The Midtown Prayer Collective

Every so often a tiny spark of an idea begins to catch flame and take on a life of its own...

Several months ago I had the idea to create a prayer room and set it aside for a week of 24/7 prayer for our church.  I couldn't shake the idea, so I began praying about it.  It may sound weird, but I felt that this was one of the 2 or 3 BIG things that I was going to give my year to.  It then hit me that this would be a great opportunity to invite other local churches into it.  I shared it with Mandy, then with our leadership team, then with a couple of pastor friends.  Each conversation revealed more of an open door, and so we continued to walk.

After several more conversations this tiny spark of an idea has turned into the Midtown Prayer Collective.  It's much bigger than Neighborhood Church (7 churches so far that I'm aware of), and it's turned into longer than a week.  At 7:00 on Wednesday, October 10, at Lifelink Church (1015 S. Cooper), we're going to gather for a time of corporate prayer and worship.  At 9:00 our first hour of prayer will begin.  838 hours later (on Wednesday, November 14) we'll celebrate all that God has done.

The idea is that each of those hour-long slots is filled with someone.  And it's not limited to one person either.  But we know that every hour of every day for a little over a month, the saints of God are praying.  You may feel that praying for an hour is an impossible task, but when you step into this prayer room and observe the beauty and the promptings towards prayer, the time is going to go by quickly.  Not quite buying that?  Well then read this.

Jon Tyson, from Trinity Grace Church in NYC, was in Memphis last fall.  He spent a few hours with some of us, and, though he said a ton of helpful stuff, one thing he said truly haunted me.  He said that the American Church has tried everything but radical prayer.  Jon is from Australia, so he can say something like that.  He knows that the Church here has had more resources than any period of church history before.  This has led to great creativity and at times decent fruit, but have we lost a sense of desperate dependence for God to do what only He can do?  Do we still dream about what things could look like if God had His way in our lives, our churches, and our cities?

I am so ready to be surprised by God.  I am so ready to look at what is going on and know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is no way that would have happened without God stepping in.  I'm growing dissatisfied for the status quo of church, and I thank God for that.  My prayer is that a passion for Jesus and a faith to believe for the seemingly impossible would be stirred up in our city.  We need this more than we realize.

I'll leave you with a quote by Peter Greig, who wrote Red Moon Rising and The 24/7 Prayer Manual.

When we pray, we cannot guarantee how the glory of God will come, and when He does arrive it is often in a disguise that confounds our religious expectations of such an eagerly anticipated heavenly invasion.  But we should never doubt that God comes to those who humble themselves in faithful prayer. 

More from the Bible

I'm definitely not going to finish reading the Bible in 90 days, but I am most definitely going to finish it.  In the last 45 days I've read 12 books from the Old Testament (Joshua through Esther).  Once again, some thoughts:

• Though there are still difficult things in the OT that I do not understand, or frankly, do not like, the big Story is coming together for me in a new way, and I find myself loving and appreciating God more.
  
• The discipline of remembering is HUGE for the people of God.  We see it in those first few books of the Bible, then again in Joshua (much of this is directed towards Joshua himself, who is challenged by God to be of great courage and remember how He had worked through Moses).  One of my favorite stories about this is found in Joshua 3-4.  In fact, Joshua is one of my heroes in the OT because his life was marked by a trust in God and an obedience that naturally flowed from this trust.  When things begin going downhill (in Judges and then beyond), what we see is God's people forgetting who they are and more importantly who God is
  
• Obedience is a BIG deal, and it's a big deal because of two reasons.  First, we are not who we once were.  We've been chosen, adopted, redeemed, blessed, etc (Eph 1), and therefore we're called to live differently.  God is worthy of this.  The way we live should be a worship response to how He's acted on our behalf.  Second, though, and this comes out so clear through the OT story, we are called to obey because it's the best thing we could ever do.  God has thought about His plans for us, and though they don't always make sense (there's a difference between finite beings and an infinite being), we show ourselves to be wise when we follow God's plans and obey.  And when we disobey, there are consequences.  Going back to Joshua, I find it so interesting, and comforting, to see God saying four times to him to "be very careful" to obey me.  Inertia (or perhaps our human nature) leads us to disobedience.  We're going to have to flow upstream if we want to live according to God's commands.
  
