Recently I had an opportunity to hear Jonathan Falwell speak.  He said something that hit me and made me stop and evaluate.

God created me and called me to be me.  He didn’t equip me to be able to what another pastor/leader does.  Stop thinking if I do what they do, God will bless my ministry. If I do what God has called me to do, as He called me to do it, then God will bless my ministry.

It is so easy to look and see what a successful leader, pastor, writer, father is doing and start to think that we should be doing things more like that person.  It worked for them so it will work for me too, right?  Well, God created each of us uniquely.  If not for the way we were created, everything would be the same thing all the time.  There would be no variety.  No spice.

I’m glad I’m called to be me.  I’m glad you are called to be you.  You and I aren’t going to do everything the same way.  And that is good.  But sometimes I forget that it’s ok to be me.  When I am faithful at what He called me to do, God will bless my ministry for His glory and not my own.  God called you to be you.  We are not the apes that Darwin claims we came from.  We weren’t created to sit around and mimic each other all the time.

Be creative!  Be original!  Just get out there and be you!

Recently I read a blog post by Pete Wilson on social media and an article he had read posing the idea that Facebook is killing us from within.  He posted a chunk of the article here.  The author was posing the thought that while social media is giving us the ability to connect with anyone and everyone, it is also turning us into narcissists.

As someone that uses social media on several platforms, I’d love to say yes and no, but that’s not fun so I am just gonna disagree and speak from my experience.  I’m not going to sit here and try to convince you that there are no self-centered actions on the Internet, but I won’t agree that in general that is the case.  Seems to me that there are 4 types of social media users.

1. Spectator/Casual – Here you have your beginners, dabblers, toe dippers, repeaters (start using it, then quickly die out, then repeat) and onlookers.  They have heard that everyone is on a social media, but they aren’t really sure it’s for them.
2. Business/Spam – Click here for flatter stomachs, bigger muscles, cheaper prices, etc.  All we do here is push our business or blog.  There is nothing personal or relational about our social media usage.
3. Celebrity/Mr. Universe – We like to hear ourselves talk.  We like to look in the mirror and see ourselves.  I think therefore you listen.  Right?
4. Frequent/Community – These people have taken the plunge and are finding out the potential of social media.  They are sharing their thoughts, feelings and pictures as well as receiving the same from the rest of their chosen community.

3 of these groups are missing the point.  Casual users see what appears to be a world-revolves-around-me narcissistic mess.  Spammer help the casual users come to their conclusion.  The celebrity is, well…obvious.  Community is where the meat is, though.  On the outside the casual user looks at the frequent users and sees lots of tweets or status updates about their lives and what they like or don’t like and where they are.  But they aren’t seeing the rest of the community that cares about that stuff.

When you go hang out with your friends over dinner, do you share stories and pictures and thoughts with them or do you just sit around in silence with brief small talk?  Of course!  You share with them!  They are your friends!  They care about you and your life and you care about them and theirs.  That’s how social media works as well.  It’s just a bit more public!

I personally am in a community of people that uses social media to its fullest.  Sometimes it is too much for me but that’s no different than any other physical community of friends.  I love them.  I wanna know what is going on with them, what they are thinking and feeling, and the funny sign they just saw.  That’s what friends do.  I know that online community can be just as loving, caring and supportive as physical community.  In fact I had a friend tell me before that they felt better community and love from their online friends than they did from their church and physical community.  It would probably be tough for someone to convince my friend that it’s mainly narcissism and a waste of time.

So, what say you?  Do you feel differently?  Are you willing to lump all social media into the self-centered look at me crowd or do you see redemption and value in it?

I’m not a rich guy (compared to others in the US).  I can’t do everything for everyone, but today, I ask you.

What do you need?

How can I pray for you?

I have been writing here for a couple years now and I have asked you to comment and pray for me or friends.  Well, today I wanna switch that.  I wanna pray for you.  Individually and specifically.  Feel free to leave a comment if you would like to have everyone here and not just me pray, but if you would prefer, you can always email me.

