Ch. 12 - Life With a Well-ordered Heart - (Developing Your Own “Rule of Life”)

 It was almost 13 years ago when my dad had his heart attack. He was gone there for a minute or two, but the good doctors brought him back. It is quite unsettling to see your dad of 47 years of age have a heart attack.  He made some lifestyle changes and is in much better health now. However, the age of 47 is fast approaching for me. I can count it down on one hand. With a family of five to take care of, I think about the health of my heart a lot more than I did 5 or 10 years ago. I thought when I hit 40, I’d make some diet changes and get in the best shape of my life, but that didn’t happen. Then 41 came and went, and I still haven’t made the changes to my health that I want to. What am I waiting for? I don’t know. I’d like to think that 42 will be different. I want it to be. I need it to be. But will it?

 The condition of our physical hearts is obviously important.  If we neglect it, we run the risk of a heart attack and death. However, what about our spiritual hearts?  What happens when we neglect it?  Do we run the risk of a spiritual heart attack? Oh yes we do!  It's what the Bible calls a hard heart. Some symptoms of a hard heart are: a lack of a willingness to forgive, a lack of giving, la ack of Christian fellowship (more than just church attendance), finding yourself angry often, a negative attitude (often criticizing), and finally an increase of sin in one’s life as opposed to a continual decrease. These are not all the symptoms, but these should be major warning signs that the spiritual condition of your heart is in jeopardy of a cardiac arrest.

 If you have any of these symptoms, then you need to read this week’s chapter by Ortberg, The Well Ordered Heart. However, I would venture to say you if you have very many of these symptoms then haven’t been practicing these spiritual disciplines laid out in this book. You can’t just read this blog or the book and not put it to into practice. You can’t just attend church and read the Bible and not put it into practice. Just reading won’t help your heart anymore than reading a health and fitness magazine will help the health of your physical heart.

 1 Timothy 4:7b-8 (NIV) - train yourself to be godly. ⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

 Now that I am approaching that “heart attack age” I have more of urgency than ever to do something about my physical heart health.  But I’ll admit, sometimes I have neglected my physical health at the expense of keeping my spiritual heart healthy. You see, the consequences of a physical heart attack are death and while that would be sad for my family, ultimately it means I get to see Jesus and begin my eternal life. Conversely, if not treated, the consequences of a spiritual heart attack are eternal!!! Therefore, you might be able to wait until after the holidays to get back in physical health, but don’t let another moment go by without dealing with your spiritual heart health. Remember, God’s plan to deal with your heart is pretty amazing: Ezekiel 11:19^(NIV) says,  “ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh”. Basically, what God does when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and we commit our lives to follow him, He gives us a heart transplant. And it’s not just any old heart.  He actually replaces our old crappy corrupted heart with His Heart. However, we must take great care of this heart!

In this chapter, Ortberg reminds us that we need a plan for taking care of our spiritual heart health. “In a sense, each of us chooses a “spiritual strategy” whether or not we are intentional about it. We can choose by default" (p.205). 

How have you chosen?

Be Intentional - PJ

Ch. 11 - An Undivided Life – (The Practice of Reflecting on Scripture)

Do you stink? How do you know? Isn't it funny how many of us are not aware of our own B.O. We can walk out of a bathroom after doing our business feeling good and relieved, but then our spouse or sibling walks in behind you and nearly passes out. I used to be in a bowling league, back when there was still smoking at the lanes. I'd come home smelling like an ash tray, but I didn't realize how bad until I walked through the door and my wife could smell me before she could see me. Growing up in Indiana there were a lot of pig farmers and I remember them walking into the local convenience store and standing in line. Wow oh wow, the smell would hit you like a freight train. It didn't bother pig farmer.  Why, because people can't smell their own stink. Thank God for perfume and deodorant.

Smelling physically is one thing, but smelling spiritually is another. I can wash physical stink off, but how do we wash our spiritual stink off. That's where this week's discipline comes in. Ortberg calls it, the practice of reflecting on scripture. This discipline is more than just reading your Bible everyday. One can actually read through the whole Bible in a year and still come away stinking spiritually to high heaven (pun intended). Therefore our reading needs to be more than just the input of information. In the words of Ortberg we are "to be washed by the Word". The idea is that our hearts and minds get cluttered by the world and what helps us stay spiritually clean is a consistent washing by God's Word. Ortberg gives some ideas on how to begin this practice, but I thought I'd offer a couple additional ways that have worked for me and many others.

 First, you don't need to be a scholar to understand the Bible. And one of the simplest ways to read the Bible is to look for what God is doing and or what is being said about God. For example, pick out any psalm of the Bible. Almost all of them describe God in some way. So as your read the Psalm highlight the characteristics of God and reflect on that truth. Psalms are easy, but what about books like Leviticus with some of those weird laws and the book of Numbers that has those long list of tribes - If you look for it, even in those seemingly boring books there are nuggets of gold of what God is doing or what he is like. When you read looking for Him it actually helps you stay focused. If you're like me, your mind can wonder pretty easily but if you're actually looking for something, you can stay focused. To be honest, sometimes my reading becomes skimming over the passage till I find that nugget of gold that tells me something about God that I've never seen before or something my soul needed to hear or something my heart needed to feel or something my mind needed to learn. This is when that spiritual cleaning can happen. When we don't read in this way we can get stuck reflecting on the people, places, and things of the Bible. That will help with your Bible knowledge but not so much on being "washed by the Word". The Bible is God's story and it cleanses us when we reflect on him and what is true about him.

