Archive - June, 2009

Can You Spare 15 minutes?

June 15, 2009 in Life with 4 Comments

So it sounds a bit Sunday Schoolish, but the reality is, you should read your bible. 

Why do I even feel a need to say something that basic?  Because in my experience, many people who are pursuing Jesus or even following Christ don't.  They just don't.

Sometimes it's laziness, suspicion of the text (is this thing legit?), an over-busy schedule.  But I wonder if under all that is a core belief that if exposed to the light, might shock us:  deep down we don't read it because we think it has no value.

Few people would say that out loud.  Truth is, though, few of us make time for things we don't think hold value.  So if we don't make time to read the Bible…

And then we flounder in our relationship with God, complain we never hear from him, and generally think our faith isn't where it should be.

So, here's a suggested antidote.  Here's what I believe can not only change your view of the Bible, but more importantly, grow your relationship with God and change you as a person.

Read the Bible for 15 minutes a day.  For two years.  

15 minutes a day.  2 years.  

The truth is you are going to spend 15 minutes a day in the next two years doing something. In fact, you'll waste 15 minutes a day reading blogs, watching YouTube, or just staring out into space? Why not make it a productive 15 minutes.

15 minutes in the Bible a day in the Word for two years. 

My guess is when you come out the other side, your view of scripture will have changed.  Your faith will have grown.  God will seem far closer.  You will make wiser life decisions.  God will have worked on your character.  You will be a new person.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how to spend those 15 minutes (how to read the Bible).  But in the meantime, what do you think?  A reasonable challenge?  Is this doable?  Why or why not?

A Bias Against the Bible?

June 12, 2009 in Connexus,Leadership,Life,Mission,Spiritual Growth,Strategy with 6 Comments

This post isn't about the media or 'secular' society.  It's about people who say they follow Jesus and our attitude toward the Bible.

The last month has brought me into contact with an attitude I've seen over the years that just doesn't seem to go away.  The attitude?  Nearly everybody wants to hear from God, but a lot of Christ followers really don't like to read their Bible. 

Let me say that again – a lot of people just don't like to read their Bible.  So they don't.  And then they wonder why they don't hear from God.

The issue's been a live one during our Signs from Beyond series – I really believe we mostly hear from God through scripture – not direct revelation. 

But I've heard variations of this over and over again over the years and intensely again in the last month:

Yeah, I just don't really read my bible.
I find the Bible too confusing.  
I don't get anything out of the Bible when I read it.  
I wish God would just speak to me directly.  

Bottom line:  if you don't access God's word, your probably not going to hear from God.  And your faith won't grow.  And you won't develop an intimate relationship with Him.  And you will end up making foolish decisions because you didn't consult God, but then you'll blame him for your misfortune.  And you'll be frustrated because you'll think God bailed on you.  But in reality, you bailed on Him.

As to whether the Bible's too hard to understand, I'm not sure that ultimately holds water. Check this out. 

No, I'm not in a bad mood.  I'm just sayin…. Because I've seen it over and over and over again.

What do you think?  Do people like to read the Bible? Do we read our Bibles? Is it too hard to understand?

On Monday, I'll come back with a plan I'd like to propose to change people's views about the Bible. In the meantime, chime in….

Now You See It – No You Don’t

June 4, 2009 in Leadership,Life,Mission,Spiritual Growth with 2 Comments

There's a verse in Hebrews that gets me every time.  I know it's two verses after the 'famous' verse, but I like it better than the famous verse. 

Here's what Hebrews 11:3 says:

What we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

The writer is talking about how God formed the universe.  Imagine being there in the moment before anything we now know was created, and God saying "this is what exists in my minds eye: Solar systems, planets, oceans and forests, people and duck-billed platypii."  

And you and I would have said "Huh?"  We couldn't have seen it.  It hadn't been created yet.  We would have had no category.  What we were about to see wasn't going to come from anything we could currently see.
Which is kind of how God always works.  

Which, if true, leads us to a disturbing question: what God had planned for you might well come from nothing you can currently see.

That's only a problem because people of small faith (me – you?) love to walk by sight.  We operate best in the known.  Tomorrow is a lot safer if it looks like a slightly improved version of today.  It seems controllable.  It seems safe.  It's predictable.

What if your trust and my trust started operating on a level that so implicitly submitted to God that if tomorrow completely dis-resembled today, it would be fine?  What if we were so open to God that tomorrow might look radically different than today?  

Often we're willing to settle for a better version of inadequate because our fear keeps us from trusting God for anything better.

What we can see did not come from anything that can be seen. The best stories of faith operate on that principle.  

______________

Abraham, I'm going to make you into a great nation.   

Yeah, but I'm old and have no kids and my wife is way past the baby years.  Like that's not even possible!

What you will see will not come from anything that can be seen.

_______________

David, you're going to be king.

But there already is a king, and I'm just a boy and I'm the runt of the litter and I'm only a shepherd.

What you will see will not come from anything that can be seen. 

_______________

Peter, come and follow me.

You, rabbi?  But like I fish for a living and I kind of failed out of Hebrew school and if you really are who you say you are I promise you that you've got the wrong guy.

What you will see will not come from anything that can be seen.

_______________

So – what if God is calling you to something that can't be seen right now?  Would you go?  Would you do it?  Would you trust him that much?

What if thousands of people started trusting on that level today?  What would happen to our lives, to the church, to the Kingdom?

Because what we can will see is probably not going to come from anything that can be seen right now. 
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