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Real blessings from God

I stumbled on this Francescan benediction the other day and God has really been using it to wreck me.  Just thought I'd pass it along:

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain into joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

More Meat? (Part 2-Check Your Fruit)

So what are we to do when people complain that the church isn't feeding them enough? Besides making sure that they aren't still breastfeeding from the church (see part one here), we need to remind them to check their fruit.

Scripture tells us multiple times that we can determine the extent of one's growth by the kind of "fruit" they're producing. For instance, Matthew 7 says that true believers will be recognized by their fruit and that many people that claim to be followers don't really know God. If you really break it down, many "Christians" in our country don't have any evidence of fruit. I can't help but think that a majority of them don't really know God at all. I don't see a lot of Christians that can be described as full of "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Those are the "fruits" of following God, in case you're wondering).

Why all this talk of fruit? People who complain about not being fed enough need to be concerned more about whether they are producing fruit rather than if they are getting enought meat. Let's stop griping about how much we're fed and start applying what we've already learned. It would be awesome to see people who are more concerned with meeting the needs of others than meeting their own selfish desires.

More Meat? (Part 1-The Breastfed Boy)

Throughout the years, I have heard lots of Christians complain that they need to be "fed more" at the church or that the church isn't "deep enough" and needs "more meat." They often hop from church to church or they stick around, moaning and...you know what... about the church. What are we to say to people like this? What are we to do if that person is us? I think that whenever we're tempted to think this way, we have to realize two things:

1) If you're still breastfeeding from the church, and you have been a Christian for a while, you have a major problem. Here's what I mean. Before Isaiah was born, Patty decided that she wanted to breastfeed him rather than relying on baby formula. Heck...when he was born, the first time I saw his name on something was a label in the nursery at the hospital that said "I am a breasted boy!" However, as more time has passed, Patty has begun weening him away from breastfeeding and he is starting to eat baby food and soft foods. Obviously, he will eventually get to the point where he can eat on his own and will be able to feed himself.

A lot of Christians today are still breastfeeding from the church. They have this erroneous notion that the Church exists primarily to feed you. They feel they are not growing because the Church isn't going "deep enough." Hear this plainly: you have to feed yourself! The Church's job is not all about feeding you. It's about teaching you how to feed yourself! You have to take responsibility for your own walk and develop the discipline and skills to grow closer to God on your own. Don't get me wrong, the Church should pick up the tab for a meal on Sunday. But if that's the only food you're getting, you're going to die.

I'm so thankful that 99.99% of adults do not breastfeed from their mother. Not would it be unbelievably awkward (and probably earn you a spot on Dr. Phil), it wouldn't be healthy and you would find yourself malnourished later in life. Are you feeding yourself or relying on someone else?

Part Two on Monday!

Newness in life...

I have recently been reading through the book of Romans and something hit me really hard the other day. I came to a passage that was all too familiar...so much so that I think the power of it has been lost. I was reading Romans 6:4 and it said that we are made to "walk in newness in life."

Growing up in church I heard these words every time there was a baptism. I heard the pastor say as he baptized a person "Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness in life." I really didn't think about the words. I definitely didn't think about the power behind them.

Here's what really hit me the other day. I long for newness in life...and I think that all of us do. We long for do-overs, second chances, and simply for change to take place in our lives. Why don't we embrace newess in life? Could it be that a lot of Christians only accept God's salvation in our eternal destination? There's so much more to it than that. Christ died to give us newness in all of LIFE. Not just newness after death.

So what is it that you need "newness" in? Christ died to give you newness in your finances. Christ died to give you newness in your relationships. Christ died to give you newness in your mistakes. Walk in newness in life.

Some Fresh Changes...

Isn't it amazing how many times we say we're gonna change something in our lives and we don't follow through with it? Well...I know there are a couple of changes that I'm making in my life that gonna be hard to stick with, but when all is said and done both will change my life for the better. What are they? Here ya go...

1) Patty and I are gonna be setting up a hardcore budget and paying off stuff as fast as possible. I'm sure that we won't be able to eat out much and we'll have to cut back on other things (goodbye cable package), but wow..it will feel great to be out of debt. This post by Seth Godin really sums up how I'm feeling about it. Part of our plan is that I'm gonna do some extra work on the side...maybe even some speaking or music. We'll see.

2) I'm going to lose weight and get into shape. I need to drop about 35-50 pounds and it begins today. I wish I could find an inexpensive personal trainer (is there such a thing?) but I'm just planning on toughing it out myself until that happens. Let's face it. Most of us know what we should eat and what we should do to stay in shape. We just don't do it. The Bible says our bodies are a temple. My temple needs a major renovation.

Should be interesting. I'll have to give everyone updates on our progress.

