After thinking about my statement, “Secondly, “how can Christ’s life be formed in us? This is accomplished by studying Christ’s life. It would be hard to have something formed in us, if we didn’t get familiar with it” in Friday’s blog… I realize “studying” is only the beginning… because again simply “knowing” about something and not living it is actually dangerous. In my opinion the difference between “knowing” and “doing” is where true Christ-likeness lies!

To have Christ’s life formed in us we must put it into practice; we must LIVE IT! DO IT! This is where Christians have done the greatest damage to the name of Christ… when we “talk it, but don’t walk it”.

Paul later in the book of Galatians tells us exactly what “Christ’s life being formed in us looks like”… Galatians 5:22 – 24 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.”

Our life (if it’s being formed in the image of Christ) will exude LOVE, JOY, PEACE, PATIENCE, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, FAITHFULNESS, GENTLENESS and SELF-CONTROL!

Of course, just like with any imperfect person, there will be flaws, failures, set backs, mistakes, sins, and short comings for which we are all guilty of… BUT… I truly feel (again, my opinion) if there was a way to measure our "good vs. bad out-flow" we should register heavier on the GOOD things coming from our life.

For example; 70% of the time our life should be proclaiming (in how we actually live… not just words) the list mentioned above and 30% of the time we’ll cut you some slack. Make sense?

*** PLEASE PASS ALONG MY BLOG TO A FRIEND***

Christ-like – pt 1

Galatians 4:19 "My little children, again I feel the pain of childbirth for you until you truly become like Christ." – NCV

So what did the apostle Paul mean “become like Christ” when he wrote this letter (Galatians) to the churches he founded in southern Galatia while on his first missionary journey?

Another translation says, “May Christ be formed in you”… what does it mean to be “Christ like” or rather how can I be “Christ like”?

First, to be Christ like simple means our lives should be a reflection of Christ’s life, and we get a pretty clear picture of His life in the Gospels. The bible says in Acts 10:38 “…God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.” There is where we start; wherever you go, whoever you meet – be good, and do good.

Secondly, “how can Christ’s life be formed in us?” This is accomplished by studying Christ’s life. It would be hard to have something formed in us, if we didn’t get familiar with it.

Let’s be honest here… we have all come across people who have been “in Church” or a “Christian” for many years… yet they are very UN-like Christ. How is that?

That’s a heck of a question that baffles me honestly! Because when you ask these people if they should be nice to people, they would say “yes”, yet they aren’t nice to people. I am even shaking my head now as I reflect on this mystery.

I will give this more thought and blog on it the next few times to help us all truly allow Christ’s life to be formed in us.

To be continued…

A Day in My Shoes

Have you ever wondered what a “pastor” does in a day? Well here is a peek into my life.

I woke up at 5:25am this morning; I used the restroom (TMI, but it's true) while I read a chapter from the 4:8 Principle. I then prayed from about 6:00am til 7:00am. I then went to the gym around 7:20am and worked out til 8:20am. Then I showered, shaved and ate breakfast (2 eggs).

I got to work at 9:45am, set up my computer, studied 1 Corinthians 3, talked with Brandon about the Family service this weekend and some other various church services we are planning for in 2008.

My first appointment was at 11:30am with a new church attendee, Tim Cupp. He heads up the Kansas Chapter of a great ministry called, Hard Hats for Christ. Great guy.

12:30 – 1:00pm – Lunch (Black bean burritos that Jana made, yummy! Of course all organic and vegetarian)

1:00pm - I then had the pleasure of spending about 2 hours with Greg Montague who is the pastor at Southwoods Christian Church in Overland Park, Kansas. Greg and his family founded the church back in 1990 and have seen God do some wonderful things. It was a pleasure meeting him, touring their facility and hearing his story. The thing that impressed me the most about Greg was his pure and sincere heart to help people find life through Christ.

3:30 – 4:30pm I then headed to pick up the kiddos from school, and back to office to get some other work done for this coming Sunday.

4:30pm – Head home to be with family!

Then from 7:00 – 9:00pm – I get to gather with about 25 people from OLF to have a Bible Study/Discussion. Always rich and rewarding!

9:30pm - I will read a little bit, then crash!

Yes, my life is pretty exciting... this is why I have posted "A Day in My Shoes"... to amaze you!

When Life Doesn't Go as Planned - pt 3

Without taking the time to go through all the examples we see in scripture of people who faced barriers, hurdles or dead ends and how they handled those times… let me just sum up what I see is the common thread through each story – it’s HOPE!

