Is The Mission Compelling?

What made the followers of Jesus, those 12 guys that spent the most time with Him, get up every morning knowing that their lives could be in danger?   They knew few people would listen to them.  They knew most would think they were crazy, a dead man brought himself back to life is a pretty far-fetched story after all.  They knew they would suffer ridicule, imprisonment, poverty and even their eventual death.  So what causes people to give their lives?

The mission is COMPELLING.  

And it isn't just the wording of the mission that's inspiring, it's The Word the mission is established on.

In Jesus' last conversation with His followers (Matthew 28:16-20) He gave them this mission for His church:

• Make disciples of all nations.  
• Baptize them in the Name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  
• Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you.  

This was a huge task and one they would never be able to accomplish on their own but it was so compelling that the disciples spent the rest of their lives, and literally gave their lives, to see it accomplished.

So why do so many people stop working to accomplish their mission?  Because it's not big enough.  If your mission is about you or ultimately for you it won't sustain you.  For instance, getting rich is not an exciting or compelling enough mission to give your life to.  Booker T. Washington said, “Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.”

Jesus' mission was so compelling He gave His life to see it accomplished.  As did all of His disciples and still others even today.  And as followers of Jesus we are commanded to "live as Jesus did" (1 John 2:6).  Jesus' personal mission was that the lost would be found, the blind see, the dead be raised and the captives set free.  That's a compelling mission!

Then Jesus gave the church the mission of making disciples, baptizing and teaching.  For every church that mission is going to be expressed a little differently but it should be compelling enough for us to get behind.   At Real Life our mission is to help every person possible find real life in Jesus and look more like Him every day.  That's why we do what we do.

If your mission isn't compelling you'll soon become complacent.  What are you doing to keep your mission fresh in your life?

How I'm Conquering the Morning and You Can Too

Every person faces the same challenge every single morning.  Do I get out from under these covers or do I stay here for just a few more minutes?

I have never been a morning person by choice.  I've had to get up early at different times for work or to go hunting but getting up before 6am when you don't have to... ridiculous.  Until recently.  A few months ago I felt like I was getting into a rut and needed a change.  So, I set the alarm for 5:30am.  Now, I'd love to tell you that the change was immediate and made all the difference in my life but it wasn't and didn't.  At least not right away.  But this is not about the benefits of getting up early it's about the struggle.

Whether you are wanting to get up early, start an exercise routine, be a more consistent parent or better partner to your spouse or a more productive individual it all comes down to this one critical piece.

What's NEXT must be more important than what's NOW?  

This is true for everyone who wants to accomplish something more with their life.   Whether it's getting up early in order to exercise and spend time with God.  Or just to be more productive with the time you have.  What's next may be more difficult.  It may require more of you.  Or it may just be something you've never done before, like me getting up early.  But in order for you to get over the initial push-back and develop the habits necessary to accomplish what's next you have to be fed up with the "now."

Consider Jesus.  What was next for Him was pretty miserable: torture and death.  What He had was pretty good: committed friends, some celebrity, power to do whatever He wanted.  Jesus' "now" seemed pretty good.  But He gave it up because what was next for Him was so much more important to His mission and purpose (I'll talk more about that in Thursday's post).

If you've got a decision to make about your future it won't happen until what's next becomes more important to you than what is now.  Or say it another way, until your future potential is of greater value than your current position you won't change.  That new job must hold greater potential for advancement, pay, benefits or schedule or you'll stay in your current position.

For followers of Jesus this carries some extra weight.  Most of us want to settle into what is now, especially spiritually, but God is constantly calling us to what's next.  What's next for you might mean getting involved on a service team at church.  Maybe it's stepping into a church leadership or group leader role.  God might be calling you into short-term or full-time mission work.  Or a greater depth of study and understanding.  Whatever is next for you understand that in Jesus there is ALWAYS a next and it's always more important than what's now.

What do you think God has next for you?  How can you begin setting yourself up for success right now so you can be ready to jump into what's next without hesitation?  I'd love to hear how you are accomplishing what's next for you.  Comment below!

