The Sweetness of Home, both old and new. May 29, 2008

First, on this warm Tuesday morning I want to thank you as a church for some wonderful time off last week.  Wednesday and Thursday I camped out at Camp Buckner and had some much needed time of spiritual retreat and sermon preparation for the summer.  Friday I took the day off and Kelley and I went home to Kenedy for my cousin Gina’s wedding.  She was a beautiful bride and it was a beautiful wedding.  I was honored to be a part of it.  Thank you for the time off.  Thank you Ken Flowers for filling in Wednesday evening and Thank you Don Barber for preaching Sunday morning. 

Sunday morning I was able to worship with FBC Kenedy.  It was the first time I have worshipped there in quite a while, and I always enjoy it.  It is always encouraging to see how much has changed and also how much has stayed the same.  I sat with a friend of mine who I grew up with and was actually born on the exact same day as me.  We commented on how many new faces and families were there that weren’t 10 years ago.  So many children, babies, and young families.  In a town that is 75% (app) Hispanic, it was good to see diversity in the congregation.  It was good to see this fresh infusion of energy and faith into this wonderful longstanding church. 

At the same time, much of what I love about FBC Kenedy is still the same.  My grandparents sitting just to the left of me in their same pew, intently reading their Bibles as the sermon began.  Truett Hunt, a life long member of FBC praying in his eloquent ways, “O Lord of our long strewn battle lines, watch over us sinners,” and then ending his prayer with a doxology of praise.  One of my best friend’s dad (as a kid we used to time is prayers because they were so long) praying his long, but incredibly heartfelt prayer.  Rachel and I, feeling the glares of our fathers, as we whispered and laughed during the children’s sermon.  Some things always stay the same! 

As a kid, Mr. Hunt’s prayers seemed antiquated and contrived.  Weldon’s prayers seemed severely long and boring, and my parents’ stares seemed condemning.  As a young pastor returning home for just one weekend, both all that has stayed the same and all that has changed were the very words of God filling my soul as I saw this family in new light; I think, in a truer, more revealing light. 

But, I missed Rick leading music and Kim and Mandi singing and playing the piano (we are SO blessed to have them).  I missed hearing my family of faith pray, sing, and worship.  I missed preaching and looking out on all of your faces as you respond to God working in you.  I missed visiting with you all before Church and hugging you all after Church.  I even missed that high school auditorium (and I very much longed for that worship space on the hill!) 

It was wonderful to worship with the people that used to be my family of faith.  This Sunday, it will be even more wonderful to worship with you all who are now my family of faith.   With love in my heart, I will see you Sunday. 

Christ is risen! He is risen Indeed! March 25, 2008

I wrote this for Fellowship’s newsletter article this week.  Enjoy.

Christ is risen, He is risen indeed!  What an utterly world changing statement to declare! 

What a wonderful and worshipful Easter morning we celebrated together Sunday!  It was great to meet so many of your family members who were visiting.  It was great to see so many visitors from the community join us.  It was incredible to have 215 people worshipping together.  Kim and Mandi’s songs were inspiring.  It was a good morning most importantly as we celebrated the resurrection of Christ!

I want to include my conclusion from the sermon on Sunday as means of encouragement for you this week. 

And so, Church, this Easter morning we stand alongside the beloved Disciple and stare into the Empty Tomb.  We see the burial clothes lying neatly folded where the body of Jesus should be.  We, from the vantage point of 2000 years later have know  the rest of the story of the resurrection and what it means, of the ascension and the gift of the Holy Spirit that was given. 

But this morning, we stand and gaze into the empty tomb with the Beloved Disciple and the question for us is, “Do we believe?” 

Our faith hinges in our belief in this three act miracle of the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. 

If we can’t believe in the miracle of the resurrection, if we look at that empty tomb and just see an empty tomb, if we can’t penetrate its greater meaning, then the spirit is not with us and this book is merely an antiquity filled with moral teachings that have no authority.  Jesus was merely a man, who was a vagrant and was executed, end of story, his teachings and life have no greater meaning.

But, If we believe in the resurrection, and the ascension of Jesus, then we believe that the Spirit of Jesus Himself has been given to us and we have the strength and the hope to live in faith, discerning the spirit’s leading.

If we can look at the empty tomb and believe, than this book has authority for our lives as it was inspired by the Holy Spirit.  If we can look at the empty tomb and believe then  this Jesus is worthy of giving our lives for and following with all that we are because He is our Savior. 

If we can stare into the empty tomb and believe then we have that which is worthy of giving our life for, Following the Risen Christ. 

Church, May we believe this morning.  May we make that leap of faith

So this morning we can stand together at the open door of an empty tomb and declare together, Christ is Risen!  He is risen indeed!

Live like you believe it.  Have a blessed week!

