Choose Light

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians,
who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door
and deny him with their lifestyles.
That is what an unbelieving world simply finds
unbelievable.
~ Brennan Manning

Is there anything more beautiful then helping someone dispel the darkness within? What is more inspiring then when the flickering flame of one touches the barren wick of another? Hope to the broken, faith to the cynics, love to the lonely - does this describe the Christians you know?

Obviously it's impossible to eliminate hypocrisy - there will always be Christians who deny Jesus with their lifestyles. Who hasn't failed to live up to their confession of Jesus as Savior and Lord? We can't stop the darkness of denial, but we can light more candles.

You can let more light into your life. You can confess the darkness that still dwells within. You can still repent of your denial-saturated lifestyle. You can still demonstrate your repentance through your light-inducing deeds.

The Gospel writer Luke records for the third time Paul's account of how he became a Christian, of how he made the turn from darkness to light. The crucial turn in the story is when Jesus appears to Paul, confronts him with reality and tips his candle to spread the flame. Here's how Paul tells it in Acts 26:

"One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: 'Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?' 

"I said, 'Who are you, Master?' 

"The voice answered, 'I am Jesus, the One you're hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I've handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what's happened today, and to what I am going to show you. 

"'I'm sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I'm sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.'

The task that Jesus gives Paul is also the task of the Church. It's what you'd expect from a bunch of Christians who routinely get together for worship and instruction and prayer and meals and service-projects. You'd expect the Church to be a place where followers of Jesus can tell a story of what Jesus has said to them about life. You'd expect the Church to be full of people who accept the identity as "sent ones" to serve in the name of Jesus. You'd kind of expect the task of witnessing and serving to be pretty important to Christians.

Paul's version of witnessing and serving, though, were fueled by his personal experiences of being turned from dark to light, from the power of Satan to the power of God. Witnessing was not about Bible-bashing and guilt-inducing. Serving was not about changing the world or patting yourself on the back. Witnessing and serving were about entering into the life of those around you, bringing the light in your life into their life. And about you letting others bring their light into your life.

What fuels the light within your life? The more good you do in the name of Jesus, the brighter the light within. The more good deeds you do in obedience to the Way of Jesus, the more darkness you dispel within and around you. Demonstrate your turn from darkness through your deeds. Your lifestyle reveals the truth of your repentance. You can say that you belong to Jesus all you want, that you are right with God, that you are a good person.

Jesus brought a message of light. If you have no darkness within, then does Jesus have anything to say to you? If you see no darkness around you - if you care not about the darkness around you, can Jesus say anything through you?

You have been sent to bring light - as a witness to the light you have already seen, and as a servant of the light for others to see. The more darkness you see within, the more darkness you see around - the more you'll want the light to prevail.


Rather than denying the darkness within or around you, walk out the door and live by the light Jesus has given you. 

Whining & Wilting

Every morning you get to make a decision about how you are going to face your day. You can usually anticipate what your schedule will be, you may know ahead of time most of the people you will encounter. And you may be able to predict that there will be some surprises in store. So you get to choose: will I be whiney today when things don't go the way I want? Or: will I wilt and give up when things end up being harder or more difficult than I want?

We expect circumstances to play out in our favor, and when they don't, we whine. Or wilt, if the consequences are heavy and confusing. We become unprepared for how hard life can be, and then we have no real alternatives to whining and wilting. People around you refuse to change, and you are stuck with a way of life that is draining. Or worse. So what to do?

There's a story of the Apostle Paul in Acts 24, being unjustly accused, and he's thrust before a corrupt governor. Paul's been in prison for two years, the odds are stacked against him that he will get the right sentencing. He's given a chance to speak and defend himself - what will he say?

Consider: what if he had spent the past two years whining and wilting? Would he be ready for this moment to defend himself? It was customary for Roman officials to allow family and friends to provide for prisoners - to bring food, clothes, medicine, books, and any other items the prisoner needed. With two years of this, Paul could have spent his time being ungrateful and complaining, he could have made a big fuss and thrown a fit. Or given up. Wilting would have been normal for a lot of us.

When you read the story, you notice something about Paul: he used his wits. When presented with the opportunity to defend himself, to speak the truth, and put himself in a position where justice would prevail, he used his wits. Paul spent all that time in jail preparing himself for the one moment he was maybe going to get to defend himself. Instead of whining and wilting, he used his wits to do the next right thing.

The challenge to Paul was how to think calmly and clearly in the midst of his demanding situation; to be mentally sharp and inventive with his problem solving. In the time leading up to his time in the court, he thought through the potential scenarios. He thought through what the governor might be like, he thought through what the accusers might be like, he thought through what his options might be - and then when given the chance to speak he used his wits to help make the next right thing happen.

If Paul had spent his time in prison whining and wilting, he wouldn't have been mentally sharp and inventive, he wouldn't have been able to use his wits. The ability to think calmly and clearly in the midst of a demanding situation results from doing your homework instead of whining. Paul had become an astute observer of people - he was able to calmly discern what the quirks and habits and patterns were of people with power, and thus able to be inventive with his responses in the midst of disturbing situations.

Life rises and falls on your ability to successfully deal with people. And this includes yourself. You can whine and wilt at how difficult other people are to deal with, or you can use your wits. You can whine and wilt at how hard it is for you to change and mature and grow up - or you can use your wits. Get to know how other people operate - get to know how you operate - and then use your wits to help the next right thing happen. Whining and wilting are guaranteed ways of undermining your ability to do the next right thing.

Using your wits - thinking calmly and clearly in the midst of a demanding situation - this will help you do the next right thing. This is a skill that must be cultivated, bit by bit, scenario by scenario. Becoming mentally sharp and inventive happens over time - if you put forth the effort. Especially when you hang out with others who are also using their wits. It's usually always hard to do the next right thing, but it's worse when you're all whiny, and impossible when you are wilting. So use your wits instead to do the next right thing.

Looking Weary

Last night was Anchor's annual Neighborhood Halloween Maze. It was another successful night of great food, lotsa fun, and plenty of neighborhood kids with their folks. After twelve years of serving our community like this, we've earned a reputation - many people come back year after year, and we do no advertising. And some of the families that come back again and again prompt me to pray harder; they look so weary.

It's not just that it's been a long night of trick or treating, or that they have a big crowd of little masked kids with them. You can see the deep lines in their faces. Families my age, maybe ten years older, but looking like tired octogenarians. What hard life produces those kind of tired cheeks and flat smiles? Is it stress from never having enough? Is it anxiety over a disability which makes for big obstacles to employment? Is it anger and bitterness at lost opportunities? Is it the look of poverty?

