Beyond Treasuring to Pondering

I've had a request to give the cliff notes version of a portion of the sermon I delivered yesterday called "Twas a week after Christmas." The main point of the sermon was how we should react to Christmas and what God allowed us to come into contact in all of 2011 with the purpose of living closer to Him in 2012.

There were four parts to the sermon but central to the message was verse 19 from Luke Chapter 2 that says, " But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

The word treasure can mean many things but in this context of scripture I believe it to means to gather, make a pile or list of things that have been impacting in your life. Not necessarily doing anything with them, but for posterity sake, making sure they are in close proximity should there ever be a need to find them and remember a detail or fact that might easily be forgotten. In the Christmas story things that Mary would have treasured were the visit to see Zechariah and Elizabeth, the birth of their son John the Baptist, The angel Gabriel's visit and words to her, Joseph's reaction to her announcement that she was with child, Joseph's dream, the long hard journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, the birth of the Christ child, The surprising visit from the shepherds, the question of why God chose her? And last but not least, as she begins to ponder...what the future will be like for her son.

Pondering, again in this setting, and for our purposes, means connecting the dots of the things, people, places, experiences, and circumstances that up to this point have been collected or treasured with the purpose of trying to figure out what God may be trying to show us about ourselves and what kind of life He wants us to live in the future. No doubt as Mary pondered she put the independent variables together to better realize what God was up to and how she could be in one accord with His will as her son began his life and purpose here on earth.

The best word picture I can give for going beyond treasuring to pondering is a jigsaw puzzle. When you pour it out of the box on the table you've got many different independent pieces (Treasures) that if put together make a big picture. That's what the result of pondering the treasures God has brought into your life can reveal. But before you say to yourself, well "That was easy" you need to be reminded that it's easy to think about doing, but actually very hard work to do. How many jigsaw puzzles have you started and never got around to finishing? You probably didn't finish them because you weren't able to. You didn't finished them because it takes time, effort, commitment and focus to look at all the pieces closely, group them by color and shape, then begin to see which ones connect and which ones don't. I'm sure you know the routine.

God wants us to approach the things (Pieces of the puzzle) over Christmas and this past year with the mindset that we can connect them and see a clearer picture of what He's trying to show us or who He is trying to get us to become. Treasuring comes naturally to us, but pondering is hard work and only an exercise for those who really care to discern what God is trying to show them.

To help us get there I've come up with a simple but serious exercise that will help you treasure this past year and Ponder what if means when you add prayer to the equation for 2012.

1- Carve out one hour of uninterrupted time (Quiet zone, no people, phone, tv, music, or internet)
2- Begin with prayer
3- Tell God you are sorry that most of the time you are guilty of only treasuring the things He's brought to you in life and not pondered what it is that He's trying to show you with them.
4- Ask Him what good and bad things He wants you to remember from 2011?
5- List a top 10 of major  happenings in your own life (Positive or negative impact) in the past year. 
Hint: Writing down the names of the months helps me recall what happened when.
6- Continuing in prayer...ask Him to reveal to you re-ocuring patterns or lessons in your list
7- Reflect on a predominant characteristic about God you've been aware of in 2011
8- Ask how you can get to know Him better in 2012?
9- Ask Him where He might be leading you in 2012?


By the way... I don't believe in resolutions. We may change our ways for a short time based on guilt, but true and lasting life change will only happen when we grow in our relational intimacy with Christ. Here's to you and I living closer to God and His will than you eve have before in 2012.

Champions...GreyhoundNation's Football Heritage

As the chaplain of the Carmel High School Football Team the past two years I have an insider's vantage point for seeing what motivates this football family to get to the state championship game five out of the last six years, two state championships in the last five years, and counting this year (2011), seven state championships overall.

It starts early in the season as Coach Wright begins reading letters at many team meetings and pre-game locker room pep talks. The letters are addressed to the current team from Greyhound gridiron heroes of the past who played in some of those big games since that first runner up team in 1975 and championship team in 1978 until now. Letter after letter is full of words that say " We know it's hard, but it was worth working hard for, we did it, here's how we did it, and you can do it too!" It's usually signed by a former player who went on to play in college or the pros, and if he didn't he is a successful and recognizable businessman or leader in the community where he lives. Speaking of the community where he lives.... because some of the greyhound heroes stay close by in the community an opportunity often presents itself to get them physically in front of the team to inspire them in person. A very supportive Greyhound Football Alumni Association is the main reason for the letters and personal appearances. 

