We have a home warranty. We renewed it this year intentionally because the heating / AC unit on our house is 19 years old. With a life expectancy of 10 years, we knew it was likely to go out. And it did.

On October 28th.

We have had intermittent heating issues since then. Sometimes it wouldn’t blow any air at all. Other times it would blow cold air. Each time I called our home warranty company since the terms of the contract state they would repair or replace the unit. After 12 visits from technicians from 3 different companies, it was clear to me that no repairs would hold and so I started pushing for a replacement unit.

No dice.

I pushed.

No luck.

I was mean and said things I shouldn’t have. I had to call back and apologize.

Nothing.

I wrote letters to the board of directors of this company. I filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. I compalined. I called. I bellowed. I appealed. I even prayed (not necessarily for the souls of the people on the other end of the line, admittedly).

I think I felt a little like the woman Jesus described in Luke 18:

“There was a judge in one town who didn’t fear God or respect man. And a widow in that town kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ For a while he was unwilling, but later he said to himself, ‘Even though I dont fear God or respect man, yet because this widow keeps pestering me, I will give her justice, so she doesn’t wear me out by her persistent coming.’”

It’s easy to look at this passage and think that Jesus’ point is something like, “If you just pray enough, you can wear God down. You have to beat on the door of heaven to get what you need, just like this woman annoyed the judge into granting her justice.”

But that’s not Jesus’ point at all. We encountered a company who was doing business the way business is done – which is to make money. And to buy a new heating unit for a family is considerably more expensive than sending out technicians to put band-aids on it.

Jesus’ point is that God isn’t like that. At all:

“Listen to what the unjust judge says. Will not God grant justice to His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay to help them? I tell you that He will swiftly grant them justice. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find that faith on the earth?”

We are getting a new heater. After 2 months of pestering, the company has relinquished and is buying it for us. And as it’s delivered, it stands as a reminder that God isn’t like the home warranty company. Or the judge. He’s the Father who stands ready to help His children. He knows what we need before we ask.

He knows, in fact, better than we do what we need. If God delays His answer or it comes in a different form than we might expect, it’s not because He’s trying to save a buck. Or because He’s hard of hearing. It’s because He’s vastly more committed to our good than we are.

Do I believe that? Maybe a little more today.

I wanted to call your attention today to 2 small group Bible studies I’ve written for Threads called The Tough Sayings of Jesus and The Tough Sayings of Jesus 2. Along with the Bible study book, each of which contains 4 interactive sessions, each one focusing on a difficult saying of Jesus, there is a leader kit.

These leader kits contain video segments, audio recordings, and a host of other tools to help you facilitate a small group study of the material.

So how about a New Year’s giveaway?

If you would be interested in starting a small group of either volume 1 or volume 2, I’ve got 2 copies of each leader kit (priced at $69.95) to give away here on the blog. All you have to do if you want to be included in the drawing is send me an email with your name and address. I’ll compile all the entries and do a drawing and then ship them out to you at no cost.

If you wouldn’t mind posting on your Facebook, twitter, or blog that you entered, and then that you won and are doing the study if indeed you do, I’d really appreciate it.

Send the email entry to: michael.kelleyatlifeway.com. (Pretty sure I’m supposed to do my email like that to keep the spammers away). I’ll draw the morning of Wednesday, January 13.

Happy New Year! 2010 is here, and we’ve all made the transition from looking back at the past year to looking forward to the new one. Part of that looking forward involves resolutions and goals.

Oh boy.

I think we’ve all done it at least one – we make a resolution, get about 4 hours into New Year’s Day, and think, “Why did I say that I would do that?”

It’s that time you decided to not eat chocolate for an entire year. Or when you decided that you would go from doing the eliptical machine to completing an Iron Man. Or when you decided to begin everyday with 200 pushups. That’s what the question is about today:

“What’s the worst New Year’s Resolution you’ve ever made?”

**The goal of “One Question Friday” is simple: To show that everyone has something funny, engaging, creative, and worthwhile to say. So comment away! Be real. Be creative. Think hard. And check back to see how others answered the question.

Having trouble saying good-bye to Christmas? Me, too. Here’s one more Christmas post, and also a way to celebrate the year that was on youtube.

