Constant Change

Posted in Books I've Read, Leadership, The Exodus, What I've Learned From Friends on January 13, 2009 by Michael Chad Hanson

Things all around us are changing.  CHANGE is the newest buzz word to run rampant from the lips of anyone who has a voice in today’s culture.  Climate is changing.  Times are changing.  History is changing on January 20.  Culture is a river of change that is almost impossible to keep up with.  But I would like to take a brief moment and frame your mindset around something that is not changing. Something that is constant.  Now… right here is where I’d like to say that the church (that’s with a lower case “c”) is poised to lead the world into change, that it is forging a new road to the mountain of hope. But honestly, I don’t think that is the case.  You see, all that I’ve noticed about the church (again lower case) is that it is doing its darndest  just to catch up with culture, or at best, to keep up with it.  In most cases that is the name of the game.  Pastors are racking their brain to come up with catchy sermon titles like “Grace Anatomy” because they heard somewhere that Grey’s Anatomy is a hit TV show.  I actually think I may throw up if I go another summer where I see church camp t-shirts with the survivor logo on it.  Or, better yet, this year I saw one that had the familiar little mounds with the three crosses on top, and at the bottom in bold was “The Hills”.  I’m sure LC would be so excited that her show is impactint the world for Christ.

But I ask this question, why is this the case.  Why is the church so far behind? Shouldn’t it be leading the way?  I mean, as Christians aren’t we moving from dark to light, from depravity to prosperity, from death to life?  Isn’t the church constatnly moving?  So is the church just moving too slow?  Or is it moving in the wrong direction?  Or is it just moving with the wrong motives?  But I don’t think the challenge is for the church (lower case) but I believe it is for the Church (upper case – the living body of Christ) to bridge the gap between the now and the future.  It is we, you and me, who are responsible for creating change and shaping culture. That is the challenge, and to that challenge Jesus says this: 

I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Take heart? Is that really what He said?  How could He say that?  Did He really overcome the world?  Well, of course He did.  He’s Jesus.  Well, I mean, actually, at the time He said that He hadn’t overcome the world… He’s standing in the upper room.  The cross hasn’t happened yet, resurrection hasn’t happened yet, no great voice in the darkness, but yet, He’s Jesus.  So actually He did because He is not bound to time.  He transcends time (If you really want some perspective on this thought, read chapter 2, The Odd Thing About Odds in In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson) So, at the same moment that He was reciting verse 33 He was not only standing there talking to disciples, but He was also at the same time standing at the threshold of the beginning of time… AND at the same time He was walking out of the tomb after day 3 when He had just overcome the world.  So YES. Although he hadn’t overcome the world, He HAD overcome the world.  But, brace yourselves.  The New Testament tells you that YOU are are in Christ Jesus, and also that Christ is in you.  So, if you are in Christ and Christ is in you, then you too were with Christ when He formed creation.  And better yet, you are sitting with Him right this very moment at the right hand of God our Father, where there is no time by the way.  How crazy is that concept!  And what it means is, that we, in Christ, with Christ transcend culture.  So forget about “leading” change.  We transcend change.  And that my friend CHANGES everything for us.  It creates unthinkable possibilities.  We are no longer have to feel conformed to this world, but contrarily we are transcendent leaders in a world bound to a finite time that is begging for change.  You and I, as Christians are holding hands with the only constant in a world full of change. 

Who is someone who has influenced you and been a catalyst for change in your life? What did you change?  How will you live now, knowing that you are above and outside of culture?

Be on the look out for part two of the “change” series

Resources: Shannon Greer, Louie Giglio, Fermi Project, Mark Batterson, In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day, Steven Furtick

Leave a comment »

Eggnog, Presents and Clean Water.