• What separated good kings from bad kings was their level of obedience, often through simple things.  You see this theme reflected in Saul and David, but it continues throughout the next few centuries (see 1 & 2 Kings).
  
• It's important to remember that we can serve and worship God or we can serve and worship some other god (an idol), but we can never worship both.  One or the other. Always.  We get a choice, but we have to choose.
  
• So far, Judges is the most depressing book I've read.  It's so sad that a people, God's people, could forget all that he had done for them and worship other gods.  But one thing I've learned over these past weeks is that I am just as prone.
  
• As much as I like Joshua, my favorite is David.  I taught through his story last summer, and I love his love for God.  I love his dependence, his courage and his tenacity.  And I love the fact that he failed big time, but he humbled himself, confessed his sin as sin, and was restored.  And in the end he was known by God as a man after God's own heart.  Speaking of David, reading through his story reminded me that I did not touch much on his later years when I taught through his life.  I need to come back to this soon.  It would be interesting to look at principles of good leadership through his life.
  
• The mantle of leadership comes with a serious amount of responsibility.  As I finished reading King Solomon's story, I couldn't help but think that Israel's history could have looked very different had Solomon (and you could say this with the other kings of Israel & Judah) chosen to love, serve, worship and obey God.  The fact that he didn't meant not only withheld blessing to him but also to an entire nation.  The story goes downhill fast after Solomon.
  
• This "downhill fast" part culminates with God's people in exile under Babylon and then Persia.  God is faithful, though.  Despite their continued rebellion, he forgives, restores, and works in mighty ways.  Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the exiles coming back home and trying to restore what they once had. There is a heightened awareness of the importance of trust and obedience, and we see an encouraging display of leadership through these men.
  
• My last thought, and this is a challenge and hopefully a word of encouragement.  If you've avoided the Old Testament because of issues that confused or even disturbed you, I hope you will take a second look.  We are of course so removed through culture and time, but knowing this story helps me to understand the entire story, and I find myself getting excited to get to Jesus

There's much more that I could write, but hopefully this whets your appetite a bit.  According to my Kindle I'm 40% of the way through the Bible.  Next up...the Prophets (I'm going to come back to the Wisdom Literature).

Willow Creek Leadership Summit

Mandy and I attended our first Willow Creek Leadership Summit in 2000, just a few days after we had moved to the SF Bay Area.  It was a great way to begin our new life there.  The next time we went was 2006, just seven months after we had moved to Memphis.  Today we got to go again.  It was great to be there with Mandy.  We get to process what we are learning and how we can apply it to Neighborhood Church, but Mandy gets to apply it to everything that she is now doing with education advocacy as well.

When I go to conferences like these, my hope is to come away with a few big ideas.  The first big idea today was not anything new.  It was something I had heard before, something that had definitely been a big idea before. And fortunately, it was something that I've been putting into practice since I heard it.  But it was a great reminder.  It has to do with self-leadership, and it was from Bill Hybels.  He's had a practice for some time now to list the six top things he wants to commit to working on over the next six weeks.  These are things that are extremely important, but also things that, if not pursued with aggressive intentionality, will be left undone.  Over the past year I've been looking at things this way.  I've been asking questions like, "What one or two things do only I bring to the (NC) table?"  This was a great reminder to continue to develop this habit.

The second big idea came from Jim Collins.  His entire talk was great (based on his latest book Great By Choice), but one thing really stood out for me.  He said that the greatest danger for an organization is not failure.  Instead, it's to be successful, but to not have a clue as to why you are successful.  It caused me to ask a few questions about Neighborhood Church.  What does success look like at NC?  If we are successful, do I know what makes us this way?  What about our key leaders?  Do they know?  Is it one of those things that's so obvious that we never talk about it?  Or at least some of us think it's obvious.  If it's not obvious to everyone, and we're not talking about it in a way that it is creating common language within our culture, then we are in danger.  What's the danger?  It's that we won't play to our strengths, but more than that, Collins says that we won't be strong in those moments where strength is desperately needed (times of chaos).

