It’s time you got put in your place

One of the hardest words in the English language is also one of the best words: wait.

Psalm 27:14 says, “Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.”

Great verse, makes a wonderful refrigerator magnet, almost nobody I know lives by it… including the author (insert sigh of desperation here).

But, the benefits of waiting are reflected in the receiving.

When we wait we get what is almost always better for us. In waiting we allow God to do His work. When we wait we are ready to receive the bigger, better, righter (yes, I know it’s not a word) thing that God wants us to have.

When we don’t wait, we move too quickly, too impulsively, too selfishly, and we tend to get the cheap imitation of the thing we really need or want. We too often get less than what God wants for us. We get what we can get a hold of, not what He wants to give.

For example, how many marriages have dissolved because two young lovers just wouldn’t wait? They forced a marriage that was never meant to be.

How about finances? How many of us have ever bought into the “greatest deal ever” only to live in total regret within a few years, months, weeks or even days?

It’s a pattern that’s all too clear. It’s just weird that we don’t learn from it. It’s like a dog who keeps going back to the same human for a good scratching, but every time he goes there he just gets kicked. Yet, he keeps going back.

We’ve got to learn to wait. I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of getting kicked!

Continue reading “It’s time you got put in your place”

The Power of Mentoring

I have a nearly indescribable feeling that I would like to, well… describe to you.

I am refreshed, energized, challenged and at peace. If you don’t know much about we preacher types, that’s unusual for a Monday morning. In fact, I have preacher friends who have a ritual of writing their resignation letters every Monday, praying over them and then throwing them away.

I thank God I don’t get that kind of grief every weekend, or at least that I’m too thick in the head to notice it… please don’t point it out if I am. I’d like to stay blissfully unaware.

The reason for my Monday morning glee is that I just spent two plus hours with one of the two men I consider to be my mentors in life and ministry. In the course of that time we talked about what we have been reading, what we have been experiencing and what has us dumbfounded.

Funny, I talked the most during that last part…

Over the years I have established a relationship with these men that allows them to be honest with me, even when I am both ignorant and stupid. There is a difference between those two you know?

Ignorance is when you do something stupid, but didn’t know you were doing something stupid. Stupid, is doing something when you’re already pretty sure whatever you’re doing might be stupid.

Continue reading “The Power of Mentoring”

Knives, Throwing Stars & Parenting

No idea how this happens, but it seems like at least twice a year a major cleaning up of the garage is needed. Or, you have find someplace else to park car.

So, after a few hours of shuffling around what goes in the garage sale stack versus what gets “organized” in the keep bins, I wasn’t feeling all that sentimental.

Hit me anyway.

We have on old, particle board dresser we keep for storage. In the top drawer are all kinds of pads and gloves for various sports. Second drawer is for racquetball junk. Third is for hiking stuff. But, the fourth has been my favorite for years.

In this drawer are things that predate my boys, even my marriage. They stretch far into the wayback of my life. Back to the grade school and junior high days.

There’s an assortment of throwing stars and nun chucks from the time in which Chuck Norris was my hero. I have no martial arts skills anymore, but I do have a sweet Chuck beard.

There’s my one and only bb gun. A handheld CO2 pistol. Awesome.

Then there are the dozens of pocketknives, boot knives, throwing knives and anything sharp and dangerous that a teenage boy who spent way too much time on the shelter belts had to have!

At least that’s what used to be in the bottom drawer. But, opening it up to hideaway a pocket knife, I was startled to see it was almost empty… basically just the bb gun remains.

I paused, thought and teared up a little. I guess I haven’t pondered it much, but over the years as my boys have grown I’ve been dolling these things out to them one at a time.

We will watch a movie and see some ninja do something too cool for words, and then I take them out to the garage and show them a bit of my past (trying to lead them to believe I was once a ninja myself… without saying it, of course). The response is usually, “that’s awesome!” and then I pass along a bit of the Addi family heritage to them in the form of some cheap, semi-dangerous, all boy commodity.

So, now the drawer is nearly empty. It’s a good thing.

I hope they grow up like me. I’m not perfect, I have lots I am still working on, but as I press into 40 (wait for it… not there yet), I’m hoping I have a lot of the basics down.

I want them to be stable. I want them to love family. I want them to not give up on marriage. I want them to make a difference. I want them to risk big when the time is right. I want them to hold tight to the things that should never be risked. I want them to love the Lord more than anything else in this life, or the next.

None of that happens naturally. You have to intentionally open up the drawer and give it away.

It’s our job as men, brothers, fathers and mentors in the church to live our lives in a way that we pack items away like faithfulness, passion, discipline, hope and love. Only then can we offer it up to our kids and the young ones of the next generation.

Deuteronomy 6:3 Hear, O Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you. 4 Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. 6 These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 8 Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 9 Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates.

