A Call for Unity??

I may not make it out alive after this, but I hope everyone can read this and gain some insight from it. Ultimately, I am so tired of division in the Church, from both sides, and I’m ready to do something about it.

I recently attended one of my favorite places in the world, Malibu, California, for the 69th annual Pepperdine Bible Lectures. This was my third year to attend, and on top of it being the most beautiful location in the US for a Bible lectureship, it is one of the more diverse and challenging of all the yearly events.

The problem is this – when I mention I am going to the Bible lectures at Pepperdine, many, and I mean many fellow Christians immediately place judgement on me. This has happened for the past few years, and again happened this year. I get comments such as “I can’t believe you’re going to such a liberal place” or “I thought you were more solid in your faith” or I even got a “How can a member of the Lord’s church even consider going to Pepperdine for such an event?”

I’ll be honest, there are some things that take place at the Pepperdine Bible lectures I wish did not happen. There are some things I wish were not said. I’m not going to mention them here, because then certain individuals could use that as ammo against said lectureship without ever having attended, and they could twist my words to say something I never said.

The thing is this – the very people who are appalled I am going to such an event are getting lambasted from the other side. They’re getting mocked as traditionalists who are clinging to an ancient style of evangelism and outreach, and for viewing the Bible as legalists instead of recipients of grace. Traditions, heritages, our entire past is getting pushed aside for a new style of preaching and teaching, and a new style of worship.

The problem is that both sides look at each other and think they are doing it wrong. The right looks at the left and will find a scripture to prove just about everything being done in the “progressive” world is wrong. The left looks at the right and makes a mockery of an old fashioned style that “just doesn’t work” anymore.

I work for a congregation that probably has more diversity than I’ve ever seen as far as the spectrum of right vs. left, traditionalist vs progressive, conservative vs. liberal, etc. And you know what? Since I’ve been here, we just get along fine.

We have an older generation raised by the Gospel Advocate and straight forward preaching. We have a younger generation wanting technology and narrative preaching. We sing new and modern hymns, and we sing the classics. On Sunday morning, we have a scripture reading from an older cherished version and a newer more contemporary version. We clap after a baptism, but we don’t clap during our singing (not that there’s really anything wrong with it, its really a respect issue more than anything).

We had a whole lesson on homosexuality one Wednesday night with a combined adult class. We had a whole quarter where the class was “Youtube and Your Faith” and had a whole quarter where the class was singing songs of praise. We still had a traditional straight up Bible study as well.

We don’t sing a song during Communion, but we sing one right before, and almost immediately after the last person takes the cup, because its just not worth making someone upset. But we also want to appeal to the senses of those who do use emotions and feelings in their worship through a desire to sing a song at that time.

We use pictures of the cross, images on the power point, and words on the screen of the scriptures being read.

And after all that, guess what? At the end of a service, it takes us over an hour to get people out the door because we love being together.

We love being together because what binds us together is not whether we clap or not. Its not what songs we sing. Its not what version we read. Its not if we sing during communion or not. We are bound together because Christ died for us.

Why oh why must we as Christians continue to be divisive in a culture that is already looking down on Christianity. We are being attacked from every spectrum, why must we attack each other? The reason we come together is because of Christ. Christ begged God for us to be able to be unified. He knew 2000 years ago that we would nitpick and fight. Over what?

A version?

A new or old song?

Clapping?

The list goes on and on.

To my brothers who are to “more to the left”, please stop bashing our heritage, and please stop bashing our “conservative” family. They aren’t doing anything wrong, unless they are judging you, and in that case, be the bigger person and just leave it alone. Our heritage is a treasure. Be proud of who are and what we’re doing for Christ.

To my brothers who are “more to the right”, please stop assuming what others are doing just based upon the name of the congregation, or university, or whatever else you use , are wrong. You sound ridiculous when you say “I heard from my sister who has a friend who used to go there 10 years ago that they are letting women play instruments in the band during communion.” If you have a genuine concern for their souls, its best not to throw it out on Facebook, but contact one of their elders and ask them. Or maybe even better, pray about it and seek God’s counsel.

