Can your spiritual life be defined by a lot of starts and stops? Do you find it hard to follow through past the new sermon series at church, new years resolution, or recommitment after a season of pressure? In the book, You See Bones, I See An Army, Floyd McLung defines Dabbling as having a casual or superficial interest in something, to paddle, play, or splash in the water. Never diving in with all our hearts, we get stuck in a state of paralysis and failure. Jesus calls us to a radical life of wholehearted obedience and focused faith, not a shallow, wading around in unbelief and doubt that God could actually be more real and fulfilling than the stuff that I actually follow. The solution: Dive in deep. “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” Luke 9:23.

And have we as church leaders encouraged the sin of dabbling by making discipleship easy and programmable instead of risky and faith-driven? Do we enjoy creating dependence upon our teaching and ideas instead of releasing people to experience the deep water for themselves? How can we lead people beyond superficial splashing in the wading pool to deep diving, abundant life in Christ? Do I as a leader DABBLE from commentary to commentary or is my preaching and teaching out of an overflow of what God is doing deep inside of me?

Attitudes that show we are relating to our church as consumers:

1. Consistently dwelling on the thought, “Is this church the right fit for me?”
2. Having an attitude that says, “If the leadership would just do ______________ better, then I would be happier.”
3. Comparing the offerings of your church to another church.
4. Seeing things that need to be improved in your church but taking no responsibility to do anything about them yourself.

A church operates more like a family than a store. If we miss this, then we will always have dissatisfaction towards those who are trying to love and help us.

Read the whole article here.

Each week us church goers, like sponges, sit and soak up great teaching and preaching from professional and highly trained clergy, high quality Bible Study materials and devotionals, praise and worship music that moves us to experience God, and many, like me, listen to more great teaching and preaching through podcasting and conferences. Here’s the question: What’s next for the SPONGE after it’s has soaked? It SOURS and becomes unusable. Almost nothings more disgusting than a sour sponge. No one wants to pick it up, it stinks up the entire kitchen, and most of the time at our house we just throw them out.

As a Christian, I’ve had seasons of my life that can be described as SOUR. The sour Christian is sour toward others – nothing meets their standard, no sermon is good enough, they and their class or group or church are the only ones doing it right. No one wants to be around the sour Christian and he/she doesn’t really care to be around them. Being right matters more than being generous and graceful. (For a Biblical illustration of a Sour Christian see the story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:11-32 and watch for the Elder Brother).

What’s the remedy for keeping sponges from getting sour in the sink and in the church? A GOOD SQUEEZE. A good wringing out. With the sponge, by hand. But how is the Christian squeezed? Two ways:

1) Through Suffering – When I’ve lost a loved one, or experienced discouragement, or dealt with sickness, or faced financial struggles, or walked with others who’ve experienced these and worse, I have been squeezed. I have had to put to use all that I know about God and His word. That’s why God’s word tells us that there is great benefit to suffering. See James 1:2-4, Romans 5:3-5.

2) Through Serving – Don’t wait to be squeezed through suffering. Give yourself away and be emptied out through serving others. As we give ourselves away as Christians, we are allowing God to squeeze us and use what He’s placed in us for His good and glory. As we serve others, we experience more of God and the joy of being used by Him and He continually fills us.

In an effort to be intentional about the necessity of Christians to be serving, our church has made a part of our flow an opportunity for everyone to serve. Every time there is a fifth Sunday in a month we have Faith In Action Sunday. Instead of having church, we scatter throughout our community to BE the church in some of our communities neediest areas. This Sunday, January 30th, will be our first Faith In Action Sunday of 2011. Contact me if you’d like more info or need an avenue for God to squeeze you through giving yourself away.

“Any Christian worth his salt ought to read the Bible from cover-to-cover every year” J.I. Packer

Here are few great links to Bible Reading Plans that you can start tomorrow.

YouVersion.com – This is one of my favorite sites for daily Bible Reading and study. Dozens of plans to choose from with options of having the daily reading sent to your mobile phone, email, or RSS feed. Also, the easiest place to share scripture across all social media sites.

ESV Bible Reading Plans – I’ve been reading the ESV for four years now. I like the translation and the accessibility. They’ve got 10 plans available here with options to read online, get it in your mail box, RSS feed, mobile phone, print the plan, or for us Mac users download it directly into ICal. I’ll be using the Everyday in the Word plan this year.

Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plans – They have three time tested plans available here that can be downloaded and printed. You can also purchase hard copies here to give away to others. I love the DJ Plan, b/c it’s a five day plan, giving you two days to catch up when life happens. While you’re close by, check out the Navigators great illustration How to Get a Grip on the Bible.

If you want to go to another level and add scripture memory to your goals for 2010, check out these two great tools:

• Topical Memory System App
• Verse Card Maker – You type in the references and this site makes the flash cards for you.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before _____ you shall become a plain.” Zechariah 4:6-7

Prayerlessness and lack of kingdom growth in my life is a consequence of an easy, safe, walk-by-sight, “God wants me to be happy”, “my church is there to meet my needs”, “I don’t have time for servanthood but I have time for TV” kind of life. What would I, could I, should I accomplish in 2011 if I really believe God is who he says he is and that His power is available to me? What mountain needs to be flattened this year? And how does God want to use little ole me to do it?

Good questions to ask. Putting together my list today.

Everything in life is either a tool or an idol. As we move toward a new year, I’m assessing several areas of my life that I see can easily become idols in our time and culture. One of course being Social Media. I found these seven questions by Steven Cornell helpful in assessing my time on social media. Read the entire post here.

1. Do you check your Facebook status in the morning before checking in with God?
2. Are you disappointed when people don’t respond to your posts?
3. Do you waste too much time on Facebook?
4. Do you use Facebook to avoid real life contact?
5. Do you have intimate conversations with the opposite sex under the guise of counseling?
6. Do you use Facebook to complain about life or people?
7. Are you always truthful and loving in the things you post?

Also, Seven Scriptures to apply:

1. “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer” (Psalm 19:14).
2. “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
3. “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God” (I corinthians 10:31).
4. “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves (Philippians 2:3).
5. “Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe” (Philippians 2:14-15).
6. “Too much talk leads to sin. Be sensible and keep your mouth shut” (Proverbs 10:19, NLT). “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry” (James 1:19)
7. “Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning” (Proverbs 9:8-9).