Joel Young Blog.com

Since my family and I moved into our new house we have done a TON of work on the place. It was built in the 60′s and had original EVERYTHING. We had family and friends pitch in for a week of hard work before we moved in, but many projects still await my attention. One of the last items on the list is a face-lift for my home office. Even though I’m in there almost every day, I’m the only person who ever really goes into my office. So for now, it has fallen to the bottom of the list underneath a heaping pile of more important projects. The wood paneling that lines the walls will continue to be my companion as I plug away writing and designing on my temporary desk, which is currently a card table.

But, even though I know it will be the last part of the house I touch there are some things about the room that can’t wait to be fixed. Probably the most obvious is the fact that the room has NO LIGHTING in it. No lights in the ceiling. No lamps on the floor. This room has nothing but two windows and a door to pull in as much natural light as possible. If it’s dark outside, it’s dark in my office. If it’s bright outside, I can actually see to do my work. You get the idea. I’ll admit, it’s a pretty strange way to operate, but I have made it work. That is, until yesterday when I took a trip to IKEA to get some lamps.

Today, as I work in the brightness of my white-fluorescent, semi-translucent, energy-efficient, budget-friendly lamps I can’t help but think, “What the heck was wrong with me?” Why did I work in this room without lights for nearly a month? What could have possessed me to do something so stupid when the solution was so simple? I think we all know the answer. I GOT COMFORTABLE WITH BEING IN THE DARK. It might have bothered me at first, but after a while it become what I expected, what I craved, and what I knew. After that, I had little reason or desire to change. No matter how bad the reality of my situation was. It took several comments from my wife about how dark my office was for me to really see what the condition of my situation was.

Take it from me. Don’t just use your own perspective to judge your situation. YOU NEED OUTSIDE INPUT! If you can’t get over yourself for long enough to seek perspective from others then you really are living in the dark. Maybe it’s time for you to add some new light to your life. Think about it.

As I was trying desperately to fall asleep during the wee hours of the morning yesterday a thought came to my mind…

Of all things I was thinking about candy. Not just candy, but the wrapper that candy comes in. I mean, candy itself is pretty unimpressive to look at. Sure, it tastes good but it ain’t much to look at. If I put a bunch of tootsie rolls on a table NO ONE would want them. If I handed you a stick of unwrapped gum you would probably try to hang a poster with it, not chew it. Without packaging most candy is strange looking and awkward.

So, candy companies go to great lengths to market their product and brand their taste so before you even take a bite, a lick, or a chomp you know what you’re getting. You’re excited about what the wrapping says is underneath and not the reality of what you’re getting. Pretty brilliant strategy for candy companies, but a really bad idea for the church.

Too many churches have been duped into thinking that there’s nothing compelling about the Gospel message itself and without a shiny, pretty, and appealing package people will never be interested. We mask the beauty and power of Jesus Christ’s Gospel and try to fool people into thinking it’s something else. It doesn’t matter if that “something else” is masked in all sorts of positivity it still shows a lack of confidence in and understanding of the Gospel. Though we may fool ourselves into thinking so, the Gospel is not chained by the wrapper we put on it. Sure, a well market wrapper can be effective, but every ounce of marketing and production we put forth to promote the Gospel should be done with the realization that it is the truth of Jesus Christ’s life, death, and resurrection that will change people. Not our brilliant packaging.

Ask yourself this question. Is the Gospel I’m living/preaching/spreading just as powerful without the packaging, or is it just a tootsie roll on the table?

My little brother told me about this site today that I just had to share with the world called dudeperfect.com. On their site the guys from Dude Perfect share videos full of some of the most amazing and creative basketball shots you’ve ever seen! And while these guys are pretty impressive when it comes to pulling off unbelievable b-ball shots, that’s not the most impressive thing about them. They use all the attention and money they get from their videos to sponsor underprivileged children oversees and support local charities.

Read this content pulled straight from their “About Us” page.

Ultimately, Dude Perfect is a group of college guys that follow Jesus. We didn’t plan on this type of interest in our videos and we’re incredibly grateful. We want to use this platform for something bigger than us.

What in your life can you use as a platform for something bigger than yourself?

