Sure, it’s a nice thought and even a place that we should all (as Christians) arrive at. But if I’m completely honest, I know that I’m not fully at that point yet.

What Paul is saying in his letter to the Philippians isn’t just about physical suffering or losing possessions. He’s counting his very identity as loss and rubbish. Check out what he says just before the verse quoted above:

For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. – Philippians 3:3-7

Paul tells his readers who he is in earthly terms. He has all of these achievements and affiliations that allowed him to at one time put his confidence in the flesh, in himself. How often do we put our confidence in our experience, knowledge and skill? How often do we put our confidence in the flesh?

But that’s no way to serve God, because…

Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. – Romans 8:8

What does all of this mean?

It means that all that we are, all that we’ve accomplished and all that we have must be nailed to the cross and put to death. Our confidence cannot be in ourselves. We’re not good enough. Jesus didn’t come to fix us, He came to replace us. This is why Paul tells us that we have been crucified with Christ. Our old self is dead and we have been raised to new life in Christ Jesus.

We are a new creation in Christ. Not a repaired creation.

We once lived our lives for ourselves. Our achievements and talents were meant to further our own lives, our own glory. But now those things are of no avail. Now we must stop living for ourselves and live unto God in Christ and through Him.

What about using our natural talents for a new purpose, to serve God?

Regardless of how pure our motives may be, we can’t serve God based on our fallen nature and ability. That life has died. Our source for life and ability now solely rests in Jesus Christ, our indwelling Lord. To be honest, I can’t tell you exactly how all of this looks in real life and expression. There have been times that I’ve walked more fully in Christ, but those are probably the minority.

All that we are by nature must die. Now having died with Christ, we are then raised to new life. We have a new life source which is Jesus Christ. All is new. If I was a brilliant musician before coming to Christ I would have reason to boast in my ability. But all that was before has been put to death. Even my great talent. Now the source for musical ability is Christ and the goal is to glorify Him.

Suppose I was a great thinker and very studious before coming to Christ (I wasn’t). I now have a new source for knowledge and even a new purpose for knowledge. It’s now the Spirit that gives me understanding, not just my ability to read, focus and memorize. Without light from the Spirit I have no understanding in the things of God and no revelation of Christ.

We must come to a place where our abilities, talents and social status become worthless when compared to the worth of knowing Christ.

The first step, I believe, is receiving a glimpse of Christ and the eternal purpose of God in Christ.

Facebook has done a great job at making this possible for us. Zuckerburg has created a destination for all us to go online. Everything is embedded into Facebook and Facebook seems to be embedded everywhere else you go online. But what is the point of all this? Maybe the real question we should all be asking is this:

What should the point to all of this be?

Take a minute to look at how much time is wasted on social media sites (I use Facebook as my main example since it’s currently the largest). Notice I said wasted, not just spent.

Seriously, think about it for a second.

I feel like it’s pretty easy to measure time wasted as opposed to time well spent. Are we accomplishing something of value? Are we nurturing and building an authentic relationship? I honestly think that social media can truly help us do these things. The problem is that most of what we (myself included) do on social networking sites doesn’t accomplish these things. At least not from what I’ve experienced.

I feel like social media should be a means rather than an end. It should be a vehicle rather than a destination. This is why I appreciate the nature of Twitter more than the nature of Facebook. Twitter is quick and doesn’t provide in-depth profiles that you can spend an extended amount of time on. I think that is one of Twitter’s greatest strengths.

Has social media made us more vain?

On Facebook, most of us seem to share information about ourselves, photos of ourselves and rants about badly we have been treated and wronged. I don’t have official stats on that, this is just what I’ve seen, experienced and even done myself. I’ve realized this more and more over the last few months, which is why my Facebook activity has dropped so dramatically.

What I’m submitting is not a complete exodus from social networking sites, although I would love to see a Facebook exodus. I’m suggesting that we begin to examine how we use social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus and all the others that are fighting for our time and attention. Our time is precious and so are all of the authentic relationships we have with friends and family.

Let’s begin to be more intentional about things we post and share online. Let’s start to be more intentional about people we’re friends with on Facebook. For example, you don’t need to connect with everyone you knew back in high school. Some people aren’t supposed to be a part of our lives forever. And that’s ok.

