Putting Together the Pieces for Panama

2007 is just about to give way to 2008 which will bring plenty of new opportunities. Each spring members from our church travel to Panama for a mission trip. Honestly its one of the best weeks of the year that leads to establishing new relationships enhancing existing ones.

I’ll be traveling to Panama mid-January to make arrangements and to get things set up for the group trip in March. It’s around this time of the year that I receive the most traffic on the blog because people are checking in for information and details. I’ll do my absolute best to update from Panama everyday with photos and thoughts on my travels to Central America.

Meanwhile back at the church our mission team is forming and preparing themselves for the trip. It is definitely a busy time as passports have to be ordered, airline reservations need to be made and mission activities need to be planned. Definitely wont be a slow start to the new year for us.

God and Evil

An over used argument against the belief in God is the existence of evil. People want to make the statement that if God was all powerful, all loving and all good then the presence of evil in the world show that God either isn’t all of those things or that He just doesn’t exists.

I have actually lost count on the number of times this case has been presented to me in an attempt to disprove God. It’s a flawed argument that defies logic. I recently received an email that contained some facts that help defend against this argument.

Did you know that there are different types of heat? You have heat, even more heat, super-heat, Mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can reach temperatures of 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.

You see cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat just the absence of it

Did you know that there is no such thing as darkness? Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

If you argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite o f life, just the absence of it.

Evil does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of good and our standard of good does come from God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.

Nehemiah’s Wall Discovery Should Affirm Our Faith in the Bible

An archeological discovery made last week in Jerusalem adds validity to the accuracy of the bible should encourage Christians in their faith in the book that is the foundation for their religious beliefs.

The discovery of the wall that Nehemiah built is turning heads in Jerusalem and around the world, especially among those who argued that the wall never existed. There’s no way to deny it now but its discovery is of no value if we fail to recognize the significance of it.

Nehemiah teaches us to follow God’s desire for us despite the sacrifice, resistance and how impossible it may seem. Nehemiah left a position in the Persian government in order to motivate the Jewish people to go back and reconstruct the Jerusalem wall. Along the way he encountered complaining from his own people and threats from enemies. In the end the wall was rebuilt not by Nehemiah’s greatness but his allowing God to be active and work through him and his people.

We accept the bible by faith but evidence like this discovery reaffirms not only the truth of the stories found in God’s word but also the truth of who God is through those stories. It gives us confidence to continue to trust in God while living in a world that tries to deny His existence.

15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. – Nehemiah 6:15,16

We all get spiritually run down at some point and there are times when we feel that God is not active in our lives. Those are all feelings that result from us straying away from God and not Him backing away from us. Like God’s call for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall He also calls us back to Himself to rebuild or reestablish our relationship with him. For that to happen we’ll have to sacrifice the things that have hindered our spiritual growth, overcome resistance from friends, family and even ourselves to continue walking in the light of Christ.

Sometimes people may feel that it is impossible to find their way back to a loving God because of the way they have lived their lives. Remember that Nehemiah faced a task that seemed impossible as well but it was God’s power that allowed him to complete the rebuilding of that wall. Now we have actual physical evidence of it but you yourself can be the evidence of God’s power if you would just let Him work through you as Nehemiah did.

The Lighthearted Side of Preaching

As a pastor I understand as well as anyone the occasional tongue twist and mispronounced word or twisted phrase. Two years ago a youth pastor in Colorado made a horrible mistake when he tried to say “pitched his tents.” The video floated around on YouTube resulting in a great practice joke.



I’m just glad that nothing like this has ever happened to me!

Should Christians Vote for Mitt Romney?

Christians should vote their convictions and not be convicted about their votes. When it comes to selecting America’s next president Christians should be more concerned about a person’s stance on critical issues than their religious affiliation.

Romney is a devout Mormon, a religion that Christians view to be a cult, but for a Christian to not vote for him based solely on his religious preference would give validity to a secular world’s view that Christians are judgmental and close minded.

Instead Christians need to evaluate their own stance of hot topics like abortion, tax cuts, the war in Iraq and gay marriage. Then find a presidential candidate who best matches those convictions. Keep in mind that as believers in God our standard of morality comes from the bible. We, unlike political candidates, don’t have the luxury of wavering on our own personal standards and morality. The bible is what it is and we either believe in it or not. We are either Christ like or we are not but the choice is ours.

We can’t expect every presidential candidate to have the exact same convictions as we do but there will be some out there who are close. By informing ourselves of where the candidates stand on issues that are important to us we can cast a vote without compromising our own moral convictions regardless of the candidates religious affiliation.

Leave Baby Jesus Alone!

Thinking through the major American Holidays and their subsequent decorations I can’t think of one more controversial than the nativity scene and I really don’t understand why. No one complains about Cupid’s arrows of love in February and he’s traced back to Roman mythology. In the spring no one complains about the Easter Bunny whose origin traces back to an ancient pagan goddess named Eostre. No one takes issue with Uncle Sam in July although he has been linked to wars involving America dating back as far as 1812. Every November pilgrims pop up all across our nation despite the fact that these men and women represented religious freedom and Christian values.

Regardless of the origin and folklore surrounding them each major holiday is represented by some form of a character and long before Christmas had Santa Clause it had baby Jesus. Jesus is what Christmas is all about and without him we wouldn’t have the winter holiday and yet people still ardently protest nativity scenes at city hall.

Sure we live in a world of religious intolerance but what did baby Jesus ever do to anyone? Again, no one complains about the pilgrims making appearances on City Hall windows and doors in November and they not only stood for Christian values but they also brought disease and death to the indigenous people. We’ll gladly celebrate them but let the Savior of the World lay in his manger on the front lawn and the law suites start filing in.

In my opinion the problem is cultural. We’ve developed a secular society that is so hatefully opposed to organized religion and the things of God that the church that lawsuits are becoming the newest trend among law firms. Unlike the Easter Bunny, Jesus is convicting. To truly believe in him means to turn from a sinful lifestyle and to embrace a biblical standard of morality. However, our society would much rather be offended than convicted! How dare anyone, including baby Jesus, tell us that our lifestyle is wrong. Therein lies the problem with baby Jesus lying in the manger.

Christians are viewed, unfairly, as narrow minded, judgmental and unacceptable by a society where 90% of the people claim to believe in God, 84% believe in the survival of the soul after death and 77% believe in the virgin birth. So why are Christians so grossly misrepresented? Because the people who oppose them are more vocal. Jesus spoke of this in John 15:19, If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Christians need to become more vocal but not in the hateful manner used by those who oppose us. Instead, respond in love and explain why you believe what you do and why something like a nativity scene is important to you. It represents not only the birth or the savior and the rebirth of sinful man. There’s no lawsuit that will ever take that away!

The Word

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

In Hebrew scripture the word was an agent of creation, (Psalm 33:6), the source of God’s message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God’s law.

In Greek philosophy the word was another expression for God.

John is clearly talking about Jesus Christ and is expressing the fact that he has been around since the beginning of time. He’s not a mythological creature and he didn’t just appear on the scene at the virgin birth. The “in the beginning” phrase used here is the exact same phrase we find in Genesis 1:1.

There isn’t a single thing in creation that was not made by God. Even man made things are made with the things of God. All around the world God’s creation cries out to His existence even though people go to extreme measures to deny Him.

The agents working against God is the darkness we find in verses 4 and 5. They are not necessarily evil and in some cases not even bad but the world’s standards. They are just simply absent from the presence of God.

God is often described as light and that is how you have light in Genesis 1 before the creation of the sun and moon. The light there is the presence of God and darkness is His absence. Some people just simply don’t understand God while others purposely don’t want to understand and yet still some are so ardently opposed to the concept of God that the hate Him and all things or religion.

