Context

“He’s on fire!” What does that sentence mean? Is it good or bad? Well, if you are standing outside of a house that is on fire it would be bad. If you are watching the star player for you favorite basketball team score is sixteenth point in less than five minutes it is a good thing. How can the same sentence be very bad in one situation and very good in another? The answer is simple; Context. In order to understand what the sentence means we have to first understand the context in which it is being used. The same is true when studying and applying God’s Word. The more I study and research, the more I realize how much bad theology is out there. Thanks to the internet anyone can express their opinions for the world to view and embrace, but just because someone expresses a view does not make it right, especially when it comes to interpreting scripture. If we are going to understand what God is saying in and through a certain verse, or passage, we have to look at that verse or passage within the context of the verses and passages around it. If we fail to do this then we are probably going to misinterpret it. We are instructed to handle scripture carefully and correctly. If you have spent much time looking at some of the websites that are out there which make some pretty far out claims about what God is saying in a certain verse or part of a verse you know what I am talking about. Many of these sites I have found go astray because they “cherry pick” a verse here and a verse there and make scripture say what they want it to say. This is dangerous because you can make the Bible say pretty much whatever you want it to say when you take verses out of context, but that is not the way we are to use God’s Word. The study of God’s Word is not complicated. Now there are passages that we have to wrestle with if we are going to come to an understanding of the passage, but they are always easier to understand when we read them in context of the scripture around them. As believers, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us to help us understand the Bible. Reading God’s Word is not about making it say this or that. It is about letting God speak to us through his Word as he leads us and guides us through life. So, remember the children’s song I heard years ago; “Be careful little eyes, what you see.” This is especially true in this age where so much information is available, but not all of it is good. Sometimes we really have to watch our step along the path…

Hidden

We just recently returned from our annual summer mission trip to Barre, Vermont. If you have never visited this part of the world you are missing a visual treat. It is stunning to say the least, and that is just the view in the summer time. I hope to be able to visit in the fall when the autumn colors seem to be brighter and more vibrant there than they do in other places. Vermont is an interesting place. On the surface it appears to be this quaint, gentle, peaceful state where all is right with the world, but looks can be deceiving. When is comes to the spiritual side of Vermont, nothing could be farther from the truth. Studies have shown that less than 4% of the population of Vermont, as well as all of New England are evangelical Christians. Less than 4%! Let that sink in for a moment. This is a state that is in the news quite often for it’s liberal stance on many issues. After meeting with and talking to believers in the state I was quick to realize that this had not always been the case. In fact, thirty or so years ago it was actually a conservative state, but liberalism was slowly allowed to get a foothold in what, at the time, appeared to be harmless areas. This foothold spread until it gained a stranglehold on the entire state. Many outside of the Church will see this as progress and laud it as an example of how all states should be. As a believer I would disagree. What is hidden from the rest of the country are facts like the unemployment rate in the state is very high. Drug use use is widespread, which in turn brings about a rise in crime. Honestly, there is a spiritual darkness that you can feel as you walk through many of the small towns that make up the state. In talking with leaders of the few evangelical churches that do exist in the state they say that they are seeing an increased presence of things like satanism and wicca to go along with efforts to stop all things evangelical. There is a hidden battle going on in that area that goes far beyond any political ideologies. It is a spiritual battle that needs our attention and our prayers.

There are also lessons that we can learn from Vermont that are important for believers everywhere. First, we need to not take our religious freedom for granted. There is a growing push to stifle all things Christian. It starts with what appear to mean meaningless issues in small areas, but they end up affecting Christianity as a whole. Secondly, we need to be diligent in living out our faith as well as sharing it. People are watching to see if we live like we believe what we say we believe. Finally, we, as the church needs to stop assuming that “conservatives” are the same thing as Christians. It appears that the Church has put to much trust in politicians who may say they believe the same way we do, but in fact, they just want our vote. Politics and politicians are not going to change the world for the better. Only Christ can do that working through the body of believers who need to take the great commission seriously. The is much work to be done, and we need to be diligent in how we live lest we end up in some place we never imagined traveling as we continue along the path…

