The Porch...

Last night was the first Gathering at the Porch (our new Student Ministry Building). It was an incredible night- over 250 people where there last night as we opened up the building for the first time to the public. Just wanted to share some pics. More stories to come later.... Please join in praying that God would use this as a tool to bring him glory. The church isn't just a building, its a people who do life together, who LIVE LOVE, who follow Jesus, but also a group who gathers together to worship our Father- AND this is going to be an incredible place to gather...

Multiple Shots

High School Worship 

High School Worship 

Junior High Worship

Aaron Wagner Band

Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Godliness...

It has quickly become a tradition for me to preach the July 4th weekend worship services at our church. This is the weekend Brent and his family usually go on vacation & I am always happy to fill the pulpit on Sunday mornings, but the July 4th weekend is always a tough sermon for me to preach. I've often heard the "America is going to Hell in a hand-basket" July 4th sermons, or the "Part of being a good Christian is being a Patriotic American" sermon- neither of which do I think are all that beneficial to the Kingdom. So what do you say on the 4th of July? 

This year I decided to preach on the UNALIENABLE RIGHTS quote from The Declaration of Independence and look at what scripture has to say about the ideas of EQUALITY, LIFE, LIBERTY & THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. Believe it or not in a sermon preached in a small town Baptist church I talked about racism, abortion, death penalty, war, the treatment of the homeless, Barack Obama, George W Bush, socialism, gay marriage, and divorce... and not one stone was thrown at me. In fact, it is a huge blessing to be at a church that is so gracious & is willing to hear from God concerning controversial issues.

For those of my friends and family wanting to keep up with my ministry and what not, I have attached a link to listen to or download to the audio from this weekend's worship service as well as a manuscript of what I preached (below). 

----------------------------------

A week ago today myself and 13 High Students and 3 other adults flew home from Germany. We boarded a plane at 9:00 AM German time and were anxious to get home to America. We joked on the plane about all the things we were looking forward to about home- our own beds, water with ice cubes in it, we looked forward to home cooked meals, and air conditioning and all the little pleasures of home. And so last Sunday when we got off the plane in Newark, NJ to go through customs and saw the RED, WHITE, and BLUE of the Huge American flag hanging in the airport- there was a collective sigh of “Ahhhh, we are home.” Nothing makes you appreciate the United States more, like being out of the country for 10 days. So I say to you this morning- Happy Fourth of July Weekend, God Bless America and all those great things. 

It is good to be home, its good to worship with you this morning and it is good to be here on a weekend where across the United States we will celebrate all the things that are great about America.

Last Sunday, not only did we go through customs in Newark, NJ but we enjoyed a nice 5 hour layover in the Newark airport as we waited on our plane to bring us back to DFW. So in those five hours I walked around the airport and looked around the shops just to stretch my legs and in one of the many newsstands I ran across this month’s issue of TIME Magazine. If you haven’t seen it yet- the cover looks like this... and the feature article talks about the relevancy of the constitution in our culture- the article starts by saying “Here are a few things the founding fathers did not know about: World War II. DNA. Sexting. Airplanes. The atom. Television. Medicare. Collateralized debt obligations.  Miniskirts. The internal combustion engine. Computers. Antibiotics... and Lady Gaga.” 

Then the article goes on to talk about the intentions of our founding fathers to set a blueprint, an outline for the foundations on which our government, on which America should be formed and maintained. We have long since treated the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights as foundational ideas for our country- but in recent years and in the political scene of today there are those that would say the constitution, the declaration of independence, those documents are outdated and no longer applicable- so some have raised the question- DOES THIS STILL MATTER?

There are those among us that wish we’d move away from this document written almost a quarter millennium ago, and there are others of us who want to hold firmly to this foundation and would say to think DISTINCTIVELY AMERICAN is to be concerned with these ideals set forth in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. But, we could all point to certain politicians who would quote the lines from the declaration of independence or the constitution that they like, yet ignore others and live as though the document is irrelevant for their everyday lives.

This week as I thought about this article and this issue surrounding our country and thought about how we as Christians in America should think about these issues, I started to wonder- are we more concerned with whether this still matters or whether THIS still matters?... (SHOW BIBLE SHREDDED) How often have we heard the argument, well this book just isn’t relevant anymore? or DOES THIS BOOK EVEN MATTER? Even if we wouldn’t make those statements out loud, how often have we quoted the parts of the Bible that we like and the parts that reaffirm how WE want to live our lives, yet ignored others? How often have we shredded the Bible to mean little more than just nice stories, but have rarely allow it lay the foundation for our lives? When it comes to issues about government and politics and country- do we allow the Bible to dictate our worldview or own opinion of how the world should work?

