Awaken Ministries

Good morning!

We certainly live in interesting times! It seems like everyday there is a story in the news that appears to threatens our way of life. Sometimes these reports are over dramatic and sometimes these reports are probably correct in their assessments. How are we as Christians supposed to react to these interesting times?

Well, like many of you I spend time in prayer asking God that very question. This week I came across a quote by Chuck Colson discussing G.K. Chesterton’s views on the subject that probably has given me the best answer yet to that question:

“But the Christian, he (Chesterton) argues, is the only one with a balanced view–a pessimist because he knows that this is a fallen world and things do need fixing, but an optimist because he knows that God is all powerful and in charge and that all things therefore can be fixed.”

I think this is how we should live as people who are doing His work for such a time as this. Work hard to redeem the culture to Christ even though in some aspects it seems to be slipping away faster than we can redeem it, while knowing that in the end God will work everything out according to His perfect timing and His perfect plan.

I am in our nation’s capital today for an education conference. This is the 4th capital city I have had the pleasure to visit in the last 4 weeks. I never thought something like that would ever be possible! I will be praying for our nation as I know there are still millions who want to see it redeemed to our Lord. I look forward to seeing the monuments at night tomorrow night after the conference is over. I look forward to seeing the war memorials so I can honor those who fought to keep this nation free. I look forward to paying tribute to the great leaders of this nation through their memorials and monuments.

As I will be in Washington, D.C. just short of Independence Day I will remember to work hard to continue to redeem this land for Christ, while knowing that the war is already over and He wins!!

More to come…
Jeremy

As much as I love to travel, I sure love being back home and seeing my flowers blooming and sleeping in my own bed! However, Laura and I had an excellent trip! The highlight for us was getting to see our Czech friends and catching up with them and seeing what is going on in their lives.

That is the focus of this blog. I was struck by the living faith of the Czech men and their families that we met with. All of them were excited to talk about how God was directing them in their ministries. I truly believe these men are at the core of an awaited revival in the Czech Republic! These are the men that God is using now to awaken the Czech people who according to David Loula hasn’t seen their population of saved people be greater than 1% of their population since the Thirty Years War which took place from 1618-1648! When I was there, one of the Czech men gave me David Loula’s book, “Czech Wells: The Heritage of the Czech Reformation” and I love the example it gave when talking about the Czech church today. It compared the Czech church to a stump of a tree that was cut down but now has new buds forming from it. This image comes from Job 14:7-9, “For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and its tender shoots will not cease. Though its root may grow old in the earth, and its stump may die in the ground, yet at the scent of water it will bud and bring forth branches like a plant.” It is so exciting to see and hear about the work going on in the Czech Republic, and I hope that God will keep them on the straight path.

Compare that vigorous faith with the ornate churches we visited in the Paris and London. These churches were beautiful and took hundreds of years to build. Grand structures that are architectural wonders and are filled with gold and gems. But, they were mostly tourist attractions today. Yes, most of them still do have services that take place in them–one oddly enough while it was open for tours. (It was one of the oddest feelings I have had in some time, I paid about $27 (18 pounds) to see Westminster Abbey because I knew that it where one of my faith heroes, William Wilberforce, is laid to rest and as I am in the middle of the tour there was a communion service going on. It felt like it was almost staged.) It really made me appreciate the vibrant faith of the Czech families we have had the fortune to meet and that God is using to bring honor to His name!

More to come…
Jeremy

Continuing on with the theme from 2 weeks ago–“Passion for the Call”–I want to discuss the mindset of a Christian in our culture living out their calling. Ministry isn’t just for pastors! Jesus calls us to minister to people wherever He places us. wherever our place or calling has led us to, we should be actively trying to create the type of culture there that is redeeming the world to Christ. No matter where we are, we are called to create culture not just be consumers of culture.

As Christians, we are often times known by non-Christians only for what we are against instead of what we are for. I think this is a reflection of Christians criticizing what we see in culture and then withdrawing from that culture instead of creating a God-honoring culture. We can’t be content to just criticize and withdrawal–we must be restorers! Have we not already seen what happens to our culture when Christians stop being restorers and begin to isolate ourselves?

