when your focus shifts

i love it when i feel something change in me. especially when it's a mental change. a shift in my thought process that makes me feel like i've changed for the better....and it's been happening more and more lately.

this causes two thoughts:
1.) praise God that He is stretching me to grow more and learn to show Jesus to more and more people
2.) man i feel dumb when i learn some stuff. like when i learn something i feel like i should've learned years ago. has that ever happened to you?

i just finished reading Beautiful Outlaw by John Eldridge which was recommended by a friend. it was a really great read. lately i've been becoming obsessed with the idea of pushing away all of  the "religious" junk the world loves to rave about and focusing on loving Jesus, showing Jesus, and trying to be more like Jesus. books like Beautiful Outlaw have been helping me move towards these goals.

as you may or may not know, my first triathlon is just NINE days out. luckily, i've been able to finally get in some open water swim sessions and feel a little more comfortable with the swim start. i haven't been able to get in the mileage i'd like to be getting on the bike, but i still feel comfortable with the 24 mile distance i'll need to cover. although i'm pretty worry-free about the run i'm still a little anxious to be doing the 5k after the swim and bike.

...and that's where my latest mental change comes in: the idea of allowing God to be a part of 100% of my life. literally....100%. not just a part of my job, my Church, my friends and family, my bad days and what i read. this is a big struggle i have been facing. it's easy for me to give God control of certain things in my life, but when it comes to things i feel like i may have better control over....or just don't trust anyone else with...it's mine and i'm in control. i keep reserving God's involvement for more "religious" moments, days when i'm in need, or when i need to help someone. the problem with that way of thinking is i'm leaving God out of big areas of my day to day life; such as training or my fitness in general. i'm leaving God out and it's just setting me up to fail. the irony here is that i don't like to fail. in fact...i despise failing. i don't even like to watch others fail! so why would i go about doing things that are just setting me up to fail!?!

one of my favorite Bible verses is Philippians 4:13 which says this, "I can do everything through him who gives me strength." i feel like Paul was a runner. the endurance he possessed as he lived his life for God in EVERY way is inspiring. mainly because of the turnaround he had in his life (from saul to paul) and the fact he was just a regular dude living as much like Jesus as possible. what i learned/realized recently is that verse does not say "I can do 'a lot of things' through Him who gives me strength." it says 'EVERYTHING' and that to me is motivating and encouraging! that verse takes on a whole new meaning to me now that i am reading/comprehending it correctly. with that kind of strength available to me why would i chose to leave God out of any area of life?

here's an excerpt from Beautiful Outlaw:
    "By the way, this is the point of encountering those things in your life you cannot handle -- you are forced to turn to Christ. Did you really think you could be kind for the rest of your life without the inner help of Jesus? One day of kindness is a miracle. What about forgiving? Generous? Honest? Did you really think you could overcome your lifelong strongholds without some sort of Lazarus-like breakthrough? It simply isn't going to happen -- not without the life of Jesus in you.
    This realization was an epiphany for me.
    I have spent most of my adult years trying to find those keys that would enable people to become whole. Like an archaeologist raking for buried treasure, I've combed through the province of counseling, spiritual discipline, inner healing, deliverance, addiction recovery -- anything that would help me get others get better. Like Schliemann when his shovel struck the buried ruins of Troy, the epiphany I have come to is this:
    Jesus has no intention of letting you become whole apart from his moment-to-moment presence and life within you.
    Your brokenness and your sin are not something you overcome so that you can walk with God. They are the occasions for you to cry out for the life of God in you to rescue you. Not God outside you, up in the sky somewhere. Christ in you, your only hope of glory."
      

radical.

radical as a noun is defined as this:  "a person who holds or follows strong convictions or extreme principles; extremist."

welp, i want to be a radical dude...an extremist if you will. i want to be an extremist for love. now, before you shut me out and call me a hippy please hear me out...well, read me out? whatever. i'll be honest...i don't like the rolling stones or the song "american pie" and i am not a fan of the dallas cowboys, but i am still an american, right? more importantly...i'm a child of GOD! oh, did i mention we are ALL children of GOD? so, that doesn't really say much for me. i guess that's a good thing...because i am nothing. i don't want to come across as depressed or anything like that. i assure you i am a mostly happy person (is anyone truly one hundred percent happy) in the world we live in. i say i'm nothing because i am. honestly, everyone is nothing. there's not one person i know that is a true somebody...because there's only ONE of those, ya know?

are you picking up what i'm putting down? maybe i'm being a little vague here i guess. call me a coward or one who wants to encourage you to think. either way...i'm calling you out (including myself).

we are called to do things. i'm not talking chores when you were a kid or lame stuff your boss is demanding  requesting at work. i'm talking "Things" in quotes with a capital 'T' and maybe even bold and underlined and in a larger font! i honestly wish it were as simple as "dude, i'm just gonna love everyone like a brother or sister and be really "nice" to everyone in between and i'll "make it"..." but it DOES NOT work that way. sorry, chuck...but it doesn't (if your name is chuck this is not directed at you...i don't know anyone named chuck).

i'm just tired of reading books and listening to people speak about what we gotta do, ya know!? am i the only one who gets tired of hearing what you SHOULD be doing, or what you COULD be doing better!? i doubt it! so let's step up and start changing the way we live! guess what it'll do...besides change the world? i'll give you one other guess...it'll change your life! seriously...who is ready for a little change!!?!? count me in, friend!

