A few months ago I read Donald Miller’s book “A Million Miles in a Thousand Years.” Very rarely do I read 200 hundred plus page books in one sitting, but this was one of those rare moments. Every page I turned was full of highlighting and underlining. I wrote things in the margins. I was transformed by the words and thoughts that Mr. Miller had brought to life for me. It provoked thought about my story. The entire book was about just that. It was continually asking,

“What kind of story are you living?”

I got to the end of the book and that question lingered in me for days, maybe even weeks. But I did what I normally do with a book that I am finished with. I closed it, glanced one last time at the cover and then put it on the shelf with the countless other books I have finished. This book that was so impacting on me was now just a distant memory. The thought of living a better story was just that…a thought. And now that very thought was fleeting. That was until a week ago. I had a friend sit down and share with me a vision that he had about bringing peoples true stories to the forefront within the church. Not the kind of stories that we try to fool people into believing that we are living, but the story that we are actually living. In essence he was saying that it is not until we get honest with the story we are actually living, that we can live out the story we were meant to be living. As I listened to him share this I was jarred back into the reality of that question that rocked me months ago.

What kind of story am I living right now?

I immediately directed him to Mr. Miller’s book. He admittedly told me that he was not a veracious reader by any stretch, and I told him he would not be able to put it down. I was right and three days later he was done reading it and had found the same challenge I had found. So with all that said, I picked it back up and am currently re-reading it. I am again confronted with the question mentioned above. The difference this time is that I am not satisfied to just ask and wrestle with the question. I am not content with letting the question linger on a shelf and no further. My desire is that I would actually live a better story. That the chapters and the content would have lasting meaning and impact on my wife, my kids, my ministry, and the Kingdom of God that I serve. Not only do I long for a better story, but God longs for us to have a better story. In fact he created us for a better story. So today as you read this and wrestle with your story ask yourself this…

WHAT KIND OF STORY AM I LIVING RIGHT NOW?

Now lets conversate…

“IF THE POINT OF LIFE IS THE SAME AS THE POINT OF A STORY, THE POINT OF LIFE IS CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION.”

-Donald Miller in A Million Miles in a Thousand Years-

However…all three of these things show up right next to each other in scripture. Right now some of your just shook your head and condemned me for saying that such things might be in scripture. Don’t believe me…? Turn to Leviticus 18, 19, & 20. You will find very quickly that it does in fact deal with all the above and more. For some reason we read those words together and get offended, yet God makes a point to talk about all of them.

In fact, God sings a similar song as the Sesame Street crew above. The exception is, is that God is saying that in fact all three of these belong here. In fact without one of them the other two will eventually overshadow God himself. So what did I learn in my weird journey through Leviticus this morning.

1. God has a “no off limits” policy with us his creation. If we want to know, he is willing to share. Even when we don’t want to know…God usually shares. I LOVE THAT ABOUT GOD!!!

2. I read Leviticus 18:23 and it says this, “A man must never defile himself by having sexual intercourse with an animal, and a woman must never present herself to a male animal in order to have intercourse with it; THIS IS A TERRIBLE PERVERSION!!!” After reading that I wrote in the margin of my bible these words, “Thought this was a given.” But apparently it was not, because God had to take the time to make mention of it. I even began thinking how perverse a people, that God had to make sure to tell them this. Then I realized that we have done and will do things that God has to say, “STOP DOING____________BECAUSE THIS IS A TERRIBLE PERVERSION!!!” Just because we think it is a given does not mean that it necessarily is. Sometimes God has to spell it out in detail and very explicitly for us to understand what we are not to do.

3. What God really longs for in us is this…HOLINESS!!! In Leviticus 19:2 he says, “You MUST be holy because I, the Lord Your God, AM HOLY!!! If we do not have Holiness we are simply a lost and perverse group of people. If we are not constantly trying to become like God himself we are no more than the Terrible Perversion that God speaks against in scripture. Not to mention that God uses the word MUST here. Implying that this is not optional if we are going to call him our God.

I am amazed at how God uses these crazy laws, thoughts, and topics to simply remind us that all these things are keeping us from the most important thing…HOLINESS!!!

As I read and study Leviticus the one common theme is that God wants and longs for his creation, his chosen people to simply…

BE HOLY AS GOD HIMSELF IS HOLY!!!

What crazy things have you read in scripture that have caused you to stop, think, and change?

We are all walking into parts of life and trying to find our unique voice. We are all trying to let people know that “I am uniquely me”, while in essence we are all simply imitating everyone else trying to be uniquely them. Sure we may in essence ask for less or more of certain ingredients of life, but are we all not simply living life? No matter how you order it up, you and I are all living…well…LIFE!!! You know the interesting thing about Starbucks, is once people find what makes their pallet melt, they usually will not try anything else. For me it is a quad shot americano with four splenda. Nothing fancy, no glitz, but it is me. I like that the barista knows the order before I even let those words dissipate from my mouth. Why I am so afraid of change? Honestly, if I change, maybe my voice will not be so unique. This is what causes us to get comfortable with our order of life. We think that we have it all figured out. People know our name, our order, our voice…sometimes before we ever enter their room of life. If we change our order of life, are we risking our voice not being unique or known. We are risking not liking the taste of the unfamiliar. I mean sure, a pumpkin spice latte life sounds adventurous, but what if I don’t like the taste of this flavor of life as much as I like my quad shot americano with four splenda life? What if it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth? What if everyone else is drinking from a pumpkin spice latte life? Does that lessen the value of my new flavor?

