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A new weekly rhythm

January 4, 2024 / / 1 Comment

This year I’m trying to be more intentional about my writing. Some have said they enjoy having a place to disconnect from the stuff of life, so enjoy. Part of this new rhythm of writing intentionality will hopefully include a weekly devotion. We’ll cover all sorts of devotion-y topics. Things like prayer and bible study and transformation and who knows what. It’s still early in the year! Today though we talk prayer.

We’ll call this devotional thought Unleashing the power of prayer. Wow the title just sounds cool doesn’t it!?

I have a quilt in my house that my grandma started to make for my wife and I before we got married. Since she died before I got married, my wife’s grandma finished it. It’s a pretty cool gift that we don’t really use because I don’t want it to get ruined.

If you’ve ever looked at a quilt, you know there are patches of fabric sewn together to form a cool tapestry of shapes and colors. If we were to imagine our lives to be a tapestry like this, we would see that prayer is the thread that holds it all together. Weaving into this piece and out of that one, the prayers of our lives tie all the sorted and disjointed pieces into one beautiful whole. Often though the prayers go unseen and forgotten.

The power of our prayers isn’t in the cool words we use or the big theological terms. We don’t need to quote a bunch of bible verses or shout really loud. God’s actually close than you think and he does not have a hearing problem.

The power of prayer is found in the little pieces of our lives that we bring and the one to whom we bring them. Prayer is a sacred conversation with the God of the universe. (no not a conversation with the universe but the one who made the universe – big distinction!)

Matthew 21:21-22 in a paraphrased way say If you have faith and do not doubt, whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive. This is huge! First of all it’s not saying you’ll get a new car if you just pray hard enough. It’s saying that if you have faith in God and don’t doubt the power found in Jesus, then you’ll pray for the right things and you’ll see those things come about.

The power of prayer is a pretty cool thing that we often overlook. We tuck prayer away as that thing we do when we have a big test coming up, or before we go in for surgery. We have no problem praying when the car is sliding out of control on icy roads. We don’t even mind saying a quick “atta boy Jesus” when we score the game winning touchdown.

But the power of prayer isn’t found as much in the touchdown Jesus moments, good scores on test or everything going perfect days. The power of prayer is best experienced in the regularity of the everyday. We find it in the ugh it’s Monday again moments in life.

So grab the quilt of your life, all the little pieces, no matter how torn or tattered. Bring them to God in prayer. Let him be the golden thread that binds your patchwork life together into a beautiful tapestry of faith. That’s how we can experience the power of prayer.

Intentionality

January 3, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Accidents happen. I know that. Some accidents are pretty destructive. I remember getting a call one day that someone in my family was in an accident. I rushed to make sure everyone was ok. And sure enough all humans were fine, but the car…not so much. Accidents, in many cases, result in something getting broken, damaged, or disrupted.

But there are some things in life that are happy accidents. These are the kinds of things that happen accidentally and still end up leaving you better off than had they not happened. You leave late for work and end up just missing a crash at the end of your road. You drop something on the floor in your bedroom. And when you bend over to pick it up, you find the ring that you lost weeks ago.

Accidents come in all shapes and sizes. Some are good. Some not so good. And some downright terrible. But rarely does something get built by accident. Rarely do we make massive improvements without some form of a plan. Enter today’s word: intentionality.

Intentionality, by definition, means the fact or quality of being done on purpose or with intent.

That’s well and good but let’s simplify that a bit. Intentionality is doing something on purpose, in a manner that’s well thought out. Risks are calculated. Losses evaluated. Plan established. Steps mapped out. ON purpose. NOT on accident.

As we start a new year, many people are going to write some goals for 2024. Lose weight. Run longer distances. Save more money. Pay off debt. Eat healthier. Get an advanced degree. Graduate. Whatever the goal, or resolution, you’re not going to do this accidentally. You need some form of intentional plan to make it happen.

Let’s take lose weight as an example. You can’t just wake up one morning and say Today’s the day. I’m going to lose 25 pounds. Gain muscle mass. Lessen my waist size by 2 inches. Then expect the fat to magically melt away. You need some form of a plan and you have to be intentional about it!

You need to find a gym or get some workout gear. You need to dump the Doritos out and replace them with something that grows out of the ground, like celery. (By the way, just typing that sounds gross!) You need to get some workout clothes. Maybe talk to a friend who knows exercise or get a personal trainer or at least watch a YouTube video. You need to set an alarm to get up a little earlier. You should probably block off time on your calendar so nothing gets in the way. A menu plan should be created to make meal prepping a little easier. Packing up some healthy, grab and go kind of snacks will make this more of a reality as well.

You see it takes intentionality. You have to make a plan and set it in motion. Having a friend to hold you accountable is probably a really good idea. I know for myself, there are mornings I just don’t want to get out of bed to go workout. I mean I live 30 minutes from the gym. But I have a friend I meet there and I know if I don’t show up I leave him high and dry.

It’s not just with New Year’s resolutions though that we need to be intentional. It’s the same thing with our personal and professional development. Things don’t just happen accidentally. We need to be intentional.

As a pastor, I meet a lot of people who treat their faith like a happy accident waiting to happen. It’s like they think showing up for worship on a Sunday will get just enough Jesus on them to get them out of a bind. But that’s not how it works. You need to be intentional.

Story after story in the Bible shows us that our faith grows by being intentional. People have to take time to read what God says in the Bible before they can hear what he tells them in answers to prayers.

The same is true in leadership. We can’t lead accidentally. We need to be intentional. We need to make plans and do our best to stick to them, or communicate changes as they need to be made so people can keep following.

Intentionality is a massively powerful tool that everyone needs in their toolbox. You can’t oops I did it again your way through life. And yes that reference is for all of you pop music fans from the early 2000s.

The long and short here is take time to be intentional. Slow down. Map out the plan. Set some benchmarks. Bring in someone to hold you accountable. It may cost you some extra time, effort, or money now, but in the long run it will benefit you more than you can realize.

What Do You Do?

January 2, 2024 / / 2 Comments

This is one of my least favorite questions ever. Inevitably I get asked this question by someone I’ve recently met or with whom I’m just getting a relationship built. And as soon as this question is answered, the conversation stops. I mean the conversation stops as abruptly as a car hitting a brick wall.

Part of the reason is my title. Some people have the title of CEO and it sounds all spicy and cool. Others have Officer or Engineer or Lead something or another. But my title is scary for some people. What do you do? I’m a pastor.

Insert the sound of a car screeching its tires coming to a stop.

The next thing that happens is one of three options. The least likely is for the person to say something like Oh that’s super cool! I’ve always wanted to know a pastor. Admittedly, this one is so unlikely that it’s never actually happened! But I guess it always could?

The next potential reaction would be for the conversation to just stop and the person to act like I no longer exist. This has actually happened a couple of times. It’s almost as if we’re having a great conversation. They find out I’m a pastor, and then I disappear. It’s like I vanish from their midst and they go on to something else like I’ve been transported through some wormhole into a different dimension of time and space. It’s a very uncomfortable feeling.

The most common reaction I get is Oh wow I’m sorry! As weird as this sounds, it always gives me a chuckle. You’re sorry? Really? For what? It’s not like someone held a gun to my head and told me to be a pastor or else. Actually I had a few people who tried to convince me to do something different with my life. What this question actually means however is Oh crap! I’m so sorry! I know I said something that probably offended you and now you’re going to say some magical phrase that’s going to get me banished to hell forever. Or something close to that anyway.

I think the problem is that people, and by people I mean those not connected to a church and those connected to a church, really don’t know what it means for a person to be a pastor. I don’t intend for that to be demeaning toward people by any means. It’s just most people have a pretty limited view of what a pastor does.

I’m the backside of many of those must be nice to only work one day a week kind of jokes. And yes I do know they are joking. But I also think it does show that many people, again both inside and outside of the church, don’t really know what it is that I do.

What do you do? Ok so let’s hit the obvious. I preach and teach about the Bible on Sunday. That’s kind of the given part of this whole scenario. What most people don’t know however is how long it takes to get ready for a given Sunday. I mean when I stand up front on a Sunday without notes and no cool teleprompter, there are 20+ hours that go into making that a reality. I could skimp on that and lessen the teaching but if I do that I should be fired. Without a script or anything it may look like I’m just winging it, but there’s a lot that goes into those couple of hours on a Sunday.