Let’s stop creating more and more and division, and seek a way to be more and more unified. I could say more, but I think everyone knows where I’m coming from. I’m sure there are some from both sides who will find what I’ve just said to have fault in it, but that’s okay. I still love you! Let us seek unity. Its what Jesus wanted.

The Big Announcement

There is never an opportune time to make announcements such as the one I need to make today.

Today at the West University Church of Christ, I announced my resignation as their Associate and Worship Minister.

Saying goodbye to those you love is one of the hardest things to do, and I find that to be doubly true as I face the task of saying goodbye to the wonderful members at West U. After nearly three fruitful years of ministry at West U, I have been called to be the Preaching Minister of a congregation in Tennessee starting at the end of September.

This was not an easy decision to make. Being the Associate and Worship Minister at West U is more than a job – it is a place of spiritual community and growth, as well as a place where I have grown as a Christian, a Father, a Husband, and as a minister.

2 months ago, this was not even on our radar.  We were moving forward with our work here, recuperating from our VBS and getting ready for the next big thing.  I am accepting this job because there is no doubt in my mind this is what God is calling us to do.

Since I started preaching at the age of 14, I always dreamed of what it would be like to be able to do that full time.  After having served as a youth minister, campus minister, family minister, worship minister, associate minister and life group minister, God has finally seen fit to place me in a role where I will be able to do just that.  I owe the preparedness I have for this job to the West U congregation, Calvin for letting me speak, and the elders for giving me so many opportunities and seeing the potential in me.

For the next step in my journey, God has seen fit to provide me a congregation to work for in Nashville, TN, which is only 20 miles from where I grew up and where most of my family lives still today.  I will be serving as the full time Preaching Minister for the Granny White Church of Christ, located right next to Lipscomb University.  

While living here in Houston, our closest family member has been nearly 800 miles and a 13 hour drive away, you have stepped up and become that family to us.  The West U congregation has been a family to Kristen, Josie and I.  Josie learned to crawl while we were interviewing for this job.  They have cried with us when we lost loved ones.  They have prayed for us while we were separated during mission trips.  They have helped us in more ways than they will ever know.

We will love and miss you, and you will always have a special place in our hearts.

For those of you at the Granny White congregation, we look forward to our work together.  We look forward to joining you soon.

Love Without Limits

Recently, my grandfather passed away.  While at the visitation and the funeral, gathered around family, we were all reminded that he never had anything negative to say about others.  He didn’t speak in an angry way.  He loved life and loved others.  This was an excellent lesson he taught us, but one that Jesus taught as well.

Its easy to love people who treat you well.  However, how do you love someone who doesn’t treat you well?  The kid in school who makes fun of you?  The boss who takes credit for your work, or blames you for things going wrong?  Those people are a bit harder to love.

Jesus tells the Pharisees in Matthew 5:43-48 they are to love their neighbor, but also love their enemy.  The King James goes on to say “bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.”  We know Jesus wants us to love our neighbor, that’s for sure.  He tells us over and over again.  However, the Jewish Rabbis taught that their “neighbor” only applied to fellow Jews.  This worked out well because the Jews pretty much hated everyone else.  The Romans actually accused and charged the Jews with hatred of the human race.

The problem is that the Old Testament, or no where in the Bible in fact, tells us to hate our enemies.  There are places in the Old Testament where God hates evil, and may not care for the evildoer, but he never commands his people to hate their enemies.  We are to shower them with unconditional kindness.

I heard a story about Wade Boggs, former third baseman for the Boston Red Sox.  He hated playing at  Yankee Stadium while playing for Boston, not because of the Yankees but because of one particular fan.  This fan would heckle him, yell out insults and profanities.  One day, Boggs had listened to this enough.  He walked over to the area where this guy was, looked at him, and asked “Are you the guy that is always yelling at me?”.  The fan responded “Yeah, what are you gonna do about it?”

