Category Archives: Healthy Faith

Posted on

Finding a Better Life

by

In one of my favorite bible verses, found in John 10, Jesus says, I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. The Message version says it like this: I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of.

Life.

Life to the full.

More and better life.

The reality for all of us is that this is what we are looking for and longing to have.

It is why we spend money on things. It is why we pack our schedule, why we have kids, go on vacation, choose the job that we do. 

We do it in hopes of finding life in hopes of finding meaning. 

Yet, few people know what it is they are searching for. 

Have you ever stopped to ask, why am I doing this? And, if I do this, where will it take me? The only time we ask those questions is when stress hits or life falls apart. Another question that rarely gets asked is, “What does this promise me, and will that promise be fulfilled?”

When we make a decision, we should ask “What does this promise me and will that promise be fulfilled?”

Click To Tweet

So we pack out our schedules; we run from one relationship to another, never getting too close to people; we find ourselves unfulfilled at every turn, and we wonder why.

For many of us, if you are a Christian, we think that we need to spend more time reading our bibles, being in more bible studies, or praying more. And while those might help, we miss something in the process.

Throughout the gospels, Jesus walks up to people, has conversations with them, and challenges them to follow him.

Then, as they follow him, he doesn’t say this is how early you should pray, this is how much you should read your bible or tithe. Instead, he says, “Watch me, do what I do, take my yoke upon you, and you will find rest. You will find life.”

As John Mark Comer, “To experience the life Jesus has for us, we have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus.”

To experience the life Jesus has for us, we have to adopt the lifestyle of Jesus. -John Mark Comer

Click To Tweet

The invitation that Jesus gives to his first disciples and us is not just about heaven and eternal life. It is also about life now and the longings that we all have. The longings for meaning and purpose. Jesus invites them and us to follow him but to stay in the same lane. Not to take them out of their life or out of what they were doing or were passionate about. Were they excited about their job as fishermen and tax collectors? I don’t know, but they did it. And Jesus said they would keep fishing, but in a different way. 

Are we always passionate about our job or stage in life? Sometimes but often, we aren’t.

The invitation to follow Jesus redirects our purpose.

Click To Tweet

When Jesus invites us to follow Him, he gives us purpose. He redirects what we are already doing for his purposes so that it brings more fulfillment to us but also a more significant eternal impact.

Jesus is inviting us to see what we do differently so that we can have more and better life. 

Jesus is inviting us to see what we do differently so that we can have more and better life.

Click To Tweet

Posted on

Don’t Waste Your Desert

by

Have you ever had a moment where things didn’t go the way you expected them to go? You had a plan, you were working on that plan, but then, it shifted. The job fell through, the money you planned to have got used up somehow, a relationship dried up. Maybe you prayed for something, and God didn’t do what you expected or hoped He would do.

All of us experience that.

For the last year, I expected God to do something. I was so convinced I knew exactly what God was doing, but I didn’t. So what seemed like a perfectly laid out plan for my life didn’t happen.

When life doesn’t turn out how you expect.

Click To Tweet

At first, I was frustrated. I wanted to stop praying. I was so mad at God. Didn’t he know the great plans I had for my life?

As I look back, though, what I saw as great plans were really just easy plans. If I got the job I applied for; my family wouldn’t have to move, we wouldn’t have to leave friends and start over, I would move into a new role at the church I was already on staff at and keep things moving into the next season. It was easy. I also know, now looking back, I wasn’t wired for that, and that wasn’t my next best step.

How God forms us.

Click To Tweet

How do you make sure you don’t waste your desert? Or, as I recently heard Albert Tate say, “What if the season you are in isn’t the test, but the preparation for the test to come?” So how do you make sure you are ready?

This is incredibly important but easy to miss in the desert. But we want to make sure we are prepared for the future God has for us.

As I walked through my most recent desert, here are 3 questions I found helpful to ask:

3 questions to ask, so you don’t waste your desert.

Click To Tweet

How are you spending your time in the wilderness? In the desert, it is easy to be like the children of Israel and complain. This makes sense because the desert isn’t fun. It is harsh. It is a barren place with little water, lots of sun, no shade, and creatures that can kill you!

But it is important to ask, how am I spending my time in the desert? And, am I spending my time on the things God is spending his time on in me?

