This is a modern day adaptation of Jesus’ parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 15.  I wrote this to incorporate in a message for my middle school students and thought I would pass it along.

There once were two brothers who lived on the rich side of town.  Whatever there was to be had, they had it.  They were the first to get the newest video games, the most expensive Mac computers, and the most coveted car in the high school parking lot.  They had it all.

One day, the younger son got to thinking about how much money his dad really had.  He began to imagine what he could do with not just the little trinkets that his dad had given him but with his whole half.  He knew that one-day down the road when his dad finally died he would end up with half of the family money.  So he got to thinking, “Maybe, I could work my way into the money now.  It is mine anyway so I should have it when I want it.  It is my right.”

So the younger son went to see his dad.  He angrily told his father: “I know that when you finally die and are out of my life that I will get half of your fortune.  I know that you only give me small trinkets of what is truly mine because you hate me and do not want me to have all the stuff and fun that I am entitled to.  So, I want you to fork it over now since you are not looking like you are going to pass away anytime soon.”

The father was shocked and amazed at his son’s greed and hatred, but he decided to give in.  After going to the bank and getting some things together, the father reluctantly gave his son his half.  This caused the father not just financial hardship but also personal pain and loss over the son who had abandoned him and taken his acts of love on him and saw them as acts of hatred.  He mourned the loss of his son so much more than the loss of his money.

The son immediately took off and began living the high life.  He built himself a huge house, many cars, and gained many “friends.”  He became a celebrity just because of his wealth and the crazy ways that he spent it.  When MTV’s “Cribs” showed up at his door, the son knew that he had made it big.  The life that his father had robbed him of had finally become his.  He was who he was entitled to be.

Like many overnight celebrities, however, the son’s empire came crashing down.  He had spent money so quickly that he had lost count of it.  His credit cards became completely filled up along with his closets, garages, and house.  When the bank came to collect, the son realized that he was out.   What the son quickly found out is that his dream was over.

He now found himself out on the streets in the city that he once was the king of.  He was now a poor beggar with nothing but the clothes on his back.  His friends had quickly found someone else with money and connections to hang out with.  He tried to get a job but because the economy was so bad there were no jobs to be found except that of a garbage man.

The son now found himself doing the smelliest job that he could have ever imagined.  He was so snowed under in the money that he owed the bank that he could not afford to pay for food or a place to live.  He began to scrummage through the bags, which he was paid so little to pick up.  He would find random half eaten fruits and every once in a while some week-old leftovers.

The son quickly began to think.  His dream of riches, fame, and popularity had quickly turned into a situation that was so bad that he could not have even imagined it.  His life had become this way because of his hatred and rebellion against his father.  He began to see the brokenness in his life and he began to mourn.  He knew that he was a horrible son and that he had treated his father in a very hurtful and mean way.

As the son began to think about his father, he wondered what life was like at home.  He could imagine his older brother sitting around the table with his mom and dad having a warm home-cooked dinner.  He began to be able to taste the flavor of his favorite cookies that his mom used to make him.  He began to long for home.

He wondered if he could ever come back to the table as a part of the family again.  He knew that if he had been in his dad’s place that he could never have him back.  He began to wonder.  Was there any hope to be found?  Maybe, he could just ask for the week-old leftovers before they hit the trash.

The son decided to drag himself home to see if there was any hope of some leftovers.  He quit his job and walked to the interstate and stuck out his finger towards home.

Through the kindness of several truckers, he made his way back to his hometown.  He walked from the interstate exit near his house to the neighborhood.  After convincing the gatekeeper to the neighborhood that he was not a criminal, he began to make his way down the familiar neighborhood streets.

He finally arrived at the street where he had lived for so many years in a time that seemed so long ago.  He could begin to see the big tree in the front yard that he and his brother used to play in as children towering in its place at the end of the cul-de-sac.  He was getting closer.

