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Love Is

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Forrest Gump famously said, “I may not be a smart man, but I know what love is.”  While we may have a good idea of what love is, I was helped just today, when someone drew my attention to this article on 23 Things That Love Is by Paul Tripp (and the one forwarding it to me reminded me to be reminded of this while I’m shopping for card, flowers or candy for my valentine):

  1. LOVE IS… being willing to have your life complicated by the needs and struggles of others without impatience or anger.
  2. LOVE IS… actively fighting the temptation to be critical and judgmental toward another while looking for ways to encourage and praise.
  3. LOVE IS… making a daily commitment to resist the needless moments of conflict that come from pointing out and responding to minor offenses.
  4. LOVE IS… being lovingly honest and humbly approachable in times of misunderstanding.
  5. LOVE IS… being more committed to unity and understanding than you are to winning, accusing, or being right.
  6. LOVE IS… a making a daily commitment to admit your sin, weakness, and failure and to resist the temptation to offer an excuse or shift the blame.
  7. LOVE IS… being willing, when confronted by another, to examine your heart rather than rising to your defense or shifting the focus.
  8. LOVE IS… making a daily commitment to grow in love so that the love you offer to another is increasingly selfless, mature, and patient.
  9. LOVE IS… being unwilling to do what is wrong when you have been wronged, but looking for concrete and specific ways to overcome evil with good.
  10. LOVE IS… being a good student of another, looking for their physical, emotional, and spiritual needs so that in some way you can remove the burden, support them as they carry it, or encourage them along the way.
  11. LOVE IS… being willing to invest the time necessary to discuss, examine, and understand the relational problems you face, staying on task until the problem is removed or you have agreed upon a strategy of response.
  12. LOVE IS… being willing to always ask for forgiveness and always being committed to grant forgiveness when it is requested.
  13. LOVE IS… recognizing the high value of trust in a relationship and being faithful to your promises and true to your word.
  14. LOVE IS… speaking kindly and gently, even in moments of disagreement, refusing to attack the other person’s character or assault their intelligence.
  15. LOVE IS… being unwilling to flatter, lie, manipulate, or deceive in any way in order to co-opt the other person into giving you what you want or doing something your way.
  16. LOVE IS… being unwilling to ask another person to be the source of your identity, meaning, and purpose, or inner sense of well-being, while refusing to be the source of theirs.
  17. LOVE IS… the willingness to have less free time, less sleep, and a busier schedule in order to be faithful to what God has called you to be and to do as a spouse, parent, neighbor, etc.
  18. LOVE IS… a commitment to say no to selfish instincts and to do everything that is within your ability to promote real unity, functional understanding, and active love in your relationships.
  19. LOVE IS… staying faithful to your commitment to treat another with appreciation, respect, and grace, even in moments when the other person doesn’t seem deserving or is unwilling to reciprocate.
  20. LOVE IS… the willingness to make regular and costly sacrifices for the sake of a relationship without asking for anything in return or using your sacrifices to place the other person in your debt.
  21. LOVE IS… being unwilling to make any personal decision or choice that would harm a relationship, hurt the other person, or weaken the bond of trust between you.
  22. LOVE IS… refusing to be self-focused or demanding, but instead looking for specific ways to serve, support, and encourage, even when you are busy or tired.
  23. LOVE IS… daily admitting to yourself, the other person, and God that you are unable to be driven by a cruciform love without God’s protecting, providing, forgiving, rescuing, and delivering grace.

Weekend Recap – 2/8/15

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My 2/8/15AM sermon, Scripture in Romans, is now online (Small Group Questions here).  In this sermon, I seek to unpack how we are led to understand the Bible fitting together as Romans handles all kinds of OT references and quotes.  Typically, at the start of the year, we begin with a sermon related to prayer and then a sermon related to the importance of God’s Word (our Elders feel these are important rhythms for us).  So, this sermon is there to help us draw near to God through His Word, encouraging a love for the Scriptures.  Hope you enjoy it.

Weekend Recap – 2/1/15

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Just realized I never posted a recap from my Sunday’s sermon…been a busy week in church life.  We kicked off our Week of Prayer on Sunday and my sermon was a conglomeration of texts from Romans related to prayer.  I entitled the sermon Prayer In Romans.  We’ve also produced some resources related to our Week of Prayer.  One is simply a prayer devotional that people have been using each day to fire their hearts for prayer, based on Juan Sanchez’ recent article the Priority of Prayer (in Credo Magazine’s How Then Shall We Pray?).  We’ve also launched a Passport to Prayer, a way for people to connect to us throughout the year in prayer.  It features 10 different prayer stations and different requests related to church life.  I’ve heard great things about this so far.  It’s still not to late to join our Week of Prayer.  Join us!

Weekend Recap – 1/25/15

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My 1/25/15AM sermon, Benediction from Romans 16:25-27, is now online (Small Group Questions are available too).  This sermon brought to an end my year long preaching through the book of Romans.  It was certainly a joy to do this.  This sermon, in particular, helped show how the aim of everything God’s done through the Gospel is for His glory.  I hope it encourages you in your life.

Weekend Recap – Retreats…

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I’m coming off a super busy weekend…

On Thursday and Friday, I was in Hesston, KS with Leadership Reno County kicking off the 2015 class with a retreat.  I love playing a small part in the leadership development of our community.  Many of the things our community continues to work on are big, hairy, adaptive problems.  I think LRC helps equip people, regardless of their background, to make progress in these areas.

As soon as I returned from this, our Elders got away for a Bible Intensive Retreat with Jim Elliff and Kole Farney.  In church work, especially among church leadership, we can spend so much time doing important, even necessary things, that we can neglect the more vital things.  I’ve noticed over the past few years that studying the Bible together would be a great thing.  Jim’s preferred method for reading the Bible is really where we spent much of our time, working through John 1 together.  By the way, Jim did preach for me (and Kole shared his testimony).  ‘Twas a great sermon on what it means to be a True Disciple.

Today, this busy weekend ended by being able to participate in the Reno County Youth Leadership Summit.  I was able to speak on how leadership starts with you and must engage others.

So, I’m pretty beat, but it’s a good tired and I’m grateful to get to serve both our community, local church leadership and the church at large.  Have a great week.

Weekend Recap – Gospel Watchfulness

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My 1/11/15AM sermon, Gospel Watchfulness from Romans 16:17-20 (including Small Group Questions) is now online.   The sermon sought to unpack the call to look out and avoid those who cause divisions by abandoning the Gospel.  This should be done with wisdom and in light of the sure victory that will be ours through Jesus.  I hope it encourages you as you seek to live a life centered on the Gospel (or if you need more information on what makes the Gospel so amazing).

Weekend Recap – Gospel Partnership

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My 12/28/14AM sermon, Gospel Partnership from Romans 15:25-33, is now online.  In this sermon, I sought to unpack what Paul was saying when he showed how Gospel motives inform meeting social needs and engaging in prayer.  There are ways Christians resist both of these, so I tried to engage those (unspoken) thoughts as well.  I hope it’s helpful for you living out what you believe.

Weekend Recap – Gospel Propulsion

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My 12/14/14AM sermon, Gospel Propulsion from Romans 15:14-24 is now online.  In this sermon, I try to unpack God’s heart for His people, which emerges as grace moves in to propel us to action, as we serve the world and engage the unreached in our world.  I mentioned that if someone wants more info on the unreached, they should check out IMB Global Research.  I hope this sermon helps you spread the good news of great joy for all peoples.