Not everyone who hears the words of Jesus Christ is going to accept it but those who do will have all the rights of the Children of God including a Holy inheritance. The Word is so much more than just the bible. Jesus Christ makes the word come alive because he is the word became flesh.

Why People Don’t Believe in God

There is a whole world out there that doesn’t trust the church and believe that Christianity is nothing more than a bunch of phony rituals and traditions to a non-existent God. Why do they feel this way? Because there are people like holding ministry positions.

I’ll not use his/her name but there is a Methodist pastor in Baltimore who is not satisfied with the person that God created them to be so this person underwent a sex-change because God made a mistake.

“The gender I was assigned at birth has never matched my own true authentic God-given gender identity, how I know myself. Fortunately, God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body in alignment with my true gender.”

People are entitled to opinions and they certainly have the right to pursue happiness but what this person has done goes against everything biblical. Again people certainly have the right to chose to deny a biblical lifestyle, its called free will, and they do but I don’t see how a minister can preach the infallibility of God and then say He made a mistake on creating them?

Christian’s are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be set aside, made holy. We are supposed to be examples of what a relationship with Christ looks like. When we read the bible, go to church, pray, and then go out and live a lifestyle that is no different from people who don’t do those things then we are telling the world that we follow a God who doesn’t work.

The Great God Debate

I finally got around to watching, “Does God Exist? The Nightline Face-Off” and I have to say that my fear of this being a bad idea even before the debate was proven true during it. I have a ton of respect for Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and I think that they each did an outstanding job at voicing their beliefs and convictions but an event like this is a no win situation for either side because they are so ardently opposed to each other’s view points.

The problem for the Christians in a debate like this is that the rules aren’t the same for both sides. The atheist camp can respond and react with hatred and sarcasm, which they did, but if the Christians were to slip and respond in that manner then they would be ridiculed for it. To their credit Cameron and Comfort both kept a calm respectful tone while the atheist disrespectfully looked away and responded and attacked in hateful tones. There was a clear difference in the level of respect given between the two sides.

The other thing that is wrong with a debate like this is that the atheists don’t really care to hear what the Christians have to say. They view God (if He existed) as a heavenly tyrant, Christians as foolish and narrow minded, and are actually out for victory in this debate where the Christians just want to get their message out and let the audience make their own decisions and there lies the problem for the atheists in an event like this.

They attack the Christian’s stance so aggressively but defend their own with a weak effort. They gave no clear answer to the development of morality with the absence of God; they grossly misrepresented the scriptures, failed miserably to defend the gaping holes in evolution and refused to answer questions of proof regarding some of their “facts”.

While I’m certain that this event did not portray and adequate depiction of atheism it can be said that the atheistic views of Christianity aren’t adequate as well. They tend to focus on the corruption of the church and the deviations of Christianity rather than the true depiction of a believer in Christ.

In all I appreciated the efforts of both sides but also thought that they could have been represented better. I did like the format and thought that the program’s choice to leave the final decision up to the viewer was a good one.

Jerry Falwell (1933 – 2007)

Jerry Falwell was often outspoken and often controversial to which I didn’t agree with on several occasions but you cannot downplay the impact he had on American Christianity and politics.

His ministries have reached out to thousands of people over the past 50 years. His church has grown from 35 members at the first meeting in 1956 to over 24,000 members in 2007.

Liberty University, founded by Falwell, not only gave us DC Talk (My favorite music group of all time) but continues to grow into one of the leading institutions in America for Christian based education.

Most importantly Falwell got the Christian body involved in politics. Sure he spoke his mind and stirred up controversy on just about every political and social front but he also motivated the “Moral Majority” to be heard in the political world by providing a platform for Christian values to be voiced in politics.

Keep on Keeping on

The majority of the post is simple copy and paste which may be plagiarism but it’s an inspiring story of determination and surrender to following Christ. Many people follow God as long as it’s comfortable and convenient but true worshippers follow in good and bad as they stay the course no matter what.

Missionaries return to Tanzania after surviving brutal attack there
By Charlie Warren
Published May 8, 2007

MOSHI, Tanzania (ABP) -- Two Southern Baptist missionaries are on their way back to Tanzania, where they were attacked with machetes and shot during a vicious robbery in the E ast African country.

Carl and Kay Garvin, Southern Baptist missionaries who returned to Arkansas after the Feb. 23 attack in a remote village south of Moshi , Tanzania , have recovered remarkably well from the assault. They arrived in Nairobi , Kenya , April 24 for missionary meetings and a prayer retreat before a May 6 return to Tanzania .

The alleged robbers and would-be murderers have been apprehended by Tanzanian authorities, but the Garvins are still reeling from the harrowing evening when they were attacked in a rural inn.

They had just finished working in neighboring churches and were settling down after dinner when two men burst into the building, shouting for everyone to get on the floor. Baptist volunteers traveling with the Garvins ran to their rooms, but when the Garvins retreated to their room, the men tried to break the door.

Carl Garvin braced his back against a bed in the small room with his feet on the door to hold it closed. The door finally broke, collapsing onto Carl Garvin’s head and cutting him deeply. He was partially blinded by blood pouring into his eye. One of the men swung a machete at Garvin, who blocked the blow with his left arm.

“I felt the force of the blow, but I did not feel any pain,” he said. “The man was wild-eyed. He looked demon-possessed to me. He was very much out of control. He never stopped. He just kept constantly swinging. I counted six or seven hits on my body.”

At the same time, another “very calm” man stood in the hallway with a pistol. When the men demanded money, the Garvins gave them a purse and a wallet. But as the first intruder laid down the machete, Kay Garvin picked it up and took a swing at him.

That’s when she was shot by the man in the hall, whom she had not noticed.

“I told Carl, ‘He shot me!’” she said, “I was in disbelief that the man did that. I truly thought I was going to die.”

The bullet entered above her left breast, went through her lung and lodged in her back. It missed her aorta by an inch.

Carl Garvin feared the worst. “I thought I was going to get shot,” he said. “We had seen their faces. I was not afraid, but I was resigned to the fact that the next bullet would be mine.”

But the men took the money and a few possessions and left. Carl Garvin, a military nurse for 34 years and a Vietnam veteran, began treating his wife.

“I had seen gunshot wounds, and I knew that the chest was not a good place to get shot,” he said. “I thought I would lose her. I found it very difficult to say much more than a sentence prayer.”

Just then, volunteers Joe and Cindy Lennon, members of First Baptist Church of Harrison, Ark., and Rudy Dehrens, a member of Grandview First Baptist Church of Berryville, Ark., emerged from their rooms.

Dehrens, a nurse, began treating Kay Garvin. Carl Garvin, who had severely damaged bones in his arm and knee, organized locals to move his wife to a car to drive to the nearest medical facility, in Moshi -- a two-hour drive over rough roads.

“All I could do was pray short prayers,” Kay Garvin said. “‘Lord, I love you.’ ‘Lord, thank you for your protection.’”

She said she asked God not to let her die.

“I knew if I went to sleep I would never wake up,” she said. “I looked out the window. The sky was bright. The stars were beautiful, and I said, ‘Lord, I know you are all around, and I know you’re going to protect me.’ But I still had that fear. For two hours, I did not know if I would make it.”

As she looked at the stars, she said, she started to sing “God is so good,” and the others joined in.
Once on the road, Carl Garvin notified the International Mission Board, their employer, by calling the cell phone of the strategy associate in Nairobi , who happened to be in a meeting with IMB vice presidents. IMB personnel then called the Garvins’ children and started a prayer chain.

When the Garvins and the volunteers arrived at the Moshi medical facility, they immediately met with three missionary doctors and a Muslim doctor the Garvins had befriended.

Meanwhile, the IMB arranged for a medical evacuation plane, equipped with a doctor and a nurse, to fly to the nearby Kilimanjaro airport. Lanterns were placed on the airstrip so it could take off.

