Joseph Campbell once wrote on the topic of Memorial Day: “A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.”
This Memorial Day weekend is always an opportunity of remembrance and thanks to our soldiers who have given their lives for the safety and protection of the country we are so privileged to live in. And while our allegiance, as Christians, is always and utterly to God, we can nevertheless stop and thank Him for the many men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice for this country and for us. Indeed, their sacrifice, and Joseph Campbell’s sentiments, are reflections of a greater truth - the ultimate hero, Jesus Christ!
So thank a vet this weekend, remember the fallen, and worship the greatest of heroes - the Lord Jesus Christ!!
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Prayer
When Jesus prayed for His church in John 17, He sent them into a world that is, at best, unclear on biblical Christianity and at worst, antagonistic towards it. John 17 is sandwiched between Jesus’ instructions to His church (John 13-16) and Jesus’ own redemptive actions to bring about salvation (John 18-20). Prayer, it seems, is the glue that brings together teaching and actions in a world that does not know what to do with Christians trying to live out their faith.
All of this to say that we are geared up this coming week to minister in the name of Jesus at the Blossom Festival. If you are in town and able, I hope that you have sought God on how you and your friends and family can minister in some way to the thousands that will gather just a few miles away from our location. And now, one more need - prayer! Deep, specific, intercessory prayer!! That will be the glue, the undergirding of all that we do to bring glory to Christ.
All of this to say that we are geared up this coming week to minister in the name of Jesus at the Blossom Festival. If you are in town and able, I hope that you have sought God on how you and your friends and family can minister in some way to the thousands that will gather just a few miles away from our location. And now, one more need - prayer! Deep, specific, intercessory prayer!! That will be the glue, the undergirding of all that we do to bring glory to Christ.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Chuck Colson
Several weeks back, the Church lost an amazing leader when Chuck Colson passed away at age 80. What a model of transformation, servanthood, grace, truth and missional living!! His first 45 years were spent as an ambitious politician who was later convicted and sentenced to prison for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. Shortly after prison, Colson was witnessed to by a friend in his driveway…and for the last 35 years, the world has been a better place.
He saw his mission as combining a clear, unapologetic declaration of Jesus as Lord and Savior and acts of compassion and mercy for those in prison and their families. He was the poster-boy for how God takes our deepest pains and regrets and turns them into avenues of grace, how God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
What a model for us as well: passionate about unleashing love, passionate about acts of mercy, having an amazing redemptive effect on a world under siege. We echo what is surely God’s Word to this man’s life - “Well done, Chuck Colson, well done!”
He saw his mission as combining a clear, unapologetic declaration of Jesus as Lord and Savior and acts of compassion and mercy for those in prison and their families. He was the poster-boy for how God takes our deepest pains and regrets and turns them into avenues of grace, how God causes all things to work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
What a model for us as well: passionate about unleashing love, passionate about acts of mercy, having an amazing redemptive effect on a world under siege. We echo what is surely God’s Word to this man’s life - “Well done, Chuck Colson, well done!”
Friday, May 4, 2012
Love One Another
Our lives seem to be filled with all kinds of tough decisions that need to be made and difficult choices that we wish we could avoid. Sadly, ultimately, the choices must be faced with integrity while driven by principle, prayer and grace. And in the middle of all of this, the church is called to love one another. Jesus tells us plainly: “I am the vine and you are the branches…now, remain in My love. If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love…My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:5, 9-10, 12). No matter how hard the choices that we make are, no matter what conclusions we feel we are driven to by prayer, by principle, by grace, we still have the duty—no, the privilege—of doing it all in Christ-like love. And by God’s grace, so we shall.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Cohesion
If you missed it, you missed a great celebration!! I am talking about Milestones last Sunday, in which we celebrated Family Dedications, New Members and Baptisms.
These are the things that really create cohesiveness.
