It’s already the end of February, and I’m only now getting a chance to write a post reflecting on 2011, and looking ahead to 2012. Yes folks–this is a New Year’s resolution post, brought to you by Valentine’s Day, Family Day, and all of the other important days that have already come and gone in 2012.

Reflecting upon 2011, if I were to rate how well the year went based on how many of my planned goals were achieved, I would have to conclude it was a complete and utter failure. Take a look at what I set my sights on more than 12 months ago…

1. Date my wife, weekly (FAIL — at least not intentionally)
2. Read through the Bible (FAIL — thank you Youversion for the tools, but it didn’t work)
3. Run a 5K marathon (PASS — no marathon, but I did go to Bootcamp for 3 months, and continued with P90X afterwards)
4. Blog weekly (EPIC FAIL — no time)
5. Read at least one book each month (FAIL — no time)
6. Continue to progress EIP (FAIL — see reason in 4 & 5)
7. Choose 2 or 3 people to meet & mentor with (PASS — I did meet & mentor with 3 people, some more than others. But it was a healthy attempt.)
8. Choose to Save a Life, approach new people (FAIL — I did sign up to be a church greeter, but withdrew after deciding I would need to let something else go to take on more.)
9. Pay off my student loan (EPIC PASS!!)

Paying off my student loan… when I was praying through this list last year, this is one I fully believe God put on my heart, as it certainly didn’t come out of my own ideas–it was impossible to do. And Julie and I were already aggressively paying down our debt. But I wrote it down anyways, trusting that God would provide if that’s what he wanted us to do.

Do All You Can Do

I’m a strong believer however in the need for a believer to do all that they can to achieve their God-given goals, and God will do His part. We can’t just sit on the sidelines and wait for the miracle to come. In doing all we can, we still need to guard ourselves from taking credit for the end result.

So I figured I needed to get a second job. We had no kids yet, so this was the time to do it. Thankfully God provided me with side project work at my primary workplace, rather than me having to serve up coffee at my local Tim Horton’s. Out of that project has come other opportunities for additional work that was unexpected. So I thank God for how He is blessing me beyond just paying off my student loan.

To be clear, we did not actually pay off my student loan by the end of 2011. However, after our anticipated tax return this year, the loan should be paid off and Julie and I will be… debt… FREE! Woot! That day can’t come fast enough.

Use Your Time Wisely

The downside to this last goal on the list is that it impacted every other goal I had for the year. Really this list is a guide for how I want to use my time in a day, outside of what I’m already obligated to do. Because I was doing extra work in my personal time, suddenly I did not have the time to put into the things I had planned to focus on.

Do I regret doing it? Are you kidding? Who wouldn’t want to be debt free? And we thank God for His timing, as we’re now expecting a child in July. What better time to get out of debt than when you have new expenses coming your way?

2012 Goals

1. Be a good husband to my pregnant wife and soon to be mother
2. Be a great father

I suppose what I call goals are now simply priorities.

Question: How are you planning to spend your time this year?

This is the conclusion of the Hearing God’s Voice series. To read Part 1 and 2, click here and here.

Have you ever heard God’s voice? Is that even possible. How do you “follow God’s leading?”

4. Trust your experiences

God is constantly trying to teach us something. He has likely pulled you through a tough situation in the past. What wisdom did you learn from that time that you can apply now? What do you know to be true beyond a doubt because God has shown it to be true in the past?

You have wisdom and answers within you. Don’t be afraid to use it. Write it down. Again, check it with #1 above, mention it to those you seek wisdom with, and if it jives, hold on to it!

5. Shut up and listen up!

I don’t believe I have ever heard the audible voice of God. Very few people claim to have had that experience. But I’ve learned to trust my ability to be quiet, and trust God speaks to me through the things He brings into my mind. This requires me to be quiet, to turn off the music I love to listen to, be alone with God, and block out all distractions. Just pray and ask God that He would speak to you.

Then be quiet and listen. Wait. Get comfortable with the silence. Focus on God and clear your mind of other concerns. And start writing down some of the things that come to mind. If you find your thoughts are distracting you, write down the things you need to remember later on a separate page.

Try it out. I think you’ll be surprised what you hear. Whatever you hear, again, refer it to #1 above, and if it comes out positive in Scripture, take it and run!

In choosing a Bible College, I thought I had the answer I needed, until the school changed locations and my perfect picture future was mired. After seeking God again, the only answer I got back was, “I already told you where to go.” So I trusted God, followed the direction He pushed me, and it was the best choice I could have made.

As you can tell, there is more to listening to God than simply being quiet and listening, as simple and effective as that may be. Our God is a creative God, and He will use the things that already exist in our lives (family, friends, situations, experiences, scripture, etc.) to give us a message we need to hear.

Question: What methods do you use that help you to feel you have heard from God? Have you ever heard God’s voice? Join the conversation below!

People are not good or bad; they are simply broken, and God has either restored them to shalom or is seeking to restore them to shalom. Imagine seeing people as “broken shalom” or “shalom,” rather than good or bad. If you see them in the midst of broken shalom, it does not allow you to look down on them; instead, it calls you to join God in his redemptive work in their lives. What a beautiful privilege. — pg. 148

When I got my hands on Chris Seay’s The Gospel According to Jesus, I anticipated reading another book where an author attempts to write something “new” about God and the Gospel when in reality they end up simply preaching sermons I’ve heard many times on Sundays–nothing new under the sun.

The Gospel According to Jesus may not rewrite Scripture, but Seay certainly makes a good attempt to raise issues of interpretation that have run rampant for years, blurring the Gospel for those receiving its teaching.

The opening quote above is a great example of this whereby Seay acknowledges what in the end becomes a matter of diction and connotation, a simple concept, but a concept that has the power to alter how generations of Christ followers have viewed themselves, non-believers, and the role of Christians here on earth.

The opening chapter honestly did not capture my attention; I struggled to get through it. But the remaining chapters present the reader with Biblical concepts, challenging the way I have been taught to believe for years.

I often judge how good books and even sermons are by how easily I can summarize the topic at hand in my head in a few sentences. I’m not sure I can do that with The Gospel According to Jesus, but that could be due to how long it took me to read the book. Either way, the concepts Seay presents the book are worthy of the time it takes to read this 200+ page book.

Like every good preacher, the last chapter reflects upon the subject at hand and attempts to give examples as to how the reader can practically apply the concepts discussed in every day life. The last chapter alone is a great read in and of itself. If you read nothing else, read the last chapter!

I will happily recommend The Gospel According to Jesus to friends. Actually, I’m pondering grabbing Seay’s other books having read this one.

[Please note, Thomas Nelson Publishers has provided me with a free copy of this book for review. As my opinion of their books has no impact on continuing to receive these books, my opinions are not effected by this fact.]

Question: Are there things you have been taught to believe are true from the Bible or life in general that you don’t fully understand but have accepted wholeheartedly? Is it wrong to believe things you don’t understand completely? Join the discussion below!

Purpose in life–don’t we all want to know that we have it? Those who aren’t sure of their purpose, may simply float through life. Those who feel they have it, wake up in the morning with a spring in their step, certain that they’re living for something. In the teen version of You Were Made to Make a Difference by Max Lucado and his daughter Jenna Lucado Bishop, they make a strong case for waking up young people to their pre-existing ability to make a difference in the world.

They start off with the basics, inviting the reader into a relationship with Christ and what that actually looks like practically in a world full of distractions, moving towards acknowledging that they can actually do something to have an impact on this world, and ending with stories, examples, and suggestions of what the reader can then do, taking action on what they’ve learned about themselves. It’s a well laid out progression, repeating their point enough times to drive home their point.

Overall it was a good book, and I would actually like to know what Max Lucado’s version of the book for adults is like as a result. This version is definitely aimed towards 8 to 12 year olds. My wife read the book and had trouble getting through it with its juvenile approach. We had one of our youth members in our church read it as well, a 15-16 year old, and she found it to be too dumbed-down. It is very simplified.

Although it took me a while to finish the book. If I tried, I probably could have read this 200 page book in 4 hours or so because of its content and layout. The layout is pretty “ADD” with random boxes interrupting what is normally a steady flow of text for a book. But this is obviously meant to keep the attention of the reader. For me it was more distracting and I often skipped over the random facts listed. You Were Made is definitely for pre-teens.

I appreciated that it ends off the book well in the last page and a half, reminding the reader of 1 Corinthians 13, that without love their actions are pointless. They can go out and do all of these wonderful projects and ideas suggested through the pages, but without doing it in love, it’s all pointless. I appreciated the authors ending on a strong Biblical point.

[Please note, Thomas Nelson Publishers has provided me with a free copy of this book for review. As my opinion of their books has no impact on continuing to receive these books, my opinions are not effected by this fact.]

Question: What do you think your purpose in life is? How does it motivate you each day? Leave your comments below!

Many of us when we have a big question to answer in our life, we seek out counsel, and as follower’s of Christ, we’re usually encouraged to “listen to God’s leading.” What? How do I that? What’s God’s leading, other than Christianese? While it certainly isn’t easy to hear God’s voice amongst all the noise of our culture, I believe strongly that it is possible, and should definitely be sought out when you have no easy answers (or perhaps, even when you do have easy answers).

Last week, I began to list some of the things I did when I was seeking God’s direction when considering what school to attend for college. I suggested that we need to keep our head in the Bible. (If you haven’t yet read Part 1, you can do so here.) This week I offer two more suggestions for hearing God’s voice.

2. Seek spiritual counsel and wisdom

Even if you’re not contemplating full-time ministry training, you need to find someone you trust, someone with greater life wisdom than you, more mature in their faith than you, and preferably someone who knows you reasonably well.

Talk to your pastor, your priest, a board member, a church elder, your Sunday school teacher, that old lady that always sits in the very front row with that feathered hat that doubles her height, and blocks the view of everyone behind her. Tell them your situation, and ask them for wisdom. Write it down. And if it agrees with Scripture and it agrees with your spirit; if it checks out with #1 (here), hold on to it tightly!

3. Honour your parents

It’s a little unconventional perhaps for advice on hearing God’s voice to throw the Fifth Commandment at you:

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you. – Exodus 20:12

But, more so than seeking spiritual counsel, we need to seek the advice of our parents. Perhaps you don’t always agree with your parents opinion. Maybe your parents aren’t even followers of Christ. Maybe they could care less what choices you make. It doesn’t matter. God has called His followers to honour their parents.

Discuss your concerns with them, ask for their wisdom and advice on the situation. Honouring them does not necessarily mean obeying them–especially if you’re an adult. You honour them by seriously considering what they have to say, and responding sensibly with what you think. This act of honouring will speak so much about your character, it will be remembered beyond the present concern.

I was in Nairobi, Kenya for my Junior year of college, and needed to decide on a location for my internship for the Fall. I had lined up an opportunity to work with some missionaries in Kyrgyzstan. I had the option approved by my program overseer. I was set to go. But when I suggested the idea to my parents, they didn’t even want to hear it. I had been in Kenya for 11 months. Going to Kyrgyzstan meant I would be away from home for a total of 16 months. They would not support my decision. �So I didn’t go. And the missionary ended up leaving the country during the time I would have been there.

My wife felt called by God to go to Bible College, so she went. But she went without her father’s blessing and approval. Throughout her first semester, her father remained firm in his choice. She came home for Christmas having already decided that if her father didn’t change his mind, she would not return. God worked on his heart, however, and he eventually did give his blessing. But she was willing to honour him in his decision and give up what she believed God had called her to, trusting another option would come. Thankfully another option wasn’t necessary, or else I never would have met her.

Honour your parents in choices. God commands it.

Question: Who do you go to for counsel? Whom do you trust? Do you follow the 5th Commandment when you relate to your parents in life? Share some of your experiences in the comments below.

[Check back next week for Part 3 of Hearing God's Voice. Click here to read Part 1.]

Many of us when we have a big question to answer in our life, we seek out counsel, and as follower’s of Christ, we’re usually encouraged to “listen to God’s leading.”

What? How do I that? What’s ‘God’s leading,’ other than Christianese?

While it certainly isn’t easy to hear God’s voice amongst all the noise of our culture, I believe strongly that it is possible, and should definitely be sought out when you have no easy answers (or perhaps, even when you do have easy answers).

A big question I had as I exited high school, as do many, was What now? What’s next? I wanted to continue school in post-secondary. Where? What school? Do I really want to study “THIS” and do “THIS” for the rest of my life?

