June just has an awful lot of exciting things going on at Lakewood. We kick it off in style with John Maxwell preaching this weekend. This promises to be a great weekend, so feel free to drag along friends & family along with. Good seats can still be had at the Saturday service at least.

Also leading off the month is a new book for the Compass Class on Saturdays: "S.H.A.P.E." by Erik Rees. The first chapter is available to preview here (PDF). I may have to cave in and add this to the reading list from my prior post.

As mentioned, the next book for study in our Compass Class is "S.H.A.P.E." by Erik Rees. The first chapter is available here (PDF) to read. I went over it on the ride into work this morning and one section of it really stood out for me as the author relates a trip to the art museum as a means of understanding God:

On another wall hung Claude Monet’s masterpiece, Water Lilies, in which the artist experimented with the interplay of light and water. Sunlight erases the boundary between objects and their reflection. Though decorative on the surface, the Water Lilies series embodies a philosophy far deeper.

The last masterpiece I saw was Vincent Van Gogh’s The Starry Night, perhaps his most loved work. The scene depicted in the painting literally jumps off the canvas — with rockets blazing yellow and planets spinning like pinwheels above hills that undulate and heave.

Now, let’s imagine for a moment that a portrait of your life hangs next to these others. What does it look like? What are the unique details? What is the title? Is the canvas full of beautiful colors, or is it confused and cluttered? Would you rather see a painting of your life as it is, or would you prefer the masterpiece God wants to create?

Emphasis mine, but the beauty of that first paragraph ought to strike us all.

Jim Wallis has a great three-part excerpt of his upcoming book on the resurrection: "The Call to Conversion." Excerpts below, but read the whole thing. It's definitely a great lead-in to Easter this weekend.

The Victory (Part One)

Jesus is alive. That was the rumor that spread through Jerusalem that first Easter morning. Women came to the tomb early in the morning, the first witnesses to the resurrection. Their testimony as women was not even admissible in court under Jewish law; the word of a woman had no public credibility in that patriarchal culture. But God chose to reveal the miracle of Jesus' resurrection first to women. They were told to report the astonishing news of the empty tomb to the men. At first, the men did not believe it.

Jesus' first appearance was also to a woman, Mary Magdalene. She was in the garden near the tomb, stricken with grief. The one who had accepted and forgiven her, the one whom she loved so deeply, was gone. She saw a figure she thought was the gardener and said to him, "They have taken my Lord. Do you know where they have laid him?" Then a familiar voice called her name, "Mary." She looked up and recognized him. "Master!" she cried. Her Lord had come back, and the heart of the woman who had been cleansed by his love leapt for joy. Mary went straight to the disciples with a simple testimony, "I have seen the Lord." Their excitement must have been enormous.

The Victory (Part Two)

Jesus died for our sins, our doubts, and our fears. He rose from the grave to demonstrate his victory over them and to set us free from their power. He wants us, like Peter, Thomas, Mary, and the others, to know his resurrection. He wanted them to know, and he wants us to know, that his love for his disciples has no bounds, that he died to set us free, and that he rose from the dead to show us his way was true. "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

A conversion was wrought in the disciples. No longer afraid, they fearlessly proclaimed his resurrection in the streets of Jerusalem. What had brought about this miraculous transformation? They had experienced the resurrected Christ, and the experience converted them. They had seen the Lord, and they believed. They turned from fear and turned toward the Lord. Their lives became evidence of the resurrection.

The Victory (Part Three)

We are invited to celebrate the victory of Christ and to live in the world showing we believe it to be true. We are invited to experiment with its truth by risking our security, comfort, resources, time, energy, and our very lives for the sake of his victory. We are called to be those who have left all and risked everything in testifying to his victory. We are called to demonstrate to the world, with our lives, that we have been converted by the resurrection.

The basis of our faith is that Jesus Christ is stronger than any of the powers that confront us: political tyranny, economic oppression, the logic of war. We confront the world's powers not merely with our own strength, resources, ideas, commitment, work, or resistance. Rather, we confront the world with the very life of the resurrected Christ among us.

Elizabeth from the comments ...

Would appreciate your help regarding singles 35+ Saturday Compass Class at 6:00 pm. The class title is "Reaching Your Destiny." Do you know the name of the book that the class is using as resource material or who I would contact to find out the information?

As luck would have it, I just got the email reminding me of this ...

Join the “Better Than ‘35’ Singles”

Class as we analyze life choices that either propel us to
victorious living or hinder God’s work in our life.

This week—Is embracing reality a lack of faith
OR
taking the first step to being in God’s perfect will?

This study will be based on the bestseller:

“Healing Is A Choice”
by: Stephen Arterburn

Saturday, March 10th, 2007
6:00 pm
Room 3022
Third floor of the Family Life Building
Lakewood Church

I haven't looked through the book, but Arterburn's other work looks intriguing enough. And Cordell's teaching from the introduction of the book was fantastic last weekend.

» Strangely Dim: What?

Great read here on the topic of what it means to have a personal relationship with God. Among the intriguing angles of this blog post is the scripture used to illuminate the point. Just read the whole thing and crack open a Bible for some more reading afterwards.

Sometimes, a little bit of journalling, reading, study, and thought go further than others. Thinking through a few thoughts from Marcos' Wednesday sermon on "When Friendship Hurts," I stumbled onto one brief Bible verse that may as well have already been highlighted for me:

2 Corinthians 12:20

For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be.

That's Paul speaking to the Corinthians - friends in one regard or another. Paul addressed them to encourage their spiritual growth and spoke from a vantagepoint of realizing his weaknesses over his strengths. There's a lot of ways to read that single sentence, though ... especially the second half. Depending on which theologian you most frequent yourself with, you might read that as Paul's lament that the Corinthians might not see Paul (righteous apostle that he is) as worth their respect due to a lack of maturity and understanding on the part of the Corinthians. Maybe. Or it could also be in keeping with Paul's rather humility-laden speech in that he realizes he may have his own shortcomings that may lead to him genuinely falling short in the eyes of the Corinthians after their spiritual growth. My guess is that there's some truth in both views.

