In case you missed it, (I did!) Newsweek had a good article on Obama's religious beliefs. You can read it here. Obviously everything Obama or McCain says right now about their religious beliefs is carefully calculated so you have to take it with a grain of salt, but this article provided some interesting information on Obama's background, how he came to decide to follow Jesus, and some hints about what he feels 'following Jesus' means. It's a good read and helps clear up some of the misinformation out there. (No, Obama is not a closet Muslim!!) In fact, in my opinion his life history compared to McCain's shows a stronger pattern of following Jesus. Obama researched multiple religions, made a conscious decision, was baptized, and was an active member of a church (until that recent flare up!). McCain is not a member of a church although he does attend one sometimes. He has also stated that he found great comfort in prayer while a POW in Vietnam. I'm certainly not saying I agree with all of Obama's theology (or McCain's for that matter). And I'm not saying that Obama's policies are more 'Christian' than McCains. I'm just saying from a life event standpoint Obama has a solid Christian history.
On a side note, I'd like to officially declare myself as firmly undecided. I'm attracted to things about both candidates. Right now I'm leaning towards McCain because his strong pro-life stance tips me in that direction. However, there is much more to leading this country than being pro-life so I'm still trying to balance out all the issues. On the other side, personally, I feel it would be a huge benefit to our country both domestically and abroad to show the world (and ourselves) that we can elect and follow a president that is both black and has a Muslim sounding name. I really like the fact that I'm basically OK with either Obama or McCain - a complete opposite from 2004 where I didn't really want either one.
My wife would accuse me of being sucked into the Obama media frenzy. I don't know about that, but I am intrigued by him. I think he dominates the media not really because of bias (although I'm sure there is some of that), but mostly because he is an infinitely more interesting story than McCain. Of course, a more interesting story doesn't make a better president.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Quote on Courage
Here's one of my favorite quotes - simple, short, and sweet.
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the absence of self." -Erwin McManus
Also, thanks to everyone who helped me to have an incredible birthday weekend. Everyone who helped watch the kids so Michelle and I could get away - double thanks to you!!
"Courage is not the absence of fear. It is the absence of self." -Erwin McManus
Also, thanks to everyone who helped me to have an incredible birthday weekend. Everyone who helped watch the kids so Michelle and I could get away - double thanks to you!!
Friday, July 25, 2008
The 'E' Word
Evil - it appears to be the new 4-letter word for today’s culture. We have such a hard time with it. Why can’t we recognize the evil around us and in us and call it out? We assume goodness and ask the question ‘Why do basically good people do bad things?’. Maybe we should be asking “Why do bad people do good things?”. This is an uncomfortable thought for me because I admit that my natural reaction to someone using the E-word is “Who made you God?” and “Who are you to judge?”, but I’m not sure this inclination is correct. Over the last few months, I’ve been asking myself the question ‘What makes people change?’, and I can’t get past the E-word. I think this is where many of us are missing it. We don’t recognize the evil, and so we don’t approach the process of changing it correctly.
The first step in the 12 steps of addiction recovery is to ‘recognize that we are powerless and our lives have become unmanageable’. I think unmanageable here is a euphemism for bad, or dare I say it … evil. (Nobody goes to addiction recovery because their life has become unmanageably good!) The success and acceptance of the 12 steps make me think these people know what they're talking about.
However, if that's not enough or you prefer the Biblical slant, 1 John 1:8-10 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. “ Here it is - not only forgiveness, but also becoming more righteous (stated here as purity from unrighteousness) is dependent on recognizing our sin. Most of us would agree that sin=evil so try replacing that in the verse above. Yikes!
