One of the things I’d like to start doing is passing along a few of the best articles I’ve read this week. They’ve captivated my attention for one reason or another. It’s my way of showing you what I think are good and useful websites and passing along what may be informational or inspirational in nature. So here’s week one…

Jesus + Rick Warren + Technology = Transformation

Shaun King on 10 Biggest Church Planting Mistakes

Building A Brandon Around Your Personal Blog

The Five Marks of Authentic Leadership

7 Tips to Keep Your Family on Board for Your Blogging Journey

In Remembrance of Me

Leaders Don’t Give Up When Leading Gets Difficult

Showcase: Tyson Foods Hunger Relief Blog Makes a Difference

Showcase of 30 Beautiful Blog Designs

5 Ways to Regain Your Creative Joy

Inspiration Smorgasboard

What is Pathos? A Definition for Public Speakers

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Cool Stuff for the Weekend – 1st Edition is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Today I stumbled on a new post on the J. C. Ryle Quotes website and I’ve fallen in love with his viewpoint on the issue as well…

The plain truth is, that God’s scheme of salvation is like a ladder let down from heaven to earth, to bring together the holy God, and the sinful creature, man. God is at the top of the ladder and man is at the bottom. The top of the ladder is far above, out of our sight, and we have no eyes to see it. There, at the top of that ladder, are God’s eternal purposes, – His everlasting covenant, His Election, His predestination of a people to be saved by Christ. From the top of that ladder comes down that full and rich provision of mercy for sinners which is revealed to us in the Gospel.

The bottom of that ladder is close to sinful man on earth, and consists of the simple steps of repentance and faith. By them he must begin to climb upwards. In the humble use of them he shall mount higher and higher every year, and get clearer glimpses of good things yet to come.

~ J.C. Ryle
via J. C. Ryle Quotes

The one clarification I would make is that we shouldn’t mistake Ryle’s words as meaning that salvation is a long-term process. Ryle, Spurgeon, Calvin and I would all agree that conversion is the miracle of a moment while sanctification is the process of a lifetime.

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I Like J. C. Ryle’s Thoughts on Redemption is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Children and the Age of Accountability is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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I was once the Pastor of a church in central Arkansas that had battled years of political scheming and the resulting resentment. We once moved an old metal desk out of the auditorium into a side room and I got in huge trouble because the moving of the desk wasn’t voted on! On the basis of this and dozens of other frustrating experiences, here are some reasons I think we should vote not to vote on so much stuff…

1. Voting never brings unity, it actually calls for division. Who is for and who is against?
2. Voting is democratic – government by the people. Church should be theocratic – government by the Holy Spirit.
3. Voting plays right to the flesh and personal preferences. We typically vote what we want or prefer, regardless of what God wants or what leaders are leading us to do.
4. Voting gives equal weight to every member, regardless of investment in ministry.
5. Voting leads us to believe that the majority must be right. According to some presidential elections, that obviously isn’t true (I’ll leave you to sort out which ones make my case).
6. Voting gives the impression that a plurality of approval is the same as unity. It’s not. One deeply hurt family prevents real “unity.”
7. Voting supersedes God’s intended order of leadership within the structure of the local church.
8. Voting risks friendships needlessly.
9. Voting equals leadership by polls. Since when did Jesus ever ask the audience their opinion? Even with His shepherd’s heart, Jesus never polled the sheep to find out which direction to go.
10. Voting doesn’t work too well for Congress!
11. Voting is man-made, there isn’t a single scriptural example. And Mattathias is not an example (Acts 1).
12. Voting keeps us business-minded, not ministry-minded.
13. Voting suggests the church has a political side. It’s the only time we really see power plays within God’s family.
14. Voting is governed by rules but church is governed by relationships.
15. Voting creates confusion and invites the opinions of 15, or 150, or 1500 viewpoints. No real problems are ever solved.
16. Hanging chads.
17. Democrats.
18. Republicans.
19. People were pretty much unanimous to crucify Jesus.

You’ve got to admit, I have at least a dozen good points, right? What’s your vote?

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Nineteen Reasons Baptists Should Stop Voting on Stuff is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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This morning, I woke up with a semi-profound thought on my mind… slingshots don’t hurt people, people hurt people. David used his slingshot to bring down a giant. Goliath was a 9 foot, 3 inch mountain of a man, covered in brass, carrying steel, and guarded by a shieldsman. David slung a rock an hit a target the size of a post-it note, thereby putting all of the Philistines to flight. Awesome story! We’re learning a lot from it already.

