I’m in Myanmar, and have prepared this three part series ahead of time.  This is a video of a message by Pastor Mark Driscoll.  I think he makes a lot of great points here, and each video is short enough so that you shouldn’t have too much trouble making time to watch them.

I’m in Myanmar, and have prepared this three part series ahead of time.  This is a video of a message by Pastor Mark Driscoll.  I think he makes a lot of great points here, and each video is short enough so that you shouldn’t have too much trouble making time to watch them.

Enjoy!

The title of this post comes from a tweet that Rick Warren put out, that was quoting something Mark Driscoll said at a recent conference titled, “Radicals!”  Whew – still with me?

Here’s the tweet:

“The Church must be Cross-centered, not cause-centered”- Mark Driscoll at Radicalis. Amen!

I must say I couldn’t agree more.  I’ll bet nearly everyone reading this post will agree with that statement.  But I’m wondering just how well we actually do it?

Here’s a few causes that often get churches off course:

• Relief Work (whether overseas like Haiti, or here at home)
• Doctrinal “Hobby Horses” (such as healing or tongues or pre, post, mid trib, or KJV only, etc.)
• Personality Cults (Senior Pastor or Elder as focus of the church and many peoples lives for that matter!)
• Culture Wars (do I really need to elaborate on this one?)
• Being Relevant (type of music, dress, decorations, etc.)

I’m sure you could add more to that list fairly easily. And that’s the point! It’s the easiest thing in the world to move from being Cross (with means Christ) Centered to being something else centered!

It happens all the time, both to churches and to individual Christians as well.

So here’s my little exhortation for you today:  Are you living a Cross Centered Life, or…?

Well I’m off to Myanmar!  By the time you see this I’ll be heading off to Vegas and flying out from there.

There will be some posts popping up while I’m gone, so be sure to keep checking back in!  Also, I hope to be able to post comments to my FaceBook account, so check that one out too will you?

Later you all!

I’m 57 years old, and come from a long line of pessimists. From what I’ve heard of my family tree and the people who have populated it, I’m pretty sure it was painted black.  My Dad had a natural tendency to not just see the glass half empty, but on the floor, in a thousand little pieces, many of whom were destined to end up in the bottom of his foot!

I’ve always been pretty much the same.  Not quite so dark to be sure.  I never thought I’d step in the shards of glass until I was hopping around screaming in pain hearing my Dad say, “I told you so!”

Being a Baby Boomer I’ve lived through the whole attempt to make the Christian faith equate to “positive thinking.”  I’ve also hated every moment of it! From Norman Vincent Peale, to Robert Shuller to Joel Osteen, I have groaned in dismay at the great Christian faith has been deconstructed, discounted and all but destroyed by this callow and shallow approach to teaching and preaching.

So imagine my surprise, if not downright dismay, when in recent years I’ve been the one who’s been calling and cajoling people to see the good around them, and the potential for growth and good in their future.  I just noticed this, but upon reflection I realized that in fact I’ve been doing this for quite some time.

Worse still I’ve actually been doing this in my own life as well!  Gads Zooks! My whole rep as a pessimist hasn’t just been shot full of holes, but shot down in flames!

So what can I say but…buh bye!

Years ago I told people that Christians ought not to be either optimists or pessimists, but people who believe in Jesus, trust in God, depend on the Holy Spirit, and try and look at everything from that perspective.

I do believe that something wonderful has happened to me.  I’ve actually made some progress towards that goal.  Amazing isn’t it?

Yes, my name is Louie and I’m a recovering pessimist.  You may be one too, or perhaps – and just as needed – you are a recovering optimist!  I hope you’ll join me in trying to think and live and love like Jesus.  Because it’s just that simple (not easy, simple!). Because that’s what God is calling all of us to do.

[NOTE: This was originally published on August 14th, 2008, I'm reposting it because I think it's very timely for many of us right now.]

I preached on this Sunday, and will continue talking about bring balance into our lives this coming week. I do this not because I’m the King of Balance, because I’m not! This year is turning out to be a very unbalanced year for me.

Or, to put it in another more accurate way, this year is turning into a year where God is challenging me to re-balance my life for whatever lies ahead.

As you know I’m preaching through Ephesians, and in Chapter 4:1 Paul writes something that bothered me for a long time. A few years ago I finally found a new take on it. First of all, here’s the verse:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, Ephesians 4:1 (ESV)

If you’re asking yourself, “Hey, I don’t see anything about balance there, what’s up?” Congrats for paying attention. That’s what I mean about finding a new take or point of view on this verse. It all hinges on that word “worthy.”  No more guilt inducing word is likely to be found, especially for those of us who’ve learned through painful personal experience that we’ll never be worthy of our Lord!

So what’s the deal? Check this out!

Thus on the basis of what Paul wrote in chapters 1-3 he implored them to walk worthily. The word “worthy” (axi?s) means “equal weight”; one’s calling and conduct should be in balance. “The calling” refers not only to believers’ salvation (cf. Rom. 1:5-6; 1 Cor. 1:9) but also to their union in one body. Therefore a Christian’s conduct concerns both his personal life and his responsibility to other believers in the church. – The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.

When I discovered this, and yes I did a lot of research on the word to make sure of it, it really changed my perspective. Most of our lives are wildly unbalanced, and it not only hurts us and our friends and family, but the Kingdom of God as well!

The really mature Christian has his or her life balanced just as the Lord wants it to be.

This coming Sunday I’ll be talking about how to measure our maturity, and how our thinking gets messed up, and leads us into further inbalance.

If you would like to hear part one just go here and you can stream it or download it, and the sermon outline that we put in the bulletin is also there as a PDF file.

Till Sunday – keep working on that balance!

I’m going to start off this edition of Short Rounds with an amazing video!  Surviving footage of C.S. Lewis doing a BBC address.  You’ve read his books, now hear his voice!

Some photos from Haiti - taken during Mark Driscoll’s recent trip.

SOME NEWS:

Half A Million still homeless in Myanmar Delta two years after Nargis!

SOME BLOG POSTS OF NOTE:

The Haggard Book

7 Thoughts I’m Wrestling With

What Is the Apostolic Council of Prophetic Elders?

McClarenism – Okay – I think this guy has little or no influence outside his little circle of elitists, but it can’t hurt to make sure you know what’s up anyway!

MY LATEST OH PLEASE HURRY UP & GET THIS OUT!!! Item:

Okay, not ever, but shortest my hair has been since what?  College?  High School? When I said I wanted my hair short because I was going to South East Asia, my “Hair Stylist” really took me seriously!!!

I spoke at my Mother’s funeral last Friday, and preached two services that Sunday.  I didn’t have too, but decided I needed to, so I did.  In the introduction to the message I talked about Mom’s death and how I was feeling about it, and explained why I was speaking instead of letting Pastor Brian fill in for me.

I was preaching on how to deal with tough times, and several times in the message I briefly talked about how I was feeling and the impact Mom’s death was having on me. We are used to preachers using personal references now days, but two generations ago it was not common and in fact counseled against.  It was common to hear a Pastor say something like, “Pardon the personal reference but…”

Today of course we hear lots and lots of personal stories and information from our Pastors, and for the most part enjoy it (how much the poor preacher’s kids enjoy having every detail of their lives shared with hundreds of strangers is another thing all together!).

The issue of how much personal information to put into a sermon remains an open question.  There’s no question in my mind that many modern preachers are guilty nearly every week of giving their listeners WTMI (Way Too Much Information)!

It’s even more difficult to know where the draw the line when you are undergoing a major painful experience. After all, the sermon isn’t designed for me to vent my feelings and make myself feel better! I’m supposed to be teaching and applying God’s Word to my listeners.  It’s a part of our weekly worship of God, and everything said and done must be measured by that standard.  If I’m venting to feel better, or performing to be thought more highly of by my hearers, then I’m sinning against both God and man, and I need to repent!

So, what principle can I apply to know how much I ought to say? I think it’s very simple actually.  I say simple because it’s simple to understand, not necessarily easy to apply!

If sharing personal experiences HELPS communicate and drive home the message God wants me to give, then I ought to speak whether I want too or not!  If it won’t, then I ought to keep quiet.

In my sermon Sunday I said that I could have preached that message anytime, but I could only model it on Sunday, which is the main reason I choose to speak that day.

That seems to be as good a measuring rod as any to help guide us in knowing when to speak and when not too.

It’s been a week since my Mom died, and I’m back at work and back at the blog again too.  Not that I’m going to say all that much right right now, but I will be blogging this week and part of next, before I leave for a three week trip to Myanmar.

First of all thanks to all of you who prayed, e-mailed, wrote, etc.  My sisters and I appreciate it, and we also hope you’ll continue to pray for us over the coming weeks.  We are only beginning this transition and there’s lots of work to be done.

Since I can’t blog from Myanmar, and don’t know if I’ll have to time to write much ahead of time, the blog might be pretty quiet for most of March.  But we’ll see what I can do before I leave.

God bless all of you, and thanks for being so patient with me.  I’m still in a fog but it’s slowly starting to lift a little.

It feels good to be starting to move forward again.