Category: Praise

The Highs and Lows of Faith: Getting Past the Spiritual Crash

Photo by Dave Apple

happymuffinsnapeface asked a question:

I’ve just experienced a spiritual “high” and now I’m feeling distant again, what can I do to get closer to him?

Hey dear friend, may I just say: This is just about the number one concern I receive from Christians all over the world, so you are absolutely not alone in this. I’m there, all the time, barely hanging on — much more than I’d like to admit.

As always, the Big Christian Secret is that everyone gets distant from God; we doubt He exists; we feel far from Him through no fault of our own. We can even do all the right things to return to Him, but they might not work for a long while. The best thing is to keep doing what you’re doing and to keep believing, even if it’s with a tiny shred of faith. Keep serving, singing, praying, reading your Bible, and hanging out with Christians, even (and especially) when you don’t feel like it.

I know that “going through the motions” is vilified in the church and considered total hypocrisy. I get that. But when a preacher is telling me, “Are you really truly sincerely worshiping from the bottom of your gut?” — I just feel worse. Guilt-trips don’t jump me back into on-fire faith. Sometimes “going through the motions” is exactly what I need to get me through this desert valley. If our default setting is sin, then even the weakest movement towards God is worthy of celebrating.  And maybe feeling God is a false parameter for our faith, because faith is often about how we stay despite wanting to leave.

Do I love my wife? Yes. Do I wonder if she loves me sometimes? Yes. Does it get tough? Yes. Do I stay her husband? Of course. Marriages are not on maximum volume all the time. The highs come with the lows; it’s a roller-coaster of doubts and frustration and boundless happiness. I don’t always “feel” romantic or gushy. But the bottom line is always there, that we are married by a promise of love, and my actions for her are not ultimately determined by how I feel. In fact, my actions for her are often the doorway to feel love and loved again.

Continue reading “The Highs and Lows of Faith: Getting Past the Spiritual Crash” →

Five Primers On How To Study The Bible

Photo from Breanna Lynn

Anonymous asked:

Tips on how to study the word of God? Thanks!

Hey dear friend, I totally got the thing for you.

1) Lather yourself in holy water borrowed from your local vampire hunter store.

2) Get in your booster chair and wear the bib that says, “Christmas? How about putting the CHRIST BACK IN CHRISTIANS #JesusJuke”

3) Put on 3-D glasses and your Bible Man cape and mask.

4) Use a fan to open your Bible and stop at any page with any of the Ten Plagues finger puppets.

5) Play “Mind Heist” by Zack Hemsey. You won’t regret it.

6) Read the Bible in a Welsh English accent as loud as possible.

7) Wait for a fiery dove to rip through your ceiling with a new chapter of Revelation, which should already be happening at your weekly prayer meetings.

By the way, if you actually do this, please record it and show me.

Okay, but seriously.

Reading the Bible is hard. The Bible wasn’t even mass-produced until the last few-hundred years, and suddenly we’re all guilt-tripping each other on “read more Bible or bring the lighter fluid for your stake-burning.” But the Bible itself is hard. Am I allowed to say that? It’s dang hard.

So I want to say first: It’s okay to feel dumb about it. The quicker we can admit, “This is way over my head,” then the safer we’ll feel to get help. Here’s some help then to read the Bible.

Continue reading “Five Primers On How To Study The Bible” →

Encouragement For Your Hurt.


Writing this one meant a lot to me as it contains real stories from real people with heartache, loss, and (not-so-easy) redemption. I often recounted these stories with tears and prayers. Life doesn’t always wrap up in a bow-tie with a neat little lesson at the end, but people still choose to endure despite all that has happened. Even brokenly, they crawled forward and went on.

I hope you’ll consider picking up the book. It’s on sale for 8.99 in paperback and 3.99 in ebook. It’s meant for you if you’re hurting right now, and meant for your friend if they’re hurting too.
Be blessed and love y’all.  — J.S.

http://www.amazon.com/Mad-About-God/dp/0692390472/


The “Holy Spirit Chills” and Chasing Emotions In Church


tavanilla asked a question:

Do the “Holy Spirit” chills really come from the Holy Spirit? I feel like Christianity nowadays is based purely on feelings. I myself am a victim of this; chasing after that “feeling”. I know a relationship with God is more than just that feeling, but I want to ask you, what is “that thing” the surpasses those chills the come out of nowhere?

