Digital Wilderness

Donald Miller has some insightful thoughts on How to Get Confidence From God.

I told a friend recently that if he wanted to gain confidence as a public speaker, he should practice. I told him to just accept any invitation, large or small, and get some hours down.

He thanked me but also mentioned he wanted his confidence to come from God, from his faith. He wasn’t being snooty or anything, trying to passively let me know what a great Christian he was, because if he’d been doing that, I’d just have shrugged my shoulders and let it go. But my friend was being genuine.

The truth is, though, he could have all the faith in God he wanted, but if he really wanted confidence as a public speaker, he’d need some hours. God wasn’t going to grant him confidence. Even Moses had absolutely no confidence. And God even stopped the mans stutter. It was experience that gave Moses confidence.

The funny thing is, if you wanted to be a locksmith or a plumber or a cab driver, you’d never pray and ask God to magically give you the ability. That’s not how God designed life. But in those fuzzy areas of emotions, we suddenly believe God is going to act like a magician.

The Christian faith is a practical faith. God employs experience in order to teach us, to develop our abilities. And even then, He is more interested in the interaction He has with us in the process than He is in teaching us anything at all. God is not our boss, He is our Father. The whole world is an educational playground God is using to bring you toward perfection, to raise you as His own child.

If we believe God is a genie with a wand granting wishes and doing magic tricks, we don’t understand the God of the Bible.

God gave David confidence keeping lions from his sheep, then killing Goliath, then running a country, God did not give David a country and then instill in him magical confidence.

It is very difficult for us Americans to believe in the God who guides us through educational experiences. Advertising teaches us that if we invest something, we get magical products that solve our problems. But God is more interested in being with us, than in entertaining us from a stage.

Are there contradictions to this? Absolutely. But there aren’t many.

I have a pastor friend who, for a while, decided to stop preparing his sermons. He’d just read the Bible and pray all week, and then get up on Sunday morning to preach. He quit after a while because everybody thought his sermons were terrible.

The truth is, if you do the work and gain the experience, you’ll have more confidence because you’ll actually know what you’re doing, and you will have spent some great time with God.

Love this new song by Leeland – Follow You (with Brandon Heath)

Listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

You lived among the least of these
The weary and the weak
And it would be a tragedy for me to turn away

All my needs you have supplied
When I was dead you gave me life
How could I not give it away so freely?

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the world

Use my hands, use my feet
To make your kingdom come
Through the corners of the earth
Until your work is done
‘Cause faith without works is dead
And on the cross your blood was shed
So how could I not give it away so freely?

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the world

I give all myself
I give all myself
I give all myself…to you

And I give all myself
Yes, I give all myself
And I give all myself…to you

And I’ll follow you into the homes that are broken
Follow you into the world
Meet the needs for the poor and the needy God
Follow you into the World

Here’s the official video:

A couple passages from Donald Miller’s newest book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.

It’s interesting that in the Bible, in the book of Ecclesiastes, the only practical advice given about living a meaningful life is to find a job you like, enjoy your marriage, and obey God. It’s as though God is saying, Write a good story, take somebody with you, and let me help.

I was interviewing my friend Susan Isaacs after her book Angry Conversations with God came out…Because so much of her book talks about relational needs, relational fulfillment and unfulfillment, one of the questions asked was whether she believed there was one true love for every person.

Susan essentially said no. And she said that with her husband sitting right there in the audience. She said she and her husband believed they were a cherished prize for each other, and they would probably drive any other people mad. But then she said something I thought was wise. She said she had married a guy, and he was just a guy. He wasn’t going to make all her problems go away, because he was just a guy. And that free her to really love him as a guy, not as an ultimate problem solver. And because her husband believed she was just a girl, he was free to really love her too. Neither needed the other to make everything okay. They were simply content to have good company through life’s conflicts.

What if God had text messaged the 10 Commandments? It might look like this:

1. no1 b4 me. srsly.
2. dnt wrshp pix/idols
3. no omg’s
4. no wrk on w/end (sat 4 now; sun l8r)
5. pos ok – ur m&d r cool
6. dnt kill ppl
7. :-X only w/ m8
8. dnt steal
9. dnt lie re: bf
10. dnt ogle ur bf’s m8. or ox. or dnkey. myob.

