This is the OLD blog

I've started a new blog at www.processinglife.net

Please come by there as this one will no longer be updated.  Thanks!

Why Feb 1st is when you should make your New Year's resolutions

Many people fall into either one of three categories when it comes to New Year's resolutions. 

There are those who year after year enthusiastically commit to various audacious goals only to experience failure a few months in. The meant well, but it just didn't come together. "Well, if the Cubs can try again next year so can I" is the annual attitude.

There are also those refuse to set resolutions. "No one ever sticks with those. Who wants to feel like a failure?"

And then, similar to the existence of Big Foot, there supposedly is a group of people out there who indeed do keep resolutions. I always wondered if such people were successful because they set goals like, "I'm going to make sure to breath every day this year." But if the resolutions are actually more challenging then this, then I need to meet the Sasquatch so I can ask him what the secret to success is.

To set goals is a good and necessary endeavor, a discipline of the successful and prudent. I'd like to offer the suggestion that maybe the reason some fail at keeping resolutions is tied to when they are made: New Year's Eve. 

The best Star Wars news I've heard in awhile

Last November the bomb landed that George Lucas had sold Star Wars to Disney. Some people thought it was great, some freaked, most were completely shocked. The debate of whether Leia is a Disney princess now and other tongue-in-cheek commentaries have been quite humorous. I've been silent on the issue while inside holding an optimistic sense of "wait and see." 

To come clean, I'm cool with Disney moving things forward. They have been handed the the keys to one of the most popular movie dynasties ever, they're not going to just drive it off a cliff. Possible? Yes. But if anyone can successfully move things into the future I'm confident Disney can do it. Tron Legacy and The Avengers are excellent evidence for that (don't mention John Carter to me as cross-examination because I loved that movie). The stories of the Star Wars universe are already plentiful so there is no lack of want for ideas. It really would come down to who would direct and then who would write the screen play.

And then two days ago the news came that got me SUPER pumped. The second I read it on Huffington Post I immediately text my best bud Todd who is a bigger Star Wars freak than I am:

How to pray for one hour

At New Life Community Church we are in the midst of 21 days of prayer and fasting. Part of this includes each New Life location hosting 24hrs of non-stop prayer from 7pm on one day to 7pm the next. At New Life Lincoln Park where I am our 24hrs starts tonight. We have over 30 people signed up for 1hr blocks to pray for one another, our church, and our city.

Praying for an entire hour?!? Wouldn't you fall asleep? What all could you possibly pray about for that long?

Praying for an hour may seem intimidating at first but for the person prepared the time in reality flies by. At the end the prepared person would be checking the clock on their phone with astonishment asking, "That's it? That was an hour?"

Here's how you get ready to pray for an hour:

A prayer for strength and courage

A Prayer to the Holy Spirit  

- William Browning

O Holy Spirit,
give me stillness of soul in you.
Calm the turmoil within,
with the gentleness of your peace.
Quiet the anxiety within,
with a deep trust in you.
Heal the wounds of sin within,
with the joy of your forgiveness.
Strengthen the faith within,
with the awareness of your presence.
Confirm the hope within,
with the knowledge of your strength.
Give fullness to the love within,
with an outpouring of your love.

O Holy Spirit,
be to me a source of light, strength and courage
so that I may hear your call ever more clearly
and follow you more generously.

Found this over the weekend during a time I really needed it.
Maybe you need it today.

The timeline of how we see other people's Christmas decorations

• From the day after Thanksgiving to Dec 25: "Those Christmas lights are great!"
• Dec 26-31: silence
• Jan 1-7: "Guess it's time to take the lights down buddy."
• Jan 8-14: "Seriously, they still have their lights up?"
• Jan 15-21: "Hey you weirdos - Christmas was LAST YEAR!!"
• Jan 22-31: "There should be a city ordinance and fees for people like that!"
• Feb & March: Stunned silence. Burst of laughter or slow shaking back and forth of head. Possibly includes a phone pic sent to your friends accompanied by "Can you believe this?!?"
• April to Sept: "What - are you just leaving them up so you don't have to do any work next year? Ghheezz...the laziness of some people"
• Oct: Silently to yourself, "Maybe leaving them up was a good idea"
• Nov 1 till Thanksgiving: "One holiday at a time people!"

Rinse and repeat

It should be noted that the "silence" of Dec 26-31 represents those who are taking down their decorations during that time.

