There are two guys who live on my street and every once in a while we go on these “man-dates” to watch “man-movies” and do “manly stuff” like fart out loud… and NOT blame the dog.

Anyway, last night we went to see Avatar in 3D.  I was skeptical about the whole “3D” thing.  The last time I watched something in 3D was “JAWS” back in the late ’80’s.

It was very unimpressive.

So, I sat there in the theater, put on the glasses that make me look like a meth-addicted Buddy Holly, and began to watch the previews (yes, the previews were in 3D too, in case you haven’t seen it).  The first preview was for the new Alice in Wonderland movie.  The 3 of us looked at one another and gave the, “See! I knew this 3D thing was worthless” look.  But then the second preview came on and I actually flinched because I almost got hit in the face by a branch on the screen.

I sat there amazed.

I flinched.  I… actually… flinched.

Then the movie started and for nearly 3 hours I sat there “experiencing” my first movie.  You see, you don’t merely watch Avatar, you experience Avatar.  Even without the 3D, it’s a great movie with an incredible plot and story line. But the 3D takes it to another level completely.

This morning, I was reading Jonathan Acuff’s blog “Stuff Christians Like” and there was one line in it where he said his relationship with God went 3D (not the point of his post, by the way.  Just one line).  But that made me think about my relationship with the Father.  For years, like a good little “Christian,” I went to church, I did my “quiet time,” I sang the songs, I burned all my “worldly” CD’s (only to buy most of them back a few years later after I realized how dumb that was… but that’s for another post) and obeyed the authorities.  I had my golden ticket to ride the heaven train when it left the station and that’s all I needed.

But, as you read in my last post, this year that all changed.  My relationship went 3D.  I know people who do all the things I mentioned above.  I know people who do all of that and then add more rules and regulations to their lives to ensure they are doing everything that they deem as worthy of admiration by God.  That’s living a 2-dimensional life with God.  I told this to someone this morning and they said, “Well, that’s better than living a one-dimensional life with yourself as your god.”  I would have to disagree.  I think it is more dangerous to live a life where you think you have God figured out and even worse, you think you have a relationship.

What happens If I performed a lot of actions for Rennee like, I’m going crazy here, clean the house, do the dishes, do the laundry, feed the kids… but that is all I did.  No conversations. No sitting next to her holding her hand, no starring at her while she drives in complete adoration (which drives her crazy by the way… I’ve almost caused many-a-crashes that way).  We wouldn’t have a relationship.  I would be a maid.  And, just being honest here, our marriage can get like that at times.  We go through all the motions, get busy with the kids, get busy with our careers, and the relationship takes a back seat.

Our relationship with the Father gets that way.  It’s easy to go to church.  It’s easy to be a “good” person.  It’s easy to follow a list of rules (even made-up ones).  But it’s harder to wake up to a God who is the “Big Man Upstairs” or is merely watching from a distance.  I found that when God became Father to me, spending time with Him was easy.  Waiting on Him was easy.  Sitting and knowing He is in control in the midst of a storm is easy(er).

How are your relationships?  Are you living all of your relationships in 3D?  Is your relationship with Father 3-dimensional?

I’ll never watch movies the same after Avatar.  After that experience, I expect more from my movie-going endeavors from now on.

Same with my Father.  After I experienced Him, I expect more from my relationship with Him.  I wake up wondering what wonderful adventure we’re going to have together today.  I want the same for you, too.

I’ve been at NorthWood Church for four years now.  I can honestly say that the bulk of my spiritual journey has happened since being at NorthWood.  Bob Roberts is an incredible visionary leader, mentor, and friend.  Jordan Fowler and Omar Reyes have helped shape what I believe and “set it in stone” per se.  People like Jim Hylton and Scott Pricket have held me accountable to my walk.

But it was 2009 that my worldview got drastically changed.

