Sovereign King Church

PASTOR’S BLOG

Gordon blogs daily at www.jgordonduncan.com. His blog deals with issues of culture and Christianity. Included below are samples of some of his recent posts.

062809

HURTS SO GOOD

I know that a lot folks are not going to read sermon notes word for word, so I decided to edit a section from this past week’s sermon into a blog entry. The truths of Romans 5 are so important in light of what so many are going through that I thought it might make for an interesting read. First, let’s look at Paul’s words in Romans 5:3-6:

3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

I want to make a few things very clear as we look at verses 3-5. There is a clear and obvious, step by step explanation of we grow in having hope in God. If you want to grow into being a hopeful person instead of being a cynical, sarcastic, pessimistic person, there is no shortcut or any other way to produce this hope in your lives. And for most of you, you will not be willing to walk this path. Paul makes it very clear. If you have the perspective of glorying in the fact that you can now stand before God, if you want that kind of hope that is hope against hope, it is going to come in only one way: suffering. In fact, here is the plan: you suffer, your suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, character produces hope and that kind of hope, the one that endures suffering, will never put you to shame because God pours His love into you through the Holy Spirit.

Think about this for a minute. What normally happens when you start to suffer? What happens when you or someone you love gets sick? What happens when you lose a job? What happens when your kids aren’t successful? What happens when your dreams just don’t come true?

Well, the typical and first reaction is what? Most folks respond in this way saying, “Please heal me or whoever else is sick. Please help me find a job. Please make my kids successful. Please make my dreams come true.”

Now those aren’t bad prayers. God has surely answered those kinds of prayers favorably before, but quite honestly, in light of this verse, those prayers are a little shortsighted. According to this verse, your suffering is THE way in which God wants to produce character and hope in you. God might take those things away from you or change your circumstance but the intention of your sufferings according to this verse is to produce Godly character in you.

Ever wonder why you just can’t grow in godliness? You know what I mean. Everybody seems to have a closer walk with Jesus than you. You wish you could stop looking at porn. You wish you could stop being a hateful shrew to your husband. You wish you could quit been a domineering piece of crap to your wife and kids. You wish you could experience real joy.

Maybe and just maybe you spend all your time wishing away suffering and complaining to God instead of realizing that God wants to use your suffering to instill those Godly qualities that you lack. But we need to remember that suffering produces real Godly character. Why? You see, no theoretical knowledge of suffering is going tell you what Jesus is like. The scriptures are powerful and you can read about what Jesus went through but it will leave you lacking in truly experiencing the suffering of Jesus. Real honest suffering however gives you a first hand knowledge of what Jesus went through on your behalf. That kind of knowledgeable experience produces Godly character.

And once you begin to have Godly character, you know that character like Jesus had, then you can have real hope…a hope that responds to suffering in the same way that Jesus did in the Garden of Gethsemane. In Mark 14:36, Jesus is getting to go and suffer humiliation and death and He prays this prayer. He says, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”

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06/21/09

WE ARE DEVO (TIONS)

Though expressions like “Quiet Times” and “Devotions” have fallen out of favor in the church’s vernacular of late, the under girding principle of spending daily time with God via study and prayer shouldn’t. Like many believers, my daily pattern of time with God has taken on many forms and evolved over time.

In its basic form, daily time with God is a time of study or reading in the Bible plus prayer time. Early on, I undertook the goal of reading the Bible through in a year, and that was my discipline for the longest time before starting seminary. Seminary changed the way I approached my daily time. I was immersed in the Bible day in and day out so figuring out which part was training to be a pastor and which part was for personal devotion was a challenge.

One danger that many pastors face is thinking that prep time for a sermon or prep time for a seminary test is the same as personal growth in the scriptures and with Jesus. Though the word is always efficacious, the intent of the time in scripture changes the way the heart looks at the text. Studying to instruct or studying to memorize does bring one closer to the text, but I have met many people who are knowledgeable of the text who do not know their Savior well. The practical problem becomes studying a text for self without always jumping to application or instruction for others.

Learning to approach the scriptures both for personal growth with my Savior while simultaneously approaching the scriptures for instruction and preaching is a lesson that I’m glad I’ve earned earlier rather than later in my ministry. Without hesitation, I would say that any pastor that neglects personal Bible instruction opens his heart to temptation, arrogance, and hardness of heart.

Prayer is always a tricky discipline. I’ve never met a Christian who says that they don’t pray at all, yet the number of Christians I know that spend more than 30 minutes a day in dedicated prayer would be less than 10. Early on, I began writing my prayers out word for word in journals. This initially was my discipline because I flat out fell asleep every time I closed my eyes to pray for extended periods of time. However, the more practical application of writing down my prayers was the ability to organize and keep lists of things and people to pray for. I also found that I was more honest with myself as I actually wrote my feelings, hurts, and sins. Somehow seeing those things in print made a big difference in my honesty and integrity before God.

In the past six months, my personal disciplines have taken a giant leap forward. I wanted to leave behind or at least modify my older approaches to prayer and study so that I specifically worked against boredom or ritual. I knew that if I was going to keep my heart freshly renewed before God for myself, my family, and my church, I needed not to neglect this most basic element of my relationship with God. My personal daily devotions needed to be as important as my sermon preparation each week.

The first change came in my Bible study habits. I realized that my time in the word was weakening because of the necessity of time put in for sermon prep. I spent hours of time in the word each week, but very little of that time was for personal edification. Then a buddy of mine casually mentioned that he started scribing a few years ago to better pay attention to each word in the text. Scribing is literally writing every single word of a particular passage down for study. The Scribes in the Gospels always get a bad rap because they were so legalistic. They sure knew their scriptures well, but they did not know the heart of the scriptures or of their author. I began to wonder though if this disciplined could be rescued from my preconceived judgment.

I found that in sermon prep, I was cutting and pasting onto my notes from the computer and spending less and less time pouring over each word. So to change that, I did two things. For my personal devotion time, I began scribing, literally writing out word for word the book of Matthew. It has taken me several months, but within the next few days, I will have completed this text. It has caused me to pay attention to every single word, every punctuation mark, and the flow of the passages in a way I never have before. I don’t set scribing goals; I just scribe until I have taken in scripture in depth. Some days, I’ll only do a paragraph, and some days, I’ll cover a whole chapter.

This discipline has aided my sermon prep as well. I make scribing part of writing my sermon. Whatever my passage is, I scribe that separately each week. So, when I’m done preaching Romans, I will also be done scribing the whole book.

My prayer time though, has undergone the largest transformation. Generally, in my prayer time, whether verbal or journaled, I found that I followed the A.C.T.S. pattern. I spent time Adoring God, Confessing Sin, giving Him Thanks, and then petitioning or offering Supplications. This is a helpful pattern that I would recommend to anyone. But this pattern for me had grown stale and cold.

About 4 months ago, a friend of mine talked about creating a prayer journal. The idea was to create a month long guide that would walk a person through the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer each day. We tried it for a month and found it helpful. During the second revision, we added a guided Scripture that would help influence the petitions, and finally we added a section for personal prayers, prayers for others, and an area for thanksgiving.

A sample of what the guide looks like is below.

Quite honestly, nothing has changed my prayer life like this guide. I have found that I spend more concentrated time proclaiming God’s glory and His name. I pray larger kingdom-minded prayers than ever before. I pray for God’s will to be shone in my life through obedience to scripture and for a heart of contentment no matter what God ordains. My time of confession is more specific, and I pray more consistently for protection in temptation.

These patterns have spilled into how I pray for others. I now pray these things for my family each day. Each person of Sovereign King Church gets prayed for each week as well as host of churches. There is nothing magical or mysterious about the prayer guide other than it has worked for me.

The discipline of daily devotion is just that…a discipline. No guide or pattern is going to do the work for you. It begins with a prayer of God enabling you to live out the self-control that is the promised work of the Spirit. Scribing the scriptures and journaling the Lord’s Supper may or may not benefit you. My prayer though is that each of you would enjoy a greater intimacy with God in these disciplines.

05/31/09

MESSY, DIRTY LIVES

I recently proclaimed to the folks at Sovereign King Church that if their life is too put together to help those whose lives are too messy then they’ve missed the lesson of Romans 3. That chapter speaks to how no one has any right to brag before God as no one is righteous; no not one. Even after a child of God begins to grow in obedience as promised in scripture, we are reminded in Romans 3 with this: “Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith.” Paul’s point is that there is no room for boasting because we don’t gain anything before God by works of the law. All access to God and His work through Christ come by faith. The child of God does grow in doing righteousness, but it is never that righteousness by which we recommend ourselves to God; it is always Jesus’.

But the temptation once life gets smoothed out for you is to avoid anything and anyone whose life would complicate yours. If you are married with a couple of great kids and you are able to grill out every now and then or go shopping, who wants to get involved with someone whose life is messy? Unfortunately, very few do.

The reason is that people begin to think that the successes in their life are because they are good people and God is impressed with them, so He gives them a peaceful life. But the peaceful American life is often full of stinking self-righteousness that intends to shield one from “really sinful, hurtful people.”

Unfortunately, so many miss out on the mercies of the Gospel (and the subsequent blessings of service) because people don’t want to get their hands dirty (or live by faith). If you find yourself saying, “I can’t get involved with acts of mercy” or thinking “Those people can’t come into my home,” then you may have forgotten that you stand in as much need as any other person in this world. Christ meets your need and very well may intend to use you to meet someone else’s.

Since becoming a pastor, I’ve found that my home has been the launching ground for ministries that I never expected while attempting to apply Romans 3 in my life. In the past 3-4 years, we’ve had former mental patients stay with us, alcoholics, hosted folks of every race, religion, and sexual orientation, and even offered our garage to someone to run a business for a period of time. These things don’t make me righteous. I know that my heart seeks comfortability and ease at all times, but comfortability and ease is not a place of faith. While protecting my family is a first concern, I always have to guard my heart to make sure I’m not excluding those in need so that I can live comfortably. The times the church gets this right are glorious and praiseworthy moments highlighting the mercies of Jesus. The times we get it wrong more than likely slip imperceptibly by while others continue to hurt.

A church armed with these realizations could take great ground for Jesus Christ. Since we have had our needs met from Christ (and His children), we should be motivated to get our hands dirty and live messily in order that others might know the same comfort of Christ. If not, the church will continue to leave peaceful, clean, ineffective kingdom lives.

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05/17/09

LIVING OUT MISSION

In the best of situations, the mission of a church is specific, easily discernible, and clear to be put into action. Unfortunately, the temptation for many churches is for the mission to be pretty generic, not specific in any way, and have it sound like every other church’s purpose. Yes, every church should desire to glorify God, but if that is your mission statement, then why does your church need to exist when 10 other churches in your community have the same mission? Something has to make you purposeful and something has to make you missional.

Sovereign King faced this dilemma when we launched. We knew more churches were shutting down than opening in Garner, and we also knew that that ratio of population to churches was increasing and not decreasing. There was a definitive need for a new work in Garner and the surrounding areas. But what would set us apart missionally?

After several stops and starts, we finally nailed down our mission: Sovereign King Church exists to create and engage community for the glory of Christ. This mission not only defines our purpose, it gives direction and parameter. Everything we do either serves to build a loving, honest community within our congregation or it exists for us to serve Garner and the surrounding areas in the name of Christ. We give a full half of our time to serving so as to keep us from navel-gazing. If it isn’t relational and community building, we don’t do it. We don’t hand out tracts or do drive-by shooting evangelism. This doesn’t make us special; it just gives us an identity.

A year ago, we sat down and asked what would be the best avenue in addition to our worship services to live out this mission. What we came up with was CE Groups. They are in some ways like a traditional small group, but there are some distinct differences. Our groups don’t meet perpetually. They meet for 90 days, take a month off, and then reform in some new configuration.

During those 90 days, each group purposes to create a community within itself that might include actually taking on a service project for someone who is in need. So far, the church has given a wedding shower, helped congregants move, covered baby sitting, and on and on. Each group also tackles an engaging community effort as well. So far our groups have fed the EMS, put together Thanksgiving baskets for police officers who had to work over the holiday, and worked in homeless shelters. If effective, each group lives out our mission in the most practical of ways.

We are excited to be launching 3 new groups. They will be meeting over the summer, and will officially launch this week. Already efforts of helping individuals in need and serving the local women’s shelter are in place. You do not have to be a member of Sovereign King to be involved in a CE Group. If you are looking to get to know folks and serve the community, then jump in. Our leaders contact info is listed below

Gordon and Amy Duncan - jgordonduncan@yahoo.com

Mike and Melanie Askew - mike.askew@mindablaze.com

Jon and Christy Knutson - christy.knutson@gmail.com

You can also find out more about CE Groups at the Sovereign King Church website at http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/3.1.html

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05/10/09

SIMPLE BUT HARD: THE LIFE OF PRAYER

Life and responsibility bear down as life progresses. As it does, the choices of how to react become simpler and harder. Typically we think of decisions as being complex and hard or simple and easy, but I have not seen it as so. The older I get, my choices become more simple not more difficult. The options are clear; the consequences are heavy.

I know several folks who have entered into adulthood and chosen to avoid any and all responsibility. They choose a life with no relational commitment, no career pursuit, and no spiritual vitality. All the while, they claim they are actually living the life. But this route doesn’t avoid the simple but harder choices paradigm. They are avoiding maturity and commitment which is a simple (I don’t want to be an adult) but the consequences are heavy as well (I’ll forever live with 3 other people and look like I need to take a shower).

When we think about it, life continues to display a greater need for prayer. That in and of itself is a simple choice (to pray or not to pray), and the consequences are heavy (wisdom and guidance from God or trusting your own wisdom and guidance).

However, the human heart fights against prayer. The human heart says, “You are smart. You are gifted. You usually make the right decision. The consequences of poor decision making aren’t that great. You need more sleep. You don’t have time to pray. Prayer is boring.” And so we don’t pray.

Prayer is humbling, and that fact alone makes it very difficult for many people to enter into any prayer more elaborate than, “Dear God, help me today.” But humbling yourself before God and asking for wisdom often makes things clearer…and simpler. Many decisions that seem complex actually are quite simple once we ask God for help. The doing of the right decision becomes the hard part, and thus more prayer is necessary.

Verses like “Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord and He will lift you up,” and “I will keep Him at perfect peace whose mind is set on me,” make a lot of sense. Those two are just a speck of the great number of verses that speak to the benefits of a life of prayer. Yet, the number of people I know that live and breathe in prayer dependence are few.

So, until constant prayer becomes our life blood, we will remain self-sufficient people who make simple choices look difficult while trying to avoid painful consequences. But if we would become people who live and breath in prayer-dependence, our choices would become simpler, our roads straighter, and our hearts more peaceful.

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04/16/09

I’m continuing my study of C.J. Mahaney’s incredible book of “Humility” – here is a quick summary of Chapter Seven.

To help cultivate humility and weaken pride, these next few recommended practices will move us beyond our daily routines. These practices have to do with times of special focus – things that you give extended concentration to:

STUDY THE ATTRIBUTES OF GOD

Study all of His attributes, but I recommend you study in particular what the theologians have identified as the incommunicable attributes of God. These are the attributes for which no human reflection or human illustration can be found. They’re attributes that God doesn’t share with us.

For example, God is absolutely self-existent and self-sufficient. Of this attribute, R.C. Sproul writes:

The grand difference between a human being and a supreme being is precisely this: Apart from God, I cannot exist. Apart from me, God does exist. God does not need me in order for Him to be; I do need God in order for me to be. This is the difference between what we call self-existent being and dependent being. We are dependent. We are fragile. No human being has the power of being within himself. We cannot live without air, without water, without food. We are like flowers that bloom and then wither and then die. This is how we differ from God. God does not wither, God does not fade, God is not fragile.

(Gordon’s note: for resources to study the attributes of God, check out http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Gods-Attributes/)

STUDY THE DOCTRINES OF GRACE

Study the doctrines of election, calling, justification, perseverance, and the effect will be humility. Mark Webb wrote:

God intentionally designed salvation so that no man can boast of it. He didn’t merely arrange it so that boasting would be discouraged, or kept to a minimum – He planned it so that boasting would be absolutely excluded! Election does precisely that.

STUDY THE DOCTRINE OF SIN

John Owen writes:

There are two things that are suited to humble the souls of men…A due consideration of God, and then of ourselves. Of God, in His greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty, and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject and sinful condition.”

Regarding all these topics and doctrines mentioned in this chapter, remember that study alone isn’t sufficient. Along with increased knowledge there must also be grace-motivated application of truth and grace-empowered obedience to truth.

Only then will we experience Christ’s liberating power from the sin of pride.

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04/19/09

THE EXIT DOORS

In church planting training and in seminary, I received an education on most every topic: evangelism, the sacraments, church membership, church discipline, and on and on. One area that I didn’t receive enough instruction on was how to let people go. No matter what, whether you are planting a church or pasturing one that is 100 years old, people are going to leave. Why they leave and how they leave is really the only question.

We have membership classes and we have avenues by which we receive people into the church, but there are very few practical guidelines about how to let people go. In the PCA, we have procedures in place on how and when you transfer membership, but those don’t speak well to the emotional letting go of folks.

Before becoming a pastor, I was a Ruling Elder at a church for 5 years, and there I saw folks come and go which is normal. Some of those hellos and goodbyes were joyful, some were sorrowful and unfortunately, some were bitter. As a church planter, I’ve borne the weight of these moments for the most part alone, and I have handled just as many poorly as I have handled them well.

In one case, my response to a family who wanted to leave was too quick. I fired off an ill-advised email. In another case, my email was too delayed. I was trying to more properly weigh my words, and the family was hurt that they had not heard from me. The lesson: there is no perfect way to respond. Each case requires its own specific wisdom.

But here is the thing: there is no other option but to be gracious to people in their leaving. Yes, pastors need to encourage folks moving away to walk in repentance when necessary. Yes, pastors need to call folks to honor the commitments that they have made. But once you have done that, thanking them for worshiping and serving with the church and then blessing them in their leaving is the best option.

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04/12/09

A few months ago, Sovereign King discovered that the Garner EMS no longer had a budget line for meals at their quarterly staff meetings. In light of the economy, they were asked to make cuts, and that was the first to go. Having recently become their chaplain, I thought that providing a meal for the EMS workers’ quarterly meal shouldn’t be too big of a deal.

My CE Group quickly rose to the occasion and volunteered to provide the dinner. The folks at SK just rock, and they did it up right. We had baked ziti with multiple lasagnas (even a vegetarian), and folks got Ragazzi’s to donate bread and salad. There were awesome desserts and even enough food left over to stock the fridge with individual meals in containers.

However, the highlight of the night had to be the reunion. Many of you have heard the story of Shawn Stead http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/5.4.html. He was the young boy who was hit by a van a year and half ago. There were moments where Shawn’s survival was touch and go, but he his now doing well and rocking the A/B honor roll.

That wonderful family is now part of the Sovereign King family. Well, the first responders to that accident were at the dinner last night. So often they don’t know what happens to folks once they drop them off at the hospital. Well, Shawn and his family met those wonderful EMS workers at the dinner. Everyone was crying. A couple of the workers said, “This is why we do our job.” Later that night, I got a text from Shawn’s mom who was also thankful for the reunion. It turned out to be a special night for everyone.

It was so incredible and it was definitely a Thank God moment for His orchestrating of these relationships and these reunions. SK was happy to serve the EMS, and we’ll do it again next quarter. Our folks were especially happy and thankful to meet the people that saved their child’s life.

Garner EMS also wrote about the story and included some pictures. You can find that article at http://garnerems.org/fullstory.php?84032

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04/05/09

WHEN THE PROBLEM IS US

What happens when “those kinds of people” come into your church? You know those folks. First and foremost, they are not believers. Secondly, they are sinners, and I mean really bad sinners. What happens when they show up? First of all, know that they already attend because you attend, but you know what I mean. What happens when people who are openly honest that they do not believe in Jesus attend?

Well, hopefully that happens in the first place. In fact, thank God if that does happen. If a non-believer is even willing to darken your doorstep, you better stop, drop, and thank God because most aren’t going to. It is hard enough to get Christians to attend worship these days much less a non-believer, and life will become messy if folks become aware of non-Christians in their midst.

I am aware that if “those kinds of people” attend a local church, then some members fear they won’t be able to have certain things. They fear that the programs/events/church culture they want or like won’t come about because those kinds of people won’t want or like them.

The bottom line is that the church can’t want programs or events that fit church culture over wanting to see non-believers come to know Christ. Yes, non-believers are not going to want many of those things, and getting them to want them can’t be our desire. Getting them to know and want Jesus must be our desire. If they eventually want programs or events, great, but if they never do, that’s okay as long as they want Jesus.

How many people at my church (and yours) are afraid they can’t get what they want if the church reaches out to non-believers? How many are afraid that the culture of their church will change if someone who has not grown up with a steeple and pew shows up?

If we cease reaching out to non-believers because we want to protect our church culture, we find ourselves sitting under the harshest of judgment from the Bible. Specifically, I think of Matthew 23 where Jesus says to the Pharisees:

“13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves.”

Jesus condemns the Pharisees for not legitimately offering the Kingdom of God to people. In fact, the Pharisees were guilty of offering their own culture instead of the transforming life of a relationship with God. Their “converts” were just people that imitated their legalistic culture…and it detests Jesus. It is repugnant to Him.

With that in mind, our churches should be weary and mindful that what we have to offer is Jesus Christ not extensive programs or ingrained church culture. Those things can be of use, but they are not sacred. If a specific church DNA changes because God graciously brings in people that are not familiar with the trappings of American church culture, praise God. The only thing that change would require is greater faith, and that is exactly where God would have us…growing in faith.
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03/23/09

WAITING IS PRAYING

At Sovereign King yesterday, we spent a great deal of time discussing what it looks like to wait on the Lord. Primarily, we looked at two texts: Ruth 3 and Psalm 40. Ruth and Naomi wait to see what it is going to happen between Boaz and the kinsmen-redeemer that is closest to them and Psalm 40 is a prayer about waiting on God.

I think I have become a professional on waiting lately. That doesn’t mean I’m good at it or that I do it in Christ-honoring way all the time (because I don’t), but I understand what it means to wait. Just like many of you, I’m sure there are a host of things in your life that you wait on. For me, there are primarily two: the health of my wife, Amy and the growth of Sovereign King Church.

My wonderful wife, Amy, has suffered from a variety of illnesses over the past few years, and I pray and pray diligently for God to give wisdom to the doctors and that she would be healed. She is a wonderful vibrant, smart, funny gal who suffers from intense fatigue and various other ailments. Rarely does she have a day where she feels rested or even can just say, “Yeah, I feel good today.”

Sovereign King Church is about to celebrate 3 years of meeting for services, and God has done so many things with us. Yet I still pray that we can ordain officers soon and grow beyond “getting by” – I want us to be able to launch more effective and widespread ministries that are not limited by either the number of people in the crowd or how much money we took in that Sunday.

Don’t get wrong, in both of these things, I am incredibly thankful. I have a wonderful wife who adores me and loves me. I have a wonderful, Christ honoring church that wants to glorify Jesus. Yet, I want good things for both of them, and so I pray and wait.

I mentioned to our folks at SK the other day that the proper posture of waiting is praying. If we aren’t praying, then we are taking matters into our own hands and trying to bring about what we want apart from God. Yes, we are called to prudence, wisdom, and obedience in doing the work of God, but those things are to be bathed in prayer. The picture of waiting is best found in Psalm 40.

If you are interested, I’ve included our discussion of Psalm 40 from SK last week with a few notes. Let me hear from you guys about waiting on the Lord and what that looks like for you.

40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. 2 He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. 3 He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord.

· We wait patiently as Ruth did. God hears your cry and He has rescued you.

· Focusing on Christ as your Redeemer causes you to have a new song of joy and many will see it and praise God.

4 Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! 5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God, your wondrous deeds and your thoughts toward us; none can compare with you! I will proclaim and tell of them, yet they are more than can be told.

· God does not want you to give up on waiting and to take things into your own hands or as he says turn to the proud.

· Consider God’s multiplying or blessing to you and then your waiting will turn into praising.

6 In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted, but you have given me an open ear. Burnt offering and sin offering you have not required. 7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me: 8 I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart.”

· As you wait for God, He is not asking you to deliver offering or a certain amount obedience to answer you.

· Get your Bibles out, return to the truths of God, find comfort, delight in God’s will and not your own and you will find joy.

9 I have told the glad news of deliverance in the great congregation; behold, I have not restrained my lips, as you know, O Lord. 10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart; I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation; I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness from the great congregation.

· Once you have focused on God’s redeeming you and submitted your will to His as revealed in His scriptures, then you proclaim that redemption and deliverance and proclaim God’s faithfulness and salvation.

· You cannot but help to tell others of God’s steadfast and faithful love to you.

11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and your faithfulness will ever preserve me! 12 For evils have encompassed me beyond number; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I cannot see; they are more than the hairs of my head; my heart fails me.

· God has not run out of mercy to forgive you.

· You will sin and you will sin a lot…more sins that you can number, but fear not.

13 Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me! O Lord, make haste to help me! 14 Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether who seek to snatch away my life; let those be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt! 15 Let those be appalled because of their shame who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”

· God takes great pleasure in delivering you.

· You let God worry about those that would mock you for your faith.

· Ultimately every knee will bow and confess the glory of Christ and Christ’ return so the avenging is His responsibility, not yours.

16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation say continually, “Great is the Lord!” 17 As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me. You are my help and my deliverer; do not delay, O my God!

· Do not look for bad things to happen to those that doubt you.

· Rejoice that they too may see God’s salvation.