I'm glad Anchor has a servant-attitude towards it's neighborhood. I'm thankful that we have members who catch a vision for a project like this, and then make it happen. It was a powerful experience last night to walk into a teeming Foyer of rowdy kids and hobnobbing parents, the smell of hot soups and bowlfulls of candy: and hearing the excitement about how many neighbors had come for the Maze - into the hundreds!

In providing a fun evening for the neighborhood kids, our hope is that we can provide more help for more families on more than just Halloween night. Our challenge: to walk alongside those who are looking weary. In the name of Jesus we bring good news to the poor. A crucial step for us? To actually be good news for our neighbors, to do good and help make the neighborhood a better place to live. And that means learning about what is making the moms and dads to look so weary. What was it that Jesus said? Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly. "The Father has given me all these things to do and say. This is a unique Father-Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge. No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does. But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

Will and History

With election day looming near, politics is in the air and on the ads. Every election is a huge crisis, the most important one yet! Conservatives and liberals sow seeds of fear and cast visions of doom. Hearing this rhetoric and reading their tripe, it makes me wonder if there is any other way? Is this it?

There are many ways of viewing history. Will Durant gives his in The Lessons of History. Fascinating insights. One particular paragraph in his chapter on the growth and decay of civilizations prompted me to consider a core difference between conservatives and liberals.

History repeats itself, but only in outline and in the large.

We may reasonably expect that in the future, as in the past, some new states will rise, some old states will subside; that new civilizations will begin with pasture and agriculture, expand into commerce and industry, and luxuriate with finance; that thought will pass, by and large, from supernatural to legendary to naturalistic explanations; that new theories, inventions, discoveries, and errors will agitate the intellectual currents; that new generations will rebel against the old and pass from rebellion to conformity and reaction; that experiments in morals will loosen tradition and frighten its beneficiaries; and that the excitement of innovation will be forgotten in the unconcern of time.

History repeats itself in the large because human nature changes with geological leisureliness, and man is equipped to respond in stereotyped ways to frequently occurring situations and stimuli like hunger, danger, and sex.

But in a developed and complex civilization individuals are more differentiated and unique than in a primitive society, and many situations contain novel circumstances requiring modifications of instinctive response; customs recedes, reasoning spreads; the results are less predictable. 

There is no certainty that the future will repeat the past. Every year is an adventure.

Just some observations:

Conservatives want to conserve. Liberals want to liberate. Conservatives want to keep things the way they were. Liberals want to embrace whatever is next. Conservatives are slow to accept change. Liberals are eager to accept change. Conservatives prefer the tried and true. Liberals prefer the new. Conservatives want to hold on to what they have. Liberals want to give away what they have.

Some more observations:

Conservatives and Liberals wrangle over Economics, Culture & Morals, Governing Policy, Military, Religion, and more. There ought to always be tension between Conservatives and Liberals when it comes to these vital issues. It's the tension that prompts reflection, research, arguments, challenges, and insights. The point isn't to decide who is wrong and deride them. The point is to deal wisely with the complex situations at hand. Conservatives need Liberals and Liberals need Conservatives. We need the tension, but we don't need the hate, the arrogance, the stereotyping, the simplistic slogans, the quest for power. 

History repeats itself as it moves forward. Progress is the hallmark of the liberals. A civilization is always moving towards death, but in the centuries in between, there is the constant march towards innovation and discovery and adventure. 

So what is the role of the conservative in this reality? Is it to always raise the caution flag? Is it to alway cry: "Beware" and "Watch Out!"? Is it to sow seeds of fear about what might be around the corner, about the danger of changing too fast, about new-fangled ideas? Is it to remind the next generation the lessons of the past? Is it to insist on sifting and sorting what is helpful and prudent amidst the turbulent changes of civilizations?

I ask with sincerity. What is the role of the conservative?

Strive Always

What drives you?

We are always driven by somethings. Affection. Fear. Fame. Money. Success. Hate. Security. Fantasy. Some people are driven with massive amounts of energy and ambition and focus. And others are driven as a leaf.

It's worth considering what is driving you.

A different question: what are you striving for?

You may not always know what is driving you, but striving is one of those things you do on purpose. Too few of us are striving for something worthwhile. Something simple. The apostle Paul said it like this in Acts 24: So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and all people.


Life takes a lot of work: you can either work hard enduring the burdens of a guilty conscience, or you can do the hard work of keeping your conscience clear. Too many of us are driven by guilt, and too few of us strive for a clear conscience.

Paul's faith in Jesus was connected to his clear conscience. Following the Way of Jesus, having faith in Jesus - this was the course for clearing your conscience. When Paul talked about following Jesus, about believing in Jesus, about keeping his conscience clear before God and all people, he talked about these three things: righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come.


Righteousness: the work of joining Jesus in making things all right – within and with others.

Self-control: the task of imitating Jesus in mastering appetites and steering your emotions/thoughts/attitudes towards righteousness.

Judgment to Come: the day of resurrection when Jesus rewards the righteous for what they did to the ‘least of these’ and the wicked reap what they have sown.

Faith: Trusting the Words of Jesus and Following the Way of Jesus by Joining Jesus Now in His Making Things All Right.

Strive always for righteousness and self-control. Strive always in light of the Judgment to Come. Strive Always in Faith.

What are the alternatives?

Every son and daughter bears wounds from their father and mother. This is what drives so much of our life. Strive for righteousness, to make things more all right then they are - for healing and making amends.

Everyone notices the inhumanity of our world. Do you turn a blind eye? Do you become calloused? Do you get overwhelmed and wearied? Or do you strive for righteousness, to make things more all right then they already are in your own sphere of influence, in your neighborhood, in one area of the world that strikes a chord with your heart?

Are you driven by hunger for sex and affection and intimacy and acceptance and respect and affirmation? Or do you strive to master your emotions and desires, steering them in the direction of righteousness? When you stomach growls, when your belt is too tight, when you're snacking while nervous and worried, when you rack up ridiculous credit card debt from eating out - when you are driven by your appetite...is that really what you want for your life?

Do you play the comparison game? You're at least doing better than...who? At least you're not as bad as...who? When you strive for righteousness and self-control, you are free from the comparison game. When you choose to follow the Way of Jesus, and you have all God's help available for the asking.

Righteousness is rewarded in this life and in the one to come. And wickedness reaps what it sows, both in this life and in the one to come. You sow gluttony and greed, lust and anger - you refuse to make amends and to gain control over your tongue and stomach... and you'll reap what you sow.

What are you driven by? 

Strive always to do the next right thing, to help make things all right. 

A Linchpin Makes a Difference

Excuses are easy to come up with for why you haven't made a difference in the world yet. It's hard to make a difference in the world. Not only are the tasks difficult, the things that have happened to us in the past can be like a handicap to us. Maybe in your place of employment, maybe in your home, with your family, or friends, or church - you look around, and you wish things were different. You see how things could be better. But you are too afraid to make a difference for good. So you complain. Or go negative. Or give up and walk away.