Andy Croutch, author of “Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling” asks this question to get us thinking about Kingdom-building where we are, “We need to look at our callings and evaluate them by asking, ‘Is what I am doing helping people to become flourishing human beings?'” That is what Christ wants us to do with the callings He gives us…contribute to helping people flourish and see Christ in their lives.

An example of someone I witnessed living this principle out came at an unlikely place. Laura and I were traveling to Florida over Spring Break and we stopped at a Taco Bell somewhere in Georgia. The young lady–who was probably either in high school or college (I can’t really tell anymore at my age)–who took our order right away surprised Laura and I by greeting us with a big smile and said something to us–I don’t remember what–probably because I wasn’t expecting the person on the other side of the counter to actually care about who we were. The force of her personality was such that everyone she helped kind of stood up a little straighter and you could almost see all of us actually FLOURISHING as humans while we were interacting with her. Then, when there was a lull at the register, she came out to the dining area and asked if there was anything she could get for us and offered to throw away any trash we had. She did this with a big smile on her face and took care of everyone in the dining area! Her attitude literally transformed the mindsets of everyone in the restaurant. This was Taco Bell–not a 4-star restaurant! Doesn’t she know that you don’t treat others that way at Taco Bell?

See, we can be creators of culture in big ways and small ways. God has placed us where He has placed us because that is where He wants us to help others “become flourishing human beings”!

Let’s choose this week to restore our culture!!

More to come,
Jeremy

For Memorial Day this year, I am tunring over my blog to Chuck Colson and a “Breakpoint Commentary” I heard and remembered from 3 years ago. So enjoy and take a few minutes today to reflect on Colson’s words about why today is such an important day.

“Memorial Day is when we honor the men and women of our Armed Services who have made “the supreme sacrifice;” who gave their lives for their country.
Especially these days, when Memorial Day seems nothing more than a time for cookouts and swim parties, we cannot be reminded often enough about how great a debt we owe our war dead.

They gave up their hopes and dreams, families and friends. They submitted themselves to rigorous discipline — something I understand as a former Marine — 24-hour a day duty, and placed their lives in great peril. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”

Their sacrifice should inspire in us a profound sense of gratitude. Gratitude for the freedoms we enjoy, bought with a price. And that gratitude should compel us to lives of service as well. Serving Christ, our neighbor, and yes, our nation.

I can’t help but recall the brilliant film Saving Private Ryan. James Ryan, now in his seventies, has returned with his family to the military cemetery in Normandy. He visits the grave of Captain John Miller, the man who, a half a century before, led the mission to retrieve — to save — Private Ryan. At the end of the mission, Miller was fatally wounded. As he lay dying, his final words to Private Ryan were, “James. Earn this…earn it.”

We then see Ryan kneeling at Captain Miller’s grave, marked by a cross. Ryan, his voice trembling with emotion, says, “Every day I think about what you said to me that day on the bridge. I tried to live my life the best that I could. I hope that was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”

Red-eyed, Ryan turns to his wife and says, “Tell me I’ve led a good life…tell me I am a good man.”

With great dignity, she says, “You are.”

With that, James Ryan salutes the grave of Captain Miller.

I tell this story in greater detail in my book The Good Life, which you can purchase at ColsonCenter.org.

You see, Private Ryan, out of gratitude for Captain Miller’s sacrifice, did all in his power to live a good life.

And Memorial Day is a great time for each of us to look into the mirror…to examine our own lives. Are we living good lives in gratitude for all those who have sacrificed for us — including our men and women in the military, our families, our friends, and most of all Christ?

Are we, like Ryan, kneeling before the cross — Spielberg, a master cinematographer had to realize the power of this imagery. Are we, out of gratitude, doing our duty for Christ, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, ministering to those in prison, in whatever harvest field to which the Lord has called us?

Examine your life.

And this Memorial Day, at the very least, thank those who have sacrificed for you and those you know who have served in our nation’s armed forces. Maybe you’ll do what I do when you see a guy or gal in uniform…at the airport, at the store, wherever…walk up to them and thank them for their service.

And then go and remember Whom it is you serve.”

(This commentary was originally by Chuck Colson and aired on May 28, 2010).

Do you know what you were born to do? If someone asked you, “What is the work that God has gifted you to do?”, could you answer right away or would you stare blankly back at them and think to yourself, “That is a really good question!”

