*Disclaimer! This definitely falls under the category of church planting. If you read my blog for pithy comments, insightful devotions, or my family’s journey – well, this may bore you completely. You’ve been warned.

The Call

Church planting is hard. I read a post from a fellow church planter recently who said church planting was easy – pastoring was hard. I understand the sentiment, but the issue is that the two are inseparable.

Unlike the difference between the wedding and the marriage, church planting has no definitive end in sight. I’m not sure when you are done “planting”.

The Challenge

The primary reason for this is that the most common challenge church planters face is the need for additional leaders. In the majority of cases, every leader involved in a new work is responsible for 3 or 4 areas – and none of them may be their area of gifting! There always seems to be more work to be done than there are people to do it.

Many church planters (myself included at times) often cry out, ‘if I only had more leaders, I could _________!’

Wake Up Call

The truth is, you probably couldn’t _________. That’s because leaders aren’t born. They’re grown!

I was reminded today that Jesus had a peculiar way of doing ministry and equipping leaders. There’s an old saying: God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called. Repeatedly in Scripture we see examples of God taking the most unlikely candidates and using them for His glory and purpose.

True Discipleship

I sat in a meeting this morning where I heard David Putman from PlantingTheGospel.com share this: ‘When Jesus sees the least, the lost, and the lonely, he sees people beaming with potential.’

In other words, rather than focusing on your situation and the lack of resources, why not take the approach of Jesus and focus on the people God has placed in your care and the potential that lies within?

Discipleship isn’t about taking a full grown plant from one garden and transplanting it to yours. It’s more about taking a freshly planted seed, planted in new & fertile soil, and making sure it grows into the healthy plant it should be.

Healthy things grow.

As leaders, we don’t have to manufacture something that doesn’t exist. We don’t have that power. We are only to harness the God-given power already at work within the disciple and steer that in the direction God intends for it to go.

It’s slower than your plug and play leadership team idea.

It’s messier than the neatness of titles and job descriptions.

It hurts more because you fail more and learn as you go.

It’s harder to help people move from where they are to where God wants them to be.

But that’s the job.

That’s discipleship.

And it’s our sole mission.

*Question: I have not arrived in this area and am still learning this principle. How about you? What has your experience been with developing leaders from within?

22 years ago today, I was reborn.

I don’t know what your journey looks like, but mine has been a beautiful and messy mosaic. Virtually every part tells its own story, some of them tragic and unsettling, until you step back to see the whole.

Some people seem to have clean stories. ‘I was lost. Jesus found me. My life has never been the same. My struggle was over.‘

That’s a wonderful story. It’s just not my story.

While my life was certainly never the same, over these 22 years I have found myself in some precarious situations. My journey has been one of wrestling, running, and resisting God.

It wasn’t clean and neat. In the contest of wills, mine seemed to be winning most of the time. There were some times in that journey I didn’t look very much like Jesus. I spent more than a decade running from God’s calling to pastor. I was saved. I was disobedient. I was miserable – all the while trying to convince myself that I wasn’t.

Even after God had finally chiseled away enough of me to make room for Him and I let go of the reigns, I had a mountain of guilt to deal with for even being in that position.

Here’s the takeaway.

It’s through the wrestling that God brought me ultimate peace and is shaping me into who He desires me to be.

It’s the running that finally brought me full circle back to a Father who loves me.

It’s through my own resistance God forged my spirit into willing obedience because I know His ways are best.

And guess what? It’s not over.

I still find myself wrestling over issues that should be settled in my heart. And so I will. And my Daddy, with all His might and power and strength, gently and lovingly allows me to punch myself out. Then in my fatigue and defeat quietly picks me up, dusts me off, and teaches me!

He speaks life into me and says ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you‘, ‘My ways are higher than your ways‘, ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you‘. And I find comfort. And hope. And the strength to take another step.

And so today, I say ‘happy birthday to me. Thank you Jesus for redeeming me, calling me, and never giving up on me!‘

How about you? What has your journey been like?

We started a new 12 week series at Revolution Church called ‘James: Faith That Works‘.

The book of James is often misunderstood and many see James’ strong call to discipleship as standing in stark contrast to Paul’s writings and emphasis on grace. That is a common distortion of what’s going on.

Just like my wife and I have one dynamic of our relationship as best friends and lovers, we also have a facet of our relationship as parents. One looks one way and the second looks another. Yet it is the same relationship.

So it is with the contrast with Paul and James. Paul focuses on the relationship between sinner and Savior. James focuses on the relationship between servant and Lord. Perhaps more than any New Testament writing, this is a message to followers of Christ.

Just like with my wife and me, Paul and James describe different aspects of the same relationship – both rooted in grace. One is our desperate need for grace alone and the other is the effect grace has as it manifests itself in the life of the believer.

I invite you to walk through this journey with us and follow along.

Here is the opening message to the series – James: An Introduction.

Shaky Beginnings

This is Topher in a hospital bed at MUSC as he recovers from open heart surgery. This was our life in 2001. We spent a good portion of Topher’s first year in hospitals. Many of the people we met during those early months did not offer an encouraging prognosis. We were told (by others Down’s parents and some medical professionals) to expect this as the normal routine.

Now to be fair, we’ve had our share of scares…from pneumonia to staff infection to several choking episodes. His 1st grade teacher actually saved his life by performing the Heimlich when his airway was completely blocked by a Chick-fil-a biscuit (thank you Casey!)

For the first couple of years, we experienced a ton of medical concerns we haven’t had to walk through with our other 2 children.

When you’re a new parent, you really don’t know what the future will hold for your child. This is true for any child – and especially true when there is a disability with wide-ranging level of severity involved.

Thankful Hearts

The first year was really the only ‘abnormal’ year we encountered with Topher. Seriously.

By God’s grace, he is tremendously healthy! On top of that, he functions at a very high level for kids with his particular disability. We have met a multitude of families that face much greater challenges than we do with our son. And for that we are immeasurably grateful to God.

