Limited Edition Masterpiece

As a parent with two kids, I fight the urge.  It’s the urge that any parent reading this has probably had to face.  And, most likely, whether you’re a parent or not, you’ve had to deal with it personally.  What is it?  Comparison!  As a parent, I have to guard against the urge to compare other kids to my kids, or even more so, my kids against each other. You as a parent probably have had the same struggle.  But even if you are not a parent, you have most likely been caught in the fight of comparisons at some point or another.  I not only have to fight against the tendency to compare my kids, but I have to guard against comparing myself to people around me…other husbands, other dads, or even other youth pastors. 

Right now, we are gripped by the holiday season, and if we are not careful, we will catch ourselves missing the beauty of the season because we are caught up in comparisons.  We compare the trees, the decorations, even the quality/quantity of gifts. 

A couple of weeks ago, Amy and I went to a toy store to look for presents for our kids.  As we were looking for a particular item, I noticed something.  The item we bought for our son, Cole, was not the only one of its kind on the shelf.  There were several of those identical items lined up behind it.  (I know that sounds crazy to think that a store would mass-produce something in an effort to turn a profit.)  In that moment, I had this thought:  How many of us think we are mass-produced?  It’s easy for me to compare myself to the next 28-year-old male if I believe that we are all from the same mold.   It’s easy to compare ourselves to one another when we think, “I’m just 1 of 7 billion.”  In reality, you are not.  You are 1 of 1.  God created you as a Limited Edition Masterpiece.  In that light, there is no room for comparisons, because every time God created one of us, He broke the mold!  Take a look…

Ephesians 2.10a (NLT) - For we are God’s masterpiece.  

Furthermore, in Psalm 139.14, David proclaims, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made...” 

Translation: I am Unique.  

You are a unique masterpiece God created.

God placed in you the exact, unique gifts and talents you need for today.  

This holiday season, when we are choosing among all the mass-produced gifts, let us remember that each of us is uniquely created. 

    

So please repeat this after me: I am a limited edition masterpiece created by God.  My challenge to you is that each day for the remainder of 2012, you would repeat that statement to yourself...Until you are convinced it is true!

_____________________
Tim   

Say No to the Slump

Well, here we are... the holidays are here!  You won't find a person more excited about Thanksgiving and Christmas than I am!  I love getting together with family, I love the chaos that ensues from too many people stuffed in too small of a dining room (ok, well, I love it for the first half-hour or so anyway).  And I'm not gonna lie... I love the food.  I love the Christmas decorations, buying gifts... the whole shabang! 

But do you know what my least favorite part of the holidays is?  Having been through a few now as an adult, I've noticed a pattern, not only with my life but with others around me, especially my church family.  There is a huge tendency in this season to fall into a spiritual "slump."  We become so consumed with everything going on for the holidays--which again, I love being part of--that we kind of "check out" and stick the God/church thing on cruise control.  We stop pressing to get anything new from God; for some, we stop worrying about getting to church regularly, if at all, during this time.  For others, we hurry in to service and hurry out, because we our heads just aren't really "there" right now.  Too much else is going on. 

Kids are off school, adults take off work... Why not take a break from church and our spiritual pursuits, too?  You know, just for a few weeks until we get the New Year rolling and everything settles down?

Let's take a minute and think this through...

1.  Let's not lie to ourselves.  Things never really settle down, do they?  (To explore further, you may find this previous post about busyness intriguing).  Let's face it:  Nothing magical is going to happen on January 2 to kick our rears back in gear and simultaneously calm our schedules down.  I'm sure many of you can relate... By the time we realize the holidays are over and pull ourselves out of our slump, we're halfway through February and headlong into our busy schedules! 

Consider this:  How you exit one season of life is how you enter the next. If we slump for these last few weeks of this year, then we will launch our New Year in a slump. Think about it... Many of us consider the start of a New Year as a fresh opportunity, a chance to forget about the last 12 months with all of its challenges and failures, and a chance to start new. Why would we want to start that new chance in a slump?

Ephesians 5:15-16 says:
Be very careful, then, how you live--not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.

Think about this... Every day you live and breathe is a new opportunity for you to either make the most of it or slump through it.

2.  We don't take a six-week break from our marriages or our families because of the holidays, do we? So why should we take a break from God and our church families? Our life is all about relationships.  The Bible even says so...

Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  Matthew 22:37-40

Everything in our lives comes back to relationships.  Our relationship with God is the first and foremost priority, then our relationships with one another come next.  But if we neglect either one, it throws our lives out of balance.  That's why at our church, our vision is captured by the simple phrase: "Loving God... Loving People."  If what we are doing doesn't start and end there, then we're out of balance. 

On to the next thought...


3.  Consider the cost of the slump.

Referencing back to the thought about opportunities, if every day is a new opportunity, can we really afford to slump for six weeks...42 days... 42 opportunities from God to live and breathe to our fullest potential? 

