T. David Beck: The Simple Way of Jesus

Wherever you are, there are two ways to be there: discontent or grateful. For instance, when I work from home, there are two ways to be here. 1. I notice what's wrong. ("These carpets look horrible." "We need to gut the bathroom." "When am I going to fix the kitchen floor so we can have a fridge inside our house?") --- OR --- 2. I notice what's right. ("There's a mockingbird that sits in the top of our tree and sings all day." "It's calming just to look at the pool." "I'm really digging our new couch.") It takes no effort to notice what's wrong. It takes intentionality to notice what's right. There is discontentment and misery in noticing what's wrong. There is gratitude and joy in noticing what's right. Wherever you are and will be today, simply do this: "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anythi...

Spending time alone with God should be the most natural, enjoyable thing we ever do. But for a lot of Christians it's awkward and frustrating. There's a better way, and it's simple. Today I want to give you the all-important starting point to enjoying time with God. If you've been around Christian circles, you know we value spending time alone with God. It's one of those things all Christians should do. ("Should" -- I've come to look sideways at that word. It is the source of much evil.) The problem is, if you're like a lot of people, you don't enjoy spending time alone with God. You likely feel that you don't know what to do. You try it, but all the while, you fret that you probably aren't doing it right. But dutiful you, you plow through devotions --  at least a handful of times . But it's confusing, feels like work, and makes you anxious. Soon and very soon there comes that day when you decide to walk past your Bible an...

Psalm 63:1 says, "My body longs for you." What does it feel like to physically long for God? How might longing for God contributes to your happiness? And how can you engage in this kind of prayer? Here are two realizations I came to over after meditating on "my body longs for God" for just fifteen minutes. Realization #1: "My body longs for God" can feel like a Great Calm.  I have prayed "my body longs for you" many times, and most often I have thought of it as a longing for God that is like frantically searching for a lost wallet. Indeed, sometimes bodily longing for God has a sense of guttural desperation. But not today. This morning "my body longs for you" didn't like desperation. Instead I unexpectedly drifted into a Great Calm. And I realized that being embraced by the Great Calm was not the opposite of longing for God. It  was  longing for God. And that's why I wanted to tell you about it. This is great news for t...

If you're a leader, your decisions affect other people. If you're a leader who is anxious, look out. Anxiety puts us in an impaired state, and the results can be disastrous. I know. I was born into a family of worriers. It's easy for me to bring anxiety into my roles as a pastor, leader and father -- and every time I let that happen, the effects are harmful. If you sometimes struggle with anxiety and are in any kind of leadership role, I hope you find today's post helpful. In his book Healthy Congregations , Peter Steinke writes about the three main systems of the brain. The neo-cortex is the center of rational thought.  The limbic system is the center of emotions.  The reptilian system is the center of raw, fight-or-flight responses. This is the least reflective and most compulsive of the three systems. All three systems are important, but leaders must have the emotional maturity and the self-control to operate out of the neocortex. This is the system tha...

Are you ready for most of what the Bible says about God to be summed up in two statements? One thing God has spoken, two things I have heard; that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving . (vv 11-12a) You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving . This lyric is compact but loaded with meaning. When the ancient Hebrews spoke of God as "God," they were often thinking of him as God over all creation. When they used the word "Lord," they were talking about how God had chosen to adopt them and walk with them specifically. "Lord" is a highly relational term, a title made possible because God had made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. "Lord" tells a story. Psalm 95 says that the Lord is not just God but " our God, and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care." You, O God, are strong, and you, O Lord, are loving . If God is strong, he can do anything. If God is loving, he is for us...

Have you ever had the starter go out on your car? It might go like this. You force yourself out of bed early, shower, dress, and get ready to go to work. You get behind the wheel of your car, turn the key, and the engine doesn't start. Without a starter, you aren't going anywhere. If we could ask one of history's greatest experts on prayer what is the starter in the life of communing with God, what would he say? Brother Lawrence (17th-century monk), famous for his practice of continual prayer, said that for him, everything started with thinking great thoughts of God. In other words, theology is the starter. He wasn't an educated man, but he knew enough about God to get the motor going. One's theology could be as simple as "God is great, God is good." In fact, most biblical theology is summed up in those two sentences that many of us learned as kids. If you want to go through the hours aware of God rather than forgetful of him... if you want to have...

In the beginning of 2014, I announced at Sanctuary and to my friends elsewhere that I was embarking on a journey to find a life of continual prayer. I had read extensively about prayer for 15 years and I was already praying pretty frequently. Still, I was frustrated, and I felt I needed to do something decisive. There's nothing like telling everyone you know that you are committing yourself to something. Vanity can be a great motivator. Even with my vanity at stake, focus on prayer has ebbed and flowed over this year. But the other day someone asked me how the Year of Continual Prayer is going, and as I reflected on things, I was greatly encouraged. Eight months into the Year of Continual Prayer, I have learned four things. First, I have to be patient with myself. Praying continually involves one’s whole being – attitude, attention, emotions, etc. One cannot simply flip a switch and be a different person. One has to learn slowly over time to live a different way. So it has ...