Now this has nothing to do with just patting ourselves on the backs and ignoring obvious weaknesses.  It does, however, have everything to do with one of the main principles from his first book, Built to Last: "Preserve the Core/Stimulate Progress."  We have to know what those core values are; those unchanging principles that drive our organization whether we know it or not.  But it helps so much when we recognize and give words to it.  Because then we will have freedom to create, which leads to more innovation and progress.

I want to give more thought to this, but I do believe that it's a big thing for me.  I'm looking forward to another day of this.  Maybe one or two more big ideas!

Fireside Chat with Tim Keller

In my opinion, this is Tim Keller at his finest.  He shares his story, plus talks about controversial topics such as hell and creation/evolution.



Eric Metaxas and Tim Keller "Fireside Chat" from Brian McGee on Vimeo.

Oxford

On Thursday I realized that we didn't have much going on this weekend.  Since it's going to be awhile since we have another free weekend, and since my parents live in Midtown, I called Mandy and asked if she wanted to get away for the night.  I've been thinking about taking a trip to Oxford for awhile now, and once Mandy said she was up for it, we decided to go.  It turned out to be a great way to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary.

Yesterday afternoon we checked into the 5 Twelve Bed & Breakfast.  Gotta say that it was top notch.

Here's a picture of it.

After checking in, we headed to the Square.  Stop #1 was Square Books, a great independent bookstore I'll be visiting again.

After that was the tricky decision on where to eat.  We had heard great things about City Grocery and Ajax Diner.  In the end, after reading reviews on Yelp, we settled on Ajax.  Gotta say we made a good choice.  The sweet potato casserole was unbelievable.

After a restful evening and a great breakfast this morning, we headed to Rowan Oak, the home of William Faulkner.  I confess I couldn't remember much about Faulkner from my English classes, but after reading up on him on Wikipedia, I was ready to go.  I love the fact that his home is in a normal neighborhood.  "Normal" might not be the best word, since there are some beautiful historic homes all around, but it's not set off by itself.

We were there for just 24 hours, but it was such a refreshing time.  Travel is one of those things that definitely refills my tank.  Two more pics:  the first is me with Mr. Faulkner, the second is me with the lovely Mandy Grisham.  We will definitely be making this trip again!

The Good News of Jesus

Last night Adam told God that he wanted to become a Christian.  Here's how it went down...

After our micro church meeting Mandy went out, and I gave the boys a bath.  During bath time Adam started talking to me about using his money to help poor people.  He said that he felt bad that sometimes he didn't have his money with him when someone asked for money.  But then he took it a step farther by saying that he made a mistake once when someone asked for money.  That time he did have some, but he was on his way to the store to buy something, so he didn't give it.  He felt sad about this.  We talked about it, I gave him the synopsis of When Helping Hurts (not really but kind of), I told him that God loved him no matter what, and that I was proud of him for thinking about what it looks like to help people in need.

While Micah settled in for a show before bedtime, Adam said that he wanted to read the Bible with me.  He picked up his topical Children's Bible and turned to the chapter called "How to Go to Heaven."  In the first sentence was the word "Christian."  He said, "Addie Mae (his cousin) is a Christian.  Why can't I be a Christian?"  I asked him if he wanted to be a Christian, and then if he knew what a Christian was.  Response was Yes and Yes.

My initial thought was to let him think about it and then Mandy and I would talk to him today.  But he kept asking questions.  He also started confessing his sins.  There was truly conviction over ways that he had hurt God and other people.  We went to the water park with our micro church a couple of weeks ago.  Our family stayed overnight in a hotel.  Mandy was sick during the night, and Adam said that he should have been praying for her but he didn't.

There was more talk about sin and how it pushes us farther from God, even more about God's love and the fact that he sent Jesus to rescue us and forgive us from all of that sin, and how we can receive this love and give our lives to God by following Jesus.  There were questions about what it looks like practically to follow Jesus.

