my blog has moved...differentandbetter.com

I decided to make the swith today from blogger to wordpress. This blog, along with all of the posts made here in the past, can now be found at differentandbetter.com

Thanks for noting this change. See you at the new blog!

Pixar For The Birds HD

I am showing this video on Sunday in front of my message on community. What lessons do you learn from this great Pixar animated short?

finding the time

What do you find time for every single day? Eating? Sleeping? Facebook? Television?

There are certain things that we have made a part of our routine and we do them religiously. Yet, I often hear people say that I don't have time for my spouse, my kids, my relationship with God, church, small group, my health, etc. Why is it that we find time for some things and not others?

I think the issue is one of value. We find time for what we value! When we value something, we figure out a way to get that into our schedule. We stay up late. We get up early. We leave other things undone. We do what we have to do.

This raises even more important questions: What does the use of our time suggest about the things you value? Of the things we value (demonstrated in the time you give to it), how many of those things are truly valuable? And how can we raise the value of things that are truly valuable so that they become a part of our lives?

anything to celebrate?

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the busyness of life or to allow ourselves to be overwhelmed with the stresses we are facing or to be discouraged by the negativity swirling around us. That's why it's good to step back and take a look at the good things in life.

I want to encourage you to take a couple of minutes EVERY DAY to ask yourself this question:

What can I celebrate?

This reorients us to the positive side of the equation. What blessings are we experiencing? What has gone right? What's the silver lining inside the storm cloud? Focusing on the positive, even if only for a few moments a day, cultivates joy...and in that joy we find the strength to keep going!

So, as you start this Tuesday, what can you celebrate?

christian nation or nation with christians?

What do you think about this?

hammer pants dance

I'll admit it...this was one of my favorite songs. It was awesome!

personal transformation

"Nothing changes without personal transformation."  - W. Edwards Deming

courage

Courage is almost always a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of a readiness to die.” -Gilbert Keith Chesterton

the more important things

Here's another verse that jumped out to me this morning.  Luke 11:42...

"But how terrible it will be for you Pharisees!  For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest part of your income, but you completely forget about justice and the love of God.  You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things." (NLT)

According to these words of Jesus, justice and God's love are the more important things.  And while personal piety and holiness should be remembered and pursued, it means nothing if we do not also give as much or more attention to issues of justice and compassion in our world.  

Where do the IMPORTANT THINGS rank on our list of priorities?

endure anything?

I was struck by this verse in my daily Scripture reading this morning.  2 Timothy 2:10...

"I am willing to endure anything it if will bring salvation and aternal glory in Christ Jesus to those God has chosen." (NLT)

Am I willing to ENDURE ANYTHING?  Are you?

what do you have to offer?

I have been in a reflective mood the past couple of weeks, and have done a lot of thinking about our world.  Specifically, the issues and needs our world is facing - war, poverty, hunger, HIV/AIDS, slavery, racism, etc.  No doubt, it can be overwhelming to look at the problems.  And while it is more peaceful personally to ignore the problems, that solution won't solve anything.  So we are left with the question: what do we do to help our world become different and better?

Matthew 25 has been inspirational and challenging for me over the last few weeks.  I have been teaching in our weekend worship service from these three stories Jesus told. (You can listen HERE.)  Two weeks ago, I taught about the parable where Jesus talks about bags of money. (Matthew 25:14-30) .

The story portrays a master who is going away on a long journey.  He calls three servants and entrusts them with a bag of money.  He asks them to invest the money while he is gone.  And when he returns, he will ask them to report what they've done and how his kingdom has expanded even in his absence.

The first two invest the resources and receive a two-fold increase.  The third servant is afraid of losing the money in a risky investment, so he buries it to keep it safe.  He gives the master back what the master gave to him.  

The master applauds the first two servants for their risk-taking, wise investing, and multiplication of resources.  The third servant is reprimanded for his failure to do anything with what the master gave him.

A story that has a lot to say to us.  I have been focused on three questions that are shaped by this story.  I'll share the first one here: What do you have to offer?

This question is expecially pertinent to the question raised earlier in this post: What do we do to help the world become different and better?  We start by figuring out what we have to offer.  Notice that the question assumes that we all have something to offer to our world.  Each person is equipped with something to give - time, talents, and treasure.

The story reminds us that what we have to offer does not originate from us.  It comes from the master.  And it was not given to us for to hold or to hoard.  Nor was it intended to simply advance our  standing in life.  Whatever it is that we have been given is to be used to advance the master's cause - namely, that the world become what he intended it to be.

Since it did not come from us, and is not ultimately for us, it must be employed in advancing the cause and kingdom of the master.  Anything else is irresponsible and selfish.

In my reflective moments this last couple of weeks, I have been overwhelmed with the realities of life and the level of brokenness that surrounds us.  It seems hopeless...almost.  Unless God's people, after they see the condition of our world, look inward to find the answer to the question: What do we have to offer?  If we answer that question, then we can begin to use what we have to change the world.

What do you have to offer? 

silent racism