 My second tid bit of advice: take notes! Whether from a Bible Study you’re a part of or from your own personal reading, take notes! If you don’t have paper at the time, write in your Bible. Taking notes helps you reflect on God’s truth again and again in your personal prayer time. As you’re taking notes it helps to write down questions you might have. You can then later talk to a mature follower of Christ you trust.

 So what do you think, do you stink? Yes you do. Yes I do. We all do! When we leave the Bible closed and we don't reflect properly, it's like washing without soap. Maybe it's time to dust off that Bible of yours and start reading...or for some of you really reading for the first time. 

Ch. 10 – A Life of Freedom (The Practice of Secrecy)

In 1998 Jim Carey starred in a movie called the Truman Show. If you haven’t seen the show, it’s a life about a man who was born on TV, but he doesn’t know it. His entire world is one big elaborate TV set. All his friends, family, and co-workers are actors and he has no idea. Every moment of his life is broadcast for the world to see. Truman has no idea that he has no privacy, there is nothing he does that is in secret because there are cameras everywhere. The entire world is his audience and he’s oblivious.


Contrast that to our reality TV lives of today. In this world of facebook and selfies, we all produce our own reality show for everyone see. This generation is a generation of TRUMANS, the only difference is that we want all the world to see us. We live in a “Look-it me” world. Think about our facebook posts. Look at me, look at my family, look at my stuff, look at my problems, or look I’m happy.


Now, it may sound like I’m condemning our or your facebook statuses, I’m not. I’m just stating the fact. We live in “look-at me” world! Period J Therefore, we must take this spiritual discipline, the practice of SECRECY, serious. If there ever was a generation who needed this practice as a part of their spiritual lives it’s the one we live in now.


For those of you who haven’t read this chapter, you need to get the book and read this chapter. If you don’t read any other chapter in this book, you need to read this one. This one chapter will greatly increase your spiritual health and strengthen your relationship with God if you implement it into your everyday life. WHY, because to practice this discipline of spiritual secrecy will set you free from the chains of our “look-it me” world. Every time we give in to the desire to impress others we give a little of our freedom away. And if we are not careful, bit by bit, post by post, our freedom is taken away and we can easily become slaves to this “look-it me” world we live in.


So again, for those of you who did not read this chapter, I’m not going to give it away. This blog is not meant to replace the book that Ortberg wrote. My purpose is to add some commentary, start some discussion, and hopefully encourage you towards actually engaging in these spiritual exercises. However, I will give you one small little exert from this chapter that might encourage you to read it…“The practice of secrecy is Jesus’ gift to APPROVAL ADDICTS” (p.168).


So if you struggle with living your life to gain the approval of others, if your happiness is greatly dependent upon your status and what others think of you, and/or if your happiness goes up and down based upon how many likes you got on your facebook post—then you need really need to learn the art of spiritual secrecy or as Otrberg puts it “Righteous Anonymous”.


When you learn this practice, then you’ll be set free from trying to control what others think of you. There will be only ONE person who you will really need approval from and only ONE you will live to please. That Life You’ve Always Wanted is just an audience of ONE away.

Matthew 6:1 (NASB) -  “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.

pj

Ch. 9 - The Guided Life: Receiving Guidance from the Holy Spirit

Let me start by saying this chapter makes me uncomfortable. Therefore, I am going to offer some cautions to take about receiving guidance from the Holy Spirit. I don’t want to discount what Ortberg says in this chapter. I understand that Ortberg is trying to say, “when we listen to God, we receive guidance from the Holy Spirit”—that biblically makes sense (i.e. Galatians 5:25). The part that makes me uncomfortable is how we receive that guidance. It may be me being overly cautious, but it seems to me Ortberg leaves the door too wide open for the possibility that God speak to us directly? Now, Ortberg admits he has never heard God speak to him audibly and I don’t hesitate to say I have never heard God speak to me audibly or directly. However, I do believe God guides us through his Holy Spirit.

Before I mention how, I want to first offer some cautions and reasons why it makes me uncomfortable when I hear someone else say that God has spoken to them.

1.  Cults: Throughout history, people have used that as an excuse to do destructive and evil things. For example, most cult leaders claim to have some divine link to God. Their atrocities range from sexual molestation, to mass suicide, to creating entirely new false religions.

 

2.   It creates conflict: If you say God told me to do something and someone else says God told me the opposite. Who’s right? …because God doesn’t contradict himself. (Mt. 12:25)

 

3.    Adding to scripture: God warns us not to add to or take away from his Word (Rev. 22:18-19). This is a slippery slope that creates division amongst the churches.

