How to level up in your spiritual life

Sometimes I wish my spiritual life were more like a video game. If you accomplished certain goals each day, you would receive points. They would be called “goodies,” of course, and if you got enough goodies, you would level up. Each level would put you one step closer to God and would allow you to be spiritually stronger and thus have a more fulfilling life. Throughout the day you would still encounter various challenges or “baddies.” When baddies were overcome, you would end up with more power-ups and XP, and would level up much more easily. Occasionally you would end up having to defeat a boss, which (like any good video game) inevitably turn up at the end of important levels. Beating a boss would give you massive XP, making your character stronger than ever.

So today might look like this (Saturday):
• Playing with the kids in the snow = +20XP
• Playing a game on my new phone = -5XP
• Writing this post = +10
• Not helping my wife prepare dinner = -20
• Shoveling snow off the walkway for trick or treaters = +10 (Wait, what?)

So, not exactly a level up day, but not going backwards either.

Although this kind of thinking seems appealing, of course a works system would break down to something ugly. God’s system of grace is a whole lot better:

Good day = Loved by God.
Bad day = Still loved by God.

I think i'll stick with grace.

What I don’t want technology to do for me

I was watching football with my sons last weekend, and a commercial came on for the new Iphone 4s highlighting its amazing new technology, Siri. Now I love techy stuff as much as the next guy, but this commercial really creeped me out. These were the things people asked Siri to do, and the things that Siri did.

Siri, read me the [text] message.

Play my running mix.

What’s the traffic like here?

Text my wife I’m going to be 30 minutes late.

Is it going to be chilly in San Francisco this weekend?

How many cups are in 12 ounces?

Set my timer for 30 minutes.

I love when technology helps me in my life. I love when it does things that make my life easier. But I couldn’t help wondering: do I really want Siri to replace my brain? Do I want Siri to talk to my wife? Do I want Siri to know things that I should probably already know?

The calculator was a helpful tool when it came out, but I was not allowed to use one in math class growing up. The reason is simple: my teachers wanted me to learn how to use my brain. It was same reason my English teacher balked when I tried to bring a dictionary to my spelling test..or when my geography teacher made me take that globe off my desk.

Right after the Siri commercial there was a car commercial that showed a car parallel parking. By itself. The guy lifted his hands off the wheel, and the car did the rest. Perfect park. Sickening.

I don’t want my car to park itself. I have spent years perfecting my parking skills (and I take some pride in them). Is it really more satisfying to have your car park for you?

Ok, my Andy Rooney rant is over. I wonder what you think. How much is too much? What do you want or NOT want technology to do for you?

Adoption story (video)

This past Sunday, I had the privilege of giving the message at our church on “The cost of family.”  It was part of a greater series on the cost of following Jesus.  I decided to make the message very personal and share stories from our recent adoption journey.  Since adoption is one of my favorite things to blog about, I decided to put the video here.  It is a full length message, but I hope that you find it encouraging and worth your time.  I would love it if is shared with anyone who might find it helpful or is considering adoption!

The one thing you need to get right

I was at the Catalyst conference the other week, and this guy named Jon Tyson said this remarkable thing. It has stuck with me for days; I can’t get it out of my head. He said, “If you only get one thing right, get prayer right.”
Love that. It’s the kind of thing I would expect Jesus to say. Like this fictitious conversation:

“So, do you mean Jesus, that I should care less about my weight and more about prayer?” “Yes”, he says. “I don’t really care too much for skinny jeans.” “Do you mean I should care less about whether or not I got my 30 minutes on the elliptical in today?” “Umm, also yes.” “But I am really worried about my work. I haven’t finished everything that I need to get done this week. Still Prayer?” “Yes, still prayer. I want to ease your burdens.” “But what about my family, Jesus? I thought you always say that family should come first. Does prayer trump family?” “Silly question," he says. “Prayer will only help your family. Get prayer right.”

