faith

Three principles for helping others grow

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Yesterday in a teaching series called Rooted, we talked about how we can go about helping other people grow in their faith. It’s surprisingly controversial…this idea that we can or should be involved in the spiritual development of those around us. I could sense some ‘push-back’ in the room…sorta like…really…am I my brother’s KEEPER???

I suggested three principles for helping other people grow. the first was this:

To help someone else we must see it as our responsibility, even our privilege to help.
In Matthew 28:18-19 Jesus made it very clear that it IS our job. “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

Its pretty much a slam dunk…we ARE to be involved in the spiritual life of those around us.

The second principle may be a bit more complicated:

To help someone else grow, we must discern where they are.

Matthew 13 speaks of four kinds of soil/spiritual conditions:

Seed sown along the path
– pre-Christian

– no understanding

– not internalizing

Seed on rocky places 
– shallow

– new Christians

– life got hard because of their faith

Seed among the thorns 
– wealth and worry

– God has gotten too small

Seed on good soil

– a need to find their own ministry

The third principle is completely elementary:

To help someone else grow in their faith, we must be present with them.

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10
“You know how we lived among you for your sake.”

Helping someone else grow means we get close enough to them in relationship and continue to walk together…to invest and encourage.

So…are you interested in helping someone else grow? You’re in for the ride of a lifetime!

Its never too late to learn

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Life is all about learning new things. The moment we stop learning we start dying. Well, mentally anyway. And to be honest…stop learning and you begin to be just…BORING!

It doesn’t take a university or seminary to learn something new. We can read endless content online…some of which is useless, I freely admit. But some of it is useful and catalytic – take this blog for example 🙂 .

There’s also things like Khan Academy, eLearners, or Academicearth. Its probably never been easier to learn new skills than today. We truly never have to stop learning.

There’s also the idea of learning from each other, recognizing that other people know things we don’t. Call it coaching, mentoring, whatever…we can always be in learning mode.

Recently, it seems God has saw fit to connect me with someone like this.

It was at the suggestion of a friend that I meet this person. I Googled him and discovered LOTS written about him. So…why not meet him?

The first meeting was direct, intense, and catalytic. The kind of conversation that leaves you processing the big ideas for months. And there were a LOT of big ideas.

Imagine then, when the phone rang and with it another invitation to sit and simply talk. I emptied my calendar and set aside a day for the visit.

Sitting with my new friend once more, I was powerfully aware of his educated, unique, studied, experienced perspective on the world, and most importantly, on Jesus.

When’s the last time you spent two hours in intense conversation about Jesus? The time passes quickly. And when it’s done, once again you find much to consider…much to find a place for in your heart and life.

As I left his study yesterday I turned and said to him, “You asked why I’m here. I know you’ve heard this countless times…but I’m here because of Jesus in you”.

We will likely sit together again. In the mean time…I can feel things changing in me.

More than learning. More like awakening.

 

 

Interstellar

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So…have you got a spare 2 hours and 49 minutes this week? Maybe you want to go to the theater and catch Matthew McConaughey’s newest work!

I never did quite get the whole story, but it seems good ol’ mother earth is about to croak. And Matthew and his team are sent through a worm hole to find new digs for the human race. As you can imagine, worm holes are scary places and whats on the other side can be equally alarming.

I will, of course, NOT spoil the plot for those who intend to go see it.

For the record, I did not regret the almost three hour investment.

It was funny though. As we left the theatre, I asked my son what he thought. His response: I think I’m going to have to process this a bit. Interpretation: I have no idea what I just saw!

Granted…the visual effects were incredible. The actors and actresses (McConaughey, Hathaway, Chastain, Caine, Lithgow, Damon, and others) were phenomenal. I can’t imagine the film missing many awards.

There is one thing missing in film: God. Not that I expected Him to show up in the final credits or dialogue.

Bit it IS the perfect film to see if you want to imagine mankind in it’s worst moment and no one to lean on but themselves.

Ironically, with all the great acting, stellar effects (no pun intended), and ‘imaginative’ storyline, mankind seems so very small, so very pathetic when it’s left to its own efforts and devices.

Perhaps that’s the real moral of the story…that in our most desperate moments, despite bravery and creativity…life without

God WILL feel very small.

Noah?

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images Ok…so…I saw the film Noah last night.

First…let’s list the things it had in common with the account found in the Bible. There was a Noah character. There was his wife and kids. There was an ark. There was a flood. That about covers it.

Let me be clear…I don’t get my Biblical truth from Hollywood. And I don’t look to the Bible for entertainment. But wow…you’d think they’d have gotten it close! After all, its not THAT hard.

Russell Crowe was at the top of his game. Jennifer Oneal was also quite good. As for art, it was artful. The cinematography was excellent.

Now for the fun parts…fallen angels called the Watchers help Noah build the ark. A magic seed from Methuselah grew the forest where the wood came from for the ark. The sin of man was environmental (the fallen angels had helped man to build industrial cities that destroyed the earth). Noah went through most of the movie convinced that God had him build the ark to save the ‘innocent ones’…the animals. After all, ‘they are the only ones who still live as they did in the garden’. He was seemingly convinced that mankind had to die…that we weren’t as important to God as the animals.  And for good measure…Tubal Cain hitched a ride on the ark.

After a while I felt a bit sorry for Russell Crowe. I thought about leaving once or twice, but you know…it’s kinda the accident scenario…you just can’t help watching. It was two hours and nineteen minutes of ‘you’re kidding…right?’

The good news about the movie is that there is a lot about unstoppable faith in the movie. They refer to God as the Creator. And the whole idea of receiving direction from God gets plenty of attention.

I THINK I appreciate Hollywood giving it a shot. After all, it brings a story from scripture into public conversation. And as long as we understand that the director is simply creating a story not unlike The Lord of the Rings, then a good time can be had by all…well most people anyway.

 

Plans

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I’m your average planner. I’m not obsessed with the future. I just like to see things work out as I hope. Unfortunately…moving isn’t one of those things.

We listed our house and in due time, we had a ratified contract. Next step…find a place to live. In short order, I found the perfect house. In the country, considerably smaller than the present house. It’s a rental because things are a bit up in the air. Buy or build…or just go ahead and buy the retirement boat now and buy a condo.

So today was moving day. Imagine my disappointment when the forecasters begin talking about snow. 2-4 inches. How often do they get it right? I studied the charts and decided we were on the edge of the event and would likely be the 2 inch group. Wrong.

4:30 this morning I hear the snowplow in my culdesac. Ok…so…they really don’t plow for 2 inches. After tossing and turning for a bit, I got up and measured the snow on my deck…8 inches.

(Do you ever have those moments when you wish God would look out for you and cause the whole region to miss a snow or rain event just so YOU can do what YOU want? That was me).

I waited until an appropriate time to call the movers… ‘hey..uh..maybe we should postpone this thing until Friday?

No one in the office…I left the message and waited. Soon the phone range…the movers were on their way.

Action went into high gear…tear down the beds, and blow snow out of my driveway so the multiple trucks could get in.

THEN I had to go to the new house and blow snow out of the long driveway.

It was beautiful there as the snow continued to fall. I got the driveway open and tried to move the trailer around to store in the garage. Ooops…I drove off the driveway and got the truck and trailer stuck in the snow. It wasn’t budging.

And then the phone rang…turns out…it’s way to slick to load the trucks..so the move is put off til Friday. Yay!

Unhooking the trailer I kept working and finally got the truck unstuck. Welcome to country living.

Last Friday I worked the phone to get all the necessary services moved to the new house. What do I do now? I spend more time on the phone.

In all of this…I kept thinking of Proverb 19:21 “Many  are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails”.

The truth is…most of my life is pretty uneventful. And when I have to make a move like this…I just want MY plans to succeed. Not so fast my friend…it is the Lord’s purpose that matters.

So…The rest of my week will hold some of the normalcy I need…and we get to do it all again Friday.

Plans…..