Back in January, Omar went on a Quest with an organization called Fellowship of the sword.  Now, you need to understand something about Omar.  Everyone has someone in their lives who you esteem and regard as being “it.” They know what to say, how to say it and when to say it.  Omar is that guy to me.  I didn’t think anything about it when he left for 6 days on this quest.  But, I was shocked when he got back and he was… well, to put it mildly… “more.”  It showed me two things.  First, we all have our past hurts and “junk” to deal with.  When we let God deal with those, we become closer to what He wants us to be.

Omar came back and told me that I needed to go.  Then, Scott Pricket walks into my office (another fellow “quester”) and said that I needed to go.  So, somewhat begrudgingly, I went (to be honest, it was mostly fear that gripped me.  What if God didn’t show up for me like it had for these other men I knew who went?  What if I go and I don’t “feel” anything?)  I went… and Father showed up in a big way.  I dealt with junk I didn’t even remember having.  It was the largest “leap forward” in my spiritual life I have ever taken.  It lead me to “relationship status change” (to put it in Facebook speak).  I went from God being… well, God, to God being Father.  Like a lot of you, I would call him “Father” in prayers, but that’s about the extent of my “father relationship” with Him.  I didn’t understand what that meant for my personal walk.  I didn’t understand what that did to my family.  I didn’t understand what that did to those who I come into contact with everyday!  When God is some “being” far away, looking down on you in judgment just waiting to catch you messing up, your theology tends to get out of whack.  If God is your “friend” who just buddy-buddy and wants to be your “homeboy” (I still like that t-shirt, though) then you your theology tends to get out of whack.  But when God is Father, or more intimately “Papa” (Abba – for your theology buffs out there), you’ll be amazed at how the Word comes to life! But there is so much more to that relationship than just calling Him Father.

The sermon series at NorthWood for the month of December is “Christmas Presence.”  I didn’t think much about it, except that I thought is was a great play on words.  Then came a few sermons that have helped me better understand my relationship with Father.  On December 13th (my anniversary, and the day I baptized my oldest daughter) Bob Roberts preached a sermon that I believe is the KEY to most of the problems we see in churches and immature Christians lives today.  It is entitled “No Orphans Allowed” – Take a listen, but before doing so, pray that the Holy Spirit speaks to you through it.  Open your heart to hear what Father wants to tell you.

Christmas Presence: No Orphans Allowed

No, not Christmas. It’s time for New Year’s Resolutions! (Not to belittle the importance of Christmas, but as Dr. Doofenshmirtz said, “I have an intense burning indifference!” Feel free to rant in the comment section).

New Years, like springtime, gives me a feeling of renewal.  Kind of like that feeling I had the night before the first day of school growing up.  I used to lay in bed that night thinking that this year would be different. I would get all A’s, treat my teachers with respect, and make better friends and be a better friend… that would all last through first period… of the first day… then it all went down hill from there.

I’ll admit, I’ve never made a real New Year’s resolution.  No, really, I haven’t.  But this year is different.  You see, Texas has not been good for me (or, maybe, TOO good for me).  I have this new “pudge” around my mid-section that has never existed before, I have a new outlook on my spiritual life, and my oldest daughter is now a “pre-teen”… My life has officially reached that “scary stage”.

So this year I thought about making some resolutions like using the elliptical that has been covered up with laundry for 6 months every day for 20 minutes, read through the entire Bible in a year, and do a better job at “dating” my girls (I’m going to make my daughter’s future boyfriends lives miserable by teaching my girls how a boy is to treat a girl… and how to kick ‘em in the groin if they don’t treat ‘em right).
But, then I thought about how flippantly Westerners make resolutions, which led me to think about covenants. I was talking with a friend of mine who manages several L.A. Fitness centers around the metroplex and he said that December through the end of February they get insanely busy… but the rest of the year is pretty quiet. What happened to that “year of healthy living” resolutions everyone made? I don’t want to be “that guy.”

re*so*lu*tion [rez-uh-loo-shun] n. – a resolve or determination

cov*e*nant [kuhv-uh-nuhnt] n. – a formal agreement of legal validity

Obviously, there are many definitions to both of those words, but I like those two definitions and this is my blog, so those are the one’s we shall go with. In both cases the person making the resolution or covenant has a passion and motivation to get something done. Too often we make resolutions without having any resolve or determination, so they are merely temporary things. Sadly it is the same with covenants. Marriage is a covenant with your spouse, but here in America we bail at the first sign of trouble or when a more beautiful person comes along.

