Called Out

Today, I came across a blog post from Mark Batterson that is a week old. I read it then, loved it. Read it today, loved it again. This time, I have to share. It's an excerpt from his new book, Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity:

Chapter 2: The Tribe of the Transplanted

Several years ago I had the privilege of attending
the National Prayer Breakfast held annually at the Washington Hilton Hotel. The breakfast is a bipartisan gathering of leaders from all branches of government and both houses of Congress as well as delegations of leaders from foreign countries. The speaker that year was Bill Frist. Prior to his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Dr. Frist performed more than 150 heart transplants as a thoracic surgeon. During his remarks, he talked in reverent tones about the moment when a heart has been grafted into a new body and all the surgical team can do is wait in hopes that it will begin to beat. At that point he stopped speaking in medical terms and starting speaking in spiritual terms. He almost seemed at a loss for words as he described that miraculous moment when a heart beats in a new body for the first time. He called it a mystery.

Heart transplants are a marvel of modern medicine, but it goes way beyond what medicine can explain or understand. The heart is more than a physical pump. It doesn’t just circulate five thousand quarts of blood through sixty thousand miles of blood vessels day in and day out. The heart has a mind of its own. Studies suggest that the heart secretes its own brainlike hormones and has cellular memory. So a heart transplant isn’t just physical; it’s metaphysical. Heart transplant recipients don’t just receive a new organ; they receive cellular memories.

In his book A Man After His Own Heart, Charles Siebert shares a scientific yet poetic depiction of a heart transplant he observed at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York City. Not long after, Siebert attended an annual banquet for transplant recipients and he was deeply moved by their profound appreciation for life. They spoke in reverent tones about the second chance at life they had been given. They humbly acknowledged their responsibility to honor the donor. And many of them talked about new desires that accompanied their new hearts.

Siebert concluded—and his research is backed up by numerous medical studies—that transplant recipients don’t just receive a new heart. Along with that new heart, they receive whole new sensory responses, cravings, and habits.

Siebert called this group of heart recipients “the tribe of the transplanted.”

When you give your heart to Christ, Christ gives His heart to you. And you become a part of the tribe of the transplanted. That new heart gives you a new appreciation for life. You humbly acknowledge your responsibility to honor the donor. And the cellular memories that come with that transplanted heart give you whole sensory responses, cravings, and habits. You literally feel different. Why? Because you feel what Christ feels. And chief among those sanctified emotions is compassion. Your heart begins to break for the things that break the heart of God. You become part of the this coup de compassion that started at Calvary. And that is the heart of what it means to love God with all of your heart.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

You know, there are times when I come across a song and it inspires me in an unnatural way. These days, that song is "Someday" by Rob Thomas. Besides the fact that I simply love his voice and the way that this song is arranged, the lyrics inspire something deep within me.

Maybe it's the idea of hope. Or, maybe it's the contrast of emotions represented. Maybe it's the charge to make a difference. Whatever it is, this song inspires me, and makes me think. Take a look:

Rob Thomas "Someday" from Snap Films on Vimeo.

Personally, I'm tired of the "complain mentality" that's so prevalent in our culture. You know, all is not hopeless, all is not loss. There is redemption for it all. I love the chorus:

And maybe someday we’ll figure all this out
Try to put an end to all our doubt
Try to find a way to make things better now that
Maybe someday we’ll live our lives out loud
We’ll be better off somehow, someday

I believe that "someday" is today. And Jesus is the one who's paved the way for it to be a reality. Jesus didn't just come to secure the presence of a few people in heaven, Jesus came to repair that which had been broken. Jesus came to redeem that which had been lost. Jesus came to restore that which had been damaged.

Namely: you.

Me.

Us.

Humanity.

Creation.

All of it.

Truth is: you ARE someone. Just as you are.

Now, go LIVE like it.

Just curious, what does this song inspire with you?

So, my friend Judy Sturman has a blog, and she does something she calls "Three Word Thursday". I'm totally stealing her idea. Except, I'm going with Two Word Tuesday. After all, less is more, right?

So, for my first installment of Two Word Tuesday, it's been running through my mind all day:

Holy, Holy

As a part of the 10-4-10 Challenge at Indian Creek Community Church, I'm re-entering the world of the blog (hopefully to stay). I'm going to share what it is that God is teaching me and how He's stretching me.

