Reading the Bible Through

I resolved to read the Bible through this year.  It has been a long time since I’ve done this.  I’ve resolved many times but haven’t completed the task often.  I just finished.  What a wonderful book!  Genesis recounts the beginning of all things (except eternal God) and Revelation predicts (with absolute certainty) how this world and time ends.  In between are accounts of God’s interaction with people demonstrating his perfect character and his desire for us to be in relationship with him.  Genesis tells that we were created for that purpose and Revelation tells we will be rewarded for pursuing that purpose.

The Bible is the compelling story of God’s glory.  Praise the Lord, all who are alive.  Praise the Lord, everyone who takes a breath.  Praise the Lord and give him glory.

Christmas Eve Update

So it was worth coming to church!  William and Crystal came to seek salvation in Christ Jesus.  We had great services throughout the day…well worth the effort.

Journal of Grace

I’ve often made the resolution to keep a journal.  I love to write and this would be a good way to express my thoughts.  Journaling would also be a good way to track God’s work in my life.  The problem is…I never have done it consistently.

I have a Word document that I started many years ago that has just a few entries.  I even have an entry confessing that I dropped the ball and promising to get back on track.  But there are many gaps since then.  Didn’t Paul talk about this in Romans when he wrote about the struggle to do what he wanted to do?  I feel that way.  I want to; I know it would be good; I am blessed when I do it; I can see God’s hand at work through the thoughts.  But I don’t keep it up.

Even this blog has gaps of elapsed time when I didn’t bother to post anything; and this is supposed to be my online journal!  I am so thankful for grace.  My promises to God are sometimes unkept or forgotten but he will forgive me when I confess my neglect.  I’ve learned that he expects not only confession but repentance – that is, to turn away from what I’ve done wrong and toward what is right.

My prayer life is a journal of grace: I confess, he forgives, I fall off the wagon (so to speak).  Then the cycle goes again…and again.  What I need is a good dose of repentance to go with the confession.  Then I wouldn’t go through the cycle so much.  The hard part of repentance is not turning away from the wrong and toward the right but continuing in the way of the right.  But God is gracious.

Henry Blackaby says to drive a stake in the ground each time God does something in your life.  Then as you look back you can see where God has been working.  Today I am driving a stake – planting a spiritual marker.  Just as a bridge needs many points of support to span a wide canyon, so I need many spiritual markers to keep me on the right path.

Have you ever thought about keeping a journal?  There are many different ways to do it: thoughts, activities, “God” events, successes/failures.  The important thing is to look for and see God in the midst of your life.  Although he is transcendent, he is near.  The Christmas season reminds us of the most explicit example of this.  Your life is also a tremendous example of God’s near interaction with humanity.  Keep a record of it.

Christmas Eve

It's about 8:30 Christmas Eve morning. I'm sitting in my office making final preparations for today's services. Deana and Riley may (or may not) already be up working through their Sunday morning routine. Deana's sister Kay has spent the night with us. Roscoe and Suzy (two stray dogs I've given names) are nowhere to be seen but are surely near the house or the church.

For many people, having Christmas fall on or near a weekend is a great thing. Those who are worldly take advantage of the extra time off work for parties and family time. I like those things, too, as long as the parties are civil and sober. But it seems that some Christians feel having a Sunday and Christmas so close together puts a kink in their plans. If you are a marginal Christian (OK, a "backslidden" one) then you probably don't want church services to interrupt your Christmas activity.

HELLO!! Who said it was OK to separate church and Christmas? Christmas and Easter are the only two services each year that some people come to church. We call them CEO Christians (Christmas and Easter Only!). Even those so far out on the fringe of Christianity understand the link between Christmas and church.

Before you think I'm a dogmatic fundamentalist, let me say that the Bible says nothing about the schedule a church should keep other than to meet regularly. The New Testament indicates that Christians met for regular worship on Sunday; the writer of Hebrews warns against forsaking the regularity of meeting together. So, I'm OK with rearranging the "normal" schedule today. And I'm OK if some can't make it to everything we do today. And I'm OK if some are out of town today...as long as they attend church where they are.

