So often I can find myself in ‘No Man’s Land’. Not as bad as I used to be, but not nearly what God has called me to be. Because the busyness of life and ministry I can find myself unaware of how I have slipped into complacency and allowed my faith and passion for God to wane. No longer fiery and passionate toward Christ, no longer broken and open before Jesus. I find myself in Limbo. How do I know whether I am in Limbo or not? Here is a quick assessment matrix, 4 questions that if answered honestly, will reveal a lot about where I am at:

What occupies my thoughts?

Where am I investing my time?

How am I spending my money?

Am I spending personal time with Jesus?

I can then more accurately assess where I am in my relationship with Jesus. And if I am in Limbo, then I can repent and ask forgiveness, getting my heart fully right with God. And then I can allow the Lord (He won’t do it without my permission) to take the ‘Chief Seat’ in my heart. It is reserved for Him anyway.

Jesus, please come in and take a seat.

It has often been said: Keep the main thing the main thing. And even though we say we believe that, we so often get it mixed up. Too often we spend the most time and energy on the things that matter least, and the least time and energy on things that matter the most.
We went out today as a family to go see a movie (Ratatouille was what we saw. Great film) and hang out a little. We had a great time, laughed, and enjoyed ourselves. Got away from the hustle and bustle of life, and got to the main thing of spending time and loving each other.

After the movie we went to get some tacos and burritos at Rubios. While getting our order, our girls found a table and were talking and interacting with each other with passion, laughing, smiling, and existing in their own little universe. I must say, they were cute.

A 50ish couple sat in the table next to our girls and noticed their activity and paused to watch. When I prepared to sit down, the man said, “You are going to need a shotgun to keep the boys away. Just like I did years ago.” We both laughed. But afterwards I did think about securing a gun license (just kidding. I think.). My little ladies are beautiful, and they aren’t going to be little forever. So we must take advantage of today.

And keep the main thing the main thing.

I apologize in advance for the content of this post. This has nothing to do with the church, creativity (maybe the lack of it), leadership (maybe the lack of it), or anything like that. Maybe I was inspired by Bill Simmons Draft Diary on espn.com (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070629 , but I just had to comment on the Sacramento Kings 2007 NBA Draft:

What were they thinking? I am sure Spencer Hawes going to be a fine player, but the scouting report on him is: Another Brad Miller. I thought we had the original! And the original is marginal at best. This what Bill Simmons wrote on his draft report:

“Looking disturbingly like Chris Mihm, Spencer Hawes goes 10th to the Kings. Now they have a young center who can’t rebound or protect the rim, an aging center (Brad Miller) who can’t rebound or protect the rim, a guy who started the biggest melee in NBA history (Ron Artest), the coach from “Hang Time” (Reggie Theus), tons of bad contracts, and owners (the Maloofs) who’ve made more reality-TV show appearances than every other NBA owner combined. What a mess. O.J. Mayo should just buy a house in Sacramento now and get it over with.”

This is horrible on a variety of levels. I know that we shouldn’t hope the home team should lose, but do you realize that if the kings would have lost one more game, they could have received the number one pick? With one more loss they would have selected no lower than sixth. No they have a Brad Miller clone. I hope they make some more moves to shake up the team. Maybe Spencer turns into another Tim Duncan. Let’s hope so.

If you read most statistics, it seems that our ability as churches to reach emerging generations is diminishing as each generation comes of age. According to the Barna Research Group, Generation X and Y are attending and participating in church less and less, with only 33% of Gen Y (those born between 1977 and 1995) attending at all. The message of Jesus is universal and is for all people. What are we doing, (or not doing) that is limiting our effectiveness? Why is there such a generational divide in so many of our churches?

“Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come” (Psalm 71:18 NIV).

“One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts” (Psalm 145:4 KJV).

I am still working on how best to be a citizen in the ‘Blogosphere’. Very soon we are going to have the podcast up and running, a discussion forum, in addition to a new category entitled, ‘Dream Awake’, where I will speak specifically about issues, news, and vision concerning Foothill Community Church. Stay tuned and let me know what you think as we continue to morph on the planet of Blog.

We went to a restaurant after the celebration service at our church yesterday. I dropped Tiffany and the girls off at the entrance and went to park our car. As I stepped into the cool, air conditioned Italian eating spot, I scanned the wait area for my 4 girls (3 daughters and a mom).

When I located my family, I saw my 2 older daughters playing patty cake and singing (My girls later corrected me and let me know this was called ‘Hot Chili Peppers’) with 2 little blond darlings around the same age. Within 5 minutes of entering the restaurant, they happened to discover that all four of them knew how to play ‘Hot Chili Peppers’. With no time to waste, and no better moment than the present, they decided to make a couple friends and have some fun.

With our children laughing and giggling as they clapped to the melody, we had a chance to visit with the other set of parents. We exchanged names and pleasantries and spent the next 8-10 minutes or so getting to know each other. As it turned out, we actually had a common connection/relationship that we discovered during our conversation. Small world.

But what really made me think was how natural it was for these little people (our kids) to step into an environment of strangers, find what was common to all of them, and begin to make music. With no other instrument beside themselves, their melody brought smiles to all those that heard their song.

Maybe we BIG people could learn a thing or two from our little people.

“……we were like those that dreamed….”

psalms 126:1

God could have placed us in any other place, in any other age. We could have walked the dirt roads of Jerusalem with the disciples, we could have been in the Upper Room praying with the 200 on the day that the Holy Spirit came. We could have watched as Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses on the door of a church, or been in an old livery stable on Azuza street 100 years ago. We could have been there when the Wright Brothers flew their plane for the first time, or we could have been on the bus where Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat. Many events, much significance, but we were absent for all of them. God could have put you and I any place. But He put us here. Right now. It is not by accident that He did that. He has a cause He wants us to live out, purpose to be fulfilled, a dream to make real.

Dr. King once said, ‘I have a dream’. And that dream shaped his mission and his purpose. Joseph of the Bible dreamed great dreams of his future. What is our dream, what is our mission, and are we taking action to make the dream real?

Don’t forget to dream.

“I am the people’s champion. But I am going to be the champ that I want to be, not the champ you want me to be” -Muhammad Ali as played by Wil Smith in 2002 film, “Ali”

When I was a kid, one of the worst things someone could call you (and perhaps you can relate to this) was a copycat. Being a copycat (Definition: someone who used all their energy to emulate the mannerisms, style and personal characteristics of others; while suppressing their own.) was bad news. And because it was bad news, most kids did their best to avoid the moniker at all costs.

We now live in a society of copycats. Adverse to risk, we stay safe and secure; boxed in by our comfort zones, locked down by our fear. Stuck on an island called “Sameness”, we limit ourselves to what we have seen before, what we have heard before, what we have experienced before, deathly terrified of the unknown. If we attempt to be the original that we were designed to be, voices emerge seeking to discourage our pursuit and conform us to THEIR image.

We have allowed the specter of fear (our own and of others), to sanitize us and sterilize us, roboticize us, and neutralize us, genericize (Definition: to make generic) and victimize us, robbing us of our uniqueness; muting our volume and bringing static to our picture.

Where in your life are you being a copycat, rather than the original you were created to be?

And what are you going to do about it?

For a Dreamer, there is no ‘pause’ button in their pursuit toward God. They are allergic to compromise, apathy, the status quo and spiritual neglect. Opposition, pressure, and challenge do not persuade them, doesn’t stop them. They are not afraid of the wilderness. Like Moses, John the Baptist, and Jesus, who passed through the wilderness long before them, it is in the dry dark places where a true Dreamer finds their voice. Though the pain of stretching is difficult, because their heart is set on pilgrimage (Ps. 84:5), they perserve, knowing that the struggle will produce more of God’s presence in their lives. They are pushing forward, making progress, always in motion. They are made to move.

Are you moving?

This may sound strange, but I met my wife in the mall. Not at a prayer meeting or in Bible School. Not in Honors English or Chemistry. In fact, we didn’t go to school together and grew up on the opposite sides of town. But we met one December night in a shoe store 16 years ago and my life has never been the same (and hers hasn’t been the same either). My kids, my career, the life I am living now, the ministry I am involved with, are all connected to that moment.

Many times I have asked myself: What if I didn’t get that job (the only reason I applied was because a friend of mine applied for the postion at a sports store to get discounts on basketball shoes and meet girls) What if I wasn’t working that night? What if Tiffany hadn’t gone into the store, wasn’t shopping for her brother, or decided to go to another mall? I would be a different person today.

The plan of God is like a long string of shoelaces tied together. Every knot representing a turn, a new relationship, a changing experience, the next level, a fresh start, another chance. You never know how the choice that you make impacts who you are, what you do, and the people that will be influenced by them.

Zechariah 4:7
“What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground.”

Have you ever had a mountain in your life? Whether it is fear, discouragement, worry, finances, or something else, we have all been in a circumstance where we were face to face (or face to foot) with life’s Mount Everest. In these moments what we preach, what we teach, what we read, or what we have told others, is tested and challenged. As the saying goes, it much easier to “talk a good game” rather than play one.

But what happens when the mountain doesn’t move? When it doesn’t jump in the middle of the sea? When it towers over you and it stares you down? What do you do? What is your next move? You have spoken to the problem, you have believed for increase, you have prayed and pressed in. Now what? Mountains sometimes take some time to dissolve. They don’t always leave in an snap. So while we are waiting for the mountain to move, what do we do?

We can climb. Climb over the problem, step over the doubt, reach over the depression and the discouragement. And as we creep over the crags and the cliffs, it may seem that nothing is happening. But the happening is happening, but it is happening inside of us. God is strong enough to move mountains. And He does move them. But more often than not, He builds strength and endurance into our souls so we can (with His empowerment) either move the mountain ourselves, or jump right over it. And when we get to the top of mountain of hopelessness, to the bank of unbelief, and every peak that stands in our path, there is only one thing to do: Praise. When we get up there, we just dance. We dance. We praise. We climb UP, so we can get DOWN. We praise when it is dark outside, we praise when the bills are overdue, we praise when we are overwhelmed, we praise, we praise, we praise. The obstacle becomes a stepping stone and a stage; a platform to praise and worship Him at a higher level than we ever have before.

When is the last time you danced on top of a mountain?

Today’s your day.

Get up and dance.