As Katie and I spent months walking around the desert of Tucson behind our neighborhood, we kept asking, “God, what are you doing? What are you doing in us? What are you preparing us for?” These questions shifted our perspective, which is incredibly important to not wasting your desert.

But how do you figure those things out? It is what you do with your time in the desert that determines what happens in the desert.

What you do with your time in the desert determines what happens in the desert.

Click To Tweet

When Jesus was in the desert in Mark 1 & Matthew 4, he spent his time fasting and praying, so he was ready to battle the devil and do the work in the desert that He needed to do.

Are you moving closer to God or pulling away? Every desert in Scripture is an invitation from God to pull closer to him or pull away from Him. To listen more closely to His voice or to listen more to the voices of those around you. It is a moment to decide if you will dig into the soul work God is doing in you or pull away from that and go the shortcut and skip that hard work.

The shortcut seems easier. The nation of Israel got tired of waiting on Moses to bring a word from God, so they built a golden calf to worship.

The reality of the desert is that God will often seem incredibly distant and silent. You can go weeks, months, or even years without a clear sign from God, a clear word from Him. This is disorienting and disillusioning. In our most recent desert, God felt silent for over a year. It seemed like He was speaking clearly to lots of people around us but not to us. In fact, we almost missed Him because of how He spoke to us about Massachusetts; it wasn’t what we expected Him to do.

If the wilderness is your training camp, what is being toned and strengthened in you? This last question is critical.

Don’t waste your desert.

Click To Tweet

The best way to not waste your desert season is to ask: God, what is being strengthened in me? What do you want me to learn about you? About myself.

There are things about God and ourselves that we can only learn in the deserts of life.

There are things about God and ourselves that we can only learn in the deserts of life.

Click To Tweet

Don’t mistake this question, though; this isn’t necessarily why God has you where you are, but it is the path that God wants you on to know what He wants you to know.

As Katie and I walked through our desert in Tucson, God showed us things in our hearts that we ended to know. He showed us what our desires for life, family, and ministry really were and that they wouldn’t be found where we were. He showed me what I really valued in life and what it would take to get to those places. We needed the time of the desert for those things to crystallize in our hearts and minds.

I think something else happens; our faith is strengthened as we dig into God’s word and presence in the desert. As we fight to hear God’s voice, as we strain to hear Him, we learn how to hear Him, and that is such a gift. It is not always easy and obvious, but His voice is always there.

Posted on

God’s Love for You

by

One of the strongest and clearest messages throughout the Bible is God’s love for us. We are reminded that God doesn’t forget us (even though many of us feel forgotten), that God is close to us (even though He often feels far away), and that not only has He created us in His image, but He knows us, and that doesn’t scare Him away (although we always fear that the moment someone truly knows us, they’ll bolt).

And yet, many of us still struggle to believe God loves us.

We believe God loves the world. We believe that through Jesus God will redeem and restore the world, but we have a hard time placing ourselves in that.

So we run, we hide, we put up fronts, wear masks, beat ourselves up for past mistakes, try to earn God’s love, try to prove ourselves worthy of God’s love, and all the while God’s love sits there.

If you’re like me, you can relate to this.

The problem for many of us is that we read verses about God’s love for the world and us (John 3:16), that Jesus loves us (John 15:9), that God predestined us in love (Ephesians 1:4 – 5), that God sings over us (Zephaniah 3:17), that God loved us first (1 John 4:19), that God draws us to Himself (John 6:44). We read the apostle Paul saying over 160 times that as a follower of Jesus, we are “in Christ”, and yet we live each and every day as if God is disappointed in us, indifferent towards us, mildly happy with us or just “likes” us.

We’ll say things like, “I know God has forgiven me, but I can’t forgive myself.” Or, “Yes, God loves me, but I can’t love myself.”

When we say those things, we have made love and forgiveness something it is not. We have based that on our own definitions and life.

Over the last two years, if there is one message that God has put on my heart for me to learn, it is this: His gracious, unrelenting, never stopping love for me.

Personally, I keep going back to Luke 15 and the stories that Jesus told. A shepherd who goes after a lost lamb, a woman who searches for a coin and a father who runs out to meet his son who doesn’t deserve grace, let alone a party. Through this passage, God has softened my heart to understand and feel His love.