I love what Diablo Cody said about some of our social networking issues. I think her statement is dead on:

I feel like I’m part of a generation of people who are stuck in the past and are really self-absorbed. I mean, we’re actually taking pictures of ourselves and posting them on Facebook, and keeping in touch with people that should have been out of our lives 15 years ago. Obsessing over who’s getting married, who’s having kids, who’s more successful. It’s like we’re recreating high school every single day using social media. And it’s weird.

I couldn’t agree with her more.

I know that this post seems to be more of a vision rather than something to instantly put into practice. But I think that’s a good thing. We have to step back and examine an issue before we can fix it. So let’s do just that. I’ll be posting some more on this topic as I’m attempting to do just what I’m suggesting here.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you.

Do you see any or even all of these issues that I mentioned above in your social networking usage?

What are some practical measures that we can take to do social networking in a way that doesn’t distract us from real life and in a way that nurtures and focuses on real relationships?

Let me know in the comments below.

I was raised in Christianity, Sunday school, youth group and all of the above. I’ve been involved in a ton of different Bible studies with people, yet I’ve never read the entire Bible.

To be honest I’ve never really cared to just read straight through the Bible. I’ve always thought those “read the Bible in a year” plans were kind of lame. I’m sure people are able to grow in Christ by doing those, but I’ve just always thought that it would be better to go slower and read certain things over and over until they click.

Another reason that I never wanted to read straight through the Bible is because our Bible is not in historical order, either by order of events or even the order that the books and letters were written. I feel like we can have better understanding when the Bible is read in historical context. (I’m really thankful for the various works that do put the Bible into historical context and order.)

So why am I bringing all of this up?

Lately I’ve had the desire to actually read straight through the entire Bible. I’ve always stuck more to reading the New Testament, especially over the last couple of years. My knowledge and understanding of the Old Testament is pretty minimal really. I think it makes sense when Christians read the New Testament more than the Old to be honest. I mean, The New Testament is where the reality of all of the Old Testament shadows is introduced, that is, Jesus Christ. But since I’ve gained a better glimpse into the centrality and supremacy of Jesus of Christ I’ve been wanting to know Him better through the Old Testament, especially because Jesus said of Himself that “…all Scripture points to me.”

That is what I want. I want to know Jesus deeper. I want to understand the Lord that dwells inside of me as well as in His entire body. What better way to do this than to see all of the shadows of Him as well as the reality of Him all at once? I know that there’s no way to comprehend all of this through a simple reading of the Bible, or even a thousand readings for that matter.

Have you ever just read straight the Old and New Testaments? Did you find it helpful or did it turn out to be just a chore?

Today, I just want to share some thoughts and verses that have been on my mind lately.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. – Hebrews 12:1-2

I really like how the writer of Hebrews mentions every weight and sin which clings to us and not just every sin. It’s clear that not everything which holds us back from growing, walking and abiding in Christ is inherently sinful.

We often don’t realize that “good” things in our lives can keep us distracted, looking away from Jesus.

Consider what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians:

“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. – 1 Corinthians 10:23

There are things that I can do that are not inherently bad, some things that are even really good. But if they have my eyes, thoughts and attention more than Christ then there is an issue.

Just some thoughts as I’ve been thinking about spiritual discipline lately. I’d love to hear any scripture or thoughts that you might add to this in the comments below.

Or if you’re like me, you’re writing a blog post about how much you dislike new year’s resolutions.

I’ve never been one to care much for new year’s resolutions. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never actually made one…at least not since I was 10 or younger. They’ve just never seemed to make much sense to me.

I mean, I get the theory behind them. It’s a new year and a fresh start. We have the chance to better ourselves and our lives this coming year. All it takes is a little examination of the year that’s gone by to determine what we want to change about ourselves.

The Better Health Resolution

Some of the most common resolutions are those related to health and well being. Most are related to weight loss alone. Others include quitting smoking, drinking less caffeine or signing up for a gym membership. These are all great things to do. But do we really need to schedule these things?

