The Book is here!

My book - Why God Thinks He Can Use You - is here!!!

After  - as my friend Ken Cline says - "a decade" of waiting  and writing, my book is here and available.  And needless to say, I'm a little pumped and a whole lot relieved.  (I hesitate to say - I've made this mistakes about writing before and been sorely chastened! Sorely! - but I'll say it anyway) It has been like birthing a baby to get these thoughts on paper/screen even though I teach these particular concepts often. 

In fact, I taught this course at Globe's IGM in Pensacola and at IGO's IGM in Mobile just recently.  And I love helping others discover how they show up best and hoe they are created to serve God.

So, give a look here and buy it, read it, apply it and let's change the world!

So how far apart are God and Creation?

Tom Wright. Wow, what can you say about him? Some folks (mostly some of my Reformed friends who are in the John Piper Fan Club) don't like him and think he's wimp because he sorta demotes Paul to a lower status than Jesus. (Go figure.) But me, unashamedly I can say he's one of my theological heroes. He's probably one of the very best thinkers around today. He's intelligent, kind and articulate. He loves Jesus! Not is some kinda schmaltzy prom-song way, but in a devoted I-will-follow-Him way. I got to hang out with him a few years ago in the UK and he's really nice, witty and eats normal food. In this clip, he really helps us think about adjusting our lenses.

Give a look...

Thinking of how to steal second...

Neil Cole says a lot...

...I don’t know how it happened, but sometime in history we bought into a theology of safe. We think that we should do what is safe, for ourselves, for our families, and for our churches. In fact, we are convinced that anything that is unsafe must be outside of God’s will and is thoroughly un-American and un-Christian. A theology of safe is put in place as a defensive measure to avoid death. This leads us right down the path of self-preservation.

We often approach church and ministry with a theology of SAFE.

Safe is…

Self-preservation = our mission
Avoidance of the world and risk = wisdom
Financial security = responsible faith
Education = maturity

Does that not describe many of the churches, denominations or ministries you have encountered?

I'm convinced that we need to rethink how we take the Gospel to our worlds. (I use the world "worlds" on purpose, because we each have our own "world" of interactions, relationships and influence.) We need to rethink security and what it means to follow Christ into the world.

Jesus - by His Spirit - is already active in the world. Active among your neighbors, among the guys hanging on the street corner, among the folks at WalMart or SubWay or Starbucks. Our task is to risk a little, ,get out of the comfort zone and not be so blooming safe!

We've worked hard at not just being SAFE!

After all, you can't steal second with your foot on first!

How Big is Your Book?: Haiti, Pat Robertson and Religion in America

Jeffrey Weiss writes in Politics Daily some really interesting observations about how very important religion is in America today.  He quotes The Daily Show's Jon Stewart's reply to Pat Robertson as follows:

"Out of all the things you could draw on from your religion to bring comfort to a devastated people and region? Look how big your book is! 'The Lord is close to the broken hearted. He rescues those who are crushed in spirit. Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee. From the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion on you.'

"That almost sounds like it's about a f**** earthquake!"

Stewart, a Jew with no affection for Pat Robertson's style of religion or politics - quotes from Isaiah and the Psalms. You can read the entire article - well worth the read - here. 

I'm amazed at who quotes comfort in times of unexplainable events.  And of course my question for me is, "Am I bringing comfort, controversy or criticism?" 

Love speaks comfort.

NEEDED SHORT-TERM HAITI RELIEF WORKERS 21-26 January

We have a small window of opportunity (21-26 January) for DOCTORS, NURSES, and CONSTRUCTION WORKERS to spend a few days in Haiti with Globe Missionaries Keith and Cindy Lashbrook assisting in relief work among displaced Haitian people. They expect over 2000 refugees from Port au Prince arriving in their area and need assistance.

Free flights from Ft. Lauderdale to Haiti for the next 6 days – 6 flights per day. Workers must get passage to Ft. Lauderdale, but the relief flight is without charge. The stay is short, but impact can be great.

Call Globe International at 850.453.3453 for further details.

