So, I’ve spent the last 2 weeks  remodeling and moving, and two weeks before that packing the old house.  The last time Leslie and I bought a house and remodeled one was 6.5 years ago (let’s just round up to 7 because it sounds more epic).  I was 6.5 years younger, working part-time at Starbucks,  Leslie was the Sugar Momma, and we had no kids.  All that to say, The second day into the remodel, I was beat.  I’m talking straight-up-whipped….and if the Spirit is at WAR with the flesh (Gal. 5), the flesh was winning.  My attitude, mouth, compassion, and love for anything sacred was in the dump as I inhaled Sheetrock dust deep into my lungs.

That’s when God’s underserving grace, mercy, and provision showed up through people.  They painted, sheetrocked, wired, built a gate, moved, moved, moved, unpacked boxes, moved really heavy crates into the attic, etc.  People were there until 12am at night with work looking over their shoulder the next morning.

Encouragement that we find in Hebrews 3:13 and 10:24-25 has a little different flavor than it did two weeks ago.  Encouragement came through people just showing up and helping.  It’s crazy how your whole attitude and outlook can change just by having someone next to you in a very hard time.  They actually said nothing to encourage me, they were just there laboring beside me.    I was thinking through all of the hours of labor that people saved me, and it was over a 40 hour work week.  That’s bearing burdens.  Thank you God for providing for me and my family through your people.

Who do you need to call today to encourage with words?

You may need to just show up and be there, not say anything, just to encourage…who’s the person?

God wants YOU to be the means through which HE provides for someone (see 2 Cor. 1, 8, 9).

I’ve been reading this awesome book over the last month with a few guys called You Can Change by Tim Chester.  If I had to compare it with another book the closest book would be Search for Significance on our resource list.  It’s all about pealing back the onion and asking/answering the why behind change.  Here’s a great paragraph on community’s aspect of the change process, check it out…

Tim writes on page 155,

“One of the great things about living as part of a community is that in community people walk all over your idols.  People press your buttons.  That’s when we respond with bitterness, rage, and so on.  And that gives us opportunities to spot our idolatrous desires.

God is using the different people, the contrasting personalities, in your church to change your heart.  He’s using the difficult people, the annoying people, the sinful people.  He’s placed you together so you can rub off each other’s rough edges.  It’s as if God has put us like rocks , into a bag and is shaking us about so that we collide with one another.  Sometimes sparks fly, but gradually we become beautiful, smooth gemstones.  Remember the next time some is rubbing you the wrong way that God is smoothing you down!  God has given you that person in his love as a gift to make you holy.  Sinclair Ferguson comments, ‘the church is a community in which we receive spiritual help, but also one in which deep-seated problems will come to the surface and will require treatment…We often discover things about our own hearts which we never anticipated.’”

Back to Rob, if you’re living in community you know what he’s talking about..unless you really believe that the problem in your group is someone else….  Let me know your thoughts.  Rb

Quick post: Our group went through Watermark’s Moneywise material about 1 year ago and it was an amazing time of growing together, being transparent and communication between spouses around money.  We have been working through Hole in the Gospel by Richard Sterns which creates an awareness about the need to be about the things Jesus was about, namely, the poor, marginalized, and the down-and-out.

We typically think of other people as being rich, but not ourselves.  I personally don’t even know where the “American Line” is officially drawn for the American Rich, 5 million net worth?  I thought this would be a fun website to look at to help me understand that we are the rich.  Check it out it only takes 20 seconds.  http://www.globalrichlist.com/

WE INTERRUPT THIS GOSPEL TO BRING YOU AN IMPORTANT PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT . . .

May 19, 2010

KEY VERSE

For John had been saying to Herod, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (Mark 6:18)

CENTRAL TRUTH

As believers, loving others well must include the difficult task of addressing sin in their lives and allowing them to exhort us about the sin in ours!

REFLECTIONS

What does it take to get your attention? Up to this point, the Gospel of Mark has been focused on the power of Jesus’ teaching and miracles. But just in case we don’t get it—if we think being a Christian is all about miracles and glory—the Gospel is interrupted with the account of the beheading of John the Baptist.

We interrupt this message to remind you that following Christ isn’t going to be easy.

John the Baptist was a super hero of the faith. He lived and gave his life to help others find faith in Jesus. Some people say, “I believe in Jesus,” or “I’m a Christian,” but their actions aren’t consistent with their words. I am frequently interrupted each day by the Holy Spirit in a way that causes me to stop and examine my own actions. Were the words I used this morning with my husband Christlike? Am I spending my time today honoring God? Am I allowing others in my life to speak truth to me? (Proverbs 27:17)

John the Baptist taught that true belief in Jesus includes both a willingness to repent and to change behavior. John spent his final days in a cold, damp, rat-infested prison because he challenged King Herod to repent and change, telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” (Mark 6:18)

Speaking truth to Herod cost John great discomfort and ultimately his life. Speaking truth can cost believers relationships, popularity, inclusion, and much more. But hard conversations should be a reality for Christians. We must find the delicate balance of grace and truth as we exhort one another to lay aside the sin in our lives (Hebrews 12:1-2). Scripture teaches believers to speak truth in love (Ephesians 4:15, Proverbs 27:5-6) and to speak words of encouragement and healing (Ephesians 4:29). When believers give counsel, our feelings, ideas, and thoughts shouldn’t matter. God’s Word is all that matters!

Being a Christian isn’t about our comfort or ease. It’s about a God who offers us life and hope in His Son. Does He have your attention?

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Do you have a “John the Baptist” in your life—someone who challenges you to repent from sin and change the way you live?

2. How can you openly and actively seek the counsel of other believers for input and wisdom?

3. When you exhort other believers, are you doing so using Scripture rather than your own thoughts and opinions? If not, how can you become more skilled in sharing biblical counsel?

FAMILY DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. Who was beheaded in this story?

2.  Why did Herod have John the Baptist beheaded (verses 25 & 26)?

3. Have you ever known the right thing to do and still chosen to do the wrong thing? Why? What are some things you can do to avoid making the wrong choices in those situations?

Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.  Proverbs 28:13

I was very encouraged last week by a visit to a men’s time over breakfast.  It was great to hear them confess and forsake sin and a to see mercy and acceptance from men who have a few years of mileage between them.  Here are the questions that they weekly ask each other.

1. What has  intimacy with your wife look like this week?  (Marrieds only)
2. What has purity looked like this past week?
3. What has God taught you over the past week?
4. Is there anything else big going on in your life?

We had our community time this Saturday and we all played the Paper Game for 1 hour, and most of us were bent over from laughing so hard.  Because I want you to all experience a gut laugh together, I’ll share how to play this game.  I didn’t invent it, but if no one has this in writing, I’ll give credit to the Watermark Coffee Shop Crew.  All you need is paper and pens/pencils.  Here’s how it works.   If you have 8 people then you will need 8 sheets of paper per person (this is key).  Usually you can cut an 8.5×11 sheet of paper in half to save paper.

1. Everyone has 8 sheets of paper (stacked on top of each other).  At the same time everyone writes a phrase on the top piece of paper.  i.e “that’s the way the cookie crumbles” or “Pee Wee Herman discovers that there’s no basement in the Alamo”.
2. When everyone is done with their phrase, everyone passes the stacked 8 sheets (with the written phrase on top) to the person on the left.
3. The person on the left, looks at the phrase, moves the sheet of paper to the back of the stack and draws the phrase on the next sheet of paper.  i.e. So someone might draw “Pee Wee Herman discovering that there is no basement in the Alamo”.
4. When everyone is done with their drawing, everyone passes the 8 sheets of paper to the left (with the drawing on top).
5. Person on the left, looks at the drawing, moves the sheet of paper to the back of the stack and writes a phrase that resembles the drawing.
6. Get the game.  Keep alternating phrase and drawing until your “phrase” returns to you.  At this point the real fun begins.
7. Take your 8 sheets and begin with your original phrase, then walk everyone through the progression of the phrases and drawings.  This is like a storyboard and hilarious.  Everyone will begin to connect the dots about who has drawn/written what.  Trust me you will learn a lot about the people in your community.  Be prepared to laugh!
8. Hope you laugh till you cry!  Let me know how the game goes.  Just trust me, it will be awesome!  Rb

I revisited the book of 1st Kings this week for the first time in years and was moved by a few issues in the book.  First, Sin destroys, ravages, and consumes good things Fast.  The kingdom is at it’s height, the temple is built, followed by the palace, there is justice, and peace, pagan queens are praising Solomon’s God, all is well in the kingdom and with the Lords people.  Then there is a note that Solomon did what was detestable in the sight of the Lord, he married a woman who worshiped another god, which pulled Solomon’s worship allegiance away from Yahweh.  It was a great reminder that sin eases in, but devours everything in it’s path, including people and a kingdom.

Second, Rehoboam becomes king and circles up counsel to advise him in 1 Kings 12.  He goes to the elders who gives him counsel that he doesn’t want to hear, but it is the right counsel.  As a result, he goes and seeks counsel from his friends who counsel him to lead in a way that is beneficial for himself (and the friends), but not the people.  1 Kings 12:8, says, “But he abandoned the counsel that the old men gave him and took counsel with the young men who had grown up with him and stood before him”.  Not good!  Leadership and Love always have others best interests in mind.

Back to a theme from a previous blog…Who’s telling you something you don’t want to hear for the benefit of you and others?  Who’s telling something about your character that you don’t want to hear?

Question of the week for you to ask your group:  Is there anything you have wanted to tell me about my character or actions that isn’t honoring to God? or Is there anything that you have tried to tell me in private that i just didn’t listen or hear?  Oh sweet Holiness….

I have been extremely blessed to watch men and women respond to conflict over the last 3 weeks.    There are few things greater than to see believers  be bold, courageous, and inititate hard conversations with other believers out of love.   I wanted to post the New PDF on Conflict that has been put together by Watermark, The Conflict Field Guide.  Live it, Breathe it, memorize it.  Let the scripture be your guide.  Hope you enjoy it and use it in your relationships: Marriage, parenting, community, Local Body of Christ, work, the coffee shop you frequent.

Check this out:  http://www.watermark.org/fileadmin/pdfs/conflict_field_guide_web.pdf

Hey guys, sorry it’s been a couple of weeks.  Had blogged a week or so ago, but thankfully there are a few of us who read my stuff just to make sure theology is on. Community is a good thing.  With that being said, the last blog is being modified.

I wanted to share a great question we asked this morning at our guys time at Starbucks.  We started talking through some of the verses in Proverbs 27, which is one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture.  Here’s a couple of verses

that launched us into discussion.

“As Iron Sharpens Iron, So one man sharpens another” – Pr. 27:17

“Faithful are the wounds are a friend,  profuse are the kisses of the enemy” – Pr. 27:6

The idea around the last verse is this: what friend has told you something about yourself that you didn’t want to hear, but was true.

Like a friend who exposed a character flaw in you that you were unaware of…

Like area in your life that is not honoring or glorifying to God…

When has someone loved you enough to be honest with you?

So, here’s the question we asked…

When was the last time you can remember someone here (there were 5 guys sitting around a table) faithfully wounded you?

I had a story, which means that the other four guys had been faithful friends. It was sobering to me that i need to be a more faithful friend to those i say i am committed to.  Grateful for you guys!  So, i encourage you to ask the same question and sit on the same passage.  Let me know how it goes….

Hey guys, thanks to everyone who came out to our training sessions last night.  I was so encouraged by the questions that people came up with last night in my class, Going Beyond the Supper Club, that i wanted to post them so all could benefit.  The talk was about driving for depth in your community and going after aspects in our life that are below the surface not just the symptoms.  Scripture uses the word “Heart” to define the inmost part of a person: his will, desire, emotions, feelings, the core of who you are.  So, if these questions seem different than ones you may be asking people in your community group, know that the context of these questions is going after biblical “heart”.  Hope one or two of the questions will help your community group go below the surface.  Rob

Here are great questions to ask around people in your community group processing issues with scripture:

1)What scripture this week is tearing out your heart?

2) How are you applying what you read this week?

3) How have you been meditating on scripture this week? (Ps. 1)

4)How have your feelings or emotions lined up with scripture this week?

5) How are you taking every thought captive?  (2 Cor. 10)

6) What is an area of your life that the Lord wants to free you of?

Here are accountability questions to ask:

1) Who did you hurt this week or who has been hurt by your actions?

2)Who have you asked for forgiveness this week?

3) What were some the feelings, thoughts, emotions that you had before you sinned?

4)What have you struggled with this week?

5)What is something in you that is unloving?

6) What has consumed you this week?

7) What scripture speaks into you situation this week?