Josh, the Journey, and His Jesus

In Honor of my First Love

2011-02-18T12:27:00.004-06:00

I know that you fully expect this blog to be yet another sermon. However, I will spare you. Instead, I want to share a blog with you about my favorite person.
My story with my favorite person started a mere nineteen years ago, and before you start doing the math- I was in the fifth grade.
My first love was actually what most people would call a secret crush. It was a beautiful dark-haired, brown eyed girl in Mrs. Barfield's fifth grade class named Emily Strickland.
Now, I wish that I could tell you a story of a smooth 10 year old that swept that pretty little girl off of her feet. But, I cannot. The fact is she was interested in her Barbies and friends, and I was too terrified to even speak to her.
I still chuckle at how pitiful I was around her. My fear of rejection, and my fear of looking goofy trying to talk to her even led to my inability to ask her to sign my class shirt.
I'm sure that our class was not the only one to have that tradition, but if this seems strange to you- on our final day of class, we would get all of our classmates to sign the back of our class shirts. My shirt proudly bore the signature of every single member of our class...minus one. You guessed it- I was too pitiful to even get close enough to her to ask for her to sign.
As time moved on, so did Emily. She and her family moved to Jacksonville with her Dad's job. And as we moved into the great challenge that is middle school, I could no longer steal glances at that pretty girl.
Life continued for the next couple of years consumed by baseball and schoolwork until that day came when I overheard a couple of girls in class talking about Emily's return.
FINALLY! She and her family had moved back with her dad's job again. But unfortunately, my fear had not subsided with age. Instead, I was still the bumbling, unable to form a coherent sentence kind-of guy around her. Well, not exactly. I would have been if I could've even opened my mouth!
Time went on, she transfered schools and our paths would not cross again until we reached high school.
Now, if anyone is looking for a way to woo a girl, let me share my methods. I can give you an abbreviated way to win a girl's heart. First, you act awkwardly shy around her so that she begins to wonder if your vocal cords ever formed. Then, we you do work up the courage to make an audible sound- laugh... at her.
Yes, I did that. We shared a tenth grade chemistry class together and it happened that she and I were lab partners for a day or two. I, unfortunately, laughed at the fact that she was struggling to draw a straight line- with a ruler. She still remembers that to this day.
My love still continued undeclared- probably for my own good following my mockery, and she became convinced that I was consumed by baseball and church.
Once again, she and I would lose our classroom connection and I was still secretly smitten with this beautiful ballerina girl.
Finally, our Junior year of high school, her friends made a semi-traditional visit to McDonalds following a Friday night football game where my friends and I just happened to be. We talked across the restaurant- not personally, because I was still scared to death, but as a group. It was that night that I knew it was more than a crush.
I shared my feelings with a friend in confidence and you can imagine how that always goes. I threatened his very life if word was ever leaked about my crush. That next Monday, he returned to the car laughing about her reaction when he spilled the beans in class. I could've killed him! But he returned bearing a phone number and instructions to call that night, so he went from heel to hero in half a second.
That dark-haired beauty and I began to share many of life's experiences that year- from Azalea Trail to prom. We wrote letters during the summer and spent countless hours on the phone most evenings.
I am still not sure when we had our first official date. Our relationship started as friends and just evolved into something so much more.
August 26, 1998 was a day that would change my life forever. Following a Wednesday night service, I escorted her to the "little red rocket" (her car) and heard the best words I think I've ever heard come out of a set of lips. She said, "I love you."
The words that I had longed to say for so long, the words that I had dreamed of hearing were finally shared. I rushed home to call her and we spent HOURS on the phone that evening.
I do believe that I should share Em's plan. She thought that we needed to wait to officially date for one month! Talk about confusion! Yet, I did my typical negotiating and worked out a three week plan instead.
On the afternoon of September 19, I carried her to the beach for a grand, formal proposal... a dating one that is. But wouldn't you know it- that same kid that struggled to get out a word for so long, didn't get that simple question out at the beach! I couldn't work up the courage, even though I knew the answer, until we were back in my car headed home.
Our story became one of two people joined at the hip- for Azalea Trail v. 2.0, the Sadie Hawkins dance that never happened, Homecoming, prom again, graduation. I knew that I had my soulmate and I simply wanted to be with her.
She left for college for a year and a half and I continued to spend gross amounts of time on the phone. In fact, my dad described me as the phone card junkie because of the way he'd find me passed out on the couch in the middle of five or six phone cards. I waited by the phone all hours of the night. And would even fall asleep with the phone on my chest- just in case she needed to talk at 3 am.
Our love continued to grow despite the distance of two states and we talked openly of marriage and our future together. I would try to schedule a trip to Mississippi every couple of months if possible for much overdue time together. Yet, that always seemed to equate to memories- somewhere on the side of the road.
One trip for a winter formal involved a thrown alternator belt. Another trip produced a worn out fan clutch. And perhaps the most memorable break down was a blown tire on the interstate while trying to beat a HURRICANE due to hit Mobile!
Our love, our relationship was always anything but boring.
At the beginning of her Sophomore year, we once again found a weekend to go to her Mawmaw's and Pawpaw's. And there we talked more about marriage. I told her in the midst of that weekend that I was going to see her dad when I returned to Panama City to ask for permission to ask Emily to be mine.
That once again led to a memorable experience. For those of you that met Emily's dad, you know how big of a man he was. He was not your wimpy, pushover kind-of guy. No. He was a six and a half foot monstrosity of a man that would've easily fit the mold of a star offensive lineman! And I had to ask this man for his daughter's hand in marriage.
Now, I shared the long guarded secrets of wooing a girl. Let me also share some lessons I learned about approaching a dad with such a big question. 1.) Don't go on Monday night! A decision of this importance need not be complicated by the fact that you are causing him to miss Monday Night football. 2.) Find escape routes in case it does not go well. Remember, you are in their home- and gun laws are very lenient on homeowners "defending" themselves inside of the walls of their home. 3.) Identify any potential weapons within reach of your father-to-be. Things that you would not ever consider before, become items of intimidation. (For example, the turning stick on a set of blinds becomes very intimidating when her dad beats it repeatedly against his palm during this conversation) 4.) Back porches are SCARY places. There, you begin to wonder if anyone would hear your cries for help! 5.) Remember that your new mom-to-be needs to be in on this conversation as well. Otherwise, you get to do this twice!
These are all lessons I learned from experience- well minus the necessity of an escape route. The truth is, as difficult as that night was, Emily's dad immediately made we feel like a welcomed addition to the family.
Our story continued down its path of unique experiences and procrastination. And then after Em moved back to Panama City, we reach that all important proposal.
I am certain that you all expect a moving and tear-jerkingly intricate proposal plan. And I do not want to disappoint, but it was simple. On September 29, 2000, I asked Emily to be mine on the way to a Rutherford football game.
Now, I didn't ask in the car. No. I drove to the mall to pick up Emily's ring after having it sized. I left her in the car and fabricated a story of needing to pay a bill. I slipped it in my pocket and ran excitedly back out. I literally drove past the stadium en route to the park on Beach Drive and asked for her hand at sunset on a bench by the beach a couple of blocks away.
We were married the following June in a beautiful "little" ceremony at Emily's home church. I say it was a little ceremony because everyone has a party of at least twenty, right? Let me prove I'm not exaggerating.

We immediately left for Tallahassee and moved into our shoebox apartment. It might have been just wide enough for us to brush past each other at its most spacious point. But, it was our castle.
Since that time, life and our love has not grown less interesting. Not at all. Instead, it has continued to grow in its unique opportunities and experiences.
We have be blessed with three beautiful kids (and no, I'm not partial). We have lived in five cities in two states. We've both changed professions. Emily has earned her AA and BSW. I returned to school- and currently hope to finish before I'm forty.
Life is good. And regardless of whether I'm wealthy or dirt poor financially, my dreams have already came true. I am a rich man because I have the love of that beautiful ballerina girl- turned gorgeous lady!
I know that this is a few days after Valentine's Day, but hey, I've always procrastinated! And it just wouldn't be right if it was on time!

Em, I love you! You have been my encourager, challenger, my partner, my motivator, and the answer to my prayers. I am still in disbelief that I have the woman of my dreams to call my wife. Looking back over some of our experiences together, I am anxious to see what the future holds for us. I know that it will be anything but boring!
You were my first love- and you will be my only, my last. Sometimes "I love you" just seems insufficient to communicate how I feel. And so, I guess I find myself a lot like that shy fifth grade boy that started this whole story. You still leave me speechless!
Happy Valentine's Day (well it's close) and thank you for being mine!

Where are the Christians that Just Love Jesus?

2010-09-13T15:48:00.005-05:00

Over the course of these past two weeks, I have become increasingly aware of a disconnect that has plagued me for the past several months. Since moving to this beautiful place with white sands and sparkling waters, I have disengaged from so many of life's realities. I have, in some sense, lived on auto-pilot through a plethora of transitions in the life of my family and ministry. I've approached life like many do a beach vacation- sit and stare, dream, and forget about the "real world" right behind you.
To be honest, it has just been easier that way. Numbness is comfortable. It has been comfortable to just float from place to place, appointment to appointment without truly considering the gravity and implications of the things happening around me. So many times, it seems easier to ignore the responsibilities of family and ministry, than to work at them.
As I should have known, I serve a God that will only allow this to go for so long.
A couple of weeks ago, while preparing for a Wednesday prayer meeting and Bible study, I hit a spiritual wall unlike anything I had encountered in some time. It did not matter how much I researched, how deeply I delved into a passage, how many Greek word studies were done, or how many reference materials were sitting on my desk, the Bible study simply was not coming out. Hours of frustration were spent trying to force out an outline so that I could "fulfill my pastoral duty."
And then it happened. Something amazing, Something unexpected. Something profound. Something so much more important to the life of God's church here in Highland View than an overview of Biblical covenants. God spoke. He gave me what Mark Hall from Casting Crowns calls a "God-line."
In that time I heard, "The church cannot GROW if it refuses to GO."
It is simple. To most it would seem inconsequential or overtly elementary. But it is what we needed to hear as God's people. Personally, it was the wake-up call that I've needed for more than four months.
We had a wonderful worship service that evening and skipped the planned covenant study to discuss a strategy and direction to move. I cannot express the joy that I felt to see the excitement in the eyes of God's people about possibilities for ministry and service. It was an evening where I came to understand that our people simply love Jesus.
Since that time, I have regained that insatiable hunger to just make God proud. I've been reminded that because of that love we should have for Jesus, I need to stand up and get to work in our little corner of Gulf County. I've scoured the internet for days on end listening to teaching from men that I trust and respect. Over and over again, I've become more and more consumed by the majesty and splendor of the God I'm privileged to serve.
It seems as if every message God has put in my path has presented a simple picture of how much we take God for granted- and how much bigger He is than the box we like Him to stay in.
Unfortunately, as I've been shaken from this funk, I've been forced to take notice of things happening in the "Christian" church. And it seems that there is an ever-widening chasm forming between those that love Jesus and simply want to serve Him, and those in the church that are more determined to push their personal agendas and ideologies. To say that it alarms me is an understatement. I'm afraid that we are at a critical, pivotal place as a Christian people. We are quickly approaching that bursting point where everything falls apart unless we quickly find that common bond that relieves the stress caused by our own attitudes and preferences.
Now we could dedicate an entire month to addressing disagreements, problems, divisions, individual crises, etc., but I will spare you. However, there are a handful of things that I've encountered in the past few days that have burdened me deeply that simply evidence how I believe that church is risking serious disaster. Some of them are old news, some are new, some just won't seem to go away.
1.) By now, Pastor Terry Jones of Gainesville is becoming old news. I am certain that there is no need to give details of how he has become such a household name. The news media has thoroughly amplified his voice for the world to hear. Obviously, the topic of holding a public burning of the Qur'an has generated a worldwide buzz as well as a slew of vehement protests.
My concern with this man, this church, and this attitude in general is two-fold. First, I understand the call of Scripture to stand against false gospels, false gods, and false prophets. I understand the need to stand on the truth. I am not excusing the actions, crimes, and persecution that has occurred in the name of Allah and Islam. However, when did Christianity devolve into a short list of things and people we are against? When did we stop sharing what we believe and Who we are for?
I question the persistent condemnation off everything we don't agree with while ignoring the hope that we hold. When is it all going to point to Jesus?
My second concern is this: when did the church become concerned with publicity and political leverage? When did we become motivated by notoriety and the opportunity to simply gain face time?
The pastor made it abundantly clear that the motivation of this act was to protest the building of the Islamic center near the site of the 9/11 attacks. (Now, please don't misinterpret this to mean that I support the building of a mosque in such close proximity to that site. I find it reprehensible) However, it is readily apparent now that this was nothing more than a political ploy, and a chance at free advertisement.
When did we become more concerned with making a point than pointing people towards our only hope?
2.) The second story that raised an eyebrow and made me begin to question when is the church going to get back to Jesus came in the form of a replay of last year's controversial burning. (or tearing) Apparently Pastor Marc Grizzard and the Amazing Grace Baptist Church of Canton, North Carolina are planning a replay of last year's Halloween festivities. Rather than burning copies of the Qur'an like Pastor Jones, they have set their sights on something a little closer to home with the Christian church. They are burning Bibles.
The church has announced that they will burn any copies of the Bible in any modern translation other than the King James Version. Just so I don't misrepresent this pastor and church, let me include part of the announcement from their website. It says:

We are burning Satan's bibles like the NIV, RSV, NLT, HCSB, CEV, NCV, NIRV, TNIV, NKJV, TLB, NASB, ESV, NEV, NRSV, ASV, NWT (Jehovah Witness Bible), Amplified Bible, God's Word Translation, 21st Century King James, Young's Literal Translation, Reina-Valera 1960, Darby, Good News for Modern Man, The Evidence Bible, Book of Mormons, The Message Bible, The Green Bible, Quran (Koran), Bible in Rhyme, Boomer Bible, and ect. As well as Greek New Testaments by Westcott & Hort, Metzger, Scrivener, Berry, Ginsburg, and Green. Also Herbrew-English Dictionaries by Brown, Driver, and Briggs. Also Greek-English Lexicons by Moulton, Thayer, Danker, and Liddell.
These are perversions of God's Word the King James Bible.
We will also be burning Satan's music such as country , rap , rock , pop, heavy metal, western, soft and easy, southern gospel , contemporary Christian , jazz, soul, oldies but goldies, etc.
We will also be burning Satan's popular books written by heretics like Westcott & Hort , Bruce Metzger, Billy Graham , Rick Warren , Bill Hybels , James White, Kay Arthur, Charles Stanley, Pat Roberson, RC Sproul, Mary Baker Edddy, Josh McDowell, Sean McDowell, Britt Merrick, Max Lucado, Randy Alcorn, John Ortberg, Michael W. Smith, John David Clark Sr., Eckhart Tolle, Joni Eareckson Tada, Sarah Young, Stormie Omartian, Joseph Maxwell, John McArthur, James Dobson , Charles Swindoll , John Piper , Chuck Colson , Tony Evans, Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swagart , Mark Driskol, Franklin Graham , Bill Bright, Tim Lahaye, Paula White , T.D. Jakes, Benny Hinn , Joyce Myers , Brian McLaren , James White, Dave Ramsey, Alister McGrath, Ron Hill, Denver Moore, Mary Beth Chapman, Steven Curtis Cahpman, E Stanley Jones, Robert Schuller, Mother Teresa , The Pope , Rob Bell, Erwin McManus , Donald Miller, Shane Claiborne, Brennan Manning, William Young, Will Graham , and many more.

I am appalled, saddened, infuriated, dismayed. I'm heartbroken that there are those claiming membership in the body of Christ, people that go forth claiming Christ's authority that are so consumed by their own traditions and preferences.
Do I agree with everything that is written by this list of authors? Absolutely not. Are there translations that I prefer to others? Absolutely! But how arrogant can someone be to think that my God is too small- and that all of these other men were too ignorant for God to speak truth through them!
To Pastor Grizzard, if by chance you somehow stumble across this page, shame on you! How dare you, because of arrogance, and I would say ignorance, rob people of the chance to read the word of God and discover the hope it contains! Sir, I have watched people respond to the conviction of the Spirit, and the message of the gospel with a NIV in hand, a NKJV, a NASB, and any other number of other translations that you call abominations. Sir, respectfully, your God is too small. My God is mighty to save, and my salvation is based on the blood of Jesus and not archaic English language.
We could keep going. I've been saddened and dismayed at the number of churches that are launching attacks at others because of music styles, program titles, and ministry endeavors. Literally, hours could be spent on YouTube watching pastors criticize the methods of churches that they have never stepped foot in- and not for major doctrinal issues, but for minor preferential things.
We are divided over worship styles, Biblical translations, pastoral opinions, political affiliations, and everything else we can think of. And the question has to be asked: When are we going to get out of our own way? When are we going to realize that this is not all about us? When are we going to stand in awe of the majesty and wonder of our God? When are we simply going to be known as a people that are in love with Jesus?

Lord, Liar, or Lunatic?

2010-04-20T20:53:00.003-05:00

The following is from Highland View Baptist Church's AM worship service on April 18, 2010.

We are going to have a little experiment this morning. For our young people that have profiles on MySpace or Facebook, many of you have participated in on of those surveys that bid you give your first reaction when you see a word. We are going to try that as a congregation this morning. So I would invite you to not be quiet in church this morning for a few moments. As I give you a word, please respond with the first thing that comes to mind.
Let’s give it a try. Grass [green?]. Sky [blue?]. Deer [yummy?]. Homework [ughh?]. Job [not bad?]. Bills [too many?]. Church [fun-sometimes?]. Let’s try a few people. Adam Sandler [hilarious?]. Bill Gaither [big hair?]. Richard Nixon [who?]. What about rock music [loud?]. Ex’s [not funny!]. Government [irresponsible?]. Temperature [cold?]. Hero [Pop?]. September 11 [war?]. And let me ask you one more. Jesus [My friend]?
There is any number of responses that we could have shared about Jesus Christ. My hope is that your initial response was a personal possessive. It is my hope that your very first thought was one of personal involvement and relationship. Hopefully, it was something like, “My Savior,” or “My God.” Maybe it was one of His many titles through Scripture that came to mind. Or perhaps you thought of the word hope or friend.
The reality is that we were required at some point to make a definitive decision in our mind about each of these things at some point. And there are options for each one of these things. For grass, you may have responded, “green.” For sky, you may have responded, “blue.” But the reality is that the grass is not always green. Sometimes it is yellow or blue or even brown. Sometimes it’s long, or maybe it’s short. It may even be dead.
With the sky, it is a similar situation. While most people say “blue,” the reality is that it can be dark or bright, cloudy or clear, pink, yellow, purple, black, or any number of colors. It can be clear or stormy.
You see, in life, we tend to reach a point where we decide what we are going to think about certain items, people and situations. We make associations.
The one I want to focus on this morning is the last name that I mentioned. Jesus. What is it that we have decided about Him?
We are going to take a few moments this morning and look at the possible responses that we could have for My Savior. And while the options are as endless as each of the other topics we discussed, I believe they all come back to one of three primary responses.
In short, we have to make a decision about the Son of God and our three options are as CS Lewis suggested: Lord, liar, or lunatic.
When we look at the claims of Christ, who He said He was, what He promised to do, and the future that He foretold, we are forced to make a decision.
We are going to look at a Biblical account of a time when Jesus requested that one of His disciples make a decision about who He was. And in the process of that examination, we are going to discuss the options that he had.

Read text. (Mark 8:27-29a)

You may recognize our text as the confession of Peter. It is that point when Peter made it well known that he knew that Jesus was the promised Messiah, the Son of God.
While it is clear the decision that Peter made, we are actually going to consider the other options first. We are going to look at the two decisions that Peter could have reached as alternatives to his proclamation of the identity of Jesus Christ.
The first decision he could have reached was one of disbelief. He could have determined that Jesus was a…

1.) Liar
“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one.’ Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘Many good works I have shown you from My Father. For which of those works do you stone me?’ The Jews answered Him saying, ‘For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.’” John 10:27-33
We know through the text, and through Peter’s service that this was not the decision that he made. He knew Jesus wasn’t a liar. However, it would not have been difficult to support the notion that Jesus was just an elaborate, accomplished liar and a fraud.
Really, that was the opinion of the majority of the religious elite. The passage that we just read in the book of John gives evidence of the opinion of many of the people of the time. They believed wholeheartedly that He was simply a liar and a fraud. And the average Jew, if not convinced, would have been strongly pressured by the Pharisees and Sanhedrin to reject this man. We see that they seek to kill Him for blasphemy- literally, lying.
Now, from a realist’s point of view, it seems that the claims that Jesus made were over the top. I mean, if there was a man that walked into the church today and began to make the kind of claims that Jesus made, we would throw him into the street because of our conviction that he was a conman and liar.
Just think for a moment about the things that Jesus claimed and promised. In the passage in John’s gospel, He claims that He and His Father are one. He claims equality with God, and in the process reveals that He is the Messiah. He promises eternal life to those that believe and follow after Him. There is no other man in history that could claim these things and actually fulfill them.
In addition, to someone that does not understand the identity of Jesus Christ He may seem to be an extravagant glory hound. It may seem that He was just a man looking for attention and admiration. It could seem that He desired to mislead the masses through His popularity to gain political prominence.
The first option granted to that person that has to make a decision about Christ is they can believe that He is merely a liar. And there are many people today, like the Pharisees that have taken this route.
Most people that earnestly seek after God, and have an encounter and relationship with Jesus Christ understand that He is anything but a liar. However, in our antagonistic, questioning society, there are those that believe that logic would demand that they call Him just that.
I probably shouldn’t point fingers and call names, but I am going there. The entire atheistic community has made this decision. It is the only “logical” conclusion that they can make since they believe there is no God.
In all reality, while some acknowledge Jesus as a mere man that lived on earth, by refusing to accept him as Lord, they all call him a liar.
Our first option when presented with the person and hope of the message of Jesus Christ is to simply claim that He was a sensationalist. We can make the call that while all looks good, there is no way that He can be that good and powerful, and so He has to be a liar, right?
The first possible picture of Jesus is of a liar. The second possibility was that He was a…

2.) Lunatic
“And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him.” – Mark 8:31-32
Once again, we know the decision that Peter made about the person of Jesus Christ, but this was another option. And I believe that Peter actually teetered on the edge with believing that Jesus had a streak of this in Him.
After Peter made his confession, he followed it with a rebuke of Jesus. He argued. He basically told Jesus that He was not in His right mind if He was talking that way.
Peter evidenced that there might be those that believed that Jesus had mental issues. Peter, the servant of this man had reached a point when He believed that he had a greater mental understanding of the person and mission of Christ than even Jesus.
There might have been, and might currently be those that believe that Jesus was a lunatic. They might believe that He had a mental disorder. And after all, this is the more gracious of the options, right?
Doesn’t it sound better if we say that Jesus couldn’t help His claims? For those that refuse to believe Him, doesn’t it seem more gracious to believe that there was a physical disability that lead to His outrageous claims?
I mean, surely if a man claimed that He was the virgin born Son of God sent to earth to provide eternal life, He had to have a mental issue. (plenty of sarcasm) Surely anyone that believed that they could speak and raise the dead, tear off pieces of bread from five loaves and feed five thousand, and claimed that they would come back from the dead, had to have a few screws loose.
There are those that, when confronted with the life of Christ, choose to believe that He was not a willful misleader of people, but rather a mentally ill victim of a non-traditional family. They would probably look at the time when Mary and Joseph couldn’t find Him because He was in the temple as an occasion of abandonment that lead to mental instability. They would argue that the mobs that tried to kill Him actually fed an unhealthy need for attention and encouraged Him to make more outrageous claims.
You know, looking back at trials of Christ before His crucifixion, the Pharisees are lucky that it happened almost two thousand years ago. In all reality, if Christ’s trial happened today, He would never be put to death. In fact, He wouldn’t even serve a day in prison. Instead, they would send Him to a posh Hollywood mental health rehabilitation center. It would not take a lawyer more than a few seconds and a few quotes to convince a judge that He wasn’t a liar, but a lunatic.
When presented with the person of Jesus, you could claim that He was a liar, or maybe a lunatic. But there is also a third option. If Jesus was not a liar, nor was He a lunatic, He must be…

3.) Lord
“He said to them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’ Peter answered and said to Him, ‘You are the Christ.’” – Mark 8:29
You know there are a couple of problems with the assumption that Jesus was a liar or a lunatic. He could not have possibly been a liar, because everything He told us has come to pass. A man that only tells the truth makes a pretty pitiful liar. Just to prove the point, someone in this room name one thing that He promised that He has not fulfilled. Name one thing that He attempted that He didn’t succeed at. Frankly, He wasn’t a liar.
Additionally, He could not have been a lunatic. In fact, we are finding through advances in science that God understands the world and its mechanics, including Jesus’ as He is God’s Son, more than scholarly society. He wasn’t crazy. Instead He had a greater understanding of the world and what was going on than everyone else. And when considering His mental health, a mentally unstable person could not have endured the agony and torment with grace and determination like Christ.
If He wasn’t lying, and if He wasn’t crazy, then it should mean only one thing for you and I- and that is we must make Him Lord of our lives.
Jesus gave the promise that anyone that followed after Him would not die, but have eternal life. He promised that He would give life and life more abundantly. He promised security, both in this life, and in the one to come. He promised that we would never be alone. He promised that we would have an advocate before Father. He promised that this world would no longer hold its power over those that surrendered to Him.
A man that can claim all of these things, and actually deliver on them demands that we offer Him our lives and devotion.
We’ve said that there are only three options. We can call Him liar, lunatic, or Lord. And if we call Him Lord, that requires that we do more than simply admit that He is a good man or even God’s Son. Rather, it demands that we surrender our allegiance and commit our obedience.
I believe that the Bible is very clear and plain about the identity of Christ. He must be Lord. And if Jesus is going to be Lord, He must be allowed to be Lord of all.
The Bible demands that we all make a decision about Jesus. We can call Him liar, lunatic, or we can crown Him Lord.
If I were to ask you now to mention the first thing on your mind if I called the name Jesus, and you were given those three options, what would you call Him?
You might say, well, preacher, there are some gray areas. You know, I have allowed Jesus to be Lord over most areas of my life, but I’m still struggling with one or two. If that is the case, you cannot call Him Lord. Rather, your life is screaming “liar or lunatic.”
Jesus demands that you let Him be Lord of all of your life. He wants more than ninety-nine percent.
Just consider this: If your wife at your twenty-fifth anniversary was to tell you that she has been faithful to you for ninety-nine percent of your relationship, has she been faithful? No! Likewise, if you say that Jesus is Lord of ninety-nine percent of your life, He isn’t really Lord.
Anytime we are confronted with the person of Jesus Christ, it is demanded that we make a decision. Is Jesus a liar, a lunatic, or will He be Lord of your life?
As we have our invitation, it is your opportunity to boldly declare that decision. You can follow Peter’s example and call Jesus “Lord.” If you’ve never called Him Lord, make today that day. Maybe you are giving Him a good portion of your life, but you are still holding out on one little area, today is the day that you let Him assume the title of Lord in that area that you’ve withheld.
What will you do with this Jesus? Is He a liar, a lunatic, or are you ready to declare Him Lord?

Pressing Toward Perfection

2010-04-20T20:47:00.002-05:00

The following is from Highland View Baptist Church's AM worship service on April 11, 2010.

The closest I have ever come to perfection probably occurred when I was fourteen years old.
I am certain by now that many of you know how passionately I love the game of baseball. In fact, it is one thing that I miss dearly. I miss practice. I miss the sweat. I miss the muffled sounds through the ear-holes of a helmet. I miss the feeling of a ball hitting the sweet spot of the bat. And most of all, I miss standing on a mound staring down a batter.
Now, I’ve never claimed to be perfect, but one evening in 1996, I came close. That particular evening we were playing the Falcons. It had been more than seventy-two hours since our previous game, so I was OK to pitch. For some reason that evening, my fastball had a little extra pep. My curveball had a little extra break. And my changeup actually slowed down.
Through the first four innings, I recorded ten strikeouts and two putouts. There had not been a ball hit past the pitcher’s mound.
Through the fifth inning, things continued on the same path- and by the time the sixth inning rolled around, I was sitting alone at the end of a dugout. (Baseball superstition)
Finally, the game had progressed to the point if we held the other team off for one more inning, the game would be called early on account of the ten-run rule.
During, the last inning, with one out, my hope of perfection ended. A ground ball rolled through the legs of our third baseman. It was not a hard hit. It just hit a pebble and skipped off the heel of his glove.
All of that work went for not- and the record would not show perfection.
As I was working on this morning’s message last week, I began to think about that day and about our quest as a Christian people to pursue perfection.
We are called to work toward the fullness of the image of Christ. We are to continually strive toward eliminating any imperfection. But unfortunately, there are times when we hit a pebble- or a bump in the road and our best attempt at perfection fails.
And then there are times when I am reminded that even if I am perfect for one day, even if I succeed for this time- the game of life never ends.
We are a people that must constantly press toward righteousness and maturity until we reach the fullness of the stature of Christ- until we become as He is, perfect.
I do not say this in judgment or condemnation, but I am certain that there is not one person in this building that has reached the pinnacle of perfection in life. I know that I cannot claim that. And so, we have work to do. We are left with further growth and maturity to attain.
I believe that Paul gives us a great understanding as to how to strive toward our calling. He illustrates how to pursue the maturity that we should desire.

Read text. (Philippians 3:12-16)

As we look at Paul’s epistle to the church at Philippi, we find Paul’s progress and approach to Christian growth. We find a process and model to follow. Specifically, we find four steps that we must take in our pursuit of Christian maturity- and the perfection of Christ.
First, we must…

1.) Grasp Our Condition
“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature…”
Before we can go any farther than mere infancy in our Christian faith, we must truly grasp our current condition. We must see ourselves as we really are- and that is Christians that have not yet reached perfection.
Just consider the author of this letter. Consider what his identity and attitude should say to you and me.
Paul, the man that authored the majority of the New Testament said that he had not already reached the goal. He was not fully mature and perfect.
Just look with me for a moment at his list of accolades earlier in the chapter. He was circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, faultless in the law, and a Pharisee. It has even been suggested that Paul may have been a member of the Sanhedrin council. Paul- in terms of Jewish law and custom was faultless. Then just to compound those accolades further, he sat at the feet of Gamaliel, the premier teacher and scholar of the time.
Paul was as close to perfection as humanity could get. However, he still insisted that he still has not reached the fullness of maturity in Christ.
Now, if Paul insists that he had not arrived, why do we act as if we have?
None of us have completely digested the fullness of the knowledge of God. We still do not understand every facet of Scripture. And even if we understood all of it, there is not one in this room that is perfect in his/her adherence and obedience to that instruction.
As Christian believers, there is a temptation to look at ourselves in comparison to the lost world around us and feel accomplished. There is always the temptation to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.
However, we must rediscover our need for growth and progression. We must rediscover true Biblical humility.
Now, I realize that most of us- if not all of us would not hesitate to admit that we are in need of growth and maturity. However, I still believe that there is a struggle at times with truly grasping our condition. There is still a temptation, even in a small fashion, to pretend that we are farther along than we are.
And I wish that I could tell you that pastors are immune to this problem. However, that is not the case.
Over the course of the past four years or so, I have enjoyed the privilege of meeting some great and godly men. I have met some men that are brilliant in their ability to dissect and understand complex theology and doctrine. However, there tends to be a rather common problem- even with men in the ministry. Rather than enjoying the things that God has revealed, and being found faithful to continue searching for a deeper understanding of God’s Word, there are many Christians, many great men of God that allow arrogance to creep in and rob them of the full potential they have in Christ.
Listen, before we can progress any farther in the fact, we must grasp our condition.
We begin our pursuit of growth and maturity by seeing ourselves as we really are- by grasping our condition, and then we must secondly…

2.) Grow Our Captivation
“…but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.”
Paul realized and readily admitted his imperfection. He noted that in spit of the nearly perfect life he lived under legalism, in spite of his best efforts, he still was not fully perfect and mature.
And in recognition of that fact, Paul said that he makes every effort to take hold of that maturity because he has been taken hold of by Jesus.
I believe that this is a beautiful image. When we progress from ink on paper, and begin to look with our mind’s eye, I see an image of Christ hand in hand with one of his children. And because He is holding on to his child, because He is walking with him, He is drawing him closer to the fullness of maturity in Him.
Paul is saying here, “Because Jesus has hold of me, because He is walking with me, I am going to take every opportunity to draw closer to Him.”
I believe that it is interesting that Paul uses the term “taken hold of” here. It tends to communicate the picture of captivity. Yet it is consistent with Paul’s presentation of himself throughout the epistles. Paul almost always calls himself a bondservant, servant, or slave of the gospel.
Paul speaks of being taken hold of, yet it is not a restrictive, demeaning captivity that we would think of. Rather, it is the idea that Paul is completely captured by the love of Christ. He is captivated.
Now, I know that you’ll grow tired of hearing about me and Emily. However, when I see this phrase speaking about being taken hold of, it makes me think of the love that I share with Em.
When we started dating, even until now, there is something about that love that has me captivated. It keeps my attention. It demands my affection. Because of that love, there is nothing that I would let stand between me and her.
I believe that is exactly the picture that Paul is presenting here. Because he is captivated by the love of Christ, he is doing everything in his power to remove any obstacles to their relationship.
We should be challenged by Paul. We too need to grow our captivation.
I know I asked this question last week, but it begs to be asked again: Where has our wonder gone? What has happened to our utter amazement with Christ’s love? We must still be so captivated by it that we are actively pursuing a relationship with Christ.
Now, let me mention briefly the easiest way to grow your captivation with Jesus. It is not through a séance or an attempt to manipulate your emotions. The easiest way to restore your captivation with God is to spend time with Him. Study His word. Pray and speak with Him. Serve Him.
Simply spending time quality time with Him will spark a renewed wonder and captivation.
If we want to grow in our maturity, if we want to pursue perfection in Jesus, we must grasp our condition. We must grow our captivation. Then we must be careful to…

3.) Guard Our Concentration“Brothers, I do not consider myself to taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead…”We must understand where we really stand in God’s eyes. We must seek to grow in our love for Him. We must be captivated by Him. And then we must be careful to guard our concentration.
Paul says that he forgets what is behind and reaches forward to what is ahead.
Now, there is a tendency to use this at New years when talking about the opportunities God grants for new beginnings. However, I don’t believe that is all it is communicating. We look at it and talk about moving on from past failures. And I believe that you can use it in that context and still maintain scriptural integrity.
Certainly our sinful pasts can be cause for crippling our service of Christ. There are plenty of people within the church that believe that they are unable to serve God- or even come to Him because of something they did in their past.
We must be willing to quit looking back to those disappointments and failure. We must move beyond those shortcomings and allow our past to be the past and not our future.
But I believe this passage is communicating more. Paul was a man that would certainly want to forget parts of his past. You may recall that Paul had a Damascus road experience where God Himself questioned Paul as to why he was persecuting Him?
Paul was convinced that he was doing God’s work and will until then. I am certain that Paul would love to forget about those that he persecuted and imprisoned. I am certain that he would love to move beyond the fact that he held the coats and cheered on those that stoned Stephen.
Yet, I believe that Paul was communicating more. When we look back at the beginning of Philippians 3, we find that section that we quoted earlier. We find that place where Paul gives us a list of his accolades and qualifications. Paul was a man that would have a great deal to boast about. He would have reason, more than any of us, to feel as if he had reached a higher plane in his Christian experience.
However, I believe that Paul was actually saying, “I forget what is behind and move forward- not because the past is all horrible and sinful, but because I cannot allow myself to boast in my accomplishments and forget I still have work to do.”
As Christians, many of you have served God faithfully for decades. You have taught classes and served the church. You have grown in your faith.
However, we cannot look back on our pasts and pretend that they are enough. Rather, we still have more climbing to do. We still have farther to go before we reach full maturity and perfection.
As God’s people, we must be careful to guard our concentration. We cannot get so caught up in the past- even in our successes and experiences that we fail to move forward now.
We must grasp our condition. We must grow our captivation. We must guard our concentration. And lastly, we must…

4.) Groan in Our Call“I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”Paul understood where he stood with the Father. He understood his condition. And because of that fact, he was actively pursuing God’s call on his life. He was groaning in that call.
When Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi, I believe that it contained both instruction and imagery.
When Paul said that he pursues as his goal the prize of God’s call in Christ Jesus, I don’t see a man that decides to begrudgingly attend a worship service. I don’t see a man that reluctantly pulls out His Scriptures to fulfill his duty. I don’t see a man that shows any hesitancy.
Rather, he is pursuing his goal. He is running after Jesus with everything that is in him. He is praying faithfully. In fact, he cannot speak to the Father enough. He is studying God’s Word. He just can’t read enough. He wishes that there was more to it. He loves teaching and just being able to say the name, Jesus.
This is a man that is excited about doing whatever God gives him the opportunity and privilege to do. He is going full-tilt toward his finish line.
And do you realize where Paul is in his race at this point?
Paul is in prison when he wrote this letter. He was in chains because of this gospel. Yet, he is still saying- whatever of my course I have left to run- I don’t care what the Romans do to me, I am going to pursue it with passion. I am going to give it my all- and I’m going to love what I’m doing.
Paul is essentially the runner that has kept his eye on the finish line- and he is groaning- he is putting every ounce of energy he has into his pursuit of the call of Christ.
You know, when I read these words, it makes me ashamed. Here I am, a free man in a country that celebrates the greatest liberties of any nation, I am called to preach the gospel- I am given the opportunity of personal relationship with Christ, with God Himself, and where is my passion? Where is the fervor in my life?
Ladies and gentlemen, we must groan in our call. We must pursue the Christian life with such energy and fervor that we have to depend on God for our strength.
I wonder what would happen if we approached our Christian calls with the same energy that we do sports, or family gatherings, or whatever our particular hobbies may be. What would life be like and what could God do if we passionately pursued him the way we do other things?
We need to be reminded this morning: We are not perfect. We have not arrived. There is still work to be done.
We must grow our captivation. We must be passionately in love with Jesus. We must keep our focus, not on our past victories or failures, but on what God has in store for us now and in the future. And we must groan in our call. We must run the race with everything we have.
So where are you this morning? How is your race going? Are you growing? Are you groaning? When is that going to change?

