spring is HERE (ish) … lots of stuff happening this weekend at Good News
the good news truck is part of the St. Patricks Day parade in Palatine, right near our building on Saturday. we would love to see you out there.
Sunday Services at 9 + 10.45, my friend Tara Cruz is leading the singing + i have a message that i think is right on time for you.
Neighbor Brunch Sunday at 10 … a little food + relationships between services. please come early or stay late, we would love to see you.
Neighbor Project .. at the neighbor brunch, you can help thank hundreds of city workers on the 2 year anniversary of the shutdowns. it’s all set up .. come help us :)
we change…but He doesn’t
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
Hebrews 13:8
grahams favorite football player got traded this week. his favorite christmas gift this year was a Khalil Mack jersey that now feels obsolete. G cried his eyes out because he never even got to wear the jersey during a game that mattered. the feeling of counting on something or hoping in something and having it let you down is powerful.
american express has cashed in this sports fan angst by building a marketing campaign around jersey’s getting refunded if the player gets traded. it’s quite clever from my perspective. even if things change in a way you don’t want, you can still have a new favorite jersey. change stinks, but maybe this softens the blow a little?
i went to a concert with 3 of my college friends this week. we saw 2 bands that peaked probably 20 years ago, dashboard confessional + jimmy eat world. it was an amazing experience to re-live those youthful feelings for a bit. the music was ever bit as good as i remembered it, potent + melodic. but when i played a few favorites for my 13 yr old, he mostly HATED it. he couldn’t stop talking about much he disliked it.
it kinda bummed me out, but honestly kinda amused me too. that stuff was fantastic for me in my generation, he has music that makes sense for his generation. things go in-style and out-of-style and we can only try and accept it.
one of my favorite reasons to worship Jesus is that he doesn’t change. that doesn’t make Him old fashioned or lacking in validity, it makes him timeless. while our world shifts + adjusts, He stays the same. nothing makes him love His children less. fashion doesn’t effect His view of me + you. He rules the world with steadiness + clarity.
this is such simple truth, but lean on Jesus. other people + institutions will inevitably fail you, He never will.
“It’s ALWAYS going to be this way” - Satan
This is a lie that you can hear the devil say to you day after day if you are going through a difficult time. John 8:44 tells us that the one telling us this is the Father of lies and there is NO truth in Him. And we must rebuke this statement because it couldn’t be further from the truth. But, if it’s so far from the truth why do I/we so often fall into the trap of believing it?
Other than Jesus there’s no outcome or situation or person who is ALWAYS anything. You may not be an idealist by personality but we all desire some bit of idealism. (Think of how many times you say “i wish…” in your day.) Our marriage to go on and on without a fight, a friendship without conflict, a house not needing to be fixed, a life free from illness or heartache. But as we well know we live in a world full of sin. And these interruptions of idealism force us to chose what we are living for and who we are believing.
As I rebuke this thought myself, I have been reminding myself or replacing this lie with these truths, I pray they benefit your thinking as well.
“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” Isaiah 43:18-19
This verse reminds me that He is at work now…. The past isn’t the same as the future because He declares He is doing something new in the present tense. Thank the Lord today for the new He is doing in your situation or if you can’t see a speck of new then pray by faith that God would do a new thing..
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
Only a good God could see to the completion of a good work in sinners like you and me. He not only declares us righteous because of His blood he’s covered us with but he is at work in you this very moment to make you more like himself. The goal being that when we show up to the pearly gates we are more like him than when we began. How beautiful is that? But sometimes the chipping away at the old or the gritty in us hurts and feels the opposite of beautiful, (a.k.a the process) but we are promised a glorious end is coming of wholeness and completion which reminds us that the process is more than worth it!
“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4
Our choices matter. When we remain steadfast and faithful under our trials they produce steadfastness which produces character. When we are frustrated in the mundane, especially in the midst of trial and when we are choosing to do the right thing and not seeing the result those very actions are producing things in us that would not be there had we given up.
Kanye’s lyrics from ‘Hands on” spoke to this very point :
“Told the devil that I’m going on a strike, told the devil when I see him on sight, I’ve been working for ya my whole life.”
Maybe that’s what you need to say to the devil today. I’m on strike from believing this lie!
Cup of Leadership
our culture values clicks. we love unusual opinions and out-of-the-norm takes on situations usually deliver them. there isn’t much interest for a ‘michael jordan was great’ or ‘abraham lincoln = good president’ article .. but you can generate traffic through ‘scottie was better’ or ‘abe lincoln = bad’ content. many people have a built a brand on it.
last week, a friend + i were discussing a very hotly discussed book from the last few years, and this friend tried to tell me the author doesn’t even really believe his argument, but knew his chosen angle could sell books.
when people zig, you zag.
when culture is saying yes, you are saying no.
your contrarian streak blesses us by helping the world not become too monoculture and by forcing away from lemming like compromise, but it curses us when it strives to find another angle to every problem. sometimes there isn’t. the need to find nuance when there isn’t any hurts people.
think for yourself, sure, but don’t try so hard to be interesting that you grieve + confuse people.
Saturday Morning Book Review
flash crash: a trading savant, a global manhunt and the most mysterious market crash in history — by liam vaughn
i am not financially sophisticated as a person. but i love reading stories of the intrigue + raw human brutality involving the financial markets.
this story, tracking one young man and a little niche he found that he exploited, for 0 risk, to a profit of 70 million dollars was riveting. rather than the story of privilege taking advantage of unprivileged, this story is more robinhood-esque. the protagonist found a way to profit off of those who usually profit off of the system and the system came strong for him. a really great vacation read.
Things to Click On
1. good news has a spring playlist…get your mind into warm breezes while your body waits to feel them lol.
2. my old friend, ben, has something to get off his chest ... i thought he articulated things lots of people feel really well.
have a great weekend …
luke + kristen