I had the great privilege of speaking to the team this weekend in our chapel program just a few hours before they were to play in the state championship game. Since Coach Wright and the alumni association had been so successful all season proving that present and future confidence can be gained from hearing from courageous players and teams from past Greyhound seasons it only seemed natural to take that line of thinking and actions to God's word where the same scenario plays itself out.

When any leader of the nation of Israel was trying to get their people back in touch with the power of the mighty God they were serving and following they would simply do what God did Himself and remind them of how He had provided in the past and been true to His promises to help them conquer adversity. Whether it was Abraham trusting God one more time when He asked Him to be prepared to sacrifice his only son, Joseph referring to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob while trying to protect the tribes of Israel in Egypt, or Moses doing the same as he pointed Israel towards it's past while convincing them to break away from the hundreds of years of slavery in Egypt. And finally Joshua who trained under his protege Moses and took the baton to lead the nation into the land God had promised them so generations before. Moses had been coaching Joshua as often as he could after he realized God intended to give Joshua the leader's role for the final stretch of the journey. Moses coached him time and time again to trust in the God who had provided in generations of the past for the victories like walking through the Red Sea on dry ground and now to claiming the land
God had promised to give them long ago. No doubt Joseph would have liked to have a letter or personal appearance from Abraham as he tried to pass the story along, and I'm sure Moses was thinking the same thing. 

Just as Coach Wright brings relevance from the past to the presence to get the current crop of Greyhounds to realize their potential on the field it's up to you and I as believers to not let the mighty God of our past heritage be forgotten about as we live out our faith in a world that would like us to believe that He is not relevant anymore....

Joshua 1:1,3,5,6 and 9
1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses' aide: 2 "Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them--to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses....  5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 "Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them.... 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go."

Moving on...

Moving towards more can mean leaving less behind

Moving On...

Did you ever need to hear some news that you didn't want to hear but it allowed you to quit dwelling about a situation and move on?
I feel like that's finally what happened for so many in Indy this morning when the Colts announced that #18 was out for the season. News Article >  http://www.wishtv.com/dpp/sports/colts_and_nfl/peyton-manning-out-for-the-season .  I know that there are a lot better examples than the status of a football hero, but I thought this is one that is easy for most to relate to. I've told some friends in the past that one of the regrets I always have at the end of a long season of watching my favorite teams (Cubs, Colts and  Purdue) is the many hours spent in an area of my life on people and teams (Winners or Losers) that I'll most likely never meet or have a chance to impact. I grew up in that kind of environment and sometimes I too easily get sucked back into it. I'm not saying it shouldn't be there at all...it just gets out of proportion to more important areas in my life, and I justify it by saying to myself that I watched it with family members, or that I'm a sports minister and this is good water-cooler conversation for many of the ministry situations I find myself in. I suppose I could say the same thing for other entertainment shows in my life like The Amazing Race, The Office, 30 Rock, Parenthood or America's Got Talent.


For some the announcement by the Colts is going to mean giving up on the team and selling their tickets or changing plans for Sunday afternoons around the house, and for others it will finally allow them to start looking at the team (individuals and the unit) before them with different eyes and maybe expectations. And still for others it will mean finally being able to give time to the more important things in life (One on one time with God, people in need in their life, church responsibilities or other good causes that haven't been able to break thru the fringes in their lives) than whether we are going to make it to the Super Bowl this year!


I know as much as I dread hearing news that doesn't look like its good on the surface it often gives me the release I can't give myself to quit spending mental and emotional energy in places that I shouldn't anymore....or at least until God shows me that I can again. Isn't it interesting how success in almost anything begins to consume more and more of our time and energy to the point where we get myopic about it and lose focus on the balance in life? I think we all underestimate how much time and energy we forfeit on things that are in fact out of our control.
More and more I gravitate towards being thankful in all circumstances (1 Thes 5:18) or being content (Phil 4:12) with where I am in life. It's not a feeling of not caring about things or entertainment anymore, but that I am realizing in a better, more full way where to spend my time on things that really matter, and that God is in control so I don't have to be.

A Sure Sign...

Our Scorekeeper, Kyle Marsh

            A SURE SIGN.....

I am really enjoying coaching the 7th and 8th grade baseball team that my step-son Will plays on this Fall.

