As the founder and Lead Pastor of Church On Purpose, Pastor Jonathan provides the spiritual oversight for the church with an emphasis on keeping the vision and mission of the church in step with the Holy Spirit, on target with the Bible, and teaching us how to be Kingdom Citizens in the world today. Jonathan and his wife Jene' have 4 children and make their home in North Omaha.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:7-11)
Some years ago, I began my journey with an amazing network marketing company. Now, regardless of what your opinion is about network marketing, it is a great industry that helps a lot of people but of course has its bad eggs and bad moments. Kind of like your family. Haha. The good, however, certainly outweighs the bad. But anyway, back to my post.
Up until this time in my life, most of my decisions and governing philosophy for life were based on WHAT I was doing or WHAT needed to be done, and HOW I was going to get it done. This consistently left me with mixed results and outcomes that rarely met my expectations so that even in my mid-twenties I was beginning to feel like I was spinning my wheels chasing an ever-elusive state of fulfillment.
Then I went to my first Saturday training with a company that I believed in and had vision for. There on that Saturday morning I was introduced to the life-changing concept of WHY, and I realized sitting in that seat that for most of my life I had be asking the wrong questions. Like a lot of people, I would ask “Who am I?” instead of “WHY am I?”. I would ask, “Where should I go?” instead of “WHY should I leave?”. The list could go on and on, but suffice it to say that the power of that WHY question began a transformation in my life that DIRECTLY influenced where I am today.
As an outgrowth of that moment I began asking the WHY question about everything in my life. It helped me begin to understand my motives, my habits, my behaviors, my patterns of living, why I went through the cycles of life I was going through and why I was getting the results from my efforts that I was getting. When I began asking WHY, I started to realize that I was more responsible for the condition of my life than I had liked to think up until that point. It was always easier to find someone or something else to blame for my condition in life, until I started asking WHY. When I did, I realized that no matter the external circumstances, there was always SOME role I played in the equation. And the exciting part was realizing that since I’m a part of the equation that produces the results, then if I change, if I get better, then things around me would get better.
And they did.
But not overnight. It’s been, and will continue to be, and life-long journey toward understanding the WHYs in my life. But I wouldn’t change this sense of awareness of purpose for anything. And that ladies and gentlemen is the foundational premise for Church On Purpose. One of our primary goals for the culture of the church is to be able to create a community where it’s ok to ask WHY.
My prayer for you, is that with all the questions that you have in life, that today you will just start asking WHY. Why am I here? Why did that happen? Why am I the way I am? Why do I struggle with the things I struggle with? Why do I care so much? Why do I care so little? Why am I so mean? Why am I still at this job? Why am I afraid? Why am I worried? Why do I deserve to be respected and loved? Just begin to ask WHY.
When you do so, with a sincere and open heart, our Heavenly Father will begin to answer you, and help you begin to understand yourself and your place in His plan. Now it is important to understand, that just like in all of your other interactions, there will be some answers that you don’t necessarily like. Asking why you struggle with relationships may very well take you back to a place in your life, long forgotten, that He needs to heal for you to move forward. But appreciate the fact that any hurts or pains He uncovers, He is more than able to heal. And your life on the other side of that brokenness, is the life that you’ve been dreaming of.
Start today with one WHY, and allow that to take you down the rabbit hole of WHYs. And over time, watch how the fruit of your life begins to line up with the desires of your heart. Because like I learned at that network marketing Saturday training all those years ago, when the WHY is clear, the HOW is irrelevant.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.”
Live each day, but especially today, on purpose!
Coach J
The people are welcoming, they wrap their arms around you. But it’s more personal. People actually want to get to know you instead of you just being a ‘Hi’ and ‘Bye’.
Galatians 4:4-7
But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent his Son, born among us of a woman, born under the conditions of the law so that he might redeem those of us who have been kidnapped by the law. Thus we have been set free to experience our rightful heritage. You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, “Papa! Father!” Doesn’t that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you’re also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.
We are all familiar with the Dr. Seuss holiday classic about the bitter green monster living in the hills above Hooville. There, isolated on the mountaintop, with no company except that of his dog, the Grinch devises the perfect plan to steal Christmas from those annoyingly happy Hoos living below. It is his belief that without the trees, and presents, and feasts that the Hoos will be too depressed to celebrate one of the best holidays of the year.
In an amazing turn of events, with all of their decorations, presents and food in a huge sack on the back of his sleigh, the Hooville Hoos wake up, make a beeline for the town square, grab hands and in a marvelous demonstration of the foundation of Christmas, they lift their voices in song together in celebration of their relationship. Listen to some of the words they sang:
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas Come this way
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas, Christmas day
Welcome, welcome fahoo ramus
Welcome, welcome dahoo damus
Christmas day is in our grasp,
So long as we have hands to clasp
Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome Christmas bring your cheer
Fahoo fores dahoo dores
Welcome all Whos far and near
Welcome Christmas fahoo ramus
Welcome Christmas dahoo damus
Christmas time will always be,
just so long as we have we
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas bring your light
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome in the cold dark night
Welcome Christmas fahoo ramus
Welcome Christmas dahoo damus
Welcome Christmas while we stand,
Heart to Heart and Hand in Hand
Fahoo Fores Dahoo Dores
Welcome Christmas,
Christmas Day!
Touched by their meaningful display, the Grinch decides to return what he has stolen, and in perfect Hoo fashion, is welcomed and embraced with the same love the Hoos shared among themselves.
The truth about the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, is that the Grinch had it wrong from the very beginning. He thought to steal Christmas he had to take away the things, the decorations, the presents, and the food. When in fact, all the Grinch had to do to steal Christmas again was the very same thing he had been doing every year up until then. For sitting atop that mountain in his judgmental isolation far from the warmth and love of Hooville, the Grinch had been stealing Christmas for years. What he didn’t realize is that he had been stealing it from himself. And if we’re not on our guard, our flesh will turn us into Grinches who have Christmas stolen from us because we wont come down off our mountain.
In fact, the Christmas story at its core is about the restoration of relationships and the great lengths that God is willing to go, for us to have a chance at enjoying Christmas every day. Galatians 4:4-7 highlights the intentionality of God’s plan to fix the relationship that was broken with him. He didn’t haphazardly wait for a random moment, he didn’t wait for us to come to him. From the moment our relationship with him was broken, He had a specific time designated in the timeline of the world when he would implement an intentional plan that, highlighted by his coming to us, would give us the opportunity to embrace reconciliation.
But like the Grinch, we all have that moment when we have to choose to remain angry and bitter, or decide to allow love to overwhelm our hearts. True, it often times seems so hard to do. Especially when we review the laundry list of transgressions that has produced the feelings of frustration that dominate our thoughts. But when we allow love to fill us, like the Grinch, we access supernatural strength that allows us to do what seems impossible. We are able to lift loads that previously dragged and even crushed us. And more importantly, we are able to give the greatest gift of all to others, our presence through a loving relationship.
Christmas is our designated time of the year to emphasize the incarnation, the coming of God in the flesh of a baby named Jesus through the womb of a virgin named Mary. But the real miracle of Christmas wasn’t the miraculous birth, the perfect timing, or even the heavenly announcement. The real miracle of Christmas is that God knew the greatest gift that He could give, was His presence with us. And like the Father, Jesus gives us the gift of His Spirit to be with us in our hearts. And that Holy Spirit serves as a constant reminder to us of an inheritance that is ours. As sons of God, we get to have Christmas every day, because Christmas isn’t about the decorations, the presents, or the feast. Christmas is about the reconciliation and restoration of relationships. And in the Kingdom of Heaven, just like in Hooville, that’s the only way to live.
The Grinch Stole the joy, the love, the peace, the unimaginable and incomparable feeling of Christmas from himself for years because he chose to be bitter and resentful instead of reconciling his relationship with the Hoos. True, we aren’t clear whether they ever made any attempts to initiate reconciliation, but I’m so glad that God didn’t wait on any of us to make the first step. The culture of the Kingdom of Heaven is one of healthy, reconciled, restored, and loving relationships built upon the same self-sacrificing love that was extended to us when we didn’t deserve it, and the same mistake erasing grace that is extended to us every day. As citizens of God’s Kingdom, let’s learn how to live Christmas every day.
The Grinch would have enjoyed many more Christmases if he’d simply had the words Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians beginning at chapter 3 verse 12: Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.