...this remarkable new opportunity

2011 Top Ten Lists: Songs

2011-12-29T10:30:00.000-06:00

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

2011-12-28T16:26:00.000-06:00

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

2011-12-23T14:24:00.001-06:00

The Role of Money 3

2011-12-15T09:08:00.004-06:00

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

2011-12-14T09:06:00.003-06:00

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

2011-12-13T08:57:00.003-06:00

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

2011-11-21T15:25:00.002-06:00

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

2011-10-11T15:15:00.000-05:00

[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

2011-09-26T13:03:00.002-05:00

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

2011-09-07T21:45:00.003-05:00

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."

Worth Reading?

2011-08-29T14:32:00.003-05:00

Here are a few good blog posts and articles I've read over the past week.

John Stott on Singleness

Hugh Halter on kids in the micro church - make sure you check out the photo.

Paul Tripp on what the gospel means to our life right now

David Fitch on the need for missional rhythms in our micro churches

The Need to Unplug

2011-08-17T14:53:00.006-05:00

Hello. My name is Robert and I have an addiction. I love technology. Although I don't check Facebook and Twitter as much as someone in my family does (I won't go down alone dear), I do admit that there's a glorious sense of anticipation every time my phone buzzes, telling me that someone somewhere has something really important to say to me via email or text message.

There. I've cleared my conscience. Now what?

I recently heard an interview with Scott Belsky, in which he said that looking at your smartphone has the same effect as cocaine. It relieves anxiety and makes you feel in control. Now I've never tried cocaine, but I have a feeling that whoever came up with that fact is probably right on the money.

Technology has such a grip on our society. We have to acknowledge this before we ever hope to break free. In that same interview Belsky says that we have to ruthlessly pursue windows of non-stimulation. He says that true creativity will only happen when we are able to unplug from technology, because that is the only place where true and deep thinking can occur.

Where this really hits home for me is with my kids. Adam is already addicted to my phone, or more specifically, he's addicted to a game on my phone about ticked off birds. Getting him to go in his room and play is so difficult. His objection: That's boring! One of the solutions that Mandy and I have been talking about is starting a new tradition in our home, where 1 or 2 days of the week are designated tech-free days. That means no Backyardigans, Angry Birds, or Wii, but it also means no Facebook, email, or Modern Family. Instead, we will use our time to play games, take walks, read books, and, in the case of the boys and I, wrestle. This is what the home is supposed to be anyway, right?

I've been reading a book that Mandy got at Mom Congress. It's called Hamlet's Blackberry, by William Powers. In one of the chapters he quotes from Henry David Thoreau's Walden:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived...I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life.

I love those words. It's what I want for my family. It's also what I want for me. I'm making some changes when it comes to technology. Here are three things I'm going to begin doing that I know will help me during my hours at work.

I am going to designate 3-5 times during the day when I check email. The rest of the time my gmail will not be up. And I'm going to disable the push feature on my iPhone. No more buzzes when I get an email.
I'm going to stop checking email right before I go to bed and right after I get up. I've realized that nothing good comes from that.
My most productive times are in the morning. For some crazy reason I've been waking up around 5:30 every morning. At first it frustrated me, but now I've realized that it's a good thing. I'm going to begin doing any creative work (reading, writing, thinking) in the mornings, and I am going to begin scheduling meetings and appointments for the afternoon.

I know that some of these changes, whether it's for me or my family, are going to be easier than others (I imagine that Micah is going to throw things when he hears how it affects him). And I know that just as with any addiction, there will be times when I'm weak. But I believe that change is possible. I have a feeling that we are going to one day look back on the decade when instant communication became a reality, and realize that it wasn't the best thing for us.

Neighborhood Schools Movement

2011-08-02T10:14:00.003-05:00

School is about to begin again, so I thought I would post an article that Mandy sent me last week. We continue to see Memphis education all over the news, and unfortunately, most of what we read is negative. So here's something encouraging, at least to me. It's from a Mom in Charlotte, NC, who happened to see the article about Peabody that was written last December. She reached out to Mandy to encourage what a lot of us were doing here in Memphis. Here's part of her story:

Marker-wielding kindergartners cover the stage at Shamrock Gardens Elementary, intently coloring a set of circus posters. They work in clusters, some kneeling, some sprawled flat on their stomachs, chattering happily as they fill the space between the lines with bright and varied hues. Their faces vary too, ranging from palest white to deepest brown.
I watch them with delight. There is nothing more satisfying than acting on your beliefs and then seeing your hopes realized.
Five years ago, when Peter and I decided to send our son to Shamrock, it was the kind of school that middle-class families fled in droves – attended largely by low-income kids of color, with low test scores and few enrichment programs.
Charlotte’s schools were resegregating all around us, as our district dismantled its landmark school desegregation plan and parents scrambled to avoid the schools where poverty had begun to concentrate.
But while we wanted Parker to go to a good school, we also wanted him to live in a strong community, one that lived up to the American promise of offering each child an equal shot at success. We believed school integration played a key role in making that promise a reality. We did not want to participate in its demise.
And while Shamrock struggled academically, it was full of smiles and hugs, a place where kids skipped down the halls and teachers stayed late to tutor students and work on lesson plans. We believed it was a place where we could make a difference. In the fall of 2006, we walked Parker through the front door for his first day of school.
In the years since then, staff, families and students have built a new Shamrock one step at a time. We’ve gotten to know each other, figured out how to work together, found roles to play.
Most of our families, for example, shied away from event organizing. But they were always ready to support their kids, and when they came out to school workdays they labored all day long. So when we decided to build a butterfly garden, I wrote the grant and organized the schedule. Dozens of families showed up to build the beds, haul the dirt and plant the seeds.
It took two full years to really get the garden going. But I’ll never forget the morning that students discovered Gulf Fritillary caterpillars covering the passion flower vines, gold-tinged chrysalises scattered across the brick garden walls, and a newly hatched butterfly drying its wings beneath a drainage pipe.
As our garden grew, other things changed as well. Teachers began to stay longer, many transforming from awkward, sometimes tearful novices into confident, creative veterans. Student performance improved, freeing us from the crippling No Child Left Behind sanctions.
Although we recently lost our chess club to budget cuts, we have started a Lego League, a Science Olympiad team, a basketball squad, an International Day festival and two groups of Girls On The Run. Our Asian families cook a Lunar New Year lunch, and our Hispanic women’s club sells drinks and snacks at movie night, including the Jarritos and Mexican Cokes that everyone has learned to love.
The gifted classes that we created to entice middle-class families have come to mirror the school’s overall makeup – just over half African Americans, about a quarter Hispanics, and the rest a mix of Asians, other immigrants and a growing number of whites. Because no one group dominates, everyone belongs.
Shamrock’s still far from perfect. Although our achievement rates have risen, too many kids still don’t pass tests. Too many still leapfrog from school to school, sometimes several times a year. Too many don’t have food. Too many don’t have homes. As my son’s classmates have grown older, I’ve seen the stresses of poverty weigh more heavily on some of them, and I fret about their futures in a way I didn’t think about when they were six or seven or eight.
But like those varied kindergartners striving to create a beautiful picture, we are all in it together. I wouldn’t trade my years at this marvel of a school for anything.
* * *
Our country needs to hear more stories about schools like Shamrock, tales of the joys and challenges that come when people from many different backgrounds labor together to build a civic institution that strengthens all of us. I think this administration should celebrate them far and wide. Since the legal climate no longer favors large-scale desegregation plans, creating integrated schools depends on the resolve of families and communities. Stories of success can help build that determination.
In recent years, such stories have been overwhelmed by a national obsession with test scores and individual achievement, a focus that scares families away from schools that need their help and obscures the many roles that public schools play in our society, and in our children’s lives. We desperately need to rebalance this conversation.
If our country is to “win the future,” we have to do it child by child, and school by school. No policy or curriculum or computer program can substitute for the hands-on actions of caring individuals. Shamrock has taught me that I have abilities and influence that I had never dreamed of. We all have these within us, if we will step up and take on challenges together. I hope that Shamrock’s story can inspire such actions.
This post was originally written for the White House Champions of Change series.
Pamela Grundy is president of the PTA at Shamrock Gardens Elementary School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and a member of the parents’ group Parents Across America. You can read more about Shamrock on her blog:www.seenfromtherock.blogspot.com.

My iPad

2011-06-27T12:21:00.004-05:00

I've had my iPad 2 now for six weeks, and I'm ready to give my review. When the first iPad came out, I was not impressed. To me, it was nothing more than an oversized iPhone. My question was, "Why would you want an iPhone that can't make calls and that can't fit in your pocket?" I thought those were pretty good questions, and at the very least it kept me from catching gadget fever. At least for awhile.

A few months ago I borrowed John Carroll's iPad for a couple of days. Gadget fever started taking its toll on me right away. I immediately loved reading Kindle books on the iPad, and websites on Safari were much better than I had expected. I started doing some research and learned that I could fill out real estate contracts with an iPad and even get clients to sign them with it. I also saw how pastors were using the iPad in ministry. So I decided to start saving my money.

So after six weeks of use, I have to say that the thing I'm most excited about is the opportunity to go paperless. OK, maybe not completely paperless, but I'm getting close. Here's how I'm doing it. I was already using a lot of apps on my iPhone, but but there are two new ones that have become game changers for me. The first is Instapaper. With Instapaper, if I come across something worth reading, whether on my laptop or my iPad, I click a button on my browser that says "Read Later." The article is then formatted to remove ads and other clutter, and then I can access it through the Instapaper app. The only thing I wish it had was the ability to highlight in the app, but I'm sure at some point this will be available.

Instapaper is great, but what is even greater is PDF Expert. This app allows me to import a pdf from Dropbox (also on my iPad), and then mark it up. A more technical term would be "annotate", but I like "mark it up" better. I can highlight, underline, type notes, and even insert my signature or someone else (again, like a client's). So far I have used this for charts when leading worship, notes when teaching, and reading/annotating articles. I have no reason to ever print off another chord chart, or sermon notes, or an article. It's all here. And once I have my highlights and notes, I can email it back to me if I choose.

These two apps, along with the Kindle app, are wonderful and are meeting so many of my needs. If a book is on Kindle, chances are that I'm going to buy that version instead of a hard copy. And not having stacks of paper lying around is going to make me so much more productive. Plus, it will make my wife very happy!

Cooper-Young Home For Sale

2011-06-27T09:58:00.000-05:00

I recently finished renovating a home in my neighborhood. It's now for sale, so if you or someone you know is looking to buy, let me know. Here's a picture of my favorite room.

For more info, check out the blog I set up, or see the listing on Trulia.

NC Weekender

2011-06-24T16:04:00.004-05:00

Our second Weekender begins in two hours. We have carved out three weekends a year for us to be together. Tonight we kick things off with a discussion on our transition from one church to a network of smaller churches. Afterwards we're headed to Josh and Ginger's for a party. Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we'll have four workshops on practical topics that relate to this new vision. On Saturday afternoon we have a service project at Peabody Elementary School. And then on Sunday morning we end our time with a prayer brunch.

These Weekenders are going to be our most important gatherings of the year, and I'm so glad that so many are coming to learn and to be together.

This is Discipling

2011-06-24T12:17:00.000-05:00

This is Discipling from The Foursquare Church on Vimeo.

God's Heart for Urban Education 3

2011-05-30T13:33:00.002-05:00

David Waters was at our gathering the night David Montague spoke. Afterwards he wrote a great article on MTR. Here's part of that article.

Virginia Boyd wants to serve God and Memphis by becoming the best math teacher any city school kid has ever had.
David Montague and Robin Scott want to serve God and Memphis by helping Virginia do that.
"You don't have to talk about the love and compassion and mercy of Christ to demonstrate it," said Montague, a former stockbroker turned public school evangelist. "Becoming the best math teacher a kid's ever had is a valid response to the gospel."
Montague and Scott are leading the Memphis Teacher Residency, one of many nonprofit organizations that have responded to the Gates Foundation's $90-million challenge to put an effective teacher in every Memphis City Schools classroom.
Like Teach for America and the Memphis Teaching Fellows, MTR seeks to recruit, train and support outstanding urban educators in Memphis. What makes MTR different is its mission to do that "within a Christian context."
MTR's "Christian context" comes in the motivation, not the implementation.
"It's a shared mission, that's the heart of it," said Scott, a former Indiana public school teacher and MTR's director of education. Teaching in large, urban systems "is too hard, too demanding not to have a sense of mission about it," Scott said. "You have to see urban education as a calling."
MTR recruits and accepts only candidates who believe that teaching in large, urban public schools systems is a Christian calling, not just a career. But candidates also must believe they should not discuss their faith in a public school setting.
"America is not short on information about the gospel," said Montague, a former Christian missionary who directs MTR's work from offices in the basement of Union Avenue Baptist Church. "It is short on demonstrations of the power of the gospel."
MTR's mission is to demonstrate the love of Christ by recruiting Christians who are committed to transforming the city's public schools into bastions of academic excellence for all children.
Christians committed to seeing academic achievement gaps as biblically unjust.
Christians committed to sacrificing their own standards of living to improve those of others.
Christians committed to serving their neighbors' children and not just their own.
"Twenty years from now," said Dr. Maxie Dunnam, pastor of Christ United Methodist Church, "when our educational system is more effectively and fairly serving the children of our city, we will look back and realize that David Montague and Memphis Teacher Residency Program played a major role in getting us to that place."

