God speaks to me. Sometimes it feels like the Sixth Sense, “I see dead people.” But I hear from the Lord. I bet if you were to really think about it, you do to. Everyday He whispers to my heart what I need to learn for that day. What I have found is that many times, I’m just not listening.

We just got back from our annual summer retreat, Coram Deo--which was AMAZING! This was my 12th Coram Deo... I started to think back to my first one. How old I was, what was happening in my life, what was happening in my heart, my dreams, passions, sin patterns I was overcoming, etc... For the last few days I have started to relearn what God spoke to my heart a long time ago. My original call, my original dream, my original passion... I just felt like I needed to post this question:

WHAT ARE YOU (RE)LEARNING??

Do you need to remember what God did in your life all those years ago like I do? Have you gotten off track at all? Have your dreams come true? Do you have new dreams?

Tonight was the second annual 180 Awards... this is a night we do to celebrate the great choices people are making with their lives. I wanted to share a couple of reflections from the night.

I was reading in Exodus a few minutes ago and came across an interesting verse so I looked it up in the KJV.

Exodus 16:33-34 [KJV] And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations. As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Now let me give you a few notes about this verse that are interesting to me. 1) An omer is a tenth of an ephah--approximately a tenth of eight gallons. I just think it’s interesting that God would tell Moses who delegated to Aaron to set aside a tenth of the manna they were given. 2)They took that omer of manna and “laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.”

Testimony in this verse is not referring to the ark of the testimony (ark of the covenant). Honestly I have not done enough homework on this to know any other representation that this could be except for the fact that testimony in this verse literally means: to bear witness or evidence. So this manna was set aside to bear witness as evidence of what God did for generations to come. It was a silent reminder of who God is and what He has done.

Here is my point. Tonight was successful not just because we had a Christian outreach and 40-50 people gave their lives to the Lord. But tonight we honored people who have laid up their lives before the Testimony. See we give testimony’s but tonight was a night to honor living testimonies. People who don’t have to use words but their lives are a testimony, a silent reminder, of who God is in their life. This post is a shout out to all the winners, to all the nominees, and mostly this is a shout out to everyone who was neither... It takes only the truest of living testimonies to actually be happy for someone else who is being honored. To those who looked past their insecurities and possible jealousy’s of the winners and nominees, you were the true heroes and living testimonies this evening, Congratulations!

I came across a website today called Prayers For Blowouts by Brian Allain. The tagline on the website says, “Celebrating Sports, Faith, & Funny since David Upset Goliath.” I think I found a guy that can really speak my language... a site about sports, christianity, and humor!

If you have been following the NFL lately you would know that the Dallas Cowboys have traded TO... I had to repost what Brian wrote on his site today:

PFB Micro-Sermon: Philemon 1:11

The PFB Micro-Sermon: where we take a Bible verse, add a dash of sports, and whip up a sermon in 100 words or less.

“Formerly he was useless to you, but now he has become useful both to you and to me.” - Philemon 1:11

The “he”: Terrell Owens. He’s taking his muscular physique and below-average hands to North America and the home of the tastier chicken wing.
The “you”: The Dallas Cowboys, who were not going to win as long as T.O. and his me-first attitude were clogging the vibes in the Dallas locker room. Now that he’s gone, look for Tony Romo to be the leader everyone expects him to be. (and look for Miles Austin to replicate T.O.’s production with ease.)
The “me”: The Buffalo Bills, who are now relevant in the AFC East again. Does this make them a playoff team? Probably not. Does it make them winners? Definitely not. Does it make them a story? Absolutely.
Dick Jauron, meet thy life verse.

My grandpa is an avid story-teller, I think that is where I get it... I love to tell stories. What inevitably happens is as I perfect my stories my friends end up hearing the same stories over and over again. A few years ago I came up with a book idea, that I would call: “Stories My Friends Have Heard a Thousand Times”. It would include classics like the one-armed monkey in China, or the infamous Huck’s Now story... Each story would relate to or illustrate a spiritual lesson I have learned throughout my life--creating stories and memories and just plain loving the life I live.

This last Sunday I encountered a new story as myself and ten others traveled across the Atlantic to Scotland on a Mission Trip. After twenty-four hours of traveling we arrived, exhausted in the international airport in Edinburgh. We wandered off of the plane, excited, smiles cracking though our worn out faces. I’m sure we were quite a site with our greasy, matted hair from trying to sleep on the flight over, fighting with our carry-on luggage as we try to remember where we placed our passports. The maze of hallways opens up into the most intimidating room in any airport--passport control.