This past weekend I shared how God has a life of spiritual adventure for each of us. I spent quite a bit of time unpacking the adventure filled life of Joseph found in Genesis 37-45. I told the story and then made a couple of observations.

The first observation that I made was: Joseph Never Gave Up.

Honestly, I'm pretty astounded by this. By all rights, Joseph should have given up. Seriously, the dude couldn't catch a break! First, his brothers hated him. Then, they beat him and sold him into slavery. Then, Potiphar's wife fabricated a story against him resulted in an extended stay in jail. And just when it seemed as though a trip out of jail was in order, the cupbearer completely forgot about the guy who had his back.

Have you ever met someone that just couldn't catch a break? That was Joseph.

But, Joseph didn't throw up his hands and quit at the first sign of adversity. (Or the second. Or the third, for that matter.) He TOTALLY could have, but he didn't. He could have quit. He could have turned to God and said, "Forget you! I'm taking matters into my own hands! Following you has NOT gotten me what I wanted!"

But, I got to thinking, in the end, things turned out just like God had promised him. The dream that Joseph had as a kid came to be, just not like he thought it would be.

What if the only path to the dream that God has for you is one filled with challenges and trials to go along with the thrills and celebrations?

I think we have a tendency to want to give up when things get hard. We dream of a life where things only succeed, where it all goes up and to the right. But, that's not really how it goes is it?

Sometimes, we have tremendous dreams about what could be. And sometimes those dreams are about things that would give honor and glory to God. And sometimes, those dreams don't turn out like we thought they would.

You know, just because it hasn't gone like you thought it would go, does NOT mean that you are a failure!

Once upon a time, God gave you a dream. It may not be going like you planned for it to go . . . don't give up.

Don't lose hope! Don't settle for a lesser dream! Don't jump overboard when things get rough.

Sometimes, the only way to that peak is through the valley.

Can I be honest for a moment?

Those words aren't just for you, they're also for me.

In April, we launched the Gardner Campus of Indian Creek Community Church. And within me was a dream. A dream to see a movement of grace and compassion explode in front of us. A dream to see hundreds of people find their way back to God. I believe God gave me the dream.

Here we sit, a couple of months later, and it hasn't happend like that . . . yet.

But, the dream . . . the dream is still alive. I believe as much today as I have ever believed that the passionate desire of God is to unleash a movement of grace and compassion. I believe with all of my heart that He is working in silent and mysterious ways. I believe countless seeds of love are being sown deep within the heart.

When I prepared those words to share this past weekend, God simply reached down and tapped me on the shoulder.

Ben, those words are for you. Don't give up. I am still very much at work here.

This morning, I heard those comforting words again as I spent some time in the book of Romans. Take a look at the words of Romans 8:31-39

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us
right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have
trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say,

“For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So, what about you? How is God speaking to you? What is He saying?

Thoroughly enjoyed my time at Indian Creek Community Church this morning. Personally, I felt the presence and encouragment of the Holy Spirit. That being said, all day long I've had two songs running through my head nearly non-stop. The first, Fire Fall Down, is a song that our worship team taught us today. The second, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, has been a personal favorite of mine for quite some time.

Never heard the songs? Take a quick listen:

Fire Fall Down - Hillsong United


Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus - Hillsong


Specifically, there is a portion from each song that I just can't escape. First, from Fire Fall Down:

I'll never be the same.
No, I'll never be the same.

Because I know that You're Alive
You came to fix my broken life
And I'll sing to glorify
Your Holy Name
Jesus Christ

In so many ways, those first four lines describe my life. I am forever grateful for the way that Jesus has absolutely changed my life. You know, I'm not exactly sure where I'd be if it weren't for Jesus. He's given me hope. He's given me comfort. He's shown me what true love looks like. I'll never be the same.

Which leads me to that second song. I think I have found more comfort through the encouraging words of that song than nearly any other.

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

You know, I've discovered those words to be so true. All of my problems don't instantly disappear. Everything doesn't magically work out the way I want it to. However, as I fix my eyes on Jesus, as I press into His heart, I regularly experience that the things that I wrestle with become much dimmer. It's strange, really. They were so bright, so domineering of my perspective. But, compared with the light of the grace and glory of Jesus, they seem dim by comparison.

I'm just reveling in those words tonight.

This fall at Indian Creek, we're pressing into the heart of God. We're placing our trust and hope in Him alone.

God, what adventure do you want to take us on?

