Category: Devotional Blog

Profound thoughts, often challenging the Christian.

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What My Mentor Taught Me.

My Uncle Mike is amazing. He’s probably the most brilliant mentor ever. He has forgotten more about Worship Arts Ministry than I know. Several times I have asked him for advice about a certain situation, wanting to tap into his seemingly infinite knowledge. Each time I fully expected him to say, “Adam, the solution is simple. You need to _____.”

But he never has done that. He’ll start by saying something like, “What do you think?” or “What do your instincts tell you to do?”  I hate it when he asked that! It would be so much easier if he just told me how to think. But he never did that. He continued to ask question after question until I solved my own problem.

As time went on, I found myself contacting my Uncle Mike for advice less and less. Every time I encountered a potential problem I started to intuitively ask MYSELF, “Adam, what do your instincts tell you to do in this situation?” If my Uncle Mike told me how to think, then I would be an Uncle Mike Junior (not that that would be all bad, I mean he’s pretty cool). But instead, my Uncle Mike helped develop me into my own person with my own leadership “guts.” Would it have been faster and easier for him to just tell me what to do? Sure, but not better.

I wrote this down on paper last February (I don’t remember why):

“A disciple-maker/mentor must regularly check his motives. The disciple-maker’s goal is to develop his proteges into devoted followers of Christ, in the context of their giftings, Calling (with a capital C), and personal vision.”

By the way, if you consider yourself a devoted follower of Christ and you’re not mentoring someone else, well, Jesus told us to go and make disciples… so get going. You don’t have to be a super-Christian. You just need to be honest. I wrote about that in 2006 right here.

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Happy Birthday.

Woot!!! My blog is exactly two years old today. I can’t think of anything creative to do in celebration except to link back to my blog post on June 3, 2006. I wrote it while on my internship in Tulsa, Oklahoma with Pastor Ed Gungor. Here it is.

Also, just for kicks, I must share with you. I saw in my Google Analytics report that someone got to my site by searching in Google, “what happened to ‘Turbo’ from American Gladiators?” lol. Cracks me up.

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I Am Ironman.

When I was little I wanted to be a superhero. I even filled a backpack with all the superhero essentials: rope (to swing from building to building), squirt guns, a mask, and a belt with cool crap on it. I wanted to be Batman, specifically. My best friend wanted to be Superman. Another one of my friends wanted to be Spiderman. Together – we would save the world. I doubt I’m the only one who wanted to be a superhero! Truth be told – most of us (especially the guys) wanted to be a superhero as well.

Recently it occurred to me that I am a superhero — I’m a Christian. Consider this:

Superheros help people — Christians are Christ’s ambassadors, and so therefore help people. Superheros save the day — Christians are working with the Guy who did. Superheros have superpowers to do amazing things — Christians have supernatural powers to heal (amongst other things), when they’re walking with Christ and lined up with the will of Christ. I mean to think about all the things that a Christian is supposed to do — all the responsibility God has placed in the hands of His Church — its incredible, and very similar to being a superhero! I AM IRONMAN!

Now don’t wet yourself – Jesus is the only one who really saves. I’m not trying to diminish His role – but I’m trying to help all of us remember how important OUR role is! God has given US the responsibility of being His ambassadors.

So many people (even most Christians) think that Christianity is boring. It’s about being a nice, clean, good (and boring) person. That’s ridiculous.

I remember just under 10 years ago I was at church camp. Pastor Matt Keller was giving an altar call for those that wanted to open their lives up completely to Christ and would say to God, “However You want to use me, I’m available.” I remember when Pastor Matt followed that up and said, “Be careful responding to this altar call – if you open your life up to be used by God, HE WILL USE IT!” I remember how seriously I devoted my entire being to Christ that night.

From that moment on weird crap started happening to me. I often feel like I’m living in a well scripted action movie. Its as if God is directing a movie called, “Adam Diehl — the Superhero.” I’m not swinging from building to building knocking out muggers, but the opportunities God has orchestrated into my life is absolutely amazing. I couldn’t have a more action packed life if I were Indiana Jones.

Many men spend their lives looking for action and adventure. You will never find more action and adventure than in the life that is completely devoted to Christ.

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Steven Curtis Chapman and Evangelism.

