...so as I bring these few thoughts to conclusion, here is what I have recognized: that what we are seeing in my generation is our recognition of God's love for us is causing us, in return, to radically respond with our love. This relationship is not one-sided, it is an exchange of love.
I believe that this will mark my generation. Bored and disenchanted with only theology and doctrine but come alive by Love's intense pursuit. C.S. Lewis once spoke of theology being like a map of the sea, but you can't mistake that for the sea itself. Our study of God and His ways were designed to accompany us while we are on the sea, not the shore.
I'm on the ocean, with my map, with love as the vessel and grace in the waters, the Holy Spirit hovering over the deep, diving into water that I can breathe in, finding in the depths His passion and fury and intensity that overwhelms me. This is where I want to be. This is where I will live.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Thursday, June 30, 2011
The Exchange of Love, Pt. 2
...Now, please don't misunderstand me. I'm not talking about self-worship, nor am I suggesting that we start singing "It's all about me" in our worship sets. But human nature tends to gravitate towards extremes. We think that there must not even be a trace of self in our worship to the Lord. But I'm dying to know...how does the Lord feel about me? Am I moving His heart? Does He look at me with approving glances? Does He think I'm worth it? He loves me, but does He like me?
I confess that I often feel like a kid fishing for complements from my mom and dad. Like I'm the one that just picked up a 5 pound weight and trying to get dad to see my strength. The grown-up in me would say that I'm weak, but the child in me would expect that I'm strong. And something tells me that my Father, who could bench press the world a million times over, would still be proud of what strength I have.
I suppose this is a little bit of what it means to have a child-like heart. If I have the heart of a grown-up, then my using all my strength to lift five pounds of spiritual progress causes me to want to give up and refuse any praise that my Father would attempt to give me. After all, He benches the world. But if I have a child-like heart, I'm pretty pleased in pleasing my Father, and I'm not thinking about how I could do more and how He is infinitely stronger than I'll ever be. No, when I would think of His infinite strength, I would think that it is to protect and hold me, not to be a reminder that I'm not as strong as He is.
I'm thinking about my Daddy lifts weights, so I will lift weights; not my Daddy lifts a billion pounds, so I will lift a billion pounds. I will, with all of my might, no matter how weak that is, love Him.
By the way, I'm not talking about being immature spiritually, nor being content with being immature. It's more like what C.S. Lewis once said, that God wants a child-like heart, but a grown-ups head.
A grown-up heart is like what Kaylee, a student in Victory School of Ministry, said in her psalm of praise to the Lord: "I was a child dying of old age..."
I confess that I often feel like a kid fishing for complements from my mom and dad. Like I'm the one that just picked up a 5 pound weight and trying to get dad to see my strength. The grown-up in me would say that I'm weak, but the child in me would expect that I'm strong. And something tells me that my Father, who could bench press the world a million times over, would still be proud of what strength I have.
I suppose this is a little bit of what it means to have a child-like heart. If I have the heart of a grown-up, then my using all my strength to lift five pounds of spiritual progress causes me to want to give up and refuse any praise that my Father would attempt to give me. After all, He benches the world. But if I have a child-like heart, I'm pretty pleased in pleasing my Father, and I'm not thinking about how I could do more and how He is infinitely stronger than I'll ever be. No, when I would think of His infinite strength, I would think that it is to protect and hold me, not to be a reminder that I'm not as strong as He is.
I'm thinking about my Daddy lifts weights, so I will lift weights; not my Daddy lifts a billion pounds, so I will lift a billion pounds. I will, with all of my might, no matter how weak that is, love Him.
By the way, I'm not talking about being immature spiritually, nor being content with being immature. It's more like what C.S. Lewis once said, that God wants a child-like heart, but a grown-ups head.
A grown-up heart is like what Kaylee, a student in Victory School of Ministry, said in her psalm of praise to the Lord: "I was a child dying of old age..."
