I had an illuminating moment this weekend. As part of the Father's day weekend at our church, all of the kids came up on stage and helped sing one of the songs. Talk about a great photo opportunity.
My four year old, Alyssa, is just getting to the age where she can participate in these kinds of "big kid" events. As she strode up to the stage, she beamed with joy. The kids all put on sunglasses, only Alyssa's were on a little crooked. She was about half a beat behind in all of her motions, but she was late with gusto. And I sat in my chair and just laughed my head off. It was a huge joy, on this special day, to take absolute delight in one of my children. What a memory!
After the kids went downstairs, we read a Psalm together about David crying out to God for help. And this is God's action about halfway through the poem, "He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me."
As I reflected on this idea, I couldn't help but think about the joy I had in watching my daughter and how this Psalm was saying that God felt the same way about me. Wow.
How do you think God feels about you? I think if you ask most of us (Christian, non-Christian, whatever), we would say that God is angry, upset, disappointed, or let down by the shallow, self-centered lives that we live. Strangely, this view of God is largely absent from Scripture.
Did you know the most repeated verse in the entire Old Testament? (The part of the Bible most people refer to when describing God as judgmental, angry, disappointed with us, etc.) It's this:
But you, O Lord, are a merciful and gracious God, slow to get angry, full of unfailing love and truth. Ps. 86:15
This phrase is repeated no less than 9 times! Do you think maybe it's time to change the way we view God? I mean, can you imagine a God who sits in heaven and takes incredible delight in your life, in who you are, because he made you and he loves you? I think this would change the way that I live. I know it would certainly change the way that I pray.
I hope today that you will know a God who delights in you. Get to know that God.
Live, laugh, and journey on,
Nick
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Practice makes...better.
Did you grow up hearing that line, "practice makes perfect"? I know I did. Now, I'm not saying I disagree with the statement, but I think it's given me a false idea about what practice produces in my life.
We started a series at church this last week on Spiritual Practices- normal, everyday stuff that we can all do in order to train ourselves to be like Jesus. The love and grace of God given to us through Jesus is truly the hope of the world, and we are all vessels of this hope. That's a pretty high demand on people like us (like me) that stumble through many of our days. Even on my best day, it frightens me just a little that I am the hands, feet, and mouthpiece of Jesus to a world in need.
What does this have to do with practice? Well, I know that I got to a point in my life where I assumed that practice would make perfect. Whether it was practicing the piano, my free throws in basketball, or reciting a poem in English class, I began to expect perfection. This is a great goal, but what about all the times when I would finish a time of practice and still not be perfect? To be honest, I felt like my efforts were wasted. I hadn't really accomplished anything because I was still flawed. In many ways, this made the idea of more practice discouraging- why put in all the effort only to still be prone to mistake and error?
I think we feel the same way about spirituality. Why put in all this "work" (at least we think of it as work) when we instinctively believe that at the end of the day we will still be far from perfect? This is where I find it important to quit trying to be like Jesus- I truly can't try hard enough. But I can train, and practice, even if it means I'm still flawed. Because what I'm learning is that practice makes BETTER. Practice moves me in the right direction. I had a coach who always said that everyday you either get better or worse. He was speaking about football, but I think this idea is true in life as well. I am either moving towards my wife and family in love, or I am gradually moving away. I am stepping closer to God's love and grace in my life, or I walk away, even if it is a slow retreat.
But with this idea in mind- practice makes better- I am free to practice and still fail. I can practice and train, and have grace for myself when I'm not perfect. To fail doesn't mean my practice was wasted- only that my practice is still in the process of transforming my life and my character.
I want to be a transformed person. I hope you do to. The process may feel long and plodding, but I get a sense that God's in less of a hurry than we are. And maybe that's okay.
Now that I am free from "practice makes perfect", where are those piano books?
Journey in freedom-
Nick
We started a series at church this last week on Spiritual Practices- normal, everyday stuff that we can all do in order to train ourselves to be like Jesus. The love and grace of God given to us through Jesus is truly the hope of the world, and we are all vessels of this hope. That's a pretty high demand on people like us (like me) that stumble through many of our days. Even on my best day, it frightens me just a little that I am the hands, feet, and mouthpiece of Jesus to a world in need.