· Your posture is to be poor and needy always dependant upon your deliverer.

· So you wait and say, “do not delay O my God.”

03/16/09

NEEDS EXPRESSED, NEEDS MET

I spent a great deal of time in reflection. Aside from my journaling and scribing habits, I write a weekly prayer letter to folks who have committed to pray for our church. In addition, I write a follow up email to our members each Monday that attempts to encapsulate the message and encourage folks to pursue its’ application further.

Because of this, I’m always analyzing and praying about what God is doing. At times, His actions seem quite obvious and overt, and at others, they seem quite vague and covert. Yet, after spending just two weeks in the book of Ruth, I’m more and more aware and confident that God works even when I am unaware of His actions.

Through the first two chapters of Ruth, we see that Naomi and Ruth are homeless, penniless, husbandless, and childless – not a good situation for anyone but especially for a woman in those days. They return home, and as Naomi says, “She went away full but God brought her back empty.”

I’m sure she wanted the miraculous to happen. At least, she wanted some very clear sign that God was still at work. What she got was the ordinary made extraordinary. By returning to the people of God, Naomi and Ruth were fed by Ruth’s gleaning of the corners of the fields left for the needy. Then Boaz, a relative of Naomi’s, offers them the full harvest, protection, and water. In fact, they receive enough food to last for several months.

There are no birds that feed them. Stone does not turn to bread. There are no blankets descending from heaven with food for them. The miraculous work of God in these women’s lives is simple people obeying God’s scripture, and two helpless women being helped and fed.

Practically, the application of these things is very simple:

· God is no less at work in this world and in your life if you cannot sense Him as He is when you can.

· When you walk away from God in faith, obedience, sacrifice, study, and prayer, you need to realize that God is still at work.

· A difficult circumstance or a stressful situation is not evidence that God is not at work. It is evidence that He is.

· The man or woman of God that has walked away from the community of God is not going to sense the presence or work of God. Ask Naomi how that worked out for her.

· When you ask God for help, you must be willing for the answer to your prayers to come through the provision found in the word of God and the people of God.

· You have to get over your pride, self-sufficiency and unwillingness to ask for help. Sometimes, even if you can do something for yourself, you should ask others to help so that they can joyfully serve God and you.

· God doesn’t save you so that you no longer need Him and others. God saves you for you to recognize your need of Him and others.

If the either conscious or unconscious goal and structuring of your life is such that you, your spouse and your children do not need help from others in the church, you are purposefully moving away from the provision and work that God has set in place for you. Shame on you. If you think, “Well I just have a hard time asking people for help,” my response to you is, “Yeah, that is called pride. God hates pride and it is the same sin that brought down Satan.” So, don’t offer that to me and to others as a characteristic of who you are. Don’t define yourself by your sin. Define yourself by humility as Christ did when He walked on this Earth.

The unique community that is the church is here to be an outpost of the Kingdom of God within a hurting world. It is the community that Jesus loves. He lived, died, and rose again to make her beautiful. It is the community by which you find help and support. It is the community that takes in aliens, strangers, pagan, sinners, and the like and makes them the community of God. It is a community where needs are expressed and needs are met. Those needs may not be expressed or met perfectly, but they are expressed and met nonetheless. When the church to the individual realizes these things, she will be a greater force of God’s goodness in this community.

God’s work will be made much more evident and overt as we live our humility and service within the context of the church.

--

03/09/09

STORYTELLERS

Last night, I had the opportunity to retell the story of Sovereign King Church. I began our history not from the day that Amy and I moved onto the field. I began with the Godly heritage of both our fathers who worked hard as ministers only to see their ministries end painfully and bitterly. Despite that fact (and our mutual swearing of never going into ministry), God brought us to the point of surrendering our lives to whatever He had for us. What He had, has, and will have is the building of God’s corner of the Kingdom in Garner.

Telling the story of arriving in Garner with no people, getting to know the Garner Police, gathering the first group of people, making a million mistakes, and witnessing God’s faithfulness was good for my heart. It reminds me of what God is about: using sinful and mistaken prone men and women to build His church, transform lives, and bring glory to Christ.

Some of the folks in that crowd last night had heard our story before, but I don’t think anyone grows tired in hearing it again. The folks to whom the story was new had the opportunity to make themselves part of the drama that God is creating and playing out among us. I’m committed to keep our history in front of us (brief though it may be). We can never forget God’s faithfulness and work at play because so often we are blind to seeing it, but He is there nonetheless.

I cannot wait until we tell the story of Sovereign King Church and it takes hours to do so because God has sustained us and done so much with us over the years. This small group of people who gathered to hear the story again will be the story tellers in years to come, and I pray that more and more people will be drawn in to what God is doing among us.

03/01/09

JOYS OF WRITING FOR A SMALL-TOWN PAPER

I’m not blind to the fact that most contributing writers to a small town paper get the gig because of two things: a fair command of the rules of grammar and the willingness to actually put some down on paper. I also realize that exposure is somewhat limited in a small town paper.

These truths don’t keep me from enjoying writing and being published. In fact, it is all the more exciting when as a writer, I get to enjoy the freedom that comes with writing for a small town paper.

Yesterday the Garner Citizen published an article that I wrote back in December speaking to trusting God with the pressure is on. The highlighted quote in the middle of the article read:

“Our salvation and the love of God are secure through the work of Christ.”

The ending sentence read:

“Equipping ourselves in obedience, humility, repentance, honesty, and fellowship prepares us so that in that one moment where we can speak of Christ, our hearts are ready.”

I do love the fact that this venue gives a clear and unencumbered platform for proclaiming the Gospel.

02/23/09

HUMILITY: TRUE GREATNESS

I was greatly affected at a recent conference to hear a young church planter break into tears after reading C.J. Mahaney’s book “Humility: True Greatness.” The planter mentioned reading the book six times with the hope of really understanding and achieving humility. He was comforted and prayed for by Wayne Grudem who encouraged him to continue seeking this altogether rare quality in the Christian life. Several people in the room spoke of the book’s impact on their lives.

I took this as a prompting to read the book, and as best as I can, I will give you some chapter reviews along the way. My first impression came in the introduction.

HUMILITY IS A FUNNY THING….On the one hand, it’s an extremely desirable trait. Most of us, as Christians, would say we want to be humble, right? Or at least we want to be thought of as humble. At the same time, few of us have given attention to what being humble actually means. Even fewer have considered what it takes to grow in humility. In place of true humility we learn certain words or phrases that we believe make us sound humble: “Oh, really, it was nothing” or “Anyone could have done it.” We cast our eyes down and shrug our shoulders or maybe even blush. Of course, we don’t really mean it—inside we’re congratulating ourselves for how humble we look and feel. We want that reputation but don’t know how to get to the reality. Like children playing dress-up in their parents’ clothes, we’re only acting humble; none of it really fits us.

(Taken from Joshua Harris’ introduction to “Humility” by CJ Mahaney)

I think Joshua Harris nailed this correctly. Humility is more of a quality that people want perceived in them than it is a quality that people truly want to possess. If this is true, the church must completely misunderstand humility then since our Savior was meek and humble.

Mahaney begins his book discussing how certain business leaders are recognizing the value of humility in this day and age. He goes on to make this point:

Here, it appears, is open acknowledgment of humility’s value—recognition that humility works, that it goes far in building respect for those who have it and in inspiring trust and confidence from people around them. Yes, amazingly, humility sometimes attracts the world’s notice.

But here’s something even more astonishing: Humility gets God’s attention. In Isaiah 66:2 we read these words from the Lord:

This is the one to whom I will look:

he who is humble and contrite in spirit

and trembles at my word.

This profound passage points us to an altogether different motivation and purpose for humility than we will ever find in the pages of a secular business manual. Here we find motivation and purpose rooted in this amazing fact:

Humility draws the gaze of our Sovereign God.

If we understand the background of this passage, we find even richer meaning. Here God is addressing the Israelites, a people with a unique identity. Chosen by God from among all the nations on earth, they possessed both the temple and the Torah—the Law of God. But they didn’t tremble at His word. In a sense they had everything going for them except what was most important. They lacked humility before God. So in this passage, God in His mercy is drawing the Israelites’ attention away from their prideful assumption of privilege as His chosen people and away from their preoccupation with the trappings of religion. These things don’t attract His active and gracious gaze. But humility does.

(Taken from “Humility” by CJ Mahaney)

God recognizes humility. Why? Because true Godly humility always has the end goal of dependence and faith in God and not in self. And faith in God draws us into relationship with Him. Pride makes us out to be our own gods with no need of true divinity.

We’ll see where the book takes me, but I like where it is leading. I would love to hear from those who have read and have experience with it.

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02/16/09

WAYNE GRUDEM Q & A

This past week, Amy and I were fortunate enough to attend a two day Acts 29 Network (www.acts29network.org) church planting conference. Each day during lunch, they brought in folks for Q & A, and the time was free form and very open. Our first day was with Mars Hill pastor, Mark Driscoll, and the second was with esteemed theologian, Wayne Grudem. The folks at the conference were quite bold and honest with their questions, and one question that popped up in each session pertained to each speaker’s personal study habits.

I was particularly taken aback by Wayne Grudem’s answer to that question. I had only met Dr. Grudem once for a very brief time, so I had no real sense of his personality or demeanor. After hearing his response to the personal devotion question, I feel like I know him much more intimately.

Before going into detail, this note is helpful: for people who make their livelihood in studying and preaching the word, personal devotions are often a challenge. If one follows the old axiom of one hour spent for each one minute of speaking/preaching, ministers find themselves in scripture for a great deal of time each week. But spending time preparing to teach is not the same as spending time being fed by the scriptures. Of course, the scriptures are alive in either case, but the intention of the heart and the questions of the mind are quite different depending upon the approach.

Dr. Grudem was quite clear about this: he tries not to leave his home without spending at least 30 minutes in the scriptures for personal devotion each day. He said he learned the need for this the hard way. He recounted a story from a few years ago where he was participating with the translation of the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible. He was spending 8 hours a day in translation from the original texts. It seemed each waking moment of his day was given over to thoughts of scripture, so he decided his body needed extra rest and he would forgo his normal 30 minutes of personal study each morning.

It was at this point in retelling the story that Dr. Grudem grew quiet. So much so that any straying of thought from the crowd disappeared and all eyes turned towards him. He began to play with his phone, and he finally told the crowd that he made specific notes about that moment in his life.

He said that after just 4 days of missing personal devotion, he became aware of rising flaws in his character, and he noted them to remind himself if ever considered an extended absence from study again. His list included:

· I make myself the subject of most sentences.

· I have a great desire for personal praise.

· I want to be recognized by others.

· I have an inward feeling of unease.

· I am practicing self-reliance.

· I have no peace.

I and everyone else in the room were shaken by this incredibly Godly man’s humility. It permeated the room. This brilliant writer, theologian, and author whose Bible knowledge was probably greater than the combined knowledge of the rest of the room, was broken even now in the story’s telling. Despite all that he knew, despite the fact that he was spending 8 hours a day in translating the Bible, he knew that if his time of personal study with God was broken, he was broken. He was so attuned to the Spirit that he could identify slipping and falling character.

As a young pastor, Dr. Grudem’s comments to me were inspiring. His level of humility shown thrown through and he was willing to bear his weakness among a crowd that was ready to praise him. His example is a great one whether or not your livelihood is ministry. We all need to daily be broken before God in scripture and prayer, and we should all ask for a sensitive heart that would recognize our failing Godliness and our rising need of time with God.

02/08/09

#i3 TRAVELS PART 2

The ice storm arrived in Dallas just as promised. My budget hotel advertised as 4 miles from the conference was actually 18, and I had no ride to and from either. My primary goal of attending #i3 was to get face time with a book publisher to discuss organizing my writings into a book on church planting, and that meeting was set for day 2 at 10am.

Fortunately, my brother lives in Texas, and he offered to pick me up, crash for the night, and get me back to the conference. Just as he was leaving work, the ice starting falling, and the 45 minute ride to pick me up turned into 2 hours.

We made it safely to our hotel and walked to a local restaurant for dinner. There we watched one of the more significant ice storms that I’ve ever seen. It was like a torrential rain but with ice. I began to become outwardly concerned that making my 10am meeting was going to be difficult. Roads were shut down, and wrecks were everywhere.

We awoke the next morning to an eerie silence. The world was encased in ice, and apparently folks in Texas have no more of an idea of driving in winter storms than folks in NC. Cars were littered everywhere. Knowing how important the meeting was, my brother and I set off for our 18 mile commute with plenty of time to spare. We arrived with only a few scary moments.

My meeting went well, and I got 20 mins of facetime with the publisher instead of the expected 5. We talked about my ideas, and he moved me into step 2 of the publishing process.

With the sun coming out and the ice melting, getting to the airport was still a hurdle. I wanted to avoid a repeat of the $90 drive in. At lunch, while looking for a table, I struck up a conversation with a church management software sales guy who was native to Texas. I asked him a few questions about the area, and he asked about my stay. I mentioned that it was a quick one and joked about some of my travel experiences so far. When he heard about my travels so far, he offered to give me a ride to airport since he lived nearby. Sweet.

On the way in, he and his boss were incredibly gracious asking about SK and the work I was doing. They knew the pitfalls of some of the traffic, so they got me to the airport early. In fact, I was at the airport so early, they bumped me up into a flight that would get me home 3 hours earlier than expected.

Enduring a wait on the flight line, as well as a few overeager sales guys on the airplane, I arrived home safe and sound with my faith stretched and gratitude enlarged for God’s provision to such a fun trip.

02/01/09

#i3 Travels

I typically have all the bases covered when I travel. I know where I’m going, when I’m getting there, how I’m getting around, and what to do to entertain myself along the way. My trip to Dallas was not like that in any way.

To begin with, I wasn’t planning on attending Innovation 3. It had an incredible lineup of speakers and promised one on one contact with the smartest people in the room, but it wasn’t on my radar. That was, it wasn’t on my radar until Ed Stetzer promised to get me face time with the Acquisitions Editor for BH Publishing.

Trying to keep things economical, I eschewed a few things. The recommended hotel 5 miles from the conference was $140. I went with the Red Roof Inn 18 miles away for $50. I skipped out on the car rental because it would have cost $240 for about 30 hours. Instead, my plan was a taxi and bumming as many rides as possible.

My Iranian taxi driver was a fascinating man who wanted to discuss everything from the Shah to the coaching woes of the Dallas Cowboys. He was to drop me off at the hotel and then take me to a café at the mall for a Tweetup (gathering of folks who Twitter). My goal was to eat lunch with these strangers and hopefully get a ride to the conference. An hour and 15 mins later and $90 bucks poorer, he gets me to the mall. I walk in as the Tweetup is over, ask a complete stranger for a ride to the conference and pick up Chic Fila for the ride.

About the time I take the last bite of my lunch, I check into the conference, grab a huge coffee, and sit down to the first session. Thankfully, I made it there, but I have no idea how I am going to make it back to my hotel, and oh, did I mention that there is an ice storm moving into the area?

More travelogue to come…

01/25/09

WHAT IS GOD DOING TODAY?

I received a phone call in the middle of the night this week (2:30 to be exact). Generally, that means one thing: the police want my assistance in a death notification. Diving out of bed to get to phone, I spent some time speaking with an officer who informed me that they had just notified a woman in Garner that her husband hanged himself while on a business trip. The officer recommended that I follow up with the woman in the morning.

Once I touched base with her the next morning, I didn’t have very long to prepare myself to visit her. The problem was that I was going to visit her in her home, and I didn’t want to visit her alone. I immediately began calling folks that I knew were nearby, just racking my brain about who I could get to go with me. In the moment, I finally calmed down and prayed, asking that God would equip me with someone to go along.

All of a sudden, I received a text. I looked down and saw that it was from Paul (our formerly homeless, young man who recently graduated from High School). Honestly, my first thought was, “You have got to be kidding me, God.” But, I called Paul, told him to get dressed informing him that I would pick him up in 10 minutes. When Paul hopped in the car, I told him what we were going to do instructing him that I would introduce him and that he didn’t need to say anything.

Meeting this woman was hard. She was obviously devastated and did not know where to turn or what to do. She knew that she would be traveling more than likely for the burial, but beyond that, she had no idea what to do I encouraged her to allow Sovereign King to serve her when she got back. I explained how the mission of our church is to care for people we meet through the chaplaincy. I told her that we would serve her without expectation or obligation. And then, Paul spoke.

My first thought was, “I told you not to say anything.” But Paul said, “You know Gordon is right. I met him and the church through the police, and I graduated high school because they helped me. I’ve never met a group of people that are that nice.”

God obviously knew much more about how this day should go than I did. In that moment, God was allowing me to work in the great ministry that I have. I was witnessing the fruit of that work in Paul, and I was trusting that He would continue to use us while interacting with this woman. I shared the story with SK on Sunday, and we celebrated God’s faithfulness to us. I ask you to do the same.

01/18/08

GROWTH VERSUS DOCTRINE PART TWO

(This is part two of an article published in the Garner Citizen. You can read part one here.)

Since buildings, professional music, and programs are not competing values with doctrine (you can have both), is it possible for a church that values doctrine and the pursuit of theological wisdom to grow or even attract a crowd? Well, there are the pop examples in our culture of churches that proclaim doctrine as a distinguishing value and are rather large (John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll, Tim Keller). Those men, representing 3 different doctrinal systems, have made it clear that their pursuit of doctrine fuels their growth. But how is that possible?

Well, I cannot speak to the growth mechanisms of those churches, and perhaps, I shouldn’t speak to the growth mechanism of any one else’s either. But I do think the question is worth asking. What I have noticed is that if a church values doctrine (especially if they are a confessional church), they have to be about more than just programs or even great teaching if they want to see their congregation grow. The visitor, or even the new believer, has more things to wrestle with at the onset in doctrinal churches than they do at non-doctrinal churches, and sometimes that hinders growth.

For example, my church has doctrinal positions about the sovereignty of God, the polity of the church, baptism, creation, eschatology, and so on. We have these positions because we believe good theology unites whereas ultimately bad theology divides. We don’t want to become a church that changes their theology as often as every Sunday depending on the text or who is preaching. In light of that, visiting a doctrinal church means that oftentimes the visitor or new believer has to wrestle with much more than just, “Don’t smoke; don’t chew; don’t go with girls that do.”

Does this mean that a doctrinal church cannot grow or even be a large church? No, of course not. However, I would offer that if a doctrinal church wants to make a large impact, they will have to be respected in the community for something other than doctrine first. I believe that initial value needs to be mercy and service to the community. As 2 Corinthians states, we should be people who demonstrate and display the hope and comfort of God because we are a people who have experienced the God of all hope and comfort. Experiencing true hope provides the doctrinal church with a greater platform for teaching greater depths of biblical doctrine. Otherwise, doctrinal churches will continue to be small in size and only grow when someone has a baby.

I tell pastors younger than I (there are a few out there believe it or not) that they can’t just hang a shingle outside their church building that says, “Great preaching here,” and expect people to show up. Perhaps those days are gone if they ever existed at all. Loving your community and displaying the hope of Christ will give churches the best opportunity to proclaim truth and make an impact in their community. But I guess if you can make your building look like a Best Buy, that wouldn’t hurt either.

01/11/09

GROWTH VERSUS DOCTRINE PART ONE

The Garner Citizen is publishing an article of mine entitled "Growth Versus Doctrine." I wrote it specifically for them, and it has not appeared on this blog or any other publication. Today, they ran the first of two parts, and I have included it for you below. Look next week for part two.

Years ago, I was part of a church where doctrine or theological consistency was not valued. This community of believers did value a top notch worship service with fantastic music and the bulletin was full of activities and programs for all ages, but by the leadership’s own admission, pursuing doctrine was low on their to do list. They didn’t present programs and worship expertise as competing values with doctrine; they just didn’t see theological pursuit as important as the other aspects of their ministry. Attending a church with that hierarchy of values (or lack thereof) provided me with some interesting insights as to what happens when a group of believers don’t continually pursue doctrine and theological depth.

First of all, you can attract a crowd. So many folks are drawn to shiny buildings, professional level music, and a YMCA competing level of activities. It seems that cars just naturally turn in the parking lot. If you asked a visitor why they were checking out the church, most of them gave the response of, “I just wanted to see what was going on here.” I learned you can definitely build a congregation when each Sunday looks like the grand opening of a Best Buy.

The second thing I noticed was that each Sunday’s sermon provided a different theological viewpoint. The five fundamentals were present (Saved by Faith not Works, the inerrancy of the Bible, the Doctrine of the Trinity, Jesus was both fully God and fully man, and the literal Return of Christ). But beyond that, there was very little consistency. When they wanted to motivate the folks to do something, they emphasized free will, and when times were bad, they would say, “everything happens for a reason” not seeing the competing theologies of free will and sovereignty at play. They would offer a full cleansing of sin for any non-believer but treated the believer like God wouldn’t forgive them if they kept on sinning. You could hold any leadership position in the church if your scandalous sins were prior to faith in Christ, but you had no chance in h-e-double hockey sticks if you committed scandalous sins post conversion. There just seemed to be more grace for the convert than there was for the professing believer. “Saved by grace; preserved by legalism,” was the most consistent theological position.

The amazing thing was that no one seemed to notice or care about the apparent contradictions. In fact, no one noticed to such an extent that people just kept turning right into the parking lot.

01/04/09

BACKWARDS AND FORWARDS AT SOVEREIGN KING

Wow, already and just like that, Christmas is behind us and we are staring at the beginning of a New Year. It is pretty hard for me to believe personally, and it is even more crazy to consider as a church. Time flies by so quickly.

So here we stand at the precipice of a New Year wondering what God will do with us. Looking back on 2008, we see so many graces from our Savior at Sovereign King.

· We moved into a new facility which we have quickly outgrown.

· We have doubled in both membership and attendance.

· We launched 4 successful and effective CE groups that served each other, the fire department, the police department, a rest home, and a battered women’s shelter.

· We finished our study of the Gospel of Luke, explored Galatians, and are now plumbing the depths of I John.

· The men finished their study of “Measure of a Man” and are now embarking on an in-depth theological study.

· The women finished their study of “Understanding Purpose” and are prepping a study of “Knowing God”

· Our Sweet Mondays continued their ongoing effectiveness in creating a welcomed space for our women to engage their community.

· We launched a Children’s Church that is doing a fantastic job of equipping our children.

· We held multiple children’s/youth activities over the summer.

· We helped one SK family member make the transition from being homeless to being a High School graduate.

· We are now covering 66% of our budget as compared to the 33% at the beginning of the year.

There are so many other things that God has done with us (feel free to respond and add more), and as I look back at them all, I am forced to repent of any discouragement that I have felt this year. With each thing I listed above, I’m sure I neglected another 2 or 3.

Folks, God is doing so much in us and with us. Towards that end, there are things we hope for in the coming year.

· A facility that would be our home for years to come with ample worship/teaching space.

· Financial self-sufficiency.

· Ordained elders and deacons.

· A full-fledged week in and week out children’s/youth ministry.

· Ongoing service of the Garner Police Department and perhaps the EMS as well.

· An overwhelming number of new believers in Christ.

· An effective outreach to the Wake Tech community.

· An ongoing and ever-growing passion for Jesus Christ.

We pray that God will grant us these mercies and graces. Just as the list of 2008 does not come close to mentioning all that God has done, so does the wish list fall short of what God will do in 2009.

My desire has never been stronger for the work at Sovereign King. I hope and pray that God equips you with the same and burning desire or perhaps an even greater one. My prayer is that the tiny list of hopes for 2009 will pale in comparison to what God has done at this same time next year.

As we embark on the New Year, let us pray this prayer of Paul’s from the book of Ephesians for the coming year:

3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

122808

FOREIGN MISSIONS

At a Christmas party this past week, this story was told to me, and I thought it was just too good not to share with you.

A few months ago, I spoke at Christ Our Hope’s mission’s conference. During the Sunday worship service, I preached about the advancement of the Gospel and specifically spoke of church-planting, scratch-planting, and every other thing related to starting Sovereign King in Garner, NC. In the congregation that day was a member of Christ Our Hope who heralded from Great Britain and his mother just happened to be visiting as well.

He tells me that after the service, he and his mom were sitting around the dinner table discussing my sermon. His mother says, “That Gordon is so brave planting that church. So few people are willing to go to Africa.”

Confused, the man wondered why his mother was under the impression that I was planting a church in Africa. Then he figured it out. He said, “No, mom. Gordon is planting a church in Garner, not Ghana.”

122108

MY LOVE RETURNED TO ME

Up until 1995, December 15^th was the day that I celebrated my father’s birthday. While still celebrating (Happy Birthday, Sam!), this day has so much more meaning for me now. December 15^th is the day my love returned to me. Let me explain.

Amy and I were engaged after a very short courtship. Soon after getting engaged, Amy left for what was supposed to be two semesters of school in England. Being 1995, we didn’t have the benefit of instant messenger or email or Skype or pretty much any of the useful social utilities that we have now (wow, that sounds old). What I did have was a $1,500 a month phone bill. There were only two phones at the school, so I would have to wake up at 5:00 am each morning and start dialing the gazillion digit number with hopes of catching Amy available. With $1,500, I obviously caught her a lot.

That engagement was not easy for us. Assured of everything prior to her leaving, our engagement and future together faced tumultuous times during her time at school. We had been friends for a year prior to our engagement, but we had less than two months together as a couple before she left. We hadn’t weathered any conflicts or difficulties together, so weathering over the phone and via snail mail was difficult. There were times where we both privately wondered whether this engagement was going to work.

December 15^th was the day Amy came home from England for Christmas holiday. That was the day my love returned to me.