Hey dear friend, I’ve also heard of the “Holy Spirit chills,” also known as “the Spirit is really moving” or “I got the Ghost” or “I got totally wrecked.” I honestly thought it was a fun, goofy way of saying that we’ve connected with God on an undistracted level, but some of us are also very serious about the Spirit changing our body temperature, instead of changing our hearts. (#JesusJuke)

The thing is, I have nothing at all against the emotional element of Christianity. It can certainly be over-emphasized to a fault, but we’re all emotional beings. We’re meant to feel. Denying emotions can kill us. Some of us are never bothered by injustice or sin or never taken up by beauty and glory. We need to be spoken to in this emotional place if we’re to be well-rounded individuals who can have joyous community. Feelings are not the point, but without feelings, it’s all pretty pointless.

Continue reading “The “Holy Spirit Chills” and Chasing Emotions In Church” →

The Big Christian Secret (That Isn’t So Secret)

MAG cover paperback


The Big Christian Secret is that every Christian in history has run into doubts about God. The doubt that He exists. Even the “best Christians” get lost in the hallway. It’s more than just a phase or a season or a dry spell; it’s a thick, nauseating fog. There are days I read the Bible and I want to throw it in the trash.

When pain hits home and you’re walking through that cancer or car accident or earthquake, you want the kind of faith that can face death.  In the end, I want a faith that doesn’t just tickle my inspiration or give me cute slogans, but a faith that can get beat up by suffering and scholars and satanic evil, and will keep on standing.

True faith, the kind that perseveres through pain and trials and urgency, takes a surgical navigation through all the very difficult questions of life.  Only doubts will ever get you to ask them.

The best thing I could tell you is to question everything, because by questioning everything, you will toss out what doesn’t work. You’ll eliminate easy answers that could never sustain the hardest seasons of life.

— J.S. | Mad About God


My Podcast on iTunes!

JS Podcast instagram


If you didn’t know, I have a podcast with every sermon I’ve preached and more. It’s free & you can download directly to your phone. Please also leave a review or rating!

iTunes page: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/j.s.-park-way-everlasting/id395594485

Main page: http://thewayeverlasting.libsyn.com/

— J.S.


My New Book on Trials & Suffering: “Mad About God”

Mad About God final cover


This is my newest book, on persevering through trials and suffering, called Mad About God: When We Over-Spiritualize Pain and Turn Tragedy Into a Lesson.

When life hurts, we often turn the pain into a teachable moment: but not every pain has a bow-tie. Sometimes life just hurts, and we need the space to grieve. In this journey, we discover the nuances of loss and grief. We encounter real stories of suffering from real people, with no spiritualizing and no easy answers. In dismantling what doesn’t work – we might find what does.

If you or your friend are in the middle of a mess: this book is meant for ground zero. I also go over handling depression, faith-shattering doubt, “sexy cancer,” second world problems, misquoting verses for inspirational Instagrams, the hijacking of Jeremiah 29:11, and the theology of True Detective, Louis C.K., and The Shawshank Redemption.

Here’s a video on the themes of the book.

The book is available in both paperback and ebook.
Love y’all and be blessed ..!
— J.S.


Persuasion vs. Presence.


If your friend is going through some horrible pain right now at the hands of another person, it’s not our job to explain this within the box of our theology. That’s a harsh thing to do. Jesus never did this: he only wept when he heard of Lazarus, he wept over Jerusalem, he stayed at the homes of lepers and demoniacs, he fed the hungry multitudes.

More than our persuasion, our friends need our presence. This is what God did when He became one of us, and this is how we embody love — by mourning when others mourn, by giving space to grieve, and by allowing joy to find its place at the right time.

— J.S. from What The Church Won’t Talk About


What Does It Mean To Really Love Someone?


How do we actually love someone? What does it mean that God loves us? What is the “Christian” concept of love? Why is it unique?
Defining the gritty, painful, crazy depth of love in two and a half minutes.

Subscribe to my channel here. Love y’all!

— J.S.