What does this have to do with practice? Well, I know that I got to a point in my life where I assumed that practice would make perfect. Whether it was practicing the piano, my free throws in basketball, or reciting a poem in English class, I began to expect perfection. This is a great goal, but what about all the times when I would finish a time of practice and still not be perfect? To be honest, I felt like my efforts were wasted. I hadn't really accomplished anything because I was still flawed. In many ways, this made the idea of more practice discouraging- why put in all the effort only to still be prone to mistake and error?
I think we feel the same way about spirituality. Why put in all this "work" (at least we think of it as work) when we instinctively believe that at the end of the day we will still be far from perfect? This is where I find it important to quit trying to be like Jesus- I truly can't try hard enough. But I can train, and practice, even if it means I'm still flawed. Because what I'm learning is that practice makes BETTER. Practice moves me in the right direction. I had a coach who always said that everyday you either get better or worse. He was speaking about football, but I think this idea is true in life as well. I am either moving towards my wife and family in love, or I am gradually moving away. I am stepping closer to God's love and grace in my life, or I walk away, even if it is a slow retreat.
But with this idea in mind- practice makes better- I am free to practice and still fail. I can practice and train, and have grace for myself when I'm not perfect. To fail doesn't mean my practice was wasted- only that my practice is still in the process of transforming my life and my character.
I want to be a transformed person. I hope you do to. The process may feel long and plodding, but I get a sense that God's in less of a hurry than we are. And maybe that's okay.
Now that I am free from "practice makes perfect", where are those piano books?
Journey in freedom-
Nick
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
Are You Here?
What is it with our constant need to be connected? I've noticed some things happening around me lately. I have a track kid that actually texts the whole time she's running. (Not at meets, although if they'd let her, I think she would...) I run meetings now and regularly see people looking down and typing into their phone. People at restaurants will leave one perfectly good conversation to go outside and pick up another one. I will be with my family, but then feel the need to check an up-to-the-minute baseball score on my phone. I hear that Ashton Kutcher has over a million people follow him on his Twitter feed. He just barely beat out Oprah and CNN for this honor as the first one. (For those readers who are unfamiliar with Twitter, just smile and nod. It's coming. You'll know all about soon!)
As someone who sits on the borderline age-wise between the internet age and the stone age (I mean, the paper age- is that better?), I am not speaking out against any of these things. I get involved in cell phones, Facebook, and texting quite a bit myself. But I want to pause and make an observation today. Are we developing an inability to be fully present? In every conversation, we silently think of others we could have through our phone. In every moment, we wonder what's going on in the world around us. As we live a real, right-now life, we wonder about the status of others. Tweets. Feeds. Status updates. You have a text. Which life are you living?
I am writing this, not as a polemic against others, but as a reminder to myself. The people right in front of me in this moment are the most important. Do I take away from them because my mind is somewhere else? I want a life where I know how to slow down, think deeply, and appreciate the simple things in life. Does my connection to the world actually hinder this? I also want a life where I am free to consider God and look at what He's doing in my life. Can this happen if I am not fully present with Him? Through-out history, God has chosen to "break through" people's layers of activity to get their attention, but it seems to me like He's more likely to speak to those who are listening. In listening to so many around me, am I losing the ability to listen to the One who is with me?
Thoughts to ponder. I do not reject or embrace any technology outright, but I want to be willing to ask, "What kind of a person is this creating me to be?" I hope you might do the same...
Journey on, friend,
Nick
As someone who sits on the borderline age-wise between the internet age and the stone age (I mean, the paper age- is that better?), I am not speaking out against any of these things. I get involved in cell phones, Facebook, and texting quite a bit myself. But I want to pause and make an observation today. Are we developing an inability to be fully present? In every conversation, we silently think of others we could have through our phone. In every moment, we wonder what's going on in the world around us. As we live a real, right-now life, we wonder about the status of others. Tweets. Feeds. Status updates. You have a text. Which life are you living?
