Book Review: FEARLESS by Max Lucado

“Imagine Your Life Without Fear”

That’s the subtitle to Max Lucado’s new book FEARLESS that hit the streets today. Max talks about some real fears that ALL of us as humans deal with such as; Fear of not mattering, Disappointing God, violence, not having enough money, death and many more. FEARLESS is packed with truth from the Bible and scriptures that resonate with me. Max states in the book Jesus’ most common command, he states it like this: “His most common command emerges from the ‘fear not’ genre. The Gospels list some 125 Christ issued imperatives. Of these, 21 urge us to ‘not be afraid’ or ‘not fear’ or ‘have courage’ or ‘take heart’ or ‘be of good cheer’’’. Max’s choice for a subject is wonderful and Thomas Nelson did a fantastic job with the publishing.

What would our lives look like if we would fear less? This is something that I have asked a lot over the past eight months of my life. If we could grasp the consequences of fear and just how much fear affects the deepest fibers of our being and walked by the Spirit with less fear we would come closer to living the lives that God has intended for us.

With Us or Apart From Us?

Where is God? My theological background says that God is omnipresent. Jesus says in John 15:26, "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, {that is} the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me..." So if Father is omnipresent and Father's Spirit is with us why do we always seem to refer to Him as an abstract being? We seem to always refer to Father as "the Father", "the Creator", or "God"...all of these things are true and are good ways of portraying who He is. But for me, that makes Him seem too abstract...too...far away. If Father is a part of us why do we refer to Him like He is apart from us? Why not refer to Him as if He is HERE, an active part in our lives and our conversations and all of our other relationships? After all, He is. Papa is here with me as I type the very words of this blog. He is with my wife as she gets a bowl of cereal. He is with my daughter who is still in the womb, maybe He'll convince her to come out. Haha. He is with you right now as you read this blog. I'm not saying that we don't have a good friendship with Father if we refer to Him in other ways. I'm just saying for me, I like to refer to Him like He is here, now, always. Like He is with us, not apart from us.

Please don't get me wrong...the spirit of this blog is not frustration, just things that I have noticed in my own life and in all the Christian institutions that I've been part of. I'm not trying to pick on anyone in particular, I'm just making observations and asking questions. The spirit of this blog is also NOT to suggest that this idea become instituted as part of our teachings, once again, just making observations and asking questions. By the way, feel free to be part of the discussion.

Love all,

Leader or Manager?

As I read the article in the link below, posted by an acquaintance of mine, I was reminded once again of who I am and who I need to become. Being a leader is what I strive for and I want to help others succeed above myself. As you read the article maybe you will be reminded of who you are and who you want to be...whichever side you fall on. Here's the link:

http://ow.ly/lh0o

Book Review: Everyday Greatness

“I must strip my vines of all useless foliage and concentrate on what is truth, justice, and charity.” –Pope John XXIII

Reader’s Digest Everyday Greatness is full of timeless truths that can relate and apply to all areas and aspects of life of life. The stories and quotes found within the pages of this book are filled with wisdom and encouragement for any and all who are seeking to live a better life. Whether you are wealthy and seeking to become a better businessman or you are an average, everyday Joe Everyday Greatness can help you on your journey. This book is for you.

Found within the pages and chapters of Everyday Greatness are stories of triumph, glory, joy, peace, struggle, temptation, trials, and perseverance. The authors of these stories are people that we see everyday in the world around us. This book contains truths to help you with many areas of life including areas like searching for meaning, starting within, respect, unity, integrity, charity, and overcoming adversity. If you are searching to achieve everyday greatness this book could help you. I give this book a four star rating!

“Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy” –The Cockle Bur

"Missional" What is it?

I think in order to be missional we have to define the mission. So, what is the mission? Is the mission to evangelize, teach, preach....those are some of the more popular ones. I must say I have nothing against any of those three previously mentioned terms, but what happens is that we (including myself in a group of people), as "Christians", sometimes mistake our particular gift as "the mission". The Apostle Paul makes it very clear in his epistles that not one part of the body is more important than the other. In fact, he says that without love everything else is unacceptable. So, again I ask what is the mission that Christ asked us to carry out as his followers? To go make disciples of all nations? Ah, so how do we do this? Well some of us will teach, some will preach, some will evangelize...all of us will (or should) use the particular gifts that we have been given by our creator, but that's not how. Paul says, "If I speak the languages of men and of angels, but do not have love, I am a sounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so I can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I donate all my goods to the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I gain nothing." So, one more time, what is the mission? How do we fulfill the great commission?

Love

Love is the mission. The mission is Love. Don't get me wrong, I'm not undermining the fact the we all need a Savior, The Savior, Jesus Christ, if anything I'm supporting it because there's no way we can accomplish this kind of love in and of ourselves, but I think sometimes we miss what Jesus is about or what "the Fathers business" is. Jesus calls himself "The Way", what is the way that he calls himself? The way of love, that is Jesus' way. Not dumb love, Jesus says at one point, "be wise as serpents and harmless as doves." As we interact with people and see where they need truth in there lives we don't just regurgitate the truth in their face...that's not harmless and its not love. That's actually kind of disgusting. Rather, we gently and craftily insert the truth with love. OK, so that was a little off the topic...kind of? As we love people and care for them and gently and lovingly speak the truth into their lives they will come closer to finding the Kingdom. This doesn't mean we aren't evangelizing, preaching, or teaching because we are, we are just doing it in "The Way" or the way the Father intended it to be. So, what is "missional".

Missional is living every second, every day, every conversation, every relationship in love. As we do this we come closer to the Father. As we do this we start to understand deeper the love that he has for us, the love that sent Jesus to the cross. The Father's love that is wrapped up in His grace and mercy. The peace that is found in the Father's grace and mercy. The unity that is found in the Father's grace and mercy. The joy, patience, long suffering, kindness, faith, gentleness, self-control that are all found in the Father's grace and mercy. Yes, love is found in grace and mercy. All the fruits of the Spirit stem from grace and mercy...that's the Father's love. Shouldn't it also be ours? Every interaction with every person that we have should be filled with love (grace and mercy). Those of us living life trying to strive for that, those of us bringing our bodies under strict discipline (as Paul puts it) do it so that the Father's love, which comes through Christ, may be spread to the utter most parts of the earth. That's being missional. That's living a missional life. Jesus was missional. Should we be also? You decide.

About Me

You probably don't know me. Thats why I thought I would make my first blog one that tells you (the redaer) somethings about my life. I just haven't decided whether to start with the present and go back or start with the past and come forward. Let's see...

OK. I'll start with the present time and go backwards. I'm married to this smokin hot lady, who by the way is due to give birth to our little girl on September 30, 2009!! I currently am living in Taylorville, a town of about 12,000 people or so. I would kind of rather be in a bigger city area...but this is where we are right now and this is where i know that God wants us for now. We are helping to start a faith community about 15 miles away from here in Pana...an even smaller town of about 2,000. I work in the design business of a good friend of mine. Thus, I spend a great deal of my time with this friend talking about faith, God, culture, phsycology, philosophy, and just about anything else you can think of. I am currently seeking other employment, although a new job would take away more time from the process of starting of this faith community, which I don't really want but it'll all work out. That pretty much sums up the present...lets take a blast to the past now.

Before we came here to Taylorville we lived in Springfield, MO. There we spent time under the leadership of Tommy Sparger and the North Point team. At North Point we served in the Student Ministry and mentored some of the coolest students on the planet. Our time in Springfield also consisted of some time at Baptist Bible College...a very short time of three semesters. Thats about all that I could handle there...I now self educate and plan to finish the degree elsewhere at some point.

I originate from a very small town in Indiana...I hated growing up in the middle of nowhere, a place where the closest Wal-mart is 30-45 minutes away. It helped shape who I am today though. I grew up being bored most of the time and found myself in my teenage years getting invlolved in drugs and alcohol. I came out of that about three years ago when I felt deep inside me that God was calling me to the "abundant life". I felt that there was and is something better to life than all the drugs. This revelation came to me as I sat in a jail cell evaluating my life and wishing that I had not gotten in the car and driven home from the party completely wasted. I got halfway home anyway...hit the ditch and the polic were there before I knew it. Never the less, those mistakes all got me where I am today and are all a part of who I am today. Well thats the long and short of me. Not much to brag about, its just who I am and was created to be.