I'm a low-res kinda guy. Low on resolutions - New Year's resolutions - that is. I'm just not into making them. If people make them and keep them, great! I just don't do so well in making commitments just because it's a new year.
I think of King Solomon - the son of David who succeeded him on the throne, the one who asked God for, and received, fantastic wisdom. As we learn in Ecclesiastes, Solomon was accomplished in just about every area of life (in the world's eyes). He was king over a nation during a golden period. He was fabulously wealthy. He had a stellar education. He tried every experience a man could try. He had hundreds of women at his disposal. He had monumental wisdom (which he clearly had failed to use often later in life). He had it all.
In other words, Solomon had every human advantage to make and keep resolutions. He had the world at his disposal to keep whatever New Year's resolution you could think of. And he tried ... repeatedly. And he failed ... repeatedly.
Solomon was looking for more than just some weight loss or quitting cigarettes. He was looking for meaning, and he resolved all kinds of things in order to find it. Isn't that what we really want resolutions to bring us - more meaning, more satisfaction, more joy? But - even though Solomon had every resource available to him - he failed. His resolutions failed.
If the one who had the world's best resources for successfully keeping resolutions failed to find one ounce of meaning in those resolutions, I figure I need a better approach. Eventually, Solomon concluded the same thing.
I don't need to turn over a new leaf, I need new life. I don't need to do better at life, I need a better life. Rather than trying harder, Jesus offers us to replace worldly ways with godly ways. The more we abandon our hearts to Him, the more of this life He gives us. And it has meaning.
To me, New Year's resolutions are designed for us to try harder. Submitting to God is not about trying harder - it's about releasing yourself to the full control of the Holy Spirit more and more every day.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
The E Word
"Evangelism? AUUUUGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!"
How many of us respond that way to the topic of evangelism? We know that it is something that we should do, but as long as no one brings it up, then we can quietly tip-toe forward without actually doing much about it. And then WHAM!! Someone brings it up, and we have to deal with not doing very much evangelism all over again, get into the guilt, get through the guilt, then get past the guilt into tip-toeing around it again. Until the next time someone brings it up.
We'll even boldly discuss all the reasons we don't evangelize as we prepare to continue not evangelizing: I don't know how, I'm afraid, I might say the wrong thing, I can't get the conversation going in a spiritual direction, and so on. We feel that if we list the reasons why we don't do it, we've made progress (without actually having to do it!).
Part of our problem is lack of being equipped - we don't because we're not prepared to. Part of it is a matter of our will - we don't because we don't want to. Part of it is fear - we don't because we fear disobedience less than we fear rejection. And yet, hammering ourselves with these truths rarely, if ever, produces the kind of evangelism we should engage in.
One big part of our problem is that Hell isn't real enough to us, yet. We don't get how hell-ish Hell is, and so we don't feel an urgency to offer rescue to those around us.
But another big part of our problem is that we have a weak idea of what "evangelism" actually is. We too often think of evangelism in a particular, narrow, uncreative way. We think of coming up to strangers with little booklets or trying to force fit our conversations with friends to spiritual topics (deathly afraid that we'll actually succeed in steering the conversation to spiritual topics!). If we can get a better idea of what "evangelism" is, perhaps it won't seem so foreign to who we are.
The goal of any act of "evangelism" is not necessarily to "close the deal" - to bring someone to the point of praying to receive Christ. That's right - a majority of evangelism is not for the immediate goal of having someone "pray the prayer." That's always the ultimate goal of evangelism - make no mistake about it - but in a single instance of evangelism, more often than not, bringing someone to the point of decision is not the goal.
One of our big hang-ups about evangelism is freaking out over the responsibility to bring someone to that point. But if we can get it into our heads that "doing evangelism" is not so narrowly defined, I think we'll be more likely to "do evangelism."
This article is too short to spell it all out - my goal here is to spark your curiosity for future discussions. But let me hear from you. I want to know from you how your idea of "doing evangelism" would change if I said that evangelism is really about helping someone be more positive about Christ than he or she was before. What do you think? How would that change your reaction to the word "evangelism"? Let me know!
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
A What Kinda Christmas?
I am going to make this fantastic, large, delicious meal for you. It will take a lot of work in the kitchen, but I really want you to dine well. It's my specialty, and there's no one who can make it like I do. And ... it's free!!!
The main course is roast beef. Slow-cooked with hickory, it's so tender it cuts with a butter knife. It's not dry at all - the natural juices flavor every bite. Just a hint of fresh black pepper. But, while you're eating, be sure to remember the true meaning of roast beef.