God's Heart for Urban Education 2

2011-05-10T12:07:00.006-05:00

And now for some good news...God is up to something in Memphis!

Before diving into what that "something" is, let's hit a couple of theological points. The Bible speaks of a God who is not only capable of doing extraordinary things, but also one who desires to do so. In other words, our God is not only strong but also loving. If you believe this, then there's another point that the Bible makes clear over and over, and it's this: God loves to do the impossible, and He loves to use weak, desperate and dependent people in the process.

Everybody knows that Memphis has some BIG problems. Several times it has ranked at the top of various "worst cities" reports. So what a great place for God to do something extraordinary! As David pointed out, the richest man in the world has given $90 million to Memphis schools, and the most powerful man in the world has given $500 million to Tennessee, much of which will make its way to Memphis.

Oh yeah, and it was just announced that this same most powerful man in the world will be heading to Memphis in a couple of weeks to give the commencement speech at Booker T. Washington High School!!!

David believes that the epicenter for urban education reform is our city. All of the education reform organizations are now making their way to Memphis, and the world is watching to see what will happen next.

And what about the Church? Well, we get the opportunity to be the subversive community that we were meant to be. As David reminded us, the Roman Empire came to believe that Jesus was supreme not because the Christians were the most powerful political organization. It was actually just the opposite. The Christians had no political clout. They had actually been persecuted for 300 years. Instead, they were living out their beliefs in radical ways. They entered into the problems and saw God do the extraordinary through them living their ordinary lives with Gospel intentionality.

Today let us too enter into the big problems of our city, and together dream God-sized dreams, and then let us watch God do what only He can do!

God's Heart for Urban Education 1

2011-05-09T14:09:00.006-05:00

Last night David Montague, director of the Memphis Teacher Residency, spoke at NC on the topic of God's Heart for Urban Education. You can listen to the talk here. In my opinion David has one of the voices that needs to be heard when it comes to education reform in our city. Below are some of the notes I took while listening to him.

First, some stats ('cause everybody loves stats, right):

Memphis is the 24th largest school district in the U.S.
There are 8-10 million students in those 25 largest districts
Of those, 50% (4-8 million) will not graduate
In 2010, the average ACT score in the city school district was 16.6
In the county, the average is 28.3
The injustice issue, according to David, is this 70% gap between the rich and the poor
Average income for someone who doesn't graduate from high school is $17,000
Average income for someone who doesn't graduate from college is under $25,000
90% of public school students in these 25 largest school districts will make under $25,000 for the rest of their lives. This is not sustainable.

David next talked about the role of the church in the history of education reform. He started with the 1800's, during which time it was illegal to educate slaves. He drew heavily from Frederick Douglass' autobiography, which is a free Kindle download. In the 1890's Jim Crow laws emerged, which supposedly gave "separate but equal" status for African-Americans, but in reality was anything but. One of the worst things about all of this is that the people who were passing these laws were sitting in pews on Sunday mornings, not seeing any discrepancies.

Fast forward to 1954, when Brown vs. Board of Education ordered desegregation, and you see another big shift. Now children of different races could go to school together. However, this was not to be the case, because it was during this time that many private schools, many of them opened by churches, began to come into existence. David was quick to point out that the injustice issue was not the opening of these private schools, but the fact that once again we were not putting the same resources into the schools in neighborhoods of choice that we were in neighborhoods of poverty. Check out the recent Memphis Flyer article for more on this.

That's the sad and bad news. Fortunately, David did not stop there. But since this is turning into a rather long blog post, I will. Tomorrow you get the good news!

Rob Bell's Book 3

2011-04-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

Read Tim Keller's "The Importance of Hell", then read this blog post by Bill Walker. Walker's point is that Keller has already said much of what Bell is saying, yet Keller hasn't come under the attack that Bell has.

Great article from The Huffington Post called "Rob Bell vs. John Piper: Do we have to choose?" One of the best takeaways from this article is this quote: "Bell represents a movement among younger evangelicals that considers theological truth as a secondary concern. they are more about the 'journey' rather than the destination." This is so key. My recommendation with a book like this is to certainly read it, but also read what others are saying about the issue, and of course to read it in context with the Scriptures.

Scot McKnight posted a good article by Jeff Cook on the similarities between Rob Bell and C.S. Lewis. I've never read these Lewis works, but I find this very interesting. A quote: "I suspect Bell intimidates some because he is part of a culture they do not understand and cannot control (that culture is urban, postmodern, and discovers the truth more naturally through questions, sarcasm, and intuition than through the systematic presentations of the top Christian publishing house)."

Finally, a friend just told me about Darrell Bock's chapter-by-chapter review, which can be found here.

Rob Bell's Book 2

2011-04-13T09:00:00.001-05:00

Here is a list of Frequently Asked Questions from Mars Hill, the church where Bell pastors.

Rob Bell's Facebook fan page has more videos

Several evangelicals have come to Bell's defense, and believe that what he is writing is not only nothing new about it, but also nothing wrong with it. Two of the more prominent ones areRichard Mouw and Greg Boyd.

Here is the video of Martin Bashir's interview with Bell, as well as video from part of his interview with Sally Quinn of The Washington Post.

Rob Bell's Book 1

2011-04-12T09:00:00.002-05:00

I've only read about 1/3 of Rob Bell's latest book, Love Wins, but I've read a lot of what others think about the book. I promised some resources over a week ago, so here goes (there will be three posts since there are so many):

First off is a blog post from The Resurgence with links to the initial promo video for the book that set off a social media firestorm, along with some of the more anti-Rob Bell articles and book reviews.

Next up is a link to the video from a panel discussion moderated by Al Mohler of Southern Seminary. A synopsis of that discussion can be found here.

Ben Witherington has a chapter-by-chapter review here. Witherington is a New Testament scholar who falls in the middle on a lot of issues. He affirms much of what Bell writes, but also feels that he falls short in a lot of areas.

Mark Galli's review in Christianity Today.

Scot McKnight's post right before the book came out. In this post he defines words like universalism, pluralism, and annihilationism, all key words in this debate.

Scot McKnight is now going through the book on his blog. So far there are five posts.

Contentment

2011-03-14T08:51:00.004-05:00

Last night I began teaching through the life of David at Neighborhood Church. I started with 1 Samuel 16, which tells the story of the young shepherd boy being anointed king. Here's the jist of the story. David spends his days with sheep. Then one day, while he's minding his own business, the prophet Samuel shows up at his house, and to the surprise of everybody, anoints David as the next king of Israel. This part of the story ends with Samuel leaving and David is right back with the sheep. That's not right...is it?

The theme for the night was contentment. What do we do when God's plans are different than your plans? Or when His timetable is different from your timetable. David's heart was formed during this time with the sheep. As Paul reminded Timothy, "Godliness with contentment is great gain" (1 Timothy 6:6).

At the last minute, I decided to tell our story of moving to Memphis five years ago. It was such a hard time. We had taken a big step of faith and moved here with no jobs, no friends, and just a dream of what could be. Adam was six months old at the time, so we were new parents going through some rather big transitions all at one time.

Contentment did not come easy for me. I fought God a lot of the way, yet I knew that He had something in store for us here in Memphis. I found this post that I wrote during this time. It expresses much of the frustration but also a great deal of hope.

Update on Clean Water Project

2011-03-09T06:59:00.002-06:00

I wish I had a better update than this one to share, but here's what I received a few days ago about the area where we are building a well. They have been hit hard by flooding. Let's pray for our brothers and sisters.

The Ucayali river is a mess. It was heartbreaking to fly over the villages that are no longer there and see the peaks of the rooftops of their huts just peeking up out of the water. Dead animals. Flooding everywhere. I saw up close a couple of families living amongst the tree tops in their canoes with their stuff and family.

To Consolidate or not to Consolidate

2011-02-20T10:00:00.010-06:00

...is not the real question.

To be sure, it's an important question, but it's a secondary question. In my opinion, the primary question is the same one that Cain asked God as a response to God's question, "Where is Abel your brother?" Cain's response: "Am I my brother's keeper?" This is a question that needs to be asked as we as Memphis voters consider this decision.

I admit that I am not very into politics, and I realize that there is a lot that I do not know. But the more I learn, the more I am convinced that we, especially those of us in our county who consider ourselves to be followers of Christ, need to ask this question. How responsible are we to one another? How responsible are we to those children in our city who do have anyone taking responsibility for them? The answer to questions like these will determine how we make decisions in regards to an issue like this one.

The Commercial Appeal has a great section devoted to this issue on their website. One of the most helpful is this chart. It's very telling.

Let Go of Your Stuff

2011-02-15T08:50:00.000-06:00

Below are some of the statistics that Sandy Wilson, pastor of Second Presbyterian Church, gives in his message, "Let Go of Your Stuff." The key text is Deuteronomy 14:22-15:23, which is one of the primary passages that helps us understand the Missio Dei (mission of God). In this passage he talks about the relationship between our money and the poor throughout our city and the world. One of the questions he seeks to answer is, "Am I my brother's keeper?" The audio can be found here. Notes can be found here.

· If you make $25,000/yr, you are in the top 10% of the world's wealthiest

· If you make $25,000/yr, you are just above the poverty line in this country

· If you make $50,000/yr, you are in the top 1% of the world's wealthiest

· Two million children (mostly girls) will be traded in sex traffic this year

· There are more slaves in the world today than there have been in all points of history combined

· Women work two-thirds of the labor hours in the world, and they get paid less than 10% of the wages. And they own less than 1% of the property.

· There are 33 million refugees throughout the world

· The gap between the rich and the poor is growing. In 1820 the ratio was 4 to 1. In other words, the wealthiest person was four times as wealthy as the poorest person. In 1913 that ratio increased to 11 to 1. In 1950 it rose to 35 to 1. And in this last decade it rose to 75 to 1. So now, the wealthiest person is 75 times as wealthy as the poorest person.

· The biggest gap is found in China. The U.S. is in second place.

· The joblessness rate in the U.S. is now 10%. In the urban core it is over 30%

· The average church member gives 2.6% of his/her income. During the Depression Americans gave 3.3%.

· Just 2% of our giving goes overseas.

Cutting the Cord

2011-02-11T09:18:00.004-06:00

Last month I cancelled my cable TV service. I've hesitated writing about it because I wanted to make sure we didn't go through any sort of withdrawal. I'm happy to report that we've been fine. We haven't really missed it that much, but I know that we are going to enjoy the $65 savings every month.

On our back TV (our playroom) we have a Wii, which gives the ability to watch Netflix. This is primarily what the kids watch. They have their favorite shows on there, and so with that combined with a VCR and DVD player, they are all set. On our main TV in the front room we have an over-the-air (OTR) antenna so that we can watch our local channels, plus we have a DVD player and a Roku XDS.

The Roku is pretty amazing. Our favorite channels are Netflix, Hulu Plus, HGTV, Newscaster, NBA, Pandora, BaebleMusic, and Mp3Tunes. I also have an external hard drive hooked up so that I can listen to my music and watch movies that were on my PC. Out of all of those channels, the only thing we pay for is Netflix and Hulu Plus (about $18).

Strengths Finder 3

2011-02-09T09:30:00.003-06:00

In this final post I want to give some thoughts on how the Strengths Finder workshop from a few weeks ago is impacting the life of our church. Last Sunday night at our Partners meeting I shared one of my favorite quotes. It's from Gordon Cosby, who founded The Church of our Savior.

The greatest impact on the world comes about by small, highly committed and disciplined communities of people focused on outward mission, inward transformation, and loving, accountable community.

I see church as a team, and in order for a team to live out this quote, everyone on the team needs to understand one another's strengths and weaknesses. As Paul said, when one part of the body is unhealthy, then the body as a whole is unhealthy. It has been exciting learning more about my teammates. I know what I do and do not bring to the table, and when it comes to some of our key leaders, I feel the same way. But now I feel that I have a handle on this with the rest of our team members.