Update

You may be wondering where I have been as far a blogging is concerned.  Well, as a student pastor I have been in the middle of summer activities.  These activities seem to limit the amount of time I have for blogging.  Since I last posted anything I have spent eight days on a trip to Vermont for our summer mission trip, six days involved in Vacation Bible School, a week at the beach, many hours planning for the remainder of the summer, along with the regular, weekly things that I do as part of my ministry.  Some people in the blogosphere seem to post at least once and sometimes twice a day on their blogs.  They are either a much better manager of time, or they are no where near as busy as I am.  ( I suspect the later to be the case.)  Anyway, I thought I would let you know that I am still alive and all is well.  The one major curve ball that I have received since my last post is that my mother found out that she has breast cancer.  The good news is that they seem to have caught it early and she has begun her chemo treatments and we are hoping and praying for a complete recovery.  Please lift her up in your prayers.  Other than that is has been a typical, busy summer, and I love it! More to come…

In

In the years leading up to our nation’s involvement in World War I the United States had practiced what was called an “Isolationist Policy” with regard to the problems facing other countries. This policy basically meant that we know you are having problems, but we have chosen to take care of ourselves, and not involve ourselves in your problems. This seemed to work until the leaders realized that the problems other countries were facing actually affected the US even if we were not involved in the war. Many Christians seemed to have developed an isolationist policy when it comes to dealing with the world, and I have a problem with that. Christ teaches us in John 17:16 that we, as his followers, are not “of this world.” This means that we are different from those who have not accepted God’s free gift of salvation. But is does not mean that we are not a part of this world, and this is where I feel like a lot of Christians go astray in how we as followers of Christ should approach the world.

Simply put, as believers we are “in the world” for a purpose, and that purpose is to be a conduit through which Christ can reach a lost world. This means that we have to be in the world if we are going to have any influence in it at all. Too many Christians chose to isolate themselves and their families from the world. As they do this, they support their decision with what sound like some very good reasons until you compare those reasons with how Christ lived his life. They say they are doing it for the benefit of their children. They say they are doing it because society has become so corrupt. The list of reasons goes on and on, but when compared to how scripture teaches us we are supposed to live they do not have a leg to stand on. In a former church where I served there were even families that took this idea so far that they did not want their children, whom they isolated in private Christian schools, to even be associated with other youth in the group because the other youth went to public school. Now here is the kicker, many of these youth who attended public school were much stronger in their faith and much more mature in their walk with Christ than the kids who were spoon fed Bible stories each day, but never placed in a situation where they really had to live their faith.

Is the world a bad place? Yes, in many ways. Can it be dangerous for believers out their? Yes, but remember, “Greater is he that is in us than he that is in the world.” If we are in the world will we see and hear things that go against what we believe and practice as followers of Christ? Yes, but do you think Jesus wasn’t exposed to these things? The point is that we as believers have a responsibility to be in the world. Look all through the New Testament and we see how we are to get out there and make a difference. Jesus hung out with the types of people that many believers wouldn’t be caught dead with. Jesus wasn’t worried about his reputation. He was focused on doing the will of the Father, no matter where that meant going, or what it meant being exposed to. One of the passages that really drives this home to me is the section in The Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 where he teaches about being salt and light. Think about it for a minute. Salt is of no use if it is left in the salt shaker. It is only when it comes in contact with something that it is able to have an effect. The same is true with light. It can only be effective when it is exposed to darkness and allowed to drive that darkness away.

We as Christian need to understand that it is time to get out there and let God work through us in the world. It won’t always be safe and it won’t always be pretty, but it will be the only way many people are going to ever come to know about the God who was not of this world, but was willing to become one of us by coming here and being in the world. It actually sound a lot more exciting that sitting in our little holy huddle where we never take any risk. As far as I am concerned when it comes to the world you can count me “in.”

BASS

How do you pronounce the title of this entry?  Do you pronounce it like you are talking about an aquatic creature, or do you say it like you would if you were referring to a four stringed musical instrument?  It really depends on the context of what you are discussing, doesn’t it?  Now think about what a lost person pictures when they say “Christian” compared to what we as followers of Christ mean when we refer to ourselves as Christians.  Are we talking about the same thing?  Most likely not.  Why is that?  I think it is because for to long followers of Christ have given the world a very negative picture of what it means to be a Christian.  In a sense, we have turned ourselves into a caricature of sorts.  Now we are quick to condemn the media or the entertainment industry when they paint us in an unfavorable light, but many times it is the result of our behavior not lining up with what we say we believe that causes this mis-characterizations.  Imagine if you will how the world would perceive believers if we really did try to love everyone as Christ loves us.  We talk about agape love, but then we have a tendency to place conditions on our love if we are going to give it to those outside of the church.

Christ said that the way the world would be able to notice us is by the love that we have for each other (John 13:35).  He also told us to love our enemies(Matthew 5:44), and to love our neighbor as ourself (Matthew 22:39).  Plus, the Bible is full of references that tell us how we are to love God.  Now let’s review.  These  verses say we are to love fellow believers, our enemies, our neighbor, ourself, and God.  That pretty much covers everything.  Based on that I can’t find anyone that I am not supposed to love.  Can you?  I didn’t think so.  Still, when the world sees us, do they see us loving the way God tells us to?  Unfortunately, no, they do not.  They see us not getting along with other believers because of the translation of the Bible we use, or for the music we sing in our churches, or for the types of clothes we do or don’t wear.  The list can go on and on, and the  vast majority of those reasons are useless when it comes down to what is really important in the Kingdom of God.

Now I will be the first to tell you that there are things in Christianity that cannot be compromised.  We cannot compromise the fact that there is only one way to God, and that is through a personal relationship with Christ.  We cannot compromise the fact that sin is sin.  We cannot compromise the fact that Christ is who scripture says that he is and that he died for the sins of the world.  You get the idea.  But once we understand what can’t be compromised we should realize how unimportant the other things are.  In fact, I would go so far as to say that a lot of them are tools that Satan uses to cause the Church to present a divided front that makes us appear to not know what we are really talking about.  If we would focus on loving like Christ teaches us to love, without condition, we would be able to reach  lot more people with the saving message of Christ.  I once heard a saying that went something like this, “No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”  There is a lot of truth in that statement, and when it comes to us as followers of Christ we can take it a step further and realize that they don’t care who we say we know (Christ) until the know how much we care.  When the world say “Christian” they should see it as something positive, but it seems like we have become our worst enemy in many areas when it comes to showing the world what it really means to bear that  name.  Could it be because we have allowed Satan to get our eyes focused on what is not important as we travel along the path?

Storm

There is something about watching a storm that can be thrilling. I love to see a good thunderstorm, and there is a part of me that would love to go out to the mid-west one spring and be a stormchaser for a week just to see a tornado. We have a screened porch on the back side of our house and when a thunderstorm is rolling through I will sometimes slip out onto the porch and watch the lightening flash and listen the the thunder as it rolls across the land. There really is no good explanation as to why I enjoy this other than to say it stimulates my senses and makes me keenly aware of the power of God. I will usually stay out on the porch until the storm makes me uncomfortable by blowing rain in on me, or until I feel like I might be in some form of danger. At that point I seek the shelter that my home provides while I ride out the remainder of the storm.

This past Sunday found us in Kannapolis with Donna’s family as we celebrated Mother’s Day. As the afternoon sailed along I placed myself in front of Donna’s parents HDTV to enjoy the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass. (HDTV makes watching golf fun, even if you are not particularly fond of golf.) Just when things were really heating up on the links, things were also starting to heat up in the atmosphere west of our home. At one point the thunderstorm warnings began to roll across the bottom of the screen. Finally, the channel I was watching cut from golf to full time coverage of this rather small, but powerful thunderstorm that was rolling across the viewing area. At first, I was just wanting them to get back to the tournament, but after a few minutes I realized that this little thunderstorm, which by this time was spawning tornadoes and dropping some rather large hail stones, was heading straight for our house. Needless to say, this shifted the focus of my attention.

Well, as it turned out, the storm did hit our house. According to a friend of mine we experienced a hail storm that lasted for about two minutes and dropped golf ball size hail on our roof with a few baseball size hail stones thrown in for good measure. When we returned home a few hours later there was about six inches of hail still piled up on our deck and great deal of hail still visible in our yard. I also noticed that there had been a good bit of gravel knocked off of the shingles of our roof, so I called the insurance company and they sent a guy out to look at it. I could tell that there was some damage, but I wasn’t prepared for his report. He said that our roof, designed to last 3o years, would have to be replaced. Now bear in mind that the house is only a year old.  To my untrained eye it didn’t look that bad, but he started pointing things out to me that I would not have noticed. Still, the damage was there whether I could see it or not.

When you think about it we all are kind of like my roof. We are damaged by the storms of life, even if the damage is not evident to those around us. The good news for my roof is that the insurance company will pay to have it replaced. The even better news for those of us who are followers of Christ is that we have the assurance that we will never have to face the storms of life alone.  Sometimes we think it would be nice if we never had to face those storms, but stop and think about all that we would be missing out, and how much we grow in our relationship with God when we face life’s storms. Would you really want to miss that? Now granted, sometimes we face storms of our own making, but even those do not catch God off guard. He knows everything we face, and he allows us to go through those storms so we can grow and get to know Him better. Look at the time in the gospels when Christ sends his disciples on across the Sea of Galilee while he went off to pray (Matthew 14:22-33). Do you think he was unaware of the storm they would face? I don’t. Still, as they faced the storm, he went to them. He was there for them in their time of need, same as he is here for us. Now I know facing storm can be scary, but remember what Jesus said in John 16:33, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” This doesn’t mean that we are immune from the effects of the storm, or that we will not suffer any damage from the storms of life.  It means that Christ has already overcome anything I might have to face.  There is victory in following him.  I don’t know about you, but that lets me know that I really don’t have to be afraid, no matter what I might face along the path…

Swing

Swings are fun. In fact, I think it is almost impossible to sit in a swing and remain in a bad mood. (I say “almost impossible” because I know there are some people who are at their happiest when they are in a bad mood. I pity those kind of people.) I don’t think the type of swing really matters. It can be a kids swing in a playground, a porch swing looking over the front lawn, a yard swing hung from an a-frame, or a rope swing hanging from a tree. For me it is the swing that we have on our screen porch. Regardless of the type, once you are seated in it and it starts swaying back and forth your attitude seems to change. Your body seems to relax. Life seems to become more focused.

My Dad retired a few years back and since that time he has pursued a new calling in life. He is a swing maker. It is a hobby, but he sells quite a few of his homemade swings and they are excellent pieces of craftsmanship. You can get a four footer or a five footer. You can buy the swing buy itself, or you can purchase an a-frame to go with it. If my memory serves me correctly, I think he sold over fifty last year. I wonder how many people there are out there on any given spring evening who are sitting in one of my dad’s swings, relaxing and letting the weight of the world slip off of their shoulders? I was thinking about that the other evening as I was sitting in our swing. We live in a world where we seem to have forgotten how to relax. I think it is okay to have those times when we sit and do nothing more than enjoy life. Now, I know we cannot do that all the time, but I think it is important to have those times when we relax and let go. If we don’t do it from time to time we start to lose our perspective on what is really important. As a Christian in is so easy to get caught up in the trap of finding our identity in the things that we do for God rather than in who we are in Christ. God even teaches us that it’s not the things we do for him that make us of value to Him. Yes, we should be about our Father’s work, but we have to be careful to not get out of touch with Him by letting the work take the place of the relationship.

I think swings help us realize that. I wonder if Jesus ever sat in a swing? Wouldn’t is be cool to sit in a swing with Jesus and just talk. Not the kind of talking where we were getting our marching orders for the day. That is not what swings are for. I am talking about the kind of talking where we would just share about how our day has been, what we were looking forward to, or even discussing the fact that those clouds look like a giant ship sailing across the sky. The swing would sway gently back and forth with a soft breeze in the air. The time would be quality time, unrushed and unrehearsed. Wouldn’t that be a grand time with Jesus? The cool thing is that I can really have that time. I can sit in my swing and talk to him, but I have to choose to do it. I can share my deepest thoughts and just relax, knowing that he is concerned about every area of your life. He may not be there physically, but that doesn’t change the fact that he is there, and that makes the swing that much more enjoyable.

