I believe that  kingdom excellence is not contingent on achieving perfection; however, perfection does play a significant role in excellence. You can be excellence without being perfect.

What I’ve come to realize is that the kingdom perspective of perfection is that although perfection can never be attained by our human effort, it must be our goal nonetheless.

By striving for a God’s standard of perfection that is never within our reach we must acknowledge our utter reliance on God. Furthermore, we are able to see the expanse that separates our best effort from God’s perfection and it is then that we begin to recognize the enormity of what Jesus Christ has done for us by achieving perfection in our place. We see that God is both just and merciful. We are set free from ourselves because we do not hold on as tightly to our own success or failure.

It is only when we are freed from the illusion that we can achieve perfection we receive the power to try.

Kingdom excellence means hungering for perfection. Kingdom excellence means constantly striving for perfection in a way that reflects the truth that it is Jesus, not me, who has attained it. Kingdom excellence is trying my best and when I get knocked down, kingdom excellence is the power to get up and try again.

I am grateful for C.S. Lewis for his understanding of this and his unique ability to explain it to me:

We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity — like perfect charity — will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. Very often What God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.

– C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

My sister has fought depression and anxiety pretty much her entire adult life. It’s not my place to share the details but it’s been pretty intense at times and for many years I have played an active role in trying to help her.

Depression is an ugly thing that steals the light and the beauty from God’s creation.

I don’t want what I’m about to talk about to be misconstrued as a commentary on what causes depression. Nor am I endorsing or discounting different types of treatment; the merits of one treatment over another should be determined by the patient, their doctor, and their loved ones. Over the years, we tried some things work and others that were disastrous.

To me depression is a lot like diabetes in that some core problem(s) creates a series of additional problems that become intertwined and become increasingly difficult to treat. With depression, these problems aren’t just physical, they affect you mentally, spiritually, and socially.

I believe that a the root of all of the factors that contribute to depression is that fact that because of sin we are separated from God. We were not designed to be separated from God and as a result we are physically, mentally, and socially out of whack. Depression is just one of the many afflictions where this is affect is magnified to debilitating proportions.

The cure? No, that’s bad terminology. The resolution is God’s final redemption of creation achieved through Jesus Christ who bore our sin and all of its effects in order to free us from its bondage. When will that happen, no one knows. Until then, the hope for healing begins with faith in Jesus. Only the Gospel of the Kingdom of God has the power to create any real transformation in this life.

Why am I writing about this? Because I see the desperate need for Gospel transformation in my sister’s life. Over the years, I have seen her put her faith in false god after false god, relying on the empty promises and temporary relief of everything from medication to relationships as her hope for relief. And every time, without fail, these things fail her. And each time her misplaced faith is shattered, it leaves her more and more despondent.

She’s going through it again. She (like many people) falsely believes that a child will provide her the joy that is missing in her life. I know what that feels like. I idolize my children; it’s a constant struggle for me to not let their importance in my life become an ultimate thing.

Why am I sharing this here? Because I can’t keep it inside. Right now I am being tossed around like a rag doll by life. And that’s okay. It’s frustrating and exhausting but it’s okay. I love my sister and I know deep down that she needs to hear the truth about God. The God who loves her so much that he became man, endured hurt, betrayal, fear, abandonment, torture, and death. And more over, that man willingly gave up his perfect union with God, the source of life and love, enduring a hell far greater than anything she or I or anyone will ever experience. All so that she can be restored to the fullness that God created in her and for her. That is the truth that she needs to hear.

It’s so much easier to write it here than to say it out loud. Let alone to actually say it to my sister.

Maybe part of my hesitation is that I know that whatever I say won’t make her depression go away. It won’t make her life any easier. The challenges of this life will still exist. I feel (and have always felt) pretty helpless to relieve her suffering.

But she will no longer be a slave to life’s suffering. It is freedom that I need to share with her. How can she find relief is she isn’t free.

So, friend(s), if you pray, would you mind praying for my sister? Pray for her heart, that life would be born again within it and that life would flow throughout the rest of her body and her life. Pray for her husband too. He’s a good guy.

