Can You Hear Me?

So, I got an upgrade on my cell phone last weekend.  I replaced my iphone 3 with a 4S.  I like it, its a nice phone.  It has the bells and the whistles, anything you could really ask for from a 'phone'.  I guess that is why I am drawn to it in the awkward moments when I am not doing something immeadiatly and have a few seconds of "me" time.  It's as if there are times when I can't stand empty space in my life.  I guess thats what is marketed too.  Get more things done in less time because if you gain a few moments maybe you can fill it playing Angry Birds or something.

The problem is that I see our whole society moving this direction.  It's beginning to give me an eery feling when I walk into a Starbucks and where you used to hear 'in depth' conversations and laughter, now all I see from time to time is people buried in an ipad, cell phone, or laptop...silently clicking, swiping, and typing away with earbuds in.

Technology has promised us greater efficiency, multitasking, and greater user experiances.  There is now so much to do...thank goodness for technology....right?

This morning, (after my iphone woke me up with it's alarm) I went and grabbed, get this, a book, well the Bible.  I started reading in John chapter 10.  I wont go on to give a commentary of John 10 although it is full of wonderful insight and dimention.  The crazy thing that stood out to me this morning is that Jesus says that his sheep KNOW him because they hear his voice.  They also know which voices are not the shepards and run from them.

There is so much that goes on during the day.  Our agendas are always full, we never let a dull moment go unoccupied.  Attention grabbing devices are available 24/7.  We struggle to know God's will for our life so we search the internet for atricles and video's to help...rearely does.

I believe that God is always speaking, but he is not going to try to compete with the other voices that are filling our world.  God is speaking, but when our prayers are filled with us rattling off our list of desires, saying amen and moving on we do not hear. 

I think it's about time we put down the phone.  I think its about time we realize that it is not us that initiates the prayer.  I think its about time we stop and listen.  We are in danger of not recognizing the Shepards voice, a voice that doesn't come through earphones.

Ready...Aim...Fire!

Last week I posted an early edition of the youth lesson. Well...this week I'm doing it again.  You Lucky Dogs, you.  Most of this lesson is derived from the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman (Specifically chapter 5)  Hope you enjoy!

Hey guys! For those of you that missed last week, we are on the second lesson in our Not a Fan series. Last week, I helped Taylor navigate the turbulent waters of the DTR talk and challenged us to begin to reflect on the relationship we claim to have with Jesus. Is it healthy or dysfunctional? Basically, we were trying to be honest with ourselves for a moment.

Tonight, I want to share with you the story of Matt Emmons. Many would have considered him the best in the world at shooting a rifle. In fact, not only did he make it to the 2004 Olympics to compete against the world’s best marksmen, he was blowing away the competition. He was competing in the 3 position 50 meter rifle event and it came down to the last shot. He was in such a lead that he didn’t even need a bulls eye to win the gold metal it just needed to hit the target. His final shot he made would have qualified as an 8.1 which in more than enough to secure 1st place and the title, but in an extremely rare turn of events Matt, standing in lane 2, fired at the wrong target in lane 3 and scored a ‘0’ for missing the target completely. He would eventually finish in 8th place and no metal.

Often many are quick to assume that they are defiantly followers of Christ and not just mere fans. It’s not a question of their passion or work ethic, they have that. Sometimes we find ourselves aiming at the wrong target. We think that we are getting some pretty good scores, at least some acceptable ones, but my fear is that one day many of us are going to march confidently up to the medal ceremony and find that our score total is reading “0’s”

Talk about Olympians. When it came to the competition of religion, in the time of Jesus, guess who were the best in the world? The Pharisee’s and the Sadducees. They would put us to shame! They had the whole Old Testament memorized for goodness sake. If you were a Jewish boy growing up your parents would have you start to learn the Torah and by the age of 12 most kids had the thing memorized. It was like getting into college, it was prestigious, otherwise you would find a trade like fishing or something to make some money. So these guys were the cream of the crop. They did everything you would expect from a good elder of a church. They read and memorized scripture, held strictly to laws and even made up laws so the real laws wouldn’t even be close to broken. For example, God said that the Sabbath was to be a day of rest so they made a law that said if you spilled something on the Sabbath you couldn’t clean it up because you would be working, stuff like that. They were strict about making sure the religious laws were upheld to the “T.” According to the textbook, they were doing everything they were supposed to be doing…and more.

What is interesting is that Jesus came on the scene and started shaking things up. He started causing a raucous among these “experts” of religion. He began to criticize them. What!? Who criticizes them?? They are the ‘experts’ who would dare? Uh, …Jesus.

Jesus started calling it like it was and sometimes that gets messy. For example, I did a quick search and Jesus calls these guys hypocrites at least 15 times, and that’s only the amount the disciples wrote down. If you are trying to make friends and influence people, that’s not the best method to use. Somehow, I don’t think that was Jesus’s goal.

What Jesus was getting at was something more important. Jesus was telling everyone “Hey! You are doing a great job at your rules thing, you’re getting a bulls-eye every time, your just shooting at the wrong target. Your missing the point! And scoring zero’s.”

Hey! Wanna hear what Jesus said to these ‘experts’? I’m warning you, it’s like one of those sleazy talk shows like Jerry Springer. I kinda wish I was there as a bystander. I’m sure a whole lotta “oh, no he diiieeennt!” was being said and a lot of people looking at each other stunned. Jesus was on a Holy rant people! He was putting these people in their place! Read along…We are gonna call these the ‘seven woes’. They are found in Matthew 23.

14 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to. 

15 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when you have succeeded, you make them twice as much a child of hell as you are.

16 “Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ 17 You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 You also say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gift on the altar is bound by that oath.’ 19 You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 Therefore, anyone who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And anyone who swears by the temple swears by it and by the one who dwells in it. 22 And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. (Basically your making up rules, event to get out of the promises you’ve made!)

23 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. 24 You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.

25 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. 28 In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.

29 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. 30 And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, then, and complete what your ancestors started!

33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? 34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town. 35 And so upon you will come all the righteous blood that has been shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berekiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 Truly I tell you, all this will come on this generation.”

Yeah, can you start to see why these guys were starting to not like this Jesus guy? He was calling them out. True, he was telling the truth, it needed to be done, but he is calling them out and making it public. These guys were too prideful to let that happen. Any chance this new Rabbi had at becoming a part of the Sanhedrin or “in group” or “the Harvard school” of religious experts, he defiantly has blown his shot.

The problem was, people started to recognize that Jesus was not like the others (duh!) He spoke as one with authority. He didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk. He didn’t just sign petitions that said “I’m against homelessness” Instead he spent time with those that were in need. People started following this guy and the ‘experts’ had egg on their face. They were losing cred and fast!

If you are like me, we’ve grown up despising the Pharisee’s. We are in Jesus’s corner. I mean c’mon, Jesus is our homeboy, right? Down with the Pharisee’s! Booo!

The problem is…if you look at our lives sometimes we ARE the Pharisee’s. I mean, how often do we look with judgment at the teenage girl that just got pregnant? How often do we compare ourselves to others to make us feel better about our Spirituality? “At least I’m not THAT bad, right?” How often do we work to do all the right ‘things’ to be a Christian and blow the relationship part? Are we really that different sometimes? It certainly doesn’t feel good to read the 7 woes that Jesus gives if we think that it might be us he is talking about.

The word Sanctification in the bible is used to mean the act of becoming Holy. It’s the process of building a life honorable to God and getting rid of the stuff that God hates. This process of looking more and more like Jesus through our heart, actions, and lives is kind-of like building a house. The most important part of the house are things like making sure the foundation is strong and stable, making sure the corners are square and sturdy, and framing the house with stability. We are working to create a great house out of our lives for God.

What Jesus describes the Pharisee’s doing and what is common with us is that our foundation is horrible and our walls look like a 5th grader was practicing his hammering and tacked some boards together, but we spend so much time making sure our wallpaper looks so nice and perfect. We are shopping at designer stores for house decorations to make the appearances look really good, but underneath it’s a mess.

If you think that may be you, if you think that your house is a wreck and you are trying to make your hoopty of a house look as good as possible. If you know that on the inside, you are a mess and Jesus is probably talking straight to you, listen very closely. You might be aiming at the wrong target. Jesus was very stern in his warning, “How will you escape being condemned to Hell?” Newsflash! It’s real.

