Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
-Exodus 4:2-3
What do ya got?
That was essentially the question that God asked Moses after sharing a glimpse of the destiny that he had created him for:
To free a nation from slavery and bring them into God’s promise.
And as is the custom of unbelieving human beings, Moses questions his qualifications, skills, and resources to accomplish the task.
Rather than get into a lengthy debate, God asks “What is in your hand?”
Moses answers, “A staff.”
After the Lord tells him to throw it down, his eyes are opened to the power of God.
Taking Moses’ common staff, God performed uncommon miracles, signs, and wonders.
As a result, a nation bound in slavery for 400 years was freed.
A magic stick wasn’t neccessary. Bulging muscles weren’t needed. A million bags of gold couldn’t help.
A yielded staff in the hands of God was more than enough.
So what has God called YOU to do?
What edict of greatness did He create YOU for?
Yeah I know, I know….
You aren’t smart enough. You aren’t networked enough. You aren’t wealthy enough. You come from the wrong family. You went to the wrong school (or didn’t go to school at all!). You live in the wrong neighborhood. Your skin is the wrong color. You are too old. You are too young. Too much of this. Not enough of that.
Excuses, excuses, excuses…..
When exposed to God’s vision we are all tempted to do exactly what Moses did:
Make excuses why we aren’t the one that God is looking for. And the root of our excuse can be summed up in one sentence:
We don’t believe we have what it takes to accomplish the task.
But if God’s destiny relied on our resources, then we’re all in a ton of trouble.
God is not asking for extraordinary things to do extraordinary stuff.
He is just asking for extraordinary willingness. Extraordinary obedience. Extraordinary abandonment. Extraordinary surrender. Extraordinary worship.
He is simply asking for what is in our hands and our heart.
If we will zealously commit ourselves to His task and the little we have to Him, He will bless and empower us beyond our wildest dreams.
God has created you for greatness.
God has destined you for an amazing calling.
Stop making excuses.
He already knows what you DON’T have.
He wants to see what you DO have.
He is asking, “What do Ya Got?”
Now take what you’ve got and give it to Him.
When you give God what you’ve got, you get to see what He’s got.
And He’s got ALOT.
Just wait and see.
He used a dude with a stick and transformed a nation.
We have forgotten how to play because we have lost our passion.
Love and joy don’t motivate us anymore. We now make decisons based on profit (how much money can I make?) or product (what is this going to do to get me ahead?).
This is the language of survival, but not the language of play.
When we are in survival mode we can’t play. We can’t live according to God’s purpose when surviving is our primary aim.
God’s purpose for our lives is found in the godly passions He created us with.
Part of our purpose to inspire wonder and beauty in the world in which we live.
This both honors God and points others to Him.
Walking in our strengths and serving in the place of our passion is awesome. It makes God smile and brings joy to His happy heart.
And it makes our heart happy too.
For this week’s message on creativity and passion, click here for ‘Finding Neverland’.
There was a moment during worship on Thursday night where there was such passion and intensity, that I was shocked. To see that many people (over 2000) praising and crying out to Jesus that fiercely…wow.
I have only witnessed that raw intensity in worship of Jesus a few times in my life (and to see our little girls singing and crying out to God was awesome!).
I am convinced that we are going to see a move of God in our generation. We are going to see it. The culmination of years of prayers, tears, and sacrifice. It is going to happen.
The love of Jesus is going to be expressed worldwide in a way that we haven’t ever seen before.
A move of God is coming.
And I am going to be a part of the movement.
The movement to change the world in the name of Jesus.
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
-Matt. 5:13
The world is watching us.
We may not be aware of it, but the people of the world are watching us.
Watching us. Studying us. Checking to see if we are real.
Trying to determine if we really believe what we say we believe.
We presently exist in a time of great trial, great difficulty, great testing, and great intensity. Tragedies fill the airwaves and the internet, television and print media. Whether economic, relational, medical, environmental, we are facing things that we have never faced before.
Even though that is in the news, those realities and details aren’t the biggest story. What has the potential to be the biggest story is how the people of God will react and respond in this season of challenge, as Allan Greenspan entitled his latest book, we are in an ‘Age of Turbulence’.
