Making Memories with my Pajamas on

I love Christmas!  I love the celebration of the birth of Christ!  And, I love family and family traditions!

This year we started a new tradition.

On Tuesday night, at Grace Anne’s request we did a Christmas lights tour of the town, but there were requirements to the tour (per Grace Anne).  First, everyone had to be in their pajamas.  Or, in my case, an Adidas warm-up suit, which is the closest thing I have to pajamas.  Second, we had to get hot chocolate, which we picked up at a hefty price at the Starbucks drive-thru.  Third, we had to listen to Christmas music as we drove around.

We made our first run to the East side of town sipping our hot chocolate and singing along with the Christmas music on the radio with some embellishments of course.  Our first stop was a mansion of a house with so many lights they should get a hand-written “thank you” card from the electric company.

We were off to a good start:  pajamas on, rediculously expensive hot chocoalate in-hand, Christmas music blasting, and the award-winner-Christmas lights-house in view.

Unfortunately, our Christmas music soon ended on the radio and was replaced with an Arkansas Razorback basketball game.  So, we made the best of it and listened to the game as we continued our drive. Then the fighting started (not in the game, but in our car).  Soon after the game tip-off the boys began to fight soon resulting harsh reprimands from me and not anywhere close to the tune of a Christmas carol.  We made our final pass by a neighborhood of Christmas lights in a car of silenced, angry kids and a basketball game.  For what it’s worth, the fight was over who should wear the Santa hat on our tour.  Note to self:  leave the Santa hat home next year.

We ended the night back at home with empty cups, basketball game blaring on the radio, and with all of the kids headed to bed early!  But, the pajamas were still pretty comfy…

So, our Christmas lights drive didn’t end perfect…or, did it?  How will it be remembered by my children?

Here’s the great thing about childhood memories.  I’m pretty sure my kids won’t remember fighting over the Santa hat, they probably won’t remember the basketball game interrupting our Christmas sing-a-long, and I’m probably the only one that will remember the price of the hot chocolate.  But, they will remember all of us together in the car having fun, and that’s the beauty of family at Christmas time.

Similarly, things often don’t go perfectly in our eyes, but we must remember that at Christians we serve a sovereign God that is in control of all things great and small.  Please be encouraged, and rest this Christmas holiday in the peace that comes from knowing who is really in control.

Merry Christmas!

Why “Primal” Will Be the First Book I Read (again) in 2010

I just finished reading Mark Batterson’s new book, Primal, A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity,  and the timing could not have been better!

In a given year, my reading list is pretty eclectic ranging from pure enjoyment to business to theology, but occasionally I will read a book that really encourages my soul, and such is the case with Primal.

As typical of Batterson’s other books, In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase, the book is written in a casual conversational style.  In fact, there were several times where I stopped reading to think about what I had read and had the feeling of having just finished an engaging conversation with a good friend over coffee.

The premise is that Christians tend to complicate Christianity, but Jesus’ message was simple.  Based on the Great Commandment, Mark 12:30, Batterson breaks down the four parts of the verse into four sections:

• The Heart of Christianity
• The Soul of Christianity
• The Mind of Christianity
• The Strength of Christianity

Or, as Batterson writes:  ”The quest for the lost soul of Christianity begins with rediscovering what it means to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.  …loving God in one way isn’t enough.  It’s not enough to love God with just your heart or soul or mind or strength.  We are called, even commanded, to love Him in all four ways.  Think of it as love to the fourth power.”

In typical applicable fashion, Batterson breaks down each section with enjoyable stories, compelling arguments, and encouragement for personal accountability and action.  From the encouragement to practice the compassion so lacking in much of modern Christianity, to our lack of wonder at God’s amazing creation, to the sanctification of our incredible mind, to finding our true strength in Christ, I was driven to my knees on more than one occasion in prayer, repenting of my sins and desiring to allow the Holy Spirit to truly work the Great Commandment through my life.

