Story of Stuff

Found this on youtube....stuff

Day #9--Like Honey

In Ezekiel 3, Ezekiel has a word from the Lord. The Lord actually tells him to eat a scroll! He says eat the scroll then go and speak the words to Israel. What is more fascinating about this passage is that Ezekiel says that not only did he eat it, but it tasted as honey on his lips! Of course then Ezekiel is charged with taking that word to Israel, and honestly to me it seems like eating the scroll was easier than taking the word to Israel. At any rate, I have been convicted of something lately as I have fasted and prayed about direction for our church, and guidance for my life in general.

The conviction is that I tend to read more books ABOUT the Bible than the Bible itself. I am not saying that reading outside books is a bad thing. Quite the contrary, we are to learn from those that are wiser in the faith. We are to learn from church historians, and the heroes of the faith that have gone before us. This is how we navigate through life without speaking heretically about our faith.

Still I believe the Holy Spirit can guide the reading of Scripture and my hope is to read through it (Genesis through Revelation) and let the Holy Spirit teach and guide me. Again, not saying I won't read outside sources, my hope is simply that I would love reading Scripture more than I love reading ABOUT Scripture.

As I read my prayer will be that the Lord opens my mind and heart to the Scriptures.

I know I said that I would try to blog everyday, and to both readers who read my blog faithfully :), here is my traveling schedule over this next week just so you know that it might be very sporadic this week:

Today (Tuesday 11/10) Traveling to Shreveport, LA to attend a commissioning service

Thursday (11/12) Going to College Station for a concert, staying the night and returning Friday afternoon

Saturday (11/14) going to Temple, TX for playoff football game

Sunday (11/15) leaving for Houston, TX for BGCT Convention (won't be back until Tuesday, 11/17)

So as you can see we will be driving quite a bit. Keep us in your prayers!

I will try to update as much as possible.

Day #4--Taking off the Headphones

A couple weeks ago I was doing one of my most favorite things to do in terms of winding down after a long day. I was watching a football game on TV! I know this sounds lame, but sometimes after studying all day, I just need an hour or two, (or three) to do something to give my brain a rest. Anyway, during a commercial break I yelled back to my wife who was down the hall in our bedroom doing something. The first time was a nice, polite raised voice "Dear!" No response. Figuring she hadn't heard me because of the TV, I put it on mute and a little louder, yet still polite mind you, I said "Dear!!" Still nothing. Getting a little frustrated, though not frustrated enough to get my fat butt of the couch, I yelled semi-nicely a little louder, "Hey Dear!!!" And...NOTHING!! By this time I was completely upset and yelled loudly "MEREDITH!!" And again I get no response. So finally pulling myself off the couch I get up and walk back to the room and what do I find? My wife, but she has a computer on her lap and headphones in her ears. She was apparently watching "Smallville" and had not heard a word I was saying. So of course my frustration turned into me making fun of her for watching "Smallville." However, that is not the lesson that I took away from that experience.

I honestly do not remember what I asked Mere, the only thing I remember is that it got me to thinking about how God communicates with me. Was he yelling at me and I had "headphones" on? When I read the Scriptures I see a constant reminder of God's concern for the poor, oppressed, and the outcast. Then I think about my day and wonder if I ever came across anyone in need and didn't see or hear them because I had "headphones" on. In other words was I so consumed with the chores I had to do, the things I had to get done that I was oblivious to anyone hurting. Even worse, did I see and consciously make a decision that my "to-do" list was a justified reason for passing by on the other side of the street.

As I have said before I am studying the parable of the Good Samaritan this week and as I study it I have found that the priest and Levite priest who passed by on the side of the road really did have "good" excuses. The first priest had just come from the Temple in Jerusalem and was considered clean. Had he got within 4 cubits (6 feet) of the man on the side of the road he would have been considered unclean and would have to have gone back, purchased a heifer and started the cleansing process all over again. He would have had to spend more money, and further he would have had to spend more time away from his family whom he was responsible for at the time. The Levite priest basically saw (the road was a road that descended for seventeen miles, so visibility 3-4 miles up the road would have been a possibility) the first priest pass by and most likely thought to himself "well that priest didn't help him and he had for more resources than I," hat can I do if he did not do anything? And so we see that both of these men had very logical excuses. Perhaps even ones we have used (time, money, family).

Now we know the rest of the story, the Samaritan shows mercy on the man. Actually putting himself at risk by caring for this person who has been beaten and left for dead.

