Rizzi Checks In

I got a voice mail from Karizma today.

We have a third cell phone that is technically Koke's. He uses it when he's playing around the neighborhood so we can call him home for meals or to remind him that it is dark. (It's amazing hoe often he doesn't notice.)

But today Koke didn't have any pockets so we put Karizma in charge of it. What's obvious is that Karizma doesn't have a reason to call, but she calls because she wants to use the phone and she wants to make sure that she's doing okay.

Isn't that a great metaphor for prayer?

How often do we take for granted that we have the opportunity to speak directly to God? Karizma doesn't get to use the phone much so she is just loving the chance to use it. We should constantly be reminding ourselves of the amazing privilege that prayer is. It should be a toy that we delight in constantly. We should offer prayers to God just because we can and we delight in the fact that God hears us.

But second, Rizzi is calling just to check in. She's not hurt. She's not lost. She's not even wanting to come home. She just wants to say, "Hi." If only our prayers were so routine. I tend to pray about the big things and assume that God wants me to handle the day-to-day stuff on my own. Let alone praying just to say Hi. We should offer more "meaningless" prayers. Relatinoships are built as much in the everyday stuff as the major life-events.

I need to pray more like Rizzi leaves voice mails...and besides...isn't that the cutest little voice ever?

Jingle Bell Run

Toni, Koke, Toni & I are running together in the Jingle Bell run this year. The Jingle Bell Run is a 5k that raises money to help fight arthritis. If you're interested in helping our team or donating to a great cause, click on the link below. Thanks!

2010 Jingle Bell Run/Walk - Normal, IL - Team Statistics

Lightning Delay

It’s Monday night and I’m sitting in my basement watching the ESPN crew fill time because the Vikings/Jets game is delayed by lighting. First of all, I was shocked that they delay professional football games due to lightning. That just feels like something you do for youth soccer, not the most watched professional sport in the country.

As a high school soccer referee I have some experience with weather delays. By rule we have to suspend the game if we see any lightning. It has happened to me four times this season alone. The problem is that in central Illinois we have a lot of afternoon storms and the land is so flat that I can literally see storms in Missouri! Only once of those four delays did I feel that there was any actual danger...the rest of the time we were riding out a storm two counties over.

But it got me thinking..There’s a fine line between practical and reasonable caution and paralyzing paranoia. It’s easy to cover our own insecurities in the faux wisdom of “discretion being the better part of valor.” Too many times I know exactly the action that I should take but I delay just out of fear.

The reality is that there will always be storms on the horizon and I will always be able to find excuses not to do what I know I should. The secret is having the wisdom to discern if those are my storms to manage or just my excuse not to get back on the field and finish the game.

Well, gotta go...they are about to kick-off.

Leadership

I've been thinking about leadership lately. My new job is all about leadership. Overseeing a nursing home is a daily battle of resident expectations, employee concerns, government regulations, corporate directives, and opportunities to really minister to marginalized people. But to be successful at any of it, I'm becoming more and more aware that I need to be a better leader.

• I need to spend 90% of my brain listening and 10% formulating my response...not the other way around.
• I need to know that most of the time a complainer just needs to be heard, not told why their complaint is invalid.
• I need to understand the perspective of women better!!!
• I need to see every interaction as a opportunity to tell the story I want our nursing home to be known for.
• I need to be invest in patience now so I can spend in boldness later.
• I need expertise in everything, especially relying on real experts.
• I need to know that true leadership is accepting the responsibility for things that aren't your fault.
• I need to focus on the opportunities in the future and not make excuses because of the failures of the past.

But Most of all...I need to trust that God put me here, so God will empower me here, so I should shut up, let Him, and stop worrying so much about it.

There's a verse that is carved into the cornerstone of our facility.

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. -Psalm 71:9 (KJV)

I really like that...

Today's Haiku

Cracked screen and all
The web in 3.5 inches
Love my iPod touch

Sent from my iPod.

Be Better or Be Transformed?

Today's sermon from Luke 6:43-45 was all about inside-out change. Toni I had a good conversation about whether we change because we do better things, or whether we do better things because God changes us.

I believe that the good fruit that comes from the good heart Jesus was talking about has nothing to do with us changing ourselves. Jesus is pretty clear that our natural hearts are pretty rotten (Mark 7:20-22). It reminded me of something I wrote so I thought I would post it here.

Too often the way we explain the “plan” of salvation is dominated by our own actions. I believe. I repent. I confess. But regeneration isn’t a checklist of tasks to complete. There is no recipe for salvation.

In fact we as individuals are doing the least amount of work. It is God and God alone who initiates, sustains, and completes the regeneration of Christians.

This is why the birth metaphor is so vital to our understanding. I have been present at the births of my children and a significant amount of work was done to bring them into the world. Doctors oversaw the progress. Nurses provided help and comfort. Anesthesiologists administered medication. I was a very effective cheerleader. Sure, my wife had a small role as well. The only person who didn’t really do anything was the baby. In fact, because of his size and position during the birth, my son was actually working against being born.

Our being born again is just as passive an experience as my son’s birth was for him. John tells us that when we are born again, we are born “not of blood nor of the will of a man, but of God.” Paul would say it this way in Ephesians: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing, it is a gift of God.”

This can be so hard for us to hear. As humans, we have a very active role in our own lives. We correct problems. We take action. We fix what is broken. So, we are uncomfortable with the idea that the most important transformation in our lives is out of our control.

But this is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Before we truly experience the new life that comes from being born again, we must stop trying to birth ourselves. We can’t pray enough. We can’t worship enough. We can’t serve enough. That is not how it works.

We must stop trying to make God love us and embrace the fact that He already does. We must stop trying to make ourselves feel transformed and rely on God to make us new.

If you're interested in getting a copy of "The Call," click here. It is a 30 day devotional study for personal discipleship.