Lately, the word “sacrifice” has been prominent in my thought-life.   It’s a theme that has been showing up in more and more areas of my daily grind, and so  I’ve allowed myself to really spend time thinking about what sacrifice means and what God wants to show me while wrestling with the topic.

Sacrifice I think has a ill-connotation with society today.   The thought of losing something, especially if we find joy in it, is just not an option for many people.   We have our “good” lives, and so when we’re asked about making sacrifices we run and hide from the notion.   We’re afraid of losing what feels good here-and-now, without knowing what is awaiting us on the other side.

As a father, making sacrifices has been a reality of life, although it hasn’t always been easy to accept.   More than ever, my time and energy has been consumed in ways that maybe I didn’t initially plan on them being spent on during my drive home from work.   My financial goals are being sacrificed for diapers and formula.   And the list goes on, but I’m learning to be okay with that.

As I have been reading in scripture, sacrifice isn’t about what we’re giving up, it’s about obedience.   We often choose not see the opportunity to obey God when he’s the one asking us to give up something we’d like to control ourselves, but it’s what he’s truly asking us to do.

Reading in Genesis, I read the story of Abraham and Isaac:

22:1 After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.

No where in this passage is a hint of grumbling or fight from Abraham.   His love for God was great, and so his first reaction was obedience, even after waiting so many years for Isaac (a child) in the first place.  And he showed he was willing without knowing what was to come next.    He was willing to sacrifice something he loved out of obedience.  

As a father, I can not imagine being asked to sacrifice my son.   However, in my heart I know that there are much smaller things that God is asking me to sacrifice in order to obey him through my love for him, that I grumble and fight him about daily.  God might never ask me to give up a loved one, but the small things he does want me to give up are equally important.

What about you?   What are the small things that you don’t want to lose, but know that God is calling you to lose?

Grace to you, Andy

Courtesy of Fatmanad on Flickr
Used with Permission

Over the past year, I have read numerous places about the importance of reading the bible cover-to-cover.  It’s a daunting undertaking I know, but as I mentioned in my most recent post, it’s one I am going to challenge myself to follow through on.

There are many ways some one could go about this, as there is virtually hundreds of ways in which you could divide up the chapters and go through it.   If you are an tech-geek like me, then YouVersion (www.yourversion.com) might interest you.   YouVersion offers an online version of the bible in almost all major translations as well as 31-different reading plans that you could choose from (some just cover pieces of scripture, like the Gospels, others plans offer a guide through the whole thing).  It provides a way to check off each day’s reading, tag, journal, and bookmark them.     

If everyday reading seems like it could be too much, then you might check out the new plan released by Journey Church in Denver, called Engage.   This plan offers the reader every 4th day off, which might be very appealing to some.   They also are offering some videos to supplement the readings as well.

For me, this is not the first time I’ve started down this road.  I’ve tried this a few times in the past, but I can tell there exists a new passion to know the Word, especially the Old Testament, inside of me.   So I am putting it out there for anyone to keep my accountable here.

And if publically blogging about it enough, I read the following  quote in the book Primal, that I just finished a few weeks ago from a present-day theologian:

“Any Christian worth his salt ought to read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year.” – J.I. Packer

A few months ago I blogged about the name Logan James and where it came from.  Well on July 31st, we actually were able to take Logan to camp and share the story with him.   Here's some video from our first trip to camp:

“Real Church”. What is it? How is it defined? Is it possible? Can we find it?

In the opening pages of author Larry Crabb’s latest book, Real Church, he describes a real church as one which does the following:

“…will teach spiritual theology, that stirs a hunger for spiritual formation that surfaces the need for spiritual community that then marshals its resources for spiritual mission.”

This description seems like a very solid premise to build a church on, therefore I was excited about diving into this book. I, myself, am seeking guidance from God as I prepare to embark on a new journey in church-planting, so the title interested me to see more of what Crabb was speaking about.

