I Love My Bible: Blueprints & Buzzer Beaters

The Bible is full of a lot of cool stuff. A LOT of it can be pretty tough to wrap your mind and heart around sometimes. But it's worth the effort to try. Why? Because the Bible is our single greatest source of information about God, and it's His single greatest method for speaking to us.

When you need to know tax code, you get a book on tax law; when you need to learn how to potty train a puppy, you read up on dog training tips; and, when you need (which is always) to both know more about and more of God you read the Bible. But it is way more than just a book. It's a bullseye from Heaven's throne. It's a guaranteed three point basket. It's an instruction manual.

Like all instruction manuals it was written in a variety of languages. So you will have to discover the one that you best understand if you hope to put its instruction to a good use. However, if you are willing to put in the effort to figure it out you will live a life full of the timely instruction of God.

God speaks to us through His Word. The words on the pages paint a picture of an eternal drama that is forever unfolding around us. It is remarkable. And like all good instruction manuals it unfolds a blue print for the way to make things work. And the biggest truth it has to deliver is that the only way things ever truly work is when they work through God.

The Word of God, full of timeless truth, is also full of truth that sometimes arrives just on time. Sometimes we forget what the blueprints say and we, or someone else, messes up the plans for our lives. Well, God's Word generally has something to say about that too. I often find that when I'm at my wits end is when his Word is the most personal. His Word is a blueprint for me to live and love by, but sometimes it's also a buzzer beater that comes just when I need it most.

I Love My Bible: Why I Don't App

The Bible is awesome. It is insightful, inspired, and many other things—including sometimes confusing, scary, and sad. However, above all it is a collection of stories, poetry, prophecy, and correspondence that paints a picture of a singular narrative...

God's redemptive love.

I love it. And can't stop diving into it on a regular basis. But lately my bible reading has taken a new turn. I don't read on any of my bible Apps anymore.

It's not that I don't like them. They are absolutely amazing tools. In fact, we live in an age when access to the Word of God is more abundant than ever before. Digital resources are off the charts amazing. These days I have access to more information on my iPhone than my pastor had in his entire library when I was growing up in the 90s.

But that was not always the case. There was a time when the bible didn't exist in English. There was a time when incredibly courageous men of faith gave their very lives to ensure the bible was translated, copied, printed, and distributed. They were martyred for the Word of God.

It is an entirely personal choice that is in no way whatsoever theologically driven. I have no compulsion to push my preferences on anyone else. But I have stopped doing my daily reading through an app. I'm not knocking them. I still suggest my favorites to people. I still even use them at church or on the go.

But for my personal time with God I have elected to hold the actual book in my hands. To feel it's leather covering and crisp pages. To write in the margins. To make notes. Outline sermons. And appreciate the effort it took a great many people, inventors, and heroes to make it available to me.

Apps are awesome, and INSANELY useful, but for me there is just something almost degrading and impersonal about reading God's Word on the same device I use to make my grocery list or read last night's boxing highlights.

You see, I really Love My Bible. And that's why I don't app anymore.

More in I Love My Bible Attitude Matters

I Love My Bible: Attitude Matters

I am 34. I have been reading the Bible pretty much every day for over 22 years. But I didn't always read it the way that I read it now.

My dad is a high school art teacher—so growing up he, myself, and my kid brother all rode to and from school together every day. It was a cherished routine chocked full of memories. One of the constants from that season of life was a nearly daily stop at an automotive parts store managed by my uncle.

My brother and I would grab a stool and settle in for what was sure to be a long stop, my dad loves to talk. And my wonderful aunt who often helped around the store would inevitably strike up conversation with my brother and I. The talk almost always turned quickly to the Word of God.

"Nathan, you been reading your bible?" She would ask in her dearest friendly voice.

"Yes ma'am!" I would fire right back. But I hadn't been. At least not like she meant. She wanted to know if I had actually been trying to read and understand it on a regular basis.

