The Selfishness of Christmas....

I love the Christmas season.  The lights.  The weather.  The family.  I love the music as well.  Christmas songs have some of the richest words when it comes to the reality of our faith.  Immanuel - God with us.  That is POWERFUL!!

I was listening to Christmas music as I drove to an early morning meeting today.  The song I heard is titled "We Wish You a Merry Christmas."  It's the song with the phrase, "Now bring us some figgy pudding.  Now bring us some figgy pudding.  Now bring us some figgy pudding and bring it out here..."

A later verse says, "We won't go until we get some...etc..."

As I drove, I thought about how selfish that could come across as!  I mean "Now" bring us...   And "bring it out here."

Honestly, my initial thoughts were not the most pastor-like:  "Why don't you get off your rear-end and go into the other room and get your own figgy pudding!?!!!!  And - you're making demands that you won't go until you get it - seriously!?!?!!  There's the door!!"

Were those bad initial thoughts for me to have?  I don't know.  I see a lot of this attitude when it comes to people getting presents - and having themselves served over the Christmas season.

I guess I'm venting a little.  I'm sure the song has a great story behind it.  I'm sure there is a lot of history to it.  I'm also guessing someone who is reading this knows that history and would like to go eyeball-to-eyeball with me and share it!!!

If I've offended you, I am sorry.  But in this season, I want to remember that it really is not about me, my wants, and having myself served! I don't care how good the pudding is!! I want to remember that it is about  our God wrapped in human flesh - who came to serve others....

Ok - my rant is done!  From the bottom of my heart - I do wish you a very merry Christmas!!

Color Coded Sermons

I forget the exact comment, but several years ago, when I had just begun preaching full-time, a lady came up to me and mentioned something about my sermons "always having a lot of stories about "me" in them."  Though I see the value of sharing personally - as it is easier to speak from the heart that way - I really wrestled with the unspoken of what she was saying.  Did my sermons have more stories that directed people to me and my life....rather than to something (or Someone) else?  Would a visitor come in and think, "Man....this guy points to himself and not to God?"

I've heard some great story-telling preachers.  They can captivate congregations.  Their stories are remembered.  And the really great story-telling pastors have a gift for directing those stories back to biblical truths.

With only four years of full-time preaching, I'm still really working on the "art" of story-telling in my sermons.  I want to be great at it.  Jesus was great at it.  I don't know if I could find any of Jesus' teachings that didn't include stories!!  

Hmmmmm--Jesus was great at story-telling?!?!

Soon after the woman I mentioned earlier came up to me and made that comment, I decided something.  I decided that I wanted all my sermons pointing back to Scripture...not to any story about me!  Ultimately, I want all my sermons pointing back to Jesus.

So here's what I started doing soon after her comment:  I started color-coding my sermons.  I started highlighting, bolding, and putting the Scripture passages in green in my notes.  Any stories that I told about me (or stories from others), I put in blue.  Any quotes from some book I usually put in purple.  This way, I can look at a page of my notes (manuscript) and see what I'm speaking most about.  Does my page have more green that blue/purple?  And not just a little bit more green....but significantly more green than any other color?  If I see more green, than at least I know I'm on the right track for letting Scripture tell the story.

I believe fully that our stories (stories about my life and about others') are still part of the story God is writing today.  So I do believe there needs to be the blue and purple lines in my notes.  But I also believe that the story of Jesus - as found in the pages of what we call the Holy Bible - point directly to a story God has so graciously already penned for us.

Next time that lady comes up to me, I hope she says, "Man - you really told God's story well!"  May it be only with the grace of God!!

(Here's a snapshot of a recent sermon.  No need to read the page....just look at the colors.  If you want to read the page, you may as well listen to the whole sermon!  Go to www.ffmwired.com and look under online sermons.  This snapshot comes from 9/29/13 Sin: Paul's Sandwich Board Theology.)

Wealth or Poverty??

(This was a 'blog' assignment for my Biblical Theology course)

Shaking Off My Graduation Robe:

I begin with this simple recognition:  I am more wealthy that 98.5% of the world.[1]  I know this.  I have never missed a meal due to lack of finances.  I have never had a creditor force me to sell anything to pay off a debt.  Through the eyes of the world, I am wealthy.

And yet, it is not uncommon for me to wake up in the morning feeling the weight of the debt I live under.  I will be paying off my student debt – loans accrued to go to private Christian schools – until literally a few years before I retire.  I am not complaining, simply stating fact.  My wife and I chose to go to these schools. We chose to get loans instead of paying for each class as we could afford it.  We do not regret the choices we made to incur these debts.  Yet we look at the projected amount to be repaid – after all the interest – and we still swallow hard!

Because of the burden of this debt with interest, I live in one of the poorer neighborhoods in my city.  I live "in the hood."  The house across the street had a drugs and weapons raid that lead to 7 arrests.  The house next to that had the rear door kicked in during a middle-of-the-day robbery.  A mentally disabled man was sent to the ICU because he was beaten by a group of men at the park three houses away from where I live.  The house kitty-corner had a man fired from his job due to selling pornography (and stolen skateboards) out of the company van.  When people in my town think of my neighborhood, they think of the poor.  They think of poverty. 

So the question begs to be asked:  Am I wealthy?  Or do I live in poverty? 

In Nehemiah 5:1-13, some men and women came to the prophet explaining how they were being exploited by their own Jewish relatives.  They had mortgaged their fields, their vineyards and their homes.  They had even sold their daughters (5:5) to make enough money to put food on their table.  They had become slaves of a different kind – even after God had brought them safely out of bondage in Egypt. 

This infuriated Nehemiah.  "Then I pressed further, 'What you are doing is not right!'" (5:9).  "You must restore their fields, vineyards, olive groves, and homes to them this very day.  And repay the interest you charged when you lent them money, grain, new wine, and olive oil" (5:11).

Do you see what was taking place?  Followers of Yahweh, borrowing from followers of Yahweh, who were charging interest and making a fortune. 

Between my wife and I, we have three private Christian school educations that we are paying back (my GFES M.Div. degree has been paid for by denominational grants and by my employer!).  We – followers of Christ – borrowing to attend "Christian" institutes of higher education, paying a fortune in interest. 

Hear me again: I am not complaining!!  But the question still begs to be asked:  Am I wealthy?  Or do I live in poverty? 

Some of this boils down to a Scriptural view of wealth.  In the Old Testament, the abundance of material possessions, property, and cash was seen as God's blessings.[2]  But Jesus redefined what we should be seeking after – stating we should seek the Kingdom first.[3] 

I do not have a lot materially speaking, which could be seen as God with-holding His blessings from me.  But, due to my lack of material wealth, I am forced to seek the Kingdom first. 

So do I live in poverty?  I say an emphatic "No!!!"  I live beyond wealthy.  Due to my school debt and the future interest paid to my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ (or at least to the educational systems run by my fellow believers), I get to daily see Jesus on the faces of the poor, broken, sick, and helpless.  And that is simply looking out my front window.  Because of my monetary "poverty," I am wealthy in Spirit. 

When the Jewish wealthy who had been charging the interest promised to repay all that they had made, Nehemiah shook out the folds of his robe, stating: "If you fail to keep your promise, may God shake you like this from your homes and from your property" (5:13).  It was a beautiful piece of visible imagery.

                                                

I walk across the stage in less than one week, in my graduates' robe.  At some point that day, I plan to shake the folds.  And I plan to ask God to shake me like that if I ever claim that my school debt (with interest) has placed me in poverty.  On the contrary – it has made me wealthy!

---

[1] http://www.worldwealthcalculator.org/

[2] Stansel Article:  1.3.2

[3] The Gospel of Matthew 5:19-34

Fear Not

"Don't be afraid, for I am with you.  Don't be discouraged, for I am your God.  I will strengthen you and help you.  I will hold you up with my victorious right hand."                      -Isaiah 41:10

Yesterday's bombing at the Boston marathon once again shook our nation.  We are confused.  We are angry.  And over the next several days/weeks/months, there will be much talk on TV, social media, and around dinner tables about this heinous act. 

The news of the marathon bombing hit close to home for me.  I am 32 days away from running my first marathon-the Windermere Marathon (which happens to be a Boston marathon qualifying race).  I have two sons very close to the age of one of the three people who lost their life.  I knew people running and watching the Boston marathon.  One of these friends is having foot surgery today for shrapnel removal from the bomb blast. 

                                        

We never want to see acts like these.  And in times like these, I think it is fair to ask God "Why?"  I think it is right and good to lament the loss of life and the shaking of our feelings of security.  I think it is necessary for us to be drawn to prayer.  We should pray for those families who lost loved ones, pray for the injured (physically and emotionally), and we should pray for those who committed this crime.  They need God just as much as we do. 

By no means do I want to over-spiritualize an event like this.  To me, watching the coverage on the news yesterday simply reminded me that we are plagued with sin.  We are a people – hurting and broken – that needs Jesus.

I was also reminded of the fact that this sort of thing – a bombing and/or other acts of 'terror' – happen around the world on a daily basis.  Between 1969-2009, only 7.8% of the acts of terror were committed against (targeted against) the United States.[1]  That means that 92.2% of the acts of terror happen to others.  It is our duty, it is our call, as followers of Jesus, to remember the people and countries involved in these acts even when it does not directly affect us.  Yes – when something like the Boston Marathon bombing happens, it happens on our soil.  It hits us a little bit harder. But may we never forget the suffering that goes on globally on a daily basis. 

The most repeated command of Scripture is "Fear Not."  As my wife and I talked to our sons last night about the events of the day, we could see the fear creep into our youngest son's eyes as he made the connection that the bombing took place at the same type of race daddy would soon be running.  We got to remind him that God is in control, even when we don't know why or how.  We got to thank God for His overall plan and His purposes.  And we got to remind them both to pray for these types of acts around the world. 

I encourage you to grieve well today.  I encourage you to ask God "Why!?!"  I encourage you to pray.  And I remind you that God told us – "Do not be afraid, for I am with you."

---

[1] http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2011/05/terror-trends-40-years-data-on-international-and-domestic-terrorism

What Fills You Up??

A couple of years ago, I asked our church leadership team, "Why we do church?"  Here was the common reoccurring response:  "We do 'church' on Sunday mornings (the corporate gathering) in an effort to be recharged.  We do it to plug in, to be filled up, so that as we go back out into 'the world,' we have a full tank."

Now, this full tank could either be poured out into others, or it could be used to simply "sustain" each individual until they gathered corporately again to have their tank filled once more. 

                                 

There are hundreds of blogs I could write about these responses, looking at the philosophy of 'church,' the theology of the gathered community of believers, etc... but I'm not going to do that in this blog.  Instead, I want to ask this question: "If church is a place to be recharged and to be refilled, then what fills you up?" What really gets you excited about your relationship with Jesus?  What makes you feel closest to Him?

Let's be honest with each other.  There are realistically only a select few who get "filled up" by singing songs as a group and then listening to a preacher talk for 25 minutes.  Those select few, bless their hearts, leave a Sunday morning time of gathered corporate worship having met with Jesus.  They leave refreshed and filled. 

But that is only a select few! 

What about the rest of us?  It is highly possible that just singing and listening are more draining than life-giving.  We leave with our tanks emptier than when we came.  Or, best case, we leave with the same levels in our spiritual tanks. 

So why do we keep practicing 'church' this way if – for the majority of people – it doesn't recharge us? 

What if – and this is a BIG "if" – what if our Sunday morning gatherings turned into a time where we shared how we had been filled up throughout the week?  What if, once we recognized how God created us to be recharged, we intentionally did that Monday-Saturday?  And then Sunday morning (without throwing out the preaching/teaching and corporate worship in song) became a time where we shared those filling times with others?  What if Sunday morning became a time where we spurred each other on in the ways we are filled?  Do you think we'd have a more effective witness to the world around us?  Do you think we'd be encouraged more, challenged more, more equipped to pray for others, and more ready to go out and do it again the next week? 

I realize these questions could take years to answer.  And I also realize there are a lot of other people out there who are smarter than me who have already written many books on these questions.  I'm just joining the conversation.

These are the things that roll around in my mind on a Monday morning, when sitting down for coffee with a dearly trusted friend at 6:15am.  I'm not ready to stop practicing the "church" the ways it has been practiced for the last countless years.  But I am wondering if we could do it better. 

So what fills you up?

Hebrews 10:24-25b "Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.  And let us not neglect meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another....."

Glacial Change...

Change happens.  Seasons change—winter to spring.  Friendships change—daily interaction to long-distance relationships.  Kids change—one minute they are in diapers and the next minute they are learning to drive. 

Often times we don't even recognize when change is happening.  We blink...and things are different.  Other times, it seems like it takes decades for us to see any significant movement. 

Change happens in the church, too.  There are times, as a pastor, I want things to change overnight.  But I have come to realize (and appreciate) the necessity of gradual change. 

I really began to wrap my mind around this idea of "gradual" change over a year ago when I sat down with a young gentleman who had visited our church the week before.  We were talking about the direction FFMC was going, when he made an interesting statement.  He said, "I've heard that First Church is really good at glacial change. In fact, James, I've heard you're good at glacial change!"  He said this with a twinkle in his eye.

When I asked for clarification on what "glacial change" was, he responded: "Maybe it's best if I state the opposite.  There are two types of change.  There is avalancial change.  This is change that happens quickly.  There is lots of wreckage and debris in the wake of this type of change.  Landscapes are scarred by it.  And at times, avalancial change has casualties.  There are victims in the aftermath of avalancial change. Most often what happens next, is top-growth re-occurs and the overall landscape doesn't change all that much.  It is surface change."

"On the other hand," he continued, "there is glacial change.  This is change that takes place slowly, gradually, almost unnoticed over time.  It is hard to discern it is even taking place, but is has the potential to change a long-term landscape for the good.  There is less carnage with glacial change.  Continents are moved with glacial change!  Glacial change has depth...and it lasts and lasts and lasts."

I had to reflect on what this gentleman said about the pace of change at First Church.  It is true, and has been said many times, that change happens slowly (in any church!).  I've always thought that was a bad thing.  But, I think I am seeing the benefit of the glacial change!  Less wreckage.  Less casualties.  It is most noticed over time.  And it has the longer-term effects.  I want to be part of the change that sticks, the change that lasts. 

God-change us.  Change us all.  But do it in Your time and Your way.  If that is avalancial—good.  If that is glacial—good!  Have Your way in us.  Have Your way in me!  Amen.

Forever Worship...

I was driving to a meeting yesterday.  One of my favorite songs came on the radio—a song that I know well enough to turn up the volume and sing at the top of my lungs to!  I must say, I had a genuine time of "worship" while driving.  This isn't the first time this has happened.  I'm guessing there are others out there who have experienced worship in a car like this. 

The song that played was "I Can Only Imagine," by Mercy Me.  Here's one of the verses:

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You.

This song speaks of the longing for heaven, a desire to be there and be in the presence of our Lord and Savior, with no other distractions.  As the old hymn line goes:  "What a day of rejoicing that will be!"

After the song finished on the radio, with my voice slightly hoarse from singing so loud, I found myself thinking about the specific lyric mentioned above.  And I found myself asking, "Why do I have to wait to 'forever worship' till I get to heaven?!?!" 

Maybe some of this reflecting is due to the fact that I'm taking Theology and Practice of Worship in my final semester at George Fox Evangelical Seminary.  I'm convinced that worship is soooo much more than what we do (i.e. singing) before the sermon on a Sunday morning.  Our entire lives are worship.  How we interact with other people is worship.  How we play is worship.  When we see a beautiful sunset, we are worshiping.  When we are brought to tears in a good movie, it is worship!  Everything we say and do, when done for God's glory, IS worship. 

So do I have to wait until heaven for "forever worship?"  In my mind's understanding of worship, the answer is "NO!"  I'm already forever worshiping!!  Whether I'm singing at the top of my lungs in my car, or feeding our friends without homes downtown, or sitting in a finance committee meeting...I AM WORSHIPING!!! 

What a thought! 

Lord—help me "forever worship" You well today, by Your power, for Your glory!  Amen...