Some of us (at least I did) balked a little at this because it seemed too emotional, made God too close and personal, and we feared it would take away His transcendence and power. He’s God, Creator of the universe. Yes, and He’s also a personal God who created you in His image and sent His Son to die in your place so He could rescue you and so you could know His great love for you.

Here’s my challenge to you. Spend as much time as you need, months or years. Dive into Luke 15 and the passages listed above and ask God, “Show me Your love for me; help me to understand and feel Your love for me.”

Posted on

The Hidden Path to Joy

by

Trusting in God is a hard thing to do. But, when we do, it leads to our joy.

This might seem obvious, but we often miss out on it. We often think that trusting God will always lead to places we don’t like. Kind of like in college when we are trying to figure out God’s will and we think, “What if God calls me to the worst place or the last thing I want to do?”

One of the things I often encourage people to do who struggle to trust in God is to ask, why don’t you trust God? What keeps you from that? Is it something you think God should have done? Is it because of a past hurt or a relationship that fell apart?

Often, without realizing it, we don’t trust God not because of God but because of ourselves. Somewhere in our lives we had someone close to us who broke trust, who broke a promise, who walked out on us, and so it is hard to trust God. 

Once we can see why we don’t trust God and what keeps us from taking that step, we can deal with that.

It isn’t as simple as “just trusting God more.”

The reality, though, is all of us trust in someone or something in our lives. 

Trust leads to joy.

Click To Tweet

We trust in people every day.

Yet, the reverse is true, and we know it to be true.

Misplaced trust does not lead to joy. 

One of the things that I find most fascinating about Habakkuk chapter 3 is how Habakkuk reminds himself of how God has moved in the past. He recalls how the nation of Israel began, how God brought the nation of Israel out of slavery in the book of Exodus and gave them the 10 commandments.

What Habakkuk is doing is reminding himself of how God has moved in the past. Often our struggle with trust is wondering if God will show up. Habakkuk is showing us, “God worked in the past, so I can trust he will work now and in the future.”

This doesn’t mean that God will work in the same way as in the past. It doesn’t mean he will work on our timetable, but we know he is at work.

You may be in a place where you need to remind yourself how God has worked in the past of your life. Maybe you need to journal or make a list of things he’s done, prayers he has answered. Maybe you need to determine why you don’t trust God, what is holding you back and how to move forward in that. What things are you placing your trust in that will ultimately let you down and take away your joy instead of giving you joy?

The hidden path to joy.

Click To Tweet

Posted on

Dealing with the Expectations of Others

by

Recently I gave a message on handling the expectations people place on us. We have all experienced the crushing weight of disappointing others, of letting them down. For example, it could be the expectation our parents put on us as children for grades or sports. Many of us have felt the disappointment of a spouse when we didn’t meet their expectations or from a child when we let them down. We have felt this at work where we have let down a boss or co-worker. 

All of us can look back on our childhood and remember a moment when we disappointed a coach, teacher, or parent. And for many of us, that was a shaping moment in our lives. 

This can be especially hard for leaders and pastors. We know the feeling that comes from getting an email from someone telling us they are leaving our church for this reason or that. It could be we are being unfairly compared to a past pastor, or someone shares a negative experience they had. Often when it comes to others’ expectations, it can feel like we can’t win. 

But what do we do with those feelings now? Steve Cuss, who wrote a fantastic book called Managing Leadership Anxiety, said, “We need to discern what is ours to carry, what is God’s to carry, and what is theirs to carry.”

We all carry around the expectations from our lives and the disappointments we have experienced from others. But what should we carry? What is ours? What is theirs? What is God’s to carry?

As we think about the “should’s” others place on us, I want you to think about a specific example, a specific expectation someone has placed on you, or a situation where you have felt someone’s disappointment. And as you do, I want to encourage you to walk through these questions to see what is yours to carry, what is theirs to carry, and what is God’s to carry. 

1. What is the expectation? While this might seem like an obvious question, we often skip over it. What is the actual expectation? Often in relationships, we misunderstand each other or miss meeting each other’s needs because we don’t know what the other person wants. As we saw on Sunday, Jesus went to the other town in Mark 1 after clarifying what the people and his disciples wanted.

2. Does God want you to meet it? Or can someone else (or God) meet it? Remember, in Mark 1, Jesus started with prayer. In prayer, that time with God, we begin to clarify what we are to do. As you have clarified the expectation, ask what God wants in this situation. It might not be the right time for you. 

3. Do you want to meet it? Throughout the gospels, Jesus knew what the people wanted. He knew what God wanted for him. He also knew when he didn’t want to meet their expectations and when He did want to meet their expectations. Why? He had other goals. It doesn’t make the people’s expectations wrong, just wrong for Jesus then. Some expectations that people have for us are not things we need to meet or want to meet, so knowing who God has created us and called us to be is essential. 

4. Can you meet it? This is the season and time question. Throughout Jesus’ ministry sometimes he left villages, and other times he stayed. He stopped at seemingly odd times to talk with people and heal them. Timing matters when it comes to expectations. You and I might do things today because of time available that we couldn’t do five years ago. An empty nester might have more flexibility than a mom with young kids. Sometimes people place expectations on us because they think we should handle it. However, we know what we can or can’t do, and it is crucial for us to be honest about that. 

5. If you meet it, will you keep them from meeting it? This is a hard one, especially if we love the other person. But, sometimes meeting an expectation that someone has for us keeps them from meeting it themselves; keeps God from meeting it, or maybe someone else. Everything isn’t yours to do. Sometimes our help can hinder the growth of someone else. And sometimes, if we step in, it might keep someone else from stepping in. 

6. Should God carry this? The things we know God should carry that we can’t are in the areas of change. Often in relationships, we will try to change people or meet some need to change them. That isn’t our job. That is God’s job. Some needs only God can meet. Although people may place the burden on us, sometimes it is for God to meet the need. 

Posted on

How to Pray to the God who Protects & Meets us in our Fear

by

white and black printed paper beside white and black lego blocks

The book of Psalms is one of the most beloved books in the Bible, and for a good reason. It speaks directly to our situations. It speaks to our hopes, dreams, fears, loss, and disappointments. Athanasius said, “Most Scripture speaks to us; the Psalms speak for us.”

Most Scripture speaks to us; the Psalms speak for us. -Athanasius

Click To Tweet

But the Psalms are not just about us and how we connect to God. The Psalms also give us a clear picture of who God is, what God does, and what God is like. They show us a close God who redeems, who will make all things new, who forgives, and hears us.

Psalm 27 shows us what we do with our fear. Where is God when life is scary? When things feel overwhelming and we aren’t sure we can move forward in faith?

The Lord is my light and my salvation—

    whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life—

    of whom shall I be afraid?

2 When the wicked advance against me

    to devour me,

it is my enemies and my foes

    who will stumble and fall.

3 Though an army besiege me,

    my heart will not fear;

though war break out against me,

    even then, I will be confident.

I’ve often wondered with this Psalm, is David trying to pump himself up? Just reminding himself of God’s power and security?

There are seasons where we have to speak the truth, the truth that we know, and maybe preach to others and preach it to ourselves. We forget. This is one reason communion is such an important practice. We must remind ourselves of God’s grace and forgiveness. We must remind ourselves of God’s compassionate love.

In Scripture, light symbolizes well-being and safety. Darkness symbolizes danger. David is expressing his confidence in God’s power. He is saying that God is someone that can be trusted.

4 One thing I ask from the Lord,

    this only do I seek:

that I may dwell in the house of the Lord

    all the days of my life,

to gaze on the beauty of the Lord

    and to seek him in his temple.

5 For in the day of trouble

    he will keep me safe in his dwelling;

he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent

    and set me high upon a rock.

6 Then my head will be exalted

    above the enemies who surround me;

at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of joy;

    I will sing and make music to the Lord.

The dwelling place of God, the presence of God, the light of God is the safe place. It is the place where fear is answered.

The dwelling place of God, the presence of God, the light of God is the safe place. It is the place where fear is answered.

Click To Tweet

So David is seeking his presence, the place of the dwelling of God. Because we know when we seek God’s presence we will find him (Jeremiah 29:13.) God will not hide. God wants to be with us. God wants us in his presence. Dwelling carries it with a picture of intimacy, closeness. This is something that is all over the psalms.

