Before and After

             I just got done competing in a ‘biggest loser’ contest that lasted from the 1st Friday in January to the last Friday in April.  1st place won $500; 2nd won $75; and 3rd won $20 (got their money back).  I ended the competition in 4th place 😉 It was a moral victory (not sure what that means). 

I have a couple of pictures, but I’m having problems posting them…

I did have a side bet with a fellow competitor that I need to call in.  I won $25 off of that one.  Then there’s the $25 my brother still owes me for not reaching his snipping goal (see my). That cash hasn’t come through yet either. I may need to find myself a thug.

I still have a bit of a jiggle. I need to keep my expectations low, because what can I do – I am over 30 (right Beth?)

The Intentional Life

Three bicycles were seen riding through the local park. It was clear that 2 of the bicycles belonged to the same family. The third appeared to be riding alone. The first bicycle was equipped with a set of training wheels. An observer could tell that they had been attached to the bike for some time, because of the wobbly way they trailed along with the bike. The second bike was traveling at a very leisurely rate, no doubt INTENT on keeping pace with the smaller bike. The second bike was a bit odd though, because it had 2 sets of pedals, 2 seats, and 2 handlebars. The third bike was entirely different. The rider was dressed in tight, patterned and brightly colored clothes. He was wearing an aerodynamic helmet, and leather gloves. This rider was not out for a gentle glide through the park. He hollered out, “On your left” as he blew right by the couple on the 2 seater. The couple on the 2 seater was a bit annoyed, and called out, “Where’s the fire?” as they shook their heads and rolled their eyes. There was no fire, and ironically the man on the speeding bike wasn’t even trying to get somewhere quickly. He was training for a triathlon he had entered on a dare, and was INTENT on winning or at the very least being beat because someone else was faster and not because he held back. He had no INTENTION of leaving room for regret.

*Living with Intention.

Good morning, and welcome to Woodstock Bible Church. My name is John Barnett. My dad invited me to come and close out the series that you, as a church, have been going through over the past several weeks.
I’ve listened to the “Here’s How” series so far, and coming from someone who has worked directly with youth for 12 years, I thought he did a pretty decent job of getting in touch with his inner teenager as he developed this series. When we were over at the house for Easter, I think that I saw a pimple forming on his nose.

This series set out to communicate how to follow Jesus Christ today. There are seven essential principles being communicated in this series –
Stay Close – Christ’s invitation to follow is an invitation to come. We are not meant to follow at a distance, but in a close and personal way.
Listen Carefully – If we want to follow Jesus then we need to listen to Jesus primarily through His written word and in prayer.
Let Go – If we want to follow Jesus, then we each must develop the art of ‘net-less’ living. Like the disciples who were fishermen by trade, we too must drop our ‘nets’.
Love Well – If we want to follow Jesus then you and I need to love very very carefully…and not selectively. We are called to love people ‘as is.’
Share Christ Graciously – We are commissioned by God to share the good news of Jesus Christ and to do so intentionally, but very graciously.
Look Ahead – Authentic Christ followers live for a different world, the world to come. That is where our hope truly lies, not in this world, but in the world that is yet to come.

Essential Principle #7 is Living Intentionally –
*Intentional living requires a reason
*Intentional living requires perspective
*Intentional living requires action

Would you like a good strong inspirational speech? Will that get you where you feel you need to be?
*Today our youth are facing moral decisions that they were never intended to face, because of the blatant degradation of popular media exhibited by the onslaught of ‘adult’ cartoons, the disregard for decency by radio hosts, the easy access to pornographic material on the internet, t-shirt silk screens, and bumper stickers. Parents buy their children parental guidance cd’s and mature rated video games. They sneak them into movies that they have not paid for. They say, “I know that you are going to have sex, so I’m not going to argue about that with you. I only ask that you do it here in my house instead of somewhere unsafe.” “Billy, when I ask you a question; I expect the truth. Don’t lie to me. If you lie to me about this, then how will I be able to trust you.” The phone rings, “Billy, tell them I’m not here.” Parents say, “I want to be their friend. I want them to like me.” And lose sight of the goal, raising a son or daughter to serve Jesus Christ and love Him.

