True Thankfulness

       A young lady, one of the youth in my youth group, came to Wednesday night service sick. She suspected that she might be suffering strep throat. We prayed for her, as scripture instructs, and I made the statement that we should pray for God's will instead of just healing. I stated that if it was God's will, then he could heal her on the spot, but that he may have other plans.

       The next morning, on the way to work, I again prayed for her. I began to think about the implications of praying "your will be done". Don't we usually pray "my will be done" while saying "your will be done"?

       What if we were to follow what scripture instructs in 1 Thessalonians 5:13, and give thanks in all situations. This would sound like "Lord, you know I'm sick. I don't like being sick, but knowing that you are Lord of my life, I have to believe that you are doing what is ultimately best for me. Therefore, your will be done, in my life. If this is a lesson, then help me to learn quickly. If it's so that someone may see your glory, then use me. If you are preparing me for something bigger, then thanks for preparing me. Regardless, thanks for trusting me to be able handle this without griping and complaining.

       Scripture instructs us to give thanks for all things. Maybe our perspective is so small or skewed, or maybe we just think that scripture is figurative instead of literal. I have found that believing "All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right." (2 Timothy 3:16 NLT) makes all the difference when it comes to thankfulness and trust.

Project 111

Originally posted on May 6, 2013
       Today, I had several ideas merge into one. For quite some time, I have pondered the idea of a long distance walk; not 4 miles, but 100+ miles. I have seen the guys walking, carrying a cross, and was moved by the message that it demonstrates in taking up our cross and following Jesus. I have started a book titled Follow Me by David Platt. I really want to get the message out that being a true follower of Christ is about more than just repeating some words in a prayer. I have wondered how my youth group could raise funds for what we do each year: our budget consists of whatever we can raise.
       All of these ideas came together as I decided to see if I could walk from the steps of our church, in Anderson, to the steps of our state capital in Columbia. I found that if you map the trip, on the internet, as a walking trip, you will travel 111 miles, one way. It also indicates that it would take 36 hours. I believe that by leaving at 12 noon, on a Sunday, it would be possible to return by 11AM the following Sunday. It would be exhausting and, as a disabled veteran (leg and back), I would need a whole lot of prayer (my own as well as that of others) to complete this mission.
       If people, along the way, were to ask my name, I could reply with “Who I am is unimportant. Who Jesus is is of utmost importance.” When asked why I am doing it, I could respond with “I am demonstrating physically so that people will be reminded to respond spiritually.”
       I will need to work out the details of sleeping arrangements, but I am sure that I can prearrange accommodations prior to the trip. I would love to have the support of churches, along the way, that may be able to supply meals that can be eaten, on the go, and not prevent me from walking.
       I could walk from 7AM to 7PM and cover 37 miles each day. I could walk each day’s journey while listening to the Bible, music and preaching. If others wished to join me, then we could have prayer together or bible discussions, as we walked along. Rain or shine, I would not be deterred.
       As a fund-raiser, I would ask people to sponsor me per mile. If someone were to sponsor me @ $1 per mile (a pittance compared to the cost of most mission endeavors), then that person would, at the conclusion of the journey, owe $111 to the youth group fund. With only 20 sponsors, we could raise over $2220. Of course we would accept smaller sponsorships or even one-time gifts. If I did this at the first of the summer (June 9th-16th), then I could use the money to take all of my youth group to church camp.
       I am getting excited to think that this might actually happen.
May 13th update: I presented the idea to my congregation yesterday. Overwhelming support! Looks like the start date might be June 16th. Campmeeting is the week of the 9th.
May 15th update: Last week, I walked to days; 4 miles the first and 6 miles the second. I averaged 4 mph each time (I have mapped out my 111 miles @ 3 mph). Yesterday, I walked 10 miles in 2.5 hours, maintaining my 4 mph. I can hardly walk today. I must have some athritis where my big toe joins my left foot and where my right leg meets the hip. Pray, people, pray!

Chaos Theory: A Christian's Perspective

       Have you ever heard of the "butterfly effect"? Imagine that you could drop a single marble into a lake and then follow the path of a single ripple. What do you think that you would find? That single ripple would travel across the lake and bounce off of any object that it encountered. It would then continue on and bounce from surface to surface until the energy of the ripple is disipated. If you were to chart the interaction of that single ripple, you might be surprised at all the things that it contacted. What list of things felt its impact?
       How much more does our life impact the lives and circumstances of those around us, and, post-impact, the lives that those lives impact?
       Matthew 28:16-20 (NIV) Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
       So...if I make a single disciple (let's name him Joe) and Joebecomes a missionary to a group of people in a foriegn land and they become Christ-followers, then I have helped many people find eternal life. Adversly, if I passed up the opportunity to share my faith with Joe, then how do those people hear the Good news of Jesus Christ? I know that God can choose to send someone else, but what about the effect my choices make in the lives of others?
       Each of us makes choices. Right? Do we realize the impact that our choices have on and in the lives of others. "No man is an Island." -John Donne

Plummet, Splat, Heaven

       So…I had what many people might think is a really weird thought. If you were standing on top of a really high building, bridge or mountain cliff and you slipped and fell over the edge and didn’t hit anything on the way down (of course you are going to hit the bottom, but you haven’t gotten there yet) what would you think on the way down? If you are more attached to the world and your life than you are to heaven and your eternity, then I think you would think “Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggg!!!!!!!!” and……………………..No, that’s about it.
       So, the weird thinking continued and I wondered, “If we, Christians, are really looking forward to heaven, as we say, shouldn’t we say, on the way down, ‘I didn’t mean for this to happen, but now that it has, I am glad.’” We teach and preach that to “be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord” so wouldn’t we hit the ground and pop into heaven?
       Check this out...I posted this thought on Facebook. Very few people seemed to get it. They did not see my real point. I got some interesting comments, including a claim that my brain was frozen. Why are we afraid to die if we know that we go to heaven? If I were on a train trip and knew that the destination was going to be awesome, I would be excited with anticipation. I would be looking forward to getting there instead of only satisfied with the journey. I want to enjoy the journey, but I am starting to wonder when this ride will be over and God will say that it is time to go home.
       Being from Georgia, I loved to go to Six Flags, when I was young. However, there would always come a time when I had been there too long and was exausted and ready to go home. I would drag myself to the parking lot and long for a bath and my bed. I wanted to get home.
       Are you enjoying the amusment park of life so much that you have no thought of going home?

May 19th, Pentecost, 180 Student Ministries

       So I got to thinking, the other day. Quite an experience, really. I seem to never be satisfied with where I am spiritually. I can compare it to physical hunger: I tend to get hungry several times daily, regardless of the fact that I eat routinely. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining. I believe that no true Christ-follower should find themselves in a place of contentment. We should find that we are ever-longing for a deaper, more powerful relationship with our heavenly father. That said...I spoke to my students (youth group) this past wednesday night and shared with them my heart. "I want you guys to experience God like you never have. I want to see a fire within each of you like you have never before known." I taught them what Pentecost really means: that when Moses and the Israelite were led, by God, out of Egypt, he led them to Mt. Sinai and there he gave them the law. This was 50 days into their journey. The Jews still celebrate the "Feast of Weeks" or Pentecost. It takes place 50 days after Passover. Jesus was crucified at Passover and the Holy Spirit (Acts 2) came to the deciples on the day of Pentecost.
       Do I believe that what the deciples experienced in Acts is available to us today? Yes I do. Too often I hear people say that those things we read about happening in the early days of the church were for those times only. Hogwash! Your lack of experience with something does not constitute evidence against its existance. (Read the book of Malachi and see that God tells Israel that they don't experience him because of their weak excuse for worship.)
       So, to continue, I said to my students, "I am going to start fasting and praying for each one of you, by name, that God would use Pentecost Sunday to do something miraculous in your lives. I want any of you, who will, to partner with me in prayer, fasting and Bible reading, in anticipation of what God is about to do." Our church will begin revial services, with a missionary/evangelist, May 19th. Wouldn't it be wonderful if God moved in such a way that my students were ignited with motivation and desire that would, in turn, ignite our churchs, families, schools, etc?
       Our Pastor, Kevin Jones, preached last Sunday about when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. He emphasized Jesus command to "Loose him and let him go" but I was even more moved by the fact that Lazarus experienced true revival. It wasn't the words that people heard or the gathering as a congregation. It was the fact that a man was dead, and had been for many days, and through Jesus, new life came into his body and he was revived and restored. People mis-speak when they say "We are going to have a revival." A more honest statement might be, "We are going to have an evangelist come to our church and preach in hopes that some of our people might experience revival."
       Sadly, this rarely occurs. Sure, people get pumped up, emotional, excited, and motivated. Rarely do they get new life in their old existance. I mean, a new life that keeps them from remaining dead. Church camp is merely a week-long children's revival service with games and a sleep-over. A month after camp finds most young people falling back into old routines and habits. Where is the change? I am sure that, for Lazarus and his family, "post-tomb" life differed greatly form "pre-tomb" life. How could it not?
       I need new life. I am a Christ-follower, but I need more. I need the Holy Spirit working in my life more and more. I desire a closer, more intimate relationship with the father.

Standards for Christian Education - part 1

       Where did we take a wrong turn? When did the church set its standard of Christian education as “We want to teach our people about Jesus”? I know there are those who automatically say “What’s wrong with that?” What’s wrong is the vagueness of that statement. What exactly does that mean? How do you know when you’ve accomplished the goal? How do you measure success? Even in public/government-run schools there are standards of education for each grade level. These standards dictate what a student should master for each grade level. Although there are many loop holes that allow students to bypass the standard requirements and progress through the system without mastering the required standards, they are there, none the less, with the goal of guiding students through a systematic regimen of instruction that should lead to mastery of subject matter with ever-increasing depth of knowledge and understanding.
       Why don’t we now look at where we desire for our people to go, where they are, and what it would take to make the two merge? Why can we not design a system of standards for age level instruction that would take children from point A to point B, in such a way that is measurable and goal oriented? Then design a system of instruction that takes adults through Biblical studies that are goal-oriented and systematic, while remaining enjoyable.
       As I see the dilemma that faces us now, the majority of Christians have little real knowledge of what’s in the Bible. Many, but not all, know most of the popular Bible stories, but their knowledge usually ends there. We then take these “Biblically-illiterate” people and ask them to teach a Sunday school class and expect that they can lead their students to a greater and deeper knowledge of all things Biblical. This is not to say that all teachers are unknowledgeable but, historically, we beg for teachers and grab any warm body that volunteers and seldom take the time to provide them with the tools to succeed. The first tool that they need is subject knowledge. We expect school teachers to complete 4 years of college with a specific program in education before we allow them to teach our children subjects that should lead to success in life, so why do we require less of teachers who have been entrusted with building a foundation of learning that will help lead them to success beyond life.
       Can we stop everything in order to revamp the entire system? Probably would not be a good idea. That would be tantamount to emptying out all the cupboards in order to buy groceries. I would suggest continuing to use what’s in the cabinets until the new groceries are purchased and then use both until the overall quality improves.
       Why does it seem that we expect that when kids grow too old for the youth group and enter the adult population, they will suddenly receive enlightenment and know how to lead in the church? We have no organized children’s music program and no teen instruction in choir, but expect that when they reach the age of 18 they will join the choir and know what they are doing. Is this one of the reasons why we lose so many at that age?
       Maybe I should have started with the question “How is the way that we’ve been doing things working for us? Not too good, huh?” It seems as if people may be of the mindset that says “God will bring people into the church. We don’t have to try to be so business-like. We just need anointing.” There is usually a bit of truth in any misdirection. The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit will draw people to God. The Holy Spirit anoints those who submit themselves to be used as God’s voice, hands, and feet. It also sets an example by allowing us to see that the disciples of the Christ followed Jesus, earning their 3-year ministerial degree. Does this mean that everyone who works in Christian education need have a college degree? No, that isn’t necessary, but they do need enough training to ensure they are able to fulfill their calling. What precedence can we find for not preparing someone for the job we have asked them to excel in?

The Forgiveness Mandate

       So, it dawned on me, right in the middle of a phone conversation with my older son, forgiveness is not a choice. People make statements like "If he comes to me and apologizes, then I am willing to forgive him" and then follow that with "I can forgive him but I can't forget what he did to me" when the Bible tells us that this is not the right attitude to have. I would submit that if you can't forget, then you can't forgive. And, by forget I mean not to bring it up or hold it against the person.
       1 Corinthians 13:1 "If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. 3 If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5 or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. 6 It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7 Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
       Love forgives and keeps no tally of wrongs, therefore if I forgive someone and they wrong me again, then I cannot say to them "this is the same thing you did last time", because there is no record of last time.
       David Platt, in his sermon "God hates and loves sinners", tells a story about a man who purchased a Rolls Royce automobile. The car was billed as "The car that never breaks down", but while driving in France, the cars broke down. The man called Rolls Royce and told them that the car broke down. They flew a mechanic to France, he fixed the car and flew back, the man went on his way. The man waited for the repair bill that never arrived. Being a welthy man and wishing to settle account, he called Rolls Royce and requested that they send him his bill in order that he might put it behind him. They informed the man that they had no record of any repair to his car.
       Let's look at some facts. The Bible states in 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." This shows that God's forgiveness is conditional. He tells us that if we do certain things, then he will do certain things. Too many preachers are standing in pulpits claiming that god has already forgiven the sins you have not commited yet. Therefore, there is no need to worry about it. You are forgiven before you are guilty. Not according to John. You may want to check out 2 Chronicles 6:24 while you are at it. You will find another "IF/THEN" statement.
       So, what obligation do I have to forgive someone who has done me wrong? Many people will tell you that forgiving people makes us feel better. I have not found that to be completely true. While holding on to a past hurt certainly causes us to retain the hurt, forgiving does not always reduce the pain. So, what heals the pain associated with the hurt that comes from the actions of others? I am learning the power of healing through the power of praying for that person. I am finding that if I begin to pray for the person who wronged me, and I don't mean praying that God would drop kick them, but if I begin to pray for God to use them in a mighty way, and pray that God would bless them, and pray that God would teach them , and guide them, and annoint them...in short, if I pray for them as though they were precious to me, then I begin to heal a little bit at a time.
       You have to understand, I don't have to forgive them so that I can live without hating them, I have to forgive them in order to release God's forgiveness towards me. I can not afford to withhold forgiveness for fear that God might do the same with me.