Free Book by Brian Tome (a book review)

I just completed “Free Book” by Brian Tome.  Brian is an “in-your-face” writer, but his content is very challenging and encouraging.  While he admits early on that he might lose some of his readers due to his aggressive style, his message is phenomenal.  We are meant to live free lives because Jesus died for us to be free.  Tome gives tons of real life examples of people who have gone from bondage to freedom.

One aspect that I really liked about this book is that he even tackles the fact that a lot of followers of Jesus are living in bondage because of religious pressures.  We feel we cannot do certain things because our religious system has taught us it’s wrong.  While he doesn’t promote abusing the grace of God by doing whatever we want, he does challenge our thinking about locking ourselves up in slavery to the fear that we’re always going to do wrong.

I highly recommend this book.  It’s great for new believers, old believers, and all in between.  Thanks, Brian, for setting us free by opening our eyes to what keeps us in bondage!

Between Good Friday & Easter Sunday

We had a Good Friday service tonight at our church and in the quiet time of reflection, I got to thinking what it was like for Jesus’ followers between his death and his resurrection.  There’s not a lot said in Scripture other than they were basically hiding out together trying to figure out what was next now that their friend and rabbi was gone.  I imagine there was a ton of sorrow and grieving.  I imagine there was a lot of confusion.  After all, Jesus told them that he would die and then be raised back to life, but they didn’t quite grasp what he was saying.  They believed he had come to rescue them from the oppression of the Roman Empire, but that didn’t happen.  They watched him challenge the religious teachers of the day, yet in the end it seemed as they defeated him by having him crucified.

I have a hard time putting myself in their shoes.  On this side of the resurrection, we can celebrate on Good Friday knowing that Easter Sunday is coming.  But for them, it was different.  They didn’t know the resurrection was actually going to happen.  Maybe they hoped it would, but I imagine in their grief they forgot all of his words about the resurrection.  It must have been the worst thing they had ever experienced.  Hope was crushed and their one futures were very unclear.  Could they just return to life as usual before meeting Jesus?  I bet they didn’t think so.  They knew something was different for them for the rest of their lives for just knowing him.  But they didn’t realize that on Easter morning their eternity would be different.

On this Easter weekend, I encourage you to reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, the struggle of his followers afterward, and then the celebration when he actually did come back to life on the third day.  Let this be a reflective weekend, but let this also be a weekend full of celebration.  Because of Jesus’ pain, sacrifice, and resurrection we can have eternal life in heaven forever.

Thank you, Jesus, for enduring the cross.  Thank you, Father, for raising him from the dead.

Ready for the Lord’s Return

I’ve been reading through the book of Luke lately and today I came upon Luke 12:35-40.  Verse 40 really jumped out at me as it says, “You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.” This got me to thinking:  “How often do I think about my moment-by-moment actions in light of being ready for Jesus’ return?”  I think most of us would be much more conscious of battling sin if we had in mind that Jesus might return while we’re in the midst of our sin.  Do I want to see Jesus coming back when I’m being disobedient?  Of course not!  So, I need to become more aware every day at every moment that how I’m living in that moment could be how I’m “caught” by Jesus when he returns.

Jesus even said that only the Father knows when the Son will return to take believers home to heaven.  There will be no warning signs the day that he’s coming.  He will just come.  Are you ready?

I think this passage should encourage us to not only become “sin avoiders”, but also to drive us to be good workers for the Lord.  If I’m focused each day on doing what the Lord has called me to do, then I will be caught doing the right things instead of sinful things.  I want to be in the midst of serving the King when he returns.  I want to be proactive each day and each moment to be doing what I know God’s Word tells me to be doing.

I’m thankful I came across this passage today.  I want to be motivated each day by the fact that I can either be found by the Lord on his return to be doing his work or to be in sin.  I obviously want to be faithfully doing his work.  What about you?

Until next time…

Looking Back…Moving Ahead

I just watched an inspiring and challenging sermon by Mike Breaux at Southland Christian Church in Lexington, KY.  You can watch it here.