In physics, two of the ways that substances stick together is through adhesion or cohesion. If two substances are different, they require adhesion (e.g. adhesive tape to connect a paper with a door). The problem is that such a connection will fall apart the moment the tape loses its stickiness or is stripped away. But, cohesion is like water poured out on the counter. If you watch, the water beads. Water molecules like to stick together.
And that is the church when it is living out what it is! That was what Milestones (which happened last week and is coming around again in November) is all about. It is an opportunity to bring cohesiveness and wholeness to Fellowship Bible Church. We prayed for families, we worshipped, we celebrated, we committed to one another. That is cohesion!! That is where the church grows in wholeness and stops trying to piecemeal tape everything together!!
These are the things that really create cohesiveness.
In physics, two of the ways that substances stick together is through adhesion or cohesion. If two substances are different, they require adhesion (e.g. adhesive tape to connect a paper with a door). The problem is that such a connection will fall apart the moment the tape loses its stickiness or is stripped away. But, cohesion is like water poured out on the counter. If you watch, the water beads. Water molecules like to stick together.
And that is the church when it is living out what it is! That was what Milestones (which happened last week and is coming around again in November) is all about. It is an opportunity to bring cohesiveness and wholeness to Fellowship Bible Church. We prayed for families, we worshipped, we celebrated, we committed to one another. That is cohesion!! That is where the church grows in wholeness and stops trying to piecemeal tape everything together!!
Friday, April 20, 2012
Take Time To Pray And Listen
I don’t know how many times I have to learn this lesson because it is so obvious, yet so easy to forget. Here is the lesson: take time to pray and listen.
You would think we wouldn’t have to be reminded of that, and yet, I caught myself sitting at my desk on a long Wednesday workday trying to plow through a bunch of different things, only to hear a still, small voice gently rebuke me. “You aren’t trying to do ministry all by yourself, with only your own thoughts and efforts, are you?” So I got up, found one of my favorite nearby spots to pray and listen and (big surprise coming) it was amazing what God led me to think on, act on, to consider!
If life is sweeping you away like a river after the Spring rains, stop!! Take some time—in fact, PLAN SOME TIME—and get by yourself and pray. Ask God to show you whatever it is He wants to show you. You may very well find this time to be the most productive hour of your week!
You would think we wouldn’t have to be reminded of that, and yet, I caught myself sitting at my desk on a long Wednesday workday trying to plow through a bunch of different things, only to hear a still, small voice gently rebuke me. “You aren’t trying to do ministry all by yourself, with only your own thoughts and efforts, are you?” So I got up, found one of my favorite nearby spots to pray and listen and (big surprise coming) it was amazing what God led me to think on, act on, to consider!
If life is sweeping you away like a river after the Spring rains, stop!! Take some time—in fact, PLAN SOME TIME—and get by yourself and pray. Ask God to show you whatever it is He wants to show you. You may very well find this time to be the most productive hour of your week!
Friday, April 13, 2012
Draft Picks
On Wednesday I received “the other Bible” in the mail: The 2012 Pro Football Weekly’s NFL Draft Preview. OK, maybe that is a slight exaggeration :-), but I have always been a draft-nik. I love watching how teams utilize the draft to build up their teams…except the Browns! Usually, when they get to their picks (with the exception of the last couple of years), I want to put my foot through the TV because they so often overreach for a player (use a high draft choice to get a player they could have gotten in the later rounds)! Not that I am bitter....
As I watch how teams build themselves through player selection, I cannot help but think that if God were putting together a team through the draft, everyone would be left scratching their heads at His picks. You, me, us…He WAY overreached for us!! He traded up to the top pick of the draft with His own Son to claim us. No one in their right mind would have done that! But, that is both the amazing grace of God and the amazing genius of God. Somehow, through a plethora of mind-boggling choices, He crafts a winning team - His church. He coaches us, teaches us, puts us into the right position and empowers us.
Yes, on April 26th, I’ll be eating wings and watching with bated breath as the Browns choose their players for the future. But, I will also rejoice in the grace of God and how He has personally chosen every one of us!!
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