The Ghost and the Darkness

Have you ever had your past used against you? Satan does a pretty good job at trying to throw your past wrongs in your face and try to make you think you are worthless. I Peter 5:8 says, "Be sober, be vigilante, because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." The Greek word for "vigilant" is gregoreo, which means to be on your guard, to be watchful. The purpose of that word is to denote the watchful attitude of one who is on the lookout to make sure no enemy can penetrate any part of their life. This tells us that we should be on high alert. Peter reminds us that Satan is going to be aggresive in his attacks. Peter then goes onto use another interesting word "adversary". The Gk word is antidikos, which literally means a lawyer who argued in a court of law. A prosecutor who brought offenders to court and and argued against them. This is a great image of what the devil does when he strikes. If he can convince us of what he says, he has won. It is the way he does it. He poses as a ghost in the darkness, and attacks when we aren't ready or accuses to the point where we buy his lies. The word devour in the Gk is pino, which means to lick, to drink, or slurp up, as in a lion licking the blood of its prey. That is the way the devil works. However, Peter reminds us in the next verse that we have an out when the enemy comes roaring. "resist him, by standing firm in the faith." If you apply this you can literally stand alert and be ready when the Satan comes out of the darkness, and then with God's authority and Jesus' name turn the hunter into the hunted.

WHY SMALL GROUPS MUST BE "R" RATED

The three most important words in small group multiplication is RELATIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP. There are plenty of "R" words that we don't want small groups to be about...like...ritual, religious, rules, and repetitious. People are in life transition about this time of season with school starting back up, church shoppers hunting for new ones, new jobs, new neighbors, and other transitions taking place like crazy. So, it is naturally a great time to reflect on Jesus as a leader, and use His example of multiplication. Jesus was about hanging with people. Inviting them for water, or offering a friendly talk to those no one else would even consider talking with. The heartbeat of God is relationship. God is about covenant...and that spells relationship. Yes, the people who we see as faith heroes in the Bible did incredible things like kill lions, knock down walls, and won battles. However, they were all about relationship and were heroes because their faith spilled over with "R"elationship. We have to be careful that the "program" doesn't become relationship, we need to become relationship. As we dive into small groups this Fall, we need to think about relationship. We will multiply as we get out and build relationship with people, new, old, and everywhere in the middle. The vision of small groups is simplified into one-word: MULTIPLICATION. To initiate this, we must get out and be about relationship. In the housing market the phrase is "location, location, location". In small group life it is "relationship, relationship, relationship." Go introduce yourself to someone and talk to them. This is how LIFE happens, this is how TRANSFORMATION starts. For small groups to grow, we must be "R" rated.

DREAMS & A MARATHON

Two years ago I sat down and wrote out 100 dreams. I divided them up into 12 different catagories. Family related, health related, technology dreams, and some were life long adventures I would like to take, while some were simple dreams of upgrading technology I owned. Some of the items on my "DREAMS LIST" were things that would push me to be determined, work hard, and excel in areas I had not trained for. One of those dreams was to run a marathon. Don't ask me why I wrote that down. I must have been sleep deprived, or not paying attention. But I did, and it got me pumped up to stay healthy. This year, I devoted my time to training and running. Well, my work has paid off I have been officially accepted into the New York City Marathon. That is right 26.2 miles. I have not run a marathon ever, and the last time I ran competitively I was in 6th grade, winning a 100 meter dash. I have remained active in other sports, and have started training for longer runs. I am excited to be running with my bro-in-law Bryan, and on a team for Sanctuary for Families. This is a non-profit shelter for batter and abused women and children. I have teamed with them to run for them and raise support for their ministry. So, if you happen to be driving through Olympia and you see a flash of white lightning, it is not me, for I have learned a marathon is about pace not speed, kind of like the rest of the dreams I hope to accomplish and have put before me.

