party people or religious people?

(This was originally posted on June 2, 2009.)

I just wanted to share with you the coolest sentence (pretty crazy run on sentence though) that I've heard all day. I heard it while mowing my grass tonight listening to Rob Bell's series = Jesus Wants to Save Christians. This was Part 7 (I've only got 1 more talk to go in the 8 part series).

It's from a series back in the day but now there is a book of the same title (Jesus Wants to Save Christians = buy it HERE).

Anyway, here's what he said...
"By the way, a general rule of thumb - If people who want nothing to do with God and are hostile to church and are considered kind of on the margins... if they love being around you; and very wound up religious people who think that they're right and everybody else is wrong find you deeply disturbing and offensive... then you're being like Jesus."

Pretty awesome. My prayer is for Jesus to help me live this way, help me live like He did! So that the "party people"... the people who the other church peeps don't like... wanna be around me.

That's our prayer at Ridge Church. That people who don't like church would come to our church and really like it... and that God would change their world! 

wise & risky & passionate & loving

this is a little private peek into my soul. i hope it's not too personal.

wise & risky & passionate & loving.
that was my prayer this morning.

kind of random like most conversations are and those 4 things just flowed together.

i need them.

we probably all need a double dose of each. so i'm asking for them. and i'm going to keep asking for them a lot.

i do have a crazy love for people. people i see, people i know, and people half a world away that i've never met. i love them. i want the best life possible for them.
but i'm praying that God would make me MORE loving. i want a love like God has for people.

but that love in me sparks this ridiculous vision God's birthed in me for the world. audacious and ridiculous. i'm passionate to see it happen. i'm passionate to be a part of this revolutionary vision. becoming more loving makes me become more passionate.

as far as i can tell, along with more passion comes more risk. so i want to be risky. i'm asking God to make me risky... and then even riskier. i am going to need to take some serious risks in my life time. This love and this passion in me is going to require risk.

but God, please give me Your wisdom to go along with being risky. i'm begging God to make me wise. i want to be risky and wise, not risky and stupid. there's a great balance in there somewhere and i hope i can find it. i really want to be wise like the proverbs talk about. not safe, but wise.

and that's my prayer. a peek into my soul.

God, make me wise & risky & passionate & loving.

thoughts on sabbath and furious rest

(This was originally posted on June 16, 2009.)
 
I love sabbath! (sabbath = basically a day of rest each week.) I have only truly understood it for the past 4 years or so. Louie Giglio and Rob Bell, 2 of my "mentors" helped me to "get" sabbath & dive into the awesome world of practicing it.
Thankfully those 2 men helped me understand and start practicing sabbath just a few months into my marriage. I think it was divine timing! (I had never done it before.)

[*Side note story warning] In fact, I can still vividly remember the exact time when I decided to practice sabbath rest each week. I was driving in my caddy listening to a Rob Bell talk back in '05 after we had just been married. I was in the drive thru line at the McDonald's near our house picking up dinner & his whole thing had been about sabbath & I was like "you know what... I'm gonna do it." One of the best decisions I ever made.

Basically 1 day a week I try to NOT do ANY work. (Like no work for my job). I just chill. I've done that for almost 4 years. Pretty much every Friday is my "sabbath." And it also doubles as date night with my wife, Crystal. I've written about that before HERE.

Because of a super busy schedule & some extra jobs I've taken, I haven't had a sabbath in about 2 weeks. UNTIL TODAY. a Tuesday. And WOW did I need it! (That was the 1st time I've ever gone this long without one since I started.) I can tell that life gets jacked up when I don't get a day of rest each week.
[Today I just went to a late breakfast with my wife @ Sunrise... my fav breakfast joint in Charlotte where I used to go with my dad once a week when I was a kid. Then we did a little grocery shopping. Had some fun at the house. Watched a chick flick she wanted to see & now we're going to sleep. Very spiritual day.]

When I was a little kid I thought sabbath was just a Sunday thing & we weren't supposed to mow the grass or God might strike us dead with a lightning bolt. haha... but the cool part is that God started sabbath as a favor to us.

**Take the whole "God side" out of it even... it's just common sense. You will simply work better, feel better, be happier, function better, be nicer, and enjoy life more! Seriously, try it for like 4 weeks in a row. You will be amazed. You probably won't stop.

Here's some things Louie helped me understand about sabbath:
(the parts below in "quotes" are from him...)
Sabbath is “a day to remember that He is God and we are not. Without Sabbath, we forget who we are and lose sight of who He is.” That's really the heart of it.
I committed to NOT let myself “get to the place where I truly believe the outcome of the story fully depends on me.” Because that would be laughable.

*I don't know about you, but my job NEVER ends. I could work 24/7. Literally ALL the time... and there would still be more to do. I can't leave my work at the office. So when it comes to this sabbath thing for me - there's so much pressure to work on Sabbath because there's SO MUCH to do!

BUT, Louie taught me that sabbath IS RESTING in knowing that "Everything doesn’t hinge on me. If I stop doing my part, the whole world will not fall apart. I am not in control. God made the whole world in six days without any input from me, or my assistance. God doesn’t need me to accomplish His work. I am little. God is huge. I trust Him.” I love it! Sabbath is me getting to heap glory on God through proving/showing my trust in His power & sovereignty.

*When I wake up everyday (after I stumble out of bed) I seriously try to remind myself that I’ve been invited “into an already-in-progress Story in which God was doing just fine long before my little feet ever hit the floor.”
- “Sabbath happens anywhere and everywhere we let go of the controls and lay the cares of our lives at His feet." = that's a pretty simple definition for you.
[most of those quotes are from Louie's pimp book i am not but i know I AM which you can click on to the right & buy it.]

Basically we are all (myself included) arrogant. I guess it can only be our own pride that tricks us into thinking that what happens is pretty much all up to ME. How freaking arrogant is that!??? but we totally act that way don't we!? "I can't take a day off because there's TOO MUCH TO DO!" haha... there's always gonna be too much to do, SO you may as well have a nice relaxing day of rest. :)

Sabbath. It's furious rest. It's a very spiritual thing. And I refuse to trade it for any amount of $ or extra production.