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Friday, April 29, 2011

The Blessing of Friendship

4/29/2011

The Blessing of Friendship

“Friends come and friends go, but a true friend sticks by you like family.” Proverbs 18:24 The Message

I have been blessed to have some great friends in my life. People that you can count on and who are encouraging. Many of you reading this now are in that category. I think that having great friends is one of those things that makes life enjoyable. There’s nothing like celebrating an accomplishment or knowing that there is someone who you can talk to if things are not going so well for you. Friends are a blessing from God.
I was reading an old journal from about 2002 and I noticed that I wrote that I felt like God was trying to make me become friends with a certain person. I couldn’t really explain how I knew that, but it just seemed to fit where I was at the time. I seemed like this friendship was ordained by God. And this was not someone I would have ever thought I would choose to be in a close friendship with. I didn’t even think she liked me and I wasn’t sure I liked her enough to engage in a purposeful friendship. But I obeyed anyway. And strangely enough over time I began to see why God put us together. She was able to sharpen me in areas that I needed to be sharpened in order to continue to grow. And vice versa. I was able to help her grow in certain areas where she needed help and support. And over the years we have been able to help one another get through difficult and even uncomfortable times. Today she is my best friend. And I probably wouldn’t have ever thought that to be possible. But somehow, God did.
I think back over the years and remember how we would choose our friends in the past. Maybe we wanted to hang with the most popular kids, or we were athletes and hung out with other athletes. Or maybe a particular interest draws you together. I know that I have lost some opportunities to develop great friendships in the past for superficial reasons. Sometimes the sins of our youth reveal things that we need to correct as adults. Fortunately, God values friendship so much that he can orchestrate them. We just have to be willing to participate in those relationships that He seems to be building. They may not look like what you would seek in a friendship, but you never know why God is putting you together. God knows what the future holds for you and who you need in your circle to help you get through the good bad and indifferent times of your life. God will not leave you alone. He is with you, but He will also send people to be with you as well. Don’t be so spiritual that you forget to nurture your friendships. They are holy, too.
I know people who have become such loners that it is difficult for them to even know how to be in relationships. They are so used to being alone, that they just stay that way. But even for them, God has a friend. God is their friend, but he even told Adam that being alone wasn’t good for him, so he gave him a companion. That word doesn’t just apply to Adam, or men. It applies to us all. We need each other. But we also need to create authentic friendships. You need people who can call you on your stuff sometimes. We all have issues and we need to know that there are people who love us enough to tell us off on occasion. Tell us the truth. Sometimes, you don’t look good in that outfit and somebody should have told you. Sometimes you are being a jerk and you should know that. Sometimes you are about to make a mistake and somebody needs to tell you before you hurt yourself or somebody else. Sometimes you are beautiful or handsome and somebody needs to tell you that, too. Sometimes you have to take the advice of the people who know and love you and ignore the naysayers of the world. Sometimes you do need somebody to affirm your gifts, your call, your dreams or whatever. Sometimes you just need a friend.
I am fortunate enough to even have friends from high school that I’m still close to. We are a pretty motley crew, but friends none the less. Especially since I am the only AKA amongst a group of Deltas. (I forgive them daily lol). A lot of people wonder how it is possible to still even have friends for such a long time. It’s been 15 years since high school graduation and they still come to my mom’s house for Christmas Eve for the pollyanna we started doing in like 1995. There have been ups and downs, births, deaths, weddings, funerals, relocations, break ups, bar-b-ques, parties, career changes, degrees, graduations, and everything else in life you can think of. But their friendship is still a blessing. They are like family to me. Plus, its always good to keep people close to you who have the ability to black mail you in the future because they knew you way back when. (Joking)
But God is not just about preserving old friendships. My challenge to everyone today is to be aware of those people whom God may be drawing you to to start a new friendship. You may not know why, but He does. Trust Him, He has a plan. We may have the nasty habit of getting so comfortable in what we already have that we miss out on opportunities to expand our circles even more. And maybe your circle is not going to shrink, it will just grow. I’m not real good at this because I’m pretty comfortable with the friends I have. As you get older, I think it becomes a challenge to be open to new friendships. There may be someone who needs you just as much as you need them. Especially if you feel God pulling you in that direction. Chances are, they will not look like your other friends. So you have to be alert. Your first instinct may be to dismiss them. But you never know what God will do through them. You might just have another addition to your family.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

