Category: faith

what’s your credibility rating?

This morning at the What-A-Study, Brian asked, “what’s your credibility rating?”

When you think about credibility, what comes to mind? What causes a person to gain credibility, or lose credibility? When you think about Scripture you can probably name a number of folks who had some great credibility, and those who didn’t. You can probably think of folks in your own life who have great credibility with you – and those who don’t. Where would you rank on a scale of 1-10?

Brian pointed out that even the Apostle Paul had to raise his credibility rating. If you think about it, he was coming in as an outsider. He was someone totally opposed to Christianity and now he shows up wanting to work hand in hand with the disciples. Maybe we should check his letter of recommendation a little closer.

Here’s what Paul wrote to the Thessalonians (from the Message):

1-2 So, friends, it’s obvious that our visit to you was no waste of time. We had just been given rough treatment in Philippi, as you know, but that didn’t slow us down. We were sure of ourselves in God, and went right ahead and said our piece, presenting God’s Message to you, defiant of the opposition.

3-5 God tested us thoroughly to make sure we were qualified to be trusted with this Message. Be assured that when we speak to you we’re not after crowd approval—only God approval. Since we’ve been put through that battery of tests, you’re guaranteed that both we and the Message are free of error, mixed motives, or hidden agendas. We never used words to butter you up. No one knows that better than you. And God knows we never used words as a smoke screen to take advantage of you.

6-8 Even though we had some standing as Christ’s apostles, we never threw our weight around or tried to come across as important, with you or anyone else. We weren’t aloof with you. We took you just as you were. We were never patronizing, never condescending, but we cared for you the way a mother cares for her children. We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts. And we did.

9-12 You remember us in those days, friends, working our fingers to the bone, up half the night, moonlighting so you wouldn’t have the burden of supporting us while we proclaimed God’s Message to you. You saw with your own eyes how discreet and courteous we were among you, with keen sensitivity to you as fellow believers. And God knows we weren’t freeloaders! You experienced it all firsthand. With each of you we were like a father with his child, holding your hand, whispering encouragement, showing you step-by-step how to live well before God, who called us into his own kingdom, into this delightful life. (1 thes 2:1-9)

A few things to consider as we think about our own credibility:

  • Paul served sacrificially (vs 1-2) he didn’t show up and suddenly hope doing one or two good things would make him credible. it took time and sacrifice.
  • Paul constantly checked his motives (vs 3-5) – Paul continually checked his motives with God to ensure he was working and sacrificing for the right reasons. He didn’t work to please man – but God.
  • Paul was willing to do right even without credit (v 6) – that can be a hard one. it’s easy to hope that others will see our good deeds and tell everyone about it – but can we still do good without credit. will you still wash the dishes or fold the laundry for your wife even if she doesn’t recognize it for weeks on end?
  • Paul was selfless, grace-driven and caring for others (vs 7-8) – Something that stands out in that passage, “We loved you dearly. Not content to just pass on the Message, we wanted to give you our hearts.” As Christians our goal is to share the Gospel. But Paul says that despite that calling he wasn’t content just converting people. He shared his heart. Reminds me of Bullhorn Man. Are we simply so enthralled in converting people that we don’t recognize the hurting that’s around us? Are we so concerned about sharing the Gospel that we forget to live it? Sure I can go to Austin Street and share the Gospel, but I don’t have any credibility with those folks until I recognize they don’t have a bed to sleep in or a coat to keep them warm. They may ultimately need the Gospel, but we must also be aware of their physical and emotional conditions as well.
  • Paul was consistent in his hard work (v9) – he labored and labored and labored, not losing sight of his goal.

So what about you? How is your credibility with your wife, husband, children, friends, boss and the stranger on the street? How would you rate? How would you rate me?

Catchup

Wow! It’s mid-December?! Holy Cow!
It’s been a fast and crazy two weeks. Let’s see if I can play catch-up in one post.

1. I have a new job. I started a new position with the Dallas County Community College District on Dec. 5th. I’m not completely sold that this is the career for me, but I think it’s a lot closer in the right direction. My official title is: Curriculum Management Content Specialist. And guess what — that’s actually what I’m doing so far!

I enjoyed my time with the county but the further along I went, the further I realized it wasn’t quite for me. My boss was great, my co-workers were great, the hours and benefits were great, but in the end I felt like the money could be better spent on paving roads than on paying my salary. Also this opportunity came available when I wasn’t even seriously looking and I felt like it was where God was leading me next.

The job itself is working with the district’s catalogs and maintaining, posting and revising them online, as well as putting together a “print” version that will be stored as a PDF on CD for various groups. I’m also getting to do some graphic work along with the web and database work so it should be a great experience either way.

2. Well that’s about it. Just kidding.

3. Things around the house have been busy as well. We had our community group Christmas party on Dec. 7th, followed by a men’s gathering/challenge at 10 p.m. that night. It’s part of a 9 month series we’re doing on challenging men to be stronger men of God. I put together a website for the challenge and just now finished editing the video from our first gathering.

The basic idea behind the challenge is that once a month we’ll pass out GPS coordinates on Sunday morning and post them on the website. The following Friday night – at 10 p.m. – the men in the church will meet at that location for discussion and a challenge from Brian. He’s also following up with a challenge that is e-mailed/txt’d/ or printed out for those interested.

The idea is that there is a bit of a challenge in finding the location as well as coming at the scheduled time. You have to make some sacrifices to be a part of the event – just like we have to do to be men of God.

I’m looking forward to the other meetings. Our first meeting was on an island in the middle of Lake Waxahachie. The coordinates simply took us to a boat ramp where we gathered and 3 john boats carried us in pairs to the island where a bonfire and Brian were waiting. Very cool.

Brian mentioned yesterday that he’s amused at the difference between our church and others. He told another pastor about the idea and the man responded, “Yeah that sounds like a great way to get deacons and elders for your church. That’s when you find out who you want to lead your church in official capacities.” Too bad we don’t have deacons or elders. Ha.

4. We had four parties to go to last weekend. Our community group Christmas party, a birthday party for Gracelyn, a Christmas party at Daniel and Allison’s and the CWF Christmas party. Whew! What a weekend. And our friend Andrew was “bab-a-tized” Sunday morning (I’m working on that video too).

5. Monday, Dec 10 brought work again and then we went to Mesquite that night to enjoy an After Hours Improv show at our parent’s church. Always good entertainment.

6. Wednesday, Laurie stayed home from work to rest and catch up on her sleep. All the going, going and going along with her heart working overtime wiped her out.

I was somehow able to convince her to hold off with painting our bedroom during the day, but after I got home she went to work. She painted one wall a cool rich dark purple to match the comforter on our bed. I’m just surprised she hasn’t posted pictures of it yet. That took up most of the evening, while I worked on “tweaking” a (Unit 4) photoshop project.

Thursday evening she finished touch-ups in the room.

7. Friday was another Christmas party at work. I think that was the 4th one I’ve been to since I started at DCCCD. Let me think back… We had a chili cook-off the 2nd day I was there, a pizza party the 3rd, the Chancellor’s Christmas brunch earlier in the week and then the lunch/party at a Mexican restaurant in Mesquite for another team I’ll be a part of. And there’s one last party on Wednesday of this week.

8. Once the party was over, I tried to do a little Christmas shopping but gave up after visiting three stores. Just couldn’t get myself in the mood to fight the afternoon crowds.

After Laurie made it home we went to Bob and Vickie’s for some dinner with the rest of Laurie’s family and then headed over to Jed’s house for a Christmas party there. Jed will be marrying Jen, Laurie’s maid-of-honor in June. I think Jen’s enjoying taking the “bachelor” out of Jed and his house. I’m not sure who’s worse – me or him. I guess we’ll have to quiz Laurie and Jen after the wedding.

9. Saturday we slept in finally and then got up and cleaned, ran errands and cooked dinner for friends to come over for dinner. Matt, Kathryn, Daniel, Allison, Richard, Amber and Gracelyn all came for dinner. We had a great time – and took no pictures :-(. We usually end up playing games after dinner but it was nice to just sit and talk around the table afterwards.

Laurie fixed her infamous potato casserole and I cooked up a green been casserole and a pot roast. We decided afterwards that we’d stick with the cheaper roast meat when doing pot roast – chuck roast doesn’t seem to be as tender and also seemed to be a lot fattier (there’s more on that story but I’ll save you the details for now).

