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

*PARENTAL WARNING*
There is one use of the “F” word in here… just letting you know so you don’t listen with your kids in the room!

I just wanted to make a comment on two parts of this video and I would like to open the discussion boards up below for comments.
First, notice what happened to him when he expressed his view of only Atheists can be moral in front of “christians” (small “c” used on purpose here for the obvious reasons). Shame on them! And, Penn, if you’re reading this, don’t let those idiots talk to you that way (by the way, bravo on being the bigger person in that situation!).

Second, I want to say that I agree with him 100% when he says, “If you are doing it [good, moral work] for reward or punishment you’re not doing it because it’s right, you’re doing it for reward and punishment.” Funny, I think the Bible teaches the same thing…

“For by grace you have been saved a through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10

We cannot do ANY works for reward or punishment. We do good works because it is right.

Thoughts?

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.

I love art. Many people don’t know this about me, but I took some advanced placement art classes when in high school and was offered several scholarships to some prestigious art schools. But I didn’t take them because, well, artists don’t make money (we’ll discuss my insecurities and self-worth another time).
There are different views of art. Some look at Picasso or Warhol and just love it. That is not me. I’m more of a da Vinci and Michelangelo type person. I look for realism. “Modern” art just doesn’t float my boat. If someone hands me a picture they painted and tells me it’s a beautiful woman, it had better look like a woman. I don’t have time to stand there and wonder what the artist was thinking when they threw a bunch of paint onto a canvas and called it “woman on couch”.
That got me to thinking this morning as I was reading in I Corinthians 12:12 and it said, “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ.”
Now, if you are a Picasso fan, please indulge me for a moment.

The world moves at a very fast pace these days. I’m on the edge of that generational gap that remembers life before computers, so life and information can even move faster than I’m comfortable with at times! With this fast-paced life those who are outside the church walls don’t have time to stop and contemplate what you are thinking when a pastor or fellow believer makes a negative comment or heavily critical toward non-believers (which is another one of my soapboxes, which we can discuss later). They don’t stop and say, “Well, they could be talking about X or Y.” No, they take it at face value – right or wrong.
Sometimes I wonder if the body of Christ looks more like a Picasso than da Vinci. People look at us from the outside and go, “Wow…” and not in a good way. They look at us and wonder what kind of monstrosity they are beholding.

And that leads us to how we live our personal lives as well. To our neighbors, what do you and your family look like to them? Do you exude the love of Christ, or do people look at you and see, well, a messed up painting that resembles nothing but a mess.

Mona Lisa

I’m not perfect. My family has its flaws. I live in a neighborhood where all my neighbors know us and know us well (better than we probably should sometimes). But I strive to have my life and my family resemble a beautiful painting that reflects the awesomeness of the creator and shows the love and care that was taken to restore me to my pre-fallen state.

I want my life to be the spiritual equivalent of the Mona Lisa.

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!