The study also comes with a daily devotional that has you interact with it three times per day. Morning, noon, and evening but only for a two to five minute thought.  It really is designed for someone with a busy schedule, and I love this fresh approach.  The devotional reading today was a great reminder. It asked me to make a list around three areas of my life: my possessions, my skills, and my identities.

My posessions – house, vehicles, bank accounts, etc.

My skills – teaching, leadership, administration, etc.

Identities – husband, father, pastor, etc.

Then it asked this question, “Are you willing to sign this over to Jesus?” There is actually a line for you to sign your name. Such a great reminder of God’s expectations.  I share some of my thoughts in the video below…

The solution for me has been to get strategic with my goals.  You can get strategic with your new year’s resolutions this year.  The key is not in creating the list, its in stratigically planning how to accomplish the goals on the list – the “when” and “how” these things get accomplished.

Here are a few examples of popular goals I’ve heard people set over the years:

1. lose 20 pounds

2. read the entire bible

3. get out of debt

Great goals! However, just putting them on paper (and even reminding yourself regularly by posting on your refrigerator) is not enough to accomplish anything on this short list.  Each of these goals requires Preperation, Accountability, Planning, and Action – (PAPA – a goofy way I remember).

As an example lets take goal number 3 Getting Out of Debt and strategically figure out how to make this goal a reality.

1. Preparation:

We can’t even begin to approach a goal until we do the research. You have to research your goal and it may require some self-evaluation.  In this example… How much debt do you have? How soon can you get out of debt? Is 1 year realistic or does it have to happen over 2-3 years? Are there programs, groups, professionals, and resources you can seek out for help? Researching your goal and what is available to help you acheive it is key to getting started.

2. Accountability:

Preparation you can do on your own, but an important part of self-motivation is TELLING SOMEONE. We need accountability to keep us going, to stay motivated, and it goes beyond just telling someone.  Give someone permission to ask you the hard questions. Let someone far enough into your daily life so they confront you when you get off track.  It’s not easy because it requires transparency, and a high level of commitment. It means you might get embarrassed from time to time when you fail or make a mistake, but if the person holding you accountable is a true friend or mentor, they will help you get back up and continue pushing forward toward your goal.

3. Planning:

Once you’ve got someone to hold you accountable and some research under your belt, what’s your plan? What are the small goals that will help you achieve the greater goal and when does it need to happen?  Fortunately, for the debt illustration that are some great plans in place that you can take advantage of and hit the ground running. Programs like Financial Peace University that will help you implement a custom financial plan to debt freedom.  Putting the extra time into the preparation phase can help you in the planning phase of managing goals strategically.

4. Action:

After the planning is finished GET STARTED! Action is the most important part of setting goals. So many people get stuck talking about their goals or researching possible solutions and never get anything accomplished.  Before you know it next year will have come and gone and the same goal will be on your list. Sometimes its helpful to have someone take action with you. When one person isn’t motivated to continue the other can pull them along.  In the debt illustration – have a spouse work with you, or a friend that has the similar goals.  Accomplishing the same goal with a friend or family member can be fun and provide the extra motivation you need to be a person of action!

Now make some strategic resolutions!!!

Each week the team prepared a different Beatles song and I tied the lyric into our life and the events surrounding the birth of Jesus.  Often our culture is willing to bring up tough issues and ask really good questions, especially in music and media. However, culture doesn’t always provide us with the answers to those questions. That is where we as Christians look to the Bible for those answers.

Last Sunday the band at Hope Summit sang “Let It Be”, written by Paul McCartney in 1969.

The popular lyric says,

When I find myself in times of trouble, mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom let it be.

Until a short while ago, I always thought mother Mary was referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Actually the Mary that McCartney is speaking of is his own mother, her name was Mary and the night before he wrote the song she appeared to him in a dream.  Apparently the timing of the dream was a stressful time for the band, and Mary died when McCartney was very young.  The dream gave him great comfort and inspired him to write the song.

The lyric goes on to say,

Yeah, there will be an answer, let it be.

There are many challenges we face in life, and there is great suffering in our world. The responsibility we have as people of faith is to let others around us know that there already is an answer! We have to show others around us that Jesus is that answer.  When Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the temple Simeon immediately recognized the identity of this special child, Luke 2:28-32:

²⁸ Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,
you may now dismiss your servant in peace.
³⁰ For my eyes have seen your salvation,
³¹ which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:
³² a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and the glory of your people Israel.”

