DownshoreDrift

Bonhoeffer on the Kingdom of God and Self

Doing research tonight and I was reading about the German Confessing Church during the Nazi regime of the 1930's and 40's. Of course, I ran across Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German Christian, Pastor, and philosopher who opposed the Nazi regime on the basis of Christian fidelity. Here are some quotes that challenged me deeply:

 “Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. 'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared' (Luther).” ― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community

“The ultimate test of a moral society is the kind of world that it leaves to its children."

“We are not to simply bandage the wounds of victims beneath the wheels of injustice, we are to drive a spoke into the wheel itself.”

“Will not the very moment of great disillusionment with my brother or sister be incomparably wholesome for me becuase it so thoroughly teaches me that both of us can never live by our own words and deeds, but only by that one Word and deed that really binds us together, the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ? The bright day of Christian community dawns wherever the early morning mists of dreamy visions are lifting”

“Just as Christians should not be constantly feeling the pulse of their spiritual life, so too the Christian community has not been given to us by God for us to be continually taking its temperature. The more thankfully we daily receive what is given to us, the more assuredly and consistently will community increase and grow from day to day as God pleases” ― Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” "Those who love their dream of a Christian community more than the Christian community itself become destroyers of that Christian community even though their personal intentions may be ever so honest, earnest, and sacrificial.” ― Life Together

“But discipleship never consists in this or that specific action: it is always a decision, either for or against Jesus Christ...Christ speaks to us exactly as he spoke to them. It was not as though they first recognized him as the Christ and then received his command. They believed his word and command and recognized him as the Christ--in that order.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself." The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ when he denied him: "I know not this man." Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self denial can say is: "He leads the way, keep close to him.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“No sacrifice which a lover would make for his beloved is too great for us to make for our enemy.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“The Christian must treat his enemy as a brother, and requite his hostility with love. His behavior must be determined not by the way others treat him, but by the treatment he himself receives from Jesus; it has only one source, and that is the will of Jesus.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“Bless them that persecute you.' If our enemy cannot put up with us any longer and takes to cursing us, our immediate reaction must be to lift up our hands and bless him. Our enemies are the blessed of the Lord. Their curse can do us no harm. May their poverty be enriched with all the riches of God, with the blessing of Him whom they seek to oppose in vain. We are ready to endure their curses so long as they redound to their blessing.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“The community of the saints is not an "ideal" community consisting of perfect and sinless men and women, where there is no need of further repentance. No, it is a community which proves that it is worthy of the gospel of forgiveness by constantly and sincerely proclaiming God's forgiveness...Sanctification means driving out the world from the Church as well as separating the Church from the world. But the purpose of such discipline is not to establish a community of the perfect, but a community consisting of men who really live under the forgiving mercy of God.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“Luther had said that grace alone can save; his followers took up his doctrine and repeated it word for word. But they left out its invariable corollary, the obligation to discipleship...The justification of the sinner in the world degenerated into the justification of sin and the world. Costly grace was turned into cheap grace without discipleship.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

“To deal with the word of Jesus otherwise than by doing it is to give him the lie. It is to deny the Sermon on the Mount and to say No to his word...That is why as soon as the hurricane begins we lose the word, and find that we have never really believed it. The word we had was not Christ's, but a word we had wrested from him and made our own by reflecting on it instead of doing it.” ― The Cost of Discipleship

All quotes can be found here: http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/29333.Dietrich_Bonhoeffer

The Deadly Danger of Being Hard to Impress

We live in a world that gets bored easily. We keep looking for the next big thing - for something spectacular. At any moment with a click, we can watch the greatest singers and athletes in the world. We can see every beautiful spot on the planet. We can hear the best music, read the best books, watch the best movies, and be visually, emotionally, and intellectually amazed constantly.

And, the result is that we are perpetually bored. We can't wait for the new iPhone or iPad to come out and a few months later when we hear about the next one, we are like little kids who forget the old toy at the introduction of a new one. We are disappointed with what we have because someone else has something newer. Nothing lasts and this approach isn't working. Even our ventures into nostalgia are usually just phases that we go through until we get tired of it. The pop superstar or star athlete of today is quickly forgotten when the next big sensation comes along as it is almost required that we move on in our affections. We can travel with ease and if we spend more than a month without taking a little trip somewhere, we begin to get despondent. What is happening to us? Our constant desire for entertainment has left us without the ability to think, process, relate to others, or produce much of lasting consequence. We are people craving the spectacular while continually being unimpressed with all that we see. In our constant boredom and rush for the "new thing," we are proving that, down deep, we know that there is more to life than what we can see, taste, or touch. Our simultaneous boredom and capacity to constantly grasp for something new tells us something, if we will listen. We have a deep desire to be ultimately satisfied and we continually confess that we cannot find it because we keep moving from one thing to another. Yet, we tend to believe that the next thing that comes our way will actually satisfy. When will we learn? 

CS Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

So, this boredom and lack of satisfaction with things actually tells us that we are made for another world. The boredom speaks to the idea that satisfaction does await us somewhere - but we cannot grasp it here. The problem comes in when Christians experience the same boredom. When Christians are not excited about what God is doing in the world, when we think we've seen it all before, when we become so sophisticated that we cannot rejoice in God's work in another person or be surprised by daily miracles, then we are experiencing a soul sickness that can be devastating. We might just be spiritually asleep, having been lulled to sleep by the siren song of the world that promises much but delivers little. 

Little kids are always excited. They dance around, play, laugh, and have big eyes and wide open mouths at almost everything. They believe things. We do not see their movement to dourness and cynicism as a sign of maturity. Instead, we see the loss of innocence and excitement as a tragedy, not as a coming of age. We need to be like little kids - dancing, playing, laughing with eyes and mouths wide open. We need to be people who are easily impressed, who can grasp and be amazed at what God has done in Christ, and who have hearts open with joy to the work of God! If we lose our sense of wonder, excitement, and praise to God for what He has done and promises to do, then what do we have left?  We are only left with our fears, failures, and our own strength, which is not much. But, if we truly look to the Lord and are willing to see God's work in the life of others, if we have eyes to see what God is doing, if we can actually accept that God is breaking in and doing a new thing everyday, then we will begin to be restored to a sense of wonder, joy, and excitement in life as we live it with God. We will see with eyes of faith!

Cynicism is a deadly solvent that can tear our lives apart. We need joy. Let us go back to the Source of life and joy, namely Jesus, and ask Him to break the hard crust of cynicism and allow us to see the wonder of His Creation and the beauty of His work in our lives. Let us see Him!

The Five Books In My Bag This Week

Some pertinent quotes from the five books that are in my bag this week. This might become a regular feature on Downshoredrift. I read a lot and I tend to study in according to themes and movements. This is what I've been reading and working through this week, personally and for our church. Maybe you will find this helpful.  

