A nonPauline letter to DC3

This week, I was asked to write a letter to the church that I planted in Lansing. So I did my best Paul impersonation, and this is what came out.

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Hi friends – brothers and sisters in Jesus. I’m no Apostle Paul, but I was asked to write you this letter.

Your love for one another is always a blessing to hear about. I feel that I left the church there just as it was entering its glory days. I know that is probably too broad of a brush, but as someone from afar, I am envious of the community you experience and the love you share for one another. I pray for that love to continue to flourish.

I remember an early church gathering where there was just three of us. My wife, Dan Harris, and I. And I’ve thought about that moment a lot lately for some reason. Because I think that it was the moment where I was the closest to just giving up before the church really even came to be.

And then I think about what would have happened if I had just thrown in the towel. You wouldn’t be where you are tonight gathered together.  And it amazes me. Humbles me. How just deciding to persevere in something God has called us to is somehow so important.

Now, I’m a little detached from your community there these days. I did watch the Yankees last week with John and still chat with Tom. Because of that distance, I can’t speak directly to anything going on there. But I want to offer this word of encouragement.

Don’t give up on the thing that you feel God is calling you to. Whether that is in your personal life or whether that is as a church. God has a mission for you. And we often have this idea of God being a god who forces His will. But He doesn’t. He waits for faithful people like you and me. People who will continue on even when they don’t feel that what God is calling them will ever materialize.

Because here is the bold truth of our faith. If God has called us to it, He will complete it. We just have to remain faithful and not give up. So remain faithful. God’s work through you all is just beginning. Be faithful even when it feels impossible. Love one another. Love your neighbors.

It was always my passion that the church there would be a church that would reach people who weren’t being reached by the church as it normally functions. That community would flourish. So may God bring more and more of those people in your path and continue to build your community.

Grace and peace to you all. You really hold a special place in my heart. And may that grow and grow as you continue to serve our same Lord and Savior. May God bless you as you pursue Him and His will together. And may you always have the boldness, courage, and bravery to remain faithful to His calling no matter what the circumstances.

Is It A Magical Wish Or A Commitment?

Hard-working Liberian ladies helping to build a school. Those are cinder blocks being carried on their heads.

All too often, we say that we are going to do something. But we really mean, we'll do it if nothing better comes up. I remember that we were attending a church a while back. We were praying that we would have better community with the people in the church. And as with most things we pray about, we had to follow that up with action. A lot of time prayers are just wishes rather than things we are committed to. For instance, we might want healing. That usually entails that we have to change our lifestyle too. We may want more money. That can entail working harder, going back to school, or switching jobs. We want a better family life. That entails spending time together. We want to stop world hunger. That entails raising money and helping. But we like to keep what we want as a wish rather than a commitment. What we often really want is for our lifestyle to not have to change in order to accommodate the blessing we want to receive while our prayer wish just magically happens.

So we were at this church, praying for better community with people from the church. We were inviting people over for dinner. The whole nine yards. Attending Bible studies. Doing what we could do to make community happen. But nothing seemed to be clicking. Then we were asked over for dinner to a couple's house. Only the second invitation we had ever received in our time at that church. We couldn't pass it. Or could we? They invited me over during the Colts AFC Championship game. Now, I wanted to stay home because they asked us over during a Colts playoff game, a game they weren't going to watch. I was invested in the Colts. I had watched every Colts game that year. And I wasn't about to miss a playoff game. On the other hand, I had been praying for better community. Was my prayer just a wish, below my desire to watch a Colts playoff game? Was I really committed to better community? Or was it just something I wanted if nothing better came up?

How would just wishing have worked for Marlin, Nemo's father in Finding Nemo? If Nemo had just been taken by the scary humans and Marlin didn't go after Him, what would have happened? If Marlin had just sat around, watched television, and wished that he would have his son back, would he have got him back? Or if he would have posted every day on Facebook how he wanted his son back, would that have been enough? Or he could have joined a group and talked about how he wished he had his son back. Would talk be enough? But that isn't what Marlin did. He went out into the great unknown because he was committed to finding his son no matter what the cost. It wasn't just a wish. It was a commitment.  