The mashed potatoes are so rich, you don't need butter or gravy (because there's already a couple of sticks of butter mixed in - plus just enough sour cream). I leave the skins on the potatoes for a little texture. Piping hot, you plop them on your plate and they're so thick, they don't ooze into the roast beef. But, remember that dinner is the purpose for the potatoes.
The green beans are steamed, so that they are still crisp. Sprinkled with bacon bits and little fried onions, they are a medley unto themselves. They aren't waxy or soggy - just right. But, remember to put "green" back into "green beans."
The best part is dessert - pumpkin cheesecake. It has sprinkles of cinnamon in it, and it lies on a graham-cracker crust made by hand. It melts in your mouth, and makes you happier and happier with each bite, from your tongue to your tummy. But remember, the real present is just having you at my dinner table.
Now, if you remembered all four of these things for only a second, but then just simply gorged yourself to satisfy your own appetite, stuffing yourself until you were nearly sick, "remembering" these things doesn't mean a thing at all. Just thinking about these things for a few seconds, but then spending the meal primarily on yourself, isn't really thinking about those things. All you're really thinking about is your own appetite. The meal is about you, not the gift of the meal.
We have Christmas phrases: Remember the true meaning of Christmas, remember that Jesus is the reason for the season, put "Christ" back in "Christmas," and remember that the real present of Christmas is Jesus. We say these things to remind ourselves while the world is busy telling us Christmas is about something else. We should say these things.
But if we just say them for a moment, and then spend the bulk of Christmas gorging ourselves on presents, trying to satisfy our own appetites, we haven't really thought about these things very much. It becomes about us, not the gift of Jesus.
I encourage you at Christmas to refuse to let Christmas be about you, about gifts, or even about giving. Insist that Christmas be about Christ, or let there be no Christmas at all.
# # #
Please remember to join us Saturday for the Bread of Life outreach. I will be driving back from Dallas, so I pray that I'll get back in time to join you.
# # #
The next time someone wishes you "Happy Holidays," ask them, "Which holiday do you want me to have a happy one of?" Then listen, without a judgmental ear. Find out what's important to them, then share what's important to you - "The holiday I want you to have a happy one of is Christmas."
The main course is roast beef. Slow-cooked with hickory, it's so tender it cuts with a butter knife. It's not dry at all - the natural juices flavor every bite. Just a hint of fresh black pepper. But, while you're eating, be sure to remember the true meaning of roast beef.
The mashed potatoes are so rich, you don't need butter or gravy (because there's already a couple of sticks of butter mixed in - plus just enough sour cream). I leave the skins on the potatoes for a little texture. Piping hot, you plop them on your plate and they're so thick, they don't ooze into the roast beef. But, remember that dinner is the purpose for the potatoes.
The green beans are steamed, so that they are still crisp. Sprinkled with bacon bits and little fried onions, they are a medley unto themselves. They aren't waxy or soggy - just right. But, remember to put "green" back into "green beans."
The best part is dessert - pumpkin cheesecake. It has sprinkles of cinnamon in it, and it lies on a graham-cracker crust made by hand. It melts in your mouth, and makes you happier and happier with each bite, from your tongue to your tummy. But remember, the real present is just having you at my dinner table.
Now, if you remembered all four of these things for only a second, but then just simply gorged yourself to satisfy your own appetite, stuffing yourself until you were nearly sick, "remembering" these things doesn't mean a thing at all. Just thinking about these things for a few seconds, but then spending the meal primarily on yourself, isn't really thinking about those things. All you're really thinking about is your own appetite. The meal is about you, not the gift of the meal.
We have Christmas phrases: Remember the true meaning of Christmas, remember that Jesus is the reason for the season, put "Christ" back in "Christmas," and remember that the real present of Christmas is Jesus. We say these things to remind ourselves while the world is busy telling us Christmas is about something else. We should say these things.
But if we just say them for a moment, and then spend the bulk of Christmas gorging ourselves on presents, trying to satisfy our own appetites, we haven't really thought about these things very much. It becomes about us, not the gift of Jesus.
I encourage you at Christmas to refuse to let Christmas be about you, about gifts, or even about giving. Insist that Christmas be about Christ, or let there be no Christmas at all.
# # #
Please remember to join us Saturday for the Bread of Life outreach. I will be driving back from Dallas, so I pray that I'll get back in time to join you.
# # #
The next time someone wishes you "Happy Holidays," ask them, "Which holiday do you want me to have a happy one of?" Then listen, without a judgmental ear. Find out what's important to them, then share what's important to you - "The holiday I want you to have a happy one of is Christmas."
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Reading Through Chronologically
I propose that we take on a church project together. I propose that we challenge one another to read through the entire Bible together in 2011. Whether you've done it before or not, it's a great habit to get into, and one of the best ways to stay on it is to read through as a group.
In your bulletins for the next two weeks, we will distribute a reading plan that we can follow together. If you have your own plan, that's fine, too. This plan has the unique features that first, it arranges the readings according the order in which the books were written (according to some scholars). So, it will not exactly follow the order that is in your Bible. Second, it is arranged by weeks, not days. A daily schedule can become counterproductive, because if you fall behind, it can get intimidating to try to catch back up. A weekly schedule gives you some built-in flexibility when you do your readings.
We benefit by reading the Bible through in a year in several ways. It keeps God's Word fresh. It takes us through passages we might not read otherwise. It keeps us in both testaments. It helps us to see the big picture, since there's not as much time to dwell on details. It helps us to see how the parts fit into the overall story of salvation history. And many other benefits.
One of the hurdles when reading the Bible through is when we get bogged down in detailed descriptions of the Law or a long series of "begats." Guess what? It's OK to skim! Skimming is better than not reading at all, and skimming can help you focus on the big picture. So, don't feel guilty if you brush through some parts faster than others.
We'll try to remind you on occasion and encourage you. I suggest that your small group or ministry team spur one another on. Read with your kids. Read to one another. Or, get the Bible on CD or MP3 and listen as you drive and stay on schedule with the rest of us. Any way at all to keep us all together in reading through God's Word is a plus.
In your bulletins for the next two weeks, we will distribute a reading plan that we can follow together. If you have your own plan, that's fine, too. This plan has the unique features that first, it arranges the readings according the order in which the books were written (according to some scholars). So, it will not exactly follow the order that is in your Bible. Second, it is arranged by weeks, not days. A daily schedule can become counterproductive, because if you fall behind, it can get intimidating to try to catch back up. A weekly schedule gives you some built-in flexibility when you do your readings.
We benefit by reading the Bible through in a year in several ways. It keeps God's Word fresh. It takes us through passages we might not read otherwise. It keeps us in both testaments. It helps us to see the big picture, since there's not as much time to dwell on details. It helps us to see how the parts fit into the overall story of salvation history. And many other benefits.
One of the hurdles when reading the Bible through is when we get bogged down in detailed descriptions of the Law or a long series of "begats." Guess what? It's OK to skim! Skimming is better than not reading at all, and skimming can help you focus on the big picture. So, don't feel guilty if you brush through some parts faster than others.
We'll try to remind you on occasion and encourage you. I suggest that your small group or ministry team spur one another on. Read with your kids. Read to one another. Or, get the Bible on CD or MP3 and listen as you drive and stay on schedule with the rest of us. Any way at all to keep us all together in reading through God's Word is a plus.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Don't Buy Me Any Gifts This Year
I'd rather not receive any gifts this year. Seriously.
God has provided everything we need, and work to cover future needs. For now, we have no unmet material needs. That might not always be true, but this year, it is. And we're grateful.
For this year, I would rather my friends and relatives bought some rice. Or maybe a soccer ball. Or little shoes. Or just some ugali. What would thrill me more than a gift-wrapped box is donation to hungry4HIM Ministry (http://hungry4him.com), which supports the Friends of Christ orphanage in Ahero, Kenya. There are almost 300 orphans at FoC, and little donations go a long way. For example:
If you would like to provide a Christmas gift in this way, just write a check to "Hungry4Him", put "Christmas fund" in the memo line, and send it to:
Hungry4Him Ministry
427 Airport Road
Dublin, GA 31021
Hungry4Him is in process of putting together a Christmas "catalog" to promote this kind of giving, but I'm just getting the word out early.
Or, there are many other ministries that have the same kind of fundraiser - giving gifts to their ministries in lieu of giving one another gifts (often times, gifts we really don't need anyway). I encourage everyone to think about this as a gift-giving idea, for whoever you would buy gifts for.
I would love it if this practice eclipsed "Black Friday" in the amount of money raised.
God has provided everything we need, and work to cover future needs. For now, we have no unmet material needs. That might not always be true, but this year, it is. And we're grateful.