When it comes to your workplace or ministry, you can either focus on the tools you don't have yet to do better, or you can work on your attitude towards the people you must interact with. It's easy to do nothing, or to do little because of inadequate (fill in the blanks). If you want to make a difference in the midst of less than ideal circumstances, what should you do? 
What's a linchpin to do?

Here's some advice from Seth Godin:

In a pre-Internet world, where Amazon.com couldn't have existed, would Jeff Bezos be a nonpassionate lump? If Spike Lee hadn't found a camera, would he be sitting around, accepting the status quo?

Passion isn't project specific. It's people specific. Some people are hooked on passion, deriving their sense of self from the act of being passionate.

Perhaps your challenge isn't finding a better project or a better boss. Perhaps you need to get in touch with what it means to feel passionate. People with passion look for ways to make things happen.

The combination of passion and art is what makes someone a linchpin. (92)

Being open is art. Making a connection when it's not part of your job is a gift. You can say your lines and get away with it, or you can touch someone and make a difference in their lives forever.

This is risky and it's impossible to demand from someone. The decision to commit to the act is a personal one, a gift from the heart. 

Certain sorts of art make us cry without embarrassment. (93)

It's not an effort contest, it's an art contest. As customers, we care about ourselves, about how we feel, about whether a product or service or play or interaction changed us for the better.

Where it's made or how it's made or how difficult it was to make is sort of irrelevant. That's why emotional labor is so much more valuable than physical labor. Emotional labor changes the recipient, and we care about that. (95)

The Local Church and Poverty

What is a local church to do in regard to neighborhood families in poverty?

First it is probably helpful to get to know the families, one by one, and hear their story. There can't be help for a community until there is understanding of individual stories. Getting to know a family in poverty is the best starting place to help them.

But what is the goal of that help to the family in poverty? Is it our intent to help that family break free from the chains of poverty? Are we helping a family out of situational poverty or generational poverty? Is there any kind of disability involved? Any abuse or addictions that have caused this poverty? If the release from poverty is about something else other than money, how do you know when the family is released?

If a local church only deals with families in poverty when there is a crisis, it is likely that the church will become hardened to helping. The crisis is never-ending, there is no life change, and the money is limited. But how can a local church help families in poverty unless that local church lets those families worship with them, become part of the congregation?

What happens, though, when a middle-class church starts inviting the working class and poverty class families to be part of their church? The social dynamic will change. The conversations at potlucks will change. The small group experiences will change. The counseling situations will change. The financial stability will change. Will middle class families want to worship and raise their kids with those living in poverty? 

How are families in poverty to find Christ and find new economic stability unless middle-class families follow Christ into the lives of those who are poor. If Christ came to us while we were yet sinners, then we ought to go to those who are not yet free from poverty. Unless, of course, you don't think that Christians and churches have an obligation to help families in poverty find freedom from those chains.

In my searching for understanding, in my work to follow Christ, in my pastoring and caring for families in different kinds of classes, I wonder... What is the local church to do about poverty? The congregation I serve includes those from the working and poverty class. It was a goal of our church to serve and help and minister to families in our neighborhood. And we are always learning how to do that better. But the working and the poverty class live in the suburbs, live in small towns, live out in the rural areas. A local church always has poverty around it. You will find what you are looking for. 

Should the church make it a priority to seek out the poor in the community to join your congregation? Or should we only engage them if they contact us first? And are we to "fix" them when we meet them? What does it mean for a middle-class church to love a family in poverty? Can a Christian stay poor and still be mature in Christ? Can a family be stuck in working class yet be a devoted follower of Jesus? How can a local church help families in poverty become self-sufficient like those in the middle class? Is that even a valid goal? Do the poor and working class Christians have anything to offer the middle-class Christians?

Maybe the local church needs to minister to the poor more than the poor need the help of the local church...

Take Courage. It's Going to Be All Right.

What fuels your belief that it is going to be all right? 

Fear is easy to do when things aren't going all right, but fear can be too easy even when things do seem all right. Courage is always a choice, courage to do the next right thing. This is what can fuel your belief that everything is going to be all right. By doing the next right thing, you set yourself up for a tomorrow where things are more all right then they were yesterday. Out of all the prayers that God hears, he is eager to answer the ones that request courage. 

Things got pretty tense for St. Paul. Acts 23. He's in the hotseat amongst the religious leaders. They want him imprisoned. They want him dead. Paul's able to get out of the room by dividing the leaders and getting them to fight amongst each other. A Roman commander needs to rescue Paul yet again from the riotous mob. At the end of the day, Jesus shows up to personally lift up Paul's eyes. His words? Take courage, Paul,  it's going to be all right. It takes faith to hear these words and know they are true. The situation is dire for Paul, it's uncertain, it's not going the way he wants. He can't see around the corner to know what could happen next. He needed courage, he needed to believe that it was going to be all right. 

Paul believed that Jesus of Nazareth was resurrected from the dead three days after his crucifixion. Paul also believed that this resurrection of Jesus was a sign of what was to come for all those who followed Jesus. Paul believed that someday God would resurrect from the dead all those who trusted Him. Paul believed that God would resurrect all these people into a world that had been made all right. These beliefs create a fruitful tension in Paul: he wants to live and help others follow Jesus so that they can be part of a world that will be made all right. But Paul is ready to die and await the resurrection and be that much closer to a world that has been made all right. 

Paul had hope for this life - that no matter what happened to him, God was working in and through him to make things all right now. The work that God is doing in and through Paul is connected to that future day when everything will be made all right. Paul has hope in this life because of his belief in the resurrection. And Paul can take courage in this life because he knows that everything can be used by God as part of his work to make things all right. Paul knows that when he dies, God's work will be incomplete. There are decades and centuries and millenia of work yet to do. But he knows that someday everything will be all right. And Paul is letting God do that work now in and through him. 

Take courage. Whatever it is that you are going through, God can work in and through you to make it all right. Take courage. The work may not turn out the way you want or imagined, but it will turn out all right. When you let God work his way in you and through you, it will turn out all right. It may not be completed in your life, but someday it will be. There will be a day when you wake up, and it is all right. 

Take courage today. It's going to be all right.

When God Doesn't Get What He Wants...

What are you like when you don't get what you want?

Do you ever wonder what God does when he doesn't get what he wants? 

When Jesus walked the vineyards and olive groves of Israel, his disciples requested he teach them how to pray. He took a common prayer and adapted it - one of the revised lines went like this: Your kingdom come, your will be done. Jesus wants his followers to pray for God's kingdom to come to earth. The implication is that it isn't here yet. Well, it's here, but only in part. So what does that mean?

The short version: to talk about God's kingdom is to talk about God getting what he wants. Jesus taught that the kingdom of God was within each of us. This is another way of saying that God gets what he wants with us, in us, and through us. Does God always get what he wants out of us? Ha! We know the answer to that one. Now multiply that over six billion times.

