That’s the question I’ve been mulling over for several months and I’d like to get your thoughts.  I’m wondering if there is a picture we can paint of what a fired up, sold-out, thriving disciple looks like that would move people to say, “I want to be like that, what do I need to do to get there?” 

by Phil Sommerville

I’d just seen two beautiful college co-eds get killed.  I was helping to lead a bicycle tour along the sunny coast of Florida during Spring Break.  Only this day wasn’t sunny.  We were riding in the rain and feeling miserable. It was the day before Easter, the final day of the tour, and we were trying to get to our finish point. 

Ahead of me were two college co-eds riding side-by-side.  The girl on the right started to drift into the girl next to her.  They both got tangled up and started to veer towards the center of the road.  At the same time, a pickup pulling a camper was starting to pass them.  I watched helplessly as the two girls fell between the truck and trailer.  The car swerved off the other side of the road leaving the two girls sprawled on the asphalt.  I had just witnessed them get run over.

In a flash I leapt off my bike and sprinted across the road, certain that they were dead.  But when I got to their side, they were both sobbing.  THEY’RE ALIVE!  I cannot begin to express the feelings of relief and excitement that surged through me at that moment.  I’ll never forget it.

A few hours later, after all the excitement had worn off, I thought about Easter – the next morning – and realized, that’s how it feels.  HE’S ALIVE!

The girl’s lives were saved because the corner of the step that came out from the camper door had caught the one girl’s T-shirts and dragged both of them along preventing them from going under the wheels of the trailer.  That was a miracle. 

An even bigger miracle happened on Easter.  Can you capture the feeling of that miracle? Do you remember the first time Easter became real to you?  I’m not talking about when you first heard about it, or when you first understood it.  I’m talking about when you first felt it; when you first grasped in your heart as well as in your head. 

It is my conviction that when people grasp in their heart the excruciating torture Jesus put himself through to free us of sin, suddenly they take their own sin more seriously and become more desperate to rid themselves of it. 

Then, when they grasp the resurrection and realize HE IS ALIVE and that  they are ALIVE with Him, they nearly explode with excitement. 

When people are able to feel what happened over the 72 hours of Easter, they fall in love with Christ and are motivated to follow and serve Him with all their heart, mind and strength.

In this month leading up to Easter, I urge you to think about the first time you experienced the power of Easter.  Sense again the weight of sin.  Allow yourself to reflect on the horror of the cross.  As a disciple, what would it feel like to know Jesus – your hero - was DEAD!  Until you feel those things, you will never really get excited about Easter.  But once you feel those things, Easter will be thrilling and your thrill will become contagious!

So, this Easter season, I urge you to capture the feeling of Easter.  See what it will do to increase your love for Jesus, and your love for those for whom Jesus died and desperately wants to resurrect.

Although giving something up for Lent is a practice that’s intended to lead toward self-reflection and repentance, this question can only take us so far.  That’s because spiritual practices are not an end in themselves – they are simply part of our journey.  The destination is God Himself.

The goal of Ash Wednesday and Lent is to move us closer to God.  So rather than simply asking “What are you giving up?”, we should consider asking this:  “How can I return to God with all my heart?  What things have gotten in the way of my relationship with God, and how will I seek to make changes so that God is first in my life?”

With that in mind, I invite you to join me in the coming days as I seek to celebrate the meaning of Lent – a time of renewal and reflection, and time of coming back to what’s most important, a time of dying to self so that I can live fully to Christ.  I encourage you to consider what activities or things you may need to let go of during this season in order tomake more space for God.  I invite you to allow God to search you and know you, and to point out the ways you are bent, broken, and needing repentance and forgiveness.

If you are planning on giving something up for Lent, I invite you to use that as a continual reminder of your need for God’s mercy and forgiveness.  A reminder to surrender yourself wholly to Him and receive His good gifts to you.

So let us begin this journey together…

“I invite you, therefore, in the name of the Church, to the observance of the holy Lent, by self-examination and repentance; by prayer, fasting and self-denial; and by reading and meditating on God’s holy Word.  And, to make a right beginning of repentance, and as a mark of our mortal nature, let us now kneel before the Lord, our maker and redeemer.  Amen.”  Book of Common Prayer

“Sensing God” Mini-Prayer Retreat

Look for Minimum Qualities
What minimum qualities does a new small group leader really need to have to get started?  Basically, they need to:

• Have a commitment to Jesus Christ and a commitment to growing in their faith as evidenced by a good character. 
• Be committed to the ministry of the church. 
• Have experience participating in a small group (but not years, one year could be enough). 
• Have basic biblical knowledge (the key word is “basic.” They donâ€t need a thorough knowledge of the Bible if they have small group Bible studies to use and if they know where to go to find answers.  You can help equip them with both those things.  Leading a small group is one of the most effective ways to get motivated to learn more Bible.). 
• Be friendly, but they donâ€t have to be extraverts.  (Iâ€ve seen introverts make great small group leaders.  They attract all the other shy people who are intimidated by the extraverts.) 
• Be able to read a question from a study guide and encourage people to give an answer. 

     Thatâ€s about as high as the bar needs to be set to let someone get started as a small group leader.  Once started, theyâ€ll be able to grow into the polished leader youâ€ll love having in your church.  So, as you look for new leaders, identify the basic qualities that are needed, rather than the ideal qualities; that way youâ€ll be less likely to stifle leadership development in your church.

Recruiting New Leaders
How do you recruit potential leaders?  I suggest you do the following:

• Create a picture of the difference they can make and why the area of ministry you are recruiting them for is so vital to the bigger mission of the church.  People will commit themselves to what they see as valuable.
• Address their fears.  Let them know the bar isnâ€t set too high for them.  They donâ€t need to be a scholar.  They just need to know the basics and have a hunger to learn.  They donâ€t need to be everyoneâ€s best friend, just friendly.
• Let them know they have support.  Think through what you will be able to provide in terms of training, resources, and oversight to help them succeed.  This is a critical area.  The more support you can provide, the more willing theyâ€ll be to risk being a leader and the more likely theyâ€ll succeed.  For small group leaders this means, offering basic training, pointing them to (or providing) good, easy-to-use studies, and checking in with them periodically.
• Give them, and yourself, permission to fail.  This one hurts.  Youâ€d rather not see failure anywhere in your ministry, but the reality is that not everyone will succeed.  Youâ€ll stifle the emergence of leaders at the beginning leadership level by trying to pick only those people you are confident canâ€t fail.  That will scare some people away from getting started and it will prevent others from becoming the “diamond in the rough” who blossom against all odds. 
• This means you need to take some risks on people that may not seem like ideal candidates.  God constantly surprises me.  Time and again I have seen people, who I thought were less than ideal candidates, become really effective small group leaders. 
• This also means you need provide an environment of grace that will allow potential leaders to risk leadership.  In recruiting small group leaders I tell them up front that there is no guarantee that people will flock to their group.  All I ask is that they take a step of faith, take a risk, and then trust the results to God.  If a group doesnâ€t come together, it doesnâ€t mean they failed, it suggests that God has a different plan for them.

 I hope you have found this article helpful as you seek to raise up new leaders in your church this year.  At www.faithalive365.com we offer a number of articles that can help you train and develop your small group leaders as well as excellent, easy-to-use small group Bible studies that will create stimulating and transforming small group experiences.  If you know someone who will be helped by this article please share it with them.  And add to the conversation, your comments are welcomed.

Ironically, the following blog was written a day before Christmas, but due to some technical difficulties with our website, I was unable to post it until today.  I say “ironically,” because this post is about the challenge of waiting.  I was ready to post this, but I had to wait until the website problems were resolved.  We can feel ready for all sorts of things, but sometimes we still have to wait. 

I hope your Christmas was truly blessed and that the waiting was endurable.  I also hope you can put yourself into a “Christmas Eve mindset” as you read the following post.  Even though Christmas is over, the ideas still apply…

…Only one day till Christmas…

For the past four Sundays, my family has been lighting an additional candle on the Advent wreath, marking each week until Christmas.  Tomorrow, Christmas Day, we light the Christ candle in the center, celebrating Jesus’ birthday.  Each day in December, my sons have also been placing a Christmas sticker on the Advent calendar, marking the days until Christmas.  Tomorrow they place the last sticker on December 25.

The big day is almost here – the waiting is almost over.  But still we wait.  Advent is a time that reminds us that waiting is part of our Christmas celebration.  It’s the part that any kid hates the most.  And waiting is also a part of our ongoing daily lives as well.

As long as we live on this earth, we live in the “now-and-the-not-yet.”  We live in the reality of Emmanuel – God with us.  But we also live in the tension of a sin-filled world where we experience brokenness, loneliness, and pain. 

The joy of Christmas gives us a small picture of the joy of heaven.  For one day, in a special way, we celebrate God’s love coming in human form to save us, pointing to the continual joy we will one day know when we are forever in the presence of Christ.

So tonight and tomorrow, let any joy you experience be a sweet reminder to you that there will one day be continual and unimaginable joy for all eternity.  Let Jesus’ birthday celebration remind you of the celebration going on right now in heaven.

P.S.  Since I am posting this after Christmas, I wanted to share what happened to a dear man of God on Christmas day.  He was a long-time friend of the Sommerville family in Chicago, and on Christmas Day he suffered a massive aneurism that led to his quick and unexpected death.  On Christmas Day.  I can hardly imagine what his family must be feeling.

But as I’ve been thinking about it, I realize that his truly unexpected and sudden departure from this earth was by far the best Christmas present anyone could ever receive.  He is now in the loving arms of our Savior, the One we just celebrated for coming to earth and being held in the arms of Mary and Joseph.  While this is a terrible loss for his family, this man has now finally stepped from his time of waiting into a time of endless joy. 

May God bring this family comfort right now as they mourn the loss of a wonderful husband, father, grandfather.  And may we all draw hope from the knowledge that when we are in Christ, we too will one day step from the this temporary waiting room into the arms of our Creator.  Now there’s a Christmas celebration I truly can’t wait for!

Christmas 2004 was the most unexpected ever

Christmas is a great time for the unexpected.  One of the best unexpected gifts I ever received came from my husband, Phil, seven years ago.  It came on a Christmas after a long stretch of financial struggle.  Our family had been living with my parents for more than two years at that point just to make ends meet.

Now, it turned out to be a good thing for all of us to live together – our kids really enjoyed the attention of their grandparents, and both Phil and I, along with my parents, were pleasantly surprised at how well we all meshed living in such close quarters.  However, we were all ready for a bit more breathing room.

But then came Christmas 2004 – it’s one I will not soon forget.  It’s not often that my husband has the pleasure of truly surprising me, especially when there was no money to just go out and buy the “perfect gift.”  In fact, to save money, Phil and I hadn’t even exchanged gifts with each other for several Christmases.  We agreed that we would do the same that year as well.  But after everyone was finished opening their presents and the general hubbub of the morning had died down, Phil said, “Hey, it looks like there’s still one more gift under the tree.”

I was genuinely surprised when he pulled the gift out and handed it to me.  At first I was a bit upset because I had honored our agreement not to exchange gifts, but now here I was receiving a gift from Phil without having one to give back to him.  But my chagrin quickly turned to tears as I tore open the package and was greeted with the gift of my very first laptop computer.  This was something I’d wanted for quite some time, but knew there was no way we’d be able to afford any time soon.  Especially when you’re not sure how you’re even going to be able to afford new shoes for your kids.

I was speechless.  Phil truly understood how much this gift meant to me.  I am a writer.  I teach part-time at a Christian university.  I truly have need of a computer – especially one that I could take with me, out of the house and away from the noise and chaos of young children and tight living quarters, giving me a few minutes of breathing room to think.

As I blinked back the tears and looked at my husband, he answered the question in my eyes.  “It’s okay,” he said.  “I didn’t have to pay anything for it.  I got it for free.”  This was a real relief, and made the gift even more amazing.  It turned out that a friend of Phil’s was upgrading the computers in his office and had given Phil the laptop, thinking he could use it.  It’s true, Phil could have used it.  But instead he chose to give it to me.  I was humbled and overjoyed and truly speechless (I know, I’ve already said that – but for me to be speechless, well it’s unheard of).

My husband was the hero of that Christmas.  Our boys thought something was wrong and couldn’t understand why mommy was crying.  But Phil understood.  He knew the depth of my longing for a laptop and the freedom it represented.  He knew the sacrifices we had both made to serve in ministry and care for our kids.  And here he was, able to give me the very thing he knew I desperately longed for.  I think watching my reaction upon opening it was almost as much of a gift to Phil as it was to me.

I honestly can’t imagine a Christmas gift that could top that one. 

Well, of course there was that unexpected Christmas gift 2,000 years ago.  Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the God of amazing surprises – for showing up just when we need you most.  Come today, and surprise us again. 

May the unexpected gift of Christ’s presence and love surround you this Christmas.

A clenched fist keeps us from receiving Christmas blessings

Have you ever heard the story about how to catch a monkey? Supposedly in Africa and India, the natives will hollow out a coconut and put a peanut or banana inside. When the monkey reaches inside to grad the food and wrap their fist around it, they are unable to pull their hand back out while still clenched. The natives will put a string around the coconut and pull it to capture the monkey.

In reality, the monkey is never truly trapped. All he has to do is let go of the food and remove his hand. But apparently monkeys do not like to let go of treats once they have been obtained. So they end up getting captured because of their unwillingness to let go.

I checked this story out on Snopes.com (a site for checking urban legends), but still wasn’t able to verify whether or not it’s true. But the principle behind the story is still true, whether or not this is actually how you catch a monkey. The point is that just like the monkey, we get trapped by things we should let go of. We grasp for things that are not ours to hold onto.

As I think about Christmas, there is one character from the Christmas story who makes me think about grasping fists. His name is Herod. He came to be known as “Herod the Great,” but that is a misnomer. Any greatness He had came in the form of great cruetly and corrupt leadership.

The thing he is most remembered for is the “slaughter of the innocents,” (Matthew 2:16) as it came to be known. This is when he ordered the murder of all boys in Bethlehem under the age of two. He was attempting to kill Christ – the prophesied King – to prevent anyone from taking his throne away from him. And to be absolutely certain that his plan succeeded, Herod callously wiped out dozens, perhaps hundreds, of children. This brutal massacre was the height of living a “grasping fist” kind of life.

Herod feared losing power. He feared losing position and status. He feared losing control. And although it’s difficult for most of us to even imagine ordering the execution of babies, in reality we’re not all that different from Herod. Too often we, too, live a “grasping fist” kind of life. We cling to our desire for power, and we grasp after control. And the very things we grasp after end up trapping us, just like the monkey and the coconut.

Herod’s story is the dark side of Christmas. It’s the side of Christmas we don’t like to dwell on. It’s a story filled with evil desires and rebellion against God. But the reason Christ came 2,000 years ago was to save us from having to live in this dark Christmas story. Christ alone is the one who frees us and invites us to unclench our fists.  When my hand is clenched, I am in bondage. When my hand is open, I am truly free to receive all the Christmas blessings God has give.

Where today are you living a grasping life? Take a moment and open your palms as a sign of Christmas surrender to God. Give Him control over your day and let Him give you back the freedom and “Joy to the World” that He longs to shower on you.

Galleria Flash Mob - No Room in the Inn

The Bible tells us that the shepherds “made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.” (Luke 2:17)

These guys could not keep this news to themselves. They had front row tickets to the most amazing heavenly concert ever given, complete with angelic worship team. Then they had front row tickets to see God in the flesh. This was definintely something to pass along to others.

I wonder what it was like on the hillside near Bethlehem that night. One minute the shepherds were just going about their business, and the next minute they were staring into the face of an alien being. Their spontaneous response was first to run to Bethlehem to see what God was up to, and then to tell everyone who would listen.

As I shared in yesterday’s blog, God calls us to pass this Good News along, too. To “re-gift” the gift of our Savior and to “Go Tell It On The Mountains.” In order to inspire us in this, I wanted to share a video that was first posted on YouTube just over a month ago and has already received more than 24 million hits. It has gone “viral” (which I love, since this video points to the Messiah).

Some unsuspecting shoppers got a great surprise on November 13, as they heard the Good News about our Lord in the form of a “Hallelujah Chorus Flash Mob.” If you’ve already seen this video, I’m sure you’ll enjoy seeing it again (I never get tired of it). If you haven’t seen it, you’re in for a treat. Let it inspire you to boldly stand and proclaim the Good News, like the singers in the video. (See below.)

P.S. Before I share the video, here’s a quick note. Last night, I attempted to attend another “flash mob” that was set to sing the “Hallelujah Chorus” at the Galleria in Roseville, CA, but so many people showed up (more than 5,000) that the police and fire marshall ended up evacuating the entire mall for safety reasons.

