Random Thoughts on a Tuesday

Today, I am not consumed by one particular thing that is burning for a post, but I do have some random thoughts that I wanted to share with the few of you who are my blogging community.

On Parenting:: After my teaching this past Sunday at The Springs and the prep leading up to it, I am more convinced than ever of our responsibility for the spiritual well-being of our children.  Rhonda and I have been given the greatest privilege of shepherding our two kids in this adventure called life.  I do not want to give away that privilege to anyone.  Now, I might loan it out to some of you from time to time, but it is our responsibility.  Everything we do as parents leads us to our end goal of raising children that have a heart bent toward Father.  Some of this is not up to us, I realize, but we are atmospheric conductors when it comes to our children.  We, as Christ-followers, create atmospheres for our children to experience and know Father.  Our parenting should help our kids see Jesus.  I am not just talking about taking them to church, either.  I want them to see Jesus, the Jesus of the New Testament, not necessarily the "Jesus" at the christian bookstores.  I want them to see the man who befriended the unfriendly and unwanted.  The man whose love covered a multitude of sins.  The man who crossed social boundaries to offer acceptance to the unacceptable.  If our kids are going to see that man, then I cannot be passive in this journey of faith, can I?  Don't they need to see Jesus making a difference in my life as a husband, as a father, as a business person, as a pastor, as a friend, as me?  Don't they need to see that my faith is every bit about Thursday as it is about Sunday?  Don't they need to know that my Bible is a book I read, not just a screen I watch or a book I quote?  Don't they...Don't they...?  I am processing this.

On Baylor Football::  The Sagarin Football Rankings have the Bears ranked #66.  We are the highest ranked team with 7 losses.  Now some of you even laugh that I looked for that or see something positive in that, but I do.  We have lost to six top 25 teams this year, and we lost a close game to Nebraska at their place who is ranked above us.  This simply means that we beat teams we were "supposed" to beat and lost to the teams we were supposed to lose to.  Eventually, we will have to do better than that and beat some teams we are not supposed to beat.  However, in the Big XII South, only Texas Tech and Oklahoma State can say that they have done it this year.  Oklahoma was "supposed to beat" Texas and didn't.  Texas was "supposed to beat" Tech and didn't.  A&M was "supposed to beat" Arkansas State, but didn't.  This is a big plus for Baylor football, and when you've been as bad as we have for as long as we have, we find silver lining where we can - and we just might have the best Freshman quarterback in the conference and maybe the country.  The future looks bright at Floyd Casey Stadium and it's been a long time since we can say that!

On Neighborhood Life:: Most of you know that we are committed to building our church through neighborhood life, rather than the traditional come-and-see model of church.  In doing so, we place a lot of emphasis on our Neighborhood Tables, which are simply dinner groups designed to help people connect with other Christ-followers in their neighborhoods.  I am extremely excited about the future of my current group.  We have a great mix of people in our group and we are all coming to our group with an eye toward our neighborhoods in the future.  When I talk about the group, I tend to talk about the positives so much that no one thinks I have negative issues - unless you are in my "inner circle" where I complain often!  Sunday night was one of those nights that could have been a negative.  Rhonda had made a huge pot of Chicken Fajita Soup for our group, but in the end no one was able to come and we sat down at the table alone, just the four of us.  Garin even said, "Man mom, you made all this for nothing," to which Rhonda replied, "Not for nothing."  You see, if the point of the night is to have a bible study, then it would have been a wasted night because no one showed up, but because the point of our Table is to share a meal with people we love, it couldn't be a waste...whether we had 15 people or just 4.  We love that about what we do!  Now, don't misunderstand me, I wish we would have had a full house, but the disappointment was not discouragement.  

Okay, I hope that your days are filled with love and laughter.  If something I wrote triggered something in you, let us know.  If not, I'll keep posting as long as you keep reading and I'll get you some other day!

By the way, did any of you see Jack Bauer on Leno last night?

Discipleship to a T

My son, Graysen, turned 1 in February. Two weeks ago he finally decided life on the feet was better than life on the knees. He is very different than his sister, Garin, who is about to turn 7. He is 100% little boy - he explores everything, he climbs everything and he has a little temper. While the differences produce their own set of challenges, I thought to myself this morning as I watched him eat his toast and eggs for breakfast, "I am really glad that God blessed us with one of each." I have many reasons, but tonight, one stands out more than others.

When Garin was little she would always play "family" with the condiments on the table at any given restaurant. She was perfectly content to sit and play the entire time Rhonda and I were on a date. She seemed to be wired for that sort of game. She is a nurturer.

Graysen, on the other hand seems to live differently. He just wants to eat the condiments and throw the salt and pepper shakers. He hates the high-chair and just wants to go. He is an adventurer.

Now, I'm no doctor and I don't know the details of DNA predisposition. I'm a pastor, and I have learned a thing or two about discipleship, though. What I have seen in my kids is the uncanny ability to be disciples. First it was Garin, demonstrating the very skills that she watched her mother perform every day of her life. Now it's Graysen, doing the same with me. I have a home office and in the office is a desk for me and a desk for the kids. My computer is on the desk and their computer is on their desk. Garin gets the most out of it, but yesterday Graysen made his way back to the office and pushed open the door. He then pushed the door closed behind him and proceeded to go to his desk. He worked his way up into the chair and started "working." I could see him peaking over the monitor to see what I was doing and he would do the same thing. I love it!

You and I were created with a predisposition to copy our Heavenly Father also. It's the most natural thing we can do. However, we fight against it...all the time. When we don't act like Jesus, we are doing something contrary to the way we were created. We were created in His image and with that comes a certain leaning toward follow-ship. There will come a day when the similarities between Graysen and me diminish, only to return as the years past. I am right now trying to recapture my desire to copy my Father. How would He want me to respond to the big issues in life - being a husband, being a father, consumerism, the environment, war, disease, work, etc. I ask a ton of questions and am slowly finding some answers. Part of what I hope this blog can be is a place to wrestle and join others in some meaningful discussion.

DIY RELIGION

I have been reading/listening to a book called "The Year of Living Biblically: One Man's Humble Quest to Follow the Bible as Literally as Possible." At the beginning of the book, as he explains his plan for the year, he uses a phrase that caught my attention. He said that a friend told him he was creating a "Do It Yourself Religion" because he didn't want to be swayed by anyone because he wanted the Bible to be his primary directive.

I thought about that a lot and especially in light of our church plant. I don't believe that Christianity is meant to be a Do-It-Yourself Religion. I do, however, believe that discipleship must be DIY or it will DIE. We cannot simply rely on others to always tell us what to think and what to believe. Eventually we must take the initiative to discover the life God is offering for ourselves. You know the saying, “Give a man a fish; you have fed him for today. Teach a man to fish; and you have fed him for a lifetime.” No it's not in the Bible, but we believe it to be true.

If we simply give you the teachings of Jesus, then they help you today, but if we can teach you to find them on your own and share them with your kids, then we have helped you for a lifetime. This is why we emphasize personal involvement in our ministry. This is the reason for the blogs and the take-home materials. This is part of the reason for only meeting twice a month for corporate teaching environments. If you can't do it at home or aren't doing it at home, then we are not succeeding in our mission. Can you do it on your own? Can you pass it along?

My son is 1 year old and starting to feed himself. My daughter is almost 7 and does feed herself, with a little guidance on content. My wife is..., and she doesn't need guidance and can completely feed herself and our son. My Mother is..., and she feeds herself and also feeds her mother. My grandmother is 87 and cannot feed herself anymore.

Something is not right when a 30-somethings cannot feed themselves. Somethings not right when 7 year olds cannot feed themselves. Something is very normal when a 6 month old cannot feed himself. Same is true spiritually. Many of us have been Christ-followers for years and are still relying on someone else to feed us. The most common phrase I hear from people changing churches is, "I'm just not being fed." So they go to where they can get fed, but are they really benefiting from the change? If you are coming to The Springs to "get fed" then you will be disappointed. If you are coming to The Springs to learn to eat, then you will be pleasantly surprised. Come to the table and feast with us!