Eugene Peterson on our need for diversity in the church in Practice Resurrection, pp. 35-36: "The Ephesian letter shapes our imaginations to an awareness not only of ourselves but of all the other pilgrims on the road in simultaneous diversity and unity. This company of called fellow-travelers, all different and all one, is the church. Paul's metaphor for it is a human body to which Christ is the head, "the body of Christ" (Eph. 4:12). Everybody different, everybody organically connected. Shimmering diversity and harmonic unity - "joined and knit together by every ligament" is Paul's vivid metaphor (4:16). "Christ and the church" (5:32) is the paradigmatic form for this multitudinous and yet improbably unified company . . . Maturity develops in worship as we develop in friendship with the friends of God, not just our preferred friends. Worship shapes us not only individually but as a community, a church. If we are going to grow up in Christ we have to do it in the company of everyone who is responding to the call of God. Whether we happen to like them or not has nothing to do with it." 

Dallas Willard on Our God Bathed World in The Divine Conspiracy, pp. 61-62: "Jesus' good news about the kingdom can be an effective guide for our lives only if we share his view of the world in which we live. To his eyes this is a God-bathed and God-permeated world. It is a world filled with a glorious reality, where every component is within the range of God's direct knowledge and control - though he obviously permits some of it, for good reasons, to be for a while otherwise than as he wishes. It is a world that is inconceivably beautiful and good because of God and because God is always in it. It is a world in which God is continually at play and over which he constantly rejoices. Until our thoughts of God have found every visible thing and event glorious with his presence, the word of Jesus has not yet fully seized us."

 

Michael Wells in Heavenly Discipleship, pp. 79-80: "The point is that the source of your anxiety and fear is that you trust a weak self. Do you see why you need Jesus? You were not created to carry all the concerns of life; you were created to be dependent. You cannot fly, and neither can you carry anxiety. The only One who can, Jesus, must carry the anxiety of every person. But how can He carry what He has not been given? Psalm 46:10 is clear: "Cease striving," or literally, get your hands off! Why do you keep your hands on? There is only one reason, and that is unbelief. You cling to belief in your own ability to do a better job than He would. Pride upholds trust in the slightest bit of self's strength. Humily lays aside all perceived strengths, embraces weakness, and abandons itself to God."

Kenneth Boa in Conformed to His Image, p. 280: “One of the great enemies of process spirituality is the craving to control our environment and the desire to determine the results of our endeavors. Many of us have a natural inclination to be manipulators, grabbers, owners, and controllers. The more we seek to rule our world, the more we will resist the rule of Christ; those who grasp are afraid of being grasped by God. But until we relinquish ownership of our lives, we will not experience the holy relief of surrender to God’s good and loving purposes . . . Our resistance to God’s rule extends to our prayerful attempts to persuade the Lord to bless our plans and to meet our needs in the ways we deem best.  Instead of seeking God’s will in prayer, we hope to induce him to accomplish our will. Thus even in our prayers we can adopt the mentality of a consumer rather than a servant.”

Kent Carlson and Mike Lueken in The Renovation of the Church, p. 79: "I am convinced that personal pastoral ambition, and a pastoral ethic centered around productivity and success, is brutal to our souls and destructive to the souls of the people we lead. We must become skilled at detecting the odor of personal ambition and then flee from it as if the church's future depends on it. I believe it does. . . . Personal ambition has a symbiotic relationship with consumerism. The two go hand in hand. They feed off each other. As a Christian leader who is motivated by personal ambition, I can appeal to the basic consumer tendencies of teh people I desire to be a part of my church or ministry. If I do this well, I will be rewarded by their attendance, their support and their allegiance, and my church or ministry will grow. Everybody is satisfied. Everybody gets what they want. The lighted match of my ambition ignites the dry timber of consumerism, and we have a raging fire that is very difficult to put out. While I suspect that there is not much that I can do about the cultural force of consumerism in our country, I believe I can do much abou the forces that drive me as a Christian leader."

 

 

I Am Haunted By Waters

"Like many fly fishermen in western Montana where the summer days are almost Arctic in length, I often do not start fishing until the cool of the evening. Then in the Arctic half-light of the canyon, all existence fades to a being with my soul and memories and the sounds of the Big Blackfoot River and a four-count rhythm and the hope that a fish will rise.

 
"Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world's great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of those rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

 
"I am haunted by waters."

— Norman Maclean (A River Runs Through It)

                              

Maclean is not speaking of some eastern monism here. He is talking about how our memories, relationships, and experiences flow down through the waters that mark the boundaries and seasons of our lives. There is something about the water that has captured the imagination and stirred the memory of the sailor, the fisherman, the swimmer, the writer, the poet, and all those whose feet were tied to the land. We journey long distances to sit by the waters or sail across their depths on our way someplace else. In Genesis 1, the Spirit of God hovered over the waters of chaos and formed the Earth out of them. We are attracted to the raging, turbulent, life giving waters, wherever we may find them, whether it be fly fishing on the Big Blackfoot River in Montana as Norman Maclean wrote about or riding the small waves of the warm Gulf of Mexico as has been my experience.

         

This past week, I have spent time along the Gulf Coast of Florida. I have vacationed here since I was a child and have been able to bring my children back to this place where the water meets the sky on the distant horizon and infinity bumps up against white sandy shores. The Emerald Coast has always been a place of dreaming and rest for me. Growing up near the Gulf in New Orleans and South Mississippi, I remember the storms that would brew up in late summer afternoons, the smell of fresh, salt air, and the plentious seafood that we would feast on seasonally. We were surrounded by the water and the water gave shape and form to our existence, whether we participated in its flow, were drenched by its fall from the skies, or just looked upon it as a brooding place of mystery from a far.

                                    

When I think of the Gulf, I think of beauty and peace and a warm breeze that washes over me as I sit along its shores in tranquility. I also think of its fierce power and 30 foot waves that can wipe out sleepy seaside towns when it is kicked up into a frenzy by hurricane tumult. Mostly, however, I think of depth and infinity and something to be enjoyed and respected, even feared.

                                              

When I come to the waters of the Gulf it is easy for me to think of God and my finiteness and my desperate need for cleansing and for home. He has spoken to me here through creation, and for that, this place remains a thin place where I can sense heaven and an inifinite future where the horizon will finally reach back to us and we will long no more.

                              

And we will worship forever.  

