Tag: transformation

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Don’t Settle

Last weekend in the box office, Avatar grossed another 25 M. However, there is a movie that only brought in 1.5M that I wanted share with you to .  Last weekend a movie called To Save a Life debuted across the country.  I was able to preview this film last fall with my good friend Ray.  Both of us were very impressed with what we saw.  This is a very well put together film that touches on all angles of a teenagers life.  It really heads straight into many of the difficult subjects.  If you work with teenagers in any capacity, or if you are a parent of teenagers, you should encourage them to see this movie.  Plus you should see this movie yourself.  You can check out trailers here and here.

I especially like the second one.  Is it worth it?  Is a commitment to Christ worth it?  I love the line “I’m not going to just become some Christian” and the response “Good, I wouldn’t want you to.”  These “teen” topics like this one are ones “grown ups” struggle with as well.  Is it worth it?  Are you just “some Christian”?

God calls us to be more then that.  He doesn’t want us to settle in to be “some christian”.  He calls us to be different.  To impact people and change lives.
Wow, I am really preaching today!. Anyway, go see this movie, I think it will provide you with plenty to discuss and think about.  And then don’t settle.  Be Obsessed and Change your world!

37Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. Matt 22 (NIV)

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State of the (You)nion

Today, President Obama will stand in from of Congress and present his view of the State of the Union.  There will be lots of agreeing and disagreeing, as Mr Obama lays outs problems, goals, solutions and challenges for our country.

This makes we wonder, whats the state of my union?  Whats the state of ME?  And makes we want to ask you whats the State of You?  Have you ever stopped and considered how things are really going with you, or what it would be like if you had to stand up tonight and review you personal state? I wonder if that is what is being referred to in Philippians where it states “continue to work out your salvation”.  ( I never have really understood what that actually is saying.)

Anyway, I’m trying to do that.  I am trying to examine the state of me and see whats good, whats bad, whats needs to be different.  Its a tough thing – transformation, and one that takes time. But I thought I would share two verses that address “concerns” I am trying to focus on this year, as I try the address some of the humility and “frustration” issues that I deal with on a daily basis.  These are the ‘political promises’ I am trying to make to myself.  Maybe seeing these will help you as well:

31Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. 32Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

and

9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 4 9-11

I know I will not be perfect in these things, but its is one of my goals for this year to allow these verses to transform me.  (its part of the whole obsessed thing I mentioned at New Years) Not by my own actions, but by giving in to the Spirit that live in me.  I’ll let you know right in these posts how it goes.

Whats the State of You?

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Wisdom from Twitter

I have recently started using Twitter with more vigor – more on the following end then the tweeting end, however I do tweet to keep my family and friends up to speed on the mundane in my life.  But seriously, I find it a great way to discover ideas and get a glimpse of other things going on out there.

Also, I have been spending time thinking about myself in relationship to God and other people.  This is one of the elements of my New Years statement on wanting to be obsessed.  Anyway, I’ll return to that later in the week, I think, but its the cross roads of these two thoughts – Twitter and relationships that I wanted to share today.

(Yes, what a goofy introduction, I hope you are still hanging with me)

So, one the tweets I read this weekend pointed me to a blog by an author named Donald Miller.  He is just releasing some new material that I thought seem interesting, so I keep his page up on my browser for a few days with the intention of stopping back by and reading it.  Well the weekend took other turns and when I returned and refreshed he had posted a new article, one I felt worth sharing.

The post is about humility and knowledge.  Take time to read it here.  He tells a tale about how knowledge puffs up.  Its a struggle we all deal with, ok, maybe just me.  But really, as we gain knowledge and wisdom, we can battle feeling “better” or being condescending to others who may have just not learned that yet.  Maybe its your role to teach them?  Maybe its your role to make those around you better? Maybe its your role to simply apply that knowledge to the way you treat other people?  Either way, humility and love seem to go hand in hand.  I could not help but read this and think back to 1 Cor 13.