People laugh (or look at us strangely) when we say this: there are literally days that go by that we never even consider the fact that Topher has a disability. Seriously! We ‘know’ he does, but it just isn’t the ‘thing’ we think of when we look at him.

Only God Knows the Future

We don’t know what we’re facing in the future with Topher. Will he graduate high school on his own? Will he go on to college? Will he be able to perform adequately at a job? Is he going to be able to live on his own?

We see potential in him that he has yet to meet. He has so much more room to grow. Who knows what the picture will look like when he fully spreads his wings?

When we look at him today, it certainly looks like he has the potential and capacity to do even greater things than we could ever imagine! We know that God certainly can! Eph 3:20 says that God is ‘able to do far more abundantly than all we ask or think‘! That’s a lot!

Whatever Topher may go on to achieve, we only want him to reach his fullest potential in Christ.

Can any of us hope for more than that?

It’s official! Revolution Church is moving to Camelot Cinemas on September 25, 2011!

This is our 4th move in 2 years! I remember Rick Warren writing about the number of times Saddleback moved in their first 10 years and saying something like ‘The joke was, if you could find us, you could come!’

We don’t want to be confusing, but we do want to be clear: the Church is the people of God meeting for the purpose of God to worship the person of God. It’s not a building.

This is a great move for Revolution! It gives us the space to grow and top notch facilities to do it in. I am more excited about this location than any other venue we have utilized for Revolution!

Here are the details:

Revolution Church (at Camelot Cinemas)
48 East Antrim Drive – Greenville, SC
Service time: 10:30 am
Full adult and children’s worship

We would love to have you join us for a service where our guests are made to feel like family and the atmosphere is casual and engaging. Please visit the website for more details: www.revolutiononline.cc

Filed under: Church Plant, Church Stuff, Revolution Church ]]> http://chrislewisblog.com/2011/08/29/revolution-church-is-moving-woohoo/feed/ 0 Chris Camelotfront http://chrislewisblog.com/2011/08/15/we-treat-topher-like-our-kids-who-dont-have-down-syndrome/ http://chrislewisblog.com/2011/08/15/we-treat-topher-like-our-kids-who-dont-have-down-syndrome/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:45:50 +0000 Chris Lewis http://chrislewisblog.com/?p=1342 ]]> This is the fourth post in a series sharing our experience with our son Topher and our journey with Down syndrome.

What is special anyway?

We have three children. They’re all special. We have an analytical personality, a strong willed child, and a child who needs more affirmation than others. They are creative, sassy, colorful, and very headstrong. Those are just our girls!

The point is, every child is unique. Every life is precious and special in that they were created by God for His purpose.

Just like Topher.

People balk when they hear Tabitha and I say this, but it’s true. We have, at times, had to remind ourselves that Topher has Down syndrome.

It’s not that he isn’t developmentally delayed. He is.

It’s not that we are in denial. We’re not.

And it’s not like we aren’t facing the challenge head on. We are.

It’s that we don’t treat or view him any differently than we do our other 2 children. He’s not ‘our son with Down syndrome‘ – he’s just…”Our Son“!

We motivate, teach, and discipline him like we do our other kids – in the way they learn and receive correction best.

The Unparalleled Beauty of Unique

We don’t think of Topher as special. We see him as unique. One of a kind. No other like him.

Each life is created by God and for God. I believe John Piper said ‘God is most satisfied in us when we are most satisfied in Him’ (or something like that). We do our best to teach our kids that their intrinsic value is not based on ability or talent. They possess the Imago Dei – they are the image bearers of God.

Not only are they created in the image of God, but He has a specific plan for each one of them…a plan already prepared that He has specifically equipped them to pursue.

‘For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.‘ – Eph 2:10

When we embrace that truth, and release it through responding to the gospel, we find that we are all unique. We do our best to lead all of our children to pursue and fulfill that calling, based on their unique identity in Christ – not in an ability or a disability.

Topher is no exception.

Ok…so maybe he steals his sisters’ hearts…

But can you blame them?

I read a quote today from Seth Godin that powerfully struck me: ‘If failure is not an option, then neither is success‘.

While it’s true that some people have a more risk averse nature than others, in the spiritual realm, the removal of failure requires the removal of faith.

If I know all the answers, I have dotted every I, crossed every T, eliminated any possibility of the unknown, mastered laying the bat on every curve ball…then why do I need God?

After two years of church planting, my tolerance for the unknown has deepened remarkably. I have grown uncannily comfortable with the ‘what if?’

The Bible tells us without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb 11:6). Why then do we spend so much time trying to address every variable and possible outcome, once we know God has called us to take a step of faith?

What has God called you to do that fear of failure is stopping you from pursuing? Could it be that you are really trying to ‘solve’ God out of the equation?

Not a Special Club

The first thing Tabitha and I began to notice as we began our lives with Topher was this very interesting sub-culture that exists for children with any kind of disability. There are support groups, play groups, focus groups, groups for dads, groups for moms, groups for people with multiple disabilities, and so on…and so on. Basically, if you can think up a name for a special needs support group – there probably is one.

Now don’t get me wrong, we needed someone to help educate us about Down’s and walk us through the process of acclimation for therapies and early intervention and that kind of stuff.

What we didn’t need was to immerse ourselves in this sub-culture where people seemed to find their identity in their child’s disability.

Eat the Fish, Spit Out the Bones

We determined to apply the principle of ‘eat the fish, spit out the bones‘. Essentially, we took the good and learned all we could, but refused to become ‘The family with the Down syndrome child‘.

We didn’t want to be a part of a clique. We weren’t looking to make a bunch of new friends we only had a ‘special’ child in common with.

Listen, I’m supremely proud of who my child is and I want him to achieve his full potential in life. We just never wanted him to grow up in a vacuum – some sort of Down syndrome bubble – devoid of the social structure and interaction he will need to learn to navigate if he was ever going to live independently.