The key now is to see this begin to be lived out. We have encouraged everyone that the first step is seeing how this impacts each of us as individuals. Then, if you're married, ask the same questions in relationship to your marriage. After that, bring it to your community group. These are our core teams, and so seeing how this fleshes out in those relationships will be key. Not only are they great places to experiment, but there can be great feedback provided by these close relationships.

Strengths Finder 2

2011-02-07T09:36:00.003-06:00

This study has provoked a lot of conversation between Mandy and I. Here's why: she and I are about as opposite as you can get when it comes to our strengths. As ministry partners, this is awesome, because it means great compatibility. As spouses, it means the same thing, but it is oh so incredibly difficult.

Mandy has the rarest theme in America: discipline. She loves predictability. She is always asking the question "Why?" She is very focused and analytical, and is a super achiever. Me on the other hand: not so much...on any of this. I am just fine flying by the seat of my pants, making changes as I go. I don't like predictability. I prefer adaptability. See the tension!

Through our 11 years of marriage, we have most often seen these major differences as major weaknesses in one another. We certainly have not seen them as strengths. And we certainly have not changed this after a few weeks of conversation. But just realizing there is a a conversation to be had has made a world of difference. I appreciate Mandy's strengths more today than I probably ever have before, and I believe this is going to continue to have a great influence on our marriage!

Strengths Finder 1

2011-02-04T12:08:00.006-06:00

Two weekends ago our church brought in Mike Dauphinee for a Strengths Finder workshop, which is based on this book by Tom Rath. All of us took the online inventory before the workshop. The idea is that as each of us on the team understands our strengths, it will make the entire team work better.

In this first post I want to give a reflection on how this has impacted me personally. Then, in future posts I'll reflect on how this impacts my marriage and my church.

I took this inventory about nine years ago, but I knew it had probably changed some. Below are my five themes, along with the "balcony" (potential) and "basement" (extreme) for each.

1. Self-Assurance - People who are especially talented in the Self-Assurance theme feel confident in their ability to manage their own lives. They possess an inner compass that gives them confidence that their decisions are right.

Balcony: self-confident, strong inner compass, risk-taker

Basement: arrogant, self-righteous, over confident, stubborn

2. Activator - People who are especially talented in the Activator theme can make things happen by turning thoughts into action. They are often impatient.

Balcony: self-starter, fire-starter, energy source, fearless

Basement: ready-fire-aim, loose cannon, speak before you think, in left field (because others haven't caught up)

3. Arranger - People who are especially talented in the Arranger theme can organize, but they also have a flexibility that complements this ability. They like to figure out how all of the pieces and resources can be arranged for maximum productivity.

Balcony: flexible, organizer, juggler, aligning and realigning tasks to find the most productive configuration possible, efficient, conductor

Basement: lack of structure, too flexible, don't follow the existing rules or procedures, constantly changing priorities, lack of vision

4. Adaptability - People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to "go with the flow." They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.

Balcony: flexible, comfortable in times of change, easy to get along with, go with the flow

Basement: directionless, indecisive, sheep, inconclusive, whimsical

5. Command - People who are especially talented in the Command theme have presence. They can take control of a situation and make decisions.

Balcony - charisma, direct, driven, inspirational, easy to follow, clear, concise

Basement - bossy, know-it-all, domineering, rude, abrupt, short, strong-willed, inflexible, stubborn

It's funny that what sticks out more than anything are the extremes of the theme, or what we continued to come back to as the "dark side" of the gifts. I have seen this in my life so many times. But this study has more than anything helped me to be confident in the way that God has wired/gifted me.

Mike defined a strength as any task we perform that makes us feel strong. Therefore, a weakness is any task we perform that makes us feel weak. This is key. In most of our jobs we all have to at times work out of our weaknesses, but the problem comes when this becomes the primary way we work. Some people have no idea what makes them feel strong. Others know but have not been in environments where they've been given this freedom.

This makes so much sense to me, and though I feel like I have been somewhat operating in these strengths, I believe that I will do so even more from now on.

Burn Out

2011-01-19T15:05:00.003-06:00

A couple of months ago our counselor told Mandy and I that she felt that both of us were experiencing burnout. This was something new for me, but over the last few weeks I've begun to see some of the signs. This is something that I'm continuing to seek God over, but today I read this quote from John Piper's Brothers, We Are Not Professionals:

Few things frighten me more than the beginnings of barrenness that come from frenzied activity with little spiritual food and meditation.

Bingo! I sense barrenness, and I know that I am experiencing frenzied activity. I've not been this busy in a long time. So I have to ask myself what I'm eating. Sometimes our souls can be starving and we don't even know it. I am grateful that to God for these wake-up calls. I recognize His work.

2010 Top Ten Lists: Music

2011-01-03T08:14:00.007-06:00

I got some good stuff here. In no particular order...

Mumford & Sons
Oh, yeah, this is in order. These guys were my most-listened-to band of the year. Love their album. So the rest of the list is in no particular order.

Dave Barnes
Crazy good vocals and guitar, and a very funny fella

The Avett Brothers
I know I'm probably not introducing anyone to these guys, but perhaps to the Tiny Desk Concert podcast from NPR.

Ben Rector
Mandy and I saw him open for Dave Barnes a couple of months ago. There are other songs that I like better, but I couldn't find a good video of them. Check out his album.

Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors
Not sure how I've missed these cats for so long, but at the aforementioned Dave Barnes/Ben Rector show, they kept mentioning them. Then we got to see their Christmas show a few weeks ago. And don't worry. I learned that Ellie does not have casts on both arms.

Hey Marseilles
I discovered this band on the Tiny Desk podcast.

Gabe Dixon Band
I discovered these guys listening to Ben Folds on Pandora. This song came on, and my response was, "Who is this guy?"

Aaron Strumpel
I can't remember how I heard about him, but one night, after I had just purchased his Chair & Microphone album, Mandy and I listened to it in its entirety. Just couldn't turn it off.

Steven Curtis Chapman
This song paints a beautiful picture of where hope intersects tragedy. I had this album awhile before I really sat and listened to it. I don't know that I've heard so many songs that come forth from the heart. This is my favorite song from the album.

Aaron Ivey
And last but certainly not least. This is one of my favorite songs of the year. What a great story!

iPhone Makes Pretty Music

2010-12-31T07:11:00.002-06:00

2010 Top Ten Lists: Books

2010-12-30T13:42:00.005-06:00

Here are the best books I read this year:

1. You Can Change, by Tim Chester - I won't repeat my praise of this book since I've written 16 posts about it this year. Definitely the most shaping book of the year for me.

2. The TK Primer, by Hugh Halter & Matt Smay - Our community groups went through this in the spring, and I think it was helpful and encouraging to all of us. It's my recommendation for any new church core group.

3. The Gospel of the Kingdom, by George Eldon Ladd - I read this one as preparation of a series of talks I gave on the Kingdom of God. It was written in the late 1950's, and I quickly discovered that it was formative to a lot of the other authors I've read on the Kingdom.

4. And, by Hugh Halter & Matt Smay - Not as good as their first book, but still very helpful. Lots of great stories, and written to a wider audience than the first one.

5. Radical, by David Platt - This will give you an idea of the impact this book has made on my life. It was while listening to an interview with David Platt that I felt compelled to challenge our church to build a well this year.

6. Love and War, by John and Stasi Eldredge - This one was very different from the other marriage books I've read. Mandy read a friend's copy in one weekend, and then told me we needed a copy so I could read it as well. We're now going through the devotional together.

7. Rework, by Jason Fried - Easy read that challenges the way we lead and do business. I liked that the chapters were so short.

8. How I Changed My Mind about Women in Ministry, edited by Alan Johnson - This book is a compilation of chapters by men and women who have moved from a complementarian position to an egalitarian one. The authors include Bill & Lynn Hybels, John & Nancy Ortberg, I. Howard Marshall, Cornelius Plantinga, and Ron Sider.

9. The Letter to the Ephesians, by Peter O'Brien, and The Message of Ephesians, by John Stott - These are the two commentaries I most turned to during our series on Ephesians.

10. Finally, a little fiction:

The Almost True Story of Ryan Fisher, by Rob Stennett
Playing for Pizza, by John Grisham
Rooms, by James Rubart
The Chopin Manuscript, and The Copper Bracelet, written by some of the top thriller writers today

One last thought, of the fifteen books mentioned in this post, eight of them were Kindle books. Wonder if that number will go up this year.

Slow Down and Enjoy

2010-12-27T12:15:00.003-06:00

That's a good New Year's Resolution for all of us. How often do we find ourselves so rushed that we miss out on the really important things? As a father of a 5-yr old and 2-yr old, I'm faced with this on a daily basis. I don't want to miss those moments that will never happen again.

This story took place almost four years ago, but I just heard about it today. Here's the synopsis:

On January 12, 2007, in a subway station in Washington, D.C., a musician took out his violin and began playing. It was almost 8:00 am, and during the next 43 minutes he played six classical pieces. 1097 people passed by during that time, most hurrying to get to work on time. Of those, only seven people stopped what they were doing and just listened. Twenty-seven people dropped money into his violin case, the grand total being $32.17 ($20 of that was given by one woman who recognized who the musician was). Three days before, this musician had played in Boston, where the cheapest seats were $100.

The musician was Joshua Bell, and this was a social experiment organized by The Washington Post. You can read the article here, and below is a video of the performance.

I received an email this morning with this story, and here's the question it ended with:

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made...how many other things are we missing as we rush through life?

A Social Network Christmas

2010-12-21T13:25:00.003-06:00

Here is the video that was shown on Sunday night.

CA Article Getting Around

2010-12-16T16:05:00.002-06:00

My pastor from our Nashville days just emailed me to say that our story is featured in a post at GetReligion.org.

And this might make you mad

2010-12-16T15:35:00.005-06:00

From Jonathan Merritt at QIdeas:

Retailers in Texas who celebrate Christmas better shout it from their garland-wrapped rooftops lest they incite the anger of local Christians. Conservative mega-church First Baptist Church in Dallas (FBCD) has just launched a web site with the expressed purpose of keeping Christmas “everywhere.” By logging ontowww.grinchalert.com, shoppers can place businesses on the “naughty” or “nice” list depending on whether or not a business acknowledges Christmas.

“When companies use misplaced political correctness to halt the celebration of Christmas, they belong on the ‘Naughty List,’” the website says. “We also want to know which companies are celebrating Christmas with excitement and meaning–especially those who keep Christ in Christmas where He belongs!”

Everyone recognizes, of course, that the holiday most people are celebrating this time of year is indeed called “Christmas.” According to Rasmussen, 92% of Americans say they celebrate Christmas. However, 58% of those who celebrate Christmas are more likely to wish a casual acquaintance “Happy Holidays.” FBCD Pastor Robert Jeffress claims he intends the website to combat such political correctness in a way that's “fun.” But some don’t seem to be enjoying it quite as much as he is.

Rabbi Geoffrey Dennis of Congregation Kol Ami said, “Rather than honoring Christmas, this kind of campaign feels meant to remind me and people like me we are second-best members of this society . . . I realize every movement needs an issue to rally around. How about ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’?”

The Rabbi makes a good point, but his call for a Christmas ceasefire will likely fall on deaf ears. At least as long as Christian culture warriors like Jeffress see Christmas not just as a sacred holiday, but also a critical battleground. In the "War on Christmas," lines must be drawn in the December sand to make sure that the famed greeting “Merry Christmas” isn’t replaced by its evil half-brother “Happy Holidays.”

Without fail, certain radio and television personalities devote a significant amount of time to this so-called “war” each year. A few years ago, Fox News' John Gibson released the book, The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Holiday is Worse than You Thought. About the same time, Focus on the Family began their “I Stand for Christmas” campaign, which included a site where consumers rate retailers based on how “Christmas-friendly” they are. Last year, I found a stack of “I Say Merry Christmas Bumper Stickers” in our church mail room. Beginning around Thanksgiving, you can hear the sounds of clips being loaded in churches and Christian homes across the country.

The more I watch this holiday holy war, however, the more convinced I am that many American Christians have not fully thought through the issues at play. For example, we claim that we want Jesus to remain “the reason for the season,” but our actions belie a different focus. As I wrote in The Huffington Post last Christmas:

Most of us spend a paltry amount of time reflecting on Jesus compared to the massive amount of time we spend shopping at the mall, attending parties, wrapping and opening gifts, and eating huge meals. We might spend an hour at church on Christmas Eve holding a candle and singing "Silent Night" but we likely spent four hours at the mall the day before. Sure, we may gather around grandpa for a stiff five minutes and listen to him read a chapter from the Gospel of Luke, but we hardly listen. We are licking our chops at the mountains of presents behind him. In reality, Christmas for Americans--and yes, even the Christian ones--is shaped more by Currier and Ives than Joseph and Mary.