As much as I pray to become more like the Samaritan, I actually find myself identifying more with the lawyer who tried to justify himself. He was not really interested in helping, rather he was interested in being praised for what he had already done. In reality, he was loving people that he would have loved had Jesus not come to Earth. As I reflect on my life and where I am in the journey I have to confess that I am that lawyer that Jesus confronts with the parable of the Good Samaritan. My prayer is that I would be changed into the Samaritan. That I would be changed so that I might act like a neighbor to all I come in contact with. And most of all I pray that I would take off the "headphones" of me, myself and I. Take off the "headphones" of all the things I think I am entitled to, of all the things I think I "need." And that I would begin to hear the voice of God. That I would begin to hear the cry of the oppressed. That I would hear the hunger pains of the hungry, and that I would feel the loneliness of those who have no friends, family or loved ones to care for them. I pray that not only would I hear these things because I have taken off the "headphones," but that I would respond to them as God as called me to do.

This is what I have learned since I have started fasting. I have learned that although I strive to live simply I have failed. I am distracted by the "bigger and better," and consequently I have become deaf to the cries of the hurting and down trodden. Please God, take off my "headphones."

Day #3--In Tuned

As I continue to fast, and Meredith and I continue to discuss money and how we can better use our money for the Kingdom, I have been blown away by how fasting really brings you better in tuned with God and his creation.

Honestly, the hardest part of the fast is over in terms of the hunger. Usually the first 2 days in a long fas are where the "hunger pains" really get intense. However, since the point of fasting is to do away with those "pains" by talking to God (praying, reading His word, etc.) I have had an overwhelming awareness of the needy in our community. I know that there is an end to this fast. I know that on Thanksgiving day I am going to commit the sin of gluttony! (perhaps I should pray for that temptation to go away too). :) Anyway, the point is I know there is an end, I know that I will eat again, and I know where my next meal is coming from.

But have you ever stopped to think about hunger from the perspective of the beggar outside the grocery store who hits you up for money, or the homeless woman who is sleeping under a bridge with her 3 children? I can't imagine the fear of not knowing, the feeling of wondering what am I going to do for my next meal, or what am I going to do to provide for my kids. I can't imagine the humiliation of having to beg for money and the shame I would feel when someone quickly dismissed me because of what I look like or how bad I smell. I have been thinking a lot about this through my first few days of fasting.

This issue of trying to see things from the perspective of the disadvantaged has really been challenged by a couple of recent things. The first being our book club just got done reading and discussing Same Kind of Different as Me. (If you haven't read it, stop reading this and go read that...it will be more interesting and more beneficial!). I won't tell the whole story but I was blown away by relationship and perspective of Denver (the homeless man). The second thing is that I am studying to preach on the parable of the Good Samaritan. The entire parable is about seeing thing from the perspective of the down beat and trodden man left for dead on the side of the road.

So I have been trying to see things from the perspective of the outcast, the oppressed, and down trodden. I have been meditating on Ephesians 5:1-2 (being imitators of God). God did this very thing. He entered into our story through Jesus Christ and took on our humanity, our perspective and made a way for us to be reconciled to God and to each other.

The reality is this: I will not be able to fully "cross over" and understand what it is like to go hungry and not know where my next meal will come from. I will never understand fully, no matter how much I sympathize with those struggling what it feels like to be completely rejected by someone based on what I look like or feel. However, this cannot be my excuse for not attempting to better understand the perspective of the outcast of society. It cannot serve as an excuse not to engage and serve the homeless. And most of all it cannot serve asn excuse not to love and build relationships with those society has deemed unworthy.

I believe the last is the most important. Relationships. It is only in relationships that I can better understand what they feel and what they are going through. It is only in relationship that I will best know how to serve them. AND it is only in relationship that I will be taught by them things about myself and prejudices I hold (consciously or unconsiously). In relationship there is mutual learning, and this is necessary if we are to truly be converted into Christ's image.

My Sacrifice

As I reflected on the sermon yesterday. I concluded with a list of possible "sacrifices" people could make when it comes to this Christmas season and use that money to take care of the less fortunate.

A couple of things that our church is doing is Operation Christmas Child, and then on November 15th we will have a speaker come and tell us how buying coffee can help us provide for the physical and spiritual needs of farmers in Laos.

My sermon ended by asking people to really seek the Holy Spirit and ask where they could cut back and use that money to help those less fortunate. Some of these suggestions included:

1. asking for less gifts for yourself and asking for some things on your list to go to Operation Christmas Child (this was directed towards the children in the service)

2. Eating out less and putting that money in a jar or something and using that money to buy coffee on the 15th or to use that money and as a family go and fill a shoe box for operation Christmas Child.

