Angry Birds: The Power of Possibility
Radical Preaching: Andy Stanley
See Radical Devotion Part 1: Rick Warren
See Radical Devotion Part 2: Perry Noble
See Radical Preaching Part 1: Rick Warren
RADICAL PREACHING
Key Points & Quotes
Speaker: Pastor Andy Stanley
Date: 2-9-2010
Radicalis-Session 2
One-liners from Andy during talk:
· If we’re not careful, our approach to preaching trumps our goal to preaching
· 18-35 year olds in this country have abandoned church
· Approach is everything – if the approach is wrong, we drive people away
· Andy’s goal when preaching - “Have people live their lives as if God is with them”
· Everything that is memorable is portable
· Our goal much shape our approach
· First Question: What is your goal? Second Question: What’s your approach?
Andy’s approach when preaching – Lure them into the scripture, rub their noses in it, take one sticky statement, jam that statement in their hearts, send them out to do something about it
5 Questions Andy asks Every Single Week:
1) Who is about (long pause), really?
a. Has to be about them, not me
b. Concern for the audience must overwhelm my concern for me
c. Prepare so well when preaching that I don’t have to worry about me
d. Going over time when you preach
i. Is because you were unprepared
ii. Is about you not them
iii. Is selfish
iv. Stresses out the rest of the “body of Christ” (volunteers with children, volunteers in the parking lot, those trying to prepare or attend the next service, etc…)
2) What’s my burden?
a. What’s the one thing that I’ve come to deliver – that I MUST say
i. Dig until you find it
ii. Build everything else around it
iii. Make it stick
b. Be able to put the whole message in a sentence – what’s the main thing?
c. Examples of “main thing” message sentences
i. To understand why, submit and apply
ii. Purity paints the way to intimacy
iii. My irresponsibility become’s someone’s else’s responsibility
iv. Pay attention to a-tension
v. You are the only legitimate source of intimacy for your spouse
vi. The decision you make in your garden will effect the rest of your life (My message “main thing” when I preached my first sermon)
3) Where is the tension?
a. What’s the problem? What are we trying to solve?
b. What’s the question this message answers?
c. What is the tension this message resolves?
d. What is the mystery this message solves?
e. What is the issue this message addresses?
4) Do I own this?
a. Have I internalized this message?
b. How hard is it going to be to preach this?
c. If I don’t own it, my audience is going to know
d. The key is to memorize pieces not points
i. There should only be ONE POINT
e. If you can think through the pieces you don’t need notes
f. Moves and stories go by quick – sermons take forever!
5) Am I allowing the text to speak?
a. Bring the energy to the text – don’t use all your energy telling the story
b. Need to uncover the energy in the text
c. Don’t economize the Bible – if I do that I forfeit the Word and I haven’t properly prepared
i. This means don’t spend so much time talking about other areas that there is no time left to explore the text properly
Radical Preaching: Rick Warren
See Radical Devotion Part 1: Rick Warren
See Radical Devotion Part 2: Perry Noble
RADICAL PREACHING
Key Points & Quotes
Speaker: Pastor Rick Warren
Date: 2-9-2010
Radicalis-Session 2
“My word will not return void” Isaiah 55:11
1) The BASIS for radical preaching is The Great Commission.
A Great Commitment
to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission
Matt. 28:19-20 19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
2) The GOAL of radical preaching is Obedience.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
For doctrine
For reproof
For correction
For instruction in righteousness
THAT the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works”
2 Tim. 3:16-17
3) The RESULT of radical preaching is A Serving Disciple.
“(Christ) gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people FOR WORKS OF SERVICE” – Ministry
So that the BODY OF CHRIST MAY BE BUILT UP – Membership
Until we all reach unity in the faith (Missions) and in knowledge of the Son of God and BECOME MATURE (Maturity), attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ!” - Magnification
Eph. 4:11-13
· Jesus always expected people to Do Something as a result of his preaching.
“No that you know these things, you will be blessed if you DO them.” John 13:17
“Jesus told him, ‘Go and DO likewise.’” Luke 10:37
“But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into PRACTICE is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.” Matt. 7:26
“It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth” 1 John 3:19
“Do the things that show you really have changed your hearts and lives.” Matt. 3:8
· We only believe the parts of the Bible we DO.
TEN THINGS I’VE ELARNED ABOUT PREACHING FOR LIFE-CHANGE
1) All behavior is based on a belief.
a. “Be careful how you think; your life is shaped by your thoughts.” Prov. 4:23 (TEV)
b. What we believe effects how we behave
c. Ask myself: Why do I do this? I believe something behind the action
2) Behind every sin is a lie that I’m believing.
a. Go deeper than the action.
b. “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.” Titus 3:3
3) Change always starts in the mind.
a. Think -> Feel -> Act
b. “Do not conform any longer to the patter of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” Rom 12:2
4) To help people change, we must first change their beliefs.
a. “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32
b. Get them to question the lie – what’s the lie behind…______________?
5) Trying to change people’s behavior without changing their beliefs is a waste of time.
a. “What people say with their mouths comes from the way they thing; and these are the things that make people unclean.” Matt. 15:18
b. Will power does not work. We must change the autopilot (our belief systems, convictions, values)
c. Pastors have to preach mind-changing type of messages
d. Not hard to obey when your mind is renewed but its IMPOSSIBLE to obey when your mind isn’t renewed
6) The Bible term for “Change your mind” is Repentance!
a. Paradigm Shift = Repentance
b. Metanoia = to change your mind = reverse mind
c. Not a sin to have an attraction, but it is a sin to follow that attraction (gay, straight, whatever)
d. Repentance = changing the way I think about something, but accepting the way God thinks about the same thing
e. “I will teach you to respect me completely, and I will put a new way of thinking inside of you. I will take out the stubborn hearts of stone from your bodies, and I will give you obedient hearts of flesh.” Ezekial 36:26
7) You don’t change people’s minds, the applied Word of God does.
a. “We speak words given to us by the Spirit, using the Spirit’s words to explain spiritual truths.” 1 Cor. 2:13b
b. Make the word personal, practical, possible, provable
c. In real preaching, God is at work within the speaker
d. “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord.” Zech 4:6
8) Changing the way I act is the fruit.
a. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” Matt. 3:8
b. Repentance is NOT changing my actions. Repentance is changing the way I THINK.
c. It’s shallow to preach doctrine without applying it to life change – the sins of the people
9) The deepest preaching is preaching for repentance.
a. Repentance is the central message of New Testament preachers.
b. John-B “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Matt. 3:2
c. Jesus “Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15
d. The 70 “They went out and preach that people should repent” Mark 6:12
e. Peter “Repent and be baptized, every one of you…” Acts 2:38
f. Paul “I preach that they should repent…” Acts 26:20b
g. John “Repent!” Rev. 2-3
10) To product lasting life-change you must enlighten the mind, engage the emotions, and challenge the will.
a. Every message comes down to 2 words: Will you?
b. “Where there is no word from God, people are uncontrolled…” Prov. 29:18 (NCV)
c. Great preaching tasks Risk and Humility
d. A good church with good preaching will do ALL THREE of these things. So often a church will only focus on one.
i. Edify – build them up
ii. Educate – fire up
iii. Comfort – hold up
Radical Devotion - Perry Noble
RADICAL DEVOTION: Part 2
Key Points & Quotes
Speaker: Pastor Perry Noble
Date: 2-9-2010
Radicalis-Session 1
Foundational Scripture: Acts 26:12-18
12 “One day I was on such a mission to
15 “‘Who are you, lord?’ I asked.
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future. 17 And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles 18 to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’
1) Radical devotion begins with an accurate view of Jesus (vs. 15)
a. We wouldn’t speak to Jesus like we do if we truly understood who He is
b. Before we can discover what God wants, we need to know who He is
c. We don’t have a “stuffing” problem, we have a Jesus problem
d. If we truly understood who Jesus was, we would treat everyone in such a way that they can see they are interacting with Him. He said “no matter where we eat, my server has a SOUL – so tip well!”
2) Radical devotion calls us to action (vs. 16)
a. When the alarm (any alarm - house, car, internal, etc…) goes off, we can’t pretend it’s not going off! We can’t pray it away! We must act.
b. If it is God’s will, it’s God’s bill – let’s stop telling God what He can’t do
c. Vision calls us to action – sometimes that action is uncomfortable
d. Let’s seek comfort LESS and Christ MORE
e. Don’t worry about closing the back door of the church. If people aren’t leaving then we aren’t leading
3) Radical devotion will impact me personally
a. There are very few pastors who are willing to fight for their flock because it produces too much personal cost
b. Jesus basically said to Paul – you’re going to witness for me, serve me, and it’s going to hurt
c. Vision – got to see it – got to feel it – lead out of revelation and not imitation
d. Radical devotion impacts us personally and it does cost but we will NEVER pay the price that Jesus paid – so it doesn’t cost enough to quit
4) Radical devotion will lead to the supernatural (vs. 17-18)
a. Jesus is supernatural! He told Paul that he would
i. Deliver him from his people
ii. Open their eyes
iii. Turn darkness to light
iv. Have them receive forgiveness
v. And be sanctified by faith
b. Don’t create a strategy – beg God for intervention
c. What politicians talk about will one day fade – what Pastors talk about will never fade
Radical Devotion - Rick Warren
RADICAL DEVOTION
Key Points & Quotes
Speaker: Pastor Rick Warren
Date: 2-9-2010
Radicalis-Session 1
Latin: Radicalis = from the root
“Radical” MEANS ROOTED
Root Examples:
Eradicate – comes from the ROOT – get rid of the ROOT issue
Radical in math is the ROOT number
Radical is the ROOT in grammar
Consonants of 2 or 3 in linguistics are RADICAL
Free RADICAL is 2 electrons, 1 proton – smallest ROOT amount
Col. 2:6-7 6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
Eph. 3:17-19 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Matt. 13:21 21But they don't have deep roots, and they don't last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in trouble, they give up.
Jer. 17:7-8 7”Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. "For he will be like a tree planted by the water, that extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, and it will not be anxious in a year of drought nor cease to yield fruit.
4 Results of Deep Roots Found in Jeremiah:
1) Not bothered by the heat – can handle the pressure
2) Not worried by the drought – things that dry up I your life
3) Leaves stay green
4) Keep on producing fruit
2 Visible Symptoms of Rootlessness (Why people aren’t Christian):
1) Most people are lethargic
2) Most people don’t want what we offer, because we come off like
a. Christians are boring
b. Christians are just anti-homosexual
c. Christians are just political
One-Liners from Rick during Talk:
· What I am in private determines who I lead in public
· No ROOTS, no fruit
· When you have roots you can be like Saddleback – go down deep & last 30 years
· 20 years ago Rick said “The issue is church health, not church growth”
· Every single problem in my life comes from me not being ROOTED in God’s love
· We don’t get credit for starting the race – we get credit for ending it well
o The only way to end well is to build ROOTS Eph. 3:17-19
· Don’t have to be a superstar to build a super church
· Someone with shallow roots will whither when the heats on
· Our goal as Pastor’s is to help move people from “Come & See” (lowest level of commitment) to “Come & Die” (highest level of commitment)
· Radical devotion = Love God
· Radical compassion = Love people
· Radical missions = Reach the nation
· Radical generosity = Give
· People are looking for an authoritative message through a humble person
· What is it I’m not getting in my life because I haven’t asked God?
· No such thing as Christian music, only Christian lyrics – music speaks more about the culture than it does about theology – God likes all kinds of music, it just has to be done in Spirit and in Truth
· Worship is Radical devotion
· No on will ever love me more than God does – no one
· God isn’t mad at me, He’s mad about me!
o So my worship doesn’t come out of duty, but out of delight!
· What happens in marriages is that men and women fall out of love with their mates because they stopped doing what they did in the beginning – Like the church in Rev. 2:2-5, they forsake their first love
3 Idols Satan sets up:
1) Lust of the flesh – Hedonism – It’s all about me - Sex
2) Lust of the eyes – Materialism – I want it - Salary
3) Pride of life – Secularism – I don’t need God I am God - Status
You see these 3 temptations all throughout scripture. They were in the Garden of Eden, they were the 3 things Satan tempted Jesus with in the Wilderness. The greatest things in life aren't THINGS! Make a declaration to put God first!
You can view and sign this declaration at http://radicalis.com.
My Prayer for Haiti: A Prayer of Confession & Repentance
My Prayer for Haiti: A Prayer of Confession & Repentance
I know I promised you guys a part 3 to "Bboys BGirls & BBall" but due to recent events I'll have to get that out to you in a few days. This is happening right now and this must come first.
BACKGROUND STORY
Currently, my church is engaged in a 21 Day Daniel Fast. This fast started at 6am on January 1st and will end at 6am on January 22nd. Each year, when we do the Daniel Fast, we follow along in a curriculum with our small groups. This year, the curriculum is called "Fresh Encounter: Seeking God Together For Revival In The Land" by Henry Blackaby & Claude King.
When I tell you that this book is RIGHT ON TIME, I still don't think I'm fully doing its content any justice. It lays a foundation for the patterns of revival so that we can get a glimpse into how God works.
THE PATTERN:
Phase 1 - God is on a mission to redeem a lost world. God calls His people into a relationship with Himself, and He accomplishes His work through them.
Phase 2 - God's people tend to depart from Him, turning to substitutes for His presence, purposes, and ways.
Phase 3 - God disciplines His people out of His love for them.
Phase 4 - God's people cry out to Him for help.
Phase 5 - God calls His people to repent and return to Him or perish.
Phase 6 - God revives His repentant people by restoring them to a right relationship with Himself.
Phase 7 - God exalts His Son Jesus in His people and draws the lost to saving faith in Him.
It takes us through the Welsh Revival that took place in Wales and the New England revival or Great Awakening of the 1740s.
Anyway, as I studied this book and the patterns in the Bible of God's revival regarding the children of Israel, of course my mind turned to thinking about my own life, family, church, city, and country. What stage are we in? Have we turned away from God? Have we departed from Him? Is He calling us to a place of repentance and if we don't, will we also perish?
Are the many ENORMOUS natural disasters that have been happening lately a result of sin? Are we or these other nations being punished?
Out of this study I prayed heavily that my church be revived. That Atlanta be revived. That the United States enter TANGIBLE revival (where crime goes down, people return stolen goods, police are bored because there's nothing to do, where homelessness decreases because we share all we have, where THOUSANDS get saved by the day, etc...).
Little did I know, that the main revival God was seeking...was in me. Hence my prayer for Haiti and my confession this morning (straight from my journal).
THE PRAYER:
Father, good morning. Thank you for Your Word today. Thank you for Your Word all this week King. You are amazing and awesome. There is no one like You. You are great and powerful. You are just and right in all you do. You are amazing and loving. You love for us is greater than anything we could ever imagine. Your love for the world is also greater than anything we could ever imagine. You do things that are above our understanding. When this happens Lord, help us to trust You and represent You properly. Help us to speak the right words and to place your wrath appropriately.
Father forgive me for any way in which I have misrepresented You at this time of disaster. For anytime I assumed this was about them and not me. I can see how you have been preparing me throughout the whole Daniel Fast to have the right heart and desire to serve. A desire to sacrifice, to deny myself, and to think more about others. Lord, well, something really different has been sparked in me. May it go all the way. All the way Father. Please.
Thank you for showing me what it really feels like to give {towards Haiti}, with a heart that is cheerful about it. With a heart that is truly broken by what caused this need. Father, to give when I didn't prepare for it, but just responded to the call. The revival is NOT for everyone else...but for me.
Lord, I pray for Haiti. Please show up in real way. I believe a lot of that {You showing up} comes from Your people going there and helping, and rebuilding and caring for people. I pray that Your children respond in the droves and that Your love is truly felt. That we go with the right heart and not with a heart that says "you deserved this".
Father, I'm hearing stories about singing and worshiping in the streets. What a response! How would have we responded? Come into hearts King. May people have a greater revelation of You. Father, may some look back at this "disaster" as one of the best things that could have ever happened, as out of it, they met The Living God.
Reunite children with their families. Lord, please restore the lines of communication. Reconcile broken relationships. Allow those who want it, to gain US citizenship if they've been trying to do so or desire to now. Protect those that are still buried beneath the rubble. Keep the singing going. May we show up better than we did for Katrina, better than we did for the Indonesia Tsunami...may this be a revival for us all. May this spark in us an overwhelming sense of love that we didn't know we had.
Thank you. May I think properly about you Lord. Properly about Your ways. May I fear you properly and fear no man. May I always remember that You are God and I am not and that Your ways are always right and good.
In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
Confession: I have NEVER responded so promptly or in such an overwhelming manner to any natural disaster effecting another country as I have with this one. God is truly changing me from the inside out and I am being revived. Could it be that this whole thing was about repositioning people/Christians around the world to be conduits of His love & not about their sin? Who knows. God is so big that I think it would be improper to assume anything, either way, about WHY this happened. Our proper response now, is to just show out like His word says we should.
HOW YOU CAN HELP:
1) You can text "YELE" to 501501 and it will send $5 to the relief effort. This money will be added to your phone bill.
2) You can text "HAITI" to 90999 and a $10 donation will be sent to the Red Cross to help in Haiti.
3) In Atlanta, please see http://www.shoebox4haiti.com/ You can fill a shoebox with some necessary goods and drop it off to be sent to Haiti immediately.
4) Pastor Shaun King, of Atlanta, is organizing efforts if teams what to GO TO HAITI or just help in any way.
5) Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church is organizing a prayer vigil tomorrow for all Haitian Americans that want to get together and pray for their families.
6) Check out World Relief for more ways to help.
If you know of some local efforts please post them here also. I will be sure to send them along.
Thank you.
BBoys BGirls & BBall-Part 2
In Part 1 of “BBoys BGirls & BBall” I answered the question “What’s the message?” and I just tried to break down my heart as it relates to some of the misconceptions regarding gender identity. If you haven’t read Part 1, you may want to do that in order to gain an understanding of where I’m going now.
In Part 2 I want to answer the question “So...what is our response?”. When we come across someone who’s gender identity doesn’t seem to match what we perceive a male or female to be, how do we respond? Let me broaden it. As Christians, when we come across ANYONE who’s life doesn’t totally model or walk out the Word of God as we have read it, how do we treat them? If we meet someone or know someone who is struggling not only in their gender identity but has also, in turn, embraced the life of homosexuality, where should we default in our minds?
Well, let’s look at a couple of things and perhaps you can deduce the answer from these:
| Example of our response A - (video)Steve Harvey’s relationship with Donnie McClurkin (sorry embedding was not allowed with this video so you'll have to actually click to watch): I’ll speak more on this later on in the blog - there’s much to say |  |
Example of our response B - A comment posted on Part 1 of this blog by a Dominic:
“...It seems like the conversation about gender identity is completely of base. In the world, its condoned but in church its condemned. No one seems to really understand or is able to articulate the real issue facing individuals who struggle with gender identification...It is only when we love people where they are, regardless of their struggle, that we show the heart of Christ and we pave the way for people to shed the identity imposed on them by the world and by circumstances and receive the identity God has given.”
Example of our response C - 1 Corinthians 13:1-7
“ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
So...what is our response? It’s love. It’s love, love, love, love, love, love, LOVE!
No, no wait! Don’t go! Don’t stop reading because you’ve read that verse a million times and you’ve heard it all before and “of course we should respond in love, everyone knows that”. Okay, sure, of course you know that, but do we really, really, really, think about what that means and what that looks like? Let’s really take some time to process that in practical ways and think through what it means to walk that out. Because here’s what I’m not saying or what is typically the misconception. I’m not saying that we respond with whatever we feel we need to say, in whatever tone we feel we need to say it IN LOVE. No! I’m not saying that we still go ahead and respond IN LOVE. I’m saying that our response IS LOVE.
And I know that we all (well all of us who name the name of Christ) have heard the term and we embrace the term “unconditional love” and we can mentally assent to the fact that it means that we don’t place any conditions on loving someone and we THINK that that’s actually the way that we do love people, but the truth is....we don’t. I don’t. You don’t. We don’t. The truth is, in our hearts and in our minds, we place all kinds of conditions on our love and we don’t even know it. Even now, as I’m writing, some of you are struggling with the thought that I’m saying that we shouldn’t address sin and we just need to smile and hug on people and not ever say anything about their lifestyle. You can’t even read this message and embrace that our only response is love without thinking in your mind and going elsewhere.
Forget the issue of homosexuality or of gender identity. Forget that. Just think about your sister, your friend, your coworker that you so desperately wish would adhere to the advice you give them about God. And just think about how frustrated we get when we’ve invited them to church time after time and they still refuse to come. Think about how uptight we get when they may haphazardly live their lives, just the way they want to live them, right in our faces. How many times have we been fed up, been discouraged because they haven’t changed, been mad at them for just going their own way. Think about how, in that moment, we don’t quite treat them the same, with the same regard or with the same patience we might give someone else who DID respond when we spoke to them, who DID come to church when we invited them, who DID give their lives to the Lord when we asked if we could pray with them. Think about it deeply....and then....embrace the reality that we give CONDITIONAL love.
Under the condition that you did respond to Christ's Word when I spoke it, I appreciate you more and I’m relieved to speak with you. Under the condition that you did come to church when I invited you, I can hang out with you more now and introduce you to my friends. Under the condition that you changed your music, your clothing, your associations, you can be my friend and it’s my pleasure to number myself with you.
You see, we don’t just SAY these things outright, but it’s the truth that’s in our hearts. When people fit the mold we believe they should have, they’re accepted...they’re conditionally loved. When people don’t fit the mold, choose to live outside the mold, choose to take that mold and bust it wide open, then inwardly, secretly, subtly, they’re rejected...and therefore, not unconditionally loved.
Christ loved us unconditionally. When we didn’t fit the mold, chose to live outside the mold, chose to take the mold and bust it wide open...He loved us unconditionally even then. “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:7-8) And as He is our example, we should do the same thing.
But, But, But
Man, you know, as I’m writing, I can hear so many different responses. So many different rebuttals and I don’t have the time or the space to respond to every one of them now, but I hope that you see that I do understand the balance. There is a balance. YES, we are called to be holy/other/set apart. But showing true unconditional love IS “other”, that’s not how the world does it. Also, if you are still inwardly struggling yourself in a particular area, then it would be wise to put your distance between yourself and others that may be glorifying that struggle or encouraging that sin. Don’t use the excuse that you can be “in the world but not of it” to place yourself in a compromising situation to YOUR OWN spiritual health (not theirs).
However, outside of that, let’s stop pushing people away and holding them at an arms length until they change. Accept them just the way they are, learn to love them right where they are....period. (Insert LOL emoticon) I really think you thought I was going to say “love them right where they are and...in time, they’ll come around”. HA! No! That’s the problem, because when they don’t come around we get frustrated and our love changes. Just love them. No agenda. No expectation.
Let’s go back to Steve Harvey just for a quick second and then I’ll close. The clip above alone may have meant something to you within itself. But if you saw the Celebration of Gospel ( COB ) last night on BET then it probably would mean a great deal more. On COB they honored Steve for being the host of the show for the past 10 years. Steve himself would often joke about how he, for the life of him, could never understand why those church-people kept inviting him back. He would joke about how he really had to hold his tongue and try not to curse when doing his stand up. He’ll admit that he does love the Lord but there are just some things in his life he is still working on. At COB last night, they honored Steve and he was willingly accepting the recognition until Pastor Donnie McClurkin got on the stage and started reminding him that he was deeply LOVED and appreciated and VALUED just the way he was. He spoke into him, called him a man of God and when the camera cut to Steve he was crying like a baby. He was deeply, deeply sobbing because he had become overwhelmed at the LOVE he was being shown. Not “i love you, but you need to work on these things”, not “I love you, but you know you not living right”...just “I love you”....period. He was jacked up. That’s God’s love. That’s what His love will do to people. That’s how we should respond.
The next time you meet a girl who looks like a boy. The next time you meet a man who enjoys wearing high heels. The next time you encounter someone who has embraced the homosexual lifestyle. The next time you come across ANYONE that doesn’t fit the mold and even the Christ-taught lifestyle that you may have embraced...love them...unconditionally. I know we want everyone to share in our Hope, but guess what...they can...if we love them.
I had some great women in my life that demonstrated this to me, this unconditional love, and over time, because I knew that I didn't EVER have to change to earn their true love, I began to change myself, for me and not for anyone else. I was accepted into campus ministry, given a chance to pray, to share, to lead, all while still dressing like a boy and displaying many mannerisms like men. They didn't treat me any different. They saw my heart. I knew I was accepted. It was then and ONLY THEN (when I knew I didn't have to change) that I wanted to. I think I turned out okay....
Be a friend. Lend a hand. Open your ear. Lose the agenda. Love.
In Part 3 of this blog I will address “But I Was Born This Way”. You may be surprised at my response.
BBoys BGirls & BBall
BBoys BGirls & BBall: Part 1
Boys will BBoys and Girls will BGirls right?
But what happens when girls feel like boys and boys feel like girls? It doesn't seem to be that simple then...does it? But really...what are we supposed to do? If you're a person who, growing up was a girl that felt more like a boy - what do you do? If you were a boy that felt more feminine - what do you do? What about, if you're a Christian and you come across a person who is trapped in that battle - how do you react and what do you say?
I don't want to restate everything that I already stated in the poem, but I do want to explore the topic just a little bit further. As I told you in "My First Blog", I believe that God is challenging me to "start the conversation" instead of waiting for the conversation to come to me. The last time I performed that poem in a show a lot of conversation "came to me" regarding the subject matter. Though it was from different sources and from unrelated people, it seemed as though the message had landed and many Christians just wanted to know..."so...how DO we respond?".
What was the message?
Basically, what I was trying to say, what I'm trying to argue is that the topic of gender identity and what defines and what goes into someones sexuality is way more complicated and goes way deeper than we can really see or judge on the surface. When we see a man that's more feminine, or a woman who is more masculine, our minds are just programmed to call them "gay" or assume they're "gay" or if they aren't openly gay we believe in our hearts that they secretly want to be or thought about it. We default to categories, blame, shame. And if we're REALLY super spiritual we even feel that its our responsibility to make sure they know that the lifestyle they're pursuing or wanting to pursue or may-not-even-be-pursuing-but-we-think-they-might is an absolute sin before the Lord and if WE don't take the time to tell them then they'll never know and so "I must say something" becomes our resolve.
I am a saved, born-again, heterosexual female who knows about this battle through and through AND THROUGH. I know what it's like to be born a girl but not ever truly be able to fit in with the other girls around me. I have very, very early childhood memories and even accounts from my own mother, of me pulling on the clothes she made me wear, despising anything that fit too snuggly, and being more naturally drawn to the masculine mannerisms than feminine ones. I remember the comments from other family members that I would "grow out of it" that its "just a phase", but as I grew all I knew was that the gap between me and other females was only growing and growing. As they matured in their desires for makeup and boys, I never obtained that want. When sleepovers were consumed with calling our guy friends on the phone just to talk, I lost interest quickly. As they pursued skirts and tank tops, I never wanted to show that much leg or arm. And soon the gap between us became so large that I knew that I might not ever catch up.
Let me plug something else in here for a moment. There is some same-sex abuse in my past and it started early and I know that it played a major role in my need to cover my whole body with XL clothing and caused some major relational issues later on in my life (I'll explore that more in another blog). However, my gender identity battles were inherent within me BEFORE the abuse happened and that's the greater point I'm trying to make. There are many men and women that have embraced the homosexual lifestyle ONLY as a result of having being abused by the opposite sex and therefore, losing trust in them. There are many in the lifestyle because they were abused by the same sex and so that's where their relational comfort lies or where they find their relational acceptance. There are many that were never abused at all, but for some reason, their gender identity (how they "felt" on the inside) tended to be more masculine as female and more feminine as a male. One of the battles I had growing up was wrestling with the fact that most boys weren't attracted to me because I was too much like them. Even though I seemed to be so glaringly different from my other female counterparts, I still wanted relationship, wanted to be attractive to someone, wanted to be wanted. Everyone does. So, the fellas (not always, but most often) turned me away, but there was a growing audience of practicing gay females that were calling my name. This was a struggle. Being a female basketball player in the 90s, when the rise of Studs and Aggressives really began to hit the middle and high school scene, brought on a great deal of pressure. I was heavily struggling mentally with not giving in to the lifestyle where my society, my family, and even THE CHURCH just ASSUMED I should be.
I'm going to leave that alone for a minute and just let you breathe and think on that. Does what I write make you think any differently at all about the topic, about what's going on in the minds of those who battle? I am, in no way, discounting the Word of God and what His Word states (Romans 1:18-27) regarding the willful entering into a same-sex relationship. It is a sin (A sin, not THE sin, and not a greater sin than any other). But what I hope we can do is to think FIRST about a persons background, experiences, genetic make-up (more on that later), influences, etc...that may have brought them to that place and SECOND or LAST or NOT AT ALL even on how we are to change them or the way that they act. The battle with homosexuality is a relational issue, not a sexual one. Again, it's a relational issue, not a sexual one.
Shaun King, the pastor of Courageous Church in Atlanta, GA spoke a little on the topic in his "Ask Anything" series. You can hear his response to the question of "If homosexuality is a sin, then why does God allow for hermaphrodite or intersex people to be born? Why are there genetic mutations where a person can be born with both organs?"...To hear his answer, download the podcast HERE, go to "Ask Anything - Part 1 - October 20, 2009", fast-forward it 37 minutes in and I hope that his answer really makes you think.
So...How DO we respond?
Well check out Part 2 of this blog for my honest opinion...coming soon, and in Part 3 of this blog I will talk about "But I Was Born This Way".
My FIRST Blog
One may say, "why would you start writing a blog at a time when sooooooo many blogs are being written?", "why enter a world that's currently being saturated with a myriad of opinions, ideologies, and thoughts?", and to them I respond "why would a Pastor start a new church in a city filled with churches?", "Is there room for YET another gathering when so many other Pastors have already been holding gatherings for years?". The Pastor being challenged with that question (as Louie Giglio was when starting Passion Church & I imagine Shaun King probably was when starting Courageous Church) might respond "the call on my life is unique to my journey and therefore the audience I am called to reach is unique to my message". There is no shortage of people within a city still deciding on a church home (or whether to be a Christ-follower at all for that matter), and there are no shortage of readers looking for a place where they can connect, dialogue, be encouraged. This is my resolve.
There is a unique message that has been given to me and there is a unique audience that will appeal to what I've been given to say. As one Pastor's desire isn't to "steal sheep", nor is it my desire to pull readers away from the blogs that feed them most. As a matter of fact, I've decided that on every blog post I will give a "shout out" to other blogs and sites that have fed me over the years. Starting with this one, where I will list all the blogs that have inspired me to begin writing my own.
Who are you?
Aha! I know that there are many people, when answering this question, who will respond immediately with what they do. Fortunately, I believe God has given me a more proper response that encompasses more than what what I do, but WHO He has called me to be.
"I am a Christian artist with a desire to impact the next generation, encourage the addicted, and ultimately change the world." M.C.L.
That's it. I believe that says it all. In this one statement you can get an idea of my gift-set and my history. I am a Christ-follower. I gave my life to him at the age of 11 (so much to say about the #11 and it's significance in my life-even to the point that this blog is being written the 11th, with no previous planning from me-but more on that in another blog). I've been so close to Him that I feel I could accomplish anything & I've been so far from Him that I would gladly welcome death over the state of my life at that time. I'm a spoken word artist, painter, and dancer and I hope to use all of those mediums to help communicate my heart. But I am also a recovering addict, abuse survivor, mentor to Christian woman struggling with same-sex attraction, communicator, and continuous student of all issues taboo in the Christian community.
It is not my goal to say shocking things merely for shock value, but only to speak the truth about my own life's journey, how the Church has responded to me, and how we should respond going forward.
What is your message?
All the things I've mentioned above and more. I believe there are 3 core umbrella's under which every topic I write on will fall.
1) There is hope. (To encourage)
2) Come on Christian...we can do better. (To challenge)
3) I feel you. (To empathize)
When I think about every poem I've written/performed and especially the ones that seemed to have the greatest impact on others, they were either to encourage, to challenge, or to empathize. When we are in our darkest moments, sometimes we just need someone to say "i feel you", then along the way we need to be reminded that "there is hope", but then there are times when we just need a good kick in the pants. :o) That's what I hope to do as I share what I believe I've been given to say. Perhaps one of these umbrella's will mean something and carry a little weight for you.
Who is your audience?
As a writer and a performer, it would be my first inclination to say "EVERYONE!". But that's not true. As a result of my history I have to address some tough topics and it's been my experience that not everyone wants to or is ready to "go there". When the movie Precious came out, this point was more than confirmed as there were so many that didn't want to fully embrace the life that this young lady had to live. "It was so dark" "it was so difficult to watch" "it was too much" were some of the responses I heard, but my first response however was "its someone's life". And "those someone's" are probably my audience, along with those who desire to help "those someone's", and also those who would like nothing more than to criticize and challenge the methodologies of "those someone's" along the way. Bring it on. I welcome you all...all who fall within those categories and those who fall without. I hope we can have a great discussion here. I will read every comment and carefully consider all feedback even if it differs drastically from my own personal opinions.
Up to this point I've allowed "the conversation" to come to me. Only after someone inquired further regarding the poem I've written or only after first being asked, would I open my mouth and give my own opinion. But for a while now, I believe that God wants me to START "the conversation", to be an initiator and not merely a responder and so...here we go. If I said I weren't scared, I'd be lying straight. I AM just a little bit scared, but I'm reminded of something my Pastor would often say, "feel the fear and do it anyway". Okay...done.
Stay tuned for something deep, something shallow, something politically-correct, and something controversial. Stay tuned for "Simply Thoughts". Begin looking forward to videos, dances, poetry, paintings, and "shout-outs". Stay tuned for the beginning of a new era in my life. One that I pray God truly helps me maintain with the same enthusiasm with which it has all started.
Speaking of shout-outs...let's get on with it as I've gone on long enough. There is so much more to say, but it will have to wait for another time. Here is a list of blogs that have greatly encouraged me or challenged me or provoked me or even offended me over time. :o) I hope that you will connect with some of these other writers too, if you haven't already. Thank you.
Shout-Outs
Stuart McDonald (@stumcdnld) http://stuartmcdonald.wordpress.com/
-Blogs about life, relationships, current events, Jesus
Carlos Whittaker (@loswhit) http://www.ragamuffinsoul.com/
-Blogs about music, ministry, Jesus
Shaun King (@shaunking) http://www.shauninthecity.com/
-Blogs about his church Courageous, Atlanta, pop-culture, Jesus
Ken Jos (@kenjos) http://agnostichedonist.wordpress.com/
-Blogs about anything that comes to mind, agnosticism, life, movies
John Saddington (@human3rror) http://human3rror.com/
-Blogs about blogging (smile), technology, websites, life, etc...
James Andrews (@keyinfluencer) http://www.thekeyinfluencer.com
-Social media guru, trust me...he's EVERYWHERE
Scott Williams (@scottwilliams) http://bigisthenewsmall.com/
-Blogs about Pastoring, ministry, technology-He invented the Twitter #fistbump
Kem Meyer (@kemmeyer) http://www.kemmeyer.typepad.com/
-Her Communications Team strategy & work at Granger Community Church is changing the way we do ministry at Destiny Metropolitan Worship Church (where I am currently the Data & Web Specialist)
Let me give a special "shout out" to Chris Dawson (@iamjeremaya). A fellow artist who started writing daily devotions years ago and to this day, he faithfully emails them out. I've watched his writing and development grow leaps and bounds with time. Truly a man of God who felt a call to write and pursued it even though he didn't have all the pieces. Send him a twitter message if you would like to be added to his daily devotion email blast.
And also, let me give another special "shout out" to Damian Boyd (http://damianlboyd.com/) who only started blog writing last month. I pray that he have the energy and enthusiasm to keep with it and grow it over time as I know he carries a very relevant message to today's college community. Keep writing sir.
There are a few more but I just can't list them all today.
I hope "My First Blog" was worth all the words it took to write it. I look forward to connecting further with you. If there is a topic I mentioned in this work that seemed to resonate with you more, let me know and I'll be sure to address it further in my earliest blog posts. What would you like to know more about first? If nothing initially...trust, I still have a lot to say. :o)
Love you all. Holla.
