Category Archives: Questions

Ethos, Experience, Film & Theology, I Love My Church, Life, Preaching, Questions, Remarkable, Sermons

The Hero’s Journey

I’m in the middle of preaching through The Sermon on the Mount and I have been so excited about what I’m learning and how God is connecting me to his overarching story. In my study over the last few weeks I have seen a connection between Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount and Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. If you are unfamiliar with the Hero’s Journey, let me give you a quick tour of what I’m talking about.

There are two things I love to do- read and watch movies. I feel that these two pursuits often go hand in hand.  In fact, I have heard it said that movies are today’s literature.

Both movies and literature seek to tell us a compelling story and when we interact with those stories we can’t help but try and find ourselves within the narrative. We imagine ourselves in the role of our favorite characters and often times we try and emulate what we see on the screen or what we read on the page.

While watching the King’s Speech, I began asking myself how I would react if I were in Prince Albert’s position. If I had a debilitating speech impediment, how would I react? Would I become a mute- so embarrassed by my stutter that I decide not to speak at all? Would I seek help? Would I pretend nothing was wrong with me?

As the film progressed, I began asking what if I were asked to give a speech to rally the entire empire against an enemy as fierce and evil as the Nazis? What would I say? How could I convince the people around me to join the cause and fight for a better tomorrow?

Stories force us to look at our lives and how we are currently living them and they give us a glimpse into how our lives could be and they whisper to us concerning what should be.

In 1949, a man named Joseph Campbell published a book entitled, The Hero With A Thousand Faces. Campbell studied thousands of myths and stories from every era of human existence and out of all those stories and myths, he identified a similar patter regardless of time and culture. He called this pattern The Hero’s Journey. This is absolutely fascinating to me. If you went home and pulled out your favorite book or movie, there is a very good chance that you would see this pattern.

I just turned your quiet Friday night into an academic exercise. You’re welcome.

In every story, the hero or the main character starts out living his life just like everyone else. He is knee deep in living an ordinary life. Rick owns a nightclub in N. Africa. Dorothy lives with her Aunt and Uncle on a farm in Kansas. Tomas Anderson is a computer programer. Ben-Hur is a Jewish noble.

Then our hero is Called into an Adventure. Sometimes this is an actual call- Build It and They Will Come. Sometimes it is an event or something outside their control.

In all the gin joints, in all the world Ilsa walks into Rick’s American Cafe. Dorothy is carried away by a tornado. Neo meets Morpheus. Frodo is given a ring. Ben-Hur is betrayed by Messala.

This call to adventure is really the opportunity for something greater. The hero is invited to change their life and USUALLY the lives of those around them by entering into a great adventure.

The hero has to make a choice– life as they know it or take the journey and change the world. They can Refuse or Respond to the call.

Will Rick help Ilsa and Victor Lazlo get to America so they can continue the Resistance against the Nazis? Will Dorothy stop the Wicked Witch of the West? Will Neo embrace his destiny and free the human race? Will Frodo destroy the ring?

If the decision is made to respond and answer the call then the Hero begins his journey. There is usually some spiritual help or aid- A Fellowship, a French police officer, a yellow bricked road, Yoda- that guides our hero toward his/her goal.

Then our Hero comes face to face with a Road of Trials.

The German Major Strasser and the Gestapo arrive in Casablanca. Dorothy is captured. The Fellowship is broken. Cypher makes a deal with Agent Smith. The Empire decides to Strike back.

Barriers arise and seek to derail our hero and try to keep them from achieving a new life. These Trials are difficult to overcome but if our Hero desires to change their life and the lives of those they care for the Trials must be dealt with and overcome.

So what does this have to do with The Sermon on the Mount? Like any great story, this post is To Be Continued….

Bible Study, Discipleship, Leadership, Ministry, Mission, Personal Leadership, Questions, The Word

Leadership Tuesday

Each Tuesday, I’ll be posting thoughts, resources, and challenges to help develop our Leadership muscles. Today I wanted to share with you some of the questions I began wrestling with after reading Philippians yesterday.

As I read, I noticed that Paul is pleading with the church in Philippi to live in unity, have one mind, and to be singular in focus. As leaders, Paul is speaking directly to us. If you have some time today, please read Philippians before you read the rest of this post.

Here are 9 Leadership Questions that we each need to think about and pray through if we are going to be all that God desires us to be:

1) Am I praying with joy for those I lead? Philippians 1:3-5 – Paul prays with joy for those he considered partners in the gospel. You and I have to do the same if we want to be a true spiritual leaders of the people God has entrusted us with.

2) Am I praying for an increase of love and knowledge and depth in my own life and in the lives of those I lead? Philippians 1:9-11

3) Am I living in such a way that those closest to me will know that whatever happens to me- good or bad- Jesus Christ will be praised? Philippians 1:12-26

4) Am I looking to Jesus as my model of service and unity or am I simply trying to keep everyone around me happy and cordial? Philippians 2:1-4 – Jesus shows us what love looks like in public.