Notes, Quotes, and Links: Pentecost and World-Change

Sometimes, I link to stuff on Facebook just as a placeholder for things that I find interesting or thought-provoking so that I can go back to it later. Not all of it makes it to Facebook, however, because I realize that I am junking up all of my FB friend's feeds with stuff that they probably aren't that interested in anyway, so I hold back. This is my attempt to put links and quotes from the past week that I find interesting or helpful all in one place. The theme this week is on Pentecost and the change that happens to us when the Holy Spirit comes, when the breath of God transforms our imaginations and our witness in the world. When young men see visions, old men dream dreams, and the Spirit falls on men and women, how might the world be different? Here are some thoughts.  

Sunday is Pentecost Sunday. Read what I wrote about that last year.  How many Baptist churches are celebrating Pentecost? Not many, I don't think.  What if we prayed Pentecostal Prayers? This is a good starting point for talk about changing our world with the onrushing Kingdom of God.  

Andrew Jones talks about the importance of festivals, feasts, and throwing big parties. I like his ideas and would love to see us do more of this in the future.  The Hebrew people did this and throwing big parties helps to give us a foretaste of heaven and the coming Kingdom and renewal of the heavens and earth. What would it look like if Christians in a city or region came together to celebrate the salvation story and to promote justice, mercy, and humility with God? What would it look like if we did this in Montgomery? Hmmm.

NT Wright on the Bible and the Christian Imagination.  Our imaginations are so shrunken by the plastic, consumer-oriented, "me first" world that we live in, that we often miss the Big Story that God is writing and our place in it. Wright, in this essay, calls us to recover our Christian Imagination through the arts, beauty, and our engagement with culture.

Erich Bridges on how we should not follow our passions, dreams, goals, or desires for self-fulfillment, but instead, we should follow Christ. He takes on graduation speeches and the religious ethic and impulse of secular America in the exaltation of self instead of living for a greater purpose outside of yourself.

Mark Scandrette, my old friend from San Francisco, on how the church can address violence in the neighborhood and be peacemakers to bring about a better future. The Church in Montgomery could really stand to hear this message. We can make a difference.  There is violence all around us. Kids are dropping out of school at an alarming rate. Girls are getting pregnant out of wedlock and children are being born into broken homes in astounding numbers. How can we tell a better story?

Consider changing the life of a child in India through direct sponsorship.  Our church, Gateway, is doing this and for only $40 a month, you can change the life of a child in North India forever. 100% of your sponsorship goes to take care of this child, as the administration for this is all done by volunteers. We could really use your help - and so could these children. Check it out.

Finally, a Pentecost video: 

 

I am thankful to God for . . .

1. His grace, love, and mercy.
2. My amazing, talented, beautiful wife.
3. My children. They are my heart.
4. My church. What a privilege it is to pastor at Gateway.
5. My mother, father, sister, and extended family.
6. Friends.
7. Daily bread and provision.
8. Good memories.
9. Beauty all around me.
10. Hope.
11. The times we live in.
12. Redemption.
13. Good coffee and good music.
14. My son Caelan’s healing from cancer.
15. Books/writers that explore the “why.”
16. Did I say grace?

Downshoredrift Twitter Updates for Last Week or Two

I use Twitter a lot for updates and links to interesting articles that I find. I recently disconnected my Facebook from my Twitter, so if you don't follow me on Twitter, you might want to check out what I've been linking and tweeting over the past week or so.

"@PastorTullian: Suffering Does Not Rob You Of Joy—Idolatry Does. READ: http://t.co/8ysmNar"   

"@micahfries: Wherever hell is breaking loose, the church should be there. @bobrobertsjr"

More on the Need for Church Structure/Ministry Teams http://bit.ly/dsCbyY   

"@DailyKeller: The sin under all other sins is a lack of joy in Christ." If we don't find our joy in Christ, we will find it elsewhere. 7:32 AM Nov 10th

@DailyKeller: Gospel repentance is tapping into joy of our union w/ Christ in order 2 weaken our need 2 do anything contrary to God's heart. 4:26 PM Nov 9th

How Much Structure Is Needed In Church Ministry? http://bit.ly/c9p3fJ 3:39 PM Nov 9th

Photos From New Orleans http://bit.ly/9hXlTK 12:07 AM Nov 9th

"@stevekmccoy: Tim Keller: Justice & Generosity. Why TK wrote Generous Justice: http://bit.ly/dfD3v0 (book: http://amzn.to/cLQZLB)" 1:58 PM Nov 8th

At mass in St. Louis Cathedral on Jackson Square. 9:09 AM Nov 7th

Chargrilled oysters at Drago's = Awesome! Oh, and Geaux Tigers! 10:17 PM Nov 6th

PeteThamelNYT   BREAKING NEWS: We have on-record confirmation the NCAA is investigating the recruitment of Cameron Newton. 4:55 PM Nov 4th

Deacon Ministry, Generous Justice, and Caring for the Poor (Tim Keller) http://bit.ly/aNFR0X 6:27 PM Nov 4th   

Cooking dinner. I love asparagus sauteed in olive oil with a little salt and pepper. Who's with me? 5:55 PM Nov 4th

@moodythinking & @drew_burton sharing w/ the youth about how God calls us to live sacrificially & totally focused on Christ & not stuff. 7:33 PM Nov 3rd

Something is stirring at Gateway. People are seriously talking about how we can live life from God's perspective instead of our own. 7:29 PM Nov 3rd  

How Republicans Can Win the 2012 Elections http://bit.ly/cn280f 5:42 PM Nov 3rd

@ScottyWardSmith: "Heaven offers nothing that a mercenary soul can desire." C S Lewis 12:35 PM Nov 3rd   

@edstetzer: One of the unintended consequences of “church excellence” is it can attract "consumers of excellence." #WFX 12:33 PM Nov 3rd 

Election Night, @Tallskinnykiwi, and Reaching the City http://bit.ly/cR1aWK 10:50 PM Nov 2nd

Chris Matthews is the most conservative member of the MSNBC political panel. Wow. FOX has a few liberals on. Why the echo chamber on MSNBC? 8:44 PM Nov 2nd 

Whole family gathered around TV watching election returns tonight. I love election night. Expect further tweets. #politicaljunkie 6:57 PM Nov 2nd

 

How Republicans Can Win the 2012 Elections

With the sweeping victory by Republicans over Democrats yesterday in the congressional races, all eyes now turn to 2012 and the presidential and congressional elections. Don't you wish that political parties would actually focus on governing instead of just positioning themselves to win elections and amass more power for themselves?  But, everything is about power these days: who has it, who doesn't, and how you can get it.  That is the name of the game in Washington and anyone who thinks that there is any real substantive difference between the parties when it comes to amassing power for themselves and their special interests are fooling themselves, I think .  Idealism is a thing of the past.  I disagree with many of Obama's policies and am glad that he has a check to his ability to enact legislation with the newly elected Republican-controlled House, but I do admire that, in many ways, he governed according to his principles.  I think his principles were wrong, but he was the first president I've seen in some time who pursued policies that were unpopular because he believed that they were right.  Apparently, according to yesterday's election results, Americans disagreed with him and replaced his huge majority with a balance of power that should reign things in. That is the beauty of the American system of government. If you don't like who is power, you can vote them out if you can get enough people to agree with you. That is what happened yesterday and it has me thinking about the future.