For me, I was considering Bible College. I didn’t have a miraculous, at-the-altar, light-shining-from-heaven moment where God told me to study theology. I just “felt” that I was supposed to. And I still “feel” that way. When it came to what school I went to though, that was hard work deciding.

Here are some of the things I did, and you should try, as you seek “God’s leading,” waiting to hear His voice:

1. Stick your head in the Bible

John 15:7 says,

If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Jesus tells his disciples that if they keep reading the Scriptures, the Bible, if they invest themselves in God’s Word and remain true in their relationship to Him, whatever they ask for–it’s theirs!

Scripture should always be the first place we run to for guidance in life. It’s Truth. It’s timeless. And no matter what, we should not choose a path contrary to its teaching.

What about you? Have you ever read a passage of scripture that jumped off the page to you and spoke directly into what you have been wanting answers for? How do you listen for God’s voice?

[Click here for Part 2 of ways we can seek and hear God's voice.]

If you haven’t seen this video yet, you need to watch it now. It’s powerful. Once you’ve watched it… watch it again. Take it in. Then share it with a friend. Dare2Share.

I’ve read a few books by Max Lucado in the past, and I can see why his writing is so appealing to readers, and why his books and material is in high demand. He’s incredibly insightful, and has an ability to take a difficult theological subject, and describe it in simple layman’s terms, accessible to anybody.

This is likely the reason Lucado has received so many one-off questions throughout his career as a minister and author. People seek out that simplified answer to their problems. And Lucado handles the questions listed one-by-one on each page of this book with minimal ease. Yes, he could likely write a book on each subject that this book and the questions are subdivided into, making the answers short and shallow. But I don’t think the people asking the questions were looking for a 400-page textbook.

All that being said, I was quite disappointed with this book. Lucado’s books are generally on one subject and he draws out the answer through multiple pages. As I said, this book has one bolded question at the top of each page, and Lucado’s response written underneath, some answers longer than others.

While the publisher has obviously attempted to make each question less segmented by offering 7 different “categories” that the questions lightly fall into, each page is a completely different question, a completely different theological subject. While the category may tell you the questions are tied together by “Hurt”, that isn’t enough to allow you to read the book cover to cover.

Plain and simple, Max on Life is a reference book. It should sit on a preacher’s shelf right next to his lexicon and biblical commentaries. It is NOT a book I recommend to the typical Lucado book reader.

I can see myself using this for structuring a sermon, using some of Lucado’s quick answers as subject matter. And I could see myself pulling it out and reading one page to a person seeking counsel on a particular subject. But this isn’t a curl-up-in-front-of-a-fire, feel-good-about-my-doubts kind of book. It’s a reference book.

The best part of this book, and its own saving grace, is the topical and scripture index in the back pages of the book. I found myself “tagging” each question with the topic it deals with at the top of each page with my pen. So I was pleasantly surprised, the publisher had done this for me also.

Max on Life has a lot of great content, but it’s marketed like all of his other books and I think this will disappoint his typical readers greatly.

One last point I wanted to suggest: I think Thomas Nelson and Lucado missed out on a great opportunity to create an online following for Lucado. While he likely has a Facebook and Twitter following already, if this book was first posted as individual blog posts on a website, divided by the subjects the book divides them up as, he could have created a buzz on the website, as he promoted his other books and products, and then put the content into a book. Make the most of the opportunity, and show the content for what it honestly is: short and segmented.

With Valentine’s Day happening yesterday, relationships are on people’s minds. Here in Toronto, a number of people took the opportunity to tie the night in marriage, in celebration of this special day to celebrate relationships.

Over a candle-lit dinner, my wife and I were discussing the subject of discussion on the news for the day where they asked their viewers “Is marriage important to you?” Viewers called into the newscast giving their opinion on whether marriage is an old tradition and irrelevant for us today, or something to continue to hold on to tightly in celebration of commitment. There were varying views from each side.

One of the comments my wife heard from a viewer on the news reminded me of an article I wrote a few years ago titled Why I hate “The View”. (Since then I’ve been amazed at how many others also share this detestation for The View.)

If you haven’t read my article I wrote that on that particular episode I had happened to watch, their guest on the show was giving marriage advice to the viewers, suggesting that when women are searching for that one man to give their whole lives to and make the sweet covenant of marriage with, they also need to consider, “Would I want to be divorced to this person?”

My, what a logical question! Gosh! I should have thought of that. It makes complete sense! If we intend to get married, along with our wedding planner, we should also be picking out a divorce lawyer! We should be preparing ourselves for the inevitable failure that the marriage will be. Wow…

What a twisted way to view marriage. It’s demoralizing. But perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised that some people don’t view marriage in the same bright light Tradition may speak to.� With an apparent 50% of marriages ending in divorce (although this statistic is questionable), it makes sense some people would want to avoid the nuptials altogether… which is the only reason why divorce rates are actually declining–fewer people are getting married in the first place–instead choosing co-habitation and the like.

I don’t have much to say to our culture’s silent out cry except that perhaps we have dug our own hole. Failures in marriage from previous generations have dictated the choices we make today.

I must say I am thankful to not be a statistic. While my parents remain happily married, my wife is the child of parents who divorced when she was 4 years old. And divorce is very much common place among the family.

But while this was a great concern for my wife before we committed our lives to each other, rather than allowing this to deter our desire to marry, we’ve used it as motivation to fight for our marriage, to make communication a priority, to push back on all of the things typical to a relationship falling apart, to make our finances a main focus and source of pride in our relationship in the choices we make around them.

We will not be a statistic. Nor will we be victims of a previous generation. Rather, we will form new statistics, setting out to set the example for future generations. Preparing for failure? We’ve prepared for success, and are trusting God to help us through the rough patches we can’t yet see, doing what we can to avoid the ones we can see.

Question:� How has past generations dictated the choices we are making today in our culture? What other ways can we buck this trend and move back to a Biblical view of marriage and commitment?

Once again, I recently heard another sermon where the preacher used Jesus’ words of “Abba, Father” from Jesus words of prayer while He was here on earth to interpret the relationship we must have with our God as one that relates to Him as our “Daddy.”

If you missed reading my earlier post, I made the suggestion that using such terms to relate to God the Father lacks the respect and reverence for our God that Scripture clearly calls us to have. I emphasized our need to be “child-like” in our love of God, not “childish”.

It’s not my desire to list out on this blog the stories from the Old Testament scriptures where God punished His Chosen People, the Israelites, for their lack of reverence for Him. Unfortunately this side of God seems to be brushed aside nowadays in favour of a “Jesus-is-my-boyfriend” mentality in our love of Christ, most evident in our modern worship music. While the softer side of God may have been more readily revealed in the New Testament with Christ coming in love to sacrifice Himself for us, we easily forget the reverence with which we must come with before God.

Yes, Christ tore the veil. Yes, Christ made a way, so that we can have an intimate relationship with Him, restoring the relationship Adam and Eve enjoyed with God bit by bit. But Him making a way does not tear down the need for us to come with heads and hearts bowed down before Him in reverence for who He is–the Creator God!

This fact was most evident for me as I listened to this sermon on Jesus and prayer, and specifically on the Lord’s Prayer. I’ve found most preachers tend to dwell on the first line alone, suggesting we start our prayer with Father, Daddy, to emphasize that close relationship. Leaving the second line out to pasture, “Hallowed be Your name.” Hallowed be Your name! Your Kingdom come! Your will be done!

As Jesus taught His disciples to pray, perhaps we can say it is not blasphemy to refer to God as “Daddy.” But as is clear from the Lord’s Prayer, do not speak His name in such a way without also honouring his Deity and Greatness. Speak it with great humility of heart, bowed before the Creator of all the universe.

“Yes, you are my God! my Father! my Daddy!! And I stand before You, humbled by your Greatness, by your power,�by your grace and mercy. All that I have is yours! I feel your love and grace EVERY day. And I’m humbled that such a Great being would care enough to care for me and offer His salvation to a man so poor in spirit!”

It is truly the attitude of our hearts that matters. Not the lip service we pay. Love Christ with all your heart, soul, and mind. And honour and revere Him by your actions, by your spiritual fruit.

Question: �How do you show your reverence for a Holy God in your daily lives? What simple ways do you bring honour to the Creator of all things?