So, how I can I pray for you?

Got a creative question for you.  I have my own opinion, but as someone who is continuously trying to be creative in many different aspects I like to know what you think!

So, do you prefer simple or complex?  (gadgets, Web sites, graphics, t-shirts, etc.)

Why?

I realized last night that I had never actually been to the To Write Love On Her Arms Web site.  The shirts are every where.  There are #TWLOHA hashtags all over Twitter, but I had never really checked it out.  So I did.

As I was clicking around I hit their vision page.  The movement was created to help people who are dealing with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide, but as I read through this page all I could think about was friends who are hurting.  People struggling with marriages.  Trying to cope with loss.  No job.  Broken homes.

You were created to love and be loved. … You need to know that your story is important and that you’re part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters. We live in a difficult world, a broken world. My friend Byron is very smart – he says that life is hard for most people most of the time. We believe that everyone can relate to pain, that all of us live with questions, and all of us get stuck in moments. You need to know that you’re not alone in the places you feel stuck.

We all wake to the human condition. We wake to mystery and beauty but also to tragedy and loss. Millions of people live with problems of pain. Millions of homes are filled with questions – moments and seasons and cycles that come as thieves and aim to stay. We know that pain is very real. … You need to know that rescue is possible, that freedom is possible, that God is still in the business of redemption.

To Write Love On Her Arms

We all know someone in pain.  Maybe it isn’t pain pushing them toward suicide, but the pain they are feeling is real.  Working in or being around a church a lot we have a tendency to put on our “game face” and hide all the things that are bothering us.  But when we aren’t being real with each other we are denying ourselves a chance to be loved on, be prayed for, be supported and heal.

As you go about your day, keep in mind that people are hurting.  They are likely hiding their hurt for fear of rejection, abandonment, added pain, or more.  But although they may not be showing it, they are hurting.  They need love.  They need the love that Christ provides.  Maybe it is your turn this week to be Jesus to them.

If you are hurting in any way, know that we love you.  We hurt with you.  Please know that we are ALWAYS available.  Sometimes we just forget that we all like to hide our emotions.  Email us.  Call us.  Stop us.  Talk to us.  We want to support you and love on you.  We want to pray for you and help start the healing process.

The Spirit of God, the Master, is on me 
because God anointed me. 
He sent me to preach good news to the poor, 
heal the heartbroken,
Announce freedom to all captives, pardon all prisoners.

God sent me to announce the year of his grace— 
a celebration of God’s destruction of our enemies— 
and to comfort all who mourn,

To care for the needs of all who mourn in Zion, 
give them bouquets of roses instead of ashes, 
Messages of joy instead of news of doom, 
a praising heart instead of a languid spirit. 
Rename them “Oaks of Righteousness” 
planted by God to display his glory.

Isaiah 61:1-3

This beginning section of Isaiah 61 is a prophet declaring what his mission is.  There are two types of people referred to here.  The first is the hurting, mourning, heavy-hearted, prisoners, etc.  The second is the one chosen to announce the message.  We are born into a world of pain, heartache, gloom and doom.  A lot of our lives we spend living in that prison of devastation.  But then Christ comes along and changes all that.  Breaks us free.  Heals our wounds.  Gives us hope.  Then we are moved from the first group to the second.

Because of what Jesus did for us way back in the day, we are no longer stuck in the cycle of destruction.  Christ followers have been moved into a new life of light, beauty and hope!  But because we are in this new group, we are called to share this message.  Too often we leave that to the pastors of the local church.  ”Oh, God called them to this so they are better at it than I will ever be.”  Well don’t forget that your neighbors and friends that you already have relationships with need to hear this message too!

Remember this week that as a Christ follower you are called to share the message of God’s grace and love!

You know they say that babies change your life.  Well, they are right.  Babies definitely change your life.  I was asked the other day what we did before Jessi came along.  Now that our daughter is just about 6 months old, I had to stop and think about it.