We have also made some amazing connections with some wonderful people who happen to share some of our story. But these relationships are the fruit of simply doing life and not because of some choreographed group exercise.

Some of the people we met did not know life outside of their diagnosis.

Their disability defined them.

Topher’s True Identity

Topher’s true identity is not found in his disability.

And to be fair, it is a very real disability. Nothing has demonstrated this more clearly than watching his 17 month younger sister catch up and then blow by him developmentally.

Topher finds his identity the only place any of us truly can.

In Jesus Christ.

The Bible tells us “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you” (Jer 1:5) and “you formed my inner parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14).

Topher is exactly who God designed him to be – quite literally down to the very last chromosome. I mean at the genetic level!

He is God’s masterpiece (Eph 2:10). And guess what?

You are too.

Topher has everything he needs to become ALL that God has purposed for him to be and do.

I have already said, I want Topher to achieve his full potential in life – and I do! The only way that doesn’t get perverted is by equipping him to pursue God’s plan in life and seeking to find his identity in Jesus and not his disability.

We would all do well to practice some of this. We teach our children ‘you can be anything you want to be‘ – and that’s simply not true. But you can be everything God designed you to be…

…and that’s SO much better!

I’d like you to meet the Lewis family. There is me, Tabitha, Marybeth (15), Topher (10), and Gracie (9).

We are a normal family.

Well…

Sort of…

As normal as any family of 5 I suppose.

The Birth

Our story goes like this. We were a family of 3 when Topher came along. Topher’s older sister (Marybeth) was 4 when he was born. Tabitha and I wanted to have kids closer together, but we were coming off of 2 miscarriages.

Tab’s pregnancy was very normal and otherwise uneventful. None of our tests showed any abnormalities. Topher’s femur measured a little shorter than normal, but hey, it’s not like his Dad has been dunking any basketballs lately! We, like most parents, were expecting a happy, healthy baby.

When the day arrived, we went to the hospital and started our pre-game routine for all Lewis baby deliveries: the whole family gathering, Tab on a Pitocin drip, me downing an entire Pepperoni Lover’s Pizza from Pizza Hut. I feel for women who struggle with labor. My wife has never gone through a “hard” labor (easy for me to say, right?) She was made for birthing babies. 3 children and she has pushed a total of 9 or 10 times – total! We breezed through the delivery.

He was here!

1st night, no issues.

2nd  day, no issues.

We would have gone home on day 2, but we were allowed to stay an extra day because Topher was having a little difficulty breast feeding and the lactation specialist couldn’t make it by the room. That would turn out to be a very good thing!

During the 2nd night after he was born, Topher entered into heavy breathing distress in our room and his 02 saturation dropped dangerously low. The nurses at first brought him oxygen, then ultimately took him to the nurses station to keep a closer eye on him. It seemed like time stopped.

Our Diagnosis

The next morning, red eyed and weary, my wife and I waited nervously for Topher’s pediatrician to make his way to us. When he proceeded to tell us that some of the hospital staff (though he did not agree) had noticed some subtle features of Down syndrome, my wife and I just stared blankly. We then informed him that our son was not the Down syndrome child, but the one with the breathing difficulty.

That’s when he told us about Topher’s heart condition.

I don’t remember many of the details over the next few days. I do remember that because of the questionable and half hearted way his doctor approached the diagnosis, we were dealing with a situation where we thought there was a 60% chance our son did not have Down’s. We were in some kind of limbo with our son in the NICU for a week.

That is, until we met with his cardiologist. Dr. Ben Horne was going over the details of Topher’s heart defect and made some kind of comment about kids with Down’s. I was quick to point out that we didn’t know for sure that was his diagnosis – we were waiting on his genetic testing to come back. Dr. Horne looked me squarely in the eyes, put his hand on my shoulder, and said ‘Your son has Down syndrome. You need to accept that so we can focus on his heart condition.’

Bam!

There it was. Like a hand grenade dropped in my soul!

Different Struggles

My wife and I had very different struggles in those early days. She had a harder time with his heart condition but accepted his genetic diagnosis almost immediately. I was less concerned about his heart because they knew how to fix that and even said if you had to pick a heart defect, this would be the one you would want to have.

But I was devastated about his Down’s.

I am embarrassed and angered by some of the thoughts I had during that time…but I had them. I mourned the death of an idea I had – a dream for what my son would grow up to be and do.

On top of that, I knew absolutely nothing about Down’s. The total sum of my knowledge on the subject wouldn’t have filled a thimble.

Man, were we in for some surprises!

Heart Surgery

At 4 month old, Topher had a procedure at MUSC to repair an atrial ventricular canal defect in his heart. Instead of 4 separate chambers in his heart, he essentially had one. This caused fluid to back up in his lungs and cause congestive heart failure.

In the months leading up to this, we spent another 30 days in the hospital when Topher contracted pneumonia. OK, that was pretty scary – heart and lung issue complicated by an illness that attacks the lungs?? The nurses and hospital staff were AMAZING during this time! We actually moved into the hospital into one of the NICU hotel rooms they have in limited supply. What a blessing!

When we went down to Charleston for the heart surgery, we were told to prepare for 4-6 weeks. This was the first time we caught a glimpse of what life with Topher was going to be like.

The entire round trip, surgery, and recovery – driveway to driveway – took 6 days! The top pediatric cardiologist in the nation at the time said he had never seen a recovery like that!

As surgeons and physicians were performing heart surgery on my son, the Great Physician was doing some work of His own in our hearts.

The Classroom of the Divine

There is really nothing that can prepare you to see your 16 week old child with tubes protruding everywhere, breathing on a respirator, bloated from surgical anesthesia.

What I know is this. Just as Topher learned the comfort of his Daddy’s grip in the recovery room, I was learning to trust and cling tightly to my heavenly Dad.

You see, Tabitha and I have learned many, many things over the course of our journey with Topher – our whole family has!

What’s our greatest takeaway? It would have to be that God meant it in His word when He said that ALL THINGS (good things, bad things, in-between things, things we don’t understand) work together FOR GOOD (the best possible outcome for His glory and our ultimate benefit) for His children (Romans 8:28).