The more we talked, the more I knew that he was ready.  So I asked him if wanted to pray.  He said that he did.  I first asked him if he wanted me to pray, then he'd repeat.  He said that he'd rather just do it himself.  So he prayed.  He needed help a couple of times, but it was a beautiful and honest prayer to God.  And my belief about God tells me that Adam is now a Christian.  We talked a bit more, then he called Mandy to tell him (she was also 7 when she became a Christian - that made Adam smile very big).

I am so thankful that God has revealed himself to Adam.  This is an answer to a prayer that we (and others) have been praying since Adam was born.

During this conversation Micah came in once to see what we were doing.  I said to him, "Adam is going to become a Christian."  His response: "What do I get to turn in to?"  I asked him if he wanted to stay in with us, and he said, "No, I'm going to go watch my show."  He's 4.  We have more time.

The Bible in 90 Days

About a month ago I came across a Kindle book titled The NIV Bible in 90 Days.  As the title so cleverly implies, the book is a plan that allows you to read the entire Bible in 90 days.  Though I've tried it a couple of times, I've never been successful with a one year reading plan, so one would think that this would be more challenging.  Perhaps that's right in some ways, but I actually thought it might be easier.  It's only 90 days, right!

So on June 2, which was right at the end of our California Adventure, I decided to begin.  I'm almost 30 days in, and have just finished the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible).  I've missed a few days and therefore most likely won't finish in 90 days, but I've really enjoyed it.

Here are some thoughts on the first five books:

• The story is all about Covenant.  It's a covenant between God and man.  You could say that one of the primary story lines in this narrative is God's desire for relationship with his creation.  You first see this word in God's dealings with Noah after the flood.  It then becomes a primary theme with Abraham.  And then it's all throughout Israel's wanderings in the wilderness.  For all of the crazy stuff (see two bullet points down), there are some really beautiful passages about covenant and these rebellious people being his treasured possession.
  
• God wants his people to trust him, and for that trust to then overflow to obedience.  God was very present in these stories.  He made his intentions and desires very clear, explaining in detail that following him would to blessing, while going their own way (rebellion) would be disastrous.
  
• The Bible is filled with some crazy stories.  Some of them are encouraging (I love Joseph's story), but some of them challenging, even downright troubling.  I don't always know what to do about that.  I realize that's why a lot of people don't want to read the Bible, especially the Old Testament.
  
• I actually enjoyed reading through Leviticus.  The laws are very tedious, and a lot is repeated, but I was reminded that there was a specific purpose for all of it.  God was forming a people.  His people.  And they were to look like no other nation.  They would be different from Egypt (where they came from) as well as Canaan (where they were heading).  The thing I was struck with is the fact that God thought this thing through.  He had a plan, and he called these people to that plan.
  
• God is really big and does he wants.  That can seem scary at times, but I'm also so grateful for it.
  
• God is loving.  Being big and being loving and the same time is an awesome combination.  One without the other is no good.
  
• The good guys aren't always that good.  Again, a little troubling, but also refreshing
  
• The sexual ethics are strange.  There are a whole lot of people you can't sleep with (sister, mom, step-mom, aunt, sister-in-law, neighbor's wife, a woman and her daughter at the same time, another man, and an animal).  So, yes, it's kind of strange that it goes into that much detail.  What's even stranger to me, though, is that it doesn't just say, "only have sex with your spouse."  Pre-marital sex (& polygamy) seemed to be tolerated more in that culture than today.  Again, part of this goes back to the fact that all of these things were tolerated in the land where they were heading, and God was calling them to be different.  Still, though, it's strange.
  
• I'm reminded once again that the people who killed Jesus were a lot like me, or I should say that I would have been a lot like me.  Jesus broke some pretty serious laws.  (If you want to hear my take on this, and don't mind listening to me talk for 30 minutes, go here).
  
• God is very concerned with orphans, widows, those who have been oppressed, and immigrants.
  
• Jubilee, though it was probably never realized, sounds awesome.  I wonder if that's what heaven will be like!

That's enough for now.  I start Joshua tomorrow.  