True enough I had a bible. It was an old school style King James Bible complete with all of the thee's, thou's, shouldests, and such. It also had a handy zipper and nifty little portrait of some Caucasian guy (presumably Christ) holding a sheep on the cover.

I would unzip it and thumb through its pages on occasion, but not with any real desire or intentionality. But my aunt kept asking, and I kept pretty much lying about it.

...until...

I started feeling bad about it. I mean even an 11 year old knows you shouldn't lie about reading the Bible. So I stopped lying about it. My answer didn't change. I still told my aunt that I had been reading, but from that point on it was the truth.

What began as an attempt to assuage my guilt and dodge a difficult question transformed into a daily habit which has since directed the course of my entire adult life.

The Bible is more than book (actually it's a library.) It is bigger than the sum of our collective moral posturing. It is more powerful than the poets, prophets, statesmen, and martyrs who penned its many truths. It is not to be worshipped, though it is meant to be a spotlight that shines on the recipient of all our adoration.

And you will get out of it in direct proportion to the attitude accompanying your heart when at last you arrive at the border of its pages and paragraphs.

Because it is full of information but it also full of so much more.

More in I Love My Bible. Why I Don't App

Peace Out 2014

2014 Is Over. The last year of our lives has been a roller coaster of awesome. As we get ready to ring in the New Year with family and friends I thought I'd jump on the ol' blog to share a brief summary of some of what stuck out for the Kings over the last 12 months.

1. Life will always be crazy. Just when you think you have a handle on the wild ride and adjust to the new normal, it all changes again.

2. Enjoy the crazy life. If you don't enjoy your crazy life, we'll be honest with yourself, it's the only one you have, and are ever going to have. Make the most of it. Cherish the awesome. Learn from the not-so-awesome.

3. Money is just money. Make it. Spend it. Save it. Give it. But certainly try not to love it, or even like it.

4. We are just one breath away from heaven's gate. It's been a long time since I was reminded of this truth in such a personal way. Make all of your breaths between this one and that one mean something special to those around you.

5. Nothing worth doing comes without work. That doesn't mean it always has to be hard work, but chances are, if something is actually worth the attempt it will require effort, time, and maybe even a little personal sacrifice.

6. Better not bigger. You don't necessarily need to make something bigger to feel fulfilled. Start by making it better.

7. Hard things are better with friends. Whether you're camping out on a sidewalk at midnight outside of a Guatemalan hospital or talking the loss of a loved one through with your mentor, hard things are softened by the company of people who love you.

So long 2014. You were pretty good to us, but we are really excited about 2015.

Where Your Heart Is: A Christmas Blog

Where is your heart? No, I don't mean nestled beneath your sternum somewhere between your lungs and whatever is over on the other side. Not that heart. You know! Your heart. The metaphysical linchpin of your soul that drives your desires, captains your cares, and pushes your passions.

Where is it? Where does it lay? Where does it stop? Where does it rest? Where does it ache for, hurt for, beat for?

Stop and think about the answer for just a moment. Now check out what Jesus had to say in Matthew chapter six.

It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being. (‭Matthew‬ ‭6‬:‭21‬ MSG)

So, does where you initially thought that your heart was actually line up with where you are—with where you spend your time. If not then maybe it's time to give that discrepancy some careful examination. Perhaps there is an absolutely legitimate reason (you know, like a time consuming career) why the two would be different. Or, it could be that where you think your heart is, and where it actually is, is not quite in line. But that's an easy fix. Knowing really is half the battle. And if there is a difference there that you're not crazy about ask God to help.

Jesus was the answer to where God's heart is. He treasures us—and so he came to be with us.

Merry Christmas.

Hate the Sinner - Love the Sin

If you are a professing Christian chances are pretty high that you have uttered the phrase "hate the sin, love the sinner" at one point or another. At the least you have probably heard it tossed around here and there.

