Today, we are assuming too much. We assume the gospel. We assume our churches are healthy. We assume we are preaching biblical, Christ-centered sermons. When we have recovered the inerrancy of Scripture, there are major pulpits today which are preaching Christless sermons. We must come back to understanding that all of Scripture is about Jesus Christ. We must get back to doctrinal preaching and gospel-driven churches. We need evangelism that does not leave out the evangel.Dr Tom Ascol via Timmy Brister
The kind of Southern Baptists we need today are those who understand that we do not need the SBC. There are some wonderful things about it, but the kingdom of God is not hinged on the SBC. With that attitude, the denominational leaders and power brokers do not have one thing we want, and we do not have one thing that they can take. We must continue to work for reformation within and without the SBC. Go and read Revelation 2-3. Recommit yourselves to the local church. We do not need to count ourselves as better evaluators of churches than Jesus Christ. We must labor for the recovery of the gospel and the reformation of the local church.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Amen and Amen
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
95% of pastors are losers
One of the blogs I read frequently is written by Darryl Dash. It's hard for me to assign labels to Darryl. If I did, it would probably be something like "does all things well". He's a great preacher, writer, and missional theologian. But recently he had provided a quote from a conference he attended in which he reported that a speaker said "95% of all pastors are losers."
Yeah. I know. Right away I wanted to have a Robert DeNiro moment - "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Are you seriously talkin' to me?"
Turns out the speaker Darryl quoted was talking about a test a group ran in California among declining churches. The idea was that the group recognized that only about 5% of pastors in that area were natural leaders, and they offered help making them more effective. Darryl corrected the post after a leader from the conference contacted him and offered the notes for correcting the context. See, Darryl's a good guy. Told you he did all things well.
But shoot.
What Am I going to do with all this righteous indignation?
I know, I'll look at what Eugene Peterson wrote about God's losers.
I'm in way over my head in this job. I got mad skills, but still, the job is far too complex, the people far too resistant to change, and the culture (despite what Peterson says) too ambivalent about God for success to leap into my boat like a sturgeon on the Suwanee River.
My task then, above all, is to be God's man. To be faithful and true to what Jesus is. To live Him.
100% of pastors have sinned and fallen short. But God has blessed us with His presence and His mercy, and allowed us to work with Him in His vineyard and every now and then to see the fruit of His work.
Winner!
Yeah. I know. Right away I wanted to have a Robert DeNiro moment - "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Are you seriously talkin' to me?"
Turns out the speaker Darryl quoted was talking about a test a group ran in California among declining churches. The idea was that the group recognized that only about 5% of pastors in that area were natural leaders, and they offered help making them more effective. Darryl corrected the post after a leader from the conference contacted him and offered the notes for correcting the context. See, Darryl's a good guy. Told you he did all things well.
But shoot.
What Am I going to do with all this righteous indignation?
I know, I'll look at what Eugene Peterson wrote about God's losers.
Basically, we simply have to get our identity from the Bible, from this Biblical story. And Americans are not very good at that. We assume we are living in a Christian country, and everybody’s on our side. So we let the culture shape what we’re doing because it seems so benign, and then we think, “We can Christianize it.” But we can’t. The church is a totally counter-cultural movement.
We are a marginal people. There is no way we can be a success in this culture on their terms.
American pastors don’t want to hear this, though. They want to know how they can grow
their church, as though if you have the right technique and enough water and fertilizer, it’s going to go. But here’s the thing: all the stories of spiritual leadership that we have in our scriptures are failures.
Every one.
I can’t think of one that in our terms we would call a “success.”
Look at Moses. He spent forty years taking his congregation through the wilderness, finally gets them to the Promised Land, summarizes all of God’s teaching, puts it all together in this incredible sermon called Deuteronomy, and then as he gives his last speech, God speaks to Moses and says, in effect, “Moses, these people can’t wait
until you die. They are itching to jump into this whole Canaanite, orgiastic, sex-and-religion stuff.
They can’t wait until you are out of here so they can just get to it. So here’s what I want you to do: teach them this song, and teach their children this song. Then when they have forgotten about you, their children will remember the song and they will have the story.” And he teaches them the “Song of Moses.” And as soon as he dies, that’s just what happens: everything is just a mess. How
would you like, at the end of your ministry, to have God say, “I just want you to know, pastor, they didn’t learn a thing from you.”
Isaiah, at the beginning of his ministry, gets this glorious call, with all the smoke and angels and holy, holy, holy stuff. But then God says, “You are going to preach to these people and they aren’t going to listen and they aren’t going to do a thing you say.” How would you like to hear that on your ordination day? Isaiah says, “How long, Lord?” and God says, in effect, “for the rest of your life. The country is going to get cut down, and just be a field of stumps—but there is a seed in the stump.” That’s not very hopeful.
So it goes in every story. As pastors, we have to be ready to be a failure in the eyes of the culture, and if we’re not, we’re seduced by the culture to “being religious” in the culture’s way. Of course, they reward us wonderfully when we do that!
I'm in way over my head in this job. I got mad skills, but still, the job is far too complex, the people far too resistant to change, and the culture (despite what Peterson says) too ambivalent about God for success to leap into my boat like a sturgeon on the Suwanee River.
My task then, above all, is to be God's man. To be faithful and true to what Jesus is. To live Him.
100% of pastors have sinned and fallen short. But God has blessed us with His presence and His mercy, and allowed us to work with Him in His vineyard and every now and then to see the fruit of His work.
Winner!
Thursday, June 14, 2007
On Funerals
Time was, I enjoyed writing funeral messages. I could take what I knew of the person's life and weave a story from it that seemed to help the people in grief, and expose others to the light of the gospel.
But today I will be doing the funeral message for the family of a man I did not know, who committed suicide, and who almost certainly was not a believer.
As the pastor of a church in a small town, I knew this day was coming. And I thought I'd be prepared for it. But I've been surprised with just how hard it has been to get a grip on just what God would have me say.
Let me say this up front. I hurt with those who grieve. One of them is a teenager who belongs to our church and is one of the sweetest young Christ-followers I have ever known. She came by our home the day it happened and for over an hour poured her heart out to us. It hurts to see her hurt and to see the shock and hurt in their faces.
But it is becoming increasingly clear to me that what many, many are sharing as Christianity, and what they are trying to rely on in times like these is not Christianity at all. It's cultural religion. Maybe something happened in VBS at age 6, or at a youth revival when they were 13 - in 1965. But nothing of God has crossed their mind in decades, unless His name popped in when a cuss word needed a modifier.
And they look to the pastor at times like this to "Bless this mess."
Uh, no.
But today I will be doing the funeral message for the family of a man I did not know, who committed suicide, and who almost certainly was not a believer.
As the pastor of a church in a small town, I knew this day was coming. And I thought I'd be prepared for it. But I've been surprised with just how hard it has been to get a grip on just what God would have me say.
Let me say this up front. I hurt with those who grieve. One of them is a teenager who belongs to our church and is one of the sweetest young Christ-followers I have ever known. She came by our home the day it happened and for over an hour poured her heart out to us. It hurts to see her hurt and to see the shock and hurt in their faces.
But it is becoming increasingly clear to me that what many, many are sharing as Christianity, and what they are trying to rely on in times like these is not Christianity at all. It's cultural religion. Maybe something happened in VBS at age 6, or at a youth revival when they were 13 - in 1965. But nothing of God has crossed their mind in decades, unless His name popped in when a cuss word needed a modifier.
And they look to the pastor at times like this to "Bless this mess."
Uh, no.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
A Glimpse of New Hope!: Nothing Says Welcome Like...
Nothing Says Welcome Like...
In the last two weeks, I've taken two trips to my hometown of Macon, Georgia. One was to honor my Mother-In-Love, and the other to honor my Aunt Geneva, who passed away. The route we take is well traveled, and I can pretty much drive it without thinking, or without really noticing the scenery. With the passing of each season, certain things change, but except for the crops, not much to catch your eye.
Except for the church with the razor wire fence.
That's right. Nothing says, 'Welcome' like chain link topped with razor wire.
No, I don't know the story behind it. Could be as a result of crime, but I doubt it, since the church less than a mile away hasn't seen the necessity of looking like Stalag 13. But it did get me to thinking.
What exactly do we (in churches that I have known) protect that does something similar?
Well, speaking personally, there's our parking lot. At times the Little League folks almost take over. Sometimes we are tempted to remind them just whose parking lot it is.
Or our clothing style. Now we're pretty relaxed for the most part, but we do have a thing about hats. No matter that any Jew would cover his head in the synagogue. In a Baptist church, kids wearing baseball hats are verboten. I have known folks at other churches get fried over some guy who showed up with a Budweiser shirt on. And there's the occasional "short shorts" some teenage girl who doesn't come to church often (if ever before) might be wearing.
Our decorum? I can remember a group of folks coming to a little church I once pastored. They came in and sat on the front row where only the ushers and occasional fill-in preachers sat. When I said what the Bible verses were I would be teaching on, they reached behind and grabbed pew Bibles and spent a couple of minutes trying to find the right pages. They were whispering while they helped each other. The looks on the faces of all the "saints" behind them weren't really very "saintly."
And if we've been in church a while, we've experienced someone who was a wee too expressive for our tastes in worship. You know - sang too loud, closed their eyes while they did it, maybe even swayed or lifted hands.
Yeah, nothing says You're welcome like chain link and razor wire.
Have we forgotten?
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 NIV
I'm saying a prayer right now for all of us who build fences to keep people who need good news away. Will you join me in a prayer of confession? We might not have thought about it, probably didn't realize what our preferences said - so let's move away from them and toward the people who need the hope that we have.
Grace!
David
Nothing Says Welcome Like...
In the last two weeks, I've taken two trips to my hometown of Macon, Georgia. One was to honor my Mother-In-Love, and the other to honor my Aunt Geneva, who passed away. The route we take is well traveled, and I can pretty much drive it without thinking, or without really noticing the scenery. With the passing of each season, certain things change, but except for the crops, not much to catch your eye.
Except for the church with the razor wire fence.
That's right. Nothing says, 'Welcome' like chain link topped with razor wire.
No, I don't know the story behind it. Could be as a result of crime, but I doubt it, since the church less than a mile away hasn't seen the necessity of looking like Stalag 13. But it did get me to thinking.
What exactly do we (in churches that I have known) protect that does something similar?
Well, speaking personally, there's our parking lot. At times the Little League folks almost take over. Sometimes we are tempted to remind them just whose parking lot it is.
Or our clothing style. Now we're pretty relaxed for the most part, but we do have a thing about hats. No matter that any Jew would cover his head in the synagogue. In a Baptist church, kids wearing baseball hats are verboten. I have known folks at other churches get fried over some guy who showed up with a Budweiser shirt on. And there's the occasional "short shorts" some teenage girl who doesn't come to church often (if ever before) might be wearing.
Our decorum? I can remember a group of folks coming to a little church I once pastored. They came in and sat on the front row where only the ushers and occasional fill-in preachers sat. When I said what the Bible verses were I would be teaching on, they reached behind and grabbed pew Bibles and spent a couple of minutes trying to find the right pages. They were whispering while they helped each other. The looks on the faces of all the "saints" behind them weren't really very "saintly."
And if we've been in church a while, we've experienced someone who was a wee too expressive for our tastes in worship. You know - sang too loud, closed their eyes while they did it, maybe even swayed or lifted hands.
Yeah, nothing says You're welcome like chain link and razor wire.
Have we forgotten?
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8 NIV
I'm saying a prayer right now for all of us who build fences to keep people who need good news away. Will you join me in a prayer of confession? We might not have thought about it, probably didn't realize what our preferences said - so let's move away from them and toward the people who need the hope that we have.