Trusting in the slow work of God

Last night brought a rare moment of being able to just sit in the living room and be quiet for awhile. It was a prayerful time: who I am, my family, church and all the horizon will unknowingly reveal. While staring at our fake fireplace a line from a prayer I heard a few months ago arrived, "Trust in the slow work of God." It comes from this prayer by Father Teilhard de Chardin:

Like a firework from the air

No chance on starting the year off on a restful note, I had to fly out of town for work this afternoon. Two and half hours later, while on the landing approach coming into Houston I happened to look out my window to see a single firework being shot off. 

It was a professional job, clearly not something bought at a roadside shop. Then again, I am in Texas right now so it's not to say that some cowboy out there didn't have a pro size rocket to blast off. The explosion was blue with a yellow middle. At ground level I'm sure it looked like a huge burst, but from my perspective's altitude it looked like a soap bubble rising above still water in a bathtub. It hung there for just a second and then...pop.

This brought a smile because I've always wondered what fireworks would look like from the air. Of course I kept my eye on the area where it said hello, but no other came. It was there for just a moment and then...pop.

And in the quiet, while still waiting for another, the thought came to me, "That's how this next year will be."

Here just for a moment and then...pop.
 

Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. James 4:13-16

My most read blog posts in 2012

"Busy" would be a pretty good summary word of my 2012. Traveling with Logos, pastoring New Life Lincoln Park, teaching at Moody and having an amazing family pretty much fills up every second of every day (and then some). So though I wasn't able to blog anywhere near as much as I would like to, below are the top blog posts from my blog in 2012

What Christmas is all about...

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
- 1 John 4:9-12

So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness - John 1:14

Some free Christmas music for you!

Last year our awesome worship team at New Life Lincoln Park recorded a Christmas CD for our church family. It is incredibly well done and a great download for your next couple days of festivities. Though obviously biased, our fam has been jamming out to it in the car the last few days and love it!

Here's the link to download it for FREE: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.

It's completely for free however in the spirit of Noisetrade if you'd like to make a Christmas donation to New Life Lincoln Park then just CLICK HERE. While following the instructions make sure to choose "Lincoln Park" under the locations. Thank you!

It's the end of the world as we know it...

...and I feel fine. 

Of course I do. And for the most part slept like a baby last night or at the least like an exhausted, slightly overworked kid-at-heart. And once it arrives in the mail I'll proudly wear my new t-shirt:

Take that Mayans!

And I'm sure R.E.M. wants to thank you for the increased bump in their royalties check this month:

“But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. " Matthew 24:36-37, 42-44

Praying for 26 families

Whether or not today is a day of worship for you, please remember to pray for the families and friends of these 26 victims from Friday's shooting. They are still in deep, intense mourning and need our prayers.

Tears for Newtown

Of all He has given us there is nothing
more powerful than choice.
It is a hammer, full of potential and danger,
able to destroy or to build. 
Yesterday someone used it to shatter.

Anger and grief are predominate 
and in my solidarity with the parents 
I think I can safely say that we don't want 
to see adolescence interviewed about their 
experiences and we don't want to hear 
why you think you still need your gun.

Apologize for my anger?
I don't think so. I hope not. 
He trashed a temple because evil men
took advantage of innocence 
so my feelings right now seem to resonate.
Trashing a temple today would be worthless
but putting a hole in drywall 
would probably feel pretty good.

Brokenhearted implies there are pieces
that can be taped together or cracks
that can be sewn up for mending.
When the moments we dread come to be
our hearts become dust
so typical sympathetic band-aids
become worthless and slightly insulting. 

So I grieve for the parents in Newtown.
In their beyond understanding pain 
I beg God to bring His beyond understanding peace.
Though with much smaller tears, we weep with them.

Now is the time for tears

I went to pick up Baylee a little earlier than normal from school today. Rushed a little faster from the car to get to the door. Squeezed a little harder than normal when she ran to me. Because my heart shatters right now for the parents who lost their little ones in Connecticut today.

Words are pretty much unnecessary at this point. Tears speak everything.

So hold me Jesus, 'cause I'm shaking like a leaf

You have been King of my glory

Won't You be my Prince of Peace

- Rich Mullins

Thankful for my beautiful, sweet daughter

Everyone has dreams about their future. On December 4, 2006 a nurse said to me, "here you go daddy, meet your daughter." And for the first time I was able to hold this dream come true: 

And now today, six years later, she is still that dream. I am so thankful for my beautiful Baylee, my sweet daughter:

We went to Jewel this morning to buy cookies so she can celebrate with her friends at lunch. As we were walking the sidewalk to the main door I picked her up and prayed...

