Jonah, if you don’t know, is the guy who God called to go to the city of Ninevah (a center of corruption in that day) and let them know that if they didn’t clean up their act, He was going to wipe them out. Jonah didn’t see that as the best option for his long-term health and wellbeing since he was fairly certain they wouldn’t appreciate hearing that news, so he ran. Jumped on a ship headed for a city nearly 3,000 miles in the opposite direction.

God stirred up a big storm, and to summarize a great story very briefly, everyone found out the storm was all due to the fact that Jonah ran from God.

When I was reading this, I noticed something. Check out Jonah 1:4-5:

“Then the Lord sent a great wind on the sea, and such a violent storm arose that the ship threatened to break up. All the sailors were afraid and each cried out to his own god.”

These were clearly guys who had no clue who the God of the sea really was. They cried out, but obviously the storm didn’t stop. So they tried everything. They tossed cargo, livestock, supplies…whatever wasn’t nailed down went over the edge into the sea in order to try to lighten the load.

They found Jonah below deck, sleeping. They woke him up and cast lots (sort of like drawing straws) to determine who was responsible for the storm. Verse 7 says “the lot fell on Jonah.”

They asked him what the deal was, and he explained who he was and that he worshipped “the Lord, the God of heaven, who made the sea and the land.” This terrified them. Look how they responded… “Jonah, what the heck were you thinking man?! Now that you got us into this, what do we do?”

He told them to toss him over the edge. They tried to row back to shore first, and when that didn’t work, reluctantly, they threw him into the sea. Almost immediately, the storm was over.

Verse 16:

“At this the men greatly feared the Lord, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows to him.”

In case you’re on the edge of your seat, Jonah is ok. But that’s not the point. I never noticed before that the men went from calling on these random, various false gods to calling on the Lord in just a few minutes. And why did it happen? God’s power was revealed, even as a result of Jonah’s disobedience. God took a situation where someone He had called decided to rebel and run, and from it He was able to bring good, but only after Jonah became obedient. Through that situation, those men came to know and respect and worship the Lord.

I know there have been times in my life where I’ve done what Jonah did. I’ve said to God, “My way is better than yours. I don’t want to do things your way.” Have you? I hope that God has been able to bring good from my selfish disobedience just as He did from Jonah’s.

God can do the same thing through you. If you surrender to Him, he can bring good from whatever you’ve done or wherever you find yourself now. If Jonah had chosen to keep his hold on his own life and continue to disobey God, it might have resulted in the deaths of not only himself, but all of those who were affected by his disobedience.

Ask yourself, are you running from God’s plan for you? Is that affecting anyone besides you? Family? Friends? Loved ones? The church?

God has a plan for you and me. When we surrender, He makes great things happen. You can be a part of that!

Across the board, I’ve seen that the greatest challenge for churches, no matter what their individual situation, is figuring out how to engage pop culture. Some try hard, others don’t even attempt. Some are successful; some, not so much.

In his book, Pop Goes the Church, author Tim Stevens presents a compelling case for the incredible importance (maybe “necessity” is a better word) of learning to take what is “out there” in pop culture and use it as a tool to open doors through which the message of Jesus’ hope and love can be presented.

Three things struck me hard about this book. I must admit, when I picked it up to read, I had a preconceived notion of what would be inside. I’ve read books like this before. I wouldn’t say I expected to have a negative feeling after reading PGTC, but I didn’t expect to be utterly shaken with the realization of just how far we as a collective body of Christ have to go to really “get it.”

1. This book isn’t written to church leadership; it’s written to the church (mostly).
   I expected to read a book that was penned for ministers, pastors, call them what you will. I assumed that, as so many others do, Stevens would set his sights on persuading ministry leaders to buy into his ideology, and they in turn would begin to teach, train and move their people toward a shift in mindset. That wasn’t the case. This book is written to every follower of Jesus Christ, and even to some who don’t follow Jesus Christ but read the book anyway (see the “Dear Joe” sidebars scattered throughout the text). No matter your “position” in the church, you’ll gain valuable insight from reading PGTC.
2. It’s more than just some guy’s philosophy; it’s practical, it’s functional, and it’s intentional.
   Nearly every time I’ve read a book on pop culture, it does one of two things. It either (a) condemns culture from page 1, and explains in far too many words why we should avoid all the evils of culture so that we don’t fall into a trap and blah blah blah…you get where this is going. Or, (b) it presents the author’s carefully crafted philosophy and reasoning for why the church should engage culture, but never really gets to the “how.” Stevens gives not only personal examples from his church’s toolbox, but other easy-to-implement (and truthfully, some not-so-easy-to-implement but equally important) ideas and resources so that you can really make the rubber hit the road wherever you are. He even researched, interviewed and wrote about 20 churches who are engaging culture, including ideas, quotes, and other information for further insight. Great idea!
3. You’re not studying a model; you’re learning a principle.
   I don’t want to try to be like “fill-in-the-blank” church. What they do probably won’t work where I am. How they do things might fly, or might crash and burn for my church. Stevens not only emphasizes repeatedly the need to not just start copying things from other churches, but then is careful to write from an angle that helps you understand why. He did a great job at guiding the readers toward the right path without choosing which path that would be.

What the church desperately needs are more books like PGTC from more well-spoken and intelligent authors like Tim Stevens. If you’re dying to see the gospel reach the “unreachable” in your church or community, stop what you’re doing and go read this book. It’s time well spent.

Stacey and I were sitting on a bench eating french fries at the fair, and an older guy a couple seats away just started talking to us. He was puffing away on a cigarette. I got a vibe from him like he was lonely and he was a nice guy. We chatted for a few minutes about this and that.

Then the conversation turned quickly. I’m not even sure how it happened. He told me he had already had two lung surgeries and that his doctor had told him unless he stopped smoking he wasn’t going to perform another operation. He had 3-6 months to live. He paused at this point to light another cigarette.

He told me his father and grandfather had died of lung cancer from smoking. He picked up the habit while he was working in a mine decades ago. He said he had tried everything, but never could kick it…his addiction just had a hold on him that he couldn’t shake.

We talked for a couple minutes more before I stood to leave. I gave him my card and said I’d pray for him. And I have…but I keep thinking about him. How sad, to be so close to death, and not be able to stop doing the very thing that’s taking your life right out of your hands.

Then I realized I do the same thing all the time. There are internal, spiritual issues that I carry around with me that drain the life right out of me. Common sense would suggest I get some things dealt with and stop allowing myself to be controlled by my problems. “Lay your burden at the feet of Jesus…” That’s how “church people” like to word it.

Sometimes, as you most likely know just as well as I do, that’s not as easy as it sounds. At least a thousand times, I’ve given things up to let God help me with them, and then taken them right back and kept on suffering.

But I was reading this morning in my Bible and I came across this passage that I’ve read like 35 million times, and I read over it a couple more times as I sat here at my desk.

“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy  or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” (Matt. 11:28-30 MSG)

I’m sitting here in my chair thinking, “YES! THAT’S ME! You read my mind man.” And if you’re honest today, that’s probably you in some way too. Life wears us down and is rough. We weren’t designed or wired up to make it on our own. We need help. I quoted those verses from The Message because he uses the phrase “walk with me and work with me – watch how I do it.” Other translations say “learn from me.” Jesus set an example for us of how to let go.

I could spend days unpacking the philosophy there. So as a starting point, when you finish reading this post, take a moment and determine what you need to let go of.

What is your spiritual, emotional, or physical “cigarette” (the addiction, issue or problem) that you hang onto that you really just need to turn over to Jesus? Post it in a comment below. You can remain anonymous.

One video I’m hoping to start working on is a “man-on-the-street” interview type of video where I just basically want to ask people what the idea of “absolute truth” means to them. If you don’t know, absolute truth is the idea that there are some things that are true for all people in all places at all times, no exceptions or exemptions.