Grace!
David
It's the first day of summer break for school kids here, and all of them are looking forward to a great time. Well for once, Bunny and I were ahead of the game, as we spent the last few days on vacation in St Augustine, FL. She needed a break, and I went along. :) There were enough experiences for several blog posts during the three days we were there, but as I thought about the time we spent together there, I wanted to share this with you today.
Here's what I learned on our spring vacation.
My wife and I are very different. And I love her madly.
There, I've said it.
And it's true.
The places we went this week- Two different shrines - one Greek Orthodox, one Catholic. A wax museum and a museum that was a "collection of collections". Several art galleries, and restaurants from cultures very diverse from my usual fare. Bunny even convinced me, possibly one of the least "ghost-aware" people on the planet, to go on a "Ghosts and Gravestones" tour.
And I loved every minute of it, even though some of it was outside my areas of interest. We even took a break from our normal eating habits. I went three days without McDonalds, Wendy's, or any fast food. But I experienced Greek, Italian, and Spanish foods that were incredibly good. David Wilson, Mr. Meat and Potatoes himself, ate spinach pie, Mousaka (eggplant), clams, mussels, squid... - well, you get the picture.
But being with the woman I love was simply awesome. I got to see her joy at examining an artist's brush strokes, watch her get excited over seeing the ocean, and hear her talk about the things she loves. It was a very special time for both of us. We've been married almost 34 years, and I've never loved her more. Yes, we've both changed over the years, but I'm loving her more today than the first day of our marriage.
My only regret is that we haven't spent enough time together as we did this week.
Let me ask you a question. It's a serious one.
If you love someone, shouldn't that mean you are open to experience changes in what you value, what you do - because you love them?
Wouldn't it mean you were willing - even eager -to go places and do things with them because of your love?
Wouldn't you learn to love the things that they love too?
Jesus put it this way:
Matt 11: 28-30 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
When is the last time you walked off your beaten path to follow Jesus?
When did you last do something you wouldn't do for anyone else - for Jesus - out of your love for Him?
Think back over how many years since you became a Christian, and ask yourself.
Do you love the things Jesus loves?
If you can't answer yes, maybe it's time for you to take a break and rediscover just how much you are loved
"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. Matt 6:5-17
In His love,
David
Here's what I learned on our spring vacation.
My wife and I are very different. And I love her madly.
There, I've said it.
And it's true.
The places we went this week- Two different shrines - one Greek Orthodox, one Catholic. A wax museum and a museum that was a "collection of collections". Several art galleries, and restaurants from cultures very diverse from my usual fare. Bunny even convinced me, possibly one of the least "ghost-aware" people on the planet, to go on a "Ghosts and Gravestones" tour.
And I loved every minute of it, even though some of it was outside my areas of interest. We even took a break from our normal eating habits. I went three days without McDonalds, Wendy's, or any fast food. But I experienced Greek, Italian, and Spanish foods that were incredibly good. David Wilson, Mr. Meat and Potatoes himself, ate spinach pie, Mousaka (eggplant), clams, mussels, squid... - well, you get the picture.
But being with the woman I love was simply awesome. I got to see her joy at examining an artist's brush strokes, watch her get excited over seeing the ocean, and hear her talk about the things she loves. It was a very special time for both of us. We've been married almost 34 years, and I've never loved her more. Yes, we've both changed over the years, but I'm loving her more today than the first day of our marriage.
My only regret is that we haven't spent enough time together as we did this week.
Let me ask you a question. It's a serious one.
If you love someone, shouldn't that mean you are open to experience changes in what you value, what you do - because you love them?
Wouldn't it mean you were willing - even eager -to go places and do things with them because of your love?
Wouldn't you learn to love the things that they love too?
Jesus put it this way:
Matt 11: 28-30 "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."
When is the last time you walked off your beaten path to follow Jesus?
When did you last do something you wouldn't do for anyone else - for Jesus - out of your love for Him?
Think back over how many years since you became a Christian, and ask yourself.
Do you love the things Jesus loves?
If you can't answer yes, maybe it's time for you to take a break and rediscover just how much you are loved
"Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. Matt 6:5-17
In His love,
David
It's an old story.
A traveling preacher out one night and upon entering a town stops at the door of a little home. Coming to the door was a woman with apron on and paring knife in hand. She had been peeling apples for a pie, and greeted the pastor with a smile.
Hat in hand, the man asked her. "Does Jesus live here?"
Puzzled, she thought at first she didn't understand his question. Seeing her face revealed to the preacher her heart, so he asked again, "Does Jesus live here?" This time she heard well, and was considering the thought that the man was not quite well.
She said nothing, not knowing what to say. "Does Jesus live here?" was the question again, and it produced even more unease in the woman. Before she could stammer any answer, the man said, "I am so sorry. I had hoped Jesus lived here."
With that, he put his hat back on and walked on into the night.
The young woman went back to her work, but couldn't help wondering about the man and his question. Soon her husband came in, and she told him of her strange encounter.
The husband told her, "Well, why didn't you tell him that we are members of the church on the hill, that we give regularly to the work of it, and attend Sunday School once in a while?" But the young woman had caught a grasp of the old man's meaning.
"He didn't ask that, John. He asked whether Jesus lived here or not."
It made me think this morning of these verses.
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today.
7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
8 Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut 6:6-9 (NLT)
The Hebrews were very successful in keeping their religion a part of every day life. How did they do it? They integrated what they believed into how they lived. They used their lives, their homes, and their vocations to honor God, and taught their children to do the same. It's one of the reasons why, despite the best efforts of evil people down through the years, the Jews still exist as a people, even in cultures that abhor everything they are.
I'm a student of culture, a history buff. And I would tell you that we live in an America that is very much post-Christian. If we are to bring our faith forward and deliver it to generations to follow, we have to be much more like the Jews in the way we approach our family responsibilities.
