Taking the guess work out of finding God's call on your life

Have you ever met those Christians who are really confident in God's calling on their life. They say things like, "I just really sense his leading in my spirit." And then you smile and nod, all the while thinking, What? How come I can never sense anything in my spirit? Is this guy full of it, or is there something I don't know?

Photo courtesy of Hamed Saber at Flickr.com

Maybe you don't feel like you have the same highly refined spiritual sniffer that some people seem to have, but that's okay because you don't need it. God has already given you everything you need to know what exactly what direction he wants you to go. 

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An inside look at the interview all people must pass to get into heaven

The other day I was picking up my office when I came across an unsigned baptism certificate that I was supposed to give to a friend I baptized... a few months ago. So I shot him a quick text, "Hey man, I've got your baptism certificate. Don't let me forget to give it to you, because you can't get into heaven without it."

Photo courtesy of Chris Jones at Flickr.com

He's new to church, but he caught on pretty quick. He told me he would pick it up and asked if he needed anything else. I told him he needed three references. Then our conversation sparked up an interesting question. I asked him, "What do you think the interview for heaven would look like?" And his answer painted a perfect picture of how so many people view heaven and eternal life. He said,

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Quick Question. Did Jesus ever feel turned on?

He's easily among the most significant people of all time. Many think of him as a good teacher or a moral man, like Gandhi or Mother Theresa. But that's who he claimed to be. During his life on earth, Jesus made one thing abundantly clear - he claimed to be God.

Photo courtesy of Siebuhr at flickr.com

And the rest of the Bible agrees with him. The book of John calls Jesus by one of his nicknames, The Word. It says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God... and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (John 1:1 & 14). For Christians, the idea behind these verses is that Jesus Christ is simultaneously fully God, and fully man.

And it raises some interesting questions. Not long ago, during a mentoring meeting, a young man asked me this, "Did Jesus ever get a boner?" Which is a great question.

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What kind of IDIOT walks away from his dream job for something way harder?... This guy!

For the last four years, I have been doing my dream job. I've been employed at Moon Valley Bible Church as the Director of Sunday Services. Not only have I gotten to lead Moon Valley in worship each week, but I've had the chance to work alongside some of the finest members of the church I've ever known. So why am I leaving?

It's easy. I found a job that's way harder, that I've never done before, and that comes with next to no security! Let me explain.

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What you say to Christians who get all uppity about avoiding the Xmas abbreviation

Ever meet one of those people who says stuff like, "I hate it when they write Xmas instead of Christmas. They're trying to take Jesus right out of the holiday!" Ever wonder how to respond to those people?

Photo courtesy of Kat N.L.M. at Flickr.com

Well take heart. There's a good reason for the abbreviation. And it has nothing to do with Christmas originating from a pagan holiday if that's what you're thinking. The reality is, the Xmas abbreviation is a lot more Christ honoring than most people know.

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Fighting the nemesis of success

There are no less than 15 great reasons why I should NOT be writing this post right now. But none of them will help me become a writer that regularly and reliably helps people discover more potential in their lives.

Photo courtesy of Joe Newman at Flickr.com

And tonight, after getting home late from a wedding rehearsal, I feel exhausted. My body is tired, my mind is wiped, and there's nothing I'd like to do more than make a good excuse for not writing anything and to go play video games instead. But that won't do and here's why.

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We should be calling pastors out on these deadly sins

I probably don't need to tell you that pastors aren't perfect. Like anyone else, they're fundamentally flawed. Of course, they faith that Jesus loves them and has forgiven them. And hopefully God uses their faith as an example for hurting people in their community each week. But what about the pastors who are regularly committing the sins that they're warning everyone else to avoid?

Photo courtesy of Joseph Rose at Flickr.com

If a pastor is on the right track, he's following God's plan for his life. And, while he isn't perfect, he looks for opportunities to reject selfishness and become more like Jesus. But if he's on the wrong track, even in the little things, he has given selfishness a foothold which can shipwreck his faith (1 Tim. 1:19).

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The top 30 lessons from my 30 years of life

I typically don't like to talk about my age. Ever since I was in middle school, people have assumed that I'm older than I actually am. And I like to let them. It's opened many doors that would might have otherwise been closed.