Here’s the thought that hit me, however. How often do we take our slingshots and aim them at the wrong target? In fact, do we sometimes aim our slingshot back at our own army? It occurs to me that it wasn’t the weapon that really mattered to the story, it was the aim of David. And if his smooth stone took down a giant wielding an iron spear, what do our words do to those at whom we sling them?

You might say that all of us have a tendency to reach for stones when we feel defensive. David was defending the honor and glory of God, but I wouldn’t dare presume that my motives are always that pure when I’m slinging words around.

I know that this post, even by its very title, might offend the crowd in favor of slingshot control, but maybe we just need better tongue control?… or maybe we just need better aim!

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Slingshots Don’t Hurt People… People Hurt People is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Tomorrow, I’m beginning a new series of messages on the battle between David and Goliath. That’s where we are in our journey through the Word, right in the middle of 1 Samuel, and I’m going to slow down and dedicate the four Sundays of March to this wonderful story.

Jumping into this subject comes at an interesting time. Justin and I have just begun reading Tony Morgan’s book Killing Cockroaches (aff link). Killing cockroaches is all about being distracted from the big things by having to attack the little problems.

Most of us spend life killing cockroaches instead of killing giants. I hope we can change that as we study God’s Word together! I’ll post articles each week based on the message series along with the audios as they become available.

By the way, I designed the logo for the series in an attempt to capture the concept of falling giants, a word picture inspired by this cool logo.

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Killing Giants is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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I’m busy today. I have a lot of things up in the air that are all happening at once. Your day is like mine, isn’t it? Catching up isn’t really an option. And maybe catching up isn’t what it’s cracked up to be anyway. After all, if we were caught up, we wouldn’t be necessary in the moment. So we keep living by the clock… tick, tock, tick, tock.

God is caught up. Right now, He’s sustaining all things. But while He’s holding everything together, He’s not subject to time. He created it. He wound it up “in the beginning” and someday, He’ll stop it rather abruptly.

When we size up needs and try to meet them, we do so according to our perception of this moment. What are my resources right now? What are the issues at hand right now? What are the pros and cons right now? But God is aware of not only the “here and now” factors, but the “hereafter” factors.

God works according to His comprehensive knowledge of all things covering all time. His will won’t always make sense right now because He’s preparing us for tomorrow. Today, He’s preparing you for tomorrow and right now, He’s preparing you for eternity.

This is why it’s so important to walk closely with Him, hand-in-hand in fellowship with the Master. He knows the way. He knows where we’re headed. He’s fully aware of the pitfalls and triumphs we’re going to face. He’s outside of time. And thank God, He sees beyond today!

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God Sees Beyond Today is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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The skin is the carnal, the natural, the physical realities of this present world. But God sees through to the heart. When we stand in a grocery store checkout aisle, we’re confronted with all that the world sees as beautiful and important. On the covers of the magazines are politicians, actors, singers, and even insanely impossible news stories.

As I observe what the world considers to be beautiful, I become more and more thankful for God’s piercing gaze – He alone really knows the heart and all of His judgments rest there.

There is also the scary side of this truth – there is no faking it with God. It doesn’t take much to fake it in the world, but it’s impossible to do so with the all-seeing Almighty.

When God looks beneath your skin, what does He see? A heart of prejudice, hatred, laziness, rebellion, self-will? Or a heart of love, compassion, purity, humility, and service? It’s the heart that matters.

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God Sees Deeper Than the Skin is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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The result? Freedom for Peter. Imagine how some of the church’s powerlessness might be remedied if we followed every difficulty with “but prayer was made.”

So they pray and Peter gets out of jail. That’s powerful! Then the story gets a little funny. Peter shows up at the house where the believers were praying for his release. A servant girl named Rhoda answered the door, saw Peter, and left him standing there to run back and tell the others. Poor lonely Peter – where ever did she go? Why didn’t she let him in?

When she reports to the others that Peter is at the door, for whom they had been praying for a release, they tell her she’s nuts. “You’re out of your mind!” (NIV) She kept insisting she was telling the truth (while Peter is still standing at the door wondering where Rhoda went) and the believers decide it must be a ghost of Peter. In other words… he’s dead, right?

Why would the believers think such a thing? God answered their prayers, but He did so too quickly and powerfully. Surely there’s some natural, more believable explanation. Certainly God wouldn’t work a miracle in our midst!

Do you ever receive God’s miracles with this kind of attitude? I do. I pray and ask and beg. God answers. I either miss that He answered or I try to explain in my mind the natural, believable reason why I received the desired outcome. God is patient… thankfully!