My son Nathaniel and I stood on a rock outcropping overlooking a small lake in the Sierras, watching in awe as a bald eagle glided over the water no more than a hundred yards from us. All was quiet. This lake was our home for our five-day backpacking trip, and we were thankful to have it all to ourselves. Crooked Lakes at Grouse Ridge It was the golden light of evening, and we had just finished dinner. Moments before, I had been bent over our cooking rock, organizing our dishes to wash. Nathaniel had turned around to look at the lake. He suddenly exclaimed, "Dad! A bald eagle!" I wheeled around and breathed, "Oh my gosh. You're right." There's no mistaking a bald eagle for any other bird. Its size, grace, and coloring (sharp contrast between brown body and white head and tail) are unique. It is a truly regal bird. We watched the eagle soar around the lake for a minute or so and then fly off out of sight to our right. As I stood looking across the ...

You might remember anti-drug commercials that aired in the 1980s with the tagline, "This is your brain on drugs." The same could be said for your brain on worry, lust, anger, gossip, greed, or hurry. It should come as no surprise that whatever you do consistently shapes your brain. How about prayer? In an article in Leadership Journal , pastor John Ortberg reports, Researcher Andrew Newberg has shown the brain-altering power of such practices as prayer by looking at changes in the brain-state of nuns engaged in the practice for over 15 years as well as Pentecostals praying in tongues. It turns out that intense practice of prayer means their brains are much more impacted by their prayer than inexperienced or casual pray-ers. To find out who the true prayer-warriors in your church are, you could hook everybody up to electrodes, but it might be a little embarrassing. If your brain on drugs is like an egg being cracked and fried, what would your brain on consistent...

How prepared are you to engage people this hour in the presence and power of Jesus? The last two Thursday nights I have had the honor of gathering with a group of men and women, reading aloud part of Luminous , and discussing the material with them. Last night we focused on the last half of chapter 5, Being Present with One Another. Our discussion zeroed in on what it means to come into social interactions spiritually prepared rather than just showing up. One group member said, “I’m a teacher, and it is important for me to come to class prepared. I wonder why we don’t pay the same kind of attention to being prepared before we spend time with people in everyday life.” There are three ways to prepare yourself before entering social situations. 1. Set your will. “Before you interact, you decide that when you get into social situations, you will act only for the flourishing of others… Want nothing but shalom for other people…” ( Luminous , 96-97). This is best done by sa...

One man, who was a believing Christian and a praying man, ended up getting a divorce from his wife. For years he hated her. The mere thought of her soured his day and made him grind his teeth. In his book In Constant Prayer , author Robert Benson describes how a simple form of prayer affected the man’s heart. In my friend’s prayer each day, he had a list of those who were close to him for whom he prayed at the appropriate moments in [his morning prayers]. He would pray, as the words of his [prayers] go, “for those who had been given to him and to whom he had been given.” And it was his custom not to say much about the names he said in his prayer; he would simply say the names and see their faces in his mind’s eye, trusting, as the prayer says, “that you will do for them far more than we can desire or pray for.” His kids were on that list, of course, and so were his brothers and his new wife… He told me that one day he decided to add his ex-wife’s name to the list. He said he nev...

At Sanctuary and in my personal life, the battle of prayerfulness over hurry is in full swing. You can't be prayerful and be in a rush at the same time. The two states of mind are mutually exclusive. So what happens when all your hurry-instincts are put to the test? It happened for me a couple days ago. I was taking Nathaniel for his first day of basketball camp, and we were there for first-day registration and check-in. We were right on time -- 5 minutes early. When we walked into the gym, a few parents were sitting with their kids on the bleachers waiting for things to get started. There was a registration table at the end of the bleachers where several camp staff members were talking. Like the other parents and kids, Nathaniel and I found a seat on the bleachers. Folks continued to stream in, and the bleachers were filling up. It was nearing 8:40, check-in time. I felt content to sit with Nathaniel and be patient. My inner world was in a good state. And that's when t...

One Christmas break when I was about ten, I got incredibly bored and drove my parents up the wall. School was out for a couple weeks, and I couldn't find much to do. With impeccable logic, I reasoned that my parents ought to let me open one present before Christmas. It should be something I could play with. Not my biggest present, so as to detract from the singular grandeur of December 25. Just a strategically chosen toy or game that would occupy me for the next week or so leading up to Christmas. I mean, didn't the Velveteen Rabbit -- one of my mom's favorite books to read me when I was little -- teach the valuable lesson that toys and games are meant to be played with? My plan made sense. My logic was airtight. I made the ask. But somehow, in their undoubtedly limited perspective, my mom and dad said no. I couldn't believe they didn't see things my way, so I asked again. No. And again and again. No. And capital NO. I resorted to whining. My parents resorted to t...