Wade Boggs took a new baseball, signed it, and threw it up for the guy to have.  The guy never heckled Boggs again.  In fact, he became one of his biggest supporters.

That’s what we are urged to do with our enemies.  Find a way to show them love, especially the love of Christ in all we do.  God is going to bless everyone on this earth, whether they believe in him or not.  He sends the rain and the sun to bless even his enemies by common grace (vs 45).  We need to love people without discrimination like God loves us.  We also need to love our enemies because we need to show there is no greater love than Christian love.

To Tell the Truth

Paul Harvey told a story that I remember my dad using in sermon illustrations as a child.  Four teenage boys were late to school one morning because they were goofing off and having fun.  They walked into their first period class with about 5 minutes left, and solemnly told the teacher that they were sorry they were late, and that they had stopped to change a flat tire.  The teacher looked at them and smiled sympathetically, and said it was too bad they were late, because they had missed a test.  However, she was willing to let them make it up.  She asked the boys to go to the four corners of the room, and she handed them each a blank piece of paper.  She told them the make up test consisted of one question, and if they got it right, they would pass the test.  The teacher then asked the question – “Which tire was flat?”

Jesus commands us to be truthful.  In Matthew 5:37, he says to let our yes be yes and our no be no.  In the preceding verses, he has told the Pharisees to stop their complex system of swearing and making oaths, because they were time and time again finding loopholes to get out of them.  For example, if you swore by Jerusalem, it was not binding, but if you swore towards Jerusalem, it was not binding.  This was not based on any law God had made, but again, it was a loophole they had created for themselves to get out of keeping their word.  They had a whole system that allowed and rewarded dishonesty.

We do this time and time again.  We say that we’ll pray for someone, and we never intend on doing it.  We say we’ll be there for a person, but when push comes to shove, other things are more important.  We do what we can to sell ourselves as true Christians, but when faced with actually doing it, we get out of it by creating our own loophole.

Jesus is encouraging us at this point to live a life that we would not be ashamed of in any way, especially in our speech.  Live a life so that if all the things you said and did were being written down, you wouldn’t have any problem with someone going back and reading it.  Do you think that would drastically change your speech?  Ephesians 4:25 tells us that we shouldn’t lie to each other, especially because we’re all in this world together, and we should work together for the good of the Kingdom, not against each other.  Colossians 3:9 tells us not to lie to each other because when we became Christians, we put that lifestyle behind us.

Its also not enough just to tell the truth, we must be truthful in our actions as well.  Our actions must match our language.  Otherwise, we lack the integrity to back up the truth we speak.  Nothing can be more powerful than when the world hears a Word of truth lived out in our lives.  The words you speak are amplified by the life you live.

Ultimately, we walk in truth if we walk in the path of God.  Every time God spoke it was truth.  Everything Jesus said and did, it was truth.  If we are made in his image, and we are to strive to live like Jesus, shouldn’t we do the same?

 

 

The Church – A Numbers Game

I’ve been involved with churches that were big, and involved with churches that were small. The first church I worked for averaged about 180 members on Sunday morning for their worship service. Compare that to the church I attended when I graduated from high school, and where my father currently serves as a minister, which now has about 700 members.

One of my best friends and fellow minister, Jason, works for a congregation in Alabama that has well over 2000 members. The church I attended for the longest time from about 1st grade till around 10th grade only had around 35 in attendance.

Seemingly, according to Mac Lynn’s 2006 book “Churches of Christ in the United States”, it seems as if the majority of the congregations in the United States have anywhere from 50 to 199 members. If you were to take an average, the churches of Christ average about 97-100 members per congregation.

I have to be honest, I hate numbers. I’ve hated numbers for a long time. It started with Algebra 1 in 9th grade. I had a horrible teacher who cared more about flirting with the athletes in the class instead of teaching us math. Ever since then, I gave up on numbers.

