Seven beautiful ladies!

Now there’s a good night for a fella!

Because I say it so much I think it deserves to be broken down and explained in a bit more detail. So here we go…

“A safe place…”

The church is to be a place where we are honest about who we are and hopeful about who we can become.

In the church we do not judge unbelievers or skeptics (though we do judge one another as believers). We accept them just like they are. We love them. We encourage them. And all the while we conduct ourselves in such a way as would make the Christian life appealing.

The church is a safe place for every tired and lonely person. It is a place where hope is discovered, new friendships are made, skills and talents are fully utilized, and God is experienced and worshipped.

The church offers a safe environment for every race, sexual orientation, age, and social status.

“a dangerous message…”

You are a control freak. You’re right. I did judge you a little bit… but you know it’s true. Don’t you? Seriously, all of us have a strong desire to call the shots in our own lives, chase our own dreams, make our own plans, and live for the man/woman in the mirror… and whatever is left over is what we bring to God.

The problem with that is that God says, “I’m not taking your leftovers.” He wants the best of your time, money, skills, ideas, etc. Bottom line, He wants you to turn over control of your life to Him. He wants to set the agenda, call the shots, and give the orders. And that just doesn’t sound safe to a control freak.

The message of the Bible is “give your life to Jesus. Let Him be the leader. Trust and follow Him!” And that sounds dangerous.

Safe and dangerous…

I want Church180 to be safe and dangerous… a place where anyone can come and make the most important decisions of their life under the watchful and helpful eye of God while surrounded by people who really like them.

And that’s what I mean by “a safe place to hear a dangerous message.”

In this book he says, “Who our church is reaching is more important than how many our church is reaching.” I agree.

As a leader it is only natural for me to want the church I pastor to grow. I don’t apologize for that. However, I will not be content with just any kind of growth. I want to grow because the unchurched of our community discover a safe place to hear a dangerous message!

I want Church180 to be a place where the people most unlikely to go to church… go to church.

I want for God to use the men and women of our church to create a place where we are honest with one another, respect one another, love one another, encourage one another, help one another, pray for one another, and serve one another.

I want for Church180 to be a place where the most unlikely people will discover that Jesus and His people are good.

I want for our church to be filled up with drug/alcohol/porn/gambling and all other kinds of addicts. I want our seats to be filled with homosexuals and heterosexual couples who are living together outside of marriage. I want to see the abusers and the abused. I want the lonely, discouraged, weak, and angry. I want people that think suicide is the only way out. I want those kinds of people.

Now here’s the truth…

As God brings “those kind of people” to our church it is absolutely necessary that everyone step up and serve. Helping people discover God and friends is not just the pastor’s job. It is the life expectation of every Christian.

I want everyone at Church180 to be involved in other people’s lives… listening, teaching, encouraging, praying, serving, loving. What God is calling us to will require the maximum input of everyone.

Secondly, I know that as this happens many will not understand. Some will leave our church. Others will criticize and ridicule. That’s okay.

We are not here to please people. Just God. That’s it. We are here only to please God. And do you know what pleases Him? When we love people… especially those who are disconnected from Him.

I am praying and working towards this end. I will be calling the men and women of our church to join me in this cause. Together we will be a force for Jesus in Rock Hill and we will change the way people think about our leader (Jesus) and his people (Christians).

Are you in?

I’m excited about this series. It’s a topic I’ve never taught on but something that I’m becoming more and more interested in… I guess that’s the result of being daddy to six ladies.

Anyhow, we’re going to look at three ladies in the Bible… ladies we don’t often, if ever, talk about: Timothy’s mom (Eunice), Moses’ mom (Jochebed), and Zelophehad’s FIVE daughters! We’re going to discover three secrets that made these ladies great! I really can’t wait to teach this series… because I’m teaching it as more than a pastor… I’m teaching it as a dad and husband too.

I know what will help.

Exercise!

