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Faithfulness. Got it?

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This past Monday, I met with my director, and great friend, Billy, and in our two hours together a ministry leader, whom we both know, was brought up in conversation. I was surprised to hear that he is pastoring a church of over 4,000 and has written a book! I jokingly said, “Oh Billy we could write a book too!” He responded, “About what?” Then we went on to lay out a quick, rough table of contents for a book about faithfulness in ministry, when you don’t see results! We aren’t sure that people would be into a book on this topic, but it got us thinking, moreover, it really got me thinking about faithfulness.

First off, it got me thinking about how the world we live in, no matter what country we are in, doesn’t value faithfulness. How often do we hear the statistics about marital affairs and divorce? I can’t count the number of times I’ve read about this or heard it come from peoples’ mouths. Or how often do you see family quarrels break families up? How often do you see life-time friends end their friendship over something so trite? This isn’t even bringing up politicians or the business world! Simply put, we as a human race, aren’t a faithful people. Some of us might “get it” more than others, but I’ll be honest with you, on my “best day” of faithfulness, I’m surely still lacking!

Over the last year, I’ve wrestled with the lack of faithfulness of many. I’ve been shocked to see people turn their backs on longtime friends, simply for what was best for them. It’s wrecked me. As I’ve walked, or I should say crawled, through this time, I’ve grown to prize faithfulness more than ever before. I value it more in relationship, in ministry, and more. I long for my own heart to get, what it means to be faithful and that, Lord-willing, as God enables faithfulness in me, it would spread to those, He has placed around me.

I’ve been in Prague, long-term, for going on 4 years. I’m often praised for my faithfulness, as people hear how hard the language, how many Czechs say their atheists, how long it takes for them to respond to the Gospel and so on. As I hear this, a feeling of self-righteousness creeps up on me and I need to realize, that I am the most miserable of faithless people apart from my Savior. As I’ve contemplated, this conversation with Billy this week, a verse from 2 Timothy has been hanging around my head.

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful.” (2 Timothy 2:13)

I’m that faithless individual, but He is faithful! He remains faithful. Then the new Shawn McDonald album (Closer) came out on Tuesday and I’ve listened to this song on repeat.

Listen to the words… Let them kick around in your head a bit. Be thankful, that even though we are a faithless people, He is faithful!

Preaching to Myself…

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A couple of months ago, we had our Area Staff Conference for all of Campus Crusade in Eastern Europe and Russia in Slovenia. It was encouraging to escape the gray winter of Prague for warmer temps and also a change of scenery (see pics), but it was more encouraging to see friends and also receive some encouragement from these same friends!

Over the last 16 months I have been though a roller coaster of heartbreak, failings, and more. Honestly, it’s felt like more than I can handle. Thankfully, God is big and has kept me standing and moving forward through it all, but in the midst of all of this I’ve learned that I need to preach the Gospel to myself. While, in Slovenia, I was once again challenged to preach to myself as I move through life and ministry in a hard place.

A friend of mine challenged me to preach three things to myself on a regular basis:

  1. God is sovereign.
  2. God is good, in the midst of it all. Even when it seems dark and that God isn’t in the midst of it all, preach to myself that God knows and He is still good. This sounds “Sunday schoolish,” but I do forget often that God is good. Thus the need to preach it to myself again and again.
  3. God is my advocate, He is for me in all of life and in all of these events (think 1 John 1). Again maybe “Sunday schoolish,” but I can see a pattern in my life where I forget that God is for me, He is my advocate, even when the “wicked” prosper (Jeremiah 12:1 and Psalm 73, GOD IS STILL MY ADVOCATE!)

So how about you? What truths of God and the Gospel do you have to preach yourself? Use the comments and let’s start a discussion on this, I’m interested in hearing if this hits home with others and what you might add to the conversation!

Be a Revolution and Preach the Revolutionary Love of Jesus to yourself….!

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30 reflections/highlights/insights/things

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Last year I wrote 29 reflections/highlights/insights/things and the year before I wrote 28 reflections, now I bring you 30 reflections/highlights/insights/things! I can’t believe the “big 3-0” hits today! Unreal! As I wrote earlier in the week, I’m actually not fearing it and I’m actually looking forward to it. Why? Here is one reason why….

The years teach much which the days never knew. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

This reminds me of sitting in Pastor Michael’s office, during one of our Monday morning discipleship sessions, reflecting on something (which was normal, as he would spiritually kick my butt time and time again!) and looking at him and saying, “I just wish I could get old fast!” Kind of strange coming from the mouth of a college student, but then again it wasn’t for me. It was sometime during college that I realized growth, maturity and wisdom can’t be forced. It develops over time in the heart, mind and life of an individual. It takes time. It was then that I realized the years are a great teacher. So here’s to another year and another decade behind me and a just a tad bit more wisdom, growth and maturity hopefully to my life! Oh yeah, the learning might just be beginning, if this quote is true…

Everything I know I learned after I was thirty. – Georges Clemenceau

  1. Number 1, has to be what I just wrote! I’m excited to welcome this new 30-something chapter to my life because it seems to bring a whole new set of adventures and lessons to my life!
  2. I have absolutely beautiful and stunning sisters, that every year continue to amaze me with their beauty, talents, creativity and so much more! I love you Megs and Miks!

    3. barcelona2009 374.jpgmikaelafeb2010

  3. My parents seem to become cooler and cooler with everyday I know them. I can’t quite describe this. They have always been my biggest cheer leaders, but they seem to become greater and greater with age! They amaze me. Thank you Mom and Dad! I’m thankful I was conceived 30 years and 9 months ago! 😉
  4. Even though age brings wisdom, years also break hurts. I think the 29th year of my life, might have brought more emotional hurts than the previous short 28 years. Many events transpired over the last year that brought me to my knees in tears and also in prayer! Most of these events, I of course, wish I wouldn’t have had to deal with, but then on the other hand I’m grateful for them. Doesn’t make sense does it? At least not by the world’s standards, it doesn’t make sense! But if God does exist and is indeed sovereign then each hurt, betrayal and etc. had a purpose, it wasn’t some random event that happened at the result of broken people, including me! (Romans 8:28) Therefore, I am grateful for the hurts that the 29th year brought, because God was working for His Glory and my good in the midst of it all!
  5. I love traveling. Every time I’m traveling, I feel at home! I love it! New places, new faces, new cultures and more of seeing God’s beauty expressed all over the world! (below: Nerja, Spain & New York, New York)

    6. midyear19usa_trip_2010 418.jpg

  6. Much to my mother’s displeasure, I’m still accepting applications for this position! (see below) 😉 (I listened to my mother tell me, at least, once again, this week, that she would like grandkids sooner than later! Haha! You’ll have to talk to Megs and Tom about that one mom!)

    7. what's missing?

  7. In my 29th year I discovered that the “coaching blood” of my father also flows in my veins! Last year, because of several situations, I became the head coach of the Prague Lions Junior Team and I couldn’t have asked for a better first season as a head coach! We only had one loss and it was by a mere two points. Then we went on to have one of the biggest comebacks in Czech football history and then repeated this in the Championship game to reclaim the crown! What a huge blessing! I’m stoked about our fall season! GO LIONS!

  8. The Czech Republic celebrated 20 years of freedom from communism last November and as I was in the midst of the crowd I had a this overwhelming longing to see another revolution in this country! This isn’t anything new, I’ve said this before, but being in a throng of Czechs celebrating political and social freedom, made me long for a deeper change here. Please continue to pray for the Czech Republic, pray that this revolution would take place!


    9. [Read more…]

the last week of my 20s….

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I had intended to get a post up entitled, “the last month of my 20s…” but sadly that moment passed, but I couldn’t let the moment pass to blog on the last week of my 20s. It’s actually been a fun year of being 29 and being around many people (my players) that are much younger and hearing their youthful jeers of me nearing the big 3-0. It’s also been a year of looking forward to what my 30s will bring and embracing the 30 number and knowing that before I know it I will be blogging “the last week of my 30s” (If blogs even exist in 10 years!)! With that realization, I’ve refused to be one of those in the twilights of his 20s that is “drowning in his pool of twenty something self-pities!” So with this last week of my 20s, I’ll embrace being a twenty something for but a few more days and moreover I’ll revel in being a thirty something sooner than later!

