Elmo Goodnight Lullabies
If your bored tonight and find yourself done watching the X-Games or your done watching the Sixers lose to the Lakers 
and you want to spend three minutes potentially laughing, check out this video.
How To Attain Contentment
Love my life group and last night we had an incredible discussion on what does it mean to be content? Can we actually attain contentment or does the pursuit of contentment really reflect my desire to “feel” a certain way regardless of what it is that God wants for me? They say the opposite of contentment is greed. I would also say that the opposite of contentment is selfishness, not just with the physical but with the spiritual and emotional. I can be selfish for more than just the physical.
I think I am a selfish person by nature and yet that is the area that God has been working with me the most on. Here’s the deal, I will do almost anything for anybody, I will help out whoever but in the back of my mind I am asking the question, “What will I get out of this? What’s in it for me?” Taking mental notes and keeping track of favors. Ever do that? If so, chances are your selfish and may not have even known it. Greed can be self deceiving and it can also be easily justifiable. It may be near to impossible to discern in my own life but I can pick it out in someone else very clearly.
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. 7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12a Fight the good fight for the true faith.
As I read this passage in 1 Timothy 6 I think that I am not to pursue contentment but I am to pursue righteousness and a godly life and faith and love and perseverance and gentleness and by pursuing those things that have nothing to do with me but have everything to do with God than I possibly will be content. Maybe true contentment is a response to full submission to God.
How would you define greed? How would you define contentment? Can we ever attain contentment?
100 Day Prayer Challenge
Eric on Sunday challenged the church to 100 days of prayer. I thought why not challenge everybody who reads this blog to jump on board and pray as well. You pray for my church and I’ll pray for your church if you list your church below. The only way we will see God move throughout is if people humble themselves and pray for His will and not ours. Below is what our church [Fellowship Church] is praying for and I believe it to be universal.
- Be unified and motivated to serve
- Grow as a community who love and accept each other and new people wherever they’re at
- Develop a heart for our local community, our schools, our neighbors, in demonstrating our love for them and meeting their needs, expecting nothing in return
- Become people who invest in our community and invite them into our church family
So how about it? Can you commit the next 100 days to lift your church and mine up in prayer to God?
Discover God’s Heart from Fellowship Today on Vimeo.
What Goes In
What goes in usually has a habit of coming out. I’ve experienced that over the last couple days, not that I didn’t already know that, although I will spare you any graphic details. I have heard all my life to be careful what I put in because it will come out. Whether that was the music I listened to which I obviously only listened to for “the beat”, or the movies that I watched, sites I visited or things I read, I was constantly told, “good in, good out, garbage in, garbage out”.
I even learned fun little songs in Sunday school about it, do you remember the song? ”Oh be careful little eyes what you see, ears what you hear, because the Father up above, He is looking down with love, so be careful little eyes what you see, ears what you hear.” Great song. And I am learning how true it is.
Recently I heard my son repeat something that I say all the time, I didn’t realize how bad it sounded till my seven year old repeated it. Oops, now I am on guard with what I am letting in and being even more careful with my filter about what I let out. It really does have the ability to affect other people. If I truly want to be a Godly person and have that show in my marriage and family than I must be the one to set the standard of holiness.
What are some things that you do to protect your family? What are some strategies to make holiness a regular part of your life?
Officer, It’s Not Me
In the area that we live in which happens to be an upper class township I have heard of two armed burglaries in the last couple days so naturally my senses have become heightened because of it. Last night around midnight I had to call the police because of a suspicious car that circled my house several times before parking in a very awkward spot. Two weeks ago I probably would have never made the call because we are used to cars being in our driveway/parking lot. However with a heightened sense and probably a small case of fear, I made the call. They arrived, situation was explained, the officer had his cuffs out and his hand on his gun as I approached them, needless to say the fear increased for me. I thought can they see the “bad guy” only to realize that they thought I was the bad guy. Nothing happened and it was harmless but it got me thinking.
When we know the enemy is out there and when we know that danger is close it puts us on guard and makes us listen and look for things that we wouldn’t normally look for. The reality is there is danger and there is an enemy lingering and waiting for a weak point to bring us down. Maybe by a character situation, a choice we have to make or a big glaring sin that is out there.
What safety guards are you putting in your life to watch out for the enemy? To watch out for the attack? If you think it will never happen to you, be careful your probably the perfect target.
Difference Maker: Shaun King
Ok let’s be honest, we hear all the time that one person can make a difference, but is that just something we say to encourage and motivate people, or do we really believe that? I completely believe it and I can prove it. I want to introduce you to Shaun King. He’s a 30 Year Old Husband, Father, Grad Student & Lead Pastor of The Courageous Church (www.Courageous.tv) in Downtown Atlanta, and he is making a difference.
I started to follow Shaun over a year ago as I heard he had planted a church in one of the toughest neighborhoods in Atlanta and I had a chance to meet and talk with him at Catalyst [although I am pretty sure he would have no remembrance of me]. The things that stood out about this man was his humility and his willingness to talk to someone who is pretty insignificant in the global perspective of the church world. One minute with him and you can tell his passion and excitement. I highly recommend following him on his many social networks. Below is a list of the tweets that he made last night about what is going on in Haiti. Shaun is using Twitter to mobilize, impact and create an awareness in Haiti and it is incredibly impressive.
- Setting out my Soapbox. About to step on it for a few tweets. 1st my opinions then quotes from leaders on the ground in Haiti
- ALL OF THE EXPERTS ARE DEAD WRONG…..
- When the earthquake 1st hit, thousands of you immediately wanted to go and help BE the solution, be the hands & feet of God…
- But you were told by the experts NOT TO COME. You were told to wait until some magical time when things were much better…
- The experts were wrong. Some probably meant well because they didn’t want you to get hurt or be in the way, but let me tell you what…
- Is missing in Haiti -passionate, hard-working, unskilled, loving, non-experts. They are in SHORT SUPPLY. I mean RARE…
- Consequently, the MAJORITY of supplies are sitting unused & the teams of unskilled non-experts I am advising are regularly…
- 9 days later, regularly the first people to have ever visited orphanages and disaster sites. They ALL tell me that we should have…
- IGNORED the experts. Let me tell you a story that will kill you. The caretaker of the Notre Dame orphanage told @SpenceNix…
- She heard dozens of dying babies trapped in the rubble scream & cry for 5 whole days before they all died. 55 babies died. Nobody ever came…
- One more tweet from me then I want to type you a quote from our team on the ground…
- It is NOT TOO LATE. If you feel CALLED to go to Haiti GO. GO! GOOOO! It is tough work, but GO! I will help you…
- Next tweets are direct from our teams on the ground…
- “The growing feeling here in Haiti is that the BIG ORGS & government don’t really care. It’s like they are here b/c the world is…
- focused here. If they care, little passion is ever displayed. Seems like a job or obligation. Even my sponsoring organization…
- (name of large Christian org) pretty much just set up a tent, gave us a vest and stickers and said go. No support. No passion. No questions…
- Large amounts of supplies are just sitting in boxes everywhere. I have seen them there for days while hurting people & doctors…
- Need them. This has opened my eyes wider to the wastefulness of large charities and benefit of small, nimble, passionate groups…
- I have been in Haiti for 6 days and I still have not seen one large Red Cross presence. I honestly think social media has…
- Saved more lives since the earthquake than all but 3-4 great organizations here now. Passion. Relationships. Technology has changed…
- the game. We saved so many lives today and it was just us doing it bro.” <<<<<End of quote
- Thanks for listening.
Thought it was incredible to hear hands on what is going on in Haiti and see one person making a difference. How can you make a difference in your circle of influence and in the world?
Non-Negotiable
When you are building a team or maybe if you are hiring someone there are several elements that come into the equation. They call them “The Big C’s”. Chemistry, competency and character.
Chemistry: This is how well he or she fits relationally. Could be with the leader, other team members or those that they are serving. Do they constantly show a lack of respect for the position or the person?
