60 Minutes for 60 Days

While I was at Catalyst a few weeks ago, I had some very amazing men speak to me about their churches and about God, and I was positively impacted by many of them.  One such man is John Burke, who is the senior pastor of Gateway Church.  He also wrote "No Perfect People Allowed" which is in my library, and on my short list.  He told us how one of the things his church is doing to bring people closer to God is a 60 Minutes for 60 Days campaign.  During this time, everyone in the church sets a time telling device (watch, cell phone, etc.) to chime every hour, and when it does, you stop and take a moment or two to acknowledge, talk to, worship, etc. God.  Once we hit the door for the way home on Sunday morning, we begin immediately getting distracted from God by the rest of the world.  This is a great way to be constantly reminded that He is right there all the time, and that He desires relationship with us all the time.  

They began this a few weeks ago, and I am starting mine today.  I wanted to do the 60 days leading up to Christmas as a way to build my relationship up between now and then, and hopefully enjoy an even more meaningful Christmas celebration.  I don't usually wear a watch, so it will take a little time to get used to having it on all the time, but I really think it will be worth it.  It's a modern day way to begin practicing the presence of God, like Brother Lawrence and so many others have done in the past.  And hopefully, my paying more attention to God will conversely make me pay less attention to other things that are the sinful distractions in my life.  Try it for yourself!  

Standing in the Gap

Ezekiel 22:30 "I looked for someone among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found no one."  This is one of the saddest commentaries on the Israelites from the Old Testament, but is it a relavent commentary still today?  God had said that the land was thick with cheating and murdering, lying and stealing, and all kinds of wickedness - so there needed to be someone or some people to rise up, and build the wall back up in order to protect the land from evil, people to stand in the gap and keep the Enemy out...but He found no one.   My TNIV note said God was looking for people of integrity.  John Maxwell says you have integrity when your deed matches your creed.  There is still a need for men and women of integrity today who will stand up and begin to build a protective wall around this land, who will fight to keep the Enemy from advancing to the inner regions.  I'm not talking about publicly condemning sin and telling everyone how evil Satan is.  I'm talking about not being a channel through which those things flow.  Being instead a wall that doesn't allow it past.  God is looking for you to stand in the gap with integrity in order to be part of the wall that protects His creation instead of helping to destroy it.  

Catalyst

To say the least, the three days I spent in Atlanta last week are going to play a HUGE part in my future.  I attended Catalyst, a conference on Christian leadership.  It was so awesome.  I couldn't possibly talk about all the things I heard and was influence by, so I am updating my links on this page with some blogs and homepages of the guys who really made an impact on me.  I encourage you, for the good of the Body of Christ and how it will be carried on into the future, to check out some of these sites and open yourself up the be influenced by men who are doing huge things for the Kingdom of God right now.  My only challenge to you is to think about this:  what year is it?  Now, what year is your church operating out of?  If your church has been doing things the same way for 10 years, it has probably lost quite a bit of relevance to today's culture.  Never would I suggest we change our theology, because God and His Gospel never change and are always good.  But in order to reach people that nobody else is reaching, we might need to do things nobody else is doing.  Reread these words and let God work in your heart and challenge you.  Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but our ONLY goal here is to reach more lost souls - not to preserve the past.  But neither should any church seek to be so relevant that they become disconnected.  The Gospel is our message, and it needs no help - we only need to bring it, to people, today.  We've been changed to bring change.  Are we trying to preserve tradition at the risk of losing the Gospel?  

Fatherhood

Becoming a father has been one of the biggest challenges of my life so far.  And he's only 4 months old!  I can't begin to tell you how I am worried already about broken bones and trips to the dentist and his defiant attitude that is only so far away.  But, I think I'm doing alright.  Taking the first week of his life off from work was a great decision and I was really able to take care of my family and bond with Ross, and not to mention I got to change a couple hundred diapers!  It was hard to go back to work, but not nearly as hard as when Sarah went back to work.  She only works about two days a week, but on those days, I hardly see Ross at all.  And I hear storied of how he is doing all kinds of neat stuff at grandma's house that I never get to witness.  It's pretty hard sometimes.  But only in that I miss him, and want to hold him and interact with him.  

The first several weeks, all the constant crying was hard, but I got some good advice from two people that really helped.  First, a coworker said (from experience) - you need to get some good earplugs, to take the edge off of the screaming, allowing you to calm down enough to still do what you need to do.  See a baby's cry is designed by God to absolutely shoot right through a man like nothing else, and that's so we'll do something about it.  But the earplugs were great - I only used them twice, but both times I was able to not get SO tense that I got frazzled.  The other advice came from Sarah, and she said, when you start getting upset, just hand him off to me.  I at first wanted so much to be able to "handle it" that I would fight the urge to call her in - like I couldn't take care of my own crying baby!  But she was right, sometimes you just need to switch off - when you are tense, the baby senses that and you won't be able to calm it down because you're not calm.  (Coincidently, I got to be the calmer one once recently, and now I understand the full circle of it).  

