BLeach

Don't Be A Hungry Ghost

Kicked off the Thanksgiving week yesterday with a message to our church about gratitude.  We dug through James 1.12-17 and explored this big idea.

If it's good, it's God!

I mentioned a metaphor that Wayne Muller develops in his book Sabbath.  He compares consumers to hungry ghosts.  Hungry ghosts have huge tummies but tiny throats.  As a result, they can never eat enough to satisfy their appetites.

Undisciplined desires cause so much suffering in life.  Being constantly focused on what you don't have is a recipe for a life of ongoing disappointment.  If we're not careful, we become slaves to our cravings.

The antidote is gratitude.  Gratitude gets us off the cycle of destructive desire by getting our eyes away from what we don't have and onto what we do have--which is almost always way more than we realize!

So I gave our church two homework assignments for the holiday week.  Why don't you do them with us?

• Memorize and practice Philippians 2.14: "Do everything without complaining."  Four words.  Easy to understand.  Challenging to live out.  But why not give it a try.  Take a one week complaining fast.
• Make a list and write some notes: Write down ten things you're grateful for this week.  When you're done, turn a few of them into thank you notes.  Write a note to a parent, a mentor, a friend.  You might even express your gratitude to God for the gifts He's given you.

Let an of gratitude transform your perspective this week!

Road Trip

The song is true.  Life really IS a highway.

We think alot about destinations.  When I get the promotion, then I'll feel fulfilled.  When we have kids, then our marriage will click.  When I get out of school, then I'll pursue a dream.  But if you've ever experienced a great road trip, then you know the destination is not always the point.  The real adventure is in the journey.

Join us at Church of the King this Sunday for the launch of this brand new series!

I Triple Dog Dare You

We finished the Dangerous Prayers series yesterday.  It was sad to finish it, since I've loved working through these messages.

You can catch up with the messages here, or subscribe to the podcast.

To wrap it up yesterday, I shared a thought inspired from Francis Chan's new book, Forgotten God.

Jesus referred to the Holy Spirit as The Comforter.  That prompts an important question.  Why would we need to be filled with someone, and walk in relationship with someone, and rely on someone who is a comforter, if the goal of following Christ is to be comfortable?  If you want to develop greater intimacy with the Holy Spirit, then dare to pray these dangerous prayers.

• Lord, speak to me!
• Lord, increase my faith!
• Lord, make me bold!
• Lord, make me pure!
• Lord, change me!

Go ahead and pray them.

I dare you!

Dangerous Prayers

This weekend I'm launching a new series of messages at Church of the King called Dangerous Prayers.  Here's the big idea. 

There are prayers that we like to say that seem like nice prayers.  These are prayers that we throw up to God with the assumption that He wants to make our lives more comfortable.  But we don't always anticipate the real implications of these prayers.

For example, I'm kicking it off Sunday with this one we often pray.

Lord, speak to me.

On the surface it looks like a nice prayer.  Perhaps we assume that God simply wants to tell us that He loves us and has a plan for our lives.  But here's my warning.

Think about the implications of that prayer.

What if God asks you to do something uncomfortable?  What if God asks you to make a major adjustment in your life?  If you know He's the one saying it to you, what options do you really have at that point?

For the record, I still think we should pray it.  I'd just add this.  Pray it with readiness to radically obey.

If you're read to have your comfort zone rocked, then why not pray another dangerous prayer as you prepare your heart for Sunday. 

Lord, change me!

Pneuma

I'm looking forward to launching a new series of messages at Church of the King this weekend.  Pneuma is the Greek word meaning "spirit."  We'll be continuing our summer focus on the character of God by shifting to the person of The Holy Spirit.

There are five things the Holy Spirit is always doing.  We'll explore each of them over the next five weeks and discover His activity in our own lives.

• The Convicting Work of the Spirit
• The Regenerating Work of the Spirit
• The Indwelling Work of the Spirit
• The Maturing Work of the Spirit
• The Empowering Work of the Spirit

The Holy Spirit is a person who thinks, feels, wills, and acts.  Can't wait to get to know Him better!