When I was in youth ministry, there was always a double standard for numbers. I needed to grow the amount of people in the youth group, but it was okay for the church to stay the same size. If we weren’t bringing in more teenagers to the youth group class, then I must be a lousy minister. That equation, sadly, is the equation that so many ministers must live up to.

Now I work for a church that is hovering with an average attendance of 160 or so. Of course, according to the studies of the church, this is an average, or better than average size for a congregation. Since I have moved here, I finally seem to have figured something out. No matter how large the church is in numbers, if you don’t have love, it means nothing.

Sure, 2000 members singing in harmony together during a worship service sounds wonderful, but so do 75 members.

You may have the best and most educated ministers in the few 1000+ member congregations, but the churches of 200 members have ministers who put a whole lot of time into their work as well.

Most importantly, I feel as if when we pressure people to become members, they run. And if they run, more than likely they are just running away completely, and not to another congregation. When we throw a membership card in their face as they walk in the door, they’re naturally going to think that we’re just like every other venue in their lives.

Get to know them. Talk with them. If they want to give you their contact info, they will based upon desire to get to know your church better.

Have cards for them to take that have contact info for your church, service times, activities, etc. If they give you permission to call them or email them, great! If not, let them make the next move.

If you have done all you can as a church, they will want to come back. If the church was not friendly, clean, inviting, prepared, organized, welcome…no amount of cards, visiting or free gifts will get them back into the church.

We don’t want the church to sound needy. When a church sounds needy by saying things such as “We really need you to be a member” or “Our church sure could use another servant”, it comes across as needy. Instead, offer to do something for them, instead of trying to sign them up for the Benevolence Committee on their first visit. See what you can do for them, or if they have any questions.

The truth of the matter is, God did wonders throughout the world with Jesus and his 12 disciples. If I’m doing the math correct, 12 < the average number of members in the Church today.

I hate numbers. I always have, and I always will. The only number that matters is that there is ONE God, ONE Savior, and ONE Hope. Let’s just do our best to show everyone who comes through that door, or everyone we come in contact with, or everyone we see on a daily basis, that Jesus Christ loves them and died for them.

Most importantly, we need to show each other love.  Do I exemplify that love all the time?  Not even close, but I’m trying, and I hope you will too.

Just Add Water – A Look at Being a Christian

On June 10, 1992, I became a Christian.  There are many thoughts out there today as to how one becomes a Christian.  I believe the New Testament gives plenty of examples that the way to Christ and salvation eternal is through hearing the word of God, believing in what it says, changing your sinful ways, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and giving yourself over to him in immersion through baptism.  When you give yourself over to Jesus, you do it completely.

I remember the night I became a Christian.  My father baptized me after I walked down the aisle to the Church of Christ classic song, “Just As I Am”.  I remember making my confession before the 30 or so people at the Bethel Church of Christ that night, my father plunging me into the water, and re-emerging as a new creature buried in Christ, with the gift of the Holy Spirit.  I told God that night that I wanted to give my life to Him, completely.  While I have not even come close to being perfect, I have tried my hardest, and am committed to raising my family in a Christian home.

Recently, Billy Graham’s son Franklin was asked if he believed that Barack Obama was a Christian.  He stated “He has told me that he is a Christian. But the debate comes, what is a Christian? For him, going to church means he’s a Christian. For me, the definition of a Christian is whether we have given our life to Christ and are following him in faith, and we have trusted him as our Lord and Savior. That’s the definition of a Christian. It’s not as to what church you are a member of. A membership doesn’t make you Christian.“

A membership doesn’t make you Christian – there’s a lot of validity in that.  For a lot of us, we feel that just going to church makes you a Christian.  We believe that if our name is on the roll in a congregation of some sort, that we’re on God’s roll for entry into Heaven.

