I love July 4th. Something about the summer time and the cookouts and the fireworks. Today we’re spending the holiday in St. Augustine with my wife’s family. We’ll be laying by the pool, eating ribs, and culminating with a huge fireworks show at the fort. It doesn’t get much better.
I heard someone say once you could tell a person’s spiritual condition by how worn their bible was. I thought it sounded good at the time so everytime I read my bible I tried to wear it out a little like I would a new ball glove. Now that I’m older (and hopefully wiser), I have serious concerns with that statement. And I think it’s that type of thinking that keeps believers from a reckless pursuit of Jesus Christ.
We often think of Idolatry as “evil” things like golden cows, statues, drug abuse, sexual addiciton, and the like. The longer I’m a Christian and longer I’m around Christians, I’m learning that idolatry comes in much prettier packages as well. For some it’s the church. For others it’s status, money, or success. And for some it’s even the Bible.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love God’s word and believe in it’s power and authority (2 Tim 3:16). My problem is when well meaning Christians make it the object of their love and affection. The Bible is certainly not just a book. But it is a book. It’s a tool that has been given as a gift to believers for the purpose of connecting us to Jesus. It would be like me falling in love with things my wife says but never investing in my relationship with her. If you and I are ever going to experience a pure life altering relationship with Jesus then we are going to have to pursue him with reckless abandon. Use prayer. Use the Bible. Use the tools that have been given to us. But remember that the goal is not to know the Bible; It is know Christ and know Him truly and deeply.
My wife had a job interview yesterday for job she’s wanted for a long time. She had to Drive 4 hours to the interview and then 4 hours back. They interviewed 6 candidates! She came home exhausted but thought it went well. Long story short, the guy called her last night and made her the offer. I’ll admit I was kind of a wet blanket. I wanted to be realistic but I also wanted to encourage her. Basically I said (in a sweet way), “don’t be upset if God has something else in mind.” Shows what I know. Not only did she get it but it turned out to be bigger and better than what she originally had in mind. Turns out God did have something else in mind! Just not the way I meant it.
They’re flying her to England in 2 1/2 weeks for orientation. I wish I could go. Best part is she gets to work from home once she starts. Just another example of how our heavenly father loves to pour out blessings to those who are faithful. …And she is faithful. No one deserves this more than her.
Really good staff meeting today focusing on 2 Corinthinas chps 4 and 12. Paul is reminded of his weaknesses so that he doesn’t get puffed up with arrogance and pride. I pray that God will, in His sovereign grace, keep my weaknesses in front of me that I may see myself in light of his glory.
Candice and I were chosen to judge a regional beauty contest for girls of all ages on Saturday night. Initially I thought it would just be some small thing with many judges. It turned out to be a big deal…and there were only 3 judges including Candice and myself. It was much harder than I would have thought. You only had a few seconds to rate the contestants in different categories and once you rated them, you couldn’t change it. It was overwhelming to think that because there were only 3 of us, my marks were making a difference. I wanted to give them all 10’s. But I had to fair and honest. In the end, I mostly felt sorry for these poor girls. That’s a tough way to live.
Have you ever felt like you just don’t belong? That feeling that Will Farrell had in Elf when he arrives in New York and realizes that he’s in a world that he just doesn’t fin in to? That’s how I am with the cyber world. I’m clueless. I really am. It’s a lot of energy for me to explore this world….but I’m trying. For some it’s like falling down. For me it’s like falling UP! However, after several months of blogging, I’m trying twitter. Several friends do it and I really enjoy following their days. Honestly I’m doing it less for people to follow me and more for me to journal, write out my thoughts, and keep up with myself. If you want to follow along, check me out here.
I realize that the small group model is becoming increasingly more popular and effective in the local church in our day and age. For 6 years I worked for a church that lived and breathed the small group model. Problem is, now I’m in a church where the words carry negative connotation. I know it goes back to certain church movements and that many traditional churches feel that ’small group’ models take away from the biblical education one gets in a traditional Sunday School setting. But when you think about it all a Sunday School is is a small group. It’s a smaller group of a whole congregation that meets separately for the purpose of going deeper biblically and relationally. So why the negative stigma? And how do we combat that in an intentional way that serves people and teaches them the value of christian community? Because I’m in the middle of it, I don’t have a proven formula. I know some things not to do, but soon, if we’re going to shift our culture, I’ll have to know some things to do.
Our church will be doing a church-wide series/study on personal stewardship during the month of August. We’re using this as an opportunity to get everyone on the same page for a months. A lot of churches do this weekly and I think it’s a great idea. I’m reading “The Big Idea” right now by Dave Ferguson and have become increasingly convicted that we don’t do this enough. So, for the month of August, it doesn’t matter if you’re 2 or 92 everyone will be doing the same thing.
My biggest problems right now are logistical. How to get the same stuff into everyone’s hands, how to brand and promote, how to kid-ize and youth-ize teh materials, and how to give families stuff to talk about after church on Sundays. The fact that it has to do with money and personal stewardship makes it all the more sensitive. Pray for us if you think about it or shoot an idea or 2 my way.
Yesterday was an interesting day at church. Here’s how it went: (Pay close attention to 10:20 a.m.)
7:45 a.m. - Received a call from our Sr. Pastor informing me that his back was out and that he needed me to preach for him.
7:50 a.m. - Began preparing for a sermon that I would be preaching in 2 hours.
8:30 a.m. - Confusion over the timing of a skit in the service
8:45 a.m. - Confusion over order of worship in the service.
9:00 a.m. - Confusion over power point and video for the service
9:10 a.m. - Problems of order, powerpoint, and skit are solved.
9:15 a.m. - 1st service begins.
10:00 a.m. - Sermon begins
10:15 a.m. - Mic begins to make loud cracking and static noises
10:20 a.m. - Elderly lady stands up to walk out and PASSES OUT DURING THE SERMON!
10:21 a.m. - I am in shock and not knowing what to do - watching this transpire like everyone else.
10:22 a.m. - People attend to the lady while I sit on the stage speachless.
10:23 a.m. - I summon several ‘deacons’ to the platform to discuss plan of action
10:24 a.m. - someone prays aloud
10:26 a.m. - someone sings ALOUD!
10:27 a.m. - I sit speachless wondering, “how does this happen?”
10:28 a.m. - Ambulance arrives and take the responsive woman away. She is now awake.
10:29 a.m. - I dismiss the service early and give some direction.
10:45 a.m. - Second service begins
11:30: a.m. - Sermon begins (no one passes out)
12:04 p.m. - Service concludes.
1:00 p.m. - I lay down and take a 3 hr. NAP!
As someone who works in vocational church ministry, this might be my least favorite part of the year . It’s the equivalent of the “dating” issue when I was a youth pastor. You know, it’s inevitable but I like to ignore it and hope that it would just go away! That’s how I honestly feel about election season. I’d like to ignore it and hope it goes away. The emails are already flying around with reasons NOT to vote for so and so and that if is so and so gets elected the devil wins, etc. etc. Here are some reasons why I wish I could just bury my head in the sand until January:
1. It polarizes communities. As a pastor, one of my passions is seeing people come together relationally and do life together. I feel like we take a step back when our political stripes are revealed. People become angry, sarcastic, and down right verbally malicious. It’s sad…especially in the church.
2. People become better party activists than Christians. I’m not going to call out one specific party because I’m sure it happens on both sides. But one of my pet peeves is when devoted Christ followers become better activists for their political party than for Jesus. Sure, they do it “in the name of Jesus” but it’s Jesus who gets the backseat.
3. The church becomes known more for what it’s against than what it’s for. This is not just an election season issue but it tends to surface more during election years. Suddenly Christians become known as a political party who rallies for a candidate instead of a group of believers who champion Jesus Christ and HIS cause for humanity. Christianity is rarely viewed in a positive light in an election year.
4. People lose sight of who’s in control. It’s as if God is up in heaven pacing back and forth nervous, wondering what he’s going to do if a certain candidate wins. And unless the Christians stop it, all of Christendom is in trouble. C’mon, people. We have to realize that God is in sovereign control of the universe and all that’s in it. He’s not worried nor is he rooting for any candidates. God’s concern is with His Church and how we choose to live our lives. He wants to know if we pledge our alligence to Him and will we pursue Him as passionately as we do our presidential candidates.
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