Reason to Sing

Some say, and sing, that Christmas is the “most wonderful” and “hap-happiest” season of all. Their reasoning for this is that kids are “jingle belling,” people are telling you “be of good cheer,” and there are “holiday greetings and gay, happy meetings.” Though that sings well, it is insufficient against the real life-challenges humanity is creating across the globe. 

I just heard about the latest nuclear bombs being created by the current world powers. Let’s just say the horrors of the atomic bombs the U.S. dropped on Japan were created with the tech of 75 years ago. The new bombs have 20-100 times more destructive powers. 

I have now lived though a couple of years of extremely divisive and sophomoric responses in our country regarding the Covid-19 pandemic. When crisis hit our country I guess we thought the best way to handle it was to ramp up the politic divisiveness, turn up the racial tensions, and have a new form of sexual and gender revolution.  And those challenges don’t include the internal struggles we all have as individuals.

Apart from Christ doing His work in a person, the Bible says this about the human condition:

“The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

Even those who have Christ doing His work in them are still battling the human condition. Here is what Jesus has to say about that: 

“The Spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.”

Now, I am not trying to ruin your Christmas vibes. I am all about Christmas vibes. So let me wrap this up. To combat the reality of humanity’s propensity toward evil, we need something extremely potent — dare I say omnipotent. This is why Jesus is such a “thrill of hope.” God Himself became a man to face down all the forces of destruction. Jesus knew we were headed for destruction and he intervened. Jesus made a way through the virgin birth, sinless life, death and resurrection.

Without the virgin birth Jesus isn’t the second Adam, free of the sinful nature. Without the sinless life, Jesus doesn’t defeat sin, paving a way for all those who follow after him. Without the death and resurrection, Jesus doesn’t actually pay the price for our sin and doesn’t defeat death forevermore. 

With that in mind, and with Jesus at work in your soul, there is more than sufficient reason to sing about the wonder and hap-happiness of this season. Even though our world has long laid in “sin and error pining,” Christmas reminds us to sing “sweet hymns of joy” in a “grateful chorus.” 

I hope you and your family really enjoy this Christmas. Even if you’ve taken some “L’s” this year, God knows how to work the “L’s” of our lives for good. 

David

P.S. I hope you join us for our Christmas Eve services at 3pm, 4:30pm, or 6pm at Living Streams Church

We Are Interdependent

When Jesus walked among mankind He took on the role of rabbi. As a rabbi He would speak to individuals, small groups, crowds, and other rabbis.  I love what the gospel writers have to say about His words. In one place the Bible says this about Jesus’ speaking: “Did not our hearts burn within us as we listened to Him along the way?” One of my all-time favorites is where we are told, “The common people heard him gladly.” And Jesus Himself said this about His teaching, “The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life.

I just finished a book called Live No Lies by John Mark Comer. While reading, there were multiple times my heart burned within me. Some portions made me feel as though they were filling my spirit and enlivening my soul. I want to share some of those words with you, because I think they are so fitting and vital for followers of Christ living in today’s version of Babylon. 

“And by following Jesus together, not alone, we are able to (1) discern Jesus’s truth from the devil’s lies, (2) help one another override our flesh by the Spirit, and (3) form a robust community of deep relationships that functions as a counterculture to the world. In doing so, we’re able to resist the gravitational pull of all the enemies of the soul. (The devil, the flesh, and the world) 

“But here’s a crucial idea we need to recapture in our generation: the church is a counterculture. It is as my friend Jon Tyson from New York City put it, a “beautiful resistance” to the world and its vision of a life of rebellion against God. 

“This is Jesus’ vision of the church as a “town built on a hill” and his call to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” It’s Peter’s call to be “exiles” in modern-day Babylon and to “live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” It’s the church of Acts 2, Romans 13, and Revelation 3. It’s the confessing church under the Third Reich, the house-church movement of Mao’s China, the orthodox Christians in Syria today. Increasingly, it’s you and me.

“But what we mean when we talk about the practice of church is not just regular attendance of Sunday services in a religious building. I’m all for Sundays, now more than ever. After dozens of hours of secular programming coming into our minds all week long, we need the anchor of Sunday gathering to recenter our minds on truth and open our hearts back to God for healing and renewal. Every time I walk in on Sunday and see other followers of Jesus all around me, I remember: I am not alone. I’m part of the new humanity—the future rulers of the world, ordinary and flawed as we may be.

“But while church is not less than Sunday services, it is far more. It must be more to survive the Western spiritual apocalypse. Church must become a thick web of interdependent relationships between resilient disciples of Jesus deeply loyal to the Way. 

“Whether your church is Anabaptist or Anglican; urban or suburban or rural; a megachurch or a house church; in a theater, cathedral, or living room — we must move beyond Sunday services and a network of loose ties to become a robust counter-anti-culture, not just against the world but for the world. Because we’re not just against evil; we’re for good. We’re for love, joy, thriving marriages and families, children brought up in loving delight, adults moving off the egocentric operating system to become people of love, true freedom, justice for all, and unity in diversity.”

I love the imagery of a “a thick web of interdependent relationships between resilient disciples of Jesus deeply loyal to the Way.” Whether you like it or not, the natural ground we inhabit right now is a spiritual battleground. You can feel it in your bones. The sociological statistics declare it loud and clear.

You and I are being formed. Each show we watch, each minute we scroll through our feeds, each shop we walk into, each hour we are at work, and even in the quiet time, there are spiritual and non-spiritual forces trying to form us into the image they want us to take on. And at the same time, the rabbi who formed us in our mother’s womb, died and rose from the dead to demonstrate His love for us, is standing at the door of our hearts, knocking. He desires to form us also into the imago dei — image of God. The image for which we were created. The image the world desperately needs us to be formed into. The image that will bring more fulfillment, security, joy, power, and vindication for all that has been against us our whole lives. 

Please take some time today to open the door of your heart in silence and prayer; and allow His Spirit to form you through His words of Spirit and life.

By His grace and for His glory,

David

p.s. Over the month of December, please invite some people to church who don’t know Jesus or have a church family. It could make all the difference in eternity for them and it will be good for you.

Sunday Services - 8, 9:30, 11am
Christmas Eve services - 3, 4:30, 6pm
Sunday, December 26, one 10am family service (no childcare). Pajamas are encouraged.  

Counter-Formation

Happy Thanksgiving to you.  

In our Revelation series, we have been speaking about “counter-formation.” I think Thanksgiving is a powerful counter-formation practice. Gratefulness is such a magnificent thing. I love that Americans have a significant holiday set aside for giving thanks. In the dog-eat-dog world of American greed, victim mindset, and worship of self, thanksgiving turns the other cheek and disarms those destructive forces. 

Some other powerful counter-formation practices which are vitally important these days are: patient endurance, prudent resistance, humility, and generosity. The deceptive ideas of our incessant spiritual adversary filling the airwaves around us, the disordered desires of the sinful nature within us, and the normalization of sinful practices in the world surrounding us, have us in a formation war.

