Great Lakes Church
Dave Nelson
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30 Days to a New Life!

Over the past week, I've watched multiple episodes of a very intriguing show called, "The Bachelor". Just kidding. It's called, "30 Days". The premise of the show is simple. In each episode, the shows creator (Morgan Spurlock) or some other person or group of people, spend 30 days immersing themselves in a particular lifestyle with which they are unfamiliar (working for minimum wage, being in prison, a Christian living as a Muslim, etc.). In almost every episode, there is serious life and/or perspective change that is experienced!

This is brilliant. Mainly because it provides a possible cure for the one group of people I dislike the most... complainers, easily offended people and "know it alls". Okay, those are three groups of people... but you've got to admit they're all annoying to be around. So here's my random thought: What if we identified one person or group of people who makes us feel really uncomfortable and did everything possible to "walk in their shoes" for 30 days?! 

What if instead of complaining nonstop about how slow the government is to do anything, you actually tried to understand the red tape involved in every single decision (I don't suggest this 'cause you will be bored)?! What if instead of being so dogmatic in your views on homosexuality, you actually spent time trying to befriend homosexuals or read books that help you become more informed?! What if instead of acting like people of other faiths are idiots, you read books... watched documentaries... or had reasonable conversations w/ someone of another faith to become informed on why they have a different view of God than you. What if instead of avoiding or being uncomfortable around people with crippling diseases that you don't understand, you tried to become more familiar with the struggles, stereotypes and loneliness often associated with crippling diseases.

I'm convinced that if we all spent just 30 days trying to understand, become more informed, or befriend people very much unlike us... we'd all show a lot more grace! For the month of July, I'm going to immerse myself in a lifestyle that I'm trying to wrap my mind around and become much more understanding of. I'll share with you the learnings when I'm done.

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/23/2010 8:35 AM

Looking for a Book to Read This Summer? Here are Some Ideas...

Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power... (Tim Keller)

Tim Keller is smarter than I will ever be. The entire premise of this book is based on the idea that it's possible for the human heart to take good things like a successful career, love, material possessions, even family, and turn them into ULTIMATE things. When this happens, good things become our "god", because we think they can give us significance and security, safety and fulfillment, if we attain them.

By the way, if you haven't read Keller's book "Prodigal God"... I'm pretty sure you're not going to heaven. It is one of my top 5 of all time.


Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? (Seth Godin)

In the interest of full disclosure, I have a man-crush on Seth Godin. "Linchpin" is just one of many books that reveals his genius. The BIG IDEA behind this book is to discover what you're passionate about and put your entire heart and soul into it. I love his suggestion about what should be taught in schools. He says, "Only two things: 1) How to solve interesting problems; 2) How to lead". 


The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear In Church (Andrew Farley)

I don't agree with every single sentence in this book, but I loved reading it . It is the clearest book I've ever read on God's grace. It describes the Old Testament law as having the ability to breed two things: 1) Defeat, if you're honest and 2) Hypocrisy, if you're not.


Here are the books I'm hoping to finish by the end of the month:

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/16/2010 7:58 AM

The Top 10 Ways You Know That You're A Redneck

Yesterday we kicked off our series on the 10 Commandments. Here's the premise for the series:
  • Most people would agree that the 10 Commandments are, at the very least, a great moral compass. The only problem is... most of us don't even know what the 10 Commandment are!!!
  • The 10 Commandments are not a means of earning favor with God. They were initially given to a group of people who already had favor with God (The Israelites)! 
  • One of the most basic principles of life is that rules without relationship lead to rebellion! God does not impose rules on people with whom He has no relationship.
  • The 10 Commandments are intended to: A - Reveal God's character and help us understand what He is like; B - Reveal our character and give us a proper perspective of our flaws and failures.
  • It is IMPOSSIBLE to follow all 10 Commandments, especially when taking into consideration the spirit of the law that Jesus referenced in Matthew 5 (ie: unresolved anger is the same as murder!) THIS IS WHY WE NEED JESUS. We trust Him to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.
Dave

PS: I'm going retro on you with this, but here are  "The Top 10 Ways You Know That You're a Redneck":

10) The Halloween pumpkin on your front porch has more teeth than your spouse.
9) You've been married three times and still have the same in-laws.
8) Jack Daniel's makes your list of "Most Admired People".
7) You kid's birth announcements include the phrase "rug rat".
6) Your Junior/Senior prom had a daycare.
5) The bluebook value of your truck goes up and down, depending on how much gas it has in it.
4) Your pocked knife has ever been referred to as "Exhibit A".
3) You think loading the dishwasher means getting your wife drunk.
2) You let your twelve-year-old daughter smoke at the table... in front of her kids.
1) Someone in your family died right after saying, "Hey, y'all watch this!"

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/14/2010 7:08 AM

I Met With A Couple Last Night... They're Pretty Much Screwed!

Nothing frustrates me more than my inability to change the human heart (including myself). I wish there was some sort of magic formula, perfect Sunday talk, or miracle drug (not a suppository though) that could instantly change people. Obviously, there isn't.

Last night, I met w/ an engaged couple from Great Lakes Church whose hearts have been dramatically changed by the grace of God. If we weren't at a coffee shop, I would have screamed out loud 'cause I was that excited. Their story is simple, but powerful. 

A few months ago, this couple felt like God was telling them to change the way they handled their resources so that they could honor Him in their giving. This was a HUGE challenge since he was unemployed and she was simply making an average salary. Regardless, they moved forward in being obedient to what they knew God wanted them to do. 

Now here's the kicker. One month ago, something prompted them to evaluate their dating relationship. They were sexually active and living together, but not married. What they did next would be considered by some as incredibly STUPID. Since they had already bought a house together and didn't want to separate until their wedding in September, they decided to get legally married right away. I actually have one of their new invitations. I'm not making this up. Here is what it says,

"As you know, we were planning on getting married over Labor Day Weekend. As you may also know, when XXXXX moved from Pennsylvania, we began living together. We feel led to do what will honor God and we've chosen to get married sooner rather than later." I love the fact that they didn't hide WHY they were changing the date.

Here was my learning from last night: Heart change doesn't happen quickly. However, every step of obedience to God makes our hearts more and more pliable. The more we say "no" to God, the easier it is to harden our hearts. The more we say "yes" to God, the softer our hearts become and the more we change. I ended my conversation w/ this couple by saying, "You're pretty much screwed. God sees how sensitive your hearts are, so He'll keep changing you!" I hope that's the story of my life.

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/11/2010 7:06 AM

The Church At Its Best!

Last night I picked my daughter up from her first night of Jr. High Growth Group. Wow! 25 Jr. High students had pretty much taken over the house. I'm not Catholic, but all the chaos made me want to say some sort of prayer for the home owners... "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women..."

To me, this is the church at its best. If the Sunday morning crowd never develops into a community, we're wasting our time! The fact is, you can listen to talks online or watch smiling televangelists whenever you want. Typically, they are much more polished than our Sunday morning gatherings will ever be. But that's okay. 

The Scripture often refers to the church as a "family". It doesn't say we're "like" a family. It says we ARE a family. Here are just a few ways we're given on how we should interact with each other:
It's IMPOSSIBLE to do this if we don't even know other people in the church family. That's why I will never stop encouraging people to join a Growth Group or become a part of a volunteer team. We all need people in our life who are helping shape us and challenge us to become more like Jesus! Who is doing that for you???

Dave

PS - Here are some pics from my daughter Kaitlyn's recent graduation (if you can call it that) from the 5th grade. I don't know if it's legal to post these pics, but Corey is my sister-in-law so screw legalities.






Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/9/2010 7:52 AM

The Blame Game!

Are you ready for one of my rants??? I seriously want to dropkick the next person I hear blame President Obama for something as ridiculous as "doing nothing" about the oil spill. The only thing stopping me is that I don't actually know how to dropkick anyone.

Seriously - Why do we blame the president for everything? The economy sucks... blame the president. We're still at war... blame the president. The oil spill is not as easy to fix as we were hoping... blame the president. Cats are still allowed to be a household pet... blame the president (okay, I see the value in this one)!

One of the most basic values that we can hold as human beings is to actually DO SOMETHING we're claiming to be passionate about, instead of just pointing fingers. Do you really get bothered with world poverty? How about instead of blaming the government, you actually sponsor a child? Does the war in Iraq make you upset 'cause of the families being affected? How about sending a care package or writing a thank you note to a soldier? Does the oil spill seriously infuriate you 'cause of your environmental concerns? I've got great news! There are organizations you can volunteer with in helping clean up the mess. If it really bothers you that much, do something about it.

It's so easy for all of us to share our thoughts, opinions and views with anyone who will listen. But actually doing something about our concerns is another story. Please, I'm begging you... DON'T PLAY THE BLAME GAME. Anyone can point out problems, but coming up with a solution is the only way to be helpful. Still mad at the president for how he's responding to the oil spill? Visit the White House website and share your amazing solution with them!!! I'm sure they'd love to hear from you.

Dave

PS - Growth Groups start next week. You can still sign up for one by clicking here. If you've already signed up, PLEASE watch this video:

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/4/2010 8:20 AM

Being a Pastor Isn't What I Expected (Part 6)

Continued from earlier blogs...
  • I NEVER IMAGINED THAT THE WORDS OR PHRASES I USE COULD BE INTERPRETED IN SO MANY WAYS!
This is one of those things that I don't know whether to laugh or cry about. Every Sunday I come prepared with about 6 pages of notes (approx 2500 words). Regardless of the topic, it always seems like people interpret a talk the way they want to interpret it. For people who are easily offended, they find something offensive about every message. For people who are filled with grace, I could tell them that I HATE their kids and they would laugh 'cause they'd assume I'm joking or that I must have never met their kids!

Now to be fair, there are definitely times in which I am not clear in my communication. In those moments, I have no one to blame but myself. Often, however, I've found that people simply interpret things based on their personality or the mood they are in that day. I don't know that there is much I can do about this, so here are some rules I live by:

1) I NEVER apologize for something that I'm not truly sorry about.
2) If someone disagrees with a theological statement I've made, I ask them to show me how Scripture supports their view.
3) I don't mind bringing clarity to something, but not if the person talking w/ me is looking for an argument. I can usually figure this out in the first 15 seconds of a conversation. Demeanor and tone of voice is everything.

If your pastime is to criticize or tear apart the words of other people... GET A FREAKIN' LIFE! That being said, I think we'd all do well to follow the words of Proverbs 21:23, "Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble."

-Dave

PS - If you're easily offended, please do not watch the video below. It is definitely college level humor.

Posted by Dave Nelson at 6/2/2010 7:46 AM

HYPE!!!!

HYPE IS A BIG PART OF OUR CULTURE!!!! Everyday we're slammed with phrases like "Don't miss this event!", or "75% off EVERYTHING!", or "Once in a lifetime opportunity!", or "BLOWOUT SALE"! We're not idiots. We all know that not everything can be the greatest... or the best... or the most incredible!

If you think about it, our faith has an element of hype to it as well. It's easy to gravitate towards thinking that God's primary purpose is to bless us, heal us, and make us happy! That's not true. His primary purpose is to transform us into becoming more and more like Jesus!

God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son... We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. Romans 8:29 (The Message Bible)

This sucks (probably not the best phrase to follow a Bible verse)! If the goal was to become nicer or kinder, we could do it by simply trying harder! However, if the goal is to become more and more like Jesus... TRYING HARDER isn't going to cut it!!! That's why Jesus told his followers to find their strength in Him. He said, "I am the vine... you are the branches... remain in me..." (John 15:1-8).

How do we do that? I don't think there is any right answer. Connecting with Jesus looks different for each of us based on our personality, season of life, etc. However, it does start by finding a TIME and a PLACE to be alone with Jesus. Maybe it sounds legalistic, but I don't know of a way to stay connected with Jesus w/o being intentional about setting aside time and a place to do it!

Dave

PS - Infomercials are notorious for hype and here is one of my favorite ones...

Posted by Dave Nelson at 5/26/2010 9:08 AM

Churches Kill Creativity!

Over the past year, I've watched the video, "Schools Kill Creativity" a couple of times. I love the perspective that Ken Robinson brings to the education system. Here are just a few of the interesting statements he makes:
  • We stigmatize mistakes and end up educating people out of their creative capacities.
  • Every education system on earth has the same hierarchy of subjects: Mathematics and language are always at the top, while classes that reflect the arts (dancing, drama, choir, etc) are always at the bottom.
  • If you're looking at education systems around the world, it's easy to conclude that the goal is to produce university professors.
  • We almost always evaluate someone's intelligence based on their academic ability.
Of course, I automatically filter these statements through the life of the church. Like schools, I think we do an amazing job at prioritizing knowledge above all things! When people can quote Scripture or give us the background to a book of the Bible we assume they are pretty spiritual. For some reason, serious personalities, introverts and highly educated religious people have ended up becoming the "model Christian". Yet Jesus NEVER talked about the value of how much we KNOW! He ALWAYS talked about the value of how much we LOVE.

This past week we started sign ups for our summer Growth Group season. I love how many different types of groups they are. It's important for us to remember that the groups doing some sort of Bible Study are not more spiritual than the ones riding Harleys! The way to evaluate spirituality is to ask questions like, "How did I apply what I learned?" or "How am I caring for and loving the people in my group?" or "How is my heart changing to become more like Jesus?"

By the way, here's the video I'm talking about...

Posted by Dave Nelson at 5/20/2010 7:26 AM

Born Again (From Sunday's Talk)

  • Our identity is a really big deal to us. We spend lots of energy and resources attempting to become "somebody".
  • When we become Christians, our dilemma is how to blend who we are (our identity) w/ who God wants us to be. The simple answer is: We don't.
  • God wants to give us a completely NEW identity. He encourages us to use our talents and education to pursue big dreams, but those dreams are NOT our identity. Our identity is that we are a child of God!
  • In John 3, Jesus has an encounter w/ a wealthy, influential and highly religious man named Nicodemus. Nick is impressed w/ Jesus because he can do miracles and is a great teacher. 
  • Jesus is very direct in how he talks w/ Nick. It's obvious that He doesn't want to be known as a "good teacher" or "miracle worker". His purpose is to give NEW LIFE and NEW PURPOSE and NEW IDENTITY! Jesus tells Nick that he must be born again.
  • "Born again" is a creepy term, but it is a great metaphor to experiencing new life. 
  • Every person who opened their hearts to Jesus, in Scripture, were born again and experienced new life. This ALWAYS resulted in life change!
  • Every Christ Follower should take the time to reflect and think about how their life is different because of Jesus! 
  • If you're a Christ Follower, but have areas of your life that you don't WANT to change (don't want to forgive, don't want to become more generous, don't want to stop being selfish, etc)... why would you want to be BORN AGAIN? Being born again means experiencing new life!
  • 2 Corinthians 13:5 says to "Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine..." This is easy to do. Simply ask, "How am I different because of Jesus?"

Posted by Dave Nelson at 5/18/2010 8:12 AM
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