austinklee

This week at Buckhead Church we had the privilege of hearing from Scot McKnight (http://blog.beliefnet.com/jesuscreed/).  Several years ago he wrote a book called The Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others and his sermon on Sunday set up what the Jesus Creed is and how you can apply it in your life.

Considerable time was spent telling the story of the Shema, the Jewish prayer.  “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut.6:4-5 NIV )  To hear the complete message go to: http://www.buckheadchurch.org/messages

The central idea: How do you love God and how do you love other people?  There are 613 commandments in Jewish law all of them can be separated into loving God and loving others according to Dr. McKnight.  He also points out that Jesus was able to break down these 613 commandments into two commandments.  This is the Jesus Creed:  “…’Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’  The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”

Obviously this is a VERY watered down explanation, however, it is sufficient to proceed and answer the questions!

Dr. McKnight asked a very interesting question during his sermon: “Who annoys you?”  I have to admit that my list wasn’t a short one: people that don’t know how to drive, people that don’t pay attention to their surroundings, people that walk on the wrong side of the hallway in the mall, etc.

I think identifying your neighbors that you should love as yourself is pretty easy.  Doing something about it is the hard part.

Question 1: How are you showing your neighbors that you love them like you love yourself?

I know you won’t believe this, but in my Journal during the worship service I put a note in about Billy Mays.  This was about an hour before we all went to lunch and I saw a twitter about his death.  His show, “Pitchmen,” is one of my new favorite shows.  The show follows Billy and Anthony Sullivan as they work with would be inventors to market their products via “As Seen on TV” ads.

The rules for accepting a product are set in stone by Mays and Sullivan: It must be something that fills a need (solves a problem), It must be easily explained, It must have a sort of “wow” demo – proof that the product does what it says, and it must have the right pricing structure. (Paraphrase from an Article by Scott Pooler, Tampa Internet Business Examiner).

In much the same way this is what the Jesus Creed calls us to do with our lives.  Jesus fills the needs of our neighbors, grace is easily explained, it doesn’t cost anything, and most importantly: If we will just love others in the way that we love ourselves that will be one MAJORLY impressive demo!

Question 2: How are you doing in your infomercial?

The final point from Sunday was how to live out the Jesus Creed.  In Matthew 10:42 Jesus says, “And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward.”  Jesus calls us to use whatever we have to turn everyday people into everyday neighbors.  Even something as small as a cup of water.

I couldn’t help but think about the fountains downtown in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta.  These fountains are more like gysers that have been placed in the pavement and during the summer children will run back and forth in the fountain getting wet.  The jets of water shoot up from the ground at random and catch the children by surprise.

On December 31, 2003 my friend Bryan Bland was running through the fountain trying not to get hit by the cold water on a very chilly December night.  He was successful in making it through everytime except the last time.  Just as he was about to get through for the last time a jet of water sprang up and soaked his back and part of his pants.  He wasn’t expecting to get wet.

Those fountains should represent our desire to not only provide those in our lives with a cup of cold water, but to SOAK them with cold water when they least expect it.  We have buckets of water at our disposal.  Scot McKnight challenged us to live the Jesus Creed for a month to see how it changes us.  Let’s not be content this month to simply hand out cups of cold water.

Let us pour that water over our cities and our towns.  Let us give that water to our families, our coworkers, our friends, and most importantly to those people that annoy us.

Question 3: Who do you need to pour water on this month?

Question 4: What are you waiting for?

I am a little late this week in getting out the Sunday Conversation!  I was out of town last weekend and just got a chance to listen to Andy’s message yesterday.  After hearing it I am kind of glad I am a little late getting this out because it gives everyone a chance to practice!

My brother is a really funny and talented guy.  He is the kind of guy that attracts attention without even trying.  We were eating at our favorite Chinese restaurant back home in Fayetteville, NC a few years ago and he launched into the story about his tonsillectomy.  Somewhere, about 3/4 of the way through the story I looked around the restaurant and everyone was paying rapt attention.  Some people had even turned their chairs around to listen.  That is my brother.  However, don’t ask him to tell a story, sing a song, tell a joke, or perform in any other manner or you will likely hear this, “Nope.  This isn’t dance monkey dance.”  Obviously this is a reference to the organ grinder monkeys that dance on command when someone drops a coin into their canister.  He sometimes grows weary of people wanting him to perform, its as if he knows that they expect him to do something funny or great at the drop of a hat.