The goal of our relationship with Jesus is to be formed more into Jesus’ image:

• To daily have our thoughts transformed by His grace and truth

• To have more Christ-like responses in the face of tribulations (like betrayal, injustice, and temptation)

• And to be a person of Agape when interacting with those we like, those who like us, and even those who do not like us.

Jesus truly is the way, the truth, and the life. He beautifully exemplified patient endurance, prudent resistance, humility and generosity. Those who spent time with Him didn’t start out looking, thinking and acting like Jesus; but over time it happened. This should give us hope — no matter how we see ourselves right now. 

Patient Endurance
With the uncertainty of Covid-19, the intense anger of vitriolic politics, and the battle with our own sinful desires, we need patient endurance. This means we need to practice being still before the Lord. We need to practice responding, rather than reacting. We need to Sabbath each week and, at the end of each day, lay our burdens at the feet of Jesus. While laying those burdens down we need to remember aloud that God sees our heaviness and pain, and that His grace is sufficient. And when we have done everything we can do, we need to stand firm, trusting in the Lord with all of our hearts. 

Prudent Resistance
In the face of sophisticated, heart-stirring deceptions that swirl around us, we need prudent resistance. Prudent resistance looks like being in the world but not of the world. It looks like a well-lit path piercing through the darkness of night, shining ever brighter to the perfect day. It looks like James 3:17’s “wisdom full of peace and submission.” It looks like “wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” It looks like the Bereans who “examined the scriptures every day to see if what they heard was true.” And it looks like Barnabas, who discerned the immense good in Paul and John Mark, when everyone else just saw their faults and failures. 

Humility and Generosity
Sad to say, our American culture has become wrapped up in self-promotion, self-indulgence, and self-determination. We are no longer a country that asks “not what our country can do for us, but what we can do for the others in this country.” Jesus, who is equal with God, practiced humility and generosity. First, by becoming a baby. Next, by living as a poor, oppressed Jewish man. And finally, by dying a criminal’s death though He never sinned at all. His response to all the hurt and hatred He experienced was to be generous. He gave all He that had, healed and saved so many, and even gave away His very life. 

One time a rich, young ruler came to Jesus. (When I read about the rich, young ruler I often think about Americans.) The young man wanted to know how to be close to Jesus and do the good Jesus was doing. Jesus told him to start by selling everything he had, give to the poor, and then come and stay with Him. Jesus was asking him to start with humility and generosity.

I think a good place to start practicing humility and generosity is to give some money to someone anonymously. It is such a liberating practice and so beautiful in your heavenly Father’s eyes.  Find someone with a need and meet that need in a way that gives you no credit. Think of someone who could use some cash and give them some, without them knowing who it was. This practice will protect against the formation the world has in mind for you, and will counter-form you in the way Jesus has in mind for you. 

Let’s go!

David

Do What is Beautiful

This post contains some thoughts on freedom from a Biblical perspective true to any and every society. As far as freedom in our American experiment, I want to say I am very thankful for the veterans who sacrificed time, energy, and often much much more to protect, preserve and uphold the boundaries which provide our American freedoms. I am sorry for the times we have squandered it or taken it for granted. And I pray for President Biden and all the others leading our nation today. I pray they, and we, would trust in the Lord with all our hearts, lean not on our own understating, acknowledge Him in all our ways, so He can we make our path straight. Yesterday was Veteran’s Day, so I want to say Happy Veteran’s Day and thank you for your service!

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Christ did not set us free so we can do whatever we want. He set us free so we can do what is beautiful. 

Last night I met a lady at church who is fresh out of prison. She was in prison for four years and has been out for three months. After being locked up and distrusted for so long, she is free and very unsure. You could see in her eyes and hear in her voice how different and scary freedom is. In her muscle memory she knows how things were before prison. The last time she had all the freedoms granted by our society she ended up locked up. Yet, this time it feels different because she is “going to church.” She kept laughing as she repeated stories of telling family members she is “going to church.” You could hear in the tone of her voice the joy she experiences by shocking them with that phrase. You could also see in her expression her own shock and surprise at the fact that she is “going to church.”

Right now she is treading water, barely keeping her hope breathing and fears at bay, but she believes she can stay free. She believes Jesus is with her and for her. She believes the Christian family she crashed into can make a difference. (She was invited to church by a woman from Living Streams that she literally crashed into — right in front of our church.) And what is fascinating is she has found the joy of using her freedom to lift up and serve others. She is bringing co-workers and friends to church all the time. She is talking to her boss and some of our staff about service projects and feeding programs that she wants to do. 

I am so excited to see how her “mustard seed of faith” against so much fear will, in time, become a beautiful confidence overcoming every fear. Jesus is faithful to complete what He has started in us. Jesus is the author and perfecter of our faith. If we can stay close to him, he will always lead us into triumphal procession. Jesus said the Spirit of the Lord is upon Him to set the captives free, so they can use their freedom to do what is beautiful. And in the economy of heaven, sacrificial love is the most beautiful. 

David

Looking for the Good

I am 44 years old. I have grey in my beard and, if you look closely, there is grey in my hair as well. (But don’t look closely, okay?) My wife and I just celebrated seventeen years of marriage and though there have been times our marriage was running on fumes, right now it feels pretty full. As for my kids, only one of them is actually a kid. My oldest will be getting her driver’s permit this month (Lord willing). My twelve-year-old keeps saying with frustration in her voice, “Why aren’t you treating me like a twelve-year-old?” I think she thinks turning twelve has some significance because next year she’ll be a teenager. To me it is just the last year before I have to deal with teenage politics. My youngest is ten. She is still a kid and she’s okay with being treated like a kid. 

The other day I picked up my oldest from school. and we had a little time together as we drove home. Now, I have noticed “windows of opportunity” in our relationship that appear for a moment and then disappear quickly. Most of the time she is just not interested in what I have to say or what I am thinking. She usually has AirPods in, or is Face-timing with her friend, or saying some new phrase I don’t know the full meaning of. (I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know the full meaning either, so she is trying it out on me before trying it on her friends.) But on this day, as we were driving, I sensed the “window” opening. I can’t remember what brought it on. I think I said something funny, and then, she actually laughed. Then, I quickly threw in a question about her day or something. Shockingly, she answered without a smirk or a humph.  

I knew something strange and precious was happening. Sad to say, I was immediately flooded with a million different things I want her to work on. “You need to work harder on your school work.” “We could use more help with cleaning around the house.” “I need to tell you about the dopamine hits you get from your phone and what they are doing to your brain.” I was amazed at how many of those babies were locked and loaded in my brain as she answered the question I had just asked. But as I was about to fire away, another thought came into my head: Do you really want to squander this open window with all of that? Part of me said “yes,” but the better part of me said “…maybe–?” 

Instead of the onslaught, I told her how awesome I thought it was when a friend’s family came to her because they were dealing with something sad. They, the parents included, knew my daughter is good at comfort. When I said this to her, she answered back saying, “Dad, that happens all the time.” She told me about other friends and younger people she knows who come to her with hard things they are dealing with. I wasn’t surprised, but I was delighted. After hearing the different stories, I told her she is just like a pastor. I explained that a pastor is someone who sits with people in their pain and helps them through their struggles. I told her it seems like God has made her good at empathy and being a protector of people, which is a lot like Jesus. 