My personal struggle against porn addiction (ok, that may be a shock to some. Get over it and I’ll share more another time) shows this as well. My constant struggle to be free of it did not succeed until I recognized it as a whole and as evil. When I viewed myself as a basically good person who just happens to be sinning every day, week, or month – I couldn’t bust out of it. When I viewed myself as a wreck who needed help - I found success. After all, how can you follow Jesus' teachings to kill the old self if you don’t recognize it as bad. Jesus says he who wishes to find life must lose it. If we want to really live, we must die to self and it will not happen until we take step 1: Admit that I am e.... ( I don’t even want to print that last sentence, it makes me uncomfortable)
The first step in the 12 steps of addiction recovery is to ‘recognize that we are powerless and our lives have become unmanageable’. I think unmanageable here is a euphemism for bad, or dare I say it … evil. (Nobody goes to addiction recovery because their life has become unmanageably good!) The success and acceptance of the 12 steps make me think these people know what they're talking about.
However, if that's not enough or you prefer the Biblical slant, 1 John 1:8-10 says “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives. “ Here it is - not only forgiveness, but also becoming more righteous (stated here as purity from unrighteousness) is dependent on recognizing our sin. Most of us would agree that sin=evil so try replacing that in the verse above. Yikes!
My personal struggle against porn addiction (ok, that may be a shock to some. Get over it and I’ll share more another time) shows this as well. My constant struggle to be free of it did not succeed until I recognized it as a whole and as evil. When I viewed myself as a basically good person who just happens to be sinning every day, week, or month – I couldn’t bust out of it. When I viewed myself as a wreck who needed help - I found success. After all, how can you follow Jesus' teachings to kill the old self if you don’t recognize it as bad. Jesus says he who wishes to find life must lose it. If we want to really live, we must die to self and it will not happen until we take step 1: Admit that I am e.... ( I don’t even want to print that last sentence, it makes me uncomfortable)
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
We must be 'Cause Driven'
I came across an old email the other day that I sent out shortly after returning from our two years in China. The email referenced a very short article entitled, 'The Cause Driven Church' written by my favorite speaker, Erwin McManus. It refreshed for me one of my passions and so I thought I'd try to articulate it here.
The cause of Christ is singular - to bring God glory by expanding his Kingdom. And as the church is the body of Christ [the way the world in this age contacts, sees, and experiences the physical Christ], the church's purpose is singular as well: to bring glory to God by expanding his Kingdom. Everything we do must flow out of this cause or we are missing the point. When we miss the point, we wonder 'where in the world is God?' and 'why isn't this working'?. All the while, God says to us, 'if you would stick to the point, you will not fail because that is what I'm all about and I do not fail.'
A little background - Kingdom is a strange term we don't use much, but it helps me to think of it as the extent of God's rule, or the places where God's will is done (Thanks Dallas Willard for that helpful hint!). The Kingdom can be expanded in two ways: in our individual lives as we act more and more like God wants us to act, and corporately as more people begin to join the process. My church's mission statement expresses this well: to reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him. These are simply the two ways the Kingdom expands.
Here is where I, we, all of us, so often get it wrong. We pursue community and unity as the end goal and end up faking it, then wonder why it falls apart. We pursue discipleship as 'knowing' more and convincing others to agree with us rather than becoming more obedient. We serve out of obligation or in an attempt to manipulate or impress other people or God, instead of out of a desire to help. We pursue missions to bring other cultures our supposedly superior (and more comfortable) western ways. We pursue worship by singing to make ourselves feel better. All of these basically good pursuits, (you may recognize them from Rick Warren's 5 purposes) become distorted when we pursue them outside of the main thing: the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Jesus teaches us to pray 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' because this is the point! Everything else comes after this and in fact is a result of it. There is a reason that when you join the cause to expand the kingdom you bond with a team in an incredible way, you begin to act more like Christ, and you serve without recognition. You begin to realize that people don't have to sleep with a feather pillow but they do need food, water, basic care, and Jesus. And then you celebrate with music the worship you have already demonstrated through your actions.
The church must be 'cause-driven'. It is the key to it's success! How are you doing at keeping the main thing the main thing? I haven't been doing so well lately.