Okay I had absolutely no intention of creating an evangelism blog series this week – it just sorta happened! So here’s the impromptu part 3!

Steven Curtis Chapman has a song called “Live Out Loud.” Check out these lyrics:

Imagine this, I get a phone call from Regis. He says, “Do you want to be a millionaire?” They put me on the show and I win with two lifelines to spare. Picture this: I act like nothing ever happened – I bury all my money in a coffee can. Well I’ve been given more than Regis ever gave away, I was a dead man who was called to out of my grave. I think its time for makin’ some noise.”

How true is this?! I agree with SCC, we need to LIVE LOUDLY! Christians should LIVE so loudly that everyone around them can hear, “Jesus!” HOWEVER . . .

God never intended for us to be cookie cutter Christians, He knew what he was doing when he made each of us differently. Living loudly isn’t going to look the same for all of us. Your personality will effect the style of your loud living. But one thing remains – we must live loud.

I remember a few teachers in High School that loved teaching. There were just some teachers that loved teaching so much that you could tell it wasn’t just a job to them. They genuinely loved teaching. I also remember a couple teachers that hated teaching. Especially several substitute teachers. You could tell. They never said they hated it but it couldn’t be hidden. It was obvious they hated teaching (two of the teachers I’m thinking of are no longer in the education field!). Kids can always tell how their teachers really feel about their job — they can’t hide what’s on the inside.

That’s what it means to live loudly.

Living loud doesn’t (necessarily) mean that I have to get on a soap box to share Christ. Living loudly means that my internal life is being revolutionized by Christ (I use the present tense, “being,” because its a never ending goal). Folks – this is the secret right here, but it often gets unintentionally ignored and overlooked (even by pastors and leaders) because its not observable and measurable by others. But that’s the key to living loudly – our relationship with God must be loud on the INSIDE before anything else. After that, it will come out of you through and in the style of your personality, in everyday situations.

Steven Curtis Chapman says it best, “If we’ve really been given the gift of life that will never end and if we’ve been filled with living hope we’re gonna overflow and if God’s love is burning in our hearts we’re gonna glow — There’s just no way to keep it in.” 

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Scientology and Evangelism.

I had heard a lot about Scientology. It’s a religion created out of thin air in the past 100 years, and has thousands of followers. I had heard it was all about removing the aliens from your mind, created by a science fiction writer (both of which are true facts) who was quoted as saying something to the effect of, “Religion is where the big money is at.” But nobody would actually head into Scientology thinking they have aliens in the mind, right? I mean that’s a little far fetched. So I decided to do some checking about what the Church of Scientology advertises about Scientology. I watched numerous videos on their website asking myself the question, “What’s the draw? Why are so many people believing this?” Here’s what I came up with:

Scientology is practical! They provide real life solutions and answers to what we’re thinking and feeling. I think that right there is the kicker – its relevant! (I’m not saying its truth, but relevant to our everyday lives).

Christians, take a snapshot of your daily life. Imagine someone else looking at that snapshot. Would they see a life that has been and is being revolutionized by Jesus? Would they see a Jesus that is stagnant and insignificantly in your life . . . or would they see a Jesus that is passionately renovating your entire being? Would they see a Jesus that applies to today?

With that in mind, I understand why 55,000 Americans have picked Scientology over a stagnant and insignificant relationship with God. Psh – I DON’T BLAME THEM!

The key to evangelism in every situation is to show the one that is seeking for Truth that Jesus is the Truth they’re looking for. People around us are already looking for Jesus – they just don’t know it. Scientology provides answers when Christians (and their lives) remain silent. Start living louder.

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Foofighters and Evangelism.

Earlier today when I was mowing my lawn kept singing the first line of “All My Life” by Foofighters:

“All my life I’ve been searching for something…”

Then it hit me – I’VE GOT WHAT HE’S SEARCHING FOR!

Christians, the world around us is truly searching for Jesus – they just don’t know it. They’re not interested in the Jesus that shakes his finger at anyone who sins and takes the fun out of life. They’re searching for a Jesus that is loving, just, accepting, sovereign and brings fulfillment and revolutionizes lives. Why don’t we give them what they are searching for? (Maybe you haven’t even let Jesus REVOLUTIONIZE your life???)