This weeks message from Andy Stanley was the last in the series “Staying In Love.”  The focus of this message was on the gap between expectations and behavior in relationships.  Andy says that when expectations differ from behavior you have two options: Assume the Worst or Believe the Best.  Andy suggests that we can all agree on certain Biblical definitions of how love should look.

Read I Corinthians 13:4-6

Question 1:  How can you improve on these areas in your relationships?

Part of this gap in the expectations is due to past experiences.  As Andy mentioned in his message, Verse 7 is pretty hard to believe.

“Love always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Each of us has experienced times in which each of these were not true in our relationships.  Whether it was a parent, boyfriend, girlfriend, Fiance, Wife, Husband, child, etc.; each of us finds that verse hard to believe because we have experience that teaches us that it does not really work that way.

Courtney and I decided this week to try as hard as we can to “believe the best” about each other and try to put verse 7 into practice.  I can tell you that its not easy.  Its not that I don’t believe Courtney wants the best for me.  Courtney doesn’t doubt my love for her at all.  Our past experiences get in the way.

Andy introduced us to Mr. and Mrs. Mug last week.  They were ordinary drinking mugs (think frost A&W Root Beer mugs) filled with blue or pink beads.  The beads were meant to be all of the past, hurt, pain, “anti verse 7″ things that each of us bring into relationships.  These beads come from our past experiences.  The reason that I had a hard time with verse 7 this week had nothing to do with Courtney and everything to do with me looking at her through the lens of my past experiences.

Question 2: Have you tried verse 7 with your significant other, boss, co-workers, etc.?

Question 3: What past experiences with relationships affect your ability to live out verse 7?

I listen to a radio show on G105 (WDCG, 105.1FM) from Raleigh, NC called Bob and the Showgram.  Its a morning show that at times can be crude and is definitely not safe for the whole family due to the nature of many of their conversations.  However, there are times that are truly profound.  Bob Dumas is the ringleader of the show and he says of marriage, “You can be right or you can be happy, but you can’t be both.”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little as Andy explained that you can be right, right, right, but if it gets in the way of believing the best then you won’t be happy.  Once again, Bob Dumas hit the nail on the head.  The goal in your marriage shouldn’t be to win.  Its not a competition.

Marriages like these evolve into old western movies.  One person holds the gun and slings bullets of unmet expectations at the feet of their partner and says, “Dance monkey, dance.”

Question 4: Do you find yourself trying to win in your relationships?

Question 5: Does your significant other think you are trying to win your relationship?

I am getting married on June 6, 2009.  As a part of our ceremony we are having a responsive reading.  I asked my Dad to write the responsive reading in such a way that it not only challenges Courtney and I, but also challenges everyone else in attendance.  I have taken the liberty to change all of the “we’s” into “I’s”.

Read this to each other, then switch parts and read it again.

Reader 1: When I feel agitated and irritable within, I am tempted to be harsh and pushy.

Reader 2: Love is patient.  Love is kind.

Reader 1: Sometimes I get resentful when others receive attention which causes me to overstate my importance and become showy.

Reader 2: Love does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud.

Reader 1: If my heart is unguarded, I can easily become abrasive and self-centered. I become short tempered, and I want to keep score.

Reader 2: Love is not rude; it is not self-seeking; it is not easily angered; it keeps no record of wrongs.

Reader 1: Sometimes I want to look at the weaknesses in others instead of the good that is trying to grow in them.

Reader 2: Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices in the truth.

Reader 1: When life gets hard, I find myself wanting to quit.

Reader 2: Love bears all things.

Reader 1: My mind is prone to doubting.

Reader 2: Love believes all things.

Reader 1: Sometimes I become negative and cynical.

Reader 2: Love hopes all things.

Reader 1: There are days when the weight of responsibility seems more than I can bear.

Reader 2: Loves endures all things.

Reader 1: What do I do, when I don’t know what to do?

Reader 2: Love never fails.

It is my hope that you will read this with your partner regularly.  Memorize it.  Live your life in such a way that others can recite these words just by seeing your relationship in action.  I agree with Andy:  The world will be most impacted for Christ if couples can put these truths into practice.

Question 6: What is one thing you can do to start living these words now?

Next Sunday Conversation coming up soon!!  (I promise it won’t be a week late!)

My little brother is an amazing musician.  He can sing just about any song, any style, and even a couple of languages.

However, my favorite song that he has ever performed has these lyrics: “My God is so high you can’t get over Him; He’s so wide you can’t get around Him, He’s so low you can’t get under Him. You must come in by and through the Lamb.”

You often hear about God being big and doing big things.  He helped Noah build a huge boat.  He helped Gideon destroy a huge army.  He parted the waters to allow the Israelites to escape Egypt.  He sent his Son to die on the Cross to save the entire world from its sin.