(HT: Stacey)

Let me update you if you don’t care anything about the NFL. The Indianapolis Colts brought a 14-0 record into their game with the New York Jets on Sunday. They were 2 games away from going undefeated in the regular season. Of course, the New England Patriots did just that a couple of years ago, but lost the Superbowl. The only team in NFL history to have a perfect season – that is going undefeated and winning the Superbowl – remains the 1972 Dolphins.

As a piece of related trivia, every year on the opening day of the NFL season, every surviving member of that Dolphins team puts a bottle of champagne on ice. They all pop the cork when the last undefeated team goes down. It’s been that way for over 30 years, and on Sunday, there were corks popping all over the country.

The Colts had the lead going into the third quarter when, amidst the boos from the hometown fans, they pulled out their starters. The second string played the rest of the game and Indy lost their undefeated season. They are now 14-1.

There are 2 sides to this argument. There are those who would say that Indy did the right thing. If they left their starters in, they might have won, but someone could have gotten hurt. Their goal has always been to win the Superbowl, and having a perfect regular season but losing in the playoffs might be more pain than not making the playoffs at all. Those who believe this take the big picture approach, saying you have to give a little in the short-term in order to keep your eyes focused on the long term prize.

I am of a different opinion.

The Colts were standing on the edge of something great. Something historical. Something that has only been done once before. If they left their starters in, sure, someone could have gotten hurt. But they might not have. The Colts might still be undefeated and ready to ride that record into the postseason.

This is hard for me to say since I’m a “play-it-safe” kind of guy. But there are moments when you sit on the edge of something. Something great. And you have to take a chance. If you do and you lose, at least you’ll never have the “what-if’s” that come later in life. At least you’ll know you tried with all your might and left nothing back. The Colts won’t ever have that now, regardless of what happens in the playoffs.

To me, it seems like the Colts decision was motivated more out of fear of failing than desire for success. And I don’t like being motivated by fear. I want to live an increasing way with a sense of hope and optimism about the future not being ruled by what might or might not happen.

After all, there’s alot to be learned from failing.

What do you think?

I’m a resolution guy. Every year at this time, I evaluate my resolutions from the previous year and make some new ones for the coming year. I like to divide them into categories: financial, spiritual development, family, and ministry.

But here’s the thing about making resolutions like that: Often when you look back, you’re either disappointed by your lack of effort in the previous year. And when you look forward, you do so with the attitude of, “I’m really going to try hard and get it this year.”

Effort isn’t bad. Effort is necessary. But too often in my life, I find myself trying hard at the wrong thing.

Let’s take a physical goal, for example. Let’s say that in 2010, you want to lose 20 pounds. So you resolve that you’re really going to try hard to do it. You get ready to try hard by throwing away all the cookies in the house. You try hard by looking up all the low-calorie recipes you can find. Then you try hard by going to the gym every day.

Or you do for a while.

The problem with trying hard like that is that you run out of steam. Always. What if there was a better way to try? What if we are trying hard at the wrong thing?

This year, I’m going to try hard to believe. In the case of losing 20 pounds, I’m not going to focus my effort on the weight. Instead, I’m going to try hard to believe that my body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. I’m going to try hard to believe that God will empower me to honor Him with my body. I’m going to try hard to believe that He’s my sustenance, not another bad of Doritos.

There’s a huge difference. One is centered on sweat; the other is centered on faith. One lifts up the power of humanity; the other lifts up the power of God. One is about me; the other is about the gospel. Perhaps we should not be asking, “Why can’t I try hard enough to accomplish these things?” Maybe we should instead be asking what we should be trying hard to believe about God and His work in our lives. Perhaps it is that belief – that faith – that can result in the change we need.

Faith is the center of all things. Even trying harder.

Who knew Francis Chan was that funny?

(HT: Challies)

Fine idea, but I’m not sure if I can get behind this:

Read about the “movement” here.

Sunday we celbrated the end of Joshua’s chemotherapy. For 3 1/2 years we have eaten at Chick-fil-a at least once a week. But every time we were there, we had to tell Joshua, “I’m sorry. You can’t play in the playground. The doctors know you could get sick too easily because of the medicine you take.”

But on Sunday, that all changed. The owner of the restaurant opened up the doors on Sunday to allow us to celebrate Joshua’s last chemo pill. Alongside Joshua’s best buddies and some of the amazing people who have supported us over these 3 difficult years, we counted down Joshua’s last five pills. He swallowed them like a pro and had a piece of cake as big as his face. As you can see from the video below, he’s still coming down from the sugar high.

Wow. That’s a milestone.