Expectancy… February 19, 2008

 Do you ever live out one of those scenarios where you hear a word with fresh ears that you never really paid attention to, or maybe even learn a new word; and, suddenly that word is appearing everywhere around you.  On the radio, on the TV, in books, in advertisements, you can’t run from it no matter what you do. 

            I have encountered such a word over the past couple of months.  The word is expectancy.  I can’t get away from it.  Yesterday, in reading, The Shack, a book given to me by Will and Jenny Brust and a book I highly recommend to all of you (http://www.theshackbook.com/), I encountered the word yet again, but this time I feel I encountered the purpose behind this word being so much at the forefront of my consciousness.  

            The purpose lies in the difference between expectations and expectancy.  If you look at the definitions there is basically no difference between the two words.  They both mean, “to live in a state of expectation.”  But to my thinking there is a great difference between them. 

            Most of us live our entire lives with expectations all around us.  We have expectations for ourselves.  We have expectations for others.  Others have expectations of us.  We have expectations of our God and for our relationship with God. 

            I struggle with expectations.  I struggle under the weight of them.  I struggle to uphold them.  We are bred under the weight of expectation.  These may serve to motivate and drive us to some degree, but in the context of relationship expectations only serve to inhibit, constrict, and control that which is meant to be free and dynamic. 

            Expectations are set and specific in nature.  Expectations lend themselves to static systems that are easily managed and defined. 

            But relationships are non-linear and dynamic in nature.  They do not progress evenly along a given slope, but are living organisms that have life of their own and are not meant to be managed but lived.    

            This is where expectancy enters the equation.  Relationships are made for expectancy.  With expectancy there is freedom instead of law, there is fluidity instead of rigidity.  There is an expectancy that should exist within our relationships.  Whether we are together or apart, there is an expectancy of being together, of laughing, and talking and experiencing life with one another.  That expectancy has no concrete definition; it is alive and dynamic and everything that emerges from our being together is a unique gift shared by no one else. 

            If this expectancy is exchanged for expectations then legislation enters the relationship.  We feel the need to set certain times and amounts of meeting.  We are expected to perform a certain way within relationship.  Living relationship deteriorates into a static formality with rules and requirements. 

            My greatest hurt and disappointment in relationships (with humanity and with my God) have been a result of others not living up to my expectation for them and our relationship.  My greatest joys and my healthiest relationships are those lived in expectancy.  Expectancy allows those we are in relationship to be fully themselves and to love us and invest in us in the fullness of what they have to give and we have the same freedom toward them. 

            How different would our relationship with God be if we did not limit our relationship with our expectations?  How different would it be if we stopped living under the weight of what we believe to be God’s expectations of us?  What if we simply lived in a state of expectancy of God moving in our life and our responding as He leads?  Can you imagine how that would free you to respond and how it would free God to move beyond any of our small, limited, constricting expectations?  Such freedom, I fear, is rarely experience among believers. 

            How different would our relationships be different with one another if we dropped our expectations and instead lived with one another in a state of expectancy of how our relationships will develop and grow?  Living in relationship expectantly looking for the times of laughter, joy, comfort, peace, sadness, and tears that are the building blocks of all real relationships.  Intentionality, planning, and organization aren’t thrown out under the banner of expectancy, but are enhanced because now within our intentions, planning, and organization there exists a freedom for God’s movement among us that might not have existed because of the rigidity of our set expectations. 

            May we transform our relationships.  May we be a family who learns to live with great expectancy in relationship with each other and with our God. 

             

The Mystery of the Lord’s Supper February 12, 2008

 Sunday I had the unique experience of administering and observing the Lord’s Supper twice in one morning.  The Deacon’s observed the Lord’s Supper with one another early Sunday morning, and then we as the family of Fellowship observed the Lord’s Supper together in worship. 

In preparing for these services I came across these words in a sermon I wrote a few months ago when we celebrated the Lord’s Supper.  I thought I would share them with you this morning then expound upon them a bit. 

The experience of the supper pans the breadth of God’s love; the depth of Jesus sufferings; and the past, present, and future of God’s almighty acts. 

The challenge for the believer is not that we grasp the full potential of its meaning but that we open ourselves to the full extent of its power to change us and create intimacy among the worshiper and those in needs, between the worshiper and other believers, and between the worshipper and our Lord whom we worship.

 In the Lord’s Supper we acknowledge the presence of our Lord, his death, resurrection, and his coming again.  Sharing in the elements together, we affirm our oneness before him and our submission to him, and we recall how we came to receive such grace.  The benefit of such reflection, done carefully, is that we are refocused on that which unites us in faith and on the central truths that make the church different from any other organization.  By taking part in this meal, we make a public statement more powerful than uttering a creed.  For in the partaking is the recognition that our very sustenance and life comes from Christ.