CHECK OUT WWW.DUDEPERFECT.COM TO WATCH THEIR AMAZING VIDEOS

This has been one crazy week for me. It went something like this.

Had a REALLY crazy Sunday with some unexpected problems, but got to end it with one of our most unique and exciting Sunday Gatherings yet at Horizon. Got a filling on Monday morning. It was my first one ever and it was less painful than I had expected, but walking around drooling with numbness all day was just weird. Got my butt kicked, in the best possible way, by my team of overseers Monday night (these guys REALLY love Horizon and REALLY care about every detail of what we do). Spent Tuesday with my two year old son who hasn’t quite gotten the hang of using the “big potty” yet, and found out that evening that the windshield of my car had been completely cracked by some highway debris as my wife drove home from work.

Now it’s Wednesday and all I want to do it take it easy. I just want to spend the day watching back episodes of “Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory,” but I know I have a job to do. And in case I had forgotten that, God reminded me this morning as I again went over the text I’ll be preaching from on Sunday.

“For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”
2 Timothy 1: 7

Ouch! Talk about a 2X4 to the forehead. Ok God, I get it.

You see, even though my week as been completely insane and filled with out-of-the-ordinary-craziness I don’t have the time to slip into a life of timidity. God doesn’t have time for me to become a wimpy, waning, wannabe. He needs me to live out my calling with the “spirit of power” that he has given me, just as he did to Timothy and everyone else who claims his name.

What are you being timid about, and what are you going to do to get over it and get to work?!?!

This morning I was reading a post from Clayton King’s Blog written to Pastors, Preachers, and Church Leaders who have a huge role in Sunday activities. The post was called “It’s Monday. Be Careful, Pastor.” In the post Clayton outlined why it’s important for Pastors to have some recovery time after the craziness of preaching, teaching, and leading that happens on Sundays. Here are some suggestions that he made that I thought were great.

1. You are most vulnerable to criticism and discouragement. Hold off on most calls and emails til Tuesday. They can wait unless they are a medical or spiritual emergency.

2. You are susceptible to sexual temptation, whether in person or online. Monitor your mood and your online activity everyday, but particularly on Mondays.

3. Fatigue from Sunday means you have less energy to focus on important tasks on Monday. Schedule, in advance, important meetings, including staff meetings (if possible) to Tuesday.

4. Hold off on making big decisions (staff, budget, family decisions) until you have had time to reconnect with God and regroup personally. Most big decisions can wait a few days and the extra time may bring greater clarity.

5. Plan margin on Monday. Create uncluttered space to read, reflect, pray, eat lunch with your wife, take your kids to school, go to the gym, or (gasp!) take a nap. You worked hard yesterday. Take some time to rejuvenate today.

Great advice if you’re a Pastor, and a great principle for us all to live by. You can ask yourself these questions.

What is the height of my responsibility and stress each week?

What sins am I most susceptible to after my body and mind are completely drained?

Knowing the answers to these questions and implementing some of the principles that Clayton talked about can keep us all strong and still allow us to properly recovery from those high impact, high responsibility, high stress situations we all experience.

This Sunday we’ll be finishing up our walk through1 Timothy at Horizon by talking about Godly contentment. Here are some things that have been running through my head based on 1 Timothy 6: 3-21.

Have I lived a life filled with contentment?

If I have, has that been good contentment or bad contentment (i.e. has my contentment been in the right areas)?

Have I done enough for the Kingdom of God/The Church of Jesus Christ?

I have gone after possessions and status not being content with what God has given me?

We’ll wrap this whole conversation up on Sunday at Horizon, but I wanted to go ahead and get your wheels turning.

THIS SUNDAY Horizon will be moving the time and location of our Sunday Gathering. You can get all the details HERE. If you’re a regular at Horizon then you know why we are doing this, but if not here’s a simple explanation:

WE WHOLEHEARTEDLY BELIEVE THAT THESE CHANGES WILL HELP US INTRODUCE MORE PEOPLE TO JESUS CHRIST, PERIOD!

We’re not doing this to be cool or to different, we’re trying to reach the community we exist for and we believe this is the best way. That’s the only reason we do anything at Horizon because it’s not about our egos or our agendas. It’s about Jesus, PERIOD! What could be more exciting?!?!