Radical Love for God

My day yesterday began at 4:00 a.m.  I attended the “School of Leaders” from about 5:30 to 7:30, taught chapel for Community School, drove to Manhattan, KS to hear my spiritual coach / mentor, Dean Trune, speak at Manhattan Christian College on the topic of radical love for God, had lunch with him and some other great people, walked around the Kansas State University campus with Dean and talked about family, ministry, and life in general, drove home (stopping along the way at a roadside park for some time with God), had two counseling sessions (in which I was able to see God working in amazing ways in each person’s lives), learned how to check pH and chlorine levels in the baptistry from a friend, got home around 9:30, was bombarded (in a good way) by stories from the day from some kids who were up way past bedtime but wanted to see me, curled up in the recliner with my son to read a Franklin book (after which he quickly went to sleep), read my Bible and went to sleep about 11:00.  What an awesome day it was!!  I felt so good when I went to bed.  My cup was full and I had experienced a full day of spending time with God and seeing Him at work.  Most days that are busy aren’t as fulfilling, but this was a exceptional day.

Just focusing on one part of the day, I’d like to share a little about Dean’s presentation.  Dean challenged his audience to having radical love for God vs. casual love.  He talked about the character quality of passion.  He defines it as a strong and compelling desire for God that results in an intentional and intense pursuit of Him.  That gives me goosebumps.  Loving God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength is radical, not casual.  His love for us is not casual.  For goodness sake He loved us so much that He sent His one and only Son to die for us, taking all sin upon Himself, so that we may live eternally.  That is radical!  If we have a radical love for God, time with Him will be our top priority.  We spend time with those we love.  Dean went as far as to say if we don’t spend time with God, how can we say we love Him.  When we have casual love for God, our time with Him gets sacrificed.  However, when we have radical love for Him, it is me and my will that gets sacrificed, and that’s a good thing!  When we have casual love for God, we disappoint Him with our priorities.  However, when we have radical love for God, we may disappoint people with our priorities, but not God.  I’d much rather disappoint people than God!

He stated that casual living is a learned activity.  It is learned by being around other casual Christians.  New Christians are often on fire (radical) because they haven’t yet been exposed to the casual Christianity that we too often see in the church.  You know – the kind that we too often see in those who have been Christians for a long time and have lost their zest and passion for God.  In America, we too often worship the gods of comfort, security, and control (and right up there is the god of entertainment), and this leads us into being casual.  However, we are to love God more than we hate suffering.  This leads us into radical living – living that goes completely against the culture.  Too often we have radical excuses, but we shouldn’t try to justify our disobedience.  Radical love for God means saying, “YES,” when He calls, no matter the risk and sacrifice.

So, that’s about all I have time for today.  I have a devo. at a nursing home, two counseling sessions at the pregnancy care center, a baptism, Wed. night All Stars (no I’m not talking about the World Series, but our Wed. night program), and the men’s post encounter…  It’s going to be another great day.  I can’t wait to live radically and share it with others.

May God radically bless you today as you radically love Him!

God’s Wisdom and Strength, Not Mine

Wow, after my post late last night, I had a confirming Word from God early this morning.  I love when God does this.

All of the passage that I read was significant:  I Corinthians 1:18-2:5.  However, I will just type the part that hit me the most, beginning in vs. 25:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.  Brothers, think of what you were when you were called.  Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.  But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.  He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him.  It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.  Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”  When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.  For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  I came to you in weakness and fear, and much trembling.  My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

That is how I move forward, not in my strength or wisdom, but in God’s power.  God is the Father to the fatherless and the defender of widows.  Pure and undefiled religion is to look after widows and orphans in their distress and not to be polluted by the world.  How will He accomplish this?  Through us… His people.  Let us rise and take this city not by storm but by love.

You are the God of this city.  You are the hope to the hopeless.  Greater things are still to be done in this city.

