My Farewell BBC Sermon

Here is the last sermon that I preached to the students at Brookwood Baptist Church.

As I just re-read it, the message hit me firmly between the eyes as I leave what is familiar to me now and go where I am certain that God is leading.

I need you to think of a time when you didn’t understand something. Really strain hard to think of a time when something happened and you weren’t sure why or how and what exactly was happening. Something that was sudden. Like, you were minding your own business and the world seemed fine. Then suddenly, your whole world was turned upside down. Maybe you had a pit in your stomach. Maybe you were crying. Maybe you were beginning to question everything in life and what was real. Then you felt angry. Then you felt bitter. And then all the emotion subsided. What were you left with?


We ALL hit these moments in our life. These will happen regularly in your life because we all like normalcy. We all like falling into our comfort zone. No change is good change. We don’t want to leave what we know and go to somewhere or someplace that we don’t know. It goes against our grain. However, God ALWAYS has a different plan. We think of the disciples. He called them out to put down their nets. We think of Simon being told to carry the cross instead of staying in the crowd. We think of Philip being told to go south away from Jerusalem. We think of Jonah being told to go to the Ninevites. All these people were called out of what they knew into a place where God wanted them to be.

You guys ever look at GoogleMaps? You ever look up your house or street? Creepy right? But there is always the possibility to zoom out to your neighborhood, city, county, or state. Today, you may have felt hurt, unsure, uncertain, angry, helpless, or any number of emotions because of the news on Sunday. And for that I am sorry. However, that is a very micro view. It is a micro view to just look at your life and your situation. You are fully zoomed in on your life and your feelings and your situations. Today, we will try to zoom out to try to see what God is doing in his Kingdom overall.

If you have your Bibles, please turn to Gen. 12, verses 1 through 4. If you do not have your Bible, there will scripture on the screens.

Let us stand out of respect for the reading of God’s word.

Gen. 12:1
  Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Gen. 12:4
  So Abram went, as the LORD had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

Let us pray. “God, let us capture a macro view of our current situation. May we find insight, wisdom, strength, and comfort in your Word in this time. And may we continue to lean on your Word for understanding in our lives, here at Brookwood, and your greater plan of your Kingdom on earth. Amen.”

Let us unpack the passage a little bit and explain it before we extrapolate any meaning from it. Here we have Abram. This is before God changed his name to Abraham. It is actually the first time we see him. He is just Terah’s boy. Terah and his family had been on a journey going from where they were toward Canaan. They were still in this whole “be fruitful and increase stage after the flooding of the earth.” They were traveling through the land and settled in Haran. Here, they put down roots in the land of the Chaldeans. They were a pagan people who worshipped pagan Gods. Out of this context, God calls Abraham.

The first thing I want you to see in the text is that God called Abram out of what he knew. This was the life that Abram knew. They were nomads and then they settled. They were working their flocks. Minding their own business ENJOYING the BLESSING and PROVISION of God every day. It was a comfortable life, close to his family, enjoying the favor of men and God. There were not too many waves being made and there weren’t the wars and pestilence we often associate the Old Testament with. Instead, he was just doing what he always had done and God spoke to him. Look at verse 1, “Now the Lord said to Abram.” You see, he wasn’t even wrestling with God or seeking him out, but God sought out Abram and spoke to him. Here he was minding his own business, when God interrupts his life and calls him out of what he knows. Not only did he call him out of what knew, but secondly, he called him to someplace unfamiliar.

Oftentimes, we like to just exist in our comfort zone. We like to stay in what we know and not move. I like to wear the clothes I know and shop at the stores I like, and go to the restaurants I enjoy, and talk to people who are like me and not be distracted by all the other things that are around us. We like what we know. We will root for the same sports team for 30 years without them ever winning a championship because this is what we know and it becomes our identity. Nine times out of ten we will choose what we know over what we don’t. We don’t want to overturn the apple cart. We don’t want to rock the boat. We don’t want to go from something we know to something we don’t know. BUT here we see God calling for just the opposite with Abram. And we see it over and over again in the Bible where God calls his people away from the sin they know, to a life of holiness.

Think about some of the times you didn’t want to be pushed, and yet you did and were glad. This may have been when you went on a MISSION TRIP. I can think of several instances where you may have been uncomfortable and uneasy, but knew you had to move. You may not have liked handing out WATER to HOMELESS people in the French Quarter, but you knew that it was your job. And through doing that, you learned that it was something that really ministered to people and it was something that you could do here. Maybe it was that it made you really uncomfortable to try and round up some SENIOR CITIZENS for a game of BINGO. It isn’t natural to go into someone’s room and just roll them down the hall to play a game, the whole time they are yelling that they don’t want to go. But when you got them there, they were glad to see their friends and have a little time to play a game. Maybe our comfort zone was challenged when you went to CAMP. It was hard to step away from all your friends and all the people you know and begin discussing your life with people you have never seen. YET, by the end of the week you had made an incredible bond of friendship which continues to this day. We don’t like change. Maybe it is uncomfortable for you to stand in a place of leadership. You prefer to be a WALLFLOWER and blend in, but you KNOW God is calling you to lead. You may be feeling that with the beginning of my absence from BBC. There will be people who need to step up and LEAD. There will need to be students to understand that I am only going to get out of this ministry what I put in. You may not enjoy standing in leadership, but you know God is calling you out of what you know into something or someplace that you do not know. Maybe it is really uncomfortable for you to talk to those people at school who are not like you. You know, the OUTCASTS!?!? But you know that they need to know the love of Christ like you know it. You hear God calling you to do something that is outside your comfort zone, and you need to follow him in OBEDIENCE. Maybe it is just simply TESTIFYING to your friends or at WORK about how good God has been to you this summer. You spent every day by the pool or traveled the southeast, or spent a lot of time with family and friends. Maybe your friends need to be reminded of the GIFT OF THIS TIME that God has given you to ENRICH relationships, especially between you and God. Testify to his goodness. Uncomfortable? Sometimes. But obedience should be our goal to follow God’s calling us out of what we know into a place of unfamiliarity.

There is an author who recently resigned from his church. His name is Francis Chan. He wrote Crazy Love. He was the pastor of really successful church out in Simi Valley called Cornerstone. He recently addressed his church and told them he was leaving. He didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t know where God was leading, but he knew that God wanted him to go out from where he knew into someplace God would show him. Therefore, he obeyed. He has resigned from his church and is now seeking God’s vision for his life. God calls us out of what we know into where we are unfamiliar and maybe uncomfortable. We see it today in the life of Francis Chan. We see it in the new testament in the life of Philip. We see it in Genesis in the life of Abraham. We must be faithful to follow His leadership because to disobey would be sin.

Turn in your Bible with me to James 4:17. “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.” If you know what God wants you to do, and you refuse to do it, you are no different than Jonah refusing to go to Nineveh. For Abram to stay in Haran would have been sin. For you to choose what you know and what you are familiar and comfortable with rather than to follow God’s lead is outright sin and rebellion. We must obey His direction because his INFINITE UNDERSTANDING of what is going on in our life and what will go on in our lives is SUPREME over our FINITE WISDOM. Sometimes we may understand why before we move, and sometimes we may not. But we must always BE FAITHFUL to the calling of God in our lives regardless of our current understanding of the situation. So, what does following God get or earn you? Let’s look at Abram’s life.

At the age of 75, he follows God’s direction and packs up his family, wife Sarai, and Nephew Lot and they head out. Unsure of their final destination, but sure of God’s direction. Abram’s faithfulness in following God’s direction resulted in a BLESSING for HIMSELF, his father TERAH, and ultimately the whole WORLD. You see, by his leaving Haran, he was finding a better home for his family. One that God had set out for them, ultimately arriving in the promised land generations later. His faithfulness allowed him to find God’s provision for his family along the way. In addition, by him leaving Terah, it provided more room for his father & their flocks to spread out, land to cultivate and ultimately, more land to settle in without bumping into each other. Finally, it was also a blessing to the whole world. You see, it was better for Abram that he wasn’t there in Haran. By leaving the land that he knew, he was no longer Self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-dependent. Instead, he was now completely relying upon the hand of God to protect, preserve, and provide for him and his family. It was never about the work of Abram providing for Abram. It was ALWAYS about God. All Abram had to do was believe God and follow his direction.

If you jump forward to chapter 15 in the Abram narrative, you begin to see God’s faithfulness again. Here, God tells Abram that he would have a son. He left Haran at 75. Here he is 15-20 years AFTER that, still without a son, 90-something years old and God tells him he will have a son. As pessimistic as I might be, he believes God at his word. Just like he believed God was able to provide and protect him from the uncertain, he believed God to be faithful to give him a son. And as a result of his belief, it was credited to him as righteousness.

