Neighbor Brunch tomorrow @ 10.15 .. we would love for you to join us for some food + connection with others. we are baptizing someone and looking forward to a great time.
Easter is coming and we need you … lots of opportunity to get involved, sign up below:
cup of leadership
(s/o to my friend fred who i believe made this analogy up many years ago)
manhole covers keep the stink + the sewage where it belongs: out of sight + out of mind.
megaphones draw attention to things by adding artificial volume.
in the age of self-expression, some of us have fallen into the trap of thinking megaphones are more holy than manhole covers … they are not.
of course, there is a time and place for pointing out abusive or illegal activities, this metaphor isn’t about that. it’s about the propensity many people have to think that loudly pointing at something broken is inherently helpful.
we are bound by time + $ + emotional capacity. not every problem that ‘stinks’ in our lives can be fixed at the same time. some things need to be left alone until the right time. manholes cover the junk to minimize the stink, while adding access to deal with it at the right time.
right now, kristen + i are working full-time, parenting our 4 kids, and trying to complete a 6-figure house renovation from a bursted pipe on Christmas. we both have needed the wisdom to see that there is no more capacity for additional things right now. fitness goals and deeper spiritual disciplines and specific habits we aim to form in the kids will come when this season is completed … that is NOT avoidance and it is NOT weak, it is being a WISE manhole cover.
the same is true at our new church. our streamed online service needs work. our front stairs are falling apart for the 3rd time. we are still trying to crack the code on adult mid-week bible studies. etc etc etc … choosing not to yell about what is wrong, when we already know there isn’t money or time today to fix it is NOT weak, it is wise.
some stuff can wait .. until we have the time and emotional resources to deal with it.
if you want to succeed in an environment (team or job or committee) where you don’t have power, don’t fall for the cheap immediacy of being noticed because of what you can be loud about.
sometimes .. keeping junk in the sewer and out of sight really helps those around you.
1 Peter 4.8
above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sinsJames 5.19-20
know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God
I think sometimes we make following the Lord too complicated.
This week I was reminded of July 2001, I ended up on a mission trip to Oklahoma with a youth group that I went to here and there (meaning I had friends that went and thought some of the boys were cute). There are two things I remember from this trip all these years later. First, don’t ever go to Oklahoma in July, it is hot as hell(!!!), however I suppose this fact was helpful when my pastor shared the gospel. Second and more importantly, God changed my heart that week in a way I will never forget and I have never been the same since! As I reflected this week, it has been 22 years that I have followed the Lord, through valleys and mountaintops and of course in between and I am so grateful that he beckoned my heart then.
Do you remember that moment? Who you were with? Where you were? That moment where you heard the simplicity of the gospel - that you are a sinner and that you need a savior and that Jesus died for YOUR sin so that he could have a relationship with you and you could spend eternity with him. The feeling of accepting the forgiveness and freedom from the weight of sin that you had been carrying and the joy of knowing someone loved you enough to save you and pay your debt! My, my, my, what a beautiful moment.
Maybe a year into my walk with Christ I read 1 Corinthians 10:31 and realized that it boils my walk down to a simple truth, it says, “So whether you eat or whether you drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” I recognize that even though something can sound so simple it can be hard to live out!
Yes, I am to be a Godly wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, etc. but as I go after these things in life, am I glorifying God as I live these roles out? Would he be honored in how I treated the ones in whom I am in daily contact with?
The way these reflections came about is that I just finished a study about being a loving wife. I thought the point of the last chapter was so helpful in reminding me of this same idea, if I’m pressing into my marriage for the glory of me it’s only going to falter. In other words, the only way to be a loving wife whether my husband is a believer or not is to do it to the glory of God.
I don’t know about you but sometimes I have this running checklist in my mind of what I have or haven’t done that will mean I have ‘gotten it right’ today. The good news, the simple, beautiful truth of the gospel reminds us that it doesn’t depend on us, hallelujah and amen. But, may I encourage you by this simple verse: So when I drank and when I ate today (and all the other things that filled my day both simple & those more difficult), did I glorify God? Not did I get it ‘perfect’ but did I love well, apologize graciously and point to Jesus in the process?
Last Sunday Sermon Video
Saturday Morning Book Review
emotionally healthy spirituality by pete sczaerro
(my message on march 19, 2023 will have lots from this book, i wanted to put some of these concepts in your head before then. this book is tremendously helpful)
‘it’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature.’
that’s the thesis of pete scazzero’s book ‘emotionally healthy spirituality.’ i picked this up as assigned reading for a class i’m taking this semester and was blown away. integrating important counseling concepts w. a genuine respect for god’s word, scazzero truly helps the reader see more clearly. what we must see is that wounds from the past and generational family dynamics must be dealt with as we mature in christ.
if our only prescription for those in pain are MORE PERSONAL BIBLE READING !!!, we send people to a great fight with inadequate weapons. this book will help you …. highly highly recommended.
this is good news.
—luke + kristen
p.s. if you like what we are doing here … forward or sign up a friend click below