I lay myself at Your feet
Asking You won’t You meet
Won’t You meet me
I cannot do it on my own
I cannot do it all alone
Here I am, oh, tonight
With my arms open wide
Won’t You come inside
Won’t You come inside, God
Come and fill this heart of mine
I’m in need of You
Of Your touch, of Your
life, of Your love
I need You
I need You

When God places a call on our lives to something, there are three different responses we can choose to make.

1. Outright rejection. Self-explanatory, you deny that there is any such call on your life and can try to run or hide from it.
2. Postponement. The last thing we usually want to declare is that there is something that is calling us to change or do something different that no one else is doing.
3. Immediate reaction, yes.

In Acts 9, starting in verse 17, it talks about Saul on his journey and mission to Demsacus to outright kill Christians and how the Lord called him to do something.

So Ananias departed and entered the house, and after laying his hands on him said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road by which you were coming, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was  strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus, and immediately he began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.”

All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying, “Is this not he who in Jerusalem destroyed those who called on this name, and who had come here for the purpose of bringing them bound before the chief priests?”

There must be a response. When we respond, there is an effect on those around us. And when we respond to what God is calling us to, everything changes. We cannot go backwards and we cannot move forward until we respond.

So, I think the question we need to ask ourselves is that, do we see the greater picture of God’s purpose in our own lives? Do we understand the magnitude of this question and the effect it may have not only on our life journey but possibly someone else as well. And by asking this question, we can only help but ask what’s next?

The mission of 2 Pillars Church is to reach the unreached for Christ and transform the city of Lincoln by loving God and loving people. This video helps cast the vision for this new gospel-centered, missionally-focused church in the downtown heart of Lincoln, Nebraska.

If you live in Lincoln, Nebraska, I want to encourage you to get in contact with Todd Bumgarner. E-mail him at toddbumgarner AT gmail DOT com  AND checkout their blog as well: project2pillars.com.

Jesus is standing in front of the temple in Jerusalem
the massive gleaming brick and stone and gold house of God
and he says destroy this temple
and I’ll rebuild it in three days
the people listening to him said how are you going to do that?
it took 46 years to build this temple!
but he wasn’t talking about that temple
he’s t…alking about himself
he essentially says, listen
I’m going to be killed
that’s where this is headed
because you don’t confront corrupt systems of power
without paying for it
sometimes with your own blood
and so he’s headed to his execution
if you had witnessed this divine life extinguished on a cross
how would you not be overwhelmed with despair?
is the world ultimately a cold, hard, dead place?
does death have the last word?
is it truly, honestly, actually dark
and so whatever light we do see
whatever good we do stumble upon
are those just blips on the radar?
momentary interruptions in an otherwise meaningless existence?
because if that’s the case then despair is the
only reasonable response
it’s easy to be cynical
but Jesus says destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it
he insists that his execution would not be the end
he’s talking about something new and unexpected
happening after his death
he’s talking about resurrection
resurrection announces that God has not given up on the world
because this world matters
this world that we call home
dirt and blood and sweat and skin and light and water
this world that God is redeeming and restoring and renewing
greed and violence and abuse they are not right
and they cannot last
they belong to death and death does not belong
resurrection says that what we do with our lives matters
in this body
the one that we inhabit right now
every act of compassion matters
every work of art that celebrates the good and the true matters
every fair and honest act of business and trade
every kind word
they all belong and they will all go on in God’s good world
nothing will be forgotten
nothing will be wasted
it all has it’s place
everybody believes something
everybody believes somebody
Jesus invites us to trust resurrection
that every glimmer of good
every hint of hope
every impulse that elevates the soul
is a sign, a taste, a glimpse
of how things actually are
and how things will ultimately be
resurrection affirms this life and the next
as a seamless reality
embraced
graced
and saved by God
there is an unexpected mysterious presence
who meets each of us in our lowest moments
when we have no strength when we have nothing left
and we can’t go on we hear the voice that speaks those
words
destroy this temple and I’ll rebuild it
do you believe this?
that’s the question Jesus asked then
and that’s the question he asks now
Jesus’ friends arrive at his tomb and they’re told
he isn’t here
you didn’t see that coming, did you?
he’s isn’t here
there is nothing to fear
and nothing can ever be the same again
we are living in a world in the midst of rescue
with endless unexpected possibilities
they will take my life and I will die Jesus says
but that will not be the end
and when you find yourself assuming that it’s over
when it’s lost, gone, broken and it could never be
put back together again,
when it’s been destroyed and you swear that it could never
be rebuilt
hold on a minute
because in that moment
things will in fact have just begun

We’ve Heard It All Before

He starts the letter off by hitting us religious and holier than thou people upside the head by saying,

“To all my non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing friends: I feel like I should begin with a confession. I am sorry that so often the biggest obstacle to God has been Christians. Christians who have had so much to say with our mouths and so little to show with our lives. I am sorry that so often we have forgotten the Christ of our Christianity. Forgive us. Forgive us for the embarrassing things we have done in the name of God.

Man oh man, do we as Christians get it so wrong sometimes. Why do we think that because we know who Jesus is and because we say we’re Christian, we think that we can put ourselves up on this pedestal of

I’m better than you because you’re a ‘non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing’ Christian?

I had a conversation with a friend the other night, and we were talking about how being at a Christian University you would think that more people would understand that we are all screwed up human beings who obviously are not perfect and do not have all the answers. Instead, it is the exact opposite. It is like BECAUSE we call ourselves to be Christians, we feel the need to put up this religious cover-up to hide all of our weaknesses and screwed up parts of our lives.

I can personally testify to having been a Christian who used religion to cover up my sinful natured life.

However, my perspective has changed significantly.

