Mary Hill Davis, the name-sake of our Texas Baptist’s Mission Offering, once said, “There is a price set upon all growth and development. The need of the hour is the willingness on our part to face new problems; the willingness to pay the price that the services demand.” The demand is great and our sacrifice must be equal to that. As I read that challenging quote from almost a century ago, I was quickly reminded of a similar heartbeat from a close friend of ours who has responded to God’s call to be a witness in Japan for the next year. “Cindy” is a tremendous blessing to everyone she meets. In fact the people she is investing in on the field have already commented how uplifting it makes them feel by being around her. Angie and I continue to pray for and support you “Cindy” as the Lord brilliantly expands His kingdom through you.
Congratulations to Mindy Avedikian, who works on Mobberly’s Worship Ministry staff as Children’s Choir Coordinator! It only took two days, but sure enough, she won the prize offered on my recent blog contest! Angie and I are looking forward to a wonderful dinner date with Ben and Mindy. Ben is the Director of Facilities Services for LeTourneau University and the Avedikian family continues to be such a blessing to the Mobberly family. Praise the Lord for their faithfulness in life and ministry.
While Mark Spitz accomplished the impossible, 7 gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympics, it took most people much longer to realize his accomplishment then as opposed to his present-day successor’s immediate notoriety. Within hours of Michael Phelps breaking Spitz’ record, he received over 767,885 Facebook fans and 7900 requests to be included as “friends.”
Personally, I don’t have a Facebook, although I have enjoyed observing my wife’s Facebook popularity with keen interest. Today’s technology is a pretty amazing tool for people to “reconnet” or even “connect” for the first time. It’s interesting to see this drive to network and join each other’s “friend” connections in light of the connections the family of God avails us as followers of Christ.
This thought has made me ponder once again who actually reads my blog, other than of course, my wife, mother, and mother-in-law. Here’s a little test, the first Mobberly staff member who actually reads this and contacts me, will be treated to dinner by Angie and I. Please no additional help or even hints. Let’s just wait and see…
There are some many things happening at every level that has captivated our focus. Locally: students, parents, teachers, and others are preparing for the start to another school year. Nationally: all eyes were on Rick Warren and his recent Saddleback Civil Forum where the first real exposure of the two presidential candidates was presented. Internationally: the 2008 Olympics in Beijing have captured most of all our attentions. But I have to ask, “What is God’s focus?” Is it really school starting, a presidential election, or an athletic competition? “Yes and No.” As we are being reminded here at Mobberly, what matters most to God is how His children will be using another school year to influence their friends for Christ, how Christians will use their God-given freedom’s to pray for their leaders and participate in the political process, and how believers are capitalizing on an international stage to expand God’s kingdom for eternity’s sake and God’s glory. There’s is nothing more important to God at any given moment than the salvation of all living people on earth. With the next semester of EveryDay FAITH beginning this week, the family of Mobberly is being reminded to “always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you.” (1 Peter 3:15).
With over 150 people coming forward to pray for boldness in sharing their faith last Sunday night, it is no surprise the accounts I have been hearing related to witnessing encounters in the past few days. One business owner playing Christian music over the intercom of his business was accused of “cramming this stuff down my throat” from a person who said they possessed a degree in divinity. At a local coffee shop, three teenage girls from Mobberly were boldly sharing with fellow patrons when suddenly asked to leave, but the impact they had is still being shared.
“If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.” (1 Peter 4:14).
A new study from The Barna Group explores social networking as well as how Americans use digital technology to get the products, services, and content they are looking for. Of Christians:
27% have completed an online purchase this week
10% have a personal blog
26% watched a video via the internet this week
38% have listened to a sermon via podcast this week
23% of all adults (Christian AND non-Christian) say they have downloaded a church podcast this week.
33% of all Americans have sent a text message via a cell phone
Having the means of reaching the masses is a wonderful medium, but I still believe that nothing matches the potential synergy of one-on-one life interaction, like discipleship and personal evangelism. According to David Kinnaman (author of Unchristian and lead researcher on this project) “Social networking and blogs can be effective tools to connect…[but] the key is using technology in a way that is consistent with our calling and purpose.”
