Weekly posts

            The responsibility to lead thousands is nothing compared to the weight of leading 3 little boys. Being a pastor for me, doesn’t rob me of the privilege of being “daddy.” I don’t deserve their unconditional love for me but in this day where the paucity of such love is more norm than the presence of such love, I do understand the rarity of it. So with personal conviction and unceasing excitement, I am driven to fully live out Deuteronomy 6 in my home.

            As a church, we are coming up on the embarkation of a seismic shift this fall. The Lord has brought me to a clear understanding of this patriarchal passage. I will begin a series on the strategic segments of one’s spiritual journey in light of the context of biblical family. This 6 week series, beginning October 24, will be more than good information that becomes forgotten information. Over the following months, our staff and ministries will begin rolling out tremendous alterations in their ministries to align with this biblical mandate to put evangelism and discipleship back in its rightful place – the home! We will equip parents and grandparents; we will encourage marriages; we will empower children and students; and we will wait on God to energize the home and the church with renewed synergy.

            Knowing this is where God is taking us, I have become very aware of the impact in my own life and family. While we already enjoy our family weekly worship time, and daily prayer times, we are diligently looking for opportunities to talk about God “when we arise, sit, and walk.” Last week, Mobberly celebrated a groundbreaking on our new 54,000 sq ft education building for kids and adults called, The Bridge. It was special to hear the testimony of charter members; it was powerful to hear Dr. Johnson’s prayer; it was moving to see almost 500 people applaud; but it was unforgettable for me to experience the birth of this ministry project with one of my sons in tow.

              I am grateful and humbled that God brings us along with Him. No other world religion has the privilege or the permission to address their god as “Abba.” We are blessed to know the love of our unconditional Father and the opportunity to share that love.

If things that matter, really matter…

…then my life must impact all the people in my sphere of influence every day for the glory of God and the advance of Christ’s kingdom among all the peoples of the world. What I do today directly influences multiple generations. What matters most then, must be my own desperation for the daily filling of God’s Spirit, my reliance upon the power of Christ, my hunger for God’s Word, and my readiness to obey. Every year, I have the platform of influencing many just by sharing the titles to the 50+ books I read that year (see my book list above); every month, I have the chance to share my heart with whoever reads this blog; every week, I have the privilege of sharing God’s Word with the family and visitors of Mobberly, and every day I get to impact a growing number of my Twitter followers.

With all that I’m learning and in all I’m sharing, what influence am I having? Or more poignantly, what legacy am I leaving? If I’m serious about things that matter, then my theology requires sacrifice for the 6,424 people groups who are untouched by the Gospel of Jesus Christ (there are about 12,000 people groups in the world). But no place is more critical than within the walls of my own home. This year, God is honing my attention to this reality. My wife, our boys (6, 3, and 1) are not reading all the books I’m reading; they aren’t listening to every sermon I preach, or always checking out my Tweets. So at the end of the day, in what my family hears me say and watches me do – can they glean a desperation for the filling of God’s Spirit? Can they sense in me a reliance for the power of Christ? Can they share in my hunger for God’s Word? Can they have an even greater readiness to obey? … only if the things that matter, really matter!

Keys for getting the most out of what the preacher says

Jesus said, ‘Therefore consider carefully how you listen’ (Luke 8:18). Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage.

1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty. To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves.

2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God. If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?

3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister. That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you.

Consider that the clergy are men of like passions with yourselves. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own, but in Christ’s name. And we know who commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said (see Matt. 23:1-3).

4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think. Preferring one teacher over another has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians: ‘For whereas one said, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are you not carnal, says he? For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God’s hands by whom you believed?’ (1 Cor. 1:12; 2:3-5).

Are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work’s sake?

5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered. When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, ‘Lord, is it I?’ (Matt. 26:22).
Oh, that persons, in like manner, when preachers are dissuading from any sin or persuading to any duty, instead of crying, ‘This was intended for such and such a one!’ instead would turn their thoughts inwardly, and say, ‘Lord, is it I?’ How far more beneficial should we find discourses to be than now they generally are!

