Taking The High Road

A friend this week commended me regarding a situation where he had observed me “taking the high road.” We typically consider “the high road” to be the one more difficult to take. It’s the path less traveled by because it doesn’t really get glory or realize personal satisfaction. It’s usually the one that puts you in the second seat and others ahead of you. And to be quite candid - it’s a road that is usually more difficult to take. In fact, I would say that I’m not accustomed to the scenery of the high road because I feel that I take it too infrequently.

This week we started a new series in our high school ministry called “Entourage.” We talked about the friends around us, the kinds of friends they are, and the kinds of friends we are to them. We looked at the story of David and Jonathan (1 Samuel 18, 19). Jonathan was a completely biased friend to David, but he was biased in DAVID’S favor! He moved out of the way to put David ahead of him, and only got “in the way” when it was time to protect David.

As adults, our relationships are not much different than those of students we love. We have to navigate situations all the time that define the nature of the friendships we claim to cherish. Our behavior in those crucial times will reveal our true hearts about those people, though, and show who we really love more - ourselves or others.

Jesus said in John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Then He modeled this love by dying on the cross for us. 

What kind of friends do you have? What kind of friend are you to others? Is your mindset “me,” or is your mindset “we?”

Let me know what I can pray about for your family.

- Michael

A Different Kind of Freedom

In a few months we’ll be gearing up to celebrate our nation’s birthday. Independence Day is not just about back yard burgers with the neighbors or an excuse to set off mini explosives attached to popsicle sticks - it really is a time where we can pause to celebrate that we live in the greatest nation on the planet.

It is also a time to give thanks for those who provide that freedom for us. Those who take up a weapon. Who stand a post. Who step into harm’s way. And some who even give what we call: The Ultimate Sacrifice. I believe it is appropriate to give thanks both for the nation in which we live and to the scores of young men and women who ensure the freedoms we enjoy as a result.

There is a different kind of freedom that we enjoy, though, that doesn’t always receive the same degree of pomp and circumstance as the land of the free and the home of the brave. It’s the freedom that we enjoy as citizens of the Kingdom of God. And that freedom, too, came with a sacrifice - The Ultimate Sacrifice. And the stakes were much higher than the temporal freedom of one nation; the eternal fate of humanity was in the balance.

When Christ staggered up Calvary, His footsteps were not unsteady solely due to the weight of the cross He was carrying - the weight of your sin and mine was infinitely heavier than those wooden beams. And as He completed His task of bearing our sin and shame, there were no medals to be given or parades in His honor. Rather, the One who sent Him on the mission to begin with actually turned His back on Him just as He needed Him most.

This coming Sunday is Palm Sunday. It’s the day we remember Jesus’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He came into the city on a donkey and the crowd paved the street before Him with palm branches. And it seems almost impossible when reading those words that some of the same people who shouted, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord”  in those moments would just a few days later be shouting, “Let Him be crucified!!”

On Palm Sunday at the Glade Church you will have an opportunity to hear clear teaching on The Ultimate Sacrifice that Christ made. You will have the opportunity to sing praises to Him. You will have the opportunity to receive communion. But most of all, you will have the opportunity to honor the One who gives life…and gives it abundantly. You can give thanks for a different kind of freedom.

I Doubt You'll Read This

I doubt it. 

No doubt about it.

Beyond a shadow of a doubt.

We’ve all likely used these phrases at some point in our lives. But when we start thinking about doubt as it relates to our faith, it can feel “wrong” to many of us. I think that’s because although we know the basic tenets of our faith, it can be challenging for us to be “okay” with questioning the foundation on which they are built. It’s almost like questioning our faith lessens our belief. 

I experienced this the other day in my truck while listening (on YouVersion) to the book of Romans. In chapter four there is a reference to Abraham and the law. Well, I got to thinking about Abraham and his wife having a child, a promised child, so late in life. Then I got to thinking about how long he lived (175 years). That made me think of how long other people in the Bible lived. Adam - 930 years. Noah - 950 years. Methuselah - 969 years. Somewhere along this bunny trail I was chasing my faith collided with my sense of reason.

Could these men have REALLY lived that long? Was a “day” in Genesis the same as a 24 hour day today? If they did live that long, what was different then? Could the impact of sin be SO profound that it lessened the length of human life? If sin had not entered the world, was human life EVER supposed to end in the first place? 

As I asked these questions to myself mentally, they came with a certain degree of guilt. Yet as I reviewed them over and over, they seemed (to me) to be completely FAIR questions…questions that actually drive my faith AND my sense of reason to a common ground. They are helpful questions that deepen my understanding of those tenets of faith I mentioned earlier.