It’s no wonder our teens are confused. It’s no wonder teens are abandoning their faith today in record numbers. If we don’t live our lives with intention; if we don’t live our lives intently focused on the person of Jesus Christ; if we don’t live our lives with purpose and on purpose, then…

Oh, listen to me sounding off. Wow, what passion, what strength of opinion. I’m convinced. Count me in.

I imagine that most teens hearing that rant would be tuned out and thinking –
“You think you know me. You have no idea. You’re just like all the rest who want to relate.”
“I’ve heard all of this before. I’ve tried on Jesus. He didn’t fit.”
“When is this over? I want to go home and listen to my music and play my video games.”

Many parents would be secretly debating me right now. They may be uncomfortable facing fail points in their lives. They may see nothing wrong with anything that I have described so far. That’s ok, because they aren’t the greatest influencers in most teens’ lives. Their friends are. In most of your situations, your friends are an even greater influence in your life than God is. “John, that’s a pretty bold statement to make.” Is it? Why do youth pastors tell everyone to not look around when an invitation to accept Jesus Christ is presented? It’s to remove the negative influence of peers. God may be pulling and tugging at you to make a decision to follow Him, the most important decision you will ever make in your life, but if you think someone else in the room can see you, then you may not raise your hand, let alone stand or come forward. You may want to follow Christ in that moment or any moment, but if the eyes of your friend change your mind, then you aren’t following Christ. You are following your friend.

While I agree with everything that I said, I don’t think that my ranting is going to significantly change or impact anyone’s life here today. If that were my intention, then I would have failed miserably, because everything that you are thinking is probably more close to the truth than I would care to admit. I don’t know you. I have no idea. On some level, I may be just like all the rest who want to relate. I may have fired some of you up, and got your blood moving. You may have made an emotional decision to change something in your life in the last 30 seconds, but it probably won’t be a lasting one. Let me talk about real change… Father’s Day. My family visited a church in St. Charles. The pastor delivered a well-planned and clearly illustrated and impactful message about life’s storms, but I didn’t walk away with any life change from that message. This is what impacted me: when the worship leader was welcoming everyone, he said along with other things, “This is Father’s Day, and maybe God brought you into this place today to love you and to hold you, and show you what a Father’s love is about.” I thought of my son, and the way that I would yell at him in anger, and it was as if I could feel my heart break. I love my sons, and I want to be a primary influence in my children’s lives. That requires a relationship. That requires trust. That requires integrity. I want them to be able to understand who God is when they look at their father. That day I stopped. It wasn’t because of an elegant, well-crafted speech. It was because real change happens in the heart. I’m not talking about the transfer of knowledge from your mind to your heart. I’m talking about a connection of one heart to another. That Sunday, my heart connected with God’s. So this morning, I want to share with you from my heart, and my prayer is that as your hearts connect to mine, that most importantly, your hearts will connect to God’s. That’s real and that’s powerful.
First, I want to point out the irony of the intentional life. Absolutely, everyone lives life with intention, known or unknown, from a baby struggling to breathe on its own, to the insane gunman at Virginia Tech. Every action is spawned from a purpose or intent to accomplish something; whether we are talking about your morning routine, the ‘white lie’ you constructed to save face with your boss or coworker, or even coming here this morning. Every action is spawned from intent.

The impact of the intentional life can be catastrophic, it may be mundane, and it may be amazing.

In the Old Testament we are told the story of David and Bathsheba. David saw Bathsheba bathing on the roof of her home, his heart was consumed by lust; he wanted her. His army, of which her husband was a loyal member, was going into battle. David ordered her husband to the front of the line. He obeyed his commanding officer, and was killed that day in battle. David took Bathsheba into his home to “care for the grieving widow”. David had intentions, secret intentions actually, but God knew, and that’s why you can read about it today. Can you imagine penning that story as God is giving you the words to write. All of this time, you thought that David was a good king caring for his people. I think you’d have to put your pen down, and ask God to repeat himself a few times. “You mean to tell me that David intended to do that – He purposed in his heart to do that?” God replies, “Yes, shall we write about your secret intentions instead.” “No that’s ok. I believe you.”