Genesis 15:6 says, “And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. “

Romans 4:3, “For what does the Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.’”

Romans 4:20-22, “No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was ‘counted to him as righteousness.’”

Galatians 3:6-7, when discussing salvation and faith, “just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham.”

James 2:22-24, “You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works; 23 and the Scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”—and he was called a friend of God. 24 You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.”

Does your faith affirm the truth of Scripture? Then demonstrate it with your conviction.

Romans 8:28 says this, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” Just as Abram’s absence from Haran was for the world’s good, my absence from Brookwood is for your good.

It was NEVER about me.

All I did was try to love you the way Christ loves you and ANYONE can do that.

It was never about the work of Jody

It was ALWAYS about the work of CHRIST in YOUR lives in ways that I was & am powerless to work.

And I thought about how I could show you that it isn’t about me. How could I show you that it was always about the work of Christ in your life? And this is what I came up with, watch this,

I mean, what kind of servant of the Lord would build the whole sermon up to dart an entire group of students? It isn’t about the worker, for another will come. But instead, it is truly about God’s people doing His work for the Kingdom. Let us read,

1 Thess. 2:17-20 “But since we were torn away from you, brothers, for a short time, in person not in heart, we endeavored the more eagerly and with great desire to see you face to face, 18 because we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, again and again—but Satan hindered us. 19 For what is our hope or joy or crown of boasting before our Lord Jesus at his coming? Is it not you? 20 For you are our glory and joy.”

You are my glory and joy.

What you do in my absence will speak volumes about what God did with my presence.

Remember, it is for your good that I am no longer here among you.

May you become less self-reliant, self-sufficient, and self-dependent, and more God-dependent, God-sufficient, and God-reliant.

He is faithful and just and is working all things to your good. God Bless!

Stock Boy Diary – Pt. 1

For those that do not know, and for reasons I will not get into here, I have taken a position as a night stocker (not stalker) at Walmart in Monroe. I am not ashamed of it, but see it as an opportunity for God to provide for my needs. I have never been afraid to work and given the opportunity, I will make things happen. But enough about my insignificant part-time job, there is something greater going on here.

On my first night on the job, I was introduced as someone who had previous electronics experience at Circuit City. I made a passing comment about being a Pastor, and then went out to the floor to learn the complexities of putting products on a shelf.

When the time came and my bones needed a break, this old man sat down for a few minutes. After resting my battered body from the terrors of night stocking, I headed back out to the floor. On my way out, I was stopped by a gentleman who propositioned me with a simple question, “Do you have time for a question?” Seeing as how I love questions, I granted his request. What would come out of his mouth would throw me for a loop. Had I had enough forethought, I would have been able to prepare…but because my mind had been maxed out from all of the problem solving from the previous four hours, it hit me like a haymaker.

“How do you make prayer work?” Junior asked.

I responded, “How do you mean?”

We talked for a few more minutes about things while I sought to understand exactly where he was spiritually. Did he have a framework to understand God? Jesus? Salvation? Faith? It became apparent to me that Junior, who was a maintenence worker on third shift, had little biblical worldview.

So, how do you answer a man who has little understand of Christ, but professes to have a relationship with God? How do you answer him without degenerating into a bunch of Christianese and leave him with nothing more that religious platitudes? After a couple minutes, I gave him a little of my story and why prayer works for me. I encouraged him to read John and resolved to talk to him again.

As I walked to the floor, I realized that it had been a really long time since I had a conversation with someone as deeply in need of Christ as Junior. Someone who may be open to the things of God but has no bearing on where to turn. All these conversations I previously had were with people who had some level of cognisance of the things of God.  They were aware of Jesus.  They had progressed somewhere along the Engel scale. But not here.

It’s official, I am a terrible Christian. But those who know me already knew that.   I am excited to continue talking with Junior. But more importantly, I am excited to pray for the things God may do in Junior’s life between the hours of 10 PM and 7 AM on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights out in Monroe, GA.

Get LOST

After successfully not watching an entire episode of LOST for the past 6 years, I have finally understood the draw of the series.

When LOST first came out, I constantly heard from friends how much I neeeeeeeded to watch it.  The arguments were persuasive and well-thought out, “You just HAVE to watch it!”  ”You have no idea what you are missing!”  ”It is hard to explain, you just have to see to understand!”  I even had a few exclaim with a total lack of hyperbole, “This is the best show ever!  It will change your life and the way you watch TV!”  Now if this isn’t enough to convince you to watch, I don’t know what will.  But, I was strong and resisted the temptation to be a lemming.

It would take me two years to even consider watching an episode.  When I finally thought I would give it a chance, I only made it 5 minutes because of the ridiculous story and terrible acting.  The “terrifying” smoke monster is what finally made me change the channel, but that is the beside the point.  After two years, the hyperbole subsided and the viewers were just left with questions.  The evangelists were no longer the fervent proselytizers.  I believe that at this time, they didn’t want to let go of the series because they had already devoted too much time and energy to something that obviously was now pointless.  However, they hung on.  Each year they refused to fold, knowing they had nothing in their hand.

They made it to Season 5 when they were about to give up…and the producers knew it.  Sensing the unrest of the majority of viewers, they teased that the series would end after season 6, buying them at least another year to answer questions.  Well, here we are in season 6, and all I hear from viewers (via conversation and highly accurate research utilizing facebook) is that they are getting more questions than answers.

So the situation is this: LOST has to resolve the roughly 2 Billion questions before the end of the season.  That is only a few short episodes to provide answers for all the questions like, “Why is the Hurley not getting any skinnier?”   And the truth is this, there is no way to for them to do it.  If they tie everything up in a bow, they have jumped the shark.  If they answer only a few, the  viewers are sure to be ruffled.  Therefore, it cannot get out of the hole it dug.  You will leave the series dissatisfied.

While it may have been fun to decide to have polar bears on the island in a drunken brainstorming session, someone has to explain A) why was that a good idea, B) what the heck are polar bears doing on a tropical island?

The world is only a few episodes away from realizing that they have wasted the past 6 years of their life on a ridiculous TV series.  I can only hope the whole series ends with a Polar bear waking up and realizing the whole thing was a dream.  That might be the only scenario that makes the series palatable.

Student Pastor Utility Belt

The other day I ran across an article that got me thinking.

First I thought, “This is ridiculous.”  While I can sniff out a humorous article, the thought I was stuck with was that some people actually believe this garbage.  While I do not think any Youth Pastor would articulate all these things as necessary, there are a few items that I am sure are perceived as required to be an effective minister.  Some of the more ridiculous one the list were a Smartphone, Netbook, and 3G Wireless Card.  Seriously.  I feel so bad for Paul, Augustine, Richard Baxter, and others who never had these tools and were therefore ineffective in their ministries.  Poor guys.  Maybe they will get a free pass in heaven by God for his mistake in ordering their days improperly and setting their going out and lying down hundreds of years early.

BUT in all seriousness, it got me thinking, “What is really needed in ministry today?”  So, I have made my own list of items required for effective ministry today.

1. Bible-There is seriously a famine of biblical knowledge in youth ministry today.  We need more ministers who KNOW and LOVE the Word.
2. Original Thought-Stop copying the latest sermon series.  Stop copying the other youth ministries you hear about.  You are better at finding something that fits your group than a “Hot Topics” or “Cool Sermons” website.  Get Creative!
3. Discernment-Hear from God.  Discern His voice.  Follow His leadership for the people He has put in your flock.
4. 1992 Ford Taurus-OK.  SO maybe not a Taurus.  Very few can tame the bull.  But every youth pastor should have a commitment to sacrificial living.  While having a cool car may impress students, a commitment to giving sacrificially is a much more compelling testament to the Gospel.
5. Treadmill-While this item wasn’t around in the 1st Century, it is necessary today.  I am not perfect, but I am working at getting back at it.  This item probably applies to most people in ministry.  It truly is ridiculous the number of potbellies present in the seminary classroom today.

Maybe I am just bitter that I only own 2 of the items on the original list I ran across.  Can you guess which ones I own?

*Sharp Inhale*

There aren’t a lot of experiences in life that are embarrassing to me.  I will make a rear end out of myself almost any chance I get.  But today, I made a rear end out of myself that as I recollect it, it makes me whince.  You know, a sharp inhale.