Or, take a story from the real world. I met a guy named Eric Wowoh in Liberia.  He's one of the group of people from Liberia, who during the Civil War, found themselves in a refugee camp in Nigeria. Eric decided to go visit his friend in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria, to get out of the refugee camp. He knew that he could have a better life living with his friend. Yet when he got to the city and went to his friends' place, his friend had moved and nobody knew where. Eric found himself broke, destitute, and stranded in a strange city. He decided to begin walking back to the refugee camp. Eventually night fell, and he found himself tired. So he discovered an abandoned house to sleep in as he tried to walk his way back to the refugee camp. Yet a band of thugs found him, beat him up, and told the police that he was trespassing. While in jail, Eric and another inmate began dreaming of educating Liberians once they got out of jail, out of the refugee camp, and back to Liberia.

Now this is a crazy dream. You're untrained. You're broke. You're imprisoned in a foreign country. You can't start schools.

Big Dave. Right picture taken just one year
prior to the left one.

Crazier than a 385 pounder saying he's going to run a marathon. But now my friend Dave, has ran three marathons.

Crazier than me, a boy who used to go to school here in Antwerp wearing a shirt that said "God is dead", preaching here on Easter Sunday.

Crazy like Joseph, sitting in prison, being used by God to save a whole nation. Crazy like David, a shepherd, becoming the ruler of God's people. Crazy, like Esther, an orphan raised by her cousin, becoming queen of a foreign land and saving all her people.

God is in the crazy business. The impossible business. Our God wants to do crazy, amazing things. Things that will make this world better than it is. But it can only happen when we do things differently than we are used to doing them. Are you committed?

Back to Eric. He didn't know anything. All he knew was a refugee camp. He didn't have a clue. He hadn't received an education. He didn't know how to start a school. He didn't have any money to start a school. Eric was so clueless that when he flew to the US to raise funds, he didn't accept the food offered on the plane because he thought he would have to pay for it and had no money.

Yet, while in prison in Nigeria, a lady believed his story and fought for his release. She gave him a computer. Eric used this computer to start a computer training school in the refugee camp. Students would take fifteen minutes on the computer at a time. With little things, Eric was faithful.

The day came where they found themselves able to go back to Liberia. He sent his close friends, who had now become brothers, back to Liberia to start a school while he traveled to America to raise money for that school. But it didn't work out the way he wanted. About nine months after he arrived in the States, he still wasn't having any success in raising funds to start the school that God had laid on his heart. He was ready to give up.  He felt that he couldn't accomplish what God had called him to. He emailed a British friend named Martin, who had started making a documentary on him back when Eric was in the refugee camp in Nigeria. Eric told Martin that he couldn't do it and that he was going to give up.

Martin replied, "You are not a normal person. I wouldn't be following you around and recording you if I thought you were normal. You're extraordinary. You can do this." (this is not verbatim. It's going from memory.) And Eric kept on. Eventually, the money came.

Now, you can go to Liberia and see a school that is educating nearly 2,000 kids - providing a free education in a nation where everyone has to pay for their education. You will be able to see two more schools being built. Kids receiving education. Schools bringing hope to their community. Kids learning skills to make their own dreams a reality and their broken nation whole again. All because one man, in a prison in Nigeria, who wasn't qualified, who didn't have the training, stayed faithful and remained committed to the dream that was laid on his heart.

A commitment.

What are you committed to?

A Few Days Now

It's been a few days now.

Have we gone back to our same routine?

It's so easy to go back to our same routine. Some go to church on Christmas and Easter, think they are going to take their journey together with other Christians seriously, but the fact that everyone else is imperfect gets in the way. Some make New Years' Resolutions only to lack the discipline to keep it going more than a few weeks. We get baptized only to continue wallowing in the mud of our sin. We take the Lord's supper only to turn around and starve for holiness.

How can we live with the love we are intended to have, the discipline that is needed, in the freedom we are called to, and on the right path?

It seems hopeless.

And it is.

At least in our strength. God knew that it was hopeless, and that is why He gave us hope. He came in the form of a little baby boy. Vulnerable and relying on others. He grew up in the love of God, His mother, family, and faith community. Nourished and strong. He traveled and taught. Wise and ridiculed. He then hung, bled, and died for all of us. Loving and disgraced. He rose again and continued to teach His followers. Inspiring and challenging. And then He gave His Spirit and established His Church. You and me.