With the extra free time that the holiday weekend affords me, I've spent a fair amount of it reflecting on the multitude of various friendships that I've been fortunate enough to collect over time. Perhaps ironically, I've done so while savoring my temporary time as a hermit crab, alone from others. Yancey's excerpt was a great lead-off on that front.

One central point deserves to be made openly from the thoughts being woven together. That of testing our gifts.

In my case, how much of myself I trust in the hands of others has always been a challenge. It's one thing to be a natural introvert, but I'd argue it's something else entirely to realize that God may just as well have been training some of us for our entire lives to succeed wildly as such. But to be an introvert does not negate the need for community. It just makes it a challenge - a very different one for us, I suppose.

I'm accustomed to solitude. Heck, I revel in it at times. When I first set foot in Lakewood, I sensed that rebuilding my relationship with Christ would help build stronger relationships with friends and other acquaintances. One slight problem, though - and this is where Yancey's point is incredibly relevant. Our existing friendships are often a means by which we relate to Christ. Just as fatherhood is. Just as a number of other things might be that I haven't had to rethink over time. The significance of this realization is that it may be just as important to work on our more earthly relationships as a means of strengthening our heavenly relationship.

For the better part of the last two years or more, I've sensed that God occassionally nudges me out of my comfort zone in order to grow in new ways. I've had to work while hunched over the laptop in a creative mode. I've had to work as a leader of others - sometimes professionally, sometimes over volunteers. I've had to work with a variety of clients of every type of personality that you can name. In every way, those tangents have helped develop new gifts, new talents, and new opportunities.

And yet, I suspect I may not be alone in always trusting those gifts to the fullest. A little later in that same book of the Bible, we get the following from Paul:

2 Corinthians 13:5-6

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test.

A big part of trusting those gifts we've been given is to test them. Sometimes, it may seem like getting a new car & there's nothing holding us back from testing those gifts (especially if the stereo system has 300+ watts). Sometimes, however, we're reluctant to test the gifts we've been given. That's when it's time to just snap to and try it. Once. And then again. And over and over if necessary.

I say that in the spirit of revitalizing friendships and other relationships in my own life, but I'm sure there's scores of more opportunity to apply this lesson. Like Yancey, I have friends that encompass a broad spectrum of sharing, trust, and respect. The difficulty is in nurturing those relationsips we most wish to see grow ... while casting aside the worries, concerns, and fears from those relationships that teach us an occassionally cruel lesson. Besides, I was never afraid of a little test in school, or with a car that had a loud stereo. So why back down now?

I know there's a slew of new Compass Classes rolling out this week. I haven't had too much time to investigate the lineup due to the day job, though. But this came in the email inbox, so I'm passing it along for anyone that might enjoy this. Tina's a wonderful teacher and I'd make the case that anyone would benefit from this class.

Hi Guys,

Just letting you know that the new classes for Captive No More start this Thursday, October 19 at 7:00 p.m. in Room 3021. If you've taken the class and need more come and join us. If the class helped you come and bring a friend!

God Bless,
Tina Underwood

Well, my day was going nicely until I realized my cellphone service would be testing my patience for the day. Apparently, it's been down since Friday - much to my annoyance. We all have our trials, I suppose.

Anyways, the night began with a great Compass Class, this time taught by Tracy. I should have known I was being set up as the brunt of some joke early on. The setup comes from another one of Tracy's wonderful theatrical examples, this time not involving rocks. Five of us volunteers (I feel that I should point out that I was volunteered, however - clue #1) get brought up to the front of the class. As each is asked what our favorite Bible verse is, we get a candy bar ... a Payday, to be precise. I'm last among the five (clue #2). I give my answer and Tracy dutifully informs me that she's out of candy bars. Injustices like these are not soon forgotten.

From there, the lesson itself involved ways to remain positive when we're thrown an occassional negative in life. As we were given a few practical ideas to go about doing that, the last point was a lesson from Galatians 6:4 - "Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else." Ironically, a verse that's among my favorites. A lot of times, we fail to realize that God is working on us according to His timing, not ours. And the reward we have for that process is unique compared to what we often see around us. It's easy to look around us and see things that others accomplish and wonder why we somehow got overlooked for a similar outcome. It might be situations at work, in relationships, recreation, or all of the above. But in the process of waiting, in putting action behind our faith, and in letting God put us through the trial we need to go through in order to come out where He wants us, we sometimes get impatient and either lose sight of God's plan or fail to recognize it altogether.

Again, Tracy has a great way of demonstrating her point. This time, it was by awarding me a 100 Grand candy bar. Touching, ain't it? If memory serves correct (a 50-50 proposition if there ever was one), I believe Tracy is teaching next Saturday as well. Make it out if you can. She may or may not feed the class with candy, but there's always a little bit of a surprise that's worth coming out for.

Sidenotes for the Day:

• Frank Lockwood reviews "Facing the Giants" and came away impressed. Of more relevance is that it looks like Frank went in with some of the same reservations I tend to have about Christian films ... and still came away impressed. I'm a sucker for a good football movie, and the film is playing at Edwards Cinema Greenway. Think I'll try and catch it Saturday before church next week.

• Got a message last week that Lakewood is finally putting together a volunteer team of tech & graphic artist types. Meeting Wednesday before church. I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store.

• Another reason to come out Wednesday ... Jim Graff is giving the sermon and signing his new book afterwards. Ironic timing with regard to this. I was at work alone late on Friday and decided to flip on some TV to have some noise in the background. I stopped on TBN as Jim Graff was being interviewed on Praise the Lord. I've got a clip of Jim's earlier PTL appearance from the show taped at Lakewood. But this one was a bit more focused on Jim's book, A Significant Life. What little I paid attention to piqued my interest a bit more for getting the book. I also flipped through it briefly at the bookstore Saturday, so getting a copy Wednesday is a cinch. Graff is also the founder of The Significant Church Network, which has a great goal of increasing the effectiveness of rural/small church ministries across the nation.

