I hate the word “called.”

It’s caused more guilt, frustration, and confusion than any other word in the Christian vocabulary.

I hear Christians ask all the time:

• How do I know if I am being “called” to take or leave this job?
• Was I “called” to serve in this ministry area?
• How do I know if God is “calling” me to do __________?
• I’m scared God will “call” me to become a missionary. Will he do that?
• Is God “calling” me into the ministry?

Calling = Desire + Gifting + Opportunity

That’s it.

• If you want to do something (desire) but don’t have the skills to pull it off (gifts) or the chance to make that happen (opportunity), you’re not “called.”

• If you have the innate talent or ability (gifts) to do something, but don’t want to do it (desire) and the door hasn’t opened for that to happen (opportunity), you’re not “called.”

• If you have the chance to do something (opportunity) but don’t have a lick of talent in you to pull it off (gifts) and wouldn’t want to do it even if you were paid a gazillion dollars (desire), you’re not “called.”

Calling = Desire + Gifting + Opportunity

If you want to do something, people have told you that you are pretty good at it, and are given the chance (or you can make it happen in an entrepreneurial sense), then you have been “called.”

Congratulations.

But someone might ask, “How do I know when I am ‘un-called?’”

It’s very simple.

Take one of those three factors away.

Right?

Why do you think people struggle so much with this idea of “being called?” Please leave a comment.

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Plain and simple – here’s why we throw ourselves into short-term missions at CCV…

(if you are reading this is a reader and can’t see the video please click HERE)

Have you been on a short-term mission’s trip? Do you plan on going again?

Please take the time to connect with me on FACEBOOK and TWITTER. And remember you can follow my posts through RSS and EMAIL.

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How to be a success without any self-promotion
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I’m changing who I’m writing for.

Up until now I’ve written mainly for church leaders. Pastors like myself, non-profit types, and those who like hanging around the two.

Then a few weeks ago it hit me.

I really want to help the person in the pew. People like the ones I rub shoulders with in restaurants, ball games, and talk to in the back of church after services.

It’s not that I don’t like pastors. I love them in fact. They’re some of the finest, most sacrificial people I know.

It’s just I’m really not helping them writing stuff TO them.

I’m most helped as a pastor, not by reading pastor stuff, but by watching other people being pastors. Answering questions. Teaching. Preaching. Evangelizing. Speaking the truth in love. Healing the broken-hearted.

So that’s what I’m going to start doing here.

Instead of writing for the 300,000 pastors in this country (and beyond) I’m going to start writing for the 200,000,000 Christians that profess the name of Christ from coast to coast (and beyond). But, as always, my real passion is helping those who attend CCV, one at a time one.

What does this mean?

1. I’ll post 5 days a week (I gave up on the idea of sharing videos on Saturdays and “stuff” on Sundays. I felt those posts ended up detracting from the focus of the blog more than helping).
2. I will be removing previous posts directed specifically at church leaders. The rule of thumb I’ll use is “If I won’t share it in a sermon, I won’t share it in a post.”
3. I will be re-categorizing the types of posts I’ll write (more about this later this week).
4. I will write with my same voice, namely, to “afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted.” That won’t change.
5. The material I write will be the kind of stuff that I will eventually share in a book format (i.e. – it was kinda weird blogging for church leaders but writing books for the everyday Christian).
6. Pastors, God willing, will hopefully get a lot out of what I write, but not because I’m writing about how to do ministry (there are plenty of great writers out there already doing that), but how to do life. Besides, I think the real value I’ve provided for pastors has always been (a) fresh sermon content and ideas (b) a good laugh (c) helpful resources for people within their churches (d) and a faithful friend to share the journey with. That won’t change.

This week I am not posting because a lot is being done on the backend for a redesign/refocus re-launch next week.

Excited by the new focus I’m bringing. Looking forward to helping a ton of people.

See you next week.

Brian

I think one of the challenges we face as Christians is to not succumb to what theologian Martin Marty calls “Trafficking in the holy things of God.”

I’m not too sure what he means by that phrase, but if it has something to do with getting bored, taking God lightly, and occasionally going through the motions – I’m guilty as charged quite often.

One way I bring myself back to center is to occasionally ponder the words of people who stood well within the call to follow Christ, but well outside of the ecclesiastical structures of their age (even if I disagree with them).

If you are looking for one such friend look no further than Simone Weil (1909-1943), the ablest nightstand companion of any growing Christian looking for a good theological jolt.