Add to that, there’s preparing small group material, overseeing other staff members, being a volunteer coordinator for over 150 volunteers throughout the year, party planner for those who want fun events but don’t know how to plan them, ensure that all the wheels are greased and running smoothly. Oh then there’s visiting those who are in hospitals and shut ins. Being involved in the community enough that the community knows we exist and are here for them. Did I mention being somewhat accessible nearly 24-7?

What do you do? Well, I’ve canceled vacations because someone has been on their deathbed. I hear some of the most awful stories of brokenness imaginable. Stories I can’t share with anyone, even my wife, because part of being a pastor is confidentiality and trust. I have to watch people say and do some pretty dumb things and not react too harshly in the moment. (sometimes I’m better at this than others).

What do you do? I get up a 2am when you’re having the worst night of your life. I come to your bedside when you’re terrified. I’m the one standing in the room when your loved one is struggling with their final moments. I’m there to carry you when your marriage is shattered. I shift my schedule to meet with you because you have a day job and my schedule is more flexible. I stand in the room with the lifeless body until the coroner comes. I hold in my emotions so you feel free to unload yours.

What do you do? My favorite is when people tell me they’ve just finished a long 3 week stretch of working 60 hours a week. I mean that can be tiring I’m sure. If I were to log my hours, I’d say more than 3 out of every 4 weeks I’m logging about 60. From time preparing sermons to praying for you, from practicing to preaching, from creating programs to coming in to pinch hit when someone can’t show up, from teaching at least 2 different groups on 2 different topics per week to so many more things that you’re already bored reading this.

What do you do? I carry the spiritual, emotional and at times physical needs of over 250 people. I take it very seriously. If you know me, then you know what I do is give up myself for those +/-250 people. And lest you think this is me complaining, let me be very clear. I choose to do it again year after year, month after month, week after week, day after day.

Being a pastor isn’t just what I do. It’s who I am. It’s not just a job. It’s my very calling. This is what I’ve been made to be. I could do a million other things, but none of them are what God made me to do. What do I do? Well, simply put, I’m a pastor. More than a job, this is my life. And I’m so honored to be able to do all of it.

Twas The Night Before…

December 24, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Twas the night before Christmas, when Mary and Jo
In a manger were resting for their baby to show
A stable was where they would make up their beds
And straw was the pillow they’d use for their heads.

The evening was ending, the time was at hand
A baby named Jesus was born in that land.
She wrapped him up tight and swaddled him close
With this child came God’s love, and a heavenly dose!

And when he was born heaven opened its light
And shined on some shepherds in a field that dark night.
They fell to the ground and were filled with great fear,
But the angel spoke quickly, “Do not shed one tear.”

I bring you good news of great joy on this night
A child has been born to take all your fright.
Yes a son has been born and Christ is his name,
More angels then showed to sing of his fame.

O Glory and Honor
Yes praise to the King
O Glory and Honor
Let your peace here reign.
He came down from heaven
He came down for all,
To die for you, Rise for you
Saving you all!

We all know the story, we’ve heard it before,
How he died and he rose to open heaven’s door.
A cross and some thorns were the gifts that we gave,
His life for ours, it’s us he did save.

And now, in our churches, we gather and sing,
All honor and glory to this child, our king.
For he is our hope and our peace and our light
Yes he is God’s love that came Christmas night.

Now off to your homes, go forth with God’s blessing.
The Father and Spirit and Son you surrounding.
May God bless you this night, as he shows you his love.
Merry Christmas to you, may you know God’s Great Love!

An Unexpected End

December 23, 2023 / / 0 Comments

Our final stop on this Advent journey is most certainly an unexpected place. Before we can really understand the events of the next couple of days, we need to see their unexpected end. We take it for granted mostly because we know the end of the story, but hit the pause button today and think about this one. 

Jesus was the long expected child to be born. John 1 tells us that He was born to be a light in the darkest place imaginable. He would bring peace to a people who knew no such peace. He would instill joy in the hearts of all who would know him. 