It’s time for us to unpack the most important things in life. While you’re teaching them how to throw a curve ball, why don’t you talk to them about handling the ones life throws at you.

While you’re straightening up the house, why not remind them it’s a Godly man who keeps their house in order.

When your teaching them to grow up, make sure it’s not just how to look good, but be good, righteous, strong in the Lord.

The next generation is waiting for you to open up the drawer…

Where am I?

So, have you ever been lost? I mean flat out, turned around, no clue, GPS wouldn’t help lost.

I remember driving from Great Bend, Ks, to some secluded mountain park in Colorado that I couldn’t get you to today if you paid me a million dollars. I was an early grade schooler with the family at an annual family reunion.

At some point in the afternoon the kids were getting hungry and restless, but dinner was still a couple hours away. That’s when my step dad and uncle decided to take the kiddos on a little mountain hike.

You know, something just long enough to distract the kids and be back in time for the big ol’ potluck.

It was fun at first, and as a kiddo, I wasn’t keeping track of time, but even a mildly ADD child like myself could tell we’d been out there too long.

So, I started paying attention to some details before I made the discovery:

  • Step dad and uncle kept having us rest while they stepped aside for a ‘whispered’ argument
  • Uncle took off his T-shirt and started tearing strips off and tying them to trees
  • The look of terror on their faces when we kept finding those pieces of his shirt

It all lead to my conclusive discovery: there was no denying it, we were lost!

Though the adults never admitted it, all the kiddos new we were lost when we emerged from the tree line just after dark and all the mommas lost it.

Lots of hugging’ and cussin’ (the former at the kids, the latter at the men).

It’s a painful thing to be lost. It’s a scary thing to be lost and not know it.

Still, lostness is one of the dominant issues of the gospel.

  • The story of Genesis describes the beginning of our lostness.
  • The Old Testament chronicles a people of lostness.
  • The Gospels find the answer to lostness.
  • The entirety of the New Testament is manual for lostness recovery.

In fact, Jesus gave His personal vision/mission statement in Luke 19:10 when He said, “The Son of Man came to seek and save that which was lost.”

That’s what Jesus is all about, the reason He came and the purpose of the cross and the grave. Lostness is a condition that is curable, and Jesus doesn’t have the answer, He is the Answer.

I don’t think there is a Christian alive who denies the centrality “lostness” as a biblical theme. We are even grateful, awestruck and worshipful about it. One of the church’s favorite songs includes the line, “I once was lost but now I’m found.”

The problem isn’t with our own appreciation for being found, forgiven, rescued and redeemed. The problem is the disconnect for those who are still lost.

Pastor Perry Noble has said, “Found people find people.”

Pastor Ed Young, Jr, echoed, “The radically rescued, rescue radically.”

We need to rekindle an urgency, a passion, a fire for reaching the lost!

It is our responsibility.

Our church is about to start a series called LOST focusing on the 3 parables of Jesus concerning lostness. We often see the parable of the lost sheep, the lost coin and the prodigal son as messages of grace and mercy for those who have wandered and squandered in life.

But, if you read closely, Jesus had a deeper meaning. Obviously, grace and mercy extended to the lost is an appropriate application of these stories.

However, the fact that Jesus told all three stories in a row, to an audience of the over-churched (known as the pharisees), in response to church people talking smack about the lost gives these three stories a much dire inference.

Jesus wasn’t talking to the lost… He was talking to the found. He was making it very clear that found people find people, the radically rescued rescue radically and that if we are going to be like Jesus we have to be about His mission: to seek and save the lost.

So, here’s what we are going to do: pray for those you know who are not going to church, invite them to services with you (again and again and again), serve them in whatever ways you can that will draw them to Jesus, and talk to them about what Jesus means to you.

By the way, on that last one, you can’t really mess up your own story… it’s your story, so, have no fear.

Whatever church you attend, make sure that you are on a mission. This weekend, bring someone with you because if you are going to be like Jesus, you have to make your passion, mission and desire seeking what He is seeking.

The Man I Should Be

This is my prayer response to Psalm 15. Hit me like a hammer…

Psalm 15:1 Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?

Lord, I really want to be a man who is close to You. I don’t want to visit You on weekends, or keep in touch with You throughout the day. I want to ‘dwell’ with You. To walk with You, and run with You, to serve You with a passion up close and personal. To live on Your holy hill would be to finally arrive. Lord, may my eulogy include these words… “He dwelled with God.”

2 He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart

Your word is clear, if I am to dwell with You, there are some standards You have for Your traveling companions. Blameless is not a word I would use to describe me… ever. Even by comparison to other human beings I clearly see my frailties and faults. But, I am overwhelmed that You see me through two different lenses. These are ways that I cannot begin to see myself, but I am continually overjoyed that You see me. First, You see my effort. Like a child learning to walk You do not expect me to run as an Olympic athlete. You cheer and support and pick me up when I fall, so long as I am running towards You and not away. Still, even when I run away… You chase me. Second, although I never have been blameless and seldom speak the truth of my heart, You see me through the veil of Jesus Christ. So, to You, I am as blameless as Your Son. I could not be more grateful.

