Chad's Blog

Why God Allowed Sin & Suffering

2012-01-24T14:58:00.003-05:00

Reading through Genesis and Job these past few weeks caused me to go down a personal rabbit trail and grapple with the whole reason for sin and suffering (as I'm sure others have). Be warned! The conclusions that I am drawing may not put to rest the question, “Why does God allow sin and suffering?” for you. In fact, it may even raise more questions. That’s ok. I’m not sure it is possible to truly resolve the issue on this side of heaven to everyone’s satisfaction, but read on if you’re brave enough (or curious enough) to join me in chasing this rabbit. While there are lots of verses I could quote in support of the concepts I espouse, I have resisted the temptation to cite them for the sake of readability. Here goes:

God was, in the pre-existent fellowship of the Trinity, completely and perfectly satisfied, overflowing with pleasure and joy. God considered it a great good to share the joy and satisfaction he had in himself with others—with humankind—creatures he made for that very purpose. So in creation, he made everything in the universe to foster life—both lower and higher forms for the ultimate support of human life—and finally made human beings in his image, giving them the capacity to know him and experience the joy and satisfaction he has in himself.

He must have determined that for his overwhelming joy and satisfaction to be experienced by humanity, there must be sin and suffering. How do I come to this conclusion?

First, the existence of actual sin and evil was necessary for God to define himself to his creatures. He defined himself to them as good, which requires that both good and evil must be comprehended. Just as to understand light one needs to know what darkness is, evil and suffering stand in stark contrast to good and pleasure.

Second, sin was made possible when God granted humans a free will. Free will is necessary for true love to occur. Without a morally significant free will, our “goodness” (or obedience to a good God) means nothing and is not praiseworthy, any more than it is praiseworthy for a machine to do what it was designed to do. Likewise, if it were impossible to not choose good (or to not choose at all), “badness” (or, disobedience to a good God) is without meaning and God would be unjust to punish it. Instead failure to do good would be a design flaw, which might point to an inept or corrupt designer (God). Therefore, Adam and Eve were created free in the truest sense. Since they were truly free moral agents, they were responsible for their actions. They sinned, and the consequences affected the world and all people who descended from them. All humans born since the fall are sinful, blind, and are “dead in our trespasses” (Eph. 2:5, Col. 2:13).

Unlike Adam, who was previously untainted by sin, our tendency is already toward sin. Therefore, we must be drawn by God and given the ability to see his light/goodness/beauty. Then we are “made alive” by his grace and in response to his love. This results in new birth and the ability to understand and desire good for God’s glory, and experience the joy that God gives (in shadows now while we still live in this world, and fully when our salvation is one day realized in heaven).

Third, sin made it possible for God to show himself in the fullness of his being to creatures (humans) created to know him. Without sin, we never would have known the most important aspects of God’s character: his grace, forgiveness, longsuffering, sacrificial love, and mercy. Indeed we would have never known Christ or had need of him. Therefore, the second person of the Trinity and/or his nature would have remained a mystery and we would have never needed his presence with us as Emmanuel and Savior.

Finally, sin and suffering must be viewed in perspective of the exceeding great joy God has in store for those who he has called in heaven. This is a joy that, by comparison, FAR outweighs the pain we experience on this side of eternity. The greatest suffering we experience here will be a faint memory for us in heaven—if, that is, we can remember it at all. Even in this world we experience this phenomenon in a much less-significant way, as in the case of women who endure the pain of pregnancy and childbirth (part of the curse after the fall) soon forget it at the sight of their new baby; or the athlete who suffers in training for the joy of the prize. Had there been no suffering, the reward would not have been so sweet. The endurance made it even more precious.

There are myriad ways God uses pain in our lives. As a perfect Father, he grows us and makes us more like Christ as we “share his sufferings.” He reveals himself to us as we seek and rely on him. He corrects, heals, comforts, and uses us to bless others. Am I saying that suffering is good, and by extension, that sin is good? No. Not in themselves. But as they drive us—flawed people in a fallen world—toward God who allowed them to occur, even they can be used for his glory and our good; both here and in heaven. In this way, “there is beauty in the fall of man.”

Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday? - The Atlantic

2012-01-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

What an awesome article! Job makes us ask, "Would God really make bad things happen to good people?" Tebow (at least right now as I write a few hours before his playoff game with the Patriots) makes so many ask, "Does God really make good people win?" It all boils down to the same issue. How does our goodness (or badness) affect what God does? Or does it? This article is true. And in light of Job, it gives much to think about!

Does God Care Whether Tim Tebow Wins on Saturday? - The Atlantic

Readings from Job

2012-01-12T23:05:00.008-05:00

Like many in our Providence family, I'm reading the Bible through chronologically. Right now we're in Job. I've enjoyed it more than I ever have--particularly the "middle" part. It seems I always think of Job in terms of the beginning and ending being the "good part" and the friends' advice and struggle of Job as being the long dry part in the middle. Not this time. Here are a few passages and thoughts from the last few days.

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Job 23:8-9
8“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
9on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.

Where is God?
A common experience when we suffer is to ask, "God, where are you? I don't see you in this." Feeling abandoned by God while in pain is how God grows us. Like a parent watching when her child looks around and thinks he is all alone, God is watching. Even more, he is in control of all variables.

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Job 23:10-12 ESV
10 But he knows the way that I take;
when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
11 My foot has held fast to his steps;
I have kept his way and have not turned aside.
12 I have not departed from the commandment of his lips;
I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.

God knows I've kept his ways.
Another normal way we handle suffering, we make our case to God. "I've been really trying to do things your way, Lord. You know how much progress I've made." Although I'm not able to say like Job that "I have kept his way and have not turned aside" completely, I have sought God's pity by citing my good deeds or intentions as if that makes it unfair that I should suffer. And isn't the point of Job that pain comes to both the just and unjust? That God has providential purposes in blessing and hardship?

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Job 23:13-14
13 But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back?
What he desires, that he does.
14 For he will complete what he appoints for me,
and many such things are in his mind.

God's unchangeable purpose.
What a great statement by Job of God's determination to accomplish his purposes. What he has decreed can not be changed. In his providence, all variables are working together for good.

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Job 23:15-17
15 Therefore I am terrified at his presence;
when I consider, I am in dread of him.
16 God has made my heart faint;
the Almighty has terrified me;
17 yet I am not silenced because of the darkness,
nor because thick darkness covers my face.

I'm afraid of what else God has for me.
Job comes full circle, in a sense. He starts wanting to see God and to present his case. Now, after thinking about it, he is afraid of what God might do if he actually did show up. Perhaps he is afraid of what secret sins exist in Job's heart that he doesn't know about. More probably he's afraid that God's will holds more suffering for Job.

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Job 24:1-4, 12-17, 21-22
1 “Why are not times of judgment kept by the Almighty,
and why do those who know him never see his days?
2 Some move landmarks;
they seize flocks and pasture them.
3 They drive away the donkey of the fatherless;
they take the widow's ox for a pledge.
4 They thrust the poor off the road;
the poor of the earth all hide themselves.
12 From out of the city the dying groan,
and the soul of the wounded cries for help;
yet God charges no one with wrong.
13 “There are those who rebel against the light,
who are not acquainted with its ways,
and do not stay in its paths.
14 The murderer rises before it is light,
that he may kill the poor and needy,
and in the night he is like a thief.
15 The eye of the adulterer also waits for the twilight,
saying, ‘No eye will see me’;
and he veils his face.
16 In the dark they dig through houses;
by day they shut themselves up;
they do not know the light.
17 For deep darkness is morning to all of them;
for they are friends with the terrors of deep darkness.
21 “They wrong the barren, childless woman,
and do no good to the widow.
22 Yet God prolongs the life of the mighty by his power;
they rise up when they despair of life.

It's not fair.
This whole chapter is Job pointing out the irony: Bad people oftentimes prosper—in this world.

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Job 25:1-6
1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered and said:
2 “Dominion and fear are with God;
he makes peace in his high heaven.
3 Is there any number to his armies?
Upon whom does his light not arise?
4 How then can man be in the right before God?
How can he who is born of woman be pure?
5 Behold, even the moon is not bright,
and the stars are not pure in his eyes;
6 how much less man, who is a maggot,
and the son of man, who is a worm!”

Bildad's right.
I agree. God is great. By comparison to his holiness (or, "light") no man is pure. We are maggots and worms by comparison.

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Job 26:2-4
2 “How you have helped him who has no power!
How you have saved the arm that has no strength!
3 How you have counseled him who has no wisdom,
and plentifully declared sound knowledge!
4 With whose help have you uttered words,
and whose breath has come out from you?

Sometimes speaking truth isn't what the hurting need.
After Bildad speaks sound truth to Job, he gets a well-deserved ear full. Job, in what seems to be a very sarcastic tone, makes a good point. Sometimes we offer truth to people hurting when it is not truth that they most need. Maybe these friends would have gone down in history differently if they would have just kept their self-righteous mouths shut. I can learn here. Being right is sometimes not as important as being there.

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Job 27:3-6
3 as long as my breath is in me,
and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
4 my lips will not speak falsehood,
and my tongue will not utter deceit.
5 Far be it from me to say that you are right;
till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go;
my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.

Stubborn determination for integrity.
I love that Job persists in his determination to do right. He will not lie by conceding to his friends that there must be some buried sin in his life.
Sometimes being falsely accused can be as painful as loss or physical pain. Sometimes more. Job is undeterred in his insistence of innocence.

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Job 27:8-10
8 For what is the hope of the godless when God cuts him off,
when God takes away his life?
9 Will God hear his cry
when distress comes upon him?
10 Will he take delight in the Almighty?
Will he call upon God at all times?

The wicked ultimately lose.
Even though Job struggles in previous chapters with the fact that wicked people sometimes prosper, he recognizes an important truth. Ultimately they lose. And when bad things do happen (as they do with both good and evil people), the ungodly cannot "call upon God" or "take delight in the Almighty" as can those who trust in him. I don't think we appreciate this truth as we should. Even in the darkest days of the believer, we can "take delight in" and trust our God.

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Job 28:12-13, 20-21, 23-28
12 “But where shall wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
13 Man does not know its worth,
and it is not found in the land of the living.
20 “From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
23 “God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
24 For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
25 When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
27 then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
28 And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”

Man's wisdom...and God's
Even though humankind has figured out how to do so much, we don't understand all of God's ways. His wisdom is much higher. It is hidden from us.
Job seems to state these truths in realization of the fact that the God of all wisdom can be trusted even when we are clueless about what he is doing. What is wise for us is to fear him and turn from evil. Good focus, Job.

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Job 29:2-17
2 “Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me,
3 when his lamp shone upon my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness,
4 as I was in my prime,
when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
5 when the Almighty was yet with me,
when my children were all around me,
6 when my steps were washed with butter,
and the rock poured out for me streams of oil!
7 When I went out to the gate of the city,
when I prepared my seat in the square,
8 the young men saw me and withdrew,
and the aged rose and stood;
9 the princes refrained from talking
and laid their hand on their mouth;
10 the voice of the nobles was hushed,
and their tongue stuck to the roof of their mouth.
11 When the ear heard, it called me blessed,
and when the eye saw, it approved,
12 because I delivered the poor who cried for help,
and the fatherless who had none to help him.
13 The blessing of him who was about to perish came upon me,
and I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy.
14 I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
15 I was eyes to the blind
and feet to the lame.
16 I was a father to the needy,
and I searched out the cause of him whom I did not know.
17 I broke the fangs of the unrighteous
and made him drop his prey from his teeth.

Reminiscing about the good 'ole days.
Job is still doing what all of us experience when we suffer. He daydreams about how good he had it before things went wrong. He longs to have it as it once was. God's blessings were his and so were the praises of men. He speaks of how he was able to help the poor and needy.
He's still making a case to God that allowing these things to happen was a bad idea. Not only is it not fair, it is hurting the advance of good in the world.

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Job 30:1-2, 9-11
1 “But now they laugh at me,
men who are younger than I,
whose fathers I would have disdained
to set with the dogs of my flock.
2 What could I gain from the strength of their hands,
men whose vigor is gone?
9 “And now I have become their song;
I am a byword to them.
10 They abhor me; they keep aloof from me;
they do not hesitate to spit at the sight of me.
11 Because God has loosed my cord and humbled me,
they have cast off restraint in my presence.

Job pities his loss of esteem.
When times are bad, we all tend to look around ourselves and imagine that everyone derides us. Everyone considers us losers.

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Job 30:20-21
20 I cry to you for help and you do not answer me;
I stand, and you only look at me.
21 You have turned cruel to me;
with the might of your hand you persecute me.

God is silent and cruel to me.
I have to think that every believer has felt this way. As soon as suffering comes we pray like we have never prayed. As it continues, we begin to think that God is not hearing--because nothing happens. Like Job, we wonder why an all-seeing God would let us hurt like this. Our sinful hearts (with Satan's assistance) whisper to us that God must be less than concerned with our plight. He must be cruel.
This is a significant change of tone from Job's laudatory proclamation at the beginning of his suffering: "The Lord gives and he takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord." Continued pain, like waves of a stormy sea, erode our nobility. Even the best of us can lose some battles in the war with despair.

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Job 31
1 “I have made a covenant with my eyes;
how then could I gaze at a virgin?
2 What would be my portion from God above
and my heritage from the Almighty on high?
3 Is not calamity for the unrighteous,
and disaster for the workers of iniquity?
4 Does not he see my ways
and number all my steps?
5 “If I have walked with falsehood
and my foot has hastened to deceit;
6 (Let me be weighed in a just balance,
and let God know my integrity!)
7 if my step has turned aside from the way
and my heart has gone after my eyes,
and if any spot has stuck to my hands,
8 then let me sow, and another eat,
and let what grows for me be rooted out.
9 “If my heart has been enticed toward a woman,
and I have lain in wait at my neighbor's door,
10 then let my wife grind for another,
and let others bow down on her.
11 For that would be a heinous crime;
that would be an iniquity to be punished by the judges;
12 for that would be a fire that consumes as far as Abaddon,
and it would burn to the root all my increase.
13 “If I have rejected the cause of my manservant or my maidservant,
when they brought a complaint against me,
14 what then shall I do when God rises up?
When he makes inquiry, what shall I answer him?
15 Did not he who made me in the womb make him?
And did not one fashion us in the womb?
16 “If I have withheld anything that the poor desired,
or have caused the eyes of the widow to fail,
17 or have eaten my morsel alone,
and the fatherless has not eaten of it
18 (for from my youth the fatherless grew up with me as with a father,
and from my mother's womb I guided the widow),
19 if I have seen anyone perish for lack of clothing,
or the needy without covering,
20 if his body has not blessed me,
and if he was not warmed with the fleece of my sheep,
21 if I have raised my hand against the fatherless,
because I saw my help in the gate,
22 then let my shoulder blade fall from my shoulder,
and let my arm be broken from its socket.
23 For I was in terror of calamity from God,
and I could not have faced his majesty.

God knows I've been good.
In this chapter Job makes a case for his character by citing ways that he has disciplined himself and lived with integrity where most other men have compromised. He has not looked at a young woman lustfully, lied, taken advantage of a subordinate, not helped the needy, loved riches, etc.
He says in effect, “If I have committed any of these common sins, then let something treacherous happen to me or my wife.” He becomes even bolder in daring God to accuse him.
Like David, Job seems to be growing angry with God over the unfairness of his great suffering. Again, he expresses what many have felt.

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Job 38:1
Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind...

Whirlwind
Is this a literal whirlwind, or figurative? I know that God "speaks" to me in the midst of confusion and pain. When I am at wits end and all my pat answers and proof-texts have failed to bring comfort or understanding, that's when God impresses on my heart his truth.

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Job 38:3
Dress for action like a man;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.

Suck it up.
Something in me really likes how God finally addresses Job. Like a coach to a slacking player, a sergeant to a private, or a dad to his whining son. “Get ready and be a man!” Without ever giving an answer to Job, God starts asking JOB questions. They are all questions Job can’t answer. All of them are to prove a point: some things are for God to know. He is under no obligation to explain why he does what he does or tell us how it will turn out. The point God makes is obvious. We can be confident in him. He knows what he’s doing when we don’t. Our only proper response is to trust him.

A great start to 2012!

2012-01-01T21:49:00.003-05:00

This morning we kicked-off the long-awaited and much-anticipated Journey for 2012! There seems to be a lot of buzz and excitement. A lot more people were at church today than I expected. I just figured with holiday traveling, sorry weather, and the fact that it was New Year’s Day that attendance would be way down. I even noticed two lawyers in our congregation getting on their iPhones to sign up for the YouVersion reading plan. That’s got to count for something!

It was great to see Jesse Cragwall at church today. He got a holiday leave of absence from Afghanistan and will be in for a couple of weeks. I hope to have him share with the church on the 14th about Global Planting Initiative, the new missions organization he’s starting after his deployment is finished. He’s an incredible guy. And you can see the joy on his and Leslie’s faces that he’s able to be home.

Next week we’ll get to hear about Hope Resource Center from Lisa Hardin, one of our members, who is the Executive Director. I think it will be awesome—and perfect—for at least two reasons: the message is about the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which tells how humanity got its start. Gen. 1:27-28 (from today’s reading) says:

So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply...”

Tragically ironic, isn’t it? We intrinsically bear God’s image. He gave us the gift of sex and told us to multiply in the context of marriage. But now we shamelessly disregard his purpose for sex and make legal the taking of human life by abortion. Hope Resource Center is a way Christians can show Christ’s love to women who find themselves in crisis pregnancies and many times save lives of children who could be aborted.

I already can’t wait for next Sunday! It’s going to be a great year.

Last Post of 2011

2011-12-31T23:20:00.003-05:00

Whew. Another year is done. It seems it ended in a crazy rush! That's just how life is when you're at my stage. Two high schoolers and a middle schooler, a great church with lots going on, family nearby, not to mention a dissertation that I've been working on for many hours. That's where I've been spending my time. I have gone hunting only once this fall! There has been very little time for personal reflection. Not good, really.
There is much good for which to be thankful. A godly wife who I don't deserve, who is excellent in every way. Great kids who all seem to be moving toward Jesus (I pray). A church family that keeps growing spiritually and numerically. Indeed, a lot for which to thank God!
Tomorrow is the beginning of a New Year--on Sunday--when we as a church will begin the much anticipated "Journey." I pray with all my heart that God will move people toward him and toward each other this year. I pray that people will be transformed through his Word, prayer, belonging, serving, giving and going. 2012 is going to be great.

Christmas Tree Time!

2011-12-01T10:50:00.029-05:00

Wow, Christmas is a busy season! It seems every night between now and Christmas there's something festive going on. We usually get a Christmas tree on Thanksgiving weekend, but this time we couldn't make it happen. So I did the thing that bad (or "cool," depending on your perspective) parents do: got one of our kids out of school and went on a smaller-than-usual version of the annual Sparks Christmas tree adventure! You gotta know, Clark Griswald has nothing on me--just ask Darla (poor thing)! We've had some doozies and have come home with some epic trees!!

For the past several years, we've been going to Green Cove, VA (just past Damascus) to get our tree for $25. I know, I know--I spend more than that in gas! But we get a big, beautiful 9-10 ft. tree that is super fresh (in fact, I cut it down myself)! And, as every true sportsman knows, it's the HUNT, not the kill that matters.

Besides, that place is one gorgeous part of God's creation! We love the Creeper Trail, Grayson Highlands, and the whole area.
So I talked Dara into skipping school Wednesday and we dashed away. Wouldn't you know it--we got there and SNOW! Oh man, we were so excited! We had Relient K's Christmas album playing...it was INCREDIBLE!

The tree farm we went to probably wasn't even supposed to be open for business.

I went to the little old house next to the barn there and knocked. A really nice old guy came out and told us to go pick and cut a tree and call him when we were ready to go. There were thousands of flawless trees! The only difficulty was being able to make a judgment with all the snow on them.

We didn't have to go far to find the perfect tree. Good thing, really. The snow on top of the mud made for some treacherous stuff. I had forgotten to bring a saw so I had to borrow one from the man in the house. After we dragged the tree back and knocked on the door to pay, he was kind enough to crank up the old machine and bundle the tree up for us. Pretty cool!

There are lots of Christmas tree farms around there. We went to the one right next to the Whitetop Market. It is a cool little place with lots of old-timey soft drinks (like Nehi Peach and Red Rock Ginger Ale, which Dara and I got, respectively) in glass bottles. They also have a real grill where they serve a big menu of sandwiches and other food. Our family loves going there to look at the stuff and eat.

What a way to start the Christmas season! Dara and I were "baptized" into winter on November 30th!
After getting the tree we drove home and had a decorating party! I love Christmas.

Memories from my first missionary journey

2011-11-29T16:33:00.053-05:00

Sunday I told of my first international mission trip. It was to the country of Kenya in Africa.

At the time I was a 21-year-old pre-med major who had just surrendered to God’s calling on my life to serve him professionally in ministry. Problem: I didn’t know how or where! I was stressing myself out and driving my pastor and spiritual mentors crazy with questions! One of them, Alan Duncan, a missionary’s son, advised me to go and see for myself if God wanted me to be a missionary. So I saved and raised some money and went--by myself--to Africa. It was the most significant and life-altering summer of my life.

A few people wanted to know more about my trip so I thought I’d take a short walk down memory lane and dig up a few old pictures. I pulled out the journal I wrote while on my journey. It was the summer of 1988. My football coaches were less-than-enthusiastic about me going; they were afraid I’d get sick or at least not do the summer workouts like I should and report back to fall practice out of shape.

I had been in the air about 24 hours (not counting layovers) by the time I got to Nairobi. Marshall Duncan (Alan’s dad) had traveled monsoon-beaten mud roads to get there to pick me up. We stayed in Nairobi at a missionary conference center for a few days before going to the Duncan’s home in Kericho.

This part of Africa was not the arid, dry place I was expecting. It was green and wet. My first impression of the people was not really positive. We were in a big city. People were staring and some would boldly ask me for money! I learned quickly how to say, “No” forcefully in Swahili so that they would not think I was a naïve American tourist (read: “target”). We went west across the Great Rift Valley to Kericho, a small town in tea growing country.

For the following days, Mr. Duncan showed me the real Kenya. The people were for the most part wonderful, genuine, and hard-working. My primary job was to help build churches.

Some didn’t have buildings and met under a tree or in an empty lot. Others were barely planted, having only a new, young pastor.
I spoke a lot. Schools, church groups, people curious about the mzungu (white man) who was digging a foundation for a church building, I would speak to any group of people who would listen.

It was cool that some of the people heard about Jesus for the very first time from me (through a translator)!
I also helped out at the Duncans' place doing chores and tending their garden. They had Indian neighbors who invited us to dinner. Strange but good!
Mr. Duncan liked good food. And eating was always an experience!

Then Mr. Duncan took me to stay for two or three weeks with the Bass family who lived on the east coast. Missionary Dwight Bass really made a lasting impact on me. He was a tireless and positive man with an indomitable spirit. We went everywhere from small villages in thick cashew jungles, to the Muslim inner city of Mombasa.
One thing we did was to teach a few dozen young Christians how to share their faith in Christ with others. Amazingly, those people led over 1000 individuals to Christ by that fall! In meeting Christians in some of the villages I experienced some of the most incredible worship and loving hospitality of my life. People who were much more committed Christians than me would give me the place of honor in their homes and feed me the only chicken they had (which they killed just for me). It was humbling. On the long drives between villages I learned SO much from Dwight about missions. I also had several opportunities to speak and share my faith.

It wasn’t all work. Mrs. Bass took their kids and I to the beach to blow off some steam!
While at the beach my wallet was stolen (along with hundreds of dollars), which was another valuable lesson learned.

One of the most significant moments of my life happened one evening when Dwight and I were standing outside a school full of students singing beautifully in worship while the sun set and the stars were coming out. Dwight became emotional and said, “This...this is what I live for! It doesn’t get any better! In times like these God reminds me that I am doing exactly what he wants!” I shared the emotion and breathed in the moment contemplatively. It was at that instance that God “spoke” to my heart and confirmed my call. He clearly conveyed to me that he wanted me to be a pastor...at home in the U.S. “Thank you, Lord.” I prayed out loud with gratitude.

After my stay with the Basses, I went back to the Duncan’s home. Mr. Duncan (who wasn’t feeling well) took me to a village called Londiani and introduced me to an African pastor with whom I would be staying for the next several days. I will never forget that town.

We were threatened and cursed by a witchdoctor (who Mr. Duncan demonstrably put in his place just before he left town), I was the center of the biggest “mzungu parade” of my whole stay, I was arrested and taken to jail, I attended a church with topless women, and slept on the dirt floor of a cardboard hut! I ate goat, banana, and root stew, cooked by my host the pastor (who knew almost as much English as I knew Swahili)! Talk about culture shock! I can’t even begin to describe it!

The jail story always gets questions and demands some explanation. After the “mzungu parade” I was the talk of the town. Two policemen came that afternoon to question me. They looked through my bag (I had a tape player, camera, notebook, Bible, clothes, etc.) and acted really suspicious. What I didn’t know is that there had been a recent communist uprising in a neighboring town. The police believed I was a communist organizer! They arrested me and the pastor panicked! He just took off! Feeling abandoned and that things were out of control, they led me across town to the jail through the muddy streets in a torrential downpour. They put me in an 8’x8’ cell that had a hole in the corner (the toilet) and a broken metal chair. The head policeman (who knew a little English) interrogated me. “So, you no like our country?” and “What do you think of our president?” were the kinds of questions he asked. Realizing what was going on, I assured him that I loved Kenya very much, supported their political system, and was enjoying my visit!

While sitting in my cell, I made note of who was in the other cells. An old man who seemed to be drunk, and a young teen who looked like he had been beaten were also behind bars. There was also a young woman there who the policemen ordered around like a slave. I picked up by their actions and words that she must have been a prostitute who was working off her sentence (this was confirmed later when I got the rest of the story). She came and offered me chai (hot tea with milk). I gladly accepted. Using some of the few Swahili words I had learned, I tried my best to share the good news of Jesus with her. I kept saying, “God loves you,” “Jesus is God’s Son.” and “Jesus died for you.” She listened intently, then smiled and tears ran from her eyes down her face.

The police made her leave my presence and I prayed that she understood. While sitting there in the dark (there was one light on in another room) I went from being scared, thinking, “My family will never see me again or know what happened to me!” to thinking of Paul and Silas in Phillipi. I almost started singing around midnight! What dawned on me is that God was totally in control. I can trust him. Later that night a car pulled up to the jail. I heard some people come in the front office and begin speaking sharply to the head policeman. Through the door I could see the other two stand at attention with fearful looks on their faces. A light came on and into the hallway walked Marshall Duncan with a distinguished older African who turned out to be a tribal chief! The pastor, who I thought had abandoned me, had gotten a ride to Kericho and found Mr. Duncan, who had previously led the tribal chief to faith in Jesus! Those poor policemen were wishing they had never arrested me!

Of course there is much, much more that happened. Reading my journal brought back so many memories! I saw (and ate!) many wild animals, and even had some close calls. I slept on the banks of a crocodile-infested river and had hippos walk all around my tent during the night. Look carefully at the below picture and see the hippos at the top right, next to the river.
This picture was actually taken right behind my tent.
While traveling with Jim, a missionary’s son who was about my age, our convertible Land Cruiser broke down (a common occurrence) in the Masai Mara, many miles from the nearest sign of civilization. Our African driver got out to try to fix the problem. He suddenly bounded back in the vehicle shrieking, “Simba, simba, simba!” I knew that word. It means, “lion”! I grabbed my camera and started looking toward the horizon, hoping to get a good picture. The panicked driver pointed down toward the front, left tire (in Kenya, that’s the passenger side of the vehicle). There was a huge female lion concealed in the tall grass, about 15 feet from us!! I snapped a couple of pictures before I felt “that awkward moment when you realize you’re not in a zoo and could become lunch to a wild lion.” I looked around and realized we were in the middle of a pride of lions—six of them were within 35-40 feet of the vehicle! Long story short, we did a lot of sweating and praying. We hadn’t even seen another vehicle for hours. We finally noticed on the horizon a tiny cloud of dust. It grew. I (perhaps unwisely) took off my orange shirt, stood on the top of the Land Cruiser and frantically waved and screamed. Miraculously, they saw us. It was an African wildlife tour guide taking a vacationing American out on safari to photograph animals! They chased off the lions and the two drivers fixed our old Toyota.

Who was the vacationing American in the other vehicle, you ask?
(This is where you are going to think I’m lying...but God knows it is the truth.)
Jeopardy! game show host, Alex Trebec!
He was ticked-off, by the way, acting smug and annoyed at us since we had disturbed his private safari. After we recognized who he was and saw his attitude, I asked Jim, the missionary’s son, “How can we make sure he never forgets us?” We considered several things. Finally, while the drivers worked, I stood up in my seat and yelled (with an unbridled east Tennessee accent), “Hey! I know you! You’re Bob Barker! He’s Bob Barker! Go-lly, imagine that, we come all the way to Africa and see Bob Barker!” Trebec just shook his head in disgust. Jim and I laughed all the way to where we were staying. I’d love if someone would ask him if he remembers us! It makes me want to tryout to become a contestant on Jeopardy! just to ask him!

It seemed every missionary I was around was sick or had the runs or something. Amazingly, I never did. I didn't have the time or opportunity to work out while there, but I did a lot of physical labor, and tried to run at least once a week. Nevertheless, I wasn't in great shape when I got home. Spiritually, however, I returned in the best place so far in my life. My perspective had changed.
God taught me so much that summer! There are so many things that will never leave me. Here are a few:
• God is 100% trustworthy. 100%.
• God is doing amazing things around the world.
• There are good and bad ways to do missions.
I learned first-hand the great challenge of international missions. I saw HOW to DO missions & how NOT to do missions. In our desire to do good, American Christians have made a lot of mistakes, too. Finding indigenous people/leaders/pastors and planting churches are the keys to reaching the nations. I saw examples of great people of God who he used tremendously. I also saw shams and “missions” that did more harm than good.
• Christians are a family no matter their language, color, or nationality.
• Most American Christians are minor-leaguers by comparison to most Christians in the world. But there are some American missionaries who are fearless, humble, spiritual giants.
• Personal: God clearly spoke to my heart that he wanted me to be a pastor in the USA. I think I needed to get away from all the distractions and focus on him. Interestingly, I began dating Darla the fall after I returned. It was like God was preparing me for many things.
I came home CHANGED...in many good ways. That’s what happens when we get out of our comfort zone and go on a Journey!

Providence is going on a Journey

2011-11-06T20:19:00.015-05:00

I know some of you who read this blog are not a part of Providence. This is a summary of what we presented to the church Sunday. It’s an overview of something we’re doing next year that we’re calling “The Journey 2012.” It’s going to be fun!

For 2012, folks at Providence are invited to take a journey to experience biblical Christianity. Particularly in five ways:

1. Journey through the Bible in a year. You can do this in the following ways:

• As an individual. Have you ever wanted to read the Bible through in the order in which it occurred? You will be able to do this online, on your smartphone or pad, or in your real Bible.

• As a church on Sundays. Every Sunday in 2012, the sermon will cover a theme, story, or selections from the passages we’ve all just read the previous week. Sometimes hard-to-understand parts will be discussed. Obviously, it would be impractical to read and discuss every verse, so we’ll get more of the 20,000-foot view!

• Our small groups will discuss the passages too! Here you will be able to express your thoughts and questions with others who are reading like you.

• Our students and children’s ministries will be following along, bringing out the main themes from the reading on their level. Your whole family is invited to walk through the Bible with our church family! It is an opportunity for you to really get to know the greatest book ever written together.

2. Pray deliberately.
You can’t read the Bible without noticing how people talk with God regularly, yet in our busy, high-tech culture, "the average Christian spends less than two minutes a day in prayer” (Nicole Haye, iNewswire, November 21, 2008). We want to help you know how to pray, what to pray, and help you stay motivated (whether you’re structured or unstructured)!
Hand-made leather “travel journals” are available for you to use devotionally.

3. Journey together in community.

• You are invited to covenant with a small group for a year.

• We invite all of you to serve in your church family for a year.

4. Give to kingdom causes.
Take the time to pray and think about how God wants you to participate this year regarding the following 3 giving categories:

• First fruits to the storehouse.

• Missions opportunities.

• Facility expansion.

Regarding missions, our elders have prayerfully considered exciting local and international missions that need our support. Locally we want to financially support Hope Resource Center, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Knox Area Rescue Ministries, and our local church planting efforts. Internationally, we are helping launch a new church planting organization: Global Planting Initiative, and are beginning the process of planting another church in Brazil!

5. Journey on mission for one week of your year. Instead of WorshipServe this year in which hundreds of you have taken part, we’re inviting everyone to be missional for more than just one Sunday. We’re inviting you to give a week. Because everyone is in a different situation, we’re offering opportunities locally, nationally, and internationally. The point is to make a difference and experience helping people in a different culture.

If you want to hear the whole message, click here.

For the next 3 weeks, we’re going to explain more detail and encourage everyone to pray about how they’d like to be a part. The Journey begins in January! I can’t wait!

Weird Halloween...

2011-10-28T14:34:00.004-04:00

I must confess a really weird thing about me...I have this little ongoing internal struggle about Halloween. It’s not a big deal. I certainly haven’t said anything about it to many others—definitely not publicly. I really don’t have an axe to grind with Halloween. I don’t think less of anyone who dresses like a zombie, witch, ghost, or Freddy Kruger. It’s just this little internal struggle. Perhaps it is because of all the trouble I got into as a teenager on October 31. Perhaps it is the fact that it’s the only holiday (“holy-day”) that has no national or Christian significance (there is debate on this: some say it has some Christian meaning and is harmless, some say it possibly even glorifies some anti-Christian ideas??). I’m really not sure what it is.

What I do know is that my kids think I’m weird. And some of the few others that know my struggle think I’m weird.

Add to this my weird affection for history. October 31 just happens to be the day that Martin Luther began the Protestant Reformation by nailing his 99 objections to the practices of the Roman Catholic Church to the big front door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. He did this intentionally on “All Hallows Eve” (i.e. the day before All Saints Day, which is celebrated by Roman Catholics on November 1). Since Constantine became a Christian in 512 AD, it’s the biggest event in Christian history—perhaps even the history of the world! So (this is sooo weird), I try to get my family together to watch my favorite movie, Luther (2003), which tells the story!

This year, there’s another opportunity on Monday, October 31. No, not a Christian substitute “Trunk-or-Treat,” “Judgment House,” or “Fall Festival.” At noon that day, a group of Christians from Protestant churches all over Knoxville are meeting to silently pray for awakening. The Protestant Reformation was a long-needed awakening of true Christianity and millions were saved as God’s word was unleashed in Europe, effectively ending the dark ages of the medieval period. We need another awakening. You can come and pray, too! This time it will be at Cedar Springs Presbyterian’s old sanctuary (they call it their chapel). What a weird way to spend lunch on Halloween Day!

PrayForAwakening.com

My Old Body

2011-10-08T21:49:00.002-04:00

We all grow old. Someone once joked, “I like growing old better than the alternative!” I’m not so sure. I’m just 44 but I’m running out of expendable organs! I lost my appendix a few years ago, now I might be losing my gallbladder.

Tuesday night I awakened with strong stomach pain and hugged the bowl from 1:30-4:30am. I just figured it was something I ate that wasn’t sitting right (we ate at a Mexican place for staff lunch that day). I had no fever and felt otherwise fine so I didn’t think it was a virus. My stomach continued to bother me—so much so that I couldn’t concentrate on my work. I tried to eat something for lunch. Big mistake! I became violently sick from 3:00 to 6:00pm with extreme stomach pain. I didn’t eat anything after that for the rest of the day because I was feeling so queasy. Thursday morning I felt a little better. I ate a little cereal and felt shaky again but was ok. I didn’t eat anything the rest of the day and had a great night’s sleep. Friday I woke up feeling great, I drank some milk and was fine. Then I totally did something stupid. Thinking my “sickness” was over I had two pieces of pizza. One hour later I was experiencing MAJOR pain in the top center of my stomach. It went on for hours. By 5:00pm, I was hurting so bad Darla called the doctor. They said to go to the ER. On the way, I was near passing out from pain. After hooking up the I.V. and getting some pain meds, they did some tests, including ultrasound, finding polyps in my gallbladder. I went home and the pain meds wore off—it’s been hurting a little since. I get more tests on Monday, and may have to have it removed. Since then I’ve been walking softly, drinking only water and eating hardly anything (and nothing fatty).

It’s been a rough ride since turning 40! In addition to appendicitis, I’ve had back surgery, and had to wear glasses for the first time in my life! It’s really kind of funny, and I’m thankful that it hasn’t been worse (as others have unfortunately experienced!). But it’s another reminder of the frailty and finite nature of our earthly bodies. It reminds me not to love this world. It makes me look forward to heaven! It makes me thankful for Darla (who's been really great).

Worldview: Pat Robertson and Alzheimer's

2011-09-20T23:51:00.002-04:00

I rarely get red-faced with anger. But when a staff member reported that Pat Robertson (TBN founder and 700 Club host) effectively affirmed a guy cheating on his wife with Alzheimer's disease, I could feel the heat building in my cheeks. I watched the whole interview myself. It is simply unbelievable. I was still seething Sunday when I mentioned it, but feel the need to blog about it since it’s been a week and there’s been no retraction, and because of the errors his words propagate. Perhaps now Robertson, who is well known for making imprudent statements, will finally be sidelined as "unreasonable" and discredited. What an embarrassment to Christ and his followers!

You can read a blog that puts Robertson's words (original video included) in perspective by Randy Alcorn here. It is a must-read. In it are quotes from McQuilkin and Joni Eareckson Tada that show the TRUE Christian response to those afflicted with Alzheimer’s.

Pat Robertson is a Charismatic, borderline health/wealth/prosperity doctrine leader, who is often quoted by the mainstream media as a spokesman for Christians and evangelicals. Among charismatics, he has a cult following. Quite frankly, I'm ready for him to retire into obscurity. I first became familiar with Robertson during his presidential campaign in 1988. It was the first election in which I was old enough to vote and Robertson was vying for support as the “Christian” candidate. Even at age 18, I sensed that although he was attractive in some ways on the surface, there were some things about him that caused uneasiness. That’s the deceptive thing about these guys; they deliver a mixture of truth and lies. I remember watching the 700 Club where he frequently made weird claims that God was speaking directly to him. He would claim to know of viewers “out there” who were suffering from different specific diseases and conditions, and he would proclaim healing for them in very specific ways. Since then he has made several specific predictions publically (that he claimed were from God) that have not come to pass. Have you ever read what the Old Testament says about “prophets” like Robertson?

But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' And if you say in your heart, 'How may we know the word that the LORD has not spoken?'—when a prophet speaks in the name of the LORD, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the LORD has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him (Deut. 18:20-22).

While I do not recommend capital punishment(!), I do encourage great caution to anyone who hears him. In the New Testament, Peter writes:

...There will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies...And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1, 3).

Peter says their motivation is greed. Robertson has apparently fared well in peddling his mixture of truth and falsehood. He is reportedly worth between $200 million and $1 billion and has set his son up as the heir of his media empire (which smacks of nepotism).

While gleefully impugned by liberals in the media with regularity, Robertson’s comments on leaving a spouse with Alzheimer’s have found him some new defenders among them. William Saletan wrote that Robertson is thinking “how a liberal thinks. He faces the reality of human experience in all its contours and contradictions. And he's willing to let that experience complicate his principles.” Hmmm. Problem is, they’re not Pat’s principles. They’re Christ’s. And they’re not complicated. Jesus:

“A man...fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. [Two religious leaders] passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan...saw him, he had compassion. He...bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, 'Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.' Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?" He said, "The one who showed him mercy." And Jesus said to him, "You go, and do likewise" (Luke 10:30-37).

Plenty of Christian leaders have denounced Robertson’s words. But I've not read any discussion about the doctrinal implications of his view of marriage. What does it indicate about his worldview? I’ll try to be brief...

It is hedonistic: Robertson’s advice indicates that his most important guiding principle of life is that self is happy. This is essentially a form of hedonism. Whenever self is not happy, lesser things are expendable and are subject to change—or even discarded—in order to serve the greater. Things like the person with whom you once fell in love, with whom you shared life and bore children. Things like a vow before God that promised “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.” With hedonism, love of self is the supreme ethical factor, not love of God or love of others. Think of a world where this belief is practiced wholesale. There would be no soldiers or firefighters to put their lives in danger for the sake of others—to do so would be considered foolish rather than heroic. And think of how much the crime rate would skyrocket. After all, if the ultimate judge of good is what is pleasurable for me, anything anyone else has is fair game. It is better for me to have it, by any means. Conversely, it would be sinful to do anything to take from me that which brings me pleasure. It would be a violation of my rights! It sounds very much like the opposite of the great commandment of Christ: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength; and love your neighbor as yourself.”

It is idolatrous: A person’s situation (or the interpretation of one’s situation) trumps God’s commandments. Fear of God is subservient to love of self. God has been effectively usurped and replaced by a new, false god: self. This, of course is THE original sin—which resulted in the fall of Lucifer as well as the fall of humankind and gave us the curse. Pride—love of self—is the singular target of the Ten Commandments: No gods before God. No idols. No misuse of God’s name. Remember Sabbath. Honor parents. Don’t murder, commit adultery, steal, lie, or covet. Bottom line: when we dethrone God and replace him with self, we commit idolatry. Pat Robertson’s advice is especially treacherous because he proclaims the spouse as “gone” and having died “a kind of death” before God has taken her life, because she could not recognize her husband. Think of the implications for abortion, euthanasia, treatment of the handicapped and elderly, and a host of other ethical issues! We subvert God’s order and supplant God’s decree with our own selfish agenda.

It disregards God’s purpose: The man whose wife has Alzheimer’s was said to have “gotten bitter at God for allowing his wife to be in that condition.” Instead of understanding suffering as an existential reminder of our fallen world causing him to desire God and heaven, this man evidently understands suffering as evidence of God’s injustice causing him to commit further injustice (cheating on his infirmed wife). That’s tragic enough. But more tragic is Robertson’s confirmation of this distorted view. Robertson’s replies, “I hate Alzheimer’s,” and “I can’t fault him for wanting some kind of companionship, and if he says ‘she is gone’ he’s right” seem natural enough and perhaps even compassionate. But is that the best reply for a Christian leader? Is God unjust? Or is there something (some things) he wants to reveal in trial and suffering?

I am thankful that God didn’t say “they’re gone, they’re gone, they are gone!” regarding our hopelessly diseased, rebellious, and sinful state. I’m glad he didn’t simply “divorce” us in order to find companionship elsewhere. He would have been completely justified to do just that, for unlike the Alzheimer’s victim, we are responsible for our spiritual handicap. No, instead “though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And...he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death...on a cross” (Philippians 2:5-8). This supreme act of selflessness resulted in our salvation. Think of the difficulty! The Transcendent God did not cling to this glorified state. Instead, Holy Christ lowered himself, put on fragile flesh, and moved into our sinful world. God stooped to share in our helpless, pitiful, diseased existence—simply in order to save us.

Is it possible that “sharing in Christ’s suffering” may include lowering ourselves to serve the helpless ones we love? I think it does. We can learn much. We can teach much to others about God. We can understand and long for our salvation and ultimate freedom from our “body of sin.” And we will be rewarded by God. On the other hand, if we do not show compassion to those who need us in the time of their greatest destitution, what does it say of us? What does it say of our own experience of God’s grace? Is it possible that we have not understood our helplessness and his great mercy? Because if we have, we would gladly give mercy to others—particularly those with whom we have covenanted our lives to become one flesh.

So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
(Philippians 2:1-11)

Contrast that with Matthew 7:15-23

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

Your fruit is not good, Pat. I pray that you will change or that you would please retire and get out of the spotlight.

The persecuted early Christians were impugned by the Romans because we cared about the “least of these” to the extent of giving proper burial to the dead among the pagans because all individuals were made in the image of God, and raising little Roman girls who, not wanted by their fathers, were left in the streets. Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate lamented:

[Christianity] has been specially advanced through the loving service rendered to strangers and through their care for the burial of the dead. It is a scandal that there is not a single Jew who is a beggar, and that the godless Galileans care not only for their own poor but for ours as well; while those who belong to us look in vain for the help that we should render them.

God, grant that we regain this reputation today!

An Amazing Time.

2011-07-31T12:28:00.003-04:00

From my high school days I dreamed of going to the Rockies on an outdoor adventure. When Drew was seven years old, I shared this dream with him after reading a book about the western wilderness. He said, "Maybe we can go together sometime, Daddy." We decided that night that we would when he was old enough (if he still wanted to). Drew LOVES hiking, backpacking, and experiencing the wilderness. It has always been his thing. And it is something we both love.

I am profoundly grateful that our church has from the start determined to give full-time staff a sabbatical after every seven years. Pastors in particular tend to get buried in their work and sometimes burn out; or perhaps worse, burn out their families. I could give numerous examples. This policy helps us keeps family first and rekindle the burning passion for Christ--both necessary if we are to lead people spiritually. It is because of this intentional policy that I was able to fulfill my and Drew's dream, and spend some invaluable time together before Drew goes to college in a couple of years (I dread the thought!).

Many months ago, I blocked out July for the trip. I didn't know where the money would come from, but I knew God would provide. He answered my prayers. I was able to save a few hundred dollars over the last year, and without ever mentioning the need to anyone, a couple of wonderful people from our church gave me gifts that made it possible to go. I am so grateful.

We flew out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming on July 4th for 23 days. There is no way to tell every detail. We backpacked and camped in the Tetons, the Bridger-Teton National Forest, Yellowstone, the Winds (a desolate high mountain range south east of the Tetons), the canyon land of Utah, the Colorado Rockies, and other places. We saw 7 states (not from Rock City): Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and (barely) New Mexico and Arizona. It seems most spots had their particular plague: cold & snow, mosquitoes (often), gnats, no-see-ums, horseflies, heat, bears, or something else! But believe me, the beauty and exhilaration of each place far outweighed these tolerable negatives. I'm sure you Providence folks will hear stories in the future from the wild and wonderful adventure Drew and I had together.

The one thing I will say at this point is this: I would not trade anything for the time spent with Drew. I love my son. Yes, we had some good deep conversations--sometimes about very spiritual things. Yes, we had to depend on each other. But perhaps best of all we were TOGETHER; laughing, hurting, stinking, and experiencing amazement. I (intentionally) did very little reproving. We are completely different in many regards, but we are also very much alike--a fact that I focused on. We both like to eat well. We both like to read. We both like to observe the plant and animal life around us. We both like tech stuff (computer and cell phone related in particular), we both like the same styles of music, we both like to talk about politics. We both like our sweet tea.

One of my daughters was going through a rough-spot a while back. A Christian friend Darla and I respect gave some advice. "Enjoy her. Let her know you delight in her." I took the advice and it made all the difference. As parents we can easily become negative. In this I am guilty. Drew is our oldest, and the fact that he's a son makes him even more the victim of my high expectations. Of course, I have his best interests at heart and only want him to experience the benefits of wisdom. When he resists wisdom, I can become negative. Sometimes negative communication can be inferred as, "You're a failure." ESPECIALLY if a kid does not have the confidence of knowing his parent delights in him or her. My brother-in-law wisely said it this way: "Reproof without relationship equals rejection and rebellion."

Relationship is the key. There is no substitute for time spent doing what your child loves to do--encouraging them and delighting in them and with them. I challenge you parents to MAKE THIS HAPPEN. Consider this a great task you must accomplish. It is not complicated. It is invaluable.

Here are a few pics of our trip.

Hidden Falls in the Tetons:

Cascade Canyon:

Fixing lunch after a cloudburst next to Cascade Creek.

Hiking on snow in July:

A hill of flowers with quite a view:

The beginning of our hike around this lake (Green Lake) to the top of one of the mountains in the back.

This is Slide Lake which is a several-mile hike into the Winds range. Incredible!

(Above) Climbing the talus (rock slide) above slide lake on our way to 12,000+ ft. Flat Top Mountain. There's no trail here! We call this "the Epic Hike."

(Below) We are probably 80% of the way to the top where we rested and ate.

Canyon country near Moab, UT.

Gemini Arches. Look closely to see that we are hundreds of feet from the floor! There was a monument there of a guy who died here driving his Jeep. I can see how.

This is a great campsite Drew picked on a mountain across the "hole" from the Tetons. Perfect (except for the horseflies and mosquitoes)!

Red Mountain in Colorado, above the famous "Yankee Girl" silver mine. We camped on the mine site.

Different from Red Mountain is "Red Hills" in the Bridger-Teton National Forest. Our last night was spent near here.

Buffalo. Umm...I mean, "Bison."

Evidently I've reached the max of photos I can publish on this post. There are literally hundreds more!

Is it Compassionate?

2011-05-12T01:45:00.006-04:00

My daughter and I ran into one of her friends in a public place. Her zipper was unzipped. My daughter was in a quandary. “Should I tell her?” There were lots of other people around and activity going on. Her dilemma was kind of funny, really. I laughed and asked her, “Would you want her to tell you if your fly was open?” “Well, yeah, but it would be kinda embarrassing,” she said. She tried to get near her and pull her aside but couldn’t (or didn’t). No harm was done. The friend had a long shirt that covered the delinquent zipper. It bothered my daughter that she didn’t tell her friend. She cared about her. But it sparked a good conversation. What’s more compassionate? It is certainly cruel to purposely embarrass, impugn, avoid, or discriminate against someone because of a blind spot they have—this is a point no one would dispute. But is it cruel to NOT tell them of the blind spot? Is it compassionate NOT to tell your obese friend that their lifestyle is hurtful to them and offer to help? Is it compassionate NOT to warn your fiscally-challenged friend about a foolish purchase they’re considering or the consequences of poor financial decisions? In some cases we can even share liability. If it is our responsibility to help someone and we choose not to, we could even be legally liable. Examples: the doctor who does not suggest an available life-saving treatment...the engineer who misses a safety-related design flaw...the school that knowingly employs a child-molester...the auditor who ignores embezzlement. You get the point.

But what about the Christian—the follower of Christ who has covenanted with other Christians in accomplishing the Great Commission through a local church? What if he knows that one of his brothers is living in sin—buying the lie of the enemy and the world to his own hurt—perhaps even hurting others? He is either temporarily blinded or he NEVER COULD SEE. Jesus said that we are responsible to find out which kind of blindness they have by being honest (Matthew 18:15-18), so that they can see. We are to do this gently (Galatians 6:1-2). Of course this is not easy! We’re not talking about a zipper. It is much easier to just not deal with it. But what if we don’t perform this service to our brother? He is “led away by his own desires and enticed.” If he is a Christian, he is robbed of joy. He puts distance between himself and God. He experiences God’s chastisement. If he persists, God may even end his life. If he is not a Christian the stakes are even higher. Am I my brother’s keeper? Answer: I am. We are to help the fallen brother. We are to know where our brother is spiritually. We are to CARE.

The point is, I'm afraid we really just don’t care. And that’s a mark of our culture.
The public school teacher who started Reach Them To Teach Them told me recently, “The problem today is not that kids feel bullied, the problem is that they feel invisible.” She told me of a poem that one of her “more difficult” students wrote that said just that. It changed her. So many feel that no one cares. That’s fascinating to me, because I think it is (in part) an unintended consequence of radical tolerance, which is now our culture’s highest moral value.

Politicians have sometimes quoted Cain in Genesis 4 who asked, “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Of course, what they usually intend by use of the quote is that we should want the government to provide services and take tax money from the “haves” and redistribute it to people they consider the “have nots.” I don’t think that’s what being "my brother’s keeper" means. I think it means (among other things) that I am to care about him. I am to care for him. I am to care where he is...that he is unharmed. Cain didn’t of course—he had just killed his brother when he said this, and his answer showed no remorse. He had no compassion. He did not care.

We aren’t just to care enough to hold individuals in our Christian family accountable—at least to remind them of what Christ expects of fellow Christians for their own sake, we are to hold Christian institutions accountable. A case could be made that this is even more important since institutions have more influence on people than mere individuals.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) just became the 4th Protestant denomination to allow openly gay clergy. Unbelievable. As a former PCUSA member of our church told me, “The fact that they were even talking about the possibility is indication enough that they are gone.” They’ve been talking about for a long time. The battle to do this has been waged by proponents for 30 years! Virtually every year saw another campaign and call for a vote by a few activist leaders. Every time, the people’s representatives voted it down. Appeals from conservatives from both inside and outside the PCUSA were made. But the proponents of tolerance never quit. During that time period, the denomination lost almost half of their membership. A once great denomination that claimed many notable Christian and American leaders among their ranks will now, I predict, decline more rapidly and effectively die (if not in number soon, certainly in their usefulness to God in disciples-making), becoming an historical footnote. I can’t help but think that John Calvin, John Knox, Peter Marshall, Francis Schaeffer, and nine U.S. Presidents (and even more vice-presidents) are rolling over in their proverbial graves! They’re not literally, of course; I actually think they're in heaven. All of these men were a part of a Presbyterian Church that believed God’s word and proclaimed the Gospel. The PCUSA is not the only Presbyterian denomination. There are others, including several that splintered off for obvious reasons. If not due to acceptance of homosexuality, good Christians left for a more fundamental reason: They believed the PCUSA no longer viewed the Bible as God’s word, inerrant and authoritative. We should all grieve this once great denomination’s decay and decline.

The Gay Issue
“But why,” you may ask, “is homosexuality such a watershed issue? What about that particular sin is so grievous by comparison to others?” Great question. After all, you don’t read headlines about denominations arguing about whether or not gluttons should be members of the clergy. What gives?

It is true that all sin is sin to God. He is infinitely holy. Any unholiness is infinitely sinful to him. Infinitely. Deserving of eternal hell. But God has decreed that some sins carry greater consequences in this life than others. Gluttony is infinitely unholy to God. So is murder. But while gluttony primarily hurts the glutton, murder hurts others. While gluttony may bring some shame to one who becomes overweight and unhealthy as a consequence, murder violates another person’s most basic right—the right of one created by God in his image—to life itself. Those who loved the one who was murdered were robbed of the relationship with that person. And God made us for each other. Therefore, murder carries a much more serious punishment, both in the Bible and in human law. Throughout the Bible, homosexuality is considered a gross sin, carrying a most severe punishment—perhaps the most severe. Every time it comes up in the Bible it is presented as a sin against human dignity violating God’s very created order. Nothing is more vital to human society than the male-female relationship. It is how our species is propagated (gee thanks, Captain Obvious!). God made us this way. It is in this context that secure, healthy kids are best raised. Heterosexual marriage is the basic building block of the family and all other human institutions. Our nation is experiencing dangerous moral decline, and even secular sociologists cite the decline of the nuclear family as a (if not “the”) primary factor. The plight of the African-American family is a well-documented example example of this principle. In the past half century, welfare and social programs made it attractive for more black women to have children outside of marriage. More black men were not encouraged by society to be faithful husbands and fathers. Many poor blacks were given money, government housing, and food stamps. Work and education were not valued as highly. This social experiment, intended for good, resulted in a large group of people who were harmed by the decline of the family. Drug abuse, crime, violence, high incarceration rates, high abortion rates, all followed. It is now happening to every demographic. The traditional family is something to fight for. Redefining marriage and encouraging homosexuality is killing our culture. But our highest value, radical tolerance, causes many to not say what needs to be said. "We love you. This is not good for you. You are hurting yourself and others." That's true compassion. Tolerance lets us off the hook. It encourages us to not care. It is not compassionate.

Let me be clear: homosexuality is aberrant, sinful behavior that is categorically condemned in the Bible. It is not God’s will for men to lust after and have anal sexual intercourse with other men, or for women to burn with sensuality for other women and stimulate them to sexual orgasm. Some of you are shocked that I wrote that, but that’s exactly what it is. It is base—shallow, carnal, eroticism for its own sake and the fleeting, short-lived pleasure it promises (I could say the same thing about other forms of sexual sin, but homosexuality is the subject here). Paul uses homosexuality as his primary example of ultimate rebellion against God and his order (Romans 1:26-32), and says that both those who practice this lifestyle AND those who approve of it deserve the punishment it demands. Homosexuality is not “gay.” It is treachery. It is misery. It leaves a person ridden with unavoidable guilt, regret, and emptiness. I have known many homosexual men and women. Without exception, every one of them I have asked readily admitted that they were miserable, and admitted that everyone they knew in the lifestyle was miserable. That’s not “gay” at all. What a misnomer. When our culture tolerates, equivocates, or worse, congratulates this sinful lifestyle, people are profoundly hurt. Society as a whole is profoundly hurt.

