NRH2015
- We would not have the home birth that we had been planning for and looking forward to. Amber was now considered a high risk case so this was no longer possible. Our other children, Jensen and Selah would not be able to be present at the birth of their sibling.
- Amber’s mobility would be seriously hindered, and possibly for quite some time. She would have to manage pain.
- There would be an element of risk of complications for both Amber and the baby that--even though Amber would be on medication--would nevertheless be continually present. There is even now a very real risk that a part of that blood clot could break off and enter Amber’s heart or lungs.
- Someone’s else’s life is worth suffering.
- Experiencing the power of the Holy Spirit is worth suffering.
- Building the Kingdom of God is worth suffering.
- Knowing Jesus more is worth suffering.
- Eternal life is worth suffering.
- #1 Follow up
- #2 Hold
- #3 Archive
How to win spiritual battles
In Paul’s ending to his letter to the Ephesians, he talks about how to defeat the powers of evil and darkness. We have take up the whole armor of God.
We have to take it up. Surely the armor of God is a gift, and we would have any of it without God, but Paul says we have to take some initiative. We have appropriate it, practice it, put in on. We have to make the choices to accept the gifts of protection that God has given. And it’s no coincidence that the metaphor here is a full set of armor, each piece designed to work with the others. Each item is crucial, and with out even one, the whole solider would be compromised. That’s why he says take up the whole armor.
So what is the whole armor of God? Let’s survey these briefly in the order they appear:
Who are you fighting?
In Paul’s famous passage in Ephesians 6:10-20 on the armor of God, he makes a big deal about letting us know who we’re really fighting when it comes to the battles of the Christian life.
So who are we up against? This is crucial. You’ve got to know your enemy to be able to fight them effectively. Paul tells us that our struggle is not against flesh and blood (by which he means human beings) but rather “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”
Spiritual forces of evil, people. In other words, the devil and his demons. In our hyper naturalistic culture this kind of language seems pretty strange, but there’s no way to get around what Paul is saying here. If he’s right (and I believe he is), there are forces at work beyond that which is immediately visible to us. This has important implications.
It means that as we look at the world, the things we perceive as our enemies are not in an ultimate sense what we are fighting.
It means that ISIS is not ultimately our enemy. Politicians and presidents are not ultimately our enemies.
These are pawns only of greater, spiritual powers that desire violence and oppression not only for Christians, but for anyone they bring under their influence.
I say this because we give much attention to to the terrorists and the kings of this world, but if we only ever deal with the pawns, solving earthly problems with earthly means we will not make significant headway against the evil powers and principalities of the spiritual realm.
What Paul is saying here is that you have to take the battle past what you can see…and start fighting even the things you can’t see.
Stay tuned for more.
That time my mother-in-law demolished me at paintball
A few years ago Amber’s side of the family decided it would be a great idea to get together around Thanksgiving. And at this family get together, it was decided we would play a rousing game of paintball.
If you have ever played paintball you know it’s really is a lot of fun. Here’s the thing though: paintballs hurt! They’re being shot from a gun, usually powered by compressed gas, at a really high velocity! Well it’s not like I’m a pro paintball player or anything so I wore some grubby clothes and dutifully donned the protective eye mask from the facility. Then I went out to do battle with my inlaws. [Let me pause here. Some of you have met my mother in law right? I mean, she’s saint. If you know Kristy, you can’t imagine her hurting a fly, am I right?]
Become the righteousness of God
This is an edited manuscript of a sermon I preached at Grand Canyon University. Watch the whole thing below, or keep scrolling to read through the content.
Has something ever happened to you that changed your reality to such extent that you became almost a different person? I can think of a few examples in my own life. When I got married, for instance, my reality changed!
I went from single, to married. From being a bachelor to being a married man. This changed so much about how I lived my life. Every decision was different and suddenly my priorities shifted. It was a very similar experience to become a parent for the the first time.
