Wednesday, December 30, 2009

10 questions to ask at the start of 2010

Last year about this time I came across Don Whitney’s “10 questions to ask at the start of a new year.” Take some time to consider these thought provoking questions and how 2010 might be different for you than previous years…

1. What's one thing you could do this year to increase your enjoyment of God?

2. What's the most humanly impossible thing you will ask God to do this year?

3. What's the single most important thing you could do to improve the quality of your family life this year?

4. In which spiritual discipline do you most want to make progress this year, and what will you do about it?

5. What is the single biggest time-waster in your life, and what will you do about it this year?

6. What is the most helpful new way you could strengthen your church?

7. For whose salvation will you pray most fervently this year?

8. What's the most important way you will, by God's grace, try to make this year different from last year?

9. What one thing could you do to improve your prayer life this year?

10. What single thing that you plan to do this year will matter most in ten years? In eternity?

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

John Piper

As one of the Christmas gifts to my mother, I plan to give her a collection of cd’s containing powerful messages from pastors that have impacted my life. If I’m honest, there is only a small number of pastors/teachers who I really love listening to. One such pastor in that short list for me is John Piper. The man has a gift…he can flat out preach, and I love to listen and learn from this man.

Well, tonight as I was looking through messages stored on my iTunes, I ran across some of Piper’s sermons, a few that I have kept because they were so impactful in my life. A couple messages stood out to me as I was looking and scanning through what I’ve saved. There are lots of messages I could pass on, but tonight, a few really stood out to me.

One such message that I’ve actually passed on to others in the past is a message Piper preached on the subject of evangelism titled, “I’m Sending You To Open Their Eyes”. I need to listen to this message a couple times a year, primarily as a reminder of my calling as a believer to be active in evangelism, as well as a motivator to develop intentional relationship for the purpose of sharing Christ. It’s a message where Piper gives very practical advice on sharing Christ with the lost. Great ideas, and great motivation to get out there and seize the opportunities God puts in your lap. You can download the audio of the message here: http://tinyurl.com/6f6h9b

A couple other messages that have impacted my life….“Doing Missions When Dying is Gain” and then the message he preached at One Day 2000, titled, “Boasting Only in the Cross”. You can find these messages along with hundreds of other’s at www.desiringgod.org.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Grateful for...

With Thanksgiving in the rear view mirror and Christmas just a few days away, this time of the year is always a time that I cannot help but reflect on how good God has been to me and my family. I actually was going through files on my computer this morning and came across an email sent to me a few years ago by a friend of mine, David Robbins at The Aquila Project (www.theaquilaproject.com http://tapasia.wordpress.com). I thought I’d pass on to you some of what he shared in that email…

I am grateful for…

*Being born in this country (we had no say where we were born or to whom we were born--it was the gracious gift of God).

*Having a wonderful home (1.3 billion people around our world are living without adequate shelter).

*Our health and access to healthcare (there are 1.5 billion people who have no access to medical care).

*Adequate clothing (1.4 billion people are without adequate daily clothing).

*Clean, fresh water (an estimated 25,000 people die everyday due to dirty, polluted water).

*Freedom to meet with brothers and sisters in Christ in worship (3 billion people are denied freedom to assemble).

*God’s provision of an income to meet our needs through faithful giving of ministry partners (1.9 billion people live in absolute poverty).

*His Word (380 million people are still waiting to receive God's Word in their own language).

*Certainty of heaven (one third of our world population have never even heard the name of Jesus).

*Our family and friends.

When I read those statistics, I’m reminded of how fortunate we all are. As you continue through this Christmas season, may you be faithful to reach out to those who are in need around you. God’s purpose does not end at us being blessed, but that we will be a blessing to others. I hope you and your family pause in reflective gratitude to the God of good gifts this season.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Tip for Online Purchases

It’s a little late to pass on a tip for Christmas shopping, but a site that could save you some money when you buy things online is www.ebates.com

The gist of it is, you open an account with ebates, click on the store you want to shop from, and then get a percentage of your purchase back. The price you pay going through ebates or straight to the store website is exactly the same, so it’s a no brainer if you buy absolutely anything over the web. Some stores give back 1%, some give upwards of 10% back. Ebates sends you a check 4 times a year, and there’s no catch to any of it. Pretty much any store you might buy something from works with ebates. Check it out… www.ebates.com

I'd beat that dog!

We are blessed to live in a neighborhood where everyone has some space, meaning we don’t all have postage stamp backyards. Lots and lots of people have dogs in our neighborhood and while most of them are friendly, there are a few who are meaner than a snake. On occasion dogs get out and kind of roam the neighborhood and obviously that concerns me as a parent of small children. In fact, while I was out of town earlier this year, Tammy and the boys had a close call with one. Ever since that experience, when we take our boys and our man dog (Mo) out for a walk, I almost always take a 2½ foot pvc pipe with me just in case I might get the privilege of beating one of those mean dogs upside there devil heads. I haven’t had that opportunity yet, but I’m always looking.

