Excellent Video Preparing for Christmas!

Advent: God With Us from The Village Church on Vimeo.

Thanks, OBF... Excellent Video!

Blessed to be a blessing... a real life story of a Miami Student...

As we think about this season of Christmas, let's remember that we have been blessed to be a blessing.  Jordan Habel is a freshmen at Miami University involved with CRU and this semester trusted Christ.  Watch this video about how Jordan desires to be a blessing to starving children all around the world.

Don't Take a break from being a man... Step Up!

I just started reading a book entitled Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood by Dennis Rainey and as I reflect on the holiday season, my mind tends to drift towards how I can be refreshed. While I do not think this is necessarily bad, I want to challenge myself and you to consider working on stepping up as a man. This can be applied in a variety of ways. If you are a father, move towards your kids intentionally this holiday season.   This is one of the greatest gifts you could ever give your kids: a non passive, involved father who moves towards his kids.  I just got an e-mail from a friend who just graduated from Miami and is working on his adult relationship with his father. He said, "When I hear my father say he loves me, he is proud of me, and I am good at ____________" I can do anything.  So, for the fathers out there who have not said these three powerful statements to their children, this holiday would be a great time to "Step Up"! Could you imagine how much influence this could have in your son's life? For men who are not yet married or do not have children this holiday season maybe  you need to move towards a friend and confess a sin you have never shared with anyone.  Maybe you have never heard your dad say the above three statements. Step up and ask him for them.   No matter where you are on the journey of manhood, let's all step up this Holiday Season!

Zakar God's Faithfulness...

After studying Hebrew for an entire summer, I cannot recall much of what I "learned". The irony is that one of the few words I do remember is Zakar (זָכַר ) which means "to remember".  This little word is used 222 times in the Hebrew Bible.   This morning I was reminded of this word while studying Deuteronomy 8.  God says to Israel as they are preparing to enter the Promise Land to not forget the Lord who brought you out of slavery (Dt. 8:14) He is the One who led Israel through the wilderness. (Dt. 8:15-16)  Deuteronomy repeats over and over again truths that Israel had already learned.  This repetition occured because Israel had the same problem we have today in 2011. This is the problem that I suffer from on a daily basis.  He says, "Otherwise, you may say in your heart, 'My power and the strength of my hand made me this wealth."  How often I forget that all the good that I have is form the Lord.  I suffer from what I call Christian amnesia.  I tend to forgot all the ways in which God has worked in my life.  I forget God's faithfulness in countless ways.    What is the cure?  "But you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth..." (Dt. 8:18) We are to Zakar that the Lord is the One who has given us all that we have.  This is a great challenge this Thanksgiving week.  I want to spend time remembering God's faithfulness in my life.  It is because of his grace that I get to take another breath.  Before you do anything else, pause, and thank God for His faithfulness in your life.  Start a list of things you are thankful for this Thanksgiving season. How long would your list be?  

Just a thought away from ruining my life...

Only time will reveal what really happened with Jerry Sandusky at Penn State.  To say that it is  a very tragic and difficult situation is an understatement.  While I had a range of emotions when I first heard about the scandal from shock to anger to empathy to sadness, I also had fear. Now this fear was related to my own potential to fail.  You see, I sin just like Jerry. My sin may not be dressed up the same way as Jerry's, but I sin.  In fact, I have thoughts that are not always pure and holy.  I have moments in my mind that I would never want shared on this blog.  So the challenge for me is this: what do I do with my sinful thoughts?  The Apostle Paul urges us to "...take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." (2 Cor. 10:5) But he says this in the first person plural. He says "We are destroying speculations..." (NASB)  Paul is putting himself in the same category as the listener.   1 John 1:9 says that "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  John does it as well.  I have never noticed this plurality in 1 John 1:9.  John does not put himself above the need to confess his sin with the reader of this passage.   John is saying that if we confess our sins or agree with God that we have sinned, He cancels our debt.  I understand the value and necessity of confessing my sins to God.  But for the longest time, I thought confession was a personal thing between me and God. And to a certain extent it is this. But I also think there is a need confess us sins to others.  You see, I am not above failing big time in my personal and professional life.   Paul warns us in 1 Cor. 10:12 "Therefore, if anyone thinks he stands take heed lest he fall."  I am just a thought away from ruin.  The question I have for you is this: when is the last time you confessed your sin to someone? James 5:16 urges us to do so.

  If you want to read a thoughtful response to the Penn State tragedy, check out Tim Henderson's message that he gave to PSU's CRU meeting:  http://pennstatecru.org/lovefull.html

Knock, Knock... You can change the course of your life!

As I have been working with college students for over 22 years, I have seen both the positive and negative influences  that can come from a father.  I would argue that unless we deal with these wounds from a Biblical perspective, we can be set up to repeat them with our children.  Check out this poetic video that can give young men hope!

It's All about our heart: Mark 7:6

This past week I was challenged to consider the condition of my heart.  I find it easy to hide from others and from sharing what is really going on in my heart. At times, I need to be asked how my heart is doing with specific questions from friends.  Because it is so hard for men to do this, we have used an activity called "The Hot Seat".   I was with 5 students last weekend on our way home from Michigan and for almost 4 hours we each went on "The Hot Seat". This meant we could ask any question we wanted of each other.  This activity is an excellent way to probe areas in your life that  are challenging to go to .  Obviously, this needs to be explored in the context of a safe group of people who you can trust.  But I recommend it.  So how is your heart today? Have you ever put yourself on "The Hot Seat " with a group of your friends?  "The people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me." (Mark 7:6)  It would seem that to finish well, I need to allow others to ask hard question in order for me to get to what is going on in my heart.  I long for what I say and do to match what is going on in my heart.