New Year's Resolutions

I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. You know the list of 10 things that are too difficult, too easy, or impossible to fulfill. Okay so all my Franklin Organizer, Stephen Covey, John Maxwell types just hit escape on their computers and are gone. That's okay. There's nothing wrong with resolutions and annual goals. They are worthy and admirable. We all need goals.

Several years ago basketball coaching great Jim Valvano was battling cancer when he gave his famed speech at the ESPY awards. In his speech Jimmy V encouraged everyone to do three things every day of their life: laugh, use your mind and cry. He said that if you can finish a day with those three elements it's been a "pretty good day". To laugh and smile at something means you've invested emotion. To engage your mind in something worthwhile and challenging is productive. To cry or shed a tear demonstrates a compassionate heart that hasn't grown cold through indifference, cycnicsm or bitterness.

If you think about it the coach was in pretty good company. In Matthew 22, a Pharisee tries to trick Jesus by asking Him which is the greatest of all the commandments. Jesus answers:

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

What if we tried to live like this every day? Now there's a New Year's resolution that would make a difference!

Christmas Concert ~ The North Point ipad band

Enjoy North Point's iBand!

Just Like That!

Isn't it amazing how one word, one smile, a thought, song, a scene from a movie, or a familiar fragrance can turn a bad day, week, or month into a good one? I don't know about you, but I have the obnoxious habit of caring about people. Pastors are burden bearer's and I come by it honestly. Both of my parents have high mercy gifts. There's nothing wrong with caring about others. It's an admirable trait. However, when you become overwhelmed and consumed with the failures, disappointments, heartaches and problems of others, in addition to your own, you can drown. My Mom is always good at reminding me that, "you are not responsible for the response, or actions of others."

Recently I've struggled under the weight of bearing the burdens of others. Some of these burdens have been due to poor decisions and life choices, and other heavy hearts have been through no fault of their own. I've discovered that a heavy heart is a heavy heart regardless who or what is responsible.

I'm not a well of compassion, but sometimes I really wish I didn't care. It would make life much easier if I just focused on me instead of those around me. I really do envy people who can do that even though it's not exactly admirable. Recently I ran into a friend as she was entering her workplace. I could tell she had been crying. I spoke to her, but didn't want to upset her even more so I opted to send her an email later. All night I thought about what could've been making my friend so upset that she would cry. I even mentioned it to Teri whenI got home. I couldn't let go of my friends pain. It didn't feel good at all to see her hurting. The next day I got to spend some time with her as she shared her latest struggle. We considered some possible solutions and pretty soon we were laughing.

I was working on my laptop at a local coffee house and processing some of these concerns when my daughter surprised me. I knew she was coming home for Christmas break, but I didn't expect to see her until I got home later in the day. I was her first stop! I saw her smile and it was like oil to desert chaffed hands. Everything I was worried about suddenly seemed to slip away if only for moment. Suddenly my empty, heavy heart was full of pure joy. She became my burden-bearer without even realizing it!

Scripture says Jesus bore our burdens when He was crucified. Jesus is the ultimate burden bearer. Think about it, He was born to die. Now He didn't die to make us feel good about ourselves. He died to reconcile the world to God and bring Him glory. By dying for us, Jesus lifted the heaviest burden of all to the human heart and that is eternal separation from God.

Who would've ever believed a baby born in a borrowed manger for a craddle would bear the burdens of the world? That's crazy. It makes no sense. Exactly!

If you are a Christ-follower then like me, you are called to be a burden bearer. What better time of year to share a smile, hold a door, assist a neighbor, listen to a friend, offer a hug, drop an unexpected note or email to someone who isn't expecting it! Just like my daughter did for me, you can be a burden bearer without even realizing it. Just like that you can lighten someone's load. In Galatians 6:2, the Apostle Paul summed it up like this:

Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

The First Noel by Rhema Marvanne - Merry Christmas - God Bless You

Hard to believe she's 7 yr's old! Wow!

BADD: Christianese

A friend sent me this and it's just too good not to share!

Kevin Bacon Doing Kevin Bacon!

This is absolutely brilliant and funny!

A Christmas Memory

Like most seminarian's 20 years ago we had no disposable income. That's part of the refining and shaping experience of seminary (living by faith and not by sight, learning to trust God for everything, etc.,), but that's another blog. At the time we had a young son, multiple jobs, used public transportation to cut costs and carried a full load of classes. Pizza on a Friday night with a video rental was a major deal!

Before seminary we had a house and careers in the suburbs. Upon moving to Louisville we decided to keep our equity going so we bought a smaller house in the heart of the city. It was very different from the suburbs. The house was very old, drafty and the neighborhood was, well it was rough compared to the burbs. We still laugh at the two brothers in the brownstone across the street who caught their 3rd floor apartment on fire by drying out their marijuana. "Toto we're not in Kansas anymore."