[Thank you to Steven Hause of pudgyproductions]


Because It Happened: 25 Truths from the Resurrection


Art from Nuriko-Kun


Since the resurrection of Jesus Christ really happened, then

1) there’s a heaven, and a hell.

2) we do have victory over sin, now.

3) what we do matters in eternity.

4) we have forgiveness before an all-holy, fearsome, awesome, all-consuming God.

5) we will also be resurrected.

6) every word in the Bible is true.

7) Jesus is everything he said he was, and is.

8 ) everyone else who isn’t following Christ has it wrong.

9) death is not the end. Love awaits.

10) we have to get the good news out.

11) Jesus is coming back for us.

12) the actual Spirit of God lives in those who follow Him.

13) one day all evil will end.

14) a lot of stuff we think that matters doesn’t really matter.

15) miracles can happen.

16) he died for you and for that neighbor you can’t stand.

17) pride, self-esteem, and earning approval doesn’t work.

18) despair, self-loathing, and discouragement also don’t work.

19) you will be called accountable to God.

20) you can be co-heirs with Jesus Christ, and you get his eternal inheritance. Money is nothing.

21) you are friends with the Most High.

22) you have a king in another country, and your citizenship is there.

23) you can trade in your self-pity for endless joy.

24) even when it feels like Friday, Sunday is coming.

25) nothing can ever take away your joy, ever.

— J.S.

Wedding Surprise.


After the ceremony, I was led into a room where my wife surprised me by wearing another amazing dress. This is my reaction.

— J.S.


Three Thoughts on Christian Musicians Who Don’t Say “Jesus”

undergraceanthem asked a question:

What are your thoughts on bands that claim to be Christian but don’t ever use the name of Jesus in their lyrics?

Hey my friend, to be truthful: I’d rather look at the Christian band behind the songs than the songs themselves.  There’s a ton of Christian music that says “Jesus” but they ain’t really about Jesus.

I do think it’s important that Christian music is clear about who it’s about, without question.  It’s too easy to turn Jesus into bae.  But here are a few things to consider.

1) Sometimes Christians wait for other Christians to meet a “doctrinal threshold” before they’re considered doctrinally sound. I’m not saying that you’re doing this.  But when we gate-keep too hard and expect every Christian band to yell Jesus with neon lights, it’s probably stealing our joy to simply be blessed by the aesthetic value of their craft. Plus we all like a juicy story of downfall and failure; we wait for artists to “sell out” and we’re all sick like that.  It’s unfair for us to constantly gauge if the song is using “worldly philosophy” or if they haven’t said Jesus exactly seven times.

Continue reading “Three Thoughts on Christian Musicians Who Don’t Say “Jesus”” →

The Top 14 Posts of 2014

Here are the Top 14 Most Viral Posts from this blog of 2014, ranging from topics like singleness, homosexuality, racism, quitting porn, Mark Driscoll, and a confession about my brush with a celebrity pastor.

Continue reading “The Top 14 Posts of 2014” →

Battling Church Burn-Out and Exhaustion

rosemarychungphotography asked a question:

How do you deal with church burn out (exhausted from serving, attending church, etc.) and the pain associated with it?

Hey my dear friend, thank you so much for your honesty.

Four quick thoughts on church burn-out:

1) Please be absolutely honest about what’s going on. 

Please talk with your pastor, your leaders, your team.  I don’t mean that we can go around saying “This church is burning me out.”  But sometimes simply talking it out can both release your clenched burden and also help navigate your feelings.  While complaining can be toxic, keeping it in is even more unhealthy.  Have a time with your pastor when you can say every single thing that’s on your mind, no matter how small you may feel it is.

Continue reading “Battling Church Burn-Out and Exhaustion” →

A Letter To Pastors, Worship Leaders, and Praise Teams


To Pastors and Church Leaders:

Stay humble, stay faithful. You’ll be tempted to look to the big-time platform, the bigger church, the larger crowds, that next big event. I was, too. You’ll look forward to when you’ve “made it” to that elite circle of celebrity pastors. But your people need you there, to be present, in this appointed time, to preach to even one person as if you were in a stadium. Please don’t look to the “awesome version” of how you want things to be. It’s a mirage. And your people will know if you’re looking past them. Your church needs you now, with sleeves rolled up, eye-to-eye and chair-to-chair, to enter in the trenches with your fully embodied presence, like Jesus. Be here, in the dirt, in the mess.

