I nearly mulched a young box turtle last Saturday as I cut the grass for the first time this spring. Fortunately for the Terrapene Carolina, I spotted her attempting to escape the approaching whirring blades of the lawn tractor and stopped. Now she resides in her new habitat in a ten-gallon aquarium managed by a curious, compassionate ten-year old.
You never know where you will find adventure. Will it be in a random conversation at the grocery store or a phone call from a long-time friend? Will it be in reading your daily portion of God's Word or in scanning someone's blog? Will it be while playing with a child or watching wildlife? For me, to live vibrantly means to be aware and present in the moment and seeing the opportunities in front of you--even if they are under the front tire of your lawn mower.
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A few months back I attended the Velocity conference sponsored by Church Planters hosted by Shawn Lovejoy and his team. The highlight of the two-day event for me was meeting a new friend during one of the breakout sessions.
When I first meet people I love to ask them to tell me their story, and so as Bryan shared his I knew right off that I had met a smart dude who loves God and is humbly following the leading of the Lord. I knew that it was no accident that he had allowed our paths to cross. The good news is that he lives in the Atlanta area so we got the chance to hang out and eat some biscuits in Cartersville yesterday morning. We talked about what God is doing in Bartow County and at The Stone Church; and we talked about the unique ways that God is working in his life. I think we both left encouraged by our time together. I know that I jotted down several of his ideas because they made me think. Here are a couple of insights that I'm still pondering and that I know are shaping my heart: 1. God is not concerned with size and speed. 2. People are over-churched but under-discipled. Thank you @BryanKelso for taking the time to share your story and wisdom! In some respects you can mark life's seasons by your pets.
We said so long to Strider last week. He turned 13 on Tuesday. I can't tell you how much we already miss him. These are the first days in our marriage that we haven't had a Labrador living with us. At one point we had three and for a brief time, four. Now we are empty nesters. Loving fully means that you will also hurt deeply. Wise decisions are made by discovering the answers to an array of questions. It takes courage to ask the questions because you may not like the answers—but isn’t it better to know the answers. Here is an EPIC grid through which you can generate your own questions specific to your quandary. I've given the example related to one of life's major decisions:
Should I marry this person? What Experiences do I have with him or her? Can you see or trace God’s hand/power in your circumstances? Do you sense that God affirms the relationship? How have you handled conflict together? How does he/she treat me? Others? What habits/disciplines does he/she have? What words have been spoken? What does the Proof of your heart/soul say? Is there a “Yes!” or is there a “glitch” Are you in love with the idea or are you in love with him/her? (so hard to tell) Are you ignoring anything in your heart? Pretending? Rationalizing? Is your relationship Informed by the Word? Are you equally yoked? Is Christ already the center of your relationship? Do you have similar foundational beliefs? Are you operating/ living according to the principles of a Godly relationship? (purity, truthfulness, honor, respect) Is your relationship Confirmed by others? What does your family say? What about your friends? What about your spiritual mentors and leaders? Are you willing to listen to others without becoming defensive or angry? You've probably faced some tough decisions in your life--should you take a certain job, date a certain person, attend a certain school...well, you get the picture. Let me share with you three ways you can make a decision. Only one of them has any merit but I'll let you decide which one.
Method 1: Take a basketball to the gym or to your yard if you have a goal. It does not have to be regulation. Spend about five minutes stretching and warming up. Then, take about 25-30 free throws. Now, step to the line for a final time and declare: "If I make this free throw I'm going to do "A" but if I miss it I'm going to do "B." Method 2: This is the Gomer Pyle Strategy he used for obtaining entry into Officer Candidacy. You'll recall, Gomer was taking a "True/False" test. After reading the question he would take his index finger and his middle finger and slam them on the desk. If his index finger stung more than the middle finger then he answered "True." But if his middle finger stung longer he answered "False. (You can watch it at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLIvoC1b4Mc It is Season 1, episode 22--go to the 10:25 mark) As you can imagine the advantage to this strategy is that it has the capacity to handle up to ten options. Method 3: When Tracie and I were in the process of trying to determine where God was leading us to plant a church we spent a couple of months driving around and praying. After touring an area for a day we would drive back down I-75 and say, "I just don't have a sense of "Yes!" But after a visit and a meeting with the remnant left of a church in Cartersville we looked at each other and said, "Yes." So, you decide which method has a better chance of following the leading of the Spirit. You can shoot free throws, smack your fingers, or listen to the Spirt. When you live by faith you get surprised by God.