It culminates in the two things that we still have today: His Spirit and His Church. And it breaks through into our world, not through the waving of a magic wand, but through you and me being His followers, together, day after day, moment after moment, in tragedy, in joyous celebrations, and in every moment between.

Paul wrote to Timothy, "Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control." 2 Timothy 1:6-7 (ESV).

Power, love, and self-control. Those are the attributes needed to respond to our challenges. Not fear. Never fear. His Spirit gives us the power to accomplish what we are called to, the guidance to love in relevant ways, and the self-control to be free from distractions.

Tragedies like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary remind us that things are still not right. God needs a generation of people who will step up, live for others, and build a better world than the one they were born in. And He did not send us on this mission without the tools to make it happen. 

Are we ready to heed the call? If there is anything that the last week has shown me, it's that this world needs more and more people to truly follow Jesus and strive to bring His kingdom to earth as it is in heaven. Our goal is not just some far off heavenly place; it's heaven here on earth, among us. And it can be realized through His Spirit and His Church.

I can't help but imagine Martin Luther King, Jr. staying awake on one of his many frustrating nights. He had a dream. And many nights that dream looked like it wasn't going to come about. I'm sure that he laid there and wondered whether the dream was just a fairytale that would never cross over into reality. But in his faithfulness to God, the dream laid on His heart by God became a reality. Not because of his perfection, for he was far from perfect. But because of His perfection working through him.

It's been a few days now. Have we given up?

Or have our eyes been open to a better reality? One that appears to be a dream covered over by the fog in the cold, damp morning. Remember that the Son removes the fog. The day will come. A new and better reality that can be lived among us through the strength, love, and self-control that His Spirit provides.

Let us work together for a better today.

One Step

I sit around moping, wondering why continue on. Why write another article? Why preach another sermon? Why do this? Why do that? It doesn’t seem to matter. Things don’t seem to be working. You might feel the same way with different activities.

It seems that most of what I do is fruitless.

I remember sitting in the crowd at the Rock 4 Water wondering if God had really wanted me to put this on. Had I just made up that leading? I felt he did. But then less than a 150 people showed up despite promoting it as well as I could. I felt sorry for the musicians traveling here and investing their time to sing to such a small crowd. I felt pathetic despite enjoying the music.

I wish I was like Superman. Always able to do the right things, say the right things, and be invulnerable to the plight of humanity. Maybe I am Superman, but oxygen is my kryptonite.

So I sit and mope.

And then God tells me that it isn’t about me. The concert. It wasn’t about me. The sermons. They’re not about me. This article. It’s not about me.

Everything I do is supposed to be about God. If I felt his leading to do something, then he will bring about his will through it when I am faithful and do what I have been led to do. The results are sometimes not visible to our physical eyes. But over time, things start to fall into place. This blessing happens. A joy springs forth. Life makes sense. God knew what He was doing after all. I wasn’t as confused as I thought. And it’s like a single ray of revealing light beaming through a cloud.

One step. That’s all we see. While he sees the journey he has planned for us. We just see the next step. Often, it’s around a corner or up a hill. We can’t see what direction where we are going. But he knows. And he leads.

Are we listening?

"It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed" (Deuteronomy 31:8 ESV).

The Day of Small Things

We are in the middle of moving -- an experience most of have had and a process that none of us look forward to. 

When we move, we recognize just how much stuff we have. A successful move is just doing a bunch of small actions well. Get boxes. Pack boxes. Label boxes. Get a moving truck. Recruit friends. The list goes on and on. We cannot just say that we are moving, invite friends over, and be done with it (although some have tried this method much to their friends' chagrin).

Moving is days and days of small things. The boxes are packed one item at a time. Then they are unloaded one item at a time. It is amazing that all of the stuff that we own will be arranged in a different house in a few months time. It seems unimaginable with all of this stuff around me. Despite not seeing it yet, I know it can happen because I have seen it happen time and time again with friends when they move. It has happened in the past when we have moved.

When we do little things right, big things do happen.

