Be the Hero

Life is HARD. I mean, really HARD. I don’t have to tell you that. Look at everything that has happened to you… just this week. AND IT’S ONLY TUESDAY. Too often I am tempted to see myself as a VICTIM and that my life is at the mercy of of the UNFAIR, UNREASONABLE, UNIFORMED, and UNTRUE. This is false.

Yes, Life may have been UNFAIR. Yes, people may have been UNREASONABLE. Yes, their criticism was UNINFORMED. Yes, some have said things that are UNTRUE. But that doesn’t mean that your work, effort, ideas, and contribution suddenly become invalidated. Don’t let the weight of the UNFAIR, UNREASONABLE, UNIFORMED, and UNTRUE permanently ground you from doing the work you are called and designed to do.

Everyday you have a choice: See yourself as a VICTIM or become the HERO. My plan is to wake up tomorrow and take flight. What about you?

Tim Ferris’ Big D.E.A.L.

I have been reading and listening to Tim Ferris since I picked up his book, The Four Hour Work Week back in 2009. I love that Ferris pulls back the curtain in his own life and mindset so that you can learn from his approach and tailor the principles to meet the demands of your own dream life. Everything Tim does seems driven by his desire to help others achieve freedom through pushing themselves to optimize every personal and professional resource they have available at the time… and to dare to push further than what you believe is comfortable. It is there on the other side of comfort that your greatest opportunities live.

I recently came across a video in which Tim and fellow entrepreneur Noah Kagan, help a part-time yoga instructor attempt her dream of going full-time with her coaching and business. The video breaks down Ferris’ framework for creating clarity and momentum when starting a business. The acronym D.E.A.L. (Definition, Elimination, Automation, Liberation) lays out the four steps needed to move you from start to finish from dream to dream life. 

What I love about the D.E.A.L. framework is that you can apply it to just about any goal in your life. The steps to follow could help you grow a business of your dreams so you can retire to a private island or they can help you meet your sales goals in the next week, quarter, or year. I’ll leave a link to the video below but I wanted to highlight the first step in the D.E.A.L. system because it is the most important step when going after a goal or trying to achieve more for your life. 

“Definition,” Ferris says, is about “quantifying your goals and overcoming any fears that keep you from getting started.” The first step is to get exceptionally specific about your goals. If your goals are not clearly defined you will expend a lot of energy in a bunch of different directions without making progress on what you claim to be important to you. Clarity around what you really want and what you are really after helps you stay the course  when chaos attacks or cynicism sets in. So, ask yourself, “What is it that I want to achieve?” “What is my goal this week, this quarter, this year?” Get clarity around that and then aim single-mindedly at it. 

Now, here is where Ferris sets himself apart from other coaches. The second part of Definition is to Define Your Fears. When you identify what you are afraid of you can begin to do the work – internally and externally – of disarming these fears and keep them from impeding your progress. Ferris suggests breaking down your fears through a series of small, silly tasks meant to get you comfortable with the uncomfortable. In the video, he challenges the yoga instructor to straight-up ask for a discount on her coffee for no reason other than she would like a discount. The point is that she will be asking and inviting people to be a part of her yoga business and if you are afraid to ask small… you will never ask big. 

Ferris goes through a few other aspects of Defining what you want and what you need to make your dream a reality but these first two steps: Defining Your Goals and Defining Your Fears can set you up to achieve right now.

Take a few moments today to define what you want and to define what might be keeping you from going full-bore after that goal. Shine some light on your goals and that light will help drive away the fears that are holding you back. 

The 3 Things You Must Do To End 2020 and Start 2021 Well

One of the foundational principles that I live my life by is the belief that how you END something determines how you are able to START something new.

The way you LEAVE a job will determine how you BEGIN your new job. The way you END one relationship has a bearing on your NEXT relationship. How you TRANSITION OUT from one season will impact the seasons that FOLLOW.

If you LEAVE things undone or unsaid, you risk carrying the weight of those mistakes with you as you move forward. However, if you are aware and work to FINISH WELL, you have a better chance of STARTING WELL in your next endeavor.

I have found this to be true either you are TRANSITIONING OUT of a job or role at work, moving from one level of your relationship to another, graduating from school or wrapping up a program, moving away, or even leaving a church body.

How you END something determines how you are able to START something new.

