100 Words or Less
Posted by Chance in Community - Lane 2, Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on March 4th, 2010
In response to a sermon series by Ron Woods, I wanted to create a forum where people could post their homework assignment. I know most people didn’t do it, but that isn’t your fault. It is probably a low accountability hangover from your previous educational experience. I know that I have suffered those myself and even created them for others.
However, let’s grow together.
What is your story?
The critical contrast is Jesus Christ, so respond and let us know what story you are prepared to tell to those who the Holy Spirit leads you to.
Chance
Afraid to Ask Yourself?
Posted by Chance in Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on February 25th, 2010
What is the question that you really don’t want to entertain in your inner cognitive activity? Perhaps, the better question would be, What question would you be unwilling to dig deep into the schematic drawers of your experiences and actions to answer honestly?
See, we, including myself, are willing to answer questions before we process the depth and significance of the inquiry. For example, I have been caught numerous times in a situation of routine introductions, where you exchange, “Hey, what’s up?” with an obligatory “Nothing much, you?”. The problem is when someone changes the cultural expectation on me without a complimentary cue. They will begin the introduction with, “Hey, how you doing?” and I reply with the, “Nothing much, you?”
Seems superficial doesn’t it? But it doesn’t really carry the same unimportance when you realize that our lives answer a daily question. The language of our soul becomes the actions of our body. We rest on the vocabulary of physical exertion, while trying to respond with unmeaningful and unaccepted thoughts. See…our desires are devalued when they lack the decision to do! (Like the alliteration)
Here comes the question……
What good is it, dear brothers and sisters, if you say you have faith but don’t show it by your actions? Can that kind of faith save anyone? (James 2:14 NLT)
If the evidence of salvation isn’t present, are you really saved?
Answer this question with a deep discourse into your innermost pulse. Don’t rely on your immediate response. Don’t delegate your decision to your duty, to your job, your family, your career. Ask! Demand an answer from your life.
The easy part is that the solution is already established. It may be culturally eliminating, but Yoda said, “There is no try, only do.” Perhaps that’s not good enough, then find your motivation in the book of James, or the words and life of Jesus. I don’t find it a coincidence that the half-brother of Jesus understands the purpose of the Passion!
Chance
Spiritual Heart Rate
Posted by Chance in Discipleship - Lane 3, Spiritual Growth on February 18th, 2010
There is a discipline in sports that requires you to control your breathing as you increase in strenuous activity. In fact, it goes beyond breathing into managing and understanding how your heart rate effects your ability to compete. It is a physiological look at the old story of the “Tortoise and the Hare.”
In short, you have the “Rabbit” (anaerobic)
Strenuous exercise, low oxygen intake, high heart rate, inability to turn carbohydrates into fuel, longer recovery period
Then you have the “Turtle” (aerobic)
Medium exercise, high oxygen intake, medium heart rate, effective use of carbohydrates and fats for fuel, shorter recovery period
So what does this have to do with spiritual growth?
While swimming and monitoring my own heart rate, I began to understand a parallel between our physiology and our spirituality. In order to maximize your ability to compete and achieve success you must be willing to use both anaerobic and aerobic activities. Through planning the level of strain and trauma you put on your body, you can increase the effectiveness of your exertion and create sustained success.
Spiritually, God needs us to go through periods of hardship, strain, and trauma in order to teach us how to rely on him. The problem is that if we rely on him in only short bursts, we experience spiritual anaerobic side-effects. We suffocate our spirit, cut off our understanding that comes from the word’s nutrition, and we find ourselves unable to recover.
The parallel continues with those nagging hardships that are designed to keep us on a regular rhythmic path. However, we don’t grow in God by only experiencing one type of strain. Together, all the events of our life our used as an opportunity allow us develop quickness and endurance.
Don’t fight your spiritual training…recognize it, and use it to become effective and successful.
