Devotional Life

How would you describe your devotional life? Students ask me this question all the time. It seems like we're in search of the right way to spend time pursuing the Lord. I know my own personality tends to be pretty systematic. I like to know what steps I should do or how I should go about something or how someone else goes about something...though I rarely read the instructions/directions to anything.

One thing I've learned from asking this question is that it seems to be a little different for everyone. A lot of what your devotional life looks like will depend on your personality. Some people are morning people while others are night owls. Some people enjoy being alone outdoors while others enjoy sitting alone in the library or prayer closet, etc. Some people need to have a routine to ensure they are actively pursuing the Lord. In other words, you've got to do what works best for you. Your devotional life might not look exactly like others.

I do think you need two constants in your devotional life: prayer and the Scriptures. We need to commune with the Lord through prayer and we need to hide God's Word in our heart. Whether we spend this time during the day/night or inside/outside we need to be pursuing the Lord through prayer and Scripture. Additionally, I advocate for reading books that stir your affection for Christ and His Word.

I'd also note that our devotional life isn't just an hour with the Lord in the morning or the evening. It's something we need to walk in throughout the day - walking with Him by the Spirit, as we go.

Just for fun...here are two videos I think you may find interesting:

There is too much noise in my cave!

I read the most unfortunate and disheartening verses today in a very brief opportunity of quietness in my life:

“And he said, ‘Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.’ And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire, the sound of a low whisper. And when Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. And behold, there came a voice to him and said, ‘what are you doing here, Elijah?’”

This is an unfortunate text because my life is filled with constant noise. Have you ever stopped to consider how noisy your life is every day? From the sound of my iPhone alarm every morning, to the light going off at the end of the day – nothing but noise. Nearly every morning I wake up to my alarm (with a quick follow-up of the voice of my 1-year-old son, Eli). By the time my alarm goes off in the morning Eli has been asleep longer than he was awake the day before.

I leave my house on most days to meet students for one-on-one discipleship at local coffee shops here where I live – I love this part of my job. I love being able to encourage these young men that God has placed in my life. Sometime around brunch I’ll end up in my office – an office I share with two, sometimes three, other people; people whom I enjoy working with immensely. You can image the noise. Before I know it the afternoon has flown by and it’s home for dinner to see my wife and son. I love my family. I play with Eli for a while and then he’s off to bed. Finally, Cary and I have some time to unwind a little with a sitcom or two. Noise…from the sitcom…not Cary; great conversation with your spouse isn’t noise.

Aren’t all of our days similar to this? Busy. Noisy. Constantly on the go. More than likely we’re doing good things too, right? What about the “still small voice” of God? For a long time I worked hard at stealing time from my schedule during the day for a few moments with the Lord. My spiritual life really became more like multitasking. I recently heard a pastor refer to multitasking as telling the first one to get your attention that they’re not important enough for all of your attention. Wow. My multitasking spiritual life was really sending a message to God that He wasn’t important enough for “all” of my attention. This same pastor said, we get so far away from God that we can’t hear Him or have any sense of Him in our life. We get so far away from Him that we aren’t able to hear His still small voice. We get so busy that we equate busyness for intimacy with God.

I think one of the most difficult things we could do in this life is try and find a place where we can get alone in total solitude. Think about. Where could you go, right now? I’m thinking about my day…1-year-old at home (not asking him to stop acting like a 1-year-old!), share an office with 2, sometimes 3 people (can’t ask them to leave)…ideas? I could rent a hotel room for myself…expensive. I could yell fire somewhere to force everyone else to leave, but that feels like a bad idea! I can’t take a retreat into the mountains everyday…I still have to go to work.

So what can I do? I’m constantly amazed to hear about the spiritual giants of church history and their tenacious pursuit of God, men waking up before the sun to pray and read Scripture. Luther once wrote about his need to spend 2 hours a day in prayer before the Lord. These stories make me wonder…how tenacious am I? How tenacious are you? Do I really want to make time for God? Am I keeping Him at a distance, willingly? I can’t control a lot of the noise in my life...some of it I wouldn't change for anything, but I can get up before it starts.

"There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful, than that of a continual conversation with God. Those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it." -Brother Lawrence

God came to Elijah in a still…small…voice.

What is the Gospel?

Restoration and Redemption

Liberal/Moderates want us to embrace people at the cost of a literal interpretation of Scripture. Just take a look at the headlines…they’re filled with a soft gospel and at least some level of tolerance toward sin. On the other hand, Fundamentalists seem to forget what it means to struggle with sin. They expect others to line up and look the part…at least on the outside…and they extend very little mercy to those who are in an ongoing struggle to overcome sin.

This week I read a blog by Donald Miller. The blog topic was about homosexuality in the church and how it should be handled. The author went on a rant about how the church seems to adopt the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” military policy when it comes to homosexual temptations and church leaders boast about a Bear Grylls masculinity which isolates those struggling with sexual identity. The author’s main conclusion was, “Got a struggle? Talk about it. If people condemn you, move on to actual followers of Jesus who will not.”

The immediate response from the 100+ commenter’s seemed to fall along the line of tolerating sin at the risk of being intolerant. While I agree with some of the author’s points we need to remember to uphold the Scriptures regarding sin.

The bottom line…we should love people while we’re walking alongside them with a literal interpretation of Scripture…giving them room to be honest about their struggles to overcome sin. Too many times we belittle the struggle and therefore mock those who are struggling. When we do this we close the door on opportunities to minister to people.

Consider these words from Al Mohler’s blog regarding the suicides of four teenager boys connected to disclosures or struggles with homosexuality, “When gay activists accuse conservative Christians of homophobia, they are also right. Much of our response to homosexuality is rooted in ignorance and fear. We speak of homosexuals as a particular class of especially depraved sinners and we lie about how homosexuals experience their own struggle. Far too many evangelical pastors talk about sexual orientation with a crude dismissal or with glib assurances that gay persons simply choose to be gay. While most evangelicals know that the Bible condemns homosexuality, far too many find comfort in their own moralism, consigning homosexuals to a theological or moral category all their own. What if Tyler Clementi had been in your church? Would he have heard biblical truth presented in a context of humble truth-telling and gospel urgency, or would he have heard irresponsible slander, sarcastic jabs, and moralistic self-congratulation? What about Asher and Billy and Seth?”

One church’s motto I’ve read recently goes something like this…”It’s okay to not be okay, but it’s not okay to stay that way.” We’re to love people and take their struggles seriously, but that doesn’t mean we’re to sit back and let them be. After all, the Gospel is “repent and believe”.

If we know someone who is struggling to overcome sin we shouldn’t gloss over his or her struggle. We’re called by Scripture to come alongside them and walk with them toward freedom from that sin. In his blog Mohler continues, “We can only look at this news account and grieve. As Christians, we just have to wonder. Was there no believer to befriend Tyler and, without loving his homosexuality, love him? The homosexual community insists that to love someone is to love their sexual orientation. We know this to be a lie. But no one who loves me should love nor rationalize my sin. The church must be the people who speak honestly about sin because we have first learned by God’s grace to speak honestly of our own.”

1 John 5:18, “We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

When is the last time you had a friend call you just to ask how you were doing?

When is the last time you called a friend and asked her if she needed to talk?

When is the last time you were open and honest with someone about a struggle?

A few things we need to remember: All Christians struggle with sin: 1 John 1:8, 10. Sometimes we fall in our struggle against sin: 1 Corinthians 10:13. But, those who indulge in continuous unrepentant sin are not true believers:1 Corinthians 6:9-10.

The church is called to be a place of restoration. We’re called to lift up the Gospel of redemption and lift up people as well.

When our agenda is about anything else…I’m afraid we’re missing it.

I recommend reading Mohler’s blog post I referenced above.

Save Blue Like Jazz

Save Blue Like Jazz from Save Blue Like Jazz on Vimeo.

Brilliant Discussion

The following is a brilliant discussion between Francis Chan, Mark Driscoll, and Joshua Harris. I think Mark Driscoll's question regarding Francis Chan's view of sanctification regarding his recent decision to step down from Cornerstone Church is such an important topic facing the church in general. With the recent publication of "Radical" by David Platt, the church is being forced to deal with the balance of wealth and poverty in western culture. The error of the prosperity Gospel also exists in the poverty Gospel. What if God wants to bless you with wealth instead of poverty? God is for our sanctification whether he blesses us with wealth or places us in the middle of poverty. The issue in being blessed with wealth is our generosity with our wealth. Sometimes we fight against the things God might be using for our sanctification. We shouldn't seek poverty for the sake of poverty or wealth for the sake of wealth. We should see how God wants to reveal our need for sanctification in the middle of every circumstance. The problem in the church is our lack of real generosity.

Another brilliant topic of discussion in the video is the idea of discontentment in the church. Should we all just leave the church and start something new if/when we grow discontent? I think too many church plants are being planted by boys who got their feelings hurt and want to go play by themselves. We need church plants, but we need them to be planted by men who are called by God to plant. There is not shame in in being God's man in an existing church. We don't just leave because we think it would be easier to leave and start a new thing. We shouldn't make a move until God does something in our heart.

What's Next for Francis Chan? A Conversation with Mark Driscoll and Joshua Harris from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

Me Monster Minister

One of my favorite comedians has to be Brian Regan. If you've not seen his stuff you should spend a few hours unwinding with him on YouTube.



I was recently reminded of this particular video after a few friends attended a gathering where they encountered what Regan refers to as a "Me Monster." The "Me Monster" is a person who explicitly or implicitly can't help but talk about themselves. Regan's act is based on the explicit type, but I think the implicit type is a growing blind spot so it seems.

It's been a few days, but after watching this video over and over again with a few friends in my office I feel compelled to write a little about how I've seen Regan's "Me Monster" manifest itself in the life of those who serve in the ministry. (Not a particular minister mind you.)

Regan points out how the need for "one-upmanship" seems to be a part of the human condition and the human condition certainly doesn't get cast aside when you serve in vocational ministry. Let me just go ahead and say that I know there have been times when I too have been a "Me Monster." I'm certainly not writing about this issue from the outside.

I've seen the "Me Monster Minister" syndrome manifest itself in the desperate need for validation. We need a Ph.d., we need to be published, we need a jammed speaking schedule, we need commercials and bill boards. The explicit "Me Monster Minister" craves lights camera action so it seems.

I think the formula for "Me Monster Minister" is at least one part self fulfilling narcissism, one part desperately seeking validation to overcome low self-esteem, and at least one part lights camera action for reasons not entirely known to me other than we like to think much of ourselves.

The most subtle form of the "Me Monster" is the implicit kind. We all have the ability to sit down and point out the explicit "Me Monster" but the implicit "Me Monster" is harder to detect. This implicit leek is like a subtle smell that can be hard to pick up on for a while. First it disguises itself in jockeying for position and it's kept implicit when it's accompanied with applause as a result of some level of success or natural ability. It's even drawn out of us when we receive any level of affirmation from those we look up to and admire. The "Me Monster Minister" begins to believe his own press so to speak. Finally, the "Me Monster Minister" syndrome can be so implicit that it doesn't show itself until one "Me Monster" begins to get more press than the other. It takes one to know one...sometimes.

Humility in ministry isn’t so common. The two most humble guys I've served under are Jack Graham and Ronnie Deal. Both of these men have the highest profile in their church as lead pastor and both seem to be so comfortable in their calling they share their pulpit along with other roles and seek to affirm others rather than hold everything to themselves. Nearly everyone of their church members love them and feel empowered by them because they know these guys love the Lord and aren't allowing the "Me Monster" to breath in their lives.

Think about it this way: If we really believe that God is for us - should we spend so much effort trying to be for ourselves? The "Me Monster" says we need too because God isn't working on my time table or at least He's not doing it big enough.

Finally, a call to humility and prayer. "Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!" (Psalm 139:23-24) “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” (James 4:6)