I often wonder what Jesus would think if he returned to earth at Christmas and surveyed the way all of his followers were celebrating his birth. What would the one who "has no place to lay his head" think about our gaudy decorations and lavish presents totaling over $400 billion in America alone? Would Jesus be pleased to find us remembering his lowly birth with materialism and gluttony?

It is nothing short of hypocrisy for American Christians to force others to “keep Jesus in Christmas” when we helped kick him out of the holiday long ago.

[For ways to curb Christmas consumerism, see Advent Conspiracy.]

Additionally, we need to think through what we’re asking for. By waging the war on Christmas, we are pressuring many people who don’t actually trust upon Christ to verbally acknowledge him. In so doing, we may be actually promoting a limp cultural religion that fails to promote radical gospel-centered living. How much true value is there in forcing those who aren’t Christians to use the name of Christ? As church historianSteve McKinion has pointed out, such things “may very well be at the heart of ‘using the Lord’s name in vain.’”

If we want to win the war on Christmas, we need to stop fighting it. Enjoy the season, reflect on Christ, break bread with those you love, and look for opportunities to meet the needs of others. Such things will seem more authentic to a skeptical world and scream “Merry Christmas” in ways a retailer never can.

This will break your heart

2010-12-16T07:11:00.004-06:00

From USA Today

Santa Claus and his elves are seeing more heartbreaking letters this year as children cite their parents' economic troubles in their wish lists.
U.S. Postal Service workers who handle letters addressed to Santa at the North Pole say more letters ask for basics — coats, socks and shoes — rather than Barbie dolls, video games and computers.
"The need is greater this year than I've ever seen it," he says. "One little girl didn't want anything for herself. She wanted a winter coat for her mother."
Cesar, 7, wrote for himself and his baby sister.
"This year my moom don't have much money to spend on Christmas gifts so I'm writing to you," Cesar told Santa. "It would make us very happy if you and your elves would bring us toys and clothes."
There are more letters from unemployed parents asking for kids' gifts they can't afford, says Darlene Reid of New York City's main post office.
One mom sent a turn-off notice from the electric company, Fontana says. A single mother of a girl, 8, and a boy, 2, wrote that she recently lost her job. "I am unable to buy my children toys and clothes," she said. "Santa may you help me with my family?"
Tough times are shrinking the number of Secret Santas, Fontana says. Meanwhile, "the percentage of people who need help has increased," says Mark Reynolds at the Postal Service's Chicago district, and about half the letters won't get answered.
Melanney, 9, asked Santa for a coat and boots. "I have been a very good girl this year," she wrote.

Commercial Appeal Article

2010-12-13T12:46:00.003-06:00

On Saturday The Commercial Appeal ran a great article on our family's involvement with Peabody Elementary School. It was written by David Waters. From the people I've talked with, as well as comments on their site, it seems that it's giving hope to many. One of the takeaways I've had from reading the article and the comments is that I am grateful for the community who is walking with us. These decisions can be difficult ones, but at every step of the way, it's has been easier knowing that we're not going it alone.

Men and Women 2

2010-12-10T11:23:00.002-06:00

Over the past few months I’ve read a lot of articles on this subject. Here are some of the most helpful ones.

Women and Ministry, by Tim & Kathy Keller
Here’s what I like about this one. First, it’s Keller. I find it’s always a good idea to see what he says on a given issue. Second, though he’s a theologian and academic, he’s also a pastor, and this article is written from the perspective of a church wrestling through an issue. Third, I appreciate the fact that his wife, Kathy, writes with him. Finally, I think it’s quite balanced.

Summaries of the Egalitarian and Complementarian Positions on the Role of Women in the Home and in Christian Ministry, by Bruce Ware
Again, I appreciate this one because of its balance. He gives what each side believes, then gives objections from the other side to those beliefs. He deals with pretty much every Scripture passage there is on this issue. He packs a great deal into eleven pages.

Keeping Complementarians True to Scripture, by David Gushee
This is a very short but sweet article on the need for consistency in this issue.

Women and Ministry at IBC
This 24-page paper was written by the elders at Irving Bible Church after they spent over a year in study in conversation. Like Keller’s paper, it is written not for the sake of debate but because a church was wrestling through an important issue. I sensed a great deal of humility as I read it. In the end, they come to the same conclusion as Redeemer Pres did: all ministries are open to women except for the office of elder. The confusing part is that sometime after this they invited a female to be their lead pastor. I want to know more about that.

The Role of Women in Worship and Ministry: Some Hermeneutical Questions, by David Dockery
If you can get your hands on this one, it is well worth the read. As it says in the title, it deals with the many hermeneutical issues involved with this issue.

50 Crucial Questions about Manhood and Womanhood, by John Piper & Wayne Grudem
This article definitely takes the complentarian view, but it is extremely good. When I wrote a paper on this issue nine years ago, I read their book Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Although it is very persuasive, even then the issue of consistency kept me from adopting this view completely.

For the egalitarian side, I would recommend reading Scot McKnight’s blog. Here is the link to his category “Women and Ministry.” Lots of great posts there.

Men and Women 1

2010-12-07T16:25:00.006-06:00

Below are two of the articles I referenced on Sunday night at NC's worship gathering. All of these are from the last six months.

"The End of Men", from The Atlantic

Earlier this year, women became the majority of the workforce for the first time in U.S. history. Most managers are now women too. And for every two men who get a college degree this year, three women will do the same. For years, women’s progress has been cast as a struggle for equality. But what if equality isn’t the end point? What if modern, postindustrial society is simply better suited to women? A report on the unprecedented role reversal now under way— and its vast cultural consequences

"Why We Need to Reimagine Masculinity", from Newsweek

To survive in a hostile world, guys need to embrace girly jobs and dirty diapers. Why it's time to reimagine masculinity at work and at home

Communication 101...for Toddlers

2010-12-04T07:07:00.002-06:00

Last Friday night I was putting Micah to bed, and had gone through the normal bedtime routine (pajamas on, teeth brushed, water, sing, snug as a bug). He apparently didn't think I had nailed it as I normally do, and he began saying, "cold water." My response, "there's ice in that cup little man. It's cold." The two year old didn't like that, and began yelling "cold water" over and over again. I went to the kitchen and poured it out, then filled the cup with more ice (therefore it would be even colder). It didn't work. So finally, and I hope you don't think I'm a bad parent for this, I told him goodnight and shut the door. The yelling ended after a few minutes and he went to sleep.

Two days later Mandy told me that she knew what cold water was. After first congratulating her on this academic feat, I realized what she was talking about. She opened the refrigerator door and explained that to Micah, milk is cold water. Well that explains it. So I've spent some time this week getting Micah to say the word milk. He's doing much better now.

Christmas, Consumerism and Ideas for Gift-Giving

2010-11-25T09:30:00.007-06:00

Hello. My name is Robert and I'm a consumer.

Black Friday is tomorrow, so here are some thoughts I have on the topics of Christmas and spending money. I've never gotten up early to go shopping on Black Friday. In the past, it was because I didn't like traffic jams, long lines, and overly caffeinated and energetic people crowding all around me. Now, though, as my community has been taking part in Advent Conspiracy, I've learned that not only is consumerism bad for me, it's bad for others, plus this alternative story (worship fully, spend less, give more, love all) is so much better.

At the same time, I am often a sucker for a bargain, and I love the challenge of stretching my dollar (a positive way of saying I'm cheap). I'm a little torn. So I will probably buy some Christmas presents over the next few days, though it will most likely involve sitting in front of my laptop rather than going anywhere. What I've learned I have to watch out for is spending too much time trying to save money. It's really not worth hunting through online stores trying to save $5 on a Wii game for Adam. So I shall cease from doing as much research this year.

If you're new to this story, or perhaps just coming to the conclusion that consumerism does not equal happiness, then here are a few ideas to help you bring some change to your life/family/spending this Christmas.

One of our community groups put together a great gift-giving guide with lots of links and ideas.

Check out Trade as One's website, as well as the video I posted yesterday. They have a lot of great gifts you can buy for your loved ones that have multiple bottom lines.

The Simple Dollar has a 10-part series on great homemade Christmas gifts, including cookies, personalized cards & stationery, and meals in a jar. A lot of these ideas are very kid-friendly as well.

On those lines, check out Get Rich Slowly's list of 34 Homemade Gifts

And finally, a great article from Get Rich Slowly on buying gifts that make a difference and that continue "giving" past the holidays.

Trade as One

2010-11-24T14:05:00.001-06:00

This is one of the videos we showed last Sunday night at NC.

Some Links

2010-11-24T09:11:00.006-06:00

Here are some good articles and blog posts I've read over the last few weeks.

Trade as One founder Nathan George writes about our spending habits here. Great quote: "The gospel calls us to live simply, to give generously and to buy ethically. When the church begins to see the other 98% of its people's incomes as capable of being engaged in the gospel, things get really exciting."

Mark Batterson writes about the importance of job satisfaction for team morale. He writes, "If the job satisfaction number is high (on their annual survey), then just about everything else will take care of itself because the motivation is there. If you love what you do, then you're going to have a 95% better chance of doing it well. If your satisfaction level is low, then your performance will inevitably suffer."

There is a 20-part series going on at The Simple Dollar on David Allen's latest book, Making It All Work. In the 14th entry he deals with the need to determine primary areas of focus. These could deal with work, family, hobbies, spirituality, health, etc. These are the things that are most important to you. At the end of the week, then, you can see how you've spent your time (and I would add money), and you will quickly determine what areas are being neglected and where balance is needed.

Seth Godin on where ideas come from. My favorite: "Good ideas come from bad ideas, but only if there are enough of them."

New Series on Men and Women

2010-11-24T08:41:00.000-06:00

On Sunday night, December 5, our church is going to begin a two-week study on the role of men and women, both in the home and in the church. This is a very controversial issue, and one that continues to divide well meaning people to this day. So just as we have done in the past with other controversial issues, we want to base our understanding primarily on the Scriptures. There is nothing like a community being empowered to come to the Scriptures with both humility and confidence, and thereby determining how to live out what is read. It always excites me.

On our website I've compiled the primary passages that deal with this issue, plus a question for each passage for you to think about. You can download that document here. Over the next several weeks I'll be posting some of the more influential articles that have shaped me on this issue.

Clean Water Challenge

2010-11-23T11:33:00.004-06:00

This marks the fourth year that our church has taken part in Advent Conspiracy. This year I wanted to take things up a level. It hit me a few weeks ago that our church has never really had to take a huge risk, be it financial or otherwise. We've never set any goals which seemed impossible by human standards. So, through a series of several conversations and a lot of thinking, praying and dreaming, I decided to the issue a challenge this past Sunday night for our church to dig a well.

The past two years we, along with friends we've invited to our annual Clean Water Party, have raised $500 for clean water. This year the goal is $5000, and rather than just sending in checks to Living Water International, we are partnering with them to build a well for a specific village in Northern Peru.

For more details, as well as how you can get involved, click here.

Peabody in the News

2010-11-12T11:33:00.003-06:00

There's a great article in today's Commercial Appeal about Peabody Elementary School, and specifically about yesterday's ThinkShow! Check it out.

1898 Manila

2010-11-09T09:51:00.002-06:00

My first "flip" is on the market. Check it out here, and if you know of anyone who wants to move into Cooper-Young, let me know!

Education Forum Tonight

2010-11-08T16:42:00.002-06:00

Tonight we're having another education discussion for parents thinking about sending their children to Peabody next year. Some of us from this year's class will be sharing about our experience. Peabody's principal and a couple of teachers will be on hand to answer questions as well.

Andrew Ripp

2010-11-06T21:11:00.002-05:00

Mandy and I saw this fella open for Dave Barnes last night. Enjoy!

How to Grill a Good Steak

2010-10-20T14:05:00.000-05:00

I won't go as far as to say that a sign of manhood is being able to grill a good steak, but I will say that every man I know wants to be able to grill a good steak.

Last Spring I ordered some steaks from Omaha Steaks. Mandy and I are trying to have a date night at least every other week after we put the kids to bed. So last night I decided to grill the last of my steaks, this time filet mignon. Steaks intimidate me, in part because they are so darn expensive but also because I've had my share of poorly grilled steak. Oh yeah...and it was date night. So I made the wise choice to consult the pros.