I asked Amy’s parents to let me pick her up from the airport alone. I had a single rose for her. On the car seat, I had two tickets for Phantom of the Opera. Amy enjoyed a performance of it in Ireland, and I hoped to recreate that moment for us stateside. The CD in the car was queued to “Your Eyes” by Peter Gabriel (yes, I cheesily was recreating the moment from “Say Anything” with John Cusack). We then went out for Mexican food which Amy could not get in England.

Our evening started awkwardly, and there were wounds and words between us. But over the course of the evening, we both knew that we loved each other and were committed to each other. This engagement and future were worth the effort. On that night, my love returned to me.

So, 13 years later, I celebrate my wonderful Amy who returned and has never left me. I love you, Sweets. You are my favorite.

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Faith in Matthew

What an amazing scene. Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on a mountain. Church history says it was Mount Tabor and theologians say it was Mount Hermon. This is neither the first nor the last time that historians and theologians disagree, but which mountain it was doesn’t really matter. Strange things happen on mountains when it comes to God: the Ten Commandments show up, false prophets are destroyed by God the Sermon on the Mount, and on and on.

In reading Matthew 17, in this mountain story, Jesus meets Moses and Elijah (of the Ten Commandments and false prophets mountain stories) in a great cloud. I always wondered what these guys talked about. Were there high fives or the one hand shake/one arm hugs that guys like to give? Were Moses and Elijah picking on Jesus for looking like they used to look? Complaints about the lack of foot support?

Again historically and theologically (this time they agree), most think that this is the picture of the law and the prophets finding their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. The overarching picture of God’s revelation present in 3 men while 3 scared disciples look on. Well, God the Father Himself shows up to declare from the sky, “This is my Son. He gives me great pleasure. Quit being knuckleheads and listen to him.”

The time of looking on was over for these 3 disciples. They got so scared at that they fell on their faces terrified. Jesus, always gracious to these 3 slow buddies of his, tells them, “Rise and have no fear.” He them tells them to keep this story to themselves which I guess they did for a while but obviously told someone as we know the story now. They then headed down the mountain.

What do you do next after experiencing the Transfiguration with Jesus? How do you walk down that mountain and rejoin the rest of society? In the back ground I hear Jane’s Addiction singing, “Coming down the mountain!!!!!!!!!!” What is normal life after hanging with Moses, Elijah, Jesus, and God the Father?

Well, for Jesus, He just gets back to work healing a young boy with a demon that the other disciples were not able to exorcise. In fact, Jesus gets pretty frustrated. After that brief moment of fellowship on the mountain, He is growing weary of the faithless generation in front of Him. He has experienced fellowship with those that know Him without doubt and know Him with full faith. The generation in front of him, though gradually grasping who He is, is far from the fellowship He had on the mountain.

In poignant language, Jesus rebukes the crowd and tells them that if they had the faith of even a mustard seed they could move mountains.

Which mountain…the one that the representatives of the law and the prophets and the gospel were just on? We could move that mountain with a little faith? That is Jesus’ point exactly.

Now as far as history goes, no one ever has…moved mountains that is. I haven’t seen Anderson Cooper with the team on ground trying to figure out what happened to the mound of dirt that was once there. Unfortunately most days, we lack even a little faith in what God is capable of doing. As smarter folks than me have mentioned before, the strength of faith is not how much you believe but how great the one is that you believe in. Jesus’ rebuke is not for a great amount of faith. He is calling us to even a small amount of faith which we sadly lack.

So what do we do? Do we exercise our spiritual faith muscles so we can be beach bound faith muscled freaks? Even if that would do it, we would still fall short. No, the solution is simple, so let me encourage you to it. If you want more faith, ask for it because faith is a gift of God.

Faith is a gift at our first believing.

Ephesians 2:8For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

And our faith continues to be a gift throughout our life.

Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

Whether we are living on the mountain (which rarely happens) or walking among a faithless and godless generation (which always happens), let’s ask the God of all Heaven to gift us with a great faith in a great God for these days that we live in.

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LUNCH WITH ED STETZER

I was fortunate enough to have lunch with Ed Stetzer (www.edstetzer.com) this past Sunday. Ed is essentially a church planting guru having planted multiple churches and trained planters across the country. He works for several missions agencies, is a big dog over at Lifeway Stores and Lifeway Research, and has written several rock solid books. In my early training as a planter, I was able to attend a couple of his classes (along with Amy), and he was always gracious to respond to emails and even sent free books (which makes him a really good guy).

Once I discovered that he was in Raleigh speaking (C3 and Summit Church), I sent him an email asking if he had time to get coffee. Since he was traveling with his daughter, he did not, but he did extend an invitation to me for the lunch at Summit Church after worship on Sunday. Thankful for the offer, I figured that the lunch would be packed, but the opportunity would be worth it nonetheless.

To my surprise, there were probably no more than 15-20 people at the lunch table. I re-introduced myself when I got there, and Ed took the opportunity to make a few jokes. Ed loves joking about the differences between Presbyterians and Baptists, so once the lunch started, he announced, “Folks, we have some guests today. Some godless Presbyterians have joined us.” You know I have to respect a guy to let him joke that way, and I didn’t really mind it. Despite the jokes, Ed spoke highly of the PCA’s success rate in church planting (our plants survive at a higher rate than most denominations), but he also pointed out that the PCA is last in conversion numbers.

The thing that was most impressive about the lunch was Ed’s honesty. He is obviously at the point where he feels no need to pull punches. Some of the honesty highlights:

The characteristics that make a good planter (eagerness, energy, entrepreneurship) are also the very characteristics that will lead to their downfall if they are not careful. Those attributes lend themselves to burnout and self-dependence.
Church planters are the worst at the private disciplines of study and prayer for the above reason.
Bi-vocational planting is a more ideal (and more sustainable) model for the church planter though nobody wants to do it.

One highlight in particular was Ed’s story about Mark Driscoll. He joked about J.D. Greear’s (pastor of Summit Church) man crush or bro-mance with Driscoll, but then went on to tell this story. Sitting on a front porch, Ed told Driscoll that he was so gifted with ability in speaking and teaching that he would gather in more people than He had the ability to shepherd. It was implied that if Driscoll didn’t address that, it would be a danger to or even the downfall of his ministry.

Listening to that made an impression on me. We church planters, for the most part, are a tempestuous bunch. Some of us can gather larger crowds and some of us can’t, but we are all passionate about a vision and generally can attract passionate people around that vision. But all of us (read: me) need to be mindful of growing in Godliness, leadership, and wisdom to be prepared to shepherd those that we gather. Otherwise, we will leave yet another legacy of disillusioned folks in our wake. That is something I desperately want to avoid.

This godless Presbyterian was thankful for the opportunity to hang. Thanks, Ed.

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11/30/08

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

In college, I found myself struggling with the language I was using. It was the first time as a maturing Christian that I honestly gave real thought to the words I spoke. When I say struggling, I’m not talking about struggling with the 7 words you are not supposed to use on television. I was struggling with hateful and critical speech towards others, and a friend had recently pointed out the power (and damage) my words could cause.

This sent me to the scriptures to find verses about speech, and I discovered tons of them. There were so many, I just didn’t know where to start. I found many of them helpful, but it seemed that most of the verses were just commands without much reasoning or justification to them. My brain struggled to find a heart motivation that would move me to truly consider my words. Then I ran across Ephesians 5:4: “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.” When I read that verse, I was surprised. The opposite of filthy or foolish talk was not the avoiding of curse words but actually speaking words of thanksgiving. Our filthy and foolish speech often arises from discontentment and unthankful hearts. That was motivation well for my soul.

So as we all prepare for our Thanksgiving meals, let’s consider our hearts. What we say and do today will arise from the passions that reside there: thankful or discontent, gracious or angry. My prayer as I thank God for my Savior, wife, children, family, church family, and friends is that we will lift our hearts and minds and eyes and tongues to God for His overflowing graciousness to us.

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11/23/08

Well, the CCEF Conference wrapped up yesterday, and I’m both exhausted and exhilarated. Rarely is there the chance to hear from great speakers like Mark Driscoll, Tim Lane, and others all at one spot. The conference ended yesterday with David Powlison speaking in summary fashion about how we walk folks through recovery whether that recovery be addiction to drugs or addiction to self. Powlison spoke of the passage in I Corinthians 10 that speaks of a way of escape promised from God to all who are enduring temptation. Here are some of the highlights.

In our sins and temptations, we reduce other people one of three things:

They become unreal or even objects
They become threats or obstacles to what we want
They become the object of some sense of gratification

When we see this, we realize that our repentance must involve much more than just, “I’m sorry.” When we repent to God of action, lack of action, or thought, we also have to repent of how our sin has wounded others by treating them in one of the three above ways. But that also means that our asking of forgiveness of others is much more than, “I’m sorry.” A husband might say, “I’m sorry for viewing internet pornography,” but he would then also need to move towards, “I’m sorry that I’ve been angry with you in the past few months because I feared you would find me out, and so I treated you like an obstacle or a threat.” You can see how this type of repentance would move folks towards deeper reconciliation.

Powlison also spoke of considering what voices people listen to when they struggle with temptation and giving into temptation. For example, when struggling, he encouraged folks to ask, “What am I telling myself? Am I telling myself that this temptation is what I want, am I telling myself that giving in would ease some suffering, or am I considering this sin because I think it would ease by despair?” If a person can recognize these voices, they can then seek to listen to voice of God in His scriptures as they are brought back to their heart from the Holy Spirit.

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11/16/08

I know a girl how is addicted to cocaine, calls out to Jesus, but crawls back to the junk. I know a guy has smoked pot every day since 13 and doesn’t remember his childhood. I know a guy who is addicted to approval and runs around day in and day trying to prove himself to the world. I know a…. Unfortunately, these stories are all too familiar and all to common, and the church has to address them if we have any desire for relevance and effectiveness.

Well, towards that end, today is Day One of the CCEF Conference http://www.ccef.org/ac_overview.asp “The Addict in Us All” and I cannot wait. Technically, there was a pre-conference last night, but there was just not way to add that on to all that was going on this week. This morning, after being led in singing by Keith and Kristyn Getty (“In Christ Alone”), we have two general sessions: “Addiction, Temptation, and Voluntary Slaver” by Ed Welch and “Death by Love. Addiction and Atonement” by Mark Driscoll. Then, after lunch we have our breakout electives. I know I’m going to “Fighting the Air War and Ground War – integrating preaching and small groups/counseling” by Driscoll, but I’m not quite sure what my other session will be.

Keep an eye here on the blog for updates, but for moment by moment thoughts, check out Twitter/Facebook. I look forward to hearing your interaction.

11/09/08

COMPASSION

In my reading, I found an incredible passage of insight into Jesus this morning. In John 14, we read the horrible story of the beheading of John the Baptist. Verse 13 says that when Jesus heard about it, He withdrew to a desolate place by Himself. We can only imagine our Savior's very real sense of loss and pain as His friend John the Baptist was so hideously murdered all for the appeasing of Herod's mistress.

As Jesus traveled by boat, the crowds wanted so badly to be with Him that they traveled by foot until they found Him. Now at this point, I think many of us would be annoyed. Jesus was looking for a well deserved and well needed break from the crowds more than likely for the purpose of mourning the loss of John the Baptist. But Jesus didn't respond in anger or annoyance. Verse 14 says, "When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick."

Amazing truly. Jesus must have been as tired and anguished as any of us would have been, yet He had compassion. This story ultimately ends with Jesus leading others in that same compassion with the feeding of the 5,000. The person of Jesus continues to encourage and baffle me, but ultimately it leaves me thankful for who He is. At times, I am the one in the crowd needing compassion and at others, I'm the weary one needing to demonstrate compassion. Either way, Jesus serves me (and us) by His example.

11/02/08

ESV STUDY BIBLE

The very last thing I need is another bible. I've got every version, every style, every study. For humor's sake, I even have the PTL study Bible with the sweet 70's design. However, I'm in the market for another. The ESV Study Bible launched this month and it is sweet.

I am no longer enamored with leather editions or anything fancy...just a good hard back will do (selling for $30 to $50 depending on where you get it). The thing that makes this a great study bible is that it has what I think is the finest translation coupled with outstanding editors and contributors.

You can see who helped with notes and articles here http://www.esvstudybible.org/#contributors but when you see names like Packer, Poythress, Grudem, Piper, Currid, etc there is reason for excitement. Even the professor who oversaw my thesis writes an article (Charles Hill).

If you are looking to gift someone with a bible this year, I would say go with the ESV Study Bible.

10/12/08

CULTURE MAKING

On the recommendation of a friend, I picked up Andy Crouch’s “Culture Making” after bumping into it on a shelf at Borders. I’m way early in my reading but I do like a few things I’m reading already. Andy speaks about how we determine or value culture. So often, the church will say flatly say that things are bad when they are actually cultural elements that don’t fall into that simple of a category (movies, dancing, etc).

He recommends that we gauge the elements of culture a bit more intellectually so that we can then evaluate them by the wisdom of scripture. He gives 5 questions by which to examine culture:

What does ____________ assume about the way the world is?

What does ____________ assume about the way the world should be?

What does ____________ make possible?

What does ____________ make impossible (at least difficult)?

What new form of culture is created in response to __________?

For example, Andy talks about the interstate roadways in America. They assume that we are a country with the resources to build such a system. The interstates assume that we should be connected and that traveling from one region to another is not only important but vital. The interstates make connectivity possible and keep relationships (personal and business) in tact. They also make isolation difficult. New forms of culture including technology for cars and cell phones have been created in response to the interstate system.

Imagine examining your life or your church or basically anything else through this structure. Then we can go to scripture to see how God’s word views things more accurately. Give it a shot, and feel free to share your results. I’m working on a couple myself.

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RESPONSES

As I’m working my way through the book of Matthew, I find it interesting to track the responses to Jesus’ healings and other miracles. Just in the two chapters following the Sermon on the Mount we find these examples.

Following His calming of the storm we have Matthew 8:27: “And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

After the exorcism of the two demon possessed men and the whole pigs on the cliff incident we have Matthew 8:34: “And behold, all the city came out to meet Jesus, and when they saw him, they begged him to leave their region.”

Following the healing of the paralytic we have Matthew 9:8: “When the crowds saw it, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.”

Jesus heals a woman and raises and raises a young girl from the dead in Matthew 9:26: “And the report of this went through all that district.”

Jesus heals two blind men in Matthew 9:31: “But they went away and spread his fame through all that district.”

When Jesus restores speech to a mute man who was demon-possessed, the Pharisees respond in Matthew 9:34: “But the Pharisees said, “He casts out demons by the prince of demons.”

Jesus’ ministry is barely out the gate, and we see all manner of responses. The disciples cannot believe that Jesus has such authority that even the winds obey Him. The pig farmers are upset that their livelihood is threatened, so they tell Jesus to get out of town. At least in the healing of the paralytic and the woman, as well as the raising of the young girl from the dead, people are “TMZ’ing” about Jesus. The Pharisees are the worst though as they cannot fathom the Godly power of Jesus, so they just slander Him as demonic.

These responses are still the typical ones we see today. There are a few people who truly marvel at Jesus’ authority. Some people cannot imagine how their lives would be turned upside down by Jesus, and they respond in hostility. There are folks who just get caught up in the sensational nature of Jesus yet miss His personhood completely. And of course, there are folks who just seek to defame and defraud Him.

In each of these responses, we should move beyond, “Which one am I?” In each incident the story is really about Jesus much more so than about the responses to Him (though that is a good question for self-examination). Jesus proves Himself the authority over all creation, over spiritual forces, over sickness, over the power of death, and on and on. We may find ourselves somewhere among the crowd, but the most helpful study is that of the person of Jesus first and our selves second.

09/28/08

LACKING

We are wrapping up our series on "Love Mercy Justice" in the next 4 weeks or so, and I have some observations.

First of all, in studying Micah, I found myself surprised by how hopeful it really is. Yes, the judgments against sin and the exposing of those sins have been difficult to read (and preach) at times. However, in each case, the promises of God and the hope attached to believing those promises have been incredibly encouraging to my heart.

The other thing that has surprised me is the lack of quality writing on the book of Micah. Of course, there is George Grant's "The Micah Mandate" and a few commentaries and blogs, but for the most part, there are not many quality writings about the book...at least not that I have found.

Either way, this journey into the Old Testament for Sovereign King has and will continue to be challenging. I cannot wait to see what God does with us as we seek to apply what we have learned. I also can't wait to reveal what is coming next for us. Tell you soon.

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09/21/08

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was reading “Death by Love” by Mark Driscoll. This book is part of a new series called “Re:Lit” which is a line of books with a novel concept: they are books that you will actually read. Towards that end, the company is publishing concise, in-depth, and well designed books that they hope are within most people’s attention span. When I first read about this, I figured they would just be publishing pamphlets, and Driscoll’s book on leadership is just that. However, that is not the case for “Death by Love.”

When you buy one of these books, they email you a pdf of it, so I’ve been reading it while waiting for my hardcopy. After receiving my copy in the mail two things come to mind. First of all, this is a great looking book. The cover is striking, and at the beginning of each chapter, there is an original piece of art that ties into the chapter’s themes. Secondly, the book is a theologically beefed up collection of letters from Driscoll to folks in his congregation. In each letter, Driscoll emphasizes who Christ is to that person (Christ as King, Christ as sacrifice).

I’m about 75 pages in, and I may or may not do another review, but at this point, I would recommend it wholeheartedly.

09/14/08

PRESENT HOPE

In sharing the truths of the Gospel, the verse, “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life,” gets used quite a bit. That makes sense as Romans offers a clear picture of the two options before us. Our sin earns us the penalty of death whereas God gifts eternal life. The two contrasts are clear: wage/gift and death/life. One of the shortcomings of presenting our need solely through that verse though is that we so often overlook the present cost of sin. When we do that, people don’t have the opportunity to wrestle with the present realties of sin in light of the present promises of life. For example, a study of Jesus’ promise to give life and to give it more abundantly is present hope in the midst of sin and sorrow.

I spent some time recently counseling someone who was struggling mightily with the devastating present consequences of sin. The consequences of sin and poor choice were catching up with them, and their heart was broken. It was apparent that this person had might say they believed in a future hope of heaven and forgiveness. But if you asked them about present hope to overcome sin and find comfort in suffering, they wouldn’t know much about that.

Perhaps we don’t talk about present abundant life because we struggle to understand and live that ourselves. Maybe we should all ask ourselves if Christ enables us to have joy in the midst of pain. Do we find hope when our circumstances are difficult? Do we wake with a comfort from our Savior that moves us to extend comfort to others?

Grace is a wonderful reality that is more than just a promise of heaven. It is a hope for today.

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09/07/08

INFORMING MY THOUGHTS

This has obviously been a quiet week for me blog wise. It doesn’t mean that things have not been busy; quite the contrary. I’m sure that next week will provide more posts, but in the mean time, here are the things that are informing my thoughts this week.

I’m working on an article about compassion and its inauthentic expressions that I’m taking my time on. I’m perplexed as where to submit it though when I’m done. I’m speaking with a few new places to publish, so we’ll see what it happens.

I’m reading Thom Rainier’s new book, “Essential Church,” which is about reclaiming lost generations in the church. I don’t think I agree with every conclusion, but I think the book will be helpful in application. Though I didn’t enjoy his “Vibrant Church” as much, “Simple Church” rocked. I think his research coupled with missional thinking is making him the replacement to George Barna in terms of statistical missiology.

If you have not listened to Paul Cummings’ new CD, “Songs from the Rock Church,” check it out at http://www.myspace.com/heavyhandedpraise and buy it at itunes and every other place that sells CDs. There is not another CD out like it right now.

08/31/08

SECOND RTS ARTICLE

My second writing job for RTS has been published. My assignment was to edit a conversation between Andy Peterson (RTS Virtual Campus President) and Brad Lomineck (Catalyst Conference President). I've included a copy of the article below, and you can find the link to the article in its context at http://www.rts.edu/newsevents/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=1120
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Jesus’ style of leadership has been re-envisioned as a CEO, a story teller, and even as a coach, but His style isn’t always that easy to categorize. More than anything, Jesus custom created opportunities relevant to His Disciples’ prior experiences and present stages of life. He took their past careers and adapted them to the present and ever-changing realities that came with proclaiming the Kingdom on the road.

More and more, seminaries, churches, and other fields of training are realizing that this model is not only practical…it’s Biblical. Recently, Ministry and Leadership Magazine interviewed two leaders who are striving to incorporate Jesus’ custom-created opportunities for leadership development: our very own RTS Virtual Campus President, Andrew Peterson, PhD. and Catalyst Conference President, Brad Lomineck.

Andy has been a part of our RTS family for ten years taking RTS Virtual into the living rooms, coffee shops, libraries, and home offices of hundreds of men and women. Brad is directing a formidable movement of Christianity and culture combining writing, web, and conference opportunities with the goal of organic leadership development. Getting these two men together, we asked them their thoughts on leadership.

What do you see as being the greatest need for church leaders today?

Andy: More than anything, I think our leaders need to learn the difficult task of resting in their relationship with God, His Word and the Holy Spirit. The more a leader can do that, the more effectively they can work in community for the application of Biblical principles as part of an aggressive pursuit of the Great Commission.

Brad: A couple of things come to mind. First, there is such a great need for authenticity. Leaders today have a true desire to follow other leaders who are authentic because they want to live as authentic leaders themselves. As a generation, we want to follow those we can trust. In addition, leaders today need community. They need community in terms of how they do life together with others. That includes partnership with those of similar denominational and belief backgrounds as well as working in conjunction with those who may not agree with them on every point of doctrine.

As a lead-pastor myself, one of the challenges I'm faced with is the challenge to replicate leadership. Give me one nugget that has helped you in replicating yourself in others.

Andy: It is just like taking a biblical approach to growing a business. Building effective partners is a process of identifying and training others in authentic situations of ministry. When we look for those authentic situations, each member of a local church becomes important and has talent and calling from the Lord. Their context determines their calling, and their context determines their training ground as well.

Brad: I am not sure we always should focus on replicating ourselves. Maybe a better of looking at it is helping others around us discover and build the specific leadership wirings they have within them. Leaders today are not as motivated to be like those who have come before them in every way. There is still a respect for those who have come before them, but there is also a sense of being a “free agent” and wanting to shape their own leadership paradigms specific to their style.

As a busy leader of leaders, how do you stay fresh in your relationship with Christ?

Andy: I still return to those wonderful means of grace like Bible study, prayer, and the sacraments. I try to do all my work with an open Bible as a boost for motivation and performance. The Fruit of the Spirit in Galatians continually motivates me as a pattern of life to emulate and enjoy.

Brad: Consistent time in the Word, prayer, spiritual disciplines, and also reading other writers consistently.

How do you grow and develop areas in which you feel your leadership is deficient?

Andy: While I believe in focusing on strengths in myself and others, there are areas where I clearly lack competence. Delegation and outsourcing are important accommodations in those areas of relative weakness. If there is a lacking of character … I hope to repent and grow in grace for the relevant good works.

Brad: I don’t. We have taught leaders over the years through our schooling especially, to make sure and work on your weaknesses. However, the key for me is to not try to develop areas where I am weak. I staff around those weaknesses and then focus on my areas of greatest strength. A great book on this is Marcus Buckingham’s Now Discover Your Strengths, and Go Put Your Strengths to Work.

Other than the obvious, what top three books related to leadership development have you read and do you recommend?

Andy: Making Room for Life, Randy Frazee, Master Plan of Evangelism, Robert ColemanIf God Already Knows … Why Pray? Doug Kelly, Doctrine of the Christian Life, John Frame

Brad: Good to Great by Jim Collins, Next Generation Leader by Andy Stanley, 21 Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell, Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels

Give us one rhythm (habit) within your day that helps you be a better leader.

Andy: Returning phone calls and email messages in a timely fashion! If you don’t do that, you spend all of your ministry at your desk instead of actually engaging people.

Brad: I spend significant time each morning LEARNING, whether that is reading magazines, blogs, websites, article, books, etc. I really feel like that as leaders we need to be constant learners, and this means staying fresh and up to date with trends and technology.

As a leader of a large organization, what do you see as being the most significant learning when it comes to leadership?

Andy: There is no substitute for regular, diligent and thankful reviews of people and giving them honest feedback with a purpose for the Kingdom.

Brad: Humility. If you think you have arrived, then you haven’t. Surprisingly, whether we want to admit it or not, a lot of folks think they have. Humility and the desire to be a constant learner are integral to continuing to grow as leaders, along with making sure that those around you will want to follow you. People like to follow leaders who have Character, who are really good at what they do (Competence), and people who can impact those around them (Influence).

What do you see as the single greatest leadership opportunity your organizations offer young leaders?

Andy: We offer participation in “Point of the spear” offense for cultural transformation. We can do that by training men and women in God’s Word and Spirit in graduate-level theological education at their own personal pace and in their own local context.

Brad: We create great experiences for leaders- environments where the elements of teaching, worship, creativity, and an overall engaging experience are all equally important and integrated. I think we also offer a community where leaders in the Church can feel “safe” about hearing and interacting around ideas that may challenge them, but will definitely grow them as leaders.

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08/24/08

THINKING ABOUT GOD

God has revealed Himself in very clear ways (scripture, nature, and Jesus), and these revelations are always consistent and never contradictory. So, if anyone is going to speak about the character or the nature of God, it must line up with the revelation of God. For example, if we speak of God in some way that is inconsistent with His revelation in His scriptures, then we are just talking out of our ignorance. Opposite representations of God are impossible as that would make God both inconsistent and a liar. What that means is that any idea of who God is cannot be in anyway contradictory to the way He has revealed Himself in scripture. If it is contradictory, it is a wrong view of God.