God has a Plan for Every Single Person

When you were just a tiny speck of cells God knew you and had a plan for you.

That may seem hard to believe but when you look at the enormous number of things that could go wrong in pregnancy and birth you are a miracle.  And being a miracle means that there is more to you than one might suspect.

David wrote, "Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:16 NIV).

That's a difficult concept to grasp, that before you existed God knew the moment you would take your first breath.  He knew every time you were gonna skin your knee or get stung by a bee.  He knew when and where and with whom you'd have your first kiss and the moment your heart would break for the first time.  Before you came to be He saw your first touchdown and the first time you were turned down - for a date or a job.  He saw your marriage, your mistakes,  knew your moods and even had a handle on your mortality.  

And out of every possible problem and regardless of who your parents are, YOU made it.  Just like He knew you would.  Your days were written in His book before one of them came to be.  You may have gotten your DNA from your parents but your purpose comes from your (Heavenly) Father.

God knew you would be right where you are today.  He's tried to get your attention through the years.  Tried to guide you in the right direction.  Tried to steer you away from the bad and toward the better.   You've done what you wanted and He's patiently waited.  But you were born for something more.  Out of all the people and problems YOU came to be - that's significant.  You're still here on the planet which means there's a purpose for it.

I can't tell you what that purpose is except to say that God knew you would be reading this right now. It was written in His book of your life before you ever came to be.  He knew where you would work where you would live and who you would hang out with.  The choices you made along the way may not have been the ones He wanted you to make but He knew you would make them.  He didn't force you to do what He wanted, but He wants you to do what is best.  If you choose not to follow His plan He's okay with that - you are your own person.  Just know that you lose the right to blame Him if you refuse to listen to Him.

Have you discovered your purpose or God's plan for your life?  Are you still trying to figure it out?  Comment below to share your story.

No Matter How Your Life Started it Wasn't a Surprise

When you were a kid the details of your conception were kept secret.  Parents don't talk about things like that with their young kids.   But there comes a point when that secret isn't so secret anymore.  Let me give you a scenario.

You're in High School.  You've spent all afternoon getting ready for your first real date and just before he rings the doorbell,  as you stand in the living room, your father and mother looking at you proudly, your dad blurts out, "It's hard to believe that we are sending you out on your first date in the very room you were conceived 17 years ago."  At which point mom smacks him and fully embarrassed
ushers you out of the house.

Maybe it wasn't the living room couch.  Perhaps you were conceived in the back seat of a car, or the kitchen or maybe it wasn't like that at all for you.  The reality of our culture is that life is often conceived in lust, not love.  The act of child making might have been exciting to your parents but the making of a child was not.  Your life may not have started in the bedroom or living room but in an ally or at a frat party.  You may not have been conceived in love or lust but in selfishness, anger and hate.

King David wrote in Psalm 139:15, "My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth."

No matter how your life started God didn't have to scramble to find a place for you in His creation.  He knew exactly when and where and how your precious life was going to begin... no matter how your life was conceived He was not surprised.   He saw you when you were made in secret.

And if you were conceived from any situation other than love - I'm sorry.  You were supposed to be conceived in a loving relationship between a husband and a wife who were committed to each other for life.  That was God's plan.  God gave sex to humanity as a gift but too many have turned it into a game.

You however were not hidden from God.  The fact that you made it means He protected your life; He has a plan for you no matter how you were conceived.   I'll share more about that on Saturday, but for now, I want you to know that no matter how your life started it wasn't a surprise to God.  He knew you would be born into this world and He had a place for you in His plan all along.  You may not have been conceived in the way He desired, but He absolutely desired you.  (To read about how God knit you together upon conception regardless of how that conception happened read my last post, You Were Put Together with Precision, here.)

