Posted on Monday, July 1, 2024

Where Your Heart Is (The Parable of the Sower)

by Josh Reich

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

One of the struggles many people have is trying to figure out where their relationship with Jesus is.

There are seasons and moments when things feel like they are going well. You are in community, spending time with Jesus through prayer, reading scripture, and practicing other spiritual disciplines. And then there are times when those things fall off, and we wonder, “What happened?”

It isn’t just about practices or disciplines but about where our heart is or is not.

But how do you know?

Because discerning our hearts can be very difficult.

Yet, many of Jesus’s parables address this idea, helping us to see where our hearts really are.

In Matthew 13, Jesus tells the parable of the sower, seeds, and soils. While this is often called “The Parable of the Sower,” the parable is, in many ways, about soils. Through this lens, we begin to see where our hearts are or are not.

James Montgomery Boice has a helpful lens of these four soils:

The hard soil = The Hard Heart
The Shallow Soil = The Shallow Heart
The Strangled Soil = The Strangled Heart
The Open Soil = The Open Heart

The Hard Heart

The hard heart wants nothing to do with Jesus or the things of God.

They are completely turned away from God. They love their sin; they love being in charge of their life.

Paul described this person in Romans 1 as suppressing the truth of God, being spiritually ignorant or against God. They love their sin.

In many ways, our culture is like this.

But it isn’t just about sin; it is about ruling your life. This parable and many others that Jesus tells are about the kingdom of God.

Who is the king of the kingdom of God? God.

This is the key to the hard heart, the one who wants to be king of their life.

The hard heart is not just someone who doesn’t attend church. Many people who sit in church every Sunday have a hard heart. This is the person who says, “I know what God says about money, sex, loving my enemies, forgiving those who hurt me, but ____,” and then they tell you why they don’t have to follow that.

That’s a hard heart.

Do you have a hard heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your heart hard towards God?

The Shallow Heart

This is the person whose faith cannot handle difficulty.

Much of their faith is built on emotion and their feelings about God. How they evaluated Sunday mornings or Bible readings is based on whether they “felt God” or had a “good feeling during worship.” Did the hair on my neck stand up?

The shallow heart is here for God’s promises and “the best life now” that Jesus promises, but the moment that difficulty comes, I have to take a stand for Jesus. They tap out if God doesn’t answer my prayers the way I prayed them.

Another example is the person who has attended church for years and is still a spiritual infant. They have experienced no growth.

Do you have a shallow heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is your faith shallow or deep?

The Strangled Heart

Jesus is very specific with this soil: They are unfruitful and choke the word out because of the worries of the age and the deceitfulness of wealth.

The worries in every age and every culture. A few things to consider are: What keeps you up at night? What things give you that empty feeling in your stomach? Do you worry about your health, wealth, kids, or other relationships? This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t worry about those things, but it does start to reveal what takes up space in your heart and mind or things you are trying to control that you need to hand over to Jesus and trust Him.

Another one is the worry you feel about the upcoming election. Will you be okay if your candidate loses? If the answer is no, as a follower of Jesus, that reveals something in our hearts.

Do you have a strangled heart? What about this soil resonates with you right now? Is there anything you need to confess?

Is anything strangling your heart instead of trusting God?

The Open Heart

As you read through the parable in Matthew 13, you see that all of this leads to the soil where the seed takes root and grows, “the open heart,” as Boice calls it.

An open heart that receives the word of God and obeys. When it says “hears,” that means “to obey.”

Not just in one ear and out the other.

This means that when we hear the word of God, read the word of God, and feel the move of the Spirit of God in our lives, we obey. We don’t say, “That doesn’t apply to me. I don’t feel like doing that.” We do it.

This parable warns us against superficial hearing. And shows us what real hearing is.

Hearing the word of God = Obedience.

Fruit comes from obedience.

But how do we know? How do we know if we have an open heart?

The fruit. It produces fruit.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

The fruit of a changed life evidences an open heart.

I love that Jesus says, “Some will be a hundred, some sixty, some thirty times what was sown.”

The fruit that comes from your obedience might be a world-changing fruit that is 100x.

It might not. It might be thirty.

Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Shoot for 100 times.”

He says, “There are different levels of fruit, and they all matter and are important. One is not better than another.”

This truth should free us from having to produce what someone else does.

Jesus doesn’t judge us on a curve or compare us to others.

The question isn’t, “Did I produce what the person next to me produced?” The question is, “Did I produce the fruit I was supposed to produce?”

