Five Things for 2011

Here are 5 things that will happen in Mustard land in 2011.

1. Important Announcements beginning New Years Day will change the flavor of mustard for 2011!

2. There will be a 40 day journey that I will invite you to join me in for prayer!

3. The Browns will beat the Steelers twice in 2011.

4. New on Mondays in 2011, I will weigh in on Church and Leadership with Monday Meanderings.

5. We will journey together trusting God to do some significant things in our midst!

Shaina and I are off to Passion 2011 tomorrow morning at 5 a.m. with 6 other young adults! No better way to start the year than worshipping God Most High! There will be blog activity while we're gone, so check in (especially for the January 1 New Years Blog Announcement)!

2010 year in review

Well, mustardites, we've arrived at the end of another calendar year.

Here's 5 blog posts that stick out to me as

Practical Leadership...Insightful understanding of God...The Leadership Dilemma

Offensive Preaching 101

God's hand all over the path to our trip to Kenya.

For those who are busy in the church

And lastly...on the lighter side


Any memorable mustard moments for you in 2010? Stay tuned for some important announcements for some mustard changes happening in 2011!!! Expect the Unexpected!!!

Love

LOVE.
In the midst of the mess,
From the depths of our distress,
Out of the hurt of the hope-less,
Our humanity was help-less
While we gave you anything but our best,
While we couldn’t have loved you less.
You became God-with-us.
You replaced our sinfulness with your righteousness.
You redeemed our shamefulness with your holiness.
You recreate my selfishness into selflessness.
Your grace covers my nakedness.
Your joy restores my brokenness.
You fill me with Your gracefulness.
You have shown me your faithfulness
You’ve heard the cries of the oppressed
You came down low and engaged this mess
You rescued your people, with an S on your chest,
An S that reminds us you are Savior.
You took upon yourself my ugliness.
And placed on me your loveliness.
And that is the story of God-With-Us.
The Joy and Peace of Christmas.

Joy

JOY.
It’s more than a smile.
More than laughter that lasts for a while.
More than a poor soul in denial.
More than a happy-go-lucky kind of style.
It’s contented delight.
In the midst of the night.
When things aren’t quite right.
It’s satisfaction despite,
The Fear and the fright.
It’s a baby leaping in a mother’s womb
At the coming of the One who empties the tomb.
Its shepherds and angels sharing good news
Of the birth of a light that can’t be diffused.
Joy sings loudest in the midst of the storm
It’s melody salvation, because Christ is born.

Peace

PEACE.
Nations at war with one another.
Father at war with His son’s mother
Sister at war with baby brother.
God’s World seeks peace from other lovers.
Little do we know that you’ve got us covered.
Peace only comes through the lamb that has suffered.
Your peace not achieved through the ways of the earth
It comes once for all, through the Bethlehem birth.
If we live by the sword, we’ll die by the sword,
But peace that is lasting, is peace from the Lord.
Praise be to God who makes violence cease
Who guides our feet in the ways of peace.
Praise to the God who makes our hearts his home.
Glory to Jesus, the God of shalom.

Merry Christmas III

Got to be part of our contemporary service for Christmas Eve. There were some unique components to it that made it a pretty powerful experience. One of them was the reading of some poetic verse (think slam poetry lite). If you're not sure what I'm talking about, search Amena Brown on youtube and you'll find the kind of style I'm referencing. Anyways, I had the chance to write the readings for the Hope, Peace, Joy and Love Candles. My sister in law and another young adult from church took turns reading them off stage. Over the next few days I'll post them here.

Enjoy!

Hope.
Wishing. Waiting. Praying.
The anticipation of a coronation of a new king.
Beauty so breathtaking. Light penetrating. The dawn of a new thing.
How long O God must we wait?
When O God will you decide our fate?
O Lord, come and make your name great!
Come, give us reason to celebrate.
But wait. Is this really your plan?
To send your Son as a virgin born man?
Moving stars around like only you can?
Could this rescue get any stranger?
That all our hope is found in a tiny manger?
We’ve waited so long for your revolution.
Instead of an army, is this your solution?
A child, a baby. Shepherds and wise men.
Our expectations are crushed. Your way simply defies them.
Our hopes and our dreams completely unfurled.
Yet your hope so it seems, has entered the world.

Merry Christmas II

Fun Tradition from Taylor University

Merry Christmas

What the Nativity was actually like:

New Series in January

Can't wait for this series to launch on January 9. We are going to hear from a wide range of excellent preachers answering this one simple question. What's your one prayer for 2011?