3. Sell things you don't need and use that money to buy coffee or fill out a shoe box for Operation Christmas Child.

There were more suggestions but you get the point. Anyway, as I reflected on the sermon and my call for people to sacrifice and use money for others this Christmas rather than hoarding everything for themselves and buying presents for themselves that really won't be used 3 months after Christmas.

Then I started asking what my sacrifice would be (which is always harder than telling others to sacrifice!). And so here it is: I will be fasting until Thanksgiving day starting today. I will use this time to pray for a direction the church should go in at the beginning of next year. I will also pray for our congregation to listen to the Holy Spirit on how they spend their money, as well as ask God to direct Meredith and I on how we should spend our money. As I go through this fast I will try to update daily what is going on with me personally and what is going on with Meredith and I as we truly strive to have every aspect of our lives under the rule of Christ.

Money and the Kingdom of God

Disclaimer: I realize money is a sensitive topic. In this sermon message I began by telling the congregation that I don't think it is a sin to have wealth, nor do I think it is a sin to have nice things and enjoy the blessings God has lavished on us when it comes to wealth. However, I did tell them that there is a responsibility that comes with that and that we are called to help others who don't have as much and that there will be sacrifices and choices we have to make if we are to use our money to influence the Kingdom of God.

This Sunday our church started a series entitled " Money and the Kingdom of God." Basically what prompted this was two reasons. First, I absolutely reject the fact that Jesus taught us to give only 10% of our money to the church, then we can spend the other 90% on whatever we want and be called good stewards of our money. Second, I read so many articles about stewardship when I preached on the Ananias and Saphira passage for last week (out of context in my opinion), that I felt it necessary to explore more what Jesus says about money. Our first stop was the parable of the Rich Fool.

Now I went to a "liberal" seminary. I say "liberal" because honestly it is all relative and if we weren't in Texas, it would not have been labeled liberal at all. Anyway, while in seminary I heard all the time that this passage of the Rich Fool building bigger barns was an indictment against Capitalism. The argument would go, "See this farmer was just being a good Capitalist and God kills him." So, they say, Jesus is pro-Socialism, pro-Communism, but when it comes to Capitalism He sees it as evil. This is utterly ridiculous because in the passage God never condemns the farmer for being rich. He only condemns him for hoarding the riches for himself.

In fact, in the beginning of the passage a man asks Jesus to settle a dispute about an inheritance his brother won't share with him. To which Jesus replies "Who sent me to be a lawyer among you." In other words, Jesus is telling the man not to use Jesus' name to propagate any personal agenda. Jesus is not pro-Socialism, not pro-Communism, and not pro-Capitalism. The Kingdom that Jesus came to establish is so completely other than any man made governmental system. There is no government system that tells you to turn the other cheek, love and pray for your enemy, etc. Further, there is no government system that will change the hearts of humanity. It is only in the bottom-up approach (the mustard seed Kingdom) that the Kingdom of God will be established. So lets stop saying Jesus is pro any sort of man made government. He is in the words of Greg Boyd about "power under" (kingdom established through grassroots, prayer, etc.) not about "power over" (governmental, top-down approach).

I apologize for my soap box, but it really irritates me when we try to make the Bible say things that it is not really saying at all.

Back to the text...

The point of the text is being rich towards God and to answer the question: "What does it mean to be rich towards God?" I chose to look at how God has been rich towards us and then go back and answer the question of what it means for us to be rich towards God.

Basically what I did was trace God's interaction with humanity from Genesis to the giving of the Holy Spirit. God created humanity out of love. This alone makes God an unselfish God. But something went wrong and Adam AND Eve sinned against God. God would have had every right to wash His hands of us and choose to leave us to our fallen state. However, God did not do that. He started laying out a long process by which he would progressively reveal himself to humanity (and I will shorten this for time sake). But basically he gave us the Law, then he spoke through the prophets, and eventually Jesus left his throne to come down and live among us. Took on our hell, and our sin, and walked to Calvary, and died. He then ascended and had this been the end of the story then that would have made God a compassionate God. However, God didn't stop there but he sent his Holy Spirit and gave us EVERY spiritual blessing (Eph. 1). God held nothing back from us. He went all the way. It wasn't just salvation from hell, but a total salvation where we begin to live a new and redeemed life here and now.

So God was rich towards us in that he went all the way with us. Gave us everything, and held back nothing!

