away in a manger - the day after

We sing the songs about Jesus' birth in a sheep pen. We idealize it and we set up likenesses of our version of the scene and call it 'the nativity'.

yet I believe we have sterilized it so much that we miss a couple things... I know I do.

What was it like after the gift-bearing royalty left? Do we think that the inn-keeper suddenly found a room for the new parents and their new baby?

Jesus whole life was, in a way, miraculous. We think of His birth that way... but have you ever thought of the days following our baby savior's arrival?

What was it like for a teenage momma to care for her new baby in a barn? Nursing and diapering (did they even have diapers? yeccchh!) and sleeping and not sleeping...

When we welcomed our firstborn to this world, I couldn't even get within 10 feet of her without a 5 minute surgical scrub and a face mask. When we brought her home, we had so thoroughly disinfected our house, it would have passed any Marine's white glove inspection! Bacteria feared our house for over a year!

We are so accustomed to the sterilized environment to which we usher our babies.... and I wonder what it must have been like for Mary and Joseph.

For me the whole thing was a miracle.... His conception and birth and, yes, merely surviving His first few days here... not in a pristine, germ-free neonatal intensive care unit with nurses buzzing around checking His temperature and wiping Him down with alcohol swabs... but in a barn with donkeys licking His face...

thank God for His Sovereign plan which seems more stunning to me everyday.

Blessings!

I LOVE this time of year!

I love the holidays! I love spending time with family and giving gifts and getting gifts and seeing smiles...

I love the cold weather and snow and snowmen... I love the fact that, for at least a few days, people seem to care less about themselves and think more about Jesus.

I hope you and your family have the very merriest Christmas ever.... and it is my sincere prayer that 2009 is the very best year ever!

May God Bless you richly!


tim

you gotta let it go

When you perceive that someone has wronged you, you basically have two choices:

1. hold on
2. let go

one is of Satan and one is of God.

Satan wants you to hold on to any perceived wrong.... to harbor ill will toward anybody whom you believe to have perpetrated anything upon you. He wants you to keep score and seek revenge and withdraw your love. He is the creator of festering.

God wants you to let it go. I used to think God wanted us to seek resolution... I used to believe that God desires for us to 'fix it' or to 'work it out'.... but frankly, I have come to the conclusion that the 'fixing it' and 'working it out'... the resolving... is more our desire than His.

you wanna fix it? you wanna pull off the scab and go deep? have at it! be my guest! but for most of my life, I have found that diving deep and learning exactly why someone did something takes an incredible amount of energy... and I usually end up being more tired than anything else! (and no, not the 'satisfied' kind of tired either) So, for me (I admit it may be lazy or selfish or both) I just choose to mark it up to humans being humans.... and move on... I know, not very profound!!

yeah, I am convinced that, more than anything, God wants us to just let it go.

how do we do that? a few suggestions:

• clear the air often - my momma told me when Kelly and I were newlyweds: "don't go to sleep at night until you have forgiven and forgotten". I'm sure it wasn't original with her, but it is really good advice.

and I guess these next two grow out of 'clearing the air'

• forget it... whatever it is, if it's possible, just forget it! period.
• always be forgiving... this one is the most important - and Christlike - of any of these suggestions.

Look, I know it may be that you feel compelled to confront and fix and all that... I get it... and there are probably times and circumstances which would dictate that you need to confront and seek resolution...

but I would encourage us all to assess our motivation for doing that.... when I think back to when I felt strongly about confronting and fixing, I gotta admit my motivation was selfish! I mainly wanted to plead my case or explain or get an explanation... and it didn't turn out nearly as well as when I simply forgave and forgot.

So it would seem that the 'forgetting it' may be the very best advice... but you gotta be selfless. and you gotta truly forget... you can't play at it and say 'I have forgotten that', then keep a little bit in your back pocket to pull out when you need it.... you gotta forget!

you gotta let it go!

Blessings!

borrowed thought from Frank Viola

Friends: I have been rather... I don't know... agitated for the past couple years...

I have been, on one hand, more 'at peace' than at any other time in my life... and on the other hand... sort of 'stirred up'.

It has been a struggle for me to know whether this 'agitation' is a little A.D.D. on my part, or satan-seeded restlessness, or just His Spirit at work in me... perhaps the jury's still out...

but I read an article just now that describes - almost to a T - what it is that has been nipping at the edges of my conscsiousness for a while now...

It is entirely borrowed from Frank Viola, and copied exactly as I found it in New Wineskins e-zine (it is long, but worth reading.... a couple times... I would really LOVE your feedback):


The Current Move of God: 8 Characteristics - by Frank ViolaNovember - December, 2008

I’m looking forward to 2009. I believe it’s going to be an important year for the church of Jesus Christ.

In August, I was privileged to be one of the speakers at a conference for Christians who gather outside the institutional church. Some of the other speakers were Tony & Felicity Dale, Paul Young, Wolfgang Simpson, John White, and Jon Zens.

In one of the leadership sessions, I gave a very short talk in which I stated that I’m not someone who goes around saying that there’s a new move of God happening in our day. In fact, for the last two years I’ve heard many others say this, but I’ve suspended judgment. I then announced that I’m now forced to say that I am convinced that we are in the beginnings of a new move of God.

Please note that I believe that God is up to many things. And He’s using all sorts of movements, “conversations,” etc. in various ways to bring His people to His final and ultimate goal.

In this article, however, I’ll be focusing on one particular move of God that has taken place in two different phases, or currents, thus far. Both of these currents have occurred outside the organized church in the West.

The first current occurred in the late 60s and early 70s. By 1979, it had all but died.

The second current began in the late 80s and early 90s.

This brings me to the reason why I’m excited about 2009.

It’s because we are just now beginning to see a third current of God’s move in the United States (and other Western countries) where Christians are leaving the institutional church structure (in record numbers) and discovering the living, breathing, headship of Jesus Christ in an organic, collective way without a clergy.

The landscape is changing rapidly. God is raising up new voices and new expressions of the church which look very different from the traditional expression.

According to my travels, my observations, and my correspondence, eight main features appear to be marking this third current. They are as follows:

1) A genuine revelation and experience of an indwelling Lord. Many Christians are being awakened to the fact that Jesus Christ dwells inside of them, and that He seeks to be everything to them. Some movements today emphasis the historical Jesus and seek to provoke Christians to try to imitate the Jesus of history. But in this third current, God’s people are discovering that the historical Jesus has taken up residence within them. He is resurrected, glorified, enthroned and has become a life-giving Spirit. Consequently, we can actually live by His indwelling life. Not as a theory, a doctrine, a positional truth, but as a reality.

2) A recapturing of a spiritual vocabulary to reflect a unique experience. Ephesians Chapters 1-3 are littered with a vocabulary that few Christians use today. This vocabulary emanates from a mind. And that mind is characterized by the capacity to see the unseen and to declare as present fact heavenly realities that exist outside the constraints of created time. Realities that are not just doctrinal or theological, but experiential. This vocabulary is being restored in this third current.

3) Meeting together for a very high and noble purpose. That purpose is to display the living Christ who indwells the church. The third current is being marked by church gatherings— not as services, not as platforms for sermonizing, not as pastor-led or priest-led orders of worship, not as Bible studies, and not as liturgies— but to make visible a living Christ by His every-member functioning Body where principalities and powers are put to shame. This aspect of church meetings, where every member is participating under the headship of Christ, is little understood today. But it’s beginning to gain traction in this new current.

4) An incredible Christ-centeredness in the thinking, life and vocabulary of God’s people. This new current is marked by the centrality of Christ. Jesus Christ is being put in His place. He is being given His rightful position of centrality, supremacy, and preeminence.

This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in conversation. (That’s how the first believers got the name “Christian,” by the way. They were always speaking about Christ. ) This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in songs. This Christ-centeredness is being reflected in ministry.

Our message is Christ. It’s not about how to be a better person, how to serve God more, how to do better and be good. It’s instead marked by a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ along with practical help on how to know Him deeply. Out of that flows everything else, including the church’s mission.

5) An experience of close-knit community. This is becoming an experience, rather than a buzzword. Believers who know church as community do not think merely as individuals. They do not think in terms of “me” or “I.” Instead, they think and live in terms of “we” and “us.”

To their minds, there is no disconnect between getting saved and being part of the community of believers. This element is a restoration of the New Testament Christian mindset.

If you were a pagan in the first century, you knew that becoming a Christian meant being initiated into a shared-life community. It meant losing your raw individualism and your rugged independence. It meant becoming part of the people of God. Not as an abstract doctrine, but as a way of life. You became part of something larger than yourself—a new culture in which you lived your life. For that reason, the early Christian movement was called “the Way” (Acts 19:9, 23; 24:14, 22). It wasn’t a belief system; it was a way of life.

Let’s face it. Western Christians have inherited an individualistic Christianity with an individualistic salvation and an individualistic walk with God. A Christian publisher recently told me that there are about 45,000 evangelical Christian titles in print and about 5,000 that are published every year. 95% or more of those books are addressed to you as an individual Christian. And the underlining point of those books is what you must do as an individual to be a better Christian.

But there is no such concept in the mind of God. Christianity has always been a corporate experience and a corporate reality. The individual Christian mind was born during the Reformation, driven into the ground during the Enlightenment, and set in concrete for the last several hundred years. But the New Testament knows no such mindset. This, I believe, is an important recovery.

6) An understanding of the reality of being “in Christ.” Like the early Christians, those in this third current are being pulled loose from a “works” mentality, liberated from a guilt complex, and set free from a sense of religious duty.

If you open up the New Testament letters, you will find that Paul always addresses the churches he planted (despite what they were going through) with the arresting phrase “holy ones.” He saw them holy “in Christ.” And the recipients of Paul’s letters clearly understood what Paul was saying, because he didn’t give much explanation for it.

I want to give you a testimony of how this mindset is being recaptured in this new current. Not long ago, a sister in a Christ-centered organic church stood up in a meeting and gave a testimony. She said,

“I have been raised a Christian since I was a child. I’ve been meeting with you all for about a year now. I was listening to the Christian radio, as I sometimes do, and a song came on. The singer was singing about how unworthy she was and how she needed to try harder to please God. She sang that her righteousness was as filthy rags, and she needed to improve her spiritual walk. I paused and suddenly realized that I couldn’t relate to that song anymore. I couldn’t relate to it because I’ve been given new eyes to see myself in Christ. For many years I struggled with a sense of unworthiness, guilt, and condemnation. But that’s all gone now. I don’t have it anymore, and I feel so free in the Lord’s love.”

When she shared this testimony, the room erupted and others began to testify along the same lines. It was an awesome experience. I believe this sister had laid hold of the same spiritual reality that the first Christians had laid hold of.

To add another illustration, a few years ago one organic church did an interesting experiment. They broke up into pairs and visited the various institutional churches in town for two solid weeks. And they decided to analyze the sermons they heard.

When they came back to report, they made this striking observation: every sermon they heard had the same essential message. It was this: “What you are doing isn’t enough to please God. You need to do more than you’re doing. You need to read your Bible more, pray more, help people more, come to church more, etc. You need to do better than the best you can do.”

This is the script upon which most contemporary sermons are built. It is a gospel of duty—pure and simple.

Interestingly, it was observed that these same churches give a very different message to the non-Christian. It sounds like this: “God loves you the way you are. It doesn’t matter what you’ve done, His love is unconditional. Jesus died for you because He loves you without condition. You can’t please God. Your good works are as filthy rags. But God will receive you as perfect if you come to Christ. So receive Him today.”

Ah . . . but once those same people receive Christ and “get saved,” the “bait and switch” gospel kicks in with a passion. Here’s what it sounds like:

“Now that you’re a Christian, here’s what you must do to please God. You must try harder, you must do more, you must work harder, God won’t be pleased with you if you don’t do such and such, etc.”

A question that every Christian should ask when listening to a sermon or a message is this: “Am I hearing about the glories of Jesus Christ or am I being told what to do to be a better Christian?” The latter is a duty-based gospel – it’s legalism in one form or another. It’s eating from the wrong tree. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is the luring counterfeit for the tree of life. Note that the forbidden tree contains the knowledge of good.

According to the New Testament, good works are like fruit that falls off of a tree spontaneously as the result of life. In the same way, Christians naturally walk in good works with others as they learn to live by God’s life.

In this connection, I have lost count of the letters I’ve received from pastors (some of whom are part of “cutting edge” movements) who confessed, “My gospel isn’t working. For so long I have been serving the god of serving God, and I admit now that I really don’t know Him nor do I know His love and acceptance in a genuine way.”

A large number of these men have also expressed the fact that burned out with respect to ministry and confessed that they had come to the shocking realization that they were serving God in their own strength instead of by His life.

You and I cannot live the Christian life by ourselves. You can I cannot serve God in ourselves. Theological knowledge, doctrinal precision, and the intent to do good and help others is no substitute for living by Jesus Christ. Being a Christian is territory staked out only by Divinity. Only Christ lives the Christian life (John 15:5; Gal. 2:20). We learn to live by Christ and we learn to serve God together in community, not as an isolated Christian. This experience is beginning to take root among a growing number of Christians today.

7) A rediscovery of God’s eternal purpose. It appears that the eternal purpose of God is the governing vision of this third current. I won’t unravel that statement here (as I’ve spoken on it extensively elsewhere), except to say that this is probably one of the most exciting aspects of what’s beginning today, for me at least. The eternal purpose is deeply bound up with an experiential understanding of the Trinity (the fellowship of the Godhead) and its relationship to the Christian life, the expression of the church, church planting and mission.

8) An inclusive, open spirit to all of God's people. Unlike so many past movements, this third current is marked by an open attitude toward all of God's people. It rejects and even hates an exclusive, sectarian, elitist attitude and posture. While it has its own unique distinctiveness, it embraces and receives all whom God has received. Neither is this movement built around a human personality. While God is using a number of people to influence it, no human being is taking the center of attention. Those who are influencing it the most are pointing to the Lord Jesus Christ rather than to themselves.

In conclusion, we are only in the beginning stages of this third current. So there’s not a whole lot that’s established yet. The baby is breaking open the womb. But through her birth, we are seeing a recovery of what’s been lost and a discarding of what’s been picked up over the centuries.

As we approach 2009, pray with me that the Lord will gain much more for Himself with respect to these eight characteristics—all of which tell us something about one of the ways in which the Spirit is blowing today.


Wow

seed scatterers

to sort of 'wrap up' the topic of 'the message'(as if my few words here are the quintessential end-all-beat-all on the subject - NOT!), how 'bout this: what are we called to be?

above all, I would say we are to be sowers! seed scatterers!

Aren't we to spread and scatter, and allow God to 'give the increase'?

So many times in my results-oriented world, I get so caught up in God's part.... at the expense of doing my own.

I gotta trust that God is gonna do His part... I gotta believe that deeply enough that I can do my scattering without wondering if He will do His 'increasing'.

so... go scatter!

My problem with our normal 'cart-before-the-horse' mentality is that when we START with all our differences, we rarely get an opportunity for relationship... and that's where growth and exchange and honest study happens!

we are ignorant when we believe we have all the answers (I learn new things and nuances every time I open the Bible)

we are arrogant when we think that, if not for me, God's Church will fail and everyone will go to hell (what about the Spirit's work today?)

and we are offensive to everyone (believers, non believers, atheists, muslims, baptists, lutherans, etc etc etc) when we act as if we have a corner on THE truth.

but I believe God is in control.... and He and His Spirit will make up for whatever deficiencies you or I possess in our approach.... so I have peace that whatever approach we use in our various walks and ministries, God will take care of it!

if we are prayerful and earnest and sincere with God, He will bless our efforts to His purpose...

So go sow!

the message - part deux

So, if we learn to better send our 'message' to people with whom we come in contact, what's next?

well, that in itself is a pretty tall order.... and one which I anticipate wrestling with till I go Home.

But, as the Spirit gives us opportunity after opportunity to not only 'send a message' as a first impression, we better be ready for the next (second, third, forty-third) 'impression', right?

What do we do then? when we have opportunity to study and teach and discuss and shepherd and learn with people, what is important?

As we talk to our Baptist friends, is it important to discuss instrumental music?

As we spend time with our Methodist friends, should we study premillenialism?

...or (fill in the religious/theological difference here) with your (fill in denomination here) friend?

I dunno.... just asking the question...

I know this: it seems that most religious discussions tend to begin (and end) with the differences between the discussors' denomonational beliefs.... and the 'end' part is what concerns me...

What would happen if we sought to begin on common ground?

what would happen, for instance, if we started a discussion with, say, our Baptist friends about the Sovereign God and His coming to earth to walk among us and die for us and be raised for us?

what would happen if we started a conversation with our Catholic friends by acknowledging that the Catholic church has, BY FAR, the most amazing and comprehensive ministry for orphans and unwanted children?

what would the result be if, instead of concentrating on our differences, we worked hand in hand with our friends from different religious backgrounds in a soup kitchen or free clinic?

here's what happens: you strengthen friendship.. you build relationship... and walls are obliterated.

and guess what: then you can discuss almost anything! and remain friends...

and though I am an infant in this way, the most magical thing has happened to me when I allow God to lead me like that... a lot of the 'things' I viewed as important are...

just not.

the message

so what's the message?

Sometimes when First Day sings, Devin introduces one of our songs by saying something like this:

"we get to sing for lots of different audiences.... so what is THE message we want to leave with them?"

then we sing 3:16, a song Bruce composed which essentially puts music to the most famous verse of the whole Bible...

I wonder sometimes if it wouldn't make sense for us to give thought to the same question in our day-to-day....

all the people I come into contact with.... what is the message I want to 'leave' with them today?

I am sort of a student of behavior... not nearly as observant as I should be, but somewhat aware nonetheless...

so if one could infer from another's behavior that they are trying to 'leave a message', what message would one see? ...or more personally, what message would the casual observer 'get' from my behavior?

So I thought about it... and I retraced my steps and my actions from 'a day in the life' of me... just to see...

and here are the 'messages' I conveyed:

• I'm in a hurry
• My time is more important than yours
• I know more than you do
• What I have to say is really really important, and what you have to say is, well, not so much
• I'm materialistic
• I have an inordinate love of food
• I am proud and arrogant
• I think I'm 'all that and a bag of chips'

wow. that was harsh. and insightful. and revealing. and true.

and really really disappointing... 'cause here's what I wanted to convey:

• I'm sold out to Jesus, and He rules my life

what message do you send?

God Bless!

labels

Labels are useful... how do you know what's IN something if you can't read (or look at the pictures) the label on the container!

Many labels exist today... we like to use them on people... and most of those are overused. But, frankly, some are well-deserved.

Still, I am not real fond of labels... I believe it makes us lazy and gives us license to not become familiar with people. It allows us space to not get close.... it gives us excuse to keep people at arm's length... and, as a result - if we're not careful - we become more and more distant from those whom we are called to engage...

after all, I would rather marginalize someone with a label than truly draw close to them and find out why they are like they are and offer help... or at least acceptance... or friendship.

especially poignant is the thought that Jesus did not discount people... and the only people he labeled were the 'religious'...

...brood of vipers... pharisees.... dead men's bones.... white-washed tombs...

the people we tend to label are those different from us... because we see them through our eyes...

Brandon Heath wrote a song called 'give me your eyes'...

it's worth watching the video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTsYAZvHsEQ

Blessings!

the Center of His Will

My friend John Harkness sent this video to me... it has beautiful music and a powerful message...

I have believed for a long time that many 'religious folks' (at least from my fellowship) assign value to conservatism. The more 'to the right' one may be, the 'better off' they are... it's a pendulum effect that causes people to run far and fast from a certain behavior or belief they may perceive as 'liberal', and they end up further to the 'right' than ever!

It occurred to me several years ago that we are called to try to 'be' in the center of God's will. I even drew a horizontal line on a whiteboard and placed a short vertical line at it's center... "imagine the vertical line is God's will. Don't we want to be as close to that 'center' as possible?"

I further asserted (and still believe) that being 'this far' to the 'right' of God's will had no more merit than being 'this far' to the 'left'... but somehow we have convinced ourselves that it's fine (and even better and laudable and 'safe') to be conservative - right of the center - while it's bad (sinful and dangerous) to be 'liberal' - left of center...

I am convinced that neither is correct.

God wants us to try and live in the very center of His will... period...

so as you think about that...

watch this video.... it will make you think!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-ufpVNgBBY

God Bless!

History Lesson

I love history... and I know that makes me a nerd. I like reading and watching and learning about most all periods of history....

My favorite movies include historical 'fiction', like "Braveheart", "Saving Private Ryan", "The Patriot", "the Blue and the Gray", "We Were Soldiers" and perhaps my very favorite is the HBO miniseries "Band of Brothers"... (ok, there's a war theme emerging... or a Mel Gibson affinity... not sure what that means)

Perhaps the most intriguing of all 'stories' is the story of His Church. ...and maybe the reason it's so interesting to me is that it is THE story of all time... literally. The recorded story of God's people - His Church (the ecclesia - called out) - begins with Genesis and, well...

continues with you and me today.

The most striking era in this story involves God incarnate. Because while the story is very interesting from Genesis to Malachi, it gets REALLY GOOD when God becomes man and lives among us.... then it starts to get really unbelievable...

for most of us, the most important part of the story is the part which includes us!

and since someone way smarter than me once observed that those who "ignore history are doomed to repeat it", I submit that it is of paramount import that we pay attention!

So as you endeavor to grow and learn and stretch, it would seem prudent that you learn from your own past...

For instance: If, historically speaking, I am in a better 'place' spiritually when I am, say, giving to others rather than thinking of myself, maybe 'history' would suggest that I daily remember to do something for someone else...

...or if I remember that I am less 'happy' and in tune with God when I hang out with this person or that group, perhaps history is suggesting that I not spend time with those folks...

Similarly, our local churches should do the same...

If we, as a local fellowship, are vibrant and happy and most useful to God when we are open to being challenged... then why wouldn't we ALWAYS endeavor to be open and challenged? why would we ever be 'closed' and unchallenged?

if your most treasured memories of your congregation involve times of transition and growth... then wouldn't you yearn for times of change and stretching? why would you ever seek or accept the status quo?

if, when you remember the most joyful time in your congregation's history, and that cherished memory involved a time when things were not altogether calm or smooth... wouldn't it make sense to almost flee from 'calm and smooth'?

if routine and sameness and stagnation are the natural opposites of excitement and movement and change, then why would you now crave the former and not the latter?

Why don't we, instead, crave and seek the MOVEMENT of HIS SPIRIT?
If most churches are a stagnant pond instead of a raging river, it's largely because they forgot their history....

His Holy Spirit wants to MOVE in us. His Spirit seeks to stir us up to action. He does NOT operate best in a calm, serene, stagnant pool of 'status quo'... and when we crave routine and calm and sameness, we are quenching God's Spirit... plain and simple.

Blessings!

about direction and leadership

How do you choose leaders who will take His church in the direction it needs to go? Who do you look to?

yeah, I understand we must look to His Spirit's guiding... and I know we must pray for His Hand to be on the process... but, practically speaking, how do we choose elders for our local churches? There is no modern day Paul-esque itinerant preacher/apostle roaming around the country establishing churches and appointing its leaders...

so... what do we do?

the Bible actually gives scant little information about what steps we are to take in appointing/choosing/installing shepherds or pastors or elders... We like to take I Timothy and Titus and make them 'lists', although I suspect that these (and the I Peter 5 text) were intended to serve more as 'heart windows' into prospective shepherds, rather than the litmus test our fellowship has bent them into...

so what do we look for?

is it someone who can 'get along' with the current elders?

is it someone who knows the Bible front to back?

is it someone who will 'represent' his 'constituents'?

perhaps each of these have merit...

but if this is His Church and His Body, maybe the very most important trait we should seek is... seeking.

What if we chose elders who, above all, were seekers? I'm not talking about 'seekers' in the 'mall-church-felt-needs-looking-for-Jesus' sense... I mean the type of 'seeker' who does not have all the answers, so he is constantly looking to God for them.

What if we chose shepherds who, like their namesake, would climb sheer cliffs and skinny limbs to 'get at' God's will? (remember the parable of the lost sheep in Matthew 18?)

What if our litmus test for leaders was not 'sameness' but 'stretching'?

We have three terrific shepherds at Riverside! and each of them, in their own way, are seekers and stretchers...

as we choose additional shepherds, let us constantly look to God and His Spirit's leading... and seek 'seekers'...

God Bless!

holidays and stress

I love the holidays! I love the music and the family visiting and the decorations and the general goodwill... I like the cold weather and the food and the food and, of course, the food!

But I know it can be a stressful time for some... and I wonder what it is that causes us to fret and stress and get all wrung out during this time of year...

sometimes it is family. your relationship with momma is strained... you haven't spoken to your dad in 6 months... you and sister are still fighting about something you can't even remember!

sometimes it is financial. barely enough money to pay the light bill, and a big dinner to buy and serve... not nearly enough cash to buy the gifts your kiddos want... or need... you can't even fill up your gas tank, much less decorate for the occasion.

sometimes it is loss... the holidays tend to remind us all of the loved and gone...

sometimes it is the stress of shopping for all those on your list!

whatever it is that causes you stress this time of year, let me encourage you to look for the good... look for the good in your family... look for the good in the goodwill... look for the good in loss... (remember, the reason you miss 'em is most likely because they blessed your life!) look for the good... even in the shopping!

if you know someone who lost a dear one this year, call them and tell them you are thinking about them!

if you have a warm place to sleep and stay, praise God and be thankful.

if your warm place is bigger than most, invite people over for a meal and good conversation!

if you have extra money (dig down, now), give it to someone you know can use it!

and above all, remember that people are more important than things... so spend time with 'em during this special time!

God Bless!

happy Thanksgiving

Wow. How blessed am I?

God has surrounded me with a terrific family in an idyllic setting; He has placed literally hundreds of people in my path who have made me a better person...

I am daily reminded of how great the sovereign God of the universe truly is.

I know there are many who hurt today. I realize there are scores of families in crisis and marriages on the brink of breaking as I sit and write this...

I pray God will ease pain and touch hearts... my hope is that those who are hurting will be receptive to His Spirit's comfort today.

This morning, as Lucy the Wonderdog curls up next to me on the couch, I can see into the dining room... the table setting is worthy of a Rockwell painting. In a few hours a dozen of the best people on the planet will sit down and eat the world's best turkey and dressing courtesy of my momma-in-law... we will have Kelly's melt-in-your-mouth homemade dinner rolls and Stacey's signature green bean bundles... my mouth is watering just thinking about it.

yep, in just under 6 hours, Rodney and Stacey and Blake and Olivia and Jason and June and Kelly and Caitlin and Cara and Cassie and me (oh, and Lucy the Wonderdog) will enjoy one of my favorite holiday meals.

Thank you, God, for blessing me... again.

protests and perversion

I did not know Jimmy Clay, though I have friends who knew him...

On November 13, 25 year old Sergeant James M Clay was killed in an auto accident in Anbar Province, Iraq while serving as a member of the 224th maintenance company of the Army National Guard.

On November 23 his body was laid to rest in a local cemetery after a funeral service at a local church.

I didn't know him, but I owe him. He volunteered to serve and protect my freedom and yours, and I do not take that lightly...

While the procession was leaving the church building, several protesters from the Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka, Kansas held up signs with slogans like "God hates America"...

I understand that you and I will differ on war and its causes... we may disagree about how the U.S. got involved in Afghanistan, or whether our young men and women should be placed in harm's way in Iraq... we can argue about why our troops are where they are and how they got there...

but protesting the war at a fallen soldier's funeral seems like a new all-time low... and I don't understand. really? holding up signs on the side of the road so Jimmy's wife and precious, grieving family can see their hatred... showing their disdain for one more soldier who made the ultimate sacrifice to preserve the very freedom they were enjoying on the side of that road.

for my part, people like that seem to have no concept of, nor appreciation for sacrifice. I for one would be happy to buy each of these ingrates a one-way ticket to any third-world country... I got no use for anyone who cannot at least understand what it takes to volunteer to lay down your life for your fellow man.

I have never served in the military. But I certainly have undying gratitude for anyone who dons the uniform of the United States of America.... especially a volunteer!

I realize our country is not perfect, and I, like you, sometimes wonder if 'we' are 'in the right'.

But I have been blessed with the opportunity to travel to 9 countries on 3 continents... and each of those trips - while enjoyable - shared one thing in common: when it was time to come home, I was happy to return to the greatest country on the planet.

Thank you, Jimmy Clay, for giving me the precious gift of freedom. The Bronze Star and The Distinguished Service Medal are small tokens indeed for your sacrifice.

As the Angels welcome you Home, may God be with your family and give them comfort. In the words of Abraham Lincoln,

"I pray that our Heavenly Father may

assuage the anguish of your bereavement,

and leave you only the cherished memory

of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride

that must be yours to have laid so costly a sacrifice

upon the altar of freedom"

to the protesters... well, there are no famous quotes acknowledging heartless cowards...

so I'll just say this:

please leave. move to another country.

or just stay in Kansas, I don't care...

just stay away from our town...

you are not welcome here.

changes

After a 10-year career with a local Educational Software company, Kelly and I have prayerfully decided it is time for a change...

I have accepted an offer to represent a company called Curriculum Advantage out of Atlanta, Georgia... my territory will be Arkansas, and I look forward to calling on my old friends in the Arkansas School districts!

Change is hard... but it occurs to me that our addiction to routine is a very unGodly trait.

this is a God thing. there is no doubt!

but still, while I am extremely excited about this new software package and this new company and this incredible opportunity, it is still a change...

I suspect that - just like every other turn in the road over my 47 years - it will turn out very blessed indeed... 'cause God is steering!

thank you in advance for all your well wishes...

my new email is tmartin@curriculumadvantage.com and my new phone number is the same as the old one, except the prefix is 736 instead of 656...

God Bless!

this is gonna be fun!

the Bucket List

Well Kelly and I finally rented the Bucket List last night...

a great story... and one of those that you are glad you saw in the comfort of your own home, so only those closest to you could see you bawl like a small infant!

We really enjoyed it... Nicholson and Freeman were very good in their roles as two recently diagnosed cancer patients who decide they will forgo further torturous chemotherapy treatment... they decide instead to make a list of everything they wanted to see and do before they 'kick the bucket' - hence the title.

It is a very intriguing idea.

When Mom was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic adenocarcenoma (if I live to be 150 years old, I will NEVER forget those fancy $5 words for 'lung cancer'), she and Dad decided to fight it. Most of us would likely make the same decision given similar circumstances... hindsight being 20/20, I think all of us wish she had been able to do what these two guys did.

I mean, she had 10 pretty good months... if you count as 'good' the routine chemotherapy treatments which poisoned her body and took her hair ...and the radiation treatments that stole her ability to taste food... if you count as 'good' the vomiting and general nausea that became a daily reminder of her disease - or more accurately, the cure for her disease...

if you count as good the daily shark cartilage milk shakes (I'm not making this up... though now it sounds like a punchline to a bad Saturday Night Live skit with Dan Akroyd and the 'RonCo Bass-o-matic') which tasted as good as they sound... if you count as good being finally so weak she became wheelchair-, then bed-bound...

I dunno... I honestly don't know which was worse: her illness or the treatment. Of course, it helps us sleep better at night to say that 'she would have felt MUCH worse if not for the treatment'...

Oh well... sorry for the digression. I guess I didn't know the movie brought up so many old, deep feelings...

but it makes me wonder (and I know it's easy for me to say this right now...) but I wonder sometimes...

if death is the door to Heaven... if dying is the path to eternal joy and forever being with Jesus... it sure seems that we Christians fight like hell to avoid it. I guess God placed this intense and instinctive 'will to live' inside us all...

OK, this started out as a flippin' movie review... and took a real dark turn toward introspection... sorry for that! :-)

truly, I don't know how I will face my own end here.

...but at least a part of me wants to believe I will embrace it and welcome it and, well, make my own bucket list.

Walkin in Memphis

every time I'm in a big city (I guess Memphis qualifies), I am reminded of how deep the need is for Jesus.

I realize the need is equally deep in my own town... but it seems greater somehow when I am next to the homeless and the depraved and the deprived. or at least when they are more obvious...

Again, I know there are those in Mountain Home who need Him just as acutely... I guess I somehow insulate myself from them when I am on my home turf.

As most of this city still sleeps, I am reminded of Harold Shank's words from a sermon he preached a few years ago: "there are 100,000 souls in need of Jesus who live and work in the very shadow of our church building"...

maybe its the numbers that stagger me and give me pause...

anyhow, mark it up to the ramblings of someone who woke up too early this morning! but God is reminding me today that the fields are indeed 'white unto harvest'

God Bless!

so what do we do with the marginalized?

In our small group, we are using an advance copy of Ross Cochran's small group 'curriculum'... it is a collection of case studies intended to cause discussion and reflection and deeper study into our daily walk, and includes real-life situations which we must deal with as we grow.

We are finishing up the first case after 3 or 4 weeks of really good discussion and study, and I am really enjoying the depth of thought it has provoked among our group. The one we started with is entitled 'can I be a member of your church?', and explores the minefields which we humans lay down with regard to 'joining a church'...

(Incidentally, for clarification, we agreed early in the study that this 'case' deals with how an individual 'officially becomes' a part of a local congregation... further, we discovered that there is a distinct difference between God 'adding the saved' to His Church [Universal] and a person 'joining' a local congregation)

anyhow, if the definition of exercise includes 'stretching', then this has been a worthwhile 'exercise' indeed!

As we closed our time last night, Kelly reminded us that much of this discussion revolves around how we treat the marginalized... what do we 'do' with the people whom we perceive as different? What actions do we take toward those whom society has defined as 'lesser'?

the homeless, the divorced, the orphaned, the widowed, the bi-polar, the imprisoned, the poor, the - well, let's be honest - weird people!?!??

what do we do?

I know it has become cliche... heck, it's a slogan on a bracelet... but what WOULD He do? What DID He do...

...with the blind man....
do we have some idyllic Dickensian vision (no pun) of this scene? one where the sightless guy was dressed nice with a white cane and the dark Stevie Wonder/Ray Charles glasses on... one where he smelled good and spoke properly and acted right?

...with the Samaritan woman...
do we imagine she was a woman just like our momma? dressed in the latest crop pants and flats and cute top? ...with a fresh layer of makeup and perfume applied for her trip to the city well?

...with the lepers or the Centurion or Peter's mother-in-law or the demon-possessed or the paralytic or the woman with the 'issue of blood'... yeccchhhh!

these people represented the ugliest side of society. Not really fit for our 'churches'.... not really welcome in our homes.... not particularly well-suited for our institutional theology...

but Jesus treated them every one with respect and honesty and dignity and... most of all... compassion and love.

dare we treat them any differently?

San Antonio

Well, we'd never been to San Antonio... but we will go back!

As it happens, the anniversary of my lovely bride's birth coincided with the expiration of my Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards free flight. So we picked a 'Southwest' city, pricelined a cool hotel and off we went!

We celebrated Kelly's birthday 730 feet above the ground in a revolving restaurant in the Tower of the America's (think Seattle's space needle) while enjoying the breath-taking, 360 degree vista of the San Antonio skyline... the meal was as wonderful as the view!

We toured the birthplace of Texas liberty, the Alamo... the audio tour is a must for anyone who visits the city... it was incredibly moving!

We strolled along the Riverwalk, this eclectic collection of shops and restaurants which is located below street level along both sides of the San Antonio river... which winds for several miles beneath the downtown area... (I know, you just gotta see it...)

It was so great to get away... and such a blessing to spend a couple days alone with my very favorite person and very best friend!

God Bless!

Christmas lights

So when my brother bought out dad's business, he moved it to the Industrial Park and sold the property beside daddy's house to the car lot next door.

for the last decade, Dad has transformed his property on Highway 62 SW into a winter wonderland... 20,000 Christmas lights, 3 huge inflatables - a Santa, a Snowman and a snow family - a dozen 'trees', 3 angels and a host of other various life size lighted holiday figures adorn his 5 acres every year...

It has become a staple of Christmas Joy in North Central Arkansas!

Well, for the last 5 years or so, his employees provided the 150 man hours required for the transformation... but this year, the business is not there... and neither are the employees!

He talked about abandoning the decorating and selling all the pieces, but too many people begged him not to...

so for the last 3 days, Daddy and I have strung lights and anchored inflatables and replaced bulbs and scaled his roof... and it has been 3 of the best days of my life.

I don't make the time I should to be with my dad... and the opportunity God provided this last 3 days will remain one of my best memories of me and him...

No, he's not going anywhere... he's healthier than me! And I will now make a better effort to find ways to spend time with him... but I am really happy we were able to be together - just me and him - for three days...

Miss Edna provided 3 sumptuous lunches to break up each day...

It was just... perfect!

If you are blessed with parents who are still with you on this earth, please find time in your busy schedule and just spend time with them.

There is no better investment.

Blessings!

singing with old friends... thank you God for such a blessing!

Wow!

what a weekend of praise... last weekend the trees and leaves screamed their brilliant and colorful praises to the King! And we got to experience one of the finest color shows on earth...

this past week, the wind sang its worship as it whistled and howled and blew the leaves to the ground... incredible! (and Sunday afternoon, Kelly and Cara and Cassie and I raked them up and bagged them and enjoyed a brilliant sunshiny day outdoors with Lucy the Wonderdog)

but Saturday was a highlight! When the First Day guys arrived in Mountain Home to rehearse before our engagement at the First Christian Church in Gainesville, we stopped by Jimmy and Charlene Horton's house to sing with them...

I have sung for all my life... I can't remember a time when I didn't. And my very earliest and fondest memories of singing are with Jimmy Horton leading hymns at worship assembly for College and North Church of Christ, which met at what is now the Jackson Rentals building... He is the only person I have ever known who used a tuning fork to pitch the songs...

anyhow, Jimmy's love of singing and passion for praise is unparalleled... (his understanding of shaped note music is also incredible!) ...and I can think of nobody who loves God and praising Him with song more than my dear old friend... his inimitable style and soaring tenor voice remain, for me, one of God's Greatest Gifts to any man.

So it was one of the greatest blessings of my entire life to be able to stop by Jimmy and Charlene's house to sing with them Saturday with my First Day friends.

We brought hymnals and sang a half dozen old hymns... and we sang a few songs from the First Day repertoire...

and we were blessed! and God was praised! and Jesus was glorified!

Jimmy and Charlene sang along with us (and, incidentally, the old boy can still sing!!!), and I was so moved by the experience, it was hard for me to find my voice at times...

If life is marked by mountain top experiences, Saturday was a very tall peak indeed...

If life is made richer by the people God places in your path, the Hortons have made me (and countless others) rich beyond measure!

Thank you, Jimmy and Charlene, for blessing my life. Thank you for Saturday.

thank you, God, for the Hortons.

the lottery - one person's view

So I'm soaking in the election results... pretty intriguing stuff...

and I was just thinkin'...

one interesting ballot initiative gave voters the choice to establish a state lottery... I happen to believe that gambling is a particularly insidious vice which can trap a person really quickly. I know that gambling victimizes the poorest segment of the population, and devours those least equipped to defend themselves... and I know a bit more...

One of my dearest friends spent 44 months in federal prison because of a series of bad decisions which began with betting on college football games. He lost his job, his wife, his kids and his freedom... to say I am against state sponsored gambling would be putting it mildly.

Well, the people spoke last Tuesday and passed the measure... and Arkansas became the 43rd state to have a lottery.

A friend of mine was bemoaning the outcome of the vote to a preacher's wife today... and she had an interesting 'take' on the lottery 'coming to Arkansas'...

"When the lottery passed in the state where we used to live, our benevolence exploded!" she lamented.

I would like to believe she saw this 'explosion' as a a great opportunity to serve and help and counsel hurting people... but I think she was complaining about the strain it put on the 'church budget'... maybe they had to dip into their church savings account... OK, I'll stop...

who knows...

I know God is in control and I know His ways are so far above mine... and if He chooses to use something which I perceive to be evil to His glory by placing hurting people in our path whom we can help and counsel... who am I to argue?

oh, well... just thinkin'...

Welcome Home!

My friends and heroes are home safely from Panama!

Holly Smith picked Lynn and Joy up from the Little Rock Airport on Wednesday (after six months at 'Riverside in Panama') and they arrived back in God's Country (though an argument could be made that they just left God's Country) in the evening...

Welcome Back!

The family at Riverside cannot wait to see you at our assembly on Sunday...

I know the Nelsons are road weary and more than a little sad to have left their other home, but I also know they are craving worship with their American brothers and sisters who think about them and pray over them and support them from afar!

Thank you, God, for their safe return!

Blessings!

President Obama

Yesterday we continued this experiment called America. We elected the 44th president or our representative republic, and It always fills me with great pride to take part in this most basic of democratic practices... Especially sweet this election is the fact that my oldest daughter exercised that privilege for the first time in her life. I feel very blessed indeed to live in this era... and I am struck by the fact that she would not have been allowed to vote if she were born only a few decades ago...

I did not support Barack Obama... nor did I vote for him. But 52 per cent of those who voted (about 62 million Americans) did. He won a simple majority of the popular vote in enough states to garner 349 electoral votes - 79 more electors than needed to earn the highest office in the land. By anyone's calculation, this was a landslide... and for that, I am extremely grateful. Only 8 years ago, I remember being on pins and needles for over 3 weeks awaiting the official winner...

For those who supported and voted for President-elect Obama, I congratulate you. His acceptance speech was one of the best speeches I have ever heard! He and his writers are extremely gifted, and showed unbelievable awareness of the gravitas of this truly historic night. His speech may well be remembered right up there with Dr. King's 'I have a dream' and President Kennedy's 'ask not what your country' and President Reagan's 'tear down that wall' speeches... If President-elect Obama governs like he campaigned, he has a legitimate chance of being a great Commander-in-Chief!

For those who voted for Senator McCain, I congratulate you as well... you supported a very good man of the highest moral fiber... I also congratulate you because we all participated in a rite which most of us take entirely for granted. I believe he would have made an excellent President... his patriotism is above reproach and his track record - despite Obama's campaign-trail assertions to the contrary - is much more moderate than most Republicans. And his concession speech - maybe the hardest speech to deliver - was eloquent and classy and terrific.

From a political perspective, Barack Obama built the most incredible campaign machine in the history of machines! And, to his credit, he was able to mobilize and motivate a demographic which is always counted on but rarely delivers - the 18 to 25 year old voter... this election, for the very first time, they turned out in droves! and that is remarkable and very very positive!

But at the end of the day, President-elect Obama excited people and Senator McCain did not. Yeah, the economy tanked at just the wrong time for McCain and most Americans have lost whatever interest in and support for the war on terror they once may have had... and the Obama camp made very very few missteps...

Here is what we should ALL understand:

If you supported John McCain, things are not as bad as you (or the pundits) may think... and if you supported Barack Obama, things are not as good as you (or the pundits) believe...

The sun came up this morning, I still have to pick up Lucy the Wonderdog at the vet, Joy and Lynn (my heroes and Panama missionary friends) are coming home today, my dear friend's marriage is still in peril, the economy is still in serious trouble, gas prices are still at an 18-month low, I am still married to the most beautiful (inside and out) woman on the planet, my 3 daughters are still the most wonderful blessings any daddy could ever have...

Whether Senator McCain or Senator Obama was elected, my world will have changed very little, if at all...

and, above all, the same God who breathed our planet into existence and knows how many hairs are on my head (fewer every morning)...

He is still in control.

So, since I am a Christian, I will not be depressed or fearful; and I will not be a hand-wringing worry wart... instead, I resolve to act like I know Who's in charge...

May He bless Barack Obama and may He bless the United States of America!

more devouring by the prowling lion

Another family in crisis. Another marriage crumbling. Another pair of children whose parents are struggling with the chest-crushing, heart-ripping decision of whether to stay married.

I can't bear it... I can't stand to watch... these people are not statistics anymore, they are my friends. and I feel helpless...

Please pray for yet another family that is falling apart. God is the God of healing, and we must implore Him to do His thing on this precious couple.

My friends are heartbroken as they face this possibility...

God of All Creation, please help!

to be forgotten

I watch with interest from the sidelines the 2008 State Volleyball tournament... my daughter Cara plays middle hitter for MHHS, and their season is done for this year. Lake Hamilton ousted them last night in a hard fought match 3-1...

As I watched this match, I noticed that the coach got really caught up in the excitement of the game and... well... forgot about my daughter on the bench.

Now I know this is a daddy talking here... and I know my Cara is not the only player who gets 'forgotten' on the bench...

But there we were at the state tournament by virtue of our performance during the conference season (to which many girls contributed including my middle child), and the coach simply forgot to put some of the girls in the rotation... most notably (and not just to her daddy) - my Cara.

And I was amazed. I know it happens every day in sports and in other parts of life... and I thank God that Cara places the proper amount of importance on sports... (as Kelly said, she was doing just fine watching 'what not to wear' last night, seemingly already over being left out of the most important match of her high school volleyball career...)

You hope that a coach will a) 'dance with what brung ya' (interpretation: play the girls who helped you win enough to make it to state!) and b) not get so caught up in the game herself to forget about your bench players!

Oh well... season's over for this year... onward and upward!

But it still hurts. ...to be forgotten.

How marvelous it is that we serve a God who doesn't forget! Yeah, I know, He has a mercifully terribly memory about all the things we screw up...

but God knows His own...

Matthew and Luke record Jesus' words which confirm this blessed memory:

"even the hairs of your head are numbered"

wow!

What a God! ...who will never forget!

Blessings

27 degrees this morning - yikes!

OK, so you know I love the changing of the seasons... and I really enjoy the blessing of living in a place where we get to bask in all 4 of them.

But each time the weather change signals that one is over and the next one is here, I am always taken a bit by surprise... no, I know it's coming... it just sort of, I dunno... surprises me!

such is the weather this morning... it's flippin' 27 degrees!!! that's freezin!

I know it's cold when Lucy the Wonderdog scratches at the door to go out and then, when we crack the door, she backs away from it and looks at me like "what happened??!?! that's cold!"

anyhow, this weekend we 'fall back'... and set our clocks back an hour, gaining 60 minutes overnight! And I, for one, have been missing that hour ever since it was pried from my fingers back in April...

yep, fall has fell... and I love it!

and winter is not far behind... ouch!

I do love the crispness in the air this time of year...

and I don't know why, but on crisp cool mornings like this one, I am especially reminded of a youth song we used to sing all the time... of course it comes from scripture:

the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases

His mercies never come to an end

they are new every morning

great is thy faithfulness!

new every morning... I like that!

Blessings!

Spiritual exercise

Every time I turn on the TV, I see at least 3 commercials for getting healthy... weight loss and diet scams and ads for the Ab Burner Plus Ultimate... or my personal favorite, the Super Duper Pull Up Bar which looks for all the world like a piece of electrical conduit but evidently gives you a 6 pack and makes all the girls on the planet - especially those wearing bikinis - desire you with an uncontrollable passion...

anyhow, it is no secret the Americans are FAT and/or out of shape!

Some of us are a little overweight and some of us are corpulent (my word for the day - means morbidly obese, which just sounds bad!), while others are just not in good cardiovascular condition....

So we Americans spend about $40 Billion a year on 'getting healthy'. wow.

Yet we are still in poor physical condition... why? simple! Diet and Exercise! ...simply put, we eat wrong and don't exercise enough!

(Analogy alert!)

Most of us are in poor spiritual condition as well... for the same reasons: we 'eat' wrong and don't 'exercise' enough!

So what are you filling your spiritual belly with? Do you read the Word daily? (we sure wouldn't miss a meal, right?) when you study and read the Word, what is your purpose? It seems that when most of us study, it is to prepare for a Bible class (in which we are trying to help people reach a certain conclusion) or to 'check out' what that preacher said... when we study like that, we are depriving ourselves! Or, for the vast majority of us, I'm afraid we don't even touch a Bible until we are on the way out the door to 'church'... so we get all our 'nourishment' from someone else... and all in a nice tidy package 2 hours per week! When that is our method for feeding ourselves, we are STARVING!!!

what are you doing to 'exercise' your spiritual body? note: when Jesus is separating the sheep from the goats in Matthew 25, he is doing so based on how they treated each other, especially the 'least of these my brothers'... note further: when God speaks through Amos (recorded in Amos 5) to His people, He is warning about the disconnect between the 'Tuesday them' and the 'Sunday (ok, Saturday, but you get the point) them'... when Jesus Himself defines 'religion', He says that it is taking care of widows and orphans and keeping one's self pure....

Momma used to say that losing weight is really simple.... (and by the way, I have lost about 3,756 pounds in my life.... but I've gained just over 4,000 lbs)... to lose weight, you simply take in less that you put out! eat less, exercise more!

I wonder how that works in an analogy? If we were foundering on the Word - absolutely FULL of It, I guess the application would be clear.... but we are starving for His Word... AND most of us don't get NEAR enough spiritual exercise!

so, while God instructs us to know His Word ("write in our you hearts"), He spends a LOT more 'ink' on how we treat each other... the EXERCISE!

ok, now I'm rambling...

I know that most of us are spiritually unhealthy. And I know studying the Bible - by itself - will not make us well... we gotta put It into action... (to be continued....)


Blessings!

don't hesitate - do!

just a quick encouragement as you start your day today...

when you see someone who needs a smile... don't hesitate...

when you see someone who needs a lift... don't hesitate

when you learn of someone who needs a phone call... don't hesitate

when you find out there is someone who needs an email or a text... don't hesitate...

God will place tons of opportunities right in your path today.... so be present and alert and aware and...

don't hesitate!

Blessings

Honduran school children

I just heard from my friend Michelle Moore at the Mt Comfort Church in Fayetteville... and she wanted to tell me about the results of our fund-raising efforts last Friday night...

Their goal was to sponsor (scholarship) 200 children to go to school and learn to read and write... (a luxury in Tegucigalpa) It costs $75 per child for a year...

They received enough money to sponsor 120 kiddos that night, and are continuing to receive donations, hoping to get to the 200 number...

If you would like to sponsor a child, please email Michelle Moore at battlebuddies@hotmail.com

You will receive a postcard with the child's name and picture, so you can know exactly who you gifted this education to... very very cool!

The concert went great, and was very well-received... and the comedian was very very good and really funny! check out Mike Williams at http://mikewilliams.tv/

very funny, and very engaging....a wonderful ministry! he spent a lot of time with the First Day guys and anyone else who wanted to visit with him...

anyhow, if God moves you to sponsor a child, please email Michelle!

God Bless!

fences and gates and padlocks

I saw something yesterday that stunned and disappointed me.

While driving to a friend's house to watch the Hogs lose to Kentucky (AARRRGGGHHH!), I noticed a little country church building... I'd seen it a hundred times before... I've even attended worship there...

So as we drove past this little building which sits in a field about 200 feet off the highway, I noticed something I had never noticed before... it has a barbed wire fence around it... OK, maybe there are cattle in the field where the building sits... then I noticed there was a swinging gate across the driveway.

Then I noticed the most striking feature: the gate was closed and latched and...

padlocked.

Wow. A church in a field with a fence and a gate and a padlock. now there's an analogy begging to be made!

I also thought it an unwelcome sight when I first saw the sign beside a church building on highway 60 on the way to Springfield:

the King James Bible Church

I don't know what kind of hearts the members of these churches possess... but the sign and the padlock speaks pretty loudly.

In a day when - more than ever - people need to feel welcome in God's presence and in the presence of His people, it would seem that we should do everything in our power (and everything in His name) to attract seekers to our lives... and to Him... and even to our houses of worship.

Yet these two examples - especially the church behind the padlocked gate - seem to send a very unwelcome message...

Oh, and by the way, there were no cows behind that padlocked gate... evidently they are not welcome either!

May God Bless us as we lift up His Son!

"But I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."

red and yellow, black and white

While I was in Tegucigalpa, Honduras a few years ago, I was surrounded by many stark reminders of just how good we Americans have it... In this huge central American metropolis there are very definitely two distinct classes of people: the affluent and the poor. And by poor I don't mean poor by American standards...

I mean those trapped in abject hopeless poverty. Most of the 'have nots' live in shanties with dirt floors and no indoor plumbing at best ...and a very large portion live in houses made of scrap lumber and refrigerator boxes...

The wealthy of Honduras' capital city do not want to be bothered with the poor. Their pristine mall (worthy of any large U.S. city) is surrounded with large walls topped by concertina combat wire. Armed guards stand sentry at the mallwall gates as if they were protecting Fort Knox.

Yeah I saw a hundred heart-breaking things and heard as many soul-rending stories.

But by far the most dreadful story was one where a group of wealthy store owners paid the police to rid their 'side of town' of the street urchins...

for years the rumors had run rampant about children disappearing from the street never to be seen again... the rumors were confirmed about 5 years ago when a mass grave was discovered outside the city. It was filled with dozens of tiny decomposing bodies of these street kids...

When I returned from that trip, I remember standing next to Cassie's bed one night before I kissed her good night. And I wept and I sang...

"red and yellow, black and white

they are precious in His sight"

Tonight I am blessed with the opportunity to sing with my First Day brothers for the children of Honduras...

We are helping to raise money so they can be rescued from the street... so they can go to school and learn to read and write... so they can grow up to be productive citizens of their home country...

please pray for our efforts and those of the Mt Comfort Church of Christ...

Jesus loves the little children of the world

Revealing Bible Study

So last night Doyne led our Wednesday night Bible study... it centered around the 'reveal' study which Willow Creek is undertaking (with help from 500 churches around the country)...

I found it very interesting and challenging...

the concept of the Willow Creek study is that we (churches) are still paying attention to the wrong things... with regard to 'growth' we still look at the numbers...

a couple years ago, WC determined that they were gonna stop that practice and try very hard to help individuals grow spiritually... along the way, they developed four 'tags' for people as they journey along the path...

1)Christ Seekers 2)Growing toward Christ 3)Closeness to Christ 4)Christ-centered

number 1, of course, is sort of the least mature sort... while number 4 is the most spiritually mature...

the idea is that everyone who attends church fits somewhere on this continuum...

The study endeavors to discover two primary things:

1. where does each 'attender' fit
2. which ministries tend to meet the needs of which type(s) of attender

additionally, the study purports to learn what the needs are for each type of attender...

So far, their research has revealed that the 'seeker' and those 'growing toward Christ' were - generally speaking - in NEED of being ministered to... while those who are 'close to Christ' and those who are 'Christ-centered' are in NEED of opportunities to minister to others...

Essentially, however, most churches have paid a LOT of attention to the first two groups with our ministries.... and scant little attention to those further along on the 'maturity continuum'... in other words, we are providing service to a large number of seekers and growers while many more mature Christians are unfed.

I believe this to be a worthwhile exercise... so I challenge all of us to try to understand these concepts as they relate to our congregations...

and please let me know your thoughts!

God Bless!

God's Mosaic

God is developing a thought in my feeble brain... (I promise, I will give Him the credit if it turns out to have 'legs', and I will take the blame if it turns out to be lame!)

Anyhow, as we study prayer and its power and its result, it is clear that there is still a whole lot which seems mysterious, at least to me...

and the mystery deepens as we try to understand God's answers to our prayers.... and inevitably, we end up at the doorstep of 'why'?

Now it could be (as we have all heard from our pulpits) that it is simply a matter of faith.... just a simple thing of trusting Him to provide and answer prayers in the way which is best (in His divine eyes) for us. And I get that.... I still struggle with it, but I get it...

And, on one level, I know that's how we should view His answers to our petitions as we mature.

On the other hand, we know there are examples of man's prayer changing God's mind throughout the Bible...

I have seen Him heal people and change situations and touch hearts as a direct result of people's fervent prayers (at least I think it results from that...)

So I'm sorta stuck.

OK, to the thought which is just beginning to crystalize in my gray matter...

The ground floor of the McInteer Bible Building on the campus of Harding University in Searcy is a tile mosaic. As you stand on it, it is almost impossible to see what the mosaic represents... If you climb to the second floor and peek off the landing, it becomes a little clearer... then, if you go to the top floor landing and peer over the side, it settles in with crystal clarity that what you are looking at is, in fact, a beautiful 'picture' of the globe... it is a tile mosaic of the earth!

Is it possible that we fail to see the divine mosaic of life because we are busy living it? Could it be that we are so 'close' to the events and 'prayer-answers' that we only see them as they relate to our little bitty speck of time on this sphere?

I wonder if God were to take us to the 'top floor' and allow us to gander at the whole picture, would His Mosaic become clear?

Dunno.... but there's a thought starting to form... (I know, dangerous.)

God Bless!

true ministry

when most people think of ministry, they think of a minister... you know, the kind with the 3-piece suit and a degree who preaches at a local church. He also visits the sick and shut-ins (don't you love THAT word), and he teaches the occasional (or every-Sunday-auditorium) class....

Well, last Sunday night at my house, I saw ministry in its purest form.

The discussion moved to prayer and, frankly, whether it works or not... and one of our ladies just spilled her heart about how she aches every day for her son who died a couple years ago... and how, without prayer, she would 'not have made it'.

That was powerful...

but by far the most seminal moment of the night was when - just after the 'official' meeting ended - another precious mom and grandma poured out her soul about how hollow her heart is since her daughter died just over a year ago. Then the first mom knelt beside the second mom and they shared their heartache with each other....

and true ministry happened.

As my wife has observed often... whatever trials and hardship and heartbreak have befallen you, THAT is YOUR ministry!

you need no degree nor suit nor particular gender nor pulpit to minister. you just need a heart to share your common experience...

and ministry breaks out!

God Bless!

Sunday - family reunion day!

What a beautiful day we woke up to in the Ozarks today! 60 degrees, bright sunshiny skies, low humidity.... lovely!

and especially lovely because in a few minutes we all get to go to our weekly family reunion! We get to see and visit and worship and praise and commune and just be together...

That the Godman Christ would envision our deep need for this weekly gathering still astounds me... that anyone would choose not to join in is a constant source of amazement to me.

I minister and I am ministered to... and it is spectacular!

God Bless us as we gather today in His name...

reaching requires stretching

About 15 years ago, I played racquetball 3 or 4 times a week... I mean I loved it! I was actually racquetball champion at the Mtn Home Racquet Club one year in a row back in the 90s... (admittedly, I beat some guy with a bad toupee in the semis and another dude who was 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide - but uncannily quick - to win the title)

anyhow, I learned a lesson from r-ball... (ok, two lessons: the first was to NOT wear a rug during strenuous physical activity)

I learned not to give up on a ball that I thought I couldn't get to... you see, God blessed me with a sort of long frame... I'm about 6'3" with a similar wingspan, and I learned that I could get to a lot more balls than I imagined... I just had to not give up and... I had to stretch to reach 'em...

I am just beginning to understand how that lesson ('reach and stretch', NOT 'lose the rug') applies to ministry...

Our number one priority in life is to reach others for Christ... to lift Him up so He can draw people to Himself... so how do we reach?

some of us are inviters. and that's a wonderful way to reach people... I heard last night of a young lady who invited a young man to her youth group all through high school - every week - until he finally said yes.... he is now a full time youth pastor serving about 40 kiddos at a local church... so inviting is one very good strategy...

others of us are examplers. and that is a great way to reach people as well... not as in-your-face as the inviter, but very effective... just living Jesus in front of our peers...

still more of us are wonderers and wanderers... not really sure how to reach, and not real settled on our own walk...

the point is (and, yes, I do have one): while Jesus' message NEVER changes, our methods must!

so, just like reaching a well-placed shot on the racquetball court requires stretching, so does ministry!

you gotta stretch to reach!

So let me challenge us to apply this to ourselves... today, I encourage us to intentionally try to stretch ourselves to reach someone for Him.

Show kindness to someone you hadn't planned to... ask someone to pray with you... share your testimony with a co-worker or class mate...

stretch!

I promise - better yet, He promises - that He will bless our efforts....

God Bless!

so, you wanna go to heaven?

so, you think you wanna go to heaven...

are you fit for the kingdom? What will it be like? What are the prerequisites for getting there? What will go on in heaven?

Well, the only thing I feel certain about is that we will be forever with Jesus, the One who died to give us that Home...

We read in the Bible of certain characteristics of the place we look forward to. Some seem to be metaphorical (though God can make the place whatever He wills): pearly gates, golden streets, etc. Some seem to be very real to us: no pain, no regrets, everlasting peace and happiness...

Whatever wonder He prepares for His own, there is one intriguing question we seem to like to debate: Who will be there?

Well, for all my growing up, I was taught that the litmus test for entry into Heaven was how we worshipped on Sunday morning (oh, and whether your church had one pastor or several elders... and whether your church had a headquarters... and - for some - whether you had a kitchen in your building or not or used one or several cups to serve communion...) and, perhaps - way down the 'qualifications' list - how you lived...

As I continue to learn and understand just a little bit, my 'qualifications list' gets shorter and shorter... as if it matters what I think!

i.e.: Are you a believer? do you believe Jesus is God's Son and came to earth through a miraculous virgin birth, lived as a man, died on a cross for our sins and rose on the 3rd day?

(I have lots of friends who have such a myopic view of who's gonna 'make it', I wonder if they will be shocked to see folks in heaven who didn't believe exactly the way they do...)

God's Spirit inspired Paul to write 'there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved'

but here's the best part: we don't have to decide! God is the righteous judge, and He came to earth in human form so that "none would perish, but everyone would have everlasting life"...

We have spent so much time arguing about who's right and who's going, and I have stopped... really... I have stopped that fruitless exercise...

Our job is to scatter seed....

so how 'bout we stay busy doing that?

Let's let God be God and get out de way so He can do His work...

Blessings!

understanding prayer

I just love it when we humans act like we have something figured out... my own arrogance about such is astounding!

We live in the world of possible and serve the God of the impossible. Yet we are so enamored of our intelligence and understanding... I think I have it all learned and then God puts someone or something in my path as a gentle reminder that I don't know jack!

God said through Isaiah: "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts"

I had one of those "My Ways are Higher" moments last night...

during our life group discussion, a very earnest seeker made the comment that he was not sure if or how prayer works... for those of us who consider ourselves somewhat studied (see, can't you just smell my arrogance), it was a little offensive... so we trotted out the 'usual suspects' like Paul to remind us that 'the effectual prayer of a righteous man availeth much' (notice the KJV condescension?) and 'all things work together for good for those that love the Lord and are called according to His promise'...

then we quietly congratulated ourselves on having those - and other - Bible verses at the ready for just such an occasion...

meanwhile, the earnest seeker humbly asked us for proof...

how come your momma died (asked the seeker) when you prayed so hard for her to be healed?

why did your friends' marriage dissolve after counseling and praying and asking God to make it right?

aren't you righteous? aren't your prayers effectual?

well, that stopped me...

my only answer (and I admit it's lame and theoretical) is that we cannot see the big picture... and God can. We see only our eensy teensy little bitty speck of the monstrous mosaic which God is painting... and maybe someday He will reveal the how and why... (told you it was lame)

All I know (really) is that we have to "trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding"...

beyond that, I have very few answers.

and I feel really really small... and that's really really ok... because I serve the God who sees it all and knows it all.

grudges are heavy

do you carry past pain? are the times when someone mistreated you always at the front of your mind? Do you recall - with crystal clarity - when and how this person or that person hurt you?

Please let it go.


On most days, I visit my momma's grave. I know she is in heaven... and I know that her gravesite holds nothing but the shell she shed... I get that. But I stop by the place where her body is buried, nonetheless.

It's a pretty place... quiet... and, on days like today, it is especially beautiful! Bright sunshine and cool temperatures and low humidity... Momma loved days like today.

As I stand beside her headstone, I notice the dates shown: 1935 - 1996... and I think about the dash. Just a small horizontal line connecting the first and last date...

Mom's dash was very full! Great Husband, 4 loving children, 8 grands (during her life) and a lifeful of living... During mom's last days, she told me several times that she was ready to go be with Jesus. But she would really like to see her kiddos continue to grow and her grandkids grow up...

I guess if I were pressed, I might say those were 'regrets' she had... kinda weird to talk about now...

as I looked around, I saw that there are are other headstones that show a 'born' date but no 'died' date.... just a four digit number and a dash:

1943 -

1961 -

1928 -

and it occurs to me that we - those of us with the open dashes - have living left to do... and we have opportunities to make things better. To correct mistakes and right wrongs... and to forget the times when people didn't treat us well...


so, if you are carrying bad feelings for anyone... but especially family... drop them. Drop them now. Forget who said what and who was right and who was wrong...

I have watched as some around me held onto grudges and 'wronged' feelings... until, finally, it dominates their every thought process. It literally consumes them... to the point where the grudges they carry become their identity! and, sadly, they may as well have cancer because they are literally being eaten from the inside...

and for what?

Here's the deal: there's only One Who won't ever disappoint... only One who will always always be there!

but people are people and they are gonna disappoint you... so get used to it! Get over it! That doesn't mean all people are bad or that everyone is out to get you... it just means we're human... even those with the best intentions will let you down or do things differently than you might...

so what do you do with that? you got two choices: a) know it going in and live with it, or b) be surprised and let down and hurt and always upset and miserable and make it your life's work to remember every wrong ever done to you...

know this: we are all gonna 'close the dash' someday, and your kids or friends are gonna put your shell in the ground... and, as far as this life is concerned, that will be that!

So how you gonna fill in the dash?

May I suggest that we all try to be in the constant state of forgiving? We all need mercy from each other... so live the way Jesus did: always eager to forgive and move on...


God Bless!

inspiration out of tragedy

Did you catch the story about Matt and Melissa Bryant late last week? When they came in to check on their infant son Tryson on Wednesday morning, they realized every parent's worst fear. He was non responsive.... He was dead.

18 months old.... crib death... sudden infant death syndrome... call it what you want. I'm sure for them it is simply an unfathomable nightmare from which they really would like to wake up...

They buried him on Saturday, and Matt had to decide if he should work on Sunday, his normal workday...

no, he's not a preacher... he's a placekicker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I cannot imagine the strength it would take to get out of bed, and I find it simply supernatural that he somehow found a way to strap it on for the annual rivalry between his Bucs and another baytown football team, the Packers...

"I wanted to do it for Tryce", he told a reporter after the game, "a sort of tribute"...

well it was quite a tribute...

here's how ESPN.com's Pat Yasinskas described it:

A day after burying his infant son, Matthew Tryson, Bryant went out and kicked three field goals, including the game-winner. Bryant then walked into the media room, looking dazed, and talked about how he played because he wanted to honor Tryson and admitted he had a running dialogue (in his head) with his son throughout the game.

You couldn't possibly sit in that room and not feel your heart coming apart. I went back upstairs and wrote my column. Ordinarily, that would have been the end of it. But you don't just move on from something like this.

In the 20 or so hours since that column went up, the comments section has been filled up with beautiful thoughts for Bryant and my mailbag has received more letters than on any day since it started a couple months ago. As of this moment, I've received five letters from readers who also lost children.

Every one of them talked about how you never lose the pain, but you do what you can to get by.

Every one of them made me realize what I witnessed yesterday wasn't a football game.

It was a lesson in life for all of us. It would be easy to make Bryant a story of tragedy and triumph, but that wouldn't be accurate. You couldn't hear any triumph in Bryant's voice or see any on his blank face as he spoke. Three field goals don't just wipe out a tragedy. A million more field goals won't even do that.

That's what makes Bryant's story so powerful. It's real and it's raw emotion. You've got to learn from it.

The people who wrote about losing children have never met Bryant and they probably never will. Yet, they're all faced with the common daily challenge of doing what they have to do to get by.More than anything -- and this is what separates Bryant and those people from a lot of other athletes and the fantasy world we've all created -- they're human beings. They're real.

And they're a whole lot stronger than some myth who can go out and bench press 400 pounds.

God Bless Matt and Melissa...

tm