Here’s a simple challenge – expect God to answer prayer, look for His answers, and give Him credit when it happens.

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Acts 12 Is Powerful… But Funny! is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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How true! Failures of a spiritual or moral nature happen as we chip away at our own integrity, as Satan gains one little foothold after another, and as sin creeps up behind us. It happens little by little.

Everybody, but especially ever man ought to watch this teaching video by Casting Crowns explaining how their song, Slow Fade, illustrates Psalm 1.

Or here’s a link to Casting Crowns – Slow Fade Teaching Video.

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A Video for Every Man – Slow Fade is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Christians sometimes want to make this issue mystical. In fact, we can be downright superstitious, seeking signs and waiting for audible voices. But what if it’s more simple than that? When someone comes to me asking these questions, I offer up three tests. These three tests are, in my opinion, the ultimate way to discern what to do next…

What Does the Bible Say?

Does the Bible address my question? For example, should I witness to my friend? Absolutely – it’s written down. Should I steal that which isn’t lawfully mine? Nope – God’s Word makes the boundaries quite clear.

Sometimes the Bible explicitly addresses my question and other times it does so implicitly. That is, it doesn’t give me a black and white answer, but it provides enough principles for me to make a wise decision.

What Has God Been Saying?

I do believe that God deals with each of His children on an individual and relational level. He speaks to me, not in an audible voice, but in a voice that is much louder at times. He speaks through circumstances, counselors, and in the communion of prayer.

One word of caution – God will never speak to you in a way that contradicts His Word. In other words, the first question always takes precedence. Never say, “Well, I know God’s Word says ___, but I just feel like He’s saying ___.” Never happens. What does His Word say? And what is He saying that won’t contradict His Word?

What Is Wise?

The third question is the one we forget. When I say that we make God’s will a mystical matter, I mean that we have a tendency to wait until one of the first two questions can be answered. We want to pray about a decision until God speaks to us. But consider this – the Holy Spirit has come alongside of me to empower my thinking and God’s Word provides a pretty awesome foundation for wise decision-making.

In other words, sometimes I just need to do what is wise. Can God speak to me about whether to buy the Honda versus the Toyota? Sure! He’s God. But I’m not necessarily going to wait around for the earth to shake and the chicken bones to magically fall in the pattern of the Honda logo. I can size up the deals I’m being offered, make sure I’m abiding by the financial wisdom spelled out in Proverbs and other God-inspired wisdom literature, then sign on the dotted line.

If I put my decisions through these tests, I can make decisions with confidence and never look back. I can walk in the approval of God if I’ve sought out His mind and His wisdom on the matter. If I get to hear His direct voice on a matter, that’s a pretty great bonus!

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Three Questions for Pursuing God’s Will is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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I listened to a message the other day by Kerry Shook about fasting. In the message Kerry talked about how in a fast, our heads hurt and our attitudes are bad. We’re grumpy. He made the point that going through self-discipline does this to us and it can be a good thing. When our sinfulness rises to the surface and is exposed, we can deal with it.

Fasting or not, that point resonated with me. When we are criticized, when we’re under pressure, when we’re suffering temptation, our sinfulness rises to the top and the individual that most people think we are seems to falter and fade away.

Here’s my heart – character matters most in the tests. I’ve failed a lot of tests. In fact, sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever pass one.

I need to change. I need to be more like the person you might think I am. You might need to do the same… I just don’t know.

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You Are Not Who I Think You Are, and Neither Am I is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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One of my favorite passages on the subject is Paul’s gut-wrenching goodbye to the Epehsian elders who met him at the island port city of Miletus. It’s recorded in Acts 20:17-38. I’ve been reading it afresh today and have discovered a pattern of ministry I hadn’t spotted before…

Our calling is to preach everywhere.

He mentions in verse 20 that he had taught them “publicly” and “from house to house.” The old-fashioned of our day claim this refers to door-to-door evangelism while others support a home-based small group approach to ministry. Though I lean toward the latter as the proper interpretation, I think the point was that whether in masse or one-on-one, Paul communicated the gospel in every atmosphere of life.

Our calling is to preach to everyone.

He preached “both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks…” Paul was burdened for the Jews and called to the Gentiles, but loved the lost of very color and race. There’s an intrinsic impartiality to our calling. We don’t simply preach to those like ourselves, but to all.

Our calling is to preach every word.

Paul “kept back nothing…” and preached “repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ…” and let it be known that he had “not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” In other words, Paul covered the bases and shared everything God wanted him to share. He broached every subject and avoided nothing.

