• Should I take that job?
• Should I quit this job?
• Should I go to college?
• Should I marry this person?
• Should I buy this car/house/boat?
• Should I confront this person?
• Should I trust this person?
• Should we have another baby?
• Should I stay or should I leave?
• Should I go left, or should I go right?

Wouldn’t it be great if angels would show up with trumpets blasting and declare, “Go Left!”

But that’s not exactly the norm, is it? So, when there’s no audible voice, no writing on the wall and no emails from Jesus, how are we supposed to know God’s will for our lives? I’m not aware of a magic bullet…but we aren’t stuck waiting in ignorance for an epiphany, either.

Without getting too far down into the weeds, let’s clarify what’s often overlooked: There’s more than one form of God’s will. In fact, there’s at least three.

First: His Providential Will

Providence is a fun theological word. God’s providential will is, in the simplest of terms: the stuff that’s gonna go down no matter what, because a big and all-powerful God said so. You can’t screw it up. You can’t speed it up. No amount of prayer will alter it’s course. It’s happening. Period. ‘Cause God said so.

Second: His Moral Will

There are lots of things that God has told us to do. There are lots of things that he’s told us NOT to do. If we were to learn those things, and submit to them fully many of our questions would already be answered.

• Should you cheat on your taxes? No.
• Should you divorce your spouse even though they’ve been faithful? No.
• Should you give generously to the poor? Yes.
• Should you be honest at work, even though a single lie could get you way ahead? Yes.

How can I answer these questions without knowing the first thing about you or your circumstances? I don’t have to, God already has. There’s no point losing sleep trying to decide if, for example, you should move in with your boyfriend/girlfriend. The answer’s already been given.

1 Thess. 4:3, For this is the will of God, your sanctification.

Third: His Personal Will

This is what’s left. This is the only part of his will that needs to be “figured out.” I believe that God has a plan for your life. Furthermore, I believe that you can stay on that path, and that you can get off of that path. When we talk about knowing God’s will for our lives, we are talking about discerning that path.

Romans 12:2, 2 Do not be conformed to this world,t but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Tomorrow, I’ll point out a common false distinction about God’s will, and the next day I’ll run through a list of five ways we can go about finding God’s personal will for our lives…or just for the moment.

Your thoughts please:

I listed three forms of God’s will. Do you buy that logic? Could more be added? Other thoughts?

I took this picture while getting in some family time at Ober Gatlinburg recently:

Just because you lace up and get out there doesn’t mean you know what you’re doing. The skilled ones glide across the ice with speed, grace and ease. The ones who don’t (this is my camp, by the way) just look ridiculous.

I’m so thankful that being a Christian isn’t like that! Following Jesus has nothing to do with skill. It’s more about recognizing your lack of it. There are no JV Christians. I sometimes refer to myself as a professional Christian (because I work at a church). That joke is funny because it’s ridiculous.

I love watching brand new Christians lace up and get out there. They don’t “lean on their own understanding” (not that they know that verse). Instead, they lean on their story about what God did for them…and they glide across the ice with speed, grace and ease!

so,

1. If you’re counting on your own mad Jesus skills, cut it out! You look ridiculous out there!
2. If you’re waiting to lace up and get out there because you don’t think you’ve had enough lessons, then stop waiting! Read John 4 and look at what God did through a really confused lady who knew NOTHING except that Jesus was legit.

Have you ever felt like a JV Christian (even if you knew in your head that it wasn’t true)?
Have you ever felt unqualified to do something for the Lord?
What’s a good way to encourage a new Christian to lace up and get out there?

Leave a comment and share your thoughts!

But apparently, in terms of DNA, every bee in the colony is identical. They all start out the same: jobless, genderless, larvae.

And when the time comes for a new queen a larva is chosen (again, no different than the ones around it). This larva is given a larger honeycomb cell in which to grow, and slathered in something called ‘royal jelly’. (yes, royal jelly!).

Soon, that ‘royal jelly’ triggers, inexplicably, the development of a hyper-fertile queen bee. She was just like all the rest, but then, because she was given room to grow and more of that mysterious ‘royal jelly’ than she could ever eat, she becomes queen!

I watched Blake Griffin dunk a basketball last night…it was one of the most incredible physical feats I’ve ever seen.

He can do what I could never do, no matter how hard I tried. In terms of raw talent, he’s just vastly superior. And he will be praised, literally, for the rest of his life for that dunk. Superior genetics goes a long way (not to discount, in any way, his determination and hard work).