I could see her mind chewing on that a bit, and her heart feeling a little more confident, and identity settling in. I could see her receiving my love and maybe even the love of Jesus. And…I could see the window closing, so I jammed in a whole bunch of things she should be doing. (Just kidding.)

What actually happened was I no longer saw her as someone who doesn’t pull enough weight or work hard enough at school. Yes, we need to train our children and at times bring correction; but it is easy for me to see what needs to be corrected and hard for me to see what is good. On this day, however, our conversation helped me see her as someone who is on her way to becoming an awesome adult. And we could sure use some more of those these days. 

God bless you and yours,

 David 

A Few Surprises

In the country for 2 hours and we were already at the Police Station. 

I spent the last week in Belize, Central America and had some brand new experiences. Adding up the years my wife and I lived there, plus the weeks we have spent doing missions trips there, we have spent quite a bit of time in Belize. But last week, going with a team from Living Streams to help with our tenth annual Belizean men’s retreat, I got a few surprises.

The first surprise came within two hours of being in country. As we drove to our accommodations, we rear-ended a car on the highway. It’s a bit complicated, but the gist of it is a car was broken down on the side of the road and the car ahead of us stopped abruptly, even though the lane was clear. Our driver didn’t see it in time. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but we had to go to the police station to make a report.

We stood outside the police station for three hours because Belize time moves at a different speed. We got to know the other car’s driver and his three medical student passengers. We shared about Jesus and our mission with them. We joked that part of our strategy was to crash into people and then they would have to listen to us talk about Jesus. They thought that was hilarious.

While waiting at the police station, we heard some yelling and we watched the policeman run out with his gun pulled. He ran to a domestic disturbance where a man with a knife was being hit by a lady with a machete. The situation came to a calm conclusion, and while we were taking a group selfie, the man came over and joined in. We got a chance to tell him how prayer might be a better option than a knife. At that point he agreed.

I had my second surprise at 1:30 a.m.. We had just finished the first night of the men’s retreat and I took a quick shower before bed. As I got out of the shower and grabbed the towel to dry my hair, I felt a sharp pain in my forehead. When I saw a big, black jungle scorpion, I realized he had been in my towel and stung me. My first reaction was a little bit like Charlie Brown after he tries to kick the ball and Lucy pulls it away. I wasn’t actually scared or angry — I was too tired for that — I was just bummed. I knew it wouldn’t be good for me to go to sleep right away so I stayed up for an hour as the poison worked its way down my face and settled in my mouth. Everything was fine, but ten hours later my tongue was still a bit tingly.

The third surprise was probably the hardest for me. We played basketball with all the men at the men’s retreat. The games were good, and it was special for many because for two years Covid protocols had kept them from being able to play basketball. The surprise came in the last game of the day. One team had been beating all the others the whole time, but my team was now beating them. For some reason the tide turned and they starting catching up. Now, I have had a lot of success on this court, but on this day I missed about five wide-open, game-winning shots. It was pitiful. In the end, the team who beat everybody all the time beat us, too. I left the court with a giant helping of Belizean-seasoned humble pie. 

Every time I go on one of these trips I get filled with gratitude for how Jesus has led my life. When I was seventeen years old I sensed Jesus speaking to my heart, asking if I wanted to do life my way or His way. I didn’t know what His way was, but I have learned that His way actually brings the most satisfaction to my heart.

It seems wild and strange to think that if I spent my life, energy and resources trying to make myself happy, I would not be nearly as happy as following God’s way. The reason for this is that Jesus knows my heart much better than I know it. He fashioned my heart. His thoughts toward me are more than the grains of sand on the seashore. He knows the difference between the wholesome desires and the unwholesome desires in my heart.  

Jesus knew how my soul would be filled by being a missionary. He knew how my soul would be filled by teaching the Bible and encouraging men. He knew what a hankering for adventure I have and how much I would love to take others on the adventure with me. He knew how my soul would be filled as I watch the Kennys and Orelles — my sons in the faith — lead and love just like Jesus does.

Oh boy, is my soul full. It is so full that a car crash, a scorpion sting, and the crushing blow to my hoop dreams cannot even make a dent. 

As Jesus comes close to you today, or even right now, to ask you how you want to make the decision before you — in your way or His way — please choose His way. He knows your heart so well and He longs to see it abundantly full. 

David

p.s. We are starting a new series on the book of Revelation this Sunday, looking at the letter to the seven churches. Make sure you come … and bring ten people with you. 😉 

What a Week

On Sunday Living Streams learned from Jesus’ little brother about how Jesus lived. Jesus would become proximate and generous to a person’s pain. Jesus was obedient and sacrificial in whatever His Father asked of Him. And Jesus took care of the vulnerable. 

On Monday we launched our Freedom class, where people will learn to hear Jesus’ voice, discover Jesus’ specific design for their lives, and remove negative strongholds from their lives. Watch out for these people — they gonna come out powerful!

On Tuesday many people came together to sit in a good and beautiful sadness. At Tina McEown’s memorial, we wept and reminisced. We cried out to God and leaned on each other. We confessed our confusion, anger and pain. And at the same time, confessed our trust in Jesus and hope in heaven. 

On Wednesday we met for our last Kinetic Night dinner at Living Streams. We connected with our mission teams and strategized how to alleviate pain in our city. I pray each team will be guided and empowered by the Spirit of God. I pray each team will be able to come back with “Book of Acts”-type stories of how Jesus showed up in power and mercy. I pray each team will be clothed in humility and ‘agape.’

On Thursday we gathered business women and men from our city to foster relevant business relationships and hear transformative business content. We heard from the brilliant mind of a successful recording artist who has learned to navigate a most volatile industry over the last twenty years. He taught us how ardent  faithfulness and endless refining can help us stay ahead of the curve in our industries. 

And Friday, tonight, our sanctuary will be filled with the praises of King Jesus as worship leaders from twelve different Phoenix-area churches come together as one. The goal of the night is to usher in God’s Spirit to minister His wonderful gifts to His people, and to foster unity and humility among worship leaders. Everyone is invited. And, oh, the music will be excellent and deeply edifying. 

I am constantly hearing that people are turning away from the evangelical community and the Christian Bible these days — and I do know of some who have taken that path. But I’m so grateful that at Living Streams we are experiencing people of all ages with renewed hunger and demand for the evangelical community and the Christian Bible.

Yes, damage has been done under the evangelical banner, and people have used the Christian Bible for political or personal gain; but I truly believe those are exceptions and not the rule. The evangelical church and the Christian Bible are still the single most dominant force for good that the world has ever seen. And like Mikey says (in that great movie Goonies), “this is our time.” Let us be the community of Christ, overflowing with mercy and grace. Let’s be people of “The Book,” but make sure we use the truth it contains to set people free, rather than burden them and manipulate them. 

“Jesus lead on and I will follow. Jesus lead on, let Your love light the way.”

