February Book List

Here is what I’ve read or finished reading in the last month:

On Killing by Dave Grossman

Hand to Hand: From Combat to Healing by Nigel Mumford

Connections in the History and Systems of Psychology by Michael Thorne and Tracy Henley

Military Psychology by Carrie Kennedy and Eric Zilmer

A War of Nerves by Ben Shephard

Save Me From Myself by Brian “Head” Welch

Move: What 1,0o0 Churches Reveal About Spiritual Growth by Greg Hawkins and Cally Parkinson

Viral: How Social Networking is Poised to Ignite Revival by Leonard Sweet

Purpose in the Pain

In most areas of life we understand that pain has a purpose. When my boys rough house one of them usually comes running saying, “Dad, he smacked me in the head.” To which I respond “Son, either duck, block, or don’t be in a position to get punched in the head.” Its supposed to hurt when you get smacked in the head. It hurts so that you’ll take care of your noggin! Actually, it hurts because of nerve endings (thermoceptors) that are specifically associated with temperature or harsh pain…but I digress. The other day  I took a nice (and by nice I mean horrible) knee to the leg during some sparring. It hurt for a reason. Without that pain I would not really understand the proper way to check a kick. Now I know ; )

In most areas of of life we understand that there is purpose to our pain. Yet, somewhere along the line we have believed the lie that following Christ is a walk in the park. We have bumped our heads on the ceiling of consumer Christianity and bought into the nonsense that says “Jesus wants us to feel wonderful as we tip-toe through the tulips of love”. When I look at the scriptures I see Jesus telling His followers to “deny themselves, take up their cross” (an instrument of torture) and “follow Him”. He tells them to get their minds right because a day would come when they would be arrested, beaten, persecuted, and even killed for His sake. He told them that “IN THIS WORLD” they would have trouble. He also said that they (we) should “take heart because HE has already overcome the world.”

I have no easy answers for why you are going through what you are going through. All I know is this:

“…after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself  restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” – 1 Peter 5:10 (ESV)

Graceless

Steven Furtick said “The Church has historically done a really bad job at providing exit ramps for people struggling with sin.” You can read more about that here. I think the reason we’ve done such a bad job is because we have a tendency to be graceless, especially when it involves a sin that we think we have conquered. Instead of leading a team member through their struggle with _______, we throw them away. We forgive the person who recently came back to Christ…unless they had an affair. Then we treat them like crap (behind their backs of course).We clap and amen as an obese preacher rants about how sinful a certain political party is…even though the real sin is that he is one cheeseburger away from a stroke. We are some jacked up folks. And yet, “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us…where sin increased, grace increased all the more…”

God help us to show the same grace to others that we desire to receive from you.

Sunday Thoughts

1. We had another record setting day at Xtreme! Lots of new faces. Get fired up about what God is doing!

2. During our 2nd service I drove across town to preach at Willow Bend for my friend John Renken. Those folks are some of the nicest people I’ve met in Clarksville. What a great church! We had an awesome time in the word and in prayer.

3. I shared a message about suffering, trials, and the grace that strengthens, establishes, and restores us.

4. After preaching, my tire blew out, my spare went flat, and I got to practice what I just preached about ; )

5. This weather is really messing me up. It is way too early for pollen!

6. I can’t wait to kick off our new series, “Keeping it Real” next week at Xtreme. I believe some folks are going to be challenged like never before. I’m praying for an extra measure of boldness as I bring what might be one of the toughest series of talks I’ve ever shared.

7. Big thanks to our team that pulled off 4 weeks of excellence in February. Our team rocks!

Real Quick

1. If you don’t have any plans, head out to Lifepoint Church tonight for some great worship.

2. Tomorrow at Xtreme we wrap up our Love series with a talk about Love and Security.We’d love to see you there! I’ll also get to preach for a friend during Xtreme’s 2nd service. After 3 weeks off I am fired up!

3. Today has been a crazy day fo me. My brain got fried writing a paper, my legs got punished during a workout, and I “died” about 20 times while knife fighting with my H2H Instructor. However, I did get to spend the entire day with my two boys by my side!

4. UFC tonight! I won’t try to predict any fights because that never works out for me.

5. Seriously, get out of bed tomorrow and connect with a church somewhere. You’ll be better for it. Trust me.

Love and Security

I have absolutely LOVED this series at Xtreme! Our church has been so great over the last month. Not only did we split the church in half in order to make room, we also made several systems changes. This isn’t the first series in which we have taught with a team, but it is the first series in which all of the speakers were “home grown”. I am very proud of Kevin (worship pastor),  Ted (business administrator), and Thomas (youth director) for stepping up their game for this series. This Sunday we wrap up with a talk on Love and Security. After the first service I GET the honor of speaking across town at our Brother Church, Willow Bend. I’ll be talking about “The God of All Grace”. I’m looking forward to a weekend of Kingdom impact at both churches. Xtreme folks, stay focused. Invite, invite, and BRING someone with you this weekend. Don’t miss out!

I Love/Hate This Bible Verse

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:2-4)

I hate it because it means that there is a purpose to my pain.I hate it because it tells me that I shouldn’t complain when things don’t go my way. I hate it because it implies that I should worship through my troubles and trust that God knows more than me. I hate it because it implies that God MAY actually be behind the jerks people that persecute me and mine. I hate it because it means that there are no shortcuts to maturity and completion.

I love it for the same reasons.

5 Stupid Things

Since we all know I am not perfect, I thought I would share 5 stupid things that I know I should not do…yet I do them anyway

1. When my kids are yelling in the house I YELL “Stop yelling in the house”. Pretty dumb.

2. I know that it is impossible to charge the batteries in my remote control by smacking it. Yet, I smack on.

3. I know that the driver who cut me off on the 101st Parkway while traveling 65 cannot hear me call him/her a freaking idiot. The windows are rolled up and my music is blasting. Not to mention the glass, metal, and space that separates us. I yell anyway.

4. I often assume that everyone remembers everything I say. I don’t even remember everything I say.

5. I know that I am saved and kept by the grace of God. Somedays I live like I am saved and kept by the work and energy of Carlo.

Your turn. What is 1 stupid thing that you know you should not do…yet you do it anyway?

One thing I miss about the Army…

…getting a day off for Presidents Day. Some holidays make me scratch my head. This is one of them. Nevertheless, I won’t hate. I’ll try to enjoy some time with my kids (who should be in school!) and I won’t be bitter at all that while our government gets a day off, I don’t ; )

Seriously though, can we combine Columbus Day, Presidents Day, and Labor Day into one holiday that would run Wednesday-Friday?  And could we have one of those super holidays every month? Put that on a ballot!

Sunday Thoughts

1. So much for the blizzard of 2012!

2. I’m thankful that we have dodged the ice bullet this year (so far). However, I would like some real snow that’ll stick around for a bit.

3. If you missed church today…regardless of where you are connected…you MISSED OUT. I’ve been hearing nothing but great reports of what God has been doing today all over the nation. I know he touched lives at Xtreme!

4. At Xtreme we were challenged with a talk on Love and Family. Big thanks to Ted Welton for bringing a great word. Good stuff!

5. I have enjoyed this brief preaching break. I am also more than ready to get back at it!

6. Check out xtremecf.com. Lots of good stuff going on there.

7. The kids are off tomorrow for Presidents Day. I think I might join them ; )