As modern-day Christians, we need to be reinvigorated and encouraged, and that is what Primal is about.

Looking into 2010, I’m compiling my reading list for the new year, and I’ve decided that Primal is simply too good to read just once.  So, I’m making Primal the first book I read in 2010.  Why don’t you join me?  You’ll be glad you did!

A Few Things Christian Parents Should Do

I came across these points at the end of John Piper’s blog post today, and found them too good to pass up.  I thought you might enjoy them as much as I did.

Let there be much spontaneous celebration verbally of every hopeful sign of life and goodness in our children.

Let us forgive them often and be longsuffering.

Let us serve them and not use them.

Let us lavish them with joyful participation in their interests.

Let us model for them the joy of knowing and submitting to the Lord Jesus.

Let us apologize often when we fall short of our own Father’s requirements.

Let us pray for them without ceasing.

Let us saturate them with the word of God from the moment they are in the womb (the uterus is not sound proof).

Let us involve them in happy ministry experiences and show them it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Let them see us sing to the King.

Let us teach them relentlessly the meaning of the gospel in the hope that God will open their eyes and make them alive. It happens through the gospel (1 Peter 1:22-25).

You can read the full article from where I pulled these here.

One Month to Live (Lesson 4): Leave Boldly*

Leave Boldly

A Typical Life on Planet Earth

• It often seems so routine
• It can sometimes be boring and repetitious
• It may seem that we are just going around in circles
• But the reality is we are building a legacy

What do we mean by the term “Legacy?”

• Something that is handed down to the next generation
• It is our life’s message
• It can be powerful or weak
• It can be inspiring or discouraging
• It can be positive or negative
• A legacy is made up of our attitudes, actions, words and habits

Foundational passage: 1 Corinthians 3:12-14

¹² Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, ¹³ each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. ¹⁴ If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward.

What does this passage teach us?

• This passage reveals that everyday we are building a legacy
• Every moment of every day we are choosing the materials that we will build the legacy with
• We can build with temporary materials or we can build with eternal materials
• There are only three materials that will build a legacy that will stand the test of time

The First Material: Convictions

• Convictions are our core beliefs and values that we base our lives upon
• Those convictions and values can be drawn from many sources, but there is only one faithful source that will not fail us, the Word of God.
• Isaiah 40:8

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.”

• Trends, styles and fads come and go but God’s Word never changes
• Pop psychology is always changing
• The latest best seller is a new direction
• The Word of God never changes!
• The Bible was true 1000 years ago, it is true today and it will be true a 1000 years into the future
• Matthew 7:26

“But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

• For convictions to truly be convictions we must live them out
• We really don’t believe it if we don’t live it out
• New best seller, “ The Greatest Health and Workout Book in the World”
  • Guarantees health
  • Guarantees weight loss
  • Guarantees feeling great
  • Guarantees longer life
• You read it, it your favorite book, you memorize passages from the book
• You read it seven times all the way through
• But…..you never workout
• You get no real results
• If you don’t live it out, you really don’t believe it!
• “A belief is something you hold, a conviction is something that gets a hold of you!”
• Our convictions are the core values of our life that come from God’s Word and are the anchors of our souls
• You can build a legacy from convictions

The Second Material: Character

• Character is who you really are!
• When you die you don’t take anything with you accept your character
• The Lord’s goal is to mold us to look more and more like His Son
• Romans 8:29

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.