But when we are with God we are safe. He will hide us, he will shelter us from the storm. This doesn’t mean we don’t experience the storm, we do. It just means we are not alone in the storm. We don’t face it without the power and presence of God.

We don’t face the storms of life without the power and presence of God.

We don’t face the storms of life without the power and presence of God.

Click To Tweet

We know this from Psalm 91, that God hides us, like a mother bird hiding her young under her wing (Psalm 91:4.) To get to us the storms of life must go through the hand of God.

7 Hear my voice when I call, Lord;

    be merciful to me and answer me.

8 My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”

    Your face, Lord, I will seek.

9 Do not hide your face from me,

    do not turn your servant away in anger;

    you have been my helper.

Do not reject me or forsake me,

    God my Savior.

And yet, David gives voice to an ache we often experience. Because we can’t see God, we wonder if he is there. If God doesn’t protect the way we think He should, or doesn’t move on the timetable we think he should, we ask, “Are you there? Do you hear me?”

What we aren’t told is if God answers David’s specific prayer in this Psalm or if it is in the time he wants.

My guess is, based on verses 13 – 14, he doesn’t.

13 I remain confident of this:

    I will see the goodness of the Lord

    in the land of the living.

14 Wait for the Lord;

    be strong and take heart

    and wait for the Lord.

No matter what, I wait. I remain confident. I trust in you. I will see your goodness. I don’t see it all yet, but I will.

I will wait. I will wait.

Posted on

How to Slow Down & Rest

by

Almost everyone I talk to right now is exhausted. Not just physically but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.

Our exhaustion comes from a lot of places:

  • Maybe you found yourself as a parent pulling your hair out as you try to navigate online school or hybrid learning. 
  • Juggling work, to-do lists, errands. 
  • Most of us rush from one meeting to the next. One thing to the next. 
  • Maybe you are retired or find yourself with more time than you used to have, but you find yourself mentally exhausted, and you don’t know why. 
  • Or maybe in your job, you have never been busier. Never been more exhausted.

All of this causes us to miss things in life. We miss out on opportunities because we are too tired, frazzled, and busy. We miss out on moments in relationships because of our pace. 

Our health suffers. As we sleep less, we spend more time on technology. We have become unhealthier and lonelier. We grab sleeping pills or alcohol, anything to help us fall asleep or numb ourselves. 

Our relationship with God suffers as we take less time to talk to him or listen to him. 

But often, instead of slowing down, we add more things to the list. We double down on working harder, pushing harder when we really need to slow down and rest.

In Matthew 11, Jesus gives us one of the most amazing invitations, to come to him and rest. He says:

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Jesus says so much here that I don’t want us to miss: 

Come to me. Jesus invites us to come. Many of us have this idea that God doesn’t want us, but Jesus tells us that isn’t true. He invites us. Relating to God, spiritual practices begin with the belief, the knowledge that God wants to be with us. To know us, for us to know Him. To experience life and rest in Jesus, we must believe that God wants us to come to him and that God wants to restore our lives. 

Again, who does he invite? 

All you who are weary and burdened. How do you know if that’s you? How do you know if you need to come to Jesus for rest? Often, we think we aren’t that tired, or if we can push through this next week or month. But we are usually kidding ourselves with that. Too often, instead of finding rest, we try to survive life with sugar or caffeine throughout the day, a donut to get us going in the morning, 5-hour energy to get us through the afternoon, pushing harder and harder, working late into the night and then when our brains are wired, taking a sleeping pill to fall asleep. 

About this passage, Dane Ortlund said, “You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come.“

You don’t need to unburden or collect yourself and then come to Jesus. Your very burden is what qualifies you to come. -Dane Ortlund

Click To Tweet

What an amazing truth. Your burden, your weariness, your exhaustion is what qualifies you to come to Jesus.

Jesus says, “I will give you rest.” Rest is a gift from God. It is from his generosity when we come to him.  This is more than a nap or a long night’s sleep. This is soul rest. 