The Garvins had to get special permission to leave the country. Finally, 12 hours after the attack, they arrived at a hospital in Nairobi to receive the quality medical treatment they needed.

Today, Carl Garvin has a steel plate in his arm and can’t drive or lift anything for three months. He may face surgery on his knee in a few years.

Through it all, critics have asked the Garvins how God could let such an attack happen to people apparently serving him. But Carl Garvin calls that “shallow thinking.”

“God was in the room with us,” he said. “God allowed our bodies to be touched, but our lives were preserved. God’s purpose was they could only go so far.”

Plus, he added, God enabled everyone to remain calm throughout the ordeal. God provided a driver to the hospital, protection on the difficult journey to Moshi and comfort to the injured during the trip, he said. Moshi even had electricity that night -- an uncommon occurrence at times, he added.

“This is not our story. It is God’s story,” he said. “It is a story of his mercy, his grace, his power, his timing, [and] his miracles. It was miracle after miracle.”

Kay Garvin plans to attest to that power. After her surgery, she held the .38-caliber bullet once embedded in her back. She’d like to keep it for good.

“It was given to me personally, and I want it back,” she joked, adding that she plans to mount it on a necklace and use it as a conversation piece about God.

Indeed, the Garvins firmly believe their return to Africa is necessary as a way to reach more people in Tanzania and encourage other missionaries there. Kay Garvin, for all she’s been through, said she’s excited to go “home.”

“There will be many things we will have to face as we return, but God has seen us through so much already [that] I am sure he will see us through these things also,” she said. “We look forward to see his plan for our life and how he will use us to share the gospel. We want to share what he has done for us, and we want the African people to see what a wonderful God we serve.”

Blessing Others Through Your Prayers

I recently had someone share with me an acronym (B.L.E.S.S.) that can be used as a prayer guide to lead you in praying for others. It was simple and practical so I decided to turn it into a sermon outline preached it this last Sunday. Here it is.

Body – Pray for the person’s healing or continued health.

Matthew 15:29-31
29Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. 31The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

Asking for healing and continued health is nothing new to Jesus. He has been asked countless times and history is filled with the testimonies of those whom he has blessed with health.

Labor – Pray that the person’s actions, whether at work or at home, would honor Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:20
20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

As Christians we are the representatives of Christ. When we misrepresent Him through selfish actions we are showing the world a Jesus that doesn’t exist.

Emotional – Pray for the person’s emotional well being, that they would constantly feel the love and acceptance of God.

1 Corinthians 14:33
33For God is not a God of disorder but of peace. As in all the congregations of the saints,

Emotional stress seems to be a natural part of life and many people live in a world of confusion because of it. They don’t have to! Pray that they would submit to God’s guidance on their lives as they experience his love for them.

Social – Pray that the person would become the major influence among their friends rather than their friends becoming the major influence over them.

Romans 15:20
20It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation.

The influences that a person allows in their life greatly affects the way that they live. There are far too many Christians out there who are influenced by the world instead of influencing the world. They are “building on someone else’s foundation” by letting other sources set their standards in ethics and morality.

Spiritual – Pray that the person would understand what it means to walk in the spirit and that they would develop a strong desire to do so.

Romans 8:8-9
8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.
9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

One of the major reasons that people refuse to believe in God is because there are a ton of Christians out there who are walking billboards advertising to the world that Christianity doesn’t work. The “pray, read their bibles, and go to church” but yet there is absolutely no difference between their lifestyles and the person who doesn’t do any of those things.

Christians are to be drastically different from unbelievers because they have the Spirit of God living in them which means a God first instead of a me first attitude should develop.

Things I’ve Learned Since Becoming a Pastor

I was invited to speak at the pastor's conference for our association on Monday. Being new to pastoral ministry and understanding that the majority of the pastors in our association have years more experience than I do I felt it best just to share with them a few of the things that I've learned since becoming a pastor.

Here's a brief transcript of what I shared with them.

I’ve been a pastor for almost two years now and I feel like at this point that I can tell you more things not to when it comes to leading a growing church than things to do. God has really blessed both my family and my church since July of 2005 and he has taught me a lot about myself and ministry. I would like to share with you a few of the things that I have learned.

I’ve learned not to force God into service. It’s easy to jump into any ministry situation and structure it around our dreams. The problem is that sometimes our dreams and God’s desires don’t match. When this happens we must always yield to God.

Paul experienced this in Romans chapter 1 in his desire to get to Rome.

11I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— 12that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 13I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

In his book “Experiencing God” Henry Blackaby reminds us that we need to find where God is working and join Him in it rather than work against Him.

I’ve learned that I can overcome circumstances. Wilma Rudolph was born the 16th of 18 children in a poor black family in middle Tennessee. She weighed just over 4 pounds. At the age of 4 she contracted polio and lost the use of her left leg. The battle with polio left her weakened and she developed chronic pneumonia and scarlet fever. She managed to survive, but spent most of her childhood as a cripple. It was only through years of therapy, and determination that Wilma was able to regain the use of her left leg. She played high school basketball setting a single season record averaging over 30 points a game. In 1960, Wilma represented the United States in the Olympics. She won gold medals in all three of the events in which she competed. She tied the world record in the 100-meters, set a new Olympic record in the 200 and in the 400-meter relay she brought her team from behind to win the gold. At the very least, we can say that Wilma Rudolph rose above her circumstances.

There always going to be things that we must overcome and being in ministry doesn’t make it any different.

I serve at a church that has tripled in size over the last two years. We have sent out mission teams twice internationally and once domestically. We have started several new ministries including one for Spanish speaking people. Even with that, last week I had a church member call me just to inform me of all the things that I’m doing wrong as a pastor.

The great news is that I don’t have to overcome anything under my own strength or power but I can rely on the one who has already overcome the world.

"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33

I’ve learned the desert can be a place of blessing. When I graduated high school I received as a gift a two week vacation up the West Coast with some family friends. I was really excited because up to that point in my life I had only been east and I had never seen the desert before. When we reached the desert of Arizona and Nevada I immediately noticed two things.

First, the desert is very dry (duh). As the wind would pick up it would send huge dust clouds racing across the landscape. Second, the desert is lonely. There weren’t quite as many places to stop for gas or to sightsee in the desert.

However the desert can be an amazing place of refreshment with the right provision. Moses spent time in the desert leading the Children of Israel to the Promised Land. David spent time in the desert during the rebellion of his son Absalom. Even Jesus had some time in the desert. When you read all three accounts you find that God provided for their needs. For Moses it was manna and quail. For David it was supplies through friends and unexpected sources. For Jesus it was immediate nourishment after forcing the Devil to flee.

When our spiritual walk dries up and gets lonely there are several books to read, places to go, or people to talk to but the true blessing of the desert is found in God’s provision.

Easter Gladness to Funeral Sadness

It really is amazing how much difference a week makes. We spent this day last week celebrating having 165 people involved in our Easter weekend services. We spent today laying to rest one of our most beloved church members.

I don’t really know that people understand the highs and lows that come with being a minister nor the emotional strain it puts on a person.

Why Pray?

We had another amazing Sunday here at Mayfair. We had 110 in attendance for our worship service and had a family join the church with the husband coming forward to give his life to Christ.

Mayfair continues to move in the right direction under the guidance of Jesus Christ. We have some wise and Godly men and women in our church, in leadership positions, who seek God’s will in everything church related.

As we continue to grow it’s vital that our congregation collectively seeks God’s will for their lives and we as a church grow in our prayer lives. Because of that I am focusing on prayer this month with my sermons. I started the series this Sunday with a look at the reasons why we should pray.