When we get prayer right, so many pieces of our lives start to fall into place. Worry, doubt, fear…all seem to wash away. Issues that seemed so burning a moment ago…not so much after prayer.

Jesus becomes clearer with prayer.

God becomes closer through prayer.

Needs become blessings by prayer.

Life becomes meaningful with prayer.

Worry becomes worship by prayer.

Try it out. Find a quiet place. Pour your heart out to God. Breathe him in. Feel the therapy of prayer.

Get prayer right.

What Stephen Colbert Said

I have been reading the excellent book, You Lost Me by David Kinnaman. It’s a follow up to his best seller UnChristian, only focused on why younger Christians are leaving the church. In his chapter called “Nomads and Prodigals,” he talks about why some high profile people stepped out of their faith for a while. Here is what Stephen Colbert said about finding his way back to faith (p. 59).

Yeah. It was a college angst thing. But once I graduated from college, some Gideon literally gave me a box of The New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs on a street in Chicago. I took one and opened it right away to Matthew, Chapter 5, which is the opening of the Sermon on the Mount. That whole chapter is essentially about not worrying. I didn’t read it—It spoke to me, and it was an effortless absorption of the idea. Nothing came to me in a thunderbolt, but I thought to myself, “I’d be dumb not to reexamine this.”

Wow! What a testament to the power of the Gospel! (No pun intended.)

I have the privilege of interviewing David Kinnaman at our church (Living Word) this coming Tuesday, the 25th as part of our young adult ministry. If you are in the York, PA area, come and join us at 7:00!  (It's open to all ages.)

What’s your take on this quote?

One secret to leadership

I do not fashion myself a great leader. But there is at least one secret to leadership that I have learned in life. The strange thing is, although I have never read it in any leadership book, nor heard about it at any conference, it is most certainly a game changer.

It is simply this: do not fear anyone. So many of us live in fear of someone else. What will they think? Will they hate my idea? What if it doesn’t work? What will people say? What does my boss/spouse/friend/co-worker feel about me?

When one becomes a slave to these kinds of thoughts, he or she cannot lead in any capacity. Take a silly example. Your friends and you are at blockbuster video. None of you can figure out what video to rent. The reason? Simple. No one wants to pick a movie that everyone hates. It is fear of what others will think. Or maybe you are in a staff meeting at your job. You have an idea that will make a difference, but you hold back because of fear. On and on you could go with these kind of examples. Many times the difference between leadership and followership comes from a direct fear of others.

So who are you afraid of? Say the names out loud. Then ask yourself, why am I afraid of them? Then pray to God and ask him to take the fear away. He will most certainly do it! You will be amazed at the freedom this brings in your life!

For a really good blog on leadership, check out my friend Brian’s blog here.

Matthew's first day at church

This week we took Matthew to church for the first time. With his limited experiences in America, our big, busy church was a bit daunting. My wife took him over to see his 13 year old sister, who was leading worship that morning for our junior high school ministry. Neither of us really thought about what his perception of seeing her on stage would be. He walked into a dimly lit room to see her singing into a mic, on a stage, with a full band. The lights were glistening down on her from above. The music was rocking, guitars blaring, drumbeats palpable. My daughter was leading vocals that day. Matthew looked up at her with eyes wide. He looked at his mom, then to her, then to his mom again. His mouth dropped open in amazement.

His look said: “I had no idea that my sister was a rock star!”

From his Ethiopian background, the only other person he could relate her to in that moment was probably what he had seen from American television over the last 3 weeks. She was Hannah Montana.

I was thinking of how often our perspective is askew. How often we look upon someone, outside of a context, and think: “wow, they really have it all together.” But the reality is often much different. But how could we know? Our limited context leaves us with a false reality. We may idolize a celebrity because of what we outwardly perceive. But deep down that person would gladly trade their life for yours (think Charlie Sheen). Or we may do this with a neighbor or a friend or even a pastor.