5) What am I complaining about? Philippians 2:14-16 – If we want to be different than the world around us, let’s start by putting the KIBOSH on complaining. In Inception, Leo DiCaprio’s character has a great line where he tells his team that he believes “positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.” As a leader I have the responsibility to serve as an ANTIBODY within my sphere of influence to STOP INFECTION and DECAY (complaining, divisiveness) IMMEDIATELY. This starts with stopping the infection in myself.

6) Am I committed to the mission of following Jesus? Philippians 3:7-11 – As I read this passage I was reminded of Dallas Willard’s quote about THE COST OF NON-DISCIPLESHIP, He says, “Nondiscipleship costs abiding peace, a life penetrated throughout by love, faith that sees everything in the light of God’s overriding governance for good, hopefulness that stands firm in the most discouraging of circumstances, power to do what is right and withstand the forces of evil. In short, it costs exactly the abundance of life Jesus said he came to bring (John 10:10)” Failing to commit to Jesus is a bigger risk than following Him.

7) What am I holding on to in my past that is keeping me from experiencing NEW LIFE in Jesus? Philippians 3:12-14 – What ever this is, I must lay it down and move on toward who Jesus is call me to be.

8. What is something I can rejoice in today, right now? Philippians 4:4-6 – One thing that you can rejoice in is that what ever you are worried about- that thing that kept you up all night- you can take that to the Father in prayer. Let this truth give you peace and guard your hearts and minds. Praise Jesus!

9) Do I spend more time thinking about these things or do I spend more time focused on the junk that the world sends my way? Philippians 4:8-9 – Last week, the world spent too much time praising, laughing with/at, and deconstructing Charlie Sheen. Admit it, you gawked at the train wreck. Your neck got sore from staring at the flaming wreckage. Mine did too. This week, let’s do the opposite. Let’s spend time meditating on things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Thanks to Perry Noble for inspiring today’s post with his 21 Questions Leaders MUST Wrestle With from the Book of James.
Ethos, Life, Questions, Thoughts

The Last Note

Out of the whole Beatles catalogue it is incredibly hard for me to pick just one favorite song.

Do you pick something from their early years? I Wanna Hold Your Hand? Love Me Do? Can’t Buy Me Love, perhaps?

What about their later years? Revolution or Carry That Weight?

Maybe a song that you never get tired of singing? Hey Jude or All You Need Is Love?

While it is hard for me to pick my favorite Beatles song it is no trouble at all to pick my favorite note from a Beatles song.

It is that final chord that comes at the end of A Day in the Life. The whole of the song builds and builds until one final crescendo. In that final definitive one E-major chord we get the entire summation of the song. Everything all at once – laid bare and finished. That last note leaves us with the lasting impression of the whole song.

And so it is in life.

We tend to focus so much on first impressions or keeping/maintaining other people’s impressions of us that we forget that what truly matters — What we will be remembered for is that final note. Our actions, the way we treat people, the way we love and serve- all these things are what truly lasts and will reverberate with people long after our song is over.

The E-major chord in A Day in the Life lasts for 40 seconds. That is quite a long time.

Imagine that this idea too translates into real life. What if your final note, the impression that your character and life leaves with those you’ve left behind, had so much power and energy behind it that it was able to ring out 40 years? That would mean your song would be heard by at least 3 generations.

I have always believed that I could care less about having a building dedicated in my name. But to have a building dedicated in the name of one of my children or great-grand children? That would tell me that maybe I did something right.

What are you doing today to add power to your final note? What impressions are you leaving people with? Today as the music of your life is being played- as it builds and crescendos, moves and sings- remember that everyone is building up to their final note.

May you do whatever you can to make your final note ring out loud and reverberate long after your song is finished.

Book Review, Discipleship, Ministry, Questions, Resources, Theology, Worship, Wrestling With Scripture

Quick Thoughts About the Holy Spirit and Our Worship

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“All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:25-27)

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” (John 15:26-27)

“But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment:about sin, because people do not believe in me;about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (John 16:7-15)

While there are many debates and discussions about the Holy Spirit’s role in our worship I want to focus on some things that Jesus tells his disciples right up front about what the Holy Spirit will do in their lives. Rather than sift through meaningless debate let’s look to the source and see what Jesus has to say about it (I’m crazy right? See what Jesus has to say!?!? Weird I know but go with me on this one).

I would encourage you to read John 14-16 before you read here any further. Then grab a pen/pencil and mark every time Jesus mentions the Holy Spirit (Advocate, Counselor) and mark what Jesus says about the Spirit’s role in the lives of his followers.

