A New Beginning

Haven't written a sermon out in a long time. Here's what I'm aiming at today. Since I don't use notes, it may wind up being more or less (wait a minute - what am I saying? I'm a Baptist preacher, it's never going to be less. :)  ) But I thought I'd share it here. 

1 Jesus entered Jericho and made his way through the town.2 There was a man there named Zacchaeus. He was the chief tax collector in the region, and he had become very rich.3 He tried to get a look at Jesus, but he was too short to see over the crowd.4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree beside the road, for Jesus was going to pass that way.5 When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name.

“Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled.8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will
give them back four times as much!”9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:1-10 (NLT)

A few months ago, no one had heard of her. Born when her mother was 47, during a difficult delivery in which she was deprived of oxygen for several minutes, she was the target of bullying all through her school years. They called her “Suzy Simple.” Graduating at the bottom of her class with few prospects, she gained employment as a cook trainee. It didn’t last long, but while she worked there, she used to go over during
lunch and watch the actors and singers rehearse for the theatre. She’d always wanted to sing.

People would tell her that she had a nice voice and that “she ought to do something with her talent”, but time and time again when she did, nothing really happened. She’d sung in some local venues, she’d sung at church, at karaoke night in the local pubs, even auditioned for a TV show several times. But nothing ever seemed to go anywhere.

Finally her Mom saw a show called “Britain’s Got Talent” and urged her daughter to give it one more try. You know that show was the forerunner of “American Idol” right? And that both were the brainchild of one of the sweetest people in all of show business – Simon Cowell. Well, when Susan came on stage to audition for the judges, she chose a song that spoke to why she kept on trying to make it. The title of the song was “I
Dreamed A Dream.” At last count, over 150million people have watched it on You Tube, and Susan Boyle’s first album has hit the top of the charts around the world.

The moment you stop dreaming and believing that you can change is the day you begin to die.

Oh you may be 16 when it happens, or 35, or even 65 – age really doesn’t matter. You may take up space on this earth for a good long time after it happens. But inside – in your heart – you’ve decided to die. Nothing’s going to change. It can’t. YOU CAN’T.

Friend, I am here to tell you today that you can change. You can begin again.

There are many stories of changed people in the Bible. But this morning God has led me to draw your attention to one located in the book of Luke, Chapter 19.

The man we’re going to look at is in a tough place in life. He’s hated by pretty much everyone for what he’s done or really, for who he is. When I took the time to think about what he’s gone through I frankly am amazed that he’s even in the Bible for us to get to know. His name of course is Zacchaeus. Those of you of a certain age will never be able to rind yourselves of a children’s song you learned about him growing up in church. What did that song call him?

“A wee little man.”

Well, if he was a “wee little man” then he was an even smaller boy in a culture that was supported by the ability of men to do manual labor. Those who couldn’t soon found themselves the object of ridicule. There’s not a whole lot you can do to change your height in a culture like that either – no platform sandals or stilts. So you go through your life that way and maybe over time those slights and sarcastic cuts pile up. That whole
“sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never hurt me” deal? Not all that true it turns out.

Meanwhile, things are changing where Zack grows up. His people, the Jews are proud. They are the chosen ones of God and are to be His sovereign possession and His alone. But over the centuries they have been conquered again and again and forced to pay tribute to their conquerors. In some cases their rulers simply worked through the existing Jewish leadership to collect the tribute in taxes. But there’s a new ruler, and he began his rule by having every single male return to his homeplace and be counted. They called it a census and the idea was simply to make sure they got every last bit of coin they could. The Romans were good at a lot of things and collecting taxes was one of them.

In the more settled provinces, those who worked for the government were of the warrior class. But in Judea, there wasn’t one. So they looked for people on the fringes of society that weren’t fitting in and maybe had a grudge against the tight knit Jewish society. People like Zack. Once you crossed that line though, there was no turning back. You had gone against family, against clan, town and people. The only reason you lived was
because were you to be struck down, the Romans would come and grab a dozen or so in the village and crucify them. Served as a strong discouraging force.

Knowing that, tax collectors not only might collect the taxes and a reasonable percentage for themselves, but they might be tempted to see just how far they could go. Most would have done it just to be rich. But I wonder if Zack had other reasons as well. Whatever the reason, Luke makes sure we know that Zack wasn’t just rich. He was VERY rich.

Power and money. Most people dream of them. Fewer find satisfaction even when they achieve them. Zacchaeus didn’t. He wanted to change – to begin again. Lots of people do. Especially at this time of year. It’s the season for it. Resolved – that in 2010 I will… and so it goes. But here we are on the third day of a New Year and I think I’d be safe in guessing that at least some have already fallen short of their goals. It’s always that way when all you do is believe and don’t act on it. “I can finish that.” “I can lose that.” “I can change that.” “yes we can.”