We have heard about God’s power, His strength, and His omniscience.  I was reminded yesterday of the two best qualities of God.  His gentleness and His love.

I need to back up a bit and tell you a couple of stories one about Elijah and the other about a horrific tragedy.

Elijah

If you want to read this whole story it can be found in 1 Kings, chapters 18 and 19.  God had just performed a miracle through Elijah by ending the drought in Israel.  Jezebel, the Queen, was not happy with Elijah and threatened to kill him.  (The fact that Elijah didn’t trust God at this point is a great story for another time.)  Elijah runs to a cave and hides out to save his own life.  God instructs Elijah to go to the mouth of the cave and wait for the Lord to pass by.  A powerful wind came, then an earthquake, and then a great fire came, however, God was not in any of those loud and obvious events.  Soon after the great fire Elijah heard a gentle whisper.

God was in the whisper.  Elijah experienced the presence of God in a whisper.

Ok.  Hold on to that thought for a minute.

Tragedy

On July 25, 2006, Jennifer Ewing was riding her bike on the Silver Comet Trail near Atlanta, GA when she was attacked and murdered.  On Monday, May 18, 2009, Michael Ledford was found guilty of her murder in Paulding County Superior Court.

I went to the first full day of the sentencing portion of the trial on Tuesday, May 19, 2009.  As I walked into the courtroom and sat down the court was in the midst of deciding which of the audio tapes from prison would be admitted to support the prosecution in their bid to sentence Mrs. Ewing’s killer to death.  The tapes that were played caused me to be even more angry with Mr. Ledford than I was when I got to court.

He complained about the cable television channels he was able to watch, he complained that his family wasn’t sending him money fast enough, he complained about being on suicide watch, and on the list goes of things he complained about.  Just before the jury came back into the courtroom the prosecutor gave a brief description of another audio tape that he wanted to play.  It was a phone call between Michael Ledford and his 14 year old niece.  The description of the phone call was not pleasant.  I assumed that a 20 second description of a 20-30 minute phone call would have only the out of context highlights and therefore the actual call wouldn’t be as bad as it sounded.  I could not have been more wrong.

As the conversation was played tears came to my eyes as he described himself as famous.  As his niece related to him as if he was on a reality television show and not in jail for murder.  The news media was described as “paparazzi” there to take photos of Mr. Ledfords family for some gossip magazine and not because her uncle was accused of murdering a wife and mother of three.  He asked his 14 year old niece to send him picture of her and her friend in bikinis.  He agreed when she asked if it would make him feel “warm and fuzzy inside.”  He told her to send him a letter addressed to “Handsome Mike”.  He told her that if she came to visit him he wanted her to wear skimpy clothes and bring her friend.  He told her that she didn’t need to worry about jogging on the Silver Comet Trail, that he would make sure all the bad guys knew to leave her alone.  He talked about the injuries he sustained to his genitalia and that he was healing okay and was able to “carry his parts.”

Until May 19, 2009, I had never been in the same room with evil.  It was sickening to hear him talk about his inconveniences in jail while I knew the pain and torment that he had caused the Ewings.  While we were grieving with the Ewings, it seemed as if he was already moving on to his next victim, his own niece.  A chill ran down my spine as I sat on the hard wooden bench in the courtroom.  You could hear a pin drop.

There in the eerie, sickening silence, after hearing the worst thing I have ever heard in my life, I heard a gentle whisper that could only come from God: “I love him, just as much as I love you.”

Just like with Elijah, God showed up in a whisper.  The still small voice from deep within my soul reminding me once again of a love that is so amazing, so complete, and so out of the ordinary that He loves us in spite of our brokenness.

With the personification of evil right in front of me in the courtroom I could hear my little brother’s voice in my head singing, “My God is so high you can’t get over Him; He’s so wide you can’t get around Him, He’s so low you can’t get under Him. You must come in by and through the Lamb.”

My God is so big.

As most of you probably know my Dad is a minister in North Carolina.  When I was growing up my Dad and Mom would always have a discussion with me and my brother during lunch on Sunday about our Sunday School lesson and/or the sermon that my Dad just preached.  It was a great way for my brother and I to reconnect with the things that we learned at church.  I noticed that at Buckhead Church they provide similar tools for parents and their children with KidStuf, in the form of a “to-go” box of activities parents can do with their kids during the week.

While I was sitting in Church this morning listening to Andy’s sermon I started thinking about how I, as an adult, could somehow make a connection later this week with the stuff Andy was talking about on Sunday morning.  I began to jot down some questions that I was going to go through with Courtney this week to help us reconnect with what we heard this morning.  As I began to jot down these questions (which I think are pretty good and thought provoking) I wondered if others might like a semi-formalized way to reconnect this week.

So here’s how it works.  I will post some thoughts and questions about the message here on the blog.  At some point during the week you sit down and take 10-15 minutes to work through the questions.  (I recommend doing this with a partner.  Your husband/wife, fiance, boyfriend/girlfriend, roommate, accountability partner, friend, etc.)  The point is to talk through these questions with someone else.  (Even on the phone.)  I don’t need or want a report on your answers.  (Except the first week…I do kind of want to know if you like the questions, idea, etc.).  I just think this would be a great way for us as adults to have the lessons we learn on Sundays firmly planted in our hearts and minds.  Please feel free to forward on to anyone that might like this.  Without further ado…

______________________________

When I was in College, I was a part of the Mars Hill College Choir Chamber Singers. As a music major I was invited to be a part of this group during the fall semester of my Freshman year. One of the first pieces I can remember singing with this group was an old spiritual arranged by the great Andre Thomas called, “Keep your Lamps!”

Here are some of the Lyrics:

Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin’
Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin’
Keep your lamps trimmed and burnin’
The time is drawing nigh.

Children don’t get weary
Children don’t get weary
Children don’t get weary
’til your work is done.

Christian journey soon be over
Christian journey soon be over
Christian journey soon be over
The time is drawing nigh

-Anonymous

Its based on Luke 12:35-40:

35″Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, 36like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. 37It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. 38It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. 39But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. 40You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”

I liked the song because it is a wonderful hopeful piece of music, but this week I found new meaning in its words. You see this week I spent a lot of time waiting. Apart from the normal waiting at traffic lights, and for people to act like they drove a car before, I waited to get well.

My roommate Jimmy and I were both stricken this week with some sort of Flu bug. It knocked us out cold for 3 days.

Jimmy, unlike me, slept the days away in his room. God made me however to be someone that can’t go back to sleep once I wake up. (Thanks, Mom, I know I get that from you!) So I spent plenty of time this week waiting. I watched countless hours of daytime television. I can probably breakdown this weekend’s Superbowl XLII better than most real football fans. I have heard coverage from every angle possible.

The funny thing about waiting is that in order to wait there has to be something worth waiting on. In this case feeling good again, its worth the wait. As stir crazy as I was, I forced myself to sit and not move all around: to just let my body and the medicine do what it was supposed to do.

Waiting also requires a readiness. When the acne-faced teenaged boy with a corsage sits nervously in the living room with a girls father on prom night he is ready to go! He is waiting! You see it wouldn’t do very much good for him to sit and wait if he still had on shorts and a t-shirt! You can’t wait unless you are ready to go, ready to put that foot toward the door.

Waiting requires patience. Sometimes traffic lights take too long late at night. There are no cars coming in any direction but still the light is red for 2 or 3 minutes. Its very tempting to go ahead and jump the gun and cross through that intersection, but we exercise patience with the process and we wait to go until our light is green.

This is what Jesus was referring to in this little parable. He reminds us that He is coming back, we should be ready, and we should be patient.

What kinds of things are you waiting on in your life? Are you waiting for a new job? Are you waiting for test results? Are you waiting for direction?

Waiting is not fun, it takes the power of choice out of our hands. It can be a very scary time. I know what its like to wait. This week I chose to ask for God to help me in my waiting. The funny thing is that knowing that God is helping me actually helps me take back some of that power. I can rest secure in knowing that God is there even if what I am waiting on doesn’t come back with a great outlook.

So I challenge you to identify things in your life that you are waiting on and ask God to wait with you. I can’t promise an outcome, but I can promise your relationship with God will be strengthened and as far as I am concerned that is the best outcome of all.

Oh yeah, in case you are wondering I am feeling much better now.

I need to tell you something: Sometimes, I feel like being me isn’t enough.

There, I said it. Now, on with the blog.

Do you remember the old Charlie Brown cartoons? I am sure we all saw the specials that would come on TV surrounding various holidays. One scene sticks out in my mind more than any other: Charlie Brown trying to kick the football as Lucy held it. Invariably as Charlie Brown would try as hard as he could to kick the football, Lucy would pull it away. Charlie Brown would then fall flat on his back as Lucy laughed. (We laugh, too!) Charlie Brown kept trying harder, and harder, and harder, each time getting mad and vowing never to try again. But he always did. For me, however, this scene is painful to watch.

When I was in high school I was a part of a youth group in my home church. As is the norm in high school the group had various “sub-groups” including the “cool” kids. As the preacher’s kid I desperately wanted to be a part of that group. These kids would dangle their acceptance of me and I would try to grab it and they would pull it away. This was repeated many, many times over my high school career. Each time I would try harder and fall even harder. Vowing to never try again, but always coming back for more. I thought that I wasn’t good enough unless THEY told me I was good enough.

I began to develop a horrible pattern in my life. I began to buy into the myth that the way God made me wasn’t enough to earn friends. I had to be better and do more and know more. I had to be funnier, happier, and more important than I saw myself.

When I feel as if I am not accepted the way I am, or when I feel like I am not good enough I try too hard to prove that I am good enough. I know this about myself and yet I sometimes feel powerless to stop it.

Admitting this to myself is difficult enough, typing for public consumption is excruciating. Its embarassing to be 27 years old and feel inadequate.

In the Bible there are countless stories about people that have major issues in their lives. As a matter of fact EVERY story in the Bible that isn’t about Jesus is about someone being used by God despite their own faults and flaws.

Think about some of the greatest Biblical “heroes”: David, Paul, Jacob, Moses, Amos, Matthew, Thomas, Peter, Elijah, Isaac. Each had issues and God loved them anyway. Just as he loves you and me.

You know, I think we all have something like this in our lives. There is something about us, something we wish we could get a handle on in our own lives. We struggle with different things: alcohol, drugs, acceptance, self-esteem, worrying, shyness, pride, anger, working too much, over-eating, eating disorders, depression, self-loathing, laziness, avoiding responsibility, and the list goes on.

Some items on this list are very visible and others are easily hidden. Until we are ready to admit that we have a problem; we cannot get the help we so desperately need.

I am not sure that I will ever be 100% “cured” of my need for people to think I am cool. I do, however, think that with the help of my friends and family that I will be able to recognize when I begin to feel this way. Instead of trying to prove myself in those times I will be able to take control over my misguided emotions and remember that the God of the Universe loves me: “Just As I Am”.

Just As I Am – Charlotte Elliot

Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidst me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, and waiting not
To rid my soul of one dark blot,
To Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, though tossed about
With many a conflict, many a doubt,
Fightings and fears within, without,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, poor, wretched, blind;
Sight, riches, healing of the mind,
Yea, all I need in Thee to find,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

Just as I am, of that free love
The breadth, length, depth, and height to prove,
Here for a season, then above,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come!

I really love taking personality tests. I think it is fascinating that someone that has never met me has designed a test that makes assumptions about me based on how I answer questions. I am not talking about tests that are found in girly magazines. (Why is it that only magazines directed toward women have these little quizzes?) With titles such as, “Is he Cheating?”, “Do you Secretly Hate your Best Friend?”, or “What does your Purse Say about You?”, I don’t place much faith in a 10 question filler quiz.

I am talking about tests such as Myers Briggs Type Indicator (“MBTI”) or the Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential (“MAPP”). MBTI is essentially a test designed to assign a person to a specific type in order to more fully explain how a person might react to different situation and to assert what that person may prefer. The MAPP attempts to explore what motivates a person to perform.

In the MBTI, I am known as an ENTP: Extroverted, Intuitive, Thinking, and Perceiving. Here is what this says about me: “ENTP’s are innovative, strategic, versatile, analytical, and entrepreneurial. They enjoy working with others in start-up activities that require ingenuity and unusual resourcefulness.” ENTP contributions: “view limitations as challenges to be overcome, provide new ways to do things, bring a conceptual framework to problems, take initiative and spur others on, and enjoy complex challenges that address future needs.” That is a short snapshot of the write up about some of the facets of who I am.

There are also some “pitfalls” for my personality type. Those of you who know me well can vouch for these I am sure. ENTP’s: “may become lost in the model, forgetting about current realities and details, may be competitive and unappreciative of the input of others, may overextend themselves and reach burnout, or may resist standard procedures and processes.” OUCH!

Now, I let you all in on that little secret because when I read the pages on my personality type my mouth dropped open. It was like someone reached into my brain and pulled all the stuff out and wrote it down. It was like reading a news article about yourself!

I have to admit I wanted to resist the pitfalls. I wanted to say, “They were way off base on those!” In reality however I feel like the pitfalls were more accurate than the “good stuff”. It was like getting slapped in the face. I am sure I have more pitfalls than just those, but it was enough. I could really see myself in each of them.

