Grace will take control out of your hands, while it blesses you with the care of One whose plan is unshakable and perfect in every way.

Jason had some kind of distant belief in the sovereignty of God, but it was almost completely separate from his everyday experience. He lived like he had no idea that Jesus was ruling over all things for his sake (Ephesians 1:20-23). So Jason was constantly dealing with the frustration of trying to control people and things which he had little power to control.

He spent way too much time calculating the “what ifs” and regretting the “if onlys.” He seemed like he did not know that his security and rest were not to be found in his ability to predict the future and control the present, but in the faithful love and expansive wisdom of his sovereign Savior, Jesus, so his living always was more anxious than restful.

You see, Jason didn’t need more grace. No, he needed to understand and live in light of the grace he had already been given. Jason was a grace amnesiac and so he lived like he was poor, when grace had made him exotically rich. He lived like he was weak, when grace had made him strong. He lived like life had no plan, when, in fact, he had been included in the unalterable plans of the God of redeeming grace.

Peter and I soon saw that God’s way of dealing with us was to throw us into situations over our depth, then supply us with the necessary ability to swim.

–Catherine Marshall, wife of Peter Marshall. A Man Called Peter, p. 119

My dad doesn’t talk much. I talk a lot. So my problem in life has never been coming up with something to say or make. My problem has been knowing what not to say, a slow learning that less is more.

If an artist hung all of his art on the wall it might look something like this:

;laklakdnvaoefaprgi-0GA/BNAEFKBHA0E9R-0TI Q;OIGH QRPIQ[e fepfgj oeigjaepfog afpog aeofigha oergh aeo naefvm alfbkalkfg a;eofgjaoghjal;efgn alkjfbhae f jRTIQ309YUQ3LASKFN=T03 LKFJBS ;OFIJH;A;lkjlkfjbljlklkrPROGJao;djg;alkdfgj;DG['epit3oruty98q3r7et02e95q'a;dlfkgjfioqehyosrhjq[3ep0o9][PEKGA;EFLKHGJIOQRUYQ3PRIOYQ/A;LKJFp[OWDgiae'prkghjqa0rhu'a[dgj;aoighua'[r0iyaq;rigjp0ghaoeifjhpqROG=wdgoaelfkbjaoefghiargjaefgaefgafrmlkfguoriuy8934uyq=3-a;dflgjaldiguopriyq3proyjoqirugapefogkjkothu0qoruyiqpaorjalkfghbeautifuljoithuaq’progjfgjafhjqpry8p3aorjtlefkgjalkfbjafhguiy8y7tl4k2w2qpwefjaebgmaelfnalnolifjlaefknalefnalefbnakfjhproigpar9uaprogjalefhnolhjpathiapqoruapgmaflbhmoprihpo4ruypaw4royyupr3yu034y409ys;lfekhjoihulkfjhsofihusop9uhoqureyqoiumx3ef,o2gngt5bhm2po4iqrguacmpwecm,as[ofihlakfjalefkjglaefkbma/lckmvba/lkfbmnalfbm c,.vm a/.alekfjga;lfkvma/.c,vm /.c,m va/.,bm/.bmalefkmbalbm93ua;v0;OI-JP/;LJOLHLKJGpdjhg iUEFYG A  ALFBALBJA FLLlz;l;fkhnafohuga;opefij/e;zdhj,ioprsthuaerfbmpsrgoiunbwsmljb,cworamjA”E>,xopwucgmpaqior,ghqpotih.qc

Who wants to look at that?

But if an artist carefully selected the appropriate amount of his work to hang on his wall for his audience, it might look something like this:

beautiful

The same principle applies for conversation, movie making, cooking, preaching, decorating, writing, fashion, design, architecture, etc…

It takes a lot of lkjaoiaorkgan;glkajfghoairua;orga;lkdja;lghaoiu in order to get to beautiful. Your audience doesn’t need to see all your oiruy;oiglng;ouh;ljakgo;eiralng;aog;aoiu;aoriua;lkngaelkghu. Leave that on the cutting room floor. Just show them the beautiful.

During my week at The One Institute I made a new friend, Rob Armstrong–a financial representative from Illinois. Rob told me about a habit he practices that caught my attention. This is something his father taught him to do: Schedule a Weekly Worry Hour.