The sentiment is fairly straightforward. It conveys the idea that you can entirely disagree with, and be at odds with someone's behavior, while still caring deeply about them. The idea itself is fine. We really are at odds with a lot of dangerous behavioral stuff in this life. Hopefully we're more at odds with the junk in our own closet rather than someone else's. The problem with this idea isn't that it's untrue. It's that we don't actually mean it.

Generally whatever particular sin issue is driving the conversation usually dominates said conversation. This leaves little room for lovingly engaging people who might be neck deep in the issue at hand. God is amazingly loving, and forgiving, but how can you demonstrate that to someone if you are too busy telling them how much God hates what they're doing. It's like trying to give someone a brand new car by running them over with it. Or giving someone dying of thirst a drink by tossing them in a lake.

Christian, you are the face of God to this world. You are Jesus with skin on. Often people will respond to God in accordance to how you respond to them. Not always, but many times.

Also, you need God too. We all do. "Hate the sin, love the sinner" is a fine description of how God feels about the situation, but it's a pretty crappy summation of Christian human reaction to sin.

God does hate sin. He hates all sin. He is completely good like that. God does love sinners. He loves all sinners. ALL OF US. He is completely good like that. But I have yet to meet the Christian who hates all sin equally and loves all sinners equally, and that certainly includes myself.

No, we pick sins that are obvious and we hammer them, leaving those trapped in that sin beaten and broken like some old rusty nail. Never mind that Jesus allowed himself to be beaten, battered, and nailed for them. All the while we ignore our pet sins and keep them in our most secret places. Even the villainous religious leaders from John chapter 8 had the good sense not to throw stones because of their failures. Would we? I have met a lot of people who went looking for God at some point in their life and wound up battered and bruised by the stones thrown their way.

I've spent over a decade reaching out to college students. I've had hundreds of conversations with non Christians. It is amazing how many people are turned away from Christianity, not by Jesus, but by the people who represent him. In their eyes we hate the sinner, but we love to talk about their sin.

Countdown Zacapa - 6 Days

Less than a week to go until Jamie and I will be Guatemala bound—18 young adults in tow! We are so seriously excited! It is always such a privilege to travel to another country and help a long term missionary. This year we have the opportunity to partner with Greg Miller Ministries. I had a chance to meet Greg last fall and he is an awesome guy with a huge heart for the nation God has called him to.

This morning I recieved word that Guatemala experienced an earthquake today. A lot of thoughts immediately went through my head, first among those the well-being of Greg, his loved-ones, and a close family friend who's family lives in the mountains of Guatemala.

The good news is that everyone we are connected to there is ok. The bad news, however is that not everyone is ok.

All of this only serves to point out a very real truth when you're taking about investing in short-term missions. Things can change on a dime. You have to be ready to be flexible and fluid. Plans can change.

Ultimately, the goal remains the same. We're headed to Guatemala in just a few days to serve the Church by serving Greg and his team. If the finer details change along the way, that will be ok. We will still go. We will still serve. Thankful for the privilege this opportunity brings.

Choice & Warning

I came across this passage during my reading time today:

When you enter the land that GOD, your God, is giving you and take it over and settle down, and then say, “I’m going to get me a king, a king like all the nations around me,” make sure you get yourself a king whom GOD, your God, chooses. Choose your king from among your kinsmen; don’t take a foreigner—only a kinsman. And make sure he doesn’t build up a war machine, amassing military horses and chariots. He must not send people to Egypt to get more horses, because GOD told you, “You’ll never go back there again!” And make sure he doesn’t build up a harem, collecting wives who will divert him from the straight and narrow. And make sure he doesn’t pile up a lot of silver and gold. (Deuteronomy 17:14-17 MSG)

I've probably read that passage through dozens of times across twenty-plus years of consistent bible reading, but something about it finally hit me tonight. All of the things the people were being warned about were things that they would eventually go on to do. From their desire to be like other nations and have a king, to the foibles of the kings themselves. This passage reads like a list of the problems and mistakes made by Israel.

What does that mean for us? It means we should pay attention. God knows our mistakes before we ever have the opportunity to make them. I believe He gives us the opportunity to make the right decisions. I believe He gives us forewarning.

I've been asked this before: if God knows our choices before we make them does that mean there is still a choice involved? Yes, I believe so. I believe that we are granted a free will to act and choose. The option to deny God makes choosing Him all the sweeter.

Choice elicits opportunity for desire. Desire is the fruit of the heart. It reveals what we want to do. It reveals our nature. It reveals who we are.

God knows our choices. God knows our options. He loves us deeply, even when we choose poorly, but it makes the journey of walking life out with Him a continual act of worship.

Rescued

“They are your people still, your inheritance whom you powerfully and sovereignly rescued.” (Deuteronomy 9:29 MSG) Moses is talking to God in this passage. Recounting a series of moments in which he interceded for the wayward Israelites. And this final verse of the chapter paints such a clear picture of God's work. The powerful and sovereign work of God didn't stop with the Israelites in the Old Testament.

God rescues! He is the rescuer. He comes into our mess. Our trouble. Our problems. Our pains. Our selfishness. Our often self-inflicted upheaval. Our personal slavery of the soul. And He rescues.

It may not feel that way or seem that way. Especially when life is beating you up. But God rescues. He does it powerfully. In a demonstration that declares he alone has the ability to do it. He does it sovereignly. With the dignity and veracity of the King of All.

He brings anyone who would come to him into himself. An inheritance. A part of the family.

Yeah, sign me up for that.

Walk-a-what?!?

40 years.......F-O-R-T-Y! That's a long freaking time to walk. And for what or why? Moses and the children of Israel wandered aimlessly through the dessert. Well, that's not entirely true. They had a target. They had somewhere to be. An appointment with the Promised Land, but they chickened out.

Twelve guys went in to check it out and only two came back ready to obey God and take the land. Ten naysayers got loud and got their way.

Pessimism talks. And people listen.

But as people of faith, when God speaks we should let his clear directive ring in true in our hearts long after the doubting crowd has shuffled off to the next fad cause.

Listen. Believe. Obey.

I don't always make the mark. Sometimes I just straight up fail. But we can't afford to fail like those guys Moses sent out did. They delayed destiny, robbed a generation of their inheritance, and had to walk it off for forty years. YIKES!

You can read the story for yourself in Exodus through Deuteronomy in the Old Testament of the Bible.

grati--W--O--W--tude

What an EPIC week! Weeks like this are rare indeed.

We had the Grand Opening for the church we have been so privileged to help start here in our hometown. It was crazy. Like awesome crazy. The only way I have been able to describe it to people is that it was "happy chaos".  It wasn't chaotic because we weren't prepared. It wasn't chaotic because anything bad happened. It was chaos because over 910 people showed up...in an ice storm...in Arkansas.  That might not seem like a big deal to you, but in our little River Valley paradise nestled between mountains and the Arkansas River, people just don't get out in the snow and ice.

And last night we launched our student ministries with an incredible night. It was so good. 

So now I'm sitting here in my "mancave" enjoying the breather. I'm looking forward to my weekend (Friday & Saturday) and getting ready to start it all over again in less than 72 hours. Life is so stinking good right now. I feel blessed beyond my capacity to handle it. It pushes me in the best possible ways. And before I head upstairs to get some sleep I am just trying to share this inexplicable sense of gratitude I am feeling.

It's always good to be one of God's kids--but it doesn't always feel this good. 

