Goal Setting

Today I am setting goals for 2010. I believe God has an awesome year in store for us as a family. I set goals in 3 areas every year for the last 13 years since I was in high school. They used to be Sports, Girls, School:) I still have 3 but now they are Family, Ministry, and Personal. I have always set goals and I believe it gives us focus and great ability to achieve.

My spiritual goals are included in personal and here is a key scripture for me as I evaluate my spiritual goals as well as three questions I am asking myself as I set my spiritual goals.

Luke 2:49b "Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?"

Is this our attitude towards being with Jesus?


3 questions

1. What do I need to learn spiritually this year?

2. What big risk do I need to take as I pursue my calling?

3. Who do I need to submit to spiritually?


Happy New Year Everyone!

May God Bless you with a heart that is desperate for Him!

Decade Reflection

Wow it has been 10 years since I graduated high school. This decade came with A LOT of changes.

2000 graduated high school
2001 met Kelly, started coaching basketball
2002 got engaged to Kelly,
2003 graduated college and started in paid ministry
2004 married Kelly
2005 started in the ministry in Nutley, NJ first job in C&MA
2006 graduated seminary with MDIV started first full time ministry job at Princeton Alliance last year of coaching basketball 5 seasons total
2007 Started Immerse and found out first child on the way
2008 Joshua born
2009 helped start 217 church, got ordained, found out #2 child on the way, Spiritual Development Pastor at PAC

Crazy decade. I met my wife Kelly and son Joshua. I was a basketball coach who became a pastor. I got an MDIV, ordained, and became a spiritual development pastor. It sounds like I'm spiritual but I realize more everyday how much I am in need of a Saviour and how dirty my heart really is. It is amazing to look back and see that God took a messed up human like me and is using me. I am in awe of all the blessings of God that are in my life. Wow. I am blessed. Thank you God.

Year End Reflection

2009 was a good year.

Family- found out we were having number 2, got to visit Paris,

Ministry- got ordained, gained more responsibility,

Goals- I met reading and ministry goals but didn't meet writing and weight goals. I'm push on my exercise goals.

2009 was definitely a year of growth for me and I am looking forward to 2010. I really feel that I have to live my life more on purpose than ever before.

I will post my goals later this week for 2010.

Health Care and Christmas

Where is the unity? I'm glad congress is doing something to help those without healthcare but where is congressional unity? It seems the democrats are just bulldozing past the republicans without ever including them in discussions. Where are the back room meetings to at least get a couple of republicans support. It seems the democrats just say to republicans we'll do whatever we want and don't need you but by doing that you alienate half of the country.

Republicans, the democrats conceded a lot but no one supports it? It really seems republicans are saying no just to say no so Obama fails on his attempt at bipartisanship. I have a hard time believing no republican could vote for this. They took out public option, early buy in to Medicare, and proved over the long haul this bill pays for itself. In my opinion Lieberman was the republican rep on this bill. He was working for republicans and did a good job. I believe the majority of senators were content with this bill but republicans voted no to save their political hides.

Our government has lost site of what their job is all about. Their voting is soley based on winning their next election not on doing what is right. I'm getting annoyed with it. I'm getting tired of talk show hosts who just want strike fear into the hearts of Americans. All to just get their way politically. That is just wrong. People wake up, talk show hosts on both sides slant the truth to make you hate the other party. No matter what side you are on, think for yourself not what some talk show host tells you to think. Remember, they are out to make $ not be right.

I personally think we as believers in Christ need to be careful on what political party we side with. Both parties do good and both do bad. I for one do not think Christ should be lumped in with the bad. I hate it when I see people lumping Christianity and Christ in with something bad that is going on in politics. Ultimately Jesus was about bringing reform to peoples lives and hearts. He came to see hearts changed. If we as Christians would rise up and model our lives after Jesus rather than relying on some politician to do it then much of the wrong we see in our society would be changed.

Can you imagine what would happen if a generation of believers would rise up and live a life of sacrifice, obedience, humility, reconciliation, and for the least of these? We see what happened in Jesus' generation the Jewish political climate was turned upside down. If we want a revolution to happen politically it has to start in our own lives. What are you doing to live like Jesus? What are you doing to see your neighbor live like Jesus? Your family? Your co-workers? Your community? Your state? This country? The world?

To do this it takes giving of our life. Are you willing to give your life for the cause of Jesus Christ? We celebrate Jesus' birth in 1 day when He came to this earth with the purpose to sacrifice himself for you. Are you willing to sacrifice for him? May your gift this Christmas be one that takes a huge risk for Him! When we all do that then we can turn our society upside down!