A Busy but Free Heart

Life has gotten a little chaotic as of late.  Real Estate has been keeping me very busy.  School is just about out for the boys.  We leave for our two week California Adventure next Tuesday.  Always so much to do.  So I ask myself once again, "How is my heart?"  I can be a workaholic.  I can push through some long hours and get a pretty good high from it.  But just as quickly I can pick up the scent of a frantic and stressed out heart.  I've noticed that several times over the last few weeks.

My remedy:  Take 10 minutes.  Turn off the phone and the computer.  Turn down the lights.  Close my eyes.  Be still.  Remind myself of the Father's love for me - that right now in this moment, He is very fond of me!  Remind myself of all that He is doing in my life; in my family; in my church; in my city.  Remind myself of His never-ending blessings and provision.  Remind myself that I don't have to be in control, and that it's actually better if I'm not.  The Spirit of God does a MUCH better job of directing the affairs of my life than I do.

This isn't some magic button to push that makes problems go away. But it's pretty remarkable what happens when I do this.  In these moments I'm fighting for my joy, I'm guarding my heart, and I'm intentional about speaking the Gospel to myself.

Practicing the Way of Jesus 2

Here's a great video intro to the book our micro church is going through

Practicing the Way of Jesus

There wasn't any intentionality in this, but apparently I've been fasting from blogging.  Not saying that it's about to completely change, but I did want to post this today.

Since the beginning of the year, our church has been walking through the life of Jesus.  It's been a great time of learning and growth for me, and one of the biggest takeaways from it has been the fact that Jesus modeled the way that life was meant to be lived.  He lived a life of beauty, creativity and freedom.  He wasn't a slave to sin or people's expectations.  He never missed moments, and he was the most dependent (on God) person who ever lived.

Here's what's amazing, though.  He did more than model this life.  If that's all he had done, then woe is me, because I would have constantly flip-flopped between pride and despair.  On days I did well, I would think pretty highly of myself.  But on the days when I fell short, which would be most days, I would quickly lose heart.  So Jesus did more than model life.  He also invited us into his life (Matthew 11:28-29).   

It's one thing to believe that a different way of living life is possible.  Actually living it out is something entirely different.  The belief piece is hugely critical, but it can't stop there.  We have to have opportunities to practice.  And we need a community of people to practice with.  I am grateful that I have both.

My micro church at NC just started reading a book together, but it's not a typical discussion group.  The book is Practicing the Way of Jesus, by Mark Scandrette.  We had the first of six sessions on Wednesday night.  Each week we are going to be embarking on a 7-day experiment.  This week's experiments are on the topic of security.  Some of the experiments that our community members are taking on are:

• Gratitude - writing down 10 things each day (with no repeats) that we're thankful for
• Time/Money Journal - I do this already with money, so I thought I would do it with time.  I downloaded this spreadsheet template and am keeping up with what I am doing in 30 minute increments.  It's going to be very telling.
• Sabbath - taking a day (or half day) of rest
• Simplify - live off less than you currently spend in a week, and give away what you didn't spend
• Buy fair trade and local - Mandy and I are doing this as well.  We're educating ourselves this week.  I'm very excited to make some changes in this area.

I believe that Jesus offers something different from the world.  But I believe that we need to heed what Paul said in Romans 12 - fight conformity to the pattern of this world.  We're creatures of habit, and our inclination is to drift.  We're going to have to fight conformity, and lean into God and one another for real change.  I'm grateful to Jesus for modeling and inviting, and, once again, I'm grateful for the community that God's allowed me to be a part of. 

2011 Top Ten Lists: Songs

Repo Man - Ray LaMontagne & The Pariah Dogs




Heaven Breaks - Sleeping At Last




Perth - Bon Iver




Every Teardrop is a Waterfall - Coldplay




Girl with the Red Balloon - Civil Wars




Cripple Me - Elenowen (I have to admit that I have a vocal man crush on this guy)




Not Over You - Gavin Degraw (check it out - the man has a broken arm and still is rocking it)




Dust Bowl Dance - Mumford & Sons




Colorshow - Avett Brothers




Red Banks - Amy LaVere

2011 Top Ten Lists: Books

I read a lot more this year than in previous years. Here are some of my favorites for the year.