David

Justice and Mercy

The more I try to learn about justice, the more I find myself learning about mercy.

If Justice is getting what you deserve, and mercy is not getting what you deserve, then how is God both just and merciful? And subsequently how are we to accomplish what God has required of us: to do justice and love mercy?

(Warning! This may take some brain power.)

When a person convicted of murder gets a life sentence in prison, we call that justice. We say things like “justice has been served.” But if that person was proven guilty and did not get punished or imprisoned, we would call it injustice. But it is a little more complicated if you were to talk to the person’s mother. She may understand why we would call it injustice, but she would call it mercy.

Another place justice and mercy seem to be at odds is when we say we want justice for all. This is a nice thought; but if we unpack it, we may be surprised, because justice for all would not lead us to a happy place. Some work harder than others, some sacrifice more than others, so to desire justice for all would be to desire inequity. 

All this contradiction and confusion is not a result of misunderstanding justice. It is a result of misunderstanding mercy. In the Bible, justice and mercy are not at odds. They go hand-in-hand. 

God loves it when we do right by others (justice), but He is even more impressed and glorified when we show mercy to others. Jesus said it this way: “I desire mercy, not sacrifice.” Jesus’ younger half-brother James wrote it this way: “Mercy triumphs over judgment.” Micah said it this way: “Do justice and love mercy,” because, though justice is good and right, mercy is the only way we can find the equity we desire for all people. 

Let me see if I can bring all these thoughts together now. 

Sad to say, the only place all humanity is actually on equal footing with each other is in our sin. “We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” Our sins have earned us the wage of death. Yet, God — who is just and loves justice — loves mercy even more.

God executed complete justice by pouring out our punishment on His Son. He did this as the greatest act of justice the world has ever known and ever will know. Justice was satisfied forevermore on that cross. But at the same time, this was the greatest act of mercy the world has ever known and ever will know. Since God’s desire for justice was completely satisfied on the Cross of the Christ, God’s love for mercy is left to be satisfied in you and me. That is why Jeremiah could write prophetically that God’s mercies are new every morning. Hallelu!

Now, while we are left to enjoy and experience the great mercy of God, there is also a challenge for us. If God is willing to show us mercy, then we should be willing to multiply mercy to others — no matter what they deserve. This is very difficult, and even painful, when faced with multiplying mercy to someone who has severely injured or betrayed us. Father wounds, mother wounds, sexual wounds, betrayal wounds, and divorce wounds can leave us hungry for justice. But the way God accomplishes His justice is not through our anger, resentment or worse. Jesus was wounded to take on all the penalty and punishment for the wounds we have experienced. And just as we are left to enjoy and experience the mercy of God, God requires us to be agents of His mercy to others. 

Mercy truly is the greatest gift. Mercy truly does triumph over judgment.

I pray we would be individuals full of mercy, making up a community that endlessly extends mercy to melt away copious amounts of shame for those around us. 

David

Let's Go!

Covid has me on the sidelines. 

I recently spent a couple of weeks quarantined due to Covid exposure protocols, and another couple of weeks quarantined due to actually having Covid. Because of this, I have prepared Sunday morning messages which someone else has preached, I have missed some family get-togethers, important work moments, and even my own birthday party. I really don’t like doing life on the sidelines.  

On Wednesday we kicked off our Kinetic Nights season at Living Streams. Over 400 people gathered together to get to know each other and spur one another on toward good works. There were bounce houses, gelato stations, multiple generations, and encouraging words. The weather was awesome. The people were bravely leaning into each other. Our church took a massive step toward becoming more kinetic with our righteousness.

While all this was going on, I sat at home with my dogs. The way I know about all of the good stuff that happened was through text messages with sad face emoji’s. People kept me informed because they knew how much I hate to be on the sidelines. 

This has been extra frustrating for me, because I love the whole idea of becoming kinetic. Being kinetic is being active. It is the realization of potential. As an athlete, I always wanted to be in the game, especially in the most important moments. Even if I was nervous knowing I could lose the whole game for our team, I didn’t mind having the pressure on me. It was not a pride thing. It was the desire to see what was possible. I figured I would never know my true potential until I put it to the test.

That is what kinetic righteousness is all about. We, as a church, want to put ourselves into pressure situations to see what will come out of us. We have been lining up pressure situations for months, and these situations are not as inconsequential as a high school athletic event. We are going to be entering into people’s pain, struggle and vices. We will be getting proximate to true despair, brokenness and hopelessness. We will be engaging with the hungry, poor, refugee, fatherless and forgotten.

As we do this, we will keep our eyes open, knowing each person is created in the image of God. We will keep our ears open, knowing they have special access to God’s perspective which the healthy and wealthy do not. We will keep our hands open, knowing we don’t go to rescue them as much as we go to find the exquisite mutuality of being rescued by God alongside them. And we will keep our mouths open to speak the mercies of God which triumph over judgment in every situation. 

I know — in the face of inconvenience and discomfort — some would rather remain on the sidelines. I know we — as well-to-do Christians of the 21st Century — have perfected the art of making excuses and justifying our neglect. In some cases, we have become professional sideline Christians, leaving the hard, dirty work to other people or non-profit organizations. Though it sounds harsh, I agree with Tim Keller, who says “If you don’t know the poor, you don’t know Jesus.” It is a mysterious, marvelous thing about our Jesus. He became poor, associated with the poor, and told us that, if we want to know Him, we will visit the poor, sick, hungry and imprisoned. 

I’m glad I only have a couple more days on the sidelines. I’m glad to be a part of such a generous, committed, and mature community of people willing to engage in society’s pain together. I am so thankful for all the work that the Living Streams staff and ministry liaisons have put into making it as user-friendly as possible for our church to become kinetic. I am so thankful to our Savior who has saved us and is continuing to save us from the shallow emptiness of living for ourselves.

This is gonna be so much richer than Netflix and Hulu. 

As all the cool kids are saying these days, Let’s Go!!!!!!! 

David

Some Good News

My friends, there is some good news out there. 

• Our desert weather is changing. Mornings start out a little cooler and the day’s heat subsides a little earlier in the evening. 

• Though Covid-19 is spiking again, the vaccines and treatments are minimizing deaths and symptoms and fear. 

• It’s my birthday today and 44 doesn’t hurt too much. I have my wife and kids around me. I still get to play basketball. 😊 And Jesus is still speaking to me, teaching me, forming me, and loving me.

Way back when I was 43, I wrote a couple of poems that I want to share with you today:

Heavy Poem

O Jesus 
Sometimes the world feels heavy
O Jesus
Sometimes the heavy gets me down
But Jesus
You know how the heavy feels
’Cause Jesus
You grew up in Nazareth town

Yes Jesus 
I love when hope beats the heavy
But Jesus 
It’s hard when heavy won’t back down
So Jesus 
Could You come close to me
My Jesus
I could really use You now

To pick me up off this ground

And let Your mercy be found

Unity Poem

Unity. I mean the real stuff.
The non-homogenized, hard to realize, 
Color blind, but not blind to color
Out of many, one, kind

The Every tribe, every tongue
Celebrating old as much as young
One blood, one race, one world
One baptism, one faith, one Lord, kind

Integration over Assimilation
Unforced but pursued, and pursued, and pursued
Knights around a round table 
Knighted only by the content of their character

Exquisite Mutuality and Extraordinary Kinship
Many parts, but one body
Coordinated by submission
Mercy triumphing over judgment

Picture This

Picture a gymnasium-sized room full of round tables. Picture those round tables filled with good food for everyone to enjoy. Picture those tables full of people of different generations, backgrounds and ethnicities paying attention to each other and swapping stories. 