Praying with Peter for Protection, Perspective, and Promise

So I just couldn't avoid the alliteration. Praying is something we could all use more of and my goal for 2014 is to pray more scripture over my house, child, spouse, and life. So I am sharing my first few prayers for the year which are from 1 Peter 1. I love reading about the disciple Pete. He went from being the knuckle-head fisherman following Jesus—to the missionary who preached at the Day of Pentecost proclaiming Jesus as Messiah with such boldness and passion that the mocking crowd changed their hearts, asking "what should we do?" When Peter instructed them to repent and be baptized, 3000 people were added to "their number." I say their number (which is how Luke recorded it in Acts 2) because they weren't a "church", movement, religion, or even Christians yet. They were still just a group of Disciples. So let that sink in, from knuckle-head fisherman to church planter (literally planting The Church not just a church) in a few years. I think there might be some weight in what the Holy Spirit wrote through him in his first recorded letter, 1 Peter.

So here goes three things we can pray from 1 Peter.

Protection: [from 1 Peter 1:3-5]

Praise You God! Thank You for Your mercy and living hope that draws ______ to You. Through their faith and Your power, God shield and keep careful watch over. ______.

Perspective: [from 1 Peter 1:6-7]

Even through their trials and suffering, God allow ___________ to rejoice greatly knowing these are required to produce genuine faith of great worth! Let their faith be proven and cause much praise, glory, and honor.

Promise: [from 1 Peter 1:8]

By faith (without seeing You) let ________ love You! Let them believe in You and filled with inexpressible and glorious joy for their salvation. Lord let their faith lead them to salvation in You!

Definitely what I want for my son: salvation, eternal perspective, and protection from Satan's schemes. Will you pray these with me in your homes this week?

I am not here to debate the logics of praying scriptures, whether we should or shouldn't, if the version matters, if you have to quote the Bible verbatim (kinda hard if you don't speak Greek or Hebrew anyways), etc. I am in no way qualified or interested. But I believe praying scriptures answers the questions 1) what should I pray and 2) am I praying according to God will. I also believe praying God's Word from our heart and mouth draws our spirit closer to God and teaches us more about the character of God as we proclaim His promises in the lives around us.

Jamie

Noah: Willing Different

God looked at the state of His creation and was greaves by the corruption, violence, and evil. It pained Him enough to regret having made humanity. That's a pretty shocking declaration concerning the state of the world. But Noah was different. God liked what he saw in Noah. (Genesis 6:8 MSG)

In the midst of absolute wickedness Noah stood apart. There was something different about him. The story goes on to show that Noah obeyed God. He played a role in saving the world—literally.

Maybe for us to be used by God all we really need to do is be a little different than the crowd. I'm not talking about being unique for the purpose of sticking out. Many today throw themselves so fully into a contrived attempt at uniqueness that they lose themselves in a noisy mob of similar pretenders.

Noah stood out, not because he was unique but because he was what God was looking for. He was willing to obey. He was willing to work. He was willing to wait. Noah was willing.

Perhaps all that is holding back a miraculous change in the lives of those around you, is for you to be willing. What if you could read Genesis 6:8 again with your name in Noah's place? What woukd it take to get you to that place with God? What is holding you back?

But _______________ was different. God liked what he saw in _________________. (Genesis 6:8 MSG)

Celebrate Halloween

Why I celebrate Halloween with my family.

We like Halloween in the King house. For us it's not about spooks, witches, and dead stuff. But it is an awesome opportunity to dress up like a favorite character and have some fun. And we always have a lot of fun.

As a Christian father who happens to be a minister it is really important to me that my son grows up to see how I engage with some of the parts of our culture that evangelicals have made unnecessarily awkward. For years the church has replaced the word Halloween with words like "harvest" or "hallelujah". Which is fine. But they still celebrate Halloween.

Let's be honest. Celebrating Halloween is dressing up, and candy, and all of that other stuff that is so great. Doctoring it up and calling it something else doesn't change what it is. So let's stop being confusing, unclear, and intellectually dishonest.

