So let’s get this year going.  Let’s see some risk taking.  Let’s see some transformation.  and most importantly, let’s take advantage of every opportunity that we are given to bring glory to Him!

 “So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.” Psalm 90:12 NASB

One group could not stop talking about it

And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, even as it was spoken unto them.” Luke 2:20 ASV

and the second group decided they would leave a different way then the way they came:

¹¹ After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. ¹² And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way. Matthew 2:11-12 NASB

So after experience Christ this Christmas, will you keep him on your lips?  Is it time to go another way?

I wrote down one note during the week.It was on a hike where the instructor was telling the children about different types of rock.  She mentioned one particular type of rock – “Metamorphic”.  I took off my pack, open the zipper, grabbed my Moleskin and scribbled down these words:

Metamorphic -> changed by the environment.  A type of rock, or a type of Christian?

It’s the idea of being changed, and helping others to change that struck me. It was as  if her words were a rock thrown toward my head.

I have come back to those thoughts several times, and since that time the book of Colossians seems to find its way in front of my eyes.  In Colossians we can find this somewhat famous line:

You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  3:7 NIV

Changed!

Changed, not by the environment as much as by the mercy of God and the love of Christ.  But changed none the less.

Colossians 3 continues with this:

…since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 9-10

and then it ends when the results of the change

 ¹² Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. ¹³ Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.  Colossians 3:12-14 New International Version (NIV)

 

If you were a rock, would you be classified as metamorphic?

In the deepest part of  my mind I am still thinking about Steve Jobs.  It’s weird that his passing has impacted my thinking so much, especially since I have been a Windows user and Microsoft developer for most of my life.  But I think there are two big reasons that he is staying on the front of my mind.  First, there is not doubting his technological leadership has impacted my life in so many mays – from my the consumer aspects of my life to the way that I make money in the software industry.  The second reason is much larger.  It appears that Mr. Jobs was quite a private person, so but he has shared a lot about some principles about the way he lived his life.  I mentioned part of his perspective on death yesterday, but I also have found this bit on knowledge quite challenging.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: “If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right.”

It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: “If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?” Whenever the answer has been “No” for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something. – Steve Jobs

The thing I keep coming back to is that I think I have a bag full of “No” answers where I look at the day and can very well answer, this is not what I want to do or the why I want to spend the precious days I have.  It could be that it’s time for a change.

What about you?

Of course, then I fell into hours of sleeping!

But as I awoke, to the same radio station, which somehow plays just about the same songs everyday at the same time, I started another day of sameness – checking email, Facebook and twitter – catching up on the events of the night time, and making sure nothing ‘important’ happened in some other person’s  life.  That’s when I saw this tweet:

Spark Good (@sparkgood) 7/19/11 3:05 AM RT @laura_ocean: bloggity blog: “babble” read it. http://laceandleaf.blogspot.com/2011/07/babble.html

There was something about this that was intriguing, so I did read it this morning and I think you should too. I do not know Laura Ocean, but I understand her babble this morning and I think her name is especially cool sounding.

I completely get her idea of being in a rut of habit – of being lazy, and watching others go and do, while I sit on the sidelines, not even adding a cheer.  It’s been driving me crazy of late.  I especially found this part of her post intriguing and personally relevant.

And then, instead of saying “you know what, you’re right Nike. Thanks!” and then trotting off to go do it, I find some little distraction, something that doesn’t really move me in the right direction, and go do that instead. Because its easier. It won’t require sacrifice. It doesn’t sting when it goes wrong.
But how many times have I heard and seen evidence of how important and just awesome it is when we do the things we were created to do, no matter the cost, despite the potential and inevitable failures, risking what we cling to most – our pride – and humble ourselves to the point of, heaven forbid,

being who we are supposed to be.

There is such a challenge in her words – and quite a clever observation of the state of our lives. One that I think many of us can relate.  This is a big challenge.  To get out of our habits of ‘laziness’ and into a habit of being and doing and impacting. So, today, start something new – don’t just agree – but begin to move. Don’t try to be someone else, but do the things that you are meant to do to reach others and really live this life.

18Jesus came to them and said: “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth! 19Go to the people of all nations and make them my disciples. Baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 20and teach them to do everything I have told you. I will be with you always, even until the end of the world.” Matthew 28:18-20 CEV

11Christ chose some of us to be apostles, prophets, missionaries, pastors, and teachers, 12so that his people would learn to serve and his body would grow strong. 13This will continue until we are united by our faith and by our understanding of the Son of God. Then we will be mature, just as Christ is, and we will be completely like him. 14We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. 15Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the head 16of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love. Ephesians 4:11-16 (Contemporary English Version)

Although that was a humorous conversation and I actually pick out my own clothes int he morning, and usually at the store as well ( some of you are not surprised and wish that Amy would dress me!). But here’s the thing – as we consider our spiritual selves, when we attempt to dress ourselves we unfortunately are as I responded – exposed, and uncovered and unprotected. But when we put on the clothes of Christ we are spiritually unstoppable!

23 Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. 24 So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. 25 Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. Galatians 3:23-29 (New International Version, ©2011)

Heirs to the promise – unstoppable!

And with the clothing of Christ on, we are changed, and different.

13 Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14 Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Romans 13:13-14 (New International Version, ©2011)

So as you go about today, consider who has dressed you. Are you dressing yourself and therefore leaving yourself exposed or are you putting on the clothing of Christ!

Butcher, Jason T [11:46 AM]:I’m Immutable

But then, I started thinking about that word and what it means.

not subject or susceptible to change or variation in form or quality or nature

For lots of things in life immutability is a great thing, but for a follower of Christ this good be a bad thing. Do I really want to be immutable?  Do I want to not be subject to change in nature?  Do I want to be unalterable?  This is an interesting thought, because for many things in life, yes you do want to be constant, fixed and enduring.  Like this:

²⁴See that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is what he promised us—even eternal life. (1 John 2:24-25)

But in other situations being immovable, unalterable, unchangeable and changeless is a terrible place to be.   I think as followers of the Christ, we also need to be looking for places that we are not immutable, because God’s promise is immutable.  I want to be able to say I “used to walk in these ways, in the life I once lived”, but I have changed because of the unchanging, unwavering, immutable love of God!

^3-4Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life—even though invisible to spectators—is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too—the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ.

^5-8And that means killing off everything connected with that way of death: sexual promiscuity, impurity, lust, doing whatever you feel like whenever you feel like it, and grabbing whatever attracts your fancy. That’s a life shaped by things and feelings instead of by God. It’s because of this kind of thing that God is about to explode in anger. It wasn’t long ago that you were doing all that stuff and not knowing any better. But you know better now, so make sure it’s all gone for good: bad temper, irritability, meanness, profanity, dirty talk.

^9-11Don’t lie to one another. You’re done with that old life. It’s like a filthy set of ill-fitting clothes you’ve stripped off and put in the fire. Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete. Colossians 3:3-10 (The Message)

I think today I will tell him

Butcher, Jason T [11:46 AM]:I’m Immutable because I have changed

(watch the video here.)

In this story she tells of how finding out about the Christ has changed her perspective on life and she says this:

But I’ll tell you, I’ve never had more fun snowboarding, and I’ve never been more free.

What a incredible story of a changed life – changed by the power of Christ to free us up and provide us with forgiveness and purpose.  And check out her snowboard:

Nice!

So, I checked out this entire site called Beyond the Ultimate.  Today or this weekend, take a little time and check it out.  It has  great stories about the lives  -the changed lives -of many Olympic Athletes.  Seeing these high performance athletes confirming where their strength comes from is really amazing.

So, take some motivation not only from their exceptional athletic abilities, but also from their personal stories. And be free – even in the imaginary land of conference calls.

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. ¹⁶Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. -Colossians 3:15-17 (New International Version)

Although the comments after the post debate some of the findings,  the writer of the post, Penelope, refers to a Harvard Business Review article entitled The Making of an Expert, where research points to this conclusion

that there is no correlation between IQ and expert performance in fields such as chess, music, sports, and medicine has borne out his findings. The only innate differences that turn out to be significant—and they matter primarily in sports—are height and body size.

Essentially suggesting that to become an expert at something it takes time, training, and desire.  The article also points out the importance of a mentor and guide  in developing expertise.

I find this interesting to apply to work, but I also find it interesting when we think about ourselves.  I can’t remember how many times I have heard people pray to be a “better Christian”.   We expect that we can utter a single prayer, and boom the character trait or temptation that we struggle with just disappears!  It’s not going to happen like that.  Mastery take time.  Author Malcolm Gladwell has make famous – ( apparently, as I have not personally read this yet, only references to it, although I have heard him speak, so I think that makes it ok for me to quote him!?!)- a 10,000 hour rule to becoming a expert.  That’s 5 years!

So today realize that the world is changing fast around us, but don’t be discouraged if you don’t see the mastery in your life overnight.  It takes time.  But not just clock time.  It takes time working at the problem. It takes time working with a mentor, it takes time studying, praying for change, focusing on the issue.  You can change, you can attain mastery.

1 Timothy 4:7 (New International Version)

⁷Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.

What do you think?

The thing that I have been thinking about is how this impacts the lives of those who follow Christ.  I think it has major impacts on they way the church thinks and operates and how Christians need to work.  I just have not completely figured out what this impact is.  Look for more thoughts on this in 2010.  (thats the second teaser in the last week).

The one thing I am sure it means however, is that followers of Christ must mobilize and leave the comfort of the padded pew.  Yesterday I mentioned not staying in Bethlehem, and using the celebration of His birth as a springboard for service, and today that thought it still on my mind.  Things are changing.  Followers of the Christ must change their behaviors as well.  Well, thats a funny statement actually, as I think at the root of it all, followers of Christ just need to do what they were ask to do by the Christ all along.

 ^18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, The Message)