First, our individual assignment was to explore by ourselves and with those closest to us (spouse, family, friends) which spiritualities inherently and supernaturally were manifested in us through the Holy Spirit.  Second, we each had a session with our class/church staff to share our list and tweaked the original list.  Third, we met with the professor/founder of the Logos Institute and built a diagram of how Jesus may supernaturally live through us.  Lastly, we considered this diagram in prayer and intentionally watched it evidence itself in our lives.

For the record, I’ve taken many spiritual gift surveys and had my “top 3″ that I went by but I’ve never explored them quite like this.  The diagram is pictured at the right that we drew up.

The main circle reads, “Life Coach of Faith.”  This was made from the pastor and faith spiritualities. The circle that flows out of the main one is prophecy.  The prophecy circle encompasses wisdom, exhortation and teaching.

So, why have I recently been reminded of this?

My occupation has always been working at a church with teenagers and music.  It has never been shock to me when a teenager has asked me for advice on a certain circumstance or direction for their lives.  It was my job-title and age group I invested in.  There have been those couple teenagers that I’ve worked with in the past who’ve called me up later in life to ask for my advice on a life-altering decision.  While I couldn’t believe they were calling me out of the blue to involve me in a huge decision, I shrugged it off as, “They’re calling me because I’ve been their youth pastor at some point in their life.”

But recently (when I say recently I mean in the last month or two), I’ve had adults who have an established career, a family to care for and who have a few more years on me in life involve me in a life-altering decision as a voice of reason.  This has been absolutely CRAZY to me!

Here’s what I’ve noticed during and after those conversations:

First, they asked me…of all people, they asked ME.  I don’t deserve to be let into their lives or these decisions and I’m completely humbled by the fact that they would think of me.  I noticed myself guiding them, pastoring them.  Second, I noticed that everything I spoke was about faith but never using that specific word.  Lastly, I noticed reasoning and questions coming out of my mouth that weren’t things I’d normally say or questions I’d normally ask.  (Honestly, I’m pretty average when it comes to smartness.)

A Life Coach of Faith, speaking words of wisdom.

It’s only by grace through Jesus that I’m privileged to have that sort of intimate role in somebody else’s life.

I have also recognized my weaknesses in these experiences and how much I need the whole body of Christ around me.  There have been questions regarding things like discernment, knowledge and mercy that I’ve not been able to answer or lead through.

As I mature in life, ministry and spiritualities–I know I need to make these things more at the center of my identity than my occupation or what I do.

There’s a nature reserve within walking distance of where we live.  We often walk, play or I ride my bike through it.  I’ve taken this same path and passed this same sign numerous times while riding my bike.  But the other morning it was different.  I don’t know what it was about this time–maybe it was the quiet morning or the coffee I drank.  While those could have been factors, I have no doubt it was also God’s timing.

The part of the sign that caught my attention was the title that read, Restoration in Progress.

Last fall, I remember walking to this park with my daughter and finding it to be irritatingly closed.  There was another sign at the park’s entrance that stated, “Controlled Burn.” As I read further, I found out that they do controlled burns in forests to extract and kill off the unnatural, imposturous bush allowing the forest to replenish or restore itself with organic, natural plantation.

See where I’m going with this?

I wish it were not so but often times I notice the characteristics that are not of the original God-like image I’m created in slowly creep into my being.  If my being is the “forest,” then these ungodly traits are the unnatural things that slowly grow into existence.  Unnoticed at first, but as they grow one by one, they begin to takeover, strangle and dim the natural, radiant beauty that God has created in me that reflect who He is.

During these times, I become increasingly aware of how I’ve made myself the center of attention, the star of the movie or the king of my own life.  It’s also during these times that I’m left unsatisfied, ungrateful, and discontent.

Here’s the stark contrast I find in Scripture between these two realities of the unnatural (flesh) exchanged for the natural (Spirit):

Galatians 5:19-26
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

I find restoration to be a process, a journey and a progression that are cyclical.  Like a controlled burn in a forest, the results are temporary.  The burn has to take place again and again.  In our own lives, when we allow God to burn the unnatural and restore the natural, the weeds and imposturous bush of our soul creep back in until we find ourselves reliving the devastation we were in once before.  It may not be the same foreign species that has overgrown the soul previously, but it results in the same central pride that suffocates the intended God-like qualities.

