Plan to Be Normal, Dare to be Extraordinary!

This sounds so funny but I think it is essential in parenting. Did you know that most of our kids as they mature just want to be normal? As parents, I think this scares us because we don’t want our kids to be normal, we want extraordinary! We see their potential to be extraordinary and so we set about the task of holding them accountable to extraordinary. However, we you think about it- doesn’t extraordinary depend on what you deem as ordinary? This is where I fear as Christians we have gone devastatingly wrong. What do we see has ordinary? If we go by the world’s standard of normal we are setting ourselves up for moral decline at an expedient rate. However, you need to understand that your child is constantly being bombarded with the world’s version of normal. Everywhere they turn they see it: what does normal look like, how does normal behave? Take a look at the television, movies, and music of your children’s era and see the morality of normal. If this scares you, I think it should, my oldest are six and it scares me! And while it is scary, I think there is proper way to combat it- we must redefine our normal.

            The typical response to the declining moral normal of the world is to set extraordinary standards for you children and then try to inspire them to reach those standards. And while I think that we should desire this for our kids there is a fatal flaw in the approach. Have you ever tried to be extraordinary every day? How did that work out for you? Let me use a sports analogy for you: in baseball there is a very rare feat of a perfect game for a pitcher. This is a game where he gives up no hits and no walks. This game hardly ever happens and is extremely special when it does: extraordinary. However, as a pitching coach I do not plan on my pitchers throwing a perfect game every game and so I have to find a way to change their idea of success and their idea of normal. Can you imagine the disappointment if I demanded and held my pitchers to the standard of a perfect game every time they pitched? Yes, they might seem like they were working hard in practice but it would be motivated by fear and would have negative effects on their emotional, mental and physical performances. No, as a pitching coach I give my pitchers the tools to raise their standard of normal to a highly effective level and then dare them to enjoy the moment because when you are consistent in your preparation you allow yourselves the ability to be extraordinary on occasion.

            I believe that in our Christian walk the same principle should apply: raising our standard of normal. Unfortunately, I think that we often expect the extraordinary without ever giving consideration to the standards of normal. We have these mountaintop, emotional, spiritual experiences and we try to hold on to them as long as we can without ever considering the reality of what coming down off that mountain looks like. Consider Moses for a moment. We always focus on the times when Moses went up the mountain and had these epic events; however, when he came down he had this massive group of people whining non-stop! Don’t you know that Moses just wanted to stay on the mountain? But, life and movement doesn’t happen on the mountains, it happened wondering around in the desert with the whining Israelites.

            So what do we do? Well, let's not abandon the example of Moses just yet. Moses did come down off the mountain from those extraordinary moments and when he did, I believe that he redefined normal. Moses understood where his power came from and while he was not perfect (striking the rock) he did know the importance of time with God. Moses set up the Tent of Meeting and later the Tabernacle as a place to focus on his relationship with God. He redefined his normal but then he also redefined the normal of his people. Moses listened to God and when the people of Israel would stop and camp along the journey he had them set up the Tabernacle in the middle of camp. In fact, if you go and map out the way the tribes were divided you will see them set up in the shape of a cross with the Tabernacle in the center! While the people whined and complained the whole way and it was never easy for Moses, he did redefine what normal was for the people.

            As parents, we too can redefine normal. If we can put Christ at the center of our life and dedicate our time, effort and emotion to Him, we can begin redefining what normal is for our children. And when we redefine normal, we can then start daring our children to reach for the extraordinary! How does this happen? Well, just like with Moses we have to begin by modeling it. If Christ is not at the center of our priorities then it will be very difficult to challenge your children to make that a part of their normalcy. Once, we begin to model it then we have to get active in discovering their sense of normal. Use the situations presented to you (a television show, friendship drama, a song,  a broken relationship, etc…) to guide them towards realizing the influences in their lives. And once they realize the things around them, then you can challenge them to reach for a more Godly ideal of normal. As you begin to see that normalcy taking hold, continue to raise the standard and begin to dare them to dream of the extraordinary. I believe that it is in this process that our children will begin to pursue the extraordinary character of God. When they get a glimpse of who God is and how He loves them- it is in those moments that you will see them dream of an abundant life.
            I hope that as a body of Christ we can begin to plan for the normal and reach for the extraordinary!

A Heart on Mission

I don’t know how many of you have ever been on a mission trip, but I am sure that all that have could tell stories that would bring you to tears. There is something about stepping outside of the familiar that causes this medical phenomenon: your actually leave part of your heart with those you traveled to see! Okay, so maybe it is not a “medical” phenomenon but it truly is amazing. It starts as you pull away and continues as you return home. You begin to see the blessings you have and the problems you face differently. However, you know the saying- “time heals all things?” Well, I would adjust that to- “time dulls all things,” and that is also true with missions. We have a tendency to fall back into the comfortable as we return to the routine of our familiar.

I have often wondered how to combat this dulling effect. Many have tried support groups, Bible studies, prayer meetings, even wearing a wristband to remind us of what God has done. For Jacob, in Genesis, it was building altars. Four times we see God encounter Jacob and his response to be, “I will build an altar to remember what God as done”. And while Jacob did return to these places to remember, He also ran away from these same places back into what was familiar. It wasn’t until GOD CHANGED HIM that we see the part of the story we all love. Please don’t misunderstand me- support groups, Bible studies, prayer meetings and even the wristbands are great tools to help remember just like the altars Jacob built. But, my point is that it is not until GOD HAS CHANGED US that you will see the story of God that we love in our own lives.
When we allow that change to occur in our own lives we will stop seeing ourselves as anything but His. And it is when that occurs that our lives become the Mission. It becomes less important to us where we go because we know that wherever we go, we will live the mission. That is really the Great Commission after all, isn’t it?

Matthew 28:19-20, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The commission was to go to all, not just those in a foreign land for one week a year. Not just to the orphan, to the diseased, to the poor but to ALL. Our missions don’t end when we return home, they simply continue to the rest of that ALL.

Revival!

When I was growing up I hated road trips! I liked going places I just wanted to be there in 15 minutes or less. So, if I could get from West Texas to Orlando in 15 minutes or less I was good. However, since it takes a bit longer then 15 minutes I was sure to ask, "how much longer" about 1,000 times. The funny thing is that all 1,000 times I was going to get the same response from my dad; "about an hour".

I'm beginning to think of life in a very similar way- I like where God is leading but I want to be there now! That is the way I think about revival too. "God, how much longer and why aren't we there yet?" I look around and I see the need for revival and I'm excited about when it happens but I spend little time thinking of the journey.

We sing in our churches that we need revival but do we ever ask what we need reviving from? Things that need reviving are things that have lost their life in some area- so where are we lifeless? I don't believe that the local church is lifeless at all, I believe it is full of life, I'm just not sure that anyone can tell. What I mean by that is the church is active and eagerly wanting to reach people with the, very much ALIVE, message of Jesus Christ but is anyone listening?

No one is listening because they don't think our message is any different then what they have now. We are living in a world consumed by media. We have the world at our fingertips and we now have all our relationships at our fingertips as well. Life is happening online, and while I don't think technology is bad, I do think the way we are using it can take a toll on fellowship. According to Scripture, the Christian life is intended to be lived together. We were created for real fellowship and that looks very different then what the world says is normal. With this in mind I have an idea for REVIVAL.

I believe revival will happen when we begin thinking about life in terms of community. Now, I don't mean just getting together for a Super Bowl Party (altough that is a good idea) but rather living life together. This means allowing people access. You no longer carry your burdens alone, you no longer just decide the way to go on your own- you geniunely live life together. We have a great example of this with the early church from the Book of Acts. I am not advocating the attempt to replicate every practice from the early chruch but rather, observe their response and learn from it. When you speak of revival (bringing back to life) there are few greater examples than the early church. You have this fresh, restored relationship with God being proclaimed throughout the streets and thousands coming to the faith. And what was there response to this new life? They were baptized and then they abandoned their NORMAL way of living for fellowship! It is amazing to think about and it is no wonder the church grew so quickly- this new life didn't look anything like that of the world's.
I think that is the point: if we want to see revival then our lives can't look like that of the world's. We must redefine family, church, work, school, sports and relationships in the terms of community. We must begin investing and allowing our lives to be invested into by those in our circle. Then as those bonds grow closer the natural response is evangelism. With the strength of my people I will reach boldly into the areas of my life with the Gospel and then the cirlces grow and multiply. You know what that sounds like to me?- REVIVAL!