For me personally, the analogy is challenging. Have I let what is true be choked out by worry? Have I let doubt (which can serve us greatly in our pursuit of faith) steal from my journey? What difficulties led me to choose a hard heart, where seeds can’t take root?

I find myself often in these stories. And just like these stories, the point is not to identify alone, but to take action.

• When I have a stone-heart, I examine why, and ask God for help in trust and forgiveness.
• When I have a thorny, weedy-heart, I get to the root of what I’m worried about, or what pursuits are choking God’s good work in me. You can’t wish for a weeded garden; you’ve got to get down and pull!
• When I my seeds are “snatched away”, I ask myself, “Did you let doubt take you down… instea of take you closer to Jesus?”

It’s been a process! I know this, though: roots are the evidence of a seed that grew in good soil.

I don’t know what that’s like. It broke my little Libby’s heart. We were both so relieved to get a call from him just a couple days ago; they had lost everything, but were all alive and together.

Libby is an amazing little person. She is always teaching me things, and the more I trust her and step back, the more she shows me that she can do so much! Maybe you have one of these kind of go-getters? Well, when it came to what we can do for Haiti, for her the solution was simple: $2.21.

That’s a specific amount, isn’t it? It’s also a special amount: it’s what she has. Kind of humbling – it seems like such a small thing but to Libs it was her piggy bank.

It reminds me of the passage in Mark 12 where Jesus is watching people give, and he’s blown away not by the big donors but by the widowed lady who gave a fraction of a penny, yet was all she had.

Encouraging, but humbling. Makes me think: I’m sure that many of us could give without thinking about it. My advice? Don’t.

Don’t give without thinking about it. Think about it. Let it get stuck in your heart. Break your piggy bank.

In Primal, Batterson expands on what Jesus called The Greatest Commandment – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:30) To illustrate he uses a blend of personal story, scripture and corollations from science, history, and literature. Each chapter was engaging and spiritually challenging.

The focus of the book is to help readers peel back layers of religion or tradition from their faith, and to recapture and reignite that primal faith in Jesus. One particular aspect in Mark’s writing I appreciate is his sincere and challenging love for people. Mark honors his readers while spurring them on to a deeper, more passionate faith.

And that’s what happened, for me at least. As I read Primal I was brought back many times to those core moments in my faith. The simplicity of following Christ, with all I have – heart, soul, mind and strength.

If you’re looking for a heart-challenging book for the New Year, I would suggest putting Primal on your list.

Maybe He should have hired a firm.

The advent of Christ was a time-splitting event, forever altering history and human hearts. You would think God could have thought through a better marketing plan.

A young mother, painfully pregnant, stuck in Bethlehem for a government census (the timing!). While in town for the census, she goes into labor, and the Christ-child is born in a hillside stable, and placed in an animal trough as a makeshift crib.

That’s not even the worst of it. God sends His angels to announce this wondrous birth, and where do they go? To whom do they announce this momentous occasion?

“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:8-12)

Yep, shepherds. Wool-watchers on graveyard shift. The minimum wage guys.

See, if the Almighty had thought this through, he could have alerted the local media, or sent His angels to the movers and shakers of the day; Israel’s version of Hollywood’s hottest. But He didn’t. He didn’t twitter, or post, or use serious networking. He went to the fringes.

He found those that would be ignored, shoved aside, perhaps completely forgotten. And He shared His beautiful advent moment with those guys, kicking off what would be for Jesus every day life: Go to the broken, the forgotten. Those confused, hurt, and misused. Don’t worry about appearances. Go deeper, to the heart. And in this advent season, we are reminded as Christ-followers to keep it up.

Maybe God has this marketing thing down just fine.

Tylenol shouldn’t be at the top of your Christmas wish list. I mean, come on.

Every year it happens, even amongst throngs of people who say they’ll resist it: turmoil over the Christmas season. Why? Why would we ever choose this? And I use ‘choose’ very purposefully. See, I think that all of the stress, worry, maxed credit cards and lack of peace are the result of a choice, albeit subtle.

A choice to worship with part of one of the fastest-growing religions in America: Consumerism.