No we can’t, unless we move from passive belief to action. Words. Just words.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident. That all men are created equal.”

How long did it take for what the founders wrote to actually come true? And how great was the cost of change? I’ll tell you this. If those who followed the founders had acted to make it so instead of just hoping that one day it would happen, we never would have suffered the horrible rending of the Civil War or the costs associated with desegregation.

“We hold these truths…” Great. Then live them.

Zacchaeus knew he was living a lie. On the outside he looked like he had everything. But inside he was cold and empty. He needed a rescuer. So on the day Jesus came to town, he knew his day had come. Normally he would have traveled with his bodyguards and never would have mingled with the common people. But on this day he pushed through the gathering crowds and when he saw that he’d never be able to meet Jesus that way, ran ahead and climbed a tree to be sure to catch Jesus’ eye. BTW, how many trees have you climbed lately? I can assure you that adults back then didn’t climb much either.

So Zach is in position and the crowds and Jesus come by.

When Jesus came by, he looked up at Zacchaeus and called him by name. “Zacchaeus!” he said. “Quick, come down! I must be a guest in your home today.”6 Zacchaeus quickly climbed down and took Jesus to his house in great excitement and joy.

It worked! Everyone’s thrilled and overjoyed!

Uh, no. 7 But the people were displeased. “He has gone to be the guest of a notorious sinner,” they grumbled. Luke 19:7 (NLT)

Now Jesus was collaborating too they thought. It could be a death sentence. Remember when the Pharisees asked Jesus whether or not they should pay taxes to Caesar? The idea was to trap him regardless of whether he answered yes or answered no. A “yes” would discredit Him with the Jews and a “no” would put him in jail as a traitor to Rome subject to execution.

Zack didn’t waste any time.

8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” Luke 19:8 (NLT)

Zach was saying that he was going to follow Jesus by getting rid of the things that kept his focus off God and by actively trying to do the things God would have him do. The words used here are a little hard to get a sense of. A loose paraphrase would be “ Lord, everything under my hand I give half of to those who have been under oppression. And those who I have oppressed, I will now bless. I know that many of the translations say “if I have cheated…” but the word used here means to extort, to use power to manipulate and abuse people. There’s no question Zack did this. The only question is how many did he do it to. When Zack says “everything under my hand” he’s not just talking about his direct actions, but those that took place under his direction as “chief” of the tax collectors there.

Zacchaeus connected the dots and realized that the way to show you love God is to care for the people God has placed in your life. No doubt some of the people Zack is talking about are the same ones who have treated him so badly. Zack won’t have any Roman cover for this either. And the people who were in his chain of command aren’t going to appreciate what he’s doing either. He’s taking a big risk. But he knows that in order to change, he has to.

9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham.10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Luke 19:9-10 (NLT)

When Zach took the job as tax collector, he was instantly cut off from worship at the temple. No longer could he offer sacrifices or even be present when others did. Only those who were of Abraham’s faith could. Ah but notice what happens here. Zack gets what he longed for – rescue from his sins and a new beginning. That changes everything. The Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells us that 17 …anyone who belongs to Christ has
become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 2 Cor 5:17 (NLT)

And the Messiah, the Holy One of Israel pronounces him “a true son of Abraham.” Zach achieved that by putting feet to his faith and pursuing hard after God. His deepest desire, his greatest dream was to be in fellowship with Holy God and in harmony with His will. Jesus is telling everyone who will hear that Zack has been restored to God and to his people.

Usually we see that and don’t really pay attention to the last verse. But let’s drill down into it.

For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.

Jesus is telling everyone there that if Zach hadn’t changed, he would have died in his sins. Oh sure, there would have been a lot of stuff around him when it happened, and he might have even been promoted several times by then. But he would have died without God and spent eternity without any grace or mercy. Thank God Zach was moved to change.

Are you?

You Don't Have To Be My Twin To Be My Brother

Yesterday I wrote about how even though we have seen God work in awesome ways this summer, that there are areas of "needs improvement" at New Hope that have to change, and practices we have grown accustomed to that need to end in order for us to accelerate our effectiveness and impact.

Of course that assumes the church realizes it's not about them.

One of the hardest, most challenging, and draining parts of a pastor's job is dealing with the member's reaction to changes. The temptation for some is always there to break out of the group over certain preferences in style. Dave Browning is a pastor, author, and visionary leader, and he wrote this week on preferences in style and change.

Citing Thomas Jefferson's quip "In matters of style, swim with the current, in matters of principle, stand like a rock." Browning goes on to write some of the best advice I have ever read concerning this. I have excerpted some, but you should read it all at Dave's blog.