Now that we have a baby, I get home from work and we sit on the floor and play for a couple hours with a walk thrown in there every other day or so.  But before, what did we do?  We still did the beach and walks.  We also watched a bunch of shows and went places.  We pretty much did whatever we wanted.  Well, it’s a bit different now.  So different in fact that some where between the end of 24 or the World Cup and the start of college football our HD disappeared.

But now we are into a rhythm with our sleeping habits and bedtimes.  Plus all the new seasons and new shows are coming on.  So for all you people out there who aren’t against TV and haven’t sworn it off, what should we watch?  We like comedy, action, thriller, suspense.  We will likely be attempting to keep up with The Office, Community, Family Guy, Chuck and Fringe.  That may be more than enough.  We may have to get a babysitter just to have a show marathon.

But what say you?  What are we missing out on (after the baby is in bed of course)?  What is the fall 2010 Must See TV?

There are crosses everywhere.  We wear them around our necks.  Tattoo them on our skin.  Print them on shirts.  Put them in our churches.  It is a symbol of our faith.  But a lot of the time it seems like we focus on the cross so much that we forget/ignore/neglect the biggest part of the redeeming work of Christ!

If there’s no resurrection, there’s no living Christ. And face it—if there’s no resurrection for Christ, everything we’ve told you is smoke and mirrors, and everything you’ve staked your life on is smoke and mirrors. Not only that, but we would be guilty of telling a string of barefaced lies about God, all these affidavits we passed on to you verifying that God raised up Christ—sheer fabrications, if there’s no resurrection. If corpses can’t be raised, then Christ wasn’t, because he was indeed dead. And if Christ wasn’t raised, then all you’re doing is wandering about in the dark, as lost as ever. It’s even worse for those who died hoping in Christ and resurrection, because they’re already in their graves. If all we get out of Christ is a little inspiration for a few short years, we’re a pretty sorry lot. But the truth is that Christ has been raised up, the first in a long legacy of those who are going to leave the cemeteries. There is a nice symmetry in this: Death initially came by a man, and resurrection from death came by a man. Everybody dies in Adam; everybody comes alive in Christ.

It’s resurrection, resurrection, always resurrection, that undergirds what I do and say, the way I live. If there’s no resurrection, “We eat, we drink, the next day we die,” and that’s all there is to it.

1 Corinthians 15:13-22, 32

As you live your life this week, listen to Paul!  Don’t forget that there is more to it than Jesus dying on the cross.  He conquered death!  That’s HUGE!  Without the resurrection we are still dead!  But because He didn’t stay down for the count, we have life!

Ok, I haven’t written about college football at all yet this year.  That’s not cool.  So I’m fixing that today.  Well, kinda.  Not a ton of writing, but at least a dedicated post.

You make the call.

• Which team wins the NCAA Championship this season?  Why?

Last night the wife and I had one of those long talks.  (No, not like that.  I’m not in trouble.  At least not that I know of.)  You know the ones.  One of those that you ask each other the “what if” questions and the “let’s say ____” hypotheticals.  They are all very good questions and great things to think through and communicate about.  We want to be on the same page about where we see our futures headed and what our ideal situations would be (as if they actually might come true).  If we don’t talk about all these things, when the next five or 10 years happen we won’t be prepared at all.

Like I said they are all good questions.  But at the same time they are scary questions.  As a man, husband and daddy they make me think about all the money and provisions and all those areas that we men fear failure in.  But as I was sitting there talking about our future with my better and smarter half, all I could think about was Jeremiah 29:11.  I can attempt to wrap my mind around everything and try to control it all and have everything figured out, but we all know that is just going to put me in the loony bin.  But I have a God who is in control and far more powerful than I let Him be.  He sees my issues.  He knows my fears.  He has some plans.  They are better than mine.  There is hope.

I know what I’m doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for.

Jeremiah 29:11

Are you letting your fears take over your mind?  Are you trying to create the hope that only comes from one Source?  Let it go.  Plan, save, dream.  But let go of the fears.  He’s got your back.