Wow, Where Did I Go...

Not that I have an audience of readers that is waiting with baited breath for each new addition to my site here buuuuut, it's been a while, I know.

Been a really busy few weeks, but I'll be back to more regular posting next week after we get through the rest of the holiday hustle.

I did however want to make sure to wish you all a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!

I pray the living LORD Jesus will be the center of your celebrations, and I pray He will be the goal of your next year. He came, He was born, He lived, He grew, He died & He rose again, all because you mean SOOOO much to Him!

When you rip open the gifts tomorrow take a minute of pause to remember that He is FOR you, and He is NEAR you.

Merry Christmas!

A Few Things I Want To Say To Our Church

What an incredible last few weeks it has been at Paradox!!!!

I was going to write after last Sunday, but I'm glad I didn't cause the things worth writing about just keep piling up. So, here are a few things that have been in my head in on my heart these last two weeks.


1. Week one of our Christmas series was INCREDIBLE!!
Paradox, we have a real gift in the creative arts team that we have. They spend hours upon hours behind the scenes each and every week to put together a space & place for us to connect with God every week. I'm not sure you understand how much goes into what they do, but they are amazing people.


2. Paradox people are amazingly generous.
The first week of December, which is not usually one of our highest giving weeks of the year, you all laid it down, & we took in double what was budgeted. A few weeks earlier we took in 3x what was budgeted for the week!! Tis the season to be tight fisted with our money because we have so much of it going out for Christmas presents. BUT NOT YOU ALL, you guys have been giving to the financial needs of Paradox with impressive generosity & faithfulness. Thank you!


3. This series is stirring good things in us all.
I have seen each week that God is moving in, through & around us as He meets us in the content of this series. We asked God to do big things this year through this Christmas series and i gotta tell you -- HE IS!!! I must also admit that even though i believed He would, there were parts of me that doubted it. Now, i feel embarrassed that i ever doubted God for anything less than His amazing presence to show up & do amazing things. Whatever you are doubting God can do in your life right now, STOP! Tom Gibson (one of our pastors on staff) said at the start of the series - "let's ask God to do such amazing things this month that He embarrasses us that we didn't ask for more". I have been praying that prayer almost very day since then. Thanks for the challenge Tom, thanks for having big faith in our huge God!


4. I love people that shout in church
If you were at Paradox this last week then you likely remember the guy that was on his way to the gym (we rent an auditorium in a recreation center for those that don't know) and stuck his head in and shouted while I was preaching, "shut these stupid doors so we don't have to hear this crap".
I gotta tell ya, that one threw me off for a minute, I think it did all of us! We could easily get upset about that & angry at his rudeness or we could think, "this is why we need our own building". BUT, I think this is exactly the reason we are in this public, rented facility. When God wanted to reveal Himself to us He CAME TO US. That's why we as a church, need to GO TO the people around us and not just have our own place and expect everyone to come to us. I love that we get to interact with people that may NEVER walk into the doors of of typical church building. Besides, a guy so angry that he shouts into a service in motion is a guy that has deep hurts (cause we all know that anger is a mask to what a person is really feeling) and in my opinion this is a guy that Jesus is attempting to touch with His love. So, let's pray that this guy is some day sitting in the seats with us, with hands held high, and worshiping Jesus is His savior. I hope you will be praying for that with me.


5. God is moving in cool ways!
Ok, last thought for now, and I saved the BEST for last! The opening week of the Christmas series, we had over a dozen people pray to give their lives to Christ. AMAZING!! and AWESOME!!! I almost didn't want to write on this one just because print could never do justice to my excitement & joy over this. I know that the journey is to become fully devoted to Jesus but, the journey can never begin until the decision to hand your life over to Him is made. Each of those people have...

• passed from life to death
  
• a secured a place in heaven
  
• a relationship with the living God
  
• now been forgiven of their sins
  
• entered the beginning stages of becoming who God made them to be
  
• been adopted into the family of God

I pray this excites you like it does heaven, but I pray it also gives you hope that that person or people that you want to meet Jesus, but wonder if they ever will, i pray this gives you hope that it can happen. I also pray it gives you courage; courage to share with them, courage to pray for them, courage to invite them to church. Each of those people were invited by someone and you never know who it is that hasn't yet given their life to Jesus because you haven't yet made the invite. That's not a shame thing but a "please be courageous" because you never know how God will use you.


I LOVE YOU Paradox but most of all, you are loved by the Lord God Almighty, His name;

JESUS!!!!!

The Rules Of Facebook

Ok, I totally stole this post from a friend of mine named Matt Johnson but I thought it was just BRILLIANT!!

So, I am passing it on to you -- ENJOY!

If you like the post then feel free to check out his blog at --- HERE

1. If you wouldn’t wear it on a sign around your neck all day, don’t post it on facebook.

2. If it has projected from your body, nobody on facebook needs to know. We love you but some things are better left unsaid.

3. If you think you’re being subtle, you’re not. We all know exactly who you are talking about and what you are really trying to say. (and if we don’t know, we will find out…which isn’t good)

• If you’re feeling a little insecure and need a compliment, just say it. No need to post things like “Tell me what you love about me and I’ll do the same for you…” Matter of fact, let me tell you now how much I love you and think you’re great!
• If you’re mad at someone, just email them. It’ll be better for everyone.

4. All things marriage are all things off limits. Trust me.

5. Pictures

• If it’s immodest, normal people are uncomfortable and creepers love it. Nuff said.
• Pictures taken of a mirror are usually bad. Also, they are 9 times out of 10 taken in a bathroom. A good rule to live by is cameras do not belong in bathrooms.
• People love to look at your pictures because they show your personality…except pictures you take of yourself. Don’t really know why…just is what it is.

6. If you know more about a person than they do, you are stalking them. It’s time to put the computer away.

7. If you know more about a situation than the people that are actually in it, you’re a busy body. Oh come on…you know it’s true. Just laugh and admit it…and then quit doing it.

8. We all love hilarious stories from your kids. I’m being serious.

9. We all love what God is teaching you. I do at least.

10. Remember, what you post on facebook is the light you are shining to the world. It’s a great opportunity. Don’t take it for granted.

I Need Your Help

Right now I am working on a series we will be doing in January on forgiveness.

But, I need your help.

I'm looking for a few things that I hope you will be willing to share with me. I'll be leaving this post up here at the top for a few days so I can get as many responses as possible.

Here's is what I hope you will share, pick as many as you'd like...

• One of the hardest things you have ever had to forgive or have not yet forgiven?
  
• A time you were the offender and had to ask for forgiveness?
• A time you offered forgiveness but still had to put healthy boundaries in place afterward?
• An offense you chose not to forgive and the result was that it hurt you not the offender?

If you are willing to share then email me at craig@paradoxchurch.com. I will keep your story confidential. So, rest assured your name won't pop up in a sermon, I'm just trying to get a real feel for the issue as it relates to the people I'll be talking to in a few weeks.

Thanks in advance for your help.

Saturday Morning Easy Reading

Interested in a good article on the emerging VS emergent church?

Never even heard the terms? Well, this article HERE will explain the different highways of the church today, and explain the places of difference in practice & theology.

This is a GREAT article, not a quick read but informative and thought provoking.

It is imperative that we as followers of Jesus stay wise & informed as to the different ways that different church leaders are shaping the bride of Christ.

See ya tomorrow at Paradox for the final week of Fighting For Your Marriage!

There will also be a preview of the Christmas series tomorrow -- going to be awesome.

See ya in the morning!!!

Post Turkey-Day Depression

Wow, it's not often that my entire family gathers under one roof like we all did yesterday.

There was so much noise, SO MUCH food, lot's of laughing, wii karaoke, a ruthless game of monopoly (the Christmas story version - weird), new boyfriends, new fiances, new babies, and of course, old stories told for the millionth time, and people, just people EVERYWHERE!

I LOVED IT!

It's easy to forget that the only real thing that makes this life valuable are relationships, & even easier to forget that of relationships, the richest ones are your family.

I know family is a weird bunch sometimes. Yesterday, there were so many relational dynamics that I couldn't even count. From new relationships, to old ones still not sure what to do with past baggage, but in the end, in our own ways, we all love each other -- SO MUCH.

Thank you Jesus for my my family, last night I felt blessed beyond a measurable amount.
My wife & my sister did an AMAZING job pulling it all together & coordinating all the details.

So today, we eat turkey left overs, finish the pies, fix things that got broken in the stampede of kids, and look forward to the next time we do it all over again.

It's Christmas Time!

I told you on Sunday that our Christmas series this year is going to be insane!

Here's an early look. These flayers will be in your hands on Sunday so you can start handing them out to family & friends you want to invite.

Start getting excited!!!!!!

Getting Thankful

This morning I read President Lincoln's speech that officially establishment Thanksgiving Day.

HERE

WOW!

Take time to read this in the next day before we get to Thanksgiving day. I think I may even read this to my family, who will all be together (all 30 of us), before we eat that afternoon.

As C.S Lewis said, "the man who has the Lord and all the world has no more than the man who has the Lord alone".

God has given us so much, even in the presence of what you may still need, HE HAS GIVEN US SO MUCH!

I pray we enter the next few days with truly thankful hearts, praising Jesus for all He is, all He has done & all He has given us. Otherwise the day may be more like, "Happy, almost thankful but slightly annoyed & mostly discontent, day".

Dads, you especially need to create moments with your family these next few days to acknowledge the good ways Jesus has been evident in your family this last year. Help create thankful hearts in your family by leading them to acknowledge Jesus goodness to you all.

Thank you Lord Jesus, THANK YOU.

Mega Love

God in eternity looked on me, and foreseeing my faults, my pride, and my sin, and He said, "I want that man/woman in my family"!

I will PAY for him to be in my family with my son's life

that's love folks, that is MEGA, off the charts LOVE!!

-- Quote by John Piper.

Live in that reality today!

Killed For Jesus

Maybe one of the least understood things in the American church is the persecution the church around the world faces on a daily basis.

RIGHT NOW, there is a man in Afghanistan, in jail, awaiting to be executed next week for his decision to put His faith in Jesus.

HERE is an article that tells more.

One thing you can do is to write the white house and ask that the president get involved in trying to influence a different outcome.

I took time today to write the white house a short note in the online forum provided on the page that I linked above.

PLEASE take a minute and send a letter of your own. Someone is about to be executed for believing in Jesus, PLEASE do not do nothing. Below is a copy of the request I submitted to the white house, feel free to use it if it helps.

Dear Mr. President,

I am writing on behalf of Sayed Mossa who is from Afghanistan, and is in jail in Afghanistan because he decided, of his own free choice, to follow Jesus.

He stands to be executed for his decision to follow Jesus next week.

I am asking that you please put your full ability and influence behind this matter to ask President Karzai to release him.

I know there is life being taken in shameful & horrible ways each day that you would like to do something about, and it’s impossible to help them all. However, this situation couldn’t possibly be more horrific, inhuman, & senseless than it is.

Not a person in our word should sit still while another human being is murdered by a country’s government for their religious decisions.

I am aware that your job and the scope of what consumes your time & attentions is enormous. But,I am asking still that you PLEASE give this matter your immediate and full attention.

Respectfully,
Craig

Add your voice to the growing cry that our president put some of his influence into this matter.

Bambi

Technically Bambi was a boy so this is more like his sister. But either way, I had a good few days hunting up north earlier this week.

My daughter said, "dad, u killed the deer so we can eat it", I said "yup". she asked, "did you kill it with a stick".

The last two days were great. In the woods, with some friends, enjoying God's creation & tonight I'll be eating some of that creation for dinner.

I hear that there are a lot more Paradox guys that are bagging deer this year so we should have a big meat party soon! Hope they all come back safe over the next week.

OK, back to work now; hot chocolate, Christmas music, & sermon writing for week 3 of, "Fighting For Your Marriage" this Sunday.

Round 2

A few nights ago I went to bed earlier than my wife because she was watching some hallmark channel, movie that interested me as much a Barney and Friends marathon.

Now, we have a routine when we go to bed, like you all do I'm sure. Our routine includes, checking the kids one last time & re-tucking their blankets, brushing teeth, checking doors to make sure they're locked, turning the heat down, & finally turning on the night-lite upstairs. See, our hallway upstairs is as black as night, & you can't see a thing, well, expect, the night-lite.

Now, that night-lite becomes the focus of many bed time disagreements between my wife & I.

I HATE it.

When I sleep I want it totally dark, but she is not at all bothered by it's annoying glow. So, the compromise is usually that just before crawling into bed, one of us shuts the bathroom door (where the lite is plugged in) enough that it blocks most of the glow. Well, I decided the other night to just turn it off all together, and I figured by the time she came up & turned it on, I'd be fast asleep and wouldn't care.

Sounded good in theory.

BUT, I threw in another new element to our routine; I completely shut the door to our bedroom. We NEVER shut the door to our bedroom.

I'm still not even sure why I did but I do know that I expected my wife to go to the bathroom before the bedroom that night; well, she didn't.

Remember the whole "black as night" thing.

I did in fact fall asleep like expected, until my wife's face and our bedroom door had a passionate collision!! She ran into the door (thinking it was open) with FULL FORCE.

I think she even woke the neighbors.

It took me a minute to realize what happened as I woke to a bang, & the sound of my wife crying and laughing all at the same time. The laughing part was encouraging, because it meant that there was a good chance I'd at least survive the beating I was about to get.

Quickly the laughing replaced the crying all together, and then both of us laid there for 15 minutes in bed laughing almost hysterically.

It's safe to say that what my wife EXPECTED and what she EXPERIENCED were different that night. Thankfully we laughed it off in the end.

But what do we do when in our marriages the expectations and the experiences are more serious, and far more different, maybe even opposites.

This Sunday we continue on in our series, "Fighting For Your Marriage". This week we will look at the secret to dealing with the gap between what we expect in our marriages, and what we often experiencing.

You don't wanna miss!

See ya Sunday.

Yes Grace...But?

EXCELLENT article I read this morning on the beauty of grace and the dangers of legalism and religion.

Religion is man's effort to please God. Grace is Jesus work on the cross that did for us what our efforts and religion never can; makes us right with God because of His love and His sacrifice for us and on our behalf.

Read the following article and live today amazed at how deep the love of Jesus is for you.

Article HERE

Drinking In Life

Ever had those times when you just wanted to kick the ground and yell at whatever & whoever would listen?

"Yell about what", you ask?

Ya know, whatever -- I mean there is a lot to complain about everyday isn't there?!?!

And, if you're anything like me, then you easily do a lot of complaining. Complaining about...

• being tired
  
• not having enough
  
• people that have hurt you
  
• things that aren't fair
  
• being out of work
• kids that don't obey the way they should
  
• some jerk who cut you off
  
• the weather & the fast approaching cold
• the neighbor who hasn't raked his leaves yet
  

But ya know, there's a LOT MORE to be thankful for than to complain about.
Things like...

• the ability to read (which clearly you are doing now)
  
• a family that loves you
  
• your health
  
• the fact that you woke from your sleep today
  
• that summer comes after the winter
  
• that you are known & loved by God
  
• that when you embrace Jesus by faith that your eternal destiny changes from hell to heaven. Not sure if you realize it, but that is a pretty freaking BIG deal!
  
• that tonight you have a bed to lay down in, and a house to sleep inside of
  
• that you will eat today
  
• that you are known and loved by God. I know, I already said that one, but I also know that the first time you read it, you just read though it with no real reaction.
  

OK, so, there IS A GOD, his name is Jesus, He came from heaven to earth to make the introduction, & not only does He know about you in a general sense -- HE MADE YOU.

He knows EVERYTHING about you, He knows your name, He knows your address, He knows your fears, He knows your passions, He knows your hurts, He knows your dreams, He knows your sins that no one else does, He knows your doubts, He knows your thoughts, He knows, He knows everything about you -- AND HE IS NUTS ABOUT YOU!

I wonder for how many of us, we have heard that so many times, and believed it for so long that it has lost its potency, it has lost its wonder, it has lost its ability to overwhelm us with joy, and hope, and thankfulness. It has lost its ability to give us a reason to celebrate instead of complain.

I want to drink in life everyday I live it, but I'm not certain I can drink in the joys of life until I allow myself each day to drink in the joy of being known & loved by the life giver.

My prayer for you & I is that our passion for Jesus would increase EVERYDAY & that He would give to us a DEEP wonder and joy at the sheer beauty that He KNOWS us, and He LOVES us.

Maybe some of us just need to stop kicking the ground and complaining all day long about everything that is wrong in and around our life (by the way, by "some of us" i mean me). Start CHOOSING instead to celebrate the fact that no matter whatever else is going on...

• There is a God who exists
  
• His name is Jesus
  
• He is in control of all things
  
• He rose from the dead so we can have eternal life
  
• He is building heaven right now for us to live in one day
  
• Nothing in existence can separate us from His love
  
• He offers COMPLETE forgiveness of our sins and all we need do is accept it
  
• His cross worked
  
• His tomb is empty
  
• His throne is filled
  
• His love is everlasting
  
• His goodness is reissued to us every single morning
  
• Amen and AMEN!!

No matter what life throws at us, we followers of Jesus should be the most optimistic & most joyful people that exist. If you are not then maybe the hard truth is that your real hope in life is in something more than the worn cross, the empty tomb, the filled throne and the promised return.

Time to start celebrating that reality above all else. It will change not just your perspective but your entire way of life.

And In This Corner...

Weighing more that he did when they got married is....... MR. Husband!

And in this corner, weighing -- it's no one's business so don't worry about it -- is........ Mrs Wife!

Let the fight FOR your marriage begin!

I am SO excited about this next four weeks. Excited because I think God is going to use this series to do some beautiful work in all of our marriages. Whether just married, about to get married, or married for years, this series will challenge us all.

Invite a friend, invite your spouse, invite the person you hope will be your spouse, but just be there.

Check out the video link below to get you ready, and pass it along to anyone you want to invite to the series.

The video is HERE

See ya Sunday.

A Few Thoughts From Sunday

This last Sunday Paradox experienced Sunday morning church by being the church in action and deed.

Our auditorium was the outdoor sky, our instruments were our voices, our tools were rakes & blowers, our offering was our sweat, and our enemy was all the leaves on our neighbors lawns.

It was a crazy, cool day. I loved showing our neighbors that our God is a giver. So many of the people we went up to were so skeptical that they turned us down, and even said no to our offer to rake their leaves. One of my favorite stories of the day was a person that turned down one of our teams, but then saw the work they were doing on other lawns, and came back out and asked if they would still do his.

Another guy was walking his dog and jokingly asked, "wanna come rake mine". The response came back, "where do you live", to which he responded, "I'm just joking, but you guys remind me of a group that came and cleared a fallen tree from my lawn a year or so ago".

Guess what "group" that was? So, we knew just where he lived, and a team of people was sent over to his house and finished his leaves before he finished his walk.

At another house a young boy came out and gave us a hand on his lawn, and then started at one point to even gave a few minutes of work on his neighbors lawn too.

All day I just kept getting this picture of all these houses and the fact that likely, so many of them have no idea that there is a God who made them, & so desperately loves them. There is even a verse where Jesus says that He stands at our door, and knocks, and waits for us to invite Him in (Revelation 3:20).

I kept thinking that we were being Jesus, not just in serving, but in our knocking on doors. Every time a door was opened it created one more chance for the love of Jesus to pour into that home & into the lives of the people there.

I was proud to be a part of my church on Sunday. Proud to watch us put action to words, proud to watch us work so hard, proud to watch us laugh together, proud to see so many of us with our kids there teaching them that the way of Christ is a lifestyle not a belief.

I PRAY God will use our work to do SO MUCH more than just clear a few dozen lawns. I pray that a door opened on Sunday for some people, a door that will not close, but a door through which the love of Jesus will continue to walk through. I pray WE will continue to be changed too, changed as we embrace the call to LIVE OUT the Gospel.

In This Corner...

Ever feel like your marriage is one big VS match?

You need to make sure to join us this Sunday as we kick off a new series called

Fighting For Your Marriage

It's easy to get caught up in a marriage that feels like it fights more than it doesn't. So, starting this Sunday we'll spend 4 weeks unpacking some of the tools that will help you learn to fight FOR your marriage, not IN your marriage.

If you've been waiting for the right time to invite a friend, then this might just be the time. Make sure to be there on Sunday, bring a friend, and be ready for God to begin to go to work in your marriage.

The Hardest Thing For Me To Do

I've been reading in the book of Psalms recently and I have been stuck on one particular chapter.

When I say "stuck", I mean that I find it difficulty to just keep reading on because the content of of one chapter just keeps rattling in my brain. Even more than that, it's rocking my world as to how I think God thinks and feels about me; actually, about all of us.

Now, maybe you're not like me & maybe you live completed convinced all the time that God absolutely adores you. Maybe you have soooo fully embraced His grace that no matter what you do, no matter how many times you mess up, no matter what vengeful thoughts you have, lustful desires you cave to, or angry things you say to your spouse; you are confident in God's abundant love for you.

OR, maybe you're more like me, and you have had a difficult time REALLY believing and embracing God's pure & unmeasured love for you. Then, to make it more difficult, every time you "mess up", you feel like you and God just took two steps back, & now you have to work hard to get His love level for you back up.

This is how we relate to each other as people

No, matter how good the friendship or relationship, truth is, none of us know how to fully love without strings or agenda or without giving "pay backs" when something gets messed up in the relationship. And here's where it gets spiritually messy, we tend to assume that God relates to us the same ways that people do.

I have long felt like a guy who barley ever "gets it right", and as such I am prone to think that people are usually disappointed in me or are just a skip away from being disappointed in me. Then when I really mess up, I'm certain that they are going to take out a withdraw from their bank of love for me. Now, here's where that leaps into the way I experience God.

I tend to believe God relates to me this same way

Over the last two weeks my daughters have both gotten pink eye & even thought they are over it now, the process of giving them their medicine drops was CRAZY!!

They fought me every single time. It got to the point that I had to pin them down, pull their eyes open, and squeeze the drops in while they SCREAMED! I guess I could have thought...

• Don't you see that I'm helping you
• Hold still, you're being ridiculous, grow up & get control of yourself
  
• What, you don't trust me that I know best; stupid child
  
• If you kick me one more time then you're on your own
  
• I love you BUT after that behavior, I need my space for a while, please leave me alone.
  
• This behavior totally comes from your mom's side of the family! :)
  

But instead, I held them during their rage, AND I held them after it. I loved them the same when they were kicking me, as I did when they were sitting in my lap reading a story before bed saying, "daddy, I love you".

See, my love for them IS NOT contingent on their behavior or even their love for me.

David, the author of Psalms says in chapter 73 verse 22,

"I was senseless and ignorant, I was a brute beast before you"

I don't know about you but "senseless, ignorant beast" seems to describe me pretty well sometimes, ok, many times.

Whether it's my attitude, my sin, my failures to love my wife sacrificially, my "foot in mouth" with a friend, my doubting that God is both good & in control, the list goes on... I am aware that I am a work in progress and that I mess up a lot. But my method of relating with God has often been, "ok, I'll try to mess up less so that you'll love me & not be annoyed with me".

But watch what David says about how God loves Him even while he is being a brute beast.

Verse, 23

"Yet, I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand"

those don't sound like the actions of an angry God that doesn't want us around him & is taking away a portion of His love from us until we earn it back again.

Those sound like the actions of a good, patient & loving dad.

Those sound like the behaviors of a God whose love IS NOT contingent on our behavior or even contingent on our love for Him.

I LOVE the thought that no matter what I do, my God is my dad, His name is Jesus, and no matter if I am being a good son or a brute beast HE IS WITH ME, HOLDING MY HAND, and His love NEVER decreases, never needs be earned, never needs be repaid. You know what I feel in that place and in that reality...

SECURE & SAFE

And that place, is a place, it's THE place, where God works His glorious magic in us to make us into the sons and the daughters He dreams we can still become.

This is a place I am learning more & more to live from with God, and I am being changed by it.

May you live both safe & secure today, hand in hand with Jesus.

Yup, It's Tuesday Again

Since the day I take off each week is Monday, that means that Tuesday is my Monday, so I'm going to start calling them Muesdays. And Muesdays are, well, they're the first day of the week back to work, need I say more!

ALTHOUGH, my morning began today with an early rise and some sweet time spent with Jesus in prayer, & reading His word, & trying to listen for His voice. I read a blog this morning that said,

"I believe there is a direct connection between success & time with the Lord."

Now, I'm not sure what his definition of success is, but I was thinking about all things I would like success in today, probably a lot of the same things you do...

• Loving my wife well
  
• Keeping my temper
  
• Having a gentle & compassionate heart
  
• Giving my kids tons of energy & affection when I get home from work
  
• Seeing & stepping into the opportunities today that God gives me to be His witness
  
• Living out of trust with God and not fear
  
• Not falling asleep at my desk after lunch
  

So, whatever you have on your plate today that would create the places for success or failure, I hope you allow those words to ring true in your heart. Success is directly tied to your time with the Lord, where in a quiet place with you He can speak to you, comfort you & continue to shape you.

I also know that those times of quiet are so difficult to create sometimes. Maybe you need to take that time while the kids are napping today, or while at lunch, or on the ride home from work, or just take a really long bathroom break, read in the stall then come back to your desk with an exhausted look on your face; no one will ask anything!

I know this too, no one or nothing else, will fight for you to be able to have this time with God. I know it may feel like, "i can't afford the time" but may i suggest, you can't afford not to take the time. So, whatever your Muesday holds for you to do, I can promise, you will find your success tied to your connection & time spent with Jesus today.

Here's your Guerrilla Lovers Assignment today.

Map out how each day this week you can spend at least a solid 1/2 hour in prayer & reading the bible & listening for God's voice to you.

"How is that being guerrilla", you ask?

Our ability to love like guerrilla lovers comes from being saturated with the love of God. Creating regular space & time to sit & talk with God may be one of the best things you could ever do to serve the people around you in the name of our King & His kingdom.

Unrestrained Trust...

...produces unrestrained love!

That was how I closed the message last Sunday morning, and that phrase has been swirling around my head all week.

I am increasingly convinced that the most difficult task in the life of a follower of Jesus is to chose to daily TRUST JESUS, no matter the events, circumstances, tragedies or successes that surround you.

It seems like when things are going bad, we loose our trust in Him, and when things are going good we tend to attribute it to other things...

• our hard work
  
• dumb luck
  
• coincidence
  
• etc...

Not to say God has made us complete imbeciles that cannot do, decide or accomplish anything; like an infant that would just lay there are die without the interceding activity of it's parents.

BUT it is to say that we too often miss just how active a roll God does in fact play in our daily lives, and we easily miss that in that role, He works in ALL THINGS -- good, bad, tragic, and beautiful.

The trust that God is asking from us is so different that I think we often realize. He is not fundamentally asking us to trust that...

• He'll make everything work out
  
• Life will make sense
  
• You'll find a spouse
• We can change our city for Jesus
  
• that cats won't be in heaven (sry)
  

but trust that --- We actually do, and Deeply do, MATTER TO HIM.

When we believe that, then we can enter every situation in life with confidence that God is good & God is in control. Not to mention the fact that I really do believe it's only in this place of trust that we really, truly, care about the people around us, and long to make a difference for the kingdom.

God is, His name is JESUS & He is NUTS about you.

Our unrestrained trust in Him produces unrestrained love flowing out of us; love that flows back to Him, and love that flows to our fellow man.

So here's your Guerrilla Lovers Assignment for the weekend.

This assignment is to be accomplished sometime over the the next three days (so before Monday).

It's simple, get your favorite love story movie & watch it.

Now, I know some of you guys just thought, "chick flic!!!" That's not what I said, I could be, but not necessarily. One of my favorite love stories is the movie, A Knights Tale.

WHAT!?

For me, the love tale in this movie is the love of a father for his son. A love that sets the entire movie into motion, and then culminates into the realized dreams that a dad once had for his little boy.

So, whatever movie it is for you that has the ability to grab your inner emotions & place of love, WATCH IT some time this weekend. If your married then watch it together. As you watch the movie here is all I want you to do. Focus on the thought that the actions of love in the story (the pursuit, the sacrifice, the passion) are all the realities of How God feels about you, and has pursued you, and has sacrificed for you.

Perhaps the reason the themes of the movie pull at you has always been about a deeper reality than the movie, but the reality that love has been pursuing you since before you were ever even born, and it's name is Jesus.

Reversing The Order

I'm just getting back into my office after a morning of meetings with the E.A.C.H team.

If you haven't heard yet about E.A.C.H, well, it just may be the BIGGEST thing to hit the Metro Detroit area in decades, and it may possibly be one of the only times in our lifetime that we could see a move of God around us & among us like this.

I am CRAZY EXCITED. We rolled out the idea to a group of our leaders on Sunday after church & they are pretty stoked too. You will be hearing more & more very soon, but check out their website to learn a little more now.

Guerrilla Lovers Daily Assignment

Seems like yesterday's assignment stirred a lot of good things. Well, today's may stir the same but with more difficulty. Today I am asking you to reverse the order of yesterday.
Today, the challenge is to ask for forgiveness from someone you need to.

I think it's usually easier to extend forgiveness than to request it. But according to the the apostle Paul, it was the very embrace of HUMILITY that moved Jesus form heaven to earth...

Second chapter of the book of Philippians
⁵Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
⁶Who, being in very nature^a]">[a] God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
⁷but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature^b]">[b] of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
⁸And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
⁹Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

It takes nothing short of Jesus type humility to request forgiveness, to say those three little words, "I AM SORRY". It's a lot easier to say...

• you were wrong
  
• I hate you
  
• you're at fault
• I hate cats -- this has nothing to do with forgiveness, i just wanted to remind you that I do.
  

I realized over the last few weeks that I had been wrong in some assumptions I was making about someone, and I was then getting an attitude with them because of it. I had to confess that to them, apologize, & ask for their forgiveness. He was very gracious & willing to forgive & dismiss my offense; I think a friendship was birthed.

So, whether it's a co-worker, your spouse, a family member, a neighbor, WHOEVER. Today, get guerrilla by getting humble and asking for forgiveness to something that you know you need to.

Trust me, it will have greater impact for the kingdom that you can imagine. May you find the strength in Jesus to embody the humility of Jesus.

Keep sending in your stories, some really GREAT stories have been coming in, we want to know yours too. Send them to... mystory@paradoxchurch.com

The First To Die

So my sister called me this morning with, "check this out, I don't think anyone has ever had this thought before...", being the first thing out of her mouth. And immediately several things went through my head, like...

• No Rebecca, everyone HAS already realized that I am way cooler than you
  
• Actually Rebecca, we are all ALREADY aware that toilet paper was a good invention
  
• Well actually, everyone IS disturbed by the way Bob the builder was completely replaced by Handy Manny, very suspicious, clear conspiracy.
  

But she just kept talking while my brain kept imagining how she would finish this sentence.

And she finished with...

"even though Abel was the first person to ever die, that made him the FIRST person to EVER stand in the presence of God in heaven".

Hmmm, that wasn't one of the ideas running through my head.

If you're familiar with the story you may remember that Cain & Abel were the first two brothers of humanity; sons of Adam & Eve. And like all brothers, there was rivalry!

The story can be read HERE

Brothers are always trying to outdo each other and apparently with these two it wasn't any different, and the need to "outdo" for Cain, even extended into how he related to God. So, out of jealousy, Cain killed Abel. Usually the story ends here in our minds with regard to Abel. But, what a cool thought that my little sis had this morning.

Abel's tragedy became for him the experience of a life time that NO OTHER human ever got to have.

See, Abel was not just the first person to get to heaven, but in being the first he was there alone with God in full & pure form with NO OTHER human to have to share him with; at least for a while. That's BEAUTIFUL!

Often we kick the ground and get angry when things don't go our way, when life takes a U turn, when our plans don't seem to be working out, when people we love hurt us...
It's always easier to immediate get angry and think, "why me", "this isn't fair", "what did I do to deserve this", and then usually we find a person to blame for the situation we are in.

We blame our boss, a friend, our spouse, our kids, a co-worker; we look for our Cain to blame.

Now, I'm not trying to downplay that there are times in life that each of us have been mistreated, abused, and betrayed; some of us horribly so.

BUT - I wonder if some of us are so angry at our Cain that in our anger and imaginative revenge scenarios, are we oblivious to, and MISSING the fact that we are now standing in the presence of God.

I know that some of us have experienced horrible hurt & abuse by someone that we trusted and I am NOT downplaying that, or trying to say that some how what they did was actually good for us. But God is clear that He is powerful enough to take even the worst things done to us and squeeze something beautiful out of it.

It's what the apostle Paul was saying when he wrote in Romans 8:28,

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

What your "Cain" intended for evil, God will use for good & the best "GOOD" that God has to offer to us is always more of Himself, deeper relationship, more beautiful connection with His presence & love. We don't know what Abel did when he entered into heaven but I'm pretty certain he didn't stand at the edge of the heaven, staring back to earth & swearing at his stupid brother.

Whatever your Cain experience has been, if you're still standing at the edge of it, swearing at your stupid brother, then I pray you would TURN AROUND and see not only that God is there, but that He is waiting to birth something beautiful out of something painful.

This leads to our guerrilla lovers assignment for today.

I've been thinking about this one for a week, and I think now is a perfect time for it.

Who is your Cain? What would it look like for you to forgive them. If you're like me then you just went in your mind to the person that for you is the most difficult to forgive and you're thinking, "how the HECK am I going to do that!?!?".

Slow down tonto!

Start for today with someone else. Now, whoever the "most difficult person" is for you, I am not asking you to not eventually apply this to them, It's just that I realize there are some people that the process of forgiving is not going to be easy or quick. But, there are some "Cains" that we can more easily begin to forgive, and until we do I don't think we will see how Jesus is there in it with us, or how He is using it.

Talk to Jesus about how to do this. Do you write a letter, get together, or is this a decision you make in your heart today and then communicate it to them somehow latter. Jesus will lead you with wisdom if you ask Him.

Jesus, please grant us grace and strength to be the forgiveness you have been to us.

Holy Tuesday Batman!

Wow, I have been running like crazy today with meeting after meeting, call after call & STILL my in-box holds about 78 more "thing to do".

I need the sun to stand still for a few hours just so i can catch up.
So I apologize for such a late addition to the guerrilla lovers assignment today, but here it is.

I want you to clink in THIS LINK and watch the video. It's only about 6 minutes long & it's a clip from the conference I was recently at with a half dozen others from Paradox.

The speaker is a guy named Francis Chan, and I want you to listen to him talk about the weirdness of how we often and easily live out our Christianity. This Paradox, is the heart beat of the Guerrilla Lovers series, when we are REALLY in love with Jesus & in tune with HIS heartbeat, then, what flows from us will be powerful, will be beautiful, will be His kingdom.

But when we are disconnected for His heartbeat then what flows from us is not only un-biblical but it's a weird and warped form of Christianity. I love the line that he closes with (below) so watch the video and simply ask yourself if that's true for you, that's your assignment for today.

"I want my life to fit in this book (the bible) one day"

Kicking It Old School

Yesterday I was driving home from Chruch with my 2 three year old daughters in the car when they starting saying to me dad, "we're kicking it old school".

There was a song they sang yesterday that said that in it and so they sang it most of the rest of the day -- HALLARIOUS!!

Well, for today's guerilla assignment I want us to all kick it old school. In the Bible, in the Old Testament book of 1Thessalonians we are told to regulary encourage eachother. Verse 11 of chapter 5 says...

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing".

So, not only are we told to encourage eachother but there is an unmistakable link between our growing / being "built up" AND the levels and amount of encouragement we get / give to eachother.

We downplay the POWER of our words way to much.

Your assignment today is to send a note, email, phone call (u get the idea) of encouagment to someone else in our church. We all need to be more aware of the power we hold to BLESS eachother with our words, so use the power of ur words today to bless and build someone at Paradox.

Spread Some Good Gossip

Hey there guerrilla lovers!

Here's your assignment today - VERY easy!

Tell someone today about what we've been doing.

That's it? yup, that's it!

How is that a guerrilla lovers assignment? Well, we all know how FAST bad news spreads, let's see if we can spread good news as quickly, and with as much "passion to tell". There's a sumtin brewing and God is motivating His people in very cool ways.

So, find a way, an excuse, an opportunity to share with someone today about this thing called guerrilla compassion, and then take a minute to share with them a picture, a vision of what could happen if our city was overrun by people loving people.

So, you may need to walk out of your cubical, talk to your neighbor when you get home, start a conversation with a stranger, or just....

But, figure out a way today to casually share with someone (that doesn't know what we are doing) about what you've been doing these last two weeks with these assignments of compassion.

By the way, today is garbage day at my house, above is a picture of what we did for our garbage guys. We baked cookies & put them in a box with a few cokes, a letter to thank them, & a gift card to Tim Hortons - I LOVE how excited my kids are by this.

God bless !!

Guerilla Love Fest Day Assignment 11

For your assignment today make plans to give back or pass on something someone once gave to you.

Last night I had a friend give me back a gift I had once given them.

Now you can either conclude that I'm a crappy gift giver, and that they finally got the courage up to give it back (my wife has been known to do this a time or 2, which isn't a reflection of her appreciation, but a reflection of my "oh, u shouldn't have.." gift giving). Or, you can assume that they had the desire and opportunity to gift back to my wife & I what we once gifted to them.

So, they are my inspiration this morning. Maybe you give this thing to the person that once gave it to you, or you pass it on to someone else. Maybe it's the very same thing, or a new version of it. Maybe it's an actual thing, or money, or a service. The point is, pass on a blessing that someone once passed to you.

Spend tonight talking about this as a family then do it over the weekend. This is your Saturday & Sunday assignment "to do" assignment, tonight is planning.

Bringing the impact of the kingdom by LIVING IT OUT!

Get Guerrilla!

Some Good News

In case you missed it somehow, click HERE to see video of the first trapped miner in Chile being rescued.

In a day when the news seems to only LOVE bad news, it's great to see something good on T.V. being covered as priority news.
Watch for the little boy in the video, POWERFUL. I wonder if the miner being pulled out is his dad.

Can you imagine how different that little boy day is going to be today from yesterday.

Maybe that's a lesson for all of us, have you connected yet today with the one called Heavenly Father. When we learn to live in the grip & hold of our heavenly father, it changes the focus, priorities, joy, purpose, EVERYTHING of our day.

How do you live in the grip of Jesus? Well, there's no perfect, "do this, then that" answer. But, did you notice the emotion, and the intensity on the little boy's face? All he wanted was his dad.
My prayer for you & I today is that we will long with PASSION for our father who Himself emerged form the depths of the earth (the grave) to embrace us.

Guerrilla Lovers Assignment # 10

Ok, today is going to get a little more involved. All of us know somewhere where we're likely to see / find someone asking for help (begging for food, asking for money, etc...). At some point today, go to that place & help.

Bring big mac, or a whopper or something and pass it off. That's it.

I hope if you have a family that you're involving your kids in these assignments. let your kids see you do it, be a part of the planning, & let them feel the weight of a mom & dad serious about living out the kingdom of God to the people around them. Teaching our kids to go to church just teaches them to go to church, teach them to BE the church.

Go get guerrilla, loving Jesus, loving people, changing our city.

Kibbles & Bible

Do you often have a difficult time reading & understanding the bible?

If you answered "NO", then you must be from another planet.

Ok, so truthfully, what do you do? Do you plow through it, determined to at least "get it over with"? Do you put it aside & think, "at least I tried". Do you hide it in the dog's dish so he will chew it up and call it "kibbles & bible" so that you can say your dog ate it, or do you just wait for Sunday and let someone else make sense of it for you?

The thing is, the bible is a love letter, or rather, a collection of 66 love letters from the God of creation, to His creation, that's you & me. If we never or even only seldom read it then we will end up with as shallow of an understanding of God Himself as most of us have of the bible.
I know in our world of fast, transaction, information (twitter, FB, texting, etc...) we like knowledge to come in short, simple, and instant bursts. Unfortunately this is also why we know about so many things, but understand so little.

But, what about the whole hard to read part? Well, I completely agree that there are parts of the bible that can be so difficult to understand that it just gets discouraging to keep reading, but there are other parts that are so so simple that my 3 year old daughters get it!

But I think that's part of the problem. Too often we read the bible so broken up, that of course it doesn't make sense.

Over the summer I saw the movie Inception -- which was AMAZING -- but that movie was hard enough to follow having started it from the beginning. If you saw it, could you imagine having only seen parts of the movie, not in order, and then asking several different friends to try fill in the blanks for you afterwords - exactly!! You wouldn't have understood the movie - AT ALL. Matter of fact I think you need to see the movie a few times over to really get it. I mean, what the heck, was the top going to fall or not at the end!?!?!

The bible is a best selling story of such epic conflict, and romance, and climax that there is no way to "get it" when we read it in pieces, or when we solely rely on other people to help us understand it. Heck, even if you were to read it cover to cover you'd still have a lot of questions, & doing it again would answer some of them while creating others still.

Point? The point is, did you walk out of inception in the middle or when it got confusing, did you decide to just go play video games in the lobby? Stay with it, ask the Holy Spirit of God to give you understanding, & enjoy the fact that this is humanity's most beautiful story.

The complexity is an invitation INTO the story, an invitation to move to the edge of your seat with awe & wonder - "what just happened...". So, sit at the edge of your seat, don't get up & don't leave.

I would recommend to help you see the fuller nature of the "story" and how it makes more sense when read together, that you get a book called, "66 Love Letters" by a guy named Larry Crabb. I promise you won't regret using this as a guide to the Bible. I'm reading it right now & LOVING it.

Move to the edge of your seat, the best parts of the story are yet to come!

Guerrilla Lovers Assignment #9
For those of you looking here for today's assignment, here it is.
So often the person we so easily miss being a blessing to is our spouse. Today do something for your spouse that will surprise them & be a gift to them. Dudes, may I suggest that a gift card to Victoria secrets is not a gift for them! If you are not married then write a brief note of thanks to a couple that you know that serves as an example to you of the kind of marriage you want to have, and the kind of husband / wife you want to be.

Go get guerrilla, changing our city, in the name of Jesus, one act of compassion at a time.

Who Collects Your Garbage

Yesterday we talked at Paradox about learning to notice the people and the needs that are already, and always around us.

Possibly the most ignored, and never met person in each of our lives is our garbage man.
Your assignment today is to plan for how you can serve and thank your garbage man this week.

Maybe you leave him a 6 pack of pop, or bake him some cookies, or offer him your neighbor's annoying dog that barks all night - jk.
Whatever you do, make sure to leave a small note with it so he doesn't just throw it away or think you're trying to poison him.
What would be best, is if you are still home when the garbage guys typically get to your house, and you go personally give them what you plan and personally thank them.

Wouldn't it be cool if the same garbage guys have this happen to them several times, they'd think the world was turning upside-down; kinda the point too, isn't it!

Ok, so go plan but still keep your eyes open today, there are other ways God will use you if you're moving slow enough to see.

Road Trip

We're headed home! I can't wait to see my family tonight and my church tomorrow, please pray we have an uneventful trip home.

Sean is at the wheel, the gps is already shaming our directional intelligence, and everyone is waking up, back to Detroit we go.

For today's Guerilla assignment, day 6, take the opportunity to look back over the week and and do one of two things. Either, repeat one of your favorite assignments or make up one of the ones you missed. Or get crazy and make your own, weekends will be free days so make sure to tell us what you do, especially if you make up your own.

See ya tomorrow paradox.

Everyone Is Selling Something

Welcome to day 5 of guerrilla lovin! If you've accomplished every task so far then super good for you! You Rock, truly.

If you missed one or more of the assignments then you're probably not alone. Don't get discouraged, if you miss a day then just get back into it the next day. The point isn't perfection, but steady & intentional, progress.

So as I get ready to head in for day 2 of the conference here is the assignment for today...

Put something you no longer need on Craig's list free spot for your area

We love to buy things, use them up, then sell them to make (usually) an insignificant buck back. And I know that every dollar counts so, even if you get $5 for something you spent $75 on, "at least it's something".

But I bet that item would mean so much more to some one truly needing it than the few bucks you'd get for selling it would mean to you.

Don't forget to be sending us your stories at mystory@paradoxchurch.com

Go get guerrilla!!

Guerrilla Lovers -- Day 4

It's very early right now as the van full of us make our way to the conference center with 13,000 other people that are here for the same conference. I'm not going to get excited though until I get some coffee in my body -- me need java!! Maybe when I get a cup full of the black liquid gold then Sean's joke will finally be funny.

So here's your Guerilla Loveers, love fest assignment #4
Often times, the chances we miss to be compassionate in the name of Jesus has more to do with being to busy to notice than just being unconcerned. So, today, make a point of introducing yourself to someone you see all of the time or at least often but never say hello to.

Go get guerrilla!

On The Road

So right now I'm in the van, on the road, and headed to Atlanta with 6 other people from Paradox.
Tom is driving and taking the curves a little fast -- ok, he's freaking me out right now!!

If he doesn't slow down I just might start screaming like a little girl or spill my hot coffee on him. But that will likely result in a crash so it looks like screaming is my only real option.

Today is day 3 of our Live Fest Project and here is your assignment today.

Guerrilla lovers, Love Fest 2010 assignment # 3

Today I want you to take second place all day (or maybe even 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc...). We are so inclined to be first at everything. Whether it's first in line, grabbing the closest parking spot, not letting the guy over who is trying to change lanes, quicker to walk through a door than to hold the door for someone else, grabbing the last of what you were eating instead of asking if anyone else wanted it; getting the idea!

So today, choose all day, at every opportunity, to put someone else ahead of yourself.

And if by chance some one asks you, "why", or even just says, "thanks", just smile and tell them, "love wins, God bless".

Don't forget to start telling us you stories at, mystory@paradoxchurch.com

The Clowns Are Taking Over

For all of you with a fear of clowns, you're finally proved right! They've begun in Argentina, but don't think they aren't headed this way.

Read HERE and remember that I warned you here first.

Tomorrow, bright & early a group of Paradox people are headed down to Atlanta until Saturday. We will be there for a conference called Catalyst. If you check out the website you can join in on line for several aspects of the 4 day experience. We will all be driving there so please pray for safety of travel, pray that God speaks to us while there. Pray also that what He does to excite us we can all bring back to all of you.

Lastly, looking here for the day 2 Guerrilla lovers Love Fest task, then here it is.

Assignment # 2 -- Write a thank you note or letter to someone that wouldn't be expecting it. God brings a lot of people into our lives as a part of His process of shaping, and molding us, and loving us. Today, write a letter or at least a short note to someone that has been this kind of a person in your life & simply thank them. It doesn't have to be a long 20 page letter, it may just be a card with a short note. Maybe it's a funny card or a serious letter, it doesn't matter, do what is natural to who you are. However, try to make it handwritten and not email.

There is just something so much more personal & meaningful about a note like this when it was physically handled by the person sending it.

Love Fest 2010 - Day 1

Day 1, assignment # 1

For those of you at Paradox yesterday you know what this is. For those of you not there, catch up by listening HERE then join in.

Assignment: At some point today find out what a particular co-worker likes to drink or eat in the morning, and then pick one up for them on your way in tomorrow or a gift card to get one. Maybe a bagel, a doughnut, a coffee, etc... Another option is to do this for a neighbor living by you. Today is planning, tomorrow is delivery. If it's for a neighbor then leave it on their car before they come out in the morning. Leave a note (so they don't worry about turning the key in the ignition) that just says something like, "good neighbors MAKE the neighborhood, just wanted to say thanks".

Let's change our city, in the Name of Jesus, one small act of love after another.
let's get guerrilla -- God bless!!

Do You Tweet

Paradox is getting a twitter account.

Beginning on Monday morning we will start posting on our new twitter account. So, if you don't have one then get one. If you do have one then look us up and follow us.

Why?

Well, because Monday morning is the kick off to what we are calling our GOING GUERRILLA revolt, it's in response to our new Sunday morning series that will begin in just a few days.

What is the revolt? well, we hear there are ravage gorillas running loose in South East Michigan so we're hunting em down and making rugs! So, dudes with hairy chests & backs better stay in doors!

Sometimes I think I am the only one that laughs at myself, then my good friend Tom reminds me that is true, well, I though it was funny.

Actually the revolt is a revolt of love. Every single morning for the entire month of October we will be posting daily tasks that are simple ways to show the good news of Jesus love through good deeds.

MAN! This could be a crazy, exciting, life changing month so you better be planning on joining us because if you do, it just may change you & people around you, if you don't, I promise, you'll miss out.

Here's the twitter page CLICK HERE . We will also be posting these tasks on our facebook page too - CLICK HERE

Get ready to go guerrilla!