My All for God's All

It's A Boy!

2010-12-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

“It’s a Boy!”

Many-a-father has walked out of a delivery room and made that grand announcement, “It’s a Boy!” Personally, I’ve been equally elated to announce twice—with the delight that only a new father can display—“It’s a girl!” There’s nothing quite like that announcement of a newborn baby.

And listen, there’s an unmistakable message in those few words, “It’s a Boy!” No one thinks, “Oh, he must have lost his job”…or “They must have bought a new car”…or “The stock market must be up today.” No! Everyone knows what those words mean—a baby’s been born! It’s clearly identifiable…it’s obvious…it’s unmistakable!

This time of year, you’ll hear people throwing around lots of phrases: Merry Christmas, Merry X-mas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukkah, Season’s Greetings…and some folk argue endlessly about what the right words are. Personally, I’m not that offended when somebody says, “Happy Holidays” to me…I can still wish them whatever I want to. (And by the way, don’t ruin your witness as a believer by being rude to a sales clerk who’s just trying to do her job…and trying to keep her job by obeying her employer’s rules.)

We get all tangled up in terminology, sometimes so passionately that we lose sight of what it’s really all about. That’s why I’ll give you a good way to stay on task today and every Christmas season. Try this on for size…the next time someone wishes you “Seasons Greetings” or “Happy Holidays” or even “Merry Christmas,” respond with “It’s a Boy!” and see what happens…it forces us to remember the heart of the Christmas message!

The angel told Mary, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus” (Luke 1:31).That name, by the way, is significant because it literally means, “Jehovah saves.”

We so easily and nonchalantly wish one another “Merry Christmas”—and that’s fine—but are we really grasping the excitement and enthusiasm of Christ’s birth when we do? “It’s a Boy!” reminds us that a baby’s been born in Bethlehem, and He is the Savior for the whole world. That's what this day should be all about!

What Does "LOVE" Mean?

2010-12-24T05:00:00.001-06:00

A group of children was asked, “What does ‘love’ mean?” Here are some of their answers:

Rebekah, 8, said, “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time—even when his hands got arthritis, too. That's love.”
Billy, 4, said, “When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”
Bobby, 7, says, “Love is what's in the room at Christmas, if you stop opening presents and listen.”
Nikka, 6, says, “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with someone you hate.”
Tommy, 6, says, “Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well.”
Cindy, 8, says, “During my piano recital, I was on a stage, and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me, and I saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. And I wasn't scared anymore.”
Jessica, 8, says, “You really shouldn't say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot.”

I got to thinking about asking God that same question, “What does ‘love’ mean?” and I was reminded of John 3:16—“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” What a perfect verse to sum up the message of Christmas!

In all our celebrations this month, let’s not forget that the birth of Christ—the Incarnation, which is God clothing Himself in the garments of humanity—answers that question, “What does ‘love’ mean?”

There’s a poem that’s been set to music and sung by many…it’s called “Love Came Down at Christmas.” I couldn’t agree more!

World War 1 Is Finally Over!

2010-12-23T05:00:00.001-06:00

Well, I guess you’re glad that, as of a couple of months ago, World War 1 is finally over. I know I am!

Of course…I, like you, learned in school that it ended in 1918 or 1919…but that’s not technically true. When Germany surrendered, as part of the peace treaty, they were forced to sign a “war guilt” clause that included a pledge to pay billions of Reichsmarks in reparations. They made their final payment in October.

In the Bible—Romans 8:7—we’re told that our sin nature is at war against God. It says, “The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so.” But God initiated a peace treaty that paid the debt of our “war guilt,” a debt that we could never pay on our own if we had a million lifetimes to live.

And at the center of this peace treaty is Jesus, born in Bethlehem, and called “the Prince of Peace.” I love Isaiah 9:6 that says, “For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.”

Now, it wasn’t just his birth that brings peace to our lives…Jesus was born, lived a sinless life, died upon the Cross as full payment for our sin, and rose from the dead to give us eternal life! But His birth set into motion His earthly life that would climax upon Calvary’s Cross…and fulfill that angelic prophecy that said, “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

As Jesus hung on the Cross, He made a statement that was heard throughout all time and space. He said, “It is finished!” That’s literally an accounting term that means “Paid in full.” He made the final payment for our sin then and there.

Another thought along this line: We’ve always heard about some soldier stranded on a deserted island unaware the war has ended, still fighting the battles even though he no longer has to. That’s the way many people are living their lives today. If that's you, stop fighting. Realize that Jesus, the Prince of Peace, has signed the Peace Treaty in His own blood, providing peace to all who will receive it.

A Baby to the Rescue!

2010-12-22T05:00:00.002-06:00

Did you hear about what happened to a 2-year old little girl in Pennsylvania a couple of weeks ago? She and her mother were at a mall (in the food court)…and her mother says that she took her eyes off the child for just a few seconds. When she turned around, the child was gone…but then the mother saw her daughter…inside one of those toy claw machines where you pay money to operate the claw (like a crane) and try to pick up stuffed animals.

The little girl had crawled up through the chute of the toy machine. She could get in, but she couldn’t get out. And as you might guess, the mother was frantic that she could help her little girl…but the fire department soon came and, in about 15 minutes, had rescued the little girl from the predicament she had gotten herself into.

That true story makes me think of Christmas and I’ll tell you why. It’s not because they were in a mall. It’s not that the little girl wanted something that she did not have. That story reminds me of Christmas because in the much bigger picture, we (you and I) are that little girl.

The Bible says in Isaiah 59:2, “But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God.” In other words, sin has a dividing effect…separating us from God. And at the end of the day—even with all our debating about the origins of sin—sin is a choice. We choose to sin. We chose to crawl up a chute chasing cute and fuzzy fun…and entered a cage—the cage of sin—from which we could not rescue ourselves.

This is why the story of this Pennsylvania 2-year old makes me think of Christmas. What the fire department did for that little girl in rescuing her, God did for us in a manger in Bethlehem more than 20 centuries ago.

Matthew 1:21—one of my favorite verses at Christmas and all year long—“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins”

What “2001: A Space Odyssey" Can Teach Us About Christmas

2010-12-21T05:00:00.001-06:00

In the year after I was born, 1968, a movie came out that fascinated the world. Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick co-wrote “2001: A Space Odyssey.” I don’t really have time to discuss the details of the film, but suffice it to say that it was a futuristic look at the world…a prediction, of sorts.

Then, in 1984, a “2001: A Space Odyssey” sequel was released and it was about—among other things—humans making contact with alien life. And the year Clarke chose for this breakthrough? 2010. And here we are in December of 2010 and the closest we’ve come to making contact with alien life is the recent NASA announcement about some arsenic-based bacteria found in a California lake!

It’s actually quite humorous to read predictions made decades ago about what life would look like today. I know, based on all the hype from the mid-80s—I thought we’d all be driving flying cars by now. Futurists were predicting back then that we’d be living in floating space communities and underwater habitats by now. Japanese experts said in 1983 that by 2010 major diseases like cancer and heart disease would be conquered.

It’s easy to make such predictions…much more difficult to make them materialize.

That’s what makes the prophecies of Christ’s birth all the more amazing to me. The first one—Genesis 3:15—was given more than a thousand years before Jesus was born! Isaiah and Micah and Hosea prophesied explicit details of Jesus’ birth more than 700 years before the fact; Jeremiah 600 years. Daniel more than 500 years before Christ was born. And every single prediction—every prophecy—was fulfilled perfectly and completely…down to when and where and from what family Messiah would come!

Most of the predictions that people make today are just wishful thinking…and they would hardly qualify as “prophecy.” Prophecy is history written ahead of time…and only God can do that. I hope you'll give thought to the prophecies of Christ this Christmas and let them shape your understanding and reception of the coming of Christ!

Can You “Imagine” There’s No Christmas?

2010-12-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

30 years ago this month, Mark Chapman fired two gun shots into the back of John Lennon outside of his apartment building in Upper West Manhattan. There’s been a good bit of talk and remembrance lately as the world reflected on his death.

Lennon, of course, was one of the Beatles…and in his early days he wrote songs like “Love, love me do” and “I want to hold your hand.” As he got older, though, his songs became a bit more serious. One such song that he wrote comes to my mind…with lyrics like these:

“Imagine there’s no Heaven. It’s easy if you try

No hell below us, Above us only sky

Imagine all the people, Living for today

Imagine there’s no countries, It isn’t hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too….”

His lyrics were certainly popular (still are, in fact), but not terribly profound. Lennon believed that the world could become better and better and better until it was perfect. He believed in Utopia. So it’s kind of ironic, I suppose, that someone in the world that’s actually getting worse and worse and worse shot and killed him.

Lennon’s lyrics might have been catchy, but Jesus has never been wowed and wooed by them. Jesus spoke of heaven as a real place that He was preparing for his followers. Jesus warned of a real hell for those who choose to live and die without him.

But Jesus was born as a Babe in Bethlehem…He was called “Immanuel” which means “God with us.” God came down to us at Christmas to offer a relationship, not a religion. And whether we know it or not, we need God desperately!

Can you “imagine” there’s no Christmas?

God can’t! I can’t! And I don’t want to.

He has changed my life in dramatic ways and I don’t ever want to go back to that person that I used to be. I may not be who I ought to be (yet), but thank God I’m not who I used to be either! And I owe everything to Jesus!

*Special thanks to my friend Ron Hale for the essence of this blog post...

A Real Solution for Real People with Real Problems

2010-12-19T05:00:00.001-06:00

Last month, Bill Nye (y’know “The Science Guy”) was giving a lecture at the University of Southern California when he passed out mid-sentence…just collapsed right there on stage. At first, no one did anything…events like that have a way of shocking people into paralysis. But when the audience did react to Bill Nye, it wasn’t the kind of response that you might expect…and it wasn’t the kind of response that could offer “The Science Guy” any help.

Members of the audience, when they finally did respond, whipped out their phones and began to update statuses and Tweet about what just happened. Now, some of the students disputed portions of what got reported in the news stories…but it still raises a disturbing question: Are we so media-absorbed that we can't respond to real people right in front of us?

I’m so grateful that God, by way of a Baby born in Bethlehem, responded with a real solution for real people with real problems. The Bible doesn’t just tell us that we’ve stumbled…or that we’ve fallen…it doesn’t even say that we’re in really bad shape. You know what the Bible says about us apart from Christ? Paul wrote to the Ephesians about their lives in the B.C. days (y’know, “before Christ”) and he said, “You were dead in your transgressions and sins.”

But Jesus’ birth is God’s response to our very serious condition. And Colossians 2:13 explains what happens when we surrender our lives to Christ, “You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins.”

So, how does that happen? Actually, it’s as easy as A-B-C:

A - Admit to God that you are a sinner

B – Believe in Jesus as God’s Son and that He died for your sins and rose from the dead

C – Confess Jesus as Lord of your life

Let me know how I can help you make that decision for Christ.

Human Beings Can't Walk Straight, and NPR Says So!

2010-12-18T05:00:00.001-06:00

NPR had the most interesting story recently about why human beings cannot walk straight. They said, “Try this: Put a blindfold on someone, take them to a park or a beach or a meadow and ask them to walk for as long as they can in a straight line. Then watch what happens.”

According to this story (because I haven’t yet field-tested this theory personally, but I will), people cannot walk in a straight line if they’re blindfolded. Oftentimes they’ll walk in circles and not even realize it. Now, if you ask these people, they believe they’re walking straight…but obviously they aren’t!

Now the story said that there’s no real answer as to why we can’t walk straight, but one theory is that human beings need a focal point out in the distance in order to walk straight. Without it, our internal guidance system kicks in…but there’s something inside us that won't stay straight.

That, my friend, is a sermon illustration just waiting to be told!

A great verse that prophesied the birth of Jesus 700 years before the fact is Isaiah 9:2. It says, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light; Those who live in a dark land, the light will shine on them.”

In John 8:12, Jesus said about Himself, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” But sadly, as John 3:19 puts it, “This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil.”

Ladies and Gentlemen, God became a man in the Person of Jesus Christ in order to remove the blindfold of darkness and to provide a living, breathing, flesh-and-blood example—focal point, if you will—to follow. Our internal guidance system is broken—“…for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” So, one of the clearest, most compelling Christmas messages I could give you today would be to keep your eyes on Jesus…and follow Him!

Christmas Makes No Sense...

2010-12-17T05:00:00.001-06:00

Did you hear about the new vacation package that the Pan Pacific Hotel in Seattle is promoting this fall? It’s called “Snuggle Up and Shop,” where you pay $255 a night to shop online from your hotel room.

So, let’s get this straight—you leave the comfort of your own home, pay hundreds of dollars for airline tickets to Seattle, pay $255 a night…so you can do something there that most of us can do from our own homes?!?

Now, in all fairness, for every night that you stay, you get a $50 Amazon gift card and a $50 In-Room dining credit (and, of course, free wi-fi Internet)…so the idea is that you get all the fun of taking a shopping vacation…without having to actually leave your hotel room to shop.

And surprisingly, at least it’s surprising to me, the hotel says that people are taking advantage of this offer! People are spending (potentially) thousands of dollars just to shop online from a hotel room!

That doesn’t make sense to me on so many levels. And while I know I’m talking about apples and oranges here and I hesitate to use that story to illustrate my point here today, that God would become a man in order to save us from ourselves and our sin makes no sense to the unbelieving heart.

And I’ll give you one big reason why—God is self-sufficient. In other words, we don’t add anything to God…His fullness is independent of us. So His willingness to create us in His own image…and to love us despite our flaws and failures… and to pursue us in order to redeem us…is hard for us to understand.

So why did He do it? The short answer to that question is “for His pleasure.” Revelation 4:11 and Colossians 1:16 both speak to creation existing for God's glory and pleasure. God is a sovereign Being, so He can do whatever He wants (like the Incarnation). God is a relational Being, so it is “for His pleasure” that He created us for fellowship. God is a merciful Being, so it gives Him pleasure to restore His image in us that has been marred by sin.

We might not understand it, but God's plan is perfect...always!

What You Can Learn from a Bunch of Begats

2010-12-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

The first 17 verses of the New Testament, found in the Gospel of Matthew, are some of the most overlooked and unread verses in the entire Bible. And that’s unfortunate because we can learn a lot about God and His ways from them.

But if you’ve never read Matthew 1:1-17, it might help to know why many people don’t make the effort to read those verses. Here’s how the Gospel of Matthew and the New Testament of the Bible begins: “The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the Son of Abraham: Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers.” The KJV of the Bible, by the way, uses the word “begat”…we don’t see that word much, do we? “Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judah and his brethren.”

And for 15 verses, we read this long list of names—hard to pronounce names—one person begattin’ another who begat another…and so on…all the way down to Jesus. “Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.”

Now, quite honestly, there’s a lot that could be said about those verses being in the Bible…but here’s what I want to tell you this morning. Those verses—all the begats and everything—teach us one of the most valuable lessons about Jesus that we could ever learn.

You know what that lesson is?...that Jesus is not ashamed of sinners. He loves sinners. His family tree is full of them! If we had time, we could go through and explore the stories of each of these names… and we’d discover some pretty dark and depraved stuff about some of these folk.

Now that’s not to say that God doesn’t take sin seriously. He does…so much so that Jesus was born in Bethlehem in order to die on Calvary for our sins. He takes sin seriously! But this genealogical list teaches us that Jesus is willing to stand among and love sinners (a group to which we all belong)…even though He was/is without sin.

Do you know Him? Don't miss the Christ of Christmas this year!

Well, It Seemed Like a Good Idea in the Beginning

2010-12-15T23:59:00.000-06:00

A few years ago, I decided that my daughters needed a trampoline for Christmas…so I set out on a quest to find the perfect one. I thought it would be a great idea to set it up on Christmas Eve after my girls had gone to sleep so they could wake up the next morning and find it outside. My plans were perfect…at least until I opened up the box containing 176,423 parts (that’s hyperbole for those of you who care about details).

I had a friend come help me, and I’m grateful he was there to hold pieces in place while I tried to piece them together. There were instructions in the box, but you’ve got to wonder who writes that stuff! Man, the technical jargon mixed with bad English…what a combination. And the fact that it was like 20-something degrees outside while I was trying to put the trampoline together…that didn’t help. I couldn’t handle all the screws and bolts and nuts and springs with my gloves, so I was having to do it bare-handed. Do you get the picture?!? I was handling metal parts bare-handed in 20-something degree weather on a night that I couldn’t just give up and do it another day.

Finally, with the help of my more mechanically-inclined friend, we finished the trampoline. I don’t remember exactly how long it took to put that thing together, but I remember it took much longer than I thought it would. I have to confess to you…before I finished, I was rethinking my decision to give my girls that trampoline! Man, it just turned out to be so much more than I had planned. I had lost my Christmas spirit by the end of the evening!

That whole experience makes me think about God’s gift at Christmas. God is infinitely more complex and inexplicable than anything in the universe (let alone a trampoline); and yet, God's Christmas “presence” isn’t reserved for some privileged group of mechanically-inclined geniuses. At Christmas God became simple; the mysterious one became visible, small, and even vulnerable. Through Jesus’ birth, God revealed himself to ordinary people. As the Gospel of John says, “No one has ever seen God … (but) Jesus has made him known.” God didn't send thousands of pieces; he sent one piece—a Person, God-in-the-flesh, Jesus Christ. And he also sent clear instructions—believe in and follow Jesus.

"Sophomore" (and Stephen Hawking) = Wise Fool

2010-09-03T09:31:00.003-05:00

Did you hear about Stephen Hawking’s new claim? In his soon-to-be-released book The Grand Design, he says that God was not necessary to create the universe…just the laws of physics.

Until his retirement last year, Dr. Hawking was the Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at the University of Cambridge, a post once held by Sir Isaac Newton. To say that Hawking is brilliant would be an understatement, but in this case his perspective is stereotypically (for many within the scientific community) unintelligent.

“Mr. Hawking? [Ahem] Where do you think the laws of physics come from?”

This reminds me of the story I told recently in a sermon about two scientists who learned how to clone humans, and, so, decided to challenge God. They said to God, “We can create life by ourselves now. We don’t need you anymore.”

So God said, “Okay, then let’s have a man-making contest.”

“Alright,” said the scientists. “We’ll do it like you did in the beginning.” Then they reached down to grab a handful of dirt to begin to form a man. But they heard God’s voice from heaven saying, “Nuh-uh-uh, you have to make your own dirt.”

Brothers and sisters, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

Some might say, “Ah, but Larry, science is based on empirical, observable evidence. Science can be proved. Faith can’t.” Really? Hawking hasn’t “proved” his latest idea. Darwin couldn’t “prove” his theory of evolution. Sagan never “proved” the existence of black holes. All of these brilliant minds chose to have faith in their ideas when the science to prove them simply could not be found.

(By the way, I believe in the existence of black holes although no one has ever seen one. We see what must be the evidence of black holes, but no one has actually—empirically—observed a black hole. It takes faith to believe in black holes. But I digress…)

Although Hawking expressed in his 1988 book A Brief History of Time a belief in God and His role in the creation of the universe, he no longer holds that view. But Hawking is still a man of faith, only now his faith is in himself instead of God. Proverbs 12:15—“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.”

Oh How He Loves Us

2010-06-06T04:00:00.001-05:00

David Crowder is one of my favorite music artists. This song WOWS and humbles me everytime I listen to it. Just listen...let God sweep you into His arms...lay your head on His chest and listen to His heart...

Have an awesome day of worship...

A l'il Saturday morning musing on spiritual anarchy

2010-06-05T07:34:00.007-05:00

Just when I think nothing can surprise me anymore...

Last month a uniformed police officer, James Crooker, walked into a local coffee shop in Portland, Oregon, to get a cup of coffee. A patron of the shop was telling him how much she appreciated the work he and his collegues did everyday in their community when one of the owners of the Red and Black Cafe approached Crooker and demanded that he leave the premises immediately. He was not welcome in their establishment.

[sound of record player needle being pulled across an LP record album] What?!?

I don't want to over-analyze the Red and Black Cafe, but some things are obvious. Red is the color of Socialism/Communism...black is the color of Anarchism. On their website, socialist-sounding phrases like "worker-owned" and "collectively managed" are displayed prominently on the first page. References to Anarchism are sprinkled generously throughout the site.

I'm guessing that it was the Anarchist leanings of the coffee shop primarily that showed the police officer the door. Anarchism rejects all authority as being "unnecessary and undesirable." And since Law Enforcement officials represent authority, even the police (and especially the police) are unwelcome at the Red and Black Cafe.

The word "anarchy" comes from the combination of words in Greek meaning "no" and "ruler." Thus, Anarchy represents political, philosophical, and even religious ideologies that fight (sometimes violently) against established powers.

This current event is a secular example of its spiritual counterpart. Because some people refuse to acknowledge God's authority over their lives, they decry God and all who represent Him as "unnecessary and undesirable." This is nothing new, though. Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 both begin with the words, "The fool has said in his heart, 'No God.'" There are always those who want to position themselves as the final authority and even some who are spiritual anarchists.

It's easy to take Anarchists' rhetoric personally...but remember--they're blinded by their deification of humanity. Spiritual anarchists, more precisely, are blinded by Satan. "Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God" (2 Corinthians 4:4, NLT).

I think the response and attitude of Officer James Crooker give us a good template for our behavior as Christians. He said, "We have a unique relationship with the community. You're there to protect them but on the other hand they don't know what that involves. Being gracious is part of it....It was not personal. He was being hostile to my uniform."

Oh-h-h-h-h that we as Christians could be that gracious. No doubt, God is gracious toward those who find Him "unnecessary and undesirable"...and aren't we supposed to look like Jesus? Spiritual anarchy isn't necessarily personal toward us, although it is toward God. But oftentimes spiritual anarchists are being hostile to our "uniform" as Christians, which (by the way) hasn't always been up-to-par.

Incidentally, I read a "letter to the editor" in our local newspaper a few months back where an older gentleman and former soldier (WW2, maybe Korea or Vietnam?) was offended at how casually a young soldier eating in a local restaurant wore his uniform. The older man evidently came from the "old school" where the uniform was more than one's clothes; it represented one's respective military branch as well as one's own nation. In similar fashion, our spiritual attire represents our Lord and His kingdom. Let us wear our Christianity honorably. Then, when spiritual anarchists reject us and our faith, they're rebelling against God's authority and not our hypocrisy.

Sorry it's been so long since my last post...

But I thought that this is why I pay money every month for insurance...

2010-05-24T15:17:00.007-05:00

I just got off the phone with the insurance company that Verizon represents regarding cell phones. You probably know the routine, even if you've never had to use it. If you lose or damage your phone, the insurance allows you to replace your phone for a modest fee (which is far less than purchasing a new phone).