Truthfully, I found the first half of the book to be a bit slow, as Crabb spent a lot of time outlining his experiences in how churches have been failing to live out the vision that he describes above. His assessments seemed legit – most of which stems from our addictions to ourselves; he clearly points out why there are so many churches struggling in our culture.

However, half way through the book Crabb picks up the pace as he begins to discuss the marks of a “real church.” I found myself consistently agreeing with him as he presents his ideas. The church Crabb describes is one that realizes we’re all sinners, dealing with addictions to something who need Christ, and gathers to seek God’s Truth through intimate community. It feels as if sometimes we tackle that goal from the wrong direction – we seek community first, and then realize we are sinners last, limiting the power and grace that God gives and wants to use within His body, the church.

Real Church is worth the read by those who are struggling with the idea of getting up every weekend for church. This book will challenge you to first look inward to see if barriers are preventing you from experiencing church, as well as help you identify marks to look for in churches who are practicing Real Church.

I was reading in the Book of John the other day, and was looking at the interaction between Jesus and his mother at the wedding at Cana.   The text says that during the celebrating the people ran out of wine.   Jesus’ mother was there, and so she came to Him or help.   Here’s the text in John 2:1-5:

2:1 On the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. 2 Jesus also was invited to the wedding with his disciples. 3 When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

I was fascinated by their interaction.   Mary approaches Jesus for help and Jesus quickly returns her question with a harsh response: “Woman, what does this have to do with me?”  Honestly, can you blame the guy.  He’s a guest at a wedding, and he’s being asked to fix the problem with the lack of wine at the feast.  Why is it Jesus’ problem that the ran out wine?

But I was most surprised by how his mother responded next.  She didn’t argue with Him, but she didn’t let Him off the hook either.   She turned to the servants and instructed them to listen to Jesus.   She still was looking for Jesus for the answer.

I think often times the way I operate is completely opposite of the way this story calls us too.    I am usually the one asking “What does this have to do with Jesus?”, rather than just giving it all to him, and trusting that no matter what He has the answer for me.  Mary’s response I think tells us the answer to Jesus’ question: everything has something to do with Him for His glory.

We’ve sung this song by John Marc McMillan at church the past two weeks called “How He Loves Us.”   It’s some very powerful, truth-filled lyrics about the indescribable love that God has for us.   Not to mention, it’s the first song I’ve ever heard “Sloppy Wet Kiss” fit in as a lyric.  

I’ve been moved this week to just seek my Savior in a new, very deliberate way.  My posts from a few weeks ago are very much still in the fore-front of my mind as I continue on this journey into the new and unknown.   We are what has begun to feel like just days away from meeting the heavenly gift in our son – and I can’t imagine the feeling that I will be experiencing during that moment when I get to first hold him.   Even now, the gift of just getting to feel a tiny kick has begun to really blow my mind on the love of God, as being seen through this child, that the day he is born is just going to be unbelievable.

As we were driving home tonight, along Clyo Rd, we had two deer jump out in front of us.   One galloped in the median along side of us.   I screamed out the moment I saw them, they were right there.   I’ve heard of just one deer vs vehicle accident that the  deer didn’t go down with out massively damaging the car.    But even in that fear, I was still singing from church “OH…how he love us.”   And as we gotten home I’ve really gotten to just sit in front of the lyrics again, I feel like our afflictions (distress) were eclipsed by His Glory tonight especially, and what a wonderful feeling that is.

I pray that wherever you are, no matter the stage of life, no matter the road your on – that your afflictions (pains, sufferings, and distressed) are being hidden by His glory.

Here’s the song:

I was sent this video about two weeks ago, and keep thinking about.   Not just from what I have heard about Africa, but in a lot things.     I live in a world where I constantly find joy in meeting my wants & desire, when so many around me are struggling to meet their needs.    I think there’s a lot of things in the video below that I need to focus on.

…Truth will win out.

One of the most blunt truths I feel I am being forced to look at right now is the area of leadership.   How am I leading others such as our house church, friends, family, my wife, and last but not least MYSELF.  I have been aware of the opportunity to improve and give more of myself in a lot of these areas for some time now, but I think in the past few weeks I have been awakened to thought that one of my biggest points of failure right now is how I have been failing to lead myself.  That’s not always easy to swallow.  

What does it mean to lead?   I think it has a lot a facets.  I think leading means time-management, relationally building into others, showing the way, seeking truth, and having one’s priorities straight.   And if I really look back at the last year that doesn’t seem like it describes who I have been.   My get-it-done nature has not taken the time to focus on those critical priorities in life and help others do the same.   

I’m honestly not surprised by this revelation as I know why it’s so heavy on my heart.  It’s fatherhood.  One of the things I am most excited about is the opportunity and trust that has already been given to me to raise and lead a family.  But it’s also one of my fears right now.   Am I going to be the man they need me to be so that they (Chelsey and baby) may flourish and be the woman and man I desire them to become?   My scouting leadership training has taught me that those under the leader take on lifestyles that resemble the lifestyle of the leader.   I’m not sure that I can completely say I am satisfied with that thought right now.

I have always had this desire within myself when pondering the thought of fatherhood that my desire would be that my kids would look more like Jesus than I do.   But as reality sets in, it’s hitting home that for that desire to become true I’ve got to striving to look like Him myself, with all that I have before I can expect that they might look like too (not to say they can’t learn to follow Jesus elsewhere, but if it can start at home all the better).   

As I’ve been thinking about all this, I keep coming back to this passage: “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11.    I believe in this passage, but I really feel I have not been able to live it out - that the plans and future that the Lord has for me are waiting for me to lead myself in a manner worthy of receiving them.    That is my failure and yet my goal.  That I live so that He may bestow upon me the plans He has for me to begin with.

At the end of January, Phil Wing – one my groomsmen, released his latest album To Find You.  If you are a andygarrett.net blog reader and haven’t gotten your hands on a copy, I recommend you pick up one here.

I might be impartial because I know the guy, but like his previous album Phil has written some very beautiful lyrics focusing on living lives of worship (Romans 12) and who we are in Christ.   I am challenged by the lyrics in “Sing Through Me” on how I am living my life that allows Christ to sing through me.

But there’s another aspect of the album that has touched me in differently.    Phil and his wife Amber are currently in the process of adopting a child from Ethiopia.   This album gives glimpse into the spiritual journey Phil & Amber have been on to come to this point, as well as how God is preparing them for it in songs like “To Find You.”

As a father-to-be, I can relate in my own way to those feelings of anticipation and excitement.   As I listen to “I Still Am”, I can’t help but think of a picture of father protecting, leading, teaching their child, and how it excites me to play that role, but also the hope I can display a godly example of being dependent on God to my child as well to protect, lead, and teach us, because He Still Is.

Thanks Phil, for allowing God to use and Sing Through You.     I’m excited for you guys.

as a side note… the new album by The Fray is good as well. 

I read this great article today over on Frank Viola’s blog entitled “He Takes Away So He Might Establish.”

It’s powerful reading talk about how God always brings the darkness before light, the first before the second, and that the Second is Always Better!  We see this all over scripture, how God brings the night, the darkness, and the pain before He brings the light and His glory.   It’s seen in the story of Job, David, and Christ himself.   God gave us and removed the OT covenant so He could provide a new covenant, Jesus, that is so much greater.   Praise Him!

In Genesis 1, God brought the darkness before the light, the evening before the morning.   May we praise Him that when our day is ending, His day is beginning!  “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning” (Ps. 30:5)

I found out today that a friend who has been battling cancer for quite awhile is in the hospital one final time.   She has fought hard and long, but the doctors have nothing else they can.   Pray for Aaron, her husband, and their children during this time.   Reading this article reminds me that He must take away so that He might establish something better… I know He is doing that for Janet!

Thankful for having a God that is wiser than I….