And it’s true in virtually every field. The cream rises to the top.

But that’s not how God works. He doesn’t need superior genes or heightened skills to make greatness…he’s got ‘royal jelly.’

I’ve been studying for a teaching series about some jacked up heroes. God seems to like taking regular folks, or even especially jacked up folks, and doing great things through them. He puts them in situations where greatness is required (a larger honeycomb), and then he slathers them in ‘royal jelly’ – something that only he can give and that no one can earn.

He creates heroes out of under-performing rejects.

1. Ehud
2. Deborah
3. Gideon
4. Jephthah
5. Samson

Here are a few of the reasons I’m so excited about it
(in no particular order)

• Gratuitous violence. Some people talk about finding their inner-child; I’m busy trying to keep mine at bay. The middle schooler in me gets a kick out of the violent, the bizarre, and the flat out disgusting stuff that’s found throughout the book of Judges.
• Old Testament narrative. In 7+ years of pastoring, I’ve never taught through one of the Old Testament’s historical books. It’s a new genre and a new challenge. I’m a bit nervous about it, but really excited!
• The artwork. There’s a curiously talented artist in our church named Larry May. He’s creating original artwork for the series, and for the each week in the series. It’s gritty and jarring and truthful and better than what I was hoping for.
• Jacked up heroes. Despite all the blood and guts, Judges is a collection of stories about restoration. It’s about the boundless mercy of God to not only continue redeeming Israel, but to do it through some of the most profoundly flawed individuals you could imagine.
• The long wait. I’ve been scheming about this sermon series for three years, but only now feel right about pulling the trigger. I’m not sure what God’s going to do, but I think the timing is right.

Which of the Judges intrigue you the most?
What book of the Bible would you like to us cover next?

Limos don’t age well. I drove by an older one a few weeks back. It looked terrible. And not for reasons you might think:

• It had been maintained well.
• It was clean and free of dents.
• It was driven by a professional-looking, kind-faced chap.
• It wasn’t even that old, actually (it was probably newer than the pick-up I was driving).

But it still just looked sad.

As it turns out, antiquated and slightly out of fashion doesn’t look good on vehicles crafted to project the height of opulence, luxury and superiority. That sad looking 40ft Lincoln Navigator that I saw cruising down 411 looked more like a hearse than a status symbol.

Limos are all about making somebody feel better than everybody else. However, once they loose their luster they’re pretty much worthless…and even a bit pathetic.

And it got me thinking: Are there any ‘limos’ in my life? In what ways am I spending time, energy, money, and opportunity to make myself look better than other people?

I want to find those ‘limos’ and cut them out now, because it won’t be long before those efforts just look sad and pathetic.

One more thing:

The real problem with ‘limos’ is that, from an eternal perspective, there’s just no way to win.

• If they fail in making me look good, then I just feel that much more inadequate.
• But on the other hand (and this is worse), success accomplishes nothing more than making other people feel bad, and feeding the great enemy of my soul (pride).

What are some of the more common ‘limos’ in our culture? Help me find my ‘limos’ by leaving a comment, and adding to this list (or, if you’ve got the guts, sharing yours!):

• success at work
• gadgets
• style/fashion
• family/kids
• …

Picture I took of the Holy Ghost. It didn't develop, though. Go figure.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is certainly one of the most polarizing issues in Christianity (I feel dirty calling it an ‘issue’). There’s tons of confusion, a fair amount of accusation, and not nearly enough open and thoughtful dialogue.

As with any polarizing ‘issue’ people tend to run to one side or another…and then just keep running to one extreme or another (so as to make sure that there’s no question about which side they’re on).

Please keep reading, even though I’m about to use a rather crude illustration.

Let’s say that two people felt very differently and very strongly about the act of kissing. 

One person insists that it’s an unnecessary risk.

• They point out studies that detail more than 500 diseases that can be transmitted by a single smooch (syphilis, herpes, bacterial meningitis, certain forms of hepatitis, mononucleosis, the common cold and many others).
•  They then reduce the benefits of kissing to something merely emotional and ultimately unnecessary.

The other person will insist that kissing is essential to human thriving, and that one simply cannot be great without it.

• As such, it becomes crucial that we determine who’s a kisser, and who isn’t.
• To eliminate any confusion they issue a statement defining it carefully, and in sheer physical terms:

“Two people press their moist, creased facial orifices together, cinch tight the sphincter muscles to draw the flesh around the orifice into a bulbous mound, creating a vacuum, and exchange saliva and breath.” 