Building a Community of Prayer
Ephesians 6:18

In a small Kentucky town there were 2 churches and 1 whiskey distillery which was owned by the town atheist.

Church members complained that the distillery gave the community a bad image so they unsuccessfully tried to shut it down.

One Saturday night they held a joint prayer meeting during which a terrible storm raged for hours. Lightning struck the distillery and it burned to the ground.

The next morning both pastors preached on the ‘POWER OF PRAYER’. The insurance company decided to not pay for the damages due to the ‘act of God’ clause in the policy so the distillery owner sued both churches for conspiring with God to destroy his building.

In court both churches denied any involvement in causing the fire.

A confused judge said, ‘I find one thing about this case very perplexing: The plaintiff (an atheist) is professing belief in the power of prayer and the defendants (church members) are denying that same power.

18And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. Ephesians 6:18

Prayer is the true backbone of the church. The church only functions as it’s members pray. Growing churches have active praying members and dying churches don’t. Sure there are other differences between the two but the primary difference is the act of prayer amongst the congregation.

10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, Colossians 1:10

Prayer is what allows a church to not only stand firmly but to also function properly. We live in a society where the church is attacked from every direction and sometimes backs down when it shouldn’t.

Abortion is a great example of what I’m talking about. No matter where you stand on the issue the fact remains that abortion stops life. Abortion plain and simple is murder and the church collectively didn’t stand when it should have to try to make a difference in this issue when the opportunity presented itself.

Instead of attempting to be more involved in the legislation of the laws regarding abortion the church backed down to the protesters when they said that the institution was infringing on the rights of the individuals. These are many of the same protestors who speak out against putting a convicted killer to death but are completely content to watch and allow an unborn child to die.

The church needs to pray for strength to stand in the midst of opposition and be a voice for Holiness and righteousness. I feel strongly that we have lost that voice and will not get it back until we find our way back into an active prayer life.

Prayer is also the key to success in ministry. When was the last time that you prayed for an opportunity to minister to someone? Churches grow because they are active in ministry and sometimes the words of Jesus haunt churches in regards to their ability to minister. “You have not because you ask not.”

3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Colossians 4:3

Prayer is the key to accountability. On a personal level we often don’t view ourselves as being accountable to God because we aren’t connected to Him. A greater understanding of God leads to a greater since of accountability to Him.

When we view God as being righteous and holy then have a better understanding of what we should desire to be like as followers of Christ. Sin runs rampant in our lives because we aren’t actively seeking God’s direction.

12We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 1:12

The only way Christ can be glorified in you is if you are actively communicating with Him and allowing Him to shape you through your prayer life.

Panama Mission Trip

I had the amazing opportunity to spend last week in Panama working with a small church in developing outreach and evangelistic programs. We took a group of eleven people from our church to a small community called Margareta which is located near the port city of Colon.

We spoke to the church on Friday night in about focusing on a vision for ministry. We were able to be more specific and watch the church members strategically plan Saturday with a men’s prayer breakfast and a ladies’ luncheon. We capped off Saturday night with an evangelistic event that featured a movie for students and a marriage enhancement conference for adults.

One of the highlights of the week was teaching the kids to play American football on Sunday afternoon. After playing for about an hour and a half one of our ministers was able to present the Gospel in which 16 young men gave their lives to Christ.

Monday and Tuesday were spent out in the community meeting people and sharing information about the church. We were able to get two of our group into the schools on Monday and Tuesday to talk about what their life is like in America. Of course going to church and having a relationship with Jesus Christ is a part of that for them and they had the liberty to share that. Of the two people that we go into the schools one is a freshman in college and the other is a senior in high school.

Wednesday we took a tour day of the Panama Canal and some shopping and sites around Panama City before traveling home on Thursday.

I led our first group on a short term mission trip last spring and there were five members from Mayfair who attended. This year the group grew to eleven and each of them said that they would return next year if God opened the door.

It excites me to see how God is not only growing our church numerically but also growing the hearts of our congregation to be more outward focused instead of inward.

Ambassadors of Christ

Thursday a team of missionaries will leave from Mayfair Baptist Church for Colon Panama to work a week of ministry in a local church there and in the community around that particular church. I’m excited about the way God has provided for this trip and the way our church has supported this mission effort. I’ve often said that I wanted this trip to not just be a group of people from Mayfair going to Panama but rather Mayfair sending out a group of missionaries. However, with that said we have to understand that even though we are coming from Mayfair Baptist Church we are Ambassadors of Jesus Christ.

Webster defines an ambassador as an authorized representative or messenger.

We talked last week about the Great Commission. In that study we were sure to emphasize the authority of Christ. It’s His command that gives us the initiative to go but it is His authority that empowers, or authorizes us, to go. But here’s what we have to understand. We aren’t Ambassadors of Christ because we are going to Panama. We are going to Panama because we are Ambassadors of Christ. Paul reinforces this fact in 2 Corinthians 5:20.

20We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Everyone who has entered into a relationship with Jesus is an ambassador for Him. You represent Christ in every aspect of your life. You attitude towards worship reflects Jesus Christ. You faithfulness in your tithe represents Jesus Christ. The way you treat your family literally everything you do in every aspect of your life represents your relationship with Jesus Christ, but as it is with any type of ambassador when it comes to representing Christ there are good ones and bad ones. Some of us are guilty of grossly misrepresenting what it means to have the attitude and heart of Jesus Christ and the tragic part is that some of you know you are guilty and yet you don’t care because it’s easier for you to stay the way you are than to change to the way you need to be. Which begs the question, are you pretending to be someone you are not when it comes to being a Christian?

So, here’s the question. This is what we are looking at today. Who are you and what do you represent? An Ambassador of Christ…

Represents Christ to the world.

Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Despite the fact that many people actually feel this way we are not here on earth represent ourselves. There is a much higher calling in life.

Paul makes sure to point out that he had been crucified with Christ and that he no longer lives for himself but that Christ now lives through him. This is a concept that we often pay lip service to but fail to actually live out.

When we commitment our lives to Christ, it should be Christ in us directing our lives.

Is an Example

Luke 3:10-11
10"What should we do then?" the crowd asked.
11John answered, "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none, and the one who has food should do the same."

John is simply just stating that true followers of Christ set examples of how people are supposed to live and not follow other examples that may be out there.

You are to be the example of generosity, love, peace, kindness and most of all what a person who has had a life changing experience with Jesus Christ is supposed to look like.

Instead we respond to hatred with hate and are more than willing to match wrong for wrong in a society that has no sense of morality at all. Whose example is that?
Preaches the Word

There are two schools of thought out there. One, Jesus radically changes your life is such a way that all things change to reflect the attitude of Christ and the word of God becomes your standard for living.

Two, you tell everyone that Christ has radically changed you life when in reality nothing has changed but you keep living the lie.

Now, there are many people out there who set out after number one but end up living number two. The difference?

The Word of God! An Ambassador of Christ will preach Christ at all times and stand firm in the Word of God. The world recognizes a phony when it sees one and only those who are truly reading and living the word can preach it.

Those who don’t take the truths of who Jesus is to heart will give into the pressures and voices of the crowd. The desire to please their own sense of self value and find favor among people rather than God will continue to be their driving force.

You read the story of Pilate in Mark 15. He had Jesus in his charge all night. He asked Jesus point blank who he was (recorded in John 18:35-37) and yet still armed with the knowledge of the reality of Christ he still gave into the voice of the crowd.

Mark 15:15
15Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

I’ll end with a statement about serving Christ and being an ambassador for him made by biblical scholar G. Campbell Morgan, he says we should “Make the must of His life, the must of our life” If a political ambassador represents his or her own country and uses every possible means to promote that countries interests. How much more should those who represent God to a lost and dying world represent God’s interests? We are called to be ambassadors to this world for the cause of Christ. In all situations we are called to be ambassadors…. Let us be diligent in that task!