Here is a portion of Erwin's article:
"Healthy community flows out of a unified cause - not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.
One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.
Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.” The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God."
The cause of Christ is singular - to bring God glory by expanding his Kingdom. And as the church is the body of Christ [the way the world in this age contacts, sees, and experiences the physical Christ], the church's purpose is singular as well: to bring glory to God by expanding his Kingdom. Everything we do must flow out of this cause or we are missing the point. When we miss the point, we wonder 'where in the world is God?' and 'why isn't this working'?. All the while, God says to us, 'if you would stick to the point, you will not fail because that is what I'm all about and I do not fail.'
A little background - Kingdom is a strange term we don't use much, but it helps me to think of it as the extent of God's rule, or the places where God's will is done (Thanks Dallas Willard for that helpful hint!). The Kingdom can be expanded in two ways: in our individual lives as we act more and more like God wants us to act, and corporately as more people begin to join the process. My church's mission statement expresses this well: to reach people for Christ and grow believers to be like him. These are simply the two ways the Kingdom expands.
Here is where I, we, all of us, so often get it wrong. We pursue community and unity as the end goal and end up faking it, then wonder why it falls apart. We pursue discipleship as 'knowing' more and convincing others to agree with us rather than becoming more obedient. We serve out of obligation or in an attempt to manipulate or impress other people or God, instead of out of a desire to help. We pursue missions to bring other cultures our supposedly superior (and more comfortable) western ways. We pursue worship by singing to make ourselves feel better. All of these basically good pursuits, (you may recognize them from Rick Warren's 5 purposes) become distorted when we pursue them outside of the main thing: the expansion of the kingdom of God.
Jesus teaches us to pray 'thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven' because this is the point! Everything else comes after this and in fact is a result of it. There is a reason that when you join the cause to expand the kingdom you bond with a team in an incredible way, you begin to act more like Christ, and you serve without recognition. You begin to realize that people don't have to sleep with a feather pillow but they do need food, water, basic care, and Jesus. And then you celebrate with music the worship you have already demonstrated through your actions.
The church must be 'cause-driven'. It is the key to it's success! How are you doing at keeping the main thing the main thing? I haven't been doing so well lately.
Here is a portion of Erwin's article:
"Healthy community flows out of a unified cause - not the other way around. Jesus called his disciples and said, “Follow me. I’ll make you fishers of men.” This was not an offer of community. “Follow me and I will give you something worthy of giving your life to” is a statement of cause. But the neat thing is, when they came to the cause, they found community like they never knew could exist. That’s the power of the church.
One danger of the American church is that we often try to offer people community without cause. Without cause, you’re just another civic organization. You don’t have life transformation.
Jesus said, “I have come to the world to seek and to save that which is lost.” The cause of Christ is accomplished by expanding the kingdom of God."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Some vacation pics
I thought I'd share some pics from our recent trip to Florida. I hope you enjoy them. We had a great time!
A family picture at Seaworld ... believe it or not, that is not a fake background.
Micah and his light saber. He is actually pretty good with that thing.
Esther was chosen to fight Darth Vader. I think she got the best of him.
Luke shoots and innocent passerby at the Magic Kingdom.
Apparently there was a snake outbreak. Luckily, Micah is there to save the day.
Some Good Articles on China
During my lunch-time web reading, I found a couple good articles on China. For those of you who don't know, my family and I spent 2 years living in China. It was a wonderful experience and we met great friends who we miss very much. I have never been anywhere that people will go more out of their way to help you and help give you a positive view of their country than China. They love their country and they love to help. Of course, due to the clash of cultures (see article 2) sometimes the help doesn't come across to us westerners quite right. For instance, they are removing dog off of the Beijing restaurant menus for the Olympics. It's an effort to make us feel welcome and help us to see China positively, but to me it's a bummer. If you go to China, eat real Chinese! Dog is pretty good - trust me. :) Besides, we have plenty of ordinary, not so good Chinese food here in the States.
