Category: The Gathering

Who among us thinks he couldn’t use and of course handle more money?  But the truth is sometimes more money is not only not the answer, it’s a part of the problem.

As we continued in our series, “The Great Recovery,” we talked about the fourth basic belief that has made our nation great. It’s simply that money makes us responsible.

That is, that earning money, having money and possessions is not about consuming things, but using them to create things.  So we talked about the three signs that having more money may make your life worse, not better.  Things like: do you want more money so you can hoard it, waste it, or consume it?  The question is why should God give us a lot more of what we can’t handle a little of right now; like money, success, or any other thing that we tend to abuse?

We talked about five different aspects of understanding how to use money God’s way. We talked about the importance of perspective, passion, purpose, pain, and having a plan. It’s hard to believe that the average American family will earn well over a million dollars in their working years, and yet only 5% of them can write  a check for $5,000 upon retirement. How sad to think that 87% of people who retire this year will retire at the poverty level of income.  It’s sad to think that 25% of persons over 75 must continue to work only because of financial obligation.  This certainly isn’t what we want.  It’s not the American dream.   And it’s certainly not what honors God.

So we talked today about how to see money as a responsibility, how to handle it God’s way, and how to have plenty of it when we use it for God’s purposes.

 

As we continue in our series “The Great Recovery,” we are talking about the six basic beliefs that can rebuild a nation. And we’ve come to a third basic belief.  And that is, simply, that work is a calling.  It’s not just a job, it’s not just a way to pay your bills, it’s a way to be in the world.

We talked about what’s gone wrong.  Why is work something that we dread?  Why are so many people unemployed, waiting for someone to give them a job when in all of history we’ve been self-employed?  We haven’t waited for a corporation or a government, or some force outside ourselves to do for ourselves what God has called us to do.  And that is, work.  We talked about the difference between calling and just working for a living.

To find your calling is to find your F.I.T.T. in the world.  And before you can stand out, you have to find out where you fit in.  So today we asked four basic questions.

1. What is fulfilling for you?
2. What is inspiring to you?
3. What are the talents that you can develop into skills?
4. What is your temperament that allows you to sustain your calling?

It’s time to take your life back and move into your calling.  This talk will give you practical, hands-on advice and teaching on how to do it. You have no excuse not to get started.  And the sooner you do, the better off we’ll all be.

Yesterday we continued in our series, “The Great Recovery,” with the second of the basic beliefs that can rebuild our nation.  And that is, hope is everything.

The great thing about hope is that everyone can have it.  And then those who have it can give it.  And once it’s given, everything begins to change.  At your workplace, in your family, anywhere you go, anywhere people gather, they need hope. And you’re just the one to infuse it.

We talked about the difference in hope; the three different kinds of hope: Hope as a want, hope as a wish, and then hope that actually works.  We talked about the five hopes of God, and how we can make them work in our everyday lives.

The first basic belief that rebuilds a nation is that God is for us.  The second is, hope is everything.  And once you have hope you have everything you need.

Yesterday at The Gathering I launched a new series called, “TheGreatRecovery.com.”  With this new series we join the nationwide emphasis led by Dave Ramsey called TheGreatRecovery.com.

This is a grassroots, common sense effort to step into the breach of fear, doubt, and uncertainty, and show that God is still alive and working in the lives of His people. As we step up to live life God’s way, good things can happen.  When millions of us take personal responsibility, work hard, love our families, serve a noble cause, and make life good for ourselves, we make it good for everyone else.

We started off yesterday with the first basic belief that built our nation: that God is good, and that we were one nation under God; and that if God were on our side, we could do anything.  We could build a nation, fight our wars, create an economy where everyone could win, and lead the world in creative, innovative products and services.

But lately, we have entered a climate where we’re not really sure about God’s place in our lives.  With this talk, we faced some of the hard questions, the basic of which is, “What if God is not for us?” Where would that leave us, and what would those of us do who love God and believe that living a life for Him is why we’re here?

What if you lived in a society that doesn’t honor God? Can you still do it?  Can you still see the blessings of God?  Can a handful of people make a difference when a nation full of people are indifferent?  You might be surprised at the answer.