For this year, I would rather my friends and relatives bought some rice. Or maybe a soccer ball. Or little shoes. Or just some ugali. What would thrill me more than a gift-wrapped box is donation to hungry4HIM Ministry (http://hungry4him.com), which supports the Friends of Christ orphanage in Ahero, Kenya. There are almost 300 orphans at FoC, and little donations go a long way. For example:
- You can provide a 5 lb. bag of rice or beans for about $3.
- You can provide a 5 lb. bag of maize for about $5 (20 lbs. would feed the entire school for one meal).
- You can provide a chicken for $5 or a fish for $3.
- 6 pair of socks cost about $2, and a blanket for $6.
- Toiletries? 15 bars of soap for $3 or 10 toothbrushes for $5.
If you would like to provide a Christmas gift in this way, just write a check to "Hungry4Him", put "Christmas fund" in the memo line, and send it to:
Hungry4Him Ministry
427 Airport Road
Dublin, GA 31021
Hungry4Him is in process of putting together a Christmas "catalog" to promote this kind of giving, but I'm just getting the word out early.
Or, there are many other ministries that have the same kind of fundraiser - giving gifts to their ministries in lieu of giving one another gifts (often times, gifts we really don't need anyway). I encourage everyone to think about this as a gift-giving idea, for whoever you would buy gifts for.
I would love it if this practice eclipsed "Black Friday" in the amount of money raised.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thanksgiving
I love all the ways that we try to rethink Thanksgiving. Every year, we try ways to make sure that the Thanksgiving holiday is about something more than food and football (as if there was something more than food and football...). We make sure we ask, "What are you thankful for?", remind one another to "Count your blessings," and sometimes, we even ask, "To whom are you so thankful?"
I was recently at an event where I thought someone might ask me to say something about Thanksgiving. Wanting to not be caught speechless (like I too often am), I thought through these kinds of ideas again, but didn't want to sound trite. So, a new question popped into my head - one that I'm trying trying to figure out how to answer.
Given that we are in fact thankful to God for what He's done for us, in this Thanksgiving week my question is this: "How do we express that thanksgiving to God?" If we're aware of our blessings enough to be thankful, how is it exactly that we are to express that gratitude to the One who has blessed us?
Certainly, we can say, "Thanks." And we certainly should. We can verbally, or in quiet prayer, tell God that we are in fact thankful. We can list the things He's done that we're thankful for, and then tell Him we're thankful. Many psalms do exactly that (e.g. Psalm 50).
But is that the extent of it? Is that all that we can do to express our thanksgiving?
We can work on our "attitude of gratitude" - intentionally checking our attitude and make sure that we replace bitterness and demandingness with gratitude. That's certainly a good thing that God must surely appreciate - thankful attitudes among His people. Certainly, a bunch of whiners is less pleasing to Him.
What I really want to explore, though, is how to remember the things that I'm thankful for and give God my thanksgiving by using those things for His purpose and His glory. Take that list that we generate when we count our blessings, and then for each item on the list, be thankful by using that item for God.
Thankful for your health? How will you use that health you're thankful for to serve Him? Thankful for your job? How will you use that job for His glory? Thankful for your family? How will you offer up your family to Him as an act of thanksgiving? Thankful for a car to get you around? How will you use that car to advance God's Kingdom? Thankful for your salvation? How will you use the new life you have in Christ to glorify Him?
The idea is this: We have so much to be thankful for (yes, even the material things). To be deeply thankful for the things God has done for us and given to us, use them for His glory as an act of thanksgiving. Not only to express your thanksgiving, but as an actual act of thankfulness - appreciating God's blessings by the very act of using them for Him.
That, to me, is becoming the idea of Thanksgiving. Yes, we should tell Him we're thankful. Yes, we should have a thankful attitude. I think we show the ultimate gratitude by refusing to hoard God's blessings, but rather use them for His sake.
I was recently at an event where I thought someone might ask me to say something about Thanksgiving. Wanting to not be caught speechless (like I too often am), I thought through these kinds of ideas again, but didn't want to sound trite. So, a new question popped into my head - one that I'm trying trying to figure out how to answer.
Given that we are in fact thankful to God for what He's done for us, in this Thanksgiving week my question is this: "How do we express that thanksgiving to God?" If we're aware of our blessings enough to be thankful, how is it exactly that we are to express that gratitude to the One who has blessed us?
Certainly, we can say, "Thanks." And we certainly should. We can verbally, or in quiet prayer, tell God that we are in fact thankful. We can list the things He's done that we're thankful for, and then tell Him we're thankful. Many psalms do exactly that (e.g. Psalm 50).
But is that the extent of it? Is that all that we can do to express our thanksgiving?
We can work on our "attitude of gratitude" - intentionally checking our attitude and make sure that we replace bitterness and demandingness with gratitude. That's certainly a good thing that God must surely appreciate - thankful attitudes among His people. Certainly, a bunch of whiners is less pleasing to Him.
What I really want to explore, though, is how to remember the things that I'm thankful for and give God my thanksgiving by using those things for His purpose and His glory. Take that list that we generate when we count our blessings, and then for each item on the list, be thankful by using that item for God.
Thankful for your health? How will you use that health you're thankful for to serve Him? Thankful for your job? How will you use that job for His glory? Thankful for your family? How will you offer up your family to Him as an act of thanksgiving? Thankful for a car to get you around? How will you use that car to advance God's Kingdom? Thankful for your salvation? How will you use the new life you have in Christ to glorify Him?
The idea is this: We have so much to be thankful for (yes, even the material things). To be deeply thankful for the things God has done for us and given to us, use them for His glory as an act of thanksgiving. Not only to express your thanksgiving, but as an actual act of thankfulness - appreciating God's blessings by the very act of using them for Him.
That, to me, is becoming the idea of Thanksgiving. Yes, we should tell Him we're thankful. Yes, we should have a thankful attitude. I think we show the ultimate gratitude by refusing to hoard God's blessings, but rather use them for His sake.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
How to Get Involved
The feedback from Pastor Benard's visit with us has been thrilling. I'm pleased to see such interest in ministry to Kenya. If you missed the luncheon after church, you missed Pastor Benard sharing what God has been doing 5000 miles from here, and answering a lot of good questions.
Some of you may want to find out what you can do to help out. Here's a quick list:
Sponsor: You can sponsor an orphan for $15 / month to provide that child with two meals a day, school supplies, and a new school uniform every year. See http://hungry4him.com to find out more and to sign up.
Read: There is a book about Pastor Benard's life - an amazing story of his own salvation, plus God building in him a vision for an orphan ministry. See http://benardsvision.com or just drop by the church office to get a copy. Every penny or your $15 (or more) donation goes straight into the orphanage.
Build: We have a "Brick by Brick" campaign to raise money for new buildings - more classrooms, dormitories, and so on. You can "sponsor" as many bricks as you want at $2 a piece, which pays for a brick and the related materials and labor. Again, the information is found at http://hungry4him.com .
Multiply: Contribute to the funds to support orphanage teachers and Bible college students. As we support these workers and students, we multiply the effect, since they each are able to touch so many more people. Contact me personally if you'd like to find out more.
Go: Lord willing, I plan on going to Kenya next summer. If you're interested in joining me, let me know as soon as you can. What we do will depend on who goes and what skills we have, but possibilities include: construction, children's ministry, youth ministry, prayer, visitation, and evangelism - the list is fairly endless.
Pray: Add to your prayer list: Pastor Benard and his family, the Friends of Christ orphanages (one in Ahero, one in Wachara), the teachers and pastors of the orphanages, and the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology and its students.
Please let me know how I can help you get more involved.
Some of you may want to find out what you can do to help out. Here's a quick list:
Sponsor: You can sponsor an orphan for $15 / month to provide that child with two meals a day, school supplies, and a new school uniform every year. See http://hungry4him.com to find out more and to sign up.
Read: There is a book about Pastor Benard's life - an amazing story of his own salvation, plus God building in him a vision for an orphan ministry. See http://benardsvision.com or just drop by the church office to get a copy. Every penny or your $15 (or more) donation goes straight into the orphanage.
Build: We have a "Brick by Brick" campaign to raise money for new buildings - more classrooms, dormitories, and so on. You can "sponsor" as many bricks as you want at $2 a piece, which pays for a brick and the related materials and labor. Again, the information is found at http://hungry4him.com .
Multiply: Contribute to the funds to support orphanage teachers and Bible college students. As we support these workers and students, we multiply the effect, since they each are able to touch so many more people. Contact me personally if you'd like to find out more.
Go: Lord willing, I plan on going to Kenya next summer. If you're interested in joining me, let me know as soon as you can. What we do will depend on who goes and what skills we have, but possibilities include: construction, children's ministry, youth ministry, prayer, visitation, and evangelism - the list is fairly endless.
Pray: Add to your prayer list: Pastor Benard and his family, the Friends of Christ orphanages (one in Ahero, one in Wachara), the teachers and pastors of the orphanages, and the Ahero Evangelical School of Theology and its students.
Please let me know how I can help you get more involved.
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