We have come to the last SUNDAY of 2020… and not a moment too soon. Many of us are ready to leave this dumpster fire of a year behind. We are ready to leave behind the virus, the lock-downs, the physical distancing, the emotional/relational distance we have experienced, the tension and anxiety, the confusion… we are ready to say good-bye to all of it.

The only problem is that just because the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve it doesn’t mean that 2020 simply disappears. Your new “Blessings of Jesus” calendar may role over to January 1st but that doesn’t guarantee that you are prepared to make the transition to 2021.

As a pastor, I care deeply about you and your family as well as your hopes and dreams. That’s why I want to encourage you to do what you can to END the year well so that you may BEGIN the new year well. I believe that the effects of this year will continue to haunt you and hold you back from growth in the future if you don’t handle the transition well. I want to help you faithfully and intentionally work to END 2020 well so that you can begin 2021 with confidence knowing you did all you could do to ensure a great start.

I want to share with you today 3 things you must do in order to end 2020 and start 2021 well.

REVIEW
The first thing you must do is REVIEW this past year. Yes, I want you to review what is quite possibly the worst year of your life. I want you to look back on the good, bad, and ugly of 2020 with clear eyes. I want you to try to remember the things your experienced and the major events of this past year. What happened to you? How did you feel? What positive habits were you able to begin? What negative habits may have held you back?

Lamentations 3:19-24 (NIV) says…
19 I remember my affliction and my wandering, the bitterness and the gall. 20 I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. 21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:

22 Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”

We just experienced a year like no other – the bitterness and gall of 2020 was enough to knock many of us down. However, one thing remained constant even in the toilet paper shortages and travel restrictions and that is the STEADFAST LOVE OF THE LORD for you. God’s love, care, concern, provision, presence never went away over the last 12 months. You may not have always been aware of it… you may not have “felt” it… you may have forgotten… but Yahweh was and is and is to come.

Besides some of the questions I encouraged you to ask above, take a few moments over the coming days, get alone with God or gather your family in a time of family worship and study to explore your answers to the following:

– Where did you see God in 2020?
– How was my faith challenged this past year?
– In what ways did I grow in my love and trust for Jesus this year?
– What is my favorite memory of 2020? What is my least favorite moment from this past year?
– In what ways were you challenged in 2020?
– What would you like to leave behind in 2020?
– What would you have God help you change or help you grow in during the coming year?

Reviewing your year is important because you need to ACKNOWLEDGE what happened, pay ATTENTION to significant moments, so you can ADDRESS your growth and set backs more clearly moving forward.

REPAIR
The second thing you must do to END 2020 and START 2021 well is to make every effort to REPAIR any relationship that you know needs attention.

There are different levels of REPAIR…
Some relationships need some attention and maintenance. The relationships need a little CARE and concern so that they can remain healthy.

Some relationships need to be pieced back together. Hurts and Mistakes need to be CORRECTED.

Some relationships need to be wrapped up and put away so that you can move forward. These relationships need proper CLOSURE so that you can both move on.

Matthew 5:23–24 (CSB)
23 So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.

When we talk about growing UP, IN, and OUT here at Lakeside we are drawing attention to your most important relationships. We believe that every fully engaged disciple needs a growing relationship with JESUS, with THOSE CLOSEST TO YOU, and OTHERS you come in contact with who need Jesus.

RECOMMIT
We were forced to RESPOND
We had to generate a lot of energy to REOPEN
Now is the time to RECOMMIT!

I often wonder how the focus, direction, and motivation for my life would change if I woke up and read the Greatest Commands and the Great Commission every morning and before I went to sleep every night.

Matthew 22:37–40 (NIV)
37 Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’  38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Matthew 28:18–20 (CSB)
18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

What would it look like if my every thought, decision, and action were influenced by just these 2 passages? How would my attitude change? How would it impact my relationships with others? How would is affect my work, my desires, my entire life?

In 2021, I want to ask you to RECOMMIT to being a disciple of Jesus Christ…

6 Habits of Highly Engaged Disciples
WORSHIP
PASSIONATELY
GROW DAILY
LOVE ONE ANOTHER
GIVE GENEROUSLY
JOIN THE MISSION
SHARE THEIR FAITH

These HABITS help to FORM US in the way of Jesus and BIND US together as brothers and sisters. As we Worship, Grow, Love, Give, Join, and Share our HEARTS, SOULS, MINDS, and LIVES are oriented toward King Jesus and life in his kingdom.

