Introducing Jesus - Son of God

New Hope Unplugged



Had hoped to have a recording of this message from Sunday. But the electrical power failed us. Ah, but the real power didn't and never will. This is not a transcription, nor is it the notes I used Sunday, since I don't preach from notes. I won't remember everything I said that day, and I will add some things today I couldn't remember then. So be it. But here's what I want you to know - You can know God. You can know God personally through His Son Jesus Christ. He is actively seeking to form a relationship with you. You have questions, doubts. You cannot understand or deal well with what you see as inconsistencies in the Bible or what seem to be incredibly cruel acts by God. Friends, after 37 years as a Christian and more hours than I could ever count in prayer and Bible study, I still have questions, still wonder about certain things, and still get frustrated at times. But one thing I know beyond all doubt, all fears, all questions.

Jesus loves me. He will never leave me or forsake me. He has made me right with God through His sacrificial death. He has assured me of life eternal with Him through His resurrection. He will walk with me through the fiercest trials and darkest nights. He is my Savior, He is my God, and He is my friend. 

So as we begin this study of John during this Lenten season, understand this please. Everything I am doing is to convince you that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is offering you LIFE TO THE MAX!

And so I am beginning by introducing Jesus.

Put yourself for a minute in John the apostle's shoes - okay, sandals.

You are an old man who has lived 2/3 of your life or more since the three years that you walked over Galilee and Judea with Jesus. Those three years changed EVERYTHING. They reset your compass. Your priorities changed. Your value system changed. Your understanding of who you are and why you were alive changed. And your simple life became a world-changing one. All because of Jesus.

As you pick up the stylus, all the other "gospels" (Matthew, Mark, and Luke) have been "put to bed." They've each told their stories to everyone who would give them an ear. But you are driven to write a different narrative - one in which the scenes you choose to include are not selected because they are chronologically correct - but like a great director - God is guiding you to tell a Story of who Jesus is.

Every time I think about the magnitude of John's task, I am amazed at how he even got started. I used a slide of great opening lines in books to sort of plant the idea that those first few seconds of entry into a story matters. Some of the books that make up the classics though, don't have first lines that are memorable. Many begin quietly and it's in the introduction and fleshing out of the characters that the story takes on life for the reader.

Not John. He begins with a theological statement that changes everything. I likened it to someone raised in a cave who on one clear winter's night is taken outside and asked to look into the sky and sees the slide from the Hubble telescope. Breathtaking in scope. Awe-inspiring in depth. Incomprehensible at first glance. But so "Other" that it tugs at the mind and the soul for if that is reality, then it changes everything.

In the beginning the Word already existed.

The Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

2  He existed in the beginning with God.

"The Word that John speaks of is uncreated. There has never been a time when it was not. Here is existence beyond time, that which was when time and finite being began its course." All of us are mortal. We have a beginning and an end. This week begins the season of Lent and millions of our fellow believers will kneel before a priest or pastor who will take the ashes of palm fronds used last year during the Palm Sunday celebration and dipping his thumb in them, will make the sign of a cross on each person's forehead while saying "From dust you came, to dust you will return." A very solemn act of worship that reminds us that our time on earth is very short. Contrast that to John's description of Jesus - the "Word" made flesh - and you begin to understand that knowing Jesus is more... much more than the flippant cultural Christianity or virtuous veneer many practice. 

John uses the Greek word "logos" in his opening statement and it is translated "Word" for us. We'll have to unpack the meaning of that into our language and context or we'll walk out of here glazed. He's hitting a theme that will play on both sides of the cultural divide in the early church and society - Jews and Gentiles. Certain themes can serve as a bridge for us. We know that. Music and TV does that around the world. Bunny and I are trying to listen to some of the newer music because it carries cultural messages and darn it because we don't want to miss out on the joy that music has always been for us. So we're turning over to channel 20 on our XM radio and trying. But you know we keep coming back to the "language" we know - that we grew up with. There are songs that we all know - like the opening refrain of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, or Bach's Toccata and Fugue. Oh, you would know them if you heard them. OK, here's one "Come sit right back and you'll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip..." (motions to congregation to continue) See - we just know because even though there are three or four generations in here, we've been exposed to that.

Well the Hebrews would have understood the idea of "the Word" because in their culture of less than 10,000 words - words meant things. They were tied to actions, and once a word was spoken the event was unstoppable. When God spoke, creation happened. When Issac mistakenly blessed Jacob instead of Esau, he couldn't take it back. The people of Israel during the Exodus went out to Sinai to meet with the "Word."

The Greeks on the other hand saw the "logos" almost like George Lucas's "force". It was the causative agent in all of nature - the First Cause, the Prime Mover, the world-soul. But neither party would have imagined that the "logos" was a person. They'd have been glad to talk philosophy with John  - both the scribes and the Greek philosophers would have relished that. But believing in a God who became a man?

John starts out by expanding reality for them.

You know that the Bible talks many times about the world which is seen and the unseen world. And I've always wondered about that unseen world. This past week I was reading about a teacher who took her class to visit the home of a botanist. As you can imagine, his yard was filled with all sorts of interesting plants. The kids just drank it all in, turning this way and that and "ooh-ing and ah-ing" at what they saw. And yet, they didn't see everything that was there. When the botanist looked at the same plants he saw not only the exterior, but he knew and "saw" the processes going on inside each of them. He could gauge their maturity and their health. Both the kids and the botanist saw pretty flowers, but only the botanist saw the things unseen.

Physicists studying the atom know that there are forces yet unexplained that hold each atom together. One is called the (for lack of a better term) the "strong force" and without it, all what you and I see and think of as solid, as real, as matter would instantly cease to exist and become simply energy.

John is making a case here, along with other New Testament writers, that everything was created by Jesus and that everything has its origin in Him and nothing exists that He hasn't caused to be. Other writers will elaborate, but John starts the expansion of what we know of as "real" by introducing Jesus as Source.

In this world, with our natural eyes we are limited too. And the unseen is all around us. John is speaking of a Person in Jesus who is more than we can see with our eyes. He is the "First Cause" but beyond that since He exists outside of time. And yet, He is the "Word made flesh" who came as a baby, grew up through childhood and teen years, and became a man - tested and tempted in every way - but without a fault or sin went to the cross and made everyone who believes in Him right with God.

15  Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.

He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation,*

16  for through him God created everything

in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see

and the things we can’t see—

such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world.

Everything was created through him and for him.

17  He existed before anything else,

and he holds all creation together.

18  Christ is also the head of the church,

which is his body.

He is the beginning,

supreme over all who rise from the dead.*

So he is first in everything.

19  For God in all his fullness

was pleased to live in Christ,

20  and through him God reconciled

everything to himself.

He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth

by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. Colossians 1

Continuing on....

4  The Word gave life to everything that was created,*

and his life brought light to everyone.

5  The light shines in the darkness,

and the darkness can never extinguish it.

So John is presenting Jesus as Creator, as Sustainer, and now as Redeemer. As the power beyond anything we can even imagine. Limitless.

So let me stop for a moment and ask you this - Why do you think that Jesus isn't able to supply everything you need? Why do you NOT let Jesus handle your doubts, your questions, your fears, your worries and anxieties? Isn't He BIG enough? Isn't he POWERFUL enough? Or is it that you can't see? Listen, Jesus brought "light" into our darkness and you know in your gut and by your experience that darkness cannot win if you have a light. Light comes, darkness ends. True then. True now.

See friends you may look on these few verses as just words, but right here and right now I am here to tell you that THIS IS THE THEOLOGY OF HOPE. THIS IS GOD'S LOVE FOR YOU, FOR ME, IN THE PERSON OF JESUS.

John, who never names himself in this book, simply refers to himself as "the disciple that Jesus loved." Now you can choose to think that he was a self-promoter by doing that. That he was lifting John up at the expense of the other disciples, but I don't think you'd be right.

I think that John could never get past the fact that God, in the person of Jesus - LOVED HIM. As I said, it changed everything for him. John would tell you this morning that you need to put smaller things aside and plant your life in Jesus Christ. Give Him the allegiance of your heart, mind, and soul. Jesus is so much more than we can even see. John wants you to believe in Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior, Sustainer, and Redeemer.

Look. I know this has stretched you some if you've tried at all to follow it. Imagine John again, writing it with God giving him the words. Really it boils down to this. Who do you believe Jesus is?

Just as the creator intended

“Come, follow me..."

About 10:20 AM Sunday, I was in the sanctuary getting ready and it appeared that the lights flickered. Then they did it again. Every so often, they'd flicker for a few seconds. Then about 10:40, it got worse - much worse. I went around back to where the main power line comes in and there was a branch across the line. "Maybe that's it", I thought.

Went back inside and it got really strange. The lights up front were really bright and those in back weren't. Then the projector and PC started recycling on and off, and the piano turned off by itself and wouldn't come on for a minute. In the age of electronics we live in, that was our cue to take radical steps.

We cut all the powered devices off and went old school - no ppt, no praise band, no amplification.

In the aftermath, we discovered a light bulb that blew apart, and a fluorescent fixture's ballast gave up the ghost.

And two surge suppressors died to save our PCs and printers.

We spent some money on the suppressors, but they did just as their creator intended. They gave up their lives for the devices that plugged into them.

Was just reading a passage from the Message.

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Romans 12:1

...and wondered how many of us will be able to look back over our lives and know that we lived them just as our Creator intended.

It's not too late to start following Jesus.

One of the most interesting TED talks I've seen

Nancy Duarte's talk at TEDx East from Duarte Design on Vimeo.

She basically dissects what makes great speeches great. Really interesting when she does that to the "I Have A Dream" speech.

There's Teaching, And Then There's Preaching

So today was one of those days where you endure.

Anybody out there had one?

A day you endure is one that you know you need to go through, but in the big scheme of things is just one paving stone on the highway. Not going to get you excited, and won't slay you. But you know you have to do it. So you endure.

I spent several hours I'll never get back in classrooms over at Gulf Coast Community College today, as I continue to work on teacher certification for next fall. Three separate classes. The first was technology in the classroom and it shouldn't be too bad overall. The second two were intros to two courses that are about student teaching. Oh my goodness they were dull and repetitive. But I took the notes and gathered the information I needed.

Still, I could not help thinking about tomorrow morning, when I will be teaching/preaching John 1:1-5. It is such a tremendous passage that all week long I could not keep it from popping into my thoughts. I found myself thinking about it in class today and taking notes on what popped into my head. Had to make myself stop and concentrate on class.

Make no mistake, I am going to work hard in my classes so that when I enter the classroom I will be the best teacher I can possibly be. And I'll do everything I can to help my students succeed in mastering their lessons. But I don't expect an eternal change as a result of what I do there.

Every time I preach I go praying that lives would change forever.

Not because I'm skilled, or well prepared. (Insert humble comment here)

But because God is in it. He's gathered the people. He's called the servant. He's directed my thoughts and guides what I say. And He has promised that if the preacher faithfully speaks the Word that God will see changes happen in people - even if I can't.

There's an excitement from just reading the Word -knowing that it's more than a book - that it is "God-breathed." I look at the passage I will preach through tomorrow and realize that even after hour upon hour upon hour of study, I will only scratch the surface of the mystery of God.

Yet I will be a part of His plan to let everyone who lives know that He has provided a Savior in Jesus.

That's preaching. And I can't wait!

When Scuffed Up Is Just Right

From It's Like Herding Cats

When I first came to New Hope, as we pulled into the parking lot two things caught my eye and my imagination - just down the street sat Valparaiso Elementary, and just across the street sat the Little League field.

I love baseball. From time to time I find baseballs here at New Hope that have been fouled off across the street and have found their way into our shrubbery. Since many of the games are played at night, finding them apparently is difficult then. So I have a drawer full. :)

Holding one of those takes me back. To my Little League days as a scatter armed pitcher with more speed than control. Particularly if the umpire had given me a new baseball. They were just too perfect, too slippery to use. So you'd try to rub some mud on them, or try to keep one with a couple of scuffs in the game.

Turns out they do that in the big leagues too. A company out of New Jersey supplies river mud (just where from is a closely guarded secret) to every major and minor league time, and has since 1945. Without it, the baseballs are too perfect to use.

Think about that.

Every stitch is in place. The horsehide cover is blemish free. The classic red stitching and white cover - perfect. But it's useless until rubbed in the mud - scuffed up.

Too many of us are wishing and hoping for lives of pure perfection too. Plenty of money, perfect health, successful job, never a care or worry, no grief nor pain. We think if everything were perfect, we'd be happy. Maybe we would be, but we wouldn't be as useful to God. Our "scuffs" are something that helps us relate to other people whose lives are "scuffed up" too.

Galatians 6:9–10 So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. Right now, therefore, every time we get the chance, let us work for the benefit of all, starting with the people closest to us in the community of faith.

Scuffed up is just right.

Grace!

David Wilson

Busy, busy

From It's Like Herding Cats

Whew!

If you read this blog on a fairly regular basis you know that I love to write. Writing for me is one of those acts of expression like music is to a pianist. And this called life is such a window into the work of God that I can't wait to try to paint pictures for you, dear reader, of what God is doing. But life has just hit maximum overload lately and I have been unable to keep up. So forgive me if I give you the "Cliff's Notes" version of what has been happening until things slow down.

Supper On Saturdays - Was able to participate again with delivery, and Pam and Jaime Roberts participated in cooking this past Saturday. The route was split so we didn't have as many people to serve, but it was still a huge blessing to be able to do it. Oh and I got promoted to driver/scooper of soup! Since I live and work in Valparaiso, I did not get lost once while we made 17 stops and delivered 57 meals. The weather was gorgeous and the people were warm and receptive. Was able to pray with one senior saint, and talked about New Hope with two other people. I placed a flyer for that night's family movie in each bag. Met some new people while serving alongside three others from FUMC Niceville. Great time had by all as we "loved, because He first loved us."

Family Movie Night - John Anderson and minions really worked hard prepping the fellowship hall with lights, a red carpet, and plenty of comfortable sanctuary chairs. Add to that the "Grillmaster" Frank Weech cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, Sydney Hoskinson dishing up the sno cones, and the work of Amy Anderson, Diane Weech, Micheal Weech, Kristen Morton, and Bunny and Sean behind the scenes and it made for a great event. Despicable Me was a great choice since the laughs were spread evenly over all ages. Met some new friends who came out to the showing and hope to meet many more as we'll do this again.

On the last week of the first trimester of teacher certification. Carrying high "A's" but the workload in these education courses has been the most I have ever encountered in any of the colleges, universities, or seminaries I have attended. Very challenging. Thank a teacher the next time you see one. People outside have no idea of the paperwork horrors they endure. Think of the DOD paperwork on steroids and you are getting close.

Began work last week on a series that starts this Sunday and will carry us through Easter. Haven't pinned a title yet, but "Introducing... Jesus" wouldn't be too bad. We'll use John's gospel to help us to step back and realize just what God has done in and through Jesus Christ.

Oh and small group starts again Sunday evening. :)

Pray for me.

An introduction worthy of Him

1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things were created through Him,
and apart from Him not one thing was created
that has been created.
4 Life was in Him,
and that life was the light of men.
5 That light shines in the darkness,
yet the darkness did not overcome it. John 1 NLT 2.0


1 εν αρχη ην ο λογος και ο λογος ην προς τον θεον και θεος ην ο λογος
2 ουτος ην εν αρχη προς τον θεον
3 παντα δι αυτου εγενετο και χωρις αυτου εγενετο ουδε εν ο γεγονεν
4 εν αυτω ζωη ην και η ζωη ην το φως των ανθρωπων
5 και το φως εν τη σκοτια φαινει και η σκοτια αυτο ου κατελαβεν

1:1 In the beginning* was the Word, and the Word was with God,* and the Word was fully God.* 1:2 The Word* was with God in the beginning. 1:3 All things were created* by him, and apart from him not one thing was created* that has been created.* 1:4 In him was life,* and the life was the light of mankind.* 1:5 And the light shines on* in the darkness,* but* the darkness has not mastered it.* NET Bible

The rule in communication is to grab the reader, listener, or viewer by the heart quickly. The amount of time you have to draw them in varies in the studies I have read from 1 minute at the most to 15 seconds at the least. So imagine that you want to tell the world about the most important thing that has or will ever happen.

How would you start?

What would you say in your introduction?

These verses are my obsession this week as through them my prayer is the Holy Spirit makes Jesus plain to everyone who will hear or read the message I'm driven to give Sunday. Having read a lot about John and his context, I'm diving in today - word studies to ground myself in what the text says before I widen my search to commentaries and what other people say.

I'm also carrying them around in me. Meditating on the passage for Sunday all week means I can spend time listening for what the Spirit might teach me in MY context. Sometimes that turns out to be the best "study" I do all week.

Today, I am just in awe.

For a man like John to pick up a stylus or pen and write these verses and know that God was speaking through you? To be entrusted with explaining the nature and character of God?

Wow...

Working In the Cloud With the Google CR-48

It's been a couple of weeks since the UPS driver delivered my own personal free netbook from Google. I was totally blown away by the fact that I even qualified for it. Even though I have 5 PCs in my office here at church, I'm not a computer geek - just a hoarder. :)

The CR-48 is a lightweight, low powered, minimalist netbook powered by Google's new Chrome operating system. You'd never really know that last part if someone didn't tell you, since everything you do happens within the same Chrome browser you may already have installed. Everything happens in "the cloud."

It's been a roller-coaster ride with the CR-48. Initially I loved it for its minimalism. It's like a stripped Thinkpad with even more rubberized coating. And even though the Atom CPU is not all that, it's plenty fast enough for most everything I do. Then I started to notice things like not being able to download and open common files. Or use my USB stick or SD cards. No local storage at all, just enough internally to house the operating system. It basically forces you to use Google Docs and apps that run online.

That strategy could work, if you stay in wifi territory. But I've already run into two instances where I had no wifi. The second one caused me to fire up the built in Verizon WAN card. It worked great but you have to be mindful of the data charges. Google does chip in 100MB per month in free data. So in rare circumstances you could make do.

I love the size, the battery life, and the simplicity. If Google can continue to mature the software to add SD and USB support, and open most common documents directly in Google Apps when you download them, I could see me and a few million of my friends paying $150 or so for a device like this. Thanks Google!

Trying To Follow

It's not even Sunday yet, and I feel like the last 3 days have really taught me more about the way God is working all around us. Yogi Berra, that master of the malapropism once said "You can see a lot just by looking" and I think he was right. Let me try to explain what I mean.

Wednesday - Pam Roberts called me mid morning and asked what we were having for supper at church . Since I put on the chef's hat each week except for potluck night, I told her spaghetti, but added "I haven't gotten the groceries yet." She then reminded me about the people in need she had seen in two locations within Valparaiso on her scouting trip with the "Supper on Saturdays" last weekend. "Could we fix enough to take to them too?"

"Sure." So I got busy and Bunny and I went to Publix to buy the ingredients. I had never cooked that much of anything before, so I was unsure about how much to buy, and nervous about how much it was going to cost. Then I remembered the grant the local Rotary Club had given us to help with our neighborhood meal outreach. Still, it was going to be a lot of money. So I gather all the items and head to the checkout. The cashier scans it all and the total was $35.74. That's what it normally is. But we were feeding 30 more people.

Loaves and fishes. Give what you have and let God multiply it. 

Last night I attended a men's conference in Chipley with John and Ian Anderson. Johnny Hunt, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention was the speaker and he was great, but you know what I loved seeing? All those men ready to give their allegiance and hearts to God, singing, praying, and studying God's Word. Johnny Hunt told us of a recent Sunday at their church where he stopped during a message about 15 minutes in and asked his 4500 member congregation "Who has lost a job, a home, a business? Who is in need of help?" Over 200 people stood. Johnny called the congregation into a time of prayer for them but as he did, people came forward and laid checks on the altar at the from of the church. The prayer over, Pastor Hunt saw the checks and moved by the Holy Spirit said, let's take up an offering. If you want to give money, do that. If you lawyers, CPAs, financial managers, physicians, dentists etc. want to give of your talents to help these families, give that, if you have rental property, spare cars - whatever you feel God wants you to do - you do. The result was that 241 families were helped with a total given for the fund of $400,000.

If God has blessed you, He has blessed you to be a blessing.

Then today Frank, Diane, and Michael Weech, along with me and Bunny - participated in the "Supper on Saturday" ministry. There are eleven churches involved in this ministry coordinated by FUMC Niceville. Our group delivered 157 meals to locations and individuals all over Valparaiso and a little bit of Niceville. We met a lot of new people and saw some we recognized from the past. It was hard work and I'm tired. But it's a GOOD TIRED.

If you've done it for the least of these, My people, you've done it for Me.

The people of New Hope, including their pastor and his family, are trying to follow the will of God as we understand it for our church. Our past successes are just that - past. We can thank God for the honor of seeing Him work through us, but we cannot sit around talking about "the good old days." God is up to something friends. He's bringing people and churches to the realization that we have to live in the constant mindset of a missionary "whatever it takes." We used to cheer those folks when they came back from the "mission field" to tell us about the miracles they had seen. It's still awesome to hear what God is doing "over there."

Well, I'm here to tell you that whatever God has ever done at any time, He can do now. Whatever He has ever done through anyone, He can do through us. And whatever He has done anywhere - HE CAN DO RIGHT HERE.

I can say that, because I have seen that in just the last three days. Can't wait to see what's next.

Pass It On

Reposting this tonight, because I'm writing a paper for class about the most influential teacher I've ever had. Dr Kathryn Futral was that teacher for me. My prayer is that I would be that for someone else. -DW
If your gift is that of serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, do a good job of teaching.8 If your gift is to encourage others, do it! Romans 12:7-8 (NLT)

How many people have you met in your lifetime? You probably can't count that high. Okay, how many can you say made a real difference? Chances are, out of a list of the top ten, there will be a teacher in there somewhere. Think back - who would you choose?

You'd probably not choose someone who laughed at you while scrawling an "F" on your essay. But that's exactly why I'd put Dr. Catherine Futral high on my list of women who've affected my life.

After a long time away, I had returned to Mercer University in Macon, GA to finish my undergraduate degree. I was majoring in business, because that's what my company would pay for, and was checking off the squares of required courses when I ran head on into Dr. Futral. A fixture for years at Tift College in Forsyth, she was teaching in the evening college after Mercer had absorbed her beloved campus. My goal was to get all my English courses out of the way as quickly and as easily as possible. Her goal seemed to be the destruction of the ecosystem by flooding the world with red ink.

To give you a mental picture of her wouldn't be hard. Think English teacher. That was harsh. Okay, think English teacher with a great smile and eyes that twinkled as she explained just how miserable she would be making our lives for the next 12 weeks.

She was a woman of grace, peppering her lectures with humor, and her comments on our work with wit. A committed Christian, and member of First Baptist Church of Forsyth, she'd often bring her faith experiences into her lectures. She'd quote Shakespeare, Faulkner, and the Psalms all in the same example of how to write a compelling paragraph. But when she evaluated your work - well, you'd better be ready to hear the truth.

I'll never forget one paper I wrote which received this comment: "Until the very last line of this paper, I felt that it was one of the best I had read. However, your thoughtless comma splice in the last phrase ruined it for me - and you." Beside that snippet she inscribed a large red "F".

Can I call that the gift of encouragement?

It was for me. My mission from that point on was to make Dr. Futral see the error of her ways. She kept trying to change my style, wanting me to use less punctuation - create shorter sentences - eliminate the passive voice. At one point, I ran a paper through a grammar checker program (new technology at the time) and handed it in. Her comment? "This isn't your work." "Oh yes it is," I replied, "and it's perfect." "It may very well be perfect as far as grammar is concerned," she shot back," but it is perfectly awful prose." You've never seen a smile leave anyone's face as fast as mine did. "You can do better," she said now smiling as she handed it back to me, "write it like David this time - from the heart."

Maybe she was from another time, when teaching was less a career and more a calling. All I know is that she gave her best and expected ours. I think of her often and thank God for her. In a sense I'm still writing partly for Dr. Futral. She believed in me. Every time I write I remember, "from the heart."

Do you remember someone who encouraged you along the way? Someone who helped you become the person you wanted to be?

Let them know it. They gave you their gift - pass it on.

Grace!

David Wilson

Way Over My Head

And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ. 9 My task is to bring out in the open and make plain what God, who created all this in the first place, has been doing in secret and behind the scenes all along. Gal 3:8-9 (MSG)

Like Paul, I know I am in way over my head. But I also know that God loves me and has chosen me to do this work of telling His story. So I watch and listen.

I was rearranging my office thursday and picked up a wooden plaque dated 1981. On it rested a hand print of one Adam Wilson, my first born son. It was so small. The writing on the plaque was some of that sentimental stuff about looking back at kids when they grow up. Uh yeah. Wouldn't want to do that. I'd be one of those saps, huh.

When Adam came into this world, I had no clue what being his daddy would mean. I wasn't just in over my head, I was clueless. All I could do is look at him and wonder what in the world am I supposed to do now?

I thought back to a baby lying in a yellow inflatable "tub" so we could bathe him. To a little boy who followed his daddy around. To a young man who I played basketball with. Then I thought about times when we worried over him - when he was sick, when those first days of school came, when we left to come down here and he didn't come with us. There were times of great joy - he was an awesome boy, and there have been times of sadness. Yet he has grown up and is a man anyone would be proud to call his son.

Yes, looking at that hand print made me think of God's grace - His love, and His mercy.

For through it all, even before Adam was born, God knew him, and He knew Bunny and me. We'll never know the extent of how God blessed us with His providential care. A lot of things could have gone wrong. An awful lot of things went right. In that boy, now a man, I got to watch God's work and have a part in it.

"And so here I am, preaching and writing about things that are way over my head, the inexhaustible riches and generosity of Christ."

Well, sometimes they aren't over your head. I've got a hand print on a plaque to prove it.

Buttons and believers

One of those things you find out about after it happens and can see God's hands all over it.

The girls here at New Hope are learning to sew on Wednesday nights. Kinda cool that they'd acquire such an ancient skill, huh. :) Last week they were learning how to sew on buttons and they wound up doing that on two pieces of cloth that Bunny's going to send to the two girls our family sponsors through Compassion. Sean sponsors Ribka, a little girl in Ethiopia, and Bunny and I sponsor "Mookie", who lives in Rwanda.

So the work of little hands will soon be in... little hands. I love the idea of the hands of little girls here in Valparaiso Florida will be held by other little hands in Africa. Buttons and believers.

When Bunny and Sean were sitting in church Sunday, she told him about it and Sean sewed a button on too. Sponsoring Ribka in Ethiopia is something he did on his own. His mom and dad are very proud of the way he has found his own walk with Jesus. I pray the Holy Spirit delivers more than just fabric, thread and buttons to those two little girls. I pray He helps them find their way with Jesus too.

Everything we're doing at New Hope ought to be aimed at the same goal.

Getting What They Deserve

From It's Like Herding Cats - A pastor's life

One of the pieces of information I've picked up in my recent foray into public education is the disturbing realization that some of the same ills that plague the church are also found in the halls of education. For example, I have found that they "we never did it that way before" cult lives within education as well. And it is just as unwelcome and just as harmful to the goal of education as it is in the church.

We were discussing classroom assessments (tests, projects, quizzes, etc.) in class on Saturday. Our teacher, who works with kids in Panama City who are having difficulty learning to read, was telling us about one kid, we'll call him Charles, whose mother is a gang member. Charles doesn't come to school all the time, and has trouble staying motivated. So the teacher and Charles have worked out a system for assisting Charles. If he comes to school and stays engaged, he gets a coke. Sounds simple.

Well, the only coke machine is in the teacher's lounge and when Charles went there last Friday, a teacher shooed him out despite his insistence that his teacher told him to go there. When confronted, the teacher said "we never let children into the lounge." Didn't matter that Charles' attendance had tripled. Didn't matter that another teacher sent him. WE NEVER DID THAT BEFORE!

Later in the same class, the teacher was sharing how she handled homework with a group of kids like hers. She uses homework to see what the kids are learning - to help her help them. The district wants her to count homework in their grades. But because the kids don't come every day, and don't do their homework sometimes even when they come, the resulting zeros would doom any chance they have of passing the class. So the teacher simply uses what they do to see how to adjust her teaching, and then uses the tests to determine their grade.

A woman in my class who is a long time substitute teacher (and who I'm glad my kids never had) was irate with that idea. "But you are breaking the RULES. If the kids can't be troubled to do the homework, what are you teaching them?"

Our teacher said, "We had a test over the chapter Friday, and everyone made a "B" or better and Charles made a 92. It was cokes for everybody."

Then she said, "You have to decide whether you really want this kids to learn, or you would rather them fail as long as they did it YOUR WAY."

It got real quiet.

And I wondered... How many Christians would rather see someone go to hell rather than experience the love of God through Christ Jesus in Salvation simply because "We never did it that way before"?

How many of us secretly root for people who are far from God and caught in sin - to stay there, because by doing so they confirm what we believe about them?

I am sick of it. Sick of people who are graceless zombies. Sick of folks who take some perverse pleasure in pointing out other people's failures. Sick of it.

If you can't love your brother who you can see, how will you love the Father who you can't see?

Listen, if we all -you, me - got what we DESERVE - we'd be toast.

If you can't embrace grace - then at least get out of the way.

Dear 98.170.219.187

From It's Like Herding Cats - A Pastor's Life

98.170.219.187, you've come to my blog 6 times today. You came 5 times yesterday. You live in Niceville, have a Mac with Safari and a PC running Internet Explorer and Vista and are connected to the internet through Cox communications.

I must be one interesting character. :) Life's kind of busy for me right now so I haven't been able to blog as much as I was, and I really need to get better at letting people know what's going on with my family and with our spiritual family here at New Hope.

New Hope is a unique group of people who are really working sacrificially to make a difference here and around the world. We're small, but we're believing in a large God who can do more than we could ever ask or imagine. We figure that no one would have a problem believing a mega church would do big things, but if we see big things happen - it had to have been God.

If you are interested in walking with a group of people who love God and each other, you should come check us out.

Please feel free to email and ask any questions you might have.

Sincerely,

192.168.7.17

Every now and then...

I posted this yesterday on Facebook: "If I were to write about the burdens of the preacher as I have experienced them and as I know them," declared Martin Luther, "I would scare everybody off."

And it's true. If I hear one more person talk about how preachers need to get a "real job" I may scream. After being with people dying and trying to offer comfort, counseling with people at the end of their rope and on the edge of losing it all, making decisions on how to best reach people in a way to change their eternal destiny, and yes, confronting people with the real consequences of their actions - if that's not real...

But you need to hear about the flip side too, about those moments of surpassing joy that make it all worthwhile.

- Like seeing Gracie on percussion last Sunday morning. Gracie's a wee lassie and is always full of life. She wanted to help the praise team on Wednesday night, so Pam gave her the "egg" which is a small percussion instrument. Well Sunday Gracie was giving it everything she had - on beat most of the time. :)

- Or when I was cooking supper last week and Caleb asked if he could help cook. I said "sure" and he got busy. Soon Devon wanted to know what he could do, and before it was over 5 of the boys from the neighborhood were helping the pastor cook supper.

- Or looking out over the congregation and seeing Robert and his kids there. He's had a tough road back but he's done it with honor and his kids (and his parents) are absolutely loving having their son in worship and serving the church that prayed him through hard times and is rejoicing with him now.

- Or sitting in quiet office and marveling at the enormity of God's grace. That Jesus would drop down into the sewer of humanity and not just throw us a rope, not just jump in and rescue us, but that we'd be able to read this...

Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! 1 John 3:1 (HCSB)

That "prince of preachers" Charles Spurgeon read that and wrote:

"Behold!" ye angels! stop, ye seraphs! here is a thing more wonderful than heaven with its walls of jasper. Behold, universe! open thine eyes, O world. "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God."

If we only realized that what we have and what we have been called to do was the stuff angels only dream of...

Every now and then we need to be reminded that we are what God says we are.

In Pursuit... of God

Began a teacher certification program a few weeks ago at Gulf Coast Community College. It's a program for people who did not originally plan to be teaching and got their bachelors degrees in other disciplines. The Educator Preparation Institute is a Florida Department of Education program, administered by a few colleges and universities within Florida. The basic premise is to give those within it the tools to teach in 6 months. This does not include the other prerequisites of passing the state mandated tests for General Knowledge, Professional Knowledge, and Subject Area(s), but does include some student teaching practicum.

Did I mention it's only 6 months long?

It's a compressed program, and Lord have mercy, it's demanding.

Second week's work product includes:
228 pages of reading and viewing of three videos
Three quizzes over the reading
Two Critical Reviews that you must post into a discussion forum and defend
The writing of a Personal Philosophy of Education
The writing of Student Learning Objectives and Essential Questions for a Unit Plan begun last week
The beginning of an Instructional Notebook on Reading - 10 pages tied to Sunshine State Standards in Phonics and Phoneme work.

The estimate was that the three courses would consume anywhere from 18 to 30 hours each week.

Yep

Burning the midnight oil, we are

But all of that comes after the work God has given me as a pastor.

There's no doubt in my mind that teaching is an awesome way to touch a community and to serve God through your work. I've known too many teachers that were as called to their work as I am to mine as a pastor. They made a difference in my life, and the ones I know now - Diane Weech and Amy Anderson - are true servants of the Lord and are teaching out of their love for Him and His children. I hope to one day be their colleague.

But I am honored to be their pastor. It's what God has called me to invest the rest of my life doing.

Friends, the church/society landscape is changing. Fewer people, particularly in younger generations, have any exposure to Christians or church at all. The mega churches continue to do well, but smaller churches are struggling to stay relevant and alive. So we're going to see if a different model of ministry that uses people working outside the church and also working in the church won't provide more ministry and more resources for the Kingdom.

Ideally we'd get to the point where with that model, at least HALF the money God entrusts to us through tithes and offerings goes OUT of here into spreading the gospel and caring for our neighbors here and around the world. We'd have an entire staff of "tent-makers" just like that 1st century radical named Paul. And we'd have more contacts with more people in the community and outside the church than ever before. Living life with people and loving them makes opportunities to share Jesus increase exponentially.

Other churches may choose a different path - bigger buildings, more programs, more professionals and use that to attract people to them. No doubt it works.

It's not who we are.

New Hope is raw... organic... authentic.

And we think that's what God wants us to be. So pray for the pastor with new challenges and new opportunities ahead. And pray for the church he loves to serve.

In A Quiet Sanctuary

I'm praying now in a silent sanctuary here at New Hope. Praying that God's Son will be lifted up so that everyone can see how good He is, and how a life in Him can be more than anyone ever dreamed. It's rare for me to have this time on Sunday morning, and I cherish it. I look out over the seats and remembering who sits where (we're Baptists after all:) ) I say a prayer for each person, couple, or family by name. Some won't be here today. One couple is sick, and another is away. Others may not come today.

But they will be prayed for.

And I pray for me. The responsibility of bringing the Word of God to people is terrifying. The fear of saying the wrong thing and sending someone in the wrong direction pops up now and then. You never finish preparing a sermon, or finish preparing the person who delivers it. I'm praying that I get out of God's way and allow the Holy Spirit full use of whatever I have to offer.

Pray for me. Pray for us at New Hope. Pray for churches and pastors today who carry the good news of Jesus to people who need His saving grace.

How Much Is A Church Worth?

Seriously.

It's Wednesday night and I'm tired, my throat's scratchy, and I'm on the ragged edge of crabbiness. Studied for school, studied for church, bought food for church supper, cooked supper, cleaned up the cooking dishes, went over to praise team practice, from there to prayer and Bible study. Came home and replayed the day.

Around me tonight were other people who probably had tougher days than I had.

And yet, they were there, serving kids and youth, helping them find their way, helping them find THE WAY.

What's that worth?

Frankly?

More than most people are willing to give.

Outsiders and Insiders

Having started another educational program recently at a local community college, it's taking me a wee bit of time and a lot more effort than I thought it would to get onboard. Thinking back, I realized that for the last 20 years of my life, I've been in school as much as I have been out of it, pursuing one degree or another. Each and every one has helped me grow as a person and as a pastor. But each of them has it's own barriers and "hoops" to jump through.

This particular program to certify teachers has a language all it's own that has to be learned in order to make any progress whatsoever in learning the skills you need. Here's just a sample of the terms I've learned in two weeks.

formative assessment
summative assessment
student learning objective (SLO)
Florida Educator Accomplished Practices
rubric
artifact
and many, many more.

I'm an outsider in the sense that if I don't know the terms used in educational textbooks and lectures, I cannot get to the truth of what they are telling me. Sure I can hear the words, but the meaning doesn't transfer just because I know them. I have to be able to use them correctly and in the proper context.

I totally get that.

Here at the church, we have a language too. Oh we are better at unpacking it than we used to be, but there are still times when I look out at the congregation after delivering some information and see a "huh?" expression on some people's faces. Anyone who teaches has to realize that people don't need any more barriers than they came in with. If the threshold is artificially high because of the language, then make the call - is the language worth it? Or is the truth so important that whatever we need to do to convey it - we should.

I vote for change. I vote to let people hear the compelling and convicting words of Jesus in a way that they can "hear" them. I vote to do everything we can to make sure that people hear those words as "good news" and that they hear them in time to make a difference.

What about you?

Here Am I, Send Me

Getting ready for tomorrow's worship by spending some time praying for my friends who are also pastors. I've been fortunate to establish relationships with men all over the world who have followed Jesus into this role. For the last 20 years of my life, I've given Jesus control of where I lived and what I did with my life. It wasn't something I was looking for, or even something I ever had wanted to do. But once I heard God clearly asking for someone to serve, I answered much like Isaiah did.

The last few years have been spent among people who understand "calling." Our area is filled with men and women who heard their country call and they responded "here I am, send me." There's no way I can ever know of the range of experiences they have had serving our country all over the world, in peacetime and at war. On the other hand, they would have the same limitation in trying to grasp what my family has encountered.

Here's where we meet though - we answered the call. No one really can understand what that will mean.

I was looking at some pictures recently of Jonathan Vandivere's EOD school graduation. I went back to look at them, because word had come to me that one of his instructors had been grievously maimed by an IED. Not too many weeks prior, another former instructor had been killed. I wanted to go back and see if the Gunny was in that picture. I wanted to look at him as he was that day - so confident, so rugged, so much a Marine. Being there that day, among those men and women, was an honor for me. They didn't just volunteer for duty in the armed services, which only 1% of Americans will ever do. They volunteered for EOD work, serving their fellow servicemen and women by putting their lives at risk. The Gunny knew that, and he said "Here am I, send me." That's a hero.

One of my friends in the ministry serves in an area of this country that's been especially hard hit by the recession. Unemployment is well over 20% there, and with jobs being scarce, money is tight. He spent years training for his role as pastor. He stepped forward to go to a smaller church when others wouldn't have gone. He and his wife and ten children live in a home provided by the church. He didn't get a paycheck this week. A part-time job is helping some, and family is too. Looking in from here, he's done everything he can do, and yet his family's welfare is at risk... because he said "here I am, send me." He's a hero of mine too.

Friend, if you're reading this, you need to know that there are people all around you who have stepped up and decided to spend their life for something far greater than just making a living. They weren't willing to look the other way when the need was shown to them.

What about you?

There's a world of opportunities to make a difference with your life. If a smaller church like New Hope has quite a few, imagine what your church might have - what your community might have.

Don't waste the time God gives you by simply making it through the day. Be a difference-maker. Answer the call.

Priceless

I was cooking this afternoon and smiling thinking about the kids at New Hope tonight who make me feel like Bobby Flay at Wednesday night suppers. Tonight's menu was chili and grilled cheese sandwiches. Haute cuisine. :) When I rolled up in the parking lot they were already there. I literally didn't get the chili out of the back of the Element before I got the first "wow that smells good." Friends, I am not a cook.

But they make me wish I was.

If only I could make people understand what life in a smaller church like ours is. Notice I didn't write "is like" because there's nothing like it.

We've been praying and working as a church to navigate through a financial crunch. The adults here and others in our extended church family have given to help us weather the storm. It's been amazing to see what God has done.

But tonight, John Anderson told the RA boys,kids from the neighborhood - rough boys that "good people" wouldn't want their kids to associate with. Whatever.

Those boys heard John talk about the church's need, they prayed, and then they emptied their pockets.

Every dime they had - THEY GAVE.

Enjoy your multi-million dollar edifices.

We're doing CHURCH over here, from the 80 year old to the 8 year old.

And that's priceless.

At the Feet of the Disciple Who Jesus Loved

7 My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard. 8 On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you—the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
9 Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark. 10 It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others. 11 But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
1 John 2:7-11 (MSG)

We're walking through John's little letters on Wednesday nights in small group Bible study, and I wonder if anyone will be tripped up by this. The word love here is "agape" which is a steady directed will to do right by another regardless of the personal cost. It's not a "feeling." And yet how many times have we heard about how our feelings are what matters? John is not commanding anyone to feel a certain way about others. He's saying you must, if you are a follower of Jesus, ACT a certain way toward them.

Think about it this way:

When we act properly toward of Christian brothers out of a desire to be obedient to God, we love them.

I'm smiling right now thinking about all the times when Bunny would call the boys together after they were squabbling with each other. She'd have them hug each other and repeat "Adam (or Sean) you are my brother, and I love you very much." Was it forced? Oh yeah. But every single time they would somehow realize in that moment just how special it was to have a brother. They'd usually wind up laughing.

You have, I have people who you don't like. Maybe they've hurt you or hurt someone or something you love. You don't have to like that. You don't have to like them. But John is saying that if you love God, really love Him, you will act in love to them. Over time, I think you'll find yourself more able to love them naturally.

Who said this was easy? :)

A Garden Or A Place Of Testing?

This is the garden of Gethsemane. Olive trees thousands of years old frame a place of surpassing beauty, against which was placed the rawness of Jesus' struggle between His humanity and His calling.

I can't relate to the agony he suffered. Literally sweating drops of blood, a condition called hematohidrosis, Jesus was pushed to the edge and remained His Father's Son, saying "not my will, but yours." He knew the weight of the sins of the world would soon rest upon Him. He did not fail the test.

It's hard right now for me. Those of you who have arrived here by searching for "a pastor's life" or "life of a pastor" need to know that while many times the life of a pastor is suffused with joy, there are times,like this one, that try men's souls, to borrow a phrase. When it happens, you have to double down on those things that feed your faith and minimize those that don't. Sounds simple. But life is filled with complexity today and trying to practice those spiritual disciplines can be exceedingly difficult.

And yet without them, without a focus on opening your heart and mind to the grace of God, you become less - less compassionate, less loving, less forgiving... less.

So I kneel tonight in the garden, asking my Father for His strength in this challenging time. Pray for me.

Who'll Be Jesus To Them?

Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
James 1:27 (HCSB)

I'm writing out of frustration today. Be forewarned.

Last week's bombshell from the NYC health department exposing the number of abortions is haunting me. I cannot get a grip on how almost half of the women in the Bronx decide that their baby is disposable. I just cannot. Then I read about the 44 million orphans worldwide, who have been allowed to be born but have no families and I begin to wonder if Christians actually READ their Bibles.

New Hope, in it's smallness, does care for orphans. We have several families that sponsor children through World Vision or Compassion International. We have a class that sponsors the work of Amazima Ministries in Uganda as well as individuals doing so. We raise thousands every year out of a congregation of people that don't have a lot of money to provide water, medicine, housing and schools for orphans. Pound for pound, dollar for dollar, person for person, we do a lot for a church our size - for a church any size.

And yet, there's such an overwhelming need. The church in America needs to lead people to value life as sacred. It needs to help those mothers in NYC to see that the life they carry within them is a gift from God. Even if their circumstances are such that they cannot keep the baby, the church needs to move heaven and earth to help bring that which God created into this life and care for them. Too many churches are focused on the next 3D program or the next super colossal building for their youth when babies and children are dying each day. It's a sin. yes, I said that.

We have some people here dreaming of building an orphanage in Africa. And events along the way keep happening to direct our attention that way in prayer. You could call them coincidences, but it's funny how when you pray for God's direction out of hearts already trained by the Holy Spirit to love what God loves... how those coincidences keep occurring.

It is COMPLETELY IMPOSSIBLE in New Hope's strength, power or resources. No way.

And yet, nothing is impossible with God.

We may have to give up some things that we have now to do it. Could be we sell our buildings here and rent a school to meet in. Could be the pastor goes bivocational to help. Could be God finds a way to provide for it that none of us even have dreamed of. But friends, if we cannot love the orphan as God does, we are going to fall short of what He wants us to do and to be.

Will you pray with me about what God would have you do, have your church do about orphans?
Will you give part of what God has blessed you with to save their lives?
Would you join with those of us who dare to dream impossible dreams to see lives saved and transformed by the love of God?

Sunday Recap - 1/9/11

Wow it's cold!

Had a great morning at New Hope even though some of our folks were out sick. One of the real blessings in this New Hope family is the way we pull together to get the job done. Well that was the case again today.

We picked a worship set today that included some songs that would warm anyone's heart.
Today is the Day
Everlasting God
God of This City
I Have Decided

The sermon focused on how we are to handle times of trial - and handle fear, and came from Psalm 142.



In the text, David has followed God and yet finds himself in a bad way. He complains to God. It's raw emotional angst, and I love that the Bible shows us all of the lives of the saints - not just the good times. David takes his case to God and leaves it there, showing his confidence in God's knowledge of his situation and faith in God's provision.

When David got up the next morning, he was still in a cave.

But he knew what we need to know.

God IS FOR US.

Jesus Wept

The murder capital of the world.

What comes to mind when you hear that?

Baghdad? Kabul? Mumbai?

What if I told you that it's New York City?

Read today that 41% of all New York City pregnancies end in an abortion.

The new city numbers, from 2009, show 87,273 abortions in New York City two years ago — numbers that are higher than the abortion figures of every state except California. If miscarriages are taken out of the equation, 48 percent of pregnancies of women in the Bronx end in abortion, 38 percent of Manhattan women opt for an abortion, as do 32 percent of women living on Staten Island.

I keep reading that article and rereading it. The enormity of this just breaks my heart. This is not happening in a third world country without access to contraception and medical care. New York, like so many communities, has a law that allows parents to drop off children at a firehouse or police house without penalty. The city and the state offer (at great cost to the taxpayer) a web of welfare help.

And yet, 87,273 babies were not allowed to be born.

"Safe, legal, and rare" was the trite phrase those who were for "abortion rights" used to attempt to claw up to some semblance of moral high ground.

Can we agree that having the city of New York be the scene of 87,273 abortions is a national tragedy?

Jesus is weeping.

So am I.

Can't Wait For Sunday To Get Here

Working on the "meat" in Sunday's sermon that focuses on where to put your fears in a time of change. Psalm 142 is such a great text. I love the "rawness" of David's psalms. Then put it in the "Message" version and you can almost feel the darkness and gloom of the cave David was in when he wrote it.

Two quick thoughts - you'll have to come Sunday for the whole enchilada...

Loud cries to the right person work best. We complain too often and to the wrong people.
Knowing yourself, your enemies, and where your hope lies is pure wisdom. That puts everything in perspective which is - you need God.

Lots more Sunday. :)

1 A David prayer—when he was in the cave.


I cry out loudly to God,

loudly I plead with God for mercy.

2 I spill out all my complaints before him,

and spell out my troubles in detail:

3 "As I sink in despair, my spirit ebbing away,

you know how I'm feeling,

Know the danger I'm in,

the traps hidden in my path.

4 Look right, look left—

there's not a soul who cares what happens!

I'm up against it, with no exit—

bereft, left alone.

5 I cry out, God, call out:

'You're my last chance, my only hope for life!'

6 Oh listen, please listen;

I've never been this low.

Rescue me from those who are hunting me down;

I'm no match for them.

7 Get me out of this dungeon

so I can thank you in public.

Your people will form a circle around me

and you'll bring me showers of blessing!"
Psalms 142:1-7 (MSG)

By faith, by faith, by faith...

Early on in the adventure called "following God's call", I was fortunate to be invited to preach in various churches around the Macon area. Usually I was standing in for the pastor who was away,or even more likely one of a parade of "pulpit supply" preachers. When a small church loses its pastor, many times two committees are formed - a pastor search committee and a pulpit supply committee. The first is thinking long term, and the second is focused on finding someone for each week.

My experiences and venues varied wildly during that time.

So did my preaching.

My first attempt, which I had practiced for over and over again and honed to 22 minutes of brilliance, delivered a stunningly succinct 10 minute message. What the congregation didn't know was that the original 22 minute message had actually been combined with another to make it to the ten minute mark. The funny thing was that I made it back to our home church (Mt Zion Baptist in Bolingbroke GA) before they got out.You'd think I'd have been invited back simply because of my brevity, but no.

Later, after desperately studying preaching fundamentals and having the benefit of the beginning of my seminary education, I got better. One thing a professor told me really helped a lot. "Preach two or three sermons really well", he said. "You are only there once and they won't know you've preached it before." After thinking about that, and considering the alternative, I decided to do just that. So I had a handfull of sermons that I worked on every week and kept practicing and honing the insight and illustrations. People seemed to respond to them. Well, most people. My family got a little tired of hearing one in particular.

Hebrews Chapter 11 is an awesome list of some of those God considers as faithful. It's like a "Hall of Fame" for faith. So in my search for sermons people would connect with, the passage was perfect. Here are ordinary people doing extraordinary things because their faith in God was real. Part of the sermon was my stirring repitition of the passages "By faith (insert Biblical heroes name), repeat, and repeat a few more times.

It's not an exaggeration to say that my family, while outwardly supportive, inwardly GROANED when that began, and gave me fits about it on the long rides back home. I think one even said she'd throw a hymnal at me if I ever did it again. Now to be clear, she didn't have a problem with faith - just the repetitious way I was preaching about it.

You've got to have faith.

As a pastor and as a family, we have to live by faith.

Faith in God, and faith in the group of people that God has placed us within.

We all repeat that here. Often. No groaning accompanies it. Must have been the preaching.

Sunday Recap - January 2, 2011

Beginning the New Year is always interesting. Some years you get the benefit of people deciding that "this year I am going to attend church more." Other years you have people spread out all over the country and on their way home. This year I think we had both. It was good to see some people where were with us after a hiatus and I know some people who were still gone.

The theme for the first few weeks is dealing with change and I chose to look at the life of Abram for insight. He was certainly tested by the change that occurred when God called him to "go to a place that I will show you). Personally, God decided He'd test me Sunday by having me teach the older youth class and then come over for worship and find that the projector had given up the ghost. So our modern church had to go back to the hymnal for a Sunday. Bunny, Kristen, and Brittany did a great job adjusting and leading us in worship. I helped, but after was told that there was a very scant relationship between my arm signals leading the congregation and the actual music. All I will say is... probably a good call. :)

So our retro music was: O Worship the King, Tis So Sweet, and It Is Well With My Soul. The invitation hymn was "Jesus Paid It All."



What was funny about the morning was that the one preaching about change and call was the one who wound up doing major adjustments. Not having the powerpoint meant I was working off those notes I never use and it did bother me to a certain extent. But looking out at the congregation I could see times when the Holy Spirit was delivering what he wanted heard. What an amazing thing to be a part of God's work - a "pencil in His hand" as Mother Teresa once said.

Sunday night we met to discuss some items of critical importance to our church going forward. The response once the church family learned of the need for action was heart warming. New Hope is a special group of people who love God and work to bring Him glory through loving others. Very thankful to be placed here as pastor. We're walking by faith through all of what we find ourselves in as a family of believers in Jesus.

If you don't have a church family, out of all those I have known in 37 years of being a Christian, this is the one I'd recommend to anyone. We're not anywhere close to perfect. We don't have many of the bells and whistles the big churches do.

But we know how to love. And that my friends is all you need to know.