Welcome To 2017!

Happy New Year!

I don’t know about you, but I’m looking forward to 2017 with excitement and eagerness. I can’t wait to see what it holds and all the Lord does.

Over the next several weeks, I’ll be sharing what has me excited about the new year, books I can’t wait to read, a little about goals, and even some advice for new and aspiring photographers. In the meantime, I’ve compiled a few posts that I hope will help you take some big steps forward this year.  

Tim Challies 2017 Christian Reading Challenge - This first caught my attention last year, and I enjoyed following along as Tim published updates throughout 2016. “Whether you are a light reader or completely obsessed, this 2017 Christian Reading Challenge is designed to help you read more and to broaden the scope of your reading.” Regardless of which camp you fall into, this challenge is a pretty awesome idea.

Do More Better Course - I took a course similar to this last year as Tim was publishing his book. This year Tim has made it even better by teaming up with the good folks at Ligonier. If you're looking to grow and improve at getting stuff done and living a life doing more good for the glory of God, this course and Tim's book by the same name, are game changers. 

Want To Be A Godly Man / Women? Here’s A Little Help - I wrote this post in answer to the question, how do I become a godly man? What I share here, is just as applicable for my female readers as it is the men and I pray that it helps you take giant leaps forward in your walk with the Lord this year.

10 Principles For Personal Productivity - We all desire to accomplish more this year, than ever before. In this short clip, John Piper shares ten principles that help him focus on the right things and get them done. “You don’t labor,” Piper says, “to get into a right relationship with God. You labor with all your might because you are in Christ.” May we keep this at the forefront of our minds this new year and as we strive to get things done.

I turned thirty this past year and took some time to reflect upon all the experiences, books and people who have shaped my journey. If you’re reaching a milestone this year or simply interested in what I learned by taking a look into my past, the links are below.

Turning 30: Three Men Who’ve Had A Profound Influence - People rub off on us every day. Some say we are the average of those we spend the most time with. I’m not sure exactly how the math works, but those we hang around impart something of themselves to us. In this post, I share how three men have impacted my life and what qualities they’ve had in common.

Turning 30: The Most Impactful Books I’ve Read - I’ve read hundreds of books over the years, yet the list of books that have truly moved the needle for me, is short. For a book to have this deep impact, so many things have to line up just right. In this post, I share which ones have had the most lasting impact on my life and some thoughts about why. These aren’t my favorite books, but simply those that have changed the path and direction of my thinking.

Turning 30: Impactful Experiences - Things happen. That’s just part of life, but often those things change you. No matter how dark or painful they may be, they make you into the person you become. In this post, I open up and share three of the most important experiences of my life.

Turning 30: Mentors From A Distance - Not every person who plays an important role in your life is someone you know personally. Their impact however, is no less meaningful than that of the people around you. In this post, I share how four men I’ve never met, shape me daily.

I’m praying that you have a remarkable 2017!

Happy New Year!

 

Turning 30: The Most Impactful Books I've Read

Simple letters on a page. Shades of black against a crisp white background. All lined up neatly in rows and flowing smoothly from left to right. Forming words, sentences and paragraphs that take you anywhere you have a mind to go. Whether its love, adventure or bold ideas, those simple little letters contain far more power than a quick glance reveals. Such is the power of books. 

Stretched out on the couch, propped up in bed or sitting in a leather chair reading is one of my favorite pastimes. Reading has been a passion since I was a little tike. When I was in elementary school, the book fair was my favorite time of year. Row upon row of books to read. Some about a teacher who was really a vampire, and others detailing the adventures of some crime solving youth. Whatever the book, I most likely wanted to read it. 

Fast forward a few years and getting lost in a well told story or wringing all I can from a helpful resource, books remain one of the primary ways I relax, unwind and learn. They are life giving, challenge the way I think and cause me to pause and take stock of my life. 

Over the years I've consumed hundred of books, yet there have been but a few that have marked me in a real and positive sense. Today, I want to share them with you. These are not my favorite books but simply those that have had a true and lasting impact on the way I think and who I am. 

Desiring God is the most impactful book I have ever read. It changed the course and pattern of my walk with Christ in a powerful way. It helped me see that God in Christ is after my joy. He isn't some cosmic killjoy but rather a loving father who is intensely concerned with my joy.

Too often the picture we form of God casts Him as disconnected, cold, unconcerned or the enemy of fun. In short, we far too often have a view of God and who He is that is starkly and surprisingly unbiblical. This remarkable book found its way into my hands at just the right time, took me on a journey through God's word and brought me to the glorious discovery that delighting in Him is the great and wonderful duty He has give us.   

Law & Grace
By Alva J. McClain

The relationship between the law and grace. How do they interact? Are the two mutually exclusive? Are Christians still under the law? Are there additional works that must be performed of me now that I've placed my trust in Christ? All these questions and a dozen others find their answer in this small but powerful book.

Reconciling the grace of God in Christ with the call to personal holiness can be hard. We so much desire a set of rules and regulations to live by. We clamor for a list that says, "Do this and don't do that, and you will go to Heaven." Our sinful hearts are obsessed with doing. Law And Grace helped me understand more fully the power of the gospel and the truth that it really is finished. There is no need for us to add our works to the finished work of Christ. He really did pay it all. Our attempts to do so only serve to cheapen the gospel and reveal just how desperately we need to be reminded of it each and every day. 

Knowing God
By J. I. Packer

Every now and then you catch a glimpse of someone who has lived life so incredibly well. You stop and pause to breath it in. You study it and look at the way they carry themselves, the weight of their words, and their impact on others and long for the same qualities to found within yourself.

J.I. Packer leads such a life. It draws its power and flows from the deepest of wells, a deep abiding relationship with Christ. It is the most important and defining characteristic of his life. I hope and pray the same will be said of me when my days are complete. Knowing God, there is nothing so sweet, so wonderful. This modern classic helps us move beyond simply knowing about God but endeavors to guide us to meeting Him, loving Him and embracing Him for all He is for us in Christ. 

Each of these books has had a profound impact on my life, but why? Why these relatively few books compared to the vast others I've consumed?  

1. They found me at the right time. Timing matters when it comes to reading. A book you completely hate at one time might be one you absolutely love at another. When a book hits your desk is just as important as anything else. Reading the right book at the wrong time, won't help you any more than the wrong book at the right time. 

2. They addressed a question or issue I was already wrestling with at the time. There are plenty of books that I have loved reading. In fact, there is a small list of books that I've actually put down and stopped reading because I just couldn't take it anymore. However, just because I enjoy a book, doesn't mean it is one that's impacting me deeply. Some of my favorite books have been those I've read for no other purpose than pure enjoyment. 

3. It had a unique contribution to make. It wasn't a rehash of dozens of other books on the subject, each made their own contribution to the topic. It can be frustrating to pick up a book, begin to read it and then realize that the author has nothing new or unique to add to the discussion. While this doesn't happen all the time, it happens far more often than it should.  

Turning 30: Three Men Who've Had A Profound Influence

The guy walked through the door. Suddenly the sounds of honking horns, engines revving, and brakes squeaking was replaced by the gentle hum of voices in mid-conversation, plates and glasses clinking and the soft tones of music playing in the background. It was a coffee shop off a crowded city street, just like dozens of others he'd been in over the years. The room was dark and on the walls hung pictures and paintings of various kinds. Some were extremely good, but others not so much. The baristas were working feverishly behind the counter, calling out "tall hazelnut mocha" as the sweet aroma of freshly ground coffee beans wafted through the air. For a moment, maybe two, he stood still just inside the door taking it all in. It wasn't a large place so as his eyes adjusted from the glaring brightness of the afternoon sun to the gloom of the coffee shop, he saw his mark.

At a table nearer the back than the front, sits a thin man checking email on his phone. He was a tall man, though you couldn't tell with him seated. His eyes were blue, and his hair once a chestnut brown had begun to fade in to the chalky grey of middle age. As the first man drew near, he put down his phone and stood to greet him with a warm shimmering smile and a hearty handshake. "How's it going? I was just about to order myself some coffee, would you like something?"  "No, I'm ok today, but thanks for the offer."