Romans 13:11-14 (MSG)
But make sure that you don’t get so absorbed and exhausted in taking care of all your day-by-day obligations that you lose track of the time and doze off, oblivious to God. The night is about over, dawn is about to break. Be up and awake to what God is doing! God is putting the finishing touches on the salvation work he began when we first believed. We can’t afford to waste a minute, must not squander these precious daylight hours in frivolity and indulgence, in sleeping around and dissipation, in bickering and grabbing everything in sight. Get out of bed and get dressed! Don’t loiter and linger, waiting until the very last minute. Dress yourselves in Christ, and be up and about!

How you END something determines how you are able to START something new… How will you END 2020?… How will you begin 2021?

Get Your Hope Here

We could all use a little hope.
 
Or a lot.
 
Hope comes from our ability to look forward in anticipation toward a goal or a specific time. In addition, Hope requires a reasonable amount of confidence that the thing you desire or the dream you have for your life can actually exists or has the possibility become a reality. Hope is like an oxygen tank on Everest. When you have one you have a lifeline that will help you on your journey.
 
In contrast, Hopelessness is the inability to look ahead or to live in expectation of the future. Someone who has come to a place of Hopelessness has done so because they have little confidence and no reason to believe that there is a way forward. Just like oxygen, we need Hope if we are going to survive the journey ahead.
 
That’s why the season we are in right now is difficult. That vacation you were looking forward to… cancelled. Your big wedding plans… curtailed. That project at work… discontinued. The Hopelessness sets in because you do not even have confidence that the new dates will work. We can’t see the end of these ever-changing regulations and so you have no reason to believe that this new guideline will actually accomplish anything.
 
If you are going to Live and Lead effectively you need HOPE for the journey ahead. You need HOPE because your people need HOPE.
 
I want to provide you with some HOPE.
 
HELP
 
In your life and leadership you will face obstacles, setbacks, and seasons where you will feel stuck, squeezed, and stretched beyond your current capacity. You will need to move beyond your current reality and begin working toward a preferred future. However, hopelessness sets in because too often the task seems too hard, the problems seem too big, and you wonder if you’re up to the challenge. You are capable of making changes in your current situation but you most likely need some help. I want to help you work through issues, set goals, and equip you to solve the problems you are facing. So, consider for a moment… where could you use some help?
 
OBJECTIVITY
 
When we are in the think of a tense and difficult situation, too often we get tunnel vision and become focused on only a few things… most often the person or problem causing the most noise. The problem is that sometimes we get focused on the wrong things because we can’t see the bigger picture in the moment. When someone criticizes us we get hung up on the words and tones they used. The untruth of unfair criticism or the truth in constructive criticism gets lost in the noise. Sometimes we feel a huge burden about an issue, we feel ashamed because we don’t measure up, or we can’t see the next move because we can’t see around problems or people right in front of us clamoring for our attention. In moments like these, you need an objective voice to come alongside of you listen without judgement, refocus you through asking questions, and direct you toward a new way through the issues you’re facing. Ask yourself… in what areas could you use a fresh set of eyes and ears to help you see a bigger picture?
 
POSSIBILITIES
 
Desperation and despair begin to over take us when we feel as though we have nothing left to give and no viable options to take. The truth is that while there are great problems facing you there are also great possibilities if you are willing to explore and discover them. The great thing about life and leadership is that man incredible man and women have gone before us. They have faced great problems as well and through their example they have shown us that it is possible to face your fears, overcome obstacles, and move forward into your preferred future. If you cannot see any way forward… what are some areas you could benefit from being able to see new possibilities in order to resolve an issue you are facing?
 
ENCOURAGEMENT
 
Encouragement is the lifeblood that keeps our internal heart, soul, and mind alive and encouragement helps us move forward. Unfortunately, we are living in an encouragement-deficient world. Working with and for people can be draining because people are quick with cutting criticism and slow to offer genuine encouragement. Too often, leaders grow bitter and their heart, mind, and soul atrophies because they go months without hearing a single word of encouragement or blessing. As a leader, part if your job is encouraging others. I want to encourage you. Let me ask you… Could you use some encouragement right now?
 
I know that you could uses some HOPE in your life and leadership. Right now you are facing heartbreak, heartache, and heartburn. What is happing in you is more important than what is happening to you. In the midst of this season remember that HOPE comes from working through the suffering so that you can gain perseverance for your leadership journey. What you are facing is developing your heart, soul, and mind for all that is ahead. Your character is being formed, right now, even in the midst of hard things. Let’s go after some HOPE together.
 
