money money money

i think (& Scripture teaches pretty plainly) God likes to fund His mission through people.

He doesn't have to, but that's the way He works it.

He blesses people with the money that He gives to them SO THAT they will be a blessing & bless others with that same money. so that they will be a blessing by funding God's mission in the world with that money He blessed them with.
then He blesses them with even more money. and so they give away more. and then God blesses them with more. and they give away more. etc... etc...
this all seems pretty straight forward to me.

i'm not a fan of the prosperity gospel. in fact i'm the opposite of a fan. whatever that is. i think it's not the gospel. i've made my thougths about that pretty clear before & i echo THIS on that topic.
but i realize that what i'm saying here & what the Bible teaches throughout borders on the line of "prosperity gospel".

i'm saying & i believe that Scripture teaches that God blesses me based on how i give. God blesses me with money in proportion to how i bless others with the previous money He blessed me with.

and i know the televangelists & prosperity gospel peeps may sound eerily similar as they get on TV & tell us to send them $1,000 and God promises to send them back $2,000 or something like that.

& maybe there's not a lot of difference between the 2 other than that Scripture seems to be talking to people who aren't trying to get rich off of giving back to God. it seems to be more about the motive in the heart. a desire to be a blessing. a heart like "sure, ok, You want to bless me more... then i'll just give away more." if you're giving for the purpose of getting rich... to exploit this system God has set up... i just don't know that it works that way.
pretty sure it doesn't.

but i'll be honest - i've been trying it out for a long time now - and still taking steps forward. i read God's promises about that and think "really, God? how far are you gonna go with this?" because so far the more we give, the more God backs up the dump truck of blessings and dumps more on us. you better believe that gives me the confidence and courage and faith to keep giving more and more... knowing that God promises to bless with more and more.

*but don't take my word for all this. it's a principle that God established. it's how God designed His world to work.

Paul writes about it eloquently. the context for this passage below is all about Paul talking to these peeps in Corinth about giving their money to the poor... funding God's mission in the world... blessing others with their money. as he's talking to them about giving he just wants to remind them about a principle...

⁶ "Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸ And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹ As it is written:

“They have scattered abroad their gifts to the poor;
    their righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰ Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹ You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

¹² This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³ Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, people will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else."

(2 Corinthians 9:6-13)

i don't think i can say it any more clearly than that.

it's as simple as SEEDS. if you have 10 seeds and plant 5 - do you have less or more than you started with? well, you have MORE of course. whatever you planted is going to grow and produce tons more of those seeds.
Paul says God designed giving & planting seeds to work the same.

wow.

obviously we don't believe that. or we would give like we planted.
how often do you see a farmer or a gardener plant 10% of his seeds and keep 90% for himself? he would be an idiot.
just sayin'

you PLANT seeds because that's what they're FOR. 
and you give away money because that's why you've been blessed with it. that's what it's FOR.

so, i just can't picture someone giving away all their money to bless others/fund God's mission & then God not blessing them with more to give away.
that's how He likes to fund His mission in the world.

everyone reading this blog is rich. no doubt. don't even argue. if you're sitting in front of a computer or phone or iPad with an internet connection reading this then you are RICH. and Paul says that the whole reason you've been made rich is "SO THAT you can be generous on every occasion!"

AND it's something that actually "accompanies your confession of the gospel." is that confession a little worthless without this generosity to accompany it?

i love the way Luke puts it:
"Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

i can remember my Mom and my Dad talking about this one a lot when i was a kid - they would compare it to the way you fit the most leaves into a trash bag. you can fit way more when you press it down, shake it together, etc... "you can't outgive God" they would say.

i don't think it matters how much money you have. just give. you've been blessed. bless others with it.
whether you make $100 a week or $1 million a week - be generous. give it away.

we are MESSED up when it comes to money. we are MESSED up bad.

it's good to make money. it's just dumb to keep it. who do you think God is going to bless with more money? the person blessing others/funding His mission with it or the person using it on themselves?
just sayin'.


as always, renown is a place for me to hash out some thoughts. take ideas and things in my head and actually process them. i fully recognize that i'm probly wrong about a lot of stuff. i would really like to know if i am WRONG in my thinking about this?
am i way off here?
i'm actually asking someone to point that out if i am. tell me.