A Single Seed

“I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.” John 12:24

I’m gonna talk about love today, specifically in a relational context. I’m no expert on falling in love, but God has given me some wisdom in this area. And come to think of it, I don’t know how you become an expert in falling in love. People who are experts in falling in love are probably not very good at staying in love. And that’s what actually counts. How do you stay in love? That’s what the million dollar question is.
But if you look at scripture, there is a key to love and I think it has a lot to do with what is necessary to stay in love after you fall. Now in John 12, Jesus is not talking about romantic love specifically. He is telling his disciples what has to happen if he is to fulfill his mission on earth. He has to die. They don’t want him to die, but he has to. That is the only way for God’s love to find it’s way to us. Jesus had to die. And when he did, he produced so much more than himself.
When we think of romantic love, we know that there are some things you are going to give up in order to be in relationship with this other person. You are not going to just up and go wherever you want whenever you want and think that your relationship will last. You are going to have to communicate. You are going to have to compromise. You are going to have to share responsibility for maintaining the relationship if it is ever going to grow. And in a lot of ways, you are going to have to die.
In know that this is the case for me. In any intimate relationship, whether it be romantic, familial or friendship, at some point you are going to have to lay down a piece of yourself for the sake of the relationship. I don’t think there is anyway around it. And for those of us who desire to be married, this is something that must be embraced. Like Jesus said, if it doesn’t fall to the ground and die, it remains a single seed. There are some habits, freedoms and preferences that you may have to learn to let die for the sake of a relationship. This is not to say that you have to lose yourself. As a matter of fact, you probably need to be whole before you enter into a marriage especially. If you are not whole independently, then it is going to be hard for you to find your way to learning how to be interdependent. There is a difference in laying down your life and being killed.
But when you do lay down your life for the sake of your relationship, then you might find that so much more grows out of it than you could have ever done holding onto your single independent seed. Sometimes you have to swallow your pride and do things that you would not normally do in order to give the relationship the space it needs to grow. But the single seed must first die. That is the hard to swallow part.
I’ve had to do that several times in the past week. I had to change my normal pattern of behavior in order to benefit a relationship. Normally, I would pray until I got my answer about a particular issue and peace from God and then I would be good. But this time, I had to work it out with the person and battle through it instead of getting my peace from God directly. And it was death for me. God wouldn’t even talk to me about it. Every time I prayed, I got nothing. And all I kept hearing was, “Your going to have to work this one out differently”. But in the process, I felt so much lighter and closer to God because I was actually engaging in an opportunity to become more like Jesus. I understood more clearly what he meant by this scripture. I didn’t like the process at all. I still don’t. But I know that the reward is worth it. The relationships were worth it. Not only am I in a better position relationally, but spiritually as well. And I didn’t even get my way all the time. Well, not exactly. But it didn’t even matter. God was doing something in me that helps me to be closer to Him.
Most of us want to have love in our lives in many ways. We want romance, family, friends, community. We want to experience genuine relationship. But if we do, we have to be prepared for what intimate relationships will bring. Death. The version of you that can live independent of others is going to have to die in order to bring life to the version of you that needs to experience life in relationship. But the fruit of that death produces so much more than you could ever produce on your own. I’m sure if you asked any married couple today to testify to what they had to give up for the sake of their marriage, you would find that there would be some stories. Love must die in order for love to live through us and produce more of itself. So to all my single friends who want to be married, prepare to die. To everyone who wants to experience true love on this earth, something will have to die. Just make sure you are whole first, so you won’t be killed.