Maybe you’ve experienced something like this before, either getting married or having kids or a big move or even a new job or career shift. Something happened, that changed your decision making process and set you on a new path. Sometimes these are positive experiences, and sometimes they are negative experiences, but they happen to all of us, and it’s what makes life interesting!
Have you been filled with the Holy Spirit?
"...be filled with the Spirit..."
(Ephesians 5:18 ESV)
The celebration of Pentecost is nearly upon us. As we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit in power on that day 2000 years ago, let’s talk about what it means to be filled with the Spirit.
Baptism vs. Filling
To be clear, I’m not talking about what many in the Pentecostal tradition would call “baptism of the Spirit.” What is usually meant by this is a second experience post-conversion, with the required “evidence” of speaking in tongues and the result of a “higher” sort of Christian life.
What I learned about the Holy Spirit from my wife's life-threatening blood clot
About two weeks ago now, my wife Amber noticed some swelling in her left leg. She was experiencing some pain and discomfort, but (being the strong woman that she is) wasn’t sure about getting it checked out. After a call with our midwife, however, she decided to go in for an ultrasound.
Now, when you go in for an ultrasound, they usually send whatever results you get to your primary care physician. The ultrasound technicians themselves aren’t doctors, so they’re really not supposed to give you any information, because they very well could be wrong.
Nevertheless, Amber knew something was up when the tech kept looking at her mid-ultrasound and asking, “do you still feel okay?” and then about 10 seconds later “how about now? You okay?”
And then a little later, “you really need to see your doctor, like…right now.”
Here we are in the hospital. Amber remains cheerful while I furiously text our family updates :)
It took a little pressing from Amber, but the tech finally admitted that they thought Amber could have a serious blood clot in her left leg. Of course, blood clots are no joke, for mother or baby, so we rushed to hospital, where Amber was admitted for monitoring and treatment. She was 36 weeks pregnant at that time.
Slowly the implications of this began to sink in:
The stress level of our lives has gone up…considerably.
Of course, Amber is navigating all of these implications with grace and strength: typical Amber.
But let me be honest: I have not. I am by nature a worrier, and I tend to allow the “what-if” scenarios rule in my mind and by extension–because that’s how these things work–my heart. My struggle against worry and fear has been constant.
I have had many moments where I am freaking out on the inside because I can’t bear the thought of what could happen to my dear, sweet wife or to our precious little one that is waiting to be born.
A few days after Amber came home from the hospital I attempted to pray the Psalm for the day, which begins like this:
Vindicate me, O LORD, for I have walked in my integrity, and I have trusted in the LORD without wavering. Prove me, O LORD, and try me; test my heart and my mind. For your steadfast love is before my eyes, and I walk in your faithfulness.(Psalm 26:1-3 ESV)
As I made my way through the Psalm I thought, How can I pray this? How can I say this to my Lord and my God when I do in fact waver, sometimes every hour of every day? And it’s not that I don’t want to…more than anything I want to trust in Jesus but no matter how much I want to, the more I try to force some faith, the more it seems to slip through my fingers and I realize that I am helpless. I am weak. I do not possess in myself even the ability to believe.
But it’s not just a piece of poetry from the Old Testament that confronts me on this, but the the words of Jesus himself. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15).
In Matthew 6, Jesus says, over and over, “do not be anxious.”
At the beginning of the very chapter we are in right now Jesus said, ““Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” (John 14:1 ESV)
I feel like like I love Jesus, I know I want to love Jesus. I have dedicated my life to loving Jesus..and yet, this simple statement devastates me.
Does it devastate you?
Do you grasp the difficulty?
You and I can’t work for Jesus, or speak about Jesus, or bring others to Jesus, or really love others at all, much less love Jesus as he says, by keeping his commandments. We just can’t do it. We’re not able to do it.
At least, not on our own.
I’m reminded of what Jesus says just a few verses later in chapter 15: “Apart from me you can do nothing.”
And that’s why what Jesus says next in John 14 is such good news.
“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth..”