As an American, and as a Christian do we think distinctively American or do we think distinctively Christian? Are we as Christians more concerned about the political and economic status of a country or are we more concerned with the things God cares about? This morning I’d like to challenge us to THINK DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN about our country & this weekend as we celebrate and as we say God Bless America that we would do so not just as Americans.. but as Christians.

The Declaration of Independence in one of its most famous lines says “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”

This sounds like a distinctively Christian statement- Thomas Jefferson speaks of Creator, a God, who created us equal and who gave us these certain UNALIENABLE RIGHTS- Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness but the idea of UNALIENABLE RIGHTS- this idea of rights that we have that can’t be given or taken away- its just the way we were created to be, God-given rights--  though this idea is paired up with a statement about the Creator- is not necessarily a Biblical idea, its an American idea, a lot more influenced by the Enlightenment period than from scripture. And as Americans and as Christians we may be strong advocates for equality, for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness in the political sphere, but we should also keep in mind that these same “RIGHTS” are not necessarily guaranteed in the SPIRITUAL SPHERE.

If we are to think distinctively CHRISTIAN then we must recognize that God’s revelation in scripture, the Bible, is the ultimate authority, not the Declaration of Independence. And so if we are to THINK on these ideas that Thomas Jefferson set forth as Unalienable rights from our creator this morning- I’d suggest we’d do so by looking at what Scripture has to say about these ideals. Equality, Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

1. Equality

When it comes to equality- how are we as Christians to think on these issues? Is this a distinctively American or distinctively Christian ideal? This seems like a pretty basic question, but if we were to be honest, AMERICANS as well as AMERICAN CHRISTIANS have not always held to the ideal of EQUALITY well. There have been obvious moments in our country’s history where we have not treated everyone equally- whether on racial or ethnic lines or gender lines. 

But EQUALITY is something God really cares about. The Declaration of Independence gets it right when it says “that all men are created equal”... Acts 17:26 says “From one man HE created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.” 

God created all people and all nations- later in the chapter Paul will say- and “He is not far from any of us.” God loves all people and all nations and all races and disregards any other distinction we may make among them- God loves them.

In Galatians 3:28 the Bible says- “There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.” God doesn’t just care about you and me, God cares about all people, all nations, all ethnicities. We’ll look at this passage here in a second, but the Bible says that God created man in His image- male and female- he created them- that means that every person on this planet are image-bearers of the most high God. That has huge implications on how we are called to treat others.

We have come a long way in our country from unapologetic inequality among races to where we are today but we still have a long way to go & to be honest the church should be leading this movement, because God has called us to equality. In a community of racial diversity like ours the church should be a place where we communicate a message of equality- I love you because God loves you and one day we will all stand before the throne of God in heaven & I don’t really want that to be awkward because I didn’t treat you well on Earth... 

And if we take it a step further- in an increasingly shrinking world with the communication and technology increasing at the rate it is- not only must we think about equality in a domestic sense but an international one- God loves all people and all nations equally & we should do the same.

All men were created equal and any distinction we make among ourselves is unbiblical, unChristian, and unAmerican.

1. Life

Thomas Jefferson continues his famous statement “ that we are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, and the first among these is life”

Again this is an obvious place where Thomas Jefferson’s unalienable rights line up with scripture. Its not just an American ideal to consider LIFE important but is a Christian ideal. Genesis 1:27 says “So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” God is the author of life, the creator, the sustainer- God cares about us therefore- not only did He create us but he created us in His image. But the Bible doesn’t just speak of a God who created and then stepped back and is no longer involved.. The deist view of God would say there is a creator but that creator was no longer involved in the process- like a watchmaker- he created and then just set it in motion but He is not longer intimately involved in everyday things. 

But Psalm 8:5-7 would say “What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him? Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty!” That doesn’t sound like a disinterested God- but a God who cares about you and thinks about you and loves you. 

When I was in Germany I talked to a girl who had some real deep doubts about the existence of God, she thought maybe there was a creator but if there was a God, he certainly didn’t care about her. Her father two weeks before had told her that she was the biggest mistake of his life, her mom had attempted suicide in the past and she couldn’t imagine there was a God. We sat at a table last Friday night and talked through some questions but at the end of our conversation, I told her I’m not going to force you to believe in the God that i believe in, but you need to know that the God the Bible talks about is of a loving Father- who loves you, who created you, who gave you life, and who deeply wants a relationship with you, God loves, God loves you, God loves you... and she started crying and said that is the first time anyone has ever told me that. God cares about that girl, because God cares about life. God values life.