• From the beginning this has been the Lord’s goal
• He is build into us the traits of His Son
• Michelangelo was asked how he was able to sculpt the famous “David?” … He answered, “I just chipped away everything that didn’t look like David.”
• That’s what the Lord is doing in our lives

He uses three tools:

First: Problems

• For the believer, problems always have a purpose
• God allows little problems and huge problems into our lives
• Sometimes He uses a little chisel and other times a jackhammer
• Our response to the problem is key to our spiritual growth and legacy development

Second: Pressures

• We learn patience under pressure
• The most Christ like people are those who know great pressure
• Pressure brings out the best or the worst in us

Third: People

• All of us have people in our lives that are hard to love
• The Lord uses people to knock off some rough edges in our lives
• These folks are heavenly sandpaper

The Third Material: Connections

• Our legacy is developed in the environment of people and relationships with people
• Our legacy is to make an impact on the lives of others
  • Our family
  • Fellow Christians
  • Our Church family
  • Our community
  • Our work or professional world
  • Other environments
• We draw strength and encouragement from other believers
• Hebrews 10: 24-25

And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, ²⁵ not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.

• We influence one another as Christians
• Through faithful living in our homes, church and community we are used of the Lord
• As we are submissive and faithful to the Lord, He uses us and builds the legacy of our lives in connection with others

Leave Boldly with these legacy builders:

• Love for the Lord
• Love for His Church
• Love for the souls of men
• Love for family
• Love for the Word of God
• A faithful friend
• Honesty, integrity and purity
• Servant-spirit

*Notes are from fbcFOCUS University Ministry class (October 25, 2009).  This is a church-wide study at First Baptist Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas and is taken from the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE.

One Month to Live (Lesson 3): Learn Humbly*

Learn Humbly

Paul’s Struggle – 2 Corinthians 12:7-9

⁷ And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. ⁸ Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. ⁹ And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Let’s examine Paul’s experience:

• Paul admits his powerlessness over this issue
• Paul is honest about the fact that he is struggling
• Paul asks the Lord three times to remove this powerful problem
• The Lord says that Paul needs His grace
• The lesson for us is: In times of difficulty, personal weakness, or even failure, God’s grace can take us through
• Does this sound simplistic?

What steps do I take to see God’s grace work in my life?

First: Learn Humbly from Your Failures

• We are all sinners and we all know what spiritual failure is for sure
• We must learn from our past failures and move on to the future
• We must confess our sins and failures and move on to the future
• 1 John 1:9
• When a believer is burdened with guilt over sin and failure, the Lord calls us to confess and repent
• Once we have confessed our sin, we are to rejoice in His mercy and move forward
• Satan wants to use our past as a hammer of guilt
• The Lord convicts us of sin so that we can confess it and get right with Him
• There is a difference between conviction and destructive guilt that Satan uses against us

Peter is an example of failure, forgiveness and moving forward

• Matthew 16:15-19
• Here Peter is given a place of leadership of the 12
• Peter was still confident in his own abilities
• Luke 22: 31-34
• Peter did fail as he depended on his own strength and confidence in himself
• But the Lord is the Lord of a second chance
• “ and when you have returned to me …”
• Because of the power of the Cross, failure is never fatal
• The Lord gives the strength to begin again
• We must “learn humbly” from our failures and seek the Lord’s strength in our lives

Second: Accept Responsibility for Your Failures

• Proverbs 28:13
• Excuses, blaming others and rationalization our all losing positions with the Lord
• The blame game is popular
  • Blame our spouse
  • Blame the company
  • Blame our boss
  • Blame our family members
  • Blame anybody who is handy!
• We have to look in the mirror and accept our responsibility for our failures
• We have to admit our sin to be forgiven
• We have to admit our failures so that we can learn from them

Peter felt that God could not use him because of his failure

• Instead, the Lord could finally use him because he had to get real about himself
• The Lord cannot use us if we are full of ourselves and full of pride
• The Lord can use us when we are broken to our pride
• 2 Corinthians 12:10
• Selfishness, pride and ego are obstacles to the Lord using our lives

Three: Don’t soak in the guilt of your sin and failure

• Learn humbly, but guilt after forgiveness is destructive
• If you have fallen, let the Lord pick you back up so that you can go again
• Mark 16:7
• “…and Peter…”
• Peter thought that He was disqualified because of his failure
• Guilt binds us up into hopelessness
• John 21: 15-17
• This pictures Jesus healing His relationship with Peter so Peter could go on
• Notice, three times Jesus asked Peter if he love Him