Do you have an open heart towards God? Here’s how to know.

Posted on Tuesday, June 11, 2024

How to Live Life without Regrets

by Josh Reich

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

At the end of 2 Timothy, Paul says, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

Imagine getting to the end of your life and saying that. Saying I had done what I was supposed to do. I left it all on the field of life. I kept the faith. I ran my race.

But how does that happen? How do you and I get to where we can say that?

Much of 2 Timothy is Paul telling Timothy (and us) how to make that truth true in our lives.

In chapter 2, he tells us three things that are true of a person who can say that: they are approved by God, they are pure, and they are servants.

3 truths about every follower of Jesus.

Approved by God

A follower of Jesus is approved in God by God. As a follower of Jesus, God cannot more approve you than you are, and you don’t need any more approval than you have. Paul tells us that a follower of Jesus, a worker approved by God, is not ashamed and rightly handles the truth of God’s word.

We shy away from risk, passion, and what God has called us to because we worry about what other people think. This is why we don’t share our faith, aren’t generous, don’t serve, take chances, or we sit on the sidelines—we care what others think more than the God who created us.

How do we know?

In verse 19 of chapter 2, Paul tells us that God knows who belongs to him.

This verse has always blown me away. God knows who belongs to him.

Pure

Paul says in a house, there is gold and silver for special use, honorable use, and some things made for dishonorable use. God uses those who are holy, set apart, different, and clean.

This is purity the way we often think of purity, but it is more than that.

This is connected to our motives and why we do the things we do.

Why we make the decisions we make.

Do we do what we do to please and honor God or to please and honor those around us?

One of the themes in 2 Timothy is Paul’s statement that he has lived his life without regrets and has a clear conscience. This doesn’t mean there aren’t things in your past you wish had never happened. Before following Jesus, Paul was a terrorist and a murderer. But because of what Jesus did, he was made clean.

It does mean that the truth of the gospel changes us.

Here is a truth that is often hard to remember: When God looks at you as a follower of Jesus, he doesn’t see you standing there in your sin; he sees Jesus standing in front of you, saying, “He’s mine. She’s mine.”

Servant

When we think of a servant, we think of someone who opens a door, maybe a meek and quiet person standing in the corner, or maybe even a doormat in a relationship.

That’s not what Paul is talking about.

He returns to holiness and says, “A servant flees youthful passions.”

This can mean a whole host of sins, but he focuses on things we do when we are young.

This might mean if you are 40, act 40, not 22.

Stop bouncing from relationship to relationship.

Stop bouncing from job to job and be a hard worker who provides.

Stop giving your heart and body away.

Stop having silly arguments on the internet.

Instead, pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace. Purity. God’s servants should be known for these things. They don’t get caught up in controversies and quarrels.

But you might say, “I’m an arguer. I love a good debate.” A follower of Jesus should not be known as an arguer or an angry person. Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

Nowhere does Jesus say, “My followers will be known because they are good debaters.”

A follower of Jesus should not be someone no one wants to work with or can’t get along with. If you struggle to keep friends or work well with people, at some point, it has to stop being them and start being you.

An immature follower of Jesus loves to sit around and debate theology and end-of-the-world beliefs, not to learn and grow but to win and be right. Not so with God’s servants as they mature and grow. They learn, grow, and ask questions, but they don’t argue theology to win and be right.

He goes on…

The Lord’s servant is not quarrelsome, is not a fighter, an arguer. We don’t argue people into the kingdom of heaven or beat them down with Facebook posts; we love them into the kingdom.

We don’t argue about stirring controversy, gossip, or trying to split churches apart.

The Lord’s servant is kind to everyone (even those they disagree with). If we asked people in our lives, those we disagree with their political or religious beliefs, would they say we are kind to them in our disagreement?

The Lord’s servant can teach. This doesn’t mean preaching or standing in front of people but being able to communicate what they know of the gospel.

When you share the gospel, you say, “I was once lost, but now I’m found. I was once broken, but now I’m set free.”

Why does this matter?

The people who matter most determine a lot in our lives. How our spouses, parents, teachers, or coaches look at us can give us enormous confidence or take away our confidence. The same is true with God. If we believe God sees us as approved, pure, accepted, and loved, that will determine how we live. But, if we think God is disappointed in us or sees us as unloveable, that will also impact how we live and where we end up.