Today I was supposed to preach in my final preaching/practicum class.  I use the word “supposed” intentionally.  You see, I didn’t really preach as much as I fumbled around looking for words to communicate how inadequate we sometimes feel.  It was like I had been transported into my own worst memories when I started my preaching “career.”  Instead of preaching a sermon, I BECAME the sermon.  The original sermon was that God uses inadequate and under-qualified people to accomplish his work.  Today, I think everything came true, and I became the medium for God to communicate how inadequate we truly are.

There are few things in a seminarian’s life that are as stressful as preaching to a room full of preachers.  For those not on the inside, preachers are one of the most critical and pious people to walk the face of the earth.  And here am I, supposed to preach to them.  It’s kinda like covering yourself in butter and laying out for a 6 hour tan.  Or a swimming in shark infested waters while wearing a goat carcass as a wetsuit.  Or picking a switch, climbing into a cattleyard, and trying to smack a bull with it.  The words, “Come and get it” seem appropriate.

While everyone in class was kind, we all knew the elephant in the room.  To top it all off, I was so focused on getting the sermon finalized this AM, I was just wearing jeans and a dress shirt.  No Khakis.  No tie.  Not even tucked in.  I am sure I could find a million reasons to blame for my failure, but the truth is staring at me in the face. I am my own worst enemy, and the Lord has taught me a valuable lesson.

I would love to say that I intended to do poorly to reinforce my main point about God using inadequate people.  But the fact is that as much as I hate to recognize it, I am inadequate for the task God has called me to.  I need to rely on the Holy Spirit for guidance, direction, and even communication.  Today, I preached in my own strength and it magnified my own inadequacy.  I hope that never happens again.

Facebook…can I quit you?

I LOVE Facebook.  I must put it in CAPS because it is such a wonderful technology, right?  It tells me when birthdays are coming up for people I know, and sometimes people I barely know.  It reminds me of events that I agreed to attend.  It gives me access to a plethora of information I may not have anywhere else.  It provides glimpses into the lives of those I truly care about.  It helps me keep tabs on people who have moved out from underneath my ministry into the temptations and triumphs of college life.  I mean, it is a great thing, right?  Well, lately I have been thinking otherwise.

The whole premise of these social networking sites, at their core, is to get you to keep thinking about yourselves.  You may be saying, “But Jody, they were designed to keep you in contact with your friends and stay engaged in their life.”  While partly true, I seriously doubt that logic.  I would argue that Facebook’s success is largely attributed to people assembling these loose associations with people so that in the event that they need something, they have easy access to these people.  I am “friends” with a bunch of people from high school, but apart from a few short emails, I do not talk, or connect with them at all.  Instead, we are “friends” in that we know each other exists, but that is the extent of it.  Instead, Facebook’s success can be attributed to our narcissistic side and need to impress others.  We think others want to know what we are doing (but only in 160 character increments).  We think that others care how many movies we have seen.  We think we need to announce to the world that we _________ (fill in the blank).  It doesn’t matter.  Go ahead, look at your last 5 status updates.  Who realistically cares about them?  And this is where Facebook becomes my problem.

The life that I seek to live does not revolve around me.  I want it to revolve around my belief in God and allowing others to see that in every area of my life. Following Jesus’ example in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”  I must get out of the way.  I must allow the power of the Holy Spirit to live through me that he might receive the praise for all things.  Instead of getting out of the way, Facebook beckons me to think more about myself.  I must think of a funny or witty status.  Quick, log in and see if anyone responded to the video you posted.  I find myself saying, “I should change my status to that.”  Not because I think it will particularly edify anyone, but because I think it will make people think more highly of me.  They will think, “Jody is so funny” and that should not be my purpose.  I am a nincompoop of the highest degree.  You can quote me on that in your “Favorite Quotes” section of Facebook.  Without beating a dead horse too much, Facebook sabotages my self-conscious to do things that I struggled against even before I used it.

Not only does Facebook cause me to think more highly and more often about myself, it also allows me to disengage from the work of valuing people.  True, I can send a quick email or write a happy birthday on someone’s wall, but it doesn’t require me to use my mind to think of ways to speak life into people.  It allows me to cruise instead of actually remembering someone’s birthday.  It allows me to send a quick message instead of taking the time to write a letter or send a card.  Is it convenient?  Absolutely.  But it fails to communicate the value of a person by using the least involved medium.  In any case, it allows me to get lazy in my relationships with people by substituting something of less value for something of greater value.

DISCLAIMER:  I know that there is nothing inherently evil about the technology called Facebook.  It can be used for just as much “good” as “bad.”  This is not the debate.  The conflict I am wrestling with now is how can I utilize Facebook to create and communicate value instead of allow me to waste hours looking at pictures of people I barely remember, let alone people I may never see or email again.  Don’t get me wrong, it is fascinating to see other people’s lives.  However, it can become a time-suck from which there is little return.  Especially for someone as ADD as me.

I could go on and on about the evils of Facebook, but I must say, it has the potential to be a useful tool in the life of everyone.  It may not fetch my paper, but it helps me to connect with a bunch of people at once and has helped me on more than one occasion get in touch with someone via some other medium (cell, email, address, etc.).  In any case, can I quite Facebook?  Not yet, but I think we may be going down the road of breakup.  Especially since every 80 year old Grandma has a Facebook page now too.  Just kidding.  I love the Grandmas of Facebook also (once again, you can quote me on that).

To Know Nothing But…

It’s the new year.  Every year, there are millions of people who decide to make a resolution (or multiple resolutions) which usually falter by mid-March.  I for one am not looking forward to the crowded gym over the next couple months.  These resolution have temporary effects, while we often ignore the practices and disciplines that have eternal ramifications.

I am not one for making resolutions, but it is a good time for reflection upon the past year.  For me, 2008 has been an unbelievable ride filled with “work,” family, and school.  I need to use quotation marks around work because it is truly the best job for me in the universe.  While it has taken a ridiculous amount of school and preparation, I am not sure I would trade it for anything.  My family has grown with the arrival of my precious daughter, Annabeth.  Finally, my schooling is coming to a close and I am getting excited about finally being able to devote everything to my wife.  An incredible year in which God has shined mightily upon my family.

So, what will 2009 hold?  If I stand by idly, I am sure that I will be disappointed because of what it could have been.  Will I spend my time devoted to the frivolous things that I blogged about the other day or will I do some serious soul work?  Without fail in 2008, I would spend at least a little time each day in devotion to things that matter little by reading about things like technology, electronics, elections, and world events, while even sometimes ignoring my own spiritual health.  I have even read recently that it is encouraged that we know what our neighbors are reading just to know.

While watching my favorite college and professional football teams on television, I’m also reading the newspaper, magazines, books, or surfing the Internet. I want to know what my neighbors are reading and the ideas they are exposed to.  You would benefit from doing the same.
-Aubrey Malphurs, A New Kind of Church
(Professor at Dallas Theological Seminary)

While there are some redeeming qualities about knowing these things, we must understand that they are fleeting.  I don’t go to my doctor to discuss politics, I go because he can help me with my sickness.  I do not think students or anyone seeking spiritual help would come to me and respect my understanding on cultural relevance at the expense of their eternal benefit.

What would Jan. 1, 2010 look like if I devoted myself, like Paul, to know nothing but Christ, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” 1 Cor 2:2.  How much more joyful would I be if I filled my life with the Scripture?  How much more prepared for spiritual warfare would I be if I actually hid his word in my heart?  How much more of the greatness of God would be revealed to me through earnest and deep study of God’s word in my own personal life?  I believe that God and his Scriptures are sufficient, why wouldn’t I live what I believe?

For you, what is your 2009 going to look like?  Are you going to fill it with useless college football facts?  iPod Touch Applications?  U.S. & World History (useless unless you are taking a class in it, in which case you should devote adequate time in order to glorify God in your studies)?  Hollywood Trivia?  Movie Quotations? Music lyrics?  Or will you devote your time to the only eternal thing and begin to store up massive treasures in heaven that are waiting on your arrival?

I hope to not be ashamed of my time in 2009, but we will re-evaluate that in March…maybe.

I Want A Conversation

How many kids do Angie & Brad have?  What movies have you seen?  What do you think of the auto bailout?  Is Obama having another press conference?  Answer: Don’t care.

These holidays provide a great deal of down time.  Not only time to think, but also time to talk with those you may have lost contact with or been too busy to follow up with.  Family that are states away or friends that re just coming back in town.  We have such great opportunities to talk about things that matter and that just might be intellectually stimulating and spiritually challenging.  But do we have those conversations?

Nope.  We digress into a discussion about movies that are popular even though they offer little redeeming value cinematographically, let alone promote morals and ideas that are worthy of promoting.  Instead, we talk about Hollywood.  We talk about TV.  We talk about useless stuff and my mind is tired of it. 

I want a civilized conversation about eternal things with competent people who are genuinely interested in an authentic Christian relationship.  Not with the type of people because they choose a church with comfortable stadium seating and a Starbucks in the lobby.  Not with the type of people that give me strange looks when I tell them the last movie I saw in the theater was over 9 months ago.  Not with the type of people that are bullheaded about their views and have little desire to see what the ultimate authority (read:scripture) has to say about anything.  Not the people who own an iPhone and think I am a mutant because I don’t want to pay an additional $45.00 a month (over $500 a year!) for a data plan that allows me to find the closest sushi bar just so I can impress people I don’t really even care about.  Sorry, these people are not my bag of tea.  

I want a conversation with genuine brothers of faith who want to get together at Panera (or someplace that has a cheap cup of coffee) and talk about things that matter.  Topics that run the gambit of the validity of the emergent movement (if you can call it valid), how to reach people without coming across like a vacuum salesman, the role of the Holy Spirit in our daily life.  Topics that might matter such as personal spiritual disciplines like prayer and its effectiveness in daily life, the possibility that the majority of Western Christians aren’t really even know by Jesus.  I mean, what if the Christian life isn’t about praying a prayer, but instead about genuine Christian service and sacrifice for the cause of Christ.  Who wants to have that conversation?

Stuck In Our Poor Affluence

For a while now I have had a heart for orphans overseas.  Jessica and I want to adopt a child internationally, but do not yet have the means to accomplish this.  But that is not the purpose of this post.  I was surfing this thing we call the internet and ran across an article about the hunger crisis that is occurring in Zimbabwe.  I surfed to the World Food Crisis photos and came across the photo you see above.  What an amazing photo.  The baby is 2 month old malnourished infant from Ethiopia.  You can see the concern on the mother’s face just wondering what to do next.  Or maybe I am making that up.  But in any case, you can see the critical health of the baby.

The article outlined the food crisis that is currently and will continue to take place over the next two years.  The causes are varied from unstable governments, natural disasters such as droughts or hurricanes, lack of suitable farm land, and pestilence.  In all cases, the effects are widespread from N. Korea to Kenya to Somalia to Haiti.  The U.N. is also spending a quarter billion dollars more this year to distribute food in disaster areas.  This photo helps provide incredible perspective to the type of trouble we are all about to see regularly.

Here in America, we are here complaining about how our inflation rate is high, the price of crude oil, or how big of a handout we American’s are going to give the banking system or automotive industry.  We are one of the richest countries in the world and yet we gripe and moan about how our retirement accounts are shrinking.  Oh no!!!

People are stinking dying everyday from things like hunger, and yet we cannot even take our eyes off ourselves for one second to the see the tremendous REAL needs in our world.  I think the best term to describe our situation is “poor affluence.”  Americans carry more unsecured debt than is healthy.  We live in houses that are too big and expensive to maintain.  We drive multiple cars that have 8-year loans on them.  We eat out regularly because it is easier than opening a cupboard and grabbing a pan to boil water.  Both spouses are “required” to work, mainly because of the lifestyle they choose to live.  I mean, for real?  Are we really that selfish?

Without sounding too melodramatic, people will really continue to die at higher rates in the next 2 years because food is in short supply in their community, and we are giving $700 BILLION dollars to the private sector??  We are so affluent and yet we consider ourselves poor because we are going to be FORCED to cut our Christmas budget by half…which is what?  A $1,000? Our affluence is killing us and we don’t even see it happening.

What if a group of Christians would stand up and say that enough is enough?  That we will clothe the naked.  Feed the hungry.  Visit the sick.  Adopt the orphan.  Rescue the dying.  Help the hurting.

Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,
you did it to me.  Matt 25:40 (ESV)

This isn’t about a social gospel, this is about THE gospel.

Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’   Matt 25:34-36

I sure hope Jesus isn’t watching, because this is just embarrassing.

My election views!

With everyone else posting about the election, I feel pressured by the blogosphere to acquiesce to their demands.  So, here is my obligatory election post.

McCain.  Obama.  Election.  2008.  Long lines.  Higher taxes.  Smaller government.  Racism.  Shorter Public Restroom Lines.  No Sock Left Behind.  Smarter Animals as Pets.  Blah Blah Blah.

You’re welcome.