This is the beginning of some good news! God will send us help to accomplish what we can’t under our own power! And that help will be a person…God the Holy Spirit himself.
In his daily devotional on the Holy Spirit, A. W. Tozer says,
“Indeed it is not possible to love Jesus rightly except by the Holy Spirit. Only the Third Person of the Trinity can love the Second Person in a manner pleasing to the Father. The spiritual love of Jesus is nothing else but the Spirit in us loving Christ the Eternal Son.”
I love Jesus, and I want to obey his commandments. I want to love him and other people, but I need a Helper. Thank God Jesus has not left us as orphans.
Thank God he sends us his Spirit.
This post is an edited excerpt of a recent sermon. Listen to the whole thing here.
4 weird things about Palm Sunday
This is an edited transcript of one of my recent sermons at Desert Mission Anglican Church. Listen here.
Now when they drew near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany, at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples and said to them, “Go into the village in front of you, and immediately as you enter it you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever sat. Untie it and bring it. If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord has need of it and will send it back here immediately.’”And they went away and found a colt tied at a door outside in the street, and they untied it. And some of those standing there said to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” And they told them what Jesus had said, and they let them go. And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks on it, and he sat on it.
And many spread their cloaks on the road, and others spread leafy branches that they had cut from the fields. And those who went before and those who followed were shouting, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!”
And he entered Jerusalem and went into the temple. And when he had looked around at everything, as it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the twelve. (Mark 11:1-11 ESV)
During Holy Week we will through Scripture readings, prayer, and special services walk with our Lord to the cross, and it all starts on Palm Sunday. This is– as you would expect–a rather somber journey, but Palm Sunday is a celebration. I don’t know about you, but this strikes me as a little strange. The whole story of the Triumphal Entry is–if you think about it–a little weird. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon said,
“Christ’s kingdom is a very strange one, totally different from anything that ever has been seen or ever will be seen…”
This story is a perfect example of this. At virtually every turn Jesus is doing something that neither his disciples, nor the crowds that celebrated him, nor the religious authorities, nor even you and I would probably expect.
Now, this story may be strange, but here’s the thing…it’s in the strangeness that we’ll find the significance. We have to go a bit beyond a surface-level reading to see what’s happening here. Are you ready to dive a little deeper with me?
#Lent, @Twitter, and the real meaning of self denial.
Brothers and sisters, we are now solidly into the season of Lent. Lent is that time of the Christian year where we remember own sin, our own deep need for a savior. We remember we’re made of dust, and we’re going to back to being dust. Perhaps you’re giving something up for the Lent this year…
Christianity Today compiled a list of some of the most popular things people are giving up on Twitter.
You know what the number one thing people are giving up for Lent is on Twitter?
School. It’s understandable. You know you’ve been there.
The number 3 thing was Twitter (not a bad choice).
The 5 thing was social networking (I’ve done this before…it’s quite refreshing).
Of course the usuals like chocolate, alcohol, fast food, and so on were popular. Then there are the people trying to be clever.
Giving up Lent for Lent came in at number 14, and right ahead of that was simply the word “you.”
As in, I’m giving up you for Lent (yikes!).
Do you think there’s more to it than this?
You know, on the one hand, I’m encouraged that the culture at large is at least aware of the season of Lent, and is at least interested in the idea of denying themselves in some way. I do wonder, however if even those of us in the church really have a clear understanding of what it means to deny ourselves the way Jesus talked about it.
“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mark 8:34 ESV)
What does this mean? What does this look like in our day to day lives?
Self denial isn’t giving up chocolate
First, let’s talk about what self denial and taking up our cross isn’t. The kind of self-denial that Jesus is talking about is so much more than giving up chocolate for Lent. Giving up sugary snacks might be an admirable form of self-discipline and could be a way to deny an unhealthy sort of pleasure. But I don’t think this is exactly what Jesus had in mind when it comes to discipleship. I once heard on a sermon on Ash Wednesday in which a priest made this statement: “a great proposal demands a great response.”