There are two basic schools of thought regarding this overgrowth and restoration of the soul.  One side says that it’s possible to reach holiness or perfection in this lifetime.  The other says it’s impossible to become completely blameless and this cycle will occur over and over until the next lifetime.  I’m not sure what I believe when it comes to theological debates such as these.  I don’t know if either of these views are really the point anyways.

What I do know is that I want to allow God to search, restore and refine me as often as needed.  I know when I’m in that depressing self-centered state that I’m a terrible husband, father, son, friend and agent of the Gospel.  I will continue to strive toward what is right and good and who knows what will happen…maybe someday in a surrendered state of being I’ll be made whole in Christ Jesus.

Until then, I have this promise to hold onto:

Revelation 21:5
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

Artist:  Gungor
Song: Beautiful Things

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been out of “professional” ministry for close to a year to the date.  I find myself questioning a lot of things.  Is it ironic that after six years going full-throttle in ministry that I’ve spent this last year (my seventh year) unemployed and finding rest and recovery in acts of pure service to different churches?  Maybe it’s a sabbatical or jubilee that God has provided?  I understand that it’s possible I’m reading into everything.  But it’s also possible that God, in His sovereignty, could be preparing me for something.  I’m not sure what God has in store.  Only time will tell.  I trust that God will continue providing clarity.

Below is my message from the weekend.  It was for a series called, “Life Happens.”  We’re going through the book of Philippians.  My main text was Philippians 4:4-7.  Also, I heavily used the movie, Stranger Than Fiction as an illustration.

MAIN WORSHIP SET:

OFFERING (Preparation for the message):

RESPONSE:

1 One day Peter and John were going up to the temple at the time of prayer—at three in the afternoon.2 Now a man who was lame from birth was being carried to the temple gate called Beautiful, where he was put every day to beg from those going into the temple courts.3 When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money.4 Peter looked straight at him, as did John. Then Peter said, “Look at us!”5 So the man gave them his attention, expecting to get something from them.

6 Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”7 Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.8 He jumped to his feet and began to walk. Then he went with them into the temple courts, walking and jumping, and praising God.9 When all the people saw him walking and praising God,10 they recognized him as the same man who used to sit begging at the temple gate called Beautiful, and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

I’ve been reading through Acts lately and this passage really made an impression on me over the Christmas season this year.

You know those guys on the street corner holding the cardboard signs that say something like, “Will work for food,” and the strange “panhandlers,” who are usually asking for your extra change as you walk through the busy downtown streets?  I’m assuming the lame guy in this passage is somebody like those guys.  I would even go as far to say that this lame guy’s disability was being exploited for financial gain considering the text reads that he was being carried to the gate to beg everyday.  If you’re like me when you walk past those guys exploiting homelessness (in some circumstances, pseudo-homelsessness) on the street you think to yourself, “They’re just going to use the cash to feed their addiction.”

So, what if…

We paid enough attention to the Holy Spirit living inside of us and asked, “What is it that makes that person sit here day after day begging for money?  Do they have some sort of addiction that they’re feeding?  Are they disabled in some way?  Or have they truly fallen on hard times and need some basic needs like food and shelter?”  Then, if we actually believed and embodied the promise that we have the “same Spirit who rose Jesus from the dead living in us”– with full confidence we could say, “Get up!”  By stepping into God’s story, we could allow Him to demonstrate His glory and give more than a gift of cash but a gift of healing!  What better gift could be given to anyone?  After all, don’t we celebrate Christmas because of a gift who came to restore?

Can you imagine the types of stories we’d be reading in the newspaper or seeing on the six o’clock news?

I don’t to claim to know how or when God wants to heal somebody of their addiction, defect, or circumstance.  But what I do know is that He wants to showcase His glory!  And why shouldn’t He?  He is God!  I want to have the kind of relationship with God that He shares things like this with me.  I may never be the one who possesses the gift of healing–and I’m ok with that!  Actually, I can tell you that God has never used me to heal somebody physically!  But God has wired me in a way to do other things that glorify and build-up the Church.

What about you?  Do you have the kind of relationship with God that He shares with you what He wants to do through you?

“We’ll sing the news of all Your grace / We’ll help the broken hearted praise / You’ll put Your glory on display / King of Heaven” -Charlie Hall

Movie:  The Nativity Story
Music:  Relient K, Silent Night/Away in a Manger and I Celebrate the Day

We all do this.

Same thing–over and over again.

Expecting different results.