3 and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman,

To dwell near You Lord, I need to dwell well near others. Correct my tongue and keep me from speaking the things that would never come out of Your mouth. Let me live toward my neighbors as one that embraces Your Golden Rule, who generously breaths out the benefit of the doubt to all and who breaths in peace and unity at all costs. God, please let my life before others never be a hindrance to my life with You.

4 who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the Lord, who keeps his oath even when it hurts,

May I be sickened in my stomach by the same things that sicken You. Evil, thievery, judgementalism, dishonesty, brokeness and pain. May I not be able to stand the things that You will not stand for, and may my fear and reverence for You lead me to action, passion, purpose and plans, again and again. Let my courage not waver in the face of Your adversary, embolden me to pick up where others leave off and challenge me with carry the banner that You place in my hands that I might run to the center of the battlefield. When it costs too much, when it risks everything, when it defies all logic, when the pain is too great… may I keep my oath, even when it hurts.

5 who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken.

Let me not find comfort in acting as others do, allowing compromise to make me greedy, proud or mean; at least, not more than I already am. May I never take a thing at the expense of another, even if it’s “Just the way it is” and “Everybody else is doing it.” May I value others as highly as You do, may I never be shaken by the empty promises of a broken world, and may I always value my testimony above anything else this world can offer. It’s the only personal picture I have of You. Lord, let me never sell out; for I am already purchased.

God I truly want to dwell with You. And, I know that I have slummed with my sorrows and camped out with my sins. But, I am ready to change my life. I am ready to live for You. I am ready to live in You.

I am ready to be the man I should be.

Restoration

One of the most difficult, but necessary teachings in Scripture is on the How-To’s of restoring someone who has fallen. Everybody will slip up, fall down and blow it from time to time.

What is the process, biblically, for helping that person up. It would be really good to know, especially when that person is you.

Restoration from Andy Addis on Vimeo.

Galatians 6:1Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.

Punch you in the face

When was the last time you had your reflexes tested?

When you go to the doctor they take a nice little hammer thing and smack you. Even if they just tap you on the knee you usually want to punch him them in the face. Not that it really hurts, it’s just a reflex, right?

So, what is a reflex? In combining the best definitions I’ve seen it’s an “involuntary natural response to stimuli.”

I love the phenomenon of the reflex. It really shows you what you’re made of! Continue reading “Punch you in the face”

Don’t make the same mistake twice

Over the last few weeks I have been studying the book of Hebrews with some awesome guys.

I’ll be honest, it’s a tough book. It’s tough enough that most scholars aren’t even really sure who wrote it, but they are confident that it lines up with Scripture and is a valuable part of our Bible.

As the name implies, it was written to Hebrews, so even though it’s a New Testament book it reflects back on much of what happened in the Hebrew nation of the Old Testament. In the first quarter of the book, there is a warning that basically goes like this: “Do not make the same mistakes you saw those who came before you make.” (Hebrews 3:16-4:2)

Pretty easy advice, eh?

Not so much.

  • Have you ever seen somebody run into a car because they were watching a wreck on the other side of the road?
  • Have you ever seen someone fail a test because they cheated off someone dumber than they were?
  • Have you ever told your children not to do something and explained a specific consequence, only to walk out of the room and have them do exactly what you told them not to do?

We humans are difficult that way. Kind of slow, a little rebellious and continually irritating. (Resist the urge to put these labels on someone else… if you’re human, this applies to us all)

Continue reading “Don’t make the same mistake twice”

The Spiritual Discipline of REMAINing

John 15:7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you…

These words of Jesus were the subject of the weekend services in our church (CrossPoint Church) over the past weekend. I promised a blog entry with some resources and further instruction on “how to” remain in Jesus and have His words remain in you. Well, here you go.

Below the video are several clickable resources that either link you to different resource sites, or connect to downloadable resources. Many blessings!

Remain from Andy Addis on Vimeo.

Matthew 13:45“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, 46who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.

RESOURCES:

www.biblegateway.com

Bible Study Card:

Simply right click to copy or save card to your hard drive

Are You Ready To Rumble?

A great Passage from the book of Judges speaks to our lives today:

The Test from Andy Addis on Vimeo.

Judges 3

1 These are the nations the LORD left to test all those Israelites who had not experienced any of the wars in Canaan 2 (he did this only to teach warfare to the descendants of the Israelites who had not had previous battle experience)

What are the lessons here?

1. Sometimes its not the devil

2. God will test His own

3. God wants us ready to fight