Simeon immediately recognized God at work. He knew it was beyond his desire for a Messiah to return and saw that Jesus was also for the Gentiles. Take some time to recognize God at work in your life, and share that message with others this Christmas. There already is answer!

The last two weeks have started off as a powerful experience for me and for our church.  It’s resulted in visitors, life change for believers, community, and even some baptisms.  I’m looking forward to what God does next! Take a look at one of our first videos below.

About a week ago I was talking with some staff and volunteers at the office and our Facilities Manager politely interrupted and said, “Frank, there is a young woman here that would like to speak with a pastor.” So I quickly stopped what I was doing and made myself available. Typically when situations like this occur (someone needs some sort of immediate food or financial assistance) I refer them to someone on our staff to receive assisatance, but this conversation went in a little bit different direction. This gal didn’t really ask for anything. The conversation went a little like this:

I introduced myself, we sat down in my office and I said, “What’s up? What brings you in today?”

She replied, “I don’t really know why I’m here. I’m having a rough time right now, things just aren’t good. I haven’t been in a church for a long time but after leaving school today I felt like I should come in. Kinda weird. ”

“How old are you?” I asked.

“18″

“Oh, tell me about this rough time”

She continued, “My mom just got evicted from her apartment, took my son to Nebraska, and now I’m homeless. I’m working and trying to finish High School at the same time.  It’s hard as I’m just beginning to figure out where I can get help. I don’t want to go with my mom.”

“Why don’t you want to go with your mother?” I asked.

“Trouble.” She replied, “Lots of trouble, and here in Rochester I haven’t had that happen. Since I’ve been here I haven’t had a run in with the police at all.”

“Well, I’m glad you stopped here, sometimes God uses difficult moments to show us something different about ourselves, or point us to something new,” I answered. “I’d like to introduce you to Kevin, he’s one of our pastors and he’s been here a lot longer than I have. He’ll know some other places with the resources to help you get on your feet, finish High School, and move forward with your life.”

Then she stopped me in my tracks and firmly stated, “Hang on, I don’t even know why I’m here. This is probably just another dead end, I should go.”

“You HOLD ON,” I said. “Maybe there is a reason you’re here. Look, the church is exactly what I think you need. I don’t know how I would have handled my challenging moments with out a church family. If you want this to be a dead end for you today that is your choice. You can walk out of here today and it will be a DEAD END. The church is all about having God’s people with you when you can’t handle life alone. You said your mom is in another state. Mine is too! My brother’s are in California and Hawaii and my parents live in Florida. If it weren’t for this church I’d feel completely alone here. If you make the decision to be a part of what God is doing right here, I can tell you that your life will change. You will have people that will be there for you to celebrate success and listen or pray with you through the difficult times. Just like the challenges you’re facing today. What does that sound like to you?”

“Hmmmm…” she paused a while and quitely said, “That sounds like… that sounds like hope”

“I’m glad to hear you say that,” I replied. “That just happens to be the name of our church!”

I then handed this young woman my card and she stared down at the logo for a few moments. As her eyes began to water up she said, “Whoa, that’s weird.”

We talked for a bit and I introduced her to some of our staff that was around that afternoon, I sincerely hope that this young woman allows our church the privilege of helping her find her way in life. It would be great to get the chance to demonstrate who Jesus is and how God can change her life.

How has God been using you as an instrument of hope?

A friend once asked me, How can you believe my great-grandparents who brutally suffered and died in the Holocaust won’t go to heaven just because they didn’t believe in Jesus? They were loving, God-fearing people.” I didn’t have a good answer, and the lack of an answer that sounded loving and moral troubled me immensely.

I think many Christians feel like Brian does and he does a great job sharing his story and the tension he’s felt about this topic. He also walks you through how it has impacted his faith today as a spiritual leader.  You don’t want to miss this book!

If you missed the interview with Pat Robertson you can see it below:

There are three key elements that go into every Summit Kids event: Faith, Friends, and Fun.  Exactly that happened at Kids’ Camp this year.  Our kids sang some great songs learning about God and heard from the Bible each day as Mandy and Jeff taught our lessons as the story of Jonah came to life with the sea creatures in our drama. Adults and Children made new friends each day as we laughed, played games and served together and as you can see in the video below it was TONS OF FUN! Special thanks to all our volunteers that made it happen!