 

4.    Free Will: God has given us free will. If you take being guided by the spirit to the extreme it can paralyze you and you will constantly be questioning yourself and others. For example, there is wisdom in the person, who asks, is it God’s will that I buy this house or take this job. But what about the question, is it God’s will that I eat at McDonald’s or Taco Bell for lunch. It sounds ridiculous, but where do you draw the line?

 

I think the line can be drawn or best understood with Ortberg’s statement on page 150,

 

“God’s purpose in guidance is not to get us to perform the right actions.

His purpose is to help us become the right kind of people”

 

How does God speak to us?

 

A)    Through the Bible: The Holy scriptures from Genesis to Revelation are God’s inspired word to the church. 2 Timothy 3:16^NLT says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” In other words, God’s speaks to us through his Word and thus helps us become the “right kind of people”.

 

B)    Through other Christ Followers: Ortberg speak to this on page 153.
 

C)    Through Revelation: In scripture we have seen revelation happen indirectly through prophets and angels and then directly through prayer and dreams.

 

First let’s address ANGELS: The Bible says it is possible. Hebrews 13:12^NIV - Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. However, the caveat seems to be in this verse that we might not actually realize we have talked or interacted with an angel.

 

PROPHETS: A few prophets talked directly to God, Moses comes to mind. And in the NT, even though Paul was considered an apostle,  he meets many of the descriptions of that of a prophet one of which is-- the risen Christ spoke to Paul directly. There are a few other examples, but sense this happened so sparingly in the Bible, I question when I hear of prophets today. Why, because God plans for Christ (the Messiah) and his Church have been implemented. In essence, an argument can be made that the need for the role of a prophet is no longer needed because God has already acted and spoken.

 

Then there are those with the gift of prophecy. Those who have the gift of prophecy are not Prophets. One is a spiritual gift and another is a specific calling by God to deal with his people (plural). We don’t have time to address the gift of prophecy, but I will say this. The Prophets of the Bible “prophecied” only 5% of the time and sometime less than that. And so, I question those with the gift of prophecy today when they “prophecy” more than a Biblical prophet. The primary purpose of those with the gift of prophecy is NOT to speak of the future, but to declare what God has already said to be true. Their job is to deliver the truth of God with incite and discernment in order to help an individual repent from their sin.

 

DREAMS: God spoke to people through dreams in the Bible, Joseph (the earthly father of Jesus) comes to mind. Also, Joseph (one of the twelve’s son of Jacob) comes to mind. I don’t know if God still speaks to us this way, but he can if he wants, remember he’s God. I tend to think that he does, not because I have experienced it. But others close to me have. However, in each instance it seems to be a one time deal not an ongoing gift or ability. The one instance that comes to mind was when my sister-in-law had a dream that our home caught on fire and the cause of the fire was in our dryer vent. Out of curiosity I checked our vent, and to my surprise I found a dead bird clogging up the vent. Lent was building up around it and it was a fire hazard! Did God speak through my sister-in-law. I can’t say definitively, but I sure won’t rule it our either. Before I became a pastor, one of the sweetest and most loving faithful Christian ladies I know told me she had a dream that I would become a preacher. I told her she was crazy and that it would never happen. She kept having the dream and I kept telling her she was crazy. Now was God speaking directly to her, did she have the gift of prophecy to see into the future. I don’t know, but years later when I decided to make the commitment to become a preacher-I’d be lying if I said her words to me had no bearing on my decision. I remember having to eat crow when I told her, but it was the best crow I’ve ever eaten.

 

PRAYER: Most people think of prayer as a time we speak to God, but it’s actually one of the best times to listen to God. Ortberg lays out in the opening for this chapter that in order to receive guidance from God you have to be willing and able to listen. Prayer is the best time for this. And while in prayer,  what are we listening for…an audible voice? NO, we are listening for the Holy Spiri’ts guidance on what God has already revealed to be true in his Word.

 

Concluding Takeaways: When you need Spiritual Guidance
 

1)    Pray – Don’t let the noise of the world and your own desires drown out God’s voice. Listen to God in your quiet time (1 Kings 19:11-12 ^{Look up this verse, you’ll see what I mean).} You need silence and solitude for this—without it you won’t be able to hear God very well.

 

2)    Pay attention – God opens and shut doors. Use common sense when making decisions.  If God is calling you to do something, he’ll open the doors if you follow him in faith. If you decide to not listen to God and break down or through doors in life that he really does not want you to go through, you’ll suffer the consequences and he’ll get your attention one way or another.  2 Corinthians 2:12^(NLT) - When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me.

 

3)    Test -  So however you hear from God, use wisdom and discernment and test the message. 1 John 4:1^(NLT)  - Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. If some tells you God told me this, then test it against God’s Holy Scripture. If it contradicts the Bible, their message is not from God. If you feel God is calling you to do something that is a sin or contradicts God’s Word, it’s not from God. For example, if you hear a voice say, it’s ok to cheat on your spouse, that’s not God’s voice. If you hear a voice tell you to take a job that compromises your Christian values, that’s not God’s voice. If you hear a voice tell you to help someone financially and you’re in debt and can’t even feed your own family, that’s not God’s voice. God won’t have you grossly neglect your family at the expense of helping another family.