If you were to ask me: “John, what have you’ve seen about God in your first two years on this adventure to replant a church?” I’d respond with a question of my own: “Did you pack a lunch? Because this could take all day!” But near the top of that list would be that when you are willing to walk by faith you intentionally place yourself in a position where God can surprise you with His unexpected expressions of His Presence and unexpected expressions of His Provision. Last summer my biggest buddy (I'm standing two steps higher than him in the picture), Scott Morgan, drove down to Georgia from Kentucky to hang out with me during a tough stretch of life. It wasn’t convenient for him and his family to load up their van and make a road trip but I will always remember he and Lea’s visit with us and their unconditional expression of love and kindness. As I gave them the tour around The Stone Church at the corner of McCormick and Mission Roads in Cartersville, Georgia, I shared with them that one of the things that we were doing periodically was called “Free Coffee Friday.” We tried it in our parking lot because we counted 337 cars that went by between 7-8 am during the school year. Surprise—we had a total of 8 cars stop in. (I guess I shouldn’t have been the one standing on the corner spinning the sign!) But we didn't quit, we went mobile. If they wouldn't come to us we'd go to them and so we took the coffee to the teachers and staff at the schools around us. Surprise! Much better turn out! As I shared this with Scott and Lea, he told me that they had been doing that same sort of thing with a Sno-Cone machine. They go into parks and neighborhoods with their van and give away Sno-Cones. Then he completely surprised me and declared, “I’m going to buy you one of those.” If you know anything about Sno-Cone machines, they aren't cheap; but if you know Scott Morgan, you know he is a man of his word and a man of action. The Stone Church took our new Sno-Cone machine out for it’s first tour at the Euharlee Easter Egg Hunt on April 4. What a blast! Thank you Scott and Lea for being generous friends. I can’t wait to take it out again and surprise some kids. It is amazing what an impact you can make when you give away a paper cup full of ice and colored sugar! When you walk with God you never know what’s going to happen next! When Tracie and I first began to talk and pray about what we sensed God doing in our life—a calling to “leave and go”—one of the things that we desired was for God to bring someone along with us on the journey. We didn’t know who that would be or if God would stir someone’s heart to join us or not but that was our desire.
Because God is bigger than one family and one ministry he was simultaneously working with a young couple living in Nashville—Jono and Meghann Ramey. I have known Jono since he and his family joined Crossroads Church when he was a middle school student. I had the privilege of baptizing him along with his brother and dad; I got to watch him graduate from high school; he served with me as a ministry intern in our Student Ministry at Crossroads Church; and in 2007 I had the honor of performing his wedding to Meghann. When Jovi was born we were able to be some of the first humans on the planet to see her sweet face. When they went public with news of a second child we were some of the first to know. To say that the Ramey’s are family to us is not a stretch. In late 2012 I received a letter from Jono telling me that he and Meghann had sensed God leading them to leave their job in Nashville and return to Georgia and that they wanted to partner with us in what God was doing. They took a huge step of faith without a salaried job or insurance—there were no guarantees—and began to joyfully and humbly serve. Their lives and giftedness have been a gift to The Stone Church, to Tracie, our boys and me. Each week Meghann has worked to establish The Stone Quarry so that it is a safe, fun, and God-honoring environment for our kids. She has selected, downloaded, edited and prepared the curriculum for the Preschool and Elementary classes so that the volunteers who serve there each week have every resource that they need to be successful in sharing the love of Jesus with our kids. She has administrated the safety procedures and training of each of our volunteers so that we are doing everything within our power to assure that our kids are safe and that our volunteers are protected from dangerous situations. She has given hours and hours to communicating with small groups from Crossroads Church and here to coordinate the volunteers to make sure that each class is staffed appropriately. She has purchased resources and supplies each month so that the teachers have every possible advantage and so that the kids are led with excellence. She has served with grace—she has used her giftedness to build up the body of Christ and to advance the kingdom. A church’s Children’s Ministry is often the front door for people looking for a place to plant their family. For The Stone Church it is literally the front door! We have been truly blessed to have Meghann serve with such a tender, passionate and gifted heart all these months. Jono’s fingerprints are all over this place. He helped me sand, stain and polyurethane this floor after we ripped up old carpet. He has run, re-run, and re-run cables from the front of the building to the back. He has helped install the AV and sound components. He has become our onsite, local technology expert: learning to use Adobe Photoshop Suite, design and maintain websites, record and upload podcasts, design graphics, build teams. He and Meghann are usually the first ones here on Sunday to make sure everything is a go and to run through the sound and media with that week’s worship leader. He has been my “left hand”—when something needs to be done, I call/email/text Jono. When I need a creative idea…ask Jono. When I need someone to take a creative idea and turn it into reality, call Jono. When I need to get some honest feedback on how things went on the weekend, I can trust Jono. He will tell me what I need to know with grace. Having served with him for so many years he intuitively gets the look and feel that I’m looking for—and that is a gift! Now, the Rameys are once again following the leadership of the Holy Spirit and are transitioning to a new season of life. After much praying and searching and praying and wondering, Jono has accepted a position at a company in Carrolton where they will be moving in the next few weeks. They leave us much richer than when they joined us! We already miss them. Several years back, my buddy John Hobbs and I decided to attend Larry Crabb's School of Spiritual Direction held in Colorado Springs at Glen Eyrie. It was one of the most memorable ten-day stretches of my ministry.
I have always been encouraged and challenged by Crabb's books and writings and being in a small group of thirty people in that setting was a remarkable experience. His thoughts on the communal relationship of the Trinity has given me greater understanding of God and his desire for us to live in genuine relationship with Him and each other. Here's a quote from him that has helped me gain some much-needed perspective as an apprentice of Jesus. “God is in eternal community, a radically other-centered relationship where the Father is always saying, Isn't my Son something?! The Son's always saying, Look at the Father. And the Spirit is always saying, Look at Jesus.” I have to ask myself: Since the Spirit of God indwells, empowers, and energizes me, does my life say, "Look at Jesus" or does it say, "Look at me?" I know what I want to say. Hearing the voice of God speaking to you may seem as impossible as being able seeing through a tree! But both are possible!
You know that little nudge you feel to make a phone call to check in on somebody? Or that little stirring that you sense to write your friend a note to her know that you are praying for her? Or that recurring (nagging) thought you have to follow through with an action step or decision? That’s a leading!—-and if you are a believer in Jesus, then there’s a good/great chance that it is the leading of the Holy Spirit. The question is: Will you lean into that leading? Here’s what I've learned and am learning: When you follow that leading you are living in obedience. It doesn’t even matter if your phone call is never returned or your note is ever acknowledged. You’ve not just been a hearer of the word you’ve been a ‘do-er.” When you follow that leading you are growing in your awareness of God’s voice. Jesus said, “My sheep know my voice and follow me.” The more we listen, the greater our obedience, and the stronger our confidence in the voice of the Spirit we become. When you follow that leading you are showing that you can be entrusted with more. When I have been faithful in the little things I can be trusted with greater things. Do you desire that God would increase your influence? Then lean into the leadings. Howeva, (Southern Lawyer phrase)--If you want to be sensitive to His leadings you have to be still enough to listen. What is the Spirit of God leading you to do today? Thursday bleeds into Friday. And, as much as we may want the clouds to break--they don’t; in fact things get blacker…darker…more sinister, more evil, more distressing, more hopeless. There was no rest for Jesus that night. He went from praying in the garden to being preyed upon by those who had betrayed, arrested, and falsely accused him.
