Channel Surfing

Have you ever found yourself on the couch, channel surfing in your blue snuggie looking for something “mindless” to watch on TV?  I’ve been finding myself in that position more often than not these days.  Nine times out of ten, I usually end up watching some buddy comedy or something with slap-stick nonsense. 

Last night I found myself in this situation.  Surfing through the DirecTV guide, until I landed on something so mindless that I just knew that it was the perfect choice for the evening.  That 2008 Academy Award snub: “Rambo.”  Granted, it was on AMC, so I was unable to get the full effect of what the director was trying to portray, but watching Sly Stallone hunt down some rebels with a bow and arrow sounded like the perfect end to a hard Tuesday.

About 45 minutes into the film, I heard seven words that redefined this movie for me.  It went from a classic “B” movie with all the explosions, poorly written dialogue, and horrendous acting into a movie with a message.  Just as I’m settled into a thoughtless euphoria, Sly mumbles out these profound words: “Live for nothing or die for something.”

That was it!  My night was over!  Are you kidding me!  What a powerful statement! 

My mind was racing for the rest of the night with the thought of this message.  How many of us in this world are “living for nothing?”  Maybe it’s a friend. A co-worker.  A family member.  These people feel like their life is full and complete, but at the end of the day, when they really look in the mirror to examine their hearts, they realize their lives are empty.

I unfortunately know a lot of people like that.  It may be a cheesy Christian cliché, but it really is true: we all have a “God-shaped hole” in our hearts.  We try to fill it with “stuff,” shallow relationships or anything that makes us temporarily happy.  These people are “living for nothing.”

In the end, though, it’s that “die for something” that is the real kicker.  Do you have anything in your life that you are willing to die for?  More importantly, are you willing to die for your faith?

You may not know who Cassie Bernall was, but you may know her story.  Cassie was a junior at Columbine high school in 1999.  On April 20^th of that year, two of her classmates stormed the school… armed. The two classmates knew that Cassie was that “Christian kid” in the school and put her faith to the test.  They held a gun to her head and asked her if she believed in God.  She said, “Yes.” They then took her life.  Cassie’s mom wrote a book, She Said Yes, that recounts the events of her daughter’s life and more importantly, the account of that fateful day. 

Cassie’s story lives on and she has stood as an example for the past 13 years as a person who really did “die for something.” 

Just Say “No”

For most people, Thanksgiving week tends to kick off the holiday season.  For others, the Christmas “season” started after Labor Day.  Personally, I love Thanksgiving, but it tends to be my last “big breath” before the rush of Christmas starts.  Parties, pageants, and shopping tend to occupy my mind and time.  I think things will only get worse this year with a baby.  This will be the first year that we’re actually doing Christmas cards.

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve been hearing a common theme this year from a variety of sources (churches, speakers, blogs, etc.).  That theme is, “It’s OK to say, ‘No.’”  I don’t know why, but that has really hit home with me in the past few weeks.  Maybe it’s because I’m working two jobs, am staying at home with my daughter two days a week, and giving guitar lessons on the side.  I’ve been very guilty of running myself ragged and I constantly allow myself to get pulled in 5 different directions.

I know it’s not healthy; for me or my family.  But I’ve managed to “justify” it by saying it’s, “just that season of ministry” or “it will get better.”  NEWS FLASH: it doesn’t!  There will always be something that comes up and next month may be busier than the last.  Things happen.  Things come up.

Last week, I felt God calling me to quit one of my jobs.  It was a part time job that was taking away a lot of time and energy from my other job and family.  It was tough, but I told my boss on Thursday that I wouldn’t be able to continue after the fall semester.  He agreed that it was the best move for me. 

Even though I’m still in the position for another month, I feel like a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  That freedom has come with the knowledge that it’s OK to say, “No” sometimes. 

As the busy Christmas season approaches, figure out what’s most important to you and do it.  Remember, it’s OK to say, “No.”  Do what’s best for you and your family.

I said this last year in my “Thankfulness” post: If you don’t take time out, God will force you to take time out.  Psalm 23:2 "He makes me lie down in green pastures..." Take it from me, take the “time out” before God makes you take one.  It’s less painful that way.

One Year Later...

