Growing up I went to a christian camp every year (BMBC represent). I loved it. I loved the friends, the learning, the girls (ok if you knew me then, you would agree)… But I think most of all I enjoyed what we called the “mountain top experience”. (Of course there we did not have a mountain in Oklahoma, but this was a BIG mesa, so just go with me here.)

The “mountain top experience” is something we feel when we sense that we are very close to God. Other people might call this experience the “camp high” but my church family frowned upon references to drug use… but I digress.

As a youth minister, I continued to take teens to a christian camp (this one CBH) and they would talk about their “mountain top” experiences as well (this time on a real mountain). I loved what it did to the teens… I loved what it did to me… There was this perceived “closeness” to God. And who doesn’t want that?

But the inevitable would always happen. Time would go by, and I would feel more and more distant from that “mountain top” experience, and thus more and more distant from God. I even started to believe that God only dwelt on those mountain tops.

I think Elijah went through the same struggles. After his victory on Mount Carmel defeating the prophets of Baal (1 Kings 18), Elijah goes on the run from Jezebel who has threatened his life. He flees to Horeb (or Sinai), because this is the Mountain of God. Surely God will be with him there. And we pick up the story in 1 Kings 19… Continue reading

Are you the type of person who makes new year’s resolutions?

If so… how long do you keep them?

According to a study in 2007, 88% of those who make new year’s resolutions fail. I would imagine that number is not much different for 2011… Nor will it be that much different for 2012. It seems to me that new year’s resolutions are just made to be broken, at least according to almost 90% of Americans.

Why is this the case? Why do we so easily break the commitments we make to ourselves?

Although I don’t have “official” research on the answer, I can assume that the main reason our resolutions are broken is that we don’t commit the time needed to make any change in our lives. But do we really have the time?

Our schedules are so “packed” with work, family, sports, piano lessons, karate, meetings, golf, zumba, TV shows, etc, etc, etc… Where in the world would you even fit any commitment to something like… say… spiritual growth?

Most of us would agree that becoming more disciplined in our spirituality is something we desire. But how can we fit in spiritual activity into our already hectic lives?

Let me be clear on one thing… spirituality cannot be one more task piled on top of people already overburdened and overcommitted. The call of the spiritual life is not to more frantic activity. The spiritual life is rather the call to peace. Meaning that as we come to walk more closely with God, the chaos should recede from our lives.

Here’s a thought to ponder… If you are overextended, you are under committed. We should take the idea of “commitment” so seriously that we cannot be “truly” committed to thirty different things. So, if you are overextended it’s virtually guaranteed that you’re under committed.

Deep spirituality is not a matter of doing more stuff… It’s more a matter of defining our true commitment (to Christ)… and walking in a relationship with him.

So, spirituality is not just about praying more, reading the Bible more, studying more, etc, etc, etc… It’s about walking with Christ, and making that a priority in your life.

That’s a resolution worth making.

Last night, while I was teaching a class at the prison, one of the gentlemen made an observation about my teaching style. He said… “Mitch, your temperament does not lend itself to Hell-fire and brimstone sermons.” And he is right. I am not a modern-day Jimmy Allen who can (for lack of better words) scare the hell out of people in attempt to usher them into the light of God. In fact, the closest sermon I have preached to a “Hell-fire and brimstone” sermon (here) would probably be seen as a cute little puppy when compared to the passion that Jimmy Allen could bring to the subject.

But even though my preaching may not lend itself to that subject it doesn’t mean that I have avoided it. One cannot study scripture very long without dealing with the subject of hell. Recently, I have been reading a couple book on the subject of hell (and the afterlife), and had a few observations.

The two main books that I have read are… “Love Wins” by Rob Bell, and most recently “Erasing Hell” by Francis Chan. Both books are a fascinating read, especially considering that Hell is such a “hot topic” right now (sorry, couldn’t help myself with that one.) They both make good points about various ideas, and nuances in scripture. In fact, it is easy to get caught up in all the theology and debate of it all. Continue reading

A story is told about a king, in ancient times, who had a boulder placed on a roadway.