Often when we talk about valuing LIFE politically people boil it down to just Abortion issues- and although valuing life does seem to have  some practical implications on how we are to think about abortion- God calls us to value ALL life. I don’t want to get super political this morning- but when it comes to valuing life- this should pervade all areas life- abortion issues, death penalty issues, war, the treatment of the poor, the homeless and the addicts, the treatment of the elderly, end of life issues but also just how you treat people, how you parent your kids, how you show other people that their life is valuable. I’m not telling you how to decide on these issues or how to vote on these issues- I’m asking you to think distinctively Christian about them. 

For us this morning its not a political issue- its a worldview issue. And, we may differ in opinion on some of these things and thats okay, but as Christians we should value life, not because Thomas Jefferson said it was an unalienable right but because God cares about life and if we love God then we care about the things God cares about. 

1. Liberty

Jefferson continues his famous writing with another unalienable right- LIBERTY. Liberty was like the BUZZ-word of the American revolution. The entire war was fought on the premise of freedom from Great Britain. Patrick Henry famously exclaimed “Give me LIBERTY, or Give me Death.” The whole world was inspired by the American Revolution and desire for liberty- in fact the French were so inspired they made a statue as a gift to the Americans and named it Lady Liberty. And America has continued to fight for freedom, protect freedom and be an example to the world for the benefits of political freedom. There have even been those who have called our soldiers FREEDOM FIGHTERS. Its a political right that we enjoy.

But is LIBERTY, in and of itself a Christian ideal or a distinctively American one? The Bible does talk about Freedom quite a bit. Galatians 5:1 says “It was for freedom that Christ set us free...” Freedom- its on the very pages of scripture- it must be a Christian ideal- but if you notice when the Bible talks about freedom it is not speaking of a political freedom or governmental freedom- it is talking about a completely different type of freedom. In America we speak of freedom of speech- I can say whatever I want to. We speak of freedom of religion- I can worship however I want. We talk about freedom to vote- I get to choose who governs me and who I pledge my allegiance to. But this isn’t the way the Bible talks about freedom. These may be nice political rights we enjoy in America but they are not distinctively Christian ideals. 

If you have your Bibles turn with me to Romans 6:15-22. Paul loves this idea of freedom and on several occasions will talk about the freedom & liberty we have but check out the way he talks about it in Romans 6-- “Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living. 17 Thank God! Once you were slaves of sin, but now you wholeheartedly obey this teaching we have given you. 18 Now you are free from your slavery to sin, and you have become slaves to righteous living.

jump down to verse 20

20 When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the obligation to do right. 21 And what was the result? You are now ashamed of the things you used to do, things that end in eternal doom. 22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.”

Liberty, Freedom- but a completely different type of freedom than Thomas Jefferson had in mind. Jefferson may say that it is an unalienable right that we have political freedom, but no where in the New Testament or the Old do we see political freedom as something God is all that concerned about. But he is concerned about FREEDOM- the God of the universe looks down on the world He created, the world he created out of love and cared for and saw that we were marred by sin, that we were messed up, & that we were in bondage to SIN and He said this isn’t good and so He sent His son Jesus to bear our punishment for sin and in doing so He freed us from sin- He allowed us a way out- a relationship with God, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that would finally give us FREEDOM & LIBERTY from this sin-filled life. We are now free, but... free to serve God. 

This idea that freedom means “I can do whatever I want with my life” is a childish thought- its like a little kid disobeying his parents and then saying “Well its a free country, I can do whatever I want.” Thats not true. Christ set us free so that we were free to serve God. This completely different type of FREEDOM than the American idea of freedom. 

And when it comes to government and politics- Jesus never once preached on the right to vote, Paul never wrote about the freedom of speech. In fact their ministries operated under evil evil Roman Empires- one of the emperors during Paul’s time was a guy named Nero- who for entertainment would gather up Christians and force them to fight lions to the death. He would tie Christians to poles and burn them alive to light the path to his castle. Do you think Paul wanted freedom from that tyranny? Absolutely- but not once did he use the pages of scripture to talk about the need for political freedom. In fact when scripture does talk about government it says some pretty surprising things. 

1 Peter 2:11-17 would say this “For the Lord’s sake, respect all human authority—whether the king as head of state, 14 or the officials he has appointed. For the king has sent them to punish those who do wrong and to honor those who do right. 15 It is God’s will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. 17 Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.”

