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!!!

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?

Acts 2:42 They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer.

The early church was devoted to prayer.  I’m not sure how many of us would say that our churches are devoted to prayer.  I recently spoke at Crossroads College and was asked to speak on the topic of devotion.  When I thought of the word devotion it made me think of obedience, commitment, and passion – not prayer.

Barriers

Time: One of the biggest things we seem to waste and one of the first excuses I hear people offer.  When I asked my friends on facebook what gets in the way of them spending time in prayer they offered these reasons:

“ADD culture, very rarely do I sit down and do anything without doing 3 other things.”

“I think busyness gets in the way, but the reality is we should never be to busy for God. Its just the fast paced world we live in.”

“Too much talking and not enough listening.”

I think many of us seem to have the impression that the longer we can spend in prayer, the more spiritual we are.  BOGUS!  Hours on your knees does not mean  you are a more spiritual person.  When Jesus taught on prayer he made it pretty clear that prayer should have a purpose and be focused.

Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not keep on babbling

Plus the actually prayer he modeled for us only takes about 30 seconds to recite… not to say we can’t pray for extended periods of time, but we certainly shouldn’t assume that longer prayers are more spiritual prayers.

We can’t let time be a barrier to communication with our creator.

Guilt: I think there are instances when many people feel they aren’t worthy enough to talk to God.  I’ve actually had people ask me to pray for them because they don’t believe God will hear their prayers. One of  my favorite books of the Bible is Philippians, in it Paul says this about prayer…

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

We know that God wants us to pray and we know that he wants us to live in a righteous manner.  Again the Lords Prayer tells us that God wants us to pray for forgiveness but he also wants us living a lifestyle of forgiveness in our relationships with others.

We can’t allow guilt to get in the way of communicating with our creator.

Fear: Sometimes we are afraid to even ask God because our faith isn’t strong enough.  There are some people I’ve met that don’t know how to handle life when prayers seem to go unanswered.  The truth is that their prayers didn’t go unanswered, God just didn’t say yes.  His answer might have been no or simply wait…

I love 2Timothy 1:7-8

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

God doesn’t promise the easy life for us. When Paul writes these words he’s asking Timothy to join him in suffering. That means we must embrace the spirit of God so our faith is not shaken when God asks us to wait or says no.

We can’t allow fear to get in the way of communication with our creator.

However, most of us would say, “That’s not my life!  I’m constantly on the go! I go to work early, stay at work late, bring work home, rush the kids to school, athletics, piano lessons, and other activities every day, along with trying to maintain a few friendships, hit the gym, and actually try to keep my marriage going oh and you cant forget your family – parents, brothers, sisters and in laws are important too.  Plus I get to bed late and wake up early every day to make it all happen.”

I’m going to let you in on a secret.  Being busy does not lead to fulfillment.  Let me ask you something… If I was to ask you to list your fondest memories, what would they be?

Here are some of mine:

• Family dinners
• Family reunions
• Church activities
• Vacations with friends
• Road trips with my wife
• Personal spiritual retreat

You know what all but one of those things have in common?  Meaningful experiences with other human beings.  For most of us in our daily grind of living – BUSY DOST NOT EQUAL MEANINGFUL.  That is a phrase that’s been sticking in my  head the last few days. It reminds me of Romans 8:5-6

Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

Hopefully you are finding peace in your life this week as you pursue a more simplified, Christ centered living.  Living the kind of life that is ready to trade in chaos for connectedness.  That is a major change that I hope to make in my life for 2011 and I don’t think it will be all that easy to learn, but I’m going to try.

It would be nice if it was that easy.  Unfortunately it’s not, we’ve got people from all walks of life and showing up on Sunday for different reasons.  Some are seeking truth and don’t even know if they believe the Bible is inspired, while others have been devoted followers of Christ for over 40 years.  Still others are transplants and connected with God 6 years ago and they’re beginning to discover how living like a Christian changes their life and impacts some of their decision making, marriage, parenting and finances.

At Hope Summit we’re trying to tackle this monster in the way we structure our involvement opportunities.  We’ve decided to start with our classes we offer, and to be a little bit more intentional is the way we communicate these opportunities.  It is a work in progress and I’m sure we’ll have to make further changes as we experiment with the idea. We’re calling it the “Hope Summit Path” and we’ve broken down our class structure into three tracks.

