Archive for July, 2007
Character Matters July 24, 2007
The sports world has been brewing with controversy lately. We’ve seen…
- Michael Vick, one of the best athletes ever, under investigation for dog fighting.
- An longtime NBA referee under investigation for being linked with the mob and betting on games that he officiated.
In both of these instances we see something that Scripture has ALWAYS proclaimed–CHARACTER MATTERS! Proverbs 26:24-26 says that who we are behind the scenes will eventually surface…ALWAYS!
What has happened in the athletic world should be a challenge to all of us who are in the ministry–CHARACTER MATTERS!
I was on the phone the other day with one of my best friends who told me of three ministers that had made horrible immoral choices and, as a result, they are no longer in the ministry. One of them had been involved in an affair for over 10 years…and the other two men were having an affair on their wives with the same woman! In all three instances it was an issue of character.
I had several reactions to this–the first was some serious soul searching. I asked myself the question, “Is there anything happening right now in my life privately that, if it became public, could disqualify me from ministry?” The answer to that question was (and is) no–but NOT because I am some saint!!! Nope, it’s God’s grace–He changed me…and if I do not purposefully stay close to Him I could fall just as easily as anyone.
The second was that of challenge…how in the world does a pastor/leader in today’s world finish well? I want so badly to, when I get to the end of my life, be able to say what the Apostle Paul said in II Timothy 4:7!
SO…I called a pastor I know who has been in the ministry for over 40 years and spent two hours with him, asking him questions about his walk with God, his relationship with his wife and child…and how he managed to give sin the Heisman. It was one of the best lunches I have ever had…and I will be meeting up with him again soon!
The third reaction was fear! Galatians 6:7-8 is VERY clear that God doesn’t play games…it ticks Him off when people pretend to be something they are not.
The fourth reaction was a serious burden for my fellow pastors and church leaders. Men and women–let’s finish well!!! This means…
- No more porn
- No more “innocent” flirting
- No more traveling alone with impure motives
- No more abusing drugs and alcohol (yes, it DOES happen in the ministry!)
- No more having sex with someone other than you spouse! The world would be such a much better place if men would just keep their freakin’ pants on!!!
- No more misusing church funds
- No more pride and arrogance so that no one can confront us of sin
- No more jealousy, causing us to do things out of envy rather than God’s call
Character matters! At the end of my life no one is really going to remember the sermons, stories and songs that came out of me…BUT…they will remember that I was faithful to Lucretia, that I loved Charisse and spent time with her, that I honored God with my finances…and that I didn’t purposefully choose a sinful lifestyle privately that disqualified me from what God has called me to!
Character matters! I am asking the question…are you who you say you are? Is there ANYTHING in your life that is happening privately that, if it became public, would disqualify you from ministry? Let’s be real! Let’s finish the race! Let’s be men of character!
Somewhere Out There… July 23, 2007
Somewhere out there…
There is a churchplanter, well, actually, you haven’t done it yet–but you are obsessed with it. In fact, it is all you think about. Your friends know when they see you that you are IN THE ZONE and that you are going to try to convince them to go with you!
BUT…you are scared! You know what you want to do but you are afraid that the people won’t come OR the resources won’t be there. You are insecure. You are intimidated. You have been told that what you have in mind will never work and that you should pursue a “safe” and “secure” path in life.
BUT…STOP…ask yourself, when was the last time God ever asked any of us to do anything that makes sense? God is a God of BOLD MOVES, of taking risks…and if you fail…at least you failed trying and will not have to spend the rest of your life wondering, “What if?”
You see…what you’ve got to discern is whether or not that desire inside of you to plant a church is from God or not…and if it is–DO ALL THAT YOU CAN and PRAY AS HARD AS YOU CAN and watch God do so much more than you could have ever imagined.
Somewhere out there…
There is a pastor…and you are discouraged. You want to quit. You are thinking that the time in ministry has been wasted and that maybe you should go to another church–OR resign altogether. You feel like you can’t take the criticism anymore, you are tired of fighting with people about the vision…and if one more person asks you for help you feel like you are going to crumble.
Your prayer today has been, “Lord, show me just WHY I should stay in the game.” Maybe this is your answer…because you are called, anointed, gifted…and GOD ISN’T FINISHED WITH YOU YET! Think about Peter & how he felt after he denied Christ–and then he is the one God used to preach in Acts 2.
Why should you stay in the game? Because we are called to fix our eyes on Jesus…and when the game got difficult He didn’t take Himself out–He played ALL FOUR QUARTERS…and made the most amazing comeback the world has ever seen. AND if He lives in you–then you are capable of the same thing…STAY in the game!!!