Now you may be thinking what does this crazy rambling about flavor and life really mean? You may even be thinking that I need to stop forcing something to sound witty and creative and just spit it out (no pun intended). Here is the point. Just because your flavor may seem unique to you, someone else is likely drinking from the same flavor. However, everyone of our cups is different. Every ounce of liquid in your life is unique to you. Circumstance may be similar, but it is uniquely you. Think of the coffee. The grounds and the water mix. Even though they come out of the same filter, each one of those grounds is uniquely itself. Each drop comes with a little different make up than the others. So in essence, even though your life may come from the same filter as others, it is still YOU!!!

LIVE TODAY AS YOU!!! DON’T FOCUS ON EVERYONE ELSE’S DRINK TODAY!!! BE THE FLAVOR YOU WERE CREATED TO BE FOR THE WORLD AROUND YOU!!!

We were crushed and completely overwhelmed, and we thought we would never live through it.

In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we learned not to rely on ourselves, but on God who can raise the dead.

And he did deliver us from mortal danger.

And we are confident that he will continue to deliver us.

He will rescue us because you are helping by praying for us.

As a result, many will give thanks to God because so many people’s prayers for our safety have been answered.”

Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:8-11

What more would I want to add to that. Powerful Stuff!!! What does this mean to you?

THROUGH RULES, REGULATIONS, AND RELIGION TO THE

POINT THAT WE BECOME KNOWN FOR WHAT WE ARE TEARING DOWN RATHER THAN

WHAT WE ARE BUILDING.”

//SHAWN WOOD “200 POMEGRANATES AND AN AUDIENCE OF ONE//

It is almost comical at this point.

I pursue

I slip

I stop pursuing

I regain my footing

I climb my way back

I get ready to turn the corner and then…

I SLIP AGAIN!!!

I would love for my journey to be a continual incline that I am ever increasing up. However, a lot of times I make my journeys hill steeper than it really is or has to be and I slide back down to places I should have gotten well past.

The words of Jesus kicked my teeth in today. In John 5 he talks of how the approval of the religious elite and pious means nothing to him.

The reason he says is, “Because I know you don’t have God’s love within you.”

I began to wonder today if Jesus wasn’t screaming that out to me.

I mean…

I love him

I really do

It is just that my actions don’t always reflect my heart. I do the same thing to Jesus that I do to the ones that I love the most.

I deeply love them, but again my actions towards them do not truly reflect my heart towards them. It is so true that we hurt the ones closest to us. I don’t know if it is because we know that they will forgive us, or if we are simply showing our true nature.

So here I sit in a quiet living room.

Kids are in school

Wife is at work

I am here with nothing more than the hum of the A/C

Ryan Adams song “City Rain, City Streets” playing softly

The Word cuddled up to my right side whispering wisdom to my tired ears

And a world out the front door to my left screaming anything but….

Today I long to die to self and am thankful for new mercies each morning. My hope is that I can truly move in the direction of Him today. My desire is that He is enough for me today. My plea is that all of us would realize that He is enough and that even when our actions don’t reflect our heart…we know that He still longs for you and for me.

March 5th, 2009

Today seemed to be that day where it was constant movement. Movement from my bed to the shower. From the house to my kids school. From school to the chiropractor. From chiropractor to meeting. From meeting to meeting. From that meeting to meeting. From meeting to kids school. From kids school to home. From home to mens study. From mens study to friend at Starbucks. From Starbucks to gas station. From gas station to home.

I walk through the door tonight and all I really wanted to do was curl up on the couch and read. Laura was in bed asleep. The girls were dreaming of the things that little girls dream of and I need to unwind. So I grabbed my book, curled up on the couch and drifted into slumber reading all about grace.

A pastor I know recalls a Sunday morning Bible study at his church when the text under consideration was Genesis 22. In this passage, God commands Abraham to take his son Isaac and offer him in sacrifice on Mount Moriah. After the group read the passage, the pastor offered some historical background on this period in salvation history, including the prevalence of child sacrifice among the Canaanites. The group listened in awkward silence. Then the pastor asked, “But what does this story mean to us?”

A middle-aged man spoke up. “I’ll tell you the meaning this story has for me. I’ve decided that me and my family are looking for another church.” The pastor was astonished, “What? Why?” “Because,” the man said, “when I look at that God, the God of Abraham, I feel I’m near a real God, not the sort of dignified, businesslike, Rotary Club God we chatter about here on Sunday mornings. Abraham’s God could blow a man to bits, give and then take a child, ask for everything from a person, and then want more. I want to know that God.”