Ephesians 5 says that we are to be imitators of God. Meaning as God has entered into us through his Holy Spirit we are in turn to lavish blessings on all those we come in contact with. I continued reading the passage through Jesus telling his disciples not to worry about to wear, what to eat or what to drink because God provides for his children. He then tells the disciples to sell their possessions and give it to the poor.

Notice Jesus doesn't say "give to the poor only if they really deserve it." Or, "give to the poor after you have examined the reason why they are poor and figure out if they will squander what you give them." Or "give to the poor only if you deem them worthy enough of your help."

There were no qualifications. The command was simply give because you know God will take care of you.

The point of this teaching is this: To the extent that we are Rich towards God we look like Jesus. To the point that we aren't we look like the farmer.

If we in America buy into this idea that its ok to give only 10% to the church and then hoard the other 90% for ourselves then we delude ourselves and are not using our money to build the Kingdom.

ALL that we have is a blessing from God and we are called to pour out that blessing on those less fortunate (incidentally there are over 2,000 passages that talk about taking care of the poor in Scripture). And we are called to imitate God in holding nothing back when it comes to taking care of the poor and needy.

This Christmas season we will be blasted with commercial after commercial of the new things we "need." And we will even get Christians telling us that as long as you don't go into debt you can buy as much as you want because "who is it really hurting?" But I think this question is wrongheaded. The question should be "who is it really helping?"

As Christians we are called to put everything under the subjection of Christ. This includes our money--even the 90% that we don't tithe.

Christmas Joy?

As most of you know, our church has been going through the book of Acts. Sunday was the dreaded Ananias and Sapphira passage. I was not looking forward to this talk because I didn't know how to explain why God killed those two people. It didn't make any sense to me. Did it really matter that they didn't give ALL their money? How is that a picture of a merciful God? Thousands of questions raced through my heaad.

Then something clicked as I was studying the passage. It wasn't about the money at all. Contrary to popular belief this story is about covenant relationship within the church. Ananias and Sapphira broke that trust and paid dearly for their deceit.

I did not try to explain why God killed this couple. I only mentioned that God is in the habit of keeping what is His holy, and sometimes does things unexplainable to the human mind in order to do that. I also told them that I do not believe God killing them is in anyway a judgment on their eternal destination (i.e. heaven or hell), nor do I believe that God ALWAYS does this. This is a story of what happened (description) not a story of what happens if we bring something unholy into the church (prescription).

This was not a sermon about stewardship, rather it is a story about covenant, and I tied in what I thought biblical fellowship had to have in order to be healthy. NO MEMBERSHIP INCREASING WAS NOT A CRITERIA!

Anyway, all that tbeing said, I did read A LOT of articles that made this a stewardship and money issue, though in my study the money issue and holding it back was a symptom of the deeper problem going on.

Though I believed those articles to be in error on the central point of the passage, what they said about money wasn't "unbiblical" and made me think about how we use our money as Christians today.

I saw this video from an organization called Advent Conspiracy and it got me to thinking. Here is the video.

The amount of money we spend on Christmas baffled me. Now I realize that most Americans are not Christians (thouh 70% still claim Christ as their Lord and Savior) and I know that money is not the ONLY solution. However, I do believe that we have some serious misconceptions when it comes to Kingdom citizens and the use of money.

The top 2 being:
1) the issue of money is in no way connected to spiritual well being
2) 10% being mentioned anywhere in the New Testament ( I honestly think these two are tied together. Most Christians think that if they give their 10% to the church then they are being good stewards of their money and can spend the rest on whatever they please).

These are not biblical teachings at all. Jesus mentions money more times than he talks about heaven and hell combined.

As we enter into November, our church will be looking at 3 parables that Jesus uses to teach about money. We will also have a guest speaker coming to speak to us about a farm in Laos and opportunities to help with social justice issues in Laos as well as opportunities to GO and work alongside the farmers of Laos. That will take us right into advent season.

My prayer is that we learn to view money as Kingdom citizens. Also that we start thinking of our checkbook register/online bank statement,or whatever record you use to keep track of your money as a tell tale sign of your spiritual maturity.

Devoted to....Jesus?

Yesterday morning I preached on the passage in Acts that everyone is familiar with. It was Acts 2:42-47. This is what the text says:

⁴²They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. ⁴³Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. ⁴⁴All the believers were together and had everything in common. ⁴⁵Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. ⁴⁶Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,⁴⁷praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

Now, the verse that jumps out at most of us when we read this passage is verse 45--"selling everything and giving as they have need." And how could it not, particularly in the times we live in now, presidential elections, "Joe the Plummer," and the list goes on and on. And quite frankly most of what I read on this passage (commentaries and articles) dealt primarily with this verse as a key to interpreting the passage. However, I think that we miss the point when we dwell so much on that particular verse and don't take the whole paragraph into consideration. I do believe that these elements will be present within a church body, but to view this simply as a list prescribing things a church MUST do seems to me to miss the point.

What I see in this passage overall, is the complete devotion to the teaching of the apostles and to the fellowship. The words in bold highlight this point. These people were so completely devoted to one another and caring about one another that the thought of another being in need was unacceptable. So the question to ask is not, "MUST we do these things to be called a church?" Rather the question we have to ask of this text is "HOW did they get to the point where they were this devoted to each other?"

I believe the answer to the question truly hinges on the first part of this paragraph--the devotion to the teaching of apostles and to fellowship. In other words they were committed to putting what they were taught from the apostles into practice for their lives, and they were devoted (committed) to each other.

Let's look at each aspect separately (as much as we can) and then put them together at the end.

Devoted to the Apostles Teaching

The apostles were a group of people that were trusted to pass on the teachings of Jesus. These people had spent time with Jesus and so they were trusted by the people to teach them exactly what Jesus had taught while he was on earth.

And when I read the Gospels I see that Jesus was very concerned with meeting the needs of others (followers and non-followers a like). But he also seemed to be concerned with the way people in the church took care of fellow brothers and sisters. This seems to be very evident in Matthew 25 in the parable of the sheep and the goats. In fact it almost seems as thought judgment for Christians is based on this idea of meeting the needs of fellow brothers and sisters. However, the most intriguing thing about this passage is that the goats divided on the left, and the sheep on the right both ask the same question: "When did we see you Lord?" It seems that even those who fed the hungry, gave drink to the thirst, clothes to the naked, comfort to the sick, and visited those imprisoned did not think they were doing anything extraordinary. Why?

The reason is the phrase "blessed by my father." Dr. Haddon Robinson made a great observation that the idea of being blessed runs throughout Matthew, starting with the Beattitudes (characteristics of a Kingdom Citizen) in chapter 5. And you look at the Beattitudes in chapter 5 and then read this description of the sheep in chapter 25 you see why those who did all those "good" things didn't think anything of their actions. Their character had become so much like Christ that they didn't analyze what they were doing. They didn't wonder if it would be a good financial investment to help someone, they didn't worry about the thought of being taken advantage of, rather they saw a person in need and helped because that is what they were called to do (Phil. 2:1-4).

Devoted to Fellowship

1 John 4:12 says this: "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." In other words John is writing to believers telling them that if you want people to see God, then love one another, let God's love be complete in you, and the world will know God exists because of your love for one another.

In John 17, Jesus prays that the body would be unified so that others will know that Jesus was really the Messiah that came to bring reconciliation between God and humanity.

Devoted to Apostles teaching and to the fellowship

So it is clear that what was being taught by the apostles to these new believers was this: If you want to be a witness to the world about the existence of God, and to the Savior Jesus Christ, you are going to have be an alternative to the way this world lives. You are going to need to be so devoted to each other, that you are willing to do anything to make sure your brothers and sisters are taken care of. Not so that you might get some sort of accolade about how great of a person you are, but so that others may see a different kind of love in this world. If you really want to give witness to this world about Jesus and his love, then take on his character. If you really want to give witness to this world about Jesus and his love, then you must be devoted to one another and take care of one another.

And because of this teaching and this devotion it says that the "they enjoyed favor with all the people." Numbers were also added to them daily, and a lot of people turn this into a list, saying "if you do these things then your church will grow." I think that misses the point, I think the devotion to each other and to the word is why God blessed them, and their witness was so strong.

So the question to ask of our churches today is this: What are you devoted to? Are you devoted to Jesus? Are you devoted to each other? And of course the answer from churches everywhere will be a resounding YES!

And I would say this to them: Look at the choices you are making. Will you watch more hours of football on Sunday afternoon and evening than you will spend praying, reading and communing with God? Will you spend more hours watching things you have recorded on your DVR, Tivo, etc, than you will in fellowship with other believers? Will you spend more hours reading blogs on the internet than you will asking those around you what they are struggling with and then committing to pray for them and do whatever it takes to meet those needs.

Are you willing to sell your possessions so that another member of your church might be able to pay an electric bill, or buy groceries, or put gas in their car? When a member of your church shares a prayer request do you say "I will pray for YOUR problem," or do all present respond with "how do WE take care of OUR problem?" In other words if someone is suffering in your church do you think of it as you suffering as well?

When I read this passage in Acts I see a devotion to one another, a devotion to the teachings of Scripture, and a genuine love exists because of that. In a society that tells us we are all alone, everyone is an "enemy" preventing you from reaching the American dream of wealth and fame, the church has to be a place where devotion to EVERYONE is evident. May we reclaim this spirit of community and be a witness to this world for Jesus Christ.

If we aren't willing to devote ourselves to one another, then all we do on Sunday mornings is gather to sing songs, listen to a sermon and make ourselves feel better about our PERSONAL salvation, but we are delusional to think that we have witnessed to the world about who God is, and his desires for his Creation.

An 'Exodus' Church?

A few weeks ago I attended a luncheon on the "Missional Church." Now I am always a bit a nervous when I go to meetings like this because the term 'missional' has become a bit watered down and can mean a variety of different things. Nevertheless I decided to go and see what would happen.

As the speaker began his talk, he went to the passage in Acts that almost everyone that talks about missions these days recites--Acts 1:8. His thesis was that every church should become an Acts 1:8 church and take mission trips at home (Jerusalem), in state (Judea), overseas (Samaria and ends of the earth). His take was that when you are going on mission trips and seeing millions (ok he said hundreds, I exaggerated for effect) then you have a healthy "Acts 1:8" church.

And as I sat there I couldn't help but think that Christ came and died and suffered for a heck of a lot more than for churches to be able to go on trips to three different regions of the globe. And as I sat there in complete exasperation about what I was hearing I started to wonder where this whole fascination of "labeling" churches came from. I mean really everyone is wanting to be a "Great Commission" church or an "Acts 1:8" church and so on and so on. And yet I can't help but feel as though these labels miss the point of the church. I am not into labels of a church, but if I were I think I would choose to be an "Exodus Church."

In Luke 9:28-33 Jesus is talking to Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration concerning his "departure" he was going to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem. Now this word "departure" is literally translated "exodus." So Luke seems to be saying that this work that Jesus will accomplish in Jerusalem is like a second "exodus." I believe what Luke does here by linking the Exodus to the cross is huge, and I believe most of our churches miss the point when it comes to the mission of God. We must first understand exactly what the Exodus accomplished for the Israelites.

The Israelites were oppressed in Egypt. In fact Christopher Wright in his book Knowing God the Father through the Old Testament, says that they were oppressed in four different areas:

• they were politically oppressed as an ethnic immigrant minority vulnerable to the host state's manufactured hostility against them

• they were economically exploited as a convenient source of cheap labor in the host state's agricultural and construction sectors

• they were socially victimized through intolerable interference in their family life and then through a program of state-sponsored genocide.

• they were spiritually oppressed in servitude to the Pharaoh--one of the claimed gods of Egypt-- when they should have been free to serve and worship Yahweh (Wright, 45)

In the event of the Exodus, God does two things for the Israelites. First he reveals that He is a God who can be known and WILLS to be known. Throughout the Exodus and the entire Old Testament we are constantly reminded that God does things for his fame and his renown (a huge risk considering He is using fallen humanity in order for people to know Him). In chapter 19 of Exodus God establishes His covenant at Sinai and the Israelites become His people. It is important to note here that this covenant also gives proof of God's faithfulness to his promises. This covenant fulfills the promise that God made to Abraham in Genesis.

The second thing the Exodus did for the Israelites is that it redeemed them in all four areas of their oppression--politically, economically, socially, and spiritually. This is a huge point when it comes to the mission of God. You see God is in the habit of redeeming all aspects of life. The mission is not to establish trips to different geographical locations (which in my view is a distorted reading of Acts 1:8 in itself), but it is the total and complete redemption of humanity in all aspects of life.

The cross (or second exodus) is part of that plan. The plan is not trips. The plan is total redemption. This is precisely what happened at the cross. Jesus died so that we might have access to the Father and we might be grafted into his plan of redemption (if we are honest sometimes we try to graft him into our plan of redemption--i.e. how many 'salvations' we can get on a mission trip).

The church must get back to what the focus of it's mission is--holistic redemption. We need to get away from labels, and gimmicks and focus on the needs and hurts of this world. God is deeply concerned for these things and we should be too. If you don't think he is concerned for the oppressed then you haven't read your Bible. He hears the cries of the oppressed and he responds.

May we be a church that does the same.

Words DO hurt you....

There is this false saying that is very popular among grade schoolers that goes something like this: "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me."

You are probably wondering why I am even mentioning this, and that is a fair question. I was looking at my friend Joe's blog this morning, and he had a video that got me to thinking about some things.

If you watched the video, it is a powerful story about how an African American man defeated the entire Ku Klux Klan with his mind. I thought Joe's title to this blog was great "Defeating Hate, with the Head and Heart not Fists."

This title (and video) got me to thinking of other ways in which we dispense hate towards others. For example, the term "that's gay" has for some reason become a popular way to say something is dumb, funny, stupid, bad, etc. People (and unfortunately a lot of Christians) us this phrase so flippantly without any thought of people that might actually be struggling with homosexuality. They don't understand that when they use this term around people that are struggling with it (most of the time it is an internal struggle precisely because of the use of this phrase) it alienates them even more, and causes them to bury the struggle even deeper.

We as Christians should not engage in such talk as this. And as a side note, there are other things in our speeches that I do not think would please Jesus (i.e. a lot of racial jokes about our new president) Jesus came as a way to reconcile the world with God and to one another. The church and Christians should be leading the way when it comes to reconcilliation.

Now a lot of people that I talk to will say that accepting a homosexual means accepting their lifestyle and I would completely disagree. The gospels are full of stories where Jesus accepted people but not their lifestyle. Yet the people who were living this lifestyle that was antithetical to the gospel were strangely attracted to Jesus.

If we are honest with ourselves, that isn't the case with Church these days. The church should be a place where people can tell of their struggles freely, and where we can all walk together supporting one another in brotherly (and sisterly) love. Yet sadly, this isn't the case.

I really believe one reason for this is the way we alienate people with our speech. I know that the video was about racism, and that is still pervasive in our day. But it got me to thinking about how we alienate people with phrases such as "that's gay."

The church has lost its relevance because we fail to see the world with the eyes of Jesus. We must start caring for the world again as Jesus did, and that needs to start with actions. And actions start with words. May our words no longer be divisive, may we only speak words of healing and reconcilliation and grace to all that hear us.

Alternative Solution

I was reading a blog this morning by a man name Efrem Smith. He had a post about healthcare reform in which he raised a good point. Basically it can be summed up with this: What is the church proposing for healthcare reform? Why is the government leading the charge? You can find his blog here.

I am not saying I TOTALLY agree with everything he said, but I do agree that the church should be involved in caring for the sick. So what should we as a church do about caring for the sick?

Bad Wording...

In my last post I wrote these words:

My heart broke for these people. My heart broke for the people of my church. My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast the poor off as unreachable and not worthy.

I didn't mean for it to sound like the church where I am currently serving has done this. The church where I am is probably one of the most loving churches I have been a part of. With that said, the statements above were meant to be three separate statements. Allow me to clarify...

"My heart broke for these people."

It broke my heart that there are people that are out there who feel like their life is not worth living. This is something that makes me cry more than anything. If you ask my wife she will tell you the story about me watching the movie, "The Secret Life of Bees," and crying when the girl in the movie said she was "unloveable." So that is what I meant when I said my heart broke for those people.

"My heart broke for the people of my church"

Now calling it "my church" is bad enough, but I am sure everyone knew what I meant--the church where I am serving. What I meant by this statement, however, is that my heart broke for the people of my church to have their hearts broken over the needs in our town. This doesn't mean that they don't care about people, or have cast anyone aside. There is always room for the Lord to break us more and to transform our hearts to see people the way Jesus sees people. The way the Father sees people (through the cross). I hope that I never stop being broken my God, and I hope that the people in the church where I am serving never stop being broken either. That is what I meant, so I hope that clears things up.

"My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast off the poor as unreachable and not worthy"

This statement is self explanatory I think. I pray that we who are part of the universal church in America would truly be broken over the way we have treated the poor as a whole, and repent, and start living like Jesus when it comes to loving the poor.

I hope that clears things up for anyone who stumbles across this blog (who may or may not attend the church where I serve).

Best Poker Face Ever

Last night I met with the pastor of Primera Iglesia, a mission church started by the church where I am a pastor. It was an eye opening night to say the least. When we first sat down I told him that I thought the partnership between our churches should be better because the Bible tells us that unity of believers will be our witness to the world (John 17). I told him I was sorry that it had taken me two weeks to call him, to which he replied: "I am glad you called, I was beginning to think no one cared about what was going on at the Mexican church." That in itself broke my heart. We spent the next 45 mins. discussing things we could do to have better community with one another. We decided to set a time to get together and pray. Not just him and me getting together to pray, but opening it up for everyone in the church to come and participate. The next thing we did was drive around town. I have to admit, I have been here two weeks and have barely gone one or two blocks in either direction. He wanted to show me this place called "Little Mexico." Little did I know that God would use this to show me just how much I need to learn about loving like he does.

The first place we came to was a small house with two families of 4 living together. Beside the house was a trailer that was in the construction "process." I say "process" because work had been stalled for a couple years. To get to this house we had to walk through a mine field of horse manure where it was impossible to not step in something. This is where I put on my greatest poker face. I acted like it didn't bother me, all the while in my mind thinking of how disgusting it was, and I was going to drag this stuff back through my house when I got home. As much as I tried to get rid of that thought, it was the only thing I could think of. It was the best poker face ever.

As we went into the trailer to see what work needed to be done, the pastor spoke to this guy telling him how great of a vision I had to reach Chilton (this was all in Spanish as the owner of the house didn't speak English). With every compliment I felt smaller and smaller. Yet I held the best poker face ever.

The thing that broke my heart the most though was the look the guy made when we told the guy that we wanted to help him finish his house. It needed no translation. It said, "I have heard that one before and mainly from you Christians."

On the way back to my house, the pastor said that this, "Little Mexico" formed because these people feel like no one cares about them so they withdrew from everyone and never venture on the other side of town. My heart broke for these people. My heart broke for the people of my church. My heart broke for Christians all over the United States who seem to have cast the poor off as unreachable and not worthy. Then my God broke my heart and I thought of how I was no different. On the outside I had the best poker face ever, on the inside though I just wanted to go home. May the Holy Spirit transform my heart to love like Jesus.

My prayer is that we become the church that makes people feel valuable again, that hugs the homeless, feeds the hungry, and share the love of Jesus by DOING what Jesus did. The last thing the pastor said to me last night, is what I leave you with: "People know all the stories about Jesus, they need to start seeing Christians helping them if something is ever going to happen with them spiritually."

Fresh Perspective

I am now a pastor at a small, rural church in Texas and I love it! It is so different from being in a classroom of seminary students where the main goal is defend the "right" position (theologically or otherwise). I am not saying that I regret my time at seminary. On the contrary, I value that experience in my life very much. After all it is where I met my wife, where I met friends that I hope will be lifelong friends, and where I grew deeper spiritually. I think seminary is a good thing, I really do. However, I have begun to see things with a fresh perspective. For example, now when I read my Bible, I am not looking to "prove" a position, rather I am reading it and letting God's word rush over me and it is exciting! I feel as though I am regaining an intimacy with Jesus that just wasn't there during my seminary years. It is something I struggled with all of seminary, and it was also a struggle that very few knew about. Now I am seeing things with a new perspective, it is not about defending HOW God distributes His grace, or HOW he sovereignly rules over all of creation, or HOW he does this or that. Now I am simply basking in the fact that he DOES expense grace and that He IS sovereign and not worrying about how to solve the mystery of the "how?" It is truly refreshing.

Yesterday I preached on prayer, and it was encouraging to my soul to look at prayer through a fresh perspective. Our church is going through Acts right now, and yesterday came out of Acts 1:12-26. The apostles are waiting for the Spirit and the Bible says, "they devoted themselves constantly to prayer."

As I began to study this passage and what prayer is really all about, I read this quote in Celebration of Discipline, by Richard Foster: "Of all the Spiritual Disciplines prayer is the most central because it ushers us into perpetual communion with the Father." This got me to thinking (and incidently was the first point of my sermon :) ) that prayer should be a joyful act. As I was telling my friend Austin Evers about this new revelation, he said "we pray to God like we don't really like him, like its something we HAVE to get through." Little did he know that he was talking about me. That is how I viewed prayer, I hadn't enjoyed it in years, and honestly I had a hard time doing it recently. Then I thought about it...

We have the privilege of talking to the God who spoke creation into being, the God who parted the Red Sea and delivered Israel from oppression, the God that spoke to the prophets, and that God that is faithful to all His promises. WE GET TO TALK TO HIM! And as I began to get this fresh perspective prayer became exciting to me again, and my hope is that this excitement continues.

I am fasting this week and my prayer is that I will enjoy praying and communing with the Father, and that it increases as I know Him more.

It is refreshing rediscovering an intimacy with Christ that I haven't know in sometime, I hope that as I spend more and more time with Him, I will simply bask in His glory and fall deeper and deeper in love with the God of the ages.