In this ‘Age of Turbulence’ the biggest question is, how are the people of God going to respond? Are we going to lament, complain, point fingers, get critical, get nasty, and get caught up in the spirit of the age?
Or are we going to pray and seek God, asking Him for strength and for grace when everything screams the opposite. Can we serve hurting people the way Jesus would, no matter what? Can we show the world that we love Jesus more than politics, more than our nation, more than our stuff? And because we love Jesus so much, and because His love is now inside of us…we love THEM so much?
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
-Luke 22:51
These two verses are in the middle of a strange story. One of the disciples (John 18:10 tells us that it was Peter), took a sword and in the panic of Jesus’ arrest swung a sword and injured the ear (literally cutting it off) of high priest’s servant (whose name was Malchus).
After watching his disciple inflict this mortal wound, Jesus stepped in and healed the servant.
Without the healing touch of Jesus, this man would have quickly bled to death.
He healed in spite of many reasons that it would seem that He wouldn’t:
1. It was an Enemy-Malchus was a servant of one of the “bad guys”.
2. It was Dangerous-He was being arrested in the middle of the night.
3. It was a Bad Time-He on the way to redeeming the world.
Though these details are all true, Jesus healed him anyway. Jesus is always moved to restore the reckless injuries His disciples inflict on unsuspecting people. Peter didn’t set out to maim anyone, but because he was afraid, his judgement got jumbled.
Many Christians and followers of Christ are in a similar place. We are afraid. Afraid that someone is going to infringe on our values, afraid someone is going to say something or do something that is going to violate the scriptures, afraid that we are not going to be honored or respected the way that we ought to be, afraid that someone if going to take our ‘rights’ or privileges away (as if someone could).
This seizure of fear has made us defensive, causing us to be overly fixated on what is wrong with the world, rather than how we can make it right, and caused us to do (and say) incredibly stupid things. And like Peter, we don’t mean to be stupid people. We are sincerely sincere in our stupidity.
But our stupidity has made us forgetful. Made us forget that Jesus didn’t die for principles. He didn’t die to protect the status quo. He died for people. It was the religious establishment that was pre-occupied with keeping rules. Jesus was pre-occupied with healing hurts.
Ironically when we injure “ears”, we become barriers rather than bridges for the world to receive His Message.
The time has come for the Jesus followers to relinquish the sword of Peter, and through the love of Jesus bring healing to a broken generation.
We continue the ‘Rise’ series this weekend. The heart of the series? Being the church that God intended us to be. We’ve talked about missing the point, courage, and compassion.
We continue this weekend with creativity in a talk called “The Artist”.
You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,
of hidden things unknown to you.
-Isaiah 48:6
Jesus looked at them and said, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
-Matthew 19:26
I saw “This is It” earlier this week, a movie that chronicles the preparation and creative process of Michael Jackson’s 50-date concert tour set to begin this past summer in London. Because of his sudden death this June 25th, the film, “This is It” is all there is .
Though “This is It” is not a great film per se, it does give a behind the scenes look at a brilliant creative mind. I was mezmerized by Jackson’s attention to detail, his knowledge of music, and how hard he worked. He truly was (despite his strange life choices), as unique a talent that the world has ever witnessed. The music, the moves, the ideas, the use of technology & multiple media platforms….wow.
Absolutely amazing.
But there was a moment early in the movie that really shook me.
Some of the dancers getting ready to audition spoke to the camera about how much the opportunity to dance before and with Jackson meant to them. They told stories about how Michael Jackson changed their lives, inspired them, and was an example of what they wanted to become.
One dancer in an especially poignant moment said through tears, “…He gave me something to believe in.”
While watching the movie there were many thoughts that filled my mind:
Why aren’t we telling God’s story this well?
Where is our imagination?
Can we through our example inspire a generation?
Can we unlock these God given gifts and talents that sit inside so many people?
Why aren’t we desperately reaching for more?
What does the ‘next level’ look like?
Can we give meaning to a world by the love of God?
