Fruit of my lips?

This week, I read a Bible verse that really got to me:

"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name. And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased," (Hebrews 13:15-16.)

So, I started thinking. Fruit is a natural, God-designed product. Its growth is a long, sometimes beautiful, sometimes ugly, four-season process. I find it easy, for example, to think about a juicy strawberry that way: its deliciousness dripping off my chin is well worth the dirt stains on my hands in spring, the weeds and birds I had to fight to protect my crop, and the compost and water I tried to provide in perfect combination.

I find it quite difficult, though, to think of my praise to God with the same hard-fought value. My words, my "sacrifice of praise," my "fruit of lips" are just simple words, aren't they? But my life, when offered "through Jesus," is as satisfying as that juicy strawberry to the One whose hands are stained by my sin, whose angels are assigned to protect me and my mostly dumb choices, and who painstakingly places water and fertilizer in my life for the purpose of growing me closer to himself.

No, wait, I'm wrong. The fruit I offer is more satisfying to him. And God designed it that way. This fruit wasn't the result of just twelve short months. He's been gardening me since he "knit me together in my mother's womb," (Psalm 139:13.) I want to give him more than just some words or a weekly song or a random "thank you." I want the fruit of my lips to be the fruit of my life. The life he gave back to me by saving me. A life that is lived for him and through him and, continually, offered back to him. I catch myself making a little happy noise when I bite into a strawberry like the one you're imagining. And I think God makes that noise, too, when we "continually offer God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that confess his name." "...For with such sacrifices God is pleased."

~MaryElizabeth Robertson

Beyond Sunday - Servolution: In your story

...by Bobby Jackson

What makes you hold your breath?

This week our church took a risk (Greg and Andy in particular). We decided to face forward toward our pasts, and take a look at more than just the nostalgic. Midway through the teaching time, we asked people to text in key experiences in their past whether they be good, bad or ugly (worse than badJ) with the idea that we would look through the mist of our story and see possibilities of how God might view it.

What resulted was a breath-holding time for our congregation. Texts like: my best friend died in a car accident, I have guilt from premarital sex, my father is a drunk, I lost my job, my cousin was killed in Iraq, I am cheating with someone of the same sex, I am judgmental, and I have attempted suicide, made our church hold its breath in anticipation of an answer. How could God possibly use my story to serve others? Without a trite, surface answer, Greg and Andy presented ideas regarding how God might use those instances in our past. Greg encouraged us to look at our story thus far as being preparation. Can we use events, good and bad, combined with our gifts and passions, to help others? Could it be that God is able to position you and me to use the good, bad and ugly of our pasts to help ourselves and others?

I’m still holding my breath on a few of the items in my past, but I’m resolved that God would like to turn my story into my testimony. How about you?

What I Learned From a Morning of Solitude

Solitude is not a word that is usually found in my vocabulary, if at all. It's especially not found normally in my vocabulary pertaining to God or anything spiritual. For me, solitude is usually something nice to talk about, but rarely a reality. After all, we all live in a pretty fast-paced, hectic world. To set aside any time at all is difficult enough, let alone time that could be spent doing stuff to simply sit alone and spend some time with God.

My friend/boss/mentor Bobby Jackson approached me several weeks ago about setting aside some time each month for solitude. A ministry friend/mentor of his had suggested a time of solitude each month as a regular practice in his spiritual life, and so Bobby asked me to pick a day where I would basically take a morning or afternoon off, get to somewhere by myself, and spend some extended time alone with God. I agreed, but have to admit that I did so somewhat hesitantly.

I love God. I absolutely do. But there are also a lot of other people in my life that I love as well, and yet for some reason, spending an extended time alone with them can feel sort of weird sometimes. I don't know if anyone else is this way, but in a group of 3 or more, I thrive. You can sort of "play off of" the other two people. If conversation isn't resonating with one person, it usually does with the other two and it just feels more comfortable to me. Generally when I sit down to meet with just one person one-on-one, I feel this sort of weird tension like I have to always be talking to fill the silence and I have to be "on" and make someone laugh or listen. There are probably only about 4 or 5 relationships in my life where I feel like I don't feel that pressure (probably an indicator of some sort of deeper relational problem in my life).

