Younger Next Year

Part of vacation is the freedom to read whatever you want, and you know my interest in health and exercise. This past week I read Chris Crowley and Henry Lodge's book Younger Next Year, A Guide to Living Life Like 50 Until You're 80 and Beyond. It was a gift from a couple in my LifeGroup, and I look into those before recommended reading lists. Once I got started, I didn't want to stop.

The authors' premise is that if you slow down and/or stop, you decay. On the other hand, if you continue to move, exercise, and be active you will grow healthy--possibly healthier than you have ever been in your life--and, you can do this into your 80's.

There's nothing radically different in this book regarding exercise ("Exercise six days a week the rest of your life.") and diet ("Stop eating crap!"), but the novelty of their plan is the last two "Harry's Rules:" 6: Care. 7. Connect and commit. Chris notes that "finding the selflessness with you--getting that one right for you--may trump everything else. Caring at every level is one of the most important things you can do in the Next Third of your life." (242) He sounded something like Jesus' call for us to love others as ourselves.

"Harry," real name, Henry, the M.D., explains in evolutionary terms how we are "social and emotional creatures from start to finish." (245) He concludes, "Because of the limbic way we're made, we are not emotional islands. Simply put, we complete each other." (252, author's italics) We cannot make it alone. Be part of a group. Isolation in old age does as much to send us to the grave as to stop moving. Chris entitles a section of his chapter on this rule as "Cuddle or Perish." We need meaningful touch and connection in order to remain healthy.

What intrigues me about this New York Times Bestseller on health is that it emphasizes the need to care, connect and commit as the basis for their program of health. The ekklesia has been touting that message for centuries. (Or, have we?) While the book is purely secular in its approach, those two rules alone illustrate that we need each other and are designed to serve others by design--no matter our worldview. It's how we are made; not a religious suggestion tacked onto the end of your week.


Care. Connect. Commit. I could package those in a three-week message series from the words of Jesus. These two who "hesitate to talk about spiritual matters" (299) don't know how close they are to getting it right.


The book is light-hearted, filled with stories and hope, and ultimately informative. Don't let the evolution-based science deter you, it's good advice. I was encouraged to continue to exercise, eat well, serve, and stay connected in community with others. Wonder how I'll do in my eighties?

Abandon Annually

I heard someone describe a rhythm of rest this way:

divert daily
withdraw weekly
quit quarterly, and
abandon annually

I'm pretty good to divert daily from the stress of ministry either by study or exercise. I withdraw weekly on Saturdays which I guard with my life not to do any thing related to doing ministry. I enjoy being with friends and family--almost all who are part of Legacy.

I stink at the other two. The concept to quit quarterly is to take a two-day retreat from work in order every three months to evaluate and recharge. I have never adopted that rhythm. And, I never abandon annually well.

It's not that I am afraid of the silence and solitude that abandonment brings. I'm afraid of getting behind. I have come to learn that my fear is based on my ego-centric estimate of myself which makes me think I'm the only one that can do all that stuff and my lack of trust in God to get his work done without me. That is, after all, what God called me to do, wasn't it?

I have also found that I tend to fill my vacation days with things other than my routine when I am working. For me, vacation means doing all those things you don't have time to do otherwise. We have scheduled this week to complete our 2008 income tax return (yes, I have filed extensions), clean out the garage (we have not done this in years, maybe 10), and work in the yard and flowerbeds that have grown up since we worked them in the spring. All this while planning our week-long trip to Red River, NM next week and Summer's wedding next spring. (My youngest is engaged! Check out my facebook page for more.)

Along with those projects, I am preparing for the next BH Carroll course at Legacy, the Ph.D. seminar, Jesus and Leadership, I am leading for Carroll next fall, working on a webinar I am doing for The Columbia Partnership, starting my next writing project for LifeBible Study, and looking ahead to August when I return for a month of family worship at Legacy, our fall ministry season, the WCA Leadership Summit, and Legacy's own leadership Saturday later that month. So, who can rest?

My opportunity this next two weeks will be to find a rhythm of rest and release in the middle of all I have been called and chosen to do. The pace will definitely be slower, and I will lay some of those things aside for God and others to do in my absence. In all of it, I will seek to hear God above the dust and noise and in the paths different than those I walk the rest of the year.