Pastors–churchplanters…don’t EVER give up on the vision that God has placed in your heart! Be who HE called you to be…and GO FOR IT! Please let me know this week how I can be praying for you…and DON’T GIVE UP! The world NEEDS YOU!!!
Sunday Night Reflections July 22, 2007
It’s Sunday night and Lucretia and I just finished take out from Outback–yummy! Here are a few thoughts to end one week and begin the next…
- Alden, Steven and Gary all did incredible jobs speaking for the past three weeks! It was so nice just to sit back and receive ministry…something I don’t get to do very often.
- It has been so cool to spend time with Steven and Gary the past few weeks…I learn a lot from these guys…and they always encourage the heck out of me.
- I will be back this Sunday to conclude the Gunslinger’s series–and I AM PUMPED! The last time I took three weeks off I nearly passed out my first week back and I lost my voice!
- Pastors–I recommend that at least once a year you take three weeks off from speaking…I will explain why in a post later this week entitled “A Theology of Rest.”
- The latest rumor about NewSpring is that we just opened a nightclub! People–PLEASE–we don’t even use real wine when we serve communion! :-) We do have Baptist roots!
- By the way–do you know the difference between a Baptist and a Presbyterian? A Baptist won’t wave at you in the liquor store! :-)
- Yes, someone did say the thing about the nightclub. No–the pastor who heard it did not try to correct them…you can’t fix stupid!
- Charisse didn’t pee on me last night–she, for the very first time, got me with projectile poo poo. It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen…and it took me quite a while to clean everything up!
- I have a whole new respect for mothers! Dang…watching Lucretia has caused me to appreciate what women go through to raise children…ladies…my hat is off to all of you! WOW!
- I have been trying to help out around the house–the other day Lucretia taught me how to unload the dishwasher…I discovered we have gadgets in the kitchen that I’ve seen on television…and I discovered a whole new set of dishes!
- I cannot wait until football season!!! AND I do not care that the Beckam dude is in LA playing soccer!!!
- Our next series entitled “Illuminate” is going to be one of the most POWERFUL series we have ever done at NewSpring…the opening message of the series will be on August 5th and…let’s just say we are doing something we’ve never done before–and it is going to put me in a REALLY uncomfortable spot!!!
That’s about it for now! I love you guys–can’t wait until next Sunday!
Sometimes You HAVE To Laugh July 20, 2007
Summer Blockbuster is our annual event we do for kids in grades one through five every summer…and it is HUGE. This year we had over 1,000 kids on opening night!!!
At the end of the evening they all come into the auditorium for a full production with videos, songs and drama. (Alden has a picture here.)
Anyway…one of the scenes that took place this past Wednesday was…let’s just say…unexpected. Keep in mind before checking out this video that the scene was originally supposed to be about two lines long–and the bed was NOT supposed to break…but sometimes the unexpected happens! The funniest thing is watching Pudge and Sandy get cracked up.
Here is the link! You can hear the hundreds of adults laughing!!! AND–it made me laugh as well!
My Favorite Bible Verses! July 20, 2007
Here are a few of my favorite Bible verses!
- Ephesians 3:20 – This keeps me going! Just when I think I might be dreaming too big God always brings this verse to mind! HE IS ABLE!
- Romans 8:1 – This verse has been so good for me in regards to dealing with my past. I have learned that Jesus is not obsessed with my past–so I shouldn’t be either.
- John 3:17 – If God didn’t send Jesus to condemn the world then He didn’t mean for religious wing nuts in suits to stand on street corners and do it either.
- Deuteronomy 25:11-12 – AMEN!!!
- Song of Songs 7:1-9 – WOW…that is in the BIBLE!!! :-)
- Hebrews 4:12 – This is exactly what Scripture does to me!!!
- Acts 2:41 – Uh, if numbers do not matter to God then why in the heck did someone count?
- Romans 1:16 – I am a FREAK about Jesus–He changed my life!!!
- II Corinthians 5:13 – This is my theme verse!
- I Corinthians 1:26-31 – Every time I read this passage I cry and think about how far Jesus has brought me!!! Seriously–EVERY TIME!
- Ecclesiastes 3:11 – IN HIS TIME! WOW…that’s tough! True–but tough!
- Proverbs 22:6 – This verse has taken on new meaning for me lately!
- Proverbs 22:7 – I used to serve Visa and Mastercard–not anymore!!!
- James 1:5 – I NEED HIS WISDOM!!!
- Romans 5:8 – WOW!!! Jesus didn’t die for me because I was good–He died for me because without Him there would not be anything good about me!!!
- Matthew 28:18-20 – this was NOT a suggestion!
