This past weekend my kids had friends over for a two day visit. While the boys played video games, my daughter and her friend, Joy, giggled and laughed and danced. The interesting thing is, they danced without music. There was an innocent joy and delight stirring within their little hearts that caused them to spontaneously move their bodies all over our house.

As I watched them express joy and delight with the spontaneous movements of their bodies, I thought about what should cause us to dance.

When God delivers us from bondage, we should dance.
When God exchanges our mourning for joy, we should dance.
When God gives us victory over our enemies, we should dance.
When God gives and restores our hope, we should dance.

Think through these questions with me:

When was the last time I danced?
What are the things, attitudes, behaviors that tend to steal my groove?
What are some other things that should cause me to dance?
What has caused me to spontaneously move my body with joy and delight lately?

Popularity: 12% [?]

“Six days later Jesus took Peter and the two brothers, James and John, and led them up a high mountain to be alone.” Matthew 17:1

As I read this passage this morning, I sensed that Jesus wants me to climb a mountain with him – the Mountain of Aloneness. I hear him calling me to ascend this mountain with him each day. Here are several observations about this ascent:

1. Jesus desires me to climb this mountain with him each day. He longs for me to say no to my lesser desire of procrastination and say yes to his greater desire of spending quality time with me. I know he wants to spend time with me because he loves me. 

2. Every believer is invited to ascend the Mountain of Aloneness with Jesus, but not every believer will make the ascent. The ascent to be alone with Jesus takes work! It takes getting up early, staying up late, turning off the television, blocking time, and making preparations to be alone with him.  Are you willing to be the “one” and put in the work to make the climb? 

3. I am led up this mountain by Jesus himself. I am not left alone to climb this mountain by myself. I have a guide who leads me up this mountain. He leads me up this mountain because he desires to reveal himself to me. 

4. There are times I need to climb this mountain with fellow pilgrims.

5. I must leave distractions behind when I ascend this mountain. I am easily held captive by noise, all kinds. I have to decide to fast and detox from my addiction to the noise of life and let the silent aloneness with Jesus quiet and feed my soul. 

6. I see a clearer picture of Jesus when I climb the Mountain of Aloneness with Jesus. I see him more clearly as Messiah and Son. Layers of his person are peeled away, and I see Jesus in his majesty, holiness, and power.

Will you ascend the Mountain of Aloneness with Jesus with me this week. It’s worth the climb and the view is transformational. 

Which observation(s) spoke to your heart the most? What keeps you from climbing the Mountain of Aloneness with Jesus? What changes do you need to make in order to make the climb? 

Let’s Climb!

Popularity: 37% [?]

Every so often I wonder about my funeral. (Now, I know this is not a pleasant thought, but it has a significant purpose for me). When I think about that day, I wonder what people will say about me, you know, what kind of person I was and what kind of impact I made on the world. This process is quite humbling and motivating. It’s humbling because I know God is the one who controls life and not me. I know my life will end one day. It’s motivating because it causes me to give my life to the things that really matter – God, eternal values, family and friends. 

Therefore, each day I live, I am writing, or at least have opportunity to write the eulogy that I would like read at my own funeral.  Here are some questions that have been very helpful to me as I have thought through this process. They may be helpful to you, too, as you write and live your own eulogy

1. How do I want to be remembered?

2. What personal characteristics do I want people to remember me for or by?

3. What do I want to have accomplished? 

4. What will have been the most important to me in my life? 

5. What will my lasting legacy be?

Have you ever asked yourself these kinds of questions? If so, how did the process make you feel? 

If you don’t mind, take a moment to think through one of the questions above and leave your answer here. Grace and peace.

Popularity: 36% [?]

Have you ever felt like some days nobody thinks about you? I mean, no calls, no emails, no texts, no “I was just in the neighborhood” visits, nothing that says someone is thinking about. I have felt this way many days. It seems when I feel that way, I am drawn to David’s lyrics in Psalm 139:17-18: 

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I wake, I am still with you.” 

When you feel like nobody else is thinking about you, I want you to remember that our heavenly Father is thinking of you. His thoughts about you are highly valued, prized, splendid, and precious. Thoughts like:

I love you

No weapon formed against you will prosper

My plans are not to harm you, but to give you a hope and a future

I am your shepherd; you shall not want

I am your light and salvation

I will never leave you nor forsake you

Greater is Me that is in you than he that is in the world

Cast all your cares upon me; I care about what happens to you.

I will renew your strength

I love you so much that I gave my only Son to die for your sins so that we could be together

What God-thoughts are you drawn to when you feel like nobody is thinking about you?  

Popularity: 24% [?]

This is an image I captured in Aruba, while Tonia and I were eating breakfast one morning. Although there was more food on the ground, these iguanas positioned themselves against one another, fought over territory, head butted, and clawed one another over a piece of cantaloupe. The fight became so intense that they moved away from the food. The shocker? While they fought, another iguana came and stole and devoured the cantaloupe. It was funny and sad at the same time. 

I wonder if this is what’s happening among Jesus followers. Although there are many people in our communities and cities who need Jesus, we position ourselves against one another, fight over territory, and head butt, claw and scratch one another to win the fight for their attendance and allegiance. While we fight and malign one another, the enemy comes and steals, kills, and devours the very people we say we’re attempting to reach.

How can we do a better job in practicing the transformational truth of John 13:34-35 and John 17, and demonstrate how different we are than the instinctive, dog eat dog, every iguana for himself, and survival of the fittest, animal kingdom?

Popularity: 19% [?]

I believe all of us, who are followers of Jesus and serving in some leadership or lay capacity, desire to give God our very best, right? I know I desire to say to God, in the words of R&B icon, Anita Baker, “I’m giving you the best that I’ve got.” (That was my jam back in the day) But, how do we test whether we are giving him the best that we’ve got? Here three questions to help us: 

Question #1: What is the motive of my service? Life? Ministry?
Answer: Always choose the approval of God over the praise of people. 

Question #2: How am I mastering my service? Life? Ministry?
Answer: Always choose excellence over mediocrity.

Question #3: What is the measure of my service? Life? and Ministry?
Answer: Always choose the eternal over the temporary.

Are these questions beneficial in helping you to determine whether you are giving God the best that you’ve got? Which of the three questions and answers speaks to you most deeply?

Spend some time reading and praying through 1 Corinthians 3:10-15

Popularity: 15% [?]

This morning I woke up with this weighing heavy on my heart. Have you ever cried out: “God, Enough!”

Enough pain

Enough hospital visits and surgeries

Enough medication

Enough tragedy

Enough depression

Enough stress

Enough directionless living

Enough family crises

Enough lay-offs and being let go

Enough of not having enough

Enough ridicule

Enough loneliness and isolation

Enough suffering in silence

Enough visits to probation officers

Enough arguing and fighting

Enough unfaithfulness in my marriage

Enough separation and divorce

Enough non-commitment

Enough complaining about what’s not right

Enough being invisible

God, Enough already! I’ve had Enough!

I hear Him saying to us during these times: “My grace is Enough for you. My power works best in your weakness.” (2 Cor.12:9) Read those words again and let them wash over your heart like a fresh rainfall.

About what else have you cried, “God, I’ve had Enough!?” How have you experienced his grace being Enough lately?

Popularity: 24% [?]

The other day as we were eating breakfast, my oldest son complained about his sister “always” copying him. Tonia and I tried to explain to him that it was a compliment and an honor for his sister to want to copy him. I know it can be annoying to have a younger sister or brother doing everything you do; I had a younger to sister who copied me all the time, and it was annoying and frustrating. However, it wasn’t until I became older did realize that it was a compliment and an honor. Then the sheer responsibility of giving and leaving an example worth copying frightened me. Was I supplying her with a healthy or unhealthy example? Did she see something in me and copy something from me that would negatively affect her later? If so, then I would be responsible for giving her a poor example to copy. I began to feel the weight of my example and pattern? 

Whether we know it or not, people, especially our children, watch us very closely and want to be like us. They imitate the way we walk, the way we talk, the way laugh, the way we sit, the way we eat, the way we write, the way we spend money, the way we treat people, and especially the way we treat God. Can’t you feel the weight of your pattern?  But, we should not shy away from the responsibility of people wanting to copy us, but lean into it. We should say like Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Copy me as I copy Christ.”  The question that I ask myself is, am I giving people a Christlike pattern to copy? Does my life, love, and attitude remind people of Jesus? If not, then maybe I am not doing a good job of copying his radical and perfect pattern. I tell you, some days I simply don’t leave a good pattern for people to follow, not because it’s hard, but because I am selfish and filled with unhealthy pride. Each day, by his grace, I desire to strive to leave an example worth copying and say to others with confidence, Copy me!.  

What about you? Are you giving people around you a good pattern to copy? Are you setting healthy or unhealthy examples for people to imitate? Can you say to someone with confidence, “Copy me!”

How do you feel about telling someone: “Copy me!”

Popularity: 21% [?]