I was eating lunch in the campus center after class one day, and this guy came up to me and asked if he could eat with me. I said,

Yeah, sure man.

I had no problem with it.

And so, we began talking, asking the common questions of,

Where are you from?, What year are you?, What’s your major?

But, being at a Christian University, it is impossible to not talk about your religious background.

The majority of people at Abilene Christian University are Church of Christ; hence it is a COC school.

Now as we were talking, I was asked,

So, what are you? (Implying what denomination I was)

I responded by saying,

Well, I guess you could say I am non-denominational? I don’t really associate my faith with a denomination. I believe in the bible and I believe in Jesus.

It seemed like my new friend was unable to comprehend my response. I don’t know exactly why, but it seemed like the only thing he knew was that everyone must be defined by something (a denomination in this instance).

He asked me,

So, you obviously haven’t grown up in the church?

My response was,

No, I actually have grown up in the church most my life. There obviously were times in my life where I didn’t go to church for periods of time, but I feel like I’ve had a subtle background of church throughout my life.

He was quick to ask then,

But so you’re just trying to figure things out then huh?

I was a bit taken back by this question.

And my tentative response was,

No, I feel like I have things kind of figured out. I mean, I obviously don’t have all of the answers, but it’s not like I don’t have a solid foundation of what my faith is based upon.

So, as the conversation ended, it seemed as though my friend had put himself up on this religious pedestal, and I was left in the shoes of the ‘non-believing, sort-of-believing, and used-to-be-believing’ Christian.

I could finally comprehend what I (we as Christians) need to quit doing.

How will we ever have legitimate relationships if we are unable to relate with people on an authentic, personal, deep, and passionate level?

If we continue to use our religion to place ourselves above others, you can guarantee that you will not have any type of impact on anyone you want to influence.

How about we just BE REAL?

I have had a decent number of learning experiences which have affected my life.

One of the biggest though was when I resigned from the football team at the University of Nebraska.

I resigned from the football team in February of 2009. I did this because I felt like the Lord was calling me in a different direction than the one I was headed. There were a few interactions and relationships that I did not agree with, along with certain situations I was put in.

At this point, I thought my collegiate football career was over, and I was OK with that. If that was what the Lord wanted, than that is what the plan was going to be.

However, I finished the 09′ spring semester at Nebraska, and then worked and took classes during the summer in Lincoln. I then proceeded to get in contact with a private coach I worked with throughout High School and told him that I wanted to keep in contact with him and that if he ever needed any help with camps or anything, to keep me in mind (because one day I want to coach as well).

He gave me a call about a week after I sent him this e-mail. We talked about why I decided to discontinue playing and what my plans were for the near future.

He asked me, “Well, I have one question though, do you still want to play.”

I proceeded to tell him that, “I did still have the desire to play football, however, it was not that big of a deal to me. I didn’t want to just go somewhere just to go somewhere to play football, there had to be a purpose for it.”

He suggested that I could possibly transfer to the University of Kansas, but, if I had done that, I would have had to sit out a year, and lose a year of eligibility due to NCAA rules. And then, if I decided to transfer to a Division II school, I would not have to sit out, and I could play immediately. But again, I didn’t feel the need to just go anywhere, there had to be a purpose and a reason.

So, to make a long story short, the door opened for me to play football again at Abilene Christian University in Abilene, Texas. Two weeks before school started, and three days before fall camp, I hopped into my car from Lincoln, Nebraska and I drove to Abilene, Texas to visit the campus and meet with Head Coach Chris Thomsen. To say the least, the moment I walked on campus, I knew ACU was where I was supposed to be. It’s a crazy story, but in the end, I drove to Abilene Christian University from Nebraska out of the blue, not knowing anything, and I never looked backed.

But, now that you have a bit of context to this story, I want to make my point.

Today during spring football practice, it wasn’t the best practice we’ve ever had, and I think that could be credited to the fact that we have been practicing for about 6 days straight.

As an athlete, you are always going to have days and practices where you don’t feel like practicing at the level you know you should and are capable of.

But, if it is one thing I have learned, and Coach T says this all the time, is that,

You can’t let what you feel control what you know.

And I have taken that to heart.

But today in the middle of practice, it hit me. While everyone around me may have not felt like practicing to their fullest potential, I found myself appreciating more and more the opportunity that has been given to me. I found myself wanting, desiring to maximize the opportunity given to me; and wanting, desiring to be practicing.

It hit me that I have been able to find that the smallest things in the eye’s of the society, are incredibly huge.

In James 3:3-6 it speaks about how even the smallest things have an incredibly huge impact.

Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell.

I believe that if we as a team can take the next step in focusing on the little things, we will take the next step to being a national championship football team

Hebrews 13:16

And do not neglect doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

And so, we can’t keep doing what we’ve been doing – or, we will just keep getting what we’ve been getting. Because ultimately, what got us here will not get us there.

God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.

In our lives, what does this look like? In life, how do we reflect and glorify God? Are we satisfied enough to glorify God alone? Do we want to glorify God? Why would God not be glorified in our lives?

If we can deeply connect our relationship with God, with a deep satisfaction of love, why would God not be glorified?

Be satisfied. Be glorified. Be loved.

How you respond to disappointment, says a lot more than how you do in success.

James 4:8

Come close to God and He will come close to you.

Ever been out hunting or camping .. or even out with some friends making some s’more’s! and sitting around a fire? Next time you are, try this; go ahead and take a stick and put one end of that stick into the fire. When that end gets hot and glowing red from glorying in the fire until its heat and light are transferred to it, take it out and look at it. Remind yourself that when the Bible says you are the glory of God, it means that you are like that stick and are supposed to draw near to the pure and powerful God who is your Father and radiate his heat and light to the world.

Remember: YOU are the glory of God.