Church Update

I’ve said this before and it’s very true. God is good all the time! This last week was an amazing week for me in ministry at Mayfair. It started out on Monday of last week when I made a visit to a couple who are fairly new to the church. During that visit the idea of starting up a weekly bible study in their home came up. This is something that I had been praying about for a while because it has not only has the possibility of changing the dynamic of the church but also gives us the ability to reach a demographic that we are not currently reaching, young professionals who have not yet started their families.

This couple would later send me an e-mail expressing their sincerity in the home bible study as well as mentioning some people whom they have already discussed it with and invited.

Sunday morning we had over 100 in our worship service which was a site for sore eyes after a few weeks below the century mark. However the highlight of the service was the invitation time that saw several people come to the altar to pray and one student who gave her life to Christ.

Monday night of this week I had another meeting with our retired missionary friend and some key leaders in the church about the possibility of starting a ministry to reach a minority group. It looks like we have a solid ministry plan to start a Spanish bible study this summer.

To my amazement God continues to bless Mayfair and grow us. I am so blessed by what he is doing and really don’t feel worthy to be involved such a great ministry but I’m glad that I am.

Become A Missionary

A Religion Professor named Dr. Christianson taught a required survey of Christianity course at small college. Every freshman was required to take the course regardless of his or her major. Although he tried hard to communicate the gospel, students viewed the class as nothing more than a waste of time.

One particular year Dr. Christianson had a student named Steve. Steve was the Center for the college football team and also a strong Christian who intended on going to Seminary. One day Dr. Christianson had an idea and he asked Steve to stay after class. "How many push ups can you do?" He asked. Steve said, "I do 200 every night." The professor asked Steve if he could do 300. "I have never done 300 before" Steve said, "but I think I can do it." "Good," the professor said, and he proceeded to tell his plan to Steve.

Friday came and Steve got to class early. Dr. Christianson came in with a large box of fluffy, cream filled doughnuts. The class was excited, it was Friday the last class of the day, and they could start their weekend early. Dr. Christianson went to the first girl in the row and asked, "Cynthia would you like a donut?" "Yes," she said. Dr. Christianson then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" "Sure." Steve jumped down out of his desk and counted off ten push ups. Dr. Christianson laid the donut on Cynthia’s desk. Joe was next. He asked Joe the same question and Joe said "yes." Steve did 10 more pushups and the professor laid the doughnut on Joe’s desk. And so it went all the way down the first row and half way down the second until it came to Scott. He was a basketball player and friendly to female companionship. Scott replied to the professor’s question by saying, "I want the doughnut if I can do my own push ups." Dr. Christianson said, "No Steve has to do the pushups." Then Scott said, "Well I don’t want one if I can’t do my own." Dr. Christian turned around and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push ups so Scoot can have a donut he doesn’t want." Scott said, "hey! I said I didn’t want one!" Dr. Christianson said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts, Just leave it on the desk if you don’t want it." And he put the donut on Scott’s desk.

Steve had begun to slow down a little and sweat had began to form on his cheeks. Dr. Christianson started down the third row. Students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christianson asked Jenny, "Jenny, do you want a donut?" Sternly, Jenny said, "NO!" Then Dr. Christianson asked, "Steve, would you do ten more push ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn’t want?" Steve did ten-Jenny got a doughnut.

By now a sense of uneasiness had filled the room. The students were all beginning to say "no." There were uneaten donuts on every desk. Steve was now putting forth a lot of extra effort to get the pushups done for each doughnut. A small pool of sweat was on the floor, his face was red, and you could see the sweat soaking through his shirt. Dr. Christianson asked Robert, the most vocal unbeliever in class, to watch to make sure Steve did the full ten. Dr. Christianson started down the forth row. Students from other classes had came in and were sitting along the side of the room watching on. When the professor saw them he counted and saw that there were now 34 people in the room. He was worried about Steve, "Could he do that many push ups?" Jason, a recent transfer student, didn’t know what was going on and came in to see. The class yelled, "Go away! Don’t come in!" Steve picked up his head and said, "let him come in." Jason was asked and he said "yes." "Steve will you do ten push ups so Jason can have a donut?" Steve did ten pushups very slowly and with great struggle. Jason, confused, was handed a donut and he sat down. Dr. Christianson then finished the fourth row and began on the visitors. Steve’s arms were shaking uncontrollably with each push up. By this time sweat was pouring off of his face and arms. The very last two students were cheerleaders. "Linda, do you want a donut?" Linda cried and said, "no thank you." Professor turned to Steve, "Steve would you do ten push ups so Linda can have a donut she doesn’t want?"

Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push ups for Linda. The last girl was Susan. "Susan would you like a donut?" Susan was full of tears and did not answer. "Steve would you do ten push ups so Susan can have a donut?" Susan asked, "Dr. Christianson why can’t I help him?" Dr. Christianson had tears in his eyes also and replied, "I have given him this task and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party I looked at the grade book and found that Steve was the only person with a perfect grade. All of you had failed a test, skipped class, or turned in inferior work. Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your push ups. He and I made a deal for your sakes."

Steve slowly got up off the floor, he had done 350 push ups, his arms buckled beneath him as he started to get up. Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile. "Well done good and faithful servant", said the professor, "not all sermons are preached in words class." Turning the the students the professor said, "My wish is that you may fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God did not spare His only Son but gave him up for all of us. Whether or not we accept His gift is our choice. The price has been paid. Wouldn’t you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?...

I’m always amazed at the number of people who won’t share their faith in Christ with others. Out of fear, stubbornness or even selfishness many Christians treat their relationship with Jesus Christ as though it was a dark nasty secret and if found out would ruin their lives.

In one of the most overlooked passages in the bible Jesus actually commands his followers to go tell people about him. I say the passage is overlooked because many people have heard and read it, they just refuse to be obedient to it.

Matthew 28:18-20
18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

I don’t understand how people can read this passage and just ignore it. There’s no secret code involved. It’s not a riddle and there is nothing to try and figure out. Right there, plain as day, black and white from the mouth of Jesus you are commanded to “go” make disciples. You can’t even play it off by saying that it was something the preacher told you to do and since you don’t like the preacher you’re not going to do it.

It wasn’t the preacher who told you to do this it was Jesus Christ. By choosing not to obey this command you are choosing not to obey Jesus.

What I want to do is break Jesus’ command down into six parts that will help us understand not only the calling but also the priority in fulfilling that calling.

“All authority” – Jesus is the ultimate source of authority. He establishes that fact when he says that, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” Who gave Him such authority? God did. Jesus is the most powerful being in all the universe. There is no power above Him and there are none who are not subject to him.

I cringe when I hear people call the devil the prince of the earth or the ruler of the world. The truth is that there is no ruler, no power and no authority other than Jesus Christ.

“Therefore” – Connecting word that links the two verses together. Our action is based on the understanding of the authority of Jesus Christ. You are either obedient to that authority or not but you will not be able to deny that authority.

Jesus establishes himself first as the ultimate source of authority and then connects his authority to the command.

“Go” – Verb/Action word. This word literally means what it says, go! It means to leave or not to stay. We’ve built churches and have modified our personal evangelism styles so that people can come to us on their own terms at their own comfort level.

We’ve become so concerned with offending someone and so fearful of rejection that we have stopped going and started waiting. We’ll talk to people about God only after we find out that they are believers as well. Instead of going we are satisfied with spreading the Gospel only in our bible study groups and call it good.

My friend, that is not going it is waiting and is disobedient to Christ’s command. Find a short term mission trip to be a part of, join your church’s outreach team and do more than just contact church members through it. Go to work and proclaim Christ, go to your neighbors and to your family. Go into your world and proclaim Christ. That’s what missionaries do. They go and take the Gospel wherever they are called.