It's a funny world...

Maybe it's just me, but it's a funny world when:

• people can go from being elected governors of various states -(governor! for Pete's sake!) overseeing other people's lives, responsible for executing laws, stewards of public trust, etc. to becoming news commentators and interviewers and no one seems to see that as a "step down" and somehow compromising. Seems to be no disjuncture in our minds between "leading" and "commentating." I can't imagine Abraham Lincoln or Winston Churchill having a prime-time complain and harass show. But maybe - if they'd had the technology. Or needed the money. Or needed to remain in the spotlight for future ventures... (hummm)
• it becomes news-worthy who comes on TV at 11:30 at night. These guys get paid chunks of money to make jokes, act a wee bit stupid, be irreverent and ingrain themselves in American culture. In the grand scheme of things, does it matter? And then the late night personalities get paid to diss and deride their bosses for making decisions they don't like. I know it's all about status and cash, but it seems so petty in the real world. And it seems inane to allow TV personalities to deride their employers. Just so you know: Real people can't do that in real life. Not and still get paid.
• someone who doesn't really get "organic church" can say as a movement it's dead.
• Angelina and Brad can give a million dollars to Haiti relief - snap! - just like that.
• we can be in the middle of a two-front war and we can expect life and the economy to continue in a "business as usual" way. A war costs money and probably needs a level of public and personal sacrifice to actually be won.
• gasoline prices fluctuate wildly and no one seems to know why. Or if they know, they ain't telling.
• that Fiat now has controlling interest in Chrysler. Fiat! When was the last time you knew anybody who owned - ok, ever even saw - a Fiat! At least when it was Daimler/Benz we though something good could actually happen. But Fiat has some nice smaller cars in Europe. Can't imagine small 2 1/2 seat Chryslers, somehow.
• we lose the plot... we lose the story... we lose the mission and yet wonder why we're frustrated

The mission is the focus... lose it and you're lost.

In everything the focus must be the mission.  you lose sight of the mission and you lose sight of everything and get into big-time trouble.

I personally get concerned when we as born-again, Spirit-filled, Bible-espousing people forget the mission.  As I say in the book (coming soon to a website near you!) Why God Thinks He Can Use You, if you lose the story - God's Story, our story - you lose the mission!

Peggy Noonan in the New York times article reminds of this here. 

Maybe the most worrying trend the past 10 years can be found in this phrase: "They forgot the mission." So many great American institutions—institutions that every day help hold us together—acted as if they had forgotten their mission, forgotten what they were about, what their role and purpose was, what they existed to do. You, as you read, can probably think of an institution that has forgotten its reason for being. Maybe it's the one you're part of.

We saw an example this week with the federal government, which whatever else it does has a few very essential missions to perform that only it can perform, such as maintaining the national defense. Our federal government now does 10 million things, many of them not so well. Its attention is scattered. It loses sight of the essentials, which is part of the reason underpants bombers wind up on airplanes.

Wall Street the past 10 years truly and profoundly lost sight of its mission. It exists to be the citadel of American finance. Its job is to grow and invest and enrich, thereby making the jobs possible that help family exist.

Wall Street has a civic purpose. But it must always do its job with an eye to prudence, because a big part of its job is to provide a secure and grounded economic footing for the nation. But throughout the '00s Wall Street's leaders gave themselves over to one thing, and that was looking out, always, for No. 1. And they knew how to define No. 1. It wasn't the country, and it wasn't even the company. They'd crater companies, parachute out, and brag about it later.

If there was one damning and utterly illustrative quote that captured Wall Street in the past 10 years it was that of Charles Prince, CEO of Citigroup, in July 2007. Worrying investment trends were beginning to emerge, but why slow down? He told The New York Times, "As long as the music is playing, you've got to get up and dance." This from a banker, a leader, a citizen, a man responsible for a community.

Later in the article, she talks about Congress losing the mission as well as the Catholic Church.

So, begin the new year with finding your story and consequently your place in God's Mission!  It's not that hard - but if you lose it, you're lost.