I know there was a time in my life when I certainly had no REAL idea of what it was that God gifted me for. If you would have asked me in my teens, I would have said that I wanted to be a baseball player. Now God did give me some baseball talent–but not enough to make a living playing baseball! As an adult looking back, I realize it is important that your calling be based on reality! “Ok, so I am not going to be a baseball player so now what?”, was my thinking as I entered my second year of college. I went to my first college based on 3 reasons (I could play baseball there, my older brother was starting a job there, and it was cheap). Notice none of those reasons were going to actually help me make a living when I graduated! I didn’t know my calling at that time of my life. My grades were horrible because I didn’t really care about any of the classes. I was just starting to come to one realization that would help shape my calling–I knew I wanted to teach!

This was a problem because the college I was attending didn’t have education as a major. So, I transferred to a university that did have education. There I did better in the education classes but still was not enjoying my other classes. I still didn’t see the purpose of these classes. My grades reflected my nonchalant attitude. After two years there, I had my second realization that would shape my calling–I knew I wanted to teach middle school students (Yes, there are actually a few of us that enjoy this age group)! The only problem was that the university I was at didn’t have a middle school major and it was crushingly expensive!

So, I transferred again (yes, that’s right)! Now I was in a school that had my passion as a major. My grades in education were excellent–but I still didn’t care about those gen ed classes so I still had horrible grades in those. Until I had my third realization that would help shape my calling–I knew I wanted to marry Laura! Now, being a wise woman–she said yes, BUT said we weren’t getting married until I graduated from college. NOW I had the motivation and drive I needed to be successful in ALL of my classes. My last two years of college, I was a new man–a man who actually was getting A’s!

The point of this story is to show the importance of knowing our call and having a passion for our calling. Too many people wander through life not living for what they were meant to do. Once I had those three realizations in my life (wanting to teach, wanting to teach middle schoolers, getting married to Laura) I was a man who had a purpose in life and had goals. My wanderings were over.

Next week, I will talk more about evaluating how you know you are “doing what you were born for” but for this week I challenge you to pray and meditate on 2 Peter 1:10, “Therefore my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election.”

More to come,
Jeremy

Happy Mother’s Day to all you moms out there!! I hope that your day was special yesterday! I know from my own experience, that we often don’t give our moms enough credit for all they do for us.

So, I hope that you have been thinking and praying about your own spiritual growth this week. I know I have! I met with my personal coach last Monday at 5:30 in the morning (he lives in the Czech Republic where he serves as a missionary–thank you Skype!) and this was one of the topics we discussed. I have also talked to my wife and some of my fellow Centurions about spiritual growth. Before I proceed, I think it is important for me to say what spiritual growth is NOT before I go any further.

Spiritual growth is not something we can manipulate. It will not happen just because we have a plan. The reason is that when it comes to matters of the Spirit–He will move how He moves. We cannot dictate to the Spirit. A checklist does not constitute growth. So, why should we have a plan then? I believe the answer to that is that we can–through daily spiritual disciplines–prepare our hearts and minds to be in alignment with the Holy Spirit. We are all busy people who read this blog. We all have 100 things that we can be doing. In my experience, what having a plan for growth has done is to always center in me what THE most important thing is in my day. It is not a meeting at work, it is not a meeting at church, it is not even spending time with my wife (though that is the second most important thing to me!) It is meeting and spending time with the God of the universe who wants to have a relationship with ME! It is a disciplined set of times where I will make sure that Jesus is getting the place in my life that He deserves. I know that we are to pray without ceasing so all of my day should be in relationship with Him, but the truth is–I am not there yet. But I strive to be which is why I have a plan! Don’t we always plan out what we are striving for? We never will hit a target that we aren’t aiming at.

I want to say something else about a Spiritual Growth Plan. It should not be a guilt thing if you don’t make progress on it everyday. There will be days that you don’t get done what you wanted to get done. Don’t let guilt ruin your next day because you think now you have to do twice as much to make up for it. Remember that it is about a relationship with Christ–not a checklist of things to do. If you miss a day–or more–just pick-up from where you are on your plan and go from there. Don’t let Satan use guilt to keep you from spending time with God.