Posted on Monday, June 3, 2024

Learning to Dream Again

by Josh Reich

Photo by Randy Tarampi on Unsplash

Recently, I had several (separate) conversations with guys my age where I talked about some of the dreams Katie and I have and some of the prayers we are praying about our future. As our kids continue to grow, we are asking God how to launch them best, what pastoral ministry as empty nesters look like, and for him to give us clarity about pastoral ministry in our 50s and beyond.

Why?

So much life is ahead of us; we don’t want to miss all God has for us. What you do today and your decisions impact where you are in a decade or two.

When I shared this, they responded, “I can’t remember the last time I dreamed.”

It is easy to dream in your teens and 20s but harder in your 40s and 50s.

It makes sense. Life is busy and hard as we age. Cynicism starts to creep in, and we begin to think, “This is all there is.”

I talk to many people in midlife who feel stuck or like their life has grown stale. Some of it is because of past decisions, but we often stop believing that God has things for us in the future. We start to think our best days are behind us.

Why do we feel this way? Many of us are tired. We have less energy as we age, and it is hard to push ourselves. We have tried many things that didn’t work or go as planned, so there is a sense that we shouldn’t get our hopes up.

Too often, though, people in midlife quit things. They quit relationships, marriages, careers, or faith because of their lack of direction, growing frustrations, or something else they can’t name.

What if you took an afternoon and dreamed? What if you asked your spouse if all our prayers got answered, what would life look like in five years? Ten or twenty years from now?

What if you asked your spouse if all our prayers got answered, what does life look like in 5 years? 10 or 20 years from now?

As I write this, our youngest will be twelve this summer. In 4 years, our four oldest kids will be out of high school. That is a very different stage of life than where I sit today with multiple kids in high school. Life, relationships, and pastoral ministry will differ greatly for us in 4 years from this simple fact.

But too many of us wake up one day and realize that life happened to us.

Too many of us wake up one day and realize that life happened to us.

Here are some things that will be different: my schedule will be different in four years. Lord willing, I will have finished my doctorate by then. I will be four years older and have four more years of wisdom than I lack today. My physical life will be different because I will be closer to 50.

All this became even clearer to me several years ago when I spent a summer talking to pastors nearing retirement and asking them about wisdom, things they learned, and things they wish they would’ve done differently. They all said, “If you don’t plan financially, spiritually, physically, mentally, relationally, and emotionally for your future, you will miss all God has for you.”

Many of us only think about the physical or financial side of our future.

As more and more studies are done on life stages, our 50s, 60s, and 70s can be our most productive decades for God. And yet, many pastors and Christians seem to think that it is over once you are past 40.

As more and more studies are done on life stages, our 50s, 60s, and 70s can be our most productive decades for God. And yet, many pastors and Christians seem to think that it is over once you are past 40.

My hope for you and me is that our best days are ahead of us, whatever those best days may be for you.

Posted on Monday, May 20, 2024

How to Make the Most of Your Summer

by Josh Reich

Photo by li hao on Unsplash

Summer is almost upon us.

In New England, we get three months of warmth, so you want to capitalize on every moment at the beach or in the woods, just soaking up the sun and having fun.

But how? Many people struggle to stop, to take their vacation days, or even to make the most of them.

As you prepare for summer, here are a few thoughts to help you make the most of it:

6 ideas to make the most of your summer vacation.

Take all your vacation days. This might sound like a funny first point, but decide to take all your vacation days. If your company or church gives you three weeks, take all 3. Don’t leave any left over at the end of the year. You work hard, and your family runs fast throughout the year from activity to activity. One of the biggest wastes is vacation time left over. The average American leaves 6.5 vacation days unused each year. These are free days off; take them. This can be more challenging if you are self-employed, leading to our next point.

Plan Ahead. Do some research wherever you go, even if you staycation. The internet makes planning a cheap vacation and finding inexpensive, fun things to do incredibly easy. Look for places and things around you that you have never been to and go there. I have friends who swap houses with a friend in another state or city. Vacations can be all out and expensive but also filled with inexpensive day trips.

The point isn’t what you do or how much you spend, but spending time together, resting, and enjoying. Which leads to…

Make memories. This goes with planning. Find fun places to eat out or places to get unique desserts. Stay up late and do silly things you wouldn’t normally do. Do whatever you can to make memories. Our kids still talk about things we did 5-10 years ago on vacation. And the things they talk about are almost always free or cheap things we did.

Now that you have a plan and a goal, how do you rest and enjoy your summer?

Decide ahead of time what unproductive will mean and entail. This might sound counterintuitive, but the first step to being unproductive is to be productive. Set yourself up to succeed.