Questions:
 
What are 3 things that are giving you HOPE right now?
What are 2 things that are making it difficult to have HOPE?
What’s 1 thing you can do today to give HOPE to someone else?

Welcome to Kicking at the Darkness

My name is Micheal Felker and I want to welcome you to Kicking at the Darkness.

Like you, over the years I have collected social media channels and have run the cycle of being enthralled with them to being bored to ignoring them to being outraged to feeling a little sleepy to being even more outraged to settling into a pretty chill habit of mindlessly scrolling, liking, and occasionally posting.

My passion is people and so I enjoy the aspects of catching up with friends and posting inspirational pictures of natural wonders and really awesome bbq. However, since the world went on lock-down a few months ago a new vision for my social media channels has formed in my heart, mind, and soul. I have seen over the course of the quarantine that people on social media desire connection like never before, they want to be inspired, they want to be challenged.

Yes, some have used this time to push conspiracy theories or to highlight controversies and divisive rhetoric.

Despite all this, I want to be intentional about this space and the things I put out into the world. I want a post from me to encourage, challenge, and inspire you when it comes through your newsfeed.

I’m launching Kicking at the Darkness because I want men and women to HAVE HOPE, GAIN CLARITY, and to BE STRENGTHENED in every area of their lives.

I want to GIVE YOU HOPE. For me HOPE comes in the form of Helping others, gaining Objectivity, exploring Possibilities, and providing Encouragement.

I want you to GAIN CLARITY about the people and things that are most important to you. I want to help inspire you to set goals for yourself and your family. I want to help you see the future by rising above the present noise and working through past problems.

Finally, I want to STRENGTHEN EVERY AREA of your life. A few years ago I faced a pretty serious health scare. As I begin to work towards a place of health I discovered that my Physical life was greatly impacted by my Mental state. Then I found out that my Emotional life also informed other areas of my life. Oh, and don’t forget how external relationships play a part in shaping your internal life. It’s one thing to preach spiritual consistency and the importance of internal congruency to others. It’s a wholly, holy thing to embrace that truth and pursue it yourself.

So this is what I’m setting out to do… I want to GIVE HOPE, help you get CLARITY, and equip you to gain STRENGTH in every area of your life.

Here is what I’m asking from you.

Will you please engage with me in this new direction? I will do my part to provide you with encouragement, teaching, challenges, and questions. I am asking you to give me some feedback from your own life and experience. I am asking you to ask great questions and challenge me to help find the answers or solutions. I am asking for your partnership in this journey.

The concept of Kicking at the Darkness comes from a song by my favorite little band out of the Northside of Dublin, U2. In the song, God Part 2, Bono sings that he heard a singer on the radio late at night saying that he’s “gonna kick The Darkness til it bleeds daylight.” (The band is actually referencing a real song by an artist who inspired them named Bruce Cockburn.)

I have been captivated by this idea since the very first time I heard this lyric and it has been a forceful and driving image that has helped me face and overcome many of the battles I’ve faced.

In some of the very darkest moments of my life, when The Darkness has threatened to close in around me, I have found that once you start kicking back… The Light begins to shine through the cracks. Once you enlist others in the fight alongside you, the battle is all but won.

Now, I want to partner with you to help you in your fight Kicking at the Darkness. If you need some HOPE, CLARITY, or STRENGTH in your life and leadership… let’s get to work.

How can I help you?

Cynicism is Lazy

In a day and age where you can “cancel” someone or an organization because you disagree with them or “unfollow” both life-long friends and digital friends once the relationship gets bumpy, criticism and cynicism can easily take root in our hearts spilling over into every area of our lives.

I had an opportunity to hear Rob Bell speak last night in a small venue with a hundred or so other people. The topic: An Introduction to Joy. 

If you have ever hear Rob speak in person you know that his presence and delivery radiant a certain joy and wonder as unfolds his ideas and thoughts in a kind of structured steam-of-consciousness. In what you could call part comedy act and part spiritual rumination, Bell took the audience on a journey to embrace joy whether you find yourself facing the mundane of your everyday experience or find yourself holding on for dear life with the maelstrom hits.