Even when we can’t see what He’s doing. In the times we don’t know how it will end up. Especially when it seems like chaos is winning. He’s still in control! We need only look to the cross to know that God reigns even when it seems like darkness abounds.

Some of the deepest, purest theology is contained in the words of the little children’s prayer many of us recited when we were young: God is great. God is good. (Borrowed from a book titled Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick).

He is great. All-powerful. All-knowing. Sovereign. Reigning. At all times. In all places. In every situation. There is no time ever that what is taking place is not under His purview and oversight.

He is so good. Holy. Righteous. Loving. Compassionate. Just. Perfectly complete in all of these attributes. Not defined by my definition of these words but defining Himself the meaning of perfect love and righteousness.

This is true for me. This is true for my family. This is true for you.

I hope this brings you some comfort in whatever situation you are facing today. If you belong to Him, all things are ultimately working together for good.

If you don’t belong to Him, perhaps today is the day to surrender your life, receive His grace, and become a fully committed follower of Jesus Christ.

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?” – Galatians 4:8-9

Turning back

It’s easy (or at least natural) to look at the Christian life like this: we used to do certain things, but now that we’re believers – we don’t. And that’s a true and noble aim that we can only hope to attain through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

But that’s not what Paul is writing about here. He’s not saying I used to be a drunk, but now I’m not. I used to act sexually immoral, but now I don’t. I used to cheat people, but now I don’t. He writes about that in other places.

The challenge of the Galatians is the challenge of every believer who grew up in a particularly religious environment. Paul is issuing the challenge to resist returning to a system of rules and regulations as your metric for measuring or earning your standing with God!

The Law

The law has a very specific purpose. Simply put, the law was given so that we would realize our complete and total inability to keep it. Period.

Paul says it like this: ‘Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith‘ (Gal 3:24). The law is, and has always been, a mirror that allows us to see our true selves in light of God.

The bottom line: we don’t measure up.

We can’t measure up.

None of us.

Not even close.

The law is like looking in a mirror that shows us something is wrong. But the mirror can’t fix what’s wrong!

Only Jesus can do that.

Jesus Breaks the Cycle of Futility

Jesus is the only one who ever has kept (or ever could keep) the Law perfectly. He is the perfect, unblemished sacrifice offered for our forgiveness and salvation. When our trust is placed in Jesus as our only necessary and sufficient sacrifice, our standing in eternity is based on the work Christ did.

We actually receive His righteousness!

Once you realize and embrace that Jesus did the work – because you couldn’t and only He can – it releases you from an endless cycle of trying to earn God’s love or measure up to His standard (which is perfection by the way).

You are freed from the slavery of sin and freed to yield yourself to the power of Christ working in you. Apart from that, we would have no hope.

But we do.

His name is Jesus.

Our Journey

I have been a father to Christopher (Topher) Michael Lewis for over 10 years. December 9, 2000 we had a beautiful baby boy. December 11, 2000 we learned that Topher had a heart condition that was only found in Down syndrome children.

Our lives were forever changed.

Recently, I ran across a new blog from Rick and Abbie Smith who are walking through some of the same things we did over a decade ago. Noah’s Dad dot com has been a huge inspiration to many people and as I read their story of Noah’s birth (it’s worth you time, but grab some Kleenex), it forced me to ask a question.

Why have I had so little to say about our journey with Topher?

I did a search on my blog and you can see that in 4 years of blogging there are only 2 posts that say anything about Down syndrome. One for Topher’s 7th and 8th birthdays respectively.

What’s up with that?

Support Systems

First, let me say that I am a huge fan of sites like Noah’s dad that offer insight into the experience. I wish there was that kind of availability when Tabitha and I were beginning our journey. For one thing, blogging was not a word in 2000. It would have resulted in one of those red, squiggly underlines from your spell check.

Secondly, every single situation, every child, and each disability is unique. No two are the same.

There is no such thing as normal. What is normal for us may be highly unusual for another family.

That’s why these kinds of sites and support systems are desperately needed. When we left the hospital with Topher, we left with the hospital with far more questions than answers and, quite frankly, the standard line people recited, ‘God only gives special kids to special people‘ was wearing thin by day 2! (I almost punched a well meaning deacon’s wife in the throat. If you’re reading this…I’m sorry.)

Thankfully, we did talk to A LOT to people who could relate and that was remarkably helpful. Even more so if we had been able to gain online access to share stories with other families.

Our Outlook

I have a son with Down syndrome. Even so, there are days that go by that the fact of Topher’s diagnosis NEVER crosses my mind. Seriously!

So, in one sense, I am not surprised that I have had little to say about our journey with Down syndrome.

But, we have an experience and a platform to share what God has shown, taught, and done through our walk with Topher. To keep it to ourselves would be selfish in some sense. Many of the people in our lives never get to see the beautiful, tiny ways God demonstrates his nature through our miracle son. So, Tabitha and I are going to begin to share more, to write more about this topic.

Why so little?

On the other hand, I think a lot can be learned from some of the reasons we probably haven’t written more before now. As I have wrestled with the question of why we haven’t had more to say, I have boiled it down to a few thoughts.

Here are some reasons we haven’t been more vocal about Down syndrome or our journey:

1) Our lives have not been defined by Down syndrome

2) We don’t treat Topher differently

3) We are blessed with a high functioning child

4) Early intervention works

I will be writing a follow up post on each of these areas over the next couple of weeks. If you are a family walking through this journey I hope they are helpful to you. If you know someone that is experiencing the unfolding of this kind of news, I hope it will give you some insight.

Above all, I hope we can see the glory of God revealed in the most surprising ways. I hope we can learn together that God really doesn’t make mistakes. I hope we can see that even when things seem dark and answers distant, the God of this universe is holding you in the palm of His hands. I hope it stirs your soul to know that Jesus knows what it is to walk where you are walking.