*Our intentions, our willingness to pursue our intentions, and the actions that we take to accomplish our intentions have impact.

Two men were driving and dreaming through the rural countryside. After many detailed conversations with a carefully targeted consumer population, they had settled on a fairly high-level description of their end product. They felt it would be unwise to isolate their end product to one mold so they determined to design a flexible facility that would allow them to shift their production requirements rapidly to maintain synergy and momentum as the desires and needs of the consumer population changed which inevitably they would. They developed their costing models and billing strategies, constructed a well-planned and executable business plan, located a well-populated cluster of industry-free and financially struggling communities, gained trust and approval from the appropriate community leaders and local Chambers of Commerce, acquired sufficient funds from several investors, they consulted and contracted with several distribution networks, they took bids on the construction of their facility, and then a factory was built. While the factory was being built, the two men contracted with a process consulting firm. The firm assisted them in developing quality processes designed to ensure quality in their deliverable and yield as few defects and rework waste as possible. Plant managers, Shift Supervisors, Machine Operators, and Administrative personnel were hired and trained. Assembly began, and eventually three bicycles were seen riding through the local park.

Our intentions, our willingness to pursue our intentions, and the actions that we take to accomplish our intentions have impact.
A verse that became a life verse and center point for me a few years ago is John 10:10
*Jesus says, “I came that you might have life, and might have it abundantly.” I paraphrase that verse to say, “I came that you might have a good life.” That was Jesus intention. He came so that you would have the opportunity to have a good life. Most of you know what that intention cost Him. He laid down His own life for us. He knew the cost, but He also understood the impact. He paid the penalty for our sins so that we would not have to. You may hear that paraphrase, “I came that you might have a good life”, and think, “Sign me up, ‘cause I was just at the car show, and I really liked that Hummer.” I was at the car show, and the one that really caught my eye was the truck that has a big-rig front end, and a pickup bed back end. I was close to drooling. I had a really big grin on my face as my wife took my picture in the front seat. I didn’t get to sit in the driver’s seat though, because there was a little kid there. I think he may have actually been drooling. Sitting in the truck was nice. Owning the truck would be nicer. Paying for the gas to get the truck around; maybe not so much. But this verse never came to mind in that moment, because that’s not what this is about. Our selfish idea of a “good life” usually takes us down a path that will fulfill our perceived needs. Jesus didn’t die so that I could have a nice house, an easy commute to work, a chrome covered car, a nice stereo system, extravagant and memorable vacations, friends who adore me and lift me on their shoulders to show the world that they are friends with me, free gasoline or diesel for life, Fast food French fries that are perfectly salted, just came out of the oil, and overflowing their super-sized container and into my mouth, and He clearly didn’t die so that my son, Max, could have the blue ninja turtle from McDonalds, because I can’t find one anywhere.

Jesus died to meet our real, true needs. There are really only two of those. We have a need to be saved from an eternity separated from Him, and we have a need to be in a close intimate relationship with Him. Neither of those needs could ever be met if He didn’t sacrifice His life to save ours. We accept him as our Savior, and we are saved from an eternity apart from Him. We make daily and moment by moment decisions to follow Him, and we experience closeness and intimacy with Him. The ‘good life’ that Jesus came for, is a life being lived the way that it was intended.

Living with Intention. Here’s How –

*1) A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires a reason.
Hebrews 12:2
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

The “joy set before Him”: what was that joy? This verse gives the impression that Jesus could almost tangibly experience the elation, the overwhelming sense of pleasure, the joy that was set before Him. A part of that joy may have been pleasing His Father, and receiving His Father’s praise. His joy may have been knowing that the pain and agony that He was experiencing on the cross would cease, and He would be in paradise. I think that most of His joy, the thing that drove him to pursue His intention was you. I think that it was me. His joy is made fuller when you place your faith in Him, and enter into a personal relationship with Him and leave a life that was being lived apart from Him. His joy will be made complete when He comes again to take all of us who have placed our faith in Him to physically be with Him for all eternity.

The joy set before Him was you, and the joy set before you is Him. He is the reason that so many people have endured prison, torture and even death.