The good news is that it turned out to be the best steak I've ever grilled. Here's the basics:

Season with a little salt and pepper
Let it sit out for awhile (15 minutes in my case)
Let the grill get very hot
Place the steaks on the grill
Leave the grill open while cooking
After 3 minutes, rotate 90 degrees
Wait 3 minutes, then flip
After another 3, rotate 90 degrees
3 more minutes, then off the grill
Don't cut into it. Let it sit for another 3 minutes
Enjoy!

Scot McKnight on the Books Pastors Like to Read

2010-10-08T10:15:00.002-05:00

About a year ago I came across a post from Scot McKnight that grabbed my attention, and that I've continued to think about. Here's the opening paragraph

Evangelical pastors have flipped in the last generation. 30-40 years ago what most incited excitement was a new book by the arch-pastor and expositor, John Stott, expositing a New Testament book or a J.I. Packer book on theology. Today's evangelicals pastors are enamored with the latest book on leadership, like that morsel of an idea in the book called Tribes, or the latest book on management, or the latest fad in creativity.

I guess part of this has to do with the fact that for the first time in my life I am reading John Stott. I'm one of those who, for the past decade or so, would choose books devoted to orthopraxy over orthodoxy. It wasn't so much that I was disinterested in theology but more that I wanted to flesh it out, to put it into action. However, lately I've been rethinking a lot of things. Though I've always known it in my head, today more than ever I believe that our orthopraxy must be shaped by our orthodoxy.

Today was Union Avenue Baptist Church's annual rummage sale to raise funds for mission trips, so I went down to check things out. I came away with 17 books, with all but two written pre-1980. Oh, and six of them are by John Stott.

CNET's New Guide to Internet TV

2010-10-02T13:26:00.001-05:00

In years past, you had three basic choices when considering TV reception: cable, satellite, or the good old-fashioned over-the-air antenna. But a fourth option is now coming on strong. It goes by a wide variety of names--IP TV, streaming video, online TV, even "over the top" (OTT) TV--but we're calling it Internet TV for lack of a better name.
This guide is intended as a straightforward overview of this new entertainment medium. We compare the available services and hardware, and help you choose which ones are right for you.

More here

Why We Talk About Sin 5

2010-09-24T09:00:00.003-05:00

Because sin is a communal thing. Now by that I don't mean that we swap spouses at NC, nor that we have a supply closet full of scarlet letters to pass out.

What I mean is that we were never meant to deal with our sin alone. First, we have God. God's desire is not that we run away from Him after we sin, but that we run towards Him, or more specifically, that we run towards the Cross. But we also have other people.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, "Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy...He who is alone with his sins is utterly alone."

As I wrote yesterday, we are not meant live our lives with a mask on, pretending to have our acts together. This is true both with God and with others. I am very thankful to have a hand full of people in my life who are ok with the real me. They are a safe place for me to share not only the good but also the bad and the ugly. I hope that we all find this kind of community.

Rather than write anymore on this, I'd like to direct your attention here, to one of my posts on Tim Chester's book, You Can Change. He says it all so well.

Why We Talk About Sin 4

2010-09-23T09:00:00.001-05:00

Because we're as messed up as you!

Understanding our sin should not lead to fear or condemnation but to humility and gratitude. It should not lead to hiding behind a mask but to being more fully human than you've ever been before. I love this quote by Brennan Manning, from The Ragamuffin Gospel:

To be alive is to be broken. And to be broken is to stand in need of grace. Honesty keeps us in touch with our neediness and the truth that we are saved sinners. There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.

It is so easy for me to put that mask on and pretend (to myself and to others) that I am ok. But understanding my brokenness leads to a freedom that does not exist any other way. James (Jesus' brother) said that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. As I recognize my brokenness more and more, it should create in me an awareness of my true dependency. This then humbles me because I know that I am loved and accepted by my Father. I know that He has chosen me and pursues me.

And here's what else it does. It prevents me from having a posture that says, "I have everything together. I have no problems or worries. My life is awesome." Instead, I can be honest and say that I don't have a clue what I'm doing many days, but I trust my Father to guide my steps. I'm ok with that answer.

Sin and Grace

2010-09-22T10:48:00.001-05:00

Here's a great quote from Cornelius Plantinga that goes with the post from earlier this morning.

To speak of sin by itself, to speak of it apart from the realities of creation and grace, is to forget the resolve of God. God wants shalom and will pay any price to get it back. Human sin is stubborn, but not as stubborn as the grace of God and not half so persistent, not half so ready to suffer to win its way...To speak of sin without grace is to minimize the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the fruit of the spirit, and the hope of shalom.

Why We Talk About Sin 3

2010-09-22T09:00:00.000-05:00

Because before we can understand how bad things were, we need to understand how really good they were when it all started.

Now I realize that may sound like a contradiction in light of yesterday's post, but hear me out. We often think of "sin" as doing bad things, of breaking rules. But Cornelius Plantinga, author of Not the Way It's Supposed to Be, defines sin as a violation of shalom.

Before we can understand how bad sin is, we need to first understand the way God intended things to be (which is a good way of explaining the word "shalom"). We normally begin the "sin" discussion with Genesis 3, which is the story of Adam and Eve's disobedience. But we need to go back to Genesis 1 and 2, which is the story of God creating everything. After each day, God said, "It is good." God took great delight in everything that He created, including man and woman. Actually, after the creation of man and woman, He said, "It is very good."

God's design was for man and woman to be in relationship not only with one another but also with Himself. And that relationship was meant to be one built on trust. Man and woman were created to trust God for everything they needed, and through that to give thanks to Him for that provision and love. That trust was then to spill over to their relationship with each other. The Bible indicates this to be the case when it says that they were naked and not ashamed. Things were very good! Yet we know what happened. They chose not to trust God. They believed a lie that they no longer needed Him, that they could be like Him. The irony is that they were actually more like Him before they sinned than they ever would be again.

A few years ago I remember reading this story and being stopped in my tracks by the following verse:

And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves (Gen. 3:8).

I started thinking, "I wonder if this walking together in the cool of the day was a part of their evening routine?" It's as if God was doing what He did every evening. But on this particular evening, something was different. His children did not join Him. This is a great picture of intimacy to me, and the sad thing is that after sin entered the picture, the intimacy they had with their Father and Creator was broken. It doesn't appear that they ever took these walks again. But it didn't stop there. It was also broken between the man and the woman (remember, it was at the point of sin entering the picture that they first felt shame). And this brokenness continues to affect all of us.

So that's how things started. The Bible also tells us how things will end. Revelation 21 says that there will come a day when God will once again walk with His people. He will make His dwelling place with them, and get this: He will come near to wipe away every tear from the eyes of His children. Intimacy will once again be fully restored.

So we see how it began and we see how it ends. For now we have the Gospel. Yes, it's a time of tension, but it's a time of God doing His work of redeeming and restoring that which was lost and broken. God's work involved sending His Son to earth to make right what was wrong. And He did it through His death on the Cross. Through Christ's death we can once again be reconciled to God. We can truly know God, our Father and Creator.

Why We Talk About Sin 2

2010-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

First, a more theological response...Before we can really appreciate why the gospel is "good news", we should first seek to understand how bad the bad news really is. And that's why we talk about sin.

The Bible says in many places that God's desire has been to save/rescue/set free His people. The question that must be asked is, "From what do we need to be saved/rescued/set free?" There are lots of things that could be mentioned here, but I'll let Paul do the talking, from Ephesians 2.

Paul begins this chapter by saying that at one time we were all dead in our sins (Eph. 2:1). In other words, we were unresponsive to God. The reason for this was that we were slaves. First, we were following the ways of the world. When Paul speaks of "the world" here, he is referring to the earthly system that opposes God's reign. Think about the The Matrix here. It wasn't until you were outside the Matrix that you realized the truth, that everyone in the Matrix was a slave. And the crazy thing was that they didn't even know it. That's how we were.

Next, Paul brings up Satan. The Bible says (and Bob Dylan later echoes it) that we all "Gotta Serve Somebody." If our allegiance is not to God, then it's to somebody else. And the Bible says that Satan is "the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). So when we were dead in our sins, our allegiance was to Satan instead of to God.

Now I know that most people don't consider themselves to be loyal to Satan. So if you're not buying that one, hang in there for this last one. Paul says that the third thing we were captive to were the passions of our flesh. All that means is this: we're in charge, and we do what we want to do when we want to do it. But this is also why the things that we fill ourselves with in hopes of bringing satisfaction or meaning often leave us unsatisfied or even empty. St. Augustine said it this way: "You (God) have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." To be held captive by the passions of your flesh means that your heart is restless, and nothing other than God will fully satisfy.

So before God stepped in, sin held us in such a way that there was no way that we could be who were created to be. And that's bad news. However, Paul doesn't end with bad news. The rest of Ephesians 2 contains words such as mercy, love, grace and kindness. This is who God is, and this is where good news comes. The Gospel says that God, because of His great love for us, came and redeemed dead slaves (that's us). However, this redemption cost something: His Son, Jesus. Jesus' death brought our freedom, and that is extremely good news!

Why We Talk About Sin 1

2010-09-20T07:19:00.006-05:00

Last night I began a three week series on the topic of sin. Sin is not a popular subject by any means. Some of us grew up hearing about sin way too much. It was never coupled with grace and love, but more with fear and legalism. Many of us also heard about only specific types of sins, while other sins went overlooked. We saw this as hypocrisy (think racism in the south). However, today as we look around our culture we discover that we've almost lost the notion that sin even exists. It's rarely talked about, and when it is, it's not done so in the way it once was (check out www.sinfullydecadent.com for more - don't worry, it's not a porn site).

So over the next four or five posts I want to give some reasons as to why we as a church are talking about sin. And if you're interested, the sermon and notes from last night can be downloaded here.

The Man in Black

2010-09-17T11:48:00.005-05:00

I know that we're several months removed from Lost, but I just read an interesting article on the Man in Black. Remember him? As I've said before, I'm getting ready to start teaching on the subject of sin, so for the past month or so I've been watching and reading things in light of the brokenness of our world. I think this article is a great example of brokenness. Here's how it begins:

He had no name, no family, no history, no future. His people lived far away, across the sea. The one who professed love for him took away his job and gave it to his brother--and then she killed every one of his friends.

At forty-three he was trapped on an Island with the woman who killed his mother and the infantile mama's boy who doted on her. He shared nothing with his brother, not priorities or desires or diversions--not even hair colour. His thoughts lacked any point of reference other than his home, across the sea.

His situation was infinitely worse than this, however. We have heard his story before. We know him from the holy text of every ancient religion. Mary Shelley wrote about him, and Edward Everett Hale fifty years after her. We have heard his story before, but every aspect of him is new. He is the Man in Black, Cerberus, the Smoke Monster, but he is so much more. He's not so different from you and me. In fact, we understand him best by looking at ourselves.

Read more.

CYPN Article in Commercial Appeal

2010-09-17T09:55:00.002-05:00

Heather Caron wrote a great article about the Light the Way race and the Parent's Network. There's even something about Neighborhood Church in there. Here's the article:

The cooler weather has begun to lure neighbors out of their homes and children back into the daylight. Runners and walkers alike are dotting neighborhoods in preparation of the upcoming Cooper-Young Festival 4 Miler race on Friday. In addition, many community members are preparing for the "Light the Way" parties to cheer on the runners as they blaze past the neighborhood homes and businesses in Midtown's Cooper-Young.
Longtime area residents know that those with the best parties win prizes and enjoy the accolades throughout the year. The 4 Miler "Light the Way" parties have not only been fun, but for some residents, they are the initial connection to lasting friendships, educational forums, seasonal parties, running groups and endless play dates.
One such group can credit many memberships to the Cooper-Young 4 Miler race and the infamous "Light the Way" parties. The Cooper-Young Parents Network, representing 80 adult members and 150 children, has given Midtown families a support group for their most important commodity -- their children. This forum has provided parents information on available educational and extracurricular options for their kids. It has given Cooper-Young families a safe and welcoming place to celebrate holidays and community events. It is a clearinghouse for gently used items that families no longer need and a resource for cooperative and reputable child care. You may just be able to find the right doctor or cleaning service, if you so desire.
Newly relocated family Joe and Susan Currier were walking home from a 2006 "Light the Way" party and bumped into another new Cooper-Young family, Jason and Barb Elder.
"As we talked, I discovered I knew Jason from years past," said Susan Currier. "Jason and I grew up in the same town, but I did not know he had moved to Memphis.
"As we strolled past the cleanup crews, the Elders told us about a church they were helping to plant in Cooper-Young, which eventually became Neighborhood Church. They invited us to visit the church when it started meeting in homes a few months later, and that's how we met future Parents Network founder and new Cooper-Young resident, Mandy Grisham. Barb and Mandy became some of my closest friends, as have our children," Currier said.
Susan has since introduced several other families to the network and has hosted a few LTW parties. "It's my family's favorite part of the festival weekend," Currier said.
"The CY 4 Miler's 'Light the Way' party is the network's birthday. We are celebrating our second birthday this year," said Grisham. "Our network's first kickoff party won one of the prizes from the race committee."
Grisham fashioned the Parents' Network after the Berkley Parent's network. "Memphis did not have anything like this. I wanted to create a local network for the parents in the CY community," Grisham said.
Members Josh and Ginger Spickler and Debbie Sowell have also contributed to the success of this group's membership, hosting parties and spreading the word to other community members.
Heather Caron is a volunteer for the Cooper-Young Friday 4 Miler.

