Growing up, my church always had the Fall Family Festival on Halloween night. And it was awesome! They made this their biggest outreach event of the year, complete with a full carnival of rides, games, and concessions. Looking back on it, I have no idea how much money was spent because it was HUGE!

This has now become pretty common. Many other churches hold Trunk or Treats. And then some just flat out tell you not to participate at all. What do I think OneLifers should do?

I think we should take a cue from two Bible passages. First, Luke 5:27-32 talks about when Matthew – a tax collector, aka scumbag – started a relationship with Jesus. As soon as he did, he invited all of his other pagan, scumbag friends to a big ole PARTY! What was the purpose? To simply introduce people to Jesus. And of course, it really ticked off the religious leaders who couldn’t BELIEVE Jesus would hang around such secular people and secular practices.

Then there are Jesus’ parting words in what we call the Great Commission. The best way to translate those words are “As you are going…make disciples.” We live in a culture that LOVES Halloween. It is second only to Christmas in terms of retail potential! So as we are going through our lives next week, everyone around us is gearing up for this big night. Why don’t we use it – like Matthew did – to reach people for Jesus? Sure, some religious people might give you a hard time for being secular or participating with the pagans. But that didn’t seem to bother Jesus any!

So my encouragement to you is this: dress your kids up, carve a pumpkin, and eat lots of candy. But don’t stop there! Turn the porch light on. Invite people into your home. As you go door-to-door, start relationships with your neighbors. Pray that the Holy Spirit will give you opportunities to share your faith and the story of Jesus, or at least plant the seeds of a relationship that will lead to that.

Let’s use this big day to our advantage, and watch Jesus use it to redeem many who need to discover Him and how their one life can make a difference!

Another icon has fallen. Whether it be in sports, politics, or even the Church, it seems that a major player who is respected by thousands will fall periodically each year. This one is especially surprising, to me at least.

After coaching for 61 years at Penn State – 46 of those as head coach – Joe Paterno was fired late last night for his role in a child sex abuse case involving a former staff member of his coaching staff. When he found out about what happened nearly 10 years ago, he reported it to his athletics director but then, allegedly, turned a blind eye to it from that point on. At 84 years old, his illustrious career has been brought down to its knees.

What can we learn from this?

1. “A good name is more desirable than great riches.” Proverbs 22:1 makes it pretty simple, though it won’t always be easy – be more concerned about your legacy than your bank account. Doing the right thing and having a “good name” takes a lifetime to establish and may cost a lot in the process. But it is worth far more than any amount of money or fame, and losing a good name will cost you far more than losing the money or fame you selfishly desire.

2. Sin is serious. 1 Corinthians 5 tells us exactly what most of us do when we know sin is going on, be it in our own lives or in others. “And you have become arrogant, and have not mourned instead.” Too often we forget that sin must be dealt with – immediately – even when we know it will be hard. But the Bible gives us a promise that either we can deal with the sin immediately or let God deal with it eventually. “…then you will have sinned against the Lord, and you may be sure that your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23

3. Justice is a priority. One of the biggest lies in our culture – especially Christian culture – is that we should not judge ANYONE at ANYTIME. That is a twisted view of God’s word! We should not judge others out of pride as if we are better than them. That is the point of the verse so often taken out of context. But when obvious sin is occurring or has occurred, we have an obligation from God to not stand by and do nothing about it! Isaiah 1:17 says “Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression…” Especially when this sin is within the church, we should do all that we can to correct it and restore our brother or sister back to fellowship with God. But even when it is not, we have a duty to make justice our priority.

4. I could be next. It is so easy in situations like these to say “I would never do that!” And in that moment I am committing the most dangerous sin of all – pride. I am one choice away from ruining any chance of having a good name, destroying my family, or even my church. Similar to the old idiom “But by the Grace of God there go I,” 1 Corinthians 15:10 says “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect.” In other words, it is only by God’s grace I am where I am, and not in someone else’s shoes. It is not because I am a better person, but because of Jesus. The moment I take my eyes of that, I am in danger of being the next to fall.

Is there sin in your life or that you are aware of that should be dealt with immediately? Are you taking shortcuts that could one day ruin your legacy? Or are you living a life of pride thinking you would never be able to mess up? Take a moment now to confess that to God and repent from whatever it may be.