We’re starting into a new teaching series at Oasis (our midweek youth program at FCC) called “TRUE[ish,] that examines what God has to say, in black-and-white, about some of the tougher moral and social issues facing 12-18 year olds these days.

Life is getting harder, that’s for darn sure, and my heart breaks in some way every day when I see one of the students I care so much about give in to one of the empty offerings of the world. The goal of this series is to help establish a firm foundation for the students who attend Oasis to stand on. I want them to have a clearly defined belief system. I want them to know what’s right and wrong according to God; not Oprah or Obama. I want them to have a heads-up when it comes to standing up and speaking out in truth and in love.

So I’d appreciate it if you’d help me get started on this. I need your response: Is “absolute truth” for real? If so, what examples of absolute truth come to mind?

Anyone can just show up. That doesn’t take any commitment at all. When it comes to “going to church,” there’s a difference between just keeping a seat warm and really, truly being a part of the church. It comes down to a definition of a phrase that kind of drives me crazy: it’s a question of whether or not you’re “in fellowship” with the church or not.

To simply define that, being “in fellowship” just means that you have something in common with a group of people that you’re around. Obviously, at church, we share a desire to pursue a knowledge of God in some way. Some are looking for Him for the first time, some have found Him and they’re trying to find out more about what it means to follow, and some are following Him and they’re trying to learn how to do a better job. No matter where you fall, if you show up to church, it’s probably safe to say you’re searching for something.

Being in fellowship means you’re contributing to the community. That’s what church is, after all: a community. I almost don’t like the phrase “going to church” because it makes church sound like a building or a place. According to the Bible, which I consider to be a pretty reliable source of information, “church” is the people. You and I, when we get together, are “church.” And church is a community, a place where we get together to encourage each other, support each other, help each other out, protect each other, help each other grow. It’s a whole bunch of symbiotic relationships between Jesus and each other. (In case you missed 6th grade biology and you don’t know what symbiotic means, it means “give and take” in our context.)

In case you don’t care what I have to say on the topic of “consumers vs. contributors,” just skip this next part, but I’d recommend you read it to fully understand what I’m getting at here.

There are many people who are just consumers. They’re in it for what they can get out of it. If they feel that they don’t get much out of church, they stop showing up, or they complain, or they’re unsatisfied. Consumerism is a big problem in America, and it’s unfortunately invaded the church. Consumerism one of the greatest dangers we’re up against, and worst of all, it comes from the inside. When a church is made up of mostly consumers, the few contributors wind up stretched too thin, and burned out. Soon, the whole community (or dare I say “ecosystem”) of the church collapses and there’s nothing left but the tattered remnants of what was.

On the other hand, there are contributors who don’t just take; they give. They serve and volunteer, they bring to the table rather than just eat from it. They have an “others first” mentality. They understand that worship has absolutely nothing to do with what we get out of it; worship is for God’s enjoyment and pleasure. Contributors are concerned with the spiritual strength and wellbeing of others, and their attitudes show it.

Someone who understands that being a part of a community is about what’s best for the group is much more likely to be committed to the church. One way to think about it is in terms of human relationships. Are you dating the church? Do you have a casual, limited commitment? Are you keeping a distance so that if someone bothers you or goes wrong you can walk away with the least amount of hurt or detachment issues?

Or, are you married to the church? Are you in it for the long haul? Are you putting others first, and are you willing to follow through to benefit the community?

The best way to find out how committed you are is by giving yourself a simple test. Just ask yourself this question: when you get offended, hurt, disappointed, let down, or some other hard time comes your way in your “church life,” do you walk away or slowly disappear? Or, do you work harder to repair and rebuild from the damage and make positive growth come out of the trial?