By Friday morning any other human being would have already been physically broken, emotionally strained, and spiritually distressed. But that is not what we see in Jesus. Instead we see extraordinary strength, sharp wits, and unequalled spiritual fortitude. His demeanor impresses the most powerful and infuriates those who most hated. Mark 15 tells us that “very early in the morning” the entire Sanhedrin (council of 70) reached a decision and bound Jesus over to Pilate, the Roman Prefect in Judea. An irreligious, ruthless, calloused man, Pilate was responsible for keeping the peace in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast that brought so many Jewish pilgrims to the city. Things had seemingly been going fairly well that week… until now. Today we will see the day through three people’s eyes. Will you look to see if you can find yourself in their story…who are you? PILATE—“Not my Deal” I had not had a good night sleep because my wife kept waking me with disturbing dreams, so I awoke and dressed and walked along the patio watching the sunrise. “What is all the commotion!? Oh, great! It’s those with flowing robes and running mouths—the Sanhedrin. What are they doing this early in the morning?” “What do you want!” I asked with a tone of indignation and irritability. Maybe that would be enough to move them along. “Justice! We want justice! This man is a blasphemer!” “Why do these self-righteous people bother me with their issues? Why is this my problem? A few more days and this whole Jewish holiday will be over and things will return to normal. But no! Before the sun is even up good, they’ve come seeking audience and dragging me into this religious issue (which is not under my jurisdiction) and they are trying to contort into a civil one.” Deciding to move the scene along, I yelled, “Send him in!” I knew that the Jews wouldn’t come into the courtyard because it would make them “unclean” and unable to do whatever it is that they do--so I just had Jesus brought to me. “So, they say you are the king of the Jews. What do you say?” [Please just say they’re crazy and you and I will both be free for the day,” he thought.] But no, instead he says: “It is as you say.” It wasn’t just what he said, it was how he said it. He didn’t say with resignation. He said it calmly and confidently. Blood was still dripping from the corner of his eyes and his split lips. He didn’t beg for his release. He didn’t walk through the door to freedom that I opened for him. Instead he stood with his shoulders back and looked me in the eye. He wasn’t defiant. He wasn’t acting as a martyr. There was something else—something that I had never seen before—not even in the best of the Roman guards. He had a presence that made even me want to avert my eyes. Though he was saying he was the king of the Jews I didn’t get the sense that he was planning an overthrow of the government. His words had a different tone; a different meaning; something that I didn’t really grasp. But I liked the guy. I didn’t want him to be guilty of treason. I wanted him to walk, but I had to do something quick. I had one trick up my sleeve that I thought might appease the crowd and get us both out of this mess. It was my tradition that I freed one of their prisoners during the Festival Week. I thought that I would extend that offer to the mob outside who would surely ask for Jesus. They could rationalize that he had been tried and satisfied their need for justice. He would have been humiliated and shamed by the arrest; by the look of his body and clothing, they had already exacted some measure of punitive punishment —that should be enough. I would save face because I wouldn’t be seen as weak and Caesar’s name would be protected—it’s what we in politics call a Win-Win scenario! But when I posed the question the response was violent! I could not believe what I was hearing! My face drained and I felt my head getting light. They didn’t want Jesus…they wanted to release the insurrectionist, Barabbas. At first I thought I may have heard them incorrectly, but when I asked again…do you want me to release Jesus of Nazareth?—there was a frenzied scream of ‘Crucify him!’ Seriously! This early in the morning and you are all that riled up? This was a dangerous situation on the verge of being out of control and if they didn’t get what they wanted, I was going to have a major issue on my hand and then my superiors are going to be coming after me! I was trapped. I really had no choice but to give in to them and I reluctantly turned him over to that…to that…beast of a mob. I wanted to make sure that they knew my hands were clean of his death, and so I had a basin of water brought out and symbolically washed his blood from my hands. This was a Jewish problem…not mine. As the guards led him away he looked back over his shoulder and caught my eye. He saw my soul. I couldn’t watch as they led him away. I dropped my head and returned to my chambers. “He’s not my problem”, I said, trying to convince myself. SIMON OF CYRENE—Reluctant and Changed He saw it. He smelled it. He bore it. The cross beam. He didn’t want to—he was forced to. Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time or was it the right place at the right time? This was not on the itinerary! He was expecting festivities—like the other festivals. But, like a stick being swept downstream he was suddenly swept into history. He was making a death march that was not his own. Jesus, the Nazarene, was on his way out of the city to Golgotha to be crucified and Simon was on his way into the city. Jesus was so badly beaten that he hardly resembled a human life. Flayed shreds of skin hung from his bones and from the wooden beam. Blood, dried and running, covered his body, stung his eyes and blurred his vision. Barbs of thorns were embedded into his scalp. The soldiers showed no mercy. Jesus showed no hatred. As he fell to his knees under the weight of the cross beam he gasped for breath, soldiering every ounce of physical strength to take the next step toward his death. But the soldiers were growing restless and impatient of having to wait and this crucifixion needed to happen before sundown—they were on a timetable. So they grabbed the bystander—Simon of Cyrene to assist the criminal. He walked shoulder to shoulder with the Christ. He carried the cross beam. He smelled the death. He tasted the blood. He heard the gasps for air and fluid. He saw into the eyes of this Jesus—and Jesus saw into his soul. Simon, a God-fearing Jew, had travelled some 900 miles to get to Jerusalem for the festival but none of his footsteps had taken him so great a distance as those of the last few minutes. Step by grueling step they walked the inclined road to the place of crucifixion—a site that could be seen by hundreds. Three crosses with three men splayed and displayed as silhouettes against the bright sky. Because he had become tainted by the blood of Jesus Simon was declared unclean by Jewish law and custom, but as he would soon understand, it was actually the blood of Jesus that made him clean, holy and acceptable in God’s eyes. An hour before he was a nameless face in the crowd; now his is a name to be remembered forever in the gospel. He was there for a reason…plucked from the crowd. It wasn’t coincidence—it was God’s perfect timing. TWO THIEVES—The Last Chance (Pass out Nails) 9 a.m. The next several hours were gruesome, graphic and inhumane. Agonizing screams of pain echoed as the three men were nailed to their crosses. The language of the devil spewed from the mouths of soldiers and morbid gawkers as they hurled insults and taunted Jesus to display his “power” and to “fulfill his own prophecies.” The laughter and catcalls emanating from an evil source—claiming victory—stood in stark contrast to the tears flowing from the swollen eyes of those who loved those sentenced to the most torturous death. Roman soldiers gambling for the robe of Jesus were ignorantly gambling with their own lives. Two convicted insurrectionist hung there with Jesus. There was one thing that the two thieves that hung next to Jesus had going for them—they knew the date of their last day on earth…we rarely do. But there is one difference between the two thieves: One thief dies twice on this day. At some point on that fateful and fatal day he took his death breath and hopelessly crossed over to his eternal death forever separated from The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The other Thief? Dies and is re-born on this day. Same verdict: Guilty. Same sentence: death by crucifixion. Same day, same hill. Different forevers…because this thief recognizes Jesus as the Messiah and asked to be remembered by Jesus and Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.” A piercing glimmer of grace in the face of evil. At noon darkness fell over the land. The sun (Son) was eclipsed. And, for the next three hours dark got darker. 3 pm—Jesus and the thieves had been on their crosses for six hours. Jesus, mostly silent—then used his final bit of energy to utter these words: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”--bearing the full weight of sin “Father into your hands I commit my spirit.”—in authority “It is finished.”—a proclamation! And at that very moment the earth began to quake and the curtain separating the Most Holy Place was torn in two from top to bottom. A new covenant was cut. And with those words—with that sacrifice of love—the universe was forever changed! Those who would be his inheritance were changed forever |
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