Whew- there is a lot in that passage. We are free but free to serve God and guess what-- part of serving God is honoring the human authority that God has place over your life. Part of fearing God, is respecting the King. Now we don’t have a king, but we do have a president. And regardless of your political leanings- the Bible would say in Romans 13 that “all authority comes from God, and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God.” Its not our job to know why God places certain people in power or to know His purposes but its our job to respect the authority God has placed over us- it is God’s will that we would do so. So whether the president is Barack Obama or George W Bush or someone else, or if one dark day we no longer enjoy the political freedom we have now to help choose our president- our role as a Christian is to “Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.” The Christian idea of freedom is not nearly as concerned with your political and governmental opinions as it is with your spiritual state- that you have to choice to be free from sin and free to serve God- thats a distinctively Christian view of freedom. 

Now am I saying that the political freedom we enjoy in America is a bad thing? No. Our freedom is a beautiful thing- and as an American we are thankful for those who realized it was worth fighting for. Freedom is why we celebrate the 4th of July. What I am saying is that political freedom shouldn’t be our highest priority, but the freedom God gives should be our ultimate concern. So for those of us spending more time worrying about the government and the economy and how am I going to vote in 2012 than we are concerned about the spiritual freedom that God offers to us and those around us, we are living in sin. “Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.”

1. Pursuit of Happiness

The last unalienable right that Jefferson lists is the Pursuit of Happiness. British Philosopher John Locke said that man’s rights included “LIFE, LIBERTY & PROPERTY.” The French three are “liberty, equality, and fraternity.” The Australians list “life, liberty and prosperity” as their three unalienable rights. This idea of the Pursuit of Happiness is distinctively American. But is it distinctively Christian. Again Jefferson lists it as an unalienable right, a God-given right, but is it?

There is a sense in which God calls us to pursue an ultimate happiness. In Philippians 3:14 Paul would say it this way “I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” Paul says yeah, it is good for us to pursue ultimate happiness in eternity with God, but as for an earthly happiness- the Bible doesn’t seem to suggest that we as Christians are guaranteed a right to much of it. In fact it might even speak more in the other direction.

Acts 14:22 says “we must suffer many hardships to enter the Kingdom of God.” And Romans 8:17 says “And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” 

The Bible doesn’t guarantee earthly happiness, it guarantees suffering. If anyone ever told you that being a Christian was easy- then they lied to you. Jesus hung on a cross & all of his followers were put to death for their beliefs. Show me one character from the Bible who upon receiving Christ were just showered with wealth, health and prosperity? When the rich young ruler comes to Jesus does Jesus say- oh yeah you have the right to pursue happiness- so just keep all your wealth, don’t worry about the poor- you earned? No he said give it away. Why because Jesus was a socialist?? NO because Jesus wasn’t concerned with a pursuit of happiness, he was concerned with a pursuit of godliness... and often your own happiness gets in the way of your godliness.

It is very AMERICAN to Pursue Happiness- its what the American Dream is based on- that as an American I have the right to do what I want, be who I want to be, buy what I want, have what I want- because this is what is going to make me happy. And so for many the pursuit of happiness means the pursuit of wealth and status. For others in American THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS has been a battle cry in lawsuits and courtrooms over divorce and over the issue of Gay Marriage- “its an unalienable right for me to pursue happiness and if this is what makes me happy than it is unAmerican to deny my happiness.”  But here’s the deal- To say that God approves of whatever makes me happy, that God just wants me to be happy is complete foolishness. 

Well I’m just no longer happy in my marriage and God wants me to be happy right? So its okay for me to leave my husband. I know God wants me to tithe but my family really wants this new boat for the lake- and I mean God wants me to be happy and this will make my family happy. Man thats a dangerous way of thinking.

To think distinctively American is to PURSUE HAPPINESS, but to think DISTINCTIVELY CHRISTIAN is to PURSUE GODLINESS. 

CONCLUSION

My prayer for this morning is that we would think distinctively Christian. And this weekend as we celebrate the Fourth of July- as celebrate all the things that are good and right about America, I pray that we would do so THANKING GOD for the blessings of freedom, thanking God for the political rights we have, thanking God for his hand in the establishment of our country, thanking God for the blessings that we have as Americans, but I pray we would do so as more than just Americans, thats we would do so as Christians.

Does the Constitution, and the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights still matter- yeah they do- its the foundation for our country and I believe God played a big part in establishing this country the way that He did. But even these documents are temporary- in considering eternity- Jesus says Heaven and Earth will pass away but my will never pass away. More than anything THIS (BIBLE) still matters. We are to live in the world but not of the world, and our mindset should be an eternally significant one.

We should fight for equality in all aspects of our life because God cares about all people.

We should care about life issues, because God values life and we should value the things God cares about.

We should live in freedom from sin, serve God and honor the authority He has placed over us.

And we should pursue godliness.

Not because the declaration of independence says these things but because the God of the universe says these things.

Off to Germany...