We all have had life NOT go as planned; the house we bought to “flip” (fix up, then sell for a profit) doesn’t sell, and we actually take a loss, the job that we had that we thought was secure and wasn’t, the love-making we thought would produce a child, but it hasn’t, the un-timely death of a loved one, the sickness that was only a cough turned into something life-threatening, the church you started that you thought would be running 1,000 people by now. On and on it goes; life not going as planned.

This is what author Seth Godin calls the DIP. The Dip is when times get tough and things are no longer easy, everything you touch only turns to plastic rather then gold, things aren’t as fun anymore. This is when we see what people (he says “companies”) are made of. He said many companies quit during the dip, and they miss out on all the blessings on the other side of the dip. You can quit, settle, or fight life through and keep pushing forward.

I do not know what you are going through right now, but my encouragement to you is DON’T GIVE UP! Keep HOPING, keep the FAITH, and keep BELIEVING.

I do not agree with the philosophy of, “oh don’t give people a false sense of hope”. Hope is many times all we have… and we should always keep HOPE ALIVE!

When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned – pt 2

2 Chronicles 15:7 "So you must be brave. Don't give up! God will honor you for obeying him."


As I struggle with this issue within my own life I find it very propitious to see that there are many examples in the Bible of people who had the very same struggles I am facing in my life. And what is just astounding is that I get to peer into their life and see the outcome - whether it worked or not. Don’t we all wish we could do that with situations we face? If God would just show me the end result of each choice so I could make the one to get the result I am wanting. Though I must admit, there have been those times God did clearly reveal to me the answers to some of life tough choices I was facing; many times through scripture, other times through an inner witness, or a trusted friend. I wish I was more spiritual like some people who God audible speaks to (so they claim). That is wonderful for them, though I have never heard an audible voice… strong sense in my heart, yes, but no audible voices (and if anyone says they've heard an audible voice - yikes, be skeered).

As I have wrestled with God about some of the dreams He gave me I am reminded of Moses and His dream to deliver his people from Egyptian slavery and it wasn’t near as easy as he had hoped... there were one too many plagues I am sure. Then not to mention the 40 years roaming on the backside of the desert with a bunch of whiner complainer types (that'll make you want to jump off a bridge).

As I began to run through just my memory of bible stories I thought of one of my favorites; Joseph - I would imagine that as his stomach rumbled from hunger in the prison cell he thought, "God when you gave me that dream about the fat cow and skinny cow deal that I told to my brothers, I don’t see where prison is fitting into that dream of me becoming a great leader".

On and on I could go… So, what can we learn from them, and others in the Bible?

When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned – pt 3... tomorrow!

When Life Doesn't Go as Planned - pt 1

I just celebrated my 39th Birthday, and I am happy with my life, my marriage, my children, my career, my friends, etc. Though, if I can take a risk and be open and honest with you… not everything in my life is as I planned, or even as I would have thought or hoped it would be (if that makes sense).

I don’t mean that I thought I would have been an Astronaut, but now I am a pastor. What I mean is that I thought I’d be farther along in life, especially in ministry… like with Olathe Life Fellowship; we just celebrated our 5th year anniversary. It’s going well, especially considering most churches fail in the first 5 years, and the average church in America is 80 people, and OLF is 300-400 people (actually 600 people call us their home church, but you only see many of them on Easter – ha!). But if I am honest - the dreams I had for the church are happening, but not near as fast I had hoped or dreamed.

What is your dream? What did you plan for your life? Is it going as you planned? Is it as you thought? Are you where you thought you would be? Is your life what you wanted it to be? Questions I am sure you struggle with just as I do. But the ultimately question is in the title of this blog; what do you do when life doesn’t go as planned? Do you quit? Some people do! Do you get sour? Many people do. Do you get bitter? I know some people who have! Do you just settle? I hope not!

James 1:12 God will bless you, if you don't give up when your faith is being tested. He will reward you with a glorious life, just as he rewards everyone who loves him.

Part 2 of When Life Doesn’t Go as Planned … tomorrow! We’ll take a look at some pretty famous Bible Characters and see what they did when life didn’t go as planned.

Teach

Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

In this very well known and even frequently quoted scripture Jesus is speaking to His disciples (the believers, the “Christians”, those of faith, most likely YOU). And what did He say? If you will allow me the liberty to embellish a bit, I think I can make it pop!

“Listen gang, I am the guy with all the authority, it was given to me from my Dad, God, the big man Himself… so stop sitting around getting spiritually fat and GO MAKE DISCIPLES yo! Baptize in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Also, there is no way I can do all the teaching to reach the whole world and everyone in it, so you need to TEACH. And listen, I am with you, so don’t worry about a thing!” (Timmy's Revised Translation)

One challenge I have observed in my 31 years as a Christian is it is easy for us to become narcissistic; which basically means “self-centered”… *we come to church asking what’s in it for me, what are you going to teach me, how is this church going to bless me, what activities do you have for me, what classes do you have for me? A better question for us to ask is - what can I do for this church?

“Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country” – J.F. Kennedy

*Obviously the church will need to be an over-all fit for you… (style, philosophy, core doctrine, mission & vision, etc.) once you have decided it's a fit, jump in and contribute to it becoming a great church!

God's Heart

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

I just returned from a meeting with a dozen local pastors; Gary Kendall who pastors Indian Creek Community Church, Pastor Ron from New Journey Church, Pastor Greg from Southwoods Christian Church, Adam Hamilton from Church of the Resurrection, Matt from Westside Community Church, and a few others I did not get a chance to talk to personally.

What I love and appreciate is the heart of each pastor to fulfill their specific God-given Mission for their church.

When I reflect on the body of Christ (the church) there is one thing, if I can be honest here, that is lacking… well actually two things; true maturity and love. Both these go hand in hand… when you are truly mature it’s visible through our love walk.

When people talk about going deeper in their Christian walk that can mean a million different things for a million people… for the Catholic it’s more prayers and liturgical stuff, for the Pentecostal it means more passionate praise and worship and gifts of the spirit operating (manifesting) in a service, for the Baptist it means more in-depth verse by verse Bible teaching… on and on it goes. All that to say… what DEEPER means to Jesus, and should mean to us, is MORE LOVE for God and each other! Period.

The Apostle Paul dealt with this a lot… he was constantly trying to get people to LOVE one another… especially within the body of Christ. I mean seriously, if you consider yourself a Christian YOU of all people need to love and appreciate everyone and their spiritual journey without judgment.

So what breaks God’s heart? Anything not done in LOVE!

Eve

When did legalism begin?

We can go all the way back to the Garden; the place it all began. Genesis 3:1-3 “Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.”

Now Eve, is that really what God said? Let’s look at what God actually said, Genesis 2:15-17 “The LORD God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it. And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for on the day you eat from it, you will certainly die.”

Interesting, Eve ADDED to what God said. God just said to NOT EAT of it; He didn’t say you couldn’t touch it.

Proverbs 30:5 “Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die.”

Part of what legalism is - is ADDING to scripture, making a law or rule with something God didn’t actually say. Drinking alcohol is one example. Nowhere in scripture are we forbidden to drink alcohol, but some religious organizations (and people) have condemned the consumption of alcohol. And their argument is somewhat legitimate, but still wrong. They often say, “Well nothing good can come of it… or the end result is drunkenness and orgies… ” Well, okay… I know a lot of people who drink and have never been drunk, nor have they engaged in an orgy.

That argument just completely falls a part when you apply it to other things that are sin in excess. For example gluttony; if I apply their argument then I must quit eating, because I could over-eat and become fluffy, and dance naked in Target.

Don't Run

As many of you know I love to read, and I have read many wonderful books over the years, but right now I am reading a book that I would have to say is up in the TOP 5 greatest books I’ve ever read list. It’s entitled, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter Scazzero.

Over the last 5 years as a pastor I have been amazed, hurt, surprised and confused by long time Christians and their immaturity. They know the Word, they Tithe, they Serve, they Love Jesus yet there is something missing. (Disclaimer: I am in no way slamming or condemning or criticizing… I am simply stating a fact). They spiritualize away conflict, they hide their brokenness behind spiritual practices, they judge other people’s spiritual journey, and they deny the past’s impact on their present lives and their faith is somehow challenged when someone disagrees with them.

I have asked myself and others; what is the deal? Well I have found the answer in this book! The author Peter Scazzero says, “I truly believe the greatest gift we can give the world is our true self living in loving union with God. In fact, how can we affirm other people’s unique identities when we don’t affirm our own? Can we really love our neighbors well without loving ourselves?”

Bottom line is you can not be truly Mature Spiritually unless you are Mature Emotionally. And to be Emotionally Mature takes a lot of inward reflection, tough conversations which to be honest is difficult sometimes. It will cause many emotions to rise up within you… but the end result is worth it! But for some people it is just easier to run.

Don’t run!