Friday, April 22, 2011

They Saw Him Die

They Saw Him Die

“And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, heard his cry and saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39 NIV

The Christian faith is strange. We rejoice in the fact that an innocent man was brutally murdered in order to pay the price for the wrong that we do as human beings. And to make it worse, Jesus chose to do it. He chose to become the only appropriate sacrifice to atone for the sin of humankind. It’s a strange faith. And yet it seems to be the only way that things can ever change in this world. What do I mean?
Jesus walked around for three years healing people, forgiving sins, performing miracles and teaching people how to live a new life. Teaching people how to walk out the Law that the Father gave to the Jews through Moses. He was the total fulfillment of everything that could possibly be considered good. He walked as God among them, and they still had no idea who he was.
But something happened when Jesus died that caused people to understand more about who he really is. The centurion who was standing at the cross and watching the whole process finally exclaimed that Jesus was the son of God after watching him die. It is not recorded that he said that while watching him live. He said it watching him die. The centurion watched Jesus lay down his life for the sake of all of us and forgive us even while he was being crucified. He never cursed them out, never unleashed his power to wipe them all out, never used his power to skip the whole crucifixion process, never used his power to block the pain, nothing. He just took every hit, every insult, every nail, every bit of the pain it took in order to make sure that we all can have access to life without the burden of sin weighing us down. All so we can know what forgiveness looks like.
And this is our faith. That out of this death comes life for us all. And that even out of our death comes life for someone else. If we are to be conformed into the image of Christ, then we have to embrace this irony. It’s not just a physical death that I am speaking of. Paul said that he dies daily for the sake of Christ. It was Paul’s love for Jesus and his faith in who Jesus is that gave him the strength and courage he needed to face the obstacles that he faced. And he did that so that other people could see this and know that this Jesus is worth it. That the life that Jesus gives is worth the sacrifices that Paul was making. He loved Jesus that much. Jesus was his inspiration for that, considering Jesus loved us that much that he, too was willing to make this ultimate sacrifice to bring us into relationship with Himself.
When we glorify God, it is not in us simply having a “good life”. People don’t change because they see people who have the “good life”. We have plenty of celebrities and business people who reveal that to us. That might create a desire for money or fame or power, but it doesn’t always inspire people to change their ways for the better. Sometimes it inspires people to change their ways for the worst. Now the other side of the argument is that people who see their conversion to Christianity as an opportunity to oppress other religions or people and declare that Christians are right and everyone else is wrong have it all wrong, too. These types of Christians are responsible for some of these holy wars and destruction and ignorance throughout history. They, too need to see the crucifixion with new eyes..
We have to be able to truly see the death of Jesus in it’s proper context in order to be inspired to change anything in our lives. When we see Jesus for who he really is, then we will have no choice but to exclaim that surely he was the Son of God. No other explanation for why he would choose to lay down his life the way that he did will do. It makes no sense for him to choose to be brutally murdered for crimes he didn’t commit if he wasn’t who he said he was. And if that is true, then we have to admit that there is power in this crucifixion to make even the hardest person change their ways. What kind of God can make you want to give up everything you consider to give you life in order to love someone else and help them get to know Him? It would have to be a powerful God. A God who can make you fall in love with Him over and over again. And who can make you give up the things you consider valuable because you know that He’s worth it. That is the God that we serve. That is the God Jesus knew. And that is the God that the Centurion got a revelation of when he saw Jesus die. This is the God we are called to proclaim to others. But in order to do so, people will have to see the death in you.
It’s not a popularity contest. God doesn’t need to give you a bunch of stuff so people can be manipulated into wanting Him. That’s like someone trying to buy your love with material things. You never actually love the person. You just love what they can do for you. When you truly love someone, if they never get you anything, it doesn’t change how you feel. The gifts are a bonus. But you know when you truly love someone by the things that you now do, that you didn’t used to do. Live can make you crazy. Or at least seem like you’re crazy. It makes you want to give up old habits and old ways and old mentalities in order to show the one you love how you feel. And it’s true love when you choose to do that versus them making you. You know you don’t have to and they know you don’t have to, but you do it anyway. And somehow love is revealed in that process of death. You die to yourself and find new life in love. Crazy. So, if you love Jesus, then how are you going to choose to die?