How do you do at these things?

Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership

I have finished reading (carefully, this time) Ruth Haley Barton's latest, Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership: Seeking God in the Crucible of Ministry. She observes that Moses, who "did not have a good day in his life," found his leadership strength through his times of solitude and silence with God. From his calling in the solitude of keeping sheep to the regular retreats to the tent of meeting in the wilderness, Moses found his strength and direction from God. Her psychological hermenutic, although pressed in some passages, holds up as she intreprets Moses' leadership strenghts and weaknesses.

Her call to the "sacred rhythms" of solitude, silence, and sabbath challenged my own do-something-you-can-clean-up-the-damage-later tendency toward ministry. I confess her assessment that pastors speak a better game of solitude with God than practice it hit home. I agree with her conclusion that in leading people on mission with God and in spiritual matters is different than leading a business or organization. The issues of leading people to follow and encounter God requires optimum time with the One who called them to lead with Him in the first place. I appreciate the fact she does not try to justify what she gleans from the biblical record with current leadership theory or practice in the marketplace.

Her examples of leading and experiences of leadership ring true to those I have experienced while leading people on mission with God for over twenty years in the same place. My experiences do not validate the truth of her insights, but I can tell you from my perspective she knows of what she writes and what she offers to other spiritual leaders.

I can recommend this book to any leader in ministry. It's not for the business person looking for ways to lead like Moses in the marketplace. Spiritual leadership seldom translates into that arena; and, vice versa, I am coming to believe. Her message is for those of us who sense God's calling on our lives to lead others to Him and in His ways. If you will walk with her through the pages of this book, you will find some solutions to the leadership issues you face.

Have you read it?

Jacob Wrestles with God

Sunday I tried to apply Jacob's wrestling match with God to our own struggles to be blessed by God. Here are some of my observations:

We wrestle with God often out of fear and helplessness. (Gen. 32:9-12)

Jacob divided his tribe into two groups and sent his servants ahead with gifts to placate his brother. He then prayed a prayer born out of fear in which he reminded God of his promises. We pray like this; when we are afraid and reminding God what He said He would do. At least, Jacob is now admitting God--not him--is responsible for his wealth and well-being.

We wrestle for a blessing we realize we can no longer acquire on our own. (Gen. 32:22-24)

That night, with the river Jabbok between him and his brother, Jacob wrestled “a man,” “angel” (Hosea 12), “God” (v. 30). He begged for a blessing he had already received but refused to let go of God until he knew it was his. How often to we struggle with God for a blessing He has already given us as His covenant bearers in Christ Jesus? I find most of my desires for blessing is more out of my ego than my desire to live out God's call on my life.

God sometimes ends our wrestling match by giving us a new name and a limp. (Gen. 32:25-29; 2 Cor. 5:17, 18; 1:3, 4)

God dislocated Jacob’s hip to remind him who was the powerful one. God changed Jacob’s name to remind us who we truly are. His limp meant God is powerful, and I am His servant. Jacob needed a reminder his conniving and cheating was no longer needed when he lived in God's blessed presence.God changed his name from Heel Grabber (I'm in charge) to God Wrestler (God's in charge). Jacob did wrestle with others and God, and he prevailed. So, Israel still wrestles with God to this day.2 Cor. 5:17, 18: reminds us we are a new creation and have ministry of reconciliation as Christ's covenant bearers.2 Cor. 1:3, 4 teaches us our limp of weakness is a sign of God’s comfort we can show others.

I concluded:

Brokenness is a spiritual reality we all must experience as we journey with God. Until that happens we live under the illusion we are in control.

How have you struggled with God? How has your limp served as a bridge to share the comfort of God with others? When was your River Jabbok all-night wrestling match with God?

Jacob, Ekklesia, and facebook

Sunday, I continued Jacob's journey with God as his father-in-law, Laban, chased him down in the desert. Jacob was getting heat from his brother-in-laws and Laban, and when God said to take his family back to Canaan, he did not need to be told twice. (Genesis 31:1-3) When the Jedi Deceiver caught up with his padawan, two daughters and 11 grandsons, he was fighting mad. Not only had Jacob taken a superior flock and his children from him, someone had taken his household gods.

