Here are my son’s New Years Goals (as he told them to Lindsey in his exact
words… remember, he is 3):

-Playing frisbee
-Coloring better
-How to paint
-Making grapey-grape juice (just like Wubsy)
-Go to sleep in my big boy bed
-I want to be better, Just like Jesus
-Tickling

I think that these goals are just fine & dandy…I am proud of Greyson for his goals…I think that they are better resolutions than yours (although I am slightly bias)!  And, I love  that his final goal is simply “tickling!”

I’d like you to imagine that you are about to attend one of the most important occasions of your life.

It will be held in a room sufficiently large to seat all of your friends, your family, your business associates—anyone and everyone to whom you are important and who is important to you. Can you see it?

The walls are draped with deep golden tapestries. The lighting is subdued, soft, casting a warm glow on the faces of your expectant guests. The chairs are handsomely upholstered in a golden fabric that matches the tapestries. The golden carpeting is deeply piled.

At the front of the room is a dais, and on the dais a large, beautifully decorated table with candles burning at either end.

On the table, in the center, is the object of everyone’s attention. A large, shining, ornate box. And in the box is … you! Stiff as the proverbial board.

Do you see yourself lying in the box, not a dry eye in the room?

-From The E-Myth Revisited

I truly believe that there is life after death…that eternity is a reality…and that what we do in this life actually matters…especially what we do (or don’t do) when it comes to the person of Jesus! Still, when I imagine the end of my earthly life, I really do wonder, “What will they say when I am dead?”

Think about it for yourself! What are the things that matter most in life? What do you want people to say about you? Do you have a life plan?

Although I tend to not like Christmas music, I do love winter themed songs. Here is my winter 2011 & 2012 playlist.

I was born in the little town of Bethlehem (Pennsylvania that is); therefore, I grew up in a family that brainwashed me into being a Penn State University fan (kind of…really, I am a Steelers fan)! So, when SportsCenter reported the firing of Joe Paterno the other night (11 9 11)…I was shocked, angry, disappointed, and confused…and yet, I realized that there is a huge need for justice and redemption (considering that this entire situation is MUCH bigger than football)!

After much reflection and prayer, I have come to the conclusion that the ultimate problem with this entire situation was a lack of action and a lack of genuine love! For those of us who are followers of Jesus, we MUST be people who take action against injustices (this should flow out of our genuine love for God and others)!

One of my all time favorite scripture passages is:

“If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.” -James 4:17

A famous quote that echoes the theme of this passage is:

We can’t be content with simply not doing bad things! We need to be people of action…people who notice injustices, suffering, and brokenness around us and actually DO something about it! Tragedies and injustices (like the PSU scandal) should break our hearts and remind us to be people who take action when we see injustice…we can’t just pass the responsibility off to others to handle the injustices that we see around us!

Are your eyes open to brokenness around you? Are you taking action against the injustices that you see? Are you genuinely loving those whom God puts in your path? Will you be someone who stands up against evil and injustice?

Here is the best blog post that I’ve seen about this PSU Scandal:

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2011/11/12/love-notices-wet-hair/

Oh…and by the way, I married into a family of Michigan State University fans….and I think that I am finally switching my allegiances…GO SPARTY!

Check it out here!

He asks a series of questions that could be helpful to anyone who wants their life to be significant:

What if your own life was so engaging that entertainment seemed boring? I mean what if you were involved in projects that so captivated you that turning on the television would be a distraction from your real life? Can you imagine such a possibility?

The elements of a meaningful story are the same as the elements of a meaningful life:

1. A character.

2. That knows what they want.

3. And is willing to overcome conflict.

4. To get it.

Do you know exactly what you want and why? And do you appreciate or bemoan the conflict you endure? Is your story more interesting to you than television? Is all of life boring or is just your life boring? Do you believe you can make changes that will make your life more interesting?

Just some food for thought on this Tuesday morning!

As a parent who is a follower of Jesus, I have to be pumped that Grey loves the Bible; yet, I am a little worried that he fell asleep before he finished the creation story!

I am sitting here freezing my butt off at Starbucks (my current church office). Word on the street is that Starbucks keeps the temperature turned down so that people don’t stay too long…and so that they can serve more customers (and make more money). I am determined to not let the temperature force me to leave (or buy more hot coffee)!

One of the benefits of working out of Starbucks…besides enjoying good coffee with Bridgers (people who are “Gospel Partners” @ The Bridge Church), is that I get to meet interesting people in the community and invest in relationships with people who are not Christ followers! Just this morning, I had a great convo with a guy who knows all about the church culture (was around North Point Community Church at their inception), who has been burnt by dysfunctional churches (and pompous church leaders), who is in desperate need of a genuine gospel community! Conversations with people like this guy make the frostbite I’m getting at Starbucks well worth it!

Even though this scenario took place when I was in the midst of puberty, I know today that there is a lot of wisdom in learning from the mistakes (and successes) of others. Throughout my life, I have tried my best to be someone who learns from the mistakes and failures of others (not just my own). When I was in middle school and high school, I learned from the mistakes of others as I watched many people around me spiral out of control in relational/dating turmoil. While in college I have saw many folks get caught up in the party scene and make choices that were quite regrettable. Trust me, I have had to learn from plenty of my own mistakes/failures as well!

As a pastor, I have developed a hobby of checking out churches and trending their success and failures (at least in numerical growth and decline). It is fascinating to me why some churches grow exponentially and others limp along with the same 50 to 100 people warming the pews of their building! If I apply my middle school method of “learning from the failures of others,” I must take a close look at what the churches who are in decline are missing and why they are not experiencing gospel growth! My initial questions for declining churches are, “Are the individual members of these churches passionate about The Gospel and missional impact?” and “If they are passionate, How are they striving to live out and share their faith?” By asking theses questions, I simply want to encourage my church community and others who have put their faith in Jesus to take an individual look at how God is using them to make a missional impact in this world! Here is a great tool from Josh Howerton’s blog to help encourage Christians who truly want to live out the Gospel and make an impact for the kingdom of God!

I also came across a couple interesting blog posts by Tony Morgan about churches in decline. I definitely think that this graph (attached below) is organizational gold! These 5 attributes of churches in decline can help your church leadership “learn from the mistakes of others” by considering the flip side!

Here is how we can flip these attributes upside down and examine our own churches organizational potential for gospel growth. Ask yourself these 5 questions that correlate with the above graph:

1. Do we have clarity of mission and vision (can people within our church body embrace and remember the vision of our church)?
2. Do we have a concise strategy to help newcomers become fully devoted followers of Christ (and what is that strategy)?
3. Is our structure too complex (where are we experiencing vision drift/leakage because we are trying to do too much)?
4. What is our connection to the surrounding community (are we really outward focused or do we just say we are)?
5. Do we have competent leadership (are they wrecked by the gospel? are they trustworthy? are they wholeheartedly committed to the vision and the church body)?

Obviously, you could do all of these things organizationally and still miss the point. Every healthy/growing church is growing because of the favor and blessing of God! As the people of God seek Him in prayer, great things happen! It is my fear that we minimize the work of God to formulas and a simple list of organizational questions…I have seen churches do this, and I want to learn from their mistakes as well! Maybe if you keep reading my blog you can learn from my mistakes too!