So...what's yours?

Beware the Codependent Train Wreck

I've been thinking a lot about co-dependency lately. I see couples who go beyond complementing each other, to the point of needing each other to find fulfillment, function or purpose. This is not a safe place to be, because guess what? When we are codependent, we become insecure...If Shaina and I are stuck in codependency, then we will always live with a potential for distrust. The more I need her and need to be needed by her, the more she becomes an idol. Then, when my lofty expectations (we tend to exalt our idols) of her go unfulfilled, our relationship operates out of control, manipulation and distrust.

The same thing happens for preachers. I cannot find my fulfillment in how the people receive me after a sermon. As soon as that becomes my focus, I will inevitably be consumed by ensuring that this reception happens continually. When I don't get it, I will question whether I am good enough, anointed enough...etc...and more and more I will seek to accomodate and entertain the people and what they want rather than the Lord and what He wants. Preachers who succumb to co-dependency will often lose their prophetic edge in order to appease the people and a preacher who has lost his/her prophetic edge is not much of a preacher.

Likewise, I can't depend on my pastor to be my spiritual refueler, recalibrater or reenergizer. Because if my faith is dependent on the Sunday morning message, what happens when its a bust? What happens when my ears aren't opened to hear? What happens when my calloused heart isn't soft enough to receive the Word of the Lord? What happens if the preacher is caught up in moral failure and my faith is dependent on him/her?

We cannot depend on fulfillment coming from spouses, friends or pastors. It must be found solely in the sustaining Presence of the With-Us God.

So...as we remember that Ahaz and the Judahites put their hope and trust in the Assyrians, we need to go there...Who or what is your Assyria? Where are your affections, your hopes, your time and your trust going other than on the cross and resurrection of Christ?

Christmas!

Last night we had our second annual Edge ice bowl football championship. It was a blast. For the second time I was bother winner and loser as I quarterbacked both teams...so I'm a whirlwind of bittersweet emotions.

We also had dinner together after the game. One of my favorite things is to surprise a large group with a dinner quirk at each seat. The person who sits there has to execute the quirk throughout dinner while trying to figure out everyone else's quirks. Its a blast and theres a good deal of laughter involved.

Then we had a white elephant exchange. I need to research some ways to liven it up a bit, but I landed perhaps the nicest gift of the night...a fondue pot...and I got rid of my LeBron jersey...so it was pretty successful.

Preached three times this morning...No one threw anything so it must have been tolerable haha.

Shaina and I have been prepping for family Christmas dinner tonight. Shaina makes this redunkulous orange glazed ham...And we will have my grandparents, mom, sister, bro-in-law and niece and nephew and then skype in my sister and her fam from South Carolina for family gift exchange. I'm excited...And will likely sleep well tonight haha.

What's the most fun you've had related to Christmas?

We Need More Plotters and Plodders

Read a post from Mark Batterson's blog yesterday that made me say "YES!"

The world and the church need both plotters (those who are visionary strategists) and plodders (those who take vision from point a to point z with effort and work.)

I'm undeniably a plotter. I have ideas (good and bad) all the time. But the more that I am forced to execute ideas on my own (plod), I exhaust myself. I need plodders. And plodders need plotters who help them know what they do is taking the organization or the movement somewhere significant.

What both the world and the church DON'T need is more "Oughters" who gripe and moan about how bad things are and how things 'ought to be', but don't offer any plotting or plodding to move us forward. Generally, there are more oughters than plotters and plodders...who blame ineffective ministries or failing government plans for not working. Generally, if the oughters would take the energy placed on negativity and spend it where they are wired (either visioning or implementing), solutions would replace problems.

So, own it...are you a plotter, plodder or oughter and are you being effective?

Ohio Champions

In honor of my buddy Scott. Akron Zips...National Champions...Men's Soccer.

Not every team in Ohio sucks.

Saw these statistics today

Top 5 Times People are Willing to consider Matters of Faith:

5. After the Birth of a Baby
4. After Natural Disasters
3. After National Crisis
2. During Easter Season
1. During Christmas Season

Invite Your Friends and Pray for Christmas Eve Services around the world!

Isaiah Christmas

Wouldn't have really expected it, but the Isaiah passages we've been preaching on for Advent this year have been surprisingly exciting and challenging.