Posted in Christmas, Clean Water, Social Justice, The Advent Conspiracy, What I've Learned From Friends on December 9, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

Recently, in a conversation I had with Shannon and Trey  (two friends of mine from Bay Community Church) we were discussing the implications of environmental stewardship. We each shared some small steps that we have taken individually to become better stewards of God’s creation.  And in that conversation I discovered that it only takes one person to take one small step to make ONE BIG IMPACT.  Although I have personally been doing my own thing and not really evangelizing my thoughts on environmental stewardship, in reading the note Trey titled as God is Green, I have realized what a difference one voice can make.  So I would like to share with you some voices I have heard from lately that have made a huge impact on me.  And hopefully this will challenge, inspire and compel some of you.

The other day I was reading another blog by my friend Phil.  In his note he shared how he was reading this book by Erwin McManus and how it is influencing  how he views and approaches God.  Though I haven’t read that book yet, the quote Phil chose to use from the book has reinvigorated some thoughts I have had about MY relationship with not only God, but everyone around me.  You see, Mcmanus shared in his writing that God gave His son as the ultimate gift.  The ultimate expression of LOVE.  The ultimate expression of RELATIONSHIP. Gift giving seems to be at the core of God’s expression of love for us.  Maybe that’s why we give gifts at Christmas time.  I’m not sure.  But I do know that in God’s giving, He has never purchased a gift from a store, or gone in debt so that we could have more.  What I have noticed (with a little help from a series of messages I’ve been listening to by a guy named Rick McKinley) is that that God loves to CREATE the gifts that He gives us.  And that just makes His gifts oh so much more personal.  Because His gifts aren’t about what’s gonna make us happy for a few days, or what will make us look better, or richer, or as if we have it all together.  His gifts are all about helping us journey into a better relationship with Him.  And isn’t that really what Christmas is all about; us wanting to show that we care by giving a gift that has meaning.  

Two years ago I came across this website www.adventconspiracy.org.  Its a movement started by Rick McKinley and Chris Seay.  The message that I received there has radically transformed the way I view Christmas.  I now see the original design was to create relationship.  That was God’s purpose in giving Himself (again, read Phil’s blog).  So to that end, I have restructured my gift giving patterns.  But is that the ultimate goal of relational giving?  Was that the ultimate goal of Jesus’ birth?  No.  Relational giving is about sacrifice.  It’s about doing without, so that others may have.  It’s about spending less and giving more.  What a huge sacrifice to make at Christmas… SPEND LESS.  

Sacrafice? Saving? What difference does it make? 

So now you see the story.  Now you see what a difference you can REALLY make this Christmas with: your friends • family • co-workers • strangers • children • Africa • Rwanda • the whole world.  Just by spending less and giving more.

So this Christmas when you have all of your friends and family over for eggnog, presents and clean water ask them not to bring gifts, but their presence instead.  And maybe even be so bold as to tell them what impact The Advent Conspiracy has had on you.

If you would like more information on where you could connect and GIVE MORE. Please, follow these links, and consider which project is right for you.  Or contact your local homeless shelter or food bank to make a difference in your own community.

Blood:Water Mission

Rwanda Clean Water

Living Water

Compassion International

Operation Christmas Child

2 Comments »

Numb to the redemption?

Posted in Books I've Read, The Exodus on November 26, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

Sometimes it just seems to me that life is just one big cycle.  It’s almost like I can predict the type of circumstances that I will be going through this time next year, just because it was about this time last year when I felt exactly this same way.  It seems like there is just a cycle to everything right now.  It feels like everything will sort of recycle itself back around.  There’s some beauty in that.  Like… I know that when I’m getting down or disappointed that things will get better.  Things will get back to normal.  Things will “come around”.  But there’s also a sadness to this cycle that I’m starting to notice.  It’s sad that when I get in a cycle that is unhealthy it seems like I can’t get out.  It’s like I don’t even know I’m riding the merry-go-round of depression or loneliness, or addiction, running away, or giving up.  But I think the worst cycle is the one that all of humanity is spinning in right now.  The cycle of normalcy. Being numb to God’s redemption plan.  I recently finished reading Jesus Wants To Save Christians (Rob Bell) which talked a lot about the Israelites and the story of their exodus.  But it didn’t just settle on the exodus that we all know about in the book of Exodus in the Bible.  The author shared a cycle of exodus’ that took place by God’s chosen people.  The cycle goes like this: suffering, pain and captivity, then crying out to God; God hears the cry and responds with a plan, action, freedom; next the newly freed people live in comfort and abundance and become numb to the redemption that brought them to this new land, losing sight of God’s plan they fall slave to man – again, and the cycle continues.  This happened with the Israelites all the way to the end of the Bible.  I never realized that before.  (I recommend you read this book for a much more thorough understanding of the full history of the Exodus) But here’s what it did for me.  