Can we give them something to believe in?
Can we do what has never been done, seen, or dreamed before?
What does the impossible look like?
Can we see it?
Can we go deeper?
Can we be stronger?
Get more honest?
Can we be more raw and less sanitized?
Can we awaken a world to God’s dream?
And many, many more.
The time has come to live and lead in an unprecedented way.
Then the LORD said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,” he replied.
The LORD said, “Throw it on the ground.”
-Exodus 4:2-3
What do ya got?
That was essentially the question that God asked Moses after sharing a glimpse of the destiny that he had created him for:
To free a nation from slavery and bring them into God’s promise.
And as is the custom of unbelieving human beings, Moses questions his qualifications, skills, and resources to accomplish the task.
Rather than get into a lengthy debate, God asks “What is in your hand?”
Moses answers, “A staff.”
After the Lord tells him to throw it down, his eyes are opened to the power of God.
Taking Moses’ common staff, God performed uncommon miracles, signs, and wonders.
As a result, a nation bound in slavery for 400 years was freed.
A magic stick wasn’t neccessary. Bulging muscles weren’t needed. A million bags of gold couldn’t help.
A yielded staff in the hands of God was more than enough.
So what has God called YOU to do?
What edict of greatness did He create YOU for?
Yeah I know, I know….
You aren’t smart enough. You aren’t networked enough. You aren’t wealthy enough. You come from the wrong family. You went to the wrong school (or didn’t go to school at all!). You live in the wrong neighborhood. Your skin is the wrong color. You are too old. You are too young. Too much of this. Not enough of that.
Excuses, excuses, excuses…..
When exposed to God’s vision we are all tempted to do exactly what Moses did:
Make excuses why we aren’t the one that God is looking for. And the root of our excuse can be summed up in one sentence:
We don’t believe we have what it takes to accomplish the task.
But if God’s destiny relied on our resources, then we’re all in a ton of trouble.
God is not asking for extraordinary things to do extraordinary stuff.
He is just asking for extraordinary willingness. Extraordinary obedience. Extraordinary abandonment. Extraordinary surrender. Extraordinary worship.
He is simply asking for what is in our hands and our heart.
If we will zealously commit ourselves to His task and the little we have to Him, He will bless and empower us beyond our wildest dreams.
God has created you for greatness.
God has destined you for an amazing calling.
Stop making excuses.
He already knows what you DON’T have.
He wants to see what you DO have.
He is asking, “What do Ya Got?”
Now take what you’ve got and give it to Him.
When you give God what you’ve got, you get to see what He’s got.
And He’s got ALOT.
Just wait and see.
He used a dude with a stick and transformed a nation.
He’ll use what you have to do wonders too.
So…What do Ya Got?
Posted in Leadership, Transformation, World Change, Faith | No Comments »
Most of us have forgotten how to play.
We have forgotten how to play because we have lost our passion.
Love and joy don’t motivate us anymore. We now make decisons based on profit (how much money can I make?) or product (what is this going to do to get me ahead?).
This is the language of survival, but not the language of play.
When we are in survival mode we can’t play. We can’t live according to God’s purpose when surviving is our primary aim.
God’s purpose for our lives is found in the godly passions He created us with.
Part of our purpose to inspire wonder and beauty in the world in which we live.
This both honors God and points others to Him.
Walking in our strengths and serving in the place of our passion is awesome. It makes God smile and brings joy to His happy heart.
And it makes our heart happy too.
For this week’s message on creativity and passion, click here for ‘Finding Neverland’.
Posted in Transformation, World Change, Faith | No Comments »
At Jesus Culture Conference with Tiffany and the girls.
Unbelievable event. Absolutely unbelievable.
There was a moment during worship on Thursday night where there was such passion and intensity, that I was shocked. To see that many people (over 2000) praising and crying out to Jesus that fiercely…wow.
I have only witnessed that raw intensity in worship of Jesus a few times in my life (and to see our little girls singing and crying out to God was awesome!).
I am convinced that we are going to see a move of God in our generation. We are going to see it. The culmination of years of prayers, tears, and sacrifice. It is going to happen.