Imagine the look on Mary’s face when she held him that first time. The shock that Joseph experienced when he heard his tiny cry. Then fast forward just 33 years. 

The same face that smiled as she held her first child now has a hard time seeing anything through the tears on her face. The light that came into the world for a moment is overshadowed by darkness once again. The peace that rang through the hillside at the birth of this baby, has quickly turned to shouts of death and murder. The life that came in a manger would now be laid bare on the cross. 

This is the story of Advent. It’s the story of Jesus. It’s the story of why he came the way he came. None of it matters if this is missing. The unexpected end would bring an unexpected result…his death would mean our life. If his life meant our peace and joy in this life, his death would amplify that peace and expound on that joy. His unexpected end means our unexpected beginning! 

Sacrifice

December 22, 2023 / / 0 Comments

An unexpected word as we sit just days before Christmas is the word sacrifice. We don’t think of sacrifice during a season of light and joy and peace and hope and love. Sacrifice is for other holidays. It’s for other times of year. We talk about sacrifice during Lent and the time when Jesus died on the cross, but during Advent it’s not really even on the radar. But that’s what this time of year really should be for all of us who are in Christ Jesus. 

In Isaiah 9:1-7, Isaiah continues to paint the picture of the coming King. He would be powerful and mighty. He would reign not with fist and weapon but with dignity and honor and power. He doesn’t need an army to fight for him or swords to vanquish his enemy. He wins by sacrifice. And because of His sacrifice we are called to sacrifice as well. 

That whole Jesus as King imagery really destroys the innocent, meek baby in the manger. Doesn’t it? We see him laying there with a blanket wrapped around him. Maybe he’s smiling. Maybe he’s sucking his thumb. Cute and cuddly. But Isaiah says we are to pledge our allegiance to Him. We’re to get rid of all things that are not Him from our lives so that we can focus on Him. 

As we near the day of His birth consider what kings you’ve brought into your life. There are traditions that often overrule the real meaning of Christmas. We sit around our trees on Christmas morning instead of standing around his altar. We bow to our packages instead of bowing before his throne. This advent take time to reflect on the unexpected response God commands from us. 

Leave the kingdoms of this world behind and revel in the wonder of the Jesus’ Kingdom.

How Do You Respond To A King?

December 21, 2023 / / 0 Comments

If we stay in Isaiah 9 for another day, we see that Isaiah is inviting us to have an unexpected response. Normally when we think of Jesus, we have thoughts of warmth and compassion. We see him as a baby in a manger. We think we need to accept him into our hearts. We talk about Jesus as a close companion throughout life, which is the truth. But this is not the picture Isaiah paints. 

Isaiah talks about the coming Messiah, the one we call Jesus, as a king. When we think of kings in our world, we certainly don’t think of inviting them into our hearts. We don’t wonder how we can experience their compassion. We don’t really even try to get into their presence. When we encounter kings in life, we bow in reverence. We stand humbly and honor their position and their authority. 

Isaiah here is reminding us that as we journey through Advent and arrive at that Unexpected Christmas, we should see him not only as a loving God who saved his people. We should also encounter him as King of kings. We should bow our knee and humbly enter his presence. 

We’ve grown so accustomed to the things of church life. Religion has become merely an action done in time that we’ve lost the power of Jesus as King. Invited into the presence of a king, we should do what Paul says in Philippians 2 every knee shall bow. 

The unexpected child born to unexpected parents to an unexacting people to fulfill his unexpected plan should bring an unexpected response. When we see Christmas for what it really is, our response will become one of honor and humility, exaltation and a life altering praise. How will you respond to your king this Christmas? 

God’s Math

December 20, 2023 / / 0 Comments

If you remember from yesterday, we were surprised by the unexpected light that God brought into the darkness of the war torn regions of Galilee. It was into that very place, Nazareth of Galilee, that Jesus would shine the light of his glory. Such an unexpected response to all the destruction. But he doesn’t end there. 