Here is an excellent summary of some everyday-living culture differences.
Here is a good summary of Christian history in China. It is written from a western perspective, but an interesting read.
Here is an excellent summary of some everyday-living culture differences.
Here is a good summary of Christian history in China. It is written from a western perspective, but an interesting read.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Do you want to get well?
I was reading John 5 the other day in preparation for my Monday group, and saw something in that passage that I don't think I have ever seen before. It is so cool that the Bible is like that. I've probably read this passage a hundred times and never noticed this truth.
In the story, Jesus meets a disabled man sitting by the pool at Bethesda. The thought of the day was that when the water stirred, it was an angel of God, and the first person to get into the pool would be healed. (I'm guessing it really worked that way or people would have figured it out and left.) As you can imagine, this was probably a very popular place for the disabled to hang out. For whatever reason, Jesus picked out this one man, and asked him a rather odd question: 'do you want to get better?'. I've often heard talks detailing the genius of this rather obvious question - and it's true, Jesus knows what he is doing. But I don't think I ever really looked at the man's answer. The man doesn't say yes!! He makes and excuse for why he's not healed saying he can't move himself into the pool quickly enough. That is so human. Jesus asks, 'do you want to be healed from your alcoholism, overeating, anger, lack of love, pornography addiction ... ?', and we respond 'i can't - i've tried and it doesn't work because of blah, blah, blah ...' Why can't we just answer 'yes'? Could it be because we want to be freed from the consequences of our sin but not necessarily the sin itself? We don't want to be changed, we just want to be more comfortable.
Jesus heals the man and a little while later runs into him again saying 'See, you have been healed. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.' At first glance it sounds like a threat - stop sinning or you'll be crippled again sitting back at the pool. But I think it's really a loving warning. Sin has consequences. Don't think that just because you can now walk, you can go around sinning all you want. It will catch up with you. Maybe Jesus was informing him that even though he had taken away the man's pain, the real objective is not comfort, it is transformation.
I know I see this in my life. That is why confession is so hard. Confession flat out works (James 5:16). It changes you when you bring everything into the light. So why don't I do it better. Why do I only share 90% of the truth? Because I'm more concerned with minimizing the consequences and minimizing the pain, than becoming a better person. I choose comfort over transformation.
In the story, Jesus meets a disabled man sitting by the pool at Bethesda. The thought of the day was that when the water stirred, it was an angel of God, and the first person to get into the pool would be healed. (I'm guessing it really worked that way or people would have figured it out and left.) As you can imagine, this was probably a very popular place for the disabled to hang out. For whatever reason, Jesus picked out this one man, and asked him a rather odd question: 'do you want to get better?'. I've often heard talks detailing the genius of this rather obvious question - and it's true, Jesus knows what he is doing. But I don't think I ever really looked at the man's answer. The man doesn't say yes!! He makes and excuse for why he's not healed saying he can't move himself into the pool quickly enough. That is so human. Jesus asks, 'do you want to be healed from your alcoholism, overeating, anger, lack of love, pornography addiction ... ?', and we respond 'i can't - i've tried and it doesn't work because of blah, blah, blah ...' Why can't we just answer 'yes'? Could it be because we want to be freed from the consequences of our sin but not necessarily the sin itself? We don't want to be changed, we just want to be more comfortable.
Jesus heals the man and a little while later runs into him again saying 'See, you have been healed. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.' At first glance it sounds like a threat - stop sinning or you'll be crippled again sitting back at the pool. But I think it's really a loving warning. Sin has consequences. Don't think that just because you can now walk, you can go around sinning all you want. It will catch up with you. Maybe Jesus was informing him that even though he had taken away the man's pain, the real objective is not comfort, it is transformation.
