Dear John...

If you get a 'Dear John' letter, you've been dumped, broken-up with, left and abandoned. 'Dear John' letters are neither pleasant nor kind - they hurt! It's one thing to break-up with someone in person, but to receive the 'break-up' news via letter, text, Facebook message is even more painful. The one positive thing about the 'Dear John' letter is that they are clear, and they are final. 'Dear John' letters make crystal clear that the one writing the letter wants nothing to do with the one reading the letter anymore. Bottom line - the relationship is over!

After beginning a relationship with Jesus, many people carry on side relationships. We say that we've been captivated by the love of Jesus, but we still like to flirt with other lovers. We believe that Jesus is savior, but we continue to look to other things in hopes that they will do for us what we think Jesus will not. For some, the side relationship is with pornography, alcohol or drugs. For some, it's a relationship. For others it's work, possessions, or status. Point being, we look to these things to bring us comfort, relief, happiness, fulfillment, purpose, meaning, etc. As long as we keep these side relationships going on, our relationship with Jesus will go nowhere. So what do we do? Answer - 'Dear John' these relationships. Break-up with them! Be ruthless, be clear, be decisive - these side relationships must end if your relationship with Jesus is going to flourish.

This past week, I took sometime to pray and ask God what side-relationships I still continue to flirt with. When God revealed to me what they were, I wrote them a 'Dear John' letter. I can't tell you how helpful and freeing it was to write this letter. Consider writing your own 'Dear John' letter - here's mine...

Dear pride, anger & insecurity – you have no appeal to me anymore. I see through your false and empty promises. I no longer will pursue your ‘anti-glories.’ I’ve lived with the pain, shame, guilt and disappointment that comes with pursuing you for far too long. I have been found and loved completely by another – His name is Jesus. I will not come when you call nor will I keep you around as my back-up plan. Jesus is completely sufficient for me. I’ve given ALL of my heart, mind, soul and strength to Him and to Him alone – I belong wholly to Jesus and Jesus alone! md4jc

Traveler or Tour Guide?

There are those who travel and those who talk about traveling. There are those who go places, and there are those who just talk about going places. There are those who live the walk, and there are those who talk a lot about the walk. Simply put – there are travelers and tour guides. Which one are you – a traveler or a tour guide?

What’s the difference? A traveler actually visits the places he’s dreamed of going. But a tour guide is someone who passes out maps to places he’s never even been.

Now I realize that not all tour guides are just passing out maps to places they’ve never visited, but this simple metaphor got me thinking quite a bit about which one am I? Am I actually traveling to the places that I often encourage other people to travel to, or am I just encouraging people to go to places I’ve never had the courage to go myself?

As a pastor, I often find myself seeking to spur people on to take huge steps of faith, to live life outside the boat as it were. I often hear myself exhorting others to trust God for what is unseen knowing that God will provide in unimaginable ways. But at the end of the day, I often am struck with the one haunting question – ‘am I even doing what I am so excellent at encouraging others to do?’ In others words, have I traveled to the same places that I am encouraging others to go to, or am I just the guy with the map pointing people to places I’ve never even been?

What about you – which one are you? Just passing out maps, or traveling the road that God has invited you to walk on? Scripture is filled with stories of travelers – men and women who dared to go to places that were unknown, unfamiliar all upon the promise that God would provide all they needed for the journey.

To be honest, to be the traveler is much harder. There are many questions that will remain unanswered. There are times where you have no idea how you will get from one point to the next. That’s why so many people take the path of the tour guide. It’s much safer to be the one passing out maps because there’s not much risk involved. The commitment level is low. The job description is simple – get others pumped up about visiting places you’ve never journeyed to yourself.

For me – when I signed on to follow Jesus over 25 years ago, I didn’t sign-up so I could be the guy that is really familiar with a map, but has never experienced what’s it’s like to live the life of a traveler. If you signed on to be a follower of Jesus, know that the life He’s invited you to is one of a traveler, not a tour guide. If you’re a follower of Jesus, the invitation was not to just study the map, but to travel in the footsteps of the Savior. If you’re a follower of Christ, then remember that following is a verb, it’s an action. To follow is to live life in motion, to live the life of a traveler.

God please grant us the courage to travel well and spare us from only passing out maps to places we’ve never even visited.

Here are just a few reasons why I love the church, namely GENESIS...

I love GENESIS.

I love the people that come.

I love the people that serve.

I love the new people that are finding our community.

I love that some people drive an hour to come to our weekly gatherings.

I love that some drive even more than that.

I love watching people walk into our gathering space for the first time and seeing them smile because they feel immediately at ease.

I love that people are bringing their friends to be part of the community.

I love meeting someone who’s only been to GENESIS once and watching them stay 2 hours after service to help clean.

I love that I see other people loving other people.

I love that people are building new, significant and meaningful relationships with others.

I love that people are finding the one that they will spend the rest of their life with.

I love that marriages are getting transformed.

I love that broken people are seeing God heal their brokenness.

I love that there are people who are caring less about themselves, and more about others.

I love that there are people who are done settling for status quo and fighting to live a life that’s in motion, not stagnation.