The house slowly came into view.  The son’s legs felt like they were about to snap in two as he got closer to the house.  Part of him wanted to stop and rest but he knew that he had to know what would happen.

As the son got closer to the house, he saw his dad in his usual chair in front of the plasma TV in the living room.  Just as he glanced into the window, his dad looked up from the TV and caught a glimpse of his son.   The father immediately got up from his chair.

Many things began to run through the son’s mind.  He is going to get his gun to shoot me for taking advantage of him.  He is going to go get the paddle that he used to use on me as a child.  He is going to grab the phone and call the cops to get this trespasser off of the property.  But before these thoughts could finish running through the son’s head, the front door swung open.

He saw his father with arms wide open running out to hug his son.  The prodigal son had returned and found that his father was there to love him and welcome him back into the family even before he could get out the words “I am sorry.”

When we come to the Christmas season, we are met with many things to do.  Our lives tend to immediately get busy and hurried in the midst of all of the presents, parties, and other things that make this season so loved by many.  But before we get lost in the craziness of the season, let us take a look back to the beginnings of this holiday.

The Gospel of John begins with a great picture of Christmas.  He gives this picture of Jesus (who he calls the Word) being the Creator, Sustainer, and Giver of life.  He shows us a great and powerful God, and then he says “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1: 14a ESV).  That is the center of what Christmas is about.  The Creator of the world, the Author of life, the Originator of all beauty, the Sustainer of all came down into our world.  This loving God was willing to come down into our world which is scarred with the pains of grief, crying out with hurts, and full of sin and corruption.  The holy God of the universe stepped down into our pain and world to redeem us from it.  He came from His home in Glory to make a way through His own suffering and death to bring us to Glory and to restore fellowship with us.

This Redeemer, however, did not come on the scene as many would expect.  The lightning did not flash, the earth did not shake, and the angels did not belt out a joyful noise.  No the God of the universe came as a baby, and He was “wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger, because there was no room in the inn” (Luke 2:7b ESV).  God comes on the scene and is given no kingly treatment.  The God of the universe should have at least been given a room in the inn, but instead He is born in an animal food trough.   Jesus Christ comes to redeem His people and everyone seems to miss it.  The writer of John says it this way: “The true light which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.  He was in the world and the world was made through Him, yet the world did not know Him.  He came to His own and His own people did not receive Him” (John 1: 9-11 ESV).  He came to bring light into the darkness of our world, and we missed Him.

This Christmas in the midst of all of our trees, Santas, gifts, families, Christmas parties, and dinners will we miss Jesus?  It is very easy in during the busy holiday season for us to forget what is important.  Jesus wants a relationship with you this Christmas season.  He wants to spend some time with you this Christmas.  The question is “Will you be like the wise men and shepherds and seek Him, or will you miss Jesus this Christmas?

In A Million Miles in a Thousand Places: What I Learned While Editing My Life, engaging author and masterful storyteller, Donald Miller, invites his readers into the realm of story.  This memoir, which journeys with Miller through the past few years since his last book, To Own a Dragon, brings the idea of living your life as a story that matters to front and center.  This book uses Miller’s personal journey to show his readers the importance of living a life that becomes a story that makes a difference in the world.

The book’s premise focuses around the opportunity that Miller had to edit his life in working to produce a film based off of his first book which made him famous, Blue Like Jazz.  Through the writing and editing experience of this film, Miller realizes that the life that he finds himself living is anything but the epic and exciting stories that good films are made of.  This causes him to seriously evaluate his life to see what living a life that counts for something would look like for him.  This personal evaluation led him to start a ministry to children and students in the inner city called the Mentoring Project and to also take a bike journey from one side of America to the other to raise money and awareness for clean water in Africa.  Through these experiences, Miller realized that living a good story is found in living for a bigger story outside of yourself.

This hilarious, touching, and honest memoir calls readers to seek their own story.  A story that makes a difference in the lives of others and calls them to take risks to be able to have a large impact on the world.  This book will inspire you and encourage you to step into a larger story that you cannot even imagine.