What happens though if we function with a wrong view of God? Well, wrong views of God ultimately turn our heart to frustration, and eventually they lead us towards antagonism towards God. Why? Because the God of our wrong views will disappoint.

Let me give you an example of how I have seen this work out right here in Garner. I have met scores of people (and I means scores in the four score and seven years ago way) in Garner who would say that they like Jesus but they are not going to commit to worshipping Him because all they have ever heard or been taught about God is legalism. That is to say that they have been burned over by a bunch of made up rules on top of scripture, and they will have none of it anymore. Their comments are, “Yeah I believe in Jesus, but if God is like what I heard growing up, I don’t want anything to do with Him because all it seems like to me is that God only cares about a list of right and wrongs.”

You know what? That image of God will disappoint you because the joy and freedom that was intended from the grace of Jesus Christ is absent. The folks proclaiming a relationship of God as one of bondage to made up rules have it wrong because that is not the God of scripture. In addition, the people who have abandoned worshiping God have been taught a false view of God and they haven’t seen a true picture of who God is. Now they are not only disappointed in God, they are also actively hostile towards Him as well.

It is a difficult truth, but most truths are, that a correct, biblical view of God does not disappoint. I’m not saying, nor does scripture promise, that God will meet our expectations. Rather, our expectations of God are to be defined by scripture. Thinking about God in the day to day is a challenge, and thinking correctly about God is hard work. However, the promise of Isaiah 26:3 is that "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you." God promises peace to those that meditate on Him. Meditating on God outside His revelation will only disappoint.

08/17/08

P.S. ON THE SHACK

I feel the need to add a postscript to my review of “The Shack.” I haven’t received this much feedback on an article in a long time, and after this post, I’m going to let it go. For the most part, the web comments have been negative towards my review. A lot of folks feel like my review was too harsh. The personal emails I have received have been much more gracious however. Either way, I can tell folks like this book a lot.

I should say this, and I don’t think I made it clear in my earlier post. I do think the message that God redeems our painful situations is a comforting and correct message. I do not agree with the author’s viewpoint of God’s interaction with our circumstances from a biblical perspective (I think scripture presents a more sovereign God than “The Shack”), but I do agree that the pain we endure is redeemed by our God.

I recently had lunch with a buddy who knows the author, and he filled me in a little bit about Young’s background and his purposes. That was helpful to me, and again, I would say that redemptive element of Young’s work is encouraging. But I am still a bit surprised that most of the criticisms of my review have come from people saying that it is unfair to judge the book biblically. They feel the message is so powerful that we should overlook the vehicle by which that message is delivered (since the book is fiction). One comment said that if we judge every book by this means, all fiction (especially Christian) fiction would come under heavy scrutiny. With that statement, I wholeheartedly agree.

I get the concern from folks to a certain extent, but when an author spends 75 pages in dialogue about the nature of God and His interaction with this world, we have to consider whether that dialogue is biblical or not. If that writing is inspiring, great, but if it is not biblical, be heads up about it.

08/10/08

CHECK 1, 2

I've recently begun the habit of listening to my sermons on Sunday evenings. As many before me have admitted, listening to yourself can be a painful process (I'm not particulary fond of the sound of my voice). As I listen to my sermons, I can remember each moment or pause or even what was going through my mind at each point. I remember when I deviated away from my notes, and every now and then, I feel like I delivered a particualrly section better than I hoped.

A buddy of mine who DJ'd for years encouraged me to put some time between the delivery and the listening, but I haven't been able to do it yet. Part of me just wants to know how things came across. Even in the worst of deliveries, pastors usually feel like they made their point, but the proof in the pudding is whether folks got it or not (not whether we think delivered it well). So even though I enjoy the evaluation process, the true evaluation is the lives of the folks at Sovereign King.

I was overjoyed this week to have a member tell me that they listend to last week's sermon online because they were out of town. It is encouraging to know folks want to hear what is being preached. So whether or not they are any good, you can find my sermons online now at http://www.sermoncloud.com/sovereign-king-church. We also have a page that allows you to listen to the sermon while reading the notes, and you can find that at www.sovereignkingsermons.com.

08/03/08

THE SHACK - REVIEW

Before any discussion of “The Shack” we need to make one thing clear: it is a work of theological fiction. It is not a straightforward novel. That means that William Young’s purpose is to create a work of fiction to promote specific theological positions. So, to move beyond the plot and get to the theological propositions, Mackenzie’s daughter Missy is abducted and murdered leaving Mackenzie feeling distant and angry with God. After a few years of wallowing in “the great sadness,” Mack receives a letter from Papa (his wife’s affectionate name for God) inviting him to spend a few days at the shack where Missy died. There, Mack meets the Trinity: God the Father is a large black woman, Jesus is a Jewish carpenter, and the Holy Spirit is a small Asian woman. There Mack and God work things out.

Honestly, the novel is compelling, and despite the fact that most of it is dialogue, it is a quick and interesting read. The picture of God and his interaction (or lack thereof) with the world is attractive to some extent, but unfortunately, it is also deceptive and incorrect. Young works through a myriad of theological error in 240 pages.

Let me give you a few examples of theological error in the book. At one point, Papa says, “I am not who you think I am, Mackenzie. I don’t need to punish people for sin. Sin is its own punishment, devouring you from the inside. It’s not my purpose to punish it; it’s my joy to cure it.” Though it is clear that God takes great joy in forgiving people of their sin, all of Psalm 7 speaks about God being a righteous judge who judges sin. In addition, “The Shack” is completely silent to any sense of sin being judged or even a hell.

Young also has a great problem with hierarchy, however his Papa is a big fan of submission. So much so, he presents God as submitting to humans. Papa says at one point, “Submission is not about authority and it is not obedience; it is all about relationships of love and respect. In fact, we are submitted to you in the same way.” Young’s explanation as to why God submits to humans: “Because we want you to join us in our circle of relationship.” At first read, that sounds pretty nice, but God does not submit to humans so that they will believe in Him. Yes, Jesus Christ submitted to human courts and was crucified by the hands of men, but that is not what Young is speaking to here. He is speaking of God submitting His holy and perfect will to humans so as to entice them into relationship. I don’t find that compelling; I find that slimy. Honestly, is it attractive for God to deny all of who He is to beg us to love Him? I don’t think so. God does not give His glory away in order to woo us. Instead, Isaiah 42:8, "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”

Now, notice that in each of these examples, I’m countering scripture with what Young presents. Mackenzie, in his interaction with God, does finally getting around to quoting scripture, though not very often. In one of the few times he does, this is what we get.

“In seminary (Mackenzie) had been taught that God had completely stopped any overt communication with moderns, preferring to have them only listen to and follow sacred Scripture, properly interpreted, of course. God’s voice had been reduced to paper, and even that paper had to be moderated and deciphered by the proper authorities and intellects… Nobody wanted God in a box, just in a book. Especially an expensive one bound in leather with gilt edges, or was that guilt edges?”

It would seem that Young mocks anyone that would look to scripture to understand God or to find peace. Reading the scriptures is not looking for God in a box or merely in a book. Psalm 119:92 says, “If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life.” The scriptures show us God and show us our own hearts. The scriptures don’t restrict God; they wonderfully express His character and will to us.

Honestly folks, we can do this all day long. Young has fashioned a god that is quite attractive, but is not at all concerned with being the God of scripture. In addition to the things that I’ve mentioned above, Young dispatches with Jesus’ submission to the Father, God’s willingness to orchestrate any human circumstance, the sufficiency of scripture, and even the organized church. Read “The Shack” out of curiosity, but do so with a mind that takes Young’s argument to their logical conclusions because at first read, they are not always apparent. I don’t think Young is purposefully trying to misinform his readers. I think he is trying to show them that there is comfort from God in tragedy. However, there is no comfort if we follow a god different than the one presented in scripture.

07/27/08

This past weekend, I, along with about 50 other folks, took part in giving two ordination exams for guys entering ministry. As I sat there listening to them answer questions (and watching them sway with nervousness), I was reminded that it was just 3 years ago this month for me that ran that gauntlet.

It took me 5 years to finish seminary, but the period between graduation and ordination was only 3 months: 5 years to gather in as much information as possible and 3 months to spit it back out. If some of you aren’t familiar with our denomination’s process, it requires written exams in areas of theology, bible, sacraments, church history, etc. Once you turn those exams in, they are reviewed by a committee. That committee then brings you and grills you for a few hours about the areas you missed or areas you weren’t as tight on as you should be. Then, if the committee makes the recommendation, you are examined once again by the pastors and elders of the local churches in our area. Finally, if all goes well, you are ordained to ministry.

3 years is not exactly long enough to write a memoir, but I must admit that in 3 years, I’ve see more than I thought I would have. I’ve officiated a couple of weddings, preached a 3 or so funerals, baptized a bunch of folks. Sovereign King has grown from 0-60 or so in that same time frame (which seems a pretty good speed to me but probably wouldn’t qualify well). I’ve definitely outlasted the baristas at Bushiban, but there are still at least 3-4 that have been around that same amount of time as I. I’m not quite sure how many death notifications I’ve done with the police, but I’ve seen more dead bodies and sadness than I ever thought I would.

So, no grand pronouncements or words of wisdom quite yet on this end, but it is nice to still be around. At this stage of the game, 95% of scratch plants have closed their doors, and I’ve already lasted twice as long as they average pastor does in one job. God has been gracious to hold us together this far; it will be fun to see where we go from here.

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07/20/08

SACRIFICE AND RESURRECTION

Our culture is obsessed with sacrifice and resurrection. It seems to be the major plot device in the climax of so many books and movies (Matrix, Harry Potter,etc). The hero or perhaps the love of a hero willingly lays down their life for the other ultimately leading to a resurrection that we all know is going to happen (unless your Bambi’s mom), but we watch anyway.

Culturally, it is the meta-narrative of our lives. We thirst in our art to see someone willing to exhibit such love that they will make the ultimate sacrifice in defense of and demonstration to the one they love. Yet, we so yearn for the hope that comes with sacrifice. Can that love be offered and yet still be reborn? We see value in sacrifice, but we need new life for resurrection.

I think, however, there is so much more going on here. The sacrifice/resurrection model is more than a plot device. It has to be; otherwise we would grow tired of it. The reason we don’t grow weary of what we know is going to happen, is because we hope it is true thus making our constant returning to sacrifice/resurrection a natural apologetic for the Gospel.

In the past few weeks, I’ve seen 3 movies: Wall-E, Hellboy 2, and Hancock (3 very different flicks for sure). All of which contain some variation on the theme – in fact one of them technically includes two sacrifices and two resurrections. You see it coming, you anticipate how it is going to end, yet you walk away satisfied.

Open an eye as you interact with our culture. Just seeing a resurrection is enough to launch into great gospel rich conversation, but the conversation about why the resurrection is so prevalent is an even better one.

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07/13/08

You know I think that folks who are more disciplined in the areas of prayer, study, and worship have more opportunities to share the gospel, but I don’t think it is because they are necessarily more Godly. I just think that they are more attuned to what the Spirit is doing because they experiencing that in prayer and study. You know the folks I’m talking about – they have these incredible Gospel conversations with people all the time.

Let me explain how I think they have those conversations, and I’ll do it by borrowing an analogy from a book called “Finding Our Way Again” that I recently read.

Imagine a concert violinist. She is brilliant and at the top of the game for classical violinists. Now last year she gave 200 concerts. If you asked her how they went, she would probably tell you that 190 of them were good. She hit the notes, and the crowd enjoyed the concert. 3 of them, however, were absolutely awful. In one she was sick, in another she was tired, and in the last one, she was just off her game. But in 7 of the 200, she had those moments as a musician where she seemed to be one with her instrument. The crowd was into her playing and she could only describe it as “otherworldly.”

Now I believe anyone can have an inspired moment, but the folks who prepare for them are more apt to take advantage of the situation when it arrives. The violinist was prepared for her inspired moment, and the 7 concerts evidenced that. For the believer who wants to proclaim their faith, the same is true. You may have inspired moments to proclaim the mercies of Jesus, but if you are spending time with the Spirit in word and prayer, you will be more apt to take advantage of those moments when they occur.

Sadly though, prayer and study aren’t enough for an effective communication of the Gospel either. I know folks who are daily devoted to study and prayer but don’t have a single healthy relationship with someone who does not profess faith in Christ. Part of the problem is what we communicate when those inspirational moments occur. So often, what we communicate is a boastful self-representation of the Gospel that likens ourselves to God’s department store window dressing. We often present ourselves as so Godly or so improved that the basic need of the Gospel is missed in our presentation of it.

Paul in Galatians presents, what I think, as a helpful pattern in presenting the Gospel. Paul says, 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Paul presents the Gospel as his weakness met by God’s grace. That is the essence of the Gospel in our communication. We, like Paul, are weak sinners who deserved punishment for sin and we received in Jesus Christ’s death. And now, we live and obey but that is still our weakness met by God’s grace because it is not us, but Christ who is doing the living in us. The Gospel is a call to faith in Son of God who loves and gives himself to those that are weak and in need.

We need to be people who study and pray over our weakness and finiteness daily pursuing God’s grace that meets our need. Then we will be much more prepared to present that truth when those inspired moments occur.

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Tuesday, June 24, 2008

FOUR CONVERSIONS

This is a blog post referencing a blog post referencing a blog, but lots of thanks to my buddy Matt Adair for pointing out Todd Hiestand's excellent post. Todd in his post entitled Four Missional Movements for the Suburban Church discusses the four types of conversions necessary for believers to be effective missionaries to their community. Summarized for you are the four below, but be sure to check out the article.

1. From Individual to Communal

2. From Consumptive to Cooperative

3. Event to Family

4. From Sucking In to Sending Out

06/22/08

It is pretty difficult to encapsulate the week of General Assembly, but for my sake and for the benefit of the church, I want to give it a shot. I had several hopes and goals for the week, the primary of which was to make sure it wasn’t a boondoggle. Fortunately, that was pretty easy as this year’s seminar lineup was pretty incredible. We had the opportunity to hear experts on “Planting Churches in a Small Town” and “Marriage: A War of Two Kingdoms” as well attend some Q & A’s with some of the brightest and Godliest ministers that I know.

It is really a blast to walk around the vendor hall and bump into your favorite authors so that then you can ask them specific questions that apply to your context. Amy and I had a chance to hear and speak to authors like Ed Welch and Paul Tripp who write the best marriage and parenting books. I got some time with Ken Sandee the author “Peacemakers” and Amy and I also got time with our denomination’s Native American Outreach Coordinators.

The church business was handled very well. There was really only one moment when interaction from the Assembly floor was contentious (it is pretty hard to get 800 delegates to all agree). But I was very thankful for how things were handled. When passion turned into frustration in some of our discussion, we as an Assembly stopped and prayed, and several pastors spoke encouraging words to us all.

In addition to all the big head time, I had the chance to connect with new prayer and financial partners for Sovereign King. The prayer commitments are solid and the financial commitments are under consideration.

One great story is bumping into Paul Leary who is the Missions Director for World Harvest Mission. Amy and I met him back in 03 when we did a London missions trip with World Harvest. When Paul and I first met, we talked about our background. Paul mentioned how in the late 80’s he was an InterVarsity staff worker at NC State but once a month he would go to ECU to encourage a group of students that wanted their own IV chapter. Upon hearing that story, I told Paul how much I owed him because I benefited from that fully formed IV chapter at ECU just a year or so after his efforts. I would not have grown in the Lord as I did at college without Paul’s faithful efforts. Bumping into him was fun because he checks in on me, and vicariously enjoys my pastoring because he knows that God used him in ways that he never imagined.

And then there is the $500 worth of free books. I learned last year that if you hit the vendor hall while the booksellers are packing up, you can convince them to give you a book or two. Last year, I might have scored 4-5 freebies. This year, Amy and I the floor with full force, and every vendor but one gave us books. We have titles ranging from marriage, parenting, end times, handling conflict, pastoral burnout, mission strategy, as well as several different types of Bibles. I still hope the get the entire list up soon. All in all, we scored over $500 worth of books and had to pack extra luggage for the flight home to get them all home.

So many more great things happened at GA, and as I recall them, I’ll find a way to fill you guys in on it, but it was an incredible week.

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06/15/08

GA UPDATE: 2.2

Day Two of G.A. begins early for me of course. I’m sitting in a little coffee shop (surprise) waiting for a buddy so we can grab breakfast. It has been great to catch up with some old friends. This is the only opportunity to see some of my friends all year. Since yesterday, I’ve seen my original mentor in church planting, my good buddy that served with me at Redeemer, a fellow missionary from our trip to London, and lots of church planting buddies. I love my brothers in the ministry here, but after a day I am reminded how much we love to argue theology. This comes as no surprise to me after running the gauntlet of seminary and ordination complied with nearly 10 years in the PCA, but hey, can we say, ‘Hello, how are you doing?” before jumping right in? I imagine I am as guilty as the rest.

There is, however, very fertile ground for encouragement here. In terms of planting churches and proclaiming the Gospel, this is the place to find the people who are passionate about it and know how to do it. I know the work of the church nationally always involves some theological debate. My prayer is that we engage in those conversations peacefully, move on from them, and then start talking about proclaiming the mercies of Christ…proclaiming them to ourselves first and then to those that do not yet know them.

KINGDOM ANGST

For the better part of the last 3 days, I, and other members of Sovereign King, have worked to help a young 18 year old. He was kicked out of his home with less than two weeks to go in his senior year - no home, no money, no food.

Since the phone call on Sunday evening, I've become a regular at Garner Magnet High School getting to know the Police Officers, Counselors, and Staff. Stepping back into the high school environment has been eye opening. My last year of teaching was 1997, so I'm a decade removed from the environment. The obstacles for the students have not decreased by any means. Their options are few, and they don't have the luxury to choose between public, private, religious, our home school. This is their school. Many of the folks who have the choice have opted out.

What happens when an institution constantly experiences an exodus of Christian presence and influence? Garner High School is what happens (This is a thought that requires more attention than I have given it either here or so far). Along the way, I've met some great staff, teachers, and students. They are weary at this stage of the year, but they have not given up.

This brain-dropping is a small part of the kingdom angst that I am feeling, so we'll see where it goes. BTW, the young man has a place to stay now, and if he can pass his exams on Monday and Tuesday, he will receive his diploma.

SERVANT MASTER

Here is the article the good folks at the Garner Citizen published yesterday.
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SERVANT MASTER

This week, my wife and I both got nights out to ourselves. Whenever I get a night out, I usually grab a meal and movie with buddies. My wife, Amy opts for getting together with her gals and talking the night away. We try to do this as much as possible – if not each week, every other week.

Now when Amy gets a night out away from me and the kids, I have a couple of goals for when she returns. I want the kids in bed, quiet, and asleep without incident. If there is an incident, I don’t want it to carry over to her in any way to her. I also want the kitchen to be spotless and the living room to be straightened up. Essentially, I want Amy to get time away, but not dread coming home. She doesn’t need to ruin her time off by having to clean up my mess that night or the following day. I do this because I want her to relax and not worry about the house at least for a few hours.

Well, in scripture, Jesus figuratively and literally leaves the house and He has put you in charge. He has expectations of you while He is gone, and they are a little bigger than making sure the kitchen is clean. In His parable of Luke 12, the master Jesus has left and He will return when no one expects it. If He finds the servants awake, alert, and ready to serve their master when He returns, He promises to do something amazing. He will take on the clothes of a servant and will in turn, care for His servants. But if while He is gone, the servants become lazy and get drunk and abuse the other servants, the master will return unexpectedly and cut those unfaithful servants to pieces.

Quite literally, this teaching is intended to scare the hell out of us. Who doesn’t want to be found faithful? Who wants to suffer the master’s wrath? And the passage makes no bones about it. We are all Jesus’ servants whether or not we acknowledge it. We will all be found as either faithful or unfaithful.

As I read and preached this, I wondered, “Where is the hope?” I can be so unfaithful in managing my master’s resources. I so often look at my home, my money, and all my possessions as mine. Am I the unfaithful servant? Fortunately, just a bit further in Luke, I find hope for this unfaithful servant. Jesus, after giving the Lord’s Supper to the disciples in Luke 19 says this, “Let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. 27 For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at table? But I am among you as the one who serves.”

This promise of Jesus by no means lets me off the hook. I am called, and you are called, to be faithful servants. But it does give me hope that Jesus is the faithful one among us that serves. Our Savior is also our master, but He even more so, is our servant master securing not only salvation but a life of faithfulness.

GREENVILLE AND DR. UNKS

I took to Greenville and ECU this past weekend to catch up with some friends and to retreat for study and planning. Greenville obviously holds a place in my heart from my college days, but I like to go back for more than nostalgia and to take note of the progress on campus. I love to see what God is doing in Greenville. I love to hear about the gospel going forward.

My first disciplined study of God took place in Greenville, and I had several mentors there and a church that placed a high emphasis on Biblical teaching. Going back is definitely going back home.

One of my goals last week was to map out the summer sermons for Sovereign King and to get in some book study that I otherwise don’t have time to get to. But I also wanted to raise my finger to the wind and find out what impact the Gospel was having in Greenville and at ECU.

I have friends at Christ Presbyterian Church and caught up with them, but their grounds have moved to Winterville (a suburb next to G’ville), so I went exploring for a church in the downtown/campus area. I found Harmony Church (http://www.harmonygreenville.com) and Derek Brown. I first bumped into Derek at a Vintage 21 luncheon and was intrigued to hear what those guys were doing.

If you are not familiar with Greenville and ECU, the campus sits in the downtown area, but recently that space has be re-dubbed “uptown” for revitalization’s sake. There is really only one church, and it is much older and established with very little campus/young adult reach. And of course, with uptown development comes homeless displacement and a host of other mercy and justice issues. Well Derek and Harmony church are tackling those issues with the Gospel.

First of all, Harmony wanted to be in the area that they were targeting. Downtown doesn’t offer too much space right now as anything empty is being remodeled, so they got creative. Harmony meets in Dr. Unk’s Bar. I had lunch there, and I thought the space was awesome. The stage for the bands works for the stage for music and preaching. They have full use of the flat screens and PA, and the owners let Harmony use the space for free. Their meeting there caused an uproar in the local paper with Derek being interviewed and writing a few articles. My encouragement to Derek was, “Don’t worry about the uproar. Just make sure they spell the name of the church and the website correctly.

To tackle the mercy/justice issues, Derek’s church has adopted some of the homeless in the area. Members take the folks out to eat once a week, befriending and even mentoring some of them.

In addition, Derek is a voracious reader and writer (I knew I liked this guy), so he is creating materials for his congregation and has even finished a Mark commentary.

It looks like the Gospel is alive and well in Greenville. I can’t wait to see what happens on campus and in the uptown/downtown area. Thankfully, in my 15 years (has it been that long?) since graduation, there are still folks there who cannot wait to see what God and His kingdom will do next.

GIRL RAMBLINGS

A rambling without a grand point...

On Saturday, I took my three girls out to wrap up their Mother's Day shopping at Target, and then we made a grocery store run. A buddy of mine said he saw me walking through the parking lot, and I had a determined look on my face. I told him 3 girls age 6 and under requires a healthy bit of determination. The initial thought of heading out with all the girls to run errands wasn't pleasant, but as I was out I thought, even though Emma is only 23 months old, she should get to go with the girls to buy Amy's Mother's Day presents. Despite the fact that I had to say no a million times in both Target and the grocery store, we all had a lot of fun.

This being a Saturday, I was bouncing around in bummy clothes which for me means shorts an old t-shirt. My shirt of choice was an Yngwie Malmsteen tour shirt. The back of the shirt read "Facing the Animal Tour - 1998." Amy's brother, Jay, and I saw that show in VA (incredible btw). Well, the grocery trip was coming to an end which means my girls' restlessness and my patience were both battling. They were doing pretty well I thought, but we were all ready to head home. As we came around the final corner, a woman I didn't know came up to me. She stared at my shirt which is common as most folks haven't heard of Yngwie much less know how to pronounce his name (ing-vay if you are curious). She said, "1998...that must have been before kids." I laughed, but had several thoughts.

First of all, I keep t-shirts a long time. I didn't realize this one was 10 years old. But the women's comment did make me think about life B.C. (before children). My day's are full of kids activities, and I'm sure they will only get busier as the girls get old. I still sneak in the occasional concert every now and then (Yngwie is touring later this year). And though Amy and I look forward to the days when our gals have become the wonderful women they are going to be and head off to do whatever they want to do, these days are a blast.

Things that made the day fun were Meredith with her list on the tiniest piece of paper with gift ideas for Amy. Landry was incredibly excited when I bought pop tarts (generic but she was still pumped). Emma enjoyed saying any words that she knew at any point in the trip (You would be surprised how many bouncy balls there are in Target). I don't dread rallying the girls by myself. There are times when it ain't easy but Amy deals with that every day. And my girls are cool too, so that helps. They know who Yngwie is.

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FALLING DOWN ON THE JOB

Some of you heard about last week incident, but here is how I got eight stitches and ten shots in my lip…

As Sovereign King was readying for the first service in their new space, I took on the responsibility of setting up the sound system. We have a sound snake that allows us to plug everything into the front. That snake runs a long chord above the ceiling tiles and down to the board in the back corner of our worship space. When I set this up last time, I climbed a ladder alone, threw the snake in the ceiling, moved five feet, climbed back into the ceiling, threw the snake again, and then repeated the process until the snake crossed the space. No problem. This time I took on the project but had actually had some one holding the ladder.