I love that people are repenting from sin.

I love that people are praying.

I love that God is providing for us in abundance.

I love that people are listening for the voice of God in their life.

I love that people are seeing God at work in their life.

I love that people are seeing their friends come to know Jesus.

I love that people who were once far from God are now walking with God.

I love that people want more and not less of God in their life.

I love that people are wanting to see God do great things in the Boston/Greater Boston area with and through our community.

I love that people are believing that God can and will do immeasurably more then all we could ask or imagine.

I love that people are getting raised up, equipped and trained to lead, serve and plant more churches.

I love that people are trusting God more than they are trusting themselves.

I love that people are loving Jesus!

I love that this is an imperfect church filled with imperfect people.

I love at I am able to call this community my home.

Dreams...

What is your dream? As you consider the days ahead, what is the one thing that you long to do? What is the thing that you find yourself thinking about most and every time that thought comes to mind, a smile appears on your face?

As I've spent much time with the Apostle Paul this past year through my study of Romans, considering not only what he said, but watching how he lived, I am inspired by Paul the 'dreamer.'

Many people have dreams, but the dream is often divorced from reality. Meaning, the dream has nothing to do with God's call on their life. For Paul, his dream was completely consistent with God's call on his life. Paul was set apart by God to be a voice of the Gospel to the Gentiles. He was called to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to a people that believed God did not have Good News for them.

Paul spent much of his life and ministry East of Rome - preaching and proclaiming the Good News that salvation is found in Jesus and Jesus alone. Paul covered nearly 1,500 miles from Jerusalem to modern day Serbia preaching the Gospel of Jesus. Many churches were planted. Many men and women were equipped to be the hands and feet of Jesus to the people around them. Paul was faithful to all the things that God had entrusted to him, but Paul had a dream, an ambition. Paul wanted to go West with the Gospel. He wanted to go to Spain. He wanted to go to the place and to the people where the Gospel had not gone before. Listen to what Paul says in Romans 15:20-21, 23-24 -

"It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation. Rather, as it is written: “Those who were not told about him will see, and those who have not heard will understand... But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain."

Not only was Paul's dream consistent with God's call on his life, but Paul's dream was not about him, it was about God. His dream was God-centered. His dream involved serving others, not serving himself.

What is your dream? What is your ambition? What is the one thing that you long to do? Is your answer to that question consistent with God's call on your life? If not, that may be evidence that your dream is more about you and less about God and those around you. Some may argue that you're just not the 'dreaming type.' Well, you may not use that language, but the reality is that a 'dreamless Christian' is not reflecting the greatness, vastness and supremacy of God. I like how Charles Spurgeon once said: "God has great things in store for His people; they ought to have large expectations."

In many ways, Spurgeon echoes Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3:20 - "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us"

Bottom line, we cannot out ask God; we cannot out dream God as it were. Therefore, our asks, dreams and ambitions should reflect the vastness, goodness, kindness and generosity of God.

What is your Spain? For those of you who think it's too late to have a 'Spain' - to have a 'dream', then remember something C.S. Lewis once said and be encouraged: "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream."

For me, my 'Spain', my 'dream' is what God will do in, with and through GENESIS. My dream is that GENESIS would be used of God to plant dozens of churches in the Boston and Greater Boston area. My dream is that God would raise up countless men and women from within the GENESIS Community to be sent out to do that! My dream is that God would awaken New England to the Good News of the Gospel and that GENESIS would get to have a front row seat to seeing God at work in our midst.

I have no idea if Paul ever made it to Spain. I have no idea if I will ever get to see GENESIS be part of planting dozens of churches in the New England landscape. But one important thing that I've realized about the 'dream' is not so much the importance of accomplishing the dream, but more so that we are setting out and seeking to accomplish it. For many, the arrival is everything, but to God, it's more the journey that matters.

I'm not sure if this is how it will happen, but these are the words I would long to hear from God to me...

me: 'God this was the dream you gave me and I did not hit it perfectly.'

God: 'Michael, my son, yes, that was in my hands, but you traveled well... you traveled well."

Transforming the Dragon... Part II

In Part I, we looked at the boy Eustace whose outward appearance was transformed into a dragon - in many ways, his outward being represented his inward being. But in order for the dragon to become a boy again, he endured the painful process of having his dragon skin peeled away layer by layer. This in many ways, is a picture of what sanctification looks like.

Sanctification is a theological word - meaning, its a word that we do not use in our everyday vernacular, but it is a word that has great significance as it relates to our relationship with God. Simply put, sanctification is the process in which Christians become more Christ-like. Sanctification is not something we do per say, it's something God is doing in us through the Holy Spirit.

When confronting the Christians in Corinth who seemed bent on pursuing all things flesh, the Apostle Paul after listing off a number of 'fleshly sins', reminds them of this incredible truth: 1 Corinthians 6:11 - "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

Before Christ, we are one way - namely selfish and sinful. But what God is doing in us through sanctification is transforming us from living life as "used to be's" to living lives that reflect the one who rescued and redeemed us. This transformation that is taking place in us is not a result of our effort to change, rather it is God at work in us through His Holy Spirit.