The table is an act that sustains our unity with our world, with each other, and with our Lord.  Let us partake, let us enter into this ordinance of the Lord’s Supper.

This past Sunday we entered into this mysterious table fellowship.  We experienced this transforming moment of worship as we ate the body of Christ, which was broken for us, and drank the blood of Christ, which was poured out for us; and, we were drawn together as a family, with the needs of our world, and with our Savior. 

I gave this challenge as we left Sunday morning and I extend it to you this week as well:  Extend this table fellowship we experienced into your week and into your life.  Intentionally ask someone to lunch, go out to dinner with another family, grab a cup of coffee and commune with one another as believers.  Learn each others stories.  Talk about what God is doing in your life.  Talk about your passion for ministry, talk about the needs of the world that break your heart and the ways in which you desire to meet them. 

Break bread together.  Although the meal be hamburgers instead of those little wafers that are really hard to find.  Although the drink be coffee, tea, or wine instead of grape juice; extend the table fellowship of Sunday morning and in so doing fopen yourself up to God’s changing power to unite us as brothers and sisters and create intimacy among us most dare only dream of.

How long has it been since you have had a conversation with a brother or sister that fed your soul?  How long has it been since you have felt the intimacy of Christ-centered friendship with those in Fellowship?  Family, that’s too long! 

Such conversations are not easy for all of us to enter into.  It requires that we tear down our pride and lower any of our walls and bridges we use to keep people at arms length.  It is not easy, but it is a challenge I throw out to you.  Have lunch with someone this week.  Have coffee or dinner.  Make plans to eat with someone after Church on Sunday.  Call one of our newer members who may be struggling to find their place and to find friendship within Fellowship.  Reach out to one another.  Extend the table fellowship we experienced so deeply and mysteriously on Sunday. 

Engage Conference Reflection I January 16, 2008

This is my newsletter article for the week.  Enjoy. 

Sunday was another wonderful morning of worship.  I was blessed both in preparation and delivery of the State of the Church address and I hope you all were as well.  Remembering God’s blessings is such an integral aspect of living our faith today and looking forward to what God has for us on our horizon. 

 

I am writing this article on Monday night from a motel room in Rockwall, TX.  I am spending today and Tuesday at the Engage Conference put on by the BGCT.  The conference is centered on evangelizing Texas and our world.   Ken and Marge Flowers are here as well. 

Today was an excellent day filled with challenging speakers and absorbing break out sessions.  One excellent small group session I attended was led by Ken and Marge’s son, Norman.  He discussed the ministry opportunities available through adopting the administrators, teachers, students, and parents, of a school.  It might be something we keep in mind.  How can we bless and minister to the people who work all week in the place we worship in on Sunday? 

Tonight my mind is filled with questions and ruminations concerning our Church’s role in evangelizing our community and our world.  Here are some questions that were asked of me today that are still stirring in my mind.  Maybe you will find them compelling as well. 

 

·        What impact is your church having on its community?

·        What is breaking the heart of God in your community?

·        Does your church exist for the sake of the church or for the sake of the community?

·        What would your community do without your church?

·        How compelling is your church in drawing the community to Christ?

 

I would be very interested over the coming days to hear some of your responses and reflections over these questions.  At the absolute least, we can all work to be more bold, more consistent, more intentional in sharing our faith and impacting our community for Christ. 

I challenge you, share your faith in some way with someone you encounter this week.  Ask to pray for someone you encounter.  Tell the gospel story.  Tell the story of how Christ has worked in your life.  Be a blessing. 

Check back here over the coming days for more reflections on Engage.

Two-legged walking desires for God November 13, 2007

          

Disclaimer:  I wrote this for Fellowship’s newsletter this week.  To catch you up on what’s happened, we had a Land Dedication this past Sunday for the land we have recently purchased.  The theme of the morning was the consecration, setting aside as holy,  of both our land and ourselves for God’s use.  It was a wonderful Sunday and an incredible experience of faith and prayer at our land dedication.  That should catch you up if you aren’t a member of Fellowship.  Enjoy!

           I am currently reading The Dark Night of the Soul by Gerald G. May.  His book explores the writings of Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross and their experiences of what John calls, “the dark night of the soul.”  By this dark night they refer to the times in life where God’s presence or working in one’s life seems obscure and hard to see.  Much like the recently highly publicized darkness experienced by Mother Teresa as she confessed for much of her life she had trouble sensing God’s presence.  Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross both state that these desperate times are necessary for authentic spiritual growth and vital to our experiencing both joy and freedom. 