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Living In the Kingdom

4/20/2011
Living in the Kingdom

“From that time on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near." Matthew 4:17 NIV

There is a question you should ask yourself when you read the scripture above. And that question is, from what time is Matthew talking about? Anytime you see a scripture that references something else, you have to look before it to understand the context of what the author might be saying. In this case, the “from that time on” refers to the time after Jesus came out of the wilderness where he was tempted by Satan. That is significant.
We all will have periods of time when God may send us into what feels like a wilderness. A time when we are wandering around, nothing seems to happen in our lives. Maybe we have no money, no direction, no sense of purpose, no peace or whatever. We are somehow empty and wandering. But there is a difference between putting yourself in that position and God drawing you to that place. God led Jesus into the wilderness and when he came out, he began speaking something different. He began to tell people to repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near!
Why is this significant to us? Well, when you come out of these wilderness-like situations in life, you will have learned some lessons during your time of wandering. These lessons may be pointing you towards living life “kingdom style”. But in order to live that life you are going to have to repent. If you look up the definition of repent in English, it will say something like to be remorseful about your sin or something along that line. But we also have to remember that the bible was not written in English but in Hebrew and Greek. The New Testament was written in Greek and the word that they used for repent in this particular chapter of Matthew actually means to think differently. Jesus was telling people that they needed to think differently because the kingdom of heaven was coming soon.
I’ve talked for the last couple of days about your strength being your weakness in the kingdom of heaven. I have shared with you some of my weaknesses as it relates to this topic and how I have to think differently regarding this things I do well. I feel like I am still in a place of wilderness. And I have been led here by God. I chose to quit my job and go to school full time, to start a business, to write a book. And all of these things will eventually pay off one day. But in the meantime, I need to get my mind right, so to speak. I cannot think that what I used before will work now. I can't rely on what I used to rely on. When I get out of this wilderness, I need to think in light of kingdom values and kingdom principles, not human-centered values and principles. And I know I’m not there yet.
Just the other day I realized that I was embarrassed by the fact that I don’t have as much money as I used to. That I don’t have the professional prestige I used to. That I don’t have the same life plan that I used to. It was tax season, so I got to see on paper the financial hit I took by following God. It made me angry. It made me doubt that I had even heard from God in the first place. It made me want to go get back some control and power that I used to feel like I had. And I had to repent. I don’t live the life I used to live. I can’t go back to that. If I do, I would have to stop following the Spirit of God. And I really don’t want that. I would literally have to ignore God in order to go back to my old life. And it’s hard to ignore someone you love for too long. Eventually you have to talk to them. It’s just hard also to keep moving forward and to change your way of thinking.
But Jesus came out of the wilderness after being tempted by Satan, too. I'm being tempted everyday to do something. We all are. But when you are in a wilderness season it seems magnified. There is always a temptation to go back to your old way of doing things. The children of Israel kept complaining while they were in the wilderness that they should go back to being slaves in Egypt. They hated manna, they hated wandering around seemingly aimlessly, they hated Moses for bringing them there. They hated it all. And they wanted to go back. But you can’t go back. Either you die in the wilderness, or you keep it moving. And the only way to keep it moving is to change your way of thinking. What you relied on before may not work for you now. But that’s ok because God is in charge in this kingdom. God’s rules apply, and really the only thing we have to worry about doing is continuing to follow His leading. That’s the hardest job. He seems to take care of everything else. At least that’s what I believe. You can't take your old mindset into the new life. And this process will not be just one time in your life. This will happen in cycles throughout your life as God continues to shape, mold and conform you to the image of Jesus. It's up to us to cooperate with this process. It starts with repentance.

