Think Next Now

So proud of my friends, Tyler and Josh, who make up Twenty One Pilots. Hope this story of their signing inspires you as you pursue what you were created to do!

You’ve been waiting, I know. It’s so stressful. But before I fill you in on the news, I have to show you a couple pictures of Kipton’s Birthday Party.

Oh, yeah…the icing is blue, which means…

We’re having a boy!

Everything looks good for a boy to be born on September 1! We’re excited!

This past weekend, I was excited to be able to take a couple students to check Liberty University out (which is where Christi and I went to school). It was a blast and we all had a really good time.

If you’ve finished college, left the city, and come back to visit, you’ve felt the feeling of overwhelming nostalgia that I felt.

I was describing it to a friend: “Everything is so different!”

He asked me to specify, but it was hard to describe everything. After thinking about it some more, I realized that my thoughts were centered around this one idea:

If I went to school here today, I would have a completely different experience, by virtue of the fact that this school is continually expanding into an even greater atmosphere.

And then, this next thought hit me like a ton of bricks:

This must be what it’s like to have a strong vision for something and not live long enough to see it grow beyond your wildest dreams.

All throughout Scripture, we see examples of people who were called by God to do amazing things. Every one of those people were playing their small part in God’s meta narrative.

1. Abraham was called to go to the place that God would show Him.

2. Joseph was called to a life of obedience among negative circumstances, resulting in major influence.

3. Moses was called to lead the nation of Israel out of slavery and into the promised land.

4. Joshua was called to build on Moses’ work.

5. David was called to be a king.

6. Nehemiah was called to build a wall.

7. John the Baptist was called to prepare the way for the coming Messiah.

8. Peter was called to help move God’s people to a new way.

9. Paul was called to spread the Gospel throughout the nations and to plant churches.

All of these people played big parts in God’s story. In their day, they were recognized for their many feats and displays of faith.

But for them (and for us), our “small” part in God’s big story is 100% of our entire life!

The connection point is this: Jerry Falwell never got to see the fullness of God’s vision for His life come to pass (because it is still coming to pass as each day passes!).

This should give us so much encouragement, in that our work is not done in vain! God will bring His work to pass. We are merely agents of His grace; wires through which His power flows.

We may not get to see the full outcome of our work here on earth, but that isn’t the purpose! Our purpose is to humbly serve Jesus.

Take comfort that your work is not in vain, if it is done in Jesus’ Name.

Psalm 91 reads:

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the LORD, ‘My refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust.’

For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place — the most High, who is my refuge — no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

‘Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my name. When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.’”

Take heart. God is with you. Or is He?

This Psalm describes the protected as:
1. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High.
2. Those who make God their refuge and fortress.
3. Those who trust in God.
4. Those who made God their dwelling place.

Don’t be discouraged. Don’t be afraid. Take courage in making our Heavenly Father your refuge. Let’s be done shaking our fists in the air. Let’s stop telling God what’s true. Let us find our refuge in Him alone!

I haven’t written a real blog post in almost four months. I used to post four times a week. At first, I needed a break. Not long after that, I felt the itch to start writing again, but couldn’t find the time to make it happen (mainly because this has been, without a doubt, the busiest and most stressful season of my entire life).

I blame Louie Giglio.

I attended Passion 2012 with some of my students and friends. It was an unbelievable experience. I learned so much. God was speaking to me non-stop. One of the things that He made clear to me was that I needed to pull back from public writing (blogs, tweets, etc.) and get back to where it all started. Journaling.

So, I stopped. I have a few posts in the hopper that I had drafted. I’ll post those soon. But I really feel like God didn’t just want me to stop blogging.

1. He wants me to stop fueling my need for approval. I didn’t start checking stats for a long time. I didn’t care how many people were looking at it. And then, all of a sudden, I became friends with Google Analytics. And a little part of me sold out. Now, if something is on my heart and it won’t draw a big crowd, I trash it. Something about that isn’t right.

2. He wants me to put focus where it belongs. Right now, that’s not blogging. I’d love to tell you what that is, but I can’t. That shall come later.

3. He wants me to re-discover the purpose for writing/journaling/blogging. I wrote my very first blog post on Friday, February 2, 2007 (It was actually my second. The obligatory “I’m starting a blog” post doesn’t count). The original reason for starting a blog was to share what I was learning as I read through Scripture. Somewhere along the way, it became posting about cultural hot-button issues and leadership lessons. I have rarely posted about my learnings in Scripture. And I’m not a fan of that.

4. I’m tired of people (especially pastors) pimping themselves. Seriously. Stop it. You’re making the church look like a whore. I mean that in the most literal sense possible. You are taking money to please a crowd. Our job is to make much of Jesus, not make much of us making much of Jesus.

5. He wants me to focus on a broader audience. From the start of this blog, it has always been focused on church leaders. I’m going to break the rules and zoom out. This blog will probably just be for…wait for it…people (gasp!).

As it stands, I’m going to try to keep my posting to once a week. I’ll be working on some other projects on the side, which will be requiring the majority of my attention. But I also have a couple things to say. So the blogging sabbatical is over. But I’m not going to turn it on like a fire hydrant. More like a steady, flowing river. Doesn’t that sound nice? I thought so.

What a title for a book, right? But it’s not just a catchy title. It’s a great book for anyone in ministry (especially for those in church planting). Not to mention, Michael is hilarious!

I’ve grown to be friends with the guys at Journey, so I wanted to spread the word about this book.

That’s why I’m going to give a couple copies away.

If you want to enter, just do two things:
1. Comment below and tell me, in 140 characters or less, what your number one dream in life is.
2. Tweet the following:

“Go enter to win your copy of ‘How To Knock Over A 7-Eleven’ now! @markhcox is giving a couple copies away! http://bit.ly/ygMyd9″

Don’t have a Twitter profile? Well, that’s a problem. Because you need one for this contest. So say hello to 2012 and go get a Twitter.

I’ll randomly select the winners (using www.random.org). Only those who follow the instructions will be entered. This contest will end next Friday (March 2) at noon. The winners will be announced then! Good luck!

Today, we go public with a big announcement in the video below!

The third and last installment of “Kids and Christmas.”

Here’s the list of the top ten posts on my blog in the last year! Enjoy!

1. “The Best Gift A Senior Pastor Can Give Their Youth Pastor” Click here.

2. “Do You Want God Or your Idea Of God?” Click here.

3. “Is Church A Business?” Click here.

4. ”Bill Hybels’ Statement Regarding Howard Schultz, Homosexuality, And The Global Leadership Summit” Click here.

5. “Parents Prepping For Post-Camp Students”  Click here.

6. “The Day Netflix Got It Wrong” Click here.

7. “Critics Will Always Criticize” Click here.

8. “Religion Isn’t Worth ****!” Click here.

9. “11 Things I’d Like To See Happen In 2011″ Click here.

10. “Leaving A Legacy” Click here.

Do you have a favorite post from my blog or someone else’s? Post a link in the comment section!

Here comes Week 2 of our Kids and Christmas videos. Definitely a great way to kick off your services!