Election Night, @Tallskinnykiwi, and Reaching the City

(My kids at the voting station)

Engaging in some random thinking tonight as the nation changes with the sweeping in of Republican leadership.  I predicted this almost two years ago when the stimulus bill was passed, by the way ("Did Republicans Just Win the 2010 Midterm Elections?" Feb. 17, 2009).   I don't think that Americans chose the Republicans as much as they are disgusted with the course of the country and are throwing out whoever is in charge. If Republicans don't somehow produce massive change in the next two years, Obama will be re-elected, Democrats will keep control of the Senate, and the Republican majority in the House will decrease.  If anyone thinks that America has suddenly turned conservative, they are mistaken. Americans are angry and are going to blame anyone that they can.  Republicans had better do something with this opportunity, or the Tea Party will splinter off and weaken the Republican Party to the point of being unelectable. We need some leaders with a real vision for how to move the whole country forward, and those leaders are few and far between right now. Maybe they will emerge in this Congress and over the next two years. I hope so.

This past week, Andrew Jones (Tallskinnykiwi) and his family came to visit us. He blogs at http://tallskinnykiwi.typepad.com, in case you didn't know.  I have known Andrew and his wife, Debbie, for over 10 years now, having met them in San Francisco in the late 90's. They impacted me deeply then and continue to do so today. You can listen to the audio download of our time together here (see 10/27/10).  Andrew is one of the major reasons that I started blogging years ago, and he continues to have a huge influence on believers around the world, especially in the missional church movement. He was one of the pioneers of faith-based blogging and continues to exert heavy influence in that arena.

When he was with us last week, I asked him how he and his family came to the point where they were willing to give up everything for Jesus and follow Him all over the world?  How were they able to give up all of the stuff that we accumulate and depend on in our Western lifestyles?  He said that all that stuff wouldn't fit on the truck.  Andrew, Debbie, and their kids have been traveling all over Europe in a truck that they outfitted to carry their family wherever God might lead them. They only take with them what will fit. I was stunned by the answer. So many of us focus on the "stuff" and wonder how we can fit God into our lifestyles.  We try to find a little room for God in the midst of all the other junk that we carry with us. But, the Jones' had a different answer. They decided to follow God first and only take with them what they needed.  Revolutionary concept, eh?  I think that Jesus said something along those lines.

After the sharing time, we prayed for Andrew and Debbie and for their family.  They are traveling across America over the next few months and are then headed back to Europe and then across the Middle East to India.  We have established a way to help support them in their travels and ministry through a non-profit that we have set up called Community Development Initiatives.  If you would like to help the Jones' in their traveling quest to share the message of Jesus with the nations, let me know and I'll get you the information on how to do so. 

 

Sunday evening, we had a major outreach through our church. We have a Fall Festival every year where we invite the community, play games, give out food and candy, love our neighbors, and share the gospel. We went out the week before and invited our neighbors and prayed that they would come and that the event would be effective. God answered our prayers. We had around 500 people come to the event, which made it the largest outreach event in the history of our church. I am so thankful for Jeremy and the Children's Ministry Team for putting all this together and for those who prayed and invited people to come. It was a very multicultural group, as well, with many African-Americans, Hispanics, Koreans, and Muslims from the Middle East who came by. I was able to talk at length with a Muslim from Morocco and, through conversation, share the gospel with him.  It was an amazing night and I am excited about how we continue to be salt and light in our community.  God always seems to bless us whenever we step out and put ourselves out there in our neighborhoods and around the world. 

Politics, mission, global connections, local impact. Those are the things that are on my mind tonight, and I lay down to rest, I remember that God is alway working, always moving us down along the shore of life, unexpectedly and surprisingly at times, but always according to His will. We can confident of that.

  

 

This and That Meanderings Over the Past Week or So . . .

Lately, I've been doing more via Twitter than I have on the blog. I use Twitter via my Blackberry and "retweet" articles and blogposts that I like or find interesting. All of this ends up on Facebook and also posts on my blog. For archival purposes, I thought I'd list my Twitter links over the past week or so on weekends to have them all in one place. 