And would you pray for me? Pray that I wouldn’t be such a chicken and a brute. Pray that I would claim the power that has been given to us and that the Holy Spirit would work powerfully through me however he will to bless my sister.

Thanks.

p.s. Having people in your family who suffer with depression is particularly worrisome when you yourself are going through rough times.

While I can say that while I never lost faith through all of it, I definitely lost momentum… and frequently lost my bearings. So that’s where we are right now, sifting through the aftermath of this past year and focusing on moving forward. It was good to re-read this, just because it reminds me that what is the most important thing I can do this year is to focus on Christ – making sure my all is centered in Him: my sight, my attention, my hope, my identity, my love. I know that if I do, everything won’t just fall into place. But if it does, or if it doesn’t, it will be good because I will be Christ’s. And Christ will be mine.

This is fear of sucess. Or of failure. Or both. I desire the safety of mediocrity where no one asks, or rather, expects anything of you.

But that is not where I am called to. I know this: I am called. Kaleo… yet, I want to hide. I am Adam, hiding in the garden covering my shame.

That is what this is: an attempt to reclaim the freedom that I (we) was created for. The recognition that the enemy wants me defeated, ashamed, broken, and, thus, useless… unable to serve, a barren tree. Fruitless. That is what this is about, rendering me lame and crippled (at least deceiving me into thinking that way), so that even though my Savior has said to me (gently, patiently, stooping low to pick me up) “Stand up and walk,” I would doubt.

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, “Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?” Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God! Your playing small doesn’t serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We Were born to maifest the Glory of God that is within us… and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” — Nelson Mandela

This is truth and this is my confession. I am a sinner. I am made in Glod’s glorious image. I am made beautiful. Yet I am broken. Yet I am healed by God’s grace! I withdraw into my brokenness and cling to it as my protective garment. I claim a truth about myself that denies the Lord the chance to clothe me in His righteousness.

Father God, this is my confession:

I am a perfectionist.

I procrastinate.

My mind has difficulty resting.

I am fearful.

I lust.

I do not work hard.

I get mad and bitter toward others who do things in the fields I feel called to serve.

I am not a good steward of my time.

I expect loss in my life and fear it.

I get anxious about money.

I get anxious about interacting with people who have hurt me.

I seek my own solution instead of trusting Your providence.

I am proud.

I consume way too much, way too fast.

I mock and make fun and tear down.

I do not love selflessly. I do not love well.

Father God, this is my prayer: that I would be in Christ just as Christ is in me. I pray that I would die to myself, to my sin, to this world, so that I may live and love unto you and unto others with all my heart, mind, body, and soul. Amen.

I was using people in order to forge my own self-appreciation. I was looking to my sacrificial ministry to give me the sense of “righteousness before God” that should only come from Jesus Christ. People make idols out of money, power, accomplishment, or moral excellence. They look to these things to “save them” — to give them the sense of purity, value, and acceptability that only Jesus can give. In my case, I was using ministry (and my own people) in this way.

Our Sin Lens Imply a Path for Redemption

Keller makes a great point here. Each lens through which his sin was examined implies a path to redemption. When his behavior was examined relative to the Law, the implied path of redemption is to change his behavior to bring it inline with the Law’s standard. When the behavior was set against the backdrop of self-interest, the implied path of redemption is to change his behavior to bring it inline with that self-interest. Both of these efforts fell short of their intended goal. The appeals to the law resulting in incremental changes, but the core problem was not addressed. The appeals to self-esteem were empty because Keller was already focused on what he thought made him happy.

It is only when the behavior is looked at against the backdrop of God himself is the true sin revealed. What happened was that Keller examined his heart was that he looked past his behavior. And what he was was not God. Instead he saw his sacrificial ministry where God should have been. This is the core of idolatry, something is put in the place of God. It doesn’t matter if that thing is inherently good (like ministry) or inherently evil, elevating it to the level of importance greater than or equal to God is sin. Keller calls these things Counterfeit Gods. When we truly examine ourselves, we must look into our own hearts and see what is behind our behaviors, our motivations, and our desires. Our hope is that we would always see God there.

