Douglas Young

The way in which we live our lives makes it terribly difficult to “get lost” in Jesus. It takes very little to throw us off track. One misstep or one unexpected kink in the plans and things can spiral out of control.

The American way of life, in particular, simply isn’t conducive to it. I’m frustrated. For me, it’s back to the drawing board. And yet, I sense that the moment I create another “plan,” something is going to happen to thwart it. Maybe, just maybe, God wants me to quit trying to plan things out. Maybe the “plan” is an obstacle to living live through Jesus?

This morning Tisha and I sat in on a bible class on parenting. It consisted of a video where a man presented material based on the story of the prodigal son. It was well done.

Earlier this year, I read Henri Nouwen’s book on the prodigal story. I couldn’t help but reflect upon how I was so unlike the parable’s father figure. It just proved how far removed I am from the heart of the Father.

Interestingly enough, as I see it, the material presented in the video pushed the parenting envelope. The regular attendees of the class suggested that what was being taught, principally, was unique by way of the prodigal story. And such makes sense. Given what we’ve been taught about parenting, the prodigal’s father did everything wrong.

1. He didn’t put his foot down to his son when he demanded his inheritance. Remember, demanding his inheritance was tantamount to saying, “I wish you were dead.”
2. He didn’t rub it in his son’s face, upon his return, suggesting he was stupid for what he did.
3. He didn’t punish him, but instead he had compassion on him and threw him a party.

These are just a few of the noteworthy things that the father didn’t do. Yet, many of us would suggest that such was poor parenting, wouldn’t we?  But isn’t the father…God? Does that even matter? Does it, in any way, make a difference in how I should live out my own personal, fatherhood? It should. But to do so would send mixed messages wouldn’t it?

I’m glad I sat in that class today. It got me to thinking more about whose pattern should we be following. It wasn’t the same old tired mantra we’ve heard for years. It challenged us to see parenting from God’s perspective…something I simply haven’t done.

Am sitting in the computer station drinking a Venti Pike Place from Starbucks at the Lubbock airport, waiting for my 6:30 PM (CST) flight to Houston Hobby. The funeral this morning went really well. We got the graveside service in, too, before the weather really got bad. It was starting to sleet as we left Clovis. At the moment, it’s only raining in Lubbock. I’m just hoping the real arctic air doesn’t get here until after my departure time. It’s relatively quiet at the airport. I am actually shocked by how quiet it is, given tomorrow is Christmas Eve.

Yesterday I got to spend some time with James Jones. He is now working with the Church of Christ in Dimmitt, TX. I’ve known of him for years, but had never met him face to face until yesterday evening. It was great to meet his family. I’m glad he is in the area, and look forward to getting to know him better. I encouraged the Dimmitt church to consider him, and they wound up hiring him. He has a great passion for Jesus and has been a tremendous source of encouragement to me.

Can’t wait to see my family tonight. Tisha and the kids had Christmas last night with the Gappas in Dallas. I wanted to be there so badly. I know they had a good time. Haven’t seen the Gappas since they came out to visit us in September.

Have been looking hard into the approach Jesus took with his disciples, specifically, in how he really was implementing a mentoring program throughout his own personal ministry. I’ve been giving considerable attention to mentoring, in general, because I really think it was the Savior’s choice of method in developing disciples. To a great extent, that’s been what my whole purpose behind this “The Get Lost Project” has been. I am making this Jesus’ time to mentor me into one of his disciples.

Just having taken these initial steps has worked wonders for me. I can only imagine what will happen as I continue. Maybe, just maybe, in “getting lost,” I’ll find my own personal fulfillment of 2 Corinthians 3:18.

God bless to you all. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas!

Yesterday, my friend Alva Carter Jr. went way out of his way to be bestow great grace. I was right. God is up to something around here. I cannot afford to not be part of it. Later, after meeting with the Baileys about the Wednesday funeral, Fred and Delores Eichenberger invited me over for dinner and MNF. Dinner was great but MNF was laughable. Tisha called while I was there; she and the kids safely made it to her sister’s in Rockwall. For that I am grateful.

Allen McKinney, the associate minister at 16th & Pile, has coordinated an effort to supply needy families with meals for Christmas. Yesterday I went to Albertsons and picked up a turkey and sides to deliver to a family here in Clovis. They lived in a neighborhood I had yet to visit. Life there is hard, much harder than I would have imagined. They invited me in and were very grateful for the food. The mother even gave me a hug.

It felt good to cross the tracks, bestow grace though a simple meal, and yet not ask myself, “I wonder how they got like this?” It doesn’t matter how or why. What matters is that they are in need, and this Christmas they will have something to eat.

