Content or Coveting
By · CommentsYesterday we finished up our series on the 10 Commandments as I spoke on developing contentment. I had to confess to our church that this is the one that tempts me, drains me, and the one that makes me sad. I am not into coveting someone elses wife, their car, home, money, or even their ox 
What I do covet is success. I have coveted fame.
Of all the commandments, ths is possibly the hardest because when I break the tenth one, I also break the first one – “You shall have no other gods before me.” Consumerism and materialism are as much a threat to our churches as any other heresy we might envision or any other sin we might understand. It is all about our desires. We are to desire Christ. We are to desire the glory of God. We are to desire the things above, not the things below. We are to desire to please the one who died for us. We are to desire heaven. We must learn to find our fulfillment in Jesus. This world, and the things in this world, will never fulfill us. God wants us to find our fulfillment in Him. God wants people who will place themselves in His arms. He wants people who are secure in His provision, trusting in Him to provide what they need in His wisdom.
Every week during our series, I would tie in the OT commandment to the NT principle that God wantes us to learn. To overcome covetousness we must be unselfish and give – Matthew 6:19-20 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
House of Prayer
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Have you noticed something about Jesus’ comments about church? He tells Peter that the truth Peter spoke is the foundational truth of the church – “You are Christ/Messiah, the Son of the Living God.” One statement Jesus made has recently grabbed my heart and is changing my life – “My house shall be called a house of prayer.” Too often we make His house a house of music, a house of teaching, a house of programs or a even a house of cards. Music is great, teaching is needed, programs – well… Jesus wants his house to be a place of prayer.
Is your church a house of prayer?
Merger of SBC Mission Boards
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This past Monday at the FBC Jacksonsville Pastor Conference, I had the opportunity to pose a couple of questions to members of the Great Commission Resurgence Panel. Present for the Q&A time were Johnny Hunt, Ronnie Floyd, Al Mohler, and Danny Akin. My first question which has been picked up by Baptist Press (http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=32200) was that I and many others have heard through the grapevine of the possible merger of the North American Mission Board and the International Mission Board. This topic is one that many SBCer’s have on their minds, but have not asked directly up until now.
My reasons for asking this question was twofold. First, I have served as a church planting missionary with NAMB and the church I planted and pastor, Bridge Church at Perry benefited greatly with through that partnership. Bridge Church was a core church plant of NAMB’s Strategic Focus City initiative in Cleveland. Second, I asked the question, because I am intensely interested and vested in church planting and wanted to know what church planting in North America would look like with one mission board. Which model of church planting would one board follow, if any. I guess we will have to wait until late May to find out the strategy for church planting that may be rolled out when the GCR issues their report of suggestions.
Until then we will be content with the fact that there will remain two distinct mission boards. Read the above link for the article that reports on the question I asked
David Platt – FBC Pastor Conference 2010
By · CommentsOK – I had posted on Facebook that I heard the most moving sermon on missons in my life at the FBC Pastor conference by 30 year old pastor David Platt of Church at Brook Hills.
I bought both the DVD and the CD and since they are not marked as copyright material, I am posting the audio here as a podcast to help build the kingdom. Enjoy and listen closely.
Apple’s Event – 1/27/2010
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Today at approximately 1:00 pm EST, Seve Jobs will introduce to the world the product he has spent his entire life perfecting.
Many analysts and industry pundits are speculating that Apple will introduce a tablet computing device. This device, depending on who you listen to will be able to take reading books electronically to the next level, make Apple a serious gaming platform, and otherwise be a pretty cool portable internet device.
I have heard it from reliable sources that what Jobs is planning to unleash today is the Mark of The Apple otherwise known as iWorld. The strategic plan that Bill Gates could not deliever on due to his ineptness, will be carried out by his nemesis Jobs. The plan pure and simple is that each person on the planet will be emblazoned with the Apple logo on their foreheads or left hand. It will allow them communicate interchangeably with one another and with Apple headquarters in Cupertino. For those of you who scoff at such an idea, laugh not! By the end of 2010, a worldwide edict will be given that every Windows computer must be destroyed and replaced with a Mac. Along those lines, there will only be one cell phone available for use – you guessed it, the iPhone. All others must be destroyed.
The plot began many years ago when Jobs seemed to harmlessly began to use a small case i in front of all products
introduced by Apple. If only we would have known that harmless, yet very cool i really stood for the all seeing eye that Apple would become. Today will definitely be the day that lives throughout eternity that a one world system was instigated. For what seemed to be a harmless product announcement revealed a sinister plan that has been brewing since the days of a small computer company operating out of a simple garage. Hide your children and your wife! Do not watch this event online as part of this plot includes mass electronic radio waves during the event that will scramble brain cells. This will be the first step to prepare the hard core Apple fanboys to lead this worldwide movement. The results will not be pretty!
And you thought today was about the iPad!