“They were stoned, they were sawn in two, they were tempted, they were put to death with the sword; they went about in sheepskins, in goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, ill-treated.
(men of whom the world was not worthy), wandering in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground.”
Why? “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.”

They had a reason. They believed that God was who He said He was, and that He would do all that He had promised.

You must have an Authentic Faith in Jesus Christ. That means that you believe that He is who He claims to be, and that He will do everything that He has promised to do.

A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires a reason
* 2) A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires perspective.

Your perception is not necessarily reality. I like to think that each of us lives with our own perception bubble. We have learned to interpret and understand life through the different experiences that we have encountered, both good and bad. They have created and continue to form our world views. Your world view may be drastically different than mine. Our decisions, actions, and responses are based on our worldview. There’s a problem with that. My worldview is faulty, and incomplete. God doesn’t have a perception bubble. He has a reality bubble. He transcends our limited perceptions. If our perspective that generates our decisions that determine our intentions that dictate our actions are based on our worldview, then we fall short. That’s why I used to think that it was a big deal when someone would wear jeans to church. God couldn’t be okay with that. I remember when I came here about 10 years ago to visit, I saw girls wearing camo pants. There’s no way that God could be okay with that. Wow was I off…. You see Jesus called the Pharisees (the holy people) ‘white washed tombs’. He meant that they were pretty and pleasing on the outside, but inside they were dead and decayed. God doesn’t care what I wear, He cares about my heart. We must learn to see the world the way that God sees the world. When we see the world the way that God sees the world; we will do what He says.

In fact one of the most important instructions that we were given by God can be found in Matthew 28:19 and 20
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded…
When we see the world as God sees it, then we will see the people that he created in a way that doesn’t cast judgment and doesn’t assign shame. Instead, we will see their hearts and be concerned about whether or not they will have an opportunity to experience the abundant life that Christ died for here on this earth, and whether or not they will experience an eternity in the presence of Christ worshipping and serving Him. When we see our neighbors, coworkers, friends, and even those that seem to naturally rub us the wrong way… When we see others the way that God sees them, then we will do what He says. We will reach out to them. We will enter their world(s). We will love them, and share the impact that our relationship with Christ has on our life today, and share the hope and expectations that we have for an eternity in Christ’s presence.

Romans 12:2 says,
And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
I like a version from a Bible paraphrase called “God’s Word for Students”
Don’t become like the people of this world. Instead, change the way you think. Then you will always be able to determine what God really wants – what is good, pleasing, and perfect.

If the perspective that generates our decisions that determine our intentions that dictate our actions are based on God’s worldview, then we will be following Jesus Christ and making an amazing impact on the world that we live in.

A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires a reason
A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires perspective
*3) A life intent of following Christ requires action.
Hebrews 12:1
“Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.”
These are action words – Lay Aside. I have to intentionally lay aside every encumbrance. That can be a lot of things. It’s not always bad things that get in our way. Sometimes it’s a t.v. show that you have to see, you don’t have a VCR and you don’t have DVR or a TIVO, so you skip out on your small group so that you don’t miss the tense, life changing, Christ focused experience on your t.v.; maybe it’s well-intentioned blogging that is full of theological debate. Is it moving you closer to Christ or cluttering your mind with confusion? Now follow this. You have a report that you have to get done in order to pass your journalism class, you really like your new skateboard deck so you strap your board to your backpack every day and go to the skatepark everyday after school’s out, go to work, come home and go to bed. But that report has to get done or you will fail. You usually spend about 15-30 minutes reading your Bible, praying, and journaling in the morning. You think to yourself, “I really need to get that report done. It’s going to take me 3 hours to do it. If I just cut out my God time in the morning for a week, then I’ll get my report done, be well on my way to becoming a professional skater, and pick up my Bible next week.” There are a lot of things that get in our way and sometimes we don’t even realize it. But we are told to “Lay them aside”. Don’t merely intend to lay them aside, we need to actually take action. We are also to lay aside the sin, the bad stuff, those things that creep in and corrode our relationship with Christ. We are told to lay those aside, too.
And let us RUN… We have to be moving. We have to be actively pursuing our intentions. We have to be in active pursuit of Christ.