It's bringing back a lot of great memories of me playing ball as a kid and coaching my other kids when they were small.

One of the things I'm enjoying is giving signs (Steal, bunt, take, etc...) to the kids from the 3rd base coach's box to see how close they are paying attention and to see if we can execute some things and catch the other team off guard. What I'm finding is that some of the kids look down to the coach's box right away to make sure I don't have an assignment for them, and others...not so much =)

It really reminds me of how we are with our Heavenly Father. He's got a plan for what he wants us to do with each opportunity (Day or situation within a day). He's giving us signs and trying to get our attention so He can execute His game plan and we are oblivious that He's even got any plans that might be different from our own. His plans are about wanting to use us to carry out His plan and they often involve doing things that aren't just about us but about the good of the whole team. We are either forgetting to look for the signs before we get in the batter's box of life or we wouldn't recognize most of the signs He gives us because we haven't been paying attention. We step up to the plate so focused on our own agenda we aren't aware that He might be asking us to sacrifice our at bat to move another person forward. After all, how could getting a chance to take a swing be anything less than about how we do for ourselves? 

When we live life oblivious to the fact that God is wanting to communicate with us in all situations I think it's sure sign that we don't know the signs. We don't know the signs for when God is wanting us to go or stay, to lead or follow, to pray or take physical action, to say something or to remain quiet, to bless or to allow ourselves to be blessed by another.

So what are the signs God is giving us? Just as they are similar but a little different for each team I think they are similar, but a little different for you and me. The signs in a relationship can only be picked up on by knowing the other person in the relationship very well. When you know the other person well you don't even have to think about looking for the signs and react with the appropriate action. It's an instinct that is born out of the closeness of that relationship. It's what you do when you love the other person. You care what they are thinking and feeling and doing and you want to be on the same page with them, even if the best reaction to the sign puts your agenda second.

Yeah, so God is giving you signs every day. Are you looking for them? When you get close enough to recognize them the next step is having an obedient -sacrificial heart to carry out whatever assignment He has for you. Knowing and believing it is the best thing for all involved.  

"My son, give me your heart and let your eyes keep to my ways,"  Proverbs 23:26

My Biggest Mistake in Ministry

I'm sure when people who know me well saw the title to this blog they were thinking "Oh No, he didn't write about that did he?!" Yeah, there are definitely a lot of mistakes that I could write about, which hopefully means I'm a little wiser than I used to be =) , but today's offering is actually from a minister I like to follow online and hope to meet someday, Pastor Pete Wilson of Cross Point Church in Nashville, TN. I could so relate to a recent post of his that I wanted to offer it as a guest post today. I hope it is helpful to you. I don't think you have to be a pastor at a church to relate to it.
Here it is... Thanks Pete.

My Biggest Mistake In Ministry...Pete Wilson

Probably the most asked question I get in interviews and by pastors I’m mentoring is, “If you could go back and change anything in your ministry, what would you change?”
Usually I’m thinking, You don’t have enough time for me to actually answer that question. I’d change tons of things.
However, at the very top of the list would be my driving desire to be “loved” at all costs.
I have a lot of friends in ministry that are addicted to this pride-swelling choice as well.
For most of my life and certainly all of my ministry, I’ve been addicted to pleasing everyone. It didn’t matter if it cost me my personality, my family, or even at times, my vow to speak truth. I just wanted to be “loved.”

• I would ignore the sincere compliments of others to be obsessed with the few critics.

• I would abandon my boundaries and go above and beyond to “help” someone while ignoring my family.

• I would put off the tough leadership decisions trying to keep all sides content.

Why? Simple. I wanted to be “loved.”
But let me tell you something. Leading with a desire to be loved is dangerous. Parenting with a desire to be loved can be destructive. And if you spend your life trying to be loved instead of being loving, it’s going to lead you to all kinds of unhealthy extremes.
Part of learning humility for me is to understand I simply can’t please everyone. Not everyone is going to like me, love me, or think I’m great. They’re just not.
I feel like I’m growing in this area. I’m learning the freedom that comes along with seeking to love, instead of always desiring to be loved.  The first leads to meaning and significance while the latter  is an emotional black hole that can never be filled.
I pray you will learn to live in the Kingdom and be freed from the sheer stupidity and vanity of going through life trying to make sure other people think the right things about you.  If you depend on other people loving everything you say or do, you will end up doing and saying nothing. I pray you’ll receive the fact that you are loved in the eyes of God in such a way that you can then go out to lead and live, seeking to truly love the people around you.