I’m not going to really resolve this post, because I hope that you’ll walk away from reading this and ask yourself some hard questions about where you need to “up the ante” in your commitment to the church. Maybe you need to take a very first step to allow yourself to begin to dig in and attach yourself in worship or service. Maybe you’re already serving, but your attitude needs an adjustment. I don’t know where you are today, but I hope this got your gears cranking. I’ll definitely be writing more about this soon.

I welcome your thoughts, comments, and ideas…maybe you’ll spark a new idea for a post.

1. Facebook doesn’t grab posts that begin with @tags, so your personal correspondence with other Twitterers won’t become your new status on FB

2. Facebook will never grab direct messages and post them.

If those two exceptions aren’t good enough for you, then check out “Selective Twitter Status.” By using this you can designate which tweets you want to appear on Facebook by attaching the hashtag “#fb” to the end of your tweet. Only those tweets with the hash tag at the end will be posted on Facebook.

If you already have a registered account with both Twitter and Facebook, setting this up is a fairly simple process. Here’s how you can very quickly and simply link your Twitter account to Facebook:

Log into your Facebook account. Click on over to the Facebook’s Twitter application page. On the left-hand side and toward the top of the page, you’ll see a “Go to Application” button similar to this one:

Once you’ve clicked through step one, you’ll be asked to confirm that Twitter has permission to access our Facebook information. It’s ok, Twitter is trustworthy. Click the “Allow” button.

Log into your Twitter account by entering your Twitter username and password on the login screen that appears.

Now you’re able to post to Twitter from within your Facebook account if you want. However, what we’re going for here is the opposite. Not updating Twitter from Facebook, but updating Facebook from Twitter. See the button that says “Allow Twitter to Update Your Facebook Status” in the upper-right of the screen? Click that.

You should get a confirmation screen that looks like this:

Now confirm that you are willing to let Twitter update your Facebook status by clicking the “Allow Status Updates” button.

After you click this button, you will go to the Twitter application. Don’t Twitter anything from here. Go to your Twitter application or the Twitter webpage and try posting something. Then go to your Facebook profile and see if it’s been updated to match your Twitter test-post. You might have to wait a minute or two, and maybe even refresh the page.

That’s it! Now every time you Twitter something (with the exceptions of the two things I mentioned at the beginning of this post), your Facebook status will be automatically updated.

As for the what, at FCC, our communion emblems consist of a small piece of unleavened bread and a little plastic cup of grape juice. We don’t believe (as some religious groups do) that they become the actual body and blood of Jesus (that’s called “transubstantiation,” and the concept is pretty freaky and weird, not to mention completely unrealistic and unnecessary…you’ll see why).

To understand why we take communion, you need to know about the passover feast that was a traditional feast celebrated by the Jews. To make an extremely long story very short, this feast was to celebrate God setting the Israelites free from captivity in Egypt. (If you want to read more about the passover feast for yourself, check out Exodus chapters 11-12. It’s one of the most action-packed stories in the Bible!) In Exodus 13:3, Moses said to the newly-freed people, “Commemorate this day, the day you came out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery, because the Lord brought you out of it with a mighty hand.” The guidelines and a simple explanation of the feast can be found in Exodus 12:43-49.

So this Passover feast is the meal that Jesus and his apostles were gathered around in Luke 22. This is often called “The Last Supper” or “The Lord’s Supper.” You might know that in our communion service at FCC, there’s a small piece of unleavened bread and a little cup of juice that we take. The traditional passover feast actually had four cups that were passed, not just one like we have today.

The first cup was blessed by the host of the meal and then passed on to the others present. After this, they would dip some bitter herbs in fruit sauce and eat them, and a message would be given on the meaning of the passover. Then they’d sing a song.

The second cup was then passed. Then the host would break and pass around the unleavened bread, which is what the bread we take today is meant to represent. This is the bread that Jesus passed when he said, “This is my body which is given for you.” (Luke 22:19)

Then they’d eat the traditional passover meal of roasted Lamb, and after a prayer, the third cup was passed. They’d sing another song while they were passing the third cup. This cup represented the blood of the lamb (if you read Exodus 11-12, you’ll understand what this means). Now that Jesus was about to become our ultimate sacrifice, it represented the blood of the Lamb.