Chance
Back to the Future
Posted by Chance in Discipleship - Lane 3, Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth, Uncategorized on February 12th, 2010
C.S. Lewis “If I discover within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
Some call it midlife crisis…you know…the idea that when people hit their mid thirties they begin to feel as if they haven’t lived or made an impact. They begin to question themselves in relation to this world. As a result, they begin to change the external things about themselves attempting to meet the inner thirst for significance.
Ecclesiastes 7:4 NLT “A wise person thinks much about death, while the fool thinks only about having a good time now.”
I don’t think we actually dwell on death, but the eternal should be the standard for our actions, not the temporal.
Have you secured your hope in Christ?
Are you doing those things that will carry an eternal significance?
Are you still alive? Then you still have a purpose!
I talked to a friend the other day and we shared our struggle with the “American Dream.” It’s not that I fear education, career, achievement, or the corporate ladder. What I fear is that when the day is done, I haven’t advanced in what Ron Woods titled in a sermon, “The Gospel Dream.”
I challenge you this week to do those things that are outside of routine and rhythm. Do something amazing…something that is made for another world!
Chance
The Fire is Almost Out!
Posted by Chance in Community - Lane 2, Spiritual Growth on January 23rd, 2010
The month of January sees a surge of newness in many of the things we do. Research and studies have found that gym memberships, dieting, and healthy habits are at their highest during the month of January. The word in the gym is not to be frustrated. Most people will be gone by February and the reality is that the retail side is aware of this. That’s why they sell yearly memberships.
The problem is that you can’t just get a yearly membership to spiritual growth.
We also see a surge in January of bible reading, praying, and intentional actions of worship. We see the same in the other lanes of spiritual growth. We focus more on friendships, serving, and helping those less fortunate. Then it hits us. Like an invisible wave that we don’t even detect with our natural senses, our souls are extinguished. The red hot coals are covered by the ash of our initial bursts of activity. Then we spend the next part of our year in limbo between nurturing the heat from the smothered fire and leaving to get fuel to stoke it back up. This indecision leads to guilt, sadness, shame, and stillness as we grow cold waiting for something new.
It reminds me of camping with my boys. They are always excited to start the fire. It could be two in the afternoon, 105 degrees, and we just arrived and all they want to do is start the fire. Fast forward to dusk and it seems that we are back to the urgency of the fire. We get it going, but lack the resources and support to keep it going. We burn through the kindle in a flash and turn to realize our own laziness has left us with nothing to keep the fire going. They don’t want to stray from the fire too far to find what is necessary, so they scour until dad sneaks over with the gasoline, some appropriate firewood, and a fireball from a lighter.
There are lessons that would include preparation, attitude, and dedication, but I think once the fire is simmering and you realize that it’s not as hot, you need to call on those people around you to help you. They will have some strategies to help you light back up. Ultimately, other people will reconnect you with God so that he can be your source.
Build Your Community or it Won’t Matter How Big You Build Your Fire!
Click on the pic above to find a community at The Assembly
Chance
Using the Spiritual Growth Plan
Posted by Chance in Growth Tool, Spiritual Growth on January 13th, 2010
As with last week, I want to continue to provide some extra resource on how to apply our efforts toward growth. The tool that we have given is a great way to get our efforts from your heart and your head into your hands. Below are two examples of how you could have used this tool. As you will see, I have included all four lanes of growth in the ‘Spiritual Growth Planner’.
You may also click on the picture below to download it!
In the following weeks you will notice that this blog is aligned to the lanes of growth. The Acts 2:42 model should help put a filter over your eyes. Through this filter, begin to see everything you do as one of these four activities.
1. Worship to God
2. Developing community relationships with other Christians
3. Becoming involved in ministry and learning about yourself
4. Loving the World through outreach
Chance
Learning How to Use the Spiritual Growth Planner
Posted by Chance in Growth Tool, Spiritual Growth on January 3rd, 2010
Learning How to Use the Spiritual Growth Planner
The four sheets above correspond to the pages in the spiritual growth planner. They follow a sequential pattern that should help you in your plan for spiritual growth this year.
First- Sermon Notes
Start your Sunday by doing more than listening to the sermon.
Take notes…write down your ideas…make a contract between you and the message
Second- Worship Journal
Find a time in the week to journal your thoughts, struggles, prayers, etc.
Third- Daily Life Planner
Now is the time to be intentional. No more winging it. You want to be spiritually stronger…so let’s plan it!
On the left hand side of each day, write down your routine plans and appointments.
On the right hand side of each day, write down your plans for spiritual growth.
Fourth- Spiritual Growth Planner
The final step in your week’s growth is assessment.
Connect to this blog with your thoughts.
Identify your goals.
What did you do to grow…specifically?
Measure yourself.
Do better next week!
This week, we will focus on the first lane: Personal Devotions
This task brings our hearts and minds in line with our actions. If you believe that it is important to stay in constant relationship with God, then plan a personal devotion (Lane 1) activity for this week. Easy examples include the following:
- Read your Bible
- Attend Church
- Pray
- Worship in Song
Now that you have chosen one or more of these….be intentional about the rest of the W’s:
- Where are you going to do it?
- When are you going to do it?
- How often are you going to do it?
If you can’t answer these….let’s be honest…you aren’t going to be successful. Therefore, use the sheet below to plan your days. You can see my example.
At the end of the week, assess your growth by filling out the next sheet. See my example below.
If you have any questions, feel free to respond to this thread.
Together, we can create a community focused on growing.
Chance
Drowning in Change
Posted by Chance in Spiritual Growth, Worship - Lane 1 on December 22nd, 2009
I was swimming laps the other day and unlike those with strong endurance, I have to rotate strokes in order to stay afloat. The truth is, I spend most of the time using the breast stroke because it’s the easiest. However, while doing the side stroke for a couple of laps, I caught the attention of the swimmer next to me. As I was taking a breath between laps, he was leaving the pool. He asked for permission to correct my stroke, which I, knowing that the Olympics are just three years away, readily obliged. He stated that my hip was too low in the water, forcing my head up, creating tension on my neck, and reducing my glide in the water. He gave me tips on how to fix it and then I nervously performed the side stroke with my new teacher watching. What ensued was ridiculous. I began to suck up water, but not wanting to show weakness, I kept swimming and then began to swallow the water. In simple words, I was drowning. As I stopped and placed my feet on the bottom, he encouraged me by saying that I may “drink” a little water, but I would figure it out in time.
Such a brief moment in my life, that has such deep spiritual growth lessons. Over the next few days, when I was doing the…..breast stroke…(it’s easier)…I began to think about the lesson and apply to spiritual growth.
With a new emphasis from our pastor on reading the bible over the next year, I wonder how many of us need to change our technique. Are you like me in that you have become very efficient at using poor techniques? Are you creating tension in the body by doing things your way? Would you rather do things the easy way, instead of the best way? Are you going to keep trying the new way, or return to your own ways?
These questions are almost endless.
Transitioning from swimming to reading the bible. Let’s be honest…………are you ready?………most of us don’t read the bible…Shouldn’t have shocked anyone there…However, now is the time to start!
For those of us that do, well, we use strokes and techniques that don’t get us the distance we could get if we used better strategy. Our genuine quest for God is still distorted by our humanity of easiness. One simple technique tip is to sacrifice quantity for quality.
Read less, Change more!
slow down
read the same thing multiple times
memorize it
teach it to others
use it in conversations
journal it
pray it
draw a picture about it
sing a song about it
twitter it
post in on your wall
create a collage of it with pictures or words
This list is far from exhaustive and is not intended to be a single alternative. We should take a simple reading plan and turn it into a complex structure that changes our lives. This is the only way to move the history of Genesis or any other book to a personal narrative of redemption.
Lastly, when these things become difficult and you find yourself drowning in your own genuine effort, put your feet on the ground and start again. In the mean time, I’ll be sucking up water as I practice my side stroke.