Sometimes we do not do the little things because we do not like the little things we have to do. By not doing the little things, we will never be able to do the big things that would be the culmination of all those little things. Great things will come if we are faithful in doing the little things.

Jesus taught, “One who is faithful in a very little is also faithful in much” (Luke 16:10 ESV).  He later shared the idea that if we are faithful in the little things, then God will give us bigger things to do (Luke 19:11-27). Jesus wants us to know that our faithfulness is what matters, whether it is in great things or in the most minor things.

By doing the little things today, we will find ourselves where God wants us to be tomorrow. Often we would like to make a sweat free, giant leap, but most accomplishments in life do not come without a lot of hard work beforehand. One does not become a pro athlete without all of the sweat and hard work. Nor does one become a great musician without putting in hours upon hours of unrecognized practice. People who make things look easy can do that because they have put in a lot of hard work on small improvements behind the scenes.

In Zechariah, the prophet writes about people who despise the “day of small things.” We might find ourselves doing the same thing at times. Instead of doing the small things that would make our life better, we lose the battle of small things. Life is rarely wasted by a lack of desire for big things. Who doesn’t want a lot of money, a fulfilling career, an amazing family, an awesome community, or great friends? Unfortunately, those things are often not achieved because the effort is not put into the small things that are necessary to bring them about. We waste our time on the television or the internet when we could be doing small things that would improve our life. Those are just two obvious areas, but we can waste time on a myriad of activities. We all have good excuses to not do the things we should be doing or to do the things we should not be doing, but in ignoring the small things that we could do to improve ourselves, we miss out on being who we could be.

It’s never too late to get on track. Maybe God wants to do a small thing in you. It might be a reminder in the back of your head that you keep putting off. It could be a change that you know you need to make but you just keep avoiding. Whatever it is, God has more in store for you, but it has to start with that small change. If you don’t do the small thing, then the big thing that is in store for you down the road will never come your way.

We all know the familiar words of Neil Armstrong, when he became the first man to walk on the moon: “One small step for man. One giant leap for mankind.” Someday, if we keep faithful in the small things, we will notice that we have made a giant leap. In doing the small things, we can rest assured that we will find ourselves right where we are supposed to be.

May we all find the strength and patience to do the small things.

Don't Follow the Crowd - Living a Life of Risk and Overcoming Failure

Colin Powell once said, “'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' is the slogan of the complacent, the arrogant or the scared. It's an excuse for inaction, a call to non-arms.”  Our society must be filled with the complacent, the arrogant, and the scared because we have lost the ability to look our problems in the face and change.

We must learn to be bold, brave, and daring in this culture that preaches moderation.  This is the cautious culture that we have to raise our children or grandchildren up to be adventurous in.  The world’s going to want them to step in line, just like it wants us to step in line, but we have to be willing to follow God wherever He leads, even when it is out of line and off the beaten path.

We each have value as children of God.  We can lose our jobs and still have value.  We do not have to make as much as our neighbor or our spouse to have worth.  We do not have to be the best athlete, the best in our field, or have the most athletic children to be exceptional.  We should never base our self-esteem on anything other than our relationship with Jesus.  That’s crazy talk in our world of pride, scorn toward failure, self-help, and independence. 

But it’s the talk of the Apostle Paul.  “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.”  This contentment that Paul tells us that he has, the contentment that is available to all of us through Jesus, will last through any storms.  It is independent of any physical situation.

There are two types of people.  There are those who let life beat them up, have given up, and just coast through life.  Then there are those who give life their all.  They are willing to quit their jobs and go start a business, move to another country to achieve their dreams in starting a farm, or to make the sacrifice to go back to school and better themselves.  They take life by the horns rather than letting life stampede over them and gore them.  

Richard Branson is one of those who has taken life by the horns.  He’s the founder of Virgin Records, Virgin Airlines, Virgin Galactic, and 400 other companies – all of this was started with a record mail order business in 1970.  He had this to say about failure in an interview with Seth Godin. 

“Do everything you can to survive and not give up.  As long as you try everything you can, if you fail, you will sleep okay, you will pick yourself up.  When things are better, you will learn from your mistakes and start again.  If, on the other hand, you give up too readily, you will forever kick yourself.”

“Don’t take failure too seriously…You should realize that it is an important to just learn from it and come back and start again.  An awful lot of really big multi-millionaires and billionaires have been through  two or three bankrupt companies in their lives, have learned from them, and come back stronger.”

“Don’t be embarrassed about your failures as long as you have tried everything you can to avoid it.  Don’t take it too personally.”

So we keep trying new things.  If we are on our way to failure and keep trying the same old things, failure will most assuredly come.  But we can always change and try something new.

Each of us must be failing  if we are to succeed.  When was the last time you failed?  If it’s been a while, then you have stopped living.   We can either have two approaches in life – coasting through life or living through life.  Coasting is to only try things that are guaranteed and never risk anything.  In this approach we will never truly live or accomplish anything.  The other is to take on the attitude of Paul, to be content, and rest assured in the saying, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”  It’s that mentality that will enable us to make a difference.

We must Fail in order to Succeed

Our society’s approach to failure is comical.  I don’t care if it is business, personal lives, or politics; everything has to be spun as if it were a success.  As soon as something bad happens, the talking heads start spinning it as an astounding achievement for whatever group they are associated with.  Nothing is ever negative. 

As individuals, we, like the political and other figures of our day, have this tendency to declare everything we do a success.  We want to hide mistakes and failures.  But what does this do to our growth if we actually grow more in our failures than in our successes?  What are we turning ourselves into  if we try to isolate ourselves from failure or deceive ourselves from really facing our failures?

Martin Luther, during the Protestant reformation, was influential in taking education out of the realm of the church and into the hands of the state.  Dr. Marilyn Harran notes that by doing this, “Luther allowed both teacher and student to rejoice in learning and to permit mistakes and even failure without undermining a person’s value and importance.”  In order to be content and have a healthy self-esteem, we must separate our worldly success from our inner peace.

We live in a culture where we attack failure so harshly that people become afraid to act because they are afraid to fail. 

Unfortunately, this can happen in a church.  It often seems like church leaders are like clay pigeons at a shooting range.  As long as they are not doing anything, maintaining the status quo, and not rocking the boat, they are safe.  But as soon as they start to move, the gunfire ensues and attempts to blow them to pieces.  A healthy church is just the opposite; it is a place where people can be creative about ministries, attempt different things, and have people there to support them and encourage them when they fail.  Every leader of every ministry in any church will fail at times.  I will deliver some bad sermons.  We’ll attempt some outreach programs that won’t click.  The worship will be a distraction some times and not conducive to us worshipping God.  Some children’s programs will be too chaotic and not gel.  Every ministry will have failures, but a healthy church is a place where it is safe to fail.  Instead of attacking and tearing down leaders in your church when they fail, be a place that builds up and encourage when people stumble. 

A healthy family is like that healthy church.  It’s one where everyone is a pillar of support under each other to propel one another toward their dreams: A place where children can try new things and have people there to support them and encourage them when they fail.  And a healthy church and a healthy family must be made up of healthy individuals who feel free to try different things and know they will be valued and supported when they fail.  Because if we are honest with ourselves, failing is something we do an awful lot if we are actually trying to grow.

It’s excruciating to watch kids learn to ride a bike.  It’s rare to have that kid who can just pick up a bike and start riding.  They fall and hurt themselves, but the adults around them encourage them to get back on and try again.  The adults don’t yell at the children and scream, “You suck!  Why are you always falling you stupid idiot!?”  The kids are already telling themselves that in their head and sometimes even out lout.  What they need is encouragement because the goal is to get that kid riding his or her bike.  Eventually, through the pain and suffering, they can ride the bike and feel a sense of accomplishment.

The safest way to never fail is to never try something new or different.  We all know picky eaters who will not try new food.  I am not one of them.  It doesn’t mean I will like everything I try, but it does mean I will taste it.  Being a picky eater does have its benefits.  It means that they will only eat what they like and not have to taste food that they dislike.  I have experienced some disgusting tastes in my life when I have tried different foods.   Not having those bad tastes does sound like a good thing, but it also means that I would not be able to discover what would possibly be my new favorite food.  We miss out when we don’t try.

May we not let our failures define who we are.  May we continue to learn through every situation and grow into who God wants us to be.