“HE WHO HAS EARS TO HEAR, LET HIM HEAR”!!!

 

Jason

Ch. 8 - Life Beyond Regret (The Practice of Confession)

Regrets, I've had a few…and regretfully my confessions have been even fewer. Why is that? Why don’t we confess more? Afraid of gossip, afraid of judgments, afraid to face our weakness. I’ll admit, those are fears of mine. However, I do crave confession. There is something appealing to me that makes me want to sit down in a catholic confession booth and unload. There are even friends and family members that I’d like to confess my struggles too but I don’t because I’m afraid what they might think of me or I’m afraid they will tell someone. But I need to confess, we need to confess. Why, because when we don’t confess we tend to avoid God! When we don’t confess our sin it eats us up and keeps God’s healing grace at bay. So, how do we confess? Ortberg gives a lot of good biblical incites about confession in this chapter, but I thought I’d give you a few practical and biblical ways you can actually practice this discipline of confession.

 

First, in your prayer time: If you can’t confess to God (the one who knows all your sins anyway) then you’re not going to be able to confess to others. You might ask why do I need to confess something God already knows about. Psalms 38:18 (NLT) says, “I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done”. So we see here in this text that sorrow comes with honest confession and this “Godly” sorrow is what brings about a changed behavior. Furthermore, no matter what we have done or who we have wronged, all sin is an offense against God. So when we offend someone, we ought to apologize. Finally, your prayer time is shallow if doesn’t include confession. If your prayers consist only of “LORD help me” or “LORD give me”, then that might explain why your prayer life seems powerless and ineffective.

 

Second, in the midst conflict: Life is full of conflict. And for some reason we seem to fight with the ones we care about the most. And the biggest reason most relationships fail is because they don’t know how to fight fair and own up to their own mistakes. Confessions that are shallow and not backed up with remorseful and then corrected behavior are nails in the coffin of relationships. The following exert is taken from www.peacemaker.net (this is great resource for how to handle conflict biblically).

 
 

 Get the log out of your own eye

One of the most challenging principles of peacemaking is set forth in Matthew 7:5, where Jesus says, "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." There are generally two kinds of "logs" you need to look for when dealing with conflict. First, you need to ask whether you have had a critical, negative, or overly sensitive attitude that has led to unnecessary conflict. One of the best ways to do this is to spend some time meditating on Philippians 4:2-9, which describes the kind of attitude Christians should have even when they are involved in a conflict.

When you identify ways that you have wronged another person, it is important to admit your wrongs honestly and thoroughly. One way to do this is to use the Seven A's of Confession.

The most important aspect of getting the log out of your own eye is to go beyond the confession of wrong behavior and face up to the root cause of that behavior

As God opens your eyes to see how you have sinned against others, he simultaneously offers you a way to find freedom from your past wrongs. It is called confession. Many people have never experienced this freedom because they have never learned how to confess their wrongs honestly and unconditionally. Instead, they use words like these: "I'm sorry if I hurt you." "Let's just forget the past." "I suppose I could have done a better job." "I guess it's not all your fault." These token statements rarely trigger genuine forgiveness and reconciliation. If you really want to make peace, ask God to help you breathe grace by humbly and thoroughly admitting your wrongs.

One way to do this is to use the Seven A's.

Address everyone involved (All those whom you affected)

Avoid if, but, and maybe (Do not try to excuse your wrongs)

Admit specifically (Both attitudes and actions)

Acknowledge the hurt (Express sorrow for hurting someone)

Accept the consequences (Such as making restitution)

Alter your behavior (Change your attitudes and actions)

Ask for forgiveness                                                                    See Matthew 7:3-5; 1 John 1:8-9; Proverbs 28:13.

 
Third, the need for accountability: When you’re struggling with a sin that keeps defeating you, then God has provided help through the process of accountability. An accountability partner or group needs to be fellow person(s) in Christ of the same sex (one exception could be your spouse). This could range from a formal Christian counselor to small group to a good friend or (like I just stated) even your spouse in some cases. No matter who it is, they need to be someone you trust, who is mature (new Christians do not make good accountability partners!!!). Most importantly, they need to be someone who can keep things confidential.

Finally, when not to confess: Many of us struggle privately (in our minds) with sins and temptations. These types of struggles do not always need not to be confessed publically. Some things need to be between just you and God. For example, if a guy goes confessing every time he has a lustful thought—everyone is going to think he is a perv. In general, private sin is confessed privately (to those who need to know) and a public sin is confessed publically, not always but in general. Basically, think of confession as a need to know to discussion. If someone doesn’t need to know (if it’s none of their business), don’t make it their business—you have the right to remain silent. Confessing to the wrong people can be harmful. Keep it to the parties involved and you’ll generally do the right and responsible thing. God is where we start with confession and then let him lead you from there.