To Worship Leaders and Praise Teams:

Stay encouraged. When people arrive late or goof off or don’t clap or don’t care, you’re still planting sovereign seeds. When practice is rough or no one’s ready or you forgot to print that one song, keep loving your team. When no one else is singing or you blunder that note, worship hard. In the frantic rush of getting it right, point to the King. God is still working. Trust Him. Sing loud. Grace will win.

— J.S.


God Is Going To Work With You On This.


When we hear sermons about sex and dating, a piercing guilt sets in — It’s too late for me, because I’ve already messed it up.

In a Christianese church culture, there’s no room for sinners like you and me. You’re either in or you’re out. You got it or you don’t. It’s one-shot or it’s over.

[This] can make you feel you lost out on something, like you’re somehow beyond His reach. We get locked into a cycle of compensating for our wrongs. The Christianese way is to run, jump, and kick our way through faith.

The truth is that no matter where we are in our “identity” or “purity” or “maturity,” God is going to work with you on this. This is who He is. God cannot help it. He loves His children, and even those like you and me. Nothing you do could ever change God’s heart towards you, and it’s His unchanging heart that changes you.

— J.S. from The Christianese Dating Culture


Five Simple Tips on Sermon Preparation


foundworthy asked a question:

What is your process for sermon prep?


Hello AJ! While I wouldn’t want to give you a simple formula, since each of us must find our own way, I’ll outline just a few things I do.

1) I often preach in series, about 4 to 7 sermons long, because it helps me to know where I’m going. Usually each sermon inside the series is supporting One Big Point that I’m trying to make.


2) In seminary, my professors always did the 3 am Test.  Basically: If I were to shake you awake at 3 am on Sunday morning and ask you, “Tell me your sermon in one sentence!” — and you couldn’t do it, then it wasn’t ready.  Simplify, simplify, keep it simple.


3) Exegesis (digging into the particular meaning of Scripture) is very valuable, but please know what to put in the showcase and what to keep in the basement. Sometimes I find a really cool fact of history during my study of the Bible, but I realize this is only me nerding out and has zero relevance to what I’m saying. So I save it for another day and look for another.


4) Sermons are hard work. I study hard. I read the news. I pray hard. I listen to how others did the same passage. One message might take about 20 hours per week. But the main thing is: I have to constantly meet up with the church.  Sermons are a way to love and serve people by the powerful healing Spirit of God.  I have to love my people first. Without that, then the pulpit is just a catharsis or a college lecture. Seminarians spend so much energy crafting a precise message, but they barely love their people or love the King.  Love your people.


5) I constantly assume there are people who don’t care or who hate Jesus.  I think of the twelve year old suicidal kid who is ready to hurt himself again.  I think of the single divorced mom raising three kids on three jobs with a father who left them.  I think of the skeptical college student who once loved youth group but has hardened by parties and amateur philosophy.  I think of the pregnant fifteen year old whose parents have shamed her and she’s been vilified at school.  I think of my close friends and family who don’t know Jesus.  I practice my sermons by pulling up a chair in front of me and going one-on-one, because sermons are speaking to real people, and they’re coming to Sunday service with a load of burdens they can hardly carry, and they do want to know there’s something more.

— J.S.



For my podcast, please click here or here.

Please know I’m way more comfortable writing, and speaking has always been tough for me. Thank God for grace.


Also check out:

– Six Things I Write At The Top of Every Sermon

– Preachers: A Sermon Gut-Check

– Seven Tips on Preaching & Teaching For the First Time

– The Difference Between A Speech and A Sermon




Purchase my book on tough topics of faith here!

Purchase my new book on love, sex, and dating here!



Don’t Use Your Pain for an Inspirational Sales Pitch


I was published on ChurchPlants.com!

Purchase my new book on Amazon here!

—


I don’t tell many people, but English was not my first language. About 99 percent of the time, you wouldn’t be able to tell; but sometimes it slips, and my insecurity spills out sideways.