1. Beautiful Outlaw, by John Eldredge. In January we'll begin a series on Jesus, through the lens of Mark's Gospel. Because of that, I've been reading quite a bit on Jesus. This one has been my favorite. It's different from the others. It hasn't so much been new information, but more that Eldredge helped me to get caught up in this beautiful story.

2. The King's Cross, by Tim Keller. This one is also on the life of Christ. If you've enjoyed other books by Keller, this one will follow suit. This book is based on a series of sermons that Keller preached a few years ago.

3. A Praying Life, by Paul Miller. Most books on the subject of prayer make me feel guilty. This one was a breath of fresh air. I would almost say that the word "Life" is a better descriptor than the word "Prayer," because the book is about an everyday life with God. It's messy. It's beautiful. There are good days and there are bad days. And God is in it all.

4. The King Jesus Gospel, by Scot McKnight. I try to read everything Scot McKnight write puts out, which, if you've ever been to his blog, is A LOT. In this book he differentiates between a salvation culture and a gospel culture.

5. Love Wins, by Rob Bell. In case you didn't know, this book, which is about the afterlife, caused a bit of a stir this past year. Our church read it last spring and then devoted a Sunday night to discussing it.

6. Do the Work, by Steven Pressfield. What is resistance and how do we destroy it? Find out in this great little book.

7. Samson and the Pirate Monks, by Nate Larkin. I heard some guys talking about this, and the title alone intrigued me. Who wouldn't like Pirate Monks! This is a book about sexual addiction, community, and God's grace that leads to healing and restoration.

8. The Starfish and the Spider, by Ori Brafman and Rod Beck. I've had this book for a few years, but I finally read it this year. Over the past year our church has been moving towards decentralization. That's what this book is about.

9. Rumors of God, by Jon Tyson and Darren Whitehead. I've been following Jon Tyson and his church in NYC for the past few years, so when I heard he had a book coming out, I got a copy pretty quickly. He and Darren have been friends for a long time, and though their churches look very different from one another, their passions for Jesus and the church are identical.

10. The Cross of Christ, by John Stott. I have begun collecting and reading John Stott's books over the past two years. This one is my favorite so far. Rich in theology and beauty.

Of these ten books, eight were read on my Kindle app, and I listened to two.

A Special Christmas Gram

The Role of Money 3

In the first post I gave an introduction, using Matthew 6:24, on the role that money plays in our lives. It is either a tool that you use or a god that uses you. In the second post I gave ten indicators that money might be a god in your life. In this final post I want to give five indicators that money might be a tool in your life. That's God's intention for our life.

Before going into our list, it's important to point out that money is simply a tool that helps us to accomplish our goals. It's tied to our values. You can determine what a person values simply by looking at how they spend their money (and time - as you'll see, these two are inextricably linked).

1. You have articulated your values, dreams, and goals. To take them a step farther, you've written them out. Two helpful resources are Michael Hyatt's "Creating Your Personal Life Plan" and Mark Driscoll's teaching on Reverse Engineering (audio and notes). Both of these have been extremely helpful to me.

2. You have a handle on money. You know what's coming in and you know what's going out. This is what is meant by budgeting. Budgeting can be as simple as writing down expected income and expenses on a sheet of paper, using spreadsheets, or using an online tool such as Mint.com. If you're not budgeting before the month begins, then at the end of the month you're going to be left wondering how you spent so much money. As it's been said, people don't plan to fail, they just fail to plan.

3. You are content with, and thankful for, the things that you have. Godliness with contentment is great gain (1 Timothy 6:5). Contentment and thanksgiving without a doubt change your perspective on life and finances.

4. You freely give what has been given to you. This is so much more than tithing. It's stewarding (managing) well our time, talents, and treasure. You're free with those things because you know that you're a manager, not an owner. God, the owner, has entrusted these things to you, and we honor him in how we use them. Not only that, though, we find true joy in doing so.