Juggling Plates/Spinning Balls

2010-09-15T10:53:00.005-05:00

Or something like that. I must confess that things are busier for the Grisham family than they have ever been before. I shared a few weeks ago that we have had some major changes in our lives, and it's been tricky navigating those changes. My office time now consists of the hours between 8:30 and 2:00, and then again from 3:30-5:00. And that's sometimes just four days a week. The rest of my work happens whenever and wherever I can squeeze it in.

My real estate is going well - hoping to have at least three closings in the next month. But it's definitely been keeping me busy. And then there's my normal church work. It has been great that I've had the last three Sundays off from teaching at NC, but I've been using the time as prep for a new series I'm starting this Sunday.

Adam has transitioned into kindergarten so well. I am so proud of him, and we're very happy with Peabody. Micah, on the other hand, has had a more difficult time. He's finally taking naps at daycare, but he's also just hit "the terrible twos." Though he's still a sweet boy most of the time, he definitely has his moments! And when he doesn't get enough sleep, well...the sweet boy kind of vanishes.

I hope it doesn't seem like I'm complaining too much. I'm just trying to keep these balls/plates from dropping/crashing. Mandy and I have been in tough places like this before, and it just means that we have to be extra intentional about keeping margin for our family.

Why Talk about Sin?

2010-09-13T13:47:00.004-05:00

This coming Sunday night I'm going to begin a series on sin. We're in the middle of a larger series on the book of Ephesians, and chapter two gives a beautiful picture of what God has done for us through Christ. But in order for us to appreciate what He has done, we need to understand our position without His work. The following quote is from John Stott, Basic Christianity, and I think he describes this very well.

...in order to appreciate the work which Jesus accomplished, we must understand who we are as well as who he was. His work was done for us. It was the work of a person for persons, a mission undertaken for needy persons by the only person competent to meet their need. His competence lies in his deity; our need lies in our sin. We have tested his competence; we must now expose our need. Only then, after we have clearly grasped what we are, shall we be in a position to perceive the wonder of what he has done for us and offers to us.

On Glenn Beck & the Rally

2010-09-03T11:25:00.004-05:00

Over the past week I've heard or read a number of opinions on the rally last Saturday in Washington DC. And they've been varied, from the one lady I spoke to who was so hopeful after watching it (even though he's a Mormon), to very angry editorials that are all over the internet. So when I read this piece by Russell Moore, I was very encouraged. Here are the opening paragraphs:

A Mormon television star stands in front of the Lincoln Memorial and calls American Christians to revival. He assembles some evangelical celebrities to give testimonies, and then preaches a God and country revivalism that leaves the evangelicals cheering that they’ve heard the gospel, right there in the nation’s capital.

The news media pronounces him the new leader of America’s Christian conservative movement, and a flock of America’s Christian conservatives have no problem with that.

If you’d told me that ten years ago, I would have assumed it was from the pages of an evangelical apocalyptic novel about the end-times. But it’s not. It’s from this week’s headlines. And it is a scandal.

And then Moore writes,

Too often, and for too long, American “Christianity” has been a political agenda in search of a gospel useful enough to accommodate it. There is a liberation theology of the Left, and there is also a liberation theology of the Right, and both are at heart mammon worship. The liberation theology of the Left often wants a Barabbas, to fight off the oppressors as though our ultimate problem were the reign of Rome and not the reign of death. The liberation theology of the Right wants a golden calf, to represent religion and to remind us of all the economic security we had in Egypt. Both want a Caesar or a Pharaoh, not a Messiah.

Finally,

It’s sad to see so many Christians confusing Mormon politics or American nationalism with the gospel of Jesus Christ. But, don’t get me wrong, I’m not pessimistic. Jesus will build his church, and he will build it on the gospel. He doesn’t need American Christianity to do it. Vibrant, loving, orthodox Christianity will flourish, perhaps among the poor of Haiti or the persecuted of Sudan or the outlawed of China, but it will flourish.

Any thoughts?

Sentimental Guy

2010-09-01T15:08:00.004-05:00

I'm a big Ben Folds fan, but somehow I had never heard this song...until today, while listening to Pandora. All I can say is that it made me very happy, and I've listened to it about five times in the last hour. Now I realize that my non-musician friends may tune out at this point, but for those still here...you know how your head moves ever so slightly when you hear a luscious chord (as one of my piano teachers used to say)? Well, the chords in the vamp do exactly that to me. Enjoy

The Ninth Day of Kindergarten

2010-08-27T08:25:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday (aka, the 9th day of Kindergarten), I went to pick up Adam and Walt, as I had the previous eight days. When I got there, Ms. Malland, his teacher, came up to me and said, "We had an incident today at recess." Apparently a boy named Ethan and Adam's friend Maddux were having some sort of confrontation, and so Adam got involved and punched Ethan. Ms. Malland didn't see it happen but heard from another teacher. She said that the rule at recess is No Touching. Adam had to go to timeout, but everything was fine after that.

Adam told Mandy and I that he didn't hit Ethan, but we figured that he probably did, especially since I had just watched part of Karate Kid with him a few nights earlier (dad of the year). He also said that Ethan was being mean to Maddux. The good news is that it gave Adam and I a chance to talk about sin and forgiveness.

The other good news was that no punches were thrown yesterday. However, last night at dinner Mandy revealed more of the story. Maddux's mom emailed her yesterday and explained that Maddux is a hugger - a hugger who doesn't like to let go. So he was hugging Ethan on Wednesday and Ethan didn't really like it. Ethan was trying to get out of the hug. Adam saw this and interpreted it as his buddy Maddux being in trouble. And Adam stepped in.

So...poor Ethan got it on both ends - from the hugger and the puncher. We explained this all to Adam, which he thought was rather humorous. We also told him that no more punches need to be thrown at recess, but especially not until all the facts are known (alright, I didn't say that part).

From Community Groups to Missional Communities

2010-08-11T12:37:00.005-05:00

Phase 3 of Community Groups at Neighborhood Church gets underway tonight. We began our first community group 14 months ago. It was a large one. Last fall we then went to two groups. We set before each group five values: Sharing life, sharing stories, sharing Scripture, sharing prayer, and sharing mission. Most weeks these groups discussed the previous Sunday's message, but we also wanted to begin developing true community. I believe that we were very successful in reaching that goal. One of the things I was most excited about was the way the kids were loved on and cared for by everyone in the group. I think we got a real taste of what community can be.

So that brings us to today. As much as I loved our community groups, I felt that they were too large. They left me wanting more, especially when it comes to the three journeys (upward, inward and outward). Many nights, just as we were beginning to go deep as a community, 7:30 would roll around and one of the kids would automatically go into meltdown mode. (In case you don't have children, that means the show is over and it's time to go home). Much of this was due to having so many in one group. The other issue centered around mission. It's great that almost everyone at NC is involved in a mission of some sort. Those folks are of course passionate about their missions, but this meant that it was often difficult to decide on a common mission.

Over the summer I've had conversations with several friends about where we're heading. One of the more helpful conversations was with Michael Stewart. He said that at Austin Stone they've helped their folks come to understand the difference between a team of missionaries and a missionary team. A team of missionaries is a group of people who all have a different mission but who come together for encouragement and prayer. On the other hand, a missionary team is a group of people who have a shared, or common, mission. That I believe has been the missing piece for me.

So in phase 3 we are centering around mission, believing that the best community we can have will be discovered through the context of mission. If you ask a person about their best experience of community, chances are that you'll hear a story about a mission trip. In order to do this we're having groups of 6-8 people.

Three couples from NC, including Mandy and I, have kindergarteners at Peabody Elementary School this year. For the next nine months we are all going to be investing a lot of hours into Peabody. This is our common mission, which makes us a missional community. And this is where I first starting putting this together. In February we had several families over who at the time were considering sending their kids to Peabody. As we were sitting around talking about our hopes and dreams, it all of a sudden hit me that this was my missional community. It didn't matter that only three of us were a part of NC. We had a common mission (public education through our neighborhood school), and the common mission was drawing us together like nothing else could.

I am very excited by what I see God doing in the lives of NC'ers. I think we're on the verge of seeing God do what only God can do, and I'm so glad that I'm on board for the ride!

Small Teams Rock

2010-08-06T15:10:00.003-05:00

Alright, it's Friday. Sorry I couldn't think of a better title for this blog post. Hopefully the content will make up for it :)

The highlight of the Willow Creek Leadership Summit for me was Terri Kelly of W.L. Gore & Associates. She talked about the culture of this organization. Her first statement drew me in:

In order to be innovative, you have to create an environment of collaboration.

For them, this environment features small teams. The associates (they're not called employees) are connected and accountable not to a boss but to one another, and those connections are the foundation for their success.

As I listened to her, I thought back to a book I read a number of years ago by Harvey Seifter about the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, a.k.a. the "conductor-less orchestra." I am all about leadership, but more than that, I'm all about team. When people feel that they are truly a part of a team, that they are able to contribute out of their passions and strengths, then the entire organization is better.

I also thought back to a quote I read many years ago by Gordon Cosby:

...the greatest impact on the world comes about by small, highly committed and disciplined communities of people focused on outward mission, inward transformation, and loving, accountable community.

To me this is a great definition of church, and it's a great lead in to some changes we're making at Neighborhood Church. I am as excited about these changes as I've been in a long time. And in the words of Ryan Seacrest, you will all find out about those changes "after the break" (and by "break" I mean the weekend). Have a nice one!

Leadership Summit

2010-08-05T07:46:00.003-05:00

I'm headed to Willow Creek's Leadership Summit in about an hour. Mandy and I first attended this conference in 2000, about a week after we had moved to Mill Valley, CA. It was a great way to begin our new adventure there. Six years later we went again. This time it was seven months into another new adventure: Memphis. Unfortunately Mandy can't join me this year, so I'm flying solo. I have discovered that avenues for learning such as this one are key to me staying full, so I can say with confidence that I am ready to drink from the hydrant of some great leaders.

A Whirlwind of Change

2010-08-02T09:36:00.003-05:00

The last few weeks have been full of change for the Grisham family. I began my real estate classes at the beginning of July, and passed my exam a little over a week ago. Some have asked why I'm going into real estate. The answer is that I've actually been in real estate for a few years now. A year after moving to Memphis I started working in the mortgage industry. Unfortunately, just as I was getting going the housing industry was falling apart, so I got out of it. Through that, though, I caught the real estate bug, and I've been dabbling in it since that time. So it just made sense to make it a little more official and go ahead and get licensed. I hope to help my friends (and friends of my friends) buy or sell their homes, but I also plan to get more involved in the investment side of real estate. As soon as all of the paperwork goes through (a week or so), I'll begin working with Revid Realty here in Midtown.

As if that were not enough to write about, here are a few more changes. First, Mandy has gone back to teaching. We were planning on her taking one more year away from the classroom, but a job opened up at Vollentine Elementary School, which is located in the northern part of Midtown. My friend Matthew Watson is helping his church, Living Hope, plant a church in that neighborhood, and they are already official adopters of this school. God has opened several doors that have led us to take this step.

This meant that we had to find a place for Micah. Adam is starting Kindergarten next week (another BIG change), but we now needed daycare for Micah. My mom will be with him one day a week, I'll be with him another, and three days a week he'll be at Union Avenue's daycare, which, if you didn't know, is located one floor down from my office. They gave us an amazing discount, which is the only way we would have been able to enroll him there. Yet another door opened by God.

These are the stories we mustn't forget. We have to tell them to our children. We have to remind them that God is active in our lives, that He has plans for us, and when we are faithful to take them, He guides and directs our steps. After all, He is quite good at opening doors that seem to be closed!

This is a difficult transition for Mandy. She is going to miss being at home with the boys. We know that they are going to do great in school, but it's going to be hard for her. She has also been doing so much with NC and with the Peabody movement. Many of those roles are going to transition to others.