The verdict is in. God is good.

Even when we can’t see how.

He’s still good.

‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.’ – Galatians 4:4-5

My dad’s house

There’s something comforting for me about being at my dad’s house. Now I realize that everyone has different experiences growing up…and your childhood or upbringing might not be a pleasant memory. For some of you, it might be downright painful.

I can’t relate to that. My childhood memories bring me great joy today when I think of them. I mourn the fact that children are raised into adulthood without ever knowing what it is to have a loving father and mother. But I am thankful for mine.

When I’m at my dad’s house, I am totally at ease. I am not worried about feeling comfortable. I don’t put on a performance so that he will be impressed with me. No actions are taken for show. I do not question the fatherly pride he takes in me as his son.

Adoption as sons

Scripture gives us this beautiful picture of the believer’s relationship with God. He actually chooses to adopt us as his children!

Wow!

I have several friends who have adopted and, to be honest, Tabitha and I have talked about it a good bit. I have other friends who are themselves adopted. What a different perspective they are able to have on the adoptive love the Father has for us.

Just like my earthly father beams with pride, so does my heavenly Dad – but here’s the kicker:

God’s affection toward me has nothing to do with what I do and everything to do with who I am – his son!

Can you feel the weight of that difference?

Some of you reading this can’t because your earthly father blew it. He wasn’t there. He was there but you wish he wasn’t. Physical and emotional abuse. Neglect or apathy.

Many of you are locked in a struggle of trying to earn the affection and approval of the God of the universe because the approval you so desperately wanted from your own father was never realized.

It’s a Family Thing

Don’t miss the freedom that comes from the security in knowing you are God’s chosen son or daughter. God’s word says in Psalm 139 that God formed you and knew you – that even when you were unformed substance the days of your life were formed for you.

Though fractured by sin and desperately wicked when left to our own desires, the regenerate heart is precious to the Father – in spite of your sin and shortcomings.

You are a child of the King! An heir to all that he has for you! A full member of the family.

He loves you.

He has a plan for you.

He wants you to trust His unconditional love for you.

Quit trying to earn what is already yours. Stop striving to deserve what cannot be lost.

Transparency

Just like this picture, when something is transparent you don’t have to wonder what’s behind it. Like a glass that let’s you see the clarity of the water you’re drinking. When it’s a person who is transparent, you get a glimpse of the stuff that’s really inside.

Sometimes it’s messy and ugly.

Often it reveals pain and tension from the soul.

Transparency vs. Hypocrisy

I have the privilege of spending the week with a group of high school students for youth camp. I have been amazed at the openness of the students. I am rooming with a group of about 20 high school junior and senior guys – and I am blown away at the transparency they are showing.

Well, most of them anyway.

Some of them are actually playing the part pretty well. It’s like they are going for an Oscar for best actor! They know all the right words to say and which parts to emphasize. They have done it many times before – probably at camp or another event similar to this. They speak the words but they are void of any real meaning. They lack the ability to produce life change because they are external motions.

Transparency is driven from within. For believers, it’s the internal force of the Holy Spirit leading us to open ourselves up.

Some of these guys get it. Someone forgot to tell them that they weren’t supposed to be real about the struggles they have with pride, and lust, and addiction. Somebody forgot to tell them that they won’t get picked for the “best kid” at camp award. But that’s just it. I don’t think they care. God is stirring in their hearts and they are simply responding. Being honest that they don’t have it all figured out.

That’s transparency.

It’s refreshing.

It’s biblical.

The Death of Transparency

James writes this: ‘Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.‘ (James 5:16)

This, like most commands of Scripture, does not come with an expiration date.

Yet something peculiar seems to happen around the age of 25 – give or take. About the final break on car insurance, it’s like the genetic coding for transparency mutates and moves to the off position.

I think it’s mostly fear that keeps us from being open and honest with others. The fear of being hurt or rejected. The fear of being misunderstood. Fear is not from God and can be overcome as we yield to and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide us.

I think we also hold things close to the vest for another – potentially deadly – reason. P-R-I-D-E. That ugly tool of the enemy that assaults us so often. Many times, we don’t share openly – even with those closest to us – because we don’t want them to know the awful and beautiful truth. We don’t have it all together!!!

So here’s your challenge from a group of high school students at Camp Summit this week: be transparent. Open yourself up. Share and confide your struggles, fears, and inadequacies with another believer this week.

You may just find the encouragement you need.

“Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” – Galatians 3:3

This is a question I have asked myself at least a thousand times. Why am I so foolish? Why do I frequently try to earn what is already mine?

Our Nature

We have an insatiable desire to value ourselves. It may manifest itself in selfishness, jealousy, self-aggrandizing, greed, or even lust. These are all slivers of a larger pie – PRIDE! The early church leader Augustine said pride is the mother pregnant with all other sin.

C.S. Lewis reminds us that if not for pride, the devil would not be the devil.

At the end of the day, we seek to feel good about ourselves (often by comparing ourselves to other people) in an attempt to convince ourselves that God should love us because we are not THAT bad!

Christian Pride

Those two words don’t really go together. Sort of like ‘vegetarian meatball’! It’s what we call an oxymoron in English where two opposing words are placed in juxtaposition to each other.  The words “Christian” and “pride” don’t go together, yet all too often we find ourselves demonstrating this frustrating behavior.

Here’s the fallacy we buy into:

“If I behave better, God will love me more.”

Very few of us would make that statement aloud, but many of us operate under the pressure of this practically. We live under the crushing reality that we don’t ever and can’t ever measure up.

The Solution

So what’s the answer?

For the true follower of Christ, recognize the weakness of your flesh and embrace the fact that Jesus bought and paid for your redemption when you were ‘dead in your trespasses and sins‘. He loves you right now and he can’t love you any more. He loves the you of today – not some future version of you! Not the you 5 or 10 or 30 years from now that has it all figured out.

