tim's blog

Jesus stood

2010-08-09T08:55:00.003-05:00

There is only one time - that we can read about - when Jesus stood beside His Father's throne: when Stephen was stoned to death for his faith.

Last week, 10 Christians were summarily executed in Afghanistan after spending several weeks in remote Afghan villages providing medical care to the people there...

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack as international reaction ranged from disgust at the abject barbarism to anguish for these saints and their families.

One of the members of the team was Tom Little, an optometrist from New York who has lived in Afghanistan for 30 years... he raised his family there, and has been providing free eye care and organizing medical missions since he moved there in the late 70s...

As I think about these precious brothers and sisters who literally gave their life to serve others, I wonder if Jesus is standing now...

May God grant peace and comfort to the family members left behind... and may the angels welcome these 10 new residents with a grand bash worthy of royalty!

San Francisco

2010-07-20T08:41:00.002-05:00

just got back from a whirlwind tour of San Francisco! a B E A U tiful city!

Truly enjoyed the culture, the people, the geography and the iconic landmarks... we walked across the Golden Gate, had a piece of Pizza in the Haight Ashbury district, took in a Giants game at AT&T (Candlestick) Park and saw the 'Full House' house! -even played in the park from the Full House opening credits! :-)

First Day did a benefit concert for Agape Villages and led worship at Lake Merced Church of Christ... it was a really perfect weekend!

Caitlin joined us for the trip.... and the only regret is that my other 3 girls couldn't be with me!

blessed indeed!

amazing Panama

2010-06-28T07:15:00.002-05:00

the people of Panama are what makes the country so amazing! My family and I traveled to the Western Province of Chiroqui in June of 07, and fell in love...

but after just returning from a week which spanned 8 days and all but 2 provinces, I gotta say Panama is as diverse as any other country!

Meeting precious people from several different Indian Tribes from Cocle to Darien reminded me how different people in the same country can be...

It was a terrific trip, and I am a better, richer person for having gone...

Thank you to all who prayed and supported. Without you, none of this happens...

check out pics and comments:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/First-Day/112759002083082?v=wall

http://www.riversideinpanama.blogspot.com/

more later!

Blessings!

hedges and walls

2010-04-26T11:25:00.002-05:00

There is a lot of bad stuff going on in our world... I read about it in the news and see it on TV: foreign wars, gang-banging, murders...

and I learn about stuff in my own little myopic world: families crumbling.... cancer progressing... moms leaving, daddies cheating...

and it is hard to reconcile all this... it's difficult to understand... I want to apply a 'cause' to every 'effect', but it doesn't always add up.

yeah, I suppose one could see (through 20/20 hindsight, of course) how this flirtation or that stray look or that 'what if' thought could lead to cheating and disappointment and hurt and separation. ...or how ignoring the family to climb one more ladder rung could lead to resentment and loss.

but what do I do with a 17 yr old in a coma after a car accident which he couldn't avoid? or a dying momma succumbing to the ravages of cancer?

I am not sure.

But I pray every day that God continue to build a hedge around my family... and that His Spirit give me strength to fortify the wall around my heart with prayer and Bible study.

At the end of the day, I just have to understand that I don't understand. So I have to fix my mind on Him and surround myself with His people and do everything in my power to stay vigilant and watchful... to avoid temptation when I see it and pray God's protection when I don't see it.

and i have to believe He is in control. ....that the sovereign God of the universe who sent His only Son to die for me knows what I need. and provides it.

Blessings!

Jonathan Richardson remembered

2010-03-15T10:12:00.002-06:00

I met him only a couple times at family gatherings.

Technically speaking, he was my step-nephew. My daddy married his grandma 12 years ago after we lost momma to lung cancer.

Last Tuesday he was warming his hands by the fire at the Army Base in Khost, Afghanistan, when a Taliban suicide bomber dressed as an Afghan Police officer walked up and pulled the ripcord on his bomb vest, ending the lives of Jonathan and his best friend... two more American Soldiers in their mid twenties who joined the growing number of Americans killed in action in operation Enduring Freedom.

Jonathan leaves behind a wife and a momma and brother.

He was a decorated Soldier who died way to young in a place which is, by definition, God-forsaken.

I am not politically active anymore. And this is not the time or place to rant about the 'why'...

I simply want to honor Jonathan: another hero who came home from this war to be buried and remembered.

You are missed here, my young friend. terribly missed.

I know the angels are celebrating your arrival there. And from that we will gain peace.

God Bless

what goodbye looks like

2010-03-01T07:35:00.003-06:00

I saw what a 70 year goodbye looks like yesterday.

After the mourners paid their respects and made their exit, it was just the family.

and after the nieces and nephews and cousins and son and daughter said their farewell, it was Jimmy's turn.

'til death do us part.

it takes on a new meaning when you watch a broken man say goodbye to the only love he ever knew.

The music had long since stopped playing...

and finally it was just this frail old beautiful man... touching the face and hands of his beloved best friend. Sobbing openly and loudly... pouring out the contents of his heart. Bidding farewell to his bride of almost 70 years.

It was a very sobering and lovely moment.

And if I live to be 120 years old, I will never forget it.

compromised immune system

2009-12-23T07:55:00.002-06:00

When I was a boy, mom and dad smoked. A lot. When you walked from room to room, you could actually see the 'clouds' part as you cut through them... sorta like a jet airplane leaving those cool swirly contrails as it knifes through fog...

Most everyone's parents smoked. It was the thing to do... I mean, think of how popular a gift the ashtray was... How would you like to own an ashtray company today?

Anyhow, a few weeks ago, my family was passing around a winter headcold... they're very thoughtful that way. and, of course, I caught it.

But because my momma and daddy smoked for all 18 of my years at home, a simple head cold descended into my compromised lungs and became bronchitis, heading toward pneumonia. And I did what I have done at least once a year for most of my adult life: I went to the doctor, got a steroid shot, started on a high-powered antibiotic and a codeine-laced cough syrup and laid in bed for a couple days while God and the medicine did their work.

It's miserable. It's not end-of-the-world miserable (though my wife will tell you I am the BIGGEST BABY on the planet... and she's right!), but it is very very unpleasant.

and it got me to thinking... how many of my peers and fellow adults are smoking around their kids and grand kids. I think I will start preaching my message to every idiot who lights up in a confined space - like a car - with a child inside... yeah, I think I will...

but it also got me to thinking something else... when we are 'surrounded' and daily bombarded with spiritual pollution, what long-term affects might that have?

I mean, if my lungs are indeed unable to defend themselves against a common head cold - like most peoples' lungs can easily do - how bout my soul? How is THAT affected by all the 'smoke' I have inhaled (wittingly or not) over the years?

That's the thing with sin. You may think you are maintaining a perfectly healthy defense system... but all the while you are letting junk into your mind that erodes and corrupts your spiritual immune system.

'minor' temptations then become not so minor. and falling into habitual sin becomes much more possible...

what antibiotic do you take then? what shot do you get? How do you undo the damage from all the garbage you have allowed to enter your soul?

here's the deal with my lungs... I asked the doc if there was anything I could do to repair whatever damage has been done. I was a little bit scared to learn that there is not. I will always have a compromised respiratory system because of what I was exposed to when I was a boy. Period.

thankfully, God does give us a salve that can heal. I pray daily that God will remove the bad things from my 'soulmemory' that I have exposed my heart to over the years... and His Word is a healing balm that WILL undo what damage we have done.

Thank God!

From Eternity to Here

2009-12-06T07:50:00.000-06:00

My First Frank Viola book was Pagan Christianity, and it gave me a voracious appetite to read whatever else Mr Viola had to say on the subject of 'church'.

and I have not been disappointed! His books speak to my heart in a way that no other writings on the subject ever have... and I suspect I am not alone. I am 47 years old and, like most of my friends, woke up a decade or so ago to ask "is this it?"

I was 'raised in the church' like most of my peer group... but always felt like what I was 'doing' - which consisted of spending an inordinate amount of time deciding and executing what was done at a building 2 hours a week - was empty and relatively meaningless.

Mr Viola hits me right between the eyes with each of the books I have read... and 'from eternity to here' (like his other books) does not simply sit back and take potshots at organized religion, it gives terrific, real, relevant, Biblical insight to the burning question of my day: "what IS church?"

I highly recommend this book to any serious seeker of the Way!

Blessings!

the Message

2009-11-30T08:25:00.006-06:00

So my friend Doyne introduced me to a new (to me) version of the Word... it is called the Message... many of you have heard of it.... I had.

But I hadn't read it until a few weeks ago... and I gotta admit I am hooked!

Some will argue that it is a watered down version... others, no doubt, will call it a per-version (instead of a 'version'... cute play on words, don't you think?) The latter group are the same ilk who once stated that 'NIV' would be more aptly titled the 'HIV' because it is a virus... (yeah, I know... sorta blasphemous, huh?)

anyhow, it occurred to me yesterday - during a sermon which culminated with the 'fruit of the spirit' in Galatians 5 - why this version may be so good. It certainly speaks to the heart of most seekers.... it is in plain language and is very easy to read and simple to understand (sorta like the Gospel, right?)

but the one piece of it which I believe makes 'the Message' very important is this:

it speaks about concepts instead of lists

which drives the anal retentive (like me) absolutely nuts!

I like lists! I crave them!

and my old KJV (and even, to a lesser extent, my NIV) really does an incredible job of satisfying my 'list hunger'...

but yesterday, while I was listening to the preacher - who read from the NIV while I followed in my 'message' - it hit me! Here is the difference:

NIV:
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage; selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."

now there are some GREAT LISTS! and pretty easy to understand, no doubt.... but we like lists SO MUCH that we memorize the list... we write tunes to go with them so we can sing them in Children's Church! (and there is nothing wrong with that....) but...

I believe with all that is in me that Paul is NOT trying to provide us with an exhaustive list of 'bad things' that we must avoid... he is drawing a character sketch, describing for us the types of things unGodly people habitually DO which makes them WHO they ARE! (obviously we want to avoid becoming THAT way, so we will run away from everything on the 'list'...)

nor is he trying to give us a complete list of all good things... he is painting a masterpiece of what a Godly person looks like by listing a sampling of what Godly people DO which makes them WHO they ARE!

here is the Message's "take" on Galatians 5:19-23:
"It is obvious what kind of life develops from trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods, magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness, cut-throat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied-wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits, the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community; I could go on. This isn't the first time I've warned you, you know... If you use your freedom in this way, you will not inherit God's Kingdom.
But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard - things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about."

Harder to make a song out of that, I know.... but I believe it paints an accurate picture of a Godly person versus an unGodly one.

I am certain that Bible Scholars will not agree with my assessment of 'the Message'. I wouldn't expect them to.... they are paid to make lists and test students on those lists...

I am no longer certain that any of THAT matters.

I am fearful that we have replaced the Bible command to 'engraft' the word in our hearts (James 1:21) with the rote memorization of lists from a particular Bible translation... we have become those Pharisees Jesus talks about in harsh tones who 'pray to be seen by men' and 'wear their phylacteries (scripture boxes) on their heads for all to see....'

I don't know that 'the Message' will change any of that.... but this version speaks to my heart... it reads like a novel, and I cannot put it down!

Blessings!

grace growers

2009-11-15T12:27:00.002-06:00

we've all got em'.

grace growers... you may not know it, but you've got 'em...

don't believe me?

take this test:

Is there someone in my life that make my life more difficult?
Does it seem like no matter where I go or what I do, THAT person is there, testing my patience?

yeah, me too....

and until last week, I looked at that person with.... well.... let's say my attitude toward that person was less than great. (OK, I wished they would move away from here and that I would NEVER have to see them again!) sorry. that's how I felt.

but last week a friend was describing a person in her life that was an absolute thorn in her side... consistently and continually.

but she did not describe this person as her nemesis or as an enemy or as the devil (all descriptions which I have used for MY thorn)... she described HER thorn as a grace grower.

yep, a grace grower.... someone who God places (and keeps) in your life to teach you grace.

wow. grace growers...

we've all got 'em... and God is using them to teach us. He's using mine to teach me... to be merciful and gracious and forgiving. and less judgemental and less harsh...

James says we should count it as pure joy when we are tried. I never made the connection between THAT and my grace grower..... til now.

it doesn't make it any more pleasant for me.... but maybe pleasant is not exactly what God has for me... perhaps pleasant is not what I need.

(you see 'em differently now, don't you? maybe you see them a little more like God does....)

blessings!

your problems may not be that big

2009-11-10T15:21:00.003-06:00

So... while I travel along my selfish path, I become convinced that I am the center of my world.

and that everyone else is somehow orbiting me, the center... the sun.

Before long, I am certain that anyone who is not completely in tune with my vibe and in agreement with my idea is my enemy... or at the very least, ignorant and unenlightened.

how can I be so self-absorbed?

If I will look up from my arrogance for a second, it may be that I discover that people have their own lives. and their own tragedies... and their own stuff do deal with.

is it possible that when someone walks past me without saying hello, they are not being hateful, they are just burdened with their own set of circumstances?

is it possible that my ideas are not the only ideas worth considering?

Could it be that the reason some folks don't place the same importance on my important junk is that they have more important important junk of their own?

Maybe they have more on their plate than me. and maybe my important stuff just isn't.

yep, i'm pretty sure of it.

may God bless us as we elevate others above ourselves and listen... for the chance to help.

Blessings!

clouds of doubt

2009-11-04T06:00:00.005-06:00

For the Believer, faith is vital.

"being sure of our hope and certain of the unseen"... that's what the Spirit breathed into the Hebrew writer's pen...

and here's the piece of it I am finally beginning to learn: faith not only improves our 'future vision', it brings into 20/20 focus the things that happened before! as a matter of fact, the latter is necessary to the former!

After opening the chapter with faith's definition, the writer spends a LOT of time giving examples from the past... so we can believe. So we don't forget..

But more and more, doubt clouds our faith vision. and we become less sure of anything, and suspicious of His leading. We explain away God's daily miracles... we sanitize His present activeness and rationalize His awesome power.

We use words like fate and coincidence to explain away the things God does for us every minute of every day...

and here's the devil's insidious tactic: he convinces us that what we saw - what we lived through - wasn't REALLY a miracle. he whispers to us that what we read about is a fairy tale... he leads us to find scientific explanations for the divine...

"that parting of the Sea" says the Israelite who JUST LIVED THROUGH THE MOST HARROWING CLOSE CALL IN HUMAN HISTORY!, "that was just a freakish wind pattern that caused the waters to part and allow us to walk across dry land...."

"That pillar of fire..." says the one who has been miraculously led by said pillar for months!, "really just a low-hanging constellation..."

and we have big fun at the Israelite's expense.... "oh those silly Jews... how could they NOT see something so obvious" says us...

"now if God only did THAT sorta stuff TODAY, well, THEN I would be able to really get into this faith and belief business..." says me, as I sit in the church pew beside Dawson, a perfectly beautiful and smart 6 year old little boy who I held - literally - in the palm of my hand at Children's Hospital when he was first born. 18 weeks early. the miracle. the surviving twin of an extremely premature birth.

satan is a filthy liar spewing clouds of doubt... and we - if we are not extremely careful - buy it! Hook, line and sinker! We cannot be sure of anything...

no wonder we can't trust the future..... we refuse to see the past clearly...

and the worst part, perhaps? The doubt that clouds our vision? doesn't come from CNN or Fox or MSNBC (I mean, they are the worst enemies of faith and belief, but I have long since tuned out that white noise)... MY clouds of doubt come from folks who purport to be believers!

Let's remember. Let us remember God. let's resolve not to make mundane the divine... and let's decide to believe... and to surround ourselves with believers.... and to encourage belief and faith in all those we touch every day.

I know He is in control because I have lived it. So I trust that He will continue to do His miracles in my life.

All I gotta do is clear away the clouds of doubt.

when things go wrong

2009-10-31T12:20:00.003-06:00

I really like it when things go just like I planned.

and I really do not like it when they don't.

I mean, I reeeeeaaaallly don't like it.

but, from all I can read... in history, in the Bible, even in novels... and from all I know from 47 years of living...

it is clear that we simply don't grow without challenges.... we just can't learn unless we encounter hardship... and we absolutely won't deepen our faith in the absence of conflict.

When James exhorts us to 'count it pure joy when we face all kinds of trials', what do we think that entails?

I guess I always sorta hope it doesn't apply to me, or that I am immune somehow to the immutable rules of natural growth and education...

The only thing I know is this: God has brought me and my family through some difficult times. and He will again....

and my faith will grow and I will be a stronger witness for His Glory.

but, dang, it is really hard for me to embrace the concept...

you?

blessings!

facebookless

2009-10-28T06:58:00.002-06:00

I deactivated my Facebook yesterday.

I have struggled with what exactly this thing called Facebook is.... and finally decided that, for me, it is an unhealthy timewaster. at least.... (at most it feels a little like voyeurism...) sorry to all you Facebookers... if it is not that for you, then cool! ...if you love your Facebook, God bless ya'!

The questions I had to ask myself surrounded the old cost/benefit analysis...

what does Facebook cost me and what does it give me?

yeah, I know it's 'free'... I mean what does it cost me in time and mental energy and, well, what does it do to me spiritually and emotionally?

and what does it benefit me?

"Oh, I can keep in touch with ALL my friends!!!"

really?

at least half my 'friends' on Facebook are people I barely know! My real life friends have my email and my cell phone number... they know where I live.

old-fashioned? maybe... but I don't think so... I am a gadget-technology freak!

OK, I'll stop preaching... every one has to do what they gotta do...

I know Facebook is not some evil communist godless plot! I understand that it, like many things on the 'net, are morally neutral...

I am just explaining that I am facebookless now....

nothing horrible happened... I wasn't abducted by kidnappers or aliens.... I didn't get my identity stolen.... and, please stop asking me why I 'de-friended' you! I didn't!

I just deactivated my Facebook account....

if, for you, it is not a timewaster.... if it is not a negative influence for you... go for it!

If you need to talk to me, call or text or email or, for crying out loud, stop by the house!!!

Blessings!

paralyzing fear

2009-10-19T06:52:00.004-05:00

there are a lot of things fear will do for you.

God wired your body so that fear (or more specifically, immediate danger) triggers a response in your adrenal gland that we have come to call the 'fight or flight' hormone.

action is required, so your body is flooded with adrenaline to equip you to run away fast or vanquish the attacker.

But sometimes we neither fight nor flee. we freeze. I have read accounts of this phenomenon... in battle and in the wild... and in every case, the attacked becomes the victim. and usually dies.

within organizations, I have rarely seen fight or flight... I sometimes wish that were not the case...

instead, when we are afraid as a group, we become paralyzed. We do nothing.

too fearful to make a wrong move, we simply stand still.

and when churches are paralyzed by fear, they die.

I suppose I am not advocating that we be in a constant state of flux... and I don't guess I would want for us to always have adrenaline pumping through our collective veins...

but I am quite convinced that God does not wish for us to settle into rote and habit and routine, and I believe that He wants us to be unafraid... I am Biblically Certain that He did NOT give us a spirit of fear. (Rom 8:15)

God Bless us as we Claim His Promise and live up to His Expectation!

the mission?

2009-10-12T10:05:00.002-05:00

"Actions speak louder than words"....

ya know, cliches don't become cliches without some merit. and this cliche definitely has merit....

"don't do what I do, do what I say" is a close second cousin...

If you pay attention to how we (religious folks) act, you may come up with a different mission than the one we articulate with our words.

In the realm of walking the walk as well as talking the talk, we have failed miserably... and the saddest part of THAT is this: the mission is really really vitally important!