I am definitely a glass half-full kind of guy, but I know that this is going to be tricky in a lot of ways. I know that God is going to help us, and I believe that our times together as a family will be even richer.

A Budding Entrepreneur

2010-07-27T08:42:00.003-05:00

Quote from Adam this morning:

Dad, do you think you could give me fifty dollars if I make my bed?

A Nice Surprise

2010-07-21T10:30:00.003-05:00

As of 10:00 this morning, I had a total of 20 hours left in my real estate class. Lou, our beloved professor, decided to give us Friday off. Down to 13 hours. Then, at 10:00, he called three of us into his office. Since the three of us have our tests scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, he thought we should go home...and not come back. Oh yeah, and study. I had this stupid grin on my face the whole time he was sharing this great news.

So...I have officially completed my 90 hours of real estate class. Now just gotta pass that test!

Fireworks

2010-07-07T07:07:00.003-05:00

On Saturday night we went to Collierville to eat BBQ and watch the fireworks show with Dad & Co. As soon as the first rocket was launched, Adam was ready to leave. It was too loud for him, and he immediately began crying. Mandy ended up taking him farther away from the action. Micah wasn't too sure what to think, but as soon as it started he wanted out of his stroller and into my lap.

As I watched the spectacle, I couldn't help but think back to what our 4th of July fireworks celebrations commemorate: Real rockets. Real bombs. Real fire. Real war. I then started thinking about Francis Scott Key and the events that inspired the composition of "The Star Spangled Banner." Remember that? And while I was extremely grateful for the sacrifices that have been made whereby we are a free nation, it also hit me that perhaps my son's reaction to what was going on was the most authentic. Go figure.

Where's the Love for the Grizzlies?

2010-07-02T09:20:00.002-05:00

Yesterday the Grizzlies signed Rudy Gay to a 5-year deal worth $80 million. The critics are all over that move. The funny thing is that those same critics would have been just as upset had the Grizzlies let him sign with another team. They would have been claiming that the Grizzlies continue to show that they don't want to spend money (remember the Pau Gasol deal?).

Just a couple of days ago the experts at ESPN made their predictions as to where the top free agents would end up. Guess what they thought about Rudy Gay and the Grizzlies? None of them thought he would end up staying in Memphis. That shows the lack of respect people have for the Grizzlies (or Memphis). So the Grizzlies stepped up and paid Rudy Gay. And, yes, they probably paid too much. But I think they had to do it. They had to keep Rudy Gay as a Grizzlies.

So just remember. The Grizzlies were the surprise team this season. They exceeded everyone's expectations. And I think they'll continue to do so.

The Good Samaritan - A Child's Perspective

2010-06-29T11:29:00.001-05:00

[Can't remember where I found this, but it's great]

A Sunday school teacher was telling her class the story of the Good Samaritan, in which a man was beaten, robbed and left for dead. She described the situation in vivid detail so her students would catch the drama. Then, she asked the class, "If you saw a person lying on the roadside, all wounded and bleeding, what would you do?" A thoughtful little girl broke the hushed silence, "I think I'd throw up."

Happy Birthday Micah!

2010-06-28T19:59:00.004-05:00

Micah turned two today. He is such a joy to our lives, and we are so blessed to have him as a son!

Best Free Online Applications

2010-06-28T14:18:00.002-05:00

Gizmo's Freeware site is the best place to find reviews on free software. He recently added a new category of reviews for online apps. I discovered several apps that will be very helpful to me. Check the list out here.

Update on Peabody Elementary School

2010-06-17T14:04:00.002-05:00

This Lamplighter article was written by Lurene Kelley, who is a part of our little community of CY residents sending their kids to Peabody Elementary School next year.

Peabody Elementary has been in the heart of this neighborhood long before the community was called “Cooper-Young,” but is the school really in the hearts of CY residents? That’s the question school administrators would like its neighbors and local business owners to answer with a resounding ‘yes’… and some money, ideas, and elbow grease to back it up.

According to the school’s principal, Kongsouly Jones, because Peabody is a desirable optional school, approximately 50 percent of the student body comes from open enrollment. This means that nearly half of the children at Peabody live outside its designated boundaries.
Mandy Grisham, a member of the Peabody Leadership Board, says the first step in giving the school a more neighborhood feel is obvious – have more children who live in and around Cooper-Young enrolled at Peabody. This fall, approximately 10 children from the Cooper-Young Parents Network (CYPN), parents who live in or near the neighborhood, will be enrolled in this year’s kindergarten class (In fact, my own child will be among these kindergartners.)

You Can Change 16

2010-06-14T08:53:00.002-05:00

This is my last post on Tim Chester's wonderful book You Can Change. At this point in my life it is definitely a Top-1o book, one that has both encouraged me and challenged me a great deal. I feel like I need to read it again soon, as I so want these truths to be internalized in my heart. I want to end this series with four summary statements that Chester gives:

Keep returning to the cross to see your sin cancelled and to draw near to God in full assurance of welcome.
Keep looking to God instead of to sin for satisfaction, focusing on the four liberating truths of God's greatness, glory, goodness and grace.
Cut off, throw off, put off, kill off everything that might strengthen or provoke sinful desires.
Bring sin into the light through regular accountability to another Christian.

You Can Change 15

2010-06-11T08:58:00.004-05:00

The last chapter of Tim Chester's book asks the question, "Are you ready for a lifetime of daily change?" This question is an appropriate way to end this book. He begins by explaining that without Christ we are slaves to sin. We are not free to make the right choice. That doesn't mean that we never make the right choice, but it does mean that we're not truly free. However, Jesus set us free. We are no longer under the bondage of sin.

We are now free to choose, free to either sow to the Spirit or sow to the flesh. As great as that is, though, it is a huge responsibility. It would be great if we could make that decision once in our life, and the battle would be done. But unfortunately, walking with God is a daily thing. Everyday we choose. To know that we have to choose is the first step. The second thing we need to understand is that we are in a battle. Paul says in Galatians 5:17 that "the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other." Peter says that the passions of the flesh wage war against our souls (1 Peter 2:11).

The good news again is that we are able to choose. We are able, because of the hope we have in Christ and His work on the Cross (Galatians 2:20), to become more and more like Him every day. This is what the Bible calls sanctification. It requires daily effort, and it's hard work. Many days I don't want to be conformed to the image of Christ. I want what I want. And so in those moments I remind myself of what I know:

Only God satisfies
There is a lie behind every sin
I am free to choose
I have to choose
God will continue to give me grace

I want to leave you with one one quote from Tim Chester:

The Reformers had a Latin phrase to capture this truth: semper peccator, semper iustus: "always a sinner, always justified." I still sin, but in Christ God declares me to be righteous here and now. So we needn't and shouldn't despair. If we think of ourselves only as failed sinners, then we may feel disqualified from Christian service and settle for a compromised life. You are a justified saint, equipped for battle, capable of adventurous, risky discipleship on the front line of God's kingdom.

You Can Change 14

2010-06-09T09:37:00.002-05:00

In about six weeks I'm going to begin teaching through Ephesians, so I was excited to see that this next chapter, which focuses on the role of community in change, follows much of the themes in Ephesians. One of which is this: not only is maturity possible through Christ, it's commanded. Chester says that just as sin is a community matter, so too is change.

Sometimes I'm able to remind myself that the sin in my life is rooted in lies. At that moment I can come back to the truth of the gospel and can overcome that sin. However, at other times I need someone else to say these things to me. That's the role of community. Unfortunately, this kind of community is often hard to find. One of the reasons for this is that community is messy. Though we may not want to be pretenders, it is much easier. After all, what will people think if they know the "real" me? So when we are held captive by some kind of sin, we either withdraw from community or begin to wear a mask. Chester says,

I need people who regularly ask me about my walk with God, readily challenge my behavior, and know about my temptations. I need my friend Samuel, who often asks, "What's the question you don't want me to ask you?"

The other reason this kind of community is so rarely found is that we don't want to speak truth to people. I have to say that this is one of the biggest things that God has been challenging me with these days. I don't like saying harsh things to my friends, even when I know that what they are doing is destructive. However, Paul says that one of the ways we grow towards maturity is by speaking the truth in love and having the truth spoken to us in love (Eph. 3:15).

I must admit that many of us don't know how to do this. I know that I struggle with it. How do we respond when someone confesses sin? How do we challenge them to seek God for true change? How do we help them to know the love and comfort of God? We need to come back to the gospel. We need to be able to say to one another, "Yes, this is sin. Yes you are guilty. But Christ has taken on that guilt. He has faced the judgment of God not because of sin that he committed but because of our sin."

I so desperately want to be a part of this kind of community. Not one where, as Bonhoeffer said, "Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is discovered among the righteous", but one whose identity is shaped by brokenness, grace, and hope.

You Can Change 13

2010-06-07T09:45:00.001-05:00

In this chapter Chester begins to talk about strategy. He begins to answer the "How?" question, and he uses Galatians 6:7-8 as his starting point: a man reaps what he sows. He writes:

Our sinful nature has idolatrous desires that cause sinful behavior and emotions. But the Spirit has placed in the heart of every Christian a new desire: the desire for holiness. So we sow to the flesh whenever we do something that strengthens or provokes our sinful desires. We sow to the Spirit whenever we strengthen our Spirit-inspired desire for holiness (134).

It's important to understand the lies that lead to sin, and the truth that we need to return to in order to see the desires of our hearts transformed. And it's also important to remember that it is ultimately God who does the transforming. But we must also understand that we have a role to play. What we do does matter. In our daily living we are constantly sowing, either to the flesh or to the Spirit, and what we reap depends on what we sow.

Crazy Yahoo

2010-06-04T16:13:00.003-05:00

I just went to Yahoo to check my email account. On the front page there's a headline that says, "City of Memphis asks Herenton to return..." I immediately checked to see what kind of craziness was going on in our city. Turns out we're not asking him to "return" but to "return money." That's much better.

You Can Change 12

2010-05-28T13:16:00.001-05:00

The next chapter in Tim Chester's book asks the question, "What stops you from changing?" He says that it boils down to two things: love of self and love of sin. He writes:

...the number one reason why people don't change is pride, closely followed by hating the consequences of sin but actually still loving the sin itself.

Upon first glance, you wouldn't think that pride prevents true change, but pride goes against the gospel. Pride says that you can change yourself; that you don't need God. This is why humility is a prerequisite for change. We can do nothing to earn God's favor. Neither can we do anything to truly change our hearts. Only God can do that. Therefore, Chester writes:

If you're frustrated at your inability to change, then your first step is to give up - to give up on yourself. Repent of your self-reliance and self-confidence. Your second step is to rejoice in God's grace - his grace to forgive and his grace to transform.

The other reason we don't change is because we really don't want to. We may certainly hate the consequences of our sin, but we don't truly hate the sin itself. I know that's often easier said than done, but here are three principles that might help.

Ask God to reveal to you how He views your sin
Worship God
Cling to the Cross of Christ

You Can Change 11

2010-05-27T13:41:00.003-05:00

Whereas the last chapter I blogged on (almost a month ago) was on the truths that we need to turn to, this chapter is on the desires that we need to turn from. Remember, behind every sin is some kind of lie. That's why we need to go back to truth. But that's just a part of it. As we turn to God, we are in effect turning away from sin.

Chester writes, "We sin because we desire or worship idols instead of worshipping God" (99). When we think of idols we usually think of some type of shrine or statue. But an idol is anything we look to to give us meaning and satisfaction. The Bible says that our first sin wasn't choosing idols. It was rejecting God (Jeremiah 2:12-13; Romans 1:25). And then, because we rejected God as the source of ultimate satisfaction, we had to look elsewhere. And that's where idols come in.

It's important to remember that an idol doesn't have to be something bad. It's normally something good. What makes it an idol is that we believe that if we don't have it, our lives are meaningless, and though that doesn't sound too harmful, it is in essence us saying that God is not enough.

And that's why Chester says that changing behavior is not enough. Instead, change will come as God transforms our hearts and gives us new desires (102). This of course is something that only God can do, but we do have a role to play. We are called to repentance. As I wrote earlier, repentance involves turning. Turning from idols and turning to God. The tragedy is that we've been led to believe that repentance is something that we do once in our life, at the point where we first turn to Christ. In truth, repentance should be a daily occurrence.

As God begins to change our hearts and give us new desires, we have another role to play. The Bible speaks of this role using the word "mortification", which simply means to put something to death. In this case, that "something" is sin (Romans 8:13). Sinclair Ferguson describes mortification this way:

It is the constant battle against sin which we fight daily - the refusal to allow the eye to wander, the mind to contemplate, the affection to run after anything which will draw us from Christ.