Last year I realized that I needed to lose weight and get healthy. With the help of an amazing book I learned how to eat on the right schedule with the right foods. I also learned how to exercise again. Since then I’ve lost about 33 pounds and I feel better all the time.

I didn’t make a new year’s resolution. It was actually late Spring / early Summer when I started getting healthy. If you realize a serious lifestyle change needs to happen then just do it. Don’t wait a year, a month or even a week. It’s not easy and you will probably struggle and even fail at times. But if you do then simply start over and keep going.

Wouldn’t it be better to just make those healthy choices as soon as you realize they need to be made?

The Spiritual Resolution

Another type of new year’s resolution that I’ve seen are spiritual resolutions. Our life in Christ is the most important thing to us as Christians. Of course, being in Christ is our position and abiding in Christ is an action that continually happens. We don’t abide in Him in order to be accepted by God. Rather, abiding in Christ is something that happens as a result of our position and acceptance that we already have in Him.

Because our oneness with Christ is so important many make resolutions for the new year in an attempt to be a “better Christian.” I understand the heart behind this but something there just doesn’t sit well with me.

I suppose the most common actions would be resolving to read the Bible more, pray more and go to church more. What happens is that these resolutions become a law and when we fail or slip up we feel condemnation, which is not from God.

Yes, reading the Bible, praying and gathering with the Body is extremely important. However we can’t try to to do these things in our own power just because it’s what “good Christians” do. If you have had a glimpse of Jesus Christ and His eternal purpose then your love for Him will come naturally and as a result you will read more and you will talk about Him with other believes more often. Seek Christ now. Don’t create a list of things you need to do to make that happen. Don’t wait another minute.

I guess what I’m getting at is realizing positive changes need to made in your life is a good thing. But when we realize these things we should work to change them right then and there. It’s easy to put a lot of stock into a new year’s resolution but then end up feeling like a huge failure and giving up altogether if we slip up and break the “law” that we created for ourselves.

I don’t make new year’s resolutions and I’m sure I never will.

I hope you guys have a great new year. I hope that it does bring great things like better health and new closeness with and revelation of Christ and God’s eternal purpose.

What has your experience with new year’s resolutions been? I’d love to hear your story in the comments below.

The first way to allow the Lord to rule and reign within is to listen to the Lord’s voice in your conscience. This is the most basic way to listen to the Lord’s leading. When our conscience says no, we have to say amen.

Sometimes this is hard to do, and we all make mistakes and have failures. But in order to maintain our fellowship with the Lord, we need to maintain a clear conscience between God and men. When we offend the Lord by sinning in some way, we need to say, “Lord, I’m sorry. Please forgive me.” When we offend someone else, we also need to go to them and say, “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

This keeps our conscience keen and clear of offense and saves us from a conscience that is seared beyond the point of feeling.

So to allow the Lord to rule and reign within, we first need to listen to our conscience and say amen when the Lord says no from within. We also need to confess our sins in order to maintain a conscience that’s void of offenses. In this way, we’ll be more sensitive to the Lord’s leading in our conscience. This is the most basic way to live under the Lord’s ruling.

Secondly, we need to ask for the Lord’s leading in the things that we do. To be a person under the Lord’s ruling and reigning, we need to follow His leading and not our own.

For example, if a high school student is considering where to go to college, he can pray, “Lord, what is Your will for me? Where would You like for me to go to school? What would You like for me to study?” The answer may be in contrast to what makes the most sense outwardly. Maybe going to a prestigious school seems to “make the most sense,” but it’s possible that the Lord would lead this student to go elsewhere. To follow the Lord in this way is to be under the His ruling and reigning.

This same student can continue praying after he arrives on campus. He can pray, “Lord, which Christians would you like for me to meet with? Which Christians would you like for me to be built up with? Where should I meet while I’m here as a student?” The answer to these questions may be in contrast to the student’s preferences. Maybe he would assume that he should meet with one group, but the Lord leads him to meet with another. In this case, it’s not determined by preferences, but it’s determined by the Lord’s leading.