Matthew 13:44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”
My friend and mentor, Omar Reyes, taught me a valuable lesson one time using this passage. He said that too often we want the treasure without buying the field. Meaning, we don’t want all the work and responsibility it takes to enter into that covenant to obtain the treasure. We just want the goods without the work. It’s the whole instant gratification that Americans long for and expect.
Making a resolution or covenant takes some sacrifice and hard work at times. Don’t look at this new year and make a flippant resolution. Instead make a covenant to do differently, live differently and be differently.

Oh, and by the way, Merry Christmas.

What a day today has been! I got to connect my Dad and one of his heroes of the faith, Jim Hylton, over lunch. To hear the two of them share stories of God over a two-hour time period was amazing and encouraging!
Then, on the way home from lunch, I get a text from a close friend that her brother-in-law was found dead at his home. What a roller-coaster of emotions to feel in one day (not that I have anything on the emotions of my friends over the suffering of their tragic loss, for sure).
But it made me think, “Today is the day the LORD has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” I am so incredibly guilty of complaining about the gift of today that the Father has given. When traffic isn’t the way I want it, when the coffee doesn’t taste just so, when the Dallas Cowboys blow an easy game… and I have the audacity to say, “I’m having a bad day.”
Then there are days like my friends are now going through. The death of a brother, father and son. How can we “rejoice and be glad” in the midst of such trials and suffering. Surely, that makes for a bad day worth complaining about.
Bad days, legitimate bad days, come and go. And that is ok. We grow through pain. We find the fortitude that the Father has equipped us with to make it through those days. But how many of us complain to the Father about illegitimate bad days? I know I do. I listed some of my most recent “bad days” above. How petty are we? That God has given us the gift of a day and we squander it and complain about it.

Today is the day that my Father, my provider, my sustainer has made, and I will choose to rejoice and be glad IN it.
Be grateful for the gift of a day. And choose to rejoice, be glad, and do something with it!

If you have spent any time around my site or Bob’s site you know that we don’t think in terms of “come and hear.” Rather, we think in terms of “Go and listen.” A good friend of mine, Paul Watson, just wrote a guest post on his Dad’s site, Touch Point. Go give a look and let me know what you think. Some great insight!

Bob Roberts, Jr. is the type of person who doesn’t know a stranger. The man can walk into a room where not a person speaks a word of English and in twenty minutes be friends with everyone! You can read of his recent adventures Glocalnet.

Something that I’ve learned from Bob and the rest of our team at NorthWood is that we are to start with society, not the church (I’ll explain this below). For years the “church” has either sent “missionaries” to foreign nations to live (therefore they label themselves “missional”) or they go on these short-term “mission” trips and hand out tracks, preach under some tents, get a few people to say a prayer that is supposed to be a ticket into heaven, and then they go home leaving the people of that nation still hungry, thirsty, sick, and oftentimes dying. I’m all for evangelism, don’t hear me wrong! My endgame is always the transformation of a life for Christ. But I grew up always hearing, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

Why do we do this? Where did we go wrong? Well, let’s go back to Jesus (after all, it all starts with Him, right?). “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40 (ESV)

Somewhere along the way we forgot the “love your neighbor” part. We preach and hand out tracks all under the guise of “we’re loving the person’s soul.” Well, ok, but I don’t know about you, but when my stomach is aching with hunger, or my throat is dry (not that I can even come close in comparison to the hunger and thirst that most people feel in the world) my eternal soul takes a voluntary backseat. Here’s the paradigm shift: for centuries, Christians have thought of societal transformation as this – Church – Gospel – Disciple – Society. Meaning, we build a building and invite everyone to come hear the Gospel message, then we have a sorry excuse for discipleship (most Christians don’t know how to make a disciple) and then the disciples go out and “engage” society (which means they go out and bring more people into the building we built so we can start this process over again).