In another teaching moment, Jesus made this point: seek first God's kingdom and righteousness - and everything else in life will take care of it self. God's kingdom is another way of saying that God gets what he wants, and righteousness is another way to talk about God's work to make everything all right. When God works to get what he wants, he works to make everything all right. Sounds appealing, right? Makes you wonder why more people in the world aren't more open to God's work in their life. But then you and I often resist God's work to make everything all right in our own life. Oh, wait, you don't have any problems, you're all fixed up, aren't you! Ha.

The apostle Paul found himself in some tense moments with others because of his work of proclaiming the kingdom of God and His righteousness. In one particular scenario, he is recounting his life - especially those parts when he was opposing the work of Jesus' followers. But something changed in his life, and now he's promoting the work of God in Jesus' followers. Out of all the lessons we could pull out of this, it's worth focusing on this:

Everything is preparation.

Everything in your life is preparation for what God wants to accomplish in the world.
God is working in the world to make everything all right - that's what he wants. And everything you've ever said, done, thought, dreamed about is preparation for God's future work in the world through you to make everything all right.

Of course plenty of your life seems like a waste, a big mess, a life uninterested in God. Fortunately, with God, everything in your life is redeemable. He can bring good out of everything in your life. In his work to make the world all right, he must first do this work in you before he does it in the world through you.

Everything is moving forward to God's kingdom come in full. Someday God will finish his work in the world of making everything all right. Life is not one endless cycle, it is heading forward. Sometimes you have to believe it to see it. You have to believe that God is always at work to make things all right before you can see it. You have to believe that everything in your life is redeemable before you can see it. You have to believe that God can help you move forward, no matter your past. Even if you fall forward, he can help you get up and stumble forward.

God doesn't always get what he wants in the world. He doesn't always get what he wants with you. But in his work to make you all right, and in his work to make the world all right, his work is always moving forward. Everything in your life is preparation, it is redeemable.

When God doesn't get what he wants, he stays loyal, he perseveres, his patience endures. He wants to make you all right, and he won't give up on you. When you're ready, he's ready.

Prayer for the Weary Saint

Here's how a conversation might go between you and Jesus, a prayer of sorts as you unload on him.

You: People are often mean, irrational, and self-centered.
Jesus: Forgive them anyway.

You: If I am kind, people may accuse me of selfish, ulterior motives.
Jesus: Be kind anyway.

You: If I prevail, I will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Jesus: Prevail anyway.

You: If I am honest and sincere people may deceive me.
Jesus: Be honest and sincere anyway.

You: What I spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Jesus: Create anyway.

You: If I find peace and joy, some may be jealous.
Jesus: Be happy anyway.

You: The good I do today, may be forgotten.
Jesus: Do good anyway.

You: I give the best I have, and it is never enough.
Jesus: Give your best anyway.



~ Adapted from a prayer of Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Money, Morals and Ministry

It's pretty easy to name some high-profile ministers who have scandalized Christianity through abuse of money and disregard for morals. But what about everyday Christians who don't think that they have a ministry, who aren't careful about their money, and who don't pay much attention to their morals?

The big-name preachers are a big embarrassment to the Church, they get flashy news-coverage and we all wince. How is it really worse than believers who don't use their skills and gifts to serve in the name of Christ, who don't give their money generously to the needy, and who don't mature their moral life as part of their hard work to love their neighbor? Which is more embarrassing?

The Apostle Paul was traveling from Corinth to Jerusalem, via the Egnatian Way through Thessalonica, then by boat along the coast of Troas and Lesbos, skirting Cyprus before they get to Syria. Along they way their cargo ship harbors to load and unload and make repairs. We read in Acts 21 how Paul and company would visit with the hospitable believers in town.

Through a prompting of the Holy Spirit they warn Paul that violence and arrest await him in Jerusalem. They plead with him not to go, to choose a safer destination. But the Holy Spirit has confirmed in Paul the need to go to Jerusalem, despite the danger. So which is it - is the Holy Spirit sending mixed messages? Does the Holy Spirit prompt a man to walk into risky situation?


Paul needed to go to Jerusalem as part of his ministry. He wanted to share with the elders of the Jerusalem church what God had been doing through him amongst the pagan villagers, the sophisticated Greeks and the tough Romans. God was clearly doing some amazing work through Paul's ministry, and everyone wanted to celebrate that.

Paul had also been collecting money from the many churches he had started or visited - money that was to go towards the poor and destitute in Jerusalem. But Paul had also been the subject of some nasty rumors, that he was promoting immorality and blasphemous ideas. Paul needed to clear his name and share the truth about his money, morals and ministry.


Does the Holy Spirit ever talk to you? Do you ever receive a prompt from the Holy Spirit? If not, here are some observations taken from Paul's story: the Holy Spirit will most likely have something to say to you about your money, your morals, and your ministry. As a Christian, all your money is God's money. So obviously God's Spirit is going to have some instructions for you on what to do with HIS money. As a Christian, our defining characteristic is to love God and love our neighbor - love is a moral, so do you think God's Spirit might have something to say to us about our love, about our morals? As a Christian, we have a ministry to go and make disciples - can we do this ministry without guidance from God's Spirit?


What needs to happen next in your life when it comes to your money, your morals, your ministry?

To discern an answer, I suggest you first pray about it, talk to God about it, and then listen for what God's Spirit reveals to you. He may reveal it to you while you are conversing with a friend, it may be while your at work, it may be while you are falling asleep at night.


To prompt some reflection on what God wants you to do next with your money, morals, and ministry, here are some suggestions:

MONEY: it's not your money, it's God's money. If He asks for at least ten percent of it back, don't you think you could do that? Maybe for some of you He's now asking for twenty percent? This is called tithing. When you tithe, you give your money to God. You can do this by giving it to your local church where you are involved.

You might worry that your budget can't afford ten or twenty percent going to God. From personal experience, when you tithe, things always work out for the better. When you trust God with your money, He makes sure you always have enough. It's a very beautiful thing.


MORALS: it's not your heart, it's God's heart! The best gift you can give to others is love. God wants to use you to lift up others, to help them grow and mature and blossom and make a lasting contribution to the world. God has saved you from the power of sin, he has made your heart clean, he has enabled you to help others break free from the enslavement of sin.

So why do you coddle your precious sins? Why do you not want to do what it takes to break those ugly habits that ruin and taint your love for those you care about? What are the ugliest, most common sins among Christians? Greed (Yuck!). Gluttony (Ugh!). Anger (Ack!). Pride (Blech!). Envy (Ewww!). Laziness (Yikes!). Lust (Argh!). Which ones are yours? No, really... which ones?

Until you are disgusted by the sins in your life, they'll stay there. Until you are under deep conviction to give a more powerful kind of love that leads to transformation and redemption in others, you'll let those sins keep their claws in you. 


MINISTRY: it's not your life, it's God's life! You are a gift from God to the world, to your family, to your church. Let God be the one then to direct your skills and gifts, your passions and interests, your personality and experiences towards bringing the whole gospel to the whole neighborhood. Jesus demonstrated what ministry could look like. He taught us how money and morals make for a powerful ministry - or a lousy one.

The way of Jesus showed us what our way of life could look like. We have to adapt to our culture, our century, our city - but our ministry flows out of our understanding of Jesus, our desire to follow in his steps, our following the prompts of God's Spirit. How you serve will be unique, it will be an expression of you and your obedience to Jesus in your world.

But you already have a ministry - you are always communicating something about God. If you are not intentional about your ministry, you have no idea then what you are sharing about God - and odds are it's not very good stuff. So learn what your ministry ought to be these days, embrace it, and live it.

Even When You Don't Feel Like It

There are still a bunch of jobs out there that require physical labor. Whether it's a skilled physical labor job, or unskilled, your body gets tired at the end of the day. You risk physical ailments because of the repetitive motions, the strain on your back, the headache from the fumes.

For awhile, though, there have been more and more jobs that require emotional labor. Sure, it's pretty hard to imagine a job where your body does no movement - if you move around, I guess that counts as physical labor. But more and more people are getting hired - not for the skill of their hands or the eloquence of their mouth, but the intelligence and capacity of their emotions. And this is not just for women.

More and more, where you work is requiring more emotional labor from you. Whether you type, file, push a button, drive a truck, use a hammer, make a phone call, write a document, or the thousand other physical tasks that you can get paid to do - all of them are done within the web of relationships. Most immediate is going to be a customer or a coworker. At some point you interact with your boss. After awhile, the physical labor can get mindless, but the relationship side of your work - well it can always be full of drama, tension, disappointment, anger or joy, fulfillment, and excitement. It's usually the emotional side of your work that makes it unbearable. And it can be that the emotional labor is the hardest work of all.

To be a linchpin where you work, do the hard work of emotional labor. Even when you don't feel like it.

Here are some thoughts on emotional labor from Seth Godin:

Apparently, we don't have a lot of trouble understanding that work might involve physical labor, heavy lifting, or long periods of fatigue. But, for some reason, we hesitate to invest a more important sort of labor into work that really matters. Emotional labor is the task of doing important work, even when it isn't easy.

Emotional labor is difficult and easy to avoid. But when we avoid it, we don' do much worth seeking out. Showing up unwilling to do emotional labor is a short-term strategy now, because over time, organizations won't pay extra for someone who merely does the easy stuff.

We're not at all surprised when a craftsman sharpens his saw or an athlete trains hard. But when an information worker develops her skills at confronting fear (whether it's in making connections, speaking, inventing, selling, or dealing with difficult situations) we roll our eyes.

It turns out that digging into the difficult work of emotional labor is exactly what we're expected (and needed) to do. Work is nothing but a platform for art and the emotional labor that goes with it. (80)

Volunteering to do emotional labor - even when you don't feel like it, and especially when you're not paid extra for it - is a difficult choice. (81)

When you do emotional labor, you benefit.
Not just the company, not just your boss, but you.

The act of giving someone a smile, of connecting to a human, of taking initiative, of being surprising, of being creative, of putting on a show - these are things that we do for free all our lives. And then we get to work and we expect to merely do what we're told and get paid for it.

This gulf creates tension.

If you reserve your emotional labor for when you are off duty, but you work all the time, you are deprived of the joy you get when you do this labor. Now, you're not giving gifts on duty, but you're not off duty much at all. Spend eight or ten or twelve hours a day at work (not only in the office, but online or on the phone or in your dreams), and there's not a lot of time left for the very human acts that make you who you are and who you want to be.

So bring that gift to work.

And what do you get in return? In most cases you get very little in return. At least, little in terms of formal entries in your permanent file or bonuses in your year-end pay. But you do benefit.

First, you benefit from the making and the giving. The act of the gift is in itself a reward. And second, you benefit from the response of those around you. When you develop the habit of contributing this gift, your coworkers become more open, your boss becomes more flexible, and your customers become more loyal.

The essence of any gift, including the gift of emotional labor, is that you don't do it for a tangible, guaranteed reward. If you do, it's not longer a gift; it's a job. (82)

Do You Believe in Hell?

Do you believe in Hell?

If so, what kind of Hell do you believe in?

Did you used to believe in some kind of Hell, but not you're not so sure what to think or believe?
Or maybe you are someone who's never believed in Hell?

For you, why is it necessary to believe in Hell?
For others of you, why is belief in Hell such a problem for you?

A blog I follow - Jesus Creed - is working it's way through a book about Hell: Beyond the Abyss. If you're interested in the topic, you can follow along.

Here are the first four posts - they include an intro by the author of the blog, Scot McKnight, a quote from the author of the book being discussed, and then some questions to consider by Professor McKnight. Then there are lots and lots of comments to read. Fascinating, thought-provoking stuff.

Beyond the Abyss - Post One

Beyond the Abyss - Post Two

Beyond the Abyss - Post Three

Beyond the Abyss - Post Four

Becoming The Linchpin

The economy is probably going to get worse before it gets better. You know that. The belt will have to continue to tighten. If you still have a job, you're going to have to find ways to increase the odds that you can keep that job. And if you get laid off, you'll want to cultivate skills and attitudes that increase the odds you get hired ASAP.

What if you can't find a job? You still got bills to pay. You must find a way to get compensated for the work you can do. Which means you need to keep getting really good at the work you can do. And get more creative. You may have to solve your own problems. You may have to become the kind of person who is indispensable.


Here's some thoughts along those lines from Seth Godin:

If you seek out critics, bureaucrats, gatekeepers, form-fillers, and by-the-book bosses when you're looking for feedback, should you be surprised that you end up doing the things that please them?

They have the attitude that there is an endless line of cogs just like you, and you better fit in, bow down, and do what you're told, or they'll just go to the next person in line.

Without your consent, they can't hold on to the status quo, can't make you miserable, can't maintain their hold on power. It's up to you. You can spend your time on stage pleasing the heckler in the back, or you can devote it to the audience that came to hear you perform. (Linchpin, 60)

Your restaurant has four waiters, and tough times require you to lay someone off.

Three of the waiters work hard. The other one is good, but is also a master at solving problems. He can placate an angry customer, finesse the balky computer system, and mollify the chef when he's had too much to drink.

Any idea who has the most secure job?

Troubleshooting is never part of a job description, because if you could describe the steps needed to shoot trouble, there wouldn't be trouble in the first place, right?

Troubleshooting is an art, and it's a gift from the troubleshooter to the person in trouble. The troubleshooter steps in when everyone else has given up, puts himself on the line, and donates the energy and the risk to the cause. (Linchpin, 60)

Emotional labor is available to all of us, but is rarely exploited as a competitive advantage. We spend our time and energy trying to perfect our craft, but we don't focus on the skills and interactions that will allow us to stand out and become indispensable to our organization. It's called work because it's difficult, and emotional labor is the work most of us are best suited to do. It may be exhausting, but it's valuable. (Linchpin, 63)

How Many Second Chances Do You Need?

It was a warm Mediterranean night. The cool breeze off the Aegean Sea couldn't offset the lack of windows in the third floor. The young man in the window was hogging all the fresh air. The lamps and candles in the dark room added to the stuffiness and smell of an overcrowded room. As the hours ticked by, the drowsiness settled heavier and heavier on the guy in the window. He fell asleep. He slipped out of the window, fell to the ground, and there Eutychus died. Did I mention that his name means lucky? :)

The crowd rushed one at a time down the stairs, screaming and wailing amidst general confusion. Someone picked up Eutychus limp body, didn't hear any breathing, and announced his death. Then the crying really got intense. But a man named Paul worked his way through the overwrought crowd, had Eutychus put back down on the ground - and he stretched his live body over the dead one. This kind of stifled the loud lamenting, nobody quite expected this turn of events. In the tense silence, those closest to the two bodies could hear Paul muttering intensely, praying fervently.

As everyone started shifting nervously on their feet, Paul slowly stood up - looked the family in the face and announced with great relief: "He's not dead, he's alive!" The crowd rushed around Eutychus and his mama and who screaming and wailing amidst great confusion, rejoicing, and unbelief. Paul slowly backed away from the scene and headed up the stairs - exhausted and grateful. He'd not noticed Eutychus falling asleep in the window. He'd been so focused on his preaching he'd lost track of time - had it really been over five hours? Paul was famished and made arrangements for dinner, even if it was midnight. Eutychus was brought back up stairs and sat next to Paul as they ate together. There the two of them stayed as Paul resumed preaching. Finally at dawn, when the yawns could no longer be stifled, and Paul had said all that he could say, they all went home.

When are you Eutychus?

When are you given opportunities to hear the truth, to be introduced to a new way of seeing reality? When are you in a place to get some wisdom and insight. And then you get bored? And you quit paying attention? And then you fall asleep?

When do you mean well? When do you get frustrated when life doesn't turn out the way you want, despite your best intentions?

Eutychus, if he was tired, probably shouldn't have been sitting in the window. Odds are his mama warned him about it. It was great to have Eutychus at the meeting to hear Paul preaching, but maybe when he got drowsy, he should have moved to a different spot.

When are you Eutychus? 
When do find yourself in situations where you need a second chance?

It was good that Eutychus had come to the gathering on Sunday - he needed to be there. And as it was, it ended up being a day he'll never forget. He got a second chance that Sunday. His life would never be the same. His family would never be the same.

Every Sunday YOU get a second chance, depending on what you do with the day. Every Sunday you get a chance to start over again, to press the reset button, and walk out the doors with a new breathe of life in you.

When are you Eutychus? When will you let others help you? When you fall, will you let others lift you up? When you make stupid decisions, will you let others tell you the truth? When you are wandering and confused, will you let others take your hand?

When are you lucky? They say that luck equals preparation plus opportunity. What are you preparing for? What is the opportunity that you are preparing for? Are you preparing for a life of generosity and forgiveness and sacrifice and joy and beauty and freedom? Or are you squandering your days with self-indulgement, pettiness, envy, and a big chip on your shoulder?

Every Sunday you can get a second chance. Paul died a long time ago, so if you fall out a window he won't be there to rescue you. But Jesus is still around. The Same Spirit that was upon him is the Same Spirit here with you - to speak to you, to inspire you, to convict you, to guide you, to lift you up. This Same Spirit often works through other disciples of Jesus - and when these disciples gather each Sunday in the name of Christ... well good things can happen. And when you need some good things to happen in your life, when you need a second chance, finding a gathering of believers could be just the thing you need.

Be Eutychus. Take the second chances given to you. Be lucky. Prepare for greatness. Look for opportunities to do good. Let God use you to help others make the most of their second chances.

You Can't?

What's your story about yourself?
Is your story mostly full of what you've been told you can't do? Or do you have a track record of what you can do? Are you a "can't" or "can" kind of person? At work, at home, at church, at school - you'll get presented with challenges, problems, big frustrations that will stretch you and require you to step up or sit down.

A part of you will want to quit, to complain, to resist - you can't see yourself overcoming. But there's another side of you that wants to succeed, you want to achieve, you want to accomplish - you want to think you can. You're just not sure if you have it in you, you don't like how hard the scenario has become, you're a little afraid of what might happen if you fail.

Becoming indispensable in your marriage, with your kids, where you work, at your school, in your church, where you live - it's about focusing on what you can do. There will be a thousand problems you'll have to work through in the next year - don't let the painful problems of life deter you from doing the next right thing. A linchpin helps the people around them do the next right thing - even when it's really hard, even when others think they can't do it.

Don't tell me you can't be a better husband or wife.

Don't tell me you can't be a better father or mother.

Don't tell me you can't be a better son or daughter.

Don't tell me you can't make a better contribution at work.

Don't tell me you can't make a bigger difference in your church.

Don't tell me you can't improve your efforts at school.

Don't tell me you can't strengthen your relationship.

Maybe you don't want to because it's too hard, or you don't feel like it's worth it, or you're too tired to keep trying. But can't? You can't become indispensable? You can't become a linchpin? Really?

You can.


Here's an excerpt from Godin's book, Linchpin. Read it...

At the age of four, you were an artist.
And at seven, you were a poet.
And by the time you were twelve, if you had a lemonade stand, you were an entrepreneur.
Of course you can do something that matters. I guess I'm wondering if you want to.

There may be a voice in your head that is ready to announce that you can't possibly do what I'm describing. You don't have what it takes; you're not smart enough or trained enough or (sheesh) gifted enough to pull this off.

I'd like to ask for a simple clarification.

You can't - or you don't want to?


I'll accept the second. It's quite possible that you don't want to. It's possible that making this commitment is too scary or too much work. It's possible that it appears too risky to put yourself on the line and make a commitment to becoming indispensable. A commitment like this raises the bar, and for some people, that might be too high.

Perhaps you don't want to because it feels financially irresponsible. I think that's an error in judgment on your part, since becoming a linchpin is in fact the most responsible choice you can make. But that's your call, and if you decide you don't want to, fine with me.

But can't?

I don't buy that for a second.

~ Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, p32

Sweatrags and Workaprons

Do you ever feel powerless?

Do ever wish that someone would come along, help lift you up out of your situation, help you start over?

Do you ever wonder why God doesn't do more to help you out of your powerlessness?

God has a way of meeting people in their powerlessness, but it's often in unexpected ways. In the ancient Middle East where Paul traveled and preached, to be sick or crippled was a guarantee of poverty and hardship. As if life weren't difficult enough, you became a burden on others, you were forced to beg and starve, you eked out some kind of existence on the margins of society.

When Paul showed up in Ephesus to preach the gospel, he set up shop. He was a leather-man by trade, making tents to make ends meet. At the end of the work day, he'd close up shop and head over to the synagogue to argue and converse with his fellow Jews. For whatever reason, some Christians snuck into Paul's workspace and swiped his sweatrags and filthy workaprons. In an unpredictable move, they headed out for the slums and streetcorners, tracking down all their friends and neighbors who were sick, crippled, and demon-possessed. Taking the sweatrag or workapron, they'd touch the skin of whoever they found, the result was complete healing, freedom, new start!
Amazing!

Why did God do it this way? One thing we've learned about God, whatever he does - it requires faith. He's not going to work in you, through you, or for you in such a way that you don't need to trust him more. The Christians who were prompted to sneak into Paul's shop had to trust the Spirit that this crazy idea would work. The beggars had to trust that the sweatrag would bring about a new beginning. People who heard the story had to have faith that it was true. To trust Jesus is the whole point!


Do you want to be used by God to help others? 

Do you ever wish God would do powerful things through you on behalf of the powerless? 

Then you'll need to trust him more when he gives you prompts to do the little things for others during the day. You'll have to dig deeper for more faith to take the risk to be more generous, more gracious, more patient, more forgiving, more open-hearted. If you want to be helpful to others in the name of Jesus, you'll have to be willing to sacrifice, endure more hardship - even suffer for the Name of Jesus. Nothing great is ever done in the name of Jesus without walking through the valley of the shadow of death.

You have friends who are afraid, alone, confused, frustrated, beaten down, wandering. (If you don't have friends like that, then shame on you.) Don't be scared to help them. Be open to what unexpected things God might prompt you to do to meet them in their powerlessness. Only by God's strength can you help lift them up and out of their dire circumstances. Through the wisdom of God, the compassion of Christ and the guidance of the Spirit, we believers can do great things to help our neighbors, family, friends and enemies.

But do you want God to do great things through you? 

Think About Failure Differently

You might fail.

Of course you might. In fact you will. Not all the time, certainly, but more than you'd like.

And when you fail, then what?

Successful people are successful for one simple reason: they think about failure differently.

Successful people learn from failure, but the lesson they learn is a different one.  They don't learn that they shouldn't have tried in the first place, and they don't learn that they are always right and the world is wrong and the don't learn that they are losers. They learn that the tactics they used didn't work or that the person they used them on didn't respond.

You become a winner because you're good at losing.

The hard part about losing is that you might permit it to give strength to the resistance, that you might believe that you don't deserve to win, that you might, in some dark corner of your soul, give up.

Don't.

~ Seth Godin, Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?, pgs 114-115


What have you been failing at lately? 

What are you telling yourself about those failures? Is it hardening your heart? Is it weakening your knees? Is it sapping your strength?

Do you permit yourself to fail? Do you hold the bar of perfection above your head? Or have you too easily accepted failure, are you too comfortable with it? It's just become a way of life.

Failure is always an option, but so is success. You can choose to set yourself up for failure, or you can choose to set yourself up for success. You can fail as you figure out success, or you can fail with no real intent on success. You can get help and work towards being more successful in your relationships and tasks of life, and experience failure along the way. Or you can not reach out for help, not try to make some good changes in your life, and thus fail - just like you were afraid you would do.

Don't beat yourself up over your failures. Learn from them. And then move on, try to do something different next time. Just don't give up on those people and tasks - the ones that need you to succeed.

Think about failure differently.

Sneering & the Resurrection

In the religious world, new ideas are not welcome. Religion relies heavily on tradition. Religion also needs power. New ideas challenge the accepted tradition, and they undermine existing power structures. Jesus challenged the religion of his people, he confronted many of their traditions and he subverted their power structures. Paul challenged the religion of many pagans, and he threatened their power structures. Jesus did this through reinterpreting Torah through this command: Love God and Love Your Neighbor as yourself. Paul did this through preaching about the resurrection of Jesus.

Paul shows up in Athens one day, a religious Greek city chock full of idols to their many, many, many gods and goddesses. This is too much for Paul. As he wanders around, his heart fills up with righteous anger and deep compassion. Idolatry is a form of slavery. Somebody, somewhere is benefitting from the masses devotion to deities that don't exist. Idolatry dulls your mind and heart to the truth, it provides false explanations for why the world is the way it is. Idolatry focuses on religious fear and submission and fate and chance and despair.

And Paul can see through the deception. As a Jew, he grew up with a fierce devotion to YHWH, and thus a strong belief in monotheism - there are no other gods but the LORD. As a Christian, Paul had come to terms with the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah of Israel. In light of these beliefs and events, Paul couldn't stay quiet about all the alters to Zeus and Hermes and Apollo and Poseidon and Artemis and Aphrodite and on and on and on.

Luke presents a summary version of what Paul actually said there in Athens, in the marketplace. Paul confronted their religions, he confronted their beliefs about the gods and goddesses, and he presented a compelling vision of the God of Israel, the one True God. As smart as Paul was, his response was still mixed - some believed, some wanted to hear more before making a decision, and others sneered. Here's what interesting: the sneering started when Paul got to the resurrection. Why?

Hardly anybody believed in resurrection. When you die, you die. Maybe there's reincarnation, but once your body quits, that's it. Maybe your soul will live on in some shady underworld, or wander the dark places of the earth in exile, but there is no bodily resurrection. Or is there?

When Paul presents the idea of resurrection, insisting that Jesus of Nazareth had plenty of eyewitnesses to give account of the event, people snort and sneer. Incredulous!

But what if there is a bodily resurrection? What then? And what if Jesus really was resurrected, what then? We don't know all that Paul said in his address to the Athenians, but we know they were startled by the idea of resurrection. They were probably rattled by everything Paul said, since his challenge to them went to the core of everything they believed. Paul presented to them a new way of seeing the world, another set of lens through which to perceive reality.

Below is a list of the different ideas/beliefs that came up in Paul's sermon. Read through them and make a note of what your position would be on each one of them. Get a sense of what you believe, how strongly you believe it, and consider the "so what" factor. From Paul's point of view, what you believe shapes how you live. For him, the "so what" factor was huge. As you work your way through the list, consider how strong the connection is between what you currently believe about God and how you live in everyday life.