As a minister to students, I want teenagers to have a sense of awe and a sense of wonder when interpreting God’s love letter to us, the Bible. To do so, I want them to feel free to ask tough questions. I want them to have a healthy doubt that drives them to ask critical faith questions. Why? Because I believe there are answers to be given. I believe we serve a God who doesn’t fear these questions. In fact, I think He knows those questions can drive a closer relationship with Him. He knows that these questions reveal a grace and love that can come from no other source but Him. So, yeah…I think He’s good with that.

I hope you will be open to sharing your doubts with your teenagers. I hope they can feel permission to share theirs with you. And I hope you will be able to explore the answers to your faith questions together. 

Please let me know what I can pray about for you or your family.

- Michael

Take In Some Teen Culture This Week...And Next Week, Too

One of the expected blockbusters of 2014 started in theaters this week - Divergent. Actress Shailene Woodley plays “Tris” who has to learn quickly that being “divergent” carries with it uncertainty and danger. To be remain safe from that danger, she must continually hide, even lie, about who and what she really is.

The heart of this book (and movie) revolves around a prominent narrative in teen culture right now: survival. Tris is constantly facing new discoveries and new battles that challenge both who she is and who she is going to be. If you read the book you will find yourself cheering for this young girl as she pushes through these obstacles. But you’ll also find yourself quickly relating to her struggle and finding parallels of them in your own life.

Stepping into the false reality of this book, and many others like it, can give you a very real sense of the teenage spirit and mindset. The world in which students live is much different than the one in which most adults live. In fact, I would guess that most parents would be surprised at the everyday goings on in the world their teenagers live in day after day…things that would utterly astonish them. 

A student asked me this past week why I was going with a group of students to see Divergent and not promoting the popular Christian movie release, Son of God. Well…it’s not an “either/or” issue for me. Divergent has my attention simply because it has THEIR attention. I would encourage you to step into their world, listen to their language, and understand their values. One of the best ways to do this is by engaging the media that they consume. 

Let me know if there is something I can pray about for your family.

Sometimes Following God Is Painful

Many of you have heard me speak about bringing our work in the New Orleans area to a close this year. Although New Orleans holds a very, very special place in our hearts and is certainly a key part of our ministry to and with high school students, there have been some signs that it is time to move on. And those signs have been affirmed in our current trip to New Orleans.

But having been down here so long (8 years now) and on so many trips (right at 30 just for high school ministry), we are now faced with saying good-bye to good friends who have become…well - family. We love these people. We love this city. And we love the work we’ve been blessed to do here. It’s difficult to walk through the process of knowing we will be leaving something that means so much to us. And the pain of that separation has, as well, been affirmed with our current trip to New Orleans.

The interesting thing is that as we have shared with people in this area that we are shifting our focus to the many people up north who remain homeless or affected in other ways by Hurricane Sandy - no one understands that better than people here. Many of the people we serve in St. Bernard Parish lost everything in Katrina….and lost it all again in Isaac. They “get” that we need to move to the places where we can be most effective both for God’s Kingdom and for those who still need assistance with the most basic needs of life.

I hope you will join me in praying for peace and direction as we prepare to enter a new season of ministry with our high school students. There’s not much about this that will be easy, but it will most certainly be familiar. We watched God forge strong relationships in a crucible of pain and suffering in this area. We witnessed and participated in His name being lifted high among the chaos, and we were blessed to bring Him glory for everything He has done and continues to do through us in this place. I can say with the utmost integrity that HE has been the star of our work in New Orleans - not us. 

As sad as it makes me to leave a place that has monopolized the last 8 years of ministry for me - I’m invigorated about the possibilities that God has not yet even revealed that await us in New Jersey and New York. I’m excited about making Him famous there…and beyond. It is for His Name and His glory that we are privileged to serve. Please pray that He leads us to do nothing less.

- Michael

Clutter Slows You Down

I have had my current email address for a LONG time now…almost 15 years. When you have an email address for a long time like that, some things just tend to happen naturally. You use it for everything. Most people you contact regularly know it without looking in their contacts. And, unfortunately, you begin to get mail from sources you never even knew existed.

Over the past several days I have been attempting to narrow the time I have to spend each day deleting unwanted emails. Now, as I write this, I’m PAINFULLY aware that this message is one of those messages that regularly hits YOUR inbox. To be clear, I still have some messages like this coming to me as well. But what I’m trying to do is make sure that the messages I’m choosing to receive regularly are ones that merit the time I have to invest in reading them. To that end, I have clicked the “Unsubscribe” link a LOT in the past week.