You are at rest…

  • When you know, you are loved by God and no longer strive to be loved. 
  • You are at rest…when you no longer work too hard to prove yourself worthwhile to others. 
  • You are at rest…when you no longer try to control everything. 
  • You are at rest…when you stop worrying and let go of your worries and anxieties to God.

Jesus says, “walk with me, take my yoke and learn from me.” We learn from Jesus as we walk with him. Side by side. In the ancient world, farmers would put two animals in a yoke. One animal was strong, and one was weaker. The weaker animal was often younger or less mature. 

So Jesus invites us to take his yoke, not only cause he is stronger than we are, but so we can learn from him. We can walk with him, to apprentice to Jesus, to become more like him as we work and walk with him. Jesus says, “I am stronger than you. Come, and I will do the heavy lifting.” As we practice rest, slowing down, we become more like Jesus. We walk with Jesus. 

What a gift. 

Then, Jesus tells us what we experience in this: I am gentle and humble in heart. 

We run and run, often from God, but from others and ourselves because of fear. Jesus says we can come to him because he is gentle. Jesus is gentle and humble in heart. 

This is who God is. This is the God we rest with. Rest in. One of my kids is a snuggle, and I love when he gets close. I often imagine this is what Jesus is saying here. I am gentle; I will give you comfort. 

You will find rest. What do we find? Rest. 

A soul rest. 

A peace. 

Contentment. A deep trusting calm. 

And lifting when we trust God instead of trusting ourselves.

My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. This verse is the only time the word easy is used in the bible. 

Jesus invites us to get as close as possible, to walk with him. When we are really linked with him, that’s where rest happens, where life is abundant and full. Often, when we think of God, we think of him as giving us burdens, but he doesn’t. 

In fact, if you and I are carrying burdens, they aren’t from God but things we are to give to God. Anything that is keeping you from rest gives to God. Anything that keeps you from being present with God, others, or yourself, give it to God. Anything that weighs you down keeps you up at night; give it to God. 

This is why Peter invites us to Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. -1 Peter 5:7

Click To Tweet

What is the yoke you are carrying that you need to lay down and let Jesus take?

God wants to walk with us. God wants us to experience rest and life. God wants to take our burdens so that we can live free and light.

Posted on

How to Have a Feast!

by

We are in the middle of a series on spiritual practices at my church, and one of the practices I got to teach on was feasting. You can watch it here.

Feasting is a spiritual practice that we don’t talk about very often, but as we look at the life of Jesus, we know that Jesus spent a lot of time at meals and feasts. New Testament scholar Robert Karris said, ‘In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal or coming from a meal.’ Feasting is all over the Bible. There are feasts throughout the Old Testament. The bible ends in a fantastic feast. Jesus spent so much time at feasts. Jesus’ first miracle recorded in the Bible in Luke 2, took place at a party!

In Luke’s Gospel Jesus is either going to a meal, at a meal or coming from a meal. -Robert Karris

Click To Tweet

In his book The Possibility of Prayer: Finding Stillness with God in a Restless World, Pastor John Starke said, “the Bible entices its readers with visions of feasts and suppers more than instructions about fasting.” So, as we practice the practice of feasting, remember, For Jesus, feasting was not just about enjoyment but also about one of the ways he fulfilled God’s mission. 

For Jesus, feasting was not just about enjoyment but also about one of the ways he fulfilled God’s mission.

Click To Tweet

If the spiritual practice of feasting is new to you, one resource that has helped Katie and me is The Lifegiving Table: Nurturing Faith through Feasting, One Meal at a Time.

Here are some ideas on how to practice feasting and to enjoy God’s gifts of food and presence:

How to practice the spiritual practice of feasting.

Click To Tweet

  • Plan it. What will you eat, what music will you play, who will be there? How will you make sure people are present to themselves, God, and each other? How will you make sure you are present to yourself? 
  • Determine what matters for you. Will you cook? What will you listen to? Our family sometimes cooks a feast, and sometimes we get pizza. But what we always do is sit at our table, light candles, listen to records and make a giant cookie. Those are anchors for our feast. 
  • Don’t have your phone at the table. Have a box where people stick their phones so everyone can be present at the feast. 
  • Make this a regular practice and schedule it at least once a month. I’d encourage you to do this weekly but start small. 
  • Take a nap the afternoon before a feast, and don’t eat as much that day so you can indulge and enjoy without guilt. 
  • Use conversation cards. We use these from the Orange, which is our kids’ curriculum. They have questions like: Which person at the table is most likely to break a world record and in what? What was your favorite toy as a kid? Fun things that draw us together. Here are different cards for you to get depending on who will be there: Adult conversation cards Family conversation cards.
  • List out things you are grateful for from this past week. 
  • Have a meal with someone who doesn’t know Jesus and listen to their story. 
  • Laugh. Laughter is such a gift from God. God is a God of joy. 