Next, picture the hundreds of people around those tables being educated about the different pockets of pain in our society. Picture all of those people being equipped to engage society’s pain in ways that create long-term, sustainable benefit without creating unhealthy co-dependence. Picture the people’s hearts being moved, minds being stirred, and spirits being compelled by God’s Spirit to the beautiful work of justice. 

In case you are triggered by the word justice these days, I would like to define justice in the way the Bible does. Justice in the Bible is about making wrong things right. The Bible uses the word justice in regard to relationships — relationship to God, one another, and the natural world around us. When wrong is done in our relationship with God, people, or the natural world, it is injustice. When the Bible talks about producing the noun justice, it uses verbs like heal, restore, redeem, reconcile, and free. And, in one very important verse in the Bible, the word justice is used as an action: “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” 

Now, picture all the people being presented with a variety of well-prepared, well-thought-out, user-friendly opportunities to do justice right here in our city. Picture those individuals signing up and committing to do justice for the month of October and allowing Jesus to guide after that. Picture teams forming as each individual signs up for a specific opportunity. Picture the friendships and encouragement, fun and memories being created as each team becomes a missional community. 

Finally, picture two worlds colliding. 

I remember a moment in Mexico, when about thirty high schoolers and I had just emptied out of a couple of vans at an orphanage. At the same time, about fifty boys and girls, from toddlers to teenagers, spilled out of the orphanage’s dorm rooms. There was about twenty feet of desert sand between us and them. The orphans had a look of excitement and anticipation. The high schoolers had a look of deep compassion mingled with uncertainty. I remember taking some steps toward a couple of little boys. When they saw the big smile on my face, they immediately ran to me and jumped all over me. The next thing I knew, we found ourselves wrestling in a pile of sand and laughter. After a moment, I remembered the high schoolers and looked to find every one of them connected with an orphan child, and all were covered in pure joy.  

Please stick with this email a moment longer. If you are not careful, you may be picturing the scene thinking the high schoolers and I were the ones bringing the positive change. Though I do believe we were able to bring some positive change, there is no doubt those orphan children brought a lot more, long-lasting, positive change to us. As Father Greg Boyle puts it, “We go to the margins so that the folks at the margins make us different.”

As you read this, I hope your heart is stirred a bit. And I hope you will take out your calendar and block off three Wednesday nights: September 22, 29 and October 6, to make what we have pictured here a reality. These three Wednesday nights have so much potential we long to see become kinetic. Our church has so much potential we long to see become kinetic. And you, yes you, with all the gifts, strengths, experiences, scars, and compassion have so much potential we hope to see become kinetic. 

By His Grace and For His Glory,

David

What is Our Potential?

When I remember the stories of the first handful of men and women who took Jesus’ words and ways seriously, I wonder about our potential. When I think how the actions and words of those men and women spawned a worldwide, generation-spanning, communal movement — which has clearly become the single most dominant force for good the world has ever known — I wonder what our potential is. When I think about how one little church (Antioch), so convinced of God's love for ALL men and women, sent out missionaries who reached ALL nations with the transformative good news of Jesus, I ponder our potential. When I think about the maturity of love and wisdom in the people of Living Streams Church, as well as the challenges and needs surrounding us in Phoenix, I can’t help but long to see all our potential become kinetic.

This Sunday we are kicking off a sermon series called “Kinetic Righteousness.” My hope for the next 8 weeks is that we would all catch a vision to see our righteousness become kinetic. Moving our inward devotion to Jesus into outward, tangible expressions of his love. And this is not just a Sunday thing. We will be engaging with Life Groups and providing outreach opportunities for our church to truly impact our community here in Phoenix.

The prophet Isaiah gives us some intriguing visions about the righteousness God desires. The first vision is of God plugging his ears and being sick to his stomach when he sees people gathering together to talk about righteousness and sing about righteousness, but not lift a finger to help others. The very next mental picture Isaiah gives is God pleading with His people saying, “Instead let there be an outpouring of justice, and a parade of righteous living” which flows out of the temple or church community. Later in the book of Isaiah, we see God frustrated at the way His people are fasting. God wants them to know He is not impressed by their fasting hunger pains and somber faces. God is honoured when their fasting of food results in hungry people being fed. He longs to see their sacrifices create benefit for those who are hurting.

In the New Testament book written by Jesus’ half-brother James, we see another picture of the righteousness God accepts. “When we keep a tight reign on our tongues, keep ourselves unspotted from the world, AND look after the orphans and widows in their distress,” we are doing the righteousness God delights in. Later, James goes on to discuss how a person’s faith is dead if it produces no works.

Another Biblical picture declaring the righteousness God longs to see is when Jesus cursed the tree because it bore no fruit. God has not invited us to be planted by His streams of grace, love and truth so we can be fruitless or self-serving. He wants our lives to produce fruit for the hungry and hurting around us.

Lastly, the songwiter Jon Foreman sings a song that I love where he describes heaven as the place where the righteous right the wrongs. There is no doubt God wants us to be righteous, but I think the greater righteousness Jesus is after is more about us doing righteousness — not simply talking about it. In the economy of heaven it is a good thing to not do wrong, but it seems the Biblical writers want us to know it is a greater thing to right a wrong.

So get ready, my friends. We are praying for a move of God’s Spirit just like in the book of Acts. We are praying for an empowering from God's Spirit so we make our contribution as a part of the worldwide, generation spanning, communal movement Jesus started. And we are praying for all the dormant potential gifts and callings each one of us has in and upon our lives to burst forth into kinetic righteousness — all for the glory of God and the restoration of this broken world He so loves.

David

Thrive Highlights

The Men’s Retreat was a couple of weekends ago.
Here are a few of my favorite moments:

I shot two guys with one arrow.
We played archery tag during free time. Archery tag is basically a dodgeball game; but instead of throwing balls, you shoot arrows. Just in case that sounds brutal to you, know that the tip of the arrow has a large pad that looks like a marshmallow. 

I heard grown men scream and cry like little girls. 
First of all, I'm not saying that little girls are weak in any way – but I have raised three little girls and they do scream and cry a lot. Second, the screaming mostly came as the men were riding down the zip line and splashing into the water, or free falling from the swing that pulls them up 30 feet high before dropping them. And then the crying came as they were moved by the time of worship singing, as they shared some of their burden and heartbreak in small groups, or as the words of the preacher or prophecy resonated in their souls.

I have not heard of any Covid spreading. 
With 400 men gathering together for a weekend retreat, I did a lot of praying because of the increased spread of Covid in our city right now. I also brought up a bunch of vitamin C powders and vitamin D gummies. I handed them out like a straight up drug dealer.

Some men were healed and some made first time-commitments to Christ. 
It’s always fun to see the men who are new to the men’s retreat. They are so surprised at how fun Christianity can be. They are so surprised at how real and true Christian men can be. And they are so surprised about how powerfully the Spirit of God shows up. By the time they are given an invitation, they are ready to jump in. 

The Bible teaches us that when brothers dwell in unity it is good and pleasing to the Lord. In case you haven’t noticed, unity is not super-easy to come by these days. For some reason our society has decided we all need to pick a side and fight the other. All the demonizing of the other and redefining of love playing out in the world today has made unity hard to find. So it was really good to see 400 men of different political opinions, ethnicities, socio-economic groups, and church traditions putting all of their intersectionality under the Lordship of Christ. And as we came together as one body, we found the Holy Spirit joining us and filling us with one hope. 

One of my favorite moments of the retreat occurred at the end. We heard some wonderful stories of what God had done for a pastor in Mexico and his son. Then, the emcee invited a pastor from Ecuador to come up and pray for the Mexican pastors in Spanish. As he did, we all bowed before one God and listened as Pastor Mario prayed in Spanish. In the middle of his prayer he became quiet for a moment and, with his Ecuadorian accent, spoke in English saying, “In you, Jesus, we are one.” In that moment, it really felt as if heaven and earth collided and all the divisions in the room — even represented by languages — melted away before the oneness of the triunity found in the Godhead. In that moment, all of our differences seemed petty in comparison to the unity of the Spirit that was present. 

Lord Jesus, let the unity of Your Spirit increase at Living Streams Church!

David

Pray for Afghanistan

There are some very heavy and horrific images and stories coming out of Afghanistan. Knowing what to say and do is very difficult, but knowing the power of prayer — and the promises given about prayer — make prayer the best place to start.

Today I want to share with you a prayer I found posted by @forallisthroughhim:

Father in Heaven, we pray for the lives in Afghanistan. We pray for Your protection to cover and preserve the bodies and lives of the women and the girls. We pray that You give wisdom, discernment and insight to the leaders to make the right decisions to protect and keep the country safe from the Taliban leaders and followers. We pray that You soften the hearts and minds of the Taliban group from causing more harm to the country. We pray that in the meantime You send Your hope, love and peace which surpasses all understanding to the lives in Afghanistan, to trust in You that You have given them victory over their enemies. In Jesus’ name, Amen

And here’s an article I found at https://www.9marks.org/article/afghan-pastors-ask-for-prayer/

These have helped me in knowing what and how to pray.

And if you feel inspired, I would love for you to reply to this email with your prayer. In this way we can join together in calling on our Daddy in Heaven.

– David

God's Glory in the Skies

So…last week I wrote about a normal work week for “pastor people;” but sometimes someone in your church has a bass boat and offers to take you out for some fishing…and your normal week becomes less normal.  

We headed out to Bartlett Lake about 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.

Now, I have done lot of fishing, but no largemouth bass fishing. I have seen it on TV and I’ve heard people talk about it, but lake fishing has never really been “my thing.” The guy with the boat, however, is a big-time lake fisherman (he’s regularly in largemouth bass fishing tournaments). And his boat is so nice and so fast. When I say fast, I mean grinning-like-the-Joker-fast, as the wind pulls hard at your eyes, cheeks, lips, and nostrils — and grinning-like-the-Joker-fast as the guy driving the boat has a sly grin, enjoying how fast he is going — and how tense his passengers are. 

Once we found a good spot, our captain set us up with the right fishing gear, gave us a quick lesson on how to catch the fish, patiently untangled our lines, and coached us on our technique (or lack thereof).

Then the sun began to set in a most beautiful way. Soft, silver sunrays shooting through grey-shaded clouds hit the water and reflected the wonder of the sky onto the surface of the lake. The desert mountains — painted green from all the monsoon rain — looked soft in the golden-hour tones. Over the next thirty minutes the sky transformed many times with multiple colors as the sun went down without any hurry behind the mountains. 

After the sun went down in the west, the sky put on another show. To the northeast, clouds changed from billowing, bright white to stormy and gray. As the sun retired, allowing darkness to take its turn, lightning filled the clouds. The external color of the clouds was constantly changing while the belly of the cloud pulsated with piercing, bright flashes. By the time darkness took over the sky, lightning produced the only flashes of light. The storm never made it overhead, but it kept threatening us with strong breezes that would come and go. 

The sky’s final show was just as amazing as the sunset and the storm. Though we didn’t notice the clouds dissipating or the storm subsiding, we did notice the sky filling with stars. Still and steady, quiet, yet impossible to miss, the stars took over the darkness.

I remembered how, when we were younger, my brother once told me that each time someone who loves Jesus dies, they poke a hole in the sky’s darkness on their way to heaven. So, what we call stars are actually the places God’s people have poked through, causing little holes where heaven’s light shines through. I like that thought, even though it is bad cosmology and theology.

But I digress…

As the night went on, the Milky Way showed up in full, mysterious form. And, even though we were three men fishing on a boat, it felt special each time we saw a shooting star jet across the sky. (None of us would have admitted to it, though.)

“God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening. Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere….That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies from sunrise to sunset, Melting ice, scorching deserts, warming hearts to faith. The revelation of God is whole and pulls our lives together.” – Psalm 19 (MSG)

God loves to reveal who He is and what He is up to to His children, whom He calls friends. He desires to give us wholeness in place of double-mindedness and division. My prayer for you and me this week is that we would notice where our lives have been pulled apart; how double-minded and divided we, as a church and as a nation, have become. 

Every generation has to come face-to-face with the reality of their depravity; therefore, every generation needs a fresh revelation of God, the Father Almighty, Creator of the heavens and earth. In this moment of cultural, relational and spiritual division, we need to seek God, find God, and allow God to reveal to us what is true and necessary, good and just. As we experience his revelation and wholeness, it is a great honor — and should be a great joy — to share His revelations with others.

Let the good news about God and His love be the message we preach,

David

P.S. For all you fishermen and fisherwomen out there, we did catch about 15 largemouth bass. The biggest one was about 1.5 lbs. 

Between Sundays

I would like to take this opportunity to give some insight as to what a pastor does.

I frequently meet people who wonder what I do during the week — but only a few have enough curiosity or courage to ask me. It is fun to observe the confusion behind their eyes as they wonder what happens between Sunday mornings and if it is offensive for them to ask about it. 

First: It is not offensive to ask that question. 

Second: I basically sit around and do nothing but pray and sing worship songs for about eight hours a day, depending on whether the congregation is doing well or sinning a lot that week. Just kidding

Truthfully, I spend Monday mornings in executive director meetings, debriefing and planning according to our organizational goals and needs. Monday afternoons I study, pray and recover. Monday night is my LifeGroup/bro time. On Tuesdays I spend time with the staff, connecting, problem solving, game planning, and encouraging. I also spend time connecting with people in the church. Wednesdays I bounce between sermon prep, connecting with people in the church, and whatever organizational needs there are. Thursday is writing, sermon prep and more connecting with people in the church. Friday, I do some mentoring and work on all my family business stuff. Friday sundown to Saturday sundown I Sabbath.