Sunday Is Here!

2010-04-20T20:34:00.002-05:00

The following is from Highland View Baptist Church's AM worship service on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2010.

This morning as we begin, we are going to borrow an excerpt from Dr. Tony Campolo’s modern classic.

“It’s Friday, Jesus is praying, Peter is asleep, Judas is betraying, but Sunday’s coming.
It’s Friday, Pilate is struggling, the council is conspiring, the crowd is vilifying, they don’t even know that Sunday is coming.
It’s Friday, the disciples are running like sheep without a shepherd, Mary’s crying, Peter is denying, but they don’t know that Sunday’s a comin’.
It’s Friday, the Romans beat my Jesus, they robe him in scarlet, they crown him with thorns, but they don’t know that Sunday is coming.
It’s Friday, see Jesus walking to Calvary, His blood dripping, His body stumbling, and His spirit’s burdened, but you see it’s only Friday, Sunday’s coming.
It’s Friday, the world’s winning, people are sinning, and evil is grinning,
It’s Friday, the soldiers nail my Savior’s hands to the cross, they nail my Savior’s feet to the cross, and then they raise him up next to criminals
It’s Friday, but let me tell you something, Sunday’s coming,
It’s Friday, the disciples are questioning “What has happened to their king?’ and the Pharisees are celebrating that their scheming has been achieved, but they don’t know it’s only Friday, and Sunday’s coming.
It’s Friday, He’s hanging on the cross, feeling forsaken by His Father, left alone and dying, can nobody save Him? Oh, it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming.
It’s Friday, the earth trembles, the sky grows dark, my Savior yields His spirit, It’s Friday, hope is lost. Death has won. Sin has conquered and Satan’s just a laughin’.
It’s Friday, Jesus is buried. A soldier stands guard and a rock is rolled into place, but it’s Friday, it is only Friday, Sunday is a comin’.”

As we come to our time this morning, we have reason to celebrate. We have cause to be excited. We no longer have to say, “It’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming. Instead, we can boldly proclaim, “Sunday is here! And He is risen! Death has been defeated! Our promise has been fulfilled! Hope has come!”
Through the four gospels of the New Testament, it is not difficult to discern what the authors emphasize about the life and teaching of our Christ. There are a few topics that are evident in all four of the gospels. Two of these topics are the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.
Last week we left with a disturbing picture of our king dead on a cross. We left a mistreated, battered man that had endured all humanity could throw at him. We left an undeserving victim crucified on a cross for the entire world to see.
Now here is where we must pick up this morning. If we simply stopped with Jesus on the cross, it would simply be a great story. Let me tell you, Satan would love to leave Jesus on the cross. However, the greatest testament of Jesus’ love and power comes not in the form of the cross, but in the empty tomb. The cross appeared to mean certain defeat for the Son of God, but the bodiless grave is the evidence of victory
We are going to use the account recorded in the gospel of Luke. However, we are going to bounce around between the four to cover some different aspects of the story not included in Luke.

(Read text. Luke 24:1-12)

When we left off last week, Jesus was pronounced dead, but not yet removed from the cross. And before we get into the story of the morning of the resurrection, I want to patch the story a bit. We are going to fill in from the time of Friday afternoon until Sunday morning.
After the death of Christ, a member of the Sanhedrin requested the body of Jesus. Joseph of Arimathea, a member of this Sanhedrin group, and a secret disciple of Jesus asked Pilate for permission to remove his body for burial. Apparently, during the time of the request, Nicodemus went to purchase the materials needed. Somehow after the death of Christ, both of these men were both empowered to take a public stand for this man. If you recall, these were both men that sought Jesus in the night out of the public eye. After authorization was received, he and Nicodemus had to hurry to get the body buried so that their work would be completed before the start of the Sabbath. The Sabbath did not start at sunrise on Saturday, rather it began at sunset on Friday evening. So Joseph and Nicodemus both needed to be finished with this work and at a place of rest by the time six o’clock came.
John’s was the only gospel to relate the location of the garden in proximity to the crucifixion site. It would prove very beneficial for the gravesite to be so close to Golgotha.
The Jews did not practice embalming, but rather wrapped the bodies in linen strips with spices to cover the odor of the body. For Joseph and Nicodemus, their best effort was still done in haste and imperfect. However, it would be after the Sabbath before anyone could return to rewrap and further prepare the body. They simply did not have the time to tend to the minute details of the process.
There are certain details that we will have to gather from the other gospels as we go through this story. Matthew’s account of this preparation time explains the presence of the large stone in front of the entrance of the tomb and the women’s knowledge of where he was laid. For the women, this was a trying and confusing time. I believe part of the reason for their intention to return to the grave to tend to the spices and wrapping was due to the people that wrapped him. Joseph and Nicodemus were men that were still publicly associated with the Jewish leaders and the Sanhedrin council. The women probably wanted to tend to him because they knew that they loved him, where they were suspicious of the other men.
After these men had retired to their homes, the Sabbath was observed. For Jesus’ followers, it meant that they observed the Law. However, the Sabbath was also the day that the chief priests petitioned for the presence of a guard outside of the tomb. While Jesus friends and followers were experiencing gut-wrenching grief, the men that had conspired to kill Jesus decided that they still could not feel safe. Their work was still not done. And at their request, Pilate gave the help that they needed to do as much as physically possible to secure the burial site.
By man’s standards, every precaution had been made, every loophole tied shut, every hope of deception squashed. However, even the chief priests, the men that should have understood the power of Almighty God like none other, underestimated the delivering power of God. They should have known that any effort they pursued would fail. However, they were looking through blinded eyes. They were looking at the situation applying human knowledge where they should have pursued godly wisdom.
Jesus’ disciples and followers were not immune to this attitude either. Rather, his closest friends were planning to return to the grave in hopes to better prepare the dead body. They did not expect to find an empty tomb. They were not expecting anything out of the ordinary. They disregarded the prophecy made about his return. They expected defeat. But what they would find would change their attitudes, their understanding, and their lives.
After sunset on Saturday evening, some shops in town would have reopened for business. It is believed at this time, the women bought the spices that they intended to use for Jesus’ body. Mark tells us of their preparation after the Sabbath, and this would seem the most logical time.
Early on Sunday morning, the women arose and went to the tomb. Mary Magdelene was not the only woman to go to the tomb that morning. Rather, Mary the mother of James, Salome, Joanna and other women were present as well. John’s gospel chooses to focus on Mary Magdelene. But even John’s gospel gives allusion to the presence of others at the tomb. In Mary’s address to Peter she says, “…and we do not know where they have laid Him.”
To join the different gospel accounts, one of two things took place. Either Mary Magdelene went ahead of the group to the tomb first, or all of the women began their journey to the tomb before daylight and arrived sometime shortly after dawn. I tend to ere more on the side of the latter.
During their journey, the women had a realization. Talking amongst themselves, they remembered the presence of the stone. And in remembering the stone, they realized that they did not bring any men with them to move the stone. They would have been unaware of the posting of the guard and the seal placed on the tomb. The last time that they were present at the tomb was Friday. The placement of the guard did not happen until Saturday.
However, during their journey something amazing happened. God, knowing the thoughts and concerns of these ladies, sent an angel to move the stone aside.
Matthew tells us of a detail that the other three authors leave out. He mentions the earthquake and the angel to roll the stone away from the opening of the tomb. It is generally accepted that the earthquake and rolling away of the stone happened during or before the journey to the tomb. The women in their reports make no mention of it- so it is generally assumed that they did not experience this part of the story.
Upon the appearance of the angel, the Roman guards became exceedingly afraid. They literally became so afraid that they fainted. Now this is an image that brings a chuckle. Here are two men that serve in the same military as the men that were so brutal in their treatment of Jesus. These are two men that are part of the most feared military regiment of their day- men renowned for their harshness and cruelty. These brawny, tough soldiers become completely paralyzed by fear.
In our mind’s eye, there are many times when we try to imagine angels. And for most people, they think of angels as wimpy, glowing individuals. People think of cuddly beings that wouldn’t hurt a fly. Unfortunately, we have a very skewed view of angels. There are many times that our envisionings could not be further from the truth. Angels are not wimpy. Rather, these are heaven’s warriors and messengers. These are the people that are entrusted with the power necessary to carry out God’s purpose. These are beings that paralyze even the toughest men. If you recall, there was an angel that killed 185,000 men in one night. They need to be feared. These are men that deliver God’s message with authority and power.
In piecing the different stories together, we think that the men awoke and fled when they realized that the stone was open and Jesus was gone. These were men that now had a new fear altogether. Their failure to perform their guard duty was punishable by death.
In the text, the women arrived, there were no guards. Rather, they arrived to find the tomb open.
Now let me clarify something else here. The angel did not come and open the tomb so that Jesus could get out. Rather, he came and opened the tomb so that Jesus’ followers could get in. Jesus was not held in by the stone. Rather, those women would have been kept out- and could not have seen the evidence of his resurrection.
As the women enter into the tomb, the do not find the body of Jesus. Their reaction is the same as what your and mine probably would have been. They were afraid and distraught. They expected to find a dead man- and instead found the empty wrapping. Their only logical explanation was to think that his body had been stolen.
I can only imagine the turmoil and chaos in the tomb. Here are a group of ladies that loved Jesus, they came prepared to show their love through preparing his body- and there is NO BODY! I can almost hear the conversation and questioning in the tomb. Can you almost sense the tenseness and worry in their voices?
Then suddenly in the midst of them appear two men- two angels. These men delivered perhaps the greatest message ever delivered. “He is not here. He is risen.”
It is amazing how seven little words can change eternity. Seven words changed the attitudes of their hearts. Seven words changed their sorrow into rejoicing. Seven words changed their eternal fate.
The angels reminded the women of Jesus’ very words. They delivered a message that would spark a memory in their mind. When the angel told reminded them of his words, suddenly their memory rushed back. Suddenly, their personal experiences with Christ were brought into focus and his very words resonated in their ears.
Well, at this point, there was no need to continue to stand around and visit in the tomb. There was no body to wrap or spices to apply. Rather, there was a mission that was entrusted to these women. They had to spread the word of what they had seen and were told.
I have to wonder as to what the journey back to town was like. Did the ladies talk amongst themselves and analyze what they heard? Did they elect a spokesperson for the group? Did they each walk and think about their individual experiences with Christ? Did they run?
We do not have a recording from their journey back, nor do we have written dialogue. However, I can almost hear the excited conversation. If they were not running, I certainly think that they were walking quite fast. There was once again excitement and reason for celebration. The heartache that they had endured just three days prior was changed and magnified into unsurmountable excitement.
When they returned to tell the disciples of what they had seen, there was a sense of disbelief. For some of those that heard the story, they simply disregarded it as nonsense. Some probably saw it as hysteria and anguish simply boiling over. However, for two men, they had to know for themselves.
Luke tells us only of Peter arising and running to the tomb. However, the gospel of John tells us that both John and Peter ran to the tomb.
I can see this scene. Here are two former fishermen. Here are two men that were the closest to Jesus being informed that he has risen. Here are two men that wasted no time in getting to the sight of this miracle.
We find that John actually beats Peter to the sight. And as Peter gets there, he finds John standing outside the tomb. I can see him trying to regain his breath. John was the first to arrive, but Peter was the first to actually enter the tomb.
How is it always Peter? I guess it was just in his personality. He was always the first- typically to stick his foot in his mouth.
Peter goes into the tomb and is joined soon thereafter by John. As they are looking around, Peter stoops down to examine the linen cloths. There where Jesus was laid was evidence of his resurrection.
If Jesus’ body had been stolen, grave robbers would not have bothered to remove the wrap, much less fold things neatly. Rather, Jesus simply came through the cloths. Much the same way that he will later do in the appearance in the upper room, he was not bound by physical matter. I believe that Jesus simply sat up out of those clothes and walked out of the tomb. He didn’t have to move the stone. Rather, he simply decided that the grave was not the place for him.
After seeing this for themselves, these men too decided that they need not waste their time looking for the dead among the dead. Luke tells us that Peter left and marveled to himself at what happened.
I believe that there is far too little marveling today. For the average Christian, the story of the resurrection is something that you hear year in and out. It is a story that is approached with familiarity and commonality.
I wish that I could remember the first time that I heard this story. I can only imagine the awe that arose within me. Even today, I can see the look of amazement and excitement in my daughter’s eyes when talking about this. So why is it that we no longer marvel at what he has done?
Just last week I said that if you ever got a real glimpse at the cross, you would never be the same. Let me amend that statement. If you ever allow yourself to experience his resurrection, you will find promise that never before existed. You will find hope in times of hopelessness- you’ll find hope for tomorrow.
Jesus died on the cross for you and I. He endured all that this world could give him. He died the most cruel death ever devised and listened to our mockery all the while. It is an amazing story. But the true beauty of the story comes in the resurrection.
You and I can die for someone. Only the Son of God could conquer death for all of us. Only Jesus would arise for us. Jesus loved us not just enough to die for us, but to return after we treated him with hatred and disregard.
What have you done since you found the empty cloths? Have you determined to surrender to the one that loved you more than life itself? Have you decided to serve the one that paid your penalty?
The story is plain and simple. And the story is still not over. The fact is that there will be a day when he comes back again. There will be a day when he calls his own out of the grave. There will come a day when he will come to take his own with him.
We must realize that we are accountable for what we have done with his death and resurrection. Have we approached it with indifference? Or has it sparked true surrender in our lives?

The Cruelty and the Compassion of the Cross

2010-04-20T20:30:00.003-05:00

The following is from Highland View Baptist Church's AM worship service on March 28, 2010.

Palm Sunday is a day that the Christian world recognizes closely behind Christmas and Easter. Typically, this is a Sunday when most churches will be dealing with the story of the Crucifixion of Jesus. And for us, it will be no different.
At least once each year, we are forced to stop and recount our Savior’s sacrifice.
I believe that every Christian needs to have an unshakable image in the back of their mind. Certainly we want to proclaim the hope that comes through Christ. We want to claim all of the promises that He gives. We need to teach people how to apply the precepts of God’s Word to the activity of daily life. However, in our teaching, in our preaching, in our proclamation, we need not progress so far that we cannot still see the cross of Christ. If we move to the point of losing sight of that image, I believe that we discount and miss the true promise and hope of God’s Word. We cannot ignore the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, because that is the fountain from which those blessings and promises that we claim flow.
I am not pointing fingers this morning. I am not trying to make anyone feel guilty. However, I do have to ask how many of us in this room have on a necklace or piece of jewelry that has a cross on it? One of the most popular, lasting jewelry designs has been the cross. And certainly they can be designed to appear beautiful and lovely.
However, the cross has lost the stigma that it once possessed. It has become a decoration instead of a reminder.
This morning, I want us to make ourselves look at the cross. We need a fresh vision of the cross and what it represents. Now, I am not talking about our clean, polished versions of the cross, but the rough, demeaning, cruel cross on which the Prince of glory suffered.
I believe that many people can live life their own way because they have never really looked at the cross. Let me forewarn you this morning that if you get a real peek at the cross, your life can never be the same again.
I am going to do something I am not very accustomed to this morning. I am not going to go on an outline. Rather, we are simply going to tell the story. Jesus doesn’t need my outline, His cross, His sacrifice speaks louder and more plainly than anything I could concoct.
All four of the gospels record the account of the Crucifixion. All four have areas of similarity, but there are some details that are dealt with more explicitly in each book. This morning, we are going to look at Mark’s account of the cross.

(Read text. Mark 15:24-41)

There has been a great deal happen through the course of the evening before we reach the time of this passage. Jesus has been examined no less than five times by nine in the morning. This seems strangely peculiar considering the fact that law prohibited trial by night. Already, the culture understood the temptation and deception that could come in the night. Nonetheless, it did not stop the trials from happening.
We could actually speculate that things happened even more quickly than we even realize. By nine a.m., Jesus had already been scourged and led away to be crucified. Could you imagine our country if our justice system worked that quickly?
Through the course of the preceding night and the short course of that morning, Jesus has been betrayed by one of his followers and deserted by the rest. He has appeared for examination by Annas. He has been beaten, mocked and punched in the face. Then he undergoes an illegal trial by Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin Council.
The Sanhedrin did at least give nod to the policy of not conducting trials at night. They waiting for dawn to “officially” pass the verdict. However, the assignment of guilt was made far before this. At that time, the rock that the church would be built on denied his association with Christ three times. At some other point in the early hours of the morning, the former treasurer of Jesus’ group of disciples hung himself.
At some point between 5 and 6 a.m., Jesus was taken to stand trial before Pilate. Being found of no fault and longing to save himself, Pilate sent Jesus to stand trial before Herod. After Herod’s inquisition, Jesus was once again returned to stand trial before Pilate again. However, he was dressed up and mocked by Herod’s security force. Standing before Pilate once again, he is found innocent of the charges brought against him. However, a political move is made. Jesus is convicted and sentenced to death by popularity vote.
The jealous crowd, hiding behind their supposedly religious convictions, has asked that a murderer and leader of a rebellion be given to them instead of Christ.
Jesus has been led away to be scourged. Let’s not get this confused with the concept of beating. I can recall several years ago there was a conflict with a foreign country where a young man was caught in thievery. According to their judicial system, he would be caned. Jesus could only wish for that to be the case. Rome had a reputation of unsurpassed cruelty and torment.
Jesus was scourged with something commonly referred to as a “cat of nine tails.” It was a whip with a wooden handle in which metal or bone would be the tips of leather strands. A prisoner would have his hands bound above his head where his back would be exposed. An experienced scourger could rip flesh from the back, lacerate muscles, and even expose internal organs. In many instances, men were beaten to death.
Jesus was subjected to this torture before he even had to endure the cross. He was constantly ridiculed and mocked through the course of then entire process. Before being led down that road to Golgotha, the soldiers wishing to further disgrace him, hammered a crown of thorns onto his head and proceeded to mockingly bow to him.
Around the neck of this man was his identification and the charge he was convicted of. Jesus’ back was loaded and he was paraded through the streets on public display of the power and cruelty of the Roman government. The battered body of our Christ could not bear the load of the cross that he was commanded to bear. It has been suggested that the beam he would have carried could have weighed as much as two hundred pounds. The soldiers enlisted Simon of Cyrene to bear this load.
I believe that one of the things that we don’t ever think about were the lingering effects of the scourging that Jesus endured. The pain and anguish that he went through were not alleviated when he left the place of his beating. Rather, the effects simply accumulated and became more unbearable. The sweat on his back would have been excruciating. Even walking would have been a challenge like never before. The rough wooden cross beam would have scraped and splintered into his back.
As we walk up that road, I can only imagine what the atmosphere was like. What was the smell? Was the wind blowing? Did all of earth take notice of what was happening?
And then we reach Golgotha.
Each of the four gospels simply states that he was crucified. None of the authors went into detail about what the process entailed. However, I believe that you and I need to understand what he willingly endured for us.
As they laid him out and put the nail through his first wrist, he could have called an end to it, but he didn’t. Rather, with every hammer strike, he continued to illustrate the depth of his love for you and I. With every clang, with every vibration, with every nerve in him crying out, he stayed right there on that cross. He did not endure this excruciating pain once or twice. Rather, he went through this process three times. A nail was put between the wrist bones in both hands, and one through both feet.
As the cross was raised into place, it was released into the hole that was dug out for it. With an abrupt stop, every fiber of his being tensed and screamed out in pain. And there for all the Roman world to see was Jesus. This man that had healed the sick, made the lame to walk and the blind to see, and raised the dead endured the most horrible death that mankind could think of.
One of the things about this process that I cannot understand was the compassion that still filled his heart. Luke’s gospel tells us that at this point, he asked the Father’s forgiveness on behalf of those who were crucifying and mocking him.
Underneath the shadow of the cross were the guards dividing his garments. When they realized that his tunic could not be evenly divided, they proceeded to gamble for the very clothes off his back. However, he never called down a curse on those that dishonored him.
Above his head was a sign that said King of the Jews. This was the proclamation made to the entire world as to what your life amounted to.
As Jesus was spread there on that cross, we cannot begin to image the torment and anguish that he is going through. Even the very breath that he took became a chore. In order to even take a breath, he would have to put his weight on the nails through his hands and feet and push himself up to gain a breath. Several times a minute, he would endure agony all over again.
As he would push up on those nails, as he would struggle to even get a breath, there below him were the crowds yelling their blasphemous insults. There below him were those that mocked him and commanded him to show his power and come down off of that cross. Even those that were deservingly crucified alongside of him took their opportunity to hurl insults. I cannot understand how he didn’t come down from the cross and pass his judgment.
From nine in the morning until noon, he was subjected to the public display and criticism of those under the cross. For three hours, he had to listen to the most ridiculous and blasphemous of humanities’ outcries.
Mark’s gospel does not include the account of the repentant thief. However, at this point after all that Jesus has endured, one of the thieves asks for Christ’s forgiveness. I believe that was something that Jesus knew would come, and could have been a reminder of the reason he was staying on that cross.
Finally at noon, at the peak of the day, the skies turned black. For three hours, light did not exist on this earth. I don’t believe that this was darkness like what accompanies a thunderstorm. It was not even a lunar eclipse because the Passover always fell on a full moon. Rather, this was supernatural darkness. For three hours, men received a visual understanding of the darkness of their sin.
I firmly believe that the most difficult and painful part of the crucifixion still has not come. Rather, the most painful part of this crucifixion came at the ninth hour. Through the darkness, God had turned his back on his Son, unable to look at the sin that he became for you and I. Jesus was hurt the most by his interrupted fellowship with his Father.
At this point, his spirit cannot bear it any longer. He cries out to his father the way only an innocent child can cry. In Aramaic, his voiced his cry.
“Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
The most incredible hurt and pain of this day did not come through the scourging. It did not even happen when the nails pierced his hands and feet. Rather, the greatest pain came in that darkness when the Father had to turn his eyes from the Son. It came from the righteous wrath of God being poured out on the sin he became for you and I.
Upon hearing his cry, those present thought that he was calling Elijah. This is a part that I do not understand. I understand that Eli can be short for Elijah. However, the name El and its compounds were Old Testament names assigned to God. Eloihim was the plural name for God in the Old Testament. El Shaddai meant “God Almighty.” Elyon meant “God to be lifted up or exalted.” I believe that the miscommunication came from the religious leaders unwillingness to admit that he was God. Eloi carries with it a personal possessive- “my God”. Throughout his life, Jesus claimed unity and relationship with the Father. In fact, he always, with one exception used the phrase, “My Father.” They were unwilling to recognize his unity with God the Father.
Finally, those watching the cross were going to see a sign. However, it would come in a way that they did not expect. Rather than seeing Elijah come to his rescue, Jesus surrendered his spirit.
There is something that we need to note. Every bit of the crucifixion process was voluntary for Christ. Even his death was voluntary. Men typically hung on the cross for days. There were times when men were literally eaten by carnivorous birds and wild beasts. Most died of exhaustion, dehydration, traumatic fever, or suffocation. But that was not the case for our Lord.
John records that the Jewish leaders asked that the men’s legs might be broken in order to speed their deaths. However, when they reached Christ, it was not necessary. He was dead.
Mark tells us that “Jesus cried out with a loud voice and breathed his last.” The fact that he yelled out illustrated his strength. For someone that has been hanging on a cross for six hours, he had an amazing ability to still communicate. He did not die of suffocation or exhaustion or any other earthly peril. Rather, he offered up his spirit. Jesus willingly gave up his life. He died willingly for you and I.
The story in and of itself sounds depressing and dramatic. However, there was a great promise that accompanied his sacrifice. At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two.
The veil separated the temple from the Holy of Holies. If set apart the most holy place that the priest could only enter once a year to offer a blood sacrifice for the sins of Israel. The fact was that this sacrifice was no longer needed. The blood of a lamb would no longer be required for the sins of you and I. Rather the blood of the Lamb of God covered that separation and did away with the need for that sacrifice.
I believe that the tearing of the veil from top to bottom tells us something as well. I believe that the supernatural hand of God reached down and tore down the barrier between himself and mankind. God desires our fellowship. He desires an eternal fellowship with each of us so much that he sacrificed his own son for us to have the choice and opportunity to pursue a relationship with him. He personally removed that thing that separated us from Himself.
Jesus would have died for anyone in this place this morning. If there was no one else, he would have came for you. I wonder did he see yours or my face while he was on that cross?
Jesus longs for you to join him in eternity.
He endured the agony and the stigma of the cross- because He loved you that much.
This morning, many of you have heard that story time and time again. However, even if you have heard this story a thousand times, we need to be confronted with the image of Christ on the cross. That is our source of hope. That is the basis of the promises that we claim. And in this season, we must remember to celebrate Him.

Pursuing a Present Day Pentecost

2010-03-26T16:24:00.004-05:00

The following is from the evening worship service at Highland View Baptist Church on March 21, 2010.

In a seminary missions class, Herbert Jackson told how, as a new missionary, he was assigned a car that would not start without a push. After pondering his problem, he devised a plan. He went to the school near his home, got permission to take some children out of class, and had them push his car off. As he made his rounds, he would either park on a hill or leave the engine running. He used this ingenious procedure for two years.
Ill health forced the Jackson family to leave, and a new missionary came to that station. When Jackson proudly began to explain his arrangement for getting the car started, the new man began looking under the hood. Before the explanation was complete, the new missionary interrupted, “Why, Dr. Jackson, I believe that the only trouble is this loose cable.” He gave the cable a twist, stepped into the car, pushed the switch, and to Jackson’s astonishment, the engine roared to life. For two years needless trouble had become routine. The power was there all the time. Only a loose connection kept Jackson from putting that power to work.
J.B. Phillips paraphrases Ephesians 1:19-20, “How tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God.” When we make firm our connection with God, his life and power flow through us.
The question is simple. Is the power of God evident in God’s church today, or are we behaving like the former missionary and devising a plan to make things work? I fully believe that the picture of the man trying to get the car rolling through human power is fitting to describe the state of the church today. We are trying all of the popular fads of society. We are pursuing programs and gimmicks. We are catering to a generation of consumers instead of developing a family of Christian servants.
I’m afraid that much like that old car, the connection to our power source is loose at times. I believe that we could benefit from examining our connections, and tightening that relationship.
Like the car, when our connections are adequately secured, when we are joined with the source of our power, the engine roars to life. It is at that point, that we are able to be about the work that is demanded of us. When we are joined with Him, we don’t need to urging shove of those around us. Rather, God provides all the power that we need.
I want to take a few moments this evening and look at how to infuse God’s power back into the church. I want to look at the conditions that were present when the Holy Spirit arrived and God’s power emerged as a force unlike anything seen by God’s people before.
I would invite you to join with me in the second chapter of the book of Acts.

Read text. (Acts 2:1-13)

I love the story of the coming of the Spirit. I love the prospect and potential that we see as a Christian people when the Spirit comes in power. And while we cannot recreate this occasion of Pentecost, we can examine and secure the conditions that were present during this time.
Before we get into the conditions present that day, we need to consider the background of what is going on in this time. “Pentecost” actually means “fiftieth.” It is referring to what is also known in the Old Testament as the “Feast of Weeks” (Exodus 34) that is celebrated fifty days after the second day of Passover. It has also been called the “Feast of the Harvest” in Exodus 23. This was a celebration to mark the end of the grain harvest. On this Sabbath, there were two loaves of bread made from the new grain, and two yearling lambs were offered before God as a thanksgiving offering, praising God for the harvest. People were expected to attend this event, and they were required to bring a free will offering.
This event happened fifty days after the second day of Pentecost. We know that Jesus remained with His disciples for forty days following His resurrection. Understanding this, Pentecost could not have come more than ten days after Christ’s ascension. Finally at this point, the prophecy of Joel, and the words of John the Baptist were fulfilled. John said in Matthew 3:11, “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
On this day when God’s people were thanking Him for the harvest, God determined that it was time to begin His harvest of souls through the church. At this point, the world and the church would never again be the same.
It is important to note that we cannot duplicate the events of that day with the birth of the church. We cannot go to Jerusalem, enter the upper room, and wait for the arrival of the Spirit. Rather, God has already given every born-again believer the gift of His Spirit. We cannot duplicate the miracles of that day. That is God’s business.
While we can’t duplicate those miracles, we can try to create the same conditions. And I believe that if we create those conditions, we will be ready when God determines to send His Spirit in power. How we need another Pentecost! If we are to find it, we need to follow the example of the early church. They were first…

1.) United in Purpose (1:4-5)
“And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The young church was assembled together with one purpose. They came together to wait to see God move.
Now, that is challenging as a Christian today. It seems that we have become so used to going through the motions. We have duties and responsibilities to fulfill, programs to run. We have appearances to make, expectations to meet, and people to support. Many churches have orders for services that seem to be handed down by God Himself. We have become some accustomed to our traditions that often we forget to wait on God.
In the pastorate, there is the temptation to think that every moment and move must be planned. I mean, no one wants to come to church and just sit in the pew. We don’t want to come and stare at the wall. We often think that we must account for every moment that we gather together. And while I believe that good planning is important, we cannot allow it to dictate whether or not God will have a welcomed time and place in His house.
I love the picture of the early church. There were certain processes and programs that they would expect. However, there was an earnest and fervent desire to see the power of God every time they came together.
In the early church, for this short period of time, I am certain that they would gather with the hope and expectation that the Spirit would arrive at that time. I’m sure that there were those that speculated together at home as to whether or not this would be the day.
I love that thought. If we are honest with ourselves, how many of us come with the hope that the music service will be lively and the preacher’s message somewhat entertaining? How many of us hope to endure the service and possibly get something out of it, but we don’t consider the possibility that God could really show up in power?
We need to become like the early church. When they assembled, it was with common purpose. It was not to conduct a program, but rather to wait together for the movement of God.
As we come together, there are certain things that must be addressed. However, we should come, not with personal agendas, but with the common desire that we will see the face of God together. We should assemble with a common purpose. In addition to being united in purpose, they were also…

2.) United in Prayer (1:14)
“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”
The early followers of Christ were not content to merely sit around and discuss their problems with one another. While they were probably somewhat distraught and disappointed at Christ’s return to glory, they determined that they needed to bow knee together and begin to pray.
Now, we don’t have a transcript of their prayers, but I believe that they prayed for one another. They prayed for the brothers sitting next to them and their families. They prayed for Jesus’ earthly family and the trouble and ridicule that would almost certainly follow. They prayed for God’s will and guidance in their earthly ministries.
Now, this is another scene that I love. We have been discussing and studying the disciples during Discipleship Training. And I can almost hear the voices of the men that Jesus called from their daily routines. Can you hear the words of the rugged fishermen that are concerned about how to continue? Can you hear the voice of Matthew as he realizes that he cannot return to his former life, but his new one has just taken an extraordinarily difficult turn? Can you hear the requests of the women that Jesus loved and ministered to? What about the cries of Jesus’ own brothers that recognized what was happening and the future that awaited?
I do not consider myself to be equal with the men that Jesus personally trained in His earthly ministry. However, I think that I can relate to that scene. I can remember early days in the ministry where I still trembled at the thought of standing before a crowd and proclaiming the unwavering name of Jesus. I can remember the prayer sessions that Dave and I would have for each other, and those that God had given us a ministry with.
I believe that it was a scene of uncommon honesty and unexpected power. When the early church met together, they did not simply discuss their ideas and interpretations, they determined to go together to the throne of grace.
As God’s people, if we are seeking the manifested power of the Holy Spirit, we need to follow their example again. We need to bind together with the desire for God to move and bless our brothers and sisters. We need to lift one another up and ask God’s leadership and blessing on our church family.
There is nothing that we can do that builds unity like carrying one another’s burdens to God in prayer.
If we truly desire a present-day Pentecost, we need to be united in purpose, united in prayer, and also…

3.) United in Power (v. 2:3-4a)
“Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire and one sat on each of them. And they were all filled with the Spirit…”
The early church was united in purpose and prayer, and through the gift of God, they were united in power as well.
We see in the account of the coming of the Holy Spirit that all the believers had another common element. The power of the Holy Spirit filled each of them.
We see that the Spirit came and the power of God present in the Spirit was physically evident in each of believers. It was at this point that believers were eternally marked by the God’s abiding in them
While the early church in this Pentecost was able to declare that the power of the Spirit was physically evident to those around, the present church cannot make that same claim. Rather, there are plenty that give no evidence whatsoever to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
The church is not currently united in the power of God. Rather, we are separated by our petty differences. We try to accomplish the plan of God through our own devices and agendas. And we do so because so many within the average church do not have the power of the Holy Spirit. They have never surrendered their hearts and lives to God, and therefore cannot know of His power.
There are those that suggest that one problem in the church is that believers all seem to be in different stages, and that is a difficult thing. However, the true lack of common power is found in the fact that there are more than expected that have no relationship with Jesus Christ. They simply do not know who the Holy Spirit is.
I want to make certain that we understand this: Church membership does not equal the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. In fact, there are some studies that suggest more than fifty percent of an average church membership believes that there are multiple ways to heaven, all religions are essentially equal, and their works influence whether or not they may get to heaven.
If a person is not willing to cling to Christ and pronounce Him as Savior, if they do not believe that the Father is one true God, then they are not marked by the power of the Spirit.
The early church was marked by united in purpose, in prayer, in power, and lastly by…

4.) United in Performance (v. 2:4)“And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Not only was the early church marked by purpose, prayer, and power, but they joined together in the work as well.
We see that they all began to speak with other tongues. They were not given the power of the Holy Spirit to merely sit on it. Rather, they were called to put it to work. Because of their obedience, and the showing of the power that was in them, men came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Listen, salvation was never meant to be taken as a “Get out of jail free” card. Rather, it was intended to be a commitment to service of our Heavenly Father. God did not save anyone to merely sit. Rather, He saved us to serve. And quite frankly, a faith that won’t serve isn’t real faith.
The question begs to be asked, “How many Christians are putting to work the power that was given to them? How many of us are actively taking the power of the Holy Spirit to the lost world? And how many of us are content to just sit and absorb the Spirit?"
I firmly believe that one of the reasons why God granted the power to the early church was because they intended to use it for God’s kingdom.
We must seek to become more like the early church. We must be a church united- in purpose, in prayer, in power, and in performance.

Determining the Right Direction

2010-03-26T16:18:00.004-05:00

The following is from the AM worship service at Highland View Baptist Church on March 14, 2010.

Have any of you ever been lost? Now, I’m not speaking in a spiritual sense…yet. But have you ever been physically lost?
One evening several months ago, when returning with supper from the nearest town, I passed an uncharacteristically large gathering at the local convenience store in Montrose.
Now, any gathering of more than approximately twelve or fifteen people is suspect in that area unless it is church or family related. However, that evening there were, what seemed to be, at least twenty trucks parked across the rear parking lot, and perhaps twice as many people standing outside the vehicles.
All of the people present were wearing camoflauge and every truck was trailed by some kind of ATV. It was obvious that those present were hunters, but given the lateness of the evening, it was very peculiar that they would be gathered.
Finally, after some questioning, I learned that the group was actually a search party. They were trying to organize before going into the national forest to look for a lost hunter and his young son.
Apparently, the missing man and his son were unfamiliar with their chosen hunting area and did not have a dependable means of determining the direction they were traveling. As the hour grew late, and the sun disappeared below the horizon, they were unable to see where they were headed and even to determine north or south.
After some searching, one member of the search party happily reported that he had located the boy and his father. They were only three or four miles in the opposite direction from where they should have been on a dirt road.
Because their course had not been set, and because they were unable to evaluate their direction, they wasted time and energy and endured unnecessary hardships.
That day, they learned the importance of dependable directions.
Now, as a church, I doubt that we will be scheduling any corporate hunting trips in the near future. However, we too can benefit from understanding the importance of dependable directions.
We must understand where we are heading, and the direction we need to travel to arrive at our desired destination.
As a church, we have a unique opportunity together. We are beginning a new journey. We are both given, in some sense, a fresh start and a chance to evaluate the direction that we are currently traveling.
Now, more than ever, we must seek God’s face in determining His will for us as a church.
I wish that I could stand here this morning with a grand plan of how to make this church into everything that we desire it to be. I wish that I could provide you with a failsafe design to ensure exponential growth. I wish that we could organize and plan every activity and ministry that God intends to do here. However, I cannot.
In fact, most of the details, the ministries, the programs are still very unclear. Those specific directions will come, in time. But I believe that there is still a challenge that I can give today.
While we don’t have all of the specifics, I believe that there are four things that we can do as a church to ensure that we are moving in the right direction.
While this does not answer all of the variables and questions we may have, I believe that it is the necessary first step.
If we are determined to go God’s direction, to be a church that is pleasing to Him, these are four things that we must do. As a church, we must resolve to first…

1.) Declare the Truth Unapologetically
“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” -2 Timothy 2:15
The traditional KJV rendering is "Study to shew thyself approved, a worman who needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."
In his second letter to Timothy, the young man in the ministry, Paul urges Timothy to do everything that He can to hold fast to the truth of Scripture. He is essentially charged with the task of teaching the totality of the Word of God. He is expected to rightly divide it- to accurately part of the instruction of God’s Word and command the truth that it contains.
Things have not changed. While this was initially a charge issued to Timothy, it is something that transcends time and continues to be applicable to the church today.
We must realize that the same Word of truth that Timothy was expected to teach and command is exactly the same today. The Word of God has not changed. It is still the infallible breath of God. It knows every person and has wisdom for every circumstance and situation.
One of my favorite passages is Hebrews 4:12. It says, “For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”
The Word of God can be trusted. It is still authoritative. And it must be proclaimed without apology.
We must resolve to declare the truth unapologetically. We must rightly divide God’s Word.
Now, if God’s Word is authoritative, and if we must declare the truth it contains without compromise or apology, what must we stand on?
First and foremost, if we are going to declare the truth of Scripture without apology, we must resolve to declare Jesus alone as Savior. We must declare His death and resurrection. We must declare the hope that He gives. We must teach that salvation is by grace through faith.
More than anything else, we must teach Jesus.
In our modern society, it seems that people, and churches for that matter, are seeking to amend the truth of Scripture and teach that there are many ways to heaven. Oprah has declared that Jesus is just one way to eternal life and paradise. There are countless denominations, religions, and cults that teach self-realization, work-based salvation, and even just a cross your fingers and pray type possibility of salvation.
We must remain steadfast in the Word of God when it says that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and no man comes to the Father but through Him .
We must declare the truth of salvation and the sacrifice of Christ. We must also resolve to share the truth and standard of God for righteous living.
In short, we must determine to call sin by its name.
Contrary to popular belief, sin does exist. Sin grieves God. It separates us from Him and prohibits us from experiencing all that God intends for His creation.
We must continue to pronounce sin for what it is. I know that there are topics where the church and popular culture disagree about the detriment and harm caused by certain actions. Obvious inconsistencies are found between our views of abortion and homosexuality.
The Bible calls those sin, and we must remain steadfast to do the same.
However, there are other sins that are often deemed less important and so we don’t deal with those as much. We must return to the proclamation of the total counsel of God.
While we don’t endorse of support abortion as a method of birth control, or homosexuality as a lifestyle choice, we cannot ignore those other things that the Bible calls sin either. We harp on homosexuality and abortion, but when was the last time you heard a sermon on gluttony, pride, anger, or gossiping? We must be diligent in proclaiming the whole counsel of God without apology. We declare with truth unapologetically. We secondly…

2.) Live the Faith Unwaveringly
“What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, ‘Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,’ but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” - James 2:14-17
We began this morning by insisting that we must be a people that declares the truth of God’s Word without apology. However, we must amend that first point.
We must recognize that it is not enough to simply speak the truth. In addition to speaking the truth, we must also be faithful to live the truth.
We must be found faithful in practicing what we preach. If we are going to insist that people yield to the teaching of Scripture, we better be yielding ourselves.
Listen, we need to understand the weight of our actions. In a postmodern culture like the one we are living in, people place a greater priority on what is done over what is said. And if we are not careful to practice what we preach, we actually alienate and hurt the message of Christ.
There is an old quote that says, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips, then walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.”
If we declare the truth, we must be faithful to live the faith.
Now, with all of this talk about living the faith, the question is certainly brewing in someone’s mind about legalistic living. After all, Jesus came to set us free. We are told in Galatians, “It was for freedom that we were made free.”
Now, this may sound like double-speak, but I promise it is not. How is it that we are free, but we are still concerned about living properly and according to God’s standard?
I believe that our passage in James speaks to that question. You see, our righteous living is not done out of necessity for our salvation. Rather, it is done as a result of what God has done in our lives. We evidence the faith that we have through the way we live.
If we have a relationship with Jesus, we are going to be concerned with pleasing Him. We are not charged with compiling a list of rules to be followed. Rather, we are simply called to live our lives guided by the presence of the Holy Spirit and the guidance of God’s Word.
We must live our faith unwaveringly.
We proclaim the truth unapologetically. We live our faith unwaveringly. We thirdly must…

3.) Encourage One Another Unceasingly
“And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.” - Hebrews 10:24-25
As a church, I believe that we have an enormous responsibility to encourage one another. We should be consistently lifting one another up.
If we are going to declare the truth of God’s Word with passion, if we are going to call sin by its true name, then we must also be ready and willing to offer the encouragement that people need to overcome those things.
I’m afraid that far too many churches have done their part in declaring the truth of God’s Word- especially the difficult parts, but they have done very little to encourage and help people to live the lives that God intended.
The fact is simple. People need encouragement. They need to see a smiling face and a helping hand. They need to hear a comforting and encouraging word.
Life is difficult. And whether or not Christian people want to admit it, living a life where we are continually dying to ourselves and putting the call of Christ first is tough. It is not the easy road to travel.
And the brothers and sisters in the faith will need encouragement to continue on in their journey to chase after Christ.
The Christian life is a difficult one- but let’s face it. Even for the person that has not completely surrendered, even for the person that has not determined to take up their cross, life is simply tough.
The economy makes managing money especially difficult. Parenthood always raises unique circumstances and crises. Careers and workplaces are often places where stress and pressure abounds, but encouragement does not.
Life is a series of ups and downs. It is a victory followed by a valley. It is a defeat when you think you’ve gone as low as possible. It is heartache and tragedy. It is victory and celebration. It is often a rollercoaster of emotions and challenges.
And the church ought to be the place where people can find help and encouragement for their journey.
After a hard week at work, after the challenges of life, shouldn’t the church be where people are eager to go because they know they have friends there that will encourage them and lift them up?
The church should be a house of help. It should be a place of mutual encouragement, support, and partnership. Rather than finding a condemning glance, those looking around the sanctuary should find a caring heart.
As a church, how do we ensure we are going the right direction? We declare the truth of God without apology. We live our faith unwaveringly. We encourage one another unceasingly. And last, but certainly not least, we…

4.) Love the Lost Unconditionally“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all you mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Matthew 22:37-39
When Jesus was quizzed by the Sadducees and the Pharisees in an effort to trip Him up, they asked Him about the greatest commandment. An expert in the law wanted Him to essentially give an order of importance to the law in the Old Testament.
Now, if you put yourself in this situation, in the time that it was asked, this question was asked by a group of men that did not merely acknowledge the Ten Commandments. Rather, this was a group that regarded the Ten Commandments, the Levitical law, and the rabbinical tradition as well. By asking about the commandments, this could have referred to hundreds of laws and rules.
However, Jesus went beyond the rules and spoke to the underlying issues. He did not speak to the rules for outward actions, but He spoke to the necessary attitudes of the heart.
He said that the first commandment was to love God with ever fiber of their being. And secondly, they were to love others.
One of the ways of determining the godliness of a church is found by simply examining the love that they have for God, one another and their community.
We must be a church that is consumed by love.
We must love God with a passion and a fervor. Our Christianity must not simply be a part of our lives, it ought to be a consuming lifestyle. Worshipping God and serving Him should be a welcomed opportunity.
While we love God supremely, that love is evidenced through our love for one another as well.
Now, I don’t know how many of y’all are related. I’m still learning people and names and putting relationships together. But whether you are related by blood or marriage, or not related at all, this church is not an organization, it is a family. And we are called to love one another.
Certainly there will be times when we annoy one another, when you disagree with a decision that has been made, or that we may not even like what someone has done to us, but we are called to love unconditionally.
The word for love used in our call is not storge, eros, or even phileo, it is agape. We are called to love one another with God’s kind of unconditional love.
We must love God, one another, and lastly, the community around us.
Do you know the quickest way to get people involved in church? It is not to beat them over the head with a gospel tract. It is not to enlist some hotshot preacher (which if it was, you’ve already failed at that one). It is not even to merely develop a visitation program.
The quickest way to draw people to the church is simply this: love them the way Jesus loves them.
We must be a church that not only declares the truth with zeal and passion, but a church that offers God’s standard with God’s love.
God’s love must be the driving force behind us as a church in the coming years.
So what direction do we head? How do we know that we are going God’s direction?
We declare the truth unapologetically. We live our faith unwaveringly. We encourage one another unceasingly. And lastly, we love one another unconditionally.

A Farewell Sermon

2010-03-26T16:12:00.003-05:00

The following is a transcript from the AM worship service on my last Sunday as pastor of Montrose Baptist Church- March 7, 2010.

When Emily, the kids and I came to Montrose more than three years ago, we were told that Montrose Baptist Church has a history of training preachers. I was assured that the members here understood how to work with and train young ministers. I was told of how this church saw numerous young men from Clarke College come through its doors- and how they received experience and guidance as to how to be a good pastor.
And so we came with excitement. We came with the hope and expectation that this church- the people of Montrose Baptist Church would be able to help us make some sense out of the Christian ministry.
Let me thank you for your patience and investment over these past few years. I believe that I have learned some invaluable lessons from you. You have taught me that a pastorate is more than a title or a managerial position. I have learned first hand, from you, how much love a pastor can feel- and how much he can, in turn, store in his heart toward his congregation.
You’ve always met me with grace, mercy, and trust. You’ve graciously obliged all of my crazy ideas and whims. You’ve offered support and encouragement at those very times that I needed it most. You’ve patiently waited as I’ve clumsily stumbled through all of ministry’s firsts with you.
Thank you.
As I began to prepare for this morning, I took a trip down memory lane. You have been the home to nearly all of my ministry firsts. My first sermon in view of a call was in this pulpit. My first attempt to moderate a business meeting was in this very room. My first Sunday as a pastor anywhere was right here. My first marital counseling session was held in my office here. My first wedding was during my tenure here. My first associational position came while serving here. Even my first attempt to officiate a funeral service came from this pulpit.
So many of my first experiences in the ministry have happened with you. And this morning is no different. I realized that even today is another first. Today is my first last Sunday. Today, I will preach my first last sermon.
So even in this time of transition, we are still experiencing firsts together.
As I was searching for a text and for the topic this morning, I realized something extraordinary. First sermons are easy. Well, if you take out the nerves and fear, they are easy. At that point, you are fresh. The church has never heard you. All of life seems so full of possibilities. Those first messages are full of hope and anticipation.
But then you eventually get to the last message. And I’m discovering those are not as easy. What do you say to the people that you love on that last day? What do you share with them? What would you share and feel comfortable that they would understand your love and appreciation and still be directed to follow God’s plan for their lives? What do you say if there is the chance you won’t get to personally share with them again?
Now, I’ll put you at ease. That sounds like a lead-in to a very long sermon. And that is not my goal this morning. Additionally, we are going to meet again. I hope that I will be invited back at some point in the future for a homecoming or a revival. I hope that we may see some of you when you’re on vacations. But even if not, you’re still not going to be rid of us that easily.
As I was considering this occasion and what needed to be said, I believe that Paul gives us a fitting passage. He provides the benediction that I longed to give, but proved too ineloquent to write.
I would invite you to join with me at the conclusion of Paul’s second letter to the church at Corinth.

Read text. (2 Corinthians 13:11-14)

If we wanted to use a Pauline benediction, he gives us plenty of possibilities in each of his letters. In each letter, he gives a farewell benediction. In fact, there is one Pauline farewell that seems to used most often on an occasion such as this. In Acts 20, Paul says farewell to the Ephesian elders. I started to use that text this morning, but I was afraid that there were too many differences between his situation and ours.
The most obvious difference came in the fact that in that farewell to the Ephesian elders was a definitive final goodbye. Paul upon his final prayer, cried, hugged and kissed his fellow believers- and we are told that they were most grieved because they would never see his face again.
This morning, while our season together is coming to a close, I anticipate circumstances like those present in 2 Corinthians. Paul was concluding his letter. He was giving a benediction. Yet, he was anticipating the next time that he would see them.
This morning, as we go through this farewell time, I would urge you to approach it with that same understanding. While this may be a farewell, this is not a definitive end. We will still have future encounters. My love for you will not end. I will look forward to times when our paths will cross again.
So in this time, what did Paul share with his Corinthian brothers and sisters? What was his farewell and conclusion? How did he sum up his instruction and his hope for those people that he loved?
We actually find three primary sections of his farewell and benediction. First, we note…

1.) A Call to Refinement
“Finally, brothers, good-bye. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal…”Paul realized the importance of this time in the lives of the people. He recognized that he could not merely say “good-bye” without reiterating those things that were really important.
When you read Paul’s letters, they are often littered with little stories and remembrances of things that occurred during his visits or during encounters with representatives of the various churches. Paul could have easily been sidetracked and spent his time simply reminiscing. He could have simply said, “I miss you all. I’ll see you later. We’ll catch up on the good times.” However, he recognized that there were issues that needed to be addressed. He understood that his final words would often be those most remembered and so he shared his greatest concerns briefly.
He begins his farewell, his message of closure with a call to refinement.
He tells the people at Corinth, “Aim for perfection.”
Now, we live in a society that either loves or hates, the “P word” as Emily has titled it. Some urge and even demand perfection. Others regard it is something that cannot be attained, and even see harm in requiring perfection.
Regardless of our current attitudes toward the topic, Paul urges the church to aim for perfection. Now, does this mean that they are going to reach that goal? Certainly not. We know that there has only been one perfect person- one perfect sacrifice- one blameless being in the history of humanity. However, that reality should not stop us from taking a high aim.
Paul expected, he demanded that the church fervently pursue the goal of holiness, righteousness, and godly living. He expected that they set high standards. He expected that they would demand the most of themselves.
Paul was not pacified with menial Christian living and growth. He was an all or nothing kind of guy. And if they were going to carry the name of Christ to a lost and dying world, if they were going to be the church, then he expected that they would do so with fervor and passion.
This morning, can I share with you my desire is the same for Montrose Baptist Church. Aim for perfection.
Do not be satisfied with doing whatever it takes to get by. Don’t settle for whatever keeps your reputation up within the church and community. Be passionate and fervent in your journey after Christ. Require the utmost dedication from yourself. Demand the best of yourself and for yourself. Keep your eyes on Jesus, use Him as your model and standard, and refuse to make a single compromise in God’s standard and expectation for your life.
Now, I don’t pretend that I am an intimidating figure. I don’t pretend that you do certain things just because I am here. However, it must be noted that traditionally in the absence of a pastor, it gets easier to allow yourself certain privileges and compromises. It’s easier to miss a Sunday service if the preacher isn’t going to be there to notice and hold you accountable. Don’t allow yourself to fall victim to that temptation. Aim for perfection. Continue to live for and to chase after Christ.
Paul told the church to aim for perfection and to secondly, “listen to [his] appeal.” Paul was essentially telling the church, “Take note of what I’m saying and remember what I’ve taught you.”
I would share the same with you this morning. These times that we’ve spent together over the past three years were not just service times that we had to fill. The lessons that we’ve learned together are meant to continue on even in my absence. Remember what we’ve discovered together in God’s Word.
Paul begins with a call to refinement. He deals with the topic of the relationship between God’s people and the Heavenly Father. Then he progresses. He moves to the relationships between God’s individual people. He issues…

2.) A Call to Reconciliation
“…be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. Greet one another with a holy kiss.”
One of the recurring themes in nearly all of Paul’s letters is unity and reconciliation. To nearly every church, he stresses the importance of Christian brotherhood and unity within the body of Christ.
Now, does anyone want to venture out and take a guess as to why this is such an important, recurring, volatile topic?
I believe that Paul had seen numerous instances where the church was struggling to fulfill its rightful place because of the rifts within the local congregations.
In Paul’s time, there were certainly some personal issues. You could look at the entire letter to Philemon and find a reason for personal conflict and dissension. Others were simple personality differences. Some were actually major theological and doctrinal differences.
Many of the churches in that time were still dealing with fierce doctrinal battles that had not been settled due to the infancy of the church. They were battling with Judaizers- those that longed to amend the Jewish law and tradition to the cross of Christ. There were battles between Jewish converts and Gentile converts because of social and religious preconceptions. There were battles on every front for nearly every reason.
Paul recognized that the health, longevity, integrity, and effectiveness of the local church was going to hinge heavily on their ability to look beyond differences and find common ground. He knew that their ability to draw near to God and please Him was going to hinge largely on whether they could live in peace with one another.
And nothing has changed. For Montrose Baptist Church, your health, longevity, integrity, and effectiveness is going to be determined by how well you are able to reconcile differences and bind together.
Let me challenge you in the words of Paul, “Be of one mind, live in peace.”
I believe that our church is unified in the understanding of the majority of the major Biblical doctrines. There might be some differences on certain details and convictions, but overwhelmingly, the church agrees on most interpretative issues. That is not my major concern. You have that doctrine, build on it.
My bigger concern is reconciliation within our body and community. Now, I’m going to take a little liberty here and be exceedingly honest, with the hope that you will be patient and tolerant on my last Sunday. As a church, there are ways that our corporate worship and our fulfillment of the mission God has placed on us here is being hindered because of fragile or broken relationships. Because of attitudes that are harbored, because of hurts that have not been forgiven, because of remnants of bitterness that have set in, God’s church will suffer.
Our worship, our service will not reach its full potential, we will not find the intimacy we want with Christ until we are able to pursue reconciliation.
We find a call to refinement. We see the call to reconciliation. Finally, we note…

3.) A Call for God’s Regard
“May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”Paul was never one to mince words. He tended to declare what he intended with boldness and clarity.
I’m certain that there were times when those messages were hard to hear and receive. However, there was an overriding factor in Paul’s ministry to the local church. While he demanded a lot of them, while he declared the truth unapologetically to them, he also loved them deeply.
Paul’s desire was not to hurt feelings. It was not to degrade or belittle those that had ways to improve in their attempt to follow Christ. Rather, he simply longed to lead them closer to their Savior. His love demanded that he share openly and honestly with them about those things that hindered their relationship.
And when all is said and done, when Paul is done reiterating his final instructions, we see evidence of his love shining through. He called for the obedience of God’s people, and then he bid God’s grace and blessing on those he loved.
Paul’s desire for this church was simply for them to find and experience all that God had for them. He wanted them to experience the magnificent freedom of Christ’s grace. He wanted them to bask in the greatest of the Heavenly Father’s love for them. He wanted them to feel the presence of God and to experience true fellowship with Him through the power of the Spirit.
I have often wondered how I would judge the success of my ministry. I’ve thought often about how I would gauge my effectiveness in fulfilling my mission as the pastor of a portion of Christ’s church. And I believe that I finally know.
I understand that there are plenty of ways that I have failed. In fact, most of my regrets are sins of omission, rather than commission. I wish that I would have found time to visit more. I wish that I could have taken a greater part in the individual lives of God’s people. I wish that I could have given more.
Yet, even with regrets, even with ways that I wish I had done better, I believe that it is still possible to be successful in ministry.
I’ve decided that the way to gauge your effectiveness in ministry is by the measure of love and the desire that you have for your people.
To you, my friends and family, I love you. And my desire for you is the same as Paul’s desire for the church at Corinth. May you experience the grace of Christ, the love of God, and the presence of the Spirit.

Three Buses and a Funeral

2010-03-03T09:01:00.003-06:00

I know that my blog has typically been reserved as a place to post Sunday morning sermons. As I was looking over some previous posts, I realized how boring I've made this little corner of the internet. In fact, when compared to my wife's wonderful blog (check her out here!), I'm almost depressing. I never share personal stories. I've reduced my blog persona to the point of, well, a boring Baptist preacher.
I realized that, at least by the appearance of this blog, a younger friend's fears have came true. A close friend of mine told his mother upon hearing of my surrender to the ministry, "Mr. Josh can't be a preacher. Preachers aren't allowed to have fun."
The fact is that, while this page hasn't often reflected it, my life is full of unique and entertaining circumstances. Last Friday would easily fall into that category.
These past two weeks at work have been almost as tolerable as a teacher dragging nails across a chalkboard. Every morning, I have to will myself out of bed and force myself to see my patients.
Apparently, God decided that He and I both needed a good laugh last Friday. The morning started very similar to most other work days. I managed to get dressed (somewhat appropriately) and poured myself into the front seat of Em's Jeep. I watched as mile after mile slowly ticked off the odometer.
My first two visits were pleasant, but very typical. And then the fun began. After grabbing a bite for lunch, I decided to embark on my journey to the next lady's home.
Now, HIPPA prohibits my disclosure of the woman's identity. And so all I can tell you is that she is a wonderful Choctaw Indian lady. In fact, I look forward to her visit every month because I can script what we will say. We'll talk about spiritual things for a few moments. We'll discuss the nurse's last visit. She'll tell me about any medications that need refilling. Eventually, the conversation always gets back to her arthritis, we pray, and I leave.
I followed the trek to her home, lost in thought about how I would break the news of our moving to this wonderful woman, and then it happened. As I rounded the corner, I could see her house- or at least all of the cars and people that covered her yard.
The usual quiet emptiness was now filled with the sight of approximately twenty cars, two buses, a couple of large tents, and at least twenty-five Choctaw men sitting in a line along the front of the house.
The thought swirled in my mind, "Could I really be make a visit in the middle of a family reunion?"
Stunned, I drove past the house without stopping. A few doors down, I turned the Jeep around and made a second pass. This time, I noticed a sign beside the road that read, "Slow, Funeral in Progress." This caused further disorientation and I made a second slow pass past the ensuing circus.
Suddenly, a world of possibilities flooded my mind. I feared that our patient had died, and no one thought to notify the hospice company. I began considering how I could politely ask one of the attendees, "Did she, um, I don't know, die?" without causing undue stress on all of those at the home.
I called the office hoping that they would have some information and I was just out of the loop. Unfortunately, that was not the case. When our secretary answered, I explained the scene, described the two buses, shared my hysteria, and then the phone went dead. Doesn't it always happen that outrageous things happen at the edge of cell service areas.
Finally, after another couple of slow passes, I determined that I just had to buckle down and get a hold on the situation. So I parked a few hundred yards up the road, and set out to stick my foot in my mouth. After scanning the gathering of men along the front of the house and discerning that they were wondering about the crazy white preacher that had been stalking the house, I went to a bus driver to find out the situation.
I explained who I was and what I was doing there, asked the awkward question, "Did she, um...?"
To my relief, the bus driver, who was actually very kind and understanding, told me of the passing of our patient's son. Finally, I could breathe again... well until I walked toward the front of the house to check on my dear patient. It was then that I found, this was not a family gathering for lunch after the service. This was the service! The casket was set by the front windows behind the line of men and the sweet melody of "Amazing Grace" (sung in Choctaw) echoed in the house. The preacher was beginning to speak- and I determined that a nuclear blast would be more subtle than my entry into the middle of that crowd.
And so, I expressed my condolences with those that could hear. I said a quick prayer in my head and walked as fast as possible toward the car without looking completely ridiculous.
As I was getting in the car to leave, can you guess what arrives to take my parking place? Another bus load of people! So now, I've managed to somehow infringe on three buses and a funeral.
This may sound cruel or unsympathetic, but as I drove away and once again saw the scene from a distance, I began to laugh until I cried. Only I could answer when asked the question, "What did you do at work today?" with "Not much. I just saw three buses and a funeral."
Well, as if this was not enough to send my mind into an alternate reality, my next visit only added to the uniqueness of the day. My next patient is an elderly African-American lady that always has something unique to share when I arrive. And this time was no different.
With my head still spinning from the debacle of my last visit, somehow our conversation progressed from her physical status to the injustice of society. Now, I should not admit this, but there are times when a loud TV in the background causes me to miss a few words in a conversation- especially when it is Judge Judy. (You understand, right?) This was one of those times. The TV program was hitting a climactic point and it would be at that time she asked me to read something that sounded like an "eviction notice."
I thought that I simply misunderstood her and made the mistake of asking, "What did you want me to read?" Again, she told me that she wanted me to look at the letters from her landlord and her eviction notice.
After examining that piece of paper, she was actually evicted in September. Here it is March and she is still in that unit. We worked through some details and possibilities, and eventually the conversation returned to the current state of society.
Apparently, her unit is located in a place that attracts some of Central Mississippi's most interesting personalities (that's the nice way of describing what one of Emily's former patients called "rogues"). One of her neighbors was brutally attacked by her own boyfriend, and my patient happened to observe the chaos of that evening. Apparently, she even traded words with the assailant.
By now, my mind has gone into overload. But she continues to share.
After the fact, she was called on to issue a statement and talked to a local judge. She relayed, in detail, exactly what she said to the perpetrator.
Apparently, he used some explicit language that I cannot repeat, called her a few names, and told her to mind her own business. Now, you can imagine how an eighty year old woman would probably respond. My patient doesn't fall into that category.
Apparently, she warned the young man that "the next time she saw him, and he used that language and tone with her, she would see if his blood ran the same color as her's- red."
After this the judge sat in stunned silence. Unfortunately, my patient thought this meant he didn't understand. So she began to repeat herself. After stopping her from retelling the entire story, she stopped to share one final thought. In closing, she told this stunned judge, "The next time I see him, I'm gonna be shootin'- for his head."
All I could think was, "Ain't it nice to know that I'm seeing Madea."
I took the continual progression of our conversation as my cue and developed an elaborate exit strategy- pray and run! And run, I did!
After such a wonderful day, what could possibly cap off a day like this?
The only way to cap this off is to get lost. And that I did. When trying to leave in haste, I ended up on some dirt roads headed in the wrong direction and finally recognized where I was after heading about 25 miles off course. At that point, I decided it was time to call it a day before anything else could happen.
I'm glad these kind of days only happen about every other day.
So, this is a pretty normal Friday. Three buses and a funeral. An eviction notice. A death threat. Wandering aimlessly lost in the woods.
So I leave you with two thoughts: First, the next time your work day gets strange, ask yourself, "How many death threats, eviction notices, and surprise funerals have I encountered today?" and secondly, if a day is spiraling out of control, remember the wisdom of a breadman, "A bad day can only last 24 hours, then it's a new day!"

I would invite you to leave a comment or a link sharing one of your funniest, or most memorable days at work. I want to see if there is a job more interesting than that of a traveling chaplain.

A God with Plans

2010-03-03T08:42:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on February 28, 2010.

It has been said that there is probably not a professional athlete that is respected more or loved any deeper by the hometown residents and fans than Drew Brees. Actually, the exact quote from a 2010 Sports Illustrated article describes him as “an athlete as adored and appreciated as any in an American city today.”
Drew Brees and his wife have taken an extremely active role in the rebuilding of New Orleans following the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Their foundation, the Brees Dream Foundation has partnered with Operation Kids to rebuild and restore academic and athletic facilities, neighborhood parks and playgrounds, mentoring programs for the intellectually disabled, after-school programs, and neighborhood revitalization projects including child-care facilities.
Their service and investment has earned the love and trust of their community. And certainly that love and affection has grown since the evening of February 7, 2010 when he led the New Orleans saints to their first ever Super Bowl championship.
For the city of New Orleans and this professional team, the storyline could not have been more appropriate. Our community knows, in some fashion, the type of devastation caused by Katrina. Added to that physical devastation of the city, the Saints football team had suffered the infamy of a forty plus year drought of so much as a conference championship. The storyline seemed to just beg something big to happen.
And we know how history will reflect their story. It is marked by a Super Bowl victory this February.
Every commentary I’ve solicited, every opinion I’ve read, every article that I’ve found in print has shared an understanding of the importance of Drew Brees’ performance and leadership for his team. As the MVP of the Super Bowl, it is a general consensus that his contribution was a major element in their story of success.
Following a Super Bowl victory, life is good for the Saints’ quarterback right now. God’s plan seems good. However, that has not always been the case.
In the last game of the 2005 season against the Denver Broncos, Brees severely injured his shoulder while trying to pick up his own fumble after being hit by John Lynch. While Brees was on the ground, Gerard Warren hit the quarterback and tore the labrum in his throwing shoulder and damaged his rotator cuff.
Brees was playing for the San Diego Chargers at the time. Following arthroscopic surgery, there were serious doubts about his recovery and playing ability. After determining that his club was suspicious of his health, Brees began to shop for another team.
There were only two teams that seemed interested. The Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints were the only clubs to pursue the injured quarterback. Eventually, the Dolphins determined that Brees was too big of a risk, and New Orleans scurried to sign him.
Since that time, Brees has earned a reputation as one of the premier passers in professional football.
In an interview following the team’s victorious season, Brees was quick to point out his understanding of God’s plan. In fact, he even said that his injury was a gift from God- and his move to New Orleans was a calling.
For this man, God took what seemed to be difficult, damaging, even detrimental and turned it into a testimony of the greatness of His plan for His children.
We must remember that history is littered with stories just like these. Our God is the One that has a unique plan for you and I. In fact, even in times of difficulty and doubt, God is moving us toward the fullness of His good and perfect plan.
I would invite you to look with me this morning at one of the two verses that I claim as a life verse. We are going to be in Jeremiah 29.

Read text. (Jeremiah 29:11)

I am certain that many of you have heard or even quoted this passage at some point during your life. And I believe that it contains a message that we need to hear as God’s people in this unique time.
While we are quick to quote this passage, we don’t often recognize the circumstances surrounding this address and the context of the message.
This message was actually sent from the prophet Jeremiah to those that were exiled in Babylon. You may recall the story of Daniel, and the captivity of the Jewish people under Nebuchadnezzar.
God’s people are on foreign soil under a foreign ruler. They are struggling to keep their faith and deal with the reality of their captivity.
However, God has a message of instruction, hope and promise to His people. But it has some terms that we might not expect.
In His address, God communicates a couple of difficult truths. First, if you look at the description of who carried the people into exile- it acknowledges Nebuchadnezzar, but it also recognizes that it was ultimately God’s allowance.
Then if you keep going further, we find that their period of captivity is going to last for seventy years.
Now, neither of these two things sound like a great promise or plan. However, we have to remember that we serve the God that can transform a seemingly painful experience into a marvelous reason for celebration. And in His message, in His call to take heart, we find the famed passage of Jeremiah 29:11.
That brings us to what we find and claim. As we look at this particular passage, there are four amazing things that we find. First, we see…

1.) God’s Providence
“For I know…”
I don’t know if you’ve ever taken time to slow down and realize what those three little words mean. We are promised that God knows. But what? What does He know and understand?
Specifically in this instance, we are assured of God’s understanding, His foreknowledge of His plan for our future. However, His knowledge is not limited to just His plan.
Rather, in such a time as this it is important for us to simply remember that God knows.
He knows where we are at. In my personal life, He knows what is going on with the Fidler clan. In the life of His church, He knows what is happening here at Montrose. He knows the chaos and the uncertainty. He knows all of the specifics of the circumstances here.
Now, that is an amazing promise in itself.
Stop and consider this for just a moment: There are approximately 6.6 billion people in the world today. Additionally, the earth spans approximately 197 million square miles. Now, it seems as if it would be easy for us to get lost in the chaos of everything that happens around us. In fact, we can‘t even keep up with everything that is happening with the people in our immediate community. However, our God stills knows what is happening in our lives personally.
He knows.
He knows His plan. He knows our circumstances. He knows our emotions.
I know that many of you are probably just ready to be done with this whole transition thing. I know that I personally await the day when the pain will subside a little. This has been one of the most difficult occasions of my life- leaving the church that has shown such love to me and my family for the past three years. It is easy to be overcome with emotion.
But what a promise we have. God knows. He knows our pains, our fears, our attitudes. He knows exactly what we are feeling and going through.
He is not removed and distant. Rather, He knows His plan and His creation. When we look at the promise of Jeremiah 29:11, we first find God’s providence. Next, we note…

2.) God’s Plan
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord.
While it should be an incredible comfort to know that God knows our circumstances and emotions, we can find further comfort in the fact that He has a plan.
It is a comfort to know that everything that happens around us is not just the result of happenstance. Rather, God has a unique and perfect plan for His people.
Now, please don’t misunderstand me here. I am not suggesting that God’s plan is without hardship or difficulty. I am not saying that it is easy or even completely pleasant. Remember, God told the Israelites that they would live under that oppression for seventy years before the next step of His plan can to fruition.
We don’t find encouragement that the plan will be without trials. Rather, we take heart in the simple fact that God has a plan.
Now, I don’t know about your personality, but I am not that organized. In fact, I tend to deal with things as they present themselves. I realize that it is not the best of approaches, but it has become a practice nonetheless.
While I might go through times without much structure, my mom is different. If you ask her, she will tell you that she is a planner. When she is presented with a task, she attacks it- with pen, paper, a list, and a calendar. She prepares herself as thoroughly as possible. She even addresses details in her plans. Those things that she is given authority over are given direction and purpose because of her plan.
That is exactly the way it is with God. Our lives have purpose, meaning, and direction because God has thought enough of us to carefully plan the best for us.
We take heart in the fact that our lives have a divine plan. We celebrate the fact that this life is not a series of disconnected random events. We find hope in these facts.
Yet, we must recognize, while His plan may not always be pleasant at every point, it is not always logical either. God’s plans don’t always follow the rules of logic and reason. Rather, He does what He wants for His glory and our good.
Once again, when you return to the circumstances surrounding the original delivery of this message, the Israelites were told of God’s plan for deliverance. However, God’s method of deliverance was certainly outside the realm of expectation.
Rather than miraculously overthrowing the government with fire billowing from heaven, God used King Cyrus of Persia. He used a man that simply believed in respecting the religions of the lands he conquered. God ordained that this man, who would be sympathetic to the Jews, would come to power and fulfill His plan.
God’s plan for us often is fulfilled in remarkably strange ways as well. However, that is part of what we celebrate. We celebrate God’s plan, and that it is big enough to incorporate the lives of people we wouldn’t anticipate.
We find God’s providence, His plan, next…

3.) God’s Promise
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord. “Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”We take hope in the fact that God knows us. He knows our circumstances, our emotions, our frailties. We celebrate the fact that He has a plan. And then as we continue to progress through this verse, we find His promise.
It is remarkable that the Almighty God of creation would have a personalized plan for you and I. However, it is evidence of the greatness of His grace that His plan contains an incredible promise.
His promise is that His plan leads to hope and a future. It is a plan that desires to build us up, rather than tear us down. It is a plan for success, not suffering.
Once again, it is important to note that His plan often includes seasons of difficulty and suffering. However, God is speaking to the ultimate end of His plan. Ultimately, His plan is for our good.
You know, there are times I wonder if we don’t grossly misunderstand the grace of certain elements of God’s plan for our lives. During seasons of suffering and pain, we wonder when God is going to move us toward that plan of prosperity and hope.
Often, we don’t realize that we are in the midst of those prosperous seasons during “difficult” times.
For example, we are quick to complain about times when God’s plan and our comfort don’t meet. However, it is important to remember that in those times, God is teaching us patience. In times of personal trial, He is building character. In seasons of grief, He is magnifying our understanding of joy.
God’s plan is always for our good. We have that promise.
In your life now, and in the life of His church, His plan, even now, if promised to be for our good.
We note God’s providence. We see evidence of His plan. We find hope in His promise. And lastly, we note…

4.) God’s Power

Now this question might seem a little cynical, but I believe that it needs to be asked. We’ve talked about God’s understanding. We investigated His plan. We’ve claimed His promise. But the real question is: Does God have the power to make these things happen? Can He deliver on the promises He has made?
Let me offer you a couple of passages quickly that assure us that He is big enough to see His plan through.
First, Isaiah 14:24 says, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’” God provides the assurance that it will come to pass. He promises He has the power.
Next, Luke 1:37 says it concisely and to the point. “For with God, nothing is impossible.” God provides us with every indication and ample proof that He is powerful enough to fulfill the promises He’s made. And so we rest on His Word.
Maybe in trying to find proof of God's power, you look at these verses and find that they are God's personal claim. They are just words. Maybe, you are a "show me" kind-of person. If that is the case, I would invite you to look at Daniel 3. You may recall the story of Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael. (or Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego) In their story, God proved His power to deliver on His promise.
As they were in the fiery furnace, King Nebuchadnezzar commented that the fourth looked as "the Son of God." And later, in celebration of the fact, he says that God sent "an Angel." We know that God delivered these men.
The fun with this often told story is in our opportunity to speculate about the identity of the angel. It could have very well been an angel. Or the other possibility is that this could have been a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ. (In the Old Testament, He was identified as "the Angel of the Lord")
Not only did God prove Himself powerful enough to protect and deliver His people, but He was physically present in their time of need. As they stood in the midst of the roaring flames, God was personally present.
God knows. He has a plan. His plan is full of promise. He is powerful enough to deliver on that promise.
I’ve struggled over these past weeks with the decision that God has called for me and my family to make. To say that it hurts doesn’t do it justice. And I don’t pretend to understand the emotions that you are feeling. Some, I suppose, are sad. Others may actually be glad to be rid of us. A few may even be mad.
It is a time of transition and uncertainty for all of us. However, I believe that Jeremiah 29:11 contains the promise that we all need to cling to tightly in this time.
Despite my desire to remain with you, it is apparent to me that God is calling us elsewhere. And in doing so, He is actually beginning a new phase of His plan for Montrose Baptist Church as well. And so let me offer all of the encouragement I can.
The message from God to the Israelites in captivity is still applicable to us. We can take hope in the simple facts of this passage. God knows. He knows our circumstances. He understands our needs. He feels our pains. He knows.
While He knows all about us, He has a plan for you and I as well. He has a unique, customized plan for my family and your congregation.
And remember the promise that we find about His plan. God’s plan is not to cause us undue pain. It is not meant to make us suffer for suffering’s sake. It is not some ill-aimed attempt to repay us for the ways that we’ve fallen short of His will. Rather, His plan is for our prosperity. His plan is one of hope and a future. God has a wonderful plan for our future. In this time, let us grip that promise tightly.

