Short and Sweet, Like a Shooting Star

I was out walking the neighborhood this morning as I try to do most mornings, when a flash in the sky caught my eye. It was sudden, it was brief, it was spectacular.......then it was gone. This event brought my attention to the sky where I suddenly was aware that there were thousands of true stars that I hadn't noticed up to that point. They had been there all along, but I wasn't paying attention to them. Here are the things that this brief experience taught me:

1) The "shooting star", which isn't actually a star at all, was there briefly and then it was gone. The true stars had been there all along and they remained. In fact, scientists tell us that the light we see from some of these stars is hundreds and thousands of years old. Some of those stars have actually already exploded in a magnificent display, yet we are still observing the light they emitted years ago.

2) The appearance of the the "shooting star" was seemingly random. They happen unnoticed all the time. In fact, the only way you see one is if you happen to be at the right place at the right time. The true stars are always there and those who are familiar with them know exactly where to look for them. Night after night, year after year, they remain constant and dependable.

3) While the "shooting star" was spectacular and impressive, its light was sudden and fleeting. However, there were true stars there which shined so brightly one might mistake them for an airplane that is only a short distance away. Even though the star is an unbelievable distance from us, its light penetrates all that darkness as easily as the flashlight I hold in my hand!

I trust you can see all the spiritual and life applications these "star lessons" can teach us without me spelling it all out. So, ask yourself, which do I want to be? The brilliant and spectacular, the sudden and passing. Or would I rather my light outshine my own time here on this Earth?

Please leave comments below!

A New Game: "Lead the Follower"

Ever play follow the leader when you were a kid? We all have. One person does something and the next person in line has to attempt it and then the next and the next and the next. Whoever fails the challenge is out, one after the other until there is only one person left. This is a fun game for children, but it is exactly opposite what those of us who lead hope to achieve in our leading. We're not trying to disqualify all followers with impossible tasks. We actually hope that everyone succeeds, and in fact, a good leader hopes his followers will surpass him. I'm no different, I pray that every member of our youth group grows up to do more, experience more and achieve more than I ever have. I want them to be more successful, have greater influence and a closer walk with God than me.

I tweeted a statement last week that I have been pondering a bit lately. "What's wrong with being a follower? Every truly great leader has led a life of great following. 'Follow me as I follow Christ.' Sound familiar?" As a parent, I understand what other parents mean when they say they are concerned because they have a child who seems to be more of a follower than a leader. We worry that they will follow the wrong influence, the wrong 'crowd'. But this is our challenge: teach and train them to follow the right influences. It really is no different if you have a child who is a natural born leader. What was that super-hero quote? "With great power comes great responsibility." We have the same responsibility to train the leaders to lead in the right direction. We wouldn't want to lead astray any more than we would want to be led astray. Bottom line: we are all following someone, even the leaders. And, like it or not, we are all leading someone. Whether directly and on purpose, or indirectly by our influence. Even if you were the very last person in line, following many, it wouldn't be long before someone steps in line following you.

Okay, so I've said a lot already and haven't even gotten to any scripture. You knew that wasn't going to last. So first, the Bible gives us a little bit of warning about desiring to be leaders. James 3:1 tells us, "My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation." (KJV) Another version says it differently using the word "teachers" in place of "masters": "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness." (ESV) I believe we could use the word "leader" just the same. This sounds very much like Uncle Ben's advice to the young hero mentioned above, does it not?

Secondly, I would encourage you to take a few minutes to just read through the whole book of Titus. It is only three short chapters that you can read in under 20 minutes. If I had to sum up this letter from Paul to Titus in as few words as possible I'd say, "Leading through Godly example." Paul left Titus to lead the church at Crete, but the Cretans were creating a bad reputation for themselves. And sadly, when it was said of them, "Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons", Paul's next words were, "This testimony is true". Paul's answer for this was for Titus to live a Godly life, to appoint Elders in the church who would live Godly lives and thereby influence the others to likewise live Godly lives. This is very clearly stated in the first several verses of chapter two, ending with verse eight that says, "...that one who is an opponent may be ashamed, having nothing evil to say of you."

Do we need strong leaders? Yes! But we also need strong followers. How effective would our military be if we had thousands of Generals barking orders and no soldiers to carry them out?

Billy Beane

There is a Brad Pitt movie that came out last year called Moneyball. In the movie, he plays Billy Beane, the GM of the Oakland A's.  The movie tells the story of the A's 2002 season and the unorthodox way of evaluating the best players with their limited budget. The climax of the film is a win streak of 20 games, complete with a montage that rivals the best sports movies. The music alone gets me every time.

Two weeks ago Pastor Steve talked about being consumed by God. He's been speaking in Ephesians, I know you have heard it. You probably talked about it in some way in your CARE group meeting. I made a special note of that very phrase in my notebook. Questions come in my mind, what does a consumed life look like? What would it be like to live consumed? In Ephesians chapter 1, we read that the power that caused that raised Jesus from the grave is the same power that resides in us. HELLO?!? Its hard for me to fathom that. Paul himself prays that we would understand that very thing. He writes in ch 3 vs 20-21

20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Astounding.....how do I get there?

 In Moneyball, Billy Beane and Peter Brand put this team together with the belief that their system will work. They have many doubters, and at the beginning of the season, things do not look good. They did not start off with a 20 game win streak, but near the end of the season, things finally clicked. What was most interesting to me were the scenes of Billy and Peter talking to the players about the game and the way they want it to be played. They are advising them throughout the season....about taking pitches, walking more, doing whatever they can to get on base. Bases lead to runs, and runs lead to wins. There is one statement that Billy makes that resounds in me....

It's a process.

I think that often we want our relationship with God to be magical.....that all the bad things will quit bugging us and it will be easy street. We want to come out of the gates with a record breaking streak of spiritual victories. People will immediately see the ever-present power that is in us and we will be breaking down spiritual walls in the first week. Its doesn't happen that way does it? We can be at it for years and are still talking the same way, acting the same way, feeling like this whole God thing is a chore more than a joy.  We can easily get down on ourselves and down on being a Christian.  We like immediate results and words like "process" don't necessarily float our boat so to speak.  For something to be a process means that it will take time.

During the A's season, it took time.  The season started in April, the streak did not finish til September 5th.  It took them a whole season to put into practice the process.  Learning which pitches to take and which to swing at.  Learning that a walk is just as good as a hit and even though its not exciting, it wins games.  The end result was worth the daily work, the work that sometimes doesn't bring us instant gratification....but when all of that process finally cemented in them, they succeeded in a great way.

Our Christian walk (coincidence?) is a lifelong process.  It begins by taking advice....imagine if the A's just disregarded all of the advice they were given.  If they did not buy into it, they would have had a difficult season.  Homer talked Sunday morning about the Word.  He talked about how important it was for us to get into the Word of God.  We are being given "advice" from the author of our faith.  I like to think of it in those terms.  The Word is full of lessons, full of blessings that will work in us to change us.  Allow yourself to be part of the process, to follow the Word, get it in you and start on your walk to great successes in the name of God in your life.

Homer Chapman's Favorite Shirt

Acording to Anthony Pierce homer has one shirt that is his favorite and im assuming its his Charlie Brown i hope you enjoyed my blog please comment if you think its different Thanks..

Guest Blogger: Duane Maddy

Why was our church so empty today? Did we give up?

by Celebration Focus on Monday, June 11, 2012 at 2:23am ·

Catchy title, huh?

It’s one o’clock on Monday morning as I begin writing this. I’ve had a busy day. I’ve had a million overwhelming thoughts racing through my mind about today’s service. Today, our church was empty of people...and that’s a good thing! Yes, our seating was almost completely full, but, well, let’s see if I can explain....

During worship, I didn’t notice my hands were raised, or were clapping, or that I was singing. It was a flow that controlled me rather than me controlling it. I like those times because there’s no need for ‘willingness’ when there’s absolute surrender.

Along the lines of what Pastor Steve said today about the absence of ourselves in the equation, I am coming to the understanding that it’s not of my accord that anything’s done or accomplished. I take credit for my ‘willingness’ sometimes, but when there’s a surrender, I can take no credit because I have to come to grips with the fact that I’m overwhelmed and have no chance of a self-gratifying victory. In my best Pastor Steve voice, the “Look at meeee” thing we all do.

The Duane-filled me hates surrender, because that means I’ve given up. Giving up leads to emptiness, though, and that’s where we (or I) have to be. It’s not enough to just be willing, because that can lead to us taking credit for our work, while God wants our work to be ‘royalty free’. That’s tough to take in!

The second thing I noticed today is that God is putting things into motion in a very natural way because of that surrender. Individually AND as a church.

For instance, I know this is a very small detail to most people, but it’s been many years since Ashlee and I have had people who WANT to talk to us and sit by us in church. It got so bad that I've nearly forgotten how to interact with people and developed a slight stutter when I talk because of my uncertainty.

Now, we’re blessed to have our friends, Kendra and Steven sit with us every week. There’s a surrender to work by people like Kristi and Keith who ask nothing in return. There’s a surrender of people coming in that have never even been to Celebration before with the exact gift that’s needed to fill an empty space with ministry that needs done.

To use an analogy of how this is playing out in my mind, it’s sort of like being in a middle school gym class when they were picking sides for dodge ball. You weigh 80 pounds, have no physique, no ability, nothing to offer and you're sporting a "KICK ME" sign on your back. There’s always a team of winners and a team that will lose every time. Today, though, you’re picked by the winners because they like you...not because of what you have to offer or their need of a twerp. You’re empty and incapable, you can’t throw, you can’t dodge, you can’t even tie your own shoes, but you’ve been chosen without regret.

The last thing I’ve noticed is that there’s a great many of us who come from ‘church hurt’. I don’t think there’s anything more disgusting than a church who devours Christians for the sake of building up their own self esteem, but it seems that a steady diet of people are on the menu at many churches across the country.

Seeing the surrender that was present today, along with the love that is constantly flowing among the people of our ‘empty’ church, I sense a healing that I’ve never witnessed anywhere else. The people that come down the aisle to pray are never judged. There’s never a ‘hmm, I wonder what they did wrong’ reaction from anyone there. There’s an absolute abundance of love, joy, peace, patience and a willingness to put up with the tough times, gentleness, goodness, faith and a meek attitude that is displayed. Fruits of the Spirit instead of weeds of judgement and self esteem. (Gal 5:22-23) There’s an excitement for other peoples’ lives and the victory they receive.

I love the empty church, because it’s filled with people who are filled with something besides themselves. I love the surrender that is present, because it means we’ve given up on winning our own way. I love the direction we’re going, because we have nothing to do with the navigation.

Crushed by the Weight of HIS Goodness!

"God is good, all the time and all the time God is good!"

Cliche? Maybe, but cliches, like stereotypes, usually exist for a reason. This one exists because it is TRUE! God is good! But what does that mean? It means if he is good, there is no bad in Him! Again, this sounds so obvious and elementary that we really overlook the importance and value of the statement. Think about it, nothing bad in Him at all! Which means, when dealing with us the only thing He has to give is Goodness. So let me define goodness for you. It is the predisposition of someone to show kindness, to perform acts of generosity and show favor to. That is what God has for us. Wow!

This past Sunday morning during praise and worship service at church, I was meditating on God's goodness when I was overwhelmed by it. And not just His goodness to me. He was showing me His goodness through what He has done for those around me. There were several friends, family members and even casual acquaintances in service that morning whose personal stories I am familiar with. God was showing me His faithfulness to them through the years of struggle each one had come through. The same faithfulness He has shown me. He was showing me how, just like in my own life, once He got hold of their hearts, even at an early age, He never lets go. Praise Him for that. He never quits on you, even when you try to quit Him. He never gives up on you even when you've given up on yourself. He never forgets you even when it seems everyone else has. HE IS SO GOOD!

Meditating on His goodness drew me back to some scriptures I hadn't read in a while and I re-read them with "new eyes". I realized they were describing what He was doing with me right then. Exodus 33:17-23:

And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” Moses said, “Please show me your glory.”And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy. But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” And the Lord said, “Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock, and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."

How awesome is that? Moses asked to see God's glory and God said, "Okay, I'll show you My goodness. But God knew His goodness was going to be too strong, too powerful, too.....WOW! for Moses to endure the fullness of. So God placed His hand over Moses to protect Him from Himself. Isn't that just like God. How many times have we asked God for something He knew we couldn't handle, so He gives it to us anyway and finds a way to help us with it! He IS good!

Exempli Gratia

Latin is considered a dead language because no one speaks in Latin as their native language. Yet, Latin is still used consistently in mottos (e.g., the phrase on the US Seal, E Pluribus Unum, meaning Out of Many, One). I suppose its not really a dead language then, maybe we could refer to it as an undead language, a zombie language. No one speaks it but it ambles about, still appearing everywhere, looking to eat the brains of regular languages.

ATTACK of the LATIN PHRASES!!

I just dropped some Latin in that earlier paragraph that you may have missed, the little abbreviation "e.g." which refers to this post's title - Exempli Gratia. It means, "for example" and is used in sentences to clarify a statement by giving an example of what you mean.

I was watching a movie the other night, and there was a quote that almost made me say AMEN.

"...be strikingly upright; an outstanding example so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light."

So simple yet so powerful. Peter said the same thing in one of his letters.

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. I Peter 2:12

The sames ideas are expressed here:

be strikingly upright = live such good lives

outstanding example = that they may see your good deeds

those in darkness = pagans

the power of the light = glorify God because of those deeds.

BOOM! I am especially loving that second part, "so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light." Not just the light, if I read Romans correctly, that light has been there since the beginning and made evident to all. People have consistently lived in rebellion to the LIGHT. What brings people to Christ is how that light has changed people. Vicki's testimony on Easter is an ultimate example of this quote, she is now an example of the majestic, wonderful, awesome POWER of GOD'S LIGHT. The POWER of the LIGHT to change lives. In our mission to bring the lost to Christ, its not enough just to point at the bible and say, "See this light?". No, we have to SHOW what it means to live in that power, that is why we are called to live such good lives, strikingly upright, because WE ARE the example. If we were to put this into a sentence to explain it, it might look like this.

Only God can remove the sin in your life (e.g., Vicki Johnson and her addictions).

I can understand the fear that can accompany this. We generally don't want people looking to us as the example, because we fail. We say, "Its not fair that the pagans should be looking at my life, they don't understand that we are forgiven no matter what, they shouldn't be able to judge me". Outside of the forgiveness of sin, people want to know that God lives in them and that it makes a difference, an abundant life NOW. People in darkness want to see the POWER of the LIGHT, and we are the ones that should be showing that. Paul tells us this in Ephesians.

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. Eph 1:18-23

This is what brings people to Christ, His people, filled with that INCOMPARABLY GREAT POWER, same power that brought CHRIST back from the DEAD. In real terms, if Vicki continues live her life as an open addict while testifying to how awesome the power of Jesus is, will her testimony still be as compelling? Compelling, making people take notice of that change, this whole thought behind being strikingly upright. Its the fact that she is FREE of it now, the fact that SHE is DIFFERENT now, strikingly different. This is not about a higher burden on us that anything that we are shown in scripture. Paul repeatedly reminds us that we are no longer slaves to sin, so why are we still living in it. Live a life so good that people will see your good deeds and glorify God. To live a good life doesn't take away from HIS power, it is only because of that power that we can live that live and do good deeds.

We are called to be that exempli gratia. We are called to be an outstanding example so that those in the darkness can see the power of the light. Allow His power to work through you and be that e.g.