A healthy body is directly connected to emotional, mental, and spiritual vitality!

I am working with several people right now who are experiencing this phenomenon. I have too!

If you are ready to break out of the rut you’re in may I suggest a couple of things:

1. Do something, but don’t do everything! I’ve seen to many people fail because they tried to do to much to quick! The result is that they’ve got a garage filled with workout equipment and a closet filled with new and unused exercise clothes! Pick one thing. Do it for a couple of weeks. Make it a habit. Then you can tackle something else.
2. Tell someone what you’re doing. Maybe they’ll join you! Even if they don’t, the fact that you’ve told someone what you’re doing will help keep you accountable.
3. Set a time to do “your thing”, then do it. If you don’t have a time… you won’t do your thing. A time to do it is as important as the decision to do it! Find your time, put it on your calendar (just like you would schedule a meeting), then do it!
4. Do something else! After a couple of weeks your body will be ready for a new challenge… so oblige it! Add another mile to your walk! Learn some new exercises! Add more weight or repetitions! If you don’t mix it up and keep challenging yourself you will get bored… and bored people quit.

Do you exercise regularly? How has it helped you? Tell your story! I’d love to hear from you!

Of course I, like you would have, cringed, wondered where she’d learned this word, and then with a fearful heart but a brave face asked the question, “What MF word? What does it mean?”

She looked around then whispered, “Middle” and before she could finish her sentence one of her sisters yelled, “Finger!” As soon as the “er” of “finger” was completed her little princess face screwed all up with the agony that comes with hearing an expletive uttered out loud.

A few things happened in a very short time span:

• I simultaneously choked back laughter and breathed a sigh of relief.
• I was very happy to learn that “MF word” means “Middle Finger”.
• We did have a conversation about what the middle finger means when you give it to someone… and I encouraged her not to ever do this.

Being a parent is always an adventure and always an opportunity to teach! May you enjoy the adventure and take every opportunity to teach your children… even if it starts off with a cringe!

Sometime ago he posted some thoughts on “responsiveness” that have not only stuck with me, they are changing me. Hyatt has written about this subject multiple times and you can read all of them here.

I’ve not always been the most responsive person. Sure I have reasons… but most of them look more like excuses when viewed closely! So I’m thinking about why I’m not responsive. Here are a few reasons:

• I don’t have a good plan in place to deal with things like e-mail, voice messages, etc.
• Sometimes I’m too tired to give a thoughtful response… so I don’t respond.
• Sometimes I don’t care enough to respond (that’s just rude…)
• Sometimes I create too many “input streams” which overloads me with voices to which I must respond. For instance I have 2 Twitter accounts, 2 Facebook pages, three e-mails, and a blog. That’s in addition to voicemail on cell phone, home phone, and church phone. Which is in addition to notes people pass me, crisis’ which require my attention, parenting responsibilities, etc. Maybe it’s time to unload.

A couple of things I’m doing to up the responsiveness quotient in my life:

• Keep the inbox empty… or close to it!
• Keep the voice-mail empty… or close to it!
• I’m finding that the sooner I respond the easier it is (usually). And the opposite is true too… the longer it takes to respond, the more difficult it becomes (usually).
• Lastly, I’m keeping in mind what Jesus said, “Do to others as you want them to do to you” (Luke 6:31). And guess what?! I like people to respond to me!

Anyhow I think you’d really like and benefit from Michael Hyatt’s thoughts on responsiveness so go here to check them out!

• How many books have you started… but not finished?
• How many projects remain unfinished around your house?
• How many e-mails are still in “draft” form in your e-mail?
• How many difficult conversations have you started but the problem still remains because you didn’t finish the conversation?

It’s not enough to finish the checklist, to hurrily do the last three steps and declare victory.

In fact, the last coat of polish and the unhurried delivery of worthwhile work is valued all out of proportion to the total amount of effort you put into the project.