Some practical steps:
· If you aren’t in a small group already, then get in one.
· If you are in a small group, then be an active participant.
· If you need focused help identifying barriers that you feel are in the way of following Christ, then your church has a peer counseling program call, “Genesis”. Sign up.
· If you can’t remember the last time you shared the impact of your faith with someone else, then do that.
· Maybe you need to go out to a park and just sit under a tree with a journaling book, or a sketch pad, and appreciate God’s creation.
Be in active pursuit of Christ.

Your intentional living will make an impact. Just like a father asks his daughter’s date to the prom, “What are your intentions with my daughter?” Jesus asks you, “What are your intentions with the life that I have given you? I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly.”*

A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires a reason
A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires perspective
A life intent on following Jesus Christ requires action

To Teens:
You live in a difficult world. You are encountering ideas and concepts that older generations had never even conceived of. The lyrics of your music are raw and direct. Destructive behavior that at one time were despised and avoided at all costs are now considered a natural part of the teenage life experience. Conversation topics that used to cause people to blush, don’t have the same effect because of what older generations would call a loss of innocence. All of that may be true, shock older generations, and cause parents to be concerned for their children. But you guys are growing up. Like the music you listen to, you are raw and direct. Your hearts are open and vulnerable. I think that Jesus is pleased when He see teens worship. When He see teens drop to their knees, raise their hands, hug eachother, cry on eachother, and pursue Him.

You have some of the biggest decisions of life ahead of you.

• Who will I marry?
• Where will I work?
• How will I fit into society?

You also have BIG decisions right now.

• Should I obey my parent’s curfew?Mom and dad won’t mind if I’m a few minutes late.I’m old enough to be out past 10:00.
• Which friends will I hang out with this weekend?This friend is boring, but safe.This friend is fun, but dangerous.
• What do I want my life to be like?
• What will I do if someone offers me drugs at the party?I see other people here doing it.I’m young, shouldn’t I experiment a little.I didn’t know that he did drugs; they must be okay then.
• What will happen if my date pressures me for sex?If I don’t do it, then he’ll think I’m a prudeHe wouldn’t ask me if he didn’t love me, right?

If you can begin now to see the way that God sees, then you will be more inclined to do what He says in these decisive moments.

I would like to close with a section from this book called, GOD’S BLOGS. It’s titled, Time:

How deep can a stream really be?

This morning in church we did a song by Kutless called “All Who are Thirsty”.  The song is a beautiful, and does have an encouraging message, but it seem a bit off…. 

All who are thirsty… All who are weak… Come to the fountain… Dip your heart in the stream of life… Let the pain and the sorrow… be washed away… in the waves of His mercy… As deep cries out to deep

We have several water references here – The fountain becomes a stream that has waves (probably crashing because they are powerful enough to wash away), and then there’s the deep.  We could wax poetic on this all day, but recognizing the message, do the lyrics really support it or are they just cleverly assembled cliches?

So two questions – 

1) What does deep cries out to deep actually mean?  I’ve heard it in an Amy Grant or Gary Chapman song several years ago, and I didn’t know what it meant then?  Is that scripture or is that something that someone said one day, and then everyone ran with it, like Rufus.

2) How deep can a stream really be? and if it is deep, then how do two deeps call eachother? would it be considered long distance? 

MUST READ COMMENT STRING FOR THE RESULTS….

Sit in poo … that’s disgusting

Today Max is officially potty-trained.  He went poo-poo on the potty.  I need to get a little stool (no pun intended) for him to climb on to sit on the big potty, because dumping (again, no pun intended) pee-pee out of his little potty bowl into the big potty isn’t that big a deal, but turning the wrist and letting the poo fall into the big potty leaves residue behind.  However, half of our diaper costs are gone now.  Now it’s into the world of super-powered boxer briefs.