What do you think would happen if God kept children from being born into the world outside of the way He planned marriage and family to work?  Would that make things better or worse?  Are we suffering the consequences of our actions (or the actions of a selfish, hateful, evil individual in the case of rape) or should God intervene?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

You Were Put Together with Precision

When you look at the human body and the way our bones, muscles and tendons work together with our joints to give us movement.  The way our veins pump blood to our extremities after somehow filling up on oxygen from our lungs.  Contemplate just one of our senses.  Or try to understand how the brain works.  The fact that any of the millions of things going on in your body that have to be just right or they don't work proves your body is incredible.

But you might not feel the same way about that.

I have a son with special needs.  I have never had a conversation with him.  He can't tell his mother or me if he has a headache or needs a splinter removed.  When he was younger he was incredibly violent and it would take all my strength (and there's plenty) to hold him down so he didn't hurt my wife or his siblings.  

Sometimes it's difficult to agree with David when he said, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well" (Psalm 139:13-14 NIV).

If you were born with something missing or something extra, you know the pain that comes with being physically or mentally different.  The idea that God "made" you (or someone you love) imperfectly on purpose is difficult to swallow.   

But what if David wasn't talking about our physical bodies.  What if he was talking about the miracle that happens when what is eternal is knit together with what it temporal?   Paul calls our physical bodies tents and says that when our "tent" is destroyed we have an eternal house not built by human hands (2 Cor 5:1).  Our bodies were not meant to last, but we were.

No matter what shape or size or challenge you may have God loves you - not your strength, but your soul.   Whatever you think of yourself when you look in a mirror the fact that a tiny cell could even have had the chance to become YOU is amazing and defies the odds. That you are here on this planet at all is miraculous and it has nothing to do with your physical form.

God put your physical form and your soul together with precision.  He has a plan for your life not based on your abilities but on your attitude.  Your parents may have brought together the raw materials but God knit the eternal together with the temporal with precision.

Everyone struggles with something about their physical appearance or mental abilities, everyone.  But your life is LOTS more than your looks.  You were put together with precision.

I'd love to hear what you think about how we were knit together.  Comment below. 

Sinner? You're In Good Company At Church.

If I come to church the walls will fall in... the ceiling will collapse... the place will burst into flames... Yep, I've heard them all.  But as we looked at in this post, every saint was once a sinner.  Which means that every person who has ever stepped foot inside a church was once where you may be at right now.   And most know the unsure feeling of walking into a place they've convinced themselves is full of people who have some spiritual power to see directly into their soul.  Will they somehow know what I've done?  Will they call me out?  Will I be exposed?   

If you thought your sin was too great for Jesus you need to know that only sinners are eligible to become saints.  This is true of every person who sits in any church; they aren't there because they are perfect - they are there because they have a past and want the promise of a brighter future.  

The Apostle Paul is a great example.  His past was full of hate.  His present was overtaken by murder.  He was a Christian killer.  2000 years before ISIS Christians were being hunted and killed because of their faith - only because of their faith.  Saul, was responsible for the arrest, imprisonment and eventual death of perhaps 100's of Christians.  That is, until he became one.  

Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and that experience changed more than Saul's name, it changed his life.  Eventually He would write well over half of what we call the New Testament today.  He would perform more miracles than any other Apostle that we know of and would eventually die as a martyr because of his faith - the faith he once killed others for holding on to.  

Paul didn't become a great man of God because he "got it right" but because he got right with Jesus.  He didn't wait to show up in church until he was living right, he got right with Jesus and then started living right.  And the first actionable step in getting right with Jesus is to be baptized - in fact, that is the very first thing Paul does.  In Acts 9:18 Paul  believes and was immediately baptized (dunked under the water signifying a connection with the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and your own death to sin and life lived for God's glory.  

When a sinner comes to church they are in good company.  Every Christian was and is a sinner.  None of us are perfect and in fact, if the walls were gonna fall down, they would have done it already.  Since Christians are to be better at living out God's plan for our lives, and we're not, He should be most upset with us.  I'm thankful that my life isn't based on me getting things right but on me getting right with Jesus.  

Today, how can you encourage a family member, friend, or ever your spouse that coming to church with you is the best place for them to be?  

Please share any creative ways you have used to encourage someone to come to church with you!  

What Is Sin Hiding In You?

Years ago I had a young boy come to me to complain about how he had gotten in trouble at school.  Someone threw a paper ball at another student while the teacher's back was turned and this boy got blamed for it.  He went on and on about how unfair it was that the teacher immediately called him out for punishment.  After a short conversation the boy admitted that, while he wasn't guilty this time, he had been guilty in the past for doing this very thing.  

We are most often known for what we've done.  

I have a friend who was addicted to alcohol.  He's been sober a long time but still calls himself an alcoholic.   Another friend often changes the rules - mid game - to increase her odds of winning.  She is known, to those who have ever played a game with her, as a cheater.  If you've lied you're probably known as a liar.  If you've stolen things you're probably called a thief.  If you've broken the law there are those who know you as a criminal.  

The lesson is pretty simple, when sin is your NORM sin is how you're KNOWN.  All too quickly your sin: addict, liar, cheater, thief, begins to hide who you really are from the world around you.  Soon, all anyone sees is your sin.  

Jesus was always confronted with individuals others had labeled.  A prostitute washed his feet.  A tax collector served him lunch.  A "dog" asked him for a miracle.  (Dog was the term Jews often used when referring to Samaritans.)  That's the thing about sin, it tries to hide who you can become behind what you have done.  

That's why I'm thankful that Jesus SEES what sin HIDES.  Jesus didn't see a prostitute he saw a woman who would become one of His greatest supporters and who, along with her family, would be very influential in the beginning of the Church.  Jesus didn't see a tax collector he saw a man who would become incredibly generous.  Jesus didn't see a "dog" he saw someone who had great faith and might become a great evangelist among her people.  Other's may see what you've done, but Jesus sees what you can become.

Today don't let sin be your norm, make choices that affirm what you can become in Jesus instead of what you've done in sin.  

How can we stop looking at what others have done and start seeing them for who they can become?  I'd love to hear your thoughts!  

You Were Born To Be A Saint.

I'm pretty sure this lottery slogan was meant for me, "you can't win if you don't play."   Only lottery players win the lottery.  And since I don't play... I can't win.

Growing up I played basketball but will never win an NBA championship ring because I don't play at that level.  I'll never earn a Purple Heart because I don't serve in any branch of the military.  I'll never win an Emmy or a Grammy because I'm not an actor or a singer/songwriter.

But there is something I can be and I was born with the ability to attain it.  So were you.

You've probably heard of the term Saint before.  In religious circles it is used when referring to someone who has attained a high level of  holiness.  You've probably heard of Saint Peter, Saint John, etc.  Some churches have special votes to confer the title Saint on individuals who display extraordinary holiness in their lives.  For example, on September 4, 2016 Mother Teresa was declared a Saint by the Catholic Church.

Honestly, I don't believe in declaring individuals Saints because the Bible says that if you're a follower of Jesus you're already a saint.  The writer of the letter to the Hebrews said that by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy, Hebrews 10:14 (emphasis mine).   But here's the best part, you already are a candidate for sainthood!  In fact, you were born eligible!   You may not win a Super Bowl or be the President of the United States but you ALREADY qualify to be a saint.

Paul's letter to the Christians in Rome makes it very clear that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23.  And since all have sinned it's the one thing every saint has in common - they all started out as sinners.  That's why you have already met the qualification to become a saint because only SINNERS become SAINTS.  You may be feeling bad about your sin or your inability to stop sinning.  You may feel like you will never be as good as some "Saint" you know.  But they started out just where you are.  And if they are honest, they still struggle to do the right thing consistently.

Today, focus on who you want to be (saint) and not on what you've done (sin).  Every saint has struggles but in Jesus you have been made perfect and are being made holy.  It's a process and God is way more interested in your progress than in perfection.  So go do today the things a Saint would do, because you are one.