It is difficult, but I wouldn't change a thing!  I love Ross, and I like having a baby around, and I can't wait for the things he is going to do in the future (famous last words, I know).  But I was quite surprised to hear a piece on the morning news this morning that suggested that new fathers are very susceptible to depression because it's so hard, and you should seek counseling and anti-depressants to handle it.  They even recommended visiting a website called www.saddaddy.com .  That IS sad.  I wonder if some of the dads who are that depressed were actually ready (commitment wise) for fatherhood, or if they sort of became daddies and it wasn't their desire at that time.  My advice to anyone out there thinking of becoming a father soon - go spend some real time with couples who have infants and young toddlers and talk to them.  Hold their babies and play with their kids, and maybe even change a diaper (although really, it's not nearly as bad as you think it will be - honest!).  Sarah and I have kept up good communication since Ross was born, and we have been able to alter things for the family as needed.  I was spending Saturdays golfing for a couple weeks and then studying in the evenings, and wasn't really spending quality time with the family.  We talked about this and I changed my priorities and schedule and it's been better for all of us.   And future dads, talk to other dads, and ask them the questions you really want to know, and how they have dealt with things.  Most assuredly every couple benefits from having God in their relationship, and having access to his counsel and love and peace.  This is a vital part of our family life and should be yours too.  God can get you through anything, even being a father, without resorting to the internet or pills.  

Battling My Biggest Opponent

I put this together almost a year ago from one of my treks up to Reddish Knob.  It seemed fitting for my thoughts this morning.  I have been reading a book by Os Guinness called God in the Dark.  It's a book about doubt - where it comes from and what to do with it.  The chapter I just finished talked about exactly, dead-on what I have been going through the last couple months.  

In the last 4 years, I have taken 3 years worth of seminary classes, I have read approximately 60 books on Christianity, have been involved with weekly Bible study, daily Bible reading, prayer, preaching (infrequently), and much discussion on matters of faith and spirituality.  I am not mentioning this for bragging purposes - no, in fact I am still a beginner seeking to learn more and more - I mentioned it to set up the context of the situation.  The thing that has been nagging me quite a bit (and increasingly more and more) lately has been temptation.  The areas that the temptations come from are things that I know to myself to be unquestioned, resolute areas that I flat out would never go.  But the thoughts have been coming more frequently, they have been getting more rationalizing, and more persistent.  

The conflict that arises is, how can I - someone so involved in my Christian walk, someone who reads so much, who studies and all that - how can I struggle so much with these temptations?  Am I really not such a good Christian?  Is my faith really weak?  I have prayed for help in this arena, but have seen only negative progress.  Why???  What's going on here?  What can I do to fix this?

As I was reading this morning, it was as if God was writing me a letter to provide me the answer I had been looking for.  Here are some of the quotes from different people in the chapter I read today:  

"Moods never go by praying, moods go by kicking.  A mood nearly always has its seat in the physical condition, not the moral.  It is a continual effort not to listen to the moods which arise from a physical condition, never submit to them for a second.  We have to take ourselves by the scruff of the neck and shake ourselves, and we will find that we can do what we said we could not." - Oswald Chambers  

"Have you realized that most of your unhappiness in life is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself?"  - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"...address yourself, preach to yourself, question yourself"  - Martyn Lloyd-Jones

"Unless we train our emotions they will lead us around by the nose, and we will be captives to every passing impulse or reaction." - Oswald Chambers

"For my part, I run with a clear goal before me; I am like a boxer who does not beat the air; I bruise my own body and make it know its master." - The Apostle Paul in Corinthians

The problem was not that there was anything wrong with my faith.  Christian truth is still true, and my faith is as strong as it really is.  The problem is that I have been letting my emotions (that change with each passing situation around me) dictate my thoughts and suggested actions and I have been a slave to emotion - my faith has been captive to emotion.  I have been listening to myself (and we all know how our imaginations can run wild if not kept in check) instead of talking to myself (bringing the harsh reality check in when it's needed).  

My biggest opponent is my undisciplined self, and the emotional rollercoaster that is allowed to run free if I don't do something about it.  I prayed for outside help - what I needed to do was grab the bull I was sitting on by the horns and take charge myself.  When those temptations arise from now on, I will confront them with preaching, with reality checks, with menacing and bruising force (metaphorically).  I am a tough guy - and I'm tired of being pushed around and feeling like there's nothing I can do.  It's time to get tough with myself.

