Today is my 400th post. I have been blogging again for a little less than 2 years after a 3 year break. Previous to that I blogged for about 4 years and put together around 1,000 posts. Unfortunately in my ignorance I lost them all when I deleted my blog to start this new one. Oh well, it gives me a chance to write new material everyday without relying on the past. I say that and then I read back through some of what I have written in just the last 2 years. While rereading what I write I quickly see that I repeat myself quite often. In fact, I have a tendency to repeat myself over and over.

I once preached a sermon and then in the afternoon I asked my family what they thought. My oldest said, “That is like the seventh time I have heard that same story.” He was right. I have used it in evangelism class, membership class, Sunday school class, with friends and in sermons. I use it in numerous settings because it conveys an essential truth in a memorable way. So I use it over and over again.

I have come to the conclusion that repeating myself is not a bad thing.

1. Truth needs repeated. Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. He preaches a very similar “Sermon on a Plain” in Luke 6:17-49. Truth needs to be told over and over again in different settings to different people.

2. Most of what we hear is forgotten. I often think about the 10,000 plus sermons I have heard in my life. I have forgotten most of what was said with only a few really sticking in my head. I think of one sermon I listen to about yearly and every time I hear something new. Maybe I just forgot that I heard it?

3. Repetition helps me to articulate clearly I try to learn from preachers, but also comedians. I am amazed how they will repeat a joke over and over. They will try different setups or different locations in the act. They keep tweaking a bit until it gets the maximum impact with the best laughs. The gospel is not comedy but it requires the same public speaking skills. Repeating material helps me to learn the best way and place to articulate my faith.

In my early days of ministry I was afraid of repeating myself and now I embrace it. I think it helps me and I think it helps my listeners or my readers. So if the same material comes from me on repeated occasions it is not completely because of senility but part of my nature in presenting the gospel. Wait, have I written this before 🙂

One of the marks of the younger generation is the fact that they want to make a difference in their world. I suppose this is true because they watched the generations before them live in greedy materialism and end up unhappy, divorced and suicidal. As a result, many young people really want to have an impact in the world. It sends them to a food pantry, doing fundraising for organizations and all kids of community service. Honestly, I could not be more proud to say that many of these people are in the Church I lead. Through the last 10 years some amazing things have been done for others by people I know and serve. The difference they are making is truly remarkable. Today I want to praise all those who give, serve and love others.

Unfortunately I do want to say one word of caution to go along with that praise. I hope the next generation of Christians understand that we are to do good “in the name of the Lord.” I think this is enormous issue that needs to be talked about by the Church. I think it is possible to give and serve others and do it for completely selfish reasons. I often see it done because we want to feel good about ourselves. People feel guilty about their affluence and they want to balance the scales by giving to others. They give so that they can be a good person.

A Christian is the exact opposite. They recognize that we are not good people, BUT are forgiven by Jesus Christ through his work on the cross. Nothing more, nothing less. Then in turn we go to serve others in the name of the Lord who forgave us. Each one of us is a wretch who was served by Jesus through his death on the cross when we did not deserve it. Then we go out and act like he did by serving selflessly. We serve not to get right but because Jesus made us right. That is a huge difference.

Recently I have been thinking about all of the relationships in my life. I have also been looking at the relationships that other people have in their lives. I believe that we all need a number of relationships in our lives to help us grow and mature as people and especially as believers. Here is the list of people I think we all need.

1. A Supporter – We all need someone who believes in us. For many of us this person has been a parent or family member. We all need someone one in the stands cheering our name for even the smallest of accomplishments.

2. A 100% Honest Person – All of us have blind spots in our lives. Many other people notice those issues we have but will never say anything for fear of hurting us. We all need someone to speak truth into our lives. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” Timothy needed to watch out for people who will not listen to the truth.

3. A Person Who Loves Us Unconditionally – All of us long for love. It sends us home for the holidays or out on dates or even into the destructive relationships if we feel a little bit of love. I ultimately believe this is fulfilled in Jesus, but I think each of us needs this physically present in our lives also. We need someone who will care about us not matter what happens.

4. An Encourager – When life gets rough we need someone to put their arm around us and help us back up. We need someone who sees the good in us. Someone who will stand beside us while pushing us on to better things. A good teacher can be an excellent example of this.

5. A Friend – All of us need someone to talk to, to do activities with, to share our lives with in an enjoyable way.

I know this is not an exhaustive list. I guess I keep thinking about the fact that we need people in our lives who will be there during the hard times and people who are willing to say the hard things. We need the truth spoken to us in love. Now maybe for some people we have relationships in our lives that one person or one couple people fulfill numerous roles for us. For example, we have a parent who loves us unconditionally, while supporting and encouraging us. I know that we need ALL of these relationships in our life. I continually see people’s lives wrecked by having an incomplete list of people they need. Many people who have no one to speak truth into their lives. They live without honesty and it leads to destruction. Others have no real love in their life and it makes them have false ideas about themselves.

