Church Words: Pride

Recently I wrote about “humility”…some good discussions were had on that tough word. We saw how one of the antonyms was “pride”. Now, we aren’t talking about being proud of your kid doing something cool necessarily (although “bad pride” can creep into that, too), but more accurately this: thinking too highly of yourself, especially in relationship to God. Let’s look deeper at this issue…first, however, there's a scene from “Karate Kid" I'd love to visit. You know that part where Daniel-son finally flips out on Miyagi's "training"? And Mr. Miyagi basically exposes Daniel-son's folly? Daniel-son has been seeking martial arts training from Mr. Miyagi. Problem is, his motives are all wrong. He wants revenge against bullies. Wants to go kick their booties. Mr. Miyagi, however, wants to teach him ways to respect himself and use karate only as a defense tool. He also uses some indirect methods to teach…frustrating Daniel-son as he thinks it’s all a waste of time. Mr. Miyagi, thus, exposes this prideful attitude…

Why is pride such a big deal? Romans 12:3-5 shares some wisdom…I’m using “The Message” translation today: 3I'm speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it's important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.
4-6In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn't amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ's body, let's just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren't.

“…pridefully and enviously comparing ourselves…” This is but one area where pride is a big problem. We compare ourselves with others way too easily, often deciding we are “Better” than others in some way. God tells us this is not his way. But that leads into the ultimate deal about pride: it’s almost like we are playing “god”. Think about it. How often do you read or hear something about God, or a command, etc., and you go, “Yeah, whatever,” or, “Not for me”. Or maybe you do realize the purpose of these things, but decide you are stronger than you truly are…and thus don’t protect yourself against certain temptations. Watch out: before you know it, your pride will be your downfall…

Luke 6:46-49 (NIV): 46"Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete."

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV): 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Are you crying out “Lord, Lord!” and yet still being too prideful to pay attention? Are you leaning on your own understanding because you think too highly of yourself?

Things to Ponder...• Why was Daniel-son so upset with Mr. Miyagi?
• How do you think Daniel-son felt at the end of the session? What changed his attitude?
• Why is it so important to learn the fundamentals of something before attempting it?
• What are some characteristics that made Mr. Miyagi a good teacher? What made Jesus a great teacher?
• Do you personally trust God with your life even if you may not understand (or like) everything he asks? When has this frustrated you? When did lessening your pride and trusting God have benefits?

Prater is Creative

One of my senior youth, Ryan Prater, made this video with a friend (Ryan is the "non-pee-er"...watch and you'll understand...and my apologies if you are bothered by "peeing audio"...don't worry, you don't see anything...)

Very creative...boy's got some talent...

Church Words: humility

hu•mil•i•ty
–noun
the quality or condition of being humble; modest opinion or estimate of one's own importance, rank, etc.
________________________________________
[Origin: 1275–1325; ME humilite < L humilitās. See HUMBLE, -TY2 ]

—Synonyms lowliness, meekness, submissiveness.
—Antonyms pride.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

• Humility is a tough concept to strive for. I mean, who wants to seek “meekness” as a goal? But, since our faith is often so “upside down” (to quote musician Derek Webb), it is exactly what God tells us to strive for. Matthew 5:5.
• If you search “humble” in the NIV, you get 71 hits… “humility” gets you 15 more. I know that some things may be “lost in translation”, but it is pretty clear that humility is a theme in scripture, but one we tend to not value. Why? Because we seek power. Notice the “antonym” to humility in that definition above? PRIDE.
• Some scriptures to read and ponder: Proverbs 3:34; Matt. 18:3-5; Eph. 4:2; James 4:6, 10
• Two tough example of Jesus’ call to humble attitudes are found in Matt. 5. First, Matt. 5:38-40. You know, “turn the other cheek”. Problem is, our “gut instinct” is to get revenge. I see it all the time, even in this group. You know, “he/she did/said it to me first!”. We feel entitled. I think there is a difference in defending oneself…and revenge. But even this seems to indicate we should seek to “kill with kindness.” Think about it: if you just totally slammed someone, and in stead of fighting back, they did/said something nice, how would you respond? Second, look at Matt. 5:43-45. “Love your enemies…pray for those who persecute you…” Ouch. “Gee God, can I get out of that one?”
• Bottom line is that we just don’t do well with this…being humble is almost just seen as a “nice trait” if that adjective is used to describe you…but it almost seems equated with “pushover” or “weak”. So, what is up God’s sleeve in wanting us to be humble?

Things to Ponder:
• If you were a great, skilled general or leader, how would you act toward “underlings”?
• What are reasons to not be humble?
• Do any of you have a personal example of a time you didn’t fight back…and it actually made the situation better for you?
• Why do you think Jesus wants us to be humble…turning the other cheek…loving enemies?
• How would things be different if we loved and prayed for our enemies…really? Instead of hating them, wanting/getting revenge, etc.?

My Heart Smiles...

