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Hi, my name is Danny and I’m addicted to Facebook

January 20, 2012 in Personal with 9 Comments

 

There.

I said it. I’m addicted.

Not the kind of addiction where I’m actually engaging the friends I have. But the kind of addiction that sends you to the fridge every 5 minutes after 9 o’clock hoping something miraculously appeared since the last time you checked. Truth is, all you find is crap that’s no good for you anyway, but since you’re there you grab some Snickers and the last roll of Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies that you’ve been hoarding and eat that junk like there’s no tomorrow.

And I’m not better for it. By the time I go to bed I feel like an 8 year old that just went trick or treating at the rich golf club with no adult supervision to stop the candy binge.

Maybe for now I have the metabolism to handle that. But here’s what I don’t have…

I don’t have the spiritual life that mirrors my freaking “bumper sticker Christianity” status updates.
What I have is the crazy sense of needing approval and I’ll check Facebook a thousand times after posting something to see how many “likes” I get.

I don’t have the compassion that I should have for others after spending time reading 200 people talk about their day.
What I have do have is a growing impatience for God’s people. And all of sudden the things that break your heart no longer matter to me. The overload of info caused me to stop caring.

I certainly don’t have deep relationships with the majority of my Facebook friends, and when I comment on something that you posted
..it’s more than likely so the rest of my friends can see that I’m exercising some form of 21st century “ministerial care.”

This is what hit me: For the Christian, social media shouldn’t be about “you.” It shouldn’t be about how many friends you have or how many people follow you on Twitter. Rather, for us, social media should be a way that we cultivate more meaningful relationships during the times we aren’t together in a building or formal group.

What do you think? How can we use the gift of social media to establish stronger faith communities?

 

 

Only Jesus

January 17, 2012 in Church, Crossroads Church, Personal with 0 Comments

I’m a wreck. A complete mess. At times a deprave sinner, and at times a sincere follower of Christ.

I’m not there yet.

Sometimes that gets the best of me, and I fall apart wondering why God would choose to use me for the proclamation of good news. How could someone as jacked up as I am, possibly serve any purpose in the advancement of the Kingdom? And at the basis of all that, how could He even love me?

Here’s what I’m coming to learn and appreciate -

The Gospel is not about me or you. It’s not about us, because it’s for us. It’s not about our strengths or our weaknesses. It’s about Jesus. Only Jesus.

So, the next time you fail or the next time you do something great, do not focus on yourself.

Focus on Jesus.

When your eyes are fixed on Him, you’ll forget about you.

Digging into the Bible in 2012

December 29, 2011 in Crossroads Church, Family, Personal with 10 Comments

 

It is once again Resolution time. You know how it goes, over the past few days, maybe weeks, we’ve been determining goals that we hope to accomplish in the coming year. Sometimes we are successful at keeping them, while other times we never even make it out of the start gate.

May I suggest something for you to resolve to do this year?

The coming of the New Year is a great time to determine to read through the entire Bible. I’m not talking about reading through a plan in order to check off the block everyday. Rather, I’m speaking of reading with purpose and with intent to know God and His Word more.

Justin Taylor over at the Gospel Coalition has put together a great list of yearly reading plans along with some information on the importance of reading with a plan. 

Additionally, YouVersion has some excellent reading plans.

I’m committing to the M’Cheyne One-Year Reading Plan. Mainly because it greatly adaptable to a family devotional setting.

So, what do you say? Who wants to pick a plan and hold each other accountable to the task at hand?

Personal favorite telling of the Christmas Story…aside from Luke’s

December 19, 2011 in Christmas with 2 Comments

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” -Matthew 18:3

While we worry about junk…

September 29, 2011 in America, Awaken, Church, Compassion, Crossroads Church with 0 Comments

 

…Youcef Nadarkhani faces the possibility of being executed for his faith and refusal to renounce Jesus Christ.

What courage!
What faith!

I feel great sorrow for Youcef and his family. I feel great shame for myself and the lack of boldness I have in my proclamation of Jesus absent any persecution.

We worry about so much in the American church. So much pointless crap.

I pray we start worrying about what matters.

The Glory of God, for the good of all people.

Pray for Youcef. Pray for his family.

“And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness” Acts 4:29

Our Worst Adversary

August 31, 2011 in Church, Hell, Personal, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

He will deceive you and try to destroy you.
Do not underestimate him.

But ultimately, he’s no match for Jesus.
The Cross lays waste to our adversary.

Fight against him.
Until God destroys him.

Take the world, but give me Jesus.

July 16, 2011 in Worship with 2 Comments

Take a few minutes. Listen. Confess. Embrace. Worship.

“Oh the height and depth of mercy. Oh the length and breadth of love. Oh the fullness of redemption.Pledge of endless life above!”

Happy Anniversary

June 30, 2011 in Personal with 0 Comments

This is my beautiful bride. God saw fit to place her by my side and every day I’m thankful for that. She has taught me a lot. She makes me desire to be a better husband and dad. She challenges me to be a better pastor.

I do not lord over her; I love her.

I do not command her; I commit to her.

I do not use her; I appreciate her.

I’m learning every day that it’s as much about me submitting to her as it is her submitting to me; and us both submitting to Christ.

Happy Anniversary, Jessie. I love you.

“Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.” Ephesians 5:21

Love Wins vs. Jesus Wins

May 5, 2011 in Crossroads Church, Heaven, Hell with 4 Comments

This weekend at Crossroads we are talking about Heaven and Hell. In light of that, I want to share to videos with you to provoke your thought before Sunday.

Love Wins

Jesus Wins

So…what do you think?

The Death of the Wicked.

May 3, 2011 in America, Crossroads Church, Personal with 1 Comment

The man responsible for leading a terrorist organization has been killed. Osama Bin Laden is dead; that’s what the headline proclaimed. With that declaration came a flurry of response. Some were ecstatic and joyful, while others were contemplative and somber. It wasn’t long before my Facebook feed lit up with the response from Christians here in America.

Admittedly, being a Christian in America places us in a conundrum. On one hand, we can finally see some glimpse to the end of this terribly long and deadly war. On the other, we carry a message of Jesus and redemption; a message that is to all men. The one question raging through my head Sunday night was, “what does the Christian do with the death of the wicked?” Let’s be real. We can’t talk about the death of Bin Laden with out, by default, bringing into the conversation everyone who has died with out Jesus.

“Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, ‘Vengeance is min, I will repay, says the Lord” -Romans 12:19

“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles.”-Proverbs 24:17

“When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous.” -Proverbs 21:15

“When is goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.” -Proverbs 11:10

Scripture seems to be clear that we are not to gloat, boast or brag in the death of our enemies. And yet, there seems to be some sense of release to be felt by the righteous when justice has come. It’s OK to experience peace now. It’s OK to find some sense of closure in all of this.

If we are going to be honest with ourselves we need to acknowledge that if it was any other wicked man, some of us wouldn’t have responded the way we did. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians said we were, “by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” We all deserve God’s wrath. No matter how decent we think we manage to live. In a warped sense of self-righteousness we forget the sins that we have committed, individually and as a nation.

A good friend said this morning. “Noah wasn’t doing the happy dance on the ark while people died around him.”

What if the news were different? What if the headline read, “We have found Bin Laden, he repented, and has surrendered his life to Jesus.” How would we have responded to that?

Today, don’t celebrate that a man is dead; celebrate that Jesus is alive. Don’t rejoice in some false sense of security found by military battles. Rejoice that the ultimate battle for our soul has been fought and Jesus declared the victor.

What do you think…how should the Christian respond?

Update:
I’m sure my community of faith, Crossroads Church, already more than knows this about me, but to remove any doubt; this isn’t a rant against our military or the soldiers and their families that I daily minister to. Truth be told, I’m unworthy of shouldering the mantle of being your pastor. I’m deeply grateful and overwhelmingly proud of you for fighting for my freedom and rights. It is a great joy to be your pastor.

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