Back behind our house is a huge creek, full of flat, pancake like rocks, perfect for skipping. Brooks and Brayden, being boys and all, absolutely love to go down there and skip rocks. Well this week I took them down to the creek and just as we got down there, a certain demonized dog showed up, maybe 100 yards away. The dog started barking at us and I just muttered the comment under my breath, “I wish that dog would come over here! I’d beat that dog!” Immediately Brooks turned around to me with a smirk on his face. He paused for a second with the smirk still planted on his face, and said, “I’d like that very much.”

I busted out laughing, and thought, now that’s my boy! As much as I try to teach my boys to be nice, polite, well mannered and well behaved, I also want to bring out the warrior, the barbarian that I know is in both of them (can you tell I just read “Wild At Heart”?). I’m not sure beating a mean dog is the best way to do that, but I don’t guess it could hurt either. After all, Brooks did say it himself, “I’d like that very much”. So would I, son…so would I.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Life Happens While You're Busy Making Other Plans For It

Time flies…whether you are having fun or not, time flies. In just a couple weeks, we will flip the calendar again and head into another year, and in fact, another decade all together. Seems like the other day we were all freaked out about Y2K, and now, just like that, it’s about to be 2010. It’s ridiculous, really it is. Life goes by so incredibly fast it seems like a blur. As I spend time with my wife, my boys, and those in my family, I often consciously tell myself to take it all in, to not miss “life” and all the blessings of God. I’ve heard it said, “Life happens while you’re busy making other plans for it”. Wow…that’s so true for so many of us. Certainly it’s been true of me at different points in my life.

I’ve always been a planner. I often think about the future, about being prepared, being ready for whatever is to come our way. Even in simple things like a family vacation, I spend probably too much time planning exactly where we’ll stay, what we’ll do, etc. I’m not sure being this way is always a good thing, but hey, it’s part of who I am. And as a planner, I’ve had to constantly remind myself over and over again that THIS IS MY LIFE. Instead of always looking ahead, I need to open my eyes, take a look around and enjoy this life and the blessings of God. Brooks will never be 4½ again, and Brayden will never be 2½ again. They are growing up and at some point soon enough, they will both realize that the Christmas gifts they get on Christmas morning are actually just gifts from mom and dad and not from some guy named Santa Claus. Tammy is my bride and never could I have imagined being so blessed with such a wife and mother to our boys as she is. Yes, I am a blessed man. And, I need to take it all in, not miss any of it. This is life…now. I can put the thoughts and plans for the future on hold for a little bit and just enjoy this life now.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Joyful Giving

Few books have made as big an impact on my life (outside of the Bible) like Randy Alcorn’s book, The Treasure Principle. If there’s a book that I’ll read again and again, it’s this book. As the subtitle states, the book will challenge you to discover the secret to joyful giving. And…if there was ever a time of the year to read this book, it’s this season for sure.

Without question for me, I had the greatest example of what it means to be a joyful giver. As a child I watched my father, without any hesitation, give over and over and over. It never seemed to matter to him…if there was a need, he would do what he could to help meet it. Literally, he was the kind of man who would give the shirt off his back if someone needed it. On countless occasions, I watched him being obedient to what God asks all of us to do, to give joyfully. He gave to the church, he gave to people in need, he gave to people who weren’t necessarily in need. As a little boy, I remember a family of seven who were so incredibly poor that they didn’t know where their next meal was going to come from. My dad, when he heard about this family, went and bought hundreds of dollars worth of groceries, bought several sets of clothes for each family member, and then handed them a handful of cash. He walked away not expecting, and in my opinion, not even desiring that anyone noticed what he did. As I sit and write now, I can think of time after time, story after story of my dad giving. He was a man who had the gift of giving, and he put his gift to work as God brought him opportunity after opportunity.

As Randy Alcorn states in The Treasure Principle, we are not the owners of what’s in our checking account, our savings account, our 401K, or even the cash in our pocket. God is. We are simply a manager of His money, of His possessions. He owns it all and He gives us the responsibility of managing what He places in our possession. My home is not my home, my truck is not my truck, my TV is not my TV, my clothes are not my clothes….all of it, everything, it all belongs to God. As the owner, God has the right at anytime to tell me, the manager, exactly what He wants to do with what He has allowed to be in my possession.

Having this mindset ought to be freeing for us as believers. It ought to cause us to live in such a way that we have a loose grip on all “our” possessions. It ought to cause us to be the first one to respond when there is a need. It ought to cause us to always be looking to set aside money so that we are able to give to special needs when God brings them our way. It ought to cause us to have a kingdom mindset, and radically change the way we spend money. It ought to cause us to be joyful and smile as we write a check to kingdom work, be it at your church or another ministry. It ought to cause us to be good stewards of what God’s blessed us with, not taking anything for granted, but treating every possession as being on loan from God.

My father was not perfect. In fact, he had his share of weaknesses, but the impact he made on hundreds, if not thousands of people he joyfully gave to was and still is profound. I’m thankful for His powerful influence on me, and even though he’s been gone for almost three years, I’m still challenged by the way God used His giving to impact my life even now. He discovered the secret of joyful giving, and I pray I’m on my way.