In Fearless, Max Lucado brings to life Jesus’ teachings on fear throughout the gospels.  The is a timely book considering our current cultural fears raging from economic to health to political fears.  Lucado does a biblical job of addressing fears not using the popular techniques of self-help and prosperity preachers who take advantage of people’s fears and believe in the power of positive thinking to overcome your fears.  Instead, Lucado addresses our fears by pointing us to Jesus Christ who is the centerpiece of our faith.  In Jesus, we find a God who is not foreign to our fears and who does not sit idly by in our times of fear.  Lucado, through the vehicle of the gospels, paints a picture of a Jesus who not only understands our fears but who wants to be the peace in the midst of our storm.  The chapters in this book address different storms that Jesus desires to be our peace in the middle of.  These storms include: the fear of not mattering, the fear of disappointing God, the fear of running out, the fear of not protecting my kids, the fear of overwhelming challenges, the fear of worst-case scenarios, the fear of violence, the fear of the coming winter, the fear of life’s final moments, the fear of what’s next, the fear that God is not real, the fear of global calamity, and the fear of God getting out of my box.  The most amazing part of this book is the fact that after addressing all of the potential earthly fears that Lucado addresses in this book he brings us to see that a healthy fear of God as God brings all of these fears into proper perspective.  If God is God and He is on the throne, our fears look as large as they really are because we see them from an eternal perspective.  A God-sized view of God is the ultimate comfort in the midst of fear.  God is sovereign and He is good despite how ever dark our fears may look.  Lucado does an excellent job of bringing this powerful scriptural truth to life to encourage his readers to not fear!

So, I have not blogged in ages because life has been insane between working with the middle school at FBC Pelham and working at Student Life.  I started Beeson Divinity School this week so I think that my life and schedule is going to reach some form of stability and rhythm soon.

God has been doing amazing things over the last few months.  He has really been working through the middle school ministry at church.  We are seeing more students getting involved in coming to church than the middle school ministry has seen in a long time.  God led me to do a series this semester on Wednesday nights called Rebel: Following a Jesus Who Did Not Conform.  We have been studying the counter cultural nature of the Christian lives through Jesus’ dialogues with individuals throughout the book of John.  It has been an amazing journey so far, and the students seem to be really impacted by the truth.

Beeson could not have been a more perfect fit for me.  I am loving the classes and people and feel like I am in a place where I can grow and be challenged.  It is going to be neat to see how readings from the early church and the theological debates from church history so easily apply to my ministry at Pelham.  I am growing and learning so much even in the first few days, and I cannot wait to see what God is going to do in the days and weeks to come.  Thanks again for all your prayers and support as I continue along my journey.

The following is a blog post from Ed Stetzer that I thought would be worth passing along:

Cathy Grossman and USAToday writes about christian accountability groups. You can read the whole article here.

It begins with:

Does the Capitol Hill house on C Street — home to several congressmen although it eludes property taxes by being listed as a church — give prayer “accountability” groups a bad name? Should elected officials seek God in secrecy while hiding sins from public scrutiny?

The fact that such a group exists in Washington, D.C., combined with recent news about participants, makes it national news.

She explains what these groups are all about:

But millions of men and women belong to small prayer and accountability groups where they read and discuss Scripture together and hold each other to truthful living in God’s name. Remember Promise Keepers, the men’s group that hit a popularity peak in the 90’s? It stressed accountability groups heavily and even if PK no longer packs stadiums for rallies, many of those small groups continue to enriching lives.

The question that Cathy address deals with secrecy in such groups and the honesty required. I explained, “Accountability groups are only as good as the truthfulness of their participants.”

Cathy linked to my blog on accountability groups and questions. That blog is here. The USAToday story is here.

Here is the blog to which the story refers:

These lists are from Cultivating a Life for God (Church Smart Resources 1999 pp.125-131).