Sometimes when the mirror of who you are is held to your face it really shocks you. I wanted to look away but for some reason I chose to keep looking. I took a LONG look and didn’t like what I saw. The one that stung the most was to realize that I have a tendency to be unappreciative of other’s input. Man, that is me left, right, and twice on Sunday.

Its not that I am not appreciative, because in my head and in my heart I really do appreciate other people’s input. I just for whatever reason have a hard time communicating that to those that reach out.

It kind of got me thinking the other day. How many friendships have I lost or potential friendships? How many of the girls I have dated have I pushed away for not appreciating the things that they have done for me? How many times have my parents wrung their hands or wondered if I was even thankful for what they have done for me? What a sobering revelation!

And then the other shoe dropped. I thought about my relationship with Christ. The one person that has done more for me than anyone and I can’t even be appreciative to Him! That was a crushing blow to me. I have been a Christian for almost 20 years now and I am not as appreciative as I should be toward Christ.

Its not that I am not thankful, in fact I have even prayed a prayer of thanksgiving for what he did for me. However, it isn’t a regular part of my prayer life. I usually pray for what I want and don’t even bother a thanks for the other things He has given when I have asked. I was beginning to think I was a horrible person and even less of a Christian.

Then I remembered my favourite part of Christ: He meets us where we are. It has been chronicled in many songs and sermons. The Bible is full of stories about broken people who have treated people with contempt, who have cheated people out of money, who have committed adultery and still Jesus meets them where they are. He meets Billy Graham where he is just the same as he meets an atheist where he/she may be. I realized through this MBTI that Jesus was doing this for me. I am not sure that my company paid for the MBTI so that I might grow in my relationship with Christ, but I am sure glad they did.

So, what are the pitfalls in your life? What in your life prevents you from meeting people wherever they are? I want to challenge you to make a conscious effort to ask your friends and family these questions. The next blog will extend this discussion so hang on to your answers until next time.

I have to admit and most of you already know this, but I am not a gym rat. I have a membership at a local gym here in Atlanta and most of the time I end up not going as often as I should. Here lately however, the roommates (David and Andy) and I have decided that we want to get into better shape. We are all members of different gyms in the city. I don’t think that either of them is too worried about what to do when they go to they gym because they both played college football and are very experienced in the gym. I, on the other hand, don’t really have a clue when it comes to working out.

Now, I know how to run on a treadmill, use the machines, and do push-ups or crunches but I don’t know the first thing about how to string all of them together to form a workout that will help me get into shape. So I began reading about working out. I am not sure why I didn’t just ask David and Andy to help me develop a plan. I could have even called my college friend Bryan who is a personal trainer, but I decided to read up on it instead.

I have been flipping through magazines like Men’s Heath or Men’s Journal to get the latest tips on what I need to do to slim down and tone up. Each different magazine I read and each show I watch about exercise on TV all seems to get back to one topic: The Core. I had never really heard that there was such a thing as a core.

Apparently the secret to working out is to strengthen your core muscles. Who knew?!? As far as I can tell these are the muscles in the center of your body that provide the “foundation” of your balance and strength. If I work out these muscles and develop them using these techniques then I should literally watch the pounds fall off my body replaced by lean, tone muscle.

So I took my magazine to the gym last Friday while I was on vacation. I went around 10:30 in the morning because I didn’t want to go with the Gym Rat crown while carrying my magazine with the workout plan.

So there we were: me and some ladies around my mother’s age all in the gym together. They were reading magazines while they walked on their treadmills or used the elliptical machine. I pulled out my headphones and iPod and opened my magazine up to the workout plan that was guaranteed to make my body look like a Greek statue.

As I looked at the exercises I thought to myself, “This is going to be easy!” I saw lots of variations on push-ups, a lot of the exercises involved laying on the floor (OH YEAH!!) and some of them incorporated the use of an exercize ball. To me it looked like a piece of cake!

The first exercise was to grab some light weights (I chose 8 lb. dumbbells) and grip them in your fists. Then you were to get into the “up” push-up position and raise one arm at a time straight out to your side. I did one on each side before I fell over onto the floor. This was not going to be as easy as I thought.

I then decided that since I was on the floor I would do some of the laying down exercises. I was to lay down on my back with my feet on top of an exercize ball and then raise my hips into the air completely lifting my rear-end off the ground and letting my shoulders, abs, and hips do the work. I began to think that working on my core was going to be hard work as soon as the ball began to roll around when I pushed my hips into the air. I looked like a complete idiot as every muscle in my body tensed as I was trying to keep the ball from rolling away.