If you are married, sit down with your spouse and ask, “If I was unproductive for a weekend, a week, two weeks, a month, what would that mean? What would we do?” Most of us struggle to disengage from the pace of life we live throughout the year, but our minds, bodies, and souls need it.

To be truly unproductive and rest, you must decide what that will mean.

For me, being unproductive means not blogging or writing, not reading leadership or theology books (I read spy novels or historical books on vacation), sleeping in (or letting Katie sleep in), taking naps, extended game time with my kids, ample time with friends, and being outside.

Answer this simple question: What would refresh me and recharge me? Are there certain people who will do that? Spend time with them.

Answer this simple question: What would refresh and recharge you? Are there certain people who will do that? Spend time with them.

Too many people work on vacation and prepare for upcoming things (you must plan that for a different time). Your weekend or vacation is for refreshment, recharging, and reconnecting with your family, friends, yourself, and God.

Set yourself up for success. If you don’t decide ahead of time, you’ll come back from vacation exhausted and tell people around you, “I need a vacation from my vacation!”

How to not need a vacation from your vacation.

You know what it will take for you to rest for your family to have fun, so think through those things. Don’t wake up and throw something at the wall unless that is your personality.

The bottom line is that it is easier to achieve if you know and have decided how to be unproductive. It increases the likelihood of resting and recharging.

One of the best ways to set yourself up for success is to take social media and email off your phone.

Give yourself grace. No matter how well you plan or think things through, something will happen and throw your vacation off. A bill will pop up; someone might get sick, and you and your spouse will fight. The perfect plan will get rained out, or none of your kids will appreciate a moment and ruin the sunset over the ocean. You will be tempted to get some work done.

Take a deep breath.

Give yourself some grace. Thank God for the chance to rest, refresh, and enjoy His good gift of summer.

6 ideas to make the most of your summer.

Posted on Monday, May 13, 2024

3 Truths for Every Child of God

by Josh Reich

Photo by Alex Shute on Unsplash

On Sunday, I preached one of my favorite parts of the book of Galatians, an idea that is central to the gospel of Jesus but so hard to live out daily.

What is it?

Living like a child of God.

The truth in Galatians 3:26 – 4:7 is that as a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

As a follower of Jesus, we have the same access, rights, and privileges to God the Father as Jesus.

But according to Paul, this isn’t some future experience but a daily experience. He says in Galatians 3:26, “You are all sons of God in Christ.” Present tense. This is the daily experience of a follower of Jesus.

So, what does this mean on a daily basis? According to Galatians, there are 3 things we experience today as children of God.

3 truths for a child of God.

The first thing we experience as children of God is being close to God.

Paul uses the picture of adoption and calls God “Abba,” which means papa or daddy. It is a title of love and affection.

This can be hard for men and women depending on their relationship with their dad. But, many men don’t know how to be affectionate or loving without being sexual, and they struggle to be affectionate with their kids. I was talking to a guy recently who told me that my dad never hugged me, put his hand on my shoulder, or rubbed my head, and he struggled to show love to his daughter because he didn’t know what that meant.

God is a loving, caring father.

Paul also uses the picture of adoption.

What does it mean to be adopted into the family of God?

In the first century, adoption looked differently than it does today. A father could adopt one to take over his estate if he had no heir. He would often adopt one of his slaves and make him a full heir, giving him everything as if he were a son born to him.

I still remember when we adopted Judah and Nehemiah, standing before the judge and them asking us, “Will you treat them as your son? Will you make them a full heir, having the same rights and privileges as your biological children?”

Here’s what that means for a follower of Jesus: Who is God’s son? Jesus. Being adopted by God, God as our father, means that we have the full rights and privileges given to Jesus, God’s son. We are clothed in Jesus.

This means that when God the Father looks at you, his adopted son or daughter, he sees Jesus. As Pastor Tim Keller said, “Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear.” He doesn’t see your failures, regrets, or shame; he sees you clothed in Jesus’ righteousness.

Jesus has given us His righteousness, His perfection, to wear. -Tim Keller

The second thing we experience as children of God is being free from the law’s curse.

The entire book of Galatians is about this one point. A follower of Jesus is free from the law, free from earning God’s love or approval because you have it in Jesus.

Stop working; rest in the grace given to you.

Most of our sin comes from trying to prove ourselves or make ourselves feel better when if we truly could understand, you are a son, set free; you don’t have to do that.

A child of God is free from the curse of the law.

The third thing we experience as children of God is being led by the Spirit.

