A couple weeks ago I posted the spoken word video Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus, which has now surpassed 16 million views.  Catholic priest Claude (Dusty) Burns aka Fr. Pontifex responded by creating a video of his own titled Why I Love Religion, And Love Jesus.  He makes some great points, so in the interest of equal opportunity, have a look.

I think it’s great the way both videos have stirred thought and conversation about Jesus and religion. What do you think?

If you’ve kept Jesus at arms length because you dislike religion, guess what, Jesus didn’t care much for religion either.  This video by Jeff Bethke is an amazing, compelling and creative explanations of the difference between Jesus and religion.  Have a look.

If you’re intrigued by this irreligious Jesus and how he can transform your life, you can read more about him here.

If you know people who have thrown out Jesus because of religion, I hope you’ll share this with them.

Spread some Christmas joy this season by sharing some of these Christmas quotes and lyrics from Christmas carols on Facebook, Twitter or wherever you like.  Thanks to everyone who sent me suggestions via Facebook and Twitter.

1. A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together. -Garrison Keillor (via @lindyireland)
2. Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall -Larry Wilde (via @p_toi)
3. He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. -Roy L. Smith (via @txwikinger)
4. It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in the air. -W.T. Ellis (via @txwikinger)
5. It is not the gift, but the thought that counts. -Henry Van Dyke (via @Avi8trgurl228)
6. Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we’re here for something else besides ourselves. ~Eric Sevareid (via @Avi8trgurl228)
7. Christ makes it Christmas. -Kimberly Reynolds @qwikrme_
8. He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. -Roy Smith (via @ptarkkonen
9. A pirate is for life, not just for Christmas. -unknown (via @CaptRobLee)
10. Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind. To cherish peace and good will, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas. -Calvin Coolidge (via @philip10khor)
11. Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone. -Charles Schulz (via @tygrebright)
12. Christmas is a time to remember with gratitude the joy and wonder of my childhood. More importantly it is a time to reflect on the pain and sadness suffered buy those children not so fortunate as myself who are barely existing in our overcrowded and violent world. -Richard Townsend (@rictownsend)
13. I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, toys not included. – Bernard Manning (via @Iceburner)
14. Jesus is the reason for the season. (via @64rdb64)
15. Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. -Norman Vincent Peale (via @sallykwitt)
16. Silent night, holy night, All is calm, all is bright, Round yon Virgin Mother and Child, Holy Infant so tender and mild, Sleep in heavenly peace, Sleep in heavenly peace. -Silent Night (via @TiaanJonker)
17. He rules the world with truth and grace, And makes the nations prove, The wonders of His righteousness, And wonders of his Love -Joy to The World (via @TVisio)
18. If we think of our heart, rather than our purse, as the reservoir of our giving, we shall find it full all the time! -David Dunn
19. Giving yourself is the greatest gift of all. -unknown
20. Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. -Luke 2:10 (via @neal_diamond)
21. Christmas is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas. -Dale Evans (via @jessicastubbs)
22. The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. -Burton Hillis
23. May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through! -Unknown
24. Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. -Washington Irving
25. Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. -Peg Bracken
26. Even as an adult I find it difficult to sleep on Christmas Eve. Yuletide excitement is a potent caffeine, no matter your age. -Carrie Latet
27. Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love! -Hamilton Wright Mabie
28. When we were children we were grateful to those who filled our stockings at Christmas time. Why are we not grateful to God for filling our stockings with legs? -G.K. Chesterton
29. Remember This December, That love weighs more than gold! -Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon
30. A Christmas candle is a lovely thing; It makes no noise at all, But softly gives itself away. -Eva Logue
31. Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts. -Janice Maeditere
32. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone. -Taylor Caldwell
33. Christmas is a time when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ. -Bart Simpson
34. The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin. -Jay Leno
35. I heard the bells on Christmas Day; their old familiar carols play, and wild and sweet the word repeat of peace on earth, good-will to men! -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
36. Let us keep Christmas beautiful Without a thought of greed, That it might live forevermore To fill our every need, -Ann Schultz
37. That it shall not be just a day, But last a lifetime through, The miracle of Christmastime That brings God close to you. -Ann Schultz
38. This year, may your Christmas truly be white instead of leaving you in the red. -unknown
39. Christmas is most truly Christmas when we celebrate it by giving love to those who need it most. -Ruth Carter Stapleton
40. “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas… perhaps… means a little bit more.” -Dr. Seuss
41. Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests. -Luke 2:14
42. Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient & always to be kind. -Helen Steiner Rice
43. Christ was born in the first century, yet he belongs to all centuries. He was born a Jew, yet He belongs to all races. He was born in Bethlehem, yet He belongs to all countries. -George W. Truett
44. If you hitch your wagon to a star, be sure it’s the Star of Bethlehem. -Spencer Walton
45. Let’s approach Christmas with an expectant hush, rather than a last-minute rush. -unknown
46. Wise men still seek Him. -unknown
47. Little Baby, I am a poor boy too, I have no gift to bring, That’s fit to give the King, Shall I play for you, On my drum? -Little Drummer Boy
48. All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee, Born this happy morning, O Jesus! for evermore be Thy name adored. Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing; O come, let us adore Him, Christ the Lord.
49. Do you wonder As you watch my face If a wiser one, should of had my place But I offer-all I am For the mercy-of your plan Help me be strong -Breath of Heaven
50. A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices, For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn. Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices! O night divine, the night when Christ was born; -O Holy Night