- Luke 24:45 – I want this to happen every single day!
Those are just a few that I wanted to share today–happy Friday!
We’re Number 21! July 19, 2007
Last year this list came out of the most influential churches in America. I have to be honest–I wanted NewSpring to be on that list. Why? Because all I have EVER wanted is for our church to influence this world for Jesus. I remember thinking, “We will be there in about five or ten years.”
The same list just came out for this year and NewSpring Church made our entrance on the scene at #21. I have a few thoughts regarding this…
#1 – I Am Amazed!
Only God could have done this! Seriously, how in the world does a church in Anderson, SC that only started seven years ago make a list like this?
It’s not because we have it all figured out! Our daily prayer around here is, “Jesus, please don’t let us screw anything up!”
It’s not because we have all been properly educated by the finest seminaries in the land; in fact, there is only one person on our entire staff with a seminary degree. We are just the “unschooled and ordinary” men and women that happen to be obsessed with Jesus just like Scripture highlights in Acts 4:13.
It’s not because we had a goal to make this list. When we first began we did so with this thought, “There are over 80,000 people in this county that are not going to church anywhere…and we are going to do all that we can to reach them!” That’s it! We wanted to reach people–still do!
It’s not because of me–I am a former pagan who Jesus just happened to power wash with His incredible grace. Every good thing I have in my life is a result of meeting Jesus! Apart from Him there is NOTHING good in me.
NO–this is a God thing. Let me say it again–there is NO logical reason that we should be on this list–but we are–and I celebrate that because it is so obvious that Jesus is at work.
#2 – I Am Challenged!
OK–so we made a list! I celebrated it…now let’s move on!
You see NewSpring…I think the challenge before us is huge–and we will have plenty of time to celebrate what God has done when we get to heaven…right now, we MUST work to reach as many people as possible.
Some people may look at us and say, “That church is too big.” I actually think we are too small. Sure–we hit 10,000 in attendance this past year–but if we have over 80,000 in our community that do not attend church–DANG IT–there’s work to be done!
Jesus said in John 4:34-38 that there is a tremendous harvest that is just waiting to be reached…and we will not sit around and do nothing about it. I am more challenged than ever before!!! There are WAY too many people out there who don’t know Christ for us to ever think we can take a breather.
#3 – I Am Obsessed!
OK–this is a list of the top 50 churches–but where would the church fall if a list were made of the top 50 influential organizations in America?
- I think the church should be more influential than Microsoft!
- I think the church should be more influential than Apple!
- I think the church should be more influential than CNN!
- I think the church should be more influential than Hollywood!
- I think the church should be more influential than ANY political party!
My gosh people–THE TOMB IS EMPTY–JESUS IS ALIVE–OUR “PRODUCT” IS SO MUCH MORE SUPERIOR THAN WHAT THE WORLD HAS TO OFFER!!! Jesus promised us in Matthew 16:18 that HE will build the church–isn’t He much more capable of building something that will trump Steve Jobs or Ted Turner?
Jesus didn’t create the church so that we could become involved in business meetings, theological discussions and pot luck suppers! With heaven and hell LITERALLY in the balance I would say there are WAY more important things to deal with–such as sin separates us from God, Jesus paid for that sin, receiving Christ makes us right with God–and if we can get that message out there in a way that people can understand it–WELL–it will make a difference.
Hey NewSpring…we made a list…yeah God! NOW–let’s not let that distract us–let’s be even more focused on reaching those far from God–and let’s make the name of Jesus famous one life at a time.
God Speaks Through Pain! July 18, 2007
This morning I met a crew of people at AnMed to go for a run. Some peeps went three miles, others went four–and then there were some of us that opted for the 7.2 mile run. (Because we are stupid!)
Anyway–I started WAY to fast…and about four miles in I began to hurt. The humidity was KICKING my tail! When I got to six miles I wanted to quit–but I kept telling myself, “Dude, you only have a mile left–don’t stop now!”
After I finished I could not stop thinking about Hebrews 12:1-3! Many times in the Christian life we are tempted to quit–things get tough, someone says something about us–you know! And for some reason we think if we give up on Jesus that things will just get better.
But I was reminded this morning that Jesus didn’t quit–neither should I! In fact, we can read in Hebrews 11 an entire list of people who didn’t quit–despite being persecuted in ways that most of us will never experience.
I just feel led this afternoon to tell someone out there–don’t quit! Life gets tough sometimes–we will always have to deal with this thing called REALITY…and in those times we are called to fix our eyes on Jesus because THAT is when He can become more real to us than ever before.
Don’t give up on Jesus–He didn’t give up on you!