So the next time you find yourself celebritizing (made up word alert!) someone, pause. It doesn’t help them, and it certainly doesn’t help you.

How much is enough?

My newly adopted son Matthew has only been an American for about 3 weeks, but he is getting used to the perks. Coming from the poorest area, of the second poorest country in the world, you might think that it would take him some time to look for the “extras” in life. But it didn’t. Because that’s just not in our human nature. Yesterday he asked me for some water. “Wahalu, wahalu!” I started to pour out water from the tap (as I would do for myself). “NO! NO!” He then pointed to the fridge, where the Brita filtered water is kept. I started pouring from it. “Yes, daddy, yes...Wahalu.”

I smiled but cringed at the same time.

In his shared bedroom with his older brother Micah, he began to point out the discrepancies. He is not able to rationalize that his siblings have been storing up stuff for many years, and he has only had 3 weeks to do so. He pointed to the closet full of his brother’s stuff, and then he said: “Micah’s.” He pointed to three of the dresser drawers: “Micah’s, Micah’s, Micah’s. He pointed at the trophies and the things on top of the dresser: “Micah’s.” On and on this went.

This observation has little to do with my son Matthew, but has everything to do with our human condition. We may start out naked and without any possessions, but we learn very quickly to desire that which is better than what we currently have. We want more and more, better and better. We want what the other person has. We want and want and want. We are unsatisfied people who can never get enough. When we get more, we are unhappy still, and start looking for what's next.

That is, until we sit at the feet of Jesus and be still. We look up to him with pleasure and delight. We realize how fully satisfying he truly is. We ponder all that he has done for us in the past, and all that he will do for us in the future. The stuff begins to fade into the background. It slowly becomes Him alone. It is simply…Jesus.

Only…Jesus.

What Andy Stanley said

Besides tripping over an old lady in a wheel chair, the Catalyst conference last week had plenty to offer. One of the speakers, Andy Stanley, challenged us to “do for one, what you wish you could do for many.” (Of course, it may have been RANDY Stanley, as he apparently has a doppelganger.)

He said that the reason many of us don’t act on someone’s behalf is because we are overwhelmed by all the needs. He also said we may suffer from a fear of “fairness.” We feel that we can’t help one person out because then we will have to help out everyone. It’s only fair. You know this line. If you have kids, you probably use it all the time. “If I give you a car, I have to give your baby sister one too.” Or maybe at work, “If I make your copies, I’ll have to make them for everyone.” The problem with fairness, he said, is that it ended in the garden of Eden.

After my wife and I decided to adopt our son Matthew from Ethiopia, we found out he had two older sisters. It never really crossed my mind that if we adopted him, we would have to adopt them too. That is, until we were sitting in a meeting talking to our case worker and my wife asked about them. She wanted to know if we could find out if they were ever put up for adoption. And then came the direct question from our case worker: would you want to adopt them too? Humanly, I did not feel that we were capable in that moment of saying yes. But as soon as she asked the question, I found my eyes welling up with tears. In my heart I was saying, yes, yes we would. But we actually said that we didn’t know what we would do.

Andy Stanley had a good point. We can’t worry about fairness when making a decision to help somebody. We just need to help them. We shouldn’t play the “what if” game. We shouldn’t feel bad if we can’t help everyone. We should just roll up our sleeves, and do what we can in the moment.

Is there anything you’ve been putting off?

A funny thing happened on the way to the Catalyst Conference

So some friends and I are in Atlanta at the yearly Catalyst Conference. It’s a big Christian party, basically, filled with great worship and inspiring people. On the way from the airport we all boarded a shuttle to bring us to the baggage claim. Everyone got on board and grabbed a bar except for me. For some reason I opted not to grab a bar...Figured I would just freewheel it. You know, surfer style. Cuz that’s how I roll. I literally thought my balance was…that good.