Here is your challenge for the week! If you would like to see my Spiritual Growth Plan just let me know and I will send it to you by email. Better yet, if you would like to share your plan with me we can help hold each other accountable. I know that I need accountability! Life moves very fast and I need people around me that aren’t afraid to tell me when I am getting off course! I do encourage you to share your plan with someone. Real power comes from sharing your journey with someone else, it will also help you stick to it!

More to come…
Jeremy

I am sitting in the Washington-Dulles airport writing this week’s blog. I have just finished my second and final residency for the Centurions Program. We had the commissioning service and then we all said our good-byes as we head back home and into our spheres of ministry.

Undoubtedly, you will be hearing much more about the outstanding teaching I benefitted from this past weekend in upcoming blogs. I think I have enough topics to write about for the next couple years!

For this blog, however, I want to focus on growth. Specifically, spiritual growth. What are you doing to ensure that you are growing in your faith? Peter implored us to “…grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:18.

We are to be intentional about growing closer to Jesus. The reason that we have to keep growing is that things–left to themselves –tend to decline and decay. Cars need maintenance. Bike chains need to be cleaned to keep them working properly. Almost anything mechanical needs to receive regular attention. It is the same for us spiritually.

This requires energy and effort from us. Just like trying to go up a down escalator. If you stand still, you are going to keep going down. The only way to make it to the top is to move faster than the escalator is taking you down.

So, what are you doing to keep your faith vibrant? Do you have a plan for spiritual growth, or are you waiting for something to give you a kick start? My plan for the last year was centered around the Centurion Program. There were daily devotionals, books to read, an online forum in which to participate, movies to watch, webinars, and 3-year plans to write. It was honestly the most intensive spiritual growth program I have been a part of. Now, as I am beginning to work to make that 3-year plan happen I am going to be coming up with a new spiritual growth plan. I will share that with you next week.

Your challenge for this week is to begin thinking of what your spiritual growth plan will be. Prayerfully consider what specific and measurable steps you can take during the next 12 months.

Let’s grow together! As we grow, we will undoubtedly take others along! We will also draw closer to the God of the universe!

More to come,
Jeremy

As a refresher, the last blog was about how we as Christians are losing the battle–but not the war–for who is telling the stories to our culture. Pop culture is king right now and to win the battle we have to engage the culture not isolate ourselves from it.

The challenge from the last blog was to pay attention to the pop culture references around you. What did you hear in conversations? What did you see on TV or in the movies? What was the story that was being told to you?

I believe that Christians are losing the battle right now, but I see signs of hope that the tide is turning!! I believe that Christians are beginning to enter the marketplace of pop culture and are having success in telling our stories. We have the benefit of having the greatest story ever told–the story of our faith! We are telling the story in a positive light, not in a condemning way. We aren’t going to win the battle of stories by telling the world that they are going to hell. We are presenting the world with the stories of hope through the fall, the redemption, and the restoration of man. We are presenting the Gospel in stories that are not overtly Christian, but are steeped in the tenants of the faith–which resonates with the audience in my opinion because the stories that they are telling are in the souls of all men and women.

I am not just talking about the movies like “Fireproof” and “Courageous”. I really enjoyed both of those movies because they challenged me to be a man of God and showed me what that looks like in our culture. But, of the $35 million “Courageous” made, the vast majority of it came from Christians who went to see it because it was marketed as a Christian film. We do need those movies to motivate us to action. But, we also need movies that will bring in larger audiences.

This is happening!! There are movies that are helping us win the battle of stories. In the last few years we have seen the “Lord of the Rings” movies and now “The Hobbitt” which are based on the novels written by a Christian J.R.R. Tolkien. We are have C.S. Lewis’ “Chronicles of Narnia” that has also been made into successful films that drew wide audiences. Those two series of films alone brought in 4.42 billion dollars! That is billion with a “b”!

The most recent pop culture phenom movie with a Christian message was “Les Mis”. What a powerful story of redemption and grace. The redemption of one man–Valjean–then leads to the redemption of Cosette and Marius. If you haven’t seen it yet, I highly recommend it–and I will say that I have been in tears at the end both times I have seen it. (I know, pretty manly!) This movie took in $437 million and had universal appeal…and many, many people saw the Gospel story for the first time! It isn’t a “Christian” movie, but you can’t watch it and not wonder about what grace is.