I’ve been asking myself what cycle or cycles am I stuck in.  Are they good ones or bad ones.  I’ve been evaluating everything from my work schedule, to my travel schedule, to the friendships that I keep, and my relationship with Jesus.  And let me tell you that this is not an easy thing to do, but I’m definitely beginning to see the good in it.  And since I’ve caught myself in some unhealthy cycles, I’m learning now not to just cry out to God for freedom from my immediate pain, but to seek God’s true redemption.  Exodus.  A leaving. A movement.  Motion.  ACTION!  It’s something I have to get caught up in, because I don’t want to stay in this place.  So, this past week I’ve been taking the time to remember the moment I gave my life completely to Jesus Christ.  The night that I begged and pleaded that He would use me to bring fame to His story. I remembered what it felt like for my face to be planted in tear-soaked carpet.  Tears dropping to the ground almost symbolizing the watering of something that was about to sprout up and give new life.  That was my first exodus.  (this evaluation along with a note from a friend inspired this poem) Now, in hopes that I never come numb to that feeling again.  I am praying that God shows me something new every day.  Something bigger than the day before.  Something that can only be from God.  And He’s doing it.  

He’s shaking up the cycles that I’ve become slave to.  He’s putting me out into places I’m not used to.  Calling me to action.  To Risk.  To Life.  It’s conversations with people who are nothing like me.  It’s accepting the fact that this involves questions and criticism and perhaps even rejection from people who haven’t heard what I’ve heard.

I’m participating in a great exodus.  I’m breaking the cycle of normalcy and moving to what’s next… whatever that might be.

What cycles are you caught up in?  What is God calling you to move towards in place of normalcy?  WIll you move?

“No I don’t want to battle from beginning to end, I don’t want a cycle or recycled revenge. I don’t want to follow death and all of his friends”

Some ideas taken from Jesus Wants to Save Christians: Rob Bell  … Italicized quote at bottom is from Death and All His Friends: by Coldplay

1 Comment »

Never Go Back

Posted in Conversations With God, Poetry on November 26, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

Never Go Back

There’s an unmentioned tension
That pulled me to redemption from a hurting place.
See now the tears stream down my face.
Am I the chief of sinners,
Or the least of all saints?

Everyday held a reason to commit treason
But in my worst season you saw potential.
And though your plan is still confidential,
I will never go back for those thirty pieces.
I know now I’d much rather have Jesus.

Though history is always with me,
It’s the mystery of salvation that brings glory,
By putting a face and a name to a beautiful story.
So I no longer want the normal ten years and ten days.
I only want whatever I get from your higher ways.

1 Comment »

How are you feeling today?

Posted in Conversations With God, Poetry on November 11, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

YESTERDAY

My yesterdays of most recent 
They are not decent by no means.
It seems they are too eager
To become my tomorrows.
Like a passenger train carrying all my regrets
And all my sorrows.

It seems forgiveness is a sentence I have not been given.
As if my joy had spent it’s stay,
It took the last train for a holiday.
What’s it like with no condemnation?
My nine-to-five is still not paying for my salvation.

If your love is new every morning
Why are they all so boring.
And repeating like one foot in front of the other
Leading to another.
Not another way just another yesterday.

 

TODAY AND TOMORROW (YESTERDAY’S REPRISE)

I’m told there’s a potion
To stop the motion of my hearts bleeding
So I am needing this love
To become my infection.
Like a mighty army
Be my protection.

I see forgiveness in the distance running to me.
Like the sun rising in the eastern sky
Darkness leaves with Yesterday’s lie.
What is this this restoration?
Your death has rectified my hopeless situation.