"God - thank you for this awesome little girl. (She interupted me at this point and whispered, "Big girl") ...for this awesome BIG GIRL! For giving mommy and me such an amazing daughter. I am so thankful that I get to be her daddy and I am so incredibly proud of who she is. Thank you for making her so much fun, for making her so caring, for giving her so much energy and with a sweet spirit, that she is helpful, that she tries so hard, and that she is growing up to be such an amazing BIG girl. Give her a great, fun, amazing birthday"

And now back in my office writing this, with somewhat watery eyes, I pray the other prayer I do every Dec 4th...

"Dear God...please slow down the time"

What a Christian needs to know as President Obama begins 4 more years

Last night our political process played out and by a electoral vote of 303-206 and a popular vote currently at 59,584,661 to 56,959,312 Barack Obama will retain his title of Commander in Chief for four more years.

But you already knew that.

 

I've yet to see the concession and victory speeches, having gone to bed early last night. I'll be honest, I really hope Obama put his arms out and dropped the mic at the end of his. Regardless, skimming through the Facebook news feed this morning I've seen everything from ecstatic praise for the victory to people apparently having a little ancient Mayan in their blood based on their cries of the end coming around the corner.

So what is a person who loves and follows Jesus supposed to do? 

3 helpful links and 2 thoughts on election day

After today the barrage of commercials will go to a trickle (hopefully), followed by lawn signs getting pulled up and 7-11 Obama/Romney cups being replaced with 007 cups (hopefully). 

But as of writing this there are still around 10 hours left in Chicago to vote. For those still undecided, here are a couple links I found helpful:

• www.isidewith.com - The site lists a bunch of questions along the various issues, asking your opinion and how important the issue is for you. Once done it will tell you which candidate you are most in line with. If you go to the site you'll notice that each category has a link under each grouping for additional questions on the topic. Make sure to answer those as well.
• 5 Questions Romney Never Answered About Mormonism - very thought provoking article. For me #4 is the big one to consider. 
• Moral and Spiritual Issues in the 2012 Election - chart on the various issues for the two parties. Thought-provoking, though at the same time should be seen as a summary of generalities. It would be incredibly wrong to make the assumption that a person claiming to be in either of the given parties holds to each and every issue in exactly the way this author has defined them.

A couple thoughts for my fellow Christians:

• Be respectful in how you speak of others that you disagree with. All of the issues are important in an election. However some issues will be more heart felt than others to various individuals, including various believers. There will even be debate on which of those issues should rise to the top. In the same way, though most would agree that we should vote for the candidate that is closely in line with Biblical principles - it is very possible that various believers will disagree on the specifics of those Biblical principles. It is OK to disagree with others and it is OK to have healthy debate on such things. So avoid phrases today (or ever) along the lines of, "I don't see how anyone who believes in God can vote for..." To flippantly make such a statement is more arrogant than anything. There's a right way and a wrong way to point to one's understanding of the truth. How a fellow church family member votes in a political election should not deter us from being in community with them.
• Be respectful in how you speak of the candidate that you disagree with. For example, anyone who refers to our current president as Obama Bin Laden is not being obedient to scripture!!!  See Romans 13:1-7, 2 Timothy 2:1-7, and 1 Peter 2:13-17.

Never a fan of election years for the rift they can cause in families, friendships, churches, and communities. But they are necessary. Pray for God's guidance as you cast your vote.

Hurricane Sandy as seen from Google Earth

Screenshot of Hurricane Sandy as seen via Google Earth:

Praying for my family and friends out there and for all those along her path.

Me and THE Patch Adams

While buckling up on a bright and early 5:50am flight yesterday I noticed an older and rather eccentrically dressed guy sitting down across the aisle from me. "Man he looks familiar." But I couldn't place it.

Three hours later as I'm gathering my stuff up after landing I hear someone say, "Can we take a picture?" And the guy sitting with Mr Eccentrically Dressed has his iPhone held out arm length. I finally had a good look at the guy's face and it hit me... THAT'S PATCH ADAMS!!!

We got off the plane at the same time so of course I had to ask, "Mr Adams - your story has always been an incredible inspiration to me. Can I be a stupid fan and get a pic with you?"

"Absolutely - on two conditions: you pick your nose while we're doing it and you go to my website to check out the stuff we're doing." 

So I picked my nose with Patch Adams: