In the Zone

A few days ago, I took my family to a local ice cream shop for dessert. Amongst the wonderful flavors of sugary goodness I beheld, I noticed something else.  As we walked in the door (about an hour before closing time), one of the veteran workers asked a younger worker if she wanted to try taking our orders.  With a mix of fear and excitement, she nodded her head and approached the counter. Over the next few minutes, we debated our order (which you must do if you have a three-year-old in the mix), then we kindly recited our desires to the young lady at the register.  Carefully, she punched the necessary buttons, pausing every few seconds to glance over her shoulder at the veteran worker to make sure she got it right. My wife and child scurried over to find a seat while I stayed behind to pay the bill.  A few minutes later out came our ice cream treats, all made to our exact specifications.  We sat for a few minutes and ate our cones whi...

When I was younger, I never really read directions. If I received a video game for Christmas or my birthday, I would quickly unwrap the game and shove it into the console.  You figured out how to play the game by experience, not be reading the instructions.  How I wish were true for all things in life.  Unfortunately, it's not.  Many projects I've done - including putting together the crib for my child - required extensively reading the instructions before starting.  It makes the process go smoother and quicker. When I began collecting Star Wars LEGO sets, instructions became more important.  The little LEGO bricks only fit together a certain way to make the item pictured on the box.  Some of the sets I had were over 1,000 bricks.  Without the reading the instructions, the item would never be constructed. We have an instruction book for life, but we often play the game and try to learn by experience. God's instructions for us are contain...

I remember early in my ministry.  I'd come in at 3 in the afternoon wondering what lesson I would teach just three hours later.  What followed was an hour of frantically searching scripture, idea books, the Internet and even asking friends for advice.  Next came a rapid two-hour lesson preparation, before teaching.  Inevitably, I taught the same topics routinely.  Often times, I would quote the same scriptures over and over.  That's pretty much how it went for my first two years of ministry.  I literally dreaded Wednesday afternoons.  I'm not sure my lessons were all that great either.  There was not enough forethought into what I was teaching students. That's when I began thinking about long-term lesson planning.  I began to develop a teaching schedule, mainly using my own curriculum or lesson ideas.  This time, instead of walking in Wednesday afternoon and figuring out the lesson, I knew weeks in advance what scripture I wou...

I'll admit.  I'm not good with tools.  Once, I went to hang up a painting in my house.  After I put 10 holes in the wall, my wife asked me to stop.  She then went back and hung up the painting in one try.  As a result, I'm no longer trusted with handy-man duties. For whatever reason, God did not bless me with those abilities.  It's something I came to grips with many years ago.  (And something my wife probably still laments to this day.) However, just because I can't use tools doesn't mean God can't use me.  As the master craftsman, God knows exactly how to use each tool in his belt.  He knows when construction crews are needed and when computer technicians are a better fit.  He knows where to place teachers and where to position leaders.  He has exactly designs and plans. As a follower of Jesus, I get the privilege of being a tool in God's tool belt.  I don't know if I'm the screwdriver or the hammer or even a pair of ...

At Vacation Bible School this week, I offered a daily prize to students.  Every day they brought their Bible, they received a candy bar. Amazingly, by day three, almost every student proudly toted a Bible under their arm to class.  I'm glad students brought their Bibles.  We used them a lot this week.  What's sad is it took a candy bar for them to do so. Don't get me wrong - I understand many students use their iPhones, iPads, Kindles, etc for their Bibles.  I have a Bible on my iPhone.  However, that's not the issue.  The issue is many students simply don't know God's word. In fact, it's not just students.  As a country, Americans are more Biblically illiterate that any time since our founding in 1776. Don't believe me?  Look at these numbers from a recent survey: More than 60 percent of Americans can't name either half of the Ten Commandments or the four Gospels of the New Testament. Some 80 percent including "born aga...

I've never experienced a true famine. I've participated in the 30-Hour famine numerous times.  I've fasted on many occasions.  However, I've never wanted for food simply because it wasn't available. I've never been more than a trip to the fridge or a drive to Walmart away from food to eat. I understand famine can have devastating effects.  I've seen the infomercials asking for donations to feed the hungry and care for the starving.  I know how extreme drought can ruin farmers and their families.  I don't take famine lightly. There is, however, a famine worse than no rain or insect infestation. "'The days are coming,' declares the Sovereign LORD, 'when I will send a famine through the land-- not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD.'" - Amos 8:11 God declared that people would not hear the words of the Lord.  He would be silent.  They would seek after his counsel and wis...

It always takes a couple of days to recover from camp. It's not just the physical exhaustion either.  That goes away after a good night's sleep.  It's the mental exhaustion that sticks with you.  After six days of teenagers, a tight schedule, a new routine, processing God's word, dynamic preaching and worship, late night conversations and even pranksters, your mind grows weary.  I find it takes three or four days before you mentally recover from a week-long youth trip.  I liken it to the story of Elijah.  After battling the prophets of Baal and proving that God is the only true God and after ending the drought, Elijah flees.  He calls out to God in despair in 1 Kings 19. 10 He replied, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, broken down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too." Here Elijah has jus...