I have found that many believers have a wrong notion about Christian unity. They confuse unity with uniformity. Christian unity is not uniformity. Uniformity is the natural man's way of seeking unity and involves:

(1) looking for little things he has in common with others, then

(2) finding differences between his group and others, and finally

(3) increasingly insisting that those who are with him be like him.

That is not Christian unity.

That is worldly uniformity.

And, frankly, anyone can do it, which is why everyone is doing it.

Christian unity is embracing diversity within the will of God (see 1 Corinthians 12). Did you catch the difference? Christian unity actually embraces diversity. Within God's will, there is grace for differences in personality and presentation.

Can you appreciate a sermon that is preached in a different style than you prefer? Can you worship with a song that isn't your favorite? Can you "talk up" a denomination that isn't yours? If not, you may need to take some of the grace that you have for sin, and apply some of it to style.
Dave Browning

The number one request I get as pastor of New Hope isn't (sadly) "Can we do ministry to..." or even "Could I work with..." Instead it usually has to do with some part of worship we don't do enough or we do too much. Everything we do is prayed over and dedicated to the worship of Almighty God. And yet...

We can disagree on the things of style and still be brothers and sisters in Christ if we both acknowledge the power of the Holy Spirit working through and guiding us.

The Times, They Are A Changin'

The world's changes rush in and by us so fast. The "latest and greatest" comes in and falls out of fashion that you can easily find yourself paralyzed in indecision. Nothing lasts. Everything is on it's way to being replaced by something else. That phone you craved? The replacement's replacement will be here before your contract allows you to upgrade. That laptop that was the real deal may not even be able to run next year's operating system.

So what lasts?

8 The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever."

Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)

Just DO it.

Go here, and read this and DO something!

Planting the Seed

We all have a life that we’re rather attached to, with people, places, things, and activities that we are comfortable with. My life may not be perfect, but it is familiar. And it’s mine. The Lord invites me not just to give up dessert for a few weeks, but to give up myself. He asks me to die to my own plans, my own will, and put my destiny entirely in his hands. Incidentally, that is what baptism is supposed to mean–that it is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me (Gal 2:19b-20). That I’m no longer in the driver’s seat, but I’ve put Jesus there. That all that is dearest to me, I’ve put on the altar, and will only take it back if the Lord gives it back.

Why would we do such a radical thing? Only if we truly believe that planting the seed of our lives and dreams in the fertile soil of the Lord’s vineyard will produce much fruit. That we, like the apostles, will grow to be more than we’d ever hoped we’d be. That he would do through us, as through them, more than we’d ever dreamt possible. From Here

Follow me as I follow Jesus

There will be no pastors, elders, or deacons in heaven; they are a temporary necessity but disciples will last forever. Disciples are both pastoral and missional; they “baptize” and teach” others (Matt 28:18-20). One day disciples will neither baptize nor teach others, but until then all Christians are called to be missional, pastoral leaders, to be priests and missionaries, to be disciples of Jesus.

From Church Planting Novice

Clarity, Focus, Alignment

In a few minutes, the church buildings will spring to life. Earlier in the day, the home schooler network had packed the classrooms with kids learning the Classics. There's an afternoon lull before New Hope picks up with our Wednesday night activities.

A lull. A brief period of inactivity.

Maybe too brief.

How much of what we do in our regular routines help people learn to love Jesus and in doing that - follow Him?

Let me be clear. I am saying that before anyone can go and tell, they need to come to love Jesus and learn to come and follow Him. What we do then needs to be geared toward helping people move in that direction. And yet, many Baptist churches spend a large percentage of time doing just the opposite - training people to come and SIT. As if.

We're really going to spend some time praying about how clear our purpose is, and how well we are focusing our energies and resources toward that effort. We may very well drop some things and add others, or move activities to different times or days when they compliment each other rather than taking away.

So a lull may be just what we need before we spring into action.

Seven things

There's a list of seven things “they (unchurched postmoderns)wish church were like,” in Dan Kimball's book, "They Like Jesus But Not the Church". During the just completed course in "Strategic Evangelism", I read the book cover to cover. I had always thought of Kimball as slightly off, but in the whole, I think he really does have a good understanding of today's emerging generations and where they are versus the church.

1. I wish church were not just a sermon or a lecture but a discussion.
2. I wish the church would respect my intelligence.
3. I wish the church weren't about the church building.
4. I wish church were less programmed and they allowed time to think and to pray.
5. I wish the church was a loving place.
6. I wish the church cared for the poor and the environment.
7. I wish the church taught more about Jesus.

You know, everything Kimball lists as the aspirations of those outside the church has been on a list I carried around inside for about two years. Granted, some of the "wish list" are simply impressions of people who may not have had any meaningful interaction with "church" or who had bad experiences with "church" when they did interact. But I get where they are coming from.