Monday, April 18, 2011

Your Strength Is Your Weakness Part II

4/18/2011

Your Strength is Your Weakness Part II

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

Ok. So we talked the other day about how your areas of strength can be a weakness in the kingdom of God. This is the second part of that thought. . . .

There are qualities that we all possess that may get in the way of doing God’s work. As believers, we say that we are about our father’s business. We are called to make disciples, but in order to make disciples, we must first be a disciple of Jesus. And that requires a change of mindset. You have to learn the ways of the kingdom of God and not assume that how you do things in the secular world are the same as what you will do for God. Now I want to be clear that I am not talking to everybody who calls themselves a Christian. We all know that there are plenty of “Christians” who are not disciples. The disciples have a different mission in life. Disciples know Jesus on a more intimate level than the crowds who benefited from the miracles. Jesus called the disciples His friends. He said that the disciples were the ones who knew the mysteries of the parables, not just the parables themselves. We may start in our walk with God as followers in the crowd, but when he draws you closer and you accept His invitation, prepare to be a disciple. And that will mean that some things will be flipped upside down for you. Where you found your strength in the world, becomes a weakness in Him. I’m going to share a bit of what I have found to be weaknesses for me as I go deeper into my life as a disciple of Christ, working for the kingdom of God.

Being a planner: This is a wonderful attribute in life. I can do a great job of predicting, projecting and preparing things. I can organize my life and my money in ways that creates a very systematic way of saving money, investing, budgeting and even managing my career. Great attributes, right? The truth is, we don’t control anything. We may be able to influence the outcome of something, but surrendering to the authority of God in your life means that planning and expecting things to go according to that plan has to go out the window. I can’t seem to plan anything. I have to embrace the unknown. I might have goals, and dreams and hopes, but mapping out my plan and expecting it to work out exactly like that will have to go out the window for me. Since I am good at that in creating my world, it becomes my weakness in living in the kingdom.

Confidence: This is a tough one. But I tend to be pretty confident in many areas in my life. Especially those things that I have already proven to have done well. As a leader, this has always been something that I have felt was necessary to have in order for people to follow you. Who wants a leader who’s not confident that they know what they are doing? So I just got good at knowing the thing that I was doing very well. And I did a good job of it. But in the kingdom of God, my confidence is not in my own abilities, but in God’s spirit working trough me. So that means that I will be sent into places where I probably don’t qualify to be in order for God to show off His power in me. I cannot study my way to confidence in the kingdom of God, but I have to do my best with what I have and then trust God to fill in the gaps. You don’t need faith when you trust that you can do it on your own. But when you get into a situation where you know that you are clueless, you may just hear the voice of God saying, “Trust in me”.

Being task oriented: I get things done. I’m not saying that to brag. It’s just true. I know how to get things done. That’s why people give me stuff to do. Cause they want it done. And I’m also good at saying no when I don’t think I can get it done. I don’t like to bite off more than I can chew. Here’s the problem in the kingdom of God: The kingdom of God is not about tasks, it’s about relationships. So when I am given a task to perform by God, it is not simply to get the job done, it is also to build relationships along the way. As a matter of fact, once God told me that He was giving me the ability to understand how to get the work done quickly so that I can focus on the people and build relationships with them. Here I was, excited about getting the answer fast, and God was like, “Yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s not even why you’re here” Sometimes it sucks cause I don’t always feel like being bothered. I want to get in, get the job done, and get on to something else. But knowing that God cares more about people than tasks, I have to pause and discern what it is that God may desire for the people in a situation, not just the job to be done.

So there you have it. This is a partial list of some of my strengths as weaknesses. There’s more, but I’m not going to take up your time with my issues (LOL). Your strengths may be great for you to get that job, manage your money, get promoted, join that organization, or whatever else is considered prestigious in this world. Yet, these things mean nothing to God’s kingdom. I hope this inspires you to take stock of your own life and if you truly do follow Christ as a disciple, know that what gives you a pat on the back in this world, probably won’t cut it in the kingdom. Like Paul said, “I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.” Philippians 3:8 NLT. Kingdom work is about relying on the power of God in you, not on just your own power.

Friday, April 15, 2011

Yoir Stregnth is Your Weakness

4/15/2011
Your Strength is Your Weakness

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

We all have things that we do well and things that we do not so well. When I think about the things I do well, I can see that there is a source of pride in that. Not always in a bad way. But in a good way, too. I am good at academic works, financial planning, writing, public speaking, reading, leadership, preaching, and probably some other things too. All of these things have served me well over my lifetime. I found my strengths and I used them to the best of my ability. And for that have been rewarded.

And then we transition to life in the kingdom of heaven and we find that where we have been strong in the past, we cannot always use those things to serve people in the name of God. There are times in our walk with God that He will not use us in our strength but will use us in our weakness. For Paul in 2 Corinthians, he asked God to take away something that made him feel like he was weak, and God said “No!”. God wasn’t going to take it away because it was that very thing that kept Paul from becoming too boastful about who he was and the things that he could do. So Paul, after a long time to praying for God to just take this thing away, decided to surrender to the fact there there was going to be something in his life that was there on purpose to keep him in line. There was something in his life that would keep him humble. And that something would also keep him in prayer before God.

For me, I have had the situations where I have prayed to God to help me be stronger where I notice that I am weak. I don’t like to appear weak, but it is in that very weakness that God is glorified. Especially when God sends you to the places where your weakness will be glaring! You won’t be able to hide it. None of us really likes to be exposed for what we can’t do. It’s not in our culture to boast in the fact that we can’t do it. And that may very well mean that you are in the perfect place for God to use you. Think about it, if you only do what you can do, where will people see God? It is His strength that is made perfect in your weakness. You get to see just how strong God is when you are faced with something that you are helpless against. When you are in a position that you don’t know it all. When you are solely dependent of God to get you through it.

We can hear so many people bragging about the things they can do, or have done, or think they will do. But it is rare for us to hear about someone boasting in what they cannot do, but what God can do through them. We don’t say, “I’m terrible at relationships! Praise God!” or “I am so grateful that I can’t manage my money!” or “This is the third time I messed up this week! Hallelujah!” No. We would rather play the woe is me game for those things and brag about what we are good at. Yet, in these opportunities in life it may be the perfect time for you to invite God into this place of weakness to show off His strength. Maybe God is actually waiting on you to stop having a pity party about what you can’t do, and thank Him for what He can do. No self-help book is going to fix some of these problems. Our culture tends to be the do-it-yourself-culture. Nothing is out of our control or power, at least in our own minds. We can “Thinks and Grow Rich”, “Name it and Claim It”, “Speak it into existence”, “Have a Happier Life in 10 Days”, “Get a Man in 10 days or less”, “Lose 100 pounds in 12 days”, “And retire rich in 10 years!” We can do everything ourselves. And that’s our problem.

The more we believe that we can take our weaknesses and make them strengths, the less we depend on God. I’m not saying that it is not possible, but I am suggesting that instead of starting to address these issues by ourselves, we start with taking it to God. Let God reveal to you what the next step should be, if anything. Maybe in this season of your life, it is not good for Him to take away something that makes you weak. Maybe that thing is the only reason you keep praying. Maybe that thing will be the very area in which he will use you in the future. Maybe this is something that has a root cause from a childhood issue that God is trying to heal. Maybe God is keeping you weak in this area for His purpose. But you will never know until you take it to Him. He might just tell you like he told me: “Where you are weak I am strong”. And I just have to let Him use me anyway. In spite of myself or my attempt to make myself better and stronger. To God be the glory!