You did not leave. My faithful friend.
You do not waiver in the wind
Or bend to my pride and sorrow
For you are my same Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow.

2 Comments »

Chris Martin and The King of Kings

Posted in Conversations With God, Music / Concerts, Political on November 6, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

Last night was an incredible night for me.  I didn’t just GO to a Coldplay concert.  I was part of the Coldplay experience.  And it affected my life, much of which I will have to blog about in a different post. (or feel free to ask me about it)

Chris (the lead singer) towards the opening of the show said “it’s a great day to be in the greatest nation on earth.  No matter what you are feeling right now it’s a time for celebration…” This coming from someone who lives in the UK.  At first i was upset that an outsider would come to MY country and try to tell me what is best for my country, no matter which way he would have voted if he was allowed.  But as the music continued and the singing went on, I was listening to words from Chris and the King of Kings at the same time.

I believe the most potent song for me last night was the song titled Viva La Vida.  It was played somewhere in the middle of the show, and I don’t think that Coldplay made anytype of commotion as to a message that this song should give, but I know that I got one. Whether it was written by Chris many months ago and finally delivered, or if it was written by the  Holy Spirit last nght in the moment of my vulnerability, I know it was said to me.

Let me share the lyrics to the message and then more from me:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemy’s eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
“Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!”

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
Once you go there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
(Ohhh)

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People couldn’t believe what I’d become

Revolutionaries wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

I hear Jerusalem bells a ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can’t explain
I know Saint Peter won’t call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world

To me this song speaks of a King, historical or fictional I do not now.  But it is a song that sings of a king that once ruled from a high throne but was then removed by some means after what he had become to the people.  After the way he treated them? And this message of rise-and-fall leadership reminded me of the story of King Nebuchadnezzar, and how fitting these two stories are for us just two days after “the greatest day in the greatest nation” in history.  And from this story I receive great encouragement.

Nebuchadnezzar was King. He was the guy who bult a huge statue of himself and had everyone in the land bow down and worship  it.  This is the same guy who threw Chadrach, Meshak and Abednego into a fiery furnace.  So… NOT A COOL GUY right.  But the thing is he was originally appointed in this position by God himself. SO… what went wrong? Did God choose the wrong guy? Can God rectify the situation? Can Normalcy be restored? Was the wrong guy elected?

King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream one night and the dream was interpreted as the story of the demise of King Nebuchadnezzar and his authority. But King Neb didn’t buy it and went right on with his ungodly leadership, and twelve months later this is what happened In the book of Daniel Chapter 4.

   “This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been 
   taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild
   animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you
   acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them
   to anyone he wishes.”

“The Most High is sovereign over the kingdomss of men and gives them to anyone he wishes.”  How powerful does that speak to this kingdom of men we call The United States of America? What does that say to us about how we rejoice or mourn the day after the election?

It speaks untold volumes to THE WORLD that God , the Most High, is truly the King of Kings, and that Heaven rules.  No matter who would have been elected on Tuesday, God sits  on the Throne and rules over Barak Obama’s kingdom of men.  Therefore, wether you or I voted for him, the age old question of “Who would God vote for” was answered on Tuesday. And now not Barak Obama, but his God appointed position deservies my utmost suport, respect and service as a citizen of the Kingdom of God. 

Romans 13:1-4
   1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority
   except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established
   by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what
   God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers
   hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be
   free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you.
   4For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not
   bear the sword for nothing. He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment
   on the wrongdoer.

Was Chris Martin thinking about King Neb when he sang Viva La Vida last night? Probably not, But I know the Holy Spirit was, and I’m glad he decided to share his thoughts with me. In the words of my Savior “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

3 Comments »

Even though Your Gone, I’m waiting Here

Posted in Camping, Conversations With God on October 26, 2008 by Michael Chad Hanson