God’s Existence Can Be Proven Beyond Doubt
****Proven With Some Doubt
****Unprovable

I am Convinced of God’s Existence
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that the Invisible God Can be Known
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that the Untouchable God Wants to be Found
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Is Always Near to Everyone Everywhere
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Currently Feel Very Close to God
***Feel Somewhat Close
***Feel Somewhat Distant
***Feel Distant
***Feel Far Away
***No Feeling

I Am Convinced that God Created the Universe and Set it in Motion
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Wants Us to Always Do What is Good and Right
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Will Always Help Us Always Do What is Good and Right
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Will Someday Set Everything Right
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Resurrected Jesus From the Dead
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that Jesus’ Resurrection Began God’s Setting Everything Right
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that God Works through Jesus-ians to Set Things Right
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that Someday God Will Resurrect Me From the Dead
****Kind of Convinced
****Completely Unconvinced

I Am Convinced that Jesus Will Someday Judge Us According to All Our Deeds
****Kind of Convinced

****Completely Unconvinced

Soccer in the Rain

It was a beautiful week. Sunshine. Blue skies. Pleasant breeze. And then Saturday woke up grey. As we loaded up the van, the sprinkling started. As we pulled up to the soccer fields, the rain came down harder. A wet field is always more fun for soccer then a dry one, but it's lousy for the fans! Fortunately, the kids were happy just to be out with their friends, ready to run around kick the soccer ball.

This is our team. I'm the coach, Emma's my assistant coach, and Eli is Emma's assistant. 

I'm not sure what my assistant coach is doing. 

The team is practicing their long kicks.

Levi is all smiles - he's got some classmates on his team, 

plus a friend from the spring soccer team!

I put my assistant and her assistant to work. They had to stand still next to the pylon. 

The players had to run at the goal and shoot the ball between my assistant coaches. 

Eli did a great job of being a statue. Emma had a hard time keeping still.

The best part of the soccer game? The snacks at the end!

After an hour of soccer, we were all pretty wet. Isaac played the last quarter with his coat on. 

Poor Aunt Faye was more wet then Levi, and she had an umbrella!

Your Story

Everybody has an interesting story. It's the details that make your life fascinating. The details of the risks that you have taken, the pains you have inflicted, the hardships you have endured, the adventures you have attempted, the struggles you have embraced, the tensions you live with - this is what makes your story compelling.

When Paul meets Timothy, he invites this mama's boy to leave home and join them on their trek through the wastelands and craggy trails of central Turkey. Timothy tended towards timidity, but his mama let him go, and his story was never the same. When Paul meets Lydia, he invites her to trust Jesus - the risky next step for a pagan woman who had become a believer in the God of Israel. She's a prosperous merchant in the market for royal purple dye. She runs in circles of competitive wealth, she's without a family, and she is lonely. Her story is never the same after she joins the way of Jesus.

When Paul is confronted by a slavegirl who tells fortunes, he sets her free. Her story transitions swiftly from a life of cruelty to one of open possibilities. While she is still steeped in poverty, she is welcomed to walk into a new way of life - it's likely she was welcomed by Lydia. When Paul is approached by the pleading jailer for a way to be saved, the irony is not lost on him. The jailer stays a jailer, but he does so with a changed heart, a new perspective on what humans can become in the midst of adversity.

Paul becomes a catalyst for life-change - his entry into someone's story inevitably results in a new chapter. Whatever the story has been, it becomes obvious that the next set of paragraphs can head in another direction. The beginning of the story is the source of the tension and pain, and the transitioning sentences only serve to heighten the interest in the story: now that Jesus has come into the picture, what is possible?

Where ever you are at in your story, whether you think it's been a boring life, or an unfair one; whether you think your story is too full of shame for Jesus to enter into or if you're feeling pretty good about your story and have no real need for Him - God's still there on the margins. Timothy grew up in the synagogues, Lydia was a pagan long before she became a follower of Israel's God. The slavegirl was abused for too long before she discovered Paul, and the jailer had put in a lot of time before his moment of crisis. Even with all those long chapters where it seemed that God was nonexistent, or even against them, at some point Jesus intervened. Through Paul. Through someone who had their own pain-filled, tension-full story.

If Jesus is part of your story, let him use your story to help others open up to the way of Jesus. If your story has it's own chapters of hardships, but you're still a little skeptical about the whole Jesus-thing, don't discount the stories of those who have found hope and healing through Jesus. The stories are out there of how Jesus changes the direction of a story.

And when you need some changes in the plot of your life, God will be there to show you the way. Through someone you probably already know, someone how you care about, someone you respect, someone who's story can be helpful to you.

Are You Indispensable at Work?

This book is different. It's about a choice and it's about your life. This choice doesn't require you to quit your job, though it challenges you to rethink how you do your job.

The system we grew up with is a mess. It's falling apart at the seams and a lot of people I care about are in pain because the things we thought would work don't. Every day I meet people who have so much to give but have been bullied enough or frightened enough to hold it back. They have become victims, pawns in a senseless system that uses them up and undervalues them.

It's time to stop complying with the system and draw your own map.

Stop settling for what is good enough and start creating art that matters. Stop asking what's in it for you and start giving gifts that change people. Then, and only then, will you have achieved your potential.

For hundreds of years, the population has been seduced, scammed, and brainwashed into fitting in, following instructions, and exchanging a day's work for a day's pay. That era has come to an end and just in time.

You have brilliance in you, and your contribution is valuable, and the art you create is precious. Only you can do it, and you must. I'm hoping you'll stand up and choose to make a difference.

I like my work. I have a great job. And yet there is still the need to be reminded: create art that matters! There are those times where I get focused on the numbers, on the pay, on the benefits - on what I get out of my work. But I know that what makes my job most meaningful to me flows out of the meaningful work I do for others. And Seth Godin is imploring us to make our work a gift of art that makes a difference.

Whatever your job is, you can do it with a smile and a touch of humanity, you can go the extra mile - not because you want job security or to brown-nose the customer or impress your fellow employees. You perceive your tasks as opportunities to present a gift to the recipient because you don't want to feel like a cog in a wheel, you want to be fully human. You do your job with an attitude of art: there is craftsmanship involved in the details of your work, in how you interact with other humans.


Either you settle and punch the clock and gripe about your boss, OR you view your job as a platform to impact the lives of other humans, speaking words of kindness and helpfulness, serving customers and fellow employees with dignity and respect. The workplace doesn't have to beat you down, you don't have to let others suck your humanity out of you. You can make a choice - that is what makes you full alive!


This is what makes you a Linchpin, that indispensable person at work - your attitude, your humanity, your gifts. For some of you, it won't take much effort to stand out and become indispensable. For others, your efforts at becoming a Linchpin will raise the bar for everyone - and that's the kind of difference that makes you indispensable. Because of you, stuff happens, good stuff - stuff that comes from the choices you make with your attitude, your artwork.