James 5:16 (NIV) – “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective”.

Ch. 7 – Appropriate Smallness (The Practice of Servanthood)

“We are all worms. But I do believe that I am a glowworm”- Winston Churchill.  What kind of worm are you? I think I’ll go with gummy worm. They’re chewy, flexible, and kids love them.

 

We may not be worms, but compared to this vast universe—we are considerably small. If you’ve seen the movie Horton Hears a Who, Horton, the elephant, discovers the microscopic world of Whoville that exists on a spec of dust. He places that spec on a flower which translates to quite an Adventure for Whoville. I won’t go into the details of the movie (although it is good movie to see with the kids). The movie ends with the narrator disclosing that earth, or the Jungle of Nool, is just one speck, like Whoville, among numerous other specs floating in outer space. It’s just a child’s movie, but it gives you perspective of just how small we are.
 

In this week’s chapter we attempt to tackle our ego. Egos are awkward to manage. They can easily be overinflated because they easily are fooled by delusions of grandeur. An overinflated ego is difficult to handle because it makes a human into a life sized bobblehead doll. That’s what I assume anyway, when God looks down on us in our foolishness. As for an underinflated ego, perhaps there is no such thing. Perhaps an underinflated ego is actually an ego that was once overinflated but at some point was popped. Therefore, since the ego is fragile and difficult to keep in check, how do we do manage it?

 

The Christian practice of Servanthood is the key. Ortberg lays out five practical ways that we must serve others if we claim to be a follower of Christ. I’m not going to cover all five, but I will share the one that hit home with me the most, The Ministry of Being Interrupted (p.120). This idea of serving basically boils down to the willingness to be interrupted. I can get so consumed with my plans for the day or the week that when they are interrupted I get aggravated or stressed. Even if I have plenty of time to get “my stuff” done, I still can get annoyed when I’m bothered. One way I have combated this is I try not to fill my schedule up. I realize I am not superman and I can’t do it all. So, when I am interrupted, I can love and serve with the correct attitude. This is especially important for serving your spouse and children. Think about it like this, if you’re always busy and you don’t have time to be interrupted by your child’s request for help with homework or your spouse's appeal for conversation—you have an ego problem. It’s not that you think you’re better than your family. Instead, it’s a mindset that you are caring the world on your shoulders and if what your doing doesn’t get done it’s going to collapse. This is a ridiculous notion for the worm, the spec we are. Proverbs 3:5-6^(NIV) says, “ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; ⁶ in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight”. When we don’t trust God in this way it makes serving others too cumbersome because we are too busy leaning on our own understanding and abilities and so any interruption becomes an aggravation instead of an opportunity to love.

 

Another way I have tried to be available for life’s interruption goes back to our discipline of slowing down. We’ve all sped passed the car broken down on the highway because we’re in a hurry to get somewhere. That may not be the best example. In the age of cell phones, most anyone can get help within minutes. But let me give you an example of how I practiced this just last night and I am so glad I did…

 

…My life is filled with interpretations, not just because I’m a Pastor, but I have four active kids. Between school, sports, music, choir, and church activities—my kids keep my wife and I hopping. Last night my son had basketball practice at the YMCA. This is a scheduled interruption I know about ahead of time. I’m busy and I still have this blog to write, lesson to do for my small group, and a lesson for next Sunday just to name a few. I am tempted to drop my son off instead of being visibly available to support him by watching his practice and then sit out in my car and get some work done (which I have done before). But this interruption is an opportunity to serve. Instead, I went inside (with the rest of the parents) and watched my son practice. I kept my phone in my pocket and engaged in conversation with a few parents. I connected with one dad as we talked about the struggles in raising sons/boys to become respectful men. He shared a little of his troubled past and I shared my experiences. It was a conversation I never expected to have, but because I slowed down and checked my ego at the door—I turned an interruption into an opportunity to serve.

 

The sin of pride is arguably at the root of all sin and the best way to combat our ego is to serve others. Jesus exemplified this in his life—Mark 10:45^{NIV  “}for even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” I like how Ortberg puts it— “serving is God’s business”. Serving is not what God does, it’s who HE is. As his creation, we reflect his image when serving is who we are. Serving becomes who we are when we fill our ego with Christ. When serving is something we do, then the more we do, the more our ego is inflated. We feed our delusion of who we are when its based on what we do or accomplish. Then on the other hand, if we don’t do as much as everyone else, if our accomplishments or good deeds don’t measure up to others—we think less of ourselves. The lie we believe is that we think we are who we are based on what we do. But Jesus comes along and shows us that we are who we are based on how God made us. Therefore, serving is not what we do to find value, it’s what we do because we (the lowly little worm) are valued by God. Thus, serving is who we are, we are servants!!!. I want to encourage you to take this discipline of serving seriously. Embrace life’s interruptions as an opportunity to serve. Even more, look at your schedule this week or this month and try to turn some of those scheduled interruptions into opportunities.
 