Isaiah goes beyond just bringing light into darkness. Another unexpected response God brings in the midst of this Advent season is the promise of abundance in a time of great scarcity. Isaiah 9 tells the flip side of the devastation of the northern territories. They were blasted by war and enemy invasions, yet Isaiah says they will see by a new light. Then he goes on to say to this broken people you have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy. 

Could you imagine? Multiplied a nation that lost in battle? Increased joy to a people held captive by an oppressive government? This is the scenario into which Isaiah is writing. God will bring abundance of people and joy to our lives…no matter how bleak things seem in the moment. 

God’s math doesn’t always work the way we want it to. Things like the whole trinity where God is three yet one and one yet three. Or communion where we have bread and wine but at the same time body and blood. God’s math is unexpected. When we come to him with nothing, he can provide us everything. That’s the story of Christmas. 

God knew we couldn’t save ourselves. We are bent toward our own destruction. We’re like cars out of alignment that just continuously turn into oncoming traffic. It was into this empty and destructive world that God sent His Son. An unexpected response to a devastated world. 

Peace. Joy. Increase. When we have nothing but Jesus, we have everything we need.

Unexpected Light

December 19, 2023 / / 0 Comments

A war torn village. A land that is the center of invasions and destruction. A people that have fallen to their own folly. To a people in deep darkness a great light has come. This comes from Isaiah 9. It’s one of those famous passages we use around Christmas and really don’t spend a ton of time unpacking it. 

Isaiah is writing this portion of his prophecy to the territories in the northern region of Israel’s land. This was the portion of land through which the enemy nations would generally invade. They would break through the barriers and storm the cities. Towns were ransacked. Hope was all but lost. 

This is the picture of darkness. It’s a picture of devastation the likes of which many of us have never seen.   It is into this place and atmosphere of darkness that God would bring an unexpected response. When we see darkness and devastation we tend to get depressed and brokenhearted. We hang our heads low and play the whole woe is me game. 

But that’s not God’s response to darkness and devastation. As a matter of fact as we read the surrounding verses in Isaiah 8-9, we see that this actually was God’s plan. His plan was to allow for darkness to appear to win. He knew it was going to happen and he let it! 

Even though we get caught up in the moments of darkness and despair, we should find comfort this advent season that God doesn’t let darkness win. His promise was that he would bring an unexpected response to all of this darkness. It would be the sending of a great light. 

Now light and darkness are natural enemies. But in every instance in which they clash, light always wins. The unexpected response to the time of darkness would be that God would bring a blinding light that would shatter darkness and send it running. God’s theme for Christmas was to send Jesus, the very light of the world, to send darkness fleeing. The promise of Christmas is that God brings unexpected light into even our darkest moments.

Unexpected Birth

December 18, 2023 / / 0 Comments

There he was minding his own business. He had lived a long life and really didn’t have much to show for it. I mean he had possessions and a lovely wife, but in his day if you’re name didn’t pass to a son none of that really meant much. 

We’re looking at Isaac today, one of the most prominent examples of an unexpected person. But to get to Isaac, we need to first find Abraham, his dad. Abraham was an old man by the time God came to him and interrupted his day with the promise that he’d be a father soon. You could only imagine the shock that came to his heart (not to mention his face)! 

That child would’t just be any old child though. God promises in Genesis 17:16 I will bless her, and she shall become nations; kings of peoples shall come from her. That’s God talking about Sarah, his wife. Nations? They were almost 100 years old. She wasn’t able to have kids, so how in the world was this nations thing going to happen! And if you know anything about the Bible you probably know that she didn’t have literal nations of kids. She had Isaac. That’s one child, so what about this whole nation deal? 

That one child was all that was needed for nations to be part of her lineage. You see the one child that was born to Sarah was the most unexpected child she could have imagined. Not because he was a wonderful gift from God that would bring her much joy. No it was because that one child would bring us another child a few thousand years into the future. His name wouldn’t be Isaac or Abraham.  Instead, Jesus was his name. 

Jesus would establish another nation but his nation would be different than any other nation on earth. It wouldn’t have boundaries of land or kings living in palaces. His nation is eternal. It’s a universal kingdom that outlasts time and even space. And all of this because God allowed an unexpected child to be born to a couple near 100 years old. Talk about an unexpected birth!

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