What is God asking of you?

What is God asking you to do right now? Has he asked you to stay where you are at even though it might not be where you want to be? Serve someone who doesn't appreciate you? Does he want you to stay in the middle of the mess even though you don't know why? I was thinking about how when we talk about what God wants us to do that we usually see it as doing something exciting or new, but sometimes we are already in the spot he wants us. I am guessing that Noah didn't consider each day of building the ark to be that exciting, but it is because of that consistent hard work that we remember him. He was faithful to what God had called him to do. The little day to day things are what brought about the big day of when the rain came. We (by that I may mean only me) want the good gigs from God, the ones that are big and obvious in our opinion, but he may want us in a position where we are thinking "This isn't what I asked for or was expecting to do." We can't skip the journey in between. Those in between steps are where life happens and where we are shaped for what God wants us to do. So are you listening to God? He may be telling you that you are exactly where you need to be or he may be calling you to take a new direction. To know what he is asking of us requires us to do a lot of listening. So what is God asking of you right now?

Is angry bad?

What do you think about the following quote?

"if a pastor isn't pissed about something...he probably doesn't preach/lead from passion and conviction, but rather from convenience and apathy. Every leader that did something significant in the Scriptures was ANGRY about something...

• Moses was angry about his people being enslaved.
• David was angry about Goliath.
• Jesus and Paul were angry about religious people.
• Nehemiah was ANGRY...godly anger! He was full of passion...godly passion. He did some things that would be considered unorthodox in today's world (read Nehemiah 13)... yet there is not one single Scripture rebuking him for how he acted."

So do you agree, disagree or have a "yeah, but"? Can being passionate about the things God is passionate about be wrong? Is apathy the general rule or the exception today for most leaders? Do you think we are more concerned with being nice than being Godly? Jesus had some harsh words for the religious (the church people) in his day, but not usually for the sinners he encountered. Do we have that backwards now? Do we risk being unkind to those we lead in the church or take the easy road and just be nice? Let me know what you think. The more I think about leadership, the more I realize that my passions may piss some people off. Not intentionally, but because I want to be true to what God is placing in front of me to do and that may conflict with where they are at. Just wondering aloud and would like some feedback.

Now versus the long-term

Do the decisions you make today impact where you are heading? I am guessing most people would say yes, but I don't think that is how we live most of the time. We generally treat each decision we make as a single event without thinking of the direction we want to go. I see it in leadership and I've seen it in my life. Can I rationalize using my credit card to buy some shoes I really want? Yeah, most likely when I look at that as a single decision, I can easily convince myself that is what I should do. But if the direction I want to go is to be completely debt free down the road, then that one decision coupled with another just like it followed by another separate similar decision leads me somewhere totally different. Works the same in leadership. We look at a decision in light of where we are currently at without thinking about the direction we want to go. Finances are tight at the moment (when aren't they tight as a church?) so we make a decision not to hire someone. That person may have been who we needed to move us closer to the vision (direction) of where God wants us to be five years down the road. We sell out the future for the immediate. The thing with life is that there isn't a reset button. We don't get that lost time back. We can change direction, but the cost of those earlier decisions can't be undone. I want to invest my time and make wise decisions based on where I want to go and not for the momentary. I choose to get up early to meet with a friend because I know that over time that wisdom will impact me and who I am becoming. If I make the decision at 5:30 a.m. the answer is usually going to be to crawl back into bed for another hour of sleep. The immediate would distract me from the place I want to be. So are you making choices based on the direction you want to go or based on what is convenient at the moment?

What do you think of when you hear...

What do you think of when you hear the word submission? Does it bring a smile to your face or the thought of doing something while grimacing the entire time? Gutting your way through something even though you don't like it? Been reading "The Principle of the Path" by Andy Stanley and the current chapter is talking about submission. Can't say that is one of my favorite topics. If you asked me to pick something out of the Bible to talk about, submission probably wouldn't be on the top of my list, but that is where we need to start. Listen to these two familiar verses.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make you paths straight. (Proverbs 3: 5 - 6)

Trusting our hearts can be a risky thing. Ever have a conversation with someone who "feels" they should do something, but from your vantage point that doesn't look very wise? Ever wanted something with all of your heart and then come up with the reason to support that? Or am I the only one who does that? Trusting our hearts by themselves isn't very wise, but trusting God with all of our heart doesn't have a downside. Let me quote a small bit from the book. "Notice he didn't say, 'In most all of your ways.' He said 'all.' Solomon didn't leave any wiggle room. In all your ways means in your dating ways, your marriage ways, your entertainment ways, your morality ways, your education ways, your professional ways, your financial ways. In every arena of life, we are to acknowledge God. God will make the best path obvious. If we trust with all of our hearts, refuse to lean into our limited understanding, and submit every aspect of our lives to him, the best path will become unmistakably clear. Divine direction begins with unconditional submission. Not information."

So do you submit or trust your heart? Do you submit or gather more information? We have a tendency to try to feel our way through things or gather more knowledge, but really neither of these point us in the direction we need to be going by themselves. Until we submit to God, we will continue to choose paths that don't lead us in the right direction. Been looking at the paths that I am on and wondering where I need to stop and get on the right path. See good intentions and hoping for the best really don't change where I am heading. I have to change the direction I am heading. "Direction - not intention - determines our destination." Good intentions will keep you headed in the same direction. The results of those choices may be years down the road but that doesn't change where we are headed. So where are you headed on the paths you have chosen - relationally, financially, spiritually? A truthful look could be a little scary. The truth can be a little uncomfortable and awkward at times.

Thoughts on a Friday afternoon

A little catch up time on blogging since it has been about a week since I've been on here. So a few random things I've been thinking over the last several days.

• I've had several people ask what I am currently reading so here is the latest. Finished reading "The Furious Longing of God" by Brennan Manning. This is the first book that I have completely read of his (started one other but didn't finish it). I really like his very poetic, but raw writing style. Sometimes I got lost in the words he used, but the message was pretty straight forward - God intensely desires and loves you. We can tend to get wrapped up in the things in our lives and forget how much He loves and even likes us. Good book to remind you of that one important fact. Also read "A Contrarian's Guide to Knowing God" by Larry Osborne while we were in Atlanta for spring break. Parts of this book felt like I could have very easily have written it based on my own contrarian point of view. Another book I would recommend especially if you have felt you might not measure up based on what other's tell you a Christian should look like. The book breaks down some of the myths of what spiritual disciplines (like a quiet time, certain amount of time praying in the morning, etc.) are, which is a tool, but not commands that have to be followed in a certain way. Very freeing if you have grown up in the church and heard you have to do things a certain way. Really what we sometimes claim as essentials are more like helpful suggestions, not really the commands we make them out to be. Just started reading Andy Stanley's "Principles of the Path". I think this is going to be one of those books where I am thinking yeah that is common sense, but then why don't we actually live that way.
• Had a great spring break trip to Atlanta. (See Lisa's blog for more details on that.) First time I've been able to go anywhere this time of year in almost 20 years. Next year, I think I am going to try to go skiing at the end of February. Loved getting to see our family and glad that we will get see them again in a couple of months.
• Had some good conversations with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law when we were there. They are part of our community even though we don't get to talk to them as frequently as we like. My brother-in-law probably challenges my view of the church's role more than anyone else I talk to. Love that our passions are similar, but we sometimes have different perspectives. Helps me see things that otherwise I might miss.
• Asked Lisa what part of my personality I should change while we were driving down to Atlanta. Aren't you glad you don't have to put up with my questions all of the time? Feeling I want to change directions on some of my relationships and that probably starts with my personality. Still haven't landed on a definite thing yet, but I have a pretty good idea what it might be. Let the experiment begin.
• Friendships have been on my mind a lot the last week (big surprise, huh?). Haven't talked to several of my close friends in a couple of weeks and feeling disconnected from them. Another friendship has changed significantly and won't be as much a part of my day to day life. I think I am okay with this as I realize that it is just a change of season in that friendship. Still weird though.

Looking forward to getting back in the rhythm of writing more consistently again. Also have one of those feelings that there are going to be some changes coming around soon. By the way, I am one of those people who like change.