The love of Jesus is going to be expressed worldwide in a way that we haven’t ever seen before.
A move of God is coming.
And I am going to be a part of the movement.
The movement to change the world in the name of Jesus.
Posted in The Church, Media/Culture, The Future, Worship, World Change | 1 Comment »
One of my favorite writers Seth Godin, often speaks about the power of ‘noticing’.
It is this power of ‘noticing’ that gives us the ability to see common things in uncommon ways.
One day I took a picture of these 2 signs.
One sign has a guy walking with a surfboard, the other just has a guy walking.
I wasn’t sure what the 2 signs were saying to me, or if they were saying anything to me.
But if I hadn’t taken the time to notice, there wouldn’t be any opportunity for insight.
Most see what is common as common.
But some of us see what is common with uncommon sight.
It is this “uncommon sight” that allows those that change the world to…well…change the world.
To change the world (or our circumstance), we must change the way we see.
Posted in Leadership, Creativity/Innovation, World Change | No Comments »
“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”
-Matt. 5:13
The world is watching us.
We may not be aware of it, but the people of the world are watching us.
Watching us. Studying us. Checking to see if we are real.
Trying to determine if we really believe what we say we believe.
Looking to see if we are who we say we are.
This has been clearly evident during the earthquake crisis in Haiti and culture’s response to Pat Robertson’s comments about Haitian’s “pact with the Devil”.
The Minnesota Star Tribune published a letter to Robertson from “the Devil.”
Jon Stewart of the Daily Show literally reads from the bible to illustrate the God of Compassion as evidenced in the scriptures contrasted with Pat Robertson’s response.
But this really isn’t about Pat Robertson.
This is about us.
We presently exist in a time of great trial, great difficulty, great testing, and great intensity. Tragedies fill the airwaves and the internet, television and print media. Whether economic, relational, medical, environmental, we are facing things that we have never faced before.
Even though that is in the news, those realities and details aren’t the biggest story. What has the potential to be the biggest story is how the people of God will react and respond in this season of challenge, as Allan Greenspan entitled his latest book, we are in an ‘Age of Turbulence’.
In this ‘Age of Turbulence’ the biggest question is, how are the people of God going to respond? Are we going to lament, complain, point fingers, get critical, get nasty, and get caught up in the spirit of the age?
Or are we going to pray and seek God, asking Him for strength and for grace when everything screams the opposite. Can we serve hurting people the way Jesus would, no matter what? Can we show the world that we love Jesus more than politics, more than our nation, more than our stuff? And because we love Jesus so much, and because His love is now inside of us…we love THEM so much?
Can we do that?
Can we really do that?
Because the world is watching us.
Posted in The Church, Media/Culture, World Change | 2 Comments »
And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.
Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.
-Luke 22:51
These two verses are in the middle of a strange story. One of the disciples (John 18:10 tells us that it was Peter), took a sword and in the panic of Jesus’ arrest swung a sword and injured the ear (literally cutting it off) of high priest’s servant (whose name was Malchus).
After watching his disciple inflict this mortal wound, Jesus stepped in and healed the servant.
Without the healing touch of Jesus, this man would have quickly bled to death.
He healed in spite of many reasons that it would seem that He wouldn’t:
1. It was an Enemy-Malchus was a servant of one of the “bad guys”.
2. It was Dangerous-He was being arrested in the middle of the night.
3. It was a Bad Time-He on the way to redeeming the world.
Though these details are all true, Jesus healed him anyway. Jesus is always moved to restore the reckless injuries His disciples inflict on unsuspecting people. Peter didn’t set out to maim anyone, but because he was afraid, his judgement got jumbled.
Many Christians and followers of Christ are in a similar place. We are afraid. Afraid that someone is going to infringe on our values, afraid someone is going to say something or do something that is going to violate the scriptures, afraid that we are not going to be honored or respected the way that we ought to be, afraid that someone if going to take our ‘rights’ or privileges away (as if someone could).