Blessings,

Jason

Ch. 6 – Interrupting Heaven (The Practice of Prayer)

I hope there is coffee in heaven. Some jokingly have called it the nectar of the God’s. Surely there will be coffee in heaven. I say this because coffee is almost always my precursor to prayer. I like to just sit alone with God and drink a bit a coffee before I start to pray. Just sitting and sipping, saying nothing. Sometime I pick up a book, mostly the Bible (but not always) and I start to read before I pray. Sometimes I finish the last drop, tell God thanks for the coffee, that I love Him, and then I begin my day. Sometimes, I make a large pot coffee and let God know we got a lot to talk about before I begin my day. And then sometimes, I oversleep or my morning is interrupted by life and there is no coffee, there is only a quick “Lord help me with my day” as I am running out the door. I tell you this because I think too many people look at prayer as a duty or as a religious act that one needs to check off before they begin their day. But that’s not what Jesus taught us and that’s not what the Bible shows us.

Prayer is simply talking to God. It’s communication with the Creator. And Jesus never put a time limit on it. He never laid out a specific posture or place we should pray. He just said when you pray, pray like this…. “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. ¹⁰ Thy kingdom come,..” Wait a minute! We’ve turned this example of prayer into some type of magical prayer formula to recite too. So look at how the Message Bible explains this prayer:

Matthew 6:9-13 (MSG)

^7-13 “The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They’re full of formulas and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don’t fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and he knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:

Our Father in heaven,
Reveal who you are.
Set the world right;
Do what’s best—
    as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the Devil.
You’re in charge!
You can do anything you want!
You’re ablaze in beauty! YES!

Doesn’t even sound like the Lord’s Prayer does it? And that’s the point, it’s just a real conversation with God about stuff we should be praying about.

So for the most part I enjoyed this chapter on prayer, but I took issue with a couple things. First, he doesn’t mention Paul’s explanation of how to pray— 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “Pray continually”, Paul says. Ortberg probably doesn’t include this because he might see it as a level of advanced prayer for those who have been praying awhile. I don’t see it that way. And I’ll explain why in a moment. The second issue I had was his recommendation to start out slow if you have never prayed before. Specifically his advice was to keep it to five minutes a day. Some days 5 minutes may be all you have time for but some days you might need 50 minutes. This is true whether you’re a beginner or you’ve been praying for years.

Let me explain: Orberg defines prayer as “talking to God about what you’re doing together”. I love that definition. That definition helps set the context of what prayers should be about, “what you’re doing together” with God. Think about what you are doing together with God. For me, I’m loving my wife. I’m raising family. I’m leading a church. I’m coaching. I’m leading a youth group. I could go on and on, but for me—I’m doing all of life with God and for God. I see all of my responsibilities in life as something I’m doing with God. Therefore, I talk to him about all of them. When I get up, when I’m driving down the road, when I get home, before I go to bed, whenever and wherever is always a possible prayer moment. This is what the Apostle Paul was talking about when he said “pray continually”. This type of praying isn’t just for the advanced pray-er, it’s for the novice, and it’s for anybody.

Think about it this way: look at all the different ways we communicate with the people we know—a phone call, a text, an email, facebook message, instagram. Oh, and we still get out the pen and paper too. For instance, when we want to tell someone we love them or we want to thank them, we’ll write a hand written note or maybe post-it note on the fridge or bathroom mirror. These are all short and simple ways we communicate to others we love. They don’t take a lot of time. Sometimes less than a minute or perhaps even just a few seconds and yet they communicate enormous amounts of information and feelings.

Now if you only communicate with someone through text or facebook and you have no real face time, then the relationship will stay really shallow. How do you think your spouse would feel if they never got to talk to you face to face. A real relationship has face time conversations…conversations over dinner, or on a walk, or those close the door conversations we need to talk. You know what type of conversations I’m talking about. You need these same type of conversations with God. These are the conversations Ortberg was getting at that we need to take time for. And his recommendation to start with at least 5mins a day is very doable. Start making time for face time, prayer time with God a priority.

Two last words about this chapter and prayer, INTERACTION and NOURISHMENT. These are the two words I circled on p.96. You need to see your prayer time in light of these two words. First INTERACTION, your prayer time is interaction with God and what’s going on in your life. It’s not a ritual of the same old words and thank you’s over and over again. Finally NOURISHMENT, just like God’s Word, prayer nourishes your soul. It contains those spiritual vitamins that are good for your eyes and helps you see things more clearly.

Now, time for some more coffee.

Java-llelujah!!!

Jason

Ch. 5 – An Unhurried Life (The Practice of Slowing)

I’m not one big on New Year’s Resolutions, but this “PRACTICE OF SLOWING” was my goal for 2014. I wouldn’t say I have failed miserably, but SLOWING is already a goal for me in 2015. My motivation for this has a lot to do with our last discipline of CELEBRATION. When I am rushed, I find it difficult to find joy in the moments that God gives me every day. It’s hard because time seems to be going by faster and faster. My girls went from Barbie dolls to high school dances to planning for college in what seemed like a blink of an eye. And I find myself wishing I could go back in time for a day with my girls just to experience a Barbie doll day with them again. Just one Saturday morning—when they wake up with their pink jammies on and they both coming running and jump on my lap and sit with me in the big green Lazyboy chair. We’d just sit and laugh and watch cartoons together. I wish for that maybe because I never really slowed down enough to enjoy my girls at that age. And now that Maria and Annie are teenagers, my time as the most important man in their life is running out. So that’s my urgency I guess. I want to slow down so I can enjoy these teenage years with my daughters. But not just for them, I have two little boys who I hope will one day be men. If I am a hurried father in their eyes (one who is present, but always too busy), then one day I’ll have sons who look like men, but who act like boys.
 

