- Had a few minutes and time for a mid-week mind-dump.
- Battling a little bit of congestion the last few days — praying I continue to improve heading into this Sunday.
- I was feeling it a bit last Sunday and haven’t really managed my energy too well the last few days.
- Sunday was a pretty emotional sermon — you can see / hear it here.
- It was a really fun sermon to preach.
- I knew I was going to need to recoup a little bit, but kind of over-scheduled myself the last few days.
- Was so tired Monday night that, after putting on my Broncos Tim Tebow jersey, I slept through most of their win over the Chargers.
- Should be OK, with less on the calendar the rest of the week.
- Seems like a lot of folks internalized Psalm 34:18 from the sermon: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
- What an amazing promise.
- This song is actually what drilled it into my head some years ago.
- Had a good time Monday with the rest of the lead pastors from other Redemption congregations.
- It’s a special group of men who shape me in significant ways.
- Yesterday the highlight was that we met with our architect to get the latest cost estimate analysis on the building we’re designing.
- I think we were all assuming that we’d get some disappointingly high numbers (isn’t that what usually happens?)
- Instead, we learned that we’re right on track with what’s been budgeted and planned!
- Really good news.
- Next steps are making some detailed decisions about a lot of stuff and then construction drawings will begin.
- Still aiming for February/March of next year to break ground.
- It’s so cool to me how even though we don’t talk about the project a ton, people keep giving generously and sacrificially to it — we’re already more than half way toward our Home Away From Home goal.
- Crazy to me that we’re winding down our series in Acts — just 4 weeks left!
- Then we’ll begin a new series, Proverbs: Wisdom in Dizzying Times.
- Will be a great look at a number of key areas of life that need wisdom.
- Heard a little bit today about our next “All of Life Night” at Gateway.
- It’s going to be Thursday, October 26 and the topic is “Justice, Law, and Order.”
- Our community and global team is working hard on these events and I’m excited to see the panelists that end up participating
- It should be a good night that gets everybody thinking.
- I hope it helps some of our folks get a more well-rounded understanding of how the Bible uses the term “justice.”
- We usually just think about justice meaning that God will repay and punish law-breakers — which is definitely part of it.
- But there’s actually another way that justice is described in the Bible (especially the prophets): God will work actively on behalf of the vulnerable and oppressed.
- Kind of wild that the same word can be used in both ways, but it is.
- If you’re curious about this, a few books to consider are Generous Justice by Tim Keller and Biblical Ethics and Social Change by Stephen Mott.
- Neither is about some kind of political agenda (which is what conservatives like me get nervous about), but rather about having a full-orbed understanding of the Scriptures.
- I even get accused of being some kind of liberal social justice warrior sometimes (really?) but I think it’s mostly because we have a pretty limited understanding of how the Bible defines these issues (and maybe more than a little bit of fear about the cultural implications).
- Anyway, this upcoming event should be a decent exploration of these topics.
- Tonight I’m headed to dinner with Molly and my counselor/coach.
- He’s been a huge blessing in our lives and I’m looking forward to have some time together.
- His encouragement to trust God with my limits and losses has been invaluable.
- Well, gotta get rolling.
- Have a great night and finish the week strong.
- All of life is all for Jesus.