I am writing this, not as a polemic against others, but as a reminder to myself. The people right in front of me in this moment are the most important. Do I take away from them because my mind is somewhere else? I want a life where I know how to slow down, think deeply, and appreciate the simple things in life. Does my connection to the world actually hinder this? I also want a life where I am free to consider God and look at what He's doing in my life. Can this happen if I am not fully present with Him? Through-out history, God has chosen to "break through" people's layers of activity to get their attention, but it seems to me like He's more likely to speak to those who are listening. In listening to so many around me, am I losing the ability to listen to the One who is with me?
Thoughts to ponder. I do not reject or embrace any technology outright, but I want to be willing to ask, "What kind of a person is this creating me to be?" I hope you might do the same...
Journey on, friend,
Nick
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Learning to Speak All Over Again
One thing that has really amazed me the last few months in my classes is just how accessible the gospel was in the 1st century. Living some 2000 years later, we have accepted some of this jargon as typical speech when it comes to the Bible, but many of these phrases were cutting edge material in the first century!
Did you know that the fastest growing "religion" is the 1st century was the emperor's cult? It was basically the Caesar's attempt to get everyone to do what he said. But within this spreading national religion of Rome were embedded some significant words. Everyone was to proclaim, "Caesar is Lord!" The spread of this religion was known as spreading the gospel of Caesar.
The apostle Paul then, among others, would grab these phrases that were on the minds and the hearts of the people and turn them into declarations about Christ. Another significant example would be the prevalent theme of "wisdom" in 1st century philosophical circles. Again, Paul is intentional about using this concept, but developing it into the "wisdom of God."
Here's what I'm pondering today. Phrases like this made a ton of sense when they were first used. Yet we still use them to speak about Christ today. I'm wondering if some people have little interest God, Jesus, or the Bible, because they don't speak the language. We expect people to relate to some of these phrases that mean little to them in our modern culture. It is almost as if people would need to be experts in 1st century Roman culture to really appreciate the message about Jesus. This is bad. We need to change our vocabulary so the timeless message carries real force again.
Isn't it about time we learn to speak a new language? Isn't about time that we learn to speak about Christ and the hope he offers in ways that grab the hearts and minds of people today? I'm wrestling with this thought today. If proclaiming "Jesus is Lord" was a direct affront to Caesar's religion in the 1st century, what would that look like today? Thoughts?
What are other phrases that Christians use that have very little meaning outside of a church building?
What phrases could we begin to use?
On your journey, may you walk with a Christ who is as relevant in 21st century America as he was in 1st century Rome.
Jesus is my president,
Nick
Did you know that the fastest growing "religion" is the 1st century was the emperor's cult? It was basically the Caesar's attempt to get everyone to do what he said. But within this spreading national religion of Rome were embedded some significant words. Everyone was to proclaim, "Caesar is Lord!" The spread of this religion was known as spreading the gospel of Caesar.
The apostle Paul then, among others, would grab these phrases that were on the minds and the hearts of the people and turn them into declarations about Christ. Another significant example would be the prevalent theme of "wisdom" in 1st century philosophical circles. Again, Paul is intentional about using this concept, but developing it into the "wisdom of God."
Here's what I'm pondering today. Phrases like this made a ton of sense when they were first used. Yet we still use them to speak about Christ today. I'm wondering if some people have little interest God, Jesus, or the Bible, because they don't speak the language. We expect people to relate to some of these phrases that mean little to them in our modern culture. It is almost as if people would need to be experts in 1st century Roman culture to really appreciate the message about Jesus. This is bad. We need to change our vocabulary so the timeless message carries real force again.
Isn't it about time we learn to speak a new language? Isn't about time that we learn to speak about Christ and the hope he offers in ways that grab the hearts and minds of people today? I'm wrestling with this thought today. If proclaiming "Jesus is Lord" was a direct affront to Caesar's religion in the 1st century, what would that look like today? Thoughts?
What are other phrases that Christians use that have very little meaning outside of a church building?
What phrases could we begin to use?
On your journey, may you walk with a Christ who is as relevant in 21st century America as he was in 1st century Rome.