No More Monah

Yes, it has been a long time since I have posted, but for some reason I am inspired to post tonight.  If you have known me for any amount of time, you know how passionate I am about standing in the gap for the fatherless.  For a long time, I have said that fatherlessness is the single most critical social issue of our day.  It is at the root of so many problems.  Yet, I have been running and saying, “I can’t be the one God is calling” when it comes to leading a ministry to dads at the Open Door Pregnancy Care Center.  Yes, I have been a cross between Moses and Jonah…Monah

About a year and a half ago our staff and elders studied the book of Nehemiah and asked God where the gaps are in our city.  Soon after we began to ask God that question, I got a call from a good friend who is the Director of the Open Door Pregnancy Care Center talking about an opportunity to start a men’s ministry.  I was all for it and still am, but I didn’t think I was the one to get it going because of my lack of administration skills.  I thought I would provide mentoring and counseling, but not overall leadership.  Last week, I read through a journal that I started about 5 years ago called “Daring to Dream,” and it all of a sudden hit me that God is calling me and I need to stop running and say, “Here I am Lord, use me!”  He doesn’t call me because of me, but in spite of me.

Since that moment last week, I have seen so many signs that tell me to GO.  This ministry is so foundational to the issue of fatherlessness.  We can mentor these young men and help them be good dads, thus influencing the culture for generations to come.  When men are the spiritual leaders in their homes and when they reject passivity, accept responsibility, lead courageously, and expect God’s greater reward (Men’s Fraternity definition of manhood), amazing things will happen.  Marriage and parent / child relationships will be transformed.  There will be a drastic reduction of teen pregnancies and abortions, the prison population will be reduced, drug use will go down, the divorce rate will plummet, and the list goes on and on.  Dads, we really do make a difference.

So, I’m all in.  No more running, no more excuses.  God called me into ministry without a Bible college degree – I guess He can call me into this area of leadership without the gift of administration.  This just makes me rely on Him even more, and that’s a good thing.  He will send others with the gifts I don’t have.  He has given me the vision and passion and I just obey.  This will be for the long haul, not overnight.  No microwave ministry here – no jet starts or quick minutes.  This is the crockpot – lots of time with low heat.  We are going to plant oak trees, which are enjoyed by generations to come, not weeds that sprout overnight and cause problems.

One more thing…  It hit me tonight that fatherlessness is not the issue – it is daddylessness.  There are lots of fathers, but far too few daddies. I am seeing God moving in the hearts of men like I’ve never seen before.  It is nothing short of phenomenal – an answer to prayer!  I want to be a part of this.

No more Monah…  I want to be like Caleb, who followed God wholeheartedly and took the high ground.

For those of you who may be concerned about other ministries.  No worries.  I will still continue to fight the battle on other fronts – spending time with kids who don’t have dads around, coming alongside single parent families, family counseling, etc…  This is just a new front to fight the battle on!

May God show us the way and give us His wisdom because it’s all for His glory!!

Who’s with me??

One More

I had the wonderful privilege of being the guest speaker at the Grand Staff Ministries annual banquet and silent auction this past weekend.  I felt like God had given me another opportunity to be a voice for the fatherless.  It had been a busy week and I was having a hard time finding time to focus on what I was going to say.  As God has been teaching me about surrender, I wanted to totally surrender my speech to Him so His words would flow and not mine.  Well, of course, God’s message was once again surrender.  As God continues to teach me along these lines, I am being reminded in so many ways that a life lived for Him will be one of total surrender in all areas.  Taking care of the widows and orphans is no different, and I would like to share a little bit of what I shared Saturday night.

We often get overwhelmed by statistics.  There are 143,000,000 orphans in the world (give or take) and a lot of other incredible statistics that I can’t begin to fathom or process associated with this number.  It is easy to get disheartened by the enormity of the problem.  However, our God placed trillions of stars in the sky and trillions of cells in our bodies, and He is not overwhelmed by these statistics.  He is not biting His nails wondering how it’s all going to turn out because He already has a plan.  His plan is for us to surrender to Him so He can use us to take care of this incredible need.  Why do we think He said that pure and undefiled religion is to take care of the widow and orphan in their distress?  Does He expect any one of us to do it all?  Of course not!  Does He expect us to do something?  Absolutely.  However, it is going to require surrender:  Surrender of self, comfort, the way we always do things, resources, etc…  However it’s part of dying to ourselves in order to really live.  It’s all about eternity, not the here and now.

When John D. Rockefeller was asked how much money was enough, he answered, “just a little bit more.”  Well, I think when asked how many orphans can we help, we should answer, “just one more.”  One is an important number because we were each created in the image of God and have value.  However, one is not an overwhelming number that leaves us feeling empty and hopeless like 143,000,000.  If each of us focused on helping one orphan, the problem would be taken care of in no time.  Besides, God says there will be blessings for taking care of the widows and orphans (Deut. 24:19 for one example).

God gave me the illustration of the seed as I was cleaning the thousands of maple seeds out of my gutters.  Each of those seeds represent potential life.  All it would take is one seed planted in the right place to eventually grow into another seed-producing maple tree.  God wants us to be fruitful, and we do that by abiding in Him.  If we are abiding in Him and we reach out to an orphan, we are planting a seed that will produce an incredible harvest in the future.  This will grow exponentially, just like sharing the Gospel with just one person.  As I was feeding my friend’s animals while they were gone, I remembered a story they told me several years ago.  Their youngest daughter came in with a single kernel of corn and said, “Look, I have a cornfield.”  Wow, how visionary is that statement!?  If we plant one seed at a time and nurture it, before we know it, we will have a cornfield ripe for the harvest.  Remember, the seed must die in order for the plant to grow.  We must die to self in order to step out in faith and bless others.

So, do we want to coast through this life relatively risk-free and in comfort or are we going to be bold and courageous like God has called us to be?  In my presentation, I included a picture of the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard.  Ironically, it had “01″ on the door panel… which made me think of the power of “01″ life lived boldy.  It was not a car that sat in the comfort of a garage – it was a car that was used for action and risk.  I don’t think God meant for us to be safe in the garage, but living out the adventure He has for us!  I want to slide into eternity with my tires squeeling, engine smoking, dirt flying, yelling “YEEHAW!”  Sorry – having boyhood flashbacks…  Part of living a bold life is to step out of our comfort zones and care for the widows and orphans.  Is God calling us to spend time with a fatherless child in a mentoring relationship?  Is God calling us to reach out to a single parent family?  Is God calling us to sponsor a child in a foreign country?  Is God calling us to adopt a child into our family?  The answer is YES.  However, we each need to figure out our place in this story.  Start with ONE and see what God does!!

May God bless you as you step out in faith and care for ONE MORE!

War Against Fatherlessness

On this VERY rare occasion that I could not sleep, I have been up spending some quiet time with the Lord.  I can hear the heavy breathing of at least a couple of our children, a clock ticking, and the sound of the heater coming on from time to time.  But, otherwise, the house is quiet and peaceful.  At this time of the morning, there are no interruptions and there is no rush to be anywhere.

I have even more things than usual on my mind right now, and this has been some good time of prayer and listening.  There are two things especially on my heart right now to be praying about – hurting or broken marriages and boys (and men, for that matter) from single parent homes dealing with anger.

I believe God has called me to the battlefield in order to fight for the fatherless and to help prevent fatherlessness through spiritual coaching, mentoring and marriage counseling.  I must abide in Him for strength and wisdom.  Apart from God, I can do nothing, but I will be fruitful if I abide in Him.  He has given me His Holy Spirit as a Counselor, to teach me and lead me in all things, and I’m crying out to Him right now.

There are so many fronts to this battle, that it is overwhelming  to think about.  However, what the Lord calls us to, He will provide for if we seek Him.  I don’t want the Lord to say, as He did in the book of Ezekiel, that He looked all around for someone who would build up the wall and stand in the gap but could find no one.

I see some great things happening in our church and community, but I also see families being destroyed by the enemy at an alarming rate.  One fallout of this raging war against the family is angry children, especially boys.  I see it almost 100% of the time in one form or another.

However, we must take courage.  The battle is the Lord’s, and we must be faithful by joining Him and doing our part to build up the wall and stand in the gap for our own families first and then others.

Let’s stand together in prayer and see where God leads us in this battle!  May the Lord bless you and keep you!

God WILL Give You More Than You Can Handle… On Your Own

Okay.  I will try to make this short because it is late.  My uncle once said that he had heard that “God will NEVER give you more than you can handle.”  Then, he went on to say, “I wish He didn’t think so highly of me.”  I have also heard this phrase used by very well meaning people to comfort someone else.  However, I challenge you to find this in Scripture.  It isn’t there.  I have read through the Bible a number of times and have spent time most days reading or studying it, and I have never found this phrase.  I actually believe this is a misquote from I Corinthians 10:13, which says, “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way to escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.”  There is a huge difference in God not allowing us to be tempted beyond what we are able to handle and God not giving us more than we can handle.

