Faith through the eyes of a child

In the Bible, Jesus says, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for it is to such as these the kingdom of heaven belongs" (Matthew 19:14).  Since having a child, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to have faith like a child.  My 3 year old daughter makes more profound theological statements than many of the adults I know, myself included.  On our way into work today, my daughter noticed the same homeless man that is on the corner every morning.  She said to me, that man doesn't have a home does he?  I said no, baby, I don't think he does.  She replied, I bet he wants to get himself one and not having a home makes him sad.  Wow, out of the mouths of babes.  Her simple statement reminded me of my responsibility as a Christian to reach out to the lost and the lonely.  I have always liked how Jesus said let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for such as these belongs the kingdom of God.  Some people will argue that Jesus made this statement because he liked kids.  But this statement is so much more than that.  The statement acts as a reminder to us as adults to reclaim the faith that we had as children.  That unconditional outpouring of love, that endless joy, that excited spirit, that pure faith.     

One of my favorite songs, is Faith like a Child, by Jars of Clay.  The song has been out for a while but I've always loved the lyrics:

Dear God, surround me as I speak,
the bridges that I walk across are weak
Frustrations fill the void that I can't solely bear
Dear God, don't let me fall apart,
you've held me close to you
I have turned away and searched for answers I can't understand

[Chorus:]

They say that I can move the mountains
And send them crashing into the sea
They say that I can walk on water
If I would follow and believe
with faith like a child

Sometimes, when I feel miles away
and my eyes can't see your face
I wonder if I've grown to lose the recklessness
I walked in light of you

[Chorus]

[Little girl:]
"I've got joy like a fountain!"
"Be kind one to others"
"In Jesus Christ Your son"

They say that love can heal the broken
They say that hope can make you see
They say that faith can find a Savior
If you would follow and believe
with faith like a child

This week I would like you to ponder what it means to have faith like a child in your own life. 

Success

So I ran across a wonderful article the other day written by Chip and Dan Heath.  For those of you who don't know who Chip and Dan Heath are, they are two brothers that have written several very interesting books.  I have read two of their books, Made to Stick and Switch.  Made to Stick is about how you can get your ideas across in an effective way (creating sticky ideas).  Switch is about how to trick your brain into making changes in your life.  Both books are very easy and good reads.  As I was doing some research for a Sunday school lesson on Switch, I ran across this really interesting article about getting your ideas to stick.  In the article, the Heath brothers lay out 6 principles using the acronym SUCCESs.  Here are the points they lay out:

S--Simple (Simple does not mean to dumb down.  It means to simplify in such a way that you can effectively communicate your main point)

U-Unexpected (To get the attention of your audience, tell them something unexpected or leave a gap in your message.  Ex. Do you want to know what the other letters stand for in this acronym?)

Wait for it...

C-Concrete (Give concrete examples and use all different types of examples.  For the visual learner, paint a mental picture.  For the concrete learner, use an object.)

C-Credible (Make your ideas believable.  The Heath brothers reference JFK's speech about a Man on the Moon.  The idea of space travel all the way to the moon seemed unfathomable to most people until Kennedy painted a picture.  He gave a concrete example, a man will walk on the moon and helped people to visualize what that could look like.)

E-Emotional (People care about people, not numbers.  Appeal to people's emotions and you will be able to make your idea thrive).

S-Stories (Inspire people with stories about how a problem can change.  According to the Heath brothers, Jared the sandwich guy was a perfect example of this.  Show us a real person and how they made change and that will inspire others to change).

I hope that this gives you some food for thought and if you get a chance pick up these two books, you will not be disappointed!!!!!!

The "Good" Life

I have been thinking about the concept of the good life this week.  What images come to mind when you hear the phrase the good life?  One of my favorite songs these days is the song "Good Life" by OneRepublic.  The chorus is catchy:

Oh this has gotta be the good life
This has gotta be the good life
This could really be a good life, good life

Say oh, got this feeling that you can't fight
Like this city is on fire tonight
This could really be a good life
A good, good life

Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh
A good good life Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh, Oh

Every time that I hear the song, I start thinking about what is the good life.  When I was younger, I thought the good life was fame and fortune.  Now I just desire enough.  In Adam Hamilton's book, Enough: Discovering Joy Through Simplicity and Generosity he explores the idea of enough.  When reading this book, I kept thinking about the question, What is enough?  How much is too much?  When do we make the decision that we have accumulated enough personal possessions that we have Enough?  This is a very interesting question to consider since so most of the world lives in a world of scarcity rather than plenty.  How does our accumulation of giant mounds of stuff effect our neighbor when it comes to them having enough?  Could we take our giant mounds of stuff and donate them to our neighbor so that they have enough? 

Think about what is the good life for you.  What things in your life leave you feeling fulfilled and what things cause you to feel empty?  

Culture Makers

I ran across an interesting book last week called Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling by Andy Crouch.  I am about a third of the way through the book thus far and have found it to be very interesting.  In this book, Crouch talks about our call as Christians when it comes to living in our surrounding culture.  I found the description about the book on Amazon and it sums it up very nicely.  It says:

It is not enough to condemn culture. Nor is it sufficient merely to critique culture or to copy culture. Most of the time, we just consume culture. But the only way to change culture is to create culture.  Andy Crouch unleashes a stirring manifesto calling Christians to be culture makers. For too long, Christians have had an insufficient view of culture and have waged misguided "culture wars." But we must reclaim the cultural mandate to be the creative cultivators that God designed us to be. Culture is what we make of the world, both in creating cultural artifacts as well as in making sense of the world around us. By making chairs and omelets, languages and laws, we participate in the good work of culture making.  Crouch unpacks the complexities of how culture works and gives us tools for cultivating and creating culture. He navigates the dynamics of cultural change and probes the role and efficacy of our various cultural gestures and postures. Keen biblical exposition demonstrates that creating culture is central to the whole scriptural narrative, the ministry of Jesus and the call to the church. He guards against naive assumptions about "changing the world," but points us to hopeful examples from church history and contemporary society of how culture is made and shaped. Ultimately, our culture making is done in partnership with God's own making and transforming of culture. 

As I was preparing for a recent Sunday school lesson, I also ran across his website which is very helpful.  The website has links to questions for group discussion, information about the book and links to other books that relate to culture making.

After reading the book by Crouch, I am reminded of the apostle Paul's statement in his letter to the Romans, "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God--what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Romans 12:2).  I believe that the apostle Paul was addressing the difficult question of how we live within the culture that surrounds us but remain distinctly Christian in our focus.  I think that for many of us we have lost sight of what God really calls us to be and how we are called to live in this world.  Crouch's book acted as a poignant reminder for me about the one true calling and how we can really live as God's people in the world and shape the culture around us.