Sometimes old truths can become routine and neglected. Here is an old truth that is as young as today's news: It is God's intention for His own to be multipliers. We are to receive the Truth and then take the Truth to others by reproducing the life of Christ in others.
I never was a whiz at higher math; calculus sure wasn't my favorite subject. But I do understand multiplication. Our LORD uses basic multiplication to build His kingdom. You see, this relationship called Christianity isn't intended to be a theoretical religious exercise. It is about multiplying new disciples.
Here's how Chuck Swindoll explains this multiplication: "Jesus chose a few people with whom He could build a relationship and in whom He could pour His life so that when He was gone they could turn the whole world upside down."
However don't assume that this is easy multiplication. Making disciples is difficult. It can be messy and long-term. Everyone is part of this big dysfunctional family called the human race. Each person brings their personal baggage to the multiplication process. That is why relying on His Spirit is essential in reproducing followers of Christ.
I love how Chris Adsit says it" "The primary objective of discipleship is to bring your disciple to the point of "digging his own well" (to drink from the Word) and lose his dependence on you."
May our multiplication skills increase.
Now that's the Heart of the Matter.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
What People Really Want
Over the past three years I have been conducting an admittedly non-scientific, yet reliable poll. I frequently ask persons who may be struggling with some life issues this question:
" What do you want that you don't have?"
The overwhelmingly most frequent answer might surprise you. Do you think the answer might be "More money"? Wrong. How about, "Better health or a bigger house"? Nope. Maybe, "A trimmer waistline or better physical fitness"? Wrong again. Is the answer "A better portfolio or financial security"? Likewise no - not even close.
Far more often than not, when I ask this question the answer is, (drum roll please)...
"Peace"
Odd huh? Of all the answers to that question, "peace" is by far the most frequent. People most desire peace. It's a fleeting possession with millions of people who may be well healed, well positioned or in well health. Yet they long for peace. When peace is absent in any relationship, even our inner relationship with ourselves, life becomes miserable. Perhaps that's why, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room after His resurrection, the first thing He said to them was, "Peace be with you" (John 20:19). Jesus knew what they most wanted above all else: Peace. We all need peace. It can't be bought, traded for, inherited or earned.
Do you like the origins of words? Interestingly the New Testament word for "peace" is nearly synonymous with the salvation brought by the Messiah. If you want peace it can be found only through Him.
Peace be with you during this Easter season.
" What do you want that you don't have?"
The overwhelmingly most frequent answer might surprise you. Do you think the answer might be "More money"? Wrong. How about, "Better health or a bigger house"? Nope. Maybe, "A trimmer waistline or better physical fitness"? Wrong again. Is the answer "A better portfolio or financial security"? Likewise no - not even close.
Far more often than not, when I ask this question the answer is, (drum roll please)...
"Peace"
Odd huh? Of all the answers to that question, "peace" is by far the most frequent. People most desire peace. It's a fleeting possession with millions of people who may be well healed, well positioned or in well health. Yet they long for peace. When peace is absent in any relationship, even our inner relationship with ourselves, life becomes miserable. Perhaps that's why, when Jesus appeared to the disciples in a locked room after His resurrection, the first thing He said to them was, "Peace be with you" (John 20:19). Jesus knew what they most wanted above all else: Peace. We all need peace. It can't be bought, traded for, inherited or earned.
Do you like the origins of words? Interestingly the New Testament word for "peace" is nearly synonymous with the salvation brought by the Messiah. If you want peace it can be found only through Him.
Peace be with you during this Easter season.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Obsession With The World's End
A mega trend of our time is the interest in the end of the world. Both Hollywood and pop culture have recognized this trend as they capitalize on the "End Times Market". Global thermonuclear war ... a collision with a giant asteroid ... an invasion by menacing extraterrestrials ... Hollywood and television producers never lack for creative ideas about how the world will end. A popular current myth is that the Mayan people predicted the world's end in 2012. (Interesting that the Mayans themselves are now extinct.)
I grew-up in a similar time; during the Cold War, when Americans were preparing for a Russian nuclear invasion. At age ten I watched neighbors dig bomb shelters in their backyards, prompting me to be a little nicer to them - just in case the big blast came. We had "bomb drills" at school, and practiced sheltering under our desk tops when the bomb was launched. I never understood how that desk was going to save me from destruction, fallout and death, but we practiced nonetheless.
Amid all those fears about the end then, my mother uttered some profound logic: "Why are so many worried about the end of the world? After all when you die, it's the end of the world for you, so you better be ready."
That was good advice then and is good advice now. Don't want to spoil your day, but we are all in the process of approaching the end. We need to be ready. Contact me if you aren't sure if you are ready.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
I grew-up in a similar time; during the Cold War, when Americans were preparing for a Russian nuclear invasion. At age ten I watched neighbors dig bomb shelters in their backyards, prompting me to be a little nicer to them - just in case the big blast came. We had "bomb drills" at school, and practiced sheltering under our desk tops when the bomb was launched. I never understood how that desk was going to save me from destruction, fallout and death, but we practiced nonetheless.
Amid all those fears about the end then, my mother uttered some profound logic: "Why are so many worried about the end of the world? After all when you die, it's the end of the world for you, so you better be ready."
That was good advice then and is good advice now. Don't want to spoil your day, but we are all in the process of approaching the end. We need to be ready. Contact me if you aren't sure if you are ready.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Hurry Up by Slowing Down
Here's the way John Maxwell says it:
"A minute of thinking is often more valuable than an hour of talk or unplanned work."
Never in the history of humankind has there been so much access to so much information in so little time. A byproduct of the incredible technology revolution is that information and opinions on any topic are literally at our fingertips. There is no information that can't be immediately accessed on your computer or the world wide web on your cell phone. Nor is there a shortage of voices that can tell us just about anything we want to know on any subject. (If you don't agree with me, ask yourself when you last visited the research section at your local library to find information on a topic. Or....when was the last time you opened a World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica to learn some information about a topic?)
Living in the midst of this wave of information sure has its advantages. Yet as with most good things, there can be a bad side to all this. Independent thinking is quickly vanishing. Taking time to think through a matter almost seems wrong in light of the new emphasis that we have on the speed of gathering information. When God spoke through the psalmist the words "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10, He was saying it's good to cease from personal efforts and frenetic schedules and simply take time to slow down. When we do that He makes Himself known to us. One minute of quiet thinking can rumble with the thunder of good decisions.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
"A minute of thinking is often more valuable than an hour of talk or unplanned work."
Never in the history of humankind has there been so much access to so much information in so little time. A byproduct of the incredible technology revolution is that information and opinions on any topic are literally at our fingertips. There is no information that can't be immediately accessed on your computer or the world wide web on your cell phone. Nor is there a shortage of voices that can tell us just about anything we want to know on any subject. (If you don't agree with me, ask yourself when you last visited the research section at your local library to find information on a topic. Or....when was the last time you opened a World Book or Encyclopedia Britannica to learn some information about a topic?)
Living in the midst of this wave of information sure has its advantages. Yet as with most good things, there can be a bad side to all this. Independent thinking is quickly vanishing. Taking time to think through a matter almost seems wrong in light of the new emphasis that we have on the speed of gathering information. When God spoke through the psalmist the words "Be still and know that I am God" Psalm 46:10, He was saying it's good to cease from personal efforts and frenetic schedules and simply take time to slow down. When we do that He makes Himself known to us. One minute of quiet thinking can rumble with the thunder of good decisions.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
Monday, January 18, 2010
"Now I Get It"
C.S. Lewis once said that the first words we will utter in heaven will be, Oh! Now I see! Lewis understood that there are events and issues in our lives that are part of an unknown, divinely planned, bigger picture. There are some things, according to Lewis, we won't understand until we are glorified in heaven.
We want explanations for everything. I often encounter people looking for a key answer for why bad things happen in lives. My best advice is that on this side of heaven we may never know. That goes for personal tragedies and yes, for national tragedies, such as what we are witnessing in Haiti. In recent days there has been a plethora of possible explanations for the horrific death and destruction left by the earthquake in Haiti: Global warming, a Haitian pact with Satan and the neglect of the 3rd World are a few of the desparate attempts to explain how 200,000 people could die in this tragedy.
Here's what we know: We don't know why it happened, but we are called to help. Later on we might "get it"; right now our response as Christ-followers is to be a part of the soloution, not the explanation.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
We want explanations for everything. I often encounter people looking for a key answer for why bad things happen in lives. My best advice is that on this side of heaven we may never know. That goes for personal tragedies and yes, for national tragedies, such as what we are witnessing in Haiti. In recent days there has been a plethora of possible explanations for the horrific death and destruction left by the earthquake in Haiti: Global warming, a Haitian pact with Satan and the neglect of the 3rd World are a few of the desparate attempts to explain how 200,000 people could die in this tragedy.
Here's what we know: We don't know why it happened, but we are called to help. Later on we might "get it"; right now our response as Christ-followers is to be a part of the soloution, not the explanation.
Now that's the heart of the matter.
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