When you realized that Jesus didn’t accept you because you were all nice and shiny, it frees you up to lean into that truth and ‘be transformed by the renewal of your mind‘. As Paul said, you started out by the Spirit. How can you keep trying to perfect yourself by the flesh?

Knock it off! Quit being so foolish.

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” – Galatians 2:20

A Tale of Two Natures

Though there is nothing simple about it, there exists within the life committed to Jesus two natures that are at times directly opposed to one another. To put it another way, you are at war with yourself.

Constantly.

Paul expressed it fully in Romans 7:15-20 as he talks about the tension that exists between what we want to do and what we actually do.

The Death of Me

In this verse from Galatians, Paul is identifying with Christ in his death. When Jesus was crucified – in our place, bearing our sin – our sinful natures were provided a means of death as well. Even though the ultimate eradication of our sinful nature won’t come until Heaven, we now have the means to crucify our own sinful passions and desires as we place them under submission and the authority of the Cross.

It requires work. It’s probably what Jesus was referring to when he said “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). This is a daily act of dying to yourself.

The Life of Christ

It’s not just the death of our old selves that Paul writes of in this verse. Christ died but didn’t remain buried. He experienced death but it could not hold him! He walked out of the tomb – it’s empty! Paul is also identifying with the risen and reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We have the power of the resurrection to draw from as well. The life we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the son of God!

That’s the key. We don’t kill our sinful desires for sport or spiritual exercise. We assault them with the new life that is found in Christ. Every time we do that, we learn to listen to the Holy Spirit a little better. We gain encouragement and strength that the enemy really is defeated and doesn’t own us any longer. Our conditioning increases so that tomorrow’s battle is a little easier.

Are you practicing dying to yourself?

It’s not easy.

It is necessary.

“…when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles…” – Galatians 1:15-16a

One of the most common questions I hear as a pastor has to do with people seeking purpose in their lives. Actually, it usually comes as a statement, but it points to a bigger question. It goes something like this:

“I just don’t know what I’m supposed to be doing!”

Ever felt that way?

On a very basic level, God has designed each of us with an ultimate purpose. This purpose never changes and contains the full measure and totality of God’s plan for your life. Do you know what it is?

You were created to bring God glory.

Simple. Yet complex.

Easy to say. Difficult to apply.

Ultimately unique. Particularly varied.

Your Purpose

I can tell you with authority about your ultimate purpose, because that’s the purpose of all things in the universe – God’s glory. It really is all about Him! Every fiber, molecule, and particle in all of creation points to the glory of the creator.

But there’s a difference in your ultimate purpose and your specific path. That’s what Paul is so secure about in this passage. He knows what he was born to do. Peter and John too, were absolutely secure in their calling to preach the gospel (Acts 4:19-21). I can relate to that. Sometimes I feel like I will explode if I don’t get the message out God has placed within me.

But that’s not everyone’s specific purpose. We know the church is a body made up of a lot of different parts – all with different specific functions. Some of you would be as out of place if you tried to preach as I would putting on a pair of ballet shoes and attempting an arabesque penchée!

We have to know where we are going before we can choose a path to get us there. Failing to realize our ultimate purpose is God’s glory, keeps us from settling on a particular plan to do that in our lives because we don’t have a clear destination in mind.

The exchange between Alice and the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland sheds light on this (paraphrase):

Alice: Would you tell me please where to go from here?
Cat: That depends a good deal on where you want to go.
Alice: I don’t much care where.
Cat: Then it doesn’t matter much which way you go.
Alice: As long as I get somewhere.
Cat: Oh, you’re sure to do that if you walk long enough.

If all you want to do is get somewhere, eventually you will. But we aren’t aiming for somewhere! The opposite of that is true too. If you don’t know where you’re going, then you’re sure to never get there. You have to keep the destination in front of you at all times.

Conflict

Conflict arises when our aim gets skewed in our ultimate purpose. Many times we find ourselves out of position in our particular plans because of this gross error in defining our ultimate purpose:

We make it about our glory – not God’s.

That’s why many people feel so disconnected and why I have the same conversation again and again. We want to substitute our glory for God’s…and that’s not a fair exchange…not even close!

I can’t begin to give an opinion on what your specific plan is in God’s economy. That’s why it’s so important to walk in community with other believers who can affirm the specific gifts evident in your life. Everyone needs encouragement!

We need help in another area also. A community of peers can also caution you from attempting something God never wired you for. The idea that you can do anything you want to do is a huge myth! Just look at some of the people who audition on American Idol.

You can’t do everything. But you can do something. Set your ultimate sights on glorifying God. He’ll clarify the details.

It’s a great place to start.

The full message is available on the website.

“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Gal 1:10

Every day, most of us face a multitude of choices. What time do I need to get up? What will I wear? Do I take a shower (hopefully an easy decision)? Breakfast bar or cereal? Interstate or backroads? All this before we even make it to our first destination!

Some of these are pretty trivial. Do I take the elevator or stairs? Some choices are much weightier. Can I forgive this person? What will they think if I attempt to share my faith? This is a risky decision, what if I fail?

The lynchpin of this decision making process rests with this question: what’s your aim?

Desire vs. Motive

Discovering the nature of our aim really gets down to a question of desire vs. motive. Desire is fleeting. Selfish. It changes with circumstance. Motive is much deeper. It’s the driving force behind our desires. Motive influences and shapes our desires. Our desires will ultimately determine our actions.

What we want to do in any given moment is deeply dependent on what we treasure most. It is what we treasure that determines the decisions we make. Jesus said our heart follows our treasure (Matt 6:21).

In this passage, Paul is talking specifically about the desire to seek the approval of man or the approval of God. Are we more concerned with what people think or what God thinks? With what he wants or what I want?

Progression

The more intimate our relationship with God, the more our  motives are conformed to his image, thus influencing our desires, which leads to action. It looks like this:

God -> Motive -> Desire -> Action

It won’t work the other way (which is normally what we try). We try behavioral modification. Jeremiah said our hearts are deceitful and wicked (Jer 17:9) and we must deal with that if we have any hope of change.

