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Thoughts from a Lion Chaser

I have been reading a great book by Mark Batterson called "In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy  Day."  It is based upon a passage of Scripture that you can read about in
2 Samuel 23:20-21.  Here a few thoughts/quotes I have gleaned so far from this book:

• God is awfully good at getting us where He wants us to go.  But here's the catch: The right place often seems like the wrong place, and the right time often seems like the wrong time.  (p.12)
• Spiritual maturity is seeing and seizing God-ordained opportunities (p.17).
• Sometimes God won't intervene until something is humanely impossible (p.23).
• Most of our problems are not circumstantial.  Most of our problems are perceptual... Our problems seem really big because our God seems really small (p.28).
• Nothing you do right will go unrewarded (p.36).
• Half of spiritual growth is learning what we don't know.  The other half is unlearning what we do know (p.45)
• Courage is putting yourself into defenseless positions (p.52)
• Maybe prayer is less about changing our circumstances than it is changing our perspective (p.65).
• Don't let what wrong with you keep you from worshiping what's right with God (p.67).
• If you don't have any problems you don't have any potential (p.74).

I'll list some more thoughts once I finish the book.  In the mean time chew on these or better yet - read the book!

Pop Goes The Church

 I just finished reading this great book that deals with how the church should interact with todays pop culture.  The Author, Tim Stevens does a great job of explaining and helping us understand the importance of engaging the culture we live in.  He defines clearly how so many churches have created an "either or" mentality when it comes to culture.  That is, they either immerse themselves in it so deeply that they don't look any different or they avoid it all costs rendering themselves ineffective.

Stevens helps us understand why we need to and must leverage the culture in order to reach people with the language they are speaking.  He speaks of the importance of the church environment and how it can be a catalyst for reaching people through innovation and creativity.  To many churches are focused on creating "in house" experiences where those who attend enjoy it but no one else ever gets to.  Stevens writes, " How many Christians attend a church every week they may personally enjoy, but where they would never think of inviting an un-churched friend?"  The reason is that most people would not identify with any of the things most churches do simply because of their lack at leveraging the culture to share the message of Jesus.

Stevens explains five approaches that churches fit into when it comes to pop culture by creating a fictional story of a movie production company setting up in small town.  The movie is a little edgy and thus the different churches respond in different ways to the influx of Hollywood moving into their community.  Here are the five approaches:

1.  Condemn the Culture - this church lets the world know what is wrong and rejects those who align themselves with the sin of the culture.
2.  Seperate from the Culture - This church says nothing publically but makes sure its people know how to avoid the sin and those associated with it.
3.  Embrace the culture - this church fully embraces the culture with no filters or discernment.  Their goal is simply to attract more people and they do whatever they need to do to accomplish that goal.
4.  Ignore the culture - This church pretends that the culture around them does not exist and simply exists for themselves focusing on Bible study and inspirational services.
5. Leverage the culture - This church uses the culture as a resource and tool to tell people how much they matter to God.

Condemn. Separate. Embrace. Ignore. Leverage.  What has been your experience with the church you attend or have attended?  What approach do you identify with?  What would happen if your church began to leverage the culture?  Do you think God wants us to leverage the culture for Him?  What does that look like?

Manual or Storybook?

When I was young a lot of well meaning people, when it came to the Bible would say to me, “Shawn, this book is your manual for life.” They would go on to say, “it has all the instructions and principles and steps that you need to live for Jesus.” 

That description has never really got me all that excited about the Bible. First off I am a man and manuals are the last things that men read. We always try and figure it out first by ourselves before we pick up the manual.

Secondly, manuals are boring.  You only read them when you need to figure something out, to put something together or to get yourself out of a mess. Third, manuals do not inspire people. 

I think a better description of Scripture is to see it as a story. I think we need to put ourselves into the story of Scripture by imagining and questioning and wondering. Most people have never approached the Bible as story and allowed it to intersect with their story.

So, next time when you open the Bible to read it. Don’t approach it as a text book or a manual or a self-help book. Rather put yourself in the story. Relive the episode. Experience the adventure. Feel the emotion and see if God speaks to you in a whole new way through His written word.