When someone proposes marriage to another, they are offering a great gift: their entire life. Yet, to accept this gift, you have to say “yes,” which means giving your whole life as well in response. This is how it is with God. He has made a great proposal by sending us Jesus. This proposal demands a great response. If our practice of self-denial is limited to chocolate, I’m not sure we’re getting what the Lenten season is all about…or what following Jesus is all about.
When it comes to taking up our cross, we often speak as if merely enduring inconveniences is somehow giving glory to God. “Poor Amber has to listen to Nathan’s jokes every day. That’s just her cross to bear.” I don’t think so.
Don’t you think real denial of self, a real taking up of one’s cross has to be more than this?
What self denial really looks like
When we think about denying ourselves, we often become self centered. We think about not swearing, or drinking too much or gratifying some other desire of our flesh. We deny ourselves the pleasures of the world, and we do it to try to increase our own personal holiness.
Don’t get me wrong, personal holiness is important, but you can’t stop there. Jesus was perfectly holy, perfectly righteous, but he still went to cross. Aren’t we called to imitate him in this?
Jesus didn’t take up his cross for himself–he suffered scorn and shame and death for you and for me. So our self-denial has to move beyond just personal holiness become self-sacrificial in character. We have to deny ourselves and pick up our cross and follow Jesus for the sake of others.
Let me offer your three examples of what it looks like to deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow Jesus:
1) 
Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Thomas Cranmer was the Archbishop of Canterbury at the time of the English Reformation. It’s primarily because of him that we have the liturgy in English that we worship with today. He risked his life to reform the Church, and was ultimately burned alive for his commitment to the Word of God.
2) Recently 21 Christians were killed in Libya by radical Muslims. 
The brother of two of the men prayed for their murderers publicly on television, thanking them for publicizing their profession of faith in Jesus, and saying “This only makes us stronger in our faith because the Bible told us to love our enemies and bless those who curse us.” This man set aside any desire for revenge and retaliation for the sake of even of those who killed his own brothers!
3) 
My parents, Jeff & Renée. Both of them left established, comfortable careers to become missionaries in Africa. My mom was playing violin for world-class orchestras. My dad was minister of music at a large church. Things were going well. They gave up safety, security and all kinds of certainty to take their young children with them and plant churches in one of the least-reached places on the planet.
Do these examples sound radical?
Do they sound extreme?
I hope so.
“Deny yourself, pick up your cross, and follow me” is a radical, extreme statement. Remember…a great proposal requires a great response. How are you living a radically sacrificial life for the sake of others?
But…what if you are not a Reformer? What if you are not in physical danger because your commitment to the Word? What if you are not called to be a full-time missionary?
First, you are called to be a Reformer. You are called to stand firm on the Word of God and be constantly reforming your life to that standard. And believe me, that will always entail risk. Perhaps not to your physical person (at least in the short term in the United States)…but it will entail relational risk. It will mean changing your life in ways that may be scary to you. In ways that will be unsettling and profoundly uncomfortable at first. And you are called to embrace that, and lead others into it.
Here’s the thing: if you’re following Jesus, sooner or later will be presented with your opportunity to take up your cross and join in Christ’s suffering. I will go so far as to say that suffering with Christ is a necessary part of the Christian life. The Apostle Paul reminds us,
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. (Romans 8:16-17 ESV)
If you are living a life of habitual risk-avoidance you will certainly suffer less. But you will also miss out on really following Jesus.
What do you really believe?
Please don’t get me wrong. I never want to encourage suffering for suffering’s sake. That would be sick and perverse. We don’t embrace suffering because it is inherently good…it’s not, and we rightly pray to be relieved of it. But when we are suffering for the sake of others and for Christ we can see God’s hand it in, we can see it’s worth it because of what is waiting for us on the other side.
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.” (Mark 8:35 ESV)
This is the counter-intuitiveness of the Gospel, and Jesus is crystal clear here. What he calls us to may look like death, but only in the short term.