No Path But Jesus

But if we are honest, we know that we don’t. We are sinners and we often fall short of God’s standard. But we are not without hope, for examining our sin against the backdrop of God himself also implies a path to redemption. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who is God, became a man, lived a perfect life, died the death that we deserve, and rose from the grave defeating sin and death and evil forever. Unlike the other two examples, when God is our lens redemption does not involve our own effort.

Seen through the law, the solution was for Keller to change his behavior. Seen through appeals to his own self-interest, the solution was to focus on what Keller deemed important. Seen through God, only God is the solution. We can not bridge the gap between us and him. This is why we need Jesus. This is why Jesus came.

Be Jesus To Me

I had the thought the other day that as we endeavor to grow, to learn about our faith and explore the mysteries of our relationship with Jesus Christ, we often become isolated from those who have not or do not study the issues of Christianity as much as we do. Everything from the complexity with which we explore issues to the language that we use separates us from others.

In light of this, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to distill the essence of a life of Christian faith and service in such a way that despite any situation I can know if I am appropriately oriented towards others the way that Christ calls me to. How to express how I am suppose to serve others?
Note: Jesus already answered this when he was asked which was the greatest commandment:

³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷Jesus replied: ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” –Matthew 22:36-39

What I keep coming back to is:

BE JESUS TO ME

This approach is simple, yet the power and truth in that phrase is amazing.

I am broken. I need a Redeemer. I need Jesus. You are the Body of Christ.

BE JESUS TO ME

On Monday, Molly Piper (who I met at the Christian Web Conference earlier this year) posted a powerful story of how a friend was Jesus to them through the simple act of reading a book before he gave it to them.

It’s not my story to tell so you should definitely read Molly’s post here.

What you see is that this gentleman willingly took on their pain, did not shy away from the unknown, did not avoid their suffering. Because he loves them.

This was no quick-fix, at-arms-length gift from someone who didn’t know how to handle someone like me. He had decided very consciously to enter into our pain, into our hell, even just for 184 pages. But that decision meant more to me than almost anything. It was a decision to love.

You see the power and love in this man’s gesture. Now imagine the love that must have driven Jesus to endure infinitely greater suffering, suffering that was not His to bear. What love must it be that He willingly sacrificed Himself, was tortured and died nailed to a tree — our suffering, our pain.

Do you know that Jesus Christ, God Himself, loves you so much that he entered into your pain, into your hell, and not just for 184 pages but to the extent that He was completely separated from God, so that you might live? Do you know this? Who do you know who needs to know this? To experience this love? Be Jesus to them.

The world is broken.

The world needs Jesus.

We ARE the Body of Christ.

Be Jesus to me.

Loose talk can cost lives.

Last week, at the end of a long day, I wrote about my experiences in lower Manhattan on September 11, 2001. Writing it was a surreal experience for me, no real goal in mind, it just started coming out me and onto the screen. I didn’t edit it. I didn’t polish it up. I did try and add something prolific at the end, some commentary that would show how profound the feelings I was expressing were.

And though what I wrote was true, I really don’t think September 11th is about me. That’s one of the reasons why I have a hard time thinking about and talking about it. Sure, I feared for my life that day in a way I never had before and never have since, but for me, one of the hard things about September 11th is how I feel distanced from it.

Part of it, I think, is self-preservation, my inner-psyche is minimizing/compartmentalizing/transferring my experiences so that I don’t have to reconcile the tragedy and impact of being that close to such violence. I recognize that that is definitely the case.

But I also think there’s something else and the best way I can describe it is something like “survivor guilt” (though not as extreme). I find I’m having more and more difficulty thinking about what I experienced on September 11th as (for lack of a better term) noteworthy. Which doesn’t mean I diminish the experience or the affect it’s had on me. I just feel like I walked away from that day really no worse for the wear, especially when compared to tragic impact that day has had on thousands upon thousands of victims and their families.

I lived.

I was not hurt.

I was not in the direct path of danger.

No one I know was killed or injured.

The violence of that day did not touch my life anywhere near the way it has for the 2974 victims and their friends and families. I got off easy.

And so over this past week (especially on the eighth anniversary of the attacks) I find myself reacting negatively to most of the commentary or personal recounting of the day. This feeling particularly came to the surface tonight when I saw two things (via social media).