The New-Comers Path: These are opportunities for people just getting started on their spiritual journey.  Classes that cover an intro to the Bible, basic beliefs and topics like baptism are included in this track to help people acclimate to our church and the Christian faith.

The Explorer Path: This track has classes that are geared for those that are not brand new Christians but also not seasoned in their faith.  Many of these opportunities revolve around what it means to live the Christian life.  How our faith impacts our marriage, parenting, finances, and relationships.

The Adventurer Path: This path contains classes that target those ready for going deep into theology, philosophy, and significant Bible study.  They often require a significant time commitment due to the materials, homework, and additional study.

Base Camp: Opportunities in this category really are geared for everyone.  Our Starting Point class is an orientation to the church while small groups are great environments to connect with others. Pastoral Care is something we want everyone to connect with when in need, and how mature you are spiritually should have nothing to do with getting the support you need in a time of crisis.

We’re looking forward to defining what this means in numerous areas of discipleship and leadership development.  How do you handle assimilation and spiritual growth at your church?

Anne Rice thinks she can.  The famous author wrote a series of vampire novels, one of the most famous being Interview with the Vampire, which was later filmed starring Tom Cruise. Just a few days ago, a frustrated Anne posted the following on her facebook page:

For those who care, and I understand if you don’t: Today I quit being a Christian. I’m out. I remain committed to Christ as always but not to being “Christian” or to being part of Christianity. It’s simply impossible for me to “belong” to this quarrelsome, hostile, disputatious, and deservedly infamous group. For ten years, I’ve tried. I’ve failed. I’m an outsider. My conscience will allow nothing else.

As the comments quickly began to fly on her facebook post she then wrote the following statement a few minutes later:

As I said below, I quit being a Christian. I’m out. In the name of Christ, I refuse to be anti-gay. I refuse to be anti-feminist. I refuse to be anti-artificial birth control. I refuse to be anti-Democrat. I refuse to be anti-secular humanism. I refuse to be anti-science. I refuse to be anti-life. In the name of Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian. Amen.

Do you think there is any value or truth to her claims?  Do you think Anne’s statements help the church or just add to the problem? Do you think someone can bail on Christianity but still follow Jesus?  I’m curious to know what others are thinking…

UPDATE: Here are some comments she made in a video interview on the topic…

Beyond The Misguided Spiritual Disciplines

by Brian Jones

Whenever people talk about moving beyond facilitating conversions to making disciples, someone will inevitably say that teaching and practicing the spiritual disciplines will be vital to making this happen. I couldn’t disagree more.

Years ago Richard Foster released a perennially best-selling book called Celebration of Discipline. In it he outlined 12 disciplines Christians have engaged in over the last 2,000 years to help them live more spiritually abundant lives—meditation, prayer, fasting, study, simplicity, solitude, submission, service, confession, worship, guidance, and celebration.

The church should be profoundly grateful for that book, and profoundly ticked off.

Someone said a person’s greatest weakness is his or her greatest strength pushed to an extreme. That’s pretty much how I feel about that book, and all the other books about spiritual disciplines that have followed. The way these authors take, digest, and push spiritual disciplines in an extreme way adds more guilt and pressure than anything.

No one I’ve ever met who has read the book or others like it feels like he prays enough. Or reads his Bible enough. Or shares her faith enough. Or gives enough. Or worships enough. And on and on and on.

Can Worship Become a Discipline?

Take worship for example.

Years ago I used to frequent a Vineyard Christian Fellowship’s Saturday night service. I was pretty burned out at the time, and I really liked the pastor of the church, so I’d sneak over there every three months or so to get a spiritual shot in the arm.

I’ll never forget the Saturday the worship pastor stood up and told the congregation, “In my prayer time this week God told me that we are supposed to begin taking our worship to the streets. So what we’re going to do is rent a huge flatbed truck, put our entire worship team on it, hook our speakers up to a generator, and drive it through the streets playing worship music and lifting our hands to Jesus!”

That’s just wonderful, I thought, because, I don’t know, people don’t already think Christians are freaky enough.