Typically, these questions are asked in groups of 2-3, are specific to men or women, meets regularly, and hold each other accountable.

John Wesley’s Small Group Questions:

1. Am I consciously or unconsciously creating the impression that I am better than I am? In other words, am I a hypocrite? 2. Am I honest in all my acts and words, or do I exaggerate?

3. Do I confidentially pass onto another what was told me in confidence?

4. Am I a slave to dress, friends, work , or habits?

5. Am I self-conscious, self-pitying, or self-justifying?

6. Did the Bible live in me today?

7. Do I give it time to speak to me everyday?

8. Am I enjoying prayer?

9. When did I last speak to someone about my faith?

10. Do I pray about the money I spend?

11. Do I get to bed on time and get up on time?

12. Do I disobey God in anything?

13. Do I insist upon doing something about which my conscience is uneasy?

14. Am I defeated in any part of my life?

15. Am I jealous, impure, critical, irritable, touchy or distrustful?

16. How do I spend my spare time?

17. Am I proud?

18. Do I thank God that I am not as other people, especially as the Pharisee who despised the publican?

19. Is there anyone whom I fear, dislike, disown, criticize, hold resentment toward or disregard? If so, what am I going to do about it?

20. Do I grumble and complain constantly?

21. Is Christ real to me?

Wesley’s Band Meeting Questions:

1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? 2. What temptations have you met with?

3. How were you delivered?

4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it be sin or not?

5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?

Reference: John Wesley’s Class Meetings: a Model for Making Disciples, by D. Michael Henderson, Evangel Publishing House, 1997, pp. 118-9

Chuck Swindoll’s Pastoral Accountability Questions:

In his book, The Body, Chuck Colson lists the questions used by Chuck Swindoll.

1. Have you been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising? 2. Have any of your financial dealings lacked integrity?

3. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?

4. Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?

5. Have you given priority time to your family?

6. Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?

7. Have you just lied to me?

Neil Cole:

1. What is the condition of your soul?

2. What sin do you need to confess?

3. What have you held back from God that you need to surrender?

4. Is there anything that has dampened your zeal for Christ?

5. Who have you talked with about Christ this week?

HT: Journey

The questions I use are from these cards from Church Multiplication Associates. I keep one in my Bible.

The ten questions are as follows:

1. Have you been a testimony this week to the greatness of Jesus Christ with both your words and actions? 2. Have you been exposed to sexually alluring material or allowed your mind to entertain inappropriate thoughts about someone who is not your spouse this week?

3. Have you lacked any integrity in your financial dealings this week, or coveted something that does not belong to you?

4. Have you been honoring, understanding and generous in your important relationships this past week?

5. Have you damaged another person by your words, either behind their back or face-to-face?

6. Have you given in to an addictive behavior this week? Explain.

7. Have you continued to remain angry toward another?

8. Have you secretly wished for another’s misfortune so that you might excel?

9. Did you finish your reading this week and hear from the Lord? What are you going to do about it?

10. Have you been completely honest with me?

In Notes from the Tilt-A-Whirl: Wide-Eyed Wonder in God’s Spoken World, author, N. D. Wilson takes readers on a seemingly random journey of exploring snapshots of the world while making theological observations and discovering timeless truths along the way.  This is a book that is unlike almost anything that I have ever read.  The randomness of the topics addressed and the lack of transitions between the concept being portrayed and the illustration to make the concept come to life makes this book a difficult read.  It is difficult in that the reader has a hard time following what N. D. Wilson is trying to communicate.  The interesting and insightful part of this book was the author’s ability to bring different individuals’ perspectives to the table when an issue was being addressed.  This skill shows that the author was well read and knew well the theological stances and positions on age old apologetics issues such as the problem of evil.  This book does a brief job of addressing these issues drawing short conclusions with little to no backing and no scriptural support.  I think in reading this book that I may have missed the point.  One thing, however, that I know for sure is that this book was not written for people who think and learn best through logic and reasoning because the artistic transitions and themes in this book are likely to lose you like they lost me.