I have had the privilege to travel quite frequently over the last ten years of my life so when my wife Sarah and I were summoned forward from the long line of wearied travelers I walked forward in confidence. I’ve been drilled by many immigration agents before so, I casually answered each question honestly... I felt like a professional baseball player in the batting cages, questions being hurled hurled at me every few seconds from a virtual border control machine. I found out later that she was the Chief Immigration Officer (CIO) at that airport, let me tell you, she is good at her job. This woman, who I am still not sure has the actual ability to smile, started off with the usual questions...


CIO: Why are you here in the UK?

Me: Uhh, we’re here to hang out with some friends in the city, probably see the castle...

CIO: Who are your friends?

Me: Mike Laberge and Tony, they work with a local church here in town...

CIO: What are you doing for the church?

Me: Volunteering in some soup kitchens to feed the homeless, possibly help with some services...


At this point in the conversation she pulled back obviously thrown off by something I had said. She quickly leaned forward again as she gathered her thoughts and told us that as of November 2008 Scotland had passed some new legislation where anyone coming into their country to volunteer with any charitable organization would have to obtain a work visa. Basically what that means is as a citizen of the United States of America you can stay in Scotland for six months as a tourist with no visa but if you want to do any sort of charity work on your own dime, you have to obtain a work visa! UNBELIEVABLE!!! She asked how many people were with us and asked us to move over to the side. At this point I blurted out, “Ma’am this a mission trip it’s not that big of a deal.” One of our team members had actually already made it through another immigration agent and already had her passport stamped. After the CIO confiscated our passports, another agent escorted us to get our bags and privately reassured us, “There shouldn’t be any problem for you to get through, she’s just making too big of a deal about this.” This legislation is in place to prevent illegal immigration into Scotland which we obviously were not trying to do because we already had purchased return tickets.

Nearly Sixty minutes had gone by, nervously we waited for an assured verdict, we couldn’t possibly be denied because we wanted to volunteer in a soup kitchen with a church could we? Finally the CIO returned with a pile of paperwork... she was denying us access to cross the border into the UK. I pleaded with her, “You have got to be kidding me, isn’t there anything you can do?!” She retorted, “I’m the CIO, it is my decision to make. You will be on the next flight back to the US tomorrow morning.” She promptly turned around and walked through the double doors and had her agents start to take each of our finger prints.

At this point I asked an agent to get the CIO to come back out because I wanted to speak with her. Thirty minutes later she appeared from the bat cave (I bet you didn’t know that Immigration Agents are actually super-heroes)... Again I pleaded, “Ma’am there has got to be some kind of a misunderstanding. Can’t you make an exception? The only reason you even knew about this was because I was honest with you. If it’s that big of a deal we won’t volunteer at all.” She stated that she had no discretion to make an exception and that her hands were tied because we had stated our true intentions. I jumped at the opportunity, “Then can I speak to your superior?” She replied, “I am the CIO I don’t have a superior.” Smirking in disbelief I said, “Everybody has a superior I want to speak to yours.” She told me that her superior was the Prime Minister. I asked for his number at which point I saw the first smile cross her face, she laughed at me... “No one has his number.” Obviously I’m not naive enough to believe that I would actually talk to the prime minister but it gives you a picture of how ridiculous our conversation was.

Meanwhile, our team, disappointed but in good spirits kept talking and laughing, enjoying ourselves despite the situation. We believed we were supposed to go on this trip. When we weren’t praying under our breath for a miracle, we were talking with the other agents, asking their names and finding out when they got off of work that day... You could tell that each of them were empathetic toward our case. One by one we were brought back to the bat cave to get our finger prints taken, the agents apologizing profusely about what was going on.

Nearly three hours had passed and we were awaiting the final “ok” for us to be able to leave the airport until 8:00 am the next morning. The CIO finally emerged one last time from the bat cave to bring us this news... “We could only get you to New York City tomorrow...” she paused. My mind was racing, fuming, they weren’t even going to get us to our final destination! Hesitantly she continued, “So you do not have to be back until 8:00 am on Wednesday morning.” A sigh of relief went through the entire group as I looked at her in the eyes and said a heartfelt, “Thank you.” She quickly responded with a dead panned face, “Don’t thank me, thank your airline. If it were up to me you’d be leaving today.” Thus confirming the miracle we were praying for.

Maybe the Lord didn’t change her mind, maybe we weren’t staying the whole time anymore, but it was indeed a miracle! God couldn’t change her mind (a little thing called free-will) but he could go around her!!!

Stories My Friends Have Heard a Thousand Times... so, what’s spiritual lesson? Maybe it’s the power of prayer... or that miracles still happen... maybe it’s the danger of bureaucracy without discretion--we follow the letter of the law hurting innocent people (like the Pharisees and Sadducees did in Jesus’ day). Maybe it’s about trusting God when our plans change, or not ruining your testimony by having a bad attitude when unfair circumstances arise... Maybe, just maybe, the lesson should be left up to the interpretation of the reader...

Whatever the case, when things don’t necessarily go your way, my hope and prayer is that you can enjoy the moment, believing that God is going to do his thing despite the circumstances...

Oh, by the way, our story has made it’s way to Parliament, and the press within less than twenty-four hours of our departure. I have been contacted personally by a reporter at a major newspaper in Scotland. in fact as I was just writing this he called me to ask some questions about what had happened. BBC among other major newspapers have contacted Rev. Andrew Smith, the Superintendent of the Assemblies of God in Scotland for interviews regarding this situation. We have made history as the first mission’s team to ever be rejected from the UK, and according to the Assemblies of God, the first team to ever be rejected from modern day Europe. Not ashamed of the Gospel!

http://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/scotsol/homepage/news/article2295195.ece

On December 19 in 1843 we saw the publication of Charles Dickens, "A Christmas Carol." No other book or story (save the Bible) has been more enjoyed, criticized, referred to, or more frequently adapted to movies or other media. Some scholars have even claimed that in publishing A Christmas Carol Dickens single-handedly invented the modern form of the Christmas holiday in England and the United States.

G.K. Chesterton noted long ago, “With A Christmas Carol Dickens succeeded in transforming Christmas from a sacred festival into a family feast. In so doing, he brought the holiday inside the home and thus made it accessible to ordinary people, who were now able to participate directly in the celebration rather than merely witnessing its performance in church.

Dickens was one of the first to show his readers a new way of celebrating the old holiday in their modern lives. His Christmas celebrations of the Carol adapted the twelve-day feast for the upper class to a one-day party any family could hold in their own urban home. Instead of gathering together an entire village, Dickens showed his readers the celebration of Fred, Scrooge's nephew, with his immediate family and close friends, and also the Cratchits' "nuclear family": perfectly happy the way they were.

Dickens demonstrates that even in poverty, the winter holiday can inspire good will and generosity toward one's neighbors. He shows that the spirit of Christmas was not lost in the race to industrialize, but can live on in our modern world.

Here’s my thought for this Christmas… What do you need to do this year to celebrate what maybe feels like an old holiday in a new way?? Can the spirit of Christmas—the birth of Jesus, the greatest form of generosity our world has ever seen—live in our modern lives this year??

But the punch line to the book, is the very last sentence, which rarely fails to bring a tear to this historian:

It was always said of Scrooge, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!”

It’s never too late to celebrate Christmas in a new way in our hearts. How will you make this old tradition, new this year, even after the day itself?

I want to talk about one of my favorite stories in the Bible. It’s my favorite because of the person this story is about. See, I can relate to their story. This individual had a HUGE calling on their life. And they had some huge shoes to fill. The previous leader of Israel was a man by the name of Moses. He actually set the entire nation free after hundreds of years of slavery. Through God he received the 10 Commandments... twice. He literally spoke to God face to face as a man speaks to a friend. He led the Israelites in the desert by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. He split the Red Sea. He called manna and quail from heaven. And he had finally led them to the Promised Land after 40 years of walking in the desert.

Enter Joshua.
Joshua, although he has big shoes to fill, already has a pretty impressive resume. He was one of the 12 spies that went into the Promised Land 40 years ago. He was one of 2 that came back saying, yes there are giants but we can take em. He was Moses’ #2 and actually stayed in the tent of meeting when Moses spoke to God face to face. Joshua now takes over leadership of all of Israel. He’s pretty nervous about it. In fact the entire first chapter of the book that bears his name has sentence after sentence of God’s encouragement saying, Joshua, take courage, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you!

This entire book is full of the exploits of Joshua. We have rivers splitting (just like the Red Sea). We have giant 10 foot thick walls falling at the sound of trumpets and shouting. We have exploit after exploit of Israel victorious in battle. In one instance Joshua actually prayed for the sun to stop in the sky so Israel would have more daylight to win the battle.

Have I mentioned that I love Joshua!!! I want to take you to a particular spot in this story. It is one of the more famous stories in the Bible and it happens at a city by the name of Jericho.