As I watched Eustace struggle on the beach trying to transform himself back into a boy, I could all to well relate with him. So much of my life has been wasted trying to improve myself by changing behaviors and attitudes only to be left looking older on the outside, but inwardly still struggling to grow and mature. Much like the dragon who needed Aslan to peel away the thick and grotesque layers of his dragon skin to reveal the boy Eustace, we need someone else to do for us what we could never accomplish on our own - namely make us more like Jesus. For certain, there are some sins that become such a part of us that it takes a tearing or ripping much like Eustace endured for us to part ways with it; but the Holy Spirit is never looking to hurt us, rather He is enabling us to look more like Christ.

Thankfully, what sanctification reminds me of is that God is gracious in that He once again does for me what I could never do on my own. I could not earn right standing with God through my performance, nor can I live the life God has for me through my good performance. God does it all! The Father sends the Son to redeem and the Son sends the Spirit to enable the redeemed to live like the redeemed.

Like Eustace, we have a choice. He could have remained on the beach as a dragon struggling to no avail to become a boy once again, or he could submit himself to the Great King Aslan who had the power to change him back to that which he was created to be. Thankfully Eustace submitted to the King - I pray that we would follow suit so that we might become all that we were created to be in Christ Jesus.

Transforming the Dragon... Part I

My three children do not know it yet, but they are slowly becoming fans of C.S. Lewis. They recently just completed all seven books in Lewis's masterpiece 'The Chronicles of Narnia.' Much could be said about these books and all the lessons the kids have learned thus far, but the one lesson that I wanted to share is not one that the kids are learning, but one that their father is learning.

Three of the books have already been turned into films and the beauty of these films is that we are able to get a visual glimpse of what was in C.S. Lewis' mind when he put his visions of Narnia to paper. In the third film, 'The Voyage of the Dawn Treader' - we are introduced to a young boy named Eustace. In many ways, Eustace is the one who represents so many of us - a bit cranky, moody, rude and selfish. He was a boy who was unable to imagine the unimaginable - that is until he was brought into the world of Narnia.

Eustace was not magically transformed upon entry into Narnia, rather another character flaw of Eustace revealed itself when he was confronted with endless riches. Simply put, Eustace was a greedy little boy. In his greed, Eustace grabbed for something that was not his and the consequences of his greed was that he became an unsightly dragon. In all reality, his outward appearance now reflected what was on the inside.

As I've watched this film numerous times, I've wondered if my outer being were to be transformed to reflect my inner being, what would I look like? I've chosen not to speculate on that as I fear the picture might not always be a pretty one.

As the film goes on, Eustace, though a dragon, begins to experience a transformation of sorts - a transformation not from being a dragon to a boy, rather the one being transformed was the dragon. Eustace, that is to say the dragon, begins to display acts of courage and selflessness. In many ways, Eustace becomes a hero within the story; the dragon becomes that which the boy never would have known.

Despite the selfless and heroic acts of the dragon, Eustace desires to become a boy once again, but the question becomes how will the dragon be transformed into a boy? Enter Aslan the Lion; the Christ figure. When the dragon is confronted by Aslan on the shores of Narnia, the dragon is not only defeated - unable to become that which he desires to be, a boy once again, but he is also humbled to be in the presence of Aslan the King. The King looks at the dragon with his penetrating eyes and begins to dig his claws into the sand. As Aslan the Lion claws away, something begins to happen to the dragon - layers, and layers of dragon skin begin to be peeled back. With many claws and one final loud roar, the transformation is complete - all the dragon skin has been peeled away and what remains is a boy.

When the boy Eustace is reunited with his friends and traveling companions, he is asked the question - 'what was it like when Aslan changed you back?' Eustace's response is telling - "No matter how hard I tried. I just couldn't do it myself. Then he came towards me, and it sort of hurt, but it was a good pain. Like when you pull a thorn from your foot."

What happened to Eustace is called sanctification. In part 2 of this post, I will examine in further detail how God is actively pulling back the layers of our dragon skin to reveal something much greater within each of us.

Forgiveness is not typically the first thing we want to extend to people when we get hurt – vengeance though in the form of a fist or an ill-spoken word is. Now I realize were not all tempted to go ‘postal’ on people when we get hurt, but by no means are we initially thinking of ways in which we can express forgiveness to those who’ve hurt us. So many marriages, families, and friendships have been utterly destroyed because vengeance was sought rather than forgiveness being extended. Anyone can seek vengeance in its various forms, but not everyone can pursue the path of mercy, grace, forbearance and forgiveness.

Consider how many of your relationships may have been spared the label ‘broken relationship’ if vengeance was not even an option for you. How many of your current relationships (marriage, family, friendships) would receive the label ‘healthy relationship’ if forgiveness and grace was the first thought and not just an after thought? Rather than seeing any more relationships destroyed because vengeance reigned down supreme, why not learn how to drop a few burning coals on people and see how that goes.

If you're around this Sunday, July 3^rd, please join the GENESIS Community at 10:30AM for our Worship Gathering as we examine how to build healthy, God-honoring relationships with those who seem bent on hurting us by dropping a few burning coals on their heads.