I’ve had stage fright since sixth grade. To this day, I still get light-headed when I speak in public. I also had a lisp and a stutter, both which occasionally seep out too. For two years of my childhood, I breathed through a machine for an hour each day in order to open up my undeveloped lungs.

I had asthma and chronic bronchitis. I’m legally blind. I’ve had hemorrhoids since I was nine. I permanently damaged my lower left back when I was 15. I’ve struggled with depression, including a suicide attempt in 2004.

I’m allergic to a lot of stuff: dairy, pollen, bugs, dust and every single fruit (so I can’t eat pineapple pizza or most ice creams). I have scars from all my hive break-outs over the years. I have flat feet. I’ve never ran over a mile in my life, because I physically cannot. And I know there are millions of others who are afflicted with so much worse.

I was able to get my black belt by 11 years old but only because my dad pushed me so hard (it also helped that he’s a ninth-degree black belt and owned several dojos). I can max 275 lbs. on the benchpress and part of my job as a pastor is to speak in public several times per week. But all of that was an uphill battle, and still is. None of this comes natural or easy or inherent to my stature.

Yet I tell you this NOT because I’m some kind of victorious story and not to brag or to say, “You can do it too!” My disability is not a motivation for some grand story of redemption. It’s not a cute romantic made-for-TV montage. Because, in fact, life is way harder than that. There are many times I wanted to give up because of my physical limitations, or I let that be an excuse to stay home and wallow in self-victimizing pity.

I could be the positive blogger who says “No matter what!” but really that would be a lie. Knowing that I will never be fully healthy is psychologically taxing, and some days I grit my teeth and barely get through the day.

Would it be easier if God had made me differently? Of course. I have no illusions about “God held me back for a reason,” because much of our brokenness points to the reality that nothing is as it’s meant to be, and nothing is in its true form. I can’t sugarcoat that with a pep-talk that denies the difficulty of our circumstances. I don’t want to be a cheap grinning poster boy for a pseudo-inspirational sales pitch.

The one thing I know is that either way, whether we sit down or move forward, life is pain.

If I choose to stay home, it will hurt.

If I choose to chase my hopes, it will hurt.

If I choose to feel sorry for myself, it will hurt.

If I choose to stand, clench my fists, grit my teeth and grab my dreams: It will hurt.

My physical disability is only half the story: because we’re all saddled with the same anxiety, second-guessing, existential panic and self-doubt. Our brokenness runs deep, and we all work from pain. And it’ll hurt anyway.

So I can’t sit down for long. I do what I can. I am not merely the sum of my abilities nor accomplishments nor weaknesses. I am wherever I’m available, to pursue the passions set before me, now. God help me, God willing, I’m here, to climb this mountain.

— J.S.


Real Healing.


Real healing begins when you scoop out the lies of your distorted thinking and replace them with God’s truth about you. This will hurt. But it’s the only way to real freedom and peace and joy. Everyone will naturally resist this because it feels corny or intrusive, but more than that, it feels undeserved. When we’re so comfortable with the dark, we squint at the possibility of things getting better in the light.

Yet God is so willing to rub the salt of His Word on your wounds so that you can wake up from your own self-loathing. He’s the well of cool water for your bruised tired hands. He’s the only love who could fulfill you enough not to overreact to the pain. God really does want you to know that you are not what has happened to you nor what you’ve done. Jesus came to take your wounds into his own hands and feet, so that you may live. He did this for our final victory in eternity: but he also did this for you today, in this moment, so you may experience a foretaste of that wholeness. And God is going to move at your tempo, never rushing, because He knows that your healing will take a step at a time. But so we must be willing to hold up those truths to our naked hurt, because healing begins with honesty.

— J.S. from What The Church Won’t Talk About


Crazy Blessed: Thank You, Dear Friends.

Best Seller Hot Release Devotionals

On the Amazon Christian Kindle List for Devotionals.



Caleb

My friend Caleb sent this to me. Honored and humbled to be next to the great Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who I also quoted in my book.



LB soap writers block gift

My wonderful friend Lauren from the blog Yesdarlingido sent me this to celebrate the book release.



— J.S.

Get the e-book on Amazon here!

And now in paperback here!