Merry Christmas!

Pragmatic teaching

The other day I was listening to a pastor named Matt Chandler speak at a conference on the internet and he was talking about preaching to the de-churched. These are people who grew up in church or went to church and now no longer go to church and he said an interesting thing about them. He said that the first generation of a family that hears and accepts the Gospel loves the Gospel. The 2^nd generation of that family assumes the Gospel. They have heard it and it’s their birth-right. The 3^rd Generation hates the Gospel. Why? He states that the reason that they hate the Gospel is because their parents grew up assuming the Gospel and the church assumed the Gospel and instead of teaching these children about the holiness and majesty of God they were taught morality 101. Things like

- don’t smoke

- don’t drink

- don’t see movies

He goes on to say that these children have been raised that if they just keep the rules then God owes them something. So when they get out on their own and their heart gets broke or their parents get divorced or some other tragedy happens they begin to hate God because He has let them down.

May we always be lifting up the name of Jesus and the Majesty of our heavenly Father.

Pet peeves

I have two pet peeves about Christians: People that take everything too seriously; and people that don't take important things seriously enough...

On the one hand, you have people that take everything WAY too seriously;

Themselves, carpet color, getting their way, children running in church, plastic or silver-ware, their importance.

On the other hand, you have others who don't take important things seriously enough. To this type of person, everything will work its way out in due time. There's no need to be charged up about anything. No need to measure effectiveness. No reason to challenge the status quo. Truth is, there are some things worth fighting for.

I know what you're thinking (because I'm thinking the same thing myself). How do I differentiate between the person who is taking things way too seriously and the person who is not taking things seriously enough? And what makes me think that I am the one that can discern the proper balance? I mean, obviously, I would hope that I would be one of the balanced ones, but maybe I'm the one out of whack.

Here's one way that I try to discern what I need to be serious about:

Was Jesus serious about it?

I mean... what was Jesus serious about? Because that's what I want to be serious about.

Saving the lost? Yep. Carpet color or worship style? No. Making disciples? Yes. Arguing about money or service times? Not so much.

Maybe that's a question that everyone answers differently. Maybe that's why we get caught up in useless fights that keep many of our churches stagnant and declining.

I think it's Craig Groeschel that I heard say once that

"HELL IS HOT AND TIME IS SHORT".

I like that. It puts things in a whole new perspective for me.

For those people who take everything so seriously: Hell is hot and time is short. Stop diddling around, talking about things that don't matter. Don't tread water talking preferences when you should be talking REDEMPTION. Stop taking everything that doesn't even matter so dang seriously. Enough already.

To those people who don't take things seriously enough: Hell is hot and time is short. We don't have all day to do the important things. In fact, we don't know how much time we have left to reach the people we're charged to reach. When it comes to the things that Jesus took seriously, we had better take them seriously as well. Enough. Get on with the work.

The word of excuse

I was sitting and thinking the other day of how we tend to justify things in our lives. Often when we justify things it's because we are doig things that others might find objectionable. An employee will take a little longer than allowed at lunchg but they will justify it by say they "deserved" it. That word deserve is the word of excuse. We use this word to justify many, many things. If one person gossips about another they will say that the other person "deserved" it because of what they did. If a person got caught doing something and was punished we often say that got what they deserved. But isn't interesting that if we are the offending party and we get caught or gossiped about we never say that? Usually we play the victim.

Somehow we believe that the justice of the universe is based on each person getting what they deserve; good people get good things and bad people get bad things (isn't that fair?). We will move from job to job looking to get what we "deserve" because the former company didn't recognize our greatness and we'll talk about how they ripped us off, and rip the company and say we hope they get what they deserve (which is usually bad) but many times what we fail to realize is that the problem in us not getting what we "deserve" is not with the company but with us.