The train started and pushed me back a step—which would have been fine, except there was a very old lady behind me. In a wheel chair. Not kidding, in a wheel chair. When I stepped back my foot got caught on her footrest. And boy did I fall.  Epic fall.  I fell on her and onto the floor. Two guys kind of caught me just as I was hitting the ground. They were laughing at me as they held me up.

I immediately felt bad for the little old lady. She looked like she felt bad, so I said: “That’s ok! That’s ok! I’m fine!” (I wasn’t actually fine.  My ego had a major bruise on it.) But then she said in a very angry tone: “NO! It’s NOT fine!” In front of my friends and strangers, she then informed me of just how silly I was, and also on the merits of holding onto the bar. “That is,” she said “why they are there."

Ok, so I guess the point is this. In every day moments in life, you and I have a choice. We have a choice to catch people when they are falling, or knock them down some more. It’s often tempting to revel in someone else’s mistakes or ignorance, or failure. But wouldn’t it be better if we took the time to build them up instead? I mean, let's really go out of our way to live out our faith with words and deeds!

What do you think?

Having a life mission statement

I thought (since I am soon over the hill) that it would be a good time to refresh my life mission statement. I have always sensed from God a certain direction or calling in my life. Through the years that calling has had more clarity as God has revealed my gifts, passions, and sense of his leading. Here is what I found myself writing down in the most recent version:

My purpose on earth is to “lead many to righteousness” by proclaiming the Story of Jesus in clear, fresh and relevant ways.

It’s not a perfect statement, but it sums up what I feel God’s call on my life is, in a way that is general enough to allow for his work, but specific enough to be helpful. Here’s some of the ways that a life mission statement can be really helpful.

1) It keeps you on track. Perhaps the most obvious, having a personalized mission that you are confident in will help you filter all kinds of decisions. From the big picture (should I take this new job?), to the everyday (what kinds of books should I be reading?).
2) It gives encouragement when you lose your way. It’s fairly common in life to get discouraged, especially in ministry. It’s easy to wonder if you are really doing what God made you to do. Having a personal mission written down can solidify what you already know is true about your life. It can keep you from getting derailed.
3) It will help you make good ministry decisions. Most people who work in ministry find it easy to fill up a week with work. But filling it up with the right things is a different matter. What activities should take priority over others? What events or activities should I be a part of? When should I say no to requests? These kinds of decisions can be paralyzing without a strong sense of personal vision or mission.
4) It will help you finish well. I was watching Andy Rooney on 60 minutes the other night. It was his last episode of a 33 year career with the show. He looked old, but he also seemed very content with his life. In the interview, he was asked the question: what would he do if he had life to do all over again. I wrote down his answer because I was so impressed by it. Here is what he said: “If I had my life to do over again, I would work on 60 Minutes. I would write a piece of my own every week. I would write it, and then I would read it. That’s what I would do.” In other words, he would do exactly what he had done. That’s because, despite his prickly personality, Andy Rooney had a strong sense of personal mission in this world. He knew what he was made to do, and he did it relentlessly.

And so should we.

Turning 40!

I’m turning 40 soon. It’s one of those ages that makes you pause and consider where you are in life. I don’t think 40 is old, but then I don’t think anyone really thinks of themselves as old. That’s because life goes by pretty fast, and so you never really feel like your age. Well, all except for your body that is. In anticipation of all the over-the-hill cards I will undoubtedly receive from my “friends,” I’ve compiled some of my favorite getting-old quotes. Feel free to add yours to the comments!

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen. --Mark Twain

The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly, and lie about your age. --Lucille Ball

The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you'll grow out of it. --Doris Day

Middle age is that period in a man's life when he'd rather not have a good time than have to get over it. --Oscar Wilde

Old age ain't no place for sissies. --Bette Davis

The aging process has you firmly in its grasp if you never get the urge to throw a snowball. --Doug Larson

Old age is not so bad when you consider the alternatives. --Maurice Chevalier

A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age. --Robert Frost

Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. --Mark Twain

Have another one?  Add it below!