This past week Michele and I spent quite a bit of time outside making the yard look better in preparation for an appraisal of our home. Admittedly, there was a bit of stress over how much the house would appraise for. Probably, and more importantly, we were concerned with what issues the appraiser might find as s/he looked over our home.

In my opinion, there was a little too much time and effort placed into concern/stress and preparation, but we wanted to present the best house possible to get the best appraisal we could.

Finally, the appraiser came and went. We were able to calm down. And a couple of hours later I took off for the fire station to work a half shift. Working at the fire station that night helped me. It helped me to regain perspective.

The first call we had after I arrived for duty was a general illness. There ended up not being anyone sick, but we came upon a homeless village of about thirty people. The roof over their heads was the overpass (pictured below).

Seeing this helped remind me that the possessions I have are not the things I will take with me through eternity. The homeless village also helped me to remember how incredibly blessed Michele and I are and that we are called to use some of those blessings to help others.

In a time when obsession over the house was beginning to take over, this reminder was perfect timing.

This is a good article a friend recommended about why Christians are jerks online. I really liked the concept of “room cleaning Christianity.” His analogy comparing cleaning your dorm room when you should be writing that term paper with tearing people apart for seemingly small things is great. Personally, I can identify with both and will remember this as I work on scraping out the judgmental attitude out of my heart.

My good friend, Jonathan, wrote an excellent article about prayer and faith. Here are a few of his thoughts.

Dropping the bomb on the ants!

sometimes I find myself saying, “Hey the least I can do is pray for you!” What a crock!

If the US Air Force accepted my invitation to execute military maneuvers in my backyard to destroy a nasty nest of Army ants (you gotta love the imagery) they would bring firepower that was more magnificent and vastly superior to any defense or assault the vicious insects could mount!

Asking the USAF for help would not be the least I could, that would the most extravagant, maybe even audacious thing I could do! Consider when we pray, we are inviting the divine and infinite source of power in and beyond this universe to move and accomplish His perfect will in our life. That is so far above “the least I can do”! Praying for people is less about what I want to do to help, but the privilege I have of inviting God to bring His strength and power to the table.

Please Stop Faking It, Rather I Hope You Faith It

The least I can do is fake it and mouth the request. The best I can do is faith it and sincerely trust in Him to do what only He can! Sincere prayer is where faith in God is strengthened, not solely by His fulfilling my request as I asked, but more, by the wonderful reality and promise of His Presence, His Purpose, and His Power that will ultimately brings His version of good into my life. Given the choice, I definitely want His version of good!

My prayer is that I hope I see God more as the One who can drop the most extravagant, audacious, and powerful bombs/answers to our requests instead of the one I just fake prayers to (which I think I do too often).

As part of a church leaders class I took a couple of months ago, I read Conformed To His Image by Kenneth Boa. One of the chapters discussed a philosophy of discipleship.

A few quotes in the chapter either hit me with an “aha” moment or served as an excellent reminder. For those of you also digging into the art of discipleship may these assist you as well.

Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us.” 1 Thessalonians 2:8; “It is more noble to give yourself completely to one individual than to labor diligently for the salvation of the masses.” – Dag Hammarskjold

Some people come to Jesus as a solution to their… problems. When he doesn’t rectify their difficulties in the way they had hoped, their unrealized expectations can paralyze further growth. We cannot follow Jesus when we are asking him to follow us. We limit our spiritual development when we fail to make the transition from seeing Jesus as a problem solver to seeing him as our life.“

But the point of the Great Commission is to make disciples, not merely converts.”

While Jesus ministered to the masses, he focused his time and training on a small number of disciples. He was closer to the Twelve than to the seventy, and closer to the three (Peter, James, and John) than to the rest of the Twelve. Instead of dissipating the bulk of his energy on the curious multitudes, our Lord concentrated on a handful of people who were teachable and committed. By building his life into these men, he was equipping them to reach an ever-widening circle of people through multiplication rather than addition.”

The Lord may call you to nurture some people for a brief moment or for a long season, but they were and never will be yours. They are always his. A willingness to expose people to other gifts and resources is a mark of the humility of authentic security in Christ.

