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Archive - June, 2010

Where Is God When Things Fall Apart?

June 8, 2010 in God, Plan B, Spiritual Growth with 22 Comments

I wrote an article for the latest issue of Relevant Magazine entitled Where Is God When Things Fall Apart?

Here’s a portion of the article…

Eight years ago, I started a new job and on the very first day of that new job, I knew it wasn’t a good fit. I remember putting my head on the desk and thinking, Pete, what have you done? I’d left a job I loved working at a church I’d helped start. I’d only made the move because I believed it was what God wanted me to do. I’d believed it was God pushing me out of that proverbial comfort zone.

“I thought this was your will,” I’d pray. “I thought this is what you wanted me to do. What am I missing? How did I screw this up?”

Just a little over a year later, I resigned from that job. Discouraged, bitter and confused, the only thing I knew for sure was that I never planned on working in a church ever again.

To my surprise, the next few months proved to be more difficult than the previous ones. Overwhelmed with questions about God, my calling and the Church in general, I felt lost.

At some point during those hard months, a friend met me for coffee. Right in the middle of my complaining to him about all I was going through, he looked at me and said: “Pete, do you think you’re the only person who has experienced disappointment with God? I hate to break it to you, but all of us face moments in life when we feel as though God doesn’t show up like we thought He would.”

Contrary to what you may have thought as a kid, life is full of disappointments. And those disappointments can leave you wondering if God is still involved in your life. And if He is involved, what He’s doing exactly

(CLICK HERE to continue reading the article)

No Strings Attached

June 7, 2010 in Spiritual Growth with 42 Comments

We’ve spent the last three weeks in a series entitled “People of the Second Chance.” I wanted to say a special thanks to Mike and Jud for their ministry which is the inspiration behind the series. They’ve modeled what radical grace looks like for the entire Kingdom.

Yesterday, I spend the majority of my time talking about the parallels between the father in Luke 15 and our Father in Heaven.

I’m still blown away by beautiful picture Jesus gives us of the heart of God. It erases so many of the misconceptions we have.

Here’s my favorite part of the passage in Luke 15…

21″The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 22″But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

These symbols prove full forgiveness and restoration of the son to his prior status. The robe is a sign of great distinction, the ring the sign of authority, the sandals a luxury (only slaves were barefooted) and the slaughter of the fattened calf the sign of a very important celebration in the family.

This is not only radical grace, but complete restoration.

Please hear this: SIN DOES NOT MAKE YOU SECOND CLASS.

Too often the church today wants to offer…

limited grace

conditional grace

strings attached grace.

It’s “You’re forgiven but we’re going to be keeping an eye one you.”

It’s “You’re welcome back in the church but you’ll never be able to be in ministry again.”

Can I just say that when God looks at you he doesn’t see a

prodigal

servant

or screw up.

He sees His son…His daughter…

complete

whole

forgiven

restored…completely.

No strings attached.

I’ll Never…

June 6, 2010 in Random Fun with 39 Comments

Earlier this week I had the honor of speaking at Morgantown Community Church in Morgantown, KY. MCC will always have a special place in my heart as on this very day 14 years ago I had the opportunity to help start and then pastor this wonderful church for five years.

That makes me feel a bit old. I saw kids in the youth group on Wednesday night that I visited in the hospital when they were born. That’s crazy! I can’t be that old!!

I also had the wonderful opportunity to spend the day with their pastor and my friend Josh Scott. So amazing to see what God is doing through Josh.

I snapped this photo of him turning on one of the tv’s in their lobby.

Josh is one tall dude. I thought to myself, there’s one thing I’ll never be able to do…turn on a mounted TV without a ladder.

Now just for fun I want to know one thing you’ll never be able to do?

Are You Absolutely Confident God is With You?

June 4, 2010 in Plan B with 29 Comments

Yesterday I appeared on Life Today with James Robison (you can go HERE to watch the whole interview) to talk about Plan B. To be honest I wasn’t that familiar with their ministry but was so blown away by the global impact they’re making around the world through their feeding and water ministries.

They also produced this great little video entitled “Are You Absolutely Confident” using clips from my interview on the show. Just thought I would share it with you.

It’s embarrassing how often I jump to the conclusion that God has abandoned me when my life isn’t turning out the way I had hoped. I wonder how many times I miss out on incredible opportunities because in the middle of my fear I don’t make decisions based on the reality that God is with me?

What’s The Point?

June 3, 2010 in Leadership with 71 Comments

As I was writing my message this week I got to thinking about a question I hadn’t asked myself in a while. The question was, “What exactly is the point of a message (sermon)?” I’m not talking about the point to a specific message, but to messages in general.

The most basic explanation I’ve had in my head for years is “the purpose of a sermon is to explain and apply the Scripture with the end goal being understanding and eventually spiritual transformation.” I kind of based my definition off of some assumptions made from 2 Timothy 3:16 applies: “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (NIV).

I finished up Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell last night before bed. He wrote…

“The sermon is about starting the discussion. The sermon is about having the first word. The sermon is a catalyst that inspires people into whole new ways of seeing their lives.”

So I thought this would be a great discussion today. I really want to know what you guys think. In your opinion what is purpose of “the sermon?” If you give them weekly what is your ultimate goal? If you listen to them regularly, what do you expect to get out of them?

Default Mode

June 2, 2010 in Spiritual Growth with 40 Comments

It was Martin Luther who insightfully suggested that “religion” is the default mode of the human heart.

I’ve unfortunately found this to be quite true. Unless I tell my heart to deliberately do something different, I often drift toward using religion to reach God.

Tim Keller wrote a brilliant piece on this in The Prodigal God . He said…

“Even after you are converted by the gospel your heart will go back to operating on other principles unless you deliberately, repeatedly set it to gospel-mode.

We habitually and instinctively look to other things besides God and his grace as our justification, hope, significance, and security. We believe the gospel at one level, but at deeper levels we do not. Human approval, professional success, power and influence, family and clan identity-all those things serve as our heart’s “functional trust” rather than what Christ has done, and as a result, we continue to be driven to a great degree by fear, anger, and a lack of self-control.

This is why almost each morning I have to reset my mind. I have to intentionally set my mind on the Gospel and the grace it provides. Losing my religion is tougher than I ever thought.

Your thoughts?

On Closer Inspection

June 1, 2010 in Random Fun with 38 Comments

You’ve all heard the phrase, Looks can be deceiving. Well, there is no doubt we’ve all experienced the truth in that statement. For instance, when you first glance at this picture it appears I’m participating in one of my favorite past times, fly fishing. It appears to be a stunning early morning out alone in nature.

There are few things I find more relaxing than standing in a stream or beside a pond and casting a fly I’ve carefully crafted. There is something in the quiet act of fly fishing that relaxes me like few things. I think it has more to do with what I don’t think about than what I do while I’m out there.

But let’s pull back on this particular photo and get the entire, more accurate view.

Yes, that’s one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight kids. Eight kids attempting to help me in my search for solitude.

It’s true. Looks can be deceiving.

What did you guys do for Memorial Day?

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