But far more important than that, we need to be far more passionate about wanting more of Jesus in our lives. We need to hunger and thirst for more of Jesus.
Jesus is not satisfied with only having your attention at church. He wants your devotion in every area of your life. He is present at every meal, every conversation, everywhere. Are you living in a way that reflects His presence?
Does Jesus live at your house?
Grace, mercy, and peace,
David Wilson
A traveling preacher out one night and upon entering a town stops at the door of a little home. Coming to the door was a woman with apron on and paring knife in hand. She had been peeling apples for a pie, and greeted the pastor with a smile.
Hat in hand, the man asked her. "Does Jesus live here?"
Puzzled, she thought at first she didn't understand his question. Seeing her face revealed to the preacher her heart, so he asked again, "Does Jesus live here?" This time she heard well, and was considering the thought that the man was not quite well.
She said nothing, not knowing what to say. "Does Jesus live here?" was the question again, and it produced even more unease in the woman. Before she could stammer any answer, the man said, "I am so sorry. I had hoped Jesus lived here."
With that, he put his hat back on and walked on into the night.
The young woman went back to her work, but couldn't help wondering about the man and his question. Soon her husband came in, and she told him of her strange encounter.
The husband told her, "Well, why didn't you tell him that we are members of the church on the hill, that we give regularly to the work of it, and attend Sunday School once in a while?" But the young woman had caught a grasp of the old man's meaning.
"He didn't ask that, John. He asked whether Jesus lived here or not."
It made me think this morning of these verses.
6 And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands I am giving you today.
7 Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are away on a journey, when you are lying down and when you are getting up again.
8 Tie them to your hands as a reminder, and wear them on your forehead. 9 Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut 6:6-9 (NLT)
The Hebrews were very successful in keeping their religion a part of every day life. How did they do it? They integrated what they believed into how they lived. They used their lives, their homes, and their vocations to honor God, and taught their children to do the same. It's one of the reasons why, despite the best efforts of evil people down through the years, the Jews still exist as a people, even in cultures that abhor everything they are.
I'm a student of culture, a history buff. And I would tell you that we live in an America that is very much post-Christian. If we are to bring our faith forward and deliver it to generations to follow, we have to be much more like the Jews in the way we approach our family responsibilities.
But far more important than that, we need to be far more passionate about wanting more of Jesus in our lives. We need to hunger and thirst for more of Jesus.
Jesus is not satisfied with only having your attention at church. He wants your devotion in every area of your life. He is present at every meal, every conversation, everywhere. Are you living in a way that reflects His presence?
Does Jesus live at your house?
Grace, mercy, and peace,
David Wilson
Thursday, June 07, 2007
One person's opinion on a pastor's job
Just had a visit from my favorite pastor, Arnold Hendrix. He's in a traditional Baptist church in Lower Alabama. He probably won't ever be invited to preach at Catalyst, or even the SBC Convention. But he's making a huge difference for God.
Thing is, Arnold's way of doing it is the antithesis of what the writer below is describing. He's creating programs and inviting people to help, to work, to do (Gasp!) church.
I'm thinking that just maybe everything isn't as black and white as what we often read on blogs trending to one side of the "Do church?" debate or the other.
I'm thinking that pastors who are passionate and love God and people can still find a way to do church AND nurture the passion and purpose in others. What say ye?
A Deconstructed Christian: Church - the ultimate mission killer
Thing is, Arnold's way of doing it is the antithesis of what the writer below is describing. He's creating programs and inviting people to help, to work, to do (Gasp!) church.
I'm thinking that just maybe everything isn't as black and white as what we often read on blogs trending to one side of the "Do church?" debate or the other.
I'm thinking that pastors who are passionate and love God and people can still find a way to do church AND nurture the passion and purpose in others. What say ye?
A Deconstructed Christian: Church - the ultimate mission killer
In my opinion, a pastor's job, their highest calling, is to nurture what God has put inside every christ-follower - a little seed of passion for what they are supposed to do in this life. That seed can grow and multiply, or it can be trodden into the earth. The passion likely has nothing to do with a church program, it is more likely a cry for something more, something bigger, something infinitely more precious. It could be a need to work with the homeless, to raise children, to care for the aged. It could be writing songs, creating art, playing sport, being a musician. It can be ministry in prisons, in schools, in shelters. Honestly, it could be anything. It could simply be inviting people over for meals or speaking to people in bars.
Whatever it is, it is precious because it is from God. It's a passion, a purpose, something that is designed to be fulfilled. The problem is, if that passion doesn't fit neatly into specific church-sanctioned activities, it gets pushed down by the busyness of church.
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What we believe
The North Carolina evangelist Vance Havner said, "What we live is what we really believe."
Exactly.
One of the steps I try to make in teaching and preaching is to connect the person in the pews to what's going on in the lives of the people inhabiting the texts we are looking at.
Last night we were in Numbers 10, toward the end of the chapter. The Israelites were finally leaving Sinai. And all God's people said... Amen! For those of us in our Wednesday night study group, it was about time.
So each tribe is led in turn to break camp and follow the cloud of God's presence. It must have been an amazing sight to see. After 13 months of being under the shadow of Mt Sinai as God prepared them, finally they were moving. Still, some people in the crowd might have been reluctant to move. But not Moses.
No, Moses was made for this. He was the man God would use to free His people and place them in the land He had promised Abraham. So imagine Moses' excitement and focus on what was going to happen in the future. His every thought must have been far ahead of where they were that day as they began.
Not Moses.
His thoughts were with his brother in law Hobab, who wasn't coming along.
That's right. This great man of God, with his mission finally becoming realized, wasn't going to leave without inviting someone he cared for to go on the journey with him.
So why is it that we as Christians are so willing to leave our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers behind when we "move out" to heaven?
We live what we believe.
Moses believed to live was to invite others to walk with God.
Do we? Really?
Exactly.
One of the steps I try to make in teaching and preaching is to connect the person in the pews to what's going on in the lives of the people inhabiting the texts we are looking at.