And as much as I hate to say it, I don't know that I feel comfortable spending one-on-one time with God.

That's a terrible thing to say. I'm a pastor. I'm on the ministry staff of a growing, vibrant church of over 1,000 people. But that's honestly how I feel sometimes. I'll sit down and I don't know what to say to God. I feel that as a small, finite human being, I struggle to connect relationally with the Almighty God of the universe. I feel that inner panic much like I do when sitting down for a one-on-one conversation with a person. Sometimes 15 or 30 minutes can be a huge challenge for me. I shudder to think about several hours!

But nevertheless, this morning, I found myself backstage in the worship area, sitting on the couch, preparing to encounter God over the next few hours. And what do you know... it was great. I'm learning that if I truly believe God speaks, if I truly believe that God has something to say to even me, if I truly believe that God wants me to connect with Him, that I don't need to worry about an awkward time with God. He'll get His message across.

I could go in-depth on here about some of the reflections I walked away with today, but I think the most valuable thing I could do on here is simply share that solitude is a great thing, and that you should make time for it in your schedule whenever possible. Seriously. Whether it be monthly, quarterly, every few weeks, whatever, do it. It's a very worthwhile practice.

If you're not sure what to do for a time of solitude, I'd suggest checking out a great book (seriously, a top 5 Christian classic) called Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster. Here he outlines some great spiritual disciplines which are definitely worth your study, and one of those chapters is on the practice of solitude. I know that for me, just getting a chance to pray for a considerable period of time, really talking out some issues in my life with God, as well as taking some time to read the Bible and be reminded of some great truths was very refreshing for me. And I think my spiritual life is definitely better because of it.

So there you go, folks. Take some time out of your schedule to practice the spiritual discipline of solitude. I promise that you won't be sorry.

Beyond Sunday - Servolution: In your bones

...by Beka Jackson

What am I passionate about? I have to honestly say I’m not sure anymore. I am one of those people who got caught up in living life and trying to keep on top of all the responsibilities that come with growing up. And even as I say that, I know the truth is that I haven’t thought about it; it’s not that I haven’t felt that stirring inside me when I hear about certain injustices or truths that need to be shared. If I am to be completely honest, I have just, in a very sad way, pushed it away, ignored it. I have said so many times over the past six years, “I will totally do that when all the kids are in school!” That is still another six years from now!

And so for the past couple days, I have begun to remember what I was like five years ago. And as I think about what I love to do I am reminded of how great it was when I was doing that very thing!
That’s a great place to be, but nothing has really changed for me yet. The easy part is to remember and wish, and dream, and think about all the ways I want to serve. The hard part is actually making it happen. I have four kids and everything that comes with a family to take care of everyday. It is not easy to rearrange life at this point. But I know that if God has gifted me with these passions and gifts so that I can make a difference in this world, so that I can help carry out His message of grace, then I can find a way to do it all.

Stop Doing, Start Living.

On the Cultivate Blog, we try and offer up some stuff you can do in order to improve your personal relationship with Jesus. I think there are some extremely beneficial things that all of us can do. There are some great tools you can use. There are a lot of great things out there that will inevitably help to improve your relationship with God if you will do them.

But in the same vein, I think that I'm learning that sometimes the best thing I can do to improve my relationship with God is to stop doing stuff. That's been a huge change of perspective for me, and it's still something I'm definitely working through. But I think that it's true.

Right now, I'm participating in Suncrest's "leadership track" program along with almost 30 other guys from our church. Right now we're reading a book written by Gordon MacDonald called Ordering Your Private World. One of the chapters deals with the signs of a "driven person," that is, a person who is always busy, who is always doing something, and is never investing in the internal world of the soul and of the heart. Reading that chapter, I've got to be honest; I think that I can see a lot of those signs in my life.

Likewise, earlier this week I had the opportunity to get away for a few days along with the rest of the Suncrest ministry staff for our annual staff retreat. It was definitely a great time, and I really enjoyed getting to better know the members of our ministry team. Yet, for me, one of the big themes I walked away with was that I am not paid as a staff member to do, but to equip. Instead of feeling good about all the stuff I do, Greg posed to us that it would be a much bigger victory if instead we equipped a member of our church to do the same thing, so that we can spend time casting vision for something else. That goes against my natural tendency to always be doing things and to be occupied all the time with tasks. I need to personally move from a culture of doing to investing.