40 year anniversary of racial lawsuit that changed the face of Montgomery forever. Involved Morris Dees and the YMCA: http://bit.ly/d40auy If you have any interest in ministry in America in 2010 and have not read "The Big Sort" by Bill Bishop (2008), you are very uninformed. Air Conditioning went out in our sanctuary this weekend so we worshipped in the gym. Everyone did a great job and we had a great Sunday!  RT @CTmagazine: Collin Hansen reports: how urban, suburban, & rural churches respond to challenges in less mobile era. http://bit.ly/95kuls RT @The_Gambit: Reconciled: Think you know New Orleans? Think again. No matter how long you’ve live here . . . http://bit.ly/9lwvuc Having dinner with my family and the Hicks family at their home. It has been an amazing week in New Orleans. God is so very good! They said the oaks in City Park would die from the flood waters of Katrina. They were wrong. Isaiah 61:4 comes to mind. RT @Newsweek: Do Economic Slumps Produce More Churchgoers? http://bit.ly/9jLel4 RT @jaredcwilson: I refuse to pastor a franchise in the McMoralism chain of churches. Over 1 Billion served, but by God's grace, none by me 9:11 PM Jul 21st via Realized today that my camera (Nikon d50) along w/ pictures from past 2 years was stolen from my car over a week ago. Forgot it was in there 7:41 PM Jul 21st   Got to Picayune to see family & they have a Guthrie's! Wow. Auburn-Montgomery chicken fingers in S. Miss. I'm eating seafood tonite, though. 6:28 PM Jul 21st "To the extent the church is wedded to mission, to that extent it will be joyful." Dr. Keith Keithly 3:49 PM Jul 21st Jason Sampler just came in to class, invited by the prof, to speak on church history. I don't know about this guy . . . 2:41 PM Jul 21st    Eating a po' boy at Liuzza's By the Track, a corner hole in the wall restaurant in Mid-City. I love places like this. 1:02 PM Jul 21st Massive theological discussion in class on Paul, NT Wright, the New Perspective, Piper, etc. The perspectives shared are refreshing. 9:03 AM Jul 21st   RT @darrinpatrick: "If I would have asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses ." -Henry Ford (via @JonMcIntosh) 7:29 AM Jul 21st Keller: Jesus' command to be witnesses is a communal command. We cannot do it by ourselves. We need each other. 10:50 PM Jul 20th   Tim Keller says, "We need gospel-speaking, neighbor-loving, community-transformed communities everywhere. (cont) http://tl.gd/2l4bl9 10:47 PM Jul 20th RT @NationsBeGlad: In The Land Of Mao, A Rising Tide Of Christianity Among Chinese :: http://ht.ly/2dRHq - God is working in China. 10:39 PM Jul 20th    New Orleans is amazing, by the way. Its late July and there was a cool breeze today. That's crazy. Love this city. 9:22 PM Jul 20th Just had dinner w/ Glen, Sanet, and Dee in from Northwood Church in Mandeville. They really praised Gateway's youth group for last week! 9:21 PM Jul 20th Had a great time in class today learning a lot. Meeting good people serving God and man in New Orleans. The world is full of beauty. 5:15 PM Jul 20th   The Apostle Paul wrote to children in his letter to the Ephesians. See 6:1. Do we include children in the church or do we push them aside? 3:57 PM Jul 20th Just blogged: Sacrifice: Completing Christ's Afflictions. http://bit.ly/9kzoJL 3:22 PM Jul 20th Walking thru Ephesians 3:1-13 this morning. Struck by how Paul served the gospel & how the gospel brings people together in Christ. 8:48 AM Jul 20th RT @doctodd: http://ht.ly/2dKyT - glad this pastor was no hologram - This is what the church is supposed to be: Donald Miller's story on CNN 12:17 AM Jul 20th   RT @jaredcwilson: "What other church is there besides institutional?" -> http://bit.ly/aafEAb - This is VERY good. Eugene Petersen nails it. 12:03 AM Jul 20th From Ephesians class: We are to go back to the Word, get on our knees, and make disciples. That is our calling. Jesus is always central. 7:24 PM Jul 19th   Good day today. Going thru Ephesians 1 in class and had a couple of great conversations with guys doing ministry in New Orleans. 6:24 PM Jul 19th @jasoncdukes In Eph. class at @ NOBTS being taught by your dad. He said Paul was not a systematic theologian - he preached the gospel. Yes! 2:21 PM Jul 19th   Heading to New Orleans for a week long class on Ephesians at NOBTS. Future tweets will Big Easy inspired. 6:28 PM Jul 18th RT @NOLAnews: Avondale closing news is no surprise to maritime experts http://bit.ly/boboVb - This illustrates what is happening in the USA. 2:58 PM Jul 18th   At Wal-Mart getting an oil change and a new battery for the van. Having a Coke Icee for the first time since I was a kid. Pretty good. 2:48 PM Jul 18th @drew_burton, Bill H., John W., and several youth did a great job speaking about The Giving Church this morning! Thank you! 2:37 PM Jul 18th   RT @stevekmccoy: Individual ambitions vs single-minded. http://twitpic.com/25wsku Be one in spirit and purpose, Phil. 2:2. 10:16 PM Jul 16th RT @The_Gambit: If the #oilspill cap now holds (please), 07/15/10, 2:25 pm will be a moment in Louisiana history. 4:26 PM Jul 15th   America's Religion: Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. This is a really important article by Al Mohler from 5 years ago. http://bit.ly/aeeF6q 4:19 PM Jul 15th Sad that City Councilman, Willie Cook, passed away a few days ago. He was a good man. I met him several years ago and was very impressed. 3:52 PM Jul 15th RT @nytimes: BP Says Oil Flow from Well Has Stopped as Cap is Tested http://nyti.ms/9liVdn #oilspill 3:48 PM Jul 15th

3, er, 5, no, 7 or Whatever, Steps that Guarantee Successful Missional Church Leadership!

The other day, Andrew, a friend of mine, called me and asked me a question about strategies for missional church leadership (being missional simply means that you live as a "sent" representative of God in the world - a missional church is a church that does not depend on attractional programs to reach people, but rather, it sees its people live dynamic, "sent" lives for Christ in the world as His ambassadors). He is a student in seminary doing a paper on this for a class, and he had to interview a pastor that was seeing his church step out missionally and engage their community and their world. He asked me about strategies and vision and plans. He reads this blog, so let me first of all say that his questions were very fair and I completely understood his assignment. This isn't about the questions. It is about my answers.

My answers were pretty pathetic if you were looking for coherent strategies in the way that most "church" experts talk about strategy.  But, I think that God is showing us some things and while my answers may seem kind of Sunday School-ish, I think that that they are right. Maybe we need some simplicity in this type of discussion.

Random Thinking: Jimmy Carter, Kanye West, Calvinism, Health Care, Tim Keller, Learning Your "Fours," and a Host of Other Things

I have not had time to sit down and think through anything remotely interesting to blog on latey. My brain has kind of been a pile of mush the last few weeks when it comes to writing. So, I thought I'd throw up a bunch of random thoughts, twitter style, and see which ones stick. Comment as you wish.

• My health insurance for my family and me costs around $1000 per month. I had a minor surgery this summer to repair a hernia and another minor surgery to fix what wasn't fixed to begin with. I'm still having problems because the wound won't heal. I'm also facing mounting medical bills for these "minor" surgeries even though I had insurance. I'm not for government run health care, but something needs to be done to bring reform to this system. It is just unsustainable.
• Kanye West was out of line. End of story. Why do people give him any attention? Uh oh. Why am I giving him attention? He needs Jesus and I need to pray for him. 
• By the way, what's up with all the outbursts lately? Kanye West. Joe Wilson yelling out "you lie" to President Obama (I know, Democrats booed President Bush - both sides need to chill on that kind of thing). Then, you have Serena Williams. Excuse me? As John McEnroe would say, "Are you serious?" There seems to be a lot of anger building these days all over the place.  
• Jimmy Carter pulled the race card by saying that opposition to Obama is rooted in racism. I'm not saying that there aren't racists out there, but him saying that is the same thing as Republicans saying that those who opposed the Iraq War were unpatriotic. He needs to be denounced and this kind of rhetoric from both sides needs to end.  We need to have a vigorous debate over the issues and not demonize one side or the other. 
• I preached on election and God's foreknowledge this past Sunday. I'm not a Calvinist, but I see these doctrines in the Bible. I also see the Bible saying that God wishes all people everywhere to be saved. So, I proclaimed the mystery that declares both human created positions in this debate to be incomplete. It went over well, but there has been a lot of discussion about it since then.  I'll preach on 1 Peter 1:3-12 on how Christ is our Living Hope. I'm looking forward to it.
• We are still working on our building project for our church. I've spent WAY more time on it the past week or so than I have wanted to, but some minor changes needed to be made, which is harder when you have work crews trying to get stuff done and they are waiting on you to make a decision.
• Have you seen the Acorn scandal being reported on Fox News? Sadly, I think that there is corruption everywhere. It is just being exposed here. I hope that someone will clean this kind of thing up. By and large, we have become a pretty corrupt society, I think, so this kind of stuff is happening all the time.
• Caelan, my 4 year old son, learned his "fours" in preschool yesterday. He learned how to write the number 4 and everything. I told him that was a pretty big deal. It really is. Think about it. What if you had never learned your fours? You end up using them your whole life and it is pretty awesome to be able to come home and say, "Guess what I learned today? My FOURS." I didn't learn anything nearly that significant yesterday.
• We have been going through a study on Wednesday nights on Tim Keller's The Prodigal God. It has been outstanding. If you have not read it yet, I highly recommend it. It blew me away.
• My 2nd grader, Peyton, was talking to my 5th grader, Ashtyn, about the Fibonacci Sequence on the way to school this morning.  He was saying that his teacher likes to teach them things that are way beyond their level and Ashtyn said, "Yeah, you aren't supposed to learn that until you get to college." And he said, "Yeah, and then you'll be using really big numbers like 300 or something." Smart kid.
• We'll see a couple get baptized this Sunday. I performed their wedding this past Sunday. Amazing story of God's grace, guidance, and restoration. I love stories like this and hope to write a full post on what happened next week.
• My wife is awesome. She is going to graduate school, leading a massive fundraising project for the PTA at our kid's school, leading the Sr. High youth girls small group at our church, working a couple of days a week to make some extra money, and raising 4 kids while doing an amazing amount around the house. She apologized to me this morning for not helping me out more lately.  WHAT??? I'm thinking I need to go home and do some laundry tonight.
• I am seeing God's miracles all around me. In my kids. My beautiful wife. My church. People are encountering God. Lives are changing. I don't deserve what I am getting to witness. Sometimes, I take my eyes off the ball and miss it. I thank God that He is always working, though (John 5:17), so there is always something new and fresh happening right in front of me if I only have eyes to see. My prayer is that I be conformed to the image of Christ. That's a big prayer and I find that the most unruly terrain that I encounter tends to be my own heart.

That's it for right now. Lots of stuff going on. It is hard to keep up with everything. More than anything, I find myself in need of the Sabbath rest that Jesus provides. I need to be more attentive to the leading of the Holy Spirit and to prayer. Spiritual change only happens in spiritual ways.

God is working everywhere. The Kingdom of God is breaking in.

Defending the Cause of the Fatherless, the Poor, the Widow, and the Oppressed

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked." Psalm 82:3-4                          

"Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatheless, plead the case of the widow." Isaiah 1:17       

"He (the Lord) defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the alien, giving him food and clothing." Deuteronomy 10:18                       

"Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless." Isaiah 10:2                             

Those are just a few of the verses that tell us how God sees the weak, poor, and fatherless. How do we see them? There is an epidemic of fatherlessness in America. 40 percent of children were born to unwed mothers last year in America. Holiness requires that our hearts turn to the fatherless because that is where God's heart is turned. How can we do less?

We have lost two generations since the Great Evangelical Retreat began 50 years ago. It is time for us to turn and face the wreckage that we have left behind and begin to bring healing though sacrificial love. How can our hearts be different from God's and we still claim to walk with Him?

Questions that I am pondering today in prayer. God help us to join you in your work of redemption.

Random Thinking: Carrie Prejean, India, Church Anniversary, Prayer, and Other Thoughts

Yet another trip through my always overactive, spinning brain . . .

I can't help but think that the Carrie Prejean/Miss California controversy is a look into the future of what awaits those who take a stand against gay marriage. I generally don't like to be alarmist and I know that most Christian ministries that make big statements about what is coming follow them up with an address where you can send THEM money to fight the encroaching evil, but it still seems like a well-worn strategy of attacking mercilessly those who deviate from the accepted PC response so that no one will dare utter a deviation again without also fearing persecution. It usually works. We'll see what happens here.

I returned from India a week and a half ago and I'm still excited about what I see happening. It seems as though God is using us in some ways to come alongside the believers there and pray for them and encourage them. We are not the ones doing the evangelism or development work, but they are. It is hard work and there is a reason that Northern India has been so resistant to the gospel all these years. We are trying to go back in October and are working on dates. If you want to go, let me know.

This Sunday, my church, Gateway Baptist, celebrates our 25th anniversary. I've been there for 9 1/2 years of the 25, so I have seen a lot of the recent history. I've been the pastor for almost 4 years after serving as associate pastor the first part of my time here. It is a great church with a lot of love for one another and a real desire to follow Jesus. It is a privilege to be a part of this church and to be able to pastor here. God has been really good to us and I look forward to celebrating what God has done this past weekend.

Matt Capps has a really good post on Christianized Therapeutic Deism. He quotes from David Wells from his 2007 plenary address at the Evangelical Theological Society. Good stuff. Check it out.

About a month ago, I felt convicted about the lack of intentional prayer in my church. I felt that it was important that our leadership begin to seek God for the ministry of our church. So, I sent an email to those involved in ministry leadership at Gateway and I asked them to commit to praying for the ministry of our church for one hour per week. One hour out of 168 spent in prayer for the ministry of our church. We had around 40 people agree to do so and since then I have seen a real difference in our church. My level of peace has greatly increased and I have seen a much greater excitement about what God is doing. Also, there have been several salvations over the past month from both people who are coming to our church as well as from the personal ministry of our folks out in the community. And, we have seen a huge basketball ministry develop and grow in our parking lot with a good number of our folks engaging the kids coming. God seems to be moving and I think that He is calling us to pray and ask Him for His power. Who knew?

I am working on a New Believer's Study as well as discipleship material that fits with the vision/mission of our church, which is Loving God, Loving People . . . To the Ends of the Earth. I taught a summary of this in India at a conference that we were speaking at and am trying to get it written up to give to every person who comes into our church. It will be in the form of a small booklet. I am pretty excited about it. The New Believer's Study will cover issues like the Kingdom of God, gospel/salvation, baptism, the Holy Spirit, assurance, the local church, the Lord's Supper, the Bible, sanctification, and what happens when we die. We have a lot of young people and new believers coming in, including children, so I think that this will be helpful.  The discipleship material will base our Christian growth around the relational flow of the Great Commandment (Loving God & People) and the Great Commission (Acts 1:8 - receive power from the Holy Spirit to be Christ's witness all over the world, starting at home to the ends of the earth).  So, this will occupy a lot of my writing emphasis over the next few weeks. I hope to have it finished by the beginning of June.

Along those lines, many churchgoers and pastors are confused about what defines spiritual maturity. According to Barna research, the answers are all over the place. Since Christianity has been around for 2,000 years, shouldn't we have a perspective on what it means to be spiritually mature? The lack of discipleship in our churches is killing us. Here is a starting point: Spiritual maturity maturity means that we look like Jesus. We follow Him and obey Him. His life becomes our life. The fruit of the Spirit is evident in us because that is the character of Christ.  Just a thought.  