In an article challenging Franklin’s response of Obama’s Christianity, Roland Martin  a syndicated columnist for CNN and author of “The First: President Barack Obama’s Road to the White House.”, said “Any Christian will tell you: If a person verbally professes Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, that person is considered saved. No ifs, ands or buts. That’s when the conversation should end.”

I can’t help but think its not that simple.  First of all, “any Christian” will not say that.  True Christians will say that there is more to following Christ than just saying Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  The apostles left their nets, their jobs, their families and their livelihood to follow Christ.  Jesus told the Rich Young Ruler to sell everything he had and give it to the poor so he could inherit eternal life.  Jesus never simply said “Believe in me, and that’s all”.  In Matthew 28, Jesus tells those of us who have given our lives over to him to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them everything I have commanded you.”

We see in the following years of the first Christians that they did this.  In Acts, we see that the Christians dedicated themselves to each other.  They helped each other out.  They committed to being together, in a “corporate” setting and in their own personal lives.  We can’t simply just add water to our spiritual lives and expect it to grow into a full, mature Christian.  We can’t expect to just add water, never commit to God’s church, and expect that he approves of it.

We’ve read of professional athletes being kicked off their teams, traded away, or even fired simply because they didn’t show up to practice.  Practice is an important part of being an athlete.  They can’t just show up to the games and expect to first of all be a team, but second of all, to be any good.  When you don’t practice together, you don’t know each other’s game, and therefore can’t be productive.  One or two people may be successful, but as a team you will not succeed.

Yet, for some people, they treat their eternal salvation, their identity with God, as a casual social club.

Now, I’m not going to tell you that if you fail to go to church services every time the doors are open, that you’ll be eternally condemned.  I’m not going to tell you that if you fail to meet with fellow Christians every day to encourage each other and to teach the lost, that God won’t have a place for you in eternity.

But I will say that you’re missing out on your full potential as a Christian.  This isn’t an argument for whether or not baptism is essential to salvation.  This isn’t an argument about what church you have to belong to in order to have eternal life.  Those discussions are for a different time and place.  This is a plea that we need to restore the community found in the New Testament church, so that we aren’t just Christians in name, but that we are Christians in every aspect of our lives.

A business person seeking to climb the ladder of success would never think of just phoning in their work each week.  They know that they have to live that life daily, as best as they can, so that they can succeed.  They are going to devote themselves to that company, so that the presidents and managers can see how much it means to them, and that they are committed to the cause.

Instant coffee is okay, but slow drip is better.  TV Dinners suffice, but are nothing compared to a meal someone prepared in love all day long.  When we commit to the Christian life,  instead of just pulling it all together once a week, or once a month, God will take note and reward our hard work, in this life and the next.  May God be praised as we all dedicate ourselves to Him.

Follow Jesus on Twitter

In preparing for my sermon next week on “Blessed Are the Persecuted”, I ran across this video.  While it doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with persecution, it does ask the question about how well we are doing in “following” Jesus.  Give it a look!

Community

In Acts 2, we read of many wonderful events that took place as the Church began to take form.  We see the Holy Spirit make a dramatic entry into the disciples as they are all together.  We read of Peter’s great sermon of how he explained what had happened, gave a great account of Christ and his death, resurrection, and exaltation, and finally a plea for all to repent and be baptized.  About 3000 people who witnessed the events of this day gave their lives over to Christ, but more importantly, gave their lives over to each other.

In the verses following these great events, we read in verses 42-47 of how the Church community began to form.  It was marked by the people devoting themselves to the work of teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.  From these verses we learn that the church was not just a gathering of people who came together on Sunday for an hour or two, but a group that was dedicated to each other at all times.

The church is facing an interesting dilemma right now across the country.  Generations are growing more and more segregated over issues.  Most of these issues are not even scriptural issues, but traditional issues.  When this occurs, the congregations become even more divided, and you end up with 3 or 4 different camps within one body.  Maybe the reason churches are struggling more over these things is because there is a lack of community in the church.  Sadly, people are more willing to argue and divide than they are willing to devote themselves to each other as the first century church did.

Acts 2:47 says they praised God and enjoyed the favor of all the people.  Because of that, God added to their number daily.  Will you enjoy the favor of all the people you worship with today?  Will you be willing to make that happen more than just on Sunday morning?  Can we put petty differences to the side and join together to spread the good news of Jesus to all?  Let’s be a community of believers, and devote ourselves to each other!

Wanted: Evangelism. Any Takers?

There has been a large gap of time that has passed since I last posted. Let’s just say that I’ve been overwhelmed, under-motivated, and lacking the desire to write. For the three or four readers that may remain, I should be getting back in the groove soon.

I have been guilty of something as a minister, that I believe many ministers struggle with – not always practicing what I preach.

How many times have I encouraged people to reach out to others? To invite others to church? To teach them the Gospel? The times are too numerous to count, yet I can count the few times I recall where I actually, on my own, did evangelism like I encourage others to do.

Jesus told his followers to preach the Gospel to people all over the world. I am a follower of Christ. Therefore, in order to obey Jesus, I need to be doing the same. I’m afraid, however, that I’m guilty of expecting the evangelism to come to me, instead of me going to do the evangelism. I get caught up with work at the building, the office, with the people who are already a part of the church. Why do we do this?

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, – 1 Peter 3:15

Am I always prepared? Are you? Is the reason I’m lacking in my evangelism because I’m not showing this “hope” Peter says we should have? Am I alone in this?

I think there was a time in the US when you could approach just about anyone, and talk to them about God, and not be fearful of how people would respond. Now, it seem we all walk on eggshells about our faith, not wanting to offend, and possibly even just wanting to keep it to ourselves.

So here’s some things I try to do to evangelize outside of my office bubble:

1. I always try to say God bless to anyone who offers me some sort of service. I drive through a drive through, and I say God bless to the person taking my money, and the person handing me my food.

2. I try to be aware that the rest of the world is being pretty negative. If I can share a smile, be polite and cordial to everyone, and just do things that used to be considered “good manners”, I think it makes an impact.

3. I bring up my occupation when appropriate, not to brag, but to remind me of who I am and what I do. This makes it surprisingly easier to be an evangelist, because its almost expected to be brought up. Case in point, two weeks ago I ran into Dillards late on Saturday to buy a tie to go with a new sports coat I had bought. The lady who was helping me match my coat to a new tie seemed a bit flustered, due to all the Black Friday sales. I brought up that I needed a new tie to go with my coat because I was preaching in the morning. Immediately her spirit changed, not because she was trying to “act better” in front of a minister, but because I reminded her of what was coming. She told me that she was going to have a better night now, remember that the Lord’s Day was the next day. I don’t know where she went, or what religion she was, but she was reminded of God’s comfort.

Those are just a few things, but I want to know how the rest of you follow God’s command to make disciples. What have you found that works? I’ve seen many blogs and posts on the fact that evangelism is commanded, but not many people talk about what they’re doing, but rather about the fact that its supposed to happen.

How’s Your Prayer Life?

Lord willing, in two weeks I’ll be preaching a sermon about prayer at the West University church.

I feel somewhat inadequate to preach on prayer.  Probably because its one of the things I struggle with the most in my private life.  Sure, I can lead a public prayer.  I can say one as long as short as you’d like me to.  However, when it comes to personal prayer life, it is definitely waning.

Maybe that’s because I get so caught up in life, that I forget to pray.  Maybe, its because prayer takes time, and I feel like I don’t have time.  Maybe, its because I feel I don’t need to have conversations with God.

Or maybe, its simply because I just don’t pray.

I am placing an informal, private poll below on prayer life.  I would love for you to just check one of the following options below.  It would really help me in my sermon prep if you could comment on either this blog post or on my facebook post about your prayer life.  If you don’t want to comment, that’s fine, but please at least place a vote in the poll below.