taking the REAL plunge

it's the lame thing to say to a guy/gal who's getting married...."taking the plunge." sorry if you're a fan of saying that to people. not really though. but a little. mostly not.

emily and i had been talking quite a bit about being baptized. we were both sprinkled as infants, but being fully immersed was something we both felt God was laying on our hearts for the past several months. it was tough to think about, sometimes to talk about, since baptism in a Biblical sense is such a debatable topic. some think sprinkling is fine, others say full immersion is the way to go. fortunately for us (ALL humans), getting baptized doesn't get you into Heaven...so i guess technically it doesn't matter? well...it kind of does. for me personally, taking that step to be fully immersed wasn't my way of correcting the way i was sprinkled as an infant. it was simply my way of taking another step, or making more of a commitment to God. also...strictly my OWN opinion, while understanding that everyone has one, i do feel that when the Bible talks about baptisms...i feel it's referring to full immersion. my father-in-law said a cool thing once when we were talking about it. he said that the best way to deal with such debatable topics in the Bible...it's best just to give grace. basically, some people are going to think i'm wrong for saying the Bible means full immersion, and others are going to say they agree with me...but being baptized is NOT what gets you into Heaven. thank God it's not.

another cool way to look at it: in majority of cases, when a couple gets married...they exchange wedding rings. the day after the wedding ceremony, if they walk outside together and one of them has their ring on and the other doesn't...they are STILL married. because of the words they exchanged, because of the commitment they made to each other. and that, my friends....is what it's all about! committing your life to the Lord and accepting that Jesus Christ died for you, so that you can have a gift of eternal life. that's what it comes down to. not if you were sprinkled as an infant...or fully immersed. not if you pray 132 times a day. not if you haven't missed a church service since 1974. not if you wear a w.w.j.d. bracelet. not if you donate thousands of dollars to missionaries. not because you tell people that Jesus loves them. not because you read your Bible every single day and can spew out Bible verse after Bible verse that you've been memorizing since VBS back in 1988. don't get me wrong...all of those things are great, but i fear that some people miss the mark on what being a Christian is really about. it's about JESUS, loving HIM, trying to live like HIM, and loving EVERYONE else along the way.

another really awesome thing that went hand in hand with this experience. besides the fact that emily was baptized too...both of my parents actually decided to be baptized as well. they were both sprinkled previously, but when emily and i mentioned that we were going to be doing this...they felt called to "take the plunge" as well. so, in front of our family and some awesome friends of ours, Pastor Mike Baker from Eastview Christian Church did the baptism for all four of us and it was completely awesome!

grace and gratitude

first off...i am not a preacher. believe it or not...i'm not saying i am or pretending to be. recently, i heard a really cool definition of christianity: one beggar telling another beggar where to find bread. this pretty much rocked my world when i heard it. it's so...simple? too simple? probably. actually...yes, it is.

i guess i need to mention that i am a Christian. now, before you bail on this blog screaming "Bible thumper," please hear me out. when i say that i am a Christian...i mean i follow Jesus Christ and believe that He died on a cross for me (and you), so that i (and you) can have the amazing gift of eternal life (if we accept it.) i'm not really one to cram the Bible down people's throats, or take Bible tracts to wal-mart and leave them next to the toilet to give someone that's going to hell a good read while they try not to think of the fact that they're sitting on a wal-mart toilet (it's awful, right? i know.) anyway, up until just recently (it's embarassing actually) i was stuck in some idea that flowed through my mind/heart that said that it was enough for me to accept Christ and just live life "the way i'm suppose to" and everything will be cool in the long run (meaning: i'll get into heaven and someday i'd be able to go out for an easy three with Jesus.)

my wife (emily) and i are reading an amazing book called "radical" by a pastor named david platt. in a nutshell...he basically calls us all out on making the Gospel into what we want it to be. it's about taking it back to the basics...the way the Bible is meant to be. it's all about challenging us to feel/hear/speak/want the Gospel according to Jesus. so, one could imagine after diving into this book i've been wanting to be a bit more "radical" with my spirituality. i know it's cheesy, but i believe this book is really awesome!

yesterday in a sermon the pastor was preaching on gratitude. i mean, come one, the first verse he opened with was Ephesians 5:20 which says, "and give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ." are you guessing which word was underlined? it wasn't 'thanks'...it was actually the word 'everything.' easier said than done, right? being thankful for everything? the good and the bad? i thought the bad was from the devil...why would i want to thank that jerk?

the final little thing the pastor told us to write down sealed the deal for me. he said, "when grace flows in, gratitude fills up, and generosity flows out." this right here sums it all up. for me anyway, it means, Jesus dying on a cross for me was a true depiction of grace, then if i work on my gratitude filling up, more generosity will flow out of me. if i "think about my thanks" then i start to gain a new perspective on life...one filled with gratitude for everything...not just the things i think i should be grateful for. see how it's starting to connect with the book emily and i reading? yeah...crazy stuff!

the challenge for me is to be consistent with my gratitude so that it continues to fill up so much i am overflowing with generosity...which will hopefully bring people to Christ. sure, yesterday and most of today it was easy for me to be grateful...but what's going to happen on thursday when i'm tired and have forgotten some of the sermon? am i going to let my perspective change back? i pray that it won't.

"this is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
-Psalm 118:24 (niv)