I know I see this in my life. That is why confession is so hard. Confession flat out works (James 5:16). It changes you when you bring everything into the light. So why don't I do it better. Why do I only share 90% of the truth? Because I'm more concerned with minimizing the consequences and minimizing the pain, than becoming a better person. I choose comfort over transformation.
Hello Dan, Goodbye Tim
Great News! The pastor search committee at Westside has recommended Dan Southerland become the lead teaching pastor. You can read the announcement here. In short, I'm excited about this and believe it is good for the church. First of all, I greatly respect the people who were on the search committee and those on the PAT team. They are good, bright people and I trust their decision. Second, though I have met Dan personally only once briefly, those I know who are close to him rave about him. It also says something to me that he has guided the staff through these turbulent times over the last year and they still want him around. That takes great leadership and a caring heart. Thirdly, I participated in one of his 'Transitioning' conference sometime back and heard him speak to the pastors that were there. I was very impressed with his knowledge, passion, and theology.
At the same time (but unrelated), we have to say goodbye to Pastor Tim. I've gotten to know Tim and respect his passion to be like Christ and take others there with him. He gives it everything he's got, and it's exciting that God has shown him a new opportunity. I wish him the best. He and his family will be missed!
At the same time (but unrelated), we have to say goodbye to Pastor Tim. I've gotten to know Tim and respect his passion to be like Christ and take others there with him. He gives it everything he's got, and it's exciting that God has shown him a new opportunity. I wish him the best. He and his family will be missed!
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Entering the blogging world ...
Well, here it is. I've finally decided to enter the world of blogging - we'll see how it goes. As anyone who knows me can confirm, I never shy away from sharing my opinion so maybe this will be a good fit. I don't know if anyone will read or if anyone will care, but I think it will be good for me. At the very least, I'll get to practice my spelling and writing - right?
My life is pretty simple and comes down to just a few things so my guess is this is what my blog will talk about - at least most of the time:
1) God - Nothing is bigger in my life than Jesus - not in some cheesy unthought out sort of way, but in the basic reality of life. He's real, the Bible is full of great stuff,
2) Family - my wife rocks, and my kids are amazing. I am a lucky guy!
3) Work - the world of telecom is interesting - believe me! Sprint is turning it around, you just can't tell yet.
4) Mission - according to Jesus you really find your life when you lose it. This is a curious thought, but I have found it completely true. I have found no greater joy, purpose, and satisfaction than in losing myself in the mission that God has for me.
5) School - I'm studying to get my MBA through distance learning at the University of Nebraska (but I'll always be a Kstate wildcat at heart!). It's a great program. If you're thinking about getting an MBA, I suggest you check it out.
6) Sports - Kstate, Chiefs, Royals - yes Royals - I'm stuck with them.
That's it for now. I have much to say, but fortunately I have the rest of my life to say it. No use spilling it all out now! Let me know if anyone's reading this thing.
My life is pretty simple and comes down to just a few things so my guess is this is what my blog will talk about - at least most of the time:
1) God - Nothing is bigger in my life than Jesus - not in some cheesy unthought out sort of way, but in the basic reality of life. He's real, the Bible is full of great stuff,
2) Family - my wife rocks, and my kids are amazing. I am a lucky guy!
3) Work - the world of telecom is interesting - believe me! Sprint is turning it around, you just can't tell yet.
4) Mission - according to Jesus you really find your life when you lose it. This is a curious thought, but I have found it completely true. I have found no greater joy, purpose, and satisfaction than in losing myself in the mission that God has for me.
5) School - I'm studying to get my MBA through distance learning at the University of Nebraska (but I'll always be a Kstate wildcat at heart!). It's a great program. If you're thinking about getting an MBA, I suggest you check it out.
6) Sports - Kstate, Chiefs, Royals - yes Royals - I'm stuck with them.
That's it for now. I have much to say, but fortunately I have the rest of my life to say it. No use spilling it all out now! Let me know if anyone's reading this thing.
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