At least that's the way it's supposed to work.

Rebecca's phone was lost this weekend (actually due to no fault of her own, but that's another story). I took her to Verizon...who gave me the insurance company's number to call. The very nice lady assured us, "Just call this number and they'll overnight you a phone. It's that simple." Because I'm such a trusting person, I actually believed her. And to be honest with you, I think she believed what she said. But that's not exactly the story we got on the phone.

"I'm sorry, but that phone is on backorder and there are no comparable models." A bit puzzled, I asked, "Exactly what are you saying?" The guy said, "I'm saying that there is nothing we can do to help you at this time...but when we get that model in, we'll give you a call." Still a bit puzzled, I said, "But I thought that this is why I pay money every month for insurance...so that when something like this happens, we can get a replacement phone." He said, "It is. Unfortunately, at this time, we don't have any of those phones or any models comparable to your daughter's phone."

It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode when Jerry went to pick up the rental car he had reserved:

Jerry: I don't understand. Do you have my reservation?
Rental Car Agent: We have your reservation, we just ran out of cars.
Jerry: But the reservation keeps the car here. That's why you have the reservation.
Rental Car Agent: I think I know why we have reservations.
Jerry: I don't think you do. You see, you know how to 'take' the reservation, you just don't know how to 'hold' the reservation. And that's really the most important part of the reservation: the holding. Anybody can just take them.

But I digress.

I'm trying to see something positive in all of this...and one thought I've had is, "I'm sure glad God's promises aren't like this." 1 Corinthians 1:9 says, "God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." His faithfulness is guaranteed with no exceptions or fine print...no "I'm sorry, but...." If God said it, He'll do it!

I can be encouraged by God's word...even if I'm frustrated by Verizon's insurance company. ;-)

(In light of all that some people are going through today, by the way, this is minor.)

Robbing Peter to Pay Paul

2010-05-21T08:13:00.002-05:00

One of these days I'm going to learn how to juggle...not balls or bowling pins but social media.

I've been "encouraged" lately by some friends to get back to blogging, and I really want to do that. The challenge is finding the time to do everything that needs to be done. I have an active presence on facebook and twitter (not-so-active on MySpace, ShoutLife, and Plaxo), all of which I began long after I started this blog.

I hope you'll forgive me for not being more faithful to record my thoughts and impressions here. I'm going to seek to do better.

By the way, God has really been stirring my heart lately...and I've been preaching from that ongoing conversation with Him. The series of sermons is called "Is This What Jesus Died For?" The gist of the series (and my struggle) is whether all that we call church today and emphasize in ministry is what Jesus had in mind when He instituted the church and, further, stretched out His arms on a Roman cross and "gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:25-27).

I'll tell you...the more I think and pray about this, the more I think that the church as we know it today is a far cry from the church that Jesus had (and has) in mind.

"God, help us to see the difference so that we can live the difference in order to make a difference."

This is the Lord's Day...

2009-08-16T04:00:00.000-05:00

Enjoy!

New Pastoral Counseling Strategy?

2009-08-15T06:00:00.000-05:00

Could this be the pastoral counseling strategy I've been missing and needing? Hmmm...

It's Saturday...loosen up a little and laugh!

"Nominal" Christianity vs. "Normal" Christianity

2009-08-14T06:00:00.000-05:00

What we’re actually dealing with in America (and Europe, too, but I’m thinking primarily about Christianity on this side of the ocean right now) is “nominal” Christianity versus “normal” Christianity. Nominal Christianity is a spiritual scandal! Maybe not to everybody but it should be to every child of God. The word “nominal” literally means, “in name only.” So, nominal Christianity carries the label but little else. It is Christianity “in name only.”

I call nominal Christianity scandalous because it preaches a cultural Christianity, looking and acting more like the world than the Lord. It is scandalous because it promotes a counterfeit Christianity, misrepresenting what it really means to follow Christ. And nominal Christianity is scandalous because it produces a Christless Christianity, a so-called faith that ignores the claims of Christ.

The Apostle Paul called “normal” Christianity simple, however, in 2 Corinthians 11:3, “But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” Did you catch that? “…simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

Normal Christianity can be called simple (not simplistic, by the way) because, at the heart of the Christian faith, it is loving and following Christ.

By the way, I need to clarify what I mean by “normal.” Contrary to what one might think, “normal” doesn’t mean “average.” The average temperature on a hospital wing could be 101 degrees, but that’s not normal. The average golf score of someone like me might be 105, but that’s certainly not normal. Average isn’t the same thing as normal.

We live in a culture in which we’re measuring our spirituality by whatever is average, not normal. We find average Christianity by looking around us (i.e. nominal Christianity)…but we find normal Christianity in the pages of Scripture and wherever people are deeply and passionately in love with Christ.

The late A.W. Tozer said, “The Bible recognizes no faith that does not lead to obedience, nor does it recognize any obedience that does not spring from faith. The two are opposite sides of the same coin.” Good word!

Love Jesus = Obey Jesus

2009-08-13T06:00:00.000-05:00

Continuing yesterday’s thought, listen to Jesus’ words in John 14:

15"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

19"After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also.
20"In that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
21"He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
22Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, what then has happened that You are going to disclose Yourself to us and not to the world?"
23Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.
24"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me.

There’s a recurring thought throughout these verses: love for Jesus leads to and is expressed by obedience. Some might think that one’s love for God is measured merely by emotions and expressions…affections and affiliations; but contrary to our culture’s carnal connotations of the word, the Lord repeatedly described love toward Him as obedience.

Business As Usual?

2009-08-12T11:32:00.002-05:00

Want to know what keeps this preacher up at night? Want to know what’s on his mind as he stares off into space? Lots of things, I suppose, but one is this—I’m deeply disturbed by the disparity between those who claim faith in Christ and those who actually give evidence of such faith.

I belong to the spiritual family known as Southern Baptists. We’re the country's largest Protestant denomination, claiming more than 16 million members on our church rolls. But out of that number, only 37% (or just over 6 million), on average, show up to church on any given weekend.

The decline and disparity are worse in some other denominations, but there’s no comfort whatsoever in that to me. I’m gripped by this question, “When and where did we come to accept carnality and mediocrity and absenteeism as standard expectations of the Christian life?” We spend our time and energy defending our lack of spiritual depth and discipline instead of acknowledging it…and repenting of it. "Lord, help us..."

Unbelievable and Outrageous!

2009-08-06T16:57:00.003-05:00

For those folk in our country who have their heads in the sand as to where the current leadership in Washington wants to take our country, watch this video. We are on a steady, slippery slope toward socialism! Are you hearing me? SOCIALISM! And I'm not even talking at this point about the fact that our President has appointed an admitted communist, Van Jones, as his "Green Jobs Czar." Maybe later, though...

Watch this and tell me what you think:

Indigenous Worship in Africa

2009-07-31T10:14:00.002-05:00

Recently when Becca and I were in Africa, we went to one village that had several Bible-believing, born-again Christians. Although the village was a Catholic village, these believers' worship took place outside the church building and apart from Catholic rituals. They found places outside to gather, to sing, to study God's Word...to worship. I was able to capture a couple minutes of their music on video. Keep in mind that the only instrument they had was a borrowed hand drum known as a "Djembe" (pr. JEM-bay). If they couldn't use that, they usually found an empty bucket or plastic container of some kind to "play."

Watch and listen to the following video...and let God remind you that worship isn't about all the "stuff" and "fluff" that we've made it out to be. Worship is found in God's people pouring their hearts out to Him in pure, unadulterated adoration. While we worship in our air-conditioned, multi-million dollar facilities...with padded pews and big screens...let's think twice before we gripe about the temperature or the lighting or the music selections or the length of the sermon. Let's just pour our hearts out to God in pure, unadulterated adoration for our King.

Are Women Born This Way?

2009-07-30T16:01:00.002-05:00

I'm just asking a simple question, so don't tar-and-feather me...

Hmmmmmm. Beth, Morgan, and Becca...I love you!

(Some days we just need a good laugh, amen?!?)

in•ten•tion•al

2009-07-29T10:01:00.001-05:00

[in-ten(t)-shə-nəl]
-adjective
1. done on purpose or by design.

I’ve been impressed by God lately about how intentional I am (we are) about life and faith. I had this illustrated somewhat last week while my family and I vacationed in Destin, FL.

Morgan, Becca, and I were just lazily hanging out in the water at the beach on Boogie Boards. It was so relaxing that I almost went to sleep out there…enjoying the coolness of the water and the motion of the waves. It was great. But at some point I opened my eyes to discover that Beth was no longer sitting on the beach reading her book. She had been there the last time I looked, but now she was gone.

I began to scour the beach scene looking for my wife only to discover that she had moved about 50 yards down the beach. She had moved everything! Our chairs, our towels, our cooler…everything! And there she was, just reading her book as if nothing had changed.

And then the thought struck me—Beth hasn’t moved…we have! Just going with the flow, we had allowed the waves to carry us away from where we had been in the beginning. Being the PastorDad that I am, I brought this out to my girls as a true-to-life illustration of how easy it is to drift away from God and His plan for our lives. We have to find our reference point (at the beach, that was Beth / in life, that’s God’s Word in which Christ is the Centerpiece) and work to stay in line with it.

Beth had not moved; we had. God does not move; we do.

Left to ourselves, we will never drift toward a deeper walk with God…or holiness…or evangelism…or obedience. Left to ourselves, we’ll always drift away from God, not closer to Him! We have to be intentional about everything in the Christian life.

Whoever told us that the Christian walk was the easy way wasn’t being truthful. In fact, Jesus said just the opposite: “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).

This is what God’s been speaking to me about lately. How intentional are we being in our pursuit of Him and His purpose? Are we demonstrating Christ through our lives on purpose? Are we growing deeper in our worship and walk by design? Are we being intentional about reaching out to the 9-in-10 people in Montgomery County who do not know Christ?

OR, are we just lazily hanging out in life…just going with the flow…allowing the waves to carry us away from where we once were with God? I hope God will speak to you like He’s speaking to me. And may we be sensitive enough to His prompting to obey Him wherever He leads us.

Parasitic sins

2009-07-16T17:16:00.002-05:00

I've already shared that I brought back an African souvenir that I didn't mean to. I'm doing much better, by the way. But I've been thinking...

Evidently I picked up some kind of parasite without even realizing it...and it lay dormant in me for some period of time...and then at the "right" time (wrong time for me but right time for it), it manifested itself. How many sins develop in our lives the same way?

A thought or an image finds its way into our hearts, perhaps without us even realizing it at the time...and it incubates within us for some period of time...but then, seemingly out of nowhere (but we know better), we're tempted to commit some sin.

Let's not be so naive, folk. Satan's goal is to destroy you and me (and dishonor God in the process). And he operates in parasitic ways to accomplish his goals, unleashing tempting opportunities that cater to the most base part within us. Oh sure, maybe we don't feel the consequences immediately...but they're coming! Be sure, they're coming.

I've been taking two medications for my "problems"--Flagyl and Cipro. They're designed to kill the parasites and bacteria that have made me sick.

I want to encourage you, in spiritual terms, to enlist the Flagyl of faith and the Cipro of sanctification to fight off Satan's parasitism. We must be vigilant in the fight against our enemy! We must not give him even a place on the doorstep of our lives, much less a foot in the door.

These are my thoughts today...maybe they're only mine, but that's okay. God used my circumstances to remind me of greater issues at hand...

Next Thing You Know Bro. Lyndel Will Be Preaching!

2009-07-16T03:30:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd show you another video from our recent mission trip to Senegal, West Africa...

This is the video that would have been shown at Hilldale BC on July 5 IF technology had cooperated with me in Africa

2009-07-15T15:09:00.002-05:00

“Souvenir” = French verb meaning “to remember”

2009-07-14T08:34:00.000-05:00

I read the other day that 45% of English vocabulary is of French origin. If that’s true, that explains why we use so many French words in our everyday language and don’t even realize it. One of those words is “souvenir.” Did you know that’s French? It is. It’s the verb meaning “to remember.” And if you think about, it makes total sense. Why do we buy all those knick-knacks and trinkets when we travel? Is it not “to remember” our trip?

Becca and I bought some souvenirs in Africa…some artwork, jewelry, wood carvings, etc. But since we’ve been home, I’ve discovered another “souvenir” from my travels to remember my trip by. Every member of our team except Becca is sick with some kind of stomach bug (parasite/amoeba).

I’m on my third day thus far. Sunday was a bad day physically, but God’s grace enabled me to preach the morning and evening services at Hilldale. I wasn’t really “available” before, between, or after the services…but that side of the story can remain a mystery to my readers. ;-)

Someone mentioned to me this morning, “I hate that your trip has ended this way.” But I’ve got to be honest with you…our mission in Africa was worth it! Engaging the precious people in those Senegalese villages and sharing the good news of Jesus in the heart of spiritual darkness far outweighs whatever discomfort I’m now experiencing. Don’t get me wrong…I’m not enjoying this part of the journey AT ALL…but at least it’s happening on this side of the ocean and in my own house.

Just to put things in perspective in terms of how I feel about our time in Africa despite my sickness: I’d get on a plane today and head back to Africa if I could…well, after I pumped myself full of Imodium, of course. ;-)

Thanks for reading...

And as Dorothy said in the Land of Oz...

2009-07-11T07:11:00.003-05:00

"There's no place like home."

Of course, I wanted to sleep late and couldn't...unless you consider that in Senegalese time, I slept until 11:00 in the morning! Aaaggghhh! I missed a whole night's sleep on the way home...you'd think I could make that back up somehow...but c'est la vie (they speak French in Senegal, y'know). :-)

Thanks for joining us on the journey through your prayers.

And so our time in Africa comes to a close...

2009-07-09T14:49:00.003-05:00

I can't believe it, but this day has come--our last day in Africa. In fact, we just finished supper and are about to load up our luggage and head to the airport.

Today, we hit two villages...the second one is the one where Chief Malick Fay (pr. "Fye") is also the local Islamic Imam. The other pastor and I had the opportunity and freedom to present the truth of the the gospel according to the Bible. While the chief wasn't really receptive to our message, there were about 10 guys from the village sitting nearby listening to every word. My prayer is that if the chief rejects the gospel, perhaps one of those who listened today will hear Christ speaking to his heart. Please join me in that prayer.

I've got to cut my post short tonight since we're getting ready to hit the road. Becca and I catch our flight at 2:30 a.m. (9:30 p.m. Central Time) and will land at JFK in New York at 6:45 a.m. While we're there...and since we don't fly home until 8:00 p.m....we're going to spend the day messing around in Manhattan.

We're so ready to get home...For those of you who are Hilldale folk, I can't wait to see you Sunday!

I can't believe this is Day 9!

2009-07-08T17:42:00.004-05:00

I expect that this post will be relatively short since it's late, I'm tired, and we've got to be packed up when we leave our rooms tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. Today has been our next-to-last day on the trip and it was a really good day. We were in a Catholic village this afternoon and tonight, and I preached in the village tonight. The message went well, I think, considering it was being translated into one of the Sereer dialects.

We ate dinner in the village tonight (in the dark). It was a different kind of dish than we had eaten thus far and is hard to explain. It didn't taste bad...but I had some texture issues with it. I looked at Becca at one point (now here we were sitting in the dark and eating with all these villagers) and said, "Did you ever think in a million years that you'd be eating a meal in an African village?" I've got to tell you--it's both humbling and adventurous...

Tomorrow we return to the village we tried to visit yesterday (where the 10-year old little girl had just died from malaria). Actually, we're hitting a village before that too...so we'll visit in two Muslim villages tomorrow. But the second one is when we will seek to speak to the village chief/Islamic Imam about the the claims of Christ.

Please join us in praying that God will open a door clearly and miraculously to share the gospel!

On a more personal note, Becca told me today, "Dad, I love Africa...and I really want to come back. But I'm ready to see Mom and Morgan." I'll have to agree. :-)

The Best Laid Plans

2009-07-07T11:33:00.005-05:00

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on mission trips through the years, it’s the necessity of flexibility. Oftentimes things turn out very differently than you’ve planned. What did Burns say—“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men”? Well, today was one of those days.

We arrived in the Gowout (pr. ga-WOOT) village at about 10:00 this morning, food in hand to share lunch with the village. But as soon as we got out of the vehicle, we got word that the chief’s nephew’s 10-year old daughter had just died of malaria. Her name was Aïda Diouf (pr. Ida Joof). Our plans were changed immediately. The food we had brought to prepare for lunch became our gift to the grieving family.

The Gowout village is impoverished, partly because of their Islamic beliefs…everything that happens in life—“It is the will of Allah.” Someone is sick with a curable disease? “It is the will of Allah.” Children are malnourished with stomachs protruding? “It is the will of Allah.” Someone has no education, thus stuck in poverty? “It is the will of Allah.” A 10-year old little girl dies of malaria? “It is the will of Allah.”

THEN to hear the women from neighboring villages wailing as they came to grieve with the family…wow! When I say “wailing,” I mean a distinctively African, high-pitched moan…and to hear women from every direction crying out like that…it was deeply emotional. I know that is their tradition, but I wept as I heard the cries.

The chief (whose name is Malick Fay, by the way) welcomed us into his village and urged us to stay. As I’ve said several times thus far, hospitality is huge here. But I told him we knew he was a man of many responsibilities and that if it would please him, we’d like to return Thursday (our last day in-country) and share a meal with his village. He once again urged us to stay, but I said that we wanted to respect him and the personal nature of what had happened. He graciously bid us peace until we return Thursday.

Malick Fay (pr. Fye) is not only the village chief; he’s also the local Imam (Muslim teacher). My heart is so burdened to speak with him about Jesus. I’m going to have to be patient, I know…but I trust that God will open the doors necessary to make Christ known here. We’re going to seek once again to have an audience with Chief Fay and other leaders on Thursday in which we can discuss faith matters.

Please join us in praying toward that end. It’s hard to believe that we only have tomorrow and Thursday, and then we head to the airport! The other members of the team catch a 2:00 a.m. flight to Atlanta on Friday, while Becca and I catch a 2:30 a.m. flight to JFK in New York. In some ways it feels like I’ve been here an eternity, but in other ways it’s like we’ve only just begun.

Thanks again for reading my blog and praying for us! Becca is a natural, and I’m so proud of the job she’s doing.

We miss Beth and Morgan! I can’t wait to see them both Friday night…

It's been a LONG day...thought I'd just show you some pics

2009-07-06T17:09:00.005-05:00

This gives you some idea of how difficult their farming task is...

Relaxing just before lunch...notice the teapot near my knee.

Tree Huggers! Not exactly...actually we're seeing how many people it takes to circle the baobab tree. It took all nine of us! They're huge...and ancient.

The team and one of our translators, Charles.

Me and Augustine...I'm the one on the right.

Becca and Alexander...Becca's the one on the right. ;-)

Becca didn't really want me to take this picture or put it on here...but I think it's a great picture. This is just before lunch and we're just sitting with the villagers talking (building relationships).

Becca was a huge hit with her beads with the girls! She helped them make bracelets and necklaces...and she went through (you ready for this?) over 5,000 beads with about 20 girls! I told you she was a hit...

Remember the teapot? This is the strongest, sweetest tea I've ever put in my mouth! But it is awesome! Imagine the tea concentrate you have in a saucepan when you steep your tea. That's what this is, and with A LOT of sugar. Look out Lipton!

Becca separated peanuts for three hours! She says her back hurts. :-)

“I want to eat some giraffe!”

2009-07-05T16:17:00.003-05:00

Let me explain today’s title. We travel (Bro. Terry and son Wesley, you’ll be excited to know) in a Toyota Land Cruiser. Becca and I have been riding in the back with two other members of the team…and with windows open and wind blowing, we don’t always hear the conversations in the front part of the vehicle.

Yesterday as missionary Jason Lee outlined our activities for Sunday, he said, “We’ll go to the beach and have our worship service there. After we do that, there’s a wildlife preserve that we can go to…and they have giraffes and alligators and all kinds of exotic animals. We might get to see them. And there’s a restaurant there where we can eat lunch.”

All Becca heard was something about eating giraffe for lunch. She got all excited and said, “Oooh, I want to go there! I want to eat some giraffe!” And we all cracked up! I’m laughing about it right now as I type…“Oooh, I want to go there! I want to eat some giraffe!” Oh, that’s funny. (LOL)

Actually, we did eat lunch at the restaurant but only got to see some alligators, exotic birds, and turtles. Evidently the three rains we’ve gotten lately (including this morning) have enabled the other animals to stay out in the reserve without having to come to the river for water. Otherwise, Jason told us, there would have been exotic animals all over the place. So, it appears that we won’t be able to show Addie Lewis any pictures of giraffes. :-(

On the way out to worship, we stopped in and visited with our translator’s village. While he is a Muslim, he has been a lifesaver for us linguistically and culturally! I’m praying that the Word of God and the testimonies that he translates (not only for our group but for others too) will grip his heart and he’ll be saved. His story is not unusual here, though.

Family honor is so important here that, in the Senegalese Muslim’s mind, to convert to faith in Christ is to bring shame and dishonor upon one’s father and family. They “can’t” say that their ancestors were wrong and are in hell. And for them, conversion is not just about believing and accepting something to be true…it’s about knowing that when you become a follower of Jesus Christ, you will bring dishonor upon every member of your family, be disowned by your family, and lose everything you have (perhaps even your wife).

Puts things in a different light, huh? Conversion here seems so much more consistent with what Jesus talked about when he described following Him in Luke 9:23-24: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

Pray for the Sereer people here in Senegal…pray that God, who is the only One who can truly reach them, will show them the path of truth. Pray that they will surrender their hearts and lives to Him through Jesus Christ and come to know the peace of eternal life. The evangelism process from a human perspective is slow, but God is the One saves. And as our missionary said in his message this morning in worship, our job is to sow the Word of God just as the sower went out to sow (Matthew 13). Only God can bring about new birth. Join me in praying toward that end…

Day 5 in Senegal

2009-07-04T12:50:00.005-05:00

First of all, Happy 4th of July! Obviously there’s no celebration of America’s independence in Senegal today, but we know what day it is and what it means. I seldom think of Independence Day without thinking about how dependent we are on God. There’s a Senegalese proverb that says, “The remedy for man is man” (nit-nit ay garabam). And while I think I understand what they mean by that, the only true remedy for man is God. We are dependent upon Him!

Today we traveled to the Cafac (pr. CHEF-ahk, “ch” as in cheese) village, the village that the men visited the first day. It is a “Christian” village, meaning that it is a Catholic village as opposed to being Muslim. The chief didn’t offer us beer today, though. The Catholic priest did! The village chief took us to his church and introduced us to the priest serving that parish. He was a gentle, kind Senegalese man…about my age. After a moment inside his parlor, he rose to retrieve something for us to drink. Our translator said something that we couldn’t understand, and the priest said surprised, “You do not drink beer?!?” He brought us water, and we had a pleasant meeting. I hope to speak to him again on Monday when we return to this same village.

We had to cut our day in the village short because they were having a funeral at 3:00. While I would love to have witnessed the lady’s funeral, our presence would have been intrusive…not to mention that their funerals can go on for days. But we stayed for nearly five hours and ate lunch with them. The dish was called “ceebuyap” (pr. che-boo-YAP, “ch” as in cheese), and was mainly rice with vegetables and meat. It was FaNtAsTiC! I came to Senegal expecting weight loss, but I’m not sure that’s going to happen with food like that!

We’re returning to the village on Monday in order to do what we’d hoped to do today—pray for the sick and the crops, play with the children, and share relevant Bible stories. The funeral prevented us from doing much more than visit and eat.

Becca and I were talking last night about how hard this trip is in some ways. Don’t get me wrong, it’s wonderful. The food has been surprisingly good…and the hotel is basic but adequate. But the language barrier is so hard. Wolof is unlike any language I’ve ever tinkered with; nothing sounds like any word we have in English. And I’m telling you the depth of lostness and the challenge of getting the gospel to the people is overwhelming. A basic concept like sin, for instance, can’t be taken for granted. And if a person doesn’t have a working knowledge of sin, there can be no repentance. And if there’s no repentance, there’s no lordship/soul surrender. Y’see where I’m going with that? And, further, when dealing with the Muslim villages, we have to be patient in building bridges through relationships in order to establish the context to share the gospel. The process works so much slower here than in other missions settings I’ve been to.

Pray for Jason and Dorothea Lee as they serve God and Southern Baptists here. Their task is big, but God is bigger. Being here and experiencing the work makes me want to pray harder for our missionaries and give more to missions. It makes me also want to share my faith back home more intentionally. There’s no reason, with the culture and language barriers gone, that we shouldn’t be far more deliberate in our evangelism. May God make it so…

I love you and miss you!

A Good Day

2009-07-03T13:40:00.003-05:00

Today was a good day. We left at about 9:00 this morning and drove about 30 minutes outside of Thies (pr. “chess”) to a Muslim village. The village chief is also the Islamic Imam (sort of like a Muslim preacher, but not exactly). I discovered upon my introduction to him that my African last name is also his—Fay (pr. “Fye”). The translator laughed and said, “You can ask for anything. You are part of the chief’s family.” Ha!

Incidentally, do you think I ought to get new business cards and update the church website with my new name, Laman Fay (pr. “LAH-mahn Fye”)? Oh well, I digress…back to the story.

The village chief was actually very hospitable. By the way, I’m blown away by the Senegalese people’s sense of obligation to hospitality (“toranga” in Wolof, pr. “tu-RAHN-guh”). It is a matter of honor to them as a people and as villages to respect their guests. And the fact that we are Americans and that we’ve come to THEIR village out of all the villages in the area just adds to the respect. They might not have much in terms of earthly things, but what they have they’ll gladly give to you. Their concept of kindness, even to strangers, sure smacks in the face of our American greed and selfishness.

Becca and a couple other members of our team stayed with the children and played games, while I joined the other two members of our team to pray for people in the village. I explained to the village chief in the time of our greetings that we were Christians and, as Christians, we believe in the power of prayer. Also as Christians, we pray in the name of Jesus Christ and we’d like to pray for any sick people in their village in that same name. HE AGREED! So we had an open door.

I prayed for the first man we came to (Moor Mbang) and he was incredibly grateful. Before I prayed, I told him the Bible story of the blind man Jesus healed by rubbing mud on his eyes and telling him to go wash them. I explained that I do not have the power to heal…but that Jesus Christ does. Then I prayed for him, for his family, for his crops, for his animals, and for rain. When I finished, he immediately began talking and he said, “You have traveled many miles…from another country…across an ocean…to my country…to my village…and even to my home. Thank you for your prayers!” Now keep this in mind…all of these people are dedicated Muslims…and yet we requested and received permission to pray in the name of Jesus Christ to bring healing and hope to the sick. We ended up praying specifically for at least 8 people…all with the blessing of the village chief and Imam.

We’ll be returning to that same village on Tuesday and will spend the day there, including lunch. Please join us in praying that the seeds planted in these trips will bear fruit in days/months/years to come.

In closing, what would you do in the following scenario? The village chief excitedly showed us the Islamic mosque being built in his village. It’s only a shell of a building at this point but he took us inside. THEN, in his thanksgiving for our visit, the chief asked us if there was anything we could give—even if it was very small—to help pay for the building of their mosque. Our translator just translated the words and then the room fell silent. I did the only thing I knew to do…I looked at Jason (our missionary) and smiled. Actually, the mission work Southern Baptists do around the world isn’t about throwing money at people…so the ultimate answer is simple. But in that moment, “awkward” seemed like an understatement to describe a group of Christian missionaries being asked to help build a village’s Islamic mosque!

This trip to Africa is amazing…and I’m so blessed to be here. And Becca too! I love you and thank you for joining us on the journey…

Senegal Update

2009-07-02T11:43:00.005-05:00

Today is our third day in-country and I think we’re finally getting acclimated to the time change. Because I don’t want to change the time on my iPod (which I’m using as our alarm clock), I’m waking up at 1:00 in the morning to take my shower and get dressed. Of course, that’s 6:00 here..but my body’s been protesting since we’ve been in Senegal.

I know many of you have been praying for Becca based on my request yesterday, and I want to thank you. She was feeling better by supper time last night and woke up today as her normal self (which is debatable as to whether that’s a good thing or not…I’M JUST KIDDING!). I’m not sure what caused her to feel dizzy and sick yesterday, but I’m so glad she didn’t have some bug (and that could be literal here!) or something.

Today we spent the morning in the marketplace, which allowed us a double blessing. We were able to interact with the Senegalese and get a better feel for their culture. Plus we did a little shopping. Becca got some beautiful African dresses and a skirt, and I got an African shirt (with matching pants). Beth’s going to love me in that outfit; I can just feel it. :-)

We spent the first couple of hours this afternoon at a local restaurant. It was good…in fact, I think even Bro. Mike and Bro. Tony could have found something on the menu to eat (and to think my grandmother thought I was a picky eater). Ha!

We’re heading to a village in a few minutes where we’ll spend 3 or 4 hours this evening. There are actually a couple of believers in this village, so we’ll have the opportunity to worship with them in a distinctively indigenous manner. I’m looking forward to that. Bro. Tim Edwards (pastor of FBC, Highlands, TX) will speak briefly tonight on praying for their friends and family members, and I’m going to speak to these same folk next week about sharing their faith. Pray for me as I prepare. Obviously an American preaching format is out the window when you do something like this, so I need God to fill my heart and mouth with His Word.

We’re getting better with our Wolof (the language used most commonly here). We’ve learned to use basic greetings and questions…and it’s just so neat when the words work like they’re supposed to! Actually, most of the people are so impressed that you’re trying to speak their language that they are very gracious to help you know the right words.

Oh, by the way, God blessed us last night with a thunderstorm—rain, lightning, thunder, the works! Never mind that the power was knocked out 3 or 4 times in the night…the storm was wonderful. Actually we’re on the front end of the “rainy season,” which is a relative term here. Don’t get the idea that it rains a lot during the rainy season, only that this is the season of the year when it rains.

I want to thank you again for keeping up with us and praying. We are powerless here without God at work around us and through us, so your prayers are huge. You’re on mission with us as you pray! We love you and miss you!

Pray for Becca

2009-07-01T13:02:00.005-05:00

Let me say, first, thank you for checking in on us. It means a great deal to know that you care enough about us and this mission trip to read these updates.

As I type, Becca lies on the bed sleeping. After we awoke this morning and ate breakfast, we had a Wolof language lesson. (Wolof is a widely-used African dialect.) Becca acted very tired then. But we all loaded up and headed out to our first village (as a group…the men went to one briefly yesterday)--a Muslim village. We were very well-received and the children were ExCiTeD, to say the least. We had so much fun with them. But Becca just seemed lethargic, and anyone who knows Becca knows that’s not Becca. She never complained, though, unless I asked her, "What’s wrong?" The missionary, Jason Lee, ended up bringing us (Becca and me) back to the hotel just before lunch.

I’m not sure if she’s struggling with the effects of jetlag or the food or the heat/humidity or the culture shock or what. I covet your prayers for her, though, as I know she would rather be out there interacting with children in the village! Actually, she was quite the celebrity today since she was young. I know God’s going to use her to be a light to these children who live in such spiritual darkness.

Before we left today’s village, the chief wanted to give us both African names. He named Becca first and called her Mamsey Fay (pr. "MAHM-say Fye." The translator told me that the term "mamsey" has to do with "grandmother," but the chief was using it as a term of high honor and respect. The village chief named me after his father and called me Laman Fay (pr. "LAH-mahn Fye"). We have the chief's last name.

Receiving an African name is an important step in building relationships here. I was humbled as the village chief, speaking through our interpreter, pronounced our names over us. At this point, I’m not sure if this happens in each village or if we’ll just tell them our African names in the other villages.

I cannot describe to you how far out of my element I am here. I feel like such an infant! I mentioned last night at dinner that God has reminded me that I must depend upon Him if I am to be used here. The culture and the language are so different than anything I’ve ever experienced. Plus most of the adults (especially the older ones) are illiterate, so doing anything that requires reading won’t work. That’s why storying is so important.

Today, as the children were coming from every direction, I asked them to sit down because I wanted to tell them a story. I told them of a time when some children wanted to approach Jesus but His disciples told them to go away. Jesus told His disciples not to prevent the children from coming to Him…because Jesus loved children…that children are important to Jesus…and that we all must become like children to follow God. It was a challenge but they were receptive…so I told them another story--Noah and the Flood. So different from preaching but fun!

Well, I’ll stop for now. "Ba beneen yoon!" ("Until next time!")

By the way, the pictures are of:
1. The village chief and me.
2. Becca and some of the children.
3. Becca and her namesake in the village.

Well, we're here!

2009-06-30T13:36:00.002-05:00

We arrived in country this morning at about 5:00 a.m. (midnight back home). The beggars at the airport were like flies, literally grabbing your bags out of your hands and even trying to steal your stuff. It was "interesting" to say the least.

Get this--our flight from Nashville to Atlanta only allowed 45 minutes to switch gates...which sounded so simple until we did it. Anyway, when we got to our gate at about 10 minutes 'til takeoff, evidently they had given our seats away. Because when we scanned our boarding passes, new ones printed out...and Becca and I got bumped up to first class from Atlanta to Dakar! Can you believe that?!? What a blessing!

Getting back to the story, though, when we arrived in-country our bodies were saying it was bedtime but the sun was up by the time we got to the hotel. We did get to rest and shower just a bit before lunch, but we're some kind of tired. I don't think I'll have trouble sleeping tonight.

The guys (Pastor Tim Edwards, Missionary Jason Lee, and I) went out to a village this afternoon in order to seek permission to bring the whole group later on this week to share stories from the Bible. They were very gracious and beautiful people. By the way, hospitality is incredibly huge here. To have a guest come to your village is an honor, so they seek to honor you in return. The village chief disappeared for a few minutes and returned with BEER for all of us! Fortunately, our translator was able to explain that we weren't drinkers and, so, we drank Fanta Orange instead...except for the village chief. He went ahead and drank his beer.

Becca and I are chilling until supper in about 40 minutes. Pray that God will give us insight and rapport as we work in a very different, unfamiliar place. The culture and language (primarily Wolof) are nothing like other places I've been.

Hopefully I'll have some pictures tomorrow!

Please PRAY for Becca and Me

2009-06-29T04:00:00.001-05:00

As many of you know, Becca and I leave for Senegal, West Africa, today for a mission trip. We're going to be working among villages that are yet still unreached with the gospel. The people group that we're seeking to share Christ with is the Sereer people, whose primary religion is folk Islam. That means that there are strong elements of their traditional religion (animistic and anscestral practices) mixed in with Islam. And their traditional religious practices are greater barriers in full acceptance of the gospel than is Islam. So we've got our work cut out for us, but God's power is greater than any earthly or demonic stronghold!

Pray for traveling mercies and physical protection...but, most of all, pray that God's will be done! His sovereign hand is at work and we are but His vessels. The evangelism of this mission trip will look different than in other places I've worked...slower...more relationship-building...building bridges. We're going to share the message of God through "Storying," which is a technique of witnessing through intentional Bible stories. We're also going to seek opportunities to pray for the people "in the name of Jesus Christ."

So join us on this journey...we need you! I'm going to seek to post updates and photos as the trip unfolds, so "y'all come back now, y'hear?"

Excerpt from this Morning's Message...

2009-06-28T06:52:00.003-05:00

...Last Sunday I preached the first part of a two-part message on “Homelife Security,” a play on the words, “Homeland Security.” The Department of Homeland Security, as you know, came into existence after 9/11 because then-President Bush wanted to keep something like that from ever happening again on American soil. He pulled together more than 100 of the federal government’s agencies and unified them under the one goal of protecting the homeland.

There are parallels for us today as we give consideration to the Family. American homelife is under attack, and we have to take measures toward “Homelife Security.” Among the many responsibilities of our Department of Homeland Security, two correspond with the Family (at least the way that I see it)—protecting our nation’s infrastructure…and guarding our nation’s borders.

Last Sunday I preached on the first; today I’m preaching on the second. “Homelife Security: Guarding our Borders.” We’re reading from Exodus 20:14--"You shall not commit adultery"...

Hope to see you in church today!

How Long Before You Feel “Antsy”?

2009-06-27T07:37:00.003-05:00

About a month ago (May 28), USA Today reported in one of their “Snapshots” the findings of a 2009 survey by Qwest Communications in which respondents were asked how long they could last before feeling “antsy” about checking E-mail, instant messaging, or other social networking sites. Of those surveyed, 47% said they couldn’t last more than an hour…46% said they could only make it one day…and the remaining 7% said they could probably go a week without checking in.

Now, I understand this sensation…I really do. The first thing I do when I get into the office is check my E-mail. Facebook has connected me to more than 700 of my friends (thus far)…and I enjoy receiving correspondence from them. I don’t IM but I know its appeal. The same could be said about cell phone use, although that wasn’t part of the survey.

But I’m wondering how long we could last before feeling “antsy” about checking to see what fresh word God has for us in His Word. How intentional are we about reading, studying, and meditating upon our Bibles?

I received an E-mail some time back that seems appropriate to this discussion:

Cell phone vs. Bible

Ever wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cell phone?

What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
What if we flipped through it several time a day?
What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
What if we used it to receive “text” messages?
What if we treated it like we couldn’t live without it?
What if we gave it to our kids as gifts?
What if we used it when we traveled?
What if we used it in case of emergency?

This is something to make you go....hmm...where is my Bible?

Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phone, we don’t have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

See you tomorrow!

Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson Dead

2009-06-26T08:14:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you've heard by now that both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson died yesterday. My generation especially feels the loss as they were pop icons in the 70s and 80s.

But did you see the footage or pictures of fans gathered outside the hospital where Michael Jackson was pronounced dead…some crying and screaming uncontrollably? I couldn't help but think, "Something is wrong with this picture."

Don't get me wrong...I'm not making light of anyone's death. I would never do that. But I can’t help but grieve that people’s worlds could be so devastated because a musician dies.

Michael Jackson’s family and closest friends devastated? Certainly. But some run-of-the-mill music fan who still secretly dances in his bedroom with “Thriller” playing in the background? Not so much.

Michael Jackson named himself the “King of Pop”…was even married at one time to the daughter of Elvis Presley, proclaimed as the “King of Rock-and-Roll.” But I cannot remain silent about what’s on my mind today! Revelation 17:14 and 19:16 say that Jesus is the “King of kings and Lord of lords.” There is none before Him or beside Him…He’s in a peer group of one! And although Jesus died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, He rose again to give us victory over death through eternal life!

Our hopes do not reside in this world...we're to be in the world but not of the world. But those of this world need the hope of heaven found only through Jesus Christ. My heart goes out to the families and friends walking "through the valley of the shadow of death" right now...but I'm reminded once again of our high calling to make Christ known in our world.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,

Snatch them in pity from sin and the grave;

Weep o’er the erring one, lift up the fallen,

Tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,

Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Rescue the perishing, duty demands it;

Strength for thy labor the Lord will provide;

Back to the narrow way patiently win them;

Tell the poor wand’rer a Savior has died.

Rescue the perishing, care for the dying,

Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.

Thanks for reading...

Is Technology My Friend or Foe?!?

2009-06-25T12:31:00.004-05:00

First of all, let me apologize for dropping off the planet last fall (blog-wise). The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthians, "I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some" (1 Cor. 9:22). But I've got to confess to you...I'm not sure that he was thinking about blogging and trying to maintain a presence on three social networking sites (facebook, MySpace, and ShoutLife) when he wrote those words! ;-)

In all seriousness, as the Nationwide commercial says, "Life comes at you fast." I just haven't felt that I had the time to blog as I had intended. Whether that's the fault of my schedule or my priorities, I'm not sure. But my goal at this moment is to reignite my blog and to be more intentional and regular in my entries.

I hope you'll forgive my digital absence.

One of the reasons I want to get back to blogging is that my daughter Becca and I are leaving next week for Senegal, West Africa...and I want you to join us on the journey (at least virtually). We covet your prayers as we travel to this nation held by folk Islam (Islam mixed with traditional animistic and anscestral practices). We will be seeking opportunities to enter villages where we can share relevant Bible stories and pray for people in the name of Jesus Christ. Our hope is to open some doors and build some bridges that will provide future mission opportunities.

Between now and when we leave on Monday, you can pray that God will give us clarity of thought in our preparations and packing. Until next time, "Jerejef" (Thank You in the Wolof language)...

Blest Be the Tie that...Blinds?!? (Part 4)

2008-09-26T03:30:00.000-05:00

Our relationship with Christ should be at the center of every other relationship in our lives! And when Christ is in His rightful place in our hearts and our homes, all our relationships will be better because of it! Unfortunately, many of us know nothing of Jesus being the core of our lives and families. Some people include God in their families only because they think some religious training will be good for their kids…much like piano lessons or braces. Christ is not at the center of their lives; He’s just some peripheral addendum to their already busy lives!

We’ve moved from being families that pray together to being families that play together! If Sunday sporting events or weekend getaways take priority over being in church, maybe we need to take another look at our priorities! No matter how we try to explain it or justify it, it’s hard to get around Hebrews 10:25 that talks about “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some.” Sadly, many of us have been “blinded by good intentions.” We say things like, “But we’re spending time together as a family,” as if time spent together as a family trumps our relationship with God.

Now, folk, listen. I’m not talking about having some legalistic attitude about church…but I am terribly concerned with what I see in today’s culture where Sundays are no longer a day of worship. Sundays have become one of the biggest recreation days on the calendar…and many of our church families will trade worship for amusement in a heartbeat…and feel completely justified about it because they’re doing it as a family.

But when we put family above God in our lives, we’re guilty of idolatry…even the subtle idolatry of family! Listen, don’t get me wrong—I love my family. I would give my life for my family. I treasure time with my family. But a Christ-centered, kingdom-focused family does not devalue God in their hearts and their home!

Let me shift gears for a moment as I seek to land this plane. Perhaps some of you who read this blog are facing hostility from your family because you’re a believer. And as much as that hurts your heart, Jesus’ words in Mark 3 teach you that you are part of a spiritual family that transcends time. That’s not to say that you should love your earthly family any less or that you should stop praying for their salvation. It means, though, that you are not alone. The Bible calls God our Father and Jesus our Brother and Savior. We have a true and eternal family through Christ! Don’t grow weak in your faith because of family pressures. God will honor your obedience!

I love the story that Jim Denison, pastor of Park Cities Baptist Church in Dallas, has told from his own personal experience. When he was in college, he served as a summer missionary in East Malaysia. While there he attended a small church. At one of the church’s worship services, a teenage girl came forward to announce her decision to follow Christ and be baptized.

During the service, Denison noticed some worn-out luggage leaning against the wall of the church building. And so he asked the pastor about it. The pastor pointed to the girl who had just been baptized and told Denison, “Her father said that if she was baptized as a Christian she could never go home again. So she brought her luggage.”

FOLK, THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT…REALIZING WHO HAS THE GREATER CLAIM ON OUR LIVES.

I’m reminded of the man who asked a mail-order company to send him a kit to build a birdhouse. Instead of sending him the plans for a birdhouse, they sent him plans for a sailboat. He had the parts for a birdhouse but the plans for a sailboat. He tried to put it together, but it just wouldn't work. So he sent the parts and plans back to the company with a letter explaining his frustration. They wrote a letter of apology and added this post script: “If you think it was difficult for you, you should have seen the man who got your plans trying to make a sailboat out of a birdhouse!”

A lot of people are trying to do family well, but they’re using the wrong instructions…they’re not using God’s plan…they don’t have God’s priority. And no amount of sincerity or effort is going to ease their frustration. People leave God—especially the supremacy of God—out of their lives and then are surprised at the results!

Adiuva nos Deus!

Blest Be the Tie that...Blinds?!? (Part 3)

2008-09-25T03:30:00.000-05:00

I need to clarify that, in no way, was Jesus denying His responsibility to His earthly family. In Matthew 15:19, He criticized the religious leaders for not following the Old Testament command to honor their parents. At the cross, you’ll recall, He provided for His mother’s care after He was gone by entrusting her to His best friend, John. He would have agreed with the apostle Paul—and, in fact, does agree—when he wrote to Timothy, “If anyone does not take care of his own relatives, especially his immediate family, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Timothy 5:8).

The question is not whether we should love our families. Of course, we’re to love our families! The confusion comes in how we should love our families. Jesus made a statement on another occasion that’s relevant to this discussion…put your seatbelts on, though. Luke 14:26—“If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” Matthew put it a bit milder in His gospel and captures the idea more, I believe. Matthew 10:37—“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

When Jesus used the word “hate,” he wasn’t saying what you and I think of when we hear the word “hate.” Hatred, in our understanding, is an “active hostility.” It wishes ill to fall upon the other person. That is not what Jesus was saying! The word Jesus used means something like “to love less.” So, He was saying, “If anyone comes to Me and doesn’t love his family and himself less than Me can’t be my disciple”…or, as Matthew put it—“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.”

HE WAS TALKING ABOUT PRIORITIES. You see, we have to discern the difference between important and all-important. Our families are important, but they’re not all-important.