Rather than pitch a fit over wording, and get lost defending how we "don't celebrate Halloween"—my family has decided to do something different. And we know we aren't the only ones. Instead of pretending like we don't celebrate it, let's just fess up to it, go all out, and enjoy it. Let's see just how much fun we can have. But, and here's the clincher, let's redeem it.

So Halloween for the Kings isn't about demons and darkness. It's not a celebration of dreariness, death, and decay. It is about life. Enjoying life together. We will be who we are in all of our Nerd-filled wonder, and use this fun day to shine the glory of God around us. Who knows, on a day like Halloween someone just might be paying attention.

Rings and Other Lost Things

One of my biggest pet peeves is losing something. It drives me nuts. Because of this I usually try to take extra special care to know where I put my stuff. Unfortunately life is not always so accommodating to such a desire.

When I do lose something I can almost always find it by retracing my day one step at a time until I realize the moment that I became separated from it. Case in point: just this morning I realized that I had misplaced my wedding ring.

I went back through my morning one step at a time. Where did I lose it? What was I doing? Did it happen when I was getting ready? No. Did I lose it on my morning run? I had it when I got home, I had it after I cleaned up. Then it hit me. I took off my ring when I was changing my son's diaper. I went to his room and sure enough there it was in the floor near where I changed him.

My relationship with God can be looked at in much the same way. Like my cherished ring, that relationship is very dear to me. It is the most important thing in my life. But there are times when I know in my selfishness that I allow other things to come between me and God, that is the stuff we call sin. And all of us do it. We all allow something to cause us to be separated from God. Sometimes it is willful sin. Something we do intentionally. Other times it is something we do wrong by not doing something right. That means we omit the right thing. All of it is something that has potential to drive a wedge between us and God.

We were all lost. We can retrace our steps through the human history found in the Old Testament Book of Genesis. There we see that the moment of separation came when our first parents, Adam and Eve, willfully sinned against God. And each of us have played some kind of role in following them in that.

"For all have sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God." - Romans 3:23

Here is the awesome part. We know our moment of separation as a people. We also know our own personal moments of separation. And this is our window of opportunity to realize that God has provided a means to account for this. He has restored us in His power, like only He can. We were lost. We chose lostness. But God has made it so that we can each be found again. All we have to do is acknowledge our need for his restoration, and ask for His help. And the best part is that once we allow ourselves to be found God has told us that nothing would ever separate us from His love again.

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39 NIV

June 15 - How?

Read: John 10:1-12

So they said to him, "Then how were your eyes opened?" (John 9:10 ESV)

Unfortunately, at least for people like me, not everything can be figured out. The trick is in coming to realize that this is actually a good thing. When Jesus healed a blind man the know-it-alls and elitists felt compelled to gain an intellectual understanding of the situation.

The man was known to have been blind all of his life and all-of-a-sudden there he was with the ability to see. How did it happen? That's what the mob was interested in knowing.

And its not the first question they asked. They had previously asked about the sinful condition of a man in need of healing. Jesus used the situation to teach them the powerful truth that transgression and tragedies are not from God.

Jesus demonstrated how God takes affliction and uses it for glory. The blind man was healed. Ad everyone wanted to know how. Jesus' point was not to be found in the how but rather in the why. It's much more interesting, to understand why God would want to do something amazing for you than how he would do it.

Venezuela 2013: Shirt Off My Back

We've all heard it. "I'd give you the shirt off of my back." Tonight that really happened. It would be impossible for me to adequately articulate just how special the people at Iglesias Filadelfia made our team feel this week, and especially tonight. They celebrated us and the work we have done together to the glory of God in a remarkable way.

Tonight as we concluded our time with them the church threw us a special going away party. There were so many people at the church that it was impossible for everyone to fit into the alleyway where we were hosted. Dozens of people waited for pictures with various members of the team as email addresses, mementos, and social media info were swapped.

During this time a young man about twenty years old approached me with his friend who translated. He had been especially blessed by the nightly services we were able to take part in. He wanted to offer me a token of his appreciation. And so, he literally gave me the shirt off of his back because it says "Venezuela" on it.