All of this has me thinking about the relationships I have in my life. Do I have everyone I need? What could I do to add more and better relationships?

But then I take a long look in the mirror and ask, “What kind of a person am I?” Sometimes I don’t need more friends, sometimes I need to be a better friend to others.

I always like to post links to blogs that I am reading that made an impact on me. Here are a few –

1. “One thing I Want My Kids to Remember”

2. “How I found my high school football coach” – a great story about making an impact without knowing it.

3. “Seven ways the pastor’s family comes under attack.”

4. “10 things I wish everyone knew about the Bible.”

5. “Young People Need a Yoda” This post has a great little 11 minute video about leading young people. It is a must listen for anyone who works with the next generation.

At our youth program each week we begin by having some kind of activity. Well for the first time since we started in September it wasn’t raining or wet after a rain on Wednesday night. So this week were finally able to go outside for our activity. It was a beautiful evening and we divided the teens up into three groups. Each group was given two small wooden chairs and they had to get as many people to stand on them together without touching the ground. The main object was to get them working together in teams as a set-up for our lesson. As they were standing and stacking and moving around I heard one of the teens say, “A skunk.” I looked up and sure enough there was a skunk not too far from the group running toward a smaller storage building we have on the property. Within a few seconds the skunk disappeared without a trace – no stink and no problems. The game went on without a single real issue.

I have been thinking about that incident for a couple of days. I have had several thoughts about what this experience could have illustrated, but for me it is the perfect description for leading any Church activity. It reminds me that just when things appear to be going well, without warning at any moment things can begin to stink. I have been a part of events where babies wont stop crying, children run wildly through the crowd, a young girl fell and broke her arm, stage props have collapsed, the police have shown up, people have started shouting and a hundred other strange things have happened. I am sure that sitting in the crowd those days some people have thought, “this stinks.”

Now, I suppose this reality is true for anyone who leads any group, from school teachers to funeral directors, but the amazing thing for me is that in Church God continues to show up even when things get a little stinky. He somehow takes our off key music, our disorganized lessons, our disrupted setting and all of our mistakes and still touches people’s hearts. I have often sat amazed at how someone could tell me that it was the best worship program ever when I knew that at least a dozen things went wrong.

I thank God that we worship a God who is still at work even when a skunk is lurking around the building just waiting to pounce.

There has been an ongoing conversation in our house about motivation. It seems that there are two ways that people try to motivate others toward action. The first and most often used are negative instructions. I simply mean that you try to motivate someone to better action by pointing out their faulty action. This is the motivation I see used the most in sports. An athlete does not do something correctly then the coach yells at the player to do the right thing. This motivation can go several directions from yelling and scolding to punishment or it can be the withholding of benefits and praise or even removal from the game.

The other type of motivation comes from positive reinforcement. In this model you catch the person doing something well and praise their work. The idea is that they will feel the joy of praise and pride will swell or maybe there is even a reward. Then the next time the action comes up they will do the right thing again to regain that feeling or prize. I also see this motivation in sports quite often. Awards are continually given to the best player of the game or of the week or of the month or of the season.

None of this is new information but my discussion with my family has led me to several thoughts that all of us need to explore.

1. What motivate you the most? Are you more influenced by positive or negative reinforcement?

2. What motivates those I care about? Is your child or spouse more influenced by negative or positive reinforcement? We have discovered that my children are motivated by positive reinforcement. Criticize them and they will break down and sometimes give up. Praise them and they will run through walls. This has huge ramifications for all your relationships.

3. How do you try to motivate others? I think this question has huge implications for the Church. If we are called as believers to spur one another on toward love and good works (Hebrews 10:24), then how are we going to do that? How have we been trying to do that with others? Positively or negatively? Is it working?

4. How has the motivation of others affected you? I have wondered how many relationships have been damaged by improper motivation. Someone said something negative – thinking they were being helpful and motivating you – and it was taken wrong. It could have been your parents, your siblings, your spouse, a great friend or a church member who said it but your life was altered by their words. Honestly, depending on who it was, this may have been the biggest factor in your answers to 1-3.

There is enormous power in the words we use. I think as Christians we need to be very careful about the words we use. They can hold the power of life and positive action or the power of death and defeat.

I hope this post motivates your thinking.

I have a heart for evangelism. I love to see people accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. I honestly think that most Christians enjoy it too. In fact, I believe that most Christians want to share their faith. They simply find themselves scared about doing it for fear of inadequacy in knowledge. Not only do they find it hard to share their faith, but they often do not know who to share it with. So let me give you some simple actions you can do that will have an impact for eternity and help lead people to Jesus.