Having recently returned from a mission trip to East Asia, I was really struck by the following devotional that I read last night from Dr. Calvin Miller’s Conversations with Jesus.  I hope that this will be encouraging to you as you seek to share your faith with others both on mission trips and in day to day life.  This is written as a response from Jesus to explain the words of Matthew 10: 14-15, which says: “And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.  Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city. ”

“Never forget the bottom line as you minister: You are not accountable for your success or failure in any human arena.  Nothing I have called you to do in my name in this world will be dissmissed as trivial in that world to which you are headed.  If you are rejected in your attempt to preach the truth, the truth that caused your rejection will not be judged by those who turn a deaf ear to your counsel.  Those who reject your words must themselves face the last tribunal.

So never despair over rejection.  I knew rejection firsthand.  I never despaired.  The greatest truths are regularly rejected.  You do not need to win any battle in the same moment you take up arms.  As I told my disciples as they began their preaching tour, if you are cast out of any city, do not try to barge back and compel anyone to listen. Just shake the dust off of your feet.  Why?  Because those who hear the truth need to remember that the truth of the gospel is not an option left up to human caprice.  The shaking of the dust from your feet will remind those who listen of their obligation to hear.

The gospel has always carried this double obligation.  It obligates the disciple to tell the message and the seeker to listen.  Pity the complacent witness who will not tell the saving story.  Pity the complacent seeker who will not hear of it.

But in this double obligation, important as it is, you must never merely count your converts to measure your success.  Truth is its own reward.  Once you have told the truth, you have succeeded.  Telling the saving truth is your responsibility.  Doing the saving is mine. Counting converts in unnecessary.  It is an unworthy bottom line on earth and unessential in heaven.  So do not grow neurotic trying to become a savior yourself.  That is my title; I will do that work.  That should take quite a load off your mind.  You are only responsible for telling the truth.  So tell it.  If thousands are drawn to the faith, you will succeed.  If you die without a single convert and are crucified for telling the truth, you will still have succeeded.

In The Principle of the Path, Andy Stanley brings to life the key truth that your current direction in life will determine your destination.  This is what Stanley terms as “the principle of the path.”  This is an idea that in being a principle happens naturally as a result of our life decisions.  This is not something that we have a choice in whether or not it will happen.  Our current decisions, whether good or bad, leading toward our goals or straying away from our goals, or reflecting our convictions or denying our convictions, will determine our future destination in life.

This book does an excellent job of driving this simple yet profound point home to the reader.  Through Andy Stanley’s usual mix of biblical principles and practical, real life examples, the truth is seen illustrated both with positive effects and negative effects in the lives of real people.  The common misconception that “the principle of the path” confronts is that our intention will lead to our destination.  The problem that the principle points out is that action determines results not intention.

In the final chapter, Stanley addresses how to deal with the struggles that arise when we realize that our destination which we desired to achieve is unattainable.  For a biblical picture of dealing with this reality, Stanley turns to 2 Samuel 15 where David takes his army to face his son Absalom.  The passage finds David going to confront his rebellious son who wants to overthrow David.  The High Priest at the time, Zadok, prepares the Ark of the Covenant to go with David into battle.  This Ark going into battle signifies that the Lord is with the army carrying the Ark and is on that side of the conflict.  David approaches Zadok and refuses for the Ark to go with him.  David does not want to try to manipulate God to get David’s desires.  He wants to by faith trust God for God to do “whatever seems good to Him.”  This biblical truth of trusting God to do “whatever seems good to Him” is the driving point that causes our seemingly disappointing moments on the path of life to become moments where our uncertainty in our life’s direction drives us to a deeper trust in God who is certainly there.

The Principle of the Path is an encouraging book that challenges the reader to prepare for the future through the decisions made today.  It also stands as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to be there in the midst of the journey of life even if that journey is not going as you had planned for it to.