Repost: What God is teaching me about being a man
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Having been a male for the last forty-eight years, I kind of thought I had it figured out what it meant to be a man. You know, go out and kill dinner and drag it home, have control of the house, etc…, etc…, etc…
I have learned that my wife was right – I am an idiot. Wait, Julie doesn’t think I am an idiot, on the contrary she thinks I am quite smart. It’s the stupid things that I do that at times that cause her to shake her head and think “idiot!” I call it the Ray Berone syndrome, if you have ever watch the sitcom named after Ray you know what I am talking about.
Before being in full time vocational ministry (an oxymoron BTW), I was in the work force in Accounting and Financial Management for a couple of Fortune 500 companies. I was making good money, had loads of responsibility and bought into that my identity was found and based on what I did for my livelihood. The scripture passage is so true in 1 Corinthians 13, “when I was a child(boy) I spoke like a child(boy), I thought like a child(boy), I acted like a child(boy). When I became a man, I put away childish(boyish) things, thoughts, and actions.”
There is still a little boy in me and in most men. That is what I call the fun side of manhood. When the boy in me controls my life, I am going to be selfish, not generous. I will think of only my self and not others. Many men need to grow up and get rid of the boy in their life. That doesn’t mean we can’t go to football games or kill some animal and drag it home for dinner. But in the context of our relationship with our wife and children, we put them and their needs and wants first – way ahead of ours.
When I was a boy, I never thought it would be so hard to be a man.
Help Haiti
By · CommentsIf you are looking for a way to help out the victims of the tragic earthquake in Haiti, I want to recommend Samariatans Purse.
Why ask why
By · CommentsThe secret to creativity is curiosity.
We often forget to teach kids to be curious. A student who has no perceived math ability, or illegible handwriting or the inability to sit still for five minutes gets immediate and escalating attention. The student with no curiosity, on the other hand, is no problem at all. Lumps are easily managed.
Same thing is true for most of the people we hire. We’d like them to follow instructions, not ask questions, not question the status quo.
Yet, without “why?” there can be no, “here’s how to make it better.”
Seth Godin
How To Leave Your Church
By · CommentsFrom my friend Tim Stevens
People leave churches every day…sometimes even when they’ve been attending that church for years or even decades. But for some reason–a time comes when they decide they need to go somewhere else. Some of those reasons are good. Some of those reasons are bad. The purpose of this post is not to debate the reasons–but rather to talk about the way that you leave a church.
Before I share my ideas on how to leave a church, let me give you my very unscientific stats on how most people leave churches:
▪ Group A: 20% leave kicking and screaming. They talk about everything they hate, how shallow the sermons are, why the kids program didn’t help and how the music is too loud or too traditional or too something else. And, of course, they say, “You’d be shocked by how many people agree with me, but everyone else is just too scared to speak their mind.”
▪ Group B: 79% say nothing. They just disappear. They quietly resign from their ministry roles and they stop attending. If you are privy to their giving records, you’ll usually find their hearts actually left a few months prior. Something happened and they became less enthused about the future. Or perhaps they moved into a new phase of life and the church just wasn’t working for them anymore. Either way, at some point you are walking through the hall at church and you think, “I don’t think I’ve seen Bob & Harriet recently.” You soon realize they quietly slipped away.
You might think Group A is bigger than 20%. But it’s just because they have VERY loud mouths. They get people worked up and talk to everyone, so it seems like the whole church is upset when it is really just a few.
You might also think that Group B chose the right way to leave a church. But truthfully, slipping away quietly can be just as painful for the pastor or leaders of the church (especially when you’ve been there for years) as those who leave loudly.
Thinking of leaving your church? Here’s how I would do it…
▪ I would write a letter to the pastors and leaders. In this letter, I would talk about the way God had changed my life through the ministry of that church. I would talk about how some of my family members met Christ there, were baptized, went on missions trips and more. I would talk about how my own thoughts and beliefs were formed through my years at the church. I would talk about how I am more like Christ because of my time there. I would tell stories of specific retreats or camps or services where my life (or those of my family) was changed because of the church and its’ leaders.
▪ In this letter, I would not gripe or complain. I would not talk about the stuff I don’t like or decisions with which I disagree.
▪ In a short paragraph, I would say that “my wife and I have decided to attend and serve in a different church for this next season of our spiritual growth.”
▪ I would end the letter by assuring the pastor that he/she will never hear us talk badly about this church. I would encourage the pastor to feel free to share this letter with anyone who questions why we left.
▪ THEN, and this is most important, I would not mail this letter. Rather, I would set an appointment with the pastor and I would hand-deliver the letter. I would read it aloud to him–or ask him to read it in my presence. I would re-state my love for him and profound thanks for the ministry he had in my life.
▪ Then I would walk away and keep my promise. I would never speak negatively to anyone about that church. In fact, when people asked, I would say, “God changed my life at that church!”
You might have noticed that my percentages for Group A and B above only added up to 99%. That’s because I think only 1% leave a church in the way I’ve suggested. Well, actually, it’s probably more like .00001%. Because in 15 years at Granger, I only remember one family leaving the way I suggested. It was Mike and Laura who left in 1996. And the way they left marked me.
If I ever have to leave a church, I want to leave like Mike and Laura.
What about you?