In so doing our passionate and well-intentioned friends have taken something as mysterious and beautiful as a kiss, and turned it into something that’s either terrifying and dangerous, or disgusting and creepy.

This is what much of the church has done to the baptism in the Holy Spirit. One side insists that the measurable risks far outweigh the immeasurable benefits, and therefore it’s not to be pursued. The other side has embraced it’s value. However, in an attempt to defend it they’ve given it definitions, standards, and tests that are not only unmerited biblically, but make the whole thing creepy and divisive.

In so doing our passionate and well-intentioned friends have taken something mysterious and beautiful, and turned it into something that’s either terrifying and dangerous, or disgusting and creepy.

I’m convinced that the truth is in the middle, far away with from either extreme, and beautifully simple. That simple, beautiful middle ground is what I’m teaching about at the Maryville Vineyard this Sunday. I hope you’ll join us!

• Any suggestions for the sermon?
• Questions you want me to address?
• Or thoughts about the above?

Leave a comment below!

Therefore:

• Spit on the dirt: you sin!
• Spit on a rock: you’re good.
• Try to spit on a rock, but miss and hit the dirt: You’ll have to plead your case before an Almighty God!

That’s dumb.

I used to work at a shelter counseling teenage runaways and at-risk kids in foster care. They had a fairly strict dress code and I thought it was dumb. Still do. I didn’t buy the premise that I could best relate to troubled teens by dressing like an old rich guy.

And guess what: I broke the snot out of that dress code. At the very least, I bent it every day…and I flat out broke it more often than not. As it turns out, I’m a lot more likely to break rules that I think are dumb.

Now for the real confession:

Occasionally I come across one of God’s rules that I think is dumb. I know that the rule isn’t dumb! God wrote it! I’m dumb! Nevertheless, I have the hardest time following the rules I least understand.

What about you?

There are lots of rules that are routinely challenged, or even discarded as dumb. Have you ever called any of these into question?

• Little white lies?
• Keeping a sabbath?
• Not stealing anything (even stuff like music, software and ideas)?
• No coarse language?
• Rejoice always?
• Hold every thought captive?
• Not even a HINT of sexual immorality?
• Fasting?
• Sacrificial generosity?

…and so on..

Ask yourself what rules you have the most difficult time understanding. And then, ask yourself if you’re more inclined to break them. Leave a comment and let me know that I’m not the only one. What other oft-questioned rules could be added to the list?

She’s one of those perfect people…and not the kind you resent for being perfect, either. She’s so humble, that you’re actually glad that she’s got it all together. You know the type.

I was having a conversation with her a few years back, and she said something incredible, something that still shakes me to the core every time I think of it. We were talking about high school craziness and teenage rebellion in general. I told her how awesome it was that she didn’t get caught up in any of that garbage.

I looked up at her, and to my utter surprise, she was crying. I knew for a fact that she hadn’t gotten caught up in any of that garbage, so why on earth would she be crying? Then she said it,

“It’s not enough that I didn’t go the way they went, I was supposed to change the way they were going.”

I think she underestimates the impact she had on her school. Nevertheless, she made an incredible point that I think very few Christians really get:

This isn’t ultimately about morality, its about mission.

The most recent issue was really significant.  In an interview about the nature of the Church, Bert Waggoner (the National Director of the Vineyard USA) drew some courageous, necessary, and truly insightful lines in the sand.

Our movement is in good hands.

Read it! Read it! Read it!
Then leave a comment and let me know what you thought.

Here it is. (it’s a .pdf, and it’s the first story)

So, here are the quotes from this past Sunday, and a list of my primary resources so far:

Mother Teresa:

“Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat.”

“I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love.”

“I know that God won’t give me more that I can bare. I just wish he didn’t trust me so much.”

Bob Pierce (founder of World Vision):

“Let my heart be broken with the things that break God’s heart”

Susan Moeller, from the book Compassion Fatigue:

“In the news business one dead fireman in Brooklyn, is worth five English bobbies, who are worth 50 Arabs, who are worth 500 Africans.”

Primary Resources:

1. The Hole in Our Gospel, Richard Stearns
2. Ministries of Mercy: The Call of the Jericho Road, Tim Keller
3. Moments With the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ, Ken Gire

Hope it helps!