Here is what I found.

The Counselor, the Spirit of truth- lives in those who love Jesus and is with them (14:16-17)
The Counselor, the Holy Spirit- teaches us and reminds us of what Jesus said and did (14:26)
The Counselor- testifies about Jesus (15:26)
The Counselor- convicts the world of guilt in regard to sin, righteousness, and judgement (16:7-11)
The Spirit of truth- guides us into truth, speaks what he hears (16:13); brings glory to Jesus by taking what is Jesus’ and makes it know to the world (16:14-15)

So how does this knowledge help us as we gather together for worship? It means that as we worship, as we focus on glorifying God in Jesus Christ, the Spirit is there with us. He teaches us and reminds us of who God is, what his Son taught and accomplished, and how dependent we are on the loving and powerful God. The Spirit allows us to testify to Jesus and the saving power of the cross. The Spirit convicts me and everyone else about their sin and calls us to righteousness. Ultimately it is the Spirit in us and working through us that empowers our worship to make Jesus known through our lives and throughout the world.

That take a lot of pressure off me as a leader. I humbly submit to the Spirit knowing that it isn’t the powerpoint, lesson, or even the songs that glorify God and change lives. It is the power of almighty God in Jesus Christ through his Spirit that allows us to worship in spirit and truth. If we fail to recognize this than we are merely relying on man-made tricks to get people feeling “worshipful.”

Kauflin ends the chapter by challenging leaders to ask the following questions:

1) Next Sunday, if the Spirit stopped empowering your worship, would anyone notice?
2) Would you?

The questions are to you and me. Would we notice? I hope so. I hope we would notice and then humbly submit to God to send a fresh outpouring of his Spirit so that we might be changed – “for the good of the church and the glory of the Savior.”

Collecting Experiences, Discipleship, Faith in Action, Leadership, Life, Ministry, Podcasts, Questions, Remarkable, Wrestling With Scripture

Romans 12:10

“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”

This verse has really been on my heart lately. I listened to a podcast where the minister really drove home this idea of what it means to “outdo one another is showing honor.”

To him this meant doing the hard things not for your glory or for your pride but doing the hard things so no one else has too. This is completely different from serving because we know we should (guilt) or serving because we want to look good (arrogance).

He specifically mentioned working in the parking crew so that when it’s cold and rainy outside that you say to yourself, “I’m going to serve in the cold and the rain so no one else has too.”

When the Holy Spirit begins to give us this attitude then our zeal for serving doesn’t diminish.

So, where can you begin to serve those around around you with this attitude? Maybe it is cleaning the toilets. Maybe it is picking up trash.

Doing something so someone else won’t have to seems to me to be the essence of living sacrificially.

Let’s outdo one another in showing honor!

Conferences, Discipleship, Questions, The Word, Wrestling With Scripture

Catalyst Labs: Scot McKnight

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Key Question: How do we apply what we read in the Bible?

How do we really live out what we read? Frankly, everyone picks and chooses passages that they choose to follow and we ignore what we don’t like or don’t understand. There are things that we read that Paul said that we don’t do. There are things that we read that Jesus said that we don’t do.

In essence, when we don’t live out what we read we are saying, “Sorry, I really don’t believe that passage.”

5 Ways We Read the Bible That Can Leave Us Distorted

1) Morsels of Law -reading the Bible in such a way as only looking for Yes/No commandments. Problem: This truly is an all or nothing endeavor but we don’t really believe that either.

2) Morsels of Blessings and Promises– reading the Bible in such a way as only looking for blessings and promises. Problem: reading in this way gives us “spiritual diabetes” (my phrase) and distorts the word of God. McKnight noted that you never see a calender filled with Wrath passages. 🙂

3) Rorschach– opening the Bible and looking for the “answer” much like an inkblot test. Problem: Reader projects their own agendas, desires, thoughts onto the Biblical passages

4) Systematic Theology Scatter-Shot Reading in such a way as to boil down the Word in to understandable statements of fact and theology. Problem: Peterson said that reading the Bible this way “Tames the Bible so that we no longer can hear its wildness.” Things get left out or minimized.

5) Seeking the Maestro– People read the Bible through the lens of their favorite “master voice.” Jesus is a Maestro. Paul is a Maestro. Ezekiel is usually not a Maestro. Problem: fails to take all voices into account.

So what do we do? How can we read the Bible in way that is faithful to the revealed Word of God and actually live out what we read?

The secret is to read in such a way and with such intensity that our lives are sucked up into the story.

Ruth 1:16-17- Where the Bible goes we will go…

1Corinthians 9:19-23- allow the HS to guide you to follow what you read in every context in which we live.

Book Review, Environmental Tech, ET, Ethos, Politics, Popular Culture, Questions, Remarkable

Hot, Flat, & Crowded pt 1

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I love living back in the Dallas/Ft Worth area. I mean L-O-V-E, love it.