While many of the Pharisee’s got red with anger and thought ‘How dare he!” One of them was struck to the heart. His name was Nicodemus. When none of the others were looking, he stuck away in the night to find Jesus. He sought him out. He then asked Jesus, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” In a moment of humility the ‘expert’ humbled himself. Jesus then told him that he must be born again. Just like Nicodemus, you might be confused by what Jesus is saying. Essentially, you need to die to yourself and be born a-new in Christ. We need to let God bring in the bull-dozers and demolish this shack of a building that we have tried to build ourselves and hire a new contractor. We need to let God come in and construct our life, listen to his plans, read his blueprint, and trust him to construct the place. He is a good contractor. He’s the only one that can do it right. With His help this construction will be right on target.

Football, DTR's, and the Pigs.

In a new twist, I am posting an advanced preview of the youth ministry lesson for Sunday night.  This week pastor Roy will be starting a sermon series on Kyle Idleman's book 'Not a Fan.'  I think that this subject is very necessary for us to hear, probably over and over again.  Ive decided to go this route as well for youth nights with unique twists from the book and the morning sermons. 

If you feel like the post sounds like I'm talking to a group of people, it's meant to.  Enjoy.

Tonight I want to discuss something that is very sensitive. It has been known to make even the most secure, confident people out there nervous. I have seen boyfriends and girlfriends break-up at the very thought of it. I have seen people break out in cold sweats and literally run in another direction at the very thought of it. It is the point of no return, it is putting all of the cards on the table, going all-in, no turning back, make it or break it time, taking the leap, stepping off the edge, diving in headfirst, well…you get the idea… It’s the dreaded D.T.R

Some of you know exactly what I mean when I reference those 3 letters. Some of you are scratching your heads. DTR stands for defining the relationship. Some of you may never have experienced this, and if not, just trust us.

The DTR is a point in any relationship where it comes to a point of clarification. Maybe you are friends with this guy, he’s a lot of fun, you laugh a lot in class, everything is perfect, or so you thought. Next thing you know he has a serious look on his face. He is trying to be sweet, but it’s getting a little awkward….What is it already?? He wants to know if the friendship you share is something more. This is a sticky situation for both. 1) if you are really just happy to be friends, the friendship is likely going to feel much different than it did before, sometimes just plain awkward. For him, it’s all-in, pride is at stake, his hopes and dreams are resting on every word or reaction (be gentle ladies!)

Maybe the situation involves a boyfriend and girlfriend. In our situation, the guy is living it up. He’s having fun, he has got all he needs, a girlfriend, freedom, his friends, the ability to find a better girlfriend if one comes available, you know the type, c’mon you know the type. The girlfriend, being a girl, is perceptive to these things. Although very aware and perceptive like most girls, she doesn’t know how to handle it. She becomes clingy, jealous, needy, and about that time says something like let’s have a “talk” about “us.” The last thing the guy wants to do. A. it’s either trying to get a commitment from the guy or B. talk about getting married or kids or their “future” and to think, they are only in 8th grade.

The DTR talk is a war-zone full of landmines. No matter what, things are going to be different on the other side, it’s just a matter of if you are going to die or not.

The funny thing is we are often like the boyfriend in our illustration. We have been known to claim Jesus as our “homeboy” our “bro” our maybe our boyfriend for what He can offer us. He can be our forgiveness card when we decide the girlfriend of lust is worth kissing behind the gym, you know the deal.

Hear me loud and clear here. God is not like the girl in our illustration. He does not beg, He is not needy, He will not nag you when you cheat on other girls. Does His heart break? Yes. Does He still love you? Yes.

My experience with God has been like this. When I choose other things as more important than God or when I start finding my identity in other things, other places, other people I start feeling further and further away from God. And sometimes we ask ourselves ‘I just don’t feel like God is near me’ or ‘where is God in all of this?’ Well…He’s still there, we have just run from Him.