Tomorrow we leave for Hamburg, Germany. As Student Ministry Pastor at First Baptist Church Kaufman, I am privileged to lead a team of 13 students and 4 adults on a 10 day trip to work with a church in the town of Bad Oldesloe, Germany. We will be visiting schools three days in the week, visiting an orphanage one day and helping pull off an evagelistic Texas Night at the end of the week. I know that most of you reading my blog do so to keep up with Bethany and I and I would tell you that we covet your prayers while we are away.

The goal of our trips to the school will be to do some cultural exchange, let them practice their English with some "real English speakers"-- by "real English" I mean we are bringing some girls with the thickest East Texas twang you've ever heard- that will be fun! But we are hoping through a short presentation & video (link below) about American culture we can talk about somethings that are unique about America in contrast to the German culture- specifically the prevalence of Youth Groups and teenagers seeking a relationship with God in Texas. We will then invite all the students we speak with to a Texas Night at the end of the week where we will serve tacos, two step, dosie-do and then share the gospel message of Christ.

If you know me at all you know that I am a planner and organizer, but with this trip I am forced to rely on the German contacts we have to do a majority of the planning, and must be flexible to do what they have planned, not what I have planned to do. Often I rely on my own strength and my own plan without relying on God's divine will for what's ahead. I know God is teaching me to rely on Him. Just the other day I was reading through Isaiah and came across the passage in chapter 30 where God rebukes Israel for relying on Egypt for their needs and pharaoh for their protection rather than trusting God. It says this
"1 Woe to the obstinate children," declares the Lord, "to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
2 who go down to Egypt without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge.
...
15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:
"In repentance and rest is your salvation,
in quietness and trust is your strength,
but you would have none of it.
...
18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
therefore he will rise up to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for him!"

I want to be part of a team that relies on God's will and God's plan, that we would go and be used by God to do exactly what He wants to see accomplished in the city of Bad Oldesloe this week, that we'd love on orphans with the love of Christ, that we'd encourage the youth group and leaders of this church with the truth of God's goodness, and that we'd share the undeniable good news of what Jesus has done for us on the cross and through his resurrection with all those who we encounter, that we'd live love, that we'd serve well and teach well, and that we ourselves would be stretched by God's plan and find strength in trusting in the Lord. 


I pray these things and ask that you'd pray them over us for the next ten days as we do Kingdom work in a foreign land.

The Gospel According to Jim...

Last night Bethany and I drove to Hurst so that Bethany could pick up her brother's car and continue on to Abilene in route to a family road trip to Phoenix (I will be flying out Thursday). But with Bethany away for the night it gave me a chance to hangout with my friend Jim. What started out as an excuse for a man night sitting in front of the TV watching the Mavs game at his apartment turned into one of the most meaningful/gospel conversations I've had in awhile.

Jim is one of my 5 roommates from my Junior & Senior year of college & has always been an encourager and good friend, but last night we just sat and talked Jesus, talked gospel, talked discipleship, talked sin, and talked grace- in a time I really needed it. Ministry is great, but its a challenge, and these last few weeks have been challenging- and Jim encouraged me that what I am doing is right and good and godly despite the challenges and despite those who wish to discourage.


One of the many conversations of the night centered on just the nature of the gospel- that even we as Christians don't fully grasp the magnitude of the gospel message- because until we are desperate to hear from God, until we are desperate for God's grace we don't fully get it- we act like we are okay on our own, we act like we're not sinful- because we compare ourselves to others and say "I'm not half as bad as that guy, so I'm good." No! The Bible would say "no one is good, not even one" (Psalm 14:3) And its not even about degree of goodness its that when we really start to understand God's love, God's grace and Jesus' sacrifice it's that we become more and more aware of how sinful, wretched and evil we are. Romans 7:21-25 would say it this way..."So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.For in my inner being I delight in God's law;but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin."

For those of us who aren't struggling with a crack addiction or sleeping with anything that can walk- we act like we've got it all together- but our pride, arrogance, and selfishness- the roots of the outward visible sin- is just as wretched and causes just as much separation between us and God. Jim was talking about how the 10 Commandments can really be captured in just the first one: "YOU SHALL HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME." Because every other sin is in someway worshipping something that is not God-  when we are prideful, arrogant and selfish- we worship ourselves above the true God, and the one who died to save us. When we lust- we worship the creation rather than the creator, when we envy we worship stuff, when we disobey God we worship our wants above God's will. I am sinful and wretched and need God's grace as much as the meth-addict in the slums.

