Archive for June, 2009

- It is officially H-O-T in Vegas now
- Played a couple of rounds of golf this weekend. Playing the best I have played in a while.
- My kids philosophy this time of the year? The more time in the pool – the better
- Hot weather makes me lazy
- When you rent a school, they seem less concerned about a properly functioning a/c when school is out.
- A properly functioning a/c is important during the summer months in Vegas!
- Finished our RTDs series today. I really enjoyed teaching this series.
- Spoke today on Affluenza, more commonly known as greed
- The only way to overcome greed? Giving
- Having money is not bad. Not knowing WHY you have what you have is bad.
- God does not ask us to be owners. He asks us to be managers. BIG difference.
- We start Blockbusters next weekend.
- Short week ahead.
- Independence Day Jubilee on Thursday night. I will be saluting the troops. This event usually attracts about 20k people.
- I am so thankful for our partnership with the City of North Las Vegas.
- Grace Point always comes through with the volunteers we need. Way to go GPers.
- I am so grateful to be a part of a church that is serious about impacting their community through service.
- Heading to the Utah mountains for a couple of days at the end of the week.
- Any time you can flee the heat and enjoy some cooler weather is a treat.
- Missing my oldest daughter Kayleigh who is spending time at the grandparents. Not used to being away from my kids.
- One of my favorite things about summer? Homemade ice cream

We are finishing our Religiously Transmitted Diseases series this weekend talking about a common virus that affects a lot of Christians – affleunza, better known as greed.  We shy away from the word greed because it sounds so Ebenezer Scroogish but in reality greed is more a lifestyle or refusal to act than a feeling.   Greed disguises itself in virtuous terms like saving or storing or putting back.

Greed is actually driven by fear – a fear that God can’t or won’t provide.  And if God won’t provide then we have to try and provide for ourselves. The end result is that we live in a constant “need more-want more” lifestyle that will never be satisfied by something as fleeting as money or stuff.

Jesus talks about the fact that our hearts and money are closely connected. If you want to see a person’s heart, trace their money trail.  A person who is marked by affluenza will leave a trail of self-absorbed spending and saving.  Often a greedy person spends more than they bring in or they live a lifestyle that parallels their income to the point they have no room for giving margin.

The only true cure for greed is giving.  Sharing stifles affluenza because it emphasizes faith over fear.  My heart follows my money and so if I learn to be a giver, I will soon overcome greed with generosity.

This Sunday we will examine a story Jesus told in Luke 12 of a man who was infected with affluenza.  It is a story that can be retold again and again in modern culture.  And it is a story that reminds us that life’s greatest blessings are not found in what we own or don’t own but in how we are managing and investing what God has given us.

I want to be a giver. I heard a well-known pastor say one time that he wanted the last check he wrote in this lifetime to bounce because he had given everything away.  I agree with his primary point which is: we cannot take a single dollar or possession with us but we can send eternal investments on ahead by investing in God’s work on earth.

God is a giving God. He gave His own Son that we might have life.  Greed counters the nature of the God we serve.  Having money is not a bad thing but not knowing why you have money is a very bad thing!

Good weekend overall that included some golf, ping-pong, barbequeing, swimming, and hanging with friends.  GP was a bit down in attendance but the music was great and I taught on a subject close to my heart – legalism.  Check it out on the podcast if you want. Our downstairs a/c was out for a couple of days this weekend.  Wow – you don’t want to be without air conditioning in the summer in Vegas.  I dropped off my oldest daughter Kayleigh at the airport this morning. She is going to spend 7 weeks with her grandparents!  I will see her about half way through for a few days and the rest of the family will join her for a few weeks.  She will be missed!  She cried this morning at the airport which ripped my heart to shreds.

Summer is in full gear: hot weather, low church attendance, cheap golf, expensive electric bills, and all the other “benefits” of living in the desert in the summer.

This Sunday I am talking about a topic that I have lived and experienced as many Christ-followers have.  I am teaching on the issue of legalism.  Legalism has been around since the inception of the church and even Jesus and Paul spent a lot of time combating it.  To me legalism really comes down to how much easier it is to live by rules-keeping than relationship.  Plus legalism so often disguises itself in righteous garb that it is difficult to identify because it appears so righteous.

I have been thinking this week about the lure of legalism. What makes it so appealing?  A few things come to mind:

1. It allows me to keep score. I can keep up with where I stand.  If being a Christian comes down to a list of do’s and don’ts, then I can know how I am doing or not doing.  I become the determiner for what is acceptable or not.  In rules-keeping, it is easier to keep my status in check.

2. External conformity is always simpler than internal transformation.  Falling in line with a set of guidelines or rules is easier than trying to tame my heart toward God.  The truth of the matter is I can be totally conformed externally but filthy internally. I believe Jesus used similar language when he called the religious leaders of his day white-washed cups who were unclean on the inside.  Matters or the heart are more complicated.  Loving God with everything I am and loving others above myself is more difficult than checking off a list.