Or in the Christian world we will move from church to church trying to find that elusive perfect church where all is in harmony. Pastors do this all the time and so do church members because after all do we not "deserve" it. We work hard, we throw a few dollars in the plate, we show up most of the time do we not "deserve" the church catering to our needs? and when a church doesn't we move on bashing the former church as "uncaring" or "not meeting my needs or the needs of my kids" or "not being fed". Now some of this can be said about every church but when does the problem become about us. Maybe we are the problem!

Others will get upset with church leadership. "They are the problem" they will bellow because usually church leadership is not living up to their standard (as though their standard is the bench mark) and they will leave their current church spouting toxic gas to all who will listen justifying it by shouting about how they deserve better because of their service, attendance, etc...

Why do we do this? I believe in part it's because of american psychology to blame someone else for our shortcomings. If we blame someone else first it shifts the attention away from us. This week it was revealed that a famous late night host had been cheating on his spouse for a long time. What makes this extremely odorous is due to this host bashing other public figures for doing the same thing.

I believe another part, especially in the church, is due to lack of maturity. In the church I see so many examples of people who prayed a prayer once to get "saved" but really are about the same as they were before. Sure they have cleaned up their language, they carry a Bible etc... but they still spout mean and angry things at people. Their attitudes still stink, they still hold grudges, prejudice, pride, envy, short tempers and yet will justify it with the word "deserve"

Maybe the real problem in the church is with the preachers. Maybe we have told the congregation too many times that they deserve better. Maybe we have let on that because you show up to church God owes you something. Maybe we have made the insinuation that you deserve Heaven because your good works outweigh your bad. Maybe we have been too scared to confront, with the word of God, mean-spirited idiots who love to spout negativity and self-righteousness to the heavens . Maybe we have been too worried to confront folks because we are too scared of losing them and the numbers go down

Let's let God have the last word as He knows what each of us deserve:

For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body. 2 Cor. 5:10

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 1:9

..Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches out the thoughts and intentions of every person. And I will give to each of you whatever you deserve. Rev. 2:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

Sunday was AWESOME!!

Saw 5 people step up and go public with their decision to follow Jesus. It is the greatest thing to baptize people, it NEVER gets old!! Saw new people come to witness the baptisms and I hope that the examples of these 5 will see these folks keep coming.

Highs and Low's of a ministry week

This week I got to experience the high and lows of ministry.

Sunday was GREAT!! Great worship, I felt "on" while preaching and peoples lives were changed. (btw didn't hurt that the Bears won!)

Sunday night: Wedding counseling with Adam and Annie. Exciting to see a great couple getting a great start on their life together. I have the honor to share in their joy.

Monday: Peyton Isabella Rowe is born!!! It was so exciting to share in some of my best friends joy.

Monday night: Spent time at the hospital with a dear friend who was preparing to go "home" to be with Jesus.

Tuesday: Peyton is placed in the NIC Unit for low blood sugar. I have been in these units before and they can be difficult places to be in not to mention the heartbreak for the mothers and fathers who have their child taken from them and can only see them during certain hours.

Tuesday: Called to hospital as my friend Gene is in the last day of his life. Spent time with his lovely wife Alice and prepared for his funeral.

Wednesday: Got the call that Gene passed away at 11:40 am.

Wednesday afternoon: Peyton would spend another day in NICU. Family heartbroken.

Wednesday evening: Spent time with another couple who want me to do their wedding and to share in their joy.

Wednesday Evening: Had the joy of serving a couple in doing a couple of projects at their home.

Thursday morning: Talked with Alice and prepared Gene's home-going. I have the honor of preaching his funeral.

Thursday afternoon: Peyton is finally out of NICU and is coming home tomorrow.

Friday: Another couple are having a baby, Matt and Sheri. More joy and excitement!!

Friday Evening: Gene's visitation

Friday Evening: DATE NIGHT with my lovely spouse!

Saturday: Gene's Funeral, will be tough! What a great service!! Saw our great Deacon board serving a great family in their time of need. Thank you servants!!

People always say that things were better "back in the day." Ah not when it comes to dancing. (btw, I used to dance like this and now I'm receiving therapy.)

Dance Moves from the 90s! - Click here for more amazing videos