Category: Christian Living

  • If in doubt, teach the Bible

    A pile of biblesTwo or three times per week I hear from a youth worker asking me for a resource recommendation.

    When I’m asked that I’m torn. On the one hand I know (and sell!) a lot of great resources. On the other, I know that too many people are just going from resource to resource to resource.

    Over Resourced, Under Adapted

    In fact, one reason their ministry may be struggling is their inability to teach because they are merely communicating content. (Sidebar question: How do you know the difference between teaching & communicating?) They’ve never done ethnography for the students they are trying to reach (Instead just kind of know the students who come to their ministry already) so they would have no idea how to actually adapt a curriculum from its published form to the way it should be taught in their ministry.

    I’d never recommend buying a curriculum and teaching it in its published form. Even the person who wrote it had  to adopt it in ways during the publishing process that they wouldn’t teach it the way it is in the book.

    By Default, Just Teach the Bible

    Personally, I tend to swing the pendulum too far the other way. While I like an occasionally topical series to break things up, its my preference to just teach books of the Bible. All of the times when I’ve seen my small group or youth group grow the most it’s correlated with time spent, communally, in the Bible.

    For instance, a great small group discussion happens in James. Read the first chapter out loud together, then ask the journalism questions… “Who was this written to? What do I have in common with those people? What was the author saying to those people? What might be transferable to me? Why did the Holy Spirit inspire James to say that? How can you apply this to your life?”

    The Bible is the Ultimate Resource

    With a huge, blossoming marketplace of resources, it’s good to remember that the best resource is always the Bible. Maybe what I like to do is too far for you? My advice would be to spend at least 50% of your time doing just this… working your way through books of the Bible in unfancy ways. If we really want to get trendy we’ll bounce from an old testament book to a new testament one or visa versa. But seriously, God’s Word is in there so it should be your default, go-to resource.

  • Picking Faithfulness

    Each day is full of choice. Most are benign, seemingly meaningless. For some the payoff is immediate, like what to eat or wear or to do after work. For others the payoff is delayed, like plans you make, what you say to your kids, or the work you do.

    I’m learning that I have to be intentional to pick faithfulness instead of ease, experience, or even wisdom.

    If I’m honest… it’s the wisdom one that causes me the most trouble. All-too-often wisdom leads me to make the safest choice. It could also be that wisdom is different than Wisdom and little w wisdom often leads you to do the thing that makes the most sense instead of what is the most faithful.

    Recently, I was spending time in Hebrews 11, and it kind of hit me… in most of these cases the author of Hebrews is celebrating someone’s action which their contemporaries probably thought was reckless, lacked wisdom, or was downright stupid.

    • Abel’s sacrifice didn’t seem reasonable… it seemed too far.
    • Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years…
    • Noah built an arc in his backyard, everyone thought he was a moron until it rained…
    • Abraham was prosperous where he was at, but as an old man God told him to move, can you imagine what his poker buddies called him?

    On and on, Hebrews 11 drills home this point. Pick faithfulness. 

    • Faithfulness is wild, untamed, and unpredictable.
    • Faithfulness makes old men walk away from retirement.
    • Faithfulness redefines conventional wisdom.
    • Faithfulness asks you to exchange safety for trust.
    • Faithfulness will invite your friends to think you’re an idiot.
    • Faithfulness will ask you to do the bold– stupid in your friends eyes– while overcoming the weaknesses of your personality, position, and preparation.
    • Faithfulness calls preachers to become poets.
    • Faithfulness calls executives to become moms.
    • Faithfulness calls geniuses into factories.
    • Faithfulness calls the dyslexic to become physicists.

    Defy logics last stand and embrace faithfulness. 

  • It’s not good for man to be alone

    It is not good for the man to be alone.

    Genesis 2:18

    Disclaimer: I own a cat. I really like my cat. I don’t think all cat people are weird. (I’ve been to the dog park, it’s equal opportunity) I just imagined how amazing a companion this kind man would be with someone of his own species!

  • Friends, we need to calm down the rhetoric

    My morning devotions found me in Romans 13 this week. These are timely words from Paul, inspired by the Holy Spirit:

    Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

    This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

    As I meditated on these words, sat on them, stewed on them, on and on… here’s what I’m trying to work on.

    • The Evangelical hermeneutic is very simple. (How we read and interpret the Bible) We take the Bible at face value, unless the author makes it clear to do otherwise. This passage is plain talk, intended to be taken at face value by its recipients.
    • Paul was writing to Roman citizens… people whose government killed Christians for sport.
    • Paul didn’t give readers an out clause. Paul affirmed that Christians needed to respect and honor the emperor of Rome.
    • Paul doesn’t give Christians permission to publicly disrespect a leader, even one they disagree with vehemently. Instead he says the opposite. T

    The way I see it, it’s totally fine to be engaged in politics. Actually, I think it’s healthy to ask people to be more engaged and understand what’s going on. But lets be sure not to disqualify ourselves from ministry by expressing our political opinion in a way which Paul would label as sinful. 