Doing the squeeze bunt before you have to.

Yesterday I was coaching Will's (My stepson) 7th-8th grade baseball team We were batting and up by 9. Josh, the player in our on deck circle asks me if he can do a suicide squeeze play if Alex, the player in front of him, gets a triple. We are all riding the adrenaline of getting off to such a good start in our first game together and I'm looking to connect with the kids in positive ways so I say sure...of course thinking that the odds of Alex getting a triple were not that good. Well, Alex didn't get the triple, but he did get a single and with all the throwing errors he ends up on 3rd base. In all the excitement of getting Alex around to 3rd I had completely forgotten about my promise to Josh, who when I turned to encourage him at his at bat was smiling from ear to ear. Oh man, I thought to myself I've got to follow thru on this. So I told the runner on third and gave Josh the squeeze sign. Josh got the bunt down and the elation of our team grew to a fever pitch.

How it was received by the opposing coach was an entirely different matter. He was not happy with me, but was classy and didn't yell anything across the field. I had mixed emotions. After we went through the high five line and I apologized to the coaches I had to two take-a-ways / reminders.

1) It is good to work on something before you really need it so you know you can do it if you ever do need to execute it. Honestly, that is what I was thinking, besides wanting to have a positive experience with our team on our first day. I'd much rather have a player (Who was asking for the opportunity) try to execute something when the pressure isn't on so he'll have the confidence to know he can do it when so much more is on the line later in the season. I view my quiet time and other acts of obedience the same way. I know if I start my day with the Lord I'm more apt to confidently call on Him when I'm in a difficult situation or praise situation later in the day. If I say yes to the little opportunities I'll feel more comfortable when bigger opportunities are thrust upon me without me asking for them, and you know those will be there. Then, there's the second take-a-way...

2) Even when you are working on your own good stuff you need to keep in mind how it will be received by others. It wasn't my intention to rub it in to the other coaches but I could understand why it could be perceived that way so I apologized to them, told them where my head was, and addressed it with our team afterwards.

"A sluggard does not plow in season; so at harvest time he looks but finds nothing."
~ Proverbs 20:4

It's a Jeep Thing !

IT'S A JEEP THING...

I've got the top down on my Jeep today, getting ready to take a 2 hour drive to southern Indiana to pray over the area where our church staff will be on retreat next week. I'm looking forward to getting to the camp and seeing what The Lord has in mind, but to be honest I'm almost as excited just to be driving my jeep in the country on a beautiful day. I love my job =) So before I head down to the camp I thought I'd tell you about something that I found out about jeep owners after I bought mine...
I never really noticed it until I got my jeep, and even then it took a few times before I started catching on....
I'd be driving down the street or on the interstate and someone I didn't know coming at me from the opposite direction or stopping at an intersection, with out prompting, simply waves at me. The first couple of times I thought...
that person sure is friendly. But then it started happening more frequently and I got it. It's an unwritten code among owners of Jeeps to wave and acknowledge one another when they run across each other...whether they know each other or not. How cool is that?! I've also since realized that there is a similar code amongst Harley Motorcycle owners. Every once in a while someone will still wave at me and I won't see them until it's too late to wave back, and I feel like a JeepNation loser. Like I've failed the code. Not really that bad, but I do feel bad that I didn't see them coming but they were looking for me, uh, I mean my jeep. =)

What if ..... We took a lesson from JeepNation and people everywhere, regardless of what kind of vehicle you own, or even if you aren't in a vehicle, started looking for each other, just to say Hi.
I know this thought is by no means original, but I like how it feels when a stranger or a friend thinks I am worth a greeting, and I'll bet most of you do too. What do you say we take this JeepNation thing to a personal level and started looking for others to acknowledge. Up for the challenge? I know that ladies probably need to be more careful than us guys because their wave to a guy might be interpreted by a guy the wrong way, but that's another subject for another day.

A long time ago I attended seminary for about 6 months in the state of Tennessee and I know from first hand experience what it means and how it feels to have every person that walks by you on campus, in the parking lot, or at the gas station say "Hey." One of my best memories about being there. They are friendly people we could take some lessons from.

I like what Jesus had to say about the subject...

"But if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others?
Do not even pagans do that?" Matthew 5:47