That's enough for now, I guess. Lots to do today. I'm beginning our Summer Bible Study on Developing Intimacy With Christ tonight. It goes for seven weeks. I am praying that God will draw us closer to Him and refresh us as we focus on Him. I'm looking forward to it.

Random Thoughts: Susan Boyle, Sasha the Puppy, and Kieran's First School Play

Time for another mind dump. Lots of stuff to highlight today.

Susan Boyle, the 47 year old lady from Scotland on Britain's Got Talent makes me cry everytime I see the video clip. Here it is, by the way. If you haven't seen it, stop what you are doing and watch it. Be honest: Whenever you first saw her, you thought it was a joke, didn't you? She has the voice of an angel. When I see people who were laughing at her a moment before, stand up and cheer, it is overwhelming. We have all become cynical with these talent shows and assume that the person who looks unattractive has no real talent. We all got fooled and our superficial hearts were exposed. At least mine was. This story is full of gospel allusions and that is why I think people resonate with it so much. God looks on the heart, not physical appearances. What matters is what is inside, not the outside. Amazing things come from common places. I think that it is interesting that Susan Boyle shocked us all on Easter weekend when we celebrate the Savior of the world dying on the cross between two thieves and raising from the dead to change everything.  What an amazing story.

We got a golden retirever puppy this week named Sasha. I think that people think we are crazy, but life is for the living and, why slow down? Erika and I realize that we are still in shell shock from Caelan's cancer, though.  Last night, Sasha was very listless and throwing up over and over. We got scared and took her into the animal hospital. We had to call a vet to come in and see her. We found out that wasn't cheap, by the way. As it turned out, she just had an upset stomach and was probably homesick. Erika said that we went through all of that to find out that Sasha had "Sleepy Puppy Syndrome."  Reflecting on it, we overreact now when anyone is feeling bad, even the new puppy. But, she is fine and we're glad we have her.  The cool thing is that our nurse last night was a lady that we used to know who has 6 kids. She would like to come to church, but they don't have a ride. We invited her and she said that she wanted to come. So, this Sunday, I hope to bring her to church with us. God moves in mysterious ways!

Sasha has been keeping us up at night, though. I also picked this week to start the writing phase of my book project. Poor timing. I had a very late night last night, but I got the first draft of the preface finished. Yeah! So, this morning, sleepy as can be, I broke down and went to Starbucks. Their White Chocolate Mochas are my new favorite drink there. Yum.

Last night I went to a local art gallery to see a show. Craig Greene, a local artist and member of our church had his work on display. He is really good.  His paintings are abstract, but they have form and the eye can follow his lines. I also like the use of vivid colors and faces.  A bunch of people from our church came by. I was thinking about it last night and we have quite a few very talented artists in our church. I am hoping that we can begin to display some of their work and that we can allow them to use their talents for God's glory. 

Danny Akin, the president of Southeastern Theological Baptist Seminary articulated the thrust of what is being called the Great Commission Resurgence in chapel yesterday. I read the text of his sermon and had to email him some encouragement. I agree with him on every point. For the first time since I've been paying attention, there is some leadership emerging within the SBC that is worth following. I every church would do what he is calling for, I believe that we would see major progress within the SBC and that God would be very pleased. I'm praying for him and those that he is working with.

Kieran, my 5 year old son, had his first school play today.

 His role was as an old-time Hollywood musical dancer, wearing the bowtie and tophat. It was about what the kids wanted to be when they grew up. Kieran is awesome and he is always making us laugh in some way or another. I love that kid with all my heart and am as proud of him as I can be. He is in kindergarten, but he is reading like a pro and has a really sweet heart. He also came to us a few weeks ago and asked how he could know Jesus and be saved. So, we prayed with him about that and see a real desire in him to follow Christ.

Someone broke out the back window of an old van of ours that was parked on the street yesterday. That stinks. Anyone want an old van that doesn't run? You can have it if you come get it.

We're taking the kids to ride horses tomorrow with another family that we are friends with. It should be a beautiful weekend here. I'll be sure to bring the camera. The pictures of that will be amazing.

I asked the leadership of our church to commit an hour a week to pray for the ministry of our church in every phase. I sent an email to around 60 people and they have been responding back all week that they would do it. Already, we are seeing amazing things happen and I am sensing God's presence more and more. After the leadership lays the foundation for this for a few weeks, I might take it to the whole church. But, I wanted to start with those actively involved in ministry leadership. 

Well, lots to do. You can keep up with me on Twitter if you like. I'm starting to get the hang of it and it is easy to text from my phone.  Look around and ask God to show you where He is working today. He is always working, redeeming, and restoring!  

Random Thinking

Last night, I couldn't get to sleep. My mind was racing. Finally, I drifted off, but not before I ran through a dozen different subjects. I've been told by friends that I have adult ADD. Maybe so. It would explain a lot. Normally, I write essays for this blog because it is really rewarding for me to lock in on one topic and explore it and I use it as a teaching platform for my church. Today, I'll take you on a random tour of what I'm thinking about in classic, stream-of-consciousness form. Each of these thoughts could be a blogpost all their own and they have been building up in my head. So, I think I'll clean out my brain a little so that I can think more clearly and start over.

I'm going back to India at the end of next month. Around midnight last night, I called Thom Wolf in India and talked with him for awhile. It was almost noon there. He was my professor and intellectual mentor in school back when I lived in San Francisco and he lives in New Delhi. We will go north to the Himalayas and do our normal thing with the ministries there, and then possibly travel with him for a couple of days to the south of India to meet some people doing very interesting things.

I am working through Paul's letter to the Philippians right now in my Bible study and my preaching. I am also writing essays to go along with each topic. Philippians is a great letter to address the "God as a means to an end" syndrome that plagues contemporary Christianity. I am thinking of releasing the essays after I am through with this. It has been really interesting. Today, I am working on one called "Chains" about how Paul volunteered to put himself in less than ideal situations so that the gospel would be spread to others through his life and suffering. Check out Philippians 1:7-14. Am I willing to do the same? 

"According to some estimates, Christians in developed Western countries now represent only 37 percent of believers worldwide. As I travel and also read chruch history, I have observed a pattern, a strange historical phenomenon of God 'moving' geographically from place to place: from the Middle East to Europe to North America to the developing world. My theory is this: God goes where He's wanted." ~ Philip Yancey, Finding God in Unexpected Places. 