Early in his presentation he “called-out” Cynicism for what it really is. He said, “Cynicism is easy. Cynicism is lazy.” It is so easy to dip ones toes in the shallow end of complaint over poor service at the coffee shop or how this artist who produced once great art has sold out. It is lazy to not really engage with something or someone because they seem beneath you or don’t tow your party line. 

It is a very small drift from “This thing is bad” to “Everything is bad.” Cynicism, once introduced into the ecosystem of your life, wreaks kudzu level damage as it overtakes everything including the ability to truly live life in the moment and find joy in the various aspects of the human experience. Bell does not call for disingenuous praise or naïveté or ignorance of people, events, or circumstances that are deserving of complaint. Instead, Bell calls for a conscious decision to be made ahead of time to choose Joy, to choose Wonder, to choose Life in the here and now… because now is all we really have. 

Bell, who himself has been “cancelled” in many of the same circles that once embraced him, spoke about how Joy is big enough to wrap itself around both Happy and Sad and strong enough to navigate both Triumph and Tragedy. As he spoke I could not help but think about the person who first spoke to my heart and opened my to the dangers of cynicism: Conan O’Brien.

In 2004, NBC Execs announced that Jay Leno would retire after 17 years of hosting the Tonight Show. Conan O’Brien would be his successor and in 2009 the transition happened. However, in less than 6 months there were talks of moving Leno back to that time slot and bumping the Tonight Show to five minutes into tomorrow.

Conan walked. 

On his last show, as his final goodbye, he said this…

“Please do not be cynical. I hate cynicism; for the record it’s my least favorite quality. It doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. I’m telling you, amazing things will happen.”

If anyone had the opportunity and the right to be cynical in that moment it was Conan. Years of hard work behind the scenes writing, years of capital built up in front of the camera, leading a staff of hundreds from New York to LA with the promise of bigger and better things only to be yanked around and ultimately dismissed, and by all accounts, years of building a reputation of being a genuinely nice person in this moment seemed to not about to a hill of beans.

But this was Conan’s hill… and these were his beans.

In that moment, and it seems the moments since, Conan has chosen to fight against cynicism and embraced both the difficult and amazing things that have happened to him.

And I think that’s the key… Choice.

You don’t always get the choice concerning what happens to you… Where you were born, how tall you are, that car accident, that time you got downsized, etc.

But, more often than not, you do get to choose how you will respond to the things that happen to you.

This takes some cultivation and some time to develop though. Tomorrow I’ll introduce you to a man who faced some incredible hardships but found a way to both face the reality of bad and choose joy in moving forward.

Question:

What have you become cynical about lately? How has that cynicism affected not just how you view that thing, event, or person but how you view everything else around you?

What brings you joy? 

Accuser or Advocate?

The wide world of Church-ianity seems to conspire against the contentment and happiness of the small church pastor. In your box this week you received a mailer from the mega-church down the street advertising an upcoming conference featuring a hot, new author making the rounds. Another church in the area has broken ground on their 3rd building phase. The go-to lectureship posted a video from their awe inspiring scenic beach highlighting both the amazing weather and the fact that people you went to school with have been invited to speak at the event. Your social media news feed is filled with smiling pastors, their uber-beautiful families, and stories of their amazing congregations. No wonder many pastors get discouraged when they look around at their own leadership and their own congregations. How can a church of 100 keep up with one of 1,000 or even 10,000? Why isn’t all your hard work paying off where you are like it is with the church down the street? “Is there something wrong with me?” you ask. “Is there something wrong with my church?”

In Life Together, Dietrich Bonhoeffer warns pastors against these misplaced feelings of anxiety or disappointment. He writes,

“If we do not give thanks daily for the Christian community in which we have been placed, even when there are no great experiences, no noticeable riches, but much weakness, difficulty, and little faith—and if, on the contrary, we only keep complaining to God that everything is so miserable and so insignificant and does not at all live up to our expectations—then we hinder God from letting our community grow according to the measure and riches that are there for us all in Jesus Christ.” (1)

According to Bonhoeffer, the antidote to disappointment, discouragement, comparison, and resentment in pastoral ministry is to give thanks to God. Community is hindered by accusations and complaints but community is strengthened through adoration and celebration. As pastors, let’s heed Brother Bonhoeffer’s counsel to give thanks for the congregation that we have been called to and not the one we wish it to be. Let us intercede for them in prayer and advocate for them before a holy and good God. Jesus himself modeled this for us. How many times could we say that the disciples disappointed him or failed to live up to some standard he may have set for them? Too many to count. Yet, Christ lovingly and relentlessly served them, prayed for them, and gave thanks for them. He blessed them and they, in turn, became a blessing.