(i'm not asking - do we live like we think this is true? - because NO! of course we don't. when we truly believe this we will give 90% and live on 10%.)

i'm just wondering if i'm crazy? i don't think so, but the crazy person never thinks he is.
do you feel me?
or you hatin?

what do you think?

new lungs & kingdom

God didn't make lungs to go bad and get all diseased like my Mom's did.

he made everything good.

and then it all got jacked up.

there's really 2 ages of time:
1) the one that's been going for thousands of years... it's the one that's jacked up. lungs go bad and people get really sick, etc...
2) and then there's the coming age where everything will be restored and made right.

but ever since Jesus showed up, something crazy and awesome happened. those 2 ages started to blend together. that coming perfect age isn't fully here on earth yet, but we're not just stuck in the old age either because we catch glimpses of that "world made right".
the earth is being restored and you can see it in action sometimes.

Jesus said "I am making everything new." and He is. and we celebrate when we see glimpses of it. those glimpses are the Kingdom of God breaking in. it's a revolution happening now & it's a glimpse of what's coming...

2 new lungs for my Mom is a glimpse of the Kingdom of God. it's not fully here yet or else her lungs would have never gone bad in the 1st place. but it's restoration. it's a glimpse of something that was broken being made new.

and it's beautiful.

Kingdom. making all things new.

God did this for the sake of His fame.
i know, i know... a fancy lung transplant Doctor with a degree from Harvard who now works at Duke named Dr. Lin did the surgery that gave my Mom new lungs. he's an agent of the Kingdom.

high five Dr. Lin & all you Doctors & nurses who have been taking care of my Mom. you are awesome and i'm so thankful for you. but i'm giving God the cred for this. he gets the glory. His renown is spreading because of this.

ever since i was a little kid i've been praying that God would miraculously heal my Mom.
why "miraculously"? because that's the only way, the Doctors said. nothing they could really do for her.
at some point, when i "got it", i started praying that God would heal my Mom (yes for our joy, but ultimately) for His renown. to make Him look awesome. a miracle healing would certainly do that right?

so, which is more of a miracle? instant miraculous healing with no explanation?
OR giving man the tools, genius, and resources to develop this radically new idea of being able to Transplant someone else's lungs into another human body! in order to save their lives?

that's pretty crazy to me.

you tell me, which is the miracle? God healing my Mom miraculously and instantaneously?
OR somehow (beyond Doctors' explanations) keeping her alive these last 10 years until technology, science, and medicine caught up and developed the ability to do a double lung transplant?

my Mom's going to be like a new person. she'll have a new life.

this isn't just another day at the office.

this is Kingdom. God is making all things new. it's breaking in.

and i've had a front row seat for it.

and we can get really excited and praise Him for it.

i know i am.

how can YOU be the change? (Keira)

How can YOU be the change?

i think that's a phrase my kid(s) are going to get SICK of hearing me say. i'm thinking a lot more about parenting these days... since i am one of those now. Crystal and i are both thinking a lot more about it. we're talking about it all the time -- what kind of parents we want to be, what kinds of things we want to do for our kids, WHO we want them to be, etc...

and it's real now because Keira is here. so it's not just a nebulous idea.

but i think Keira will get sick of hearing me say to her "How can YOU be the change?"

let's say that she comes home from school & there is a kid that EVERYONE is making fun of/being mean to. the teacher didn't really seem to even care. Keira is bothered by it. i'm going to ask her - "How can YOU be the change that needs to happen?"

or maybe our neighbor has surgery and their yard is a wreck. Keira complains that it looks so ugly. "well, how can YOU be the change?"

and there are a million other examples.

EITHER:
she will get so sick of hearing me say this phrase that she will stop complaining about anything or talking about anything that isn't right in the world for fear that i will prod her to think about changing it...