While I was sad that I didn’t get to participate in this event, I couldn’t help thinking about the millions of people in the world who will be crowding into the malls this week, looking for something this Christmas. Many are mistakenly looking to fill the God-shaped void inside with something they can buy in a store. They are hungry for God – and many don’t even realize it.

Thousands of people were crowding into the Galleria last night, looking to participate in something bigger than themselves, something that would fill their hearts with joy. What they were really looking for was an experience of the transcendent – an experience of God. That is what the whole world is looking for this Christmas, whether they know it or not.

Even when there is “no room in the inn” – or in the mall – that won’t stop God from breaking into people’s lives. That’s because God uses every day, ordinary people like you, me, and the shepherds to join the angels in singing about the Good News. We’re called to take it to the streets and become a “flash mob” wherever we happen to find ourselves today.

I still can't believe that was me a year ago!

Have you ever experienced that awkward moment of opening a gift and thinking, “What on earth am I going to do with this?”  Then you try to think of someone to pass the gift onto.  Or it gets tossed into the “white elephant” pile, for the next gift exchange.

Most of the time when we “re-gift” something, it’s a gift that we don’t want or can’t use.  However, today God is inviting us to re-gift something that EVERYONE needs and EVERYONE can use.  He wants us to re-gift the best gift ever given – God Himself.  He wants us to join the shepherds in checking out the Christ-child for ourselves and then passing Him on to anyone who will listen to the Good News.

The Bible tells us that “They made known what had been told them about this child; and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds told them.”  The shepherds were amazed and they couldn’t keep it to themselves.

How has God amazed you?  How has He been present in your life?  When you’ve truly encountered God, you can’t keep it to yourself.  You simply have to share it with others.

This past year, God has shown up in a very personal way in my life and has helped deliver me from an addiction.  As I mentioned in my blog a few days ago, I am a recovering food-aholic.  In the past ten years, the stress of life and ministry led me to turn to the refrigerator for comfort, rather than turning to God.  Food became my idol.  The more food I ate, the more out of control I felt.  And the more out of control I was, the more weight I gained. 

I couldn’t sleep at night without popping a Pepcid to stop the acid reflux.  I had to buy larger and larger clothes for my ever expanding waisteline.  I felt uncomfortable in my own skin, and what’ worse – I felt helpless to change.  I was literally killing myself one bite at a time.  And no matter how many diets I tried, I would always fail.  I had plenty of knowledge about how to exercise and eat healthy.  But that knowledge alone was not enough to bring change.

This past year, I finally gave up.  I said, “God, I can’t do this.  I’m done.”  And that’s when I sensed Him saying, “Now I’ve finally got you where I want you.  You’re right, Linda – you can’t overcome this on your own.  But all things are possible with me.”  So by the grace and help of God, I’ve been able to lose 85 pounds this past year.

I feel more free today than ever.  But it’s not because of some great diet program or because of my great will power.  Those things are not what saved me.  It is truly Christ alone.  His power has been breaking into my life in new ways and transforming me from the inside out.  The battle is not over.  I know that if I don’t continue to pay attention to Him and follow His lead, I could very easily go straight back down that road toward feeling constantly over-stuffed, the road toward heart disease and diabetes.

But like the shepherds, I can’t stop talking about the amazing power of God to break addictions and heal broken hearts.  To bring new hope when I had completely lost hope.  This God who came to earth so I could know Him loved me so much that He met me right there in that pit I had dug for myself.  He didn’t wait for me to get my act together and fix myself.  He loved me, right there in that pit.  But then His powerful love gave me the strength to follow him out of that pit into a new life.

Where have you experienced God working in your life?  How has He rescued you?  How has He amazed you?  How has He provided for you?  If you don’t feel like you have a story to tell, I encourage you to ask God to open your eyes so that you can see the ways He’s at work in your life right now.  It could be that you’ve allowed the stress of life to crowd Him out.  Or perhaps you’ve turned to someone or something other than God to be your savior (like I did with food).

I know that He’s up to something in your life right now, you just may not be able to see it.  As your eyes are opened, you, too, will soon have a story to tell that you won’t be able to contain.

When we’ve been in the presence of God, it changes us.  It makes weak people strong, fearful people bold, and anxious people filled with peace.  Our joy will pour out of our lives to those around us.  When God shows up, we cannot contain Him.  He spills out of our lives to those around us.  Just like the shepherds, you’ll become the ultimate re-gifter and will pass on the story to anyone who will listen.