (thank you Lifeway and all your VBS-ness), and the Way of the Master method that I’m fairly new to here at Highland Park. All of these are good ways to do it, and I will try my best to fill out the situation to see how God wants me to share the Gospel.  However, I believe the best way is one that somehow gets overlooked.

Students should be trained to share their story.  Being able to share their testimony very clearly and concisely is probably the best way to communicate God’s love for others that I can think of.  The drawback comes when the words of the testimony do not match up with the life example the person is living. It’s much easier to give a canned presentation of the gospel and never have to back up anything with you life.  But if we want to be the most effective in our ministry efforts, our lives better show the love of Christ at all times!

I’m not sure who came up with the idea that your personal story had to be something that is  long, drawn out, complex, and goes into each detail of your life without/before Christ.  I’m not sure that’s the best way to go about it.  I am not saying that you should ignore your past, but we all want to be careful to not glorify the life before Christ.  I have instructed people to give 5 minute testimonies broken down like this:

1 minute – life before Christ

2 minutes – How/When Christ saved you

2 minutes – what Christ is doing in your life right now!

If we really want to win others to the Family for the sake of the Gospel, then we should be prepared and willing to share our story at all times with whoever we can.  May God get the glory!

Old Testament

As I teach through Habakkuk on Wednesday nights,  a question came to mind.  How do I read the Old Testament?  Do I look at it any differently than I do the New Testament?  Do I read it as more of a history lesson than a life changing message from God? What about you, how do you view the OT?  Just a question I pose to all the readers.  Comment below and tell me your thoughts on how you read the Old Testament.