• A little bit more down the calendar, but high atop my list of things to do and see, there's this from the church bulletin:

  Creative Arts Summit
  October 20 (6:30 - 10pm) & October 21 (8am - 3pm)
  The Loft and 4th Floor Classrooms
  Whether you are a seasonsed professional or an aspiring artist, come develop your skills as you fellowship with other 'believer-artists'. Performances by Carrie & Michael Hodge, The Lakewood Players, Dance Ad Deum, Lakewood Dance Company, A.D. Player Children's Worship and other artists. Classes and worship tracks in Acting, Songwriting, Dance, Writing, Multi-Media, Visual Arts, Music Production, Human Video, Stagecraft, and Video production.
  $35 cost includes lunch. Register by Oct. 1 for $25.
  Register at the Bookstore. (Childcare not provided)

  Umm ... that performance by Carrie & Michael alone is worth $25. Doesn't matter if they only do one song. Consider me booked for this. Granted, I'm also intrigued to see what they've got to offer for video production, writing, multimedia, and visual arts.

• Not quite as far down the calendar, the next Men's Regional Breakfasts are set for October 14th. Maybe this time, I won't be rained out.
  

Sorry for the dearth of posting as of late. It's been an odd mix of work, personal projects, and trying to eke out some time at Church as well as being buried in a book or by prayer. But a few quick points to share after yet another great Tina Underwood class last night. Tina has a great way of illuminating points we've probably heard a million times before, but finding a way to make it sink in. Last night's class was sort of a roundup of the previous four. A bit review, a bit filling in some blanks, a bit summarization.

One of the points that I felt compelled to write down and think about a bit was Tina's comment that "Humans leak." Sounds kinda odd, doesn't it? But it's really another way of stating how we overflow with God's goodness as we gain and increase in it for our own lives. I relate to that a bit by those moments when I feel tired, beat down, and frazzled, but realize that I also need to get ready to head out to church. Not in an obligatory sense, but in the sense that whether I know what the sermon topic is or not, I know I'm going to gain something from it. Even if it's something I just have to store in the back pocket of my brain for a day, a week, a year, a decade, or longer.

When we replace the bad things in our life with the positive things that make us better followers of Christ, it inevitably comes out in a variety of ways. I find myself offering a thank you to the bus driver to and from work, lending a smile where I might have been a bit more self-focused many many moons ago, quicker to greet a visitor at Lakewood, more assured in inviting friends to a service, etc, etc, etc .... Those are all very simple, relatively minor ways in which that goodness "leaks."

The opposite is that when we keep beating ourselves up with negative feedback, pouring negative thoughts and images into our minds from television, conversation, or whatever ... that stuff leaks out as well. And we all get some ounce of it from time to time.

That point ties into another item that Tina covered that I hope I can faithfully echo from her teaching. When I first set foot in her class, my intention was merely to get a glimpse of some of the Recovery Classes going on at church and see what there was that I might be able to share with others. Maybe they'd need it more and I'd just have a ready reference about the availability as well as the applicability of a class or two. But, as Tina tells it, her class isn't just for those who are on the ropes of life ... or on their deathbed (spiritual or physical). Though the class is entitled "Captive No More," it may seem as if the material only applies to a subsegment of us all. But I think there's someting more universal to the nature of what Tina teaches - and she readily offers as much, too.

So I hope that whomever this little blog post lands upon remembers that for the next time the class begins anew. I may have to put in a phonecall to find out more about the last three classes. Tina mentioned the word "workshop" and I'm hesitant to suggest anyone just walk in off the street if those workshops don't benefit a newbie as much as they do those of us who've made this series of the class a habit. I'll update when I get an answer.

Just taking a bit of leisurely time to pass along a few of the extra activities that go on at Lakewood. This is by no means the entire list (far from it), but just those items that catch my interest and I thought I'd pass along. Check the bulletin for more. My own added plug for each is included ...

Recovery Classes (Thursday)
Captive No More - Room 3021
Healthy Soul: Developing Healthy Life Strategies - Room 2044 C&D
Forgiveness 101 - Room 2029F
DNA of Relationships - Room 2042 A&B
The Dream Giver - Room 2028

Obviously, I'm a fan of Tina Underwood's "Captive No More" class. But one of these days, I'm going to make an excuse to check out Leo Tyler's "Healthy Souls" classes. Likewise, there's a few more classes on Monday, so if none of these spark an interest, check the fuller listing. Otherwise, just show up - good seats still available.

Celebrate Recovery (Fridays)
This Christ-centered 12-step program creates a safe place for individuals and familes to overcome addictive behaviors and experience vicotry in Jesus Christ. Dinners and desserts will be available in the cafe at 6:30 and 9pm. For more information, email celebrate@lakewood.cc or call 713.491.1576

I had a brief conversation with Lakewood ministry guru Steve Austin a while back, who introduced the plans for this class to me. It's a variation of the Saddleback/Rick Warren approach to addiction recovery. I get the sense that there's big hopes for this class touching people's lives.

Discover Your Gifts - Finding Your Place in Ministry
Tuesday, September 19 & 26 - 7-9pm, Chapel
Join us as we explore the meaning of spiritual gifts and how they connect us to our God-given purpose.

Given Mike's excellent Compass Class teaching on Saturday, this might be a worthwhile compliment. The scheduling might need to be verified, though. The bulletin says Saturday, but the dates fall on Tuesdays - which make more sense.

"The SPOT" The Special Place of Truth (Fridays)
August 25-September 29, 7-9pm, Trailblazers Room
A 6-week support group for the entire single parent family. Activities include: topics unique to the single parent family, family outreaches with Beyond the Walls Ministry, and Parent Teen Seminar; for students grades 1-12; family graduation, Blessing Ceremony, and variety of age appropriate activities. Register by calling 713.491.1159 or singleparents@lakewood.cc

Not my demographic, but a lot of Koinonia-ians do fit into this one. It's also another new activity that there seems to be a great deal of hope for.