            I read this passage this morning, and in light of our wonderful experience of worship and consecration this most recent Sunday, I wanted to share it with you and extrapolate it a bit for our purposes.  May writes,

 

“ […] Each soul is a living desire for God.  God is love, and God creates every person out of love and because of love, for the purpose of love.  We may be unaware of it, but we are all born with a natural and lifelong yearning for the fulfillment of love.  ‘At the end of the day,’ John says, ‘you will be examined in love.’  Inasmuch as the whole person is an embodiment of love’s desire for fulfillment, each aspect of the person, each sense and faculty, is also filled with that desire.  To use John’s language, each sense and faculty of the soul is an ‘appetite’ for God. 

   Thus every part of us is, at its core, a desire for love’s fulfillment.  Though we seldom recognize it, our senses seek the beauty, the sweetness, the good feelings of God […]  Human beings are two-legged, walking, talking desires for God. Ultimately, it is only God’s very self that can truly satisfy our deepest desires and liberate our love for all of life.” 

            Sunday was undeniably a wonderful day in the life of our family of God.  We consecrated ourselves and our land for God’s use.  We celebrated this together in worship.  Over 75 of us gathered up at our land and prayed together and took part in an intentional act and time of consecration. 

         

   Why was this so good?  Why did I leave the land Sunday feeling connected and loved and like my life was interwoven into the fabric of the family of Fellowship?  Because together Sunday we experienced beauty, sweetness, and the good feelings of God.  We saw manifest in our midst and experienced in our actions the edges of the love of God and such manifestations and experiences resonate with our soul. 

          

  Whether we were looking for it or not, faith was not simply belief, it was experience.  Faith was being lived in our midst.  In such moments as Sunday we find ourselves unexpectedly and mysteriously fulfilling our purpose of love. 

        

    How do we describe such moments?  It is as if at the point where we are most deeply and truly our self, (this point is our soul and is also the point where we are most deeply and truly God’s) through feelings with power beyond explanation, God inaudibly and inexplicably shares with us the essence and experience of love itself.  And when such moments are experienced alongside one another as a family of God, we are inextricably fused in loving relationship with one another.  Sunday was such a moment. 

           

   It is the bonds that are formed in such times that allow us to function as the body of Christ.  Without such times our differences, divisions, and arguments threaten to overwhelm and destroy us.  With such times we gain the love to overcome and move forward for God’s kingdom. 

 So go out this week and live in the knowledge that every part of you is a desire for love’s fulfillment.  Go out this week and live in the knowledge that you are a two-legged, walking, talking desire for God.  Get out of your own way, stop working at cross-purposes with yourself and allow yourself to fulfill your purpose to be love to our world. 

             

Direction October 30, 2007

Sometimes it is hard to move forward when you don’t know where you’re going.  If a destination, purpose, or goal, is too broad or general, it is hard to move forward with boldness. 

Fellowship Baptist Church has a much better defined aim this Tuesday morning than we had last Tuesday morning.  In what concluded a wonderful morning of worship, you as a family overwhelmingly approved for the building proposal the Facilities Committee put forward.  You also approved pursuing financing of, what I can now call, “our” building.  The long and short of it is this:  We now know what the first phase of our building is going to be, we have an affordable estimate of what it is going to cost, we have a time frame for when our building could be completed (Nov-Dec 2008), and we are moving forward.  As our facilities are concerned, we now have direction.  We now know where we are heading and can give and work and serve to get us there. 

As our church matures and grows, our direction and our purpose becomes clearer.  For almost two years you were looking for a pastor and were moving in that general direction.  For almost two years you were moving toward a building of unknown form, function, and cost.  We have always been moving and working to expand the Kingdom of God. 

God has brought you a pastor.  God has led the Facilities Committee and you to these plans for a building and the direction to get into it.  God is laying in our path the specific ways in which we are to affect the Kingdom of God; such as Meals on Wheels, helping the many people we have helped, and the meeting of needs we all are about every day in our lives. 

God is working in our midst.  Showers of blessing are raining down on us even as I write this morning.  He has granted us direction and vision.  It is time to move forward with assurance and boldness.  So let us put our full support behind our new building.  Let us give cheerfully and generously to make it a reality.  Let us be about the Kingdom work God has laid in our path. 

Just as it is hard to move forward effectively without clear direction and goals, if direction and goals are too narrowly defined it is easy to move forward with tunnel vision and not see the opportunities available along the journey. 

So as we move forward with new direction.  Let us remember that our new building is not an end goal, but a means to our overall goal of extending the Kingdom of God.  Let us be attentive to God’s voice in whispering to us those Kingdom efforts He has for us as a family of God.  Where is he leading us to reach our community?  What needs that surround us does He have for us to meet in His name?  Where are those places in the world He is sending us to work for Him? 

Let us be about Kingdom work today with our eyes on the horizon, scanning for what Kingdom work we may be about tomorrow.