Even though it was much less, the pressure of a mortgage was still incredibly challenging on a seminary budget. However, we were grateful for God's provision. But no matter how hard we tried there just wasn't a lot of money. We would've never made it without the support of both of our parents. Their prayers, financial, physical, and emotional support was priceless.

Shortly before that first Christmas we met my in-laws at the outlets to do some Christmas shopping. Teri had made many sacrifices to prepare for our seminary days and I wanted to give her something special for Christmas, but we had no money. I remember going into a Christmas store that specialized in hand-made figurines, paintings, sculptures and nativities. I spotted a beautiful sculpture of Joseph and Mary. She was riding a donkey and holding heaven's infant, God incarnate. It was so simple, but so profound. I had to get it for Teri, but I only had about $5 in my pocket and we hadn't even met for lunch at the food court!

I made the decision to violate our family covenant not to use charge cards! I had to have that figurine for my wife. As they gently wrapped it, I signed the charge receipt (scanners weren't even around back then) knowing full well I did not have the funds to pay for it. It violated all common sense, but I couldn't imagine a Christmas with nothing to give her. You should've seen her face when she opened it. It was like a diamond, or fine jewelry. She was holding the infant babe that represented the center of our lives and family. Imagine my surprise a few weeks before Christmas when the church where I served as youth pastor gave me a $50 for Christmas, the exact amount of the figurine!

For over 20 years that figurine has been prominently displayed in our home 365 days a year! For us, it is more than a Christmas decoration. It reminds us what life is really about. At Christmas we put it in a different place, or feature it with greenery, etc. It is a constant reminder of God's provision on that first seminary Christmas and His constant faithfulness in the years since. And some of those have been tough years, but He has remained faithful. It reminds us that Christmas is about giving and that God gave first.

BTW we still don't use our charge cards without agreement and having the funds in the bank to be able to cover it.

The Problem is ME!

Isn't it amazing just how easily we turn on God's foundational command that we love Him above all else with all our heart, soul, mind and strength? There's a reason this command is the first. God deserves, expects and demands that we glorify Him more than anything/anyone else. However, while we affirm the command, recite and teach it, we regularly disregard this foundational command and truth. We readily substitute our will, desire, opinions and thoughts for God's. Sin is like that, it blinds us to spiritual truths. We regularly shift glory for God to things, or people without even realizing it. While it is nearly always subtle and unintentional we don't get a pass on our obligation to put God first.

In a chapter on sin, Tim Keller writes in his classic, "The Reason for God":

To glorify something or someone is to praise, enjoy, and delight in them. When something is useful you are attracted to it for what it can bring you or do for you. But if it is beautiful, then you enjoy it simply for what it is. Just being in its presence is its own reward. To glorify someone is also to serve or defer to him or her. Instead of sacrificing their interests to make yourself happy, you sacrifice your interests to make them happy. Why? Your ultimate joy is to see them in joy (p. 223).

In self-centeredness we demand that others orbit around us (p. 223).

Idolatry is rampant. Oh sure, we aren't building calves of gold in the desert, but we delude ourselves if we can't realize the "altars to self" we build every day. Think about it. Someone says something that hurts, or offends us and most of us default to self-defense. Something doesn't go our way at work, with our family, or small group and suddenly it's wrong. Is it really? May it's not totally wrong. And even if it is wrong, does my response show preference for God's glory, or self-protection/preservation? Is my worldview so warped by self that I can't see it?

Just look around. We are consumed with self-expression. You don't have to spend more than 10 minutes reading Tweets, and Face Book postings to see the truth in Keller's statement that, "In self-centeredness we demand that others orbit around us." Easy, this isn't a rant on social media, think about it, I'm writing this in a blog, my blog. And if I'm honest, I have to admit that while I attempt to bring glory to God through this blog, personal opinion, views and feelings often drive the bus more than God's glory. Isaiah's words are haunting here (Isa. 56:11b): ..."they have all turned to their own way, each one to his own gain, one and all."

There's nothing wrong with expressing an opinion, or sharing our feelings. However, we've got to admit that the lines are getting blurred among Christ-followers when it comes to expressing ourselves and putting God first. More and more people base their affiliations, service and connection to a faith community, job, leisure interest, or social circle on what's in it for them as opposed to what they can offer, give, or contribute. Pagan cultures have always put self above anything else, but God's people have been given the opportunity to put something bigger than self at the center of our actions and attitudes: God's glory, delight and will.

I don't have easy answers for this struggle, but every day I see the difference service and grace make in this area. When you serve you invest your time, energy, talents and resources. You are part of something bigger than yourself. Look around, the self-absorbed rarely have their sleeves rolled up. Instead, their arms are often folded, or worse, they are pointing fingers. Similarly, extending grace to others is a game changer. When we offer grace to people we perceive have hurt us, or with whom we disagree, we practice the very essence of what God has done toward each of us through Christ in light of our sin. Perhaps the secret to pursuing God's glory is simply to serve others and really practice unconditional love. The image of Jesus washing dirty, stinky feet on the night of His betrayal is quite sobering. No "self" in that picture. I need to wash more feet!