Our church normally has a Bible study at 6pm and a worship service at 7pm. Tonight we are having a worship service at 5pm instead. And I want our congregation to know this is not a "mandatory" meeting; however, attendance is encouraged. Quite frankly, if a person pins their hopes of accomplishing true worship on one service or one day a year they are way off the mark anyway. We celebrate Christmas (Christ coming into the world to save us from our sins) every day and we've been specifically "Christmas-y" for the last month. One day isn't going to make or break a person's trip to Heaven.

Nevertheless, this is a great time to worship the King of kings. I hope our church will be filled with people seeking to praise him. I hope we have some of the CEOs here so that, maybe, they can catch the fire of commitment. I hope we have non-believers here - family members who come just to appease the Christian in the family - so I can present the gospel clearly and invitingly. This is Christmas Eve! What a great gift - to receive the gift of salvation today; to receive the gift of forgiveness today; to receive the gift of love, joy, and peace today; to receive the gift of reconciled relationships today.

I'm not all that concerned about the reason they will come today but I hope each one leaves having been drawn closer to Christ and with a clearer understanding of his will for them - if they can reach that point in one service or if it takes all our services.

However you choose to celebrate the holiday season, I pray the Christ of Christmas is or becomes your Savior and Lord.

The Manger and the Cross

Now that we’ve turned the corner into the last week before Christmas, the excitement has ratcheted up a few notches at our house.  While we love the excitement of the Christmas season we cannot lose sight of the Advent of Christ.  Deana has pictured this perfectly with our nativity set at home.

Atop the entertainment center (is that what these things are still called?) to the left is the stable scene with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus surrounded by the shepherds.  Behind them is a lamp that shines on the scene like the Bethlehem star would have shone.  To the right – way to the right – are the magi.  We place them away from the rest of the scene because the Bible indicates they weren’t at the stable but at a house.  Since they were still on their way, we place them away from the manger scene.

There is greenery around all of this to provide depth and beauty.  In addition to this, Deana has placed one other item in the scene: a cross.  Not giving her the credit I should have, I asked if she placed it there on purpose.  She said she thought about moving it (it is part of the non-seasonal decorations atop the entertainment center) but felt like it belonged with the nativity.  And it does!

If we gaze into the manger and see only the baby Jesus we have missed the point of Christmas.  If there had been no need for the cross of Christ there would have been no babe in a manger.  The songs of Christmas are beautiful and capture the essence very well, but maybe we should sing this list of songs back-to-back during the season:

Silent Night
The Old Rugged Cross
Up From the Grave He Arose
The King is Coming

The cross casts a shadow across the nativity scene.  And, these days, can’t you see a shadow of Jesus cast across the world as he prepares to descend from Heaven?  He’s coming a second time in power and glory!  He’s coming soon.

I'm Lovin' It

Life is really good. I'm excited about this church. I am not four Sundays in; we've added members and beginning to lay plans for improved missions involvement. I love being able to spend all day studying God's Word and ministering to his people. I have believed for many years that God has called me into the fulltime pastorate; these last few weeks have affirmed it.

I thank the Lord and Cross Road for the opportunity. I pray I'll always be up to the challenge of the call.

Team Players

I just read the article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette about three UA freshmen who are unhappy about their team's offense this year. They all came from the highly successful Springdale High School state championship team that went 14-0. Their high school coach is now the offensive coordinator for the Hogs. They say they committed to play at Arkansas because they were told they would run the same offense in the SEC as they did at Springdale. That didn't happen and now they are mouthing off about it.

First, Arkansas won more games this year than in 18 previous seasons (something like that). Do these boys want to be winners are stars? Do they want to see their team's name on a trophy or their own names in the paper? Last year they were the team. This year they are part of a team. It's clear to me that they prefer last year's high school success to this year's SEC success.