For about 4 weeks I’ve been giving this worry hour thing a try, and I think I will stick with it. We’ll see how it goes over the coming months. If you want to minimize worry in your life, you might want to give this a try. Below is an explanation of HOW I do it and WHY I do it.

HOW I Do It:

I always carry a small notepad in my pocket. I carry one that Lukas Naugle designed, but any notepad will do. This notepad triples as my to-do list, my write-down-ideas-that-pop-into-my-head-list, and my Worry Hour list.

As I move throughout my week/day, whenever I notice that a worrisome thought is getting a hold on my attention, I pull out my notepad and write down what it is I’m worrying about (I summarize the worry in one sentence). I use the back page of the notepad for this.

Once I write that worry into my notepad I make the firm decision to not worry about it again until my appointed “worry hour.”

11:30am Wednesday is my worry hour. I have this scheduled on my calendar. Each Wednesday at 11:30am I pull out my notepad, look at what’s written on that back page, and then I force myself to worry about it. By this time many of my worries from the week have lost their power. So far I haven’t practiced a full worry hour, it’s been more like 20-30 minutes of ruminating on what’s written on the list: worrying and ruminating that eventually graduates into prayer.

After I’ve “worried,” I tear out and throw away that sheet of paper, write down “Worry Hour” as the heading on the new back page of my notepad, and start moving through the rest of my day/week, writing down worries if they occur.

WHY I Do It:

Because some uptight Bible college student in the Midwest is reading this and concluding that I’m condoning worry, I must give the theological, personal, and practical reasons why I’m trying out this Worry Hour habit.

The Bible is clear: worry is sin.

My experience is clear: worry is no fun.

The pragmatics are clear: worry doesn’t help.

So, I’m committed to giving worry less of a foothold in my week. I’ve come to greatly despise worry. It’s a dark sin. It’s the fruit of unbelief. It’s evidence of not valuing and trusting my Heavenly Father. Plus, as I said above, worry is just annoying and unhelpful (note that Jesus also attacks worry at this level in the Sermon on the Mount).

So, one method among many for subtracting the amount of time I worry each week is to carve out a one-hour space in my week for worrying. For how I’m wired, this method is helpful. Knowing I have that one-hour slot in my week devoted to worry has resulted in me worrying less throughout the week. It’s a  way of proving my trust in God, to write down that worry and then move on with what it was I was doing.

It’s a bit of a paradox, but scheduling worry results in less worry.

And less worry glorifies God. Less worry is more fun. Less worry helps.

*Note: When I meet with God in the mornings to read Scripture and pray this involves taking time to cast my cares on the Lord, and those cares may overlap with some of what’s written on the back page of the notebook. But I do my best to not give mental space to worry during these morning sessions. I’ve grown to tell the difference between praying about something so that I truly cast it onto God’s shoulders and prayer that is merely a worry rehearsal that only makes worry worse.

My good buddy from seminary, Todd, is the buyer for the bookstore. For the past few years he’s made sure this isn’t  your typical Christian bookstore filled with precious moments figurines. This is a store stocked with solid books.

Visit the store.

Pastors, go to where your men work.

During my past 4 years as a pastor in the Bay Area I quickly discovered that one of the most important things for me to do was to hang out with men in my church at their workplace.

This helped the men. It showed them that I care about their callings, how they spend 50+ hours of their week, and the people they work with.

This helped me. It taught me about the unique opportunities & challenges men were facing in their different workplaces, it opened my eyes to a world bigger than our church, and it helped set new trajectories for my preaching and discipling.

This is how I did it (and how I will continue doing it once I get started in Phoenix):

-Schedule a lunch-time visit with a man in your church. The best use of your time is to make most of these visits with men who are leader types. Schedule to meet the guy at his office, not at the lunch spot.

-Once you show up have the guy show you around his workspace. If you’re naturally curious like me, you’ll quickly have 20 questions about all that you’re seeing around you. Ask your questions. Learn the man’s world.

-Introduce yourself to his co-workers. Don’t tell people you’re a pastor, unless asked or introduced that way. They will find out eventually and they’ll be incredibly surprised that a pastor looks and talks like a normal person and doesn’t spend all his time on church property.

-Once you get the tour, take the man out to lunch (if there’s a lunch place on the work campus, go there, it will lead to more learning about the workplace) and let him talk to you at length about his work. You’ll quickly discover how you can best encourage and empower the man in his calling.

-Always speak out against the “higher calling of ministry” idea if it surfaces. Three out of five times when I meet a man at his work he talks to me about how the work I’m doing as a pastor is “so much more important” than what he’s doing as a software engineer, financial analyst, etc. I always immediately crush and correct this unbiblical view of vocation. Your men need you to tell them that all work is a means of glorifying God, and that working for a church is not superior to working for Google. It’s your job to empower your men, to help them see the nobility of the work God has called them to do.

Men need pastors to jump into the fire of their work world with them and empower them to keep their eyes on Jesus and do their work in Jesus’ honor, whatever that work might be.

Also, at least for me, doing this is a whole lot of fun. It’s been a blast visiting men at their work here in the Bay Area. I’ve been able to see:

-The financial analysis &  game development sector at Electronic Arts.

-The inner workings of a Secret Service office.

-A two-person flower shop in the financial district of San Francisco.

-A small architect firm’s hip office quarters.

-A contractor’s truck-office.

-The sprawling, impressive campus at Google.

-Several software companies who do things I still don’t fully understand.

-The venture capital world on Sand Hill Road.

-Several impressive work-from-home offices.

-(And when I didn’t have a man working there, AnneMarie gave me a great tour of Facebook).

Pastors, if you’re not already doing something like this, start incorporating it into your schedule. I think you should aim for a minimum of 1 workplace visit per week. Doing this is part of what keeps my calling fresh and alive, and what keeps me connected to men and the larger working world.

And make sure you budget for this. This is just as important as your book budget. Budget funds to cover meals and mileage for these crucial visits.

(PS. I’ve written this post from an architect/contractor’s home office)

Photo: Took this shot last week of Boston firefighters fighting a 3 alarm fire in Beacon Hill.

One of my favorite places is Mount Hermon, located in the redwoods of Santa Cruz. Founded in 1906, it was the first Christian camp west of the Mississippi. My memories with Mount Hermon began back when I was a freshmen in high school and I attended my first camp there.

Next week I’m preaching in the evenings at Mount Hermon’s historic Summer Family Camp. I’ve been told I’m the youngest speaker they’ve ever had for a Family Camp. I’m honored to have been given this opportunity. It’s going to be a great time, especially as my wife and my boys will be enjoying the camp with me for the week.

I’d appreciate your prayers for my speaking sessions. I’ll be preaching from Genesis, a series I’m calling “Four Unforgettable Encounters with the God of Grace.”

If you’re not familiar with Mount Hermon, check out the links above and consider a visit. And, pastors, you should learn more about Mount Hermon’s Pastor Cabin Program.

1. Entrepreneurial. A church planter must be entrepreneurial, must have the ability to start and build.

2. Above average preaching. A church planter must have an above average preaching gift.

3. Evangelist. A church planter must have a heart and the competency to engage people, especially skeptics, with the gospel.

Most of us reading this know we need to make some changes in order to best invest (instead of bury) the “talents” God has given us. But we often don’t know how to discern what changes to make. I think we often make this process too complicated. Here’s one simple way of diagnosing how you’re stewarding the life God has given you. Ask yourself these 3 questions. And ask a few people who love you to give you their input on these questions.

1. What is the one thing you are now doing that you think you should continue doing? (This should target towards your greatest strength)
2. What is the one thing you are now doing that you think you should stop doing? (This should target towards your greatest liability/time waster/sin/way of harming others/etc.)
3. What is one thing you are not now doing that you think you should start doing? (This should target toward your greatest opportunity/untapped potential/a big new risk)

For years, people have recognized the value of a four-year degree, but to succeed in today’s economy, you really need a forty-year degree. In other words, you need to be engaged in lifelong learning. The four-year degree may teach you how to read, write, think, and reason, but its main purpose is to set you up for ongoing learning.

Stephen M.R. Covey, The Speed of Trust, p. 105