The problem wasn’t the goal. As stupid as I thought the idea was at the time, I appreciated the desire to get out in the streets. And the problem wasn’t the method. While I’m not sure turning 10 artsy people loose on a flatbed truck with microphones was the smartest thing to do, at least they were trying something. The problem was with their definition of worship.

Worship = singing songs accompanied by music.

What the worship pastor didn’t understand was his people already hit the streets and worshipped every day of their lives. They did it through their work, their attitudes, by the way they washed and waxed their cars, hugged their wives, and cut their lawns.

But more importantly, the bigger problem with the worship pastor’s suggestion was it belied the fact that he had let his American, utilitarian worldview seep into his understanding of what it means to ascribe worth (“worth-ship”) to God.

Worship can’t be “turned on.” People can’t be “led into” worship. Christians are continuously worshipping—24/7—all the time. Through everything they do, say, feel, and give.

Can Spiritual Growth Happen Without Bible Study?

Or let’s take the granddaddy spiritual discipline of them all—daily Bible study.

Many Christians act as though they believe a leather-bound copy of the Bible descended from the sky immediately after Jesus died, rose from the dead, and went back to Heaven. This Bible—complete with the 27 finalized books of the New Testament and Jesus’ words etched in red—was delivered to the church and has been studied in perpetuity by Christians around the world.

The reality is we didn’t have the New Testament in its complete form until AD 367 when Bishop Athanasius of Alexandria listed all its 27 books for the first time.

That’s more than 300 years after Jesus returned to Heaven. By comparison, it’s like Jesus showing up in the Jamestown colony when it had only 75 people in it, teaching, dying, rising from the dead, and then the Bible coming together in its final form this week right before we head out to Applebee’s for lunch.

It’s hard to imagine what it must have been like to be a Christian without a Bible.

One hundred years after Jesus left, it appears some churches had copies of the collected letters of Paul and a Gospel or two, but that’s it. Many had collections with books of debated authenticity that were later ferreted out. No one had a final New Testament like we have today. Whatever copies existed remained in the possession of the local church leadership. No one, it appears, owned his own copy of the Bible for personal “Bible study” unless he was wealthy enough to pay the substantial cost to have it transcribed (cf. Luke 1:3, 4).

Besides, with the high rate of illiteracy among the social groups represented among the rank and file of second- and third-century churches, having a personal copy of the Bible would have been useless anyway. Many Christians wouldn’t have been able to read it.

I bring up all this to make one simple point: the modern-day church places an unreasonable amount of emphasis on studying the Bible.

It’s obvious, from historical observation alone, that one can be a sold-out, fully devout, willing-to-die-a-martyr’s-death follower of Jesus and spend very little time practicing the spiritual discipline of Bible study.

What if one of the reasons we’re so spiritually dead and the church is abysmally failing at its mission to move beyond just making converts is not because we study the Bible too little, but too much?

Instead of being out and about extending the works of the kingdom, Christians are wasting precious time excessively studying the Bible in groups and feeling quite content that if they’re practicing the spiritual disciplines at home, then they’ve done their duty and can call it a day.

Who cares if I never open my mouth and share my faith today? Or forgive those who mess me over? Or share my money with those in need, or my house with the homeless?

All is good. I read my Bible today.

How Does Spiritual Growth Really Happen?

I believe a Christian taking credit for growing closer to God is like a rooster taking credit for the sun coming up in the morning.

Bible study, worship, and prayer are all vital parts of the Christian journey and powerfully aid in creating the context in which God can draw near to us. However, in the vast majority of instances, God makes himself known to us in spite of what we try to do, not because of it.

The spiritual disciplines gurus imply that our personal spiritual growth is something we have complete control over. They’re convinced it’s something we initiate, structure, and maintain.

The reality is if you talk to 100 Christians about where they were spiritually five years ago and where they are today, the vast majority will tell you their spiritual growth had more to do with what God did to them than all their feeble attempts to practice the spiritual disciplines.

Looking back at the last five years, here were the major culprits in my spiritual advancement . . .

Suffering: I grew because God allowed painful things to happen in my life.

God nudged me to get away and listen: I look back in wonder at how many times I heard nothing during my planned prayer time, but sensed the risen Jesus pulling me away to come into his presence during utterly unexpected times.