I should have gotten a taller ladder though. I was waist high in a nine foot ceiling, and when I threw the snake, I fell, bringing down a ¼ of the ceiling and ripping my top lip in half. I guess it was good I hit the ladder because a fall from nine feet can lead to broken legs and arms (I’ll take a bloody face over broken bones any day). Well, as I stood up with blood gushing and my lip hanging, my first thought was, “I wonder how much it is going to cost to fix that ceiling?”

Fortunately, the person helping at church wasn’t going to take no from me, so after coordinating a repair guy to look at the ceiling, I made my way to the doctor’s office. My wait was pretty short, and I got back relatively quickly. The doctor had to pull ceiling tile and insulation out of my lip before starting the stitches. He then starting giving me shots to numb the pain. Six shots later, I could still feel the needle. He had to amp up the medicine, so after ten shots, he was finally able to stitch the inside of my mouth and my lip back together.

As you now know, the ceiling was fixed and Sovereign King’s first service went off without a hitch. I preached with slightly better articulation and a large scab on my lip.

A funny postscript happened to this yesterday when I went to get my stitches out. Apparently, I’m not done with my clumsiness just yet. As I checked in the doctor’s office, I spilled an entire cup of coffee on the check-in desk. No one was injured, but all the papers were ruined and the phone system was soaked. I no longer look like Frankenstein, but I am, at the moment, pretty dangerous to be around.

That collective sigh you hear is the passing of the April 15^th tax deadline. Some folks are looking forward to getting money back, some have to pay, and some file an extension. Even with a refund, most folks aren’t too happy about doing their taxes, and at least a mild case of anxiety accompanies the process. But this year, if you file your taxes, you have an economic stimulus payment coming to you. File your taxes, and you get cold hard cash. Married? Double your payment. The cherry on top is extra cash for each of your children.

In no time at all, we’re all in the money. Now, why would the government want to mail us all a check? Well, our economy apparently needs stimulating, and the government hopes those dollars will burn a hole in your pocket. Now is the time for a plasma TV, a down payment on a car, or a new wardrobe.

Now I have no political dog in this economic stimulus hunt, but I do find it odd that in this age of inflated adjustable rate mortgages and massive credit card debt, the government doesn’t want us to refinance our home loans or pay down our Visa. They want us to buy more stuff. That will help the economy. I’ve considered putting a storm door on our front porch myself.

Well, since the government has expectations about what you should do with your money, I figured I would throw my two cents in as well. According to the President, the government has set aside $152 billion dollars or 1% of GDP for this stimulus package. That, my friend, is a massive amount of money. So, I began to dream about what could be done with that much cash (other than clothes, cars, and storm doors).

Here is what I suggest. Spend it however you want. Be wise and pay off debt, or have fun and be frivolous. But consider for a moment what would happen if we went old-school and charitably gave away 10%? What good for our community (other than a boosted economy) could we do with 15 billion dollars?

What if those 15 billion dollars were focused on improving and meeting the needs of our community? I’m not talking about naming a wing of a building after yourself or contributing so much to something you get a brick with your name on it. Though these things are fine, but if this is community money, how about contributing to a church building that existed solely for the needs of the community? I could be down with that. We could start new programs to support our police, fireman, and EMS workers. We could start tutoring programs. We could aid Katrina relief. We could fund addiction recovery programs. We could. We could. We could. The question is will we?

I’m not politically savvy enough to know how to gauge the effectiveness of this stimulus package economically. But as a pastor that wants to serve the community, I do think there will be very tangible ways to gauge the impact locally. If our folks give back, we can attempt to love and serve our community more. Churches and charities will be able to cover their overhead. New programs will be started. Existing programs will be sustained. And maybe along the way, screen doors will be hung (either mine or someone who really needs one).

04/27/08

Second Garner Citizen Article

The message of peace with God that Jesus declares is so free that if it is preached correctly, it should make you feel a bit uncomfortable. You should ask ,”Where is the guilt, and where is the condemnation?” When Jesus responds, “I took all the guilt and condemnation for you,” it is simultaneously refreshing and terrifying. Free forgiveness is refreshing because the struggle has ended. Free forgiveness is terrifying because it sounds too good to be true.

Born the son of a preacher man, I’ve been in church since conception. In my 37 years, I’ve heard everything from the scandalously free message of forgiveness to condemnation to outright heresy. I even heard that God would save me, but my breeches would be smoking when He did as if the Father is holding a match and Jesus is trying to restrain Him.

Some say that the message of forgiveness from God, even the message of needing forgiveness, is passé. Some would ask, “Can’t we move on to more important matters?” That is one of those questions that is best answered with an affirmative and a negative. Let me explain.

Yes, we do need to move on from the message of forgiveness but only in the sense of learning to apply it. So often the church talks about forgiveness but never gets around to actually practicing it (sorry for the split infinitive but God will forgive me). What I mean is that the church spends a lot of time talking about God forgiving sin, but so often we don’t know what to do next. Perhaps we should consider what it looks like to demonstrate God’s forgiveness in areas like mercy and kindness and doing good for the sake of doing good. That would be a pretty clear demonstration that we understand the forgiveness that we proclaim to the world.

But we can also say that the church does not need to move beyond forgiveness? We need to explore just how free and how comforting the end of the struggle for goodness is. I think that kind of message is pretty appealing now days, and I’m confident it is consistent with, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” I even used King James there. Wow that message is timeless.

I don’t presume that I, my church, or my circle of friends have got it all figured out. That would be pretty inconsistent with our overwhelming need for forgiveness that I’m talking about here, but we would all do well to proclaim and practice it in the same scandalously free manner in which Jesus first mentioned it.

Gordon Duncan is the pastor of Sovereign King Church (www.newgarnerchurch.com), the Garner Police Chaplain, and best of all, the husband and dad to his great family.

04/20/08

GARNER CITIZEN ARTICLE

I mentioned that the "Garner Citizen" published my first article as their contributor last week, and they were gracious enough let me write about Sovereign King's Two Year Anniversary. There isn't a digital link to it on their site, so here it...
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I grew up in a time where churches would have yearly homecomings, and family and friends would return to celebrate. I know these still happen, but they seem to be much less frequent. As a preacher’s son, I had the vantage point of seeing these events come together each year, and I think it really shaped my view of community within and outside the church.

The success of those events in that long ago time was probably due to the fact that churches held more influence in the broader community than they do now. Who knows why that is? Maybe churches have become more inward program focused. Maybe there are just more options for people to choose from, so no one has a “home” church anymore. At worst, perhaps these homecoming events don’t happen as much because the community at large doesn’t see the need for church involvement. Some I have spoken to think this is because churches aren’t involved in the broader community as much as they used to be, and they have rendered themselves irrelevant.

I considered these things this week as Sovereign King Church celebrated two years of services. I wouldn’t necessarily call the event a homecoming because in so short of time, there aren’t many people that need to come home. No, our two year event was about celebrating our survival and our desire to worship God and love our community. We invited the Mayor, the Chief of Police, the Aldermen, and any other civic officials that we knew because we wanted to remind ourselves and our community that we truly want to serve them as an act of worship to God.

Lofty goals? I guess. It just seems to me, and it became more evident over the Easter season, that every time scripture calls us to worship God, it also calls us to serve and love our neighbor as one of those expressions of worship. Perhaps if we, and other churches as well, can return to expressing our love of God by loving our neighbors and considering others better than ourselves, our communities will see us as significant and relevant.

Our goal as a church, and I hope it is a goal shared by other churches as well, is that we can serve such a vital function within Garner that her citizens would see the work we do as beneficial and necessary - whether or not those citizens ever darken our door.

04/13/08

DO YOU TAKE THIS...

Marriages are fragile things. Trust is so much more easily lost than it is gained, and reclaiming trust can appear to be impossible at times. Bitterness and self-righteousness are diseases that spread quicker than they can be cured most often. But, we get this incredible picture of the purpose and intent of marriage in scripture through the imagery of Christ and the Church. Scripture calls the Church the Bride of Christ and Jesus is her Bridegroom. In the ultimate fulfilling of all things, we see the union of Bride and Bridegroom in Heaven.

Let's not make the mistake of thinking that the relationship between Christ and the Church is based on human marriage. We find the foundation and pattern of human marriage IN the relationship between Christ and the Church. The patterns of a husband giving himself fully for his wife and the wife loving her husband are based on the work of Christ for His Church and the call of the Church to her Bridegroom.

So, in working through marital difficulties (preserving and regaining trust) as always, we must pursue Christ. Men, we need to pursue our humble, meek, and powerful Savior, and women need to pursue the picture of the church's relationship and responsibility to Christ. Humility on both parts is so helpful. Husbands don't come anywhere close to measuring up to our Savior, and wives fall short in devotion just as the Church does. There is so little room...meaning none...for self-righteousness.

Fragile though marriages are, they are opportunities for immense joy just as they relationship between the church and Christ is as well.

04/06/08

Well, Sovereign King's Two Year Anniversary went off without a hitch. What an incredible day.

It really is hard to start to tell you how things went. Of course, things went just incredibly well, but that doesn’t really do the event justice. First of all, all the SK’iers just rocked in pulling off this event. There was a reception prior to the service with food and coffee and tables of information about SK, the music team and all the elements of the service (offering, Lord’s Supper) went off without a hitch, and the reception afterwards just rocked. Our folks worked so hard to pull the million little details together, and I can also tell you that the auditorium was cleaner when we left that when we got there. Amy and I just marveled at how so many did so much over the weekend.

We were blessed with a bunch of guests. Amy and I tried to figure who was there and how many, and by our count at least 50 folks showed up in addition to the normal crowd to worship. We had friends from multiple churches that have supported us. We had family there. The Mayor showed up and spoke for about 5 minutes about the work of Sovereign King in the community. The Chief of Police was there as well other officers of the GPD. Two of our Board of Aldermen for Garner were there. The owners of Bushiban made it for the reception. We even got a letter from the Governor of NC officially congratulating us on two years of service.

All in all it was a great day of celebration and worship. We were fortunate to have our good friend Season Moore (www.seasonmoorephotography.com) there and she provided us with these great photos. If you want to see more check out all of the snaps at http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/4.3.html

03/31/08

GENERAL HOSPITABLE

For our Easter service at Sovereign King this past week, a new thought sprung to mind as I was preparing the sermon. As Jesus walks with Cleopas and friend after His resurrection, the two are not aware that they are talking to the risen Christ. Finally, after a long journey, the two men invite Jesus to join them for dinner. As Jesus breaks the bread and blesses it, their eyes are opened to the fact that they've been talking with Jesus. They respond with "It had to be you; our hearts burned so when you spoke with us."

My thought was that in that moment of hospitality from the Cleopas and friend to Jesus and from Jesus to them, the risen Savior was made known and clear. Isn't that often the case...we experience the hospitality of Christ in His grace and during worship and He becomes more clear to us. We demonstrate hospitality to others and they receive a clearer picture of who Christ is. The thought was a nice lead in to our celebrating the Lord's Supper.

All along, I've been very thankful that one of the defining characteristics of Sovereign King is that the SK'iers are hospitable. We know how to throw a good party, and that goes a long way to demonstrate the grace of Christ. My encouragement to us all is to find opportunities to enjoy the hospitality of God and also opportunities to demonstrate that hospitality to others.

03/23/08

FIGHT TO SURVIVE

I was musing with a friend the other day about Sovereign King's endurance through two years and where I thought God was leading us. Without any plans on being profound (I guess if I planned it, it would be posturing) I said, "Sometimes I grow tired of our struggle to survive, but I guess the moment we stop struggling to survive, we start dying."

As I made that comment, I realized there was some insight in it. Yes, Sovereign King needs to grow numerically, spiritually, and financially (pretty much every "ly" word). However, where we are continues to keep us in a place of dependence upon God which is a place in which I think He always wants us to remain.

Growing up in the church with a father and a father-in-law in the ministry, I've been a part of growing and dying churches and I think that is true. Once the struggle for survival ends, you get complacent and though your doors stay open, your church starts dying.

It might be nice to experience a different version of survival I guess, but right now, we are right where God wants us.

03/16/08

CROSS-CULTURAL

I recently had coffee with a PCUSA (Presbyterian Church United States of America) minister who pastors nearby. For the sake of explanation, Sovereign King is a PCA church (Presbyterian Church in America), and we broke away from the PCUSA in the early 70's as we found ourselves more conservative in issues concerning the scripture, abortion, lots of stuff in Genesis, etc. Recently, their local PCUSA presbytery passed what will ultimately be some pretty controversial motions concerning homosexuality and the ordination of ministers. Ecclesiastically and theologically, there is no reason for us to hang out...but I liked the guy.

We briefly discussed some of those differences, but we spent more time talking about the good bit we had in common. We are both pastoring young churches that are doing their best to keep their heads above water, and we want to see Jesus become all-pervasive in people's lives.

I could never pastor his church, and I bet he wouldn't want to pastor mine. We've already decided that we don't want to be in the others' denom, but I glad we made contact, and it is good to know and pray for folks outside one's theological circle.

03/09/08

DRESS REHEARSAL

35 And he said to them, “When I sent you out with no moneybag or knapsack or sandals, did you lack anything?” They said, “Nothing.”

In the book of Luke, right before Jesus’ arrest, He turns to His disciples and He asks them, “Hey guys, way back 3 years ago when I told to go and proclaim the Kingdom of God and not to take anything with you, how did that turn out? Were you ever lacking? Did you ever go without? Their response is, “No Jesus. We never lacked for anything.”

Jesus is reminding His disciples that He has always been faithful to the promises that He has made. He is saying, “Hey listen guys. I’ve kept all my promises up until now. Can you think of any reason why I wouldn’t keep my promises going forward?” You see, Jesus is getting ready to ask them to demonstrate even more faith than they already have demonstrated – even more than when Jesus asked them to leave their jobs and their homes to follow Him. Jesus wants them to know that He will be there when they exercise faith.

Have you ever been in this situation when you needed to be reminded of how God has been faithful before? Usually those kinds of reminders come about by the loving, yet gentle rebukes or reminders of a friend. You know I’ve been in the situations before. When I quit my job to go to seminary and when I’m moved to Garner to start Sovereign King, we saw God answer so many prayers and He proved Himself faithful.

So when I’m down, or when I’m struggling with how the church is going to grow, or how we are going to be effective, or how we are going to support the police officers, I have people in my life that say, “Hey Gordon, remember that time when there was no money in the bank account and God provided a gift at the last moment? Do you remember when your sound system was given to you? Do you remember when someone donated the piano? Do you remember that time when you were so poor you couldn’t buy Christmas gifts and Toys for Tots showed up at your door?”

Fundamentally, we need to rehearse God’s faithfulness to us to remind us of how wonderful He is, but we also need to do it to prepare us for greater acts of faith.

02/24/08

RADICAL REFORMISSION

I think I would have enjoyed "Radical Reformation" by Mark Driscoll more had I not just read his "Confessions" a couple of days before. Don't get me wrong, I think "Radical Reformission" is very good. If "Confessions" is the biography of Driscoll's church, then "Radical Reformission" is their philosophy of ministry. I should have just spaced them out more, but I highly recommend this book for anyone who is trying to understand how to better engage their culture for Christ.

Driscoll offers some very helpful analysis as he talks about reaching out without selling out. For example, in the examination of the church's approach to culture, he looks at the interaction between the church, the gospel, and the culture. He offers this analysis...

Gospel + Culture - Church = Parachurch
Culture + Church - Gospel = Liberalism
Church + Gospel - Culture = Fundamentalism
(These formulas are fodder for a blog at a later day)

He offers this formula: Church + Gospel + Culture = Reformission. He defines Reformission as "gathering the best aspects of each of the above types of Christianity: living in the tension of being Christians and Churches who are culturally liberal yet theologically conservative and who are driven by the gospel of grace to love their Lord, brothers, and neighbors." He adds, "Reformission is the radical call for Christians and Christian churches to recommit to living and speaking the gospel, and to doing so regardless of the pressures to compromise the truth of the gospel or to conceal its power within the safety of the church."

The topic of exploring better ways to communicate the gospel in our culture is never-ending, and if you want to understand the philosophy of someone who is doing it well, then read Driscoll.

02/17/08

RUN TO YOU

In addition to the dozen or so books that I have set aside to read this week, Amy has done the same thing. She is reading "Painting in the Dark" by Paul Thorson, and this quote jumped out to her (and to me as well). He says, "In the face of my failures, I run to my favorite addictions, looking for a place to hide."

Wow. I have seen this truth demonstrated in practically every arena of life.

The pastor under pressure looking at porn.
The at home mom drinking too much during the day in light of the stresses of raising her children.
The teenager whose Dad preached Jesus but no grace choosing drugs in light of constant failure.
Affairs arising out of marital struggles.

There are literally millions of examples of this. Indulging a sin habit to ease or salve the pain of failure is the default mode for our sinful natures. It is so hard to remember Jesus' assurance that His yoke is light and that He desires to comfort the weary laden. It is also so hard to remember the character of God in our failures. Despite hearing of the love of Christ and even accepting grace by faith, in our failures, we assume that God forgives us only because He has to and that He really would rather just squash us like a bug. Our hearts pull away so often to think that God's scowl is what awaits our approach to the mercy seat.

It is no coincidence that just prior to Peter's denial, Jesus prayed for Him. Jesus prayed for His disciples and even for us who believe so many years later. Even knowing Peter's sin (and our sin as well), Jesus prays in His high priestly prayer, "Father, love them as you have loved me." In our sin and failure, knowing that the affection the Father has for Jesus is the affection that awaits us, we can turn to Christ instead of turning to our sin.

02/10/08

THERE WILL BE BLOOD

“There Will Be Blood” is an astounding movie. It is breathtaking, unnerving, and one of the most thematically textured movies released in years. Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (“Magnolia”), “Blood” centers on the life of Daniel Plainview, a silver miner turned oil baron at the beginning of the 20th century. Hard, determined, and methodical, Daniel by his own admission does not want to see any one else succeed other than himself, but his fortunes are always inextricably connected to the fortunes of others as he prospects land. One person in particular to which Daniel is connected is Eli Sunday. Eli is a young pastor in New Boston where Daniel is drilling for oil. Similar in many ways, Eli has an empire to build as well, the Third Revelation Church.

The beauty of “Blood” is that Anderson tells this story without judgment or ill motive. He allows Daniel and Eli to mark their own paths of fortune and heartbreak without showing his direct opinion about either character. While you sit physically passive in the theater, your brain actively races to see Daniel’s plan for New Boston unfold. Along the way, questions of allegiances to Eli and the other land owners are contrasted with the relationship between Daniel and his son, H.W. H.W. allows Daniel to appear human alongside his ambition, but Daniel’s dealings with the rest of the world create an ongoing tension as to whether violence or neglect will ultimately characterize the father and son relationship.

Eli appears to want to build a church (both physically and spiritually) with the same fervor that Daniel wants to build an oil empire. At times he appears either trustworthy or greedily ambitious, but somehow (to the credit of actor, Paul Dano) Eli has the appearance of meekness. However, both characters are asked at different times to violate their own principles to see the advancement of their empires. The audience is left to wonder whether either character can ultimately be redeemed or whether they will lead each to bankruptcy (either financial or moral).

I think the most enjoyable theme though, and what truly lies at the heart of the struggle for the characters and the audience, is the connection between the growth of the church and capitalism. In my observation, two conditions fuel the church more than any other: persecution and prosperity. Ironic though it may be, nothing causes churches to grow with more fervor than standing up in the face of persecution or riding the wave of capitalism. Persecution comes with promised blessing while wealth comes with warning. Anderson does a good job of pursuing both throughout the movie.

“There Will Be Blood” doesn’t leave a bunch of innocents in its wake, but then again, I imagine there aren’t a lot of innocents watching it either. The lessons and warnings that come from observing Eli and Daniel are worth noting either for ourselves or for our churches, but don’t let the opportunity to see this film get away. It is worthy every minute of its two and half hours.

Since posting this, the good folks at www.theooze.com agreed to publish it. You can find it on the front page or at http://www.theooze.com/articles/article.cfm?id=1980.

02/03/08

SOVEREIGN BLACK BOOK

Every moment, every single second of the day is an opportunity for the proclamation or the application of the Gospel. We lose sight of that in the day in and day out, but that doesn't change the fact or the circumstances. Some days I'm more aware of it than others; some days I'm blind to it. Right now...my eyes are wide open.

Romans 5:1 tells us that there is no condemnation for those that have faith in Christ Jesus, and Romans 8:1 tells us that those that are in Christ Jesus now have peace with God. Honestly, most believers struggle to to understand the statement, "God neither condemns me or is against me. I'm at peace with Him." Sadly, the lack of understanding that in our lives results in a lack of fervent evangelism. If we don't understand the benefits we have in Christ, how are we going to effectively communicate those benefits to those in need?

Well, at the moment, I'm finding myself in situation after situation where people not only need to hear the Gospel, but are open to exploring it. God sovereignly works to place us together and He sovereignly works in their salvation just as He sovereignly worked in mine. Embracing the peace and freedom that Christ has secured for me by His work of life, death, and resurrection, should only motivate me to proclaim that truth to others. "The comfort I received from God is the comfort by which I then comfort others..."

The people we bump into or spend time with each day are placed their sovereignly by God. Our opportunities for the proclamation of the Gospel are not random acts but sovereign appointments that we need to keep. We need to pursue understanding the benefits of our salvation so that we can then more excitedly share it with those that we spend time with.

01/27/08

IMAGE OF GOD

At Sovereign King, we have been studying key doctrines that help us understand the scriptures better. This past week, we looked at the doctrine of man with an emphasis of understanding that we were created for God’s glory and in His image. So what does this image of God have to do with our approach to understanding scripture?

Well, the Scriptures themselves are part of God’s means of grace in your life. In the Bible, you find God’s perfect revelation of Himself and you find the purpose for which you were created. Closer to understanding the scriptures puts you closer to understanding what God would have for you and your life. The farther away you place yourself from the scriptures means that you will be that much farther away from God and His purpose in your life.

After we answered that question, we applied the same thought to the mission of Sovereign King: creating and engaging community. So you might ask, how does the fact that we are created in the image of God help us create community?

Well, at Sovereign King, I can look at each person differently now. They are not just someone that I go to church with. They are co-image bearers that Jesus has redeemed and reconciled to God. Just like them, I was an enemy of God, and I take no credit for my salvation. They like me, have been restored to my original purpose. We can glorify God and enjoy Him forever because Jesus has undone the sin that we have done. We stand in solidarity as those who have been saved from ourselves, so I want to know them. I want to know their story of being redeemed and changed.

How does the fact that we are created in the image of God help us engage community? Whether or not a person believes in Jesus or not, I can still see them as a co-image bearer who needs the reconciling work of Jesus.

Now this is a little different way to view evangelism. The first thing I can do is tell people that they are going to Hell, and yes apart, from Jesus’ work, people are going to Hell. But it is, I think, a much more advantageous starting point to tell folks, “Hey, we were created for more than this. We weren’t created for the drudgery of life. We were created to glorify God.” Jesus restores us and this life of pain and death and frustration is redeemed because Jesus has overcome our sin. We have the chance to no longer be God’s enemies through Jesus Christ.

Folks that is the message we have for our families. That is the message we have for each other. That is the message we have for our family, friends, and coworkers that do not know Jesus. Jesus is restoring the image of God in us.

01/21/08

DEATH DOESN'T BECOME ME

I have grown weary of death. In the last ten days, the wonderful matriarch of our church passed away. A brother of one of our church members died. I was called to help do a death notification for a double fatality with the Garner Police Department. A good friend lost her dear God-Mother, and a neighbor's Father passed away. I know that deaths happen every day, and if we were to become more aware of people's lives, we would become much aware of death, but not matter. I have grown weary of death. I long for heaven, and I long for the final removal of the residue of sin that we all live under.

01/13/08

I’m doing some reading from a great book entitled “Confessions of Reformission Rev” by Mark Driscoll. In it, he does an extended explanation on his thoughts about community. Well the word “community” is no stranger to Sovereign King as we hope to create one and engage one. Driscoll gives this warning. He says that without defining what the community should like, “the goal of people will be to hang out together in love, like the family they never had. While this is not evil, it is also not sufficient.” Driscoll goes on to say that we have to be vigilant to make repentance and personal faith in Jesus the hallmark of our community. Repentance and faith create authentic friendships.

To illustrate this, Driscoll outlines two prototypical communities in scripture: Babel/Babylon and Pentecost.

Babel Community	Pentecost Community
A small city	A large kingdom
Built to house a few people	Built to house many people
Marked by walls	Marked by no walls
Intentionally resisted diversity and gathered a homogenous people	Intentionally pursued diversity and gathered a heterogeneous people
Avoided hospitality	Practiced hospitality
God came down and judged their sin	God came down and forgave their sin
Made their name great	Made Jesus’ name great
God confused their languages	God united their languages

Driscoll contrasts the two communities. He says,

The Babylonian version of community is godless affinity. Babylonian community does not aspire to grow except by internal births, does not welcome people who are different, does not practice hospitality, and seeks to remain safe and successful. Community is the only goal for churches who think Babylonian. God’s response to Babylonian Community is judgment and scattering because it is a sin, especially in the church.

The Pentecost version of community exists for mission, not for itself. Pentecost community is not held together because people are similar but rather because they are on the same mission with the same Lord. Because of this, Pentecost Community is marked by a desire to expand God’s kingdom through salvation of many diverse people, who are hospitably welcomed to learn about the greatness of Jesus.

In seminary, I saw several varieties of these types of charts, but the emphasis was normally on Pentecost’s undoing of the curse Babel (a healthy study in and of itself). I do not remember such a detailed comparison of communities such as this one, and I think Driscoll does a good job of addressing the concerns that some folks have about new churches while also providing a needed warning to existing ones.

01/07/08

TO ANSWER A FOOL (FOOL TO BE DECIDED)

Proverbs 26:4-5 - 4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. 5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

One of the topics that Scripture is not silent about is (with no sense of irony) is the tongue. I won't even begin to list all the verses and references that pertain to how we should speak to one another. Sometimes, these commands are confusing (Proverbs tells us both to answer a fool and not to answer a fool). These more ambiguous commands are not contradictory but prove the point that we need to exercise wisdom in the how we speak.

Years ago, I would have found myself at the leading edge of every argument. I enjoyed the fight and sinfully enjoyed humiliating people. It is a temptation I still face, but the life of practical ministry, sharing the gospel, and copious hours in coffee shops have taught me to be a bit more patient (but not completely mind you). Not every thing I object to needs to be addressed much less corrected. Again, wisdom is necessary.

I have come to this conclusion. With people like myself who enjoying silencing others in an argument, there is a warning. There are times in a debate when you know you can silence the other person. Your point can be forceful. It can be made forcefully, or you can just flat out humiliate someone. This is what I have learned. In those moments when the other person is silenced, no ground has been gained. Just because the other person no longer participates in the discussion does not mean that I have convinced them of my point. Here is the dirty little secret. They may perceive me or you as a person whose character is of such poor quality that I have become the fool not to be answered.

Folks, this happens at home, work, or wherever, not just in the proverbial coffee shop. Yes, people can be forcefully and intelligently silenced, but that does not mean that the day has been won for your point. It may be that I or you have become a fool in their eyes. Very little or nothing is gained for the kingdom.

12/31/07

31 DAYS OF PRAYER

Beginning January 1st, Sovereign King is beginning an effort called 31 days of prayer. Throughout the month, we will be praying through a calendar of needs, desires, and wants concerning the church, our families, our ministries, our community, and so many other things. We did this when we first launched as a church, and it proved effective in unifying our hearts to God's building of this church. We are going to post the calendar of prayer on the church website, and I plan on journaling a small prayer each day to correspond.

We invite any and all of you to join us. Between now and January 1, we will give you more details, but if you are interested in praying with us, either post to this entry or email me at jgordonduncan@yahoo.com.

Merry Christmas

12/23/07

INDIGENIZATION

I have taken my time working through Ed Stetzer's "Breaking the Missional Code" - just an incredible book, and I'm in no rush to finish it. It is so good that I've told my folks at Sovereign King that if they want a copy, I'll buy it for them myself. Stetzer (and his co-author David Putman) do a great job through research and narrative explaining how the church must contextualize its message to the culture to which it speaks just as a foreign missionary does. When that happens, a church become indigenous. Let them explain that term...

The idea behind indigenization is that a church should spring forth out of the soil in which it is planted. It is indigenous in that its leadership, expression, forms, and functions reflect that of the context. At the same time, it serves as a transforming agent in the very culture that sustains it. When this happens, we can truly say we have an indigenous church. What we have found is that when the pastoral leadership, core of the church, and community all line up, the potential for the church to taken on an indigenous form is significant. The combination seems to provide a greenhouse for explosive growth.

That is one of the hopes I have for Sovereign King. I didn't grow up in Garner, but I did grow up 20 miles down the road and presently, I fit the description of the new citizens of Garner. I've grown up in a rural community, earned my college degree, and can relate to a ever evolving community that is making the transition from small town to suburb. Our folks are committed to this area and are learning to speak the language. Hopefully, God will bless those ingredients to make us a highly functional, effective advocate for the Gospel and the Kingdom in this community.

12/16/07

THE GOLDEN COMPASS

“The Golden Compass” is causing a pretty big stir among the religious community. Described as the anti-Narnia by its author, Philip Pullman, the “His Dark Materials” trilogy takes shots at the church, the existence of God, and most everything else precious to Christianity.

I first heard about the books a few years ago as they were gaining attention amid the “Harry Potter” furor. I read about the complaints from churches, so I decided the read “The Golden Compass” myself. The book fits neatly into the Narnia/Potter genres with a young female protagonist discovering a second world larger than the poor one she lives in. At first read, I noticed that the anti-God, anti-church rhetoric is not as prevalent in the first book as it is the in the remaining two, but it is there. You can feel a mounting argument against both by the conclusion of book one.

Much of the hubbub recently against the books has arisen because of this past weekend’s release of the “The Golden Compass” movie. Reportedly, the movie cost $180 million to make and with advertising, some report the cost at $250 million. That’s right…1/4 of a billion dollars. There is a lot at stake for this movie to succeed.

Protests and petitions have been flying from various church organizations in the last two months. It has been a story on CNN, Fox News, and there is even a facebook protest group. Well, here is my take. If you want to sign a petition or join a social utility protest group, go for it. But if you want to rally and speak out against the books/movie, then do one of the following: see the movie or read the book. Please join the conversation intelligently and do not join it after merely reading bullet points from this blog or any other source. Christianity can withstand the criticism I promise you, but if you want to be a part of the exchange, please do so with first hand knowledge. I think the conversations that could come from the book are actually pretty good jumping points for an introduction of the Gospel.

Well, the results are in btw from the movie’s opening weekend. For it to be a success, it needed to make in the high $30 million range and up in its first weekend. Preferably, it needed to make $50 million because its number will take a huge hit once “I Am Legend” debuts. Good or bad, the movie only made $26 million in its opening weekend and will probably not even top out at $100 million stateside. Essentially, it is an utter failure.

To be honest, I just don’t like the story. Aside from Pullman’s philosophical leanings, I just didn’t like the world he created. Narnia works if you like Narnia, you know what I mean? I find that a much better argument to deter people than a philosophical point by point banter anyway.

12/10/07

WHY THEN SHOULD WE SING?

Continuing the thought from Friday’s post, Mary in Luke 1 sings praises to God because through her, God was being faithful to His promises, and God was going to manifest those promises to all the people around Mary at that time through the birth of her son. Of course she wasn’t selfish with this blessing; she was excited about what God was doing. He was remembering promises made long ago to Abraham and others, and being faithful to what He said He would do, He displayed His power, holiness, and mercy.

And maybe, just maybe, Mary knew what this meant long term, but I doubt it. No one could have imagined that God would draw people from every race and every people to know Him. But we stand in faith as the beneficiaries of what God was doing then and long ago. Mary clearly had two things in my mind: she understood that God was fundamentally beautiful in His mercy, power, and holiness, and she knew that she was part of God’s redemptive plan.

So as we stand here by faith, worshipping Jesus, the child of Mary, we need to see in the day to day moments of our lives, that God is beautiful and that we are a part of God’s redemptive plan. No, none of us are going to give birth to the Savior. It’s not necessary anymore. But God, works in faithfulness to Himself, and gifts His people with faithfulness, so that we all become part of a redemptive plan in history that’s bigger than ourselves. As we struggle in whatever place we are in, as we rejoice in triumphs or struggle in adversity, we need to see that God’s intention is to use those things redemptively because He has promised to be faithful to His promises of mercy. We all live in a heritage of faith and are called to moment by moment faithfulness to be used in God’s plan. That helps us to look beyond the moments of our lives and take joy in what God is doing in us and through us. Like Mary knew, that is something to sing about.

12/03/07

GARNER CITIZEN ARTICLE

I've mentioned Sovereign King's Spaghetti Dinner for the Garner Police before. Well, the Garner Citizen asked me to do a 350 word article on why we wanted to undertake the effort, and they ran my article practically word for word. Here it is...

“Gordon Duncan, Police Chaplain.” The words still sound strange to me. My chaplaincy came about when my wife, Amy, and I moved to Garner two years ago. We dreamed of starting Sovereign King Church, but we had one problem: we didn’t know anyone. So, as pastor of a church with no people, I needed to familiarize myself with the community.

One avenue for doing so was meeting Chief Tom Moss of the Garner Police. After a period of time that included ride alongs and extended conversations with other officers, the Chief asked me to become Chaplain. By this time, Sovereign King was meeting for services and desiring to engage and serve Garner. The chaplaincy was a perfect venue for us to do so.

Over the past year, we have prayed for the officers and staff daily, given them Christmas goodies, Bibles, and Halloween treats. Good efforts, but we always want to do more for a segment of our population who do so much for us.

Recently, Amy suggested a spaghetti dinner for the officers and their families. With a dinner, we could serve and get to know them in a more concrete way. Additionally, by including the families, we would be supporting those that support them. Another woman in the church had been thinking the same thing, so thus was born the First Annual Garner Police and Family Appreciation dinner. Quickly, the Garner Lions Club donated their facility, and local business like Golden Corral, Raggazzi’s, Bushiban Coffee, Olive Garden, BJ’s, Food Lion, and Wal-Mart joined in the effort.

A dinner like this goes only a small way towards showing the officers and their families our appreciation. Sovereign King and I feel a responsibility and even a sense of indebtedness to them, so we will continue to explore avenues for appreciation and care. Now that we know that the citizens and businesses of Garner desire to serve them as we do, we want to explore opportunities together.

11/25/07

ROAD TRIP

After serving meals to the Police/EMS officers last week, I think Sovereign King was a bit tired. After surgery on her foot, my wife was a bit tired. After looking to the household last week, I was tired. The words of my buddy, James Sutton, meant so much as he preached yesterday. He reminded us, "Your help comes from the Lord." James described how Psalm 121 was a song of ascent. It was sung as the people of Israel traveled to Jerusalem, the City of God. He likened it to a mix tape you make for a road trip. These are songs that are fun and have/ meaning to the journey. Sometimes, they add surprising meaning to the journey. He told a story of a road trip he made in the Sudan back in college, and "Highway to the Danger Zone" was playing. He'll never forget that time and that song helped burn the memory in his brain. Well, the crying of "Where does my help come from? It comes from the Lord," was sung as the people went to celebrate Passover or one of the other national festivals. They were reminding themselves that God is gracious and He is the one that protects them. As our folks recovered from several weeks of intense ministry, those words were a comfort to us. Thanks James.

11/18/07

BIRTHDAY REFLECTIONS

I celebrated my birthday on Sunday turning 37. I don't feel 37 though my body does have more aches than it used to have. I can still get out and run, play golf, and do the things I've always done, but I know that I require a bit more rest. I still function off of about 6.5 hours sleep a night as long as I get naps on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, so that is good.

I remember at my 30th birthday party declaring that the 30 year old me could beat up the 20 year old me. I doubt I'll make that declaration at 40 as I know I can't make it today. Broken hand, foot, and shoulder surgery have slowed me down a bit since 30, but I still feel good.

I've toyed with the idea of a marathon in '08, but I may just go for a couple of 5 or 10ks. I do feel a bit wiser (or at least more experienced) about life in general and especially life as a pastor. Planting a church will grow you up (or make you old) quickly.

Planting a church is a life of faith (all of our lives are), but being a church planter means that the world gets to observe your faith and at times, even judge it. I wouldn't say that I was unaware of that, but it has become more apparent as Sovereign King grows (or at times doesn't).

All in all, it has been a great year and getting older doesn't bother me. My beautiful wife and kids celebrated well with me, so who can complain when that is the case?

11/12/07 - WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?

I asked this question this week, "When did you first realize that the Gospel was more than just the thing that you believe when you get saved?" I felt like the group had a pretty good grasp on the answer, but we still needed time to process the thought. Do a simple search of the word yourself in scripture and you will see it used in various ways http://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=gospel&qs_version=31&language=english

So often meaning the proclamation of the work of Christ, reading those scriptures reveals what the Gospel does not just what it is. It is our clothing in Jesus' righteousness, the end of struggling, the power to overcome sin, the power to work in people's lives to overcome sin. We miss out on so much when we reduce it merely to John 3:16. It is that but it is also so much more as the Christian life is continued. So, preaching the Gospel is not just offering an altar call at the end of each sermon. Preaching the Gospel is a day to day, moment by moment prayer and application of Jesus' work in our lives and the lives of others.

Our crowd offered some great answers to my question. Some talked of serving and worshipping with the homeless in NY and seeing the power of the Gospel to break down social, cultural, and other barriers. Some talked about the power of God to help them overcome addiction. Some talked about resting in Jesus' goodness and the constant battle against legalism. Some sat and pondered.

Considering the Gospel and its applications is a never-ending process. The Gospel reaches further than we can imagine and its benefits extend greater than we ever hoped. Great discussion.

11/05/07 - FAITH HOPE AND REALISM

Over a cup of coffee, my friend says, “Everyone tells me that I’m so negative. I’m not negative; I’m just being realistic.”

I said to my friend, “You are negative. You’re negative about everything. Where is your hope?”

He says, “Oh I believe God can do anything, but I’m still realistic.”

“It sounds like to me you are just giving lip service to hope in God. The Gospel changes us. Hope outweighs realism otherwise you are no different than the person who doesn’t believe in God. They are just being realistic as well.”

“I hear ya.”

“I don’t think you do. Do you have hope, real hope, that God is more than just powerful? Do you believe and hope with faith that He will work and does that change your day to day life?”

There was not really an answer to my question. But it got me thinking. What was the hope that I was proclaiming to my friend? Well it is a hope that changes us and outweighs realism (which is just an acceptable term for negativity).

Romans 15:13 says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.” We serve the God of hope; it is part of the definition of who He is and His Spirit prompts us to live and even abound in hope.”

This hope changes us. It causes us to believe that God is active and is going to work. We become risk takers are bold for the sake of God because 2 Corinthians 3:12 says, “Since we have such a hope, we are very bold.”

I understand realism. I live in this world and I don’t really know any naïve people that walk around surprised by evil and bad things. That being said, faith in Christ means hope in God. Just as our faith should be active, so should our hope be. Let’s not mask the lack of faith by calling it realism.

10/28/07

STEADY AS HE GOES

This past week, Sovereign King got to participate in an incredible event, but let me tell you some history first.

Two months ago, Shawn Stead, a young boy in my neighborhood, was struck by a truck while he was on his scooter. The Garner Police called me to get to the hospital because they honestly didn’t know if Shawn was going to make it. Two months later with some setbacks, lots of patient, rehab, and prayer, Shawn is now walking with a walker and beginning to speak again.

Well, this past week, friends of Shawn and his family organized a bowling fundraiser to help them with their medical bills. A good number of Sovereign King folks, 80 plus bowlers, and over 100 folks total bowled, laughed, interacted with Shawn, and basically just loved Shawn and his family.

The Steads are family now and loving them is easy. I’m thankful for the opportunity as Police Chaplain to meet folks and care for them and allow God to build these relationships. Functionally, stuff like this is who we are at Sovereign King and I’m glad to say that it is a natural act for us now – not efforted or contrived.

If you would like to keep up with Shawn’s progress, log onto www.carepages.com, register, and search for “shawnstead” – Kristine, Shawn’s mom updates the page every day. We also have a page on the Sovereign King site dedicated to Shawn informing you how you can partner with us in serving the Steads. Check it out at http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/5.4.html.

All of this is good fodder as we consider Jesus’ parable of the ten minas this week. Check us out Sunday at 1030 for worship. You can find directions at http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/4.3.html

10/21/07

THE HEROIN DIARIES

I've always enjoyed reading autobiographies, especially from people that have gained some perspective in their life. The stories of people who have endured or learned hard lessons always intrigue me. Stories of people who are still riding the wave don't interest me at all. Also, in the last few years, I've pursued the stories of people who have overcome addiction because hearing their stories are both encouraging and educational. Well, I've found the whopper of them all.

Nikki Sixx is the bassist/songwriter/co-founder of one of the world's most infamous bands...Motley Crue. During the height of their first wave of success in late '86-'87, Nikki moved on from alcohol and cocaine to shooting up heroin, and as a result, he OD'd twice. Twice, this guy died and came back to tell the story. The first time he died it was at a drug dealer's house in Europe. The dealer thought the best way to resuscitate Nikki was to beat him with a bat. When that didn't work, he dumped him in a garbage can. Apparently, the beating worked because Nikki woke up a few minutes later and played another gig that night.

To his surprise, a few years ago, Nikki was digging through some boxes and found a stack of journals. Apparently, during his most intense time of addiction, he kept an incredibly detailed diary of everything that happened. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine finding the most difficult time of your life chronicled in diary form and not even remembering it?

Now clean and sober, Nikki started editing the journals to be published, but he also went a step further. He interviewed the people in his life at that time and asked them to be bluntly honest about what was going on. So, scattered throughout the journal entries are insights from friends and managers telling their side of the story.

I must admit, this is one of the most harrowing books I have ever read in my life, and thankfully, there are only a few pictures. The ones included are so tough to look at, I keep the book hidden when I'm not reading it. Having said that, if you want to understand addiction, or the mind of addiction, I can't imagine a better book. During the height of his paranoia, Nikki confessed an absolute love of doing drugs but also an absolute paranoia about most everything else in his life. Incredibly, his band was selling millions of albums and touring the world to millions of fans. He comically includes a letter from his accountant telling him that his daily expenses were $5,000 and that if things didn't change, he would be broke in eleven months.

Fortunately, Nikki is clean now though he has suffered relapses multiple times. I read the other day that he is now two years clean. He has started "Running Wild With The Night" - a fundraising initiative to help Covenant House - a home for youth living on the streets who are addicted to drugs.

One last note: I look forward to getting to the end of the book where Nikki writes the postscript about his sobriety, but to be honest, the lessons learned from his journal during addiction are powerful (no matter the addiction). I'll update you as I get closer or when I finish.

10/14/07

CLOCKWATCHERS

²⁰ You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’” ²¹And he said, “All these I have kept from my youth.”

A rich young ruler asks Jesus what he has to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus decides not to answer the ruler directly because Jesus wants to reveal something about the ruler to himself. However, the ruler appears to just want affirmation. So, Jesus gives him enough rope to proverbially hang himself. Jesus starts listing the commandments…don’t commit adultery, don’t murder, don’t steal, don’t lie, honor your father and your mother.

Now, this is interesting to note. All the commandments Jesus mentions are the commandments that are directed at how we love one another. He doesn’t list any of the commandments that relate to how we love God (no other gods, no idols, don’t take the Lord’s name in vain, and observe the Sabbath). So often, when we think we are obeying well, we judge our obedience by how we are interacting with others, completely forgetting the heart commands of loving God. Jesus knows this.

So what is the ruler’s answer? He says, “I have obeyed those commandments since I was a youth.” Essentially, since I was bar mitzvahed, I haven’t broken the law.

Can you imagine answering that way? “Oh, I haven’t lied at all in the past 20 years. I’ve always obeyed my parents, etc.” The ruler had figured out how to obey outwardly to make it look like he obeyed to the law’s satisfaction. We do that all the time I’m afraid. Let me give you an example.

When I was 16, I worked at the grocery store and the timeclock recorded time at every ¼ of an hour and you earned another ¼ hour every eight minutes. So if you clocked in at 7:07 that was really 7:00. 7:08 was 7:15. If you clocked out at 7:22, that was 7:15, and if you clocked out at 7:23, that was 7:30. So you could clock in at 7:07 and clock out at 7:23, working only 16 minutes, but you would get 30 minutes of pay. Did I work 30 minutes? Technically, but not really.

That was how the ruler and we so often obey – technically but not really. You see what Jesus is doing here. He has been asked how to inherit eternal life, and He is giving this guy every chance to bail out and not make a fool of himself. A sane person says, “I know. God is good and I haven’t been able to do that at all. Is that the only way?” Jesus, the master teacher is trying to lead the guy to the proper conclusion instead of just telling him. But unfortunately, the guy doesn’t get it. The ruler’s response essentially says, “You know what? God is not the only one that’s good. I’m good too.”

10/07/07

BREAKING THE MISSIONAL CODE

Ed Stetzer is one of the smartest guys in the room. He is a pastor/church/planter/coach/writer whose work and writings are essential to any church planter. But he is smartly, taking his skills to a broader audience by writing the book "Breaking the Missional Code" (www.breakingthemissionalcode.com).

The book's premise is this. Whenever a missionary goes to a foreign culture, they learn the language, they learn the customs, they assimilate in order to find avenues to proclaim the gospel. Makes sense. Ed's point is that today in America, we have to do the same thing. Old methods and even proven methods of proclaiming the Gospel don't always work. We have to become students of our culture and our community in order to effectively proclaim the Gospel in a langauge that people can hear.

I would encourage every pastor to read this book, but honestly, if you have a desire to see people come to know Jesus (don't you?), this book is helpful. Ed is not a deconstructionist btw. He doesn't just stand there and say what the church has done wrong for the past 30 years. He highlights errors that have been made and then offers helpful examples and guidelines in which to go forward. Check it out.

10/01/07

THE MEASURE OF A MAN

This past weekend, in a moment of clarity, I realized that I had not done much reading lately outside of sermon prep. I'm about halfway into a novel, but other than that, things weren't progressing much in my reading. Since then, I've picked up reading two books, so I'll give you the heads up over the course of the next week or so.

It has been a while since I've read a "Christian Men's" book. Writing that cracks me up. I'm not talking about a Christian Maxim with Sandi Patty on the cover. No, I'm talking about the books targeted towards scriptural instructions towards men (ie "Wild at Heart" "Every Man's Battle" "Man in the Mirror" etc). I'll be honest. I have never been a huge fan of that genrey, but as of today, I'm about 1/4 of the way into "The Measure of a Man" by Gene Getz. This book was recommended to me by my church planting coach. He said it was excellent for both men's studies and officer training.

Getz's premise is that the qualifications for a church officer in Timothy and Titus are essentially the expectations that God has for each man, so he walks through each one in detail providing both individual and group study questions. Along the way, there are some projects for each reader to do to help bring out deeper meaning to the text.

I found myself deep into chapter 3, and I had another realization. I was reading and highlighting and preparing as I normally do. I would read the individual and group questions and think through how they might play out in a group setting. And then I thought, "Hey, why don't you actually answer the questions like you are in the study instead of reading through them like a facilitator?" Shocking. I wondered when was the last time I actually did something like that.

Come to find out, the book is much better when you answer the questions. Who would have thought?

09/16/07

Prayer is such a fascinating thing. There is the element of prayer where we pray wondering what the outcome of prayers will be. Then, there is also the element where we pray and we wonder what changes will take places within us. That has been the aspect of prayer that has amazed me recently.

Recent changes in my schedule have afforded me a perfect opportunity to pray more (waiting in line to pick Meredith up from school). That and other circumstances (desperation I think) have added a couple of more hours a week to my prayer schedule, and I am just now beginning to sense a change in my thinking.

One aspect of prayer is, of course, asking God to do things. Each week I ask that God would bring in new visitors to Sovereign King and that He would transform people, bringing them to know Christ. I still ask that each week, but now I'm asking addition things. Now, I ask, "What will you do with us?" Praying for the same things over and over has caused me to just become more curious and less peitionary.

09/23/07

REDEMPTION

I feel like I haven't written anything significant in a few weeks. Writing for me is cathartic more than anything else. I just feel better and more able to process when I write regularly. Because my postings have been so short and sporadic, a ton of ideas have come and unfortunately for me, some have gone. Here is one thought...

In my consulting world, I work with a Dr. who lettered at ECU in football and played two seasons with the Colts. He is now an OD, and the more I learn about his story, the more I want to see him get the news out there. Having starred his Junior year at ECU at linebacker, he missed his senior year because of a grade issue. Fast forwarding 6 months later, he received a phone call that tells him that their are NFL scouts in town.

Without training the whole year, and without any prep for a workout, he shows up at the workout and runs a 4.5 40 (as a linebacker). They ask him to do it again, and he matches the time. So, after missing his entire Senior year, he gets drafted by the Colts in the 7th round.

Two years with the Colts provided two more injuries. He eventually played for the London Monarchs of the World League who won their championship that year. One final injury ended his football career. What did he do? He went back to school, finished his degree, applied to optometry school, graduated, and now owns his own practice. Now, that is an understatement. What it took for him to go back and do those things was more than a lot of people have the fortitude or faith to even attempt, but he did it.

What a story! Every high school football player needs to hear this story because so many dream of a career in football, and statistically, very few of them are ever going to make it. My friend knows what it is like to fulfill his dream and then have it taken away. He knows what it is like to pull yourself together and trudge on through disappointment. His story is an inspiration to me, and I'm encouraging him to get out and speak more so that folks can learn from his experiences.

I'm sure there are several sermon illustrations here for me as he is a man of faith, so feel free to give input as to some of the best ways to apply these lessons. Oh, and thanks for the feedback offline I got on the Faith series.

09/09/07

THE SECRET IS OUT

In Luke 18, Jesus tells two parables about prayer (the persistent widow and the tax collector/pharisee praying) and just prior to that, Luke tells the story about the one leper that returns to give thanks for his healing. From it we can learn what the appropriate posture is when you approach God in prayer. It is not that we just focus our mind like “The Secret” recommends so we can get whatever we want. No, our posture should be one of thankfulness, persistence, and humility.

First of all, we need to be thankful like the one leper who returned to Jesus and thanked Him for his healing. Isn’t that interesting? Jesus teaches us that we need to be thankful for answered prayers BEFORE He teaches us how to pray. Think about it practically. If you have kids, you always teach them to say “thank you” even before someone gives them something. Jesus is teaching us the same lesson.

Second of all, we need to be persistent in our prayers like the widow. Our persistence shows our passion for what is being asked, but even more, our persistence shows that we trust the one that we are asking to give to us. I wouldn’t persist in asking if I didn’t think the one I'm asking could deliver on the request. Jesus tells us that God grants justice to his children, so be persistent b/c God delivers on His promises.