We talked about the nature of youth ministry is getting teenagers to a place that they finally become desperate for God's grace- that often the kids who "have it all" and are "good kids" aren't very good Christ followers, because they aren't desperate for God- they aren't desperate for his grace, they aren't desperate to walk with Jesus. Jim kept saying over and over- "you're job is to preach the gospel and pray that it takes hold in some kids lives, it will for some, it won't for others, you may never see the fruit, but its your job to preach the gospel, over and over and over again, preach the gospel."

So friends, in my ministry when I talk about sin, when we address sexual sin in our youth ministry and we address drunkenness in our youth ministry and pride and selfishness and gossip and disobedience- its not because I like to talk about sin and its not because I want you to be "good"- its because I want us to all come to a place like Paul and say "What a wretched man I am!... but thanks be to God, who delivers me through Christ Jesus our Lord!" Screw goodness, pursue godliness. But we first have to be desperate- and we become desperate when we acknowledge our wretchedness in comparison to God's holiness.

Love Wins...

In the summer of 2005 I was working at Pine Cove Christian Camps in Tyler, TX. I had just recently finished my first year of college- an eye-opening year- one where I read more scripture than any year previously, one where I read books that challenged me to the core spiritually and started changing the way that I thought about Christianity, about Christ, and about God. That summer, I devoured classics like Mere Christianity, The Weight of Glory, and even took my first stab at Cost of Discipleship (one I would reread several times before fully making it through), but I also dove deep into new writers- Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, Erwin McManus's Barbarian Way, and Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis.

Ever since then I've bought every book Miller & Bell have written- because they semi-discipled me in the summer of 2005- you know long distance, and the fact that they didn't know me. But these books challenged me to think different, and live different- and my relationship with God was forever changed that summer.

During this same era of life (my college years) I had plenty of conversations with friends about what it would look like if Christians stopped acting like stuck-up hypocritical religionists and started living like Christ and loving people the way Christ loved us. 1 John 4 became a theme chapter for me- "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love." I loved this passage- soon enough my friends and I started using the term LIVE LOVE to describe what it looked like to follow Jesus (a mantra I originally heard from my friend Kirk). I directed a whole year of an on-campus ministry under the banner of LOVE, SERVICE, and COMMUNITY- stressing that this is the way Christ has called us to live and since then it has propelled my ministry.

So... When I found out Rob Bell was coming out with a new book, entitled Love Wins, I was instantly intrigued- Rob Bell, one of my favorite authors, and with a title I instantly connected with.  Then I heard it was about Heaven & Hell and was even more intrigued. Then it blew up- controversy, drama, gossip, slander, name-calling- renowned theologians and pastors were all of the sudden acting like my high school girls in our student ministry- and over a book that had yet to be released and read.

Well I just finished the relatively short read and whether you are a Rob Bell fan or not- there are some great challenges in this book for our generation. But first- let's be honest- Bell likes controversy. He struck it up with the Virgin Mary quote in Velvet Elvis, I mean he entitled a book Sex God. He likes controversy. And I think Bell, in Love Wins, wanted to make people think, make people discuss and make people question the way they communicate about important issues, and make people think about how they live now in regards to how we answer those questions. The questions he is raising are not his questions- they are the questions of millions of people world-wide, and they are questions we should be discussing- and the perception among the unchurched, unbelievers, unChristians is that the Church has portrayed a picture of God as someone who Jesus must rescue us from- a mean God wanting to punish us and torment us unless we walk down an aisle and say a magic prayer. 

I had two main takeaways from the book and the first was this: that we as the church must do a better job of communicating the reality of the Gospel- not in a way were we CHANGE our theology, but in a way that is answering the questions of the world by repainting HOW we answer the question of Salvation.

Salvation is by GRACE through FAITH in CHRIST alone- and sorry to disappoint the Rob Bell haters- Bell doesn't deviate from that. He in no way comes across as a Universalist as some have labeled him, if anything he comes across as a Christian Inclusivist. (Universalists would believe there are any number of ways to God, and/or that we will all end up in Heaven no matter what you believe or what you've done. Whereas the Christian Inclusivists would say- there is only one way, Christ, but some may come to Heaven without a "conscious" understanding of the Christ we believe in because God is merciful & loving). This is a tough argument- who is man to judge anyone's salvation, who is man to judge the salvation of someone who has never heard of Christ or the only time she did hear of Christ it was as her father raping her as he recited the Lord's prayer (story recounted in chapter 1), but further- who is man to hope and wish that certain people will not be in Heaven? That might be the most unloving, unChristian thing to do. What Bell argues is that God's love wins out in situations like that. 

