I do believe, though, that Rob has missed the mark on his new book Love Wins. Having read the book, the implications of some of the conclusions that he is drawing are troubling, and quite frankly, contradictory to the scriptures.

There have been many things written about the book (quite alot of thoughtful dissertations), so I am not going to do that here. I believe that this video by Francis Chan accurately speaks the thoughts I have toward the conclusions that Rob has published in his latest work.

Would love to hear your responses.

There has been only one time in history where an event would set off a chain reaction, causing the very fabric of human existence to change forever.  The God of the Universe came to be with us:

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while[e] Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to their own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Luke 2:1-14

Everything changed.

Culture, history, the state of mankind would never be the same.

God With Us.

Christ In Us.

Death Defeated.

Chains broken.

Freedom.

Glory in the Highest.

Peace.

Hope.

Jesus.

Let’s celebrate the birth of our Savior, not only at Christmas time, but every day.

Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. As it is written:

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”

Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.  2 Corinthians 9:6-11

I can’t even begin to count how many sermons, talks, and public lashings I have heard on giving, mostly centered around giving money.  And we should give; and give abundantly.  But I believe that the more important principle to focus on is “why” we give, more so than “what” we give.

Many years ago, I decided that I would become less of a traditionalist when it came to giving.  To me, giving was so important, I didn’t want to see it become “just another thing that I do”.  So, I got creative.  I decided to try and tithe my time and see what happened.  I dedicated myself to the strategic positioning my time;  focusing on a few organizations and projects that my family decided we would give to.  It has been nothing short of an amazing experience; completely life altering.

I decided to give cheerfully of my time, and God turned it into resources for the organizations.  I decided to stop giving to charity for the sake of giving and to start giving because He is Charity. Because of this, hundreds of thousands of dollars was raised for those organizations.  The Kingdom was expanded and sustained, which is the purpose of the tithe; the expansion and sustainability of the Kingdom.  2 Corinthians says “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” I had decided in my heart what I was going to give, and I gave of it cheerfully.

Now, that’s not to say that we don’t give financially from our own income, because we do.  We give cheerfully, and it is well above the technical 10% that we are told we are supposed to give.  But we don’t give out of compulsion, just like the scripture teaches.  We try to give cheerfully as much as we can.

I love to read.  I read alot.  When I was in high school, I don’t think that I read one book that I was supposed to read; because someone told me that I had to do it.  But I very cheerfully read those books in my spare time, because they were great books.  I just don’t respond well to people telling me I have to do something, because, in their opinion, it is important.  I didn’t want to read out of obligation; I wanted to read because I had the privilege of gaining knowledge from people smarter than I am.

I want to do everything in my life passionately and without a hint of “well, I’ll do it because I’m supposed to.”

I want to give because I get to, not because I have to.  I want to give because He gave.  I don’t want to give out of compulsion and obligation, I want to give out of a cheerful heart.

I guess that is why I am so turned off by people who tell me I have to do something; because I truly want everything I do to be out of a passion to give of myself, for the glory of the Father and for the expansion of the Kingdom.  Some call me rebellious, and that’s fine.  I would rather be a rebel than a cold so-called follower of Jesus.  I would rather embrace who God called me to be and enjoy Him than get entangled in the snare of religiosity.  I would rather give cheerfully than out of obligation.

So, why do I give?  I give because I get to; I give, not for the sake of charity, but because He is Charity.  And I will continue to dream of fresh and creative ways to give so that I do not become stagnate and so that I will continue to grow as a follower of the Most High.

For the first 6 months of her life, Rebekah had a clean bill of health.  We were truly surprised (and grateful) that she wasn’t sick at all during that time.  But, for the past month, there hasn’t been a week to go by where Rebekah wasn’t, in some shape or form, under the weather.

