A Garden in My Heart
I have a love–hate relationship with my garden and flowerbeds. On one hand, I love when they are clean, planted, and blooming at all the right times each season.
On the other, because of the rains that are present throughout every season in Tacoma, where Tina and I have our family home, I have a non-stop battle to fight with weeds that remain the fastest growing and most robust plants I have. They even grow full speed ahead during the winter, when everything else is either dead or taking a break.
I was working on my garden out in front of my house one sunny afternoon, (yes, we do get sun in the Pacific Northwest too!), and as I pulled weeds and replaced them with bright, colorful flowers, something started to shift in me. My heart softened as my nails became caked with rich, black soil. I started feeling as if I was involved in a much grander project or purpose. It was as if I was connecting to the overarching restoration of all things that God has promised to do in our world.
Is my front garden a part of that?
In that moment, it sure seemed like it. The Spirit reminded me that this is how he works within me too, pulling one weed at a time and replacing it with something beautiful. I started to think of all the people I know with weeds and thorny, spiky parts of their personality and life. Maybe I was to be patient and willing to get my hands a little dirty helping to “beautify the garden” of their lives too?
One by one, people from the neighborhood started to notice what I was up to. “Wow! That is looking really beautiful. I just love petunias!” “I was wondering if you were ever going to get around to this project.”
Not the feedback I hoped for, but I’ll take it.
One of the workers from the Salvation Army next door who loves to give me gardening advice, ambled over and said, “This is looking really good. I think I’ll start taking my breaks over here in front of your house from now on.” My flowerbeds were becoming his own little Garden of Eden in the neighborhood. A simple hour or two of gardening had refreshed and re-created my attitude in some pretty profound ways.
Maybe everything we work at is like this if we have that perspective and take the time to notice. There is possibility for redemption all around us.
So, if you’ve been putting off some actual weeding you need to do outside in your garden, or in the garden of your heart or others, the next best time to get started is now.
Stop Confusing Justice With Payback & Revenge
Most of us carry a definition of justice we picked up somewhere along the way — and it usually looks like payback. Someone wrongs you, someone wrongs others, and justice means they get what’s coming to them. But what if that version of justice has almost nothing to do with what God actually means by the word?
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’re going to dig into what the Bible actually means by mercy and justice — and why they’re not opposites. You’ll discover how God’s justice is really about restoration, and what it looks like to participate in that restorative work in the lives of people around you.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- The biblical definitions of mercy and justice that will change how you see both
- What actually produces a love of mercy in your own heart
- How God’s restorative justice is bigger than any weekend service project
- Where to start engaging real injustice — locally and globally
Flannelgraph Theology
I grew up going to Sunday school pretty much every week of my young life. Our teachers told us amazing stories from the Bible, nicely illustrated with flannel characters, all of them ending with a nice moral such as, “If you have faith like David had, you can slay any giant in your own life too!” Or, “So, kids, if you’re obedient like Noah, God will protect you from all the bad stuff in your life.”
Not only did those teachers miss the point of the stories (God is always the hero!), but they never taught us that the Bible is one big story.
In fact, it is the Story of God. It’s not a collection of unrelated moralistic tales, nor is it a history lesson. The Bible tells a living and active story that is still unfolding—and we are characters in this story!
Imagine you are trying to put together a large, 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle.
A lot of time and work would go into getting to the point where you could actually see the picture that the artist intended. But think about how difficult your task would be if you did not have the lid to the box that the puzzle came in. You would have no way to tell what exactly you were trying to piece together.
“Is this a part of the sky or a reflection of the lake? Is this animal fur or a piece of a tree?”
For many of us, this is how we have learned the Bible. It mirrors the process we’ve engaged in to grow in our faith and understanding of who God is and what he is doing. We have heard sermon after sermon, and done one book study after another without really knowing what the big picture of this whole “Christianity thing” really is. Every once in a while, we’ll fit a couple of pieces together and rejoice. And some of us have been around church and the Bible long enough to sort of have all of the “edge pieces” put together, the basic framework of the Bible, but we still do not really know the Bible as one big story. We are not super clear on who exactly God is, what he has done, who we are in light of this, and how we should live.
We do not know the Story of God.
I want to encourage you to move beyond a chapter and verse, flannel graph theology and grab some friends and start going through the Story of God as a community…remember, our goal is not biblical literacy, its gospel fluency, and the next best time to dive deeper is now.
7 Reasons Gossip Is Poison 3 Ways To Crush It
Gossip is everywhere — in our friendships, our workplaces, even our churches. We’ve all been on both ends of it. And most of us have drifted into it without realizing until after. It’s so normal it barely registers anymore. But it’s doing real damage to the people around us and to us.
In this episode of the Everyday Disciple Podcast, we’re going to unpack what gossip actually is — and the definition will probably surprise you. You’ll discover why it’s genuinely dangerous, how to recognize it in the moment, and three ways to crush it before it spreads. This one could change how you listen to every conversation.
In This Episode You’ll Learn:
- A definition of gossip that instantly changes how you hear conversations
- Seven real reasons gossip is more destructive than you’ve been told
- Three practical moves to crush gossip before it takes hold
- How sticking up for the absent person builds surprising, lasting trust
Surprise! You Are the Missionary In Your Neighborhood
There are all kinds of people with varying beliefs living around us. Some of them we notice and some of them we never see. But I can guarantee you one thing for sure. There is a missionary living in your neighborhood.
Growing up as part of the church, there was huge map in the lobby where we worshipped on Sundays–a map of the world with pins all over it. Each pin corresponding to an 8×10 picture next to the map. (more…)
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ABOUT ME
I am the author of the top selling book, The Gospel Primer. My latest books, Transformed and Small is Big, Slow is Fast came out recently on Zondervan.
I help those with a high commitment to intentional living in the areas of their discipleship, family and mission acquire the leadership skills and tools necessary to succeed and leave a lasting legacy.