6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty.

No doubt it was this consideration that made St. Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: ‘Praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and for me also, that I may open my mouth with boldness, to make known the mysteries of the gospel’ (Eph. 6:19-20). And if so great an apostle as St. Paul needed the prayers of his people, much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit.

If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds!

This excerpt is adapted from Sermon 28 from The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield. Published by E. and C. Dilly, 1771-1772, London. George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a British Methodist evangelist whose powerful sermons fanned the flames of the First Great Awakening in the American colonies.

I often get asked about my personal time with God. I find it refreshing and concerning at the same time. Many people want to know so they can perhaps evaluate or improve their own; however, I sense there are many who do not have a consistent time alone with God in His Holy Word. So here are some points to ponder that I am learning in my own daily time with God and His Word.

1. God speaks to my specific needs.
The more I remove distractions during my time with Him, the more I can hear from His heart and His agenda. The more I retain distractions (even calling it “multitasking”) the more I only give Him my concerns and my agenda. I have even said, “I think better with certain music or noise”, but anything which might occupy my mind waters down my concentration. As Jesus modeled for us in Mark 1:35, it requires strategic planning and sacrificial prioritizing.

2. He drives me deeper into His Word.

Hosea 6:3 says “Let’s pursue the knowledge of the Lord. His going forth is established in the morning; He will come to us like the rain.  I used to say, “Well, I’m just not a quick reader.” Then I recalled what my dad used to tell me: “an excuse is the skin of a reason wrapped around a lie”. Now, while the average adult male reads at a 6th grade level (which is about 250 words per minute), I refuse to be a statistic. By the way, President JFK read 1250 wpm. Reading is a discipline to learn.

3. God clarifies the choices in my life.

James 4:8 clearly promises “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” I’ve heard it described that mountain climbers are more energetic when the peak is in view. They are more sluggish when the clouds are over the top. When we spend time with God, our view is less foggy and more clear.

4. God rebukes my rebellious attitudes.

The more time I spend with God, the more I’m realizing that His still small voice is actually a megaphone. The day I no longer hear Him, will be the day I disregard His Lordship over me. It’s been said “everything rises and falls with Leadership” but as my friend Dr. Ted Traylor said: “Everything rises and falls with Lordship!”

5. He moves me out of my ruts and discouragements.

The song Josh Groban popularized best describes this: “you raise me up.” As I strive to be the leader God wants me to be I’m met by my own insecurities. It seems that the Devil knows them too! It still surprises me when just one critical statement can alter my mood. But thankfully, the grace of God comes to my rescue. Besides, as far as leadership goes, it’s not what is around you as much as what is in you. The key to learning as I commune with my Savior everyday is the truth that I am no better publicly than I am privately.

6. He chases away my pride.

Ironically, what annoys me most about many leaders is arrogance, and no one is attracted to arrogance – especially God. The Holy Spirit certainly inspired the writers of Scripture, and no one any more so, than Solomon in Proverbs 27:2 “Let another man praise you.” What God deals with me often in reading His Word is my own boastful proclivity. 

I have much more to learn. After all, I desire to “study to show myself approved.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

Have you ever had a “dead” battery? We say it is dead, when actually, we mean it is not producing. We do not mean that if you looked under the hood, you will not find a battery there! Many Christians misunderstand the context and obvious application of James 2:17. “Faith without works is dead, being alone.” The very fact that James recognizes their faith shows they have it, BUT IT WASN’T PRODUCING. That is the issue. 

The word “dead” does not mean non-existent. It is the word “nekros” and means barren, useless, idle. The root word means “like a corpse.” This same word is used in the story of the Prodigal son in Luke 15. If you remember the story, the son took his portion and went away in rebellion and wasted it. After a while he came to his senses and came back home. Did he ever cease being a son? That would be ridiculous. The father though says that his son was dead and is now alive again. Simply put, the son had been barren and fruitless, AS GOOD AS DEAD, but not literally dead. He had been idle, but now by the fact that he was coming back, he was showing signs of life again.