Four: Surrender to the Lord’s strength

• We need the Lord every day, we need His strength, wisdom and guidance
• Luke 9:23
• The self help books tell us to look within ourselves and find our strength
  • Satisfy yourself
  • Follow your desires
  • Meet your needs
  • Find your purpose
• Jesus says just the opposite as the world
• Deny yourself, Die to self and follow Him

Fifth: Pursue God’s Path for Your Life

• If we do not humbly learn to trust the Lord, we can never follow Him
• “What if God messes up my life?
• “What if God asks me to do something I don’t want to do?”
• It all comes down to a trust issue. Who do you trust most, yourself or the Lord?
• Psalm 119:32
• The Lord does not give us a path to hurt us, but for us to fulfill His design for our lives

Biblical Illustrations of those who came to the point of learning humbly

• There seems to be three steps
  • First: The Call
    • The Lord has a call on your life
    • Second: the Wall
      • We discover our inability
      • Our sin and the failure of our own strength
      • Third: the Fall
        • We fall on our face
        • Or, we fall on our knees and seek His strength
• The great truth is that our strength will never be found with us, but from Him
• This is the truth that we must learn humbly
• If we had “One Month to Live” we could see this truth

*Notes are from fbcFOCUS University Ministry class (October 18, 2009).  This is a church-wide study at First Baptist Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas and is taken from the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE.

One Month to Live (Lesson 2): Love Completely*

Love Completely

If we knew we had only One Month to Live how would our relationships be different?

• We would desire to enjoy our relationships
• We would seek to heal broken relationships
• No one wants to leave unfinished business behind
• But to love completely, we will need divine power

Three key factors that destroy relationships:

1.   Misunderstanding

• This is the most common factor in broken relationships
• Many people have had broken relationships for decades over misunderstanding
• Misunderstandings can pile up over time
• Misunderstanding can be death to a relationships
• Marriage is a great example:

• Often marriage is the place that powerful misunderstanding take place
• Opposites attract
• Over time, opposites attack!
• Reading between the lines
• Not hearing the other person out
• Allowing ourselves to be easily offended
• Making too much of voice tone
• Jumping to conclusions
• Not allow your partner to have a different opinion (insecurity)
• Miscommunication is natural
• Misinterpretations are inevitable

• Differences of opinion are natural
• We are all human

2.   Selfishness: Me first!

• Selfishness is often blind to itself
• We want our needs meet first
• Selfishness fosters “conditional relationships”
• Godly relationships are based on love and commitment (marriage, friendships)

3.   Relational Mistakes

• Just as we have misunderstandings, we all have our faults
• Sometimes we just mess up
• Many relationships are abandoned forever because of a mistake one party makes
• You will never have a perfect marriage because you are not perfect
• You will never have a perfect friendships because you are not perfect
• You will never have a perfect business relationships because you are not perfect
• All relationships will produce some hurt sometime
• Hurt produces anger and the anger must be resolved
• It the anger is not resolved you are headed for bitterness
• Anger is a natural response to a slight or offense, but bitterness changes the game entirely
• Bitterness poisons your heart and hurts even those who are not involved in the issue
• No relationship can survive bitterness

The Bible gives us Three Keys to loving others completely and preserving relationships:

1.   Be accepting of others

Romans 15:7

Therefore receive one another, just as Christ also received us, to the glory of God.

• The word “receive” means, acceptance
• Acceptance means that I am to be open to others
• Acceptance means that I do not reject others based on their weaknesses
• Acceptance means that I stop tying to change them and I try to understand them
• We are to seek God’s wisdom in understanding others
• We are all different, and if everyone was alike, it would be a boring world
• Acceptance is a process where I seek to cherish people instead of change people

2.   Loving others through your actions

There are three loving actions that make all the difference in loving others completely

• First – Consideration
  • Philippians 2:4

Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.

