Counseling

The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense.

Prov 27:9 (NLT)

A pastor wears many hats. We are told to pay attention to the work of the Word and to prayer. We are to manage the church well. We are to equip the saints for the work of ministry. We're to exhort, rebuke, and encourage.

That's not an exhaustive list, but it can be an exhausting one.

The visible parts of ministry - preaching and teaching - have no where near the demands on your heart and soul as do the work with - struggles with and for - people do. Helping people through the trials of life is a great responsibility and challenge.

As I look back over years of ministry, I'd guess that 90% of people who come to me to talk about something they are struggling with actually have already decided what they will do about it and just want to talk and/or to be told that what they are doing is okay.

It's frustrating because I know that God has to be in total charge for them to receive His best not just during the trial but after. And so many only want it to be over. They want to cut and run. So they will tell me they are praying for God to show them what to do when they have already made up their mind, many times ignoring clear instruction from Scripture.

If you cannot get a grip on when the Word tells you - to flat out "do this" or "don't do that", then what do you expect me to do for you?

I cannot twist the universe's laws to fit your predispositions.

I cannot cause anything that has been done already to be removed from memory or consequences.

But if you come to God in repentance and humility, asking Him to cleanse and lead - He will.

Just do it.

/rant off :)

Practice

"Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it.

Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good.

Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. "

Romans 12:9-10 The Message

Every Wednesday night, Ethel Jemima, Emmeline aka Emma-lemon, Kylie Coyote, Kelsey-Jane, Aaroneous, Kater-Tot, Julietta Violetta, Brittania, Amanda Hug n' Kiss, Lulu HooHoo, Kira Ball, and the rest of the New Hope worship team come together to practice the following Sunday's worship. Oh - the names? Every person has a nickname - mine is "Preacher-creature".

They all come early to be a part of this team. The ages? From first grade up. And for one hour it is controlled chaos bathed in love. I've been in a few choirs, and watched a lot of practices. But I've never experienced anything like this.

Last night, we were working on one particular song, an old Appalachian one with beautiful harmony parts. E.J. aka (Ethel Jemima) Huston, a middle-schooler with a wonderfully strong and true voice, apparently had committed a mortal sin in a previous life, so she was exiled to working with me on the tenor part. At one point, Bunny told her to sing directly at my ear, hoping that by the sheer force of her voice, I might be coaxed into singing the harmony part correctly. She tried. I turned to her and said, "you know I can't hear in that ear, don't you?" We laughed and sang and laughed some more. She worked hard at helping me do better.

I looked around and everyone there was smiling. Each time one group went over their part, the other groups were rooting for them, hoping that they would improve. When they got it, cheers broke out.

As a pastor, what you want from the music is help in telling the story of our amazing God and His love for us. Music can do that well, but music can also turn into performance. People can become so proficient that they lose sight of why they sing.

Not with these guys. They sing out of love.

New Hope is such an amazing place. How many other churches would put children and young people in worship leadership? But we're growing a generation of worshipers and leaders here. I looked around tonight and realized that not only were these kids learning how to sing, but they were practicing something far more important. How to love one another.

Friends, living with people, loving them, and being willing to play second fiddle is part of God's plan for each of us.

We learn how to love by... (get ready... serious insight ahead....) loving.

So go practice. Practice loving people. You are on the worship team too.

So Close But Yet... So Near

He was near God's house everyday. He led thousands in worship of the most High God. People looked up to him as an example of how to live a life that pleased God. He had it all together.

Read what he wrote:

1 I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens.

2-6 I found myself in trouble and went looking for my Lord;
my life was an open wound that wouldn't heal.
When friends said, "Everything will turn out all right,"
I didn't believe a word they said.
I remember God—and shake my head.
I bow my head—then wring my hands.
I'm awake all night—not a wink of sleep;
I can't even say what's bothering me.
I go over the days one by one,
I ponder the years gone by.
I strum my lute all through the night,
wondering how to get my life together. Psalm 77

Have you been there? Are you there now?

You are not alone.

Many of the people we all look up to as shining examples of faith go through periods where they doubt, where they wonder where their certainty went. The writer of this Psalm was the leader of music of the temple in Jerusalem - the place where the presence of God lived. He literally worked in God's House. And yet he wondered...

7-10 Will the Lord walk off and leave us for good?
Will he never smile again?
Is his love worn threadbare?
Has his salvation promise burned out?
Has God forgotten his manners?
Has he angrily stalked off and left us?
"Just my luck," I said. "The High God goes out of business
just the moment I need him."

"Just my luck.." - how real is that? We can read the Scriptures and take them into our hearts, but we are still a mass of emotions and feelings. We still can find ourselves groping in what seems like darkness when God's light shines all around us. So what do you do?

Review God's record. Take time to remember the ways He has blessed, the ways He has rescued us before.

11-12 Once again I'll go over what God has done,
lay out on the table the ancient wonders;
I'll ponder all the things you've accomplished,
and give a long, loving look at your acts.

13-15 O God! Your way is holy!
No god is great like God!
You're the God who makes things happen;
you showed everyone what you can do—
You pulled your people out of the worst kind of trouble,
rescued the children of Jacob and Joseph.

And repeat this to yourself.

Whatever God has ever done He can still do.
Whatever He has done anywhere, He can do where I am.
Whatever He has done for anyone, He can do for me.
I will trust Him.

Do not sell God short. Read the first line Asaph wrote again.

"I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens."

Yes He does. Take some time. Yell. Speak your heart to the God who listens- who knows your name. He's the One who'll make things right. He's done it before. He'll do it again.

He loves you.

Grace!

David Wilson

When You Are Draining the Swamp

Recently, on an online forum of pastors - an intimate group - I was led (by what or who I am not sure) to publicly state what I would love to see happen here at New Hope. My friends there are all men who have put a lot on the line to follow Jesus. I value, love, and trust them. And when they read what I had written, they got all excited for my "vision".

Then I wrote, "but it isn't going to happen." And all heck broke loose.

Since then, I've been pitied, prodded, questioned and one friend even wrote and asked "you okay?"

One fellow even worried about me spiraling down into inactivity. I laughed out loud when I read that. Here's the idea that got me pounded:

I think it is a "vision thing." Hadn't really given it much thought. When I came here, I drove into the parking lot and saw a Little League field 50 ft away, and an elementary school 300 ft away. So I figured we should try to grow through reaching kids and partnering with those guys.

Then as we did, we had neighborhood kids coming by the dozen - walking or riding bikes. We'll have 3-5 bicycles outside most any time. I really saw New Hope as a neighborhood church.

Valparaiso is about 1800 homes. Eglin AFB is snug against it. Then Niceville FL with maybe 8000-12000 homes borders us on the other side.

Niceville is covered with churches. 2 of them run 1000, one 2500 and a bunch of 150s. Breakout is 25% Baptist, 25% UMC, 25% Catholic and 25% nondenom. Probably 40% of the people would fall into one of those once a month.

Valparaiso is forgotten territory - that place you drive through on your way to somewhere else. Older homes, income level is less. AF Officers live in Niceville or Bluewater Bay, enlisted men with families live in Valparaiso or drive 30 minutes north to Crestview. There's no gym here, no HS here - that's in Niceville.

So my vision (pitiful though it is) really is to reach into Valparaiso's homes and help people find the Savior and through Him find real life.

If we moved, we'd lose kids. Then we'd lose the "door" they provide to their parents. Some of the kids we started with seven years ago are really coming along in their walk with Jesus.

If I had unlimited funds, I'd build a multipurpose building on our present property, and buy a coffeehouse that's for sale down the street. We'd open the multipurpose building to the community - call it the Valparaiso Community Life Center. And we'd have large group worship there. The coffee house would be our base of operations and provide office space and small group and intimate worship space. Those are big dreams for us and wholly impossible at present. But it's what I can see.

Neither location is in a great location. The coffee shop is just off the main drag and visible from it. We're only on Valparaiso's main street which isn't used by most. But I would probably not move away from our ministry's heart. Unless God thumps me.

So I was saying that my goal was changed lives. To reach into the homes through the kids and partnerships with the networks around us. Then I mentioned "If I had unlimited funds..." and the natives went nuts. They seized that last two paragraphs and got excited - overly excited.

So I wrote, "Vision and reality are not always friends."

And the pounding began.

Yet the reality is that we cannot at this time even seriously contemplate such a dream. We're 200K in debt, only own 2.5 acres, have no worship leader and are thin everywhere else. Land here is $100K an acre when you can get someone to sell it, which is hard considering two families own almost all of it that hasn't been developed.

So am I faithless, a coward for not aggressively pursuing the idea?

No. I just don't have time to waste when people are in danger all around me. If I fixate on buildings, I'll lose the focus on changed lives. It's sort of like the old adage, "It's hard to remember your objective was to drain the swamp when you are up to your armpits in alligators."

If through that God gives me the opportunity to see my idea come to fruition, I'll leap at the chance. But right now, I'm building... people.

Pollen and Preferences

This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. 1 John 3:16

One of the defining parts of my childhood was not a positive experience. This time of year, I'd find myself trapped in a world filled with pollen, which caused my body to react in a storm of sneezes, and outbreak after outbreak of hives. Folks, picture yourself as a geeky looking little boy, who's trying hard to find a place in the social network. The last thing you want to do is stand out.

Well, sneezing 30+ times in a row, or showing up for school with more bumps on your than a gator's back doesn't exactly help you fit in.

My parents tried all sorts of things to help, but the best things they ever did weren't involved with medical professionals. They ruthlessly tried to eliminate any and all allergens from anywhere near me. So feather pillows - gone. Wool clothing - gone. The food we ate was changed. At one point they even talked about moving to another state.

And my father went up and down the road we lived on, ripping up every goldenrod and flowering weed.

Years later, I was talking with my mother around that time of year. She was looking down the road, and she said "I just love this time of year, the leaves changing, the goldenrod - aren't these colors beautiful?"

I realized then that for them, their love for a wheezy little boy completely overruled their preferences for what was pleasing to them. Doing whatever it took to help me grow meant completely dropping something that brought them pleasure. They never let me know there was a cost.

Friends, as followers of Jesus and and as people pledged to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, how well are we doing at setting aside our preferences and sacrificially living to reach others with Jesus' love? Do this - spend a moment in prayer for your friend who doesn't know Jesus. Invest time in conversation with that neighbor or friend you never have time for. Give all the love you have received and watch Jesus work.

I've pretty much outgrown my allergies now, but I'll never outgrow my thanks for and my responsibility to love others like my father and mother loved me. And the love Jesus showed me, when I was sick with sin - dying really - I will spend the rest of my life trying to repay with my love for others who don't know Him yet.

Join me. We won't be perfect at it, but we'll be making a difference every time we do.

Grace!


David Wilson

Courtship

Sunday afternoon is naptime around here. Since we do two Sunday services, and I either teach or lead music too. So we crash from 1-3:30. Last Sunday, I had just gotten up when I got a call from a person in Texas. He said he was from a small church outside Austin, and they had received my resume. Without missing a beat he said that their committee had decided to focus on one person at a time and I was that person. Then he said, "Are you interesting in becoming our pastor?"

...............................................

He must have sensed something because he asked, "If you had to answer today would you say yes or no?"

I said, "Well, given I don't know where you are, who you are, or what you are about, so absent an audible voice from God, no."

We were off the phone in a minute. I felt bad about it then, but what is a church thinking making me their number one candidate without ever making contact with me? I don't know where they got my resume, or how old that resume is. I'm not interested in going anywhere, but if I was, I'd sure like to know something about where God sends me before I go.

Crazy.

How Not To Deal With Church Conflict

In Colorado, the newcomers are taking over. All the people who were there before them want to do, is keep things the way they have always been. What should a leader do?

Deploy the Rodenator. HT: Scot McKnight

Okay, so the story is about prairie dogs and ranchers. You get my point.

In church wars, people frequently employ IED's against each other, and against the Body of Christ when they do. Many of these could have been prevented if leaders had been more proactive in defusing conflict before it gains momentum.

When we were transitioning to a more modern expression in worship, one lady (not one of the spiritual giants of our age, bless her heart) stormed out of practice breathing fire and accusations against the worship leader. One of our deacons was the recipient. But she chose her place poorly, for she did it right outside my door. In my first years here, I would have hesitated, but no longer. I told her that her speech betrayed a lack of love for the worship leader, her church, and Christ and she needed to go back and ask for his forgiveness.

Well, after that, she proceeded to say some other things that caused her to be in need of asking mine. I then asked the deacon if he heard correctly, and he said he did. Then I informed her that we would be bringing her before the church in a week for discipline unless she apologized to all involved.

She's been gone three years now, and we are better for it. It's like ranchers and wolves. When NPR did a story on it a while back, one rancher said, "I love wolves. They are one of God's creations and are truly amazing. Yes, I love wolves - but not near sheep."

As much fun as the rodentator would be, biblical discipline works better, and your people will appreciate it.

Grace - It Just Doesn't Add Up

1 "God's kingdom is like an estate manager who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 They agreed on a wage of a dollar a day, and went to work.
3 "Later, about nine o'clock, the manager saw some other men hanging around the town square unemployed. 4 He told them to go to work in his vineyard and he would pay them a fair wage. 5 They went.
"He did the same thing at noon, and again at three o'clock. 6 At five o'clock he went back and found still others standing around. He said, 'Why are you standing around all day doing nothing?'
7 "They said, 'Because no one hired us.'
"He told them to go to work in his vineyard.
8 "When the day's work was over, the owner of the vineyard instructed his foreman, 'Call the workers in and pay them their wages. Start with the last hired and go on to the first.'
9 "Those hired at five o'clock came up and were each given a dollar. 10 When those who were hired first saw that, they assumed they would get far more. But they got the same, each of them one dollar. 11 Taking the dollar, they groused angrily to the manager, 12 'These last workers put in only one easy hour, and you just made them equal to us, who slaved all day under a scorching sun.'
13 "He replied to the one speaking for the rest, 'Friend, I haven't been unfair. We agreed on the wage of a dollar, didn't we? 14 So take it and go. I decided to give to the one who came last the same as you. 15 Can't I do what I want with my own money? Are you going to get stingy because I am generous?'
16 "Here it is again, the Great Reversal: many of the first ending up last, and the last first."

Matt 20:1-16 (MSG)

It's happened again.

Someone has sat down and tried to calculate how God's grace and sinful people, who will never stop sinning, add up to salvation. This has been going on for a long, long time now. Those in the "know" ever so often look over Jesus' shoulder and decide that He doesn't know a thing about accounting.

Sure could see how you'd get that idea. After all, didn't Jesus make a big fuss about that irresponsible shepherd who left 99 perfectly good and cared for sheep to go look for that one runaway? That makes no sense at all - cut your losses, write it off. New Lambs will be here come spring.

Then there was that woman who came and dumped the perfume worth a year's wages all over Jesus. What was the point in that? Just a little dab would have done the job, and then we could have waited to see if He needed it tomorrow. Got to be smart about those things.

Oh yeah, and what about that time in the temple when Jesus was watching people give their offerings. The Pharisee came forward, stated his intention to bless God and proceeded to bless him real good with a wad of cash. You could hear those coins jingle across Jerusalem, I'd bet. Then a widow-woman quietly walks up, drops two coins in - didn't even go "clink", and Jesus says she gave more?

How does that work? Jesus sounds like a guy you could swap nickles for dimes with all day long, like a little kid who doesn't know what anything is worth, and figures bigger coins are worth more.

Then I was reading that story up above from Matthew, where Jesus compares God's way of doing things - His Kingdom - to a landowner who hired people throughout the day to pick grapes. Tough work -that. 100 degree weather, backbreaking work. But he paid everyone too much - a denarius was a Roman soldier's day's wages, not some migrant's fair pay. And to compound it all, he paid them all the same. Jesus was applauding a man who had just upset the whole migrant worker market for the season. It's crazy.

It just doesn't add up.

That's the point. "Grace is not about finishing last or first. It is about not counting at all." Philip Yancey

If God was still keeping score, doling out salvation on the installment plan - seeing how well we do and rewarding us accordingly - well we would be lost. But He's not.

19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. 2 Cor 5:19 (NLT)

So what part of "no longer counting" did I miss?

23 For all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious standard. 24 Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty. He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins. 25 For God sent Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to satisfy God's anger against us. We are made right with God when we believe that Jesus shed his blood, sacrificing his life for us. God was being entirely fair and just when he did not punish those who sinned in former times. 26 And he is entirely fair and just in this present time when he declares sinners to be right in his sight because they believe in Jesus.

27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law. Romans 3:23-28 (NLT)

And as sure as I am of "all have sinned, all fall short", I am equally sure and thankful that "our acquittal is not based on our good deeds. It is based on our faith."

Does it add up? No.

That's good, because we didn't have an integer in the hunt.

We have nothing with which to pay our debt to God.

So God did it for us through Christ.

Grace - not just amazing - it's scandalous.

Praise be to God!

Aren't We?

Leviticus may seem like an odd Bible book to use in evangelism. But not in West Africa, where in April 2005 the first ten chapters were read to the Lobi—a people of subsistence farmers, animistic mask-makers, and poison-arrow warriors in Burkina Faso—in their own language.Many in the listening crowd were struck by the similarities between the sacrifices mentioned in Leviticus and those of the Lobi religion. This infuriated the son of a Lobi priest, who forbade the reading to continue, because it is taboo to speak of Lobi religious practices in public. But another listener shouted, "Well, it means that we, too, are descendants of this High Priest. Aren't we?"

The Whole Word for the Whole World - Christianity Today Magazine

An amazing article about the growth in translations of the OT.

George MacDonald, a translator in Papua New Guinea, said he would always remember the day his Dadibi friends dedicated their complete Bible in 2001. Living in a remote location and considered inferior by trade partners, the Dadibi had long looked down upon themselves. Yet they became one of the few groups worldwide to receive both an Old and New Testament in their own language.

"This indicates that God has certainly not forgotten them, but instead has looked with favor on them," said MacDonald.

Thousands turned out for the dedication ceremony—some walking for up to two days to get there. The national translators held the Dadibi Bibles up for the crowd to see. Thunderous applause arose, and one man let out a high-pitched yell reminiscent of the victory shout used by returning Dadibi warriors in days of old.

"...some walking for up to two days to get there."

I am humbled by this.

technorati tags:bible, translations

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Freaks

"Accept that your life is abnormal. Nothing about life as a ministry leader—from its emotional toll to relational demands and constant interruptions—is normal. Accepting that you are a freak with a freakish life will help you not to freak out.” Mark Driscoll

I feel better already.

Another quote: Freaks

"Accept that your life is abnormal. Nothing about life as a ministry leader—from its emotional toll to relational demands and constant interruptions—is normal. Accepting that you are a freak with a freakish life will help you not to freak out.” Mark Driscoll

I feel better already. LOL

I'm Just Waking Up To The Fact That...

We need churches for old people whose friends and relatives are dead or dying and who can’t quite figure out how things are changing around them.
We need churches for dysfunctional people who are doing well just to show up for life every day. We need churches for prodigal Christians who are afraid they’ve blown it with God.
We need churches for secular people who never give God much thought at all.

So where does your church fit?

The Wall

I was back home in Macon GA Monday afternoon. I arrived too late and way too out of shape to take part in the annual Labor Day Road race. Many years past, I ran it every year. Sometimes I ran the 10K and sometimes the 5K but I always ran it.

The first year I signed up for the 10K. I had never run over 4 miles in my life, but figured all I needed to do was slow a little bit and I was good to go. Funny thing happened. I forgot that at the 5 mile mark there was a hill - hills really. The run that had begun earlier slowed to a trot, and then to a walk. I had hit the wall.

Today I hit it again.

The last few weeks as my father declined rapidly combined with this week's trip and funeral left me with nothing to give today. Zip. I knew I was in trouble when I was trying to get ready for Sunday's text - the resurrection passage from Mark's gospel, and I couldn't get into it. Just flat. Emotionally spent. Intellectually dead.

Happens that I still have to preach Sunday. Somewhere I have to find my reserves.

Wondering

From Church Marketing Sucks:

I think church advertising is a waste of time...

The most powerful apologetic for Christianity is a local church body living the way it should.

See, even churches who try to advertise to unbelievers instead of to church people usually still fail. I speak even for my own church. Our thinking generally seems to run like this: "We must advertise so that people will perceive us in a favorable light and thereby be drawn to our Sunday morning services, where they will meet God."

This is nonsense.

We spend most of our time trying to "clever" people into the kingdom with advertising, when in reality they will more likely be drawn in a powerful way by the love we have for one another, the open confession of our sins and the compassion we show to those in need. This is what will awaken the desire in unchurched people to become part of the Christian community.

But he's already made it plain how to live, what to do,
what GOD is looking for in men and women.
It's quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don't take yourself too seriously-
take God seriously. Micah 6:8

The journey began 86 years ago on a sharecropper's farm near Sanford Florida. The midwife delivered a boy to Wiley and Belle Wilson, and Wiley Junior was welcomed into this world, as the only boy.

Growing up as the family moved with the crops to be harvested was a hard life. They frequently lived in tents, or in houses in such disrepair my father would say "you could lie there in bed and see the stars." Eventually they all migrated to Macon, GA where they got jobs in Mr. Willingham's Cotton Mill. It was hard, dirty, hot work, and Wiley hated it. So he got a job driving a produce truck back and forth from Central Florida to Macon. But then his mother got sick, and his family had troubles, so he enlisted in the Civilian Conservation Corps.

Hard work, discipline, and more hard work followed. It was the first time he had been away, and instead of the rolling hills of Macon, he was way back in the mountains of North Carolina, Tennessee and Georgia. They planted trees, built bridges and cut roads. He found out about snow. He grew into a man.

World War 2 began, and like millions of other young men, he left home for an uncertain future. But not before marrying a young girl named Lodie. Their families knew each other from the mill village - literally on the wrong side of the tracks. They said their goodbyes knowing that theirs might be a short-lived bond. It lasted almost 50 years.

After breaking his ankle in preparation for a parachute jump over Normandy, he was reassigned as a cook. That was fun while it lasted, but the Army needed machine gunners worse than it needed cooks, and so Wiley was shipped to the Pacific theater. The native Southern boy knew heat and humidity, but not like this.

New Guinea, Saipan, Mindanao, Okinawa. He came ashore on islands where the fighting was so fierce he said you could walk across the beach and never touch the sand, as the bodies of GIs covered it. He fought in the jungles where death came without warning from a sniper's bullet. He manned a machine gun against human wave attacks by the enemy that were so fierce bodies stacked up like cord wood in front of his machine gun, and the barrel got so hot they had to pour water and whatever other liquids they could find on them to keep them from melting. The war ended, he and Lodie came home. The scar on his forehead was a hurt that had healed. The scars inside took longer.

It wasn't easy to make the adjustment. The world seemed different somehow. The two weren't the same people who left the mill village. They (as he put it "wound up") divorced. Then after a while, they got back together and remarried. They got jobs in civil service that they wound up staying at for over 30 years. Life was getting better. He built an indoor bathroom on the shotgun house on Roff Avenue.

Then they were blessed with the news that Lodie was pregnant with twins. Through nine months their hope built to a crescendo. Then the music stopped. You'd have to have known my father to know just how much it hurt him when they died a few days after their birth. And you'd have to have known him and my mother to know how much courage they had to try again.

I was born, then came my brother three years later. We were blessed with a father who loved to watch cartoons with us on Saturday morning, who loved toys and gadgets even more than we did, who took pure delight in not just buying things for us, but being with us. Whether it was playing baseball, fishing, shooting rabbits, or teaching us how to work on lawnmowers and lose tools, he was our daddy. We were his boys. When he disciplined us, I always felt it really did hurt him more than it hurt me.

We did all the stupid things boys do as they grow into manhood, and he endured them all. Broken windows, scrapes and bruises, and later fender benders got us a blessing out after a "you OK?" I got straightened out about marriage; I got straightened out about kids. Never was delivered with anger,always given in love. He only went two weeks into the sixth grade in school, and yet wound up teaching both of us lessons that still guide us today.

He watched as our boys came along, one then the other. There weren't two people loved more on the planet. It was like I ceased to exist except as a vehicle to connect him to Adam and then Sean. Now it was their turn to sit beside him and laugh at Bugs Bunny. It was their time to explore the toys at Toys R Us (sure beat the Hobby Shop). The grandchildren that followed from my brother and his wife never took anything away from anyone - his heart just expanded to hold them all closely.

He was 65 years old when he gave his life to Jesus. It wasn't that he wasn't a good man, because he was. But he had been too busy making a living, building a home, raising his boys to stop and really consider where he was in light of eternity. Growing up, church people hadn't treated his kind of people well. But he never let us stay home when our mother wanted to take us to church. One day a young preacher daddy liked came out to talk. When he left, daddy told us he had become a believer in Jesus and had forgiveness for his sins. He became a faithful attender, and he read his Bible everyday. I know he prayed for all of us.

For almost 53 years now, I have never had a day when I wasn't loved by my father.

Tomorrow I will.

He was a great father, an awesome grandfather and a good man.
What I know about keeping my word - he taught me.
How I know that you are to give a days work for a day's pay - credit to him.
The reason quit isn't in my vocabulary is because my father never quit at anything.
And the way I learned what humility and manhood have in common was watching one of the strongest men I have ever known tenderly admit he had been wrong.

Tom Brokaw coined my daddy's generation the greatest. They defeated the depression, fought a World War and a Cold War and won them both. He would always tell me that his grandchildren would do things he and I could only dream of.

It was never about him. Maybe the most unselfish person I have ever known.

I thank God for giving me a father to be proud of. I thank God for saving his soul. And I thank God that one day maybe I'll be standing there too in heaven, and a big hand will rub the back of my head and ask me "how are you getting along son?"

I'm doing okay, Daddy. But we'll all miss you. Tell Mother we love her for us, will you?

David

When You Sing

On your feet now-applaud GOD!
2 Bring a gift of laughter,
sing yourselves into his presence.
Psalm 100 The Message

When the church meets to worship God - to applaud His glory and celebrate His grace - we sing. Some sing as if by rote, participating in a ritual. Others lean into it, smiling, raising a hand, even closing their eyes as if to close the gap within a private moment with the Almighty.

As I've watched this happen for years now, I'm amazed at how it has nothing to do with age. Octogenarians lift their voices, singing as if God was near. Little ones add to the chorus voices sweet and pure. Surely God must smile to hear His children.

After the worship service ends, sometimes people stop to talk. They speak words of encouragement to each other, or say their goodbyes until next time.

Carmen and Lily want to sing.

They're maybe five feet tall placed end to end, inquisitive, expressive, and irrepressible. I've watched them strain to see the screen during worship and seen them sing. Their voices may not carry two rows, but they reach heaven.

And after the service, they make a bee-line for the stage and the microphones. They just want to sing. This past Sunday, when I joined them at the front, Carmen was downcast. The microphones were off. "Sing Carmen. Sing me a song," I said to her. "No one will hear me", she replied. So I went and turned the power back on, and asked Carmen (who would stay there all day if she could) to sing me one song. Then I sat on the front row and listened. She had a song to sing.

I wonder. Is there a song within you? Something that you just have to sing? Something that people have to hear?

Or something that so moves you to think of God's glory, of His grace, that words are not enough alone? "He who sings, prays twice," St. Augustine said. When you sing praises to God, you can slip into His presence whether you are in a congregation or your car.

Take time to give voice to your heart and praise to our God.

Grace!

David

Laughter In the Walls

After all, what gives us hope and joy, and what is our proud reward and crown? It is you! Yes, you will bring us much joy as we stand together before our Lord Jesus when he comes back again. For you are our pride and joy. 1 Thess. 2:19-20

One of the great joys of my life has been being a friend and pastor to the people of New Hope. Over the last seven years, we've experienced a lot of life together. We've shared times of great joy and great sadness together, and through them learned a lot about our shared love for Jesus, and built a love for one another.

A group of us were exploring Exodus last night, learning about the Tabernacle God designed as a place for him to live. It was to be of the finest materials, constructed by the most skilled craftsmen. Nothing ever before or since has rivaled this. In the midst of thousands of tents that the Jewish people lived in, the Tabernacle stood out. It was different. It was purposefully made to reflect the character of God.

In trying to help that idea stick last night, I asked everyone to think about the ways that our homes reflected our character, whether intentional or not. We all laughed thinking about how the things we accumulated told stories about us. I then explained that since we moved recently, we had to shed an awful lot of things, and Bunny has taken the opportunity to try to reduce our natural tendency to over clutter. Our home is sparsely furnished compared to before, so much so that I sometimes referred to it as a "condo". Then I told them that I was having trouble with the change because (as the chief clutter architect) I cannot find any of my character represented here in the decorations. "You know", I said, laughing, "no pictures of Robert E Lee, no model cars, not even an animatronic bass hanging over the fireplace." Everyone shared some laughter at my expense, and then we moved on.

Well, this morning, when I went out to get the paper, it was on top of the hood of my car, along with.... "Big Mouth Billy Bass", a fine representative of robot fishdom.

These people are nuts! And my neighbors now think I am, because I was laughing my head off in my yard at 6:30 this morning.

But being in the company of people who love so extravagantly, and who can fill the church with laughter as well as pray with tears, is a real honor and joy.

Oh, and Big Mouth Billy Bass can be seen at any time you come to our garage. LOL

Grace!

David

 

Labels

I was reading a website just now that reviews churches. A friend's church was just rated last week, so I was curious to read what was written about it - and him. To say that his church is different is to say that Jerry Falwell might be a wee bit strong on the fundamentals. Their mission is to reach the unchurched just as they are, and to love them through the door to faith and walk with them along the journey. So they are "out there", and seeing literally hundreds come to faith in Christ. Over 70% of those who are members were hopelessly lost before coming to faith there. Here's a quote from the review about my friend.

The (edgy) pastor spoke frankly and, on occasion, used words like "crap" and "dang", which you don't hear out of traditional pastors. Probably the main reason he's reaching people with his messages is because he isn't pretending to be someone he isn't. He doesn't look like a catalog model and he doesn't talk real proper.

"edgy"

Normally I don't like labels, but you know, that's a label that another guy might have welcomed a little earlier on. Guy's name was Paul, and he was writing to his friend in the ministry named Timothy.

Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners. I'm proof—Public Sinner Number One—of someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy. And now he shows me off—evidence of his endless patience—to those who are right on the edge of trusting him forever.

Deep honor and bright glory
to the King of All Time—
One God, Immortal, Invisible,
ever and always. Oh, yes!
I'm passing this work on to you, my son Timothy. The prophetic word that was directed to you prepared us for this. All those prayers are coming together now so you will do this well, fearless in your struggle, keeping a firm grip on your faith and on yourself. After all, this is a fight we're in. 1 Timothy 1:15-19 (The Message)

If there are people out there in the cold, on the edge of trusting Jesus forever, isn't that where the church (all of us who follow Christ together), and her pastors should be? Isn't that where we all should be? Think about what Paul wrote to Timothy again.

Here's a word you can take to heart and depend on: Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.... After all, this is a fight we're in.

When you "get" that - when you take that into your heart as a mission from God, with God, and for God, then you don't shrink back from the "edge", you run there.

"Edgy pastor"... wonder if that will fit on my name tag? Dang sure hope so. :)

Grace!

David

Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

Houston, we have a problem

So we do our New Hope Outside the Walls today. Guys go down and stake out a pavilion in the park right next to the bay. Really nice spot, best there.

They put the sign up "New Hope Outside The Walls". So far, so good. At 7:30 AM, another guy shows up. He explains that his family has been planning an outing for a while, and really wanted that spot, would we mind swapping pavilions? No, says our guy.

Now there are no bad places there, we just have the best spot.

9 AM, guy rolls up, walks over, offers a sizeable donation to the church if we'll swap. Says the outing is for his son who is leaving tomorrow for the Navy.

We say no, again.

And people wonder why pastors of traditional or transitioning churches die early.

We should have moved. Refused any money. Offered to help them set up.

ANYTHING EXCEPT WHAT WE DID!!!!

Tonight, we learned that the guy who turned down the request really didn't understand what he was doing and how it impacted our purpose for being there. He wanted the best place for his church and friends.

Well, before we start loving our neighbors as ourselves, we might have to work on just being nice to them.

Oh!

32And they came to an olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, "Sit here while I go and pray." 33He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he began to be filled with horror and deep distress. 34He told them, "My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and watch with me."

35He went on a little farther and fell face down on the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. 36"Abba,^{[ g]} Father," he said, "everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will, not mine."

37Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. "Simon!" he said to Peter. "Are you asleep? Couldn't you stay awake and watch with me even one hour? 38Keep alert and pray. Otherwise temptation will overpower you. For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak."

39Then Jesus left them again and prayed, repeating his pleadings. 40Again he returned to them and found them sleeping, for they just couldn't keep their eyes open. And they didn't know what to say.

This week I've been reading and rereading this passage. I've studied it in every context, in the original language, through the hearts of many commentators and preachers. What they've taught me, I understand.

But... oh!

I don't know what to say... either.

How do we come to grips with the fact that the only person who ever lived on this planet without offending God, was the only one who could pay the penalty for the rest of us?
How do we - or can we - understand what taking on the sin of the world meant to Jesus - how He instinctively must have been sick in His spirit?
How can we make sense of His beloved disciples actions?

There are times in this life that people you love go through hardship. You'd love to be able to make it right - to come in and fix everything. But you can't. You slide into the grips of depression, feeling powerless and weak. The tendency then for some is just to give up and do nothing, despite their love for the one in need.

Jesus knows that about us. And it doesn't change His love for us one bit. Note what he says to the disciples. "For though the spirit is willing enough, the body is weak." So what are we to do?

Keep trying to make a difference in our loved one's lives. Keep letting them know of our love. Keep praying for them.

To Peter and the disciples, it must have seemed as if being with Jesus and praying for Him was like doing nothing. But to Jesus, it would have meant a great deal. Sometimes things we think are small, when done with great love, make a huge difference.

Friend, it's okay if you don't know what to say. Jesus understands our weaknesses and the Holy Spirit is ready to use us through them if we will not give up. Remember His power is made perfect (or complete) in our weakness.

Watch and pray.

Grace!

David

--
Visit with me at my blogs:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
http://davethepastor.vox.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

Sometimes...

He's a prodigal, trying to find home. Raised in a family by parents that knew salvation from sin, he didn't turn away from it himself, even though he had their examples to learn from. Tattooed, pierced, shaved head, but here.

Came up to me and showed me a rock, polished to a gleaming shine - swirl laid upon swirl of color. "It has water in it that's 2.5 million years old" he told me. "Well that's interesting," I said. "better not drink it, it's probably pretty stale." I tool it from him and looked it over, and handed it back with a "that's pretty neat." And he was off to show someone else.

Later he showed someone else. "How do you know that it's that old?", they said. "Carbon dating only goes back so far, so that might not be very old at all."

Someone else stepped up and said "It really is pretty."

"I like rocks", he said.

Tell me why people - Christians in particular - feel the need to point out other people's flaws and faults. What was served by challenging the young man on this? Will that help him find Christ? Will it help him hang around the church long enough to make it his home?

He was reaching out, trying to make connections. But someone needed to be right more than they needed him to find Jesus.

Sometimes...

Say What?

Amazon.com: A Networked Conspiracy: Books: Bill Kinnon

A quote from the book:

The book was partly written as the result of frustration with "modern" church leadership. We've become great at "delivering services" while ignoring the incredible potential that exists in the people to whom we "deliver those services." In the Cluetrain universe we now inhabit, many, if not all people want to be involved. They want to both listen and be heard - they want to engage and be engaged. The one way communication of most "churchianity" just doesn't cut it for them/us - and we not only want to be heard...we will be heard.

This is one of those books about an experience I haven't had yet. Maybe it is our church culture in the South, or the local culture here near the coast in Florida, but we do not have "many, if not all" people at New Hope wanting to be involved. Many of the activities we have now are not attended nearly as well as Sunday morning worship, and that draws 2/3 of the membership on the roll.

Many of the ideas we have had to get people more engaged in work within and without have suffered from a lack of "buy in" from our people. As a leader, I'm trying to get people outside the walls into ministry, but it's a constant struggle.

So forgive me if I don't purchase the book.

technorati tags:church, Kinnon, Books, Missional

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A War of Words

Every day, I get lots of emails. There are devotionals that really lift my thoughts to God. Then there are updates on websites I read frequently. Of course personal emails from friends are part of the mix. And then there's spam.

People I'll never meet share the details of their medical and financial condition. (Is everyone in Nigeria sick?) Others want to have me purchase the latest pharmaceuticals. (I rarely take aspirin, so fat chance.) Still more want me to refinance my home, take a trip, or meet new people. Thank you, but no.

But what about those spam emails you get with what seems like crazy prose or meaningless words put together out of any context? What are those about? Well, they have nothing to do with ethics - just the opposite. Those words are designed to overload your email programs spam filter with so many real words that it just gives up and lets anything through. It's a war of words.

Sometimes they use snippets from a dictionary. Other times they lift from fiction. But the idea is to so clog the spam filter with words that would be considered good - that the bad sneaks by.

Jesus was teaching His disciples one day when the Pharisees and some Sadducees walked up and asked for a sign from Him that he was real. By this point Jesus had done so many miracles which they had ignored that he told them no. Then He turned to His disciples and said:

6 "Watch out!" Jesus warned them. "Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."

Matt 16:6 (NLT)

The disciples didn't understand.

It was a war of words. The yeast is the active ingredient in bread dough. Though there's a lot of other ingredients, and the quantity of those are far greater in volume than the yeast - if the yeast is bad, no matter how much other stuff you put in the mix - the result is bad bread.

At the "yeast" level, they did not believe that God's Word could change anyone. But if they threw out enough words - enough rules - then people would have to do right.

Friends, it's not about rules.

It's about relationship - about whether you are living in relationship with God through His Son. He's sinless - completely Holy. You're not. No amount of words, no amount of forced obedience, no amount of looking good - will change that. Only a heart yielded, a will surrendered, a life offered daily to Him in obedience... matters to Him.

Ask yourself how often you think about Jesus.

Are you losing the war of words?

Make your life a prayer, a running conversation with Him.

Grace!

David

--
Visit with me at my blog:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

Just Another Day?

On July 15th, 1920, on the wrong side of the tracks down on Roff Avenue near "Mr Willingham's Textile Mill", a little girl was born to Henry and Bertie Bowden. Her parents were millworkers who had moved from the farm to the city in search of a better life. Each had lost a spouse to death before they met each other, and the family was a blend of Fosters and Bowdens.

The little girl grew to adulthood in that shotgun house, becoming the first of her family to get a high school diploma. During those years, she saw a sister die in a fire, a brother killed when his car stalled on the railroad tracks that ran parallel to the road. When she was 12, her father was hit by a car and died the next day. Hurt came often to Roff Avenue. The family grew tight - they had to. Somehow the widow "Bertie" raised all their kids and another couple of girls besides. Lodie was the big sister now, and she went to school and worked in the mill too. Whatever it took to help, she did.

She met a young man who lived in the same mill village, and just as World War Two began, they married. He was sent away, and in a year or so, she enlisted herself. They saw each other once during the War, in Manila.

After the war, they had both changed. Everything had.

They divorced, and then love found them again, and they remarried.

One day they got the news she was pregnant with twins. Nine months later they got the news the babies wouldn't survive. Delivered, they lived less than a week. But a couple who had seen so much pain and held so much heartache, just wouldn't give up hope. One year later, I was born - the young woman was my Mother - Lodie Marie Bowden Wilson.

She passed away 15 years ago. But today would have been her 86th birthday, and I remember her on it. No other person had more influence on who I became than she. Not one day in the years we shared on this earth did I not awake knowing that my Mother loved me deeply.

When you are the recipient of love, like a Mother's love, most of the time you are blind to it. Days come and go, sacrifices are made for you. Some you might realize but poorly comprehend. Others you miss completely. When your children come along, understanding does too, and then when the giver passes away, the gifts are made visible in the loss of the one who gave them.

I cannot give her anything now. All I can do is give to others as I have been given to. When I was reading Philippians the other day, I came across this. Those of you who read it, do as I have done today and think about your life, and what someone years after you are gone will write about it in review. Will it be God-honoring? Will it be praiseworthy? What will be your legacy? Will you have pointed your family to Jesus? Can you write as Paul does here?

Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:9 NIV

Remember, we love, because He first loved us.

It's called...

Grace!

David

--
Visit with me at my blog:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

Barna's Revolution - Not

Amazon.com: Revolution: Books: George Barna

I've read George Barna's work since "The Frog In the Kettle". Frequently, I've made use of his groundbreaking research into the culture and the church. As a researcher, I'd give him high marks, but as a theologian and a prophet, he flunks.

The book chronicles Barna's look at an emerging force he calls "Revolutionairies". These are people who according to Barna possess an active faith and who choose to operate outside the established church as they fulfill their mission. He claims the church as we know it is on its last legs as these people leave. And he applauds it!

I've done "house church", and I've done solo Christianity. And I'd add I have yet to come across the hordes of people living out their faith and growing in Jesus outside a community of faith. I don't buy Barna's premise, and I was awfully glad I didn't buy this book.

I got it free and it was worth every penny.

technorati tags:pastor, Barna, church, revolution

Blogged with Flock

Yes! Jonny Lang Coming to Mobile - Outspoken About His Faith

Jonny Lang readies new album, adds dates

Jonny Lang Tour Dates: Jonny Lang readies new album, adds dates >> liveDaily

Lang co-wrote the 14 songs on "Turn Around" with collaborators that included Grammy winners Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, as well as five-time Grammy winner Steven Curtis Chapman, who is the most awarded artist in the history of the Gospel Music Association.

"I'm very honored to have had the privilege of writing with Jonny for this record and our friendship has shown me that he's a man that's passionate about his faith as a Christian and is committed to reflecting that in his music," Chapman said in a statement.

I've admired Jonny Lang's music since I first heard him. AS a 14 year old guitar phenom, he held his own with Buddy Guy, B.B. King, and others, in fact B.B. said "if he's this good now, how good will he get?" So to hear that he's coming within easy driving distance AND to hear that this album will reflect his faith and his artistry - sweet!

Needless to say, I'll be there on Oct 27th at the Saenger Theatre.

Blogged with Flock

The B-I-B-L-E

Stanley Hauerwas, when asked in an interview (I think at “the Door”), “what do you mean when you say ‘the Bible is true.’”? Stanley replied, “I mean I would die for it.” He then reminded us that the word “witness” to the truth comes from the Greek root, martyrion, or martyr.

Maybe this is the best way to explain to people what we believe about whether the Bible is inerrant, true, or authoritative . When we say the Bible is true, we believe it sufficiently, live it so absolutely, that we’d be willing to die for it.

Daily.

1985 all over again

In 1985, my wife and I joined Mount Zion Baptist Church in Bolingbroke, Georgia. We were immediately made to feel like we had always been there by the families who really had - for generations. I'll always be grateful for that, and for them. I learned a lot there, surrendered to the call to become a pastor, and first laid my eyes on a book about the rapture called "1985 Reasons Why Christ Will Return in 1985" It turned out to be a long running sequel series, for later while rummaging around in the old Baptist Bookstore, I found "1977 reasons why..."

I bring this up because today I received the latest CBD catalog. When God really got busy in my life, the CBD catalog became on of those bits of mail we looked forward to receiving. Not only did it have the latest and greatest tools to study your Bible, but it had a closeout section that contained real bargains. Like those books I was just talking about.

Today when the catalog came, I was struck by how many offerings on the DaVinci Code that there were, and wondered how long it would take until they found their way into the closeout bin, alongside "2002 reasons..."

Is it marketing prowess, or are Christians just that gullible?

Slow Down!

Our friend Allan was with us Wednesday night at supper, and he brought a new friend with him - a doll that when you squeezed his hand - talked. I never did hear what the doll said, because Allan had it glued to his ear most all the time. He was laughing at whatever it said though. Yesterday when I tried to get him to tell me what the doll said, he was speaking so quickly that my ears and brain couldn't keep up. "Slow down, Allan. Speak slower", I asked, but he just kept on.

Trying to grasp what he was saying made me think about how much we miss as we rush through our lives. You're reading this on the Internet, one of the greatest blessings we've received. But the sheer volume of information and our efforts to grasp it don't always seem to coincide. With the net, TV, radio, books, newspapers, mail, and personal interaction, we are inundated with words and images, and in as much danger of drowning as a toddler on his or her first visit to the ocean. It's a rude awakening when you step back and look at the volume we try to comprehend.

Let's take yours truly for example. Your mileage may vary, don't try this at home, slightly higher west of the Rockies, and with people capable of extreme multitasking. (Had to put that in for the lawyers)

Yesterday I (based on my laptop's history) visited 133 separate domains and on some multiple pages. Most of this was in background research on sermons in Mark, and in particular on a Jewish group in the time of Jesus called the Sadducees, on Jewish understandings of the afterlife, on rabbinical disputes of the period, and on heaven in general. Some of the sites were bible.org, walkwiththerabbi.com, scripturetext.com, Itanakh.org, biblegateway.com, ministryexchange.com. A rough estimate would be 200 pages since some I skimmed and some I read completely. I read, both for personal enjoyment, personal growth, and for research on upcoming sermons and teaching, approximately 425 pages of text in books ranging from the historical nonfiction book 1776 (highly recommended BTW), To Be A Jew, commentaries on Mark (probably 4 or 5), Zondervan's Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, Life In Bible Times, Jesus and His Disciples, the biography of Vance Havner, one of my favorite preachers, and Mark, Philippians and Galatians in the Bible.

When I was between books and the computer yesterday, I watched about an hour of TV, ranging from ESPN Sportscenter, the reality show Rockstar Supernova (last 20 minutes), and a snippet of the news. Part of the evening saw me catching up on world events through the blogs I read each day - about 20, and checking email. Since I moderate a local yahoo group that works on keeping stuff out of landfills by giving it away, I'll sometimes have a few of those to reply to. Then there's the Great Dane emails, the emails from pastor friends, to and from church folks, and all totalled maybe a 100 go through everyday. I try to check and answer in regular intervals, but not sit and wait for the next one. I wrote about ten pages of notes, and reread 60 or so more I had made previous to yesterday.

Uh huh... like drinking from a fire hose.

Did I learn? Oh yeah - ask me anything about the Sadduccees, first century politics, Jesus' use of logic and rhetoric, Henry Knox's role in the New York campaign during 1776, or what Tommy Lee's hair looked like during last night's program.

But here's the point.

I cannot honestly say that the majority of what I read, looked at or listened to brought me more in conformity to the likeness of God's Son - Jesus.

What would I point to? This passage of Scripture that I read solely for the purpose of meeting with Jesus yesterday. No agenda, no sermon-seeking. I read Philippians because I want to be Jesus' disciple like Paul was - to be able someday to write like this.

7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

10-11I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. The Message Phil. 3

"So that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him."

That's what thrilled me yesterday.

To think of my Lord and Savior allowing me, a sinner so easily distracted, drawn away, and so prone to failure to embrace Him in His holiness...

... and to feel His arms close tightly around me.

At that moment, just as it did again when I typed these words, everything slowed down. Just me, and Jesus.

Try it. Read His Word.

Not to make it through the Bible in a year, not to finish your Bible Study, but just to find, through His incredible Holy Spirit - A Glimpse of New Hope - in Jesus.

Grace!

David

--
Visit with me at my blog:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

Slow Down!

Our friend Allan was with us Wednesday night at supper, and he brought a new friend with him - a doll that when you squeezed his hand - talked. I never did hear what the doll said, because Allan had it glued to his ear most all the time. He was laughing at whatever it said though. Yesterday when I tried to get him to tell me what the doll said, he was speaking so quickly that my ears and brain couldn't keep up. "Slow down, Allan. Speak slower", I asked, but he just kept on.

Trying to grasp what he was saying made me think about how much we miss as we rush through our lives. You're reading this on the Internet, one of the greatest blessings we've received. But the sheer volume of information and our efforts to grasp it don't always seem to coincide. With the net, TV, radio, books, newspapers, mail, and personal interaction, we are inundated with words and images, and in as much danger of drowning as a toddler on his or her first visit to the ocean. It's a rude awakening when you step back and look at the volume we try to comprehend.

Let's take yours truly for example. Your mileage may vary, don't try this at home, slightly higher west of the Rockies, and with people capable of extreme multitasking. (Had to put that in for the lawyers)

Yesterday I (based on my laptop's history) visited 133 separate domains and on some multiple pages. Most of this was in background research on sermons in Mark, and in particular on a Jewish group in the time of Jesus called the Sadducees, on Jewish understandings of the afterlife, on rabbinical disputes of the period, and on heaven in general. Some of the sites were bible.org, walkwiththerabbi.com, scripturetext.com, Itanakh.org, biblegateway.com, ministryexchange.com. A rough estimate would be 200 pages since some I skimmed and some I read completely. I read, both for personal enjoyment, personal growth, and for research on upcoming sermons and teaching, approximately 425 pages of text in books ranging from the historical nonfiction book 1776 (highly recommended BTW), To Be A Jew, commentaries on Mark (probably 4 or 5), Zondervan's Illustrated Dictionary of the Bible, Life In Bible Times, Jesus and His Disciples, the biography of Vance Havner, one of my favorite preachers, and Mark, Philippians and Galatians in the Bible.

When I was between books and the computer yesterday, I watched about an hour of TV, ranging from ESPN Sportscenter, the reality show Rockstar Supernova (last 20 minutes), and a snippet of the news. Part of the evening saw me catching up on world events through the blogs I read each day - about 20, and checking email. Since I moderate a local yahoo group that works on keeping stuff out of landfills by giving it away, I'll sometimes have a few of those to reply to. Then there's the Great Dane emails, the emails from pastor friends, to and from church folks, and all totalled maybe a 100 go through everyday. I try to check and answer in regular intervals, but not sit and wait for the next one. I wrote about ten pages of notes, and reread 60 or so more I had made previous to yesterday.

Uh huh... like drinking from a fire hose.

Did I learn? Oh yeah - ask me anything about the Sadduccees, first century politics, Jesus' use of logic and rhetoric, Henry Knox's role in the New York campaign during 1776, or what Tommy Lee's hair looked like during last night's program.

But here's the point.

I cannot honestly say that the majority of what I read, looked at or listened to brought me more in conformity to the likeness of God's Son - Jesus. It helped me get ready to help other people, and it provided me with information, education, and some enjoyment. But it didn't give me a sense of intimacy with Christ that had the potential of changing my actions. But something did.

What would I point to? This passage of Scripture that I read solely for the purpose of meeting with Jesus yesterday. No agenda, no sermon-seeking. I read Philippians because I want to be Jesus' disciple like Paul was.

7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I'm tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God's righteousness.

10-11I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.

12-14I'm not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. The Message Phil. 3

"So that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by Him."

That's what thrilled me yesterday.

To think of my Lord and Savior allowing me, a sinner so easily distracted, drawn away, and so prone to failure to embrace Him in His holiness...

... and to feel His arms close tightly around me.

At that moment, just as it did again when I typed these words, everything slowed down. Just me, and Jesus.

Try it. Read His Word.

Not to make it through the Bible in a year, not to finish your Bible Study, but just to find, through His incredible Holy Spirit - A Glimpse of New Hope - in Jesus.

Grace!

David

--
Visit with me at my blog:
http://davethepastor.livejournal.com/
Or visit New Hope!
http://www.newhopevalp.org/

What and When?

Last night, in the class I teach in which participants are coming with me through the entire OT, we approached the end of Exodus 20 with a bang.

18 All the people witnessed the thunder and lightning, the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain [surrounded by] smoke. When the people saw [it] they trembled and stood at a distance. 19 "You speak to us, and we will listen," they said to Moses, "but don't let God speak to us, or we will die."

20 Moses responded to the people, "Don't be afraid, for God has come to test you, so that you will fear Him and will not sin." 21 And the people remained standing at a distance as Moses approached the thick darkness where God was. ^{Exodus 20 HCSB}

^{Since we had finished the ten commandments, I handed out a quiz which gave them 15 choices for the ten, including "you should not smoke", "be kind to the poor", "you should obey God instead of man" and a couple others. Several found 11. Others got very quiet which always means they know they don't have it. BTW, this was a KIDS SUNDAY SCHOOL TEST.}

^{The question I'm asking myself this morning is "What should a follower of Jesus know about what His Word says, and when should they know it?" If we are genuinely "studying to show ourselves approved", then we have a majority that flunked the JCAT. (Jesus Comprehensive Achievement Test)}

^{I know from painful experience that orthodoxy (knowing what is right) doesn't always lead to orthopraxy (doing right). Some of the most hateful people I've ever met have been church members who had Masterlife'd, Navigated, and experienced God their hearts out... err off. However, how can you follow God increasingly closer if you do not gain understanding of His will through His Word?}

^{We're SBC. That means there's a legion of programs that Lifeway will tell me I should be doing that like Clearasil for the soul will clear this right up. I'm not buying it, simply because it goes deeper than that. There has to be a constant, desperate desire to know Jesus more. In my example, I had just gone through the ten commandments - not new information to anyone in the room. I had spent several weeks there. And yet...}

^{When we let someone become a citizen of the United States, the applicant has to study, even memorize some of the basic documents of our nation. They have to learn, and they do, because they want to be an American. So why aren't we who aspire to make an eternal difference in this life not serious about doing the same?}

^{Church culture.}

^{In the immigration example, there are clearly defined facts that must be committed to memory in order to assume basic competency and understanding of what it means to be an American. Baptist have none. Sure we have the Baptist Faith and Message, but I defy anyone to tell me even the article's headings without looking. We need a Baptist catechism. Something to unite us in a shared understanding of what we believe. Right now we could easier be identified by what we are against. We need "We believe that God created the universe and all that is in it" type doctrine with verses that back it up - memorized.}

^{We need accountability. Once the average Baptist joins the church, that's the end of their pursuit of God. Discipleship - that working out your faith with fear and trembling - never takes place. They might be faithful attenders of SS, but all that means is that they can hold a quarterly (if they can find it) and can endure 30 minutes of lecture after the Braves and the weather are discussed ad nauseum. We need people on people discipleship. Paul and Timothy type. The stronger and the weaker meeting to share lives and growth stories and struggles.}

^{We need to decide on a discipleship path for children on up and for adult converts. A child should progressively understand and know the doctrines of our faith and when presented at adulthood, we should test then recognize them as a member of the community of believers that is ready to mentor others as he or she was mentored. For adult converts, we need an accelerated version of the same thing, lasting perhaps two years or until the mentor felt comfortable.}

^{Bottom line? We need help - fast.}

^{We need help.}

Jesus The Radical Pastor: JESUS' ISRAEL: MORE BLOODY THAN BLESSED

Jesus The Radical Pastor: JESUS' ISRAEL: MORE BLOODY THAN BLESSED

Every time you think you have a clear handle on the cultural context of Palestine in Jesus' day, someone comes along and shatters your illusions.

John Frye, in looking at a book by Robert Horsley, paints a word picture very different from that most followers of Jesus understand.

Yet it is that context not only in the area treated by Horsley, but of the setting, cultures, idioms and well... life of the everyday person of OT and NT times that opens the text up in a way far more illuminating than even the NIV Study BIble or Life Application notes ever did. (tongue firmly in cheek)

I'll add this to the list of "stuff I wasn't taght in seminary" and to the list of stuff I'll make sure the people I teach know.

Shalom,

David