To follow the Lord in these ways is to learn to live in the kingdom of God practically on the earth today. It’s to learn to follow His leading and not our own. May the Lord gain more Christians on the earth today who follow according to His leading and not according to their preferences and their ways!

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. – Philippians 2:5-8

Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God and the first of all creation, came in the likeness of men and was born into this world in the humblest of ways. This Son through whom all things were created, the only one who has the right to be self righteous yet isn’t, was born to a simple virgin betrothed to be married to a simple man named Joseph.

Can we grasp how incredible this really is? Look at Jesus in eternity past. Imagine the constant fellowship that He enjoyed with God the Father through the Holy Spirit. Divine life was ever being exchanged. Everything that was created was made through Him and for Him. Jesus, the heir of all things, came to this earth to reclaim a creation that rightfully belonged to God. He came to reclaim His family.

Typically, when we think of reclaiming something we think of suiting up in armor to fight for what rightfully belongs to us. In a sense, we prepare for war. Notice that this isn’t what Jesus does. He comes in the form of a servant, born to die a criminal’s death as innocent man. It’s not that He went to war and lost. He laid His life down, didn’t put up a physical fight and even rebuked Peter who tried to defend Him by the sword.

This is Jesus.

The one born in a stable, surrounded by animals and stench, is heir of this universe. He came to restore an entire creation to its original purpose. He loved the poor and the sick. He opposed the religious elite. He came as a servant to die a criminal’s death. Yet He is God. We can only even know God through this carpenter.

And now this incredible Christ dwells inside of us and imparts His very life to us.

Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. – 1 Corinthians 15:45

It’s easy for us to take the story of Christmas, the birth of Jesus Christ, for granted. It’s far too easy for us to accept it as this nice heart warming story about how God sent His Son to save us. It is that…but it is so much more. We have manger scenes that we light up in our front yards and we attend cute little Christmas programs. I’m not saying those things are bad, but the birth of Jesus Christ cannot be reduced to just that.

Read this passage from the first chapter of Colossians that describes just who Jesus is:

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. – Colossians 1:15-20

Now picture the baby being born in a manger. This Christ described by Paul above is the same one who came as a servant. No glamor, no earthly riches and no place to lay His head. He was born in the most awkward of situations yet it was the most beautiful event that can be imagined. When put into perspective of who Jesus is in eternity, how truly amazing is His birth?

And to think we reduce this miracle to maxed out credit cards and buying junk that most people never really need. The true story of Christmas is still amazing. Let’s not forget that over the next week, into the new year and as long we live.

I appreciate every person that has ever read this blog. Whether you’re a subscriber, occasional reader or this is your first time visiting the site, I appreciate you. I’ve been able to meet some great people through this blog.

I’m sorry that you’ve seen so many theme changes recently. I’m a little indecisive when it comes to designing things for myself. Hopefully the current look will stick around for a while. I’m pretty happy with it and I think it helps me accomplish what I’m trying to do, which is to make the site’s content the focus with a clean environment.

Thank you so much for sticking around. I’m honestly humbled every time I see that someone new has subscribed and every time I see a new comment on a post. I’m really excited for what the new year will bring for this blog. I’m not the type of person to make new year resolutions…so I won’t be doing that. Although I do hope to grow this community a little more in specific ways such as guest blogging, more book reviews and just continuing to write.

Christmas is nearly a week away. Needless to say I won’t be adding too many new posts between now and then. Although I will have time off work, I’m excited to spend that time my wife, family and friends. Blogs and social media just aren’t important enough to compete with that. Speaking of which, check out Jon Acuff’s post: 5 reasons to hit pause on your blog this Christmas.

I hope you all have a great Christmas and come out of the holiday season feeling refreshed, not in need of a vacation.

You don’t need more time, you just need to decide. – Seth Godin

This statement from Seth Godin is quite possibly the truest and most profound statement that I’ve heard in a long time.

Do you ever wish there was more time in the day? There are times that I do. Our lives are continuing to get busier by the day. Our jobs are becoming more demanding and there’s always so much to do around the house. Plus there’s finding time for our hobbies like working out, playing games, attending various types of groups and so on.