Welcomed Worship

2010-02-22T10:00:00.002-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM Worship service on February 21, 2010.

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What a concept! We can approach a worship service like a ball game.
Now, most of us found this amusing and funny. Yet, it seems like such a far-fetched concept that someone would approach worship like a sporting event. Obviously, there are not announcers doing interviews here this morning. There are not commentators sitting in a balcony. And certainly, we would never think of choir members, the music minister, or the pastor as players.
Or would we?
Can I be honest with you? One of my greatest fears for the modern church comes in the temptation to make worship a spectator sport. We trudge through a few songs. We listen to the special music performance. And then we hope the preacher gets finished by noon.
We come in and fill our pew, or our seat, and after we get through with the service, we proclaim the worship time is over. Yet, if we’re honest, many times, depending on your heart and attitude, worship for you may have never began.
Worship is more than attendance at a service. It is more than singing along with the book. It is more than listening to the preacher. Worship is not something that we observe. It is not even an hour we set aside each week.
So what is worship?
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we look at Psalm 63.

Read text. (Psalm 63:1-7)

We shared earlier what worship is not. We even asked the question, “What is worship?”
Certainly Psalm 63 gives us an example, an insight as to what welcomed worship looks like.
Perhaps the most accepted, concise definition for worship in modern theological circles comes from Bruce Leafblad, worship professor at SouthWestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He basically sums up what we find in the sixty-third Psalm. He says, “Worship is communion with God in which believers, by grace, center their mind's attention and their heart's affection on the Lord, humbly glorifying God in response to His greatness and His worth."
You could preach an entire message just from his definition. Yet, we are going to use it as a reference- as a summary of the worship we find in our text this morning.
While we’ve offered a definition, I believe that we can learn a few components of true, God-pleasing worship from David’s psalm. First, we find that welcomed worship is marked by…

1.) Proper Direction
“O God, You are my God…” v. 1aThe fact is that we are made to worship. We are divinely designed with the capacity and natural tendency to worship. Proper worship is determined in part by a proper direction.
In short, it is not as much a question of how you worship, as it is a matter of WHO you worship.
David makes his formal declaration at the very beginning of this psalm. He makes his aim and the intended recipient of his praise very clear. He says, “O God, You are my God.”
David understands his capacity to worship and he seeks to make known that his praise is reserved for his God. He is demonstrating the proper direction for our worship to flow.
While modern worship styles are constantly evolving, the mechanics of worship have not. We must still make a conscious choice about the direction and recipient of our praise and adoration.
This morning as you are sitting there, you’re probably thinking, “Well, I’m here, ain’t I?” Yet, we must understand that our faithful attendance does not mean that our worship is always properly directed.
We have an infinite number of choices about where to direct our worship. In fact, some worship money. Others worship their jobs. Some worship their parents. Others worship their children. Some worship the church. Even others, their spouses. And then there is the one most common. We worship ourselves.
As we mentioned earlier, we are made to worship. We are created to offer praise and adoration. The first component of welcomed, God-pleasing worship is found in the proper assignment and direction of our worship.
Our worship must be properly directed, and it should also by fueled by a…

2.) Passionate Desire
“…earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.“ v. 1b
In addition to having properly directed worship, we must also possess a passionate desire for our God.
I love David’s description of his desire for God. He relates it in terms of desperation, the same desperation felt by a man dying of thirst in the desert. David is in the desert, the wilderness, hiding from Absalom or Saul, depending the on the date you accept. He has fled for his life. Yet, his desire is for an encounter with God. He wants the communion with God that comes from worship. In fact, he is desperate for it. His worship is fueled by that passionate desire for an encounter with God.
Our worship must be properly directed, and it should be just as passionate as David’s offering. Welcomed worship desires God’s presence and His glory more than anything else. We should long to see His face with all that is within us.
I am a firm believer that it is not until we reach that point of true desperation that we will find true communion with God. That is worship. Worship is communion with him.
There’s a story about a proud young man who came to Socrates asking for knowledge. He walked up to the muscular philosopher and said, “O great Socrates, I come to your for knowledge.”
Socrates recognized a pompous numbskull when he saw one. He led the young man through the streets, to the sea, chest deep into water. Then he asked, “What do you want?”
“Knowledge, O wise Socrates,” said the young man with a smile. So Socrates put his strong hands on the man’s shoulders and pushed him under. Thirty seconds later, Socrates let him up.
“What do you want?” he asked again.
“Wisdom,” the young man sputtered, “O great and wise Socrates.”
Socrates crunched him under again. Thirty seconds passed, thirty-five. Forty. Socrates let him up. The man was gasping.
“What do you want, young man?”
Between heavy, heaving breaths the fellow wheezed, “Knowledge, O wise and wonderful…”
Socrates jammed him under again. Forty seconds passed. Fifty. “What do you want?”
“Air!” he screeched. “I need air!”
“When you want knowledge as you have just wanted air, then you will have knowledge.”
Like that young man, when we desire God with that same desperation of a drowning man, then we will find Him.
Welcomed worship is marked by a proper direction and by a passionate desire.
It is also marked by…

3.) Practical Demonstration
“Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise You as long as I live, and in Your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise You. On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.” v. 3-6While worship is especially dependent on the proper attitude and a right heart, there are still elements of demonstration. There are things that we do in our worship.
David promises that his lips will glorify God. He will praise God for all the days of his life. He will lift up his hands to God. He will sing praises. And he continuously thinks about God.
All of these are practical elements of worship. They are things that we should still be doing today. While it is a good list, it is not an exhaustive list of all of the ways that we can communicate our worship.
Certainly, we want our lips to glorify Him. We should pray and faithfully thank Him for His goodness and grace. We should make His name known among the nations. We should share our faith as part of our worship.
We should sing. I know Bro. Ed especially likes this part. Singing is something that we do as a way to communicate our joy. We should sing to Him a new song.
Now, if you start talking about worship and mention singing, the debate is going to come up about the style of music. Some say that they only worship when they sing hymns. Others believe that they need a praise band and a chorus. There are probably as many different preferences as there are people. It is not as much about style as it is about the message and the heart of the worshipper.
We should be faithful to communicate our love and adoration in worship.
In addition to the things that we just mentioned, there are some instructions and precedents in Scripture that Baptists are not as likely to do.
In this passage, David promises that he will lift up his hands. Now, I don’t know where our timidity and reservations came in, but when was the last time someone lifted their hands? That is the sure way to cause a scene in a Baptist church.
But let’s go a little further.
In 2 Samuel, as David was escorting the ark back to Jerusalem, he was dancing with all of his might before God.
When was the last time that a Baptist broke loose and danced before God.
When was the last time that we were so overjoyed about all that God has done for us that we just had to dance?
I’m afraid that too many share the opinion of one of Emily’s former pastors. Emily took ballet for fifteen or sixteen years. And at a special service at her church, she did a dance to a Christian song. Afterwards, I’ll spare you the exact comment, but she was told that it was inappropriate.
David danced! He shouted! He sang! He lifted up holy hands. David was lost before his God. He didn’t notice anyone else. He simply basked in God’s presence.
Our worship should imitate his.
Welcomed worship begins with the proper direction. It includes a passionate desire to see God’s face and His glory. It involves practical demonstrations. And lastly, we find a…

4.) Promised Development“My soul clings to You; Your right hands upholds me.” v. 7
David not only promised his praise, but he recognized the results of his worship as well.
He said that his soul clings to God and His hand upholds him.
I believe there is a principle and a promise that we can find from David. This was a declaration that true worship produces greater intimacy. True worship equals an encounter with God.
If we will be faithful and diligent to offer proper worship, we will find a closeness with Christ that cannot be surpassed.
Have you ever felt like you were abandoned and alone? Have you ever felt distant from God? You might need to examine whether or not you are truly worshipping.
Worship, inevitably, draws us closer to our God.
Additionally, one of the primary, if not the primary, task of the gathered church is to be a house of corporate worship.
How are we doing? Are we truly worshipping? Are we constantly seeking to exalt the name of Jesus?
Is God receiving your worship? Or is it misdirected?

The Greatest Love Story Ever Told

2010-02-15T22:16:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on February 14, 2010.

Today we celebrate a holiday. We celebrate something that should be very near and dear to the heart of the church. We observe Valentine’s Day. We observe a holiday about love- the thing that we should know better than anyone else.
(As a side note, I hope that all of the husbands in this room remembered today’s observance.)
The reality is that Valentine’s Day has morphed through the years. It originally began as a Catholic holiday to commemorate the martyrdom of several different Valentines. It remembered Valentine of Rome, Valentine of Terni, and even a third saint named Valentine whom we know little about except that was martyred on February 14 in Africa.
It began as a time to recall the service and sacrifice of these men through the years. In fact, it did relatively little, if anything, to promote a romantic love as it seems to today.
Yet, that changed in the High Middle Ages when Geoffrey Chaucer penned a poem to commemorate the engagement of King Richard II of England to Anne of Bohemia. In that poem, he referenced Valentine.
Since that time, it has been designated as a day to commemorate and celebrate romance and love. It is a time marked by chocolates, greeting cards, teddy bears, and flowers. It is a day that we hope to spend with our loved ones. It is typically a time when we finally slow down and recognize the gift of love in our lives.
Now, I don’t want to emotionally scar you this morning, but I enjoy our modern celebration of Valentine’s Day. In fact, one of my favorite parts involves curling up on the couch with my wife, snuggling in a warm blanket, and putting in a sappy movie.
In fact, this last week I searched online for opinions on the most romantic story of all time. You would probably be surprised by some of the names on the list. Traditionally, Romeo and Juliet, Casablanca, Gone with the Wind, and Wuthering Heights were atop the list. However, there were more modern movies that joined the list. Movies like When Harry Met Sally, Forrest Gump, Ten Things I Hate About You, Wall-E, and Slumdog Millionaire were also considered to be must-see romance movies.
When searching the lists of what have been titled, “romance classics,” I suddenly came to a revelation. There was not a single list that I consulted that contained the greatest love story of all time in it.
And so that is where I want us to spend our time this morning. I want to share with you The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.
Now, before we investigate this story, we need to understand the essential elements of a good love story. A good love story needs to have powerful, realistic characters- people we can identify with. It generally contains elements of abandonment or rejection. It finds itself at a point of climactic separation. Yet, in the face of that abandonment and there is a constant- an unwavering, selfless love that continues to abide. And while some of our culture’s “great stories” don’t follow the same pattern, an exceptional love story should end with restoration and joy. A love story should have a happy ending.
As I thought about the general story line in most great love stories, I realized that the book sitting in most laps this morning contains a story that has never been equaled or surpassed. The greatest love story of all time is found in the pages of Scripture. And it is a story that we are all characters in.
We are going to jump around this morning and try to encompass the entirety of the love story written for us. But first, let’s begin in an overview passage.

Read text. (John 3:16)

This passage, perhaps better than any other outlines the gospel message. It gives a small glimpse at the greatest love story every told.
And we need to notice where it begins. It begins with love. It starts with…

1.) Affection

In almost every great love story through the ages, the beginning was marked by love and affection. It was marked by a consuming desire to be together.
In William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet began with a spark. There was something within them that drew them together despite the opposition of everyone around them.
Their families would never permit their relationship, but at the very beginning for them, there was attraction and affection. Their story began with love.
And our story is no different.
John 3:16, the passage we just read moments ago begins at that same point.
“For God so loved the world…” -John 3:16
The greatest love story of all time, my story, begins with God and His love.
It begins with His unwavering affection. Before anything else is mentioned in the passage that contains the hope for all humanity, we find that God’s love came first. It begins with His affection.
If you rewind to the very beginning, if you turn all the way back to the onset of our story, we find ourselves in the book of Genesis. We find ourselves at an intersection with God and His love.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
Now, you might say, “Well, that’s nice. But what does that matter?” Listen, to understand the impact of this on our story, we must ask the question, “Why did God create them?”
God created the heavens and the earth for you and I. He created them so that we might have opportunities for life and a shared love with Him. God gave to man every seed and fruit bearing plant for food and appointed man over every living thing on the face of the earth.
God created all that we see, for you and me. And He did this because He loves us and desired a relationship with us.
Our love story, the greatest story ever told begins with God’s affection. It begins with a consuming desire, an unfailing love that longs for interaction.
Unfortunately, it does not remain there. Rather, affection is met with our…

2.) Abandonment

How many love stories began innocently, perfectly but eventually fell prey to rejection and abandonment?
You know the typical storyline. The romance, the love is blossoming. Things seem to be going wonderfully. It seems as if it is physically impossible for the relationship to get any better. Yet, there comes a point of decision. Suddenly, this beautiful romance is interrupted by a tempter or temptress.
Time after time, that person abandons their love to chase after something that turns out to be foolish and empty. Time and time again, pure affection is greeted with abandonment.
You know, we love to hate that person in the story. We love to hate those that unfaithful. The cheaters are always so easy to hate. It seems so despicable on the screen.
Yet, it hits far too close to home. Rather, our story- the greatest love story ever told, is wrought with infidelity and abandonment. The problem, you and I are the cheaters. We are the ones that were found unfaithful.
And it began- in the beginning.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.” -Genesis 3:6-7
Think about this for just a moment. Mankind enjoyed a time of unbridled, open fellowship with God. It was a time of walking through a luscious, beautiful garden created by God’s hand, while physically conversing with the Almighty God of the universe. It was a time when man could openly love, share, and hear the voice of God.
Yet, that wasn’t enough. Rather, God’s affection, His perfect love was met with humanity’s abandonment.
Where God offered perfection, when He offered all of Himself freely, where He offered love unlike anything we could ever find elsewhere, mankind treated Him with distrust and contempt. His goodness was greeted with the worst we could give.
The one thing that God requested of Adam and Eve was for them to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But apparently, their selfish desires were deemed more desirable than a relationship with a loving God.
And so, Adam and Eve disobeyed, they rebelled, cheated on the perfect partner.
Once again, there is a temptation to look on Adam and Eve with the same disdain that we assign to the unfaithful in our love stories. It is easy to point fingers and question motives. Yet, we are exactly the same.
Romans 5:12 says, “Therefore, just as sin enter the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned.”We cannot blame Adam or Eve for our separation. Rather, we are the unfaithful. We are the ones that abandoned God. Those cheaters in the story we love to hate, we are those people.
Our story began with a limitless love. It was greeted with abandonment. Yet, in spite of our sinful rebellion, it encountered…

3.) Atonement

We are always amazed in love stories where the victim continues to love and hope for the return of the object of their affection. We are always challenged when the person done so wrong by the cheater continues to love and hope for a renewed relationship.
Story upon story has been written where the one that was left continues to wait and hope for the return of their lost love.
And that is part of the story in our love affair with God. When we essentially spat in His face through a careless lifestyle, when we ran away from His presence and squandered His blessing, He continued to patiently wait for our return.
He did not write us off. He did not prosecute for the wrongs that were done. Rather, He patiently waits for us to determine to return.
God is that faithful, loving person that we celebrate.
But there is more.
It is one thing to wait patiently for the return of a loved one, but it is something quite different to sacrifice personally to help them get back home.
The story is told of a woman in 17th century England. Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, ordered a man to be shot for his crimes. He was to be executed at the sounding of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from sounding. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. For her sacrifice, curfew did not ring that evening, and her lover was allowed to live.
The sacrifice and strength of a waiting love was enough to earn the return of this lady’s fiance. What a love story that is! But ours is even better.
You see, our God did not cling to the clapper of a bell. Rather, His sacrifice cost His beloved Son- His only Son His life.
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life”- John 3:16
God’s sacrifice, the thing that He offered to atone for the things that we had done wrong cost Him the person that was dearest to His heart. And even more amazingly, God did not wait for us to indicate that we wanted to return. Rather, He did all of this in hope of our return- to facilitate our coming back to Himself.
“But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” - Romans 5:8
God’s love, His atoning sacrifice, was not evidenced by bruised hands. Rather, they were illustrated by the blood-stained, pierced hands and feet of His Son. His love was illustrated by scars from a crown of thorns- and a hole pierced in His side. His love was illustrated through His power to raise His Son from the dead.
We have quite a love story. Our God began our story with love and affection. It was greeted by our rebellion and abandonment. In light of our rejection, He provided an offering of atonement.
He has even prepared for our future together. He has created a perfect, eternal abode where you can be together. But the story is still incomplete. The last chapter of our love story is found in our…

4.) Answer

He is still patiently waiting for you. But He is not forcing Himself on you. He is awaiting your answer. Will you return?
Let me urge you this morning in the words of Joshua found in Joshua 24, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve.”You have a God that loves your passionately- that loves you so much that He gave His own Son to purchase your ransom. But He is waiting on your decision. He is waiting on your reply. He will not make the decision for you.
The greatest love story ever told includes you. And it is your decision how it ends. You have a God that loves you, that has prepared for you, and longs to spend an eternity with you, but you must decide what you want.

So What Do YOU Want?

2010-02-15T22:07:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on January 31, 2010.

We all go through times in life when it seems that everyone around us wants something of us. Work wants your time and energy. Your spouse wants your attention and affection at home. Your children want your time, attention and affection. The church needs your service. The community needs your support. And then there is God.
I believe there are times in life when we want to scream in frustration, “what do you want?” With so many expectations and pressures, it gets overwhelming. And on top of everything else- in addition to the job, the family, the community, the church- then there is God with His desires to.
So before we reach the breaking point- the frustration of trying to determine God’s expectations and desires for us on top of everything else, I would invite you to look with me this morning for a few moments in God’s Word and we can find the answer to that question “What do you want?”

Read text. (Colossians 1:1-14)

Paul in the greeting and opening of his letter to the church at Colossae remained consistent with his format for other letters. He begins with a salutation and greeting and then moves into an explanation of the overriding reason for his address.
He explains that they have been given reason to celebrate the church’s faithfulness and love, and through that joy, they have ceased to pray for God to reveal his will to His people.
Now, if we kept proceeding through the text, we would discover that Paul explains some of the benefits, the rewards for understanding and practicing the will of God. Through their understanding, they would have the opportunity to live in a way pleasing to God. They could evidence spiritual fruit, grow in their intimacy with Christ, and be continually strengthened by the power of God. Through understanding His will, they would also live a life of thanksgiving, patience, joy, and hope of the eternal inheritance that awaits them.
Now, that is a pretty heavy list. I believe that describes everything that we desire in life. Through understanding and following God’s will, we can find fulfillment, peace, joy and hope.
Now, the only question is, what is God’s will? We could talk about His plan for the last days. We could discuss His will that all the world would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. We could talk about various aspects, but I want to make certain that it hits home this morning.
Instead of asking simply asking the question, “What is God’s will?,” let’s rephrase it and ask, “What is God’s will for me?”. What does He want?
I believe that as we investigate Scripture, we can summarize God’s desire, His expectation from His people in four words. First, He desires…

1.) Authenticity
“The Lord says, ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” -Isaiah 29:13-15
When God spoke to Isaiah, He provided an urgent message that communicated His desire and expectation for His people. In fact, we find His desire, we understand His will through His judgment and condemnation of those whose words and actions were not consistent.
What we should notice through this passage is the fact that God expects authenticity from His followers. He demands, requires, expects that our relationships will encompass more than mere words.
Listen, most of you will not flinch, will not disagree, in fact some might even “Amen” the statement that God expects more than words. God expects our words to match our lifestyles. He demands that we be real about our relationship with Him.
If we play the part of the faithful, obedient Christian on Sunday, it ought to be consistent with the way we live on Saturday. If we are going to talk the part of the faithful, obedient believer, it must be backed by action.
I’m afraid that there are far too many people that have rejected the cross of Christ because they see inconsistency and hypocrisy in the lives of believers. They notice when we are not real.
Certainly, many of you have images in your head of those people that come to church on Sunday and then cuss like a sailor, drink like a fish, and run around on the “old lady” during the week. Obviously, that is hypocrisy. Obviously, that evidences a lack of authenticity.
But the fact is that most of you are not guilty of this. And that isn’t all this passage spoke to anyway. So let’s bring this a little closer to home for the average believer.
As we are talking about God’s desire of authenticity, we must realize that He was first calling out inconsistency in their attitudes toward Him. He said that “they honored [Him] with their lips but their hearts were far from [Him.]”
Part of God’s desire of authenticity is simply this: if you sit in His sanctuary and sing His praises, if you talk about how great and mighty God is, if you project the image that you and God have a close, intimate relationship, it better be the truth.
The fact is that week after week, in churches all across America, Christian people file into their pews, play the part of the faithful believer, sing with gusto, “Amen” the sermon, and then walk out the door and do nothing to facilitate and grow a relationship with Christ during the week.
But why? The answer is simple. Their hearts are “far from Him.” There is inconsistency between their lips and their hearts. That is what angers God.
One of God’s primary concerns, desires, requirements from His people is authenticity. But there is more. He also desires your…

2.) Affection
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Deuteronomy 6:5
God desires that we love Him. He desires our affection and adoration.
I firmly believe that God desires to hear an “I love you” from His people from time to time.
Let me ask you a simple question. How many of you in this room dislike hearing someone tell you “I love you”? Now, I am not talking about a required, trite, inconsiderate statement without feeling, but a real, “I love you. I’m proud of you. I’m glad you’re mine!”
I believe that is a fundamental desire of every person. We want to know that we are loved. We want to be admired and respected. We want to be adored.
So why is God so different?
I’m afraid that we assigned an identity to God that just is not true. We’ve addressed Him like some inanimate being whose only emotion is anger. There are those that have hijacked the God of Scripture and turned Him into a hate-filled, vengeful monger.
But that is not the God I serve. That is not the attitude of the God I love. Rather, we must realize that, while He is the supreme being, while it may seem at times to our minds that He is far-off and inaccessible, He is not. Nor is He emotionally mute.
You and I were created with a design and purpose. We were created in a Person’s image. Genesis 1:27a says, “So God created man in His own image…”
While that does not make us equals with God, it does mean that there are some similarities. And I believe that feeling, understanding, emotion is one of our similarities.
John 11:35 tells us, “Jesus wept.” Genesis 6:6 says, “The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain.” We are told in Psalm 45 that He “loves righteousness and hates wickedness.” Luke 10 tells us that Jesus was “full of joy through the Spirit.”
If God is capable of feeling all of those emotions, do you think that He is also touched and overjoyed when one of His children thinks to tell and show Him their love?
God desires our affection and adoration. He deserves our love. If anyone has ever deserved and earned our love it is Him. And so as we communicate it, we must remember that love is a verb. It is not just a statement, but an attitude, and a lifestyle that evidences that affection.
God expects authenticity. He desires our affection. He also commands our…

3.) Attention
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” -Deuteronomy 6:4
While God wants our authenticity, while He desires our affection and adoration, He also commands our attention.
This passage is actually the first half of the Shema. It is a cornerstone doctrine in both Judaism and Christianity. It established a monotheistic God. While He may reveal Himself in three Persons- the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, He is still one God.
When God’s instruction was delivered to Israel by Moses, look at how this pivotal point was introduced. It was a command to give ear. It was a bidding to listen intently to what followed.
While that may have been thousands of years ago now, God’s expectation, His desire is still the same. God wants His followers, His children to recognize and respond to the sound of His voice. He desires for us to be attentive and obedient to His instruction.
I believe that an analogy of a Father with His children is an accurate way to understand God’s expectation. For the adults here this morning, when you speak to a child, particularly your child, what do you expect?
You expect them to stop what they are doing, listen to what proceeds from your mouth, and to respectfully respond and obey. That is exactly what our Heavenly Father desires from us. When He speaks, whether through specific revelation or through the revelation of His Word, He expects that we are going to hear His voice and respond respectfully.
I’m afraid if we are completely honest in our assessment of the modern church in general, it seems that most Christians grant little attention to God.
Now, I am not talking about hanging on the preacher’s every word. I am talking about seeking to hear and respond to God’s voice.
We must understand that the vast majority of the church is almost indifferent to God’s voice and Word. Did you know that in a recent survey sixty percent of Christians interviewed said that they read their Bible one time or less in a week? Now, that survey didn’t specify where they read their Bible at. That includes in church services. The majority of Christians may have only opened their Bible during the sermon or in a class at church.
If that statistic is accurate, that means that more than half of our own congregation has not opened their Bible in the last week- including here.
How can we claim that we are attentive to God’s will and His voice if we don’t even bother attempting to hear or read it?
We must be attentive to His Word. Just think about the points that we’ve discussed thus far. We established that God wants our adoration and affection. But do we really love someone if we refuse to give them time? What kind of affection would you be showing your spouse or family if you said, “I love you” in passing, but refused to ever spend time with them or listen to a word they say?
That is what we are doing to our Heavenly Father. We are saying, “I love you, but I don’t have time for you.”
God expects our authenticity. He desires our affection. He commands our attention. And lastly, He bids our…

4.) Allegiance“Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.” -Deuteronomy 6:13
We must realize that our God is a jealous God. He demands that we be faithful to Him. He bids our allegiance.
We serve a God that does not want us to be tossed to and fro by every wind and wave of the imagination. He does not want to be the discarded, only acknowledged when it is convenient for us kind of companion. He wants to know that you are faithful to Him. He desires our allegiance.
Let’s face it, we are good at pledging our allegiance.
We have our pledge of allegiance to the American flag. We declare our faithfulness to our nation. And we are good at keeping it. I doubt seriously that there is any person in this room that harbors a desire for our country to fail.
In many instances, we form an allegiance to our workplaces. We are faithful to them. Just to give you a little example, when I worked for Sara Lee, there was not a time when a loaf of bread from a competitor entered our house. One of the things that was expected of salesmen was an allegiance to our company’s product.
Likewise, if you worked for a Chevy dealership, I doubt that you drove a Ford. If you worked for Pepsi, you wouldn’t be drinking a Coke in the cab of a Pepsi truck. We are good at keeping certain allegiances.
We even make those pledges of faithfulness and fidelity to our spouses. It is part of the traditional wedding vows. It says something to the effect of, “promising to cherish, honor, and keep yourself only unto that person as long as you both shall live.” And in most cases, we are faithful to uphold and keep that allegiance.
Yet, something is different when it comes to the place of God in our lives. While I doubt any of you have ever went through a time when you denounced Christianity and became an atheist, agnostic, or Satanist, there are plenty of times when our allegiance is not with our God.
Rather, we pursue every thing else. We allow money, fame, power, pleasure, comfort, security, notoriety, people, and passions to take His place. In fact, I would suggest that God is the person to whom we are typically least faithful.
God desires, He bids our allegiance. He wants to have sole ownership of your heart.
There is a song that many of you have probably heard that makes a formal declaration of our allegiance to God. It says, “I pledge allegiance to the Lamb, will all my strength, with all I am, I will seek to honor His command, I pledge allegiance to the Lamb.”
We must be faithful. We must pledge our allegiance to our Father.
So what is it that God truly desires from you?
He wants your authenticity. He wants you to be real- to truly be His in both speech and conduct. He wants your affection. God desires and deserves our love and adoration. He is calling for you attention. When He speaks, He expects that we will listen. And lastly, He desires your allegiance. He wants to know that you are His and His alone.
So in short this morning, God wants your all. He wants your heart, your mind, your soul. He wants to be your everything.
So what have you given Him?

A Life Worth Living

2010-01-22T22:28:00.002-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on January 17, 2010.

Our convention has once again designated this Sunday as an emphasis on the Sanctity of Life. Now, everyone knows what this typically entails. The preacher is going to jump up and down and tell us about the evils of abortion. He’s going to share some statistics that we don’t like. We’ll even suggest that society is spiraling uncontrollably down a damaging path. And then we’ll go to lunch.
This morning, we are going to look at the effects of abortion. We will share statistics and talk about the atrocities of this form of murder. However, we don’t want to simply stop there. Rather, we must move beyond a simple condemnation of abortion and seek to remedy the larger problem. We must regain a value for life in general.
We’ve lost an understanding of just how valuable life is. We can understand this through abortion. For example, did you know that the overriding reason given to explain abortion has nothing to do with vindictiveness or aggression? It has relatively little to do with ill-will toward the child. Rather, in a recent survey, more than seventy-five percent of those interviewed claimed that there decision hinged heavily on the fact that a baby would hinder their general life, work and school.
More than three-fourths of those that have aborted their babies have done so because it was simply inconvenient!
We’ve lost sight of the value of life. We have determined that the comfort of the parent is more important that the life of the baby. God forgive us.
But that is not all. Rather, there is another study out that should alarm us about how little we value life. In a poll taken by couples in New England, parents were able to share how they would react if given the opportunity to see into the future. If parents were able to know the future of their children, how would it affect their decision? This is how they responded. One percent of those interviewed said that they would abort a baby on the basis of sex. If they wanted a boy and it was a girl, they’d abort the pregnancy. Six percent of those interviewed said that if at some point their child would contract Alzheimer’s, they’d abort the baby. And here is the most alarming statistic. Of those interviewed, eleven percent said they’d abort the child if he or she would battle obesity.
Did you hear that? Eleven percent said they’d kill their baby if it was going to be overweight.
I don’t know if the statement “We’ve lost sight of the value of life” really communicates the depth to which we’ve sunk. We’re relatively unconcerned about potential health problems, but heaven forbid that every child is not a supermodel.
We could continue giving statistics about abortion, but I believe we need to expand our topic. We must realize that value for life goes beyond abortion.
Rather, when a baby is born, when a life is being lived, is it really celebrated and appreciated? If we get past the opportunities for abortion, is life really valued then? We could amend our topics this morning to include the treatment of the retarded and intellectually inferior. We could talk about elderly abuse and euthanasia. We could even go so far as to talk about those people in society that are “lower” than us. What about those that struggle with alcoholism or drug abuse? What about those whose incomes are substandard or their jobs less prestigious? Are their lives thought to be of value? Or does even the church tend to look beyond them?
We must rediscover the value of every human life- whether it be poor and destitute, healthy or maimed, grand or miniscule. We must grasp that every human life is worth living, and we will find assurance of our value in the pages of God’s Word.
I would invite you to join with me as we read a few verses from Psalm 139.