Which of these quotes or lyrics is most meaningful to you?

Got any others I missed?

Today we’re reviewing, discussing, and giving away a copy of Mary’s Son by Darryl Nyznyk. Keep reading to learn how you can win a free copy.

Mary’s Son is a modern-day Christmas tale first told by author Darryl Nyznyk in front of the fireplace during his daughter’s sleep-over birthday party. It’s the story of two angry young people bent on their own destruction, who are visited by a mysterious old man just before Christmas. He tries in vain to help them until, in desperation, he whisks them back in time to witness the first Christmas. They learn the real meaning of both Christmas and their own lives.

It’s a heart-warming, family friendly story along the lines of Miracle on 34th Street, It’s a Wonderful Life and Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. It’s no stretch to imagine it being made into a movie some day.

Get a Free Book

If you’d like a free copy of Mary’s Son, all you have to do is

1. Retweet this post or share it on Facebook, and
2. Post a comment answering the question: what’s your favorite Christmas story of all time? (If it’s the original story of Christmas found in chapter 2 of Luke in the bible, let us know your second favorite story as well,) Be sure to include in your comment the Facebook or Twitter profile where you shared the link, too.

One person who has shared and commented will be selected around 5 PM Eastern time Wed. 12/7 to receive a free copy.

Of course, you can also buy a copy of Mary’s Son on Amazon. And for a limited time the Kindle edition is only $0.99!

Watch this excellent video by Skye Jethani as he explains 4 common misconceptions about God and how they compare with the relationship God really wants with us.

How do you primarily view your relationship with God? Do you live your life under God? Over God? From God? For God? Or with God? If you’re not sure, think about the last few times you prayed. What did you talk about with Him?

This video is based on the concepts of Skye’s latest book, titled With. If this topic interests you, Josh Tandy, aka Rookie Pastor, is giving away 5 copies on his blog.

If you are a parent and your faith is important to you, then passing along your faith to your children is one of your highest priorities, perhaps THE highest priority. If that’s the case, then you’re probably familiar with the crazy-high percentage of teens who abandon their faith after high school, some research say more than 90%.

I recently read Brandon O’Brien’s review of the book Sticky Faith by Dr Kara Powell and Dr. Chap Clark. As the subtitle states, the book is about “Everyday ideas to build lasting faith in your kids.” I haven’t read the book yet, but in his review, Brandon writes his own observations as an Intro to World Religions instructor:

The students whose parents prioritized religious services but didn’t practice religion at home were likely to consider themselves “unreligious” today. Students whose parents emphasized both religious services and devotion at home–even if those practices became less important as the kids got older and schedules busier–were more likely to identify as not practicing but hoping to be more devoted in the future. Students seemed very turned off to religion if their parents are defensive or intimidated about their spiritual questions.

Looking at the students who turn away from their parents faith, I see 3 groups:

1. Students whose parents prioritized religious services but didn’t live out their faith
2. Students whose parents were defensive or intimidated by spiritual questions
3. And my own observation, students whose parents were so adamant about following their religious beliefs perfectly that they seemed to never fail or struggle with anything. (Often when these students get out on their own and are ill-equipped to deal with temptation, struggles and failure)

All 3 of these groups of students have one thing in common: parents that lack an authentic faith. Their parents may have acted religious once a week or perhaps even to near perfection in front of their children, but they were not genuine with their kids about what they really believed, what they really thought, or how they really lived.

On the other hand, those students whose parents lived an authentic faith tend to adopt their parents faith, or at least view it positively enough to want to return to it. Personally, I was blessed to have 2 parents who lived their faith, were open to discussing spiritual questions, and did not put on a false front of perfection. And after putting it to the test each in our own ways, I and my two brothers all followed after my parents faith in Christ.