Do you believe this? I mean, really deep down do you believe it? Because if you do, you will act on it!
You remember how Paul said it…
“For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” (Philippians 1:21 ESV)
Paul believed it, and acted on it.
In order to deny yourself, to take up your cross, and to follow Jesus you’ve got to believe the believe it deep in your soul when you pray,
“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11 ESV)
This is the truth.
And this is our hope!
And we are fools if we cave in to our own selfishness and the lies that the world will tell us.
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” (Mark 8:36-38 ESV)
This is the call and cost of discipleship:
Not reserved, but radical.
Not self-centered, but self-sacrificial.
Not grudging, but giving.
Not haughty, but holy.
Not only a promise of life forever, but an invitation to die today.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote,“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”
The great proposal has been made. Jesus lived and died and rose again for you and today, and he has spoken to you..
What’s your response?
Will you come?
Will you die?
Will you truly live?
If your heart belongs to God, so does everything else
When my wife Amber and I married each other, a lot changed for both of us in the days immediately after our marriage. For instance, we went from two separate bank accounts to one, joint bank account.
All of a sudden someone else could see everything I was spending my money on. I remember well the days before I got married, when I could buy video games and technological gadgets without really asking anyone for permission, just because I wanted to.
Those days are long, long gone.
Things changed because I became responsible for more than just myself.
Before we got married, I had a car and, Amber did not. After we were married, if someone asked Amber if she had a car, she’d say yes, of course I do. My things stopped being my things and became our things. In effect, my stuff became her stuff. And while it took some getting used to, I really didn’t mind. Why is that? Because the relationship was worth it.
Because on a summer day in 2005, I gave Amber my heart, and everything else followed from that.
My GTD system, January 2015
Capture & Organize
Simple tasks For the capturing and organizing simple tasks, I use the Any.do app.
Any.do lets me add tasks quickly and organize them efficiently into sublists like “home,” “work,” and “someday/maybe.” You can even add recurring tasks for action items that you do every day, week, month and so on.
Multi-step projects If I need to plan a multi-step project, I’ll make an Any.do todo item like, “plan such and such event.” When I execute on that task I will actually plan the event by breaking it down into smaller tasks. I use Trello for this. During meetings I used pen-and-paper to capture and transfer action items (todos) to Any.do as soon as possible.
Time-sensitive items Items that have to be done at a certain time go immediately on my calendar (a Google Calendar/Outlook combo). If something needs to be done on certain day I’ll add a due date to the item in Any.do so I’ll be reminded on that day.
Paper items I have inboxes for paper items that need to be processed and put on my task list. To be honest, this is the weakest point of my system…mainly because I haven’t been disciplined in my review process for these at home. At work, I quickly scan and email most paper items to myself. Which brings me to my email system.
Email Everyday I get my inbox at work to zero. To do this I use a simple (but effective) three-folder system:
My “Follow up” folder is for any email that needs an action from me (including a reply) that I can’t do right now.
The “Hold” folder is for any email that needs further action from someone else. So anything that I’m waiting for a reply on or that someone else needs to act on before I can “close the loop.” It’s also a handy place for anything I might need for next couple of days for reference.
Everything else goes into “Archive.”
Review I schedule a weekly review on Friday to go over all of task lists. I’ve learned this step is crucial, and really the key to making GTD work. Without a disciplined review, all your nicely captured tasks stay in your nicely organized system…but may never be acted on. I look through my Any.do list, making sure things are are in the appropriate folders, adding anything that comes to mind, and transferring items to the calender if needed. I do the same thing with my projects in Trello.
Taking action My favorite feature in Any.do is how the app will guide you through planning the tasks you’d like to accomplish that day, complete with some motivational feedback when you finish your session. I do this every morning almost without fail so I can make sure to keep reviewing my list and making progress every day.
Of course, I’m not there yet. I don’t always have a mind like water. But I’m getting there one next action at a time.