Now before I’m pelted with holiday cheer in the form of fruitcake thrown in my direction, think it through:

• Credit card offers sent out every fall, with the marketing slant “being able to cross off everything on your Christmas wish list!”
• Stores chock full of extra kiosks and displays – full of strange collections you would never buy anyone (penknife and travel mug set?), except that it’s Christmas and you have no idea what to get Uncle Stewart. And yet you feel like you have to get him something.
• Hours and hours wasted, aimlessly wandering through aisle after aisle of meaningless gifts, only to spend a few measly hours with your family opening them.

These are all symptoms of a much bigger disease. Now please understand: I give gifts. I shop. I buy holiday wares. There’s a sweet place for gift giving and tradition and all of that. Some of my most cherished holiday memories come each year in the form of established family traditions.

For me, though, it’s a deeper problem than gift-giving: I want the holiday season called Christmas to reflect the peace, grace, and joy of Christ. I don’t mean this in some religious social way, like fighting to make CHRISTmas be about Jesus, or demanding government buildings display Christmas trees. I mean this as a personal decision for me, and from the heart of a pastor who sees fellow followers of Christ burnt out from the holidays.

How consumerism has replaced many of the pieces from the original Christmas story:

• The star in the east is replaced by fluorescent lighting and glossy print ads.
• The shepherds keeping watch by night have opted out; late night shelf-stockers at local retails stores prepare the altars for next days worship.
• As opposed to angels singing, “Glory in the highest!” we now hear credit companies shrilly singing: “0% interest and no payments for six months… O.A.C.!”

Solutions? Take it personal. We do not need rallies or protests. We need deep internal change, manifested in our attitudes, holiday focus, and spending habits. Here are a few ideas:

• Spend less. Decide that you will not go into debt for Christmas. One way my family has spent less is to stop buying gifts for every adult sibling – with my brothers, in-laws, and spouses that’s eight presents! We sometimes secretly choose one sibling, but it really makes it easier every Christmas.
• Spend time. Your greatest gift is presence. The huge amount of time spent shopping could be logged at home, playing a game with your family, or baking together.
• Give the gift of serving. Every Christmas season is an opportunity to serve and be a blessing to others. No matter how big or small, make plans with family or friends to serve and touch lives. There are countless shelters, food banks, churches, schools and service groups doing something… get out there!
• Read the Christmas story. Get back to the raw beauty of the story: a humble birth in a hillside stable by a small town girl. That literally changed history. Sit down and read the accounts (found in the gospels of Matthew and Luke) of Jesus’ birth.
• Create honoring traditions. What will you add to your holiday season that brings honor? Peace? Joy?

I hope you have a beautiful Christmas season… Tylenol free and clear of shopping madness!

Search by month, speaker, or just click on our podcast link to have it all downloaded automatically to your computer. Good stuff!

And it sucks sometimes.

Here’s why: It all falls under the label “social media”. And in a day when the most social interaction someone might have is to invite you to join their Farmtown, we could be heading towards trouble. A few thoughts:

- Social Media allows opportunities to interact (comment, reply, retweet) in a way that gives me the illusion that I have lots of meaningful social connections. It’s misleading, though; these comments can make me feel like I’ve connected with a good dozen friends today, but have I? Perhaps on a limited level. But part of the beauty of a real relationship is that it goes beyond a few witty or warmhearted comments. There is stretching, disagreeing, and something that can’t be achieved in social media: personal space. I want to share my heart with a friend in unguarded fashion (something hard to online digital media) – as well as without 20 comments posted about it.

- Social Media, for many, is a business tool, not a social tool. Being a tool, people will use it to build what they want; some people will use it to build into their social lives, and some will use it to build their own empires. Case in point: I get weird people I don’t know twittering back to me about what I just wrote, in some way that tries to say we’re chums – “Hey, @beezerboyd, I totally feel ya man! You’re crrrraazy!” Wouldn’t be so bad if I knew them, or had any social connection to them. But I don’t; they just added me to their list like some hip business blog told them to. I’m being twitter-stalked by somebody who wants to make me feel like we’re buds, but really just wants to sell something.