What bold risks do you want us to take?

What dream have you written on our heart?

As some of you know, this has been an eventful and sad week for Sarah and I. But, I wanted to make a quick post to catch everyone up on what has taken place.

I started out the week feeling very sick. After coming home from church on Sunday, I crashed. Stayed home from work on Monday (which I never do) and took 4 naps. Woke up Tuesday, didn't feel much better. Decided to stay home again.

Meanwhile, Sarah began to experience some bleeding.

What few people knew was that she was 9 weeks pregnant at the time. For various reasons, we hadn't shared our exciting news with many people, but had been celebrating for several weeks in our household. We were very excited to see our family expand at the end of 2009.

On Tuesday morning, Sarah quickly made an appointment to see our doctor who then sent her to get an ultrasound. The news wasn't good, and the outlook for a our little one looked bleak.

By Tuesday night, we were having a miscarriage. Ultimately, this adventure required a late-night ER visit, a middle of the night procedure, and a morning at the hospital.

In the end, we lost an already much-loved baby.

As a family, we are doing well. Obviously, we're sad and shaken by the loss, but we feel like God is providing for us all along the way. I am focusing much of my attention on taking care of my family. We have felt your prayers and support. Your love and encouragement has meant more to us than I can possibly capture in words. You are a treasure to us, more precious than all of the "stuff" that any one person can acquire.

Through it all, I can honestly say that our love and faith in Christ has not wavered. In fact, quite the contrary. It has been the loving, sustaining embrace of God that has carried us through each of the twists and turns. We feel blessed.

I know this is a short post, I just wanted to try to give everyone a quick update of where we're at. I hope to post some reflections later.

Grace and Peace,

Ben

I don't read Steven Furtick's blog often, but I stumbled across this post, Ignoring What They Said, from him today:

Ignoring What They Said

Jesus is in the middle of performing a miracle in Mark 5:36, and some doubters start to voice their cynicism.
To describe Jesus’ reaction, Mark uses a phrase that ministered to me deeply last week:
“Ignoring what they said…”
Then, of course, Jesus goes on to heal the little girl, in spite of the surrounding doubt, teaching us a valuable lesson:
In order to witness the miraculous, sometimes you’ll have to ignore what they said.

Maybe some people are perpetually misjudging your motives, and nothing you say seems to sway their verdict.
Ignore what they said.

Perhaps someone in your past filled your head with insecurity about who you could never be, and what you could never do. (Several people told me adamantly I’d fail as a church planter.)
Ignore what they said.

Sometimes the voice of doubt is internal-and we struggle to tune out the static of condemnation, faithlessness, and worst case scenarios.
Ignore what they said.

If any voice is raising itself in contradiction to the will and Word of God concerning you, be like Jesus.
Practice selective hearing.
Ignore what they said.

That resonates with me and my life. I don't want to be ignorant, but, sometimes, I just need to ignore what they said. Instead, I want to listen to what God says. After all, it's His opinion that really matters . . .

I love music. It's really that simple. I'm by a computer most of the day and more times than not you'll find Pandora opened up in one of my Firefox windows. Not familiar with Pandora? You need to become familiar with Pandora. Free, customizable, internet-based radio. It's like having your own personal DJ that brings you your favorites and few welcome surprises as well. LOVE it. Just saying . . .

A couple of nights ago, we had K-Love on at our house. (My son loves to listen and dance to music, and K-Love is the one station that we don't have to worry about him picking up unfortunate additions to his vocabulary. Not to mention, they play pretty good music.)

I was just playing along having a good time with my little man, and the song "Free To Be Me" by Francesca Battistelli came on. Ever heard it?

Here's a link where you can hear the song and see the lyrics: Free To Be Me

You can also listen to the song via the video below (it's really just audio with a picture, so click play and move on):



As some of you know, I've been on a bit of a journey over the past couple of months. In a sentence, God has been showering these Grace-filled words over my heart: Ben, you are enough. Just be you.

Francesca's song speaks to that.

If you've known me for long, you know that I love people. I love to be around people. I love to be with people. I love to invest in people. But, there's a dark-side to that too. I love to be liked by people. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with having friends. But, I'm a recovering "approval addict". I had years of my life that were dominated by the felt-necessity for all people to like and love me. And so, I would chameleon myself to fit into whatever situation I was in.