M, pls rite on tabs & giv 2 ppl.

ttyl, JHWH.

ps. wwjd?

[HT: ChurchCrunch]

Fiery sermon from Mars Hill Church’s pastor Mark Driscoll. It’s from the sermon Marriage and Men, part of the Trial series from 1 & 2 Peter. Driscoll loves to yell at men, especially in their treatment of women. This is just one example of that.

Via Josh Harris: Scripture for E-Mail, Blogs, Twitter and Facebook .

Psalm 141:3
Set a guard, O Lord, over my keyboard;
keep watch over the door of my send button!

James 1:19
Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to read, slow to reply all, slow to click send.

Proverbs 10:19
When blogging is abundant, transgression is not lacking, but whoever restrains his keyboard is prudent.

Proverbs 12:18
There is one whose comments on blogs are like sword thrusts, but the comments of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 14:7
Don’t follow the Twitter feed of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.

Proverbs 12:23
A prudent man conceals knowledge, but the Twitter feed of fools proclaims folly.

In this third installment [of ABC Nightline's Face Off], philosopher Deepak Chopra and Bishop Carlton Pearson will face-off against Pastor Mark Driscoll of the Mars Hill Church and Annie Lobert, founder of the Christian ministry “Hookers for Jesus” about the existence of the Devil.

It airs tonight at 11:35 but is online now:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/FaceOff/

Here are a few blogs posts I’ve been meaning to share but hadn’t gotten around to…until now.

Via Get Rich Slowly – Defeating Temptation: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Tempted to Buy. (read article for full post)

• When will I use this?
• Do I have another one like this already?
• If I buy this, where will I put it?
• If I buy this, can I pay cash?
• Can I buy a good-quality used version for less?
• Do I know anyone who already owns one I can borrow?
• Can I wait to buy this?
• Why do I want to buy this?
• Are there better options available?
• What would my wife say if I bought this?

Perry Noble writes on Four Reasons People Have Moral Failures.

Several months ago I did a post entitled, “Pastors, keep your penis in your pants” that generated a lot of interest. One of the main follow up questions I received as a result of that post was, “Why do pastors (people) have moral failures.” I believe there are four main reasons…

#1 – No Personal Boundaries

Call me legalistic…but I am a FREAK about particular personal boundaries…such as…

* I do not ride in a car alone with a woman other than my wife!
* I will not be on an elevator alone with another woman. (I have literally gotten off on a floor that was not my destination in order to keep this value.)
* I will not counsel a woman alone.
* I will not share a meal in a restaurant with a woman with it being just the two of us…under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES! EVER! (And PLEASE don’t hand me that crap about how it is “business!”)

Those are just a few of the examples…but the bottom line is this men…YOU CAN’T HAVE SEX WITH A WOMAN IF YOU ARE NEVER ALONE WITH HER (unless you are an absolute freak…which is another issue altogether!)

Too many men have sold their ministry down the river just to have an orgasm…it’s not worth it men–we’ve GOT to make tough decisions now and be willing to experience some “inconveniences” for the sake of the Gospel!
BTW…my wife absolutely LOVES the fact that she is the only woman I am ever alone with!

#2 – They Think That Temptation Will Never Overcome Them!

One of the Bible verses that has ALWAYS stuck out to me on the issue of temptation is I Corinthians 10:12! Here Paul warns us to always be careful…because the minute that we think we have a particular sin mastered…we are in danger of that very sin actually becoming our master.

#3 – They Stop Pursuing Jesus.

One of the things I know is true about everyone of us is that we cannot pursue Jesus and sin at the same time…and if a pastor is trying to get in the pants of a woman who is not his wife…then he cannot claim that his eyes are on Jesus!

This is why I believe time in the Word of God is essential for anyone who wants to keep a pure heart! Men…we are CALLED to pursue Jesus…and doing so will always lead us away from sin, not towards it!

#4 – Stress

When a man pastor experiences a time of intense stress and anxiety he is way more vulnerable to be lured into sin.

Pastors…we’ve GOT to take the fourth commandment seriously (that would be the one about rest!) We’ve got to take care of ourselves emotionally, spiritually and physically…neglecting these things allows us to become an easy target of the enemy!

I believe that many times pastors and ministry leaders will allow the stress and anxiety of ministry to catch up with them so much that they see a “moral failure” as an escape of the life they feel enslaved to.

One of the things ALL of us need to keep in mind is that the church is HIS bride…not ours. There is no need to stress if we believe He is completely in control!

My prayer is that there would NEVER be another pastor to choose to fail morally! (I hate it when people say a pastor “fell into sin!” THAT HAS NEVER FREAKIN’ HAPPENED–EVER!!! Moral failure is NOT a sin that happens to us…we make it happen!

Men, I want us to make it…to keep our eyes on Jesus! PLEASE, if anyone is struggling in this area and feel like you are about to sin…GET HELP! PLEASE…talk to someone! (Many pastors will not do this because they spend WAY too much time trying to BE the Messiah rather than leading people to HIM!)

Stuff Christians Like: Favorite Post #10. Not Knowing Which Meals to Pray Before.

SCL Guide to Food Prayers:
1. The Stand Up Rule
If you have to stand up while eating, you don’t have to pray. Regardless of what you are eating, standing up makes the food feel very light and insignificant. It’s impossible to cut anything while standing too. You end up just spearing chunks of fruit or meat awkwardly while trying to keep the plate from tipping over onto the carpet, further upsetting the hosts whose dog you just made urinate on the couch because you got it too excited at the Christmas Eve party. That just got personal, but trust me, no prayer required here. Use this easy rhyme to remember: “if you can’t sit, prayer forget it, if you have to stand, God understands.”

2. Wedding food
This rule actually works for any big event where one person prays for the whole room. Listen carefully to that person’s prayer. If it’s good, dig in. If it’s a little weak, you better double up and pray for yourself just to be sure. No offense to the other person, but it’s better safe than sorry. Plus, it makes you look extra holy which is never a bad thing if you’re single and trying to meet a bridesmaid.

3. Drive in
This actually depends on which fast food restaurant you go to. If you go to Chick-fil-A or In-n-Out you probably don’t have to pray because those are Christian restaurants and the holiness is applied like barbecue sauce to the food items. You’re covered. Taco Bell, Burger King and other restaurants are questionable. At the bare minimum, turn your back in the car while they use that bean and guacamole gun at Taco Bell and say a prayer. Chances are you’ll need it. (By the way, if you’re partaking in Taco Bell’s “Fourth Meal” or the food they feed you between dinner and breakfast, you better pray. Lots. You’ve just introduced a grilled, toasted, roasted, 17 layer, bean bandalero to your stomach at 2 in the morning.)

4. Progressive Dinner
A progressive dinner is where you travel with people from house to house having one course at each. The question is, where and when do you pray? Is it before the first house or at each house? Good question. I pray at the beginning and then at each house that serves something that might need a little God. When I used to be a bag boy at a grocery store we called it “spot mopping.” You didn’t mop the whole floor, just the few areas that needed it. Same thing applies here. If one house has a fresh mandarin spinach salad, hold the prayer. If the next one has some sort of homemade sausage that may or may not be squirrel, you better start praying.

5. Gas Station Snacks
Nougat? No prayer. Beef jerky? Depends. If you do regular jerky, no problem, you don’t have to pray. If you do that jerky, cheese marriage thing where there’s a tube of orange cheese spooning the jerky, you better pray. Or if the logo on the bag is a guy in overalls or a barrel with rope suspenders, you should pray.

6. Before or After Appetizers
The best way to get a waiter or waitress to come to your table is to start praying. They’ll materialize out of thin air like some sort of prayer interrupting phantoms. I suggest praying in the parking lot before you get in the restaurant. That way, you eliminate any possible chance of the staff trying to crash your prayer party.

7. Eating contests
I weigh about 160. A few years ago, a coworker challenged me to an eating contest at Fuddrucker’s, a hamburger joint. I accepted and ended up doing just fine in the “1lb throwdown.” I was able to stomach a one pound cheeseburger without a problem. But then he suggested we do a “2lb showdown.” Have you ever seen two pounds of meat on a plate? It was gross. It was like eating two 1lb meat Frisbees. I finished it, but ended up getting the meat sweats and eventually throwing up at work. I am dumb. If you ever find yourself in an eating contest, please pray. Constantly.

Not that I have any experience in this area – far from it actually – but these insights from New Spring Church pastor Perry Noble, one of my favorite preachers, seem dead on. They’re from his new sermon series I Want a New Marriage.

• “Singles, if you think marriage is easy, you’re wrong.”
• “Marriages are in trouble because couples don’t talk to each other anymore.”
• “If you like it, you should have put a ring on it.”
• “You and I can’t hold our spouse accountable for unspoken expectations.”
• “Women, you’ll speak the truth about your husband, but you won’t speak it to your husband.”
• “The Bible isn’t a request from God. The bible is God’s commands to us.”
• “You need to talk about ‘it’ or you’re going to be in deep ‘it’ before the day is over.”
• “The consequences of concealment are much greater than the consequences of confession.”
• “How much time does your wife need to feel important? Ask her. No one can coach you better about your wife than your wife.”
• “Your job will not define you, but your legacy will.”
• “Is there anything you need to talk about? Is there anything you need to change?”

Via Tony Morgan.

Wow, I saw the following post a couple weeks ago and it really got to me. I couldn’t not post it… Before reading it, first check out Perry Noble’s post Advice For Single People. Specifically, the post to which I’m referring seeks to explain the follow point from Perry’s blog:

single men – treat all single ladies with respect (& as a friend once told me) lead her away from the curse

The Curse, from Shane Duffey (emphasis mine)

I have received many questions in regards to the phrase, “lead her away from the curse”. What does that mean? What curse? The following is an attempt to explain the wisdom that a friend shared with me:

Genesis 3:16
To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing;
with pain you will give birth to children.
Your desire will be for your husband,
and he will rule over you.”

This whole verse is the curse. The specific part to which I’m referring is the second part, “Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” Shouldn’t a woman desire her husband? On the surface that seems appropriate and good. The only problem with that is that God is calling it a curse. So, this desire is something different from a holy desire that a woman should have for her husband… instead, it’s a manipulative, controlling and insecure desire to possess a man and either make him her slave (to worship her) or her idol (for her to worship). So a guy who allows a relationship in which he is the primary desire of the woman has not “led her away from the curse”.

A guy will be naturally be drawn to the outworking of this curse… I mean any guy will love the “he will rule over you” part. But, the man’s responsibility in a relationship should be to point the woman to Jesus… not himself and if he isn’t careful he will place himself in the position in which only Jesus belongs. If that happens, then a woman will be drawn further into the ills of that curse and that plays right into the very thing that appeals to a man. He can get what he wants. Because a woman who wants to own a man and makes him her primary desire will fall under his rule and then do whatever it takes to keep him… potentially to the extreme of giving up her body.

To complicate matters (as if a curse from God isn’t enough) most guys battle low self esteem and high levels of insecurity. So a guy who isn’t conscientious about leading a lady away from the curse will easily start to seek power over her. What I have seen is that a man who flirts with any girl that catches his eye isn’t really seeking affection as much as he is seeking power. This is to combat what he lacks in his view of himself. Even a guy with good intentions will be drawn into the curse and actually start to enable it because the lure of power is strong. That is multiplied when that lure is on the lips of a girl who, because of the curse, will make him her ultimate desire.

Practically, for a guy this would mean he needs to measure every word and he needs to be bluntly honest all the time. He must expect that a lady is a victim of the curse and know he can make it worse… or better. A guy can be a stumbling block by simply being passive and allowing the lady to do what she will do naturally, place her desire for the man above her desire for Jesus. Even on a date, a man should be measuring his every word to make sure he’s not placing himself in Jesus’ place and thereby leading the lady toward the curse instead of away from it. Because, if he views himself as desirable to the lady he may not place forth the effort necessary to serve her and conversely, if he has too low of a view of himself, he will say and do things to sweep a girl off her feet. Either way he ends up leading them both further into the curse and misses out on an opportunity to actually get to know who she really is by focusing on her character.

There you have it… I hope this helps.