I began to think as I gave up and went home that the core muscles of our physical body are very similar to the core muscles of our spiritual body. We go to church, read a book, or attend a retreat and learn about exercises that will strengthen our spiritual core.

These exercises sound easy enough: read your bible, pray on a regular basis, seek Godly counsel, work with an accountability partner, and the list goes on. So we rush home with our pamphlets or notes and after a couple attempts at different exercises we realize that it’s a lot harder than we thought. Even the one’s we can do lying down!

In Matthew chapter 7 Jesus gives a little insight into the difficulty of maintaining our core muscles. He says, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

When I got to the gym on Friday I should have known better. There is no easy way to lose weight and get toned. In order to do it I have to be willing to take the narrow road of working hard at the core exercises to achieve the results that I want. At the end of the day these exercises will enable me to be healthier and I will have a good foundation to branch out into other types of exercize.

And so it is with your spiritual core. The exercises are tough and it will be easy to say, “I just don’t see why it should be so hard.” In the end all the hard work will pay off.

You see, your spiritual core is the very heart of who you are! We can all look around us and recognize people who hit the gym on a regular basis. People will be able to recognize you as a person who has a well developed spiritual core. They will come to you with their questions about prayer and accountability. Your relationship with Christ will grow and your relationships with others will flourish as well.

Now when you see your friends in the gym, ask them how their “other” core workouts are going.

You know how when you go to a good southern home the hosts will throw open the door and great you with a big hug and a smile that stretches from Georgia to North Carolina? They always follow that with a big hearty, “Welcome, we are so glad you are here!”

I had a similar experience with God earlier this year:

I used to park in the same parking spot everyday in the parking lot across the street from my office. Space number 19. It backs up to a concrete pad that has a fence containing public utility monitoring equipment. The pad juts out just enough that a person can lay down there. Everyday on my way into work I would pull into my spot and there was a homeless man sleeping there right at the back of my spot on this ledge. This went on for 3 or 4 months.

In the middle of January on a cold Friday night this homeless person approached me and asked if I might walk with him down the hill to the Checker’s Fast Food Restaurant and buy him some dinner. I don’t normally give the homeless of Atlanta money for various reasons but his request was for food not for money so I was a bit intrigued. I did not have any cash on me and I was a little wary of whipping out my credit card in front of a homeless person. I was not passing judgement, but trying to be careful.

I told him that I was sorry I didn’t have any money on me and got in my Expedition to drive away when I realized that my Grandparents had given me a $5 McDonald’s Gift Certificate for Christmas. To put this in perspective, my Grandparents have given me a $5 McDonald’s Gift Certificate for Christmas 25 years in a row. It has become my favorite Christmas present every year. They have given me Guitars, Clothes, computers, TV’s, Microwaves, and a whole host of much more expensive gifts in my life, but it wouldn’t be Christmas without my Grandfather trying to figure out a new way to disguise the Gift Certificate.

I stopped the car reached in my pocket and said, “Hey, I just remembered that I have this gift certificate to McDonald’s. Do you think you could use it? It’s only five bucks.” I can’t remember for sure but I am almost certain that his eyes welled up with tears as I passed him the gift certificate. He introduced himself as Rick and I got out of the car and shook his hand and said, “My name is Austin.” As I got in my car to drive home I realized that I had just given away my favorite Christmas present and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend it than that. Knowing my Grandparents the way I do, I know that they would have been so proud for me to give away my present to a complete stranger who needed it more than I did. I thought that the story might end there, but it didn’t.

On Tuesday of the next week I had a concert to attend and my roommate David and I walked from my office to the concert and then back after the show. On the way home I was walking and looking at the ground and saw a $10 bill lying there. So I picked it up and put it in my pocket. When I got to the parking lot where my car was parked, Rick called out from the Shadows:

Rick: “Austin, they was here!”
Me: “Who was here?”
Rick: “The people that break into the cars in these parking lots!”
Me: “Where are they now?”
Rick: “I chased them off and I decided to wait here to make sure your car was okay.”
Me: “Thanks, Rick!”

I talked a few minutes more with Rick and I gave him the $10 in my pocket that I had found on the street and he gave me a big hug. This was an experience I will not forget. Here was a 50 year old homeless man standing in a parking lot with a 25 year-old kid with a Masters Degree in Accounting and a job at the largest accounting firm in the world….HUGGING!

I realized at that moment that I was ministering to the least of these. The story continues three days later I saw Rick in the Parking lot after work. I had heard reports that the weather was going to get really cold the next week and I asked Rick if he could use a sleeping bag. He said, “Man that would be great!” I told him that I would bring him a sleeping bag on Monday.