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Money Matters

Money Matters

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 1 Timothy 6:10

Did you know that there are over 2,300 scriptures in the bible pertaining to money and possessions? In addition, 16 put of Jesus’ 38 parables also dealt with money issues. For the math majors in the room that’s 42%. So, 42% of what Jesus had to talk about had to do with money. And it wasn’t all about giving it to God.
I taught a class recently on learning to manage your money on purpose in a class at a church. I reviewed the four purposes of money, as written in my soon to be published book “Money On Purpose” (shameless plug). The purposes are: Investing, Giving, Saving and Spending. The feedback that I got from the class was that this subject is never discussed in churches. Well, except for the giving part. My question is, if there are over 2,300 scriptures pertaining to money in the bible and 42% of Jesus’ parables dealing with the issue, why does the church not have more conversation around this topic.
Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that they don’t know how to handle money. Church people sometimes feel guilty about having money. Then you have the other extremes of church folk who are always talking about money or “planting a seed” for their financial breakthrough. For them everything is about money. I think the church is confused. Is money good or not? If it’s not good, stop asking for it! If it is good, stop making people feel guilty for having it! We must make up our minds.
What we need is balance. We need to find the right balance between living your life trying to accumulate as much money as possible as if it is the only answer to your problems. And we also need to stop acting like we don’t need money in order to get along in this world. Cause one of these days, you are gong to have to come face to face with the truth of what you truly believe. And you might not believe what you think.
Why is it that the majority of people who inherit lump sums of money or win the lottery or get settlements are broke within 18 months? They never got their mind right around money. Why is it that celebrities like MC Hammer, Iyanla Vanzant, Mike Tyson, George Foreman and a host of others could make millions of dollars and still end up broke? They never got their minds right. And if you grow up in the church, it’s no wonder you can’t develop your own theology of money. When they got money, some of them spent it all on foolish purchases. Others spent their money by giving it away to everybody and never learning how to invest. Some got hit with tax burdens that they couldn’t handle.
So, I’m wondering why the church doesn’t spend more time talking about this area that Jesus seem to think was important and people have on obvious need to hear about it. Then we have to dig a little deeper ourselves and wonder what we actually believe about money. Do you think that it’s evil? Is it something God wants everybody to have? So this is a short post to just ask a basic question . . . What is your theology of money?

Monday, April 4, 2011

Unconditional Existence

6/21/2010    Unconditional Existence

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased." Luke 3:21-22 NIV

God has spoken. And when God speaks, His word is yea and amen.  There is no questioning it, no doubt that it is so, it just is. We can trust the word of God completely and wholeheartedly.  If God says that you are tall, then you are tall.  You do not have to prove that you are tall.  God has created all things and in Him all things exist.  The only way to find out the purpose of something is to ask its creator.  In our case, God created us, and He is the one who tells us who we are.  That is not something we have to prove to anyone.  Including ourselves.

Jesus was baptized just like we are upon our conversion.  When He came out of the water, He heard the voice of God telling Him who He is.  “You are my son...”  There is no further need to prove that Jesus is who God already says He is.  Yet this is exactly what the devil tried to get Him to do in the wilderness. ”. . . If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread."  God already said that Jesus is His Son, so why would Jesus have to prove it to anyone?  The devil was using a logic statement to get Jesus to prove what He already was.  We use logic statements in mathematics to prove the truth or validity of something.  How true is this?  This process implies doubt.  “Did God really say that?”  Yet if God said it, how could it not be true?

