Good Friday

good friday
such a strange name for such a dark day
unusual, yes
cruel, yes
good, hardly
and yet there is something so disturbingly kind.

for through his act
we see he has made his mercy his crown
not merely his justice.

very rarely has anyone truly sacrificed for us.
what he did for me
more often than not
we have bailed
as other have on us.

yet he drank deeply
the cup of suffering
for you
for me

and this is very good news
his victory we'd experience later
but for now
his atonement is more than enough.

You Are Worth It

I was laying in bed last night saying goodnight to my girl when it struck me. No, I don't think it was the audible voice of God, but sometimes a word from God comes and it's for someone. It's as if you are the post office or UPS and your "soul" purpose is to deliver the message. So in the dark, I told Rebecca that this might sound a little crazy, but that I thought she needed to hear it.

God wants you to know that you are worth it.
You are worth the nights and days he has spent dreaming about you.
You are worth the time and energy he has invested in you.
You are worth the hopes and dreams he has for you.

He is anxious to see you discover his hopes and dreams for you.

You are worth it Rebecca. God wants you to know it.

They seem like simple words, and each word is like a seed, either having an opportunity to grow or not. One thing is for sure, If I had held those little seeds of truth in, I would have done a terrible service to my God and to my wife who deserves reminders like that.

Christ has not called off the Rescue Mission

It has been 4 weeks from the day that Haiti had one of it's worst days in history. Thousands of people lost their lives and still thousands are still wondering how their lives will have been changed forever.

I'm not actually even sure when they did this, but rescue efforts were called off formally. This was at least a couple of weeks ago. Then this story shows up. Miracle Survivor. February 10th. Hard to imagine the thoughts and feelings going through this man's head right now, but 4 weeks after, he is rescued and efforts were made to ensure his survival. I don't even know his name. Yet I am drawn to hear more about a man who spent 4 weeks beneath steel and concrete and is now breathing clean air again. Someone wanted this man alive.

Here's my conviction. Millions of people live in the eternal emergency state of "LoST". I don't think anyone called off a rescue but we live as if the search and rescue has been called off. We live as if our every day sort of living is all that matters to us while the very air we breathe is the strength and life God gives. Yes, some of the people we run into have chosen to be lost. They choose to not read the signs. They breathe the same air God has given as an everyday grace while scoffing in his face.

Here's the deal. Our commander and savior is Jesus Christ. He is the one in charge of the rescue mission. You may be tired. You may have been injured. But our commander has not called off the mission. Search. Speak. Live as a Rescuer. Because as I was reminded this week, it is never too late to pull someone from the rubble of their life and allow them to see the sunlight of another day...this time in gratitude to their savior and new commander: Jesus Christ.

Reading List for 2010

I am a firm believer in reading books for the purpose of personal growth. I enjoy reading books on leadership and spirtuality and find that keeping up with new books is a great way of stretching your perspective on not just how to manage and lead employees but also how to live life and of course look for more illustrations on how to express God's truths. I certainly hope to read more this year than the 13 I've listed, but these are the books I'm hoping to finish by the end of 2010.

The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
Life Together by Deitrich Bonhoeffer
Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzler
What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
Primal by Mark Batterson
Defying Gravity by Daniel Henderson
Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels
No Compromise by Melody Green
Why We Aren't Emergent by Kevin DeYoung
A Million Miles in One Thousand Miles by Donald Miller
Master Planning by Bobb Biehl
Surprised by Hope by N.T. Wright
Six Sigma for Dummies by Craig Gygi

There have been a number of books recommended to me and I would love to hear about what you are reading, but this is my current list. I'm looking forward to the new year and I hope you are as excited as I am about what God has planned for this one.

Turning Pages

There are some chapters in our lives where the pages seem easy to turn through. Life seems easy. Things are fun. Opportunities seem easy to conquer. Then there are chapters where pages feel heavy. Movements seem difficult. Words are difficult to read and even though those very words define us more during the difficult chapters, it still seems difficult to grapple with our current reality.

As God writes our story and we seek to define ourselves in him, it is important for us to realize that, as character's in his story, there are some things God wants and doesn't want for us. Along the path or perhaps to the side are traps that we choose to either ignore, pass or get entangled in. These entanglements make it difficult to turn the pages. It is important for us to recognize that our loss of freedom from these traps will cause us to give up hope, to stop dreaming dreams and to accept the hole of our current status. What every reader of the story is asking as they read is this: Will the character overcome? Will the character fight for their freedom? Will the character reach up and take God's hand of rescue?

Solomon tells us in Ecclesiastes 10: 8-9 and in the New Living Translation it reads:

"When you dig a well, you might fall in.
When you demolish an old wall, you could get bitten by a snake.
When you work in a quarry, stones might fall and crush you.
When you chop wood, there is danger with each stroke of your ax."

This is perhaps a duh moment for me, but I found it significant. John, don't be surprised if this happens to you. If you purchase a home, don't be surprised if the value plummets. If you play basketball with people better than you, don't be surprised if you get hurt.

Thursday will mark a significant day in my wife's and I's lives. For about 5 years ago, I allowed us to get trapped into a significant financial commitment that has drawn on us and I allowed it to define us. This last saturday, we listed one of these traps in the pursuit of heading in a new direction. A new direction that is marked by God's fingerprints. There have been many lessons that we have learned as we have dealt with everything from evicting renters, to cleaning up messes to making up for no rents. The most important lesson has been over this fall. The next chapter of our lives requires that I learn to let go of this mistake and move on in freedom.

On a side note, if you are looking for a great deal on a townhouse in Blaine, Minnesota, feel free to give me a call.

Dave Ramsey Changed My Life

Yesterday evening marked the 13th official week of Dave Ramsey's Peace University and it's funny how a small group can change your life. On one hand, most information presented was nothing new. On the other hand, the information brought transformation not just in Rebecca's and my finances, but in the very way we think about money and wealth.





Yet, we find ourselves not even at the tipping point of what God desires for us as we obey him. We are doing a lot of work and a lot of discipline work namely in learning to say "no" to ourselves and each other. Perhaps the greatest thing that Dave Ramsey did was this: He gave us a vision for what our world and what the world would like if we pursued God's plan for our finances.

It has taken me years to learn this. The next year will be a long haul, but we have a renewed sense of hope and vision for what God wants for us. Rebecca and I went to Catalyst in Atlanta with Chrissy and Ben Fukushima two months ago and had the opportunity to thank Dave Ramsey personally for his influence in our lives.

His encouragement to us was to continue to pursue God with focused intensity and over time, we would gain the momentum needed to make our vision a reality.

I can do ALL things

I can still hear the sound of Paul's words resonate inside me as I heard my youth pastor read the popular words from Philippians. "I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength." The words seemed to echo words my parents have always said to me, "Johnny, you can put anything you put your mind to." They were similar but there was something hugely significant to me. It was as if God had placed this promise on my life and as I heard the words, I was reminded that it wasn't merely "good genes" or even my strength of will that would accomplish all things. Everything hinged off the epicenter of Paul's quote. CHRIST.

Many years have flown by since I remember hearing those words and every time I hear them, I am struck with this sense of significance that it is through Christ that I am given the strength and will to breathe, to get out of bed every morning and push for God's best in all I do.

It has taken me years to learn this and I'll repeat it again if only to remind myself, it is on Christ's strength that we must lean if we are to live the lives he meant for us to live. I have hopes and dreams just as all who breathe and these dreams require a strength that I cannot muster up for myself.

Paul didn't say it. He didn't need to. It is through Christ ALONE. The only question that remains is this, are you daily plugging into the source of ALL strength and ALL courage and ALL grace?