I went home and decided to go to Target and buy him a cheap sleeping bag, but quickly realized that if it got really cold a little Target sleeping bag wasn’t going to work. On Monday I went to work and after work I pulled out my sleeping bag from my car and gave it to him and he was so appreciative. I brought the sleeping bag that I gave Rick while I was in college in North Carolina. This is a NICE sleeping bag….holds up in temperatures as low as 20 degrees. This is the sleeping bag that got me through NC State Basketball Camp-Out.

Later that week Rick came running up after work and told me that he had used the $10 I gave him to go to the doctor’s office where he got his paperwork that declared him disabled and unable to work. This is why he was homeless. He then was able to take his paperwork down to an organization downtown that set him up with a place to live and gave him money to buy sheets and pillows and the other necessities of life.

I haven’t seen Rick since that day. I don’t know if he is still in the group home or not. I assume he is because I haven’t heard from him. I am sure he knows where he can come if he finds himself without a home again.

This was the moment that God threw open the door and said, “Welcome to the world, Austin, I am so glad you are here!” Until that point I had been on mission trips and I had seen hurting people, but I had never let myself become involved. I helped with a detached heart. With Rick, however, I threw my whole self into helping him. I was a cheerful giver. For the first time in my life I realized the world is a lot bigger than me.

How does this apply to your life, you may be asking. Well, that is where ChooseaNeed comes in to play. I am on the board of directors for this non-profit organization. I hope that you will go by the website (www.chooseaneed.org) and take a look at what we are doing. If you can’t choose one of the needs you see on our site, then please, choose a need somewhere.

I travel a great deal for work and people always ask me if I enjoy all the traveling. I say yes and its mostly because of the really neat places I get to see as an off shoot of my job. Right now I am sitting in the Airport in Miami, FL waiting for the boarding call that will eventually lead to my return flight to Atlanta. I have been here since 10AM and my flight leaves at 12:40.

For what ever reason I decided not to go with my normal routine of iPod music to drown out the other people in the waiting area, I am not sure why. About the same time I arrived at the gate a family arrived straight from a cruise. They are tan and in beach attire. They have also been complaining about everything that happened on their vacation. I don’t mean they had a really bad experience, I mean they have literally complained about the karaoke DJ not being good enough, the noises around the airport, the security at customs, and each other. They even attended meetings on board the ship for people dissatisfied with the cruise. They have also talked trash about almost everyone they know back at home. They have complained about the price of the food and drinks at the airport.

I just want to walk over and say, “SHUT UP!” You have just spent thousands of dollars on a vacation and it sounds like you should have just stayed home. Currently they are complaining that it was too hot in the Caribbean this week.

I guess you just can’t please some people. How do people get so negative? How do people go on a very expensive vacation for a week and not have anything good to say about the time they spent together. It is amazing to me how some people can go through life and never see anything good.

Apparently from their not so loud conversation, between F-Bombs and GD’s, I learned that they go on a cruise every year together. Now they have shifted to complaining about how the driver drove too slow on the way to the elevator, and the porter didn’t get their bags quick enough. Just a few minutes ago when they apparently ran out of things to complain about for this year’s trip, they started to complain about things from last year’s trip.

I don’t get it! I know that sometimes things are bad and you have a need to complain, but from the tone of this conversation, this is how they are all the time. Maybe it works for them. Maybe if I asked them if they had a good time this week they would say, “Yeah, it was great fun, we had a BLAST!” I would hate to have to ask the next question, “Then why have you all sat here for the last 2 hours and complained about everything under the sun that had to do with the cruise?”

You know, in my experience some people are just more negative than others. Some people would say that these people are missing Jesus in their lives and they may very well be right. I think it is deeper than that. “How on earth,” you may ask, “can it be deeper than that?”

I am glad you asked. Growing up as a ministers son I have learned that some of the most sour people I have ever come across claim to be Christians. They attend church and Sunday school. Their kids are in youth group and young life. But they have no outward appearance of Christ in their lives. Their mood is always negative they never seem to have fun. They are the people that try to block any attempt for the church to change something so that others might come to know Christ in a real way.

The interesting thing is that sourness is contagious. Everyone has heard the adage, “One rotten apple spoils the barrel.” So it is in life. When we have a bad attitude it will hamper everyone’s ability to have a good time. The challenge is this: Check your attitude often during the day. Are you letting Christ show in your daily life?

This will be a long flight…Now they are complaining about not winning some sort of lottery…I love traveling!