This sets Christianity apart from other religions. God the Holy Spirit is one of the trinity: God the Father, God the Son Jesus, and God the Spirit. The Spirit lives in you as a follower of Jesus.

The spirit guides you and shows you the way. When you read the Bible, the spirit helps you understand it, speaks to you, shows you God’s will for your life, and brings things to mind that God is calling you to.

A child of God is led by the spirit.

Posted on Wednesday, April 24, 2024

Preaching in Your First Year at a New Church

by Josh Reich

Photo by Alexander Michl on Unsplash

Picture this.

You have accepted a new job as the new lead pastor at ________ church. You have moved your family or moved offices if it is a succession process. You are excited and ready to go.

You want to come out of the gate strong in your first sermon and sermon series. You want to show who you are and cast a vision for what is next. You are ready.

But what do you talk about? How do you connect with people who don’t know you? How do you connect with people you don’t know?

In the back of your mind, you wonder, what if you bomb? What if you choose a topic that no one is excited about or say the wrong thing and step on a landmine you didn’t know was there?

Go here to get an idea of what I preached when I first came to CCC in 2021.

6 things to think through when you arrive at a new church.

Know this is just the start. It is hard to remember this when you arrive, and you are excited about this new chapter, and the church is (hopefully!) excited about it, but remember, this is just the beginning of a long ministry. You don’t need to say everything in one sermon or one series. There are specific things you want to hit on in your first sermon and series, but as you stand up that first Sunday and the ones to come, know that this is just the beginning.

Don’t make any grand pronouncements as you stand up on that first week and in the first months. Don’t discuss goals and numbers or where you will be in 5 years. Just start.

Now, if you are going into a situation where things are volatile, the church is running out of money, etc., then you might need to share more specific plans to get out of the rut the church is in. But most of the time, you shouldn’t need to do that.

Find out as much as possible about the history (and where the church is). Hopefully you learned as much as you could about the history and state of the church during the interview process. But if you arrive and still have questions, ask them.

When I arrived at CCC, I interviewed over 30 people and asked them the same eight questions to get an idea of where the church is, what was at the heart of the people here, and trying to learn as much as possible about New England. I read books and blogs about the area I was moving to, talked to previous pastors, etc. You want to become as much of an expert as possible about the place you are stepping into.

You want to know things like: How many pastors have they had in the last 10 – 15 years? How many staff transitions have they had? Were there any moral failures or firings? Are they excited and hopeful or sad and grieving? Do they trust leadership or struggle to trust leadership? Every new leader walks in with a little bit of leadership change in their pocket because they are new, but depending on what happened before you arrived, that can impact how much trust a group of people give you.

Find out what they preached before you arrived. This one is more tactical, but find out what they preached before you arrived. Two of the books of the Bible I wanted to preach through had been done in the year before I arrived, so I had to pivot.

The other reason you want to know this is because it will also give you an idea of where everyone is, what they have been walking through together as a church, and the style of preaching they are accustomed to. While you don’t want to change your preaching style to something it isn’t, knowing what they are used to before you put your unique stamp on things is important.

Preach on things close to your heart. As you plan your first sermon and series, preach on things you are passionate about and close to your heart. There should be a match between that and where the people are, which is one of the reasons God led you there. Is there anything that God has taught you in the last season of your life or your move that might speak to where the church is?

Let the church get to know you. Part of why you should preach on things close to your heart or things God has taught you recently is because one of your goals in your first sermon series is for your church to get to know you and your story. You can do this by sharing your testimony (which I’ve seen people do on their first week) or weaving things about you into the opening sermon series. At the end of your first month, people should have a clear idea about who you are, your preaching style, your marriage and family, and your spiritual journey.

Keep in mind the season of the year and the season of the church. The last thing to consider is when you will start preaching in the calendar year and where the church is in the season of its life.

Arriving in January, Advent, Easter, or the start of school will impact what you preach.

Is the church excited or hurting? Do they trust or not trust the leadership? These questions help determine their season and what they most need to hear.

6 things you need to know before you preach your first sermon at a new church.

While your first sermon or series doesn’t make or break your ministry at a church, it does set the tone. So it matters to get it right.

Posted on Monday, April 8, 2024

Figuring Out What’s Next for You

by Josh Reich

Photo by Austin Chan on Unsplash

One of the biggest struggles many people have is figuring out what to do with their lives. Is now the time to get married? Is this the person I should marry? Do we have kids now or have another one? Is now the time to buy a house, retire, start a business, or return to school?