It is great to be living in a place where I am afforded great opportunities to do neat things. Every band imaginable comes through town, there are wonderful festivals and community events every weekend, and there are ample opportunities to see and hear great voices.

Last night, I had the opportunity to hear Thomas Friedman, author of The World Is Flat speak at the University of Texas at Arlington. Friedman was speaking on his latest book, Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution- and How It Can Renew America. This isn’t a pithy commentary on recycling your Coke cans or hooking up your home with solar panels. This is a call to radically change the face of the planet by harnessing the imagination and innovation of 300 million Amercans to once again solve a giant “multi-generational” problem. We’ve done it in the past, Friedman argues, and we MUST do it again.

I’m still trying to process everything and I’m plowing through the book as we speak. Like his other books it is dense but extremely engaging and highly readable.

I hope to finish the book over the weekend and I’ll post my thoughts on it and the lecture early next week.

Leadership, Ministry, Popular Culture, Questions, Theology, Youth Ministry

The Why of Leadership

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He flies. He can see through walls. He can lift up cars or bounce bullets off his chest or do just about anything he wants to.

And that’s the part that gets me. He can do anything he wants to…

…and he decides to do what? Be a hero? Why?*

We live in a world where nobody sticks their neck out for anybody. I write about it all day long. We lie to each other. We brutalize each other. We kill each other.

And here’s this… this…man.

Sticking his neck out for everyone. Way, way out.

Those of you who know me know that I am fascinated with the idea of Leadership.

What makes a leader? Are leaders born or made or both? Why are some people leaders and others are followers? How can someone, who seems to have all the markings of a leader — the brains, the words, the look, the backing — fail so miserably at leading? What’s the secret?

As a kid I fell in love with Superman. I had the bed sheets, the sleeping bag, a red towel cape, and of course Superman action figures. In fact, in my office I have two of my favorite Superman figures: the original Kenner “Superfriends” Superman and the exclusive mail-in figure of Clark Kent.

As a kid I focused only on Superman. I played with that figure so often that much of the paint has worn off. My Clark figure looks near mint. I would imagine what it was like to fly like Superman and help people and do great things. I wanted to be Superman because Superman was good and just and caring. Superman always did the right things and he always, no matter what, put the needs of others before himself.

Superman is the very definition of a leader. Clark’s just a reporter. Right?

Now I’m a man (in most respects). Now I can’t help but look at that Clark figure.

When did Superman become Superman?

Was it when he learned to fly or was it washing dishes after dinner with Martha Kent?
Was it when he ran faster than the train or was it working in the fields with Jonathan Kent?
Was it when he came to Metropolis or did it happen back in Smallville?

I believe that people are born leaders. Some people can lead regardless of where they are and regardless of what resources they do or do not have. I think most of us can just sense it when someone is a true leader and when someone is just getting by on charm or luck or talent. However, just being born a leader doesn’t seal the deal.

It is the why behind the leader that makes all the difference.

The son of Jor-El would be a leader regardless of where his space-pod landed. It just so happened to land in a field somewhere in Kansas. That fact was lost on me as a child.

It never occurred to me that Clark had anything to do with who Superman was or what he did. If only I had known then the why of Superman. Why he saves people, serves people, brings out the best in people.

You can have all the talent, fame, money, and good looks in world to lead but if you don’t understand the why… your not really leading.

To understand that man in the cape who could fly- all I needed to know was Clark.*

(Quotes by Lois Lane and Lana Lang, respectively. This idea has been swimming in my head for a while but was brought into focus by Loeb and Sale’s Superman For All Seasons))

Books, Buisness, Customer Service, Popular Culture, Questions

Upgrade My Foot

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I ordered a book from Amazon yesterday and when I completed my order I was offered the opportunity to “upgrade” my purchase to allow for online reading of the book. This would allow me to begin reading the book immediately and allowed for searching inside the entire book and even allowed me to print. The cost: an extra 5 bucks. No big deal right? Well, hang on.

Why is there a fee involved? I ordered the book from Amazon. Couldn’t they just allow me free online access to the book I just bought. Why add the 5 bucks? Wouldn’t it make more sense to give away the digital copy than to charge extra for something I’m getting in a few days anyway. There’s not publishing costs, no shipping costs, zero overhead. It just doesn’t make sense.

It turns out that I have previously purchased 6 books that are available for online access. The prices range from $1.49 to $7.20. There is no set price for upgrading either. What’s that about?

Crossway Publishers gives away the digital copy of books you purchase through them. Like Amazon they are completely searchable. You can print and copy just like Amazon. Crossway books are available for immediate download once you purchase the physical copy.

So if a small publishing group can give away the digital copy why can’t mighty Amazon? I’m just asking.