How about you? What was your spiritual upbringing? Can you identify with any of the groups of students above? How did that affect your faith?

Tomorrow, I’m going to follow this post with 5 Keys to Living an Authentic Faith with Your Children

Tomorrow (Thursday, July 7) I’ll be getting on a plane with 5 other people and heading to Africa to serve the staff and kids at the Springs of Hope Kenya orphanage and the people in the local community of Nakuru. I couldn’t be more excited!  (More about our trip, follow along on our trip blog)

I’m particularly excited for the 5 people who I’ll be serving with because while they are going to serve, each will be realizing a big dream.

Since I first announced I was leading a team to Kenya, dozens of people told me they wanted to go, more than 2 dozen signed up indicating they were interested in going, a little more than a dozen participated in one of the initial information meetings, but only 5 are going with me.

What’s the difference between the dozens who wanted to go and the 5 who are?

The dozens had a wish. The 5 own a dream.

That’s not necessarily a knock on the people who said they wanted to go but aren’t. We all have wishes, myself included. I wish I could speak Spanish. I wish I could attend the 2012 Olympics. I wish I had hair.

The different between having a wish and owning a dream is the commitment to making it happen.

I would like to speak Spanish, go to the Olympics, and have more hair, but I’m not willing to do enough to make those things happen. There are other things that are more important to me. Many of the people who wanted to go to Kenya had other commitments and priorities that made this not the right time for them. That’s cool.

What’s not cool, though, is that there are millions of people who have a big, God-given dream but treat it like a wish. They have that big pull inside them to do something remarkable but fear or comfort have a bigger pull on them. They won’t commit to making it happen.

They think… I don’t have the money… I could never get the time off of work… My family will think I’m crazy… I already have plans… What if… Maybe later…

I’m so proud of the 5 people going with me to Kenya because each of them continued to pursue this dream despite enormous obstacles – financial obstacles, family members in poor heath, challenges with work, and more. They stuck with it and with God’s help every obstacle has been overcome. The dream is about to become reality.

• Can you recall a time when you realized a dream because of commitment to making it happen?
• Have you got any dreams you’re treating like wishes and need to fully commit to?

Do you like to wait?  Me neither. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who does.

In the book The Great Cow-mission, Kevin Weatherby writes:

We all have sat frustrated and wondering what was going on. Our lives just aren’t quite going the way that they should be. We had plans. We had dreams. We even had Google draw us a map. So what went wrong?

Delays often get us frustrated, irritated and down right mad. That frustration can lead poor, rash decisions. It can also cause us to see other people as obstacles. When that happens we get impatient with them, snap at them, and treat them in other, not so nice ways.

Nothing good comes from that.

Kevin goes on to point out four truths that can change our whole perspective and attitude concerning delays. (The 4 points in bold are quotes from the book, the non-bold parts after them are my explanation except for #4 which is all Kevin.)

1) Delays can be opportunities. God sometimes makes us wait because he’s got something else he wants us to do before moving on. Look for those opportunities.

2) Delays can be forced rest from God. Our lives are so busy, sometimes God causes delays just to slow us down and give us some rest.

3) Delays are inevitable. We get frustrated when there’s a gap between our expectations and reality. If we expect delays, we’re less likely to get frustrated when they happen.

4) Delays can be life changing. Are you for sure that you are ridin’ down the road that God wants? Sometimes we get so focus on doing this one thing that we miss all the signs from God that he wants us to do something else. One thing I know is that if you are comfortable, God probably has a different plan for you.

Discussion:

1. Can you think of a time when a delay turned out to be a good thing in one of those four ways?
2. How are you doing in dealing with delays these days?

I’m giving away an signed, hardcover copy of The Great Cow-mission at 5 PM Eastern time today (June 16, 2011). Check out my review and see how you can win it.

Today we’re reviewing, discussing, and giving away The Great Cow-mission by Kevin Weatherby. Keep reading to learn how you can win a free, autographed, hardcover copy of the book.

The Great Cow-mission, written by Kevin Weatherby of Campfire Cowboy Ministries, is a collection of short stories from Kevin’s life as a cowboy. Each cowboy story conveys a spiritual truth which is then explained, usually with a supporting passage from the bible.