I didn't tell extravagant lies or go do things that were way outside of my character. But, I would change simple things: the stories I told, the music I liked, the words I used, the clothes I wore . . . all in an effort to be liked. If I was already liked, I wanted to be liked more. I would even go so far as to compare how much people liked me with how much they liked others. I wanted to be the "most" liked.

It's sick . . . I know.

But, I've been in recovery on that issue for a few years now. For several years, I've been striving to be real, genuine, authentic. I began to speak my piece and move on.

But, if I'm honest, I didn't believe deep-down within me that being me was enough. I had to be more.

Here's what I feel like God is teaching me.

1) God made me.
2) God doesn't make junk.

Therefore, I'm not junk. I am, in fact, God's masterpiece. His fine work of art.

So are you.

The Bible even supports it. Check out the words of Ephesians 2:10 (from the Amplified Bible)

For we are God's [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].

We are God's handiwork. In other words, God made you. God made me. And when He was done, He stepped back and said, "Dang, I'm good." Then, He called over an angel or two just to show off. After a round of high-fives and chest-bumps in celebration of creating me, he created you and the celebration happened again.

No matter where you've been. No matter what you've done. God loves you . . . as . . . you . . . are.

It's just that simple.

I'm resting in that these days. The powerful, life-altering reality of Grace.

I'm free to be . . . me.

AND, you're free to be . . . you.

I'm struck by these words from Karl Barth today:

This week, I am committing to spend an hour every day in the Prayer Room at Indian Creek as a time of personal dedication, consecration, and worship. I truly believe with all of my heart that prayer is the the single most under-valued tool in the arsenal of a Christ follower.

It is our way to connect with Father. It is one of the main ways that God brings our heart into alignment with His.

One of the things that I know about my life is this: no matter how much I pray, more is always a good thing. I don't say this in a legalistic or shame-based way, it's just that I'm not sure that I could pray too much in my life.

The beautiful thing is that I can pray at any time, in any place. Stopped at a red light . . . pray. Walking away from a conversation . . . pray. Heading into a meeting . . . pray.

I don't think God is concerned with whether our prayers fit a certain template or pattern. Ultimately, God simply wants to have a personal relationship with you and I. And prayer is a key component of that.

If you're in the area, I highly recommend checking out the Follow Me 24/7 Prayer Journey at Indian Creek. Reserve an hour for yourself. I think it'll be time well spent.

Gary Kendall, Lead Pastor at Indian Creek Community Church, just put up a new post on his blog about where we are as a church. Really good stuff. I highly recommend you check it out!

Read about 30 Days from Supernatural Provision.

Where are you at?

Against insurmountable obstacles and without a clue as to the outcome, the trusting heart says, 'Abba, I surrender my will and my life to you without reservation and with boundless confidence, for you are my loving father.'
-- Brennen Manning --

Where are you at in trusting God these days?

This has been a huge area of growth for me over the past few months and weeks. I am at a place in my life where I long to put my full trust in the Creator of the Universe. I believe that in His hands is the best place for my life to be. I want to hold nothing back, keep nothing in reserve.

God has given me a dream and a passion to help people find their way back to Him. Honestly, the dream is much too big for me to be able to accomplish or attain on my own. After all, only God can redeem and restore that which is broken. That being said, I believe He wants to use people like you and I in the process. If . . . we are willing to surrender our lives, place them in His loving hands, and trust Him.

As I pray about what God is doing at Indian Creek Community Church as we become one church that meets in multiple locations, I believe that God is calling each of us into this type of trust and surrender in Him. Gary wrote a bit about this on his blog while in China a few days back.

At Indian Creek, we are firmly in the Cycle of Faith. Where are you in the process? Have you caught a fresh vision? Have you bumped up against reality? Have you consecrated yourself? Are you living in provision?

Where are you?

So, last Sunday night we had our first Preview Service for the Gardner Campus of Indian Creek Community Church. By all accounts, it was a great night! Lindsey Phillips, our Worship Arts Pastor, did an amazing job of leading us in a time of worship, I shared a few words that God put on my heart to share, and an AMAZING team of people were there early and stayed late to make it all happen.

This week, I've received two emails that I want to anonymously share.

From one of the Gardner team members:

Ben,

Last night was perfect!! Great music, great message and great
people!! I know I’m right where I should be and so excited for it!! Looking
forward to great things!!

From one of our partners at Wheatridge Middle School:

....glad to be able to work with you all...your group is great for
Gardner....I should know I was born here.....have a great day....