Chance
Slowing Down to do What’s Right
Posted by Chance in Outreach - Lane 4, Spiritual Growth on December 10th, 2009
Today, a hospital visit to pray for the sick turned ministry back on me.
In a storytellers words, it was a gray and noisy day filled with confusion. The combustion of the traffic was mimicked by the busyness of the people, which seemed to hold ransom the politeness and courtesy that usually flutters through the air. Cars were in a hurry, the parking lot was full, the information desks were full of people accomplishing little, and the elevator was the only thing that seemed to be a haven of peace.
Well……that was until the closing of the doors was disrupted by another victim of the day. Pushing the button too soon, the doors reopened and victim number 2 was left with the only option….get on and face the awkwardness of violating the unwritten elevator law.
At this point, the story becomes less artistic and more realistic. As the person apologized, I assured them that it was no problem to slow my day down. I breathed deep as I chose kindness as my action. During the ride, the person once again apologized and offered me first opportunity to get off at the floor we were sharing. I insisted that she should go first. The oddity of this day continued as we both got off, with her in the lead. We walked around a corner, down a hall, and as providence would have it…..we entered the same room. I was there to pray for her husband and we had no idea who each other was.
What ensued, was practical ministry. However, what happen on the way down the elevator was an epiphany.
This is life!
Normally, people may not see ministry immediately follow an act of kindness or good works, but it is there. When we let our light shine through good works, God is given the glory as His spirit ministers in ways that we cannot discern or define. At our core, we all hunt for significance and impact. The problem is that it is not found in the success of our education or occupation. Instead, it is mandated by a life of servant hood through love. We are tasked with good works. We should slow down and do what we are purposed with!
Matthew 5:14-16 (New Living Translation)
14 “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. 15 No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
Chance
A Spiritual Barometer?
Posted by Chance in Discipleship - Lane 3, Spiritual Growth on December 2nd, 2009
We have all done something or acted in a way that shocked ourselves or at least forced us to publish a statement of regret or retraction. What hurts even more, at least for me, is the conflict within my mind and soul over growth. Not to copy Paul’s tongue twister (Romans 7), but I could have swore I have been taking the steps to engage in bible studies, prayer, healthy entertainment choices, and even serving the poor (only a little sarcasm). When it is all over, I still have this tendency to freakishly turn into this green monster of rage (you pick your poison).
Situations like these uncover the paradoxical issue of measuring ourselves on the continuum of spiritual growth.
First, should this even surprise us? It seems that most things in God’s kingdom and learning economy seem to have a divine process that places ours backwards. It doesn’t take long to realize that the bible emphasizes becoming a slave to be free, poor to be rich, last to be first, dead to be alive, etc.
However, we do not carry this obvious lesson with us through other experiences. Otherwise, we would know that spiritual growth cannot be measured by the number or depth of activities. In popular spiritual growth language we like to always defer to ’spiritual disciplines’ as the measurement. We climb up this slippery slope fallacy that leads us into a struggle to read more books, finish more bible reading plans, chart more hours of prayer, and acquire a more spiritual iTunes library. The result is a spiritual binge that leaves us sluggish and unable to react to the real barometer of growth……LIFE!
In a series on Pursuing Spiritual Transformation, Ortberg, Pederson, and Poling write, “Spiritual disciplines are not a barometer of spirituality…disciplines are never ends in themselves-only means to a greater end.” The greater end is being able to face the road we call life, and fulfill the greatest commandment to “love God and love man.” It almost seems cliche’ to use this phrase because it has become a brand more than a barometer, a catchphrase more than a cause, and a philosophy more than a plan.
To cycle back to the epiphany of my conversational experiences this past week. Spiritual growth is found in every situation, circumstance, and moment. It is available when you need to exercise restraint, express love, or endure suffering. Elevating God through emanate His love is transformation. Capture every moment, whether good or bad, easy or tough, expected or not. View them through a filter that measures your ability to love. This is where the measurement will capitalize on the proper use of spiritual disciplines, which is to build up the strength, stamina, and skill set for accomplishing the task.
Chance