In one of my favorite passages of scripture, Jesus is telling a story of what I would assume God is like and what I assume you and I are like. In this story a son gets upset with his dad, asks for his inheritance early (essentially saying, I want what I would get when you die, because as of now you’re dead to me) How hurtful right? The dad does something curious though. He gives his son the money and the son storms off. The dad could have very well said “fine!” “Take it!” “get out of here” and broke ties with his son in the same way, but I don’t think he did and this is why: Eventually the son wasted all his money partying it up, he was broke, homeless, and a sell-out to his culture by living a feeding pigs to survive. (Pigs to a Jewish man were about as low as you could ever get. You didn’t eat them, basically you didn’t have anything to do w/ em. They were bottom feeders, the scum of the earth) It would be like leaving a Christian home and end up scrubbing the floors of a strip club. Here we come to the rest of the story:

Luke 15:17-20

17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The point here is that when we come to our senses, the God that seems so far away, so distant from us is still there. We begin to think of the right way to pray and ask God to forgive us. We try to make sure the prayer is pretty, we might plan on setting up counseling meeting with the pastor, all the things we must DO (which aren’t bad) but if God feels 10,000 steps away, when we take that first step back to him, God sees us and runs the other 9,999 steps to embrace us.

I saw this recently after the LSU ALA game on TV. I know some pretty enthusiastic fans here of GA…some that go to this youth group…I watched on Facebook as they cheered on “mostly ALA” to win the game and celebrated as if ALA was their team all along. I saw this from people that boldly proclaim that they are Georgia fans, or Auburn Fans (now that’s sad), even TN fans (guilty)

It doesn’t take much to switch allegiances when you are a fan, especially when your team is so bad it loses to KY and misses a bowl game. There are a lot of “fans” of Jesus, Christianity, the Bible, Inspirational stories, ect out there and Im afraid that we are having a hard time knowing what is real and what is fake. Maybe even we have been confused to think fandom is the same thing as followship. Jesus never called fans, He called followers.

Sometimes it is hard to be honest with ourselves. We like to think this is a good topic for other Christians, but its hard to take inventory to think ‘Is this true about me?’ Do I have a fan relationship with Jesus that benefits me when it’s convenient? Do I paint my chest, buy the t-shirts, put the poster on my wall, make every game? “Go Jesus!” There are a lot of those out there, and they look good. OR am I showing up to practice, studying the playbook careful to defend well against the enemy, encouraging my teammates, recruiting well, AM I ON THE FIELD?

I wonder where you are on the journey tonight. Do you feel like your relationship with God is like the boyfriend, the party son, or the fan? Is it a surface relationship?

I think something is necessary. Is scary, it makes grown men break out in a sweat, a lesser man would never do it, the chips are all in, time to take the dive…I think it’s time to have the DTR with Jesus.

It can be uncomfortable, it can be uneasy, but If Jesus was right (and I always give him the benefit of the doubt) unlike many DTR talks you may have down the road, I have a feeling that you don’t have to fear being rejected.

If you remember, I said that the DTR is a warzone. You will never be the same on the other side. It may hurt. You may lose some friends or habits to the landmines, but it’s the only way back from the pigs.

The New Nursery

The past few days have been a mixture of fun and frustration.  Frustration because our cars have some issues and who likes to deal with that, but fun because we have been working on our little boy's nursery.  I don't have any pictures for us yet because it is still a work in progress but we have finished painting and it looks AWESOME! A tiny part of me wants to hang-out in that room because it is so cool.  Here let me help you envision it in your minds eye.  We started off painting the room in a dark gray, a big contrast to the light tan walls we origionally had.  On the dark grey we painted a huge 1.5' wide horizontal stripe of 'Tennessee' orange. and underneath there is another 4" stripe of green.  Gray, Orange, and Green!! While I have spent the last couple days painting, Bridget has been working on our other project for the room.  She has been staining 1' wide wooden planks.  We have a total of 8 12x1x8's to affix to a portion of the wall.  We are essencially installing stained decking to the wall of the room! I am so eager to see how it is going to turn out. 
The Lord has blessed us so much! Bridget makes a little money here and there painting furniture and reselling it and we need this little supplement of income to cover hospital charges for the new baby.  As of the other day we are only a few hundered dollars away from attaining our goal! Praise God.  He always supplies just the amount we need.  I can't wait for our little guy.  Name Update!: Ok, so those of you who know us know that the name stays a secret until birth, but we have narrowed the name down to two candidates.  We are asking that the Lord confirms the name for us and is glorified with it's meaning.  Will you take a moment to pray for our little boy to come and the name God might have for him?  Can you tell I'm excited?