Lastly, remember Christ is present. When we feast, we enact what Jesus spent most of his life doing, being with people, enjoying God’s good gifts. When our family feasts, we light candles to remind us of the presence of Jesus, that he is the light of the world and our lives, and he is with us. 

We are also experiencing a taste of eternity. We are told in Revelation that one day, the followers of Jesus will be at the feast of the Lamb, the feast of Jesus. 

Feasting is a rhythm that grounds us in celebration and thanksgiving. It also prepares us for heaven. It is a time to stop each week, to pause and reflect on God’s goodness to us, to relate to each other, and enjoy life. 

The Bible entices its readers with visions of feasts and suppers more than instructions about fasting. -John Starke

Click To Tweet

Posted on

The Goal of Spiritual Practices

by

Almost every year, when news years goals and resolutions roll around, millions of people make a goal connected to their spiritual life. It might be reading their bible more, praying more, being more generous, which is awesome. But often, we fail to move the needle in those places, or at least to the degree we’d look to.

Often then, we get frustrated with ourselves, think something is wrong with us, and many times, fail to reengage with God.

Have you ever asked why that is? There are many reasons this happens, but I think one of them centers on spiritual practices.

Have you ever asked yourself: What is the goal of spiritual practices? When I read my bible, pray, give, fast, or any other spiritual practice, what am I hoping will happen?

What is the goal of spiritual practices?

Click To Tweet

We are in the middle of a series on spiritual practices at our church. At some point, to actually grow in our faith and spiritual journey, we have to ask this important question. I often; assume something will happen or believe that the point isn’t that important because we are supposed to do it.

But if you think about the question, you will start to think of things like growing close to Jesus, growing in my faith, learning about Jesus.

Spiritual practices are the ways that we connect with God and relate to God. But spiritual practices also do something else; they are how we become more present to God, others, and ourselves.

Spiritual practices are the ways that we become more present to God, others and ourselves.

Click To Tweet

This is why the goal of spiritual practices is so important because if we don’t know the purpose, we won’t know why we need to practice them or what we are trying to experience or accomplish when we practice them. We will also miss what God is trying to do in us, around us, and through us in those practices. We can read our bible, pray, take a sabbath, and miss all that it could be.

While spiritual practices do many things, I think they bring about 2 significant things:

  1. They are about our formation, how we become more like Christ, how we walk with Christ as his disciples, as his apprentices, alongside him.
  2. They help us to be present with God, ourselves, and others. They help us be aware of what is going on in us, what is going on in others, and what God is doing. They help us not to miss things.

As we practice them, we are looking for how God is forming us. As we experience difficulty or struggle through practice, we are looking for what God is doing in us, how we are being shaped, and who we are being shaped into. But practices are not just us and God. They involve the community and are shaped by the community. Yes, you will be alone often as you practice spiritual practices, but they also have a deep connection to others both in practice and how we interact with others after the practice. This is often forgotten, and I think that brings damage to the Christian life.

Posted on

How to Dream [Again]

by

Dream Big text

One of the hardest things to do when you face disappointments in life is to dream again. And if we’re honest, 2020 has been a dream killer, a year of setbacks, letdowns, and disappointments. There are unmet expectations everywhere. This past Sunday, I preached on how to face those disappointments and setbacks and dreams again. Maybe you are in that place where it is hard to dream. You are just trying to make it through the day, and how do you even know if your dreams will come true. Here’s my encouragement, check out the sermon, and then take some time to get curious and dream again (if you’d like a really creative version of this that our incredible team put together, go here to download it). I believe that God will meet you there and help you move forward with what he puts on your heart. 

In his book Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It, Bob Goff lays out some helpful questions to help us dream.