And finally, we need to be humble in our prayers like the tax collector. We need to have a posture of humility before our God, not trusting our own goodness or looking down on others. We need to beg for mercy and not presume thinking God is impressed with our goodness. Exalt yourself and God will humble you. Humble yourself and God will exalt you.

It is unfortunate that so many people are buying into "The Secret"'s formula of name it and claim it minus God. I recognize it's appeal but also recognize that it lacks even the semblance of humility.

09/02/07

THE BEST FRAPPUCCINO EVER

I was hot and in desperate need of caffeine with just enough time on my hands to swing through the drive thru at Starbucks. I ordered a coffee/vanilla frappuccino and pulled up to the window. The young employee reached out to take my money and asked, “Are you ready for the best frappuccino ever?” I thought, “Wow, yeah I am.”

Now by asking that question, the employee definitely raised my expectations, but he obviously felt confident enough in his product that it would deliver on his promises. The effective marketer working for Starbucks took me by surprise. I loved his confidence and his willingness to put himself on the line. It of course caused me to think about…worship.

What are our expectations when we come to worship our God? Are we there out of guilt? Are we there with our list of complaints about the service? Are we there casually indifferent or even just casually? I asked that question to Sovereign King Church at the beginning of our service this week. I asked them, “Are you ready for the best frappuccino ever?” The story got a chuckle from the congregation, but we eventually began to explore the line of thought.

We considered just why we were here together. Did we come to worship the most beautiful one, Jesus? Did we arrive with the expectation that we would interact with our Savior in a way that we hadn’t all week? Did we come with the hopeful expectation that God would be active and alive among us? Essentially, we short change the character of our God if we come any other way.

But the Gospel is always prevalent even in our shortcomings and even in our worship. We may not always come with the highest of expectations when we worship (we may even come with doubt or hate), but in worship, we meet our most beautiful Savior. Jesus instructs, rebukes, calls, changes, transforms, convicts, teaches, leads, and moves us in worship. So, with the knowledge and experience of that, my prayer for my church and for you is that we would arrive to worship our God (heck, wake up each morning) with the expectation of the best frappuccino ever.

(The folks at www.theooze.com are quick. I submitted this article for consideration around 7:00 a.m. and got a response at 7:39 a.m. They will publish an edited version of this article on September 12th.)

08/28/07

RUBBER DUCKIE YOU'RE THE ONE

I learned a lesson in sermon application this week. As much as possible, without binding people's consciences, application needs to be a specific (especially when it comes to church life/vision). I've been thinking through that a lot lately as I prepare for my sermons. An illustration helped me see the need...

Whenever Amy gives the girls a bath, she never gets soap in their eyes. However, when I give the girls a bath, Landry always gets soap in her eyes. I just couldn't figure it out. I always tell Landry to look up before I rinse her hair, but she still gets soap in her eyes. Finally, I figured it out. She was doing exactly what I wanted her to do. She was looking up but her eyes were open. So, I changed what I said. Now, I say, "Heads up; eyes closed," and she doesn't get soap in her eyes.

In the same way, we need to apply the Bible (sermons, devotions) in the same way. We need to hear and think through what specifically we need to believe, repent, and obey. Otherwise, change never occurs. Our hearts will just say, "Yeah that's right," and we will go on with our lives. My goal personally in devotions and pastorally in sermons is to make application as specific as possible. Without it, we can't look back and see how God has transformed us.

08/20/07

STRIPPERS AND THE GOSPEL

My brother works in the Rent To Own business, so aside from having some pretty hilarious stories, he also meets some pretty interesting people. One of which is Bubbles, a local stripper. She comes in each week and pays her bill faithfully so my brother has gotten to know her a bit. Today, he asks me, "How do we share our faith in a situation like that?"

What a question, and it is probably the question of our time, at least for the church. The old answers don't seem to work (don't know if they ever did). Saying, "Hey, you know you are going to hell, right?" is a bit out of context and doesn't really provide an avenue for discussion. Saying, "You know your problem is that you need Jesus" has truth in it but generally brings a response of, "You don't know me. Don't tell me what I need." So, we are still left pondering what do we do.

I think the approach to sharing our faith with a stripper is not really any different than the sharing of our faith with any one else. (BTW, I'm aware of the dangers of men sharing their faith with strippers. Obviously one has to be careful. I'm discussing how you share your faith in general). I think the answer lies in the Luke 14 parable of the Kingdom where Jesus likens the Kingdom to a banquet hall that will be filled with the lame, the blind, the beggar, the homeless (the stripper, the bum, the crack addict, etc). Jesus' point is that if you are at the Kingdom table, you are the outcast that has been brought in. Our task then as an outcast is to find others just like it and point them to the one who welcomes outcasts. Relating to others in sharing our faith is about telling others about how we are those in need who have found the lover of our souls.

It is not a complete solution (and it is oversimplified for the sake of this entry), but I think it is more productive than "You're Going to Hell" and "You just need Jesus" - these and other topics are what we hope to discuss at Sovereign King from Sept 9 - 30. Check out www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com for more info.

08/12/07

EVERYBODY'S A WINNER

I wish I was smart enough to plan this but I'm not. Let me explain.

This past week I preached on the parable of the unfaithful manager and Jesus' teaching that if we are faithful with a little, then we will be faithful with a lot. Ever wonder whether you would go bankrupt if you won the lottery like the New Jersey woman who won it twice and still went bankrupt? e answer is that if you are faithful with $10, you'll be faithful with $10 million. Jesus then goes on to warn that if we aren't faithful with the world's riches, why would be God entrust us with heavenly riches? I talked about here is where our church can grow in community. Those of us who have grown in faithfulness in one area can help others that are struggling with unfaithfulness. The good news is that none of us are completely faithful so everyone has an area to be both strong and weak with each other. That same attitude can help our community.

But the amazing thing that I didn't plan was how that sermon would connect with the 9:30 prayer study. We are working through the Lord's Prayer and providentially we covered, "Give us this day our daily bread." We were able to discuss contment, trust, thankfulness and even the plural nature of the prayer (OUR daily bread).

The two made for a nice time of God pressing in on us about His provision, His faithfulness, and His expectations for us. Hearing that He provides our daily bread was an encouragement as we considered His call on our lives to be faithful.

08/05/07

We are very excited at Sovereign King Church to announce a Fall sermon series focused on equipping believers in sharing their faith. In addition, we hope that the series will spark an interest and provide a venue for the curious or the seeker who wants to know more about Jesus Christ. The program is called "Don't Light It To Hide It." Today is the official launch of www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com as well as http://www.myspace.com/dont_light_it_to_hide_it and http://shoutlife.com/dontlightittohideit. Not all of these sites are completely done (there is still some tinkering to do), but they are up enough to start the buzz.

Sovereign King Church will be hosting DHITLI from Sept 9-30, and the format is such that is can be translated into weekend seminars, conferences and retreats. If you want more information, just send an email to info@dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com.

I can't wait to see what happens.

If you don't have time tor run all over the internet, here is the basic info for any that are curious...

Luke 11:33-54 - 33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. 35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

WHO - Sovereign King Church, www.newgarnerchurch.com, is a young, active church in Garner, NC. They hope to simultaneously create a community that loves and honors Jesus while at the same time engaging the community of Garner with service and faith. To learn more about both Sovereign King Church and their pastor, Gordon Duncan, click here http://www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com/2.html.

WHAT - "Don't Light It To Hide It" is a four week series that combines sound Biblical teaching with real world examples with the hope of helping people share their faith. To learn more about what "Don't Light It To Hide It" is all about click here http://www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com/3.html.

WHERE - Sovereign King Church is located at 140 Donmoor Court, Garner, NC 27529. Directions to Sovereign King Church can be found here http://www.sovereignkingpca.net/4.3.html.

WHEN - "Don't Light It To Hide It" will start each Sunday at 10:30 a.m. from September 9th until September 30th.

To learn more about where and when "Don't Hide It To Light It" will be taking place, click here http://www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com/4.html.

HOW - Some of you may be interested in hosting a "Don't Light It To Hide It" event. If you are, click here http://www.dont-light-it-to-hide-it.com/5.html.

07/20/07

A pastor buddy and I were eating lunch a couple of days ago. We strike up a conversation with one of the waitresses. She knows I'm a pastor, and we have talked about her growing up in a Christian school before. Well, she mentions that she went to the Burn Festival in Asheville this past week, which is a lot like the Burning Man festivals that happen every year. If you are not familiar with the festival or those like it, it is a combination concert, smokefest, pseudo pagan/spiritual festival - that's the best I can do. I asked her if she went because it was a spiritual event or because of some other reason. She stated it was out of curiosity.

I asked her if she felt like this festival gave her something that church did not. She then retold me the story about how she got thrown out of a Christian school for asking questions. She wanted to know if there was incest in Genesis if the whole world started with 2 people. Her principal responded with "DON'T QUESTION GOD," and ultimately she was shown the door. (Editor's note: I'm sure more went on there but the response to the question was the response). She then explained that church was full of hypocrites because she works at a strip club and whenever she goes to church over the holidays, she sees all of the club's patrons. In fact, when she applied for a loan, the loan agent said, "Oh, you're one of those people who steal husbands away. You know you are going to hell." We talked a while longer about everyone's need for grace because we are all hypocrites to some extent. She said she appreciated our listening to her.

Now folks, listen to me here. This conversation is full of the detours that I mentioned a few weeks ago. I'm aware of that, but this experience is are what Dan Kimball is talking about in "They Like Jesus But Not the Church." Can we get beyond, "You're going to hell," as an offer of the gospel? Can we honestly wrestle with folks if they are earnest? Can we present Jesus above and beyond all other issues because He is what people need to be wrestling with?

Fortunately, Kimball expresses the fact that most pastors and many Christians are not as judgmental as the examples above. The problem is that people don't know most pastors and most Christians because we are not out there engaging with people.

Feel free to share similar or better experiences.

07/22/07

REVIEW OF "JIM AND CASPER GO TO CHURCH"

This is most likely a two part review as I have about 30 pages left to go in 'Jim and Casper Go to Church" but I must admit right away I enjoyed this book too much, laughing out loud at least 4-5 times. The premise is this: a believer and an atheist visit some of the more prominent (and some of the not so prominent) churches in America. They go as visitors, but more or less, the book is about hearing the atheist's impression of the churches they visit.

The book is not about going to the churches that might convince Casper, the atheist, there is a God. The book is about an outsider's (his term) perspective on how we do church in America. To that task, Jim and Casper visit, Saddleback, Willow Creek, the Dream Center, Mosaic, a home church, as well as a traditional First Presbyterian and even Joel Osteen's church.

One of the more surprising insights that Casper gives is that the things that most people think will attract nonbelievers are actually the things he dislikes most. His theory is that those things only attract believers and make them feel better. He also wondered if one person in a particular church who claimed to have the power to heal could really heal, why the church had handicap ramps? When asked what his impression was of the music at one church (Casper is a professional musician btw), his response was that the singer looked like Nick Lachey and it seemed slightly deceptive to have a practically all-white congregation and that Nick's backup band had so much color it look like the United Colors of Benetton.

What did he think of the messages? Most of the time he was surprised by how little there was in terms of a call to action. There was a lot of talk about keeping hope alive and hope changing everything but he wondered what that really meant when the context of that message was not inner city or lower income but actually in the context of a multi million dollar building that has a restaurant with 5 different cultural choices of food and multiple water falls.

There are some nice give and takes between Jim and Casper in the book but they are not debates about the existence of God. They are more along the lines of Casper asking Jim why churches do church the way they do. This is the real meat of the book because the reader gets to ask him or her self, "Why DO we do that?"

Jim Henderson has written several books and was the man who purchased/leased a man's soul off of ebay a few years ago and thus has started several websites and blogs to interact with atheists and believers. He doesn't claim to be the objective voice of Christianity in the book, but what he really wants is to protect the space of conversation between believers and nonbelievers. By protecting the space, he desires to make sure that conversation happens - not debate or the winning of arguments, but conversation. I appreciate his work here as the books asks some honest questions about the American church. I'll most likely return to this book tomorrow as I still have to read about their trip to Osteen's church. Like all my other vacation reading, "Jim and Casper Go to Church" is a quick read and worth the time investment - check it out.

Picking up where I left off yesterday, my assessment stands that "Jim and Casper Go to Church" is an interesting read. There are a few more highlights (or lowlights as you will see).

A fascinating insight came when Casper, our atheist friend, recounts a discussion he had with a former employer. The employer, clearly struggling with Casper's atheism, asks him what he would do if he died in car crash on the way home. This is a typical Evangelism Explosion type question used to have people think about the impact of their spiritual decisions. It is such a common question among Christians that we don't give it another thought. Casper had never heard it before and with the conversation becoming more and more heated, his thought was, "Has this guy messed with my breaks? Is my life being threatened?" Clearly, Christians need to think through our presentations of the gospel.

One of Casper's biggest struggles was the explanation of the tithe or the crass ways that money was asked for in most of the churches. He understood why money needs to be taken up, but he struggled with how. At one giant church in Texas, the pastor's wife stated that if the congregation gave, it would bless the pastor and he in turn would be able to bless them. This made him livid (me too), He also dislike how many other churches use manipulation in their askings. One worship leader (also in Texas but at a different church) stated from up front that the prior song was on his new worship CD and it was important to buy it today because Billboard considers the first 15-30 days of CD's release as critical for the longevity of the album. On the way out of the sanctuary, Jim and Casper were approached about buying the CD again. Casper wondered what was really being offered at this church.

Reading this book, I realize that so many churches out there are not like Willow Creek, Saddleback, Lakeland, the Potter's House, etc. The megachurch is really the exception and not the norm. Jim and Casper visited smaller churches as well, but obviously the stories from the mega's stick out. I think the book is useful in that it does encourage churches to consider the language they use. Hopefully, there are guests in our churches each week, and it is sometimes difficult to be objective about the elements of worship. So much of what we do is part of our DNA after many years. Our services are obviously not designed to please atheists, but truthfully, we are not always communicating what we think we are communicating.

07/15/07

WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?

I find myself in discussions all the time with people who have grown pretty skeptical about the trappings of Christianity -meaning all the things attached to it outside of Jesus. Many of these issues are important, and the convictions we hold about them have a great influence on our life, but they are not necessarily the issue in which we need to invest.

Recently I had a discussion with a friend who was raised in the church and would still claim Christ, but other issues had become obstacles to faith. I was asked...

What about evolution?

What about being born homosexual?

What about contradictions in the Bible?

Should abort a child if you know they are going to die at birth?

And the list went on and on. Each one of those issues is incredibly important, but they all have one thing in common. They are rabbit trails or roadblocks or diversions. All those issues do is divert attention away from the person's real issues. Who is Jesus to you?

We can enter into debate on all of those issues, and we might even convince some people or change their minds. At the end of the discussion, people might change their mind about abortion, but they still haven't changed their mind about Jesus.

So as each of those questions were asked, I politely entered into the discussion, but kept saying, "This issue is important, but it has nothing to do with what you think about who Jesus." The person smiled realizing, perhaps for the first time but probably not, that those issues were just things being used to distract from the real issue: who is Jesus?

07/08/07

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE

Salvation by faith alone. Sola fide. Bloody battles have been fought over the doctrine that distinguishes Christianity from all other religions. Salvation is God's free gift. You can't earn it. So, in Luke14, a guy strolls up to Jesus and asks him, "Are you saying that there are going to be only a few that are saved?" Jesus' answer? "Strive to enter the narrow gate because there will be a time when the door will be closed." Now, the term strive is similar to a battlefield term, but is more akin to a wrestling term. You get this image of fighting, clawing, scratching, stretching every nerve in your body to...gain salvation? How is that? One way we can understand this is by analyzing what Jesus wanted for each of the 3 audiences of this passage.

The first audience was the guy who asked the original question of “Will there not be many who are saved?" What was Jesus trying to get across to him? What Jesus was really trying to convince this guy of was that he really has no grounds for self-righteousness. He, like we, are called to strive and work out his salvation, so all our goodness and obedience are to be given back to God as thanksgiving. The Christian life should look like we are striving and fighting and clawing to know God and obey him. What was the drawback for the guy who asked the question? He hadn’t seen Jesus’ completed work on the Cross – his death, burial, and resurrection.

So we turn to the second audience – the readers of Luke in the first century. They have heard Jesus’ warning to strive and not be self-righteous, but they understand it better in light of the fact that Jesus had died for sin, and been raised, and the Holy Spirit had already been poured out. They knew that we have no need for self-righteousness and that we are to strive for holiness and salvation, but they also understood that God enables men and women to have faith and to strive.

And finally, the third audience is…US. We have the entire Bible to illuminate Jesus’ words. We can hear Jesus’ words in light of Paul’s words in Philippians and those words summarize well for us how we should strive and relax. Paul says

12 Therefore, my beloved...work out your own salvation with fear and trembling (now this sounds exactly like what Jesus said in his comment, “strive to enter the narrow door). 13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. (Paul tells us that we should work out our salvation but trust that is God who is working in you) What does that working out look like? 14 Do all things without grumbling or questioning, 15 that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, (We do all of this and we offer it to the world as a light – not our goodness but God’s work in us) 16 holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (We strive, we trust, we live so that in that day, the day when the door is closed, we can trust we have not lived in vain).

Ultimately, the work of striving is your call but it is enabled by God. It is not a simple answer, but simple answers aren't appropriate for complex questions. This is one of those questions where GK Chesterton's quote is appropriate. He said, “How much happier you would be, how much more of you there would be, if the hammer of a higher God could smash your small cosmos?” When we allow God's truth to stretch us into areas that require more faith, our small cosmos gets smashed by a God's loving hand.

07/01/07

I remember a time in seminary when I was finishing up my 3-4 classes for the winter semester. I took a couple of days off around Christmas and immediately signed up for a virtual class as soon as Christmas was over. Then in the following January, I was gone for 3 weeks. I would leave to Charlotte or DC and take a class for a week, come home for the weekend, go take a class for a week, come home and do it all over again. All the while I was an assistant pastor at Redeemer Church and was trying to maintain a consulting business so my family could eat. When that run was over, the whole family was spent. We were tired, fatigued, lonely, and weary. A good buddy of mine offered us his parent’s beach house for a getaway at no cost. You just can’t imagine how relaxing that was for us. I didn’t have to worry about classes. I could just relax with Amy and the kids. We slept and ate and played on the beach. What made that time at the beach so great was that it was not only a time of rest, it was a time of mercy. We could relax and rejuvenate and it gave this poor seminary student a free getaway.

Thinking of that time caused me to consider: what do we need when we are struggling with things that appear to have no hope? Rest and mercy are what we need. This is true of sin struggles like jealousy, struggles with pornography, or self-hatred. We need rest from those things and mercy to be forgiven. It is also true when we struggle with physical ailments. We need rest from the pain and mercy to be healed. Fortunately, we see Jesus prescribing just that in Luke 13. As Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath, there was this poor woman who was possessed by a spirit a weakness for 18 years that caused her to be bent over so she couldn’t stand up straight. Can you imagine that? I’m sure her family and friends were compassionate at first. But over the course of time, I bet she became an object of annoyance and eventually of derision. She had no hope of being healed and most likely, no one to care for her.

Jesus, without being asked, does two things. He tells the woman, “Woman, you are freed from your disability,” and he touches her. Then for the first time in 18 years, she stood up straight and praised God. Here we see Jesus offering rest and mercy to this woman. Jesus gave her rest from her pain of so many years and mercy by healing her for no reason other than He was compassionate.

This woman’s transformation gives us hope. In worship, God prescribes for us rest and mercy. In worship, we cease from work and celebrate Jesus’ completed work. We also find mercy when we come to worship because we experience forgiveness and are restored to our relationship with God.

The questions we need to ask ourselves if we are living outside the rest and mercy that God intends for us are this (thanks Ames for getting these questions to me).

· When did you stop hoping to receive rest and mercy and comfort?

· When did you start listening to the message that as a child of God you do not deserve rest and mercy?

· Why are you still listening to that message?

· Are you scared that your need for mercy and rest will be minimized and discarded?

· Can you imagine a Jesus who will wipe away your tears and hold you as your tremble?

· Can you imagine what it would be like to have Jesus charm your fears and love you with an everlasting and unconditional love?

06/24/07

I was listening to the Mike and Mike show on Espn radio the other day. They were discussing former Tampa Bay Buccaneer's quarterback, Shaun King who is now playing in the Arena Football League (AFL). One of them said, "You remember Shaun King, he had a cup of coffee with the Buccaneer's a few years ago.

I had not heard that expression before, but I instantly fell in love with it. "Had a cup coffee..." basically says that he spent a short amount of time with the team. You can use it in almost any way.

Your wife can ask you if you ever dated a specific girl. You can say, "I wouldn't say we dated. I had a cup of coffee with her."

If you are asked about a brief employment on your resume, you can say, "I had a cup of coffee with them. That's all."

"Had a cup of coffee" is the equivalent of "Blah, blah, blah," from Seinfeld. It says everything while saying so little. But there is of course a drawback to this type of thinking. I speak all the time with people who "believe in Jesus" or really like him according to their own testimony, but the practice of loving him seems to be absent in terms of personal devotion, commitment to a church community, and personal transformation. The problem is that they've "Had a cup of coffee with Jesus" and are satisfied at that. They've said the prayer, put in the time as a youth, or had an experience, but the life-changing, life altering, transformation that comes with knowing Jesus is absent.

"Having a cup of coffee" is fine with many day to day encounters in life. In is unsatisfactory both on yours and his end when it comes to Jesus.

06/10/07

MASTER AND COMMANDER

This week, Amy and I both got nights out to ourselves. Whenever I get a night out, I usually grab a meal and movie with buddies. Amy opts for getting together with her gals and talking the night away. We try to do this as much as possible – if not each week, every other week.

Well, in scripture, Jesus figuratively and literally leaves the house, and He has put you in charge. He has expectations of you while He is gone, and they are a little bigger than making sure the kitchen is clean. In His parable of Luke 12, the master Jesus has left, and He will return when no one expects it. If He finds the servants awake, alert, and ready to serve their master when He returns, He promises to do something amazing. He will take on the clothes of a servant and will in turn, care for His servants. But if while He is gone, the servants become lazy and get drunk and abuse the other servants, the master will return unexpectedly and cut those unfaithful servants to pieces.

(The good folks at www.theooze.com will publish this article on July 10th - check them out.)

06/04/07

DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY

Luke 12:29 And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. 30 For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you.

Essentially, Jesus says here that worry is the characteristic of people that do not know the care of God because worry and earthly anxiety are inconsistent with your position as the crown of God’s creation. I read one commentator on this passage who said, “It would be difficult to exaggerate the significance of this passage. What Jesus is saying is that believers must differ in the inner yearnings, must set their hearts on different things, must be controlled by different ideals, and must be motivated by a different love.” So, as God knows every need, what He wants us to seek after is what He loves to give to you...His kingdom. If he'll give you that, why wouldn't He give you all the things you need.

This is a picture of an intimate God who longs to lavish His care on you, and He is caring for you whether you worry or not, so why worry? The one thing that you can seek, as opposed to gain by worrying is the one thing that you will gain is the Kingdom. God has great pleasure is entrusting it to you.

05/27/07

PLAYING IN THE MUD

This quote was sent to me via email yesterday. It comes from John Eleridge and his book, "The Journey of Desire"...

The older Christian wedding vows contained these amazing words: “With my body, I thee worship.” Maybe our forefathers weren’t so prudish after all; maybe they understood sex far better than we do. To give yourself over to another, passionately and nakedly, to adore that person body, soul, and spirit—we know there is something special, even sacramental about sex. It requires trust and abandonment, guided by a wholehearted devotion. What else can this be but worship? After all, God employs explicitly sexual language to describe faithfulness (and unfaithfulness) to him. For us creatures of the flesh, sexual intimacy is the closest parallel we have to real worship. Even the world knows this. Why else would sexual ecstasy become the number one rival to communion with God? The best impostors succeed because they are nearly indistinguishable from what they are trying to imitate. We worship sex because we don’t know how to worship God.

Wow. Doesn't that last line take your breath away? Perhaps sexual addiction, adultery, pornography, and all the other sexual diversions of our day are evidence that our hearts burn for intimacy and ecstasy. Our hearts are so easily deceived into accepting the imposters of this world instead of the real thing. That reminds me of the C.S. Lewis quote, "We are like children satisfied to make the best mud pies in the slum because we can't imagine what a day at the beach is like." Adding, he says, "Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us... We are far too easily pleased."

05/20/07

KNOWING GOD PART TWO

I continue in my study of "Knowing God" by J.I. Packer with a friend of mine. And though I fear losing you in this post, I cannot help but to post these two paragraphs from the second chapter.

The attitude we show to the world is a sort of dried-up stoicism miles removed from the 'joy unspeakable and full of glory' which Peter took for granted that his readers were displaying (I Peter 1:8). 'Poor souls,' our friends say, 'how they've suffered' - and that is just what we feel ourselves! But those private mock heroics have no place at all in the minds of those who really know God. They never brood on might-have-beens; they never think of things they have missed, only of what they have gained. 'What things were gain to me, these have I counted loss for Christ,' wrote Paul. "Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may gain Christ, and be found in him...that I may know him...' (Phil 3:7-10). When Paul says he counts the things he lost 'dung' he means not merely that he does not think of them as having any value, but also that he does not live with them constantly in his mind: what normal person spends his time nostalgically dreaming of manure? Yet this, in effect is what many of us do. It shows how little we have in the way of true knowledge of God.