Jesus said “it is the new covenant in my blood.” It was this third cup that Jesus blessed, and that became the cup of communion, which is represented by the juice we take today. Matthew 26:30 tells us that the Last Supper concluded with another song.

This is where it gets especially meaningful for us as Christ-followers. Traditionally in the passover meal, a fourth cup was passed. This fourth cup was meant to be a celebration of the coming Kingdom and was shared immediately before leaving the meal. At this particular gathering of Jesus and his disciples, no fourth cup was passed. Instead, Jesus said, “I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” He is waiting until we’re with Him, sharing the feast together.

We take communion every week at FCC for three reasons:

1. To remember the past; Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection that make it possible for us, if we accept Him, to be righteous under His blood in the sight of God.

2. To recommit ourselves to Him. Matthew 26:28 tells us that when we accept Christ, our sin is covered by the blood of the Lamb, and we enter into a relationship with God and agree to the terms of the new covenant. In this communion service, our emphasis then is not only on what Christ has done for us but also on our commitment to Him as a result of our relationship with Him.

3. To look forward to His coming. Communion is a constant, weekly reminder of the future and of the hope we have in the promise that He would return for us, because He promised to drink that fourth cup with is in Heaven. Paul wrote that when we take communion, we proclaim the Jesus’ death and resurrection until He comes.

Communion is really one of the biggest reasons we even get together on Sunday mornings. It’s a chance to celebrate our hope together.

What does communion mean to you?

If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you’re probably laughing at the idea of me writing a post about consistent blogging. Please understand that I’m not claiming to be a top-notch blogger like several writers that I read often. I’m just like many of you who will read this post: a well-intentioned writer struggling to learn and grow in my ability and blogging practice. Lately, by using a few helpful ideas and remembering some important things, I’ve done much better at making my posting more regular. Here’s how:

1. Make it your goal to write posts that add meaning or value to your readers.
For quite a while when I first started blogging, I was writing about my day: about things that I laughed at or that annoyed me, things that I did, things I had to do tomorrow, etc. It was all very self-centered writing, focused on topics that were really only interesting to me and maybe a few people who really were interested in the inner workings of my life (thanks for reading, Mom). Over the past few years, the obviously struck, and I realized that by writing posts that focus on topics that are interesting to my readership and that add value or meaning to their lives, I create a stream of people who will come back more and more often to see what’s new. My goal is to write each and every post with YOU in mind. At the end of each post, I would like for each reader to have learned or heard or understood something worth the time it took them to read what I took the time to write. I promise you, you’ll find that if you make it your goal to do the same, you’ll invest more of yourself into your blog, and it will create a feeling of accomplishment and worth in you that will help motivate you to be a consistent blogger.

2. Keep a log of ideas and inspiration.
One of the reasons I skip a day (or a year) between posts is that some days, I just don’t feel inspired to write. It’s blogger’s block, a condition that befalls even the greatest writers. To help eliminate this problem, I’ve started keeping a short list of ideas for useful and meaningful blogs in my office. On a day when I just can’t get into a groove with a new idea, I can refer back to that list for some ideas of things that recently inspired me, and that tends to spark some creativity to help me get going.

3. Utilize your blog platform’s “drafts” feature.
If you could see my WordPress admin panel, you would see that I’ve already started more than 10 or 15 blog posts. Some are nothing more than a title, some have tags added (this is often to remind me further about why I started to write the post), some have a picture, some even have some text. I even have one or two that are nearly or fully complete. I could probably publish 3 or 4 posts a day and clear that folder out. But by utilizing the “drafts” folder when I happen to have a day where I am motivated to write several posts, I can save them for a day when I’m not so motivated. I have a list of posts already in the works that I can put some finishing touches on and then I’m good to go. This is a great way to avoid missing a day. If your blog platform doesn’t have a drafts folder or option, or if you’re blogging straight to a website without that feature, just create a folder on your computer and use your text editor or word processor in the same way. Save each post as an individual file and pull them out on a “rainy day.”