It is easy to read thoughts like in my post yesterday about life not being about “me” but more about God’s glory and honor, and immediately let the pendulum swing too far to God being a self-centered, self-absorbed narcissist in the sky. In fact often times skeptics will attempt to paint God as just that.

And sometimes in my own weakness, I default to that idea, too. But that is simply wrong – and sinful.

God’s desire for you and me is that we find “joy unspeakable” (1 Peter 1:8) and a life greater than we can imagine (John 10:10). But God wants that for us so that we can return praise and honor to him, not just so we can be “happy”. It is a beautiful cycle. As I give praise, glory, and honor to God – in the good times and in the bad – he begins to shower me with joy and abundance in life. Not always in material ways, but always in ways that are far beyond my wildest imagination (Ephesians 3:20). I believe that is why Psalm 8:5 brings it full circle, in saying that God created us (before sin, of course) to be just a little lower than him and the angels and “crowned them with glory and honor.”

Isn’t that amazing? The very thing that God wants us to do for him as we live our lives sacrificially and outward focussed is the very thing he has already done for us! That is, those of us who have died to sin thanks to the power of what Jesus did on the cross.

If you are a Christ follower, claim this promise today. No matter the joy or the pain that your life gives you today, your Father God has crowned you with glory and honor. Give it back to Him, and watch His beautiful cycle continue in your life!

The first line of the best seller Purpose Driven Life is “It’s not about you.” That phrase hit me this morning reading through Psalm 79:9.

Help us, O God of our salvation! Help us for the glory of your name. Save us and forgive our sins for the honor of your name.

This entire chapter is a cry for help and for salvation. But what stood out to me is why the writer of this psalm wants help and salvation. Did you pick up on it? “…for the glory of your name…” “…for the honor of your name…”

It is so easy in times of need to cry out to God for selfish reasons. It is easy to want salvation so that I am protected from punishment. It is natural to want God to help my church or bring salvation in our church for the sake of individuals. But what if those motives aren’t what’s best?

This verse reminds us that ultimately, everything we do is for the honor and glory of God! When he helps us, it brings HIM glory. When he saves, it brings honor to HIS name. When we begin to grasp this concept, life takes on a whole new meaning. My marriage is no longer about my personal happiness, it’s about bringing honor to God. Involvement at church isn’t about my own spiritual fulfillment or even those outside the church, it’s about glorifying the God who saved me and wants to save many more. Crying out to God doesn’t happen only when I’m in a bind, it happens at all times.

But for any of that to happen, I have to realize it’s not about me. And it’s not about you. But are you ok with that? If you’re like me, this probably stirs up some tension and questions. More on that tomorrow…

I heard a great analogy today that has kind of messed me up a little bit! Check it out…

When a Chess Master has a student who needs to learn the game of Chess, the best way for the student to learn the game is to remove the Queen. The Queen is the most effective and dangerous piece on the board. It can move any direction as far as it wants. Inexperienced Chess players overuse the Queen and by relying on it too much, they lose. So Chess Masters teach their students how to play the game without the Queen, so that when the Queen is added back in they are prepared to use it as a dangerous tool rather than the only piece they can think of moving. Then they will be an unstoppable Chess player.

In the Church, we have a Queen – Sunday mornings. In many cases we have made Sunday mornings our only tool that we know how to use. It is on Sunday mornings that all repentance, discipleship, evangelism, worship, fellowship, service, stewardship, and anything else should be done. Sure, we may throw in a small group here or a missions project there. But let’s be honest – it’s all about Sunday.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a HUGE fan of Sundays. We invest a lot of time and resources into making Sundays the easiest and best opportunity for someone far from God to find Him, or for those who know Him to worship and grow closer to Him. But here’s the what if: what if we learned how to do all of that without our Queen? What if we pretended we didn’t have Sunday mornings and had to reach our world for Jesus?

If we learned how to do that, and THEN added in our Queen of Sunday mornings, we would truly be unstoppable. So OneLifers, I have a challenge for you. Do you wait for Sundays to be your only opportunity to serve, worship, give, evangelize, disciple, or fellowship? Or are you using all the other pieces on the board – Monday through Saturday – to do that, too? The answer is obvious!

I hope you’ll join me in removing the Queen from your mindset for just a moment to evaluate. Then add it back in, and let’s take this city for Jesus using all the tools that we can!