I’ve had so many conversations with people, friends, leaders, pastors, counselors, and people on the street about life and living that I’ve come to this conclusion:  I need to pull my head out of my own ass. (Apologies to all my Christian brothers and sisters)

I found this video and thought that I needed to heed it’s invitation.

So, as of today, May 1, I am Fasting from Negativity, in my words, thoughts, and my every day life.

“I am not my own, I am bought with a price, I belong to God. I choose to grow in and put on love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,and self-control.” -Trevor H. Lund

SO…I’m done.  I’m done with the negative thoughts, negative words, negative actions, and the negative self-condemnation.  I’m done with it all.  I know I will stumble, but over the next 40 day, with God’s grace and strength, I will succeed in fasting from negativity.

I am asking for your prayers, your grace, and support.  This is a HUGE undertaking for me.  But I do not walk this path alone…I have the Holy Spirit to guide, Jesus to sustain, God to empower, and people to walk with me.

I WILL do this.  I have to…

So, this morning, when I lost my basset hound in the grass, I KNEW it was time to mow.

And as I pushed my lawnmower up and down the lawn, I started think about how much mowing the grass related to the sin in our lives.

1.  If you don’t mow often, your grass will get out of control. I live in Florida, and when it rains, like it has in the past few days, the grass grows like crazy.  If left alone, the grass will get so high, it’s easy for snakes and other bad stuff to cause problems.  Sin is the same way, when we let sin get out of control, it it can wreak havoc with our lives.  But it doesn’t just effect us. Romans 7:5

2. Mowing (or NOT mowing) always affects your neighbors. I have a neighbor next door that hasn’t cut his grass in a LONG while, and it looks like a jungle next door to my house.  It not only makes my house look bad, it makes the neighborhood look bad.  When sin gets out of control, it affects the people around you.  It makes you look bad, and usually hurts the ones you love.  Out of control sin is a lot like a jungle: it’s full of danger and death is always close by. Romans 6:23

3. You have to stay inside the lines for your yard to look right. When you mow the yard and you veer off to one side you can tell…EVERYONE can tell.  Some sins are easier to hide than others, but in the end, the truth comes out, and everyone sees your mistakes.  You HAVE to stay in God’s Will so that your sins are forgiven, and your life [lines] stays straight. 2 Chronicles 7:14

4. No matter how hard you try, my lawn is never perfect. I have a rectangular yard.  I try to mow in perfect rectangles, so my yard doesn’t look funny when I’;m done.  And no matter how hard I try, there is always one line (or more) that doesn’t look right.  Sin causes us to live lives that dishonors God and causes us to veer away from our own core beliefs.  No matter how hard we TRY to do everything right, we just can’t quite seem to get it right.  That’s the beauty of Jesus Christ, no matter how messed up our lives [lawns] are, He makes up the difference, and makes us perfect. Romans 6:10

5. Mowing the grass always leaves stains on your shoes. I have 1 pair of old sneakers I use to mow the grass, and they USED to be white.  Now, they’re green-ish.  They’ve been stained by the grass.  Sin leaves stains on our hearts and in our lives.  And the ONLY way that we can get our lives clean is to be washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. Matthew 26:28

6. You have to re-fuel the lawnmower when it runs out of gas. If you forgot to check before you started, your lawn mower may run out of gas. This causes everything to stop and you have to trek back into the garage (and sometimes the gas station) to get more fuel.  When we’re fighting the everyday desire to sin, we must refuel with God’s Word, prayer, and accountability.  If we run out of gas, it’s usually our own fault. Ephesians 6:17

7. The only way we can truly appreciate our lawn mowing, is when it’s finished. We’ve all looked back on our hard work of mowing the grass and felt the pride of seeing a nice, clean, well manicured lawn, and knowing that we did that.  It may not seem very much fun when you choose NOT to sin, but once the temptation has passed, and you look back and realize the HUGE mistake you just DIDN’T make, you realize that you did the right thing for the sake of Jesus Christ. Matthew 25:21

8.  It’s always hotter when you mow the grass. It may be early morning or later in the evening, but once you start mowing, it just gets hotter.  Mowing the grass is hard work, even when you use a self-propelled or riding lawnmower.  It just get hot.  Sin is a pressure cooker.  You can only hide it so long.  One day, your sins will be revealed, because you are ALWAYS living on borrowed time.  Situations always get more and more tense.  That’s why accepting Jesus, and letting go of all that sin is so refreshing. 1 Peter 1:17

9.  Your refreshment is much better. After mowing the grass in the noonday sun, I had a HUGE glass of clear, cold water.  And it was  the BEST water I had EVER had.  It was cold and truly refreshing.  Living a life free from sin is more refreshing than living a sin filled life.  You relationships are better, your life is more fulfilling, and your worship is more authentic. I John 3:6

10. People appreciate a well-maintained lawn. How many time have you driven into a neighborhood and noticed a really well kept lawn?  When we get rid of the sin in our lives, we are blessed.  God is blessed.  Our businesses and our churces are blessed.  Our spouses and familes even reap rewards as our lives reflect the true love and forgiveness of Christ. 2 Peter 3:11

Now get out there and mow the lawn!

Why do some ideas thrive while others die? And how do we improve the chances of worthy ideas? In Made to Stick, accomplished educators and idea collectors Chip and Dan Heath tackle head-on these vexing questions.

I loved Made to Stick.  Chip and Dan Heath unpacked their research in a memorable (sticky) fashion that was challenging, insightful, inspiring, and often, humorous.  In Made to Stick, they unveiled their pattern, not template, for ideas to become “sticky”.

Six “sticky” traits: Simple, Unexpected, Concrete, Credible, Emotional, Stories = SUCCES(s).

Chip and Dan used several real-world stories as examples of ideas that were simple and unexpected, using concrete, credible terms, drawing  upon emotions, usually by utilizing stories.  We can educate, lead, challenge, and communicate better with ideas that are as sticky as possible, and Made to Stick helps us accomplish this.

I believe that every leader should read this book.  It will help them to be better communicators and will make their teams more productive and successful.

I also believe that every pastor, small group leader, church leader, and minister should read this book.  We have the GREATEST story EVER told, the Life of Jesus, and the Bible is FULL of stories that fall right in line with their SUCCESs pattern.

A sticky idea is understood, it’s remembered, and it changes something. Sticky ideas of all kinds—ranging from the “kidney thieves” urban legend to JFK’s “Man on the Moon” speech—have six traits in common. If you make use of these traits in your communication, you’ll makeyour ideas stickier. (You don’t need all 6 [traits] to have a sticky idea, but it’s fair to say the more, the better!)

- Chip and Dan Heath, Made to Stick

Recently, I heard Rick Warren talk about leadership in the church.  And one thing he said really resonated with me.  Rick said,

“It’s not IMITATION of Christ, it’s internalization of Christ.”

And he’s right.  And I instantly felt convicted as a minister and church leader.  I have spent my entire life imploring people to “imitate” Jesus Christ.  Instead I should have spent my time and energy telling people to “internalize” Jesus Christ.

Websters defines internalization as “ incorporating (as values or patterns of culture) within the self as conscious or subconscious guiding principles through learning or socialization.”  In other words, it becomes a part of us, at our core or our DNA.

So ask yourself this question: If I really allowed Jesus to be part of my DNA, what would be different about my…

• Service
• Generosity
  
• Quiet Time
• Social Biases
• Alone Time

How would encouraging our congregations to internalize Jesus Christ change the world?