The devil has used this technique from the beginning.  He uses logical statements that makes you doubt what God has already said. He tries to get you to prove that you are who God says you are.  Yet God speaks from eternity.  When God gives you identity, it existed before you existed on earth.  You are who He says you are from before the foundation of the world.  But it is up to us to walk out this truth in time and to go through God’s process in God’s time.  The devil will try to get you to prove that you are who God says you are, out of God’s timing of it being revealed.  We need to get good at telling the devil that we don’t have to prove anything to him or anyone else.  We need to get good at believing God at His word.  We need to get good at walking in our unconditional existence.  God is not going to change His mind about who He already said we are.  We just have to trust it and allow for His process to have its way.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Money Talks

3/31/2011
Money Talks

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” - Proverbs 3:5

How many of you have ever had financial challenges?  I have.  And for the most part I know all of the natural techniques to get out of financial situations.  Maybe you can cut back here and there on some of your discretionary spending.  Or how about consolidating debt into one affordable payment.  You can increase your exemptions to put more money in your paycheck and get less of a refund.  You can work a second job.  You can refinance your debt.  You can defer your student loans.  You can borrow from your 401k. You can request for deferred payments on your mortgage.  You can do all sorts of things to put extra money in your pocket and try to get out of the bad financial situation you are in.  After eleven years as a financial planner, I can say that there are not too many strategies that I haven’t heard of or recommended that people implement.  But sometimes, those natural strategies are not the answer.  Sometimes God is using your finances to speak to you and call you to another level of spiritual growth in Him.
    What do I mean?  Well, let’s look at an example.  Let’s say that you are really good at managing your budget under normal circumstances. You have regular practices of paying your bills on tie.  Your credit is in good shape.  You avoid late fees.  You are the epitome of financial management.  You even pay your tithes at church every week faithfully.  People look at you and say, “I wanna be like you when I grow up!”  Congratulations.  But maybe you are also a bit of a Type A personality.  Maybe you like control a little too much.  When things are out of place or not going according to plan, you quickly rearrange things to get them back in order.  And maybe God is teaching you how to trust Him more.  So here comes a hiccup.  All of a sudden, your car breaks down and needs a ton of work.  A storm comes along and sends a tree flying through your living room.  SInce it was an act of God, your insurance company may or may not cover it. So your savings begin to dwindle.  Then, just as you finish paying for all of these things, you get laid off.  And you ask yourself, “What is happening?  Why me?!!”
    When your traditional ways of fixing your financial situation don’t seem to work, maybe (like the old song says) “God is tryna tell you sumthin!”  Maybe God needs to use your finances to get your attention, because it’s an area of your life that you try to control.  And God wants all of your life, not just your Sunday morning routine. So what should you do in this situation? I’m glad you asked.
    Here’s what I recommend.  The next time you find yourself in a troubling financial situation, start with prayer.  Maybe a prayer something like this:
“God, I know that you are Lord of all.  So I am coming to you because everything I know to do doesn’t seem to work.  But I am open to hearing your voice and instruction.  I want to surrender my financial life to you, but I don’t know how.  Please teach me your ways. And show me what you want me to learn in this season.”
That’s one idea.  Then you have to be open to the fact that everything you know to do may not be the solution to this particular issue.  You are going to have to let God teach you.  which sometimes means that your strategies go out the window temporarily until you have learned this lesson.  I hate to use this four letter word but sometimes we just need to . . . . W-A-I-T.  It sucks, I know.  But sometimes it’s the way to go.  Wait and listen and then obey.  Sometimes your money situation is God speaking to you.  And if we don’t learn to pay attention, we end up in worse financial situations by trying to do it our way, by our own understanding.  We just have to remember that God’s ways are not our ways.  No matter how diligent we may be at managing our finances, sometimes His plan will take precedence.  And if he is calling  you towards maturity in Him, then your finances can be a target.  But don’t worry, things do get better.  And on the other side, you learn so much more about who God is, that you don’t even mind the financial intrusion that got you there.  Things do get better.  And you can go deeper in Him.  You just have to trust Him.  He knows what he’s doing.  Even when you don’t.