In this 4-part series called “Teachology,” we’ve been talking about how to live beyond the boundaries of your life by developing the heart of a teacher.  We will not be remembered for the buildings we’ve built or the organizations we’ve formed, but by what we’ve invested in the lives of other people.

During these four weeks we’ve talked about the four aspects of a teacher: culture-makers, truth-seekers, experienced guides, and today we talked about wise mentors; why all of us need mentors in our lives.

You do understand that there are people in the world who are smarter than you, wiser than you, more experienced than you, and even (I know it’s hard to believe) more accomplished than you.  And all of these really smart, successful people have one thing in common.  They are more than willing to teach others how to do the same thing they’ve done.  Why? Because they’ve been taught themselves.  One of the most important aspects of mentors is that they make it possible for us to gain insights into life without having to make all the same mistakes ourselves.

Maya Angelou said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”  So today we talked about what mentors do.  We talked about the EIEIO approach to mentoring.  We talked about how mentors operate in our lives; the four different roles they play.  But most importantly, what you need to understand about mentors is they must be enlisted.  People can’t volunteer to be your mentor.  They must be asked, which means they must be approached, which means that you must have the courage and the humility to reach out and ask other people to help you grow, learn, and become the person God created you to be.

Straight-forward.  Street-smart. The real deal. All of these are adjectives we use to describe our best teachers.

Teaching is important.  Jesus was called “rabbi” because He was a teacher.  In our summer series we’re talking about the importance of understanding the role that teachers play in our lives.

We talked about the fact that teachers are culture-makers, that teachers are truth-seekers, and today we emphasized the importance that our teachers have experience as they guide us to truth and wisdom in life.

We talked about the four important qualities of the teachers we want to follow, and of the teachers we ought to be.  We described and explained qualities like courageous, competent, curious, and caring.

We also talked about the things that we as teachers want to teach those around us. The mantra of our series is, “I live, I learn.  I learn, I teach.  I teach, I live forever.” If I want to live forever in those I’ve been able teach and influence, the question is, what are the things I absolutely want them to know?  We talked about 8 things that are important to get across as teachers for the next generation.

If you want to live beyond your life, make sure you’re a teacher.  The houses you build, the institutions that you organize will all fade away in time.  But the hearts and souls you have imprinted with truths, with enthusiasm, with the ability to know, understand, and explain the important things of life, make being a teacher one of the greatest gifts that God gives any of us.

The power of a teacher is not in their position or even their degree, but in their heart.

And at the heart of every great teacher is a life-long passionate love for truth.  Great teachers are truth-seekers.  They are not into personal opinion and political preference.  They’re curious by nature and love discovery.  They believe that this big, beautiful, well-ordered world has secrets it is willing to yield to those who are willing to pursue them.

Enter into this idea of truth-seeking, American Christianity which somehow has been, in many places, held up in opposition to truth so that our young people are raised in churches where they’re made to make a decision between faith and truth. They’re told from their earliest days at home, at school, and at church that science is the enemy of God; that philosophy, history, and mathematics are somehow the tools of the secular world.  And yet Jesus said that when you know the truth, the truth will set you free.

In yesterday’s talk, we discussed this issue of truth.  What is truth?  Why is it so important? And why is the big lie that there is in irreconcilable conflict between faith and truth so widely believed by people almost without investigation or discrimination?

It would also be good to go and check out last week’s Renegade’s Guide to God where I discussed the five reasons I am not a Christian.  Here I expose some of the mythologies people have about Christianity, and talk about the nature of truth and faith and why they are not only compatible, they are absolutely essential to one another

Way too many of us and especially those who call ourselves Christians are wandering generalities, not understanding why we’re here and what we’re supposed to do.  We believe that our relationship with God should fill our life with meaning and purpose. And yet we still struggle.

One of the most important aspects of life with God is the fact that each one of us has the responsibility to teach, to teach what we’re observing, to teach what we’re learning; not to yell, not to scream, not to respond to culture as evil; but to look at the world and see how a relationship with God helps us make better culture.