    While the political parties are in full freak-out mode, wouldn’t it be great if level headed Christian leaders modeled Paul’s way of civic engagement?

    Don’t disengage. But help people engage in more healthy ways.

  • The Rule of Affinity

    The Rule of Affinity

    Two men had robbed a bank a few miles away and while being chased by the police made a wrong turn into our neighborhood. Full of canyons and dead ends the robbers got lost, ditched their car, shot at a cop, and ran into backyards a few hundred yards from our house. Soon a police helicopter hovered over our block.

    After a little while the sound was aggravating– infuriating even. It shook our house and rattled our nerves. While the police told us to stay inside and away from their barricades everyone was drawn out of their house by the thunderous claps of the helicopters blades.

    It stayed like this for 5 hours.

    That’s what it took for neighbors to talk. A police barricade. Locked down on a Saturday afternoon and each of us couldn’t stand being in our houses. With no way to escape… we were forced to talk. Names were shared, hands were shaken, houses were pointed to, stories were told, and we all got to know one another a little bit.

    The Rule of Affinity is so powerful in our culture that this is what it takes to meet the people who live within 300 yards of my bedroom. Power outages, blizzards, bad storms, earthquakes, and other moments that force us awake from our Affinity stupor reminding us that there are actual people behind those front doors and mailboxes.

    The Rule of Affinity is all-powerful. I don’t mean that it’s an axiom or a rule of thumb, I mean that it rules our lives like a king rules his people.

    • Where you work is defined by affinity.
    • Where you worship is defined by affinity.
    • Who you are friends with is defined by affinity.
    • What you do with your free time is defined by affinity.
    • What you eat? Affinity.
    • What you wear? Affinity.

    This list never ends because affinity rules our lives. Our affluence affords us choices. And our choices drive us to seek deeper and deeper levels of affinity. We do what we do because we like it and avoid what we don’t like.

    Think about it like this: Whenever you have a choice, the Rule of Affinity drives your choice to gather not by proximity but by affinity. 

    The internet, especially social media, amplifies this effect. Because you can find community with people just like you online you don’t need proximity. Affinity allows you to consider your best friends to be people you’ve never met face-to-face. You know 500 things about a stranger but nothing about a neighbor. That’s the power of the Rule of Affinity over your life.

    And yet, the Rule of Affinity is actually killing your soul. You feel like you’ve found community with people just like you but what you’ve really found is communal loneliness and further isolation.

    Affinity is shallow. It’s weak. It’s junk food. It lacks the full flavor and nutritional value of Proximity.  Intellectually, affinity is small. It’s easy. It’s drinking a Coke and calling it a fine vintage. It’s foregoing literature for a grocery aisle romance novel. One result is that we live in a society of psychiatric drugs. We medicate the pain caused by the Rule of Affinity’s malnutrition. Filled with false community and Affinity’s lies about our place in the world we lean on drugs to seek a normal we know nothing of. As we drive toward further and further affinity we gain more and more isolation, our soul starving our soul further, eventually leaving us a rotten core of our true selves.

    The Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, challenges us to reject the Rule of Affinity for the realities of Proximity. In the Garden, Satan tempted Eve with affinity… “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5) While Adam and Eve had perfect Proximity to God, Satan tempted them with the Rule of Affinity where they could gather with God on their terms.

    The Gospel overcomes the Rule of Affinity and re-introduces the Garden’s Proximity into our lives. Jesus’ re-introduction of Proximity looks at the bank robbers face and says, “There’s a better way. You seek something temporary and I offer something permanent and beautiful.”

    Jesus gutted the Rule of Affinity with His invitation to new way of living,

    Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

    Matthew 22:37-39

  • 10 Horrible Halloween Treat Ideas

    If you care about being Good News in Your Neighborhood, Halloween is one of the easiest days on the calendar to get out and meet a lot of people. Since 2005, I’ve written a number of posts encouraging fellow Christians to embrace Halloween as an opportunity to meet your neighbors.

    So I won’t rehash why we celebrate Halloween or re-share some of the things we’ve done in the past to practice hospitality.

    But I do want to say that not every idea is a good idea. And not every treat idea is a good treat idea. Every year my kids come home from trick-or-treating and lay out all of their candy on the floor. As they carefully examine each treat some of them get labeled as “junk.” (Something healthy. Or even a dime store toy.) Giving out “junk” is the biggest insult you can give a kind on Halloween night. Don’t be that guy.

    Here’s a list of 10 really horrible Halloween treat ideas NOT to try this year.

    1. Ketchup packets – Cheap, and you probably have a drawer full of them already. But I not a treat that’ll make a 6 year old happy.
    2. Bacon bits – Bacon is always a welcome addition. And bacon bits would be awesome with a snack sized Snickers. But little ziplocks of bacon bits would be gross.
    3.  Beef jerky – Jerky would look amazing to give away. In the dark it might look like poop, and kids would think that was funny, but an assortment of cured meats would be a bit too creepy.
    4.  KFC wet naps – Probably useful, especially if their face paint starts to run, but just don’t do this one. It’s really odd.
    5. Roll of electrical tape – I know its tempting to go through your garage to find random items to pawn off on kids. While a roll of tape would be a good bargain, most kids won’t know what to do with it.
    6. Sample size toothpaste – I get it. You work at a dental office and you get it for free. And why not encourage kids to brush their teeth after eating all of that candy. But no, really weird. Unless it looks like blood. Blood is cool on Halloween.
    7. Plastic spoon – Nothing says, “I hate you” quite like a random bit of disposable cutlery. Just don’t do this. Megan (11) said this would be the dumbest thing ever.
    8. Band aids – Really weird and gross. Say no to the adhesive bandage.
    9. A pickle – I love pickles. Probably more than I love bacon. But can you imagine the look on kids faces when you dropped a dripping wet pickle in their bag?
    10. Canned food item – Hold off on unloading that unwanted can of stewed chutney until Novembers canned food drive, OK?

    Question: What would be the worst costume you could wear if you wanted to become Good News in Your Neighborhood?

  • The upside of fear

    Stupid spreadsheet.

    Typically, I’m a pretty positive– upbeat — and self-confident person. I’m told I’m overly optimistic by my friends. But the past few weeks have brought about unfamiliar emotions. Negativity, melancholy, and anxiety. 

    And since these are unfamiliar emotions I haven’t quite known how to respond. In situations where I’m typically chipper I’ve been quiet. In moments I typically shrug off bad news and instantly turn it into a positive I’ve been silent. I’ve been asked for ideas on things and just not had solutions where I normally have been so dependable.

    It’s not that I don’t have stuff to say its that I think its time to be quiet and listen– I don’t want the wrong words to come out because of my emotional state so I just bit my tongue.

    It all goes back to the spreadsheet.

    The spreadsheet brought out fear I’d never had before. And, like all fear, it’s illogical and stupid.

    The Spreadsheet

    As a small business owner my income and expenses are all captured on a master spreadsheet. This gives me a month-by-month look at my business, where my money is coming from and where it is going. (Very similar to a personal budget.) Heading into the summer my balance sheet was very strong for the rest of 2012… this summer we had some record breaking months and some projects coming this fall which could double, even triple what we made in the same months of 2011.

    Then over the last few weeks I’ve had to revise some of some numbers down. At the same time I had to make these revisions we ran into a normal business cycle where I pay a lot of money out while I’m waiting for a lot of income to come in. (I call this cash poor, invoice rich.) When larger businesses hit these business cycles they take out short-term loans. But we’re small enough where we just float through these times with our savings.

    But it was those normal revisions and that normal business cycle which brought out all of that funky emotional junk.

    Factually speaking, the numbers aren’t even that bad. We will still make more than we need. We are totally fine. But the act of making those changes and seeing all that cash go out planted a seed of doubt in me which grew into fear. “What if the cash doesn’t come back?” “What if it gets worse?” “Why don’t I have ____ in savings for when this happens?” “Why don’t I have a line of credit at the bank in case to cover this better?” On and on and on.

    This is what I know about fear: Fear will make you dumb. Fear whispers lies in your ears. Fear makes you say no to things you should say yes to and visa versa.

    And all of that was true of me in August. Our last camping trip came at a perfect time. Just when I was thinking, “What am I going to do?” We went and looked at the stars and took hikes and laughed and giggled until bed time.

    Those 4 days gave me the perspective I so desperately needed: We are totally fine. 

    Sitting by the fire helped calm my nerves. It helped lower my anxiety. It reminded me that everything would be OK.

    The Upside of Fear

    Sitting in church the other day I think it all started to wash over me. Not all fear is bad. I’m afraid of what a spreadsheet says might happen in 3-4 months? Really? How could I be so stupid? Talk about a lack of perspective in light of all that I know about Our God! Talk about allowing emotions to rule over facts! Talk about putting your faith and trust in something really, really small!

    Here’s my observation: The only good kind of fear is the kind which leads you to taking positive action. 

    Photo credit: James Stark via Flickr (Creative Commons)

  • Be Kind, Not Nice

    I think Christians are too nice.

    Go to church, any church, and everyone is nice. Big smiles and hand shakes for everyone. Some churches hug a lot. Perfect strangers hugging. Lots of perfect strangers hugging.