Read text. (Psalm 139:13-16)

I realize that we have read this passage at least twice before, but I cannot help but return to it on this occasion. I don’t know if I could find a more fitting passage to illustrate the wonder and value of human life.
We will begin here this morning, and I believe that this psalm can help us to understand one reason why life is of such great value. Life is valuable because of…

1.) The Artistry of a Masterful God
“For you formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.” -v. 13-15
We are valuable as a people because of the artist that formed us. We are of value because God Almighty personally designed each person.
If you talk to an art collector or anyone of prominence with familiarity of high end art, they will tell you that there are two factors to determining the value of a piece of art. First, you must consider the identity of the artist. Secondly, the value is based on the skill present in the finished product.
Think about this for just a moment. Prominent collectors search for specific artists and their works. If you desire a valuable piece of artwork you may search for works by artists such as Van Gogh, Picasso, Escher, Dali, Chagall, Matisse, Monet, or Renoir. If you desire a more modern piece, you may look for artists like Warhol, or maybe even a Kinkade.
Much of an item’s value is based on the identity of the person that created the work. In our case, humanity was designed personally by God Almighty.
Perhaps the most expensive painting in history sold at a private sale for 140 million dollars. It was an original piece by Jackson Pollock.
If a conglomeration of paint on a canvas can be worth that much money, how much more are we worth because the omnipotent God of the universe personally formed and designed each of us? We are valuable because of the identity of our artist. We are also valuable because of the skill evident in the design.
We are often amazed by works of art like Michelangelo’s David and other works of the Renaissance artists. And there is great skill evident in their products. That is one of the reasons why their works are so valuable.
But let’s consider for just a moment the skill evident in God’s design. When you look at the human body, there are hundreds of controlling systems in place that all communicate and adapt to one another. The brain has ten billion nerve cells to record what it sees and hears. Our skin has more than two million tiny sweat glands, more than 3000 per square inch, designed to monitor and regulate body temperature. The heart pumps the blood more than 168 million miles a day- enough to circle the earth more than 6700 times. And that is just a few of the processes that happen constantly and simultaneously.
There is no doubt or argument that the designer of the human body had great skill.
And only to add to the skill of the artist, we must consider the Master’s rate of success. A young engineer was considering the invention and creation of new products. As he spoke, he talked about the typical “bugs” that have to be worked out of a new product to reach maximum efficiency. While looking at a chart of arteries, organs, glands, and nerves, he suddenly exclaimed, “Just think, the first time God put it together it worked!”
We are valuable because of the identity and skill of the artist that designed us.
Now, I know that modern scientists would say that our bodies are determined by random series of genes, both passive and dominant, that are inherited from our parents. However, I disagree. I believe that the creation process is more involved than that. While that may be an explanation, I still believe that God personally molds each of us into the beautiful creations He desires.
Instead of a random process, there is an artist that hand-crafted your dimples, that ran His hands over your cheeks, and even formed your lips into a smile on your face. And if His creation was not magnificent enough, He then does what no other artist can do. He leans down and breathes life into the nostrils that He has just formed.
Life is valuable because God is the designer and artist. We can find the value of life through the presence of…

2.) The Affection of a Wonderful Savior
“And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” –John 17:22-23
Our lives are valuable because we are not only formed by God, but we are also loved by Him. We have God’s affection.
Why is our money valuable? That dollar bill in your pocket, why is it worth anything? I can remember a day and time when I believed that all of our money was backed by gold in a vault in Fort Knox. But we have come to understand that is simply not the case. Rather, our money has intrinsic value. It is valuable because the government tells us that it has worth. Think about it, how much is that flimsy piece of paper and ink really worth? Rather, our money has value because of the testimony of certain individuals.
If our money is of value because of the word of specific individuals, what is our life worth when God tells us that we are valuable and loved?
Now think about that for just a moment. When we looked briefly at the words of Christ in His prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, He speaks about the Father’s love for us.
John 3:16 tells us, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life.”
The all-powerful, all-knowing God of creation has determined that we are valuable enough that He would sacrifice His own Son so that we may have the hope of life with Him. Trust me; no true father would ever sacrifice his son for something completely worthless. And apparently, God places so much value on us and our lives that He was willing to sacrifice His own Son.
I can remember my younger years. And I was never one to have many girlfriends. However, any time I dated someone and they “dumped” me, I began to question my self-worth. After all, if I am not worthwhile enough for them, their time, and love, I must not have any worth. Right?
I have come to learn that I have true worth even if those former girlfriends didn’t like me. I have that worth because Jesus loves me. If the Almighty God of all creation thinks that I am special enough to die for me, I must be of incredible worth.
Life is of value because of the artistry of a masterful God and the affection of a wonderful Savior. And lastly, it is evidenced through…

3.) The Attacks of a Malignant Liar
“He sits in the lurking places of the villages; in the secret places he murders the innocent; his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.” –Psalm 10:8
We can know that our lives have value not only because of the design and love of God, but also because of the attack of Satan.
I want to make certain that we understand something this morning. Satan is not in the business of attacking things that are not of value. He recognizes that his time is short before he is defeated and consigned eternally to the pit. He does not have the luxury of wasting unnecessary time on unimportant things. Rather, he has to make certain that he attacks the places of greatest importance.
When you consider the areas that Satan is attacking, he has singled out the right to life and the family. Those are his areas of focus at this moment. Once again, he would not choose to focus on something unimportant or trivial.
I was taught from a young age that Satan does not attack those that are not threatening to him. And apparently, the prospect of the gift of life is something that threatens his power and reign.
When you look at the psalm, it gives a picture of an evil criminal lurking in the shadows of the city looking for an unknowing and defenseless victim. And that is exactly the picture that we should have of Satan.
It says “in the secret places he murders the innocent.” Now, consider that for a moment. I don’t believe that this passage was written specifically for the topic of abortion. However, it is all too fitting.
Just think about all of the clinics across the nation that are carrying out Satan’s handiwork in secret- protected by HIPPA and numerous government regulations. They are places where the murder is taking place out of the sight of the public. It is a secret place, a shadow where Satan can hide and attack. Satan is at work, and he desires to harm the innocent.
Not only does the passage tell us about Satan’s methodology, but also his focus. It says that “his eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.”
Satan’s targets are those that cannot defend themselves. He is a coward that wants to fight against those that can’t fight back. And at this point, Satan is winning this battle. His plan is working wonderfully. He has already encouraged the murder of fifty million babies, and does not see an end in sight. What a plan to have women kill their children in the name of convenience- and save him a fight in the future. We can know that our lives are of value because of the artistry of a masterful God. We know that life is special because of the affection of a wonderful Savior. And it is further evidenced through the attacks of a malignant liar.
Our lives are valuable. Life is precious and deserves to be protected.
This morning, you may be sitting here thinking, “Well, that is great and wonderful. I understand the concept. I get it. I believe in that life is precious and valuable. But we can’t change the minds of people. They’re never going to change.”
I believe that is one of the lies and attacks of that malignant liar we talked about just a moment ago. Satan wants to persuade the church that this is a battle that we cannot win. However, nothing can be further from the truth.
God is still in the business of changing hearts. He can still provide healing and restoration to those that have fallen prey to Satan’s lies. He can replace the emptiness and pain with joy. He can help us to once again value life.
Let me give you a little proof of God’s ability to change the hearts of people.
Does Roe v. Wade ring a bell? Roe v. Wade is the Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in America. It was through this case that the states were forced to abandon their individual laws forbidding the practice.
Jane Roe was actually a pseudonym. Jane Roe’s name is Norma McCorvey. She was a carnival worker that discovered she was pregnant. At the advice of her friends, she lied and claimed she was raped in order to solicit a legal abortion in Texas. However, she was denied as there was no police report. She then sought counsel to petition for her right.
This escalated and went to the Supreme Court. We know of the outcome. She won and now abortion is considered a fundamental human right.
But does anyone know about what happened to Norma McCorvey, aka Jane Roe? She became a Christian. She is now a pro-life supporter and has even sought to reopen her case to get the decision overturned. Her appeal process has came to an end, but God changed the heart of this woman- the very one whose name is synonymous with abortion in America.
If God can change the heart of this woman, why can’t He change the hearts and minds of the rest of our country?
We, as the church, must have a firm, grounded understanding of the intrinsic value of human life- and we must evidence that understanding to the world around us. We must do so through a commitment to protect life. We do it at the ballot boxes. We do it through our treatment of one another. We evidence our convictions. We proclaim God’s truth, and we depend on Him to bring conviction and change.
Friends, God can change the hearts of our country. He can help us to become a society that once again celebrates life over convenience. However, He needs a place to start. Before God can change the hearts of the American people, we must allow Him to change our hearts first. The church must lead. And in order to do so, we must rediscover the value of human life.

Going with the Good News

2010-01-08T11:38:00.002-06:00

The following is from Carlisle Baptist Church's AM worship service on January 3, 2010.

I know that as we begin a new year, we share goals, aspirations, and resolutions that we have made. For some of you, your resolutions include joining a gym and losing some weight. Others may have determined that they are going to learn a new craft or begin a new relationship. Some of you may have determined that your goal for 2010 is to reduce your financial debt. The fact is that there are probably as many goals and resolutions as there are people in the pews this morning.
My hope is that some of your resolutions and hopes include the church. I hope that you have desires and goals for the corporate body here at Carlisle. I am certain that many of you would love to see the church grow in number. I would hope that your desire is for the body to deepen spiritually this next year. You may desire that the church expand a particular ministry or add more classes. It could be any number of things.
As a body of believers, we share hopes and goals for the corporate body here. However, please hear me on this: If you are not personally involved, if you are not willing to assume your place and fill your role, it will not happen. Unless God’s people will commit to go with the gospel in 2010, it will simply be another year that ends with regret.
I don’t know about you, but I have discovered that the aging process accelerates as we get older. We do not have time to waste. We cannot abandon or neglect our call to share the gospel any longer. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that Christians assume their places of service.
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we look at a very short passage in Mark.

Read text. (Mark 16:15)

Jesus has been resurrected from the dead. He has defeated hell and the grave. He has made various appearances after His resurrection. Now, He appears as the disciples sit around the table. And what is His instruction? Of all of the things that He could have said, of all of the things that could have been addressed, what was the instruction? He told them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”
Now, I know that we would like to assign that to the disciples. It would be easier and demand less of us to say that was a task solely assigned to the apostles. However, that is not the case. Rather, this is a command that has transcended time. It is an instruction that applies to every believer of any race, creed, background, social standing, or sex. It is a universal mission.
We are called to share, to preach, the gospel.
Before we go any farther, we need to answer a question, and I need your help. I want your verbal response. What is the gospel? We know that word literally translates into the “good news.” But what is the gospel of the Bible? What is the good news?
This question was asked to a room full of pastors in seminary class. Before the professor even finished the question, most of the room was shouting a unanimous answer. I believe we too would tend to answer the question in a similar way. We would say that the gospel is the virgin birth, the sinless life, the vicarious death, and the victorious resurrection. However, we might need to slow down and consider something. We just shared the facts, the mechanics of the gospel.
But to the average person, is that good news? Does a story about a man living two thousand years ago really relate much to an average person today?
Can I share with you what the gospel is? I believe, while the birth, life, death, and resurrection are all vital parts of the gospel that we must share, the true good news is simply this: God likes me and desires a relationship with me. The good news of Scripture is that the Almighty God of creation likes me enough that He was willing to let His own Son die in order that we might share a relationship together.
Now, I don’t know about you, but to me that is good news. That is great news. God likes me and desires a relationship with me. That is the reason why Jesus came. That is the greatest news humanity has ever heard.
We must rediscover the joy that comes from the simple truth that Jesus loves me. We must understand God’s love for us is the good news.
Now, I believe that the most overlooked word in all of Scripture is ironically found in the most well-known of all passages. It is found in the passage that presents the gospel in a nutshell. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”
Do you know what word we miss in that passage? It is only two letters. But by missing it, we miss a major part of the good news. We are told, “For God SO loved…” Emily and I sign our love letters or cards with multiple “O’s” to communicate what “so” means. For God sooooooooo loved the world. Because of the greatness of the Father’s love for you, His son came and died.
If we would slow down and seek to rediscover the wonder and the joy that comes from the fact that God loves us, fulfilling our mission to go with the gospel will come naturally.
Since we have established what the gospel is, let me share quickly with you three guidelines for sharing your faith. There are three things that we must do as we go with the gospel of Christ. There are three things that we must do if we desire to see the church grow in 2010.
First, we must…

1.) Be Committed to Sharing our Faith
“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” -Matthew 28:19-20
As a body of believers, we must be committed to sharing the good news that we have found. Our sharing must become a lifestyle. It must become a consuming passion.
Just think about it for a moment. The very last thing that Jesus told His disciples before He returned to His rightful place at the right hand of the throne of God was to be active in sharing their faith. He told them to “Go.”
Now, here is something we must recognize about this passage. The command to “Go” is actually a present-tense participle phrase. It literally translates as “As you are going.”
God has not called all of us to move to a remote village in Africa. However, He does intend that we be active in sharing our faith as we go. In those places where God has placed us- whether they are Bay County or Montrose, Mississippi, we must share the good news as we go. As we live, as we encounter people, as we build relationships, we must share the hope and promise that should be our source of life and joy.
We must be committed to sharing our faith.
This morning, you are probably at the point now where you are thinking, “I’ve heard all this before. I know that I’m supposed to share my faith.” However, we have to address this because, well to be blunt, we are simply failing at our task. Unfortunately, many churches are dependent on the pastor and the staff to provide all the growth in the church. Too many believe it is the job of the pastor to bring everyone in- it is his job to convert the community. No! We must each be committed to sharing our faith.
Listen, Christ never once commanded the lost world to come to the church. Search Scripture, you won’t find it. Yet time and time again, we find instruction for the church to go to the lost. We can’t wait for the lost to come to us. Most of them don’t even know they’re lost. We have to go. We have to share.
I know that most of you acknowledge this. I realize that I probably sound like a broken record of a long line of pastors that hammer on the need of sharing your faith. But there is an unfortunate truth we must consider.
There are two statistics you need to hear. First, did you know that we are planting four new Southern Baptist churches everyday? Unfortunately, we are closing six for every four we open. We are losing two churches a day in America.
That is sad. It is scary. When I heard that statistic the first thing I thought was “Why? Why are churches failing?” And then I found another statistic that explains it all. As we are losing two churches daily in America, recent polls claim that more than ninety percent of “Christians” do not actively share their faith.
Our churches will not grow, they will not flourish, they will not fulfill their purpose unless God’s people, individuals begin to assume their role and share their faith. We must be committed to share but that is not all. We must be committed to sharing and faith and we must also…

2.) Be Concerned When Sharing our Faith
“Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy.” –Psalm 126:5
Most Christians are not actively, regularly sharing their faith. In fact, a large percentage has never shared the faith. I hope that will change.
However, we must realize that the shortcoming in our sharing evidences a larger, deeper issue. Why don’t we share? Many say that they don’t share because they are afraid of rejection. Others say that they are afraid they won’t have all the answers. Many say that it is uncomfortable or awkward.
Can I simplify all of this down to something more direct? Many Christians don’t share their faith because they simply care too little.
Now before you pick up a stone to throw at me, hear me out.
I am convinced when we become burdened and heartbroken enough, we will begin to open our mouths even if we don’t know all the answers. We will begin to share regardless of the response. If we catch a glimpse of the imminent danger that awaits so many people we love, we will begin to share more openly.
Adrian Rogers once told a story about a boating accident in South Florida. A man was out in his speedboat one day playing in the bay. He was accelerating and had almost reached full speed when he lost control of the boat near the bridge. The man crashed at a high rate of speed into one of the pilings at the base of the bridge. He was thrown from his boat, seriously injured, floating face-down in the water. Some of the fishermen on the bridge, as well as some motorists saw what happened and rushed to respond. Despite the bleak outlook, they fished the man out of the water.
Another man was driving over the bridge as he noticed the paramedics, the crowd and the body on the pavement after being fished from the water. He pulled over partially out of curiosity and thought to himself how unfortunate the accident was. Yet, he kept his distance and watched the emergency personnel working on the man. He thought it to be unfortunate, but was relatively unconcerned.
As they rolled him over, he caught a glimpse of the man’s face- and realized it was his brother. Suddenly, he is no longer the unconcerned observer. Rather, he is screaming at the paramedics to do something. He is begging people to pray. He begins to fervently call out to God himself. He is searching for anything or anyone that could possibly help?
Now, why is there such a difference? His emotions became involved. Concern, emotion, and attitude dictated his actions.
When we begin to care enough, our actions will follow our attitudes.
Additionally, when we actually grow broken enough over the condition of our friends, family and neighbors that we weep over them, God’s Word promises us that we will reap in joy.
We must be committed to sharing our faith, and we must also be concerned while sharing our faith. We must have an honest, God-given love and passion for those we are sharing with. We must become emotionally invested in our calling to share the faith.
We must be committed to sharing the faith. We must be concerned when sharing our faith. And we must lastly…

3.) Be Consistent While Sharing our Faith

There are two ways that we must be consistent. First, our words, our message must be supported by a lifestyle. We communicate our faith through the way we live. 1 John 3:18 says, “Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
Sharing the faith is an expression of love. And like every other area of life, action trumps what comes out of the mouth. I know that Missouri is the “Show me state.” However, that is an accurate description of all of society. What comes out of your mouth is not nearly as powerful as the lifestyle your lead.
If you are going to preach the gospel, you better live the gospel. Your life needs to be a fitting testimony to the power of God. If you are going to preach the good news of God’s Word, your life better evidence the fact that you believe it is good news.
Our committed sharing must be accompanied by committed living. Those around you will know and recognize every inconsistency between the way you live and what comes from your lips.
We must make certain that the gospel we preach is the same as the gospel that gives us life.
Our lifestyle must be consistent with our message, and the message must be grounded and consistent as well. This is the second form of consistency we must evidence. We must be consistent in the gospel we preach.
In a day and time of changing ideas, of relative truth, of uncertainty and skepticism, we cannot afford to change the gospel of Christ. We must be firm and certain of the gospel we preach.
Now, I know that we tried to define the good news earlier. We said that the good news is that God likes me and desires a relationship with me. If we kept going, we would include that because of that He sent His Son to serve as the atoning sacrifice. Through that sacrifice, I have hope of life eternal- when I repent and surrender to Christ.
That is the simple, minimal gospel message. Yet we must be grounded and consistent in it.
The problem we face is in the adoption of so many false gospels. We have the health-wealth gospel. We have the “believe it and you can achieve it” gospel. We have the prosperity gospel. We have an infinite number of skewed, altered and amended, people-pleasing approaches.
Yet, we must be consistent to stick with the basics of God’s Word. We must always return to the fundamentals of Scripture. Our witness cannot waver from that.
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:2, “For I resolved to nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”
Our witness must be consistent with the truth of God’s Word. In the end, it must always come back to the person of Jesus. Any Biblical form of faith requires that.
We must be committed to share our faith. We must be concerned when we share our faith. And lastly, we must be consistent when we share our faith.
This morning as we come to our time of invitation, maybe you have never responded to the gospel message. Maybe you have never realized that God loves you so much that He sacrificed His own Son for you. If you have never experienced the relationship that God longs to share with you, I would hope that you would surrender your heart and life to Him this morning.
Maybe you are here and you settled the issue of salvation years ago, but you are failing to answer the call to go with the gospel. I would encourage you to make a fresh commitment this morning. Commit to allowing God to use you as He sees fit. Commit to share your faith with at least one person in 2010. Commit to answering His call.
As God’s people we must make a fresh commitment to go with the gospel this year.

Born to Die

2009-12-20T17:09:00.002-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on December 20, 2009.

Let me set a scene for you briefly. It is early evening. The room is dark, yet the outlines of streamers are noticed drooping from the corners of the room. A common silhouette is provided by the funny, pointed hats that sit on each person’s head. Many also have a protruding tube gripped between their teeth producing a funny, yet annoying noise. Suddenly, the room erupts in a common song and a cake is placed in the center of the table with candles aglow glistening in the darkness.
This is a common scene. In fact, it is something many of us have experienced many times more than we would like to confess.
While we each celebrate birthdays with our various traditions year after year, they are all just that- a celebration. But let me ask you this morning, what is it that we celebrate?
You see, we don’t merely celebrate the date of a loved one’s birth, but we acknowledge and celebrate the life that has come since that time.
As we celebrate Jesus’ birthday this coming week, we must also realize that the celebration only begins with His birth. In addition to His birth, we also celebrate the life that followed.
In this season each year, we must remember the meaning of the holiday season. We always come back and start with the story of our Savior’s birth. We make a concerted effort to once again gather around that manger in a lonely stable.
The story has become so common that many of you could quote the King James rendering of this story beginning with the “And it came to pass in those days…”
However, even in spite of our familiarity with the story, in spite of the commonality of investigating it at this time of year, we must be diligent to always return to the birth.

Read text. (Luke 2:1-19)

As we begin our story- as we look at the life and promise of this little baby, we must start at His earthly beginnings, at…

1.) The Birth (Luke 2:1-19).

I believe that the circumstances preceding and following the birth should communicate the importance and uniqueness of this baby. Obviously, there was something very special about this little child. Yet, in spite of the identity of this precious baby boy, He was not received. Rather, He was delivered in a stable and placed in a feel trough.
We know the details of the story. We know the progression. However, there is one particular verse that I want to dwell on for just a few moments this morning.
Luke 2:19 gives us a brief glimpse at Mary. It gives us a little insight into the mother of this precious baby. We are told that the shepherds shared about everything that they had seen and heard. As they shared, those around them wondered and marveled at what they heard. Yet, as we turn to Mary, we see something a little different.
Luke 2:19 says, “But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.”
Rather than a mother caught in complete marvel, we find the presence of a loving mother that was carefully calculating everything that was said about her precious baby. She was considering the future of her child.
Can you picture her? I wonder if she was similar to most first time parents.
When Sarah Beth was born, I was first in shock, but then completely amazed at the miracle of life. As the nurses cleaned her up and laid her under the warmer, I can remember looking over that precious little baby girl wondering about her future.
When she was only a few hours old, I was already convinced that my daughter was brilliant and destined for greatness. I delayed holding her for awhile, mostly out of fear that I didn’t know what I was doing. Yet, as I looked into those squinting eyes, I can remember the flood of thoughts that came over me. I was already preparing for the first time I will have to greet a young boy at the door that thinks he is going to take my daughter on a date. I was already practicing my speech about the pains of the heart after her first breakup. I could already picture her donned in graduation dress delivering the valedictorian speech.
At that moment, when that little girl was in my arms, life was so full of possibilities. The world seemed completely open to every amazing possibility. I pondered in my heart what life would hold for her.
As Mary experienced that time, I imagine that moment was something a little different. While she was promised that her Son would be one whose kingdom would never end, I truly wonder if a Jewish mother made the connections of Old Testament prophecy. I wonder if she already began to consider her Son’s place as the atoning sacrifice for mankind.
I believe that Mary was already pondering the fact that her Son, this precious baby, was born to die. The story began with the birth.
Thankfully, the story did not end at the threat of King Herod or in that stable. And while we tend to forget this fact around Christmas time, Jesus did not remain a baby. Rather, we find a progression. From His birth, He became…

2.) The Blessing (Mark 10:13-16)

I believe as Mary considered the future of her Son, as she pondered what life held for Him, I believe that she would have expected Him to be a blessing. I believe that she was like most parents in her time that regarded children as an incredible blessing from God.
We could have chosen any number of passages to illustrate this fact. However, I don’t know if there is an image that I love more than the one presented in Mark 10.
“And they brought young children to Him, that He should touch them; and His disciples rebuked those that brought them. But when Jesus saw it, He was much displeased, and said unto them, ‘Suffer the little children to come unto Me, and forbid them not; for such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, shall not enter therein. And He took them up in His arms, put His hands upon them, and blessed them.”
Jesus was not merely a good boy and man. He was not just someone special. Rather, He became the greatest blessing the world has ever known. He sought to be a blessing.
This encounter in Mark 10 just gives a little insight into the heart of Christ. You probably recall this occasion. Jesus has been teaching the masses that are constantly chasing after Him. In fact, He was dealing with the popular topic of divorce.
After some time of teaching, some parents began to bring their children to Jesus. While the disciples evidenced much of the attitude that was prevalent in their day, while they obviously didn’t regard children as equals or important, Jesus sought to bless even them. He welcomed them with open arms.
Many of the accounts of Christ that the writers of the gospels leave us with are times when Jesus was offering a blessing, or literally being a blessing to those around Him. We are told of the times when He evidenced His love for humanity by seeking to serve and encourage those around Him.
As we return to Mary’s pondering, I believe that she would have expected this. And let’s face it, most parents act as if their children are perfect little angels that are incredible blessings to everyone they are around.
Mom, Dad, if you have not already discovered it, let me go ahead and help you out with a valuable life lesson. Your son or daughter is not perfect. That sweet little baby that captivated you in the hospital room is going to have times when they let you down. They are probably going to have times when they offend and hurt you. I guarantee you that they are going to have times when they act like anything but a blessing.
As Mary pondered what awaited her Son, I believe that she knew that her Son was going to be an incredible blessing to the world. However, that probably made the ultimate outcome even more difficult.
As she pondered the birth of her Son and the blessing He was going to become, I believe she also foresaw…

3.) The Bloodshed (Luke 23:32-38)
“And there were also two other malefactors led with him to be put to death. An when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ And they parted His raiment, and cast lots. And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided Him, saying, ‘He saved others; let Him save Himself, if He be Christ, the chosen of God.’ And the soldiers also mocked Him, coming to Him, and offering Him vinegar, and saying, ‘If thou be the King of the Jews, saved thyself.’ And a superscription also was written over Him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, ‘This is the King of the Jews.’”
As I mentioned earlier, the only problem with our typical approach to Christmas is the fact that we leave Jesus a baby in a manger. However, that was not the totality of His purpose.
I believe that Mary understood much of this from the very beginning. If she did, can you imagine the excitement and pain mingled together when looking into the eyes of that baby boy?
The fact is that Jesus was laid in a manger, He grew up, performed a few miracles and sought to be a blessing, and then He was crucified as our substitute. He took our punishment.
Can you imagine what this must have been like for Mary? What emotions flooded over her through this time of pondering? I believe that it was in some ways similar to what every parent feels.
There was that excitement of a baby, of a child, yet there was the dread of the inevitable times of pain that come in life. For Mary, it was a little more extreme. I believe that we can begin to understand some of what she felt.
To the parents in the room, it is difficult enough to think about the pain and heartache that your precious baby will eventually endure. I already dread the first time that my daughter comes in the house with tears streaming down her cheeks because some boy broke her heart. I don’t look forward to the times when reality in life may fall a little short of her dreams.
However, I understand the reality of life. I understand that things don’t always seem completely fair.
But what would it do to your heart to know that your child is a perfect, sinless gift from God that always blessed and served, that he or she never wronged anyone or even told half-truths, and then you discover that they have been sentenced to death for a list of heinous crimes that they did not commit? How would it feel to know that they were enduring hardship and punishment because they loved so deeply that they willing assumed that place for someone else?
As Mary pondered in her heart, I wonder if her muscles already tensed, and she already dreaded the fact that her precious baby would unfairly, yet willingly, endure the full weight of God’s wrath on every sin of mankind.
Regardless of what Mary saw in the eyes of her baby boy that day, it did not change the fact that Jesus willingly shed His blood on Calvary for you and me. He endured the agony of the nails willingly, because of His love for you and me.
Rather than simply envisioning a peaceful baby boy snuggled in warm clothes in a comfortable bed, we must remember that this baby whose birthday we celebrate this week is the same one that spread His arms wide to show the world just how much love He has for you and me.
The birth was followed by His life as a blessing. His life of blessing was followed by an event of bloodshed.
While we often abbreviate the story and leave Christ in the manger, it seems that if we are faithful to carry through to His sacrifice and resurrection we are prone to stopping there. However, that still is not the complete story. Where we celebrate the birth, His life as a blessing, and even His bloodshed, they story still continues. The fact is that Jesus continues to live on, and the next chapter of His story is dependent on…

4.) The Believer

Too many times we stop the story before it ever requires something of us. We like to recite the facts and tell the tale. However, we must realize that the life of Christ bids us to make a decision. It demands something from you and me.
When we see the picture of the baby in the manger, the benevolent Savior showing His grace and goodness to the children, or that child as the grown King that sacrificed His own life as a ransom for many, it demands that we make a decision about who we believe this Jesus to be.
We must each understand that we are part of this story. Whether you realize it or not, as that precious baby found Himself laying in swaddling cloths in a manger, His very presence on this earth was because of you. He left His throne in heaven and took on the form of flesh because of you.
Because of that fact, He demands a verdict.
The life of Jesus, the life and events that Mary pondered in her heart have transcended time and continue on through you. The life of Christ comes to an intersection with you this morning.
Jesus was not simply a child with a difficult life. He was not just a victim of unfortunate circumstances. Rather, the hardship He endured was done willingly for us. And when we consider that fact, we must make one of two decisions: we can simply regard this baby in a manger as a holiday icon and a cute story, we can leave Jesus in the manger or we will recognize His sacrifice and love, and will surrender our hearts and lives to Him.
This morning, that cute little baby that was wrapped in swaddling cloths and laid in a manger is looking for a willing heart to call home. He is looking to be Lord and Savior of your life.
This morning, what will you do will the baby in the manger? Will you leave him there, or will you give Him the throne of your life?

The Spirit and Season of Giving

2009-12-16T17:38:00.004-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM Worship service on December 13, 2009.

Read text. (Acts 20:35)

Specifically this morning, we want to emphasize Paul’s relation of Christ’s teaching that it is better to give than to receive. We hear it often. In fact, it has become somewhat cliché to many people. However, we may need to investigate a little further.
In the latter part of the 17th century, German preacher August H. Francke founded an orphanage to care for the homeless children of Halle. One day when Francke desperately needed funds to carry on his work, a destitute Christian widow came to his door begging for a ducat--a gold coin. Because of his financial situation, he politely but regretfully told her he couldn't help her. Disheartened, the woman began to weep. Moved by her tears, Francke asked her to wait while he went to his room to pray. After seeking God's guidance, he felt that the Holy Spirit wanted him to change his mind. So, trusting the Lord to meet his own needs, he gave her the money. Two mornings later, he received a letter of thanks from the widow. She explained that because of his generosity she had asked the Lord to shower the orphanage with gifts. That same day Francke received 12 ducats from a wealthy lady and 2 more from a friend in Sweden. He thought he had been amply rewarded for helping the widow, but he was soon informed that the orphanage was to receive 500 gold pieces from the estate of Prince Lodewyk Van Wurtenburg. When he heard this, Francke wept in gratitude. In sacrificially providing for that needy widow, he had been enriched, not impoverished.
Please don’t misinterpret this story to mean that God is going to return what you give more than five-hundred fold. However, we must be faithful take God’s Word as truth. We must follow the instruction it contains and rest on the promises it presents.
In this season, we have the temptation to be consumed by the gifts we will receive. We can enjoy the temporary joy that comes from receiving, or we can seek to foster the spirit and enjoy the season of giving.
If we want to be a giving people that find the true joy of Christmas- those that truly understand that it is better to give than receive, we have three things that we must be found faithful in this December. First, we must…

1.) Recognize the Example (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.”
Paul relayed Christ’s teaching of the blessedness of giving. However, in our current society, talk is cheap. For much of current society, truth is not established by proclamation, but by example.
Thankfully, Christ knew the attitudes of men and provided us with the instruction and accompanying examples necessary for men to accept the truth.
We can find the example of God’s giving in what is typically considered the best known verse of Scripture in the Bible. Just look at John 3:16. “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only begotten Son…”
God set the standard for giving and generosity. He gave the very best gift the world has ever received. He gave His perfect, sinless, only begotten Son to walk among us and serve as the propitiation for our sins. He gave the thing that He loved the most, His only Son, to an undeserving and unthankful world.
That is what we celebrate this season. We don’t celebrate Santa Claus and his elves. We don’t celebrate Frosty the snowman or Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer. We celebrate the fact that the greatest gift we could ever receive was wrapped, not in Christmas paper under a tree, but in swaddling clothes and laid to rest in a manger.
You see, God did not give out of His abundance, but He gave the very thing closest to His heart. And through this gift, He gave the example that we are called to follow.
God personally serves as our example in understanding the spirit and season of giving. However, there are other examples of Godly men and women through the years that set a fitting example for this season as well.
One such example would be the woman whose name accompanies the special offering emphasis for foreign missions each December.
I’m sure that many of you know the story of Charlotte Digges “Lottie” Moon.
This woman grew up in an affluent family in Virginia. She was well-educated, spoke Latin, Greek, French, Italian, Spanish, Hebrew, and eventually Chinese, and even received one of the first Masters degrees ever awarded a woman in the South.
Despite rejecting her Christian upbringing during her teenage years, she became consumed by the cause of Christ through a series of revivals in college. At the age of 33, she followed in her younger sister’s footsteps and entered the Chinese mission field.
Her contributions to foreign missions, ladies’ roles in the gospel ministry, and the evangelism of Chinese women are well noted. However, the legacy of Lottie Moon is firmly established in what she gave for the Chinese people.
This lady endured civil war, violent uprisings, and every other type of social unrest during her service. Upon returning from a stateside furlough, she found those people that she loved literally starving to death. When the Foreign Mission Board was found to be ill-equipped to deal with the situation, Lottie Moon determined to contribute what she could.
She used her food provisions and salary to purchase food for those starving around her. In fact, she donated so much that she starved to death herself. Upon her death, Lottie Moon weighed only 50 pounds. And when returning her body to her family, it was accompanied with a chest that contained every earthly belonging she owned. The estimated value of every item in the chest totaled less than $250. She literally gave away everything she owned, including her life.
Because of her faithful imitation of the example of Christ, the IMB sought to honor her generosity and service by naming the annual foreign missions offering after her.
As a Christian people, we have some wonderful examples of the generous heart that is expected of the Christian person. We have examples that prove it is more blessed to give than to receive.
We must recognize the examples, and then…

2.) Recall the Expectation (Matthew 6:3)
“So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by me. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full. But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing…”
Jesus made clear His expectation for charitable giving. It was to be done without flamboyance and drama. It was to be done as quietly and humbly as possible. Giving is done as a generous gift from the heart, not as a means of public recognition and show.
In fact, we are told to give in such a way that we don’t even puff up ourselves with how good and spiritual we believe we are. Forget public praise, we cannot even entertain the acclaim that we tend to offer ourselves. Our giving to those in need must be done without calculation and tabulation. If we have a running receipt of how benevolent we’ve been, we are missing the entire purpose, blessing, and expectation of Christ.
I have two examples of such giving that I want to share with you this morning. The first involves the famed 19th century Baptist preacher, CH Spurgeon.
According to a chaplain magazine, Charles Spurgeon, “the prince of preachers,” and his wife would sell, but refuse to give away the eggs that their chickens laid. As a result, some people labeled the Spurgeons as greedy and grasping.
Yet, they accepted the criticisms without defending themselves, and only after Mrs. Spurgeon died was the full story revealed. All the profits from the sale of the eggs went to support two elderly widows. Because the Spurgeons were unwilling to let their left hand know what they right hand was doing, they endured the attacks in silence.
This family endured criticism from their friends, family, and church members because they were unwilling to flaunt the good things that they were doing. Ultimately, their legacy was a fitting challenge to those very people that crucified them publicly for their “greed.”
While history now tells the story of benevolence of the Spurgeons, I have recently learned of a story of kindness and charity within my own family that occurred more than twenty years ago.
My Dandy, my biological grandfather, died of lung cancer in 1987. While his health was consistently deteriorating, one of our deacons at church, a successful business owner learned of my grandfather’s unfulfilled dream. You see, Dandy always wanted to attend an Atlanta Braves baseball game. However, his life was drawing to a close and his illness had impacted his finances as well.
One day, without announcement, this deacon pulled up in front of the house in his Mercedes, gave my grandfather the keys and his credit card, and told him all the expenses were on him. The instructions were simply to “Go and have fun.” I’m sure you can only imagine the excitement this caused.
It took more than twenty years for this story to leak and it did not come from the lips of that individual. To this day, I don’t know if that gentleman realizes I know the story.
We must seek to follow Christ’s instruction. We must fulfill His expectation. Our giving must be without selfish motives. We must give without even allowing ourselves to dwell on our “goodness.”
The examples of these men and the instruction of this passage challenged me last year. You may recall the Overflow last year. Does anyone remember seeing a television camera or a reporter? What about a picture in the Baptist Record? I had several people tell me that this was one of those things that we should celebrate. Yet, I believe that our private celebration and excitement is more in line with the Biblical model.
We need to recognize our example, recall the expectation, and finally…

3.) Relinquish with Excitement (2 Corinthians 9:6-7)
“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
While we must not make giving into a spectacle or glory in the greatness of our goodness and generosity, we must give cheerfully and with excitement.
We must offer things with a smile on our face and joy in our hearts.
Now, I am not going to pretend that any of this is easy. It is part of human nature to desire acclaim and recognition. It is also part of our nature to want to hoard things and be miserly. However, we must still seek to give cheerfully.
Maybe you can relate to a story of a mother and her little girl I ran across this last week.
This mother wanted to teach her daughter a moral lesson. So she gave the little girl a quarter and a dollar for church. She instructed the young girl, “Put whichever one you want in the collection plate and keep the other for yourself.” When they were coming out of church, the mother asked her daughter which amount she had given. “Well,” said the little girl, “I was going to give the dollar, but just before the collection plate was passed, the man in the pulpit said that we should all be cheerful givers. I knew I’d be a lot more cheerful if I just gave the quarter, so I did.”
I believe that we would all confess, if honest, that it is much easier to be cheerful about donating a dollar than it is to donate ten thousand dollars. However, whatever we are led to give, we must give it cheerfully.
Whether it is giving to the church, to the homeless, or to any charitable organization, our giving should be done with excitement.
Now, we tell people that they should be cheerful givers, but what happens when we are not? How are we to become cheerful givers?
I believe that there are scores of Christians that understand the call to benevolence. However, many of those that understand the duty do not see the joy in giving.
I believe that the majority of the hesitancy in giving, and sacrificial giving at that, comes from an attitude of entitlement. We believe that we earned what we have. We deserve what we have because it was purchased by the sweat of our brow. Back pain and sweat-stained shirts show how much we are entitled to keep what we’ve earned.
However, when we begin to hoard and refuse those in need, we must begin to question our entitlement. To those that would say, “I don’t owe anyone because I’ve earned what I have,” maybe you need to consider the source of your strength. Who is it that gives you breath in your lungs? Who gave you the physical health to crawl out of that bed this morning? Whose grace is evidenced by the fact that you have a job in this economy?
We can be cheerful in our giving when we begin to realize how much our blessings do not belong to us. They are given for a season with the intention that they will benefit others as well.
Maybe you still battle with entitlement. Maybe you need to be reminded of times that God went above and beyond. Perhaps you need to remember when you were the beneficiary of someone’s generosity.
Those times when I begin to grasp tightly onto every penny and think, “I just can’t spare anything,” I am reminded of my first month here.
Before Emily, the kids, and I moved next door, we spent approximately one month driving back and forth from Enterprise. One Sunday morning, Emily and I were down to our last twenty dollars. The cabinets were bare but so was the gas tank. On the way to church that morning, we discussed our options: Would we spend the last twenty dollars on gas so that we could come back for the evening service? Or would we use it to buy us and the kids something to eat?
Something happened that morning. At the conclusion of the service, while we were shaking hands with everyone at the back door, one gentleman shook my hand with something tucked in his palm. He whispered in my ear that he and his wife just wanted us to know that they loved us- and wanted to look after us. I tucked it into the inside pocket of my jacket without paying any attention to it.
When we belted the kids in, and climbed in the front seat, I pulled that piece of paper from my pocket to inquire what it said. In my hand was a hundred dollar bill. In that parking lot, I remember holding the steering wheel sobbing like a baby. In my hour of need, God provided both the gas and food we needed.
We could go on and on telling stories of times when God provided. We must remember those times. When we determine to be stingy and greedy, we need to recall our desperation and the joy that came when Godly people answered His call.
In this season, when encountering those in need around us, we must remember that it is more blessed to give than receive. The key to joy this season for the Christian is not found in what we receive, but in giving away those blessings that we never deserved.

You're Gonna Do What?!

2009-12-11T10:09:00.002-06:00

The following comes from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on December 6, 2009.

I probably should not admit this, but I like the movie Top Gun. For years, I was convinced that I was going to be a fighter pilot, and I would imagine myself in the cockpit of a state of the art fighter jet.
I’m sure many of you, my age or older recall that movie. It stars Tom Cruise, Kelly McGillis, Val Kilmer, Michael Ironside, Meg Ryan and many other notable movie stars.
During the movie, you may recall, that Maverick (Tom Cruise) endures a tragedy during a training mission. He flew through the jet wash of another plane, and because of a mishap in the ejection, Goose, his partner dies.
Previously in the movie, it was apparent that Maverick and Goose were in sync. They understood what the other person was thinking. And even when Goose didn’t necessarily agree, he seemed to be supportive of his pilot.
Following the death of Goose at the climax of the movie, Maverick is assigned a new co-pilot with the call sign “Merlin.”
Previously in dogfighting situations, Maverick would use rather extreme methods to reach an end. However, his new co-pilot was not accustomed to his practices as was Goose.
Perhaps one of my favorite quotes in the movie comes during a final hostile encounter with some enemy MIGs. During the dogfight, an enemy plane gets behind Maverick’s F-14 and the ensuing exchange between Merlin and Maverick goes: “Merlin: what are you doing? You’re slowing down, you’re slowing down!” “Maverick: I’m bringing him in closer Merlin.” “Merlin: You’re gonna do what?”
The idea of allowing the enemy pilot any closer seemed like a completely foreign idea. And the question burst forth: “You’re gonna do what?”
When we begin to consider the story of Christ’s birth, when we look specifically at our text this morning of the annunciation, I wonder at times if Mary battled the urge to inquire, “You’re gonna do what?”
When the angel came to deliver this amazing message that she had been chosen to deliver the coming Messiah, was she struck with disbelief? What the message so unexpected that it caused her to do a double-take?
I would ask you to join with me this morning as we read from Luke 1.

Read text. (Luke 1:26-38)

Now before we go any farther into the conversation between Mary and Gabriel, let me take a moment to properly introduce this young woman Mary. Luke does so at this point. This passage that we are reading is actually our first introduction to Mary. Some of our information that we can gather about her comes from this scripture. However, much of our information comes from a little more digging.
Mary’s age was never given in scripture. It had been assumed for a period of time that Joseph was well along in years. However, that has been rescinded and most tend to believe that Joseph was between 16 and 18. Mary was believed to be between 14 and 17. These ages are assumed because of the typical marital age for Jewish couples during this time.
Mary’s father’s name was Heli. If you continue to trace her ancestry, you will eventually find that it traces to Nathan, King David’s son. Mary was of the lineage of David. Scripture tells us plainly here that Joseph was of such lineage. However, we also find that she is of royal blood as well. We also find that she is cousin to John the Baptist’s mother.
We do not know a great deal about what her daily activities consisted of or her hobbies. Rather, most of the information that we gather from her comes from the typical norm for a Jewish woman. However, through scripture we have come to find that she was a model in the areas of tenderness, patience, faith, devotion, love, and humility. Mary was the hand-picked of God to carry the Savior of the world in her womb. Obviously, there was something special about this girl.
Scripture tells us that she was espoused to a man named Joseph. This would be comparable to saying that she was engaged. However, Jewish custom held that the engagement was as binding as actual marriage. By this point, Joseph’s representatives would have already met with Mary’s father and reached an agreement. Dowry money would have already changed hands. For all practical purposes, the wedding was a formal presentation of the agreement. However, even at this point, Joseph would not have been permitted to lay with her.
What we can gather about Mary’s identity is that she was a special girl, yet she was still ordinary. She was found faithful, but she was not supernatural.
Following our introduction to Mary, we note three things in this passage. First, we see…

1.) The Angel’s Proclamation of God’s Plan
“And coming in, he said to her, ‘Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you…Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.” – v. 28, 30-31
The angel identifies Mary and calls her “highly favored” and “blessed among women.” For Mary, this would have been a terrifying thought. She was being singled out for whatever reason for this great honor. Now, we gather that Mary is humble. Her humility would have cowered in the face of such an honor. She was having difficulty reasoning her selection.
Mary was just as human as you and I. Although some have sought to exalt her to a place of worship, Mary was flesh and blood as we are. She dealt with the realities of life. She felt emotions. Mary is one of us standing in the presence of one of God’s glorious messengers. What a humbling and terrifying experience that would be!
I am certain that given her understanding of her humanity, there were questions running through her mind. I believe that given the audience she was given, there was a certain twinge of fear about the message that would be delivered. She probably questioned much like we would whether the message would be favorable, or a warning.
Finally, the actual announcement is made. Mary is enlightened as to what her future holds. She was told that she would bring forth a son whose name was Jesus. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua. His name would mean Jehovah is salvation. Mary is informed that her son will be the Son of God. Her son will be the son of all sons.
Most parents tend to believe that the sun rises and sets on their children. Mary is told that her son will control those things.
Additionally, she is also assured that her son will be royalty. His kingdom will never end. Mary is probably considering that her son will be the first to ever hold the throne for eternity.
Mary is found as the recipient of God’s amazing plan.
As we look on the story and try to find its application for you and me, we must realize immediately that none of us are ever going to hear this precise message. Jesus has already been born. Prophesy has already been fulfilled. And God does not need a virgin for his Son to enter the world by any longer.
While we will never hear this exact proclamation from Gabriel, the reality of the Christian life is that there are times when God grants incredible disclosures to His people. There are times when God’s plan requires a great deal of faith and promises difficulty and trial in the process.
Just consider the ministries of God’s people through the years. For many of the prophets, they were instructed to serve as God’s mouthpiece despite the fact that they were assured the nations were not going to heed their warnings.
Look at Paul. Surely Paul understood that his return to Rome would ensure his arrest and persecution. Yet, his love for the people demanded that he return to minister to them. And because of his obedience, we have the prison epistles (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon). Furthermore, Paul’s life was the price tag of this season of ministry.
God has a tendency to deliver messages to His people that encourages the statement, “You’re gonna do what?!”
Following the angel’s proclamation of God’s plan, Mary is given…

2.) The Angel’s Promise of God’s Power
“The angel answered and said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. For nothing will be impossible with God.’” – v. 35-36
Mary’s response of confusion is something that I would expect here. Mary is proclaiming her virginity. Her understanding is based on human knowledge. I would have to believe that we would have the same disbelief if we were presented with a similar message. Mary is stating her purity. It has already been identified, but Mary is making it solidified by her admission.
Mary is in a moment of confusion not understanding how this can be.
Yet the angel is attempting to put Mary at ease about her concerns. I believe that the reason that the angel gives details of what will happen is for both Mary’s instruction and comfort.
Mary is told that the power of the Spirit will come over her, and she will conceive. Unfortunately, the verse talking about the power of the Spirit coming upon her has been greatly misinterpreted by some denominations. There are groups that believe that Mary’s conception was the product of a physical relationship between God the Father and Mary. Let me tell you, that didn’t happen. Throughout the Bible there has been miracle upon miracle. Yet for some reason, when it comes to the Son of God there are those that refuse to believe in things beyond our own power. There has been far less debate about Jesus’ healings as there has been about his virgin birth. The true power of God and the fate of those that believe are held in the truth behind the virgin birth. Satan has recognized that undermining the virgin birth will cause the rest of the story to falter. Compromising the very foundations of something will cause it to crumble.
Furthermore, the angel tells Mary of her cousin Elisabeth. Mary would have known the history very well. She would have known of her age and the fact that she was barren. It was considered a curse in these times to be found unable to have children. However, I believe that the angel was simply trying to give illustration to the power of God. Gabriel is stating that if it is God’s plan, he has the power to make it happen. I also believe that the angel told her of this because it was a similar illustration as to how God has power over our bodies. The laws of nature do not apply to God.
I love this next verse. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” It is amazing how his message always speaks to our need. In the time of Mary’s weakness and vulnerability, Gabriel gives the assurance of God’s providence. “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Mary’s pregnancy is not impossible. Elisabeth’s pregnancy is not impossible. Mary’s son being the Savior of the world is not impossible. Mary’s mission and call to be him mother is not impossible.
When Mary was presented with the plan of God, she was promised the power of God as well.
We must realize that while God makes similar demands of His people even today, He is still faithful to provide His power in those times. When God demands that we take incredible leaps of faith, He is ever present to give us the strength to make the jump.
When He has a plan, He opens the doors. We there is a need, He makes the provisions. God continues to reassure us that with Him all things are possible.
Mary is given insight into God’s plan. It is tempered by a promise of God’s power. And lastly, we find…

3.) The Appointed’s Pledge of Performance
“And Mary said, ‘Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word.’ And the angel departed from her.”
Contrary to the nature of an angel, we see a humbled heart. When we see the proclamation of an angel, I think that some of us envision a weak young man who speaks softly. However, angels are anything but weak. They may be messengers, but they bring a message of authority like none have ever heard. An angel brings message straight from the lips of the Father. There is no fluctuation or stuttering. This is a sure message that must be delivered with certainty and power.
We’ve heard the message. Now we catch a glimpse of this young woman that God has chosen. Her humble acceptance amazes me. After a message such as this it would have been foreseeable for her to be scared or proud. However, she answers with certainty and without hesitation. She answers softly referring to herself as a handmaid. She exalts herself to the level of a mere servant. It is not arrogance that is pouring out of her, but softness. She does not desire the glory but rather to see the working out of her God’s plan.
We may look at this and think of what a humble person she must be but we still have not dealt with the whole picture.
We see Mary’s humility in the face of certain danger. We all know the fact that she was a virgin. However, many of us fail to recognize the fact that unfaithfulness was punishable by death. If Mary was found to be with child before she was married or by someone other than her husband, she would be stoned. Mary was banking her very life on the power and provision of her Lord. In such a time, we do not see a girl who is confused or upset. Rather, we see a woman certain of what she must do and whom she serves.
I believe that Mary also understood the social ramifications of this decision as well. She would have known that prophesy said he would be called a Nazarene. Mary would have to live in her hometown and face those she knew. There is little more terrifying that having to face your own people when they have preconceived notions about your inappropriate behavior. Mary probably understood that there would be some that looked on her with disgust and loathing. She knew that her life would be scrutinized by those that she called neighbors. However, even with this understanding, she did not hesitate.
Like the example of Mary, when we are presented with the plan of God for our lives, we must make a decision that declares our unconditional obedience. Regardless of the danger we may face, we must answer His call with willingness and obedience.
I wish that I could abbreviate the process and simply tell each of you God’s plan for your life and service. However, I simply cannot. Yet, with that being said, I do want to encourage you not to underestimate God’s ability to use you. While you may believe that God will never demand anything extraordinary from you, I am confident that He longs to do more than you imagine.
So what are you willing to do? If God sent a messenger to you today to seek your surrender to his will, what would your answer be? Would you be found willing? Would your willingness be marked by its humility?
The fact is that our Savior has already lived his life on earth and paid our debt. Jesus will not be born of anyone of us in this building. However, his plan is still working. We still have opportunities on a daily basis to surrender to his plan. Are we? Are you?
This morning God may be calling you to something great. This may be the first time that you’ve heard him calling. He may be seeking to be Lord of your life. Regardless of your situation, God has a plan for your life, and he longs for your surrender. Will you humbly follow him today?

Looking Jesus in the Eye

2009-12-02T17:02:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on November 29, 2009.

Perhaps one of the most famous betrayal stories in history came during the height of the Roman republic. It has been retold in various forms and fashions, and even lives on through the writings of William Shakespeare.
On the Ides of March (March 15) in 44 BC, a conspiracy to assassinate Roman dictator Julius Caesar came to fruition.
Many of you are probably familiar with that particular story. On the eve of that day, Mark Antony learned vaguely of the plot to kill Caesar. And in hopes to divert the attack, he attempted to head off the dictator at the steps of the forum.
However, a group of senators intercepted Julius Caesar before he ever made it that far and diverted him into a room adjoining the east portico.
At that time, Caesar was presented with a petition to recall his exiled brother. The group of men crowded around him to offer their support and cheer on the decision, but Caesar waved them off.
After refusing the request, one of the men pulled down Caesars tunic and another drew a dagger and swiped at his neck. During the tussle, others joined the attack and Caesar found himself on the floor surrounded by an angry mob.
Yet, Caesar attempted to defend himself against this onslaught. While there is some debate and discussion about Caesar’s last words, there is a general consensus by most to accept one of the following phrases: “Kai su teknon” in the Greek which means “You too, son?” or “Et tu, Brute” in the Latin which means, “And you, Brutus?”
The story is told that Caesar attempted to defend himself until he saw that Brutus was among those that were attacking him. Brutus, a distant cousin of Caesar’s, was actually loved and regarded as Caesar’s own son.
Legend has it that upon seeing the identity of this particular conspirator, that Caesar pulled his toga over his head and surrendered to the attack. He simply asked, “You too, son?” and surrendered his life.
Now, this day has been studied throughout history. Historians have argued over the details of the occasion. However, there is one aspect of the story that tends to be ignored. What must it have felt like to be in Brutus’ position? How would you feel if you were found betraying someone that loved you like their own child- and had to look them in the eye and hear them call your name?
This morning, we are going to look at an occasion when one of God’s beloved people had to look, not Caesar, but the Son of God in the eye after his betrayal- when he too, had to face the reality that the person that loved him more dearly than any other recognized his place in the plot.
We are going to examine what it must have been like to look Jesus in the eye.

Read text. (Matthew 26:20-29)

This morning, as we prepare ourselves to partake of the Lord’s Supper, we too must be willing to look Jesus in the eye. We must be willing to deal with the truth that Jesus sees in us.
And as we come to an understanding of where we stand as we look Jesus in the eye, I want to investigate what this day must have been like for Judas. I’m afraid that if we are honest, we might see part of ourselves in his story.
As we look at the passage, the first thing that we find is…

1.) The Betrayal
“When evening had come, He sat down with the twelve. Now as they were eating, He said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, one of you will betray Me.’”
During the course of the evening, as the disciples were sitting around the table with Jesus, it is prophesied that one of the disciples will betray Jesus.
Most believers would likely pair the betrayal with the kiss on the cheek in Gethsemane when Jesus was physically handed over to the authorities. It seems that Jesus is even alluding to the coming events.
However, I would suggest that Jesus has already been betrayed. It is not a future event, but rather a past one. Just look at what happened earlier in this chapter. Verses 14 and 15 say, “Then one of the twelve, called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, ‘What are you willing to give me if I deliver Him to you?’ And they counted out to him thirty pieces of silver.” It was at this point that Judas agreed to sell out Jesus. Through his agreement in this scheme, he actually started the process of Jesus’ betrayal.
Judas is by far the most infamous person in the Bible. He is hated and despised by believers. I, too, can hardly hear his name and not squirm. His act of betrayal is one never forgotten by those who call Jesus, “Lord.”
However, my goal today, is not that we would have a Judas-bashing evening. Rather, I want us to evaluate what we may have in common with him.
Let me ask, “Have you betrayed Jesus?”
Now pause a little before you get angry because I’ve suggested that we are like Judas. We may not have identified Jesus to the Jewish leaders, but I would bet that there have been times when we accepted 30 pieces of silver in Jesus’ place. In fact, we’ve probably done it at times for far less.
Thirty pieces of silver was the price of a slave. Additionally, a modern jeweler has tried to translate the worth of the metals into a modern price tag. He suggests that thirty pieces of silver is probably worth about $190.
I’m sure that there are things that cost far less that cause us to turn our backs on our Savior.
We betray Jesus every time we deny Jesus sole lordship of our lives. When we withhold something from him, we are in turn saying that it means more to us than he. We choose pleasure, comfort, and convenience over Jesus.
This encounter began with betrayal. But that was not all. Rather, when there is betrayal, there is something that inevitably follows…

2.) The Cover-up.
“Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, ‘Rabbi, is it I?’”
Judas was actively looking for an opportunity to deliver Jesus to the chief priests. He was seeking the chance to fulfill his end of the transaction.
Yet, when he found himself in the company of the early church- the disciples, he pretended that he was innocent. His betrayal was followed by a cover-up.
I’ve always wondered why Judas would bother to attempt to hide the truth from the man that claimed to be “the Way, the Truth, and the Life?” Did he really think that Jesus wouldn’t notice?
I can see Judas reclining at the table. Only he doesn’t resemble a confident money keeper. I see him as anything but comfortable. Shifting his weight from side to side. Heart beating out of his chest. Sweat beads rolling down his forehead. A lump in his throat and his gut. Reddened eyes darting around waiting to be caught with a condemning glance. I believe that Judas was terrified in this time.
Do we find ourselves in the same state? Have there been times when you white-knuckled the pew- refusing to relinquish the grasp on your life?
Are there invitations when your sin comes clearly to the front of your mind, and you hope that God doesn’t notice?
We are all guilty at some point of hiding our sin. We hide it from God. Or so we think. We try to hide our shame behind our good deeds and our dressy clothes. We put on our Sunday smile and pretend that we are faultless around other believers.
We, too, Sunday after Sunday during the invitation ask the same question as Judas, “Rabbi, is it I?” We know the ways that we’ve disappointed and betrayed our Lord. We know our attitudes and sins. Yet, we ask the question with the idea that we can cover up our failures.
Betrayal is typically followed by cover-up. Yet, there is still more. We find through Judas’ story that cover-up eventually produces…

3.) A Confrontation.
“…He said to him, ‘You have said it.’”
Judas is trying to play innocent. Yet his nightmare comes true. Jesus knows. Judas looks deep into his eyes- and he sees the truth. He sees past the façade and lies and sees the truth of the situation.
This is a frightening event- the time when the realization hits that Jesus knows.
There comes a time in our lives also, when Jesus will no longer allow our sin to continue without confrontation. Judas had to gaze into the eyes of the Almighty Son of God. He had to put aside his denial and answer the pointed finger of Jesus. The fate of the sin in our lives is the same.
What will we see when we look into Jesus’ eyes? Will we find the beaming eyes of a proud Heavenly Father? Or will we find tears rolling down the cheeks of God’s only begotten son? Will we have to look upon the Holy Lamb of God and cringe at the thought of what we let take his throne in our lives?
When the confrontation comes, there is no debating our guilt. We will not be able to tell Jesus that he is mistaken. We will not be able to say, “Surely not I, Lord.” We can continue to play innocent, but it does not change was Jesus sees in our lives.
I’m afraid that there are times when our sin seems to go unpunished. There are sins that we can try to hide. And there are times when they are completely hidden from everyone but the eye of God.
Yet, we must realize that sin- of any shape or size will not go unnoticed, nor will it be without confrontation. There will come a day when the sin in your life will demand an answer.
There will come a time when God will no longer allow you to continue in an errant lifestyle. There will come a time when the Spirit demands that you surrender your sin.
Betrayal typically produces a cover-up. Cover-ups will eventually lead to confrontation. Once the confrontation comes, we must come to…

4.) A Conclusion.
“Immediately, he went up to Jesus and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ and kissed Him.” –Matthew 26:49, “Then he threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed, and went and hanged himself.” –Matthew 27:5
Thank God, because of his Son’s sacrifice, there are options when he points out our sin. When we are brought to the place of confrontation between Jesus and our betrayal, we must make a decision.
Judas came to his conclusion. Rather than falling at Jesus’ feet and begging forgiveness, he leaves. Unfortunately for Judas, his conclusion did not equal restoration with God. There is obviously conviction, but never a plea for forgiveness.
Judas made his decision to continue in his betrayal. He chose his silver over his Jesus.
When we look into the eyes of Jesus, we too must make a decision. We must choose whether we will bow a knee and beg for forgiveness, or we deem the price of his betrayal to be reasonable.
When Jesus puts his finger on our lives, we make decisions in all forms and fashions:
We repent, we justify, we argue, we pretend not to notice his beckoning.
When brought to a place of confrontation with Christ, we are forced to come to a point of decision. A refusal to make a decision is a decision in itself.
So what is in your bag? Has Jesus been put aside for money? Maybe for power or favor? Perhaps a lifestyle?
Whether it be for money or because of selfish pride, the price at which we exchange Jesus is never adequate.
So what is his price in your life? Have you accepted a pitiful replacement for the precious Son of God? Have you betrayed Jesus? Are you continuing to do so?
I hope this morning that the Spirit brings you to a point of confrontation. I believe that we must make our decision and reach our conclusion about the place that Christ will be given in our lives.
If you were in Judas’ place, what would you see in Christ’s eyes? Would you see pleasure that Christ is taking in you? Or would you see the disappointment and pain that betrayal brings?

Gladness and Thanksgiving

2009-12-02T16:55:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on November 22, 2009.

Thankfulness seems to be a lost art today. Warren Wiersby illustrated this problem in his commentary on Colossians. He told about a ministerial student in Evanston, Illinois, who was part of a life-saving squad. In 1860, a ship went aground on the shore of Lake Michigan near Evanston, and Edward Spencer waded again and again into the frigid waters to rescue 17 passengers. In the process, his health was permanently damaged. Some years later at his funeral, it was noted that not one of the people he rescued ever said, “Thank you.”
Our current culture does not value the contributions of others. It does not typically seek to offer a word of recognition or appreciation. In short, it seems that people as a whole have forgotten the two little words, “Thank you.”
This morning I want to look for a few moments at our Biblical call to gladness and thanksgiving. I want us to consider the instruction we are given in God’s Word about an attitude of gratitude. I want us to rediscover our thankfulness to God.
But before we dig into our Biblical investigation this morning, many of you are probably wondering why you’ve been given a few sticky notes. I want to invite you this morning, as we are looking into God’s Word to think about some things that have happened in this sanctuary that you are thankful for. What are some reasons that you have to come into his courts with thanksgiving?
Perhaps there was a difficult time that you were going through and someone offered you a timely word of encouragement- if that is the case, write it down. Maybe it was on this altar that you surrendered your heart and life to Christ, and you discovered the fullness of life that comes through Him- write that down. Maybe you are thankful that God would allow you to identify with Him through baptism- and you were baptized in this baptistery. If that is the case, write it down. Maybe there’s something God spoke to you through a former pastor behind this pulpit that changed your life- write that down.
For many of you, you have decades of memories in this church building. You have a plethora of reasons to be thankful that God gave you in this very room. I believe that it is time that we rediscover those.
I would invite you to look with me at our call to gladness and thanksgiving.

Read text. (Psalm 100:1-5)

It seems to be apparent that this short passage was actually a call to worship. It was a beckoning of the Jewish people at the temple to enter into the courts with joy and thanksgiving in their hearts. It was literally an exhortation for people to arrive for worship and thanksgiving.
While this psalm is very short in comparison to the majority of the rest in that book, it carries a heavy message. It will challenge us, and teach us about the effects of a truly thankful heart.
As we look at this call to worship, the first thing that we note is…

1.) The Disposition
“Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.”
As we come into God’s presence, we are called to come with the proper disposition. We must possess the proper attitude.
Look at how we are instructed to come before our God to worship Him. We are told to “Shout for joy.” Now, I know that as conservative Baptists, you would probably get a few surprised glances if anyone actually shouted during a worship service. But we are called to come with such excitement and overwhelming joy that a shout is all we can muster.
I know that we’ve adopted this idea that joyful shouting is irreverent and inappropriate. But, just think about the way we approach football. We yell and cheer when our team scores a touchdown. We celebrate when the clock runs out and our team has secured the victory. Why is it that we don’t come through the doors with a shout of joy for what God has done for us? Why is it that we may muster a begrudging “amen” or a “that’s right” during a sermon, but we don’t shout for joy at what God has done?
We are called to shout for joy to the Lord, but then look at what comes next. We are told to worship the Lord with gladness.
Well, that might hit the root of our problem right there. We are called to worship the Lord with gladness. Listen, if we don’t muster a little gladness in our worship, we will never shout for joy to Him.
This passage tells us about the expected disposition of a thankful worshipper. We must be worshipful and happy that we have that opportunity.
We must be glad that we can worship Him. Yet, let me ask you to be honest with yourself. What kind of attitude do you have by the time that the service begins? Are you glad? Are you happy and excited? Or are you just ready to survive another Sunday so that we can have some fried chicken and watch some football?
Do you truly worship with gladness and excitement?
We must shout for joy, worship with gladness, and even come before our God with joyful songs.
Do we sing joyful songs? I believe that we do. I believe that there are plenty of times when we come into this place and offer joyful songs to our Lord. We have songs like Serve Him with Gladness, Heavenly Sunlight, When We All Get to Heaven, and Victory in Jesus.
Do you know what the problem is in the average church though? The words in the songs don’t match up to the attitudes in our hearts.
Let me explain. I’m a people watcher. I love watching people in public. And where I sit in this place, I have a good vantage point to see everyone during the worship service. But do you know what the average face looks like when we sing these “joyful” songs?
I’ve seen children look happier at the Health Department waiting on a shot than we often look when singing joyful songs of praise. We don’t look joyful- we look sour.
We must understand and possess the right disposition. We should be joyous and happy. But then we must understand why we should possess that disposition. We should be joyful and glad because of…

2.) His Designation
“Know that the Lord is God. It is He who made us, and we are His; we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.”
Why should we have a joyous disposition? Why should we be thankful? Because of His designation. We should be joyous and grateful because He is God.
We should be joyful because He is supreme. He has shown us grace and mercy. He is the one that has offered salvation full and free. He is the one that loves us. We worship and come before Him with joy and thanksgiving because of who He is.
I think if we are honest, we have truly lost sight of who it is that we are worshipping and serving. Life has become about appointments and things to do. It has morphed into a complex compilation of responsibilities and obligations. Even church and the worship service have fallen prey to this mindset.
I want everyone to stop for just a second. In the quietness of the next few seconds, I want you to think about who is really here this morning.
We are not gathered to perform a program. We are not here to see what the preacher managed to write for the sermon. We are not even here just to fill our pew.
We should be here because our desire is to come together as a people and community into the presence of God. We are here- and so is the God of creation.
If we ever truly recover the purpose for our gathering, if we ever really stop and grasp the magnificence of the One that has granted us His company we will rediscover our excitement and appreciation.
We should be joyful, excited and appreciative because God has given us the opportunity to spend the day with Him.
Let’s stop and do a little comparison.
Now I know that our current president is not very popular. In fact, I think I’ve been pretty open about my displeasure with his performance and priorities. But I’m sure that there has been at least one in your lifetime that you have liked. Think back on the president that you admired the most. Does everyone have a name and picture in the back of your mind?
What would you have done if you could rewind the hands of time and if that president called you on the phone and invited you to be his guest of honor for the day? What would you do if you were given the opportunity to fly on Air Force One, to sit in the President’s desk, and to eat at his table?
Who would you call? How excited would you be?
Yet, week after week, we come to God’s house without any excitement or anticipation. We come to the house of our president’s superior- and we don’t bother to be joyous about it.
We must possess the proper disposition because of His designation- because He is God.
If we possess the proper disposition, if we realize His designation, it will eventually bring us to…

3.) The Destination
“Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise; give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations.”
We mentioned just a moment ago that this psalm was probably a call to worship for those waiting outside of the Jewish temple. It was a bid for people to come into the courts of the temple for worship.
When we apply that to more modern times, we find that a proper attitude and a true recognition of the person of God will influence you toward a particular destination. Rather than us being called to the Jewish temple, I believe that the proper attitude and a true recognition of the person of God will encourage us to gather for worship in the church. It should bring us together for the sake of collaborative worship.
This last week, I have really struggled with a question. If one of the primary purposes of our gathering at this destination is to excitedly worship our God, why is it that so many times we gather together while frustrated and ill?
Why do we come to the destination without considering our demeanor and the person that we are gathered to worship?
As we return to the passage, as we look again at the destination, there is reiteration of the way that we are to approach our God. We’ve talked about the proper disposition, and we are reminded again of the attitude that we should have.
It says, “Enter His gates with thanksgiving.” The very thing that should characterize our arrival, our entrance, is an attitude of thanksgiving. Think about that for just a moment. As we part through the doors of the sanctuary, our thoughts should be centered around our appreciation of God’s goodness.
Now, let’s have a little confession here. I know that there are plenty of weeks when I enter through that door without appreciation. Instead, I am thinking about the class I am supposed to teach. I’m thinking about the business that needs to be taken care of. I’m recalling the message that I plan to preach. So many times, I am guilty of coming into the house of God not with appreciation, but with a misguided concentration on the mechanics of the services.
Am I alone here? Or do many of us come through those doors not thinking about the greatness and goodness of God? Do we come through thinking about the conversation we just ended? Do we arrive wondering just how long the preacher is going to ramble today? Or do we come with an appreciation of God’s blessing through the past week?
As a people, I believe that there are times when we need to regain our bearings. We need to truly consider our motivations and thoughts.
As we look at our call to worship in Psalm 100, we actually find an exhortation to gladness and thanksgiving.
We find a reminder of the way that we ought to approach our worship.
We must come to the proper destination in a right disposition because of God’s designation.
Our attitude must be one of gratitude. We must come into God’s presence with joy and thanksgiving in our hearts. We must rediscover the right heart.
This morning as we come to our time of invitation, things are going to be a little different. Rather than the congregation singing the hymn of invitation, I am going to ask you to do this: as the instrumentalists play, I would invite you to relive those reasons for thanksgiving that you have written down. As you look through those descriptions, I would ask you to place that sticky note in the place of your experience.
I want us to have to take action- to physically move to those places where God has done something for which we are thankful. And rather than taking another opportunity at that moment to ask for those things that we want- stop and pray and simply tell the Lord “thank you” for what He did there.
If it was on this altar that you found grace- or rededicated, or received the help you needed through a difficult time, I would ask you to place one there. If it was in the choir, place it there. If it came from the pulpit, place it there. Maybe it was right there in your pew- if so, place one there.
This is our opportunity to not only show our God how thankful we are, but to visibly remind ourselves of our reasons for gladness and thanksgiving.
As the instrumentalists play, show God a few places that you are thankful for.

Something amazing happened during the invitation that morning. Just look at the response!

Pressing Toward Perfection

2009-11-21T09:54:00.004-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on November 15, 2009.

The closest I have ever come to perfection probably occurred when I was fourteen years old.
I am certain by now that you all now how passionately I love the game of baseball. In fact, it is one thing that I miss dearly. I miss practice. I miss the sweat. I miss the muffled sounds through the ear-holes of a helmet. I miss the feeling of a ball hitting the sweet spot of the bat. And most of all, I miss standing on a mound staring down a batter.
Now, I’ve never claimed to be perfect, but one evening in 1996, I came close. That particular evening we were playing the Falcons. It had been more than seventy-two hours since our previous game, so I was OK to pitch.
For some reason that evening, my fastball had a little extra pep. My curveball had a little extra break. And my change up actually slowed down. Through the first four innings, I recorded ten strikeouts and two putouts. There had not been a ball hit past the pitcher’s mound.
Through the fifth, things continued on the same path- and by the time the sixth inning rolled around, I was sitting alone at the end of a dugout. (It's baseball superstition)
Finally, the game had progressed to the point if we held the other team off for one more inning, the game would be called an inning early on account of the ten-run rule.
During the last inning, with one out, my hope of perfection ended. A ground ball rolled through the legs of our third baseman. It was not hit that hard- it just was not fielded.
All of that work went for not- and the record would not show perfection.
As I was working on this morning’s message last week, I began to think about that day and about our quest as Christian people to become perfect. We are called to work toward the fullness of the image of Christ. We are to continually strive toward eliminating any imperfection. Unfortunately, there are times when we hit a pebble- or a bump in the road and our best attempt at perfection fails.
And then there are times when I am reminded that even if I am perfect for one day, even if I succeed for this time- the game of life never ends.
We are a people that must constantly press on toward righteousness and maturity until we reach the fullness of the stature of Christ- until we become as He is, perfect.
I do not say this in judgment or condemnation, but I am certain that there is not one person in this building that has reached the pinnacle of perfection in life. I know that I cannot claim that. And so, we have work to do. We are left with further growth and maturity to attain.
I believe that Paul gives us a great understanding as to how to strive toward our calling.

Read text. (Philippians 3:12-16)

As we look at Paul’s epistle to the church at Philippi, we find Paul’s progress and approach to Christian growth. We find four steps that we must take in our pursuit of Christ’s perfection.
First, we must…

1.) Grasp Our Condition
“Not that I have already reached the goal or am already fully mature…”
Before we can move any farther than mere infancy in our Christian faith, we must truly grasp our current condition. We must see ourselves as we really our- and that is Christians that have not yet reached perfection.
Just consider the author of this letter. Consider what this should say to you and me.
Paul, the man that authored the majority of the New Testament said that he had not already reached the goal. He was not fully mature.
We can even look at his list of accolades earlier in the chapter. He was circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, and a Pharisee. It has even been suggested that Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin council. Paul- in terms of Jewish customs and law was faultless. This was a man that sat at the feet of Gamaliel. He was as close to perfect as humanity could get. However, he insists that he still has not reached the fullness of maturity in Christ.
Now, if Paul insists that he had not arrived, why do act as if we have?
None of us have completely digested the fullness of the knowledge of God. We still do not understand every facet of Scripture. And even if we did, there are none of us that are perfect in our adherence and obedience of that instruction.
As Christian believers, there is a time to look at ourselves in comparison to the lost world around us and feel accomplished. There is the temptation to think of ourselves more highly than we ought.
However, we must rediscover our need. We must rediscover humility.
Now, I realize that most of us- if not all of us would not hesitate to admit that we are in need of growth and maturity. However, I still believe that there is a struggle at times with truly grasping our condition. There is still a temptation, even in a small fashion, to pretend that we are farther along than we are.
Before we can grow any further, we must grasp our condition.
In addition to seeing ourselves as we really are, we must take the next step and…

2.) Grow Our Captivation
“…but I make every effort to take hold of it because I also have been taken hold of by Christ Jesus.”
Paul realized the he was not perfect. In spite of the nearly perfect life he lived under legalism, in spite of his best efforts, he still was not fully perfect and mature.
And in recognition of that fact, Paul said that he makes every effort to take hold of that maturity because he has been taken hold of by Jesus.
I believe this is a beautiful image. When I see this in my mind’s eye, I see a picture of Christ hand in hand with one of his children. And because He is holding on to His child’s hand, because He is walking with Him, He is drawing him closer to fullness of maturity in Him.
Paul is saying, “Because Jesus has hold of me, because He is walking with me, I am going to take every opportunity to draw closer to Him.”
I believe that it is interesting that Paul used the term “taken hold of” here. It also tends to communicate the picture of captivity. Yet it is consistent with Paul’s presentation of himself throughout the epistles. Paul almost always calls himself a bondservant, servant, or slave of the gospel.
Paul speaks about being taken hold of, yet it is not a restrictive, demeaning captivity that we would think of. Rather, it is the idea that Paul is completely captured by the love of Christ. He is captivated.
Now, I know that y’all are probably tired of hearing about me and Emily. However, when I see this phrase speaking about being taken hold of, it makes me think about the love that I share with Em.
When we started dating, even until now, there is something about that love that has me captivated. It keeps my attention. It deserves my affection. Because of that love, there is nothing that I would let stand between me and her.
I believe that is exactly the picture that Paul is presenting here. Because he is captivated by Christ’s love, he is doing everything in his power to remove all obstacles to their relationship.
We should be challenged by Paul. We too need to grow our captivation.
Let me simply ask: Where has our wonder gone? What has happened to our utter amazement with Christ’s love? We must be captivated by it so that we are actively pursuing our relationship with Christ.
Let me mention briefly, the easiest way to grow your captivation with Jesus is not some séance or attempt to manipulate your emotions. The easiest way to restore your captivation is to spend time with Him. Study His word. Pray and speak with Him. Serve Him. The more you are with Him, the more you will desire to be with Him.
If we want to grow in our maturity, if we want to pursue perfection in Jesus, we must grasp our condition. We must grow our captivation. Then we must be careful to…

3.) Guard Our Concentration
“Brothers, I do not consider myself to taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead…”
We must understand where we really stand in God’s eyes. We must seek to grow in our love for Him. We must be captivated by Him. And then we must be careful to guard our concentration.
Paul says that he forgets what is behind and reaches forward to what is ahead.
Now, there is the tendency to use this at New Years when talking about the opportunities God grants for new beginnings. In fact, I have even used this passage for that purpose here.
However, I don’t believe that is all that it is communicating. We look at it and talk about moving on from past failures. And I believe that you can use it in that context and still be maintaining Scriptural integrity.
Certainly our sinful pasts can be cause for crippling our service of Christ. There are plenty of people within the church that believe that they are unable to serve God- or even come to Him because of something that they did in their past.
We must be willing to quit looking back to those disappointments and failures. We must move beyond those shortcomings and allow our past to be the past and not our future.
Paul was a man that would certainly want to forget parts of his past. Paul had a Damascus road experience where God Himself questioned Paul as to why he was persecuting Him.
Paul was convinced that He was doing God’s work and will until then. I am certain that Paul would love to forget about those that he persecuted and imprisoned. I am certain that he would love to move beyond the fact that we were introduced to him in God's Word as he held coats and cheered on those that stoned Stephen.
Yet, I believe Paul was communicating more. When we look back at the beginning of Philippians 3, we find that section that we quoted earlier. We find that place where Paul gives us a list of his accolades and qualifications.
Paul was a man that would have a great deal to boast about. He would have reason, more than any of us, to feel as if he had reached a higher plane in his Christian experience.
However, I believe that Paul was actually saying, “I forget what is behind and move forward- not because the past is all horrible and sinful, but because I cannot allow myself to boast in my accomplishments and forget I still have work to do.”
As Christians, many of you have served God faithfully for decades. You have taught classes and served the church. You have grown in your faith. However, we cannot look back on our pasts and pretend that they are enough. Rather, we still have more climbing to do. We still have further to go before we reach full maturity and perfection.
As God’s people, we must be careful to guard our concentration. We cannot get so caught up in the past- and our successes and experiences that we fail to move forward now.
We must grasp our condition, grow our captivation, guard our concentration, and lastly…

4.) Groan in Our Call
“I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.”
Paul understood where he stood with the Father. He understood his condition. And because of that fact, he was actively pursuing God’s call on his life. He was groaning in his call.
When Paul wrote this letter to the church at Philippi, I believe that it contained not just instruction, but imagery.
When Paul said that he pursues as his goal the prize of God’s call in Christ Jesus, I don’t see a man that decides to begrudgingly attend a worship service. I don’t see a man that reluctantly pulls out His Scriptures to fulfill his duty. I don’t see a man that shows any hesitancy.
Rather, he is pursuing his goal. He is running after Jesus with everything that is in him. He is praying faithfully. In fact, he can’t speak to the Father enough. He is studying God’s Word. He just can’t get enough. He wishes there was even more to it. He loves teaching and just being able to say the name Jesus.
This is a man that is excited about doing whatever God gives him the opportunity and privilege to do. He is going full-tilt toward his finish line.
And do you realize where Paul is in his race at this point?
Paul is in prison when he wrote this letter. He was in chains because of this gospel. Yet, he is still saying- whatever of my course I have left to run- I don’t care what the Romans do to me, I am going to pursue it with passion. I am going to give it my all- and I am going to love what I’m doing.
Paul is essentially the runner that has kept his eye on the finish line- and he is groaning- he is putting every ounce of energy he has into his pursuit of the call of Christ.
You know, when I read these words, its makes me ashamed. Here I am, a free man in a country that celebrates the greatest liberties of any nation, I am called to preach the gospel- I am given the opportunity of a relationship with Christ, and where is my passion? Where is the fervor in my life?
Ladies and gentlemen, we must groan in our call. We must pursue our Christian life with such energy and fervor that we have to depend on God for our strength.
I wonder what would happen if we approached our Christian calls with the same energy that we do sports- or family gatherings- or whatever our particular hobbies may be. What would life be like- what could God do if we passionately pursued Him the way we do other things?
I want to remind us this morning: We are not perfect. We have not yet arrived. There is still work to be done.
We must grow our captivation. We must be passionately in love with Jesus. We must keep our focus, not on our past victories or failures, but on what God has in store for us in the future. And we must groan in our call. We must run the race with everything we have.