In reading and studying the Scriptures, I will accept that God will not give us more than we can handle IN HIS STRENGTH.  I say this because the Bible says that nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37) AND I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength (Philippians 4:13) AND apart from Jesus, I can do NOTHING (John 15:5).  I also see over and over again where God comes through for His people, who are in way over their heads.  Just one example is the parting of the Red Sea.  Was this more than they could handle?  Absolutely.  However, in God’s strength, there was victory.  God wants us to know that we are 100% dependent upon Him for everything… it’s called humility.  God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.  That’s why every time I try to live in my own strength, I fail miserably…

Please don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that we should just sit around and wait for God to do everything for us.  That would be ridiculous and totally against His Word.  However, when we do set out to do something, it better be with His blessing.

I am thankful that I will not be tempted beyond what I can handle and that God will give me a way out, AND I am thankful that I don’t have to do anything in my own strength because His grace is sufficient for me.

So… when you are trying to comfort someone, please don’t use the normal phrase that has no Scriptural basis.  Let’s speak the truth…  God will never give us more than we can handle in His strength.

May God bless you and give you strength in whatever life brings your way!

Doing What I’m Called To Do!

I really have way too much to do to be blogging, but I feel like I need to do it.  I’ll catch up on other stuff later…

God is so amazing.  He has brought me into a career that totally fits the way He made me.  And, He is continuing to grow and develop me in my career and purpose.  My part has been to listen and obey.  I’m sure I don’t always get it right, but I’m trying.  I just want to continue to be clay in the Potter’s hand to be molded into the man He has created me to be.  Over the past week, I have had a couple of friends who have told me that I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, which is a great encouragement.

As I look back over the week, I am so amazed at what God has done.  I have been able to teach a couple of chapel lessons on abiding in Christ through spending time in God’s Word.  I have been able to have lunch with my kids and with two kids from church, who are a part of our ministry to single parent families.  I have been able to deliver a bed and dresser donated by generous church members to a very grateful lady who needed them.  While there, I got hugs from three girls who are also from a single parent home and was able to have a prayer with them.  It was so awesome.  I have had seven counseling / coaching / encouragement sessions with various people and families this week.  After taking the “Servants by Design” test, it was obvious that counseling and mentoring are definitely part of my God-given design.  One family in particular that I met with this week is putting God first and He is moving through their family in an amazing way.  They are seeking where God wants each of them to serve.  I had a great talk with my mentor today, who always encourages me.  I also had the privilege to read to three different classes at one of our local elementary classes.  I absolutely love to do that because I can use different voices and help the kids enjoy books.  Not to mention, I give their teachers a little break.  I also went with three other guys to a training in Wichita called “Armor Up.”  I had a wonderful time with these guys.  We are exploring how we can start a ministry to the men who come into our local pregnancy care center.  I am so excited about this opportunity.  Tomorrow night we will get together with the families from our single parent family ministry, then Saturday I will meet with our local outreach team to talk about upcoming outreach events, such as a game feed, and on Sunday we will have session fourteen of Men’s Fraternity: The Great Adventure, where we will begin to talk about our “unique designs.”

Besides all that, I’ve had some wonderful early morning times with God, I’m still on track with Bible memory and my daily read-through-the-Bible plan, and I’ve had some good time with my family this week.  In fact, tonight, we’re going to have a family night.  Look out Wii, here we come.

I’ll have to admit, after saying all that, that I have been a bit stressed the past few days with the pace of life and everything on my to-do list.  However, I decided to take a few minutes and reflect on all the good that God is doing in me, around me, and through me.  I can’t help but be excited.

It’s been a God week, and I pray the same for you!  May God’s blessings rain down upon each of you!

Fear Not!