Emotion has its place in life, but that place is not in the driver's seat.  Think of all the times that people's emotions get out of control and how that dictates their actions - faith should dictate our emotions, not the other way around.  I feel strengthened today, and I hope you do too if you've been dealing with similar issues.  

C.S. Lewis says "Faith is the art of holding onto things your reason has once accepted, in spite of our change of moods." 

The Church

This last Sunday I went to church at Nags Head Church, which is the church we go to when we are on vacation at the beach. Over the last several years I have gotten to know a few of the people there a bit, including the pastor's son, Nathan. I just added his blog as a link to visit from my site because his story is one of absolute trials and faith. I'm not worthy of telling his story for him, so please just read his blog to find out what he and his wife and daughter have been through and the story they have to tell - it will melt your heart, strengthen your faith, and rock your world. I don't know him all that well, but Nathan is a friend of mine and he has taught me a lot about church. There are many things that Nags Head Church has: a cool building shaped like a wave, a phenomenal worship band, a Spirit-led and God-honoring pastor who is an exceptional leader and preacher, and a group of wonderful people as the body there. I absolutely love attending there, it blesses my heart so much that it hurts me inside to leave after only one worship service a year. And that's the way it should be.


For all the things that that church has or doesn't have, there is one thing that they are that can be summed up in one word: genuine. They are genuine Christians and it shows in everything they do. The worship wraps around you and you fall into it because it is so genuine and Spirit-led. The words of the pastor, whether they are stern, joking, instructional, or story-telling, they are all genuine, spoken to the people, straight from God.

Is my church genuine? Am I? These things are a lot more difficult to see in the mirror than they are in someone else. It made me take a good hard look at myself and ask, when people are around me, do they see a genuine Christian, or do they see someone who talks the right way and knows some things but doesn't seem quite like the real thing. What is the experience like at my church? It is different. Maybe it's different for me and not for others, but I think regardless, it may not be quite as genuine. As a member of my church, I include myself in the Church I talk of.

If we're not where we need to be, why? What needs to happen in a church in order to get the body functioning as genuine Christians all of the time? If there was an easy answer to that, all churches would be healthy and wonderful because we would know how to do it. As an up and coming Christian leader, I struggle with this immensely - what should the Church look like (what should it be), and how do I get people from outside of that framework into it?

In his book The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer says, "We Christians are the Church, so whatever we are doing is what the Church is doing." Well, that's a good answer, but it's a scary one too. That puts the responsibility on the people in the church, not just the pastor. The whole can not be greater than the sum of its parts. What each church actually is - is the sum of each member of that church and what they are currently doing. If the church is made up of a bunch of genuine Christians with servant's hearts who are surrendered to God's will - you will have a church that is the very same. If your church has a decent leader, but the people generally are just Sunday morning attenders and they're not in God's will and are not surrendered and genuine in their daily lives, then the very same things will be true of your church. Again, this clearly shows that the personality, if you will, of a church does not stem from the pastor, but from all of the people in that church. What am I doing as a Christian? Do I understand the parallel consequences of what I am doing to the type of church I am a part of? The kind of Christian you are is a direct influence upon the church you regularly attend. And every person there has the same level of accountability and responsibility in this regard.

As I continue to reflect on my time at Nags Head Church, it creates a clear picture in my mind of the type of Christians who make up that church - because it comes through not only in the worship, or the message, but the entire experience - from the time you park to the time you leave the property. Now, if I don't think my church experience is the same (as good), then who's partly to blame for that? ME. If I want my church to be a certain way or do a certain thing, I need to be that way and do that thing first. What we do and who are are is what the Church is doing and what the Church is. Think about that, and ask yourself what kind of church you want, and what you're going to do about it in your own life.

Some final thoughts from the message brought to us last Sunday. "We must change so others can be changed by knowing us." "Let it be said of us that we lived our lives as a blessing to others." "In what significant ways is my life being changed by the Word of God?" "I've been changed to bring change."

Let these words be the words we live by as Christians. I will challenge myself with these phrases in order to ensure that I am a vital part of whatever church body I attend. I pray you would challenge yourself with these too.

Nowadays

Nowadays, things are different. On June 26, Ross Vernon Keegan came into our world and everything has been different. I see the world differently, my priorities have changed, and I am growing in new ways every day. Being a father is one of the most challenging and rewarding things in life. With a demanding full-time job, and earning a Master's degree on the side, it is very difficult to balance everything. So far so good though. The one thing getting me through is the absolutely remarkable wife God blessed me with - Sarah. She is so amazing with Ross. She is so patient, nurturing, and wonderful. No one can calm him like she can, and he smiles for her more than anyone else too. I get frazzled from time to time, but she is my strength and my rock in those times. I can't imagine raising a child with a better person.