The key to evangelism is not standing on a soapbox declaring “The End is Near” or knocking on doors (although if that works – more power to you). The key to evangelism in every situation is to show the one that is seeking for Truth that Jesus is the Truth they’re looking for. People around us are already looking for Jesus – they just don’t know it.

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I Have a Big Announcement to Make!

I am not perfect. There it is. That’s the big announcement. The rumors are true – Adam Diehl indeed is still trying to fully put to death his sinful nature.

If my pastor gave an altar call for people who are struggling with something and need God’s help, every Christian would fit into one of three categories:
1) Christians who are struggling, awknowledge their struggle, and respond to the altar call.
2) Christians who stopped struggling and have started to live complacently with their lousy lives rejecting the power of Christ. These people don’t even realize they stopped struggling and are stuck in a rut.
3) Christians who are struggling, but they lie to themselves and do not respond to the altar call.

Sometimes I feel that if I admit that I am struggling with a sin than that makes me less of a Christian — like people will think I’m a horrible person if I admit a struggle. If someone admits a struggle, Christians should say, “Yahoo! They’re FIGHTING and not giving in!” Struggles are universal and guaranteed, but how you respond to your sinful struggle is another story.

Too many of us are lying, arrogant pigs on the inside (of course it doesn’t look this way from the outside!). C.S. Lewis wrote much on this subject of pride. Our religious pride causes us to become outright liars to ourselves, justifying our own sins, actions, and motives so that we don’t admit we have a problem. We all have a battle of our two natures; struggling with sin is a GIVEN – so why do we hide it?

A great man once wrote, “Confess your sins to one another and pray for each other so that you can be healed” (James 5:16).

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Hey Cross Boy!

If you read about the early church in the Book of Acts, you will see a drastic difference between today’s Christianity and the church described in the Book of Acts. Extraordinary events today were ordinary for first century Christians: healing, dead being raised to life, hundreds coming to Christ every day, miracle after miracle after miracle. So I dug into the Book of Acts to answer this question, “What did the early Church do that Christians today are not doing?” This post is a part of a series of posts that aim to answer this question.

I grew up hearing about persecution and how we should stand up for what we believe in even when we are persecuted.

In sixth grade, my older brother had a really cool cross necklace made from bent nails that he got at a “D.C. Talk: Jesus Freak” concert. One morning he gave me permission to wear it to school. Of course I was jazzed about this because I would be COOL. I wore it all day and I remember in gym class another guy named Jacob called out to get my attention, “Hey Cross Boy!” I got really excited when he called me cross boy. I remember leaving the 6th Grade locker room with a big smile on my face thinking, “YESSSSS, I’m being persecuted for Christ!” Being called a name like this was hardly persecution but I didn’t realize that in 6th grade!

As I studied the book of Acts, I was shocked at what the Early Church went through in order to tell others about Jesus. Right
here is a huge list. They had opposition to the gospel EVERYWHERE they went! After the stoning of Stephen in Acts 7, persecution broke out against ALL Christians. Now we’re not talking about calling them “Cross boy” — I mean serious persecution! Serious enough that everyone MOVED and scattered all over the region. I can only imagine they were running for fear of their LIVES. Yet this life threatening persecution drove them CLOSER to Christ and they told others about God ALL THE MORE!

So let’s compare this with American Christianity. There are two things I think the early church had that we are missing. We aren’t driven to Christ, and we back down at persecution.

We aren’t driven to Christ. When the early Church was persecuted it stirred their faith even more. In America, especially in the Midwest region, we aren’t stirred in our faith. We don’t have extreme persecution. If there is to be a revival we MUST be stirred in our faith. I’m not a prophet nor do I feel I am prophesying, however I want to make a PREDICTION (based on my own gut instincts and not on anything God told me). I predict that the economy will get much worse than it is right now. I predict the value of the US $ will plummet and financial difficulties will turn hearts back to the Church, and then to God. God wants ALL of ALL our hearts – and he’ll use an economic depression if that’s what it takes to get us stirred in our faith. We must be driven towards Christ!