So this is a key discipline in getting spiritually fit, Otrberg says, don’t mess around. He calls a hurried life a sickness. Therefore, one must “ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our life”. The verse that always comes to mind for this discipline is Psalm 46:10 (NIV) – God says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”

 

Being still is essential to the practice of SLOWING, but don’t overlook what else the verse says. While you’re still…it says to “Know that I am God”…and…exalt him. Attending church is one of the ways we can slow down and exalt God every week. This is just one of the reasons you should attend church regularly. However, you need more than that. You need time of solitude with just you and your creator. So ask yourself, do you have a place you can go and just be with HIM, a place without electronics or distractions. Think of it this way, if you’re going to work out (exercise)…then you need a place to do it. Whether it be a gym or you living room you need a place. Do you have a place for Solitude? If not, you need one. And remember it has to be a place where you can “Know that (HE is) God”…and…exalt him.

 

If you remember your reading from this chapter Ortberg says hurry is a disease of the heart, which means your heart is chasing after things of this world instead of chasing God. The ironic thing about chasing God is that it’s a pretty slow chase. Jesus never seemed to be in a hurry. And if you have prayer relationship with our creator, his answers to prayer seem to take more time than we’d like.

 

Have you ever heard the term Godspeed? It seems to communicate good fortunate or blessings. But true God Speed is to operate your life at speed that is not too fast where you get ahead of God and not too slow where you lag behind. It’s a difficult task. But if you can get there, you’ll know it. It’s that sweet spot of life. Right behind God, following him where he leads, drafting like a race car through life on the coattails of the great shepherd. It’s a peaceful place, even when the road gets bumpy, you know everything is going to be OK when you’re operating at God’s Speed.

 

Doesn’t that sound like a good place to be? It is, but it’s not easy. You have to work at it. It’s a relentless pursuit of God’s Speed. It takes perseverance and it will require that we ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives. Make plans and do this, go back and read the chapter again if you have to. Oh, you don’t have time…you can afford it right now—YOU CAN’T AFFORD NOT TO!!!

 

God's Speed,

Jason

Ch. 4 – A Dee Dah Day (The Practice of Celebration)

Nobody knows you like your mother. She is the one who birthed you, who wiped your nose, kissed your boo boos, and brokered your behavior modification—unbeknownst to your father, which you were very grateful to her for. At least, that is my mom—very keen on my weakness and strengths, my fears and joys. That’s a mom’s job, to know you and all your funny little quirks—so when something is off in your life, she can tell and act accordingly.

“You’ve changed” are the words that will forever echo in my soul. In my mind, I knew part of my change was for the better and so at first I blew off her comments. Actually, her comments made me a little mad. But with her tone and facial expression, I knew her evaluation of me was deeper than I was considering. The more I replayed her words in my head, the more I understood that she couldn’t see her little boy anymore. You see, no matter how old you get your mom can always see the child that you were. You know the one who would hold her hand anywhere. Her sweet, fun, little Jason was gone. All joy had been sucked out of him.    

Since that day I have been working hard to get my joy back. I’d be lying if I said my joy is where it should be, but I’ve made a lot of progress since that “day”.

Now let’s remember how Ortberg defines Spiritual Disciplines: “any activity that can help me gain power to live the life that Jesus taught and then model it”. When I first picked up this book from Ortberg I wasn’t expecting this discipline of celebration to be a part of it. A lack of joy is something I’d been working on in my life recently and so I found Ortbergs incite helpful and encouraging. I’m looking forward to treating this “centrality of Joy” (p.61) as a spiritual discipline.

Ortberg challenges us to take Joy seriously because Joy is God’s basic character and joy is at the heart of God’s plan for human beings. In fact, he points out something I too often forget—that Joy is not an option for a Christian. Philippians 4:4 says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” This means we are commanded to be joyful.

Now I know what you’re thinking, you just can’t make yourself be happy. But that’s why this is a spiritual discipline to develop. Nehemiah 8:10 reminds us that “ the joy of the Lord is your strength.” The secret to this discipline is focus. It’s more than just being a glass is half full kind of person. Having and practicing Joy doesn’t mean you have to be the life of the party. Some of the most outgoing people the word knows are actually struggling with depression. This life of Joy is a life of intentional focus on eternal things and present blessings.