(1) Bonhoeffer, Dietrich. Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible: DBW 5 (Kindle Locations 922-925). Augsburg Fortress. Kindle Edition.

Look Directly at The Son

Today is the day of the Great Solar Eclipse. No doubt for the past few days, you have heard the dire warnings and hysteric messages alerting you to avert your gaze and avoid looking directly at the Sun lest you be rendered blind, shamed, and scorned for your reckless actions.

As we prepare Get Into God’s Word in our daily Bible reading, I want to give you permission to do the exact opposite. As we begin the Gospels, the whole point of your reading is to look directly at the Son (See what I did there?).

At the center of our faith, stands a PERSON. Christianity isn’t a collection of PRINCIPLES to live by or a compilation of PRACTICAL PRECEPTS for you to incorporate into your daily routine so you can live your best life now.

Christianity is founded upon the PERSON Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth was a man born into obscurity, raised up in the backwaters of ancient Israel under Roman occupation and rule. Jesus of Nazareth was an iterate preacher, healer, and miracle worker. Jesus of Nazareth, the crucified agitator of the religious establishment died at the hands of a Roman official who was egged on by a misguided and zealous crowd. Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah and King, raised from the dead and seated at the right hand of God.

When we read scripture, we are invited to stare directly at the Son and as we do we find our vision for who Jesus is and who we are in relationship with him is sharpened and strengthened.

I believe with all my heart that Jesus of Nazareth is FASCINATING. Everything that the scriptures reveal to us about Him draws you in deeper and further than you can imagine. Some questions that are raised about him are answered while many answers raise more questions. As you read the Gospels in the coming weeks, you will find yourself irresistibly drawn to the Son. Do not look away.

I believe with all my heart that Jesus of Nazareth is AMAZING. Jesus says some amazing things. Jesus does some amazing things. Jesus promises some amazing things. The most amazing part of it all is that He actually fulfills these amazing things in some pretty amazing ways. As you read the Gospels in the coming weeks, you will find yourself constantly and consistently amazed by the Son. Do not look away.

I believe with all my heart that Jesus of Nazareth is WORTH giving my whole life to following. It is not enough to say that Jesus is a good man, a great teacher, a fascinating and amazing historical figure. As you read the Gospels in the coming weeks, do not come simply to be INFORMED about Jesus. Lay yourself bare before him and seek to be utterly TRANSFORMED by the Son. You will not want to look away.

So here is your assignment for today as you prepare for your journey into the Gospels to look at the Son:

First, determine you will take this journey with us. The readings are approximately 2 chapters a day (an a Psalm) which will take you about 15-20mins to read. Add 10mins for journals or meditation on the passages and you have a commitment to 30mins a day with Jesus. This is a doable challenge and you can make it happen.

Second, invite a friend along with you on the journey. You could invite your spouse, a child, a coworker, or friend to walk alongside of you, hold you accountable for your reading, and someone to converse with on the road.

We will start the Gospel of Matthew on August 24. I hope you will join us as we get into God’s Word so that God’s Word gets into us.

Get Into God’s Word


2Timothy 3: 1, 14-17

But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days… But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

The Bible is one of the greatest blessings bestowed by God on the children of men. It has God for its author; salvation for its end, and truth without any mixture for its matter. It is all pure. – John Locke

Yesterday we kicked off a brand-new sermon series for the Summer called, “For the Bible Tells Me So…” Each week we will look at a specific passage from the Bible that will help form you into the person God would have you become and help you understand your identity in Jesus Christ.

My hope is, that by the time school starts back in the Fall, you and your family will become eager to read your Bible, and understand how to integrate God’s Word into your life.

You ability to grow UP, IN, and OUT hinges on your ability to read, understand, and apply the Word of God to your life.

When Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness, Satan attacked him with every temptation he could muster. Jesus withstood those attacks and was able to fight off these temptations with The Word of God (Matthew 4). Look, if Jesus needed Scripture to fight off Satan’s assaults, so do we!

Today, spend some time thank God in prayer for His Word – both The Word Made Flesh (Jesus) and The Word On The Page (or Screen). Think of at least four specific reasons you can be thankful. Also, ask God to give you a greater appreciation, appetite, and awareness of His Word so that you may grow closer to Him.