My wife, Kelley, is AMAZING at this! Every single day she has something that I have to set goals and carve out time to achieve - an Inbox with ZERO messages. Her desk is neat. Her calendar is neat. And even though she doesn’t dot her I’s with little hearts or put smiley faces in her o’s and zeros, she has an incredible gift of organization that makes me the perfect yin to her yang. 

I’m in a season right now where I am trying to identify priorities and give them my clear focus and more attention than less important things in my life deserve. To do that, I’ve got to get rid of some clutter. Clutter in your life just slows you down. You have to look longer for things, and you have to sift through junk to get to the treasure. Worthy things that are desperate for your attention suffer when you have to sift through the clutter to get to them.

So, what if you’re like me and not as organized as someone who has color coded bins in her closet? Embrace that God did not put that within you and that organized people will never understand why you are so messed up. BUT - do yourself a favor and use the brain God gave you to compensate for that gift you’re lacking. Systemize your approach to life and set priorities - then follow them. It’s likely that you won’t be able to do that without getting rid of a little clutter in your life. And in chasing discipline in this area of your life you might find that you’re more disciplined in other areas. 

Chaos, Confusion, and Great Faith

The past few days in Wilson County have been difficult to navigate for young people and parents. Two more young lives came to an end far too early and under difficult and jarring circumstances. Coupled with a teen suicide earlier in the month, these events certainly lead to questions and emotions that have at their center the ability to shake, strengthen, or cloud our faith. How can we have great faith in the midst of such chaos and confusion?

I shared with students this past Wednesday night about the answers to those kinds of questions by looking at pioneers of faith in the Old and New Testaments. I shared with them how easy it seems to have faith when God sends the flood just as He promised after directing Noah to build the ark. When He shut the mouths of the lions after Daniel maintained his faith and practice of regular prayer with God. When He allowed Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to survive the fiery furnace that was fueled by Nebedchanezzar’s anger of their obedience to their God over his command to bow to an idol. We LOVE those representations of faith because they have a Hollywood ending where the underdog wins in the end. 

But what about other times in our faith? What about the times when God does NOT seem to come through for us? What about when our prayers seem to go unanswered, or, worse yet, result in an answer that counters what our faith suggests “should” happen. I think that it’s in these times that we need to cling to our faith more than ever. I must confess that it’s easier to write about such things when one is not in the midst of the pain that goes with such chaos and confusion. That does not change, however, that great faith is needed in times of great strife.

As Christ followers we can be convinced of a few things:

1 - None of the battles we face are “Front Page News” to the God of the universe. God has known since before we were born every single challenge we would face. And as we have journeyed closer and closer toward them, He has been preparing our hearts to cope. He’s been  putting people in our lives who can support us and who have been through similar circumstances. His heart has been broken by the things that we will face as well as His knowledge of how we will react to Him as a result of how we interpret our suffering. He is not surprised. At all.

2 - Our view of His plan is both limited AND selfish. Most of the time when we face suffering, we can’t see the good that can come from it as we are too blinded by the pain. I would think that this is even more magnified when the pain includes a parent outliving his or her child; it’s just NOT the way things are supposed to go. But when God looks at the overall plan, His scope is far broader than we can ever imagine; His goodness permeates the most horrible of situations. Quite possibly the toughest thing to remember when living in great chaos and confusion is that God has not stopped, even for a second, being good. Whether your belief is that He calls people home sooner than others or that He simply allows things to happen for a reason - either way, both are overflowing with His goodness. That is good theology, but it can be incredibly difficult to live while in the middle of the pain.

3 - He, Himself, has faced that horrible pain as well. I think most of us have great capacity to love. But I have yet to meet someone who would willingly lay down the life of his or her child for someone else. Sure, there are PLENTY of folks willing to lay down their own lives for a friend or loved one, but laying down the life of your own child is altogether different. Yet when God looked at us, something about us made us worth it. Something about us made Him willing to lay down His own Son as a sacrifice for our disobedience. He was willing to repay rebellion with salvation. He was willing to do ALL the giving while we continued to do ALL the taking. Talk about something that’s not going the way it is supposed to - how could we for one second fathom that He would be willing to give His only Son for those who continue to mock, violate, and dismiss the love that drives His willingness to save us? Now THAT’S unfair.

As I have tried to interpret for myself the events of the past several days, I find that I am selfishly viewing them in a manner that affects me. I have focused on what I have experienced and the difficulty of losing young lives. I have had to remind myself that the source of my strength can absolutely NOT be the source of my pain. I have had to remind myself that though my heart breaks, the heart of God was broken long before mine - AND it was broken FOR me. And that as I navigate the loss of life, I have to do so while acknowledging the One who gives life - and gives it abundantly. 

Please let me know what I can pray about for you or your family.

Michael