tickelish

Mmmmm...corn.  Summer just isn't summer without sweetcorn.  When I asked Brie what she wanted in the garden this year she said tomatoes and corn without hesitation.  So I crossed my arms, wiggled my nose and nodded my head and POOF!  It really didn't happen like that.  I had to go to the nursery to get the tomato plants and then plant 'em and you get the idea.  But, it was not like that with the corn.  I had been carting around a bag of peaches and cream sweet corn seed in my truck since last summer.  I carried it in my console.  At one point, the bag even got ripped on something and I had some stray kernels in the cab.  After the tomato plants were set I lined up my rows for the corn, went to the truck to retrieve the seed and commenced to planting. 
Six days later I was walking through our backyard and to my surprise I saw my corn popping up in rows. Six days.  That was so amazing to me.  I'm sure some of  you with green thumbs could've gotten up in four or five days.  As I stood admiring the rows I was struck with a thought.  I had carried those seeds in my truck for almost a year and they never grew.  But the moment I put them in the soil...POOF!
The seed is an incredible thing to me.  It knows when the conditions are right to begin growing.  My truck wasn't the right place, my pocket wasn't the right place either, nor was the paper bag.  Everything had to be lined up for it to happen; temperature, soil, moisture etc. 
As it is in our lives.  Jesus told many parables using the picture of His Word being seed (Mark 4:1-29).  As a pastor, I teach the Word of God.  In one sense I am a spiritual farmer casting the seed.  And often it is well after the seed has been scattered before we get to see some tangible results from the teachings.  Does that mean the seed is bad?  Absolutely not!  It means that there are other conditions that are interfering or hindering the sprouting of the seed.  Remember the sweet corn didn't grow in my truck.  Since conditions are so important for the seed to grow I believe that God can alter our conditions to make our "soil" i.e. heart, life, mind more fertile.  A sudden shakeup like a loss of health, friends, or security can cause our conditions to be changed enough to provide what the seed needs to sprout.  I have often said that God will break our arm to get to our heart.  Sometimes added responsiblity like a new baby or different job or position can  alter our conditions enough to bring  the word to fruition in our lives.  No matter how much seed has been planted in our lives and the condition of our soil we still have to believe the Word for it to bear fruit in our lives.  The ground that grows nothing becomes hard and infested with weeds. faithful obedience is key to the sprouting seed.
How much seed has been sown in your life?  Is that seed growing and producing fruit?  Yes, sweet corn makes summer so much better but the change the Word of God brings makes life better. 

I hung up the phone. My heart dropped. I sat for a moment and processed the information that I had just received and then started to get very concerned. Thoughts started running through my mind. Horrible thoughts. “What if they never come home?...What if this morning was the last time I’d ever see them again?...What if they’re hurting?” These thoughts were like little mental mosquitoes flying around my ear breaking my concentration. No matter how much I tried to shoo them away they kept coming back. So...I left the office. I had to go home and help Brie find our dogs.

Lincoln is our seven-year-old Great Dane and Coby is our four-year-old Weimaraner. They are like members of the family. Well, like the family members that you keep in the backyard and put away when company comes over. We got Lincoln in our first year of marriage so he’s been in this family almost as long as we have. They make us laugh and sometimes they make us mad. As it is with any family member.

Long story short, Lincoln ran into the fence in the backyard and blew out about seven of the rails. I “patched” the hole until the replacement parts came in. The next day both dogs shimmied through the “patched” hole and went for a sight-seeing adventure. When I got the word that they had been gone for over an hour I became very concerned. I couldn’t remember a time when they had ever had that much freedom or time away especially in our new location. I knew the chances of them getting hit on the road or picked up by someone were very good. I knew it was possible that I would never see them again. So, I got in the car and raced for home to join my bride in the search. When I got to our street all neighbors had been informed of the daring dane escape. One neighbor grabbed his kids and started looking. The whole neighborhood was on lockdown until the two escapees were returned.

Finally I heard word that Brie had picked them up about a half mile from our house. I was so excited! Soon convicted. I was consumed with a thought. I literally dropped everything and rearranged my priorities to find my two dogs that were lost but when was the last time I showed such concern for a lost person? When was the last time I was consumed with thoughts...horrible thoughts...thoughts like, “What if they never make it home?...What if that was the last time I would ever see them?” And there was that mental mosquito again holding my thoughts captive. I had to painfully accept the fact that I did what I did because of love for my dogs. How many lost, sin-sick people do I come in contact with everyday and refuse to even show the love that I showed to my dogs? The answer: too many.

When missionary Hudson Taylor first felt God calling him to minister to the Chinese people he started teaching himself the language. Since a Chinese dictionary and schooling was too expensive he found a Gospel of Luke in Chinese and began patiently comparing brief verses with their equivalent in English. By that painstaking process, He learned the meaning of more than six-hundred characters and made a dictionary of his own. That was all before He ever got to Shanghai. That is passion. That is a life that is truly concerned, no consumed with the rescue of lost souls.

What if this morning was the last time I’d ever see them again?

This may be news to some but shredding cheese does not change it's molecular structure.  It's still cheese.

I  was helping Brie prepare supper by shredding the cheese. (Notice, I get a job that has limited disaster potential.)  Anyway, Hawkins comes into the kitchen and says something that sounds like cheese and Brie informs me that the little guy is wanting some shredded cheese.  Rather than messing up my perfect orange pile by pinching off a side of the well-rounded cheddar mountain I grabbed some that hadn't gone through the grater and cut it up for him.  I handed him the little bowl with the little cubes and sent him on his little way.  One went to his mouth but no more.  After some "attention-getting" by my son, Brie reached in the bowl and messed up my perfect little mountain and put a pinch in his bowl.  He walked away happy.

I looked at my bowl, then Hawkins walking away as content as two-year-old can, and then let my eyes rest on my bride as if to "are you serious?"  Aware that I was looking her way she replied without even looking up, "He likes it...it's something different."  Herein lies the issue.

Does shredded cheese taste different than non-shredded?  No.  Is shredded cheese better or worse for you than non-shredded?  No.  The only difference is the fact that one is in smaller pieces, looks different and feels different.  Yes, I understand for you Food Network, gourmet culinarians that there is a difference in the way they melt but for this story there was no need to melt the cheese.  It was simply a matter of preference.  The more I thought about it all I realized that there may be some potential spiritual, ecclesiastical connection.

There is nothing in the program of churches that is so connected to preferences as worship styles.  Certain worship styles have been credited with the growth and blamed for the decline of particular churches.  Though the smoke is beginning to clear from the worship wars we must understand that traditional vs. contemporary represents a major fault line in many American fellowships.  Assuming, for argument sake, that all styles in question are biblical and have as their goal the exaltation of Christ alone.  A worship service that does not posses these qualities in worship should not be in any church.

Maybe the preferences that we have in our houses of worship are not really different than my son's preference of cheese.  He likes it shredded because it looks and feels different.  Is it wrong to have preferences?  I guess not.  It is wrong however, if we put our preferences and desires above the Lord's.  Have we ever thought about what God thinks and what His preferences are?  His criteria for worship is stated in John 4:24, "God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth."

Another problem with preferences in worship styles is that we begin to think that worship should entertain us.  Like my son, our preferences are an affinity to a particular look and feel.  That means if the worship isn't appealing to us and entertaining then we don't like it.  Again, worship isn't about us.  The only role that we play in worship to God is offering it.  Consider the wise men that came and visited the baby Jesus in Matthew 2:11 as they have given us a dynamic lesson on worship.

This week when we go to corporate worship and lift our voices with the redeemed all over the world, let's remember that worship is about Him not us.  When we don't get the kind of cheese we want let's not participate in "attention getting" until we get it.  But rather be thankful that Christ is honored by the sincere praise of His people.  He loves our cheese!

My son Hawkins loves watering the flowers in Brianna's pots on the porch.  I say "watering" and I must use that term loosely.  He waters the flowers.  No, I mean he waters...THE FLOWERS.  The plants and flowers on the porch are growing so well that they are hanging over the side.  So Hawkins waters the flowers that are hanging over and gets absolutely no water on the roots.  Even though he turns and smiles just waiting for us to confirm that he did a good job, we see the flowers looking at us also with such desperation, pleading with us to not let him be their caretaker.  We all know that the flowers can't survive long like that.

I read somewhere the other day that "Corruption occurs when something is cut off from the source of life."  Food is a source of life for us and if we are cut off from eating we die and corruption begins.  Our bodies begin to decay.  Oxygen is a source of life too.  No oxygen...corruption.  No wonder Jesus, the Giver of Life is referred to as bread, water (John 6:35) and light (John 12:46).  He is our source of life.  "I am the way, the truth and the life, no man comes to the Father except through Me." John 14:6. 