Our modern lives can be difficult for some. As a Christian, there have been times that I found myself wishing for more time in the day so that I could study the Bible or read more. I’ve found myself wishing for more time so that I could reach out to my community in new ways.

The problem isn’t a lack of time. The problem is a lack of priorities.

I can say that I love Jesus more than anything, but I believe that my actions prove whether or not I’m telling the truth. This isn’t about legalism. The fruit comes from the tree naturally. Studying, reaching out, getting together with other Christians is a type of fruit. Those things are a natural by-product of our relationship with God. It’s not the other way around. We don’t do those things to try to win God’s love, approval or acceptance.

We don’t need more time in order to know Jesus in a greater way. We just need to decide, by revelation from the Holy Spirit, that Christ is all. When we come to the place that we have seen Jesus Christ like never before we won’t be able to not let everything, including our time, be governed His divine life.

Have you ever wished more time in the day?

Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast what is good. – 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

A few years ago, I stumbled across these words from Paul with a few other close friends during a Bible study. This was the season in our lives that we were becoming very discontent with the institutional expression of the church. This passage really gave us the encouragement to do just what verse 21 says, to test all things and hold fast to what is good.

So we started tested everything.

I mean everything. We studied baptism, the Lord’s supper, worship and every other Christan practice that we had grown up to know and participate in up to this point. Starting the process of rethinking Christianity and church life was really liberating. This season changed my life forever and started me on the journey that my wife and I are still on. This journey is finding Christ in authentic community and sharing our lives with other believers.

Lately I’ve wondered if we really put the true meaning of this passage into practice. Now I know that this specific verse in its original context is referring to testing prophecy, but I believe that it’s good to test all things that we’ve grown accustomed to and are presented with over time. There are times that I think I took step one and tested everything and then forgot all about holding fast to what was good. In my quest to not have rules, stability or consistency I’ve forced myself to become stagnant and at times we’ve felt alone in this journey to know Jesus deeper.

Questioning Music in Gatherings

I questioned the use of music and singing as a form of worship because what I was use to as a member of a “worship” band was very rehearsed and at times, unnatural. However, I overlooked the importance of singing to Jesus and about Him with others. I love music and I love playing music. As a musician I don’t believe that music doesn’t belong in the gathering of believers. But somehow I separated it as a form of fellowship with my brothers and sisters. It’s good to sing to God. The problem was the performance nature that I was use to. Not the music itself. I didn’t hold fast to what was good.

Questioning Planning and Organization

One of the biggest things that I questioned was organization and planning for church meetings. When I first started learning about organic church I thought that it was completely opposite of the institutional, or traditional form of church in that no planning or organization was needed at all. Ever.

I thought that we would just get together with a few Christians in our living room, drink some coffee and chat until the Holy Spirit magically started speaking through us or we burst into random song like we’re on Glee or something. I’ve learned over these last couple of years that it just doesn’t work that way. We prepare for the meetings by abiding in Christ daily. Learning Christ when we’re apart helps us to teach Christ to one another when we’re together.

This isn’t to say that our meetings must have rigid rules and an order of events. We have to be fluid and allow things to change. We can’t just say that we have no agenda when we get together. We do have an agenda. That agenda is to express Christ and participate in community with His body. This is all to glorify Him. Our meetings may not have a rigid plan or order of events, but we are intentional. There has to be times that we intentionally meet to read together, pray together, sing together and grow together. If we’re in love with Jesus and love our brothers and sisters then our desire to do this will be natural, but we still have to step with Christ in faith to let Him do it. I questioned all the planning that goes into traditional church services and Bible studies but I forgot to hold fast to the notion that we have to be intentional. I threw out structure altogether rather than searching for the right type of structure. There is still structure. Even if that structure is soft clay that is often being molded as opposed to unmovable concrete. For more about this check out Milt Rodriguez’s post 10 Myths About Organic Church – Part 3.

What I’m Getting At

We can’t get so caught in unlearning things that we forget to relearn them in the right context. It’s clear the priesthood of all believers, singing together and having a form of structure in our church meetings are all very important. My mistake was in neglecting to relearn all of these things in a new context.

Have you left the institutional church in search of something more? What are some lessons that you’ve learned the hard way on your journey?