First of the fourth month

As of today, I have not been on my blog this year. I agree with Ryan that forced blogging is not good! However, this is not forced.
I have recently become aware of concepts, principles, systems, etc. that come in fours. People who write books seem to think in fours and I wonder how pervasive fours are. There are four seasons - four quarters on the calendar. Four quarters in some sporting events and four leaf clovers bring good luck! There are four personality types in Myers-Briggs as well as four styles in DISC assessment. I could go on but you get the idea.
Help me think of things that come in fours and send them to me. As I find them, I am going to document them and save them just to see how many FOURs are out there.
Leave a comment of fours you know.

Thanksgiving

We just spent a week at New Life Ranch with our family. I have been thinking (13 hour drive back to Colorado) about our family. Each and every one of them is precious to me. I thought about my wonderful wife and partner who is a co-conspirator in our family. She deserves much credit for shaping our children. I am thankful for the people that our children brought into the family - wives, husband, and children. All of them are wonderful people and a real joy to me.

I praise God for allowing me to be a part of this brood. I love every member of my family.

Interesting Movie

Mama Sue and I went, as we usually do on Friday, to see a movie. The title of the movie is Lakeview Terrace. It is the story of a young couple moving into an upscale California neighborhood. The couple's neighbor is a very angry man whose wife was killed in an auto accident three years ago. He's left with two children - a teenage girl who desperately needs a mother and a younger son. The guy is a cop with the LAPD and been on the force for 27 or so years. He mistreats people and is mistreated by the department. He doesn't like his new neighbors because he doesn't like anyone! He makes it difficult for his neighbors.

The young couple does not have children but she wants to get the family started and he doesn't. He is so self-centered that when she announces she's pregnant, he becomes very angry.
Anger and self-centeredness are huge sins in the lives of a lot of people. What we do with that anger and selfishness impacts all the people in our lives not to mention what it does to us.

The story sounds complicated to this point, right? Now add the fact that the angry cop is Samuel L. Jackson. His African-American wife was in a car with a white man in a place they should not have been when they were both killed in the auto accident. The young couple is a mixed race couple.

The movie pointed out for me how complicated our sins can become when we just take the simple sin and add extuenating circumstances and unusual conditions to the situation. I am reminded that I need to go to the root or the heart of my sin and start confessing there. Then keep confessing all the way out to my current reality.

So, how did the story change in your mind when you read that the race of the players were not all the same? Can you name the reaction?

God bless you!

Perspective

Mama Sue and I went to see "Vantage Point" today. The movie was released today and is a real action thriller. They used an unusual and interesting way to tell the story. There is an attempted assassination of the President of the U.S. at a world conference. The story is told and retold from the viewpoint or perspective of 4-5 different people. Dennis Quaid was the star and the hero.

I was reminded of the story of the Bible which I am focused on right now as I teach a class called Bible 101, an overview of the entire Scripture. In preparation for Sunday, I have been thinking about the metanarrative or comprehensive explanation of the historical story of our Bible. As Christians, we believe that the Books of Moses constitute a primary history of mankind as a whole. The story progresses from the Pentateuch according to a universal principle: the history of mankind is governed by Yawyeh, and that His will is manifest in every event that takes place. The destiny of all mankind, according to this principle, is governed by man's relationship with God.

The structure of the Bible is much like Vantage Point in that the story is told and retold from a variety of viewpoints and perspectives. In the movie, the viewer learns a little more detail about the circumstances surrounding the assassination attempt. As one reads the Bible, you learn more and more of the story -- progressive revelation, we call it.

In the movie as well as in the story of the Bible, there are undisputable facts. In the movie, you can see them. In the Bible, we believe them by sheer faith. And they are just as real and relevant to the story and how it gets played out in our lives.

You have a different view?

Behavior-Anchored Discipleship

It has been a long time. Let me write regarding what I have been thinking about.
I preached at our church on Jan. 13 and during the preparation for that sermon, I put some dates on events in my life. I came to a realization that the time that elapsed between my accepting Christ and my devoting my life to him was 34 years!
In thinking about my call to ministry, which includes discipling men, I am conscious of the fact that I probably don't have 34 years of producting time left here on earth. So, there is a new sense of urgency in my discipleship ministry.
I have read three books recently that are encouraging me to organize and document a discipleship "process" that is based on ones behavior. The books: LeRoy Eims wrote, "The Lost Art of Disciple Making"; N. Graham Standish wrote, "Humble Leadership"; and "Appreciative Inquiry" by David L. Cooperrider and Diana Whitney.
It is not important now to summarize those books here but know they are informing my thinking and influencing the process that I will be trying to document.
Then last night, I again read John 14:12 (NIV) I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
Jesus was a proponent of behavior anchored discipleship.
I want to know Him and will seek to do what he did; think what he thought; see what he saw; love like he loved. My process will imitate His process.
What do you think?

Thoughts on the church

Yesterday, 490 years ago, Martin Luther started the Reformation movement. Today, I wanted to share some thoughts on reformations that are needed today. The following is taken from David Timms with some added thoughts of mine.

• Let the Church rediscover its commitment to broad issues of social justice (poverty, homelessness, education, health care) not just placarding against abortion and gay rights. Historically the Church has led the way with the schools, hospitals, shelters, and charity that have formed the foundation for Western civilization. If we would only act out what we preach!
• Let the Church return to its roots of making disciples not simply converts, understanding that a raised hand or a signed card is no achievement. Rather, we call people to transformed lives in a world hungry for an authentic option to its own plastic superficiality. If we would only act out what we preach!
• Let the Church be a city of refuge, a place of grace rather than legalism. While we genuinely and consistently urge each other to live lives of selflessness, purity, and godliness, we forgive unfailingly whenever people express contrition and repentance.
• Let the Church constantly affirm its mission to work first with people not property, to build the Body before buildings, to focus constantly on ministry ahead of facilities. We need to put and keep the main thing the main thing.

If you were to nail some theses to your church door, what would you write?

Shirley's Retirement Dinner