We stress over these decisions because they have life-altering implications.

According to the Harvard Business Review, we make 33,000 decisions a day.

But making the wrong decisions about big and small things is easy. We all fall into various decision-making traps no matter how well we think we are making decisions or figuring out God’s will for our lives. If you listened to my sermon on Sunday, you know that I don’t think God’s will is as mysterious as we make it out to be.

In Galatians 1, Paul gives us a spiritual autobiography that helps us see how to make decisions and figure out God’s will for our lives by looking backward. In it, Paul talks about the importance of personality and wiring, our family of origin and time spent learning and waiting, and the confirmation of others.

4 questions to ask to figure out God’s will for your life.

What matters most. One of the most quoted verses in Galatians is Galatians 1:10, where Paul asks, For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Who are you trying to please with your decisions: God or your parents, spouse, or someone else?

Paul wants us to ask ourselves, who are we trying to please? Many people end up going to school, taking a job, or making a decision related to parenting to please someone. Paul wants us to ask, whose opinion matters the most to us? Many Christians would say, “Obviously, the answer is God,” but is it really in their lives?

Personality and wiring. God’s plan for our lives closely relates to how we are wired to the talents and gifts God has given us. We often overlook these as we think about God’s will for our lives or what is next for us, or maybe you grew up in a tradition that made God’s will sound like an awful punishment. To know what is next, look at how you are wired.

In Galatians 1, Paul talks about the importance of understanding how we are wired to what God has planned for us. Paul was incredibly zealous and driven. When God saved Paul, he didn’t change that part of Paul’s personality; he redirected that passion.

God doesn’t necessarily change our personality, gifts or talents; he redirects them for His purposes.

The personality you have isn’t an accident. The gifts and talents you have aren’t an accident. But many of us miss what God has for us because we want a different personality or talent or don’t think we are as good as someone else. Yes, God molded Paul just like everyone else as he grew in his faith and maturity, but he didn’t change who God created him to be.

I wonder if we would see God move in our lives more often if we were available to be used by Him instead of caught up in how we compared ourselves to others.

I wonder if we would see God move in our lives more often if we were available to be used by Him instead of caught up in how we compared ourselves to others.

This is why Paul starts with the first question in verse 10: who are we trying to please?

Time spent learning and waiting. An incredibly important part of Paul’s journey was the three years he spent in Arabia. Almost every person God uses greatly in Scripture and throughout history had a waiting period. Moses waited 40 years in the desert, Elijah ran out into the desert, David was in the desert on the run from Saul (even though he had been anointed king), Jesus was in the desert for 40 years, and so on.

We overlook the importance of the desert season of waiting. But if we skip this, we will greatly reduce our effectiveness.

If you are in the time of waiting, don’t fret. Look to see what God is teaching you and how He is preparing you. You may not be ready for what is next, or someone else may not be ready for what is next for you.

Many of us miss what God has next for us because we rush what we’re in right now.

The confirmation of others. Lastly, Paul talks about the importance of others confirming what God has placed in you. In this passage, Paul discusses the importance of Cephas and James, two apostles whose words carried much weight.

When you share what God has placed on your heart with others close to you who know you well. What do they say?

While the opinion of others shouldn’t be a driving factor (remember verse 10), it is an important part of figuring out what God is calling us to do.

4 things that might be holding you back in life & leadership.

To figure out what’s next, here are 4 simple questions to ask:

What matters most to me? What excites me and wakes me up in the morning?
How am I wired?
Am I prepared for what is next, or do I need to learn and discover more?
Do the people who know me best and love me the most confirm what God has placed on my heart?

Posted on Monday, April 1, 2024

One Thing that is Harming Your Spiritual Growth

by Josh Reich

spiritual growth

Photo by Andrik Langfield on Unsplash

Every follower of Jesus is trying to grow in their spiritual practices. But what if our personalities get in the way? What if you are an introvert or an extrovert? You are stunting your spiritual growth because you only do certain spiritual practices instead of ones you tend to dislike or find uncomfortable.

I kept hearing people like Jon Tyson and John Mark Comer talk about a book I had never read, “Invitation to a Journey.” They kept saying, “It’s the best book on spiritual formation.” They were right.

