Ordering Our Desires

Desire is often talked about as something we ought to overcome. Still, being is desiring: our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls are full of desires. Some are unruly, turbulent, and very distracting; some make us think deep thoughts and see great visions; some teach us how to love; and some keep us searching for God. Our desire for God is the desire that should guide all other desires. Otherwise our bodies, minds, hearts, and souls become one another's enemies and our inner lives become chaotic, leading us to despair and self-destruction.

Spiritual disciplines are not ways to eradicate all our desires but ways to order them so that they can serve one another and together serve God.

10 SUGGESTED READS FOR 2010 FOR PASTORS/LEADERS/CREATIVES

Here are a few books that I find worthy of mention for recommendation. If your looking for a good read this year let me help you with a few that have been huge for me. This is not and exhaustive list by any means but something to wet your appetite. These are in no particular order.

1) Six Thinking Hats – Edward De Bono

2) A Whole New Mind (why right-brainers will rule the future) Daniel H. Pink

3) Mavericks at Work (why the most original minds in business win) William C. Taylor

4) The Houdini Solution (put creativity and innovation to work by thinking inside the box) Ernie Schenck

5) The Fifth Discipline (the art and practice of the learning organization) Peter M. Senge

6) The Tipping Point (how little things can make a big difference) – Malcolm Gladwell

7) Integrity (the courage to meet the demands of reality) Dr. Henry Cloud

8) The Ten Faces of Innovation (ideo’s strategies for beating the devil’s advocate & driving creativity throughout your organization) Tom Kelley

9) Church Unique (how missional leaders cast vision, capture culture, and create movement) Will Mancini

10) Made to Stick (why some ideas survive and others die) Chip Heath

10 SUGGESTED READS FOR 2010 FOR EVERYONE

Here are a few books that I find worthy of mention for recommendation. If your looking for a good read this year let me help you with a few that have been huge for me. This is not and exhaustive list by any means but something to wet your appetite. These are in no particular order.

1) Crazy Love (overwhelmed by a relentless God) – Francis Chan

2) The Jesus Way (conversations on the way that Jesus is the Way) – Eugene Peterson

3) 10 Dumb Things Smart Christians Believe – Larry Osborne

4) Pivot (how one turn in attitude can lead to success) – Dr. Alan R. Zimmerman

5) Servolution (starting a church revolution serve serving) – Dino Rizzo

6) Emotional Intelligence (why it can matter more than IQ) – Daniel Goleman

7) The Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster

8) The Prodigal God (recovering the heart of the Christian faith) – Timothy Keller

9) The Ragamuffin Gospel – Brennan Manning

10) Primal (a quest for the lost soul of Christianity) – Mark Batterson

The Fruit of the Spirit

How does the Spirit of God manifest itself through us? Often we think that to witness means to speak up in defense of God. This idea can make us very self-conscious. We wonder where and how we can make God the topic of our conversations and how to convince our families, friends, neighbors, and colleagues of God's presence in their lives. But this explicit missionary endeavour often comes from an insecure heart and, therefore, easily creates divisions.

The way God's Spirit manifests itself most convincingly is through its fruits: "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Galatians 5:22). These fruits speak for themselves. It is therefore always better to raise the question "How can I grow in the Spirit?" than the question "How can I make others believe in the Spirit?"

C.S. Lewis on the Church

The church exists for nothing else but to draw men
into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are
not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions,
sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of
time. God became a Man for no other purpose.
— C. S. Lewis

Emptiness & Fullness

Emptiness and fullness at first seem complete opposites. But in the spiritual life they are not. In the spiritual life we find the fulfillment of our deepest desires by becoming empty for God.

We must empty the cups of our lives completely to be able to receive the fullness of life from God. Jesus lived this on the cross. The moment of complete emptiness and complete fullness become the same. When he had given all away to his Abba, his dear Father, he cried out, "It is fulfilled" (John 19:30). He who was lifted up on the cross was also lifted into the resurrection. He who had emptied and humbled himself was raised up and "given the name above all other names" (see Philippians 2:7-9). Let us keep listening to Jesus' question: "Can you drink the cup that I am going to drink?" (Matthew 20:22).

Maturing In Christ

A definition of a mature Christian is lacking. Best to say that you know a mature Christian when you see one. They're in the New Testament. Barnabas is one. Aquila and Priscilla are others. Onesiphorous impresses me. And so is the mother of Rufus of whom Paul said, "she has been a mother to me." That's a short list.

Let’s take a look at the marks of maturity. 1) Self-sustaining in spiritual devotions. 2) Wise in human relationships. 3) Humble and serving. 4) Comfortable and functional in the everyday world where people of faith can be in short supply. 5) Substantial in conversation. 6) Prudent in acquisition. 7) Respectful in conflict. 8) Faithful in commitments.

Take a few minutes and ask how many people you know who would fit such a description. How many? Apparently, Paul pondered the question when he thought about Corinthian Christians and said, "I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ."