7 Heading into Month 2

We are taking two weeks between each seven month to gather, evaluate, and prepare our hearts for the next month.

I'm ready for month two.  We decided to go with Giving.  Seven items a day for 28 days.  Seven items per person between Kate and I equals 392 items in a month.  Looking around the house I don't see how this will be a problem, but I am very excited about minimizing.  My guess is it will be easy at first, but as we dwindle down we will have to release some of those things that really have a hold on me.

My men's group is doing a 2-day fast next week Monday and lasting into Tuesday evening.  My first reaction was ... let's say a genuine lack of excitement.  Then as I thought about it and allowed the Spirit to speak to me I realized this was an excellent way to launch into a month of giving.  I rely on myself for far too much, and I have never actually done any sort of fast.  I have a long list of excuses, but they all center around a desire to stay away from discomfort.

My group is walking through Forgotten God by Francis Chan. This is an amazing book about the Holy Spirit and our relationship with Him.  In last night's discussion we came across this sentence, "Our desire to live should be for the sake and glory of the God who put us on earth in the first place."  This struck a chord in my heart as I mulled over the upcoming fast, and a month of purposefully giving the stuff we've piled up in our home (I'm trying not to call it my stuff).  As I was chewing over what this meant I began asking myself what it means to live for the sake and glory of God.  There are easy answers like, "Work on my temper," "serve at church," "love my family," that come out, but these are not what He calls us to.

When Jesus taught the disciples to pray he included

Your Kingdom come,

Your will be done

On earth as it is in Heaven

What do God's will and kingdom look like? 

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.  For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.  I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'

Then these righteous ones will reply, 'Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?'

And the King will say, 'I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!'

Then the King will turn to those on the left and say, 'Away with you, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his demons. For I was hungry, and you didn't feed me. I was thirsty, and you didn't give me a drink. I was a stranger and you didn't invite me into your home. I was naked, and you didn't give me clothing. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'

Then they will reply, 'Lord, when did ever see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and not help you?'

And he will answer, 'I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me.'

And they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life."

  -- Matthew 25:37-46

James defines it like this, "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you." -- James 1:27

Nowhere does it say anything remotely close to, "Take all of the resources I give you and use them on crap," Or, "Fulfill your own hungers and desires, turn a blind eye to others for your own comforts." Yet, that's how much of my life is spent.  I give from the margins, from my leftovers.  

I want my will to come into line with God's will, so He is glorified, so His Kingdom comes.  In His Kingdom the poor are rich, the hungry are fed, the thirsty are given refreshment, the naked clothed, and prisoners freed, and the sick healed.  He has blessed me with my birth position, my talents, my skills ... none of this is mine.  I am a steward, and He wants us to be empty vessels that He can pour out into His land.  

My prayer this month is that my heart will be radically changed.  As I intentionally release the possessions that possess me I pray that God opens my eyes, heart, and hands to His world.  That I would take the talents He's given me and use them wisely for His kingdom cause.  Not for praise in the eyes of men, not for position or achievement, but because it pleases my Father to do so.

I am very excited about this month. 

7 One Month In

I meant to write more often than I did in month one.  Things got crazy, and since I'm not a professional writer; I made the choice to put the writing to the side.

May was the coldest and wettest May in the history of Colorado.  Sometime during the second week I changed my seven to eight and added a jacket.  The day with snow, winds above 40 mph, and temps hovering in the teens forced my hand.  So, my seven was an eight.  My gym shorts also broke (tie string snapped), so I swapped those out for pajama bottoms.  I considered dropping the PJ's to keep things at a clean seven, but we just got two teen girls in the house (currently fosters, but praying for forever kiddos), and the thought of me sitting on the couch in my boxers while my one pair of jeans washed sounded like fodder for CPS, so we went to eight.

I realized that the spirit of minimization needs to be flexible, and if I were to hold too strongly to a number I would be legalistic in my approach instead of allowing God's grace to change my heart.  He's not after a number, he's after me.

So, month one is done.  We went 28 days juggling 7/8 items of clothing.  At the start I was very self-conscious about the move, and was sure that people would begin commenting on my very small rotation of t-shirts, but nobody said a thing.  As far as I know, the only people that noticed were those people I confessed to, and they were more amused than anything else.

I watched my pile of shirts and pants sit in my drawers and closet, and I didn't miss them at all.  I have never been a big spender on clothing, so this was not a huge stretch for me, but I realized that I've spent way too much on clothing.  I've been dragging clothes across the country in the defense that I "may need them."  I have clothes that fit me 40 pounds ago, and I don't for-see a time coming up where I'll suddenly put on my pregnancy weight again.

At the end of the month Kate read a post online which said that the personal storage industry is the fastest growing in the country.  More real estate is used for extra storage than any other purpose.  Every person in the United States could fit under the collective roofing of our out of home storage.  Ugh.

At the same time, there are people in this country who are cold, hungry, unable to keep the heat on, or even pay for a place to live.  And we spend money to store things that we will probably never touch, but will drag all over the country in case we may need the things that we've most likely forgotten about.



I am ready to give things away, and look forward to that month.  The day after we finished our clothing focus I put on a different tee shirt and felt extravagant.  I wore another shirt yesterday.  Today I'm back into my black tee, and I feel better.  I did wear my hat, but beyond that I looked like I did all month.  I have enough tee shirts to get me through a couple of weeks.  I have a closet full of dress clothes that I wear only 2-3 times per year at most.

I'm not sure what we are going to do in a couple of weeks.  I think this month was probably the easiest, and God did amazing things with my heart.  I'm nervous about what comes next, but am more excited to be changed by grace.

7 Day 6

I have officially worn all of my clothes.  Yesterday was cold and rainy, and my decision to trade the jacket for a belt was called into question, but we made it through.  When I made the choice to go with the belt I understood that there could even be snow, but that's okay.

Yesterday during the cold my initial response was to think about how cold I was, but almost immediately, my thought turned to those people who were waking up cold every day.  For me the act of leaving my coat at home is an act of intentionalality, but there are millions of people who do not get the luxury of choice.  While I was walking through the parking lot to my heated office my heart and prayer went out to those who were cold, hungry, scared and scarred.

When I turn my thoughts away from me and onto those people God calls us to love most deeply the rain, wind and cold don't cut so deep.


I imagined the clothing month would be extremely easy for me, but six days in, I find myself being self-conscious about my repeating wardrobe.  I worry that people will notice and think something about me (I have no idea what they'd think, but that's beside the point).  I didn't realize how much my slightly larger rotating wardrobe had ingrained itself into my self perception.  Now, I generally have one shirt on top of the pile, one on, and another hanging in the closet or in the laundry.  The other 15-20 tee shirts sit gathering dust.  Do I really need a closet full of shirts, dress pants, jeans, and a nearly full armour holding my tee shirts, socks, underwear, winter clothes, dress socks, sweaters, concert clothes (yes, I have them), and whatever else is in there?

I don't spend much on clothing, and most of what I have has holes and is very old, but it is still sickening to think of the money spent on clothes that are rarely worn.

My prayer is for a heart change, a life priority shift from the trappings of comfort and possessions, to a life of extravagant giving.  I want this family to be seen as mildly crazy for our generosity.

Lord, this is yours.  Use these next few weeks and months to rock this home.

7 Day 3

Day 3 officially begins.  Only one change made so far ... the sweater has been dropped in exchange for a short sleeve polo shirt.  So, nothing to cover my arms for the month of May.  This is a gamble since it snowed last year on Mother's Day, but there is also a risk with the sweater - mainly that I would alternate between two tee's while the sweater collects dust in the closet.  It was really hot yesterday, and will remain so all week.  I can deal with cold, but the idea of a black sweater in 80 degree sunshine sounds horrid.

Yesterday was my first real opportunity to ditch this exercise or commit.  The dishwasher soap opened up in the car when Kate was coming home from the store.  In the cleanup process I got a bunch of it on my one pair of jeans, and that soon dried into a white mess on the front of my new dark denim.  We had church coming at us, so I could have sneakily swapped the jeans for a less marred pair.  Nobody but me would have known.  I have to admit it was tempting.  I mean, what would people think of a man who went to church in a gray tee shirt and dirty jeans?!?

I stuck with the jeans - nobody noticed.

It felt so teen-agey to be worried about what people may think of my jeans.  I know that I would not notice another man's pants, but for some reason I picture the other men of the church worried about the state of my jeans.  Sheesh.

So much energy spent on worry about the outside while the inside is left unattended.  The inside is the soil that God is focused on, that is the garden he is tending for us.  We groom, buy, and primp so we can put on a show at church (our show is pretty weak even without the dirty jeans, but it still crossed my mind, so is an issue), then we get there and by-and-large avoid making any contact with any people there.  We've been going to this church for over a year, and hardly know a person.  I forget names before I hear them, and check the box off of my weekly to-do list.  Is that what church and community is supposed to be?


All of the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer.

A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders.  And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord's Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.

-- Acts : 42-47

I need to get over myself.  Church is for community.  If we are there just to feel good about ourselves we are not there for the right reason.  Lord, change my heart.  Give me courage to engage, and truly invest and trust your people.

7 Begins

Jen Hatmaker wrote a book called Seven.  It is a book about an intentional rebellion from the excess that by-and-large defines the American life-style.  We live in a world where luxuries are considered needs, and to meet these "needs" we ignore the struggles and true need of others.

Seven is an exercise in saying "no" to the excess around us.  It is 7 months with 7 fasts.  Each month we will restrict ourselves to 7 items for one month.  During this time we will use our discomfort as a reminder that what we define as "needs," and allow God to work on our hearts to align our priorities with those that Jesus taught his followers to meet.

The seven months are clothing, food, spending, media, possessions, waste, and stress.

Month 1 is clothing:

Seven items of clothing for an entire month.  There are many families who get by with less, but looking at my closet and drawers, I am a little stressed about the idea of leaving most of my clothing tucked away.  I am also a little disgusted with how much I have that I never wear, but we will probably deal with that when we get to the possessions month.  The second stressful part is that we live in Colorado where the weather can swing from freezing to hot in 20 seconds, and I've decided that I need to wear a belt more than I need a jacket, so it could be chilly (but at least my pants will stay up).

Here are the items I'm wearing this month:
1 Pair Jeans
Shoes (2 pair - jogging and work)
Belt
Running Shorts (also work as pajamas)
Black sweater
Black "Champion" Tee Shirt
Gray Frigidaire Tee Shirt

That's it.  Socks and underwear don't count - we get to wear socks and underwear.  The only jewelry I'm wearing is my wedding band.  No hats, watches, headphones, sunglasses ... nothing else.

When I feel uncomfortable or self-conscious I will try to reflect on those people who go through every day with only one set of clothes.  I will remember that Jesus did not come here to bring me comfort, but to give life.

I have no idea what will happen over the next 7 months, but I am excited to see what kind of heart change the Spirit brings into our lives.  I am tired of living in a bubble of greed.  The culture of consumption and excess is sickening, and is so very far from the vision that was the church of Acts.

Lord, this is your time.  Use it for your purposes.  Let us be changed and reflect the life that you desire, and not the life that our culture calls us to live.

The Slow Pitch

I've been doing a daily trip through the Psalms.  The Psalms are the Bible's book of prayer, and prayer is something that is certainly lacking in my life.  Thus, the study into the Psalms.

The last three days have been especially busy, and so I was not able to get to my study those mornings.  Today I decided that I needed to catch up and do all three days worth of study in one swoop.  My method is I am reading three Psalms a day in 50 Pslam increments (1, 51, 101) - then I am journaling on the verse or verses that really catch my eye that day.  I am using the SOAP method, so each journal entry has a Scripture, Observation, Application, and Prayer - I've found this the most impactful method for my studies, and have been using it for years.

I figured doing three (9 Psalms) at once would be a bit of a pain, but I'd knock it out and get on with the day.  I did day one completely through before I moved onto day two, so my journal entries went after I read the day's three verses - then after my entry was in, I moved onto the next set of verses.

Here is how the morning went:

Scripture #1:

Save me, O God,

for the flood waters are up to my neck.

Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;

I can't find a foothold.

I am in deep water,

and the floods overwhelm me.

-- Psalm 69:1-2

This is a cry from David, and is much more eloquent than anything I can do, but I recognize the feeling.

Life has a way of surrounding us, pulling us in, and making us feel very stuck.  If we somehow manage to get one foot out, we have to put it down again, and we get sucked right back down into the slop.

The thing about this verse that caught me is David's intimacy with God.  I know that God will hear my troubles, but I often feel like my bringing my troubles to Him is selfish and not where my prayers should be centered.  Instead of bringing my frustrations to Him, I stuff then down and try to handle things on my own.  I send up prayers that sound holier, and come from a sincere place of wanting to be better, but come at the expense of my actual heart cry.  During today's writing I realized that this really comes from a lack of faith: lack of faith in the depth of His love, and a lack of faith in my full adoption as a son.

Scripture #2:

I took my troubles to the Lord;

I cried out to him and he answered my prayer.

How I suffer in far-off Meshech.

It pains me to live in distant Kedar

- Psalm 120:1 and 5

Psalm 120 is a song for the pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.  I actually laughed when I read this because I instantly read "Kedar" as "Kedarado" ... 

"Suffering" feels like too strong a word, but it does pain me to be here.  Nearly everything has been more challenging since we pulled into town: cars, money, weather, work, church, friends, family ... that about covers it.  But the first section of my verse study promises something wonderful:

He will hear me and He will answer my prayer.

Here is my prayer written in my journal entry:

Lord, I miss Washington.  I miss the Pacific. I miss family.  This land is hard.  It is lonely and challenging.  Work is hard - it feels futile.  Yet, I know you are with me.  You are doing things in our life that will bless us and, more importantly, others.  I trust you O God.  My hope is in you and not my circumstances.

Scripture #3:

I look up to the mountains - 

does my help come from there?

My help comes from the Lord

who made heaven and earth!

The Lord himself watches over you!

The Lord stands beside you as you protective shade.

- Psalm 121: 1-2 and 5

This verse tied everything together.  Three verses in the same day about the presence and protection of the Lord.  The first spoke to the feeling of being stuck, and let me see that my lack of faith lies behind me not giving those over.  The second spoke to the pain and difficulty of distance.  Because of the first verse I was able to simply state what has been on my heart and mind for 15 months, and because I was able to state it; I was able to lay it down.  The third verse spoke to the shelter and protection of the Lord.

The mire, the waves, and the distance are all hard to deal with.  My work is always going to be difficult.  But I have comfort in the presence of God.  He is always here.  He is always working on me.  He is my protective shade.  He shaped the heavens and the earth, and he has adopted me as his child.  If God is for me who can stand against me that I should fear?

And that was my study this morning.  From acknowledging my lack of faith, to putting voice to my fears, frustrations, and worries, to comfort in the promises of my all-powerful father.

Good stuff.  God is good all of the time - all of the time God is good.

The World on Fire

"I have come to set the world on fire, and I wish it were already burning! I have a terrible baptism of suffering ahead of me, and I am under a heavy burden until it is accomplished.  Do you think I have come to bring peace on earth? No, I have come to divide people against each other!"
  -- Luke 12:49-51

What do we think of when we picture Jesus?  Do we picture the white flowing robes and the Germanic features?  Do we picture the smiling children at his feet?  Do we picture a man walking tranquilly across a stormy sea?

Or, do we picture a man ready to set the world on fire?

I can say that I rarely have that last image come to mind, but that is why he came.  He came to change the world forever, and while we reap the benefits of this, he carried the burden.  During his ministry he performed miracles, and he taught about caring for the downtrodden, but his ultimate purpose was to destroy the old fabric of the law, and give birth to healing.

Jesus was love, but he was not soft and weak.  He was God manifest as human, come with the purpose of redeeming His people from the death they deserved.  The burden of death that was ours was on His head - by His choice.  There was no reason for God to do this, there was nothing that forced His hand to send His son down here, He owed us nothing.  Yet, He came, He loved, He carried the weight, He died .... for us.

The weight of this can be crushing if we allow it to be, and if we focus on how very unworthy we are of such and act.  I know that I've been in this spot a few times, and I think it is a good place to be for a brief period since it allows us to really reflect on how very unworthy we are of grace, but it is not a place to linger.  If we stay too long in this thought arena; the focus moves from Jesus and grace to self worth which is not the point.  I believe it is good to go before God and confess everything, lay it all out at His feet, but after that is done we need to leave it there and move forward confident in our forgiveness.

What can I offer the Lord

for all he has done for me?

I will lift up the cup of salvation

and praise the Lord's name for saving me.

-- Psalms 116:12-13

So, how do we respond to a gift of which we are so very unworthy?  With praise!  By living a life unlike the one we were living before we received His gift.  By understanding that He bought us with His blood, His suffering, His life.  We get to choose to accept the gift, but we do not get to set the terms.  We don't get to negotiate with God, we are either His or we are our own - there is no middle ground.  We cannot repay Him, we cannot get on even ground with God - He is beyond us, yet by His grace, power, and glory; He chose to make a way for relationship.

God needs nothing from me.  He already owns it all.  I cannot repay Him, my good deeds will never begin to cover the debt that was mine.  It is pointless to even try to earn the grace offered me.  All I can offer Him is my everything.

Once I came to terms with the fact that all I can offer is my praise I stepped from guilt into freedom.  I could have gotten stuck looking at my shame - it is an easy place to linger since it still affords us the ownership of our lives, but there is no life there.  Life did not rain down on my head until I decided to accept the gift of life with thanksgiving in praise Him with all that I am.  

Unfailing love and truth have met together.

Righteousness and peace have kissed!

Truth springs up from the earth,

and righteousness smiles down from heaven.

Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings.

Our land will yield its bountiful harvest.

Righteousness goes as a herald before him,

preparing the way for his steps.

-- Psalms 85:10-13

Unfailing love and truth have met.  Righteousness and peace have kissed!  Jesus came and set the world on fire.  He destroyed the world as we had created it to be, and He birthed a new hope for all mankind.

"'Safe?' said Mr. Beaver, 'Don't you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.'" -- The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe; C.S. Lewis