3. We naturally judge others by our standard of acceptance. Like it or not, all of us have a level of legalism in us.  We naturally tend to judge others. We all have a “whose in and whose out” mentality about life.  We don’t hang out with certain people because they do not meet our level of acceptance. We don’t drive certain cars, wear certain clothes, or drive particular cars because we have standards of acceptance.  And so it is natural for us to carry this same attitude into our spiritual lives. We tend to measure people inside and outside of Christianity by our own level of acceptance.  This reality lends itself toward a legalistic spirit toward those who are different than us.

* Let me digress for one second to suggest that those of us who are considered the “new paradigm” of churches can be just as guilty as those we considered legalistic in our past.  It is just as legalistic to say our style of music, dress, church model, etc. is superior to other past preferences.  We can even be legalistic toward not being legalistic!  Tough balance to find.

The lure of legalism is real and I believe rigidmortis affects most of us at some point in our journey.  One of the dangers of legalism is that it tends to creep in the longer you are on the journey.  As we will see on Sunday, it is an “older brother” issue (Luke 15).

We must fight its lure and be on constant guard against its symptoms.  And we must remember that salvation and Christian living are about grace. It is not about being informed or conformed. It is about being transformed and that only happens from the inside out.

Chris Hansen of To Catch a Predator fame emceed a Dateline expose of Las Vegas and what goes on “behind the scenes” in Sin City. You can watch it here.

The wrap-up…

- Awesome Friday afternoon to play golf. Beautiful weather – fun time.
- Birthday parties galore … for one +40 year old friend (LWags) and one 5-year-old friend (Pickle). Happy birthday to each.
- Relaxing Saturday that included: random computer activity & Wii (C.O.D.).
- Barbecue with the elders on Saturday night – awesome group. Thanks Gster.
- My meat intake this weekend included: tri-tip, grilled burgers, baby backs, jerk chicken, and elk steaks!
- Throw in some jalapeno poppers and peanut butter pie and it was a great weekend for food consumption!
- Another good Sunday at GP
- Taught on Inferiorphobia.
- Favorite quote of day: less prominent does not equal less significant.
- Taught on the story of the boy with the lunch – great apps in that passage.
- God uses the ordinary to do the extraordinary!
- Our band is in a zone. Great music today.
- GPU sign-ups started. Good initial response.
- I hear the official Vegas summer weather is on the way this week.
- Some military dudes back from TDY this week and others on the way out!
- Over the next several weeks, we are losing some AWESOME military families. I hate that part of being near a base.
- Interesting conversation today with a helicopter gunner who just returned from the field. Wish everyone could hear the true stories that do not make the news for some reason.
- Thank you men and women who serve our country to provide my freedom!
- About the throw down with some serious ping-pong.
- Slower week ahead.
- My intern Danny Kahr and his fiance Alex are getting married this Wednesday! Congrats to you two!

I think that’s it for now….later

“I’m good enough”
“I’m smart enough”
“And doggonnit – people like me”

These were the self-affirmations that Stuart Smalley, a fictional character invented and performed by politician and satirist Al Franken on Saturday Night Live, would repeat to himself regularly to give himself the self-esteem to face life. Smalley was a fictitious self-help guru who offered optimistic morsels of “Daily Affirmation.” The exaggerated character was a spoof on individuals who are so obsessed with twelve-step, self-help type programs that they actually become addicted to going to therapy for addiction.

This Sunday at GP we are talking about a second Religiously Transmitted Disease – Inferiorphobia. It seems that many Christians live with feelings of inferiority when it comes to who they are in Christ and their role in God’s work on earth. Many Christ-followers don’t feel “good enough” or “smart enough” or “talented enough” and so they live life struggling over their place in the body of Christ.

The Bible is clear that there is a difference between significance and prominence. In our judgments-based-on-differences culture, it is easy to mistake significance for prominence. We live in a “stand-out” culture. We applaud those who stand out above others – the best singers, athletes, students, and performers are considered “better than” those whose natural giftedness (or lack thereof) do not cause them to stand out from others.

However the Scriptures teach and demonstrate how God tends to use the ordinary to do the extraordinary. One thing I love about the God-story is how He often utilizes ordinary people with very ordinary lives to fulfill His purposes. Paul is clear in his letters to the Corinthians that significance is not measured in terms of visibility. What can be considered less significant by many can actually be the most necessary component.

Each Christ-follower has a purpose and role within God’s plan. No one is insignificant. And it is through the ordinaries who make up the church of Jesus Christ doing what God has gifted them to do that the body of Christ functions fully and effectively.

Hear me clearly: if you are a follower of Jesus Christ, you are SIGNIFICANT in God’s work. Don’t allow inferiorphobia to limit what God is calling you to be and do!

One of my favorite comics is Brian Regan. My friend Vince Antonucci posted this Regan clip on his blog this week. It is definitely a hilarious one about the “one-upper” at parties. Enjoy.