Not two moments later, the two men were lost in conversation, with the younger gentlemen scribbling copious notes in a moleskin notebook. They bounced from topic to topic with the frequency and velocity of a pinball. What had begun with casual discussions of what was going on in their world, had taken a more serious turn. 

You meet thousands of people throughout the course of your life, however relatively few of them impact you deeply. The ones who do open your eyes, challenge your assumptions, make you think, and shape who you become.

Over the last 30 years there have been several people who have had this type of impact on me but today I'd like to focus on the three who's impact has and continues to be deepest and most transformational.

Jon Flaming - Inspired by the great masters of the brush and lens, Jon lends his immense talents to telling the stories of life, culture and adventure all across this great land we call Texas. The soothing yellows, blues and burnt oranges of the southwest are his pallete, as if you're watching one of his favorite classic westerns starring John Wayne. Not unlike the star of such classic films as The Searchers, this Jon stands tall, walks a straight line and isn't afraid to hang in there for a tough conversation. He humbly serves, encourages and befriends just about everyone he meets. Jon Waid Flaming, is a man quite unlike any other I've had the pleasure of knowing. While not possessing a loud, bombastic personality he garners respect no matter the room he enters.

Matt Hummel - 140 characters. Sometimes that's all it takes. In a world so fast paced and obsessed with reducing everything to the bare minimum 140 characters might be all it takes to change a life. One tweet, that's all it took to connect a young man searching for guidance with a guide to show him the way. After email exchanges and text messages they finally gathered around the kitchen table with Bibles open and pen in hand to read, discuss, learn and grow. In truth it takes a lot more than 140 characters. It takes a willingness to be open, to ask good questions and to guide more than instruct. It takes a man who loves Jesus so deeply that he can't not pour into other men. 

Bobby Crotty - It was a long bus ride headed somewhere new and adventuresome. The seats where cloth and slightly comfortable. Most students sat reading books, flipping through magazines or sleeping. One group of students however, was making the best use of their time. I'm sure they didn't know it at the time, but that long bus ride would have a shaping influence on their lives. Bobby Crotty was among the young students who say enthralled with the wisdom, insights and encouragement of Sally Stout those long hours and it marked him. Fast forward several years and a successful law career, Bobby sits around the table with young men much like himself not too long ago. He opens God's word, asks probing & insightful questions and points them to truth. Now serving as the Men's Equipping Director at a local church, Bobby invests his time in helping men be more like Christ.

While each of these three men is unique and vastly different from the other two, they each share a collection of qualities that I believe have led to their impact not just on my life but countless of others.

Tethered to God's word. The Bible is their guide. These men do not run on feelings, that is to say that the course of their lives is not driven by emotions but by the timeless, unchanging word of God. It is their guide and they have invested some serious time in its study. They are serious about scripture memorization. If there is one thing I've learned over the years, it's that memorizing God's word doesn't happen by accident. It takes diligence and intentionality. These men each display a care and concern for their souls and know that leading others begins with leading themselves, of which time in God's word is tantamount. 

Challenge you to think.  The Lord gave us a brain and these men challenge others to use theirs. Rather than passively riding through life, we each should make use of the brain the good Lord gave us to consider life and all it entails. There are few better ways to engage the mind than by the use of a good, timely question. Questions are the currency of the wise, and these men are wealthy beyond measure. They routinely ask good, tough questions that get the "little grey cells" going.  

Their practice matches their preaching. There is a consistency to their life. They don't say one thing and do another. They live by the very words they encourage others with. This type of consistency only serves to strengthen the power of their words. Character matters and these men have it in spades.

While direct and unafraid to ask the pointed or difficult question, each of these men is humble, tender and kind. These men are not in your face, aggressive, instead these men have cultivated attitudes of genuine humility. They speak with a gentle tone that instantly communicates their care and concern for you. They exude a calm, confidence rooted in their identity in Christ that interjects a humbleness into their life. I may be over using the word humble and its derivatives here, but I can think of no better way to sum up the flavor of their lives.

Nothing impacts your life like the people surrounding you.  It's been said that we are the average of the people we spend the most time with. If that is true, and there is serious evidence to it being so, I leave you with this encouragement, get people like this in your life. If you want any shot of being the man or women you long to be, you'll need men and women in your life who exude these same qualities and spur you on.