Great Leaders Serve

Telescopes, Tweens & Tom.

Today our three "little" girls started school. The house was buzzing this morning with nervous butterflies, hair brushes and flashing cameras as we rushed out the door to get the girls to school on time. It feels about as American as you can get...

I have to admit I was kinda sad. I mean, I swore I would never miss the diaper stage and yet, I kinda do now. I realized how much joy and love I had experienced already through my girls. How watching them experience life had enriched mine so much (insert tears:).

And then, out of nowhere I get this email from Tom Keane. Awesome Brunz stud that he is, he had taken the time to email this picture today that was recently taken by the Hubble Telescope. It stopped me in my tracks. Just look at the God beauty, power and detail displayed in this picture...

Seriously, is God amazing or what? And what really re-oriented my day was Tom's words about what these pictures meant to him...

I can’t help but think back to Pastor Tim’s message from "At the Movies" series about science and faith.  I am so incapable of understanding God’s power and complexity, yet so amazed that my God, who created all of this, loves me.  Who am I that He is mindful of me?  Amidst the unfathomable expanse of His creation, I am His, I am beloved.  Do I, can I, really comprehend that with respect to this infinitesimal peak into His creation that we see in these pictures?
 
If you have a few minutes, take a look at these.  Maybe it’s just me, but I know God reached out and spoke to me through this today.  Perspective, humility, awe, and a love that is bigger than I am able to understand…these are some of the things He has impressed on my heart through this today.
 
I pray that you are all feeling His presence today, in whatever way He is reaching out to you.

Really? Can you get better stuff than that in the middle of the day on a Thursday afternoon? Thanks Tom for this awesome reminder that God, our Savior, who created all this, loves each of us. So awesome.

Thankful for Telescopes, Tweens & Tom for letting me "see" such a beautiful view of God today -- mikey

What does spiritual maturity really look like?

Okay, so I have been doing the JC thing since I was a little kid and have gone to my share of churches along the way and yet there still seems to be some confusion on how we grow spiritually.It wasn't until the Warrior series (Fall, 2008) that I really felt some clarity in this area. As usual, simple is always better and this is how our boy Pastor Tim paraphrased it...

Being fed - that often happens in church; on-line or in a Life Group-- someone explains the Bible to you  (i.e. in church / on-line) and you open up the Bible with others (i.e. Life Group). There are plenty of other ways, but these are a few really good ones that allow us to be fed by others.

Feed yourself - as you begin to move along in your journey you start to become less dependent on the teaching of others as your primary means of growth.  It's still important-- but you actually learn how to OPEN UP THE BIBLE yourself.  You begin wrestling with God's Word in your daily life.  You develop your own daily quiet time with God.  You chew on God's Word; letting it shape you through study & meditation. 

Feed others -  As continue to deepen your relationship with God you never abandon the ability (or practice) of being fed or feeding yourself, but you do begin to understand the extreme privilege that you have had in opportunity to grow spiritually. This excites you and gives you desire to help others along in the same process of growth by leading/serving them.

Either way, whether you are coming back to church after sometime away or the new to this JC thing -  Being Fed and Feeding Yourself... this is awesome and don't feel like you should be further along. Allow God to meet you right where you are at.

And if you are at the Feed Others part of your journey I would encourage you to do two things:

1 - Continue the art and practice of Being Fed and Feeding Yourself AND

2 - Engage in the privilege of leading/serving Feeding Others in the same way. Remember, faith is a journey, not a guilt trip... p. mikey:)

I'm tired of all these QUESTIONS!

Literally folks, I am tired from all the questions that each of you wrote yesterday on your connection cards! But it's not what you think...

I am tired from reading all these questions, because my heart is literally exhausted. The honesty, the openness, the transparency by which so many of you shared your questions to God is down right beautiful! Thank you so much for this. Read below and you will see what I mean...

- Why did my best friend have to die last month?

- If we should consider you an all-loving God how can the Bible speak of fearing you?

- Will we have kids?

- Why do you let good people go to Hell?

- How come you never hear me?

- Why did you choose the mother you gave me?

And you know what excites me most is that people are asking these questions of GOD in church! That's right. Because somewhere in this "Jesus stuff" we starting thinking that you can't question God, you just have to believe Him.  And quite honestly, that is why so many people end up walking away from Him...

BUT Habukkuk challenges us to think a different thought and that is a person CAN have faith, believe in God AND have questions. Because the reality is, the questions aren't evidence that your faith is weak, but rather that God is inviting you to GROW.

Remember, the meaning of Habukkuk is to embrace, to wrestle, to lean in, to engage and so my prayer for each of you today (and for me too) is that we will lean into, wrestle with and embrace God in our questions and learn to trust that God is big enough to handle it. What could/would happen in our lives if we actually did???

blown away - p. mikey

With a few glowing exceptions, the Old Testament recounts failures!

Interesting statement right? I think Philip Yancey is on to something in his book, "Disappointment with God." Almost troubling... why would God spend so many words in the OT recounting failure (and personal failure at that)?

As I was listening to Pastor Tim use the life-story of J.K. Rowling (the gospel according to Harry Potter) today to share God's message of hope and redemption in our broken lives, my mind wandered to this concept. Abraham, the Israelites, David, Saul... the OT failure list reads long and yet, so often, we church peeps create environments where failure is not an option.

If the repetitive failure highlighted in the Old Testament was left out, what happens to the redemptive hope strewn through the New Testament? I feel like the Black-eyed Peas might have been singing about us church folks in the recently popular "Boom Boom Pow" song... they sing, "you're so 2000 and late."

Get it? In the New Testament God's grace is the fad. The in-thing. The new standard. But many times we, meaning the church, are WAY out of style...

What if the church was a place where failure wasn't shamed? What if church was a place where raising your hand for help was seen as a sign of strength, not weakness?

So let me start first. I "preach" family, but work too much. I "teach" priorities, but mine are out of whack. I check my email before I check on my kids. I check my voice mail before I check in with my wife. I pray about my next meeting before I pray for my family...

Accepted? Yes. Acceptable? No. Let's allow God to create in each of us (and our church) a culture of strength born out of weakness. II Corinthians 12:9 ""My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

God, help us be a church that lives like we believe that - pastor mikey

Smarts, Self and Silver

Been reading in Jeremiah lately (kick'it old school) and have come across some quality nuggets of wisdom. I know, the book of Jeremiah is full of "warning and judgment" for God's peeps (the Isrealites), but don't miss the forest for the trees folks. There is some good stuff in there.

Considering this was written BC (before the time of Christ) it's amazing how relevant this stuff is today. Check out the three things God is using Jeremiah to call out as issues for people back then...

Smarts (intellect), self (I can do this on my own) and silver (cash is king mentality). Go figure. Some 2000 years later don't we all struggle with some of the same issues?

Jeremiah 9:23 reads...

This is what the LORD says: "Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches,

Easy solution? Not really. A journey of asking God to change our hearts? Absolutely! The next verse says,

"but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight," declares the LORD.

Do we just wake up one morning and "understand and know" God? Nope! But, that process happens over time as we walk along with Jesus daily, sometimes making some good choices, others, not so much. Like today... God help us to be able to understand and know you just a little bit better today.

trying... mikey