It’s hard to believe that I started this blog one year and 50 posts ago.  A year ago, I lost my job and had a wife that was 6 months pregnant and heading into the holiday season.  I was hurt, frustrated and upset by the circumstances surrounding me.  There were so many thoughts going through my head that my friend, Ben suggested that I write them all down.  So I started “Relentless Discipleship.” 

This blog was the place that I could tell the world what God was laying on my heart; unapologetic and unfiltered. 

At the time I started “Relentless Discipleship,” my family was going through the deepest valley we had ever gone through.  We had no clue what God was doing.  I had uprooted our lives to take a youth ministry job, because I knew that God was calling us to do so and even after all the pain an hurt that we went through last year, I wouldn’t trade any of it.

Our church family may have abandoned us, but our Fuse Student Ministry family was there for us every step of the way.  Our families were there for us.  Our friends were there for us. They were all an answer to our prayers.  They assured us that God had a plan for our family, and He did. 

I never applied for a job yet I was contacted by 7 churches after I was let go.  I had interviews with each and six made me offers.  All of this happened in a matter of days.  In the end, we felt that Saint Paul was where God was telling us to go.

I am so glad to be on staff here at Saint Paul in Mount Prospect.  I am surrounded by a staff that puts God first.  I am daily encouraged and uplifted.  It’s a church where we all work together to accomplish the goal of building God’s kingdom.  We are so blessed with great congregation members and volunteers.  From the moment we came here, we knew that the God was doing great things here.

There are times I think about how things used to be: the late nights, the cross country trips, etc.  I miss those things, but I know now that God had a plan for me to be home more with my daughter.  As opposed to being at work 5 nights a week, I am only gone one or two AND I get to spend two days a week with my daughter.  That time has been the most precious thing of all.

This time last year, I though the world was caving in around me, but God had a plan for my life.  The path to get me to where I am today was painful, but I know that my family and I are spending more time together; time that we wouldn’t have had a year ago.

The holidays are creeping up, and for some people, they are tough times.  But I’m here to say that God has a plan for your life.  It may not be what you desire or what you think is best, but God’s plan is better than anything that you can come up with. 

You may not be able to see that today, but in a few years, you just might...

Taming The Tongue

Those that know me, know that I love to vacation in Disney World.  My parents own a house down there and my wife and I make a yearly pilgrimage to pay homage to the mouse every summer.  When we are down there, we attend a church called Real Life Church in Clermont, FL.  I had searched for a church to go to while on vacation in Florida for many years and came across this church by pure accident.  One of the things I like so much about Real Life is the preaching of Pastor Justin Miller.  In his messages, he’s not afraid to speak the truth in love, even if what he says may hurt yet be true.

When I’m not in sunny Florida, I find myself listening to his weekly sermons via the iTunes podcast.  This week, he talked about James 3 and how we need to tame our tongue.  This message hit me pretty hard.  I had a phone conversation with a pastor this week that was experiencing divisiveness in his church.  I also talked with a worship leader that is experiencing the same thing in his church.  It seems that gossip and slander are a theme in churches all across the country.

Pastor Justin emphasized verse 3 that we can tame so many different kinds of animals, but we can’t seem to manage to tame our own tongues.  We can charm snakes.  We can train killer whales with whistles and hand motions.  We can train elephants to stand on their hind legs.  We can do all these things, yet we still manage to put our foot in our mouth on a consistent basis.

He also went in to discussion about verse 4, how large, massive ships are steered by a small rudder.  The tongue is such a small part of our body, yet it can corrupt and control the rest of the body.  These days, our spoken words aren’t the only words that hurt.  The words and phrases we put on Facebook and Twitter also do major damage to the people around us.  They may not be spoken words, but they are powerful none the less.

Pastor Justin put out a good idea for those of us who struggle with this issue.  He said that we should use the 10 second rule.  In the 10 seconds before you say something, ask God is what you are about to say honoring to him.  Ask him to give you the right words to say in that situation.  Imagine if more people did that.  Imagine if more people actually thought about what they would say before they said it.  Imagine if people actually asked themselves, “Is this post God honoring” before they posted something on Facebook.

It was comforting for me to hear Pastor Justin’s message this week.  It let me know that there are churches across the country that have the same struggles. 

Do you need to implement a 10 second rule in your life?