Living Dangerously

Tonight, I took the girls down to our city's annual summer fair, Lakefair. I had a chance to walk with my 4 year old, and take her on some rides. I made sure Ella held my hand and with all the people around it could be somewhat dangerous letting a little girl run wild down there with such a crowd. As a dad, I always am overprotective of my kids, for obvious reasons. We walked over to the city fountain where all the kids were playing as the weather was still in the 70s at 6pm. Audrey, our youngest danced to the music playing nearby and ran through the fountain a few times. It was a great family night. There was one point where I went on the Ferris Wheel with Ella. We stopped at the top. Now I am not fond of heights, and for the first 10 seconds I was more scared than Ella. Then she kind of took my fear away and started telling me that I would be ok. First, I was like "Phil you need to man up." I breathed, smiled, and thought man I want my kids to not be afraid of life. I would never put them in harm's way, but there will be things that come their way, that may be tough, and when they do i'll be the little voice saying, It's all right, it'll be ok." Tonight my little girl gave me a good little lesson in not being so afraid. After the first few moments the rest of the ride was calm, smooth, and a blast to hang with my little princess.

Birthday Celebration

On my 16th birthday, I was given a surprise party. It wasn't until some 14 years later, that I had another one. 30 was a raving 80's party that was a dress up event that caught me off guard. Yesterday I turned 34, and my birthday celebration was a date with my wife. That is all I wanted, uninterrupted one-on-one conversation with Jenelle. The kids, we had some great friends offer to take them so we could go out. Those type of friends rock, by the way. Over the years I have shied away from big ol' birthday celebrations. For me, I'm a quality time guy and I'd rather hang with some friends and family any old given day rather than be the center of attention for a short window of time(some things change with age I guess). So my birthday celbration was a hot date with my wife to Anthony's restaraunt in Olympia. One of the restaurants we had yet to hit since we had been in Oly. I had precious cards written and colored by 3 wonderful kids and an early mornign phone call from Luke, my 7 year old, as he was in Cali, with Nana & Grandpa on vacation. 34 is the age this year, and I look forward to tackling this year with energy, adventure, and perseverance. The key for me to staying young is to make family a priority, think young, think healthy, and live out my life plan.

The Value of a Life Plan

Four years ago I sat down and created a LifePlan. This Life Plan helped me map out areas of my life that needed structure, goals, vision, and action. I found myself in a place where I was aiming at multiple targets and not concentrating on any of them very well. The Life Plan process was simple. I went to a secluded place where any distractions would be void(Oregon Coast on a cliff overlooking the Pacific), turned off my cell phone and began to write. I focused on 7 areas (or accounts) in my life: health, career/church, marriage and family, personal life fulfillment, spiritual life, self development/replenishing, and lifestyle. Over the years this has transformed into a plan that includes 100 dreams, a purpose statement, roles that I desire to lead and live, and a place to keep me accountable to my life plan. This was a great launching point for me to challenge myself through scripture and strategies to live a life that God has designed for me. If you are in a place where you feel like you are in a rut, feeling unmotivated, are not being challenged or accountable to anyone or anything, or are flat out unhappy, I challenge you to find key areas in your life to focus on. Develop a life plan. Build a strategy that will give you a place where you are comfortable with who God made you to be. This is a great tool and I have found it to be rewarding and beneficial as I live out a life of leadership. I trust it can be useful to you too.

The MJ Infatuation

Michael Jackson was a gifted dancer and singer. He brought the music industry to the place it is today. In the American idol, culture crazed society we live in today, I hope you can see what is wrong with the picture we have created for superstars. I heard a guy explain that he spent $1200 to get to LA to be a part of the MJ funeral lottery (which is disturbing) and then spent $700 on new threads to wear to the memorial service. I'm thinking "really?" This guys wasn't even a shoe-in for the service. The only thing this guy knew about MJ was the fact that he was an iconic hero and he wanted to be a part of the circus, the media created. MJ was talented, but over the last 10 years he had turned more into a circus side show, than an entertainer. Somewhere on the road of his life, something went weird with Michael. Maybe it was his lack of a normal childhood, maybe it was the fame and money, Bubbles-the chimp, I'm just saying, something didn't pan out. We are so quick to annoint him, when in reality his life had spiraled down pretty quick. Upon his death, culture mourned, over-covered the event, and talked about it way too long. Yes, our culture has worshipped him for decades. The sad thing is that people are justifying the many things wrong with the picture because of his talent. Our culture does this with many people that have this pop culture following. We give them an excuse and a pass when they do wrong, because of status. The sad thing is that neither MJ, nor any other celeb is going to save us, or bring us into some unknown reality of a life we live in. I watched some of the over-exposed coverage and I think people are looking for a Savior. People will have to realize that a Savior will come, but it will not be one who is flawed.