So, If Hawkins doesn't get a little moisture down to the roots those plants will die.  Likewise, without Jesus, the True Source of all life we will only see corruption.  We all die because we all have sinned (Romans 3:23, 6:23) but if we have come to Christ for forgiveness for our sins through His redemptive work on Calvary we will never die because we will never be separated from the Source of Life which is Jesus. The corruption that we see is a separation from the Source of Life.

There is however, another issue at hand with my son's heinous horticulturing.  When I was watching him pour the water over the overhanging flowers I realized that we tend to do that in other areas of life.  He was dealing with what was visible, above ground.  He was pouring water on what he saw.   What was really important and held the most need for the life of the flower was under the ground hidden from his eyes.  If we went to the doctor and he/she only treated the symptoms of what we had we could really be in trouble.  The symptoms are what we see, feel, experience.  The real problem would be the cause of those symptoms.  We tend to get hung up on the symptoms rather than actually seeking to diagnose the problem. 

God always works from the inside out.  While we wonder why our lives aren't flowering and are a little brown around the edges God goes to the "root" of the problem.  You think you're angry (symptom) while God may say that jealousy (true problem) is what you are suffering from.  Anger is the plant that you see above the ground but jealousy is the root that is making it grow.  You may be jealous that someone has something that you wish you had and you don't have the means to get so you get mad.  Sure, you can "work on" your anger but if the source is still there it would be like treating hemophilia with a band-aid.  It would only be a temporary fix.  Let's get down to business with the Lord about the real issues of life.

Had my son watered the plants correctly I would've had super looking plants but I would not have had the great reminder that no one knows us better than Christ the Great Physician so we need to be in the habit of seeking Him and His word to help us with the root problems in our life.   
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting."  Psalm 139:24

Elijah was a fascinating man of faith in the Old Testament of the Bible.  His story is told in 1 Kings 17-19.  The early part of his ministry is marked by boldness, faith and an unflenching obedience to God.  He was willing to speak with boldness to an evil king about his sin, willing to trust God to feed Him during a famine, willing to seek God for some incredible miracles and even face hundreds of false prophets on a hill being greatly outnumbered.  However, after all of that, a wicked woman named Jezebel sends word through her servant that she is going to kill him within a day and he runs for his life.  He eventually makes his way to Mt. Horeb, the mount of God, and there God meets him and asks him "What are you doing here, Elijah?"  I Kings 19:9. 
The Bible says that the Lord is omniscient, meaning that He knows all things (Psalm 139).  That being so, why then did God ask Elijah why he was there if He already knew?  A couple of reasons seem to be very plausible.  First, this speaks to God's desire for us and to make sure we know that He is incredibly interested in our affairs and wants us to know that (read Psalm 8).  He is seen here instigating dialogue with Elijah and opening up the channels of communication.  He always instigates the relationship with His creation.  Elijah the prophet is running in fear and God seeks him out and begins to drive at the heart of the issue.  God is not wanting to know exactly what Elijah is doing in the cave i.e. sitting, sleeping, standing, eating but rather, He is asking "Why are you here?"  The "what" is our actions while the "why" is our motivations.  God is looking for what motivated Elijah to come to this cave.  The answer...fear. 
A second plausible reason God asked him the question is because He wanted Elijah to confess that he had sinned in running in fear rather than standing in faith.  Confession is hard, it hurts, and it's uncomfortable.  It is like that because of the nature of true confession.  A true confession of wrongdoing is admitting that you did something wrong.  In the Biblical sense, confession is agreeing with God about sin.  What makes confession so difficult and painful is that it is the outright ownership of sin.  We are admitting that we did something wrong without leaning on anything.  How did Elijah respond? 
He responded to God like this, "I have been very zealous for the Lord god of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword.  I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."  Instead of confessing to the Lord that he was allowing fear to govern his actions he started filling God in on all the factors that went in to him winding up in the cave.
He started off by "reminding" God how "good" he was, "I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts..."  When we come to the threshold of confession we are tempted to do likewise.  Be it with God or with other people we are tempted to "remind" them that this was a slip-up that is not normal.  Sometimes we may expect that our previous good record should lighten the scolding, chastening, or judgment for the sinful action.  Confession is not an opportunity for people or God to hear how good we are (Romans 3:23, Isaiah 64:6).  Next, He spoke about how bad the other people were.  They had forsaken covenants, torn down altars, killed prophets, and are wanting to kill Elijah.  He appears to be trying to justify his actions based on the circumstances around him.  We see this so often.  We saw it in the Garden of Eden with the first couple and the first sin.  Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the snake (Satan).  Once again Elijah is missing the point of confession and the point at which God asked him the question.  When we begin to speak about factors that may have helped to pave the road in our sin we are ever so sneakily trying to take some of the blame off of ourselves and place some it on the "circumstances."  We do that to save face a little bit because open admission of sin is humbling and because we don't want to experience the full weight of judgment or guilt for what we've done.  If my circumstaces can be blamed for half of the action then that leaves me to only shoulder the other fifty percent.  That load is a little easier to carry, right?
If we are constantly in the business of blaming other people or circumstances for our sin we are missing the point of confession.  Confession is an open agreement with God about sin.  We are taking ownership of the wrong that we have committed.  How can sin ever truly be dealt with and reconciliation take place if we fail to own up to the sin that we've committed and recognize that we are the responsible party? 
If God was looking for Elijah to confess that he was fearful instead of faithful He never got it.  After this God shows Elijah just how powerful and incredible He is.  I encourage you to read the story (1 Kings 19).  After that, God asks Elijah the same question and gets the same exact reply.  Following this, God sends Elijah to meet his replacement. 
Elijah was a tremendous man of God and has an incredible resume of faithfulness and boldness when it comes to the things of God.  However, it appears that he struggled with an issue that I also battle with...confessing sin the right way.  Let's not make the mistake of blaming others or making excuses for the wrong that we've done. 
Charles Spurgeon once said, "We can sin like the saints but can we repent like them?" 
Psalm 51

Contemporary Christian artist Matthew West recently released a track entitled "The Motions" in which West speaks about something that every Christian should be on guard against...simply going through the motions of our faith. Going through the motions of our faith is the hollow exercise of activity without any true vitality. We can sing and not worship, give and not offer, serve with our hands long after our heart has given up, interact without ever connecting and finally pray without giving thought to the words we are saying or Who we are saying them to.

One of the dangerous things about being in a rut or going through the motions is the deception that "I am still serving or doing something." This deception is so damaging because many gauge their spiritual progress by how much they do...what they manufacture for God...how long they have been in church, etc. We look at the hands while God looks at the heart. We look at what we've done while God looks at why we've done it. Many that are going through the motions will fail to see it because they are looking for the wrong symptoms to diagnose the problem.
God takes worship very seriously anddoes not deserve or desire hollow exercises. It is my prayer that we would each ask the Lord to help us to give Him what is true and sincere from a heart that is grateful to Him for His many blessings to us.

Jesus Said, "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Matthew 15:8,9

God At All Times

In Psalm 143 King David contemplates the works of God. He says, "I remember the days of old; I meditate on all Your works; I muse on the work of Your hands. I spread out my hands to You; My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah" vss5,6.
I am reminded that each of us has a past. Whether David was speaking of his days of old or the nation of Israel's days of old we are not sure but one thing is clear...He is looking back and recalling how God had worked in the past. God is always working...It may go unseen or unnoticed and we may give little thought to how God has worked in our lives or in the history of the world but we know that He has been active to bring about His purpose in the world and in us individually. A perfect example is Romans 8:28 which says, "And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose." David says in this Psalm that he looks to the past and recognizes that God was doing something. We would do well to imitate this activity. We often focus on where we are and fail to recognize the blessings, open doors, and providence that has brought us to our current location. I encourage you to take some time and recall your life journey...look at the bumpy, winding road that each of us has traveled and look to see the precious evidence of God's hand "working all things together." For the wanderers, they will see that God had placed signs all along our wayfaring path showing us the path to righteousness, for the unrepentant, you will see that God was longsuffering. The hurting and lonely will see the Hand of peace that accompanied and strengthened them along life's journey. Those who stumbled often along the road will remember the sweet assurance of forgiveness that was offered to them.

David moves from viewing the past to contemplating the present. He meditates and muses or ponders what he sees. We drive to work, fly on a plane, walk down the road, or look out of our kitchen window and see the handiwork of God. From the structure and beauty of the heavens to the intricacy of the markings on a butterfly we see the evidence of an amazing and creative God. This requires not simply looking but seeing. When we do this I believe, it results in true, organic worship as David described. Amidst the symphony of the sound of wind and the call of birds. The leaves of the trees and the rustling grass David was worshipping God in the greatest of halls. "I spread out my hands to you." He was not worshipping creation but was clearly worshipping the Creator.

He began with his eyes looking back at the past, moved them to look around at the vast, incredible creation, and moved them to looking forward. "My soul longs for You like a thirsty land." This exercise of faith does not just lead us in worship, but it increases our desire and dependence on Him.
I encourage you to look and see God at all times. He is always working.

It’s easy to tell when something grows. I see this all the time in Hawkins. The pajamas that used to fit just right start getting a little tight and we have to buy bigger clothes and such as that. But how can you tell that a church is growing? Well, simply speaking, it gets bigger. There are several ways that churches get bigger. One is the amount of people that attend our several services. We have seen steady growth in this area for several years, however, this has been the most consistent of the growth in attendance. Even though this is exciting to see more people regularly attending the services there is still more to growth.
The human body grows by cell reproduction. The church grows when disciples are “reproduced”. The Great Commission in Matthew 28:19,20 tells disciples to make disciples. This sort of growth is not always as noticeable as the others but is definitley the most important sign of growth in a church.
We are not called to build buildings or to grow programs. That is not to say that buildings and programs can’t be important so long as they are the means of building the kingdom and not an end in themselves. We are called to build the kingdom and that happens when we as disciples and followers of Jesus invest in the lives of others and teach them the truths of Jesus. This is being done through small group Bible studies on campus and in homes, youth group mentoring, chuildren’s ministries, and other various relationships that have sprung up in the fellowship. We have began several Bible studies with this in mind. All three of these Bible studies have exceeded the expectaions of the leaders. We are seeking members of the church that are interested in leading, assisting, or hosting a Bible Study. If you are interseted or want more information please contact me.
Growing in size, reproducing disciples are all signs of biblical growth but there is yet another sign of growth. As we grow our capabilities and influence expand. Hawkins can throw a ball now and actually do a good job at it. (We are still working on his change-up) One of the important signs of church growth is it’s expanded capabilities. The church growth has provided us the opportunity to throw the gospel further than we could before. This is made possible by followers of Jesus serving in some ministry capacity. The current financial condition of the church is the best its ever been and has allowed us to have more ability to expand the scope of the gospel further than ever before. Foreign mission fields and our own community have all seen the effects of the growth of this church. The leadership of the church recognizes the importance of growth and is working on plans for the future. This is not a time for the growth to plateau but to march ahead and reach for the prize that is set before us. All living things grow. Keep growing for Him.
"But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." Matthew 13:23

I am a forgetful person. I can easily forget names right after someone has introduced his or herself to me. Being a pastor it is important to remember names because people are special. So I find myself playing the name game..."okay, his name is John...he's tall...okay...John-tall, John-tall, John-tall" I'm sure that there are those that relate to what I'm saying. By the way, that is why I may refer to you as "tall" instead of John. Sometimes I grab the associational word instead of the name which results in a very embarrassing encounter. Moving on. I know that my forgetfulness is not contained to the names of people but dates and events and errands (just ask Brie). But sadly enough, it has wormed its way into my walk with the Lord.

When I say flamingo you think pink. Living this far inland we rarely get to see a flamigo unless it's at a zoo or the occasional one that is in someone's yard hanging out with some concrete gnomes. Flamingos are beautiful birds and Brianna and I were fortunate to see some when we were on vacation in Florida several years ago. But it wasn't until recently that I learned one of the reasons for the stiking beauty of the flamingo.
What if I told you that flamingos are naturally white? It's true. The beautiful pink coloring comes from their diet. The shade of pink is determined by how much shrimp is in the diet of the bird. The more shrimp the pinker they get. (I never thought I would use the word 'pinker' but anyway.) So I learned that what they eat has an enormous effect on how they look. No, this isn't an entry about dieting but, there is some spiritual application.
As Christians, we are to be reading, contemplating, memorizing, hearing the Word of God. It is the spiritual food for the believer and we are told to eat heartily. Just as food provides the physical nourishment that our body requires to maintain a healthy life, so feeding on the riches of the Word of God provides the spiritual nourishment that we need to live a healthy spiritual life. You have all heard the phrase "You are what you eat" and that definitely applies to the flamingo. They are pink, they eat shrimp. The two go hand in hand. Sometimes we fail to remember that the Word has an effect on our life. It effects our actions, our outlooks, our appearance and so on. I am encouraged that just as the secret to the beauty of the flamingo lies in what it eats so is true of very believer. Let's make a committment to feasting on the riches of God's Word through listening and reading for ourselves and see the beautiful transformation take place in our own lives. Without that diet how will anyone see the beauty of our Lord? I want people to see my glorious God through the evidence of His Word working through me.
"For this reason we also thank God without ceasing, because when you received the word of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in you who believe."
1 Thessalonians 2:13