I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again. God is up to something B-I-G in Gardner. I'm not sure what it's all going to look like, but I am as convinced of that today as I have been at any point in this journey. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is what God wants me to pour my life into: to help people in Gardner find their way back to God. To me, that's a vision worth giving it all for.

How about you? What does God want you to pour your life into?

I don't want to get in the habit of simply re-posting what Gary Kendall posts on his blog, but our good friend Tim Stout sent us a link to a great video this week. I wanted to share it with all of you.



Besides the fact that the creators executed a sweet video, I am inspired by the message.

There is hope.

I believe that with all of my being.

There is hope.

As this week as clicked along, I have gotten more and more excited for what is coming Sunday night.

This Sunday night at Wheatridge Middle School at 6:30pm, the Gardner Campus of Indian Creek Community Church will be hosting it's first Preview Service. Need directions? Click here.

Basically, this will be our first chance to gather together as a congregation for a time of worship, prayer, community, and vision. I think it's going to be an AMAZING night. I can hardly wait. God has definitely put some things on my heart to share. But, more than that, I'm looking forward to simply being with the people that ARE the Gardner Campus.

Seriously, these are amazing people. If you don't know them, you should definitely come to the Preview Service this weekend and begin to meet them. Their stories of faith inspire me.

With every day I become more and more convinced that God is up to something B-I-G in Gardner. And I don't think that's limited to what is happening in Indian Creek Community Church. We are just a part of the team.

I can't wait to move there!

I am convinced that love wins. It is never wasted.

When hate and love meet . . . love wins.

When apathy and love meet . . . love wins.

When anger and love meet . . . love wins.

When prejudice and love meet . . . love wins.

When pride and love meet . . . love wins.

When despair and love meet . . . love wins.

When fear and love meet . . . love wins.

After all, love comes from God for God IS Love.

What do you think? Is there any scenario where love doesn't win?

Anyone who knows me well knows that there have been times in the last 8 years that I have struggled with the concept of evangelism. I think primarily because I saw a lot of sleezy, bait-and-switch stuff happening in the world. For some reason, it just didn't seem like Christians could simply be real and honest with people. Instead, they had to manipulate . . . or so it seemed to me.

In the past couple of years, God has refreshed a spirit of evangelism in me. And these days, I find myself daily praying that people I know and love would find their way back to God. Often in my prayers, I offer myself to God as a messenger of His love and hope.

With that in mind, I have a 5-minute video from Penn (of Penn & Teller fame) on this topic. (Courtesy of Ed Stetzer's blog) Obviously, Penn and I aren't on same page spiritually, but I think he has a great thought that we need to hear:

Penn says:

I don't respect people who don't proselytize. If you believe that there's a heaven and hell, and people could be going to hell, and you think, 'Well, it's not really worth telling them this because it would make it socially awkward'... How much do you have to hate somebody not to proselytize?

Ever thought about it that way before?

I know, I know . . . my blog hiatus has been waaaaaaaay too long. I'm going to try to improve on that.

Had a great time at Indian Creek today as we talked about doing Greater Things Than We Can Imagine. The more I reflect on it, the more convinced I am that many people miss out on the life that God has for them by a mere 11 inches, the distance between the head and the heart.

I've spent a majority of my life learning more and more about Jesus Christ, and what it meant to be a follower of His. I've learned more and more about what the lifestyle of a Christ-follower looks like. As I've attempted to translate that head knowledge to from-the-heart living, I've noticed a pattern: following in the footsteps of Christ is risky.

The way of Jesus is not the safe road. It's not the path of least resistance. It's not the road of comfort. To truly follow Christ requires trust, a risk.

For instance, what if we really trusted God with our finances? Would we change the way we spend, give, invest, or save?

What if we really trusted God with our relationships? Would that change the way we listen, share, and interact?

What if we really trusted God with our hopes and dreams? Would that change the way we structure our days?

To trust is a heart-level thing. It's where knowledge meets life. And trust is risky.

But, what about the risk of living life the same way that we always have? What if we do nothing different?

Often times, we fail to calculate the risk of staying the same. Staying the same seems safe. It seems comfortable. After all, it's familiar, and it hasn't completely ruined us yet.

Think about it.

You know the risk that it would be to follow God in what He is calling you to trust Him with. What are you risking if you say "no"?