In my new series, “Teachology: How to Live Beyond Your Life,” we talk about the four main characteristics of those who’ve developed the heart of the teacher.  Today we talked about culture-makers.  We talked about the three approaches to culture.  We surveyed the state of American Christianity, and how we’re doing in making better culture.  We defined what teaching is, and what it’s not; and helped each one of us to understand that wherever we are and whatever we do as we develop the heart of a teacher, our life takes on significance, purpose, and importance.  And every single day in accordance with actions or inactions we make, or fail to make, we’re creating the future.

One of the most dangerous places you can ever be in your life, is being sick and tired.  What we’re really saying is, we’re stuck.  More times than not, I’ve found that the weariness I feel is far more emotional than it is physical.

In this talk I spoke about the importance of guarding ourselves against those times when we are weary emotionally and mentally; when we feel we’re most desperate, depressed, and in some cases, downright hopeless.

The hard truth is this. A strong, firsthand, fruitful faith is forged over time through the refining fire.  A strong faith is not magic, it doesn’t present itself in a moment, but it grows over time when we do the right things.  In this talk I outlined several things we need to give attention to so that we make sure that over time we grow stronger, not weaker; more resolved, not less committed; more enthusiastic, not less excited.

The greatest challenge, I’ve found, is to stay enthusiastic, passionate, and engaged as you get older.  Remember, getting old is a choice, getting older is a privilege.  And as we grow in our faith, we can also grow in our love for life and our hope for the future.

It’s hard enough to deal with the stupid things we do to ourselves.  But sometimes it’s downright insane when we face the things that are done to us, that create what I call a “new normal, not of our own making.”

In today’s talk we discussed how to face life when all of a sudden something happens that redefines our life forever; like the death of a child, or a spouse, or even a parent, the loss of a job, loss of health, or the loss of economic viability.  Repeatedly, life presents us with a life we had not planned, but because of circumstances, we now have to face.  The question is, ” How do we face it with faith? Where is God when our life seems to be redefined in ways that we simply can’t comprehend? Can God be trusted?  What are His motives? Why does He allow such outrageous things to happen to those He supposedly loves?”  All of this and more in today’s talk.

Have you ever gotten to a place in your life where you are frustrated, nothing is going right, and you’ve just blurted out, “Hey, I didn’t sign up for this!”?

It could be in your work, your marriage, college, kids; a thousand different causes, but one result – you wind up disappointed.

Would you be surprised to know that God is the author of most disappointment? And yet you say, “I thought God was good and God wanted me to be happy.”  He does.  That’s why He makes it so almost everything you’ll ever touch will disappoint you.  Because if it doesn’t, you’ll try to find your joy, your completeness and your purpose in your things or the people around you.  And for God to let you do that would not be good.

So today we talk about not only how to be really disappointed and the three sure-fire things you can do, but also highlighting the truth about what God wants to do to not only make you complete and make you happy, but best of all, fill you with delight.

If you know somebody who is frustrated with life and disappointed with how things are turning out, this talk is just for them.

Your job, even a good job, even work you love, is never going to be enough.

How often do we hear the advice, “Find your passion, follow your passion, do the work you love.”  And while it’s really great advice, it’s only part of the picture.  No job can fulfill every need that you have as a human being. You need balance.  More than work, you need faith, family, and friends.  You need to be a well-rounded person to really find your fit, so you can stand out.

Yesterday we talked about how we wind up in job hell, what it looks like, and how to get out: how to have a balanced, healthy and whole view of how work fits into our entire lives.

This talk was incredibly important because most of the people I’ve met have an unhealthy, unbalanced view of work.  It’s either all they do to seek to define their identity and well-being, or something they hate to do and have to do simply because they need to make money.  Find a balanced teaching today in this installment of our series, “When You’re Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop.”

The talk I am posting today I gave on Sunday at The Gathering Nashville.  It’s part of a series entitled, “When You’re Going Through Hell, Don’t Stop.”   The idea of the series is this.   Everyone goes through the fire, adversity, tragic times, problems, reverses: whatever you want to call it.  But not everyone is destroyed by them.  Not everyone gets burned.