Peace only comes when a Righteous and Holy God can judge and cleanse the impure, unholy, sinfulness. We stand condemned, deserving of punishment and brutal execution and God exacts that judgment as He must...but He exacts it on Himself, the suffering servant. Isaiah 52-53, written hundreds of years before Christ's birth, life, death and resurrection, tells of the righteous one who will bear everyone else's unrighteousness. If I don't have peace in an area of my life its because I haven't turned the situation or relationship over to the God who has made a way for shalom.

Joy doesn't come to us because we've escaped the wilderness. It comes in the midst of the wilderness. It's because of the wilderness and the God who meets us there, that we find redemption, delight and contentment in all things.

And this next week, I have the opportunity to speak on love out of Isaiah 7:1-17. "She shall call him Immanuel" which means 'With-Us God.' I am really excited to preach this text and yet challenged to figure out how to whittle down an arsenal of ammunition to provide the right amount of context and practical application.

This is a fun week. We've got a weather extravaganza perfectly timed with our Edge Christmas party (Saturday) and preaching 3 services (Sunday) and then having my family's Christmas dinner and gift exchange (Sunday evening). I also have the opportunity to preach at the 8:00 p.m. Contemporary Christmas Eve service which will be my first chance to do so...With all this happening over the next 10 days or so, the blog world may be hit or miss even more than usual.

(Someone forgot to tell the Browns about my plan for their playoff run)...sigh.

The Age Old Battle

After David and Solomon the kingdom of Israel split into two kingdoms, the Northern Kingdom (10 of the 12 tribes) which was called Israel and the Southern Kingdom (2 of the 12 tribes) which was called Judah. One of their main reasons for splitting? Worship. The Southern Kingdom believed the center for worship was Jerusalem. The Northern Kingdom believed the center for worship was Shechem/Samaria. Worship...the thing that is to be the distinguishing characteristic of the people of God was the thing that divided them.

Worship in our churches today is to be the distinguishing characteristic of God's bride...and unfortunately its often what divides the church.

If 'they' use choir robes and an organ they are wrong because 'we' prefer casual worship with a piano.

If 'they' use drums and guitars and have high decibel levels, they are of the devil because that is not how 'we' have worshipped for the last hundred years in this church.

If you are involved in an 'us' and 'them' worship dispute. You need to repent and reconcile with 'them' to make everyone 'us'. Your battle is not against a worship style preference. If it is. You are failing in the gospel. Your battle is against darkness. And often our shortsightedness in our 'agendas and preferences' are what darken the one God intends to radiate light.

Get over yourself and root for your church!

Browns Playoff Scenario

Stop laughing. The Cavs are terrible. The best thing at Progressive Field in the last 5 years is the winter wonderland. So the Cleveland sports fan has to find hope in a 5-7 football team's outside chance at the playoffs.

New England is 10-2...They are in.(AFC East Champs)
Pittsburgh is 9-3...They are in. (AFC North Champs)
The Jets are 9-3...They are in. (Wild Card Spot One)

Nothing else is settled.

Baltimore is 8-4 and control their own destiny in a lot of ways in clinching the second wild card spot. They play Houston and New Orleans over the next two weeks. Cleveland needs them to lose both of these games which is feasible (at Houston who is trying to stay in the playoff hunt) and then New Orleans who is trying to get the NFC South crown. That would leave Baltimore at 8-6 going into a game in Cleveland. Cleveland has Buffalo and Cincinnati over the next two weeks, two of the worst teams in the league (but still NFL teams). If Cleveland wins both, they'd be 7-7 going into the game against Baltimore.

In the hunt:

Indianapolis (7-6) and Jacksonville (7-5) are very much alive in the hunt for both the AFC South Championship and the 2nd wild card spot. The Browns either need Jacksonville to go big (win against Oakland, against the Colts...and take the AFC South) or go home...lose to Oakland, and the Colts and either Washington or Houston in the final two weeks. Worst case scenario: Indy wins the division and Jacksonville goes 9-7 (Jacksonville owns the tie breaker).

Kansas City (8-4)is in the drivers seat for the AFC West. Oakland and San Diego are both 6-6. Best case scenario for the Browns: Oakland and San Diego finish 8-8. Worst Case Scenario: Oakland or San Diego win out...going 10-6.

Miami is also 6-6 but as long as they don't win their next 4 games, the Browns would win the head to head tie breaker with them.

So this week: Cheer for the Browns, Raiders, Texans, and Chiefs.

This is still Believeland.

Communicating Something Lasting

The beauty and the challenge for pastors, Bible teachers, and all others who proclaim the message of Christ lies in the reality that The Bible, like the God it speaks of, is unchanging. This is beautiful in that it is fantastic to have something steadfast, true and consistent in a world that seeps with so much that is fleeting, false and inconsistent.

It is challenging in that its the same words, the same stories, the same texts every year. Christmas is here again and Jesus is still born in a manger to a virgin. There's still no room in the inn, still magi who worship and shepherds who do the same.

And for the most part, the people who show up in the churches around Christmas know these things. The great and hard task of the communicator is to hear from God and convey the message in such a way that it shocks the hearer's system. Our brains want to take the message they've already heard and file it into the "Been there Done That" File and then allow the mind and the heart to disengage from any new encounter with the age old tune.

So, maybe these 5 tips might help produce new fruit in your people this Christmas.

1. New Vocabulary...If you follow the Traditional Advent Calendar, you're going to encounter familiar words like Hope, Peace, Joy and Love...These are timeless words that embody the season, but I can file them away. If I engage these words strategically, they can be heard anew. When we talk about a scandalous love that risks everything on a people who will remain stiffnecked and stubborn or an innebriating joy that puts us 'under the influence' of the God who gives us delight and fulfillment...suddenly the conversation has a little more pungency. We need to use words that artistically tickle ears, while all the while remaining authentic to the message.

2. New Perspectives...Haven't heard the Christmas message from Satan or from King Herod...Jump in the story from different vantage points...Creatively convey the surprise of the shepherds or the regret of the innkeeper. New perspective makes the message un-file-away-able.

3. New Texts...Christmas is conveyed in more places than Luke! Do Christmas from the unique prologue of John 1 or from the Genaeology of Matthew 1. This year we are looking at Christmas through the lens of Isaiah, a prophet 700 years before the incarnation. Love it!

4. New Twists on Old Traditions...We have the lighting of the Advent candles each week leading up to Christmas Eve. I am not saying that this is a meaningless, rote deal. But sometimes repetition leads to staleness. How can you tweak a tradition to make it 'sticky' for the long time attendee and the first time attendee?

5. New Creativity...My conviction is that the Church, with the Presence of the Holy Spirit has no excuse to not be the most creative place on the planet. So dream bigger and dream further out...Guess what! Christmas comes every December...It shouldn't be a crisis of unpreparedness when November ends...Start thinking about Christmas 2011 now.

Mission Impossible

"When God wants to accomplish an impossible task, He takes an impossible person and crushes him." Chuck Swindoll

Either this stirs your heart with passion and zeal...

Or it makes you tremble in fear.

Maybe even more startling?

The reason we don't dream impossible dreams is because our God is too small or our gods are too big.

Don't trade living for an eternal narrative for something trivial and momentary.

We are looking at Christmas through the prophet Isaiah this year...Isaiah believed in the bigger narrative...and he did things like walk around naked to illustrate to Israel their shortcomings.

Tradition!

I like this clip from the beginning of The Fiddler on the Roof...It paints a mindset of Tradition in a Jewish Community. They have traditions for everything and presume that the traditions are what keeps peace and stability in their village...yet they have know idea how or why the traditions were started.

Chuck Swindoll says it best. "Tradition is the living faith of those now dead. Traditionalism is the dead faith of those now living." Be careful that you don't trade the former for the latter. One really does ground us in the faith that has been passed down from generation to generation. The other is idolatry.

If you're demanding that something take place because it is the tradition, you better ask whether its a sacred tradition or a sacred cow. How do you need to check yourself before you wreck yourself?

Abe buried his gal in Canaanite Country

Genesis 23. Abe has just about offed his son Ike but God deems him faithful and spares them both the pain and agony. Then chapter 23 picks up on Abe's wife Sarah dying. The customs of the day say that you bury your dead in your homeland...where you occupy land. Abe's family was back in Ur. Sarah should've been buried there.

But Abraham buys a plot in Canaanite Country. Canaanite dude tried to get him to just take the land as a donation...but Abraham insisted that he buy it.

This seems like an obscure chapter...but here's the deal. God had promised Canaanite Country to Abraham and his descendants back in chapter 12. And Abraham believed God. So...Sarah dies, and he says...well...its not my homeland yet...but God says it will be...so I'm going to stake my claim now.

I get the sense that God is waiting for each of us to believe His promises and step out in audacious faith to stake our claim on those promises. What is it that God is stirring in you that is too big for you to accomplish or realize in your own strength? And how is he calling you to stake your claim on His promises?

Doing – Dreaming = Waste of Energy
Dreaming – Doing = Disobedience
Dreaming + Doing = Exponential Kingdom Impact