So here is where we are at, you’ve got to take this discipline seriously. Too many people who call themselves Christians are bitter and angry. Start this discipline off with having an honest discussion with God and others close to you about your joy or lack thereof. Also, remember this is one of the disciplines you can’t really do on your own. If you’re not in fellowship with other Christians outside of a weekend worship service or outside of interaction online, then you’re going to struggle to find your joy.

Focus and Fellowship will be a good start to your spiritual practice of JOY. So focus on your blessings this week. What is good in your life? Give thanks to God for those Blessings. Then make a commitment to spend some time in fellowship with other Christians you like to hang out with. Maybe make lunch plans or join a small group, or even sign up to serve with others.

Remember, the joy of the Lord is our Strength!!!

Blessings,
Jason

Ch. 3 – Training vs. Trying

            I embarrassed my son this past weekend in front of his teammates. I don’t make a habit of doing that unless I feel it’s really necessary, but in this case I did. I had arrived at his soccer game a little late because I had to pick up his sister from cross country practice. When I arrived my wife Sherry updated me on how the match was going. Apparently not too well, many of the kids were not hustling and in fact, many were standing around a lot. I’m not a soccer player and I don’t know a lot about the game, but I do know, if you’re on the field and the ball is anywhere near you, you better not be standing around. So my son Jon is one of the culprits, and again, usually I would not do this, but I made my way around the field when Jon was taken out of the game and proceeded to let him know my displeasure in his efforts on the field. Now, I didn’t yell at him, so get that maniac parent imagine yelling at their kid out of your heads. I just pulled him aside, but I spoke loud enough for his other teammates to hear (because they were loafing too). Anyway, my displeasure wasn’t in him or his lack of ability to score a goal. My displeasure was in his effort. He had broken a family value, “whatever we do, we do it with all our heart”. Jon was loafing and wasn’t giving a 100% on the field, which is a big no no in the Hight household. It doesn’t matter to me if he ever scores a goal or if he strikes out in the batter’s box or if he only gets B’s and C’s on he’s report card. My main concern is that he tries his best, that he works hard, and that he gives it a 110%.
 

Now how does this relate to our reading in chapter 3? Well, Ortberg does a wonderful job of explaining why so many people get disillusioned by the Christian walk when they try sooooo hard not to sin or to change, but they keep failing, failing—over and over again. Then he references how Greek athletes in Biblical times striving for the prize “by simply trying really hard apart from training was unthinkable” (p.44). So it is with Paul, to simple try to be Godly apart from training to be Godly was unthinkable to him.

 

Back to my son Jon, he now understands better than ever, that his father expects maximum effort from him. However, what if this was Jon’s first soccer game, what if Jon had never practiced a lick of soccer in his life? Would I be justified in my indignation for his efforts? No, I would not. It wouldn’t make sense to be displeased with lack of effort. However, I would be displeased at his lack of practice.

 

This is what Ortberg is getting at in this chapter. Too many Christians try their hardest to change, but they don’t train for change. Or as Ortberg puts it, “transformation isn’t a matter of trying harder, but of training wiser”.

 

1 Timothy 4:7 (says)  …train yourself to be godly. ⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” ⁹ This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. ¹⁰ This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.
 

From here on out we’ll examine the different spiritual disciplines in each of the following chapters. I want to encourage you to take each chapter to heart and engage in each discipline given. When I say engage, I mean take time to do them. Remember, these disciplines are valuable because they “allow us to do what we cannot do by willpower alone” (p.48). If you have questions about how to practice any one of them contact me and I’d be glad to help you in your spiritual training.

 

As I mentioned above, I know little about soccer, but I do know baseball. I’ve been coaching on and off for the past 20 years. It’s so rewarding to see the kids progress from the first day of practice though the end of the year. However, what’s really embarrassing is the child that doesn’t progress. I’ve only seen it once in my 20 years with the boys I’ve coached. And that’s because I never really got the chance to coach this particular kid. He seldom showed up for practice and when he did he was always late. He never showed up for pre-game practice and he barely made it to the game on time. However, when it was time to play, he tried really hard to hit the ball, but he constantly failed. He failed because he didn’t train like the rest of the boys. It was embarrassing to watch, especially as the season came to close and there was little to no progress in his skills.

 

Now, the embarrassment I felt for this child is nothing compared to the embarrassment God feels for his children who do not mature in their spiritual life.

 Hebrews 5:11-14 (NLT) ¹¹ There is much more we would like to say about this, but it is difficult to explain, especially since you are spiritually dull and don’t seem to listen. ¹² You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. ¹³ For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. ¹⁴ Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.

 

So this is the no turning back part of this study. These first few chapters were designed to pump you up and get you ready for your spiritual training. You might be trying really hard to change your life right now and you might be feeling like a big disappointment to God. It doesn’t have to be that way. Commit today to quit trying so hard and instead commit to start training hard. I invite you into the Lord’s Gym. It’s going to take some time and sweat, but as you will learn in the next chapter, it can be an enjoyable process and I promise you—it will be rewarding!!!

 

Thanks again for stopping in and I encourage you to comment about your progress along the way. Your success moments are encouraging to others.

 

Let’s Do This!!!

Blessings, Jason