11 And every priest stands day after day at his service, offering again and again the same sacrifices that can never take away sins. ¹²But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, ‘he sat down at the right hand of God’, ¹³and since then has been waiting ‘until his enemies would be made a footstool for his feet.’ ¹⁴For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. ¹⁵And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying,
¹⁶ ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds’,
¹⁷he also adds,
‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’
¹⁸Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.  (Hebrews 10:11-18, NRSV)

Something I’ve been learning lately is the reality of what Jesus has done on and through the cross.  For hundreds and hundreds of years, the Priest would make his way into the Holy of Holies to offer a pure animal in exchange for forgivenss.  This temporary, repeated sacrificial act of atonement only pointed to the Hope who was to come.  But what it didn’t accomplish was the forgiveness of sins.  It only caused the people of God to remember their sin daily–which is what we deserve.  So they constantly lived there, in that place of guilt and regret.  Because of this God-commanded, sacrificial act over and over again, they could not escape the shameful ransom over their heads.

Then, Jesus came.  The blameless Rescuer who had been eagerly waited upon for hundreds and hundreds of years.  Though He did not deserve it, He conquered death and and our well-deserved destiny, once for all.  Therefore freeing us from the guilt and shame of our sinful-nature.  He no longer wanted our hearts and minds to be focused on endless regret but on the hope of ‘The Way,’ the Kingdom of God.

This has made me think of the way we do Communion, Eucharist, whatever you want to call it.  Often, the way I’ve presented it is a dimly-lit, solemn exercise of reflecting on our sinful acts against God and asking for forgiveness because of what He has done on the cross.  Don’t get me wrong, this is a good thing but I think what I’ve done is probably half right.  Participating in the consumption Christ’s blood and His body shouldn’t be a time of grief in the reflection of our sins but a celebration because of the hope of the empty grave!  Christ died for sins once for all so that we could live in freedom without that baggage, so we could be a different people–set apart.

It’s time we leave behind the old way of grieving over our sins and step into the new reality of Jesus’ empty grave.  Let’s quit spitting in the face of Jesus by only half believing what He’s done through the cross and start living like we’re a different kind of people who have Hope living inside of us.

If you know me at all, you know I like tech gadgets.  I like to be current with technology, if not a little bit ahead of the curve.  However, you may consider me pre-historic because I don’t have the latest cell phone technology with a data plan–mostly because I haven’t been able to justify the cost.  Sure, I would love the convenience of the virtual world at my fingertips everywhere I go!  I’ve always dreamed of having the all-in-one device that plays music, videos, gives me directions with the latest maps, tells me what song is playing in that store at the mall, helps me navigate the constellations in the sky, checks my email, follows my social networks and makes a phone call.  All of those things in one device would not only be entertaining but it would make my pockets lighter.  But it comes at a price!

I remember having a conversation with a representative of my wireless network a few months ago.  I was telling him that I couldn’t justify or afford the extra $30 a month for the data plan that comes with the latest smartphone.  His question back was, “Do you have an extra dollar a day?”  Wow, that makes it sound a lot cheaper, huh?  Since then, I still have not added the data plan.

It wasn’t the thought of not having the data plan that haunted me last night–it was the salesman’s question.

There’s an organization that I hear about and see often at concerts and events that used to use the tagline, “For just a dollar a day…”  Since then, the price has gone up a little bit due to the worldwide economy but Compassion is just one organization that helps provide food, water, shelter, clothes and education for children in poverty.  The price to sponsor a child is $38 a month.  Compare that to the $30 data plan.

Feed my need for technology or hear the cries of the oppressed?

I’m not a spokesman for Compassion, just a guy thinking about what really matters in life.  At this point, I don’t sponsor a child OR subscribe to a data plan with my wireless carrier.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do at this point…but at least I’m thinking about it, right?  There will come a point in time where I need to put my thought into action.

I know God doesn’t need more apathetic philosophers to talk about what the Church is doing wrong but He needs some revolutionaries to show the Church what to do right!

I like what C.S. Lewis writes in his book Mere Christianity,

“But it [Christianity] also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again.”

• Taking and being the Church in a non-church environment.  (Matthew 28:18-20 *note:  ”all nations” has no boundaries of social class, job environment, race, religion, nationality, etc.)
• Hearing ‘their’ cries.  (Exodus 3:7-9)
• Restoration.  (Romans 8:18-24, Revelation 21:3-5)

Funny, after writing these out, I realized how much they go hand in hand.