As a BONUS, here are…

5 Ways to Start Reading Your Bible Today

Book Review: Just War As Christian Discipleship

Just War as Christian Discipleship: Recentering the Tradition in the Church Rather Than the State by Daniel M. Bell Jr.
Kindle Edition, 267pages
Published October 1, 2009, Baker Academic

Just War as Christian Discipleship: Recentering the Tradition in the Church Rather Than the State by Daniel M. Bell Jr.  serves as a introduction to the history and formation of Just War Tradition as well as a provocative challenge for the Church to recover and faithfully embody the practice of Just War as a part of Christian Formation. Bell attempts to educate the reader on the development of Just War Theory through the writings of the early Patristics (specifically identifying the tradition in Augustinian thought) through the medieval era and into modern times. Bell argues that in the course of history the Just War tradition transitioned from a distinctly Christian doctrine and practice – rooted in and shaped by faithful convictions and communal confessions – into a checklist used by present-day nation-states to develop international laws in order to govern and guide public policy and warfare. Bell argues that Just War principles (authority, just cause, right intent, last resort, and proportionality) are just as applicable, if not more so, to Christian discipleship and formation than they are to the battlefield. In fact, Bell’s purpose in writing this book to the Church is so “that of learning the tradition, teaching it, and living it… Christians might avoid the hypocrisy of claiming to be a just war people when we do not really know what that means.” (18) Bell’s central claim is that in order to wisely judge the morality (or immorality) of current wars and to discern rightly when the rumors of wars begin to swirl, Christians need to access the necessary foundation for intelligent and faithful moral discernment that will lead us, not to declare a particular conflict just or unjust, but to act in accordance with what Christians claim to believe – that God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, is active in this world and calls His church to love even its enemies. This may be accomplished through practices that are both obedient to God and point to the God of “justice, restraint, long-suffering love, mercy, and (who cares) for the common good and will join us in this common good.” Again, Bell is less concerned with declaring particular wars Just and more concerned with developing a peculiar Just War people. Bell challenges his readers to become true disciples and not merely armchair diplomats.

In this review we will briefly summarize the major sections of Bell’s book followed by critical engagement with Bell’s thesis that the main concern for Christians in regards to Just War Theory “is not how to bolster (a) party or platform while discrediting the other side, nor is it steering politicians and public policy in the right direction” but it is most concerned with “how we might wage war (or not) in a manner that points to the One who came that all might have life and have it abundantly. How can we live as faithful disciples of Jesus Christ in the midst of wars and rumors of war? How do we follow Christ by loving and seeking justice for our neighbors in war?” (20) The review will conclude with a practical outworking for how one might apply Bell’s work in the education and discipleship practices of a local church. 

Just War as Christian Discipleship can be divided in to two distinct sections. Chapters 1-3 recount the history of Just War theory and how Just War as an act of Christian Discipleship (CD) differs from the modern notion of Just War as a simply a checklist for Public Policy (PPC). Chapters 4- 8 consider traditional Just War criteria to compare and contrast Just War as Christian Discipleship (CD) with Just War as Public Policy Checklist (PPC).

Bell begins by detailing the major players and principles that laid the foundation of the Just War tradition and chronicles how the Church’s official stance on war transitioned from one of complete rejection of force and military service to one of acceptance of force and service in war as morally acceptable or just. Giving much of the credit for this shift to Augustine and Gratian’s Just War theory they described as a type of “harsh kindness” firmly rooted in love. War is “kind” and “harsh” when it’s intended outcome is the complete “restoration of the moral order and of the offender’s proper role in that order.” If Bell believes that the Church is ignorant of the history of the Just War tradition and Christianity’s involvement in its development, these opening chapters provide a comprehensive and compelling primer to bring the church up to speed and help her locate where she is within the current conversation. From here Bell attempts to give evidence that Just War is not “a lesser evil” that, given the fallen nature of humanity, we must resign ourselves to engage (or disengage) from. For Bell, Just War is a genuine possibility if Christians are willing to do the hard work of critical discernment of the mind and the even harder work of Christian character development of the heart. In secular history as well as Church history, this discernment and development declined as the church’s authority and relevance waxed and waned. This resulted in grave injustices (sometimes done in the name of God) and the center of the Just War tradition being shifted to the modern nation-state and international law and away from the community of faith. As the subtile for the book proclaims, it is Bell’s intent that this “ongoing conversation about what it means to love and seek justice for our neighbors in war” be reclaimed and recentered in the Church through Christian reflection on and distinctly a Christian practice of just war.