Drama Audition/Workshop
Monday, September 11, 7:30-9:30pm, Chapel
Lakewood's Drama Team is offering a free acting workshop/audition for all interested parties 18 and older. No need to bring any materials or prepared monologues. Childcare not provided.

I'm as good as booked for this. I attended one of these a year ago or so and it was a great experience. Of course, I have no thespiatic chops to mention, so I have the luxury of knowing that I won't be on stage anytime soon. But I do find this to be a great way to test what little talent I have. Also, it's a great way to learn from others around you. And if nothing else, it's entertaining.

Lakewood's Creative Arts Connection
Tuesday, September 19, 7-9pm, The Loft
If you are high school age or older and interested in Drama, Dance, Video or Media Arts, join us for this important meeting. Childcare not provided.

Not entirely sure what to expect here, but the range of ministry activities strikes me as interesting. I may have to check this out for myself.

Free Beginners Dance Class
Fridays, 6:30-8pm, Room 4023
The Creative Arts Ministry is offering a beginner dance class for anyone 18 and older. this class offers instruction in ballet, jazz and lyrical styles. Childcare not available.

Seriously, I have little-to-no interest in jazz dancing. But I do know that Pastor Wendell's wife is one of the leaders of this ministry. Therefore, I'd be remiss to skip over it. I had the opportunity to share a table with her at a Koinonia once and we all learned a good deal about her hopes and plans for this ministry. So if nothing else, wish it well. And if you've got an urge to dance ... well, you can do that, too.

Men's Regional Breakfast
Saturday, September 9, 8:30-10am
Join other men in your area for a hearty breakfast and fellowship!
Southwest: Hilton Houston Southwest (Southwest Fwy/Hillcroft)

I can't believe I've never been to one of these before. What makes that especially egregious is that the southwest group meets across the highway from me. I may have to make a more concerted effort this Sunday.

Men's Victory Summit: Total Engagement
Friday, September 8, 7:30-9:30pm, The Loft
Where men gather together for a powerful night of Praise & Worship, Intercessory and Personal prayer, and Spiritual Encouragement. For men only. No childcare available. Jim Lewis, Men's Ministry Director 713.491.1277, men@lakewood.cc

Hmm ... if this comes across as anything like a Friday service of sorts, I may be game for this as well.

Quest for Authentic Manhood
Sundays, September 10-December 3, 5:30-7pm, The Warehouse
This 24-session journey is comprised of live, interactive teachings and small group times that equip men to live the life God intended for them. The cost is $5 for the entire course. 713.491.1277 or email: men@lakewood.cc

Another class that looks interesting. I'm a bit more partial to seeing something done with John Eldredge's material, of course. But those books are now registering as older and older. Lacking that, this will tempt me for now.

I could probably go on for a full week based on the material Tina Underwood gave us Thursday. I'm just now getting unwound from the workweek, so I might get around to a fraction of it all. First, a bit of an interlude, though.

A nice little blogfind to plug: Better Living: Thoughts from Mark Daniels.

What I like about Mark's blog is ... well, several things. Mark is a blogging pastor who takes some time to put his sermon notes into blog form. Usually, there's three passes through the passage being taught from and each one usually offers up something great to dive into. The rest of the posts are usually quality stuff, too. Except the baseball posts. Sorry, but I've never been a Reds fan. Ever. Astros all the way here ;-)

Anyways, back to Tina's class. I'm taking a few of the easy projects from it first. Primarily because it's late, I'm tired, and yadda yadda yadda. But I kinda took a special interest in how Tina referred to having a theme song for herself, covering a previous one and a current one. All very spiritually related. It reminds me of a time early in my walk when I used to lean on a few lyrics like a crutch trying to get away from me. That was back when I didn't have a church home, so my faith was pretty much built on music and books. One of the first stops after payday was a big Christian bookstore in Bellaire that no longer exists. I'm pretty sure the staff thought I had mistaken it for a library back then.

But one of the first songs that stuck with me was Stryper's "Holding On" ...

So if you're hurting and wanting more
No matter how it seems you can have it all
If you will just believe

That someone is there for you
To catch you when you fall
To make your life brand new
To give you all

Another crutch back then was a band called the Altar Boys. The very first song I got hooked on by the band was one of their mellower numbers: "You Are Loved" ...

To all the hearts that have been broken
To all the dreamers with abandoned dreams
To everybody in need of a friend now
You are loved! You are loved!
To all the rebels wounded in battle
To all the rockers that have lost that beat
To all the users all used up now
You are loved! You are loved!

I'm not really sure what I'd pick for a recent example. I think that, for about the longest time after I landed at Lakewood, I just respun my old Altar Boys music, loaded up the MP3 player and never deleted anything. Good music, to me, means it doesn't grow weary over time. I get into occassional fits of disagreement with friends who listen to music for it's ability to transport them mentally in time to a younger year, a simpler time, whatever. There's really nothing wrong with that. But I've always been a bit of a rock snob in the sense that I think there's an artistry in the music that gets lost when we simply attach it to time.

I'm reminded of that listening to the latest addition ... Michael Sweet's reworked hymns. Listening to "Calvary," "Take My Life," or "Alleluia" is as fulfilling as anything. But then again, there's a whole variety of music that moves me each week at church as well. So, in short, I guess it's a jump ball right now for pinning down anything resembling a theme song. I'm a bit more inclined to opt for a Greatest Hits package now.

Anyways, far more to go over from the class. More later ... I swear.

Two good reasons to blog a little on the current Compass Class series, "Single & Satisfied." One is this Lexington Herald-Leader article on what appears to be a great parallel to Lakewood's own Koinonia groups. There's loads of mirror images to what I believe most Koinonians experience, but there's also a few points that add some new light to our shared state in life:

According to the 2000 census, 45.6 percent of the 221.1 million adult Americans are single. Almost 43 percent of Kentucky's 3.2 million adults are unmarried.