In a letter to a friend of hers, a Catholic priest, Weil (pronounced “Vay”) described why she considered herself a faithful Christ follower, but refused to join the church of her day.

That letter, later titled, Hesitations Concerning Baptism, has always caused me to step back and think…

I cannot help still wondering whether in these days when so large a proportion of humanity is submerged in materialism, God does not want there to be some men and women who have given themselves to him and to Christ and who yet remain outside the church. In any case, when I think of the act by which I should enter the Church as something concrete, which might happen quite soon, nothing gives me more pain than the idea of separating myself from the immense and unfortunate multitude of unbelievers.

I have the essential need, and I think I can say vocation, to move among men of every class and complexion, mixing with them and sharing their life and outlook, so far that it is to say as conscience allows, merging into the crowd and disappearing among them, so that they show themselves as they are, putting off all disguises with me.

It is because I long to know them so as to love them just as they are. For if I do not love them as they are, it will not be they whom I love, and my love will be unreal…there are some human beings for whom such a separation has no serious disadvantages, because they are already separated from ordinary folk by their natural purity of soul. As for me, on the contrary, as I think I told you, I have the germ of all possible crimes, or nearly all, within me…

This natural disposition is dangerous and very painful, but like every variety of natural disposition, it can be put to good purpose if one knows how to make the right use of it with the help of grace. It is a sign of a vocation, the vocation to remain in a sense anonymous, ever ready to be mixed into the paste of common humanity…

I know quite well that Christ said, “Whoever shall deny [i.e., disown] me before men, him will I also deny before my father which is in Heaven.” But disowning Christ does not perhaps mean for everyone and in all cases not belonging to the Church. (Simone Weil, Waiting For God, 47-49).

Do you resonate with Weil’s words? Why? Why not?

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Before I turned 40…

• I purposely turned down every speaking request I received.
• I purposely didn’t publish a book.
• I purposely didn’t have a blog or podcast.
• I purposely never went on a radio or TV program.
• I purposely never preached a sermon that later went online.

I did this for one very simple reason.

On May 1, 1996, while on a personal retreat to a monastery, I spent the day meditating on the temptations Jesus faced in Luke 4:1-12.

That day I read about how Satan tried to get Jesus to throw himself off the top of the temple in Jerusalem, in front of throngs of Jewish worshippers, only to be scooped up by angels at the last second.

Jesus’s response to that temptation forever changed the tenor of my ministry.

Knowing that the only possible result of such a feat would be instant popularity, Jesus rebuked Satan and retreated quietly to live out his three years of public ministry in near anonymity.

Leveled by the gravity of what I was reading – who he was, what was at stake, and why he made the decision that he made – I fell to my knees and made a vow.

I took a vow of obscurity.

I promised God that for ten years, from May 1, 1996 until May 1, 2006, I would do everything within my power to cultivate a ministry of complete obscurity.

Not that I presumed I had ANYTHING worthwhile to be noted for. Not in the least. That wasn’t my motivation at all.

I just knew that I personally needed a solid decade of character building in obscurity to prepare my heart to become the kind of servant leader that God could truly use to expand HIS kingdom.

That decade of obscurity taught me the difference between…

• Self-promotion vs. promoting God’s message
• Selfish ambition vs. pursuing God’s calling
• Corporate manipulation vs. casting God’s vision
• Building my own platform vs. allowing God to build a platform for me, if he so chose

However, the biggest lesson I learned was that Jesus will keep his promise:

Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted (Matthew 23:12).

I believe that. I’ve experienced that.

I don’t care what you do for a living…nurse…teacher… pharma sales…physician…pastor…whatever…if you fanatically pursue obscurity, humbling yourself and remaining faithful, God will, in his time, exalt you and use you for his purposes and his glory.

You will get noticed. Promotions will come. Opportunities will present themselves.

And when they do you’ll be ready.

What do you think? Is self-promotion a sin? When is it okay to promote yourself?

Please leave a comment and make sure to connect with me on Facebook and Twitter!

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I don’t doubt for a second that emotions run high at the Susan G. Komen 3 Day Race For The Cure.

I don’t doubt for a second that this is a way for breast cancer survivors to celebrate the camaraderie they’ve found in each through life’s darkest moments.

And, of course, I don’t doubt for a second that the race raises millions for breast cancer research and awareness.

