I will listen to what God the LORD will say;
He promises peace to his people, his saints—
but let them not return to folly.
-Ps. 85:8

For us to get the return that God promises, we must make the investment that God requires.

“…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?

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.”

“But now bring me a harpist.”
While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha”
- 2 Kings 3:15

I love this verse.

It finds itself in a story where the prophet Elisha uses music from a harp to precede one of his many prophetic utterances. While it is an extremely obscure text, I believe it reveals an ancient secret often overlooked. Here the explosive combination of art and God’s word is vividly illustrated.

When God’s words are fused with God’s art, something powerful happens. It is in this space where hearts are opened, and bodies are inspired to move.

For too long we have left creativity to places like Hollywood and Silicon Valley.

But we serve a creative God.

And He made us a creative people.

The time has come for us to live the way God created us to be.

“The poorest little woodcutter or peasant on the heath or miner can have moments of emotion and inspiraton which give him a feeling of an eternal home to which he is near.”

Every January we say to ourselves, “This year is going to be different.”

But far too often, “this year” turns out to be the same as last year. We get frustrated, depressed, and angry at ourselves. It seems that things will never change. But our problem isn’t in the quality of our intentions, but in the quality of our investments.

In order to “Live Different,” we must be different, and to be different, we must invest differently. If you haven’t already, check out the “Live Different” series live or online.

In 2010 we are going to renew our commitment to follow Jesus as true disciples, and to begin to live the life that He intended for us. Fear, failure, history, and whatever else is no longer going to hold us back from becoming the people that God created us to be.

To get podcast, click here.

Someone got my oldest daughter a pink hat for Christmas. Yes, you read that right. A pink hat. They didn’t ask for my permission. They didn’t ask me what I thought. In fact, I didn’t have any idea the pink hat existed until one day before the Newman family left for a day of adventure, Diara was wearing it.

On her head.

Yes, she was wearing a pink hat. Had it tilted just right, and added a special strut to go along with her special hat.

I stopped what I was doing. Everything froze as I stared at the pink hat.

“What is that?”

“Outside? In public?”

She nodded again that she would wear it, but this time she didn’t seem as sure. After looking at the pink hat with a critical eye one last time, I turned to resume my previous activity. It wasn’t until later while we were out did I realize Diara wasn’t wearing her pink hat.

She left it at home. Maybe she had forgotten it.

Days later it dawned on me.

She hadn’t forgotten her beloved pink hat. She hadn’t fallen out of love with her pink Christmas hat. She had simply lost the courage to wear it.

And the worst part of it was, I had taken that courage from her.
Mr. Creativity, Innovation, and Uniqueness had scared his daughter from her“pinkness” into something far less.

I felt horrible about it.

I went up to her room (it was bedtime now), and spoke softly into the darkness.

“Diara? Are you awake?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“I need to talk to you.”

“Yes, Dad.”

“Well Dad has come here to apologize.”

“For what?”

“For the pink hat.”

“The pink hat?”

“Yes, the pink hat. Not too long ago, you came downstairs wearing a pink hat. And you were really excited about it and proud to wear it.”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I remember that night you left it at home. And I haven’t seen you wear it since. It just sits here on your dresser drawer.”

“Yes.”

“Well I know why you didn’t wear it. And that is why I want to apologize. You didn’t wear your pink hat because I made you embarrassed because of your pink hat. You were trying to do something different, orginal, and exciting. But all I did was make you feel small. That was wrong. And I am sorry. Please forgive me.”

I leaned over, giving her a hug and a tender kiss.

“Really Dad?”

May all of us, despite the critics and naysayers, have the courage to wear our pink hats.

Some people are smart.

They know statistics, processes, and methods.

They interpret what sits on the surface.

Other people are wise.

They know deep things, think deep thoughts, contemplate deep secrets.

They see what sits underneath the surface.

But there is another group that is both smart AND wise.

They can interpret what is visible, and dechiper what is not.

It is one thing to be smart.

It is one thing to be wise.

It is quite another thing to be smart AND wise.

From my vantage point, the smart/wise will be those making the biggest difference in our generation.

So get smart.

And get wise.

“Then David danced before the LORD with all his might…”
2 Samuel 6:14

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm,” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

WHAT IF WE WERE THIS PASSIONATE, EXCITED, AND ENTHUSIASTIC ABOUT GOD? WHAT IF WE PURSUED HIS PURPOSES WITH ALL OUR MIGHT? HOW WOULD THAT SHAPE US? WHAT COULD WE ACCOMPLISH? HOW WOULD THE WORLD CHANGE? WHAT IF WE DID IT TOGETHER?

Let’s make 2010 the year that we find out.

“This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.”
-Matthew 16:18 (The Message)

Two nights ago I watched the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Los Angeles Lakers 93-87. It was an impressive performance for the home team (Cavaliers). If I was a Laker fan I would be afraid. Very afraid.

Watching Lebron James run roughshod over multiple Laker defenders I was reminded of a similar feeling I had when I watched Shaq/Kobe combo at the beginning of the decade. I remember thinking, “If these guys figure it out and pull it together, no one will be able to stop them.” Then they came back in Game 7 to beat the Portland Trailblazers 89-85 after trailing by 15 points in the 4th Quarter. The comeback was culminated with one of greatest moments in recent NBA history (Kobe with tossing an alley-oop to Shaq to seal the deal).

When that happened I thought, “They did it. It’s over.”

And it was over. They destroyed the league, playing in 4 straight championships, winning 3 of them. They were a Juggernaut.

A couple of evening ago, Lebron looked a little “Juggernautish”. Like the Juggernaut in the comic books, if opposing NBA teams don’t stop his momentum soon, they won’t be able to.

You and I are the same.

We are like Shaq, Kobe, and Lebron.

We are Juggernauts too.

When the people of God gather momentum, there is nothing that can stop us. In Jesus, we become Juggernauts. The Enemy of our Souls realizes this. He will do absolutely anything to distract us. Discouragement. Depression. Fear. Anything to get us off our game.

But if we stay focused on Jesus and dismiss every distraction, we will become the Juggernauts we were created to be.

Nothing will stop us.

set⋅tler  [set-ler, -l-er]
–noun
1. a person or thing that settles.
2. a person who settles in a new country or area.

pil⋅grim  [pil-grim, -gruhm]
–noun
1. a person who journeys, esp. a long distance, to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion: pilgrims to the Holy Land.
2. a traveler or wanderer, esp. in a foreign place.

We all know that this life on earth is temporary.

We know it, but we don’t live like it. We live like we are going to be here forever. It isn’t almost as if we expect to somehow be the exception to this little thing called death. Like Settlers, we have become overly concerned with how to fortify ourselves so we can stay put, rather than be Pilgrims positioning ourselves to move out and move on.

A Settler thinks, “this is my home!”.

A Pilgrim thinks “I am on my way home!”.

When God speaks a Settler says:

How is this going to affect ME?
How much time will it take ME?
How much will it cost ME?
When I can I do what God wants ME to do so I can get back to my normal routine?

When God speaks a Pilgrim says:

God what is it that YOU want?
Please God, give me YOUR strength!
God give me YOUR help!
God give me YOUR perspective!
God, I am not sure I get it or understand it, but I am here to serve YOU.

Settlers focus on themselves. Pilgrims focus on God. Settlers are enamored with earth. Pilgrims are looking to heaven. Settlers build their own homes. Pilgrims are waiting for the home God is building for them.

So…are you a Settler or a Pilgrim?

Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
-Ps. 84:5