With more than three-fourths of single adults claiming to be Christians and only one-third of them attending church functions on a regular basis, the church has a large group of people to draw into its doors. But the task is tricky. Single adults don't fit into one nice, neat mold. They span generations and life experiences.

The never-been-married crowd is by far the largest contingent. Members typically range in age from early 20s to mid-30s. They tend to be educated professionals who live away from their families and are putting marriage on hold.

In May, the U.S. Census Bureau found that the average age for a first marriage was 27.1 years for men and 25.8 years for women, up from 23.2 and 20.8 respectively, 25 years ago.

But by putting off marriage, young adults are finding it harder than in years past to easily plug into church while in their early to middle 20s.

Read the whole thing, though. Sounds like they've got a great group going up at NorthEast Christian Church.

Locally, we all had the treat of Tracy leading the class prior to service. It's been too long since the lectern has been so blessed, but Mike & Cordell did an admirable job in the meantime. The series we're now in the midst of derives from the teachers' reflections on Tony Evans' book "Being Single & Satisfied." It's a brief, brisk read that focuses mainly on Paul's message from 1 Corinthians regarding singleness and marriage. I've previously blogged on the book, so I won't add much more than that.

What's always refreshing about Tracy's classes is that she has a great way of augmenting the material from the book in a way that ingrains it into our own experiences (or at least mine ... but I'd find it very weird if I'm alone on this). What I took away from the class was this:

"What you value, you protect" ... Tracy pulls another one of her classic analogies here by offering a million dollar ring off her hand. It rings true to me in a far harsher way. I once interned in Washington DC for a summer. On my exit out of town, the cab dropping me off at the bus station ran off with my tickets and camera in tow. Upon calling the cab company to retreive my bounty, I was greeted by a smart alecky customer service agent who informed me that if the tickets were so valuable, I should have kept a closer eye on them. Suffice it to say, that didn't go over well at the time. But the simplicity of the message is true. Currently, I travel around with my laptop a good deal. It's also one of the most valuable possessions I have since I do a lot of work on it for people that like to sign checks over to me. Believe me when I say I keep close tabs on that sucker when I'm out and about.

Likewise, our hearts are to be protected and guarded. That's not to suggest that they should be locked away, though. Just like I've got to haul the laptop to work almost every day, there are times when you've got to step out on a limb and expose your heart to some amount of risk. The letter to the Corinthians tells us to "remain with God in that condition in which he was called." Yet, as Evans tells us, too many times we separate our status from our calling. There's clearly a purpose for all of us to be in the state we're in at the time of God's calling. That may not mean you stay there throughout. But the time that you realize someone else is running a similar race to yours ... and pushes you to strive harder in your calling ... is probably a far better time to think about God calling you to marry than any other set of situations.

"Don't compare your insides to somebody else's outside" ... another great powerful phrase to ponder. Too often, we look at others as if they're living the perfect life when, in fact, they're not. I remember having dinner with some married friends of mine a while back. Thought they'd reached a very wonderful point in their lives, both together and individually. It was enough to be envious of them. But later conversations would prove otherwise. We rarely see the whole picture of other people's lives. And while there is typically something we can learn from everyone, we shouldn't accept the corrollary that we might learn everything from any one person.

As always, good stuff. There's plenty of good seats available for the Saturday night class. Feel free to join in if you're not already doing so. Is there any better way to spend a Saturday night?

Outreach Magazine: Can Mega Be Missional? Ed Stetzer

Interesting read here. It's late and I don't have adequate time to give it the summarization it deserves. But since it's a fair question on the part of some about what appeal a big chuch might have over a small church, this article seems to give a good bit of balance ... even putting criticisms such as overt consumerism into an historical context.

Personally, my initial reasons for setting foot in Lakewood were somewhat unique. I'd only heard good things about the church for about the past 15 years and since I frequented the old Compaq Center for hockey games, I was a bit curious to see how the old place was transformed. But my own previous hunt for a church home had been spectacularly unproductive - to the point of it being buried and left for dead for a few years more than my first word about Lakewood. I wasn't quite sure that I'd step in and find a church home, but I wasn't reluctant to let the opening weekend go by me with the only excuse being that I was too tired to go. Fate? Maybe. But I've obviously got no complaints.

Reminds me, though ... I remember stumbling onto some online rant about megachurches leaving churchgoers hungrier for the Word of God than when they arrived. It was offered as a derogatory statement, but the more I came back to that argument, the more I kept asking myself .... "Is that such a bad thing?" I mean, I'm back from a wonderful Bible Study with Lisa Comes that actually dovetails nicely into Tina Underwood's terrain (which I'm committed to for tomorrow (er, today)). I left with a newfound spark to read through Philippians as a result. Amazing how that might strike anyone as such a bad thing.

Totally unrelated, but I usually leave the laptop at the office Wednesday nights rather than lug it through church with me. Problem being that I was hoping to finish transcribing the weekend sermon tonight (which - you guessed it - is on the laptop! ... at the office!). D'oh! And I may have new reading material and music to dive into tomorrow night. Ah well, all in good time, I suppose. For now, Philippians awaits me.

As promised, a few words on last week's class with Tina Underwood.

I think part of the reason I've been a bit reluctant to make it to any of the Recovery Classes was due to the fact that none of the topics really jumped out at me. I did, however, want to try and get a look at some of them, though. If only for the off chance that there might be a really great teacher or a class more interesting than I might have otherwise guessed. This qualifies for both.

Having heard a lot of good things about Tina Underwood from others, I still left a bit more impressed than normal. These are 90-minute classes - sometimes with no break. And Tina teaches in a way that's compelling in a way that demands interest like few others. If nothing else, I give her immense credit for finding a way to make guys relate to a story that begins with Tina being a cheerleader and rebellious teenager into one that is immenently more relatable from a male point of view. And yet, what I appreciate even more is that the outline offered isn't a substitute for the message she offers - but rather, a complement to it.