We love the idea of teaching Rebekah to share.  Sharing is an important quality to have.  But we have to teach her that sharing her colds aren’t included.  Needless to say, our baby has an “all or nothing” mentality like her daddy, and is sharing everything she has, including her germs.  It’s ok, though; we can take a few colds as long as we have her in our lives.

So, the past few weeks have included some long nights and alot of rocking our little baby girl in the rocking chair.  To be honest, it’s been a long time since I have been as tired for such an extended period of time.  But, I have to say, holding this little life in my hands while she struggles to fall asleep is one of the best experiences of my life.  In fact, it’s probably one of the coolest things I have ever done; to know that I can play a significant role in the comfort of my daughter while she is sick.  Amazing.

This whole experience has been causing me to love more, love deeper, and cherish every moment that I have with my family.  Through all the playing, laughing, coughing, runny noses and ear infections, I have began to understand love.  Not only me loving someone, but someone loving me.  It is quite an amazing season of life.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!  It’s not really the candy, it’s more the pumpkin carving.  We got into doing it a few years ago, and now it’s a tradition.

So, I hope everyone has a great time!

Last night, 11 years later, I saw this book on our bookshelf and pulled it off the shelf.

Have you ever had a moment in your life when you remember something wonderful from your past; when thoughts of the excitement and joy from a moment in your past flood back into your memories and you long to live them again.  I experienced that last night as I remembered the child like faith that I once had before I became strategic about ministry and too knowledgable (and I say that word with much sarcasm) about a God who is mysterious and indescribable.  As I’ve thought about it more, it is hard to be knowledgeable about a God whose ways are not my ways, and thoughts are not my thoughts.  Perhaps the more appropriate and accurate word for my so-called knowledge is arrogance.

Somewhere along the way, I began to lose my child like faith.  I began to lose my wonderment of God.  I’m not quite sure when it happened; I just know that it did, somewhere along the journey of life.

I miss it.  I miss it alot.  I miss running with God, holding His hand, and the excitement of His unpredictability.  I long for that again.  But today, it’s not so much about me rediscovering the child like faith that God desires me to live in.  It is more about letting my family run with me, so that they can experience the wonderment of God too.  And, one day, my daughter will be able to run with her Heavenly Father and experience the same joy for herself and pass it along to her family.

So, today I begin the journey toward child like faith.  I am curious as to what and where it will lead me and my family.  But I am excited and expectant of what the voice of Jesus can and will do.

I had this grand idea the other day.  I thought to myself, “I should build a new website for my blog.”  So, that’s what I did!

It was alot of fun to make and I think it really allows me to better portray what I am about and what I focus on in my life.

Speaking of which, I wanted to send out an update to everyone about all the fun things going on.  Basically, my entire life focus has been turned to my primary ministry; my family.  My daughter is now 6 months old and is doing great!  As a family, we have really settled into a good routine that is allowing us to spend the maximum amount of time together.  This, of course, means that we have to spend less time doing other things.  But, like I said, my primary ministry is my family.  At the end of the day, if I don’t do everything I can to minister to them, then I have failed as a father and as a follower of Jesus.  I want my daughter to see what it means to love, to serve, and to have compassion and mercy on others.  I have to be around to show her those things.  So that is what I am going to strive to do.

It is exciting times around the Leming household!  We are excited to see what God does as we pray together, love together, and serve the world together in the name of Jesus.  Amen.

We are called to be the Church in the world; but our primary role is to love our wives as Christ loves the Church.  When we do this, our families will have no problem following us into the world to be the hands and feet of Jesus because we have put them first in our lives

If you are looking for a place to be the Church in the world, then I would highly recommend you check out City of Refuge in Downtown Atlanta, GA.

As a family, our lives have been radically altered by the Holy Spirit through the ministry at City of Refuge.  Residing in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the nation,  COR takes a holistic approach as it reaches out to the community.  They provide everything, from start to finish, that a person who is in crisis would need to get out of that state and into a place of hope.

Check out City of Refuge Here!