I've always read and heard sermons on stuff about how busyness is not necessarily a good thing, but for whatever reason (probably the fear of actually applying those lessons to my own life), I took them worth a grain of salt. But I believe that God is really working on me and showing me that in fact, I am a busy person. And maybe sometimes the best thing I can do to improve my relationship with Jesus is to simply choose to not do some things, no matter how counterintuitive it might seem to me.

Is it really possible that if we would stop doing, we could start living?

Now I'm not saying that you should quit reading your Bible. I'm not saying that you should quit praying. Those are always valuable and worthwhile endeavors that we should pursue. What I'm talking about is making an intentional choice and decision to quit always being busy (and believe me, you HAVE to be intentional about this). It stresses us out, and in my own life, I've noticed that it pushes God out of my life as well.

And I don't think this applies to just the regular tasks of our day. Even in our prayer lives, for example, we tend to be "busy" by coming to God and simply dominating the conversation. Maybe instead of doing all the talking, we could stop doing and start living by simply allowing God to speak to us. Maybe it's time we learn the truth of Psalm 46:10, in which we are asked to be still and know God. We're not asked to do something, but simply to be still. Wait. Listen.

In Matthew 11:30, we are told by Jesus that his yoke is easy and his burden is light. I think that's kind of ironic considering that for the most part, Christ followers seem to be some of the most stressed out, burdened people that I know.

So you're looking for a way to improve your relationship with God? I think that sometimes the greatest cultivator for us is simply to stop doing and to start living.

Worlds Are Colliding...

So I just finished watching a delightful season 7 episode of Seinfeld here on my computer.

Probably not the way you expected a Cultivate Blog entry to start. Nevertheless...

Now, for those of you who are not Seinfeld fans (I think the technical term is "heathens." Okay, just kidding), the central character in the show is a guy named Jerry, and he hangs out with his best friends, Elaine, Kramer, and George. Unfortunately for George, he's in a bit of a problem. You see, George's fiancee is not really part of his group of friends, so George has developed a bit of a split personality problem. Around his friends Jerry, Elaine, and Kramer, George acts a certain way and calls this person "Independent George." Around his fiancee, though, George acts another way and calls this person "Relationship George." Problems erupt for George when one of his close friends, Elaine, decides to become friends with his fiancee, Susan. Now, George will inevitably find himself in a social situation with both his group of friends and his fiancee. This, in George's mind, will lead only to his destruction. Take a look...

It might sound kind of dumb to you, but I think that a lot of us do the same exact thing in our relationship with God. We have a tendency to live two lives in our relationship with God. I know that I oftentimes act like one person on the outside, but on the inside, I am knee-deep in stuff like sexual sin, greed, bitterness, hate, and all those other not-so-great things. Yet while I'm struggling big time, I'll try to sweep it under the rug. I've got "Relationship Wes" I bring out around God and on Sunday mornings, and then I've got "Independent Wes," who secretly lives this other life when no one is looking.

You see, God isn't impressed by our acting, no matter how big or small it might be. God wants us to be honest and truthful about ourselves, about our junk, about everything. He might not be satisfied with our sin, but I believe that our relationship with God is a lot better off when we quit trying to hide our junk and come clean. Just think of the story of King David in 2 Samuel 11. David had sex with a married woman while her husband was away at war, and she conceived. So what does David do? Instead of coming clean, he tries to get this woman's husband to sleep with her so everyone will think the child was his (thank goodness Maury Povich didn't have a show back in those days). But alas, David's attempts don't work. Eventually, he arranges for this woman's husband to be killed in battle, and then marries her (a common practice to protect widows in those days), so that everyone will think David and his new wife Bathsheba conceived a child in wedlock and that everything is fine and dandy. David was secretly living two lives, but thought he was going to get away with it.

But while everyone else was fooled, God was not. In 2 Samuel 12, the prophet Nathan receives a message from God and approaches David, accusing him of this grievous sin. David had been found out.

Just like George, his worlds were colliding.

