Church: Remember When...

Remember when pastors weren't celebrities with book deals and viral videos but rather, humble teachers with worn, dog-eared, marked-up bibles and tired, red eyes from late night prayer emergencies? Remember when they knew every member of the congregation; knew their struggles and their joys and walked through both with them?

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when worship leaders held a hymnal in one hand, led the congregation with the other, while bellowing out powerful, soulful hymns with imperfect voices? They wore polyester suits instead of trendy clothes. They weren't rock stars with light shows, singing pop choruses ad nauseum, but took seriously the words of the hymns and the responsibility of ushering the congregation into the presence of worship?

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when the Church didn't cowtow to "societal norms" but knew where the lines were drawn on cultural issues, sometimes even drew the lines themselves, saying "this one belongs to us?" Remember when church leaders wept and prayed for the morality of our country in honest fear that we would become a nation that celebrates depravity instead of running away from it?

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when you sat in the pew and listened to teaching that dug so deep in the fertile soil of the Scripture that you found the roots? Remember when you would leave the service wrestling with where your heart is and where it should be? Remember when sermons weren't glossy, "feel-good" platitudes  but rather soul-searching challenges?

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when people stayed after church service to talk, potluck, share their life-happenings? Remember when it wasn't a mad dash to beat the lunch crowd at the restaurant but rather a casual stroll so we all could gather and break bread together? 

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when we believed the Bible to be the inerrant Word of God, to be the true, historical account of God's plan, not merely suggestions and fables to teach a moral lesson? 

I wonder where my church is today.

Remember when church leaders would gather around a sinner, lay hands on him or her, lift that soul up in prayer and commit to walking through the restoration together? Remember when we weren't afraid to call sin sin, and didn't believe that culture has changed on issues so God should change too?

I wonder where my church is today.

A Fistfight with God

It's been a few years, but there was a point in my life when I challenged God to a fistfight. Can you imagine? What gall. What pride. What arrogance. But I was so angry at Him (for reasons I won't disclose here) that I challenged Him. "Show me your face," I said, "and I'll punch you in the nose." Well, I'm over it now. God, in His gracious and merciful way chose not to pummel me with something as simple as a breath, but instead chose to humble me. Heal me. Love me. What an amazing God. And I have found that my struggles now aren't so much with Him, as with myself. Oddly enough, I opened my Bible this morning and found a section of scripture from Romans that I can really relate to. Thought I'd share it.

For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man,

But I see another law in my members,

warring against the law of my mind,

and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin

which is in my members.

O wretched man that I am!

Who will deliver me from this body of death?

-Romans 7:22-24 (NKJV)

I think Paul and I must've had a lot in common. I wrestle daily with myself. But I take some solace in the very next verse he wrote:

I thank God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!

So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God

but with the flesh the law of sin.

I find comfort in knowing that, even though he struggled with sin, Paul's mind was on God. Paul's mind was on the one who conquered sin. And I pray that I'm able to keep my mind there too.

I'm going to be in the Smithsonian!

--Now, before you start your jokes about "that's where all old relics go..." hear me out. Bible Across America is a neat project that is making its way across the country. And it just so happens that they are at the National Pastors Convention that I'm attending in San Diego right now. Here's how it works: The group is asking 31,173 people to each hand-write one verse of the Bible. That's right...write it out on a page. One person per verse. These pages will then be submitted into the Smithsonian Institute as a "modern day copy" of the Today's New International Version of the Bible. My contribution was to write out John 11:42:

"I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit

of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."

How cool is that?

But get this: as I grabbed the pen and started to ink out my portion of Scripture, I suddenly felt overwhelmed. I imagined the scribes of old who would roll out scrolls of the ancient text and copy it word for word. What a powerful thing. What a responsibility. What an honor. And then, it hit me--"what business do I have, writing out Scripture? I'm no scribe. I'm not worthy of writing this down."

God's word is so precious. Far too valuable to be taken lightly--especially by someone who is such a wretched sinner as myself. As I placed the tip of the pen on the paper, my hand began to shake. I worried that I was going to screw something up. What if I misspelled something? What if I left a word out? What if lightning struck me for daring to transcribe the Holy Word of God? It was painstaking. It was horrifying!

I managed to get through it without any lightning strikes or mistakes. I guess once it's made public, you can critique my work yourself! Ha!

Anyway, it's a neat project that has Americans writing out the Bible. I love it. Just wanted to tell you about it.

Joel

Confession time: I was sitting in church a couple of weekends ago, listening to pastor Eric teach out of Matthew, when he made a reference to the book of Joel. "Joel?" I thought. "I don't remember a book in the Bible named Joel." I sheepishly thumbed through the Old Testament, having no idea where to find this book--certain that Eric had made a mistake. "Surely he meant to say Job." I've been a Christian since I was 16. Trust me, that was a looooooong time ago! I read the entire Bible in college. Start to finish. (Not a very effective way to do it, but I did nonetheless.) And this incident in church was a reminder to me that not every bit of it sank in--obviously. Or at the very least, Joel needs a better PR firm. I'm reminded of the verse in Psalms that says:

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you." -Psalm 119:11

Ouch! So I guess maybe it can get so hidden that even I can't find it! So I decided to check out this book of Joel. Three short chapters--only takes a few minutes to read. But it's very interesting. Basically, the entire book talks about desolation and destruction...how the kingdom of Judah was being punished for sin...the pastures burned away, water sources dried up, three different kinds of locusts destroying the land. At first glance, not a very cheery book. But in the midst of all this desolation, Joel shares the message of God.

"'Now, therefore,' says the Lord, 'Turn to Me with all your heart,

with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.'" Joel -2:12

And, when the fasting, weeping and mourning are done, God promises restoration. One of the most powerful sections, in my opinion, is found in chapter 2, verses 25 and 26.

"So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten,

the crawling locust, the consuming locust, and the chewing locust,

my great army which I sent among you . You shall eat in plenty

and be satisfied, and praise the name of the Lord your God, who

has dealt wondrously with you. And my people shall never be

put to shame." Joel 2:25-26

What a message! Now there's one that I want "hidden on my heart!" God lays out the formula for restoration in this short, rarely publicized book of the Old Testament.

If you're at a point in your life where you feel like everything is dried up. When it seems the world around you and all you care about is dead or dying, cry out to the Lord. Fast. Weep. Mourn. Turn to Him...and not only will He take away the desolation, but He'll restore the years that were taken from you.

Imagine that! He'll take away the years that you've lost!!!God's grace is like anti-aging cream!

And not only that, God says you will be satisifed. You will praise Him...thanking Him for bringing peace in the midst of turmoil. You will be restored.

Amen!

Speaking of Children...

This weekend, I had the privilege of speaking to the Mesquite Texas Council of PTA's Annual Founder's Day event. It was a nice dinner event, with over 400 people in attendance, in the Poteet High School cafeteria. (Best meal I've ever had in a school cafeteria I might add...the roast beef just melted in my mouth!) The title of my speech: Children Are Not Our Future. The premise: We must stop thinking about children as "tomorrow" or "someday" and start thinking about them as "today." Today is the time to shape them. Today is the time to encourage them...etc. It was my first time to speak to an audience and not be able to use the Bible as a resource. (Since the PTA is a secular organization, they asked me to refrain from making my speech overtly religious.) The Bible has a lot to say about why children are important. The challenge was conveying that message without quoting Scripture. But as it turns out, the Mesquite PTA is chock full of powerful child advocates. I was preaching to the choir! There was a state senator there who authored Jessica's Law for the state of Texas. There was a volunteer who reads to kids, tutors and assists in school programs--5 days a week! And there were hundreds of parents who were there just because they want the best for their kids. Yeah, these guys already get it. Overall, it was a great event. Thanks to Lois Buford for being a wonderful host. Now, if only someone had told me that I had food in my teeth when I went up to the podium to speak...

My New Favorite Bible Verse

Here's my new favorite verse from the Bible:

"With such nagging she prodded him

day after day until he was tired to death."

Judges 16:16 (NIV)

I'm so going to use that on my wife! Ha!

(And then I'll let you know how cold the dog house gets at night.)

Taking Back the Rainbow

I was talking to Becky, my co-worker the other day about rainbows...and wondering how they came to be the symbol for the gay and lesbian movement? When she said, "I think we need to take back the rainbow!"

In Genesis, God tells us that He created the rainbow as a reminder that He will never again flood the earth with water:

I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be

for the sign of the covenant between Me and

the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud

over the earth, that the rainbow shall be

seen in the cloud; and I will remember My

covenant which is between Me and you

and every living creature of all flesh; the

waters shall never again become a flood

to destroy all flesh. ---Genesis 9:13-15

So how is it that the rainbow went from representing a promise from God...to representing the gay and lesbian movement?

I think it's time we took back the rainbow.

Residue

In high school, I dated a girl who worked at the local Dairy Queen. Some nights, I'd pick her up after work, just for the opportunity to have 10 minutes in the car with her as I took her home. Okay, maybe sometimes it would become a 20 minute trip, but you get the idea. I really liked this girl. But I couldn't get past the smell. You know...that greasy, standing next to the fryer, serving cheeseburgers for 8 hours smell. Yech! Her clothes smelled like it. Her hair smelled like it. And then, after I'd drop her off at her house, my car smelled like it. My friends could tell when Belinda had been in the car, from the smell alone. My houseparents could tell when I had been with her. It was some serious "residue." Conversely, she probably didn't like my smell either. I grew up in a children's home. "The Home", as we called it, was actually a working ranch. 900 acres of land. 350 head of cattle. 8-10 horses...and a few pigs. Yeah, I smelled like a ranch. I smelled like cow poo and hay. I carried that smell with me into the house after a day of working on the ranch. My clothes wreaked of it. Residue. You see, no matter where you go, there's some residue. There are traces that show where you've been. That's the way it is with our sins. They rub off on us. They leave a stink behind. And not just where you've been, but where the people you hang out with have been. You're carrying their residue too. Sometimes you get so used to the smell of your own sin, that you can't even tell it's there anymore. So you think you can lie to people. "No, I didn't do that!" But someone will be able to tell. Someone will smell the stench of sin on you. It's a like a smoker who swears that he quit two weeks ago, but wreaks of the cigarette he just snuck around the back of the building to light up. He can't smell it on him. He's too used to the smell. But he wreaks of it. You can smell it. It's residue. When Moses spent time with God, he had some residue too. It wasn't necessarily smell, but it was in his appearance. Spending time with God left "spiritual residue." Exodus tells us that his face shone so brightly, that it frightened the Israelites. He had to wear a veil to cover it, just so people would stop freaking out. Man, I'd love to be so close to God that when people saw me, they could tell. Can you imagine having that kind of residue? In Acts, Peter and John were speaking at the Sanhedrin. The "spiritual leaders" marveled at the fact that these two uneducated men were preaching with such authority. They said they could tell that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Wouldn't it be nice if our words were residue, left over from our time with Christ? I'm not much of a theologian, but I believe that Jesus' blood is kinda like Spray n' Wash and fabric softener all in one. When you accept Jesus as Lord, you wash in the blood to get rid of the stain of your sins...and find your heart softened. And it leaves you with that "spring fresh" scent! Ha! Wouldn't it be nice if that's all the residue that people see? Wouldn't it be wonderful if people could look at you and see that you've "been with Jesus?" 2nd Corinthians tells us that when we are washed in the blood of Christ, we become "the fragrance of Christ." When God looks at us, He smells the fragrance of Christ, and not our sins. Now that's the ultimate, powerful, stain-resistant, odor-killing spiritual residue! I wonder where you are today. I wonder where you've been. I wonder what residue you take with you. Are you trying to hide from a past that keeps catching up with you? Are trying to cover the smell of where you've been with something else? Are you so used to the smell that you can't even tell anymore? Take on the spiritual Spray n' Wash and fabric softener. Take away the smell of your sin. We could all use some of that spiritual residue. May you spend time with Jesus today. And may others see it--or smell it--on you.