The author of the most famous hymn in Christian history, John Newton, was an expert bridge-builder - in relationships. He was a staunch Calvinist who accepted and even associated with Arminians. He was an Anglican who encouraged and preached in independent churches. He was a friend of the wealthy, while a pastor to the poor.
He stood for the truth as he built bridges with the truth. He even brought together clergy and laity which were known to be antagonistic and disrespectful to each other during the 1750’s. At one point, Newton had to bribe an angry mob of clergy to keep them from burning down his own house.
As a teenager and son of a slave trader, the Great Awakening was spurred forward by this gawky teen who was an example of God’s Amazing Grace. When asked how he did it? His response was two-fold. First, his theological convictions were steadfast, though not preventing friendships with the worldly. Secondly, he fostered broad personal relationships while ministering to the needy and giving hope to the hopeless.
God has called us to reach all people (Matthew 29:19) in our community. Diversity, then, must be a priority. Any church that takes seriously the Great Commission is going to have to be intentional about diversity.
Our main thrust, however, must not be diversity, but rather reconciliation. The Bible is all about reconciliation. First, reconciling us with God, and then reconciling Jews and Gentiles, reconciling parents to their children, and husbands with their wives. The mandate of Christ is very clear here: love your neighbors; make disciples of all nations. Mobberly is only going to increase in intentionality and effectiveness so we can reach everybody we can. That doesn’t mean that we will be equally effective with everyone. But, if we can’t reach them with what we are already doing, we MUST do something different.
But first let’s examine ourselves. How firm are my convictions? And how broad are my relationships?
My dad defines “luck” as “when preparedness meets opportunity.” In my marriage, Angie is the saver and I’m the spender. Together, we have been committed to biblical stewardship since we began, but with what is left after that in our income, we tend to see things differently. Several years ago we began to implement Dave Ramsey’s principles in our budget and have been able to cut out a lot of debt and even put back money in savings. Thanks to Angie helping us to faithfully put back, God has used that preparedness for just when we need it most. This week, in fact, I’m so glad we were prepared. Contrary to what a lot of Christians believe, saving money is both biblical and practical. Solomon said: “Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow.” (Prov 13:11). Ironically it’s rarely the theological ramifications that hold people back from saving. Rather it’s just plain old procrastination. We plan on getting started — just not today.Even if you can only start with $5 or $10 a week, you ought to start saving today. Your ultimate goal should be the 10-10-80 plan (i.e. 10% to God, 10% to savings, and 80% to live on). Consistent regular savings each week over a long period of time is one of the smartest ways you can stop working for money and have your money work for you. But don’t take my word for it, take Solomon’s.
21 % of Atheists believe in God, according to a recent pew poll. We live in a day when it’s popular for every person to arrive at their own syncretistic belief system. Isn’t this the ultimate Humanistic Worldview? My good friend Preston Condra who works with Watchman Fellowship shares his thoughts on this trend at http://wfiprestoncondra.blogspot.com/.
I’m looking forward to hosting Watchman’s President James Walker as he preaches at Mobberly Sunday night, August 3 as well as November 23 in all 3 morning services. For more information on helpful resources in confronting the tenor of our morphing spirituality in America, check out http://www.watchman.org/.
I just had an enjoyeable flight sitting between a woman from China and a man from India. The cultural diversity spawned intriguing dialogue for any eavesdroppers. Inquisitive and bored while I waited for the next flight, I did some web research, where I began to contemplate the stats of a given airplane carrying 100 people as quantitative representatives of the world’s populations. I discovered that for every 100 people in the world, four represent how many would be Americans. Twenty-four, however, represents those in China, and 18 from India.
It is alarming then to realize that half of the world’s wealth exists in those four people in relationship to the crowd of 100. Those four from America have a life expectancy of over 75 years while the rest of the world’s life expectancy is barely 40 years. (And I’m sure our garbage disposals digest more food daily than eighty percent of the world’s population consumes in a day)