OR:
she will change the world.

i hope it's the 2nd one.

and the below isn't all that related to the above but it's just a thought that i resonate with and agree with wholeheartedly. it's how i want us to parent Keira and any other kids God blesses us with...

“I want my children to grow up understanding that life with Jesus is more than just being nice, or trying not to cuss and get drunk because 'that is what good Christians do.' I want my children to be so compelled by the real Jesus that they are willing to stand with him, giving their lives to his revolution, not in order to be religious but because there is simply no more exhilarating way to live. I want my kids to see my wife and me as revolutionaries who subvert the dominant belief systems of the world, not out of religious obligation but in wholehearted response to the person of Jesus.” 

– Mike Erre (from Jesus of Suburbia)

YES! That's what i want!

kids are mean

i'm not sure who Joel is, but i saw this pic and thought out loud "sucks to be Joel."

and that sucks that it sucks to be Joel.
i don't know what Joel did or if we might all here the story and even not like Joel ourselves?

but this was written on the chalkboard in the child play area at a Caribou coffee here in Charlotte.
and seeing this really bummed me out.

because kids are REALLY mean.

i remember.

kids were really mean to me. and i was a really mean kid a lot of times too.

but I dream of a world that’s different… where “love wins”. EVEN with children!

i dream of a world where my child doesn't walk into a Caribou and see his/her name written in place of Joel's.
better yet i dream helping our child be a person who shows love and kindness instead of the opposite.

maybe it's possible. children can change.

can adults?
been mean lately?
shown love lately?

written anyone's name on a chalkboard?

success! (part 2)

ever read a book and been overwhelmed with the feeling that the author is talking directly to you? i've mentioned before that this is how it is for me with Visioneering by Andy Stanley. i don't know how to explain it other than that it's like he's having a 1 on 1 conversation with me. i don't think he would say anything differently to me if he were a very close personal friend and sitting down at a coffee shop with me giving me advice.

A couple weeks ago the words spoken to me from this book were so powerful and dead on for me that i was totally overwhelmed.

i talked about it a little bit yesterday in my preamble to success & i'm continuing it below.

i'm in this "waiting" stage - but i feel very unsuccessful in this "waiting" stage. yes, i'm praying and planning like crazy... but it feels like i've been rolling that ball up the hill for too long now.

this praying and planning stage is so difficult for me (and everyone probably) because i get confused about what success actually is!
Andy reminds me:
“There is a tendency to confuse success with the rewards of success. If I am where God wants me, fulfilling the responsibilities He has given me, I am successful.”  

*this is HUGE for me right now!

Andy's Definition of Success = “Success is remaining faithful to the process God has laid out for me.” (“Success is not the raise, the promotion, recognition, Christian home, or wonderful children. Those are simply enjoyable mile markers along the way.) Success is staying faithful to the process that contributed to those things becoming a reality.”

*So, most successful peeps are successful long before they see the fruits of their success. make sense?

success isn't about "the moment" when the vision hits it big. it's about all the tiny little moments along the way that build to "the moment". it's about all these moments where i just keep plodding along. continuing to pray and plan. rolling the ball forward.

Andy puts it another way = “You are as successful now as you will be the day you see your vision materialize.” 
WOW*** That’s freakin’ sweet! and the timing of me working through this stuff again is impeccable. as if God was behind me being able to hear this somehow...

“Confusing success with the rewards of success is one of the primary reasons people abandon their dreams.” – whoa! This is big to remember! i cannot imagine me abandoning this vision. i wouldn't know what else to do. BUT i'm not naive. i'll work hard from now on to NOT confuse success with the rewards of success.

“Waiting time is not wasted time for anyone in whom God has placed a vision… He is the master strategist.”

this sentence brought me to tears. because that is the name i need to give to God in faith right now. He is the Master Strategist. even though i can't see it He's up to something.

my praying/planning/waiting time is not wasted... He's prepping me and everything else that needs to happen to make this vision go off. He's gonna make it happen.

it's His vision anyway. what am i so worried about?

preamble to success

i've been working hard these past couple months trying to practically map out the vision God has for my life and put flesh on it. harder work than it sounds like.

when you have a RIDONCULOUS sized vision (to spark a Jesus-revolution in Africa) it's easy to feel OVERWHELMED by it. i'm finding out that this is normal. normal for me anyway. it often feels like it's taking forever and that there's not a whole lot i can do right now.
Or that things aren't quite progressing as quickly as i dreamed they would... or hoped they would... or expected they would.

And i guess the biggest tension is that i often start to think that God isn't doing things quite right. i say out loud to Him - "You put this vision in my soul... now what are You doing about it?" [and He likes to say back - "what are you doing about it?"]

so i am doing what i can do right now in this "waiting" stage. being faithful. praying. praying for favor and opportunity. every day.
and planning. planning as if i had all the resources i needed.

Still... many days it feels like "time's a wastin". OR it all just feels too overwhelmingly big... like it's never going to happen. Really, God? are You still gonna do this?

but i constantly have to remind myself that these next words are very true, so DON'T GIVE UP PATRICK, no matter how much it feels like i'm just sitting around waiting:

“I don’t know what God is up to behind the scenes of my life. I don’t know how close I am to a breakthrough. It is no accident I am where I am.”             (Andy Stanley)

in my waiting and praying and planning...behind the scenes...

GOD. IS. UP. TO. SOMETHING.

& that is encouraging to me beyond what anyone else can realize. i don't know what He's up to. it's definitely no accident i am where i am. i embrace that. i believe it.

i'm COUNTING on that.

perhaps...

call me an idealist or naive or an eternal optimist.

maybe i am.

but i still say we can dream can't we?
I believe God has dreams for this world... and I think our dreams should line up with His dreams.

i'll be 100% transparent. i have no idea what to think about war. i'm utterly confused about that topic. so i guess it's a good thing i don't have anything to do with making those kind of decisions.

but i have thought about it a lot over the past few years.

here (i think) are some great words i read a couple years ago from Brian McLaren in his amazing book about the Kingdom of God - The Secret Message of Jesus.

“If people believe that wars are necessary and justified, then wars will continue to happen. If people believe in redemptive violence..." 

[timeout: that phrase, "redemptive violence" has got to be an oxymoron, right? i'm just sayin.]

"...then violence will proliferate. But if they believe the secret message of Jesus, they will believe that there are creative alternatives to war and violence, and by the grace of God, fewer and fewer wars and less and less violence may happen as a result.

And someday, by the grace of God, PERHAPS war will go the way of slavery and colonialism—so that we can say that the kingdom of God has more fully come.”

perhaps...
perhaps one day soon.

but one day for sure war will be done. we'll beat our swords and guns into gardening tools. that will be awesome. that's the definite future when The Revolution of God fully comes.

don't forget that peacemakers are the blessed ones.
so, i guess for those who are pacifists... you could say they are wrong and naive if you want to, but at least one day they will be right. (if not already.)

God has dreams for the world. what if we could align our dreams with His and work toward making them reality.

perhaps we can.

my newest experiment

i have lots of little experiments i try from time to time. i've probably written about a few before.

my newest experiment is more than an experiment. it's more than just a temporary project. my goal is for it to become a way of life for me.

it started with a simple question:
what if i could make someone's day every day? what if i could leverage my life and my interactions with other people to make their day with a tiny, simple act of kindness. what if my kindness, my smile, my words... could (even momentarily) lift another person out of their sadness, stress, boredom, or seemingly crappy life? what if i could give a glimmer of hope?

the experiment for me has been with strangers. people i bump into every day. people i rub shoulders with, mainly when they're at work.
People who work places where their job doesn't require them to win me over. Places like McDonald's. they don't need to be nice to me (and they're usually not) because they've already won me over.

(but when i go with my wife to Destination Maternity they are all being overly [probably in a fake way] NICE... because their commission depends on it. my experiment doesn't work quite as well there.)

but what if i could walk into a McDonald's and leave it better than when i walked in. what if i could make 1 person's day who is working there. They're in the middle of an 8 hour shift and dreading the next 4 hours. what if i could somehow put a smile on their face and make the next 4 hours more enjoyable for them? or at least the next 5 minutes while i'm there.

it's more than possible. i'm having fun doing it.

and when it happens. in that little space, in that little portion of time... it's like there is such love and kindness that the Kingdom of God has broken through. it's a holy moment in the Chipotle.
The Revolution has come to the UPS store or the bank.

it's pretty fun.
in order to do this i have learned that i must set aside my stresses and my worries to focus on doling out love and kindness to them. i have to set aside my agenda... or really, this project becomes my agenda.

so, it's just one little addition to The Revolution. but it's the Kingdom nonetheless. turning a little unkindness to kindness. a time and space usually reserved for short, curt, rudeness is transformed into joy & love.

i know it doesn't seem "spiritual", but it is. i know it doesn't seem like this could really be part of the Kingdom of God, but it very much is.

it's just a little spark when 1 person does this. but WHAT IF thousands of people were experimenting this way? what if 1 million people were doing this every day all across the world?

well, that's simple. the world would be a very different place.

St. Paddy's and March Madness!

what an awesome combination!

my favorite holiday (because it's my name's sake & Irish & fun) + one of the greatest times of year (NCAA March Madness)
all kicking off the same day! wow... like a dream come true.

there's just nothing quite like March Madness.

& St. Patrick was no slouch himself. i'm proud to be named after him. (actually i was named after my great great grandfather Patrick O'Hennessey who came over on the boat from Ireland.)

Contrary to what you might think - St. Patrick wasn't even Irish. He was Scottish, but kidnapped by the Irish as a kid And then followed God BACK to the land of his kidnappers as a missionary! that's pretty hard core!

He did some crazy awesome stuff for the sake of the Kingdom & lived FAR from a glamorous life... pretty much lived in poverty for the sake of the only renown that matters.

Patrick lived a life worth telling stories about and then died 1,550 years ago today.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

the homeless in charlotte and the kingdom of God... where do i fit in?

(This was originally written and posted on renown - September 18, 2008.)

I went downtown again yesterday. My friend Todd goes every week and feeds as many homeless people as he can. He buys them all pizza from Fuel & then blesses them any other way he can, shows them love any & every way he can, we all pray for them, etc... I wrote about it another time HERE.

**It's probably one of the most raw & greatest expressions of the Kingdom of God! It's an unbelievable thing to experience. I love it! There were almost 100 homeless men & women there yesterday at College & 6th. Me & Todd had tears in our eyes. God was there... His presence filled that pizza joint crammed with "street people". Jesus was on mission at Fuel pizza. Jesus loves the homeless, He loves the poor, He loves the outcast... A lot of these homeless people are "weird" in our culture. They're definitely outcasts. His kingdom comes to Fuel every week when Todd decides to put these peoples' needs above his own comfort.

It jacks me up every time I go. I don't fork over any $. I don't even put myself out in any way. I hold the door, put the biggest smile on my face that I can (most of them have beaming smiles back at me), I give out some hugs & hand shakes & kind words, I pray for people who ask me to... but I don't really sacrifice anything - except maybe an hour of my day.

Then they all leave. it's a pretty moving sight to see almost 100 homeless people walking right past you and dispersing out into the streets of Charlotte. I stood talking to a few of them and watching the rest of them going their own ways. I started looking at each individual... wondering where she would find a spot to sleep that night... wondering if he would find something to eat the next day... wondering if ANYONE else shows love to these people... wondering if I would if I met them on the street one night and found them hungry... found Jesus hungry.

It breaks my heart. My heart literally hurts for them. I want Jesus' kingdom to come to downtown. He loves them intensely & I want to do the same. I want to do more. What can I do? What should I do?

Today I go back to my normal, comfortable, American way of life. I go to pray with some guys 1st thing in the morning. I go to the office to work. I go to lunch and get full. I go back to work the rest of the afternoon. I come home to my amazingly beautiful wife. She gives me a big hug and a kiss. We go downtown... (only blocks from where the homeless gather on Wedensdays for a free meal & hopefully a taste of the kingdom) & meet friends for Oktoberfest at my favorite restaurant, Rock Bottom Brewery. I get full again. We walk to the epicenter for Live After 5. We just chill in the beautiful weather & amazing view of the city. God did this & made all this. I'm thankful.

The sky is beautiful. HE is Glorious & I thank Him for that glory under my breath. We listen to a pretty decent band cover some 80s & 90s hits. then some Bob Marley. We walk 8 or 10 blocks back to our cars. I hold my beautiful wife's hand as we walk in the night air. She's awesome & I'm so thankful for her. We all drive back to our house we've been blessed with. It's way bigger & nicer than we need and full of free furniture. The girls do some girly stuff upstairs while us guys go down to the basement & watch the football game & shoot some pool. Me & Myrick talk a little about some books, Sproul, Driscoll, & McLaren... Then we start the all night poker game. We talk about life. Kooter Browns in FL - the best wings ever. The best movies ever. I lost $5. Shouldn't have happened... I folded my flush on a big hand... got bluffed. My wife and I are about to fall asleep in our awesomely comfortable bed...

I wonder where that guy is right now that had on the Yankees 

hat yesterday? That woman, Marie, that I prayed for yesterday... I wonder if she has found a safe place to sleep? What can I do about it all? How can I live the way of Jesus? How can I more fully bring the kingdom of God to the people of Charlotte? Shouldn't I be doing more for the poor and outcasts that Jesus loves so much?

Or was the raw community I experienced today with my friends also an expression of the kingdom of God - during the poker game, and over dinner at Oktoberfest, & listening to the guy with the bad haircut cover Everyday People. + my short experiences of awe & thankfulness for God's creation & blessings. I'm guessing those things are the way of Jesus too...

I don't know. These are just random thoughts. I'm just writing them on here like they are bouncing around in my brain. I'm just being raw & not putting up any facades. Should I feel this guilty about sitting on my leather couch while the very people I hung out with yesterday are going to sleep hungry on the steps of the library downtown? Would Jesus live with these comforts if He were here? I don't know. I'm trying to figure that out. I DO know I want to live the way of Jesus. I want to see His kingdom more fully here on earth. I want to do whatever it takes.

going public

a lot of things probably go through different people's minds when they hear the word "baptism".

here's a quick list of what jumps off the top of my head when i think BAPTISM:

going public

PARTY

commemorating life change

CELEBRATION

memorable

Represent!

drawing a line in the sand

1st step

new association

radical

courageous

Sunday @ Ridge was a really special day. we were celebrating something awesome. God changed the lives of these 6 students and they wanted to let everybody know about it by being baptized!

God did this radical thing in their hearts - it's called redemption. At different points for each of them they put their faith in Jesus to be their Savior. they decided to follow Him.
And Sunday they WENT PUBLIC with that! and we CELEBRATED it!

because that's what the angels in heaven do when someone's life changes and they decide to follow Jesus. they throw a big party. i've actually always wondered what an angel/heaven party looks like? i bet it's pretty raucous.

when i look at that picture above i can't help but smile & get really excited. because those aren't just 6 students who took a dip in the pool. that's 6 students whose lives were changed by Jesus. and they had the COURAGE and BOLDNESS to let everyone know it in a radical way = baptism.

they each told us a little of their story and we caught them on video + their baptism. if you want to watch any just click the links below:
(in the order of the pic above) Robert, Serena, Paige, Hunter, Madison, Logan.

i've noticed something - there aren't many dry eyes when we have baptism celebrations. i think i know why. we're watching lives that were radically changed. we're seeing people who are going in a different direction. Sunday we watched these students who are going to make a difference in the Kingdom. you can't help but tear up i guess.

so unbelievably proud of you guys!