The first was someone posted on Flickr a photo set of images from September 11, all of which showed the damage and chaos of that day and the following days. The second was an article pondering what September 11 would have been like if today’s social media tools had been as available and popular back then. I’m not including links to either of these because the point in writing this is not to call them out or admonish them.

***Before I get to the point, let me say: It is self-righteous of me to judge anyone’s intentions or methods for acknowledging, memorializing, or even expressing interest in September 11th. I confess this as sin and am grateful that Christ’s love washes me clean.

The point I want to make is this, both of the things I saw tonight focused on aspects of September 11th which, though interesting, detract from the tragedy of that day. Neither site so much as mention the loss of thousands of lives that occurred that day.

In this era of increasing social media usage, the goal of generating and linking to unique and engaging content may cause people to lose sight of what is truly significant about the things they commenting on. And since the power of social media is its ability to spread content to great extents, the chances of our content being seen by someone who has been profoundly touched by something like September 11th. We must not become desensitized to events by the media we use to share those events. By doing so we might touch a wound or cause some pain with our carelessness.

I’m not advocating censorship or saying that social media is bad. All I am saying is that as servants of the Kingdom, it is important that we watch what we say.

Matthew 12:36-37 (English Standard Version)
I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Image: http://flickr.com/photos/adrianjmoss/504318642/

I’ve been thinking a lot about this in the context of strategy, well honestly I’ve been thinking about it in the context of a lot of things: life, relationships, entrepreneurship, parenting, ministry… because DON’T BONK is great advice for anyone who strives to create impact in the world, be it in your community, the  marketplace, or your own home. It’s advice that is especially poignant and pertinent in my life right now as I run the race that has been laid out for me.I am a husband, a father of two children under the age of two,  an elder in my church, and starting my own business. See, I have decided to live a life of significance and I believe that I am called to make a difference in whatever roles God has called me to. And right now that means serving his Kingdom in my family, in my church and community, and in the companies and ministries that my company serves. As anyone in similar roles would tell you, each is a lot of work and takes a great deal of time, energy and effort to do well.

Believe me, the demands of doing all four at the same time are often overwhelming. My effectiveness is under constant attack from the demands and chaos that come with the territory as a father, as a husband, as a business owner, as a servant of the Church, in addition to the physical drain that comes from responding to those demands. On top of all of this, the enemy preys on my position and is constantly beleaguering me and my wife, tempting us and doing everything in his power to distract and separate us from the one true Source of life and power from which any impact I have in any of these areas comes.

I read recently that Alcoholics Anonymous advises its members to avoid becoming hungry, angry, or tired in order to avoid succumbing to the allure of alcohol and backsliding. I believe that this wisdom applies not only to resisting the temptation of alcohol but to all sins. I have noticed that my ability to meet the demands of my roles, to faithfully endure, centered in Christ and (very simply) be steadfast in my faith is seriously compromised whenever I am hungry, angry, or tired. I confess that I frequently succumb to my own sinfulness because I lack the energy to push through. I BONK.

For me, the conundrum is knowing what I can do about it (and having the energy to do it). And though there are a number of things that I can and will give attention to that create a conducive environment for faith to be sustained, I think the one thing that is most important and upon which any other bit of advice would be based is knowing that Christ endured far more in our place.

I am constantly learning the extent of the truth in Christ’s words in 2 Corinthians 12 “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” .  So remember these things as you try and fail or as you struggle to keep up with the whirlwind of demands facing you or when you are hungry, angry, tired:

Christ has claimed victory over everything

Sin, death, evil, failure, frustration, exhaustion. Christ’s perfect life, death on the cross, resurrection from the grave, and ascension into Heaven have broke all power of this world over you. Rest in His grace.

You are not able to or supposed to be perfect in this time.

Sin still exists and you are still sinful creatures. Christ alone is perfect and it is His perfection alone through which we are made righteous. Do not view this as license to be imperfect. We are called to be perfect. Just remember whose power enables any and all good that you can do.

Focus on avoiding becoming hungry, angry, or tired.