One of the greatest fears that the modern American has is the fear of losing their job.  And just beyond that is the fear of being fired, because it’s a public humiliation.

Could it be that millions of people tuned into “Celebrity Apprentice” just to hear Donald Trump say, “You’re fired”?

Getting fired is something anyone wants to avoid. Going to work and hearing someone say, “Your services are no longer required” is not a good thing. I remember vividly the day I read it on the official document handed to me by someone I thought was a friend.  It was the unthinkable.  Getting fired, as a pastor; how humiliating. What would people think?  I didn’t ask what people would say.  I already knew that.

It’s been almost five years and I have to say that looking back, by the grace of God and the good love of a lot of friends, I was able to turn getting fired into getting fired-up. So that’s the inspiration behind this talk.  I hope you listen and will benefit from the hard lesson I’ve learned.

Yesterday we continued our current series “When You’re Going Through Hell Don’t Stop.”  This is a study focused on the fact that all of us go through pain. Everyone goes through the fire but not everyone gets burned.  It’s not only how you receive the pain, but the purpose you see in the pain, and the process you use to turn the pain into good, that matters.

So we’re talking about betrayal.  This is a long, painful road that many of us walk down, and all of us will walk down eventually.  Even Jesus was betrayed by those nearest Him. The question is, what do you do when your buddy is the one holding the knife sticking out of your back? Or your wife, or your husband, or your son or daughter, or your partner, or someone you’ve known and loved; someone who had your back, or at least you thought so?

We talked about the five lies we believe about love and friendship, and how those lies can lead to really shallow, tactical relationships that we somehow think are deep and rich.

We talked about the danger of bitterness.  Bitterness is often a poison we drink, hoping it will kill the other fellow. We talked about what it does to you.  The ultimate betrayal is when you betray yourself by allowing yourself to drift into bitterness and cynicism.

We end up this talk by talking about the purpose in this pain.  Remember the big idea, the thesis of this entire series is that God has a purpose in all the pain we go through. That purpose is achieved through a process over time aimed at helping us forge a string first-hand, flourishing, and fruitful faith.

This is no Sunday school stuff.  This is more like seminary grad school, 201 and 301.  But it’s where you need to go if you’re going to be a faith-walker and allow the refiner’s fire to have its purifying and strengthening effect on you.

It is true.  In life, everyone goes through the fire.  No one is immune.  But it is just as true that not everyone gets burned.  For some, a consuming fire is really a refining fire; a refining intended by God to make us better; not bitter, to lift us up; not devastate us, to grow us up; not make us mad, sour and cynical.

One of the fires you’ll walk through is living a life of someone else’s expectations.  From your parents, your grandparents, to school, to college, to society itself, you are pressured to wear a certain label, to do a certain thing; to fit in and to take a certain path.  All of this cookie-cutter living flies in the face of the teaching of Scripture, that God has made each one of us unique.

Instead of living the life of someone else’s dream, instead of carrying the burden and overlay of someone else’s expectation, instead of staying plugged in to responsibilities for which you have no passion, you should listen to what God says when He tells us to think of ourselves with sober judgment, that we’re to live a life by the measure of faith we’ve been given according to the unique gifted-ness that He’s put into each one of us. You’re not one in a million, you’re not one in six billion.  You’re a unique person unlike anyone that’s been born in the entire history of the Universe.  And God, from the beginning of time, has known you and has a plan for your life.

My passion is to help people know God.  That’s why I’ve become a teacher instead of a preacher.  That’s followed up by a desire to help people love God.  That’s why I am passionate about my faith-walk with Jesus Christ.  But the third expression of my life mission is to help people live the life for which they were created, the life of their dreams.  Those two things are one and the same.

When you begin to look within and see how God has made you, and search for the problems in this world big enough to capture your attention and keep you constructively busy for the rest of your life, then you’ll begin to live the life of your dreams.

In today’s talk, I give you practical advice about what to do when you’re walking through the fire of other people’s overlaid expectations, libels, and limitations. Remember, in every fire, ask yourself one of three questions:  is this a temptation to my way of thinking?  Is this a test to my resolve?  Or is this a trial, trying to play on my emotions?