• Look to the needs of others first
• Look to the needs of your spouse
• Look to the needs of your family
• Look to the needs of friends
• Picture a marriage where both parties are seeking to meet the needs of the other.
• The consideration principle makes an incredible difference in your relationship and in you
• Philippians 2:5-8

⁵ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross

• John 13:12-17

¹² So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? ¹³ You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. ¹⁴ If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. ¹⁶ Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them.

• Second – Cooperation
  • Great teams have something called “chemistry”
  • John 13:1

Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.

• Jesus revealed to them the power of servanthood
• God’s math is one plus one equals one
• “Oneness” is a powerful principle in developing loving actions
• Third – Commitment
  • Being a fully committed spouse is critical to a successful relationship and loving completely
  • Being a fully committed friend is critical if the friendship is real and vital
  • Commitment negates manipulation, dishonesty and betrayal

3.   Being one who forgives

• If you believe that forgiveness is for suckers you will never be able to love others completely
• If your expectations of others is perfection, you are in for lots of disappointment, daily
• Colossians 3:12-14

¹² Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; ¹³ bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. ¹⁴ But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

• Can the power to forgive others by looking at the Cross and the price God paid to forgive you?
• You will never have to forgive another more than the Lord has forgiven you
• We often “balk” at forgiving others, but we should not, not in light of the Sacrifice of Christ Jesus
• The more you realize how much the Lord has forgiven you, the greater your ability will be to forgive

If you had one month to live:

• You would be more accepting of others
• You would love others through your actions
• You would want to be forgiving toward those you have hurt you
• Leaving this world with little or no unfinished business
• Let’s seek to live that way NOW!

*Notes are from fbcFOCUS University Ministry class (October 11, 2009).  This is a church-wide study at First Baptist Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas and is taken from the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST HERE.

One Month to Live (Lesson 1): Live Passionately*

Live Passionately

Defining Passion

Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language:

“Any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, the state of being acted upon or affected by something external, compelled by or ruled by intense emotion or strong feeling”

• Passion can be related to the words; enthusiasm and zeal.
• Passion is the driving force behind all great achievement. Whether it is in art, literature, or music, achievement is rooted in passion.
• Passion is the key to athletic accomplishment, record breaking performances and championships.

The Apostle Paul expresses passionate living this way in Romans 12:10-11:

• “Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another, not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord.”
• The idea of “fervent in spirit” is a picture of water boiling; this pictures energy, action and heat.

Jesus states this zealous and fervent spirit for the Lord in Mark 12:30:

• “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.  This is the first commandment.”
• Other passages on zeal, which is a good biblical word that mirrors passion: Galatians 4:18, 2 Corinthians 7:10-11, John 2:17
• Regardless of your personality type, God made you to feel things deeply.  God wants you to have a passion about your walk with Him
• The Lord knows that we need a passion for Him, His work and His Kingdom if we are to live a life with eternal impact.
• If you only had one month to live, would you not live it with passion, zeal and fervor?

A Biblical Example – Core Lesson Passage:  Luke 5:18-26

¹⁸ Then behold, men brought on a bed a man who was paralyzed, whom they sought to bring in and lay before Him. ¹⁹ And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.
²⁰ When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”
²¹ And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, “Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?”
²² But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, He answered and said to them, “Why are you reasoning in your hearts? ²³ Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Rise up and walk’? ²⁴ But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—He said to the man who was paralyzed, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
²⁵ Immediately he rose up before them, took up what he had been lying on, and departed to his own house, glorifying God. ²⁶ And they were all amazed, and they glorified God and were filled with fear, saying, “We have seen strange things today!”

This is a picture of passion and determination.  These four men decided nothing would keep them from the goal of getting their friend to Jesus!