The sermon/lecture format may very well have reached its zenith a while back as an effective conduit for information. Gardener's research into educational intelligences as well as our own experiences with lectures say that it is darn hard to keep people's attention as mere listeners. I know it's hard for me. So I've tried preaching topically, using lots of illustrations, fill in the blank handouts, powerpoint, lots of images, video clips, and props to help people connect.

In the last few Sunday night services, I've tried to push interactive exercises and multi-sensory inputs to try to leap the "pew gap." I think we'll need to do more as time goes on, including possibly some "midrash" time where we work through a passage together. There are bright people out there in front, and maybe what they need to learn more effectively is not listen as much to someone telling them what to know, but spend some time in discovery mode themselves.

As for the buildings wish, all I can say is "amen". I'd go portable if we could just so we wouldn't have all that money and energy tied up in buildings. But we have them, and good stewardship would be to use them most effectively. I think we do that at New Hope. We open our campus to a home schooling network who pretty much fill it every Wednesday. They are great neighbors. We've hosted Girl and Boys Scouts and Junior Gardeners as well.

Programming is a real big hurdle for traditional churches. We're... programmed to look for plans and schemes. It's what we do. But it is changing and I'm glad to see it.

"A loving place" is an elusive goal. Most churches are very loving within the ranks. But people on the outside won't see that as those in the "club" do. That's been true in almost every church I have ever been a part of, and I have been on both sides of it. But you know what, every organization I have been a part of has been basically the same. The difference is that we are to be bearers of grace, and hospitality is part of that.

We're moving in the right direction when it comes to the poor and the environment. Our benevolence ministry helps quite a few people every year, and we have made a deliberate effort to be conscious of our impact on the environment. But we can do a LOT more in both areas.

As far as the last "wish" goes, I believe that we do teach a lot more about Jesus than I can ever remember before. We did go through a period of looking for "felt needs" to apply the Bible to, but we are focused on Jesus now - where we should have been all along.

So Kimball's reflections and research were both confirmation and a spur to more effort. Dan Kimball might have weird hair, but he's okay. :)

Religiously Educated Consumers Part 2 - the Questions

So...

What's the best activity tied to church to help people grow to love Jesus and learn to live for Him?

What's the minimum requirements for a person to be involved with in their daily life to grow? (I'm thinking spiritual disciplines but feel free)

What's the best venue for transformational discipleship? (SS, small groups, 1 to 1, other?)


How do you discern whether people are growing?

Is there a point when a person shouldn't be in a SS or small group class? A BTDT point? And if so, what for them?

Inquiring minds who are a wee bit fed up with the status quo want to know. I'm developing some thoughts and ideas but really would appreciate some input.

Stuck! Now what?

We've made so many transitions at New Hope over the last few years. From buttoned up to dressed down, from hierarchy to congregational leadership, from southern traditional (Southern gospel with revivalist hymns) to more contemporary and updated hymns, from older and less men to younger and more men. And over the years, once those settled in we have seen periods of real growth and then the tide ebbs and we recede for a season.

Every time I think we may just get over the hump this time, we seem to find the one soft spot in the field and sink - get bogged down - lose momentum - stall.

Why?

I click through the list of usual suspects in my head.

* Our sanctuary only holds 120
* We are off the beaten path
* We don't advertise regularly
* We do worship with a team of kids/youth haven't had a worship "leader" for two years
* We attract broken and hurting people drawn by our community of love
* We don't do the youth playtime
* We don't do the "Sunday Morning Experience"
* I stink.

Yeah, I could just put out that last one as a stand alone. I'm pretty ruthless about improving though, and I try to seek out godly counsel before heading down any roads that might have the soft spots in them.

But we're stuck.

I really want to know what it is that happens in the life of a congregation that sort of self-regulates the size of it until something or more correctly Some One pushes them through.

To go back through the list with you so you won't think I haven't considered changes.

Sanctuary - we have a $200K mortgage, and no real prospects for a better (bigger) place to meet.

Advertising, worship leader, and so much more - is a money issue.

Socioeconomics - we are blue collar, an enlisted man's church, and have welcomed all sorts of people with needs and problems. Thing is, it is hard to grow those people. They are why they are, many of them because they will not do the hard work to change. But we love them.

Youth and Adults - we made the decision a few years ago to step off the youth group bandwagon and focus on growing healthy disciples. We do less but work harder at what we do and hopefully see people not just coming, but growing deeper.

Worship - yes a worship leader would help, but we're also growing a generation of worshippers in these kids and youth.

Me - you have no idea how much I pray to be more like Jesus and more effective. I'm continually reading, going to seminary, writing and emailing others, trying to make this more than it has been before. I'm never satisfied.

We're healthy as a church.
We love God and each other.
We are meeting our obligations.
We are seeing glimpses of God's grace. We had our last baptism three weeks ago.

But we are stuck.

The biggest battle we face in this is discouragement. yes we know God is faithful, yes we believe we are doing His will, but to coin a phrase "How Long Oh Lord?"

So I close this post, written because I needed to unload, and I begin final preparations for worship tonight. I'll go in knowing I am called to do this, empowered by the Holy Spirit to do God's work, and that ultimately He will judge my efforts.

Shalom,

David

"How to kill a movement"

How To Kill A Movement - by Sam Metcalf

1. Require education for the leadership
2. Demand conformity of methodology
3. Refuse to provide administrative help and let it suffocate under it’s own weight
4. Get spooked by supernatural phenomena outside your paradigm
5. Make no room for younger, less experienced leadership
6. Be obsessed by theological purity
7. Put the safety of the people involved as a higher priority than sacrifice

There's much more, go read it all.

So much of what I think is holding many churches and denominations back is encapsulated in Sam's list. Unfortunately my spiritual family, the SBC, is guilty of many of these and doesn't seem the least inclined to change at the moment.

Maybe that will change. I hope and pray that it will. Too many souls are at stake.

A sermon from 1998

As a baseline of how I've changed over the years, here's a sermon from 1998. I was working full time, and filling the pulpit at a small rural church in Laurens County GA. Be interested in your perceptions between now and then.

I Love To Tell The Story
Matthew 28:1-10 and other scriptures

I am so glad to be here this morning to share with my fellow Christians the glory of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Early in the week, Ricky Hilburn sent me the program for today by email and I marveled at just how many of you were going to be involved in the celebration this morning. Young or old, all seemed to want to share in the joy. Each of you who participated in this has told your story in song, testimony, or prayer of what Jesus means to you. Thank you for your sharing.

Each of us who has taken the name of Christ in identification should have a story to tell. I love stories. They lift the facts off the pages and give them life and make them alive. I’ve always used stories as I preached and I guess it’s because I love them. My Mother used to read to me when I was a little boy, and my favorite stories back then used to begin with, “Once Upon A Time”. Since I took Jesus as Lord and Savior though, my favorite story always seems to begin, “Once upon a cross.”

I love to tell that story.

I guess what I like so much about Easter is, well the story of Easter. Just hearing someone read the Scripture when the angel tells those faithful women, “Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here. He has risen, just as He said.” Matthew 28:6 Sends chills down my spine.

It has been an emotional weekend for me.

Friday at noon, we met with others at Bethesda Baptist church in Macon to observe Good Friday. Their cross rugged and wooden was draped in deepest darkest black. The communion table was covered with symbols of the day, 30 pieces of silver, a hammer, some nails. As I sat there and looked at that cross, all I could think of was how horrible a punishment that was. Looking back over the years of my life, I remembered this sin, then that one, and another, and another. Times when I didn’t do what God wanted me to. Times when I did the opposite of what I knew to be right. The hammer and the nails were there. It looked to me like the hammer would fit my hand well. I looked at the silver. That was a lot of money back then. Then I looked up at the cross - and I knew I was guilty.

When I was in elementary school, there were times when I was invited to spend a little time after school. I had distinguished myself in one way or another that day, and the teacher found that though the school day had ended, she simply could not bear to let me go so soon. So I was given the rare treat of additional instruction. One of her favorite things she liked to teach me was cleanliness. She did this by allowing me the high honor of erasing the blackboards for her. Not everyone got to do this you understand, only those of us proved worthy by our actions. Some of those might have, but by no means were limited to, talking in class, failing to do assignments, etc.

I’d get the erasers and wipe the boards for all I was worth, and was satisfied that I had done a good job. Unfortunately, she wasn’t. Seems you could still read some of the words. She had me wet a towel and wipe them clean, until you no longer could tell there had ever been anything written there. It was like a new board, that had never been stained at all.

Jesus did that for me and you. Somewhere in God’s memory was a blackboard with all our sins written on it for all to see. Jesus, with His blood, washed our sins away, until they were completely gone. He died, was buried, and rose again to let us know that in Him, we can have life forever free of the heartache and full of the love of God.

Knowing the story makes Good Friday a Good Friday! It makes seeing the agony and pain that Jesus went through for my sins and for my failure to live a life pleasing to God bearable. It is an amazing thing to me to know that as the Bible says, “This is love: Not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” I have to tell that story, for like Paul, “I am convinced that One died for all, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him Who died for them and was raised again.” 2 Cor. 5:14-15 I love to tell the story

It’s the story I love. Reading it year after year, even though I’m like the little boy I read about. Robert Russell relates:

I love to go to Easter passion plays. One night I sat behind a 5-year-old boy who was enthralled. When the crucifixion scene took place, he got real quiet. But
then Jesus came back from the grave and there was a song of celebration and
his eyes lit up. He looked at his mother and said, "He's alive, Mom. He's
alive!" and began to clap. And he hugged her around the neck. It was fun to
see somebody understand the resurrection for real.

Once, we showed a cartoon video of the crucifixion and resurrection to our littlest
Sunday School class. When Jesus was buried, one little boy who knew the story pretty well turned to a buddy and said, 'He's dead now, but he'll be back.”’

Well beloved, He is risen! Because He lives we can have hope grounded in the fact of the resurrection. I Love To Tell The Story!

As some of you know, I have two sons. As they have grown up, I have sometimes went with their Mother when it was time for clothes. A few years ago, I saw this line of clothing called - No Fear. I laughed when I saw it. No fear. That’s a great concept, but it hasn’t entered reality yet, or has it?


What do you fear the most? Losing your job? Losing your family? Losing your life?

Many times I have stood looked into red swollen eyes as we gathered around an open hole in the ground and told them straight from Jesus’ heart through my lips, “Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies.” John 11:25 That is resurrection power!

Hear me! Most of us before we came to know Christ saw the enemy we could not fake out, could not dodge, could never get around as death. Everything else was important, sure, but our death or the death of the ones we love was too much to bear.

But listen! Here come the women back from the empty tomb telling us the story. Of an angel’s question, and empty tomb, and a risen savior! Death is no longer final. Nothing is!

One thing I have learned for certain as I have lived the last few years is that there are events in this life that will happen and they will hurt. Sickness may come. Death may claim loved ones. We may find ourselves not being able to do what we used to do easily. Finances come together, finances fall apart. Life, this vapor we inhabit just now, is not easy. But in Jesus and His resurrection, we find that nothing can defeat us. There is no reason to fear.

Not disease - for in heaven, there is no such thing as cancer or Alzheimer’s.
Not handicaps - for our bodies will be perfect. Those disabled now will leap to their feet to embrace Jesus. The blind will see the source of all light. The deaf will hear the praise of heaven.

Wow! What a story! No wonder the women were in a hurry to tell it.

I love to tell the story of Jesus -

It has resurrection power over the past. The “If only’s” Many here today have deep and lasting regrets over things that have happened in their past.
If only I had had parent’s that loved me more.
If only I had studied harder, stayed in school, made more of my life.
If only I hadn’t gotten married so soon, or at all.
If only I had married him, or her.
If only my children had not disappointed me.
If only…

Well, we started this story in a cemetery. A place where the past lies buried forever. But in this cemetery, the Lord of the Living is risen to triumph over death, the grave is empty, ready to receive your regrets. Give your if only’s to Jesus. Let the Lord of life give you victory over your past. He will set you free and as the Bible says, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

The resurrection of Jesus has power over the past.

And power over the present.
A missionary was speaking to a remote tribe of people who had never heard
about the life and ministry of Jesus. Seated in the front row, listening intently
to all the missionary had to say, was the chief of the tribe. As the story of Jesus came to its climax and the chief heard how Christ was cruelly crucified, he could restrain himself no longer. He jumped up and cried, "Stop! Take Him down from the cross! I belong there, not Him!" He had grasped the meaning of the gospel; he understood that he was a sinner, and that Christ was the sinless One.

As you consider that scene of the Son of God hanging on the cross in agony,
with blood flowing from His wounds, can you say from your heart, "I belong
there!?" The Christian can, and then thank God for Jesus.

I tell the story for me, but what about you?

Can you see yourself as the reason Jesus had to die? For your sins? Can you understand that even while you were still sinning, God sent His Son to die, for you? Can you accept that great a love?

Then go one step further and put your trust in Him as your Savior, so
that you can say with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer
I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:20). Jesus took our place and died
in our stead. Because He bore our sins, He has opened the way for us to be
brought into fellowship with the Father.

Can you say, "I belong there?" If you can, then you have a story to tell.

Whoever you are today, however black your sins may be, right now, this moment, you can say “I belong up there” and claim Jesus as your personal savior. Right now. That’s resurrection power! That no matter how dead you may be inside, Jesus can give you life again, make you a new creation.

Do you have that Christian? Do you want that fellow sinner? This story doesn’t end in the cemetery - see for the Christian, the end is just the beginning. And I love to tell the story of Jesus and His love.

On the Church

I'm preaching today hoping to dispel the myth that the church isn't necessary. In these days that's not a slam dunk like it used to be. And maybe it shouldn't be. Those vital places that made such a difference in the lives of pagans like me seem few and far between now. Many seem content to just repeat what they did last year, or in the case of the FBC down the street, go back to what worked in 1973.

Well, I was saved in 1973. My wife drove a Vega and I drove a 300 horsepower 10 mpg Duster 340. It had an 8 track tape player.

The earth has turned and life has moved on.

