Stewarding Resources More Wisely In 2012

I realize it has been a little over a month since I last blogged, so I thought I'd share a shorter version of my goals for 2012 in terms of stewarding the limited resources with which I've been entrusted. It's a different way of thinking about things, but maybe there will be something about the way I've broken it down that will encourage you toward better stewardship of your resources as well.


My Body—Improving diet and exercise habits. Walking 30 min per day 3-5 times per week. Push-ups, jumping rope, and stretching 3-5times per week. Cutting intake of sugars, corn syrup, and red meat. Eating more nutrient dense foods.

My Time—Practice Sabbath. Go to bed earlier. Identify and minimize time suck activities (Email, Facebook, TV, Twitter). Take time to separate from technology (computer, phone, TV). Spend time in solitude, silence, and fasting from the hustle and bustle of life.

My Finances—Cut spending on unnecessaries—new clothing, meals out, un-needed ‘treats’.

My Energy Usage—Dry clothes using a drying rack. Turn thermostat down to 55 when leaving the house. Turn off/unplug appliances when not in use. Turn off  power supply to electronics when not in use (anything on standby is draining power).  Raise AC temperature to around 80 degrees in the summer. Turn off lights when not in use.

Conversation? With An Old Friend

Well, I guess you could call it a conversation.  In this day and age conversations consist of phone calls, emails, skypes, AIM chats, facebooking, tweets, and more.  And this was a chat on AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) with a very dear old friend named Mark Darling.

Mark is the pastor of a church in the greater Minneapolis area called The Rock.  I can remember hearing Mark speak while I was in college, and I remember finding Mark's passion and zeal utterly contagious.  Mark loves people and loves God pretty deeply, and wants to give every bit of his life to helping people grow in their relationship with Him.

In January of 2007, as an encouragement to my mom as she fought cancer, he  sent her an album filled with original folk spiritual songs he had recorded called Medicinal Spirit.

While we were catching up over AI, I told Mark about my recent engagement, and he told me about a resource he was putting together online to make messages he had given on a variety of aspects of faith over the last 24 years available online.  The two sites are called Strong Disciple and Getting Your Family To Mars.

I know there are more resources, itunes podcasts, online messages and talks available to people now than at any point in history, but I couldn't help but write a short note to let friends--particularly friends from the world of Great Commission Ministries know about these resources Mark has made available online.

If you give these sites a try, I know Mark would love to hear your feedback.  Hope you are able to enjoy the messages.

Forgotten God DVD Review

In late march I was contacted by a person from David C. Cook Publishers who had read my blog post about the Francis Chan book, Forgotten God. They had recently created a DVD resource that is meant to act as a video supplement to the content of the book, and they wanted me to review it.

Of course I was thoroughly excited about the opportunity, and I immediately shared the opportunity with two small groups in which I was participating at the time. Shortly after sharing the possibility of reviewing this DVD together, I had a pretty long season of travel (I was only home three days during April). By the time I had returned, both groups were wrapping up for the summer, and I no longer had a group with which to experience the DVD.

While in my conundrum, I had almost arrived at a paralysis because I really valued the group’s input to the review. But sometimes we don’t get to do things in the way we want. So I sat down, and watched the video alone in my room. I had watched the first session with a group, so I can speak share the impact of the first session on our discussion, but for the rest of the DVD my remarks will be restricted to a more personal review.

Here’s the deal. This video, much like the book, will challenge and inspire the viewer. As I watched the first session with a group, I had to compose myself when the first 10 minute segment had finished. I was in tears. I was in tears because of the power of the truth that was being shared on a screen in front of me. The question being asked was dealing with our desire to hear from God and to do what He wants us to do. It doesn’t take much observation to see brokenness and hurting in our world. What takes effort is for us to walk headlong into the hurts to care and to serve. That’s the kind of place where God wants us to be, and deep down, we know that this is the place where we will find our greatest joy because our life will be poured out for the good of others and the beauty of our world. And yet, we wrestle with this divine call of God, and cling to things that aren’t satisfying, that aren’t enabling us to allow the power of God to be made manifest in me most robustly.

One of the great questions for our generation, and one of the great questions of the video is this. Are we willing to risk everything to be obedient to God? Nobody will ever fault us for doing good things that aren’t risky, but it takes real guts sometimes to listen to what God is speaking to you and DO it, regardless of the cost.

I hope that many will watch this video together with friends, and that God will use this resource to challenge and inspire groups of people to challenge and inspire one another to live lives of radical obedience to Christ, and to run boldly, listening to the Spirit of the living God as He directs and goes before us.

Even if you never watch this DVD or read this book, please take time to think about living a different kind of life. God loves us deeply, and he is our strong support, our encouragement, and our rock. What would your friends, coworkers, neighbors, classmates, and family think if they saw you living differently? What do you think is stopping you from letting go of the American Dream to grab hold of God’s great dream for you?

The subtitle of Chan’s book is “Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit.” God wants to do work in you for the good of others, and ultimately for His glory. Maybe a starting point for each of us is to ask Him to supernaturally empower us to be able to love Him and love others.