We back down at persecution. This is an understatement. American Christians DON’T back down at persecution – American Christians do not live loud enough for the slightest speck of persecution to arise! We are petrified of being persecuted! Christians are the only religious followers who seem to be scared to tell others what they believe. Very few American Christians get any sort of persecution because they don’t do what they believe in the first place. This is a significant problem. I’ve heard it said, “If you don’t have someone mad at you, you’re probably not making much of a difference.” I think there’s a lot of truth to that statement.

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‘Tis a Gift to Be Simple

If you read about the early church in the Book of Acts, you will see a drastic difference between today’s Christianity and the church described in the Book of Acts. Extraordinary events today were ordinary for first century Christians: healing, dead being raised to life, hundreds coming to Christ every day, miracle after miracle after miracle. So I dug into the Book of Acts to answer this question, “What did the early Church do that Christians today are not doing?” This post is a part of a series of posts that aim to answer this question.

Let this video play while you are reading this post:

In 1864, Elder Joseph wrote this song, “Simple Gifts” while living in a Shaker Community:

‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free,

‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,

‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gain’d,

To bow and to bend we shan’t be asham’d,
To turn, turn will be our delight,

Till by turning, turning we come round right.

The concept of living simply is clearly rooted in the early church in the book of Acts. Check these references from Acts. The early church lived a simple life in order to help others. There are two areas where I think we are too complicated.

Firstly, our finances are too complicated. We have far more things than we have any use for. Do we really need extra vehicles? How many T.V.’s do we actually need? Now I’m not trying to shake a finger and claim that we should live in poverty. If you are financially blessed, be blessed, but remember that you are blessed to be a blessing.

Secondly, our minds are too complicated. We need to shut up and listen more. I wrote about that a couple years ago.

Spend a couple minutes meditating on the words of “Simple Gifts” and/or the scriptures listed behind the reference link above (feel free to check the contexts). Ask God how he may want you to live more simply in order to help the Church.

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Family Ties.

If you read about the early church in the Book of Acts, you will see a drastic difference between today’s Christianity and the church described in the Book of Acts. Extraordinary events today were ordinary for first century Christians: healing, dead being raised to life, hundreds coming to Christ every day, miracle after miracle after miracle. So I dug into the Book of Acts to answer this question, “What did the early Church do that Christians today are not doing?” This post is a part of a series of posts that aim to answer this question.

As I read through the book of Acts there was a huge theme that kept coming up – FAMILY. I didn’t recognize this pattern until chapter 21, so that’s why this list of scriptures is not comprehensive.

There were many people traveling and spreading Christianity in the first century church – and they were all treated like family. When Paul is writing to churches, he often says things like, “I long to be with you . . .” The church viewed themselves as family.

I think this is one thing that’s challenging the American church today – we aren’t a family. Take Galatians 6:2 for example, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” What does it mean to carry each other’s burden?

About a year ago I had a friend that came to me and confessed to me that he was struggling with a sexual addiction. All it took was a girl to wink at him and he would have her in bed by the end of the day, sometimes within the hour. He was a Christian, but he was struggling. He came to me because he wanted to be healed and he trusted me. I prayed for him. A few days later he called me up and explained that he had sex with another girl again. I couldn’t believe that he was so far into sin and did it again! I couldn’t believe he was such a lousy human being – that’s really what I was thinking. His situation made me very uncomfortable and I began avoiding his phone calls and text messages until he stopped calling and leaving messages.

When I read Galatians 6:1-2 last month I felt great conviction from my actions a year earlier. I didn’t treat this brother like a brother – I treated him like an enemy simply because the nature of his sin made me uncomfortable. That’s my problem, not his. I wanted Christianity to be nice, clean, orderly, and easy. He was making it messy. In reality my friend had a healthier perspective of Christianity than I did – Christianity should be filled with messy poop, because poop is a sign of life!

If the American church really grasped this idea of our spiritual family ties, I think we would see more people openly confessing their sins. We would have a much healthier Christianity — we would be carrying each other’s burden.

Can I give you the same challenge I’m giving myself? It has two parts. First, be accepting of a Christian who’s confessing their sins to you. Remember they’re confessing because James 5:16 says “Confess your sins to one another and pray for one another so that you can be healed.” Secondly, don’t disobey the Bible – find people you can confess your sins to that will pray for you. And then do it!

**Cue Exit music: Sister Sledge doing “We Are Family”**