It’s the spirit of our age to not judge people’s sexual orientation. It’s the politically correct and safe thing to do. It sounds so tolerant. So...caring. But is that right? I think for most of us, we just don’t care. Radical tolerance teaches us to not care. They are just invisible to us. Let them do what they want. It’s much easier. The Christ-like response to homosexuality is not rocket science. We are all sinners. We are to love all sinners because God loves all sinners, sending Christ to die on their behalf. God offers GRACE not tolerance, which is better by far. Therefore we do not impugn or mistreat or ignore sinners—including practicing homosexuals. We love them. And we love them enough to be honest. Paul said to the church in Corinth (a city known for homosexuality):

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators...nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites (NIV: “men who have sex with men”)...will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” (1Cor. 6:9-11 italics added)

Some of them WERE homosexual, and are no longer engaged in that lifestyle of sin. They may still struggle and fight the unholy urges, but they fight. By God’s power they are sanctified (are being made holy). Are they born that way? We are all born with a sinful nature. But that doesn’t make sin ok (or, "tolerable"). If I’m born with a proclivity toward violence, that doesn’t make it ok for me to beat my wife! I must control my anger. That’s what people—made in God’s image—do. We are not animals, enslaved to our instincts. We are human beings with a will. Christians have the Holy Spirit to guide, convict, and empower. I don’t know a heterosexual married man who hasn’t found other women attractive—but a Spirit-filled man will neither give sway to, nor act upon his carnal desires. He yields to God’s control. Certainly this kind of discipline is not too much to ask of a leader in Christ’s body!

The compassionate thing for Christian individuals and institutions to do is to stand for truth—God’s truth. Instead of accommodating sin and misery, instead of convincing ourselves that open, unrepentant, practicing sinners are not only going to heaven but are worthy to lead our churches, we must lovingly show people their blind spots. When a denomination (or any Christian organization) drifts so far away from the authority of Scripture that it effectively proclaims sin no longer sinful, it has mortally wounded itself. And that’s why the PCUSA is finished: they have chosen compromise and tolerance rather than compassion and grace. May God have mercy. Presbyterian brothers and sisters, flee. Encourage the elders of your church to join with the PCA, the EPC, or another Presbyterian denomination that upholds the Bible as God's very word.

The Death, BURIAL, & Resurrection

2011-04-22T22:11:00.004-04:00

Today is Good Friday. It is when Jesus died on the cross. The next big thing we celebrate is his resurrection on Easter, right?

I'm sorry to say that I've missed–or at least glossed-over–something really important.

Stan Giles is a friend who is a Chaplain for the Air Force. He and his wife attend Providence. He has been the pastor of several churches. I've found him to be witty, wise, and humble. As we approached Easter, he let us know that he had some thoughts on Christ's BURIAL. After hearing some of his thoughts, I wanted to have him share with us all on a Sunday morning but the schedule wouldn't allow. So I asked him to write a blog post. Graciously, he did. You will be glad if you read on...

Eternities’ Dirtiest Job
John 19:38-42

Many Americans enjoy the television show “World’s Dirtiest Jobs” by Mike Roe. He has made a career out of engaging with the many Americans who perform dirty, nasty albeit necessary jobs every day. I confess to enjoying it perhaps because it makes heroes out of ordinary people. This passage could be entitled “Eternities’ Dirtiest Job”.

First Corinthians 15:3 says that the gospel is the fact that Christ died, was buried, and rose again. In the context of this passage we see that the prior passage, 28-37, summarizes the death of our Lord. The following passage concerns resurrection, and so it is fitting that this one in the middle relates to the burial. We certainly teach and preach the crucifixion and resurrection, but what about the burial? It seems to get shorted in our preaching calendar and I confess I have done the same.

I suppose the story eludes our attention because it seems like an afterthought, an unnecessary encore as it were. However, this incident is mentioned by all four gospel writers!

It likely eludes us because of our squeamish relationship to death - it details the disposing of our Lord’s body. A distasteful duty. Yet our avoidance of this scene might be rather recent. I’ve noticed how many Renaissance paintings are devoted to this very scene.

We’re all intimately familiar with the context. The scene of death unfolds in a context of confusion and chaos. Understandably fearful of their lives, the disciples have fled; their world has unraveled and they have left the scene of the crime. The text leaves not question but that a crime has occurred – a crime against Divinity. Yet a very practical, pressing problem arises – there is this dead body. But there is no yellow tape, no CSI Jerusalem, no modern day bureaucracy that would delay the disposal of the corpse. If someone doesn’t take it, it doesn’t end up in a hospital morgue or the local funeral home; rather it ends up in the garbage dump to be burned.

Thinking quickly, and likely not completely sure of their course of action- two people step forward to take care of this dirty and distasteful job. One of them is Joseph of Arimathea. He was a member of the Sanhedrin, a position of power and it is safe to assume that he was a person of wealth. Luke 23:50 states that in his position of power he disagreed with the decision to execute Jesus but alas, we know how the story ends.

However, because of his influential position he had access to power and so doing what most others couldn’t do, he approached Pilate with a request – can I take the body? I’ve wondered just how this conversation took place. My guess is that with all the confusion and chaos it was likely one of those quick sidebar conversations as they were walking out of the room. “Hey Mr. Pilate, you know I voted against this conviction and I’m not happy with the decision, but can I at least recover the body? Do you mind?” Pilate, giving it no thought likely just grunted and shrugged his shoulders and likely said, “Sure” with a degree of incredulousness as to why anyone would want it.

Joseph, who is obviously thinking on his feet, begins working through the logistical matters at play. According to the gospels he was the one who donated his own prepared tomb for the burial and thus solved one serious logistical problem. Somewhere in the process he connected with his partner in this benevolent effort, Nicodemus. Verse 39 says that he provided the necessary embalming supplies.

I think it is fair to assume his next step was to get to the scene, and make sure that the soldiers didn’t inadvertently haul Jesus off along with the other two corpses to the dump. I’m sure the soldiers, upon hearing the news, were glad as that meant there was less work for them.

This is a plausible scenario of just what took place but to say the least, it was a dirty job! Our church history has presented us with antiseptic pictures of Jesus hanging on the cross, privately parts discreetly covered, looking like he needs little more than a large Band-Aid. But the body of our Lord was a literal, bloody mess. And what I find impressive is who steps forward to do the dirty work, God’s work I might add – Joseph. Joseph became the go-to guy when God needed a volunteer for a dirty job.

As a chaplain the Air Force I deployed twice and found myself traveling all over Iraq and engaging in some fruitful and, I might add, rather exciting ministry. It was the height of the insurgency and IEDs were going off routinely. Part of what I did was to serve in one of the two main hospitals. Now when I say ‘hospital’ imagine a series of tents, set up on concrete slabs and connected to one another by smaller tents. Primitive by most standards but serving in them were some incredibly devoted and skilled medical personnel.

Patients would show up by helicopter and be rolled into the emergency tent where a team of 7 or 8 specialists of some sort would descend upon them. No one had to tell you they were coming, you could hear it. Many of the patients were those critically injured soldiers, mostly by the now infamous IEDs which cause catastrophic damage to the body. As you can well imagine, it is a chaotic environment that is emotionally charged. And what doesn’t get into the news is how literally bloody the whole situation is. These explosions cause bleeding from all orifices and the blood cakes on the body and pools on the floor.

Late one night a badly injured soldier arrived and after a period of time, the lead physician paused and spoke the words no one wanted to hear. “This isn’t going to have a positive outcome.” That’s code for this “patient is going to die.” He was from a small town in Texas. I know people from his town.

At that I knelt down and held his hand, and whispered his name into his ear. I talked of our love, of God’s love, of his family’s love. Slowly they started to detach him from all the connectors and finally, moments later the physician pronounced him dead. At that point, as is customary, you gather the grieving and often upset medical personnel, hold hands, affirm them in what they did and offer a prayer for the soldier and his family.

By the time I was ready to leave it was the wee hours of the morning and I walked by a tent where two medical technicians had the body of this deceased soldier on a gurney and they were cleaning the body of this brave soldier - just like Joseph and Nicodemus did. With somber faces and a serious mood they were gently washing the body. They were using, not some large, rough wet washcloth, like we’d use on a 6-year-old after a church picnic. Rather they were using small, 4x inch pads of gauze soaked in alcohol. I remember their faces vividly. They worked as though they were artists cleaning a masterpiece. They handled this body with such care, and tenderness. I was touched and, as I paused for those few seconds I was, as I rarely am, speechless. I took a few more steps toward the exit and then it came to me in epiphany - like fashion and this passage creased my brain. I backed up and said to them, “You know of course, that you are doing the work of God!”

I don’t think I am stretching it too much when I use Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus are some of the heroes of the church. He did the job that people naturally shied away from – he cleaned up the body of Jesus. Not with latex gloves and gauze and alcohol, but with strips of linen and spices. It was still a dirty, messy, distasteful job. I might be stretching it a bit, but he sort of reminds me of the many people I have know in the church who have been willing to do whatever was necessary. In my mind Joseph is a model of service to our Lord. In some traditions, Joseph is venerated as a saint.

There are a lot of people in our churches doing the Joseph-like jobs -- jobs that demand sacrifice, the giving up of evenings and weekends. Jobs that get little or no appreciation. Furthermore I’ve discovered that ministering to Christ’s Body, the church, can sometimes itself be bloody and messy. Yet we do it because our Lord calls us to faithfulness.

Yet, at the risk of bursting Joseph’s balloon, I should point our verse 38. Apparently, Saint Joseph had feet of clay because he feared the Jews and kept his confession under wraps, as it were. Thus in some sense Joseph was a failure; he messed up. That denial was perhaps his skeleton in his closet, that moment of regret. Yet he is listed here as serving the literal body of Christ.

That should come as some comfort to you and me because it reminds us that we don’t have to be saints to serve in God’s kingdom. We don’t have to be perfect to do the will of God. God uses people, ordinary people, flawed people to minister to His body, to further his kingdom.

Pastors wish our churches were full of the near perfect servants but in practice we get a real mixture. Some people come into our midst with high skill levels but low commitment levels. Sometimes it is the other way around. Yet they, we all have a place in the kingdom. And when we do those, so to speak, ‘dirty’ jobs in the church; those jobs that folks just won’t volunteer for; the jobs that go begging because they involve children, sometimes diapers even, and commitment, those Joseph-like jobs, we are doing the Lord’s work!

Like Joseph you likely are a flawed person perhaps with some not so invisible skeletons in your closet. But don’t let that keep you from your service to our Lord. Dorothy Day made this observation. She said, “If we forbid hypocrites from serving in our churches, we won’t have anyone to serve!” Then she wirily added, “and we won’t have anyone to do the forbidding!”

In some sense none of us are qualified to do the work of the Lord, but like Joseph, we can still minister to the broken, bleeding, busted and bruised body of Christ – the church.

For all the talk about the church being the body of Christ and how we’re all important, many pastors don’t really believe that – they believe, we believe that we are more important. Part of that stems from our CEO approach to leadership that has dominated our churches for many decades. But with some seasoning I’ve come to believe the opposite because I’ve been blessed to be around many Josephs and I am convinced that some of the most important saints of God are doing the dirty work, the sometimes distasteful work, the work that few people notice, work like those two fine medical people were doing.

All of us have flaws. You have flaws, but don’t let that keep you from doing God’s work at wherever you were called.

Looking back over my years of ministry I can cringe with embarrassment over some things I did, and certainly some things I said. But as I’ve often said in my later years, if you can’t look back on your life and identify some sinful and/or stupid things you’ve said or done – then you likely haven’t grown much. By that definition, I have grown a lot.

When I want inspiration for my life I revisit imagines of Jerry Deuy, a faithful servant of God who loved and worked with high school kids even though his were long gone. I think of my friend Beth Lousse in an Awana uniform on Wednesday nights working with children. I remember Ruth McGinty visiting some shut-ins.

The burial of Jesus, so easily overlooked, should remind us that our bodies are very important and deserve to be cherished. At the social level it should remind us that someone has to do the dirty work! Perhaps it should be us? Perhaps we ought not to assume that “someone else will do it!” Finally, at the spiritual level, this story should remind us that one doesn’t have to be perfect to be used in God’s kingdom. Joseph and Nicodemus were not perfect saints, but they were faithful.

May God use us to be of service in His kingdom.

I told you that you would be glad you read on! Please comment below, or if you want, you can reach Stan at stanley.giles@ang.af.mil.

It's a start.

2011-02-15T16:40:00.004-05:00

Significant things usually start small. This has always been the case when God sends awakenings to our nation. It starts with a few people who pray. Then it spreads. Like a mighty forest fire which begins with one match igniting dead leaves, the fire of revival sparked with prayer quenches dry hearts with God's grace, forever changing the culture for good.

Yesterday a story appeared in the Knoxville Shopper-News by Natalie Lester about the Pray For Awakening (PFA) events. It's a start.

Natalie's going to write an article each month highlighting the progress of the movement of prayer. Do you know any folks at the News Sentinel or local news channels? That could be helpful to get the word out.

Calling all bloggers...

Julie Sanders is a well-known blogger and author in Knoxville who has volunteered to help promote the PFA events. Do you blog? You can help. Here's what Julie wrote:

You are receiving this email because:

* you are a follower of Jesus
* you are a Knoxvillian
* you are a blogger

Last month a group of churches in Knoxville set aside the last Monday of each month to gather over the lunch hour (noon to 1 pm) and pray for our city and community. The first was hosted by Providence, and the next will be hosted by Northstar.

You can read about the first Prayer for Awakening in Knoxville here at Pastor Chad Sparks' blog.

Social media has so much influence among people today, but we know prayer is the most influential form of communication! We know prayer can change the lives of people in our city.We want to touch as many circles of influence as we can, so believers of Knoxville will come together to pray. Would you be willing to use your blog to get the word out with us?

Here's what we're asking:

On Friday, Feb. 25th write a blog post with this basic info:

* Prayer for Awakening in Knoxville, Monday, Feb. 28th, noon to 1 pm at Northstar Church.
* Optional: You could link to Chad's blog about the first PFA or link to Northstar here with directions
* You might want to share about a personal burden you have for Knoxville or how God has moved in your life here.
* Encourage your local friends to either come and pray at Northstar for a portion of the time OR to stop and pray where they are during that time (At the office, home, on the road?)
* Optional: You are also welcome to link up on Friday the 25th to this blog and a list of participating blogs. This helps remind us to pray, gets the word out, generates excitement, and encourages the Church. Others will be glad to find your blog too!

Whether you have a ministry blog, work blog, family blog, or other, we invite you to use your social media "voice" to share the news about Prayer for Awakening in Knoxville. We hope you'll join us via blog post on Friday, Feb. 25th!

Feel free to pass this email on to anyone else who blogs in Knoxville. If you have questions about Prayer for Awakening or linking your post (just copy the URL of your specific post title and paste it in the Linky) feel free to email, call (643-4042), Facebook, or Twitter for info.

Excited to see how God will move in our city as we gather to pray,
Julie

Feel free to have people go to PrayForAwakening.com for more information.

Yes, the biggest thing we can do is pray. But God doesn't just want us to stop there. He invites us to work with him. Together, we can make a difference.

Could this be the beginning?

2011-01-31T15:51:00.001-05:00

I didn’t know how many came to the first “Pray for Awakening” opportunity today. Honestly, I didn’t look...I was praying. I could not help but hear the shuffle of people coming in and out and the occasional cough, so I knew many were gathered. Some of our staff told me afterward that there were over a hundred. I’ve already gotten several notes and emails from people who said they prayed. A lot of them say the same thing that I feel: God may have begun something significant.

I remember hearing Tom Nelson say, “Prayer doesn’t just bring revival. Prayer IS revival. When God stirs Christians’ hearts to pray, you’ve got revival, because Christians generally don’t pray.”

The more I think about that quote, the more I believe it is true. I’ve had my own battle with making time to pray consistently and fervently. But as I continue to study and teach God’s word in a culture that is running as hard as possible toward depravity, as I grow older and watch the church grow less effective, as I see so many people deceived and miserable when they buy the enemy’s lies, I realize my inability. I realize that God is our only hope. I realize the only alternative to awakening is judgment. That scares me. It drives me to pray. Desperately.

Dr. J. Edwin Orr was the professor of the history of awakenings at Fuller Theological Seminary. Billy Graham said that he was one of the greatest authorities on religious revivals. At the end of his life he said, “After studying prayer and spiritual awakenings for 60 years I’ve reached this conclusion…whenever God is ready to do something new with His people, He always sets them praying.”

Maybe this means God is about to do something new. Oh how I long for this. So I find myself praying not only for awakening, but for God to incite his people to pray for awakening. Renowned commentator, Matthew Henry, said the following:

When God is about to give His people the expected good, He pours out a Spirit of prayer, and it is a good sign that He is coming toward them in mercy. Then when you see the expected end approaching, ‘then you shall call upon Me’ (Jer. 29:11-12). Note: Promises are given not to supersede, but to quicken and encourage prayer; and when deliverance is coming we must by prayer go forth to meet it. When Daniel understood the 70 years were near expiring, then he set his face with more fervency than ever to seek the Lord (Dan. 9:2-3).

Therefore, my most important job as a pastor could be to beckon people to pray that God will send sweeping revival. Even more important than preaching. R.A. Torrey said, “There have been revivals without much preaching, but there has never been a mighty revival without mighty prayer.”

So I will pray. And I will plead with others to pray.

PrayForAwakening.com

How Does Awakening Come?

2011-01-28T22:57:00.003-05:00

Oh how my heart longs for God to do something big. There have been a few times that I have seen him move unusually. I know that there are places in the world where he is at work mightily even now. But here...while there are small victories that can be found—victories for which I am extremely thankful—for the most part it seems our nation is, in the words of Robert Bork, “slouching toward Gomorrah.”

So many scriptural references could be seen as speaking to our time. Are we experiencing a great “falling away” and our love growing cold (2Thes. 2:3, Matt. 24:10-12, 1Tim. 4:1)? Are we being “given over” by God “in the lusts of [our] hearts to impurity,” “dishonorable passions,” and “debased mind[s]” only to “receive the due penalty for [our] errors” (Rom 1:18-28)? Truly we resemble the last verses of Romans 1, as we are “filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (vv.29-32). We also look a lot like what’s described in 2 Timothy 3:1-5:

But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

Wow. It’s easy to be doom and gloom, isn’t it? I know some preachers who seem to enjoy it. But I refuse. We should look at the world like Christ did: aware of the evil (and angry about it), yet determined to bring light.

First, we don’t know when Jesus is coming back. He could come tomorrow. But he could wait. And until he comes, the four horsemen in Revelation 6 (the expanding church, war, famine, and death) continue to ride through human history. Don’t forget, Christ has given us a commission: Go make disciples of all nations...I am with you always, even to the end. I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail.

The book of Acts shows us how God’s Spirit can use unexpected people and sweep through cities and regions...even to rulers of nations. History shows how God’s truth can change empires. Our own nation’s history is marked by awakenings which made us who we are. In our case, we are great because of these spiritual revivals. They gave us our form of government, our morality, and our work ethic. That means God did. Because we can’t engineer awakening. God gives awakening.

Now we’re in a downward drift. We’re long overdue for another awakening. If we can’t engineer it, what are we to do? There’s only one thing. Pray.

I’ve been praying for awakening for over 20 years. For the last year-and-a-half, I’ve been praying harder and more desperately. And more regularly. I think even the desire to pray comes from God. “God give me more desire to pray. God give others a desire to pray.” That became my prayer. It still is.

The pastors of 12 evangelical churches in Knoxville have decided to offer a simple way for people to pray. On the last Monday of each month this year at noon, a different church will open the doors for silent prayer for awakening.

So Monday is an opportunity. We’re first. I’m praying for God to give people a desire to pray. That’s how awakening comes.

PrayForAwakening.com

Pat Davis' Chili Recipe

2011-01-23T23:34:00.006-05:00

As I wrote in a previous post, I didn't have the best chili in the MANday Night Chili Cook-off (in my opinion). I tasted several guys' chili entries which were REALLY good. Of those I tasted, the one to me that was the best hands-down, was Pat Davis' chili. I happened to taste it along with mine and just knew I had not won. But (lucky for me) Pat made it with venison and Italian sausage, which caused it to fall into the "non-traditional" category. And it took first prize.

I asked Pat for his recipe and he graciously gave it to me, along with permission to share it on my blog. Listen: Y'ALL HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS! It is the best chili I've ever put in my mouth (he told me that he didn't really measure stuff when he cooked it, so I'm sure the measurements are approximate)! Thanks Pat! And congrats!!

Pat Davis’ "Camp Chili"
MANday Night Winner (Non-traditional category)

Use an extra large pot.
Brown 1 lb. of Italian sausage (use a slotted spoon to put into extra large pot). Brown 1 lb. ground venison or beef in pan drippings from sausage. Salt to taste. Drain and put in pot.

In a plastic boil mix herbs.
Garlic powder 2 tbls
Black pepper 1 tbls
Chili powder 4 tbls
Basil 1 tbls
Oregano 1 tbls
Onion powder 2 tbls
Paprika 3 tbls
Coriander2 tbls
Cinnamon ½ tsp
Nutmeg ½ tsp
Ginger ½ tsp
Salt to taste

Dice up:
3 or 4 Jalapeno peppers
3 or 4 Serrano peppers
2 Poblano peppers
4 Banana peppers
2 Anaheim peppers
4 sticks of celery
2 large onions
3 cloves garlic

Put all chopped veggies and herbs into pot with 2 large cans tomato sauce, 1 large can tomato paste, 6 cans red kidney beans, ½ cup dark brown sugar, 3 bottles O’Doul’s amber non-alcoholic beer. Simmer for 4 hours, stirring frequently.

Try Number Six...WINS!!

2011-01-18T16:14:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I ham it up every year with the other guys in order to stir up the competitive spirit in the MANday Night guys for the Chili cook-off. The way to do this is to be purposely and jocularly braggadocious! It’s fun, and everyone loves giving me a hard time when I fail to win. The very first cook-off (of sorts) that we had was between three of our elders, and ended in a three-way tie. I know. That’s what I thought too. What a lame result. A tie for first was the same as a tie for last! A few years later we resurrected the chili contest idea for MANday Night. I boasted shamelessly to work up some competition and it worked! A huge crowd of guys showed up, and the meal was good and cheap. We were on to something. I got 5th place out of 10 entries.

But deep down inside, I determined to really try to win the next year. When it came, I got 5th place again! Now I was mad. The next year I went all out and spent way too much money and half a day cooking. I went with grilled and diced sirloin steak instead of mere hamburger, dried (not canned) beans, several kinds of fresh peppers, other fresh vegetables, and some Italian sausage. I got 3rd out of 15 contestants. That’s better, yet not good enough. But I had gotten way too serious. So the next year (last year) I “simplified” and went with what I liked. It resulted in a second place finish (which is another way of saying first loser!). So this year I stuck with it and just made a couple of small changes. I cooked it on Sunday night, and ate it for lunch Monday to test it. Bingo. I emailed all the guys bragging that I thought I had a winner.

The competition came. What’s funny? When they called out my number, I first thought it was a joke and they were pulling my leg. Then I saw Larry’s face and knew I really won. Awesome! I don’t know what could be better: Super Bowl, Olympic Gold, World Series, Publisher’s Clearinghouse Sweepstakes, the Heisman, what could compare?!

All joking aside, while the judges were doing their thing in the office area, like everyone else I was trying out all the chili. For my first helping, I got a little of mine and some of Pat Davis’. His was so good, mine tasted dull by comparison. “I’ve lost,” I thought. But while complementing Pat, he told me his was in the “non-traditional” category. I had a chance, but I was convinced that my entry didn’t have what it took. I tried some of John White’s, Phil Breedlove’s, Adzima’s, Ben Sparks’, and some others. Dadgum...they were all great.

Truth is, we have some really good cooks among the men in our church! Past winners of the contest will forever be remembered in the hall of chili fame! Some of these are “Two Time” Andy Adzima (who has been a great sport and participant with me in the playful boasting), Chris Owens (who’s wife, Katie gave birth to their first child on the very day of the Chili cook-off! Coincidence?...I don’t think so! They should have named her “Pepper” or something more appropriate), and Todd Branson (who I talked in to entering the contest last year...who then showed up LATE...and then BEAT me!). And now I get the privilege of joining their exalted ranks!!!

So I now make this announcement: I am retiring as MANday Night Traditional Chili Cook-off Champion. I will go out like John Elway at the top of my game, not Brett Favre. And (for those of you who have asked) here’s my recipe—what I had called “6th Try Chili” has just been renamed, “Chad’s Championship Chili.” :)

Chad’s Championship Chili

3 lbs ground beef
1/2 tsp tiger seasoning
1 jar Tobasco chili starter (original medium)
1 can Bush’s chili hot beans
1 can Bush’s chili medium beans
1 can Bush’s black beans
1 can Bush’s dark red kidney beans
1 can Rotel (regular original)
1 heaping teaspoon jarred garlic
1 heaping tsp dried minced onions
1 tsp cocoa powder
3 tbls cooking sherry
2 heaping tbls brown sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 tbls Texas Pete hot sauce
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
a healthy dash cumin
2 tbls chili powder
1 bayleaf
3 green Serrano peppers, de-seeded and diced

Brown ground beef in Tiger seasoning and drain the fat. Add all other ingredients (except the peppers). Then de-seed and dice 3 green Serrano peppers. Sauté them in extra virgin olive oil until slightly blackened. Add to the rest of the chili.
Add water as needed, bring to a boil, then turn low and simmer for 12 hours (it’s good after just two hours, but if you can simmer longer, it’s worth the time!).

Christmas is OVER...

2010-12-26T21:56:00.006-05:00

There is often a big letdown after Christmas. Family members go home, messes must be cleaned, tree disposed of, and decorations taken down and packed up. Even worse, gifts of the wrong size must be returned, weight gained during feasting must be lost, spoiled kids coming down from sugar-highs must be reprogrammed, and credit cards bills must be paid. Days get dreary. Many people begin to struggle emotionally. Mental health experts tell us depression rises in the months following Christmas. An ABC News story last year said that depression cases have increased recently due to the sluggish economy.

How can we keep the after-Christmas-doldrums from happening? Answer: HAVE A PURPOSE.

So many preparing for Christmas surrender their own desires, give gifts, and love people (even some who are hard to love). Then...it’s all over.

You see, before Christmas, we had some purpose. For those experiencing the blues, now there’s none. Even through the hustle-bustle last week, there was joy. Music. Satisfaction of seeing people open a gift you gave. Reconnection with family and talk about Christmases past. Cards from friends. After Christmas, the joy can be extinguished like the holiday candles.

It’s pretty normal to experience the after-Christmas-downer. But it's NOT good to let meaninglessness rule our whole lives. yet so many people live like this all the time. They need to have purpose.

But instead, what do they do to cope?
Some HIDE in alcohol (or some other substance), in their work, or behind a mask.
Some QUIT. They give up on their marriage, or their dreams, or give way to bitterness.
Still others REBEL. “Forget God,” they say in their hearts. And they follow the world or their flesh.

May I offer a suggestion? GET PURPOSE. Know your part in THE Story God's telling (read previous blog).

Question: What is MY part in God's Story? How do I begin to find it?

The answer is found in Romans 12.

In the first 11 chapters of Romans, God reveals (through Paul) his story of humanity’s lost-ness and God’s plan to redeem us. It has been called the greatest theological work ever written. Then comes chapter 12. That’s where we are shown how to live in RESPONSE to God’s Story. So here lies the key to understanding our part:

In short, we are called to surrender ourselves, give gifts, and love people radically. Just like we did, in a lesser way, before Christmas.

Don’t believe me? Look for yourself...

1. Surrender yourself (vv. 1-2),
Romans 12:

1Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

In case you didn’t catch it, we are called to surrender. See ourselves as sacrifices, and worship God by pursuing holiness. Not letting the world mold us, but letting God change us. THEN we will be able to know his will- SPECIFICALLY.

It all starts with surrender.

2. Give your gifts (vv. 3-8)

3For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment (this is good for us in the ME generation. We tend to excel in self-esteem). 4For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5so we, though many, are one body in Christ...6Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Here’s the point: Take an honest look at what you have to offer. And starting with the body (the church—we are NOT Lone Rangers), give from what God has given us. Give your gifts!

3. Love people radically. (vv.9-21)

9Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

All of these are in the context of Christian community. We are to radically love our brothers & sisters. How? Start by being with them. Small groups are important! Then we can show love in the ways listed.

But Christian friends aren’t the only ones we are to love radically. Listen to how we are to treat our enemies...

14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. 17Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." 20To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals (of conviction) on his head." 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Did you get that? Genuinely love other Christians like family, and love your enemies...even when they hurt you! Love everyone. Overcome evil with good. That’s radical!

Before Christmas, I bet you were doing all this in a limited way...
1. surrendering yourself, 2. giving your gifts, 3. loving people radically. And it gave you purpose. And you were happy. You hummed carols. You longed for when they would see what you bought for them. You had times of joy thinking of warm memories. You made memories.

DO THAT WITH YOUR LIFE. Be a "Romans 12" Christian. Be a Christian.

THEN you’ll be on your way to knowing YOUR place in God’s Story. That’s what I’ll be talking about Sunday Jan. 2.

The Traditions of Christmas

2010-12-24T10:08:00.006-05:00

I read an a great article this morning and I've been thinking about it since. It is about how all the traditional elements of Christmas that we celebrate today came about in history. Things like December 25th as the day we celebrate, candles, Christmas trees, caroling, and the like.

Here's the article: http://www.christianity.com/ChurchHistory/11629658/

One thing I've been thinking about is this: rather than rejecting outright all things "extra-biblical" (as the Puritans once did, not allowing the celebration on the 25th), Christians have REDEEMED many different traditions, feasts, and festivals of different cultures (both Jewish, Roman, and Barbarian), making them a part of our Christmas festivities today. I love this! Isn't this what we are supposed to do as Christians? Overcome evil with Good? Several years ago I read a book called, Christ and Culture by Richard Niebuhr. In it he shows the different ways Christians interact (and have historically interacted) with the world's culture around them. He categorizes them in the following five ways;
Christ against culture
Christ of culture
Christ above culture
Christ and culture in paradox
Christ transforming culture.

Niebuhr gives specific examples of different groups within Christianity and how they interact with our world.
It seems regarding Christmas, the "Christ transforming Culture" has prevailed. I'm glad. Christ came to transform humanity, once created good and made in his image, now corrupted by sin, back to himself. We who have been redeemed, are on mission with Christ to redeem others.

Today and tomorrow, work to redeem the culture and traditions in which you find yourself interacting. When people are engaging in celebrations that may not bring glory to God, think of how you can redeem it. Overcome evil with good!

THE Story

2010-12-14T16:56:00.009-05:00

The Christmas story (not the movie, but the real account of Jesus’ birth) is quite a tale. Think about hearing it for the first time, as did the Herdman kids in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Who could come up with such a story? But the nativity alone is incomplete. It is only a part (albeit an important part) of the greater narrative that starts before time itself.

History is going somewhere. Evidence for this abounds. Other stories lend evidence of this in the way they resemble “the grand original story” of God. Through the centuries many have recognized that human myths, literature, movies, and other expressions of narrative, both secular and religious, are mere reflections of God’s story. “Even Pagan stories,” J.R.R. Tolkien (famed writer of Lord of the Rings) said, “are God expressing Himself through the minds of poets, using such images as He found there, while Christianity is God expressing Himself through...real things" He believed that history truly is “His-story,” the literal Meta-narrative that God is telling. According to Tolkien, “We have come from God, and inevitably the myths woven by us, though they contain error, reflect a splintered fragment of the true light, the eternal truth that is with God.”

If you want some resources to explore this idea further, let me offer a few:

Epic by John Eldridge. This little book is awesome. You can read it in an hour or two and you will not be sorry. In it you will see that you have a key role in this story God is writing.

The Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones Don’t miss this opportunity to walk through the Bible with your kids in a way that shows God's master plan for all creation. The artwork is excellent, and the way God’s story is told is incredible. I wish this book would have been around when my kids were small!

Tolkien: Man or Myth by Joseph Pearce. This is for you who love all things Tolkien. Pearce unveils Tolkien’s core convictions and the world in which he lived in order to help us understand what ideas might really be behind his great stories.

Pick a good movie. So many...Robin Hood (2010 with Russell Crowe), Avatar, King Arthur, The Matrix, Gladiator, Harry Potter, Braveheart, The Lion King, Star Wars...et. al. This Christmas break, take a night or two, make some popcorn and watch a good movie (age appropriate) and then TALK to your kids about how it reflects THE Story. So many of these movies are our day’s “myths” that reflect ideas from THE Meta-narrative, THE Story God has written, and is still revealing around us as history unfolds.

And the whole thing hinges on a baby.

Truth Matters

2010-11-06T18:55:00.007-04:00

Os Guinness has long been one of my favorite Christian thinkers. He recently spoke at the Lausanne Conference in South Africa, a monumental gathering of Christians. I listened to his speech with great interest. I think he gives such clarity to an issue that is increasingly crippling the church in the USA: the postmodern deconstruction of truth.

I know, some of you are like, "what in the heck is that?" Suffice it to say that our culture is becoming less and less responsive to claims of absolute or objective truth. From science to theology, people are becoming more skeptical. This has been coming for a long time, and is why our culture is marked by tolerating and equivocating all ideas as relative. No longer are most people impressed with a sentence beginning with the words, "Science tells us..." or "The Bible says...", because postmodern people generally doubt the authority of such truth claims.

The problem is how this has affected the church. Just as some "adjusted" the message of Christianity for Modernity (which assumed that Science is the ultimate test of what is true) in the form of Liberalism, some today have attempted to adjust the message for postmodern culture, by denying the absolute truth of the Bible and doctrinal essentials for the "emerging" culture, a term that has garnered much attention. Problem: The methods can change, but the message must not. It is the essence of Christianity and is originated by God himself. As with Liberalism, "Emergent" leaders are compromising the message.

In this clip, Guinness takes this problem head on. If you've got a few minutes, it is worth the watch. It is both refreshing and powerful. Here's the link.

If you want to read while listening (which I like to do), here's the manuscript (not exact, he must have shortened his actual speech a little).

Jesus and Politics

2010-11-02T23:09:00.011-04:00

Now that the election is over, we can feel a little less tension when talking about politics, right? The message Sunday was about Jesus’ clear invitation to follow him in a revolution not of this world and not of man’s making, but of God, who has ordered all things. The people patriotically waving palm branches to Jesus screaming, "Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!" were placing their hopes in a political savior and solution. But this was not why Jesus came. The idea of political salvation was as much a fantasy then as it is today (and it truly still exists)! The same passionate people turned on Jesus as soon as he began to tell them his true plans for change, and God’s will for this earth. They didn’t want to hear it—and they killed him.

But just like Chief Priest Caiaphas, who unwittingly prophesied that Jesus would die for all the people (John 11:50), and Mary who beautifully prefigured his burial (John 12:1-7), the crowds of Jerusalem unknowingly (and ironically) spoke volumes when they quoted from the Old Testament as Jesus rode on the donkey’s colt.

John 12:

13So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out,
"Hosanna!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
even the King of Israel!"
14And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written,
15"Fear not, daughter of Zion;
behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!"
16 His disciples did not understand these things at first, but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things had been written about him and had been done to him.

Among that which his disciples didn’t understand at the time and later remembered is that the actual quote was from Psalm 118:25-26:

25Save us, we pray, O Lord! (Hebrew: Hoshi‘ah na’ Greek: "Hosanna")
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

This quotation is just a part of a whole psalm that has an amazing connection with Jesus’ Triumphal Entry if we care to see it. There was already some real significance in the people’s choice of this psalm. It was sung frequently in Israel’s history during celebrations and significant events. In later times it was sung at feasts as a longing for the coming Messiah—especially around Jesus’ day when Israel was under Roman rule.

Let’s observe the rest of Psalm 118, at least in part. It begins:

1Oh give thanks to the LORD,
for he is good;
for his steadfast love endures forever!

This last line "his steadfast love endures forever!" is a phrase the psalmist repeats four times in the first four verses. It is obvious that God’s “steadfast love” is the main theme. He continues with why:

..5Out of my distress I called on the LORD;
the LORD answered me and set me free.
6The LORD is on my side; I will not fear.
What can man do to me?

The psalmist’s acknowledgement of God personally delivering him and favoring him causes him to not be afraid of people any more. Then a major conclusion occurs to him, a concept that is carried throughout the rest of the psalm, and even to the event we call the “Triumphal Entry.”

...8It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in man.
9It is better to take refuge in the LORD
than to trust in princes.

This whole psalm is about how GOD is the answer. Placing our trust in him is infinitely better than placing our hope in a political or military or human solution. The psalm continues:

14The LORD is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.
15Glad songs of salvation are in the tents of the righteous:
"The right hand of the LORD does valiantly,
16the right hand of the LORD exalts,
the right hand of the LORD does valiantly!"

There is gladness and joy in the lives of those who trust in him. He even “exalts” those who are “righteous”! But this is a problem, is it not? None of us are righteous. We are all sinners. Even David himself said that we are conceived in sin (Psalm 51). This is what makes the Lord’s salvation different. More than just a political leader (offering earthly salvation), our Lord makes us righteous, making heaven/eternity available to us. Read this:

19Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the LORD.
20This is the gate of the LORD;
the righteous shall enter through it.
21I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
22The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone.
23This is the LORD’s doing;
it is marvelous in our eyes.
24This is the day that the LORD has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.

There is too much to comment on here! The way of salvation, the “gate” of the righteous is the LORD himself who “has become my salvation”—He IS “THE STONE THE BUILDERS REJECTED” (see this verse quoted in Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17, Acts 4:11, and 1 Peter 2:7), rejection that ultimately happened right after the Triumphal Entry culminating in Christ’s death. He IS NOW THE CORNERSTONE of our faith!! All of this is “the LORD’s doing” not ours! And I don’t think I ever caught that “THIS...the day the LORD has made,” was referring to the day our salvation was accomplished—when Jesus died making us righteous—was the day in which we should “rejoice and be glad!”

Now the verses the crowds quoted:

25Save us, we pray, O Lord! (Hosanna)
O Lord, we pray, give us success!
26Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD!

The irony is stunning here as the people were asking for Jesus to “save” them politically from Roman rule. They did not know that the “Lord” was the on the donkey, and that he had come to save the entire world—including them—if they would believe. They added to the psalm and called him “king,” not realizing he was the King of kings, who made Caesar...and was the one before whom Caesar would one day bow.

The Psalm continues (It’s amazing to me):

We bless you from the house of the LORD.
27The LORD is God,
and he has made his light to shine upon us.

How many references have we seen in John of Jesus as the light, he even claimed this for himself in a stunning “I am” statement:“I am the light of the world” during the feast of tabernacles, a festival that included a ceremony of lights, commemorating the Exodus from Egypt. But there’s more:

Bind the festal sacrifice with cords,
up to the horns of the altar!

Interesting: The Jews chose the Passover lamb which would be sacrificed on either the day of or the day after (scholars debate which) Jesus made his Triumphal Entry, being “chosen” in effect, by the people as their “king.” These same people would cry, “crucify him” 5 days later, and kill him at the very moment the Passover Lamb was sacrificed in the Temple for the sins of the people.

Psalm 118 ends...

28You are my God, and I will give thanks to you; you are my God; I will extol you. 29Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!

The psalm both begins and ends with “his steadfast love endures forever.” This “steadfast love” found throughout the OT (e.g. Hosea who pictured God’s love for prostitute Israel) is what drove Christ to come as a man and die on our behalf, redeeming us to himself as his bride.

How is it that some Christians invest so much passion and place so much hope on politics? Why would we, recipients of God’s grace made available through Christ, trust in mere politicians offering merely human solutions to bring us happiness in this world?

Do not infer that I’m encouraging you not to be involved in politics. In fact, I think all Christians should vote and some should even run for office if God calls them to do so. We need more Christian statesmen and Christ-followers involved in the political process. Truth is, there are fewer evangelicals in high offices than in our history. We need more. I am pointing out what the Bible is teaching: that we dare not place our primary hope in man. We are citizens of this country. As such, we are to make it better. But much more, we are citizens of heaven—born again children of the King of kings. Our first allegiance is to him. And out of this first allegiance, all others flow.

Because Christians of the first two centuries after Christ’s ascension understood this divine order, millions received Christ, culminating in the Roman empire’s fall to the influence of Christianity. Rome becoming Christian was not all good (in fact it was quite negative in many ways on Christianity—but that’s for another blog), but Christianity now has become the greatest movement in human history. With God’s help, let’s do our part to make it greater. Our nation is governed by the people who elect our leaders. When the people walk away from God, so does our nation. When they surrender to Christ, our nation becomes more just, more moral, more ethical, kinder, more compassionate, better.

In summary, as a Christian, my first and greatest passion is for my King and his kingdom. He will take care of the rest—using me and others like me to do it—as I view the world through his will and am obedient to him. When we get that right, the rest takes care of itself.

Ronald Reagan, in a famous speech said,
"You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness.

If I may dare to offer an edit to those great words, imagining them spoken to Christians:
"You and I have a rendezvous with PROVIDENCE. We will PRESENT for ALL children this, the ONLY hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into AN ETERNITY of darkness.

This is what is at stake. Don't give your greatest passion and effort to a lesser cause (no matter how noble). Jesus said, "Seek first the Kingdom...and all these things will be added to you as well" (Matthew 6:33).

Learning from Arick

2010-09-18T08:59:00.007-04:00

Arick is a special member of our church. He is both physically and mentally handicapped. He probably loves Providence more than anyone and there are a few selfless men in our church that take turns giving him a ride to and from church. He lives in a small group home on Washington Pike.

This past Sunday, Joe Denton was slated to give Arick a ride home after church. He and I both had daughters playing in a big soccer tournament so we rushed to see the last of the game after church. Joe brought Arick with him to the soccer game. At church, I found out that it was Donna’s (Joe’s wife) birthday, so I offered to give Arick a ride home so Joe could be with Donna. Arick, satisfied and happy to be there, just joined right in and watched the game (the field was muddy and there were muddy hills to walk up and down to get there, so it wasn’t easy for him and he got mud on his shoes and pants). By the end of the game, we were hungry, so I took him to get something to eat.

I had a great time with Arick. While eating, we talked. He talked about how much he loved Providence. He told me all these things he had learned that were “in the Bible.” We talked about Jesus. We laughed and talked. To me the rest of the world went away. Often while talking I couldn’t help but think about what I had JUST preached about from John 9. How God had allowed suffering and disabilities (as in the man born blind), for the sake of his glory. Here with me was a REAL example. Internally, I struggled a little. It was one of those moments where my own words almost didn’t pass the smell test. I had the feeling of the injustice of it all as I remembered that humanity’s sin had corrupted the world. I felt regret and anger that Arick’s condition somehow results from this. Arick struggles to see, eat, and walk, although he is completely content. He is so kind. He always wants to hug me vigorously, no matter who’s watching or what’s going on. “Maybe God uses guys like Arick to show me how beautiful a person can be who is simply satisfied and joyful despite his circumstances.” I thought. Nothing in my heart was really resolved.

On the way to his home, I played Jason and Bryan’s CD “Beauty in the Fall” (Joe had warned me that Arick had a Christian Rap CD that he had asked Joe to play, so I thought I would be preemptive!).

I wish you could have been there for the rest.

I didn’t know that Arick knows EVERY SONG on that CD by heart. We both sang the whole way to his home along with Jason and Bryan. I don’t think there was another word spoken. Just singing. I was moved to the point of battling tears as Arick sang every word of the songs.

The last song before Arick got out was “Beauty in the Fall.” He sang aloud with Jason:

Creator of Life, you spoke and it was.
The Image of God given to us.
Fallen and cursed, naked we run.
Into the arms of the Son.

(Chorus) There is beauty in the fall of man. There is grace enough to rise again.
Cause underneath it all we are resting in the palm of his hand
There is beauty in the fall, beauty in the fall of man.

Dust to dust, cradle to grave.
We breath in, the story of grace.
A song that’s made for those who believe.
A song that the angels cannot sing.

[Chorus repeats]

That you would trade the splendor of heaven for a manger,
This is the beauty in the fall.
That you would pay the cost through the power of the cross,
This is the beauty in the fall.
That we are sons and daughters loved by you the Father,
This is the beauty in the fall.

I fought my emotions while he sang loud and clear (I couldn’t sing with him). I walked in with him, hugged, and said goodbye. When I got back in my truck I burst into tears almost uncontrollably.

I learned more from his example than he could ever learn from me. I can’t wait to spend time with Arick again. I think he is closer to God than I will ever be this side of heaven. And IN heaven...Arick will not have any handicap at all. And neither will I.

Thanks, you guys who bring Arick, for your ministry to him. I know you say, “No big deal.” but it is. And God is pleased.

If you haven't gotten the CD, you can pick one up from church or search "Beauty In the Fall" on iTunes.

Football and Church Planting

2010-09-17T15:26:00.003-04:00

Ok, it’s fall and football time, so suffer me a related thought or two.

One of my favorite lines from the movie, Remember the Titans, is from Coach Boone when he was questioned about his small playbook. He said,

“I run 6 plays, split veer. Like Novocain, just give it time, always works.”

I guess you have to have played football for (or against) a veer-offense team to fully appreciate that quote. The veer is a fast attack, running offense, that forces the defense to make decisions and exploits them. To the casual observer, it’s not really that pretty. But to the educated eye, it is a thing of beauty. The bread-and-butter play is the triple option. The quarterback is the key. After taking the snap, he must make a decision based on the defense’s reaction to give the ball to the running back, keep the ball himself, or pitch to the other running back.

Many times a characteristic of veer-offense teams is that they will run two plays resulting in very few yards gained, followed by one that breaks for 5-9 yards, and slowly move down the field, eating up the clock. The offense keeps this bam, bam, break; bam, bam, break; pace going—daring the defense to stunt and take risks to stop it. When they do, a long break happens, many times for a touchdown.

What does this have to do with church planting? Let me name three things. As with veer football teams, church-planting churches must: 1. Believe in the strategy, 2. keep the offense on the field and the defense on its heels, and 3. learn from and reduce mistakes.

This might demand some translation/explanation for you football novices.

1. Believe in the strategy:
A veer team can’t be thrown by plays or series that don’t produce first downs or touchdowns, respectively. Losing teams panic and give up on game plans when the first drives fail or switch offensive schemes during the season. Winning teams stick to the strategy. Patience and execution will eventually yield results. Church planting is Providence Church’s primary strategy for culture change. It’s biblical and it works. It’s not glamorous. It is hard. Some plants don’t make it. Some struggle. Some need additional help. Mistakes will be made. But eventually, “like Novocain,” it works. Sometimes you get a big break for long yards. Over time, thousands of people’s lives are changed, and more churches are multiplied!

2. Keep the offense on the field and the defense on its heels:
Check the stats yourself. The team that wins almost always controls the ball longer. Football is also a game of aggression. The veer is an offense that goes forward almost always. It takes it to the opponent. The church is to be on offense. Jesus said, “Go.” We dare not take the foot off the proverbial pedal. It is Hell’s gates that are on the defensive. When Satan’s forces attack us, we must quickly respond. We must never rest. We must always move forward. Even when it is hard we must keep planting and keep planting. God will do the rest.

3. Learn from and reduce mistakes.
My dad used to say it all the time. “We’re not playing the other team. We’re playing ourselves.” This is a statement of confidence. When we work the game plan and run the offense WITHOUT turnovers, penalties, and execution mistakes, we will certainly win. But mistakes WILL be made. The opposition WILL throw schemes at you that you did not expect in order to try to stop your offense. This is where discipline is important. Patiently figure out what they are doing and how to respond. Make adjustments at halftime. More importantly, watch the film, evaluate, and correct mistakes for the next game. Get better. With church planting there are universal principles, but every context is different and demands adjustments on the fly. Mistakes ARE made. We must not become shaken. We must learn from them and move forward.

Believe me, I could compare many aspects of church planting with football! Perhaps later. Pray for the elders right now as we are considering some church planting-related opportunities that have come our way. You will no doubt hear about these soon.

Burn the Qur’an? How ‘bout READ it?

2010-09-16T09:10:00.003-04:00

We all knew it would happen. Some fringe preacher wanting to be noticed was bound to come out and say something extreme that a willing media could exploit. I’m only surprised it didn’t happen sooner. This guy has actually been trying to get attention for years, writing a book entitled, “Islam is of the Devil,” printing t-shirts and displaying signs in front of his church building that say the same. But he really won the lottery when he decided to publicly burn a Qur’an. National news, Presidential pleas, international riots, this guy hit the mother load!

As soon as I heard about this guy, I wondered how long it would be before someone asked me what I thought. It happened at my daughter’s soccer game. A parent asked me what I thought about the guy wanting to burn the Qur’an.

We Christians are historically the most tolerant people the world has ever known. There is a reason for this: we truly believe that Christ is the truth. Jesus said, “and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” We believe that when all the evidence for every faith system, every religion, every worldview is revealed and put to the test, there is no comparison. Christianity is more logical, more credible, has more answers about how to deal with the real issues of the human condition, and has much more of a proven record of making the world a better place for all humans—Christian or not.

Are there some bad eggs in Christian history? Of course. There will continue to be wolves in sheep’s clothing and Christ warned us in advance that some would come. Are some Christians well-meaning but ignorant? Yep. This guy in Florida has admitted that he has never read the Qur’an he wants to burn. This is nonsense, and makes Christianity look either intolerant or fearful of the power and influence of Islam. Most Christians are neither. We believe the truth will win. Want an example of this guy’s ignorance? He said under oath in court that Judaism is of demonic origin! Did he forget that Jesus was a Jew? Wow. Among other revealing things, this guy calls himself “Dr.” when he has never earned a degree of any kind: bachelors (he didn’t finish college), masters, let alone a doctorate! He has an “honorary” doctorate from a non-accredited school in California, which has now distanced itself from him. Like many of the Charismatic, self-appointed-and-exalted types, he’s an embarrassment to credible ministers and Christians everywhere. Of course members of the media are going to make him out to be a representative of Christianity. Many of them are themselves committed to competing worldviews (whether secularism, liberalism, progressivism, statism, atheism, libertinism, et. al.), which do not stand up to the light of examination and puts them at odds with the Christian worldview.

So don’t burn the Qur’an...READ it. Compare it to the Bible. Do the same with the Book of Mormon, the Tripitaka of Buddhism, the Analects of Confucianism, the Bhagavad Gita and Veda of Hinduism, and any other “holy” book. It is reasonable to believe that an intelligent creator God would reveal himself verbally to the intelligent beings he created. The question is, which book contains God’s revelation? Would it not be the one that has the most evidence to support it, the one that contains prophecies that were literally fulfilled, the one that has changed the most lives, the one that tells of the creation events in a way most consistent with what we can observe in creation? Would it not be the one with the least contradictions (or containing no contradictions at all)? Use the intelligence God gave you and read it for yourself! Trust God to show you the truth!

Having read the Qur’an myself, let me tell you: the truth will be obvious.

Manute Bol: A Fool for Christ

2010-06-28T13:49:00.004-04:00

I was gone all last week, camping with my family in the Smokies. I had no email, texting, phone, TV, etc. It was GREAT! When gone for an extended time, it is always interesting to peruse the news of the last week. It almost escaped my notice that Manute Bol had died. I caught it via RSS of a news service which had a link to a Wall Street Journal story entitled: Manute Bol's Radical Christianity. I was intrigued. I had never heard that he was a Christian. Unlike many other celebs, apparently Manute did not seek fame and fortune. He took advantage of what God had given him and what doors God opened for him to help people who were desperately in need. What a contrast to most other NBA stars we hear about! Further reading uncovered rumors of some gambling, and I'm sure there were mistakes he made. But most people I read who knew Manute, spoke of his gentleness, joy, and love for people. Like a true disciple, Manute was persecuted for his faith, banned from his country, and died poor. According to the WSJ story, he gave most of his millions to help refugees in his native Sudan who were being persecuted by Muslims.

You can read the story here.

I'm not putting him on a pedestal. But reading the article made me think of some ways I want to be.

Here's what stirs my heart:

Live for others instead of self.
Be joyful no matter what my circumstances.
Put aside pride for the sake of Christ.

Well, Maybe one more...

2010-05-24T17:10:00.014-04:00

Sorry. I know I said I was done. Just found a few more pics of our last couple of days on Nevis and had to share them!

So this picture is like a screensaver or something. Just one of the many we got on our trip that made us thank God for creating it and allowing us to be here.

Is this not awesome?! This has to be my favorite (from many favorites). We were simply having the time of our lives. No schedule, no worries, no people around, just the two of us. Man! Just seeing it again whisks me away to daydream land! I'd love to be there now.

So here are some shots from a walk down our beach away from Nesbit Plantation toward the southeast. Darla didn't like the fact that I kept taking pics of her, but I just had to do it.

Ok, so I saw something on Survivorman (one of me and Dara's favorite shows) a long time ago. Les (aka Survivorman) was marooned on a beach and found a coconut with the sprout of a little tree coming out. He cracked it open and instead of the normal coconut and milk in the inside, there was a sweet solid center more like a crunchy simi-sweet bread. I totally had to find a sprouted coconut and try it for myself!!! Guess what? I did and it was sooo cool! Here's me carrying the sprouted coconut. I don't know why I get such a kick out of this kind of thing! Darla thinks I'm crazy.

The farther we walked, the more shells, coral, and cool rocks we would find. This is a pile of conch shells just lying in the sun on the beach! Can you imagine seeing something like this at Destin?! Of course not. It would make the news!

This was a cool spot where a palm tree had blown down in a storm over the water.

Another pic of the leaning coconut palm, taken from the other side. We couldn't get over this and other postcard scenes.

This is Henry the gardener. He is probably 90 years old. He moves slow, but works hard. He can barely see. He mows the yard slower than any human being I've ever seen, and he sings about Jesus the entire time!!! Henry taught me all about which coconuts are good for drinking or eating, how to get them and how to get them open. Such a nice man. Incidentally, we were driving on one of our last days and we passed a big beautiful house with gorgeous landscaping. The sign on the house said that it belonged to Henry the Gardener! You've got to love Nevis! Like the U.S. It is a place where honest people of any background or profession can succeed by hard work and wise habits.

Ok, so what would a Sparks-at-the-beach blog post be if we didn't include something about FOOD! Lunch that day was Coconut shrimp for Darla and a whopping lobster salad sandwich for me! Mmmm mmm.

Alright. I'm done. Thanks again for letting me share. Again, I hope all of you can do something like this one day. You'll have to go to the website for the Lazy Turtle Villa on Nevis (Google it) if you want to check out our place. Lara and Jane (owners) are great people.
More than anything, I pray that you all will have the blessing of having a life-mate who loves Christ. That's the best thing of all!

Last Nevis Post...What a Trip!

2010-05-20T22:53:00.042-04:00

Well, we've been back in Knoxville less than a week and life is crazy busy once again.
Ok...I've been told we've made people mad and some have kidded us that we've been gloating. I feel bad if that's happening (we're NOT gloating, just sharing a joyful time with friends!), cause we certainly don't want anyone getting mad!! I pray that you ALL will have the opportunity to BE MARRIED FOR 20 YEARS TO A PERSON SEEKING CHRIST. THAT'S the REAL blessing! The trip was really just a celebration and rekindling of our most important earthy relationship.

Here's a FEW shots of our final two days on Nevis...

This pic was taken on May 12, the day of our 20th anniversary. We decided to eat at Coconut Grove, a restaurant in which we had eaten lunch one day earlier and really liked. We had met the owner, a Frenchman who had also lived in New York before selling all and moving to Nevis 5 years ago (he looks kind of like George Clooney). Awesome fish! Darla had some freshly caught local grouper that was INCREDIBLE! The restaurant's claim-to-fame is that it has the best wine cellar on the Island. But like a couple of nerds, we brought some non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice that they gave Darla at the Baptist Church for Mother's Day! We didn't care and neither did they. We couldn't take it home. It was a great time!

The view of the beach at twilight was so good. The gentle cool breeze was perfect! A quintessential group of wealthy Brits were there. It was so fun listening to them! It could have been a SNL skit! We were cracking up.

Really, for our last two days, we wanted to spend as much time on the beach as we could. So on the 13th that's what we did until lunch when we decided to go back to Peak Haven where we had eaten after our hike to Nevis Peak.

Here I am looking through the telescope.

I know it is funny, but Darla was always wanting to take pictures of the food we were eating. She took this after I had already eaten half of the chicken. IT WAS SOOO GOOD. It was a Nevis favorite: Curry chicken cooked in a stew. The cook's name is Llewellyn. He used to work at the Four Seasons resort. Such a nice and gentle man, and a great cook! Also on the plate are some yellow Nevis-grown sweet potatoes and other local veggies. I wish I could convey how good it was. Darla had a chicken sandwich made with Llewellyn's homemade bread. Mmmmm. And what a view while we ate. We conversed with the owners there too.

Afterward we decided to pop over to a place we had heard about from several sources: Golden Rock, a restored sugar plantation which has been turned into a restaurant and hotel. All I can say is...Wow. Darla and I were sad that we had not come sooner and eaten there. All these pics will perhaps show how excellent this place was. They had restored the original stone buildings and had added some water features and allowed the tropical plants to grow in just the right places.
Their specialty is their lobster sandwich. We had heard about it the whole time we'd been on Nevis but never went to try it. While walking around, one of the servers walked by with one. HUGE! Homemade thick-sliced bread LOADED with chunky lobster salad (yeah, like chicken salad)! Perhaps my only regret for our whole trip! We should have eaten here!! Even some of the rooms are in the remodeled ancient stone structures. I wish the pictures did this place more justice.