As I watched this message, I found myself reflecting on the past decade.  It’s hard for me to believe that my 20s are over and we’re into the 2nd decade of the 2000s.  Time seems to speed up the older I get.  When the new millenium began, I was just out of college, not yet married to Jill, and was beginning my first full-time ministry.  Now, Jill and I have been married almost 9 years, we have two incredible sons with another baby on the way, have owned two homes, purchased two cars, and made a big move from Ohio to Georgia together.  It’s almost like we’re adults!

But beyond all of this stuff that has happened in the past 10 years, I continually find myself searching for what’s next.  I get so excited thinking about the future sometimes.  I can’t wait to see our family grow up together.  I get so excited to see what God has in store for us as we seek to live for Him and serve others each day.  At the same time, I’m often saddened by people who live in the past.  They miss out on daily opportunities that God has in store for them because of “the good ol’ days”.  I find in the Bible that God encourages us to remember where we’ve come from, but to forge ahead as we trust in Him day by day.  A lot of people don’t live like that.  The past, whether it was good or bad, is more comfortable than an unknown future.  It takes courage and faith to move ahead.

My prayer is that we can all move ahead.  I pray that those who don’t have a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus, would take that first critical step.  A future filled with hope and eternal joy in heaven starts with this one decision.  I imagine that the “teen years” of this millenium will bring all sorts of trials and struggles.  The question is “are we ready?”  Are we ready to handle what lies ahead by having a deep faith that our heavenly Father loves us so much and seeks to guide us day by day?  The alternative is living a life of fear and complacency hoping that things go back to the way they were.  And that’s no way to live.

“Father, I pray for myself and all who read this to either start a relationship with You by accepting Jesus as Lord or to daily grow in our relationship with You.  I know that there is no way in this world that I can get through the struggles of life without You guiding me each and every day.  I pray that more and more people come to this conclusion as well.  I pray this in Your incredible Son’s name.  Amen.”

Focus on Your Calling

I have to admit that I’ve done a lot of soul-searching the past couple of years about my future as I have allowed myself to get scattered in what I do on a daily basis.  As I was praying and reflecting at the end of 2009, I felt like the Lord was telling me to remember what He called me to in the first place and to focus on that calling.  For me, I know God has called me to help others discover that He wants to use them for His purposes and then to equip them to pursue that calling.  It’s that simple.  I remember vividly that God impressed this upon me when I was 16 years old.

However, over the years, it has been easy to get busy in other areas of life and lose sight of my original calling.  There are hundreds of distractions around me that lead me away from my calling.  I have to fight to focus on my calling.  Even today, I don’t feel rushed to do anything in particular, but I feel scattered.  I feel unfocused.  I feel somewhat useless today, like I’ve not accomplished anything of importance.

So, I thought I’d write about this.  I think we all face distractions that take us off-task of what we need to be doing.  I think we first need to spend prayerful time asking God what His calling on our life is all about.  Then, we need to be relentless in guarding our time and energy so that we can focus on our calling.  My problem isn’t knowing what God has called me to do.  My problem is staying on task.  For me, I need to write out my calling and place it in a prominent place that I can see on days like today.  I need to be reminded regularly of my calling so that when I stray from it, I have guard rails up to keep me on the right path.

What about you?  Have you discovered your calling?  If so, are you focusing on it?  I believe that we’d all be much more energized for each day if we are doing what we know God has called us to do for His purposes.

Until next time…

Welcome 2010!!!

New Year’s Eve doesn’t normally get me too excited, but it seems that 2010 is REALLY welcomed by most people.  2009 was undoubtedly a rough year on many levels.  I think that 2010 brings a lot of optimism with it.  Though New Year’s Eve isn’t a big deal to me, I always love the start of each new year.  I feel that it’s definitely a fresh start for us all.  None of us think about next steps like the beginning of a new year.

So, welcome to 2010, folks!  Welcome to the beginning of a new decade.  I pray that this will be a great year for everyone.