I ran across a fascinating article today on urban development in post-Katrina New Orleans on Newgeography.com by Andres Duany.  Duany, of Cuban descent, says that "New Orleans is not among the most haphazard, poorest or misgoverned American cities, but rather the most organized, wealthiest, cleanest, and competently governed of the Caribbean cities."  He says that New Orleans is not really an American city at all. Rather, it is a Caribbean city.  Jimmy Buffett, after Katrina hit, said that the northern Gulf of Mexico is actually the northern part of the Caribbean, not the Southern part of the U.S.  I agree. Being from there, it is different that the rest of the country, and I love it. Totally different way of thinking, worldview, and lifestyle. Maybe this is why Baptists have had so much trouble reaching the Gulf Coast?  Hmmm. 

My two favorite songs on my ipod right now are "Rocket Man" by Angie Aparo and "A Change is Gonna Come" by Ben Sollee. They are both cover songs, but the music and vocals are really intriguing. If you haven't heard either of these guys, check them out.  Here's a live version of "Rocket Man." I think about this when I am travelling too much.

And, Ben Sollee on the cello.  Yes, the cello.  This is amazing.

This week marks the 3 year anniversary of us finding a lump on Caelan's chest that was a cancerous tumor. It has been a hard three years, but I praise God everyday for His faithfulness. Last night, Erika told me that the little 3 year old girl that my family has been praying for since we saw her at Caelan's last scans died last week. Her name was Cassie. My heart was broken over that. Maybe that is why I keep singing "A Change is Gonna Come." Ben Sollee, covering Sam Cooke, says he doesn't know what's beyond the sky. I do, and more and more each day I pray that God's Kingdom come.

"As heretical as it sounds today, it is probably worth telling Americans that you don't need Jesus to have better families, finances, health, or even morality. Coming to the cross means repentance - not adding Jesus as a supporting character for an otherwise decent script but throwing away the script in order to be written into God's drama. It is death and resurrection, not coaching and makovers." Michael Horton, Christless Christianity.

Baseball season is about to start. I really don't like baseball. Too slow for my taste. During the dead of summer, it is almost like there are no sports going on. I'm just waiting for football. Although, our church has formed THREE softball teams with about 50 players and they'll be playing mostly on Monday nights, so I am glad for the fact that a lot of people from our church will be hanging out together and building relationships. Being blind in my right eye caused me to never play baseball because I have no depth perception, so maybe that is why I don't like it. I do plan to play summer league basketball, though. 

The groundbreaking for our church's new building is April 5, right before we have a huge neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt. We've been reaching a lot of teenagers in our community lately, and God really moved in their lives at a youth retreat that we had this past weekend. Several came to Christ and many more opened their hearts to Jesus. We have also started tutoring, GED classes, and are helping with job placement.  God is doing some amazing things. The building is just a tool to help us with this, and it should be finished by October. I'll be very happy.

I keep watching Jon & Kate plus Eight. I don't know why. Erika keeps asking why I stop there when we are watching TV and I have the remote and I told her that I really can't believe how mean Kate is to Jon and I can't fathom how they manage eight kids like that. Wow. It's like a car wreck. I have four kids of my own. Do I really need to watch someone else's stress? Strangely, I'm drawn to it. That, and Clean House, which is about people who live in an unfathomable mess.  I guess that it is cathartic to see other people's stress and mess instead of my own.  Normally, these shows come on right after we put the kids to bed. Hmmm.

I turned in my taxes yesterday and I'm trying to get some insurance stuff taken care of. It's a pain and seems to be taking forever. Car tags have to be paid on Monday and I'm doing a TV interview tomorrow for a local religious broadcasting station about our work in India. I lump all of that together because it all feels about the same to me - stuff I have to do that I don't like doing. I'm not just trying to be humble about the TV thing either. I HATE stuff like that. Communication should be two-way and interactive with feedback, not captured on a television for people to pick over and misinterpret as they wish. Maybe I'm just insecure. 

Books I'm reading right now (they happen to all be "Christian" books, which is not good - I need to vary things up a bit and learn from some other disciplines):

• Finding God in Unexpected Places by Philip Yancey - picked it up in the airport last week. Yancey writes essays about where he sees God working in the world. Excellent.
• Christless Christianity by Michael Horton - states that the American church has given itself over to an alternative gospel that he calls, therapuetic moralistic deism.
• No Place for Truth - Or Whatever Happened to Evangelical Theology by David Wells. This came out about 15 years ago, but it was recommended to me by a friend of mine. It is pretty dense, but a good read. Makes some of the same claims as Horton, but from a historical perspective.
• People of the Dream: Multiracial Congregations in the United States by Michael O. Emerson. Just picked this one up.

My church is always heavy on my mind and my heart. I graduated from seminary over 9 years ago. I've been the lead pastor of our church for 3 1/2 years. I'm realizing more and more each day that I am not smart enough, talented enough, entertaining enough, or gifted enough to do what needs to be done, no matter how many books I read. God has to work through me. I need Him. I carry the weight of people's struggles pretty intensely. I greatly desire for people to walk with the Lord and to glorify Him and I want our church to hunger after Christ with their whole lives and to reach people who do not know Jesus. But, I am really having to pray about this and release it to the Lord. I can't make anyone do anything. I am completely powerless to make anything happen. God has to do it.  I have always known that intellectually. I am learning that emotionally and spiritually and it isn't easy, believe it or not.

Ashtyn has started soccer.

I have great kids and an amazing wife who listens to me go on and on about everything that I am thinking about. She is really patient and she always gives me great feedback. I do not deserve her, and I'm not just saying that because it is what I am expected to say. She's really something. She texted me two days ago and said that we should go on the mission trip with the youth group this summer. I told her that I agreed. Not many mother's of four kids would do that. 

My city, Montgomery, just elected a new mayor in a special election a couple of weeks ago. In his election night interview, he said that he hoped that he would "rule" well.  Rule #1 in American politics: Never tell the people that you plan to "rule" them. It doesn't sit well in a democracy. Then, he said that he was pushing the inauguration back a week because he was taking his family to the beach. Rule #2:  When we are in a severe recession, don't tell the people that just elected you that you would begin to rule, er, serve them, but first, you have to go to the beach.  Go to the beach in a few months AFTER you have worked for them for a little while. Wow.

Look, a BUTTERFLY!!!! Sorry, had to get that out. Does anyone ever feel that way? Random as can be.

I've lost 10 pounds in the past two weeks and I don't know how. I guess that I haven't been eating as much. Duh. Stress? Busyness? I don't know, but I'll take it. I could stand to lose a lot more.

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Well, that's about it. Not really, but I figure that no one is still reading at this point, so I might as well stop. Believe it or not, engaging in an exercise in complete randomness actually made me feel better. So, I leave you with a picture of my kids that I really love. 

God is good, by the way.  And, He's always working in every thing. Big, little, important, mundane. God is always at work.