Last night we were in Numbers 10, toward the end of the chapter. The Israelites were finally leaving Sinai. And all God's people said... Amen! For those of us in our Wednesday night study group, it was about time.
So each tribe is led in turn to break camp and follow the cloud of God's presence. It must have been an amazing sight to see. After 13 months of being under the shadow of Mt Sinai as God prepared them, finally they were moving. Still, some people in the crowd might have been reluctant to move. But not Moses.
No, Moses was made for this. He was the man God would use to free His people and place them in the land He had promised Abraham. So imagine Moses' excitement and focus on what was going to happen in the future. His every thought must have been far ahead of where they were that day as they began.
Not Moses.
His thoughts were with his brother in law Hobab, who wasn't coming along.
That's right. This great man of God, with his mission finally becoming realized, wasn't going to leave without inviting someone he cared for to go on the journey with him.
So why is it that we as Christians are so willing to leave our friends, family, neighbors and coworkers behind when we "move out" to heaven?
We live what we believe.
Moses believed to live was to invite others to walk with God.
Do we? Really?
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Wednesday, May 23, 2007
Content In Context
Why is it that during the weeks where the most pressure is applied, the clearest thoughts emerge?
This week, my son is flying out to CA, I'm driving back home to Macon to preach at my aunt's funeral, Memorial Day weekend is here with a Gideon speaker to work into the mix, I have a deacon in the hospital... yeah, busy.
But yesterday, as I was talking with our associate pastor, it was if something of a principle I can apply again and again leaped out of the conversation.
Content in Context
No, I'm not applying this in the hermeneutical sense, though it's something I practice and insist on in our teachers. What I realized was that the very way that our small Body carries out its mission where we are - in our Jerusalem - has to fall within the same parameters.
My friend was talking about summer plans for the youth he has responsibility for, and really struggling to find something for them that would not just be an event or a program. He wanted to lead them into an experience that mattered with lasting effects spiritually. We reviewed past efforts - mission trips to New Orleans, youth retreats, lock-ins - the usual, then he said this "do you ever think that maybe we are trying to do what everyone else does just because they do it?"
Bingo! Eureka! Doh!
New Hope Baptist Church is a unique group of people, drawn together by the Holy Spirit for His use at a specific geographic location within a specific period of time. Why is it when we plan for its "feeding and care", we look first to see what others are doing instead of spending most of our time examining just where we ARE?
We agreed to pray about what God had given us to use for His glory right here, and ask the Holy Spirit to direct us out from who we are to who we've been placed within - our neighborhoods and our area. That's a great start I think to applying our "Content" (what God has given us, and how He's equipped us for His use) in our "Context" (our ministry area).
This will probably mean that we are even more off the map when it comes to mirroring traditional SBC practices/programs. So be it. I would love to be more like the church in the book of Acts, flying solely by the wind of the Spirit.
This week, my son is flying out to CA, I'm driving back home to Macon to preach at my aunt's funeral, Memorial Day weekend is here with a Gideon speaker to work into the mix, I have a deacon in the hospital... yeah, busy.
But yesterday, as I was talking with our associate pastor, it was if something of a principle I can apply again and again leaped out of the conversation.
Content in Context
No, I'm not applying this in the hermeneutical sense, though it's something I practice and insist on in our teachers. What I realized was that the very way that our small Body carries out its mission where we are - in our Jerusalem - has to fall within the same parameters.
My friend was talking about summer plans for the youth he has responsibility for, and really struggling to find something for them that would not just be an event or a program. He wanted to lead them into an experience that mattered with lasting effects spiritually. We reviewed past efforts - mission trips to New Orleans, youth retreats, lock-ins - the usual, then he said this "do you ever think that maybe we are trying to do what everyone else does just because they do it?"
Bingo! Eureka! Doh!
New Hope Baptist Church is a unique group of people, drawn together by the Holy Spirit for His use at a specific geographic location within a specific period of time. Why is it when we plan for its "feeding and care", we look first to see what others are doing instead of spending most of our time examining just where we ARE?
We agreed to pray about what God had given us to use for His glory right here, and ask the Holy Spirit to direct us out from who we are to who we've been placed within - our neighborhoods and our area. That's a great start I think to applying our "Content" (what God has given us, and how He's equipped us for His use) in our "Context" (our ministry area).
This will probably mean that we are even more off the map when it comes to mirroring traditional SBC practices/programs. So be it. I would love to be more like the church in the book of Acts, flying solely by the wind of the Spirit.
Saturday, May 19, 2007
The Postman of the Apocalypse
I'm finishing a series on the "Big Story" of the Bible this week with a look at the consummation of Christ's Kingdom. Lots of Revelation, a place where I've not gone too often. Too much Hal Lindsay in my background.
But I did trip across a funny post about a young man in Orlando, a self-professed atheist who is ready to offer a`plan "B" for anyone who is afraid the rapture might come and leave letters un-sent.
The Postman of the Apocalypse
But I did trip across a funny post about a young man in Orlando, a self-professed atheist who is ready to offer a`plan "B" for anyone who is afraid the rapture might come and leave letters un-sent.
The Postman of the Apocalypse
Saturday, May 05, 2007
I'll Know It When I See It
One of the challenges those of us who are working to be missional followers of Christ and who are trying to lead our churches to be more missional is how to explain what it would look like. I've had the questions asked of me "what does a missional Christian look like?"
Well, here's a great explanation through the use of Images
Read through the word pictures and see if it doesn't help.
HT: Missional Images
Well, here's a great explanation through the use of Images
Read through the word pictures and see if it doesn't help.
HT: Missional Images
Friday, May 04, 2007
On the Journey
When I'm trying to unpack the call of Jesus on a person's life, I talk a lot about "the Journey" with Him. The idea is to separate the lifelong process of following Him from the "event" of beginning the journey. Not because that first step isn't important - it is, but that so many seem to linger close to where they began all their lives.