When a sinful, idolatrous desire creeps into our minds, we can either feed it or kill it. (I should point out that the only reason we have that second option is because of Christ's death and resurrection!) Chester gives a few examples of how this works. Here's one of them:

I feel myself getting bitter. Once I might have fed my desire by reflecting on all the wrongs I endure. But I realize now that bitterness is grumbling against God's goodness. And so (in my best moments and with God's help) I try to stop it before it grows.

As you can see, on one hand this sounds pretty simple. But on the other hand it takes intentionality and requires that a new habit be formed. Once again, we go to the Gospel. Paul says in Galatians 5:1 that it is for freedom that we have been set free. That is how we have the ability to form new habits.

Using Smart Playlists

2010-05-27T08:57:00.001-05:00

I've become a big fan of using the "Smart Playlists" function of iTunes. Several weeks ago I read an article from Lifehacker that gave me the idea that I'm using right now. I use a 4-star system and a 5-star system. I created a smart playlist that compiles any song with five stars and that hasn't been played in the last week. This playlist is labeled "Best Songs." They're songs that I don't mind hearing anytime. I then created a second smart playlist that compiles any songs with four stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. These are my "Better Songs." I have a lot of songs with four stars now. I don't rate anything with one, two or three songs.

Rating songs takes a long time. I use the Remote app to rate songs when I'm at home, and I love the fact that I can also rate songs that are on my iPhone. My old iPod didn't have this feature. I created one more Smart Playlist to help with this as well. It compiles songs with no stars and that hasn't been played in the last month. I also used some other parameters so that it would not include podcasts or audio books. As I go through that playlist I can rate songs, which will then move them to my primary two playlists.

Dropbox

2010-05-26T13:41:00.000-05:00

Dropbox is another great productivity tool I've been using. It basically provides two great services, both of which are free. First, it serves as an offline backup system. I backup my files to a partitioned hard drive at least once a week using Syncback. But I've learned that backing up everything "off-site" is smart as well.

Second, it's a great way to sync files with multiple computers. Here's how I'm using it. The primary files I work with on a daily basis are in four different folders on my laptop: Neighborhood Church, Property Management, Real Estate, and Household. Instead of having them in the "My Documents" folder, I put them in the "My Dropbox" folder. I can work on a file, then, when I save and close it, it backs it up and syncs it. Then I can open the Dropbox app on my iPhone and read those documents (no edit function yet). I can also open, read and edit these documents on other computers.

If you'd like to check it out, go here. We'll both get extra storage space.

So You Had a Bad Day?

2010-05-26T08:10:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I preached a sermon on how to discern the root cause of, for lack of better words, "bad days." We have a few options to choose from. For this post I'll cover the primary ones. First, there is the crystal clear teaching from the Bible that all Christians will suffer. It is a part of maturing in Christ. The Bible says that because of this, we can rejoice in our suffering (Romans 5:3-5; James 1:2-4).

The second option is spiritual warfare. Now I realize that some readers of this blog may get a little concerned when they see this term. There are two extremes when it comes to spiritual warfare. The first is to give Satan way too much credit. Those who fall in that extreme see Satan behind everything bad that happens to them. The other extreme often comes about as a result of the first extreme, but I am learning that it is equally dangerous. That extreme is to not give Satan enough credit. The Bible says that Satan is like a roaring lion, roaming around and seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8-9). I don't know about you, but I find that to be a very powerful image. We have an enemy, and his ultimate desire is to destroy us.

So now, a little application...

I've made it a habit to get away for prayer and study several times a year. My place of choice is now St. Columba's Episcopal Retreat Center. Yesterday afternoon I left my house around 4:00. The plan was to get there around 5:00 and leave today around noon. I stopped at Wal-Mart in Raleigh to get some food for my time there, and when I got back out to my car to leave, it wouldn't start. I was pretty sure it was the battery. It ended up turning into quite an ordeal, of which the specifics I'll spare you. But three hours later, I decided that going home would be the best bet.

Over a Frosty and burgers at Wendy's (and I might add that I do believe in Wendy's tagline that a Frosty will always make a frown go away), Mandy and I talked about this topic. Why did this happen? Is there a reason? Was it a time of testing, in which I was supposed to press through and still go? Was it the work of our enemy? I was, after all, carving out a day for prayer and study? I guess it would make sense that he wouldn't like it? Or is that giving him too much credit? Was it just a matter of my battery going dead? Was it simply coincidence?

As you can see, times like these yield lots of questions. It seems that over the last two months I have had lots of times like these. Again, I won't go into all the details, but it has been a trying time. Now, of course, it could be worse. I am a very blessed man, and I never want to take these blessings for granted. But I also want to be honest and say that yesterday was very frustrating. More importantly, I want to respond appropriately to these ordeals. After all, I'm called to embrace suffering, but I'm not called to embrace the enemy's work. I'm called to resist him. That's a big difference.

So here's what I'm learning. In the moment, my job is to cling to truth. What do I know about God? What do I know about myself? That is so key, no matter the root cause. If it's suffering, I remind myself that God is sovereign and that I'm his beloved child. I remind myself that I can rejoice in the ordeal, knowing that God is going to use it to make me more like Jesus. And if it's spiritual warfare, I remind myself that God is bigger, that Satan is ultimately defeated, and that I don't have to fear. I can resist. I remind myself that if this is the work of my enemy, then I can rejoice in the fact that he is in some sense threatened by what God is doing in my life.

It all comes back to truth.

But here's where I need to grow. It's one thing to know how to respond in the moment. It's another thing to know how to prepare beforehand. This is what Mandy and I talked about over the yummy Frosty. We need to ask our key leaders at Neighborhood Church to pray for me when I'm getting ready to take this type of retreat. Sounds so simple, yet it is something that I neglect all the time.

The bottom line is this. I ultimately can't control what happens to me. My battery went dead and I had to replace it. Otherwise, I would still be sitting in the parking lot at Wal-Mart. But my God is faithful. I'm in my office instead of a cabin in the woods, but regardless, I want to seek Him today. That I can control. And I pray that God would use my weakness and dependence as an opportunity to do what only He can do in my life, and I also pray that He might use this as an encouragement to you.

Our Weekend Project

2010-05-24T08:30:00.006-05:00

In April I discovered a crack in my foundation wall. The issue was erosion in my flower bed. Rain gushes off my roof in one place and had been washing out the flower bed.

So this weekend the boys were in Munford, and we got to work. We started around 11:00 on Friday and worked until 7:00 (with a brief break to go and help my dad build a trellis for Taylor's new house). All work and no play is no fun, especially when there are no kids, so Mandy and I went to the Levitt Shell after that.

The next morning we worked from 9:00 until 2:00, then went to Taylor's birthday party and then Megan's graduation in Jackson. Finally, Sunday morning we worked for a few more hours planting flowers, pruning bushes, mowing and edging. I'm still quite sore, but the results do make me quite happy!

Vacation

2010-05-18T08:38:00.009-05:00

Mexico was awesome! Celebrating 10 years of marriage with Mandy was awesome! Sitting on a beach for hours at a time, not having to worry about kids or jobs or chores or schedules was awesome! Now, that's the last time I'll use the word "awesome" in this post. Promise.

The resort we were staying at (The NOW Riviera) was so nice (is that word better?). We were there for eight days, and we only left one evening to do some shopping. Here are a few pictures.

I have to say that I'm not used to that many days without work. It took me a couple of days to really unwind, and by the end of the trip I was ready to be home. Note that this primarily had to do with missing Adam and Micah, but I also was ready to get back to work. I was refreshed. I will congratulate myself by saying that not once during our time there did I check email. That's right...not once.

Mandy and I got to go on a lot of dates during our time there. Several of the restaurants were semi-formal. Most nights we got to get all dressed up, walked on the beach to the restaurants, and had such great food with equally great service.

I am thankful for the week away, and am even more thankful to have been able to share it with the woman that I love!

Adam's Three Wishes

2010-05-17T08:52:00.002-05:00

Mandy just called me. She was going through some papers and found a paper that Adam brought home a few weeks ago. Below is what she found.

If I could have three wishes that would come true, they would be:

To be at the beach forever
To have my dog back
To eat right now

Two Days Until This...

2010-05-03T09:13:00.001-05:00

On Wednesday morning Mandy and I are flying to Cancun. We're staying at the NH Riviera in Puerto Morales, which is just south of Cancun. I booked this right before Christmas, so we've had a long time to anticipate. The plan is to drive to Paducah tomorrow afternoon, drop the kids off with the grandparents, and drive to St. Louis. We'll spend the night there, and fly out at 6 am. Seven days later we fly back. That's right - 7 Days!!!

Needless to say, this will be my final blog post for 2 weeks, so, until then...

You Can Change 10

2010-04-30T08:59:00.001-05:00

God is gracious - so we do not have to prove ourselves

I so easily fall into religion, believing that God treats me according to my actions. I believe this lie, which then leads to me try to earn God's favor. The problem is that there's nothing that I can do to earn God's favor. It's already been done. Christ did it when he died on the cross. It's enough.

It's in this amazing grace of God that I can find ultimate rest and freedom.

You Can Change 9

2010-04-29T09:19:00.003-05:00

God is good - so we do not have to look elsewhere

One of the greatest lies our culture is fed is that sin satisfies us in greater ways than God ever can. Augustine, speaking to God, said, "You have created us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." As I said in yesterday's post, if we don't fill our void with God, then we will most definitely fill it with something else. The problem, though, is that nothing, and no one, other than God can truly fill it.

The answer is not to give up on trying to be satisfied. It's to go the source of true and lasting satisfaction: God Himself. Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that the water that he offered was the only thing who could quench her thirst. I like how Chester puts it:

Sin is like the distorted reflection of a beautiful sunset that shifts with every movement of the breeze across the water. God is the sun itself in all its beauty and glory and energy.

Finding your rest in God; going to God for ultimate, lasting satisfaction and joy - these are two ways of talking about worship. Chester writes:

Worship is about what you desire most, what you think has most worth. Every time you look to God to satisfy your longings, you worship him in spirit and truth. Every time you look elsewhere, you commit idolatry.

You Can Change 8

2010-04-28T09:00:00.002-05:00

God is glorious - so we do not have to fear others

Chester says, "One common reason why we sin is that we crave the approval of people or we fear their rejection." We tell little white lies to make people think more highly of us; we put on a facade even around those closest to us because we shudder to think what people might actually believe about us if they really knew us; we so often compare ourselves to others; peer pressure still affects us. The Bible calls this the fear of man, and the answer is not to try to bolster our self-esteem but to have an ever-increasing fear of God.

We were created to worship God. We were created to find our ultimate approval in Him, and when that isn't happening, there is a void that we will desperately try to fill with someone else's approval. Do you know the majesty, glory, holiness and beauty of God? Do you think about these things?

Oh fear the Lord, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack!
The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing. Psalm 34:9-11

And the winner is...

2010-04-27T21:35:00.000-05:00

Not us.

We unfortunately did not win the "Cutest Family" contest. Even so, thanks again to all of you who voted for us!

No

2010-04-27T14:17:00.002-05:00

Parenting can be such a challenge. Our newest challenge is the word "No." Micah has recently learned this word, and I must say that it's pretty hilarious. He doesn't know many words, but this one is up there on his favorites, right after Momma and Daddy. Last night he and I were outside, and I asked him if he was ready to go back inside. His response was no. I then asked him if he wanted to stay outside and play. His response once again was no. He's learning how to communicate, and right now it's very cute, very charming.

Now Adam, on the other hand...

Last night I told him it was time to go to bed, and he said, "No." This is the second time he's done this. The first time was Sunday night. This was neither cute nor charming. I told him that this was disobedience, and it was not acceptable. His punishment was that he couldn't watch tv this morning before school. He cried and tried to tell me that he was sorry and he wouldn't do it again, but I had to insist on the discipline. Our bedtime routine of talking, praying and singing lasted a little longer than normal. We talked about why it's important for him to obey us, as well as what God thinks about it. I made sure that he knows that I love him, and then he went to bed.

Now here's my dilemma. I don't want to create a double standard. It's not fair for Adam to get punished for saying something that gets a laugh when Micah says it. Now granted, the attitude (the heart) is the core issue here, and for Micah it's different than for Adam. However, I want to be consistent for Adam's sake.

Now for the even bigger dilemma: What about my obedience to my Father? What about when I say "No" to God? May my heart be sensitive to the Spirit's direction today. May I be quick to respond in obedience in whatever my Father says to me today. And I pray that my sons will come to know that I am this kind of man.