4. Write posts that encourage comments.
Nearly any writer in the world will get discouraged and eventually stop writing if he or she feels like no one is reading their material. By writing posts that encourage readers to leave comments, you’re killing two birds with one stone: you’re getting valuable feedback that should help shape your blog and writing in the future and that will help you get to know your audience, and you’re creating a source of encouragement to continue writing simply by the fact that you know someone is listening. One of the most effective ways I’ve ever seen this done is by Pete Wilson on his blog, WithoutWax.tv. At the end of each post, he writes a sentence or two in bold lettering asking a question or encouraging comments on a specific thought or topic. You can probably see, if you’ve read my blog, that I’ve modeled this part of my writing after him.

5. If you aren’t passionate about something, don’t waste your time writing about it.
One of the fastest ways to kill your consistency is to “pander” to an audience. I’ve seen many bloggers who write about things they don’t really care about just to attract readers. DON’T DO THIS! Write about what moves you, what you enjoy, and what you care about. Don’t try to write outside of your base of knowledge or understanding, or you’ll come off as shallow and uninformed. Write from your heart, and you’ll find it’s a much more rewarding and enjoyable experience. Yes, it’s important to keep your audience in mind, but remember that the audience you want (that is, one that shares things in common with you) will seek you out if you’re true to your passion.

I hope these few ideas help to shed some light for you. What helps you avoid this trap? What have you found helpful to make you a consistent blogger?

For the past couple of months, I’ve had a group of Sr. High guys from RSM (that’s Refuge Student Ministry, our teen ministry here at FCC) that I’ve met with to talk about, study, and grow in leadership. One of the things that I hope is being communicated extremely clearly is this simple, foundational lesson in leadership: when you’re a leader, you’re always leading.

What that simply means is that people are always watching you. You might think that you can “get away” with something when no one is looking, but the truth is that someone is always looking. Your leadership doesn’t click on when you show up to RSM or FCC (or to wherever you lead; a job, school, home, church, organization, etc.).  Leadership isn’t something you can “turn on” when you come to a worship service or a Bible study or a church event. And just the same, it isn’t something you can “turn off” when you leave.

And leadership isn’t necessarily always something you choose. Often, leadership chooses you. Or to put it in better terms, God chooses you to be a leader. Sometimes just by choosing to follow Jesus, you’re choosing leadership. It isn’t a responsibility you really get to pass on, either. When people begin to view you as a leader, they’re going to watch your example and usually they’re going to follow it.

So what does this mean for you? It means you’ve got some serious responsibility. You’ve got to keep in mind that you have the ability to earn yourself a reputation for being an honest person of integrity, or for being a hypocrite and a liar. You’ve got to remind yourself frequently that people see what kind of person you are no matter where you are and when you’re there, and just like you can’t fake doing the right thing, you can’t take back doing the wrong thing. So you’ve got to walk through your day-to-day life with that understanding.

Before you stress yourself out, you need to know that everyone makes mistakes. Everyone does stupid things in leadership that they wish they could just go back and hit the “reset” button or the “delete” key. We’d love to have some kind of super-whiteout that could cover up those embarrassing blips in our lives that we’d rather not have on the record. Don’t think that one mistake will blow your chances at being a good leader forever. It does mean that you might have to work hard to make up for something, but it’s work well worth it.

What does your life look like? Would you be embarrassed if someone that looked up to you heard what kind of language you use around certain people? Would you be building a positive or a negative reputation if people saw who you were when “no one’s looking?” Take some time to think about what your life looks like when you’re not at RSM or FCC or your place of leadership. What do other people think when they see you when you’re out of the leadership spotlight?

How do you hold yourself accountable to “walking the walk?”