Just recently I went camping with a friend of mine.  We went to Jacks River.  Jacks River is a river that stretches over 20 miles through the Cohutta and Big Frog Wilderness along the Tennessee and Georgia border.  Along this river there are several waterfalls.  So we set up camp right next to one of the first, really small falls.  The sound of the water falling over the rocks was a very soothing sound to sit next to and even sleep next to all night.  I had no problem sleeping.  In the morning I was the first one awake so I went exploring a little bit.  I found a few big rocks that I could step on from one to the other and made my way out to the middle of the river and just sat on one really big rock.  I actually just laid down on it and just listened to all of God’s creation.  It was a great time to clear my head of all the things that have been stressing me out over the past several weeks and months.  As I was sitting there I began to have a conversation with God and as I was talking to Him I said “find me in the river”, and immediately I remembered a song that Delirious wrote a long time ago with that as the title.  I was surprised that I even remembered the words.  But here they are: 

Find me in the river / Find me on my knees / I’ve walked against the water / Now I’m waiting if you please / We’ve longed to see the roses / But never felt the thorns / And brought our pretty crowns / But never paid the price / Find me in the river / Find me there / Find me on my knees with my soul laid bare / Even though you’re gone and I’m cracked and dry / Find me in the river, I’m waiting here / We didn’t count on suffering / We didn’t count on pain / But if the blessing’s in the valley / Then in the river I will wait.

Now there are many different metaphors I could take from this such as Jesus is the River of Life so find me in Him, or that there is always a process to get to the pay off so don’t get too stressed when things are painful… But no, what I got stuck on was the part that said Even though You’re gone and I’m cracked and dry.  Even though You’re gone?  I thought that You (God) would never leave me or forsake me?  If you are not here in the middle of this river, in the middle of your creation, IN ME your child, then where are you? 

But it felt so true.  There are so many moments where my life is cracked and dried up.  But I’m too prideful in my weak attempt at faith, to admit that there are moments where I don’t feel God.  So I asked God, to talk to me and tell me is it right for me to feel this way.  Is it okay to think this?  Is this normal?  I feel like God gave me a few examples.  If there is anybody in history that is an example of not feeling the presence of God it is certainly David.  Read what he wrote at the end of Psalm 44: If we had forgotten the name of our God or extended our hands to a strange god, would not God find this out?  For he knows the secrets of the heart.  But for Your sake we are killed all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.  Arouse Yourself, why do You sleep, o Lord?  Awake, do not reject us forever.  Why do You hide Your face and forget our affliction and our oppression? For our soul has sunk down into the dust; Our body cleaves to the earth.  Rise up, be our hlep, and redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.  But then David goes on to write just two chapters later God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear… So David cried out to God and He heard him and showed up and represented His strength to the people.  But again and again David goes on to write “where are you God” and “why have you forsaken us”, and follows those verses up with more praise and exaltation.   

These verses just made me think of Jesus Christ.  God’s SON for crying out loud.  But even He felt that God had left Him.  Remember when He was on the Cross.  Just before His final breath.  He cried out “My God, My God, why have You forsaken me?” Had God really left His son to die alone? Did God the Father really turn His back to have nothing to do with His Son?

But then with such belief and faith and strength even in His weakness He says “Father into Your hands I commit My spirit.” I believe that Jesus for the first time in His whole life, as the sin of all humanity was being stacked on his back, he felt for the first time the feeling of how sin separates us from God.  But even in feeling that God had left him to hang alone, He KNEW that God the Father was in Him reconciling all the sins of the world; past, present and future.  Even though Jesus felt more alone at that moment than any human EVER had, He still KNEW that His Father was in Him.  Working to save the world.

That’s where I had found my self that day in the river.  Actually recognizing the feeling that I had felt for so many weeks now.  That feeling that David felt of “WAKE UP GOD!” and also the same feeling that Jesus felt of “Why have you left me?”.  But even though this is the present feeling, I KNOW that God is my “refuge and my strength”.  I will trust in Him.  

Even though I can’t hear you,

Even though I can’t find you,

Even though I can’t see you,

Even though I feel all alone,

Even though I am hurting,

Even though I feel lost,

Even though I can’t go any more,

Even though YOU ARE GONE,

Even though You are gone and I am cracked and dry, find me in the river.  I’m waiting here.

Leave a comment »

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started