It doesn’t matter how many designers, supply chains, workers, materials and factories were involved– if the box is improperly sealed, that’s how you will be judged. 

He’s right!

Solomon, purportedly the wisest man to ever live, wrote “Finishing is better than starting” (Ecclesiastes 7:8 NIV). And if I can take such liberty I’d say, “Finishing well is better than starting well!”

Think about this, why spend the time, money, and energy to start well if you’re not committed to finishing well?

Jesus was all about this. Look at how He said it:

Luke 14:28-32  don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first getting estimates and then checking to see if there is enough money to pay the bills?  29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of funds. And then how everyone would laugh at you!  30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and ran out of money before it was finished!’  31 “Or what king would ever dream of going to war without first sitting down with his counselors and discussing whether his army of ten thousand is strong enough to defeat the twenty thousand soldiers who are marching against him?  32 If he is not able, then while the enemy is still far away, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace.

Listen, I am pretty good at starting things, but here’s what I’m finding… finishing feels even better, makes people even happier, and gives me greater credibility as a man and a leader. And finishing well? Well that increases these three exponentially!

I want to challenge myself and encourage you to go finish something today… and finish it well! Make the last 10% as good as the first 10%!

His obituary is deeply moving, especially the part which he wrote (the conclusion to his book).

Regardless of how you feel about this man, he loved his life… I want that for me and everyone else too! Here is the obituary…

With a terrible feeling of pain and loss we announce the passing of Andrew Breitbart.

Andrew passed away unexpectedly from natural causes shortly after midnight this morning in Los Angeles.

We have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot and a happy warrior.

Andrew lived boldly, so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully, and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love.

Andrew recently wrote a new conclusion to his book, Righteous Indignation:

I love my job. I love fighting for what I believe in. I love having fun while doing it. I love reporting stories that the Complex refuses to report. I love fighting back, I love finding allies, and—famously—I enjoy making enemies.

Three years ago, I was mostly a behind-the-scenes guy who linked to stuff on a very popular website. I always wondered what it would be like to enter the public realm to fight for what I believe in. I’ve lost friends, perhaps dozens. But I’ve gained hundreds, thousands—who knows?—of allies. At the end of the day, I can look at myself in the mirror, and I sleep very well at night.

Andrew is at rest, yet the happy warrior lives on, in each of us.

Reasons that a patient will have a “patient sitter” include:

• They are unstable on their feet and have a high “fall risk.”
• They are confused and might pull IV’s out or wander from their room.
• They might sneak out if not under watch.
• They demonstrate aggressive and dangerous behaviors against others
• They are suicidal.

More often than not I sit with older patients.

Part of my job includes recording the activities of the patient every fifteen minutes on an “observation sheet.” I have to write down the time, identify what they were doing, and initial it.

Often I will write out the times several hours ahead and then just record activities and initial it when that time comes.

The other night as I was writing out the times for the next several hours it occurred to me… this patient may not make it for the next several hours. I am assuming that they will be here and doing activities for me to record!

This is not a thought I would have about someone who is younger and outside of the hospital. Someone like myself. I just assume the next fifteen minutes are mine to live. But why?

I just assume the next fifteen are mine. Maybe not. I have no more right to claim those minutes than does the confused and sick senior citizens with whom I sit.

The Bible says, “How do you know what will happen tomorrow? For your life is like the morning fog– it’s here a little while, then it’s gone” (James 4:14 NLT). This is a caution to each of us to not presume upon the next minutes. It is a call to us to live humbly and gratefully.

Humble because I know… it could be gone soon and there’s nothing I can do about that.

Grateful because I know… it is mine now to be lived with passion and love!

Victor Frankyl in his book Man’s Search for Meaning has a unique take on this idea. He writes:

Live as if you were living for the second time and had acted as wrongly the first time as you are about to act now.

Don’t read over that quickly! Stop! Re-read it! 

Done?

Now, go live as if these minutes may be your last!