"Unstirred waters lead to stagnation, and stagnation can't support life. Churches looking for lack of change and preservation of 'what has always been' are on course with slow, creeping death. Injection of new life, ideas, freshly surrendered lives, spiritual fervor, hunger to penetrate culture, and better ways to connect people in community all lead to disequilibrium. Disequilibrium is uncomfortable, unpredictable, and chaotic--the dominant reasons people don't like it...without fresh injections, organizations will be lulled into a false sense of complacency and end up 'the frog in the kettle slowly brought to boil.'" Ron Martoia, Morph!, 173

Well, for many, it is just that

The Church has become like a group of people in the waiting lounge of an airport...They’ve bought their ticket and they’re waiting for their flight home. Meantime, the entire city around them burns. And every once in a while, they send out a specially selected person to try to recruit more people to buy tickets.

Pernell Goodyear

When Is Conversion Really Conversion

"I see dead people."

Scary, that.

But the prospect that in our efforts to reach people that we may go too far in accommodating their present state rather than challenging them to repent and embrace the truth of the gospel is scarier by any order of magnitude to me.

Over on awaiting rain is a scary look at just how this can happen.

Thanks Bill.

How we're seen, how do we see?

There are so many people I love, who don't love Jesus. They range from folks I admire from afar who may be standouts in their field of work, to people I bump up against as I go my way, to people I'm close to and know me intimately.

And as I pray, and as I ache for them to know Jesus, I am vaguely conscious that not only are we inhabiting parallel universes - me in the Christ-centered life(with all my flaws and failures in following it) and they in theirs, and not only are we at times talking past each other - but when I look at the church and they look at the church, we see radically different things.

An article today in Relevance examines a recent Barna Group survey of how the church is viewed (particularly by young unchurched Americans, but it also lists other group's reactions).

For me, it makes me want to lead New Hope to be even more outwardly focused and to try to infuse within the DNA of every NewHopian a keen understanding of the role of grace in the life of a follower of Jesus.

The questions the article ends with are valid, and I repost them here.

The church needs to stop being “in your face” and start focusing on service, sacrifice, humility, and grace.

Ask yourself these three questions:

1. Are we cultivating a heart for outsiders?
2. What kind of Jesus are we to outsiders?
3. How can we become know as true Christ followers?

My greatest fear in this life is that I would let my representation of Jesus be so twisted from His example of grace and truth that someone might turn away from a relationship with God because of me.

I See Dead People

Again and again over the last few weeks, God has shown me how little impact the church has on the culture. First it was Good Friday, when we had our Tenebrae service and at the same time, the Little league was going great guns across the street. Our parking lot LOOKED full, but it wasn't from people wanting to experience the bittersweets of Good Friday worship.

Then again today, the air show at the base began at 9AM, and the F-15 demonstration team acrobatics began at 11:30. I was talking with someone who had retired from the Air Force just a few years ago and he said, "that wouldn't have happened 5 years ago. They'd have waited until after church worship was over."

Our church is healthy relationally, active spiritually, and needy monetarily. Almost every church around us is bigger, has more facilities, staff, etc. But none of us is doing squat when it comes to reaching lost people for Jesus.

Tonight, we had a business meeting where we talked a while about the usual events planning, membership bookkeeping, and money. We need more. The cost of doing business is rising steadily, and income isn't keeping pace. The good people of New Hope in attendance stepped up and challenged each other to give more, to pray more, and to enlist others to do the same. It's obvious they love their church and its staff, and for that I am very, very thankful. My wife and I love them dearly.

But we may be on separate paths.

Their concern was to do what it takes to handle the financial emergency so we could keep things going as they are.

My concern was to do whatever it takes to handle the financial emergency so we could change things and become exponentially more effective in reaching people. That would ultimately involve selling our buildings and becoming the church that meets in the elementary school and in homes.

We're in a building now that seats 130 with a budget that needs 200. (based on what the average Baptist church member gives) Our money takes care of us by and large - not doing ministry, but Me-istry. And that's increasingly an issue that God won't let rest in my heart. I can't be simultaneously ineffective at reaching out and spectacularly effective at taking care of those already here. I can't enjoy this awesomely loving and giving group of people here, because I keep seeing the faces of the dead people outside, yet to come.

It is precisely at this point that we've arrived today.

And I go to bed now with a sense of loss.

The Cloak of Invisibility - Church Style

Ever feel like no one knows your church exists? Here a list of things that one person sees as ways for churches to stay invisible. HT Church Redone

Here are 10 real ways I’ve experienced that churches keep from being discovered:

1. Don’t have a website
2. Be completely inactive in the community.
3. Don’t answer your phone
4. Allow misinformation
5. Lack clear signage
6. Have insufficient parking/seating
7. Ignore Visitors
8. Respond half-heartedly to inquiries
9. Be evasive about your beliefs
10. Lie to me : When all else fails, simply lie to me about your church.