I am about halfway through seminary. Through my academic and personal reading and studies, there have been so many new things that I have begun to think about. What exactly is the Emergent Church Movement? Are these guys on the right track or steering off course? Tozer's book "The Knowledge of the Holy" reminds me that I can't ever define God - so how do I know Him? We have discussed that in our Bible study recently. The more I read the Bible, the more questions I have, but we don't reach God through reason but by faith. How do I let go of those questions in the right way in order to actually strengthen my faith, instead of fill myself with doubt? I have been challenged in the ways of church government in some of my recent activities in the church. I am frustrated with antiquated language and ideas. I could go on and on.

I have been doing well with reading through the entire Bible in a year, except the month of August was pretty much disregarded. The more I got behind, the more daunting it seemed to try to catch up. I am on vacation next week and plan to do all my catch up reading then and be back on track for September. It has been one of the biggest blessings in my life though to have such regular contact with God's word. The interaction between what I am reading daily and the books I am also reading, as well as what I study in school is so interesting and enriching on both ends.

I am close to finishing up Tozer's book, and I have Peterson and Lewis books on deck next, as well as a couple by some new guys that look interesting. I think if I was able to, I would read for 2-3 hours a day. Man, am I dreaming though! Oh well, little strokes fell great oaks.

A young woman in my Bible study just left to do a year long mission trip to India. You can check her out at http://kpthemissionary.googlepages.com/. Pray for her whenever you get a chance. Her name is Kim.

I think that's about it for now. I am going to a Christian leadership conference in October called Catalyst. The host is Andy Stanley, senior pastor at NorthPoint Community Church in Atlanta. He is one of my really big guys right now. I listen to his sermons a lot. I think the conference is going to be a huge boost for me spiritually, and possibly in the area of future plans. As always, feel free to comment anytime, just to say hi, or ask questions, or discuss whatever.

The Covenants

Most Christians are familiar with the term "the New Covenant", but many don't know the whole story of the covenants. There are actually five covenants mentioned in the Bible. A covenant is a way in which God expresses His plan to humans, in the form of a promise. We have been talking about the covenants in Transformation and had some great discussion last night. A good understanding of the covenants opens up a greater understanding of the other stuff that's in the Bible and how to properly apply it. God's intention throughout all time has been to bless man. But man keeps rebelling, to God modifies His covenant throughout history in order to keep blessing.

The Noahic Covenant
The first covenant was made to Noah. You can find it in Genesis 9:11 and God basically says, Never again will I destroy the earth with a flood. This was an undonditional covenant, meaning man didn't have to do anything in order for God to keep His end. Regardless of all else, God wouldn't flood the earth again. And we have the rainbow in the sky to remind us of that still today.

The Abrahamic Covenant
The second covenant was made to Abraham. In Genesis 17:1-8, God changes Abram's name (meaning exalted father) to Abraham (meaning father of many). He also promises that He will make Abraham's descendants a great nation, that will be God's nation, and that He will give them Canaan as their own land. This too was an unconditional covenant, meaning God would do this, regardless. As you read what has happened in between the first and second covenants, you see that man in general has continued in its wicked ways, so God now wants to establish just one nation as His own, to be "a kingdom of priests."

The Mosaic Covenant
The third covenant was made to Moses, in Exodus 19:5-6. This covenant had a condition though. It basically said, IF you obey Me, then I will bless you. The implication here is the opposite - that if you don't obey God, you will not have His blessing. In fact, in Deuteronomy 28, Moses even explains it very clearly that obedience will be followed by blessing, disobedience will result in God cursing you (through failing crops, disease, military defeat, etc.). (Cursing is not synonymous with cussing.)

The Davidic Covenant
The fourth covenant was made with David, in 2 Samuel 7:14-16. This covenant was also conditional but was conditional not on the entire nation, but upon the kings (David's descendants). God says that if the kings obey, the people will be blessed. God also promises that He will establish that throne (the line of David) forever. This covenant had the same implication as the other though, that if the king was not obedient to God, the people would not receive blessing.

The New Covenant
The fifth and final covenant is the New Covenant, and we find it in Jeremiah 31:31-34. In this covenant God declares that this covenant won't be like the old ones, but instead He will forgive their sins and remember them no more. This is a covenant He will establish in the future, which He ended up doing through Jesus Christ. "I will be their God, and they will be my people...they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest." And we know that this was implemented because Jesus died for all of our sins, thus allowing us to no longer be separated from God, but be in relationship with Him in a way that wasn't possible before. And this is the covenant that we are under still today.

There are several reasons why the covenants are so important and foundational to our understanding. First, the Bible is God's Word to us about our past, present, and future and how He is involved in all three. It is a theological history book, showing us what role God has played in human history, and also what His plan is for the future. As we read that history, we can use these covenants as landmarks to see what God was doing in order to bless man throughout history. If you are reading say, in the book of Joshua, and you read that someone disobeyed God and was put to death, keeping in mind the Mosaic covenant allows a proper application of that Scripture. God won't put someone to death today for disobedience, why? Because we are under a different covenant now. All of our sins are forgiven. But, back in that day, there was a different covenant, and that's how it worked. Everything in the Bible is worthy of application to our lives today, but it needs to be properly applied. A good understanding of the covenants is one thing that helps us to do that. We can apply from something like that that God REALLY desires obedience from us. We can also be thankful that God established the New Covenant with us.

Reading about the covenants also helps us really see just how much God wants to have a relationship with us and desires to bless us. He could easily have given up long ago, but instead He established continuing covenants to let us know He has not given up and He still desires great things for us.

Another way that the covenants can be of assistance is that they can literally be landmarks as you study the Bible. If you know when in history God made the various covenants, then regardless of what you are studying, you have a better overall understanding of what the situation was at that time, based on the covenant that the people were under.

In our Bible study last night, there were many great questions about the covenants. Hopefully this will inspire you to study them, and develop questions and then seek to answer them in fellowship with other Christians. What other overarching themes are in the Bible that help us to understand the finer points of our theology? Get into God's Word and discover them today. It is impossible for us to have great understanding of something we refuse to read.

The Power of the Monk

In school we have been studying monasticism recently. People desired to escape the immoral society and get out into the wilderness alone with God in order to train themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. The one problem in their early thinking was that they stayed there alone with God and never returned to society.

But they were definitely on to something important. In today's society of instant gratification and media surrounding us we often don't ever think that it might be a good idea to step away from that from time to time. But let's face it, with everything going on around us, it's hard to keep up good relationships with those we want to. How much more difficult is it to keep up a relationship with God, whom we can't see or hear physically? He's there, but we don't see or hear him because of all the distractions. We need to get back in touch with the discipline of Solitude.

Two books that everyone should read regarding spiritual discipline are The Spirit of the Disciplines by Dallas Willard and Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster - in that order. Dallas talks about our big problem in Christianity being the concept of WWJD. We somehow have come to think that if we just want to bad enough, we can make good decisions in the moment - imitating all the good decisions Jesus made when facing the Pharisees and being obedient even to death. We think we can be like Jesus, but we miss an important part of the equation. Much of Jesus' time was spent alone, in a quiet place (like the desert, or a garden, or mountaintop) - fasting and praying, spending time alone with God. And this is where He drew His strength from. It was always after a time like this that He came back to society and did something amazing. He would strengthen Himself in the Lord, through solitude and prayer, and then do the "Jesus things" we try to imitate. But we never imitate His discipline. It's like me watching baseball all the time and thinking that if I were to get the chance to hit against a major league pitcher, I could probably hit a pretty good one - maybe even a homerun - because I am so familiar with it - from watching. But the problem is I never put the time into disciplining myself like major league hitters do. Practicing their swing thousands of times, weight lifting, eating right, studying pitches. I would have false confidence. And many Christians suffer from this - and it harms their overall journey on the spiritual path of life.

We can't be like Jesus in part, we have to imitate the whole. We have to be well-versed with Scripture like He was and practice the disciplines. This is what the monks valued - practicing and honing their spritual skills. One problem some of them had though was that they never returned to society to benefit anyone else with that spiritual strength. And this is a problem we have today too. Sometimes we believe that our Christianity is about us and God. We just need to work on our relationship with Him on a personal level and once we've achieved that, we're happy. But that's because we're selfish. We negate everything Jesus taught us, and in fact, much of the teaching from the Pentateuch as well - that we are supposed to take care of those around us, guiding them towards Jesus. But if we never take our relationship with God back into society, we fail this most important mission - the Great Commission.

So, I admire the early monks for seeing the value in solitude, but I urge everyone (especially myself) to then turn around and come back to society with that renewed strength and be the salt and light this world so desperately needs. Solitude. Think about it...

Recent Thoughts

I have not been a good little blog host in about, oh almost 5 months now. What can I say? Life comes at you fast. It was very shortly after my last post that I found out my wife was pregnant with our first child. Yesterday I felt it moving in her belly for the first time. July 1 (or roundabout), we will receive our first child, the greatest gift God has given us thus far besides our salvation and each other.

My wonderful cousins Becky and Duane got me some Andy Stanley cds for Christmas which I have listened to 4 times already. He talks about Christian leadership and the things he has to say are really good. Here are some of his big topics:

Never compromise integrity for progress.

Live every day confident that God is with you.

Leaders need to challenge the system, while acting under authority.

Leadership problems stem from heart problems. Guilt, anger, greed, and jealousy can be overcome with confession, forgiveness, generosity, and celebration.

I finished two classes last semester in Hermeneutics and Baptist history. This semester I am taking two courses in Christian history. After this semester, I will be halfway through my degree course on my way to getting a Master's in Divinity from Liberty.

My New Year's resolution this year was to begin a life-long habit of reading my Bible daily - and reading it through in its entirety each year. So far, so good. The more you read the Bible, the more we connect with God and His plan for our lives. And the more times we read the same things, the more wisdom we draw from them (that is of course, the Scriptures).

I am starting a new Bible study group at our church called Transformation which is for 18-29 year olds. Romans 12:2 says that we should not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of our minds. This is what God's Word is all about - changing our lives. Then we take our changed life out into the world and become the salt and light that will preserve and illuminate this dark, decaying world.

I hope to return to more frequent posting effective immediately. Probably by now nobody is even reading this as they have given up on me as a poster. Maybe there will be some curious souls out there who will check it out. Take care and God bless. Come back soon.

The picture below is me on top of Reddish Knob - the tallest point in Northern VA (I think).

Tirelessly faithful

I have gone on two mission trips in the last two years. The first was to Jamaica to do reconstruction work on the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf after they were devastated by Hurricane Ivan two years before that. The second was to Gulfport, Mississippi to do reconstruction work on a couple houses in an area that was severely damaged by Hurricane Katrina. In both cases, when we left to come home, it seemed like things were on the up and up. Our work, combined with the work of many other people, was beginning to shift the momentum of the people there who were directly involved. They were beginning to look like they could come out of it. We could literally see the fruits of our labor in the people and the places. We had gone to the places God had called us and seen Him bless our efforts. We had stepped out of the boat in faith.

Approximately three weeks ago I received a letter in the mail from the CCCD school in Jamaica. This year another hurricane (Dean I think) had come through and done the same amount of damage that Ivan had done before. Roofs were torn off buildings, severe water damage was everywhere - they were back to square one again. All that work, undone in a matter of hours. Then last night we presented a slideshow and other things to our church from the trip to MS. As we came in, we were handed letters from Dick and Joanne (members of our church still working down there). The letters said that things were not good, in fact they were pretty bad. As it looks right now, the house that we worked the most on will be reposessed as they cannot afford the payments required. There are also physical, mental, and emotional problems wearing hard on individuals there. All that work, undone - their house went from unliveable to gone. They are packing up and moving to a temporary location until they can figure out what to do next.

Where is your faith? I have been examining that question this week for myself. The answer is that it is in God and God alone. We are so tempted to put our faith in the things that we do, in our human efforts. It is especially tempting when we see good results. We think WE really made a difference. To really see it from the right perspective though, we should put our faith in God, and let Him use us however He sees fit at that time, and after it's over - regardless of what happens - we need to keep right on having faith in God.

Our merely human cognitive ability is not nearly enough to understand God's ways. Asking "Why?" is probably the most futile question there is. We will only know when we are joined with Him after this life. So if we can't know why, that leaves us with faith. We have to trust God. We have to put things like this in context. Context determines meaning. If we look at these two examples by themselves, it would seem that God is fickle and lets people down, leading you to help someone and then destroying what was done. But this is far from accurate. Because God has been acting for all time, we need to consider these two small events in the context of all events throughout time. Doing so anchors my faith so deeply that it cannot be moved. Sure, my life and things that happen to me will be up and down. Life IS hard, and no one ever said it wasn't. But when things like this happen, I have to go to the place where my faith is anchored and see these events in light of what I know about God. I know He is a good God. I know He is all powerful, all knowing, and that He loves every person so much that He has already won victory FOR US over death and the consequences of our sin. There have been numerous times in my life when I have been comforted by God, provided for by Him, strengthened by Him, given wisdom by Him, and all the time loved by Him. These are the things that keep my faith anchored deeply in God and not in my own human efforts.

Life is hard. Without God in your life, you will struggle miserably with life. But with God in your life, you will still struggle, but you will struggle well. This is especially evident when other Christians come to your aid with prayer, support, love, encouragement, and grace. And so these people need us to help them struggle well in this situation. They need our support (in whatever way we can), they definitely need our prayer, they may need our encouragement, and they always need our love and grace. Sometimes life can beat you down. It can knock the wind right out of you. We need to be tirelessly faithful in our God. We need to look to Him through rough times and when we do, we will find it to be true that He does help us when we're struggling. All these things create the context in which to view the tragic things that happen in life. Help other people to see that context too. Without the context, people tend to draw all kinds of conclusions about the way things work with life and God that lead them away from Him. We need to help them head towards God in a storm. The things that we do here on earth can be destroyed in an instant. But the things that God does, and that His people do in His name (friendship, love, mercy, grace, evangelism, teaching, praying), these eternal things cannot be undone by even the mightiest storm or power. There will always be people in need, and we will always need to help them. And we should keep going back, and keep helping until there is no more need.

Who are we inspired by?

I want to think about the idea of being inspired. I heard a story on the news today that got me thinking about this. Maybe some of you heard the story of the hate crime in West Virginia, where a girl was tortured by at least 6 other people because of her race. They "hated" her and therefore decided to take it out on her. Well, I would say that hate inspires hate in almost every case. As I thought of what kind of horrible people these folks are for what they did, I began to feel hatred towards them. I thought that they needed to be dealt with in a similar fashion. I would also say that in contrast, love inspires love. When someone shows love to another person, it inspires other people to react in a loving way. Hate inspires hate, and love inspires love. This is almost always the case, except with Christians. We are called to be inspired not by the world around us, but by Jesus. Jesus always inspires us to love, never to hate. True, He hates certain things, but He doesn't inspire us to hate.

So, if I am a follower of Jesus, I am to be inspired to love. But in this case, I find it extremely difficult to feel any love towards these people, and others who commit atrocities such as this. So where does that leave me? I know what I am supposed to do, but I can't think of a way to lovingly approach this situation without letting them off the hook for what they did. No one said being a Christian was easy - at least Jesus never said that. But He did say that we need to be salt and light - countercultural in our behavior.

Matthew 5:38-39 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also."

Matthew 5:43-45 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven."

Matthew 7:13-14 "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is that gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

Jesus has clearly set out for us clear instructions for how we are to react to evil. We are not to do nothing, but instead to turn it around and teach them something about Christ. If someone punches me, it is easier to walk away (still being peaceful) than it is to offer to let them punch me again. It is easy to hate my enemies, but harder to love them and pray for them. But the last verse sums up what the goal is - to gain life, and not destruction. Walking away after someone punches you, you will still probably have a grudge with them. But standing there and inviting them to have another go shows that you have let it go. Now, what is "it"? IT is the temptation to respond in kind. Hate inspires hate. But if you are able to be inspired by Jesus, and not the world around you, you are able to offer the person a second punch because you have truly let "it" go - your thoughts and actions are not headed towards destruction, but instead you are choosing life. (although three punches and you may be gambling that life a little too much - just a joke). The point is that it is natural for us to feel hate, but it is not Godly to respond with it. I honestly don't know exactly how to "love" these people that I was hating this morning, but I do know that I can (and will) pray for them. It is not easy. Few will find the road that leads to life. But if we are inspired by Jesus, and allow Him to direct our actions and reactions, and remember why we are doing so - to truly be sons of our Father in heaven, then we will find life, fuller life than we thought possible.

answers to comments

So, now that you all are doing your part, I figured out how to do mine. Having a blog is a lot of work! Ok, no it's not. I am just too busy watching cable TV. Ok, no I'm not.

Anyway, in answer to Nathan, the way that particular situation worked, he took ME to a baseball game, so YES, you are indeed my friend! But, in fact, I would take you to a baseball game if the opportunity ever arose.

Now on to Dave's question about Vintage. Ironically enough, Vintage is for young people. Don't kill the messenger now, but it is a young adult worship service that the Nags Head Church has on Monday nights (on highway 158 just south of Jockey's Ridge) that we attended while on vacation this year. In fact, Nathan is the worship pastor there and a big part of Vintage (hence the "woohoo"). I would imagine though that if you were to be on vacation there soon, say, sometime in September, and wanted to go, you know, just because you are feeling the whole Vintage vibe, that they would probably throw you a slice of pizza and enjoy your company.

In fact, this young adult worship is what is inspiring me to begin a young adult Bible study in our church sometime soon.

Scripture to ponder today: 2 Peter 1:3 "His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness."

He has already given us everything we need, so what's our excuse?

Translations

First, I want to send a big Thank You out to my good friend at the beach, Nathan, for helping me figure out what was up with the comments. Evidently no one was allowed to comment, but now it is fixed.

Here's also a picture of me and Kevin at a Cleveland Indians game about a month ago.

I have begun reading a book for seminary called "How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth" by Fee and Stuart, and it mentions in here some of the differences among versions of the Bible. I have often wondered this and have heard some different things. Here's what they say: There are three ways in which the Bible can be translated - literally, functionally, and freely. The challenge with every version of the Bible as it is being translated is what to keep the same and what to change. The English language is quite different from Hebrew and Greek, and we are also averaging a couple thousand years difference in time, and a couple thousand miles difference in place and culture. So, to translate everything word for word would end up being odd and nonsensical to us. The opposite end of that spectrum is to update the original author's words too much to the point that it borders on commentary instead of translation. In the middle of this spectrum are the translations that have strived to translate in a relevant way to our world today, yet still preserving as much of the meaning (not exact wording necessarily) as possible. So, on the one hand, there are the Bibles that tend to be very literal in translation - and these are the King James Versions and similar. Then there are the freely translated versions - and these are the Message and Living Bible and similar. In the middle of these are the Bibles with the highest degree of functionality and the ones that have had the wording updated in the most common sense way while preserving original meaning, and these are the NIVs and NRSVs. Here is a quote from the book - "The TNIV is as good a translation as you will get." This is because it has the most up to date wording available (therefore having a high degree of relevance), while also having a high degree of original meaning preserved.