If you listen to the words of preachers and proselytes, you hear something like this (with regard to mission statement):

we are to be seed-spreaders
'to seek and save the lost'
we must preach Jesus
to help each other here on earth to get to heaven
we need to Unify the body
to speak where the Bible speaks and to be silent where it is silent
to be about restoring the 1st century church

and on and on and on it goes.

If, however, you listen to the actions of religious leaders and their followers, you may get a different message.... I fear that our actions (which, yes, always speak louder than our words, no matter how loud we shout) may betray us. yep, the casual observer may infer something more like:

we gotta keep score (saved and lost)
we need to correct (usually through printed or online rags)
we must be right and prove it
we have to do our Sunday morning ritual correctly

what if we were at least honest about our mission? what if what others heard from us was exactly what they saw from us?

how would that smell?

My guess is it would smell a lot more real. I have a hunch it would be a lot more attractive - or at least less repulsive - to those we are trying to reach.

What if we actually spent more time preaching the unifying message of Jesus Christ than picketing and blogging and slamming other religious (or non-religious, for that matter) folks?

We fall so deeply in love with being right - and proving it at all costs by any manner - that we cannot possibly be heard about the really important things.

and we are irrelevant.

and nobody is listening.

because we are the know-it-all Pharisees.

remember them?

read the 4 gospel accounts of Jesus' dealing with these religious leaders (Matthew 23 is my personal favorite) ...and then honestly compare them to your religious group.

If we are not too scared to honestly compare us - religious people of today - to them (yeah, the group which He routinely blasted and challenged), I believe we (you, me) will earnestly repent and set about to try to act out our words...

because, let's face it: until your stated mission is supported by your overt actions, your mission is worthless.

God Bless us as we dwell in the center of His will, and truly live out His mission in our lives.

fall has fell (or is it fallen?)

2009-10-10T07:56:00.003-05:00

don't you just love this time of year! I do... really it may be my favorite... right up there with Spring and Summer and Winter...

leaves are turning and the air is less thick... the grass has slowed down its growing - finally! football is in full swing and basketball is just around the corner!

I am blessed indeed!

get out and enjoy the beautiful Ozarks in the fall!

God Bless!

penance?

2009-10-02T08:32:00.005-05:00

Guilt is an interesting emotion.... it is at once a dirty feeling and a great motivator... but it usually misses the point.

We love to beat ourselves up because of our failures... society almost demands it! as if self-flagellation is the path to absolution...

Dusty Rush preached a sermon a few weeks ago about Old Temple vs New Temple theology, and in it he told the story of fictional character Rodrigo Mendoza (played by Robert De Niro) in 'the Mission', a movie about 18th century slave trade in South America...

Mendoza is a ruthless mercenary slave trader who wants to turn from his evil ways, and ultimately seeks redemption from a Jesuit priest after killing his beloved brother in a duel over a woman. For his penance, Mendoza drags the heavy weapons of his former trade in a sack on a journey to accompany the Jesuits to visit the tribe which Mendoza has terrorized during his former life.

Upon meeting the son of one of the men he kidnapped and delivered to a plantation owner, Mendoza expects the native Guarani Indian to kill him. Instead, he cuts the pack of weapons off of Mendoza, effectively freeing him of the heavy burden he has carried for so long and absolving him of his sin.

To some, this is a beautiful story... many Christians believe this is an accurate picture of God and man.

To me, this is a horrible, misguided, ugly tale of man's attempt to assuage the wrath of the Living God. The reason it is so horrible is that the sacrifice has already been made, the absolution has already been granted and

the PENANCE HAS ALREADY BEEN PAID!

the longer Christians hold on to some twisted man-made model of forgiveness and penance and penalty, the further we stray from the truth!

Hallelujah! Christ paid your debt!

Praise God! you are free!

act like it!

'til the whole world hears'

another perspective

2009-09-28T10:46:00.003-05:00

restoration movement.... what does that phrase mean to you?

well, I have harped and ranted that it certainly cannot mean restoring the church of the 1950s...

if it is a grand enough vision to aspire to a restoration plea, it's gotta be that we try to restore the church of the 0050s...

but a good friend and partner in the Way recently shared his perspective with me, and I gotta say it made sense. At the very least, it made me rethink the whole idea.

If the restoration plea is one which purports to re-establish the early 1st century church, there is a problem or two with that.

as an example, my friend revealed to me that - in order to return to that Acts 2:42-47 model, we would have to live in that time. and, simply stated, we just don't.

we wanna say that a strong sense of community is what we need, what we want. But honestly, when was the last time someone was dragged away from your small group and thrown in jail?

When was the last time you were meeting in your home church and had to get quiet all of a sudden so that you wouldn't be heard talking or singing about Jesus?

Has anyone ever asked the question 'Hey, I wonder where Jim has been... he hasn't been with us in a while?' only to find out that Jim was taken from his home in the middle of the night and tortured to death for his faith?

my friend's point is simple and powerful: unless we are pressed like the first century churches, we cannot possibly understand what 'community' meant to them.

I have friends who have lived in tough places... places where it was forbidden to worship God or talk about Jesus... but most of them come home after their relatively short, temporary visits to places like China and other hostile environs.

(this is not about missionaries or foreign travel... this is about whether we can really model that first century church. here. today.)

So we would have to move our family to the far east to duplicate the kind of persecution which forged their specific bond and community.... and that sounds kinda ridiculous, right?

I don't think it excuses us. I believe we are called to be His Hands and His Feet.... I just wonder how realistic our restoration plea really is...

it's worth rethinking.

Blessings!

the God of YES!

2009-09-22T15:00:00.001-05:00

Friends, consider this:

But as surely as God is faithful, our message to you is not "Yes" and "No."

For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by me and Silas and Timothy, was not "Yes" and "No," but in him it has always been "Yes."

For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ.

And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.

Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.

- Paul's 2nd letter to his friends in Corinth....

don't you absolutely LOVE that?!!???

yeah, me too!

Blessings!

routine is evil

2009-09-20T07:43:00.005-05:00

I am a creature of habit. I love routine. I like sameness.

and that is anathema to spiritual growth and development...

simply put, routine is the antithesis of adventure.

and habit is the opposite of excitement.

and sameness is a spirit killer.

God calls you to a faith adventure, while routine calls you to comfortableness, rote memorization, liturgy and boredom... more often than not, I answer routine's call... and ignore God's.

and all of that leads me away from genuine, alive, 'Christ-community' living.

and THAT'S why so many of our worship assemblies are lifeless.... and our churches are dead or dying. because they are populated by people who are not on any type of faith adventure... instead they are filled with folks who, like me, are routine addicts. So we 'go to church' instead of 'being the church'. and, for a couple hours a week we act holy and sing the right words and recite the correct verses.... and punch the clock. and God is not glorified... He is sickened (see Amos 5) ...and we get emptier instead of filled.

our allergy to change will be our undoing.

our addiction to routine is the salve

that soothes while hiding the real illness.

and no, it's not about entertainment value. it's about challenge. it's about growth. it's about authentic Christ life. it's about letting God be in control and it's about letting His Spirit lead us...

and we are missing it. badly.

Every worship experience (public or private) should be alive, because it is supposed to be our response to the Giver of Life!

So how can we 'get out of the way' and let the Spirit lead? How can we remove ourselves and our habits so Jesus can work? What can we do to make sure God is glorified and Jesus is lifted up, and truly LIVE out our Faith Adventure?

surely there is a clue in our addiction to routine and allergy to change. for my part, I intend to run from routine and embrace 'newness' and change... maybe that's a step in the right direction...

Blessings!

portrait of authentic church

2009-09-18T12:14:00.010-05:00

If we take all we can glean from the Bible picture of 1st century church, it wouldn't resemble our modern day church.

at all.

Specifically with respect to the account Dr Luke provides in the very last part of Acts 2, we don't even pretend to imitate most of his description:

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved"

So.... how am I doin' with that? how 'bout your 'church'... let's see:

devoted to apostles doctrine and fellowship - not devoted, really
communal living - no
meeting and eating in each other's homes - occasionally
outward focus, helping others - somewhat
meeting daily for praise - no
favorably viewed by the people - a little bit, maybe
daily numerical growth - no
'turned the world upside down' (Acts 17:6) - hardly

so what do we do with that? is it important?

Maybe we could say that today's church is our 21st century version of that.

maybe... but even if we scrape away what we deem to be 'cultural' or completely unreasonable for us today, there is a LOT in the last half dozen verses of Acts 2 which we better pay attention to, right?

I mean, we gotta be more devoted and committed to the Jesus story (apostles doctrine)...

and we must have an outward focus (give to those in need)...

our addiction to our church buildings probably won't let us, but we might wanna consider the meeting in homes deal, right? (probably THE most important aspect of this whole 'authentic' thing, since building-based-religion is the antithesis of authentic 'church')

When we ask ourselves why God isn't blessing our church with the 'daily numerical growth' we read about here, don't we have to consider it's because we are not doing it right?

Does anyone have the courage to truly imitate this model? Obviously I don't. Otherwise I would stop writing and start doing!

Authentic Community is real and organic and natural. It is probably best depicted by the planting of a tree or shrub. think about it... how do we do that: I mean, how do we plant a tree or shrub or flower or squash plant? well, we cultivate the ground and place a seed in that tilled soil. we water it (or God does, if you live in Northern Arkansas during the past few days!). then... well, there's a lot of waiting... God provides the sunshine. And -remember this part - God has put in place tons of natural 'plant-growing' laws which most of us don't understand.... naturally occurring events which we have NOTHING to do with... we will do a lot cultivating... and we might clear away the weeds and keep away the critters... but God does everything else! naturally! and the plant grows.

beautiful!

Our model of 'planting' a church is so foreign to the organic 'planting' of a tree or shrub, it is unrecognizable as anything approaching 'natural'.

instead, we build a building, put our sign out, hire a preacher and, like Kevin Costner in 'Field of Dreams', we wait for them to come.

but sadly, this is not a movie... and though they do come (mostly in Pavlovian response to cultural norms, and sometimes in sincere response to the Spirit's tug to seek out 'something more'), the authentic nature of true Christian Community is never realized. ...and before long we are wringing our hands over those who have disappeared from our 'attendance roles'... we form visitation teams to visit those who have stopped coming to 'church'! And we wonder why their interest and excitement waned. (or, in an evil twist, we blame them for lack of commitment!)

and all along, we have no one to blame but ourselves... because these 'disappearers' were plugged in to religion and not to Jesus; we assimilated them into our denomination but not into authentic Christian community! We completely ignore the Acts 2 example of organic church.

all because we are trying to artificially create something that MUST happen organically! imagine trying to make the tree or plant grow faster... THAT'S what most of us are doing with 'church'. We add buildings and budgets and committees and programs... and rules to govern all that; we hire preachers and youth ministers and, oh yeah, it's time to add on or renovate the building, which affects the budget and requires more committees and rules... and probably more hiring of more people.... we argue over inane things like what songs to sing (or not sing) during our assemblies... we complain about the quality of 'preachin'... and we stagnate.... of course we do! after all, how 'organic' does any of that sound to you?

and before you know it, we are like every other 'church' in every other town in every other state in every other country in the world...

and the world remains unchanged. we are not turning anything upside down... how could we? we're doing it wrong. It's almost as if we got mixed up and decided to use the Old Testament 'church' model - Physical Temple Theology - instead of the New Testament model - Spiritual Temple Theology.

what would it look like if a dozen families committed to imitate this model for one year? if 12 courageous families devoted themselves to inviting friends (natural) into their home for food and prayer and study and fellowship....

what if, each week, those 12 'home churches' attracted (organically) a few folks to their gathering on, say, a Sunday night (or Monday evening, the day doesn't matter!)...

what if those 12 'shepherd/planters' would commit to meet with each other at least once a week to discuss weighty things about how their particular gatherings were progressing?

and, what if those 12 'house churches' decided to all meet together on Sunday for their 1st-day-of-the-week gathering and worshipped and shared and broke bread (in communion AND then a meal)?

what would it be like?

(it might look like a church which began organically with small groups; it might look like our 1st Century counterparts...)

oh, well... just dreamin'

none of us (me at the top of the list) are likely to muster the courage to actually act on any of this.

so.... see you Sunday at 'church'.

leadership (cont)

2009-09-16T07:27:00.007-05:00

...odd thing about the Bible picture of a church elder/pastor: it is an individual portrait and not a group photo... (I understand that Paul refers to appointing elders in the plural, and I happen to believe there is good reason to have several elders.....but a shepherd - by definition - is a one-man job)...

maybe there's a reason for that: I mean do you ever read of elder's meetings in the Bible? Probably doesn't prove they didn't meet as a group, right? or does it? dunno...

but if a church elder is to look like a shepherd, we gotta ask some obvious questions, right? like:

where did we get the idea for 'elder meetings'? (think: 'shepherd meetings')
how did we ever begin to refer to it as the 'office of an elder'? - that sounds a lot like a political position to be 'held onto', right? (think: 'office of a shepherd')
when did we start calling the group an 'eldership'? and why? (think: shepherdship, as in a group meeting of herders of sheep)

OK, that was maybe a bit of a tangential stretch... but we gotta admit that, in today's world, we miss a lot of the meaning behind the shepherd example, right? (do you hang out with real live shepherds in your day-to-day? me neither!)

but the people who read these letters firsthand knew. they WERE shepherds, some of them... they knew actual herders of sheep! and they would likely find humor in the idea of a 'group' of shepherds leading a flock! because they KNOW shepherding is a lonely job of one....

(again, I believe the Bible model calls for a plurality of elders, with good reason! We have all seen the negative results of SOME local pastor-led efforts... and this particular post is NOT a defense of a one-man-pastor-led congregation. But we have devolved this plurality idea into an unhealthy decision-making board of directors, which is DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE of the shepherd model)

Could it be that our secular backgrounds cause us to crave the safety of a 'board of directors' mentality? I know of one church (and have heard of several more) which actually has an elder 'boardroom' complete with leather wing back chairs and a massive, curved-edge, mahogany-looking table! I mean, you could not tell any difference between it and the one at the local bank! Could that be because one of these men also served as CEO of the local bank?

How can we expect THAT environment to produce ANYTHING REMOTELY RESEMBLING true shepherding? Of COURSE the group which meets in such an environment will necessarily act like a decision-making board of directors!

I challenge us all to challenge those leaders among us to aspire to a Bible model of true shepherding... one devoid of budgets and refereeing and building maintenance and decision-rendering and policy-making... one that looks, above all, to the Great Shepherd as THE model and example.

after all, authentic church will not survive without it.

leadership is not pretty.

may God Bless us as we find our way together and figure this thing out... with patience and love and understanding, yes! ...and with challenging and exhorting and Bible study.

leadership is not pretty

2009-09-15T10:54:00.010-05:00

it is a difficult thing, to lead. In my life, I have seen leadership modeled beautifully and I have seen leadership butchered.

I have observed it from afar and been in the very thick of it.

I have seen 'visionaries' and 'idea men' who understood strategy but had no ability to plan nor carry out their own ideas. I watch great tacticians and managers - they can execute a plan flawlessly - who have no vision whatsoever.... I see quiet leaders who command respect and deserve it...and I have seen precious few who are gifted with the 'leadership trifecta': vision, strategy and tactical skills...

I have been a leader and I have been a follower.

Admittedly, I find the latter more difficult than the former. I would like to think that's because I have some God-lent-giftedness toward leading... but it is more likely some huge character flaw - like being a control freak! - that makes me overestimate my worth and giftedness. I am likely a weaker leader than I perceive myself to be and a worse follower than I need to be...

All that said, I believe I have a good idea what healthy leadership looks like. And with regard to leading a church, I have very strong feelings as to what a good leader is... most of my ideas in that vein derive from Peter's first letter, which paints a most beautiful portrait of what a church elder/pastor would look like (chap 5)... and, of course, from Paul's letters to Timothy and Titus (when taken in context instead of jerked out of it to create a man made checklist litmus test!)...

Lynn Anderson also penned a book 'They Smell Like Sheep' which should be a prerequisite for any person aspiring to lead a church.

I believe it was in this volume that I read something like this: "If you are leading and nobody is following, you're just taking a walk"

It occurs to me that there are several styles or methods men and women use to lead (most modeled after secular example)... here are a few that come to mind:

consensus leadership - this leader will always try to build consensus, to do what most people agree would be right and good... there is sometimes persuasion involved, as this leader has some feelings as to direction, and this leader model seems pretty good and logical.... but it may sometimes result in this leader agreeing to things they personally disagree with...
majority leadership - a close cousin to the 'consensus' model, this one also wants to do what most people want... but depends less upon persuading people and more upon reflecting what the majority 'votes' for.... this leader has fewer strong convictions than the consensus leader, and usually wants hard data to support the hue and cry of the masses, in case he is challenged.
compass leadership - probably the most difficult model, and the least applied in most organizations today... it calls for the leader to have a strong compass which governs his heart and influences his decisions. This method requires a rare moral certitude and takes the most courage by far, because compass leading will always be offending someone - maybe large groups of someones... (I would note that history - Biblical and Secular - remembers these types of leaders as the very best ones!)
squeaky wheel leadership - this one is weakest, because it has no compass and depends upon the negative.... and it relies totally upon volume: and more often than not, much greater attention is given to the volume (loudness) of complaints than the volume (number) of complaints... it also potentially ignores a very large group of 'constituents' who are neither negative nor loud

while there may be some good found in each of these models, they all smack of school boards and city councils and bank boards, and seem to completely miss the point of what true 'church leadership' is meant to be... at least with respect to the Bible picture of 'shepherd' leadership.

That's because church leadership is different than corporate leadership...

it is meant to be imitative of true shepherding, not bank boards. ...and I haven't seen this model very much, frankly. I have read about it, but it is rarely modeled in the church of today.

the Shepherd is the perfect picture of what churches desperately need... I mean, think of what a herder of sheep actually does...

cares for, guards and feeds the sheep
directs and leads and guides them
operates from a selfless stance, always considering what his flock needs

and doesn't do:

have you ever heard of a shepherd building consensus? Hardly
and what kind of attention would a herder of sheep give to a 'squeaky wheel'?
have you heard of a shepherd taking votes among his sheep about which pasture to visit or what food to eat?

of the worldly models, it would seem that a true shepherd most closely resembles the 'compass' leader, right? (Frank Viola wrote this about that: "a true shepherd-leader knows what the next step is" ...pretty simple yet insightful.)

but the most widely applied 'secular method' of 'eldering' that I have observed is the squeaky wheel model. …a terrible model for church leadership which guarantees terrible results.

for the true shepherd, however, the Word is his compass. and he gives proper weight to both the LOUD VOICE and the DEAD SILENCE of scripture...

and he spends more time tending the sheep than rendering decisions, doesn't he?

(to be continued...)

from the comfort of bondage to the blue jeans of chains

2009-09-14T10:00:00.003-05:00

don't you LOVE the feel of your favorite pair of bluejeans?

You know the ones... they sorta fit you just right.... loose and tight in all the right places, but, above all, COMFORTABLE!

the children of Israel were held in torturous captivity in Egypt.

against their will, they were enslaved. Their freedom was taken from them.

they were forced to work long, hard, inhumane hours to make bricks for construction of whatever the Egyptian Pharaohs wanted to build.

what they were forced to endure - for generations - is almost unimaginable.

then they were liberated. By God through Moses.

you saw the movie, right, the Ten Commandments? yeah, you remember, don't you, how Moses presented Pharaoh with several chances to 'let my people go' only to have Pharaoh obstinately refuse to free his slave work force? ....all the while enduring epic-sized plagues too horrible to even think about today.

finally he relented, then reneged, then was thwarted by God when he attempted to recapture his slaves.

THEY WERE FINALLY FREE!!!!!

God uses this real-life story as a metaphor for us...I mean, the remainder of our Bible is replete with comparisons to our modern-day 'law-sin enslavement' and 'freedom in Christ'...

but the metaphor doesn't end with that, right?

because the real-life story doesn't end there....

I mean, we read in abject astonishment of the ungrateful Israelites who complain about the conditions of their new found liberty... the degree to which they complain is capsulized in the account of their outright rebellion as they build a golden calf to worship...

we scoff as Edward G Robinson portrays the chief complainer and incites people by saying things like 'at least we had a roof over our heads when we lived in Egypt'...

The entire old testament seems to be dominated by the story of His people falling away and God reconciling them to Himself.... over and over and over again, His people fall for the lie that is always told, convincingly, by routine and status quo: that IT (routine) is the way! and that IT (status quo, the old way) is the truth!

and, time and time again, God arrests His people's comfortableness to 'slap them back to their senses' and refocus them on His Way and His Will.

and we smirk at their ignorance and point fingers at their almost pathological habit of self-destruction... "how?" we wonder "how can they so thoroughly miss it? why do they keep making the same mistakes, reverting to type and returning to enslavement?... how can they be so blind that they don't see the obvious result of their addiction to the their comfort zones?"

but how similar are we?

as we are freed from the tyranny of Legalism, the ink on our release papers is not even dry before we are complaining about the conditions of our liberty and wishing again for the 'safety' of the jail cell of legalism.

so much so that we replicate the comfort of our old bondage by creating self-made chains of rules and laws which we bind on each other and everyone else... and we call it truth.

and before long we are miserably 'happy' again; steeped in the 'routine' of traditional legalism and resting comfortably in the blue jeans of 'what-we-know'...

and meanwhile God weeps for us as He sees what we could be. and He mounts plans to arrest our comfort to spur us on yet again to be His Church, His People.

We LOVE routine. We crave status quo. We want comfort.

and those things are the enemy of authentic Jesus life and real Christian community.

Thank God that the He is not only the God of Imagination and Lord of Creativity, but the Supreme Exemplar of Patience!

when will we learn?

we are free! He expects us to act like it!

right where he wants you

2009-09-13T08:26:00.002-05:00

Ambition is great... goals are terrific... growth is admirable and necessary...

but never forget that God has you right where He wants you.

exactly, 100 per cent, no-doubt-about-it, precisely in the 'place' where He want you to be...

before time was time, God knew exactly what would be going on at this very second in time.... He knew what the political climate would be, He knew what the moral climate would be, He knew what the financial climate would be....He even knew what the climate climate would be!

and he plucked you out of all of eternity for just such a time as this!

and placed you - in His eternal plan - right HERE and right NOW!

so what do you DO with that?

ahh, that is THE question, isn't it?

when you feel like you are not 'where' you wanna be in this life, remember.... the God of the universe put you right here right now to live His Son in front of the people in your life.

that places the here and now in a little different light, doesn't it?

Blessings!

handling new information

2009-09-10T08:09:00.003-05:00

I sell instructional software to public schools. I have been a sales rep for my entire adult life... it is my mission to try and learn all I can about my craft. So when I hear of a new idea or a different wrinkle in sales methodology, I try very hard to study it and decide if I can or should incorporate it into my sales habits... I love learning new ways to help people buy my product. and for me, it really is more than just 'selling' something. I gotta believe in what I have to offer...

nonetheless, I do enjoy learning about new sales tools.

What if I were still using the exact same method I used in the early 80s when I began my career? What if I had the attitude that I already had learned it all? what if I decided that there would never be a better way than my way? ....that there was no new information to apply nor knowledge to apply?

well, I would stagnate and stop learning and growing... and I would underachieve, drastically. and probably be looking for a different career!

while it is not exactly analogous, there is application which can be made to our understanding of God's Word and His Will for our lives...

for my entire upbringing, I was taught that God spoke to us only through the Bible, and the only way His Spirit 'led' us was through that written Word.

I now believe that not only did God indeed speak to us through Spirit-breathed Scripture, but that - according to that very Scripture, and my developing understanding of it - God's Holy Spirit ALSO indwells us and leads and guides us TODAY! ACTIVELY!

so, if I believe THAT... and THAT is NEW information to me...

what do I do with THIS NEW INFORMATION?

do I ignore it? Some do... frankly because it interrupts and upsets their previous understanding... new information invariably makes us uncomfortable...

but do we act as if this new information doesn't exist?

do we fight it? do we try and explain it away?

I believe we had better embrace it and try to apply it...

right?

God Bless us as we continue to learn and grow and change into His vision of us!

the cards, the hogs and the bombers

2009-09-07T06:58:00.002-05:00

this is a great time of year! I love the fall... the air has lost its summer steam and has a crispness to it...

School is back in session and football is cranking up!

this weekend, my Hogs won handily and my Bombers beat Highland and my Cards took 2 of 3 from the Pirates.... life is good!

I know, Missouri State isn't very good, nor are the Rebels or Pirates... but my teams won!

Cannot wait for my Colts to take the field next Sunday against the Jags...

yep, I love this time of year!

Blessings!

what matters

2009-09-05T07:59:00.003-05:00

so yesterday I got to spend the day with a very good friend.

We fished a little pond and caught some nice largemouth bass... we had some lunch - a barnbuster and a rack of fries at the Back Forty! - and then we waded the White at Shipp's Ferry and slayed some Rainbows...

wow what a day!

Stan is a far better Trout fisherman than I am.... but I am happy to report that I caught more bass than he did.... not sure what that means...

I am sure that it is one of those days I will not forget!

thanks, Stanley!

God Bless!

under assault... again

2009-09-02T08:57:00.004-05:00

So you know I love to laugh, right? I love a good joke, and I admit that what I sometimes find really funny is maybe a little beyond the pale....

but I gotta say I am not laughing at this one:

"Minor-league baseball promotion cashes in on Tim Tebow's marketability" was the headline in the Orlando Sentinel late last week... the article told of a promotion by the Orlando Miracle (the local minor league affiliate of Minnesota Twins)... they planned to have a "What Would Tim Tebow Do?" night which was to be highlighted by a Tim Tebow double walking on water and the handing out of promise rings to each paid ticket holder, among other things.

Tebow, the Heisman trophy winning quarterback for the Florida Gators who has led them to 2 national championships in the last 3 years, is known for his outwardly Christian values; he speaks about abstinence, and says he is a virgin who is saving himself for marriage.... ESPN has even carried special stories showing Tim helping in a medical clinic in a Central American country...

and the 'Miracle' is making fun. openly.

I was a little heartened to hear a commentator on ESPN observe the following: "if this were ANY other religion but Christianity, there would be a public outcry, but it's ok to ridicule and make fun of Christians... where's the outrage now?"

and he's right. if Tebow were a Muslim or Buddhist, there's no way ANYONE would even THINK of having such a promotion...

I know, I know... I, too, get a little weary of every group under the sun claiming this right or that outrage... but I gotta say, this crossed the line for me.

I think it is a continuation of the assault on Christianity and, at the end of the day, on Jesus himself... it is persecution, plain and simple.

...humor is a funny thing (no pun intended)... it can easily cross the line, because it quietly marginalizes whatever the subject matter is... once you can laugh at something, it is hard to then take that something seriously, right?

it gets worse: These bunch of geniuses had even planned to have the same Tebow-stand-in perform a live circumcision on the pitchers' mound during the 7th inning stretch! I am not making this up! I couldn't make this up!

Thankfully the brilliant marketing minds from the Orlando Miracle were reigned in by smarter - or at least more sensitive people (probably sensitive to being sued, since they received certified letters from the University of Florida reminding them of the legal ramifications)... the promotion was toned WAY DOWN... they still had a character named 'TT' walk on water, and folks still got a TT promise ring...

some of y'all are probably thinking "can't you take a joke?"

yeah, I can... just not seeing any humor in this one...

Blessings!

more thoughts on His Church

2009-08-28T12:31:00.007-05:00

i am passionate about His Church.

and I fear I sometimes convey a poor attitude when I speak or write about it.

I confess that it is difficult not to bring my former church 'baggage' to any conversation regarding His Body.... for that I apologize. that is on me, and I need to do much better...

(don't you hate it when someone apologizes, then goes on to 'explain away' the behavior which necessitated the apology in the first place??!?!?! well, I suppose I am about to do just that.....)

by way of 'explanation', I guess what makes it especially difficult (the leaving behind of the baggage part) is my perception that there are leaders across our fellowship (as well as in other faith groups) who are falling into the same faithless traps and godless habits that have ensnared other leaders and elders and 'would be' shepherds before them... traps like 'building-itis' and 'board-of-director-ism' and 'policy-making-sclerosis'... all of which misdirect attention from true shepherding.

do you ever feel that way? like you bring baggage? or that the baggage you bring causes you to be less than objective or downright unkind or impatient?

perhaps I need to do a better job of living the concept taught in the great unity chapter of the Bible, Ephesians 4.... I firmly believe that 'speaking the truth in love' (which is taught throughout scripture) is absolutely KEY to being a unifier instead of a divider....

furthermore, I am not sure that TRUTH matters very much at all without the SPEAKING IT IN LOVE part.... because if people can't see past my LOVELESS delivery, they will never hear the TRUTH... which makes the attaining of that truth and the gathering of that knowledge the ultimate exercise in futility.

so, for my part, loveless truth has little worth... and I certainly need to remember that as I try to communicate truth to others! When I forget it, I end up alienating the very people with whom I am trying to communicate..... what a terrible shame!

now to the body thoughts: has your group's journey stagnated a little?

I have a couple notions as to why that may be... and perhaps a couple ideas how to 'unstagnate' it.... but I must confess that my ideas are not very imaginative... as a matter of fact, as I write them in this post, they appear rather pedestrian and conventional and institutional, but here goes:

deeper Bible study - the absence of which is probably the foundation of many congregational ills
a 'sold-out' approach to home church or small groups - become fully invested in this very very Biblical model... do not view it as just another 'ministry' or 'program'
adopt an "OUTWARD FOCUSED AT OUR INNER CORE" approach and mindset. nothing cures squabbles and discontent like focusing on meeting the needs of others!

ok, how bout some less traditional ideas:

if institutionalism is becoming problematic, sell your building and rent! that immediately gets rid of a BUNCH of garbage, right? (incidentally, Rick "purpose driven dude" Warren's SaddleBack church did not own a building for a very very long time... their most explosive growth happened without building ownership... is there a lesson there?)
are your shepherds becoming too imitative of a board of directors? then prayerfully help them divest of 'duties' like policy development and decision-making and refereeing! how? I have no ideas on this one.... probably why it is the single biggest elder issue!
are your people too 'worship-service-at-the-building-Sunday-Sunday-night-wednesday-night' oriented? then stop 'having' the conventional offerings at these times! how 'bout only ONE OFFICIAL WORSHIP ASSEMBLY PER WEEK - ON SUNDAY MORNING! then perhaps nightly bible study and fellowship groups at the building AND in homes! (incidentally, if I were prince for a day, i would make pew-sitting and attendance-counting and score-keeping and clock-punching VERY VERY uncomfortable! not only does it miss the point... when we allow/foster/promote this old conventional model, it encourages people to engage in meaningless ritual! and usually at the expense of more meaningful activity.)

ok, that's enough wild, hair-brained ideas for one post!!!

regardless of where God leads you and your faith group in the days to come (and I have GREAT PEACE about that, by the way!), for my part: I resolve to address those round about me - especially those with whom i disagree - with respect and love.

because my voice is a loud, worthless, clanking cymbal if I fail to do that.

Blessings!

evangelism 101

2009-08-27T13:16:00.002-05:00

what is evangelism? how do we do it?

Our model has usually included a lot of telling and convincing. we study with folks and try to convince them of the gospel... or we 'hold a gospel meeting' and invite people to come hear someone else try to convince them of the good news...

how did our 1st century forerunners 'do' it? ...well, we can assume that they didn't have Bibles to carry around and study...

can we also infer from the Biblical accounts that their main way to 'lift Him up' was more in the living and less in the telling?

at the end of the day, we are called to be seed spreaders, right?

so how can we best do that? how can we, in our quest to sow seed, imitate those who shared space and time with Jesus himself?

maybe the very best way is to actually 'be' the church.... to live in community and help each other and encourage each other...

what would happen if we did just that? ...if we lived in such a Jesus way that people were attracted?

is that not the original model?

maybe evangelism is, in its purest sense, showing Jesus more than it is talking about Him.

Maybe it is less about tracts and 'doctrine' and more about living out our faith in such a way that folks are attracted to The Way.

how better to spread seed?

Blessings!

Lyon, here we come!

2009-08-22T06:15:00.002-05:00

another August, another adventure...

Caitlin has accepted a scholarship to play basketball for the Lady Pipers of Lyon College in Batesville, and today we are headed to Arkansas' 2nd oldest city (or so says their welcome sign) to move her in.

Her sisters began their new school year on Wednesday, and their momma began her second year of working outside the home ten days ago...

we are officially back in the swing!

back to school... there are so many analogies one could draw...

it is at once excitement and dread and anticipation and a little fear... mostly it is a time of 'new'.

new school for Caitlin, new hallway and teachers for Cassie, new challenges for Cara...

Cara... my senior... (is it really that time again? didn't we just go through this with our oldest?) a year from now, we will be likely be loading up the car to deliver her to a new place...

I am so not ready...

for now, for today, the 'deal' is Batesville... after interning at the University Church in Conway as a youth minister all summer, my oldest has been 'home' for only a couple weeks... and now she heads to Lyon...

For my part, I am excited for Cait! can't wait to see what this year holds for her!

Blessings!

what's important

2009-08-21T07:41:00.002-05:00

I know I have written in this space about the Tyranny of the Urgent... and how our day-to-day crowds out what is truly important. The insidious nature of this 'urgent' is that, after a while, the 'important' cannot be defended as such.

I mean, how could I say or think that Bible Study, for example, is important to me when a cursory inspection of my daily walk would reveal that I rarely if ever open His Word?

How can I purport to be a 'family man' when I am rarely with my family?

how can a momma consider herself a great momma when she doesn't even know when her kiddos' activities are?

again, the 'urgent' crowds out the 'important' until it assumes its position.

so.... what's important?

God
family
church family
job
having fun

here's a quick test: where do you spend your time? where do you spend your money?

put another way: what if your checkbook AND your appointment book reflected EXACTLY what your 'list' conveyed?

a-ha... that's the challenge, isn't it?

I suppose our goal in life should be to make our 'books' match our 'list'.

I can guarantee this: if you don't make a daily effort to match the books to the list, the list will definitely change to match the books. I promise.

Pray right now for God's guidance and leading to make your books match your list. Without His intervention, the urgent will rule.... and the important will not be important anymore.

Blessings!

O Worship The King!

2009-08-16T08:40:00.002-05:00

our lives are to be a reflection of Jesus.

our walk is marked by His lovingkindness.

our day-to-day is led by His Spirit.

and today we get the privilege of taking part in a group expression of our gratitude for His gift, thankfulness for His Leading...

we get to worship the great I AM.

O Worship The King!

expectations and frustrations

2009-08-15T09:42:00.002-05:00

so, where does frustration come from?

I guess it arises from expectations.... or is it impatience?

I suppose if you set your expectations low enough, you will never be disappointed... but how fatalistic is that? how sorry a life would you lead if you simply lowered your expectations until you were never frustrated?

pretty deep thoughts for a Saturday morning...

think I'll shelf this and go play golf.... now that's a recipe for frustration! or maybe I'll go wet a hook...

in any event, I have about come to the conclusion that I need to chill.

so that's exactly what I plan to do.... at least for today...

Blessings! get out and enjoy this beautiful day God made for us...

Pure Silver

2009-08-10T07:19:00.002-05:00

25 years ago today (it was a Friday in 1984, by the way), Kelly Crawford and I exchanged vows.

Dad presided, and a couple hundred friends attended the evening wedding.

Besides the obvious memories (I still marvel that she said 'yes' being the most remarkable memory), there are a few quirky ones that come to mind when I think back to that magical day.

it was HOT! I mean, August 10 in Arkansas, right?
Kelly was HOT! I mean, the most beautiful girl to ever put on a white dress - or any other-colored dress, for that matter! (some things never change) I remember how my breath actually caught in my throat when the back doors opened and she walked through. wow.
the reception was at Ramada (because our church wouldn't allow instrumental music on the grounds anywhere) and it was an awesome affair with lots of food and music! but we didn't get any of those really really good fried stuffed mushrooms... (probably will have a couple or 10 tonight!)
my friend who was in charge of pulling the roll of rice paper down the aisle for Kelly to walk on accidentally hit one of the glass candle holders with his shoulder... it knocked the candle against its glass holder... and about 15 minutes later, it had heated the glass to whatever temperature glass requires to shatter. and it did. all over the mother of the bride!
the afore-mentioned mother of the bride recorded 'Agnes of God' (yes, that horrible Streisand movie) over our only copy of the wedding video... she will likely still deny she did this. but she did, no kidding.
I sang 'Truly' by Lionel Richie to Kelly... she had forgotten I was gonna sing, and it took her by complete surprise! she and all 5 of her bridesmaids were weeping... still wondering if they were touched or if I really sang that badly!
we drove momma and daddy's Cadillac away as people showered us with rice and such... all the way to Kelly's dad's shop, where we had hidden our 1980 VW Rabbit (my dowry), which we drove to Little Rock, then Destin for our honeymoon.

there are other more memorable thoughts which I will keep between Kelly and me... but will never forget.

25 years. wow.

still my very best friend. still my very favorite person. still the best momma ever. still takes my breath away every time I see her. still stunningly beautiful - inside AND out.

I can't believe God chose to bless me with her.

still.

the institutional church conversation... conclusions?

2009-08-06T10:50:00.005-05:00

OK... so what am I to do with the numerous Biblical examples Mr Viola presents in support of the local church? :-) (see previous posts)

well, as my momma used to say, 'everything in moderation'... sounds like Bible, huh?

I have been studying/wrestling/praying about what value the institutional church may have today. Viola does a terrific job describing and essentially rebutting the most 'liberal' viewpoint - that of the 'postchurch' movement... and I still believe the answer must lie between the extremes...

anyhow, as Frank Viola points out, the local church has huge value!

which goes a long way toward reminding me of the answers to some questions I have been asking:

does it have a place?

is it even a Biblical model?

would it be better to just meet in homes?

and while I still struggle with how our fellowship 'treats' the institutional church (admittedly Riverside is better than most), Frank Viola's blog posts on the subject have served as a reminder to me that God DOES indeed have a place and a purpose for a 'local gathering'...

I suppose I will always struggle - hopefully in a positive and productive way - with the "organized church's" affinity for itself and its addiction to its own structure and routine...but I have been reminded by my friend Frank that God DOES place importance on the local church.

Again, I tire of people who use guilt to get people inside the church doors... and I have little patience for those who - ignorantly or purposely - misuse scriptures like Hebrews 10:25 to fill the pews... but that does not change or diminish the Biblical FACT that God's divine design definitely involves the local body.

We must never confuse the church universal (the one which Jesus died to establish) with the little exclusive gathering we attend.... and we simply CANNOT continue to further confuse the building with the Body....

but I KNOW that every Biblical example of Body Life includes 'community' and communion with a local group. Viola did an unparallelled job of expositing on the subject, and he is probably the leading 'organic church' proponent of our time!

as a dear friend used to tell me: "that's where I am right now"...

I encourage us all to continue to pray and study and 'be' the Body.

more to follow, I'm sure...

Blessings!

when God works

2009-08-06T08:34:00.002-05:00

So just another example of God's amazing habit of amazingness.

As I listened to the Santa Marta Medical Mission Team give its report last night (yes, the mission I helped to start and was unable to 'go on'), it became clear that our plans are so small and His are so big.

Margaret recited a top 10 list of 'why you shouldn't go on a foreign mission trip', a sort of tongue-in-cheek look back at all the slings and arrows Satan hurled at this effort from its planning to its execution... Bill talked about Paul's word picture of the body in I Corinthians 12... LaJeana spoke on behalf of herself and Perry and Hannah about the unfathomable grace of God in touching people through our meager means.... Matt shared his perspective as a first-timer-pharmacist on a foreign medical mission... and Doyne talked about his most favorite memory: that of an old man accepting Jesus and putting him on in baptism...

It was refreshing to gain perspective from these partners, my heroes.

And the very primary part, the basic and amazing lesson I learned as I listened was this:

Though God works in our lives everyday, it occurs to me He REALLY LOVES to swoop in when all seems hopeless and save the day.

At several junctures in the planning and execution of the trip, Satan erected barriers. And every time, God provided a way around or through.

When we lost a vital member or two from the dream team only months before we were to leave, God provided a Doctor...

When fear of Swine Flu dominated the news, God provided calm...

When Airplane tickets were selling at double the price we had planned on, God provided... (I checked fares one day and they were about $900, and the next day they had fallen to $440... we pounced on it, and they skyrocketed back to over $900 the very next day!)

as I listened to the team members recall the trip (from planning to going and returning), it reminded me with crystal clarity that God LOVES to work through us... and He REALLY LOVES to work through us when the odds become stacked!

I think He does that to gently (or not so gently) remind us that He is at the controls.

What a faith-affirming exercise!

What a wondrous God we serve!

Blessings!

another perspective on ecclesia and the efficacy of institutional church

2009-08-05T12:09:00.002-05:00

Frank Viola wrote a two part article on the very same subject I have been studying and praying and blogging about...

It is a Biblical view/defense/critique of the institutional/organic/post church movements, and is much better written and more well-informed than anything I have written...

and very thought-provoking...

I commend it to your reading:

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/08/frank_viola_on.html

http://blog.christianitytoday.com/outofur/archives/2009/08/frank_viola_on_1.html#more

very very good read indeed!

tm

Acts 2:47

2009-08-05T09:52:00.003-05:00

When we read about Jesus 'adding to the church those which were being saved', I am convicted and convinced that we have forever misinterpreted that - mostly unintentionally - to fit our own 'view' of 'church'; an unhealthy view that revolves around a brand and a building.

For my entire upbringing, we have equated salvation with our brand... I would suggest that when Dr Luke recorded the events surrounding pentecost, he was not talking about a particular 'brand' nor a particular 'local church'. He was referring to a sect of believers in the new Way through the promised Savior.

My 'church experience' really wants this 'church' to which Jesus 'added the saved' to be 'my' church, 'my' brand, my local building.... to sort of imagine that all those 'saved' were added to a 'church of Christ' with a building and a little sign over the door which reads '5th and Calvary Church of Christ'... all in a neat mental package.

However, when I take a fresh look at the church Luke talks about in Acts 2 - when I leave behind all my preconceived, ingrained notions - I can't help but conclude that these new saved souls met together in houses and other 'non-institutional' venues... and I further imagine that they worried very little about buildings and budgets and battles about stupid stuff that accompanies buildings and budgets and battles...

It occurs to me that at least 90% of ALL the battles ever waged within/between 'church' groups are attached to a building....who finances it, who controls what goes on there, how do we do what we do there, how do we pay it off, how do we keep out the riff raff, and on and on and on...

and the devil is laughing.

Is it possible that we continue to miss the point?

The more I study and pray and learn about the subject, the less enamored I become of the institutional 'church'.

Can it serve a useful purpose?

I am becoming less and less certain...

God Bless!

challenge and change - are you allergic?

2009-08-01T07:17:00.003-05:00

you've heard people say that change is good. we've read that we should not back down from challenge... and I am trying to continue my journey toward learning that I am not in control.

yet in these challenging economic times, attitudes seem to tighten.

dreams are sacrificed at the altar of safety, and imagination is replaced by routine.

Believers need to fight this urge. We should embrace challenge and welcome change...

I have friends who have lost their jobs in the past 12 months... and that is hurtful and usually stunning and shocking... one such friend called me yesterday to report that he had been 'let go'... I love his response: "oh well, I know God has something better planned for me..."

I have been let go.... most people have at one time or another been fired.

My brother Greg got me my first job at Tracy Marina... He was their general manager at 18 years old (married for 2 years at the time!), and got a summer job for his 14-years-young kid brother.

I wanted to work hard and do well... but my first job when I was hired involved 'weeding' the vegetable garden of the marina owners. still today, I remain confused about what gardening has to do with working at a marina.... but nonetheless, I went about weeding the garden... and, having no formal weed eradication training, I systematically pulled everything green out of the little 30 x 30 garden plot... when I was done, it was a beautiful 30 x 30 spot of immaculate black dirt.

Dad came and got me in his 1974 Pontiac Station wagon - at the insistence of Mrs Marina Owner - in the middle of the day, and I was officially unemployed at 14... only 6 hours into my first job. I found out later that Mrs Marina Owner had some other very creative (and illegal) ways to punish me for ruining her garden, and was convinced to simply fire me instead. I cried all afternoon... and I still owe my brother for saving his 14 year old brother's life.

I deserved to be fired that day... and, yes, I know this story does not hold a candle to an adult provider losing his means of providing... I get that... and I know that many who are losing their jobs today don't deserve to.

but every year, there are literally hundreds of opportunities to embrace change and accept challenge... and I miss so many of them because of my addiction to routine! I hold onto it like grim death, as if God won't know how to 'handle' anything different than what I have come to know...

I have a dear friend who found out a few years ago he has early onset Parkinson's... not yet 50 years old, he continues to be a pillar of faith and an incredible example to all who know him. He didn't ask for this terrible disease... he didn't want or deserve it. But his walk has become so much more than he could have ever dreamed....

another great friend has a wife who is no longer interested in being married. He is crushed. and so would I be.... I pray everyday that their union can be healed and restored. But it may be that God has something better in store. He was not looking for this tragedy... he was looking forward to celebrating their 25th anniversary this year. But he continues on and seeks God's path for his life, even in the middle of the horrible pain.

God is the God of creative. God is the God of imagination. God is not a lover of routine.

yet we are allergic to change and challenge. we gotta get over that! Pretty cavalier, I know...

but I am convinced that our allergy is growth-stunting and life-sucking and dream-killing. and it robs us of seeing the possible... and enjoying the now.

let us resolve to look for opportunity. let's try to see life's bumps in a bigger way, and embrace what God may have for us to do... even though it's not in our 'plan'.

Blessings!

where do 'ought' and 'should' belong?

2009-07-30T09:12:00.005-05:00

Momma and Daddy used a lot of 'strategies' to teach their 4 kiddos.

I remember rewards. I remember punishment. I remember guilt.

Dad would tell you his parenting was a 'learn as you go' affair. He would admit (as most of us parents would) that there is no instruction manual... the training is definitely 'on-the-job'.

As a daddy of 3 girls, it is still a work in progress for me...

My least favorite method of motivation - both as a parent and a child - is guilt. I never have believed it was good or fair... but millions of parents use guilt to elicit desired behavior from their offspring. Because it is effective. It preys on our human desire to please... on our desire to perform to a standard and be recognized for what 'we do'...

but as I think of the 'daddy' metaphor that pervades the God story, I become more convinced that guilt has no place in motivating the Believer. none.

but for my entire life, preachers and teachers and youth leaders and, yes, parents have used words like 'ought to' and 'should' to produce behavior that they (the preacher/teacher/youthleader/parent) believe 'proves' the performers' faithfulness.

in fact, that guilt-based method causes us to perform like the Pavlovian Dog responding to a bell... and it has very little to do with Walk or Faith or Spirituality.

it has only to do with us, and how well we can perform. Sorta leaves out the CrossWork, doesn't it?

that's unhealthy. and it is unGodly.

and it causes us to forget the simple truth:

our 'works' are a result of our Salvation, NOT the cause of it.

no wonder we have such a hard time simply living in His Love and walking in Him.

so, where do 'ought' and 'should' belong?

nowhere in the life of a Believer, that's for sure!

Blessings!

what would it look like

2009-07-25T08:04:00.002-05:00

think with me for a minute...

If we knew nothing of our 'church heritage', then discovered Jesus..... what would 'church' look like?

no matter if you're Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Assembly, Church of Christ, Lutheran, Episcopal, Methodist, Christian or any other religious brand....

no matter if your parents 'took you to church' every time the doors were open or if you never 'went to church' much at all....

no matter if you were raised very 'fundamentalist arch-conservative' or very 'holy-roller'...

what would happen if we could slough that off like a snake loses its skin?

I know we are all a product of our experience. I get that. And I realize that's a huge part of who we are...

But with regard to spirituality and religion and such, it seems that THAT part of our 'make-up' is more 'who we are' than any other part of our upbringing experience.

Why do we subconsciously assign greater importance to religious tradition than other traditions?

For example, we used to visit the cemetery on Memorial Day (by we, I mean most people in my extended family). We would bring flowers and other decorative items and make the graves prettier... then we would actually take our blankets and spread them out ON TOP OF THE GRAVES of our dearly departed loved ones! Then we would eat! while sitting on top of their graves!

Here, as I sit and reflect on that, there is nothing that appears sane about that. I can think of no reason we should EVER eat in a cemetery... much less on someone's grave! Especially for believers who know the soul and body separated at death...

Anyhow, I digress. I know I may offend some of you by saying what I just said... you may still hold 'decoration day' or your version of 'dinner on the grounds' as a sacred tradition. I don't. I respect your tradition, but I choose not to participate...

and for most folks, it is ok that I don't take part in their tradition.

But when we place that tradition in a spiritual context (and, to give it weight, we attach Bible significance to it through some weird misapplied contortion), aaahhh, NOW we got a problem!

now my tradition turns into something YOU need to apply to your life.

and if you don't... well, we really can't be friends.

Ridiculous, isn't it?

So the question is still: what would it look like if we tried to 'cast off' our learned behavior and just tried to read the Bible and live in His Love?

And, by the way, I am not talking about replacing our traditions with those of our fathers or grandfathers or even the traditions of those who walked with Jesus.

I am talking about truly letting God's Word become alive in our lives and allowing it to speak to us and mold us into exactly what He wants us to be.

what would that look like?

I suggest that 'church' would look a lot less 'institutional'... and may not include things like buildings and budgets and boards of directors.

and it most certainly wouldn't be a 'place' we 'attended' once or twice a week.

Blessings!

it's not about me

2009-07-23T07:05:00.002-05:00

I was reminded last night -again - of an important tenet to remember when discovering and uncovering God's word.

during our Wednesday night Bible study, we talked about the 5th commandment. We all turned to Deuteronomy 5:16 and read the text...

then we had a discussion about what it means to 'honor' your dad and mom.... pretty meaningful sharing and testimony, and rather lively study about how it relates to us.

The thing I was reminded of is that this passage - like every other passage - is not about us. It is about God.

in this instance, the language is of covenant relationship with the Creator. The "so that it may be well with you and that you may live long in the land which God prepared for you" phrase is used a dozen or so times in the several chapters surrounding the Deuteronomy text...

so whether He is referring to "keeping His decrees" (Deut 4:40) or "fearing Him and keeping His commands" (Deut 5:29) or "being careful to obey" (Deut 6:3) or "honoring father and mother" (5:16), the central character is God and the central theme is 'honoring' and 'obeying' and 'fearing' and 'revering' HIM! it's about maintaining that Covenant Relationship with THE FATHER.

so the foundational key to honoring mom and dad is to honor God. We cannot honor our father unless we first honor Father.

Sometimes we fail (I fail) to see God in scripture because I am (we are) studying it from our own perspective.... and with me as the story's focus, the story loses its meaning, it loses its 'aliveness'.

and that inevitably robs us of the clear and simple meaning of the story.

The Bible Story is God's story. Reading the Bible without recognizing THAT is akin to reading "the grapes of wrath" and forgetting that it's Tom Joad's story.

When we remember that the Bible must be seen from God's perspective as His story, only then will we truly begin to 'get it'.

and for most of my life, I have begun my study through the lens of 'what does this mean for me?' and I have missed it, for the most part...

back to the 5th commandment...

we can talk about respecting our parents and helping them and taking care of them when they're old and not talking back to them when we're young. and those are all be admirable ways to 'treat' our parents, to be sure.

but all that misses the point of the commandment...

because, as we discussed last night, that 'treatment' (seen through human eyes) is about us and our relationship with our earthly parents... so what happens when our parents are neglectful, abusive, disturbed, horrible parents? Well, there is no way on earth we can honor parental monsters with the same 'honor' that others 'honor' their more loving and nurturing parents.

Because that sort of 'honor' depends upon us.

Bottom line: the only way any of this works is if we stop thinking of this (or any) commandment as being 'about us'.

the thread that ties this all together, so that everyone may adhere to this - and any - commandment is God. the One about whom the story is written!

you wanna honor your parents?

Honor God. seek covenant relationship with Him.

...no matter what you mom or dad may think about that.... and no matter what kind of parents they are/were, THAT is the answer to obeying the 5th commandment.

remember, it's not about me.

Blessings

night sounds and wind machines

2009-07-17T08:28:00.000-05:00

A friend recently commented about how the rain woke them up one night.... so I mentioned they might benefit from a wind machine...

to which he responded that they just used a fan and weren't as fancy as me...

...interestingly enough, that's where my sound addiction started...

as a small child, my mum would set up a small box fan in the hallway.... we lived by the highway under the viaduct, you see...

and over the years, I graduated from a small fan to the harder stuff... you know, high speed oscillators. then after Kelly and I were married, she said we had to do something different... she was not letting me bring my industrial 6 foot, 220v floor fan into the house.

so the compromise was the wind machine from Sears and Roebuck.

fancy you say? maybe. expedient I say. and a marriage saver.... we now have one in each bedroom, and even have a travel version for hotel rooms!

so make fun at your own peril, fanners of the world!

Windmachiners unite!

the "it'll be better when..." game

2009-07-16T10:29:00.002-05:00

It's a dangerous game. We've all played it...

"It'll be better when ______________________ ."

When you live in that game, you are robbed of the now. It is an invention of Satan himself, and is a breath-sucking, joy-robbing, grace-stealing path. it is easy to play, even natural in some ways...

let me encourage us all to take the advice offered in this line from an obscure little song:

live in the moment,

before the moment slips away...

May God bless us as we live in His now and His Grace.

so what IS the church? (a refresher)

2009-07-14T16:01:00.004-05:00

the word is ecclesia. Literally translated, it means 'the called out'.

any reference to the word or to the idea or concept of 'church' in Holy Writ depicts a people.... a group... a movement.... a body.

It NEVER refers to a building. EVER!

'Bible' buildings - locations - have names like synagogues or temples or tabernacles. but never - not even one time - is ecclesia (church) used to describe a place or location or a building.

We say we 'get it', but our very language betrays us.

We have forever emphasized the importance of "bringing 'em to church" or "gettin 'em to come back to church" or a hundred other phrases which misuse the word...

worse yet, our language betrays our ignorance of what we are called to do. We are not called to produce attenders, we are called to make disciples!

We are tasked NOT with filling up our buildings 2 hours a week, but with drawing people into relationship with Jesus Christ!

When I sometimes make a big point of this, people often scoff as if to say "yeah, we get it, but it's no big deal"

I disagree. It is THE BIG deal. The very central key to most every 'church problem' in history is tied to the misuse and resultant misunderstanding of exactly what 'church' is.

I have watched for decades as we vilify each other over stupid, meaningless, inane arguments. And EVERY ONE OF THOSE ARGUMENTS deals with how we 'do church'.... or some other 'locationcentric' issue.

just another indictment of our misunderstanding of what we are and what we are to be about. It makes me sick at my stomach. and Satan is winning.

So forgive me if I am militant about using words properly. Words mean things.

And if we continue to perpetuate ignorance (willingly or not) through our language and our actions, how can we be surprised when our kids and their kids finally look up and wake up and wonder... "Is this IT? ...there's gotta be something more."

God help us! My ardent prayer is that the Spirit will guide those honest seekers (our children and grandchildren) to relationship with their Savior. My fear is that we will have so thoroughly missed it - then passed along our 'missing it' to our offspring - that our kiddos will be disenchanted with Religion to the point that they run from it and miss the true and living God of creation.

Is the church important? VITALLY! But I believe we have confused the local church (and it's buildings and other accoutrements) with the 'ecclesia' to the point that we fail to understand the distinction.

It seems clear that there are bunches of 'church-attenders' all over the world which are a part of His Body, right?... doesn't it also make sense that there are tons of church-attenders who have no relationship with Him? Can they be considered a part of His Body if they have not first developed relationship with God through His Son?

But we have gotten the cart so far ahead of it's conveyance, we can't even see its tail!

When we misuse the language, we pervert Acts 2:47...

note: Jesus added the saved to His church. Jesus did not add church-attenders to the saved.

We must divorce ourselves from the notion of 'inviting people to church' and instead invite people to relationship with Jesus.... when we think of our mission through that lens, it takes on a much more vibrant, exciting and real meaning!

oh, and by the way, when we help lead people to the Risen Lord, I am convinced the 'church attendance' will be exactly what God wants it to be... but be warned: it - 'church attendance' - will likely NOT look and smell like anything to which we've become accustomed...

It's not that our local church buildings are bad places. It's just that we have apparently vastly overestimated our church building's saving power. .... and it has none.

May God Bless us as we lead others to Him through His Son.

what are we chasing?

2009-07-10T20:49:00.002-05:00

I remember hearing my uncles making fun of adolescent boys 'chasing girls'... saying things like "they wouldn't know what to do with one if they caught her!"

Probably a lot of truth to that... but, well, us boys grew up and most of us - thankfully - figured out "what to do with 'em".... (I mean that in a good wholesome way, as in 'marry them and start a family, etc)

but how sad it would be if the older men would have been right about boys and chasing and ignorance and futility...

which begs the question, right?

What if you truly didn't know what to do once you 'caught up' to whatever it is that you are chasing?

whether it be a vice or a career or mate or a job or a car or.... whatever... will you know 'what to do with it' when you 'catch it'?

I heard someone a lot smarter than me (a large group of people, you know) say that we'd "better make sure what we are leaning our ladder up against before we start climbing"... (or something like that)

anyhow, just a thought...

let's take care that what we chase is worth chasing... and worth catching...

blessings

Exploitation at its worst in the 21st century

2009-06-27T08:41:00.005-05:00

I had decided not to comment in this space about the whole Michael Jackson death furor.

But I changed my mind... and it sorta ties into another recent phenomenon about which I have a thought or two.

My family is eaten up with a couple reality TV shows. We are addicted to American Idol (Go Kris!), and a couple other shows are also DVR'd at our house... We like Ty's show, "Extreme Home Makeover", and the females in my house are riveted by the Jon and Kate deal... and have been enamored of their story long before the whole he-said-she-said divorce thing.

But MJ's death and the death of Jon & Kate's marriage give me pause...

so here are a couple thoughts...

Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' sold more albums (cassettes, CDs, downloads, etc) than any other piece of recorded music in the history of recorded music: 50 million copies! But sadly, the last couple decades of watching the resultant neuroses of this human freak show have almost made us forget about what made him the concensus King of Pop.

what a shame... He sold more albums than anyone in history, and we are talking not about that unbelievable feat but about his botched surgeries to make himself look less black and his weirdness and apparent affinity for young boys. and, of course, his money problems... wow! The public microscope is intense and the international spotlight is hot... and we all have some weird fascination with the weird.

the whole Jon and Kate deal makes me sick to my stomach and, well, really mad. mad at the adults in charge... yeah, the ones who made a deal with the devil that is Reality TV; by making that deal, this couple was at least complicit in the plot which played into America's sick prurient infatuation with voyeurism. It is not entertainment. It is not cute. It should not be interesting or fascinating, yet we are absolutely sucked in. This part of Reality TV is a tool of Satan.

Plain and simple, Jon and Kate exploited their family. They placed their children at huge risk and we all helped insure this family's demise by watching this tripe by the millions...

Shame on them for exploiting their kids. Shame on A & E network for making them some irresistible offer, and shame on us all for watching.

Instead of tuning into the misery of others and taking some sick pleasure in it, we ought to pray for the families which are turned upside down by... well... us.

a Day for Dads

2009-06-21T08:03:00.002-05:00

Mine was a childhood from a Norman Rockwell painting.

a great and loving mom and a wonderful smiling provider-dad and three siblings... I remember only good things, and they were plenty!

As an adult, I can look back and see things I didn't as a kid. I can see that mom and dad had the normal struggles all parents have... I can see that my mom struggled with depression... I can see that dad struggled to provide the way he wanted to for his 6 member family...

and I gain an even greater appreciation for my parents...

mostly because they kept all that adult stuff away from me and let me just be a kid.

And for that... probably above everything else, THAT... is why I love and appreciate my momma and daddy so much!

In these days of less-than-stellar economic times... in these days of such prevalent overt sinfulness.... in these days when dads are simply walking away from their families... and moms are too... it is vital that parents keep all that adult stuff away from their kids and allow them to just be kids...

thank you, daddy, for being such a good daddy. thank you for being such a good provider. thank you for showing me Christ. thank you for letting me be a kid.

Happy Fathers Day!

buddhism (cont)

2009-06-20T21:41:00.002-05:00

so in his quest for... I dunno.... something....

my friend is studying Buddhism.

I applaud anyone for learning about other belief systems. It should serve as a confirmation of your own beliefs... it may serve to challenge us and stretch us...

I would hope, though, that it would not shake your spiritual foundations.

if it challenges and stretches you and makes you think, that's a good thing, right?

but what if it makes you seriously question the very existence of the God of the Bible?

then what? do you forbid those you love from exploring and learning?

I know.... deep... and I really do covet your input as I try to help my dear friend as he is questioning everything he used to believe.

he has a Doctorate in Bible, for crying out loud.

so... whaddya suggest?

my former youth minister is a Buddhist

2009-06-20T12:41:00.002-05:00

Ok, so that was a purposefully eye-catching title, I admit.

My dear friend and former youth minister is a seeker. always has been...

What you love about him is the same thing that makes him 'dangerous' to follow.

I am asking for your help in assisting my dear friend and brother in finding his way through a time and place in his life which have left him searching... and I mean searching - not for the right way to worship God.... and NOT for the correct 'local church' to 'join'...

I mean my friend is searching to find out Who this higher power might me. and not altogether sure it is the God of the Bible...

wow...

I believe God will lead him back to Himself...

more about this as I learn about the situation...

pray.

Who are you? What are you doing?

2009-06-11T07:11:00.003-05:00

There are too many one-liners to list on the subject of direction.

Most of them point up this fact of life: it is impossible to go somewhere if you don't first know where you are...

and, if you really wanna get specific, I would suggest that it is vital to know how you got where you are... right?

Lucado had a terrific thought in his daily devo today...

"When you do the most what you do the best,

you put a smile on God's face.

What could be better than that?"

I have 8 friends right now who are in a tiny, remote Panamanian village - using their God-made gifts to make a HUGE difference in the lives of about 1000 of His children. They are taking medications to people who have never seen a doctor... they are giving medicine to children who have never seen an Ibuprofen or had Neosporin to put on a cut.

and they are doing what God designed them to do...

I'll bet they are happy...

and God smiles.

Blessings!

certainty and anchors

2009-06-02T08:52:00.004-05:00

what do you know for sure?

I know Kelly loves me. I know my momma loved me. I know the sky appears blue on a clear day.

I know my daughters love me... I know God loves me. I know my grass will need to be 'hayed' if I don't cut it about once a week.

I know for sure that my daddy loves me. I know God has blessed me beyond - way beyond - what I deserve. I know I must be allergic to ragweed, because I sneeze when I get near it.

I know God is alive and well and living in me, and that - to the degree I get outta the way - He has done (and will do) great things through me...

how 'bout you?

what do you know for certain?

not when the sun is shining and the birds are singing... but when the sky is dark and heavy.... and when smiles are hard to find....

then, where is your anchor?

it can't be things, right? I mean, the big flatscreen has little value to you then... the nice car is worthless then... the big nice house.... is that what gives you comfort? is that what settles you? is that your anchor?

no.

it needs to be solid, immovable... And we have seen flatscreens and cars and houses destroyed....

so where is your certain anchor?

Blessings!

I feel like an ant

2009-05-26T07:05:00.002-05:00

So last week, Cassie went with her 5th grade class to tour one of our local dams. They were built in the late 40s and early 50s for flood control, and transformed this sleepy little berg into a tourist and retirement mecca... (a subject for another time, perhaps)

Anyhow, as she exited the mammoth structure through which so many millions of gallons of water flows daily, she texted her mom. It was a 5 word message:

"I feel like an ant"

Wow. from the mouths of babes, right?

Louie Giglio does an unbelievable job in his DVD series explaining how big God is and how small we are. and an even better job articulating just how much that God cares for each of us....

It is amazing... and a bit of a paradox... to know that God is so big and powerful that He breathed the stars into existence, while also knowing the number of hairs on my head.

But that is how it is.

Try to wrap your head around that one.

Bask in it.

Blessings!

a day to remember

2009-05-25T07:27:00.002-05:00

we set aside today to remember sacrifice.

I watched Band of Brothers all weekend, and I am remembering... though I knew none of the real life heroes in Easy Company, I am compelled to think of them with great respect and honor.

I live in freedom because of what they (and hundreds of thousands just like them) gave...

One day a year surely isn't enough.

Take a minute and thank God for those who gave - and continue to give - so you and I can live in peace...

Happy Memorial Day!

praying for rain with no umbrella

2009-05-21T06:29:00.002-05:00

what would it be like if we prayed, believing?

what would it look like if we, when we got up off our knees from petitioning the star-breathing universe creator, set about preparing as if we knew that prayer was gonna be answered?

Jeff prays fervently for opportunity and support for his passionmission: to serve those in prison.

Cait's on her knees asking for opportunity to continue playing the sport she loves.

Melanie prays ceaselessly that her momma will be healed from the mass on her brain.

Lynn and Joy pray - for years - for God to provide the way and means and opportunity for them to engage (full time) in His passion, seeking lost people...

Matt prays - on-his-face type prayers - that his lovely wife has an uneventful pregnancy and delivers a healthy new baby.

cool. that's what we are supposed to do... right?

but what if Jeff 'gets the call' and receives the funding, but he has not prepared and studied and educated himself to be ready to minister to the imprisoned?

what if Cait gets a tryout and then a scholarship to play college ball, but has failed to work out and 'live' in the gym and get in the best shape of her life?

and what if Melanie's momma comes home from MD Anderson after successful treatment, but Mel does not have the house 'ready', cleaned.... spic and span and bright and happy?

what if they bring new baby home, but Matt has failed to buy the baby bed and paint the new nursery?

preposterous, right?

really?

how do you live? how do you pray?

well, yeah, but.... you know, God sometimes doesn't answer our prayers like we want... so, we are left to try to explain that to ourselves and each other.

I, for one, am not sure we have gotten this one completely right...

we have assuaged our stupid curiosity by telling ourselves that God sometimes just doesn't answer prayers like we want Him to. we sleep better at night thinking that God is God and we are not and He decides who gets their prayer answered and who does not.

and - in a way - that relegates him to the role of a fickle, impotent wizard-of-oz-like buffoon behind the curtain conjuring and deciding and faking out.

I have written (in this space) about God's omnipotence and how we cannot see the huge mosaic, but only our little piece of it. and how God makes decisions based on 'the greater good' (for lack of a better phrase)...

and I still stand by that....

But I've been thinking a lot about prayer lately... and I wonder if ours is the weak link.

Otherwise, how do we 'explain away' passages like Matthew 21:21-22?:

"I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt,

not only can you do what was done to the fig tree,

but also you can say to this mountain,

'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

or Mark 11:24?:

"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer,

believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."

or how 'bout James 5:16:

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective"

Could it be that we don't know how to pray, or God doesn't know how to answer? yeah, the same God who literally BREATHED the Milky Way into existence? I'd err more on the side of US not praying with belief..... wouldn't you?

Yeah, I get it... sometimes we DON'T see the big picture... and we pray selfishly... and maybe God reacts accordingly to prune us and teach us... or in the best interest of a greater good...

but I wonder....

what if we prayed for our church buildings to be filled with seekers...

oh, wait.... what if we even took the next step - beyond the praying - and actually 'outflowed' into our community and helped people (you know, the Jesus model: feed the hungry, visit the sick and imprisoned, etc), THEN ACTUALLY PREPARED for the FLOOD of seekers FLOCKING to our "doors" ??!?!?!

we GOTTA stop praying for rain and leaving our umbrella at the house!

God is the God of BIG. and we typically pray such teeny tiny prayers... shame on us.

let's resolve to pray GINORMOUS PRAYERS! Then let's prepare to move with GOD as He answers them!

how would that look?

what are we doing?

2009-05-14T10:22:00.003-05:00

so let's concentrate for a minute on our mission...

just for today, try this:

view everything you do through 'wimm' glasses... "what is my mission?" I mean everything you do, say, think...

see how it looks through your wimm glasses.... I suspect it will open your eyes like it does mine... because what I 'do' most days is a far cry from what my mission should be...

how 'bout you?

when you put on the wimm glasses, how does your day look?

Blessings!

what a week!

2009-05-09T12:53:00.002-05:00

so, First Day just returned from a fabulous week of worship and praise aboard the Music Boat Cruise!

It was unbelievable to spend time with the guys from Mercy Me, NewSong, David Crowder Band, Jars of Clay and TobyMac! and Matthew West is a really nice guy... got to talk to him about song writing on the bus back to the airport...

We had a terrific time! God was glorified and Jesus was lifted up!

check out our website for photos of the cruise www.firstdaymusic.com

Blessings!

a horrible family

2009-05-01T07:16:00.004-05:00

the advent of the 24 hour news cycle has produced some interesting offspring...

each of its progeny is slightly different, but it is easy to identify the 'mom and dad' by watching each child...

Stress - yep, we had stress before CNN opened the flood gates of instant and constant information 29 years ago... but this new 'information overload' stress is like our dad's brand of stress on steroids!
Anxiety - twin sister to stress, this wench is a very cruel one indeed... she feeds off of feeding a steady diet of 'worst possible scenario' and 'most dire outcome' to the unsuspecting, causing people to bite and tear at each other and themselves. While people today are not taking swan dives out of tall buildings in droves, this insidious interloper is destroying lives with the constancy of a clock
Worry - evil brother to stress and anxiety, this guy's shtick is enticing us to play the negative 'what if' game. He lures you into borrowing trouble from the future (Matt 6:34), his influence is so thoroughly pervasive, most of his victims completely forget about today
Fear - the antithesis of faith, this favorite son is determined to steal your joy and make you afraid. and he is very very good at it.
Doubt - this is the quiet loner of the brood. Not very close to his siblings, he simply whispers things in your ear that cause you to wonder... and not in a good way. Perhaps this 'son of the cycle' is the most evil of all, because he wears clever disguises like intelligence... and knowledge... and sage wisdom... his masks are limitless, and he is a master at boiling frogs.

do you know these horrible siblings, these children of Beelzebub? Do you believe you are improving yourself by 'knowing' everything that's going on? Are you tuned in, plugged in, wired up? ...or should I say 'wirelessly connected'?

do you get your emails on your blackberry? Can you text one-handed on that IPhone? are you Twittering every other minute? is Facebook your homepage? are you watching 3 different news channels all the time? Is there ANYTHING you are not aware of?

and.....are you deceiving yourself into thinking this is all... somehow... healthy?

really?

I am torn.

On one hand I feel the need to know... otherwise, how can I be a true roaring lamb? I need to know what bills are before congress and what law the president is about to sign... I need to know what the stock market is doing, right? I need to know how to pray and what to pray for...

on the other hand (and this hand, frankly, is becoming my more dominant hand), I want to know nothing... except that God is in control. I want to know that He has a plan that neither Obama nor Bush nor Pelosi nor any other political figure or powermonger will contravene... I want to know that if I show Jesus to the people I meet every day, that's my mission.

and to do that mission, I am beginning to believe that I need to place as much distance between me and this horrible 'family' described above as humanly possible.

how 'bout you?

being well, part deaux (garbage in = trashy attitude)

2009-04-28T08:38:00.003-05:00

so are you having trouble seeing things in a positive light? Do you wonder how everyone around you seems to be in a good mood, but you are just in a perpetual funk?

(disclaimer: besides 47 years of living and 25 years of marriage and 20 years of child-rearing, I have NO education in the art or science of psychology!)

but you gotta agree we are overmedicating, right? I mean, I wouldn't expect most in the medical community to agree :-) , but certainly we know that we have bought into the myth that there is a pill for every hurt, real or imagined...

here's a flyer: is it possible we could overcome many of our illnesses by relying on God instead of relying on medicine?

Yeah, I know, God gave us minds to create and help and it is truly astonishing how 'far' medical science has progressed! no doubt...

I'm just wondering... especially with regard to a lot of the more popular designer meds we take today...

why are we 'sicker' today than we used to be?

could it be environmental? I believe it is!

so, what is it that makes people depressed? what is it that keeps you from sleeping? what is it that makes you so frightened of tight spaces that you are considered to suffer from 'anxiety disorder'?

is it a possibility that we are 'filling ourselves' with garbage?

are you worried? do you stress about the future? do you lose sleep over the stock market or swine flu?

maybe we could consider exactly what we are 'filling our brains' with....

what is your 'brain diet'? what do you watch and read and listen to? are you an information junkie?

here's some hints:

if you watch CNN or FoxNews (or any other news show) all the time, it is likely you will buy into the hysteria and be miserable.
if you listen to a steady diet of talk radio, you are guaranteeing a particular type of dire outlook...
if you surf MSNBC or CBSNEWS or the Drudge report online (or any other news site), I promise you will worry
are you into pornography? listen, there is NO GOOD which can result from that
do you fill your head with YouTube videos?
do you know every statistic of every player on your favorite sports team?
are you forever checking the weather forecast? ask yourself this: why?
do you read about plane crashes and other natural disasters (especially when you are about to take a trip on an airplane?)

finally, are you rationalizing right now about how you NEED to stay informed? yeah right... whatever.

two problems will visit you if the list above describes you, and neither problem is small:

your brain will be filled up with crap, and you will be anxious all the time
your brain will have NO ROOM for good things (Phil 4:8)

by the way...the reason I know so much about the subject is this: that list above used to be a perfect descpription of ME! (and I shortened the list for time's sake) I am a recovering information junkie!

so let me encourage us all to jealously guard the space between our ears... take great care with what you allow to enter your mind.

you will be happier and more at peace, I promise! and who knows, you may save some money on Doctors and drugs...

Blessings

being well - part 1

2009-04-28T08:08:00.007-05:00

so, how you feelin? are you well? we all wanna be, right? and so many of us believe we gotta have 'pharmaceutical help' to feel good...

(Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, I do not play one on TV, and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night!)

I will say this: we have morphed into a society which believes that there is a pill or treatment for EVERY ILL, and I believe we have allowed ourselves to become WAAAAAYYY overprescribed! Especially with regard to mood-altering drugs.

...now everyone of you who read this - all 3 of you - will commence to cite reasons why you gotta have your Xanax or Prosac or Caduet or Ambien or whatever the designer-drug-of-the-day might be to 'make it'... or why YOUR kiddo HAD to HAVE Ritalyn or some other drug to 'pay attention in class'.... or how your aunt is a much better person when she's on her (fill in her drug here).

....and again, because I understand way less about this than more educated folks, I suppose I should back up and restate the disclaimer....

but I still stand by my statement that, for the most part, we have bought into the mentality that for every ache and pain - physical or emotional - there is a pill to fix it. So, we take our drugs...

we O.D. on our Ambien to make us sleep and pop another pill to help us wake up... we take our capsule to make us happy and another to keep us 'level'... we take our Lisenopril to regulate our blood pressure, and our Caduet to lower our cholesterol AND hypertension... and on and on and on the list goes...

so what's my point?

there are 2:

illness is a reality. and mental illness is every bit as real as physical illness.
most of us could be well and enjoy good health without medicating ourselves (are there exceptions to this? certainly - thus the use of 'most' instead of 'all' - the problem is, we all think OUR particular malady is worse than anyone else's and, thus, believe that puts us in that 'minority' which MUST take meds to be well)

I wonder - just spitballin' here - if, for instance, the guy who takes the lisenopril twice a day to regulate his high blood pressure could exercise more and eat less (or better) and control his illness (which he brought on himself with 40 years of not exercising and eating well) without medication?

I happen to know the answer to this one, because I know this guy really really well... and the answer is YES!

What about the rest of you? are you giving yourself insulin shots so you can 'eat whatever you want', then sitting down to a 3000 calorie 'diabetic-coma-on-a-plate'?

my fear is we begin to rely on the wrong thing.... we believe we gotta have a drug, so we forget about good living and prayer and devotional time and exercise, etc...

I just wanna encourage us to think through our dependence upon medication. that's all

(continued)

cryin coyotes

2009-04-25T08:23:00.002-05:00

Walking around outside this morning enjoying the sunrise... good coffee, watching the world wake up.

First Day is singing in Mexia, Texas tonight and we stayed last night at Mr and Mrs Fisher's in Wortham... so this morning I'm seeing sights and hearing sounds which are somewhat foreign to me.

Coyotes are howling in the distance (not far enough in the distance in my opinion) and the train whistle is blowing just over the horizon... not many big trees here, but LOTS of horizon!

and it is a beautiful morning!

God Bless!

for such a time as this

2009-04-22T13:13:00.006-05:00

Carrie Prejean is now officially a household name.

She is Miss California and, as most folks have heard by now, she caused quite a stir at the Miss USA pageant last week when she responded to a judge's question...

Asked judge Perez Hilton to Prejean, “Vermont recently became the 4th state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit. Why or why not?”

“Well I think its great that Americans are able to choose one or the other,” Carrie answered. “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

that earned her a mixed response from the audience. Boos followed by applause.

Perez - the openly homosexual judge who asked her the question (intentionally setting her up) then blasted her on his video blog calling it the “worst answer in pageant history.” He also made comments that he has since apologized for.

The directors of the Miss California pageant condemned her answer on Monday morning.
“As co-executive director of Miss CA USA and one of the leaders of the Miss CA family, I am personally saddened and hurt that Miss CA USA 2009 believes marriage rights belong only to a man and a woman,” wrote Keith Lewis on Hilton’s blog. “Although I believe all religions should be able to ordain what unions they see fit, I do not believe our government should be able to discriminate against anyone. Religious beliefs have no place in politics in the Miss CA family.”

Does she regret the answer? Not at all. “I was raised in a way that you can never compromise your beliefs and your opinions for anything,” she told one reporter.

most observers and insiders agree: “She lost it because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that,” Hilton told ABC News.

“It did cost me my crown,” Miss California concurred. “but I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I said what I feel. I stated an opinion that was true to myself and that’s all I can do.”

We live in a time similar to the Days of Jeremiah (6:14-16) when folks mocked God and scoffed at the notion of chastisement for sin:

"They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,

saying, 'Peace, peace,' But there is no peace.

Were they ashamed because of the abomination they have done?

They were not even ashamed at all;

They did not even know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

At the time that I punish them,

They shall be cast down," says the LORD.

Thus says the LORD, "Stand by the ways

and see and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way is, and walk in it;

and you will find rest for your souls.

But they said, 'We will not walk in it.'"

we live in a time like those in the days of King Xerxes, who took a similarly beautiful young girl named Esther to be his queen... soon afterwards the king's evil lieutenant Haman hatched a plot to kill Mordecai the jew (who happened to be Esther's cousin), by getting the king to sign a decree which called for the extermination of the jewish race... (at the time, the king was unaware that his queen was a jew)

When Mordecai sent word to his cousin queen, she at first did nothing....

but his message back to her was such a chilling and challenging indictment, she risked her very life to save her people....

so for those of us who sit idly by and watch this and other assaults on our very Christianity, I would encourage us each to heed the words spoken 5000 years ago by a man whose existence was similarly threatened:

"Do not think that because you are in the

king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape.

For if you remain silent at this time,

relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place,

but you and your father's family will perish.

And who knows but that you have come to royal position

for such a time as this?"

I don't know anything more than you do about Carrie Prejean; but I know God gave her 'esther-like' strength to stand up as just such a time...

so, what will it take for you? what will it take for me? to finally stand up...

when will your 'time' be? (hint: probably won't be on the Miss USA stage with 20 million people watching...)

Jesus and Malchus' ear

2009-04-20T07:34:00.004-05:00

Last night at life group my friend Jim made an analogy which I think is as good a metaphor for the CrossWork as I have ever heard...

we were talking about the concept of Jesus' blood covering us like a blanket, and how God places our sins 'as far as the east is from the west' from us.

So he told the story of Luke's account of the Gethsamane arrest...

Malchus is described as a servant of the High Priest, but was probably more than 'just a servant'. He was a pretty important person, evidenced by the fact that he was at the forefront of the lynch mob which came to arrest Jesus.... striking this servant was the same thing as trying to kill the High Priest himself! It would have been viewed as capitol offense punishable by death. So when Peter swung his sword trying, I am convinced, to take off this dude's head... he had committed an offense which earned him a death sentence.

Until Jesus touched the officer's ear and made it whole.

as if the incident NEVER HAPPENED...

let that sink in for a minute

Jesus healed that man's ear immediately, and Peter's offense was evidently forgotten... completely and forever...as if Peter never took his sword out of its scabbard!

If THAT'S not a perfect picture of Jesus' greater work on the cross, I am not sure what is.

Jesus took our sins on Himself and paid the price (made the 'situation' whole).... as if our sins NEVER HAPPENED!

So, next time you slip up and mistreat someone or curse at the guy who cut you off in traffic or act in an unChristian way toward someone.... anytime you feel like you are too far gone or too lowly or too unimportant... remember Jesus' healing touch on Malchus' ear that night in the garden. Better yet, recall that dark day in a city dump outside Jerusalem, where Jesus took our sins on His sinless self.

that's life-changing power

if you can digest that, it will liberate you... and, for most of us, completely revolutionize the way we think about salvation and sanctification!

God Bless!

the day George went home

2009-04-19T07:25:00.004-05:00

I didn't know him well. I sang in a group for 5 years with his eldest son... and if the son's life is any sort of reflection of his daddy's, George was pretty doggone special.

But I believe a lot of people knew that.

OK, here' a crass observation about funerals: the older the person in the casket, the smaller the crowd...

When my grandma died, she was 92 years old. Very beloved, very renowned (at least in her little town), well-respected, popular... but it was a relatively small funeral.

When the family walked down the aisle at Momma's funeral, it felt like the auditorium was standing-room-only... over 300 people at my mother's service. She was 61.

My point is this: it seems that when a 85-year-old person dies, the number of 'friends and acquaintances' who are still alive is necessarily smaller than that of a 50-year-old....

OK, sorry, I said it was crass. but it seems to be true...

But here's the deal: George had celebrated his 88th birthday a couple months before he died.... but when I walked into his funeral service last Thursday, there were almost 200 people already there! and that was before the family of 130 was seated!

to say he was beloved is a terrible understatement! and THAT'S what I am trying to say with this less-than-delicate post....

George was beloved and will be missed. very much.

And the best part is this: for every dozen people mourning his death on this side, there are a hundred angels on the other side welcoming him Home!

while we cry, they party!

..... because George is finally Home!

my thoughts are with Fran and Dale and Eden and David and Terri and all the family members. My prayer is that each will remember Mr George Cowart with a smile... and that each will remember that he is very very happy indeed to be enjoying Heaven's Splendor!

juggling

2009-04-16T12:04:00.003-05:00

several years ago, I taught myself to juggle. (hold the applause, I know it's terribly impressive!)

I started with scarves ...you know, because of the gravity issue and the ease with which one can pluck them out of the air... and now I can juggle small animals - just kidding!!!! take a breath, PETA...

I am not a very good juggler, really.... When I pick up 3 oranges from the basket on the kitchen counter and act like I'm gonna throw them up and start juggling, Kelly invariably gives me 'the look'.... accompanied by some threat against my person. probably because she's thrown away more than a few bruised apples....

The thing is, we're all jugglers. We are all called to manage the 168 hours God gifts to us each week.... we are all challenged to prioritize events and responsibilities in our lives, and some of us are, well, better than others at it. (frankly, I consider myself about average in that skill set... so I probably actually suck at it, since my opinion of me is usually higher than reality)

And the interesting thing is this: it's not as if the choices we (most of us) make are between 'good' things and 'bad' things... I mean, really, the folks I typically hang with are not struggling to make the choice of whether to 'go home and be with family' or 'go to a bar and get hammered instead' (though some probably wrestle with whether to help clean up the kitchen or play one more game of Halo or Madden NFL '09 - gotcha!)

the vast majority of us are trying to balance an array of good and noble things: family, job, household responsibilities, hobbies, 'church duties', personal ministry, etc... (and sometimes we intentionally blur the line between these 'good' things to make ourselves feel better about ourselves... "no, honey, I plan to talk about Jesus with Bill and Jimmy during our golf match tomorrow!")

and every one of us suffers from a certain brand of arrogance which believes that

"NOBODY IS AS BUSY AS ME", or its second cousin

"MY STUFF IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN YOUR STUFF".... or, my personal favorite - uncle

"NO ONE HAS EVER HAD TO DEAL WITH MY SITUATION BEFORE!"

to which we gotta say "get over yourself!" right?

anyhow, the question soon becomes: which of these 'good and noble' things gets my time? (reminds me of a book I've mentioned in this space... "tyranny of the urgent" which, in part, bemoans the fact that the 'URGENT' things in our day-to-day often - if not always - crowd out the IMPORTANT things in our lives...)

how we answer that question tells a lot about us... and people around you DO notice.

so, how good a juggler are YOU?

Blessings!

straight lines

2009-04-13T17:02:00.002-05:00

I like things in order. I like spreadsheets and lists and contact management systems... I like rules and following them... I like.... organized things.

not a big fan of chaos... it makes me nervous and uneasy.

That's why living in the Spirit is so strange and uncomfortable for me.

If I had been an Israelite following Moses across the wilderness, I probably would have been the first one to complain about the freedom.... and I likely would have led the grousing and murmuring about 'how nice the weather was in Egypt'.

Are you like that? are you a straightline addict? I am a recovering organizajunkie... because I am committed to living in His will... and, frankly, I am scared that the same traits which make me love and crave organization serve as a barrier to following His path for my life...

paths are funny things, right? In order to fully appreciate 'em, you gotta look at 'em backwards...

and as I look back at the path I've traveled, it is quite curvy and circuitous.... and in many ways very different than I had planned. yeah, looking back, there were times of focus and seasons of wandering; periods of darkness and eras of whitehot spiritual euphoria. All, I believe, part of the path He has led me on...

So I guess my best advice for me and the rest of us similarly afflicted organizaholics is this: be patient and embrace the journey.... love the fact that God is in control... and learn to enjoy the path. even when you are wandering in the wilderness....

Blessings

It's True!

2009-04-12T05:51:00.001-05:00

He's Alive! The Tomb is Empty! He has risen!

He's Alive!!!!!

in God's hands now...

2009-04-10T07:22:00.005-05:00

...tubes seemed to be the only thing connecting the old man to a glimmer of life, as the beeps and blips and machines hummed and chirped...

"it's in God's hands now"

...the finishing touches were just being put on the mammoth preparations for the annual Vacation Bible School....

"it's in God's hands now"

...the taillights disappear from view as the graduated senior heads off to college...

"it's in God's hands now"

how many thousands of times have people spoken those words?

to state the idea more accurately, we should say: "well, we've done all we can... now it's up to God to do the rest." isn't that what we are truly saying?

wow.

what an absolutely backward, faithless theology!

how ignorant am I to think that I have ANYTHING to do with God's plan completion.... yeah, He will use me if I'll let Him... and He WANTS to use me... but to say that "I've done all I can do, now God'll have to do the rest" assumes that He NEEDS me to complete His will.... it presupposes that, without me, His plan will fail.

how arrogant is that?

the small part of that thinking is our misunderstanding of how small we are.

I will continue to pray for the sick, hoping for healing.

I will not stop praying for success of our VBS.

and I pray daily (and won't stop) for my kiddos as they grow and go and leave me. and I will smile...

but God help me to stop thinking that it's God helping ME... help me understand more fully that HE's controlling HIS plan, and I am a teeny tiny piece of it....

when I get closer to that understanding, the ride is MUCH MORE FUN! and much less stressful!

Blessings!

Coffee, Lucy and Cocoa Puff

2009-04-05T07:45:00.002-05:00

Well, it must truly be Springtime! sittin' out back drinkin' coffee and watching Lucy the Wonderdog play with her new friend... Cocoa Puff.

Yeah, we are one of those families now... with two dogs.

Lucy the Wonderdog is, of course, a full-blooded and registered Bassett Hound and Cocoa Puff (so named because her mother is 'Cocoa' and, well, you know, this being Arkansas...you do the math!) is a mutt. Her momma (the afore-mentioned Cocoa, because - yep - of her color) was a long-haired miniature Dachshund, and her daddy was - apparently - some sort of Terrier... a nefarious ne'er-do-well, no doubt! anyhow, the little dog is the same age as Lucy the Wonderdog, and about 1/4 her size... she is a little 10-pound bundle of energetic muttness!

I believe Lucy knows the difference. I think she is quite sure that her station is a bit higher than "the puff's"... she sorta struts around a little while her new 'sis' bounds along nipping at her immense hangy-down jowls... and at first Lucy the Wonderdog tried to ignore her. That lasted about 20 minutes.

Then all barriers dissolved and Lucy discovered that Cocoa Puff's back legs are the exact perfect size to fit in her big bassett mouth! so she chases the puff around biting at her rear legs and Cocoa - though she can outrun her easily - allows it for a while, then turns and latches on to Lucy's jowls with her vice-grip-with-needle-teeth jaws and they tumble and yap and bark and play... yep, they are fast friends!

(there's a lesson there somewhere, right on the edge of my consciousness... something about people thinking they are better because of who their parents are or think they are... you know the type: they wake up on 3rd base and think they hit a triple... oh well, it'll come to me)

As I drink my coffee on this beautiful Spring Sunday morning, they are romping and playing and nipping and tugging at the same bone... having the time of their lives!

Life is Good! (Hey, I oughtta put that on a T-shirt!

Blessings!

no April foolin'

2009-04-01T08:15:00.003-06:00

My friend Jimmy Wingard texted me this morning.... a three word message:

Pelphrey to Memphis

I shot back a quick text asking if Calipari took the Kentucky job.... then came Wingding's reply:

April Fools!

what a funny man....

but it made me think... how many times have we treated God's gift of salvation like a cruel April Fools' joke?

in my growing up, I was taught that perfection should be sought.... but that perfection could never be realized... How messed up is that??!?!? (of course, back in the day, that was the way Christian parents convinced their young-uns they should behave... a second cousin, by the way, to: "be good, God is watching you!")

This sort of 'doctrine' is bound to instill fear and uncertainty in Believers everywhere; I'm convinced that this type of 'hide and seek' teaching is responsible for so many neuroses suffered by adult Christians today! Are we surprised?

The more I think about it, sometimes I wonder if we all have such a screwed up version of God that we need to have a 'Bible lobotomy' and start from scratch... so we can learn it right! so we can begin to glimpse the true nature of God and His truly amazing grace... (myself at the top of the list, by the way...)

I used to have a boss that liked to say "I'd rather hire a novice than a pro... because most pros have learned the wrong way to do things, and it's easier to train than to un-train and re-train." Probably some wisdom there... but I digress (big surprise!)

let me urge us all to not 'pass along' our unhealthy "God-views" to our kiddos... for instance, let us vow to NOT teach them that the Bible Story is ALL ABOUT US... but rather that we are all a part of God's greater story, one that continues to unfold...

Thank God for His mercy and unfailing Grace... and thank God for NOT playin' "April Fools" with His Children!

Blessings!

oh, and by the way... no truth to the Pelphrey thing.... I don't think.....

one of the good guys

2009-03-27T15:39:00.004-06:00

Kimball Matkins was the first person we ever talked to at York College. And his is the indelible impression which has caused many high school students to make the decision to attend a small Christian school in a small interstate town in Nebraska.... including our oldest daughter Caitlin. She played basketball for York her freshman season before transferring to Harding...

about a year and a half before we met him, Kimball learned that he had Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, an ailment which kills 90% of its victims in the first 24 months...

He was training his replacement as Caitlin went through the enrollment process... and by that time, this former college athlete was wheel chair bound.

I cannot claim that I knew him well.... and I doubt he would remember me (though I am told he rarely forgot anyone's name once he met them).... but this gentle ambassador for a little school in Nebraska had huge impact on an incredibly large number of people.

If ours is to touch as many people as we can with Jesus' love, well, Kimball is a great man to model.

yesterday, Kimball went home...

to say that he will leave a hole is a vast understatement. People who knew him well will do a much better job of eulogizing him... I met him twice for a total of 35 minutes.

...and I will never forget him...

I think he had that affect on people.

tm

the organic movement

2009-03-24T07:43:00.002-06:00

Been pondering and thinking a lot about the organic church movement... and my previous study had led me to the conclusion that 'organic' and 'institutional' were somehow incompatible... even opposite... or, at least, certainly mutually exclusive...

I have thought at times that one could not be a member of an institutional church AND an organic movement at the same time... I am rethinking that. I am no longer sure that is the case... as a matter of fact, if 'church' is about community, why would we limit our connectivity to others in any way?

It is obvious to me that we have perverted the idea of church to the point where most people necessarily think of the building they attend on Sunday morning when they think of what 'church' is....

That does not mean that an organized church is incongruous with the Biblical idea of church. But it would be hard to argue that 'organized religion' is not, in most cases, very different from what God intended it to be... and, in my opinion, in mostly bad ways.

But discovering or agreeing on that premise - that organized religion is largely a perversion of what God intended - is not NEARLY a grand enough 'place' to be...

If you have landed there... or at least have wondered if 'church' is all that it should be... then the question is 'what now'?

Do we completely turn away from organized religion? Do we run from the church of our youth? Do we pull back and not participate in anything 'church'?

Why would we do that? It's at least as ridiculous to turn your back completely on the idea of organized religion as it is to think that one can survive and thrive outside the Community God designed for us... right?

I encourage us all to pray about the matter... ask God to guide our hearts as we go... I also challenge us to study and refine our idea of 'church'.

Of this I am sure: our mission - spreading seed, making disciples, etc. - ONLY happens within the context of relationship.... think about that as you study and pray...

Blessings!

Mrs. Libby Baker - none better

2009-03-16T10:03:00.002-06:00

Me and the rest of my First Day friends gathered in the living room of a very special person yesterday afternoon.

Libby Baker is ever the gracious hostess, and she was kind to let First Day sing in her living room with her and a few of her family members!

What a treat! just being in her presence, you feel how fellow seekers must have felt when they were around Lydia of New Testament fame... she is a treasure... and yesterday, for a few minutes, we had the honor and privilege to sit with her in her 'parlour' and just sing.

It was very very special. and I will never ever forget it!

Thank you, Miss Libby, for being the blessing you are to everyone. And thank you for welcoming us into your home... I'm still floating!

Blessings!

citizen soldiers or mercenaries

2009-03-01T16:32:00.006-06:00

Ask most people about our system of government, and they will tell you we are a democracy...

actually we are not.

The United States of America can better be described as a representative republic... it involves 3 branches of government, one of which consists of two groups of representatives who are supposed to 'represent' their 'people'.

These 'citizen legislators' were never intended to become professionals but, for the most part, that is precisely what we have: professional politicians!

It is in some way akin to the citizen soldier / mercenary relationship... one fights for a Purpose and the other fights for money.

unfortunately, the church buildings which dot our landscape (and the Church they 'house') have inevitably mirrored society around them... and instead of the Church affecting Society, it has indeed worked in reverse: Society has affected the Church - and mightily!

Nowhere is this more obvious to me than in the 'professionalization' of the 'ministry'. We have schools which exist solely to create professional preachers... our churches search for the right men with the correct letters after their names.... and all of that necessarily creates a Clergy / laity system.

...this notion runs counter to Biblical teaching about spreading the Gospel and expanding the Kingdom's borders... and it has created the professional-evangelist-vs-'lay-minister' situation which is, in my opinion, poisoning the Church.

and while many will cite Paul's quoting of Deuteronomy 25 in his Corinthian letter in order to justify the professional preacher, I am not certain the 'preponderance of evidence' from the inspired Bible writings will lead us to believe that professional preachers are THE design for accomplishing our commission. Don't misunderstand: I am NOT against those who preach and mission and travel and teach being supported to do so... I believe we ought to pay them! and we ought to pay them a lot more than we typically do...

but it would seem to this somewhat-semi-serious student of the Bible that His Design tends more toward the roaring lamb than the professional evangelist.

Does that mean people should not aspire to Biblical knowledge? well, I guess that would depend on our motivation, right? I mean if we are pursuing knowledge solely for the sake of knowing... if we are craving Bible intelligence so we can score well on a test or win a debate..... if our reason for endless hours of study is to be the smartest guy in the room or the cleverest preacher... then that pursuit is folly because it so thoroughly misses the point!

If on the other hand we are pursuing knowledge so we can 'more perfectly discern His Will for us' or equip our brothers and sisters to 'go and make disciples', well that's a different story altogether... and in my circle of friends (several of whom are paid, located preachers), THAT's what seems to drive their hunger for knowledge... and that gives me peace. ...and to those who are actually 'training and equipping' their brothers and sisters to complete the mission... KUDOS!!!! that is an excellent and worthy use of your education, intelligence and talent!

But there are, I believe, countless others who miss the mission in their chase for knowledge. and, for my part, I got no respect nor use for smart people who don't grasp their role in the mission.

and, after all, which is a more effective tool for COMPLETING THE MISSION? A brilliantly smart, incredibly well-educated pulpit preacher who, by our clergy/laity design, has no connectivity with his parishioners?

a passionate, compassionate saved sinner who influences his circle of friends to follow Jesus (all the while studying His Word)?

there's no comparison.

Understand this: NOBODY loves to hear a talented, Biblically educated preacher deliver a stem-winder more than me!

I'm just not sure that THAT is the BEST method for the mission at hand. and I am QUITE CERTAIN that it is not the only method...

I covet your thoughts, and offer this in as humble a spirit as I have in me.

God Bless!

the myth of 'wild-oat-sowing'

2009-02-22T13:14:00.003-06:00

The origins of our colloquialisms intrigue me... perhaps the most interesting of our 'figures of speech' is the 'sowing wild oats'...

so I looked it up... and here is what I found:

The saying is referring to a European grass species with the formal name Avena fatua, which has for centuries in English been called wild oats. Farmers have since ancient times hated it because it’s a weed that’s useless as a cereal crop, but its seeds have always been difficult to separate from those of useful cereals and so tended to survive and multiply from year to year. The only way to remove it was to tramp the fields and hand-weed it.

So sowing wild oats was the archetypal useless occupation, indeed worse than useless. It’s not surprising that the phrase sowing wild oats was applied figuratively to young men who frittered away their time in stupid or idle pastimes. But there’s a strong sexual association here, too, because the phrase was often applied, in a more or less indulgent way, and always to young men, to what was politely referred to as youthful dissipation. The associations between male sexual activity and sowing seed are obvious enough.

In 1869, Louisa May Alcott wrote (in the classic work 'Little Women'): “Boys will be boys, young men must sow their wild oats, and women must not expect miracles”.

While I want to believe Ms Alcott was not necessarily referring to the nefarious and sinful activities that come to my mind when I think of wild oats, I am certain that our society has adopted her fatalistic attitude toward our young people and their sinful activity.

Over the past half century, the phrase has become more and more an excuse for youthful indiscretion... a sort of 'explanation' for a broad variety of activities which we adults expect will not be long-lasting nor harmful to the participants (usually our own kids)...

Somehow we rationalize that our 15- to 25-year-0lds somehow need to drink or smoke or have sex or (fill in the blank with whatever 'experience' you wish) to 'grow into' the mature people we hope they will become...

I am convicted that our lax attitude toward this idea is an insideous tool of Satan himself!

Whether we couch it as 'part of the growing up process', or pass it off as a 'rite of passage' or convince ourselves that kids need to 'get it out of their system'... we parents had better wake up to the consequences of our attitude.

Why would any of us allow our children to engage in harmful activity? I am certain that any sinful activity we engage in leaves a mark on our soul. I know God forgives and forgets, but I also know there are real life consequences to actions....

(oh and, by the way, saying 'it's no worse than what I did when I was their age' is not a valid reason for allowing/encouraging these sinful activities... it's lazy and unloving and irresponsible!)

I would just encourage us all to prayerfully consider how we encourage/allow/guide our teens during these spirit-forming years...

Our children's future will be affected by how we treat this myth...

God Bless!

sportsmanship

2009-02-19T11:13:00.002-06:00

I am a competitor. I love to win and I hate to lose... I am (or once was) an average athlete and I am a below average amateur coach of Tball, Soccer, Softball and Basketball for my daughters.

Sometimes, even in these peewee games, I feel the old competitive feelings start to surface... and I have to fight against them so I don't make a fool of myself. I am not always successful... sometimes I make an ass of myself in spite of myself!

But I heard this story yesterday on Mike and Mike in the morning, and I simply had to pass it on... it is the most wonderful story of sportsmanship I have ever heard:

Johntell Franklin is a 18 year old senior at Milwaukee's Madison High School, a captain on the Basketball team....and very sadly his 39-year old mother passed away from cancer on February 7. It was somewhat unexpected as she had been in remission for 5 years...

His team had a game scheduled for that night. His coach originally intended to cancel the game, but Johntell said "no, I want my team to play... tell them to do their best."

The game was in the 2nd quarter, when Johntell walked into the gym... the coach recalled: "A few seconds after I spotted Johntell, all the people in the stands did, too. They surrounded him. The players, his friends in the stands, the cheerleaders..."

Then came another surprise: Franklin didn't just want to watch. He wanted to play. "I'm a competitor. I can't just sit there and watch," he said.

Womack sent Franklin, a 6-foot-2 forward, into the locker room to suit up. He returned to the cheers of the crowd - including the coaches and players from DeKalb, whose amazing display of fellowship and sportsmanship had just begun.

But Franklin's desire to play created another problem: The referees were required to call a technical foul against Womack for failing to list Franklin into the official scorebook.

but to their everlasting credit, the coach and players on the other team argued that they didn't want the 'T'

"We argued, but the referees said those were the rules, even if there were extenuating circumstances," DeKalb's Coach Rohlman said.

After a 7-minute discussion, 5'11" senior point guard Darius McNeil from DeKalb took matters into his own hands. He took the ball and went to the free throw line to shoot the technical free throws.

...so what he did was roll the ball

- on the floor -

across the end line ...to make it an official shot...

twice

He purposely missed both free throws... didn't even shoot them, just sort of rolled the ball across the end line...

and turned around to find the entire place - including all the Madison players and coaches - standing and applauding the gesture of sportsmanship.

DeKalb won the game 62-47...

and Johntell Franklin matched his season average with 10 points...

Darius McNeil said later "I did it for the guy who lost his mom, it was the right thing to do."

Coach Rohlman said later "I gathered my kids and said, 'Who wants to take these free throws?' and Darius put up his hand. I said, 'You realize you're going to miss, right?' He nodded his head. Darius set up for a regular free throw, but he only shot it two or three feet in front of him," Rohlman continues. "It bounced once or twice and just rolled past the basket."

"Just being in the game was a good feeling," Franklin said. "I knew my Mom would have wanted me to play. She was always proud of me playing basketball."

what a wonderful reminder of what is really important.

Blessings!

A new 'must read' book!

2009-02-17T07:22:00.003-06:00

Well, my friend and idol Stanley Johnson is now officially a PUBLISHED AUTHOR!!!

"There was no Linkin' to What I was Thinkin" is available at the following link:
http://www.iuniverse.com/Bookstore/BookDetail.aspx?BookId=SKU-000117000

"Linkin-Thinkin" is a collection of hilarious and reflective stories from Stan's life and times.... those of you who know Stan, know he has always had a unique way of telling a story.

You gotta read this! so order your copy today... You will be really glad you did.

Blessings...

Bipolar Christianity

2009-02-14T11:07:00.004-06:00

Peaks and Valleys.

Life is full of them... mountaintop experiences are, many times, followed by dark days. Most of us live from peak to peak and try to endure the valleys.

Is your spiritual life hot and cold? Do you sometimes find yourself 'on fire' while at other times cold as ice?

I do.

Less, frankly, than I used to... because God has placed so many wonderful Christians in my path to minimize my 'down' times and keep me 'up' and hold me accountable...

but still there are hills and hollers in my walk.

It seems that many of us suffer from a sort of 'manic-depressive' Christianity... one day we are world-beaters, planning and doing and helping and 'in tune' with His will... and the next day we are far from the center of His will, barely able to string together two conscious God-thoughts in a whole day!

So what is the cure for this 'Spiritual Bipolarism'? ...or at least what is the treatment?

I don't know what it is for everyone else.

but for me, it is prayer and study and serving and praising... and, most importantly, being around people who share a love for prayer and study and serving and praising.

sounds simple, right?

I have a couple really close friends who are bipolar. While I am certainly no expert, I have watched them do really well when they are taking their meds.... then they sometimes get to feeling so well they forget why! and stop taking the medications... and plunge into the 'yoyo effect' that is the disease... bouncing from the highest euphoric high to the lowest depths of depression...

I am told that this 'cycle' is part of the disease...

so is it a stretch to observe that, like the person who suffers from bipolar disorder, we sometimes get to feeling so 'well' spiritually, that we forget why? and stop 'taking our meds'...

well, for me.... it's a daily struggle... but it is made much easier by being married to the very best wife on the planet. She is the very best part of me... and she daily reminds me in hundreds of ways how blessed I am...

whatever it is for you... just remember it, and 'take the medication'... do whatever it takes to remember God's gift.

...how can we forget?

Happy Valentine's Day to all!

Blessings!

using your giftedness

2009-02-07T10:11:00.002-06:00

God made each of us unique...

each with his own strengths and weaknesses and propensities and idiosyncrasies.... beneath the DNA level, God made you YOU.

He gave every person gifts. And I believe that He gave those gifts to be used for His purpose...

When you combine those gifts with life experience, you have a ministry...

so, if it were a mathematical formula (I know, very rich indeed coming from such a math mind :-) ! hehehe), it might look like this:

GIFT + LIFE EXPERIENCE = MINISTRY

As an example, if God gifted you with a special measure of compassion and a soft heart... AND you have suffered through the horrible pain of losing someone close to you, your ministry can be comforting those who suffer through loss...

Whatever your gifts, always wake up remembering that they were given by a merciful God... and always remember to use them to show His Son to others!

You will be blessed!

tm

The Music Boat

2009-02-06T10:44:00.003-06:00

Well, it's official...First Day is going on the Music Boat Cruise with Mercy Me, Toby Mac, Barlow Girl, Newsong, Matthew West, Pillar and a bunch more Christian Artist!

We feel very blessed and honored to be invited...

come along!

Blessings!

Cardboard Testimonies

2009-02-02T08:27:00.002-06:00

I feel like most folks have seen 'Cardboard Testimonies'...

It is by far the most moving portrayal of the gospel I have seen in my life. Many congregations have had their own version of cardboard testimonies... We did last night as a part of our 'Super Soul Sunday' at Riverside...

it was awesome!

Check out the original:

http://www.godtube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=8616c1559ab4221b3910

God Bless!

ice storm

2009-01-30T15:42:00.005-06:00

As I stood outside my front door on Monday night, I witnessed an unbelievable scene.

The climatological 'stars' aligned and freezing rain coated every outdoor surface over the northern 1/3 of the state of Arkansas... and a surreal scene unfolded.

The cold rain quickly turned every branch on every tree into an ice brick, and every tree in sight began to groan under the weight... and finally gravity won as the tops of trees began to crack like so many rifle reports across the quiet countryside. Huge trees - many of which had seen two world wars and the great depression and the turn of the century - literally split down the middle and crashed to the earth below.

Never have I seen the sights I saw and heard the sounds I heard on Monday and Tuesday. The scene will remain burned into my memory for the rest of my life, as tree after tree cracked and broke and fell to the ground.

Power lines and telephone cable gave way... some because of the sheer weight of the 2 inches of ice which had collected on them, and others because giant trees crashed down on them.

By Tuesday night, half a million people had lost electricity. As I write this on Friday evening, only about one fourth of us have power...

There are lots of lessons me and my family learned over the last week.

We were blessed indeed. Our power went out at noon Tuesday and returned Thursday about 4 pm... Throughout, we have had a gas log fireplace (which my smart wife told me to 'flip on' before we lost power) and hot water (our water heater is gas-powered) for showers. It is amazing how much 'for granted' we take these small blessings...

Please pray that everyone can be warm and safe, and that power is restored to everyone quickly.

(our local radio station has some terrific pictures of the devastation http://www.ktlo.com/09icestorm.php )

more later...

God Bless

He wants your heart

2009-01-26T13:22:00.002-06:00

What does God need from us?

nothing.

What does He want from us?

does He want our praise? does He want our time? does He want our '90 minutes a week'? does He want our money? does He want our things?

the answer to theses and a thousand other questions just like them can only be a 'YES' if it is as a part of His wanting our all.

Otherwise, He doesn't want any of it. He certainly doesn't need it.

We read that faith without works is dead in James' letter.

..but in what we like to call the 'love chapter' of the Bible, Paul clearly states that works (and faith, for that matter) without the heart is equally useless.

He wants our heart... period. If He has that, He has everything we have to offer.

Blessings!

settling in or just settling?

2009-01-23T08:11:00.003-06:00

I had a football coach once who preached against 'satisfaction'....

"Never be satisfied" was his mantra. And I get it... he wanted us to always be about getting better. He did not want us to rest for a second, even when we beat arch rival Harrison for the third straight year!

And as Christians, I suppose we need a bit of that as well... we should never be satisfied with 'just getting by' or 'the status quo' when we can improve.

I have always thought of it as a sort of healthy tension between satisfaction and complacency.

I know God wants us to have peace. I'm talking about His peace, not our definition: "the lack or opposite of war".

But I confess I struggle with knowing the difference between settling in or just settling...

With regard to churches, many church plants start with grand, God-filled, Spirit-led ideas; then a certain 'settling in' occurs; and I believe that's natural, and probably should not alarm us....

But what if the 'settling in' becomes 'settling for'?

When a church is first starting, there's a lot of chaos and excitement and 'noise'. Not all of the chaos and excitement and noise is good, but it is exhilarating! As a church finds its identity, there are certain natural steps which seem to occur... some are probably positive while others are neutral, and some seem to be not so positive.

Think of the 'life cycle' of most churches you have been involved in. (If you were blessed to be a part at the start, you know what I'm talking about.)

It seems to me that there are several 'pivot points' in this life cycle which set the course for a church... while there are numerous decisions that are made along the way, these pivot points - at least to me - almost inexorably "tie" a church to a specific direction...

and - again, my opinion - it is almost IMPOSSIBLE to return to a previous 'pivot point' and change the decision (that's why I call them pivot points :-))

let me know what you think of these as pivot points:

what is our purpose or mission statement?
where do we meet? (this one permeates the process several times during the cycle)
what is the name of our 'gathering of folks'?
do we hire a preacher or do we handle those duties? (see how presumptuous my mind is? I'm assuming - like most folks do - that our 'church' will behave like every other church with one 'speaker' and many 'listeners'... do you see how our habits and traditions can lead us down a path almost subconsciously?)
as (or if) we grow, how do we handle that growth? (do we form a committee and see about renting space for our activities - like worship, etc - or do we try to continue to meet in homes... or do we purchase a building... or do we buy land and build a building?)

those are just a few to begin.... can you see how, at each point, the 'direction' is firmly set?

so how do we guard against simply 'doing it' like it's always been done? and is it ok to do it like it's always been done? or do we need to consider that the way it's always been done is not in harmony with God and Jesus and the Biblical example?

just thinking...

Blessings!

the right man in the left seat

2009-01-19T08:36:00.004-06:00

150 people boarded flight 1549 last Thursday morning. One man was heading for a fishing trip with his brothers and dad... another was heading to Denver for a presentation... another family was excited to be breaking away for an extended ski weekend.

and none of them expected to be standing on the wings of the A320 Airbus as it sank into the Hudson River 10 minutes later (but I bet all of them were wishing they had paid better attention to the flight attendant as she did her little safety speech..). A scant 3 minutes after takeoff, flight 1549 encountered a flock of geese, several of which were ingested into both engines... and with a pair of brilliant explosions, this 85-ton engineering masterpiece became a very ungainly glider with very little altitude.

It is not terribly uncommon for ducks and geese to disable jet engines... but when they disable both engines on a twin engine aircraft, it gets really serious in a hurry. 27 years ago (almost to the day), Air Florida flight 90 crashed into the Potomac River shortly after takeoff from National Airport in D.C. 78 people died in that crash.

and that's what makes the rest of this story so remarkable!

Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger was at the controls of flight 1549 last Thursday... and everyone survived!

Sullenberger spent practically his whole life preparing for the five-minute crucible that was US Airways Flight 1549.

A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who flew F-4 fighter planes while in the Air Force, he got his pilot's license at 14, flew fighter jets in the Air Force, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how cockpit crews behave in a crisis.

Two years ago, Sullenberger started a California consulting firm, Safety Reliability Methods. It advertises itself as offering companies ways to apply the latest safety advances from "the ultra-safe world of commercial aviation."

When the ultimate test came on a descent over the Hudson River, he spoke into the intercom only once and gave perhaps the most terrifying instruction a pilot can give — "Brace for impact" — with remarkable calm.

One Airplane expert commented that "while all pilots are highly trained for every eventuality, there are perhaps a half dozen pilots on the planet who are as uniquely qualified as Captain Sullenberger for this specific set of circumstances..." a fighter pilot... a glider pilot (are you kidding me?)... owner of an air traffic safety consulting firm (wow).... a student of how pilots react in a crisis (you're joking, right?!!?)

As passenger after passenger were interviewed after being fished from the Hudson, each had a different take on the crash... but everyone agreed that the pilot saved their lives. and for the families of the all the passengers and crew on flight 1549, I'll bet they agree on one thing:

God placed the right man in the left seat.

a nice place to visit...

2009-01-15T12:58:00.002-06:00

So I've been in Atlanta this entire week for a sales conference... slightly more exciting than watching grass grow... (no, really pretty interesting...)

haven't taken time to post in a week or so, and I need to assuage my guilt!

so my brain is sorta fried and I got nothing burning in my brain that requires comment here... other than this: as much as I enjoy traveling to new and different places, I am always ready to go home.

and I do want to say how much I appreciate your reading this and commenting.

God Bless!

what are we to be about?

2009-01-11T07:48:00.004-06:00

I've been traveling a bit over the past week, and am scheduled to be in Atlanta this week... so that's my lame excuse for not posting since the 2nd! sorry....

anyhow, Lynn and Joy joined us for dinner last night to, well, eat... and to discuss the work in Panama. With emphasis on the upcoming medical mission to Santa Marta....

They bring a wealth of information for which we are eternally grateful. I plan to begin meeting with our Santa Marta team in the coming days to get our plan ironed out and begin our preparations.... I am pumped!

As we talked and dreamed and plotted about the work last night, it occurred to me that these two precious souls are completely sold out to God's work in Panama. I don't mean a little bit... not marginally... not metaphorically... and not part time... Lynn and Joy are IN IT!

They have spent the past several weeks completely liquidating their earthly possessions... giving first dibs to family members and preparing to have this UBER GARAGE SALE next weekend to sell everything else!

When they get on the plane on January 29, they will leave nothing behind... no storage buildings of stuff. no house to come back to. no cars... everything they 'own' will be with them in Panama.

sold out. literally.

what are we to be about? if we take seriously the words of a 12-year-old Godman 2000 years ago in a dusty temple, we gotta answer "my Father's business"

and, to our detriment, we (I) have let a whole host of things (mainly 'things') get between me and that.

I challenge us in 2009 to remove whatever it is that precludes us from being about His business.

God Bless!

I Resolve....

2009-01-02T07:46:00.003-06:00

every new year brings with it exciting new challenges and possibilities... a clean slate and a fresh calendar serve as the blank canvas upon which we can each begin a new masterpiece.

and most of us like to (or feel the need to) make promises to ourselves about what we are gonna do better or what we are gonna do less of...

so what are your resolutions?

and, by the way, how'd you do last year?

in 2009, I am bound to save more and spend less... to exercise more and eat less... to be more humble and patient and react less...

this year, I am gonna stress less and smile more. I'm gonna laugh a lot. I'm gonna pray more and worry less.

I'm gonna try very very hard to love my wife even more deeply than I do, which seems almost impossible!

I'm gonna listen more (especially to His Voice) and talk less... (that's a real challenge)

that's a good start, right?

how bout you?

Blessings!

away in a manger - the day after

2008-12-26T07:49:00.002-06:00

We sing the songs about Jesus' birth in a sheep pen. We idealize it and we set up likenesses of our version of the scene and call it 'the nativity'.

yet I believe we have sterilized it so much that we miss a couple things... I know I do.

What was it like after the gift-bearing royalty left? Do we think that the inn-keeper suddenly found a room for the new parents and their new baby?

Jesus whole life was, in a way, miraculous. We think of His birth that way... but have you ever thought of the days following our baby savior's arrival?

What was it like for a teenage momma to care for her new baby in a barn? Nursing and diapering (did they even have diapers? yeccchh!) and sleeping and not sleeping...

When we welcomed our firstborn to this world, I couldn't even get within 10 feet of her without a 5 minute surgical scrub and a face mask. When we brought her home, we had so thoroughly disinfected our house, it would have passed any Marine's white glove inspection! Bacteria feared our house for over a year!

We are so accustomed to the sterilized environment to which we usher our babies.... and I wonder what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph.

For me the whole thing was a miracle.... His conception and birth and, yes, merely surviving His first few days here... not in a pristine, germ-free neonatal intensive care unit with nurses buzzing around checking His temperature and wiping Him down with alcohol swabs... but in a barn with donkeys licking His face...

thank God for His Sovereign plan which seems more stunning to me everyday.

Blessings!

I LOVE this time of year!

2008-12-23T09:45:00.003-06:00

I love the holidays! I love spending time with family and giving gifts and getting gifts and seeing smiles...

I love the cold weather and snow and snowmen... I love the fact that, for at least a few days, people seem to care less about themselves and think more about Jesus.

I hope you and your family have the very merriest Christmas ever.... and it is my sincere prayer that 2009 is the very best year ever!

May God Bless you richly!

tim

you gotta let it go

2008-12-21T07:04:00.003-06:00

When you perceive that someone has wronged you, you basically have two choices:

hold on
let go

one is of Satan and one is of God.

Satan wants you to hold on to any perceived wrong.... to harbor ill will toward anybody whom you believe to have perpetrated anything upon you. He wants you to keep score and seek revenge and withdraw your love. He is the creator of festering.

God wants you to let it go. I used to think God wanted us to seek resolution... I used to believe that God desires for us to 'fix it' or to 'work it out'.... but frankly, I have come to the conclusion that the 'fixing it' and 'working it out'... the resolving... is more our desire than His.

you wanna fix it? you wanna pull off the scab and go deep? have at it! be my guest! but for most of my life, I have found that diving deep and learning exactly why someone did something takes an incredible amount of energy... and I usually end up being more tired than anything else! (and no, not the 'satisfied' kind of tired either) So, for me (I admit it may be lazy or selfish or both) I just choose to mark it up to humans being humans.... and move on... I know, not very profound!!

yeah, I am convinced that, more than anything, God wants us to just let it go.

how do we do that? a few suggestions:

clear the air often - my momma told me when Kelly and I were newlyweds: "don't go to sleep at night until you have forgiven and forgotten". I'm sure it wasn't original with her, but it is really good advice.

and I guess these next two grow out of 'clearing the air'

forget it... whatever it is, if it's possible, just forget it! period.
always be forgiving... this one is the most important - and Christlike - of any of these suggestions.

Look, I know it may be that you feel compelled to confront and fix and all that... I get it... and there are probably times and circumstances which would dictate that you need to confront and seek resolution...

but I would encourage us all to assess our motivation for doing that.... when I think back to when I felt strongly about confronting and fixing, I gotta admit my motivation was selfish! I mainly wanted to plead my case or explain or get an explanation... and it didn't turn out nearly as well as when I simply forgave and forgot.

So it would seem that the 'forgetting it' may be the very best advice... but you gotta be selfless. and you gotta truly forget... you can't play at it and say 'I have forgotten that', then keep a little bit in your back pocket to pull out when you need it.... you gotta forget!

you gotta let it go!

Blessings!

borrowed thought from Frank Viola

2008-12-17T09:15:00.002-06:00

Friends: I have been rather... I don't know... agitated for the past couple years...

I have been, on one hand, more 'at peace' than at any other time in my life... and on the other hand... sort of 'stirred up'.

It has been a struggle for me to know whether this 'agitation' is a little A.D.D. on my part, or satan-seeded restlessness, or just His Spirit at work in me... perhaps the jury's still out...

but I read an article just now that describes - almost to a T - what it is that has been nipping at the edges of my conscsiousness for a while now...

It is entirely borrowed from Frank Viola, and copied exactly as I found it in New Wineskins e-zine (it is long, but worth reading.... a couple times... I would really LOVE your feedback):

The Current Move of God: 8 Characteristics - by Frank ViolaNovember - December, 2008

I’m looking forward to 2009. I believe it’s going to be an important year for the church of Jesus Christ.

In August, I was privileged to be one of the speakers at a conference for Christians who gather outside the institutional church. Some of the other speakers were Tony & Felicity Dale, Paul Young, Wolfgang Simpson, John White, and Jon Zens.

In one of the leadership sessions, I gave a very short talk in which I stated that I’m not someone who goes around saying that there’s a new move of God happening in our day. In fact, for the last two years I’ve heard many others say this, but I’ve suspended judgment. I then announced that I’m now forced to say that I am convinced that we are in the beginnings of a new move of God.

Please note that I believe that God is up to many things. And He’s using all sorts of movements, “conversations,” etc. in various ways to bring His people to His final and ultimate goal.

In this article, however, I’ll be focusing on one particular move of God that has taken place in two different phases, or currents, thus far. Both of these currents have occurred outside the organized church in the West.

The first current occurred in the late 60s and early 70s. By 1979, it had all but died.

The second current began in the late 80s and early 90s.

This brings me to the reason why I’m excited about 2009.

It’s because we are just now beginning to see a third current of God’s move in the United States (and other Western countries) where Christians are leaving the institutional church structure (in record numbers) and discovering the living, breathing, headship of Jesus Christ in an organic, collective way without a clergy.

The landscape is changing rapidly. God is raising up new voices and new expressions of the church which look very different from the traditional expression.

According to my travels, my observations, and my correspondence, eight main features appear to be marking this third current. They are as follows:

1) A genuine revelation and experience of an indwelling Lord. Many Christians are being awakened to the fact that Jesus Christ dwells inside of them, and that He seeks to be everything to them. Some movements today emphasis the historical Jesus and seek to provoke Christians to try to imitate the Jesus of history. But in this third current, God’s people are discovering that the historical Jesus has taken up residence within them. He is resurrected, glorified, enthroned and has become a life-giving Spirit. Consequently, we can actually live by His indwelling life. Not as a theory, a doctrine, a positional truth, but as a reality.

2) A recapturing of a spiritual vocabulary to reflect a unique experience. Ephesians Chapters 1-3 are littered with a vocabulary that few Christians use today. This vocabulary emanates from a mind. And that mind is characterized by the capacity to see the unseen and to declare as present fact heavenly realities that exist outside the constraints of created time. Realities that are not just doctrinal or theological, but experiential. This vocabulary is being restored in this third current.

3) Meeting together for a very high and noble purpose. That purpose is to display the living Christ who indwells the church. The third current is being marked by church gatherings— not as services, not as platforms for sermonizing, not as pastor-led or priest-led orders of worship, not as Bible studies, and not as liturgies— but to make visible a living Christ by His every-member functioning Body where principalities and powers are put to shame. This aspect of church meetings, where every member is participating under the headship of Christ, is little understood today. But it’s beginning to gain traction in this new current.

4) An incredible Christ-centeredness in the thinking, life and vocabulary of God’s people. This new current is marked by the centrality of Christ. Jesus Christ is being put in His place. He is being given His rightful position of centrality, supremacy, and preeminence.

This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in conversation. (That’s how the first believers got the name “Christian,” by the way. They were always speaking about Christ. ) This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in songs. This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in ministry.

Our message is Christ. It’s not about how to be a better person, how to serve God more, how to do better and be good. It’s instead marked by a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ along with practical help on how to know Him deeply. Out of that flows everything else, including the church’s mission.

5) An experience of close-knit community. This is becoming an experience, rather than a buzzword. Believers who know church as community do not think merely as individuals. They do not think in terms of “me” or “I.” Instead, they think and live in terms of “we” and “us.”

To their minds, there is no disconnect between getting saved and being part of the community of believers. This element is a restoration of the New Testament Christian mindset.

If you were a pagan in the first century, you knew that becoming a Christian meant being initiated into a shared-life community. It meant losing your raw individualism and your rugged independence. It meant becoming part of the people of God. Not as an abstract doctrine, but as a way of life. You became part of something larger than yourself—a new culture in which you lived your life. For that reason, the early Christian movement was called “the Way” (Acts 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). It wasn’t a belief system; it was a way of life.

Let’s face it. Western Christians have inherited an individualistic Christianity with an individualistic salvation and an individualistic walk with God. A Christian publisher recently told me that there are about 45,000 evangelical Christian titles in print and about 5,000 that are published every year. 95% or more of those books are addressed to you as an individual Christian. And the underlining point of those books is what you must do as an individual to be a better Christian.

But there is no such concept in the mind of God. Christianity has always been a corporate experience and a corporate reality. The individual Christian mind was born during the Reformation, driven into the ground during the Enlightenment, and set in concrete for the last several hundred years. But the New Testament knows no such mindset. This, I believe, is an important recovery.

6) An understanding of the reality of being “in Christ.” Like the early Christians, those in this third current are being pulled loose from a “works” mentality, liberated from a guilt complex, and set free from a sense of religious duty.

If you open up the New Testament letters, you will find that Paul always addresses the churches he planted (despite what they were going through) with the arresting phrase “holy ones.” He saw them holy “in Christ.” And the recipients of Paul’s letters clearly understood what Paul was saying, because he didn’t give much explanation for it.

I want to give you a testimony of how this mindset is being recaptured in this new current. Not long ago, a sister in a Christ-centered organic church stood up in a meeting and gave a testimony. She said,

“I have been raised a Christian since I was a child. I’ve been meeting with you all for about a year now. I was listening to the Christian radio, as I sometimes do, and a song came on. The singer was singing about how unworthy she was and how she needed to try harder to please God. She sang that her righteousness was as filthy rags, and she needed to improve her spiritual walk. I paused and suddenly realized that I couldn’t relate to that song anymore. I couldn’t relate to it because I’ve been given new eyes to see myself in Christ. For many years I struggled with a sense of unworthiness, guilt, and condemnation. But that’s all gone now. I don’t have it anymore, and I feel so free in the Lord’s love.”

When she shared this testimony, the room erupted and others began to testify along the same lines. It was an awesome experience. I believe this sister had laid hold of the same spiritual reality that the first Christians had laid hold of.

To add another illustration, a few years ago one organic church did an interesting experiment. They broke up into pairs and visited the various institutional churches in town for two solid weeks. And they decided to analyze the sermons they heard.

When they came back to report, they made this striking observation: every sermon they heard had the same essential message. It was this: “What you are doing isn’t enough to please God. You need to do more than you’re doing. You need to read your Bible more, pray more, help people more, come to church more, etc. You need to do better than the best you can do.”

This is the script upon which most contemporary sermons are built. It is a gospel of duty—pure and simple.

Interestingly, it was observed that these same churches give a very different message to the non-Christian. It sounds like this: “God loves you the way you are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, His love is unconditional. Jesus died for you because He loves you without condition. You can’t please God. Your good works are as filthy rags. But God will receive you as perfect if you come to Christ. So receive Him today.”

Ah . . . but once those same people receive Christ and “get saved,” the “bait and switch” gospel kicks in with a passion. Here’s what it sounds like:

“Now that you’re a Christian, here’s what you must do to please God. You must try harder, you must do more, you must work harder, God won’t be pleased with you if you don’t do such and such, etc.”

A question that every Christian should ask when listening to a sermon or a message is this: “Am I hearing about the glories of Jesus Christ or am I being told what to do to be a better Christian?” The latter is a duty-based gospel – it’s legalism in one form or another. It’s eating from the wrong tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the luring counterfeit for the tree of life. Note that the forbidden tree contains the knowledge of good.

According to the New Testament, good works are like fruit that falls off of a tree spontaneously as the result of life. In the same way, Christians naturally walk in good works with others as they learn to live by God’s life.

In this connection, I have lost count of the letters I’ve received from pastors (some of whom are part of “cutting edge” movements) who confessed, “My gospel isn’t working. For so long I have been serving the god of serving God, and I admit now that I really don’t know Him nor do I know His love and acceptance in a genuine way.”

A large number of these men have also expressed the fact that burned out with respect to ministry and confessed that they had come to the shocking realization that they were serving God in their own strength instead of by His life.

You and I cannot live the Christian life by ourselves. You can I cannot serve God in ourselves. Theological knowledge, doctrinal precision, and the intent to do good and help others is no substitute for living by Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is territory staked out only by Divinity. Only Christ lives the Christian life (John 15:5; Gal. 2:20). We learn to live by Christ and we learn to serve God together in community, not as an isolated Christian. This experience is beginning to take root among a growing number of Christians today.

7) A rediscovery of God’s eternal purpose. It appears that the eternal purpose of God is the governing vision of this third current. I won’t unravel that statement here (as I’ve spoken on it extensively elsewhere), except to say that this is probably one of the most exciting aspects of what’s beginning today, for me at least. The eternal purpose is deeply bound up with an experiential understanding of the Trinity (the fellowship of the Godhead) and its relationship to the Christian life, the expression of the church, church planting and mission.

8) An inclusive, open spirit to all of God's people. Unlike so many past movements, this third current is marked by an open attitude toward all of God's people. It rejects and even hates an exclusive, sectarian, elitist attitude and posture. While it has its own unique distinctiveness, it embraces and receives all whom God has received. Neither is this movement built around a human personality. While God is using a number of people to influence it, no human being is taking the center of attention. Those who are influencing it the most are pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than to themselves.

In conclusion, we are only in the beginning stages of this third current. So there’s not a whole lot that’s established yet. The baby is breaking open the womb. But through her birth, we are seeing a recovery of what’s been lost and a discarding of what’s been picked up over the centuries.

As we approach 2009, pray with me that the Lord will gain much more for Himself with respect to these eight characteristics—all of which tell us something about one of the ways in which the Spirit is blowing today.

Wow

seed scatterers

2008-12-16T06:53:00.003-06:00

to sort of 'wrap up' the topic of 'the message'(as if my few words here are the quintessential end-all-beat-all on the subject - NOT!), how 'bout this: what are we called to be?

above all, I would say we are to be sowers! seed scatterers!

Aren't we to spread and scatter, and allow God to 'give the increase'?

So many times in my results-oriented world, I get so caught up in God's part.... at the expense of doing my own.

I gotta trust that God is gonna do His part... I gotta believe that deeply enough that I can do my scattering without wondering if He will do His 'increasing'.

so... go scatter!

My problem with our normal 'cart-before-the-horse' mentality is that when we START with all our differences, we rarely get an opportunity for relationship... and that's where growth and exchange and honest study happens!

we are ignorant when we believe we have all the answers (I learn new things and nuances every time I open the Bible)

we are arrogant when we think that, if not for me, God's Church will fail and everyone will go to hell (what about the Spirit's work today?)

and we are offensive to everyone (believers, non believers, atheists, muslims, baptists, lutherans, etc etc etc) when we act as if we have a corner on THE truth.

but I believe God is in control.... and He and His Spirit will make up for whatever deficiencies you or I possess in our approach.... so I have peace that whatever approach we use in our various walks and ministries, God will take care of it!

if we are prayerful and earnest and sincere with God, He will bless our efforts to His purpose...

So go sow!

the message - part deux

2008-12-16T06:48:00.005-06:00

So, if we learn to better send our 'message' to people with whom we come in contact, what's next?

well, that in itself is a pretty tall order.... and one which I anticipate wrestling with till I go Home.

But, as the Spirit gives us opportunity after opportunity to not only 'send a message' as a first impression, we better be ready for the next (second, third, forty-third) 'impression', right?

What do we do then? when we have opportunity to study and teach and discuss and shepherd and learn with people, what is important?

As we talk to our Baptist friends, is it important to discuss instrumental music?

As we spend time with our Methodist friends, should we study premillenialism?

...or (fill in the religious/theological difference here) with your (fill in denomination here) friend?

I dunno.... just asking the question...

I know this: it seems that most religious discussions tend to begin (and end) with the differences between the discussors' denomonational beliefs.... and the 'end' part is what concerns me...

What would happen if we sought to begin on common ground?

what would happen, for instance, if we started a discussion with, say, our Baptist friends about the Sovereign God and His coming to earth to walk among us and die for us and be raised for us?

what would happen if we started a conversation with our Catholic friends by acknowledging that the Catholic church has, BY FAR, the most amazing and comprehensive ministry for orphans and unwanted children?

what would the result be if, instead of concentrating on our differences, we worked hand in hand with our friends from different religious backgrounds in a soup kitchen or free clinic?

here's what happens: you strengthen friendship.. you build relationship... and walls are obliterated.

and guess what: then you can discuss almost anything! and remain friends...

and though I am an infant in this way, the most magical thing has happened to me when I allow God to lead me like that... a lot of the 'things' I viewed as important are...

just not.

the message

2008-12-15T08:52:00.002-06:00

so what's the message?

Sometimes when First Day sings, Devin introduces one of our songs by saying something like this:

"we get to sing for lots of different audiences.... so what is THE message we want to leave with them?"

then we sing 3:16, a song Bruce composed which essentially puts music to the most famous verse of the whole Bible...

I wonder sometimes if it wouldn't make sense for us to give thought to the same question in our day-to-day....

all the people I come into contact with.... what is the message I want to 'leave' with them today?

I am sort of a student of behavior... not nearly as observant as I should be, but somewhat aware nonetheless...

so if one could infer from another's behavior that they are trying to 'leave a message', what message would one see? ...or more personally, what message would the casual observer 'get' from my behavior?

So I thought about it... and I retraced my steps and my actions from 'a day in the life' of me... just to see...

and here are the 'messages' I conveyed:

I'm in a hurry
My time is more important than yours
I know more than you do
What I have to say is really really important, and what you have to say is, well, not so much
I'm materialistic
I have an inordinate love of food
I am proud and arrogant
I think I'm 'all that and a bag of chips'

wow. that was harsh. and insightful. and revealing. and true.

and really really disappointing... 'cause here's what I wanted to convey:

I'm sold out to Jesus, and He rules my life

what message do you send?

God Bless!

labels

2008-12-12T08:49:00.002-06:00

Labels are useful... how do you know what's IN something if you can't read (or look at the pictures) the label on the container!

Many labels exist today... we like to use them on people... and most of those are overused. But, frankly, some are well-deserved.

Still, I am not real fond of labels... I believe it makes us lazy and gives us license to not become familiar with people. It allows us space to not get close.... it gives us excuse to keep people at arm's length... and, as a result - if we're not careful - we become more and more distant from those whom we are called to engage...

after all, I would rather marginalize someone with a label than truly draw close to them and find out why they are like they are and offer help... or at least acceptance... or friendship.

especially poignant is the thought that Jesus did not discount people... and the only people he labeled were the 'religious'...

...brood of vipers... pharisees.... dead men's bones.... white-washed tombs...

the people we tend to label are those different from us... because we see them through our eyes...

Brandon Heath wrote a song called 'give me your eyes'...

it's worth watching the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

Blessings!

the Center of His Will

2008-12-11T08:34:00.003-06:00

My friend John Harkness sent this video to me... it has beautiful music and a powerful message...

I have believed for a long time that many 'religious folks' (at least from my fellowship) assign value to conservatism. The more 'to the right' one may be, the 'better off' they are... it's a pendulum effect that causes people to run far and fast from a certain behavior or belief they may perceive as 'liberal', and they end up further to the 'right' than ever!

It occurred to me several years ago that we are called to try to 'be' in the center of God's will. I even drew a horizontal line on a whiteboard and placed a short vertical line at it's center... "imagine the vertical line is God's will. Don't we want to be as close to that 'center' as possible?"

I further asserted (and still believe) that being 'this far' to the 'right' of God's will had no more merit than being 'this far' to the 'left'... but somehow we have convinced ourselves that it's fine (and even better and laudable and 'safe') to be conservative - right of the center - while it's bad (sinful and dangerous) to be 'liberal' - left of center...

I am convinced that neither is correct.

God wants us to try and live in the very center of His will... period...

so as you think about that...

watch this video.... it will make you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ufpVNgBBY

God Bless!