Find Something New

Ecclesiastes tells us that there is nothing new under the sun. People are people, right? Every generation faces questions that other generations have faced. Every sin has been committed by someone else before. Every good has been done before. Nothing surprises God. Who am I to think that I am going to say or do something significant enough to make an impact on a world where it's all been or being done? And then I think of the early church. What they did had never been done before. They were given the gift of the Holy Spirit, who empowered them to proclaim and live the gospel in a way the world had never seen. There may be nothing new under the sun, but the Holy Spirit is not done. Have we grown so accustomed to His presence that we don't look for a fresh empowering anymore? Do we think we have to generate within ourselves the ideas, the methods, the philosophies of ministry that bring relevancy to the gospel for today? I say it's time to surrender our struggle to the Spirit and depend on God's empowerment for ministry in this generation. I know that I'm not smart enough to come up with the right ideas to attract people who don't know the love of God to join in on the community of believers. Thank God I don't have to figure it out on my own!

The Expert Next Door

Is it possible to be an expert at being bad at something? Let me explain. I think I’m an expert at being a poor neighbor. Now I don’t pick fights or play evil tricks on my neighbors, but I’m pretty good at not doing anything that would foster a meaningful, fulfilling friendship with those that live close to me. Experts are usually experts because they are better or more knowledgeable about something than others. They can recognize when something isn’t true about their particular area of expertise. That’s what makes me an expert at poor-neighborliness. I know a good neighbor when I see one.

Take Karla across the street, for example. She knows by name the people that walk by her house on any given evening, and they like her so much that they will stop their planned exercise to talk with her. She asks about their kids and has noticed if they’ve been out of town. She even called me once to let me know that someone down the street was getting rid of a water-play table and wondered if I might want one for my kids. Who does that? Not me!

I see groups of people standing out in their driveways at the end of the day just chatting while their kids play together on the lawn. I see young moms walking the streets pushing their babies in cute little strollers, chatting away about the day or the family or whatever good neighbors talk about. “Why don’t you do that, too?” you might ask. As the expert poor neighbor, let me give you a few pointers on excellent poor neighborliness…

#1: Don’t make time for people. Good neighbors make sure that they have time to stop and chat, time to walk down the street for a visit, or time to help each other out if there’s a project or a need. In order to be a poor neighbor, it’s essential that your time is your own and you make sure there’s not a bit of it left for anything other than things inside your house or far away from your house (making sure that those things don’t include plans with the neighbors, of course).

#2: Don’t look too closely at the people you pass by on the streets of your neighborhood. If you do, you might notice that someone has had a baby and be inspired to take them a gift or even just say congratulations. Or you might see that someone’s tree has blown down and offer some help securing it upright. Or you might simply feel compelled to smile and wave at someone you happen to see out in their yard. The way to avoid this is not to look.

#3: Make plenty of excuses as to why you can’t be a good neighbor. There’s always a good reason why you can’t walk next door and make conversation with people. They might not like you! They might think you’re strange and you wouldn’t want to confirm their opinions! They might start expecting you to be their friend and then they’d come over whenever they feel like it. They might want your kids to play with their kids (what if their kids are a bad influence!). They might want to ask you about your life and you’d be inclined to open up and be real (avoid this at all costs). Besides that, as a poor neighbor, you simply must believe that you already have enough friends. This thinking will help you overcome the desire to be included when you see other neighbors getting together.

Being a poor neighbor is really not that hard, but it does take some practice. Interestingly enough, it’s really not that hard to be a good neighbor, either. Still, being a poor neighbor is quite rewarding! Well… I can’t think of any rewards right now, but give me a few minutes here to sit by myself in my house to think and I’m sure I’ll come up with some…

~The Expert Next Door

Shelter From the Rain

Change

Is it ever appropriate to change simply for the sake of change? Must change always be motived by need, response, or progress? What is the value of change apart from growth or practicality?

Leading Love

The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centered sin so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but our helping them to find eternal satisfaction in making much of God. The only ultimate love is a love that aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead a person to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered or it is not the greatest love; it leaves people without their deepest need and only hope. ~John Piper

Motivation

What motivates you? I am finding that pure motivation is difficult to find. I desire to be motivated by an inner passion for glorifying God with every part of my life. I find that more often I am motivated by a superficial need to be loved, appreciated, and emotionally fulfilled. I say superficial, because deep down I know that I am loved - by God, by my family, by the people I influence. But for some reason I do not accept that as something settled, something set in stone, something immovable. I seem to base my actions on an unexplainable and unnecessary need to KEEP the love of people, and even of God. Love for others is actually motivated by a need to generate more of their love for me. The most amazing part of Christ's self-giving act of sacrifice on the cross is that people didn't even know what was going on. And still don't. He did it without any guarantee that it would be appreciated, understood, or reciprocated. What motivates that kind of love, that kind of sacrifice, that kind of risk? Well, you might say, "He was God, he could know the future, and since it was his own plan, he had to know that it would work, at least with some." Okay, well, if I trust God's word to be true, he has made me some guarantees for me too, that what I do will yield eternal results, whether or not I receive personal benefit on earth. Why is it so hard to simply claim those promises and live motivated by eternal purposes and not personal gain? Lord, teach me your ways. Show me how to walk in your truth. Lead me in the way everlasting. May my life reflect a total inhabitation of your Spirit. Transform this sinful flesh into a person motivated only by your glory and grace.