5. You have margin in your life. This applies to time and to money. Margin is counter-cultural. The tendency today is to max out everything in life. Filling up our calenders makes us feel as important as buying things. Margin is a gift, but it's something that we have to fight for. Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was once asked by Forbes magazine what he would do with a $100,000 windfall. Check out what he said (question #9 on the list). This is all about margin.

Compared to the ten indicators I gave yesterday, doesn't this sound so much more appealing? Is it counter-cultural? Yes. Will it take a ton of re-training? No doubt. But it leads to freedom. Freedom is one of the most misunderstood aspects of Christianity. We believe that following God confines and restricts us, but it actually gives us true freedom.

The Role of Money 2

In the last post I gave the foundation for why we at Neighborhood Church were talking about money. In this post I'll give the 10 indicators I shared on Sunday night that money might be a god in your life.

1. There is constant anxiety about money. It's something you are always thinking about, and you might even be losing sleep over it.

2. Debt determines your decisions. We're told that buying things leads to happiness and freedom, but debt leads to bondage.

3. Most of the arguments you have with your spouse center on money. I know, that's a tough one. In our economy today, lots of people are struggling paying mortgages, looking for jobs, and paying ordinary bills. There's a great deal of tension in that.

4. Discontentment marks your life. Discontentment is simply a dissatisfaction with what you have. Your focus in all about what you don't have.

5. Therefore you're not thankful to God for what He's given you, and neither are you truly enjoying those blessings.

6. Consumerism has a grip on your heart. We've been talking a lot about consumerism as we enter into the Advent season. Here's how you know if consumerism has a grip on your heart: After a hard week at work, you go shopping and buy something, and suddenly you feel ok about yourself. This is why people say that shopping can be an addiction just like drug addiction.

7. You never delay gratification. You see something, you want it, you want it now, and so you go get it. There was a day not too long ago when, if you saw something on tv that you just had to have, you had to get off the couch, put your shoes on, and drive to a store to make your purchase. But today, you just log on to amazon and instantly purchase what you want. And with things like books, music and movies, not only do you instantly purchase it, but you instantly get it. Delayed gratification is so yesterday.

8. You have no plan. This goes for getting out of debt, spending money, saving money, and giving money. No plan.

9. You're stingy with your money. If you're honest with yourself, you're not that generous.

10. You are generous with your money. You might even give 10% away (what the Bible calls a tithe). However, because you do this, you feel that you're free to do whatever you wish with the remaining 90%. You never ask God what he wants you to do with that money. One point here: your theology matters here. If you think God frowns when you spend your hard earned money on things that you enjoy, then you have a distorted view of God. See this Old Testament passage for more. This passage, which is actually tied to tithing, shows us that God wants us to enjoy what we have, and that's it's actually tied to worship.

I'm sure that everyone reading this can check off at least three or four of these. Money plays such a huge role in our daily lives, and we all struggle with it in some capacity. If that weren't the case, Jesus wouldn't have talked about it as much as he did. Rest in the fact that he knows your struggles and wants to help you.

In tomorrow's post, I'll give 5 indicators that money is a tool in your life.

The Role of Money 1

On Sunday night we ended our series "Hope, Habits & Hunger" by looking at the role that money plays in our spiritual growth. Talking about money is never a comfortable topic, especially in the context of church. But Jesus believed that money was important, and he talked about it quite often (16 of the 38 parables he told were about money).

We believe that we need to create a culture where talking about money is ok. It's way too private of a matter, and that's unhealthy for us all. We need to create a safe place where there's freedom to share our struggles and also where we've seen God move. That's one of my great hopes for our church in 2012.

I gave a number of lists on Sunday night, so I thought it might be beneficial for me to blog about that.

The big idea for the night was as follows:

Money is not neutral. It is either a tool that you use or a god that uses you.

Thinking of money as a god might be a stretch for some of us, but it wasn't for Jesus. Read this passage. For most of us, money is a god rather than a tool, and the problem with that is that though it promises freedom, all we get is bondage.

In the next three blog posts I'll give some ways to tell whether or not money is a tool or a god in your life. Stay tuned.