The course topic for last week was "Rejected to Accepted." We're warned right up front that this wasn't a feel-good type of class. A quote that Tina offers that I found worth scribbling was that "rejection is meant to take your focus from God." And the more I reflect on that, the truer I realize it is. Every attack that we can point to as originating from Satan isn't meant to make us bow down and worship him ... it's merely meant to prevent us from worshipping God. Think about those moments where you've let rejection, fear, and doubt distract you from that relationship. Tina runs through a veritable encyclopedia of examples in her own life. And I think if we were all being half as honest as Tina was, we'd have no problem putting together a similar encyclopedia of our own. For the sake of brevity, I'll leave my own entry with something along the lines of "Yeah, been there."

Tina does a great thing in closing out her class, praying over everyone individually. We're not talking about a small class here, either. Maybe 50 or so people. It's truly amazing to witness this for the first time when you're on the side of the room she gets to last and you've heard all these great prayers for so many people.

Anyways, treat yourself to a Thursday night at Lakewood. You won't be disappointed.

With a little opening in the schedule, I snuck in one of the Recovery Classes at Lakewood Monday night ... in this case, the class going over Robert McGee's "The Search for Significance." The nice things about these classes is that, at 90 minutes per class and no service to attend afterwards, there's more of a relaxed feel for the whole thing. Granted, I suspect that all those folks who reserved their seat prior to a Compass Class might not notice much of a difference. But still.

I missed the first week this class was held, but the material does well in standing up on it's own. So even if you make sporadic attendance, you ought to do well. Not every class is based on a book study, though. Leo Tyler (probably one of the most dynamic and popular teachers at Lakewood) has a Healthy Souls class on Thursdays, for instance. If you feel like just sampling what's available, try just showing up on a Monday or Thursday at 7pm. The more longstanding Recovery Classes are also, apparently, still operational. I do like that they've added several of the book study classes, though. It makes it worthwhile to try and get in the habit of making it to church on either night just in case they start up a class on a book that I've actually read ... or just need a weak excuse to pick up. McGee's book is a close call. It's an appealling book, but strikes me as a too-close cousin of the uberpopular Rick Warren book, which I've already read.

Whenever I get home and relocate my pushcard of the newest classes offered, I'll update this post with a fuller listing. Then again, Choir practice is on Tuesday nights and if I manage to get out of work early, I may try and sneak a viewing of that into my schedule as well.

UPDATE:

Monday Recovery Classes ....
Search for Significance [Room 3024]
Safe People [Room 3023]

Thursday Recovery Classes ....
Healthy Soul: Healthy Life Strategies [Room 2044 C&D]
Forgiveness 101 [Room 2029F]
DNA of Relationships [Room 2042]
The Dream Giver [Room 2028]
Captive No More [Room 3021]

All of these classes last 8 weeks (we're in week #2 right now), from 7:00 - 8:30pm. The Monday classes don't meet on Labor Day.

A few weeks back, I decided to pick up a few of the little tracts for sale around the bookstore. One of them was Joel's "Living the Joy-filled Life." I've only just now gotten around to perusing them - there's just something about me that refuses to accept anything under 150 pages as worthwhile reading, so I'm not sure how to explain the sudden curiosity. Anyways, the first step mentioned was "slow down" ... in other words, don't miss the joy of today in living for tomorrow. Two things from this jumped out at me:

Maybe you're living in anticipation of a big moment that you believe will make all the difference for you. Let me encourage you to not be deceived by the hope of mighty exploits. Start enjoying every single day of your life right now. It's certainly great to dream big dreams ... to have big goals. But most of life is very routine, and there is joy in the routine! The psalmist said it this way: "This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it." (Psalm 118:24)

Rejoice today - not tomorrow! Now - not later!

Remember, there will always be another dream to dream. If all your dreams were to come true today, God would soon birth a new dream, a new vision, for you to pursue. That's the way He is. And the sooner we learn to slow down and enjoy every single day of life - whether it's sunny or rainy, exciting or boring, stretching or satisfying - the more satisfied and fulfilled we will be.

That more or less runs counter to what I think is a common stereotype of Joel's ministry - that we're all sitting around just praying to get rich here at Lakewood, and that if we just believe hard enough, we will be rich. In fact, one of my favorite sermons that I continually replay is "Staying on the Potter's Wheel." The central point of it was to realize that we have a purpose for being in whatever situation it is - good or bad. And it's up to us to realize that God is working on us in those difficult times. If we allow the tough times to defeat us, they don't merely affect us in those situations. They have a way of taking away from us the positive, uplifting times as well.

The other item that sticks with me from this portion of the booklet has to do with the material we've been covering in Compass Class on single life.

Maybe you're single today and praying for God to bring the right person into your life. That's great! I encourage you to continue to pray, believing for God's best. but as you do, let me challenge you to enjoy every moment of your single life. This time will not come again. The same thing is true if you are a married couple longinf ro children, or a man or woman working two jobs to make ends meet. Don't get so caught up in the hopes of tomorrow that you forget to enjoy today!

That's pretty close to the message Tony Evans has in his book, in fact. Enjoy what you do have, rather than worrying & bemoaning what you don't have. Not a whole lot to expand on this one, but I just had to marvel at the distillation of the point that we've been spending a good deal of time on in Compass Classes.

Speaking of which, I happened to take in another rare Sunday Compass Class this past weekend. It's always interesting to see how the other half lives. They seemed to be covering the same topic we were, just not based on the same book selection (in fact, Doyle didn't reference a particular book, so I'm guessing they may not have used one at all). Still, Doyle's a great teacher and as dog-tired as I was about that time Sunday, there's no way I could be found dozing off as Doyle worked the crowd. Next week, it's back to my more familiar Saturday night group, though. I'm suddenly reminded that a week without is too long.

Since all my explosive fun was taken care of over the weekend and today's turned out to be a fairly work-free day, I've actually had a blast just doing some good old fashioned reading and playing Chris Tomlin over and over and over. In the midst of all this reading, there's a few passages and Scripture references that have already stuck with me regarding something that I feel God's putting in my heart lately. So consider this my own way of bookmarking the matter ... even though I've already poured a fair amount of highlighter into one Bible, bookmarked everything on eBible, and written out everything in my offline journal. So um ... scratch that and let's just consider this my way of covering every base:

From "90 Daily Readings for Living at Your Full Potential" ...

