So today (let’s face it…) this week’s post might get me in trouble. What fun is life if you can’t get in trouble occasionally, right? I grew up Pentecostal. Not the blue-jean skirt, bee-hivin’ it Pentecostals, but people with a deep passion to connect to God and allow His Spirit to move in them Pentecostals.  I’ve been around the Church world for a while now. I’ve been in dry churches (I’m talking churches so dry that they make beef jerky look like a juicy filet mignon) and I’ve been playing keys in a particularly exuberant church when the pastor’s wife turned around to me and said (and I quote) “These people are crazy!”.

I’ve been in traditional Good Friday services and “soaking” services. I’ve helped lead 48 hour worship services and done the 12 minute worship sets on Sunday morning. I went to the Brownsville Revival but skipped the latest Florida “revival”. I’ve heard Ed Stetzer, Mark Driscoll, John Piper and Rick Joyner speak. I’ve read books by everyone from Spurgeon to Brennan Manning, Leonard Ravenhill, Dallas Willard and Andy Stanley to A.W. Tozer. I haven’t seen it all but I’ve at least scoped out a lot of the block.

I long to see God’s work accomplished. I believe in 1 Corinthians 12-14 and believe Acts 2 is still relevant today. I believe in the active work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers. I pray that God would do things and perform miracles that would blow our minds and leave no doubt that the glory for those things belong to Him and Him alone. Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of people who major in “experience” but minor in evangelism (and I’ve been guilty of being one of those people). I’ve witnessed amazing things like seeing my Dad’s leg healed miraculously after it was broken as a 10 year old boy. There have been intense moments of worship that felt like nothing else I’ve ever known and I’ve had people tell me things no one but God knew about my life. And it’s easy to let that be an end unto itself.

Here’s my real question. Can there be a genuine “move of the Spirit” if it doesn’t ultimately result in more people being drawn to Jesus and the people touched by it being moved to see people who are lost become found? I don’t think it’s possible. The Holy Spirit came to do many things including convict the world of sin (John 16:8), testify of Jesus (John 15:26) and empower believers for service (1 Cor. 12-14). I’m not saying that the Holy Spirit won’t encourage, uplift and fill us with joy. I’m just pointing out that His biggest concern is not our emotional state but rather that the character and person of Jesus is being built up in our lives and others are drawn to Jesus because of it.

I’m all for the emotional engagement of God and His active presence in our lives. I’m all for hearing from Him and seeking Him in prayer and asking Him to make Himself known to us. I just believe that if those things are happening then the fruit of them HAS to be us caring about lost friends and loving each other more. If the fruit of the Spirit isn’t following what we’re calling the work of the Spirit then was it ever the Spirit at all?

I cringed as I typed that but sometimes the hard questions have to be asked.

And I’ve got the picture to prove it:

I got this text from a friend this morning. The very first thing that crossed my mind was; “Oh crap. I wonder if anything is going to go wrong today.”. I spent the whole ride to work worrying about it until I finally realized how ridiculous it was. I know I’ve confessed to being a worrier before but this helped drive that point home. I know the “be anxious for nothing” scripture and I try not to worry but today was an unequivocal fail in that department.

What about you? Are you a worrier? What things worry you most?

I recently got back from a vacation in Washington DC and Maryland. I loved the time I got to spend with my great friend Michael Craig. He’s part of a growing and vibrant church in Maryland if you’re up that way. As I traveled around DC I got to see a lot about our founding fathers, our country’s history and men and women who left an indelible legacy. I also got some time to pray and just be alone with God. I got to pray about the legacy I’m leaving.

One of my great friends and mentors used to always ask me; “What are you doing that will live on after you’re gone?”. That question has always bothered and challenged me. While I was on vacation I realized however that the legacy I’d been focused on for so long was more about people remembering me and something magnanimous that I had done. I  wanted people to remember me for having done something amazing or contributed to the church or missions in some significant way.

It felt like God was whispering to my heart that what mattered more was who I am not what I do. It seems so simple but I think I’ve been missing it. It’s honestly easier to relate to people on the basis of what you do because you can control that to a certain extent. Who you are is a much more complicated thing to show and can be miscommunicated more easily.

I’ve in no way got this figured out but life is starting to boil down to loving God, my family and others, receiving God’s acceptance of who I am and trying to faithfully use the gifts He’s given me to build His kingdom and not my own. Somebody let me know if you get that figured out. It still feels a long way off for me.

Nine years ago today I got the best Father’s Day present ever. My son, Judah, was born in a little hospital room in a small town in North Carolina. I’ve been blessed with some great moments in life, but none prouder or more joyous than the birth of my children. I’ll never forget that day. Holding him in my arms for the first time. Counting his toes and fingers and making sure he was all there. He has been and continues to be a gift.

When he was a baby I’d let him rest on my chest without having to hold him at all. Now he’s so big I can barely hold on. We’d fake play the drums to his favorite Blue’s Clues songs and he’d laugh as if nothing had ever been funnier in the history of the world. I learned those stupid songs too. I can still sing them to this day. And I remember the day I took Blue away. We traded him in for Transformers and “big boy” things. Some days I wish I could go back to that little boy and his notebook. He barely knew most of his words then, but he’d sing with everything he had. But now we’ve transferred to pickup games in the driveway and bigger dreams.

He turns nine today and it’s made me think a lot about what these years have been and what time I have left with him, Lord willing. He’s at the halfway point of my in-house parental leadership. He’s brought so much joy to our world. He is curious, thoughtful, loving, gleefully oblivious to his surroundings most days and filled with imagination. His empathy for others makes me believe that he’ll one day be a missionary. I’m pulling for technology to become so crazily advanced that he and I can stay in contact in amazing ways if that day comes.

Don’t get me wrong…he has his flaws. But honestly, who’s counting. My clearest calling is helping him become the man God desires him to be and that he is destined to become. We share the same genes. The same hard on yourself guilt. The same hearty laugh and love for all things sports. The same shirt off your back mentality combined with an uncanny ability to be unwittingly selfish. He’s quickly become my best buddy in the world. In his nine years he’s taught me more about God then I think I’ll ever be able to repay.

Someday; when he’s older, he’ll read this and understand. That the daddy he loved and revered loved him even more. And when that day comes my hope is this…that my boy Judah will have grown to become more than I am and more than I was. He’ll read this at nine and he’ll laugh & I’ll cry. He won’t get it totally now but I guarantee this…he’ll live his next nine years in my house continuing to feel the love he was born into and I’ll be there every step of the way. I love you Judah. Bigger than the whole world…Dad

As most of you know, I work with Iran30. It’s been awesome to get to know them further and be able to spread the word on how people can pray for the people of Iran and the church leaders there. This month they are launching a monthly prayer focus feature in addition to their normal daily prayer updates. June’s focus is on church planters and pastors.

The coolest part of this is they’re allowing you and I to send a note of encouragement to a church planter, pastor or leader in Iran. I’d encourage you to go to their site and send a message and tell your friends to do the same! Take a moment today and share a prayer or thought with them. You can get there by clicking HERE