You can make all the excuses that you want to try to make yourself feel better but truth is truth and failing to follow this command is a willful act of disobedience.

“Make Disciples” – Doesn’t say “find” disciples. It says make them.

A man walked up to a vending machine, put in a coin, pressed the buttons labeled, “coffee, double cream, sugar.” No cup appeared, but the nozzles went into action sending forth coffee, cream and sugar. After the proper amounts had gone down the drain, the machine turned off.
“Now that’s real automation,” said the man. “This thing even drinks it for you.” That is just how some people want their faith. They want to make a deposit, put in some money and let the rest be taken care of automatically. But, there is no such thing as automated prayers, devotion, worship in song or service.

You’ll never make any disciples by stating where you are physically and spiritually.

“Baptizing & Teaching” – The church’s responsibility is to baptize and teach. By that I mean the institution of the church. The pastor’s job is to equip the saints of God to do the work of God. It is the congregation’s responsibility to do the actual work. Without you committing to discipleship through baptism and then following through in actual discipleship the church, the body of Christ, will die.

“I am with you” – Our security is found in Christ. Do you understand what that means? Remember, he is the ultimate authority in the universe and holds all the power that comes with such a title. Not only is he on your side he is actually with you every step of the way, providing comfort, strength and security as you advance His Kingdom.

Pastor for Hire?

I got a call from a funeral home on Saturday because a family had suffered a loss and had no church home or pastor to minister to the family. I agreed to help and called the family. I met with them on Monday and performed the service yesterday morning.

Before the service the funeral director gave me a envelope with a check in it. He told me that it was compensation for my time. I certainly didn’t expect it but told them that I appreciated it.

After everything was finished and wrapped up I went to the funeral director to thank him for his help and for giving me the opportunity. Here’s how he responded, “You did a great job. Can we call you again the next time we have a need?” Nothing unusual there but when I replied with a “Sure” he said, “Great, I’ll add you to our vendor list!”

What? Add me to the vendor list? What’s that? One of the other gentlemen from the funeral home told me that was just the list of people they buy things from. “What in the world would they buy from me,” I inquired? “Your services,” he replied.

Honestly, I have no idea what to think of that. I understand that as a minister it is my job to minister to people, which I certainly don’t mind doing. It is also my job in which I use to support my family so why not get paid for performing my “services”? I’ve just never thought of it as selling. As a minister I get called a lot of things, some good some bad. I just never in a million years would have expected to be called a vendor.

Loving God With All Your Heart

When Charles Schwab was 70 years old, he made the following statement. These words were spoken for the record in a court of law after he’d just won a nuisance suit. He said, “I’d like to say here in a court of law, and speaking as an old man, that 9/10ths of my troubles are traceable to my being kind to others.

Look you young people, if you want to steer away from trouble, be hard-boiled. Be quick w/a good loud “no” to anyone and everyone. If you follow this rule, you will seldom be bothered as you tread life’s pathway. Except you’ll have no friends, you’ll be lonely, and you won’t have any fun!”

We have been talking about love over the last three weeks and while we have discussed several aspects of love relationships we have yet to fully devote time to the way we are to love God.

At the height of his ministry and popularity Jesus found his greatest opposition to be from the religious leaders of the day. In fact many of them hated Jesus because he didn’t do things according to their traditions and the popularity of Jesus’ love based ministry threatened to bring imminent change.

Hoping to trap Jesus and turn the crowd against him the religious leaders asked Jesus what the greatest commandment was. In typical Christ like fashion he didn’t reply the way they expected but he did give the correct answer. It is this answer that teaches us how we are to love God.

Matthew 22:37
37Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'

Loving God with all of your heart, soul and mind literally means loving Him with all that you are. I want to put the focus of this lesson on loving God with all your heart because your heart is the source of all your emotions.

What does it mean to love God with all your heart?

It means to love God will all of your character. Each of us at some point has been in a relationship where we didn’t show our “true colors” to the other person involved. We didn’t allow that person to see our real character. We can’t be that way with God because he created us and already knows our true nature/character. There is no fooling God and no holding anything back because he already sees and knows all. So why not love Him with all of your emotion.

Love God through your joy.

It’s easy to love God when things are going great. Even the most ungodly will stand before thousands and thank God when the win an award but loving God through your joy is more than just acknowledgment it’s a way of life! Look at what Jesus said.

John 15:10-12
10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

Joy has nothing to do with material things, or with a man’s outward circumstance...A man living in the lap of luxury can be wretched, and a man in the depths of poverty can overflow with joy. - William Barclay (1907 - 1978)

There’s a huge difference between joy and excitement. Often we confuse them thinking that because we heard a good sermon, sang our favorite song, read a passage, got a promotion or experienced something else that brings about a sense of excitement that we have joy but joy is lived not experienced.

Joy stems from love and is completed in the person of Jesus Christ. Loving God with all your heart means seeking to not only live in joy but to share your joy and its source every day.

Love God through your sorrow.
Here we have the exact opposite issue than we do with joy. Sorrow is a part of life but for some reason when we experience it we want to get mad at God, the church and Christianity as a whole. Everyone experiences pain and sorrow but not everyone has learned to love God through them.

Look at Job’s complaint about the condition of his life and then his response towards his own complaint.

Job 19:7-21, 25
7 "Though I cry, 'I've been wronged!' I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.
8 He has blocked my way so I cannot pass; he has shrouded my paths in darkness.
9 He has stripped me of my honor and removed the crown from my head.
10 He tears me down on every side till I am gone; he uproots my hope like a tree.
11 His anger burns against me; he counts me among his enemies.
12 His troops advance in force; they build a siege ramp against me and encamp around my tent.
13 "He has alienated my brothers from me; my acquaintances are completely estranged from me.
14 My kinsmen have gone away; my friends have forgotten me.
15 My guests and my maidservants count me a stranger; they look upon me as an alien.
16 I summon my servant, but he does not answer, though I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even the little boys scorn me; when I appear, they ridicule me.
19 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me.
20 I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth.
21 "Have pity on me, my friends, have pity, for the hand of God has struck me.

25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.

Job got it that there was something bigger than his sorrow. To him it was never a question of control. He didn’t look to make excuses or cast blame even though there was a group of people around him begging him to do so. Instead he stated his situation for the world to hear and then proclaimed his trust in God, his redeemer, being in control.

Loving God through your sorrow means using your experiences to show others your true self and genuine faith in God because it will allow others to do the same.

Dr.Claude H. Barlow was a missionary to China and one of the most revered foreigners to work in that land. When a strange disease for which he knew no remedy was killing people Dr. Barlow sought for a way to fight it. There were no research laboratories for this disease, so Dr.Barlow conducted his own research. He studied the disease, filling a notebook with his observations. He then procured a vial of disease germs and sailed for the United States. Before he arrived, he took the germs into his own body, and then went to the John Hopkins University Hospital to be observed. Claude Barlow was very sick now. He allowed his old professors at John Hopkins to use him for experimentation. A cure was found, which a healthy Claude Barlow took back to China with him.

His efforts saved countless lives.

We would never be able to minister to others during their time of sorrow if we never experienced sorrow ourselves.

Love God with full surrender.
Here’s the problem that keeps people from living a Godly lifestyle. It’s the same problem that prevents us from experiencing true worship. I’m talking about a heart that hasn’t been surrendered to God.

There are people who will not come to faith in Christ simply because they don’t want to surrender their hearts. If they did it would mean a change in lifestyle, a change in their thinking process and a change in the way they view God.

A fully surrendered heart will say yes to God when it really doesn’t want to. We see that in the life of Jesus as he was agonizing in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was so torn between his own will and the will of God that it caused him to sweat drops of blood.