Seek While He May Be Found

2009-11-10T08:20:00.002-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on November 8, 2009.

As we come to our time together this morning, I am going to begin a little differently. Rather than telling a story or opening with some other illustration, I want to ask you a couple of questions.
Please don’t answer these aloud, but truly consider them. Be honest with yourself. Your life depends on your honesty here.
Do you recall the time when you surrendered your heart and life to Jesus Christ? Do you remember the conviction of the Spirit, and your decision to yield? Do you recall your obedience through baptism? Is your life producing fruit that evidences your conversion?
Are you certain of God’s salvation in your life, or are you playing the church game? Are you keeping up appearances so that others will think you’re a good person? Do you wear a mask that only lasts until the end of service? Do you ever wonder what is missing in life?
What camp are you in?
If you have never experienced new life that comes in Christ, if you have never allowed Jesus to reign on the throne of your heart, I would invite you to note Isaiah’s words with me.

Read text. (Isaiah 55:6-7)

I am going to spare you a typical outline. We are not going to employ alliteration or try to create an acrostic. Rather, I believe that God’s Word is sufficient- and in this case, is best served by being preached without manipulation.
I’m afraid that the greatest act of disservice of any pastor toward the church body that he is called to serve is found in an assumptive attitude. It is too common that we approach the pulpit having made the assumption that everyone in the congregation has already made a decision to follow Christ. However, I do not believe that we can still make that assumption any longer. I am not trying to speak in a judgmental, condemning manner. I am not calling into question the authenticity of any person’s decision for Christ. However, I do believe that at times we are guilty of insisting that church members and attendees are saved because they are familiar faces and have been active in the body for so long. But we must reconsider.
There is a recent study out by renowned researcher George Barna. In this survey, Barna discovered that at least fifty percent of church-goers across America are probably lost. Approximately half of the current church could not recall a personal decision to follow Christ. Rather, they equated salvation with doing good works and following the Ten Commandments.
I believe that we would be well served to look at God’s invitation through His prophet Isaiah. I believe that we must honestly consider whether the day has ever come when we surrendered our lives to Christ.
If you are here this morning, and you have no idea what I am talking about- stick with me. If there is a void, something missing, in your life, this is for you. If you cannot remember a time when you gave your heart and life to Christ, listen to Isaiah’s words. We begin with…

6) “Seek the Lord while He may be found, Call upon Him when He is near.”

The first thing that we need to understand this morning is the urgency of salvation. We are exhorted to seek God while He may be found. We must call out to Him while He is close by.
When I read this, I immediately thought about my limited experience in the garden behind the church. As you’ve heard before, Mr. RB planted a garden out back this past year. He grew a little of everything possible. And because of his work, my family enjoyed the fruits of his labor. We ate peas and potatoes, squash and tomatoes. We had watermelon and corn. There was a plethora of options that kept finding themselves on our back porch.
And while I still understand relatively little about growing a garden, I did learn this: There are times when you can find and enjoy certain vegetables, and then there are times when they simply are not there. For example, if I went seeking a watermelon on the vine, it would not be found right now.
While God is not a vegetable, there are times when He is available, and then a day will come when He is not. There will come a day when people will look for God, but He will not be found.
Presently, God’s availability for decision in our lives is limited by the breath in our bodies. God is close by. He is near so long as breath has not left our lungs. As long as there is life in our bodies, He is ready and waiting for you.
Hebrews 9:27 reminds us, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.” We only have one life to live. We only have one chance to make a decision for Christ. And following our earthly lives, we will stand before God and His judgment.
We will determine who we live for, and we will answer for it one day. The only problem in that statement for the unrepentant unbeliever is that phrase “one day.” Our reality is that we simply don’t know when that day will come.
Just think about the atrocity this past week at Fort Hood in Texas. The victims of that day ranged from 62 years of age to just 19. A twenty-one-year-old PFC was three months pregnant at the time of the shooting. It is apparent that she was anticipating a family. I am certain that all of these intended to live long meaningful lives. However, their opportunity- their time for God to be near came to an early end.
We are told to call out to God when He is near. We must call while we still have opportunity.
While we are given that instruction, I want to make certain that you understand He is near this morning. We are told in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.”
We must call out while God is near. The time is pressing, but then Isaiah also explains the process.

7) “Let the wicked forsake His way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord…”

In addition to understanding the urgency of a decision, we must understand the mechanics of that decision as well. We must grasp the process.
Salvation is not equivalent to us merely understanding our need. It is not an elaborate personal attempt at behavior change. Rather, it is repentance.
It is a combination of the recognition of the true depravity of our sin with a willful determination to seek God’s help in changing our sinful lifestyles.
Before we can forsake our way, we must recognize that it is errant. Over and over again, I have heard the excuse, “Well, my life is not that bad. It isn’t as bad as other people around me.” Yet, Scripture teaches us differently. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” And then Romans 6:23 warns us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
When we examine our lifestyles, as bad as they may not seem to us, our actions demand the death penalty- and not just physical death, but eternal spiritual death.
That hatred that you have is equated to murder in God’s eyes. Lust is the same as adultery. Every lie, wayward word, evil action demands the full wrath of God.
Yet, we have the opportunity to escape that judgment. We must understand the truth of our sinful lives, and then we must repent.
Let me resort to a question in the FAITH outline. If we were driving down the road together and I asked you to turn, what would I be asking you to do?
(I would be asking you to change direction)
In Scripture, that is exactly what repentance is. It is changing direction. It is determining that the direction of your life is leading to a place that you don’t want to experience. It is making the decision to abandon your way and to go God’s direction.
Now, I realize that this is a scary process. To be quite honest, there are things that we find in our lives that are not going to be pleasant to try and rid ourselves of. In fact, it may prove painful and difficult. It may take more than what your physical power can muster. But that is where the beauty of this exhortation lies.
Isaiah begins by encouraging the people to seek God while He may be found and to call Him while He is near. And what we find is, when we are faithful to call out to seek God’s face and to call out to Him in need, He provides the strength we need, and He encourages and provides the transformation He desires.
The change in our physical actions will prove difficult, but then we may question: can we really change our thoughts?
Once again, it is possible because God is the provider and deliverer.
Romans 12:2 says, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Who do you think renews your mind? Who allows your thought processes to change? It is God that produces the changes in our lives when we call out.
We note the pressing time frame. We understand the process. And when we are faithful to call out, to repent, to seek God’s face, then we find pardon.

7b) “And He will have mercy on Him; and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon.”

When we are faithful to seek the face of God, when we are willing to acknowledge our sinfulness and we come in humility and repentance, we find the promise of great mercy. We find that His grace is great enough to pardon our pasts.
Over and over again, I have talked with people that have insisted that God could not forgive their pasts. They have claimed that their sins were too big, their actions too evil and heinous for God to excuse.
However, we find in God’s Word, a promise that if we will call out to Him and turn from our evil actions and thoughts, He will abundantly pardon us.
He will settle the debt that we owe. He will restore us- and give us a fresh start.
Even with that promise apparent in Scripture, I know that there are those that would still be hesitant. But if you have difficulty trusting words in black and white, look at the examples we find through Scripture and life.
Paul, the man that authored the majority of the New Testament, was initially introduced to us as he held the coats of those that were stoning Stephen, God’s faithful witness. He was the one that was arresting and imprisoning Christian people, yet God changed His life and made Him the apostle to the Gentiles.
Simon was a zealot. He supported the idea of aggressive, violent overthrow of the Roman government. Yet God called him to serve, and he became part of the group closest to Jesus Christ.
I even have a distant relative that will remain nameless here. But, years ago, he was convicted of a crime that most would consider one of the worst things possible. He was found guilty of murder. He stabbed a man to death. And while society as a whole may have written him off, God didn’t. When he called out to God, God abundantly pardoned him. Now, he is not a murderer in a jail cell. Rather, he is an adopted child of God and the pastor of a growing church in our state.
There is nothing in this world bigger than God’s pardon and forgiveness. When we call out in need, God is faithful to hear our cry. He meets our confession with forgiveness and regeneration.
Perhaps this morning, you have been avoiding this confrontation between God’s desire to grant you new life and the necessary change that He demands. Maybe you have been running, believing that you could eventually avoid the topic long enough that God would simply cease to care.
If that is you this morning, then you need to hear this story.
In 1981, a Minnesota radio station reported a story about a stolen car in California. Police were staging an intense search for the vehicle and the driver, even to the point of placing announcements on local radio stations to contact the thief. On the front seat of the stolen car sat a box of crackers that, unknown to the thief, were laced with poison. The car owner intended to use the crackers as rat bait. Now the police and the owner of the VW Bug were more interested in apprehending the thief to save his life than to recover the car. So often, when we run from God, we believe that we are doing so to escape punishment- like this thief. But what we are actually doing is eluding His rescue.
If you are running, if you have never surrendered your heart and life to Christ and you keep claiming that you have plenty of time to make that decision, you are not escaping the penalty of your actions. You are merely dodging the hope of rescue.
Perhaps this morning, you are tired of running. Maybe you are ready to finally surrender. Perhaps you are seeking a rescue from life’s disappointments. All you have to do is call out to Him, repent, and receive His pardon.
Years ago, George Miller was convicted of robbing the US Mail Service. He was sentenced to be hanged for his crime. President Andrew Jackson issued him a presidential pardon, but Miller refused to accept it. This created a problem that required the input of the Supreme Court. After considering the case, the court ruled that a pardon was an opportunity, a slip of paper, but it was meaningless unless it was received.
Jesus has issued your pardon, but it is of no consequence if you refuse to accept His mercy.
As we come to our time of invitation, if you have never surrendered your heart and life to Christ, now is that time. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the debt of your sin has been paid. Your pardon has been issued. However, it must be claimed. It must be received.
I would invite you. If you have never surrendered your life to Christ, I would love to pray and talk with you. Perhaps you claimed God’s pardon years ago, but you have failed to continue to seek Him and to serve Him, let me encourage a fresh commitment.
Maybe you have surrendered your heart and life and you are looking for a place to serve, if that is the case, we would love to have you. Whatever the decision you need to make, now is the time.

Defining Love

2009-11-06T10:08:00.003-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's PM worship service on November 1, 2009.

I am going to ask you to help us get started this evening. We are beginning our relationship focus on Sunday evenings that began with us showing Fireproof a couple of Sundays ago.
I do want to assure you, while there will be times when we are primarily focused on marital relationships, we are not going to ignore other relationships. We are still going to relate the principles to friendships, dating relationships, church relationships, and even our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I know that for some of you, your spouses have been at home with the Lord for some time, and we would not seek to overlook you in this time. It is my sincerest hope that we will simply learn to grow in our love for one another- regardless of the type of relationship we are involved in.
Let me ask you this question to get us started: How would you define love?
I need us to collaboratively come up with a definition for love.
(allow time for discussion- and compose corporate answer)
I believe that if we asked a group of varied ethnicities, family backgrounds, spiritual convictions, and age groups, we would come up with some distinctive differences in our opinions on love.
For example, listen to a couple of definitions provided by children.
“Love is when your puppy licks you in the face, even after you’ve left him alone all day.” –Mary Anne, age 4. “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you.”- Karen- age 7. “Love is when a girl puts on perfume, and a boy puts on shaving cologne, and they go out and smell each other.”- Karl, age 5. “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and talk more. My Mommy and Daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.”- Emily, age 8. “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 have arthritis too. That’s love.”- Rebecca, age 8.
A teenage girl defined love as “always caring about someone, never wanting to be without them, and not being mad or staying mad at them.”
If we were to ask many adults, I doubt seriously that many would suggest something too different. In fact, in our modern society, far too many adults are prone to inappropriately use sex and love interchangeable.
While society today would not agree on a single definition, I believe that C.S. Lewis provides us with a definition that transcends time and follows Biblical principle. He said, “Being in love is a good thing, but it is not the best thing...Love...is a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habits reinforced by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God...On this love the engine of marriage is run; being in love was the explosion that started it.”
C.S. Lewis sought to reduce the entirety of Scriptural teaching to a simple statement. It is a deep unity that is maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habits reinforced by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God.
While I agree with his statement, and we will revisit it in a few moments, C.S. Lewis is not our authority. Even he has to be weighed against the unchanging standard of Scripture.
I would invite you to join with me in our quest to Discover the Definition of love.

Read text. (1 Corinthians 13:4-8a)

I am certain that many of you could nearly quote the entirety of that passage. It is a definition and description that we have grown accustomed to over the years. However, I believe that we need to truly investigate what it says about God’s gift of love.
We’ll break it down quickly.
Love is PATIENT. While we understand love to be affection or unity, we must recognize that it is patient. It is long-suffering. It is enduring.
I understand that there will be times when those that you love may anger you more quickly than anyone else. After all, you spend the greatest amount of time with them. However, true love, God’s perfect love is patient.
I look back across the years and realize that God tried to teach me that love is patient at an early age.
I may have shared this story with you before, but if so, you have to endure it one more time. When I was in 5th grade, there was this beautiful, smart, popular girl in my class. I was smitten to say the least. However, I had one problem. I was scared to even speak to her. On the last day of class, when everyone was signing class shirts, I was even afraid to approach this little girl to get her to sign mine.
At the close of that year, I lost my connection with her- her family moved away. However, in seventh grade, I remember the two girls that sat next to me in class making the comment that she had moved back to town. I was excited, but once again, I was terrified of speaking.
The years passed and in high school I once again had a class or two with her. But things still had not changed. Finally, following a football game my junior year of high school, my group of friends met she and her group of friends in a McDonalds after the game.
As things would have it- and after a friend broke confidence, this girl finally knew a little of how I felt. She asked me to escort her to Azalea Trail and we began to talk. Later that year, she was my date to the junior prom- but the understanding was very clear that we were JUST FRIENDS. Twice I asked her to date me, and twice I was shot down. Finally, on the first day of our senior year, she told me she loved me and we began dating soon after.
That little fifth grade beauty and I have been married for eight years now- but it took seven long years for that love to be shared.
Love is not dictated by time. Rather, it is patient and long-suffering. It is enduring.
It is also KIND. Love is not vindictive or manipulating. It is not the seeker of evil. Rather, it is kind. It seeks good.
Now, this may seem to be something that is universally understood. However, it is not always translated in practice. Let me ask you for just a moment: How do you speak to your spouse? How do you treat those you love?
This past Friday, I was visiting a hospice patient and watched as a husband scolded his wife for speaking while he was speaking. He paused, and she thought he was finished talking. However, he was in the middle of a story- and intended to finish.
I had to sit by while he embarrassed his poor wife in front of outside company. And I began to wonder, if he was so unkind to her in the presence of guests in the home, I can only imagine how he communicates his love on a regular basis.
While it may be difficult at times, love is kind.
It is also NOT JEALOUS. IT DOES NOT BRAG AND IS NOT ARROGANT.
While those statements all have varying connotations, they all speak to one truth. True love is not primarily concerned with oneself. In fact, true love is selfless.
I believe that we can look to Jesus for our example here. John 15:13 says, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”
In Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, he evidenced the greatest love that man could ever know. He was not concerned with His own well-being. Rather, He was consumed by a love for His Father, for you, and for me. He was not arrogant. Rather, He made Himself to be a humble servant and took the sin of the world on His shoulders.
Jesus taught us that there is no “I” in love.
We could continue on through the rest of the passage, but it continues to reiterate the same themes. It expands and expounds on the selfless nature of love and then provides the promise that love will never fail.
C.S. Lewis said that love is a deep unity. And if you look at the Biblical definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13, you find that all of these descriptions point to unity.
Just consider this: Each of the descriptions that we find, “Love patient, kind, not jealous…”, point to the unselfish nature of true love. And what is the true cause of discord and disunity? Selfishness. When you remove self and personal entitlement from the equation, unity comes naturally.
Love is truly a deep unity as C.S. Lewis suggested. However, there is one more thing that we need to understand. In addition to DISCOVERING A DEFINITION for love, we must also DETERMINE ITS DIRECTION.
We have a short clip from Fireproof that we are going to watch quickly.
(show Michael's "you've got to lead your heart" clip)
I’m afraid that one of the problems that we have as a society is that that we have sought to reduce love to a mere emotion. We have subscribed to this idea that love is an unstoppable force that impacts who it wills and misses those less fortunate.
We imagine love to be that attraction that leaves the man and the woman gazing helplessly into one another’s eyes when they first meet. However, that is not love. That may be part of being in love, but that is not the fullness of love.
Unfortunately, our homes are being inundated with these ideas and images. We are teaching our youth that love is this intense feeling in the pit of your stomach. Even our adults think that love is dictated by emotion and feelings. And it is wrecking the home.
Do you know what the most common statement in marriage counseling is? What do you think most couples complain about when they seek professional help? The comment usually goes something like, “I just don’t feel the love like I used to.”
We don’t realize love is not about feeling. It is not an emotion. Rather, C.S. Lewis and the writers of Fireproof both uncover the same thing. You may recall in Lewis’ definition that “Love…is a deep unity maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habits reinforced by the grace which both partners ask and receive from God.”
Love is an act of the will. It is something that we can strengthen through our habits and our petition of God.
In the Fireproof clip that we just watched, Michael shared about his previous failed marriage. He said that he thought he was following his heart. But then he discovered that you must lead your heart.
There is a responsibility that you and I bear. We are called to determine who and how we are going to love. We must lead our hearts.
Just consider a couple of Scripture references. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 23:19 says, “Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.” Colossians 3:1 says, “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above.”
Over and over again in God’s Word, we are taught that we can guard and determine the direction of our hearts. We can choose what we love and value. We can determine how we approach love.
Now, there are probably those that are thinking, “The heart wants what it wants.” However, that thought process is errant and to be quite honest, it is an excuse that we lean on.
When Scripture talks about setting your heart on something, it does not meant that we must physically turn the blood-pumping muscle in our chest in a particular direction. Rather, the heart is the seat of the emotion. We must turn our emotions, our desires in a particular direction.
When we start to substitute emotion in the place of heart, we understand that emotions are fickle. They are able to be manipulated and controlled.
We can determine the direction of our hearts.
If you determine to love someone and invest in them, you will discover that you relationship will deepen. It is not a matter of feeling, but of will.
Are you disappointed in your marital relationship? Determine that you will love more deeply and unconditionally, even when you don’t feel it. Are you struggling in your relationship with your family? Determine that you will love them, even when you don’t feel they deserve it. Are you finding difficulty with your friends and coworkers? Determine to love them in spite of what your emotions are suggesting.
Love is a decision that we must make- not just a feeling. When we make a conscious decision to love more freely, regardless of feeling or emotion, we will find that our emotions will eventually begin mimic what we have decided.
Let me share a story- to illustrate this, and we’ll close.
Newspaper columnist and minister George Crane tells of a wife who came into his office full of hatred toward her husband. “I do not only want to get ride of him, I want to get even. Before I divorce him, I want to hurt him as much as he has me.”
Dr. Crane suggested an ingenious plan. “Go home and act as if you really love your husband. Tell him how much he means to you. Praise him for every decent trait. Go out of your way to be as kind, considerate, and generous as possible. Spare no efforts to please him, to enjoy him. Make him believe that you love him. After you’ve convinced him of your undying love and that you cannot live without him, then drop the bomb. Tell him that you’re getting a divorce. That will really hurt him.” With revenge in her eyes, she smiled and exclaimed, “Beautiful, beautiful. Will he ever be surprised!” And she did it with enthusiasm. Acting “as if.” For two months she showed love, kindness, listening, giving, reinforcing, sharing. When she didn’t return, Crane called, “Are you ready not to go through with the divorce?”
“Divorce?” she exclaimed. “Never! I discovered I really do love him.” Her actions changed her feelings. Motion resulted in emotion. The ability to love is established not so much by fervent promise as often repeated deeds.
We must understand true love as believers. We must understand that it is a deep unity that comes from selfless, sacrificial concern. And we must determine the direction of our hearts.
As we come to our time of invitation, I want to ask once again: Is there a relationship in your life that is struggling? Maybe it’s marital, maybe it’s familial, maybe it’s simply a friendship. You are the only one that can determine to love.
If we are struggling in our relationships, we must make a commitment to love even when we don’t feel like it. We must determine to love regardless of what return we see.
Your relationships- and the depth of the love in them are completely up to you. So is there a relationship you need to change? Is there a person that you’re refusing love?
Make the decision to make the change tonight.

Immitating Immanuel

2009-11-06T09:56:00.004-06:00

The following is from Montrose Baptist Church's AM worship service on October 25, 2009.

James Baldwin once said, “Children have never been good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”

As a young and naïve parent, I never understood the truth of that statement. However, I am coming to learn the prominence of imitation over instruction.

Through the years, I have watched our children with amazement. The little things that they pick up on are both incredible and scary at the same time.

Perhaps one of my favorite memories involves Kate and her attempt to mimic Mom and Dad at bed time. I am certain that the parents in this room understand the difficulty of that dreadful hour. It is that time when parents become completely and utterly exhausted and the kids catch a second wind. At our children's current ages, it involves at least five or six trips to the bedroom to place a child back in bed and it is typically followed by an instruction, or perhaps a borderline threat, that they WILL NOT get back out of their bed.

For our kids, bedtime is often mistaken for the allotted time of the day to trash the bedrooms. They drag out clothes while looking for pajamas, move entire libraries worth of books and then might even try bungee jumping off of the beds using suspenders.

Now, Emily and I have really tried to work with our children. We have repeatedly given instruction. We have repeatedly offered discipline and correction. And without fail, it reaches that point where Mom or Dad walk into the room and make the following statement: “What happened in here?! Wait, I don't want to hear it! Y'all get in bed and lay down. Do not make me come back here again or everyone is getting a spanking.”

Now, have any of you other parents ever had an experience similar to that?

A few weeks ago, we were going through the normal nightly routine. The kids were going to the bathroom before climbing in and Sarah's room looked like they had already performed their nightly duty of destruction. Sarah climbed into bed. Eli made a pallet on Sarah's floor and Kate walked through the door on her way to her bed. Suddenly, Kate stops, puts her hands on her hips and then begins gesturing and speaking in her foreign language Pappy calls Swahili. I am still not certain what Kate said to Sarah and Eli, but I'm pretty sure she was taking care of Mom and Dad's address to the inhabitants of the pink bedroom.

Her familiarity with Mom and Dad's bedtime speech led to her imitation.

We could share all kinds of examples of kids that imitate their parents or elders. But that is not my express purpose this morning. Rather, I want to ask the question: What would happen if we began to imitate Immanuel- if we imitated Christ with the same kind of passion and accuracy as young children? What would happen in our churches and communities is God's people were true imitators of Christ?

We are going to look at the early church this morning and discover what happens when God's people are faithful to imitate Him.

Read text. (Acts 4:1-13)

By this time in the ministries of Peter and John, the face of the Christian church is rapidly growing and changing. Peter and John have witnessed the ascension of Christ. They have been gifted with the Holy Spirit and participated in the Day of Pentecost. Then, in returning to their worship and ministries, they have healed a lame man at the temple gate. You might recall their famed words, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” For all practical purposes, they are faithfully and powerfully imitating the ministry of Jesus. They are doing the things that He did in their midst and instructed them to do as well. They are answering their call to ministry and evidencing God's power.

Yet, it is not received by all. Through their example, we come to understand an important truth. The first thing that we must grasp about imitating Christ is this: If we are faithful to walk in His ways and follow His example, we will find...

1.) Adversity

“As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands of them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.” (v. 1-3)

For Peter and John, and for the rest of the disciples at some point during their ministries, faithful imitation of Christ was going to produce adversity and strife.

At this point, Peter and John have only done good and proclaimed the name of Jesus. They have just bestowed the gift of new life to a lame beggar from the temple gates. However, it is not producing praise and adoration from all those around. In fact, the Sadducees, the priests and the temple guards immediately seize them. They determine that they must stop this madness and blasphemy before it can go any farther.

Now, can you see this? The disciples, those that were teaching the truth of God and declaring the name of Jesus as God's Son, were met by the religious elite and essentially told to be quiet.

Now, there adversity didn't even come from outside the religious establishment. Rather, it can from God's own people. It came from people that should have understood the person of Jesus. It came from people that had devoted their life to studying the Scriptures.

When God's people were faithful to imitate His Son, they found adversity.

And this should not surprise us. Look at Jesus. He has been labeled as the most controversial figure in world history.

When Jesus spoke, taught, or demonstrated his power, He was attacked and threatened because of it. There was the time that He was led to a high place on a hill so that they could throw Him off. (Luke 4:29) Multiple times the Jews picked up stones to attempt to stone him. (John 8:59, John 10:31) He eventually surrendered His life on Calvary- as a direct result of the opposition and adversity of God's own people.

Jesus Himself promised the disciples that they were going to face adversity. John 7:7 says, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify that what it does is evil.” And then in John 15:18 we find Jesus saying, “If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated me first.” While it might seem that these passages are contradictory, they are actually complimentary. The overall picture is simple. If we love Jesus and seek to imitate Him, the world is going to hate us. We are not going to be well-received.

As we are talking about imitating Immanuel this morning, we need to understand from the start that our imitation is not going to be without adversity. In fact, the more accurately you imitate Christ, the more severe the adversity is going to become.

While many view Christianity as a way to gain respect and good-standing in the community, true and complete imitation of Christ is going to cause some problems. It is going to produce a lack of understanding. If we truly and completely imitate Christ, there are those, even within the church, that are going to think that we are charismatic and crazy.

If Jesus was rejected, what makes us believe that we should be accepted and loved by all?

There will be adversity. However, while some don't understand our imitation of Christ, there will also be those that see its...

2.) Attraction

“But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.” (v. 4)

Peter and John were taken into custody because of their faithful imitation of Christ. However, while some didn't understand, others noted the attraction of their message and lifestyles.

While Peter and John were facing reprecussions for their faithful service and declaration, God was using them to build the church and further His kingdom.

We are told that the number of men came to be about five thousand. Now, there is some debate as to what this means. Some suggest that there were five thousand that were saved as a result of the miracle and Peter's declaration, while others contend that there were less than that.

If you recall, in Acts 2 through the Day of Pentecost, there were three thousand souls added to the number. Some might suggest that there were two thousand more added while others would argue that there were another five thousand. I don't know if the number is really that relevant. Rather, there is a promise that we find.

Because Peter and John were faithful to imitate Christ and serve Him faithfully, regardless of the immediate adversity they faced from some, there were those that were drawn to the hope and message of Christ.

I believe they perfectly illustrate the fact that loving imitation of Christ will produce results. Where some will view the message of Christ and His followers as threatening or even foolishness, there will be those that come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ because of the faithful imitation of God's people.

Just consider how effective they were without a thirty minute sermon. Their lifestyles- their imitation of Jesus when coupled with the power of the Holy Spirit led either two thousand or five thousand to be converted that day. Either way, when was the last time that you heard of a mass conversion such as that?

Imitation of Christ will produce adversity with some. Its attraction will be noted by others. While imitation of Jesus will produce a wide array of responses, our actions must also be coupled with...

3.) Attestation

“When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire, 'By what power, or in what name, have you done this?' Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers and elders of the people, if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead- by this name this man stands here before you in good health. He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders but which became the chief cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.'” (v. 7-12)

We must remember, even while there were multitudes that responded to the message and demonstration of Peter and John, they are still in the custody of the religious leadership. They are still going to face accusation and questioning from those that don't agree with their testimony or cause.

They are held in protective custody- like criminals to face the accusation of the rulers. However, we do not find men that shrink from the opportunity. They do not abandon their responsibility when they are put in a difficult situation.

Rather, while looking the accusing, condemning audience in the eye- in a vulnerable place, Peter became overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit and declared the truth.

Now, I love Peter's address to the Council that he is facing. Peter begins by questioning what they are on trial for. He says, “if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man...” Peter basically calls into question the purpose and motivation of this trial. I am certain that he is trying to get this audience to question their own hearts.

But in typical Peter fashion, he follows this question with a rather bold declaration. He essentially says, “If we are on trial for a benefit done to a sick man... then just know that it was Jesus' name and power that performed this miracle. If you want someone to blame, keep on blaming Jesus.”

And while Peter was bold in his declaration, he continues to move into more dangerous territory. When standing before this council- probably the Sanhedrin that was made up of the high priest and seventy others- both Sadducee and Pharisee, Peter turns the finger of accusation.

He makes an exceedingly bold statement in the light of the company he was in. He assures them that this miracle was not done in the name of Satan or a demon- which is ironic considering the Sadducees on the council wouldn't have believed in them anyway! Instead, it was done in the name and power of Jesus Christ- the man that they had put to death. He is declaring Jesus' true messiahship here. And then to add a couple of exclamation points, he adds that it was “by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead...”

Once again, Peter is taking another jab at the Sadducee presence. The Sadducees were convinced that there were no angels or demons. Yet they questioned the disciples under what power they operated. Then the Sadducees also refused to believe in the idea of resurrection or eternal life- and so Peter adds for good measure that the person that grants them power is He that God raised from the dead.

But even still, the Holy Spirit is not done with Peter. Rather, through the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter argues with the very authority that the Sadducees and Pharisees claimed. He went forward further and quotes Psalm 118:22 speaking about the the stone the builders rejected.

Essentially, Peter was faithful with the message he was given and tells them, “You know, you are the religious elite. You are supposed to dedicate your life to understanding the intracacies of the law. You should know, better than anyone else, the message of Word of God (which was the Old Testament at this point). However, even you fail to realize that you are fulfilling prophecy. You are the foolish builders that are refusing to accept the cornerstone. Even still you are questioning the stability and strength of Jesus. Why can't you wake up and see that the Word of God is true, and it is speaking about you?”

Peter couples his imitation of Christian lifestyle with faithful declaration of the truth of God. After pointing out the errancies and inconsistencies in their own arguments, he gives them the plain and simple truth. He declares that there is no other name but Jesus, by which we must be saved.

While we don't have modern-day Sanhedrin councils, we must still be prepared to give an account of the one that grants us life. We still face those that refuse to accept the plain truth that is right in front of them. Especially in our modern religious atmosphere, we must stand firm in our declaration of Jesus as the only way to be saved.

Our actions must be coupled with attestation. We cannot refuse to speak.

Peter and John found adversity in their attempt to imitate Christ. They also found those that were attracted to the hope of the gospel. They were faithful in their attestation before the council. And lastly we find a certainty or an...

4.) Assurance

“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” (v. 13)

Because of their actions and declaration, even the unbelieving council understood a very important truth. They were certain that these men had been with Jesus.

When the Sadducees and the Pharisees look on and heard Peter's declaration, they were certain of two things. They first noticed that these men were uneducated and untrained.

Now, this did not mean that they were illiterate or ignorant. It does not mean that they were completely uneducated. Rather, they were not formally educated in a rabbinical school like those that were serving on the council. They should not have been as steeped in the Word of God as they were.

However, because of their time with Jesus, and because of the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, they responded and defended the faith in a manner that was not expected.

When faced with two ordinary men that presented such an extraordinary argument and declaration, there was only one way they could explain this occasion. They recognized the boldness, clarity, and directness from one other person. This was the same power that they saw in Jesus Christ.

Now, think about what that must have been like for these “religious” men. These were probably the same men that had met to hear and sentence Jesus Himself. These were the same leaders that thought they had succeeded in silencing this “blasphemous” message. However, they are discovering the truth of the power of God.

Even those that refused to accept the message of Christ could see and understand the source of the disciples' power.

That is my favorite part of this entire story. While I loved Peter's argument, while we celebrate the addition of lives to the kingdom of God, there is something about that statement that causes me to marvel.

Of all of the things that could have been said, of all of the explanations that could have been made, even the unbelieving council knew that their power came from Jesus.

Let me ask the question: what would this community look like if those around us- even the unbelievers saw the power that was present in our lives and knew that we had been with Jesus?

What would happen, what would our services be like if it was obvious that God's people had been fellowshipping with Christ?

The disciples knew how to imitate Christ- they presented an accurate picture of His power and gospel, not because they spent years in a fancy school learning all the right answers, but because they had simply spent time with Jesus.

I am firmly convinced that as a Christian people- as “little Christs,” we are expected to imitate our Master. We should love with His love. We should serve with His heart. We should declare the truth with His passion. We should live with His standard.

However, we are never going to accurately imitate Christ if we fail to spend time with Him.

As we come to our time of invitation this morning, I want to ask you: Are you accurately imitating my Jesus? Does your life resemble His? Do people see His power in your life and marvel? Do even the unbelievers around you know that there is something special and different in your life?

If not, why not? What is it that needs to change for you to be found like Peter and John? What must you do for someone else to know that you have been with Jesus?

Mission: Montrose (He Wants Me, but It is Not About Me)

2009-10-05T19:03:00.004-05:00

This is from the AM worship service at Montrose Baptist Church on October 4, 2009.

The families in the Sahel, a four thousand mile wide stretch of savannah just south of the Sahara Desert, understand the cost of the harvest. That particular area receives all of its precipitation in a four month period: May, June, July, and August. After that, not a drop of rain falls for eight months. The ground cracks from dryness- as will your hands and feet. The winds of the Sahara pick up the dust and throw it thousands of feet into the air. It then comes slowly drifting across West Africa as a fine grit. It gets inside your mouth. It gets inside your watch and stops it. For those areas, the year’s food must all be grown in that four month period. The natives grow sorghum or milo in small fields.
October and November are beautiful months. The granaries are full, the harvest has come. People sing and dance. They eat two meals a day.
The sorghum is ground between two stones to make flour and then a mush with the consistency of yesterday’s Cream of Wheat. The sticky mush is eaten hot. They roll it into little balls between their fingers, drop it into a bit of sauce and then pop it into their mouths. The meal lies heavy on their stomachs, and sleep comes easily.
December comes and the granaries start to recede. Many families begin to omit the morning meal. By January, perhaps one family in fifty is still eating two meals a day. By February, the evening meal begins to suffer. The meal shrinks even more in March and children begin to succumb to illness. You don’t stay well on half a meal a day. April is the month that haunts the memory. In it, you hear the babies crying in the twilight. Most of the days are passed with only an evening cup of gruel.
Then, inevitably, it happens. A six or seven-year-old boy comes running to his father one day with excitement. “Daddy! Daddy! We’ve got grain!” he shouts. “Son, you know we haven’t had grain for weeks.” “Yes, we have!” the boy insists. “Out in the hut where we keep the goats, there’s a leather sack hanging up on the wall. I reached up and put my hand down in there. Daddy, there’s grain in there. Give it to Mommy so she can make flour, and tonight our tummies can sleep!”
The father stands motionless. “Son, we can’t do that. That’s next year’s seed grain. It’s the only thing between us and starvation. We’re waiting for the rains, and then we must use it.”
The rains finally arrive in May, and when they do the young boy watches as his father takes the sack from the wall and does the most unreasonable thing imaginable. Instead of feeding his weak family, he goes to the field with tears streaming down his face, and takes the precious seed and throws it away. He scatters it in the dirt! Why? Because he believes in the harvest.
The act of sowing that seed hurts so much that the sower cries.
But we must realize that this is God’s law of the harvest. Don’t expect to rejoice later unless you have willing to sow in tears.
How much would it cost us to sow in tears? Now, I don’t mean out of our abundance. Are you willing to get to the point where you say, “I believe in the harvest and so I am willing to do what makes no sense”?
As we continue to look at our call to missions, we must realize that it is not about us. It is not based on our desires or feelings. It is not determined by our abundance or lack. It is simply a call that we must answer.

Read text. (Luke 10:5-12)

If you remember two weeks ago, as we began to deal with this passage, we have discovered the personnel. We have been reminded that you and I are called to serve as active missionaries to our community. We also discovered the partnership that is present between fellow workers and Christ personally. We considered the prospect of the harvest. Remember, approximately 85% of our state is not in service this morning. And we also looked at the petition that we are expected to make for more workers.
Last week, we added an understanding of the authority of the Person that sends us. Because Jesus sends us, we do not have a sufficient excuse for neglecting our mission. We also noted the adversity of the sinful. Our message is not always going to be well-received. We discovered the adornment of those that are sent. We are not to carry a money belt, bag, extra shoes- or anything that would hinder us or relieve our dependency on God. And then we saw the appearance of snares. We were reminded that our mission is so important and urgent that we are not to be entrapped in meaningless chatter.
As we continue to investigate Christ’s call to those that He sends out, we are going to amend those things that we already understand.
The first thing that we find is the proper…

1.) Disposition (v. 5)
“But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’”
As Jesus is addressing this “other” seventy, he tells them how to approach potential hosts and converts. Rather than coming with an overbearing, powerful attitude, He instructs them to come in peace. He commands them to have a peaceful disposition.
Specifically, Christ tells these that they are to immediately greet those potential helpers with the statement, “Peace to this house!”
Now, when we look at that particular greeting, it was not uncommon during that time. In fact, it was understood much like you and I understand it today. It was a pleasant greeting that promised good intentions and desires for those that dwell in a particular house.
It was a simple address that anyone in that time would have understood. However, when it came from one of the servants of Christ, when it came from one of these men that were entrusted with the greatest treasure on the face of the earth- the gospel of Christ, the meaning was much deeper.
The Greek used was “eirēnē.” Where most would understand it to simply mean peace and rest, it actually carried a larger connotation. The word referred to peace, tranquility, harmony, safety, welfare, health. It had a special emphasis on a lack of strife in a relationship.
For these commissioned ambassadors, their offering of “Peace to this house” actually offered a hope of intimacy and lack of strife in that family’s relationship, not just with themselves, but with God.
Do you realize that is what we are essentially offering as we carry the message of Christ to a lost and dying world? We are offering reconciliation and intimacy in a relationship with God Himself.
When these men went out, they were to go with a peaceful disposition.
Where I’ve said that there are elements we’ve lost through the years, I believe that this is one of them. Instead of going in peace, we are taught to be confrontational. Instead of offering reconciliation, we believe that we go in condemnation.
Let me illustrate. We believe that the best way to evangelize is (in the best old country preacher tone and drawl we can manage) to attack those that we are witnessing to. We come with the, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS AT HAND! REPENT YOU SINNER AND SAVE YOURSELF FROM THE FIERY PITS OF HELL! IF YOU DON'T PUT DOWN THAT BOTTLE AND GET BACK TO CHURCH, YOU ARE GOING TO UNDERSTAND THE MISERY OF ETERNAL DAMNATION! YOU SORRY SINNER, YOUR WRETCHED EXISTENCE IS A PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR LIFE. Now don't you want to ask Jesus into your heart?!"
We are taught, often through preaching, that the most effective means of reaching someone is to yell and scream and condemn their sin. We act as if we are supposed to produce fear and conviction in the hearts of the people we are called to evangelize. However, we must remember, we go in hopes of providing reconciliation. We go to bring peace. We offer a message that produces harmony.
We have to go in peace and be willing to leave the conviction up to God. Hear me again. We go in peace and we allow God to produce conviction. We are not called to produce a reaction through manipulation and guilt.
We find the disposition. Next, we note the call to…

2.) Contentment (v. 7)
“And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.”
In addition to finding a peaceful disposition, those that are sent are expected to be content with the provisions that are made.
When they entered into the cities, they were immediately trying to locate a place to stay while they fulfilled their mission. Now, you need to remember what we already know about these men. They were another seventy that were sent out in pairs to thirty-five different locations. And while they went, they were commanded to leave their money belts at home.
These men could not pay for a room at an inn. They were not able to provide for themselves through monetary means. Rather, they were falling on the grace and goodness of the people of that location.
And remember, additionally, if they went in pairs, a host would likely have to house two men as opposed to just one.
One of the pressing tasks in the mission was to secure a place to stay.
Once these men secured a place to stay while working with the people of that area, they were commanded to stay there. They should remain in that house and evidence their appreciation and contentment with the provisions made by God and those people.
House-jumping in search of a more comfortable place was prohibited. Now, why would Jesus prohibit this? Is it really wrong to want to have the best things available to you?
I believe that while there was a temptation to seek “greener pastures,” it would ultimately undermine their witness in that region. For the original hosts, what would it communicate if your guests left because they thought the offer from your neighbor was better? Additionally, this move would simply be wasted time. We must remember the urgency of the mission.
Being settled and appreciative gave an opportunity to be more focused on the task at hand and preserved their reputations.
Let’s bring this to today for just a moment. Have you heard of pastors that seem to jump from place to place, always looking for the better deal? While we are going that route, do you know of church members that do the same?
I believe that discontentment communicates the same thing today that it did then. It downplays the obedience and goodness of those that God has used to provide and it robs those people of time and opportunities to serve in their areas.
We are instructed to be content, but also see Jesus reassuring those He sends out. He tells them that a “laborer is worthy of his wages.” He basically assures them that they deserve the things that are provided for them.
Let me take a quick survey. How many of you in this room are paid what you are worth at your job?
Where some might have questioned their worth, Jesus told His followers, “Listen, you are worth what you earn. You are not a charity case. Instead, you are fulfilling an important mission and I am using those people to provide what you need and deserve.”
Jesus’ followers were deserving of what they made because of the magnitude and importance of the task they were fulfilling.
We are expected to have a peaceful disposition. We are called to be content with the provisions that God provides. We then note the duty of…

3.) Determination (v. 10-11)
“But whatever city you enter, and they do not receive you, go out into its streets and say, ‘The very dust of your city which clings to us we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near you.’”
Jesus did not ever attempt to mislead those that were being sent out. He did not pretend that their task was an easy and certain venture. Rather, their mission would prove difficult in some circumstances. In some areas, they would not have the opportunity to stay and witness because the entire community would refuse to be hospitable. There were going to be places where everyone refused to harbor and support these men.
In anticipation of this rejection, Jesus instructed these men how to approach that problem.
If everyone rejected God’s chosen messengers, they were to go into the streets and publicly knock the dust off of their shoes in protest.
Now, think about this for moment. If everyone rejected these men, they would stand in the middle of the road and wipe the dirt off the bottoms of their sandals.
This is pretty strong imagery. These men, as a form of judgment and declaration, would stand in the streets and remove the lowest things of that city. They were literally declaring to this city, “The kingdom of God has come near you. We came to offer peace and reconciliation and you refused. So, we are making certain that we owe you nothing. We are not going to be associated with you in any way. We will not even allow the dust of your streets to go with us!”
And after this determination and declaration, they simply left.
Now, this is something that we might have a difficult time with. We like the image of a longsuffering God that will never give up on us. However, when considering the urgency of the mission- and the necessary response, they simply did not have time to stay and argue with those that refuse to accept.
They moved on.
While we want to do all that is in our power, I’m afraid there are times that we spend so much time trying to persuade certain people that we neglect others. There will still be times when we have to wipe the dust off our feet.
Now, this is not necessarily something that everyone will take from this passage, but it was something that God spoke to me.
When Jesus prepared them for a potentially negative response, He was communicating to them, “You are called to go. God will handle the response. And if they reject, it is not you they reject, but God and His Son.”
We are called to go- and if we are rejected, it is not us, but Jesus that they are saying no to.
We note the disposition, the contentment, the determination, and lastly the…

4.) Destruction (v. 12)
“But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city.”
I believe that those that were sent out went with enthusiasm and excitement. Certainly there was some fear, but they went with high expectations.
In those times, when they were rejected and denied shelter, it would have been easy to want to declare judgment and lash out. However, this commissioning continues to follow the pattern consistent through Scripture.
We find in the book of Romans, “’Vengeance is mine; I will repay,’ saith the Lord.”
Over and over through Scripture, we find God’s people instructed to remain peaceful and trust that God is going to take the job of condemning and punishing evil.
God is not going to allow the rejection of His Son’s sacrifice on Calvary to be trampled in the dirt without consequence.
Jesus warns that it will be more tolerable for Sodom in the day of recompense and vengeance than it will for those cities. Now, that should scare someone. Does anyone remember exactly what God did to Sodom and Gomorrah?
God rained fire and brimstone from heaven on that city. It destroyed the cities, the growth, the people- everything. God is promising His ambassadors that complete annihilation is desirable compared to what awaits those that refuse the gospel.
If we look at the book of Mark, we are told that the place of assignment for those that refuse Jesus and His sacrifice is hell. It is the place where the fire is not quenched and the worm does not die. It is a place of complete isolation from God and everything good, where the fire burns eternally, and the suffocating gas of brimstone rises from the lake of fire.
Do you know what the worst part of hell is? It is not the torment or the burning. Hell is hell because you are completely removed from God’s care and restriction. Satan no longer has to refrain from his desires when the hand of God is removed.
For those that refuse the message, their fate is so severe that they would desire fire to fall from heaven and consume them.
As followers of Christ, when our mission field refuses to surrender and bow a knee, it is not our job to take things into our own hands. We are not afforded the right to pass judgment. Rather, God assures us that He will see justice through.
Looking at the account of the seventy others, we discover that we are commanded to go. We are told how to go. And then we are reminded that God is in control and it is not about us.
When we discover that this is not about us, we must come to the realization that our task is simply to go. God is in charge of the response. However, He needs us to seek to faithfully serve Him to accomplish His will.
I know that the same question has been asked for the last three weeks, but it is going to be asked again. Are you going? Are you reporting for your missionary tour of duty? Are you making a difference in your community?
If you have not reported for duty, isn’t it time that you begin to do what you were made to do?

Mission: Montrose (He Wants Me, So Now What?)

2009-10-05T18:59:00.001-05:00

This is from the AM worship service at Montrose Baptist Church on September 27, 2009.

In the early nineties in India, a young woman named Alila stood on the beach holding her tiny infant son close to her heart. Tears welled in her eyes as she began slowly walking toward the river’s edge. She stepped into the water, silently making her way out until she was waist deep, the water gently lapping at the sleeping baby’s feet. She stood there for a long time holding the child tightly as she stared across the river. Then all of a sudden in one quick movement she threw the six month old baby to his watery death.
Native missionary M.V. Varghese often witnesses among the crowds who gather at the Ganges. It was he who cam upon Alila that day kneeling in the sand crying uncontrollably and beating her breast. With compassion, he knelt down next to her and asked her to explain what was wrong. Through her sobs and cries, she explained, “The problems in my home are too many and my sins are heavy on my heart, so I offered the best I have to the goddess Ganges. I offered my firstborn son.”
Brother Varghese’s heart ached and broke for the desperate woman. As she continued to weep, he gently began to tell here about the love of Jesus, and through His sacrifice, her sins could be forgiven. After hearing such news, she looked at this missionary strangely. “I have never heard that before,” she replied through her tears. “Why couldn’t you have come thirty minutes earlier? If you did, my child would not have had to die.”
The reality is that millions of people come to that same holy sight- in the Indian city of Hardwar to bathe in the River Ganges. They come believing that this Hindu ritual with was their sins away. Unfortunately for many of them like Alila, missionaries are arriving too late. They are arriving too late because there simply are not enough faithful brothers and sisters answering the call to the mission field.
When we hear that story, my first reaction was to fight back tears. Truly, this is a tragedy. However, there might still be the tendency to dismiss this story as an unfortunate foreign occurrence. I doubt seriously that any of us have heard of a baby being offered in the Mississippi to atone for the sins of their family. But that does not mean that people are not desperate and hurting. While we might not know of local stories that are exactly like this one, I can assure you that we people here in our backyard that are just as desperate to find relief from the guilt of sin, and a break from the difficulty of life.
They might not have offered their firstborn, but I can guarantee you there are those that are following similar ill-fated hopes at relief.
There are those that are living lives of bondage in legalism, somehow believing that their best efforts are going to be good enough for redemption and heaven. Others are trying to drown it in alcohol. Still more are trying to escape through drugs and substance abuse. Some attempt to fill that void with inappropriate relationships. The list is endless.
Even in our towns, there are those that are empty and desperate. And I’m afraid that, if we are completely honest, many of them would ask us the same question Alila posed to Brother Varghese. They would wonder where we have been, and why we have not come earlier.
I want to ask you as we continue to dig into Christ’s commissioning of “another” seventy that he appointed to serve as missionaries and ambassadors.

Read text. (Luke 10:3-4)

If you recall last week, we looked at the identity of the personnel and were reminded that every believer is commissioned to take the gospel to a lost and dying world. It is not merely for professionals. We also considered the partnerships that are present in that endeavor- between each other and Christ Himself. We then considered the prospect of a great harvest and finished with our duty to petition God for additional workers.
As we move forward in Christ’s address, there are four more elements that we must recognize. The first element present in our passage today is…

1.) The Authority of the Sender (v. 3)
“Go; behold, I send you out…”
When you look at this particular portion of Christ’s address to this seventy, it may seem that there is a correlation between this passage and another.
Where else in Scripture can we find the command “go” as it relates to missions?
Jesus tells the other seventy here in Luke 10 to “Go.” And it may resemble the Great Commission in Matthew 28 where Christ instructed “Go ye therefore…” However, there is a marked difference here. Certainly the Great Commission carries a connotation of a required movement. Typically, at first glance, it is assumed to be a verb that instructed His people to start moving. However, the original text in the Greek does not match.
Matthew 28 literally translates “As you are going,” where the word used here in Luke is “hypagō.” Where Matthew 28 is a present participle phrase, Luke 10 is an imperative command. It literally means, “Get going!”
When you combine the wording and intention behind these two passages, I believe that we get a more complete picture of Christ’s command to serve as His hands and feet in our world. I believe we can combine these two different accounts and it would translate, “Get going! And as you are going, make disciples…”
The call to action is apparent all through the gospel. However, we need to establish the authority of the sender. After all, why would we listen and take action, if the person issuing the instruction does not have the authority to demand anything of us.
Once again, we need to cross-reference the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18 firmly establishes that Christ has the authority to demand whatever He will of His people. In Christ’s own words we see, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.”
Christ has been given authority over everything- every person, being, situation, etc. There is nothing that is not subject to His instruction and standard.
You might be sitting there thinking, “Well, OK, Christ has authority over everything. What does that matter to me?” We need to understand the identity and authority of the person that is sending us because if we don’t we will never take action or remain faithful to that commission.
As a church, you have been wonderful in obliging to follow me in things that you might not have understood. However, if I simply tell you that I want you to do something you might do it for a little while. But if it gets difficult and taxing, there will be a time when you want to stop. And what would stop you? It is just the preacher.
We must understand that we are commissioned under the authority of Jesus Christ. And because of the greatness of His authority, we are not given the luxury of simply abandoning His instruction when it becomes difficult. We see the authority of the sender and then we must note…

2.) The Adversity of the Sinful (v. 3)
“Go; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.”
Now, before we go any farther this morning looking into the interpretation of the passage, does this sound pleasant? Is this a pleasurable picture?
Jesus told this group of seventy to “Get going, but be forewarned, you are going out like lambs in a pack of wolves.”
Now, I believe the imagery is pretty simple. What happens when lambs and wolves meet? Lambs become threatened. They are subject to attacks, injury, and trouble.
I believe that is an entirely accurate picture of how these men were being sent out.
So many times, we talk about victory in Christ. We love to quote passages like Philippians 4:13 that say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” However, we need to realize that our mission is not going to be free of bumps and bruises. It is not all going to be easy and pleasant.
As much as our society enjoys the “prosperity gospel,” it simply is not guaranteed in Scripture.
Just consider what this commission meant for these men. When Jesus sent out this seventy, they were going to prepare the way and proclaim the name of Jesus as Messiah. However, they were going to run into various belief systems. They were going to face a devout Jewish society that was going to, in large respect, regard these men as either pagans or blasphemers. They were going to face an unrelenting system dictated by self-righteous legalists that were unwilling to accept anything that would compromise their personal authority.
Telling these followers that they were going as lambs in the midst of wolves was an accurate picture of these men when facing traditional Judaism and the Pharisees.
And we must realize that the picture has not changed. There are going to be times when doors will be slammed in our faces. There are going to be times when we are not simply rejected, but cussed and threatened. It is inevitable that attacks will come. And we approach them like lambs in the midst of wolves.
There is the temptation in human emotion to defend one’s self. Even as Christians, when faced with attack and defamation, there is the natural desire to respond and defend. However, Jesus said they were being sent as lambs in the midst of wolves. What defense does a lamb have against a wolf?
We must understand the proper heart and attitude. It is not our place to attack. However, we go out in gentleness and love. We present Christ without militant methods.
There are two movies out that basically tell the same story. Through the Gates of Splendor and End of the Spear are both movies based on the story of Jim Elliott, Nate Saint, and the missionaries that worked with the Waodani tribe. (Just a side note- I hope to have a movie night and show this!)
The Waodani were extremely aggressive. In fact, they always carried spears to attack any threats that were present. One way that missionaries discouraged their attacks were to fire guns in the air if they became aggressive.
Perhaps, the most memorable and difficult scene in the movie was one were Nate Saint’s son asked if he would use his gun if they were in trouble. He responded with a “No” to his son. He explained, “We can’t shoot the Waodani, son. They’re not ready for heaven- we are.”
These five missionary men all gave their lives. They were all speared because of a lie that was circulated through the tribe about them. They were truly lambs in the midst of wolves.
We note the authority of the sender. We see the adversity of the sinful. Next, we note…

3.) The Adornment of the Sent (v. 4)
“Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes…”
Jesus addressed all of the potential questions these men could’ve had. He told them that they were being put in a vulnerable position. However, He further complicated the picture that we expected to see in His sending off of these followers.
Look at how Jesus instructs His followers to adorn themselves when they go out. He tells them, “Carry no money belt.” They were told not to carry gold, silver, or copper. They were not to make monetary provisions for themselves.
He then tells them to “Carry no bag.” Jesus is referring to a knapsack-type of bag that was used for carrying bread primarily. It was just a way of making certain that you had extra physical provisions for your journey.
So, they are already instructed not to carry food or money with them, but then Jesus expands the instruction. He also tells them to carry no shoes.
Now, would Jesus really further complicate this process by telling them to go barefoot?
I believe when we compare this account with a similar account of the twelve disciples in Matthew 10, we actually find that this is instruction not to carry an extra pair of sandals. If you look at Matthew 10, Jesus tells them not to take two tunics or an extra staff.
Now, why would Jesus do this? Doesn’t this seem to merely complicate this whole process? After all, what is wrong with being prepared for potential difficulty in the future?
I believe that Jesus gave these instructions, the instruction to carry nothing extra with them for a purpose. I believe He did this for two reasons. First, He did not want them weighed down or concerned with anything but their mission and purpose. Secondly, He intended to make provision for them. He was going to see that their needs were met.
While Jesus told His followers to carry nothing extraneous with them as they went, I believe that we should understand that to still be His expectation as well.
Do you know how many excuses we make as God’s people for not being active in our individual calls to ministry? And typically, our excuses are based around physical things. I am a prime example. I told God- once we’re done with school, once we are set financially, I’ll go.
However, Jesus did not want anything to stand in between His servants and their faithful service. We don’t have an excuse for neglecting our mission. Like those seventy, He is going to provide for our need. We must simply “Go.”
We note the authority of the sender, the adversity of the sinful, the adornment of the sent, and lastly…

4.) The Approach of Snares (v. 4)
“Carry no money belt, no bag, no shoes; and greet no one on the way.”
Jesus tells His missionaries to carry no money, no food, no extra provisions, and then He instructs them to greet no one on their journey.
Now, I don’t know if this is just me, but that doesn’t sound very conducive to a Mississippi mentality. Jesus doesn’t want me to carry extra food for myself or to speak to people on the way?
I believe we need to understand exactly what was meant by this instruction. Jesus was not instructing His people to be prudes. He was not telling them that they were superior or above those along the way. Rather, He was trying to protect the mission that they were called to fulfill.
Jesus told them to greet no one on the way because of the urgency of their mission. Greetings in those times between dignitaries and ambassadors were long and formal occasions. They often included parties, dinners, and lodging. They could last for hours or even days.
Jesus was trying to communicate to His people that their mission was so urgent that they did not have time for meaningless chatter and formalities. The eternal condition of the people of those cities depended on their prompt arrival and communication of the gospel message. They could not afford to be sidetracked.
Still that may seem difficult for some of us. However, let me ask you to be honest in your response to this question: How many times have you felt like you needed to share Christ with someone, how many times have you known that you needed to go and see someone to offer encouragement, how many times did you intend to go and visit that neighbor but something came up? How many times have you ran into someone at Jerry’s or answered a call on the phone on your way out the door and the visit was never made?
Jesus was trying to make certain that they understood the urgency of their call. It simply could not wait.
My former pastor told the story of a man that spoke at a Bus Ministry Conference that he attended as a young minister. The story was told of a bus minister in a church that required it’s bus captains to visit for three hours every Saturday. One particular weekend, this young man was sick. It was raining and dreary and he really wanted to just go home.
Finally, the three hour mark came and he decided that he was going to head home. But before he did, he prayed a somewhat assuming prayer asking God for permission to go home.
He couldn’t find peace. He kept feeling like he needed to visit this one family. He went and talked to the family- who happened to have five children. They agreed for the kids to ride the bus, and they began picking them up week after week to bring to church. As the weeks passed, one of the children walked forward. Then another. Then another. They all gave their lives to Christ. After this the parents began attending with them, and as you guessed Mom and Dad both made professions of faith. That entire family- everyone of the age to make a decision for Christ had surrendered their hearts and lives to Jesus.
A few weeks later, that same bus captain was making his Saturday visits when he came to their apartment- only it was roped off with police tape. Their home had caught fire and burned down- trapping the entire family inside. None of them survived.
Had this young man not been obedient, had the sense of urgency not been placed in his heart, I don’t want to think about what could’ve happened.
I am not saying that Montrose is going to fall victim to a disaster. However, we need to realize that our community simply cannot wait. Our message and mission is urgent. We have people in our own backyard that need to hear the gospel and hope of Jesus Christ. They need to feel the love and compassion of God’s people. They need us to go to our mission.
I want to challenge you individually, and us as a church. As an individual, we all have a call to answer. We all have unique missions to complete. I would urge you to make a new commitment to being the missionary you’ve been called to be.
And to us as a corporate church, I believe that we need to shift focus. We need to be a missionary sending and support station. Montrose ought to be our mission field and this church should be our hub.
I would ask you to pray for one another and for our church collectively as we seek to be obedient to God’s instruction.
Are you being obedient, are you going- or are you making an excuse? What is it going to take for you to answer Christ’s call to His service?

Mission: Montrose (Jesus wants Me?)

2009-10-05T18:52:00.003-05:00

In 1990, a small group of teenagers came together for a DiscipleNow weekend in Burleson, Texas. They came to that occasion earnestly seeking God’s face and I am certain that none of them expected what was going to happen. God moved in a mighty way that evening and burdened the hearts of this group of teenagers like never before. Burdened over their friends and schools, they drove to three different schools that evening. When they arrived at the schools, they knew they had been directed by the Spirit of God to those places, but found themselves wondering what they should do.
It was at that point that this group circled around the flagpole and prayed with passion and conviction over their classmates, teachers, administrators, and country.
That particular evening sparked a movement in our country. Challenged by the heart of these young people, a group of youth ministers in Texas caught a vision for their state. After some promotion, later that year more than 45,000 young people gathered one morning around their schools’ flagpoles.
After expanding this vision even further, there were over a million young people that participated in See You at the Pole the following year.
Today, God has expanded this event that started in the burdened hearts of a single youth group to include more than 3 million students in all 50 states. Additionally, Christian students are now gathering in as many as 20 different countries to pray for God’s intervention in the lives of their friends, countries, and classmates.
This next Wednesday is the national See You at the Pole day. While I am a very strong proponent for SYATP, my main concern this morning is not an annual event at schools across our nation. Rather, I believe that each of us should be challenged by their burden. We should be challenged by their compassion and concern for their friends, their schools, and their nation.
If I may be blunt, I’m afraid that the church has become far too introspective. It seems that the church is becoming more and more concerned solely with what happens inside the walls of the church to the members of the congregation. We are consumed by our comforts and cares. It seems so many times that those doors are not simply shut to keep the elements, but often it feels as if the church’s concern and passion is limited by the confines of the church walls.
We must rediscover that urgency and compassion for those around us. Most of our church is not in school anymore. However, that does not mean that our mission field has closed.
I’ve been convicted that we must become more mission-minded. We must become less introspective and more prospective. We must be actively answering Christ’s call for us to serve as His hands and feet in our community.
Over the next several weeks, leading up to Harvest Sunday, we are going to examine a passage of Scripture that speaks to our need to actively work toward the harvest that God has prepared.
I would invite you to join with me this morning as we begin to look at Christ’s commission to His people.

Read text. (Luke 10:1-2)

While this passage is pretty direct, we are going to spend a few moments this morning identifying the various elements present in Luke’s account. As we look at this commission, we first notice…

1.) The Personnel
“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them…”
If we are talking about missions, we need to understand who exactly is expected to serve as the necessary personnel. And when we look at this passage, we find something a little different than what we are used to seeing in Scripture- especially from the lips of Jesus Himself. We may expect to see Him sending out the twelve disciples. However, that is not what we find here. We find that He went and appointed seventy others to serve His purpose and kingdom.
Jesus was actively preparing and training His disciples. He has already sent them out before, and we know that Jesus will send the twelve out again. However, at this point, we find that the group expected to serve as ambassadors and missionaries is larger than we generally accept. He sends out more than the “same old twelve.”
When you look at their description, in Greek they are called the seventy “heteros.” Literally, it translates as “other or another.” So basically we are told that Jesus sent out “another” seventy.
His work, his mission, was not limited to the elite twelve that were closest to Him. Instead, He intended that His message and mission be carried on by others as well.
While they are called “heteros,” or another seventy, we have to go a little farther in the passage. We are told, “The Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them.”
While they were a different seventy, they were commissioned or sent out by Jesus Himself. The word for sent is “apostellō.” Does that look familiar to anyone? Does it mimic a word that you and I are very familiar with?
It is the verb that is derived from the root for apostle. And just a side note, the word apostle simply means “sent one.” The other times in Scripture where this verb form is used, it is typically used to signify the commissioning and sending of the disciples.
Now would Jesus really send out men that were not the “trained elite” to serve as ambassadors and ministers to these locations?
Sure He would! Christ’s intended personnel is inclusive of the entirety of the body of Christ. There is not a man, woman, boy or girl that has received the gift of God’s grace and redemption that is not meant to enlist as a missionary.
There may be some of you that are thinking, “Well, we’ve heard that before.” However, I believe that we need to identify the personnel present because I’m afraid the modern church has missed the boat here. We have assigned the mission of the church to the professionally trained. Whether it is the fault of the pulpit or the parishioner, we have adopted this idea that the preacher and the church staff are the missionaries to our community.
No! That is not the case. That is not God’s plan and design. If you are His, if you are a child of God- a transformed and redeemed soul that places his/her trust in God’s grace and mercy, then you are a missionary. You are called to work and share.
We must understand the personnel then and the expected personnel now. Once we grasp the identity of the personnel, we note…

2.) The Partnership
“Now after this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them in pairs ahead of Him to every city and place where He Himself was going to come.”
When we note the appointment and commission of the “other” seventy, we also come to grasp Christ’s design.
He sent them in pairs. He sent the missionaries by twos. Why?
First, I believe that it gave credibility to their testimony. You have to remember that official testimony in that time had to be confirmed by two witnesses. The pairs gave confirmation and credibility to their message. But I believe there was still more.
I really believe that Jesus saw through the frailty of human emotion. If we asked people why they don’t share the message of Christ more often they would share that they feel awkward and isolated at times when sharing. I understand. I grasp the fact that there are times when you are sharing your faith when it would be really nice to have someone there that understands what you are trying to share. It can be an isolating and awkward time. And while we are responsible for our personal witness, I believe that Christ does not intend that we go at it alone. I believe that the pairs not only gave credibility, but support. There was a two-fold partnership present.
There was a Partnership between the Sent. Because of their association with one another, there was naturally an association and bond between those sent on the mission.
Now, we don’t have specific recollections of the bonds that were established, but I believe that much can be inferred here. It would only be natural that those pairs regarded their counterparts as co-laborers and family. Their common mission created a relationship.
Just as it was then, the same should be true today. Christ’s followers are called to be partners with one another to work toward the fulfillment of His mission. In fact, I believe that is at the very heart of the purpose of the church.
The church of Montrose- whether it be Methodist or Baptist, non-denominational, Church of God in Christ, whatever it may be- the true church, is called to serve as “Missionary Sending and Support Stations.” The purpose of this body is not to merely assemble because of a Sunday ritual. Rather, this is the place where God’s individual servants (aka His missionaries) come together for fellowship, training, worship and encouragement.
This body ought to operate under the understanding that this church is a partnership of individually commissioned missionaries.
There is a partnership between those sent as well as a Partnership with Jesus Himself.
When we return to the passage, the other seventy were not merely sent to random places. Rather, they were purposely and strategically sent to those areas where Jesus intended to appear personally. They were basically sent as forerunners.
However, with that understanding, we grasp that this mission was a partnership with Jesus. They were working for and with our Savior.
Once again, things have not changed. We are still working alongside our God. We are still partnering in His work.
Let me explain briefly. We are called to share the message of the Gospel of Christ. We are called to serve with our lips, our hands, and our feet. However, when we share the gospel, what is it that brings conviction and causes transformation and regeneration? It is not us! It is the work of the Holy Spirit. Literally, it is the Spirit of Christ that is working alongside us. His partnership with His missionaries continues today.
When trying to understand Christ’s call, we note the personnel. We grasp the partnership. Next, we must see…

3.) The Prospect
“And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few…’”
While I believe this overall passage is a “call to arms,” Christ sends out His servants with a promise of a great harvest. He is basically assuring His people that the mission is worthwhile. There is both hope and a promise of success in their endeavors.
He begins with the Promise of a Great Harvest Then. As Jesus is sending out this “other” seventy, He gives His assurance that there is a great harvest awaiting them. Through the analogy of farming and harvesting, He assures them that their work and toil will be rewarded.
Just think about that for a moment. I am not a farmer. I cannot relate as well as many of you to the processes involved in farming. However, I do understand the basic concept of work and reward. It is a pretty universal concept. And let’s face it, if we invest the time and labor, we want to know that there is going to be a return and reward for that effort.
Jesus plainly told His people that the harvest was abundant. It was plentiful. He assured them that a great harvest was waiting then. And I believe that this also speaks to the Prospect of a Great Harvest Now.
You and I need to understand that there is still a great harvest awaiting us. Listen, I know that it feels like pulling teeth at times to get someone to surrender their life to Christ. Hey, it’s hard to get people to agree to come to church. However, we need to realize that there is still a prospect of a great harvest.
Let me make certain you understand just how vast and open our field is. We’ll start large and narrow it down. This world has a population of approximately 6 billion people. At the current time, there are approximately 1.5 billion people that have NO access to the gospel. If you take the population of the entirety of the United States and its territories and multiply it by 5, you have the number of people that have never had a way to hear the name of Jesus.
In North America, 7 in every 10 people are lost. If you narrow it down to the United States, 3 in every 4 people are lost.
Let’s get to our own backyard. In the state of Mississippi, we have a population of 2.95 million people. On Easter Sunday, the most attended Sunday of the year Baptist churches will have approximately 200,000 present in service.
That figure equals approximately 6.9 % of our state population. If you combine every other “Christian” denomination, the number almost doubles. If you count every church of every Christian denomination, we still see less than 14% of our entire state in church on any Sunday. And here is the part that will probably really bother you- In a recent survey, Mississippi was found to be the “most religious” of all of the states. Did you catch that? The most religious of all of the states has about 15% of its population in church on any given Sunday.
Our harvest is plentiful. There are plenty of fields to be worked. Even if every church attendee brought someone with them next week, 75% of our state would still be unaffected.
There is still the prospect of a great harvest! There is still a fresh field to be worked.
We note that we are the personnel. We are enlisted in a partnership together for the purpose of spreading the hope of Christ. We are still given a prospect of a great harvest. And lastly, we cannot ignore…

4.) The Petition
“And He was saying to them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.’”
While they are being sent out, Christ also urges His followers to pray for more workers.
Now, here is where I believe we take this passage incorrectly. So many times we look at this passage with the idea that we can merely pray for God to send someone out to reach these masses that we just mentioned. We pray for our missionaries. We pray for God to send out more workers and so many times we feel as if we have fulfilled our spiritual duty because we have done that.
However, that is not what is urged here at all. Rather, these seventy that are being sent out are urged to pray for more workers- as they are in the process of working for God’s kingdom.
The passage is clear. We are called to pray for more people to work the fields. We are called to pray for those that are laboring in the fields. However, that prayer should come from an active missionary.
You and I are called to pray, but we cannot merely ask God to send someone into the fields to cover our responsibility.
We must pray for God to send His people into the fields. However, when I think about it, my approach is this: When I pray for God to send someone to the fields- when I pray for Montrose, I pray that God will send someone that I can partner with in ministering to this community. In my prayers, I pray for God to send people into the areas that I cannot reach. I pray for Him to do things that are beyond me and my abilities.
Our call to pray is not a relinquishing of personal responsibility. Rather, it is a bid for God’s power and assistance in doing His work.
It is time that Christ’s church once again becomes a mission-minded church. It is time that we abandon our introspective attitudes, and begin to look at the white fields around us.
In the next several weeks, I hope to encourage our church to take a more active approach in reaching our community. I hope that while our giving to missions is important, we will be a mission.
And for us to answer God’s call to work toward His harvest, we must each make a personal decision as to what we are going to do.
Are you actively working for His kingdom? Are you truly burdened over the lost in our community? Are you burdened enough to be like those kids in Burleson, Texas and take action?