We can participate in the work of God, but we cannot measure or control what he is doing in us and through us. Thus it is always unwise to determine effectiveness by comparing one person with another or one ministry with another.”

I am reading Tim Laniak’s book called While Shepherds Watch Their Flocks.

While reflecting on his chapter about caring, it struck me deeply: we are both shepherd and sheep. Here is what I wrote.

Once, I was a lost sheep who responded to the call of the Shepherd.
Now, I am a rescued sheep who shepherds a part of the Shepherd’s whole flock.”

I will never presume to replace the work of the one true Shepherd. Despite that, as a leader within the church, I am called to assist with caring for His flock. Being called as a leader who serves the Lord, I should have, as Laniak says, “a compassionate heart for [His] individual sheep.”

So this is my prayer for today, that I will maintain compassion for the all of the Lord’s sheep: the rescued and the lost; the ones close to me and the ones from afar; the members of my LifeGroup and my family (so dear). I pray that the compassion I receive daily from the Shepherd is passed through me to the rest of His flock.

Back in the day (it was a Tuesday if I am correct), the Michael Jordan show was the most exciting thing to watch on television. When he played with Chicago I became a Bulls fan – just because he was that good.

Induction Speech
Last week, Jordan was inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. In what should have been a time of celebration, Michael flipped things upside down a bit. During his induction speech, Jordan showed why he was so motivated to become the best player of his time: he embraced bitterness.

According to a Yahoo article, Jordan took shots at various players and coaches. His speech revelaed bitterness dating all the way back to his sophomore year of high school. What it showed was that as good as Jordan was, he was never able to let it go. Over the years, he held onto his failure, hurt, and pain like a kid clutching a toy.

His Bitterness, My Bitterness
The thing is, Jordan is not alone. Take a look at Brett Favre. Part of the reason he is playing with the Vikings is so that he can take a stab at his former team. My question is why? Why would a man embrace bitterness toward the Packers after spending so many years with them.

The bitterness these two men hold are their own and no one will be able to share it with them. For, “each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy” (Proverbs 14:10). But, it can serve as a warning to all of us.

Free Yourself
Do not embrace joy-stealing bitterness. In fact, take it one step farther: “do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (Ephesians 4:26). Do not even let bitterness have a chance to take hold… unless you want to be a superb pro athlete. Then, game on!

I have to admit, there have only been a handful of times over this past year where I have come to God hopeless, worn out, and on the brink. In two simple words: broken down. Monday was one of those days for me. Asher and I were on our way back home from Phoenix and we were on our first of two flights. We were both exhausted, fussy, and grouchy from a weekend visiting with the family.

During the flight (to Memphis) Asher did not want to play quietly nor did he want to play with his games. Basically, he did not want to be on the plane at all, and he let me know it constantly. Likewise, I was not being the gracious father. All I wanted to do was to have him remain quiet so that we would not disturb those around us. And with short little outbursts, I did my best to keep our noise to a minimum.

Asher and I were heading toward a meltdown and I knew it was going to happen on the second flight. I knew I could not handle our situation anymore. I also knew I did not have the patience to handle Asher and I could not take care of him on my own.

So, it was as the plane was on approach (for our landing) that I prayed to the Lord for help. It was a simple prayer asking the Lord to give me patience and help so that we would make it through the rest of our trip. For me, it was most definitely a prayer of desperation!

And there it was. As our second flight lifted off the ground I looked next to me and was overwhelmed by what I saw: Asher asleep. Now, before you dismiss this as a common occurrence, I will tell you that it is a rare moment when Asher sleeps on a vehicle. For me, it was an overwhelming relief that I cannot describe. It was more than Asher just lying there asleep. For that entire flight, it was my temporary place of refuge, where I could finally rest. It was my answered prayer.

And so, Psalm 142 comes to mind as I reflect on this moment from a few days ago:

I cry out to the Lord; I plead for the Lord’s mercy. I pour out my complaints before him and tell him my troubles. When I am overwhelmed, you alone know the way I should turn.

Then I pray to you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my place of refuge. You are all I really want in life.’”

Psalm 142:1-3 & 5

What is in an identity?

A few things over the past couple of weeks got me thinking about my identity and how identities change. First, my pastor brought up an interesting point about one of the parables Jesus told in Luke 16 (versus 19 – 31). While Lazarus was named in this parable, the rich man was not. In fact, during the entire parable, he is in fact only identified as “the rich man”.