Said differently, do not give the devil a foothold in your life. Spend time with God, through prayer, through worship, through study of the Word. Prioritize these things so that there is not room for doubt or lies to take hold in your heart. Faith, the power to endure, is a gift from God. Do not shut off the ways He has given us to come to Him and receive it.

Christ has called us into community so that we do not have to suffer through hardships alone.

We have a Great Counselor who is with us. We need to have a community of fellow believers who can lift us up, bear our burdens, preach love to us. Do not foolishly think that you are alone.

Boast in your weakness because it is in these times that Christ’s power is most visible and most beautiful to the rest of this world.

Do not hide from failure. Do not pretend to be something that you are not. For our weakest moments can be the greatest opportunity to be a witness to Christ’s love. Imagine what it would be like to suffer and not be assured by Christ’s love. Your weakness can be an opportunity to bring you close to others who also suffer, but suffer without hope. Letting others see Christ’s love shine in you in your times of weakness will help them to see that the light is missing from their own lives.

Shine on. Don’t bonk.

“You will live with an awareness that the Father not only loves you, but likes you.” –Brennan Manning

The Furious Longing of God by Brennan Manning

The beauty of Brennan Manning’s books is the vividness and the intensity with which he presents his message. And that message is the simple yet profound truth that our God, the Supreme Being, loves us. Loves you. Loves me.

Well, duh. Right? You’re probably thinking, “I know God loves me; I don’t need to a book to tell me that!”

I disagree. I think we need to hear this message over and over and over again. And there are a number of reasons.

The point

First – Christianity as it is taught in a number of churches gets this but doesn’t necessarily get this right.

God’s love for his creation is a core tenet of Judeo-Christian teaching. Yet a good portion of Christians have glossed over the importance of this fact and in doing so have made the Gospel about something other than God’s redemption and restoration of a people (whom He loves) to his Kingdom. Without an understanding that:

…what God has done in creation,

…what He has done through the Old Testament,

…what He has done through Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and ascension,

…what He continues to do through His church,

…all of history!!!

ALL starts with the fact that GOD LOVES PERFECTLY and WE are the OBJECT of that LOVE.

- devoid of this truth, Christians reduce God to what Manning calls “a small-minded bookkeeper”, “a policeman with a club”, or “a whimsical… thief who delights in raining on our parade.”

Second – not everyone gets this.

The idea of a God that is both transcendent and immanent, just and merciful is revolutionary. Let alone a God that is personal and that is loving. Manning points out that the fact that God condescended and entered into human history demolishes “all previous conceptions of who God is and what man is supposed to be.” This is the power and attraction of Christ, that he became man, made himself nothing so that we would be made right with God. It is through this act that God grants us forgiveness.

It is through this act that God’s demand for justice is filled. It is through this act that we are humbled and sin’s power over us is broken. Only grace bends the knee of the powerful and the weak alike. Christ’s ultimate act of love for us and trust in the Father is the power through which we are made a new creation and secure everlasting fellowship with our Creator. The Father’s love is the promise of life everlasting. The Father’s love is what we put our faith in. The Father’s love is the power for transformation. The Father’s love is the light that shines throughout this dark earth.

Third – no human loves as perfectly as God does.

We are still marred by sin, living in an imperfect world. Our best efforts at love fall incredibly short of the love that Manning dedicates this book to. Compared to the “furious longing of God”, our love is weak, empty and far from perfect.

I am constantly reminded of this as a father as the love I have for my two children, although it is far greater than any love I have ever experienced before, a love that assures me of my willingness to sacrifice even my life for my children, this love has it’s boundaries. When I find myself being impatient with my children or fed up at any minor thing, I think about God. I think about how patient he is with me. I think about what it would be like to know every single thing that my children would do wrong in their lives before they were even born. How would I react? Would I love them less? And it is in these times that I am amazed at how perfect God’s love for me is.

This is why I read and reread Brennan Manning’s books. Because if I understand God’s love framed by my own capacity and capability at love, then I run the risk of my faith being seriously constrained by complacency. My own ability of love is not revolutionary. It is devoid of all power and it will ultimately fail me, leave me empty and withered. We should all dedicate our lives to seeking a better understanding of God’s love, striving for purer experiences of God’s love, and endeavoring to live out God’s love more and more. The Furious Longing of God is a good place to start.

What to expect from the book

The book is short (144 pages). Each chapter presents either 1) describes a different aspect of God’s love for us; 2) discusses the implications both personally and for the church; 3) celebrates God’s love through anecdotes, prayer, or quotes from other writers; or 4) gives a brief glimpse into Manning’s past through which he paints a compelling picture for both sinner and saint alike (Manning is both a recovering alcoholic and priest… he makes no distinction between the extent of his depravity in both periods of his life).

Manning’s writing style is very poetic. There were a few sections of this book that felt extravagant, as though he was striving to craft each sentence perfectly and ended up using strings of words that left me feeling dizzy and unsure exactly what he was trying to say. That being said, part of Manning’s power as the deliverer of this message is his ability to elicit emotion responses to what he puts forth. And given just how amazing the message is, I am more than willing to let his words wash over me, sinking deep and resonating deep within my heart. The things that Manning says always just “feel” true. And for that I am grateful.

Implications for a Kingdom Strategist

The truth that Brennan Manning tells in The Furious Longing of God is central to the work of every Kingdom Strategist and all servants of the Gospel. As Paul says in Ephesians 3:17

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.“

Our unique perspective on Kingdom issues and ability to see where the church is headed depends on our being “rooted and established” in God’s love. For it is only from within the security of God’s profound, world-changing love that we are able to “make plain to everyone the administration of this mystery.” (Eph. 3:9)

For unlike traditional strategists, we do not creating Kingdom strategies. Our King has done that, he has laid the paths. Our job is to lead others to those paths. We are God’s servants and it is by His grace alone that we are able to serve. The strategies we build MUST flow from a center in Christ’s love. Or they are not Kingdom strategies. “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:2)

Brennan Manning says it like this on page 125 in his chapter “Giving”"

The gospel is absurd and the life of Jesus is meaningless unless we believe that He lived, died, and rose again with but one purpose in mind: to make brand-new creations. Not to make people with better morals, but to create a community of prophets and professional lovers, men and women who would surrender to the mystery of the fire of the Spirit that burns within, who would live in ever greater fidelity to the omnipresent Word of God, who would enter into the center of it all, the very heart and mystery of Christ, into the center of the flame that consumers, purifies, and sets everything aglow with peace, joy, boldness, and extravagant, furious love. This, my friends, is what it really means to be a Christian. Our religion never begins with what we do for God. It always starts with what God has done for us, the great and wondrous things that God dreamed of and achieved for us in Christ Jesus.

As the body of Christ we are Christ’s envoys to the world today. His rescue mission is our rescue mission. Tonight I got a first hand look at a broken, shriveled, and hardened heart. The kind of heart that only the pure and perfect love of Jesus can heal.

I participate in a ministry every Thursday night called EMS (short for Elementary and Middle School). We provide dinner, playtime and Bible lessons for about 50 kids in our neighborhood. Tonight one of the boys came in looking for a fight. During playtime he got in the face of one of the leaders for no apparent reason. During the lesson, things just blew up and he had to be escorted out. Fortunately a fight did not happen but this kid was made. And when his dad came to pick him up he was mad too, and he yelled at one of the leaders.

It was scary and sad and maddening all at the same time. And to see the hurt and anger rooted deep in this boy’s heart reminded me why we do this. I am a Kingdom Strategist, I am in my God given glory when I am working with organizations creating strategies for improving their ministry and service efforts. I work with strategies, ideas, principles, trends, research, organizational design, programs… conceptual tools for coordinating the efforts of multiple people. But none of it is effective if I am not humbled and constantly reminded that my heart was once broken, shriveled, and hardened too. And every Kingdom strategy, no matter how creative, is empty if it is not rooted in the very truth that only the free grace of Christ can pour love into the hearts of those we seek to serve.

Father God, thank you for Your grace which is the power to heal my heart and others. Please work powerfully in the lives of the young men and women of EMS. Pour your love into their hearts and in their lives that they may be redeemed. Amen.