As a teenager, I was able to buy tickets to R rated movies without an ID from the time I was 14. At the end of my Freshmen year of high school, I asked a group of seniors why they bullied my friends and never bullied me. They told me they thought I was a senior. And when I turned 21, I went to the grocery store to legally purchase a case of beer for the first time (which I did not drink, but that's a whole other story). I had to tell the cashier to card me.

Those things were nice, but they were novelties. I didn't learn the true value of appearing older until I was in my twenties. As I sought to grow in knowledge and faith, it has been easy to surround myself with 'peers' who are, in all actuality, a little older than me. And while many of the men in my life have been influential in the lives of guys 5-10 years younger than themselves, I'm typically the most influential to guys my age and at times even a little older.

But looks only go so far. And a person can look any age, but the truth is always discovered when people take a closer look. For that reason, it's important that the insides reflect the outsides. So I've made it my priority to grow in knowledge and wisdom as fast as I can. I've always wanted my insides to match my outsides.

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Crushing this seemingly innocent, but actually super evil attitude in my life. Join me.

When I first started working at Moon Valley Bible Church, my boss was this guy named David. He was a really bright church leader, who taught me a really important lesson. When it came to preparing for Sunday morning, he would say, "We're going to prepare as if 20,000 people are coming this Sunday." Then he led by example. And each week he would work his tail off to make everything about Sunday morning excellent. 

Photo courtesy of Morgan at Flickr.com

After a while, I picked up on David's attitude. I started working harder to plan ahead, and I began paying closer attention to details. Before long, preparation became part of my routine. And it felt great. 

A slippery slope

But fast forward a few years, and things have changed. Allison and I have another child, my role at the church has increased significantly and... I'm older and slightly worse for the wear. But most notably, that sense of hard work to make things great isn't as strong as it was. It slipped away so slowly I didn't even notice it. 

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My most hypocritical post ever: calling out people who call people out on the internet

First, let me just acknowledge the tremendous hypocrisy with which I am writing this post. I'm using the internet to call out people who call people out on the internet. But I'm assuming that if I haven't killed my credibility with you when I shared my dirty secret or how I responded to the kid who sent my daughter a naughty text, then hypocrisy probably won't sink the boat either.

I'm old enough to remember the era before the internet. I was just a kid at the time. So I acted like a kid, and when other kids acted like kids it was perfectly normal. And when I was around adults, I assumed they acted like adults - you know respectable, responsible, and all that other lame grown up stuff.

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I lost a theological debate with my 9 year old.

On Saturday I was driving around with my family waiting for my 2 year old son to fall asleep (sometimes that's the only way he'll conk out). And we inadvertently stumbled into a theological debate that I lost.

Allison and I were telling Scarlett how many times we had each been arrested (I'm winning by the way). At one point Scarlett said, "It's ok. God made you both just perfect." Like any humble parent (or so I thought) I cracked down on that remark quickly

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Theology vs. simple minds, and a word of caution to smarty pants Bible students [Quote]

I sat in the back of the classroom rubbing my forehead and listening to my professor explain Soteriology (which is a fancy term for the study of Jesus' forgiveness of our sins). He explained the surprisingly vast views of Catholics, Lutherans, Calvinists, Armenians, and a few other sects of Jesus' followers.

Photo courtesy of SMB College at Flickr.com

At some point during his lecture, after my eyes glazed over from the complexity of the issue, a question popped into my head. I thought, Wait a minute! If the gospel is for everyone, doesn't it need to be simple enough for even the simplest of people to understand it?

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Facing the recent criticism on my blog. And how to respond to criticism wherever it pops up.

This may come as a surprise, but occasionally people will read my blog and disagree with the things I write. Gasp! I know. And some of those people have been leaving comments to let me know how much they disagree with me. Wanting to be respectful to my commenters, I won't point specific ones out in this post. Instead, I'll simply acknowledge the types of criticism that have been I've seen.

Photo of adorable cats courtesy of Found Animals Foundation on Flickr.com

The recent criticisms that have popped up on Timhswanson.com have been in response to some of my family leadership posts, and the ideas in those post. But regardless of where criticism come from , or where it's directed, there are only two kinds of criticism. There's constructive criticism, which seeks to inform and educate you on how you can do better. And then there's good ol' regular criticism, which simply voices disagreements without any concern for being helpful.

