Let's Make a Name for Ourselves

In the Old Testament there was a group of people who wanted fame. They wanted nothing more than to make a name for themselves, and they decided the way to do this was to build a giant tower. In Genesis 11:4, they say “Come let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves...”

Isn’t this exactly what we so often do? We do whatever we can to make a name for ourselves. We try to get tons of friends on facebook, followers on twitter, or likes on instagram. But, why? Because we want people to be impressed with us. This is called “pride.” Pride the feelings you get when you do something good. So you feel prideful because you feel popular if people follow you or like your stuff. You might feel pride if you are the prettiest girl in the school. You might feel pride if you get paid more than your co-workers.

When I was growing up, I had dreams of being famous. My dreams meant I would be a famous basketball player. I dreamed of the day I would run out onto the court as the announcer called out my name. Maybe for you, you have similar dreams. Maybe you dream of being a famous actor, athlete, or writer. There’s nothing wrong with those dreams, but I want to challenge you to make it an even greater priority to pursue making Jesus famous. I’m not saying not to pursue your basketball career or writing, but in the midst of those make your goal to make Jesus famous, not yourself.

HE > ME

When Jesus first comes on the ministry scene, he’s not the big deal in town. In fact, there’s a guy by the name of John who is baptizing a bunch of people and has gotten quite the following. As Jesus‘ following grows, John is questioned about what he thinks about all this. In John 3:26, some of John’s disciples ask, “that man who was with you on the other side of the Jordan - the one you testified about - well, he is baptizing, and everyone is going to him.”

John responds with an answer that I think should guide the way we live our lives. John says, “He must become greater; I must become less.”

Nowhere in our world will somebody tell you that you should pursue becoming less of a big deal. But John is pursing this. He has no problem that he is becoming less of a big deal because in his case that means that Jesus is becoming more of a big deal. What would your life look like if you lived in a way that everything you did was so that Jesus might become a bigger deal?

“Whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” - 1 Corinthians 10:3

In everything you do, you can glorify God. When you go to school, live in a way that makes a big deal of Jesus. Let your choices be guided by making Jesus a big deal. When you hang out with your friends, glorify God. When you are with your family, make Jesus a big deal. When you are playing video games, glorify God.

The Maid Who Sweeps Her Floors

If we looked at everything we do as a calling from God, it might change everything.  What if when we sweeped the floors, tucked our kids into bed, sent an e-mail, or walked through the neighborhood that we understood that God has called us to live out our faith in the places he has put us.  What if we actually believed that God not only called some to be preachers and missionaries, but also to be stay-at-home moms, blue jean designers, and assembly-line workers?

Photo Credit: Corey Grunewald

Feedly: A Google Reader Replacement

The best alternative to Google Reader that I've found is definitely Feedly.

Shoemaker

[tentblogger-vimeo 62731783]

“The maid who sweeps her kitchen is doing the will of God just as much as the monk who prays—not because she may sing a Christian hymn as she sweeps but because God loves clean floors. The Christian shoemaker does his Christian duty not by putting little crosses on the shoes, but by making good shoes, because God is interested in good craftsmanship.” – attributed to Martin Luther

God in the Garbage

[tentblogger-vimeo 52711779]

Life sometimes feels like garbage.  Guilt, pain, tragedy, depression, betrayal, sickness… we could go on far too easily.  It's inevitable that at seasons in life, things will feel like a mess.  It might be because of a mess we've made or because of the reality that life is messy.  The most difficult thing about the times when our life feels like a garbage dump is that we can't picture anything beyond the trash that we are living in.

The message of the Gospel is one that speaks directly into our mess.  The Gospel speaks the truth that God comes into the midst of our garbage and loves us anyway.  The truth that your mess isn't too big for the cross.  The Gospel speaks the truth that God not only cleans up the mess that you've caused, but he also promises to be with you in the mess of life.  The truth that God will never leave you, no matter how bad it gets.  And in the midst of all this mess, God promises to work.

"You make beautiful things.  You make beautiful things out of the dust…. You make beautiful things out of us."  - Gungor

There's an interesting story in the book of John where the disciples have a conversation with Jesus regarding a man born blind.  It was common in that day to directly attribute something bad that happened as a consequence of the sin that someone committed.  In this case the disciples were asking, "What did this guy or his parents do that was so bad that he ended up like this?"

We commonly ask this type of question when things go wrong.  Why?  Why me?  Why them?  Why, right now?  Why this?  The disciples' question isn't all that different than what we ask.  We may not phrase it the same way as they did, but it is ultimately the same.  The disciples wanted an explanation, and we often are looking for the same thing.

But Jesus doesn't answer their question.

Jesus doesn't give an answer to why the man was born blind.  When we are in the midst of the trials of our own life, we often don't have an answer to the questions we ask.  And perhaps what we need most is not an answer to these questions.  Instead Jesus changes their focus.  Instead of looking back, he encourages them to look forward.  Instead of looking for an explanation, he shows them redemption.  He shows them that God takes even the worst of situations and makes it new.  He takes the blind man's situation and changes the discussion from "who sinned" to "how is God going work in this?"

In this case, Jesus works in the man's life by healing him.  Even in the mess of our own lives God can create something beautiful.  Even in the midst of pain, hurt, betrayal, and rebellion, God can redeem the most broken of situations and make something beautiful.  It's easy to get so focused on the cause of our blindness that we become distracted from realizing that God has promised to work despite what we are experiencing.  God has promised to be with us.  God has promised to he would never leave us.  God promises that he hears us.  And that he forgives.

What messes have you been through that you've seen God work in?

Preaching Lessons from Erik Wahl

Erik Wahl recently was a keynote presenter at Western Michigan's Food Marketing Conference.  I had absolutely no interest in the food marketing conference itself, but having become a recent fan of Erik's artwork and speaking, I found a way to attend his keynote and finally get a chance to see him perform live.  The primary reason that I have been so interested with Erik Wahl is that he is an excellent communicator.  And as a preacher who loves the art of preaching, there is a value in seeing an artist showcase his craft and try to learn a few tricks.

If you haven't seen any of Erik's work, you can find a video later in the post of one of his pieces.

3 Lessons on Preaching from Erik Wahl

1. You are an artist.

If you ask a room full of adults, "How many of you draw?," you will not likely get very many hands.  The same would probably be true of preachers.  If you asked a Kindergarten classroom this same question though, the results would be completely different.  Something happens as we grow older, and we begin to believe we aren't artists.  We believe we aren't creative.  We've been told that certain things have to be done a certain way in order to get the results that you are expected to get.  When it comes to preaching, I love looking at the sermon as a work of art.  When I work on my sermon I want to actually believe that I'm creating a work of art that makes a difference.

[tentblogger-vimeo 35737101]

2. Timing is important.

When Erik was painting one of his pictures, he perfectly timed his painting so that as the music finished, he would spray paint an apple on the canvas, ask us to "think different" and rotate the canvas in order to reveal that the painting was Steve Jobs.  When I preach, I spend a lot of time working on the content of my message and even specifically crafting the order of my content, but an area where I can improve in understanding the significance of the timing in how I say certain things.  The rhythm, the pacing, the tone, and pauses all help communicate.  And those are things that are easy to forget about and can only really be perfected by practicing.

3. Your talk doesn't end when you end.

As Erik neared the end of his keynote, he described the significance of social media and it's implications for all the people in the food industry.  As he described the significance of social media, he also let the entire room know his plans of doing an "art drop" by giving a clue via Facebook at 10:01pm.  The art drop is brilliant in and of itself, but engaging the audience by encouraging them to participate in this art drop was even more brilliant.  This social media illustration would be experienced by the audience even after the keynote was finished and participants had left the building.  What would our sermons look like if they didn't end when we prayed?  What if our sermons engaged people still on Monday?

Who is someone that is not in ministry that you've learned some lessons about ministry from?

Christ is Risen

[tentblogger-youtube -3L5SJyPpZk] Don't forget what this weekend is all about.  The crucified and risen Jesus.  Death doesn't win; Jesus does.

You Are Here

6 months before I got married, I was faced with a dilemma. In a few short months, I would no longer be only responsible for my own well being, but I would also be given the responsibility to take care of my soon-to-be-wife. I would not be just son and student, but I would become husband. And that meant I needed to make enough money to give us a place to live; and health insurance would’ve been nice too.