After Rachael deceived her deceiving father and kept the gods hidden, Laban and Jacob worked things out. I applied how they resolved things to the relationships we may have with our fathers or others.

I suggested that sometimes you must put distance between you and those who hurt you. Jacob did just that. (Genesis 31:17-18) Sometimes you have no choice but to get out of town from those who have hurt you so deeply. If that is not the solution, boundaries of engagement must surely be put in place.

I also offered that if those who hurt you pursue you, be honest and seek to heal the hurt. Jacob blew up all over Laban about how he had been treated but sought a way they could part peaceably. (Genesis 31:38-42) When given the opportunity, an honest word with a motive to heal can be the way relationships can be healed.

Finally, I conceded that sometimes all you can do is build a Mizpah in the desert and return to your homes. The pile of rocks in the desert became a boundary between the two deceivers. You may have a two-piece pendent called a mizpah. It records part of Laban's word to Jacob as he vowed not to pursue him further. (Genesis 31:49)

I concluded that we have the cross of Christ that stands between those who hurt us. It is the only way we can be healed and forgiven and to offer the same healing and forgiveness through Jesus to those who have hurt us. Ego want let us do it. Only the love of Christ in our hearts will get us there.

The next resource in the LifeBible Study series is out. It's call Ekklesia: the Unstopable Movement of God. It follows the Story of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles. Check it out. I enjoyed writing the study guide and pray many will benefit from it. You'll see and hear more about this at Legacy in August.

I finally got on facebook this weekend. I have hesitated for a long time, but saw how I could connect with some many people.

I hope it's not just a fad. I'm just getting warmed up!

facebook finally

I entered the matrix of facebook today...I have resisted for some time, but I knew the number of people out there, and I could not resist connecting with them.

So, I will continue to post my thoughts here, but looks like pictures and ongoing comments will go there.

Continue to check in, and we'll continue the conversation.

God's Plan or Our Actions?

Yesterday, I tackled the story of Rebekah and Jacob stealing Isaac's blessing from Esau as part of our new series "Waking Up in Bastrop." I want to chew on that a bit more this morning. (If you missed my presentation, you can go here.)

First, read all of Genesis 27.

As you begin to observe the events in Chapter 27, don't forget two things are already in play . One, God announced before the twin boys were born that the older will serve the younger. (Genesis 25:23) Two, Isaac and everyone else in the family knew Esau had sold his birthright as the oldest son to Jacob. (Genesis 25:29-34)

I mention this because we usually get all over Rebekah and Jacob for their scheming but maybe they would not have done that if Isaac had not tried to give his blessing to Esau, who now did not have the right to receive it since he had sold his birthright to Jacob. Maybe Isaac is at fault (not that we need anyone to be the fall guy when dealing with His-story), and if he had left well enough alone we would not have had this story in the biblical record.

Maybe only when Rebekah overheard Isaac's play to bless Esau did she make her play for her favorite to get the blessing. Either way, we have a theological dilemma because of their actions.

I got an email last week that summarizes this dilemma perfectly:

I've always thought this was so unfair of Jacob and his mother to trick and cheat their [son and] brother. Was the brother an ungodly man? Stealing your brother's birthright always seems so wrong to me. I couldn't understand a blessing that had it's (sic) roots in trickery.

This email expresses what we all wonder about this story. So, what was it? Did Jacob and his mother cheat his brother and take what was not Esau's in the first place? (He had sold his birthright to Jacob.) Had Esau done something so wrong that God would not allow him to be his covenant bearer? How could Jacob's deceit be okay with God? Was it because the 10 Commandments were not in play yet?

Did God look the other way when his chosen covenant bearer, Isaac, was deceived? Or, was God's promise that the older will serve the younger realized in the mother-son plan? Their plan became God's plan.

Finally, would God have fulfilled his promise that Jacob be His covenant bearer in another way if Jacob and his mother had not schemed to qualify themselves by their own efforts? God could have had Esau killed in a hunting accident, and we would not have this theological dilemma before us.

This blog entry is not long enough to answer these questions. However, now that they are posted, chew on them, post some thoughts if you like and I'll be back on Wednesday to give you my take on this.

I do want to assure you that I am convinced that God's promises will happen as they are revealed. What is in question is how does that work out on this side of heaven?