We are in the middle of another great VBS.  This year, we are doing Crocodile Dock.  The theme for last night came from Exodus 3:12.  When one of the leaders would say, “God is with us,” the kids were supposed to yell FEAR NOT!  I think we as adults can learn a lot from this, too.  If God is with us, we truly have nothing to fear.  Moses tried to come up with excuse after excuse and then finally tried to say, “Lord, send someone else.”  It is common for us to look at the mistakes of those in the Bible and be judgmental, but how often do we do the same thing?  We often don’t step out and try anything new or risky or uncomfortable because “what if….. you fill in the blank.”  If we are going to teach our kids that God is with us and we have nothing to fear, we better be ready to live it out ourselves.

Now, I’m not saying jump out and do something stupid…  I’m saying, we need to listen to God, and when He calls be ready to answer “Yes, Lord!”

God is teaching me a lot from the book of Exodus right now.  As time allows, I’ll try to share some of those things.

May God bless you as you trust in Him!

Spiritual Retreat

It is a beautiful day.  The rain has cleared and the sun is shining.  It was a perfect day for my spiritual retreat.  I rode my bike down the Jim Martinez Sunflower Trail.  I have a couple of favorite spots by the Arkansas River where I stop to spend time with God.  I had some great time of seeking God and listening.

Awhile back, during another spiritual retreat day, I asked God what His vision for my life was.  I believe that answer is becoming more and more clear as I have been spending time seeking Him and listening.  As I have been reading through the book of Nehemiah, I sense an urging to become a repairer of the breach that has taken place in families.  This includes leading men to be better spiritual leaders, husbands and fathers, helping people to grow spiritually and teaching them how to pursue God (after all, His Holy Spirit is our “in-house” Counselor!), helping strengthen marriages and families, and by standing in the gap for single parent families.  I’m not so arrogant as to think I’m perfect and can do all of this myself or in my own strength.  In fact, the whole thought of it kind of overwhelms me.  However, I am available for however God wants to use me.

I believe that all of the ministries that I’m responsible for can be aligned under this key vision of building the wall and repairing the breaches that are happening in families.  God is teaching me a lot about leadership, which will be crucial as I lead teams in making this happen.  He is also leading me toward getting more training in couseling.  My heart is wide open to His wisdom and leading.  Speak Lord, for your servant is listening.

May God bless your family!

Nehemiah 5 – Servant Leadership

Matthew 20:25-28: “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.  Not so with you.  Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave – just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”

Servant leadership is a very important concept for leaders to learn and exemplify.  In fact, it is essential if we want to be more and more like Jesus.  If we want to be the kind of leaders that please and glorify God, we must serve and take care of those we are leading.  In Chapter 5, Nehemiah is shown to be someone who does that well.

It seems that in those days, many were so poverty-stricken that they were having to mortgage their fields and vineyards, were having to borrow money just to pay the king’s taxes, and were even having to sell their children into slavery.  Nehemiah was very angry with what was happening.  To deal with this outcry, he called a large meeting right in the middle of the rebuilding project, which showed the magnitude of the problem and the importance of resolving it.  Nehemiah met the problem head on and didn’t dance around it.  He told the nobles and officials that what they were doing was wrong and to stop it immediately.  He had a plan for them to follow and expected them to do it.  They knew what they were doing was wrong because “they could find nothing to say.”  They pledged to give back what they had taken and to not demand anything else from the people.

These days, we hear a lot about “social justice.”  What we see here was social justice in action.  These people were in the middle of a famine and couldn’t make ends meet.  It wasn’t that they weren’t willing to work.  The government that was supposed to be there to serve was taking so much that the people couldn’t didn’t have enough to live on.

Toward the end of the chapter, we learn that Nehemiah was practicing what he was preaching.  He wasn’t even taking what was “entitled” to him as a governor.  He knew the burden was already heavy on the people, and he didn’t want to take more from them.  He wasn’t in leadership to become rich at the expense of the people.  Rather, he was there to make a difference.  He was there to help others, not pad his own pocketbook.  In fact, he was right there with the people doing the work.  Why?  Out of reverence for God.  He wanted to work as if working for the Lord and not for men.

Nehemiah was in leadership for the right reason – to serve others.  Many get into leadership because they love power and money.  They will eventually go down in flames because that’s not the type of leader that is blessed by God.  God blesses those who are unselfish and who put others first.

May God bless you as you seek to be the kind of leader who serves others for His glory and not your own.