Now That's What I'm Talkin' About (part 2)

Why Do Believers Do What They Do?

I preached last Sunday on the basis for submitting ourselves to the will of God. Why do I do the things I do as a Christian that I probably wouldn't do normally if I weren't, things like serving others, giving, attending church, loving my neighbor, etc. I think there are two choices to answer the question why - fear or love. I either do those things to dodge the wrath of God or I do them because I love Him. I've seen way too many of the former and not so many of the latter. My series is focused on trying to get people to see the defining nature of God, the overarching characteristic of the Almighty is one of love, compassion, mercy and forgiveness, not one of wrath, anger and judgment. My first case in point - the Prodigal Son. When the son was still a great distance, the father ran to embrace him, kiss him, hold him, celebrate his return. The father ran! Oh man. Running has never been so rich in meaning and purpose than when God did it!

I closed with these words from a song on Phillips, Craig and Dean's RESTORATION cd, titled "When God Ran".

Almighty God
The Great I Am
Immovable Rock, Omnipotent, Powerful, Awesome Lord
Victorious Warrior
Commanding King of Kings
Mighty Conqueror
And the only time....... the only time I ever saw Him run................
Was when He ran to me
He took me in His arms
Held my head to his chest
Said my son's come home again
Lifted my face
Wiped the tears from my eyes
With forgiveness in His voice
He said "Son, do you know I still love you"
He caught me by surprise........when God ran.

Those words and that story powerfully affect me and my view of God. I'm hoping it will others.

Now That's What I'm Talking About!!

One Of My Favorite Songs

Who am I?
That the Lord of all the earth,
Would care to know my name,
Would care to feel my hurt.

Who am I?
That the bright and morning star,
Would choose to light the way,
For my ever wondering heart.

Not because of who I am.
But because of what you've done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are.

I am a flower quickly fading,
Here today and gone tomorrow.
A wave tossed in the ocean,
A vapor in the wind.
Still you hear me when I'm calling,
Lord you catch me when I'm falling,
And you told me who I am.
I am yours.
I am yours.

Who am I?
That the eyes that see my sin
Would look on me with love
And watch me rise again

Who am I?
That the voice that calmed the sea,
Would call out through the rain,
And calm the storm in me.

Not because of who I am.
But because what of youve done.
Not because of what I've done.
But because of who you are.

Whom shall I fear?
Whom shall I fear?
'Cuz I am yours.
I am yours.


Mike Cope blogged this morning about youth ministers, and I couldn't help but think of this song sung by a youth minister, Mark Hall of Casting Crowns. God bless those youth ministers. They get to do all the fun stuff!

"Crave Pure Spiritual Milk"

I began a series last Sunday on Pure Spiritual Milk. I live in an area, SE OK, where legalism is rampant, the "brotherhood watchdogs" are numerous and organized, grace is frowned upon, the Holy Spirit is the word, sound doctrine at all costs, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Our church has decided to swim upstream and is making headway by the grace of God, though we still have some folks who can't seem to break free from those chains of bondage. It is no easy thing to break free from that.

It is my contention people who are on that path somewhere along the way have been given milk that has been tainted, spoiled, left on the kitchen counter for several days. They have been taught a skewed view of God, therefore they cower in fear. They have been given a messed up view of salvation, therefore they believe they must work to be saved. They were led to believe worship is acts and not heart, therefore they show up, eat and drink up, listen up (sometimes) and then pack up and go home, unaffected by being in the presence of God.

My prayer for this series is this - we will go back and explore the foundational truths of our faith, the "pure" spiritual milk. To see God as He truly is, salvation as God's work and not man's, the Christian disciplines of prayer, meditating, studying, tithing, etc. Maybe we can rebuild some of these folks' foundation and their house can be remodeled. That is my prayer at least.

One Of My Favorite Pictures

"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death....."

When In Doubt, "Let Us Pray!!"

I was told by a disgruntled member of my congregation the other day, during my sermon, to "keep my mouth shut, you don't know what you are talking about!" I have honestly never had anyone say that to me, in pulpit or out. I've not known what I have been talking about for years now, but no one has ever pointed it out to me in quite that fashion.

What did I say to set this brother off? I was simply praising the work the Red Cross was doing for the Katrina victims who were coming to our church for help. I was trying to dispell the rumor that the Red Cross charges people today to help them in a disaster. There was an incident in WW2, maybe other places as well, where the Red Cross was asked by our high command to charge our men over in Europe for things like coffee, doughnuts, etc. at the clubs the Red Cross had set up for the men. Servicemen from other countries were charged for these items by their own country's relief organizations and it was creating tension between the troops that the Americans did not have to pay. So, reluctantly, after receiving a "request" from high command, Red Cross charged for these items. It was anything but a money-making venture. Well, the way people tell it now, the Red Cross helps no one, they supposedly spend 75% of the money they get on themselves, they charge people before they will hand out a bottle of water or a blanket. I was trying to dispell that rumor. I had no idea this was such a passionate issue with some.

Question - What do you say after you are told to keep your mouth shut in the middle of a sermon? My response was "I apologize, let's pray". It seemed appropriate.

Lesson for the day - Don't praise relief workers from the Red Cross after a national disaster in a sermon unless you are willing to be told to keep your mouth shut by someone who thinks you are wrong. (now why didn't I know that already?!)

That's The Church?

Last night in the adult class I taught at our church, we started a study of 1 Corinthians. One of the first things we did was to peruse the book and just look at the headings given every so often. Here's what we saw. Pleas for unity, lawsuits, sexual immorality, divorce, judging, idol feasts, worship assembly abuses, doubts of the resurrection, lack of love, pride........ And then, there it was in verse 2 of chapter 1 "To the CHURCH of God in Corinth..." That's the church??!!! Those are the called out ones??!!! The justified??!!! The sanctified??!!! Are you serious??!!! But I kept reading in chapter 1 ......... something about being given grace by God, enriched in Him, sustained by Him. Oh. I see. The Church. Saved folks who still struggle but are being led to a closer and deeper understanding of God and kingdom living. I can accept that. I "are" that. Praise God that what sustained that church is the very thing that sustains me and you some 2000 years later. Grace gives hope.

To Help or Not To Help

Our new Family Life Center has been a hurricane relief shelter for the past couple of weeks. We are geared up to hold approximately 200 folks with cots, food, showers, clothes, anything these folks need. People that have actually used the shelter - 1 . One lady came and spent the night a week and a half ago. Texarkana, New Boston, Paris, Camp Gruber, Falls Creek Baptist Camp, all are housing numbers of victims. The masses never came here. We are not on a major travel route, which is probably why. We have helped about 60 who were just passing through on their way to family or friends, or even on their way back home. But no one stayed except the one. Our dilema is this. Some of the places where hundreds are being sheltered are having problems like rape, stealing, even killings in certain places. Do we want the possibility of that here? Are we willing to minister to people who are capable and many times guilty of murder, rape, robbery, extortion, etc.? My head says no. It is not safe. My hearts says yes, help whoever, however, whenever. I'll defer to the Lord. If He thinks we can handle it, then maybe he'll re-route one of the buses, if there are any left. Maybe He's already answered that question for us. I'll accept any answer I get. But I still may be nervous!!!

The Power of Good Music

I'm sitting here listening to Phillips, Craig and Dean's RESTORATION. Wow, I love this album. Talk about gifted musicians and song writers. All their stuff is good.

Just this week I have had several come to me and express concern about the singing at our church, that it is less than inspiring. It's funny, the preaching can be average (which it usually is, thank you), prayers too long, communion too short, and people seem fine, at least I don't hear anything. But when the singing is bad, people can't stand that. I can't either. Maybe because the singing affects everything else we do in the assembly. The most powerful tool for communicating truth, encouragement, admonishment, praise is more often than not given the least amount of attention and effort.

What to do about it, I don't know. Would song leaders accept a training class to make them better? Would people sit closer to the front and middle if it would make a difference? Could we possibly put microphones on some folks who sing their parts well in order for us to get the full effect of 4 part harmony, which is something we do very well? If the Lord wants our best in sacrifice to Him, shouldn't we do our best in all areas of the assembly? Seems right to me.