In the past I’ve been resistant to the Bible’s teaching on social justice because I was fearful that “a social gospel would produce social sponges.” I even used Jesus’ own words to substantiate my resistance (John 6:26-27). It’s funny though that Jesus knew all this and he did it nonetheless. So shouldn’t we?

I just posted an announcement about my desire to journal in an effort to find the fulfillment of Colossians 3:3. I think I’m going to entitle this “The Get Lost Project.” Yes. I like that a lot.

The time frame on this project is 2010, but I’m going to try to hit the ground running by getting started in 2009. There’s no sense in waiting. I want to gather momentum.

Today I was to start a week of vacation. Our family was planning to head to the Metroplex for a few days before Christmas. Tisha’s sister lives in Rockwall. Of course, our other family, the Gappas, live in Dallas. Too, we still have a lot of friends there from our time in Frisco. I wound up, though, sending Tisha and the kids along without me. I’m staying in Clovis to officiate a funeral on Wednesday. I’m going to meet up with Tisha and her family in Houston late Wednesday night.

My plan, now, is to use the time reading, reflecting, as well as getting ready for a funeral. I sense I really need to add margin to my life. That’s “margin” not “margarine.” (That’s for you Brian Nicklaus!) I hate not being with my family, but things happen for a reason. I’ve squandered too many opportunities to grow spiritually of late. I think my family will appreciate it in the end.

Last night I spoke about the importance of passing on the gifts of Forgiveness, Faith, and Friendship. These are invaluable gifts that, consequently, don’t cost a dime! Gotta love that!

In all seriousness, though, such is the nature of grace. We bestow God’s grace through our own actions, passing on from one generation to another the graciousness of a God who gives us what we don’t deserve. I love how Paul equates the immense generosity of the Macedonian churches with grace granted by God (2 Corinthians 8:1ff). Grace is “the gift that keeps on giving.” Literally.

One who’s become a rock solid friend here approached me last night saying, “Man, I needed that.” He really made my day. Of course, as I spoke about friendship, he, along with others, was in view. I hope he sensed it. I think he did.

There is the potential to create something great here at 16th & Pile. Strong bonds are being formed. I think that’s the way Jesus would have it.I’m gratefully that God is letting me be a part of it.

Well, it’s lunchtime here in NM. After lunch I’m to meet with the Darrell’s family to iron out details for his funeral. Please pray that I’m able to say the right things!

I’m convinced Christ is looking for my life to converge with his (Colossians 3:3-4), but I’m not necessarily certain about the “hows” of this process. I do know that the transformation process itself, though, isn’t totally a self-help project. He is at work, doing something to facilitate “being transformed into the same image from glory to glory.” I know this because “this is from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

It’s time I get lost; I need to get lost in him. “For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God” (Colossians 3:3, HCSB).

This blog really hasn’t been about a guy “converging with Christ…” I’d like to think that it was, but it’s just not so. But all of that is about to change.

For a number of reasons, some of which are deeply personal, I’ve decided to journal on a daily basis. I want to chronicle my own conscientious effort to take my faith in Jesus seriously and get lost in him. I believe it will happen, and I plan to journal about it.

I’d love for you to join me. Let’s get lost together!

Many things of God are inexpressible, but none as much as salvation. Most of us are at a loss for words to describe it. The best we can do is to find something with which to equate it. Paul does this with the Corinthian church (2 Cor. 9:6-15).

We shouldn’t have to guilt people into giving, but when we do, the giver should never respond out of “compulsion” (v. 7). By divine design, giving is the natural response to having been given an “inexpressible gift” (v. 15). As God would see it, those who give for any other reason are simply ungrateful for what they have received. Now that has to be disheartening to the Giver of “every good gift and every perfect gift” (James 1:17).

And God is able to make all grace abound to you…He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way, which through us will produce thanksgiving to God…Thanks be to God for his inexpressible gift (vv. 8,10-11, 15).

God’s gift of salvation is “the inexpressible gift” that keeps on giving!

Bovina Bulletin Board

Well, this is the final bullet point from a great bulletin board found at the Bovina Church of Christ. This last bullet point is a frustrating one. It is a virtual microcosm of congregational struggles across the land. It might reflect the degree to which the modern church has slipped its moorings from God’s original intent, and as a result impeded the church’s effectiveness in the world.

I’ve both seen and heard of church’s that have struggled to help even it’s own members because it was believed that a meeting needed to be called before responding. How unfortunate it is that churches have hobbled themselves to this degree! I’m not against meetings. Believe me, they are quite expedient. But matters as pressing as the mission of God can’t, and shouldn’t, always wait for the last Sunday evening of the month.

I suppose the New Testament church had some kind of “business” meetings. It seems logical. The New Testament, though, is relatively, if not completely, silent about them. In Acts 15 a gathering of Christians from various congregations and areas was conducted at Jerusalem to hash out matters pertaining to Jewish Christian and Gentile Christian relations and implications of Gentile acceptance of Jesus as Lord. But the issues they tackled were of a more doctrinal nature, and not so much about how one church carried out the mission of God. In fact, it is relatively clear that this “conference” actually transcended common church autonomy.