Simply put James is telling us that faith alone, if it is not manifesting itself by works, is idle and useless. It is dead in that it is showing no signs of life.  Our faith won’t do anyone any good if we don’t exercise it. God’s desire is for us to have lives that have purpose-lives that accomplish something for His kingdom and not just take up space like some cow out in a field.

Ok, it’s true, “Love can change the world.” But as C.S. Lewis identifies the Four Loves of Greek mythology so accurately, what type of love changes the world? Is it a love that works or is it people who work at love? Or is it altogether something different? Our 3 year old “wrote” a love song for our family yesterday. Standing on the piano bench, with an audience of mom, dad, and baby brother, he sang at the top of his lungs these lyrics:

I love you, daddy,

I love you mommy,

I love you Colter – but don’t play with my trucks

Maybe Luke is really on to something about love. It gives but expects certain behavior in return. Ok, I may be stretching it in order to connect with my own theological framework, but obviously God loves us unconditionally and He does expect certain behavior from His children.

Christianity doesn’t work because we love God. On the contrary, it works because God “loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Love isn’t just a nice thing that Christians are supposed to do. It is the very basis of our faith. Therefore, “since God loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:11-12)

            John defined God as love and said, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18) John also asked this: If believers don’t love each other when we can see, hear, and touch one another, how do we dare claim to love God? (1 John 4:19-21)

            Therefore, obedience to God and love for one another are intertwined and are the things that allow believers to “overcome the world.” (1 John 5:1-12) We can have confidence to approach God with our needs, knowing that “if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:14-15). If you going to sing anything at the top of your lungs, try these lyrics: “let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”

In ancient Roman circa 49 B.C., there flowed a small river that emptied into the Adriatic Sea. It used to mark the boundary between the territory of barbaric Gaul and ancient Italy, seat of the “glory of Rome.” It was this river that Julius Caesar crossed when he marched his armies, in defiance of the Senate, against the armies of General Pompey. His strategy was one of “conquer or die.” Once he crossed the river, there was no turning back. So, the phrase “crossing the Rubicon” has come to mean risking it all or making an irrevocable decision.

Already this year, many of us have made similar paramount decisions. But most reflective of this comparison is our decision to follow Christ. Also, becoming a “fisher of men”, we have “crossed the Rubicon.” As a church family, we “crossed the Rubicon” as we launched our 4^th morning worship service – our first ever, live simulcast worship service. What God is showing us is that as we make room for more to hear, HE fills those seats. We must never retreat, never quit, never stop making room for more to know Him.

While the journey and the battles are hard, there is no turning back. In Luke 9:62, Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” We must go on! There are times we feel like the ancient Hebrews who cried to go back to Egypt, where “we remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost–also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic.” The appeal of the world’s temptations is strong and living for God is not easy. Moving forward in our Christianity is a day-to-day struggle. But go forward we must. There is nothing for us back beyond the Rubicon but we know that Glory lies ahead.

It is sensible to think that things of worth are things God loves, and things that don’t have worth are things God doesn’t love. I know we have all grown up believing that a person is valuable even if nobody loves them, but as Paul has shared with us, when something disturbs that relationship (between God and man) then we feel the desire to be loved and respected by other people instead of God; and if we don’t get that love and respect, we feel very sad or angry because we know that our glory or self-worth is at stake. We are designed by God to reflect GLORY…His glory. If there isn’t some glory being shone through us by somebody with authority, we’ll feel dead inside, like a little light will go out and our souls will feel dark, like nothing can grow there.

The most selfless thing a perfect God could do, would be to create other beings to enjoy Him. Jesus even declared that His own glory came from the Father. Even Christ, a perfect being, was valuable because God loved Him. In the same way, God designed us to be loved by Him, so we can know, we can receive, and we can reflect the glory of God. Why things aren’t the way they used to be is surely rooted in sin. 

I often wish to press a button and return to the way it was back in the Garden of Eden. Believers often exude this persona that we are in a single lifeboat trying to get other people to say how important we are and how our accomplishments or even our potential gives credence to our worth, so solidifying our aloneness in this privileged lifeboat. But this feeling of significance actually was silenced at the fall.

Adam and Eve felt an infinite amount of love pouring through their lives and then it was suddenly gone. How terrible the pain must have been, at the fear of no longer feeling God, at the ache of emptiness and the sudden horrifying awareness of self. How awful it must have been for Adam and Eve to have been deceived by Satan, to have been tricked into breaking their relationship with God. You and I almost have it easier in this way. I’m glad I am where I am; I’m so glad to boast in the cross of Jesus alone!

 As a church leader, I’m hearing much about contextualization and relevance. But like many who discuss dogma, the definitions are scrambled at best among its armchair experts. It’s always been important to me to strike a balance of Scriptural exegesis and cultural exegesis. With that said, consider Jesus.

In stark contrast to most of His modern followers, Jesus was relevant to the people and issues of His generation, and every generation since. He related well.  Well, many Christians don’t.  Too often, we seem to be caught in a time warp. Jesus’ original followers turned the world upside down.  More recently, it seems the world has turned the church upside down.  Church is no longer seen as relevant to everyday life.  The average guy on the street thinks, “Maybe, the church has something to say about life after death, but not life on earth.”  That’s why at Mobberly, as we are working through 2 Corinthians on Sunday mornings, I have often used the slogan: “Living your everyday faith.”

Two thousand years ago, some people liked Jesus, others hated Him. Some enjoyed His company, others avoided Him like the plague.  Some were attracted to Him, others were offended by Him.  Think for a moment, who was attracted to Jesus?  Who liked to hang around him?

Jesus was having dinner one evening when “many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him” (Matthew 9:10).  The religious leaders of that day were outraged by His behavior.  Their conclusion was that Jesus was a friend of sinners, and as it turns out, He was.  “The Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10).

Jesus was morally separate from sinners and never took part in their lifestyle. Yet He did not separate Himself physically from sinful people.  He spent time with them and became their friend.

Just like Jesus, you and I can’t help but rub shoulders with all kinds of people in our daily routines.  Tertullian, (Church historian from the 3^rd century), described the relationships between the Christians and non-Christians of his day this way: “We live among you, eat the same food, wear the same clothes . . . . We sojourn with you in the world, renouncing neither forum, nor market, nor bath, nor booth, nor workshop, nor inn . . . . We till the ground with you, we join with you in business ventures.”

We also must be actively seeking the lost, as Jesus did-and it doesn’t take much effort.  We often spend more time trying to figure out how to make Jesus relevant, and that’s not the problem.  Jesus is still relevant.  We may not be, but He is!  How about a little personal evaluation, here: It’s good to ask ourselves from time to time, “Do I have lost friends?”  But then again, if they are your friends, certainly, they must feel accepted by you, otherwise you wouldn’t label them “friends.”  So, the follow-up question is, “Are you bringing them to Christ?”  It’s not what do you want or even what does the lost person want, it’s what does God want!

I learned a valuable lesson last weekend when more snow fell on East Texas than in the past 10 years combined. Angie and Trey built a blockade wall for defense of incoming snowballs. I observed their creation; then I competitively urged Trey to help me make it bigger. 

“But Daddy, this is good!” Of course, Jim Collins had taught me that “good is the enemy of great.”  Two hours later, we had half an igloo constructed that towered over 7 feet tall.  When my son’s conservative voice suggested we stop and take pictures of our great edifice, I compelled him to just let us add one final crowning level.  I know igloos don’t have steeples, but at our house it just seemed appropriate.  While collecting snow for this final touch, we heard unnerving sound; we turned and sullenly watched as the leaning walls collapsed – literally in slow motion. Disappointed, frustrated, and exhausted – we just threw up our hands in vexation.  I couldn’t help but note the comparison to what must have been the zeitgeist of workers at the Tower of Babel when their arrogance led to their demise.

Eventually, Trey and I had a good laugh – but no pictures. We decided to rebuild what was good enough – just a wall. This is our result. 

 Lesson: “Godliness with contentment is great gain.”