Just Thinking

Have you heard the statement that every person needs 8 hugs every day to stay psychologically healthy? People have researched this. The impact of a hug on a healthy person’s emotional state is immediate.

The pressure against our skin in multiple places sets off a series of physical reactions which result in a reduction of our heart rate and blood pressure. That same process releases dopamine in our brains which cause us to feel satisfaction.

Chemical reactions aside, hugs also speak to our souls and tell us we are accepted by another person, which is one of the most important feelings we can experience as individuals swimming in the sea of humanity.

But what about sweaty hugs?

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Imagine you are driving on the highway, picking up speed as fast as you can. Gas pedal depressed all the way to the floor, you hit 60, 70, 80 miles per hour, still climbing. Then imagine, while still pushing that gas pedal as hard as your quad can manage, you stomp on the brakes with your other foot.

Do you know what happens? Continue reading →

I am an introvert. This means that being around people feels like performing, and performances are draining. I am also a pastor, which means people are also my job/passion/calling. Therefore, I do a lot of draining things involving people.

And make no mistake, people drain my energy.

But there are some times where people are my restoration. And I think introverts everywhere need to hear this truth. Sometimes, when you have spent yourself in the daily pursuits of life – work relationships, family interactions, other parents at after school activities, your talkative cashier when the self checkout lanes are closed, that annoying neighbor who waits to pounce on you as soon as you open the door – you still need people.

You just need the right people.

You need intentional relationships, not just circumstantial relationships.

One of the worst decisions introverts can make is to sequester themselves from intentional relationships because circumstantial relationships drain them.

Last night I was reminded of the restorative power of people when my wife and I entertained 8 adults and 6 children in our little house. 14 people in a small space for three hours – an introvert’s worst nightmare! Especially when the previous two days were filled with phone calls and conversations with a lot of people. But the people coming over were not circumstantial relationships; they are my intentional circle. And God used them to restore my energy, not drain it.

Introverts, hear me, the right relationships have the ability to recharge you more than any amount of alone time could. Just make sure they are the right relationships.

For the past 9 months, my wife and I have been exploring what we believed to be a call from God to plant a church. For the past four months, we have known where and a general when. But it is only since yesterday that we can speak openly and confidently about it. That is because yesterday, we went public. Yesterday, my sermon, to the church I have known and loved for the last half decade, was a testimony of God’s plan for my family to leave our church family.

It is a strange thing to look at a group of people you have prayed for, served, and loved for 5 years and tell them God has called you elsewhere. It feels almost like abandonment. I feel like a bad parent. I am telling my kids I have loved them, but God has given me a greater love somewhere else. It just feels like I should feel bad, but I don’t.

I know that God has called us forward. I also know that God will call others forward in our absence. This is how God’s kingdom works. God is the only irreplaceable person in any church.

SO in our movement forward, God is already moving behind us. He is good.

I have been reflecting for the last few days on the issue of suffering. This is due in large part to a tragic, viral article about a young woman named Brittany Maynard. She is a beautiful young woman dying of cancer. In response to Brittany’s story, another young woman, Kara Tippetts, wrote a letter explaining her similarly tragic story of an impossible fight against a cancer that she will not win.

Both stories are heartbreaking. In reading both, I see the power of worldview at play. Both women see the battle with death looming in their future, but their responses could scarcely be more different.

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If you know nothing about Dr. Kermit Gosnell, check out this video at The Veritas Network.

Here are a mild article stating the facts about Gosnell, his practice, and his trial without gory details.

Check out this brief article by Trevin Wax if you wonder why you have not heard of this monster of a human being.

Here is a short article about a 15 year old who helped Dr. Gosnell kill the babies born in their clinic.

Here is a Pulitzer Prize winning columnist’s take on the media black-out concerning Gosnell.

Please share these links in your social media circles. It is time to start a conversation about the morality and legality of abortion even if the powers that be want to ignore it.

Compliments of my friend, Greg Gibson, at The Veritas Network, I leave you with a quote from William Wilberforce:

“Having heard all of this you may choose to look the other way, but you will never again be able to say you did not know.”