[slickr-flickr tag="picnic"]

1. Reaching The Community

First, people hear the message of Jesus.  There were so many new faces that showed up this weekend, friends that were invited, families visiting town, plus those that found us on the web, radio, and newspaper.  I heard one story about a mom who lost her son when he was hit by a car this winter.  She was invited by a close friend to the family thant knew it has been months since she’s left her home due to the loss.  Hopefully, the experience this weekend gave her hope but one thing we know for sure… she came because she was invited.

2. Creating A Community

The second benefit is events like this create community.  There were about 50 people in the cast and crew this weekend.  50 wonderful people that laughed, cried, and worked together for months to pull off this production as a service to our church and community.  But while it may serve our community it also creates community.  There were many new friendships developed and old friendships strengthend as a result of the experience.  Creating short term volunteer opportunities in the church are also great for helping new Christians meet seasoned vets.  I spoke with one volunteer who had only been attending Hope Summit for about a year.  They were so grateful for the experience because of all the new relationships they’d formed during rehersals.

We need to be strategic with our church calendars so we reach and create community.

Here are a few photos from Alive Forever 2011

When we look to the gospels and how Jesus used prayer we can see that it was very much a lifestyle.  He weaved prayer into his relationships, ministry, family, and friendships.  Here are four things we see Jesus do to maintain a lifestyle of prayer:

1. Jesus Prayed For Others

Matthew 19:13-15

¹³ Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. ¹⁴ Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” ¹⁵ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.

Praying for people is a big deal.  It’s unfortunate we don’t act like it is important as we say it is.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen, heard, and been told, “I’ll pray for you.”  Someone will share a need and make themselves vulnerable and we walk away!  Sure we’ll say, “I’ll pray for you” and that phrase somehow gives us permission to walk away and forget that there is someone who shared pain in their life.

In the verses above a group of children approached Jesus for prayer and the disciples tried to get rid of them.  Not only did Jesus demonstrate a love for children but he also showed us how important it is to pray for others.  How different would your relationships look if you stopped and prayed for someone right in the moment, instead of walking away?

2. Jesus Prayed With Others

In Luke chapter 9 Jesus is predicting his death.  After he shares this news with his followers we see he continues to pray.

Luke 9:28,29

²⁸ About eight days after Jesus said this, he took Peter, John and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray. ²⁹ As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.

Jesus knew the value of praying with others. I think our churches know this too, many churches gather for corporate prayer as a part of worship, but do you do this as a part a normal day? Praying with someone is different then praying for someone.  In order to make prayer a lifestyle don’t just add it on your to do list so you can check it off like another task.  Build prayer into your lifestyle.  That means taking a hard look at the relationships you already have and including prayer in them.  In the above verses Jesus took Peter James and John with him to pray.  These were relationships he already had in his life.  Not some task on a list.

3. Jesus Prayed Alone

Luke 5:12-16

¹² While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” ¹³ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. ¹⁴ Then Jesus ordered him, “Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.” ¹⁵ Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. ¹⁶ But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Sometimes life can get hectic.  When I get home my kids want my attention, we’ve got a full family calendar, I want time with my wife, there’s so much work at the office that I’ll never catch up.  Life is always hectic.  That’s why prayer is essential!  Jesus knows what a busy life looks like and we see that in the verses above and in other stories where he’s completely surrounded by people as they learn of the miracles taking place in his presence.  What does Jesus do? He withdraws to be alone with God.

Find a place away from family, away from friends, away from work, away from distractions and just be with God.

4 Jesus Prayed Regularly

Luke 5:16

But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Jesus did this often! Prayer was a regular part of his life.  There is no doubt that jesus merged the prayers on his knees with the life that he lived. It was natural for him and the relationships he maintened to include prayer.

As followers of Christ we should be pursuing his likeness.  If you could sit down with him and review you’re the last two weeks of your daily schedule, what word would he say to describe your prayer life? Often? Sometimes? Rarely? Almost never?

The wonderful thing about prayer is that as long as your breathing there is always time to change!  You can begin right now and the next time you read through the gospels start looking for the moments where Jesus uses prayer and think about how you can pray more like Jesus.