- Social Media has become a way to seem to know somebody. It has the equivalent feeling to sitting at a certain table during high school lunch. A great example is the Retweet, which has come to be something of an awkward name-dropper for twitter-crushes: “RT @joeschmoe I’m totally into fava beans. // yeah, I’ll get you some Chianti!” But you don’t know Joe Schmoe, it just feels good to kind of know him. Publically, that is. And that’s kind of weird; we don’t really want or need to know Joe Schmoe, we just want others to know we kind of (sort of (at least on Twitter)) know him.

- Social media gives us the opportunity do send out large amounts of personal social information without the need to develop a strong social tie. Which means that I could live a somewhat closed off life in the non-digital world – the people closest to me not really knowing how I am doing, while people I haven’t seen since high school are aware of my every step (“Tripped over my own feet today. Mornings!”) This allows us the anonymity that keeps us relationally safe (right alongside stagnant and isolated), yet the digital comments convincing us we have connections.

I’m no tech expert; I have no doctorate on social media. I’m also not a big rant guy. It’s just that community and living-breathing-face-to-face-people are real needs of the heart; to know and be known. Social media can add to this, but social media cannot replace this. If your friend posts that they are home sick, you could comment “Bummer! Get better!” And that would be nice of you. But what if you made some real deal chicken soup and went and saw them? Now we used social media for what it can be: open doors towards social living.

As long as chicken soup doesn’t become some business blog’s new social media model. If that happens, I might start a Mob War in Farmville.

Allow this disclaimer: I really enjoy BBQ! It’s great. And fireworks are really enjoyable displays. In and of themselves they are not issues. It’s when we forget what we are a part of something bigger, and have an incredible freedom to celebrate.

For me,  there are great parallels to the church.  Many have forgotten (or forsaken) the freedom Christ provided for us. We forget the mission God has placed in the path of His church, to go into all of the world with the hope of the gospel. To be a blessing; to love and serve with the strength God provides.

For some, it has turned into a Sunday event where people can attend churches as passive consumers (“gimme some BBQ!”) and watch an entertaining, well put together show (“Mama, look – fireworks!”).  Again, Sunday gatherings are not the issue in themselves.  But when we trade the freedom of new life in Christ, when we set aside the mission – serving and loving this world with the full gospel – all for a plate and a show – we are simply exercising our ability to miss the point.

It’s still about grace. Forgiveness. Hope.

And a world Jesus loves.

Our Easter Sunday Celebration was beautful. I am so appreciative of the people who make the Fountain Church what it is!

• Kristy - Thanks for being my partner in life and in God’s work.  You always cover so many important details and go the extra mile for others.  I have such love and respect for you!
• Elisha & Rob – Thank you for your special songs; they were beautiful and poignant.  
• Dan, Bryan, Chara, Bill, Chris, Rachel, Elisha, Crystal, Melissa, Rose, Sandy, Shawna, Robert, and Bryan – The music was incredible!  Thanks for your hard work and big hearts!
• Jeff, Linda (mom of mine), Kristy, Laurette (mom#2 of mine), Nancy, and Shirley (bonus mom of mine) – Thank you for loving and serving the 40+ kids who ended up in KidSplash on Sunday!  You make kids feel welcome and loved.
• Chara – So much happens because you are around.  Your leadership, attitude, and abilities are invaluable. Yo diggity!
• Renee, Crystal, Bob - The breakfast was top notch, and knowing you were all in the mix to greet people means  people will feel truly welcome.  Thank you!
• Roger (my dad, aka Pa) – Thanks for the faithful coffee pick up!  You keep us juiced with Mud Bay weekly.
• Dan, Ray, Shawn - Many hands make light work.  Thanks for setting up and tearing down all of our stuff!
• Lon – I appreciate the great video recording and audio work you do so faithfully every week!  We love the tech geeks!
• Jim – Your custodial work is always above and beyond.  Thanks for making sure we’re taken care of.
• Ray, Vikki, Rob, and my  bud Aiden – Passing out hundreds of cups of coffee and donuts at the Easter Egg Dash was awesome – plus you made it fun!
• Jesus – This Sunday was for You, it was because of You, and I’m forever grateful for your death and resurrection.  Gloria Agnus Dei.