I also find in this passage what I believe to be the two-fold calling of a Lead Pastor: to lead and to feed. He addressed the elders as “overseers” (leaders) and instructed them to “feed the church of God.” Preaching and leading are the callings of the Pastor and little else.

So Pastors need to be free to do these two things and to do them well.

One of my favorite little phrases in the entire passage comes in verse 24. Paul speaks of all the challenges and adversities he’s faced and then says simply, “none of these things move me.” There was a threat upon his life and ministry, but he refused to be swayed in the least. He wouldn’t be moved.

Every time I read that passage, I ask myself a simple question, “What does it take to move me?” How little is required to stop me in my ministry tracks? What about you, what can stop you? Hopefully “none of these things.”

Stay true to the calling! Don’t be moved.

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The Pastoral Calling and Role is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Did I complain? Nope. And I’m not complaining now. I got to know a few cool folks standing around me. I had time to think about the six hours when Jesus hung on the cross (which makes standing in an airport cake) and the fact that I really deserve hell anyway which also makes standing in line a pleasure. (When I shared this latter lesson with a lady behind me, she looked at me like I was totally nuts.) So finally, some takeaways…

From Kerry Shook…

Leaders make a big target.

Whenever you step out to lead anything, you’ll get the “who do you think you are anyway?”

I’m a pathetic leader if I’m not leading from purpose.

You will lead with purpose and lead w/instinct when you lead form your knees.

You’ve got to lead with creative change as well.

(Every growing church I know has an atmosphere of creative change – change for change’s sake gets a bad wrap, but ultimately, it keeps us off center and out of the comfort zone.)

The most dangerous arrow that can be shot at a leader is the arrow of flattery.

When the possibilities and your passion collide, it’s a beautiful thing.

God wants to multiply your influence through the ideas and the passion He gives you.

If you live the next month as if it’s your last, you’ll be more alive at the end than you’ve ever been.

Pastor, the most important people you are influencing are your children.

You can never take anyone further than you continue to grow.

Rick Warren…

Rick keeps a “warnings file” filled with news clippings of Pastors who have fallen to a temptation by either money, sex, or power.

The antitode to these is purity, generosity, and humility.

… and then I had to leave.

I loved Radicalis and can’t wait till the even occurs again in 2011! It was a pleasure to meet some really great people. I don’t think I’ll ever get over the moment when I was sitting in the green room and Rick Warren came in, inviting everybody in the room to lunch in his office, including me. Since I already had plans with my friend David, I said, “Would love to but I’m afraid I have plans with David…” Rick’s reply? “Well you’re welcome!” (with a big smile).

I can’t believe I turned down Rick Warren for lunch – had I completely lost my mind? But talking about how to love Pastors with David was worth it. And did I mention, over that lunch, I got to enjoy Chick-fil-A’s newest creation, the spicy chicken sandwich? (coming to a CFA near you soon!)

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Takeaways from Radicalis Day #4 is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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Some Takeaways from Rick…

Want to change culture? Start with art and music, not politics.

Marriage counseling in 2 words… GROW UP!

Preaching to felt needs is called Christlike preaching, based on Luke 4.

Become intense, and become intentional about radical compassion.

If we’re gonna have a heart like Jesus…
Care about what Jesus cares about… people He died for.
He cares about the world.
He cares about the church.
Be indifferent to what Jesus is indifferent to.
Get angry about what Jesus is angry about.

My job isn’t to save America, it’s to save Americans.

The way you see the crowd tells me a lot about your heart.

The more you fear God, the less you fear everything else.

Jesus never ran anywhere. He was never in a rush.

Never look at the crowd in the stands. Ignore criticism and compliments.

You have to decide in life, who are you trying to impress?

It’s not the accumulation in life that matters. Never confuse your valuables and your value as a person.

Power corrupts those who think they deserve it.

…and much, much more.

Mark Driscoll talked about the cross – plain and simple, raw and unedited. I felt as if I were watching The Passion all over again. His language was stark and vivid. The point?

We need churches that are cross-centered, not cause-centered.

Stay excited about the cross and your people will not be able to get around it.

And Ed Stetzer talked about culture and that the path to changing it is planting change-agent churches. I have a special place in my heart for church planters who face the loneliness, the discouragements, the criticisms and setbacks. I’ll never apologize for calling my own church to support church planters.

All-in-all, this conference has been a heaven-sent gift! I want to be radical, which doesn’t mean extreme, it simply means having roots in Christ, biblical theology, and a thorough understanding of church history (how we got here). What about you?

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Takeaways from Radicalis Day #3 is a post from: Life Here and There. © 2009. Share it freely, but please link back to this source.

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