“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” -Mark Twain

My players (I’m working with guys as young as 14), have asked me does it scare me, that I’ll be 30 soon. Again this is coming from a teenager, but they are serious. I have twenty something friends who have the same questions. It’s been comedic at times and it has made me ask, “What will it be like not be a twenty something?” But the quote from Mark Twain above seems to sum up how I feel, in that I really don’t mind it. It’s is also amazing, when I see this played out in the lives of many oldER people in my life, who really don’t care how old they are but continue to live in such a beautiful way! So I say to the big 3-0, that will roll into my life Sunday – “BRING IT!” So here’s to “mind over matter!” Have a great week and no matter how old you are BE A REVOLUTION & MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK!

my tweet detox

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twitterI’ve caught lots of grief from friends, both in Prague and in the States, about my twitter (Don’t know what Twitter is? Where have you been living? Sorry for the sarcasm, here’s an explanation.) habit over the last year or so. It’s actually been pretty entertaining at times. I’ve been “defrieneded” on facebook (because I send my tweets to fb) due to my tweeting habit and then I’ve had others say they love it. Quite a contrast, isn’t it? In the midst of this, I’ve actually grown to enjoy twitter and the positives of tweeting and being on twitter. Here are some of the positive that come to my mind (I’m not trying to be a twitter evangelist, but you can read others for that.):

  • Feeling connected with friends that are an ocean away.
  • Being able to pray for those friends as they are doing life and ministry. I know I can do this without Twitter, but it’s a good reminder.
  • People standing with me in prayer. It’s cool knowing that when I tweet there are people that will read it and lift me or that request up in that moment.
  • Being challenged theologically, biblically and so much more. I love that I have such a difference people, whom I follow, that are constantly challenging me through their short 140 character messages.
  • It’s taught me to be brief, well briefer, or should I say getting to the point, if that’s possible! Those of you that know me, know that I’m not one who is lost for words ofter, and I struggle with being concise. Well 140 characters, let’s say, is a bit of challenge for me.
  • It’s entertaining. I follow some people that just make me laugh. Living in Prague and the challenges that it can present, I find myself needing to laugh more. Twitter brings laughs through some hilarious people.

Those are some great things, yeah? But I’ve also seen negatives of the world of tweeting and those are why I did my short week plus tweet detox. Here are the negatives for me:

  • It consumes my life. I find myself not wanting to miss a tweet and in not wanting to miss a tweet, I can live on on twitter (actually my iPhone). This is the main reason I said, “I need a tweet detox.”
  • With it being time consuming, I don’t want to look at a screen more than the faces of people in front of me! So it can rob me of relational time. I want to engage the person, who is actually in front of me, in conversation, with my heart and not stare as some well-picked profile pic.
  • Tweeting can lead me from my identity in Christ and who I actually am. I can fine, or have found myself, worried about being some of other guy – who will wow people, make me people roll laughing, make people ponder the deepest of thoughts and so on. I have found myself trying to reinvent who I am, because of others, instead of simply being me, Zach Harrod.

There is why I did my detox. Some of you out there, might think I’m needing some professional help. No worries, I don’t think I am addicted and I think where I am is actually very healthy. However, needless to say, I needed to step away. I needed to see, what life was like without twitter. If I could do it in a healthy and redemptive manner. I was led to asking this, because recently I’ve had good friends hang up there tweeting (or fb) cleats and have called it quits because social networking was consuming them. I give these friends credit that they acknowledged it was affecting them in negative ways. With that said, I think my week plus, was enough to strip me of the negatives of my tweeting, enough to me, to still do relationship with those around me and live in a way that is healthy, while still tweeting. It’s actually been more refreshing since the detox, I don’t feel the pressure to tweet or to read every tweet. I also can actually enjoy twitter redemptively now! Who knew that was possible?!?! No if I could only get back on the blog train and write regularly! We shall see… Thanks for stopping by!

is your church messy or pretending?

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I’ve mentioned it before, but my staff team here is reading Tim Chester’s You Can Change and it has been very challenging and good for me at the same time. God has used it to convict me and at the same time encourage me! I highly recommend it, you should get it like yesterday! Anyway, this morning as I was reading I was once again challenged and sat at my desk contemplating much. See I just finished the chapter on living in community and helping one another take steps of changing as we live out the Gospel in community. There is just so much to share with you, this is why you have to go buy the book and read it, but I did want to share a quote/thought with you, that is actually in the book and on Chester’s blog too!

It’s about churches and churches being safe places for messy people – like you and me. Yes I said it, like you and me! You’re a mess! So am I! But that is beautiful because God’s grace, love and work is in the midst of our messiness is more than enough! (One of the first places I was challenged by the mess I am was from the book Messy Spirituality by the late Mike Yaconelli. It’s another good read!) Anyway, I could go on and on, but here is the quote from Chester’s blog:

One alternative is to be a church in which there is a lot of pretending; in which people have problems, but in which the culture does not allow people to be open about them. Churches like this are very neat and respectable. But I know I would rather be in a messy church! Mess reflects, I think, a culture of grace. We pretend because either we do not trust God’s grace for ourselves or we do not trust other people to show us grace. (from post entitled, A messy church or a pretending church)

So what type of church are going to? What type of church do you gravitate too? Do you gravitate to churches that “are neat and respectable?” Why do you gravitate to a church like this? For anonymity, so that people don’t see your messiness? Fight it! Be real. Do community in truth and love. Know that God’s grace is indeed sufficient! May we be transformed by the Word of God, but also by the beautiful mess of community that He has provided for us…

humility and pride.

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humilityandpride

pride.

Do you have it? I’ll be honest, apart from Christ, I am a prideful jerk. I know it and it tears me up. I find myself daily wrestling with myself and the deep, selfish pride that I know I’m capable of. I’m thankful I wrestle with it though, because if I ever get to the point where I don’t, I pray earnestly that I’m no longer breathing and I’m in heaven. Why? Because I never want to be okay with the pridefulness that resides in me and/or the amount of pride I’m capable of, because when you are okay with it, the fights done. The pride wins. I refuse, as far as I am able, to let pride win!

But what is pride exactly?

Pride defined:

1pride \?pr?d\ n
1 : the quality or state of being proud: as
a : inordinate self-esteem : conceit
b : a reasonable or justifiable self-respect
c : delight or elation arising from some act, possession, or relationship ?parental pride?
2 : proud or disdainful behavior or treatment : disdain
3 a : ostentatious display
b : highest pitch : prime
4 : a source of pride : the best in a group or class
5 : a company of lions
6 : a showy or impressive group ?a pride of dancers?

Pride can have some positive definitions, but it can also have sicking definitions that reek of sheer arrogance played out in life. In fact, when you look at the Bible and what God thinks of pride, it’s not positive! I don’t want to share with an exhaustive word study on pride but I did want to share with you some things I’ve been kicking around and a couple of resources. The first resource, is simply a link on the word PRIDE in the Bible. (click here) I encourage you to click away, then read away, the pray away, and then repent away! Sit in some of these verses and ask God to work you and your heart over, thus exposing your pride!

The other resource is a talk from Mark Driscoll at Mars Hill Church, in Seattle, WA. I had the opportunity to visit Mars Hill Church a few weeks back and I happened to be there for the start of their new series and the first talk – HUMILITY! It was like a 2×4 board to the face, especially about 10 minutes in when I thought, “So and so should listen to this!” That is when God swung the spiritual 2×4 and hit me right between the eyes and I realized that I needed just as bad, if not worse than “so and so.” Here it is, listen to it, journal it and see what God might say to you….


Beyond that, I’ve pondered things like, “How do I know I’m living a prideful existence?”
PRIDE CHECK – here are somethings that I came up with, as “pride checks” to spot it in my life:

  1. Thinking something like, “I’m not ‘that’ prideful.” Denial, very often, IS the first sign we are suffering from “said” thing.
  2. An unwillingness to listen to the opinions and/or thoughts of others.
  3. Any, and I do mean ANY, from of prejudice in my heart. I’ll be real, I see surprising things come out of my own heart as I ask this one, living in a foreign country.
  4. Refusing to apologize, even if I know I was wrong.
  5. An absolute belief that “I’m always right.”
  6. Thus the inability and unwillingness to say the 3 words, “I was wrong.”
  7. Self-righteousness. Enough said.
  8. Lack of repentance towards God or anyone else for that matter.
  9. Isolating myself and not giving others the opportunity to call me out.
  10. Refusing to submit myself to godly leadership.

There are 10 PRIDE CHECKS that I’ve been asking of myself as of late. How did you do? If you think you made it through the list, you should probably start over and dig a little deeper in your soul and life! Ask God, by His Spirit, who give you eyes to see your junk and the courage to repent of it.