So I work to make people understand that we are to give our lives as testament and testimony to what God has done and is doing in and through us. I was reading today about the work of Robert Webber, who went home to be with the Lord just this week. Webber's call to an Ancient-Future faith resonates with me. I cannot see my part in the story as unrelated to all those followers of Jesus who went before.
Yet, as a present day follower, I rely far more on the written Word than my forbears in the first century did. Sometimes I worry about that. But a quote given by Webber in an interview with Christianity Today a few years back made me understand just how that worked then, and how it should work today
Can we point to one another and cite ourselves as a scriptural reference?
Lord, have mercy on me a sinner and give me what I lack to delight your heart.
So I work to make people understand that we are to give our lives as testament and testimony to what God has done and is doing in and through us. I was reading today about the work of Robert Webber, who went home to be with the Lord just this week. Webber's call to an Ancient-Future faith resonates with me. I cannot see my part in the story as unrelated to all those followers of Jesus who went before.
Yet, as a present day follower, I rely far more on the written Word than my forbears in the first century did. Sometimes I worry about that. But a quote given by Webber in an interview with Christianity Today a few years back made me understand just how that worked then, and how it should work today
Currently, worship seems to be divorced from the story. It is programmatic and narcissistic. If we resituate worship in the story, then worship tells and enacts the story of God. And God is the subject of that worship rather than the object that we worship. The subject acts on us in worship and forms us into Christ's likeness and thus affects our spirituality.
And today, spirituality, like worship, is divorced from the story. Spirituality is shaped by psychology, shaped by focusing on the self. It's very narcissistic instead of being our continual embodiment of the story. Spirituality is ultimately not having some sort of esoteric experience, but becoming what God created us to be and making the world what God created it to be, a place of his glory.
Hans Urs Von Balthazar said that we need to take a passage of Scripture and so internalize it that we become it. If somebody asks where's Matthew 25, we should be able to say, "Oh, it's walking over there."
Can we point to one another and cite ourselves as a scriptural reference?
Lord, have mercy on me a sinner and give me what I lack to delight your heart.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
The Church On the Corner
The Church on the Corner | Love Your Neighbour
The key to evangelism is to create lots of opportunities for Christians to ‘rub off’ on those around them. “A woman came and did her community service sentence with the trust and she became a Christian. Her friend saw the change in her and she also became a Christian. One of them works for the trust now, and the first woman’s extended family is also coming to church.”
“Our dream,” says Russell, “is to be as much a part of the community as the corner dairy. A corner Dairy is an integral part of any community. It is a place that would be missed if it were to shut down and it meets a need in the area. Also, there is nothing mystical about a dairy, it is a normal and accepted part of life. This is what church should be, a normal and accepted part of life that meets people where they are at and at their individual level.”
Hmmm... church on the corner...
BTW, the "corner dairy" would be the local 7-11 or Tom Thumb in our culture.
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Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Rick Warren Gets It, He Really, Really Gets It
One of the most polarizing names a pastor can bring up among other pastors and increasingly among church members is Rick Warren. The mega-church pastor, and author of the Purpose Driven Church, Purpose Driven Life and others is blamed for a lot as church go through change.
Well, it appears Rick is going to keep bothering people. And I'm glad he is.
At the "Q" conference in ATL, Warren said:
If I knew something more important than raising up believers, training them in discipleship and sending them out to engage culture, then I’d be doing it. But I don’t. (AMEN and AMEN - DW)
and
If God can create a fish to live its entire life in brine, yet not get salty, can God not protect us as we live in culture and engage it with the gospel? The answer is not isolation, nor imitation, but incarnation. What is it? It is insulation (from what is wrong) and it is infiltration (with what is right).
Too many churches today would rather be cute than effective. “I am addicted to changed lives.” (me too bro, me too - DW)
Marty Duren blogged the whole talk, go read the whole thing.
Well, it appears Rick is going to keep bothering people. And I'm glad he is.
At the "Q" conference in ATL, Warren said:
If I knew something more important than raising up believers, training them in discipleship and sending them out to engage culture, then I’d be doing it. But I don’t. (AMEN and AMEN - DW)
and
If God can create a fish to live its entire life in brine, yet not get salty, can God not protect us as we live in culture and engage it with the gospel? The answer is not isolation, nor imitation, but incarnation. What is it? It is insulation (from what is wrong) and it is infiltration (with what is right).
Too many churches today would rather be cute than effective. “I am addicted to changed lives.” (me too bro, me too - DW)
Marty Duren blogged the whole talk, go read the whole thing.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Why I Love Small Church
"Go big or go home" is what I heard from one pastor friend. "You've got to have a big vision" said another.
My denomination publishing house rolls out another program, calls it "Simple Church", and then charges $69 for a seat at the conference so you can learn how to be simple.
Well, I'll tell you how for $20. Send them by paypal please.
Here it is - love small church.
If you love small church, you won't have to be troubled by things that drive the guys in big churches crazy. Staff meetings are a breeze when it's just you. Worship planning never has a hitch when nothing is timed to the minute, especially since you never start on time. Budgeting is much easier, since you have no money to plan with, and have to depend on God to meet your needs rather than John Maxwell's friends and their stewardship skills.
Much of what is directed at me tells me I am a failure because I haven't led my church to exponential growth, aren't planning on satellite campuses, and have no plans to open a virtual community on Second Life. We don't even play rock music during our worship. GASP!
Ah but today brought with it a beautiful expression of God's grace in clear skies and warm breezes, as well as the opportunity to read David Fitch's article "Why Missional Community Is More Difficult And I Love It"
It was awesome. Here are a couple of excerpts - go read it. It's good for what ails you.
Technorati Tags: David Fitch, small church, missional, community, David Wilson, It's Like Herding Cats
My denomination publishing house rolls out another program, calls it "Simple Church", and then charges $69 for a seat at the conference so you can learn how to be simple.
Well, I'll tell you how for $20. Send them by paypal please.
Here it is - love small church.
If you love small church, you won't have to be troubled by things that drive the guys in big churches crazy. Staff meetings are a breeze when it's just you. Worship planning never has a hitch when nothing is timed to the minute, especially since you never start on time. Budgeting is much easier, since you have no money to plan with, and have to depend on God to meet your needs rather than John Maxwell's friends and their stewardship skills.
Much of what is directed at me tells me I am a failure because I haven't led my church to exponential growth, aren't planning on satellite campuses, and have no plans to open a virtual community on Second Life. We don't even play rock music during our worship. GASP!
Ah but today brought with it a beautiful expression of God's grace in clear skies and warm breezes, as well as the opportunity to read David Fitch's article "Why Missional Community Is More Difficult And I Love It"
It was awesome. Here are a couple of excerpts - go read it. It's good for what ails you.
It is more difficult to take 10 people and grow a living organic body of Christ to 150 than it isGo read it all. Then forward it to the pastor of any small churches and struggling plants you know. David Fitch, you are my hero.
to transplant 200 or 300 people (or I have heard even 600-800) and then
grow that congregation to 5,000. Because a crowd draws a crowd.
It is more difficult
to build a community of people who know and care for one another, who
when they speak, they are heard, who when there is conflicts, all
participate in reconciliation and growth, than it is to
put on a production and provide religious goods and services where if
some people don't like it they can just go shopping elsewhere.
It is more difficult to preach a sermon to 100 people than it is to 8,000 people.
It is more difficult
to deal with conflict and leadership in a small organic church where
our conflicts, our vision, our weaknesses must all be talked about,
worked through.
Technorati Tags: David Fitch, small church, missional, community, David Wilson, It's Like Herding Cats
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007
How Leaders Should Lead
"No matter what your job is," Ortberg said, "you have an opportunity to live that out every day. Work gives you an opportunity to make a meaningful and significant contribution to the world. Unlike being in church, work gives you an opportunity to live out what it means when Jesus says, 'You are salt, and you are light.'"Nancy Ortberg
I haven't always been a pastor. For most of my working career, I was employed as a sales representative for some famous consumer goods companies. So I got to see people who hadn't put their happy faces on, or were pretending to be something they were not, unlike what I see sometimes at church.
Working in organizations of tens of thousands meant that I was a very small part of a big machine. As just a part, I interacted with people in authority over me frequently as well as with people in authority within the businesses I called on. I met Sam Walton once, the presidents of companies like P&G, Kroger, etc. And I related daily with my bosses in my organization and mid-level management in our customer's concerns.
Leadership was a commodity that was not as common as one might think. There were people placed in the position as leaders, but who weren't. Just as there are people placed as pastors and leaders in churches, who aren't either.
Today I read an excerpt from a sermon by Nancy Ortberg. She describes an encounter with a person who exhibited true leadership. Her sermon was noticed by Rich Karlgaard of Forbes magazine, who though redacting her references to Jesus, was impacted by her desire to express was true leadership is. His article is called "Godly Work" and I urge you all to read it, as well as listen to Nancy's sermon on the Menlo Park presbyterian site.
An example from her sermon:
"It was about 10:30 p.m. The room was a mess. I was finishing up some work on the chart before going home. The doctor with whom I loved working was debriefing a new doctor, who had done a very respectable, competent job, telling him what he'd done well and what he could have done differently.
"Then he put his hand on the young doctor's shoulder and said, 'When you finished, did you notice the young man from housekeeping who came in to clean the room?' There was a completely blank look on the young doctor's face.
"The older doctor said, 'His name is Carlos. He's been here for three years. He does a fabulous job. When he comes in he gets the room turned around so fast that you and I can get our next patients in quickly. His wife's name is Maria. They have four children.' Then he named each of the four children and gave each child's age.
"The older doctor went on to say, 'He lives in a rented house about three blocks from here, in Santa Ana. They've been up from Mexico for about five years. His name is Carlos,' he repeated. Then he said, 'Next week I would like you to tell me something about Carlos that I don't already know. Okay? Now, let's go check on the rest of the patients.'"
Ortberg recalls: "I remember standing there writing my nursing notes--stunned--and thinking, I have just witnessed breathtaking leadership."
Yes she did. Go read the article, watch the sermon, and go lead.
Sunday, April 15, 2007
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.
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.
Friday, April 13, 2007
I'm Just Saying...
It's gotten to be a joke between my bride and me - my use of the phrase "I'm just saying..." as I try to make a case for an opinion or qualify something I've said. One of the great joys of this life has been and is that I get to spend time with someone who knows me intimately and yet loves me as I am.
My wife has a knack for "helping" (I typed that wincing, BTW) me to see not just whether my arguments are good ones, but perhaps as important, whether the way I'm putting them forward is good.
You see, I'm a passionate guy.
This life, role, position - this whatever you call it - how about - Christ-follower- demands that I never "phone it in". I'm supposed to be ever learning, ever changing, ever growing as I follow Jesus as his disciple. Love for Him drives me to really work at that - every day.
But there are times when even while driving hard after being like Jesus, being conformed to His image, I wind up portraying just the opposite. And what's crazy, I can do it without even realizing it.
"I'm just saying..."
If my Spirit-filled wife is really good at pointing that out, there is someone who's even better.
The Holy Spirit.
So I'm reading the story of the prodigal son today in Luke, not looking for anything specific, just wanting again to experience how much God loves "lost" things and through that remind myself of how much He loves "lost" people.
You know the story. Guy gets full of himself, tells his old man he's splitting, and to give him his part of the inheritance. Dad does, guy goes off to Las Vegas (my modern day paraphrase) and loses it all, and winds up sleeping with the pigs and living low on the hog. Realizes finally what he left behind and gets up and goes to try to make it right. Has his apology well rehearsed, probably repeating it over and over as he nears his old home. But his daddy, whose been pleading with God every day for him, and expecting God to bring him home, sees his son coming and runs to meet him. Grabs him. Hugs his filthy self and tells him it will be okay. BBQ ensues. (irony there, eh?)
With me so far?
Ok. Here's where I found myself in the story today.
28 "The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, 'All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!' Luke 15:28-30 (NLT)
I could see the older brother, seeing what went on and getting furious. Then as we used to hear in Georgia, he "showed himself."
All those years he spent doing the right thing - for the wrong reason - had changed him alright, but not in the way they should have. They made him more cynical, more willing to find fault in others, more blind to faults in himself.
When his daddy protested 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'"
Luke 15:31-32 (NLT)
I could hear that older brother say,
"I'm just saying..."
Friends, that's just wrong.
And I thank God for the people He's put in my life to help with the corrections necessary sometimes when I start to veer off the Way.
What about your life, if you were able to step back and see it as others do, would make you realize that changes were needed to get back in step with the Spirit?
Maybe it's time to really commit to becoming part of a community of faith where each person holds the other accountable to Jesus, in love. Maybe it's time to really follow Jesus as His disciple.
I'm just saying... :)
Grace!
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
It's gotten to be a joke between my bride and me - my use of the phrase "I'm just saying..." as I try to make a case for an opinion or qualify something I've said. One of the great joys of this life has been and is that I get to spend time with someone who knows me intimately and yet loves me as I am.
My wife has a knack for "helping" (I typed that wincing, BTW) me to see not just whether my arguments are good ones, but perhaps as important, whether the way I'm putting them forward is good.
You see, I'm a passionate guy.
This life, role, position - this whatever you call it - how about - Christ-follower- demands that I never "phone it in". I'm supposed to be ever learning, ever changing, ever growing as I follow Jesus as his disciple. Love for Him drives me to really work at that - every day.
But there are times when even while driving hard after being like Jesus, being conformed to His image, I wind up portraying just the opposite. And what's crazy, I can do it without even realizing it.
"I'm just saying..."
If my Spirit-filled wife is really good at pointing that out, there is someone who's even better.
The Holy Spirit.
So I'm reading the story of the prodigal son today in Luke, not looking for anything specific, just wanting again to experience how much God loves "lost" things and through that remind myself of how much He loves "lost" people.
You know the story. Guy gets full of himself, tells his old man he's splitting, and to give him his part of the inheritance. Dad does, guy goes off to Las Vegas (my modern day paraphrase) and loses it all, and winds up sleeping with the pigs and living low on the hog. Realizes finally what he left behind and gets up and goes to try to make it right. Has his apology well rehearsed, probably repeating it over and over as he nears his old home. But his daddy, whose been pleading with God every day for him, and expecting God to bring him home, sees his son coming and runs to meet him. Grabs him. Hugs his filthy self and tells him it will be okay. BBQ ensues. (irony there, eh?)
With me so far?
Ok. Here's where I found myself in the story today.
28 "The older brother was angry and wouldn't go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, 'All these years I've slaved for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the fattened calf!' Luke 15:28-30 (NLT)
I could see the older brother, seeing what went on and getting furious. Then as we used to hear in Georgia, he "showed himself."
All those years he spent doing the right thing - for the wrong reason - had changed him alright, but not in the way they should have. They made him more cynical, more willing to find fault in others, more blind to faults in himself.
When his daddy protested 'Look, dear son, you have always stayed by me, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!'"
Luke 15:31-32 (NLT)
I could hear that older brother say,
"I'm just saying..."
Friends, that's just wrong.
And I thank God for the people He's put in my life to help with the corrections necessary sometimes when I start to veer off the Way.
What about your life, if you were able to step back and see it as others do, would make you realize that changes were needed to get back in step with the Spirit?
Maybe it's time to really commit to becoming part of a community of faith where each person holds the other accountable to Jesus, in love. Maybe it's time to really follow Jesus as His disciple.
I'm just saying... :)
Grace!
David
--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/
http://www.mychurch.org/newhope
Thursday, April 12, 2007
They're Back!
One of the great blessings of being a pastor here is being around some of the greatest folks I have ever known - our military. If I had been younger when I came here, there's no doubt Bunny and I would have sought to join the Air Force as a chaplain and wife.
Every few years, we have an air show, and the Thunderbirds come. New Hope being directly under the final approach path, I'll go outside and get treated to an air show over the parking lot. Today was practice, tomorrow they will do a show for the military and dependents on base, and the air show is Sat and Sun.
Talk about teamwork, and trusting your teammate!
Now we return to our regularly scheduled church stuff.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
It's Early, But This Did Make Me Pause
From the comment stream after one of John Frye's excellent posts at Jesus the Radical Pastor
Doug Jones wrote
And we wonder why people aren't more committed to the work of the Body of Christ? What work? What Body?
Our theology has to include, but progress far past "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We have to help people create a holistic view of their place in God's overarching plan for the Kingdom of God.
I'm beginning a series on that plan as revealed in Scripture. My hope is to ground people in that understanding of the work of the Kingdom of God and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit moves them into the flow of God's work all their lives.
Act One - Creation begins this Sunday. Stay tuned.
Doug Jones wrote
... one result of this kind of church (where we are concerned about numbers, measurement of "growth" and expansion) has convinced many that Christianity is really just a system of moralistic, therapeutic Deism (Christian Smith, Soul Searching). In other words our churches are successfully helping teach too many that God is something like a combination divine butler and cosmic therapist, who comes when called, helps you to feel better, but doesn’t get too personally involved.
And we wonder why people aren't more committed to the work of the Body of Christ? What work? What Body?
Our theology has to include, but progress far past "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so." We have to help people create a holistic view of their place in God's overarching plan for the Kingdom of God.
I'm beginning a series on that plan as revealed in Scripture. My hope is to ground people in that understanding of the work of the Kingdom of God and my prayer is that the Holy Spirit moves them into the flow of God's work all their lives.
Act One - Creation begins this Sunday. Stay tuned.
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