Arkansas plays in the best college football conference in America. To win in this conference is pretty significant. To be key players (each of them were) on a winning team in this conference is big. You may or may not get all the accolades a high school superstar gets but you are part of something bigger than yourself. If you want to play on Sundays you will get plenty of looks from scouts when you play on a winning team in the best conference in America. Whatever the motivation, get past it and be good teammates on a good team.

One of the parents said two of the players were used to getting 60 receptions a year and wanted the same in college. OK - that's fine. The greatest chance for that to happen is at Texas Tech or dropping down to a lower level school. Good luck getting the pro scouts to notice you there. Jerry Rice is not the norm. Scottie Pippen is not the norm. If they think they are Hall of Famers then they should try the small college route. Otherwise, their best chance to make the NFL is right where they are.

It is clear to see that Gus Malzahn's offense is not yet fully installed at Arkansas. But it is just as clear to see that he made a huge impact on the offense and the number of wins in just his first year on the job. I expect next year to show more improvement. Gus' brilliance is in being able to craft an offense that works. He'll do that at Arkansas and it might not look exactly like his Springdale offense.

If these boys had gone to school at Florida, Notre Dame, or Tennessee this might not even be newsworthy. But since they are in college within a half-marathon distance from their home town and high school it's big news. Everyone is interested. Everyone wants the local boys to excel. (I do, too, because that would mean the Hogs are excelling.) But would disgruntled (and successful) FRESHMEN make news at these other places? I don't think so.

Finally, take a look at Felix Jones. Felix was a superstar in a Tulsa high school. He came to Arkansas just like these three from Springdale: with hopes of being a star on the collegiate level. This season, his rushing total is just 30% of the team's total. Is he complaining? If so, I'm not hearing it. I don't think he's complaining. I think he's enjoying a successful season on both the individual and team levels.

Here's the bottom line: you are talented freshmen with a successful history; if you will realize that football is not all about you you will then find success at this level and beyond.

Christmastime

‘Tis the season of Christmas. Isn’t this a great time to be a child of God? The birth of Christ reminds me of so many things. I’m reminded of His purpose for taking on the robe of flesh: that he would die for my sins. I’m reminded of His love that would reach all the way through time to me. I’m reminded of his humanity and his deity.

I remember my grandfather – we called him Dado. He died several years ago and Christmas just hasn’t been the same. Dado loved his ten grandchildren. We would gather in the living room watching the Lawrence Welk Show and Hee Haw. He was the first person I knew to have a TV with a “clicker.” Just three buttons: On/Off, Channel Up, Channel Down. What would Dado think about today’s TV shows and our multi-functioning remotes?

Dado operated a dairy and farmed soybeans and cotton in Logan County. I remember the Sunday afternoon we played in the loaded cotton trailer. Our clothes were never the same. What’s left of the farm equipment sits rusting under the huge oak trees of the home place. The black-n-white cows – each with a name – are gone.

I remember the Christmas of 1975. My family had moved from Dardanelle to Bryant because my father was transferred to manage the Kroger store on Cantrell in Little Rock. We were farther from Mom (my grandmother) and Dado’s than all the others so we spent Christmas Eve night with them. We woke up on Christmas morning to the presents Santa left and about a foot of snow in yard. I can’t remember any of the presents but I remember the snow!

My mother is one of four sisters and all of them live down the same country lane in Paris. Except for us. We were in Bryant. But not for Christmas! What a time we had playing in the whitest Christmas I’ve ever seen.

I love my family. We’ve grown up and our traditions have changed, but the mention of “Mom and Dado” brings us all back together again and generates memories that too often slip way back in our minds.

Do you know what is so great about being a child of God? Just the mention of his name brings us all together. Christians are a diverse people. Even Southern Baptists have differing opinions on things. I suspect even our church family would not agree on everything.

Let’s choose to focus on what makes us a family: the love of God clearly displayed through the birth of Christ. Merry Christmas!

New Beginnings

Today I will stand in the pulpit of Cross Road Baptist Church as their pastor for the first time. Just a few weeks ago I preached in view of a call (which was unanimous!). Today is different. Now I must begin vision-casting. This is a two-fold process. One is to place a vision before them, to fling it out there like casting a lure into the water. That's the easy part. Just like with fishing, casting is pretty easy but catching is much harder.

Vision-casting also involves shaping the vision so the people can understand it. Like an artist might use a form to cast an image, I must give shape or life to the vision. A great artist (Michelangelo?) said the image is locked inside the slab of marble and he just had to chip away what didn't belong to the image could be released. Today I begin chipping away in an effort to release the vision to God's people.

I hope to lead this church to grow in five ways: the depth of their relationship with Christ, the warmth of their fellowship with one another, the breadth of their service to others, the strength of their devotion to God, and the effectiveness of their winning the lost. The success in reaching these goals will be seen through increased attendance, baptisms, offerings, and missions involvement.

Impacting eternity at the cross road of life!

Time is Running Out

I just finished my last Wednesday night with Reynolds. It was the monthly business meeting. We talked about the bank balance, the gaining and losing of members, the upcoming missions offering. And my replacement.

It wasn't odd like I thought it might be. Actually, the discussion was very good. I was able to give input on the process and even slide in a kind word for a guy.

The best part is that I think the church may actually have a positive attitude about moving forward. I expect them to do good things.

And I expect good things at Cross Road. Time is running out at Reynolds but just beginning to tick at Cross Road. I'll be close enough to stay in touch; I want to celebrate the good things with them.

What you CAN do

Lori was a little irritated with me. I kept complaining about something at work. Someone demanded something of me and it just wouldn't work that way! "It won't work. I'm telling you, it won't work!"

"Then tell me what you CAN do!"

Yikes. That hurt. But she was right.

Now, let's take off the "job" hat and put on the "pastor" hat. So many folks at church can only tell me why ideas for outreach and ministry won't work.

Helping a needy family who has requested help for Christmas: "those kids are old enough to get a job," "is there a husband in the house?" "we don't want to give them money and nobody has clothes the size they need."

I just don't believe it!

Canvasing the neighborhood for prospects: "we've done that" (twenty years ago), "everyone in the neighborhood goes to church somewhere," "too many in the neighborhood have ill feelings toward the church" (from twenty years ago).

I just don't believe it!

What we CAN do is follow God and trust God. Faith is believing that God will be God and do what only God can do. What we CAN'T do God CAN do!

Just believe it!

Moving

God's moving.

Have you heard the song by FFH about God moving? The writer pleads with God to move...and if not, MOVE ME!

I know the request is for God to change our desires to match what God is doing. But I've been asking God to do something in my current church but the resistance is great. I'm concerned about the church; really, I'm concerned about the members. Some of them, anyway.

I believe God has a great plan for this church, but the people have to be willing to move with God. Only a few have said and demonstrated they are willing. I'll continue to pray that God will move.

In the meantime, God is moving me. I completed my seminary degree recently. I've always served bivocationally but feel God is calling me to fully supported ministry. Sunday is my last Sunday at my current church. We're moving this weekend across town to another church. I'll be in the office Monday.

I'm praying God will continue to move like only he can.

Almost

The Cincinatti Reds were in the race longer than most seasons. Most years they are out of the race realistically much sooner than mathematically. But the Reds made it all the way to within 3 days of the end of the season. Many changes over the last 6 months but they stayed in it. The did NOT have a winning season but in the NL Central it didn't take much. Just one extra win each month and they would have locked up the division early last week. You have to do the little things a little more consistently...then, great results.

Humility v. Humiliation

There is a difference, you know. Humilty is a person's demeanor regarding who he is or what he has done. Humiliation is a person's degradation because of who he is or what he has done. Seems like Christians are more interested in humiliation while Christ is more interested in humility.

I, like most, have done things I am not proud of. I confess these things to Christ and ask for his forgiveness; then I count on his promise of forgiveness. When he died on the cross he was humiliated...that was just as much for me as was his actual death. That someone would desire to drag another person through their FORGIVEN past is near sadistic.

I, like most, have done things I am proud of. It's wrong of me to boast of those things; instead I should be humble. After Christ died on the cross he was exalted, not me. He gets all the glory for anything I accomplish for I realize that I can accomplish nothing on my own anyway.

Humility and humiliation are words so close in spelling and derivation but their meanings are so far apart. Forgiven Christians need not feel or be made to feel humiliation. Maturing, active Christians must only act within humility.

Radical Christianity

Rosie O'Donnell has done Christianity a favor. No, the comparison to radical Islam is totally unfounded. She has no concept of true Christianity. Unfortunately, she speaks some truth because some of the Christians who have become public figures or publicity hounds aren't living out the Christian faith as Jesus would have us do. Some TV/cable/satellite figures and many protestors simply do Christianity a disfavor.

A commentary on crosswalk.com admits that we've not quite reached the pinnacle of radical Christianity. Christ calls us to an level of allegiance unknown by so many of us. It's not a matter of priorities; that would imply other things are important in and of themselves. Christianity calls followers to forsake all else and take up our cross to follow him daily. There are to be no other gods in the face of or in the presence of God. Christ is the priority and all else is next...better, all else is last.

In a day when we are taught to prioritize our time, budget items, relationships, work tasks, and everything else, the concept of denying self and selling out to Jesus is out of the question. But it is the calling of our Savior. It was his calling; the reason he lived, died, and lives again. And it is what he calls us to do.

I want to be a truly radical Christian. One who will do anything and everything Christ expects. One who will make every decision under his counsel. One whose character will reflect his. One whose words will be spoken like his words were spoken. One who will share his faith with others. One who will share Christ's love in ministry. One who will worship in spirit and in truth. One who will turn the other cheek. One who will pray for his enemies.

To some, radical means militant or evil. We've seen this from too many "religious" people who bomb buildings and kill innocent people. The attitude creeps out in the angry tone of TV personalities speaking out against others.

Don't misunderstand. Christians must speak up and speak out and speak against. It's the tone of some of the mouthpieces that aren't very Christlike.

So, thanks to Rosie for allowing Christians the opportunity to define for her and the world what radical Christianity really is. She speaks for many who, like her, do not understand who we are or why we do what we do. She may not be in the majority but she's generalizing who we are based on a limited knowledge of those who call themselves Christian.

The main thing about being Christian is not that I call my self a Christian but that Christ lives in me and transforms me into his likeness.

A mark of true discipleship is radical allegiance. Does that describe you?

ComAir 5191

A tragedy. 49 fatalities with just 1 survivor. Plane crashes don't happen everyday but often enough to not stay in the headlines very long. We'll see how the nation and the media respond to this one.

The initial reports indicate the jet took off from the wrong runway. Blue Grass Airport near Lexington, KY has a short non-commercial runway and a longer one for commercial flights. What went wrong? How could the pilot, co-pilot, and control tower all miss this?

Sometimes you try to do the right thing but the problem is that you are one the wrong path. I'm sure the pilot was capable of doing his job. I'm sure he had flown the CRJ-200 many times. I'm sure that he did everything just like he always did. I'm sure he was doing the right thing regarding the take-off. He was just on the wrong runway. If he had been on the longer runway this never would have happened.

Our lives are like that, too. Not only do we have to do the right thing but we have to be on the right path. Miss either of those critical components and disaster awaits. That's how important it is to make sure we are following Christ closely. Veer just a little to the right or left and it's a disaster - even when you are doing the right thing. Or follow the right path but take the wrong action - again, disaster.

You can't be too careful.

Balanced Diet

Does ice cream count as milk? Milk is good for you...calcium, vitamin D. So ice cream must be good for you. Maybe better...add a little strawberries or peaches (that's a serving of fruit!) and chopped pecans or peanuts (protein!).

Riley started out drinking formula then milk. He loves milk. He's beginning to slow down on the milk a little and is adding meat (chicken strips and roast beef, but no hamburgers?). His diet is beginning to balance a little.

Balance. That's the key. He'll never (or shouldn't) stop drinking milk. And if he'd never started eating meat, fruits, and vegetables he wouldn't have developed like he has. Proper health depends on a balanced diet.

Proper spiritual health depends on a balanced diet, too. Peter wrote that Christians should crave pure spiritual milk now that we have tasted that the Lord is good. The purpose is so that Christians will grow up in their salvation.

Spiritual health relies on a balanced diet of godly principles. We must never outgrow the bedrock principles of our faith: salvation by grace, God is love. But we must partake of meatier truths as we mature (in order to mature): faith in God's sovereignty, developing godly character, iron sharpens iron.

Sometimes Christians can be so involved in the study and application of meatier subjects that we lose sight of and appreciation for the basic principles. That's why we should focus on a balanced diet. As a pastor who dishes up the servings three times each week, I have to remember that and look for ways to lay out a balanced buffet. As parishioners, we must purposefully look for the basic and the advanced if we want to mature into healthy Christians.

Cool Job

I like my two jobs. I really am not looking to make a change unless God directs it. So I regularly look at job postings in my two fields.

Alltel (wireless phones) has a posting for an Advertising Manager. I spent a total of 3 years in radio advertising sales and I have several years of management experience.

The job is specifically tied to Alltel's sponsorship of Ryan Newman's NASCAR team. "Some travel required." Daytona, Charlotte, Talladega...

I can almost hear God's voice. Probably just a little voice rattling around in my head. I guess I'll stay put.

Independence Day

Today's a great day. America's independence is celebrated in grand style. Little Rock's first fireworks display of the season was last night at Ray Winder Field. We watched the Travs lose (again), then the fireworks. Spectacular!

We'll see more tonight.

While our Founding Fathers may have believed in God and may have even been Christians, I'm not sure they are the devout followers some claim them to be. Don't get me wrong; I think America has Christian principles in its foundation but there are other bricks there, too. America began as a place of religious tolerance AND taxation relief. Let's no forget the Boston Tea Party!

But certainly, part of the mix is religious freedom. At its core, the USA is not to dictate a religion on anyone and is to allow all people to pursue religion as they please. This is tempered only by the government's obligation to protect the citizenry - in other words, human sacrifice in the name of religion is still wrong because it is murder.

It's a great freedom. The greatest, in my opinion. I am free to worship God. I am free to proclaim the Gospel. I am free to seek the conversions of others to Christianity.

And those who follow other religions are free to do the same. So we better get to work! We have to reach the lost before the others reach them. We must take advantage of our independence as Americans and dependence (on Christ) as Christians and do the task of the Great Commission.

Jesus saves. All others fail.

At Home with Riley

I've got the day off as an optional holiday. I'm home with Riley and we're having a good day. We started out by cleaning his aquarium - I did most of the work. But it's clean, he helped, and the fish are still alive.

Then we worked on the lawn mower. I'm in the middle of changing the blades on the mowing deck. The nuts are on tight! So we squirted a little more WD-40 on them and played baseball.

He's good at baseball. Since the T-ball season has ended I pitch the ball to him. He'll be a good hitter. We're practicing catching fly balls now. We have more work to do.

Then we went to the bank, Lowe's for a tool to work on the mower blades, and Wal-Mart for birthday cards.

We finally got the nuts to break loose on the mower blades. That was difficult! So I changed the blades, put everything back together, and mowed the backyard while Riley played with bubbles and walkie-talkies.

We took showers, naps, and ate junk food.

Now we are getting ready to go the the Travs!

What a day.