Five from Q & A

SO...I was totally naive about how many questions would be sent in by our students at our Q&A night. To keep from having to answer questions on every blog for the next two years, I will take a good balance of the questions and talk about them. Without further ado...here are five random questions from our Q & A night (more coming soon!):

1) What do you do when a teacher discriminates because you’re Baptist? I would invite them to a potluck dinner and sing “Just As I Am” at the end of each class. (We actually gave a real answer at Q&A night.)

2) How do we know how to listen to God? God can speak to you in a variety of ways, but the main way is through the Bible. Romans 10:17 tells us that faith comes from hearing God’s Word. God will speak to you as you study the Bible and He will never tell you anything that contradicts it. He also speaks so us through His Spirit. That subtle voice guiding you a lot of times is Him (John 16:13, Romans 8:14). He can speak to us through other people (Proverbs 12:15).

The main thing is to stop talking to God about our issues all the time and truly listen through these ways I’ve mentioned. It’s hard to listen if all we do is talk.

3) What do you do when some of your friends are saying bad words but when you tell them to stop, they say “But it’s in the Bible”? As far as I know, there aren’t any cuss words in the Bible. Hell is an actual place. Damn is used when talking about sending people to Hell to face punishment for their sins. Ass is a donkey. Other than that, I have no clue what their talking about.

4) Can you believe in God but think that He doesn’t like you? There is never a moment that God doesn’t love you. BUT…He often doesn’t like your actions (or lack of) or thoughts. It’s like this. Let’s say that I tell my wife (Patty) that I’m gonna wash the dishes and I don’t do it. Patty would not be happy with me and would not like what I did. BUT…she still loves me. She always will. That’s a small glimpse of God. He loves us but hates sin. (Romans 8:38-39...example of God always loving us. There are tons of examples of God hating sin in the Bible)

5) Something happened to me by one of my family members 3 years ago and I still haven’t told my parents. What should I do? You definitely need to tell someone about what happened to you. It will be difficult to tell your parents, but they would want to know so they can help you. Whatever happened, it obviously is something that still bothers you and is on your mind, so the first step to moving on is letting others know.

Darrin Patrick at WiBo

NOTES FROM PATRICK:
* Romans 1:18-25
* How people change and how to turn from idols in our life.
* Sin is when we exchange the object of our worship. We stop worshiping God and start worshiping creation instead of creator.
* You were made to be captivated by something greater than yourself.
* 1 John 5:21 (summation of 1 John)- Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
* The way to serve other people, to love God? Stop serving idols.
* What is an idol? Anything other than God that I put in the place of God.
* An idol is something you look to for meaning. It can even be your ministry.
* Sin happens because we treasure our idols more than we treasure God.
* If we break commandments 3-10, it is because we have broken commandments 1 and 2.
* “An idol is anything in my life that occupies the place that should be occupied by God alone.” “Lord I trust you, but I have to have _____.” “When I get this…then I’ll be happy.”
* Most of the time, we’re clueless about our idols, but we can see others.
* You usually only see your idols when they’re threatened or disturbed.
* Who am I if I’m not a pastor? It doesn’t matter!
* Invite the Holy Spirit to expose the things you’re trusting in other than God.
* How to discern idols in our heart: What do you worry about the most? What if I failed or lost it, it would cause me to fell like I didn’t want to live? What do I rely on when things get difficult? What do I do to feel better? What do I think most easily about? Where does my mind go when it’s free? What preoccupies me? What do I daydream about? What makes me feel the most self worth? What do I want to be known for? What prayer unanswered would make me seriously think about turning away from God? What do I really want or expect out of life? What is my hope for the future? What truths from the Bible do I continually resist? What are the clear patterns of disobedience in my life?
* Idols tend to hide deep in our hearts. It is root sin. It is our motivations.
* Our motivations are the root sin. People can have different motivations for doing what they do.
* Four motivations in people (Alfred Adler): power, comfort, approval, or control
*Repentance is seeing your sin, owning your sin, turning from sin. It shows us the Root of our sin. You find that I am a bigger sinner than I thought.
* Faith is that Jesus lived for me, died for me, God sees me in Jesus, and Jesus lives in me. You find that He is a bigger Savior than I thought.
* God forgive us for inviting people to a gospel that we are not really living.

I've got a confession...

There are times in my life that I have neglected studying the Bible when I have been caught up in reading other books. It's really ridiculous when I think about it.

In case you haven't noticed, I've read a decent number of books so far this year. Actually, I think I'm on book number 15 so far (which is a complete shocker for those that knew me before I moved to to South Carolina. Heck...I didn't read a book college). The temptation for me is to read three or four books at once, and skip out on studying the Bible. Don't get me wrong, the books that I read have a lot of Scripture in it, but I've learned that I can't stay connected to God without studying the Bible.

What is getting in the way with your time with God? It may be good "Christian" activities or things. Don't let those things get in the way with your time with God. Experience Him first hand.