What am I missing? What movies or TV shows are out there with messages that are working to get the Christian message out to the world? How have the arts and media shaped your lives? For example, Laura and I (and probably many others) watch “It’s A Wonderful Life” every Christmas Eve. Why is that? What is it about movies that help shape our lives? What movies have been inspirational in your life? Let’s face it, we are moved by great stories and are drawn to great storytellers. This has been put inside us for a reason.

More to come…
Jeremy

We live in culture where for many in the 40 and younger crowd (which I am clinging to by a thread) pop culture is king. More people my age and younger know more about which Kardashian is which and who they are currently “with” than know how many Gospels there are in the New Testament. We are crazy about pop culture. Which isn’t generally a good thing because there are a lot of really bad influences in pop culture today. Think about it–most references that people use today in conversation are from movies, tv shows, or social media. We live in a culture where most people don’t know Biblical stories such as David vs. Goliath and Jonah and the whale. For example, at school a mom came and dropped off an umbrella for her son for use after school. When her son came to the office to get it the mom made a comment to him that if it keeps raining like this we are going to have to build an ark! The middle school boy looked at her with a puzzled expression and asked, “What is an ark?” This was an “A” student that is living in a conservative, small, central Illinois town and he had no idea who Noah was and what in the world an ark had to do with it raining outside. This is the culture we live in today. We can no longer assume that people just know certain Biblical references.

I think this is because we as Christians have lost the battle–but certainly not the war!–for the minds of many in the 40 and younger crowd. Part of this reason is that we have lost of the battle for who gets to tell the stories our culture hears. There are many different ways we tell stories today in our culture–television shows, movies, music, art, videos, and books are just some of the ways people hear stories today. How many of those areas have Christians lost their influence between the 1970’s and the 21st century? This wasn’t wholly because the audiences didn’t like what we were saying, but more because we didn’t present it to them in a way that moved them. We probably took it for granted that people would continue to think and act the way they always had and would come around to “our” views when they got old enough. But think of the powerful storytellers of the 1970’s, 80’s, 90’s, and now when it comes to pop culture–how many of them were spreading a Godly message? How many of them were telling stories that reflected truth and goodness vs. if it feels good do it or nihilistic messages that don’t point to a universal truth. These stories are the stories that have prevailed in our culture over the last 40+ years–but I believe that is starting to change! Christians are now beginning to understand the importance of winning the battle of who tells the stories and are entering the marketplace of ideas armed with Truth. I will give you examples next week!

This week’s challenge is to pay attention to the popular culture around you this week. Listen to what gets referenced in conversations and what gets airtime on tv and movies. See how much of it is pointing to Truth.

More to come…
Jeremy

Today I am wrapping up this series that has hopefully caused you to think back about who has helped mold your faith throughout your life.

I started by talking about people who God put in my life when I was young, then those who shared the faith with me when I was in college and just starting my career. Today, I want to talk about those God has placed in my life currently that challenge me to grow and keep me accountable to the life that I have been called to.

First, there is my wife, Laura. It has been one of my greatest joys in life watching her grow in her faith over the years–she was not a Christian when we met. She continues to stretch herself and she takes her tenacious will to understand things (those engineers!) and applies that to her faith–which also stretches me!

Most Wednesday nights at 5:15 my small group has met for the last several years. This group has helped me to articulate and live out the tenants of the faith and also has given me role models for how to be a Godly man in our culture. There are 8 of us total that are currently in the group and they are all so important to me that it is really hard to put into words (so apparently, I still have things to grow into!). These are all men that I know I can call at any hour of the day or night and they would listen to me and minister to me.

The last group I will talk about here is that Peter, James, and John group that Jesus had. The inner circle. The people who know more about you than anybody else. I am fortunate that I have people that help shape me and tell me what I need to hear even when I don’t want to hear it! Oh, how I pray that you have this also because we need people to “keep it real” for us if we are going to keep on the narrow path in our culture.

Hopefully, you see that we can’t do life on our own. We aren’t called to be Lone Rangers. I challenge you this week to reach out to those in your life who have shared the faith with you now or have at other points in your life. Let them know how thankful you are to them that they have invested in you.

Also, all of you are investing in countless lives right now! Be intentional about this–God is using YOU to help shape and mold other people! How exciting is that!! That is something that has eternal value!

More to come…
Jeremy