Then, a few nights ago, Michele and I were talking about our son’s WEE School registration. The story had a funny twist in that Michele never actually got any names of the women she met. Instead, everyone introduced themselves as “Jake’s mom”, “Rachel’s mom”, “Peyton’s mom”, etc. Chele and I had a great laugh over that story, but it also got me thinking.

It amazes me how identities are so fluid… yet so important. Before Asher came along, I never had an identity as “Asher’s dad”. Before I met Michele, I never had an identity as “Michele’s husband”. I do now and they are identities I take very seriously.

Likewise, before I became a Christian, I never had the identity of “Leo: Christ disciple”. Before, I was more likely “Leo: pleasure seeker” or “Leo: wannabe rich man”.

I love my identity as “Leo: Christ disciple”. It is an important factor in my life because it sets the foundation of how I am going to approach each day. Through this identity, I live each day without fear, knowing God is always with me. This new identity also gives me purpose. Through my Christ-based identity, I now live each day so that I can have an impact on other people’s lives.

There are a few of my identities. What are some of yours?

Photo courtesy of Freddy The Boy on Flickr.

I am not a big wristband wearer. I avoided the temptation to wear the WWJD wristband. I resisted wearing the Livestrong wristband. I just plain ignored the hundreds of other wristbands available.

I avoided wearing them… until now. Last night Forest Hill Church asked us to wear a wristband for an entire year. The band serves to remind us of our purpose as Christians: to serve the least and the lost. Our bracelets say “So That!”

Why “so that”? Essentially, at the end of our lives we will have two responses to how we lived. We can look back on our lives and say “so what”? We may have made money. We may have been successful and accomplished many things, but so what? What type of impact did we have on other people’s lives?

Here is the other option. We can live so that we have an impact on other people’s lives. We can serve the poor. We can also rescue non-believers and snatch them from the flames by showing them the love of Jesus Christ.

So, how are you going to live out 2009? Are you going to to live a so what life or a so that life? I pray that my constant reminder will help me live a so that life.

Things around our household have been busy this holiday season. Chele’s and my anniversary vacation down in Anguilla was incredible, but it did have an unexpected consequence: we have been two steps behind for the entire month of December. You see, our usual schedule was severely thrown off by the week-long trip and our marathon training did not help the schedule backlog either. As a result, we felt a overly busy this entire holiday season, even up to the night of Christmas Eve.

The Yeah, but’s
Yes, we did manage to stick with many of our traditions, but things always seemed rushed. Michele and I never felt like we could take a moment to enjoy what we were doing. Sure we took a trip to the mountains to get our Christmas tree, but we felt rushed. Sure we trimmed the tree with a fire and Christmas music in the background, but we felt tired. Sure we made our gingerbread house, but we felt like it was too late. Sure we drove around to see the Christmas lights, but we felt like there were too many distractions. Every step along the way we felt like this was probably our worst Christmas ever.

We temporarily got lost
Something got lost along the way. What was it? We lost the fact that we were having a great time doing these activities, if only we had realized it. At times, we lost the fact that we were creating some incredible memories with our family. The funny thing is this: what I will end up remembering long after this month has left is that had a great time and I will remember the fun that we did have… in spite of our (in the moment) selves. What we did not realize in our moments of feeling that this was our worst Christmas ever was that our feelings were wrong. This was actually our best Christmas ever, if only we would open our eyes!

Our lesson
The lesson I want to take away from these facts is this: enjoy each moment I have. Do not let my temporary feelings blind me from the fact that we are actually having a great time. We are so truly blessed and the Lord has His gracious hand on us every moment of every day. Thus, I need to learn to enjoy each moment, regardless of how I try to feel at that time.

Learning contentment
Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. – Philippians 4:11
Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. – 1 Timothy 6:6
So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. – 1 Timothy 6:8

Lasting memories from my best Christmas ever
Here are the memories I will take away from this year’s incredible Christmas with my family. What I hope you will notice is all of the smiling faces and incredible memories. Thanks Chele and Ashe for helping me make great memories! Let’s remember this as we are making them next year.