Ouch!

What's the Big Idea

"What was church about today?"

My friend Arnold Hendrix and I have had this conversation a number of times. How many messages can we throw at people and expect to "stick" in their hearts and minds? The article lays that question out there in a compelling fashion.

I've looked seriously at ideas such as what Randy Frazee was doing in Texas (before he went to Willow). The idea he was working involved setting out the core principles that needed to be taught each person and each year. That broke down for me because of repetition and the need to essentially go topical in the presentation of those concepts.

We've tried using the Lifeway Sunday School as a guide to tie the morning's lesson and the preaching together. The idea behind that was to take what was presented in class and expand and apply it. It worked fairly well in a limited way, since not everyone here uses the same quarterlies. (Baptist word alert!)

If we are seeking transformation though doesn't the idea of delivering a cogent, targeted, biblical concept each week that isn't diluted by minutia make sense? Here's the meat of the article:

Well, let’s review a typical experience at church. Is it too little or maybe too much? The average churchgoer is overloaded every week with scores of competing little ideas during just one trip to church.

Let’s try to keep track.

1. Little idea from the clever message on the church sign as you pull into the church parking lot
2. Little idea from all the announcements in the church bulletin you are handed at the door
3. Little idea from the prelude music that is playing in the back¬ground as you take your seat
4. Little idea from the welcome by the worship leader
5. Little idea from the opening prayer
6. Little idea from song 1 in the worship service
7. Little idea from the Scripture reading by the worship leader
8. Little idea from song 2 in the worship service
9. Little idea from the special music
10. Little idea from the offering meditation
11. Little idea from the announcements
12. Little idea from the first point of the sermon
13. Little idea from the second point of the sermon
14. Little idea from the third point of the sermon
15. Little idea from song 3 in the worship service
16. Little idea from the closing prayer
17. Little idea from the Sunday school lesson
18. Little idea from (at least one) tangent off of the Sunday school lesson
19. Little idea from the prayer requests taken during Sunday school
20. Little idea from the newsletter handed out during Sunday school

Twenty and counting. Twenty different competing little ideas in just one trip to church. Easily! If a family has a couple of children in junior church and everyone attends his or her own Sunday school class, we could quadruple the number of little ideas. So this one family could leave with more than eighty competing little ideas from one morning at church! And if we begin to add in youth group, small group, and a midweek service, the number easily doubles again. If family members read the Bible and have quiet times with any regularity, it might double yet again. And if they listen to Christian radio in the car or watch Christian television at home, the number might double once more. It’s possible that this one family is bombarded with more than one thousand little ideas every week explaining what it means to be a Christian. No wonder when the parents ask their kids, “So what did you learn?” the answer goes something like this: (Silence.) “Ummm. . .” (More silence.) “Ummm ... “

We have to do better. I'm going to do better. Anyone who reads this and who is doing better, zip me an email. Let's partner to be more effective for Christ.

There Are Bold Pastors and There Are Old Pastors, But...

It's Sunday night.

It's raining outside pretty steadily. Here at the laptop I can chose to listen to the rain hitting the fireplace vent, which sounds like someone hitting a thin pot with a spoon, or I can listen to the steady drips from the window behind be, which sounds for all the world like a hose being sprayed on said window.

It's been a day.

We had a young man come and sing today who really did a good job. We've had him before and I'd highly recommend him if you trend traditional and a little contemporary. Brent Vernon is his name.

I'm working on the new year's small group classes, my wife is getting the women's ministry spooling up again, we are looking at Easter worship and I'm planning some new outreaches and advertising initiatives.

It's pretty much what we've done the last year. It's built a warmer church, a deeper church, and increased our outreach through our networks of friends and neighbors.

But it occurred to me today... nothing we did last year was a risk for us. There was nothing at all that would have failed if God had not intervened. Nothing. Not one event. When I realized that today, it hit me in the gut. What happened to that guy who put his job on the line again and again to get this church turned from death toward life?

I remembered the old saw about pilots.

“There are old pilots and there are bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots.”

Well, I'm not a pilot.

As a follower of Jesus - forget for a minute that I happen to be a pastor - I have to be pressing ahead. And as a pastor, maintenance work isn't what I am called to do. So either I find a way to get the people I love away from the center where it's safe and warm, and out to the edges where it's not either, or I have to find another way.

I watched the Chronicles of Narnia the other night. Was interesting. I'm sure if the boys were still little I'd have enjoyed their reactions immensely. The one part that I really picked up on was when the children first hear of Aslan.

The little girl in the story, Lucy, asks a friend, "Is Aslan safe?" to which the friend replies, "Safe? No, he's not safe…but he is good."

Yeah, that about sums up where I need to be.