Here’s what I’ve learned from Bob: Gospel – Disciple – Society – Church. You need to think about this for a minute, because this is a massive shift from what most of us believe (whether you know it or not). You start with the Gospel that transforms a life. You take that life and you disciple it (true discipleship – take that person and walk through life with them and teach them biblical principals along the way). While building the disciple, you teach them to engage society (don’t extract them from their friends unless they are in certain situations like alcoholism, drug abuse, etc.) and out of that engagement in society a church is birthed. Too often we want to bring people to our show in hopes that we can attract them enough with our lights, music, and witty preaching that they will say a pray and help pay the bills.

What if… what if you discipled someone (a.k.a. walk through life with a biblical perspective) and that person began seeing Christ in all they did? What if that disciple started seeing the needs around them and began doing something about it, with you at their side and you each saw new disciples coming alongside? You see where this is going, right? Next thing you know, you have 10 people meeting to pray for their neighbors and engaging society (I would call this “church”).

Now I know some of you are saying, “Wait, wait! This sounds like a lot of ‘works’ and ’social gospel’ gibberish!” Consider this, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10 (ESV)

Each person needs to answer this question for themselves, “Can I love my (Muslim, gay, Mormon, Republican, Democrat) neighbor enough to walk with them through life regardless if they choose to follow Christ or not? We tend to forget that the second great commandment given in Matthew 22 doesn’t have an “if” clause. It doesn’t say, “Love your neighbor if they vote like you, look like you, believe like you…”

Father, teach us to see people, and love them. Help us to see all their needs and then do something about it. Help us to realize that we live in a flat world which means what happens in Pakistan, Iraq, Israel, England… the world, has a profound impact in our lives here. Teach us to love you and to love others like you love them.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Ok, ok!  Stop with the Joel Osteen emails regarding my last post!  Joel’s not that  bad (don’t take that to mean I agree with him 100%).  Let me unpack this idea for you a bit more.  To recap:  Greatness = the ability to love and influence at the same time.  Everyone has the ability to be great that God has built into you, but you do not and cannot reveal your greatness on your own by God’s design.  Up to speed?  Good.

Here we go.  God designed us to be relational creatures.  My wife would tell you that if you gave me half a chance, I’d be a hermit.  It’s true, I would.  I’d live in a cave with a Mac and I’d just be happy as a clam… but that’s my sin.  God didn’t design any of us to be hermits.  He wants us to build relationships, love the unloveable, and influence others to do the same.  

Don’t hear me say that God gave each of us the ability to be great and then steps out of the picture!  That is not what I’m saying at all!  Here is what I am saying:  God designed us to be loving and influential (we are ALL influential, some influence more than others, but we all influence in some way).  God also designed us to be relational on purpose and for the purpose of knowing Him better.  God reveals Himself to us oftentimes through others.  One of the books I’m reading right now is called Ambassadors of Hope by Robert A. Seiple.  I would recommend this book to EVERYONE who wants to work with people anywhere in the world (including your neighbors across the street!).  Bob Seiple goes into this concept of the other.  The others are those who are outside your race, clique, neiborhood, nation, and you tend to not give them a second thought or you think evil about them.  I’m not going to get into it here, but the concept of the other is worth reading about!

God reveals bits of Himself to us when we engage the others in our lives.  We are missing a huge part of knowing God if we neglect the responsiblilty to engage those different than ourselves.

I’m in Phoenix right now at an Assembly of God Church Planting conference (that’s different for this Baptist boy)!  Gotta run! 

In a strange turn of events, Canadians have decided that they are not "southern". 

Just in case you were wondering.