Purpose Driven Confession

"Today I am stepping across the line. I’m tired of waffling and I’m finished with wavering, I’ve made my choice, the verdict is in, and my decision is irrevocable. I’m going God’s way. There’s no turning back now!
I will live the rest of my life serving God’s purposes with God’s people on God’s planet for God’s glory. I will use my life to celebrate his presence, cultivate his character, participate in his family, demonstrate his love, and communicate his Word.
Since my past has been forgiven, and I have a purpose for living, and a home awaiting in heaven, I refuse to waste any more time or energy on shallow living, petty thinking, trivial talking, thoughtless doing, useless regretting, hurtful resenting, or faithless worrying. Instead I will magnify God, grow to maturity, serve in ministry, and fulfill my mission in the membership of his family.
Because this life is preparation for the next, I will value worship over wealth, “we” over “me,” character over comfort, service over status, and people over possessions, position, and pleasures. I know what matters most, and I’ll give it all I’ve got. I’ll do the best I can with what I have for Jesus Christ today.
I won’t be captivated by culture, manipulated by critics, motivated by praise, frustrated by problems, debilitated by temptation, or intimidated by the devil. I’ll keep running my race with my eyes on the goal, not the sidelines or those running by me. When times get tough, and I get tired, I won’t back up, back off, back down, back out, or backslide. I’ll just keep moving forward by God’s grace. I’m Spirit-led, purpose driven, and mission-focused, so I cannot be bought, I will not be compromised, and I shall not quit until I finish the race.
I’m a trophy of God’s amazing grace, so I will be gracious to everyone, grateful for every day, and generous"

- THE PURPOSE DRIVEN DECLARATION


I had one of those "light bulb" moments yesterday. For long time now Rick Warren's book "The Purpose Driven" life has irked me not because I don't agree with it but because everything in it seems so obvious that I can't believe people haven't already figured that stuff out. Then it dawned on me it's not Warren I have a problem with, it's the people who make his book a necessity that bug me. I've been thinking about Rick a lot since seeing him at Exponential, the guy is the real deal. Granted I didn't talk to him personally but I tend to be really good at reading people and he was genuine. So I had to repent of being torqued with him and got torqued with the morons who need the book instead. (Just kidding, I love them and nurture them the same way I would want to be.) Of course all of this made me think of Matt Chandler's article "Ned Flanders and me" which I've posted below. Because no matter how many times you read it, it never hurts to go back and read it again. :)


Ned Flanders and Me
Author: Matt Chandler
POSTED ON: 11.22.06



I have a confession to make and I hope it doesn't make you think less of me. Ned Flanders and I have become friends. It hasn't always been this way. For years before I began to pastor a church I knew just what the problem was in American evangelical culture, and it wasn't sin, it was church people, it was Ned and his friends. The "frozen chosen" I think I have heard them called. They were old, tired, non missional, unmoved by the gospel, and thought the Left Behind movies were a great idea. They had driven our precious Lord's bride into the ground and deserved at least to be mocked in our young, hip, missional conversations and sermons and maybe even killed in some sort of Old Testament fashion. I used to think that when my time came to Pastor I didn't want or need any of them. I just wanted to see people saved. I didn't want to "swap sheep" in fact maybe we wouldn't let anyone join the church that was trying to come to us from another church in town. I could see us now, raw, gritty, authentic, and somewhat angry but not enough to be called sin, tattooed and rough around the edges. Ned would hate it, but we would reclaim the gospel he and his cronies had taken and perverted into this withdrawn, judgmental joke. We would see the lost saved and develop them ourselves.

In December 2002 my time had arrived to Pastor and I came to The Village with all the ignorance and arrogance of a 28 year old with all the answers and few questions and immediately began learning that I was an idiot. Over the last four years I have been challenged, refined, chiseled and rebuked. And somehow in the middle of all of that Ned and I became good friends. It started over a cup of coffee (and I'm not speaking in code here. Ned does not and will never have a beer with me). I started learning some things about him over that cup of coffee. First of all, we are very different. He loves Sandy Patty records, has 5 icthus' on his car (one of each member of his family) and only watches the PAX network on television. As I learned all this about him I wondered how we could co-exist or honestly even have a conversation, but then the strangest of things happened we found some common ground. It seems that Ned and I have, as hard as this is to say, some similar passions. I found out that day that Ned loves both the church and Jesus very much. On top of that he wants with all his heart to see his neighbor, Homer, come to know Christ, and prays for him constantly. It was a shocking revelation to me. The problem that I thought plagued us wasn't the problem at all.