I hope everyone had a wonderful, celebratory, reflective Easter weekend. Mine was really good (even if I'm still kinda whooped...but our church office is closed today so I can hang some today...). Friday did the annual Good Friday Six Flags pilgrimage. Jeremy Camp was excellent, and was very worshipful (a welcome departure from past Good Friday concerts, due to the magnitude of the day...). And pigs are flying: for the first time EVER, I voluntarily rode NO RIDES at an amusement park (if you know me, you realize that's pretty strange). Yet, it was a good day: great weather, good reading, music, conversation...

But, my heart is smiling so much due to the joy I have in relation to Jackson's response to our Easter gift to him: a children's Bible. Missy and I certainly drop the ball on our spiritual raising of our son more than we'd care to admit (especially since I work at a church, challenge the families I serve to be godly influences on their kids, etc.), but I have been pleasantly surprised to see Jax so excited to get a Bible. It's all he wants to read. Even can find the David and Goliath story without help. He got cars, clothes, candy, etc., as well, but it's the Bible he wants to be with (well, the candy is fighting for attention, too :-)). So happy!!!!!!

My NCAA 2008 Tourney Picks

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. Been pretty busy. Just got back from a surprisingly restful and relaxing family spring break trip to houston. Not that we never get to relax down there, but let's just say I must have needed rest/sleep more than I realized...

Now, to the picks. I will just use one post for all this year (as opposed to my attempt at nearly daily ones last year...that petered out quickly). Not too many late surprises as far as big teams not in final four, but a few minor ones and some first round upsets...

Second Round
EAST
UNC, Indiana, G. Mason, Wash St, St Joe's, Louisville, Butler, Tennessee

MIDWEST
Kansas, UNLV, Clemson, Vandy, Kansas St, Wisconsin, Gonzaga, Georgetown

SOUTH
Memphis, Oregon, Michigan St, Pitt, Marquette, Stanford, St Mary's, Texas

WEST
UCLA, Texas A&M, Drake, UConn, Baylor, Georgia, West Virginia, Duke

Sweet Sixteen
EAST
UNC, G. Mason, Louisville, Tennessee

MIDWEST
Kansas, Vandy, Kansas St, Georgetown

SOUTH
Memphis, Pitt, Stanford, Texas

WEST
UCLA, Drake, Baylor, Duke

Elite Eight
EAST
UNC, Tennessee

MIDWEST
Vandy, Georgetown

SOUTH
Memphis, Texas

WEST
UCLA, Duke

Final Four
UNC, Georgetown, Texas, UCLA

Final
Gerogetown, Texas

And the winner is......





(sorry Aaron): Georgetown

Let me know yours....

Planet Wisdom 2008 Recap, Parenting Ministry News

(By the way, I'm posting a bunch this morning, and this early, due to it raining all night long, and at this moment...I have been running every morning around 6 am and it feels GREAT...but alas, I am stuck inside for now...)

Well, another Planet Wisdom...another great time (maybe my favorite of the four I've been to????). We took a record (for us) number of folks, and all came back jazzed up. Not as many "responses" as in past years ("new Christians", or folks needing to recommit, etc.), but that's fine, as the overall makeup of our group this year seemed to be ones that are ready for the next "leap" in their fillowing of Jesus...and I'm excited. Really, before this weekend, I was about as excited as I've been in a LONG time about doing youth ministry...and now, even more so...

The theme was "Becoming More", using pottery-making (complete with a demonstration with a pottery wheel and everything that was a perfect visual metaphor) to show us the tension (often good) that exists between God, our creator, and ourselves, with water used to shape the clay representing grace. It was really cool.

Mark Matlock, the main teacher, was really "on". I mean, he's always been great, but man he just nailed it this year...as did the always hilarious, thought-provoking SKIT GUYS! In fact, they won a contest for Southwest Airlines, producing a commercial...here it is (love it!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEuAwj2imbY

Anyways, wonderful time. On a side note, Mark, while speaking at a youth leader "only" meeting, brought up a new vision for his Generation hope parent seminars (and actually name-dropped me-hahaha, saying it was the Weatherford conference, along with other conversations he and I had, that were a big part of this new vision), involving the training of 100 youth ministry vets to actually become a team of Generation hope seminar leaders...able to REALLY spread out and effect thousands of families, as he can only do a few such conferences a year. Needless to say I texted Mark "sign me up for this parenting thing",as he was speaking, and right after he left the room I got a, "U got it" return text...it will involve training prior to a 2008 Youth Specialties Convention, and the target "launch" date is 2009... One aspect I actually liked is that the idea isn't for me to lead a seminar at my home church, but rather other churches...and focusing on "follow up coffees/discussions" at home base. I like that, as while I sense I have good relationships with most of the families I serve, I do think some would have trouble getting past the "goofy youth guy" leading a parenting seminar...but at another place? Sure...

I truly feel like this is becoming more a part of my calling: ministering to families as a whole. I still focus on teens, but increaingly am in conversation with parents, and who knows, maybe after youth min is "done", I can transistion into a more "family-wide" dynamic... We will see...

Could it be? Maybe????

....or am I jinxing it? :-)

I write because I have been unable to experience any frozen precip this year :-(

Yet, seemingly out of the blue, it is SUPPOSED TO SNOW tonight!!!!!!!

We will see...and if so, get ready for some fun!