Recently I've received comments containing both kinds of criticism. Some of it seems to be well placed and constructive. And some of it seems less than constructive. The hard part about it is that criticism is painful.

Even constructive criticism, if intentionally worded, can be needlessly hurtful. And while we all experience criticism from time to time, the truth is, criticism only serves to put the ball in our court by giving us a chance to respond. So as I continue working to discover more potential in my life, I'm faced with the challenging question - how will I respond to criticism?

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Regular waitresses are teaching the key to limitless inspiration, don't miss out!

There's a little cafe near my house that I go to frequently. So frequently, in fact, that I don't even have to order anymore. When I sit down, my favorite waitress, Sherrie, brings me a cup of coffee and a number 1 (sunny-side up, hash browns, wheat toast).

Photo courtesy of Chris Goldberg at Flickr.com

There are a lot of things that make that cafe my favorite breakfast joint, but near the top of the list is that, in more than 5 years of eating there, Sherrie has never let my coffee cup sit empty for more than a minute or two. Every few minutes, she passes my table and tops me off. And I always drink way too much coffee when I go there. And curing a recent visit, Sherrie's service showed me where I had been missing out big time in my own life.

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The crucial difference between Jesus and the Devil, and what it means for your mind

If I asked you to, in one word, describe what the Devil does, what would you say? Most people (at least the ones I asked) would say "the tempter" or "the tormentor" or something like that. And those answers are accurate.

Photo courtesy of Willaim Brawley at Flickr.com

There is, however, another distinct title that bares more weight, especially to Christians. And you need to know about it.

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My atheist neighbor knows God's heart for evangelism better than most Christians [Video]

So, I totally reneged on the commitment I made last week. I wrote about how I typically ignore the verses that my boss gives me to preach on, and this time I really wanted to stick with the given text for once. Then I threw it out anyway. But only because I found a really awesome one. 

My church's current series, Domino Effect, has been about God's plan to save the world. Part of the plan is Jesus' death on the cross and resurrection. And the other part of the plan is us. God has always intended to work through His people to save the world. 

The sermon below is about three types of Christians, and how they approach the sharing of the gospel. And here's a spoiler alert, two of them are not helpful. And the Bible only calls us to one of them. 

So please give the sermon a watch or a listen, and then feel free to stick your thoughts, questions, or constructive criticisms in the comment section below. I also included a synopsis of the sermon below in case you're unable to watch the video. 

Having trouble viewing this video?  Click here to watch. from moonvalley on Vimeo.

If you're unable to watch the video, here's a synopsis of the sermon. 

God wants to save the world, and He wants to use us to do it. So He's called us to lean toward our neighbors with love (Matt. 22:39, Mark 12:31). And in Colossians 4:5-6, Paul addresses the way we're supposed to talk to our neighbors while we're leaning toward them. He says:

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Colossians 4:5-6

Paul's words point out three kinds of Christians that live today, but only one of these three Christians takes an approach that is helpful in sharing the gospel with most people. So we'll use these three kinds of Christians as a framework for explaining Paul's words. Here they are.

Silent Stan
There's a mentality among some Christians that goes like this: We want to live our lives in such a way that our actions share our faith without any need for words. Here's the only problem with that - it doesn't work.

Our faith is such a central part of our lives, that we're bound to talk about it. And Paul's words acknowledge that. When it comes to communicating with outsiders, he says, "Let your speech be always gracious."

The implication here is that, as we interact with other people, we will talk about our faith. And claiming that we can do so without using words doesn't make any sense. It'd be as if  I claimed that the wedding ring on my finger clearly communicates everything my friends need to know about my marriage.

In reality, no one knows me for very long before I tell them about my wife, and how awesome she is. And the reality is this - if we have a living, growing relationship with Jesus, we're going to talk about it.

Megaphone Mike
This title belongs to Christians who see every non-Christian a conversion challenge to present the Gospel. His attitude says: If you don't know Jesus, I'm going to tell you about Him, no matter what. He's got a really noble heart. Unfortunately, he's relationally def and blind.

When his non-Christian friends and neighbors are talking to him, they sense that he's only listening to them in as far as he has to in order to jerk the conversation back to where he needs it so that he can give them a full gospel presentation.