Jesus is my president,
Nick
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Your Life: A Copy Machine
Whether we like to admit it or not, we are influencing other people to become like us. We can't really help it. When we are in friendship or close relationship of any kind with another person, we can't help but rub off on them a little bit and influence who they are because of who we are.
We see this all the time in our own children. When my 4-year old repeatedly toes the line between obedience and disobedience with me, I can't help but see reflections of how I must have been as a child. I hear her use words and phrases that I know are fairly unique to my vocabulary. She gets excited about things that excite me. (How many 4-year olds do you know that can go to a high school track meet and jump up and down in the stands shouting, "Go runners!", as if she's at the greatest sporting event in history?)
I wish this kind of influence was confined to my children, but I know it's not. While I may not have this same level of influence in other relationships, I am aware that who I am shows up in ways both large and small in the lives of others. My life is like a copy machine. So is yours. Whatever we set down on the glass gets duplicated onto the pages of other lives, sometimes clearly and other times a mere blurry reflection. But a copy nonetheless.
Which has me pondering today- what am I duplicating? E. Stanley Jones, a missionary pioneer to India in the early 1900's, once wrote, "O Christ, I want the Spirit within me to duplicate nothing- nothing except You." That seems like a prayer worth praying. For in all that I am, very little is truly of lasting value. My interests, desires, hobbies, etc, will one day be only memories. But the person of Jesus, his character and his love, will endure. To what extent does my life reflect this? And how do I live more intentionally so that one day my daughter loves Jesus more than running? How do I live this way so that what "rubs off" of me onto others is more of Jesus and less of the books I'm reading or the movies I'm watching?
What do you think? I think Paul in the New Testament gives us a hint. He says in I Corinthians 11:1- "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Paul recognized that the only basis he had for asking others to follow Him was his own pursuit of Christ. I believe this is also true in our lives. We will duplicate the love and nature of Christ to others only so far as we are pursuing this love and nature in our own lives. Kind of gives new purpose and meaning to the old "personal quiet time" idea. I guess in the end our pursuit may be personal, but it is never for our benefit alone.
May you consider on your journey today what kind of copies your life is making. If this thought scares you, don't hesitate to call in the Master Repairman. His work is free, but not cheap.
Blessings-
Nick
We see this all the time in our own children. When my 4-year old repeatedly toes the line between obedience and disobedience with me, I can't help but see reflections of how I must have been as a child. I hear her use words and phrases that I know are fairly unique to my vocabulary. She gets excited about things that excite me. (How many 4-year olds do you know that can go to a high school track meet and jump up and down in the stands shouting, "Go runners!", as if she's at the greatest sporting event in history?)
I wish this kind of influence was confined to my children, but I know it's not. While I may not have this same level of influence in other relationships, I am aware that who I am shows up in ways both large and small in the lives of others. My life is like a copy machine. So is yours. Whatever we set down on the glass gets duplicated onto the pages of other lives, sometimes clearly and other times a mere blurry reflection. But a copy nonetheless.
Which has me pondering today- what am I duplicating? E. Stanley Jones, a missionary pioneer to India in the early 1900's, once wrote, "O Christ, I want the Spirit within me to duplicate nothing- nothing except You." That seems like a prayer worth praying. For in all that I am, very little is truly of lasting value. My interests, desires, hobbies, etc, will one day be only memories. But the person of Jesus, his character and his love, will endure. To what extent does my life reflect this? And how do I live more intentionally so that one day my daughter loves Jesus more than running? How do I live this way so that what "rubs off" of me onto others is more of Jesus and less of the books I'm reading or the movies I'm watching?
What do you think? I think Paul in the New Testament gives us a hint. He says in I Corinthians 11:1- "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ." Paul recognized that the only basis he had for asking others to follow Him was his own pursuit of Christ. I believe this is also true in our lives. We will duplicate the love and nature of Christ to others only so far as we are pursuing this love and nature in our own lives. Kind of gives new purpose and meaning to the old "personal quiet time" idea. I guess in the end our pursuit may be personal, but it is never for our benefit alone.
May you consider on your journey today what kind of copies your life is making. If this thought scares you, don't hesitate to call in the Master Repairman. His work is free, but not cheap.
Blessings-
Nick
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