A friend’s rebuke: Someone I trusted saw something in my life that needed to change and had the gumption to call
me on it. Having friends who obeyed James 5:19, 20 and Galatians 6:1, 2 profoundly impacted me over the last five years.

God caused hurting people to cross my path: I didn’t plan it. I didn’t want it. I wasn’t looking for it. Yet God allowed, caused, or nudged some hurting person to cross my path. And in the process of helping them I grew as a disciple of Jesus.

God’s silence: Looking back, I’m surprised at how much God’s silence, not his speech, produced remarkable levels of spiritual maturity in me.

In Advice to Sufferers, John Bunyan observed, “It is said that in some countries trees will grow, but will bear no fruit, because there is no winter there.” I’ve come to believe that life in the Spirit is the same way.

The corporate worship gathering: It’s become quite the fad nowadays to slight the corporate worship service as an impotent spiritual experience. I couldn’t disagree more. I can look back on countless times over the last five years when God showed up in our weekend gathering: in a message, the Lord’s Supper, a song, or when someone was sharing a part of his pilgrimage.

What do all of these situations have in common? I didn’t initiate any of them.

Does this discount the practice of the spiritual disciplines? Of course not.

But it does, in my mind at least, help us accurately gauge their perceived importance within the conversation about moving beyond facilitating conversions to making disciples.

What the church needs right now are evangelistically passionate disciples, not guilt-ridden, would-be monks.

And in the words of the great American theologian Forrest Gump, “That’s all I have to say about that.”

——

Brian Jones is founding pastor of Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford, Pennsylvania. He’s the author of Second Guessing Godand Getting Rid of the Gorilla: Confessions on the Struggle to Forgive. Learn more about his ministry and writing at BrianJones.com

Saul, hated Christians. He hunted them down, broke up families, threw them in prison, and even had them killed. However, God had a plan and even Saul was not out of God’s reach.

Norman Vincent Peale said,

Plan your work – work your plan. Lack of system produces that “I’m swamped feeling.”

I think we can also get that feeling when we are not grounded in the one thing that gives us a glimpse into the way God sees the world.  Regular Bible reading can not only be a source of comfort during tough times but also a source of direction when making choices and wisdom in daily living. However, when some people look at the Bible the just don’t know where to start and that is where You Version can help. On their website You Version says,

We aren’t just building a tool to impact the world using innovative technology, more importantly, we are engaging people into relationships with God as they discover the relevance the Bible has for their lives.

Technology really has made reading the bible easy.  After creating your account (which is free) you choose your plan and begin the readings for that day.  There are over 20 reading plans to choose from, to view them click here. After you choose you plan you can get started today! They’ve also made it easy to read on the go.  You Version can be accessed easily through your web browser, cell phone, blackberry, and i-phone (or i-pod touch).  They have lots of different apps to make it easy.  So, hopefully you’ll join me in choosing a plan for reading the Bible this year! Here is a video that gives you an idea of how easy it can be…

Michael wasn’t strong enough to rip the strings from the table so he just stood there holding these two balloons tightly, giggling and happy to be holding such a prized possession. He had no idea that there was so much more to the party that he was missing out on. There was another whole world of slides, swings, tunnels, see-saws and wooden towers to explore right next to the pavilion where he stood with a tight grasp on his balloons.

I think at times we do this in our relationship with God. There is some area of our life we think we need, but we are afraid of letting go. We are scared to let go of that something that has got our attention and that distracts us from the awesome deep relational connection he desires us to have with him.

The funniest part of all this is Terri, one of my coworkers, cut the string and he still didn’t realize he was freed from the table! He stood there playing with his balloons never leaving to explore the rest of the party or the playground.

When we decide to do life God’s way (early Christianity was actually called “the way”) we are set free. Much like Michael was set free from the limitations placed on him by the string. We get so engrossed in our selfishness that we are blind to what God has for us in this existence. Sometimes the challenges we face seem insurmountable.  We ask ourselves, “How could God allow these things to happen?” Or our pride gets in the way and we wonder, “How could God let this happen to me? I don’t deserve this?”

When in fact, we really deserve nothing.  Our own selfishness keeps us tied down and blinded to the world God wants to open up for us in the future.  Hopefully I can stop acting like a two year old and open my eyes to the things God wants to show me.