What compounds the frustration is that often, not always but often nonetheless, calling a meeting doesn’t guarantee things get done. One reason congregational business meetings are so poorly attended is because so little seemingly is accomplished by them. Church business meetings, across the board, don’t have the reputations they do because they are adored. In my almost ten years of local work, in churches both with and without elders, church business meetings are the subject of jokes, cynicism, and a ton of sarcasm. The almost universal consensus opinion about them should speak loudly and clearly to us.

My utmost prayer from having considered these bullet points is that we’ll quit making excuses for why things don’t get done in our churches. After all, excuses are all those bullet points are. God is ready to use us, but will we answer His call?

Several years ago, a number of books were given to me by a friend now deceased. I’ve thumbed through them a bit, but not given them much attention. This morning, though, I grabbed one off the shelf and began to peruse. What I found therein was pure Greatness.

Sitting before me is a book entitled Catch the Dream by Clark Potts. It was published by ACU Press in 1989. It’s a series of thoughts on nature, time, living, God, Satan, judgment, obedience, hope, joy, service, kindness, forgiveness, pride, humility, patience, responsibility, prayer and love. Sounds good doesn’t it? It is.

Here is one of his thoughts on Time.

Ours is an instant world.

We eat instant foods.

He have instant entertainment.

We watch instant news.

We seek instant relief of pain.

And the telephone gives us instant contact with any point on earth. Yet, the really fundamental things cannot be speeded up or slowed down. For example:

…days, months, years (time)

…conception and birth

…deep, long-lasting friendships

…patience, learning, maturity, etc.

But there are those who spend frustrating days and nights trying to spread the “instant” blanket over impossible areas. Those who doubt, ask themselves: “Can we have instant pleasure…or must it be earned and savored like joy and happiness?”

Isn’t this a strange question in a culture that is so bent on pleasure that the minute we feel a pin or are slightly unhappy we pop a pill or drink some joy juice? Can we really have instant relief? Had God put us here on earth to be instant in anything? Is His Creation so drab, gloomy, sad, uninviting, and “yukky” that we seek instant escape?

Maybe we need an instant refresher course in what His dream is for us.

This is so true! We want “instant” results, but some results are derived in an instant. We’ve got to slow down, breath deeply, and be still. The refining process takes time. Trying to expedite processes that take time, only diminishes the good that comes by them.

Bovina Bulletin Board

Now we are getting at something for sure. While not always explicitly expressed, I contend that the “We’re fine the way we are” mentality is at the root of a number of church growth problems. This is simply my opinion, and I’ll own it, but there has been very little to disprove it over the years. Not surprisingly, it’s not until the “off the record” moments, though, that it verbally surfaces. But it doesn’t really have to to be recognized.

Church systems often possess the most significant power struggles of all organizational systems. At times they rival the political. Many churches have long established power bases that do not like to be disrupted. Growth often does that very thing.

Most churches, but not all, tend to grow primarily through swelling. People from one religious tradition move to another area and, naturally, associate themselves with a church from their religious tradition in the new town. This is what it means to swell. Consequently, people new to a church often struggle to fit in, especially, if they are viewed with suspicion. If they don’t dress the right way, carry the right bible, or don’t come from a reputable congregation, this is particularly so.  The same kind of thing applies to those who come to know Christ. The baggage they often bring in with them can be very disruptive as well. They, too, find significant difficulty in penetrating the prominent congregational circles.

Ironically enough, the first century church struggled in the same respects. When Gentiles finally were introduced to the kingdom, the Jewish Christian power base was reluctant to let them in without them conforming to certain Jewish practices. The book of Acts clearly attests to this problem.

The situation at Rome, in particular, is especially germane because its struggles were oriented around division on cultural norms. The Roman church went from being primarily a Jewish church to a Gentile church after the Jews were banished from Rome. When they returned years later, they were disturbed by the norms of the Gentile Roman church. They weren’t doing the right things; they were eating the wrong things; they weren’t do things the right way. Sounds eerily familiar to the modern church. Paul’s solution was Romans 14 & 15. Unfortunately, some of us are just now figuring this out. In the end, blame could be put before the feet of those who possessed a “We’re fine the way we are” mentality.

There are churches that are willing to grow, but only if the resultant growth isn’t going to unsettle the system. Fear causes some churches to be content with where they are. A church of 50 that has been a church of 50 for 50 years might be suggesting something without realizing it. I believe they might be saying, “We’re fine the way we are!” But the lack of genuine growth, too, is saying that God isn’t at work there either. That is a scary thought.