Abba

I've had the past three weekends off from preaching.  Enjoyed the break, especially the opportunity to spend more time with Leah and Gabby.

This morning I'm studying for a new series this weekend exploring the picture of God as Father.  A few weeks ago I started studying Jesus' interaction with the Father from his baptism to Gethsemane.  From start to finish, his entire ministry flowed out of an intimate relationship with the God He called Abba.

I love these study days--the insights, the growing burden, the vision for impacted lives, the joy of God's Word which is always alive!  And of course, this series gives me a great opportunity to reflect on this new season of my life.  I've learned so much about God since becoming a father.

Following the Holy Spirit

It was a great weekend with Johannes Amritzer at the church!  On Saturday night we gathered with three other churches at Freedom Christian.  Then yesterday Johannes spoke to our church in the morning and spent some time teaching and praying for our leaders last night.  The highlight for me was the one on one time I was able to spend with him during the weekend.  Johannes is always on, which means he's not just ministering when a microphone in his hand.  He poured into me at Starbucks, red lights, and restaraunts!

I've got pages of notes in my moleskine from the weekend.  There's no way I could share all of it on the blog, so here's a little taste from his message to our church yesterday on following the Holy Spirit.

Four Principles:

1.  Don't Grieve the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4.30)

The Holy Spirit's activity in our lives often begins with a check.  If we ignore these corrective or protective checks then we can't expect to continue to hear his voice.

2.  When the Spirit Speaks, Obey Fast

Hesitation makes it more difficult to hear.  The converse is also true.  When we obey, the volume of the Spirit's voice increases.  As followers of Jesus we stand in the Holy Spirit subway station.  When the train comes by, get on it.  If you've missed a few because of distractions or disobedience, watch for the next one.  Because of God's grace it will come.

3.  Keep in Step with the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5.16)

Don't run ahead of him or you'll get tired.  Don't fall behind or you'll get lost.  Look for God's grace in your life, and invest your resources there.  The Holy Spirit is a very good dancer.  He'll make you look like a good dancer as well...if you let him lead.  Be careful not to step on his toes!

4.  Let the Holy Spirit Break your Routines...Often!

Take a different route to work.  Eat at a new place.  Shake up your weekly schedule a bit.  And notice what the Holy Spirit is doing around you.

Encore

We kicked off a new series yesterday called Encore.  Over the next three weeks I'll be re-preaching three messages that God has used to form our church over the past eight years. 

Not sure who first said this, but most of us are educated beyond the level of our obedience.  We're like the guy James writes about who sees himself in the mirror only to walk away and forget what he looks like.  And if we're not careful we can get irresponsible with revelation.  God speaks to us, we say "Amen," and then forget to apply anything.

This dynamic is why one pastor decided to preach the same sermon every week.  After several weeks of repetition, someone asked, "Pastor, when are you going to preach a new sermon?"  His response: "As soon as you all start doing this one!"

In this series I hope to revisit some DNA messages that reflect our values and that God has used to form us as a church family.  Can't wait to see them take root the second time around!

And thanks to Elevation Church for letting us borrow your graphics.  We appreciate the generosity!

Harvest Cry

Tomorrow we kick off a new series we're calling Harvest Cry.  Our goal as a church is to recommit ourselves to missional living by embracing the mission of God both locally and globally.

Tomorrow we'll start by exploring Jesus' First Commission in Matthew 10.5-16.  I hope to establish a basic theology of "lostness" as a foundation for our response during the series.  Are people really "lost" without Christ?  If so, is there any danger in being lost?  And again, if so, how does that realization impact our lives as followers of Jesus.

We'll also be commissioning our first teams of neighborhood pastors!

I really believe that mission adds meaning to our lives.  And as the church of Jesus Christ, we've got the most meaningful mission of all. 

Can't wait for the series to get started!

Smudged

Yesterday we kicked off a brand new series called Smudged.  We mailed out ten thousand invitations to the neighborhoods around Southfield Lathrup High School.  Between the mailer and our teacher appreciation invites, we had our highest number of guests so far!  And it was great to see so many of them open their hearts to God during the response time.  I'm believing people will continue to experience healing during this series!

You can check out the series description here.