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Exchange of Love, Pt. 1
These next several blogs will be a continuous train of thought separated by days but not flow, like pieces of a puzzle given one at a time that will produce a clear picture by the end. My hope and prayer is that these stir you to greater love...
Someone asked me the other day, "Have you ever noticed that a lot of worship songs are about us?" And I have on many occasions noticed this. You don't have to look very far in worship songs to find a whole bunch of "I's, We's, and Me's" laced throughout. And honestly, until recently, I used to think that singing too many of those songs was like our worship bouncing of the ceiling and headed right back our direction.
But I don't think of it that way anymore.
In my observation, much of the Church as a whole has offered one-sided love to the Lord and doesn't expect Him to return our love. It's like you going out on a date, doing all the talking without allowing for a response, and leaving that night feeling frustrated because you showed all of this love, all of this pursuit, and yet feel unloved. But you feel unloved because you don't allow for that person to tell you how they feel. It was all about your effort. No one could last in that kind of function.
Here is the thing many of us miss: we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). That means that our capacity to love God is directly linked to our revelation of God's love for us. The more we recognize God's love being poured out on us, the more we pour out in return to Him; a beautiful cycle of love that grows in intensity and capacity with every rotation.
"He is jealous for me..."
These words get me thinking and meditating on His love. I open up my heart to His mad love that He pours out, and it ignites the fire of love the propels me to respond. If I don't hear continuously that He loves me, I will believe another voice, because my heart and mind must believe something even if it is a lie -- and so does yours…
Someone asked me the other day, "Have you ever noticed that a lot of worship songs are about us?" And I have on many occasions noticed this. You don't have to look very far in worship songs to find a whole bunch of "I's, We's, and Me's" laced throughout. And honestly, until recently, I used to think that singing too many of those songs was like our worship bouncing of the ceiling and headed right back our direction.
But I don't think of it that way anymore.
In my observation, much of the Church as a whole has offered one-sided love to the Lord and doesn't expect Him to return our love. It's like you going out on a date, doing all the talking without allowing for a response, and leaving that night feeling frustrated because you showed all of this love, all of this pursuit, and yet feel unloved. But you feel unloved because you don't allow for that person to tell you how they feel. It was all about your effort. No one could last in that kind of function.
Here is the thing many of us miss: we love God because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). That means that our capacity to love God is directly linked to our revelation of God's love for us. The more we recognize God's love being poured out on us, the more we pour out in return to Him; a beautiful cycle of love that grows in intensity and capacity with every rotation.
"He is jealous for me..."
These words get me thinking and meditating on His love. I open up my heart to His mad love that He pours out, and it ignites the fire of love the propels me to respond. If I don't hear continuously that He loves me, I will believe another voice, because my heart and mind must believe something even if it is a lie -- and so does yours…
Monday, March 7, 2011
Leadership Lessons from the NBA
Over the past couple years I’ve been pretty interested in what goes on in professional basketball, especially as of this year with the whole big three teaming up in Miami. I’ve take a few mental notes on my observations on the leadership traits of some of these teams and players, and would like to note them here. I’d also like to contrast the successful teams with a team that should be dominate but is not (yet), namely the Miami Heat. Even if you don’t like basketball, there could be something for you to take away, so read on!
1. Passion. There isn’t a team as emotionally bonded or fired up as the Boston Celtics. They are fiercely competitive, highly aggressive, and unafraid to go up against anybody. While many fans of basketball dislike them for this reason, it’s one of the reasons I like them as a team. They play like the care for eachother and the game. Recently, when Kendrick Perkins got traded the whole team was devastated. The night they lost Perkins, they were unfocused in their game, their minds clearly on their beloved friend. Most teams would not have been as emotional, would not have felt so much because this is a business of the NBA. But not these Celtics. They choose to feel, choose to never look at eachother as pawns but as friends and teammates who are helping eachother get to the top. That’s admirable.
2. Responsibility. You can discover whether someone has leadership ability by their high sense of responsibility. Derrek Rose of the Chicago Bulls fits the bill here. I have a lot of praise for this kid that I’m even older than! He was the only noteworthy player in the NBA who did not make a plead for Lebron James to come to Chicago. Of course that effected James as he wants to be wooed, wants to be groveled over. But not Rose. He understands that his role as a leader is not to attract some superstar to Chicago, but to make his old and new teammates better. He’s done this. And worthy of saying, last week when the Bulls lost to the Hawks, he took full responsibility for the loss. When they win, he’s praising someone else on his team. And that’s a leader, the high road that you dont see Lebron take. Leaders accept the blame when things go wrong and defer the praise to their team when things go right.
3. Maniacal drive. That’s just the best way that I can describe it. Leaders who do something appear to be and act obsessed with winning and will find a way no matter what. This is absolutely essential for a leader. Take Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, who has lead his team to three consecutive NBA finals and won the last two. While I don’t always agree with the way he treats his teammates, it’s undeniable that he has a fire that few people in the league have. Boston also has this drive, as I read recently in an article something interesting about Rajon Rondo. In a game against the Heat, Lebron was scoring all over the place. Rondo was angry and with that maniacal drive, he went to his coach and requested to be put on Lebron. Even though Rondo was overmatched in every sense of the word, he took him on and did a great job, enough to get the victory for the Celtics. There is a fire in a leader’s eyes, as well as his team’s. It drives them and puts them up against the greatest of obstacles. They are the ones down by 20 with 3 minutes left who don’t believe that they can win, but know that they will win.
You might have noticed, but nobody on famed Miami Heat squad is showing any of these characteristics right now(and that's sad). As far as passion, nobody on that team seems to care about eachother other than the fact that there are superstars on the same team. In regards to responsibility, I beg someone to show me anyone on that team who has this year taken FULL responsibility for a big loss. And as for the maniacal drive? James consistently fails in the clutch. Wade looks dreary-eyed all the time, and Bosh looks lost. They have all the talent to get there but unless they step up and demonstrate these three things, they will never be all they can be.
So as for you, you’ve got a choice to make in your own leadership. You can do very well on your own. Be an all-star, MVP kind of person who dazzles on your own. Or, you can choose to be known for how well you better the people on your team. The latter yields the best rewards, and causes you to make huge impacts on people's lives.
The best player could earn an MVP award.
But the most valuable team always wins the championship.
1. Passion. There isn’t a team as emotionally bonded or fired up as the Boston Celtics. They are fiercely competitive, highly aggressive, and unafraid to go up against anybody. While many fans of basketball dislike them for this reason, it’s one of the reasons I like them as a team. They play like the care for eachother and the game. Recently, when Kendrick Perkins got traded the whole team was devastated. The night they lost Perkins, they were unfocused in their game, their minds clearly on their beloved friend. Most teams would not have been as emotional, would not have felt so much because this is a business of the NBA. But not these Celtics. They choose to feel, choose to never look at eachother as pawns but as friends and teammates who are helping eachother get to the top. That’s admirable.
2. Responsibility. You can discover whether someone has leadership ability by their high sense of responsibility. Derrek Rose of the Chicago Bulls fits the bill here. I have a lot of praise for this kid that I’m even older than! He was the only noteworthy player in the NBA who did not make a plead for Lebron James to come to Chicago. Of course that effected James as he wants to be wooed, wants to be groveled over. But not Rose. He understands that his role as a leader is not to attract some superstar to Chicago, but to make his old and new teammates better. He’s done this. And worthy of saying, last week when the Bulls lost to the Hawks, he took full responsibility for the loss. When they win, he’s praising someone else on his team. And that’s a leader, the high road that you dont see Lebron take. Leaders accept the blame when things go wrong and defer the praise to their team when things go right.
