A Future Even I Can’t Screw Up
Click the play button and I’ll read this email letter to you.
Hello, Friend!
Suddenly, it’s summer ☀️ and we are overdue for a newsy update on life and LineHouse.
I thought I’d make this email a bit personal and share what I’m thinking about, working on, and reading right now.
Our Future: Let's use it because we can’t lose it.
I’ve been thinking quite a bit about the future. Why? One reason is because my family and I are moving to Texas this summer. Another reason is because of what I’ve been working on for our upcoming live study on the life of Peter.
Peter, Jesus' disciple, embeds a big idea about the future inside the first of his two letters recorded in the New Testament.
Here it is:
Your future shapes your present more than your present shapes your future.
Let me explain.
I’ve lived so long by an unspoken rule: What I do right now makes my future. So, if I want a good future, then I have to make it good by making good choices now. And, if I make a mistake or drift outside of God’s will, then I damage my future and put it at risk.
My mental map has looked something like this:
(1) what happens next determines (2) what happens later and locks in (3) my forever fate. So today in response, I stress about what I’m going to do, get bitter about what’s been done to me, and put off important decisions for as long as I can.
Maybe you can relate.
But, our man Peter says that’s not the real picture for Jesus followers.
Drink in what Peter says here in his letter:
“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance — an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefined, beyond the reach of change and decay” (1 Peter 1:3-4).
Did you catch that?
As followers of Jesus, there’s a future ahead of us that no one can screw up.
It can’t be twisted, broken, or stolen. It can’t rot or rust or be ripped off. By anyone.
Not even ME.
Peter’s map of the future looks like this:
I can’t begin to tell you the relief I feel from this truth.
Don’t get me wrong. Our daily decisions matter. We do reap what we sow to a point. But, the ending of our story is written in eternal ink. It can’t be edited or erased. Our ultimate future with Jesus is untouchable.
So, as I sit here and face of the near future -- today, tomorrow, ten years from now, that's not my first step.
First, I go to the far future.
NOT with stress, bitterness, deflection or avoidance of what’s next, but to what’s (1) forever and (2) unchangeable. And I import that future into my next moment.
The implications are immense. For one thing, we live and walk from a place of final security. Our misadventures and mistakes can’t change our destiny. Neither can the betrayals and blunders of others. What happens today isn’t make or break. It isn’t do or die. It’s important, but it isn’t everything. The pressure’s off.
And the past mistakes? The pressure is off of them, too. They happened. But, they aren’t everything. Why? Because your final future is untouchable. It’s “beyond the reach of change and decay.”
No wonder Peter calls this future inheritance “priceless.” As a guy who knows what it’s like to walk away from all he claimed to believe and have it recorded forever in the Bible, this unbreakable future brings him relief, stability, and the courage he once pretended to have as a young man.
As I soak in this truth for myself, I start to feel that same relief, stability, and courage. I pray you do, too.
But there's another implication to our secure future
Not only is it true that life can’t change our final future for the worse.
It’s also true that our future can change our present life for the better.
Let me say it another way:
I can’t change the final future God has prepared for me. BUT… that future can change me.
Peter makes that connection when he talks about the implications of God’s future for us:
“So, prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control” (1 Peter 1:13).
Because we live from a place of security, we have options. We have choices. We can change our mindset and behavior. We don’t live at the mercy of what comes our way because we live in the mercy of God and what he holds for our future.
So, we are freed up to make positive choices. Healthy choices.
Instead of stress, bitterness, and worry gluing our feet to the floor we can prepare for action and direct what we want for ourselves beyond self-preservation toward self-control.
That’s what it looks like when we allow our future to shape our present.
My next moment isn't something to worry about. It's opportunity. Even if it looks a little scarry. Because my final future is locked in, I can live in confidence and peace. No stress. No bitterness. No deflection. No delay.
You can't break it. So live it!
How. GREAT. Is. That?
My Summer With Peter
As you can probably tell, I’m spending a lot of time this summer with the disciple we call Peter. I’m loving it. So practical. So encouraging.
He’s an amazing New Testament character. And I do mean character. Swinging swords. Bossing Jesus around. Acting tough. Melting under pressure.
He’s unpredictable and larger than life.
He’s also amazing to study. Because the Bible follows his story from his early moments with Jesus in the Gospels, through his leadership of the young church in Acts, and all the way to the final years of his life in his letters we can track Peter’s growth through the years. When you compare young Peter to the mature Peter in his letters, it's like counting growth rings in a tree trunk. It's a portrait of progress with so much to see and learn.
I can’t wait to share what I'm seeing in his life with you this fall. And, I can’t wait to learn what you see, too!
I hope you’ll look into being part of the study and save some space in your fall calendar for my nine week walk through the key moments in Peter’s life.
It’s coming in September, will be live in person and online.
Our Big Move
All this time with Peter has come at the perfect time for me. It’s helping me face and process all the emotions involved with our family move back the Dallas area this summer. We will be in Frisco starting mid July, so all y’all Texas friends, let’s get together soon!
Since our forever future is secure, this big life change doesn’t seem quite so intense. Sell the house. Sell the car. Donate the stuff. Make the move. It’s not easy, but it’s ok. I'm feeling less stress. Less bitterness. Less pull toward avoidance. I can’t imagine the mess I would be without God’s Word and the Spirit.
From a life standpoint, this is a major upgrade for us!
Sarah has taken on a further leadership role with her agency that’s based in Plano. She’ll cut her travel and be on the same time zone as her team. The boys will have much better school options and are excited about living in a neighborhood with other kids. I look forward to a return to a network of friends and like-minded partners in ministry.
These 7 years back in our hometown of Prescott have been an adventure. From COVID to Park Collective to the unexpected launch of LineHouse, our lives are marked by the people we have encountered along the way. It’s been a hard, humbling, and hugely satisfying season.
Thanks to the wonders of technology, it’s easy to stay in touch. If you don’t have my mobile number and want it, reply to this email with yours and I’ll text you back.
All this change for me won’t change a thing for LineHouse. The Peter study is on for the fall, the One Big Story Bible in a Year with the chrono Bible will be back and better than ever in January, and the LineHouse Israel Tour is on for September 2027.
In fact, this season gives me a chance to continue to pursue my dream and mission to create Bible-centered, community-driven conversations that help neighbors become friends who read and understand the Bible every day.
If you are a prayer and / or financial supporter, not a thing changes. You can still donate the same way and you’ll still receive your receipts for your tax deductible donations… along with my deep gratitude!
Now Reading…
The boys and I discovered The Hobbit audiobook thanks to a recommendation from David. It’s read by Andy Serkis, the actor who played Gollum in the Peter Jackson films. It’s amazing.
Frisco has a large and growing Muslim population, so I’m reading A New Introduction to Islam, by Daniel W. Brown. Recommended to me by a friend and professor at Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in Beirut, it’s a readable, fair, and detailed overview of Islam from its roots to today. Fascinating!
On the top of my reading pile sitsProto: How One Ancient Language Went Global. It’s about the common ancestor of many European and central Asian languages that linguists call Indo-European. Which is a real thing. If you’ve ever wondered why many of today’s languages have words that mean and sound similar to each other, you’ll be interested in Indo-European. Of course, the Bible tells the story behind how all our languages share a common origin (as those of you who were part of this spring’s Abraham study discovered). I’m interested to see where Proto can fill in the details.
That’s the latest from my house… How about yours?
With the move and a fall study with Peter on the horizon, I’m thankful God has written a future for his people that can’t be edited or erased.
Thanks for your friendship and prayers.
What’s up in your world? How can I be praying with you? Drop me a line and let me know.