Competency: This is how well he or she can accomplish the work. Can they handle small or large tasks without being asked several times their progress? Do they catch the vision and are they willing support the vision over their own agenda? Do they need to be micro-managed?
Character: This is how mature is he or she in their faith. Are they someone you can trust? Do they represent themselves well or the organization well? Do they know where the line is and refuse to cross it?
These are the big 3, but my question is, Which is the most important? If you could pick only one element to hire or add to your team what would it be and why?
Loading ...Matt Chandler Update
The Pizza/Church Turnaround
If you are from anywhere that has good pizza then you can completely understand why Domino’s relaunched their company in 2010 with new marketing and a new pizza. They threw out the old pizza and introduced a new one that did not taste like cardboard with ketchup on it. Domino’s admitted that they could no longer ride the success they had in the eighties any longer and began to listen to people and hear what they wanted in a pizza.
I’m impressed that Dominos was willing to throw it all out and start over although I am pretty sure their declining sales may have had more to say about their product than the people. It got me thinking. If Domino’s can relaunch with new marketing and new pizza why can’t the church? I wonder if churches are concerned more about the bottom line and the fear of losing market share if they change than they are about what the people really want and need? I wonder if churches are still riding the success of the past rather than risking it all in faith for the church of the future? The product is still pizza and in the church the product is still Jesus, however, many people have a bad taste of Jesus in their mouth due to various reasons; seems fake, judgmental, angry, guilt driven, only want money and so on and so on. What if the church was to do a major marketing makeover? What if the church was throw out the old ways that are not working and start over?
Jesus is the greatest thing in the entire world and offers us something that nobody else anywhere is offering. People are not rejecting God, they are rejecting the ones who are supposed to be living out God in a real and authentic way. They are rejecting the very organization that God created because it has been mismanaged and used as a way to exalt ourselves instead of exalting the one who died for it. I don’t believe all churches are doing this or have done this, but sometimes a few can spoil it for the many.
I love being a part of a church that is thinking outside the box and is truly concerned for the lost, the broken and the ones who feel like they are on the outside. I love being a part of a church thats connecting people not to programs but to a loving God. I love being a part of a church that is all about the relationships and not about the religion and the barriers that it brings with it.
If Domino’s can do a turnaround and draw people back in for pizza, why can’t the church draw people back to a real, authentic relationship with Christ?
The Pink Elephant
The pink elephant in the room has always been race. I’ve heard so many people say something to the effect that they don’t recognize color or that race is not an issue for them, and when I hear that honestly I think how ignorant that is to say. Race is an issue because we are different and we are created that way by our Maker. To turn a blind eye to color or even sex is ignorant in that we should not turn our eyes from it, but celebrate it, embrace it and try to understand it. What makes us different and unique is usually the very thing that makes us special and complete as a people group.
With President Barack Obama in the white house and with today being Martin Luther King Jr. day, I tried to think what it would have been like to fight for something so passionately and not see it come to be. 40 plus years after his death, the country has changed in a way that he only dreamed of. We have come so far and yet we have so far to go, not only in this country but also in our churches.
I look forward and pray for the day that our churches show the same equality that we will one day experience in heaven. I look forward to the day where we can truly appreciate each others differences instead point them out in ignorance. I look forward to the day that we stand beside each other fighting for social justice instead of fighting each other.
To think that after Martin Luther King Jr. gave his “I’ve been to the mountain top speech” he was killed the next day because he was passionate, dedicated and different is sad. Dr. King was willing to die for what he believed in and his passion was contagious as people today still fight for equality all over the world. What a tremendous legacy to leave.
Today I challenge us all to think about our words, jokes and sny comments. Are we killing the dream that was Dr. King’s that we are to love others? To treat others with respect? To love unconditionally? To forgive? We have the ability with our thoughts, words and actions to build up or tear down. As so many celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. today, celebrate not only what he died for but also what he lived for.
My question for you is this: Are you as passionate about something and willing to die for something as Dr. King was? If not, why not?
