Be sure to check out this special from 60 Minutes on The Global Orphan Project. Moise and Joe are dear friends and important partners for Long Hollow and our continued efforts to care for the orphans of Haiti and around the globe. Join with us as we seek the advancement of the Gospel through the care of these people. I can't wait to get back in country. I'm leading a team back soon. Let me know if you're interested in going with us.
Carrie, the boys, and I are at Beach Reach for the next two weeks. I'll be speaking in our worship services each evening. If you aren't familiar with Beach Reach, HERE is the skinny. In short, it's a gathering of hundreds of college students committed to sharing the love of Christ to other Spring Breakers.
In our first week alone (3 total weeks), our teams provided 4,931 free van rides while also serving 4.240 free pancake breakfasts. In addition, we have teams involved in ministry on the streets, participating in an all-night prayer experience, and more. Jesus is central to all we're doing. And it's cool to see these students reflect His love with both the spoken gospel and lives that meet the needs of the world around them.
You can also view our worship services live at 7:00 pm CST.
I was excited to receive an email from Sarah Cunnigham a few months ago asking me to participate in the blog tour of her new book, Picking Dandelions. Sarah is a popular church and conference speaker, the author of Dear Church, and a contributor to several other books, including unChristian. She also is a high school teacher, part-time college prof, wife, and chief servant to their nine month old, Justus.
Rather than just telling you about the book, I thought it would be fun to do a Q&A with Sarah and she kindly agreed. Check it out.
So, Sarah.. the title is called, "Picking Dandelions." I personally prefer tulips. Is it too late to make a title change?
What we could do, maybe, is photo copy clipart of a tulip and paste it onto the cover of your copy of the book. People don't pick tulips quite as much either, so you may have to alter the title too. Maybe like...Smelling tulips.
Man. Smelling tulips does have a nice ring to it. If only I had gone that direction, this book would be on the best seller list for sure.
Seriously, can you tell us a bit about why you've titled it this way and what the book is about?
When I sat down to write about my faith, I had to think of a way to explain how my conversion worked. It wasn't a dramatic conversion that pulled me out of alcoholism or something. Which is good. Because I was like four. And at that age, at least for me, conversion was a simple, sort of carefree act where I pressed my life into God's hand, kind of like a little kid might give their parent a dandelion.
I relate to the dandelion too. Its an intense flower, it brings wonder to children, but at the end, it still has the characteristics of a weed. I'm that way too. I'm very driven, I've been told a thousand times I have a child-like sort of wonder about me, but in the end, I'm also a flawed and dysfunctional human. Like the dandelion, I have had to evolve and grow in ways I never expected.
Why did you feel compelled to write this? And why now?
My Christian life has been marked by moments of revelation that spark some sort of new understanding of the faith.
One of those moments happened while I was sitting on my porch, reflecting on my life. And I realized that I had somehow adopted a sort of faith that allowed me to live years and years without changing or transforming as a person. And I was pretty sure that meant I was doing something wrong. Because even following a person, following Mother Theresa around for a few months, for example, would've changed a person. So how could a person stay the same while following God...especially for decades?
I had to get to the bottom of that. Writing the book helped me do that.
The book is a memoir. How do you think God uses everyday happenings to establish larger themes in our life? What are some of the themes you discuss in the book?
I think everyday happenings are everything. Everything, man. When your alarm clock goes off, you wake up and you decide how you're going to spend that day. Will it be aligning yourself with God and his purposes? At the end of the day, you reflect back at whether your heart and spirit really tracked with God that day. Gradually, those days add up into weeks, then months, then years...and that's how you end up giving your life to Christ. Yes, it begins with one moment of repentance, but your allegiance to God and his ways should grow across your lifespan.
So writing about everyday moments is a piece of that. Memoirs look to understand our surroundings, our experiences, our observations, so that we can be aware of whether or not those moments are going to be installments in what God is doing in our world.
As far as themes, then, I draw from my own life. There are stories about being raised in ultra-Christian-conservatism, about growing up across the street from a graveyard, about leading a relief team to Ground Zero, about teaching at-risk kids...and mostly, about trying to change.
And, finally ... you're a wife, mom, and teacher in addition to being an author and conference speaker. How do those things influence each other?
Being a wife and mom and sister and friend is me. Its who I am. Its who I want to be. Its the thing that matters.
Writing and speaking? Those are just things I do. I believe in what I write and talk about, so that holds meaning too, but its icing on the cake of my life. God is real to me in my ordinary rituals and he teaches me through my circumstances--good or bad. Writing is just a way to express what is happening as he does that.
Renee Johnson recently sent me a copy of her new book, Faithbook of Jesus. Below is a brief excerpt. You can learn more about the book HERE. Congrats, Renee.
It’s no secret that apples have been the source of controversy since the beginning of man. Do you remember your first Sunday school story? God created Adam and Eve, and they lived happily ever after. Wait. No, they didn’t.
They ate that stupid apple and got cast out of the Garden of Eden forever. Now the rest of creation has to suffer because they couldn’t listen to the one thing God told them not to do. Eat an apple.
What amazes me even more is how we still fall into the same trap that Adam and Eve fell into that day. The Enemy is “crafty,” the Bible says. He knows how to deceive and make us disbelieve.
If you’re hearing questions like “Did God really say that?” turn it back around and shove them apples back in the Devil’s face.
While the call to discipleship is clear, it's not necessarily easy. Here's why. And here is some practical help as well.
Lack of Time
Discipleship feels counter-intuitive to everything else in our culture. We live in a quick-moving world that endorses fast-food mentalities and instant gratification. Unfortunately, discipleship doesn’t happen that way. Instead, it takes time and prolonged commitment from both the discipler and the disciple. Evaluate your schedule to see if it lines up with priorities like discipleship. If it’s as important as you may say it is, does your calendar reflect that? Get rid of stuff that doesn’t need to be there in order to make room for the things that do. Also, don’t think of discipleship as something that demands you add hours into your schedule. Instead, consider how you can disciple within your day-to-day life. It feels more natural, it’s more effective, and it’s more representative of what Jesus modeled.
Lack of Trust
People want deep, meaningful relationships. But, that’s not always easy to find, is it? Whether we recognize it or not, many people are becoming more and more reserved in who they will trust and open up with. There is an innate distrust that seems to permeate our society, and it’s sadly quite justifiable. This generation has seen leaders within politics, sports, religion, and their own families make some pretty bad choices. Often these choices are closely tied to deceit and dishonesty. The only way we overcome this as we seek to disciple others is by modeling lives of authenticity, integrity, and transparency. That isn’t gained quickly or from distanced contact. Rather, we need to be shepherds who lead from within the flock as opposed to always out in front of it.
Lack of Connection
How do you connect with those you’re called to disciple? In many situations, it comes naturally and the relationship develops organically. But, in some instances, this simply isn’t the case. We certainly can’t just avoid those relationships that require effort. Rather than giving up, think differently about the process. Consider the individual and what approach may be best for them. Evaluate what topics might create dialogue, activities that would foster belonging, and other elements that would establish ownership. Think about them and their needs as opposed to you and your agenda.