To do this Bell draws a major distinction between what he calls Just War as an act of Christian Discipleship (CD) and Just War as Public Policy (PPC). This is important work because while many Christians, including many local pastors, might be familiar with terms like “right intent,” “just cause,” and “last resort” these virtuous sounding qualifiers have been completely eviscerated through the secular influence of international law leaving them devoid of any true restorative intentions they may have once had.

Too often Christian thinking, teaching, and preaching about war is shallow and undisciplined, uninformed by the tradition. As a result, what we say about war too easily ends up providing legitimation for anything, for forms of war that do not in fact merit the label “just.” Hence, we end up supporting kinds of warfare that are at odds with the just war tradition, even as we think we are a just war people, simply because we do not know the just war tradition well enough to know when we are being misled. (17)

This is the great challenge that the Church must face today. As church leaders, we may not have an audience with Presidents, Prime Ministers, or members of the high ranking military brass. We may not have the cultural authority we once had in speaking publicly for or against political decisions in ways that directly impact and drive the conversations toward spiritual development. However, there is one place where we do have an audience and authority: we have been given these within the local congregations in which we serve. Our pews and classrooms are full of men and women, military personnel (enlisted and retired) and civilians, young and old alike who read and watch the news. At this writing, our people of faith have, just this week, seen images of civilians suffering the effects of chemical warfare launched by a totalitarian government. They have listened to reactions and statements from the international community and have watched as the US government executed an airstrike against strategic military targets in the wee hours of the night. Many of our people will be listening intently as the pundits and talking heads on cable news run down a list of criteria to determine whether or not this or continued military action is “right” or “justified.” As each each criteria is checked, aggression from the enemy will be met with force meted out by Tomahawk cruise missiles or economic sanctions or other punitive means for deterrence. Most of the discussion though will not center around the moral implications for war and the people it impacts but the political significance for relationships between nation-states, the idealogical approaches to force utilized by Republicans and Democrats, and how action or inaction will play out within the international community. People of faith need more than this from us. The Church was given one mission from Jesus and that was to make disciples who make disciples. Like Esther, church leaders must realize that we were born “for such a time as this.” We have been given authority and influence within our churches so that we might raise up men and women who are faithful disciples in all areas of their lives – including discerning whether or not war is justified and, if it is, how we might engage in war in a way that points to God’s intent for his creation. Working through a checklist will not do – that is to simplistic and does not require enough lasting change on our part or on the part of others.  The takeaways or lessons from previous conflicts will be simply forever tied to whether or not the criteria for war was met and not on whether true justice occurred or real peace was  pursued and obtained. To this end, Just War as Christian Discipleship is not a book for individual Christians (or individual Christian soldiers) but for the community of Christian faith, The Church as a whole. Just War must be a “practice of a community; it is a matter not of an individual’s but of the community’s reflection and discernment.” If this is the case, then Bell calls those of us who have authority and influence in the church to make  two commitments in order to help the community to become Just War people.

First we must Love. The community of faith must learn what it means to Love All and Serve All. That includes the marginalized and the tyrants, the combatants and the civilians, those who are near and those who are far. If we fail to Love than we will be driven to react too quickly or move too slowly because we are motivated by fear or simply a general sense of “duty.” Love is the animating principle that unites our heart, head, and hands to respond appropriately and most reflects Our Father in Heaven.

Secondly, we must seek to be Spiritual Formed more than culturally informed. As we lead the Church to engage God’s Word – as he speaks through His Word and through his faithful servants in the past, we will learn to see the world through the ears of God and grow in our ability to  act according to His character. Moving beyond giving lip service to Just War (PCC) principles and proof-texts that “prove” Jesus is for or against particular conflicts is imperative if we are to be formed through the discipline of Just War (CD).

As we listen to the voices that have reflected and discerned these things in the past, we will then struggle to consider and engage in faithful practice today. In doing so, may we challenge the generation of believers that follow us to do the same to Love and Be Formed. Karl Barth famously said, “Take your Bible and take your newspaper, and read both. But interpret newspapers from your Bible.” Only as we are formed into the likeness of Jesus will this even be a possibility.

The Goal Is Soul