10. Are you still reading? Geeze. Bored at work I presume.

11. Sunday we had church as usual and then Brad and Jen came over with their kids and Laurie took some family Christmas photos of them. Lots of pictures – hopefully some of them turned out good. Getting two kids to sit still for too long is pretty hard so luckily we had lots of room for pictures on our camera disk and lots of time ;-). It was great to spend some more time with Brad and Jen and the kids as well. Brooklyn even volunteered to help me clean the back door where Presley has left her muddy paw prints.

And sadly, in the midst of it all, the Cowboys lost… dang that Jessica Simpson.

Well that’s about all I have on December for now. I’m sure I’ve left something or someone out and hopefully Laurie will get a chance to stop and fill in any gaps. But of course if you’ve been following my Twitter feed you already knew a lot of this anyways ;-).

Hopefully I’ll give my tips for riding DART before too long. It’s been cooking in my head since the 5th.

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers

Very interesting movie coming out in March 2008: Lord, Save Us From Your Followers.

Though nine out of ten Americans claim a belief in God, public expression of faith is more contentious as ever. Even as discussion of religion floods the media like never before, the rhetoric is divisive and hyper as the 2008 elections loom on the horizon.

Lord, Save Us From Your Followers is the energetic, accessible documentary that explores the collision of faith and culture in America. Fed up with the angry, strident language filling the airwaves that has come to represent the Christian faith, director (and follower) Dan Merchant set out to discover why the Gospel of Love is dividing America.

Utilizing a broad array of expert interviews, man-on-the-street bits, hilarious animations and “I’ve never seen that before” stunts, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers brings everyone into the conversation that this country is aching to have.

In the tradition of “entertaining documentaries” like Super Size Me, Bowling For Columbine and What the Bleep Do We Know?, Lord, Save Us From Your Followers, employs the language of pop culture to create a provocative, funny and redemptive viewing experience that will leave the audience talking for hours.

See the movie and trailer online.

thoughts on Romney

lots of thoughts on the web today about Romney’s speech at Texas A&M last night.

Thought these were the most interesting…

Mitt Romney took to the microphone the other day to make his stand for religous freedom, unsubtley likening himself to JFK and calling upon the names of Sam Adams, and of course Jesus.

But his speech sounded not a cry for the religious freedom envisioned by the Founders. It was far from an endorsment of America’s cherished pluralism.

It was instead a shameless bid for the endorsement of the Christian Right. Using Jesus’ name, he pitched himself to the Christian Right, assuring them that he was Christian too.

In short, he wrapped himself in the old flag of the worst of civil religion which calls for the Christianizing of the body politic rather than the freedom of religious belief and expression in the public square.

Christmas S*N*A*C

Thomas helps lead S*N*A*C (aka Sunday Night After Church) at his Church in Glasgow. They held a Christmas service this week and he shared the order on his blog. Sounds like a great time of reflection and celebration.

From Thomas:

The key to a “7 from 8” gathering is simplicity > its about taking time out > relaxing in the busy milieu of Advent. 7 readings. 7 songs. No commentary. Participation. Contribution. Darkness interspersed with candles.

I introduced the gathering and set the scene… then let things flow (all readings from The Message except 7 which is from New King James version)>

1. Liz kicked off the readings with The Birth of Jesus [Matthew 1: 18-25] > BLOC then played “Silent Night”
2. Diane then read The Birth of Jesus [Luke 2: 1-7] > Janey played “Away in a Manger” on the piano
3. Bobby read A Virgin will bear a son [Isaiah 7: 10-14] > we moved into a period reflection and contemplation > I played “Emmanuel” by Blackmore’s Night on the ol’ iPod.
4. Kirsty brought us An event for everyone [Luke 2: 8-20] > we then listened to BLOC who brought us an awesome version of “O Holy Night”
5. Janey read A Virgin conceives [Luke 1: 26-35] > we then completed the contemplative time with another track from the ol’ iPod > “I am, You are” by the Martins
6. I then read Scholars from the East [Matthew 2] > BLOC played “A First Noel”
7. Lawrie brought the readings to a close with Isaiah’s prophesy For unto us a Child is born [Isaiah 9: 2-7] > BLOC then finished with “Love came down at Christmas”

Alec closed the gathering with a prayer and we enjoyed some fellowship over Starbucks espresso blend coffee and mince pies. Simple yet effective evening.

Sounds like a great time. Wish I could participate in it somehow.