As I said many times before, what is the church left with when all the good guys jump ship? Or maybe better put, what happens when all the guys with leadership & pastoral gifts leave the church? I will let you answer that…but I can tell you for the rest of the guys on staff it becomes a drain.  Instead of looking forward to go to work you dread it. You bet as I interview for my next ministry position I’m going to be picky. Yes I’m looking for a place to use my gifts to impact God’s Kingdom, but I am also looking for a place that will invest in me, using time and resources to invest in my development.I want to be part of a church that extends grace not only to the congregation but also to its staff.

Sitting on my kitchen table is a 3X5 card with one of my goals as it relates to my next chapter in ministry:

To be part of a ministry team of like-minded and passionate individuals. 

I still think and hope that will be within a local church…but who knows.

Once again I was floored with this Chrysler commercial during the Superbowl last night. No doubt a big portion of that stems from growing up in the Motor City, from having a sense of pride in the city of my birth. Having lived outside of Michigan I know what most people think of our city, how many are often confused with our pride thinking it should be shame for living in such a place as Detroit.

What I love about this video is the spirit of optimism it has for this city and our nation.  It reminds us that just because we are down doesn’t mean we have to be out.  I also disagree that it had a political message behind it, although I understand everything becomes political in an election year.  Regardless of your party affiliation, we can all agree that our nation is struggling and that no single idea or person can turn us around. It took us years to arrive where we are at today, years of decisions and leaders that brought us to this point in history. Though at times I struggle to see it, I am choosing to hold out hope for this country…

“we find a way through tough times and if we can’t find a way then we will make one…all that matters now is what’s ahead.”

• Eating smaller portions
• Making healthier meal choices
• Not eating at restaurants that have drive-thru’s
• Absolutely zero pop/soda (this will likely be the hardest one)
• Visiting the gym 6 days a week
• Running one mile every day
• Attending at least one Yoga/Meditation class each week
• Keeping a daily journal of what I eat and how much I exercise

Would appreciate your encouragement and feedback along the way…let’s do this!

There is a verse in Scripture which beautifully addresses this very temptation and offers us great hope.

Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

Psalm 84:10

Our essential problem is we tend to compare living for God vs. living for other things as like eating a piece of tree bark compared with an ice cream sundae!  When thinking of it this way who wouldn’t chose the ice cream? However the Bible reveals a profound truth with this verse, God’s way is far better!  The math here is stunning: 1 day vs. 1000 days….24hrs vs. 24,000hrs. We are taught growing up in America that more is always better than less aren’t we? What is better $1 or $1000? 24hrs with a loved one or 24,000? Another way of interpreting this verse is: a little bit of God is far better than alot of the world.  Which is the essence of the struggle…most of us live our lives to get the most out of this world, to get more and more stuff, more money, more fame, more pleasure, more success.

When you dig a little bit below the surface of this verse we understand even more specifically what it might be saying. You see “the courts” were part of the Temple in Jerusalem. They were the farthest out you could be from the center of the structure and still be considered “in the Temple.”  It makes me think of an arena where you would go to see a concert or sporting event.  In the center on the floor is where the action is at and then the seats circle around that action.  The courts would be the hallways around the arena, like where the food and bathrooms were…the hallway that you use to get to your seats within the arena. Whew…not sure how much I would enjoy a concert or sporting event from standing in those crowded hallways…and yet this is precisely what this Psalmist is saying…better to be on the fringes near God’s action then any where else!

What if upon sacrificing our lives for His we discover that we actually have taken the most fulfilling, rewarding path possible?

Now all I am
I lay at Your feet
I’m humbled by the wonder of Your majesty
One thing I know
I find all I need
In Your unending love
In Your unending love

This movie made me want to be a dad, to be back in student ministry and to be courageous for 20sec – especially with the opposite sex.  The movie answers a question I’ve been asking for a while now: “Is it better to have loved and lost or to have never loved at all?” With an exclamation point it declares it is far better to have loved and lost.  Even with the huge loss of his wife there are still the memories they made, and though rough at times, the life-giving relationship with his kids.

I think one of my core issues centers on this issue of risk-taking. I tend to wait until all my ducks are in a row before making a decision. I hold back whenever I sense danger or potential hurt.  While I believed in my heart this has protected me, even necessary at times it has also blocked me from so much joy in this life. As said in the movie, on the other side of that scary, gut-retching 20secs of courage is something beautiful.

The movie ends with its main character taking his kids to the cafe where he first met their mother.  He tells with emotional detail what it was like to work up the courage to talk to her for the first time. The point is made without saying it verbally that none of this adventure of owning a zoo, their memories made or relationships would have happened without those 20secs of courage.

I want to be that man this year…to display radical courage if only for 20sec and step out where I would have normally held back. If you haven’t seen it yet do yourself a favor and see this wonderful film.

I want a zoo.

“What’s past is prologue.” – William Shakespeare

All of your years have prepared you for this one.  Donald Miller is big on story and seeing our lives from a narrative perspective.  A couple of years back he was teaching at a retreat I attended and asked us to discuss an interesting thought in our small groups: if your life was released on DVD what would be on the cover? The responses were very telling for it revealed how we view our lives as primarily comedies or tragedies. We also had a fun time considering what our DVD might be rated.

I suspect that we would feel a great deal more confident in our lives if we agreed with Shakespeare and viewed our past as prologue.  I also think we would have an easier time making peace with our past if we thought of it this way.  The good, the bad and even the ugly stuff can bring about great things in our future if we choose to let it.

What wisdom have the years given you? Where do you see this chapter of your life taking you based on what you learned in past chapters?

(BTW: This is the final post in the 12for12 blog series…I trust that you have enjoyed it and pray some of the quotes stick with you throughout this New Year.  Be blessed my friends for…The Best Is Yet To Come!)