I am not making any personal statements on what Bible you should be reading from. In fact, their recommendation is that you begin with a TNIV/NIV as your main source of reading, and then also have an NSRV or NASU (word-updated versions of KJV) to compare with (as these are the more literal wordings), and also incorporate a GNB or NAB in order to give yourself the best possible set of resources for intelligent reading and study of the Bible. It is also recommended that you have a Bible Dictionary as a resource when you need information about people, times, places, etc. They did also mention that if you had a freely translated Bible (such as the Message) that these are sometimes helpful in helping you to think more creatively about what the meaning of a passage might be, but that this should certainly not be the only version you are reading from.

I found this information interesting and personally went promptly to my stack of 9 Bibles to see which ones I had and which ones I might need to investigate further. Of the ones they recommend, I have a couple NIVs, a NRSV and that's about it. I do have the GNB on my computer though. I also have a KJV, LB, MSG, NEB, and NCV, plus a whole slew on the computer. This book is a great book at helping you to figure out how to interpret the Bible on your own - without relying heavily on commentaries or other sources. You can do it, if you know the proper methods. Check this book out, or borrow it from me in about 4 weeks when I will be done with it. And above all, get in your Bible, whatever version you have, every day!

Update

I don't have any deep theological issues to discuss this afternoon but do so enjoy blogging that I needed to post something. So, I am sending out an update. Sarah and I finally returned to our church after missing a month straight (2 weeks guest preaching, 1 week visiting friends in Cleveland, and 1 week at the beach). It was good to be back.

I have really been enjoying my Sunday School class study recently. It is John Ortberg's "If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat." We have had some really great discussions and insights from this study and I am thankful to Lauri for bringing it to us.

I successfully completed my summer semester of seminary in which I studied all about spiritual discipline. I am starting my fall semester on Monday, kicking off the first 8 weeks with a course in Hermeneutics (definition later - when I know it!) and the second 8 weeks will be a History of Baptists I think. Not my number one choice for how to spend 8 weeks, but a requirement in order to graduate, so I am agreeable to it.

My next time preaching will be October 7 at my church, First Baptist of Woodstock.

We had a great time at the beach this year, staying in a new house that we hope to stay in for years to come. The weather was hot, but the water was refreshing and the time away was priceless. We attended Nags Head Church on Sunday morning as usual and also went back on Monday evening for a young adults gathering called Vintage. They have some really good things going on there.

I am on the third book in a one-two-three punch series I am reading for personal enjoyment. The first two were The Church on the Other Side by Brian McClaren and The Church in Transition by Tim Conder. The third book I am reading now is Beyond Beliefs to Convictions by Josh McDowell. All three address postmodernism and the church. This last book will talk specifically about ways to discuss God, the authority of Scripture, etc. with today's youth - the goal being to move them beyond mere beliefs (which are subject to change) to convictions (rock solid beliefs that move you towards action) so that we will have a strong emerging culture of Christians in an ever increasing world of disbelief.

We have been watching the Truth Project on Friday nights at Bible Study and it has been wonderful. Last night especially, I connected quite strongly with the topic. Towards the end he addressed art from a Christian perspective. I am employed in an artistic job and have struggled to come to my own definition of what I think great art is, and to know why I like something or not. The answer last night was that Christians have left art up to the non-believing culture, and therefore we rely on them to define it and create it. We need to get more Christians back into art so that people out there will have another perspective on art and see another type of creativity beyond what the world has to offer.

Running out of updatable material, so I'm done. I have to start reading for my next semester anyway. This first 8 weeks, I 'only' have 3 textbooks to read. If you haven't yet, talk to God today, see what's on His mind, and promise to talk to Him again later, or tomorrow - but keep talking to Him, and keep listening. That's advice that can't miss.

One last thing - I received my first comment from someone about one of the posts on my blog. I would encourage more of you to do the same. I would love to hear other ideas and opinions on the things I am writing about. No one person has everything figured out, but when we all share our thoughts, our beliefs are strengthened. If you haven't noticed it, there is a little tag under each post that says "O comments" (that means zero) and if you click it, it will take you to a page where you can leave one. Thanks for doing that!