There were so many insights that stood out but easily, one of the biggest aha moments came when I read this:

Each of us will tend to develop models of spiritual life that nurture our preference pattern. If extroversion is our dominant preference, we will select models of spirituality that bring us together with other people in worship, fellowship groups, prayer groups, Bible-study groups, and spiritual-formation groups. We will want corporate spirituality and not get as much out of private individualized spirituality. If our preference is introversion, we will adopt models of spirituality that emphasize solitude, reflection, meditation, and contemplation. -Robert Mulholland Jr.

As I thought about my own life and preferences, Mulholland was right. You can see in your own life how you make your spiritual life and practices around the ones you enjoy the most.

Now, that doesn’t mean you abandon the ones you prefer, but it does mean that we need to look at our spiritual lives and see if we are doing what we prefer or engaging in places that are not our preference.

You might wonder, does this matter?

One thing we are often unaware of that harms our spiritual growth.

I would say yes.

If we only do what we enjoy or find comfortable, we will not grow all our spiritual muscles. Much like a weightlifter who only does an upper body workout, eventually, their legs will weaken.

Think about how you experience a church or a community. Based on your preference, it is easy to elevate one practice over another. Maybe you wonder why others don’t do more of _____ or why your church doesn’t emphasize ______. Without realizing it, our preference gets elevated, and we begin to judge other Christians because they don’t do what we think is so important. That doesn’t mean it isn’t important, but we can elevate worship, prayer, or solitude over something else because it has helped us or we enjoy it more than other practices.

This is especially important for pastors to understand.

Unknowingly, for pastors, we create our churches around our preferences and expect others to grow the way we do. So, as a leader, you must know what you are most likely to emphasize, to make sure you are creating a well-rounded process of developing disciples.

One thing pastors are often unaware of in their churches.

Posted on Monday, March 18, 2024

How to Pray When Life is Hard

by Josh Reich

Photo by Amaury Gutierrez on Unsplash

Much of our lives are spent avoiding pain. And it makes sense because no one likes being in pain or difficulty. It makes sense that when it comes to our faith journey, we focus on the parts about joy, celebration, and happier feelings.

But that leaves us wondering what we do with our pain. What do we do when life hurts? When relationships become hard? How do we handle the difficult moments? How do we walk with a friend through difficult moments?

When they happen, we are usually unprepared for them; at least, I am. We often expect God to keep us from those situations and feelings; we expect God to bless our faithfulness when that blessing means ease and things going up and to the right.

But we see a different story through Scripture. We see that while pain and suffering are not God’s original design, they are part of living in a fallen, broken world. No one, including Jesus, is immune to pain and difficulty. We must learn how to navigate those moments and how they shape and impact our faith. God has given us ways to do that through the Psalms of Lament.

According to John Calvin, “The Psalms are the anatomy of all the parts of the soul. There is no human emotion that anyone finds in himself whose image is not reflected in this mirror. All our griefs, sorrows, fears, misgivings, hopes, cares, anxieties.”

The Psalms are the anatomy of all the parts of the soul. There is no human emotion that anyone finds in himself whose image is not reflected in this mirror. All our griefs, sorrows, fears, misgivings, hopes, cares, anxieties. -John Calvin

The Bible has space for our feelings of grief, disillusionment, and heartache, so our faith needs to as well. But many of us today focus on happier feelings in the modern church.

To help with that, I encourage you to write your own lament. A lament has a few parts: Invocation, complaint, affirmation of trust, petition, statement of confidence, and vow of praise.

The Bible has space for our feelings of grief, disillusionment, and heartache, so our faith needs to as well.

Invocation

This is where you ask for help. Here are some questions to consider:

Who are you addressing? This might seem obvious, but we must know who we are addressing. The Psalms of Lament focus on the character and power of God. We must remind ourselves who God is and what he has promised to do.
What are you asking for? Is it for sleep, peace, dealing with fear or anxiety?
This is also a place to remind ourselves of what God has done in the past. List out how God has moved in your life and faith journey or the lives of others. In lament, we often only focus on our pain and grief, so our hearts must be reminded of what God has done.

Complaint

This part can be hard for many of us because it can feel “un-Christian,” but this is an important part of the lament. We have complaints, grief, and heartache to bring before God. He won’t strike you dead. The psalms are filled with complaints. People even complained to Jesus, like when Lazarus died and Martha came to Jesus and said, “If you had been here, our brother wouldn’t have died” (John 11:21). That’s a complaint.

It is okay to complain to God in prayers of lament.

Things to think through are:

What is the problem? The issue that you are facing.
What is your complaint?
What do you think God has not done?

Part of the complaint in many psalms is also a time to confess our sins to God.