Kevin is an excellent storyteller. Many times while reading The Great Cow-mission I found myself laughing out loud, literally. Other times I found myself wishing I could experience the cowboy life – the camaraderie and sense of accomplishment that seem to come with it – until I got to the parts about it being chased by bulls or being kicked in various parts of the anatomy while branding calves. At that those points I was once again content just to read about it.

What makes The Great Cow-mission a unique book, though, is that Kevin is rare person who can speak three languages – English, Cowboy, and Christianese – and translate from any one to the other two. In doing so he’s able to connect with both cowboys and Wal-Martians (Kevin’s term for people who live within 10 minutes of a Wal-mart) like me and convey the truths of God in simple ways that make sense.

If you like cowboy stories, you’ll like this book. If you’re a pastor looking for good stories to use in your sermons to convey spiritual truths, this could be a good resource. Or… (begin cowboy speak) if you know some cowboys or cowgirls who ain’t yet walkin’ with the Lord, you might consider givin’ ‘em a copy as a gift or stuffin’ a copy in their saddle bag when they ain’t lookin’. (That’ll do it for this Wal-Martian’s attempt to speak cowboy.)

Discussion

1. Who is your favorite storyteller?  Why?
2. What’s your favorite fable, parable or story from your own life that taught you an important spiritual truth?
3. What do you think it is about stories that make them so good at conveying truth?

Get a Free Book

I’ve got a signed, hardcover edition of The Great Cow-mission to give away. To win one…

1. Retweet this post or share it on Facebook, and
2. Post a comment that addresses one of the discussion questions  (include your Facebook or Twitter usename in your comment so I can connect your comment to your share/tweet).

I’ll draw a winner at 5 PM Eastern time Thursday (June 16). Heck, if you comment and share/tweet this post both Wed & Thu I’ll give you two entries in the drawing so you can double your odds.

Of course, you can also buy a copy of The Great Cow-mission now on Amazon now.

About a month ago, I wrote I Need Your Help to Reach My Dream of Leading a Team to Kenya. Since then a lot has happened, but I haven’t done a very good job of telling those stories here. So, let me get you up to speed…

This summer I’m leading a team to Nakuru, Kenya where we are going to spend a week and a half serving at the Springs of Hope Kenya orphanage and a number of other places in the surrounding community. We’re going to share God’s love and hope with people, and we also want to bring shoes and books and money to help others as well.

The total cost of the trip will be about $3,000 per person.

Hot Chili

May 14th our team hosted a Chili Cook-off and Auction. The event went remarkably well. Well over 100 people participate, the chili was awesome, the live auction was entertaining, the whole evening was a lot of fun and I really appreciated the opportunity to interact with so many people who are supporting our trip. At the end of the night we raised about $5,000 from the event. (Read more and see pics from the Chili Cook-Off and Auction)

From the Chili Cook-off and Auction and other donations supporting the team, we raised about $1,000 per person. We had airline reservations that put our tickets at $2,000 each, with payment due May 23. So each person needed raise $1,000 of personal support.

No-Go for Ainsley

Thanks to the generous support of family and friends like you, Jennifer and I were able to raise enough money for 2 plane tickets. We were looking forward to having our 9 year old daughter, Ainsley, serve along side us in Kenya, but had to make the difficult decision that this would not be the year for that.

Holding: the Most Important Part of the Reservation

Two weeks ago (just days before we were to purchase our tickets), our airline reservations fell apart. Taxes and fees on the tickets went up dramatically and then we were presented with additional fees that would have made the price of the tickets almost $600 more than we were originally told. I felt like I was in strange Seinfeld Twilight Zone (“You know how to take the reservation, you just don’t know how to *hold* the reservation and that’s really the most important part of the reservation, the holding. Anybody can just take them.”)

But through God’s provision we were able to purchase airline tickets for the entire team last week for only slightly more than our original reservation. And the flights are much better – through Tampa instead of Orlando, and giving us an extra day in Kenya! Yeah! (Read the whole story airline ticket story)

36 Days to Go…

So, here we are 5 weeks and 1 day away from departure. Each member of our team needs to earn, save, and raise the last $1,000 needed for food, lodging, local transportation, immunizations, and miscellaneous expenses.

We’re beginning to gather shoes, clothes, and other items to bring to the orphanage. We’re also beginning to prepare our hearts and minds for what we’re going to experience in Kenya and how we hope God uses us to bless the people of Nakuru. I’ll write more about those aspects of the trip over the coming weeks.

3 Ways to Help

Not everyone can go on a trip to help others like this, but everyone can make a difference. There are 3 simple, yet important ways you can help: pray, give, and share (this post on Twitter and/or Facebook).

Thanks for your support!