He then hid himself and watched to see if anyone would remove the huge rock. Some of the king’s wealthiest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many loudly blamed the king for not keeping the roads clear, but none did anything about getting the stone out of the way.

Then a peasant came along carrying a load of vegetables. Upon approaching the boulder, the peasant laid down his burden and tried to move the stone to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded. After the peasant picked up his load of vegetables, he noticed a purse lying in the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold coins and a note from the king indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the boulder from the roadway. Continue reading

Some people have asked me why I consider Dairy Queen my second office. Why do I go and sit within a colony of flies and the smell of fast food? I gave part of my reason here. Saying I love being around people. I love the conversations with people when we are not “in a church building”.

But there is another reason why I leave the solitary confinement of my office, and get around people “outside the church”. You see, ministry is about saving lost souls. Yet, it seems that often (more often than I would like to admit) ministers get bogged down and narrow focused with issues and situations with the church. There are lessons to be prepared, articles to write, slides to put together, goals to set, activities to plan… and the list goes on and on.

Before too long, a minister can be so “buried” by “church work” that it becomes difficult for him to see the reason for ministry in the first place… to save lost souls. (Now, I know that part of ministry is also to “encourage the saints”, which should not be neglected, but when Christ gave the “Great Commission” in Matthew 28 he told his disciples to “go to people and bring them to me.” That should be our first focus in ministry.) Continue reading

Do you remember the first time you felt shame? What about the first time that you thought people might make fun of you?

Most people don’t willing submit themselves to shame… or being made fun of… but it seems to be a natural part of life. Some people let the fear of being made fun of (I’m sure it has some awesome technical –phobia name… which of course I don’t know… bummer) control how they live. And this goes way past childhood; many people are still caught in this trap.

Who are we trying to impress? Does it really matter that they might think we are silly? God asks a similar question in Genesis 3:11.  But I’ll let Jon Acuff tell this part from his book “Stuff Christians Like”. Continue reading

I remember it well… It was the first Sunday morning after I was baptized. The excitement must have been killing me. You see, now that I was “born again” I would be allowed to do one of the most sacred forms of service in the church worship service… No, it wasn’t saying a prayer, leading singing, or even giving a lesson. I had already checked these off of my spiritual growth chart, but there was one part of the service that I was missing… serving the Lord’s Supper.

As a kid I may not have understand why you had to be baptized to serve communion… it must have been a law written in Leviticus or maybe Lamentations (2 books of the Bible I didn’t have much exposure to). But what I did understand was that this act of service was different. While I could bound up the stairs to the pulpit to say a prayer… smile while I was leading singing (maybe even bounce a little)… or even tell a joke as part of a lesson, serving communion was devoid of these acts of “happiness”. Continue reading

A man called a store asking if they had a snow-blower. The answer came quickly… “No”. The man asked why not, and proceeded to let the worker know why they should carry them, and then hangs up. Some time goes by, and the man calls back, asking if they have a snow-blower now. The answer is still no, and the worker begins to explain that there is not a market for many snow-blowers in Texas… but this does not stop the man from explaining why they should carry them at this store. Again he hangs up, just to call back a little bit later with the same question, to which the worker finally replies… “Sir, I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.”

Continue reading

You can hear it in most any prayer prayed in the assemblies or in prayers for the sick… There is a clause that is almost as natural to prayers as ending with “in Jesus name… Amen.” The clause is manifested in the phrase “if it be Your will.”

Usually this phrase is used after making a request of God… “Lord, please remove the cancer from so-and-so… if it be Your will.” or “Lord, help us reach this community with the Gospel… if it be Your will.” Sometimes it sounds like we don’t think God really wants people to get well… or even things to go favorably for his followers.

Continue reading