Until next time…

Coaching

I guess it’s because we’re in the middle of tons of basketball, pro football, and college football games, but I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to be a good coach.  As I’ve been thinking, I find that there are so many principles of coaching that we can apply to life that really can make a difference.  I’ll list a few of my thoughts below, but see if you resonate with any of these:

• A good coach keeps the big picture in mind.  One loss doesn’t ruin a great season (except when the BCS computers mess with you!)
• A good coach cares deeply for his/her players off the field as much as on the field.  Players respond accordingly on the field.
• A good coach casts a vision for the team and keeps the team focused on the long-term goals.
• A good coach stays consistent even when their team has ups and downs.
• A good coach stays the course even though his/her players come in and out of the program in just a few short years.
• A good coach is about developing players beyond their time on his/her team.  The coach wants the players to reach their personal goals, as well as, the team goals in the short-term.

There are a lot of coaches in our world, but I would argue there are only a few truly good coaches that have these characteristics.  I would also say that many schools and pro organizations don’t give coaches much of a chance anymore to develop a program.  It takes a lot of time to develop a good, consistent team, but the fan bases of too many teams want championships within 2-3 years or the coach is out.  My prediction is that we won’t see too many more long-term coaches at one school like Bobby Bowden and Joe Paterno.  The pressure to win is too high and not enough schools/organizations are willing to give coaches much of a chance. I’m amazed that Jerry Slone has been the coach of the Utah Jazz for over 20 years and they’ve never won a NBA title!

I think these coaching observations apply very much to parents, teachers, bosses, and pastors as well.  Many of us in our lifetimes will have the opportunity to coach someone.  It may not be in the sports arena, but most likely in the more important arena of life.  I hope I can become a good coach that is about developing people however I can.  I know I’m a work in progress and I’ve depended a ton on “coaches” in my life.

Until next time…

Contentment

In my devotional reading this morning, the idea of “contentment” was brought up.  As I was reading, I realized how I am a naturally “discontent” person.  I even did a personality profile last year and one of the characteristics that I fall into is that I bore easily of things in a pretty short period of time.  I want to move on and not linger on things.  That definitely fits what I see in myself.  So, how does a discontent person become content?  I really have no idea other than a lot of prayer and allowing God to transform me.

I think it’s also important to think about how our culture is largely against contentment.  As soon as you purchase the iPhone, the newer and better iPhone comes out.  Your new car that you’ve been dreaming about owning loses its luster when the next new car you dream about owning is produced.  The job you love starts to feel stagnant, so you desire to climb the next rung of the ladder of success.  On and on it goes.

The author of my reading this morning, Chuck Swindoll, talks about how we fear being content because we have come to see content people as lazy people with no drive or motivation.  It’s important to note that contentment doesn’t equal laziness.  Rather, contentment is about learning to appreciate what you have without craving more and more.  Do you really need that new car?  Will that new job really be as great as you think?  Will that new computer/phone be as great as what you imagine?  We all know the answers are “no” to these questions most of the time.

As the saying goes, “the grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.”  One wise person once said that “the grass is really greener where you water it most.”  To be content means that we must be at war with wanting more and more.  We need to learn to water the grass where we are and let God guide and direct us each day.  It’s not easy, but I believe it will be worth it in the long-run.  Don’t throw out your ambition, but also don’t let ambition drive you to the point where nothing is ever good enough.

Until next time, I’m learning to be content…

Living God’s Way

I have been reading through Romans lately and it’s been making my head hurt.  The Apostle Paul goes very deep in Romans.  I read Romans 12 today and it really hit me that it’s a chapter of how to live God’s way.  It’s not complicated.  Paul lays it out there for all to understand.  It starts with submitting our whole selves to God for His purposes and then Paul talks about how blessed we are that God has actually given us spiritual gifts to serve others.  He concludes by talking about how to treat others.  Great read to remind us of how God desires for us to live each and every day.

Click here to read the chapter.

Until next time…

Getting Motivated

I don’t have any deep insight today from my Bible reading, but I’ve been struggling to get moving this morning.  It’s rainy outside and gloomy.  Though I had a good day off yesterday, I don’t feel energized to do anything.  I’m even drinking regular coffee (which I normally don’t do…I’m a decaf guy) and that’s not even jolting me!

So, today, I guess I’m trying to see what can motivate me.  I want to be effective today.  I want to be productive.  I don’t want to get to the end of the day and think it was a wasted day.

Anybody else have that problem?  What motivates you?  How do you kick-start a day like today?