When God Says No

Last Sunday night I taught on suffering. I never like talking about suffering, but we've been in a series on spiritual growth for awhile, and since people grow the most when they go through difficulties, I knew we needed to talk about it.

This morning I had to get a cavity re-filled. Not sure if that's the technical term for it, but either way, it was not fun. I decided to listen to a sermon while I was in the chair, and I settled on one by Andy Stanley. A little ironic, I realize, that I would choose a sermon on suffering while I "suffered" under the care of my wonderful dentist for 90 minutes.

I should say that the sermon wasn't specifically on suffering. It was actually from a series on faith. However, it dealt with the question of how we respond when God doesn't respond to our prayers in the way we thought he would. It was an incredible talk, and one I would encourage you to listen to.

Link

Sabbath from Teaching

[I wrote this post 2 months ago but for some reason did not publish it]

I had the night off from teaching last night at Neighborhood Church. My friends Jay and Anna visited and shared what God is doing in Burma. This morning I woke up and was hungry to read, pray, and prepare for teaching next Sunday. Normally, after teaching on a Sunday night, I need a couple of days before I am ready to even think again. Note: that's not a healthy place. And it's why I'm thankful that I don't have to teach every week.

We now have several gifted teachers at NC, and our congregation needs opportunities to hear those voices. We're stronger for it. And I'm at my best when my work is rooted in rest. That's why the Jewish views on Sabbath are so wonderful. The day begins at night instead of in the morning. It begins with rest rather than ends with rest. That changes everything. Again, our work should be rooted in our rest!

For more on this, read this blog post from J.R. Briggs. There are some great thoughts that are beneficial to anyone.

Reflections on a Great Weekender

This weekend marked Neighborhood Church's third Weekender. Weekenders are times when our entire church comes together for fun, learning, service and prayer.

We kicked things off on Friday night with our first ever Variety Show, aptly named The Rock-afire Explosion of Talent. And boy was it an explosion! We had a cover of Journey's Don't Stop Believing", with only vocals and Apple products. Oh yeah, and cow bell. Our new friend Pouya sang his heart out on The Eagle's "Hotel California." We had skits, stand up comedy, readings, and we finished the night off with some Bieber Fever. I'm sure videos will be floating around the world wide web very soon.

Saturday morning nine of us who went to the GCM Conference debriefed with the rest of our team on what we learned. We had good panel and table discussions. That afternoon we went to Hope Works for a couple of hours. We planted flowers, built shelves, cleaned, and even hung a tv. Serving together is such fun!

Finally, yesterday morning we met at John and Ashleigh's house to give thanks to God for this community and our great weekend together. It was a powerful time of encouragement and speaking into one another's lives. I am very grateful to be a part of what God is doing, and I'm grateful to be doing it with this community!

The Centrality of the Heart

I'm in the middle of reading a really great book by Paul Tripp called How People Change. Here's a great quote on the centrality of the heart.

The average Christian defines sin by talking about behavior. For example, what is the goal of most Christian parents? Is it not to get their children to do the right things? We set up all kinds of relational, motivational, and corrective structures to constrain and direct our children’s behavior. These structures are not without value, but if this is your only response to your child’s rebellion and sin, you will leave him defenseless against sin once he leaves home and the structures are no longer there.

Beneath the battle for behavior is another, more fundamental battle— the battle for the thoughts and motives of the heart.

The heart is the real or essential you. All of the ways in which the Bible refers to the inner person (mind, emotions, spirit, soul, will, etc.) are summed up with this one term: heart. The heart is the steering wheel of every human being. Everything we do is shaped and controlled by what our hearts desire.

That is why the Bible is very clear that God wants our hearts. Only when God has your heart does he have you. As much as we are affected by our broken world and the sins of others against us, our greatest problem is the sin that resides in our hearts. That is why the message of the gospel is that God transforms our lives by transforming our hearts.

Lasting change always comes through the heart. This is one of Scripture’s most thoroughly developed themes, but many of us have missed its profound implications. We need a deeper understanding of Proverbs 4:23, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."