Matthew 26:38-39
38Then he said to them, "My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me."
39Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
That’s surrender! “God, I don’t want to give up my life of immorality but not as I will, but as you will.”

If we could just learn to utter those prayers over all the areas of our lives we would see not only our lives but those around us drastically changed.

Love God by modeling Christ.
As in most everything else in life Jesus modeled for us what it looks like to love God with all your heart. All we have do then is model Christ in the way he loved God without holding back.

God is Good – All the Time!

Well, since making the statement two weeks ago that Mayfair had finally navigated beyond the beyond the 100 barrier we haven’t seen the century mark. Last week we had 90 in our worship attendance and yesterday was 93.

I have to admit that is a little discouraging but there are plenty of other areas in our church where we can see God working. Last week we finished up the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering to raise money for international missions. Our goal was to raise $1,500.00 for missions and we went beyond that to $1,600.00. We have a mission team of eleven people who are leaving in just over three weeks to go to Panama for a mission trip. Mayfair has been thoroughly behind this trip by supporting our team members financially and through prayer. Wednesday night is our mission’s banquet and we have basically sold out of our tickets to attend. There is an overwhelming sense that the Spirit is moving in our church as we are reaching people and changing lives. We are constantly seeking God for new avenues and opportunities to reach people and He has been faithful to provide.

Tonight I am meeting with a retired missionary and some minorities who are members of our church about starting a non-English bible study. Our goal this year is to reach out to an ethnic group and it appears that God may be opening that door for us. Please join with us in making this a matter prayer as we are excited to see what God has in store.

The most exciting thing that God is doing in the church right now, to me, is bringing us new members. Over the last two weeks we have had four new members join the church.

Loving No Matter What

C.S. Lewis penned these powerful words about love. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."...

Its amazing how often the word love is misused. We often use it in place of infatuation, a strong liking or even a desire to get to know better. Truth be told that we often have no idea what we are talking about when we tell another person that we love them. Love in its truest form is sacrificial. It gives way more than it receives even to the point of hurt.

We are designed to love and really can’t function properly without it. We are genuinely miserable without experiencing true love but on the same hand we are often brought to our highest points of frustration by the ones we love. However complete love allows us to move beyond the frustration hurt and pain that are commonly experienced in relationships to continue in the joy that God intended for that relationship bring into our lives.

The question is how, how do we continue loving no matter what? The answer is actually easier than you might think. There are two keys to growing your love relationship through difficult times. First, understanding what true love is and secondly, understanding how to truly forgive when you have been hurt.

In general we live in two types of love relationships, Eros and Philia. Its pretty easy to identify which type of love matches each of our relationships but it isn’t always easy to understand the full measure of that love.

For example, Eros is the type of love that describes our romantic/marriage relationships. We know it best as an attractive or sensual type of love but if that is our only understanding of it then we are missing out because there is so much more to it.

Eros can easily be defined as a selfish love based on the way the world understands it but in reality it is a giving love. It was Eros that not only initially attracted you to your spouse but it was also the motivating factor in your desire to be united in marriage. Think about that for just a second. Because of this kind of love you not only desired your spouse (selfish) but you also desired to give yourself to him/her in marriage. The concept of giving out of our romantic love is reinforced through the bible.

1 Corinthians 7:4: The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife.

Ephesians 5:22: Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord.

Ephesians 5:25: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.

When your romantic/attractive love fails to be sacrificial or giving then it will also fail to survive through the most difficult times of your marriage relationship.

However romantic relationships aren’t the only ones that have the potential to bring both joy and hurt in our lives. Many of us have been hurt by our closest friends and then find years later that we were hurt worse by the severing of that relationship than we were by the actual hurtful act.

Philia is the word used to describe brotherly love which is the type of love that we enjoy with our closest of friends. It is the type of love Paul uses when he referred to the church in the book of Philippians.

Philippians 4:1
1Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

There is nothing romantic or sexual stated in that text. It is just a man longing to be with his friends whom he genuinely loved as though they were his own flesh and blood.

This is also the type of love that Jesus enjoyed with Peter, James and John. Remember that John is often referred as the disciple that Jesus loved. It was these three men who not only shared in all the great moments with Jesus during his three year public ministry but also were with him during the lowest point of his life at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Keep in mind that Jesus was fully human and experienced all the emotions that came with his humanity. He enjoyed the company of his friends and understood what it took to make a friendship relationship work. Understanding that, Jesus gave us the ultimate example of what it is to be a friend.

John 15
12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Once again we find that giving and sacrifice are crucial elements to not only enjoying but also continuing a relationship that is based on brotherly love.

Now the key to loving not matter what is not just understanding Eros or Philia love but also understanding and living Agape love.

Agape love is the way that God loves us. It is unconditional love that allows us to say, “I may not like you at times but I will always love you!” That is exactly the way that God views you and me. He doesn’t like the sin in our lives but He does love us. God’s love is not based upon who we are or what we do but solely on who He is. We are God’s creation and as I said last week there is absolutely nothing we can do to cause Him to stop loving us. That is Agape love!

Understanding Agape love and living it will allow you to repair the hurt done and continue on in that relationship.

I can hear you right now, “But you don’t understand what they said or did to me.” You are right I don’t and while I acknowledge that hurt will many times sever a relationship, forgiveness always provides a way to bring it back together. Remember if your love is unconditional then it isn’t based on the other person it is based on you.

If our relationship with God was based on us then we would be in a lot of trouble because we allow sin to come between us and God on a daily basis. Some of you have been hurt more than once by your friends or your spouses and even though you desire to see that relationship continue you are at a loss as how to make it happen.

Look again at God’s example. Jesus didn’t die for the righteous he died for the wicked so that they may become righteous. He died for you and I in the midst of our rebellion against Him.

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Look at that, while we were still sinners! We have this misconception that God only loves those who love Him but the truth is that not only does he love everyone He loves everyone in spite of their sin.

Knowing that sin would sever the lines of communication and damage the relationship God made a way for us to receive forgiveness and be restored to the full benefits of that relationship. Follow what I am saying here.

1) We are the ones who have the sin problem.
2) God loves us in the midst of that sin.
3) Our sin is direct rebellion against God
4) God is the one who paid atonement for our sin.

The power of God’s forgiveness is humbling. He offers us what we don’t deserve over and over again in spite of the fact that we are the ones hurting him.

Whether it is your spouse, child or friend they are going to hurt you at some point. The key to repairing that hurt and mending that relationship is not what they offer in retribution but what you offer in forgiveness.

Church Update

I had the opportunity to go to the national pastor’s conference last week in Jacksonville, Florida. It was an amazing time of ministry and worship and I came home eager to continue the work here at Mayfair. While I do love my job it does get taxing at times when you are working with people who have, “never done it that way before.”

Not that our church has a negative attitude, they really don’t, they are just learning to do new things and serving at my first church as pastor I am learning along with them. We have made some great strides and have experienced significant growth as a result. Frankly the people of the church deserve more credit for allowing God to use and stretch them than I do as the pastor.

Mayfair has finally reached the point where we are almost always over 100 in attendance during our worship services. We actually had a low Sunday this week, due to illness and some families traveling, but still had over 90 in attendance. We’ve come a long way since our low Sundays were in the 30’s.

I started a sermon series on love that I am really excited about. It’s only a three week series but I believe it has the potential to not only be life changing but also change the dynamic of our church. I preached the first message titled “Love the Way God Intended” Sunday and we had three people come forward and join the church. I’m sure it was God working in their lives more than it was the words coming out of my mouth.

Right Now on the Message Boards
Christians being persecuted in Mexico

Love the Way God Intended

Okay, honestly, raise your hand if you have ever said of thought any of those things you saw in the video towards your husband of wife. There have been times in my life when I have wondered why or better yet how my wife loves me as much as she does. I have rolled out of bed before, look into the mirror and said, “What was she thinking?”