Search the Scriptures and highlight those that particularly apply to your life situation. Write them down and get in the habit of declaring them.

God has not given us hundreds of promises simply for us to read and enjoy. God has given us His promises so we might boldly declare them to bring us victory, health, hope, and abundant life.

Page 156 "Learn to Listen"

Isaiah 57:13

But the man who makes me his refuge will inherit the land and possess my holy mountain.

Isaiah 57:14

Build up, build up, prepare the road! Remove the obstacles out of the way of my people.

Isaiah 58:6-7

Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke?

Is it not to share your food with hte hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter - when you see the naked, to clothe him and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

So we're off to the races now. From the looks of it, every Compass Class is devoting time to some aspect of Marriage. Saturday night's singles group, as reported, is going over Don Raunikar's "Choosing God's Best." If you don't pick up the book, the class outline is a reasonably good guide to it for following along.

Obviously, I've now penned a few posts critical of the book, but I think the 8-week focus on it in class is still worth checking out. For myself, I found a couple of things encouraging ... one being that even people who enjoyed the book had an initial scepticism about the author's prescription. Secondly, there were a few questions from the class asked different ways that essentially came down to the larger meta-question of why Raunikar's concept of courtship is "God's way."

That last point is one that I think warrants a lot of attention. Raunikar refers to courtship as "God's way" for coupling and the same sentiment is offered by the teachers promoting the study in Compass Class. I don't fault them or even Raunikar for believing that there is a better option than what we've come to see in worldly dating. But I think the scepticism over "where did this plan really come from?" is valid. What bothers me about Raunikar's concept is this, however - it's not God's plan. It's a man-made invention ... and there have been other authors promoting the concpt of courtship as a replacement for dating in both secular and Christian books. One of the questions put forth was rather direct on this point and at least for myself, I'm not convinced the answer was good enough.

So, for all that, why bother with the idea of this particular study? I think there's still a lot of truth to what Raunikar puts into print. As we went through the chart of Raunikar's "Courtship Process," I kept thinking to myself: "Self, there's really nothing in Steps 1 through 5 that should really strike anyone as revolutionary." In other words, there's loads of great advice that just does anyone good to hear it all over again. Add to that, the fact that the information is at least put in the context of godly relationships, and I think there's still more good than bad to be gotten from the book.

If I had my druthers (and I rarely do), I might prefer Camerin Courtney and Todd Hertz's book "The Unguide to Dating: A He Said/She Said on Relationships." Christianity Today ran an excerpt from the book and there's a section that speaks to some of what I see as problematic in this genre of writing - namely, the desire to reinvent wheels and play around with semantics when core concepts will suffice. Todd Hertz sums this up nicely (emphasis mine):

In his 1997 book I Kissed Dating Goodbye, Harris wrote that dating isn't wrong, but like fast food, it's not the best option. His solution was a form of courtship (though he didn't use the word) he called "smart love." Basically, he defines it as developing a purposeful, accountable, and committed relationship based on sincere, God-focused love. He emphasized being motivated by a concern for others and not selfish desires. A flurry of books followed with ideas on how Christians should (or shouldn't) date.

"Christian singles are completely baffled by dating," wrote Benjamin, a reader of ChristianSinglesToday.com. "Many would agree there are some crazy ideas floating around evangelicalism today about the topic. By the time I graduated high school, the idea of dating had become so intimidating I almost gave up on the idea. There's no manual for dating or relationships, and neither kissing dating good-bye nor sitting at home is an adequate solution."

...

It's confusing that so many different ideas exist within Christianity, but as Marus noted in Christianity Today, when you look closely, you may discover the problem is simply semantics. Jeramy Clark's I Gave Dating a Chance is a popular response to Harris's book. However, Harris and Clark basically use different words for the same thing�healthy, God-honoring relationships conducted with integrity. And come to think of it, maybe the fact that these notions are so similar is a good thing. If Christians focus on the concept of healthy, purposeful, God-honoring dating instead of wordplay, maybe some confusion over dating and courtship would diffuse.

But I still think signs would be helpful.

So part of the beauty of this recent series at Compass class is in refining the ability of discernment - the process of listening to different ideas in order to discern what God has placed in your own heart. I don't doubt that Raunikar and any number of others who read Choosing God's Best to discover encouragement in his writing. But I'm not convinced it's a universal prescription when he suggests that "Christian dating" is an oxymoron.

Since it strikes me as a bit infrequent that I find what may well serve as a lifeverse, I thought I'd share this bit of discovery. One of the moments from the Nightline interview of Joel that had been resting on my heart was the reporter asking Joel about the signifigance of "God's favor" in something as seemingly minor as getting a better seat on an airplane ride. The way the reporter asked it was as if this was one of those moments where God was just void, or cancelled out somehow. After all, isn't God with the person who doesn't get that seat upgraded, also? The problem I had with the way this was asked was ... well ... if we start assuming God has nothing to do with even the little things in our life, then at what point have we erased Him out of our lives alltogether?

So I just happened to crack open my handy, well-worn devotional version of Joel's book. I hit the chapter entitled "Don't Take Normal for Granted." It's a great read in and of itself and fits with the past few sermons Joel has given on developing a habit of happiness. One quote to pull away from it for now:

Don't take everday, "normal" life for granted. If you are healthy, have a roof over your head, and have family, you have so much to be thankful for. Don't wait until something is lost or taken away before you really appreciate what you have. Learn to enjoy what God has given you.

Atop the chapter is a reference to Philippians 4:11 ...

I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

But in my search for a bit more context, I like the slightly wordier followup of Philippians 4:12-13

¹²I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

The power of this, for me at least, is that it starts off with words that may as well be my own, making it instantly relatable. But by the time you get to the end of even this brief passage, you arrive at a point worth aspiring to - to know the "secret of being content" as Paul does ... to know you can do everything through "him who gives me strength" even in times of want.