It's a strange thing to wake up and find out you are the very thing you hated and rebelled against to begin with. Judging men not by the content of their souls but by how they dress, talk and drink. I was expected when I came to know Jesus to wear a suit on Sunday, part my hair on the side and then hairspray it down, quit drinking completely and learn to speak "Christianese" fluently. If I did those things I was welcomed and loved if not, I was the outcast. I find it heartbreaking that I have tendencies to do the same to others. The expectations have changed, it's not a suit it's an un-tucked shirt, it's not your hair parted down the side it's messy hair that you spent 15 minutes making look messy. But it's the same madness, the same judgments, and the same sin that plagued my fathers before me. We think our methods are the methods instead of a method. So Ned and I are friends. We fight a lot, usually over philosophy of ministry and volume of music, but on weekends like last weekend when we baptize dozens and dozens of grown men and women I can see him back there, last row on the left earplugs in, surrounded by raw, gritty, authentic, and somewhat angry but not enough to be called sin, tattooed and rough around the edges people and he loves the place and I think he might even like me.

I have a two year plan! (We'll see how long this lasts.) :)

I've decided what to do with myself for the next two years. In January I'm going to move on campus at Ball State (Go Cards!) and finish my B.A. in History. Lord willing assuming everything goes the way it should, (Emphasis on SHOULD) I'll graduate ether in the fall of 2009 or spring of 2010. After that I get to try and figure out what do next. (again) I have some ideas but two years is a long time which means almost everything will have changed by then so we'll just see what happens.

Also I moved back in with mom and dad this past week because, well it's a long story but the bottom line is I had to go somewhere and they were the best option.

Which is why I'm sitting in Panera typing this. Besides the fact that it's a good excuse to get a blueberry scone. Who thought up the word "scone" all it really is is a triangle shaped biscuit. But anybody who knows anything about marketing knows the name triangle shaped biscuit just isn't going to sell, so we have scone. (It just sounds British doesn't it? I swear I'd break out in an accent right now, except I'm drinking Pepsi with it which is probably my saving grace.) Yes boys and girls, Pepsi and blueberry scones, the breakfast of champions. lol :)

Well I should probably get a move on, I still have things to do today, ciao.

Keep Your Hands Open

The devotional below is the result of everything that's happened over that last six weeks combined with the fact that I ended up listening to Matt Chandler's sermon on Missional Living 4 times yesterday. (Go to The Village Churches website using the link in the sidebar and listen to it for yourself.) The story I open with happened about a year and a half ago but this is the first time I've said anything about it to anyone. I hope some of you find it as helpful as it was for me to write it.

~JR~


Keep your hands open. He had just got done giving me a simple but profound sermonette and this was his punch line, keep your hands open.

I had been trying to be more loving towards the homeless as I had opportunity and this guy had pulled up on his bike as I walked out of Dairy Queen and asked for some money to buy a burger. Normally I don’t give money to people like this because I know there’s a good chance they’ll use it to get stoned, or drunk, or both but there was something about this particular man that didn’t seem normal. I could have gone in and bought him the burger but I was tired and had to get up early the next morning so I didn't really want to put that much effort into the situation but I figured I could watch him go in the DQ in my review mirror and see if he actually bought food or not. So I opened my wallet, I was going to just give him a couple of bucks but right there on top was a 20 and I could see his eyes light up. “Crap” I thought to myself “there’s no good way to talk my way out of this, I’m going to have to give it to him. Oh well, he probably needs it more then I do anyway.” So I handed it to him and he launched into his sermon, to be honest I don’t remember much about it except at the very end he took my hand and made me open it, put the 20 in it and said “you have to keep your hands open for God to be able to put things in them.” Then he looked me dead in the eyes, smiled, and said “but you already know that, don’t you?” I wasn’t sure what to say, so I just smiled and nodded. He put the 20 back in his pocket and walked away. I got in the car, looked in the review mirror, and he was gone. I couldn’t find him anywhere, there was no way he could have taken off that fast, had he been an angel?

I don’t know, I probably never will know for sure but the principle of keeping my hands open has stuck with me and over time it’s developed into a way of life. The thing you have to remember about keeping your hands open though is that it’s not just about getting, it’s about receiving God’s decisions in all your life. Keeping my hands open means giving God full access to every part of my life, not just the ones where I want help. It’s easy to keep your hands open when God gives you something you like, but sometimes keeping your hands open means letting God take things out of them that you’d rather keep or receiving things you don‘t want. As Job 2:10 says “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" So keeping my hands open isn’t about getting what I want but rather acknowledging that every circumstance in my life comes from my heavenly Father which means it’s for my benefit.

Jesus pictured the hands open principle just prior to his crucifixion in Luke 22:42 when He prayed "Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." Jesus kept his hands open to the point of willingly accepting his death. What did He receive in return? Eternal glory and honor. We were also blessed by His living with his hands open. It’s only through Jesus life, death, and resurrection that are sins are paid for. That leads to another reason we should live with our hands open, the benefit of others. When we keep our hands open and let God give and take things as He sees fit we are less likely to become attached to the things of this world and more likely to share with others around us, allowing us to bless them and encouraging them in ways we may never realize.