As the Israelites gathered along the east bank of the flooded and swollen Jordan, they were closely watched by the people of Jericho, only a few hundred yards from the river's western shore. They had heard how the Lord had parted the Red Sea to allow the Israelites to escape the Egyptian army, and how He had helped them to utterly defeat the 2 Amorite kings east of the Jordan. In Rahab's own words, "When we heard of it our hearts melted and everyone's courage failed because of you for the Lord your God is God in heaven above and earth below." (Josh 2:11). Then the people of Jericho stood aghast as the God of Israel stopped the flow of the raging river, allowing them to cross on dry ground.
When Joshua sent 2 spies into Jericho they found their way to Rahab's home and sought refuge there, which she granted in return for their guarantee of safety for her and her family. They agreed and told her that if she marked her home with a scarlet cord, she and anyone in the house with her would be spared in the coming battle (Josh 2:12-21). On the day of battle the city was captured and everyone within its walls died, except for Rahab and her family. She had gathered her family in her home and marked it with the scarlet cord as they had agreed. Before burning the city to the ground, Joshua had the 2 spies go to Rahab's home and bring her and all her family out to dwell among the Israelites. (Josh 6:22-25).
By the way, can you picture this? Her house was built into the city wall, which of course came tumbling down at the shout of the Israelite army. Of all the massive stone work protecting the city of Jericho, only that portion containing the home of Rahab was left standing.
MAYBE YOU HAVE A SKETCHY PAST. YOU FEEL LIKE GOD COULD NEVER USE YOU. MAYBE YOU FEEL LIKE HE COULD NEVER ACCEPT YOU. MAYBE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE A LONG SHOT. AN UNEXPECTED HERO. MAYBE JOSHUA IS TALKED ABOUT OVER AND OVER AND OVER AND RAHAB JUST KEEPS GETTING PASSED OVER.
From that time on, Rahab dwelt with the Israelites. She married a man from the tribe of Judah named Salmon and had a son whom they named Boaz. Boaz took a bride from Moab named Ruth and they had a son named Obed, who had a son named Jesse who had a son named David who became King of Israel (Ruth 4:13-22). And 26 generations later, Matthew 1:5 says that Rahab is a part of the very genealogy of Jesus himself.

Hebrews 11:30-31 [NKJV]

30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they were encircled for seven days. 31 By faith the harlot Rahab did not perish with those who did not believe, when she had received the spies with peace.


Maybe you can relate to Rahab. Maybe you have this label that you can’t get past. Maybe you’ve stopped being a harlot but you haven’t moved into Israel. You’ve changed but you haven’t given everything up of your old life. Before we go any further I have to ask the question. To the unexpected heroes... Right now, would you perish with those who did not believe? Maybe in your heart you would say I believe. But Rahab received the spies in. She didn’t just believe, she took action. She left her old ways and became new. She no longer was a harlot but she lived with the Israelites. Have you been giving God lip service but haven’t put it into action? Belief needs action. Faith needs action. Simply put, have you put action to your faith??

As I listen to the story of Steve Wiebe I can’t help but think about another person who it felt like things never went their way.
He was born into a large family.  Actually he had many step-brothers who were all pretty important and he was at that time, the youngest. He was 17 and he was a dreamer. Actually he had a dream that he would one day rule over his brothers. His brothers were so mad that they actually sold him into slavery.  Slavery was very prevalent in that part of the world.
We’re talking about Steve Wiebe not catching a break and this dude is sold into slavery.
He is bought by a high and mighty government official in the most powerful nation at that time.  He started by doing basic household chores and eventually did so well that he was running the entire house. Just as things are looking up... he is sent crashing back down. His master’s wife cries sexual harassment and rape.  And this young man was thrown into prison--INNOCENT.  In prison he actually became the slave to the captain of the guard and started running the prison, but he was forgotten there for years. Remember though, he had a dream.  One day he would rule over his brothers. When it’s a God given dream, your outward circumstances no longer matter. It may appear hopeless but God is getting ready to do something beyond your wildest imagination.
One day he is called on by the highest official in the land because of a special and unique gift that he has.  No one else in the entire nation is able to do what this young man can do.  Not only does he have dreams but he interprets them too.  And this one was a doozy.  The entire country was about to face a 7 year period of plenty followed by a 7 year famine.
Genesis 41:29-41 [MSG]
Seven years of plenty are on their way throughout Egypt. But on their heels will come seven years of famine, leaving no trace of the Egyptian plenty. As the country is emptied by famine, there won't be even a scrap left of the previous plenty - the famine will be total. The fact that Pharaoh dreamed the same dream twice emphasizes God's determination to do this and do it soon. "So: Pharaoh needs to look for a wise and experienced man and put him in charge of the country. Then Pharaoh needs to appoint managers throughout the country of Egypt to organize it during the years of plenty. Their job will be to collect all the food produced in the good years ahead and stockpile the grain under Pharaoh's authority, storing it in the towns for food. This grain will be held back to be used later during the seven years of famine that are coming on Egypt. This way the country won't be devastated by the famine." This seemed like a good idea to Pharaoh and his officials. Then Pharaoh said to his officials, "Isn't this the man we need? Are we going to find anyone else who has God's spirit in him like this?" So Pharaoh said to Joseph, "You're the man for us. God has given you the inside story - no one is as qualified as you in experience and wisdom. From now on, you're in charge of my affairs; all my people will report to you. Only as king will I be over you." So Pharaoh commissioned Joseph: "I'm putting you in charge of the entire country of Egypt." 
We all know the rest of the story.  Joseph saved Egypt.  The famine was so great that it even affected those outside of Egypt and Joseph’s brothers who sold him into slavery all those years before had to come to Egypt to get food and bowed down before their brother.  
I love it when the underdog wins.  I love it when those that are down and out come out victorious.
There are a lot of underdogs reading this little article.  Many of you have been told that you will never make it as a Christian.  You’ve been told that you are wasting your life.  You’ve been told you’re not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough...
But deep in your heart there’s a dream.
There is more on the line than a DK title.  This is for the underdogs, the Steve Wiebe’s who have tried and NOTHING ever seems to work out. Don’t give up. I said this to someone last year before they came into MCRemix.  I looked at them and said, there are a lot of people that don’t believe you will even make it to the first day of this program. It’s a long shot at best for you to even make it the first day, let alone through the entire year.
BUT GOD LOVES UNDERDOGS!!!