I had been planning for most of college to end up as a youth pastor, but 6 moths before marriage I still didn’t have a job doing youth ministry. But I did have an opportunity to work as a garbage man. So I was faced with a dilemma; I felt like God had gifted me to do student ministry, but I also knew God had given me the responsibility to fulfill my future vocation of husband by being a good provider. Because of my calling to be a husband, I knew that it might actually mean that I was also being called to be a garbage man.

Trash, really? God’s calling.

When is the last time you talked to a barista who you felt was called by God to serve you the best coffee they could make? When was the last time you tucked your kids into bed realizing the magnitude of the calling that you have as you pray and listen to them? As soon as we start talking about “calling,” we immediately start separating the sacred and the secular. Pastors are called; church-workers are called, but what about the employees flipping burgers at the corner McDonald’s?

Vocation literally means “calling.” From the time we are little we are asked the question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” And then as we enter college, we are faced with the pressure that we need to decide a career and hope that it lines up with God’s will.  If vocation means “calling” then we are not the ones doing the work, God is. We don’t decide our vocations, we discover them. God has put you exactly where you are; that’s your vocation. You are called to love God and love others in the place that you are. That doesn’t mean that you no longer care about future goals and dreams, but it also means that right now is important.  How do you love your family now?  How do you serve your employer now?  How do you relate to your neighborhood now?  How do you interact with teachers today?

The danger for Christians is that it is very easy to fall into the trap of elevating God’s calling in certain situations while minimizing God’s calling in others. It’s easy to lift up pastors and preachers, but what about the assembly line workers? The stay-at-home-moms? The cashier at the local Starbucks? Luther said, “Every occupation has its own honor before God, as well as its own requirements and duties.”

You are here.  You are here with all of your gifts, with your personality, with your unique way of looking at the world, with all of your talents because God wants you here.  You are here in your neighborhood, in your job, in your school, in your family because God has placed you there.

Where are you?

Photo Credit: Jimloter

Being Cautious with Technology

Every morning, first thing after i get up and bring our little man into bed for some morning cuddling, a couple things always take place. First, I inevitably grab my iPhone to check the new blog posts for the day and shortly after I start reading blogs on my iPhone, Elijah usually starts climbing on me and pointing for the iPad which is charging on the nightstand next to us.  Since Daddy is on the iPhone, he should obviously get to watch Mickey Mouse on the iPad.

Technology does some incredible things. We are more connected in our world than ever before. Something can happen on the other side of the world and I almost immediately can hear about it.  I found out about the recent election of the new pope without ever once checking a news source.  My son will have technology at his finger tips that I cannot even begin to imagine. People walk around with bibles in their pockets on their phones; hundreds of years ago you couldn’t own your own bible let alone read one while you were in the bathroom.  Technology changes the way we function.

But this isn’t always a good thing.

I’m okay with my morning routine of checking my blogs on the iPhone; it’s the modern day equivalent to reading the newspaper in the morning.  But what about the times where I’m hanging out in the bedroom with my son and my phone vibrates, do I have the discipline to simply be present with my son and ignore the looming notification.  I’m far from having this figured out, but I’m working on it.  I’ve tried to make sure that at certain times I don’t have my phone out and just be with my family.  We don’t usually just leave the tv on as background noise when we are playing in the living room. When we are reading the bible as a family, texting isn’t okay.

The New York Times had an article describing the love we as americans have for our technology and it was a bit revealing:

“But most striking of all was the flurry of activation in the insular cortex of the brain [when presented with an iPhone], which is associated with feelings of love and compassion. The subjects’ brains responded to the sound of their phones as they would respond to the presence or proximity of a girlfriend, boyfriend or family member.”

I don’t want this to be me.

When I’m with my family, I want to actually be with my family. If I love my phone the way I love my wife and my son, that’s a problem.  I’m not getting rid of technology and I’ll still probably use it more than the average person, but I’m also working to be cautious.  And that starts at my house.

How are you trying to be cautious with your consumption of technology?

Photo Credit: NBC News Facebook

Erik Wahl

[tentblogger-vimeo 31112563] I've recently come across some of the work of Erik Wahl.  He is an artist, which doesn't say much considering he makes it his goal to make sure we realize that we are all artists.  More specifically he is a graffiti style artist and a speaker.  The way he mixes his painting presentations as a part of his business presentations is incredible, even in the short clips that are available on his website.  He also has a book coming out this summer called Unthink that I am making sure to keep on my radar. If you haven't heard of him yet, check him out.