Before I close this entry (which again, isn’t attended to exhaustive, but to serve as a launching point) I want to share with you, what I keep coming back to as the solution to my own pride – the Gospel – the fact that “I’m more prideful, sinful, hated, despised by God, wretched and much, much more than I could ever imagine outside of Christ BUT (thank God there is a BUT here) in Christ I’m more loved, cherished, clean, pure, innocent and so on infinitely more than I can even begin to imagine!” It’s this that is the answer to our pride. It’s running to the Gospel of Christ – the only truly humble and pure person ever to walk this planet died in my place, even though I was a rebel against him and I was vile. He graciously hung there for me and my sins, so that I would be made right before God! It wasn’t anything I did, nothing I could contrive. Oh how beautiful this Gospel (Good News) is! It’s so beautiful and deep, and yet simple and to the point. So I will choose today, right now, to apply this Gospel to my life and allow God to gut me of my pride for my good and His glory! Will you join me? Will you fight the pride?

those who do nothing…

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Just read this as I walk out the door for Czech class. (Warning yet another thought from Seth Godin. Keep them coming Seth!)

Do nothing is the choice of people who are afraid. Do nothing is what you do if too many people have to agree. Do nothing is what happens if one person with no upside has to accept downside responsibility for a change. What’s in it for them to do anything? So they do nothing.

Very interesting in light of some things going on in and around my life. Thoughts? Agree? Disagree? I’ll hold my thoughts for now, and we will see if the comments feature works on my blog! 😉

praying for a first ten or five or two?

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For those of you that read this blog regularly, you know I’m a fan (past blog posts) of Seth Godin and his thoughts about marketing, leadership and etc. Three weeks ago he posted an article entitled, First, ten, and I’ve returned to it many times since then. Here is the gist of his thought about “First, ten“…

Find ten people. Ten people who trust you/respect you/need you/listen to you…

Those ten people need what you have to sell, or want it. And if they love it, you win. If they love it, they’ll each find you ten more people (or a hundred or a thousand or, perhaps, just three). Repeat.

If they don’t love it, you need a new product. Start over.

Is this ground breaking or new? Heck no. It’s a basic principle. It can be found in the movie Pay it Forward and it is pretty much the principle of “Spiritual Multiplication” – that is pouring ourselves out for the Glory of God, for the sake of others, so that, Lord-willing, they will enter a dynamic relationship with Jesus, and then pour themselves out in the same way. Furthermore, it’s also obvious that Jesus practiced this; however, he happened to have the “First, Twelve” in mind, instead of ten.

So if this isn’t something new, then why is it messing my head up so much? I’m not sure, that’s why I’m writing this. I know that I’m not trying to sell anything, and I’m certainly not trying to peddle something. I’m, with the aid of God, attempting to live, love, and speak in such a way where those around me are going to long to have what I have. No selling. No peddling. No convincing. But a lot of living, loving, laughing, crying, speaking, and more together, in hopes…. In hopes, that something, anything will happen. I guess, it is in this thought, that I’ve been troubled by this blog post from Godin. I pray for ten. I pray for five. I pray for two. I pray. I hope. I’m not trying to win, as Godin mentioned in the post, but in the midst of a culture that is very cold to things of God, it would feel that I’m on the “losing” end more than the “winning” end. That’s it. There it is. That is why this post has been haunting me! That connected with, the last sentence I quoted – “start over” and “find a new product.” While I believe in being a constant learner and always being willing to change our methods, I’m left scratching my head, because it would appear some days that I need to take that last sentence to heart. Especially, as I look at our work here in Prague. I think we have adjusted our methods (“start over”) and we are still praying for ten. Five. Two. Hmmm… Much more could be written, but I will leave on two things – 1) please join in praying for us/me as we/I live, love and speak here in Prague. Pray that God would raise up ten. Five. Two. 2) Be encouraged because Jesus said,

“I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18b

amen.

oh seth, yet again….

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I just had to post this quote from here:

As the Internet and a connected culture places a higher premium on authenticity (because if you’re inconsistent, you’re going to get caught) it’s easy to confuse authentic behavior with an existential crisis. Are you really good enough, kind enough, generous enough and brave enough to be authentically a hero or leader?

Mother Theresa was an atheist, filled with self doubt. But she was an authentic saint, because she always acted like one.

You could spend your time wondering if what you say you are is really you. Or you could just act like that all the time. That’s good enough, thanks. Save the angst for later.

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