This pic is of the most desirable room there, the honeymoon suite, converted from a sugar mill tower. Darla (always curious to see how the inside looks) went up to the front door and nervously cupped her hands around her eyes at the glass to see inside. Assuming no one was there, she started oohing and aahing about how nice it was. I couldn't resist. I spoke loudly, "We're sorry, we didn't know anyone was in there--sorry!" Darla just about swallowed her tongue!! I wish I had a picture of her face! It was great.

Well, the dreaded day finally came when we had to leave Nevis. Here are some shots from the ferry as we departed and went to St. Kitts to fly home. We met a nice couple on the ferry from Boston who are attending seminary at Gordon Conwell. Great folks, and it was good to talk to some Americans.

It was truly sad to say goodbye to a little island we had grown to love, which has such kind people. Nevisians (pronounced Niv-EESH-uns) are almost all helpful and smiling. They speak perfect English and are very proud of their education (highest literacy rate of all western countries), low crime, rich history, and Christian heritage. They are hard-working people who have made their island great.
We boarded the ferry and took pictures all along the 45-minute ride to St. Kitts. We passed a big old freighter, a Carnival cruise ship, and other craft as we approached the port city of Basseterre. It is interesting that frequently while on Nevis, the Nevisians expressed disdain for St. Kitts. One Nevisian called Basseterre "thug city."

How to end...
I can't express how glad I am that we did this together. We'll be paying for the splurge for a while, but it was SOOO worth it. And Nevis couldn't have been better. I'm recharged and ready for another twenty and beyond!

Nevis...Amazing.

2010-05-11T22:09:00.056-04:00

There is no way to describe it. God is good to us. Our trip just seems to go from great to even greater. Thanks to all of you who have wished us well. Again, no time to tell details. Here are some shots from the last two days or so.
Yesterday we spent most of the day lounging at the beach. We hung out next door at Nesbit Plantation. We went snorkeling and saw a lot of stuff. There's no way we can bring back the huge conch shells and other treasures we have found. Beautiful fish abound. Don't know if I mentioned it, but Lobsters are everywhere. I've caught
one but lost it swimming back in. They're not easy to catch...and can cut you up if you're not careful. Darla had an awesome lunch on the beach (Mahi Mahi sandwich with a tropical salsa on top, salad, & fries) and we shared a dessert.
A rich chocolate brownie with caramel, nuts, and coconut, served with great vanilla ice cream. Darla's favorite!!

This is what the beach is all about...reading a good book about American Christian history! I also finished a book about Eric Liddel, the Olympic runner about whom they made the movie, "Chariots of Fire." Awesome book. It's called Pure Gold. I highly recommend it.

It was not all paradise, however. Me being the adventuresome type, must push the envelope. I started getting coconuts for eating and drinking the coconut milk. Got a little obsessed with knocking them out of trees and figuring out how to get them open, etc.

Anyway, when Darla and I were leaving the beach to take a shower before dinner, I grabbed a rock bigger than my fist, said to Darla, "Watch out honey, I'm going to get a coconut." I threw it hard at a big coconut about 20 feet off the ground. It hit the coconut square and bounced right off AND RIGHT AT DARLA'S HEAD!! Thankfully she had her visor and sunglasses on which shielded her from the brunt of the blow. I thought she would have a concussion or her head was split open or worse! I couldn't have done that again if I tried all day for a year! She has a little bruise, but nothing serious. Whew! Thank you Lord. Stupid me. She's so patient with my A.D.D.

We went to town to eat and many restaurants were closed (go figure...we're learning that there are certain Nevis cultural ways). We finally found a place we had heard about called Seafood Madness. Sounds totally different than it is. This was actually a very peaceful place, and we had it all to ourselves. I totally splurged and got fresh lobster. UNBELIEVABLE. This was the MEDIUM!

It makes my mouth water just to see the pictures again. It was the best lobster ever. It's my favorite food, and I haven't had it in many years. I savored every bite. Does it seem like we're talking a lot about food?

Today we planned to hike the 3232 ft. Nevis Peak. It's in the center of the Island and is a huge inactive volcano. You can see it wherever you are on Nevis and there is almost ALWAYS a cloud on it. We've only seen the peak cloudless twice the whole time we've been here. I don't know why...something meteorological.

We had been told that it was very difficult and VERY dangerous to go without a guide. Stories of people who have been lost abound. Interestingly, when we tell locals we're hiking the peak, they respond with emotion. "Whoa...you're crazy!" kinds of responses. But you know me...it's there...we've got to hike it. Poor Darla. She's been dreading this the whole time.
We booked a guide (great guy, his name is Sheldon) and met him this morning at 9:45.

Let me tell you: I've hiked most of the hardest trails in the Smokies. This was SO hard. Over half of it was crawling STRAIGHT up on all fours, pulling on ropes over mud, tree roots, and slick rocks through the thickest jungle you can imagine! Darla is one of the toughest women I know. She wasn't feeling well for the first (less difficult) half because we ate a big breakfast before coming. But she sucked it up and made it! The whole time I was thinking about how sorry I was to get her into this.

This is one of the many flowers we saw on the way called "Bird of Paradise." The flora is amazing--like a big botanical garden--huge ferns, vines, trees that are nothing if not exotic. There were NO bugs, and Sheldon told us there were no dangerous animals of any kind (no snakes on the island due to the many mongooses...er...mongeese...you know). As to hunting, Sheldon said, "Open season, all the time." He told of an old guy he knows that kills and eats monkeys. There are small wild hogs, two different kinds of doves (one big, one little) but nothing dangerous.

Here is a typical part of the trail, in this case a hole in the mud, rocks, and roots that Darla is crawling through. What doesn't show here is that this is STRAIGHT up (most was like climbing a ladder), and behind us is a drop of about 50 feet into the dark jungle!

The views on the way up were astounding. We were blessed to have less cloud cover until the very top.

I can't overstate how difficult this was. My arms are sore as I write for pulling myself up with the many ropes necessary to climb this trail.
Sheldon, our guide, was young and talkative. He had a lot of opinions about religion and many questions. We found out much insider Nevisian stuff that was really interesting. He was brilliant and engaging. Not to mention athletic. He climbed the whole thing in Reebok tennis sneakers.
We were beaten up and covered with sweat and mud when we finally got to the top. Drew would have absolutely LOVED a challenge like this. He would have been in heaven.

And of course...it was covered in a cloud. The only other disappointing thing is that we couldn't see into the crater (did I say this is a volcano?). Here we are faking a smile, acting like we're ready for more. Truth is, it was in many ways harder and more dangerous to get back down the mountain. I fell twice, Darla fell a few times and has some bruises to show for it. We were filthy we we got done.

When we were almost to the bottom, Sheldon showed me some red-orange fruits that he called "cherries." Not like ours, but they were so sweet and juicy and sooo good. The redder the better...the orange ones tasted like hot pepper/tomato mixed. I ate many of them. Tasted a little like red raspberries to me. I wish my kids could have been here. They love to eat berries we find while hiking. Aren't these beautiful? They're shaped like tiny pumpkins.

After hiking we ate at a little place called Peak Haven where the trail starts/ends. It was really good. I had a curry chicken stew that was spicy. It was a colloquial dish--that's what I love more than anything, trying the native food. Darla had a grilled chicken sandwich that was on some great homemade bread. We got salads, Thick yellow sweet-potato fries, some kind of orange squash. All delicious! The people were so nice and courteous. We spoke with each of them and thanked them for such a lovely experience. And the view...the pictures don't do it justice.
While eating we talked about how people who take cruises or all-inclusive resort vacations to the caribbean never get to experience the REAL Caribbean like we have on this trip. I wouldn't have changed a thing.

We were soooo tired. But the view...magnificent. Check out the seat of Darla's pants in this picture. I'm telling you...we were battle-scarred.

Finally...what kept Darla going...the HOT TUB. We stayed in it until the sun went down. Another beautiful sunset with an incredible 360-degree view.

Hard to believe there's just two more days.

Thanks God for a great trip so far!

2010-05-09T23:42:00.036-04:00

There is simply too much to put into words. Maybe later. Right now I'll just share a few pics of our 20th anniversary trip.
Here's a shot toward the west from our beach:

This next shot is through the front door of a restaurant called the Galley Pot.

It's a cool little place owned and operated by a British couple. GREAT food. The guy used to be a fisherman. It looks out on St. Kitts. That's the mountainous island in the background.

This is a few steps from "our beach" looking in the other direction (east). A little rain shower was on its way and God gave us this incredible double rainbow. Believe me, the picture doesn't do it justice! Darla had just been lying in this hammock.

You can see her feet in a picture she took a few minutes before the shower popped up. Is this like some commercial or what?! The breeze makes the temperature perfect. Heaven's got to be a little like this! I'm having a hard time thinking of how it could be better.

This is Darla on Lover's Beach. It's a truly unspoiled piece of paradise. We had to go fourwheelin' through a little jungle to get here. Darla just about killed me! She was worried we would get stuck with night falling, miles away from help. Come to think of it...hmmm. Oh well, this is an ADVENTURE!

Here's me in front of the little Suzuki Vitara that's ours for the time we're here. Darla's taking this picture from Lover's Beach, close to where she's standing above. You can get a little feel for what we came through to get here! Awesome.

There's lots of cool stuff for the history buff in Nevis. Alexander Hamilton, one of the most important of our founding fathers was born and spent his childhood here.
This is me standing in front of his birthplace. I didn't know he was born an illegitimate child. Because of this, he shared in experiencing some of the injustices of the slaves from the "plantocracy."
There are also lots of old ruins of churches and sugar plantations. Really cool.
I WILL be incorporating some of what I've learned in our upcoming discovery group about American Christian history.
To the right is St. James Anglican Church, one of the churches we attended Sunday. Looks like a ruin from the outside, but let me tell you, it is a thriving church. The inside is like new. All the members descend from former slaves. These people love Jesus. Darla and I were the only white folks in this packed out crowd. They received us like family. This is one of the oldest continually meeting churches in the Western Hemisphere.

One trivial piece of history is this volcanic hot sulphur spring that the early English sailors believed would cure anything. It is DADGUM HOT!
It comes out of the ground at about 115 degrees! Darla coundn't get in past her ankles. I suffered greatly but made it all the way in. Some people have more ailments than others! I'm not posting the face I was making as I tippy-toed in the water. Sunburn made it worse!

We're about half-way finished. Wow it's gone fast. I'll try to post more later. Thanks to all for the well-wishes. This has already been a trip of a lifetime. Darla and I needed this getaway. God is rejuvenating us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We are growing closer than ever. He has blessed me so much with a wife like Darla.

2010-05-05T10:43:00.001-04:00

In Miami. About to board the plane for St. Kitts. Found out you've got to pay extra for any food you eat on the plane. Gonna find a snack to take along.

2010-05-05T07:39:00.001-04:00

Darla & I are in the airport about to board the plane to Miami! I've never had a Quizno's bacon & egg sandwich before. It was great.

The Great Adventure: Caribbean, Here We Come!

2010-04-26T23:38:00.001-04:00

The whole idea started before Darla and I were married. We had both just realized that God wanted us to be together for the rest of our lives. One Saturday in May of 1989, I took her canoeing down the Holston River. She brought a picnic basket with food and THE BIGGEST MAGAZINE I HAD EVER SEEN. It was a wedding magazine. You’ve seen them—they’re full of pictures of bridal gowns and...ideas for honeymoon destinations. I had probably seen one of those colossal magazines before—on the shelf in the isle of a grocery store or something—but I had never looked through one before that day. Honestly, it was intimidating. I thought we were just going to have a relaxing lunch when she pulled out that mammoth thing! She had dog-eared pages and circled the pictures of dresses she liked. In all honesty, I didn’t really care about her dress (couldn’t say that then, of course). I was thinking about how much the magazine must have cost. The only pages that appealed to me were the ones with the exotic vacation spots. Cancun, Hawaii, Aruba, the Mediterranean, Copacabana, they all seemed so exciting...and EXPENSIVE! And then I made a typical mistake for me. “If you could go anywhere on our honeymoon, where would you go?” I asked Darla. As soon as the question came out of my mouth I grimaced. “What are you thinking?” I thought to myself. “You won’t be able to go anywhere shown in this magazine, so why even entertain the idea? So stupid!” But it was too late. Always the “speak-before-thinking” extrovert, I had let the cat out of the bag. Without a moment of hesitation she replied, “I’ve always dreamed of going to the Caribbean.”

The Caribbean. I knew there was no way. I was just hoping to scrape up enough money to get to Florida (that’s where we ended up going—my mom let me use her frequent-flyer miles and rental car discount, and my dad had a friend who had a beach condo on Treasure Island near St. Petersburg—it really was a great honeymoon).

I tried to recover. “Maybe one day,” I said without conviction. You see, I was going to be a pastor (read: poor). “I hope you don’t get your hopes up.”

“I won’t,” she said with conviction. “Anywhere will be great!”

At that moment, I made a decision. I thought, “One day I will take Darla to the Caribbean.”

But you know how life is. We got married the day after I graduated college. At the time I made $12,000 per year as a student minister and put Darla through her senior year of college. Then our roles reversed. We spent all we had saved to move to Wake Forest, NC and pay tuition for me to get my Master’s degree. I worked and went to school until Darla finally found a job as a teacher and worked all the way up until time to give birth to Drew (just after I graduated). At that time I had just become the pastor of a small church and we didn’t own a home. We moved after a couple of years to Johnson City, bought our first home and had Duncan, our second child (I then made about $30,000 per year). Then we moved to Knoxville to the newly formed Providence Church. Needless to say, it was not a great move from a financial perspective!! To make money matters worse, Dara came along shortly thereafter...unexpectedly (and we had no maternity insurance)! At the same time, our old cars started falling apart. We replaced 3 or 4 transmissions (at the tune of $1200-$1500 each) over a period of about a year-and-a-half. It was a real low point (financially speaking). I depleted all our savings and even went into credit card debt for the first (and only) time in my life.

God was gracious. Through some miraculous happenings (you think I’m exaggerating—but I’m not!), we made it out of debt and got back on our fiscal feet. And through it all we never stopped tithing.

[OK, I’ll give you one example of a miracle: My dad was playing in a golf tournament that had a hole-in-one prize of a new truck. He was joking around with the guys in the foursome that he was going to get it...and he DID! He told me later that as soon as it went in the hole, he knew God intended it for me and Darla. We were able to trade it in on a barely used Chrysler minivan! Incredible!]

Anyway...that was about the time of our 10th anniversary. We had been blessed, but I had nothing to spend to give my wonderful wife and awesome mom-of-three a good gift, let alone a great trip. She really had kept her promise to stay with me “for poorer.” Right then I decided I would start saving—secretly—for our 20th anniversary. So every time I did a funeral or a wedding or got an unexpected gift, I would hide it in an envelope I had taped under a drawer in my desk. NOT a good idea. Long story short, when I had saved about $1500, it was stolen by some people who cleaned our church. THANKFULLY the cleaning service they worked for had insurance that replaced it (after we videoed them stealing more money). Having learned my lesson, I opened a savings account in a different bank (this was hard to keep secret from Darla—and I felt guilty for hiding it from her!). I finally saved about $3000. Not a lot, but enough to do something.

I gave it to Darla this Christmas. We had recently seen the movie “Up.” If you’ve seen it, you know it is about an old man who had met his wife when they were kids. They had always dreamed of taking an “adventure” together, traveling to a remote part of the world. Then, life happened. They had to keep breaking the piggy bank—their adventure fund—and never got to do anything. As older adults the wife got sick and eventually died. Since childhood she had saved an “Our Adventure” scrapbook that would one day hold the pictures and tales of their trip. After her death, the old man decided to do the adventure in her honor. I’ll not spoil the movie for you in case you haven’t seen it (it really is good).

In the spirit of the movie, I made an “Our Adventure” scrap book with some pictures of me and Darla in our younger years. I bought a HUGE suitcase. In the suitcase I put a bunch of little gifts related to our trip. I got a Caribbean travel book, flip flops, sunglasses, suntan lotion, etc. Just for fun I bought a $50 gift certificate for a tanning salon! She opened it first and couldn’t figure it out thinking I had lost my mind!! It was so fun to see her puzzled face as she kept opening the gifts. At the very last she opened a card in which I put the bank statement with the amount I had saved.

It was awesome. We’ve been planning the trip ever since. We’re going to the Caribbean island of Nevis. I’m sure I’ll have much to say about it later!!

Bottom line is this: I’m incredibly blessed with a faithful, godly wife who is great at everything she does. She cannot know how much I love, appreciate, and respect her. She doesn’t think so highly of herself. I think that’s commendable. But I do. I am blessed. I only wish I could do more for her. She totally deserves it.

Incidentally, when we were married in 1990, our favorite song was “The Great Adventure” by Stephen Curtis Chapman. Our life together has definitely been that. I know it will continue to be!

When a child outgrows you

2010-04-09T06:32:00.004-04:00

My son, Drew, is getting big. When I give him a hug, it surprises me how much he's grown. He's fifteen. He's driving with his learner's permit, and is getting better each time. I'm sure he thinks I'm on him about stuff all the time, I just want him to be a godly man. I'm really proud of him. I love that he loves God and people. I want him to be a better man than me. Seems that is happening. Thank you God.

Got an email from Josué, the pastor of Central Church Barra in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That's the mission church God used us to plant about six years ago. Seems they've grown. A lot. And they're still growing! Josué emailed me that they're bigger than we are now! They're supporting 11 missionaries of their own around the world and just donated money to Haiti...just like us! I love this. I desire nothing more than for God to help us plant more churches, locally and globally, who will outgrow us!

Thank you God.

Of Birthdays and Brokenness

2010-03-25T22:43:00.007-04:00

I turned 43 last week. Weird how getting old affects a guy. Yesterday I was 29 with two little kids. Now I’ve got three in double-digits. Yesterday I was running triathlons, weighed 180 lbs. and was often mistaken for a college student. Now, 15 lbs. and a few surgeries later, the significantly fewer [and more gray] hairs give my age away. I’m not cool anymore, and what really tells me I’m getting old is that I’m starting to really not care if I’m cool or not. This is, I am now understanding, why old men have hair sticking out of their noses and wear white calf-high socks with black hushpuppies. It is about comfort, not about what others think!

Yesterday (actually over 13 years ago) I came to Providence Church, a 59-attendee church (kids and all!) that met in Cedar Bluff Middle School. Today, we’re a bit larger and we’re still having a great time seeing people come to Jesus and grow in grace. I’ve made so many good friends, experienced some hurts, made many mistakes, and grown wiser and more in love with Jesus. It is funny how much I’ve changed what I think about some things and how I’ve become steeled in what I think about others. I’ve seen kids in our church grow up and have kids of their own. I’ve laughed...a lot. I tend to cry...more with every year.

One of the hardest things about ministry is how people come and go. Some people I have loved have hurt me deeply. It’s something I think about every day. I’m sure it is why many pastors burn out and/or move around so much. Staying in the same town for many years means frequently facing people (who don’t like you) and their gossip. The pain can be overwhelming. Every pastor feels betrayed from time to time. If they don’t run, they can respond in other wrong ways: become bitter, combative, or calloused, or even feel defeated and depressed. I tend to fight the latter. I tend to fret over mistakes I’ve made and missed opportunities. Sometimes I even ponder whether it is worth the pain to tell people the truth (of course, I know it is). Dwelling on hurt isn’t good, but it is certainly not good to just pack it away and not deal with it. I choose to deal with it by prayer, and by writing thoughts down (like I’m doing now). It also helps to have people close to me who care enough to listen.

I am blessed that both of my parents are still alive. My mom sent me an encouraging text at the very minute I was born (43 years earlier) to say “happy birthday.” It reminded me that God had a reason to bring me in to this world. All I want to do is fulfill his purpose for me. What frustrates me is how I far I have to go. I fight with my flesh, the world, and the Devil, who all conspire to render me less useful. I know my primary objective in life is to bring glory to God and make disciples, beginning with my responsibilities as a husband and father. After that I am called to be a pastor of the flock called Providence Church. These are enormous responsibilities, for which I feel entirely inadequate. There are times I fight feelings of failure. Indeed I have failed in many ways.

My dad gave me a birthday call, too. On his way back from a coaches’ convention in Georgia, he stopped by and spent the night. We looked at old pictures and stayed up late talking. He had many encouraging words to say. I went to bed feeling blessed that I was given such a godly heritage and great foundation. God has given this to me and I don’t want to squander it. I am so undeserving, yet so thankful for God’s grace upon which I must depend. The same God who orchestrated all these blessings past that I could not control, commands the future. My only logical response is twofold: to yield—that is, to be broken before the One who is sovereign, ask him to use me, and to make me usable; and to love—desire him with all my heart and worship him with my efforts and actions without regard for selfish gain.

“One thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians 3:13-14

A Man Called Patrick

2010-03-17T11:34:00.004-04:00

A few years ago, I wrote a little article about the real St. Patrick, one of my favorite holiday heroes. Here it is.

When most people in our country think of St. Patrick’s Day, they think of wearing green, shamrocks, and leprechauns with pots of gold at the end of a rainbow. If you ask someone who St. Patrick really was, you will probably get answers that mention an old Irish saint chasing the snakes away from the “Emerald Isle.” The problem is none of this is true! The only vestiges of truth that remain popularly known are these: a beloved man named Patricius (we’ll call him by his better-known name, Patrick) died on March 17th in Ireland sometime between 465 and 493 A.D. (the year is disputed). But there is much more. Who is the real Patrick?

Imagine the horror of seeing your hometown destroyed and being taken captive by cruel raiders and sold as a slave to a foreign land. This is precisely what happened to 16-year-old Patrick, the son of a British Roman civil magistrate in west Britain around 430 AD.

In the fall 1998 edition of Christian History magazine, Mary Cagney describes his six-years of slavery as follows:

Patrick was sold to a cruel warrior chief, whose opponents' heads sat atop sharp poles around his palisade in Northern Ireland. While Patrick minded his master's pigs in the nearby hills, he lived like an animal himself, enduring long bouts of hunger and thirst. Worst of all, he was isolated from other human beings for months at a time. Early missionaries to Britain had left a legacy of Christianity that young Patrick was exposed to and took with him into captivity. He had been a nominal Christian to this point; he now turned to the Christian God of his fathers for comfort.

God had gotten this teenager’s attention. According to David L. Brown, Ph.D. in his 1999 article, The Real Patrick: Missionary to Ireland,

Patrick had ignored the Lord up to this point in his life. But things were different now, very different. He began to remember some things that his preacher grandfather had told him. The despair of slavery and the solitude of his occupation compelled him to remember his Christian upbringing and his need of the Lord. He writes in his confession, "I was about sixteen but did not know the true God, but in a strange land, the Lord opened my unbelieving eyes, and I was converted." Patrick came to know Christ as his personal Savior and was freed from his slavery to sin. Patrick grew in the Lord. "His devotion to the Lord Jesus Christ brought upon him a nickname, ‘Holy-Boy" from his fellow slaves. Through the years, he learned to pray whether he was working or resting." It is evident by his own testimony he learned to practice 1 Thessalonians 5:17 which says, Pray without ceasing. He says this in his Confession: "After I came to Ireland, every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed. The Love of God and His fear came to me more and more, and my faith was strengthened. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; I used to get up and pray before daylight, through snow, through frost, through rain, and I felt no harm, and there was no sloth in me…because the spirit within me was then fervent."

Later, Patrick even told the Lord that he would give his life to ministry if he ever regained his freedom. After serving his godless master faithfully, Patrick sensed that the time to make a break had come. He escaped and traveled 200 miles on foot over treacherous, unknown territory to the coast, and boarded a ship of traders headed for Gaul (modern France). When the Celtic mariners arrived, they were disappointed to only find devastation. Goths or Vandals had so decimated the land that no food or buyers of their goods were to be found in the once vibrant area. Here Patrick got his first recorded opportunity to share his newly revived faith with someone. Cagney, quoting Patrick’s autobiography, reports the conversation went something like this:

"

What have you to say for yourself, Christian?" the ship's captain taunted. "You boast that your God is all powerful. We're starving to death, and we may not survive to see another soul."

Patrick answered confidently. "Nothing is impossible to God. Turn to him and he will send us food for our journey."

At that moment, a herd of pigs appeared, "seeming to block our path." Though Patrick instantly became "well regarded in their eyes," his companions offered their new-found food in sacrifice to their pagan gods.

Patrick did not partake.

Historians believe that after training for ministry for a time in the South of France, Patrick headed home where he found his family and resumed his life. But God kept bringing the Irish—those miserable, superstitious, pagan Celts—to Patrick’s mind. Once Patrick even had a dream of a man from Ireland calling and pleading, “Help us!” Patrick wrote, “I was deeply moved in heart,” and he made the decision to leave his beloved Britain for Ireland, but this time he was taken captive by God’s desire for the lost. "I dwell among gentiles," he wrote, "in the midst of pagan barbarians, worshipers of idols, and of unclean things."

Patrick explained that the false gods that the people of Ireland worshipped and feared were actually evil demons, and he beckoned them to place their faith in Christ. Things began slowly but Patrick was determined. He faced opposition on many fronts, and his life was frequently in danger. Cagney writes,

Predictably, Patrick faced the most opposition from the druids, who practiced magic, were skilled in secular learning (especially law and history) and advised Irish kings. Biographies of the saint are replete with stories of druids who "wished to kill holy Patrick."

"Daily I expect murder, fraud or captivity," Patrick wrote, "but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God almighty who rules everywhere."

Indeed, Patrick almost delighted in taking risks for the gospel. "I must take this decision disregarding risks involved and make known the gifts of God and his everlasting consolation. Neither must we fear any such risk in faithfully preaching God's name boldly in every place, so that even after my death, a spiritual legacy may be left for my brethren and my children."

Eventually God used Patrick to bring a king, Loiguire, to faith in Christ who intended to kill the young missionary. The different accounts of this confrontation are rife with legend, so much so that it is difficult to ascertain fact from fiction. Nonetheless the King was dramatically converted, and Patrick made it a central part of his strategy to convert the one hundred or so kings first so that their subjects would hopefully follow. This tactic proved to be extremely effective.

It is understandable that slavery was an evil against which Patrick would battle tirelessly. According to Cagney,

[Patrick] was, in fact, the first Christian to speak out strongly against the practice. Scholars agree he is the genuine author of a letter excommunicating a British tyrant, Coroticus, who had carried off some of Patrick's converts into slavery.

"Ravenous wolves have gulped down the Lord's own flock which was flourishing in Ireland," he wrote, "and the whole church cries out and laments for its sons and daughters." He called Coroticus's deed "wicked, so horrible, so unutterable," and told him to repent and to free the converts.

It remains unknown if he was successful in freeing Coroticus's slaves, but within his lifetime (or shortly thereafter), Patrick ended the entire Irish slave trade.

Even though he was not considered a man of great learning, Patrick is also known for his insistence on sound biblical doctrine. Dr. Neil Chadwick writes,

Because of his deep faith in God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Patrick made this doctrine a center piece of his instruction. To help explain the mystery of the ‘Trinity’ he used the simple three-leaf shamrock to illustrate the three persons in one God.

Most historians agree that he taught a “grace alone through faith alone” salvation, unlike that which was developing in the Roman Christianity of the European continent at that time.
Patrick boldly proclaimed Christ in Ireland for about 30 years. And talk about impact! Roy D. Warren, Jr. in his book, Patrick of Ireland: The Untold Story wrote, "he planted over 200 churches and had over 100,000 truly saved converts." Patrick writes in his autobiography,

I am greatly a debtor to God, who has bestowed his grace so largely upon me, that multitudes were born again to God through me…Hence, the Irish, who had never had the knowledge of God and worshipped only idols and unclean things, have lately become the people of the Lord, and are called the sons of God.

Patrick loved the Lord and constantly trained new Believers to follow the Great Commission. In addition to planting churches, he built scores of monasteries, schools, orphanages, and other institutions for instructing people in the faith, and established hundreds of pastors and leaders. Many of these institutions still exist.

We should learn from the cultural impact that God instrumented through Patrick. Brown writes, “While the Roman Empire and occupied lands were going from peace to chaos, the land of Ireland was going from chaos to peace under the ministry of Patrick.”

So on this St. Patrick’s Day, tell someone about the real Patrick. And consider this: God wants to raise up some Patricks today. He is looking for those who are willing to lay aside the comforts of this life to find more contentment in being greatly used by God.

Why our prayers fail?

2009-11-23T11:49:00.004-05:00

So I've been contemplating why Christians' prayers sometimes seem to fall short. While praying this morning it occurred to me that we tend to pray too little, too small, and too weak.

We pray too little:
We simply don’t pray enough. William P. Wilson, M.D.,  Professor Emeritus at Duke Medical Center and Director of the Institute of Christian Growth found that “the average churchgoer in the US prays one minute a day. The average pastor prays three minutes a day.” That’s really bad, and really telling. Perhaps that’s why sermons are so weak and so few people respond. Perhaps that’s why so many pastors succumb to temptation and become a public scandal, shaming the name of Christ. Perhaps that’s a reason our churches are so empty and powerless. Maybe that’s why it’s hard to tell the difference between Christians and their unbelieving neighbors. When we don’t pray intentionally and consistently we are, in effect, displaying one or more of the following attitudes: I don’t need God, God doesn’t listen, or God can’t change things. All of these are lies! When I take time to pray, I spend time with the One who loves me and happens to run the entire universe. He has asked me to pray. I need him. By praying, if nothing else, I acknowledge my dependence on him and prove my belief that he hears me. If that were all my prayers accomplished, it would be enough. But of course, that is not all. My prayers move God to action.

We pray too small:
We tend to pray for less significant things. “Let me have a good day.” “Keep my kids safe.” “Let me get a raise.” “Let me have a new car.” “Help me to feel better.” “Let the food we are about to eat go to the nourishment of our bodies.” “Give me a good night’s sleep.” Come on folks! It’s not that these things are not important, but can’t we do better than that?
I have been around many Christians, some of them were people I would call exceptionally godly (of course, these are people who would never call themselves that!). These people tend to pray for BIG things. They ask for God to awaken thousands to the truth of the Gospel and for God to change our culture. They pray for God to use their time, bodies, resources, intellect, etc. for the sake of his glory in this world. They ask for God to raise up godly men and women with passion for his church and his word. They pray for God to change the hearts of people in government. They pray that their kids will love Christ with all their hearts, souls, minds and strength, and bring their friends to Christ; and for their schools to be impacted for Christ’s sake. They pray for God to bless them financially so that they can give generously to their church and people in need. They pray for God to stop the advancement of Islam and other false religions through the power of Christ, and set ablaze the church against whom "the gates of hell cannot prevail." They pray that God will let them suffer any negative thing (sickness, sorrow, persecution, poverty) as one joyfully sharing in the sufferings of Christ for their own growth and the sake of his glory. That’s praying BIG. God is big. He likes for us to pray for big things.

We pray too weak:
Our prayers sometimes lack assurance and passion. We can come across like this: “Lord, thank you for this day. If it is according to your will, please be with John Doe while he is feeling bad and please help our church do what you’ve called us to do. And I pray that I will not face difficulties today.” When we pray weakly, not with conviction expecting results, we waste our time and a great opportunity! We are told to “boldly approach the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16) and to pray expectantly. Jesus made this crystal clear in Luke 11:5-8

And he said to them, "Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, 'Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him'; and he will answer from within, 'Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything'? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.

It is the rude urgency of the friend wanting the loaves that moves the groggy sleeper to action. Christ (who is not a groggy sleeper, by the way) is telling the story so that we will show urgency in our prayers! He follows his parable with this (Luke 11:9-13):

And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

We have a Father who wants us to have...not just good gifts...but the Holy Spirit when we ask! Therefore, a strong prayer will be bold, and will “remind” God (or, more accurately, remind the one praying) of the promises he has made in his Word. It will be passionate and specific; pleading and intense.

I want to pray often. I want to pray big. I want to pray strong.

When you DON'T feel like it...

2009-11-11T09:27:00.003-05:00

The pastor of my home church, Dr. Richard Emmert, was a man of prayer. He went on a trip to South Korea and saw how God was transforming that nation. He witnessed first hand how the Korean Christians prayed and knew that was the key. It changed him. He came back challenging and leading our church to pray. Our church experienced an awakening—and it is still doing well today. He said much about prayer. Among many other great quotes that I still remember, this one came to my mind today:

“Pray when you feel like it...pray when you don’t feel like it...pray UNTIL you feel like it.”

This morning this was fulfilled in my prayer time.

I had some dental work done yesterday afternoon. After the local anesthesia wore off my whole jaw was throbbing with pain and I had a huge headache. I didn’t sleep well. My alarm went off at 5 am and I did not want to get up. I took 2 ibuprofen and dragged myself to the church to pray. Honestly, I struggled. I didn’t feel like praying. I asked God to help me. I remembered in Matthew 26 when Jesus told Peter and the disciples to pray with him in the garden the night he was betrayed. He soon found them asleep. “Could you not watch with me one hour? Watch and pray...” He prayed again and saw that they had fallen asleep—again! I bet they would have been wide-awake had they known what was about to happen!

Anyway, I kept fighting—sometimes frustrated that I couldn’t stay focused. I asked God to help me pray. He did. All of a sudden it seemed the clouds cleared and I met with God! My heart revived and I know God heard me. He helped me know what to pray. And I heard him. I walked out refreshed and renewed! Thank you Father.

“Pray when you feel like it...pray when you don’t feel like it...pray UNTIL you feel like it.”

Now I get it.

A little guidance for praying

2009-11-09T16:53:00.005-05:00

I’ve been praying in the mornings. Not for the show, but because I want God to move. It has been incredible. Some others have come to the church to pray too. Some have said they want to come but can't for scheduling reasons (work, taking kids to school, etc.). A couple of people have asked if they could have a copy of the Morning Prayer guide to which I’ve referred. Instead of the popular ACTS method (Adoration-Confession-Thanksgiving-Supplication) which is good, I’ve found Jesus’ model prayer is more helpful for me to get things going. I've been using the following and the time flies!

MORNING PRAYER
October 19-November 26 Mondays-Thursdays
Nothing fancy. No music. No preaching. No requests. Just prayer.
Come any time between 6-8 AM. Pray however long you want.

5 Aspects of an Effective Prayer according to Jesus in Luke 11:2-4

“Father,”
1. Acknowledge your privileged position with Him: He is your Father.

"hallowed be your name,"
2. Affirm His “Awesomeness.”

"your kingdom come."
3. Align your priorities with His: The Kingdom is first.

"Give us each day our daily bread."
4. Ask Him to provide for your needs.

5. Address sin:
"Forgive us our sins," Confess your sins to God.

"for we also forgive everyone who sins against us." Forgive others’ sins.

"And lead us not into temptation." Ask God to guide you away from sin.

Some ideas for your prayers:
For God to have mercy on our nation:
•Spiritual awakening- that he would cause many thousands to be saved, changing our culture, turning back the moral decline.
•Leaders
 President Obama
 Congress in general
 Our Senators: Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker
 Our US House Representative: John Duncan, Jr.
 Supreme Court Justices
 State and local leaders
Pray God will give them wisdom to do what’s right & best for our nation. Pray they will not give in to corruption or dishonesty, or act out of self-interest. Pray they will seek to know God and his will. Pray they will not spend unnecessarily. Pray that God will remove those who lead wrongly.
•Military personnel serving in Iraq and Afghanistan
For God to have mercy on people you know:
•For those who do not know Christ- that God will draw them to himself, that God will open doors for you to lead them to him.
•Christians you know who are in sin, not growing or struggling spiritually.
•For the spiritual well being of your family.
For God to have mercy on the church:
•For Providence specifically:
 That we are true to God’s word and sensitive to his will.
 That we are effective in reaching the lost AND growing believers.
 That our people find meaningful relationships with each other.
 That God will help us impact the world through our missions efforts and planting churches.
 That God will give the elders and staff wisdom to lead.
 That God will protect us from division, error, and scandal.
 That God will provide financially through the giving of his people.
 That God will raise up people to lead and volunteer.
•For the Church in general:
 That the drift toward moral relativism & radical tolerance is reversed.
 That God’s people would love and obey God’s word.
 That we would not be divided, but unite in spreading the gospel.

Motivations for Prayer

2009-11-04T10:22:00.001-05:00

(Note: I just read over this and perceived that it comes off like I’m trying to sound “Mr. Spiritual.” Please don’t read that. Truthfully, I’ve been under conviction for many months about my prayer life. It has not been what it needs to be. I’ve been going through the motions, sometimes rushing through prayer after reading the Word in my daily devotional time. This discipline is good for me, and my hope is that somehow it will encourage you!)

The first week that I prayed at the church from 6-8 AM from Monday until Thursday really was great. I have absolutely NO regrets—in fact, it has made a difference in my life. You’ve got to understand that I’m not naturally a morning person. I start early because I need to, not because I want to. My brain typically starts hitting on all cylinders around 10 AM and I tend to get really productive toward the end of the day. All my adult life I’ve asked God to help me be a morning person—and I envy those who naturally are!

So I say all that to say this: Thursday of last week, I struggled during the morning prayer time. I “fought” for the first 15-30 minutes. I’m not sure why. My thoughts were unsettled and I chased rabbits everywhere in my mind. I worked through the Lord’s Prayer as a model outline to “cover the bases” (I’ll try to blog on that method later). I finally “broke through” and had some really good heart communication with God for the next hour before becoming a little groggy. Note to self: I was up late Wednesday night—don’t need to do that again! So I took a break and walked out to get a drink of water. Then I was good for the last 15 minutes.

Since Thursday, I’ve been reflecting on my motivation. I’m determined not to let this become an empty discipline or a legalism. I’m not waking up this early for NOTHING!!

So I’m asking myself the question: WHY SHOULD I BE MOTIVATED TO PRAY? I’ve thought of a few things that might actually motivate Christians, and I think they are both historically and biblically sound, too!

Motivation #1: FEAR.
People tend to pray when they are scared. Some fear for personal loss: afraid they will fail a test, lose their job, have to sell their home; or worse, afraid they will lose a child or spouse. Some see the news and become afraid for our nation. Closer to home, we SHOULD fear what we see happening to our kids when they are enticed by the world. When we read the Bible (particularly books like Amos), we should fear God’s judgment of the lost, the wayward church, or ourselves because of sin! I’m not sure fear is a bad thing-in fact, I’m pretty sure this is a very GOOD thing. Sometimes God uses fear to drive us to pray.

Motivation #2: OPPORTUNITY.
If God is really moved by our prayers and actually acts in response to them, we are CRAZY not to pray. Millions of people lay down billions of dollars to play the lottery hoping they get wealthy, when they know their chances of winning are next to impossible! We, however, as God’s children, have the ear of Almighty God, who is the all-powerful, Maker of the universe and beyond! There’s nothing he can’t do and nothing he doesn’t own. And we have been told that he hears and responds to our prayers!

Motivation #3: INTIMACY.
When I pray, I commune with God and spend time in his presence. In other words, I hang out with HIM and talk to HIM! One big concern I have of our technological/informational age is the way it crowds out the simple, quiet time with God. God said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Psal. 46:10). This is the opposite of our tendency today. We need our iPod blaring in our earbuds at all times we’re not engaged with people. We need to keep up with all 999 “friends” on facebook. We need to answer the constant stream of emails and watch youtube videos. We need to spend hours in front of our flat-screen HDTVs watching news, sports, comedy, and hundreds more channels that we pay hundreds each month to see! Sure, our enemy lures and tempts us with some of the content of the many different media to which we expose our minds. But more than the content, it is the time away from God that is just as hurtful. If the enemy can keep us distracted...occupied...busy, he’s got us. But when I put away the distractions and spend time alone communicating with God, I know him more and better. When I pray I “hear” from God’s heart. Not new extra-biblical revelation, but meditation concerning what I know about God—things I’ve learned about him in his Word—I understand him more. I sense his holiness. I feel his pleasure and his presence. When I know him more, my love for him grows.

Motivation #4: PLEASURE.
This one is linked to the previous. It does not take long in prayer before my priorities and tastes begin to change. When I am saturated in the world, I find myself longing for the things of the world. When I am in the presence of God I begin to see the world as it really is: shallow...stale...hollow...unsatisfying. Not so God’s presence. As Paul said, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! ” (Rom. 11:33), and David:
“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3).
When we pray, Not only do we begin to realize the vastness of God’s infinite attributes—we actually begin to take some of them on. We walk in his peace. We act in confidence. We show his meekness and gentleness. We start “dressing” like our Father. Again quoting Paul, “as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive...as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts... And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.... And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:12-17).
It is FRUSTRATING to be a Christian who continues to fail to become more like Christ, and EXHILERATING to be one who continues to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Pet. 3:18). The Christian who spends time with Christ has a distinct advantage of increasingly bearing Christ’s identity.

Motivation #5: POWERLESSNESS.
“Prayer is an unspoken confession of our utter dependence upon God. Prayerlessness is an unbroken testimony of our dependence upon the flesh” (R. Sprinkle). Truth is, I can do nothing on my own. I can’t even do what’s right when I try. I can’t insure my own safety, let alone that of my wife and kids! I am so feeble and helpless. So many things are out of my control. My health, the future, virtually everything! I certainly can’t change anyone else. I can’t do anything about our country. It’s depressing when I think about it. The only thing I can do is to ask my Father to act. He CAN do ANYTHING. In fact, he “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). If I can’t do anything...and he can do everything...I am insane if I don’t pray.

Motivation #6: OBEDIENCE.
God has asked that we pray, and told us that he would act when we do. Here are just a few of the passages in the Bible that encourage us to pray:

Matthew 7:7-11
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!

Luke 18:1
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

Ephesians 6:18
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.

1 Timothy 2:1-8
1First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, 6who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. 7For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling

Colossians 4:2
Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.

1 Thessalonians 5:17
Pray continually;

Philippians 4:6
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

James 5
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

1 Peter 3:12
For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer

1 Peter 4:7
The end of all things is near. Therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray.

I want you to know that the last few mornings’ prayer time have been incredible! The time has FLOWN by. I’ve actually been shocked when I looked at my watch and saw it was past 8:00! I hope this encourages you to pray.

Amos...Drives Me to Pray

2009-10-20T16:41:00.003-04:00

Studying Amos has been great. If for no one else, for me. I am amazed at how much Israel in Amos’ day resembles America, and how much the religious scene then bears likeness to ours. Then to hear Amos pronounce God’s coming judgment to them gets really close to home. I know we live in another time after the coming of Christ and the cross, and live in the age of grace. And that’s the big difference: when one rejects God today, he is rejecting God's law AND his grace. As the writer of Hebrews said it, “How shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation” (2:3)? The answer is...we won’t.

This is not good news. My heart breaks when I think about the millions of people drinking the world’s Kool-Aid, blindly on their way to eternal judgment. Some of them live around me. Their kids go to school and play soccer with mine. Some are my friends. Some are related to me. And they seem as if they have no clue. Not only this, but the “great salvation” that they are neglecting actually brings them what they are really looking for in the world’s counterfeits: Contentment. Happiness. Fulfillment. Love. Peace. Joy. Things the world rarely delivers, and never on a permanent basis. But it is so hard to convince them of this truth. Especially when the world, aided by our fallen flesh and the Enemy, preaches so persuasively that gaining more stuff...having more sex...looking more hip...etc. are all more important than having...GOD!

Therefore, many of us just quit trying to share the Good News. We see the enormity of the task and are overwhelmed. Indeed some of us do well (or so we think) to fight off the allure of the world ourselves as we occasionally lose skirmishes with our own flesh. Then Satan takes advantage and “guilts” us into silence. What are we to do?

Like Amos, we are to cry out to God. He is the only one who can help. He helps by strengthening us, his children. God has the power to trump whatever influence he has allowed the world and demonic forces to employ, by drawing people to himself. HE IS ABLE TO CHANGE THE GAME.

That is the only logical conclusion: I must ask him to. I MUST PRAY. Especially when he tells me that he, Almighty, Sovereign God somehow utilizes the prayers of his people to make things happen. It is a stunning thought—the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Eternal, Infinite God is actually moved by the prayers of mere men to accomplish his perfect, predetermined plan.

Whoa! I gotta catch my breath.

Umm...why then do I not pray?

Well, I’m going to. I’m committing myself. I’ve always believed that you schedule what’s important to you. Right now, as I write, I can’t think of anything else more important. I laid it out there publicly Sunday...I can talk about praying, but actually doing it is a completely different thing. So I need a little structure for the sake of accountability, that is, if I’m serious.

I’m going to open up the church every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday until Thanksgiving from 6:00 til 8:00 AM to pray. You’re welcome to come join me if you want. I’ve already started, in fact. There have been a few others who have come, too, but I’m really not looking to see who comes (or if anyone else comes at all). This is simply what God wants me to do.

This isn't for show. Jesus said that when you pray, go in your room in secret, not like the hypocrites who want all to see. He said that then “your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6:6). I guess that’s the thing I’ve struggled with the most about coming out with this, or for that matter, even posting this blog. I don’t want any attention for me. I’m not trying to look spiritual. I do, however, want God to move. And maybe it is ok to be like Paul in this sense: he said, “Be imitators of me, as I follow Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). I think pastors should lead the way. Interpreting Scripture with Scripture, we see that Jesus didn't always pray in secret. He prayed with his disciples and in public. He taught his disciples how to pray. So did Paul. Corporate prayer is commanded throughout the Bible and is frequently practiced by the church in the book of Acts. So I say, If it helps you to pray with me and others, I invite you to come. Whether you come to the church or not...I ask you to pray.

Déjà Vu: Sox are Through.

2009-10-15T00:54:00.007-04:00

Ok, indulge me a little hyperbolic sports drama.

It's been almost a week and I'm still not over it. The Red Sox are done for the season. I'm experiencing this subtle underlying disappointment. It occurred to me yesterday that I used to feel like this all the time! This is only the third time in the last seven years that Boston has not played in the American League Championship Series. But as most baseball fans know, this level of success has not always been the norm for the Sox.

I've been a Sox fan since the late 1970s. Until 2004, I felt like I was the only one in Knoxville! Here's how it happened: Like most other East Tennessee kids who were not Braves fans, I liked the Big Red Machine—the Cincinnati Reds. Bench, Rose, Morgan, Pérez, Concepción, Griffey, Foster, all led by Sparky Anderson—those guys were great. A really cool style among teenagers back then was to wear one of those fake plastic batting helmets. I wanted one and couldn’t find one anywhere. Some of my friends got theirs at Six Flags in Georgia for $6. Soon thereafter, I went with my church youth group to Six Flags determined to buy one for myself with $6 I had saved. All day, I walked the whole park seeking one of those Reds helmets, to no avail. The Reds were so popular! Finally, at the end of the day, I decided to just buy a helmet of another team. At that time, the Red Sox helmets were red with a navy blue bill, and looked really cool. Pointing to one, I asked the vendor, “What’s the team with the B?” “Boston Red Sox” was the answer (I should have known, they had played the Reds in the 1975 World Series). I bought one. While walking across Six Flags, people kept giving me the “thumbs up” sign saying, “Go Sox!” That was cool. So I started keeping up with them. I started collecting baseball cards and collected all the Sox cards. I fell in love with Rick “the Rooster” Burleson, Carlton Fisk, Jim Rice, Carl “Yaz” Yastrzemski, Butch Hobson, Dwight Evans, George Scott...I can remember them like it was yesterday.

(This is my favorite player Rick Burleson in that cool red batting helmet!)

In high school I got to visit Boston and saw a few Sox games in Fenway. Then I was hooked. It was magic. I also got to see them play in Texas, Atlanta, and Baltimore. Like all true Sox fans, a tragic moment in my life was when the ball went through Bill Buckner’s legs in 1986. I’ll never forget it. I found out later that he is a Christian. I actually got to meet Buckner in 1999. I introduced him at an FCA banquet (I had forgiven him and said nothing of his infamy).

Point is, through all those years, I always got myself worked up that this was to be a championship year. And it never was. In fact, most years we didn’t even get to the playoffs.

That’s why I’m experiencing déjà vu. I’ve been here before. Left feeling empty after the one team I have stood by through good years and bad failed to get past the wildcard series. It’s the team I have loved irrationally and emotionally who play a sport I was never really good at but that I respect and enjoy watching. I really thought they would do it! All my shirts, hats, and jerseys are now useless to me (not really) until next April! That's sports!

Mmm. Brunswick Stew.

2009-10-02T14:06:00.003-04:00

I first had Brunswick Stew when a friend in seminary took me to shoot sporting clays at a family home place in southern Virginia. We had it for lunch. He was kind of apologizing for not having something else to offer. I was like, “Are you kidding? This stuff is great!” It's a little different looking, but is hearty with a mild and distinctive taste. I didn’t have it again for a few years until I was on a deer-hunting trip near Columbus, GA and ate at a BBQ place called “Country’s.” They served Brunswick Stew as an appetizer then and it reminded me of how good it was. I’ve had it a couple of times since, but none of them evoked the "wow that’s good!" response like the Virginia-style Brunswick Stew I had at first.

So when the first little cool-snap happened last week I got it on the brain. I found many recipes online and combined a couple that looked good. AWESOME. It made WAY too much (I fed it to our family, the church staff, and a bunch of pastors), so I reduced it and tweaked it a little. I made it again this morning and just finished THREE BOWLS. I’m telling you, I can’t get enough. It’s like the perfect meal for a cool rainy fall day!

A couple of the staff asked about the recipe, so here it is:

Brunswick Stew (Virginia style)
Ready in: 3-5 hrs Serves 9 people

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
1 small strip fatback
½ of a medium onion (chopped)
2 stalks celery (finely chopped)
½ large bag frozen sweet corn (shoe peg or white)
½ bags frozen butter beans
1 large can whole tomatoes, pureed
5 medium/large potatoes, diced
½ 40 oz. bag okra (use about 20 oz)
½ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ stick butter
1 tablespoon vinegar
¼ cup BBQ sauce (I used KC Masterpiece orig.)
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons salt (more if desired)
½ teaspoon pepper (more if desired)

Directions:
In a large stock pot, cover chicken with water and cook until tender. Remove chicken from stock and, when it's cool enough to handle, pull chicken apart, removing all the gristle or fat.

Return chicken pieces to pot with remaining stock. Add fatback, celery and onions, and simmer until tender. Add the diced potatoes, corn and butter beans, and simmer an additional 20 minutes.

Finally, add okra, ketchup, brown sugar, bbq sauce, Worcestershire sauce, butter, bayleaf, and vinegar. Cover and simmer two hours. Remove bayleaf and fatback before serving. Serve with cornbread!

You're going to doubt me while you're combining everything. Don't. It is really good!

Facebook: Friend or Foe?

2009-09-23T11:49:00.003-04:00

The latest craze of our information age is the emergence of social networking sites. Several are notable, but Facebook is particularly popular and has caught on even with folks who are otherwise adverse to technology. I succumbed to the pressure to join a long time ago. In all honesty I was dragged to it kicking and screaming, but signed up for the sake of becoming all things to all men that by ALL MEANS I might save some. I’m sure some will think I am trying to sound super-spiritual, but it is the truth. I think it is important for Christians—especially pastors—to be on the front end of effective new ways to communicate to and influence others.

It is crazy to me how many people I have “reconnected” with on Facebook. People from every school I attended (Elementary to Seminary); people from every church of which I was a part as a member, on staff, or as pastor; family members; people I played or coached with—over 800 of them and growing! It is crazy! But I’ve got to get some things off my chest:

Like any other form of communication, there is the potential for both good and bad on Facebook. It’s cool to see how folks are doing and to have another way to encourage people. It’s cool to be able to keep up with my high school son’s friends and interests. There is much potential for creating virtual community and informing/uniting people for/against certain causes. That’s all cool. But wow, there are some things that are really hard for me. Like, I can’t spend much time on it without seeing pictures of people who claim to be Christians in all kinds of potentially compromising positions. You know what I’m saying. There’s the skimpy clothing and the “aren’t I cool” poses, and, perhaps more conspicuous than anything, the pics of folks drinking alcohol. I don’t know what it is. Does everyone take pictures when they go to a drinking party or a bar? What is it about the “look at me, I drink” pictures of themselves that people like—and publish for the world to see? Is that really what you want people to know about you? Really? Forget for a moment the very real biblical issues. What about the message being sent to the many kids who are on Facebook? Kids who are impressionable, who could see someone they know or who attend their church drinking as a justifying factor to try drinking for themselves. Do we just ignore the damage alcohol does to people’s lives? I know it first hand. Call me an old fogy (I’ve blogged before on Christians and drinking so I’ll resist).

One of the hardest things for me is the way people gossip and spread falsehood for all the world to see. Or maybe not gossip, maybe just saying things that are hurtful about their church. One couple that had been a part of our church for about a year and then disappeared posted how our church was the coldest place they had ever been and how they were never talked to and nobody wanted to be their friend, etc. The bad thing is that many of us know this couple and had made MANY attempts to befriend them—some felt that they had BECOME friends (ouch!). But what are we to do? Get into an argument on someone’s “wall,” calling out the wrongness of their perception? Of course not. People sometimes get hurt and lash out. People make mistakes. Once I heard Bill O’Reilly say that with the Internet, if you make a mistake, you do it for the entire world to see. I’m afraid that’s true.

I think Facebook attracts a lot of people who just like to know what people are doing. Is this the definition of a busybody? A nosey person? Or just someone who enjoys socializing with others? Maybe some of each, I don’t know. Truth is, I simply don’t have time for it. That sounds kind of heartless doesn’t it? I rarely get to check up on others or update my “status” because I’ve rarely got time to just mess around by myself on the internet, and I’m not sure I really want people knowing what I’m doing all the time. Life is too busy. I’m a dad of three busy kids who have to be places and who need me in their lives. I’m a husband (not that Darla always NEEDS me, but she does have honey-do lists for me!). I’m also a pastor. I don’t think I need to describe the busyness of THAT job. I barely find the time to blog. What makes blogging hard is I feel I need to cover something with some degree of conclusive thoroughness and I write way too much. Sounds like my sermons!! When I do have extra time, the last thing I want to do is to be disappointed by seeing someone I care about glorying over a beer! Ahhh...Facebook. It’s a love-hate thing for me.

Ok, I’m quitting. Not facebook, just this blog post. I do feel a little better having vented!

Vacation [continued] and America's Seven Faith Tribes

2009-07-21T00:11:00.007-04:00

Some pics...
Top to bottom: Dara...being Dara,
Drew and I about to throw down on some Calabash seafood!
Me and D
Typical family beach setup in the sandstorm (before the umbrellas became unmanageable)

Reading on the beach is one of my favorite things in life. There’s not much better than the shade of an umbrella, a soft constant breeze, and the sound of the waves crashing interrupted only with occasional calls of seagulls! My reading this week began with a commentary on the book of John (I’m getting ready to teach John at Providence late this fall). I know, I know, only pastors read that kind of stuff. The last two days I’ve been reading the latest book by well-known researcher George Barna entitled, The Seven Faith Tribes. Great stuff! It’s really making me think.

In short, Barna’s research indicates there are seven primary faith-based “tribes” in America with different worldviews: Jews, Mormons, Muslims, Pantheists, Skeptics, and two separate Christian groups—Casual Christians and Captive Christians. I’m not finished, so I’ll save opinions on the book for later. So far, I’ve read about the two different Christian “tribes” and the Jews. It’s really got me thinking. The Casual Christians make the largest “tribe” in America with about 66% of the America’s adult population in their ranks. They are poor givers to church or charity, somewhat faithful to attend church and say they believe in God, but their worldviews are anything but biblical. They generally don’t believe all the stories in the Bible are literally true. They are average among Americans regarding divorce, porn viewing, drinking too much, media influence, gambling, and they are statistically the LEAST happy of all groups except one. They are all over the map regarding politics.

The Captives are a different group. Only 16% of the adult population, they’re the happiest of all tribes, they’re not likely to trust the media or view porn or get divorced. They consider themselves as far from perfect but have high moral standards. They are solidly biblical in their worldview. They give significantly more of their money to church and charities; they are very faithful to attend church.

As I’m reading about these two Christian tribes, I’m reminded of Jesus’ parables of the wheat and the tares, the sheep and the goats, and his explanation of the two gates and ways. I’ve been thinking of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:21, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Barna makes the comparison to Jesus’ letters to the churches of Asia Minor transcribed by John in Revelation 2-3. Of seven churches addressed by Jesus, only 2 were commended and not warned. Barna says the difference between the two groups of self-described Christians in the United States are broken down about the same. Interesting.

I must say, while reading these two chapters I thought about our church (and churches in general) in two different lights. First, I think of all the people that call Providence home whose lives do not reflect a “fully devoted follower” kind of desire. I wonder how many people in our church are Casual Christians who are relatively unchanged and unaffected by Christ’s influence on their lives? They really live for this world rather than the next, and their lives show it. Here in the south we are experts at spiritual compartmentalization and keeping God in his place. Second, I wonder if we have been primarily going after the wrong crowd of people? We generally go after the minority tribes: the Skeptic, Jew, Muslim, or Pantheist. At least, I’ve got these “unbelievers” in my mind as I preach. That’s what we usually mean by the term, “unchurched.” But if what Barna says is true, we should perhaps be more intentional about going after these Casual Christians—the “churched” or “semi-churched”—some who come to our church one out of three (or four, or five) weeks and unhesitatingly claim to be Christian. That’s what the Mormons and Skeptics do. They fill their ranks with these. My thought is that we already have a head start on them, since they are at least familiar with the Gospel. My question is how do we best reach them? Is it worthwhile to put most of our eggs in that basket to try? Thinking out loud, reaching the people of this tribe probably requires a different kind of strategy. They are, as evidenced by their own actions, uncommitted to things they have heard. So how can we help them be committed? How do we help them see that Jesus is Savior AND Lord (Master)?

Speaking from experience, adult Casuals rarely cross-over to Captive status unless something really tragic happens to them or someone they love. Death (or a close call), diagnosis of a disease or serious condition, divorce, or some other life-altering situation is what God seems to use to wake them. Perhaps sweeping revival or awakening (both are perfect terms for this) comes with a national disaster or crisis. Since our strategy depends on relationships, should we not let them feel a sense of belonging before committing and then be ready to articulate the importance of surrender when they are really listening (i.e. when faced with trial)? Once again I’m reminded of the importance of Life Groups and getting people to try this level of community.

[Three days later…]
Well, I’ve read almost all the book. I’m glad to be home! The last day at the beach was like riding 80 mph in the back of a pickup full of sand! We were pummeled by wind and sand! It made reading a real challenge. Barna’s book is great. Not sure I agree with all the conclusions, but wow, what a thought provoking read. Really helps me understand the worldviews of people and why they do what they do. I’m still processing…and finding sand in my stuff. More later.

First Days of Vacation at Ocean Isle

2009-07-13T22:54:00.004-04:00

Wow was I ready for a vacation. The whole family was. Darla had a big “Cow Appreciation Day” at the Fil-A, which capped off a long week of work for her. It always takes me about two days of being away before I’m able to really relax. This year was no different.

We ate at the famous Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg SC on the way down to Ocean Isle, NC where we’re staying. It’s kind of a tradition. We got pictures of Darla and the kids standing with J.C., the well-known “caller” of the restaurant, saying “CALLLLL IT.” He’s been working virtually every day (except Sundays when he goes to church) for over 50 years. I got a “Beef-a-plenty, heavy on the red” (that’s a beef bar-b-q sandwich with extra sauce, covered with fries and onion rings in “Beacon language,” as Dara put it). Drew got a “J.C. Pounder-a-plenty” (a quadruple-patty cheese burger covered with fries and onion rings), and he ate it all! Drew’s never been afraid of a food challenge.

The condo we’re staying in has a view of the Eastern Channel of the Intercoastal Waterway and is a quarter-mile stroll from the beach. Always looking for a deal, we got this one for a little more than half-price through a relative of a friend. We are soooo thankful, as our budget has been strained lately.

Speaking of budget, we haven’t eaten out in two weeks in preparation for the trip (the only one who cheated was me—I ate a salad at staff luncheon). We love eating seafood and finding other local favorite eating establishments. For one meal, we plan on keeping another tradition. We usually go to a local seafood market and buy shrimp for a low country boil. We eat well for dinner, but we skimp for breakfast (cereal) and lunch (sandwiches or hotdogs packed for the beach).

This beach is pretty cool. It’s not overly crowded, but we can walk down the beach about 150 yards and be all alone! That’s what we like. There are lots of shells, no seaweed (so far), and the waves are great (we’ve even had surfers around). Pretty typical Atlantic ocean beach. The weather was sunny and windy yesterday, but today was calmer and cloudy. It rained a little. My only complaint about the beach is the rule forbidding use of any cabanas or canopies of any kind. They only allow umbrellas!

Sunday we stayed all day on the beach! I prayed for God to bless Providence (I did fight the feeling of wanting to be there). I even called Greg in-between services to see how it went. We all got lots of sun.

This morning Drew and I went to a used bookstore nearby. It was quite an experience. Not a lot of books. The elderly gentleman that worked there was an interesting guy (can’t really discuss why!). Many of the books were paperback romances, cookbooks, and outdated public school textbooks. Drew is fascinated with old books (I have no idea where he gets this!). He wanted South of the Rio Grande by Brand, Pride and Prejudice by Austen, Volume 4 of Reader’s Digest’s Condensed Books from 1976, The King’s Agent, a novel by Clark, and Mystery of the Hidden Face, by Honness. All were old hardbacks in good condition. I found a parallel edition of the Wycliffe Bible Commentary and the New Testament (over 1100 pages) for $1! The guy at the store didn’t even know what it was! It’s not often you leave a bookstore with your arms full of books for ten bucks!

We all ate lunch at the condo. Since it was rainy looking, Drew and I stayed on the deck and read our books while the girls went to the beach. A good time. Later we went to the dock and watched some folks crabbing and then went to find the girls on the beach. We played foxtail until time to shower before going to supper. After supper we played games together in the condo. I love vacation! Time for bed. Tomorrow's gonna be even better.

When God Moves

2009-07-11T00:02:00.002-04:00

It’s been a while since I spoke at an event. I all but dropped the speaking at extra-Providence engagements around four years ago when things got really busy at the church. My old friend Dwayne Sanders called me several months ago about speaking at an FCA football team camp and I hesitatingly told him I would.

Truth is I love speaking to kids…especially athletes…especially football players. There’s not a group before whom I feel more comfortable, and for whom I have more empathy. All the teams at this camp were from East Tennessee—about 300 (?) players from around eight teams. During the day they scrimmaged and worked on skills. I got three chances to speak to them. Something I like about speaking at team camps is that they have lots of kids who haven’t heard the Gospel.

I prayed much concerning this camp: about what I would say—and that God would work. The most critical meeting is the first night. It’s when I must make a personal connection with them and make the Gospel clear.

So I started by telling my “wild man wedge buster” story. It is an exercise in hyperbole about when I truly embraced the fact that football was a sport of aggressive courage—when I made the transformation from quarterback to wedge buster in order to make the high school varsity team. As the late comedian Jerry Clower would say, it’s not about telling a funny story, it’s about telling a story…funny. I go way over the top on telling this one. It’s always a hit and people call me “wild man” who hear it. It gets requested a lot.

After the “wild man” story, I talked about the facts of death and life. My text is Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16.

Sometimes God just chooses to move in an unusual way and call many people to himself. Last night was one of those times. As usual, I tried to explain the Gospel as clearly as possible, and I gave them an opportunity to respond. I led them in a prayer to receive Christ if they truly wanted to surrender their lives to him. I asked them that if they had done so—and were serious—to stand and walk out of the room (where I would meet them). At least 50 (I don’t know the exact number) indicated that they had been saved, and did so.

Wow. It was almost overwhelming for me to see God work. I get emotional when God uses me—an undeserving instrument. It is really humbling. Thank you God for saving people and for somehow using fools and weaklings to make known your truth and grace.

Redneck day

2009-07-07T16:55:00.005-04:00

Had an incredible day today (Monday, July 6) with the fam.

We decided to load up the truck with lunch, dog, and tubes and head up to the Big South Fork River for a redneck day. We stopped at a little full-service gas station in Oneida (not an uncommon thing there!) where the owner let us use his compressed air for free to blow up our tubes and the little raft we brought for Sparky (wish I had a picture, tubes were stacked high and Sparky shared the front seat with Darla!). We drove several miles over narrow gravel roads to an old railroad bridge called the O&W bridge and ate a picnic lunch under it beside the river. After unloading the tubes and some bottles of water, we hopped back in the truck and drove to Leatherwood Ford bridge (about 3 miles downriver), parked and hiked back up to our tubes. The hike is beautiful. It follows the river and winds through large boulders across small creeks and through beautiful trees.

When we reached the bridge we grabbed the tubes, jumped in and floated down. The water was lower than the last time we did it so it took about 3 hours to get back to Leatherwood Ford. The day was perfect! It was about 79 degrees and sunny. Rocky cliffs tower above the river and eagles soar high overhead. The river is calm most of the way except for a few small rapids and a few very slow spots, it’s like a lazy river ride at a water park—only it’s real, has no chlorine or crowd, and only nature sounds are all around. We brought a little inflatable raft for Sparky, but he was much happier just swimming back and forth to everyone’s tube, making sure they were ok. I took the raft, turned it over and laid on it like a big air mattress! By the time we got to Leatherwood Ford, everyone was ready to get out.

A good way to spend a day off!

The Fourth

2009-07-04T10:04:00.004-04:00

I haven't posted in a long while. I'm feeling a bit nostalgic this morning, so I'll share a thought. Today is July 4th. It has always been one of my favorite holidays. Not only has God shown me his incomparable grace by calling me to be one of his children, but he has predetermined that I be born in the greatest nation in the history of the world. In fact, the two are very much related.

Because of the tyranny of the church and rulers who placed restrictions on Christians who wanted to read, interpret for themselves, and practice the Bible, hundreds of thousands had fled England and other European nations for the New World in the 1600s and 1700s. America, still under jurisdiction of the king of England, offered the opportunity for people to experience freedom because of three primary factors: 1) the king was far away, 2) the frontier (which made imposing rules difficult) was vast, and 3) the defining majority of those who came to the Colonies were English Puritans who brought several fundamental ideals that became intrinsically American. These ideals included the following: belief in God and biblical authority, human dignity, God’s grace, hard work & capitalism, the rule of law, religious freedom (they had experienced religious tyranny in England), representative democracy (republican polity and accountability), and low taxation.

However, America in the early 1700s was still a wild and untamed place (and I’m not talking about the Indians). Because of the vast frontier and the lack of law enforcement and the great amount of liberty and opportunity to own land, exploitation and crime was more the rule than the exception. Townships were weak, and the American church was (except for a few exceptions) splintered and separated by great distances. Then something profound happened: we know it as The Great Awakening. It is when America was saved. Hundreds of thousands of people from all over the Colonies responded to the Gospel in a sweeping movement of God that defies reasonable explanation. It was after this revival of Christian religion that King George III came to power and patriotic sentiments began to stir in the Colonies. It is no accident that the vast majority of our founding fathers were committed Christians, a fact that is obvious in their writings.

In the last 80 years, another ideal has come to our shores—European Socialism. It is in many ways directly contradictory to the ideals that made us who we are. It is an “areligious” system of elitism and soft tyranny. It believes in the authority of the state (read: the government), which determines what activities are favored more than others, rather than the ultimate authority of God and the freedom of individuals under the protection and rule of law. It utilizes class envy and the promise of "progress" and "change" (indeed some proponents call themselves "progressives"). It encourages people to see themselves as victims and see the state as their savior. It seeks to empower elitists by creating a dependent voter base. It depends on dependence. It penalizes personal achievement by taxing those who make a profit, giving to those "disenfranchised" who pay little or no taxes at all! The "beneficiaries," who want to keep the tax burden on the "rich" ignore all manner of social engineering, loss of individual freedom, government intrusion, and moral decay AS LONG AS THEY CAN KEEP THEIR BENEFITS that their "victim" status affords them. And they will vote for any politician who will continue the deal. The "progress" the "progressives" desire almost always makes government bigger, creates dependencies, takes away freedoms, and costs taxpayers' money.

The soft tyranny of Socialism has been creeping its way into our culture and institutions (including the press) for decades. It has grown in its influence and is now about to overthrow the America we once knew as our government takes over companies, becomes less accountable & more bureaucratic, and spends trillions it doesn’t have that our children & grandchildren will! God has been removed from meaningful discussion and relegated to trivial lines in politicians’ speeches. True human rights—the right to life itself—is being sacrificed on alter of a “freedom” to do whatever I want, as abortion is made more available and the aged are not honored but considered an inconvenience.

I am profoundly thankful to God to be an American. I am profoundly concerned that we are moving fast in the wrong direction. Pray with me that God will awaken us before it is too late.

A Poem?

2009-02-14T23:00:00.006-05:00

Autumn’s Fruits
By Chad Sparks
January 6, 2009

With autumn leaves, more color glares:
Apples, grapes, persimmons, pears!
My favorite time of year you are.
In winter longing from afar
The icy wind blows through the boughs
I see my breath and hear snowplows.
The springtime and her fragrant blooms
Woven on God Almighty’s looms
Do not compare to fall’s sweet fruits
‘Een though the trees dress in pink suits.
The summer comes with heat and storm
Mosquitoes, flies, and gnats all swarm.
Sweat, humidity, and haze
Make my heart long for the days
Of harvest season’s tasty wares
Apples, grapes, persimmons, pears!

I’m not a poet. I rarely read poetry. But I do write things in verse from time to time—things that are usually kept between God and me. Poetry is an ancient form of expression that seems less popular than it once was. I’m not sure why.

I first wrote this poem when my daughter Duncan had an art assignment to find a poem she liked and to paint several pictures in response. However, getting the proverbial cart before the horse, she really wanted to paint pictures of fruit and figured that she would be able to easily find a poem about fruit so she just began painting. When the assignment’s due date drew near, she began searching for a poem and could not find one. The whole family searched. Finally, the night before it was due, Duncan went to bed in tears. I decided I’d just try to write one for her. I began just fooling around, using the fruit in her paintings (Apples, oranges, cherries, and pears). As it developed, I started thinking about it and my heart began to get into it. I do love Autumn and the fruits thereof. I chose to change the oranges and cherries to more appropriate fall fruits for East Tennessee (oranges don’t grow here and cherries come out in early summer). Grapes and persimmons grow wild and are fruits that I have frequently enjoyed in the woods as I grew up. Apples and pears are dear to my heart as fall fruits—my grandparents had trees with both, and fall was a time that they made jellies, pies, and other delectables. Fall is my favorite time of year for many reasons: football, hunting, leaves changing color, climate. But there were some deeper symbols emerging as I wrote.

I began to consider the different “seasons” in life. The autumn of life is what I am entering. I have passed the spring (childhood and youth) and summer (college, marriage, and young adulthood). I have kids who are growing older quickly. It is that season of life that we tend to long for all our lives a time we enjoy the “fruit” of our labor, education, and decisions. Truth is, I love this season of life. I find I do not want it to pass. I savor every day as I do fall and its fruits. I do not look forward to “winter” when I will surely long for that season just gone by, when health is fleeting, home is empty of kids, and limbs are cold. Spring (childhood and youth) is a wonderful time. All is abloom. Sovereign God is the one who made us and gives us gifts that grow into the rewards (fruit) of adulthood. Young adulthood (summer) is hot (with activity and passion) and stormy. There are many hazards and discomforts amongst the otherwise good bustle. Finding a mate, having children, starting a career, moving, etc. are par for the course. They make us long for when the fruit ripen, days shorten, weather moderates, colors appear with vigor, and harvest.

On an even deeper level, fall can also serve as a spiritual metaphor. Notice the order: icy winter can symbolize the death and emptiness of a person in sin before regeneration. Springtime is that period after new birth. It is full of color and excitement. God is the one who gives forgiveness and life. Summer is when great growth occurs but with it come the bugs and heat and storm of reality as the newness of the faith wears off. Haze symbolizes the way black and white can seem to become grey when the believer is exposed to the influence of less-than-committed Christians and less-than-biblical compromises. Then harvest comes. In truth, there are many “harvests” for the Christian. Many come early. Some like trees and vines take years of patient cultivation before bearing fruit. But they keep bearing year after year, indeed for eternity!

Duncan turned in the poem with her art and the teacher liked it. Duncan didn’t even know that I had written it. Kind of cool!

Good Soil

2009-01-04T23:45:00.002-05:00

It’s every pastor’s dream to hear that a sermon hits home with folks. I’m usually pretty phlegmatic about compliments and such (that’s why I don’t do the traditional greet-everyone-at-the-door-as-they-leave-church thing). It tends to force flattery.

Incidentally, I remember when I was brand new pastor in North Carolina, an older gentleman slept the ENTIRE message. As he left church he shook my hand and said with a reverent tone, “I really enjoyed that sermon, pastor.” I couldn’t resist. “I could tell you did,” I said with a grin. I don’t think he got it. I guess all pastors have stories like this.

Anyway, this Sunday’s very basic sermon evoked lots of comments. I pray this means God spoke to hearts.

We read Luke 8 about the 4 soils (a.k.a., the parable of the seed and the sower). You know, the sower is throwing seed (God’s word), which lands on different kinds of soil: hard path, rocky/shallow, thorny, and GOOD soil.

The question is, how can we be good soil—the kind in which God’s word best grows”

Before giving the answer, I’ve had to acknowledge a couple of things about American Christians in general:

First, I think it is evident that we’re spiritually weaker than previous generations. So many American Christians seem to have the same problems and failings as those in the world—many times it’s hard to even distinguish between those claiming to be believers and unbelievers. Maybe you too have struggled with thoughts like, “Does this Christianity thing even work? Why do I not feel God in my life? Why do I not love God like I once did?” Satan has lulled many to sleep, and enticed many more into sin. It’s fallow ground…unproductive soil…shallow…choked with thorns.

Second, we want a shortcut for everything. We tend to be lazy. We want pre-packaged, ready-to-eat, instant, trouble-free spiritual maturity. We want a magic pill, a quick-fix, an easy button. Truth is…THERE’S NOT ONE.

If you want growth, spiritual maturity, stability, the joy of walking in the Spirit and in the confidence of his indwelling presence…if you want the peace and many rewards of living in his will, you get it the same way as all saints from all time.

You see, God grows us by his grace. But he grows those whose hearts are good soil. Any farmer will tell you, this doesn’t come easy. Can you DO something to cultivate the essentials you need to grow?

The answer is “yes!” It’s no mystery, nor is it profound. But IT IS THE KEY. Truly spiritual people ALL share some common practices. What are the essential elements for spiritual growth and health? Simply put, there are three.

Time with God
People of God
Service to God

1. Time with God. Christianity is a not about religion, it is about a relationship with God. You cannot grow in your relationship with God without spending time communicating with him and being alone with him. This means regular time in Bible Study and Prayer. These are like inhaling and exhaling. We breathe in God’s word and we breathing out our heart to him in prayer. Communication is two-way: listening & speaking.

Bottom line: this is a daily discipline you must develop. Set aside a time each day. Get a plan (there are so many online resources like bibleplan.org if you need help with a plan). I challenge you to do this for the month of January—no miss. See what happens.

2. People of God. You need a family…the church. They aren’t perfect—but neither are you. And you can't do it alone. Two biblical environments where God’s family gather together: congregation & cell (just like in Acts 20:20).

Bottom line: Whether it is Providence or somewhere, plug in to a local church. 101 is January 25. Go to the website. Sign up and we’ll send reminder! Let us know and we’ll help you find a group!

3. Service to God. Like a body of water with no outlet, stagnation occurs if there is not a giving of yourself away. Surrendering to him means all of who you are and all you have. Acknowledging all is his is a start. Following up with practical actions is where the water hits the wheel. We all have been given talents. We all have time. We all have resources. The question is how are you giving of each of these?

Bottom line: Serve God with your time, talents and possessions. Think of ways you can this year:
• Instead of a vacation, go on a mission trip.
• Don’t just see church as a place to be fed, but a place to FEED. Use your gifts: teach, acting, tech, music, landscape, construction, goof off—whatever! Your church needs you!
• Initiate a project your Life Group can do to help people.
• Pray about and set a giving goal this year.

Decide to GROW in 2009! Cultivate GOOD SOIL! Imagine what your relationship with God can be like in a year if you develop these disciplines. You will look back and be glad you did!

Christmas Blessings

2008-12-28T21:16:00.003-05:00

This Christmas had its mixed blessings. It was great in many ways. Our nuclear family shared good times being together. God blessed us so much. We went to movies, our Christmas tree adventure went really well, and shared many other memory-making moments. This was a year that we were (read: Darla was) able to get all the shopping done early.

We also enjoyed time with other family members. My sister and her husband and kids stayed a few days at our house. Their kids and ours absolutely love being together. We hosted a big Christmas meal with them and my dad. We also went to Kingston to celebrate with my mom. My mom got Darla and I a TV to replace the one we got for a wedding gift. Huge upgrade!

Our church family was great too. There were several opportunities for gathering. The Christmas Eve services were well attended and there was a sweet spirit.

I think the gift giving part was a success. The kids all loved what they received. Drew and Duncan got new phones and TEXTING (what have we done?)! Dara got an American Girl doll with lots of clothing to go with it. Darla got money. That’s her favorite! I got a jacket and matching gloves. Love them!

I should also express my thanks to God for providing for us financially. We entered this Christmas season wondering how we were going to be able to afford it. As with many others, our cost of living has gone up and we’ve incurred some medical debts over the last two years that are making things quite tight. Suffice it to say, God provided through generous people (who had no clue things were tight). All of this was unexpected and I believe was given by God. I am so thankful and undeserving of this kind of grace.

On another note, Darla and I both got sick. Darla on Wednesday morning (Christmas Eve) at 4 a.m. began doing what the stomach virus makes people do. It was bad and lasted about a day in severe form and tapered off for the next two. I became sick with the same thing about 24 hours later. Christmas Day (Thursday) began early for me in the bathroom. I put on my game face and made it through the gift opening. I had prayed all morning that God would not let my sickness affect the day. He gave me the strength. Our tradition is to eat a big breakfast after gifts are opened. I helped Darla get things started by frying the sausage when I became overwhelmed. I hustled upstairs, shut the door, and fought the nausea. I stayed in bed the rest of the day and night. I was much better the next day and the next, resuming most activities and eating habits (still was a little shaky after meals). But then I started feeling a sore throat and my lymph nodes swelling on Saturday night. Sunday morning I awoke to the alarm after a restless night of hot-and-cold spells and a bad sore throat. I was not going to church. Thankfully, Will Cross, visiting home form Dallas Seminary was scheduled to speak. It is yet another example of God’s grace.

Every year Drew and I go on a Georgia hunting trip with a friend and his son. This year was the first year it hasn’t happened. Thank goodness! I would have been miserable. God is so good to me.

I’m planning on taking some time before the New Year to get alone with God to pray, evaluate, and plan. I desperately need some time with him.

The FIRST Commission?

2008-10-06T23:47:00.005-04:00

Christians talk a lot about the great commandment and the great commission. But what about the FIRST commission?

Gen. 1:26-31 (ESV)
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish … birds … livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing…on the earth.” And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over…every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant …and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. …And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.

In essence, in the FIRST commission, God says:
Show sanctity for all human life, respect for all human beings, and regard for God’s creation.
Have families with children and manage the earth’s resources and creatures in a way that pleases God.

Specifically, the FIRST commission deals with the following issues (that we will be discussing on Sundays in the next few weeks):
1. Human rights (value and worth, God’s image and blessing, equality between men and women)
2. Sexuality (good sex and bad, birth control, overpopulation)
3. Environmentalism (global warming and response, recycling & pollution, political & economic implications)
4. Animals (wildlife conservation, humane treatment)
5. Work (a result of the curse or a pre-fall blessing? How do we balance work, rest, family, and play?)

No controversies associated with those issues, huh?

I think it’s perfect timing! We’re in a contentious election year and some of these issues are being debated. How are you being informed? Just going with the national media? Just going along with what your parents or friends or teachers say? What about what God says—does that matter? What about his very first words to humankind?

At Providence, we’re not concerned with supporting any political party or candidates. We think it is every citizen’s privilege and obligation to vote in elections. But our calling is much higher. We want to make, be, and unleash disciples. Part of that is helping disciples think biblically.

Christians are all over the map regarding how they respond to these issues, ranging from sticking their heads in the sand (no response at all) to coming out as anti-everything! God wants us to respond and he wants us to do so with grace, gentleness, humility, AND truth. We should seek to be like Christ in both aptitude and attitude.

This Sunday we discussed our and others’ worth in God’s eyes. We humans are the crowning achievement of God’s creation as his image-bearers. As such, every human life is valuable and holy to God. From the road-rager who flips you off after cutting you off to easily-marginalized groups of people.

Our understanding of this affects everything.

If you don’t think every human life is precious and holy, where does that take you? It means you think some people are of more intrinsic worth than others. Some races are not as preferable as others. The very old and feeble can be set aside. The unborn are not deserving of full protection under the law if they are unwanted by their mother. The handicapped are pitiful and cause undue strain on others’ lives. Those who have committed crimes—and are perhaps even unrepentant—deserve less dignity than law-abiding people. Impoverished people are probably poor because of their own decisions and are viewed as unproductive.

Ultimately, when some of these people just get in the way…they really don’t matter. When someone comes along and removes them, we think, “good riddance.” This was Hitler’s line of reasoning. Taking advantage of financial crisis and other opportunities to gain power, Hitler was ultimately successful in committing untold atrocities in much part due to a German church that remained virtually silent as he incrementally showed increasing disregard for human rights and dignity. He legalized abortion and euthanasia of handicapped and infirm. He segregated people based on race and other standards of “worth.” He made criminals of many and then treated prisoners without dignity. We know the way his story ends.

No matter how unpopular, Christians must humbly take an uncompromising stand for the sanctity and dignity of human life. When the people of a society deny the “unalienable rights” of life (as with abortion) they have scorned God’s image indwelling humankind and blasphemed God. It really is a big deal. On the other extreme, it is wrong for individuals to despise themselves. In doing so, they are despising God’s workmanship and disregarding his image in them. You know, Satan—whose primary goal is to take glory away from God—is especially active in helping fallen image-bearers disrespect God’s image. We are all sinners—this is true. By comparison to God and his glorious creation it is easy for us to become discouraged, and all the more as we get to know him as magnificent and holy. While we should practice self-denial, God does not delight in self-loathing. In fact, he is offended by it!

I was totally blown away by Bryan’s new take on an old Isaac Watts hymn (that we sang Sunday--if you weren't there you really missed out!). Read the lyrics again:

Oh Lord our heavenly King thy name is all divine
Thy glories round the earth are spread and o’er the heavens they shine
When to thy works on high, I raise my wondering eyes,
And see the moon complete in light, adorn the darksome skies

When I survey the stars in all their shining forms
Lord what is worthless man akin to dust and worms?

Lord, what is worthless man that thou should love him so?
Next to the angels he is placed as lord of all below
Thine image placed upon him fills his soul with worth
What is man? What is man?

How rich thy bounties are how wondrous are thy ways
Of dust and worms thy power can frame a monument of praise.

When I survey the stars in all their shining forms
Lord what is worthless man akin to dust and worms?

Lord, what is worthless man that thou should love him so?
Next to the angels he is placed as lord of all below
Thine image placed upon him fills his soul with worth
What is man? What is man?

The Miraculous Necklace

2008-09-24T09:23:00.003-04:00

Ok, so my attempt to demonstrate the virtual impossibility of life beginning by accident might have flopped. If you were at Providence Sunday, you know I wore an orange and white necklace that my son made for me. I told everyone that he put it together randomly and I noticed it just happened to spell out Genesis 1:1 in Morse code. Then I spent WAY too much time showing the statistical ridiculousness of such a feat! At the end I said, "If you believe this (that Drew put the necklace together by random chance), I have a piece of ocean-front property here in Tennessee I'd like to sell you!"

Just in case you're still unclear: Drew DID make the necklace, but he spelled out Gen. 1:1 in Morse code ON PURPOSE. It was JUST AN ILLUSTRATION! I hope that those of you who didn't get my poor attempt to use satire in order to "illustrate absurdity by being absurd" will forgive me. I should have been clearer. On the other hand, maybe my argumentum ad absurdum will help you remember that believing in a naturalistic explanation of the origin of life is MUCH MORE ABSURD than believing Drew accidentally made the necklace that spelled Gen. 1:1, and takes MUCH MORE FAITH than believing in a Creator God.

I’ve had a lot of good laughs with some who, for one reason or another, thought the necklace was a miracle! Thanks for putting up with me trying to be a little creative.

Here’s the stats (for those of you who have asked) on the necklace: The odds that Drew would put 102 beads in the right sequence to spell out Gen.1:1 in Morse code is one in 5x10^30 

By comparison, the chances of winning the powerball jackpot is roughly 1 in 1x10^8 (about 1 chance in one-hundred million). That's roughly like filling half a basketball court 1 foot deep in pennies, marking one, and giving a blindfolded person one chance to pick the marked coin.

So I wondered, "how many pennies would it take to illustrate 5 x 10^30?" Bottom line…pennies are way too big. I went smaller. BBs were too big too. So I tried grains of sand.

There are 300,000 grains of sand per cu. in. 
x 1728 cu. in. per cu. foot. (518,400,000 grains) 
x 27,878,400 sq. ft. per sq. mi. 
x 198,000,000 sq. mi. of surface area on entire earth including oceans.
The resulting number is not even close! So I went deeper with the sand covering the world... starting with the depth of empire state building. Still not close! Finally I got it. The sand has to be about 1,500,000 feet deep (284 miles, or that's = 1032 empire state buildings stacked on each other) to get 1 in 5x10^30 (the chance that Drew could randomly make a necklace spell Gen. 1:1)! 

Here's my point: Even THAT is not as impossible as the likelihood that life appeared without God. And the comparison is NOT EVEN CLOSE!

In order for life to have appeared spontaneously, there must first have been hundreds of millions of DNA molecules. Under perfect conditions, given the size of earth, it would take 1x10^243 billions of years for only one of these molecules to occur strictly by chance.

According to textbooks written by atheist, agnostic, (as well as theist) scientists, if all the chemical bonds of earth's simplest living creature were broken, the chance of its reassembly, even under ideal environmental and chemical conditions … is less than 1 in 10^100,000,000,000 (one chance in ten to the one-hundred billionth power), a number so large, to write the zeros out in standard notation would take every page of almost 1000 sets of Encyclopedia Britannica.

Facts like these convinced Antony Flew (Oxford scholar and "most famous atheist in the academic world over the last half-century" according to the Dallas Morning News) who wrote the book, There Is a God: How the World's Most Notorious Atheist Changed His Mind said, "What I think the DNA material…has shown, by the almost unbelievable complexity of the arrangements which are needed to produce (life), that intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinary diverse elements to work together."

Be sure to come This Sunday. Dr. Marc Bodenheimer (one of our elders and an eye surgeon), will be teaching as we tackle Genesis 1 and the creation of humankind. That's what all the other days have been leading up to. What does it mean to be human? Come and hear!

Thinking of Buying a New Bible?

2008-08-15T00:24:00.005-04:00

I am often asked my advice about what Bible translation is best or if Providence has a translation we recommend. English-speaking people are more blessed today than any other people the world has ever known regarding options for great Bible translations. There are generally three categories of Bibles: word-for-word, thought-for-thought, and paraphrases.

In short, the goal for a word-for-word translation is to be as literal to the original Greek or Hebrew as possible. This may mean good accuracy, but it usually means less readability. As with translating anything, there are idioms and nuances that can be difficult to understand, and sentence structures and word order differ radically from one language to another. Interpretive judgments are kept to a minimum and the result can be English that is a little on the wooden side.

On the other end of the spectrum, paraphrases are the easiest to read, but sometimes suffer from a lack of accuracy as the "translators" use much more interpretative liberty. Paraphrases are great for kids, people reading the Bible through (or perhaps devotionally), and people new to the Bible, but serious students of the Bible prefer a true translation.

Thought-for-thought translations seek to straddle the line between paraphrases and word-for-word translations. The goal is to find the sweet spot of accuracy and readability.

As you can imagine, there are degrees within each of these categories.

There is no such thing as a perfect translation! Language changes. And translating is an ever-changing challenge! It is good for the serious Bible student to own more than one for the sake of comparison (I have about 20 translations that I keep handy in my study).

For your primary Bible, I can only offer you the following advice:

If you are quite familiar with the Bible and want to do in-depth, inductive study, a word-for-word translation is probably for you.

Recommended word-for-word translations include the English Standard Version (ESV), the New American Standard Bible (NASB), the New King James Version (NKJV), and the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB). Of these, I prefer the ESV right now, but all of these are fantastic. The ESV is pretty new and is gaining popularity among many well-known evangelical expositors. I find myself using it in my sermons more often than not.

Others may want to buy a thought-for-thought translation. Recommended translations in this category include the New International Version (NIV), the Today's New International Version (TNIV), and the New English Translation (NET). The NIV is still hard to beat--there's a reason why it is the most popular in America. The TNIV suffered some bad PR when it first came out (due to its "gender-accurate" language), but it corrects some of the NIV's peculiarities (read more about the TNIV--see my post entitled "Question of the Week" September 26, 2007). Both are concerned with accurately translating meaning and thought flow, not just the exact words and idioms that may be difficult for today's English readers to understand. The NET is one I'm using quite a bit in personal study right now. I like it. You can read more about it (or even download it for free!)HERE

We usually do not recommend some popular old translations like the KJV and ASV because the translators did not have access to some of the best manuscripts, and the language is antiquated. We also do not recommend translations that were done by translators who did not hold a presupposition of biblical inerrancy (meaning, they were theologically liberal and assumed that the Bible was not the very Word of God) like the RSV, NRSV and Phillips. We don't usually recommend paraphrases as a primary Bible.

What About a Study Bible?

I like the NIV (or TNIV) Study Bible, the Life Application Bible, the MacArthur Study Bible (It only comes in NKJV or NASB however), and the Ryrie Study Bible. You can get most of these for around $30 (in hardback) or pay more for a leather-bound version. Coming soon is the ESV Study Bible which really sounds like it will be good. I hope to get one when they come out in October. (Update 2009: I recently got it and it is really good! I highly recommend this study Bible!)

Remember that the people who wrote the notes at the bottom of the pages in study Bibles are NOT perfect, but these Bibles do provide many helpful tools like introduction notes, explanations for difficult passages, charts and maps, etc.

If you want to read more on English Bible translations, check out A User's Guide to Bible Translations (by English Baptist pastor David Dewey). And remember, Bible Gateway is a great resource that gives you instant access to many good translations!

There are so many great options! The most important thing is that you READ one and live in God's truth. Email me if you have a specific question and I'm glad to help (chad@providencechurch.com).

Dispelling The Rumors…

2008-08-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

Prov. 16:28
"A perverse man stirs up dissension,
and a gossip separates close friends."

I hate gossip.

An amazing thing for me is how people tend to believe whatever they hear. Even more, that they pass things along—sometimes hurtful untrue things—without verification or concern for those who could be hurt. Even more amazing is the fact that some people MAKE UP hurtful untrue things and pass them along.

But it happens. A lot. What's most unbelievable? People who claim to be followers of Christ do this. A lot. I've done it too. And it is wrong.

I recently spoke with a friend who is leaving full-time ministry. This is a very talented and godly person. My friend could not take the gossip and slander that is par-for-the-course for ministry leaders anymore. "I just did not know that Christians could be so vicious," my friend said. I've known of pastors who have committed suicide because they couldn't handle the slander they received from their sheep.

Believe me, I've experienced it too. All leaders do. All pastors do. Don't worry, I'm not going to commit suicide. I've got pretty tough skin (not that it doesn't hurt--it does!). And I thank God for letting me grow up in a well-known coach's home. I watched Dad handle false rumors about him, I listened as "fans" and parents screamed curses at him, I've read sports page articles that misquoted or mistreated him, and heard many people question his motives, ethics, and integrity. I even played on his team and saw players spread conspiracy theories. I know he was hurt when these things happened. But he showed humility, wisdom, and grace when it was hard. Sometimes even to those who lied. What an example to me.

I've been the brunt of rumors. Even lately. Several people in the last few weeks have asked me if I'm leaving Providence, some said they heard I was. News to me (I'm not, by the way). Someone else said they heard that the elders were divided in our church. If they are, I don't know about it. And neither do they…I asked just to make sure! I've heard conspiracy theories about staff leaving and about people leaving that you would not believe (or maybe you would—but you shouldn't)! A recent one was about a family in our church that God has led to go be a part of the Kingston plant. The rumor was that they had left our church in anger! Again, not true. Apparently that rumor came from someone who really HAD left our church unhappy—hmmm. I could keep going, but I think you get my point.

My dad used to say that every team had what he called a "fellowship of the miserable" (hereafter "FOTM" for short). These were the guys who became embittered because they felt they should be on the starting team. They would talk about how unfair the coach was and murmur about favoritism or secret deals due to the color of a starter's skin, or because his parents were boosters, blah, blah, blah. Members of the FOTM rarely amount to anything. And they hurt their own team.

Just as gossips hurt their own church.

God has a way with gossips. They repent or he removes them. I think God has been sifting our church. This is good. I pray he will either change or filter out those who hurt the body. We have told the staff that one of the quickest ways to lose their job at our church is to engage in divisive gossip. It's like cancer—and must be removed for the sake of the body. All members have gone through 101 and have signed the membership covenant, which says it like this:

I commit myself to God and to the other members to do the following:
1. I WILL PROTECT THE UNITY OF MY CHURCH
...by acting in love toward other members
...by refusing to gossip
...by following the leaders

These words from our covenant have remained unchanged from our church's very beginning.

How to dispel rumors…
When someone tells you something negative or potentially hurtful about someone else—particularly a leader in your church—how should you respond?

1. Learn to recognize gossip for what it is. Any second-hand information about someone or the church that is potentially hurtful is gossip.

2. Stop them. Tell them what your mom told you: "if you can't say something nice, don't say it at all." Your mom DID tell you that didn't she? You can do it tactfully. Like, "Why don't we talk about something else?" Usually they get the message.

3. Encourage them to go to the source and verify or correct what they heard. In most cases, they should also get permission before passing news along even if it is accurate and first hand.

4. If a person passes gossip along anyway, the GOSSIPPER is now the problem. You should immediately and lovingly ask them to repent. That's just how Jesus said to handle it when a brother or sister sins (see Matthew 18), and gossiping IS sin (see Rom. 8:29, 2Cor. 12:20, 1Tim. 5:13, and others). If they will not repent, follow the process Jesus laid out.

5. Choose not to believe gossip. Let me tell you, most of it is wrong. If you hear a lie repeated by 10 different people, it is still a lie.

6. Can't get the rumor out of your head? Think you have reason to believe it? Verify it yourself! BUT DON'T PASS IT ALONG or you will be sinning. Any of us elders are available if you have questions or concerns regarding the church. We have always been this way. You will never be considered a troublemaker for going to the source!

The Proverb is right. A person who gossips stirs up dissension and separates close friends. It is perverse. The church is more than merely a group of friends. We are a family. God inspired those words to Solomon, the leader of Israel, who had no doubt been the victim of it. His mom was Bathsheba you know!

What if you are the victim of Gossip?

In his sermon on the mount, In Matthew 5:11, Jesus said:

"Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Did he say, "rejoice"? He did. This is hard! But those who are gossiped about should remember that anyone God uses will be criticized. What's more, we are sharing in the sufferings of Christ. In Matthew 10:24-26, Jesus said,

"A student is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the student to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If the head of the house has been called Beelzebub, how much more the members of his household! So do not be afraid of them. There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known."

The truth will one day be known. Take joy in this! Your Father in heaven knows the truth. He will repay those who slander. He is in control. Remember this. Those who gossip only hurt themselves. They reveal their own immaturity and sinfulness, and they identify themselves as a member of the FOTM. That's not where I want to be.

Go on the offensive…LOVE!

God actually wants you to love those who don't love you with their words. Read closely this great passage:

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Now listen to the very next verse...

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: 'It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord. On the contrary:

'If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.'

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."
(Romans 12:9-21)

So don't go try to chase down every false rumor. Don't think of how to repay those who spread them. Don't consider leaving your imperfect church (psst…they all are!). Don't get depressed or angry. Just love.

I need to hear this. Do you?

A Ten-Day Whirlwind!

2008-06-03T23:23:00.002-04:00

Eleven days ago I went on a backpacking trip with my son Drew for his 14th birthday. We hiked 8+ miles, stayed the night in a cave behind Big Laurel Falls, swung on a rope into the Caney Fork river, explored the deep (and wet and cold) Sheep-Pen cave, and climbed to the top of beautiful 110-feet-high Virgin Falls. It was fantastic. Drew is a hiking/exploring/camping/caving maniac!

But the whirlwind was just cranking up.

The next day was Sunday. After services, I prepared to leave for a mission trip to the Dominican Republic early the next morning. My mission was to help lead a pastor's conference in the border city of Jimani (pronounced, him-on-EE) where God has opened a door via One Vision International to plant a church in a place where there is no evangelical church for many miles. One Vision has been given the opportunity to manage the Jimani Project, which includes building/staffing a world-class hospital (done), building a facility for an existing orphanage (under way), and planting a church in order to share the light of Christ in a stunningly beautiful, yet otherwise forgotten area of the world that is plagued with darkness (spiritual, economic, political, and social). Needless to say, the need is great. The pastor's conference was the perfect place to begin searching for a pastor for this church plant. There were several Dominican pastors and a few Haitians. The bottom line of the conference was this:

The church is the hope of the world.
The pastor is the hope of the church.
God calls the pastor to be…
• A Disciple
• A Preacher
• A Theologian
• A Shepherd
• A Leader
• An Evangelist

I won't bore you with the details. It went great. Most of these guys seemed to be doctrinally sound and godly men. There were a few who are definitely candidates for being the pastor for this church plant. I am praying for God to raise up the right man.

While in the DR, we got to go across the border to Haiti. I've been to poor areas of Africa, Brazil, Europe and other impoverished places around the world, but I have never seen squalor and oppression like this. People there sometimes boil the mud and drink the water to get nutrients. Naked kids walk among the animal and human waste. Shacks are made of sticks and mud. Voodoo is a dominant influence. Ignorance, abuse, corruption, disease, and instability are the norm. It is profoundly pitiful.

If the church is indeed the hope of the world, WE MUST BEGIN HERE WHERE HOPE IS VIRTUALLY NONEXISTENT. I am convinced that this is both an opportunity and a calling for us. Some might say this is impossible, and that the task is too great. Perhaps so. But I choose to be obedient to Christ who is Lord over all. I've heard it…I've PREACHED it: "Christ in you, the hope of Glory." "Greater is he who is in you than he that is in the world." "With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." "Ask anything in his name and it will be done for you." Question is, DO I BELIEVE IT?

God has opened wide the door. I believe we should walk through it and watch him do great things.

So I got back from the Dominican Republic late Friday night and woke up at 5:30 am Saturday to go whitewater rafting on the Nantahala and to spend a couple of days with my family in North Carolina. Whew! I'm ready to hide the suitcase. I've missed my bed. I've got 600+ emails to work through. I've got to prepare to teach a class on Eschatology and have much more to do.

But I will not forget the great need and opportunity God has revealed in the Dominican Republic and Haiti.

God let me see with your eyes.
Let me see the great darkness in this world.
Let me see the blessings I've been given as a responsibility.
And that I have limited time on this earth.

God, let me see with your eyes.
Let me see how you care for hurting people.
Let me see them with the same love you have for them.
And that their only hope is to know you.

God let me see with your eyes.
Let me see opportunities not obstacles.
Let me see you as the Sovereign, Eternal, Omnipotent, Loving Father you are.
And that nothing is impossible for those who respond to you.

God let me see with your eyes.
Let me see you work in us.
Let me see your people unite in faith and deed.
And a world changed by you.

Job 38:1 says "Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind." He speaks like that.

Godly Sorrow

2008-04-07T22:48:00.000-04:00

Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it. Though I did regret it—I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while—yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us. Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done. (2Cor. 7:8-11)

I mowed the yard today. It's been wet for the last week so the grass had grown high. We have a big lawn and I cut it slowly with my "Forrest Gump"-style, vintage Snapper mower. This means I had lots of time to think. I have been considering the message by Melvin today about "godly sorrow." It was a subject difficult to comprehend (and, I'm sure, to communicate) in all its many nuances.

One thought in particular has been troubling me all day: Realistically, it is extremely difficult for people to lovingly confront fellow believers over their sin (as God commands and as Paul demonstrated with the Corinthian Christians) in order that God might bring them to repentance and blessing through godly sorrow. This is especially true in our culture. The truth is we simply don't confront sin in our brothers' and sisters' lives. Why is this? What must be done to change this weakness we have? What key element must be in place for God to use us so that godly sorrow can do its work to restore God's child who is in error? Being used by God in this way has become difficult for me too, and more so as I've grown older. Confrontation has not been as hard for me as I suppose it is for some, since I was raised in a family that valued calm, honest, loving confrontation. But since I've been in ministry, I've drawn back a nub so many times after offering loving reproof to a believer under my care (even when solicited by them!) that I have become a bit gun-shy. People leave the church and bad-talk you on the way out! This kind of thing happens often. It hurts. God convicted me today. I realized today that I am wrong for allowing emotional scars to form that prevent me from being God's instrument of restoration.

Just as frequently I have had people ask my advice regarding how to help a friend, family member, or fellow believer who is making poor choices. On most occasions when I encouraged them to lovingly confront the person in question as Jesus and Paul taught (Matthew 18:15-17 and Galatians 6:1-2, respectively), I either get the deer-in-the-headlights look or they will openly say that there's no way they could even consider confronting someone like that. It's simply counter-intuitive for people in our culture. How could we judge? How could we be so unkind? It's much easier to just let people live in their sin unabated.

Is it so unkind--so unloving--to confront?

I remember reading Augustine who discussed love as the key element regarding all things, but particularly with regard to chastening someone. A well-known Augustine quote is:

"Love, and do what you like."

I first heard this quoted by a liberal who was attempting to downplay the importance of obeying moral commands given in Scripture. As long as we love, the person was saying, we can do whatever we want—whether that means engaging in illicit sex, using bad language—you get the point. I privately wondered if Augustine had really said such a thing, and if so, what he really meant. Indeed I found he did say it. But the context, as is often the case, had been conveniently omitted.

Augustine's seventh homily on 1 John is where his quote is found. He is preaching on the following passage:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:7-12 NIV)

Concerning this passage Augustine wrote (in part):

A father [spanks] a boy, and a boy-stealer caresses. If you name the two things, blows and caresses, who would not choose the caresses, and decline the blows? If you mark the persons, it is love that beats, evil that caresses. See what we are insisting upon; that the deeds of men are only discerned by the root of love. For many things may be done that have a good appearance, and yet proceed not from the root of love. For thorns also have flowers: some actions truly seem rough…savage…are done for discipline at the bidding of love. Once for all, then, a short precept is given you: Love, and do what you will: if you hold your peace, through love hold your peace; if you cry out, through love cry out; if you correct, through love correct; if you spare, through love…spare: let the root of love be within, of this root can nothing spring but what is good.

To me that nails it. Far from the poor use of the quote as I first heard it years ago, Augustine is referring to the fact that love confronts. James Dobson said it like this: "Love must be tough." The one who truly loves never shies away from helping one's beloved be better or keeping one's beloved from harm. As a parent, I totally understand this. I don't mind being the "bad guy" when it comes to my kids regarding things like bed time, eating right, having manners, working hard, and getting along with others. I love them too much to let them develop foolish habits that could hurt them in life. It matters not whether they are hurt or not by my correction—I'm still going to discharge my duties as a parent. Sure I don't like when they are hurt or mad at me. Sometimes they don't understand. I have their best interests at heart. I love them. My love is the context and the motivation for discipline and confrontation. Augustine. No wonder Luther and Calvin loved him so. He gets it. Read the rest:

If any of you perchance wish to keep love, brethren, above all things do not imagine it to be an abject and sluggish thing; nor that love is to be preserved by a sort of gentleness, nay not gentleness, but tameness and listlessness. Not so is it preserved. Do not imagine that you…love your son when you give him not discipline, or that you then love your neighbor when you dost not rebuke him: this is not love, but mere feebleness. Let love be fervent to correct, to amend: but if there be good manners, let them delight you; if bad, let them be amended, let them be corrected. Love not in the man his error, but the man: for the man God made, the error the man himself made. Love that which God made, love not that which the man himself made. When you love that, you take away this: when you esteem that, you amend this. But even if you be severe at any time, let it be because of love, for correction.

Augustine ends the homily (sermon) with a last illustration. A dove (of which form, he reminds the readers, God sent his Holy Spirit after Jesus' baptism).

The dove has no gall: yet with beak and wings she fights for her young; hers is a fierceness without bitterness. And so does also a father; when he chastises his son, for discipline he chastises him. As I said, the kidnapper, in order that he may sell, inveigles the child with bitter endearments; a father, that he may correct, does without gall chastise. Such be ye to all men. …What father does not correct his son? What son does not his father discipline? And yet he seems to be fierce with him. It is the fierceness of love, the fierceness of charity: a sort of fierceness without gall after the manner of the dove, not of the raven. Whence it came into my mind, my brethren, to tell you, that those violaters of love are they that have made the schism: as they hate charity itself, so they hate also the dove. But the dove convicts them: it comes forth from heaven, the heavens open, and it abides on the head of the Lord.

We've got to love each other. It's the key. As a pastor, I (along with the other elders) must find more ways to promote and model loving community in our church. This is a top priority. When we truly love each other, both correcting and taking correction is much easier. We know it is for our good and the glory of God.

I feel better. And the yard is mowed.

I Needed That

2008-03-31T21:44:00.000-04:00

Starting about 3 weeks ago when we had a pre-spring warm spell, I started looking longingly at my fishing stuff hanging in the garage. Regrettably, I have not done a lot of hunting or fishing in the last year (back surgery and busy schedule hindered these activities). So today…today I changed my schedule and determined to spend THE ENTIRE DAY TROUT FISHING. Oh, let me tell you, it was to be a wonderful day.

I woke up this morning and it was RAINING! Arrrgh! "I’m doing it anyway," I decided. I got all my rain gear and extra clothing together, packed it along with my fly fishing gear and headed down the road toward the Hiwassee river (one of my favorite places in this world). I decided to go all out, so I stopped by Bojangles for one of my favorite indulgences—a country-ham-and-egg biscuit, and discovered that I had left my wallet at home! Arrgh! I emptied out my ashtray (where I keep my loose change), paid for the food, and back-tracked home. 40 minutes after I left home the first time I’m on the rainy road again (after grabbing my spinning rod—just in case) and I realize I don’t have a current hunting/fishing license (it expired March 1)! Arrrgh! So I go to Wally World and pick one up.

"Now," I say to myself, "I’m going fishing." The rain was coming down pretty hard by then but there was no wind. "Nothing’s going to stop me." I was convincing myself that I could fly fish in the cold rain as I pulled up to the little fly-fishing store just a mile from my favorite spot where I could buy some tippet and bead-heads (fly fishing stuff). It was CLOSED! Arrrgh! I knew that the nearest place to buy tippet (which I had to have) was 45 minutes away! "Ok Lord, what’s going on?" I protested out loud. I was feeling sorry for myself. "This is crazy!" I said and got back in my truck. At this point, I decided to go back 5 miles and buy some worms and just fish with my spinning rod. It was still raining. I was not happy. I bought the worms and headed toward my spot again. About 500 yards past the fly-fishing store I was aghast to find that THE ROAD WAS CLOSED!! ARRRGH! "You’ve got to be kidding me!" I just sat there in my truck staring at the "Road Closed" sign and caution tape blocking the road. I was numb. I started to turn around and I saw a dump truck coming down the closed road.

"What’s going on?" I yelled to the driver.

"Cleaning up a little landslide," was the reply.

"When will it open back up?" I asked. I thought to myself, "I don’t even know why I asked. It’s obvious that God doesn’t want me to fish today. I’m just going to go home."

"We’re pretty much done. I guess you can come on through if you want since you’ve got a 4wd. Just be careful."

The rain stopped (literally and figuratively)! I drove the mile-or-so and saw the blessed river. There were NO other cars. "I’m the only one fishing today," I thought. I pulled up to a beautiful spot, put on my waders, vest, and gear, and got in the water. The sun came out. I put on a worm and cast it into the water. Bite. The first of MANY trout, and it was a big beautiful rainbow. The wind picked up. "It’s a good thing I brought this spinning…" I stopped in mid-thought. If I wouldn’t have left my wallet at home, I wouldn’t have picked up my spinning rod. If I wouldn’t have had all the delays, I would have fished in the rain and would’ve been soaked. I thought about all the other set-backs I had experienced. Each one had a purpose. Each one. Whoa.

"Thank you, Lord," I said out loud.

Today I caught a boat-load of fish (I’m exaggerating, but not much). I really lost count. I caught them on worms, corn, fake salmon eggs, rooster-tails, and virtually everything else I threw in the water. I fished all day and left the river when it was dark. It was a beautiful day. A little windy, but beautiful. I don’t think I’ve ever had more pure, relaxing, refreshing, contemplative, fun. Nothing was on my mind but beauty, fish, and the Creator who made it all. It was worship.

Concerning Calvin...

2008-03-26T23:01:00.002-04:00

Ok, guess it’s time for another email and answer. Pretty regularly I get a question about how Calvinistic I am (or our church is). At risk of making everyone mad (the Calvinism vs. Arminianism debates tend to polarize Christians), below is a recent question and my answer (in part). As usual, I used a faux name for the inquirer.

-----Original Message-----
From: email address withheld
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 4:31 PM
To: Ellen Bright
Subject: RE: Doctrinal statement

Ellen, thank you very much! Would you mind forwarding a question to Chad regarding 3. About Jesus Christ?

My 2 questions are these: The (Providence Church) doctrinal statement under 3, sentence 2, reads that Jesus "offered Himself as the penal substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of all people by dying on a cross"...

1. Are you saying that Jesus died for "all" elect sinners that God had predestined before the foundation of the world...or...all sinners (every single person on earth ever born, every single person who goes to heaven or to hell).

2. Do you teach that regeneration (being born again/born from above) precedes faith...or that faith precedes regeneration? Another way of saying it is...do you teach that we are born again to be able to believe in Christ or do you teach that we believe in Christ to be able to be born again?

Thank you very much!

Very respectfully in Christ,

Tom

Hey Tom,

Ahh the ole’ debate. Fun isn’t it? Wish I had more time to engage you more completely—hope my short answer will suffice.

Solid, Bible-believing Christians can disagree about the L, and I (and perhaps even the U—as there are different definitions floating about of "Unconditional Election") of TULIP. As you saw in our doctrinal statement that Ellen sent you, we frequently quote Augustine who said that there are some matters on which we must have unity and some on which we can have liberty. We see that the finer points of Calvinism are some of those "liberty" matters. Everyone who joins our church must agree that all are born sinners and that all who receive Christ will persevere (T and P)—on these we clearly state our Calvinistic stance. On the others we allow room for different opinions.

Personally I believe (in short) that Christ’s saving work on the cross is general in potential and limited in application (applying only to those who believe—who were, of course, predestined by God—the elect, if you will.) But I believe that the intent of Christ’s death is not the main issue, but rather, what his death actually accomplished. To me the main issue of "Limited Atonement" is that Christ’s death means something different to the elect than it does to the non-elect. As John Piper wrote, "We do not deny that all men are the intended beneficiaries of the cross in some sense. 1 Timothy 4:10 says that Christ is ’the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.’ What we deny is that all men are intended as the beneficiaries of the death of Christ in the same way. All of God’s mercy toward unbelievers—from the rising sun (Matthew 5:45) to the worldwide preaching of the gospel (John 3:16)—is made possible because of the cross." Or you could say it like this: Jesus’ death accomplished much more for the elect than it did for the non-elect. Unlike some, I believe and proclaim that God loves all humanity and gave his life for the whole world, making his grace available to anyone who would believe—because that’s what the Bible teaches. Our doctrinal statement is not meant to be either a general OR limited atonement statement. And please remember: no human statement of beliefs is inerrant. This is why we say our true creed is the Bible (which is inerrant).

As to the-chicken-or-the-egg questions of which came first, faith or regeneration...if FORCED I will err on the side of God’s sovereignty. I am a Calvinist. However, I am quite comfortable with holding these "which came first" questions in tension. I am comfortable with a "neither came first" kind of answer when I consider the fact that God is unaffected by time nor is he bound by a time-line. He, while in eternal existence before the creation of time itself, both predestined and chose those who would be saved AND foreknew those who would by their own free will choose him. I see no contradiction when I consider his perfect providence and infinite wisdom. I know, I know...philosophical purists really don’t like that kind of answer. But I believe that God is far greater than what we pitiful humans can possibly comprehend intellectually. He is extra-dimensional in every way. How dare I try to make him fit in a box constructed of a man-made philosophical system? I choose (sorry) not to do that.

We have decided not to make these Calvinism/Arminianism philosophical banterings litmus tests for our church membership or Christian fellowship. 2-pointers are welcome (they must acknowledge God’s sovereignty) and 5-pointers are welcome (it mustn’t affect their commitment to evangelism). Again as Augustine said, "In some things...liberty. In all things...Charity." In my opinion it does not bring glory to God to be divisive about these non-essentials. There are hyper-Calvinists who can come off as condescending to those with whom they disagree. It’s fun stuff to talk about, it causes me to seek God’s heart in the pages of the Scriptures, but its not worth dividing over! We’ve lost people who thought I was too Arminian and some who thought I was too Calvinistic! Oh well. Spurgeon had the same problem (not that I am in any way worthy to be compared with Spurgeon!).

Blessings,

Chad