    They kind of mash all of the fruits of the Spirit into one thing… being nice.

    But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

    Galatians 5:22-23

    I think many Christians confuse nice with kindness.

    • Kindness speaks the truth even if it hurts a lot, nice just lets you keep living a lie in hopes you’ll figure it out.
    • Kindness sits you down and listens to your pain, nice adds you to the prayer list or gives an empathetic response with no follow-up.
    • Kindness invests in a young leader for the long haul, nice smiles as you fail.
    • Kindness invites you over for dinner, nice says, “Good to see you.”
    • Kindness tells you when your idea sucks, nice wishes you well without believing in you.
    • Kindness gives you space to grow, nice expects you to gloss over the yucky parts.

    This list could go on for a while but the point is clear: Nice isn’t a biblical virtue, kindness is.

    When I describe a neighbor as “nice” it really means that I don’t know them all that well. “Oh, they’re nice…” That means they smile and say hello as I walk by with my dog. Or that means that they turn their light on at Halloween.

    I’ve found that my best friends aren’t always nice, but they are kind to me. They tell me the truth no matter what. They listen when I’m hurting. They invest in me beyond what I can do for them. They make time for me. They tell me when my ideas suck instead of letting me fail. They expect me to grow and give room/time for that to happen.

    But people in my life who I’m just nice with? Yeah, none of that is consistently true.

    As I reread the Gospels this summer I was overcome by this reality: Jesus wasn’t all that nice, but he was deeply kind.

    There’s a difference. Nice rips a whole in the Gospel and backfills it with religious jargon and feel good sand. Kindness stops you in your tracks, bandages your wounds, heals your dysfunction, pisses you off with its truth, confronts the lies of those in charge, and charges forward towards a new Kingdom reality.

    Oh, that we would be a people of kindness!

    Prayer: Lord, make us Christ followers who are kind. Help us forsake the nice for the full power of the Gospel in our lives, families, and ministries. Amen. 

  • He’s God and We’re Not

  • Routines

    Our house is a series of routines. 

    Kristen is usually the first one awake- her jogs often chase the sun from its slumber.

    Jackson and Paul wake up next, breaking the quiet in our house. Sometimes Paul will bring Jackson to our bed and we’ll all just kind of snuggle and slowly get up. Watching JT thumb suck, giggle, and play with words is an amazing way to wake up.

    Next comes breakfast and Elmo. I think Paul (9 next week) likes Elmo more than Jackson.

    I put water in the kettle for tea or coffee and sit down to write. “What will I write today?” Sometimes I wake up knowing what I will write, sometimes I have to look at Evernote, sometimes I stare at Biblegateway for a while until an idea pops up. Sometimes I ask Kristen and she just says… “Whatever you want.” I don’t know why I ask because that’s always her answer. But I think asking is part of my routine.

    I write a few paragraphs with Elmo in the background, waiting for the kettle to pop. Somewhere in there Megan wakes up. I say, “Good morning Megs” and she stares through me in a way only a pre-teen can. I exist, she likes me, but not yet. It’s too early.

    From there dad goes into work mode. I either head to my office downtown or stick around the house. That’s not really a routine so much as it is just a thing I do. It probably is routine, but maybe I just don’t want to call it that?

    The evening is kind of a reverse order of routines as everyone winds down. After dinner Kristen and I go for walk. We take Jackson and Stoney (our dog) for a walk all around the neighborhood. (Highlight routine right there) When we come home we get the kids ready for bed and the house finally grows quiet again.

    At some point Kristen and I look at each other, routines complete, and say “Today was a good day.” Even when it wasn’t we just lie to each other.

    Routine is Sacred

    Whether you have a daily routine like we do or your routine is more along the lines of a day-to-day thing, routine is part of being human. (Monday we ___, Tuesday we ____) When I am most tired or most anxious or most busy the first thing I lose is a connection to these routine. The kids thrive on this regularity, as well. Our family routine gives them freedom to know what to expect and what’s expected of them.

    Routine keeps us from chaos. But when chaos finds us sticking to our routines keep us sane.

    As I reflect on the big story of the Old Testament I see routine over and over again. The Law is establishing healthy, sacred routine. Mishnah goes into detail about the nuts and bolts of how the Law impacts the daily routines of different types of people. God is in the routine, the repetitive, and the mundane. While we can get hung up on and dependent on these routines they can also ground us and anchor us to our humanity.

    Routines help us know who we are and what our place is in the family.

    Last thought. Like all things sacred, there’s a fine line between honoring it because it’s sacred and making it too holy. We love our routines, we see the sacredness in them, we connect to God through them, but they aren’t our god. We worship a God who creates routine and holds all routines in the palm of His hand. But we also are fully aware that an omnipotent God can change our routines in a breath. We honor God above routine.

    These are my routines. Have you reflected on yours lately?