I am a huge fan of the old school, classic arcade games.  I think of great games like Pac Man, Centipede, Galaga, and of course Donkey Kong. The other night I was vegging out and I started watching something that intrigued me.  You ever watch a show, that is so stupid but somehow you get sucked into it? It was a documentary called The King of Kong. It was a show about the beginning of professional gaming with the classics. It followed the lives of 2 particular individuals, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. Now Billy Mitchell is the World Record holder for PacMan (playing the first ever perfect game), DK Jr., DK, and Burgertime. If gamers can be celebrities Billy Mitchell is as famous as they can be. To quote his dad, "Billy Mitchell is a winner."
Now entering into the picture is Steve Wiebe.  Steve originally wanted to be a professional musician. He was smart, talented, athletic... but nothing has ever gone his way. He was in one of the original grunge bands in Seattle--went nowhere. Lead his team to the state finals in baseball and Steve couldn’t pitch because he had hurt his arm. Went to be an engineer at Boeing and was laid off the day he and his wife signed on their house. He’s come up short in a lot of things in his life.
Some of us can relate to that feeling, that no matter what we do, we feel like we can never get ahead. So Steve decided that he was going to beat the DK record.  He works and works at it and just can’t pull it off.  The record held by Billy Mitchell was over 874,000 and Steve’s record was only 829,000. 
Finally Steve breaks the record by becoming the first person ever to break 1,000,000 points.  He had recorded his game and sent it in to Twin Galaxies the organization responsible for competitive gaming.  They refused to accept his score and determined that the tape could be fraudulent.  (Interesting fact: Billy Mitchell is on the board that decides whether or not the tape is admissible.) So Steve, never able to catch a break flies down to play DK live to prove that he broke the record.  He finally gets the record only to have a tape submitted by Billy Mitchell breaking 1,000,000 accepted by Twin Galaxy and Steve Wiebe loses the record for the second time on a questionable occurrence.  Oh the melodrama...
What’s funny to me is this is about DK!!!!!
What a joke!
But I started to think about it... how often in my own life have I focused on something that meant a lot to me, that others around me thought was foolish?

There is almost an infatuation in many of our churches with miracles.  Now, I want to say that there is nothing wrong with that.  God is a God of miracles and I believe they are as much for today as they were hundreds and thousands of years ago.  I have been reading the book of Matthew with a new Scripture Project called The Voice.  (It's pretty awesome I recommend checking it out.)  
In Matthew Chapter 4 Lauren Winner gives a commentary that I thought was pretty good.  "Jesus doesn't work miracles out of the blue, for no reason, for proof or spectacle.  He works them in intimate, close places; He works them to meet people's needs and to show them the way of the Kingdom."
I have to be honest, I have always been uncomfortable with the traveling evangelist healer.  Not for the reason many people would probably think.  (Yes there are pre-madonnas who care more about the spotlight and bowls full of green M&M's.  But most evangelists are really down to earth, they're anointed men and women who are plain and simply being used of God.)  I have always been uncomfortable because thousands of people would show up to see a healer but they would never stay in the church.
Then I read this:  Matthew 4:25 "Large crowds from Galilee, from Jerusalem, from the ten cities called the Decapolis, from Judea, and from the region across the Jordan--these cripples and demonized and ill and paralytics came to Jesus, and He healed them, and they followed Him.
Did you catch that last line??  Many people have a real encounter with Jesus and continue to follow the man of God instead of the Son of God.  The Son of God is coming for his church... Maybe you're not following some evangelist healer but I want to ask you, WHO ARE YOU FOLLOWING??  If you say it's Jesus, are you plugged into a local church?  If not maybe you should really think about who you're following... Jesus is coming for his church.

I want to talk about an experience I had last night that just made me think about something in a different way.  My friend Casey walked out of our youth and young adult service to an atrocity on his car... Let me explain the situation. Casey just got a new car, it cost a good chunk of change and let's just say he is a little particular about--which he should be because he worked for it and when we work for something nice we should keep it that way.  A few students who love Casey  decided to stick fruit loops via a chocolate spread on his tires.  I am not condoning what they did nor am I saying it is right or wrong, it was their little way to say they love Casey.  What confirmed this to me is that this was done with extreme care not to do any permanent damage to the car--again I just want to reiterate we are not discussing whether this was right or wrong. Now I have to be honest this "atrocity" at first was really funny to me.  In fact I thought that he was joking about how serious he was with this experience and I laughed out loud.  [Anyone that has ever laughed out loud in a group of people that do not think it's funny, it's awkward to say the least.  Because "harmless" pranks are funny, unless they happen to us then they aren't as "harmless".]   But here's what I appreciate about Casey:  Instead of continuing to react emotionally, he made a choice to respond rationally.   Simply, he refused to let fruit loops ruin his night. 
Fruit loops take on many forms in our lives, and often they are placed there by well meaning individuals.  But may we take the road Casey did.  I read Matthew 5 yesterday and something stuck out to me... v.11 "And blessed are you, blessed are all of you, when people persecute you or denigrate you or despise you or tell lies about you [or put fruit loops on your tires--I added that in] on My account.  BUT WHEN THIS HAPPENS, REJOICE."
I want to ask us today, [right or wrong aside] when fruit loops invade will we be able to refuse to let them ruin our night??

Anyone going through a process of growth as a Christian will understand that it is a process indeed!  In fact in many circles you will hear the process of becoming more Christ-like compared to precious metal being refined in the fire.  
 In the simplest explanation refining a precious metal means lots of heat.  The metal is heated to a level that literally makes it unrecognizable from it's original form.  Something crazy then begins to happen: All the impurities begin to rise to the surface and are cleaned off to make the metal pure.
 If you are in a process of growth, a process of refinement, all your impurities will rise to the surface.  Things you thought were long gone will come out and force you to deal with it once and for all.  Many Christians so dislike this process that they cut it short.  All their impurities rise to the surface of their lives and they mistake that for a lack of growth.  OR maybe they actually believe they were worse off than before they made a decision to follow Christ at a deeper level.  At any case they have frozen their impurities on the surface of their lives because they failed to deal with those issues.
 Maybe you see this in some of your friends or family members, maybe you see this in yourself...  At any rate may those of us committed to becoming more Christ-like be encouraged... It takes time.  May we deal with the impurities that come to the surface of our lives so we can more reflect Him.   
AFTER ALL, WE'RE IN A PROCESS. 

Here is my final installment of my notes from Wednesday night with one final question...
In who does your sufficiency lie?
The second part of the definition of Inadequacy: General feelings of insufficiency.  Yesterday we talked about how often we don't feel good enough.  We don't feel worthy of our purpose.  We often put a lot of pressure on ourselves.  But what if that pressure was meant to be on God?
Who turned the staff into a snake?
Who turned Moses’ hand leprous?
Who turned water into blood?
Who caused the plagues?
Who split the Red Sea?
Who freed Israel?
Do you see a trend here??  Who will help you in your God-given purpose?  Your ability to fulfill your God-given purpose is in God and God alone! SOME OF YOU WANT TO BELIEVE THAT IT’S GOD BUT YOU’RE NOT QUITE THERE YET...
2 Corinthians 12:9-10 [NKJV]
And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 [NKJV]
And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
If our sufficiency lies in ourselves we will lose this mind game of inadequacy every time.  BUT... if we allow the Holy Spirit to move in our lives and let His grace be our sufficiency 2 Corinthians 3 says God will make us sufficient ministers of the new covenant.
Are you willing to leave your masquerade?
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
In who does your sufficiency lie?

We started by talking about those of us who deal with thoughts of inadequacy most are often the people who most seem to have it all together.  They are often extremely successful.  I ended my last post asking if you were willing to leave the masquerade?  Are you going to quit pretending that you don't have any problems with the mind game of inadequacy.  The second question I would like to ask is... 
Are you avoiding your God-given purpose?
You’ve heard God speak this to your heart.  Odds are it’s the very thing that gives you those feelings of inadequacy.  Often we don’t feel worthy.  Let me clue you in, we aren’t worthy.  We don’t deserve it.  So then we make excuses as to why we aren't doing what God has called us to do.  Typically people make excuses because they are either lazy or scared... So which are you? Lazy?? Or scared??
Maybe you strive to succeed, to be noticed in everything else but when it comes to this you make up every excuse you can to run away from it.  When he was in front of people Moses seemed like he had it all together, but behind closed doors, (in Exodus 4) when it was just him and God--he was a wreck.
Part of our definition of inadequacy is an inability to fulfill a given purpose.  Do you feel that you have an inability to fulfill your God-given purpose?

Tonight at 180 Remix we started a series called "Mind Games".  I talked about inadequacy and called it "Welcome to the Masquerade". After my first point the tornado sirens sounded and thus ended my message prematurely.  I wanted to post the rest of my notes on here for anyone who wants to hear the rest of it.  I'll post it in 3 parts over the next few days.
Some of the most successful people I know deal with feelings of inadequacy.
INADEQUACY: An inability to fulfill a given purpose; General feelings of insufficiency [Wikipedia]
The interesting thing about inadequacy is that these feelings typically cause people to be very driven and successful in their lives.  Thus may I say again, “Welcome to the Masquerade!”  See you may have everybody fooled into thinking you have it all together, but let me be really clear... I may not know where you are with this issue right now, but God does.  Those of us who deal most with this issue most deeply are probably those of us who nobody else would ever guess it.
Maybe you deal with inadequacy but instead of it pushing you to succeed you have the polar opposite effect--it cripples you to do anything of worth with your life.  This has the potential to be a very freeing night for a lot of us in this room.  This message will not change you--only God can do that... but in order for God to do so we have to be willing to leave our own little Masquerade.  So let me ask you...
Are you willing to leave your masquerade??
It is at that point when God can really begin to use you.  There was a man who was called of God.  (Maybe you can relate?)  He grew up in an affluent home.  He had all the workings of success.  In fact he was a leader.  However, he didn’t see what God saw in him.  He didn’t think the people God called him to lead would listen to him--he didn’t believe that he could make a difference.  God spoke to him... (Have you ever had God speak something to you?)  God told him to throw a stick on the ground and when he did it literally turned into a snake.  It’s like something out of David Copperfield.  Then God told him to pick it up by the tail and it turned back into a stick.  Then in case that wasn’t enough God told him to stick his arm inside of his shirt and when he took it out it was leprous like snow.  He put it back in his shirt and it was as healthy as before.  To top it all off God told him to get a cup of water out of the river and pour it out on the land, when the drops of water hit the ground they turned into blood.  True story.  Imagine what it must have felt like to watch God perform real miracles without doing anything at all but listening.
Exodus 4:10-17
Moses started as a leader... he was the son of Pharaoh--ruler of Egypt.  The Bible talks very little about his experiences in Pharaoh’s house but he had every natural opportunity to succeed.  He is confident and steps in immediately when he sees injustice.  He messes up and murders someone.  But this doesn’t throw him off.  He sees more injustice and immediately confronts it.  That doesn’t work and he runs away.  Maybe you’ve tried and nothing seemed to work out for you.  So now you don’t even bother because you feel inadequate.  Moses’ “feelings” were wrong... In fact in Acts 7:22 it says that he was, “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and deeds.”
It’s amazing to me how that happens.  You can continue to make excuses for why you can’t be used by God but it’s all, uhhh let me think of the word for it... GARBAGE!!  Hear this... there is no record of Moses’ speech impediment until after his feelings of inadequacy manifest themselves. The first time it is even mentioned is when God calls him. 
You can have every success in the world trying to fill that void but it will never be filled until you decide to leave your masquerade and allow God to move in your life.  

I want to talk about some things God created that I am thankful for... The Office, Chili’s Honey Chipotle Chicken Crispers, The Nintendo Wii, Vanilla Chai, & of course The Green Bay Packers.  (Ok, we are in AR, I’ll give it to you--The Razorbacks--even when they lose...badly.)  How about this--SPRING!  I am thankful that God created spring. If you haven’t noticed, maybe you’ve been in a cave, or a classroom or office with no windows that feels like a cave.  Spring is upon us.  And that is really amazing being in the Natural State.  I love being outside.  God's creation is beautiful isn't it?  I am amazed at the limitless beauty, not too mention creativity, that our earth possesses.  All created by God. 
Maybe you don't really believe that God created everything or maybe you just haven't thought about it that much.  To me it's not science or religion.  Rather science only proves that something so complex couldn't happen by accident.  Many Christians make the mistake of brushing off science as anti-God.  I don't know what could convince me more of His presence, seeing His creation or seeing the details of how perfectly everything fits together.
If you haven't read it Genesis 1 out of the Message is very powerful.  The Bible goes on to talk about how God was strolling through the garden of Eden and called out for Adam asking, "Where are you?"  It's almost as if Adam stood God up and God was like, "Dude, thought we were supposed to hang out."
SEE GOD CREATED THIS EARTH AND EVERYTHING IN IT FOR YOU.  But it was meant to be shared.  I love going out in the woods alone, but you know what is even more amazing?  Going on a hike with my wife or my friends or more importantly spending time with God.  Creation was designed to be an environment that built relationships.  Particularly that of the created and the Creator. THROUGH WHAT WAS CREATED WE SEE OUR CREATOR.  We see his love, his glory, his creativity, his complexity... We see his characteristics.  (Ro. 1:19-20 & Ps. 19:1-7). THIS EXPERIENCE CAUSES US TO REFLECT.  Many of my most memorable experiences with God have been out in the middle of what he has created.
I want to encourage you... on the next nice day where you have some free time.  Go outside, take a deep breathe, and get lost in what He created for you.  Experience His characteristics and reflect on that experience.  [I posted a video I found on youtube. It is a brief clip of BBC's Planet Earth which is utterly unbelievable.  It's only 4 minutes long, watch it if you have time.] CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

So much has happened since my last post. I have been on the road pretty consistently through all of February and so far in March. We also had mcremixlife where students came to visit MCRemix the discipleship training school I run. I am currently in Bulgaria as I write this. The main reason I have not been able to post is that I dislocated my shoulder for the second time and have been somewhat incapacitated. I have an appointment this Wednesday so I would greatly appreciate your prayers as I will probably have to have surgery to repair my shoulder so I can continue my active (by active I really mean competitive) lifestyle.
I will post the next few days on some of my thoughts about being in Bulgaria. It has been a wonderful trip and the Lord has given me some very memorable experiences--some of which I pray I never forget. Tomorrow I will be speaking at a youth leader seminar for youth pastors and leaders from all around the area of Bulgaria's capitol city, Sofia. I will share some of my notes from my first session as to allow for some feedback and interaction.

We've heard a lot about twenty-somethings in church culture as of late. The emergent church is taking off despite it's criticisms and is reaching this postmodern generation. Regardless of the culture clash between young and... mature, millennials vs. boomers, the up-and-coming vs. the slowing down... there is one thing that never changes between generations of twenty-somethings: We're all just trying to figure life out.

Who am I?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?

Every generation, when in it's own twenty-something, has wrestled with those questions. It is the age old battle of just being young and being human. We search for answers, look for our calling, and enter this huge world alone... Now I know what you're thinking, we don't really enter this world alone do we? You tell me. When you left home to become a man (or woman), maybe to go to college, maybe to start a career, maybe to start a family of your own, or maybe just to try and "figure life out" how did you feel? Maybe a mixture of excitement and fear combined with a little uncertainty? Your first step into the real world. Am I going to make it??

See many people believe that when you're 18 you're an adult, you're a man. Some people believe it's when you have a family of your own, you become a man. Still others believe that it's when you physically leave home that you become a man. There are many more thoughts and theories out there about manhood each based on our own experiences of growing up. So which one is right? Ha. I'm not arrogant enough to think I can actually answer that question. Maybe I can point you in a direction to answer that yourself.

The Pharasees (rigid individuals who are all about the specific details, the law) asked Jesus "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?" Jesus replied by asking them what the law of Moses said. They told him--of course they already new the answer to their question--as many of us do when we ask questions. Jesus then reference Genesis where it says, "For this reason shall a man leave his father and mother...and the two shall become one flesh." So we become men when we get married right?? Well what about the same reference of that to Christ and the church in Ephesians? Does that mean a man must leave his father and mother to follow Christ?? God is pro family right how could He split them up? Whoa, you're getting off track...besides that is not what that is saying. On a side note, I don't know about you but I've actually grown to appreciate and love my parents more since I've been gone. We're asking when does one become a man?

Abraham (the Patriarch of the Christian faith) left home when he was 75 years old. Our father... by many people's standards was not a man until he was 75 years old. He had no idea what he was supposed to do, where he was going, all he had was a promise. Sound familiar? He was the ultimate twenty-something. Can you imagine feeling like that for 75 years and NEVER getting a straight answer?! What if it wasn't about becoming a man, but it was just about following Jesus. What if becoming a man was about making your own decisions in Christ?

Luke 14:26-27 [MSG]
Anyone who comes to me but refuses to let go of father, mother, spouse, children, brothers, sisters - yes, even one's own self! - can't be my disciple. Anyone who won't shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can't be my disciple.

You may not know where you're going or how you're going to get there... but let me ask you are you a man (or woman)?