You’ll remember when Jesus was asked on another occasion what the most important commandment was. What did He say? “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind. And you must love your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27). The first and foremost commandment is to love God. Loving others comes after that.

Don’t misunderstand our Lord! These relationships should not be in competition with one another. They should complement one another! C.S. Lewis said it so well in a letter that he wrote many years ago: “When I have learnt to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now. Insofar as I learn to love my earthly dearest at the expense of God and instead of God, I shall be moving toward the state in which I shall not love my earthly dearest at all. When first things are put first, second things are not suppressed but increased.”

I ought to be a better husband and father and brother because of my relationship with Christ. Jesus should sweeten every connection and concentric circle in my life!

Blest Be the Tie that...Blinds?!? (Part 2)

2008-09-24T15:19:00.004-05:00

Mark 3:31-35 has to be one of the strangest stories from Jesus’ life found in the pages of Scripture. But these verses need to be taken in context with verses 20-21 if they’re to be understood properly:

20-And He came home, and the crowd gathered again, to such an extent that they could not even eat a meal.
21-When His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, “He has lost His senses.”

Do you remember the story of Jesus’ parents accidentally leaving Him in Jerusalem when He was only 12 years old? You can read it in the second chapter of Luke’s gospel. They thought he was with other members of the family caravan, but about a day’s journey outside of Jerusalem they discovered He wasn’t. So they turned around, went a day’s journey back to Jerusalem, and then spent a day looking throughout the city for Jesus.

Luke tells us, “…they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. When they saw Him they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.’ And He said to them, ‘Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’” (2:46-49).

Don’t miss the contrast between “Your father” and “My Father.” Even at 12 years old, Jesus understood that His greatest loyalty lay with His Heavenly Father! Even at 12 years old, Jesus was aware that He had special work to do—“I had to be in My Father’s house.” Even at 12 years old Jesus grasped that He was on mission!

Keep all this in mind as we return to Mark’s gospel. At some point when He was about 30 years old, Jesus laid His carpenter’s hammer down and told His mother, “It’s time.” And He began His earthly ministry. He went about preaching the gospel, and crowds began to follow Him. Out of the masses, He chose 12 men to be His disciples “so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, and to have authority to cast out the demons” (Mark 3:14-15). This brings us to verses 20-21 in Mark 3.

When Jesus’ family heard what He was doing and how the crowds were following Him everywhere He went, they said, “He’s lost His mind! He’s ruining our good name and we’ve got to stop Him!” When they got to where He was, they couldn’t get through the crowd…so they sent word to Jesus that they were there. They were there, of course, to take Him home.

So Jesus was faced with the same decision every one of us is faced with—who has the greater claim on my life? My earthly family or my Heavenly Father? Jesus’ answer was shocking, to say the least. When they said, “Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You,” Jesus asked, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” Then he said, “…whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

These words seem awfully harsh to us now, and I suppose they didn’t sit well with his family then. But Jesus knew why they had come, and He wasn’t going to be dragged away from His Kingdom work because His family thought He was crazy. They were seeking to block Him from His mission, and Jesus wasn’t going to let that happen. They meant well, no doubt, but they were “blinded by [their] good intentions.”

So Jesus asked that odd question, “Who are My mother and My brothers?” and made those strange statements: “Behold My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.” What Jesus was calling attention to was the fact that our relationship with Him precedes every other relationship in our lives!

We sometimes say that “blood is thicker than water.” Well, Jesus was saying that “spirit is thicker than blood”!

Blest Be the Tie that...Blinds?!? (Part 1)

2008-09-23T23:59:00.000-05:00

7-out-of-10 adults in America choose their earthly family over their heavenly Father when asked to choose the most important relationship in their lives. That’s what a 2007 Barna study discovered when more than a thousand adults over the age of 18 were surveyed.

* 1/3 said their entire nuclear family is more important than God.
* 22% named their spouse as the most important relationship in their lives.
* 17% said their children were of chief importance.
* 3% identified their parents as the most important relationship in their lives.

70% of American adults have elevated their families above even God in their priorities! In their emphasis upon family, they have devalued God in the process.

I fully expect to be misunderstood in this week’s blog, but I’m going to try to speak as clearly as I can. I’m in the midst of a series of blogs on “American Idolatry” in which I’m addressing subtle ways that we have allowed idolatry to creep in and camp out in our lives…sometimes unnoticed and unaddressed!

Remember, anything that takes our love and loyalty away from the Lord becomes an idol in our lives…and idols are not always evil things. Sometimes the object of our idolatry is, in and of itself, a very good thing. It reminds me of Augustine’s definition of idolatry that we considered in a previous entry: “Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.” Anything and everything holds the potential to become an idol in our lives…even something as commendable and beautiful as family.

We’ve all heard the classic hymn, “Blest Be the Tie that Binds.” The story behind that song is beautiful, by the way. I hope you’ll check it our when you get a chance. But consider this twist: “Blest Be the Tie that...Blinds?” It’s a valid question…it’s a necessary question.

Can families really expect the pleasure of God upon their homes if His authority and supremacy are downplayed…or even dismissed? And while I have no doubt that every parent reading this blog means well, there is such a thing as being “blinded by good intentions.” And those who put family above God in their lives and in their homes are often blinded to their sin of idolatry. So, knowing full-well my risk of being misunderstood, I rise to denounce the idol of family!

Mark 3:31-35
31-Then His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him and called Him.
32-A crowd was sitting around Him, and they said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are outside looking for You.”
33-Answering them, He said, “Who are My mother and My brothers?”
34-Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers!
35-“For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”

“Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I” (Part 4)

2008-09-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

I’ve been writing this week about “Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I.” At the heart of this week’s blogs (and every blog entry on “American Idolatry”) is the challenge from God to “repent and turn away from your idols...” I pray that will be our response as our Lord brings to light any and all idolatrous affections!

Yesterday I addressed the need for daily denial if we’re to forsake the idol of self. Second, forsaking the idol of self requires Daily Death—“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily…” Some try to define this as bearing some personal burden—an angry spouse or a bad case of arthritis or some continuing crisis. But that’s not what Jesus was talking about. The cross meant something very different to the people of Jesus’ day than it does to people today. Crosses today are pieces of jewelry. Crosses then were places of judgment. Crosses today are used for decoration. Crosses then were used for death. We’ve so sanitized and ritualized the cross in these 20 centuries since Jesus, it’s no wonder that we have trouble understanding what He was saying!

Jesus was describing the surrender of our will to God’s will. Do you remember Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane the night before He was crucified? “…Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done…” (Luke 22:42). Obviously, for Jesus, the cross was a one-time event, yet he calls us to take up our crosses daily. Once again, he’s describing the surrender of our will to God’s will, and that’s a daily experience. It’s allowing our will to die in Christ’s death so that, like a seed buried in the soil, God’s will can spring forth life in us and through us! Daily Denial & Daily Death.

Finally, forsaking the idol of self requires Daily Discipleship—“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” The core of the Christian life is following Jesus. Not just a profession of faith…not just a label…certainly more than a fish symbol on our car! The Christian life is about following Jesus.

But if we come to the issue of faith intending to go our own way…and to do our own thing, we’ll only follow Jesus if it’s convenient or comfortable. But the moment it costs us something, we’re out the door! But what we don’t realize is that we’re making the biggest mistake of our lives! “For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.”

Ask yourself, honestly and biblically, “Am I following Jesus by living my life the way that I am? Is my life a mirror reflection of the Lord Jesus Christ?” If not, why not? Could it be that we’re bowing at the wrong altar in our lives? Could it be that we’re guilty of “Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I”? Could it be that we’ve allowed self to substitute for God upon that throne in our hearts?

All that can change today…right now, right where you are. “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

“Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I” (Part 3)

2008-09-18T01:00:00.001-05:00

I’m writing on “American Idolatry,” in general, and the idol of self, in particular. I want you to see three things that Jesus said to “anyone who wishes to come after [Him].” And, by the way, no one wishing to come after Christ can continue to worship at the altar of the unholy trinity of me, myself, and I!

First, forsaking the idol of self requires Daily Denial—“If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself.” We need to understand, though, that self-denial is more than denying yourself cake on Sundays…it is literally denying self! That word “deny” means to renounce or disown. So literally Christ is calling us to renounce the idol of self …to disown the idol of self!

A Christian writer from another generation, A. T. Pierson, said, “Getting rid of the ‘self-life’ is like peeling an onion: layer upon layer—and a tearful process!” What are those layers? One layer would be self-exaltation…or self-promotion…I’m talking about pride. The sin of pride is a preoccupation with self! And I think it’s very fitting that the middle letter of the word “pride” is the letter “i” because pride is all about “me, myself, and I.” We must be willing to peel back the layer of self-exaltation if we’re to forsake the idol of self!

Another layer that we have to be willing to peel back is that of self-indulgence. That’s when we say, “I’m going to do what I want to do because it makes me happy.” Listen, we justify our wrong-doing sometimes by saying, “But it makes me happy.” Forget what God says about it, “It makes me happy.”

May I tell you today that God’s primary objective for your life is not your happiness?!? His goal for you is His holiness… and His holiness will lead to your happiness, but so-called happiness doesn’t necessarily lead to holiness. Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

“Blessed” = “Happy”
“Pure in heart” = “Holy”
“Happy are the holy!”

We must peel back the layer of self-indulgence if we’re to forsake the idol of self!

We could go on and on about the different layers of this proverbial onion, but let me mention one more—self-righteousness. If you read the New Testament objectively, you’ll see that the Pharisees during our Lord’s time on earth were greater sinners (if I can use that idea) because of their self-righteousness…they believed their exterior moral behavior commended them to God, but Jesus came along and exposed them as “white-washed tombs”…cleaned up on the outside but, on the inside, filled with dead men’s bones! The reason those who lived in open sin were attracted to Jesus was that they knew they were sinners. They knew their need for mercy, grace, and forgiveness. The Pharisees, however, didn’t realize how much they truly needed Christ. Their self-righteousness blinded them to their own sinfulness. Isaiah said in 64:6 that “…all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment.”

Listen, beware of a faith that is only on the outside. It’s like counterfeit cash; it might look nice but it’s not worth anything. Jesus warned in Matthew 7—“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS’” (21-23).

Forsaking the idol of self includes disowning our own self-righteousness. Listen—it isn’t until we denounce ourselves as sinners deserving God’s judgment that we will throw ourselves upon God’s altar of mercy and entrust ourselves completely to Jesus Christ for salvation!

“Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I” (Part 2)

2008-09-17T08:55:00.002-05:00

Regarding the worship of self, look to God’s Word in Luke 9:23-24, “And He was saying to them all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it.’”

Ever wonder where the words “narcissism” and “narcissistic” come from? They come from Greek mythology and are based on the name of a young man named “Narcissus.” There are several variations of the story, but the gist of it is that when Narcissus first saw his reflection in the water, he fell in love with himself. And the more he gazed into his own reflection, the more in love he fell…with himself. In the end, unable to tear himself away from his own reflection, he died from lack of food and water. Some versions of the story say he drowned…others say he took his own life. Regardless of the details, his infatuation with himself ended up destroying him.

Now, we all know that the story of Narcissus is just a myth, but “narcissism” is very real. In fact, about a year-and-a-half ago, a research study spanning from 1982 to 2006 revealed that today’s college students have never been more self-centered! 16,475 college students completed an evaluation called the Narcissistic Personality Inventory (NPI). And what the researchers discovered, they believe, is directly traceable to the self-esteem movement that emerged in the 1980s. We’ve spent the last 25 years teaching kids to sing, “I am special. I am special. Look at me. Look at me.” (to the tune of Frère Jacques, Frère Jacques, Dormez vous? Dormez vous?) that we’ve created a culture that fuels and encourages the self-centeredness that already exists within each of us. (source: Associated Press, David Crary, "Study: College Students More Narcissistic," http://hosted.ap.org/ [2-27-07])

The Times of London ran a story early this summer that would be funny if it weren’t so disturbing. The first paragraph read: "The stage was set, the lights went down and in a suburban Japanese primary school everyone prepared to enjoy a performance of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The only snag was that the entire cast was playing the part of Snow White." The school cowered to the parents who forced teachers and administrators to admit the injustice of selecting just one girl to play the title role. They all wanted their children to have the title role…so everyone was Snow White! No dwarfs…no other characters…just 25 Snow Whites running around. I’d like to have seen that just to see how they pulled it off…I doubt they did.

But Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Talk about cutting cross-grain! Jesus’ words fly in the face of those who wish to worship at the Altar of that Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I! Of course, most people would never admit to such as that…but I did read of one woman named “Sheila” who’s made up her own religion and named it “Sheilaism.” I’m not kidding. She’s had a group on Yahoo Canada since 2002. And it has a total membership of 3…evidently Sheila’s unholy trinity of me, myself, and I are the only ones interested in being “Sheilaists”!

But I was saying that most people—especially Christians—would never admit to worshipping themselves, but behavior says otherwise! Jesus wasn’t speaking in abstract terms when He said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.” He knew that in our base nature that we are selfish creatures. And as long as we live as though life were all about us, we’ll never seek God’s grace and forgiveness! That’s why I’m saying that worshipping self is perhaps the most dangerous idolization of all! If anything will keep you from eternal life through Christ, it’s the refusal to forsake the idol of self!

“Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I” (Part 1)

2008-09-16T23:59:00.000-05:00

One of my spiritual heroes from the past is Jerome Savonarola. He was a great preacher in Italy in the 15th century…actually a Catholic priest who was excommunicated and hanged for preaching the gospel in language that everyone could understand and for offending the Pope. His life story is fascinating, but I want to tell you about a particular experience he had.

One day he saw an elderly woman bowing before a statue of Mary, the mother of Jesus. On the following day, he noticed the same woman again on her knees before the statue. So with great interest, Savonarola observed that day after day, she came and worshipped before the statue. He whispered to one of his fellow priests, “Look at how she reverences the Virgin Mother.”

But the priest said, “Don’t be deceived by what you see. Many years ago an artist was commissioned to create [that] statue....As he sought a young woman to pose as the model for his sculpture, he found one who seemed to be the perfect subject. She was young and lovely, and had a mystical quality in her face. The image of that young woman inspired his statue of Mary. The woman who now worships the statue is the same one who served as its model years ago. Shortly after the statue was put in place, she began to visit it and continued to worship there religiously ever since.”

That woman wasn’t giving homage to Mary…she was worshipping herself! While that true story might seem a bit extreme, worshipping self is not that uncommon. In fact many are guilty of “Worshipping at the Altar of an Unholy Trinity—Me, Myself, and I.”

Worshipping ourselves—we could call that selfishness—is one of the most serious sins that a person commits. It’s perhaps the most dangerous idolization of all! Because when we place ourselves at the center of the universe…when life is all about us…we become self-serving…and self-sufficient…and self-satisfied! Self is upon the throne of our lives…and may I remind you that there is a throne in each of our hearts? God put it there, because He designed us to be worshippers. But nothing and nobody belongs on that throne except Him! Yet when we give self access to that throne, that’s idolatry…pure and simple.

American Idolatry...

2008-09-12T15:00:00.000-05:00

God knows that all sin begins with the sin of idolatry. Idolatry is the stem cells, if you will, of sin. Stem cells, as you know, have the incredible potential to develop into several different types of cells—muscle cells, red blood cells, nerve cells, for instance. They’re the building blocks of life.

The sin of idolatry holds the incredible potential to develop into any number of other sins! It’s the sin-behind-the-sin. If a person gives over to some sexual sin, it’s because lust has become more important in his life than God! Lust has become an idol! When people’s lives are consumed with materialism, it’s because money has become more important in their lives than God! Money has become an idol! When a person has to violate everything holy to vote for her party’s candidate, politics have become more important in her life than God. The political machine has become an idol!

God, in His mercy, has told us, “You shall not make for yourself an idol.” God essentially said in Ezekiel 14:3, “Why should I even bother with their prayers?” “Should I be consulted by them at all?” If your prayer life is hollow and lifeless and ineffective…maybe you ought to ask yourself if something’s become more important in your life than God.

But there’s an equal if not greater issue that God raises in Ezekiel 14:8, “I will set My face against that man”…what man? The one who allows an imposter to sit upon God’s throne in his heart. The one whose heart is captured by idolatrous affections.

So what does this verse mean? It means that idolatry—outward or inward—sets a person in contradiction to God. And do you really want to oppose God? Because that’s one fight that you’re not going to win.

It still never ceases to amaze me how people will live their lives resisting and rejecting God’s authority over their lives…but when they need something, they’re surprised when their barrel of blessings is empty! But how can we really expect the blessing of God on our lives if we’ve rented out His throne in our hearts to some two-bit deity wannabe?!?

I know how tempted we are to try to justify or explain away letting something move God out of His rightful place in our lives…but listen to me today—there’s only one response that God will accept. Look at Ezekiel 14:6, “Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.” We can not accommodate idolatry in our lives and expect God to look the other way! It’s repentance…it’s turning away from the idolatry—even idolatry of the heart—that God’s looking for!

I love the words William Cowper (pr. “Cooper”) wrote in his poem, Walking with God:

The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from thy throne,
And worship only thee.

Someone wisely said, “It’s never too soon to repent…but one day it will be too late.” So let’s forsake today any no-god idols in our lives…anything that monopolizes our attention away from God.

And as you stand at the threshold of decision today, beware of that li’l Gremlin named “Not Me.” Be very careful about assuming that these words have nothing to do with you, because that might just be a clue that pride has rented out God’s throne in your heart. “Repent and turn away from your idols...”

More on American Idolatry

2008-09-11T09:47:00.000-05:00

What is Idolatry? Idolatry is anything that monopolizes our attention away from God. It doesn’t have to be a stone statue or a wooden figure. It’s anything that moves God out of His rightful place in our lives. Henry Blackaby said, “An idol is anything you turn to for help when God told you to turn to Him for help.” Augustine said, “Idolatry is worshipping anything that ought to be used, or using anything that is meant to be worshipped.”

And the Bible has a lot to say against idolatry! Leviticus 19:4 warns us not to turn to idols or make idols, because God declares, “I am the LORD your God.” 1 Kings 21:26 is a strong word against following idols. Leviticus 26:1 warns us not to bow down to idols. In Isaiah 45:20, the LORD condemns those “who carry about their wooden idol and pray to a god who cannot save.” Hosea 13:2 warns against sacrificing to idols. There are so many other OT verses that we could reference, but the bottom line of the issue is found in the second of the Ten Commandments—“You shall not make for yourself an idol…” (Exodus 20:4).

“Pastor, doesn’t all this just show that idolatry was an Old Testament issue?” Not at all! We find the same kinds of prohibition in the New Testament, as well.

The Apostles commanded Gentile Christians to abstain from the pollution of idols in Acts 15:20, 29. The Apostle Paul warned Christians in 1 Corinthians 5:11 “not to associate with…an idolater…not even to eat with such a one.” Idolatry is listed among the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:20. And in the final words of 1 John…in 1 John 5:21, John says, “Little children, guard yourselves from idols.”

The prohibition against idolatry is not an OT or a NT issue; it’s a biblical issue! Scripture clearly forbids the people of God to be involved in idolatry!

And, as we’ve read in Ezekiel 14, idolatry doesn’t require a stone statue or a wooden figure. You see, there is a throne in each of our hearts. God put it there, because He designed us to be worshippers. That throne belongs to Him. Idolatry happens when we substitute something else—anything else—for God in our lives…when we allow an imposter to sit upon God’s throne in our lives.

Louie Giglio wrote along these lines when he wrote:
“I think that all music—not just Christian music but all music—is worship music, because every song is amplifying the value of something. There's a trail of our time, our affections, our allegiance, our devotion, our money. That trail leads to a throne, and whatever's on that throne is what we worship. We're all doing a great job of it because God has created us to be worshipers. The problem is that a lot of us have really bad gods.”

Back to Ezekiel 14…these Jewish leaders were caught in two powerful cross-currents. On one side, they wanted to hear a word from God; but on the other side, their hearts were captured by some idolatrous affection. And God said, “I don’t think so.”

On the heels of Exodus 20:4—“You shall not make for yourself an idol,” God says in the very next verse, “You shall not worship [idols] or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God.” God doesn’t share His throne with anybody or anything. He sits in a peer group of one!

And at the heart of the offense described in Ezekiel 14 is the artificial attempt to seek God while their hearts were inclined toward idols. These leaders were playing a good game on the outside, making everyone believe they were genuine in their faith…but God could see through their hypocrisy!

And, by the way, it’s not just that God is a jealous God… that’s not the only reason God takes such a dramatic stance on the issue of idolatry. Notice in Ezekiel 14:3—“These men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity.” In other words, “They’ve set up idols in their hearts…and have embraced the very things that will make them fall into sin.” It’s actually the mercy of God toward us that says, “You shall not make for yourself an idol.”

American Idolatry

2008-09-10T12:23:00.003-05:00

I don’t know if you caught it in the news, but Thelma Keane died a few months ago in Phoenix at the age of 82. I was saddened by that news when I first heard it, even though I didn’t know her. In fact, I don’t know anyone in the family…but I feel like I do.

Thelma Keane was the inspiration for the Mommy character in her husband’s comic strip, The Family Circus. I’ve been reading Bil Keane’s The Family Circus for as long as I can remember. There’s one character that Bil Keane introduced in the mid-‘70s that’s as true-to-life as any member of this cartoon family.

Do you remember the Gremlin named “Not Me”? He’s invisible and just stands by, watching while the children try to shift blame for some misdeed by saying, “Not Me.” We’ve all been there, whether we’re the ones saying it or hearing it…“Not Me.”

I preached a series of sermons this summer that I called “American Idolatry,” and I’ve decided to use some of that material for my blog. My guess is that most people who hear that title will immediately think to themselves, “Not Me. I’m not guilty of idolatry. I’ve never bowed down before some stone stature or worshipped at a pagan altar. Not Me.”

But don’t be so quick to let Bil Keane’s li’l Gremlin speak for you…As we journey together, we might just discover idols closer than we realized.

Let me tell you how I came to preach a series of sermons (and, subsequently, write in my blog) on “American Idolatry.” I think we can all agree that American Idol has become a household name in today’s culture. This year’s final week of American Idol garnered audiences of 27 million viewers on Tuesday and 32 million viewers on Wednesday, making it the most watched television program in America that week. As television goes, it’s huge!

Last fall I was in the orthodontist’s office with Becca reading a magazine article on the (then) upcoming 2008 season of American Idol…and I got to thinking about America’s fascination with this show—for some people it’s an addiction. Now so you don’t think I’m going on some tirade about American Idol, I watch it sometimes…but I’ve got to tell you…I only like the first few weeks. Once they go to Hollywood, I couldn’t care less who wins.

But that article set into motion an evolution of thoughts across the next 6-8 months that culminated in the sermon series—“American Idolatry.” Most Americans would never dream of bowing down in worship before some stone statue, but idolatry is very much alive in America. In fact, idolatry can be found in most American homes and families. Listen to God’s Word and pray that God will speak clearly to your heart…

Ezekiel 14:1-11
1-Then some elders of Israel came to me and sat down before me.
2-And the word of the LORD came to me, saying,
3-"Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their hearts and have put right before their faces the stumbling block of their iniquity. Should I be consulted by them at all?
4-"Therefore speak to them and tell them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Any man of the house of Israel who sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet, I the LORD will be brought to give him an answer in the matter in view of the multitude of his idols,
5-in order to lay hold of the hearts of the house of Israel who are estranged from Me through all their idols."'
6-"Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Repent and turn away from your idols and turn your faces away from all your abominations.
7-"For anyone of the house of Israel or of the immigrants who stay in Israel who separates himself from Me, sets up his idols in his heart, puts right before his face the stumbling block of his iniquity, and then comes to the prophet to inquire of Me for himself, I the LORD will be brought to answer him in My own person.
8-"I will set My face against that man and make him a sign and a proverb, and I will cut him off from among My people. So you will know that I am the LORD.
9-"But if the prophet is prevailed upon to speak a word, it is I, the LORD, who have prevailed upon that prophet, and I will stretch out My hand against him and destroy him from among My people Israel.
10-"They will bear the punishment of their iniquity; as the iniquity of the inquirer is, so the iniquity of the prophet will be,
11-in order that the house of Israel may no longer stray from Me and no longer defile themselves with all their transgressions Thus they will be My people, and I shall be their God,"' declares the Lord GOD."
Ezekeiel is a prophecy from the Babylonian Exile. In other words, Ezekiel the prophet preached during the time many of the Jews had been taken to Babylon from their homeland in Jerusalem. More specifically, Ezekiel prophesied to the Jews during the first part of their seventy years of captivity.

What’s being discussed in this Ezekiel passage is God’s great displeasure with “some elders of Israel” who were coming to Ezekiel to hear a word from God. These elders would have been some of the most morally upstanding, trustworthy men among the Jewish people in captivity. They were leaders, and their lives were exemplary to all who knew them…all except God, who “sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

These were men you would never see bowed down before some pagan deity…some icon of idolatry…much like most of us. It’s easy for us to be like The Family Circus kids and say, “Not Me,” because we’d never worship in an idol’s temple. Yet God said that these Jewish leaders had “set up idols in their hearts.” They would never have had idols in their homes, but they had them in their hearts. And God made no distinction between the two.

Where, Oh Where, Have I Been...?

2008-09-09T12:16:00.001-05:00

I must apologize that I've been a bit distracted (BUSY would be a better word) over the last few months. My last post was on PI, and to be honest with you, I can't get that out of my head. I even dreamed all night long last night about 3.1415926535...

I'm not kidding.

I do hope to be more faithful to my blog in the days ahead. Please forgive me...

Easy as Pi

2008-06-19T12:00:00.006-05:00

Did you hear about the recent crop circle found this month in the English countryside? It baffled observers until someone figured it out. An electrical engineer from North Carolina noticed that it was an abstract representation of the first ten digits of pi, the number at the center of Euclidean geometry.

This blog entry is not about crop circles, by the way.

Pi is what is known in mathematics as an irrational number, which means that it can not be expressed as a fraction. Contrary to a common myth, 22/7 does not represent pi. 22/7 is actually greater than pi…close but not the same. But pi is best known as a mathematical constant that represents the ratio of any circle's circumference to its diameter. In other words pi equals a circle’s circumference divided by its diameter. The size of the circle is irrelevant, incidentally, because pi expresses the ratio of the circle’s circumference to its diameter.

While I am impressed with some artist(s)’s creativity in designing and producing this latest crop circle, I’m far more impressed with the number known as pi. It’s been a mystery for more than 3,500 years, and still proves to be so.

No one has ever been able to find the end of the number, although (with the help of a supercomputer) the first 1.24 trillion digits are now known. Just to give some perspective, the first eleven digits (3.1415926535) of pi are accurate enough to measure the circumference of our planet to within a millimeter.

The reason this intrigues me is that in 1.24 trillion digits, there is no detectable pattern in the sequence of the numbers.

When I told one of my Junior High math teachers years ago that I was majoring in mathematics (and biblical studies) in college, she told me to look for God in math. I did…and I found Him. If ever a language had the fingerprints of God upon it, math does!

Pi is one of the most fundamental concepts and numbers in mathematics, and it’s infinite! Just like God. And pi is infinitely creative…just like God.

Even if no one who reads this blog cares about pi, I have yet another reason to praise my Lord!

EXPELLED!

2008-04-16T13:46:00.004-05:00

I'm anxiously awaiting the release of a new movie/documentary this weekend entitled, "Expelled." I don't know if you've heard of it or not, but it exposes the blatant fear and intimidation among academic elitists regarding the possibility that God exists. Evolution, as I've often said, is atheism veiled in academic garb. Basically what the "theory" (get that, "theory," not fact) of evolution says is, "Since there is no God, how did we get here?" WHAT AN ASSUMPTION! "Since there is no God..."

You know, we were taught in elementary school the scientific method. You remember:

You begin with a research question
You form a hypothesis (i.e. an "educated guess" as to what you're going to discover)
You collect data
You analyze collected data
You report the findings

And a cardinal rule of pure science is that your research is repeatable by other scientists operating under the same conditions. Evolution fails the test of science on several fronts, yet the scientific community is so committed to atheism that they aren't willing to concede that data do not support their hypotheses. Accordingly, I'm shocked at the intellectual dishonesty that pervades the scientific community...although there are some good scientists and academicians out there...they're just not the ones who get the media attention.

I'm looking forward to this movie/documentary. I hope you'll go see it, too...

"Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord.

2008-04-09T11:04:00.002-05:00

Did you hear the story about the mother who ran into the bedroom when she heard her seven-year-old son scream? She found her two-year-old daughter pulling her brother's hair. She gently released the little girl's grip and said comfortingly to the boy, "There, there. She didn't mean it. She doesn't know that hurts." He nodded his acknowledgement, and she left the room.

As she started down the hall the little girl screamed. Rushing back in, she asked, "What happened?"

The little boy replied, "She knows now that it hurts."

How quickly we seek revenge against those who hurt us. Yet, as believers, revenge is never an option that is part of God's will. "Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse....Never pay back evil for evil to anyone....Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord....Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good" (Romans 12:14,17,19,21).

Black Holes and Belief

2008-04-02T15:42:00.002-05:00

Today’s USA Today has a brief article that references a NASA announcement that the “smallest known black hole [has been] discovered.” The article caught my eye this morning primarily because I said in my sermon last night (I’m preaching a series of revival services outside Chicago, by the way) that black holes are only theoretical. In other words, scientists believe they must exist but actually observing a black hole is an altogether different issue.

I was preaching on the issue of doubt’s relationship to faith, and I concluded my message with an observation on Carl Sagan. He was a world-famous American astronomer and astrobiologist who died in December, 1996. Sagan was fascinated with educated adults, with all the wonders of science around them, who held to religious beliefs. He never wavered in his agnosticism.

Newsweek carried a story about Sagan in March of ‘97 in which his wife, Ann Druyan, said about his last hours: “There was no deathbed conversion. No appeals to God, no hope for an afterlife.” She was asked, “Did he want to believe?” to which she replied, “Carl never wanted to believe. He wanted to know.”

The interesting thing about Druyan’s comment is the theoretical nature of black holes, especially in 1996. It is true that NASA released a report this past fall that they had “unmasked hundreds of black holes hiding deep inside dusty galaxies” using their Spitzer and Chandra space telescopes. Incidentally, what they’ve “seen” are nine to eleven billion light-years away. A light-year, of course, is the distance that light travels in one year in a vacuum or about 5.88 trillion miles.

Caveat—think about this. Pluto, which was classified as a planet more than 75 years ago, has lost its planetary status. Do you know how far from earth Pluto is? A mere 2.66 billion miles (minimum). Compare 2.66 billion miles with a single light-year. Then compare 2.66 billion miles with nine to eleven billion light-years. What’re you saying, Larry? I’m saying that scientists can’t even agree on what they observe at a minuscule fraction of the distance away from us that these latest reports are discussing. To make definitive, irrefutable claims about objects observed nine to eleven billion light-years away isn’t as easy as writing and publishing papers in academic journals.

Personally, I believe that black holes do exist and that we’ll continue to discover ways to prove their existence. Up to this point, however, the sciences of astronomy, physics, and quantum mechanics are limited to educated guesses. This was especially true in Sagan’s lifetime. So Carl Sagan, who “never wanted to believe” but only “wanted to know,” chose to place his faith in black holes even though he couldn’t see them and couldn’t prove them.

The Christian life is one of faith. Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” Carl Sagan had faith…just not in God…and that grieves my heart.

“Well, are black holes only theoretical or have they been proved?!?”

That’s a great question....Scientists operate with confidence that black holes exist, but they still haven’t actually seen a black hole. They’ve seen what must be the effects of black holes through complex computer imaging using infrared and X-ray technologies. But the black holes themselves are still yet to be observed.

One of the reasons that “seeing” a black hole is difficult, to say the least, is that light itself can’t escape the gravitational pull of a black hole. And without light, we’re blind.

May I repeat—I believe in the existence of black holes, but I must do so by faith because I’ve never actually seen one. People often say that God doesn’t exist because they’ve never seen Him. But, as I’ve said before, an atheist doesn’t want to find God any more than a thief wants to find a police officer. If God does indeed exist, then He is the final Authority and deserves our absolute allegiance. That, my friend, means life-change…and most people don’t want Someone else calling the shots.

Until next time…

April 1

2008-04-01T23:58:00.004-05:00

In an effort to be more politically correct, I am acknowledging today as National Atheist Day.

Psalm 14:1

Evan-jelly-whatie?

2008-03-15T08:33:00.005-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since my last post...life's busy.

I had a lady call the office a couple of days ago--not a church member, but someone who watches our TV ministry--who wanted to know if I could explain to her what the word "Evangelical" means. She'd heard the word so much in the news in connection with the current presidential election that she figured she needed to know what the media were talking about.

I thought there might be others who share her confusion.

The short answer to the question “What is an Evangelical?” is “a more socially conservative born-again Christian.” But since I’m not prone to give short answers, here’s more information—

“Evangelical” is a term that describes a sub-category of Christianity. The word “Christian” doesn’t mean the same thing to everybody who uses the term. What Catholics believe differs considerably from what Protestants believe. But the beliefs of an Episcopalian differ considerably from the beliefs of a Baptist.

We sometimes distinguish between “Christians” and “born-again Christians” because not everyone who calls himself/herself a Christian believes in the necessity of conversion for salvation. Catholics and Lutherans, for instance, believe in more of a “community of faith” than a “conversion of faith.” In other words, you’re Christian if you belong to their faith community.

“Evangelical” actually describes the smaller, more socially conservative subset of born again Christians. Evangelicals represent about one-fifth of all born again Christians, according to George Barna. He defines “Evangelical” in this way:

“Born-again Christians,” for the sake of clarification, are Christians who say they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their lives today and who believe they’re going to heaven when they die because they have confessed their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. “Evangelical Christians” are Christians who are born again plus seven other conditions. Those include:

saying their faith is very important in their life today;

believing they have a personal responsibility to share their religious beliefs about Christ with non-Christians;

believing that Satan exists;

believing that eternal salvation is possible only through grace, not works;

believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth;

asserting that the Bible is accurate in all that it teaches;

and describing God as the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect deity who created the universe and still rules it today.

Naturally, there are some people who call themselves “Evangelicals” who are not and some Evangelicals who reject the label.

And just so we're still on the same page, "Evangelical" doesn't mean the same thing as "evangelistic." "Evangelistic," "evangel," "evangelist," and "evangelism" are English words that come from the Greek word for gospel, "euangelion," which literally means "good news."

I hope this helps...and, by the way, the TIME Magazine cover image that I used is from the February 7, 2005, issue.

Stephen King, Starbucks, and American Christianity (Part 4 of 4)

2008-03-01T07:00:00.003-06:00

[This is an article that I've chosen to break up into several days due to its length.]
We demonstrate genuineness in our faith by loving God and loving people. Stop right there and think about that statement. Loving God and loving people. It’s the Great Commandment (see Mark 12:30-31). Jesus gave it when asked, “What’s the greatest commandment of all?” In other words, the man was asking “What’s the most important thing I can do with my life?” Jesus told him, “Love God and love people.” Do we somehow think Jesus was merely making a suggestion? Do we think He was kidding? Why are loving God and loving people not guiding principles for our lives and our churches? I assure you, they’re not for many of us…not when we treat one another the way that we do. I often say (and I’m ashamed to repeat it here) that the meanest people I’ve ever met in my life have been church folk. I’m serious.

We’re authentic when our lives line up with our lips. Regardless of what we might hear these days, truth matters. And truth matters because truth and experience are related. Some would argue against that premise, saying that our experiences exist independent of truth. But in the end, truth and experience always intersect. A guy falls from the twentieth floor of a building. All the way down, he shouts to people through open windows, “I’m okay!” He can say that…He might even—in some strange delusion—believe it…but in the end, the truth intersects with his experience.

So, since the truth—specifically the truth of God’s Word—will have ultimate bearing on our experience, then it is more than important—it’s imperative—that we come to terms with the truth. And that truth must be fleshed out in our daily lives…in our church ministries…in our interaction with the culture in which we live.

Starbucks did the right thing…refocused on their purpose and passion as a coffee shop. American Christianity (and all expressions of the Christian faith, for that matter) must return to its roots if we’re going to connect with our culture for the cause of Christ. How long will we wander in the wilderness of our worldliness while convincing ourselves that there’s ease in Zion!?!

When Americans are watching more than four and a half hours of television per day, we must ask ourselves whether our lives as believers are being shaped by culture more than by Christ. Think about it…most of us spend—what?—five hours a week in church activities, if we’re “there every time the doors are open”? Throw in our personal devotion lives. How much time each week are we talking about? I’m guessing it wouldn’t be as much as the 32+ hours per week we spend in front of the TV! And if our lives look and sound more like the world than our Savior, why does it surprise us when the influence of our lives for Christ is negligible?

We are the key to spiritual awakening in America. God said, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Like the old saying goes, “If the gold rusts, what shall happen to the iron?”

I've got to tell you...when the church stops living out the demonstrable difference of knowing Christ, “organized religion gives me the creeps.”

Stephen King, Starbucks, and American Christianity (Part 3 of 4)

2008-02-29T19:02:00.005-06:00

[This is an article that I've chosen to break up into several days due to its length.]
Just this week (Tuesday, February 26), Starbucks closed all 7,100 of their stores across the country for three hours in order to re-train their employees. From the massive publicity generated in the media beforehand by such a move, I assumed that the training had to do primarily with coffee. Yet when I spoke with Starbucks employees here in Clarksville and in Nashville on Wednesday, I discovered that the training was more about connecting with the customer…returning to their roots of being a friendly, neighborhood coffee shop.

Howard D. Schultz was recently appointed (or anointed, whichever way you want to look at it) as the CEO of Starbucks. In February of last year, Schultz wrote a (now well-publicized) memorandum complaining of the Starbucks experience being “water[ed] down” from the company’s former (and smaller) days. The idea behind the unorthodox move on Tuesday was to return to the company’s purpose and passion for the customer. Even though unsuspecting customers complained outside locked doors and to newspaper reporters, I suspect that Starbucks will be glad they did what they did…as will we.

So what?

The “so what” is that maybe that’s what we ought to do. “Close and lock the church doors!?! Keep potential church members on the sidewalks to complain?!?” Not exactly, but certainly we should give some serious thought to the “watering down” in America of the Christian experience…and we should do whatever it takes to return to Christ’s purpose for His church. We must protect the “saltiness” of the church!

Surely we have to take some ownership of the problem when the largest religious shifts in America are away from affiliation with any religion or faith tradition. Whether we like it or not, we are “guilty by association” (in the eyes of outsiders) when Christians, church leaders , or churches dishonor the Lord. Every pedophile priest has an impact on what people think of the Christian faith. Every rogue pastor is a bad advertisement for our faith. Every hypocritical “Christian” paints a picture of Christianity in someone’s understanding.

“But I can’t be responsible for what everyone else does!” And that’s true, but it means that we have to be all the more intentional about demonstrating integrity in our lives consistently.

As to churches and denominations, believe it or not we’re facing struggles these days with “church leaders” (if you can call them that) who’re challenging the idea that a person must be a follower of Jesus Christ to be a member of a local church. I have no doubt that many people sitting on the pews of our churches week after week are unregenerate, but do we really want to openly suggest that conversion is a dispensable part of our faith?!?

Stephen King said, “Organized religion gives me the creeps.” But was he talking about the structures and pillars of authentic faith…or the people who’ve forgotten to practice what they preach? We must possess what Bill Hybels calls “high potency” in our faith! If there’s one trait of my generation (I’m a Gen-Xer) and those coming behind me, we can spot a fake a mile away. Much of what parades itself around as Christianity is a deplorable distortion of biblical faith and hardly “the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints” (Jude 3).

To be continued...

Stephen King, Starbucks, and American Christianity (Part 2 of 4)

2008-02-28T09:19:00.005-06:00

[This is an article that I've chosen to break up into several days due to its length.]
Numbers like these should concern us, and rightfully so, but not for the reasons some people might think. Outsiders might accuse someone like me (the pastor of a local Southern Baptist congregation) of fearing that I might lose my audience or, even worse, my financial base. But I must tell you that my concern is far more substantive than that. If almost 8 out of 10 American adults consider themselves Christians while the largest net gains in religious affiliation among American adults were among those who claim no affiliation with any religion or faith tradition, we have bigger issues on our plate than the next Sunday School picnic or stewardship campaign!

Besides the fact that the American Protestant majority—which has been in place since the founding of this nation—is quickly ebbing away, churches are losing their relevance in today’s culture. Some, of course, will argue that this is impossible…but I remind you of the warning Jesus gave in His Sermon on the Mount: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men” (Matthew 5:13).

Now, if we were being true to our spiritual nature and calling, why did a new study of unchurched Americans (conducted by LifeWay Research, in partnership with the North American Mission Board’s Center for Missional Research) find almost 3 out of 4 adults (72%) said they think the church “is full of hypocrites”? Yet, 64% of the respondents said they think “the Christian religion is a relevant and viable religion for today” and 71% of them said they believe Jesus “makes a positive difference in a person’s life.” Also, 78% said they would “be willing to listen” to someone who wanted to share what they believed about Christianity.

So where’s the problem? It seems that unchurched people have a greater problem with the church than with Jesus. 86% of those surveyed said, “I believe I can have a good relationship with God without being involved in church.” Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay research, said about the survey’s findings, “People on the outside see the church as candles, pews and flowers, rather than people living out their love for God by loving others.”

Don’t get me wrong…I don’t think all hope is lost…nothing even close to such doom and gloom. But I am suggesting that we (Christians, churches and denominations) need to conduct serious self-analysis and ask ourselves if all that we’re about and consumed with is really what Jesus died for.

Come on…what did Jesus tell us to do? “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). This is our mission…but is it what we’re about? I’m afraid we don’t really want to answer that question, but we have to....

To be continued...

Stephen King, Starbucks, and American Christianity (Part 1 of 4)

2008-02-27T17:20:00.005-06:00

I know I’m going to shock some of you when I tell you this, but I think Stephen King is an amazingly gifted writer. I don’t like everything he writes, I assure you, but it’s hard to argue with his ability to tell a tale.

He’s known primarily as an author of horror stories (like Carrie, Cujo, Misery, Salem’s Lot, etc.), but he’s written some remarkable works in non-horror genres (like The Green Mile, Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, and On Writing [non-fiction]). The pinnacle of his writing accomplishments is a seven book series called The Dark Tower, written across a time period spanning almost 25 years.

Most of my friends, I’m guessing, wouldn’t read a Stephen King novel if it were given to them for free. He’s not my favorite author; Dean Koontz is. I have, however, read the entire Dark Tower series and found it to be the most fascinating work of fiction I’ve ever read.

The reason King is on my mind this morning is because of something he said recently. In the February, 2008, edition of “Citizen,” King is quoted as saying, “I'm not a vampire type, when somebody shows me the cross....But organized religion gives me the creeps.” Not that I was unaware of his aversion to “organized religion”…he discussed it in some detail in his non-fiction work called On Writing, which is slightly autobiographical as well as what he calls “A Memoir of the Craft.”

King’s comment that “organized religion gives [him] the creeps” has me thinking. On the surface, it would be easy to dismiss his comment as sacrilege…blasphemy. But before we go off half-cocked on King, let’s think about what thoughts might be behind his words.

Just this week, the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released its “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” findings. According to the survey, 78.4% of Americans call themselves Christians of some sort. Evangelicals are the largest particular group of Christians (26.3%), while Roman Catholics follow at a close second (23.9%).

One of the most intriguing yet troubling findings of the survey, at least in my opinion, is the number of people who have switched from the faiths (notice my use of the word “faiths” and not “churches”) in which they were raised. More than one out of four American adults are no longer affiliated with the faith in which they were raised, having chosen in favor of either another religion or no religion at all. If switching from one Protestant denomination to another is included, 44% of American adults have switched religious affiliations.

Can you guess, however, where the biggest gains in religious affiliation have taken place? Among those who claim no affiliation with any religion or faith tradition. “Overall, 7.3% of the adult population says they were unaffiliated with any particular religion as a child. Today, however, 16.1% of adults say they are unaffiliated, a net increase of 8.8 percentage points. Sizeable numbers of those raised in all religions—from Catholicism to Protestantism to Judaism—are currently unaffiliated with any particular religion.”

To be continued...

CONFESSION: "I'm addicted!"

2008-02-18T07:43:00.005-06:00

Just as the title for this blog indicates, I'm confessing my addiction here, today, for all the world to see. Trust me, I know what most people think when others make such a confession--"Well! I've never!" And that's okay. I've come to accept my addiction as a part of my life. In fact, I have to admit that I don't want to stop!

Merriam-Webster.com defines "addicted" as "to devote or surrender (oneself) to something habitually or obsessively." Yep, that's about right. I'm addicted.

I've gone for weeks without feeding my addiction...but I always come back. And, honestly, I experience awful withdrawals every minute I'm not immersed in my addiction. You can't "help" me...You can't change me...So, don't even try. I'm addicted and I'm not ashamed!

I'm sure there are some who could coach me through withdrawals. They would probably say things like, "I've been where you are, brother. I've felt what you feel. But I broke away...and you can too!" To which I would have to reply, "Why? Why would I want to do that? This is who I am...and this is who I want to be. I don't have a problem--you have a problem! I could walk away at any moment, but I don't want to...and I'm not going to."

Please don't pray for me to be delivered from my addiction. I'm telling you right now, I don't want to be delivered. And (this'll rock your world), I believe God approves of my addiction. Say what you will...be offended if you will...but I believe God wants this addiction to be in my life. I think my addiction makes me better and wiser and stronger, regardless of what anyone else might have to say about the matter.

What? I haven't told you what I'm addicted to? My family, and I'm not ashamed to admit it. "My name is Larry, and I'm addicted to my wife and daughters." There, I said it...but I'm not changing. ;-)

Beth, Morgan, and Rebecca...I love you! It's been so good to come home this weekend. What a shot of Vitamin B12 does for the body, this quick trip home from Canada has done for me in every way. One more week, and then I'm home, home...

I'm coming home for the weekend!

2008-02-14T21:45:00.005-06:00

I've been in Canada for almost two weeks, and I'm having such a fulfilling experience...but I've got to tell you, I'm missing my family. I told Beth today in an E-mail, "If absence makes the heart grow fonder, I'm really, really fond of you right now!" But I fly out of Calgary Saturday morning and will be home in the late afternoon! Can't wait to see Beth and the girls!

I've had the privilege to hang out with some great folk since being here. I've eaten in the homes of Aaron (and Alicia) Scofield and Jeremiah (and Mindy) Pierson, both seminary students. I ate lunch today with Paul Johnson, director of evangelism for the Canadian Convention of Southern Baptists (their national convention). I'm eating dinner with Cesar (and Mary) Parra tomorrow night. God's given me the opportunity to forge some relationships that I pray will stay intact for many years to come. I look forward to watching how God uses these folk I've had a chance to serve as Professor.

My trip home allows me to preach the morning and evening services at Hilldale, then I'll fly back to Canada on Monday. I'll finish my third week of teaching and then will come back home. My students, on the other hand, will be busy for a month after the class sessions are over finishing up the assignments I've given them. Of course, now that I think about it, then I'll be the one who'll be mighty busy since I'll have to grade all those assignments! Uh-oh. :-)

I'm rambling, but I wanted to bring you up to speed on how my Canadian Adventure is going. Thank you for praying...please continue to do so!

By the way, we got snow yesterday. It was wonderful!

HP + CP + CC = MI

2008-02-12T08:47:00.000-06:00

“Aaaaagggghhhh! Not algebra again! I thought I left that behind in high school!” Maybe that’s what you think when you see a formula like HP + CP + CC = MI…but that’s actually “A Formula for Impacting Your World.”

One of the textbooks that I’m using in my evangelism class here at the seminary is by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg and entitled, Becoming a Contagious Christian. It’s been around for nearly 15 years but is right on the money when it comes to principles of sharing one’s faith.

At the heart of the book is what Hybels and Mittelberg call “A Formula for Impacting Your World.” HP + CP + CC = MI looks daunting until you break it down…

HP stands for “High Potency.” In other words, Christians have to be the real deal if they’re going to impact people around them for Christ. There’s no substitute for authenticity, and most people can spot a fake a mile away.

CP is short for “Close Proximity,” which means that Christians’ lives have to actually touch lives around them if they’re going to be contagious as Christians. It’s pretty difficult to spread a disease without some human interaction. It’s like that idea regarding being “the salt of the earth”—salt that never gets out of the shaker never makes a difference.

CC represents “Clear Communication.” Christians can be genuine in their faith and in the company of unsaved people continuously; but at some point, Christians have to communicate the good news of Jesus in terms and concepts that irreligious people can understand if they’re going to impact people for Christ.

MI stands for “Maximum Impact.” Impacting people for Christ doesn’t just happen by accident. It’s intentional and is the result of “high potency” Christians being in “close proximity” to lost people and engaging in the “clear communication” of the gospel.

So…if we want to impact our world for the cause of Christ, this is a wonderful and effective formula for doing so: “High Potency” + “Close Proximity” + “Clear Communication” = “Maximum Impact.” Let us make it so!

I went to world-renown Lake Louise and Banff today...

2008-02-09T21:30:00.000-06:00

Dr. Kevin Peacock and his wife, Brenda, took me to places today that are difficult to describe in words. As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words."

When Contextual Clues Fail You

2008-02-08T09:18:00.000-06:00

Let me tell you how I embarrassed myself on Monday, my first day on campus. Dr. Kevin Peacock, Acting Academic Dean and Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew, found me setting up for class and asked, “Have you met Dr. Blackaby yet?” I said, “No, but I’d love to.” So he took me upstairs where Dr. Blackaby was gathered with students and faculty after having given his State of the Seminary address.

Parenthetical Thought: One of the greatest gifts to the church of this age has been Dr. Henry Blackaby, author of Experiencing God and too many other titles to mention here. His son Richard Blackaby served as President of the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary from 1993 to 2006. Dr. Rob Blackaby succeeded Dr. Richard Blackaby as President of the seminary last year. Now, back to my story…

Kevin said, “Dr. Blackaby, I want to introduce you to our evangelism professor for the next three weeks, Dr. Larry Robertson.” Wanting to make a good impression, I said, “Dr. Blackaby, it’s an honor to meet you. I spent a week with your dad in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, a few years ago and just fell in love with him.” Dr. Blackaby gave me a puzzled look and then said, “You think Henry Blackaby’s my dad, don’t you?” to which I said, “Uh, yeah?” He laughed and said, “I get that all the time. He’s my uncle and Richard’s my cousin.”

I started backpedaling, trying to explain…but to no avail. I had officially embarrassed myself, no question about it. But in the end, we all just had a good laugh and moved on. Whew! I was glad of that.

Dr. Blackaby and I spent time together Wednesday eating lunch and swapping seminary and ministry stories. I found out a few things about him that I didn’t know. He’s only 41 years old. His Ph.D. is in the study of Christian ethics. And his wife is from Springfield, Tennessee! They were married in First Baptist Church of Greenbrier. Let’s sing it all together: “It’s a small world after all. It’s a small world after all…” He and his wife, Jo Susan, met while both were students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.

God has given this seminary a leader with a fresh vision for his home country…and He’s given me a new friend. I’m grateful for both…

Please continue to pray for me as I prepare, lecture, model and preach. This Sunday morning I’ll be preaching at Cambrian Heights Baptist Church in Calgary. On Sunday evening I’m planning to attend a house church in the area. Real estate is so enormously, incredibly expensive in the Calgary vicinity that churches have had to “rethink church.” They can’t focus on buildings or properties…they have to concentrate on people. Wow! What a concept. ;-)

Canadian Adventure Update

2008-02-06T12:35:00.000-06:00

Let me update you on my Canadian adventure.

I've taught two class sessions thus far, and they've been great. I think I've been preaching as much as I've been teaching, though, but hey...! Seriously, I'm getting to know the students. Every member of the seminary faculty has been so gracious to me. It's kind of strange being called "Dr. Robertson" all the time by everybody. Ha! I'm used to (and prefer) being called "Bro. Larry," but this is an academic community...and when in Rome...

I preached in chapel this morning. It went okay, I suppose. But I'm more of a 35-45 minute preacher and to condense my thoughts down to 25 minutes proved a real challenge. Anyone who knows me knows that if I only preach 25 minutes, I must not feel well. Ha! Thank you to those of you who prayed for me as I preached!

On another note, we prayed especially for Tennessee/Union University this morning in chapel regarding the tornadoes that came through Tennessee yesterday and last night. There are several Union connections here at the seminary, including Dr. Steve Booth (the CSBS academic dean) who is missionary-in-residence at Union University this semester. He will be filling the pulpit at Hilldale in my absence this Sunday...I hope! :-)

Please continue to pray for me. I'll be preaching at an area church tonight on the subject of evangelism. Then I'll also be preaching Sunday at an area church. Of course, I'll be teaching my evangelism class along the way, too. Pray that God will give me clarity of thought and speech. I don't know that I've ever been any busier on a mission trip...this is just a different kind of busy...but WOW I'm worn smack out!

Until next time...

How’s it goin’, eh?

2008-02-04T22:25:00.000-06:00

In case you don’t know, I’m in Canada for three weeks teaching an “Introduction to Evangelism” class at the Canadian Southern Baptist Seminary. Dr. Roy Fish, well-known evangelism professor from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, was scheduled to teach, but he got sick and had to bow out.

I received a call from the acting academic dean two weeks ago from today asking if there was any way that I could pinch hit for Dr. Fish. After talking it over with my wife and my pastoral staff, I decided to take the plunge…er, actually that’s not the right analogy. It’s -16 degrees Celsius right now, which translates into 1 degree Fahrenheit! Brrrr…

Back to the story of my Canadian adventure…I had my first class session today, and it was wonderful. I have 17 students, and I already know that I’m going to enjoy getting to know them.

I covet your prayers as I prepare my lectures and teach my class.

Teaching an evangelism class is as much about inspiration as it is information, even at the graduate level. I told my students today that although we’re studying evangelism in an academic setting, evangelism is not primarily an academic pursuit! Evangelism is a NATURAL activity for every believer…every follower of Jesus Christ! Matthew 4:19—“And [Jesus] said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

I know that I have the privilege of teaching this evangelism course…I’m going to grade the students’ work…I hope somewhere along the way to inspire them toward greater evangelistic endeavors. BUT Jesus is the only One who can make them “fishers of men.”

Thank you for praying…

Super Bowl Weekend!

2008-02-02T09:18:00.000-06:00

You know what’s on people’s minds this weekend, right? The Super Bowl! I have to confess, though, that I don’t really care about who wins because none of my teams made it (Titans, Saints, Packers, Cowboys). But if I have to choose one or the other, I’ll choose the Giants because I like those Manning boys.

But regardless of what you think about the New England Patriots, you have to concede that their quarterback Tom Brady is outstanding. During the 2007-2008 NFL regular season, Tom Brady set the record for most touchdown passes in a regular season, paving the way for his winning the MVP award. At the age of 30, he has already won three Super Bowls—an accomplishment that sets him apart as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. His many records and accomplishments are too numerous to list here. He’s reached the dream (several times, I might add) that millions of little boys (and a lot of big ones, too) have as they’re growing up…playing NFL football…making it to the Super Bowl…WINNING the Super Bowl. All of this for Tom Brady by the time he’s 30 years old.

In 2005, however, Brady was interviewed by 60 Minutes journalist Steve Kroft. Despite the fame and career accomplishments he had achieved already, Brady told Kroft that it felt like something was still lacking in his life:

“Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there's something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ‘Hey man, this is what [it's all about].’ I reached my goal, my dream, my life. Me? I think, ‘It's got to be more than this.’ I mean this isn't—this can't be—all it's cracked up to be.”

Kroft pressed Brady as to what the right answer was, and Brady added:

“What's the answer? I wish I knew… I love playing football, and I love being quarterback for this team. But at the same time, I think there are a lot of other parts about me that I'm trying to find.”

By Tom Brady’s own words, he’s still searching…even after reaching the mountaintop of football! You want to know why? Because there’s a hole in each of our hearts…a God-shaped hole in each of our hearts that only He can fill. And no amount of money…or fame…or Super Bowl rings can fill that void.

I’ve heard all my life that you can’t put a square peg in a round hole. That’s not exactly true. You can put a square peg in a round hole…if the hole is big enough and the peg is small enough. But you have a whole lot of space left over.

I’m reminded of the words of Jesus in John 10:10—“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus gives not only life in quantity (eternal life), but the life He gives to those who trust Him is quality. Another translation of that verse puts it this way: “The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life” (New Living Translation). I like that…“a rich and satisfying life.” That’s what I have in Christ, and that’s what Tom Brady can have, too.

Perhaps God will cause Tom Brady’s path to cross with Christians from the Patriots organization or from the Giants organization with whom he can connect and from whom he can hear about Christ. I’ll pray toward that end…

You Know...

2008-01-18T08:43:00.000-06:00

A lady was walking past a pet store when a parrot said, “Hey, lady! You're really ugly!”
The lady was angry but continued on her way.

On the way home, she passed by the pet store again, and the parrot once more said, “Hey, lady! You're really ugly!”

She was enraged now, so she went into the store and said that she wanted the bird disposed of. The store manager apologized profusely and promised he would make sure the parrot didn't say it again.

The next day, she deliberately passed by the store to test the parrot. “Hey, lady!” the bird said.

“Yes?” she replied.

“You know.”

What do you do when you hear some truth that you don’t like? Ignore it? Deny it? Silence it? The Bible tells us in James 1:23-25 that the truth of Scripture is a mirror—“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

Whenever I get up in the morning, I sometimes laugh at how crazy my hair can look. (It’s not uncommon for me to look like death warmed over in the morning.) But I can’t imagine getting mad at the mirror for showing me what I look like. It’s just revealing the truth, right? Why then do people get so angry with Scripture when it reveals what we look like to the eyes of God?

The problem is our pride—our self-sufficiency. You see…when we put ourselves in the place of judging which Bible verses are true and which ones should be disregarded, we’re seeking to commandeer God’s unique place of authority. One of my mentors used to say, “There are two things that God will not share—His vengeance and His glory.” I’m convinced (from personal experience) that only in the vain conceit of sinful pride would a person seek to usurp God’s authority.

The only proper response to seeing ourselves in the mirror of Scripture is to address the problem (i.e. repent). If and when you look in a mirror and see your hair disheveled or a spot on your shirt, wouldn’t you seek to correct the problem immediately? Why? Because you’re embarrassed for other people to see you looking like that?

Consider this—“God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He can see a spot on our hearts. He can see when our motives are out of place. He sees who we are on the inside. We might not like His assessment of our condition, but we need to know the truth about ourselves. “But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

To Do List

2008-01-16T09:02:00.000-06:00

I just wrote out a "To Do List" for the rest of my week. Listed are three funerals to prepare for...THREE! I've preached many funerals through the years, but I must confess that it never gets any easier. Death is always a kick in the gut that just knocks the breath out of you. Obviously, it's different when it's your loved one who's died instead of being the one preaching the funeral. But it's never easy.

These funerals (and all funerals, really) remind me that life has a beginning and it has an end. As strange as it sounds, death is a part of life. The writer of Hebrews put it this way--"It is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment" (9:27).

One of the most probing prayers that I find in Scripture is one by Moses. It reminds us that our days are numbered. Psalm 90:12--"So teach us to number our days, that we may present to You a heart of wisdom." Our days are numbered, so what are we doing with the time we have? Amy Carmichael, an Irish missionary to India a century ago, said, "We will have eternity to celebrate the victories, but only a few hours before sunset to win them."

Some friends and I went to see the new movie this past weekend starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, "The Bucket List." The idea of a bucket list, as I discovered through the film, is a list of things you'd like to do before you "kick the bucket." Except for some language, the movie was pretty good and had a good message. As we were walking out, someone in the group--Jeff Williams, I believe--suggested that perhaps Christians should develop a spiritual bucket list...a list of everything you want to do for the Lord before you meet Him. I think that's an awesome idea.

In the movie, as you discover from the previews (so I'm not spoiling the film for you), it takes the two main characters battling cancer to do those things they'd always wanted to do but had never gotten around to it. Why is that how we live our lives? Should it really take knowing we're dying to jolt us into living?!? Because I've got news for us all--we all have a terminal condition known as sin. And as a result, we're all going to die. So, now that we have settled the question of our deaths, what're we going to do with the time we have left?

Realizing that this particular blog may be a downer for you...let me shift gears as I close:

Some friends were hanging out one day, and the conversation grimly turned to the issue of death. One of the friends asked the others, "What would you like people to say about you at your funeral?"

One friend answered, "I would want people to say, 'He was a great humanitarian who cared about his community.'"

A second replied, "I would want people to say, 'He was a great husband and father, an example for many to follow.'"

The third friend gave it some thought and answered, "I would hope someone says, 'Look, he's moving!'"

Thanks for reading...

Echo, Echo, Echo, Echo

2008-01-09T17:07:00.000-06:00

Karen Watson, a modern-day martyr, was a Southern Baptist missionary killed in Iraq on March 15, 2004. Karen wrote her own epitaph in a letter that she left behind with her pastors. The envelope said “Open in case of death,” and the letter said in part:

Dear Pastor Phil and Pastor Roger,

You should only be opening this in the event of death.

When God calls there are no regrets. I tried to share my heart with you as much as possible, my heart for the nations. I wasn't called to a place; I was called to Him. To obey was my objective, to suffer was expected, His glory my reward, His glory my reward . . .

The missionary heart:

Cares more than some think is wise
Risks more that some think is safe
Dreams more than some think is practical
Expects more than some think is possible.

I was called not to comfort or to success but to obedience. . . .

There is no Joy outside of knowing Jesus and serving Him. I love you two and my church family.

In His care,

Salaam, Karen

Such a heart humbles me and causes me to cry out to God, “Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, to Thee.” I’m reminded of Soren Kierkegaard’s words when he said, “When one preaches Christianity in such a way that the echo answers, ‘Away with that man from the earth, he does not deserve to live,’ know then that this is the Christianity of the New Testament. Without change since the time of our Lord Jesus Christ, capital punishment is the penalty for preaching Christianity as it truly is.”

I wonder what the echo of my life is saying…

Dangerous Thinking, Huh?

2008-01-06T21:14:00.000-06:00

The following is a recent comment I received from “Anonymous” regarding Bro. Lee Eclov’s article I posted last week. To be honest, I can’t find the quote this person is addressing (and then again maybe I’m blind or have Alzheimer’s)…but here it is: “When the people of the church (or community) start dictating the things the Holy Spirit is directing, fallacies ensue.”

“Anonymous” wrote, “This is dangerous thinking, please don’t forget that the Holy Spirit dwells within the church body too.”

With all due respect to “Anonymous,” I think he (I’m using the male pronoun for simplicity’s sake) misunderstood the substance of the article…perhaps he didn’t read the piece in its entirety. I’m not sure. But his comment prompted me to ask myself, “Is ‘Anonymous’ suggesting that what a pastor preaches should be the result of a majority opinion of the members of a church?”

Can you envision what Noah would have proclaimed if the message he proclaimed were left up to popular vote? How about Micaiah? Jeremiah? John the Baptist? Jesus?!?

I agree with “Anonymous” that the Holy Spirit indwells believers in a congregation…but that’s not even remotely close to the issue discussed in Eclov’s article. His comment was a challenge to pastors to preach the whole counsel of God (under the direction of the Holy Spirit) instead of giving pop psychology pep talks in the pulpit.

Can you imagine what the preaching would be like in an average church if the content of the sermons was left up to church members to decide? Hey! Can you imagine what my sermons would be like if I just preached what I wanted to preach?!? That’s not to disparage myself or my spiritual siblings, please understand. My point is that, by our human nature, we’re going to shy away from subjects or passages that contradict our lives in some way.

When we commit to “preach the word; [and to] be ready in season and out of season; [to] reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Timothy 4:2), we’re guarding the prophetic voice of the church. We’re protecting the continued purity and viability of God’s message. We’re ensuring that true men of God stand to declare with holy boldness the true word of God with God-honoring, Satan-defying, sin-killing power on their lives and their lips! That means that we preach what the Word of God says…whether we like it or not.

Sometimes the most uncomfortable thing a pastor can do is to preach the Bible. I’m reminded of a cartoon from a few years ago in which a preacher had prepared the pulpit area like a fortress. He was peering through the crack of a machine gun nest. The caption read something like, “Today I’m preaching from 1 Peter 3:1—“Wives, submit to your husbands.”

That cartoon reminds us that people are not always going to like the taste of every sermon we preach. But regardless of the popularity or the response to a message, still the truth must be spoken.

The Apostle Paul warned in 2 Timothy 4:3-4—“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” Left unto themselves, people will drift away from truth…never toward it. That’s why we must continue to call people back to the ever-constant standard of Scripture!

Peter James Lee was one of the 60 Episcopal bishops who voted in 2003 to approve the consecration of an openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson of New Hampshire. In the midst of that controversy, Lee made the statement: “If you must make a choice between heresy and schism, always choose heresy.” Never mind that such heresy causes divisions…the African and Asian branches of the Episcopal church want to expel the U.S. branch unless it promises to change its stand on moral standards and teachings!

There are some people who hear a pastor and a church declare that Jesus is the only way to God, so they go looking for a pastor who says there are many ways to God. Or some people reject the biblical teaching that those who engage in sexual relationships outside of marriage are “fornicators and adulterers” whom “God will judge” (Heb. 13:4). So they look for a teacher who says that the sexual standards in the Bible are not binding in today's world. This reminds us, incidentally, that the most popular preachers aren’t necessarily the most faithful preachers.

No, “Anonymous,” I’m going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you didn’t read the whole article…that you didn’t mean what your words seem to indicate that you were saying. We’re called to preach the Word. And I pray that God will give me strength to fulfill that calling until He calls me home…even when I don’t even like what I’m preaching! ;-)

The Danger (?) of Practical Preaching, Part 3 of 3

2008-01-03T06:50:00.000-06:00

I’m on day three of three days in which I’m sharing an article that I recently read by Lee Eclov, Senior Pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, IL. This is not my custom, as you know, but this brother’s thoughts so affirmed core beliefs that I have held for a long time that I thought it sensible and acceptable to share them with you. The title of the piece is “The Danger of Practical Preaching: Why People Need More than the Bottom Line.” Warning: This commentary could change your perspective on preaching forever!

The Ready Mind

It may seem to us sometimes that the Christians to whom we preach are not interested in the truth trails of Scripture; or worse, that they won’t get it. We hear so much about the postmodern mind that we assume our postmodern people will reject the absolute logic of the Bible. It is true that our listeners are susceptible to relativism. It is true that we must not only make clear what is true from the Word, but also demonstrate that other ideas they may hold are not true. But we may forget that converted people have transformed minds. Preaching biblical truth to unbelievers (in a seeker service, for instance) is an entirely different matter than preaching to believers. The truth isn't different. The capacity of the listener is.

God promised Jeremiah that in the New Covenant he would “put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.” New believers, indwelt by the Holy Spirit, almost immediately begin to understand spiritual realities that eluded them before. It is like a gifted child. Sometimes, even before a child starts school, we realize “that kid has a mind for numbers,” or music, or science. We say that because when they are introduced to something new in that sphere they understand it much more quickly than other children. It is like they are already wired for that kind of information. Christians are, from the moment of their new birth, wired for spiritual, biblical information. We “have a mind for it.”

Thus, when a preacher stands and opens before them the logic of the Scriptures—the contemplations of a psalmist or the doctrinal logic of an epistle—they understand it, like a gifted child. And the logic of that text gradually becomes the logic of their own minds.

Truth trail preaching, the careful and persuasive exposition of Scriptural thinking, shapes ready Christian minds for the everyday decisions unscripted in Scripture. When we face an ethical dilemma at work or a discipline problem at home, our minds walk the truth trails we have learned and we are able to reason our way, by the help of the Holy Spirit, to a biblical conclusion, even when no verse of Scripture directly addresses our situation.

When we preach only the principle, the bullet points, the bottom line, or when we try to make every sermon about an everyday problem, we may set truth in the minds of our hearers, but we do not set the logic and pulse of God into their minds and hearts. On the other hand, biblical exposition that lays out the Lord's own logic and heartbeat shapes “doers of the Word and not hearers only.”

Thank you, Bro. Lee Eclov, for such a thought-provoking article on preaching the whole counsel of God!

The Danger (?) of Practical Preaching, Part 2 of 3

2008-01-02T09:01:00.000-06:00

I’m on day two of three days in which I’m sharing an article that I recently read by Lee Eclov, Senior Pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, IL. This is not my custom, as you know, but this brother’s thoughts so affirmed core beliefs that I have held for a long time that I thought it sensible and acceptable to share them with you. The title of the piece is “The Danger of Practical Preaching: Why People Need More than the Bottom Line.” Warning: This commentary could change your perspective on preaching forever!

Bottom Line Fallacy

When our goal is to “bottom line” our preaching, we look in our text for the “so” and preach that conclusion. For example, our sermon drives home the truth that we need not be afraid. If we have been effective, our brothers and sisters go home with this outpost of truth established or enlarged in their thinking. But here's the rub. On Tuesday, when some frightening crisis looms in their lives, they may remember, “the Bible says we are not to be afraid,” but they don't know how to be strong. They don’t know the trail, the process the mind and heart follow to fearlessness. We exposed them to the conclusion without the thinking that makes that conclusion work.

Perhaps you have read an abstract of an article—a short summary of a longer work. After you read it, you know what the article is about. You know what the point is. But you haven't been exposed to the careful reasoning, to the illustrations, to the step-by-step logic and careful writing of the author. The abstract may interest you, but without the author's careful development, it is not likely to convince you. Nor is it likely to be important or memorable in your thinking. And you can be sure the author will not think you know what he wrote.

Sermons that are abstracts of Scripture may properly summarize a biblical truth, but they are unconvincing. They do not reorient our thinking. We may know the bottom line, but we don't know how to live what we know. Without a truth trail, people cannot find their own way to the outposts of truth in their own hearts. Sometimes laying down that truth trail, showing the step-by-step thinking of a text, simply cannot be done in 20 minutes.

Practical Fallacy

I only vaguely recall the world of geometry—axioms, theorems, conclusions. I do remember the inevitable question: “Why do we need to know this stuff?” And I remember Mr. Cermak's answer: “Whether or not you use these formulae, geometry teaches you to think logically.”

Some preachers are afraid of the question, “Why do we need to know this stuff?” so they try to make every sermon “practical,” meaning it is about everyday issues like money or kids. Doctrinal preaching, or the week-by-week exposition of a biblical book appears not to scratch where people itch. People want sermons about things they can use on Monday. Like the sophomores in my geometry class.

But Paul tells us, “All Scripture...is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.” All Scripture. All Scripture is practical. It is practical, not because it all addresses everyday concerns, but because it all “civilizes” our thinking.

As I preached my way through Colossians, for example, we gradually tromped out a wide path to the truth that simply trusting Christ equips us with greater wisdom and righteousness than any counterfeit wisdom can offer. Put that way, it seems like an esoteric, impractical truth, far removed from the water cooler and van pool. But it was Paul’s purpose, and therefore mine, to show just how practical this is for the believer. How freeing, simple, and safe. When we eventually arrived at the "practical" passages later in the epistle—“clothe yourself with compassion,” for example—we could see not only the command but we had come to better understand the spiritual thinking that makes Christian compassion possible.

The Bible spends much more time on shaping the spiritual mind than commanding particular behavior. We need far more training in the ways of grace, of spiritual perceptions, and of what God is really like, than we do in how to communicate with our spouse. Understanding the glory of Christ is far more practical than our listeners imagine. Properly preached, every sermon based on a passage of Scripture is fundamentally practical. Every author of Scripture wrote to effect change in God’s people. It is our job as preachers to find the persuasive logic of that author and put that clearly and persuasively before our people through biblical exposition….

[Continued tomorrow]

The Danger (?) of Practical Preaching, Part 1 of 3

2008-01-01T09:39:00.000-06:00

For the next three days I want to share an article that I recently read by Lee Eclov, Senior Pastor of Village Church of Lincolnshire in Lake Forest, IL. This is not my custom, as you know, but this brother’s thoughts so affirmed core beliefs that I have held for a long time that I thought it sensible and acceptable to share them with you. The title of the piece is “The Danger of Practical Preaching: Why People Need More than the Bottom Line.” Warning: This commentary could change your perspective on preaching forever!

Rob, a stockbroker, thought sermons should be 20 minutes. No longer. To him, a good sermon was what others call the conclusion. “Cut to the bottom line,” he said. “That's what I expect at work, and that's what I want at church.”

Stan, a preacher, didn't see length as the issue, but he was determined every sermon be “practical.” He preached on five principles of friendships, six secrets of managing money, and four ways to win over worry. He believed in sound doctrine, but he felt he had to give people something they could take to work on Monday morning.

We may expose people to a conclusion without the thinking that makes that conclusion work.These men illustrate two fallacies about biblical preaching: The Bottom Line Fallacy and the Practical Fallacy. Both reveal a misunderstanding, not merely of preaching, but of the workings of Scripture.

Picture a wilderness. A pioneer carves out a path, chopping away brush, felling trees, marking the way to a new outpost. As years pass, that path is traveled a thousand times till it becomes a wide, paved road. From it, other trails branch off, leading to other new outposts. Trails intersect, becoming crossroads. More outposts become towns. More trails become roads. More links are made till what was once wilderness is civilized.

Preaching is the work of spiritually civilizing the minds of Christian disciples. Preaching—especially expository preaching—cuts truth trails in the minds of our listeners. Our task is not only to display God's “point,” but to instill God's logic—how he gets to that point.

For example, we do not simply preach the conclusion of 1 Corinthians 13 — that “the greatest of these is love”—but we move people through the dimensions and definitions of love in that great chapter. We show that Paul intended such love be not only at weddings but also at church meetings as well. In other words, we not only establish the outpost—“the greatest of these is love”—but the truth trail as well.

But here is where we confront the fallacies….

[Continued tomorrow]

The Christmas Dinner That Almost Never Was

2007-12-25T07:12:00.000-06:00

Not that this is completely atypical for the Robertsons…but we came close to eating little more than peanut butter sandwiches, Frosted Flakes, canned tuna, kidney beans, lasagna noodles, and mandarin oranges in heavy syrup for Christmas dinner (basically the contents of our pantry). And we’re going to have a total of twelve people here in a few hours!

The story goes something like this. Yesterday was so hectic. It probably shouldn’t have been, but it was. While Beth was doing housework and wrapping presents, I was uploading pictures to Walgreens to be developed and baking unleavened bread for our Christmas Eve service at church. Beth was running errands for me and I was running errands for her. In between, we were making our lists and checking them twice. Our plan was simple—we were going to buy food for our Christmas dinner after the Christmas Eve service.

Did I mention that Wal-Mart, Food Lion, and Kroger all close early on Christmas Eve?

We were panicking! I started laughing but Beth didn’t think the situation was funny. She was about to play hostess for eight other people and we hadn’t even started buying groceries for Christmas dinner! (It’s about 7:45 p.m. on Christmas Eve at this point, by the way.) Walgreens is always a good place to pick up whatever you need…unless what you need includes ground beef and a variety of cheeses for Beth’s famous lasagna (we go non-traditional for Christmas dinner).

About that time my phone rang. It was my older brother, James. Man, I hated to tell him our dilemma but I had to. “Brother,” I said, “you’ll never believe what we’ve done…”

After he stopped laughing…he told me that my niece had done the same thing, but she had found Martin’s Food Store on Wilma Rudolph Boulevard open until 9:00. I’ve never been so glad to see a store open in my life. I actually said, “It’s a Christmas miracle!” Okay, so I overreacted a little…but you’ve got to put yourself in our shoes.

$105 later, we were on our way home. Crisis solved. Whew!

Our story makes me think about people who are so busy with life that they don’t take time to think about the One born on that first Christmas night. Maybe they’ve planned to deal with God later on in life…maybe they haven’t. But what happens if and when they look up and realize that it’s too late…that their plans were terribly flawed?

We would have survived the embarrassment of our Christmas dinner quandary we almost created; but missing Jesus involves far more than embarrassment. Make room for Jesus today…

Merry CHRISTmas!

He Knows My Name (Updated 01/03/07)

2007-12-11T17:17:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: Regarding the following post, I've received information on the organization who accepts letters on behalf of ill or wounded soldiers at Fort Cambell. Operation Home Front works with other military supporting agencies to review all the letters to ensure their appropriateness and safety. You can send your cards and letters to:

Wounded or Ill Soldier
c/o Operation Home Front
P. O. Box 20295
Clarksville, TN 37042

Thank you, Laura Boyd, for the info!

I was just reading an article on FoxNews.com entitled, “U.S. Refuses ‘Any Wounded Soldier’ Mail.” The title initially aggravated me because I thought it was like the recently reversed decision by NBC not to air a conservative group's television ad thanking U.S. troops. But as I read the article, I began to understand.

Long story short…in the wake of 9/11, the Pentagon and the Postal Service have agreed no longer to deliver cards and letters addressed simply to “Any Wounded Soldier” because of the fear that terrorists or our enemies might seek to inflict further suffering (physical or emotional) by way of toxic substances or disheartening messages. It’s sad, but that’s the world in which we live.

Also sad is that all those acts of kindness by well-intentioned people will never fulfill their purpose. But, once again, that’s the world in which we live.

My mind drifted to Christmas…that first Christmas…when God put on the garment of human flesh and was born as a tiny, helpless baby through the virgin womb of Mary. The angels announced to the shepherds that the good news of His birth was for all people! In fact, Acts 10:36 reminds us that Jesus isn’t just the Lord of Christians—“He is Lord of all.”

But with all our emphasis upon God’s love for everyone, how often do we forget the personal nature of God’s love gift in Jesus’ birth? I love Jesus’ words in John 10 to this effect: “The sheep hear His voice, and He calls His own sheep by name and leads them out…I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me” (vss. 3, 14). And then there are David’s words in Psalm 139:17-18—“How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.” And, of course, Jeremiah 1:5—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

My point in all this rambling is that when God sent Jesus to be born in Bethlehem, He didn’t address His birth to “Any Wounded Soldier.” Jesus didn’t come to us like junk mail, addressed to “Resident” or “Occupant.” God knew (knows) my name and your name! There’s not a one of us who’s anonymous to God!

This thought is going to make Christmas even more special for me…He knows my name!

They Did What!?!

2007-12-04T16:51:00.000-06:00

Okay…I’m still rubbing my eyes, trying to see if what I’ve been reading is really there. The first sentence of the Baptist Press article reads, “Members of Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, voted Dec. 2 to delay a decision on whether to include homosexual members as couples in a church pictorial directory.”

If I understand the issue correctly, Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, started allowing practicing homosexuals to become church members at some point in the past. Now the church is struggling with whether to allow gay couples to be presented as such in the church directory.

Wow!

Here’s an excellent example of why Southern Baptists needed to update their confession of faith in 2000. Southern Baptists adopted similar confessions of faith in 1925 and 1963. Unfortunately, the 1963 version has been used time after time to justify sinful behavior such as homosexuality. There’s a phrase in the 1963 Baptist Faith & Message that I agree with 100%...sadly, some who want to call themselves Southern Baptists highjacked it from its context and have used it to validate their immorality. It’s the phrase, “The criterion by which the Bible is to be interpreted is Jesus Christ.”

Sounds harmless enough, right? In fact, it’s not at all hard to agree with it. The problem with that little phrase is that some wayward Southern Baptists who have wanted to justify virtually any aberrant behavior have consulted the gospels and concluded that if Jesus didn’t address an issue, it must be acceptable behavior. Case in point—homosexuality.

Please hear my heart on this. I’ve said it repeatedly as I’ve preached—“Sexual sin is sexual sin is sexual sin!” God doesn’t view homosexuality any differently than He does fornication and adultery. They’re all sexual sin, whether the orientation is heterosexual or homosexual.

But when we receive members into our churches, we make certain assumptions and seek to operate within certain guidelines. Perhaps the most fundamental of these is that the candidate for membership has forsaken all known sin and placed his faith in Christ as Savior and Lord. We call that having a “regenerate church membership.”

That a church which has a quasi connection with Southern Baptists would be struggling with whether to allow gay couples to be presented as such in their upcoming church directory is absolutely inconceivable to me. But when you deviate from the Word of God and begin to equate the pseudo-wisdom of men with the timeless truths of Scripture…well, this is the kind of thing that happens.

“Lord, I want to pray for Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth. May Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And, Father, I pray for those in homosexual bondage who've been admitted into Broadway's church membership and encouraged to continue their lifestyle. Somehow...through someone...deliver them through the life-changing power of the gospel. Lord, I don't pray that You'll give them heterosexuality...that's not their greatest need right now. But I pray for Your holiness to be poured into their lives by grace through faith. In Jesus' name, Amen.”

I Still Do

2007-12-01T08:00:00.000-06:00

Today I will perform a wedding ceremony for a great couple--Eric Robson and Sara Burkhead. Sara came into our church family not long after I became the pastor, and she's become a friend to my family. In fact, I've threatened to break both of Eric's legs if he doesn't treat Sara right. I'm just kidding...sort of. Seriously, I think Sara's found a great guy...and I know Eric's getting a great girl. If he ever forgets that, though...legs, kneecaps, walking, rehabilitative therapy. ;-)

I don't perform a wedding ceremony that I don't think of my own marriage. That's a good practice, by the way...reevaluating your own marriage everytime you watch another couple say, "I do." You know, couples spend so much time, energy, and money on the wedding ceremony that sometimes they don't think nearly enough about the marraige. The ceremony lasts but a few minutes...the marriage is to last a lifetime.

Beth and I stood on the platform of Calvary Baptist Church in West Memphis, Arkansas, almost 20 years ago and said, "I do." I meant those words with all my heart...but you want to know what my wife wants to know now...19 1/2 years later? She wants to know that "I still do." She's never asked me to say those words, I want you to understand. But I tell her from time to time (not nearly enough, though), "I still do."

What does that mean? It means that all the promises and commitments I made to her on our wedding day are just as significant...just as real now as they were then. As a pastor I often hear couples say, "We just don't love each other like we did in the beginning." I want to say to them (and sometimes do), "I don't love my wife the same as I did in the beginning. I love her MORE!"

I love to say that there's nothing more beautiful in this life than old love. By that I mean older folk showing their affection for one another. I see it when they hold hands as they walk through the mall. I see it when a husband opens the door for his wife. I see it when a wife shows up everyday at the nursing home to care for her husband with Alzheimer’s. He doesn't know who she is...but she knows who he is...and she remembers the vows she made to him on her wedding day. That's old love, and it's beautiful.

But I assure you, old love doesn't just sprout out of nowhere; it's homegrown. Old love has to begin somewhere, such as with young love. I do long for heaven because God has placed eternity in my heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11). But I also want to grow old with my wife. In some ways I feel like we've been together our whole lives...I barely remember life without her. In other ways, I feel like our relationship is just getting started. I'm still learning her...coming to love her more.

So as I sit here putting the finishing touches on Eric's and Sara's wedding ceremony, I'm also thinking about my wife downstairs. I'm thinking about how "I still do." I think I'll go tell her...

Evel Knievel Dead at 69

2007-11-30T21:57:00.000-06:00

I was taken back more than 30 years this afternoon when I read that one of my childhood heroes died today. I was born in March, 1967, and one of Evel Knievel's most defining jumps took place later that year when he flew his motorcycle 151 feet over the fountains of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas...only to crash and break a few bones. My brothers and I grew up trying to imitate Evel Knievel by jumping our bicycles on our homemade ramps. It's a wonder that we didn't break a few bones, too.

I have no moral lessons to give based on Evel Knievel's life, although I'm sure I could. He was a wild child, you know! I just wanted to pay tribute to one of my childhood heroes.

Too big for your britches

2007-11-29T10:11:00.000-06:00

My mother used to warn us boys about getting too big for our britches. I don't know if you've ever heard that phrase...but it has to do with people exaggerating their maturity. The apostle Paul dealt with that very problem with the Corinthians. In 1 Corinthians 3:1-3, he wrote:

"And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?"

What the Corinthians had come to understand as being spiritual and mature were, in fact, exaggerations and misunderstandings. In other words, the Corinthians weren’t nearly as spiritual as they thought they were; and, they weren’t nearly as mature as they thought they were.

I'm reminded of the time a few years ago when my family and I attended the Southern Baptist Convention in Pheonix, AZ. We went a few days ahead of the meeting so that we could participate in the evangelistic activities going on all over that part of the state.

We handed out free, cold water on a popular hiking trail...I believe it was called "Camelback Hiking Trail" or something close to that...the water enabled us to show God's love in a tangible way and to connect people to a local Phoenix church by building bridges through kindness and service. I wish you could have seen my daughters (who were a bit younger then) with bottles of water in hand asking, "Would you like some free, cold water?"

As people traveled up the trail, most of them would say, "No, I’m fine." But on the way back down, most of them desperately took the water! Each bottle had labels containing contact information for the church we were working with—Mountain View Baptist Church—and John 4:14 that says "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life."

I was privileged to talk with one man who received a bottle of water. He asked who we were and why we were doing what we were doing. I explained that we were with Mountain View Baptist Church and that we were giving away water as a tangible expression of God’s love. He was very complimentary and talkative. If you can believe it, I didn’t do most of the talking...in fact, he talked 95% of the time in our 20 minute conversation.

As the gentleman talked, it was apparent that he was familiar with Christian terminology, but he had different definitions for the terms. He talked about Christ, salvation, creation, peace, faith, love--all good Christian terms and concepts. Knowing that Arizona is a breeding ground for New Age beliefs, I asked him, "What’s your path?" In other words, I was asking him where he was headed with his beliefs?...What did he hope to realize in the end? He replied immediately that he was a "Zen Christian."

I wanted to speak his language as I sought to clarify what he had said, so I asked him, "So you’ve merged the Zen Buddhist and Christian philosophies? How’s that working for you?" He went on to explain that Zen Buddhism and Christianity are one and the same.

I don’t have time to detail our conversation completely, but when I turned our focus back onto the historical, factual, biblical "Jesus Christ and Him crucified," he became so angry that he began using profanity. He said, "I’m old enough to be your father. I’ve trained men to kill on the battlefield. I’ve watched as men died in war. I’ve had broken marriages. I was a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s and traveled all over the country evangelizing. Don’t even begin to think you understand where I’m coming from."

So I said, "So you were a 'Jesus Freak' in the early-70s...you’ve evangelized all over the country...so how did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?"

You might be wondering why I’m telling you this story, but I tell it now because of the answer the man gave at that point. I asked "How did you or why did you move from the simple message of the historical, biblical Jesus to Zen Buddhism?" He said, and I quote: "Because I grew up!" He said, and I quote (except for the profanity): "You’re just a kid...and if you’ll ever grow up and give up your doctrines and whatever else it is that you think you believe, you’ll understand what I’m saying."

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing! I was hearing the very same argument that Paul had to contend with and that precipitated the writing of 1 Corinthians. "The message of Jesus is fine...for beginners; but when you grow up, you move on to higher thoughts and higher things!" And in the belief that people become more "connected" to God through nature worship or philosophies such as Zen Buddhism, people are functionally "disconnected" from God because they’ve moved away from "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

The same happens inside local churches sometimes...as professing Christians get too big for their britches, believing they have a direct line to God that others aren't spiritual enough to have. One of the ways that such a spirit is detectable is by the results of their presence and involvement. Paul said, "For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?" When professing Christians get too big for their britches, they bring strife with their presence like a garbage truck brings stink down the street.

In Proverbs 6:17-19, Solomon named seven things that God hates: "Haughty eyes [that's pride], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that run rapidly to evil, a false witness who utters lies, and one who spreads strife among brothers.” Did you catch that last one? "...and one who spreads strife among brothers." Once again, one of the ways that such a spirit is detectable is by the results of their presence and involvement.

You know, I think my mother was right...again.

Beware of God?

2007-11-28T23:22:00.000-06:00

I guess we should have seen it coming…

“Parenting Beyond Belief” is a book published in April by Amacom, a wing of the American Management Association (not sure what their stake is in all of this) to help parents raise their children without religion or God. As Lisa Miller wrote in her Newsweek review of the book this summer: “It raises more serious concerns about how to bring up ethical, confident, nonbelieving kids in a culture saturated with talk about God.”

Regarding explaining the concept of death to a child when one doesn’t want to suggest the possibility of an afterlife, the Unitarian minister Kendyl Gibbons recommends such phrases as “No, honey, Grandpa won't come for Christmas. He died and is dead for always.” Boy, that’ll set the mood for the holidays, won’t it?

Never mind that most Americans say they believe in God. A 2006 Newsweek poll revealed that “Americans said they believed in God by a margin of 92 to 6—only 2 percent answered, ‘don't know.’” Now, don’t misunderstand me. I will defend an atheist’s right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression…I’m just saddened that people can be so blind. I believe Pastor Adrian Rogers was right when he said, “An atheist can't find God for the same reason a thief can’t find a policeman.”

It makes me think of a story I read once and tucked away for just a time like this. In Our Greatest Gift, Henri Nouwen tells an intriguing parable. He imagines twins—a brother and a sister—talking to each other in their mother's womb:

The sister said to the brother, “I believe there is life after birth.”

Her brother protested vehemently, “No, no, this is all there is. This is a dark and cozy place, and we have nothing else to do but to cling to the cord that feeds us.”

The little girl insisted, “There must be something more than this dark place. There must be something else, a place with light where there is freedom to move.” Still, she could not convince her twin brother.

After some silence, the sister said hesitantly, “I have something else to say, and I'm afraid you won't believe that, either, but I think there is a mother.”

Her brother became furious. “A mother!” he shouted. “What are you talking about? I have never seen a mother, and neither have you. Who put that idea in your head? As I told you, this place is all we have. Why do you always want more? This is not such a bad place, after all. We have all we need, so let's be content.”

The sister was quite overwhelmed by her brother's response and for a while didn't dare say anything more. But she couldn't let go of her thoughts, and since she had only her twin brother to speak to, she finally said, “Don't you feel these squeezes every once in a while? They're quite unpleasant and sometimes even painful.”

“Yes,” he answered. “What's special about that?”

“Well,” the sister said, “I think that these squeezes are there to get us ready for another place, much more beautiful than this, where we will see our mother face-to-face. Don't you think that's exciting?”

The brother didn't answer. He was fed up with the foolish talk of his sister and felt that the best thing would be simply to ignore her and hope that she would leave him alone.

“We look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2007-11-26T14:39:00.000-06:00

I was out and about this morning and was reminded everywhere I looked that Christmas is coming. Actually, I love this time of year like no other...it's not the commercialization of the holiday I like, I assure you, but I do love the decorations and the carols and the spirit.

I've been thinking this morning about Christmas because I'm beginning my Christmas sermon series this weekend. As challenging as preaching on Christmas is (i.e. staying fresh), I love the whole process--planning, preparing, and delivering the messages. It seems that people are especially open to hearing about Jesus during these days, so we shouldn't miss the chance to share the good news.

I heard the story recently of the little girl who came home from Sunday school waving a paper for her mother to see. “Look Mommy,” she exclaimed, “Teacher says I drew the most unusual Christmas picture she ever saw!”

Her mother took one look and had to agree with the teacher. Hoping her daughter could explain her creation, the mother asked, “Why are all these people riding in the back of an airplane?”

“Well, Mommy, that's the flight into Egypt.”

Accepting that, the mother asked another question: “Who is this mean-looking man in the front?”

Her daughter answered quickly and knowingly: “That's Pontius, the Pilot.”

Looking at the picture even more closely, the mother said, “I see you have Mary and Joseph and the baby. But who is this large man sitting behind Mary?”

“Can't you tell?” the little girl asked, beginning to shake her head in disappointment. “That's Round John Virgin.”

That story reminds me that people don’t always get the details of the Christmas story right. Maybe they’ve never read the Bible or maybe we’ve never told them. Either way, they’re missing out on the greatest news ever given to mankind! Let’s make it our purpose this Christmas to share the greatest Christmas gift ever…Jesus.

They're watching!

2007-11-24T13:57:00.000-06:00

Did you hear about the two gas company service men—a senior training supervisor and a young trainee—who were out checking meters in a neighborhood? They parked their truck at the end of the street and worked their way to the other end. At the last house, a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter.

Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the street back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one. As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath, she said, “When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figure I'd better run too.”

Even when we don’t realize it, people are watching us. And to make that point even more somber, many of them will do exactly what we do . . . which causes us to ask ourselves, “How are we influencing and where are we leading those who are watching us?”

Perhaps our first thoughts drift to our family relationships or our neighborhood relationships or our workplace relationships. In any case, each of us influences someone, directly or indirectly.

The apostle Paul wrote: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). After warning the Ephesians about giving in to flesh-centered living, Paul coached: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (5:1). But Paul equally exhorted the believers in Corinth to “be imitators of me” (1 Corinthians 4:16).

Maybe you remember the comment that NBA star, Charles Barkley, uttered a few years ago: “I’m not a role model.” Certainly we could debate the wisdom of Barkley (among many others, by the way) influencing the attitudes and actions of our children, but Barkley was dead wrong to believe that he could just absolve himself of his influence!

How often do church members say, “I’m no saint!” Yes, you are. Do a casual search of the Scriptures to see how often Christians are called saints. Or how about when church members say things like, “I’m no preacher!” Where are we ever instructed that there are two sets of ethics or expectations—one for ministers and one for “normal” people? Sure, ministers should set a high standard of holy living, but that’s only to set the example for all Christians to follow. The point is that true believers in Christ can never absolve themselves from their influence. We’re all walking, breathing, living billboards. The messages we’re all advertising are steering people toward Christ or away from Him . . . thoughts to ponder.

"...and, NO, he's not my uncle"

2007-11-23T07:42:00.000-06:00

I should have written this weeks ago.

If you've heard me speak on politics at any point, chances are you've heard me say that I don't believe the hope of our nation's future rests with a particular political party, per se. I am involved in the political process, though; I VOTE. But I was shocked recently when a leading religious leader (albeit becoming a bit Alzheimer-ish) gave his full endorsement to a leading, socially-liberal, Republican presidential candidate. Pat Robertson put his stamp of approval on former NYC mayor, Rudy Giuliani.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm glad Rudy Giuliani did such a good job as mayor of New York City. I love that place. I'm glad he responded with such good leadership after 9/ll. He jumped in and led with all the world watching. BUT...BUT...BUT...I'm not so certain I want him at the helm of the most powerful nation on earth. And I'm alarmed that Pat Robertson, a still revered leader of the Religious Right, would endorse the thrice-married, abortion-supporting, pro-gay, and anti-gun candidate.

Robertson claimed that terrorism trumps the social issues that have fueled the conservative Christian movement for more than 20 years. He said, "Our world faces deadly peril...and we need a leader with a bold vision who is not afraid to tackle the challenges ahead." Robertson said that one of the main reasons he's supporting Giuliani is "judges, judges, and judges." He said that Giuliani "has assured the American people that he's going to appoint justices in the likeness of Scalia and John Roberts, et cetera...and I believe him."

Now let's get this straight...Giuliani disdains the sanctity of marriage vows. He supports killing babies while they're still in their mother's wombs. He's an advocate of the gay agenda. He supports squelching the Second Amendment. And he's the guy Pat Robertson wants in the White House because he's going to appoint conservative judges. [Imagine me shaking my head in disbelief with a sarcastic grin on my face.]

Pat Robertson has done enough damage to the Christian cause already through his foolish, injurious rambling about world affairs. Remember him calling for the assasination of Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president/dictator? As a result, Chavez booted out about half of the Christian missionaries, claiming they were in cahoots with the CIA. I have no doubt that Chavez is mentally imbalanced and an evil man. I have no doubt that Venezuelans are being oppressed. I have no doubt that Chavez hates America. But Robertson's flippant comments about killing Chavez were irresponsible, unacceptable, and inappropriate.

Do I think terrorism is a real threat to US security? Absolutely. Most of Washington and the presidential candidates don't, though, or we'd be doing something about securing our borders! (That's a topic that'll have to wait for another day.) But do we actually have to choose between national security and national morality in the upcoming presidential election? I don't think so.

I wish I could say that Pat Robertson's voice were obsolete and irrelevant. Unfortunately, however, millions still watch him every day on CBN.

On another yet related note, it's going to be interesting to see what happens if the Republican presidential nominee is, in fact, Rudy Giuliani. How will those who believe the GOP is "God's Own Party" respond? Will they continue to tow the party line? I know they'd never cross the party line to vote Democratic, but what will they do? And what will they tell America to do? We'll just have to wait and see, won't we?

Remember this, though: "Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people" (Proverbs 14:34).

"Lord, thank you for my toothbrush"

2007-11-22T10:25:00.000-06:00

In The Bible and The New York Times, author Fleming Rutledge writes:

"The life of thankfulness—biblically speaking—is lived in view of the hard things of existence. As the life of thanksgiving deepens, we discover that the more mature prayers of thanksgiving are not those offered for the obvious blessings, but those spoken in gratitude for obstacles overcome, for insights gained, for lessons learned, for increased humility, for help received in time of need, for strength to persevere, for opportunities to serve others."

That makes me wonder how thankful I am for less obvious blessings. When my family and I went to Venezuela in the summer of '06 on our first "family mission trip," part of that experience was traveling out to the jungle to minister among the Warao people. "Jungle" is probably not the best term to describe where we were, because where we went was only accessible by water...but it's the best word I have. Anyway, we were among people who live in huts, sleep in hammocks, and travel by canoe. Clothing was minimal (some of the kids were "naked as a jaybird," as we say where I grew up) and hygeine was questionable. Because of their unvarying diet, evidence of vitamin deficiencies was obvious.

What I'm getting at is that I was reminded then (and I'm reminded now) that some of our blessings are things we normally take for granted. When's the last time you thanked God for clean water or a bar of soap or a loaf of bread or a toothbrush?!? How about electricity? On a different note, when's the last time you thanked God for painting a sunset or dotting the night sky full of stars? See where I'm going with this?

May this Thanksgiving Day be filled with gratitude for the obvious and the not-so-obvious blessings! "Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God. Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns" (Philippians 1:3-6 NLT).

...but do we love Jesus?

2007-11-21T07:17:00.000-06:00

You've seen the commercial advertising insurance or something, haven't you, that says, “Life comes at you fast”? Well, I'm ashamed and embarrassed that I haven't posted since the 5th of last month...but life just seems to be so busy!

I've got a thought on my mind this morning. I heard the story from a few years ago about a man who found himself in an elevator with Chrysler’s CEO. Wanting to be pleasant, he asked, “You’re Lee Iacocca, aren’t you?” The CEO acknowledged that he was.

The man said, “Mr. Iacocca, I want to tell you how much I enjoy your television commercials advertising Chrysler.” To this compliment Iacocca replied, “Sir, I couldn’t care less what you think of my commercials. What I want to know is what kind of car do you drive?”

The bottom line in faith, in all honesty, is not what you think of the preacher or the music or the church or the carpet or the lights or…

The bottom line in faith is whether you’re a follower of Christ (or, at least, are in the process of coming to know Him personally)! We can admire certain aspects of religiosity, but do we love Jesus?

Until next time...and hopefully it won't be a month and a half!

The Politically Incorrect Jesus

2007-10-05T13:55:00.000-05:00

Have you ever wondered what it would be like if Jesus were born and lived among us today? Joseph Girzone wrote a book a few years ago entitled Joshua that explored that very question. That book spawned a series of books about Joshua (which, by the way, is the Hebrew equivalent to the Greek name Jesus). I read a couple of them…I’m not sure how I feel about them to be honest with you…but one valuable insight that I gained was how unprepared we (not just we as individuals but we as a society) would be to respond to Jesus if He showed up in our town…because we have our preconceptions much like the Jews had theirs.

I suppose this journey into the hypothetical could go in a lot of directions, but one thought I have is how politically incorrect Jesus would be today if He showed up in most any American city. In our current climate of so-called “hate speech” and “hate crimes,” political correctness has gone crazy! Now, just in case you’ve been away on a trip to another planet for the last 20 years or so, political correctness is the belief that any thought, word, or action that could be deemed offensive should be eliminated and, equally, only the so-called politically correct viewpoints should be tolerated and allowed to prevail.

In today's politically correct environment where you have to be so careful to keep from offending anyone, we might all have to give reports like this fourth grader who reported on the origins of the Thanksgiving holiday. “The pilgrims came here seeking freedom of you know what. When they landed, they gave thanks to you know who. Because of them, we can worship each Sunday, you know where.”

The reason I mention how politically incorrect Jesus would be today if He showed up in most any American city is how politically incorrect Jesus was when He showed up on the scene almost 2,000 years ago. The Jewish leaders wanted desperately to assassinate Jesus for what they would have called “hate speech” if they had known our terminology. He came speaking words and espousing ideas that flew in the face of what Judaism had become, and the Jewish leaders were determined to stop it.

The apostle Paul asked the Galatian believers, “Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth?" (Galatians 4:16). Jesus became an enemy of the Jewish population because He dared to demonstrate and declare the truth of God.

The erosion of truth in today’s American culture should terrify us. Truth has become an endangered species…but do you know the difference between truth and the endangered Ozark big-eared bat or the endangered gray wolf? It’s open hunting season on truth! Our culture is so confused that up is down/down is up, black is white/white is black, good is bad/bad is good, right is wrong/wrong is right!

At the heart of my thoughts today is this: a fundamental question that every non-believer must ask himself or herself is: “Am I looking for reasons to believe or am I looking for reasons not to believe?” The answer is not a trivial issue! Thomas Aquinas put it well: “To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.”

Do People See the Real Me...?

2007-10-04T10:48:00.001-05:00

It's that time of year...when leaves change their colors. We're not seeing the change in Tennessee yet, but it can't be far away. But have you ever thought about what really happens when the sea of green becomes a bright rainbow of yellows, oranges, and reds?

We normally think of green leaves changing colors in the fall, don't we? But that's actually not what happens. In short, chlorophyll covers the true color of leaves and makes them green. That's actually very important for the trees...because without the chlorophyll in leaves, trees wouldn't be able to use sunlight to produce food.

But the point I'm making is that leaves don't change their colors, per se, in the fall...they simply return to their true colors. And when do people stand and stare in awe at trees' foliage? In the fall, of course! We're far more attracted to the eclectic mix of colors than the standard shades of green. We prefer to see leaves in their true colors more than when they're all the same color. There's a message in there for us.

How much time do we spend trying to be something that we're not...trying to be like someone else? Has it ever intrigued you that we'll spend big bucks to wear somebody else's number and name on our backs? We'll take a picture of someone else's haircut into the beauty shop and say, "I want to look like that!" We'll see a celebrity wearing a certain style of clothes or sunglasses, and we have to go out and buy the same.

Why can't we just be ourselves...our true colors? David wrote in one of his psalms that we are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). God made each of us as unique individuals. Surely He did that for a reason.

So, I'm left with the uncomfortable question, "Do people see the real me or am I influenced so much by the chlorophyll of culture that I'm just like everyone else?" Ouch...

Understanding the Times

2007-10-03T15:56:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday I preached a message that has been on my heart for years. I preached about our need to reach this generation. Oswald J. Smith said, “The only generation that can reach this generation is our generation.” Keith Green said something similar when he declared, “This generation of Christians is responsible for this generation of souls on the earth!” But how do we do that?

There's an obscure but appropriate verse that challenges us to reach our generation...1 Chronicles 12:32--“Of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command.” The part that's of special note is that phrase, “...men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do...”

I’m always fascinated when I hear the story of how at the end of World War II, Robert Woodruff declared, “In my generation it is my desire that everyone in the world have a taste of Coca Cola.” Today, Coca-Cola is sold from here to the farthest reaches on planet earth…all because one man had a vision of what could be.

If a soft drink company could set their sights on reaching their generation with their product, shouldn’t we have all the more motive to set our sights on reaching our generation with the gospel?!?

If we're going to understand our time:

We have to understand the time in which we live. We can appreciate and learn from the past without living in it. We have to embrace the present. The past is behind us. The future is before us. But the present is upon us!

We have to understand that times change. I'm continually amazed at how different the world is from when I was a kid. We want to believe that we still live in Mayberry, but Mayberry was taken up by the bypass! At any given moment when we put our feet into the stream of our society, we are touching fresh people. The past is water under the bridge, as the saying goes. Every generation has to be evangelized afresh and anew! Along with this, we have to accept generational differences. Perhaps I'll discuss that in another post.

More specifically, we understand that while we’ve never had more resources at our disposal to make Christ known, our culture has never been more lost! Where I live and minister, We have 126,000+ people within the Clarksville city limits and 162,000+ people in Montgomery County…86% of whom are not going to be in any church on any given Sunday. That means that almost 9 out of 10 people you meet anywhere you go has no meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ.

Until we can get our hearts around these truths, we’ll never understand the times…

And then we come to the question of knowing what we should do in the 21st century as Christians. We must be real, relevant, and relational.

Real because my generation (I'm a Gen-Xer) needs to see authenticity. Generations before us told us about the American Dream, but they gave us an enormous national debt to pay and a broken social security system that we fully expect never to receive a dime from. We’re inheriting political parties that aren’t really about solving America’s problems but securing America’s power! Factor in the explosion of broken marriages, HIV/AIDS, and a host of other global issues…and you can begin to see life though younger eyes.

Of course, my generation has sought to build relationships and find intimacy…but we haven’t been very good at it. We’d rather meet in virtual places online with virtual friends and have virtual conversations. But all of this just leads to further isolation.

Relevant because we have to touch people where they are. One of the great dangers of churches in this generation is irrelevance. But I want to tell you, being relevant isn’t preaching on “10 Ways to Improve Your Golf Score” or “Overcoming Boredom in the Boardroom.” Being relevant isn’t singing Beatles songs in church. Being relevant isn’t compromising the message of the gospel.

Being relevant is about practicing and proclaiming the good news of Christ within the context of our current culture. What good is salt that never leaves the shaker? What good is a light that never gets turned on? What good is a church that never connects with its culture?

Relational...bottom-line, we have to talk to each other…and walk with each other…across racial lines…across socio-economic lines…across generational lines. Truth is…people in my generation and younger really are interested in what those older than us have to say. But we want them to be interested in what we have to say, too. We can learn from each other…and in the context of real relationships, we can share Christ effectively.

“…men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do…” Wow! Oh, Lord, let me be like the sons of Issachar...

Six Years Later...

2007-09-11T17:46:00.000-05:00

Today marks the sixth anniversary of the day that changed America forever. I remember vividly where I was when I first heard of the World Trade Center attacks. I was driving north on I-65 (from Franklin to Brentwood) on my way to work when I heard on the radio that a plane had hit one of the towers of the World Trade Center. I called my wife, Beth, and I told her that I didn’t understand how, with all the air traffic control measures in place, that a plane could just fly into a New York City skyscraper. Keep in mind that at this point the thought of terrorism had not entered my mind.

While Beth and I were talking, she turned on the television to catch the live coverage of the first tower burning. Suddenly, Beth screamed out, “Another plane just flew into the other tower! I just saw another plane fly into the other tower!” I knew at that precise moment that something was wrong…something was terribly wrong.

That day was one of the most somber days as the attacks in Lower Manhattan, Shanksville, Pennsylvania, and on the Pentagon in Washington were the topic of every discussion…everywhere you went. Still, though, we didn’t know of the origin of the attacks at that time. I preached that evening in a revival in Columbia, Tennessee, and I couldn’t help but address the issue. I remember preaching from Amos 4:12—“Prepare to meet your God.”

According to George Barna’s research, only 12% of Americans admitted that 9/11 had any impact on their faith. One reason why this may have been true was that barely half of the nation's churches acknowledged or addressed the attacks in any way during the following year, according to church attendees. I’m not sure how a pastor could remain silent in light of 9/11, but…

Let me encourage you to see these days of uncertainty…these days in which our security blankets have been ripped away forever by Boeing bullets piloted by self-proclaimed martyrs…these days in which even children are conversant with the word “terrorism”…I want to encourage you to see these days as great opportunities to share hope in Christ. Hope doesn’t come from the White House or the Pentagon or the United States Capitol. Only God can make sense out of nonsense, and only He can bring hope out of hopelessness. Share Jesus with someone today!

How Will They Know...?

2007-09-10T16:28:00.000-05:00

I just began teaching a discipleship class at my church on witnessing, and I’m using a book to which I contributed a chapter—The Complete Evangelism Guidebook, edited by Scott Dawson. One of the great values of this book is that the reader discovers how to define, demonstrate, declare, and defend faith with almost anyone from virtually any background.

I’m convinced that we can weave the essence of the gospel into practically any conversation. That’s why we need a variety of tools in our tool box. But I must confess to you that I’m not one of those loquacious people who finds it easy to talk to anyone anywhere. By nature, I’m an introvert. Most people laugh when I tell them that because the only time they see me I’m talking in front of lots of people.

Evangelism has never come easy for me, though. Yet I’ve known clearly for the last twenty-five years that I have a story to tell. I came across a definition of witnessing a number of years ago that set me free: “Witnessing is being faithful to share Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit and leaving the results to God.”

For the first time, I discovered that my job in evangelism is to be faithful to share Jesus Christ…and that my introverted personality is a non-issue since I am to rely upon the Holy Spirit’s power…and that I’m not responsible for what people do with the gospel once I’ve given it to them.

We sometimes use a term that I understand and even use, but I’m afraid it leads to confusion more than clarity. The term? “Soul-winner.” By that term, obviously, we mean someone who shares the gospel and leads people to faith in Christ. But what happens when the lost person says “No” to the gospel? Does that make the witness a “soul-loser”? Of course not. Yet I’ve seen far more than my share of witnesses who hold to an “ends-justify-the-means” mentality in evangelism…which leads to tactics that might lead to decisions but not necessarily disciples! Perhaps I’ll write about that more at a later time…

I’ve read that at the end of World War 1, there were many French soldiers who were shell-shocked to the degree that they didn’t know who they were. The French responded by hosting what was called an “Identification Rally” in Paris. Multiplied thousands of people gathered in the designated area, and one-by-one each of the soldiers mounted a platform, looked out at the crowd, and said: “Please someone tell me who I am.”

What a privilege we have to tell people in our circles of influence who they are. They are people created in the image of God and loved beyond degree by Him. But how will they know that if we don’t tell them…?

“I’m walking in your shadow, Daddy!”

2007-09-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

I missed my first day yesterday since beginning my blog. Just couldn’t get to it…sometimes life’s just that way.

I just returned to my office after addressing our church’s first official MOPS meeting. MOPS—Mothers of Preschoolers—is an international ministry of encouragement and equipping for, as you might guess, mothers of preschoolers. I love one tagline that I found on the MOPS website: “MOPS keeps building on 34 years of gathering moms to become better moms…for our families, communities, and the world…because better moms (really do) make a better world.”

In my words to these precious mothers, I shared a story that I’ve rarely ever told (I think because it’s so personal). You see, I used to pastor in South Mississippi in a place called Poplarville. Beth and I had both of our children while I was pastoring Steep Hollow Baptist Church; so you can only imagine the feelings I have for that church. We lived in the church parsonage within spittin’ distance of the church (not that I ever spit on the church, you understand. That’s just a country form of measurement!). In the yard/parking lot between our home and the church was a street light. Considering how far out of town we lived, that light was a welcomed sight every night.

One night after church…I was walking home…and Morgan was with me. She’s now my 13 year old, but she couldn’t have been more than 2 or 3 when this happened. I was walking and she was walking right behind me. I turned around to grab her hand and I said, “Come on baby.” And she said—remember it’s night and there’s a street light in the yard/parking lot between our home and the church—she said, “I’m walking in your shadow, Daddy!” She was playing a game…but those words penetrated my heart as I considered what she said. “I’m walking in your shadow, Daddy!”

That’s a thought that’ll keep a dad up at night…“I’m walking in your shadow, Daddy!” Am I living my life in such a way as to lead my children in the ways of righteousness? If my daughters practice their faith like I do…view the world through similar eyes to mine…grow up to be like me…will I be pleased with who they've become? Wow! That makes me want to be a better dad. It also makes me want to be a better husband…a better Christian.

“Lord, help me to be that man.”