4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; (1 Corinthians 13:4, New King James Version)

or Proverbs 3:34 (actually James 4, who is quoting Proverbs)

34 He mocks proud mockers
but gives grace to the humble.

So take some time to read his post.  And as you gain wisdom, also gain humility.

“The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility: humility is endless.”
-T.S. Eliot

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Falling Down

“Yard Sale”, my skiing companion yelled, as my ski went one direction and I went the other.   That’s how my night started.  Yes, I fell forward, I spun, I lost skis, I fell backward, and I think I actually fell in ways, I did not know you could fall.  And there I was, later, in the evening, with my body in a pile of snow at the edge of the trail, and my skis tied up the the deep snow and the branches of the small tree I had almost hit, thinking how in the world I am going to make it down this mountain.   It was that fall, which was actually on the third or fourth run at this particular trail, that I decided that I would get myself back up, cast aside what was really holding me back and go.  What was holding me back – fear.  Fear of the exact thing that I was doing – falling! 

On the last run of the night, I made it from the top to the bottom without falling – even taking a slightly harder trail to the bottom.  YES, I shouted as I hit poles with my companion at the bottom of the run.  I had overcome, I had cast fear aside, I had gained confidence in the skills I had been given, and I was actually really skiing ( vs just making it down alive!)

Our lives are like that.  We fear.  We fall.  We think we are not good enough.  We think we don’t have the skills to do what we should or what we want.  We lie in the deep snow caught up in trees and give up ( read sin and dispair).  However, we have something that should prop us up and should give us the gumption to get back up and get in there.   Life is meant to be lived in the fray, and we should be in there, not worried about our own inadequacies.

I mean check this out in Romans 7.

24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?

Yes, we can yell that out on any day – what a wretched man that I am, WHO CAN SAVE ME!

Just a few verses down, we see the answer in Romans 8

1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.

We are free, we can get out and live it.  We can get up and overcome.  I did! Hey, I can now say I am a skier ( with some asterisks, but still a skier).  Get up! Get out of the snow, point those skis and go man!  GO!

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My Way or the Broken Way

Its been one of those sort of weeks that wear you down mentally and spiritually.  One of those weeks that sets you up for doing something dumb – do you know what I mean?  Frustration at work, the ‘joys’ of parenthood, the fast pace of life in general.  So much that last night my oldest son and I are still working away on getting the documentation complete for his science fair project ( YES! SCIENCE FAIR!), and emails are streaming around from work that well frankly put are making me want to put my fist through the wall.

It was in the midst of this that I sat down and took a look at some pictures from Haiti, courtesy of the Sacramento Bee and Boston.com.  While reviewing those, I thought about one email I had received earlier in the day.  I email containing a link from the Chattanooga.com about a co worker of mine who was tragically killed by a drunk driver two days before Christmas.  (All of these links are tales of heart breaking events)

Its funny how God works. Right when I think things aren’t going my way and I should start to take control of these situations – boom, reminders hit you in the fore head.  I am really being a servant?  Am I really considering others?  Am I being humble enough? Am I really being humble AT ALL?

17 The sacrifices of God are  a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. (Psalm 51 NIV)

So even though Alex and I were up late finishing up the science project, and even with meetings being schedule at unreasonable times,  and even with expectations and life events that don’t seem fair, can I still realize the blessings that I have.  Can I still see how good life is? Can I still come to God with humility and contriteness and lay myself before him and say “I will do whatever you ask”?  We are all blessed – beyond compare.  Let us stay humble and broken,  and let us keep the heart of a servant.
I have a strange feeling I will be surprised how different the day will be if I approach today with a servant’s heart rather than the attitude I had last night – one of anger and frustration and pride.  Its interesting how God’s Way puts is in a place of joy, and our way
puts us in a danger zone.!

So break your heart, humble yourself and live today.  Take advantage of what you have been given.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm 51 (NIV)