Okay, I’ve got one question for you. 

I made it pretty easy, so anyone who hasn’t commented this week can do so and get qualified for the giveaway (which I’ll be announcing the winners of tomorrow.)  Or you can comment again and get another entry!

Who’s your favorite Jesus?

Like, what’s been your favorite portrayal of Jesus?  I know, most of our film portrayals of Jesus have been pretty blatantly inaccurate.  But the spirit of Jesus is probably still somewhere inside that blue-eyed actor, and it can be pretty moving.

I thought Jim Caviezel did a great job as Jesus in The Passion of the Christ.  And not just because he can wince pretty convincingly.  I thought Jesus in The Gospel of John was pretty okay, if not a little weird.  But he looked downright normal next to John the Baptist who was not only rocking the camel skin, but some pretty heavy mascara.  Maybe your favorite Jesus was a cartoon, or a live play.

As for me, I know this is several years old – old enough to start to be considered a classic.  But I think it’s still my favorite.  It’s just how I thought of Jesus for so many years!

Who’s your favorite Jesus?

Okay, I had meant to do a blog giveaway last week to mark the occasion of crossing over to a new blog platform. 

And after a couple of false starts, I really have crossed over for good.  The guys over at Standard Theme, who I’m running my blog with now were super patient and helpful to me.  Thanks guys. 

So, the blog giveaway is back on.  If you commented on my blog last week when the giveaway was announced, you’re still in the running.  If you comment on today’s or Friday’s posts, retweet them, or share them on Facebook, I’ll enter your name into the contest.  Today’s post is just below this one.

What can you win?  I’ll hook you up with books from Matthew Paul Turner, John Acuff, and Francis Chan, along with music from Carlos Whittaker, and Amazon gift cards.  All for just being loyal readers!  How cool is that?

It couldn’t be any easier.  I’ll announce winners on Saturday.

Do you have a plan for your life yet?

People love plans.  When I was in eighth grade, the high school counselors came and had us pick all our high school classes, along with a college major, 401K retirement plan, and marital partner.

Not really, but seriously, it was a five year plan for fourteen-year-olds…the age when kids have an attention span of five minutes.  I think some people changed their sexual identities more easily (and frequently) than their college majors.

It’s no wonder we think God is a fan of the plan.  How many times this week have you tried to find “God’s plan for your life?”  If you by chance haven’t been looking for it, I guarantee someone has been praying that you’d find it, or telling you to look for it. 

This is like the other side of what I talked about on Monday.  There’s those “Spirit led” churches that may not know what it means to be Spirit led Monday through Saturday.  Then there’s those Spirit led Christians who are always looking for God’s plan for their lives.

But I’ve got to say this: I don’t think God’s as big a fan of planning as we are. 

Three Reasons to Stop Looking for God’s Plan for Your Life

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I love meeting other pastors.

It’s always great to see how God is working in other churches, to see how God is expressing Himself.

It’s especially exciting to me to meet other house church leaders, being that I am one.

But once we start talking about our churches, it’s inevitable.  Pastors get into competitive or defensive mode.  In front of another pastor, you have to make your church sound as awesome as possible.  I noticed this a long time ago and wrote about it in one of my most awesomely suggestive posts ever.  It’s always like pastors are checking each other out like guys in a locker room.  Bigger church = bigger man.

But lately, I’ve noticed something new. 

Sometimes, a guy I’ve just met will be talking about his church.  I’ll be asking questions about what the worship or the people are like.  He may start to fidget, thinking he has to impress me.  Then he’ll throw this down:

“We’re a very Spirit led church.”

Checkmate.

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Okay, I’ve had a little trouble getting all the kinks ironed out in crossing the blog over this week. 

Not design kinks, technical kinks.  The kind of kinks that leave the vast majority of my readers behind and erase a year of blog building.  The kind of kinks that have made me cry at night like a tiny diaper baby.  In a funny way, it seems this week has taught me just how much I sometimes idolize my blogging.  Just not funny in a “ha ha” way.

I love blogging.  But I hate the technical stuff.  The problems were significant enought that I’m posting from the old blog today.  The last few days were just a tease.  I’ll be back there soon…I hope.  Just not yet. 

I’ve been getting plenty of help from some great people.  But I just don’t think web design and programming is nearly user friendly enough.  A guy like me who doesn’t know what he’s doing should not be able to burn down his website with a few keystrokes.

This whole experience got me thinking about all the things that are unnecessarily complex and irritating to me.

Three Things that Should Be More Obvious
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Your grandkids will laugh at you.

That’s because grandparents are funny.  Your grandfather tries to hide his bald spot, which now covers his entire head.  Or your grandmother keeps the sun out of her eyes by wearing ginormous wrap-around sunglasses.  Besides that, they’re often times stuck in their old-fashioned ways, and there’s nothing you can do about it, even if their wasy are absurd.

Going to church with my grandparents was always a little different from the usual church experience.  They had organ music with hymnals and everyone looked like they had fifty years of practice at singing all the songs.  The pastor gave a nice, predictable message about Jeee-SUS!  It was nice to visit, but my church was much better.  We had better songs, and a screen up front, and better messages, and the building smelled better.

Then I realized something.  One day, I’ll be old.  And my bald spot will need to be covered by some wisps of hair.  And my grandkids will probably laugh at my church.

Four Things My Grandkids will Laugh At

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