Affirmation of Trust

This is the place where we look to why we can trust God. What has God promised in his word? As you think of your complaint, what God has promised speaks to that. Here are some examples of promises of God.

Petition

This is the place where we ask God. Questions to help with this part are:

What are we asking God to do?
What are we asking God to heal or to deliver us from?
Be specific in how you are asking God to move.

Often, I think we aren’t specific in our prayers because we don’t want to be disappointed if God doesn’t do something. But we must pray specifically.

Statement of Confidence

This is the place of hope. This is where we say, “God, I know you can answer. I know you can heal. I know you can change this person or situation.”

Vow of Praise

Many psalms end with a verse of praise. Even if God doesn’t do as I ask or on my timetable, I will still serve and praise Him.

How to write your own psalm of lament.

Posted on Monday, March 11, 2024

What if I Can’t Forgive Myself?

by Josh Reich

Photo by Nik Shuliahin 💛💙 on Unsplash

One of the things I will often hear from people is, “I know God forgives me, but I can never forgive myself.” Or, “I know ___ blank forgave me, but I can’t move forward. I’m stuck and can’t forget what I did.”

Our past continues to creep up on us and doesn’t stay in the past, no matter how much we’d like it to.

In Genesis 3, we understand how God wants us to deal with our past and the things that keep us stuck. I’m so thankful to Chuck DeGroat for pointing these out.

When Adam and Eve sin, God comes and asks 4 questions:

Where are you?
Who told you?
Have you eaten from the tree?
What have you done?

What gets us stuck, and keeps us stuck, is we start with the 4th question: What have you done? And that is all we focus on or answer. But there is more happening in us and around us that God wants us to face.

And most importantly, God doesn’t start with “What have you done?” So, it is a good idea to start where God does.

In these questions, we find what is broken in our lives, the shame we carry, and the way forward.

Where are you? This is the question about hiding. God isn’t confused about where Adam and Eve are, and He isn’t confused about where you are. He is asking about where we are internally. Why? He wants us to know where we are.

What do you use to hide? It might be your personality, jokes, work ethic, or something else. But all of us do something to hide whenever we feel exposed. Part of forgiving myself is seeing what I use to hide and keep people at arm’s length.

Where did this come from?

Somewhere in your early life, you probably learned what it means to be safe and secure in relationships and have continued to do that again and again in your adult life. But as one of my mentors says, “What worked for you as a little person works against you as an adult.” We need to see what we do to hide, where that came from, honor how that protected us in life, and see how that can keep us from freedom now.

But this hiding might also be the brokenness we carry and our secret sins.

Who told you? This helps to identify who told us about our nakedness and our shame.

What are the voices that have gotten us to where we are? This isn’t about blaming but about identifying our past.

Have you eaten from the tree? This question helps us to identify what we did.

What Adam and Eve did, and our tendency now, was to blame someone else. This is another way of staying safe and distancing ourselves from what we did. We have less ownership and guilt if we can say it was someone else’s fault.

Ultimately, this often leads to regret, shame, feeling forgotten, guilt, and bitterness.

But God won’t let us stay there. He patiently moves forward and asks, What have you done?

As I said, we usually start here, but God doesn’t. We need to get to this question, but this question isn’t the starting point. God wants us to get under the hood of our lives and ask deeper questions before getting to what we have said or done.

But in the goodness of God, He doesn’t leave us standing there with what we have done. He helps us to name it and move forward to freedom.

In 1 John, John writes to his church struggling with sin and seeing themselves correctly.

There was a group in his church that, when it came to sin and struggles, though they didn’t sin, they weren’t sinful (or as bad as our culture talks about it), and there were no consequences to their sin. It didn’t do anything or harm anyone.

Now, no matter what you think of sin, you do things wrong. There’s a good chance that in the last hour, you’ve done multiple things wrong. You may not call them sins. You might call them mistakes or failures or missed opportunities. But (and this is crucial) if we don’t see them correctly, we will miss God’s grace and forgiveness. And if we don’t see them correctly, we will end up with regret, shame, guilt, and eventually bitterness.

This is why John points us to confession in one of the most famous verses in the Bible.

1 John 1:9 is a great reminder: If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Confession is being honest with yourself and God about who you are and who He is.

Confession is being honest with yourself and God about who you are and who He is.

It is seeing yourself through the lens God sees you, which is the only path to freedom.

This path takes us from comparison, being the victim, and even moping around. It takes us to freedom because, through confession, we can let go. We can drop our bags of sin, guilt, shame, and regret.