How you change

First, I'm currently hanging out in my favorite Chicago neighborhood, Lincoln Park.  So I'm happy :-)  Secondly, I got to hang out with a church planter, Aaron Youngren, who's planting The Line Chicago, so I'm extra happy.  Thirdly, I was privileged to deliver to the Youngrens some house warming gifts that our church collected for them...much love going around; so I'm super happy.  All this has got me thinking on how people change.  What? You don't see the connection?  Let me explain.

It all has to do with the word I just used: connection.  The only way people change - and I am meaning how people overcome sin patterns, addictions, become more holy, bear for fruit of the Spirit, and generally become more like Jesus - is through being connected.  But connected to what?  More specifically, connected to whom?

First, there is no way you can change without being connected to Jesus through the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit.  You see, when we believe in Jesus, we are given the Holy Spirit who lives in us, regenerates us, and basically makes us a brand new creation. Connection to God the Father, through God the Son, by the power of God the Spirit is primary when it comes to our transformation.

Secondly, there is another connection needed on more practical levels.  What I've seen personally in ministry for the last 16 years and what I see the bible teaching is that we need to be connected to other Christ-followers.  By submitting ourselves to community (spiritual leaders and spiritual friendships), we allow others to speak into our lives for encouragement, support, teaching, correction, confrontation, accountability, and disicpline.  This is where we see scripture come alive regarding Acts 2, Romans 12, Ephesians 4, Galatians 6, and Hebrews 10 and 13. God has given us the Church (other believers, who have the same Spirit in them, by the way) to sharpen us to help us grow.

My time with Aaron today, and the time I spent on the phone with another church planting friend on the phone on my way to Chicago, reminded me of the importance of being connected together, with our foundation of Jesus, in our journeys of growth.

So, are you connected?  First, to Jesus?  Second, to other Christ-followers?  It is your only hope for change.

The Amazement of Grace

With it being Holy Week, I've been thinking quite a bit about the Gospel - the good news about the Person and Work of Jesus.

I think one of the most powerful gospel statements in all of scripture came from Jesus' own lips just before he died on the cross: "It is finished", from John 19:30.  The reason I find this so powerful is because it puts to death all things that reek of religion - meaning, all these things that people feel they must do to be right with God and hopefully go to heaven some day.  When Jesus said "It is finished", He meant it. There is no more work for us to do - Jesus has done it all.

What we're talking about here is grace.  In His limitless love, God gives us grace by giving us His Son to be all that we can't, do all that we are unable, and pay for the debt we owe.  And according to passages like Romans 5 and Ephesians 2, this grace is free - it's simply offered to us.  We receive it by having faith (Romans 5:1-2; Ephesians 2:8-9).

A lot of "Christians" that I know reject God's grace, although they may not be aware that they are doing so.  How do they do this?  Here's a short list:

-They are unforgiving.

-They are judgmental.

-They serve with an underlying sense of guilt.

-They barely, or rarely, give.

-They over-emphasize tradition and ritual.

-They believe that it takes a long time to change.

-They constantly criticize others and gossip.

-They feel like they always have to pay back a kind deed done to them.

-They feel like they never read enough of their bibles, pray enough, serve enough, or attend enough bible studies or church services.

-They feel and act responsible to fix themselves or other people's problems.

That's just my short list...but I think it hits the biggies.  Part of this is a cultural thing where we "pay to play", and part of this is a human condition thing and collateral damage of our sin nature.  And honestly, grace is so amazing, so incomprehensible, so foreign that we mostly don't really believe it.  We may believe it for salvation, but we don't believe it for sanctification (our daily lives as we grow more like Christ).

What does a life marked by grace looke like?  If you really believe in God's grace to both save you and grow you, what would your life look like?  Here's another short list:

-Loving

-Forgiving

-Joyful

-Hopeful

-Generous

-Hospitable

-Transformational

-Peaceful

Quite a different list, huh? If you sit and read and think something along the lines of "I wish" or "I could never" or "That would be too hard" or "That's not reality", I would challenge you if you really believe God's grace or perhaps believe the Gospel at all.

Because here's the deal: if God hadn't designed or desired us to live in His grace, Jesus never would have come, he would have never lived the life he did, taught the things he taught, suffered the way he suffered, died the way he died, or rose from the dead.  It never would have happened.  Nothing would be finished.  The work would still be on-going.

But that's not the case.  Jesus came, lived, loved, died, and rose again.  We have a cross to reflect on this Friday and an empty tomb to celebrate on Sunday.  By faith we have a new identity as His children. We have been given a community to live in called the church. We are part of a grace-filled kingdom where Jesus reigns and is sovereign.

We have grace that is sufficient.

A Sabbath from Sabbath

Vacation is supposed to be relaxing and rejuvenating, right?  Not necessarily so.  We've been in and out over the last few weeks with multiple-day trips to both Michigan and then Wisconsin.  We piled our 5 kids (ages 9 1/2 months-11 yrs) into our van complete with cartop carrier and have spent nearly 30 hours in said vehicle, counting all the running around at our desitination places.  On top of this is lots of time and conversation (some pretty intense) with friends and family, staying up late, playing Wii, a few sleepless nights for me, getting caught in a snowstorm with only windbreakers, fast food, still preaching a couple times & counselling in the midst of all this, and finding a dead bird in our basement upon our arrival back home.

Did we have a lot of fun?  You bet we did.  It was a blast and the kids were great.

Are we dogged tired?  You bet we are.

So I've been reflecting on how to properly rest.  God is pretty clear in both commanding and exampling "Sabbath" - a time for rest, reflection, & enjoyment of His goodness and blessings in our lives.  But you either Sabbath well or poorly.

Poor Sabbath is inconsistant (or doesn't ever happen), unplanned, unprepared for, busy (vocational work is just replaced by chores & errands), and plugged in (still on voicemail, email, TXT, Twitter, Facebook, etc.).  Coming back from a poor Sabbath finds you tense, exhausted, and edgy.  I am currently guilty of poor Sabbath right now.

To Sabbath well is have a consistent weekly, quarterly, and annual times of rest.  They planned and prepared for, so surprises are minimized and responsibilities are taken care of.  While you still may enjoy hobbies (gardening, reading, cooking, hiking, etc.), you take break from your vocational work as well as regular chores.  Also, in our information-laden, technological, socially-networked culture, the importance of "unplugging" is paramount.  One of the bright spots of my vacation last week was that for most of the time I had no cell phone signal.  It was liberating.

So, now I'm back from vacation suffering the natural consequences of not Sabbathing well.  I have some repenting to do and some rest to catch up on.  Please learn on my dime and make a point to really Sabbath well.