I was touched. Admittedly, I feel as though my contributions have been small this week. I am mostly here to encourage and document. I offer pastoral input when the opportunities present themselves, but in the grand scheme of this adventure I am a behind-the-curtain kind of guy. Still, he insisted on giving me his shirt. It was an incredibly humbling gesture.

What it taught me is that what I may see as small others see as magnificent. What I might see as routine could be something that is life-changing for another. The next time someone tells me, "I'd give you the shirt off of my back" I'll have to tell them about this dear fellow I met at a place called Filadelfia in Venezuela.

May 25 - No Signs

Read: Mark 8:10-12

And he sighed deeply in his spirit and said, "Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly, I say to you, no sign will be given to this generation." (Mark 8:12 ESV)

Why are we always looking for signs? We seem to be a people who crave the security of inside information.  We doggedly go about searching for clues or insights to the near and far future. We even sometimes fall into the trap of worshipping that kind of information, maybe not in ritualistic religious observances, but with our intense desires and passions.

The Gospels record Jesus being approached about his signs on a few different occasions.  People wanted proof of his claim.  They wanted some kind of supernatural ID, but they wanted it on their schedule and on their time.  He had already been demonstrating all kinds of supernatural things. Healings, exorcisms, and other miraculous wonders that superseded the natural world.

I believe God does supernatural things for two reasons.  He does them simply because He loves us and wishes to help us.  And He also does them to bring glory to Himself.  He does not do them to whoa us, wow us, or woo us.  No sign is coming simply to sate our estranged curiosity. God does not work on our time, to please our whims, or to satisfy our selfishness.

I think that leaves us with an important question.  Will be of a generation that freely receives from God simply because He loves us and is longing to demonstrate His love? Or, will we go to Him as the Pharisees did with our list of demands and conditions for belief? One option leaves us disappointed, depraved, and destitute. The other leaves us sitting as His feet, awaiting the Father’s good pleasure.

10 Things You Should Do This Summer

Summer break is always an exciting time of year. For me it is a chance to slow down a little bit and enjoy life at a different speed. It's also a chance to recharge my batteries and prepare for the next leg of campus ministry.

1. Read a good fiction book.

2. Volunteer to serve someone or somewhere.

3. Play in the water.

4. Go on an adventure.

5. Grow a vegetable.

6. Reevaluate your New Year's Resolution.

7. Watch a sunset (and possibly a sunrise) from a beautiful place.

8. Cook meat on an open fire.

9. Invest extra time in your relationships, especially your family.

10. Go see Man of Steel! (Premieres June 14)

May 2 - With Authority

Read: Matthew 7:28, 29

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:28, 29 ESV)

At the conclusion of Jesus' Sermon on the Mount the people were astonished. Many theologians estimate the number of people in the crowd to have been around 20,000 people. They had just heard Jesus teach on a wealth of subjects.

He had challenged many of their previous assumptions. He had moved them beyond their blind obedience of the Pharisaic rules. He had called them to true repentance, a life of fruit, and a close walk with the Father. He had taught them to do good for the sake of doing good, to pray in earnest, and to pursue the Kingdom of God. The crowds listened.

He captivated them, not just because he was a great communicator, which I'm sure he was, but he had their heartfelt attention because he possessed authority. He could speak into each of those situations because he had experiential knowledge. He knew what he was talking about. He didn't second guess himself. He didn't cover his tracks by brandishing the heavy handed doctrines of men. He spoke with authority.

In the not so infrequent moments when my faith is sometimes tough to wrestle with, whether it be emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually, I find the authority of Jesus a steadfast reassurance. That he experienced, taught, lived, and even passed on some representation of his authority is humbling. We who would call ourselves followers of Christ have a lot to live up to. Fortunately we have the final there to enable us along the way.