I personally think he takes it a little far or stops just short of a Biblical understanding of Heaven/Hell. He does mention "Love demands freedom. It always has and it always will. We are free to resist, reject, and rebel against God's ways for us. We can have all the hell we want" and later will say "God must say about a number of acts and to those who would continue to do them, 'Not here you won't.'" So he suggests a reality of Hell, but considers it to be a lot less empty than some of us might think. To be honest- this does not make Bell a heretic, CS Lewis proposed a similar view of Hell in the Great Divorce- and yet we quote Lewis often in our church's. We can disagree with Bell's writing- it isn't divine scripture- but calling him unorthodox and a heretic is ridiculous and ignores the massive contributions he has made to the Kingdom through his ministry. And although, I do believe what Bell says about LOVE & MERCY are true, I don't think that one of God's characteristics outweighs his others- such as JUSTICE & WRATH towards sin and the sinner.  I do believe in a literal heaven and a literal hell, or else I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing. If hell were empty or I thought we'd have a second chance after we die- I wouldn't be giving my whole life to make sure students hear the truth of the gospel in the here and now. Which brings me to the second big takeaway for me.

The second big takeaway (and I believe Bell's real motive behind authoring this book) was that the present reality matters and is either bringing a present Heaven or present Hell to earth. Often we act as though Heaven is a distant far off place, after we die, that we escape to, and Hell is a distant far off place that those who reject God will be sent to- when in reality eternity is NOW- its forever past and forever into the future- but that includes today. Bell does an incredible job in chapter 2 in talking about the Hebrew understanding of Heaven not as a distant far off place somewhere else, but as God restoring all things HERE- peace, relationships, creation- all restored HERE. An "escape the world and make it to heaven" mentality is dangerous, but all too often is how many live their "Christian" lives- as though today doesn't matter- I already I have my ticket punched. But what if everything thing we did NOW was bringing a little piece of Heaven or Hell to earth. In a previous book Bell  said "with every decision, gesture, conversation, action or attitude we are bringing either heaven or hell to earth."  I find that so true. 

It did bother me that in some interviews Bell seemed to duck the literal eternal Hell questions, or side-step some by suggesting "I'm not a theologian, I'm just a pastor." In my opinion, if you're a pastor- you are a theologian, shoot if you even think about God- you're a theologian- and we have a responsibility to deal with the revelation of God rightly. And though I didn't agree with everything in this book, and found myself shaking my head at times, once I finished I thought- what if the point of this book isn't to be RIGHT, but to challenge us to live in a way where we are conscious that every action is either bringing HEAVEN or HELL to earth- that might change the way we live NOW, and let's let God worry about eternity. If we place our faith in Christ NOW, follow Him NOW, love NOW, serve NOW, bring heaven to earth NOW, the future of eternity will take care of its self. 

God is love. God is just. And I trust Him enough to be both.  

Terrorism. War. Justice. Peace. Oh yeah and some guy named Bin Laden...

September 11, 2001 was my sixteenth birthday. I know it is a day that we will all remember, but I especially remember this day- a day that started in excitement- carrying birthday balloons and cards given to me in the first part of the day and nothing on my mind except getting my drivers' license at the DMV later that afternoon. But that excitement turned into shock and horror as I watched the World Trade Center Building pour out smoke into the New York City skyline. I was in Spanish class at Clear Creek High School, and our teacher had the TV on as we walked into class. We came in sat down and after everyone realized what was happening no one spoke. Even as Sophomores in High School we knew the weight of what had just happened. The day progressed slowly- each class filled with the same experience. 


I vividly remember going to our baseball class period in the middle of the day expecting to work out. Our coach was a hard-nosed disciplinarian type & I thought for sure he wouldn't "waste time" watching TV- but he sat us down and with obvious emotion in his voice, said "men, you will remember this day for the rest of your lives, we are going to sit and watch this instead of workout today. This is one of those days you realize there are more important things in life than baseball." I didn't think such words could come out of his mouth- "more important things than baseball"? 


But this was and still is. 


The days that followed we learned more and more about the characters behind this devious plot in the 9/11 tragic story. I remember mug shot looking faces of pilots of the hijacked planes being plastered on the TV screen, followed by a particularly ominous looking character by the name of Osama Bin Laden- who evidently was the mastermind behind this plot- followed by videos of his messages to America. I remember thinking- "hate, war, death-- this couldn't have been what God had in mind for humanity."


Flash-forward 10 years... Last night President Barack Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been found and killed. 10 years of searching. 10 years of Threat Levels. 10 years of Metal Detectors, Full Body Scans and "random" searches at the airport. 10 years of war. 10 years of more and more death- just as tragic as what happened on 9/11. 

This news has put me in a funk since I watched the reports- it brought back memories of my sixteenth birthday, brought back the feelings of tragedy, and brought back the thought- "hate, war, death-- this couldn't have been what God had in mind for humanity."