  1. Who are you?
  2. Where are you?
  3. What do you want?

I want to encourage you as you go through this exercise to write things out and dream. We edit our dreams too quickly and miss out on what God has for us. So before you ask ‘how’ questions, take some time to pray and dream. 

We’ll get to the editing and how questions at the end. Right now, it is important to dream, to write, to let your mind wander. As children, we are good at this, but the older we get, it is easy to limit ourselves. Limiting ourselves is how we end up with regrets, disappointments, and cynicism. More than likely, if you’re like most people when it comes to dreams, reality thinking isn’t the problem. It is dreaming that is the struggle. 

Broken Dreams

Before we get to dreams, let’s take a look at our broken dreams. Many of us get stuck in life, and rightfully so because we dreamed and nothing happened. We went after a goal, a hope, a dream, only to have it shattered. Our lives get shattered by the actions of others, and this keeps us where we are.

Larry Crabb has some helpful insight on this: Shattered dreams are never random. They are always a piece in a larger puzzle, a chapter in a larger story. The Holy Spirit uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God, to help us begin dreaming the highest dream. They are ordained opportunities for the Spirit to awaken, then to satisfy our highest dream.

Don’t just speed through those dreams or that season. What is the Holy Spirit doing in you from those dreams? What is God showing you? Growing in you for His purposes?

Now, if you’re ready to take that step and dream again, read on…

Who are you?

What makes you, you? This is about getting an understanding of your story. What makes you tick? What makes you unique?

All of us have different gifts, personalities, talents, ambitions, and histories. God doesn’t waste any of those. If you grew up in a broken home or grew up in poverty, that has an enormous impact on what God might want to do in your life and future. 

Take some time to write down moments that have impacted your life—both high and low. 

Ask God, what does that say about me? My story? Is there anything on that list you want me to pay attention to? Were there any limiting beliefs in your family growing up? Anything in particular from your family story that you need to pay attention to?

Here are a few other questions that might jog some ideas: What are your strengths, gifts, and things you are good at? How has God uniquely wired you so that you can contribute something special? What do you do without having to think? What do people ask you for advice in or seek out your help with?

Where are you?

This is more about your stage in life than your geography, although geography does matter when it comes to dreams. 

What is your life stage? Did you make a big change in your life: marriage, children, retirement, new job, new school, or new house. Are you about to make a big change in life? Or maybe you would like to make a big change in life. These are important to the stage you are in. 

I’m a dad of 5 kids, two of who are teenagers, so there are dreams I have today that aren’t for right now. That’s okay. This isn’t about limiting yourself or your dreams, but having an honest assessment of who you are and where you are. Just because we can’t do something today doesn’t mean we can never do that thing. It just means, today may not be the time. 

So, be honest: where are you in life? 

What do you want?

Even though we love the idea of dreams, it can be difficult to attach words to them. But list out what do you want in life. What do you want to be known for? What things do you want people to say about you at your funeral? What stories do you want people to tell about you? Do you want to travel somewhere? Do something you’ve never tried before? What legacy do you want to leave in your life? Recently I heard a pastor in his 80’s say, “More people need to ask, ‘What kind of old person do I want to be?’” That really struck me and has caused my wife and me to think differently about our lives and dreams. 

If it helps to think backward, write out where you hope to be in 5 years. For many of us, we have put this on hold this year because of how hard it has been, but this is a moment to take that back and dream again. 

Don’t edit this yet. Don’t start to “how” your list and try to figure out how you’ll get there or get it done. Just list it out. 

Now What?

Take a moment to look at what you’ve written down. Bring those things before God in prayer. Ask him what things he truly wants you to focus on this week, this month, this year, or in the next decade. Not everything on your list is for now, and that’s okay. Dreams don’t always happen fast. 

Depending on your personality, you might look at your list and see some impossible things, that is great. Continue asking God for his help. Maybe you see some overwhelming or scary things, continue bringing those before God, and ask him for courage and guidance. Ask this person to pray with you as you move forward with your dreams. 

Let me give one helpful insight: The dreams that help people, that are meaningful to you and others, that line up with your personal values, those are the ones that will draw the best out of us. Whether 1 person knows, we accomplished it or a thousand. Those numbers aren’t important.