Paul confronts the attitude of this guy with his very next phrase, "Let your speech be always gracious" His words call us to use common sense and authentic love when it comes to conversations with people who don't know Jesus. And that requires a totally different kind of attitude.

Authentic Andy
This is the attitude that Paul is calling Christians to. He says, "Let your speech be... seasoned with salt" And the imagery here is that there's a level of measuring that comes with quality interactions with you and your non-Christian neighbor.

If Silent Stan is represented by almost no salt and Megaphone Mike is represented by way too much salt, then Authentic Andy sits somewhere in the middle. He wants to make the best use of his time. And while he's not afraid to talk about his faith, he also ensures that his conversations are seasoned with salt and not containing an unwanted and off-putting gospel presentation.

My interaction with an Atheist. 
Last week, Allison and Invited our neighbors over for dinner. They don't go to church. In fact, Alex (the husband) identifies himself as an atheist.

At some point during the evening we ended up talking about our beliefs. And while I don't want to give out our whole conversation, I do want to share some of the text message that Alex sent me the following day. He said, "Thanks for reaching out and suggesting dinner last night. We had a really great time... I appreciate so much connecting with you on a human level, knowing that religion is always present, but like you said last night, never a hidden agenda."

I think that my neighbor, Alex, nailed the heart of Paul's words when he said, "religion is always present, but... never a hidden agenda," He nailed it so well, in fact, that I used his words as the big idea for my sermon.

This week as you interact with you neighbors and contemplate sharing your faith, think about the words of an atheist:

Let your faith be, "always present, but never a hidden agenda."

Please leave your comments in the section below. Thanks for reading.

Tim

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The one thing young punks need to become real men.

Not too long ago, I sat across a breakfast table from a young man who wasn't happy with his life. While his age made him an adult, he felt like he wasn't really a man. And he struggled with a lot of the basic necessities of adulthood, such as finances, integrity, work ethic, etc.

Photo courtesy of Nebojsa Bobic at flickr.com

As with most people, he was his own worst enemy. He admitted to me that one of his greatest hindrances to becoming the man was his own laziness and lack of self control. He was asking for help with problems that stemmed from deep within himself. 

I sat staring at him wondering How am I going to help this guy? Ultimately, the answer surprised even me. 

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My atheist neighbor has been a better Christian than me.

The goal of all Christian/Non-Christian relationships is for us to declare the gospel to them through our actions and words... right?

Photo courtesy of Steve Snodgrass at flickr.com

Obviously, we're supposed to share the gospel with the world (Matt 28:19-20). But I'm beginning to think there's possibly a way to take the Great Commission too far. And before anyone builds a cross on which to crucify me for saying that, let me explain. 

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Ask a recovering addict to speak to the youth group about sex, and here's what happens [Video]

Usually when people ask me to speak, I'm all for it. Even when it involves exposing my very painful and embarrassing past, I get excited about the opportunity to discover more potential in my speaking skills, and be used by God to influence the lives of other people. But after a family at my church asked me to share my experiences with the consequences of casual sex and porn, I was scared.

It wasn't that I was scared to tell people about my ugly past. I do that all the time. What scared me was that they wanted me to share my story with 6th-12th grade boys and girls. That's means youth between the ages of 12 and 17. That's a huge age range. It'd be sorta like asking a veterinarian to explain to a group of male and female un-neutered dogs and cats (who are in heat) why they should abstain from sex to help keep the animal population down. At least that was my experience in high school, when I heard the sex talk.

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Loving what you do is not enough. Here's the shot of adrenaline your passions need

They say if you do what you love, you'll never go to work a day in your life. But I'm not so quick to buy that. It seems like a wise proverb, but does it really hold true? Is love really all you need to keep what you do fresh and interesting? I have a hard time agreeing.

Photo courtesy of Lotus Carroll at Flickr.com

I do what I love. I'm a full time musician and church leader. I play music at my church and I get to create environments where people can connect with God and each other . And they pay me to do this. I do what I love, but sometimes it really feels like work. And not in a good way. 

Some days are more challenging than others. Some seasons are more tiring. And sometimes it even seems a little bit stale. And I believe this happens, not because I don't love my job, but because love is not enough. There's another element to keeping the job you love... well lovable. 

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