3. Maniacal drive. That’s just the best way that I can describe it. Leaders who do something appear to be and act obsessed with winning and will find a way no matter what. This is absolutely essential for a leader. Take Kobe Bryant of the Lakers, who has lead his team to three consecutive NBA finals and won the last two. While I don’t always agree with the way he treats his teammates, it’s undeniable that he has a fire that few people in the league have. Boston also has this drive, as I read recently in an article something interesting about Rajon Rondo. In a game against the Heat, Lebron was scoring all over the place. Rondo was angry and with that maniacal drive, he went to his coach and requested to be put on Lebron. Even though Rondo was overmatched in every sense of the word, he took him on and did a great job, enough to get the victory for the Celtics. There is a fire in a leader’s eyes, as well as his team’s. It drives them and puts them up against the greatest of obstacles. They are the ones down by 20 with 3 minutes left who don’t believe that they can win, but know that they will win.
You might have noticed, but nobody on famed Miami Heat squad is showing any of these characteristics right now(and that's sad). As far as passion, nobody on that team seems to care about eachother other than the fact that there are superstars on the same team. In regards to responsibility, I beg someone to show me anyone on that team who has this year taken FULL responsibility for a big loss. And as for the maniacal drive? James consistently fails in the clutch. Wade looks dreary-eyed all the time, and Bosh looks lost. They have all the talent to get there but unless they step up and demonstrate these three things, they will never be all they can be.
So as for you, you’ve got a choice to make in your own leadership. You can do very well on your own. Be an all-star, MVP kind of person who dazzles on your own. Or, you can choose to be known for how well you better the people on your team. The latter yields the best rewards, and causes you to make huge impacts on people's lives.
The best player could earn an MVP award.
But the most valuable team always wins the championship.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
"The End of the Start" MO Trip pt. 4
The Holy Spirit has been all over the map this week at camp, but if you connect the places that He has landed it all makes for a well thought out journey that is going somewhere!
Not once have I preached a message that I initially thought I was going to preach on that specific day. There were switches, new revelation, multiple shifts in services...and all of it headed towards Friday to finish off a week that really began yesterday when camp ended.
On Thursday night I preached on "Do you know God, or just know about Him?" I told them that a generation who doesn't know their God will not stay committed to Him. I told them that in my opinion, the greatest passage of Scripture for evangelism is found in Song of Solomon chapter five. I explained why. Ask me about it if you are intrigued as to why.
That night ended in worship and just drawing close to God. We ministered to the Lord that night!
Friday morning PK and I tagged team and talked about word and generational curses, and we all broke them off of our lives. With especially the stronghold of broken families so prevalent in Aurora, this was extremely important and a new spiritual generation was born that would not repeat the mistakes or engage in the sin of generations prior.
Friday night was a prayer and prophetic night, and it was awesome! We worshipped, flowed in the prophetic, prayed over eachother...and at the end the teenagers gave testimony as to what God did in their lives. A beautiful ending!
I can honestly say this was one of the most stretching and memorable experiences of my life. Never have I spoken so many times in such a short timespan. The Holy Spirit provided the grace and the strength to do so. The testimonies of the teenagers were so impactful, freedom from all kinds of chains and an ignition of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I'm excited for COTRA and all that God has for their church.
I asked their lead pastor before I left what his vision for Aurora was. He simply said "To own it".
And 45 young people who are in love with God and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit are ready to come alongside.
Not once have I preached a message that I initially thought I was going to preach on that specific day. There were switches, new revelation, multiple shifts in services...and all of it headed towards Friday to finish off a week that really began yesterday when camp ended.
On Thursday night I preached on "Do you know God, or just know about Him?" I told them that a generation who doesn't know their God will not stay committed to Him. I told them that in my opinion, the greatest passage of Scripture for evangelism is found in Song of Solomon chapter five. I explained why. Ask me about it if you are intrigued as to why.
That night ended in worship and just drawing close to God. We ministered to the Lord that night!
Friday morning PK and I tagged team and talked about word and generational curses, and we all broke them off of our lives. With especially the stronghold of broken families so prevalent in Aurora, this was extremely important and a new spiritual generation was born that would not repeat the mistakes or engage in the sin of generations prior.
Friday night was a prayer and prophetic night, and it was awesome! We worshipped, flowed in the prophetic, prayed over eachother...and at the end the teenagers gave testimony as to what God did in their lives. A beautiful ending!
I can honestly say this was one of the most stretching and memorable experiences of my life. Never have I spoken so many times in such a short timespan. The Holy Spirit provided the grace and the strength to do so. The testimonies of the teenagers were so impactful, freedom from all kinds of chains and an ignition of the Holy Spirit in their lives. I'm excited for COTRA and all that God has for their church.
I asked their lead pastor before I left what his vision for Aurora was. He simply said "To own it".
And 45 young people who are in love with God and moving in the power of the Holy Spirit are ready to come alongside.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
"Fire and Love" Pt. 3
Hello everyone!
I havent blogged in a couple days but two evening services have passed. Wow! God is rocking us to the core.
Tuesday night I spoke on the mantle of Elijah and how that mantle has floated throughout history, waiting for a generation to pick it up -- a generation that will honor their parents and leaders that would give healthy succession of revival. I instructed the students to form into a fire tunnel and one by one, the pastors of the house took a teenager aside. Each would take the mantle and hold it close to their heart while receiving prayer and blessing from their pastor, and then the pastor would symbolically place a red mantle over them and send them into a fire tunnel of radical young people! It was incredible.
Yesterday morning I taught a session on the prophetic, and it was so beautiful! They were amazed to realize that God can and wants to speak to them. By the end of the session, many had given their first prophetic word as we had lined people up and asked Holy Spirit to speak about them!
Last night was a shift from the fiery services we've had to my favorite thing to speak about: the Love of God. I talked about love vs. fear and how God desires to draw us close to Him, but the fear of the devil tells us we need to stay at a distance. But the fear of the Lord draws as close, not keeps us far! We had an altar call for salvation, and then we prayed for 4 specific areas over the course of about and hour: healing from broken families, seeking fulfillment in relationships, depression, and insecurity. Each call I had young people raise their hands and become surrounded with people who would pray for the love of God to invade and heal. Seeking God's face continued even after the band stopped playing!
It's been quite an amazing week! This has been personally stretching for me as I've never spoken this often in this short amount of time, but there is a grace for it. I'm feeling really tired today but my spirit is anticipating God yet again kissing us with His presence. I really feel like I'm coming back to Ohio a different person!
Love each of you and miss you terribly. MO is wonderful but there is no place like home where YOU are!
I havent blogged in a couple days but two evening services have passed. Wow! God is rocking us to the core.
Tuesday night I spoke on the mantle of Elijah and how that mantle has floated throughout history, waiting for a generation to pick it up -- a generation that will honor their parents and leaders that would give healthy succession of revival. I instructed the students to form into a fire tunnel and one by one, the pastors of the house took a teenager aside. Each would take the mantle and hold it close to their heart while receiving prayer and blessing from their pastor, and then the pastor would symbolically place a red mantle over them and send them into a fire tunnel of radical young people! It was incredible.
Yesterday morning I taught a session on the prophetic, and it was so beautiful! They were amazed to realize that God can and wants to speak to them. By the end of the session, many had given their first prophetic word as we had lined people up and asked Holy Spirit to speak about them!
Last night was a shift from the fiery services we've had to my favorite thing to speak about: the Love of God. I talked about love vs. fear and how God desires to draw us close to Him, but the fear of the devil tells us we need to stay at a distance. But the fear of the Lord draws as close, not keeps us far! We had an altar call for salvation, and then we prayed for 4 specific areas over the course of about and hour: healing from broken families, seeking fulfillment in relationships, depression, and insecurity. Each call I had young people raise their hands and become surrounded with people who would pray for the love of God to invade and heal. Seeking God's face continued even after the band stopped playing!
It's been quite an amazing week! This has been personally stretching for me as I've never spoken this often in this short amount of time, but there is a grace for it. I'm feeling really tired today but my spirit is anticipating God yet again kissing us with His presence. I really feel like I'm coming back to Ohio a different person!
Love each of you and miss you terribly. MO is wonderful but there is no place like home where YOU are!
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
"Monday, July 9th" MO Trip Pt. 2
In case you were especially observant and noticed the title of this blog, yes I do know that yesterday was in actuality July 5th and not the 9th. But it might as well of been because last night at the camp service, it was like something you'd expect on the last day of camp: everyone (and I do mean everyone) engaged in radical worship, teenagers praying and prophesying over each other, bondages falling off...it was pretty intense!
Things started off with a prayer session. I could tell that there were some hungry kids as they went after it and prayer, but some seemed to have let the heat and business of the day slow them down a little. Worship began and the first three songs was good, but once we got into "Healer", things began to get crazy.
Something in the atmosphere shifted and intense worship broke forth, and Ken whispered over to me "Why not now"? I went up there and began to exhort on how we need to stop just thinking that God can and believe that God will! So we began to pray over the sick and hurting.
The band, named Fuller's Field, played Revelation Song and How He Loves back to back, which was amazing! I sat everyone down after that and preached for 10 on Elijah at Mt. Carmel and the falling of fire. I told them to bring whatever plagues them to the altar, and let the God who answers by (fire) change be God and destroy every work of the devil! So we began to pray over the students.
Pastor Ken got up soon after and began to exhort about how the violent take it by force and that should be demonstrated in our worship.
So we continued in radical, violent, free worship.
Later I released them to pray love and joy over eachother, to prophesy and build up eachother! There was just such a radical sense of His joy in the place!
I wasn't planning to preach for only 10 minutes, but who cares? I stated in my first blog that I just want to see what Holy Spirit is doing and run with that. As a minister I want to be a steward of God's presence, not a preacher with an agenda. To be used less is actually to be used more! When you let God work outside of your help, things can really get crazy.
The hunger in their eyes as I told them we have 4 more days to pursue God was amazing to behold.I'm looking forward to what God will continue to do over these next four days! So I know that it wasn't July 9th, but I'm glad that God made what we thought would be the ceiling the floor of all that is to come!
Things started off with a prayer session. I could tell that there were some hungry kids as they went after it and prayer, but some seemed to have let the heat and business of the day slow them down a little. Worship began and the first three songs was good, but once we got into "Healer", things began to get crazy.
Something in the atmosphere shifted and intense worship broke forth, and Ken whispered over to me "Why not now"? I went up there and began to exhort on how we need to stop just thinking that God can and believe that God will! So we began to pray over the sick and hurting.
The band, named Fuller's Field, played Revelation Song and How He Loves back to back, which was amazing! I sat everyone down after that and preached for 10 on Elijah at Mt. Carmel and the falling of fire. I told them to bring whatever plagues them to the altar, and let the God who answers by (fire) change be God and destroy every work of the devil! So we began to pray over the students.
Pastor Ken got up soon after and began to exhort about how the violent take it by force and that should be demonstrated in our worship.
So we continued in radical, violent, free worship.
Later I released them to pray love and joy over eachother, to prophesy and build up eachother! There was just such a radical sense of His joy in the place!
I wasn't planning to preach for only 10 minutes, but who cares? I stated in my first blog that I just want to see what Holy Spirit is doing and run with that. As a minister I want to be a steward of God's presence, not a preacher with an agenda. To be used less is actually to be used more! When you let God work outside of your help, things can really get crazy.
The hunger in their eyes as I told them we have 4 more days to pursue God was amazing to behold.I'm looking forward to what God will continue to do over these next four days! So I know that it wasn't July 9th, but I'm glad that God made what we thought would be the ceiling the floor of all that is to come!
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