Notice the crowd’s reaction in verse 26: “We have seen strange things today”

• They could have said, “We have seen remarkable things today!”
• The remarkable things they saw and heard were not only the things Jesus said and did, but also the extreme actions taken by the friends of the paralyzed man.
• When we give our lives to live for the Lord with passion, we will also see remarkable things that we would never see when living our lives in the “hum-drum.”
• Too often our nature is to sit back and wait for the Lord to bring the remarkable to us, but amazingly He calls us to live our lives with passion!  It is in the context of our faith and passion that the Lord works in our lives!

Remember what Jesus said in Mark 12:30

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.”

• Just like the crowd kept the men and their needy friend away from the Lord, our crowded lives can keep us from being close to the Lord.
• Bad habits, procrastination and the distractions of this world cut us off from the life that satisfies and gives our lives real meaning.
• How can we remedy this situation?

This passage teaches us four things we can do to live with passion:

1. Do Something Drastic!

• These guys in the passage did just that!  Look at verse 19 again:

“And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.”

• When our lives are over-crowded, full of distractions and blurred priorities, we won’t fix it with a few adjustments.  We must stop and do something drastic.
• When left to ourselves, our lives naturally gravitate to spiritual chaos, apathy and lifelessness.
• WE MUST ASK THE CLARIFING QUESTION: IF YOU KNEW YOU HAD ONE MONTH TO LIVE HOW WOULD YOU LIVE YOUR LIFE?
• Why don’t we live our lives like this all the time?  Because we let little obstacles stop us in our tracks.
• When the men were tearing off the roof of the house, did they think about how much it would cost to fix it? I doubt it!
• It was “just” a roof and their friend was paralyzed.  Suddenly, they clearly saw what was important.
• While we likely have more than one month to live, we need to consider a more drastic lifestyle.

1. Remove the Obstacles!

• Living your life for the Lord and eternity is directly related to time.
• Many of the obstacles that keep us from living our lives for the Lord and His Kingdom are time related
• You can have 20 or 30 really good things to get done and be involved in, but do they get you to your spiritual goals for your life?
• So, how do we choose?
• THE PRINCIPLE TO USE: “Today I choose only the things I would do if I knew I had a limited time to live.”
• They are not the things that get you monetary rewards, have deadlines, or material things.
• The important things are your walk with your God, your marriage, your family and all the things that make an eternal impact.
• So far, here are the steps to a life lived with passion:
  • Realize what is truly important in your life
  • Remove the obstacles that are in the way
  • Do something drastic
• To the friends of the paralyzed man in Luke 5, the crowd was an obstacle, the roof was an obstacle; but to get their friend healing they had to push by both obstacles.

1. Expect the Unexpected!

• You set a plan, you set new priorities and life interrupts you when things don’t go according to plan.
• We love to be in control, but when we can’t control the situations we must not just give up.
• That is when we surrender control to the Lord.
• The friends in Luke 5 experienced this very thing:
  • They planned: They knew where Jesus would be.
  • They got enough men to carry him.
  • They arrived at the right time.
  • But: they had not planned on a crowd, a press so great they could not get through.
  • There was no way to get to the front door.
  • They could have said:
    • “Well, we tried.”
    • “It not our day.”
    • “We’re sorry old buddy; we tried to get you to Jesus.”
    • “It’s just not working out for us.”
    • “We gave it our best effort.”
    • They changed their plans when they encountered the unexpected.
    • Remember: its passion, zeal, fervor that makes us roll with the punches in life.
    • They got creative …. “Let’s go through the roof!”
    • Another unexpected action in this passage is in verse 20 when Jesus forgives the paralyzed man’s sins:

“When He saw their faith, He said to him, “Man, your sins are forgiven you.”

• Learn to expect the unexpected because Jesus knows what is best for you.
• When your plans get interrupted, trust the Lord.  If you get frustrated you will lose your passion.