Are you really so spiritually strong and superior that you don't need to continue cultivating your relationship with God for these six weeks?  You don't need the life and support that comes from gathering with your church family through worship services and small group meetings, so you can afford to take this time off? 

Hebrews 10:25 answers this question for us:  
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another...

Let's ask ourselves this in another way:  Can you afford to stop eating for the next 42 days?  Can you afford to stop drinking all fluids for the next 42 days?  If we can't afford to let our physical bodies go for six weeks, then why do we think we can afford to let our spiritual health go?

Now let's take it beyond ourselves...

Can the people around us afford for us to slump spiritually for six weeks?  Do people's problems just go away because it's the holiday season?  As I'm sure you know, of course they don't!  In fact, for many people, their problems and their pain intensify in this season, and they feel greater senses of loss and failure in the middle of the celebration.

If we are the people of God, the ones He chose to live out His love to each other, then is it ok for us to "clock out" from our spiritual lives during this time of year--to go into hibernation-- when people are still hurting around us?

Even as I write this, a family near here just buried their 17-year-old teenage son yesterday, 3 days before Thanksgiving.  Two other families in the same community will be burying their teenage daughters in the coming week or so.  The whole community is reeling from the sudden and tragic loss of these young people.  Their pain isn't going to be able to clock out for the holiday season.  All 42 days of the next six weeks, they are going to be hurting deeply, and all 42 days, they are going to be in desperate need of the love and peace of God to minister to them intensely.  What if the people called to minister God's love to them are unavailable because they've checked into their spiritual holiday hibernation?


Perhaps ask yourself this question:  Who around me is hurting and needs me to be God's love to them this holiday season? 

It may hit a lot closer to home than you think.  It may be your teenage son or daughter who needs to find God for themselves, and your commitment to God may be the catalyst for them.  It may be your spouse that is hurting and needs your love and attention more than ever.  It may even be you that is hurting, and you need daily interaction with God more intensely than ever.


Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.
--2 Timothy 4:2


Let's not just float through these holidays.  Let's recognize that these days are just important as any other day, and let's set our minds on making a way to celebrate and enjoy the holidays without pushing our spiritual lives to the back burner.

Let's say no to the holiday slump, and instead choose to be spiritually energized and alert, so that even in the midst of all of the hubbub and celebration, we are ready, willing, and available to detect and meet the need for God's love and peace on a moment's notice.

Then, on January 2, we can wake up with no remorse, but instead be full of passion and focus for continuing in the same momentum with which we ended this year!

Happy Opportunities!!


____________________
Amy

Change

How do you handle change? 

To most of us, change is not something we welcome and embrace.  To prove my point, just ask yourself these questions:

            Do I tend to order the same things at the restaurants I go to?

            Do I park in the same spot at work every day?

            Do I sit in the same seat at church each week?

            Do I drive the same way to and from my house?

Are you convinced yet?  We are creatures of habit.  

So how do you handle change? What do you do when your favorite menu item is discontinued?  What do you do when a visitor at church takes your seat before you get there? 

If change was easy, everybody would do it.  But we tend to get stuck in the rut of life.  We just do the same things over and over, and life begins looking the same, day-in and day-out.  I contend, however, that change is not only beneficial, but it is critically necessary to keep us moving along in life.  Let's take a look...

Psalm 46.10a – Be still and know that I am God…

In today's culture we are constantly on the move.  We have conditioned ourselves to feed on the adrenaline of busyness and routine.  But what if we occasionally forced ourselves to change?  What if we threw a wrench in our busy schedules and forced a shift in our perspective, off of our busy (and often mundane) routine, and onto our great God? 

Pastor Mark Batterson gives this formula: change of place + change of pace = change of perspective.  

There is a highway here that runs through the middle of our city, and everything basically funnels off that highway.  Every once in awhile, I will go to the top of a mountain and overlook my city.  I can see that same highway that I drive on almost daily, but I get a bigger picture that I cannot see while in my car on the highway.  It gives me a change of perspective.  Driving on the highway, I see only the mundane -- scenery I've grown accustomed to and traffic I've learned to deal with (and of course, the occasional frustration toward other drivers--you know who you are). But when I go to the top of the mountain, I see from a whole new place of awe and wonder, and I get a new perspective of my city and all that it has to offer. 

Change is not easy, but what if change is the catalyst to your new perspective?  You'll realize that God really does have the whole world in His hand. 

Here are just some ideas of ways to shake things up a little for a new perspective in life...

What if you changed what translation of the Bible you read?

What if you changed your workout routine?

What if you changed the seat you sat in at church?

What if you changed your work schedule? 

What if you changed your busy schedule and made some time just to be still and know?

I want to grow each day in my knowledge of God in my life, and sometimes the small changes give me a greater perspective of my greater God... 

____________

Tim