All of these are profoundly important things.

I’m just wondering if Christian women, nationwide, skipping church on Mother’s Day, to participate in a fundraiser, is the best way to support breast cancer survivors/research and live out their faith. Are there other options?

What do you think?

(NOTE-I have disabled comments for this post. Comments were starting to take a negative turn, attacking SGK for their financial support of abortions through Planned Parenthood. While I am pro-life, indirectly attacking Planned Parenthood was not the intent of my post in the least. I was simply raising the question that if 50% of the Race for the Cure participants are Christian, can’t there be a collective call to avoid racing/walking on Mother’s Day. That’s it. No legalistic insinuations that Christians who miss church occasionally, for whatever reason, are bad Christians. Just raising a legitimate question).

Please leave a comment and make sure to connect with me on Facebook and Twitter!

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You were made for doing cartwheels on top of 20′ ocean swells. You know that, right?

(if you are having difficulty viewing this in a reader click HERE).

So what’s your boat?

Please leave a comment and make sure to connect with me on Facebook and Twitter!

Recent Posts:
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A Christian taking credit for growing closer to God is like a rooster taking credit for the sun coming up in the morning.

Bible study, worship, prayer, etc., are all vital parts of the Christian journey and powerfully aid in creating the context in which God can draw near to us. However, in the vast majority of instances God makes himself known to us in spite of what we try to do, not because of it.

The illusion those who peddle “spiritual disciplines” books are under is that our personal spiritual growth is something that we ultimately have complete control over. They’re convinced it’s something we initiate, structure, and maintain.

The reality is if you talk to 100 Christians about where they were spiritually 5 years ago and where they are today, the vast majority will tell you that their “spiritual growth” had more to do with what GOD DID TO THEM than all their feeble attempts to practice the “spiritual disciplines” combined.

Looking back over my last 5 years on this planet, here were the major culprits in my spiritual advancement…

Suffering
I grew because God allowed painful things to happen in my life.

God nudged me to get away and listen
God nudged, prompted, or corralled me into leaving whatever I had on my agenda for that day to get away and listen to him. I look back in wonder at how many times I went to a set prayer time I initiated and heard nothing, but then at utterly unexpected times sensed the risen Jesus pulling me away to come into his presence.

A friend’s rebuke
Somehow a trusted friend saw something in my life that needed to change and had the gumption to call me on it. Having friends who obeyed James 5:19-20 and Galatians 6:1-2 profoundly impacted me over the last 5 years.

God caused hurting people to cross my path
I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want it. I wasn’t looking for it. Yet God allowed, caused or nudged some hurting person to cross my path. And in the process of helping them I grew as a disciple of Jesus.

God’s silence
Looking back I’m surprised at how much God’s silence, not his speech, produced remarkable levels of spiritual maturity in me. In his book Advice to Sufferers, John Bunyan observed, “It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit, because there is no winter there.” I’ve come believe that life in the spirit is the same way.

The corporate worship gathering
It’s become quite the fad nowadays to slight the corporate worship service as an impotent spiritual experience. I couldn’t disagree more. I can look back on countless times over the last five years when God showed up in a message, the Lord’s Supper, a song, or while some part of someone’s pilgrimage was being shared.

What do all of these situations have in common?

I didn’t initiate any of them.

What have been the top 3 catalysts for your spiritual growth in the last five years?

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Hope In Suffering

This week someone in my church asked, “I don’t get prayer. What’s the point?”

I immediately shot back, “Prayer changes God’s mind.”

Puzzled, she asked for clarification.

“Listen,” I said. “Prayer does lots of things.”

I told her that I believed…

• Prayer aligns our will with God’s.
• Prayer brings us closer to him.
• Prayer allows us to spend time with our heavenly Father.

Then I finished by saying, “All of these things are incredibly important, and are tremendous privileges of prayer. But at its core, when you reduce prayer down to its essence, in addition to the things I just listed, the main reason we pray is to change God’s mind.”

Do you agree with that?

Most think that the central part of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah is about homosexuality and God’s judgment on human wickedness. I contend that while that is obviously a key part of the story, what precedes it in Genesis 18:17-33 sets up what the story is really all about:

17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”

20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing —to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

The overarching point of the entire Sodom and Gomorrah narrative is about prayer, and how God responds to it.

And my point today is simple: I believe this.

God changes his mind in response to our prayers.

Period.

Do you?

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