1. Pray for the weekend service and sermon. I firmly believe that prayer is the greatest thing you can do to help the Church reach out with the gospel.

2. Arrive at Church early. This will give you time to talk, meet people and show you are excited about worship.

3. Park far away from the door. Save the very best parking spots for guests.

4. Talk to people you do not know. Personally commit to talking to at least 3 families or individuals you do not know. Ask questions about them (not personal questions) and then listen for their response without interrupting. Take a genuine interest in others.

5. Sit near the front and in the worst seats in the auditorium. Save the best seats for the guests at Church each week. Save the seats at the back till last. Sit close together so there are plenty of seats for guests who arrive later.

6. Volunteer to help. This can be done formally in the nursery, children’s program or as a greeter. It can also be done informally. As you talk to guests help them to know where the children’s programs, bathrooms and worship area are located. Personally tell them and take them where they need to go.

7. Give financially. The Church needs your financial gifts to keep reaching out. For example; we have given away 3 boxes of older bibles to the food pantry and replaced them with new Bibles. This has helped to streamline the Bible reading in the program. It has also given us the opportunity to give away 9 new Bibles to people the last two weeks. Maybe someone will read the Bible for the first time. Great – But the Bibles cost $150 a box. Your gifts help make that happen.

8. Talk to more people after service. I know of a growing Church that tells their people to talk only to strangers for the first 5 minutes after worship. Our tendency is to try and catch-up with people and forget that a guest might want to know more about the Church after a worship service.

9. Invite guests to lunch. Use your lunch on Sunday (even once a month) as a tool for God. Invite people to lunch and tell them you will pay. Even if they do not go with you, they will appreciate the invitation.

10. Speak well of your Church family. When you speak to people about the Church, be sure and tell all the goods things you like about the Church and the people who attend there. Every time you speak ill of someone you are basically saying, “You do not want to be a part of this Church.”

These are simple things you can do to help the Church spread the message of Jesus. I like how one person said it, “Church is a team sport.” Great worship or a powerful sermon will not grow the Church if the people are not “guest friendly.” The gospel is spread when the Church works together to share Jesus is very visible and in very unnoticed ways. I will be ready for a great service this weekend, but I need your help to really make an impact.

An idea had been swirling around my head for a few years now.  Here is the idea.  Most of us have a cheap substitute for true forgiveness.  This substitute is called “understanding.”

I first thought of this when listening to a Christian.  They were describing some sin that another Christian had committed.  Then they said, “I just don’t understand how they could do that!”  This person was right, it was hard to understand how someone could do this despicable action.  My question is “does God call us to understand everything?”

Here is what I know about Christians.  We are called to forgive one another even if we do not or cannot understand why this bad thing happened.  True forgiveness looks at an incident and says “I will never understand how you could hurt me like that, but I know that God wants me to forgive you.  So I will.”

This is where gossip becomes so deceitful.  We think, “If I just tell people the rest of the story then they will understand.”  We spread rumors and gossip in an effort to “help people out.” The reality is that God does not want us to attempt to understand everything in the world.  He wants us to forgive the evil as he has forgiven us.

So the question for you is this:  “Are you offering people forgiveness or are you trying to understand their behavior?”  There is a world of difference.

If you do not read “This is Indexed” you should because of pictures like this –

The theme for our DIVE children’s ministry this month is creativity and the image for the series is a blank slate. It made me think of this blog that I write. Everyday I sit down to write I am greeted with a blank area to fill in with the words on my mind. I am somewhat prepared for it each day as I keep a file with blog ideas. I now have roughly 38 ideas in my file bank that I can draw upon, but often I just go with what is in my head at the time.

The great part of the blank page is that sometimes we can create something powerful. I receive emails and comments and people are talking about a post weeks later. The difficult part of the blank page is that sometimes we create something way less than powerful. I am amazed to see how some of my posts get over 100 hits and others only 15. Honestly, I want them all to be powerful but that never seems to happen. So what do I do? I just keep writing to the best of ability. I try to fill the page with what God is lying on my heart or what I have noticed in scripture and in life. I continually ask God to fill my blank page with something of value.

That makes me think about life. Each day we are given 1440 blank minutes to use. Each year we are given 525949 minutes. In a 70 year lifetime we are given 36,816,430 minutes. All of them are blank and we can choose what we do with them. Most of us have the information to do do the right thing. We have the potential to do something great. So my continual encouragement to people is simple: Make that call, send that letter or email, say those words you need to say, offer up that prayer, read, linger long with other people, love, think, write and do whatever needs to be done today. Not every action will be received well and some things will simply be ignored. That’s okay. The people with the greatest impact in this world do not succeed in every action. Their success is found in the fact that they just keep acting. The result of a lifetime of trying to do good will be a life well lived and in the process there will be days no one will ever forget. May today be one of those days.