My funk may have been pushed over board last night as I watched my Facebook friends & twitter followers post some of the most heinous or insensitive comments in reaction to this story. Everything from "May he rot in hell with that bastard Hussein" to even just celebrating death to people with chants of "nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, hey hey hey goodbye..."or "we are the champions" to insensitive and disrespectful political shots like Photoshopping Obama to look like Bin Laden. People say that "the eyes are a window to the soul" but recently I've thought people's quick-witted comments on Facebook and twitter are a pretty clear window into people's soul and their worldview.


Its been hard for me, because I do remember the tragedy and I do remember the pain, I've "not forgotten" but at the same time- who are we to CELEBRATE the death of any man? I celebrate justice, but not death. I've been reading Isaiah lately in my time with the Lord and my first thoughts this morning were from Isaiah 2 "and they will hammer their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war."-- how far away are we from this reality? Our idea of "peace" is more death and more war against those that are un-peaceful from our vantage point. It's a viscous cycle.

Then this morning the Lord had me in Isaiah 11 & I read "And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the young goat, And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; .... The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den. They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord As the waters cover the sea." 


Though I long for it, I've come to realize the hope for peace is one that is outside of man's power- this "nation will not lift up sword against nation" idea will not happen until Christ's return- until "the whole earth is full of the Knowledge of the Lord." 


Come Lord Jesus, Come.
Come quickly. 

Preaching at the Commons...

I meant to post this last week, but got busy and forgot. But April 10, I drove to my friend Steve Bezner's church in Fort Worth and preach for Steve at the Commons Church. The Commons is a recent church plant who has been public since July and has been meeting in an intermediate school for the last couple months. This church is genuinely seeking to reach Fort Worth for Christ- to provide a relevant & relational place for families to know Christ, grow in their relationship with Christ and multiple disciples. It was a great experience to get to meet with them, to preach and challenge and encourage this church as they grow and as they anticipate what God has in store for them in the future.

I know that many of you who are reading my blog are doing so in order to keep up with Bethany and me- and so I just wanted to share this video of the sermon I preached there (Video Website), but also to encourage any of my Facebook friends or Twitter followers who are living in Ft Worth to check out The Commons Church (Church Website), and for those that don't to encourage you to be in prayer for Steve, for the Commons and for Fort Worth.

4/20...

Yesterday was 4/20. This day is known for different things around the world. Hitler's birthday- a once wildly celebrated "holiday" in German culture- now one synonymous with evil (read this article- great Op Ed- concerning Hitler and a now German Theological Hero- Dietrich Bonhoeffer). The 1999 Columbine School shootings happened on 4/20. 4/20 is also National Weed Day. Yesterday Bethany subbed at the Jr High and a lot of kids were wearing green. Bethany jokingly asked if they had moved St Patricks day or something- the 12-14 year olds in her class giggled and one told her- "no miss, it's national weed day." So proud Jr High Students are wearing green to support this day. 4/20 for me marks my brother in-law's birthday- Happy Birthday Will!

But 4/20 this year marked our church's Tennebrae service- this service of shadows- where we walk through the Passion narrative scripturally- walking to the cross- from Jesus' last supper with his friends- in which we participate in taking the Communion Elements- for me a shockingly realistic experience this year- thinking about this being the last meal with a friend before he was to die. We read through the Garden of Gethsemane account, the denial, the trial, and throughout we sang hymns about the reality of this week in the life of Christ.  I was given the responsibility to read the John 19 account about the cross- the mocking, his crucifixion, his death, and finally his being placed into a tomb in a garden. It was a spiritual experience for me to hear for probably at least the 200th time- the Easter story.

But 4/20 & the Tennebrae experience was much different for Bethany last night. Last night Bethany sat with one of our High School students who just recently accepted Christ. And although this freshmen in high school girl has placed her faith in Christ as her Lord and Savior- last night was the first time she heard in detail the Easter story- she had no reference for why we took the Lord's Supper till last night, she was shocked to hear one of Jesus' own disciples took a sword out and tried to kill somebody, she sat with amazement to hear how brutal the cross was and what Jesus went through on her behalf. Most of our teenagers sat and giggled through the service "for old people." But this particular student sat with jaw open in amazement at what her new found Savior had done for HER.

How numb we have come to the story of Christ- his sacrifice and his love for us. I pray that we look on the Easter story this Sunday with the eyes of one hearing it for the first time- again. The Gospel is great news- whether you've heard it for the first time or the 1000th.

"In the gospel we discover that we are far more wicked than we ever dared believe, yet more loved than we ever dared hope." (Timothy Keller)