So instead of arguing with God the next time He does something we don’t like we should thank Him for the good things He has given us and ask ourselves, “What is God trying to teach me with this? How is this making me more like Jesus? Who can I bless through this?” That’s what living open handed is all about.

I should be asleep right now

It's 5 in the morning I should be asleep but I'm not. I've dozed off and on all night, plus I took a couple of long naps yesterday so I feel pretty good. Right now I'm listening to Matt Chandler's sermon from the 11th on Missional living. I love listening to Chandler, he's an amazing speaker and a gifted teacher. You should really listen to him sometime, any of his stuff is worth listening to if you get the chance.

27 and counting

So, I'm 27 now. I have to be honest, I could really care less. I doubt I'll do anything to celebrate today. Chris and Sara are throwing a party for me tomorrow but since the Homeschoolers had their graduation today everybody's busy. Of course that did mean I got to see all my friends today so it works. :)

I feel like I should write something more but I'm tired and unmotivated so this is it for now.

Hitting the wall

I seem to have yet again hit the wall. I try to sit still, but then something gets waved in front of me so I go after it as hard as I can and inevitably plow into another wall. Today is one of those days where I wish I had never heard about church planting. I'm so tired of trying and never getting anywhere. It's always darkest before the dawn though, eventually everything will work out.

What it's really like to be grown up

Today was one of those days that you never think about as a kid. You know, the days when being a grown up is "boring." I went grocery shopping, cleaned the dishes, took out the trash, and still have to go to work tonight. (Yes, kids it's one big party. WOO-HOO!) :) The highlight of the day was making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and watching Chuck on Hulu. I enjoyed it though mostly 'cause it makes me laugh to think about how naive I was as a kid. Somehow I envisioned myself going to parties every night of the week and just hanging out being "cool", whatever that meant. Now my idea of cool is getting wheat bread buy one get one free. I almost did the happy dance right there in the bakery isle. Until I remembered that a.) I'm white b.) it's just bread and c.) I'm in the middle of Mejier.



Thinking about doing "boring" stuff reminds me of Acts 16:11-12.(No, I'm not a freak of nature I just read it a day or two ago.) Luke gives what seems to be really pointless information about their traveling. "So, setting sail from Troas, we made a direct voyage to Samothrace, and the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city some days" - ESV. I'm always struck by how mundane this all sounds. Why is this even in the Bible? Are Paul's traveling habit's that important? But I stop and think about what the Bible is all about, Jesus, and it takes a slightly different appearance. Jesus was there with them in the middle of all that. The boring, everyday, unexciting routine of life. Just like He was there with me while I was shopping for bread, washing dishes, and eating PB&J. Also the fact that they were able to do all that uneventfully shows God's protection. They didn't get caught in any major storms, pirates didn't attack their ship, and nobody got sea sick. Similarly today I didn't get in a wreck, cut or poke myself doing the dishes, and I'm very thankful that I'm not allergic to peanuts. So really far from being boring this is actually a fairly comforting passage. It shows that God is always there with us not just when there's some big miracle, but when we're able to get out of bed in the morning and make it through a whole day without anything seriously awful happening that's cause for praise too.

Rock and roll

Today was pretty busy. Got off work and went to my preaching class, came home and slept for awhile. After I woke up I took my mom to Marget's 90th birthday and then to Marshalls to run errands. I went out to Grandpa and Grandma's and visited them before going on to watch Zephyr at Knightstown high school playing a fund raiser for Riley children's hospital.

Right now I'm watching Saturday Night Live and just relaxing before tomorrow and everything that goes with Mother's Day.

First "real" post

I was going to go hear Brian McLaren speak tonight but...., I was tired and I didn't want to see him that bad anyway.

It never fails to amaze me how things can change so fast. Just when I thought I knew what all my options were a new one shows up on my doorstep. How nice. Some times I feel like my life is God's own personal Comedy Central. That's not a complaint, just an observation. (Be honest, you've felt like that some time today.) :) Anyway, please pray for me I could have a big life change coming up.

I'm reading an amazing book right now by John Stott titled "The Living Church." It is by far the best book on what the church should look like that I've read. Stott takes both sides of the argument and blends them amazingly well, very impressive.

It's almost time for the last episode of Scrubs to come on. (Not a not a huge fan, but I like it and it is the last show ever.) Then The Office and then get ready for work. (Third shift's the bomb.) :)

Later all.

Well, let's see if I can make this blogging thing stick. :) I'm going to try and update this at least once a week. I'll put a "real" post here soon, I promise.