Though this is my schedule, my role is to pastor. So, in every meeting, whether it be with people working for our organization or people who are a part of the congregation, I am always pastoring. (At least when I am in the right frame of mind.)

Pastoring is a mixture of coaching, caring, challenging and counseling. People often want me to give them an answer to a question or advise them on what to do. The problem is, I usually don’t have an answer or any advice that I feel confident about. What I can do is help people process for themselves and determine what direction Jesus is pointing them.

One example of this: A pastor friend asked me for some pastoral advice regarding the Covid vaccine. He said someone in his congregation asked him to sign a a document to exempt her from having to get the vaccine. Her boss was mandating the Covid vaccine for everyone at work unless they had a religious exemption. So, she went to her pastor and asked him to sign the exemption form.

The form clearly exempted the person from the Covid vaccine “due to religious beliefs.” My pastor friend knew that signing the form would be dishonest because there is nothing in Christian beliefs forbidding someone from getting the Covid vaccine. At the same time, he didn’t want to disappoint the lady who did not feel good about the vaccine or being forced to get it. 

Like most times I’m asked for pastoral advice, I did not have an answer nor a clue of what to do. As I thought some more about it, I told him he should meet with the lady and find out why she doesn’t want to take the vaccine. If she has bad reasons, he should tell her to get the vaccine. If she has good reasons, he should ask her if she likes her job. Depending on what her answers are and what he senses the Lord leading, he may need to tell her this is one of those important moments in life where you have to stand up for what you believe and trust Jesus in that direction. Or, if her answers are empty, fearful or foolish, it may be one of those important times when she should get the vaccine and trust the Lord in that direction. 

I write this because I know all of you are frequently being faced with ethical dilemmas these days. I know there are many issues being used as wedges driving us to disagreement and division. It’s hard to know when the disagreements and divisions are good and when they are not. When does the division count as beautiful, godly consecration? And when is it just needless and destructive pride?

What we need is not more pastors, but more people who are filled with the Spirit of God to recognize themselves as pastors. In the Bible, Peter communicated this to the people he was pastoring by saying that every believer is part of a royal priesthood. 

It is time for each of us to see our role as a part of Jesus’ royal priesthood and help ourselves, our children and our neighbors process in a way that leads to the good. If you have the Spirit of God living inside you, you are able to discern the will of God. And the more you try to discern God’s will, the better you will become at it. 

 David

Another Road Trip

So far our road trip has been a combo of many things. 

When it comes to wildlife, we have seen mountain goats atop the Black Hills of South Dakota, an elk by a quiet stream in the Rocky Mountain National Forest, and both a bald eagle and a peregrine falcon diving for fish in a pristine Rocky Mountain lake. While driving the middle-of-nowhere highways of Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota we have seen cows, horses, sheep, deer, squirrels, buffalo, and even a couple of camels—much to the delight of our children.

We stumbled upon some other wild animals in Moab, Utah at a magnificent Colorado River scene. The wild animals were two homosapiens walking across a slack line 60-feet in the air tied between a boulder and a bridge, while another four homosapiens were doing gainers off the 60-foot bridge. The deep waters of the Colorado both softened and exhilarated their landings. 

Another thing we do on road trips is to try to find the license plates from all fifty states. Since we have gone to so many national parks we have found over 40, but can’t seem to find West Virginia or Delaware. Come on guys, where you at?

This is the first trip my girls have loved to fish. Now, I purposely said to fish instead of catch fish. I love fishing, but it doesn’t usually fit in our road trip itineraries. This time however, my girls have been excited about it and are getting good at casting and reeling. They almost caught a couple the other day. Brit has some pretty good videos of me running back and forth to all the tangles and trying to show them how to cast. I think I have only hooked two of my three daughters while attempting to teach them. 

When it comes to being cooped up in a van for the better part of thirteen days, we did pretty well. My wife is very big on snacks and playlists. Whenever we found ourselves on the brink of insanity or full on war, she would break out some snacks or a well-timed change in the music.

Our girls are amazing travelers as far as entertaining themselves. They draw and read and play cards. We sometimes do podcast stories or audio books, but for the most part, they just figure it out or sleep. The only real trouble happens when everyone gets hungry. When the discomfort of hunger, the impossibility of deciding where to eat, and the pressure to keep driving all collide it gets pretty hairy. We have had a few doozies, but we have overcome. 

My thoughts as the I am out on the open stretches of American highways have been all over the place, but a few things have been consistent:

• America, as a land and a human experiment, is fantastic, massive and beautiful — and worth fighting for. 

• Family is a most important pursuit for shaping us, securing us, and humbling us. 

• The world God created is fascinating, worth learning about, and preserving any way we can. 

• And finally, it would do us all a great service if we would take heed and live out what the Bible says about:

  • “Do everything without grumbling or complaining,”

  • “Let no unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others,” and

  • “Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.”

Lord help us in our families, in our churches, and in our country to use our tongues for good and not evil.

 David

Little, yet Substantial

Father’s Day was a little different for me this year. 

Firstly, my wife spoke to our church in my place. Her message dispelled lies and provided encouragement for men and fathers. She spoke from both the treasure and the poverty in the deepest parts of her soul. I and many others were moved by the truth and hope and clarity of her God-given words. Knowing that she is generally a private person and that she was nervous about speaking to adults in our Sunday morning context, I was amazed by her courage. Being a biological father of three daughters and a spiritual father to others though the gospel and through foster care, I was inspired.

Father’s Day was also the day my youngest daughter and I were scheduled to go on her 10-year-old-daddy-daughter trip. In one of his books, Bob Goff wrote about taking his children on a special daddy trip at ten years old, and it inspired me to do the same. When my oldest turned ten, she and I took a trip to Disneyland. My second born and I had a weekend in L.A. where she modeled for the Disney Store, took a chocolate-making class, and—her favorite thing of all—ordered food to our hotel room.

Now it was my youngest’s turn. She debated quite a bit, but she finally decided on going to Hana, Maui where my brother lives. We had some leftover airline money from a Covid-canceled trip last year and found some fairly cheap tickets leaving on Father’s Day. I knew that once we got to Hawaii, we could stay with my brother for free and have him show us around. So, after Brit’s message on fathering, we were off for three days of adventure.

It was interesting to watch my daughter step out on her own a bit during the trip. Yes, I was with her, but she hadn’t been on a trip without her mom or sisters before. It was just she and me, she and the big world, and she was a little nervous. When we connected with my brother and it was just my daughter and two old men (my brother and me), I watched her get a little more nervous. I think she was nervous about whether she would have fun, whether she could keep up. Not to mention being in a completely new and unknown place. But she stuck it out, and after a few tears and hugs from dad, she overcame all the nerves and started to run free.