 Either we’re getting ahead of ourselves with this one or Benjo’s an overachiever 🙂

The Next Bet

I think that I would like to make another bet, and make a bit interesting…  Keith is wanting to set the end of June as a new deadline for the bet.  Personally, I think that’s a bit too long.  I may be willing to go that far if he goes for my terms – If he doesn’t have the procedure done be the end of June, then I get to name the next baby:

Boy names – The middle name is already pretty much determined because all of their boys have Knight as the middle name.  So keeping that in tact – Option #1: John(ny) Knight Barnett (It doesn’t flow that nice, but it’s better than Jonathon Knight Barnett.  Unless of course April was a big NKTB fan.)  Option #2: Robert Knight Barnett (We’ll call him Bobby.  If you thought Gavin could throw a fit, then you haven’t seen anything.  This baby will probably be throwing his high chair across the living room.)

Girl names – Saira and I are lucky to only have boys so far, because girl names seem to be hard to come by for us.  Before Max came along, we were trying out different names.  The name that I fell in love with was Tea (pronouced – TA-ah).  I’ll leave the middle name open.  And notice that the name does end in an ‘a’, just like the rest.

That’s my side of the bet.  So to be fair, the bet needs to be evened out a bit in the odd chance that he actually meets the deadline.  What should I offer up as my concession, should I lose?  Also, is end of June a realistic deadline? 

all tied up?

To say that my brother, Keith, has a lot of kids would be an understatement.  April 5th is an important day.  If April 5th comes and goes, and Keith hasn’t taken medical measures to prevent the inevitable, then he owes me $25.  This is an arrangement that was made at the beginning of February.  It’s already 9pm on April 3rd, and no phones calls have been placed to the doctor. 

I want to be a good brother, and recognizing I’ll be $25 richer on April 6th, I’d like to use it to help out my brother, who’s afraid of the doctor.  So what should I use the $25 to buy for him to help him out now that child #8 is inevitable?

you want a piece of me?

I’d hate to meet this in a dark alley.  You can’t tell just by looking at him, but this is an official green power ranger, light saber weilding, ninja turtle named Tyrone.  If he says, “I want a piece of you, badguy”, then give him some grapes, cheese, or popcorn.  You might make it out alive.

Dan doesn’t have hair anymore

My brother, Dan, doesn’t have much hair anymore. It’s kind of sad, but he’s resigned to live with it. He tried some transplants a while back, but they were too curly. Wigs weren’t working out either. They were a little too itchy. He thought that he would be better off using a razor. The first winter was tough, but he just wore a hat. He was okay after that.
Deep Thoughts (deep in relation to a kiddie pool):

1. If a woman has male pattern baldness, is it considered male pattern baldness or just slightly off normal?
2. Would reverse male pattern baldness be considered baldness or just a really close haircut?
3. When bald people go to Heaven, do they have hair? If they have hair, but really liked being bald, will they be able to perfectly shave? Will there be razors in Heaven? That would be a tough situation.
4. If Lex Luthor wasn’t bald would he be so mean to Superman?

My brother’s favorite word

My brother, Josh, has a favorite word. I’ve never seen that topic in a ‘get to know you’ exercise before. Not many people have a favorite word. Favorites are a part of life. In fact, one of the first questions a stranger might ask another stranger in an attempt to break the ice is, “What’s your favorite __________?” Most of us would fill in the blank with something like:
color
music style
movie
place to go on vacation
song
car model
seat cover (leather or cloth – vinyl’s pretty much out for everybody)
stroller brand
stroller style
actor or actress
cloud formation
paint finish
t.v. size
bed size
golf club to use 50 feet from the green
Bible verse
place to relax
t.v. series
baby name for a boy (or a girl if you have one of those)
Downhill ski resort
This list could probably go on for quite a long time before anyone would think to add ‘word’ to the list. Ironically, most of us would probably have a hard time answering that question if it ever was asked. That’s not true of my brother though. He does have a favorite word. In fact, his favorite word has been his favorite word for close to 10 years now. Favorite things are usually good ice breakers. They start conversations. But be warned, favorite thing conversations can lead to awkward silences. It’s a risky question to ask. What if you don’t like the other persons favorite. How are you supposed to respond? What if their favorite thing turns your stomach? Now you have a moral decision to make. Do you lie or fluff through the conversation? Do you respond honestly? Maybe the fact that you were willing to ask the question in the first place, and take the risk means that you are worth getting to know even if you don’t like their favorite word. Do you have a favorite word?