There are good days and bad days, or so we're told. I might be excused for being down during one of those proverbial "bad days." But no matter how "bad" that day is, I'm still able to witness God's creation on this earth. I'm still able to share that message of hope, be it through friends, church fellowship, or even blogging about it. In truth, there are no bad days ... just days that the Lord has provided. The secret of being content may elude me from time to time, but I'm guessing that if it does, it might be because I've accepted the premise that God isn't involved in some of those everday, ordinary, average moments of triumph. If I ignore God's favor at those moments where the bus runs early, everything goes right at the office, I have a spare hour or so to read, write, or blog ... if I just pretend nobody's there, then I've made all the room the Enemy could ever hope to invade. It's no so much that we shouldn't expect to take "normal" for granted ... it's that we shouldn't take God for granted.

I know, I know. I've been passing on bad info after bad info with regard to when the Compass Classes would be shifting topics to tackle Ben Raunikar's "Choosing God's Best" and Tony Evans' "Being Single & Satisfied." So here's what I can say now: as of THIS point in time, the classes will begin NEXT WEEK. Since this was announced at the beginning of the Compass Class, during the Koinonia meeting afterwards, and the fact that it's hard to change things one week out ... I'm reasonably confident that we'll be diving into the books next week. Maybe.

Actually, we're told that this is part of a Compass Class "Summer Book Tour" where each of the demographic groups will look at different books. Obviously, it's not too smart to expect the married folk to pore over these books. You get the idea. If anyone cares to enlighten me as to the books other groups will be covering, I'll gladly pass that info on. Anyway, even more details are as follows:

Eight weeks will be devoted to covering Raunikar's book. Upon getting this bit of info, I followed up at Koinonia with a question of how they'd be working in Tony Evans to the mix. I specifically asked Mike and he told me they had 4 weeks planned on it. Then I showed him the book - all 47 pages of it. Clarifying things with Cordell, Mike tells me that it appears they're going to let each teacher give their reflections on the book rather than divide it up, as is the approach for Raunikar. Maybe that four-week plan will hold ... but I'm obviously not the one to promise that. Wait and see.

I'm obviously not 100% eye-to-eye with Raunikar's approach, but I guess I'll try and fast-forward my own deeper analysis of the book since it looks like the classroom work for it kicks in shortly.

What a full day of church fun for the night. No amount of blogging can truly capture it all. But a couple of things warrant at least an effort. For starters - Compass Class. OK, so there's a slight non-fatal problem of communication going on with upcoming topics. The series on dating actually starts (I think) July 1. That means June has a four-part series. This time, it's on Spiritual Warfare. First up for teaching duties was the always enjoyable, multi-talented Tracy. We had a slew of scripture references thrown in and I tried to capture what I could. So in case anyone's up for some study time, I'll add that at the end. For now, one primary point of focus comes from 1 Peter 5:8-10

⁸Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.

I thought it too coincidental that Tracy would crack open "Wild At Heart" towards the end and pretty much riff from a section that I first took a look at back in December. Spiritual warfare is a central aspect of Eldredge's books aimed at men (and I suspect has a significant role in his books aimed at women) and I think he presents it in a way that addresses us where we are in real life terms.

Someone in the class asked about there being a litmus test of sorts for determining if something was spiritual warfare. I tend to agree with Tracy that this tends to fall somewhere near a "I know it when I see it" type of call. But inching from that toward something of a more precise explanation, I tend to think of Eldredge's concept of "I'm not here" as a handy guide. It tends to be that most acts of spiritual warefare begin with the notion that the Enemy isn't present. Eldredge speaks of "good people with good hearts want[ing] to explain everything on a 'human' level." In other words, there's nobody else here ... just us humans. If there's no positive spiritual aspect present with what's being done, then you can probably bet there's a negative one present. It's typically when we think nobody is looking that someone is.

We closed the class with 4 R's of Spiritual Warfare, so I definitely want to share those, along with some scripture references to each.

• Repent James 4:7
• Recognize 1 Peter 5:8-9; John 10:10; Ephesians 6:16
• Resist 1Peter 5:8-10; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5
• Replace Matthew 4:1-11

There's a great deal more that was given in class, but rather than try and capture it all myself and expose my own shortcomings as a secondhand teacher, I'll refer anyone to pick up any book by John Eldredge. I can't top that stuff.

As an added bonus, it was great to see a growing crowd at the Saturday night class. If there's a group of teachers that deserves a large class, it's the Waypoint crew. There's still good seats available, though. I had two good fortunes to experience Saturday night: one being that my friend Mark was able to make it to Compass Class. The other was to get to talk to Patricia later at Koinonia. I occassionally bump into Mark in my 'hood since he works near where I live. I mentioned the Compass Classes to him the last time I saw him out & about (actually, as he was giving me a lift to the bus station). I realized after we'd parted ways that I had a few of those handy cards for the class on me to offer, but I guess I was just left hoping that a good verbal sell would be encouragement enough for him to make it. I lucked out & he did. But Mark's got a great heart for God, so I'm sure he would have made it eventually. Patricia is forever endeared to me for offering one of the coolest answers to a Koinonia introduction moment. We went around our table offering our names and what type of person we wanted to be. Patricia offered up "a sea diver." I should point out that if I dared to speculate as to Patricia's age, she'd have me shot. She's much too sweet to admit to that, of course. But since she was the first one to go, I have to admit there's no way anyone could top "sea diver" as an answer. After the session on Maxwell's book, we had a good chat. Turns out she's a big fan of Carrie Hodge's. I had to turn her on to Carrie's CD, of course. It was all I could do to not march downstairs and demand they open the bookstore back up to buy a copy of it for her.

Good thing this weekend was as fun as it was ... it'll have to get me through next weekend when I'm off to Ft. Worth. I'll get something up on Marcos' sermon whenever I get back by to pick up a CD of it. Hoping to take care of that ... well, literally in a few hours.

Yeah, ok ... so one more reminder: