Kirk's Korner

When the Tree is Green

2011-10-05T06:50:00.000-07:00

“For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when the tree is dry?” Luke 23:31

These are the words Jesus speaks right before he is crucified. He is speaking to the Daughters of Jerusalem who are weeping over the cruelty being brought upon Jesus. He foretells of a day it will better to have a barren womb than to give birth.

Now that we have this uplifting and inspiring moment defined, lets deal with depth of the statement Christ makes. The reality is that when we see tough times we never imagine tougher days. When things are not going the way we want them to go, we rarely consider how far they may go. Jesus is foretelling of a day in which humanity has such little regard for God and the things of God that it will be even worse than the day he was crucified.

I think this statement has powerful implications in our lives spiritually and practically. If men will do these types of things in a season in which the tree is green…meaning the tree is alive and bearing fruit…if men are evil in those days how much more evil will they be in the days of drought?

Let’s apply it to our lives a little.

For example…
If a man is a jerk when your love is new and fresh, he will not be a servant husband when your relationship is old and in a drought.
If a person cannot be obedient to God with their finances when they are blessed and have plenty, they will never be faithful in times of trouble.
If a person is too busy to be faithful to serve God when life is good and the blessings of family abound, they be unfaithful to God when times are hard.
If you don’t have time to spend with the Lord when the schedule is full because you have great opportunities, a lack of opportunity will not cause greater faithfulness.
If your run up piles of debt when you make little, you will not be a wise steward when you make much.

Basically, I am challenged by the fact that most often today the excuses (or reasons) I hear from people about why they believe they have little time, talent, and resources to be faithfully serve God with is because of all the blessings in their life.

They are too busy at work….or too busy with the family….or too busy buying new things…etc.

Well if we are unfaithful when the tree is green, how unfaithful will we be when the tree is dry?

Don’t allow the blessings of God in your life to cause a drought in your life.

The Crowd’s Place

2011-05-17T06:56:00.001-07:00

The "crowd" is treated very differently by different churches and church leaders. The priority the crowd should take in decision making and Church activity is an active and ongoing debate. Most church leaders even struggle to define the crowd.

Crowds are fickle. They come and go. They arrive and they depart. May people desire to be an anonymous member of the crowd while others are starving for the day someone knows their name. Some people that attend church want to stay in the crowd so that no one in the church will know how they really live their life. While others in the crowd are desperate for someone to know about their life, to know their story, and to help them write a new one.

In my Scripture reading this morning I read a parable of Jesus in which he teaches strongly against the religious leaders and even foreshadows his own death at their hands. After this interaction the Pharisees and teachers of the Law were angry with Jesus for teaching against them. Mark 12:12 says, "Then they looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd, so they left him and went away."

This little verse speaks volumes to the religious leaders of our days. It speaks volumes to me as a church leader. How often do we walk away from something because we fear the crowd? How often does the desire to appease and maintain the crowd in our church prevent us from speaking Truth? How often does it prevent us from creating times of worship that are deep and meaningful for every believer in attendance?

Is the fear of the crowd driving you? One of the axioms of our day in church is this truth, "What you reach them with you must keep them with."

If you reach them with creativity without content, you cannot keep them with content.
If you reach them with secular music without spiritual reason, you cannot keep them with spiritual reasoning.
If you reach them with love, you cannot keep them with condemnation.
If you reach them with passion, you cannot keep them with guilt.
If you reach them with guilt, you cannot keep them with love.

Do you get it?

Are you driven by the fear of the crowd?

The fear of losing them.
The fear of turning them away.
How about the fear of them never showing up in the first place?

I have dealt much in my ministry with the fear of the crowd. I remember early on in church planting being in constant fear a crowd would never show up. Honestly, some might say it still has not, but I believe one has. Actually many have.

But I still wonder, how often do we fail to do what is right (to us) because of fear of the crowd?

There is no truth too ancient, no song too old, no practice too difficult, no Word too timely, no grace too small, no standard too high, no message too difficult, no act of compassion too costly to prevent us from doing that which is right.

That must be our standard. If the fear of the crowd drives you, the Holy Spirit does not lead you.

Love the crowd, but never fear it.
Reach and teach the crowd, but do not appease it.
Beseech the crowd and belove the crowd, but never, ever bow to it.

(If you want to see why the crowd is so important read on further in Mark 12 in verses 28-34. How much did Jesus value the soul of this one man who stepped in closer out of the crowd?)

Reality Check

2011-02-07T08:30:00.001-08:00

The beginning of Matthew is something many readers skim over quickly to get to the good stuff. It is after all, a genealogy, a simple list of names listing fathers and sons. We realize it has some significance but as we simply look at the "big" names in the list we often fail to see the message behind Matthew's opening facts.

Yes, Matthew wanted everyone to know the reality of Jesus' genealogy so they could understand that he was the long promised Messiah, a descendant of the patriarch Abraham, and indeed a son of King David. Yet if you read carefully and look into the facts that Matthew decides are notable enough to point out, you will see a pattern in his teaching.

The genealogy is a total of 42 generations. It is broken into 3 groups of 14 which he points out and states why that is significant. It is important because we need to remember where we have come from and it has not all been good. The genealogy begins with Abraham, a man of faith and obedience. He was given a promise and he lived it out, he doubted and tried to make his own route to the promise, but in the end, he was faithful. It began with a promise. The next major point in the genealogy is King David. David represents the height of this family. It reminds the people of their rise to prominence in the world. The third spot is the lowest point in the history of this family. It is the Babylonian Exile. A time in which this family that became a great nation was humbled as a result of years and generations of disobedience and idolatry. The fourth point and stopping place in this list is the fulfillment of that promise. In Jesus Christ, the promise that Abraham's family would be a blessing to all people became true.

Do you see the importance in this information? Jesus' family was not perfect. It was a family that had risen and fallen. They had both succeeded and failed. They had walked in both righteousness and unrighteousness.

I think if you take just a little more time and see the things Matthew decides to give commentary to, you will discover this honesty and openness continues. He speaks of Salmon's wife Rahab, who had been a prostitute and foreigner before honoring God in Jericho. The next woman pointed out (which is not the norm in a Jewish genealogy, it is built around the men) is Ruth. This was a woman of great faith and honor, yet she had also been a foreigner.

The next commentary is very telling. It is about David and his son Solomon. Solomon was the son of Bathsheba who had been Uriah's wife. The family's dirty laundry is put front and center. David had committed adultery with this woman and had her husband murdered to cover it up. "Thanks, Matthew, for bringing out the worst in us to the world to know."

Then we move further down to here the exile mentioned. This, too all the original readers, was a reminder of the lowest point in the history of its family and nation.

What, however, was Matthew's purpose in sharing this information with the world?

His purpose was to remind us that we all rise and fall…we all fail and succeed…all of our families have done both good and bad…as have we.

Failure, however, is not the end of God's promises in our lives. We fail to experience God's promises in our lives when our faith in the One who has made that promise fails. God's promises are not dependent on our faith, but our experience of them and relationship to them is.

Perhaps today you feel stuck in some ups and downs, peaks and valleys, failures and success. Perhaps you feel stuck in the never ending ebb and flow of life and you are losing the purpose behind it.

Don't give up. God has a great plan for you and for those that will follow you. Be faithful with this day. Quit being obsessed with what might be written in your genealogy because of your past and wonder what might be said because of your future. God loves you and has plans for you. These plans will prosper you. You will find your hope and your future there in those promises.

So make a bold move and set a new direction for your genealogy.

(Another side note to leaders and teachers, people learn more when you share the realities of such ups and downs in life instead of pretending they don't exist in your life. The reality is that authenticity is model of Scripture…find some…and share your story without fear.)

The Resolution Rundown

2011-01-12T14:54:00.001-08:00

It is January 12, 2011. That means most people who have set resolutions for the New Year are starting to feel the rundown a little. If it has not happened yet, it is coming. The resolution rundown is simply when our old habits and ways begin to rundown the new ones we are trying to embrace. It is when the first smell of freshly baked pizza hits the nose of the newly disciplined healthy eater. Or when the alarm clock goes off entirely too early after a late night ball game for the newly committed early morning Bible reader. Or when the temperature is below freezing and the bed is toasty when it is time to go for the run. Our old ways like to run down our new ones.

It is in that exact moment that the defining word for resolution must be true of us. That word is, of course, resolve. Resolve means "to come to a definite or earnest decision about." The decision seemed definite and earnest when you wrote it down on January 1. You were definite about and earnest in your desire, but reality is writing down a New Year's resolution requires zero resolve. It requires desire and hope, but not resolve. It is on January 12 or 13 or 29 or February 8 that the resolution one wrote down on January 1 requires resolve.

So, I want to share a little Scripture passage I like about resolve. It is found in Daniel 1:6-20. Verse 8 really stands out to me. First you need to know these young men were in bondage and exile in a foreign country that had completely different standards, beliefs, and customs than theirs. Also, as Jews much of their standards, customs, and beliefs were not simply a cultural thing, they were religious convictions. Daniel also had to have a plan. His resolve was not enough. Living out a standard that was different than the culture and setting he found himself in required him to do more than just commit. Daniel had to have a plan to live it out.

So here are a few principles for beating the resolution rundown…

1. Resolve what you believe instead of believe what you resolve.
Resolutions are rundown, not by a lack of desire for change, but because of a lack of conviction behind the change. Conviction causes change.

2. Plan what you will do instead of what you will not do.
Daniel had a plan in mind concerning what he would eat not just what he would not eat. Life is not lived in the "I will nots" it is lived in the "I wills."

3. Don't expect the world to change because you are changing.
The most difficult moments in change are when we have to do what is different and out of the norm…like ordering a salad at a burger joint.

4. Don't be afraid to ask for help.
You will be surprised how often other people want to see you reach your resolution even if they do not share the same conviction.

5. Pray.

I hope these principles help you…now I better get home and run or my resolution will officially be rundown.

Will your community thrive or die?

2010-10-28T11:06:00.001-07:00

I believe that the church can be described as a community.

The dictionary defines community as a social, religious, occupational, or other group sharing common characteristics or interests and perceived or perceiving itself as distinct in some respect from the larger society within which it exists.

The Church would most certainly describe itself this way. We are a religious group…whether we like that terminology or not…that is what we are. We have common characteristics and interests. And we most certainly perceive ourselves as distinct from larger society…although I am not sure society sees us all that different. They should, but in a very positive and good way, typically society sees this difference in a very negative light.

I have a couple of thoughts I hope to share over the coming days and weeks about community. I have started this already some, but am quite admittedly, a bad blogger.

Today, I start with a few practical thoughts about community and just some questions. I would love your thoughts.

There are three things that should be true of me as I exist within a community…
1. I consume.
2. I contribute.
3. I communicate.

If one of these three things is not true of me as I exist in community, I really mess up community life. I mean it is quite awkward and frustrating to try to serve the consumption needs of a person that does not communicate. (Ever tried to figure out if the baby needed a diaper, food, to burp, or to sleep?) In a healthy community we consume what others have to contribute and we contribute what others need and want to consume and in the midst of that we communicate with one another.

So here are the two questions as this community thought applies to church and life…

1. If everyone in your faith community (local church) consumed as much as you consume and contributed as much as you contribute, would your faith community (local church) thrive or die?

2. If every organization within your community (city or town) consumed as much as your organization (local church) consumes and contributed as much as your organization (local church) contributes, would your community (city or town) thrive or die?

This principle needs to apply to us individually within our communities…for my purposes as believers in the local church…but it applies to other communities as well. But the principle also applies to the bigger picture of our geographic and physical communities, our cities and towns.

If we all consume more than we contribute, our communities die. But if we choose to live beyond ourselves and contribute to this place more than we consume, the whole community thrives.

May the living Church of God be so filled with the life of Christ that it contributes a vastly greater amount than it consumes. My this cause our community, not just our church, to thrive and not die. May the source of this contribution be so obvious that our society would know that our God reigns…or As Jesus said, "let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)

Running in and into the dark

2010-10-14T14:22:00.001-07:00

Last week, while at the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, I got up for an early morning run twice. This teachings I heard there continued to speak into my life where God has been leading me for about a year now. It is an uncomfortable yet thrilling place to be spiritually. Hard yet light. Convicting yet life-giving. So I want to share a little story and where I find myself on the sidewalk of life.

The first day I left my hotel and took off down the sidewalks there in that area of John's Creek, GA. It was a beautiful morning for a run and I enjoyed the hills and challenges, but there was one main problem. There was no consistency in their use of sidewalks. I would take off down one road on a sidewalk and get to the next corner…and no more sidewalks. I ended up in running dead ends. I simply did not understand the rationale behind certain roads having sidewalks and others not. It was a nice but frustrating run.

I did discover one area that seemed to have better sidewalks toward the end of my run and decided I would head that way the next day. Well, I was lazy the next day and slept in. So two days later I take off on my run into the darkness to an area I am confident in the sidewalks. As I turned off the main road and headed down the side street I had chosen the run before I was surprised at how poorly lit the area was, but no worries, there were sidewalks. So I continued down knowing I was keeping a good pace and burning off some much needed calories. As I ran along in the dark, I found myself suddenly on the sidewalk, falling and scraping my hands up and knee up as I caught my fall. The sidewalk was messed up in one place and in the darkness I could not see it. I almost decided to go home…being a big wimp and all. But I decided to get up and finish my run. So I ran down to the next corner. I had not gone this far the run before but had assumed there would be a sidewalk when I got there…but no. So I turned around and made my way back down the path I had fallen on but more carefully this time. I finished out my run and felt good for having gotten my exercise and glad my next run would be on familiar ground.

My question for those of us who are Christ-followers is, "How often is this the experience of those who experience our faith communities?" I wonder if the world ever runs along next to those who claim to live their lives by the power and mission of the Jesus Christ and wonder, "Why did the path end here?"

Our world knows more and more about the teachings and claims of Jesus yet they believe in him less and less. Why?

I wonder if it is because they see churches make good paths into the darkness but after traveling down the initial path they find a dead end where there should be a deeper trail. They have read about how Jesus cared about the poor and the hurting and down-trodden and they go to church and get involved and realize that no one there does. Some perhaps even take off running into the darkness in the name of Jesus but they get tripped up over the broken systems and structures in our churches and denominations. Some, choose to get up and keep on going, only to find the sidewalk ahead is a dead end.

What most of us have chosen to do is to turn around and run the same path we already have. We make more programs for ourselves and spend more of our money on bigger buildings and better lights and more staff. Our faith communities…our churches…too often decide that sidewalks are too costly and the darkness is too great. We don't say it…we live it. We run in the familiar…afraid to forge into the darkness.

I believe it is why Casper in the book Jim and Casper Go to Church simply ask Sunday after Sunday (he is an atheist hired by a friend to tell him his reactions to some of America's best churches), "Is this really what Jesus told you to do?"

He would ask the same question if he came to Fellowship…I know that. So this is no soap box blog. Instead I am a man picking himself back up after falling on a crack in the sidewalk and looking the dark dead end square in the eye and saying…

I will not turn back. I will not run the familiar. I refuse to find the easy and the already laid down paths of religion. I choose to honor and appreciate those who have forged the ones I have travelled this far, but I realize that we must go further into the darkness. We must choose to run where there are no paths and where darkness prevails, realizing that we will trip and fall…there will be scrapes and bumps and bruises. But down that path somewhere there is a crown…a crown of righteousness laid up for us. That crown will not be found by simply walking along the paths that are nice and easy. The path that God has marked out for you is not the one you want by your flesh. It is one that only the Spirit would cause you to run. It is found in the poverty-stricken communities of this world…it is found in broken messy lives falling apart in the most expensive neighborhoods in our community. Quite honestly, it is found where you have already been and where you have not yet gone…finding that path is not just about going where you have never gone but going everywhere you go with a different mission.

The hard part is I don't know how to lay the sidewalk…which I feel is my responsibility as pastor. I don't know where the broken places are…the tripping points. I am not sure how to lead my family into this lifestyle. I am not sure how to lead my church into this missional place. I have realized I can't make it easy and I can't cause it to be travelled without fear and, therefore, without faith. But that, perhaps, is what faith really is, and the true calling of a pastor is found…leading people into what they fear so they must live by faith. You see, faith is being sure of what you hope for and certain of what you do not see.

I do not yet see the church being what God has called it to be…but I am catching glimpses of it at Fellowship…and I have the faith we will see it more fully in the days ahead. I hope to be a man that lives a lifestyle that allows him to be generous and gracious in every opportunity…I am not there yet…but I am seeing glimpses of it…and I am confident we will get there.

You must understand, I am not standing on the sidewalk of life in guilt and shame but in hope and joy. God is allowing me as pastor to see what He is doing instead of what we are not doing. He is allowing me to see the masterpiece that is in His people and not just the mud in their lives. He is allowing me to see this in myself. Yet, he is also keeping me keenly aware of the mud and the shortcomings.

The question is…are you willing to stop and look at how you are living your life? Do you desire the comfortable and well-lit expensive sidewalks of cultural American Christianity…built for leisurely strolls to nowhere? Do you really enjoy that? Is it really all that fulfilling? Or do you desire to run a little deeper into the darkness?

I believe you do. You just don't know how to do it and are afraid to go alone. So don't…let's go together…and let God light the way.

Are you GOOD TO GO?

P.S. I have turned the comments portion of my blog back on. I would love your honest replies. What do you think? Are you dealing with this tension? If so, what are you doing with it?

Also, I encourage you to read the book The Next Christians by Gabe Lyons.

Attention Stealers

2010-09-30T14:58:00.001-07:00

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.' Mark 12:30

I have been preaching a series titled "Directionally Challenged." The series is birthed from some truths I learned from Andy Stanley's book The Principle of the Path. (a book well worth the read.)

The Principle of the Path is a simple, profound, and unavoidable truth and reality in life. Direction, not intention, determines destination. All the good intentions in the world will not take you where you want to go. The only thing in life that takes us to the right destinations in life is making the right decisions to go in the right directions.

The biggest issue with direction and intention, however, is attention. Another truth and perhaps my favorite out of the series and the book is the role of attention. What gets our attention determines our direction, and ultimately, our destination. (per Jesus…where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.)

I believe the majority of church-goers read Mark 12:30 and say I want to love Jesus like that. They give that thought their undivided attention until they step outside of their stain-glassed buildings and the sin-stained world begins to distract them. The things of this world begin to quickly rob each and every one of us of the attention we desire to give to the most important things in life.

The problem that I see in this real issue is that we must come to grips with the biggest reason our attention is stolen. The issue is not what we like to consider. We like to consider the symptoms or the actions in our lives, but the real issue is not about our actions…it is our heart. We do not love the Lord with all of our heart because we love other things with too much of our heart and our soul and our mind and our strength.

In this past week's message I shared the five main attention stealers I see in life. I have gotten some good feeback on this and would like to share it in my blog, then I will wrap up this blog with a little information about this next Sunday.

Attention Stealers…
1. Self – You will never give your full attention to God (or to others in serving Him) while living life to fully attend to yourself.
2. Wounds – If you continue to focus on the wounding in your life you will never experience healing in your life.
3. Disabilities – Living focused on what you cannot do will rob you of the ability to do what you can.
4. Failures – Giving today's attention to yesterday's failures will rob you of tomorrow's successes.
5. Good – Living life for that which is good often prevents us from experiencing that which is God.

The comment about failures…Giving today's attention to yesterday's failures will rob you of tomorrow's successes...is the thought I want to wrap the series up with this weekend.

The truth is we have all failed, but some of you are locked down by it. Your life has been taken captive by your failures (or the failures of others against you). You are living life in a stand still spiritually, emotionally, and relationally.

The direction you took yesterday is preventing you from dealing with the destination of today and robbing you of the intention you desire to live out tomorrow. This Sunday I am preaching on where do you go from there?

What do you do when God says, "Road Closed"?

If you are a part of Fellowship and know someone who is living life frozen at the "Road Closed" sign, bring them Sunday. It is time they learned the value of a detour with God and the joy of the Road Ahead.

See you Sunday!

Prayer-walking blog 2

2010-09-01T13:29:00.001-07:00

Donna Guillot has written another blog concerning prayer-walking. I think you will find it to be a great read. If you committed to walk and pray for your neighborhood but have not yet done, please stick to that commitment. Try to find time soon to make that effort. I know that I have some of my neighborhood to finish. We have been out twice but the neighborhood is large and it is HOT. So we are going to finish it soon, but we have not yet. Thank you for your commitment to sharing God's love with those around you.

www.trials2triumph.blogspot.com

Prayer-walking blog

2010-08-16T06:34:00.001-07:00

In my last blog I told you to check out Donna Guillot's upcoming blogs on prayer-walking, but I gave a bad link to go by.

Please check out her blog at www.trials2triumph.blogspot.com

Won’t You Be My Neighbor…Guide 3

2010-08-11T12:46:00.001-07:00

This is the last of a series of 3 Neighbor guides we have given out at church during this series. This one teaches on how to prayer-walk and comes with a challenge to prayer-walk your neighborhood. I also want to encourage you to check out Donna Guillot's blog www.trials2truimph.blogspot.com on more about prayer-walking and some personal experiences with it. She is a great writer and will encourage you as you decide to step out and reach out to your neighbors through the power of prayer.

Being a Neighbor means praying for your neighbor.

If my people who are called by name will humble themselves and pray….

We live in a society that needs to humble itself before God and pray…and seek his face…and turn from its wicked ways. All of these things begin with prayer. Are you willing to humble yourself in prayer and pray for yourself and your neighbors?

What is prayer-walking?
- Praying in motion.
- Praying continuously.
- Praying with a heart toward the salvation and life change of those you
are praying for.
- Pray with spiritual eyes that see more than just a mess in a yard but are
sensitive toward a need in a family.
- Praying toward the role of your church in that community and how to
impact those lives.
- Spiritual warfare.

What is the purpose in prayer-walking?
- It brings you closer to God
- It helps you be on mission with Christ.
- It helps you hear from the Holy Spirit.
- It changes the way you see your neighbors.

What do I expect while I am out prayer-walking?
- To get hot…it is a south Louisiana summer after all. (Bring water)
- Expect Divine appointments…people God wants you to run into not just
walk by.
- Holy Spirit guidance and insight to influencing your neighbors for Christ.

How do I prepare to prayer-walk?
- Get your "Prayer Notice" door cards ready for your neighborhood. (They are
next to the prayer-walk commitment map or in the Connection Center)
- Put away the IPOD and MP3. You want to pray without distraction.
- Pray in repentance and faith before you prayer-walk.
- Ask God to search your heart through the process.
- Pray for spiritual sensitivity toward what others might need.
- Pray for opportunities to share the Gospel.
- Pray for spiritual eyes to give you insight into influencing your neighbors for
Christ.

What is a divine appointment and what do I do with it?
- Be prepared to share the Gospel with a neighbor…you never know what conversation "I am praying for you…" will start.
- Ask for prayer requests when you meet up with neighbors.

Practical Tips for Prayer-walking
- Keep your eyes open and be observant
- Pray Scriptures.
- Pray out loud and/or silently
- Claim God's love, compassion, and mercy for those you pray for.
- Pray with an eternal focus. Ask God for salvations and be mindful of
what death without Christ means for every household and every person.

Fellowship Church Prayer-walking Process and Goal Dates
1. Mark the commitment to pray your neighborhood on the Prayer-walk
map. (August 8)
2. Initial prayer-walk through neighborhood, leaving "Prayer Notice" cards
on each door. (August 8-21)
3. Follow up prayer-walk through neighborhood, leaving "The Path" Gospel
presentations on each door. (September 2010)
4. At least a monthly prayer-walk through your neighborhood. (August
2010-July 2011)

I hope you will be a part of this challenge and don't forget to check out the three blog series Donna Guillot is writing at www.trials2truimph.blogspot.com.

Neighbor Guide Two

2010-08-04T07:12:00.001-07:00

The last few weeks I have been writing up some guides to what it means to be a Biblical neighbor to go along with our "Won't you be My Neighbor" series. This past week with Governor Bobby Jindal coming (which was awesome) we did not give the guide any attention or point it out. I believe this guide is a good resource to just everyday neighborly living for the glory of Christ and the Gospel. I decided to blog it to maybe help a few more people actually read it. J

God set the times and places for you. (read Acts 17:26) God put you where you are when you are for his purposes and glory. This booklet is food for thought on being a neighbor in daily life. Are you willing to be the Good Samaritan right here...right now?

Thou shalt not annoy your neighbor in the name of Christ by…
1. Self-serving service. Do not serve others just to get them to do what you want.
2. Awkward appreciation. Do not make something up just to serve someone.

3. Meeting non-needs as real needs. Giving water to a person that is not thirsty does not meet their need for water, it meets your need to give.

How not to annoy thy neighbor while actually being one...
1. Be honest about your intentions. Be real that you are sharing your life change in serving.
Your intention should be to share Christ.
2. Appreciation is not awkward if it is heart-felt. So don't lie about it.
3. You can meet a non-need or a felt need, just don't make it into something it is not.

Being a neighbor where you live…
1. Invite your neighbors over to eat.
2. Offer to mow their lawn if they go out of town…for free.
3. Be a safe place for neighborhood children to play
4. Volunteer to better the neighborhood or HOA.
5. Stop and offer to lend a hand when your neighbor is working on a project.

Being a neighbor where you work…
1. Make the coffee without complaining and fix others a cup.
2. Offer to help someone else with something that is not your responsibility, even if it means more time.
3. Ask your boss and subordinates what you can do to help them out.
4. Ask your coworkers how you can pray for them and then do it. Then simply come back later and ask how it is working out. No pressure…just prayer.

Being a neighbor in your school…
1. Help your teachers in their classrooms.
2. Behave in class and do your work. No one will ever see Jesus in a slacker.
3. Keep extra pens and pencils and share…even if you do not get them back.
4. Try to make sure others get noticed for what they do. Brag on the people no one sees.

Being a neighbor in recreation…
1. Volunteer to organize, coach, or serve in recreational organizations…don't just receive.
2. Help the coach out if you are not the coach.
3. Offer to help with snacks, etc.
4. Be the team encourager.

Being a neighbor everywhere…
1. Get off the phone when going to a register to check out and treat the person as a person.
2. Say nice things to people.
3. Put someone's groceries in their car.
4. Help people you see that need a hand. You have the time, you just have to give it to someone else.
5. Budget to be a helper. Generous giving begins with generous living.

Does Grace Reign?

2010-08-02T15:14:00.001-07:00

In Romans 5:21 says "so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Grace is amazing topic and an amazing truth. There is nothing easier to discuss and share with others than grace. By definition grace is to "receive that which you do not deserve." The Greek word for grace can be translated as gift in certain grammatical settings. Gifts are undeserved, by definition. (Having a birthday does not actually cause one to earn gifts. It is simply a celebration in which people choose to grace you with them.)

Much of what people in our world consider grace today is nothing more than a cheap substitute. Grace is also defined as "underserved favor." Grace is God giving to us what we do not deserve simply because he is loving and gracious. I believe that many people understand that part. They get the definition of grace, what they don't understand is what it looks like in life. People accept a cheap substitute in their own life and lower grace to a meaningless church word sung in songs that have lost their meaning to those that sing them.

Where too many people lose a right understanding of grace is found in Romans 5:21. Grace reigns through righteousness. Most of us believe that grace reigns through forgiveness. Grace is being forgiven. Grace does not simply cause the act of forgiveness…grace causes the state of forgiven. And there is a big difference.

When we cheapen grace we allow the path to become the product. We allow beginning to become the end. Too many people grab hold of God's grace hoping and praying and even wishing that they might simply be forgiven…while God's grace will most certainly forgive you…forgiveness is not the end result it is the beginning point.

Forgiveness is the path of grace…Righteousness is the product of grace. Grace does not produce forgiveness. Grace produces righteousness. The path to said righteousness is indeed forgiveness. Forgiveness is the stepping stone to obedience. God's grace does mold within us more disobedience so that we might experience more forgiveness…it forges within us righteousness so that we might be more obedient.

I have heard a cheap rendition of grace concerning the moral disobedience of a church leader, "well, you know grace works." The work of grace in the life of a leader is not simply forgiveness…it is obedience…it is righteousness. Sure, there will be times when each person – even spiritual leaders – will need to experience fresh grace and fresh forgiveness, but not at the cost of lowering the standard of grace. That forgiveness does not simply produce forgiveness for that leader to then sin again and grace "keep working" time and time again. Grace and forgiveness produces in that leader change…it produces in them righteousness.

If you are a person that has been saved by God's "Amazing Grace."….if you are a person that "once was lost but now is found"….if you are a person that "once was blind but now you see"…live as one who is found and one that sees.

Do not accept a cheap substitute for grace in your life that simply culminates in forgiveness. Accept only the real thing…the grace that changes the forgiven and produces righteousness. It is that righteousness that grace truly reigns.

What I have…

2010-07-28T07:35:00.001-07:00

Then Peter said, "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." Acts 3:6

There is a powerful statement in the midst of this powerful act that we probably most often miss. Peter heals this man and leads to great opportunity for sharing of the Gospel and to many more salvations and even to persecution for speaking the name of Jesus Christ boldly.

Most often when I read through a verse like this I think, "God, I wish you would do things like that today. I wish you would use me that way."

This morning, though I read it and something different jumped out at me. This is a theme that God is speaking very consistently to me and through me right now. It is a real issue that we as Christians of today must face. Perhaps it jumped out because I went back through Chapter 8 of Crazy Love last night and considered what the life of a person obsessed with Jesus would look like and realized mine falls far short of it.

The statement that jumped out was "what I have I give you." WOW!

Are you a person that sees great need in another person's life and says, "What I have I give you"?

The problem for Americans is that we would have to say this, "Silver and gold I do have, and what I have I give you." And most of us are simply unwilling to say that.

Instead we say, "Silver and gold I don't have enough of, so what I have I do not give you. But in the name of Jesus, be…well be…"

Simple question…

Will God ever give all he has to give through you while you do not give all you have?

The Stare Dare

2010-07-01T15:21:00.001-07:00

I had an online encounter with some folks from my hometown (the great city of Ruston, LA). The encounter was actually about Ruston and one of their recent experiences there. Out of this online exchange I was really challenged with a thought that I would like to share. To properly share it I will have to give a few details of the exchange so that I can help you see where this came from.

Basically, a person from Ruston grew up and moved away. They now live in Austin. A city in which you can be whomever you want to be in and no one notices. (per the blog written about this.) The person that grew up in Ruston has adopted internationally. They recently returned to Ruston with their racially blended family and felt stared and gawked at. This led to them writing a blog ranting on the subject and on Ruston a little. There is so much to be learned from this interaction that I don't really know where to start but there is really one key truth I hope we can all walk away with. So, I will touch my comment response to the blog quickly and get to the meat.

1^st – I have an internationally adopted nephew that lives in Ruston and he has been loved, accepted, and celebrated there.

2^nd – We often prejudge other people's prejudices. We have to be careful to not respond by making assumptions about people that we feel are making assumptions about us. This, however, is really difficult to do when the actions that cause your assumptions are hurtful.

3^rd – Ruston is a town where people still see people. Often in bigger cities the reason no one stares is because no one notices. We have too much in our culture traded truly accepting one another for being indifferent toward the existence of one another. I am not sure that the indifference of the majority of people in a big city is really a better approach to life than the prejudice of the minority of people in a small town. Especially if getting over one's prejudices only leads to indifference. It might be better to have someone hate your existence than to be totally unaware of it. Just a thought for our culture.

4^th – Think through what you write in a blog carefully before you post it. It might not communicate what you really want to communicate. Rants don't ever help change anything. (I have SO made that mistake in my blog before…I hope this is not such a moment.)

5^th – If you commit yourself to changing the world you cannot be angry at the world for having not yet changed. (The real issue that God has used this incident to teach me.) The rationale for this statement in this situation is based on my current view toward adoption. This issue is particularly sensitive to me right now as I have had a nephew adopted into our family in recent years and because my wife and I currently working toward adoption and/or foster parenting.

I believe adoption is the choice to change the world one life at a time. It is a choice that I think God is calling the church to. Our world is full of starving orphans while our homes are full of love and food. I want to change concerning this and I pray the world will change with me. I am planning on leading our church to step up and start an adoption fund this fall that will enable families of our church to afford adoption. I do, however, realize that not everyone is going to share this conviction with me.

So my thoughts concerning adoption bring me to my statement about being angry that the world has not yet changed. This whole line of thought brought me to something that Jesus told us about following him.

This is my command: Love each other. "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. 1 John 5:17-19

The stare dare is to live a life that causes other people to stare. Let them gawk. Let them not know what to do with you or what to think about you. And pray that in those thoughts they might think about God. That the depth of who you are and the life you lead might lead someone else to examine their own life in the shadow of the life Christ gave for them.

Be different and be proud of it. I tried to encourage the people from Ruston that had this tough experience with this thought. "What will shape the lives of your children is not the stares of strangers. What will shape their lives is the incredible choice of their parents. The choice to love a child that was not their own as their own so much that child became their own."

That type of love is world changing. It changes the world one life and one stare at a time. So take the stare dare and live a life so sold out to the love of Christ that world stares you down…then step out of the way and let the world see Jesus.

Chicken or the Egg?

2010-05-27T10:41:00.001-07:00

The old adage, "What comes first…the chicken or the egg?" is a real issue within most real issues.

What comes first in a desired goal or objective?

I have just wrapped up a sermon series titled "iamchurch." This series has focused on the reality of church life and our role in it by looking at the first 6 chapters of Acts. During this series we have discussed the real issue about how churches become what God desires them to become. The church becomes what God desires it to become when the individuals in it become what God desires them to become.

This past year I have really challenged Fellowship with this thought. You should never expect your church to be what you are not.

I believe we must come to the point individually where we do not ask of our church corporately what we are not willing to ask of ourselves indivudally. Why? Because the church will never be what we are not. The church is made up of its members. The Church corporately is simply the sum of the individuals in it.

So, with this challenge, I wrapped up the series with this truth from Acts. I gave this definition for church. The church is a radical community of radical people with one radical cause.

The reality, though, is that the majority of us as Christians and, therefore, our churches have instead become comfortable communities of comfortable people with comfortable causes.

So, this truth challenges me to ask, how do we move from comfortable to radical. This question is more difficult than it would seem. The answer would seem to be "do radical stuff."

The tough part about being the church though is not that we do radical things but that we become radical people who have experienced radical change.

So, what comes first…the chicken or the egg? What comes first doing radical things or being a radical person?

How do we experience this change individually? How do we seek after it corporately?

I came to these conclusions as I read through the amazing narrative of the beginning of the Church that is the Book of Acts…

Doing radical things does not make a person nor a church radical for Christ.
New and radical sounds in music will not make your church radical for Christ.
New and radical creative ways to teach will not make your church radical for Christ.

Being radical people for Christ will, however, cause your church to radical things for Christ.
    New and radical people will be open to experiencing new and radical things in Christ.
    New and radical people will be radical about sharing the Gospel with those around them.
    New and radical people will make up a new and radical church that does new and radical things.

But don't get the cart before the horse. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. (I am trying my hand at cliché using in honor of Pastor Joey.)

Just because you do cool stuff at your church every Sunday does not mean you will ever become a radical community of radical people with one radical cause.

We, as church leaders and as church members, must make it our goal to build one another up into radical people.

We do this by sharing in a unified cause for the Gospel...by encouraging and praying for and with one another…by holding up the Word of God and holding each other to its truths…by pushing each other to be witnesses of the Good news of Jesus Christ to the world around us.

A church that is doing these things will be made up of people doing these things. And these individuals will bring all kinds of new approaches and radical ideas together for the cause of Christ.

I hope this truth sinks in with those who think simply changing the way we "do" church will change the church?
I also hope it challenges those who think that changed people will never change the way we "do" church?

Both must happen for us stay radical for this radical cause.

Holidays in the Ministry

2010-04-05T13:47:00.001-07:00

I decided to write this blog as the result of a Facebook status update by a couple of friends of mine that are in church leadership at a church in Houston. They felt "like and island in a big city" on Easter because they were separated from family to do the work God had called them to do. I started to write a really long Facebook message but instead decided to blog on what I have learned about holidays in ministry through my 15 plus years working in ministry. I started young and have seen how holidays affect your ministry life at different stages.

So I will start with a basic synopsis of the issue. We, who are in ministry, can never be gone from church on Holy Days since they are, after all, important days in the life of our ministry. Easter and Christmas being the biggest of such days. Ministry also causes you to never have a 3 day weekend. Labor Day, Memorial Day, and Good Friday are not 3 day weekends for the paid staff at a church. They are just normal weekends – or busier weekends. If any holiday happens to fall around a Sunday, well there goes that time off – say like 4^th of July, etc. Few church members ever realize the weight that has on paid church staff especially if they are not close enough to travel easily to be with their extended family. Those times that most people get to grab some extra time with the fam, your church staff is often missing family and even hurting inside a little to do it.

So this blog is how we have learned to deal with that and also, maybe a word to church members to be mindful of your staff during such times. They might love having Easter dinner with your family. So here are my suggestions.

Travel when you can and consider it your holiday. We often spend time for a holiday with family not on the holiday. The key to this being meaningful is to count it as your holiday. Make some new traditions around it and enjoy it. My family has learned to have Christmas in different ways and times with us because we are never there for Christmas Eve, morning, or dinner. We just do it a little different. The key is realizing you did that holiday with your family even if on the actual holiday you were not with your family.

The side note to this one, is minister's don't count the cost after you paid it, count it before you pay it. When we count up how much this costs us in life after we pay it, it robs us of the joy in our ministry. If you get to spend Christmas Eve with your family but not Christmas Day because of church, don't look back and remember what you did not get to do, remember what you did get to do. We can fall in the trap of "oh look at the sacrifice I made" if we are not careful. I am not saying this as a reprimand to anyone, just a word to the wise because it will cause you to lose much joy in your ministry if you do not. Remember what you DID get to do not what you did NOT get to do.
Honesty is the best policy. Tell your family honestly about how much you wish you could see them but why you cannot. My parents are some of the most committed church members any church has ever had, but they have missed the last two Easters to be with us. Why now and never before? Last year I told them, "I will never come see you for Good Friday or Easter, but you have an open invitation to be here every year. I know some years my sisters will be there and you can't come, but when they are not, please do." They decided being with us on Easter was more important than being at their church and so they have come. We had not done Easter with them in 9 years before that. God changed that for us with some honesty.
Consider crazy travel. Travel on days most people don't travel. We travel every Christmas Day a good portion of the day. We do Christmas Eve service and then do Christmas morning and then get in the car. We might miss what most consider family Christmas but we see our family at Christmas. It might not be what the world would call an ideal way to do Christmas but we have learned to love it. We have done this on years where we literally spent one night and then came back because Sunday was 2 days after Christmas. One year Christmas was Sunday. We went up beforehand to see one family that year and went to see the other as soon as church ended. Holidays exhaust me between travel and church, but they are worth the craziness.
Do holidays with church members. We have enjoyed this at times too. It might not be family but it is church family. Now, one word to the wise on this one. Don't advertise it if you want to be selective about it. If you want to spend time with some folks for a holiday and the people that ask are not the folks you were thinking of be grateful for that and know that God has something special in store for you on that one.
Go big even when you are going small.
This weekend I preached Good Friday, did Easter Egg Hunts Saturday, and preached twice on Sunday after a very long week getting some work done around our church building with the great people of Fellowship. But I still cooked us some breakfast for Easter morning, did baskets with my kids, and cooked a big Easter dinner. (Wendy was heading out to see her mom at MD Anderson so that was all on me this time.) Sure I had to get up around 4:30 on Easter morning, but having the big meal makes it feel more like a holiday. Now granted this year we had my family with us, but we have done the same thing when it is just us. It makes it fun for the immediate family to be alone when you still go big.
Lead out in the group that needs the family away from family. The first time we ever did any type of holiday with folks from the church we did supper at our house. I did the cooking and led out on that event, but it was worth it.
Learn to be a loner. Now this one is perhaps just a personal thing and not something everyone can do. We would love to see our family for every holiday. But we have learned to love the "just us" holidays too. We go big. We have fun. We make it special. And we don't allow ourselves to sit around thinking about what the rest of the family is doing. We talk to them and tell them we love them, but we just get busy having fun with each other enough to not miss what we are missing.
Come to grips with what you cannot change. Here is what I cannot change, but if I could I would because it hurts badly when I think about it. I have not spent a Christmas with my extended family (meaning my cousins and such) in over a decade. They usually gather on Christmas Eve and/or the Sunday before Christmas. I would love to see them but I can't. Part of the family often gets together for Easters too. I never get to do this. I miss seeing them. Holidays are one of the rare times many of us see this part of our family. I simply do not see my extended family very often. I miss them. I love them. I would love to see them, but it does not happen much. Now, this past year I suggested a summer get together around the 4^th of July and most of them did it. Maybe we can start a new tradition. I don't know. But this is something I wish I could change. But I can't. I will probably never have another Christmas with the Young Clan, but that does not make many any less a member of it. I guess what helps is knowing that my family is proud of who I am and what I do. Truth is our families make a sacrifice too when we make that sacrifice. Having a family of believers helps. I know they would love to see me but there is never guilt given for doing God's work. (So family of ministers, never, ever, ever do this to them. Let them know you miss them not to make them feel guilty but to make them feel loved.)

The most important principle is to remember why you were not there. My mom taught me this on the first Mother's Day I did not go home to see her. I was 20 and was preaching somewhere for Mother's Day. She told me that there was no greater way I could honor her as a mother on Mother's Day than to proclaim the Gospel. It changed the way I view not seeing my family on holidays.

This Easter, I had the privilege of preaching the Gospel to almost 550 people, baptizing 4 people, and seeing 10 more confess Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. Even if I had seen no family this Easter, I would choose to focus on what God did instead of what I did not do. The old mind over matter sometimes helps. The way you view it depends on the way you view it.

I hope this is helpful to people growing up in and doing ministry. (And then again, if the hearts still hurts. Take the next Sunday off and get out of dodge and go see your family. I do it every Christmas.)

Little World

2010-04-01T10:24:00.000-07:00

My son has inherited from me a trait that makes going to school difficult. It is often called Attention Deficit Disorder. I grew up calling it daydreaming…and knowing it was a punishable offense if done at the wrong time and in the wrong place. Well, Daniel's teacher told me during our parent-teacher conference that Daniel lives in his own little world.

The next evening I had some one on one time with Daniel and I asked him about his own little world. He then went on to tell me a little about his own little world. Then he said a few words that made me respect him more than I ever have.

He told me, "Dad sometimes it is sad in my own little world."
I asked, "Why." Meaning, why do you allow your little world to be sad, you control it.
Daniel replied, "Well sometimes I think about sad things. Like if something were to happen to Melanie or Kara. And in my own little world I tell God 'Take me instead of them'….because I love them so much."

He floored me. I had no idea how to respond to such an incredible and profound statement by my eight year old hero. So I tried hard not to cry in the restaurant we were having supper in and just told him I thought he was the greatest big brother anybody could ever have.

Well, that thought has been on my mind a great deal this week as we head into Good Friday and Easter. These verses have run through my head all week.

But God demonstrated his love for us in this…while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13.

Many people in our world completely reject the concept of such unconditional and underserved love. They refuse to believe in it. They refuse to trust and they refuse to allow it into their lives. I, for one, completely believe it and I fully trust it. I don't doubt for one second that my eight year old son would lay his life down for his two little sisters. Not for one second do I think he would think twice about sacrificing himself for them. He is just that kind of kid.

Why do people refuse to believe that God is that kind of God? Why do so many fail to accept the truth that God is love? I think they are unwilling to see that truth and accept it because they cannot work out for themselves the difficulties of life lived in this fallen world.

But here is the thing…that is the whole point. God showed us…he demonstrated to us…he put into practice his love for us in the midst of our fallenness. In the midst of the worst of your life, Jesus gave you the best of his.

That is why we celebrate the awful events of this Friday as Good. They were not good for Jesus they were good for me. He did good for me because he loves me. They are good for me because they give me life.

So as you look around your own little world this week, I dare you to stop and see it from God's point of you…and see how much he really loves you.

Problem or People

2010-03-31T15:06:00.001-07:00

Sometimes in life the problem is people and sometimes the problem is simply the problem. The problem with us is that too often we take out the problem out on the people. I am learning a life lesson today. Here is a nugget I am learning that I hope will help you along your journey.

When we don't want to deal with a problem we fail to deal correctly with people.

Often in life a problem is brought to us and we simply don't want to deal with it. We might even feel that legitimately we don't have time to deal with it. One of my life issues is that I rarely can say I don't have time to deal with it. When you are a leader you have to deal with problems on life's calendar not yours. When you are frustrated with a problem you must always remember that no matter how little you think the problem really matters the person matters greatly.

This evening I will ask someone for grace because in dealing with a problem I failed to deal with the person. I even got to the bottom of the problem and provided what was a workable solution. And I thought all was good because I did good, but truthfully I failed completely. The call of my life, as a Christ-follower and as a pastor, is not simply to get the job done and the problem solved. My calling is to show people who Jesus is and Jesus is not the changer of problems. He is the changer of people.

So next time the problem walks in your door stop and remember that a problem did not just walk in…a person did.

(I ask that you might pray for the conversation I need to have tonight. I believe the person I am talking with might need to see the authenticity of Jesus and maybe…just maybe…my sovereign Lord can use my problems and shortcomings to show himself as real. You just never know.)

Where Giving Ends or Begins

2010-02-23T10:33:00.001-08:00

Are you a giver? Let me share two thoughts that review the last two weeks of our The Giver series – then I will jump into the challenge from this week.

Giving begins with stewardship.
Meaning you must make the decision to be generous before the opportunity exists. You must live in a way that allows you to give.
Giving requires us to give our stuff.
Generosity requires sacrifice. You have to give up some stuff. I am not just talk about tithing. I am talking about day in and day out. I will challenge with this idea about tithing though. Your church will never be more generous than its members…it will never give more than you do. The generosity of the church is often lost in the disobedience of its members. Are you obeying?

This week I talked about the issue that makes giving truly difficult. I call it the crux of giving. It is the breaking or making point. This is the issue that will either begin your life of generosity or it will end it. The passage is Luke 14:25-35. You might want to read it real quick to get some context. Click on the Scripture for a link to it.

Giving costs us…us. Giving costs you…you. Giving costs me…me.

That is the crux of giving. This passage is not heresy it is hyperbole. We are not literally to hate our wives and kids, yet we are to love God so completely and passionately that it seems as if we hate those that we love in comparison. I do find it interesting that in this passage Jesus says that the things we say define being a Christ follower never define what it means to be a Christ follower. Being a good husband is not Christ following. People who do not believe in Jesus at all do it every day. The pinnacle of your Christ following is not at your house…that is where it begins.

So the world tells us to live every day to fullest but in this passage we are told to hate our own life. The Bible says Die every day to the fullest.

Die to the fullest. Die as much as you can. Carry as big a cross as you can. Don't decorate your life with the cross, dedicate your life to the cross.

So the passage tells us we need to count up the cost and follow. We must understand what we must do as Christ followers and do them and that if we don't we mess up manure.

So if you don't want to mess up manure with your life, understand what Christ-following does look like.

Take the responsibility of carrying your cross and following Jesus.
Have the priority of Christ. The priority of our life.
Give the totality of yourself.
Experience the vitality of sacrifice.
There is no life where there is no sacrifice. I challenge you to consider the times in life you have been the most generous..have you ever felt more alive?

So are you the giver? Or are you the givee?

It begins and ends with you. You have to give all of yourself to give any of yourself. So if you are not the giver, the real problem is not stuff or service…it is self.

What God Gets

2010-02-18T05:32:00.001-08:00

What does God get? Honestly, what does he get from us? Does God get FIRST? Does he get BEST? Does he get MOST? (I challenge you…I dare you…I double dog dare you to read the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan for a great perspective on this thought.)

What is God getting in your life? And do you believe he is accepting what you are giving? Does God glory in your seconds and leftovers? Does God enjoy your worst? Is God praised in your minimum?

In Leviticus 22 God gives strict instructions about what types of sacrifices are acceptable and what sacrifices are not acceptable before the Lord. (He does this in much of the book of Leviticus.) This particular chapter deals with vow offerings, fellowship offerings, and thanksgiving offerings. Earlier in Leviticus he has already dealt with the rules about sin and atonement offerings.

Let me break down the offerings and the rules real quick. The atonement offering is an offering in which one animal is slain and the other is released to the wilderness for the atonement of sin. One animal has hands laid on it to put upon it our sin and the other is released to cover the atonement of sin from the moment of sacrifice to the next one. (I sure am glad Jesus died ONCE FOR ALL!) These animals had to be the best and finest of the herd without blemish.

The sin offering was to be offered for forgiveness of sin. You could offer this at any point you realized you sinned. They had to be perfect and without blemish.

The vow offering was an offering you made making a vow not just between you and man but between you and God. They had to be perfect and without blemish.

The fellowship offering, however, was allowed to have certain deformities and the thank offering came with less instruction, except not to sacrifice it on the day of its birth but to wait a period of time.

The rules were to never give the blind, lame, and diseased. Nor could a male animal that was sterile be given.

So, what does all this mean? The sacrifice of God – Jesus Christ – was perfect and without blemish. In his death and resurrection our sins are atoned for and are forgiven once for all.

But I believe the other 3 sacrifices – the vow, fellowship, and thank offering – are applicable to spiritual life today. We make vows before the Lord and fellowship with him and give thanks to him.

My question is do we only give the blind, lame and diseased? Does he only get the sterile in our life - that which has become worthless for the future of the flock?

Is God getting the first of your time, your money, your passion, and your service? Is God getting the best of your abilities, talents, and resources? Is God getting the most of your life, your goals, and your energy?

Or is he being served sacrifices that are unacceptable? God asks a question in the Old Testament about his people when they were doing this…would you serve this to the governor?

The hard part of realizing this truth is you cannot give God your first, best, and most if you give it anyone or anything else…including your family, your job, and your life.

So give God your first, best, and most and allow him to distribute it as he sees fit. Because God does not take seconds, leftovers, and meaningless praise…to accept it would be to profane Himself.

The Giver

2010-02-10T20:56:00.001-08:00

The Giver is a new series I started preaching this last Sunday. The service was fun and challenging. The set is awesome and The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein is our creative hub. This book is such an amazing contrast between selfishness and generosity. I love it. It is amazing the lessons you can learn from children's books if you would just read them to yourself as you read them to your children. (So be careful what books you buy them because our world is teaching some crazy stuff in the children literature of today.)

So I plan on hitting on a few of the high points from each sermon in my blog each week this month. I hope you find it helpful and encouraging.

The text this week was Matthew 20:1-16. The Parable of the Landowner. In this parable a landowner hires workers at 5 different times through the day and pays them all the same at the end. It is a picture of the Kingdom of Heaven and the grace of God. God's grace is the same for all of us – no matter when and how we experience it. But as grace is a gift, I believe this passage is a beautiful picture of how we are called to be generous.

Here are some points to consider about generosity…

Generosity begins with stewardship. This landowner was prepared to be generous because of the way he managed what he had.
Generosity requires labor as well as love. You are going to have to put some effort in.
Generosity requires planning as well as participation. You have to plan for it. The man went out 4 more times looking for people to be generous to.
Generosity and greed CANNOT coexist. The mad worker was greedy about generosity. They do not mix. You CANNOT serve 2 masters. It is either God or money, but not both.
Generosity is always an act of grace.

The challenge to walk away with about generosity should be…

Generosity is a choice but it is a choice that must be made before the opportunity exists.
You must choose to live in such a way that you can give. There is no sacrificial giving without sacrificial living.

Now I will share my embarrassing story from Sunday to make the point. Last Saturday, after having studied all week on this Generosity sermon, I went to a Mardi Gras parade. My family and I bought some Cane's chicken before the parade and were halfway through eating it when the parade started. A homeless man came up to us right as we set the food down for the parade and asked us for it. Truth was we were not done. My kids had not finished their meal and neither had I. So, I said no.

Later that afternoon, as I reviewed my sermon notes, God tore a hole in me over this issue. Here I was with plenty of money in my bank account to stop at the next restaurant and buy some more food and with supper thawing in the sink at the house. And I told this man "no"? So that night he probably had a hard time sleeping because of hunger pains while I had a hard time sleeping because of indigestion.

God gave me the opportunity to give and I missed it. We all miss them all the time. I believe the reason we miss them is we don't live our lives stewarding for the purpose of generosity. If we did live that way we would be looking for them instead of looking to not see them. (Example – next time you drive up to homeless person ask yourself if the building to right you are staring out is really that intriguing.)

The other point I made comes from the last verse in this passage, "The first will be last and the last will be first." Generosity requires us to go last.

I hate going last. I hate losing. But I wish I could go back to last Saturday and have lunch last. I wish I could give him even more, but I cannot. I can simply go last the next time and the next time and the next time.

Going last is not a temporary position because generosity is a lifestyle not just a random opportunity.

Getting Over Ourselves

2010-01-26T08:33:00.001-08:00

Part of Matthew 16 really hit me this week. In this passage Peter is the first person to confess Jesus as the Christ (or the Messiah). Then just a few verses later he is being rebuked for trying to hold Jesus back from God's plan. In Matthew 16:23 Jesus says some very direct truth to Peter that we all need to learn from. "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are not setting your mind on God's interest, but man's."

Stop and consider the depth of those words. Satan gets ahead of us, which leads to our stumbling, when we have our minds set on the interests of men and not of God. In reality we must all confess that we spend more time with our mind set on our interests than on God's. Or perhaps the problem is that we make the interests of God into the interests of men in the way we approach them. Maybe sometimes our stumbling is the result of us seeing too much with our own eyes and not with his eyes. The problem is often the result of us seeing the answer in our power and not in his.

So this truth leads me to another passage I read this week. Moses speaks to the people of Israel while standing at the Red Sea fearing death as Pharoah and his army are bearing down to destroy them. Exodus 14:13 says "Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will accomplish for you today…" The salvation of the what? Who will accomplish today?

Yes, it is the Lord's accomplishment and his salvation…it is not yours. Yet often life seems to fool us and trick us into thinking that it is all up to us. That leads me to the last truth I want to share with you today. I want to share an excerpt from the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan. In this passage you will see how God is tying all these things together to speak to me these days and hopefully it will speak to you, too. I will end this blog with the excerpt without commentary. I hope it encourages you to get the book. It is worth the read. (there is another quote from the book I will blog about later this week.)

"Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil 4:4) You'll notice that it does not end with '…unless you are doing something of extreme importance.' No, it's a command for all of us, and it follows with the charge, Do not be anxious for about anything. (VS. 6)

That is a pretty staggering realization. But what I realized next was even more staggering.

When I am consumed with my problems – stressed about my life, my family, and my job – I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a "right" to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities." (page 43)

Individually Corporate

2010-01-18T10:05:00.001-08:00

What if your church was just like you? Would you go to it next Sunday? Would you give any more money to it?

In Matthew 10, Jesus speaks of the cost of following him. We are told that we will have to leave father, brother, sister, and mother. He tells us that we will be persecuted and ridiculed. The command is that we must take our cross and follow him. Christ-following is not easy, it is costly. It requires a great deal of sacrifice. These sacrifices can be uncomfortable. The sacrifices of obedience often fly in the face of popular Christianity. The majority of us have been taught that we must always put family first. I agree with this overall sentiment in Scripture, but not in the way we think it lives out. Christ-following will require nights away from your family serving in the church and in your community. Christ-following will require you to put Jesus Christ and his Gospel above everything else. That is exactly what it costs. Yet we like to teach ourselves the exact opposite of that.

This is why and how we grow comfortable in our silence with the Gospel and disobedience with our service. These types of partial truths are what allow us to live lives that are changed by the Gospel but never speak the Gospel. We become Christians that want to go to generous churches, yet never give. Go to evangelistic churches, but never tell anyone about Jesus. Go to churches with great children's ministry, youth ministry, and greeter ministry, yet never serve. Churches that do great mission work, yet never go.

We become comfortable with these lives because we become comfortable with these lies.

You should never expect of your church what you do not expect of yourself.

The church is the Body of Christ made up of the individual members. Nothing will ever be true of the corporate body that is not true of the individual members.

Generous churches are made up of generous people. Churches that are reaching lost people for Christ are made up of individuals that are reaching lost people for Christ. Churches with great ministries are made up of volunteers that work hard. Churches that do great missions work are made up of individuals that do great mission work.

The greatest problem with the culture of Christianity today is that people want to be a part of something they do not participate in. It will never happen.

Oh, something great might happen, but you will not be a part of it.

Unamazing Grace

2010-01-18T10:01:00.001-08:00

As I read through the Bible I love to see the progression and connection of truth. I am currently reading through the book of Matthew. The teachings of Jesus are always profound but are often best understood when we take the time to see how they connect and build on one another. This blog (and some others to follow) is some truth God has spoken to me as he has shown me some connections of truth in the teachings of Jesus. To better understand the truth I am going to share you might want to read Matthew 9-11.

In Matthew 9:27-31, Jesus has an encounter with and heals some blind men. There is an interesting twist to this story compared to our lives as Christ-followers today. Jesus gave these men specific instructions to not tell anyone about him or what he had done for them. He told them to do the exact opposite of what he has told us to do. We have been commanded to share this truth and Gospel to the ends of the earth. Yet, here is the twist. We, having been told to speak out, remain silent while these who were told to remain silent spoke out.

WHY?

Over the next couple of chapters Jesus touches on some truths that all scratch the surface of this issue. I want to take some time to just scratch the surface of each one and I might scratch deeper on each of the individual issues in some later blogs.

First he says that the harvest is ripe but the workers are few. This statement comes after we hear of Jesus' compassion and heart for the spiritual condition of the world around him. Quick truth is the fields still remain largely empty because we do not share his compassion for the world around us.

Then in Matthew 10 Jesus speaks of the great sacrifices required to follow him. The truth is boiled down to the truth that we must take our cross and follow after him. This will mean putting the Gospel before family at times in our lives. This will mean being ridiculed and criticized. This will mean being persecuted and put down. These realities should be the expectations of every Christ-followers life not the exception.

Then in Matthew 11 he flips the truth around and says ""Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." At first glance this sounds nothing like cross bearing, but look a little deeper. Take my "yoke" and my "burden."

So what is Jesus Christ saying about following him with these two very different sounding teachings and how does it connect to the blind men speaking in the face of instruction for silence?

Too many Christians today are completely unamazed by God's grace. I believe that is true because so many of us came to know Christ early in our lives and we fail to see the reality of God's grace. Let me use the two other passages to explain this thought.

Jesus called me out of the darkness and into his wonderful light when I was 8 years old. That was 26 years ago. I have lived the majority of my life in his light and in his grace and through his mercy. This has caused me (and many others) to have a greater memory of the burdens we have carried than our burden he bore for us.

We must realize that the reason his yoke is easy and his burden is light is because the burden and yoke we no longer bear – the price and penalty for our sins that he bore completely on the cross – is far greater. Our problem is that many of us fail to see the daily reality of this grace because we are so comfortable and familiar with it. Honestly, many of us fail to see how amazing God's grace is because he did not simply save us from who we were but he saved us from becoming who we would have been.

We are not amazed by his grace because we have a greater remembrance of all that we have done for Christ than we do understanding the reality of what he has done for us.

That is why we stay silent while being instructed to speak instead of speaking up when being instructed to remain silent. The blind men saw the reality of the grace and mercy of Christ with their own eyes. It was fresh. It was new. And it was real.

So these truths from Scripture have brought me to this prayer. I wonder if you would not pray it with me…

Lord, open my eyes that I may see. Show me not only the reality and truth of the grace of God that has saved me from what I had become but show me the reality of what your grace saved me from ever becoming. Lord, may I never again use an improper scale when considering the burden and yoke I carry. May my memory never again be more full of my own sacrifices than of yours. May my heart never again see what I have done without seeing what you have done. Lord, may I never again count the cost without the light of the cost you paid. May my heart always be full of your compassion for the condition of the souls around me. May I see them as you see them. Lord, may I always be in the field at work. Lord, I know that I will never remain in the field as a living sacrifice without a continuous view of your mercy in my life. So Lord, never again allow me to fail to see the compassion you had for me and exactly how much I needed it. Lord, may I not only see and realize the reality of it, may it move me. Lord, cause this truth to cause me to speak the name and grace of Christ and to serve him in all faithfulness with sincere gratitude.

Lord, thank you for your love, compassion, and grace…For I once was lost but now am found…was blind but now I see…

Life’s Mile Stones

2010-01-06T08:44:00.001-08:00

Life is full of milestones. A milestone is simply a marker designating the distance one has traveled down a certain path or road. Life is lived on a path. The choices we make today will cause the milestones we pass in the future. Too often in life we like to say that the milestones we pass are simply there because of what has happened in life versus seeing that those are most often caused by our choices. The decisions we make cause the paths we live.

The path I live is one I enjoy very much. It is filled with its share of heartaches and trials and stresses but it is also filled with blessings and joys and successes. I realize that along the way I have made some good choices that now lead to joyful milestones.

Sunday I celebrated a great and joyful milestone. On January 3, 1998 the Lord blessed me with the privilege of marrying a beautiful, courageous, and faithful woman. As much as I knew her and loved her that day, I must admit that 12 years later who Wendy is still amazes me. I can say many things that declare her strengths, but today I will share one thing that I believe is true of Wendy that perhaps has the greatest impact on my life as her husband.

Wendy has a tenacious belief in me. She has seen the worst that exists in me. She has been the recipient of my ugliest moods and overwhelming stresses. She has seen me succeed and fail. She has seen my spirits rise and fall and in the midst of all of that her belief in me never waivers. It is almost surreal to me. Even in the moments that I think my church leadership is the poorest or my leading of our home is the worst it has been, her belief that I will be who God designed me to be and do what God has called me to do does not change.

Wives, I encourage you to give such grace and confidence to your husbands. I, honestly, believe this might be the greatest embodiment of submitting unto your husband. The truth is that her undying belief in me is not really because of me. This confidence that she has is her faith in the Lord. She believes in the Lord and she believes that he is the Lord of me. It is her faith that drives such confidence and belief.

And her confidence and belief drives me. There have been many days in my life that I thought I could not accomplish the things that God has called me to accomplish. In all those days there has been one person I share the depths of those struggles with and in each of those struggles her belief in me has not changed. Her confidence in me is simple and pure. And when I get through ranting over how I don't think I can do it, I look into two beautiful eyes that tell me I can because God can.

Wendy, thank you for this underserved but greatly appreciated gift. I pray that I never again give you any reason to doubt me, yet I am fully confident that when I do you will not.

The second meaningful milestone is today. Eight years ago today Fellowship Church had its first public worship service. 32 people (14 of which came for that one Sunday to help out from our sponsor church) gathered together in an old fire department rental hall to worship the Lord. The events surrounding that day were interesting. Our first mailout had gone out but had only hit about ½ of the homes the other ½ got there the next week. I had stayed up all night the night before holding my 3 week old son in a position that would allow him to breathe as he was fighting the fever and cough of RSV.

I remember that the day was exhilarating and exhausting as well as encouraging and disappointing. Looking back the things that encouraged me still do. I saw some lives that needed Fellowship in them that day. I met some people who made the commitment of helping make this vision a reality. The exhausting part has changed. I no longer have to set up stage and screen and projector to have a worship service, but exhaustion still comes at times. I am still exhilarated by the possibilities of what Fellowship can be and can do. And I am still disappointed at times when I envision something working and that not happening as I envisioned.

But overall I am now simply awed by what God has done. Each week some 330 plus people worship together in two services at Fellowship in its own facility. Our church is now being involved in planting another church. I can't remember all the mile markers as clearly as some, but today I am simply grateful for being allowed to walk such a path. I realize there were some decisions I made and the Lord led me to make that started me on this path and have kept me on this path, but I am grateful for it.

We have climbed some mountains and walked through some valleys on this path. But the coolest part about this milestone, is the community of believers that will pass it with me. It is not simply about the number growing. It is about the changed lives that will pass this marker with me heading into the future of Fellowship Church. Lives that were once filled with addiction and are now living in freedom. The lives that were once full of mourning that are now filled with joy. Lives that once were set in the wrong direction that are now focused on the glory of Christ.

Those lives lived in community in Christ is what makes this milestone special.

I don't know what milestones you are looking forward to experiencing in 2010, but take some time to enjoy them. If you realize that today you need to make a decision to walk a new path, then do it. Maybe 2010 needs to be the beginning of the path or a great marker in the midst of that path that leads to the milestones God has planned for you.

And when you arrive at some significant milestone, enjoy it. Praise God for it. And then pass it by. For there are more ahead.

Smile or Cry

2009-12-30T06:57:00.001-08:00

Leading up to Christmas I had the privilege of going to my daughters' Christmas presentation at their school. Kara and Melanie both got on stage and were proud to display the Christmas craft they had made. Each year all the children sing on stage together. It is funny to watch the different personalities on a stage during such a performance. Some kids seem obsessed with the motions and forget to sing the words, while others stand frozen but get every word right. Then there are those that sing loud and make big motions and those that sing quiet and make small motions. And then there are others that just stand there in great fear of the moment, while there is always at least one that is simply doing their own thing on stage but in a big way for everyone to see.

My two girls have extremely different personalities. Melanie is quiet and reserved while Kara is, well let's just say, not quiet and reserved. They are both great joys to my heart and soul. That day I was sitting in the crowd trying to watch two girls standing in two different parts of the stage sing, when God showed me something interesting about my fatherhood that taught me something about his Fatherhood.

As I sat there I would move my eyes and head back and forth between the two of them so they would both know that I was watching them and was proud of them. What I quickly realized was that many times by the time I looked back to the one I had not been watching, they were looking for me to watch them. I would catch their eye and without fail each and every time they would smile. Kara a great big smile followed by louder singing and bigger motions. Melanie with a smaller more steady smile. Her singing and motions would not change so much as her gaze would. Kara would look back at the teacher and jump back into the performance. Melanie on the other hand might get a little distracted from the song because she would keep her eyes on mine.

Honestly, it was neat experience. I pray that my two girls never struggle with feeling valued and important. I want them to know that I am their biggest fan, that I love them, and that I am proud of them.

The thing that really hit me was that the simple gift of my gaze added to their enjoyment. They both enjoyed performing and singing more because they knew I was watching them. Truth is I had no part whatsoever in their performance. I simply was present. I was there and they knew it.

This experience caused me to think about my relationship with my Heavenly Father for a moment. I thought about the fact that he never has to lose his attention on one child to enjoy the other. God is always present. He never misses a performance (like I have had to do because of other responsibilities in my life.) He is always watching.

Then I thought, if I caught the eye of my Lord Jesus Christ right now would it cause me to smile? Would I jump back into what I was already doing with greater joy and enthusiasm?

Or would I cry?

Peter caught the eye of Jesus one night in a courtyard while standing around the fire with powerless people who had asked him a difficult question. He had just denied any relationship to Christ three times. Scripture says that Jesus looked back at him, the rooster crowed, and that Peter ran outside and wept bitterly. He had failed his Savior.

Yet, not many days later, Peter had an interesting conversation with Jesus Christ in which he was restored to a right relationship with him. I think that day Peter wanted to cry again, as his Lord asked him three times, "do you love me?"

Yet there was also a day in which Jesus had asked his disciples who he was and Peter was the first to speak that he was the Christ and Jesus told him that upon that truth he would build his Church.

There were days in Peter's life that the gaze of the Lord made him smile. Those days he felt more empowered and emboldened to be who he was supposed to be and do what God desired him to do.

So the question I have for you is this, if you caught the Lord's eye in your life right now would it make you smile or cry? Not would it make him smile or cry, would it make you smile or cry? Would you be proud to be his child or ashamed to be seen by the Father in what you are doing?

I challenge you to live 2010 with that thought as a challenge.

Live the smile. Enjoy the presence of the Father. And give your very best for his pleasure. For He is a loving Father that is ever-watching.

Sweat the Details

2009-12-08T15:38:00.001-08:00

A person with my personality does two things with details – obsess over them or pay no attention to them at all. This is typically the result of how important one considers a particular detail. My overall opinion is that if the big picture is good than it is all good.

Truth is some people get lost in the details. Some people get so consumed with how they want something done that it never really gets done. On the other side some of us can allow little things, that in the end don't really matter slip by, and they can have a negative impact on someone.

This Sunday I preached a B- to C sermon. (We have to grade each other's sermons in seminary so we actually learn how to grade sermons and unfortunately it is a skill we never lose.) The content in the sermon was good. The problem was that the content consumed more time than normal. It was hard to finish. So, I spent less time working on the "peripherals" – the illustrations, etc.

Well, I used a story that tied to an Old Testament law and then I said and applied the Old Testament law incorrectly. It is not a "big" deal but I was wrong. I am actually embarrassed by it because I know it better than that. The problem was that I had just not spent enough time thinking that part of the sermon through.

After the sermon a young man came by and corrected me on my use of the Old Testament law. (I have to admit I wanted to reply with a wise-crack, but I refrained.) My first thought was, I just preached this whole message that has good truth in it and that is what this young man is thinking about as he leaves. Later I thought about it some more and realized, it did matter.

That detail mattered. If one person was distracted from hearing truth because I said something untrue, it is not that person's fault for being distracted by that. It is mine. I can't let it consume me and worry about a mistake, but I know better than to get something incorrect from the Bible in a sermon.

The reality is that we have to sweat some details. The little things often do matter. They are not things we should obsess over. We should not get ulcers over the details, but often it is the way we handle the details that make the biggest impact.

He who is faithful with LITTLE will be given much.

Relax and take in a deep…thought

2009-12-03T10:02:00.001-08:00

Everyone once in a while I will have something hit me that is deeper than the norm. Today in my personal Scripture reading a deep thought struck that I decided I ought to share. In my reading plan I read from the Old Testament and New Testament every day. (For those of you not sure what those are, the OT was written and is about times before Christ and the NT is written starting with the time of Christ and the early church. Reading from some of both is a great way to stay well-rounded in understanding the depth of what all God has done in the world through Jesus Christ.)

Today I read Ezekial 44-46 and 46:9 really jumped out at me. "'When the people of the land come before the LORD at the appointed feasts, whoever enters by the north gate to worship is to go out the south gate; and whoever enters by the south gate is to go out the north gate. No one is to return through the gate by which he entered, but each is to go out the opposite gate."

My question was, "why?" It is obviously not about north or south because you must simply leave through a different gate than you enter in. Here is why I believe God commanded that. At each of these occasions sacrifices would be offered and people would experience the power of forgiveness through obedience to the commands of God. God desired them to leave through a different gate so that they would go out different than they came in.

Then I read 1 John 2:1-6 from the New Testament. It says, "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did."

This is a powerful imagery and truth about what Jesus Christ had done for us. He is the "atoning sacrifice." This sacrifice is the one that is a substitute for the condition of our lives and our own sinfulness. He has atoned for that wrong by actually becoming the perfect sacrifice for the cost of our sin. This in itself is the most amazing act of love in history. Then it says that because of our faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord we should live in obedience. Our obedience does not cause us to be right with Christ we are obedient because we are right with Christ.

We walk out a different gate. We come to Christ and we are changed. Life is lived differently because we are different.

The deep thought was the combination of these two passages in this truth…

Old Testament worshippers walked into the presence of God with their sacrifice and their sin and they walked away without their sacrifice or their sin.

New Testament worshippers come before the presence of Christ with their sin but without a sacrifice and they walk away without their sin but with
the sacrifice.

(I challenge you to "chew" on that thought for a little while.)

The truth is that Jesus is the sacrifice and when we accept him as our Savior and Lord our sin is no longer ours – it is his. "He died for sin ONCE for all." We bring him nothing but our sin. He, himself, offers the sacrifice of Himself, yet through his resurrection he is our living Lord. So we come to him with nothing but our sin and we leave with him.

It is Christ himself…his presence…and his power…and his provision for our sin that leaves with us.

John 10:7 wraps the thought up for his when Jesus says, "I tell you the truth, I am the gate…"

Have you entered? And have you exited different?

The Sacrifice of Praise

2009-11-30T13:53:00.001-08:00

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (Rom 12:1)

This is one of my favorite and one of my least favorite verses in the Bible. It is one of my favorite because it calls me to view the mercy of God in such a way that I can see my life as an act of worship. Least favorite in that it calls me to be a living sacrifice.

This verse has been on my heart as we have wrapped up our Don't Forget the Lyrics series on worship. We have looked at several Psalms and the different forms of worship found in them. Through this series I have been challenged to consider the depths of what worship really is – what it looks like and sounds like.

God has challenged me with the idea that often our worship falls so short of what God deserves. But in some ways that is the whole point. Worship is the unworthy declaring the worth of the Worthy One to the Worthy One. I have been encouraged and challenged to really look at the idea and concept of worship during these days. I have also been willing to take a long look at my own life. I have done this in view of that fact that my act of worship is to give the living sacrifice of myself. Sacrifices are by definition deaths. Am I truly giving all of my life over to the cause of Christ to the point of a living sacrifice?

I have asked this question of the Lord…although I realize I will never be able to offer to you what you are truly worthy of, what in my life is preventing me from truly offering to you all that I can?

Through this question, the Lord has led me to several truths, some of which apply directly to my life, and some others that apply generally to all of our lives. I want to share with you those that are in the general category.

You must speak the Gospel to those around you.
It is impossible to be a faithful follower of a Lord you refuse to speak the truth of to the world around you. This one issue is the number one issue for the majority of us when it comes to being a living sacrifice given completely over to the cause of Christ. I see the unwillingness in myself too often and in the church of today constantly. We must change this before our lives will ever declare the worth of the Worthy One.
You must give God what is best in your life not what is left.
The biggest obstacle here is money. Do you give from abundance or obedience? The second one is time. Do you give what is convenient or what is commanded? The third issue is talent. Do you give what others see or what God sees?
You must be honest with God. Worship is always honest. There is a difference between feelings and belief. Sometimes we will sing that which we do not feel yet we still believe. But when we stand before the Lord and sing in unison things such as "Here I am send me" but then we stop the song and live a life that refuses to be sent is it worship at all? Simply, don't lie to God and call it worship or praise. Come with that which is authentic and honest. If that means standing in silence and praying for God to change your heart while others sing of their commitment then do just that. The Worthy One will feel much more honored by that than a lie.
Public worship is a result of personal worship.
If we are going to gather in a corporate and public setting to worship, we must first be people who worship in private settings. A person will never find a level of comfort in expressing themselves to God personally in public until they are doing it personally in private.
Worship has many forms and is always a privilege.

On the personal side of this issue…

I have been challenged to see sharing of my faith as worshipful obedience instead of a burdensome requirement.
Giving your best as worship can never be about how good your best is but must always be about who you gave your best to for it to be an act of worship.
I have grown more in love with God through times of personal worship.
There are many styles and formats of worship I have never grown to appreciate the experience of. I pray that I can and will learn to enjoy those more than I do now.

Praise Feast – Day Six (Saturday, November 21, 2009)

2009-11-20T19:00:00.000-08:00

Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals; Praise Him with resounding cymbals.

Today is LSU game day. (Pretty much true of every Fall Saturday) Today many of us will turn on the tv or drive to the stadium and go nuts over a football game. We will yell and jump and give opinions that matter no one in the world about how LSU could be better than they are.

We will invest a great deal emotionally in a game that will not matter beyond the sound of the horn, except in the BCS rankings which will not matter but for a few more weeks.

Yet – most of us – bring to God the blandest of emotions when we praise him. We shout at touchdowns but remain silent at salvations…We jump up and down over defensive stands on 3 and 1 but don’t jump up and down when someone in our church stands up and gives a testimony of God’s great work in their life.

Do you see where I am going here?

Praise in the Bible includes LOUD cymbals and CRASHING cymbals and DANCING and all kinds of instruments. It was not tame. It was NEVER old. Actually in the Bible we are commanded to “sing a new song” several times and we are never commanded to sing an “old song.” What that means is that praise should be fresh and present and real and personal and emotional and powerful.

So right now I dare you turn the music up loud and get down with God for a little while. Sing it loud. Sing it hard. Dance around before the Lord and let him know that there is no first down or no touchdown that is as meaningful to you as the fact that he came down to this earth and gave his life for you.

Praise him LOUD. Praise him with JOY.

And then show up at church tomorrow with the same attitude and heart. Don’t come ready to watch or listen. Come to participate and to praise and to express to the Lord your praise.

Some Loud Songs you can praise to with your lips and your feet…Great is the Lord by Elevation Worship
We Unite by Elevation Worship
We Have Overcome by Elevation Worship
Shout unto God by Hillsong United

Praise Feast – Day Five (November 19, 2009)

2009-11-19T12:16:00.001-08:00

Let Everything that has breath praise the Lord…

The key to understanding this passage is to understand that breathe meant life to the culture of the Old Testament people. God "breathed" life into man. So basically this means let everything that has life praise the Lord. The essential truth is that praise is the meaning to life. Giving God the glory due him is the very purpose of our creation.

We praise God with ALL of who we are and what we have…

Today praise the Lord for being a God that has made you who you are. Do this by choosing to do something in another person's life to simply speak to and show them the love of Christ in a real and authentic way. Praise God by being who He made you. This praise challenge is not one where you sit alone in the silence in ponder but a praise of the "living" sacrifice. It will not be over when you 7:07 gets here, it will begin then.

Praise the Lord with some act of generosity, love, kindness, compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness, etc. with the sole purpose of sharing with someone that great truth about the character of our great God.

Scripture to Ponder

Matthew 5:16

Songs to Praise by

Give my Your Eyes by Brandon Heath

Proper Praise – Day Four (Thursday, November, 19, 2009)

2009-11-18T19:13:00.001-08:00

Praise him according to his excellent greatness…

Exactly how great does something have to be to be excellently great?

Praise is the simple yet difficult act of expressing the greatness of God that is beyond expression to a God that is beyond comprehension. I believe our most difficult obstacle to doing this is that we consider our praise to be insignificant and unimportant in comparison to such a great God.

God, however, inhabits the praises of his people. He chooses to dwell in them. Praise is personal and powerful expression of our reverence and awe of God.

Magnify his majesty…

Magnification is to bring into greater focus that which already exists.

Spend some time today focusing on the things that are already true of God. Things that you know to be true of him. Magnify that to God. Focus on it and express it to God.

One good way to do that would be to take some of the names used for God in Scripture and focus on their meaning and depth in your own life.

Lord – what does it mean to you that Jesus is your ruler or king?
Savior – what does that mean to you? What does it say about his love for you in the midst of your past?
Messiah – which means chosen or sent one. What does that mean to you?
Rabbi – or teacher. How does that translate to your life
High Priest – meaning the ultimate mediator between God and man. How do you valued that truth?
Heavenly Father – A personal name of endearment. Do you know him that way?
King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Emmanuel

Some Scriptures to Praise by…

Exodus 15:11, Psalm 8, 1 Chronicles 16:23-34 and 29:11-13

Songs to praise his majesty…

Majesty by Delirious
Majestic by Lincoln Brewster (I love this song)
Here I am to Worship by Tim Hughes or by Randy Travis if you prefer
Revelation Song by Gateway Worship

Praise Feast – Day Three

2009-11-17T19:49:00.001-08:00

Praise him for his acts of power…

What have you seen God do in your life that only God can do? Speak to the Lord today the truth of your wonder at his power and majesty.

We acclaim his actions…

What does that mean? It means to brag on a God a little bit. Or as Paul would say, "If I boast, I boast in the Lord." Thankfulness and praise are not all that different. We must be thankful at times to praise God. Here is the difference. Today, thank God for being the God that would do what you are thankful for.

Don't just say thanks for the blessing. Tell God I praise you for being a God that would think to do such an act. Think of the characteristics or names of God that might describe these actions.

Here are some verses that give to God particular praiseful names that are connected to his actions

The Lord our Provider (Gen 22:14)
The Lord is my Banner (Ex. 17:15-16)
The Lord is my Peace (Judges 6:24)
God is my Salvation (Isaiah 12:2)
The Lord is my strength and my song (Ex. 15:2)
The Lord is a warrior (Ex 15:3)

Fill in this statement (maybe several times) You are the Lord my and I have seen that in you when you . I praise you for being my .

Songs to praise his actions…
Amazing Grace (my chains are gone) by Chris Tomlin
God of Wonders by Caedmon's Call
Your Love Oh Lord by Third Day
You are so Good to Me by Third Day
Rock of Ages by the Statler Brothers (I bet none of you knew I owned that one)

Two more songs that hit me as I ran and listened and praised this morning.
He Knows My Name by Tommy Walker
Everything Glorious by the David Crowder Band.

Great question in that last song. "You make everything glorious, what does that make me?

Praise Feast – Day Two

2009-11-16T19:46:00.001-08:00

Praise him in his mighty heavens…

Today as you praise the Lord I encourage you to spend some time seeing his creation. If you simply sit at the window and look outside and see the beauty of the world through the window.

We declare the wonder of his works…

Spend some time declaring the wonder of God's work that you have seen in your life. You can express praise by expressing to God his greatness in giving you the many blessings in your life. Perhaps it would be good to think of some of the things you are most thankful for in your life. Praise is different than thankfulness but they have a lot in common, too. So spend some time praising God for the wonder and the blessing of the things you are thankful. Not just a simple thank you but wonder at the fact that God chose to bless you with such wonderful things in your life.

Scriptures to praise the wonderful work of God by…
Psalm 8, Psalm 19, Psalm 33:1-8, Psalm 36:5-7, Psalm 57:7-11, Psalm 89:1-19

Songs to Praise God for his wonderful works…

Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
Made to Worship by Christ Tomlin
Then Sings my Soul many artists have performed it

Critical Construction – Part Three

2009-11-16T11:01:00.001-08:00

So to wrap up this series of blogs, I decided I will tackle the obstacles that prevent us from the wholesome insights, helpful conversations, and critical construction that God intends us to have in each other's lives. I hope you understand that in these blogs, I have not said do not share your insights. The Bible says "as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." We have to be willing to hit up against each other some to become the people God intended us to be.

So I want to share two lists. One is for the person that is trying to critically construct in another person's life. The second is to the person that is being constructed on.

Hindrances from Helping others grow…

It is hard to construct what you have no clue about.
- Don't consider yourself an expert because you have an opinion.
- Don't try to become an expert because you have an opinion.
It is impossible to construct where there is no foundation.
- Don't try to build on someone's life what they don't have the foundation to hold up.
- If a person is simply not qualified or capable of a job or a position, your criticism will never change that. Either help them find something else to do or let them go.
- In the spiritual life, do not put standards on people that don't know the Savior. They cannot live up to them.
Most construction needs a plan.
- Don't just react. Take some time. It is not as big an emergency as you are making it out to be. Stop and really think through what you need to say.
Don't cast your own shadow on God's work space.
- It is not about you. So get your personal agendas, desires, and goals out of the way.

Hindrances from being Helped to grow…

Don't think of yourself as perfect.
- I mean come on…do you really think you are doing everything the best way possible all the time?
- Be willing to listen to imperfect people…remember you are imperfect, too.
Don't defend yourself.
- If what you are doing is right or is from God…it will defend itself.
- Not defending allows you to hear what they are saying instead of only thinking about what you already thought.
Put your "big boy" pants on.
- The longer you lead the more you will have to deal with criticism from people who stink at it. Many of them have decent intentions but they are just not as spiritually mature as they think they are. They simply fail to see past themselves when they share their insights.
- So, what do you do? You listen and you learn.
- Allow yourself to learn from God even when the people that he is using are imperfect.
Sift, save, and throw away.
- Sift through a review or a critical conversation. Sift looking for the GOOD not the bad.
- Save the good stuff. Save the truth – even if it hurts.
- Throw away the rest and don't hold it against the person – even if they did a poor job sharing it.
Acknowledge your own personality.
- If you are a more sensitive personality, then be honest about that with yourself.
- Don't hold others to an unrealistic expectation of pampering your feelings. Especially a boss. They have to review you. It is a part of their job. Let them do their job.

So this wraps this up. I hope it is helpful. I know many of you have to face reviewing others and being called upon to help build others up. Remember the catch words in these processes. Improvement and Progress are the most common words. So improve and help people progress. Allow others the right to do that in your life, too. This role is one I have dreaded and wanted to do at the same time. This year God has simply brought me to a more wholesome place with these processes and responsibilities. I look forward to sharing insights with those I lead this year. I know that God has a plan in that for me and for them.

As Christians, remember, that criticism is not Biblical, construction is. Don't go out and make your opinion heard, go out and help God's truth be used to build up his people.

Praise Feast – Day 1 (Monday, November 16, 2009)

2009-11-16T06:07:00.000-08:00

First – my apologies for this being late. Two soccer games yesterday as coach took up my afternoon and I let this slip by me. I will have the rest out the evening before you need them.

For those of you who were not at Fellowship yesterday, this week's challenge is to go on a PRAISE FEAST. At 7 each day I am challenging you to spend 7 minutes praising God. Praise means to declare the truth about God to the God it is true of. There are no requests, no intercessions, no personal agendas in praise. Just declaring to God who he is and how you love him. If 7 minutes is too long, start with 70 seconds, but give God the praise due his name this week.

Praise the Lord in His Sanctuary – a place designated for worship.
Meaning praise the Lord for his proper place in your life.
Spend today’s 7 minutes focusing on the truths about God in his relationship to you.

What words describe his rightful place in your life?
Lord, King, Ruler, Gracious Father, Redeemer, etc.

Give thought and time to this truth in your life.
Scriptures to Help you Praise Today
2 Sam. 2:22-24, Psalm 92, Job 19:25-27, Psalm 19

When looking for Scriptures to praise the character of God, look at the openings of the epistles (or letters) in the New Testament. Basically Romans-3 John. These greetings often include deep and great truths about the character of God.

Romans 1:7, 2 Cor. 1:1-4, Galatians 1:1-5, Eph. 1:1-3, 1 Thess. 1:1-4 (and so on, some have them some don’t but a great way to look for truths to praise God for.)

Songs for Praise Today
Probably my personal favorite about praising God in his sanctuary – Better is One Day by Matt Redman

Other songs that simply praise God for being God…
Hosanna by Hillsong United
Your Name High by Hillsong United
How Great is Our God by Chris Tomlin
Indescribable by Chris Tomlin
We Give Your Praise by Delirious

Critical Construction – Part 2

2009-11-11T10:19:00.001-08:00

"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Eph 4:29)

So our Biblical command is to not allow anything out of our mouth that is not wholesome nor is not helpful. That is a tough standard. It is especially tough when we are in the place of having a responsibility to build someone up and we see something that needs to change or they could improve.

The majority of people struggle with sharing critical thoughts and insights. Few people do this really well, but I think more of us could if we just looked at it a little differently.

Here are some Biblical insights in how to do this Biblically…

Earn the right to listened to. "that it may benefit those who listen."
Some people have a problem with wanting to correct or better everyone. You only have this role with those people in which God has placed you in a relationship to do this with. If you do not have the relationship that allows you to speak such critical thoughts, perhaps you should remain silent OR if you believe God desires you to help that person, build the relationship first. This passage was not written to disconnected believers that only passed each other in the church or office hallways. It was written to people whose lives were deeply connected. You need to consider that as a boss too. If the only time your employees hear from you is about what you need and never includes any legitimate and honest concern about them, then know they are not prepared emotionally to be helped by you. If you want to develop people commit to them before you see their issues and decide you need to help correct them.
Meet their needs not yours. "according to their needs"
Don't allow your insights to be selfish. Often people will bring "criticism" with a "constructive" twist simply to try to get someone to do what they want or how they want. Fight this urge. Your role is not to make them do what makes your life easier and better. Your role is to help them live the life and live out the role God has for them better.
The goal is construction not criticism. "what is helpful for building others up."
It might be semantics but I think it is the key to the whole deal. We need to see our role as critical construction not constructive criticism. Make sure you have the right adjective and action in your life. Many people are not bringing their thoughts for construction but simply for criticism. Our relationship with one another is always to build each other up and never to tear each other down. Consider that the next time you want to make a snide remark about a Bible study lesson or a sermon or a song. Think about that in the context of church. Think about it in the work world. Don't just complain in your review time, use it for the intended purposes. When you tear down…you sin. Insights are not sinful…selfishness is.
Learn to limit your thoughts to the crucial.
"only what is helpful"
Often well-intentioned insight meant to be used by God to build someone else up is lost in our decision to share everything we observe in the other person or their actions. Perhaps you have seen someone do something that you thought was out of place and could really use some help seeing it, but instead of sharing that one issue you shared with them everything you think. The one important and Spirit-inspired insight is lost in an avalanche of undeserved criticism. Limit your insights to the real issues.
Take responsibility for your words. "come out of your mouth"
If you say…own it. Don't back out of what you meant to say. Overly critical people like to blame hurt feelings and problems on other people's over-sensitive natures. If you say it, you have to own the consequences – whether you think they should be or not. What you said and how you said it is on you…not on them. This principle goes back to earning the right to be listened to. The more you truly know someone and actually care about them personally, the more you will know about how to share a needed insight. If you do not know them well enough to know how to talk with them, maybe you should stay silent until you do or at least admit that in the conversation and limit with them the role you have in their life. Share with them that you think you need to share something but that you are not really qualified to do so. People can take criticism in that context differently than when they are thinking "who does this person think they are?"
Speak only what the Spirit gives you. "Do not let any unwholesome talk"
Some unwholesome talk is not acceptable. If you talk negatively about others to others…that is gossip. It is unwholesome. In church life this is usually found in the people that sit around and criticize preachers and worship leaders. People who think because they "care" about the church it is okay to talk with others in negative ways. Often this is also done in review times as bosses because the things we are sharing are things that frustrate us. The problem is we lose the ability to be wholesome because in both of these situations we lose the whole picture. That is necessary in wholesome talk. It is not just about that issue even if you think it is. It is about the person. It is always personal. Don't lose the big picture. Never lose sight of the person or people. When you do your lack of the whole picture will rob your words of any wholesome intentions.

So my take on criticism is that it is not Biblical. It has no rightful place in the life of believers. But construction does. People who want to build up will. People who want to criticize never will. They will only tear down and tear away.

When you review someone as a boss or an employee or if you just feel led by the Spirit to share a critical insight into someone else's life or action, remember your role and your purpose. Remember the person not the problem. Focus on yourself first and share only what God said to share. Let him do the rest.

Critical Construction – Part One

2009-11-10T15:31:00.001-08:00

Well it is one of my least favorite times of the year as a "boss." It is review time. Every year I approach this time with a spirit of uncertainty. Naturally, when you work with people day in and day out you see their imperfections. Not only do you see these things, but if you take your role as boss (and as pastor) seriously you want to help those under your leadership improve at what they do.

The issue is how does one take ones observations, insights, and opinions and use them to the betterment of someone else. One of the crucial issues with doing this well is realizing that you have an opinion. Some times in reviews we have some hard data. Goals and objectives not met, but most often our reason for why that is true is based on our opinion.

So how do we correctly take these thoughts to another person for their good. It is not just about professional reviews. I think this is an overall spiritual issue people need to consider. Often in life we have people who want to bring us their "constructive criticism" but the issue is that it is often destructive more than it is constructive. This is true of those with a good-heart and those with a critical spirit.

I have taken some time to study this concept over the last few months and want to share with you what I have learned about the concept of criticism. These blogs will not simply be about review process but about the overall concept of criticism in the life of Christ followers.

The first question you must answer as a follower of Christ is this…is there any place in the lives of Christians for criticism?

Take some time and examine what it is. Consider this challenge. We call it "constructive" criticism. You must realize that even in its best form constructive describes criticism. Is that a Biblical mindset or approach to other people?

Let's start with this thought. What is criticism? According to Webster, criticism can be defined as the act of criticizing usually unfavorably. At its best criticizing is to consider the merits and demerits of and to judge accordingly. Criticizing is also defined as (and normally acted as) finding fault with or pointing out the faults of.

I want to challenge you in a couple of blogs over our concepts about criticism. And I want you to honestly ask yourself, how much construction comes out of my criticisms?

I will leave you with this verse to chew on today as you consider the Biblical truths concerning criticism. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Eph 4:29)

(This is the first in a 3 part series. I have really thought through this a lot this year and read and prayed. I hope I can share some things God taught me and help you be a better leader through it.)

Defeating Dead Brain Syndrome

2009-11-03T10:49:00.001-08:00

Some days in life we are brain dead. (For some of us that happens more often than others.) I know that for myself I most often feel this way on Mondays. Some Sundays just take so much out of you that the mind and spirit are lagging behind the body on Mondays.

So what do you do on these days? We all have them. There are several options.
1. Pretend you are not brain dead and tackle important tasks with half-a-brain.
2. Be a bum and hope no one notices.
3. Do work that is productive and helpful but does not require tons of brain cells.

I had such a day yesterday. This last series has taken a lot of mental and spiritual work to get through. It is not easy to talk about sensitive and tough topics in life in a real and authentic manner. So after a month of this series I showed up to work yesterday brain dead. What was I to do?

Would I pretend my brain was functioning fully and try to write something profound for this week's sermon like my normal plan? Would I pretend to be ready to lead a meeting that is not completely necessary that my mind was not ready for? Or would I hide at my desk and pretend to be productive?

Very often people choose those as valid solutions. Sometimes we do poor work because we are poorly prepared to do the work we need to do. I believe option 3 is the way to go. Choose to be productive. Just be productive doing something you have been putting off. Catch up on those tasks that slip through the cracks because they are never urgent.

Now, you cannot do this on days you have an important meeting or a deadline. On those days you man up and ask God for some mental grace and help. You should never bum out. You must choose to do work as if working unto the Lord and not unto man. The answer is not nothing but also might not be the same old thing.

So yesterday I finished cleaning all the windows on the office. They really needed to be ridded of the yucky film of green mildew they had gathered. I did some administrative paperwork type stuff. I ran a few errands that needed to be done. I made some phone calls. I read some in a leadership book I need to read. I ended up being needed on some technical issues and things during the day and I stepped up and did what was needed, because it is my job. But I purposefully chose to have a dead brain day since I was brain dead anyway.

I was productive. I was a good employee. I think I honored the Lord with my day. But I chose not to write the life group material and sermon I needed to do. I actually had more time to do that this morning because I did not have the administrative stuff to do because I did it yesterday. And this morning I came to work with a clear mind and was able to get some really good work done. I was able to focus and was thinking clearly on the tasks at hand.

So my advice the next time you find yourself brain dead and you don't have a deadline hanging over your brain dead head, take a dead brain day. Do something useful. Be productive. Choose not to be lazy. And get some good work done.

ANTI – Teaching the Tough Truths

2009-10-27T15:23:00.001-07:00

I am somewhat humbled by the responses, emails, and comments I have gotten over the last couple of weeks concerning the series I am preaching. ANTI is a series in which we are tackling some real issues that are tough, sensitive, and honest. This series has been an emotionally charged and draining series for me. The toughest part of dealing with these types of issues as a pastor is being real, personal, and honest. Authenticity and transparency are necessary when you speak to the issues that people struggle with in their daily lives.

Over the past two weeks (since I last blogged) we have dealt with sexual immorality and divorce. The Bible has much to say about these issues. The truths of these issues are hard to face because we know the reality of life. The Church as we know it has not addressed such issues in a Biblical manner. Sure we have heard things are wrong, but have we heard why or what to do about it or how to treat someone when they have failed. The truth is that too often we tiptoe around such issues because we are afraid to offend someone or we bash people about these issues because we enjoy offending people. Either way, the Lord is not pleased.

So over the last two weeks I have tried to approach some sensitive issues that are raw and real in the lives of people in personal and honest manner that allows people to deal with the reality of where they are. The right reasons for dealing with these issues are because of their response to God not because of their response to me or my opinions or condemnations.

I think the most encouraging things I have heard have been from those who have dealt with some of these issues directly. One person simply told me after the sermon on sexual immorality "I wish I would have heard that sermon when I was 16." Another person simply wrote, "I'm thankful you had the courage to send a positive and truthful message to our teenagers of what God's word says about sex and some tips on how to deal with compromising situations, but also that our church is here to help them and not condemn them. They need that. "

The last email really hit me as I heard from one person in the congregation. They said, "If I would have heard the sermon on pornographic material when I was a younger man, I wouldn't of had to struggle with what became a full-blown addiction by age 16. I don't know how many people are telling you how good you are doing, but trust me; you are affecting everyone in the service because no Christian deals with murder on a daily basis, we deal with the things that the modern church is afraid to speak of."

This blog is not about me or the wonderful job I am doing. I don't necessarily even agree with that part. I do believe, however, that people need the church to be real and honest and open and to the point about issues the church has either said nothing about or has simply ranted and railed about. It is time we just opened up tough topics with grace and love and laid out the truth.

I challenge church leaders to step out there. Honestly, it is a little unnerving to stand in front of a group of people and be real about the issues of sexual immorality, divorce, etc. It is hard to do, but it is worth it. The feedback I get makes it worth it.

Here are some things you have to do it…

Be real. If you can't be real about you, you can't help others be real about them.
Say what is there; not what is not there. Speak to what the Bible says not what it does not say.
Don't hold back on any truth.
Be full of grace and mercy. After all, Jesus was.
Don't apologize. We cannot apologize for the standard Jesus died to attain for us.

So I challenge Christians to ask themselves these tough questions…

What am I for? Not what am I against?
Do I define my spiritual life by what I do not do? Or by what I do?

This week's sermon will have a little bit of an interesting twist to end the series. I hope you will be there. If you are interested in hearing the past sermons here is the link to my podcast. They are titled under ANTI – and honestly they are a tad long. I would say I am sorry about that, but I am not.

ANTI – Week One

2009-10-14T14:54:00.001-07:00

Well, we kicked off the ANTI series Sunday and we had a great time in worship and in the Word. (Maybe a little long in the Word – my apologies to the heroes of FC – aka children's workers.) This series is really challenging me and others to consider some real issues.

We started this week in 1 Cor. 5. This passage deals with how the Christians (for this discussion meaning those who profess Christ as Savior and participate in a local church as a result of that profession) should deal with another Christian who is living in sexual immorality.

The first thing this sin should cause in our lives is grief not judgment. Paul said it should grieve us. I believe this is why this series is needed. The world things Christians are ANTI because Christians are not grieved by the spiritual condition of the world around us. If we truly believe that people who die without forgiveness in Christ die and go to hell we should have a lot more grief about the lives of those around us. But too seldom we do. More often we feel real good about ourselves more than we feel broken others.

So once we are grieved we have to hold the other Christian accountable and allow their sinful choices to have consequences without having our condemnation. The reason that we cannot condemn is because the Scripture clearly says that the goal of such judgment is for the saving of the soul.

I think the biggest issues Christians face in holding to standards are…
1. Not becoming arrogant toward others that do not share them.
2. Being grieved by what is commonplace in the world in which we live.
3. Not bringing standards to those who do not believe in their Savior.

This passage goes onto tell the church in Corinth that they should in NO WAY judge those who are outside of the church like they have the one inside the church. The reason we should not do that is because that a person that is not a follower of Christ does not have the Spirit of Christ empowering them to live in obedience. We, as Christians, believe this is necessary to live out the commands of Christ in our lives. Yet, we often find ourselves trying to demand that this world live up to them without Christ.

My main point for the week was that "Our world does not need our standards. They need our Savior."

So my challenge to the Christians of the world is quitting pointing out to the world around you everything they do wrong and start sharing with them everything Jesus Christ has made right.

Each week during this series I am issuing a public apology for where I see the church has failed at this. This week's apology is this. "We are sorry we boycotted Disney." Why? Because we told the people of Disney we care more about your morality than we do your eternity. What if they had changed to meet our convictions and yet they never came to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? What profit it a man to gain the whole world yet forfeit his own soul? What is the profit to the people of Disney to live by my standards so I will give them my money for my entertainment if they die and go to hell?

We as Christians must start acting on what we truly believe to be essential in life and sharing that with a world that needs it. The people in your life do not need your rules. They need Christ's righteousness.

Fellowship Church - ANTI series video promo

2009-10-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Well, this video is my first ever video blog. I recorded it in hopes that you Fellowshipites might use this video post as a way to share what is going on at Fellowship through your online social networks. The video posted on my blog is to you. Below it is a link to a video that I have recorded as a message to our community.

Here is why I have done this. Sunday I am starting a new series titled ANTI. It will be an interesting series where we look at some real issues. So take a couple of minutes to watch the video and then send the other video out into the world wide web.

This is the link to the second video.
Share it with others. Thanks.

My lesson from the life of Jack Daniel

2009-09-25T09:45:00.001-07:00

Today, my family is celebrating the life of and mourning the loss of Jack Daniel. Uncle Jack (Wendy's uncle) was a great man that lived an impressive life. As I write this he is being honored with a full military burial at one of our national cemeteries. My prayers and thoughts are with Wendy and her family as they are there with each other during this time.

Jack was a special man. He has a unique life story and leaves a powerful legacy. Today, I want to share with you what I learned from Uncle Jack. In the 13 years since I met Uncle Jack I have gotten to spend some unique moments with him, but not as many as I would have liked. I wish I could have had more moments like the ones that I will share that gave me my insights into the life of Jack Daniel, but they are limited. I will simply share what I had the great privilege of hearing, observing, and learning from him.

I will start by saying that Jack Daniel was a man I greatly respected. By nature and personality I am a leader. I am also a leader by calling and profession. Men like me tend to gravitate toward other leaders that we see great leadership qualities in. Jack was such a man. In the often short but meaningful times I spent with him I always walked away with some observation or story that stuck in my mind.

In observing his life from the lens of his nephew by marriage, I gathered the opinion that this verse in particular would describe his life well. "Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 3:13-14)

One of the first personal memories I have about Uncle Jack was at Grandma's house in Winnfield, LA. It was Memorial Day weekend and some of the family had gathered. I remember sitting outside on the porch and listening to Jack talk about the Vietnam War and his experiences there. This man served bravely in that war along with a lot of great young men in our nation at that time. He rose to rank of Major during the war and would later retire from United States Marine Corps as a Lt. Colonel. The story he shared is one I will not give the details of, but it was a particularly tough day in the war. The day included casualties and loss. I could sense in his telling of the story (which by the way story telling was one of his many gifts) that this memory was one that was still vivid and real in his life. That day he made some decisions (although not wrong ones) that had consequences that were unforeseen. Jack had to live with those types of decisions everyday as a military officer.

I share this to tell you that what I realized about Jack Daniel was that he was a man willing to make the decisions at hand, but he was not a man that lived in the past. His life was shaped by those days in Vietnam but it was not defined by them. Jack was simply not a man that lived in the past, yet he loved the past. He was a history buff especially his own family history. He could retell and recall the smallest details of life in the Daniel family and loved to share that family's heritage of love and faith with others. Yet I believe he left behind the past and always lived in the present.

I learned this from him on the golf course too. Jack was a prolific golfer. While visiting him this summer – while he was sick and weak from chemo – he and I went to the driving range. Jack, in a weakened condition, consistently hit the ball further and better than I did for the entire time we were out there. He lived a life goal by shooting his age. A goal few golfers accomplish and then not usually till their late 70's or early 80's. Jack did it at 69.

He helped me with my golf swing every time we played – mostly because I REALLY need the help - but that was not what I learned from him on the course. Jack had the ability to not allow one bad shot to become two bad shots. He forgot what was behind on the course and focused on what was ahead. That is a difficult thing for a competitive person to do, yet he did every time I golfed with him. He did not push back to where he failed, he pressed forward to where he would succeed.

His military career was quite impressive. This summer I learned – along with some other members of the family – some of the details of his service for our nation. Uncle Jack has a display case with his military medals and honors presented in it. In it was his White House staff badge. I had never known he worked at the White House. I asked about his time there and learned some new and impressive things about Jack.

Uncle Jack served under 3 presidential administrations. He was military debriefer to the President and was a military liaison there at the White House. One of the roles he held during his time there was to carry the "football" – that is the nuclear code brief case often seen in movies. Jack was a man trusted by our nation with one of the codes necessary for launching nuclear war. (I have to admit that when he told me that my "man crush" level increased even more. As did my respect for him.) I did not know what to say to such a neat thing presented in such a nonchalant way, so I said, "You realize they put you in movies. They just have never used the right name." Then he told me that he was also in charge of the President's evacuation plan in case of attack and would sit at the desk in the oval office and "play" the part of the president when they would run the drills. How cool is that. And yet he had not really talked about it to that many people. I don't know why. Maybe some of that was not something he was supposed to talk about at the time, but I think there was more to it than that.

Jack's life was not defined by such important roles and responsibilities. He did not live his life as a former important person at the White House. He enjoyed that and served faithfully while doing that and then he pressed on. He forgot (without forgetting) what was behind and pushed on toward what lay ahead. He went on to a successful career in a business that carried some military contracts and then started a cabinet business that makes some of the finest cabinets I have ever seen.

His life was full of successes and accomplishments. In sports he was multi-sport letterman in high school, made the varsity basketball team at Arizona State University, played football for the Marine Corps, and won the club championship several years at his home golf course in Virginia. As a marine he was a highly decorated officer. As a business man he was successful. But I don't think any of those things best describe this man's life and legacy.

Wendy summed it up well when she said this about her Uncle Jack as I started writing this tribute this past summer. "Whatever he is doing at that moment he is the best at it. If he is playing golf it is golf. If he is a soldier then he is the best soldier. When he is with me, he is the best uncle. He listens and cares and truly interested in my life. When he is dad, he is being the best dad he can be. When he is making cabinets he is making the best cabinets he can make."

Jack was a man that understood that life, faith, and love are built on past experiences but are lived in present life. That life cannot be lived in what lies behind, it must be lived in what lies ahead. I thank God for great men like Jack Daniel. Our country needs them. Families need them. The world needs them. I think this world is best impacted by those whose stories rarely get told because they do not desire them to be told because they are too busy living them. These types of men and women leave the greatest legacies because they are always living life now.

Jack's love for God, family, and country was evident in his life and will continue to be evident in his legacy. My prayers are with Aunt Karen and her children, their spouses, and his grandchildren today. My prayers are with his brothers and sisters and family members. Yet in this moment of loss, I am thankful. I am thankful for such a great example of what it looks like to not live in the past and to live a life that grabs hold of what is ahead.

So, learn from yesterday, but don't stay there. Press on for what lies ahead. You never know where it might take you.

Brokenness not Broken down

2009-09-16T13:19:00.001-07:00

Sunday I had the privilege of sharing a word from the life of David. David – a man after God's own heart – was also a man that committed adultery and murder. He was a man that was not allowed to fulfill his life-long desire to build a temple for God because of the shortcomings in his own life. This man loved God but he was very imperfect in living that love in all he said and did. He was like the rest of us…he failed. Yet it says of David that he was a man after God's own heart and that he was faithful in his own generation.

There is nothing I would rather have said of me than those two things. I think that is why David is one of my favorite people in Scripture. I want to be known as a man after God's heart and I want God to use me in my own generation. I so want those things that I often allow them to become burdens in my life.

It is an interesting spiritual issue when our desire for God and for being who he wants us to be becomes the stumbling block for us having a proper relationship with God and being who he wants us to be, but it can happen. In my life this burden is often attached to the fact that I feel there is more God desires from me and my ministry. I believe he desires to use me for some purposes than are bigger than what I can see and do right now. And at times, I so desire to be successful for that reason that it gets in the way of me being that.

It is odd how being who God wants you to be – if you are not careful – is what prevents you from being who God wants you to be. God wanted David to be king. David acted like a king the day he committed adultery. He said to his servants go get this woman. He got what he commanded. He was being king, but he was not being the king God wanted him to be.

Today as I was dealing with some things that are bothering me in my own life and spirit, God really spoke to me through a Psalm I was reading. Psalm 144:2-4 is a powerful passage from the heart of David about God. He says that God is his loving God…fortress…stronghold…deliverer…shield. God was those things in his life. Then he says who is man that you are mindful of him. Who am I that even though my life is but a breath of air you care about me?

This passage really hit me because I think the reason that I often feel burdened is because I am not good at allowing God to be all those things in my life. I too often think I can be that person in my life. I would never say it that way, but I live it that way. I have confessed that in blog before, but it is just the back and forth in my own spiritual life. So this morning, God once again began to do some breaking. He showed me some brokenness I have been lacking. And in an instant, the burden became lighter. It is not gone. I still have some things to do right now that I know God has told me to do that are going to take a lot of time and effort. But they are not really mine to do.

So what does brokenness look like? Brokenness is actively, honestly, and pursuing pursuing change in yourself. God reminded me of that this morning. When your life's work is about seeing other lives changed it is easy to forget that your life must be the one first being changed…even when you say it in sermons.

So, what are you going to do today to actively pursue change in yourself? What are you going to do to honestly pursue change? What are you going to do to personally pursue change?

Well, whatever you do, remember that ultimately it is God that changes us. It is not our activity, our honesty, or our person that changes us. It is God. David forgot that. I sometimes forget that. I imagine sometimes you do, too.

Brokenness is not the state of being broke down. Brokenness is the state of being open to God. Open to who He is. And that brokenness requires us to know who we are not.

So, are you willing to live broken?

Check it out

2009-09-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

Great word from Todd Blount. Check it out here. http://toddblount.blogspot.com/2009/09/clean-your-plate.html

Here and Now

2009-09-11T14:40:00.000-07:00

“For when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep, he was buried with his fathers, and his body decayed.” Acts 13:36

Our current sermon series is looking into the lives of great leaders that experienced change and caused change. David is one such leader. This passage about David is a profound and deep truth too few people ever realize in their own lifetime. It is the truth that I preached about last week by looking at the lives and Biblical truths from the life of Daniel.

Faithfulness is a necessary ingredient in our lives if we are to live lives that are so changed they are delicious with Christ. The flavor of faithfulness is, however, unique. The issue about faithfulness is that faithfulness will never taste the same way twice. It will never look the same in any two lives. Sure there will be commonalities. Two lives lived in faithful following of Christ will live in obedience to common commands, but they will live it out in different circumstances.

Each of us must learn to be faithful here and now. In our own generation and our own time. We must be like Daniel and be faithful where we are and when we are. Daniel would never have chosen to be the wise slave-servant leader for the kings of Babylon. Daniel would have chosen a life leading a free and independent Israel. But that was not his time and place. Daniel had to be faithful with his own here and now. David had to be found faithful in similar ways. He wanted to build the temple but he could not because God said not. Yet he was found faithful with his own here and now.

So must we. Each of us must learn to be faithful where we are, when we are, and as who we are. It says in Scripture that God “ordained the times and places for us.” Where are you right now in your life? That is where you are called to be faithful. If you are a student be faithful in study and in the classroom and in your social life as a student. If you are a career professional then be faithful in your professional ethics and to your job description and position. If you are a full-time mom then be faithful in your home and in the lives of your children. Each of these times (or stages) in life are valuable and important. So be found faithful there.

You can never be faithful with someone else’s talents, gifts, and abilities. Nor can you be faithful with their salary or their position in life. You have to faithful with what you have. Quit telling God you would do something for him if he would just allow it be . Tell God I will do exactly what you have gifted me and called me to do and I will find joy in that. Quit telling God you would tithe if you made the amount of money so and so makes. Quit telling God you would be faithful at your church if they would just do things this way or that way. Be faithful in your place and your position.

Some times in my role as pastor I have to deal with people who are unfaithful but like to think that they are faithful. Often these people have justified not living up to the truths of Scripture and feel very righteous in that disobedience. Some times these people feel it is their place to make decisions and influence things that are in no way form or fashion their calling or role in life or the church. Honestly these issues are just obvious results of an issue we all struggle with – selfishness.

Selfishness is that which robs us of faithfulness. We are not able to be faithful because we are too focused on what we want and not what others need and God desires. The difficult part of this issue is that we think we want to faithful with someone else’s life, money, or position, but in reality we know nothing about it.

That is why the flavor of faithfulness is unique. You can not be faithful with where you are not, with what you do not have, and with who you are not. You must be faithful here and now. So quit bribing God to give you what you need to be faithful because you already have everything you need. Quit trying to convince God that he needs to cause others to do things your way because they are most likely already being done His way. And be faithful here and now because in the end you too will fall asleep and your body will decay, but can it be said of you were faithful in your own generation?

Be faithful here wherever you’re here may be. And be faithful now.

Diversity with Unity 2

2009-09-10T09:21:00.001-07:00

(This is numbered 2 because I posted one and took it down because I thought I needed to work through my comments with more gentleness.)

I find myself in an interesting place in ministry these days. Several times in recent weeks and months I have heard interesting criticisms against many of the Biblical convictions I hold about church, ministry, and preaching. Often these comments have come in bland statements in meetings with other pastors or in a denominational setting. They have also come from well-intentioned and perhaps a couple of ill-intentioned church people. Criticism does not frighten me, it challenges me. It does not cause me to think I should back away from what God has told me to do.

It does, however, challenge me to be correct in what I do and say. I am not afraid of criticism because I have found it makes me better and stronger. This year I dealt with some criticism about how I led Fellowship through some significant changes. There were several people that brought criticism with love and passion for the ministry. These people are priceless in my life. God really used them to teach me and to show me his correction. God used them to help me better at what I am called to do and honestly just to be better at being me. On the other hand, criticism not given for the sole purpose of bettering the person you lovingly share it with, is just selfishness and does neither of you any good.

The key to being a person who can bring honest and constructive criticism instead of hurting and selfish criticism is found in the Biblical truth of 1 Cor. 1:10. "I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly unified in mind and thought." That sounds like "pie in the sky" to most of us, yet is the Biblical mandate for the Church. Each one of should seek to not cause any division. Actually we should seek to "uncause" any division. We should each feel it our responsibility to seek unity with one another and to do that which prevents any division whatsoever.

Yet, this is instruction is found in a letter in which Paul gives lots of strong commands and disagrees with the believers in Corinth on many issues. Seeking unity and fighting against division does not mean that leaders with Biblical and Godly convictions forget about them to purchase peace at the cost of the work of the Gospel. It also does not mean that any follower of Christ should put away their Sprit-led and Biblical convictions to have ungodly unity with those who stand against his truth.

So, how do we deal with seeking unity while not always agreeing? Paul in this letter speaks of many "disputable matters." Disputable matters cover a wide variety of issues. Many Christians today, however, build their entire concept of what a Christian looks like on disputable matters. Many people believe "good" Christians like certain types of music and wear certain styles of clothes. Or perhaps your big issue is that good Christians never take a sip of alcohol. Or perhaps you define it by never miss a worship service in a year. Or maybe it is the boxes you check every week on your tithe envelope.

The problem is that many divisions are the result of people desiring uniformity and not unity. The problem is that many people want to turn their convictions into mandates. God is the only one that gives the mandates in Christianity. The issue, that leaders – like Paul – have, is that they have to make decisions concerning disputable matters that affect every person that is under their leadership. I, as Lead Pastor, at Fellowship Church and responsible and will be held accountable for the work of the ministry at Fellowship Church. The Lord will one day call me to account for many things. I must be willing to stand on my Spirit-led, God-given, Scripture-inspired convictions concerning the disputable matters in "church world."

Such issues as how do we express the Biblical vision of the Church? (The vision of every church should be the Great Commission – but we have to figure out how we will communicate that at our church. For us it is Connecting to Love…Grow…Serve…Go. Your communication of it is disputable – the vision itself is set.) What music style to have. Or what clothes should people wear? What is appropriate in a worship service? How will small groups be done at our church? Etc. Etc. But the truth of the matter is that most of these issues are disputable matters. They can have a wide variety and still please God. But each church can not do the whole variety. It is not possible and is a futile attempt. So, leaders must make those choices. The Bible is most often descriptive about such matters not prescriptive.

As a result of some criticism that has challenged me to be correct in all that I do as a leader, I have decided to spend some time over the next few weeks and months to express in writing the Biblical convictions for the ministry I lead. I believe it will be good for me and perhaps be enlightening to someone else along the way. You will probably see these issues come through in the blog some. I ask that you would pray for me during this endeavor. My prayer is that I will not defend anything, but that I will simply express the truth of Scripture in the convictions God has given me through His Spirit.

The reason I feel led to do this is that I want to be able to share with others my convictions without being critical of theirs. The truth is that I celebrate a church down the road that does it different than us and, therefore, reaches someone different than who we are reaching. I think that is totally awesome. I guess some times when you hear enough criticism (although be it, usually from the same sources over and over again) you start getting critical of others about things they do not deserve criticism over.

The remedy to this problem is to leave no doubt why you stand where you stand. Then stand there. And if you find others that it is difficult for you to stand with because of a disputable matter, then either decide to stand with them and not allow that difference to cause a division or choose to not stand with them. But you must know why you stand where you stand. I know why I stand where I stand, but I need to work a little harder at allowing others to see the depth of it.

In a couple of months I am preaching an entire series on disputable matters. I am excited and terrified to preach it. People live real lives in the disputable matters. Disputable matters cause disputes. Disputable matters often hurt. But they don't have to if we will just decide to "agree with one another." Some times that means agreeing on what we can agree on and "shutting up" about the rest without "shutting down" about the rest. Don't shut down on your convictions but if they are disputable then learn when to keep those thoughts to yourself. Some times what God really wants you to say is nothing. Every time you see something that in your opinion could be done better does not mean it is your God-given job to tell the other person that thought.

Thanks for your prayers as I tackle this God-given and criticism-inspired challenge. My prayer is that God will use this endeavor to help me grow. (My hope is that because of that it will help others grow, too.) Many of my convictions and thoughts about such things began with great books written by great church leaders but they honestly did not do a great job using Scripture in them. I, however, do have Scripture behind those same convictions (as they probably do, too). My goal is to share that – the Biblical convictions.

Are you willing to do what it takes in your life to stand on your convictions? Before you take that stand you need to know why you stand where you stand.

Delightful Deliverance

2009-09-01T14:40:00.001-07:00

Life and Scripture entwine themselves in my life all the time. It is amazing how true it is that the Word of God is "living and active." It is so true that it is useful in our lives in teaching and in correcting and in training. The Scriptures of God are alive because God is alive and His Spirit uses them to speak into our lives. It is amazing how God shows us great truths in the midst of normal moments in life.

This week I had the privilege of meeting with someone who, honestly, has no understanding of God's grace. They have come out of a religious background that is built upon works. They have been taught that they must do certain things and that only through those actions does a person receive the grace of God in their life. As we met and talked it was wonderful to have the privilege of sharing with this person the truth of God's grace. The basis of our conversation was Ephesians 2:8-10. They were completely blown away by the concept of grace as a gift – yet that is exactly what grace is – grace is a gift. If grace were not a gift it would not be grace.

So this week the truths of grace have really been on my mind and spirit. Then I read something out of the Vine for this week that really jumped out at me. In is in 2 Samuel 22 (verse 20b) "He rescued me, because he has delighted in me." The verse really hit me as I realized this is one of the hardest truths for us, as imperfect people, to grasp about God. Salvation (which literally means to rescue from perishing) is a delightful thing to God. He does it because it delights him.

Why does salvation delight God? Because we delight God.

That is right, God delights in you. Your salvation is not the result of you being delightful. It is the result of his delighting. There is a difference. The truth is that "God demonstrated his love for us, in this, while we were still sinners Christ died for us." In the midst of your very worst moment – your most undelightful actions and thoughts – God showed you his love. At your very worst God delights in you, not because of you, but because of himself.

Our salvation is delightful to God because he delights in us. Our life response should be to be a delight to him. We should strive to be delightful because he is delighted in us – not so that he will be delighted in us. That is why Jesus said, "if you love me you will obey my commands." Obedience is not so we can love him and he us. It is because we love him because he already loved us. ("We love God because he first loved us."

So that is the truth rolling around in my head this week. I love to have such truths to meditate on. I love thinking about that over and over again. God has rescued me because he delighted in me. Not so that he could delight in me. Not because I had made myself delightful to him. Simply because he delighted in me.

I pray that God will show you his delight this week. And if you have never allowed his delight to bring you to a place of repentance and confession in Christ, I pray that this week you will find your delight in him, too.

He loves you more than you will ever realize. So experience the delightful deliverance of a Delighted Deliverer. And once you experience it, choose to delight in it by delighting Him.

Fervently Zealous

2009-08-27T13:39:00.001-07:00

I came across a passage that was a key text in one of my sermons early in my ministry. Back when I was preaching at this church and that church. Here and there and getting a little experience. Meaning I could use the same sermon on numerous occasions. There was one verse in Romans 12 that really jumped out at me all those years ago. (I think I first preached this passage when I was 19.) The funny thing is that I read it in my quiet time this morning and it hit home again. So I thought I would share the thought with you.

Romans 12:11 says, "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." As a young preacher I had no knowledge of Greek or near the number of study tools I have today in my office so I did the profound thing to figure out what zeal and fervor are really about. I pulled out Webster's dictionary. I still remember the answer I found. Zeal means enthusiastic diligence. Fervor means zealous. They are synonyms for enthusiastic diligence.

So that became a part of one of my first sermons. We need to be enthusiastically diligent in our service and faith. We do not often combine these 2 thoughts. Enthusiasm means you are excited and ready to do some thing. Diligence refers to working hard through a difficult task. Here is the cool thing. That combination is exactly what serving the Lord should look like. Serving the Lord is a difficult task yet it is exciting. We should be enthusiastically diligent in serving the Lord.

The problem is that too often in the seasons of life that seem more diligent than enthusiastic we give up and quit. Or the times that seem so enthusiastic and exciting we forget to be diligent about it and it somehow loses its excitement and then we do not like the diligence so we give up and quit.

The thing is that our tendency is to do the exact opposite of this verse. I have seen so many people quit serving the Lord because they had lost their zeal, that it makes my heart hurt and my head spin. So often these well intentioned people said they just needed a break so they could restore their zeal, but it never happens. They never get back up and going (or at least EXTREMELY rarely).

You want to know why? The Bible says that you need to do the exact opposite thing. If you want to not lack in zeal then keep your fervor by SERVING THE LORD. Serving the Lord will make you more zealous for the Lord. Why do we think not going after the things of God would make us want to go after the things of God more?

It's like sports. The more you practice…the more you want to play. I have started trying to really run and the further I run…the further I want to go the next time. (My longest yet is a 6 mile run.) The more you are around a person you think you are interested in - the more they interest you. (Or not and you don't marry that person.) But when you are dating someone you would never say, I think the best way for us to get to have a good close relationship would be for me to do nothing else for you for a while. That will really build up our relationship. I am just going to sit around and do nothing and ask you to join me in it. That will give us a great and lovely relationship that is exciting and full of fervor. WHAT??????

Why do we think that would be true with our relationship with God? So if you don't feel very zealous for the Lord, quit telling the Lord you are sitting and waiting and get up and serve him. If you have been hurt some how in serving the Lord or in the church, realize that healing starts with rest, but is really experienced in rehabilitation. You got to get some spiritual exercise.

So I challenge you today to not lose your zeal, but to stay fervent by serving the Lord. I challenge you to find your lost zeal in the only place it can be found…in the fervent service of the Lord.

Cannonball Faith

2009-08-26T08:55:00.001-07:00

Some times in our lives we get to hear stories that make us laugh so hard we cry, but at the same time can teach us a very valuable lesson. I heard such a story last week.

Last week I met with a young lady in our church who has accepted Jesus Christ as her Savior and Lord and she decided to be baptized. While riding home in the car she called her grandmother, who led her to the Lord, and told her about the baptism. After she got off the phone her little brother – who has a tendency to need to one-up his sister – spoke up.

He said he already has been baptized. His parents asked him, what do you mean? He then told them, the other day as he was at the swimming pool, he ran towards the pool, asked Jesus to come into his life, did a cannonball all the way under water, and when he came to the surface, he had a new life!!!

I love two things about this story. First is the cannonball and second is that he knew he needed to go all the way under. The story is humorous and fun, but it also teaches us a great lesson.

As soon as I read the email with the story I thought of these words. " I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it" (Mark 10:15) Do not misunderstand what I am saying. I do not believe this idea to be the process by which a person has a genuine experience of salvation, but I do think it is a genuine expression of genuine faith. It is a faith that is still not completely informed or understood but a genuine and true all the same.

This child does not yet understand what the Lordship of Christ means and how the death and resurrection of Christ forgives us of our sins, but I told his dad this the other day, "The day he does understand, his faith is ready." Listen to what he says. He asked Jesus to come into his life. He immersed himself. And he had new life.

Do you believe in new life like that? Do you believe that Jesus Christ does exactly what he says he does? He did not have potential for new life or hope for new life – just NEW LIFE! Jesus told us that he came to give us "life and life more abundantly."We, however, must have faith like a child to enter into it.

We must have faith that is all in. All the way. No qualifications or limitations.

Faith like a cannonball. Faith that is committed to going all the way under and coming up having made a huge splash.

So...do you have cannonball faith?

Learning Wheel - Link Six

2009-08-17T12:00:00.000-07:00

This one is from a cool lady in our church, Donna Guillot. Donna has been a Christian for about a year now and she is growing in the Lord in leaps and bounds. She has a past of many struggles with her health. She was blogging before I knew her, but some of her blogs since she became a Christ-follower have really inspired me and challenged me. I went back to an old one for this learning wheel challenge. In my blog that started all this I told pastors to listen to the people they pastor, too. Donna is one I have heard from and learned from this year. http://trials2triumph.blogspot.com/2009/07/true-cost-of-our-freedom.html

Learning Wheel - Link Five

2009-08-16T12:00:00.000-07:00

Craig Groeschel is the man. His book It has really challenged me this year to seek it, to keep it, and to know it is all from God. His blogs are great thoughts. The one I am linking is actually the last of a 4 day series on “spiritual fathers.” If you know me and my ministry and my age you will see why this one challenged me. I too struggle with the same thing he discusses often in my life. He had a great practical series on hiring from within or from the outside for churches before this one. It was great to learn from too. http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/08/06/are-you-ready-to-be-a-dad/

Learning Wheel - Link Four

2009-08-15T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is a great and challenging word about the Gospel and its place in our Christian lives. It is written by the mack daddy author of the modern era – John Piper. If you want something deep go buy a Piper book. I can barely read an entire book from him because my brain hurts, but I am pumped to have recently heard of his blog. Dude writes some great stuff. Read this one and take it in. It is really good. (BTW I heard about this one in the morning meeting from Jonathan, too. The Learning Wheel works.)

http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/1687_never_let_the_gospel_get_smaller/

Learning Wheel - Link Three

2009-08-14T12:00:00.000-07:00

This one is from Sir Todd Blount. He is a great writer. The cool part about this one is that it was from one of our morning office meetings I mentioned in The Learning Wheel. This one had really stuck with me like Joey’s quote in the Jonathan’s blog that came from another morning meeting Joey led. Do you see how this thing works yet? The more you are around Godly people and have God-centered conversations or take in thoughts from books, blogs, songs, and other forms of communication that point you to God the more the wheel turns. So here is a great thoughy for the day from another great dude who learned it from a dude who was great but kind of blew it in the end. http://toddblount.blogspot.com/2009/08/devils-in-details.html

Learning Wheel - Link Two

2009-08-13T12:00:00.000-07:00

This blog entry by Steven Furtick also makes The Learning Wheel point. I think Steven is a great blogger. He is not like me at all. He writes short stuff. He preaches long and writes short but does both exceptionally well. Anyway, in this blog he does not even write the part that really hit me. He knows a man in his church who is great at what he is writing about so he has him write the meat of the blog. Brilliant use of the The Learning Wheel. (BTW his whole series of blogs on encouragement, thoughtfulness, and kindness is really good and will probably be fodder for a series at FC in the next year. I drew some great inspiration from it in just a few short moments of time.) So here it is…

http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/well-timed-words/

Learning Wheel - Link One

2009-08-12T22:00:00.000-07:00

Check out this great blog by Jonathan Ickles. It is a good word from a good dude. It really shows the concept in my last blog about the “The Learning Wheel.” Jonathan quotes Joey in this blog entry with a quote that really hit me, too. What is funny about it is that I was thinking about blogging the same thought but I had not yet done it. So check it out. A great word from a great dude who got it from a great dude who got it from somewhere or God. http://jonathanickles.blogspot.com/2009/08/fisher-of-men.html

The Learning Wheel

2009-08-12T14:36:00.001-07:00

I was asked an interesting question yesterday about who I am and what I do. The question was in a great conversation about our church and other things like that (while I was on a fishing trip in which we caught 100 speckled trout by 10 AM.) The question made me think about the difference between what others see and hear in our lives and how we see and hear the same things in our own lives.

This is the question and the explanation of why it caused that thought. The question was simply "Where do all the sermon series and topics come from? Do they come from the Southern Baptist Convention or a book or from other preachers?" The answer is honestly, they come from me. But the other honest answer is they do not come from me. Let me do my best to explain.

First, they come from the Lord. That is not an attempt to sound holy-roller like, but an honest answer about how such things take place. The Lord really does lead when we ask him to. The thing is that seldom in the process or in the speaking is that communicated. It is a background fact. It is simply a part of who I am and what I do that I think most people figure happens, but is difficult to actually speak to it or give it credit week in and week out.

Second, they come from what I observe. I see and hear things in the lives of the people I pastor and God gives me compassion for those people. I ask God for insight in how to teach people in dealing with such issues and truths in their life.

Third, I have some help from within Fellowship. Most of it starts with me, but the creativity is most definitely a team deal. And not just staff. We have great people who can make things work well. The topics are basically from me (although Todd is helping out with that more and more), but the creative elements come from a group of volunteers and staff.

Fourth, I read other people's stuff. I am not a good sermon listener. I know we encourage people to listen to podcasts and I think that can be a great thing, but I stink at it. I have never made it through an entire sermon online with the exception of the ones we showed during the God is series. I simply lose my train of thought in it. I do, however, listen to parts of them. I hear where and how they are coming from on a topic. I love to see the different insights into communication especially when other pastors use creative ways to teach deep truths.

I also read. I read blogs. Not a ton of blogs, but some real good ones. I read books. Not tons of those either. I often do not finish books. If you are not a good writer or if you are saying very little in lots of words, I don't finish your book. (maybe how you feel it about this blog.) I skim it for what is good and I go on. I love Executive Book Summaries because they take the best leadership books and summarize them. Right up my alley. Great books often cause great sermon series. The truth is some times a bad book can spark an even better one.

There are several people that I like to read the blogs of. So this week I am going to put out several blogs that will link you to some good stuff I read this week. A simple blog entry by a pastor will cause a whole train of thought for me that will end up a sermon series at Fellowship. That is how the Lord leads.

Another new source of thought provoking material is the daily office meetings at Fellowship. Every morning at 9:30 someone is responsible for leading a short time together to learn and pray. Todd, Jonathan, and Joey bring some great stuff that really challenges the mind and spirit. I love learning from them.

The other person God uses is you guys. Many times you say things that stick with me and I struggle with them and they challenge me. Wendy is probably the person that God uses the most in my life to do this. She asks great questions. She challenges my thinking on things and often when I am thinking through why I think what I think I learn where it comes from and I think "someone else could really learn from that." Some times you will make a comment in a conversation and it sticks in my mind and spirit and later becomes a sermon or series, but most often I forget who said it by the time I have some thoughts ready to use on it. So you get no credit, my apologies.

The last thing I will mention is the one God most often uses. I get messages to preach from the Word during my personal times of studying the Word. I read the Bible on my own simply for my own spiritual growth on a daily basis. This is separate from sermon prep, life group lesson writing, or Vine writing time. This is just God and me time. It is during these moments he speaks his strongest truths into my life. It has been during my own personal walk through the Bible this year that God started showing me the characteristics in Biblical leaders that are the recipe for change in Changelicious. We will have another series coming up on Psalms that is not a coincidence that I am currently reading through Psalms during my Bible reading plan from www.biblegateway.com.

So that is how that works. It is like a wheel. It goes around and around. I hope that God is using what I have to say like that in the life of someone else. That is life. That is the learning wheel. I hope your life is like that. I hope you are constantly turning and constantly learning. Never stop rolling. Never quit moving forward. And learn to enjoy everything new you learn – even if it hurts.

The thing about who we are and what we say is really a result of who we hear and what we take in. That process, however, is seldom mentioned. I hope this is insightful for someone. I encourage you, if you are another pastor that for some reason reads my blog, to make sure you are taking in enough stuff. Take in the Word of God, spend time with God, but also open your ears and eyes and hear what other believers are saying. Listen to the people you pastor, too. Not just to hear where they are weak and need instruction but to the wisdoms and insights God gives them. Your people probably say some of the wisest things you have ever heard if you will just stop long enough to listen. You never know where a simple blog you read today might take your church next year.

So, Fellowship, lets keep on rolling. Coming soon Maximum Security, Anti, Honest to God, The Arrival, The Total Temple Project, and a series out of Acts that has yet to be named. Who can say exactly where it came from but I am most excited about seeing where it takes us.

The Work of Workmanship

2009-08-04T13:30:00.001-07:00

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

Ephesians 2:10 has some powerful truth in it. (I, however, encourage you to read Eph. 2:1-10 to get the context.) This passage has been an important part of my studies recently as I have led our church through a study of the book of Ephesians during our eGrace sermon series. The reason this passage is so important to me is because it is so difficult for me. It is not difficult to understand, but it is the ongoing struggle of my walk with Christ. In this blog I am going to share with you one of my greatest spiritual struggles and hope you will it will help you grow.

"We are God's workmanship" means that we are his handiwork or his craftsmanship. We are literally the work of God. God has worked in us and on us to create us and cause us to be who we are right now. This is the product of God's grace in our life. We are saved through faith and the living out of that salvation is still God's grace.

The problem is that I too often get consumed with the "good works, which God prepared in advance." My struggle is quite different from many peoples but some of you can relate. My struggle is that I fail to find my value in God's workmanship before I find my value in my good works. The spiritual issue that this causes is simple to explain but difficult to overcome.

The reality of works and workmanship is that a person (even me) can not do any of the works that God prepared for them without first being his workmanship. The other side of that coin is that you can never become God's workmanship through your works. You will never be able to do what God prepared for you nor will you ever become what God intended you to become through you work. That is why salvation is by grace and not works.

My struggle with this has been long and difficult. I so often find my identity wrapped up in what I do for Christ that I fail to realize that really all I am is what he has done for me. The last 15 years of my life has been so entwined with my identity in ministry that I have too often failed to find my identity in Christ. My own self-image and self-confidence has been so connected to what I did for God that I have too often failed to find it in what he has done in me and for me.

Over the past year I have found great growth in this area, but I am discovering it is a true spiritual battle in my life. I preached on spiritual warfare this week out of Ephesians 6:10-20 and the armor of God. The truth I taught was that each object of armor is actually an object of God's grace. It is his truth…his righteousness…his Gospel…his salvation…his faith…and his word we wear. It is his work that we are as it is his work that we do.

I share this with you to challenge you. I challenge you to be real about who you and who you are not. You are his workmanship before you are his worker. But at the same time you must realize that he uses the works he has prepared for you to chisel you and to paint upon the canvas of your life his masterpiece. Do not think that your role is to sit and be sculpted for no purpose. It is in the midst of doing the greatest work of your life in the Kingdom of God that the King of Kings will do his greatest work on your life.

There is a balance to this truth. I have committed to fighting the spiritual battle necessary to find God's truth in all this. I have decided to enjoy the work he has done and is doing. I might not be exactly who I should be, but that is the whole point of grace. I have also decided to never stop seeking the work he has prepared for me. I have decided to the do the work of workmanship. It is in that combination that God receives the glory due His name in our lives.

So stand up and be counted in the Kingdom sculptures of grace. Move forward artwork of the Master. And allow the tapping of his hammer and the tapestry of your life to be the image of God in the eyes of the world around you as you serve him faithfully in your family, your daily life, and His Church.

The River Runs Through It

2009-07-29T08:49:00.001-07:00

I posted a status on Facebook this week with a question to challenge thought. I want you to take a moment and read Psalm 46. The verse I want you to really consider is verse 4. The question I have posed is "What is the river whose streams make glad the City of God?" The chapter itself does little to reference this imagery. I have received back some really good thoughts and insights from my friends on Facebook. I have also done some commentary and Scripture study.

Why do I share this? This is how you grow and learn from the Scriptures. Don't just spend time with the easy stuff. Spend some time looking up something that you don't get. This is not for a sermon. Nor did I start out with the goal of a blog entry. I posed the question because it came from my personal time in the Word with the Lord the other morning. So I thought I would just share a little how your pastor (or if you are not from Fellowship, a person you have for some reason chosen to read the blog of) grows from the challenge of digging into the Scriptures in his personal walk with the Lord.

So, what I have heard. I have heard how this refers to the River of Life, the Holy Spirit, and the gladness those cause within us. Really good answers and are true. I have also been referred to Ezekial by two men with Biblical degrees. The passage in Ezekiel is 47:1-12. In my reading (in commentaries) this passage could refer to anything from an army that chose not to destroy Jerusalem to the praise in our lives.

It is very interesting to study passages that cause different opinions and thoughts because it clearly shows the complexity of the truths we must grapple with if we desire to have an understanding of an incomparable God and His Kingdom. The challenge is, however, not to know the facts about the river that makes glad the City of God but to know how it applies to our lives so that we might experience the wonders of that river. (Way too many Christians today have filled their minds with the knowledge of such passages but their lives are completely void of such truth.)

So in my study and thought, I have come to this conclusion to share. The river whose streams make glad the city of God starts with God. That is an interesting contrast to the norm in how a river would make glad a city. A city is usually made glad and refreshed by a river that brings water into it instead of a river that comes from within. That is the difference between us and God. In my study this morning in Psalm 50 I was reminded that sacrifices were never intended to satisfy some hunger or need for God. He never needed any thing. He has never lacked anything. Sacrifices were for our benefit in the worship of God.

So the River does speak of the Holy Spirit and the River of Life. It is indeed the life giving flow that comes from God. This river that makes glad the City of God flows from God himself. In Ezekiel the power of this water makes fresh the salt waters of the oceans and brings abundant life in the waters of the world. You can keep thinking on that imagery but it is a wonderful picture of what the River of Life does when it flows freely in our lives and the world around us.

In further thought though, I do believe the streams are an important word in this verse. Streams mean canals or tributaries. These canals were purposeful in a city. Ancient cities did not have pipes as you and I are used to but canals that brought fresh water into the city and areas of it. These canals would bring water in and take water out. They make glad the city. They are a blessing to the people of it.

I believe that we are the streams. I believe we must become the vessels and tributaries by which the River of Life (The Holy Spirit) flows. We should be what makes glad the city of God because we have found our ability to make glad and bless God because we have received into our lives his life-giving and life-changing grace.

The deep truth to this passage and thought is echoed in the Psalm 50 passage I referenced earlier. God has never been in need of anything we have to offer. We have always been in need of what God has to offer. However, God has always found delight in what we have to offer when we respond to what he has offered. (You might need to read that one twice.)

God "inhabits the praises of His people" yet it is God that causes us the ability to speak his praises. (See Isaiah's praise in Isaiah 6:1-8) Isaiah could not bring the word or praise of God anywhere until the grace of God had touched his own life. It is the River that flows from God that changes us and it is that river that runs through us that makes glad the City of God.

You might stop and think "how in the world would the average person ever tie all that together?" It is not as hard as it looks, it just takes time. All of that is not the result of a seminary education or a title at a church. Learning from the Word of God is the result of learning from the Word of God. I could not do that when I first started like I can today, but the reason I can today is because this morning I still asked the Spirit of the Living God I love to show me something new and to make me something new. It is a life-long process, journey, and joy. Seek after the Lord in his Word and respond by doing it (not just learning it) and you will indeed be a stream that makes glad the City of God.

Actually if you have received the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ you are already that stream. And the Bible says that out of the "overflow of the heart the mouth speaks." So get in His Word so that you might get into Him and allow the stream banks to overflow and bring gladness in the City of God.

So what do you do with this that you hear? Answer these questions and strive to see those answers change.
1. What is damming up the flow of the River of Life in your life? What stresses, distractions, or priorities are preventing you from fully receiving into your life the River of Life?
2. Are you offering to God what you have to give him or what he has given you?
3. When was the last time you said "here I am send me" without qualifications or limitations to what that meant to God?
4. When was the last time you stopped and simply allowed the grace God has given you in your life bring joy to his life?

The Danger of Assumptions

2009-07-23T08:51:00.001-07:00

There is a an old quote about assumptions that I will not repeat because I do not thinks such speech would honor my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but the sentiment behind the statement is so true. Recently I wrote a blog title "Why do you Condemn who you Condemn." The blog honestly came across in a manner I never intended, as happens constantly in the blogosphere or in emails or any electronic form of communication.

So I want to clarify my thoughts. The reason I am challenged to do this is because I have an old friend who is an atheist. He and I have gone back and forth on Facebook some with discussions about God. He is very philosophical and well-learned. He posted a note in response to my blog entry and I did not like what it said because it was true. So I decided I needed to do a better job saying what I said.

The thought started with a quote from Job. "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?"

Here is what I believe. We condemn that which we choose to condemn because it some sick way it comforts us. We feel better that someone or something or some belief should be condemned because in condemning it we feel better about who we are and where we are in life. Often these condemnations are irrational and very poorly thought out.

It is not something we should beat ourselves up over but it is something we must learn from. Job was brought back to God through this experience not banished by God. Job's condemnation of God was natural. He had been put through the ultimate ringer in life and God had willingly taken part in allowing that to happen to him. He had some issues with God and he was not perfect in his response to them.

But that is the whole point. Job's imperfection does not change God's perfection. What changed was Job's view and understanding of God's perfection.

So let me apply this better than I did last time. We all condemn what we condemn because that condemnation gives us comfort.

So from my view, I challenge you to quit condemning God with things that are not true of him to make yourself feel better about the things that are true about you. Be willing to grab hold of a reality that by its very definition you are not capable of grasping and be okay with that. That is why it is called faith.

But also, for those of us who do believe in God, do not condemn the thoughts and beliefs of others solely based on your viewpoint. Listen and hear where they are coming from. Have an open and non-condemning dialogue with them without backing away from the truth of your convictions.

God did not condemn Job to make himself comfortable. He did not come down on Job to berate him for his shortcomings. God reacted to Job with honesty and clarity and then restored Job.

Here is the challenge for the Christ-follower in the discussions that are known for us as apologetics –the challenging of our beliefs with those who hold an opposite of different belief. Your role and job is not to condemn the belief of anyone else. Your role is to clearly and honestly lift high the name of Jesus. It is Jesus that draws men unto Himself. He promised if we lift him up he would do that. It is not your job to tear down the thoughts of others (as I unknowingly and unintentionally did in my earlier blog). When we do that we are actually condemning others and condemnation is clearly not our job as Christ-followers. Condemnation will one day come but that is the role of the King not of the bondslave. So we must make sure that we do not condemn others to comfort ourselves. If you choose to walk into the world of apologetics you must come to grips with the reality that it is not a place of comfort. When we condemn those we speak with it is probably not with the goal of seeing them come to Christ but to comfort ourselves. If we can condemn what they believe then we feel more comfortable in our own belief. Disagree with it…stand against it…but do not condemn it or them. Actually make your goal less to stand against what others believe, but to stand for what you believe. Condemnation is the result of standing against. Conversion is the result of standing for.

So if I in anyway did this in my earlier blog, I ask your forgiveness. That does not honor the One I feel you condemn it honors my own comfort. My comfort is something I willingly sacrifice to have the privilege of being a part of such discussions with you.

Why Little Things Matter

2009-07-23T07:03:00.001-07:00

Last night I chose to shake up my schedule and rearrange some ministry and spend the night with my Melanie (my 4 year old daughter) at a Cinderella Princess Night at the local library. It was a last minute change that I struggled with because I have something I do every Wednesday that is very important ministry wise. We were able to reschedule with everyone for the next night, but it bothered me to do it.

So Melanie and I were in a hurry leaving because before we could go I had to run by the church for a time of prayer with a family in our church. Melanie had to sit all dressed up in her Cinderella gown in my office by herself while I met with the family, but as always she did great. Then we went and met some of our best friends. Yesterday was Ainsley's birthday. Melanie and Ainsley love each other in a way that is fun to watch as a parent. So we met Ainsley and her dad and went to the ball.

To be honest, the night at the library was a little under my expectations, but Melanie had a blast and I enjoyed being with her and our friends. We then took the girls out to eat at Cracker Barrel (because that is Ainsley's favorite place). While there we got lots of comments about our princesses dressed up in the gowns. It was fun and we had a great time.

I realized the importance of that type of time with your kids after a sweet comment from a waitress. She asked about our two Cinderellas and then asked if we were the Prince Charmings. The answer was yes. I know that I need to show my daughter how a Prince Charming treats a lady so that when Prince Dead Beat comes around she is not interested in him. I also know that she is worth every moment I can give her.

Overall, the night was good and fun, but as I was riding 6 miles on my bike through the neighborhood this morning I was still thinking about not getting to go door to door in there last night because I had changed my plans. It was still bothering me. Was the change of ministry plans worth the night with my daughter?

Then I got to my desk ready to spend a busy day working toward the things God has me doing at Fellowship Church and on my desk was a drawing that my daughter drew while waiting for me to finish my meeting last night and take her to the ball. I have scanned it for you to see it.

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with very much…" Luke 16:10 a

Parents, we have some little things in our lives that are actually "very much". Never lose sight of that. We can not put aside responsibilities in serving the Lord every time a family opportunity pops us but we also can not put aside our families every time a ministry opportunity pops up. Because they should both be both. Tonight my Cinderella will help me go door to door and invite kids from our neighborhood to Backyard Bible Club. And all the while this little drawing will be in heart.

Some times we can have it all!

Why do you condemn who you condemn?

2009-07-20T15:28:00.001-07:00

Job is one of the most intriguing and challenging writings in all of Scripture. Job was a good man. Job was also a very blessed man. Satan told God that Job would not be a good man if here were not a blessed man. So God allowed Satan to cause the loss of all Job's blessings. Job was still a good man. But he was a tad bit bitter and angry – as we all would be. And he was a little off on some of the conclusions he had about life – as we all are. The book is basically Job building a court case against God and for himself and the thoughts of some others who try to disprove him. At the end of all this not so great collection of human thought about the Divine – God speaks. And, man, when God speaks God speaks.

Job 40:8 says "Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?" Stop and read that second question again. Read it again. Read it again and allow it to be conversation between you and God. (Even if you have to for a minute pretend that there is a god because you don't believe in him.) Let God ask you that question one more time.

Do you see and hear the power in that question?

Be honest. How often in your life have you done that? When did you do it today? In what ways have you discredited who God is to justify who you are? How many times have you criticized what God does to justify to what you do?

The reality of this question is found in the rest of this passage. Pick up a Bible and read it or check it on biblegateway.com. (all you have to do is type in Job 40 to get to the chapter. The verses are already there.) The reality behind this question is "who are you?"

I mean really "who are you?" Who are you to decide how things should work in the world? Who are you to decide what is just and unjust? Who are you to tell God how the universe should lay out? Where were you when he laid it out?

My basic premise with this blog is that I think this one verse sums up the whole reasoning behind every argument we have against believing in God, obeying God, and following God.

The truth is we justify ourselves by declaring him as unjust. You might simply do this by declaring the belief that a god even exists as unjust. Why? It is more comfortable to believe in what you can grasp than to believe in what you can not. You justify your own desire to have a control on your understanding of all things in this universe by declaring there is nothing in the universe that you can not understand.

I don't want to harp on the person who declares there is no God in this blog, though. The truth is this verse catches up to us all.

It catches up to us when we see things that we don't think are right or are unjust. How could a just God allow? It is amazing how people will blame everything bad on a God they do not really believe in but never credit him with the good that is all around them. (Job, however, in all his trials, did not have such a problem.)

It catches up to us when we decide to disobey God even when we know it is wrong. We choose our own way. We justify it. We tell ourselves we deserve that sin in our life because it makes up for the unjust hurt or pain someone or something else has caused.

We do this all the time. We do it every day in our lives. We justify ourselves by dejustifying God.

We condemn the one we condemn because that condemnation makes us feel better about our own. Whether that condemnation is a Biblical truth, a lie you heard over and over again while growing up, a self-induced condemnation, or societal judgment we do not enjoy it. Condemnation is no fun. So we all try to condemn the one that we believe is ultimately responsible for our feeling of condemnation.

Condemnation will kill you. It will destroy your life. Whether you are living in the feelings of condemnation or doing the condemning, it will kill your spirit and drain the joy from your life. Strangely enough, it will not kill God. Your condemnation of God will not change him one bit. He will be no less who he is because you do not believe that He is who He is. It is your life this condemnation condemns, not his. It is your existence this condemnation ruins, not his.

The truth we must all realize is that "there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." There is no condemnation for us because there was condemnation for Jesus. Yes, condemnation is real. God – in his justice – must condemn all that is condemnable. (If there were any argument against his condemnation it would be its strongest if he did not condemn all that is condemnable.) So God did condemn. He condemned his one and only son so that you might no longer have to live in such condemnation. Literally his son "bore your sins in his body." The Son of God "who knew no sin, became sin, so that we might become the righteousness of God."

So today if you desire to live where there is no condemnation…
    Stop condemning the only one who has cared enough about your condemnation to do something about it…
        Accept the reality of your shortcomings in life and the reality that your own actions have already condemned you not his unjust declarations…
            And ask Jesus to forgive you of all your sins.

And the only one worthy of casting the stone of condemnation will instead take upon himself your condemnation and give you freedom.

Staycation

2009-07-13T14:53:00.001-07:00

I am not sure where the term "staycation" came from or where I first heard it. A staycation is when you use vacation to stay – not to go. It is still a vacation, but by choice you don't go you stay.

This past week my family did a family staycation. We all went to Ruston. My Mom and Dad and sister both live there. Their houses are through the woods from each other. Our staycation was a great week. The thing I learned, though, is that a fun staycation is a lot of work.

So here are some ideas from our family staycation to help you and your family have some good time together.

Day One: Family Reunion – Mom and Dad invited all of my Mom's family to come to the house. I got to see aunts, uncles, and cousins I had not seen in years. Sure you are doing it when it is convenient for you, but you are the host. Invite everyone and then enjoy who shows up.

Day Two: Local Fun Day – Denise, my oldest sister, has a pool so we swam. Then we all went to a movie together and out to eat pizza. It was a great day.

Day Three: Water Carnival and Adults without the Kids Night – Rachel, my middle sister, put together a day of fun water games and the three families competed against each other. Grandma and Grandpa served as referees and Grandpa took a spot in one of the families on some games. We played water balloon volleyball, water balloon toss (like egg toss), swimming pool relay race, sprinkler tug of war, water bucket race, etc. Then we had carnival food (corn dogs and nachos) for lunch. The kids swam the rest of the afternoon away. That night Denise and Keith hosted us for a murder mystery. During this night my oldest niece and a friend were paid to babysit for us. It was a lot of fun. You can buy the kits for them. The food was great. We laughed. It was Hawaiian themed. Wendy was a supermodel, Dad was a tribal chief, Keith was a tourist with a past, Mom was an elegant woman with a shady reputation, Rachel was a hula dancer, Denise was a LPGA pro, and I was a surfer. It was pretty funny. The costumes were fun and funny. We got into it and had a great time. Plus I got to be the murderer.

Day Four: Scavenger Hunt – Wendy and I put on a scavenger hunt that was perhaps the longest ever but a great time. We started at the house and gave the kids notebooks and pencils to write things down. We had a video clue and then I used my voice recorder and my radio tuner thing for mp3 player (not sure what you call it) to have a radio clue. The majority of the scavenger hunt was at a park. One spot was a fishing challenge and each kid caught a fish before we moved on. We also played some games and at the end we buried the treasure on the lake beach and in the box were water guns and water balloons. It was great fun. Then that night mom and dad cooked ribs and we pigged out. (Well, most of us did. One of my sister's can literally not eat meat off the bone, while I can barely stand for meat to already be off the bone. Go figure.)

Day Five: Golf and Kid Fun – The guys got to go play golf at Black Bear in Delhi, LA. It is a great course but my score was not great. The moms took the kids to a play place in Monroe and they had a blast. Wendy and I cooked Mexican food for the night.

Day Six – Girl Spa and Tea Party and Boy's Golf Day and Date Night – Friday we took the boys to play golf. With a 6, 7, and 8 year old boy it was interesting. We had a great time together on the slowest nine holes of golf in the history of the game. The girls had an elaborate spa day with a facial and foot scrub and pedicure and manicure and make-up and dress up. They loved it. The food was abundant but very girly. Then that night Mom and Dad took all NINE grandkids while the parents got to go on a date. (I highly recommend that grandparents do this for their kids as often as possible. Every time you give your kids a date night you strengthen that home. Just a thought.) So we all went to a Japanese steak house and sat at the hibachi grill and it was fun and we talked and laughed and had a good time. Then we went to see a movie together. Then we went to Wal-mart because I think all married couples must end up at Wal-Mart during each date.

Day Seven – Go Home – Well we had a birthday party first and it was a lot of fun. My niece Ashley had a party at the pool with the family. We invited my dad's family and it was good to see cousins and my aunt. Then we headed home. It was a great week but by this point I am pretty sure we were all ready to be apart.

So why did I share this. First of all it was a great week and I wanted to write about it. Second, I hope you and your family might can learn something from it. And third to make a point about families.

Great families are great fun but it takes a great amount of effort. I have a great family but it is great because we work at it. You might not have the means to head off on your dream vacation this year but maybe you have the time off and the resources to dream up a whole new kind of vacation.

The next blog will get back to spiritual things, I think.

Getting the Just out of Justice

2009-07-01T14:38:00.001-07:00

Do we ever do anything justice when we say just. Let me give you some examples to follow my thought.

When your wife asks you to fix something and you say I'm just gonna rig it up. Do you do it justice?
When your boss tells you what she wants done you and you think I'm just going to do it this way. Do you do it justice?
When you take on a ministry responsibility with certain expectations but you say I'm just going to do these things. Do you do it justice?

When we say I will just…we say I am going to the minimum standard set by me. We decide that we know what is the right standard and that is all we will do.

The problem is that just kills justice. Justice will never be found in the minimum requirements set by the person seeking to have minimum responsibility.

Think about how we pray. God if you will just… Basically we are saying to God, "God, if you will simply do what I have decided is best. I realize you are infinitely wiser and stronger than me but I have this issue all figured out. Just do what I decided. That is what would be best."

Does that do God justice? He tells us to bring him our prayers and petitions with thanksgiving not with limitations. He tells us to bring our requests boldly into the throne room but we have to remember it is his throne room not ours.

I really believe that we need to get rid of just in our life. Quit looking for what you could just do and start asking God to show you what it would mean to bring justice to the gifts and abilities and opportunities he has given you. Quit looking for the minimum standard and start seeking to give everything you can.

Quit saying things like, "If we could just leave things like they have always been." Or "I wish we could just go back to the way things used to be." Or "I am just going to show up and do what I have to." Or "I am just going to quit." Or "I am just going to go and find another church." Or "I am just going to do what I want no matter what my spouse says."

Quit saying just or you will never do life justice. We have been given too much for us to just it away.

P.S. I am preaching on God is Just this Sunday and this idea is kind of a side thought that is consuming my thoughts that need to be on the truth to preach so I thought I would JUST blog it to get it out of my way. Quitting JUST is much harder than I thought.

A Day Late Father’s Day

2009-06-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

Today I want to write a note to honor my father. Yesterday I did not get to see Dad. I talked to him on the phone. I never get to spend Father's Day with him because I have an obligation every Sunday morning. The cool part about that is that on Mother's Day and Father's Day I do not feel guilty for being gone because I believe that in what I do I honor my parents in the best way I can. But that does not mean I do not miss him. Nor does it mean that I am not saddened on such occasions to not be allowed to throw a huge bear hug on such a great man.

So instead I thought I would blog about Dad. Today, I want to tell you about the greatest man I know. He is not a perfect man, nor does he pretend to be. I think that is one of the things that make him so great. Why do I call this man the greatest man I know? This might be a little long but the story is over 34 years long.

In 1975 Richard Jones had a son that was born a month premature and without proper lung development. I do not remember this occasion – being the poorly developed lung one. The story goes that in the waiting room having seen the nurses work frantically on me in the nursery my dad did something he had not done a whole lot of in the years previous to my birth. He prayed. He told God that if he would take care of me he would serve him all his days. Well, many men offer those types of prayers in moments of fear, but few make good on them. Dad has. Truth is the reason I am serving God with my days is because it is all I have ever really known and all I want to know. It is not only what life might be like, it is what life is like. I have never had to wonder if a life lived in faith was worth it. I always knew it was.

The story continues as a young boy grows up absolutely idolizing his father. I wanted to be like him so bad. He was tall and strong. He could do a lot of work. And was a great basketball player. (I could not beat him until I was 16.) He had dark hair and if I have to give him his props was a pretty handsome dude. (Was and still is with just a different distinguished twist on that look. He has the most distinguished silver hair – the Biblical sign of wisdom. I just pray I have half that much hair – in any color - when I am his age.) I always wanted to be like my dad. He taught me to hunt and fish and play golf (not that it has done me any good to learn golf that way.) He taught me to shave and to drive. He taught me how to laugh and how to love. He passed on to me a passion for God and family and sports. He taught me to ski and to drive a boat. He taught me how to be a man while I was still a boy. He taught me by showing me. I am not sure he even realized what he was teaching me.

My dad was always my best friend growing up. He was always a man I could talk to. Sure he brought the hand and belt of punishment at the end of some of those conversations, but I always knew I could talk to him. Not only did I know I could, but I wanted to. We talked about everything. I talked with him about girls and life and dreams and hopes. We talked about God and faith and the future. We talked about fears and love and loss. Whatever it was we talked about it.

I can tell you story after story of sacrificial love. The day he was late to work because after being asked to play catch he could not stand driving off while seeing me throwing the ball to myself in the rearview mirror. Or the day he grabbed a 3 wheeler and kept it from landing on my face but in the process got 2^nd and 3^rd degree burns over the entirety of his hands. Or the first time he taught me to play golf and I did not follow either instruction to not swing hard and let him back up and hit in the face with a nine iron causing some stitches. Or the countless basketball practices he coached. Or the time he walked me out of the gym after I got ejected for losing my temper in a basketball game and the sweet yet firm talk we had that night. Or the time he came to court as I faced two counts of theft under a $100 for a stupid and foolish prank. Or the time he took a young boy away so we could have a man talk so that I would not have to be the young man clueless about the reality of the world and the opposite sex but could be prepared for the temptations and challenges I faced in life.

I can not begin to tell you all the stories I have to tell. But the greatest one in my life is this. Is that one night when I was 8 years old I knelt down by that man and with him leading me I asked Jesus Christ to be my Savior and Lord. And my life has never been the same.

I could tell you about the Bible I still use today that he bought me when I was 13 and I committed to a life of ministry. I could tell you about the tears we cried the day I left for college. I could tell you about him "loaning" me the money for the engagement ring and being so excited to see me marry such a wonderful woman. Or about the day my son was born and I watched that man hold his grandson and I knew that I had some big footsteps to follow in, but I also knew that not only had that man blazed a great trail in our family – he had prepared me to do the same.

I wish I could tell you all I know about Richard Jones. But I can not. But I do want to tell you this.

You might not have had a father like mine, but your children can. My story is quite different from my dad's. His was not bad, but it was not the one I have. My dad would tell you that there has been no greater decision in his life than to live for Christ. And as one who has and is following his example, I must agree.

Dad, thank you for being my father, my coach, my example, my leader, my rescuer, my discipliner, my friend, and…my hero.

I love you, Pop.

Things I learned on vacation…

2009-06-16T13:19:00.001-07:00

1. Being in the van driving makes me a mean, mean man. (OK maybe not that mean but a grouch all the same.)
2. My kids are way cool. (I already knew that, but it was cool to learn again.)
3. Wendy’s Uncle Jack in the midst of serious cancer treatments can still hit a golf ball 100 times better than I can perfectly healthy.
4. Having great friends to visit while traveling makes a good trip great.
5. Daniel gets motion sick.
6. Going to Six Flags all day and watching a baseball game that night might be too much in one day.
7. Finding cool deals on hotels you never heard of is worth the trouble searching around on the internet. (We have had 2 years in a row with completely awesome places to stay with a low per night cost.)
8. I really love spending time with my wife. (I already knew this one too, but it is great to relearn.)
9. Kara is afraid of absolutely nothing. (including roller coasters, water slides, or cars in the parking lot.)
10. Melanie is afraid of almost everything but will give most things a try any way because she trusts her father and mother. And she will tell you very honestly whether she will do it again or not.
11. Dads who have little girls afraid of roller coasters must not say this roller coaster is no big deal until they have ridden said roller coaster.
12. Little girls love their daddies and will forgive them for such roller coaster transgressions fairly easily if daddy is honest and apologizes.
13. I really hate driving long distances.
14. Hattiesburg, MS has a great buffet called the Farmer’s Market (or something like that.)
15. Myrtle Beach, SC has a really good buffet called the Giant Crab.
16. Kids don’t really dig history so much. (Nor does my wife.)
17. Once a kid has gotten motion sick at the theme park, driving down a winding curvy road fast is not a great idea for them.
18. Swim diapers dirtied in the hot tub are incredibly disgusting.
19. Myrtle Beach has great waves and clear water. If it were not so far away I would prefer it over Florida.
20. Having a GPS is cool while on a long trip, but it is not always right.
21. Pinnochio should only be watched so many times on the car dvd player while I am traveling in said car.
22. I miss worshipping at Fellowship when I am gone.
23. After about a week off, I do still have the ability to sleep late.
24. I love vacating my home and responsibilities for a break, but I also love returning to them.
25. God never takes a vacation because he never grows tired or weary. I want to be more like him, but I also am learning to appreciate who He is that I am not. I do get tired and weary and vacations help.

Do you get it?

2009-05-26T10:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend the PARTY at Fellowship was awesome! The creative and praise teams did fantastic jobs. I want to give special thanks to Jonathan Ickles – even in your absence you led your teams well. Simeral – great job leading worship and stepping up to the challenge of the day. Todd and John - great job bringing energy, fun, and truth. Tracy Fetters – I don’t even know what to say, dude. Brandon Scott – the band was awesome. Jude McCoy – everything was perfect on screen. Shannon – for leading our greeters to get people prepped for the day. Jesus told us if we lift high his name on earth he will draw all men to himself. It takes hard work, creativity, and passion to lift high the name of Jesus on earth. We have to use everything we can here on earth to do that. And you did it. Thanks. Whether it was in a strobe light, a fog machine, a guitar, etc. it was all for his glory and truth. I can’t wait till next Sunday’s PARTY!

I have to admit that I was a little nervous about this Sunday because we had so much family coming in that is not accustomed to being in a church like ours. I was afraid they would hate it, but they did not – I don’t think.

Wendy’s granny was there. She loved it. She said something to me that will always stick with me. Fellowship, I really want you to listen to the wisdom of the statement that this 80 plus year old lady told me about our out-of-the-box approach to last Sunday’s worship service.

She was talking to me about the service and how great it was and how much she loved the truth that I taught and all the work we put in to teaching that truth and then she dropped the wisdom bomb…

Do whatever it takes to get them. If you don’t get them, hell does!

Wow, she gets it. That is my new mantra for teaching connecting the lost to the love of Christ. Many of you stepped up to connect to go this week and invited people who need the love of Christ to the party last Sunday. Do it again this week. If we don’t get them, hell does. People need to get connected to the love of Christ. You are connected to the love of Christ so GO and connect.

Do you get it?

The Legacy I Leave

2009-05-26T10:28:00.000-07:00

Well this morning God really showed me something cool in my personal Bible study time. I think it is connected to what is going on in my life right now. Just this weekend I have experienced some things that show me this truth in me and in someone else. So here it is.

Read 1 Chronicles 28:9-10. David is preparing for his death. He is officially handing the kingdom over to his son, Solomon. He speaks to the nation and then he addresses his son. The address to his son is powerful. You should read it. Dads, read it carefully. Then read it again. Let God speak to you.

This is what I see. “As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father…” The whole quote is priceless, but this opening statement hit me. David stopped addressing the nation and addressed his son. He was king to all of the people, but he was father to Solomon. He had a legacy to leave to his nation but that legacy was not passed on to the people of the nation but to his son who would lead that nation.

He did not say Solomon one of my people. He did not say, Solomon one of my soldiers. He did not say, Solomon one of my advisors. He said Solomon my son. He knew who Solomon was and who he was to Solomon. David did not tell Solomon to follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob either. He did not say follow the God of the tabernacle. He did not tell him to follow the God of his grandfather, mother, or brothers. He said follow the God for you FATHER!

Wow, what an incredible statement. The hope of that nation was the same as the hope of that son. The hope was in God and God alone. David was not passing down tradition or power or a throne. David was passing down faith. He said follow the God you have seen me follow. Learn from me. He knew the imperfections and sins of his life. He knew that Solomon was the son of a relationship that started in sin, but he was not a man leaving a legacy of adultery and murder, but of love for God.

Fathers, what are you passing down? The hope of your family is not in your bank account, nor your children’s sports abilities, nor your coaching prowess. The hope of your children is not in the God of Junior Church or children’s church, it is not in the God of Life Groups, or the God of Fellowship Church. Yes, God is the God of all those things, but the hope your children need is in the God of their father.

This Sunday I baptized my son, Daniel. That celebration of confession was not the conclusion of my spiritual leadership in his life, but the beginning of it. The God I know and love he needs to know and love and he needs to learn how to love and know him because he watches me love and know him. He and his sisters need to see it in Wendy and me every day. In the lives we live, the prayers we prayer, the truths we teach, the service we give, and the truth we tell to those who need to know Jesus.

With my family the day that Daniel was baptized was a family of faith. Wendy’s Granny, my parents, Wendy’s parents, Wendy’s aunt, my sister and her kids. Why? Because I am following the God of my father and mother. Wendy is following the God of her father and mother.

Maybe that is not your story or testimony, but it can be for your kids. Decide today to tell your kids to follow the God of their father. Then give them something to follow so you too can say, “Be strong and do it.”

Lesson 1 from the Party Life

2009-05-21T08:41:00.000-07:00

# 1: A Wrong Party is No Party

I remember the first “wrong” party I ever went to. I was a seventh grader. There were lots of drunk people at the party. The friend I was with got drunk that night. Honestly I was horrified.
I had never felt so out of place. It was not a party for me. I was miserable. I had no fun. None at all. I hated every moment I was there.

It was not a party – at least not for me. I realized in that moment that I cared less about what those people thought was right than what I knew was right. I decided to walk down the street to a house where my sister was at a party with her friends.

She was great. They all were. Her and her friends invited me in till my mom and dad could show up. They were having a great time. They were dancing and talking and laughing, but they were not drinking. They did not need any outside chemical to have a good time. They were just partying.

That night I realized I wanted to be in that crowd instead of the one I was running in. I struggled with that through high school and college as the crowds around athletics is typically more the other style of party, but I realized what I liked in a party.

Here is the spiritual lesson. Party right because a wrong party is no party at all.

There is no party in conviction. There is no fun in feeling guilty over what is wrong. There is also no need to party wrong.

Celebrate the right things in life. I have learned to party over honor rolls and kids performances. I have also learned to celebrate God changing lives. I have learned to celebrate God’s work in my own life.

I am still learning to stop and celebrate what God does in me and at Fellowship, but I am learning to love it. It is those type celebrations that need no outside chemical to give them life. They are just great times.

Find people that party like that and party away. This Sunday morning we are kicking off a 2 week series called PARTY. It is all about what Heaven celebrates. Join us and celebrate with us. Come and be ready to party Fellowship style. It is going to be a little crazy and off the hook, but there will be no chemicals needed. We will practice the passage that teaches us to not get drunk on the fruit of the vine but be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Now that’s a party. See you Sunday. (And bring someone with you.)

Partial Partier?

2009-05-20T15:40:00.001-07:00

Do you ever partially party? You show up to a party. It is a great atmosphere and people are having a great time, but not really you. I mean you are there. You put on the party face at times. You even make it look legit for a few moments, but you are just not into it.

I have been known to party like that in my life. The odd thing is it has been at different types of parties at different stages in life. I remember going to some parties at one point in my life and feeling out of place because no one was drinking, but then at other times I went to parties and felt out of place because someone was drinking. Or sometimes you just weren’t into it. You were with a date that was just a one event type date and it was awkward. Or maybe you just thought the whole party and celebration was lame.

The truth is we can miss out on some great parties in life because we are just not into it. In the parables of the Lost Sheep and the Lost Coin and the Lost Son, it says there is a party in heaven when a lost person is found. I wonder what a party in Heaven is like. I imagine it is one fine shindig.

The question for us is “do we party when Heaven does?” Do the things that cause parties in Heaven cause parties in our lives? Or are we so consumed with the peripherals that we miss out on the party?

When was the last time you missed out on celebrating something great because you wanted it to be even greater? (I know I have been guilty of that many times at Fellowship.)

When was the last time you missed out on the opportunity to party with some great people because you wanted to party with specific people only? (Some of you live constantly guilty of that one. Remember growing up people like that were called snobs.)

When was the last time you missed out on a party because it did not look like the party you would have planned for such an occasion? (You ever been to a redneck wedding?)

When was the last time you missed out on a party because you simply failed to value the magnitude of the occasion in life and failed to celebrate it?

Don’t fail to party in life. Party for the right reasons in the right ways at the right times. The truth is there are way more right reasons than we realize. There are way more right ways than we are willing to accept. And there are way more right times than we see. How about right now?

What could you celebrate in your life? Have a party. Invite God. Ask him to be the guest of honor. Invite everyone you know. And celebrate.

Watch for more lessons from the party life blogs and some challenges with the Party Series in the blog this week.

from the Todd

2009-05-14T11:03:00.001-07:00

Well here is a great word on this week's topic for sermon and life group - hypocrisy. Todd wrote a great blog on it. Take a moment to check it out. Todd's blog is always a good read, but I really liked this one. http://toddblount.blogspot.com/2009/05/futility-of-hypocrisy.html

Influential Influence

2009-05-14T10:55:00.000-07:00

We challenge the people of our church to live lives of influence right where God has put them. We each have circles of influence that God has given us. We have our families, our friends, our classmates, our coworkers, our teammates, our neighbors, etc. We all have lots of people that we have the opportunity to influence.

There are also many people who have the opportunity to influence us. We must choose to live our lives in such a way that we are influenced by the right people and the right things. I made a choice to go to a conference in Alpharetta, GA last week. It was at Northpoint Community Church pastured by Andy Stanley.

I was great influenced by what I heard and saw. Andy is a great pastor and leader. He is humble and teaches from his heart. His vision and passion is one I really relate to. His vision for Northpoint is so much like what my heart for Fellowship to become.

One of the things that really hit me was his teaching about how they reach new people. The church never advertises. Its advertisement is its people. If you have been around Fellowship for a while you might know that I relate to that concept. I want to see our church reach more people through the lives of the individuals that make up the church.

I was influenced by him during those few days. One thing that influenced me was their way of teaching people to be an influence. I loved it. It is simple and it is straightforward. So here it is… Invest and Invite.

I think I will use that as my new definition of influence.

Invest in the lives of others. Influence them for Jesus by investing in their life. Investment requires just that – an investment. Investments take time, resources, money, and concern. Go and invest in someone today that needs to know Jesus as their Savior and Lord.

Invite them.

#1. Invite them to Jesus. Invite them to accept Jesus as Savior and Lord.
#2. Invite them to church this Sunday.

The numbers are just to let you know there are 2 invites, you can use whatever order the Spirit leads you to, but why not start with just asking them to come church this Sunday. It is a simple step towards Christ.

So to influence people we invest and invite. I have been influenced and I am trying to influence. Just today I invited someone I have been investing in for two years. They have not come yet, but they will. When they get there they will find a church that is excited and fired up and being changed.

So, Fellowshippers, I challenge you to invest and invite this week. May 24 and 31 are going to be Sunday you really, really, really don’t want to miss and that you really, really, really want to bring someone who need Jesus to.

Today’s Thought

2009-04-29T07:37:00.000-07:00

This morning I was reading out 1 Kings 6 and 7 and saw a couple things that really grabbed my heart and mind. I thought I would simply share what God is saying to me today and maybe it will speak to you too.

The first was as the temple was being built by Solomon God gave him a promise with an expectation. It is found in 1 Kings 6:11-13. Basically God tells Solomon that if he and the Israelites will do everything he has said and obey all his commands they will be blessed by his presence in that temple. I realized how many people still see a relationship with Christ like that. We must realize that God’s grace in Jesus Christ has changed the requirement of the Law in our life. It has not changed the Law, the Law has simply been fulfilled completely in Jesus Christ. Our righteousness is not our own. It is the righteousness of Christ. I am so grateful for such grace.

Yesterday I had the privilege of visiting with a new believer at our church. Their questions were awesome. We talked about all kinds of stuff. Their denominational background is very different than ours. They had been taught that God’s grace is administered through the Church. They were told they could not go to Christ on their own but only through the church. This person shared with me that at the age of 17, while going through the religious training of their old denomination, they had questioned that. They knew it was not quite right but did not know why. Now they do. Do not turn your faith in Christ into the Old Temple experience of works. The death and resurrection of Christ changed everything, let it change you too.

It was great for me to hear this morning, too. I need to realize that all my “getting it right” is not what God honors. God’s “getting me right” is what he honors. That thought really came alive with my next realization.

The first verse in 1 Kings 7 says that it took Solomon 13 years to build his palace. Well chapter 6 told us it took 7 to build the temple. The palace was almost twice as big as the temple, too. How much are our lives like Solomon’s? Here is a man that was given the ability to ask for anything from God and he asked for wisdom. God gave it to him. The odd thing is when you examine his life, he knew the wisdom, but was not devoted to it.

Solomon’s life is not one purely built on wisdom, it was a life that was able to speak wisdom. There is a difference. I think the difference is devotion. What are you devoted to? Was Solomon more devoted to God or to self? I mean he gave 7 years to the work of the Temple and did not even weigh the metals being used to make it beautiful. He gave much to that work. Yet, at the same time, he spent twice as long on his own dwelling place and built it twice as big.

It seems Solomon was really devoted to Solomon. This thought hit me. I can do all kinds of good things but that does not mean I am correctly devoted. I read an interesting blog yesterday from Steven Furtick about devotion that came to my mind as I pondered this. (It is short. You can read it here. http://www.stevenfurtick.com/uncategorized/they-devoted-themselves/.) The new believers in Acts were devoted to the right things. They did not expect others to be devoted to them as much as they devoted themselves.

Are you devoted? Are you surrendered over? Is you kingdom bigger or smaller than God’s in your life? Is your house bigger than God’s in your world? We can be devoted to too many things and basically not really be devoted to anything. Do you look at the things that are a part of devoted to the apostles’ teachings as more important or less important than the other things you do in life?

Many would say, “but look at the majesty of the temple Solomon built, how can you question his devotion?” We can give God a lot of stuff and never give him ourselves. We can have a lot of things in life, but does God have more from our life?

So basically God encouraged me with the truth of his grace and then challenged me with the truth about my devotion. That is a great morning with God. A word of encouragement and a word of correction. God used the His Word, His Spirit, other believers, and the activities of my everyday life to speak into my life. I thought sharing how God works and speak is my life in the regular day to day interaction might help you have some insight in how he intends to do that in your life too.

Amazing Moments

2009-04-28T12:27:00.001-07:00

There are so many amazing moments in life. We miss too many of them. Too often we fail to see them for what they are when they are. We might realize some time later it was an amazing moment but in the midst of it we seem to miss it.

I believe this truth can be found in chapter one of Ecclesiastes. Which is, perhaps, the most depressing portion of the Bible. Basically it says that all is vanity and that life just keeps on rolling. The sun comes up and goes down. The rivers roll to the sea yet the sea is never full.

Many people read this and never get the rest of the book. That there is a time for everything under the sun. In the midst of it all being temporary, it is still worth doing. The problem is that we too often just see the water rolling toward the sea and forget to stop and enjoy the majesty of the trickling brook or the wonder of the waterfall. We can get focused on the fact that as the sun goes down it is just going to come back and forget to stand in awe of the sunset and sunrise.

Life is busy. Life rolls on. The world does not stop just because you do and because of that we can get consumed with keeping up instead of living it up. I think followers of Christ ought to be living it up. We should be the people enjoying this life the most. We have the promise of not only life but life to its fullest. We have been set free from the drudgery of the next day and given the freedom to be amazed in this one.

But are you taking the time to do it?

A life to the fullest is probably not as full. A life to the fullest is not one slam-full of junk and stuff and commitments that never end. Life to the fullest is not filled by us but filled by God. A life filled by God is completely full, but with totally different things – or – maybe some of the same things but with a totally different perspective of them.

So, here are some amazing moments recently in the life of Kirk Jones…
1. Hearing my son Daniel pray a precious prayer of faith accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior and Lord while lying on a cot with me while on his first mission trip…Priceless!
2. Hearing my daughter Melanie tell me about forgiveness and that God cleans us inside and out because we learned it in a lesson in a life group in our home by cleaning out a cup while praying.
3. Seeing my daughter Kara sing songs to worship the Lord all out although she does not fully get them.
4. Sitting with my family in the midst of a busy restaurant and realizing how precious that one moment is.
5. Staying up late regularly talking about God and the work of his Kingdom with my awesome wife, just like we did when I was in seminary and it was all just theory. The cool thing is for us to still have the same heart and passion and drive. And realizing God had renewed it in me. And that he used her to help do it.
6. Watching my son take a soccer ball in the gut and do his best to shake it off and celebrate that the goal scored was because of his sacrifice.
7. Baptizing 8 people on Easter Sunday in a church that is only 7 years old and has two services in its own building and is growing. Realizing that one’s life work is not really your life’s work, but the work of Christ in your life and not regretting one sacrifice you ever made for it.
8. Sitting with a church member who has had a problem with you or something you did and seeing forgiveness and openness and love that only Christ can give in unity.
9. Sitting in a meeting with your staff and disagreeing and agreeing and remembering back to when you were doing it alone. A great argument for Jesus is worth the battle to fight for the right way and the cause of Christ and it’s a blessing to have great men to serve the Lord with.
10. Sitting with my girls playing barbies and not having a clue what you are supposed to do with them and them not caring one bit because you are sitting there.

Amazing moments happen all the time. Are you seeing them? Do you get it?

Don’t get your life full…get full of life.

The People Path Problem

2009-04-08T06:28:00.000-07:00

"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. Matthew 7:13-14

Understanding the reality of this passage is not as easy as being able to memorize it and quote it. It flies in the face of everything our world says spiritually. Our culture is one of wide-road thought. As our culture is more diverse there is a push for pluralism. It is often cloaked in the terminology of tolerance. True tolerance is to allow another to hold their belief without prejudice against them even though you disagree with them. Pluralism is to take every belief and make it no different than other beliefs.

I always find it interesting when someone tells me that Jesus is simply only one way to God out of many. The reason that is interesting to me is that is not true – according to Jesus. It is not tolerant to say all beliefs are equal because that disrespects every belief. That is not tolerance – that is weakness.

I think that is why our world is crying out for someone to speak truth. It is a recent change in our culture. People would rather disagree with you than hear you say nothing. I love seeing this cultural change. It is not yet what is coming across the airwaves on Oprah, the View, or other such shows, but is something growing in the younger generations. They do not want to hear a weak acceptance of everything. They would rather tell you that you are wrong and risk the wrong path than to hear the lie that all paths are the same. Why? They know better than that. If all paths are all the same then they would all be the same. It is illogical to say that God made many paths the same path.

This belief has for too long infected the church in America. Few people who are evangelical believe the many path theology, but they live like they do. This is seen in some wrong thoughts and beliefs about where the wide road leads. Too seldom are we willing to say that without Christ you perish, but without Christ you perish. We too seldom want to be the people who say there is only one gate, but there is only one gate. I believe this is the main reason why America is the only nation in the world where Christianity is on the decline. It is why over 70% of American churches are plataued or declining.

This is how it has infected us. We like to say things like “I am just helping people along their path to God.” I was in a meeting the other day and heard someone use the term “pre-Christian.” We like to think that people all want what is right and if we do what is right in front of them they will get there on their own.

It is not true. The path of life and the path of destruction are two completely different paths. People are not on a path to God, they are on a path of destruction. The two paths have many intersections but never run parallel. We are the intersections. There are no such thing as pre-Christians. People who are dead in their transgression are dead. Our world is not headed toward God. They are headed away from him.

You must be willing to speak the truth of Christ. We must speak up and declare here is the path you really need. Here is the gate that will change your life and there is no other gate. We must not allow the lies of the world around us to shape our actions. We too often say we believe one thing and live like we believe another.

What will you do this week to call someone to the path to life and the gate of Christ? You are not a direction sign along the good path they are already on. You are person on a mission causing the path of life to intersect the path of destruction. Do not take the call lightly. Realize that we as Christians in America have for too long weakened our response to the world by saying we believe one thing but not really living like we do.

The world around you wants (and needs ) to hear the truth whether they agree or not. There is no need to beat their head in the gate, but do not lower the truth of the gate to make them feel better about their path. They need someone to speak the truth in love. Do you love them enough to speak the truth?

By the way, if you are not on the Jesus path having entered through the Jesus gate, I hope you will take this call to the followers of Jesus as a letter of love to you, too. I love you enough to not lower what I believe to make you feel good about what you believe. I truly believe that without Jesus as your Savior and Lord you will die and go to hell. I love you enough to tell you that whether you agree with me or not. I respect your right to disagree, but I will not put your right to disagree above my call to tell you the truth. We can tolerate each other's beliefs but we can not make them the same or then neither of us would really have any beliefs.

From Response to Results

2009-04-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Well, yesterday we learned that our responses are not controlled by the reports we hear. Our responses are up to us. As Moses was leading the people of Israel the majority always chose the least difficult path instead of God’s will. (This is actually a very common theme throughout the Bible about the people of God.) But there were a few men who chose God’s will, but they had to wait 40 years in the desert to lead the people of God to claim the promises of God.

The interesting thing about 40 years later is that the report had changed very little. The giants had not disappeared and the land was still plentiful. Once again the report showed some issues. They had to cross a river and not be defeated in the process – that was very difficult for armies before man made bridges. An army crossing a river is like sitting ducks. They had to attack a large city (Jericho) with tall walls and a capable army. The city was the kind that was completely impossible to defeat.

So, God had the people do some completely irrational things. He tried and tested their faith. He put out the challenge, “will you follow me?” The cool thing is – that behind the leadership of Joshua and Caleb – the people of God did. They did just as God commanded them. They walked across the river on dry land and then went to Jericho and marched around it and blew their horns for six days. Then they marched and the priests blew the trumpet and the people yelled. (I am not sure what you think but that sounds like a perfectly rational plan to make walls fall down to me.)

God did just what he said. The walls fell and Jericho was defeated. It is an amazing thing to see what happens when God’s people do what God says. God does great things when his people are willing to do great things. God does his will when we do his will. God could do it without us. God did not need them to march for 7 days or blow their trumpets or yell to bring the walls down. The people of God needed to do those things. God did his work in that manner, not because he needed it, but because his people needed it.

Take a walk with me around Jericho. Look at the huge fortifications and the strong military of the city. See that which could never be overcome by the band of warriors standing around you – at least not without God causing it. Look over at Joshua - a man - that has declared that no matter what happens he and his household will serve the Lord. Look around at the people standing around you armed with trumpets. What do you see?

I see something that makes no sense. Either Joshua has lost his mind in the desert or God is about to do something like I have never seen before. I have a response that is my decision. The report is that I am to march around the city and that I am to blow my horn. The last day I am to wait till the trumpets sound and the yell – yell – that is all.

I have a decision. Do I simply shuffle around the city in the masses because I was told to or do I march like I believe in what God is doing? Do I simply let out a small sound from my trumpet or do I blow the walls down all by myself? ? Do I mouth the words of a yell or do I let out a yell of conviction that starts deep in my gut and soul?

Sure there is apprehension in such a calling and such a task. The report is definitely got some things that are not in our favor, but who I am marching for…who am I trumpeting to… and who really will hear my yell? Is it just something I am doing before the city of Jericho and the people standing beside me? Or is it all for God? Is every step I take in the march a step of worshipful faith? Is every blow on my trumpet a joyful noise to the ears of the Almighty God? Is my yell a full volume praise of the Living God that is capable of doing exactly what he said?

When you face the calls and command of God, you will feel apprehension, but the decision you have is how you face it. At Fellowship Church we have some people that are facing some apprehension, but the cool thing for me to see is that they are still marching. A few shuffled at first, but the people of God are marching. Some have blown their trumpets with great gusto and some have let out a small sound of praise. But they are still marching.

Starting this Sunday as we change our Life Groups and as we have our last week of one service it is time for every one of us to decide what our response will be. I believe this. I believe that the trumpets will be blown loudly. And that the yell will be one of loud praise and belief in the Living God.

Why do I believe that? I believe that because every week when I preach I see the faces of God’s people. I see faces of people who believe in the greatness of God and want to see him change lives. Every life that is changed in our church is welcomed with shouts of joy, praise, and tears of faith. It is an amazing thing to see. I have learned this week exactly the magnitude of the change I am leading. Other pastors stand with mouths gaped wide open when I tell them about the response and the willingness of the people I have the privilege of pastoring.

Why? Because the people I pastor want to see a city conquered by Christ. They realize the promise land is better than the desert and that the work of God is greater than the work of man and they want it. They don’t just want to observe it, they want to be right in the middle of it. They don’t want to stand at the distance and listen to the trumpets, they want to blow one.

So I believe over the next month I am going to have the privilege of leading a band of river-crossing, trumpet-blaring, faith-marching, and praise-yelling warriors that are fully read to take Prairieville for Christ. And that fires me up. Thank you for such a privilege and get ready to roll because God is about to blow down the walls and change this city.

Defining Report and Response

2009-04-02T15:03:00.000-07:00

A report is meant to tell the facts about a situation or topic. Reports some times include our interpretations or thoughts about what we have seen. Reports are necessary in life. We need to hear the truth – or at least one person’s perspective of it – to be informed in life.

A response is one’s personal reaction to the facts or to a report. Responses are not actually caused by reports. Responses are caused by the heart, spirit, and mind of the responder. Reports affect responses, but responses do not affect reports.

Check out the how response is important when it comes to a report. Read Numbers 13:27-31. This story is about 12 spies that were sent into the Promised Land for 40 days to check it out before the Nation of Israel was to go in and conquer the land God had promised to them. The twelve spies came out with the same report, but there were 2 responses.

Ten of the spies chose to speak fear. They had seen the giants in the land. They knew there were obstacles and they declared they could not be overcome. They actually began to lead the people toward stoning Moses and Aaron in anger because they had led them to their ruin. They decided because of the report to respond in defeat. Defeat was not the fact of the situation it was their choice in response to the situation.

Caleb and Joshua, however, had a different response. They had the same report. They saw the giants. They were well aware of the obstacles. Their response was different. Caleb said, "We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.” His response was not caused by the report. He was well aware of the facts. He knew what was to come. He knew a battle had to be waged and that it would not be easy, but that did not control his response.

Caleb did not respond to the report…He responded to God. He did not look at the facts and see defeat. He looked at the facts and saw God. He looked at the challenge and saw victory because his response was not about the report it was about the Victor.

Today you may be facing some giants or obstacles. Maybe you are being asked to lead a change that has some issues. (Say like being a life group leader or member at Fellowship Church – just a wild shot in the dark for an example.) The report is true. There are obstacles. There are issues that must be faced. There are things that will be difficult.

Now…the report is in…the facts are known…and you have a decision to make…will you respond to the giants…or will your respond to God?

The report does not control your response. If victory is what you expect? If God doing a mighty work is what you are looking for? Then you must decide today to stand up say we will overcome. Claim the milk and honey not the giants. Speak the promises of God not the problems of logistics.

As leaders and as followers we must decide to control our responses. If we respond in fear and speak obstacles and facts, we will experience defeat. If we respond in faith and speak obstacles and facts, we will experience victory.

The report did not change…the response did.

Shepherding on the Tough Trails of Life and Faith

2009-04-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

Jesus is our Great Shepherd. All earthly shepherds (pastors) are people he has chosen to lead, care for, tend to, and feed his flock, but it is always his flock. The flock must learn to hear the voice of the Great Shepherd and follow it. Pastors have to encourage and help their sheep to learn to hear that voice and follow it in faith. The flock must also learn to hear the Great Shepherd through the voice of the local shepherd that God has anointed and appointed.

During times of change and conviction this is most difficult. The enemy yells loud and whispers quietly in the ear of both the sheep and the shepherd. It during these times that wolves in lamb’s clothing are most dangerous. It is on the path from one pasture to the next – while the sheep are spread out – that they are the most vulnerable. Fear on such a path is not a lack of faith, it is just life. People must learn to walk in the valley of the shadow of death in faith, but they will never learn that while being fat and happy on a nice sunny green field.

So here are some thoughts and tips for shepherds while they lead down the rocky paths of life and faith.

1. Make sure the path is God’s direction and not yours. Once you know that, don’t change direction.
2. Sheep need the presence of the shepherd on such paths. Get in the midst of your flock. If you are untouchable and unreachable you leave them alone and vulnerable to attack. Speak in love, but always speak truth. Don’t tell them lies about the path ahead to keep them going. Just be there.
3. Remember your people are ultimately following the Great Shepherd not you. So you must follow the Great Shepherd and quit trying to convince people that you are. If they want to follow the Great Shepherd and you are following the Great Shepherd they will follow you. If they choose to not follow the Great Shepherd and therefore not follow you, that is really between them and the Great Shepherd.
4. Some of the sheep on your field are not in your flock. Unfortunately in American Christianity there is a growing number of flockless sheep. These are sheep that roam from field to field but never truly join a flock. They stay with a shepherd as long as the shepherd does what they want, then they leave and find another field. There commitment is to the field not to the flock. You have to let them leave. These sheep will not even take the time to hear and listen to why you are going to a new field or down this path. They will never make flock decisions – they are too selfish. These sheep simply rob the flock of the nourishment it needs from its field and shepherd anyway. Do not leave your flock to chase down such sheep. Their path is more dangerous than the one you are already on.
5. People voicing fear is a good thing. When your people get to the point that they speak things that seem to you as irrational or far-out “what-ifs” and “what abouts” they are simply speaking their fears. When a sheep “baas” in fear it is letting the shepherd know where it is. That sheep is simply saying I am right here, it is not saying it is leaving, it is asking are you still here. That “baa” is the greatest compliment a sheep can give its shepherd. That person is saying “I am afraid but I am still following you.” That is the greatest honor a sheep can give its shepherd. I follow you in spite of fear.
6. Don’t listen to the enemy. If you lose your way on the trail the flock is doomed. The enemy will try to cause you to be discouraged, dismayed, and disillusioned. You must not and can not listen. You know where the new pasture is and you know the trail – or at least you know the Great Shepherd that blazed it. Follow him!
7. Go get your sheep that lose their step. Some sheep will legitimately get distracted by a side trail or obstacle. Leave the flock for a moment and go get them. Remember they are precious to the Great Shepherd and they should be precious to you. These sheep often lose their way because they have their head up or down and are thinking and looking. One day they will probably be lead sheep because they cared enough to check out the trail while on the journey. Don’t discount that. They will learn along the way, too.
8. Remember some sheep are smart and bold. Unlike a normal shepherd, pastors lead some people that are quite capable of fighting in their own right. Maybe they are less sheep and are under-shepherds or sheep dogs. Let them fight with you and for you. You need them. This is not a one man battle.

So all this to say these things. Go with the Great Shepherd no matter where he says go. Lead his people. Love his people. Get in harm’s way for them. Fight the battles. Take on the wolves. Fight the enemy. The battle is not against flesh and blood so put away yourself and put on the full armor of God. Go to the shadows and dark places on the trail and fight like your life depends on it –because theirs does. Fight in your fears. Fight through your tears. Fight on your knees. Fight with the Word of God. Stay on the offensive. The fight is worth it because the vision (the new field) is worth it because the flock is worth it because the Great Shepherd is worth it.

Fight…Fight…Fight! Sheep will always follow a shepherd like that because although he is not the Great Shepherd he looks a lot like him.

From Passionate to Pitiful to Powerful

2009-03-31T11:28:00.000-07:00

This is what happened in Moses’ life. Check out Exodus 3 and 4. Moses grew up the adopted Israelite son of an Egyptian. He was connected as an Egyptian but he was passionate as an Israelite. He knew what was right and wrong and he knew that God’s people were due more than they were getting in life. He was caught between two worlds and he had a tough time walking that life trail. Let’s break down the story and see what we can learn about what really happened at the burning bush.

1. Moses was always passionate about God’s people. Remember Moses murdered an Egyptian for beating an Israelite and tried to be a peacemaker among two Israelites. But his misplaced and misused passion sent him away to hide instead of pushing him to lead. We must not allow our passion to mislead us.

2. Moses’ sin made it difficult to impossible to operate in his passion. When we get selfish and sinful with our passions (even good passions) we lose the ability to truly operate in them for the glory of the Lord.

3. God forgave Moses for his sin and restored him to a place of serving in his passion. If we take hold of the grace of God in our lives he can still use us, but we have to be willing to be forgiven.

4. Moses had to face his fears, failures, and selfishness to give his life back over to his passion. We will examine the conversation at the bush to learn this truth. We will examine the things Moses has to say to the Lord.

a. Here I am. – I am comfortable here. I am no longer bothered by that situation.
b. Who am I? – I am no longer a person of importance. I am not usable for such a task.
c. Who are you? – I don’t even really know who you are. My identity problem is really about me having a problem with your identity. Our failures often reflect themselves more in what we think about God than what we think about ourselves.
d. What if people don’t listen or follow me? – People did not listen last time, why will they now?
e. I am not good enough. - I can’t talk, etc. How can you use me?
f. Send someone else. – Finally, honesty. Moses is saying I lost my passion. I don’t care enough to take and make the risk again. Send someone who cares.

God sent Moses. He gave him some help, but he sent the one he gave the passion. He did not change his plan to match Moses’ failures or fears or selfishness. He restored the man he created. Moses was no longer incapable to be the man God wanted him to be when he put that passion in his heart years earlier. He was now ready to be that man.

Don’t let passion be all you have. Passion is great, but displaced and misused passion will cause much heartache and failure. Give your passion to God and let him use you.

Hunter or Hunted

2009-03-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

The wicked man flees though no one pursues, but the righteous are as a bold as a lion. Prov. 28:1

Today in one of my personal spiritual disciplines I read the Proverb of the day – there are 31 so I try to read the one corresponding with the day of the month every month. There is much wisdom for life in reading the wisdom writings of Scripture. Today, like many days one jumped off the page fresh, new, and powerful.

Is your spiritual life the life of predator or prey? Are you the hunter or the hunted? Many “Christians” live scared of failure and void of the victorious power that is theirs in Christ and never understand why. They never understand such promises as “we are more than conquerors in Christ.” They never experience the truth that we “can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.” They just never get it because they never get there.

I believe this verse gives some powerful insights into why. We have an enemy that is like a lion. He is waiting to devour us. The enemy came to kill, steal, and destroy. He is always at work. He is constantly tearing at our flesh and lives and our spirits. He reminds us of every wicked act. He causes one act of sin to become months of failure because we believe the lies of the Prince of Lies and believe that we are nothing more than sinners saved by grace.

So we live like wicked men and women who flee for no reason. We run although there really is no one or nothing chasing us. We flee although there is nothing to flee. We run in all kinds of ways. Some simply run away. They fail and without realizing it, they decide to seek a life of failure. They venture further and further in to a life and path of sin. Some flee by running hard after good things. Oddly enough they go after all the right things for the wrong reasons. They are still trying to earn their righteousness because of the guilt they feel over their wickedness.
They have not grasped the truth that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. They do not understand that they no longer have to live the life of prey. They have the privilege to be on the offensive. Lions do not walk around in fear, gazelles do. Why? Lions eat gazelles, but no matter how great a gazelle you are your only hope is to outrun the other gazelles when a lion shows up. That is not the life of a Christ-follower because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.

The key to living a life on the offensive, to living a life of a hunter – perhaps a fisher of men, is to understand who you are in Christ and who you are not in Christ. You, in Christ are a sinner saved by grace, but that is not all you are. You are more than a conqueror. You are the salt of the Earth. You are the Light of the World. You are holy nation, a royal priesthood, a people set apart to God. You are not what the enemy says you are. You are not simply one who will enter into the presence of God as one escaping through the flames – or at least you don’t have to be.

So put on the full armor of God. Before you take up the Sword –the Word of God and your only offensive weapon – put on the breastplate of righteousness. Remember, though, that your righteousness is not your own – you were bought with a price. Your righteousness does not fade when you fail. Your righteousness is not defeated when you are. Your righteousness is not sold when you sin. Your righteousness is not yours. You couldn’t buy it, get it, bribe it, or gain it no matter what you do in life. It is given to you. Free from God. Your righteousness is grace, but it is a gift given you and it is yours.

When fail to see the truth about your righteousness, you take off your breastplate and you are vulnerable to attack, and so you flee. You run as if you are losing a battle. But the problem is that the battle is not your own. It is the Lord’s. It is those moments that you must walk by faith and not by sight. You must decide to stand firm and in the end just stand. Don’t back down. Don’t back away. Stand up and fight. Your righteousness is a done deal, paid in full at Calvary, and given completely from the tomb. You have no need to fear the one who roars like a lion because the Lion of Judah reigns. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and he is in you, with you, and for you.

So stand up, fight hard, run fast, and go after this world in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have nothing to flee and nothing to fear. Live like you are paid for not like you are paying. Run like you are conqueror not like you are conquering. Fight like a predator not like the prey.

Today are you the hunter or the hunted?

Learning while in the Lead

2009-03-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

Learning while in the lead is one of the toughest things to do in the world. I am called by God to be the man in the lead, yet I learn every day. Everyday I learn more about who I am supposed to be as a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a friend, a boss, and a pastor.

Learning in the lead is difficult for several reasons…

· Everyone behind you can see that you’re learning.
· Some people behind you use your learning against you to say that you are not leading
correctly.
· Other lives are affected by what you are learning – both positively and negatively.
· Some people behind you do not love you enough to let you learn while in the lead.
· People “behind” you that are arrogant always think they know more because you are still
learning. But they fail to realize that the main reason they are not leading is because they
quit learning.
· People call learning instances failures and hold them against you.

How do you overcome the fear of learning while in the lead?

· You share what you learn and how you learn it and let God deal with the rest.
· You cultivate a culture where failure is not fatal. You teach people to fail forward.
· You speak clearly and confidently in to the lives that are behind with what you know and
you do not speak clearly and confidently about what you do not know.
· You listen to those who are behind you that do know, but not those who know-it-all. This
is simply the difference of pride and arrogance, not of knowledge. Often 2 people can
know the same thing and one person be useless with that information and the other a life-
changer.
· You pray and fast and then you pray and fast and then you pray and fast. And then you
get up and your run faster then anyone behind you.
· You never stop learning because you never stop running and because you never stop
running you will never stop falling. The goal is not to be failure free, it is to please God.
· When you fail – you fail forward. And when you fail again – you fail forward again. Then
you do not commit the same failure again. It does not mean you will not fail again, just not
that failure.

What I have recently learned from the lead.

· Leaders need information first, even if they have no vote in where you are going they
need to know where you are going so they can go with you and lead those they lead to
follow you. A leader can not lead if you do not give them the opportunity. All they can do
is be another follower.
· If you are a Spirit-led leader more people following you love you than do not love you and
will follow you than will not follow you. So lead without fear of learning as you lead.
· Leading is not for know-it-alls. Be careful that the way you present what you know does
not come across as knowing-it-all(especially when you know it is from the Lord).
· I am a better leader than I knew I was and at the same time not as good a leader as I
thought I was. Which probably means that God has me right where he wants me.
· Where you are leading is not negated by small mistakes in how you are leading.
· You will never please everyone, so quit trying. But don’t try to displease anyone.

So that’s where I am. I am in the lead. I am learning in the lead. Learning does not negate leading. It strengthens it. If you are in an organization that does not allow you to learn from the lead, leave. If you are, lead and learn as you do it and enjoy it, because I can testify that learning while you lead is a rare privilege granted to you only by those who truly love you and believe in you. And that is truly the privilege of leadership.

Some more great thoughts on these truths.
http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/03/10/failing-forward/

Cyber Love

2009-03-19T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today I feel very cyber-loved. See today is my birthday. Anyway, the reason I feel cyber-loved is because I have had many cyber-birthday wishes. They are great. I am on Facebook and I got Happy Birthdays from people I have not seen in years, but have reconnected with through this great medium.

Sending a cyber-happy birthday is a wonderful thing. But I must be honest, so far the best happy birthday wishes have been personally delivered. My wife was the first to tell my happy birthday. Then I got happy bdays from the kids. Melanie remembered and asked “Is today your birthday?” When I said yes she was not sure what to do next, so she just gave me a kiss. Now that is a happy birthday! They sang to me and gave me a present. My parents have called. One of my pals gave me a card reminding me I am still a baby. Stuff like that.

But by far the amount of happy birthdays I have gotten are mostly cyber-love. So I take that thought (which is actually a good thing) and connect it to another thought. One reason that cyber-birthday wishes are more numerous is that they are more convenient and there is a nifty birthday reminder on your home page in Facebook. In other words it is convenient and effective.

Often in our following Christ what is convenient and effective in our lives rob us of the ability to live out the Great Commission in our culture. At Fellowship Church we have a bold new vision to “Connect to Love, Grow, Serve, and Go.” This vision describes the chronological process of discipleship and our program and ministry process for doing discipleship. But it also and most importantly sets our priorities in Christ following.

Let me explain. Connecting to Love means to connect the lost to the love of Christ. We do this through lifting high the name of Jesus in our daily lives through influence and our corporate lives through our worship services and community service events. That is priority number one. That priority gets the most convenient location and time slot in our ministry. That priority gets the best out of our budget, most of our time, the focus of our creativity, etc…

Then we connect those who love Christ to growth in Christ. We do this through life groups. This priority gets seconds. It is not that it is not important, it is just second in priority. (If you are wondering where I got this priority list check out this passage. Matthew 28:18-20.) The meeting time might not be as convenient nor the location, but it is still very….very….very important. It is second.

Then we connect to serve through our place of service in our local church. You can not serve the Body of Christ outside of the Body of Christ. Why is this third? Those who do not keep growing stop serving. We have to stay connected to the vine to bear fruit. It is very….very…important. it is third.

Then we connect to go though living our lives of influence through the circles God has put us in. He put us where we are and when we are for his purposes. So we live out the truths of Christ and speak them in our daily lives. Our goal in that is to get people to Connect to the Love of Christ. It is circular and it is very important.

Why is this connected to cyber-love thoughts? The closer we are to God the less convenient it needs to be for us to do the will of God in our lives. The closer a person is to the birthday boy impacts the effort they make in wishing him happy birthday. (All of it is love, but there is simply levels of that.)

Lost people will not go out of their way to find Jesus. Jesus went out of his way to find lost people. We must do the same. Put away your convenience so you can live by conviction. If your life as a Christian is not challenging, it is not what God commanded!

By the way, thanks for the Happy Birthdays. I do feel very loved but even more challenged. Fellowship Church and its pastor will not be a church of convenient Christianity it will be a church where God does great things because His people will do whatever it takes to do them. Actually, the response I have gotten in my recent leadership says IT ALREADY IS.

NOW THAT IS A BIRTHDAY PRESENT!

FC I LOVE YOU and I THANK GOD FOR YOU!

Another guys thoughts on this. http://www.stevenfurtick.com/leadership/too-good-for-our-own-goodThis guy usually brings it. His is a great blog. The one before is pretty god too.

Vantage Point

2009-03-18T09:05:00.000-07:00

We are in a new sermon series at FC titled Vantage Point. The goal of this series is to help people see the cross of Christ from the Vantage Point of those who were there. Then we take that vantage point and what the Bible has to teach us from that and learn how to apply that to our lives. We do this through someone sharing a testimony through interview each week and presenting the Biblical person’s life from starting point to vantage point.

The last two weeks have been very powerful at the church. I believe it is because people relate to people. It is easier to see the truth when someone who sees the truth shares how they began to see the truth. Truth is not always easy to see. It is seen more clearly seen when someone else helps us to clearly see it.

Who in your life (your circles of influence) needs to hear and see your vantage point of Christ? The people God has put around you in life are around you for His purposes. They need to see Jesus in you and through you. We often think that people see Jesus through us because we are good or do nice things, but that is still just seeing you. It is not until we share our vantage point with them that they can see Jesus in it.

I encourage you to work on how to share your vantage point by answering these two questions. 1. What was your life like before you came to know Jesus as your Savior and Lord?2. What caused you to accept Christ in your life and how has that changed who you are and your life?
There is a great tool out there to help you share your vantage point. It is www.whativaluemost.com. This website allows you to share your story on the web. You can then purchase (or make your own) cards that will allow you to hand out to others the web address and your name. They can then go to the website and read your Vantage Point.

I encourage you to check it out. We gave all of the people in our life groups at FC 10 vantage point cards this week. We gave them 10 because we do not really believe God only has one person in our lives that need to hear about Jesus. It is time we opened our eyes and realized that our world is in desperate need of seeing Jesus for who He is and what he has done. What better way to share that truth with them than from our Vantage Point.

Changelicious (Part Two)

2009-03-17T08:50:00.000-07:00

· Godly leaders are not people pleasers. Galatians 1:10 is very clear about the exclusive nature of two goals. Pleasing people and serving Christ are mutually exclusive. You can not do both. You must choose which one you will do. Leaders must choose to serve Christ over pleasing people. This is much easier said than done. Often those you choose not to please for the sake of serving Christ will take it personal. Lead them personally as best you can. Love them, but do not compromise what God has told you to do to please them. The people you lead need a leader not a people pleaser – whether they realize it or not. This is often offensive to those you lead because they truly want to please Christ, too. The difference is not always about heart, it is about role and responsibility. So do not wear you non-people pleasing call as a badge of honor. Wear it as a humble mark of a humble leader. The goal of great leadership is not to displease people, it is to serve Christ. Leaders can often take great pride in the displeasure of people. That is not leadership; that is selfishness. What you have to say as a leader is often offensive (or at best hard to hear), but you don’t have to be offensive. Allow people to be displeased by your serving of Christ, but don’t make your goal in serving Christ the displeasure of people.

So in the end leading is difficult. Leading will often cause people to have a bad taste in their mouth and they will see that bad taste as you. Those who are with you will stick around long enough to acquire the taste. Many of them will learn that they love it. Others will leave and find a new flavor. Often they will stay there until there is a bad taste again and they will quickly move on to find another flavor.

The problem about leadership is that is most often it is not delicious it is changelicious. It has a bitter taste but it will grow on those you lead. Your goal is to make sure that you are flavored with Christ and not with self. The taste of a prideful leader will not just leave people with a bad taste in their mouth, it will leave people sick with leadership poisoning. We must remember that we are the “salt of the earth.” Leaders, we can not lose our saltiness or we will be useless and left to be trampled under the foot of men. If you want to be changelicious then make sure the flavor in you is not you.

Changelicous (Part One)

2009-03-16T10:26:00.000-07:00

I would love to be able to come up with a recipe for “changelicious.” It would be my dish to serve people when I lead change that would make change delicious. But change is not delicious. Most people believe change is bitter and sour. The interesting thing about change is that it grows on you. Change is an acquired taste. Something that tasted sour the first time you tasted it often becomes one of your favorites in the future.

I want to share a few thoughts on leadership and change. I hope there are some leaders out there that will be encouraged by these thought and challenged by these thoughts. Leadership is not easy. It is actually very hard work. You have been entrusted with much, much is required of you.

· Leading carefully does not mean leading cautiously. In Matthew 10:5-24 Jesus sent his disciples out into the world. It was a change for them. They had never been sent; they had just followed to that point. They were put in harms way. They were told there would be those that would persecute them. Jesus gave careful instruction and invested in them, but he still sent them. Be careful but don’t be cautious. Leaders have to be willing to see those they lead take a risk.

· Leading change is lonely. Even when people say they are with you, and they are behind you, they are still behind you. Leading change means getting out in front and being in front is a lonely place. When Moses went to the mountain and spent time with God he came down to find the people had chosen to follow a new god and Aaron had done it with them. Moses had to stand in front and stand alone, but God was with him.

· Lead people not programs. I am still learning this one. People are who you lead. I am a shepherd not a business manager. Leading people is personal. After Peter denied Christ, Jesus led him personally. When Thomas doubted, Jesus response was personal. When Paul wrote corporate letters to the churches he often named leaders specifically. Why? Leading people is personal. You lead corporately better when you lead personally, too. It takes time.

· The goal of leadership is not martyrdom. Leading is often lonely but it does not have to be all lonely. Moses had some lonely moments but he also organized the entire nation into groups that were led by leaders and he entrusted the daily interactions with them. A great leader does not try to walk alone for the sake of personal glory, he just must be willing to get out in front and experience lonely moments for the benefit of those he leads and then allows the leaders he leads to lead with him. When you praise your place of loneliness it is pride, not passion. Jesus stepped out in front and led but he had a group of leaders that went with him everywhere he went.

· Leadership is a gift from God. When leaders think they are the gift from God they’re done. Your leadership is not because of you, it is because of God. Paul understood this as he told others to imitate him. He was not saying be like me because I am the greatest. He was willing to say be like me because God has done a great work in me. He said that because he believed things like he was a new creation, he was the chief of sinners, he was God’s workmanship…etc…

Expect another delicious helping of changelicious tomorrow!

The Theological Challenge of Children

2009-03-14T17:22:00.000-07:00

We had a great time at supper the other day. Wendy and I laughed and taught and laughed some more. Kids ask the greatest questions and give the best answers. I love to hear their wisdom. So I want to share it with you.

Daniel: Dad, who is your favorite super-hero?
Me: Well…… (Cause honestly I don’t have one.)
Daniel: Mine is Jesus…………….and God. (We are still working on how those 2 tie together)
Me: Well, me too I guess. Jesus is indeed my hero because he is my Savior.(I thought this would be the end of the conversation, but we have not even gotten started)

Daniel: Dad, What does God look like? And Jesus?
Me: Well….(How do I explain the human form of Jesus and the Spirit presence of God to a 7 year old?)
Daniel: Do they look alike?
Melanie: Yes they look alike. They just wear different colored shirts. (I assume like twins. Wendy and I are laughing pretty hard at that one. Then….)
Daniel: No they are not wearing shirts its different colored robe like things.
(NOW we are laughing.)

So I turn this one over to Wendy. She is much better at this than I am.

She does a really good job describing how they look different. I jump in with that it says that God is the light of Heaven, that there is no need for the sun. In trying to explain all this we have to get past that God did not make Jesus – he has always existed – but he did send him to Earth in form of man. So we make it through and have a good conversation about the depth of who God is. (I whisper to Wendy to go ahead and handle up on the Holy Spirit real quick. She declined.)

Then to end the conversation….
Daniel: Jesus and God are my favorite super-hero. What about you, Dad?
Me: Yeah, mine too.

All this to say. We sure can get worried about stuff about who God is and what he does. We worry about what he wants us to do and how he wants us to do it. We worry about what music he likes (or at least we pretend that it is about Him when we go off on other people’s worship music.) We worry about what church is the right church. We get consumed with when and where Bible study is or when, where, and how our leaders lead. We can fret over everything under the Sun…

When sometimes we need to just stop and answer this question.

Is Jesus your super-hero?

He’s mine!

Déjà vu

2009-03-07T14:40:00.000-08:00

Well it was not exactly déjà vu but I had an experience last night that reminded me clearly of another time in my life and ministry. Last night I had the great privilege of setting forth a bold vision before the people of Fellowship Church to reach our city for Christ.

Last night I was awake in the middle of the night. The doubts that tend to eat at us anytime we stand up for the cause of Christ began to hit my mind. The biggest fear is to speak what the Lord has given you and for it to not work. It is difficult to be a person that casts God’s vision because all you can tell others is what God shows you – you can’t make it happen.

As I lay awake God reminded me of the words he told me to teach our people last night. Lift high My Name and I will bring people to myself. I honestly rolled over and slept in peace. I slept in peace until a racket awakened me.

My family has the flu. My sweet Kare Bear was upstairs hacking and having a hard time breathing. She was completely unable to sleep because of the congestion. I tried to get her to sleep for a while, but I could not.

Eventually I ended up rocking her in our rocking chair holding her where she could breathe. As I laid there with her in my arms I was reminded of the night before our first worship service at Fellowship Church. I stayed up all that night holding Daniel so he could breathe while sick with RSV. I thought the 2 nights to be strangely connected.

One reason is that the vision God has now given is as new and exciting and challenging as it was that night on January 5, 2002. The déjà vu had not quite happened yet, though. It came next as I realized that I sat their just as excited about what God had called me to do as I was the night before we started. I sat there with the same expectation of God doing unbelievable things. I sat there with a complete faith that God who begins good works finishes them too.

Honestly, I sat their and thanked the Lord that I have a great privilege and calling in my life. I thanked him that he always has been faithful. I also thanked him that I have no idea what he will do next. In 2002 I honestly had no idea what it would mean to start a church – I thought I did – but I did not.

On March 6, 2009 I sat their knowing that I have no idea how to reach a city for Christ either – but God does. All I have is the vision and the direction God gave to get there and the knowledge that He is all I need.

Vision is often scary because it leads to change and challenge. There is no person greater changed or challenged by it than the man God gives it to. So I sat there and thanked God for something else. I thanked him for not changing the passion and vision but for changing the man he had given it to. I sat there in déjà vu yet it was totally different. The difference was not in who God is, what the vision is, or the cost it will take to get there. The change is what God has done in me.

Thank you Lord for finishing what you start. O Sovereign Lord, YOU ARE GOD!

Forward from the Verge

2009-03-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

It is a true honor in life to be the pastor of Fellowship Church in Prairieville. In 1999 God began to work in my heart and spirit a calling to plant a church. During the next two years I learned and trained and prayed about what church planting would be. June 1, 2001 my wife and I moved to a town we had visited 2 times to settle there and start a church. Little did I know that church planting was nothing like the textbooks, the classes, nor the popular books written by mega church pastors.

Fellowship Church has become the work of my life. I was a 26 year old man that had the audacity to believe that God could use me to start a church that would reach people for Christ. And he has. He has put people around me that I believe are absolutely some of the most amazing and wonderful people in world. The only problem I have really faced is discouragement. I have often struggled with my desire for success over God's work. I have lived many days here in Prairieville defeated and discouraged because the church was not what I had intended, desired, or envisioned. Not that discouragement has been my daily life. It has just been a lingering problem from time to time. Overall life is great, but my goals (my goals) were not being met.

This year some people from within Fellowship shared with me that they could see the burden in my life and spoke boldly and truthfully to it. I was honest about my struggle with them and they committed to pray for me and to help me. This was the confession I had to make. "I do not consider myself successful. Too often all I see is what we have not done instead of seeing what God has done." For some reason I felt real shame in admitting that to those people I pastor. There sat in that room lives changed by the ministry of Fellowship and I struggle to see it as such.

Over the last month or two God has really done some great things in my life. I shared with you a prayer time I experienced recently but did not tell you what it was all about. It was about this. One Thursday morning in my office, I was praying. I was praying as Kirk usually does. I was bringing God my laundry list of things to get done for his glory and asking him to make me ready. I was not asking him to talk to me about me - maybe about you - but not about me. So that morning he told me to shut up and sit still.

And he spoke. And honestly his words set me free. God simply told me "Thank you. And I am proud of you." Hear me when I say that Jesus Christ owes me no gratitude. God knows all that there is to be ashamed of in Kirk Jones. What God also knows is that I might not be a man that gets it all right, but I have a heart for him. He also knew I needed to hear it. He knew I needed to put down my definition of success before the altar of Christ before I would ever be ready to experience it.

There has been a great freedom in my life since that day. Literally God has rejuvenated my spirit and my soul. My hunger for him is growing. My prayer life is increasing. I am becoming a better husband and father. I believe I am also becoming a better pastor. The passion I have is renewed and so is my vision.

God took me through a valley so he could bring me to a Verge. I truly believe that Fellowship is on the Verge of a great movement of God. The people of Fellowship are telling others about Jesus and sharing his love like they never have before. The church is excited about Christ and their Pastor is ready to lead. No wrong motives. No hidden agendas. No personal success stories desired. Just ready.

This Friday I ask for your prayers as our church has A Night of Vision with Pastor Kirk. We are coming together to hear where we are going and why we are going there. I am so humbled that God would allow me to be the man with such a vision. I will tell you this though. I truly believe that if the people of Fellowship will follow me down the path God is laying ahead of us, that down that road is the salvation of our city.

I do not deserve the place nor the position, but I appreciate the grace that has given it to me. Pray that God will continue his work in our midst and that our lives will be laid open before him for his work. Pray that I will not speak any personal preferences, opinion, or agendas, but simply the will of God. Pray for Prairieville. And as I pray I praise because he who began a good work in me also began a good work in Fellowship and HE will complete it!

I praise God that he has renewed the audacity within me. He has given me the audacity to believe that not only will he use me to start a church but he will use that church to reach a city for Christ! Are you ready to get audacious?

Passion Action

2009-03-02T14:40:00.000-08:00

(I try not to blog two times in one day, but I am leaving for some time of retreat with the Lord and had 2 things I needed to say.)

This Sunday we concluded our sermon series Connected. This series taught 4 characteristics needed in our lives for us to live connected lives to others spiritually and personally. The characteristics are love, authenticity, forgiveness, and compassion.

This Sunday we talked about compassion. The definition I taught is that compassion is passion action. It is one thing to be passionate about something or someone. It is entirely different to be compassionate. It is one thing to take action over a problem. It is entirely different to be passionate about it. Compassion is both passion and action.

Passion action is to rare in our lives. Many Christians can be passionate about worship and walk away and put no action into the truth they heard that day. We can be active in serving the Lord. We can be action, action, action and have no passion. God desires us to be passionately active in our lives.

The text for the day was Philippians 2:5-11. I challenge you to read and check out the greatest passion action of all time. Jesus’ death on the cross was the greatest act of compassion EVER! This passage talks about the name he was given by the Father and the glory that was his, but this was not why Jesus died. It says it in the last verse that he did all this for the “glory of the Father.”

Jesus was not concerned with his rights (his ability to take hold of his nature as God and claim every right he has the Maker of all things), his privileges (equality was not his concern), his promotion (he made himself nothing), nor his position (he became a servant.) Jesus lived the ultimate life of compassion because he had the right attitude. We must not simply change our actions, we must allow God to change our attitudes if we are to live lives of compassion.

Don’t just shout to God, serve God. Don’t just serve God, shout to Him. Put the passion into action and see that action become more passion.

Getting Hungry

2009-03-02T14:25:00.000-08:00

It is rare in life that I allow myself to truly get hungry. Some times I say I am starving, but it has never been true. The only times I go out without a meal is by choice for spiritual reasons or schedule reasons. (Or because I ate so much the last meal that I am not yet able to force any more food in my body.)

I wonder how much this is true in our spiritual lives. We are told by Jesus that “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Are we really hungry for God? Do we yearn with a spiritual need or do we simply sit among the spiritual want of life? We want God but do we hunger for him? Do we live needing him?

Often in the spiritual life we can confuse a craving with hunger. I challenge you to learn how to hunger for God. There is a book by John Piper called A Hunger for God. It is not a book I can truly vouch for because I have not finished it – but Piper is pretty much a safe bet. I am however being challenged by the thoughts in it.

Recently I have challenged our church to fast and pray. I must admit that neither fasting nor praying is a particular strength in my walk with the Lord. (Praying more than fasting.) I have considered fasting simply as the giving up for something to draw closer to God, but I never stopped and considered why that drew me closer to God. Fasting is more than simply doing without. It is more than simply making time. I am going to personalize the illustrations and thoughts of Piper in my own life to share this within this blog. I pray it helps you pray.
Wendy and I were engaged while I worked at summer camp and went to school in Ft. Worth. I literally asked her to marry me and then a week later left until we were married. I visited but was not in the same place as her very often. I recently found some of our letter correspondence during those days. The love letters were pretty strong. Why? I hungered for her. I did not simply desire her in my life; I hungered for her in my life. What happens to that? Sometimes when the extraordinary become a part of daily life we see it as ordinary. Recently God has really been working in me as a husband and some of what seemed ordinary has been renewed as extraordinary. (Because Wendy is extraordinary!)

We often seek God because we miss him. We have been away from him or we are in tough times. Those times are easy times to see and experience the hunger for God. But what about during the regular days and the good times of life? It is not so easy to hunger for God, when he is all around you. We do not hunger for God as we should when all is good at home, at church, and at work.

Fasting is seeking hunger. If you want to get hungry work all day in the hot sun or play all day in the ocean. (It is amazing how hungry I get on vacation every year.) Or walk into your favorite restaurant and watch someone else eat your favorite meal while you smell it but do not participate. That would make you hungry. Fasting is purposefully building a hunger for God in your life. A hungry stomach is not the goal. It is not the sacrifice as much as it the passion to be with God sought through sacrifice.

Piper says it this way, “The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie. It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but an endless nibbling at the table of the world…….The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts. And the most deadly appetites are not the poison of evil, but for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable, and almost incurable.”

WOAH! We have to build our hunger for God by not simply denying the evil in the world, but the good in it, too. Sometimes the enemy of what is best is that which is good. During this time of year the majority of our city is practicing Lent (or their church thinks they are). Lent is a time where people are challenged to give something up for over 40 days to seek God in their life. It is a great concept when practiced correctly.

But, what are you giving up? This year I pledge to eat no asparagus for 40 days? ME, TOO! Actually I will pledge that for next 400 if you want me to. No, fasting is about giving up something that you need and/or desire because you need and desire God more. It is to say to God, I will take you over food today. I will take you over caffeine this week. I will take you over my favorite tv show tonight. It is to tell God I want you MORE! I need you MORE!

Strangely when we seek God this way, we experience him more in our life and at the same time we hunger for him more in our life, too. We take more of him in, yet we feel unsatisfied. We have a greater longing for him, his work, his ways, and his will.

This week commit to give something up to grow in your relationship and hunger for God. Seek him not just to find him, but to desire to find him more…and more…and more.

Letting Loose

2009-02-23T09:59:00.000-08:00

I have experienced some things in the last few weeks that have been very freeing. It is amazing thing when we are loosed by the Spirit of God. The Bible teaches us that the truth will set us free. Jesus says that if we come to him heavy and laden that he will give us rest. The Scripture teaches that the following of Christ is freedom.

The amazing thing about this freedom is that we best experience it when we fully live as bondservants of Christ. When our lives are 100% focused on being bound to the Lord Jesus Christ and his service and His Kingdom. It is then we discover and experience the truth that if we seek first His Kingdom and his righteousness that he will provide all we need.

The problem that too many of us as Christians face is not that there is not freedom in Christ but that we are not willing to live that life of freedom. Let me tell you why I say that. Truth sets us free. Seeking God’s kingdom first sets us free. Coming to Jesus and giving him the burdens sets us free.

We are not set free when we are in control. There is no freedom when there is a lack of lordship in our lives. When we decide who we are and what we do for the Lord, we do not experience freedom. Truth is that we don’t like that type of truth and that is why we lack freedom. There is freedom in the truth but the truth is what we too often avoid with our lives. We don’t avoid hearing it, we avoid doing it.

My challenge for you today is to let Jesus loose in your life. Tell him that you are his and you will do whatever he wants whenever he wants. There is an incredible freedom found in that. What you might discover is that the truth you learn when you get there is not the truth you thought you would learn.

This is the truth that I have learned this week. I have a great privilege and a great responsibility to be the pastor of Fellowship Church. God has trusted me with the souls of this city and to lead out in seeing our entire city come to Christ. You would think that would be truth to avoid, but the opposite is true. I much prefer that truth over the truth that I have privilege of pastor a good church that will do some good things. The truth that God has something bigger and bolder for Fellowship Church is not a burden but freedom for me.

For those of you at Fellowship Church who missed yesterday, first I am sorry because it was a great day of worship. Second, we announced that we are having a Night of Vision with Pastor Kirk on Friday, March 6 at 6:30 PM. Childcare will be provided and you want to be there.
That might sound arrogant, but I learned this week that it is in humility that I am who I am but it is in the boldness of Christ that I must do what I do. I have something to share that I think will change your life, the life of Fellowship Church, and honestly the life of our city.

Those are big words, but it is because we have a big God who has given us a big task and he has given me a big vision for that. Honestly, I see more clearly than ever before because I have allowed Jesus to set me loose. It is not my burden to see Prairieville come to Christ, it is his work. I will, however, seek that Kingdom first. Not second. Not third. Not after I get my life taken care of. First.

I ask everyone at Fellowship to make every effort to be there on Friday, March 6. If you are going to be a part of this vision, though, you have a decision to make.

Are you ready to live free knowing that freedom means bound and that bound means bold?

The Value of Connection

2009-02-18T12:21:00.000-08:00

The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 1 Cor. 12:12

The thing that too many people fail to grasp in today’s world of church is that we are a part of a body. Each one of us (who are followers of Christ) are one part of the body. The thing about bodies is that they work better when they have all their parts.

A part of a body that is healthy has several things that are always true about it. You will see I emphasized always true, not some times true, but always true. Here are those things about healthy body parts.

1. They function in their intended capacity. A healthy body part does what it is intended to do.
2. They are connected to the rest of the body. A healthy body part is not disconnected from the rest of the body. Disconnected body parts die.
3. They follow the function of the body that begins in the head. The brain runs the whole body and Jesus is the Head of his body. Healthy parts do what they head says to do.
4. They do not disconnect from the body and look for another body every time another part causes it pain or does something in a manner they would have wanted done differently.
5. They do not try to harm other parts of the body because they are jealous or selfish.

Unfortunately there are too many people in church today that don’t get the whole view there. They simply see the church as something that they benefit in not as something they participate in the health and work of. The sad part of this is not what it does to the church, but what it causes in people’s own spiritual lives. They miss out on so much when they are a part that is apart.

So the question all this brings about is, “Are you connected?” Are you truly a part of the Body of Christ? You must understand that this is not a question about the universal group of people around the world that are followers of Christ. This question is about a local body of believers. You will never be a part of the Big Body of Christ until you are part of the Local Body of Christ.
So at Fellowship we talk a lot about getting connected. Our statement that is used to describe the process of building up believers in our church is this Connecting to Love, Grow, Serve, and Go.

My challenge for you is to consider where you are in that process.
1st – Are you truly connected to love of Christ? Do you know him as your Lord and Savior? (Love)
2nd – Are you connected to other believers through the main discipleship ministry of a local church? At Fellowship that is Life groups. (Grow)
3rd – Are you connected to your God given function and purpose in the church? (Serve)
4th – Are you connected for the purpose of connecting others to Christ? (Go)

If not, you don’t really understand the fullness of what it means to be a part of the Body of Christ. You are still missing out on so much. At Fellowship Church we believe we are on the VERGE of a great movement of God. How deeply you connect will affect how much you are a part of that movement.

If you show up without the purpose of connecting deeper you might have a good view of the things God does, but you will not be a part of it. You might be able to see it, but you will not be able to celebrate it.

So this week take one step further in the process and make a deeper connection. If you are not connected to a church or Christ at all please visit us Sunday morning at 10:30 AM for our worship service. If you are already attending a service then show up at 9 AM for a Life Group and get connected to grow. If you are already in a Life Group and are growing then get connected to serving by speaking up and saying you want to serve in one of our ministry areas. (Your Life Group leader can help you with that.) If you are already serving then start going in the world and being a greater influence by finding one other person that is not at your level of spiritual growth and help them move forward.

The Verge is a great view, but it is not one that lasts long. Get connected so we can get going!

For more info on Fellowship like location and worship times check out www.4fellowship.org

On the Verge

2009-02-17T10:45:00.000-08:00

I have experienced the verge of great things in my life more than I have really experienced the great things. Often in life we have the ability to see possibility more than we see actuality. In my life as a pastor this can be very frustrating and discouraging. It is also very challenging and encouraging. It depends on where you are standing. If you are standing at the verge looking forward with hope then you are inspired and encouraged, but if you are looking back trying to find the verge you once thought you saw you are often frustrated and discouraged.

I find myself on the verge again right now. God is doing some amazing things in the lives of the people of Fellowship Church and within the church corporately. There is this feeling that comes from the Lord for me when I see the future possibilities. Honestly, I believe the Lord is ready to do more than we can ask or imagine. I believe Fellowship Church is at one of those verges.

The issue I now face is my own past experience. There is some trepidation and fear to speak of such a verge – to share with others the possibilities I see ahead. Why? Because I have seen it before and the verge of possibility did not come reality. So I have asked God over the last couple of weeks, what is it that needs to change as we stand at the verge this time.

I had some assumptions about what needed to change to see a verge become a launching point instead of a lost dream. I assumed we needed to cause some momentum, but then I realized God has already done that. Then I thought about how we needed to draw all the new people in – but then I realized God was already doing that. So I simply stopped thinking and started listening.

I stopped because Sunday morning was one of the toughest for me ever in preaching the Word. (Not just because I preached the longest sermon that I have preached since we started the church – sorry about that) It was difficult spiritually. It was a feeling and an experience I have had before. The crowd was down and my heart was heavy and my day was long – very, very, very long. Immediately I began to consider the times I had seen the verge in the past and thought about shrinking away with no expectation, but I realized I could not and that I would not.

So Sunday morning I got up at the end of church and told the church we were at a verge. I shared that it was time for us to work hard and move forward. I tapped into my inter Tebow and laid it out there that I would not be outworked because was ready to see God move in a mighty way. And I said with an excited spirit but a doubtful mind. The attendance was the smallest of 2009 and it did not seem the day to lay out such a statement.

That was when I realized we really are at the verge. Our battle is not against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers. That is when too often we turn back from the hope of the verge and walk back into the valley of mediocrity.

NOT THIS TIME! I am calling everyone at Fellowship to prayer. God is at work. He is changing lives and he is using us. Are you ready and are you willing to do WHATEVER IT TAKES? I am. The first thing it will take is prayer. The second is work. We must get on our knees and then we must get up. And when we get up we must run…run…run. We need to not measure our actions and commitments by the hours they cost us but by the eternity it impacts. It is time to stand at the verge and to see not the possibilities, but the Person of the possibilities. We must fix our eyes on Jesus.

So I call you to kneel at this verge with me and to pray. And then to get up and not walk forward but run into what God has ahead of us.

Expect more blogs along these lines over the next couple of weeks as I layout some prayer thoughts and share my personal experience concerning this verge we are at.

THANK YOU

2009-02-14T05:50:00.000-08:00

“Thank you” can be some of the most powerful words we ever hear. When we know we have done something that is worthy of appreciation and someone really expresses gratitude it is powerful feeling. I would imagine it was a powerful emotion for Jesus the day that he healed 10 lepers and while they were running away to go be judged as clean, one turned back and simply said, “thank you”.

“Thank you” can also be some of the least powerful words we hear. This also happens when we know we did something worthy of appreciation and were not appreciated immediately or without something else causing it. Like when one person says thank you and another one says, “oh yeah, thanks.” Times like that. Or when someone says “you’re welcome” to get you to say thank you. You know it is meaningless then.

The other time “thank you” is powerless is when you know you don’t really deserve it. You know in your heart you have not done anything worth those words. Some times in my life I feel like people appreciate something so much that really was not much from me. It is an odd feeling to get underserved appreciation.

The other problem with “thank you” is that we feel it becomes obsolete in our ongoing relationships, but it does not. The other night Wendy pulled one of those “you’re welcome’s” on me. Truth was – I deserved it. I was not thankful. Why? She had done something she does all the time. Does that remove the value of it? Does it make it less worth thanking her for? No, but I have grown accustomed to it. (Unfortunately we all tend to do it.)

I challenge you in your relationships to be authentic in gratitude. I don’t care if the person does the thing you are thankful for every day for 50 years, be grateful. Say thank you. But don’t only say, live it. Serve them back. Do for them what makes them feel thankful towards you.

So today, on Valentine’s Day, I want to say “THANK YOU, WENDY.” Thank you for the clean clothes, the cooked meals, the cared for kids, the clean house, and all the times those things are in some state in between. Thank you for the listening ear and the supportive talks and the challenging questions. Thank you for the quiet walks and the loud laughs and the moments in between. Thank you for believing in me and supporting me and encouraging me. Thank you for serving me and serving with me. Thank you for being you and for allowing me to be me. Thank you for being a great mom and a fun wife and an absolutely beautiful (in every way possible) woman.

Thank you most of all for loving me. Your love carries more days than you will ever know. Without you I would not be who I am, I could not do what I do, and I wouldn’t enjoy it even if I could.

So if I do not say it enough, forgive me, but today I want to Yell it. THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

And God, thank you for giving me in one person more joy and love than I knew was possible.

Wendy, I love you, always and forever.

When prayer is powerful

2009-02-12T13:18:00.000-08:00

Scripture teaches us that the “prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” One of the problems with experiencing the power of prayer is the issue of righteousness. Righteousness is not something that begins with us. Truth is that “He who knew no sin became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God.” Righteousness is not something that we cause, but it is something that we cultivate.

Living a righteous life is the result of doing what we are hearing. A righteous life is one lived in full appreciation of the grace of Christ in our life. We must appreciate his righteousness with the way we live not just the words we say or the songs we sing. Sure our voices in speech and song must declare the work of Christ to all around us and must declare the praise of the One who has redeemed us, but living a righteous life is so much more than that.

So back to powerful prayer. I believe it is a man (meaning a person) that accepts and understands the righteousness of Christ in his life and lives out the righteousness in what he does that is powerful in prayer. It is one of those doing things. We know we are to pray, but too often we don’t. Many of us know how we should pray, but we don’t.

The question comes back to why. Why don’t we do what we know? Truth is doing what we know is difficult for many reasons. Many do not pray because the do not feel righteous. Others do not pray powerfully and effectively because they feel too righteous. Yet others do not pray because they simply do not see the value of it in their quest for righteousness.

I have been guilty of all three reasons and all have led back to a struggle in righteousness. The more we stray from the reason we pray the less the prayer is powerful and effective. Righteousness is not a religious thing, it is a real thing. It is a reality we can experience when we quit seeing religion and we start seeing Jesus.

I share this with you for the background of an event in my life I feel led to share. I do not have the best prayer life in the world. Truth is I pray for others a lot. I pray for Fellowship Church and my family and the lost. I love praying for my wife and my kids. I love to pray and ask God to allow me to do something well.

What I never really pray about is me. I do not pray about who I am. I ask God lots about what I am doing, but little about who I am becoming because no matter how much I preach it to others I still struggle with seeing that as my work and not his. I feel responsible for being a righteous man, like I could some how change myself.

This has been a truth I have grappled with for a long time, but God is really working in me on right now. I have always desired to please God. I want my life to matter. I desire to be successful. The problem is how I define that.

So this morning, I just prayed. I stopped talking and listened. I was not asking for instructions about where to lead the church nor what to say in a sermon nor the words to speak to a straying sinner or a grieving human. I was simply still and allowed God to speak to me about me.

And you know what. He did.

Today I feel more righteous. Not self-righteous. Just righteous. I feel ready to take on the world. I might share exactly what he said in a later blog, and I might not. The issue is this. Today I did what I heard.

Don’t stop there though. The conclusion of this type of movement of God is not that I would feel better about myself. Experiencing the righteousness of Christ is a gift for me from him. In that experience I interceded on behalf of many people. I pray that prayer will be righteous and effective, but I know because I allowed God to give me his righteousness first that I boldly walked into the throne room of Grace and made my requests known. I do not know how to measure the power of a prayer but this morning I fresh and new experienced what it feels like.

Righteousness is not about you. Nor is it about me. Doing what you hear is not about us, either. It is about God and his glory and his work in others, but the real issue is that we have to allow him to start in us. The problem is that some of us are only focused on the work he is doing in others while others are only focused on the work he is doing in us.

We both must learn. DO what you HEAR!