We need frankly to face ourselves at this point. We are, perhaps, orthodox evangelicals. We can state the gospel clearly, and can smell unsound doctrine a mile away. If anyone asks us how men may know God, we can at once produce the right formulae - that we come to know God through Jesus Christ the Lord, in virtue of His cross and mediation, on the basis of His word of promise, by the power of the Holy Spirit, via a personal exercise of faith. Yet the gaiety, goodness, and unfetteredness of spirt which are the marks of those who have known God are rare among us - rarer, perhaps, than they are in some other Christian circles where, by comparison, evangelical truth is less clearly and fully known. Here, too, it would seem that the last may prove to be first, and the first last. A little knowledge of God is worth more than a great deal of knowledge of Him.

Whew, if I wasn't so convicted by what Packer was saying, I would yell to him telling him how insensitive he is to those in need. But you know what, he is not being insensitive. People hurt and suffer - look at what Peter was dealing with in his letter - but Packer is saying that knowing God, really knowing Him intimately and not just cognitively, is a balm to our souls. It is the glimpse of happiness that we hope for in the midst of trials and regrets. To flesh that out, Packer gives these maxims for us to consider...

One can know a great deal about God without much knowledge of Him.

One can know a great deal about godliness without much knowledge of God.

So what does the knowledge of God look like then?

Those who know God have great energy for God.

Daniel 11:32 "The people that know their God shall stand firm and take action"

Those who know God have great thoughts of God.

Daniel 2 "Blessed be the name of God for and ever: for wisdom and might are His: and He changes the times and the seasons: He removes kings, and sets up kings: He gives wisdom, He knows what is in the darkness and what is in the light."

Those who know God show great boldness for God.

Acts 20:24 "Neither count I my life dear to myself, so that I might finish my course with joy."

Those who know God have great contentment in God.

Romans 5:1 - 'being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ'

SO WHAT DO WE DO THEN?

First, we must recognize how much we lack knowledge of God - "We must learn to measure ourselves, not by our knowledge about God, not by our gifts and responsiblities in the church, but by how we pray and what goes on in our hearts. Many of us have no idea how impoverished we are at this level."

Second, we must seek the Savior - "It is those who sought the Lord Jesus till they have found Him - for the promise is that when we seek Him with all our hearts, we shall surely find Him - who can stand before the world to testify that they have known God."

05/13/07

About a month before entering ECU, I got a phone call that I did not return. Looking at the note, it looked like a former girlfriend was calling. I finally gave in and returned the call. My life is different today because of it. It wasn't an ex but actually the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IV) staff at ECU (the staff and my ex just shared the same name). Because of that initial phone call, and the subsequent follow up, I practically majored in IV in college.

My Freshman year was the relaunch of IV at ECU and the last year of the ex-girlfriend named staff. My Sophomore year was the year IV got a new staff member named Todd Jones, and his time serving and the majority of my serving coincided. These were amazing times. Todd invested so much time in me, and I experienced so much in terms of my faith. I learned how to be a believer as an adult (owning my faith really), and many of the skills I have as a pastor are due to my experiences there. IV let me plan worship, lead worship, lead small group Bible studies, speak to large groups of people, take missionary trips, and a million other valuable things. And there was fruit...we would sometimes have nearly 150 people for large group worship on Wednesdays with 6-8 small group studies each week. So amazing.

Sadly, I got an email yesterday saying the ECU IV chapter was folding. It really hit me hard. I went back to an IV reunion 2-3 years ago, and I was surprised how small the group had become. But they had an energetic new staff member and hopes were high. Apparently things didn't work out. I know that there are a lot of fantastic groups on campus doing similar work to ECU, so the campus is not without a Christian presence, but it is sad for me (and other alumni) to hear that the organizational investment has come to an end. Thankfully, the eternal investment will not fade.

05/06/07

You know who I have to give props to? My kids. It ain't easy being a church planter's kid. Being a preacher's kid is hard enough (Amy and I both know), but being a church planter's kid is insane. For example, we launched out to plant Sovereign King in August of 2005. At that time we were attending Redeemer Church (our home church). We moved to Garner and began worshipping with Christ Our Comfort at the YMCA because they were a young church close to us and it would give us a place to worship if we gathered some people quickly. We met with them until April of 2006 when we launched out and began meeting at CenterStage dance studio. We met there for six months, and when our lease was up, we moved to the Garner Lions Club for a bit more room. When that lease was up six months later, we moved to our new facility at 140 Donmoor Court.

So in the last 22 months, my children have worshipped in 3 different churches in 5 different facilities, and they still enjoy going to church. This past Sunday night, when we were saying prayers with the girls, we asked them what they wanted to thank God for and Meredith's response was, "That we all got to go to church together."

My girls rock.

04/29/07

KNOWING GOD

I recently undertook a study of J.I. Packer’s “Knowing God” with a friend of mine. I cannot express how indebt I am to this book. I would not be a pastor without it. Heck, I doubt the depth of my love to God without it. Very few books have expressed such truths in such a communicable way. Just venturing into chapter one, I found this quote…

“The world becomes a strange, mad, painful place, and life in it a disappointing and unpleasant business for those who do not know God. Disregard the study of God, and you sentence yourself to stumble and blunder through life blindfold, as it were, with no sense of direction and no understanding of what surrounds you. This way you can waste your life and lose your soul.”

Incredible. The first sentence takes into account any person that does not claim a relationship with God. The second sentence beginning with, “Disregard…” could include anyone. Sadly many people who claim Christ do not pursue Him well in study and because of that they (we) find themselves with no compass, with no direction.

In his succinct way, Packer simply but authoritatively lets the reader know that disregarding the study of God wastes not only your day to day life; it can also lead to the waste of your soul.

I look forward to jumping back into these waters. They remind of the first time I waded in them with my good friend Dan 15 years ago. The encouragements and warnings found ring true as they did back then. Check it out.

04/22/07

In our recent 9:30 am Sunday study (www.xanga.com/whatisstudy), we were discussing how Christ saves us into community, to serve in community, and to engage community (the passage was providentially the same as our vision). In it, we were exploring how eclectic and diverse the church (and specifically our church) is. Jesus calls across racial, economic, and every other line. We have different views on how to educate our children. We have different careers. We have different...everything. What we do have in common is Christ.

Along those lines, we found this quote from D.A. Carson, "The church is...made up of natural enemies. What binds us together is not common education, common race, common income levels, common politics, common nationality, common accents, common jobs, or anything else of that sort. Christians come together...because they have all been saved by Jesus Christ...They are a band of natural enemies who love one another for Jesus' sake."

What a great quote. Now the practice of that unity is often different than the reality. As believers, we are "In Christ" and therefore united, but sadly so many things get in the way of the practice of that unity. And those things often cause people to give up on corporate worship or church service. They get frustrated because they see a lack of unity that they know should be present. Unfortunately, when folks leave corporate worship or church service over those reasons, they perpetuate the issues they are criticizing.

The truth is, we are united yet enemies at the same time, but working and serving together demonstrates the magnificent work of Christ. Abandoning corporate worship and service fixes nothing. In practice, it claims that the work of Christ on the cross is not powerful enough to do a work among His people.

Honestly, any time we worship or serve together, even among denominations with doctrinal standards and polity, we deny some individual preference or maybe even right. And in that we reflect our Savior who denied Himself of the worship and service that He was due while He loved us in His earthly work.

04/15/07

THE PLAY BY PLAY

Somewhere in the middle of the week, after spending time talking with my coach, I came to a realization...all my prayers consisted primarily of two things: a prayer for the accomplishment of tasks and the asking for the ease of dread. Now we serve a good and gracious Savior. I can ask Him to help tasks get accomplished and I can ask Him to take away my dread, and many of my prayers are also thanks offered to Him for the answering of both of those things. But tasks and dread are not the sum of the Christian life. I (and we) are called to so much more. We are called to serve a gracious King that rides triumphantly into Jerusalem, declaring Himself not only as king, but also as the one that brings peace and rescues prisoners.

Standing before my folks on Sunday, preaching about that King that rides triumphantly into Jerusalem as we worshipped in our new space for the first time, I almost felt dizzy. God has done so much, so quickly, and so amazingly, it is really hard to fathom. Just last week, we celebrated our one year anniversary with a big meal and a giant service. And now we are worshiping in our own space. The time in between was the cause for the prayers about accomplishing tasks and alleviating of dread. Let me tell you how it came about.

Even as late as Thursday, I wondered if it would all get done, but two men from Redeemer Church put in some amazing time and effort to get our new space painted. I walked in on Friday morning, pulled up all the tape and paper and assessed our situation. The carpets were in a desperate situation and the place needed an incredible cleaning. But Friday night, a great couple in the church spent the whole evening doing an amazing job on the carpet.

Saturday morning, I made a couple of early morning runs from my old office to the new space, and then I picked up coffee and donuts. Then people started showing up. We spent some time in prayer asking God to help us to all that needed to get done accomplished and to protect us. And then more people showed up, and all of them with trucks and trailers. So, we left a crew at the church to with the unenviable task to clean the bathroom, a left behind refrigerator and basically everything in the space. The rest of the crews went to the Lions Club and my office to get our chairs, gear, my books, and everything else.

Arriving back, the place looked great, and smelled great (which is amazing considering the prior cigarette smell). We had to figure out where everything needed to go, but the end result was astonishing. Folks, we are thankful for every place in which we have worshipped. The dance studio was great…but smelled like sweat and had the feel of a dungeon. The Lions Club was great…but had the feel of a hospital and our music always sounded like it was being played at the bottom of a well. But now, our new place is really comfy, homey, and welcoming. Our can hear the congregation singing and they aren’t overpowered by the guitars.

But you know what? My amazement didn’t end when we walked out the door on Saturday. Sunday morning, people showed and kept serving. We had a member go home and make floral arrangements for the foyer, the sanctuary, and the restroom. Another couple brought in a mirror for the rest room (if you haven’t figured out, this room needed a lot of help), and trashcans for everywhere (we just realized we didn’t own any trashcans). People stayed afterwards to talk about future projects as well. Truly amazing.

04/01/07

The beauty of living in a small town is its local paper. The Garner News is ours. The editor once told me, "If you want us to cover something, just write the article yourself." So, the last two times we have appeared in the paper, it has been because I wrote an article. Well, I wrote an article about the one year celebration and our moving to the new facility. Of course it appeared a week late, but it appeared nonetheless. Without their edits, here is the article about us that appeared yesterday.

- - - -

Ask Gordon Duncan, the pastor of Sovereign King Church, if he thought they would make it through their first year, and he’ll say, “Has it been a year already?” His disorientation is understood when one looks at how much has happened in Sovereign King’s first year, “We’ve spent a lot of time hoping and praying for this little church, but surviving the first year is just the beginning. We hope to be around a long time.”

The first order of business is celebrating their one-year anniversary on March 25th. Duncan says, “We’ve been together in some form for more than a year, but March 25th is the one year anniversary of our first worship service.” Starting worship at Center Stage Dance Studio, Sovereign King now meets at the Garner Lions Club in Historic Downtown Garner. But, the ever growing church won’t be there much longer.

“Our one-year celebration on the 25th will be at the Lions Club, but as of April 1st, we will be moving into our own facility at 140 Donmoor Court off of Mechanical Blvd. The folks at the Lions Club have been as gracious to us as the ladies at Center Stage, but we really need a place that is ours every day of the week in order to expand our ministry reach into the community.”

Some of that expansion includes a more attractive nursery, a more developed children’s program, and exploring options for caring for the Garner Police and their families. Duncan says, “I’ve been the Garner Police Chaplain for about six months, but our ability to care for the officers and their families has been hindered without a meeting space we can call our own. We hope 140 Donmoor solves that problem.”

When asked whether reaching year two appeared as daunting as reaching year one, the young pastor said, “No. My wife Amy and I moved here with no members, so getting started was a challenge. But now we have a fantastic community of folks partnering with us. Year two is just around the corner.”

03/21/07

“41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

These words of Jesus come when He and the disciples had just set down to rest and Mary and Martha are hosting them in their home. What a supreme opportunity to serve Jesus this is. At this home of friends, they won’t have to face antagonizing lawyers, Pharisees, or hostile Gentiles, and Martha views it as her service to God. The only problem is that once Jesus and the disciples show up, Mary decides to quit helping prepare the meal. Decidedly frustrated at both Mary for her lack of help and at Jesus for allowing it, Martha just can’t take it any more. She encourages Jesus to do the right thing. She wants Him to rebuke Mary.

Jesus’ response comes with both a tinge of affection and gentile rebuke. He answers with, “Martha, Martha.” This is like using your child’s formal name when comforting them (as opposed to a nickname) and like using their full name when you want their attention. He tells Martha that she’s worried about all the wrong things (the food, the service, the presentation, the lodgings, etc.). Only one thing is necessary.

In reading this, we think, “Oh really? What is that one thing?” Preparing a meal for at least 15 people is no small feat. But here, Jesus values Mary’s listening to his words and the enjoying of His presence. Honestly though, isn’t Jesus being a little unfair or at least rude? To our ears it would seem so, but these are the hard truths you speak to people you love.

Hearing those words to spoken to us we know that there will always meals to be prepared. There are houses to be cleaned. There are bathes to give. There is homework to be done. There are yards to be cut. There are deadlines to meet. There are mercies to be extended. There are ministries to serve. There are churches to work at. There are communities to be cared for. But before we ever do any of those things, we are to sit at Jesus’ feet.

And you know what? He has overcome every barrier so that we might. He has overcome the gender barrier – doesn’t matter if you are a man or woman, sit at his feet. He has overcome every racial barrier – doesn’t matter if you are Jew or Gentile, black or white, sit at His feet. He has overcome every intellectual barrier – these things are not revealed to the wise and understanding in their own minds, they are revealed to the humble little children that come before God. And His overcome the sin barrier through the cross. Sin doesn’t impede out communion with Him.

But we still have to wonder when adoration is appropriate and when action is appropriate. Jesus’ answer to Martha doesn’t always make sense when we have to choose. But applying it their circumstance helps. Essentially, our actions are appropriate when they are acts of adoration. That is what Martha lost in the flurry of preparing a meal. She wasn’t worshiping by her service. Adoration is appropriate when it is an action. Our worship is an act of the will. It is not some amorphous relationship. It is willfully and actively loving God. It is an effort. That is what Mary got right. If at any time we approach singularly as adoration or action, we lose a full picture of what it is to love God.

(The good folks at www.theooze.com will be publishing this article on May 31st)

03/12/07

This past Sunday, I preached on the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Normally, the take away from the parable is that we should go be nice to people in need. That's true but that is a short-sighted interpretation. As one of my old professors used to say, "If your interpretation of one of Jesus' parables doesn't rock your world, you've interpreted incorrectly." With that in mind, we hoped to plumb the depths of the parable and have our world rocked (the sermon notes are up at www.xanga.com/sovereignking).

As we were wrapping up, I was challenging our folks to consider the fact that the priest and the Levite were not commended in the parable. These would have been men who had given their life to the service of God. They would have offered sacrifices for their sins. They would obey the 10 commandments. They would observe the Sabbath. Yet, they are not commended because they did not show mercy. Our takeaway is that we should be doing the work of the priests and the Levities (personal devotion, worship, and obedience to God), but we must add to it a mercy to our neighbor that is both costly and cuts across racial, religious, and any other bigoted line. I ended with this quote from NT Wright, "What is at stake, then and now, is the question of whether we will use the God-given revelation of love and grace as a way of boosting our own sense of isolated security and purity, or whether we will see it as a call and challenge to extend that love and grace to the whole world. “No church, no Christian, can remain content with easy definitions which allow us to watch most of the world lying half-dead on the road.”

As the sermon is ending, all I want to do is to go home and get my cumstomary Sunday nap. I'm tired. But then, one of my folks tells me that an early frequent visitor to our church was assaulted last night and is in the hospital. He has a cracked skull and a broken ankle. Are you kidding me, God? My main thought and goal was to go get sleep and you illustrate the Good Samaritan to me within moments after the benediction? Enjoying God's sense of humor in light of my own selfishness, I go home and help get the kids to bed. Heading out, I took joy in the fact that my Savior wants me to be challenged. He wants me to own what I preach. He wants me to love with cost.

02/22/07

At my recent Orlando Conference, I got to spend some time, in seminar and in person, talking with Ed Stetzer. Ed is a former church planter and presently recruits and trains church planters for the North American Mission Board. Honestly, if you want to know about church planting, culture, engaging culture, and all that other stuff I love talking about, Ed is the guy. Aside from being insightful, he also generous, having sent me a copy of his "Planting New Churches in a Postmodern Age" free in the mail. (Ed, you rock). I immediately jumped in. Early on in my reading, I found this quote astounding.

"Christendom*" has come to an end. No longer is Christianity the "chaplain" to the broader culture. Christianity was universally assumed as the American religion even thought it was not widely embraced. It was once perceived as part of our national ethos. No longer can this claim be made. This "humiliation" of Christendom has been underway for two centuries....The end of Christendom allows the church to recognize that the gospel is distinct from Western Culture. Thus, the gospel must be addressed in fresh ways to the ever-changing culture that has disassociated itself "pseudo-Christian" roots. The task of being missional is not just the task of bringing the gospel to the "primitives" outside our borders. The new challenge is to bring the gospel to Western culture, since it has become more resistant to the gospel." p 14

Though the above sentence has a few too many air quotes for me, I think its premise is correct. Our mindsets must change for us to be effective in proclaiming Christ to our culture. No one needs to be called to the way things used to be, but we need to call ourselves and our culture to what the gospel says things can be. What the gospel says about the way things could be and the quote that Christianity is not the chaplain of the culture needs more thought on my part. I think the quote about the lost chaplaincy is correct, but its implications are further reaching than this post will allow this morning.

Thanks again Ed.

*Christendom as defined by the book is the realm/time when Christianity was assumed as the religion of the West.

02/06/07

Reading in Luke 9, after Jesus had just fed thousands of people, we read,

"18 Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”

It is easy to read that verse and focus on Jesus' question. But the telling phrase is, "He was praying alone." Jesus goes to Gentile territory to get away from folks and casts out demons and gets run out of town. He wants time alone with His disciples and thousands show up for an impromptu buffet. Time alone was not something Jesus got a lot of. And what does He do with that time alone (even this time is with His twelve closest friends)? He prays.

Now we are tempted to put Jesus' prayer in the same category as ours, and we should as a model. But His are different. Why? Well, Jesus is not just giving His wish list like so many of our prayers. He is communing with His Father, with Himself. Jesus left the perfect fellowship of the Father and the Spirit in Heaven to experience cold, and pain, and hunger. With that in mind, His prayers are sweet relief. They are sweet comfort. They are peace...something He will experience precious little of in the following months. Having spent that time with His Father, the one place where He is truly known, He is then ready to reenter the world where He is known well by few.

Folks, we are not part of the Trinity, but in prayer, we are truly known. We are loved and cherished as in no other place. Before we enter in to that world where we are known well by few, let us follow Jesus' example and rest in prayer.

02/01/07

The idea of a church planting conference brings up images of guys sitting in a room practicing their testimony and learning apologetics, but that is not at all what is going on here. Each day, our time together begins with worship from different artists and churches and each representing a different style (I had the joy of being led in worship by my good friend Dan Beilman who occasionally posts here. We've known each other since we were punks at ECU. The only that has changed is that we are not at ECU anymore).

Aside from experiencing and learning new worship styles, we are overwhelmed with seminars to attend. Yes, some are strategies for evangelism, but others are about how the church can engage in real mercy and justice issues in community as well as how the church can increase the fame of Christ while diminishing the glory given to His servants. There are over 80 different topics from which to choose.

But more than anything, these seminars work on us. Before calling our people to repentance, we must be repenters. Before calling people to worship, we must worship. Before calling people to sexual purity, we must be people of purity. Before calling people to God, we must walk before Him.

Amy and I grabbed an hour yesterday afternoon and started working through our notes (some seminars we go to together, others we don't). We were amazed at how many of the seminars were challenging us to deeper Godliness, so we started running through our notes. The one quote that continues to run through my head is this: Repentance is God undoing you. It is not you walking through the steps of sorrow and grief. If you are repenting of sin to God or repenting of sin to someone you have offended, then you are being undone by God. If that is not the impression that you and the other person have about your sin, then it is most likely not repentance. Walking in that, plus resting in the knowledge of the grace that we fall into when we are undone has served my soul well this week.

01/22/07

Can you imagine the excitement of the disciples? They had just gotten back from the road and every promise that Jesus had given came true. They hadn't packed any extra clothes, had no money, had no food, and they never went without. Jesus said they would have the authority and power to heal and to cast out demons. Sure enough, they healed the blind, cast out demons, and proclaimed the Kingdom of God. So, finally they get back together, and they want some time to just decompress with Jesus. They head out to Bethsaida, a barren place, figuring they can have some privacy.

But the crowds find out that Jesus, and the now famous disciples are there. Thousands of people show up, at least five thousand, and Jesus begins to care for each and every one of them. By the time evening sets in, the disciples are telling Jesus to send the crowed away because the masses need to eat. Jesus' response? "You feed them." Their response? "It would take two hundred days' wages to feed a crowd this big." So, Jesus takes five loaves and two fish and feeds them all. There were even twelve baskets of food left over .

When I look at the disciples, I see my own heart reflected. The disciples recognized their need of Jesus, but didn't recognize that others need Him as well. I do that. I pray and pray for me and my family, but often I forget others and their needs. The disciples had just experienced having every need of theirs met for an extended period of time, but as soon as a larger need arose, their faith faltered. I do that. I see Jesus providing for our church in crazy ways (new people, new ministries, new everything), but in a moment, I forget and wonder how in the world we will overcome the next obstacle.

But Jesus, at His whimsical, loving best here, meets everybody's needs and gives each of the disciples a basketfull of food. It is like Jesus is saying, "Hey guys, next time you lose your faith, just look inside this nice gift bag of food, and you'll find some wonderful parting gifts. Our Savior can meet both present and future needs, and the meeting of mine doesn't mean that He is tapped out and can't meet others as well - a lesson for us all.

01/12/07

I have a friend who is beginning to think more earnestly about Christ. Maybe I should qualify that, I have a friend who has often thought earnestly about Christ, but now those thoughts are having real effect. They are causing him to realize areas of his life that have become inconsistent with the Gospel. In addition, those thoughts are giving him a compassion for people in need. All of these things prompted him to some sort of action, so he decided that he wanted to get people together and hand out sandwiches and coffee to the homeless folks in downtown Raleigh.

Now, I know critics out there might scoff at such actions as naive and perhaps even pointless, thinking that handing out a sandwich and coffee is not going to make a real difference. But I think those criticisms are naive and pointless. You see, as I walked around downtown with my friend, I saw an energy in him that was new. He was relentless. He wanted to know where he could go to meet people. He wanted to know when people congregated in different places. He tirelessly carried a giant jug of water around. He took joy in meeting folks, shaking their hands, learning their names, offering to pray for them. I felt along for the ride.

Did any of these people get off the street? Did any of these people change their lives? Did anyone get saved? I don't know the answer to any of those questions, despite the fact that most-likely the answer is no. But again, that's not the point. My friend came to a realization last night. He has been shown mercy and comfort has been demonstrated to him. That mercy and comfort is not completely for his own benefit. It must be received and redistributed. The compassion shown to him is now ready to be shown to someone else (2 Cor 1). The people he cared for last night met an honest, sincere believer who wanted to see the good in his life overflow into other people's lives. Good stuff. Honest and sincere. Godly.

01/08/07

I’m a person given to hyperbole, but don’t let that cause you to disregard this comment. “Children of Men” is an amazing movie. It is sad, tragic, and dark while also being beautiful. If you are not familiar with it, the movie is based in the year 2027, and for some reason, women are no longer able to get pregnant. This has moved the world into fascism, terrorism, and disillusionment. Theo, a government agent discovers that miraculously there is a woman who has become pregnant, and he risks everything to keep her safe and help her give birth.

What makes “Children of Men” beautiful amid such a bleak landscape is the director, Alfonso Cuaron’s deft touch. His directing is like finding a daisy among a crumbled building. Despite very few reasons for hope, he gives it to Theo (and us) in this pseudo-futuristic nativity story. And here is the crazy thing…it is real hope, not sappy superficial cinematic hope. You walk away thinking, “Yes. That is the spirit of hope that is real.” In addition, Cuaron weaves religious imagery into the movie without being heavy handed. The metaphors are obvious but not burdensome.

It would appear that Theo (Theos is Greek for God) is intended to be a deitific figure whose task is to deliver the salvation child to a lost and dying world. Kee, the pregnant mother, is obviously a Mary figure and the key to the world’s hope. With a soft hand, we see Theo having to wear flip-flops because he cut his foot and no other shoes fit. You get this sense of him being pierced and becoming Christ-like. That scene was one of my favorites because it plays itself out with no drama. It just happens. In addition, some of the more tense scenes have no score underneath allowing the viewer to honestly feel the fear and terror without it being created through an orchestra. But all of the metaphors and themes might appear burdensome if it weren’t for Cuaron’s creation of a realistic world without hope (The youngest person in the world is 18 years old leaving everyone to wonder when the human race will become extinct). One character notes, “As the sound of the playgrounds faded, the despair set in. Very odd, what happens in a world without children's voices.” In such a world, what difference would one child make? That is the beauty and the mystery of the film, and the answering of the question is played out amid a terrorism and warfare that today’s viewers know all too well.

Aside from the religious imagery, the movie works enjoyably as a sci-fi movie as well, which is rare. It is not every day that true sci-fi breaks out of its sub-genre world to move people in an honest way. It was the intention of the father’s of sci-fi, but rarely does it happen. Here it does. You will not be disappointed.

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