1. Give the Lord His Space to Work!

• Another key phrase in Luke 5:19:

“And when they could not find how they might bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the housetop and let him down with his bed through the tiling into the midst before Jesus.” (emphasis added)

• “into the midst” means they placed their friend right in the middle of the crowd
• In our crowded lives we need to make sure that we are making space for the Lord to work in us.
• Even Jesus made space for the Father when He walked on the earth.
• Mark 1:35-37

³⁵ Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. ³⁶ And Simon and those who were with Him searched for Him. ³⁷ When they found Him, they said to Him, “Everyone is looking for You.”

• In effect, the crowd was saying, “Jesus, you are disappointing people, you need to hurry.  You need to meet needs.  People are sick and hurting!”
• Jesus knew time with the Father would save time in the long run.
• The secret to maintaining passion and zeal is spending time with the Lord.

CONCLUSION:

• Knowing they had one month to live, a Christian with a converted heart would look at it differently than a person with a worldly heart.
• The worldly person would seek to indulge themselves in pleasures or sink into total despair.
• The Christian sees life from a different perspective.
• The knowledge that he only had one month to live would surely awaken any believer’s heart to eternity.
• Let’s allow the Lord to awaken our hearts now even though eternity does not seem to be looming just 30 days ahead.
• It all begins with a passion for living our life for the Lord – PASSION, ZEAL, and FERVOR!

*Notes are from fbcFOCUS University Ministry class (October 18, 2009).  This is a church-wide study at First Baptist Church, Fort Smith, Arkansas and is taken from the book One Month to Live by Kerry and Chris Shook.

DOWNLOAD THE PODCAST One Month to Live – Passion (10-4-09).

Are You Boiling? Understanding the Highest Privilege in the Universe

These are the notes from the talk I gave at the UAFS BCM on Wednesday, September 2, 2009.

Are You Boiling?  Understanding the Highest Privilege in the Universe

Romans 12:11:  ”Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

I.  Intensity:  Do lots of work for Christ passionately.

A.  Don’t be lazy, work

B.  ”Fervent” – latin word “fervens”, which means “boiling.”  In the the Greek, “zeontes”, which literally means “boiling in spirit.”

C.  Combination of the two:  work, feel

1.  Balance:  Don’t just work, but don’t just be emotional

D.  1 Cor. 15:58

E.  Be practical AND passionate

II.  Focus:  Serve the Lord

A.  All this intensity has a focus….Serving Christ.  This is what the passion is for.

B.  Serving Christ is the highest privilege in the universe for human beings.

C.  Serve Jesus

1.  …not the belly (Romans 16:17-18)

2.  ….not the people (Gal. 5:13, Eph. 6:6-7)

3.  …not the law (Romans 7:6)

III.  Paul’s Example

A.  Romans 15:18

B.  Colossians 1:28-29

C.  1 Corinthians 15:10

*These notes were taken from a message by Dr. John Piper titled “Boiling for Christ”, January 9, 2005.

John Piper on Studying the Bible

Download and Read this article!  I mean really…stop and take the time to read this.  Practical words of application from a truly inspiring student of the Bible…

Bible Study Magazine posed these and other questions to Dr. John Piper:

They asked him…

• How do you keep from growing indifferent to the Bible when you’re so familiar with it?
• How do you approach the Bible?
• How can we make time for the Bible?
• How do you memorize Scripture?
• Is the Bible easier for you to understand than for other people?
• What would you say to someone who hasn’t read their Bible in a long time?

See how Dr. Piper answered these questions by downloading the article here.

Committing to Read the Bible through in One Year

One of the goals that I accomplished in 2008 was to read the Bible through in one year.  And, now in 2009, I’m half way through it again.

Sunday we discussed the benefits of consistantly being in the Word, and one of those ways is to commit to a daily Bible reading plan that will result in reading through the Bible in one year.

This week I came across an excellent article in Catalyst Magazine by Mark Batterson titled “The Best Decision I Made This Year.” This article reinvigorated me to continue to read through the Bible each year for the rest of my life!!!

So, what are waiting for?  Start now and commit to read the Bible through in one year.