I paint houses

Yesterday our staff painted someones house in Trenton that in all honesty needed to be gutted out and started over. Now, because of lanlord issues we did what we could and what we could do was mostly cosmetic.

But it got me thinking. How many times do we do this with our lives? Our lives need some real gutting and renovating yet we just address cosmetics and make ourselves look good.

This home was dirty and had cochroaches running through it. There were a couple of times that I painted right over the coachroaches and they became permanent fixtures. How often do we just paint over the cochroaches of our lives? We see an issue and just address the symptom but we never to get to the root.

What are you doing with your life? Are you just painting over issues? I believe the majority of us just paint over and don't deal with the real issues. Deal with your real issues. Don't call yourself a good Christian when you know you have an army of cochroaches running around your heart. And besides you aren't really fooling anyone.

Primal

Primal-

Mark Batterson's new book was a challenege to us to live a life of sacrifice and love. He challenged us to think about the things that break the heart of God and what are we going to do about it. If you are looking for that next step with Christ, a step to take you deeper, and live a full life get this book. Mark gives some great examples from his own life and the life of others who sacrificed for the sake of Jesus Christ. What are you doing to sacrifice for Jesus? This book will help you figure that out. This book challenged me to look at my life in a 'Primal' way, the way God intended.

You can pick up a copy here: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9781601421319

Jesus' view on the American Dream

I don't know what your career goals are. I'm sure many of them are admirable. In many ways our American culture tells us to get rich, own property, grow your property, and retire well and early. In my devotions this morning I was reading in Luke 12:13-21 Jesus talks directly to us and our American culture. I honestly don't know what you do with the following verses. I am not going to make any comment but let scripture speak for itself. Read it. Apply it.

The Parable of the Rich Fool

¹³Someone in the crowd said to him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me."

¹⁴Jesus replied, "Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?" ¹⁵Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

¹⁶And he told them this parable: "The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. ¹⁷He thought to himself, 'What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.'

¹⁸"Then he said, 'This is what I'll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. ¹⁹And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry." '

²⁰"But God said to him, 'You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?'

²¹"This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God."

Confront it. Don't ignore this. How many of us set out to make enough money to retire on? Jesus calls us a fool. Not cool. I am wrestling with this. Can you follow Jesus in this way?

I was talking about this with my friend Josh Conn and he blogged in greater detail about what this means for our culture: http://www.joshconn.com/2009/12/10/titans-3-get-old-get-rich-retire/

Leader Development

The number one thing we look for in the church when developing leaders is teachability. Let me tell you that this issue disqualifies many great leaders from leading and having God use them to their fullest potential. The number one reason people aren't teachable is arrogance. I believe that you can learn something from anyone and there is never a time that you can't be teachable. So if you want God to use you to your fullest potential in the marketplace or in ministry. Be teachable and you can go a long way.

Tiger

There is a lot going on in the news about Tiger Woods and his 'transgressions'. I think we can all figure out what happened as I won't use this blog to explain. There are some things to be learned from the events that happened with Tiger.

1. Everyone is vulnerable to moral failure. This whole thing has been real disappointing to see as it seemed he had a great image.

2. We are just as bad as Tiger even if our transgressions happen in our mind or somewhere else. To me we should show the same grace to Tiger that we have from God. We are all sinners in need of a savior. The only difference for some of us is that we know that. I pray that Tiger figures that out.

3. We can't play God and think we won't lose control. Our sins will come to the surface because we are human. It is a lot better for you to confess your sins than letting the world do it for you.

4. We all have sinned or transgressed.

5. We all need a Savior.

6. We as Christians need to show love and grace to Tiger. We need to embody Jesus Christ. In years gone by I could see Christian groups standing up and protesting Tiger, never watching Tiger ever again, or stoning him if you will. What did Jesus do in John 8? Don't protest Tiger. Jesus isn't.

¹But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ²At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. ³The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group ⁴and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. ⁵In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" ⁶They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. ⁷When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." ⁸Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.⁹At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. ¹⁰Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?¹¹"No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."

Discipleship

What is a disciple? That is the central question of our day in the church. I believe that the waves are shifting as to what a true disciple of Jesus Christ is. I think that when we answer this question it has impact on the way we see the rest of the world as Christians. It affects the way we spend money, our marriages, friendships, family relationships, politics, leadership, the way we work, etc. I think to define discipleship we have to explore The Gospel. What is the Gospel and how do we live it? If we answer that question then we will begin to see what it means to be a disciple. What are your thoughts? What do you think a disciple is? What is the Gospel? Obviously, make sure that your answers are found in scripture.

I am thinking of doing a class in the winter on this and would love your input/attendance at the class. Let me know what you think.