Eventually, after many events transpired, David wrote Psalm 51 as a song asking for forgiveness from God, coming clean of his double-life. I think that in a lot of ways, we need to do the same. When we act like a different person before God, we never win. To paraphrase Numbers 32:23, our worlds will always end up colliding. It never ends pretty.

So this Wednesday as I write, I just want to ask you, are you living a double life? Is it time to come clean with God, with others, and with (most importantly) yourself?

wb

Beyond Sunday - Servolution: In your box

...by Doug Gamble

So what’s in your box?

I hope you were captured as I was with the truth that God gives each of us gifts to use for His kingdom. For some this was nothing new. For others this was a brand new concept. For many it is a very under applied area. We often live our lives just reacting to the events around us and we don’t take the time to consider where it is we should invest our most valuable resource: our spiritual giftedness.

I often talk to people who do not feel gifted and are really sure that God somehow skipped them when He was passing out Spiritual Gifts. That is not true! God has given every single follower of Jesus a spiritual gift that they can use for serving other people. If you need help discovering your giftedness, then please check out our Discovery Seminar. There are two opportunities coming up for West campus and one coming up for East. This seminar will be put on by Suncrest Leadership Resident, Andy Kaser and Contribute Director, David Vineyard. If you would like more information or to register for the seminar, please email David (david.vineyard (AT) suncrest.org.

Discovery Seminar:

For West Campus - 10/18 and 10/25 – 9:30am at West Campus

For East and West Campus – 11/5 – 7pm at West Campus

Beyond Sunday - Servolution: Get off your but

...by Cindy Barker

Sunday’s message on “get off your but” brought something immediately to my mind. Last week while visiting a girlfriend, I noticed a couple of bags of groceries on her kitchen floor. When I asked her what they were for, she said a mutual friend. This mutual friend has financial difficulties and some problems that I don’t fully understand. I admit that at times I have trouble feeling sorry for him as I feel he should do more to help himself. My girlfriend has expressed these same feelings to me. But while I have approached the situation with a “I see the need but…” she has gone around that but and enlarged her heart for the needs around her. It’s not a large gift, has not taken a lot of her time, and it will not make a difference in a lot of lives. It will however make a difference/impression in the life of her granddaughter who was watching, it will in our mutual friend’s life, and it has in mine.
Greg said that sometimes there is great value, joy, and satisfaction in serving. And sometimes there is great stress and frustration if you feel someone is taking advantage of you. But reaching out is not about our good or bad feelings; it’s just a part of walking with God. I know I have other “buts” to work on besides this one but this one should be easy to work through. Hopefully it will be a step towards being the servant God wants me to be.

YouVersion: Reading the Bible Just Became Cool Again

So you may not be aware, but there is an awesome Bible study resource online now called YouVersion, sponsored by Lifechurch.tv. You can check it out at www.youversion.com or simply by clicking on the above "YouVersion" link.

When you go to the YouVersion page, you'll be immediately taken to the home page, with a text window on your left and then some fancy looking stuff on your right. Basically, YouVersion functions as your own personal online Bible. Just by signing up and creating an account, you have access to every major Bible translation as well as translations in several other languages.

But you can do more than just read the Bible on here. In fact, while reading, you can also make what's called a "contribution," or read other's "contributions" on a particular passage. For instance, if you go to YouVersion and look at Jeremiah 1:5, under the "Community Contributions" tab, you'll see one called "Chosen" which was actually submitted by me (wblackburn0316). If you're reading along and you have a particular thought or something that you'd like to share, just click on that verse in the text, and then click on the "Contribute" button and then you can share whatever's on your heart. If you want, you can even link videos and pictures to your particular contribution.

Maybe you're not up for sharing your thoughts with an entire community or maybe your thoughts are just a little too personal for public viewing. No problem... just click on the "Journal" section and you can make your own (private) journal entry for that passage that you can refer back to at any time. It's a really handy thing for some more personal application for just journaling your thoughts to God or even just for having a way to track your own personal spiritual journey. In the journal and contributions column, if you scroll up and down, you'll also see that they offer several different Bible reading plans for those of you looking for that and there is also an audio Bible available if you'd rather listen instead.

You can also find other people you know or like on YouVersion and then "follow" them which basically means that when you click on the "My" tab at the top of the webpage, you can see any action that people you follow have taken. For instance, if one of the people I follow posts a new contribution on a particular Bible verse, when I click on the "My" tab, I can see that they did that and choose to read that contribution if I wish. With YouVersion's new "live" feature, you can also join groups online and then go to the group page and see what all the people in that particular group are doing (check Suncrest out at www.youversion.com/groups/suncrest).

But by far, the coolest feature about YouVersion is the "mobile" option. If you have a smart phone like an iPhone, BlackBerry, etc., you can actually download YouVersion onto your phone and have instant access to the Bible at any time or any point you have your phone with you. That might mean that you now have a few minutes to read the Bible on your way to work if you take a train, bus, or whatever. Maybe you have a valuable opportunity to share your faith... don't need to worry if you're at work and don't have your Bible because you have it on your phone! Pretty awesome feature if you ask me! Go to the "Mobile" tab at the top of the YouVersion page and then on the overview page, click on the type of phone you have, and YouVersion's site will give you the appropriate instructions. YouVersion also has a mobile app in the iTunes store so you can also download the app if you have an iPod touch.

YouVersion is an awesome study resource. If you're stuck or looking for something to jump start you or just to get you started on the journey of knowing God's Word better, I'd highly recommend it. You won't be sorry!

wb

Way cool prayer tool!

Couldn't pass up this opportunity to share this with you!
A friend of mine turned me on to echo prayer manager. It’s a neat little tool that is quick to set up and use. Essentially you put in a prayer request and it will send you an email or text message to remind you about what you want to pray on the day and time you specified. Simple, quick, and helpful. For me, this becomes a great reminder to call or shoot an email to the person I’m praying for and either check up or encourage them.
It just makes sense doesn’t it? If I want this to be in front of me on a regular basis, I need to put it in my schedule on a regular basis. I have the sense that this will be great for seeing how God responds as well. There is also place to journal for those that like doing that.
Check out another prop for this tool in Lynn’s prayer blog “The Air I Breathe” on the sidebar.
Enjoy!

Thrive: Week 3, Day 7

Matthew 14:22-33

This week, remember that it is your direction that determines your destination, not your intent or your hope. Because that is true the very best thing we can do is to continually head in the direction of Jesus. Follow Jesus where He is leading. You are always headed in the "right" direction if you are being led by him.



What distracts you from following Jesus?

What helps you keep your eyes on Jesus?

Thrive: Week 3, Day 6

Psalm 34


When we are in the middle of getting back on course, it’s easy to lose sight of God and what started us out on this new course or direction. That’s when we simply need to refocus and spend time praising Him for how far He has already brought us. As you read today, worship Him for how far He has brought you and where He will lead you tomorrow.

Thrive: Week 3, Day 5

Matthew 16:13-16; Matthew 20:32; Mark 5:9


What direction is God showing you to correct your current course?

Beyond Sunday - Thrive: Correcting Course

...by Jo Anne Stas

“The natural drift of our lives is toward the comfortable.” Greg Lee

When I rewind to 2004 and recall my goals like Greg suggested, I think about the goal I had to go back to school. It had been 23 years since I graduated from high school and the prospect of entering college after so long was intimidating. It was certainly more comfortable to keep the status quo and never take the next step, but in 2004 I set aside all my comfortable reasons and enrolled in college. Five years later, I’m still plugging away at my goal and in two years, Lord willing, I should reach my goal. Over the last five years I have had times of doubt as well as times when I wanted to give up. In fact, one semester I did give up, but I got back on the path and kept going. When I think of comfortable I usually associate it with good things and uncomfortable with bad things, however, stepping out of my comfort zone has taught me that when I come out on the other side of my discomfort, I gain something. Whether it is more trust in the Lord to see me through or a character lesson learned such as patience, there is always a gain. No doubt, there are still plenty of areas of my life and plenty of times in my life that I have not stepped out of the comfortable but with each win I can gain a little more confidence to step out again.

Lord, help me to step out on the narrow path even though it may be uncomfortable. Amen

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

Matthew 7:13-14

Thrive: Week 3, Day 4

2 Corinthians 8


Who am I helping?