Non-Negotiables

OK, I've given it some thought (my main thought is that this MUST stand up to scriptural scrutiny)... it is still a work in progress, not because I am wavering or uncertain, only because I have never written it down... but here goes:

Here are my non-negotiable 'I Believe' statements:

1. I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God - period.
2. I believe the Bible is the true, complete and literal story of God creating everything (including mankind), and that its overarching theme - from Genesis to Revelation - is that of fallen man being reconciled to the God who created him.
3. I believe God sent His only Son Jesus (via a miraculous virgin birth) as the centerpiece of this story - to live among mankind and die on a cross to save him from his sins
4. I believe that, during His ministry, Christ set the 'template' for His followers. He helped people when He found them in need, miraculously healed people who were sick, and gave His followers the spiritual tools to tell His story to every person in the world after His death.
5. I believe Jesus was brutally tortured and executed by crucifixion, then was raised from the grave on the third day after He was killed.
6. I believe He left the Holy Spirit as comforter and helper for His followers.
7. I believe Jesus ascended into Heaven, where He sits on God's right hand beside the throne.
8. I believe that, during His absence, He wants us to try to imitate Him and tell His story to everybody.
9. I believe Jesus will return one day to gather His people and deliver them to heaven to live with Him forever.
   

OK, that's a start... I think I can say this: if you believe these things, I am your brother. If you don't, I still love you... I want to study with you.... but my goal will be to convince you of these truths...

Will we agree on everything else? Not likely... but these are 'hills to die on' for me... please feel free to comment back and challenge or add or subtract.... it may make for really good discussion!

May God Bless us as we always try to follow Him.

Velvet Elvis - just my 2c

So, I finished Rob Bell's book entitled 'Velvet Elvis'... and I thought I'd share my 2 c:

After I finished 'Velvet', I admit I had this uneasy feeling... kinda like I'd just seen an unpleasant, private exchange between two people that I wasn't supposed to see... I don't know really how to explain it... OK, in terms I can relate with even better: kinda like watching a stranger pick his nose when he thought nobody was looking.... you sort of wish you hadn't seen it, but you couldn't look away...

I found the book to be challenging and a little irreverent (OK, a LOT irreverent)... but that didn't bother me much. The thing I have to fight against is taking this (or any book) as gospel... I would like to believe that Bell himself would expect all of us to examine any literary work under the microscope of scripture... but maybe not...

I guess THAT'S what gives me this nagging, uncomfortable feeling in my gut about this book... I get the distinct impression that Bell exhorts the reader to challenge EVERYTHING, including the veracity and integrity of scripture! As a matter of fact, now that I think about it, I feel certain that could be the book's subtitle - "Challenge Everything" - and I know that sounds cool and new age and all... but I just don't feel right about it. In fact, I feel kinda dirty...

Because Bell (in his 'challenge everything' zeal) seems to exhort the reader to challenge the inerrancy of scripture itself. i.e.: Were the stories in the Bible literal or just fairy tales for our entertainment or fables recorded to cause the reader to believe? Were the letters written by Paul and Peter and James, et al, ancillary and extra, or absolutely integral to the 'story'?

So while I really appreciate his mind-stretching exercises (believe me, I need that), I must draw the line... because God draws it:

"All Scripture is God-breathed

and is useful for teaching, rebuking,

correcting and training in righteousness,

so that the man of God may be

thoroughly equipped for every good work"

Simply stated, there are absolutes.

I am convicted that God's Holy Spirit inspired each word of the Bible, period! I know there are countless volumes (contemporary to the books and letters that make up our Bible) which were not included. I believe - with all my heart - that God's Hand caused that to happen.

I believe Paul's letter to the Philippians, for example, has more import than those written by Josephus.

I understand that the Maccabees may provide accurate historical data about 'Bible times'... but I believe (this is definitely a 'hill to die on' for me) that God and His Spirit excluded this (and many other volumes) and included only Genesis to Revelation for Their own reasons.

...so for me, to question that is tantamount to blasphemy.

Yes, I agree we have misused and abused scripture. I have been a part of that in my past.... I fully understand that there are those who twist scripture to 'proof out' their own tradition; I could list at least a dozen examples - from my own fellowship - where someone pulled a verse completely out of context to win a theological argument or set or support 'church policy'.... and while some do so out of ignorance, others do so with full awareness... and that is especially egregious, in my opinion.

I am all about reading and viewing and listening to ideas which help me stretch. The only caveat is this: I resolve to always view it through the lens of inspired scripture.... and to the degree that anyone blurs that line or suggests that scripture itself should be challenged... I'm out.

Because that is a bedrock belief! ....and, if scripture is questionable, my mooring is faulty.... my foundation is shaky... and I have no anchor...

As I write this, it reminds me of a friend who once wrote down his my own list of 'non-negotiables'... so maybe I'll give it a try.... perhaps that's another post...

for now, may God Bless us as we "lean not on our own understanding", but "trust in Him", so that He will "make our paths straight."

...wait for it...

I love to laugh.

as years go by, there are phrases which bring back a memory or just a funny scene from a movie, and it makes me laugh... sometimes really hard.

"what in the wide, wide world of sports is a goin' on here?"

"those aren't pillows!!!"

"that's what she said"

...OK, you get the drift... anyhow, I have a new favorite (well, it's relatively new...):

"...wait for it..."

I don't even know where that one came from... but my youngest says it quite a bit in an effort to get her older sisters to laugh... usually with great success.

I was listening to XM radio a couple weeks ago (is that not one of the coolest inventions in the last decade??!!!!?!), and heard a new song from Mandisa (American Idol contestant a few years ago...), and immediately fell in love with it...

In this world of competing voices and loudness and crowding out and our inability to 'be still and know', I find the words to this song incredibly powerful. And when this girl sings this song, it is a clarion call to all believers. It reminds us to pay attention, to be still, to listen... and....

to 'wait for it'.

Have you ever heard a love song

That set your spirit free

Have you ever watched a sunrise

And felt you could not breathe

What if it's Him

What if it's God speaking

Who knows how He'll get a hold of us

Get our attention to prove He is enough

He'll do and He'll use whatever He wants to

To tell us I love you

http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/m/mandisa/god_speaking.html

click on the link above and listen to this incredible song and watch this moving video.... I insist.

May God Bless us as we listen for Him.

continuing in the right direction

the older I get, the more I realize a timeless truth: there is no such thing as 'staying the same'.

Nothing stays the same. Life is change... so, we are either moving forward or moving back. The real hope, then, is that we are heading in the right direction...

So, what do we do to ensure we are moving forward? What is your barometer?

I would suggest that we fight the urge to 'arrive'... that we resist the temptation to 'settle' or 'settle in'... mainly because there is no such thing! We tend to go backward when we stop moving forward.

For many of us (in our personal, professional or 'church' lives), routine is a welcome friend... a comfortable place where we can set up residence and just....

be.

But that is not how it works. The Bible is rife with warnings against complacency. Nature is full of daily examples of this truth - THINGS NEVER STAY THE SAME! Instead, when we stop progressing and settle in to our happy routine, we almost always become complacent and go backwards. We digress. We get lazy. Then we set up our own 'rules' and 'dig in' to protect our comfortable routine...

I know this from experience. I am there right now. I am stagnant and I feel like I am not moving forward... and that is a miserable feeling.... I know I (we) need to keep moving....



Don't misunderstand... and don't feel sorry for me... I am not despondent, and I am not miserable. But I am growing increasingly... I don't know.... agitated. The Spirit is moving in me, and I seem to be trying to resist, and I am not at peace... (have you ever felt like that? Is it possible that's the Spirit making you 'not at peace'?)

As a faith community, I am challenging us (me) at Riverside to continue to move forward... in our service, in our faith journey, in our outflow, in our worship experience, in our teaching, in our spiritual and numerical growth.... in every way.

I have said it before, and I will say it as long as God gives me breath:

(As a church AND individually)

It is not a grand enough vision

for us to know what we DON'T want to be...

We MUST (with the Spirit's guidance) develop

HIS vision for who and what we are!

May we allow the Spirit to continue moving us forward, without fear and without fight and without drawing our own 'comfortable routine' lines in the sand...

and may Almighty God defeat us if we 'dig in our heels' and resist the Spirit's leading.

quiet worker

Those of you who know me realize I am usually not a quiet person.

Last night about 300 people gathered to celebrate the spirit of community which has been on display since the February 5 tornado devastated the town of Gassville... The Cotter High School Band performed, then Roger Smith shared a couple very moving stories of loss and help and triumph... then a terrific video (produced by Robert Hoffmann) was shown while we passed the baskets for a love offering... First Day sang about a dozen songs as people truly celebrated the 'overcomer' spirit which is very much alive and well in our little community.

Because of the incredible generosity of the people here, $3,457 was raised... every penny of which will go directly to those who were affected by the storm. It was a loud, happy event... my favorite kind! It was a wonderful night!

But there is a person whom I must mention. She is not a performer. She is not loud. You may not notice her if you pass her in the grocery store, and you may not remember her if you visit Riverside for worship, though she's always there... because she is quiet.

Quiet is something, regrettably, I know very little about. But this most Christ-like person does... because day after day, week after week, and year after year, Bertha Benton does something many of us can't grasp: she quietly goes about doing good.

I know she does not want any attention, and I realize she would be mortified if she knew I had written this about her.... she doesn't want any acclaim or credit. That's her beauty. She truly just desires to do good. For my part, I like to do good, but (let's be honest) I kinda like it when people notice... don't you?

Well, for the last several weeks since the tornado, there have been literally hundreds of folks who have worked incredibly hard doing good to their neighbors... but Bertha stands out to me. She has been at the Riverside building every day, quietly preparing food and coffee, cooking and cleaning and serving and... just doing good. She always wears a genuine smile, and has a kind, quiet word of encouragement for every person she sees.

and that makes me smile. I am in awe of this woman... truly.

Blessings

the lens through which we must look

It has been a couple days since I blogged (is that a verb?). I would like to say it is because I have been busily helping all the people who are suffering from the effects of the February 5 tornado. It isn't. I have been really busy at work... pretty lame, I know... (many great people from Riverside and the Gassville community HAVE worked and continue to work tirelessly...)

The real reason I haven't written anything in this space for the past week or so is this: I have had something burning inside me that I can't articulate (no, it's not heartburn... I checked!)...

I am going to try to boil it down to a 'less-than-novella-sized' paragraph or two (or six):

Everything we do... everything we teach... every lesson we aspire to share with our friends... has to be viewed through His lens.

In other words, when I am deciding what to say when asked to preach, I should give very serious consideration to what I am going to talk about. When you are asked to teach a Bible class or lead a discussion, you must give serious consideration... and when we are deciding what curriculum and methods we will use to teach our young people's Bible classes, we must pull out the same lens.

The lens to which I refer is 'the 1-thing' lens. A college Bible teacher (Old Testament professor) of mine said it this way:

"I am afraid I have done my students a huge disservice....because I have come to understand that everything we teach or share MUST be taught (or shared) in a way that points to the Cross of Calvary. Because everything.... from the oldest Old Testament story to the latest revelation from the final book of the Bible to my Great-grandfater's experiences to my daily walk.... EVERYTHING... points to Jesus Christ. So, to the degree that I teach for teaching's sake... to the degree that my students (or anyone anywhere) learn for learning's sake... if we fail to connect the teaching and learning to our Savior... it is all IN VAIN!"

So, as I think of what to share... as you think of what or how to teach a Bible class... as you decide how and what to teach in your Bible classes at your church buildings.... we MUST judge the content and method by that standard.... PERIOD!

I grew up in a church-Bible-class environment where knowledge was valued... we would read and memorize and quiz and recite.... but I NEVER heard or learned how any of it connected to the One who gave Himself for me... never.

So for me this is a hill to die on. I resolve to always use the '1-thing' lens. I will not knowingly teach or preach or share without first considering how the subject matter connects to Jesus. I will not be a part of an effort to teach anything spiritual to anyone in any environment without first considering its connection to Jesus Christ. Knowledge for knowledge's sake is worthless.

While it is true that the Bereans were called noble because of their study habits, the text never mentions whether they connected their knowledge (and their lives) to their Savior.

May we always teach our children that the Bible is a story of a Sovereign God reconciling fallen man through a Risen Savior... and that EVERY word in His Word was specifically inspired to continually point us to that '1 thing'!

May God Bless us as we always use His Lens.

fighting for a legacy

As I watch Superstar Pitcher Roger Clemens battle those accusing him of using performance-enhancing drugs, I am struck by what I perceive to be going on...

I watch contrived video 'proof' of his incredible work ethic (working out in his home gym with a trainer) and am inundated with the repeating video loop of him walking down the halls of some courtroom... and I believe I am watching an intense battle.

The battle he is waging is not for money, necessarily; he has made his fortune... he is in the twilight of his career... the battle is not for respect, necessarily; I don't think that matters much to him... the battle, quite simply, is for his legacy.

He is intimately familiar (aren't we all) with Pete Rose' journey to restore his own legacy... we have all watched and winced as the all-time hits leader lies and comes clean, only to repeat that pattern over and over...

And the Rocket is trying not to make the same missteps as Rose.

I have my own opinions about HGH and performance enhancing substances... maybe for another time...

But I wonder how many of us are in the same type of battle. How many of us are struggling mightily to restore our credit... or our reputation... or our name.

I know I have made more than my share of mistakes... and I've decided life is, in a way, a continual struggle to preserve and restore your name.

I understand that the Proverb says that 'a good name is better than riches', and we must do our very best to preserve ours.

But the name I want to protect and preserve and restore more than any other is the name of Jesus. For in that name (and in no other) will we be saved (Acts 4:12)...

Last week the local paper told of a guy who had been arrested for writing hot checks... he shares my name. His middle initial is 'S' and mine is 'L', but some folks thought it was me... It was a weird feeling... my name was smeared, at least in the eyes of some...

I wonder how our Savior feels when we, who share and wear His name, bring shame on it? I know He forgives me, and I thank God everyday that He does... but we certainly should aspire to wear His name in a worthy way... a way which insures and enriches not only our own legacy, but His.

just a thought...

Blessings