I’m glad that I am confident in the fact that my wife loves me but where does that confidence come from? Part of it comes from when I look in the mirror. She is too smart to put up with a guy like me for all theses years if she didn’t really love me but the main thing that gives me confidence is my understanding of love. Not the love that we find that video, or on television and in books and magazines but love the way God intended it to be.

My goal through this lesson is to illustrate through some personal examples from my life God’s design and intention for love. Not that I have a better life than you do or that I am somehow on a pedestal above you, because I don’t think that way and if you know me then you know for certain that I’m not. However, I have to use illustrations from my life because you didn’t give me permission to use illustrations from yours.

Look for a moment at how the bible describes love in 1 Corinthians 13.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Look at the adjectives in this passage. Can you honestly say that these descriptive words are found in your love relationships? If you can’t then you do not love the way God intended.
We have to understand that love is a process. All of these characteristics don’t just pop into the picture the moment you first fall in love. Rather they are developed over a time through the process of learning how to love.

The mistake that we often make is to assume that because love is a natural emotion then all the characteristics of love will come naturally with it as well. That is simply not true! Marilyn and I will celebrate our 14th wedding anniversary this coming May, Lord willing!, and I can honestly say that I am so much more in love with her now than I was almost 14 years ago when we stood at the alter and shared our vows.

Why is that? It is because over the last 13 plus years I have been learning how to love her. That’s the beauty of love the way God intended for it to be. Through the process of instilling all of these qualities into your relationship you actually see your love for another person grow.
With Oklahoma among the top five states in the nation with the highest divorce rates there aren’t as many people who will give you the testimony of their marriage that you just heard from me. There is no shortage in theories when it comes to identifying the reasons for a rising divorce rate but the problem is actually pretty simple. People just simply don’t want to adjust.
The process of love requires adjustment.

I told you earlier that Marilyn and I are close to celebrating 14 years of marriage but honestly some of you have been married for so long that you would still describe us as being in the honeymoon stage. Think about this for just a moment. How many things do you know now about your spouse that you didn’t know about them before you married them? What kind of adjustments did you have to make in order to continue loving them? What kind of adjustments did they have to make in order to continue loving you?

That’s the process that I am talking about. For you to enjoy love it has to grow and for it to do that you have to be willing to invest time and effort into the process making the required adjustments.

Failing to adjust to the process had implications on all three types of love relationships.
Eros – Romantic relationship
Philia – Friendship relationships
Agape – Godly relationship (also the way you should love your children)

Let me tell you two quick stories. Several years back the church that I was working at hired a new secretary. She was exceptional and very efficient in her work and above all else was a huge OU basketball fan. She had a grandson around my oldest son’s age and we would tell stories about the boys as well as talk sports just about every day.

One fall she asked Marilyn and I if we would like to tickets to the OU/Texas football game. Absolutely we did! It was the perfect opportunity to get away from the kids for a weekend and enjoy some alone time as well as watch our favorite football team. Going to the Cotton Bowl to watch the Red River Rivalry is the Mecca to both Oklahoma and Texas football fans and we finally had an opportunity to make the trip ourselves.

On the day of the game parking was chaos. We finally made our way to a small lot where we paid an outrageous amount of money to park our little car. After passing through the gate into the lot we were guided to a tiny spot to park. It was so crowded in that lot that after we pulled in the parking spot there wasn’t enough room for Marilyn to get out of the car. I tried to pull the car over to a lager spot so we could have enough room to actually get out and the lot attendant came sprinting over to emphatically tell me why we couldn’t do that. It was at that point when I saw my beautiful wife do something I had never seen before. She actually got out of the car and stood nose to nose with this man matching his tone of voice and body language demanding that she either get a parking spot that would allow her to get out of the car or her money back.

I was absolutely speechless. Try your best to get the mental picture of my little wife matching a rather large man in a battle of wills. I had never seen this behavior before and had no indication to ever expect to. After just a few minutes we were invited to enjoy a parking spot at the very front of the lot that left more than enough room for us to exit the vehicle to which Marilyn said, “Now, that’s more like it.”

Here’s the thing about Marilyn. She doesn’t settle for second best. It doesn’t matter if it’s a parking spot, our kid’s grades, the condition of our house or whatever. She wants the absolute best for herself and her family. Sometimes that attitude can be frustrating to me, especially when it comes to house cleaning, but it was something I needed to adjust to and here’s what I realized.

There are day when I don’t feel very confident in who I am as a person, a father or a husband. Hey, I’m just human and I am the first to admit that I am very imperfect. Its that truth in life that often causes us to feel less than we really are. Check this out, my wife doesn’t settle for second best and she chose to marry me! It is not in her nature to settle for second rate and I am the guy she fell in love with. What does that say about me? It says that I am not second rate, I am not second best. When I am having a bad day at work and feel like a miserable failure, my wife doesn’t settle for second best. When I have messed up at home and guilt makes me feel like a bad father or husband, my wife doesn’t settle for second best! Do you see the adjustment there? That is the process of love.

Here’s another angle from this story. When we returned home from the weekend I shared the parking story with our friend who gave us the tickets. She laughed and thought it was funny but guess what happened the next year? Not only did she come through with tickets again but this time she got us a parking pass that allowed us VIP parking right next to the team busses.
Now over the course of our friendship we have given her a few gifts as well on holidays and birthdays but I can honestly say that I have never given her anything like this opportunity and yet she continued to get us the tickets year after year for as long as she could. Here’s why? God’s intention for love isn’t self-focused.

How many times have you based a gift on what you received from that person? How many times have you helped out a friend only to the extent that they have helped you? Are your friendships based on you or are you truly reflecting God’s intention for love.

There is another aspect to love the way God intended and that is the Agape or unconditional love. His love for us is not based upon our actions, good or bad. His love is based solely on His love. There is absolutely nothing that you can do to make God love you any less. In fact the bible teaches that if we could then we could never again gain that measure of love back.

4It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, 6if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.
Hebrews 6:4-6

Jesus was crucified once for the forgiveness of man’s sin. It was God’s love for you that allowed Jesus to go to the cross. Many people will try to use this passage to make the point that you can actually lose your salvation but that couldn’t be any further from the truth. In fact, the warning is that if you could fall away you will never be able to come back. Why? In order for God to withdraw His salvation from you not only would that mean that the cross wasn’t enough it would also mean that He would have to actually go back on His word and quit loving you.

Do we deserve the cross and God’s offer for salvation? No! Do we get it anyway? Yes! Because God’s love for you and I isn’t based on condition.

When I was a kid there were many things my dad asked me to do or not to do. I wish I could say that I always did what I was asked but I was a child and as children do I often disobeyed. My disobedience earned me what I deserved which was punishment by my father.

I remember one particular incident when my brother had deliberately disobeyed our parents and were caught red-handed by dad. Knowing what was to come we were sent to our rooms to await our punishment. In our minds this punishment deserved spanking and when dad arrived to our room we “assumed the position.” However instead of swatting us (what we deserved) dad actually gave us some toys and candy he had bought earlier in the day for us.

It was the perfect time to explain God’s grace which is simply defined as unmerited favor or getting from God what we really don’t deserve. Dad could have easily spanked us and been justified by it but instead he chose to take the opportunity to show us favor and instill in us the confidence that even in our disobedience he still loves us.

There is a lot of talk and debate today about what is and is not sin but the simple truth is that sin is anything that is outside the will of God for your life. It is an act of rebellion against God and the bible teaches that we deserve eternal separation from Him (death) for those willful acts of rebellion. Instead of justifiably giving us what we deserve God instead offers us the gift of salvation in what is His greatest example of love the way He intended it to be.