We spent time at Koki Beach where she learned to dive under the bigger waves so she wouldn’t get washed away. She also learned how to body surf, boogie board, and surf, and she loved them all. We took her out to Hana Bay for some snorkeling. She was a little afraid of the deeper water, the unknown fishy situation, and she had some frustration getting used to the snorkel and mask. But she overcame all the fears and frustrations and enjoyed seeing the beauty of the underwater world. One day we hiked up to the Seven Sacred Pools of Ohe’o. She had to push herself physically to complete the hike and to stand under the one-hundred-foot waterfall at the end. There were a few times along the way where she seemed like she did not want to keep going, but after we reached that final waterfall, she was so pumped up that she basically ran the whole way back to the car.

During that trip we had a lot of fun. We also had a ton of hamburgers. And now we’ve walked away with unforgettable memories. I am so grateful the Lord Jesus has held me together, held my wife and I together, and held my family together so that we can experience these little (yet substantial) parts of life. I keep thinking about something that Jesus said: that if you are faithful in the little things, it will lead you to more substantial things. I am not sure if your society would look at my trip with my daughter as substantial or as any sort of pinnacle of human achievement, but I do think our God in Heaven, who has revealed Himself as a Father, looks fondly on these things.

The Apostle Paul, writing to his son-in-the-faith Timothy, emphasizes the value of a present father-figure when he says, “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” He also tells Timothy that if anyone desires the noble task of leading in the family of God, “He must handle his own affairs well, attentive to his own children and having their respect.” (It’s interesting to note that neither Paul nor Timothy had biological children)

I pray that as you read this, you will feel the full weight of your heavenly Father’s love and affection for you. He will support you when the adventure is all-new or a little daunting. I also pray that ideas will come to your mind today of how you can show someone else the full weight of your heavenly Father’s love.

All the best,

David

Lower Third

My wife asked me to text her before I lost service. I was heading out with my brother and some friends to the Black River in eastern Arizona. I was very excited to get away from everything normal. I was excited that my phone would not work. And I was excited to be fishing in cool weather, a cooler river, and nature’s beauty. 

Our fishing trip was filled with fun conversation, wonderful isolation, and beautiful trout. The feel of the cold water on my legs as I waded out into the river, the soft breeze that made the trees dance and kept my brow cool and invigorated, the soothing sounds of the water’s ripple, and the thrill each and every time my fishing line began to dance, really filled my tank.

To be honest, my emotional and mental gas tank has been operating in the lower third all year. Just when I seem to get a little gas is about the same time I burn that same amount of gas. At the beginning of the year I felt that Jesus whispered in my ear that I need to pay attention to my fuel this year. Last year I am sure I burned more fuel than all my other years combined. But being at the Black River for those days brought refreshing and refueling. 

When I got back home, it only took a couple of days to burn up every ounce of fuel that I had just been filled with. In fact, I even had to check out after Thursday’s unresolved issues, in order to keep enough fuel to love on my family and preach with some grace.

I normally live as someone whose soul is at least half full. To those close to me, I’m known as someone who monitors my interior life really diligently. But even though I am monitoring my interior life and paying attention to my soul’s fuel, I still can’t seem to get above half full. 

I have been learning that, as followers of Jesus, we are wrong if we think the goal is to always feel full. And we are “off” if we get to the place where a radical vacation is necessary to get filled up again. The true goal should be to find ourselves walking in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. Jesus’ disciples pray every day for the Lord to give them their daily bread. That is the bread they need for today — not tomorrow. For the follower of Christ there is a constant filling up and pouring out. Though Jesus was constantly being poured out, we are told that He often withdrew to a quiet place. 

Stillness in our fast-paced city, and humility about what we can and can’t do — both are very important right now. I think there are a lot of people unaware of how low their soul’s gas tank is. And some do not know the difference between being full and living on Dateline and caffeine. 

I encourage you today to take stock of your soul’s fuel. If you find yourself on the empty side, remember that Jesus said to come to Him and He will give you rest — the kind of rest that fills yours soul. Instead of planning a radical vacation, start to carve out some stillness in His presence for the next few days and see what happens. 

Grace, peace and rest to you,

David

So Proud of Our Kids

This week I saw something which made my pastor heart swell up like the Grinch’s when hit with the Whos in Whoville singing their Christmas song. It happened in the midst of our sanctuary, crowded with 250 kids and 100 volunteers.

It is always good to see the sanctuary full. It is always good to see kids having fun. It is always good to see a well-organized program and adults working together to make it happen. But this year, something stood out to me like no year before. A ton of the volunteers were kids!

What I mean by “kids” is many of the volunteer leaders are young. Many of the volunteer leaders used to be participants of VBS — some as recently as last year. Many of the volunteer leaders are kids whose parents attend our church — including my own kids. They were everywhere. 11-year-olds leading the preschoolers, 13-year-olds leading the 1st and 2nd graders, high schoolers leading the 3rd graders, and so on. And it appeared they were taking it very seriously, as though they felt like they were doing some real grown-up, important stuff. And they looked like they were having fun and enjoying themselves. It was also hilarious to hear them talk about how exhausted they were after trying to keep up with all the kids. I half-expected some of them to start holding their back like it was aching, or groan when they went from sitting to standing.

As I contemplated why this made me so happy and fueled my joy tank so much, I landed on a few ideas.

1. The first idea comes from 3 John 1:4 where John the Apostle writes, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.” Inspired by the Holy Spirit, John declares this truth which is so rooted in the human psyche because our Creator has a Father’s heart.

   One day this week a mom pulled me aside to tell me how well my daughter was caring for her non-verbal, autistic child in her group. My heart did not skip a beat when I heard this. It thumped with such a heavy beat I thought it was going to burst!

2. The second idea comes from Proverbs 23:15-16. Here the teacher declares, “My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.” And I know these young volunteer leaders are declaring with their mouths and their actions what is right and wise. They are stepping into a role, at least for this week, to teach what is good, to direct others into what is good, to keep the peace, and to pronounce blessing over others. When I think about that, my heart and inmost being fill up with gladness and rejoicing. 

3. The third and final idea comes from Matthew 25:23 where Jesus finishes a story about an employer who sees the good work of his employee. “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
   My heart rejoices to see what these young volunteers are doing and I am excited to see what can happen as they learn to be faithful in the little things. My heart is filled with pride for all the parents of these kids who are faithfully training them in righteousness, pointing them in the direction of service and commitment to Christ’s Church, and doing what it takes to give them the opportunity to do this. 

I am so proud to be a part of a church family with so many strong families. I did not say perfect families — I said strong families. Families where mom and dad are more committed to Jesus and each other than their own joy or satisfaction. Families more committed to Jesus and their children than their own aspirations and comforts. Families more committed to Jesus and His Church than their own convenience and prosperity.  And families who are so committed to Jesus they can receive and stand by a pastor who is imperfect all the time, confused much of the time, and unsure some of the time. 

Though there are some challenging things in my life — and all of our lives right now — the way this next generation is taking their place and seeking first God and His righteousness in our little corner of the world has done my heart some good this week.

Grace, Peace and Stamina to You from the Lord Jesus Christ,

David