great finish to 2009!

Over the Christmas break, God blessed in several ways.

• We were able to visit with family and friends back in Texas, where we actually had a White Christmas!






• We got to take the girls on a "mini-tour of Texas" as we visited Houston (the best Mexican joint around - Gringo's in Pearland!), San Antonio (the Alamo, the Riverwalk, Casa Rio, Mi Tiera, and Rivercenter Mall), and Waco (Baylor University and the Dr. Pepper Museum).

• Lastly, I finished my doctorate from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and graduated!

What a great finish to 2009! And very excited about what God has for us in 2010!

slipping success rate

You’ve all heard of AA, Alcoholic's Anonymous. The 12-step program to help people find freedom from alcoholism. Did you know AA was set up on the foundations of the Christian faith? In the early days, co-founder Dr. Bob Smith asked each person entering the program two questions to begin: "Do you believe in God?" and "Will you get on your knees right now with me and receive Jesus into your heart?" In those early days, Step 3 of the 12-step process read: “I will make a decision to turn my life and will over to God.” The other co-founder, a man by the name of Bill Wilson, spoke to the statement of this particular commitment: “each of us must fearlessly face the proposition: God is everything or He is nothing.”

When Alcoholics Anonymous started several decades ago, the program was resulting in a 75% success rate – that is, 3 out of every 4 people in the program never returned to alcohol again. Know what it is today? 20%! Only 1 of 5 is completely freed from the shackles of alcohol; the other 4 return to it in defeat.

The beginning of the drop in the rate of success can be traced back to almost an exact point in time ... when the original wording of Step 3 was changed. In the decades since Smith and Wilson originally penned the step of spiritual commitment, the word “God” has been replaced with the non-committal phrase “Higher Power.”

The point is obvious ...
If Jesus Christ is not everything in your life, your success rate will slip! You too must fearlessly face the proposition: God is everything or He is nothing.

i can't help it!

A response. It's something that bursts from within you, brought on by something outside of you that incites that reaction from you. You do it because you just can't help it. It's not forced or scripted or rehearsed. It just happens.

Take for example this past Sunday night when Lawrence Tynes, kicker for the New York Giants, nailed the last-second field goal to lift his team past my beloved Dallas Cowboys to victory. I had to respond. Without a word, I hit the 'Off' button on my remote in chagrin and disgust. At that time, the response honestly wasn't my most shining moment. But it was real. And it was me. My response.

But what if things had gone my way? What if Tynes shanked it, or what if DeMarcus Ware had gotten a beefy mitt on the ball and knocked it convincingly to the ground along with the Giants' hopes? Then my gut-level response would've been altogether different. I would've rushed in to my bedroom and woken my wife with shouts of joyous celebration (as I have so many other times)! Or possibly with an impromptu (and very Baptist-looking) victory dance. I just simply couldn't help it!

That is the best way to describe the life-activity we call worship: our response.

At it's core, worship is primarily a response to God's revelation of Who He is and what He has done. It is a reaction to His action. And it is something we can't help but to do when He appears or initiates or inspires in our lives.

Just ask Isaiah when you get a chance (Isaiah 6:1-9a). Or Mary (Luke 1:39-49). God acts (or just IS), we encounter, and lift up our response to Him.

Go on, worship! Every moment, every day. You can't help it!

it's all good

"He has done everything well!" This was the confession of the crowd at the end of Mark 7. Everything Jesus does is nothing less than wonderful. He acts in pure goodness! And He always has, even from the beginning...

"God saw all that he had made, and it was very good." - Gen. 1:31, emphasis mine

Think about that! You can count on everything God does to be wonderful, perfect, awesome -- GOOD! Each time, every time! Not half-done, not okay, not eeking-by, not the way you or I would do it!

And so ...
Everything He does is a reason for your praise.
Everything He does is a motivation for your trust.

the only reasonable response

Worship is our response to the revelation of God. God never forces us to respond. It is always our choice. But it is the only reasonable response to follow. Regardless of our past or present circumstances, we have so many powerful, irresistible, urgent reasons to set aside everything else and worship Him!

Worship is our response to Who God is … He is Almighty God, Prince of Peace, King of Kings, Lord of All, Savior, Redeemer, Counselor, Friend, Healer, Comforter …

Worship is our response to what God has done … He has created the earth and everything in it, overcome the enemy, died for our faults and sins, chosen to dwell with us and in us, loved us with an everlasting love, justified us, called us children, called us heirs, given us new life, forgiven us, set us free …

If He never did anything else for you or was nothing else to you, He would still be worthy of your worship forever for any one of those things. Pick one. Go ahead. Worship is our only reasonable response to God’s revelation.

you're invited

God invites us. To a journey that we:

• can not control
• will not understand
• must trust Him to (re)learn

Observe...

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
- Matthew 4:18-20

God invites us. To something much bigger than we are. Will you accept?

it's not about you!

Who you are & what you do in life has a great deal to do with your perspective, the point from which you view yourself, life, God, the world, everything. Apparently, this is a pretty big deal, because God took the time to remind His people of this on the way into the Promised Land (Deuteronomy 9:1-6). Go ahead, check it out.

Victory, success, or even progress in your life has nothing to do with your righteousness, the good things you do. Truth be told, you have none. God reminded His people of that three times in this passage alone! Jesus said in Mark 10:18 that "no one is good, but God alone." So, for your own sake, don't ever use your "greatness" as the scorecard! Sounds like it might be time to change up your perspective.

Life is about God. He Himself is motivated by His own glorification, His own magnification, His own verification. Are you? Verse 6 reminds us He lets you in on that process by His own giving and good nature.

I want my life to have a point, so I'm in. How about you?