We make futile attempts to change our actions without dealing with the underlying heart issue. That’s like trying to fix a piston in my car’s engine by putting Armor All on the tires!

New Desires

Thankfully, God is in the business of heart change! One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible is:

“Delight yourself in the LORD,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.“
Psalm 37:4

This is amazing stuff! As I become more satisfied in him, he shapes the desires of my heart. But, this verse gets misapplied often. We want it to say, “Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you what you want“. That misses the point completely!

God does much more than giving us WHAT we desire…he gives us NEW desires! And that really is so much better.

How’s your aim? Maybe it’s time for a heart check.

Unless you were like the guys in the Geico commercial and living under a rock, you are aware that another “firm date” for the return of Jesus has come and gone without distinction. Harold Camping predicted May 21, 2011 as judgment day. A quick Google search of news on Harold Camping will give you some idea of just how big the media frenzy has been - in case you missed it.

Funny but sad

Jokes were plentiful (from myself included) on all the social networking platforms, and there were even “rapture parties” held in jest all around the world. I must admit, I have been fascinated by the cultural phenomenon of this “non”event. It has been enlightening to see how different groups have viewed this:

• Atheists have used it as a rallying cry to point to what they consider the myth of the Bible.
• Camping’s followers are simply devastated.
• Camping has not said a word (as of this writing)
• Bloggers and news media have covered almost every angle.
• Late night TV had plenty of fun with it.
• Most believers are simply embarrassed at another group marginalizing our faith.

What if?

The Bible itself clearly says in Matthew 24 and Mark 13 that heaven and earth will pass away one day, but the angels in Heaven and even Jesus don’t know when that will be – only the Father. Nobody can predict the date. Period.

But what if they accidentally got it right? Better yet, what if Christ returns soon?  Next year? Or next month? Or next Monday?

He could.

One day he will.

We just don’t know when. It’s the timing of his return, not the certainty of it, that is unknown.

Did you, like some in this article, pause for just a moment – not too long…and not with too much sincerity – to consider, what if this is it? What if these guys are right and I only have a few hours, or a few minutes left? Have I stewarded my gifts well? Are there things left unsaid? Relationships I wish were mended? Opportunities to share my faith not attempted?

Embarrassed and inspired

I am both embarrassed by the actions Harold Camping and his followers and inspired by their sincerity and commitment.

I see foolishness on one hand for trying to predict something that is unknowable. But on the other hand, I am moved by the urgency with which they sought to communicate their message.

I am compelled to call out error and warn against the danger of false prophecy and certainly against manipulation of the Bible. Yet I am convicted of my own lackadaisical approach to go into all the world and to earnestly love his appearing.

What can we learn?

1. Harold Camping will give an account. There is a huge difference between Harold Camping and those who followed his message. As a pastor, one of the things I am responsible for is to call out wolves and guard against false teaching. As believers, we are all instructed to test the spirits. Both are in error here. Mr. Camping will give an account for his actions. I do not have a source to prove this, but I would assume he has personally profited off of his predictions with book sales and contributions to Family Radio. Hopefully, he will do what he can to make restitution to the families that liquidated their savings for his cause. For those who followed his message, my prayer is that they would grow in discernment and not let their faith in God (who is unchanging) waiver in the face of a man who has failed in the same way on two specific occasions.

2. People are watching. Please, can we just realize that the world is watching when we name the name of Jesus in our motives!!! Though it may not be on the same scale, people are watching you and me as we live out our pursuit of God’s plan and purpose for our lives. We should be very careful when we use phrases like “God is leading me” or “God told me”. The greater the influence, the more caution should be used.

3. Operate with urgency for the gospel. I read on The Resurgence that we should view Christ’s return as impending rather than immanent. It is a foregone conclusion. It’s going to happen. At a core level, I should operate with the reality that Jesus may come back today…and that should impact my actions with an earnest urgency to stay on mission. These guys were wrong…terribly wrong. But at least they did something. They took a stand. Made a move. I sat on the couch for half the day Saturday! Let’s be passionate about the right things, for the right reasons, in the right ways.

I write this “that [your] hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” – Colossians 2:2-3.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this subject. What do you think about this? How should the church respond? Where do we go from here?

“Paul, an apostle— not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” – Gal 1:1

Qualification
Paul had a unique qualifier that we don’t have today (at least not in the exact sense he was speaking). He was an Apostle – with a capital “A”.  Paul listed himself as the last Apostle in 1 Cor 15:7-9. Apostles in this sense can be compared to the Old Testament office of Prophet and they had the ability, responsibility, and calling to write Scripture. To be considered an Apostle, general orthodoxy through the ages contends that the individual must have seen the risen Christ with his own eyes and be commissioned specifically by Jesus as an Apostle (literally meaning ‘sent one’).

Authority
The basic authority of the office of Apostle is rooted in the power of the resurrection. Paul demonstrates this and it was the single biggest emphasis of his preaching. Repeatedly, he was received well by the Jews in a town – until he brought up the resurrection. The resurrection still stirs up visceral emotions today! People are fine with you talking about the moral teachings of Jesus (even in other religions), but the resurrection forces us to contend with the divinity of Christ.

Mission
Paul was a man on a mission. He purposed in this letter to his friends in Galatia to deal with the issue of legalism. With the risen Christ in full view, how can some claim justification by religious ritual or demand that others observe ceremonial tradition? Simply put…they can’t! This is the thrust of this short letter and Paul begins with his credentials – not his earthly accomplishments or his vast knowledge of the Scriptures, but with his calling as an Apostle. This is equivalent to Paul saying, “Thus saith the Lord…“

Have you ever felt like you just don’t measure up? No matter how hard you try you just don’t cut it? Yes, I love Jesus and do my best to follow him, but the truth is, I mess up all the time! I spend a good portion of my life as a Christian feeling like a failure and have just realized I’ll never be as good as some of the ‘super-Christians’ I look up to in my life.

Sound familiar?

The letter Paul wrote to the Galatians between his 1st and 2nd missionary journeys is a fascinating and valuable read for any follower of Christ. And it deals directly with this kind of attitude. It was his earliest letter, but it dealt with an issue that plagued the church early and still exists today: legalism.

Does God love me more because of the ‘things’ I do for him? Is his love diminished when I stumble and fall? The answer to both is a resounding “NO“!

FREEDOM is the battle cry that leaps off the pages of Galatians!

An excellent commentary on the subject says:

Throughout the history of the church the message of Galatians has been needed to free men from chains of false doctrine. When the early Judaizers tried to bind men to the old commandments from Sinai, Galatians set them free. When the apostate church of the Dark Ages tried to bind men to a papal system of salvation by penance and works, Galatians set them free. When modern legalists try to bind us to a joyless religion of superior “rightness,” Galatians sets us free.^[1]

Time.

Limited. Finite. Precious.

We all struggle with making the decisions on what we try to cram into the 86,400 seconds we get each day. About 25,000 of those fly by while you sleep. Another 28,000 go to your job, if you work. My wife and I average 10,000 seconds dropping off and picking up the kids! You’ll spend about 120 seconds reading this post.

So, if I began to itemize my to do list and tell you all the reasons why my blogging has decreased, one of two things would happen. One, it may immediately remind you of how busy you are and prompt comparative, or maybe even resentful, thoughts about your’s being bigger than mine (your list).  Or, on the off chance my words found a sympathetic ear with you, it would immediately beg the question: so why are you doing it?

I’m so glad you asked!

I need to write. Probably more than I need to do a lot of other things and definitely more than you need to read what I write. Nonetheless, it’s an exercise that I miss and I have purposed to make it a priority again.

I am going to take a different approach to blogging than I have in the past. I am becoming more intentional with the content that I post.

Here’s my commitment: ONE post per week. Specifically, one ‘devotional-type‘ post every week – usually on Thursdays. Additionally, I am planning on sharing periodic thoughts on my journey with church planting, family stuff, and the occasional message specifically for Revolution Church.

Bottom line: I want this blog to become an extension of me. What is God revealing to me in His Word? What is He teaching me along the way? How do I glimpse God in and through my family?

I promise to be transparent and real. Some of the stuff on here may be pretty raw. I do not promise to have all my thoughts flushed out before posting. That’s what editors are for and I don’t have one.

It’s sure to be good for me and my hope is that there will be some nuggets of value for you to walk away with too.

Thanks for investing your 120 seconds. I’ll do my best not to waste them!

“What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” – James 4:14

The last several messages from Revolution Church’s series Acts: The Church Unleashed are now online here.

Also, all messages are now available for free as a podcast subscription in the iTunes store. Try this link to open in iTunes or paste this in your browser:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/revolution-church-podcast/id405501782

My nephew had been over and he had this really, really, really cool Lego model of an X-Wing fighter from Star Wars.

I made a big deal out of it with my nephew, and Gracie couldn’t wait to show me what she could do with the toys she got from her Zaxby’s kids meal. She didn’t have the same tools to work with as my nephew, so she couldn’t duplicate his creation.

What she ended up with was several objects randomly clipped together (that were originally intended to build a bicycle) in an effort to form this spaceship with lasers that would shoot in every direction at the same time, with sensors to pick up any enemy ships approaching.

It was AWESOME! As her dad, I was proud of her effort. As an intergalactic spacecraft inspector…well…it left a little to be desired.

I was so proud of her efforts and made a big show of it. She beamed…and then…I showed her how to use the materials she had to build what they were intended to be. She was able to make a bicycle AND a person to ride it. They looked natural and all the pieces fit together – like they were meant to. She lit up when she saw the pieces fit together as they were designed to do.

That’s when it hit me.

God brought this verse to my mind from Eph 2:10 “For we are his workmanship (masterpiece in NLT), created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.“

We spend so much time as believers, trying to build or create our own masterpieces, all the while overlooking the fact that we are already his masterpiece! We waste resources and gifts in an effort to duplicate someone else’s work or mimic an individual we admire, rather than realizing God has declared YOU his handiwork (NIV).

Is he finished yet? I hope not. But if we are his, then we are his to build.

He planned you and what you would become beforehand and just like my daughter learned, when we try to be something other than we were designed to be, we end up looking awkward and out of place.

As our Father, God may smile at our efforts, but I’m certain the desire of his heart is that we embrace who he created us to be – and walk in that!

Who has God created you to be?

…”a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” - Gen 2:24

15 years ago today I said, “I do” to Tabitha Yvonne Carlton and she became Mrs. Christopher Michael Lewis.

I thought I “did”.

And I guess I did…as well as I knew how to at the time.

Fine wines aren’t the only thing that get better with age. Marriage can be a living, breathing, growing entity that – if nurtured properly – will grow and mature into a healthy experience of what we say to each other on that day.

I loved Tabitha on that day. But it was only a miniature deposit on the love God had for us in the years to come. Love that would grow as we wrestled through the tensions that come with better or worse, richer or poorer, sickness and health. Love that more times than not was patient and kind…didn’t envy or boast…was humble in most of its ways…made compromises when the situation called for it…erased the record of past wrongs…rejoiced in truth (1 Cor 13:4-6).

I have made many mistakes in this journey – and I will make more to be sure. But I am so thankful to God for blessing me with the wife he chose for me. My prayer is that I would be the husband and shepherd I am called to be to my wife before anyone else.

For those of you reading who have already reached your dairy quota, you will definitely want to tune out for this next part.

Tabitha,

You have given me so much these past 15 years together. You are the most godly person I know and I am inspired by your walk with Jesus. You are my chief helper. My biggest encourager. My most honest and trusted critic. You are my best friend. Thank you for loving me well.

With everything I have I promise to always give you the best of me. Until the day I take my last breath, I will remain…

…forever yours.

I love you with my soul.

Chris

I can’t wait for the next 15!