This seizure of fear has made us defensive, causing us to be overly fixated on what is wrong with the world, rather than how we can make it right, and caused us to do (and say) incredibly stupid things. And like Peter, we don’t mean to be stupid people. We are sincerely sincere in our stupidity.
But our stupidity has made us forgetful. Made us forget that Jesus didn’t die for principles. He didn’t die to protect the status quo. He died for people. It was the religious establishment that was pre-occupied with keeping rules. Jesus was pre-occupied with healing hurts.
Ironically when we injure “ears”, we become barriers rather than bridges for the world to receive His Message.
The time has come for the Jesus followers to relinquish the sword of Peter, and through the love of Jesus bring healing to a broken generation.
Posted in The Church, Discipleship, World Change | No Comments »
“…when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep.”
-Acts 13:36
We can only influence the world for God to the degree that we’ve allowed God to influence us.
When we espouse a God that we have not fully embraced, we become living contradictions housed in human form.
Conversely, when we are greatly influenced by God, we are able to greatly influence for God.
Our generation will be dramatically changed by people of great influence.
The questions are:
1. Who will these people be?
2. How will these people influence their generation?
3. Will the world be a better place because of their influence?
May it be said of us 1000 years from now, “…they influenced their generation for God.”
Posted in The Future, Dream Awake, Transformation, World Change | No Comments »
We continue the ‘Rise’ series this weekend. The heart of the series? Being the church that God intended us to be. We’ve talked about missing the point, courage, and compassion.
We continue this weekend with creativity in a talk called “The Artist”.
Posted in The Church, Media/Culture, Worship, World Change | No Comments »
You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,
of hidden things unknown to you.
-Isaiah 48:6
Jesus looked at them and said, “With human beings this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
-Matthew 19:26
I saw “This is It” earlier this week, a movie that chronicles the preparation and creative process of Michael Jackson’s 50-date concert tour set to begin this past summer in London. Because of his sudden death this June 25th, the film, “This is It” is all there is .
Though “This is It” is not a great film per se, it does give a behind the scenes look at a brilliant creative mind. I was mezmerized by Jackson’s attention to detail, his knowledge of music, and how hard he worked. He truly was (despite his strange life choices), as unique a talent that the world has ever witnessed. The music, the moves, the ideas, the use of technology & multiple media platforms….wow.
Absolutely amazing.
But there was a moment early in the movie that really shook me.
Some of the dancers getting ready to audition spoke to the camera about how much the opportunity to dance before and with Jackson meant to them. They told stories about how Michael Jackson changed their lives, inspired them, and was an example of what they wanted to become.
One dancer in an especially poignant moment said through tears, “…He gave me something to believe in.”
While watching the movie there were many thoughts that filled my mind:
Why aren’t we telling God’s story this well?
Where is our imagination?
Can we through our example inspire a generation?
Can we unlock these God given gifts and talents that sit inside so many people?
Why aren’t we desperately reaching for more?
What does the ‘next level’ look like?
Can we give meaning to a world by the love of God?
Can we give them something to believe in?
Can we do what has never been done, seen, or dreamed before?
What does the impossible look like?
Can we see it?
Can we go deeper?
Can we be stronger?
Get more honest?
Can we be more raw and less sanitized?
Can we awaken a world to God’s dream?
And many, many more.
The time has come to live and lead in an unprecedented way.
Let’s do the impossible.
The world is waiting for us.
This is It.
Posted in Media/Culture, Creativity/Innovation, World Change | 2 Comments »
“A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they wll never sit it.” —Greek Proverb
The above quote illustrates the selfless way we are to live our life.
Where are you currently investing where there is no way that you will ever benefit?
Are you planting seeds that will one day lead to strong trees?
Posted in The Future, Leadership, World Change | No Comments »
“Big ideas are little ideas that no one killed too soon.
-Seth Godin
You are more than you think.
There is more in you than you realize.
God that placed a gift inside of you that the world desperately needs.
Don’t let fear, lack of money, present circumstance, or anything else hold you back.
Don’t keep your gift locked away.
You are more than you think.
There is more in you than you realize.
The world needs you.
Posted in The Future, Creativity/Innovation, World Change | No Comments »