What about you? Do you have a swing? (If you don’t, I know where you can get a really good one.) We all need that place where we can go and relax with God and just be ourself. He already knows us better than anyone. In fact, I think that when we learn to relax with him, he is able to shows us things about ourself that even we might not have seen before. Maybe we need to take greater advantage of the swings that are sometimes placed along the path…

Narrative

Being in student ministry means you spend a lot of time studying for the different things that you teach throughout the week. That usually means a lot of time studying certain subjects or topics in the Bible. I enjoy it and I always seem to take more out of it than I am able to convey in whatever period of time I have allotted to teach what I have planned. The temptation is to let this approach to Bible study leach over into my personal Bible study time. What I have noticed lately is that this seems to hurt my personal study time rather than help it. The older I get the more I enjoy and understand the narrative of scripture. What I mean by that is that I have a deeper love of the story itself. When I read the Bible for the sake of the narrative, rather than trying to study about some specific topic, I feel God speaking to me through the story. I love to read, (which is good since I have to do so much of it). When reading is at its best is when the story comes alive. I guess that is why I enjoy the works of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis along with modern writers like Dekker and Peretti. They paint a picture that my mind can use to visualize the scene in such a way that it becomes real to me. I am “there” when I read their works. The same thing is true for God’s Word, but even more so because the Bible is alive, and when I read it for the narratives sake it becomes even more so.

Approaching the Bible this way makes it different from a novel. I guess it is because of the fact that it is alive. When I read about creation I can picture myself there beside of God, seeing him look upon his work, and hear him say, “It is good.” When I read about Moses and the children of Israel crossing the Red Sea, I am there in the crowd, amazed at the walls of water on each side and the dry ground under my feet. When I read of Christ arrest, trial, beating, crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, I am there. I hear the mocking of the crowd. I hear the sound of the whip as it strikes his flesh. I see the nails as they pierce his flesh. I feel the despair of those who followed him as he is laid to rest in a borrowed tomb. I sense the confusion of the women as that same tomb is found open and empty on Sunday morning. I could go on, but you get the picture. It is in these images and the unleashing of the senses that I hear God say over and over again, “I love you.” It is here that I feel his presence beside of me and his hand resting on my shoulder in a way that says, “I am always right here.” It is also during these times that I feel my love for him in its purest state, when it is not driven because of the title in front of my name, or the position I hold in the church, but when it flows forth as the love from a child for a Father should flow.

I love The Word and I love the times when it once again comes alive in my mind and dwells with me in a real and powerful way. It is in these times that it is not a collection of teachings, or a history book. It is in these times that it is another example of our good God indwelling our lives in a way that brings us closer to him along the path…

GREEN

Over the years I have seen the Church do two things that have really disturbed me. First, I have seen it take a stand against issues that is should take a stand against, but take that stand in a way that pushes people away from Christ, rather than being a conduit through which He can draw people to himself. Secondly, I have seen the Church fail to respond in any way, shape, or form to issues that the Church needs to address. Environmental stewardship is one of those areas where I feel the Church has taken either the wrong approach, or no approach at all.

Now, with that said, let me get one thing out there that will cause a lot of controversy; I do not believe in man made Global Warming. I am sure some of you are already heading to the comment button so you can tell me how wrong I am. That is fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but before you blast me, let me explain why I do not believe in it. As a follower of Christ I see the Bible teaching us that God is in control of creation, not us. I also believe that the world, as we know it, will come to an end, but it will not be because of anything mankind has done. It will be God that brings about the end of the world as we know it when he restores it to the state it was in prior to the fall of man as he creates a new heaven and a new earth.

This brings me to the area where I feel like the Church has missed an opportunity to be the leader in helping the planet. While I do not believe that man can destroy the planet, I do believe that we can harm it. Mankind is the one that brought sin into creation, and sin, by its very nature, is harmful to creation. I also believe that man can physically harm the planet. Look at how some areas have been rendered agriculturally useless due to over farming. Think about water sources that have been polluted because of the irresponsible use of chemicals. The list goes on and on, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead of standing in the way of those who want to protect our environment Christians should be leading the charge to clean things up. The reason for this can be found in the fact that scripture teaches us that God placed us here as stewards of His creation. A steward is one who has been placed in a position of administration over the property of someone else. The area they are to administer does not belong to them, but they are responsible for its oversight and its well being. As stewards of this planet we call home we have a vested interest in its health because of how its health affects our own. Christians should see this more clearly than anyone. In fact, taking care of the planet should be a worship experience for those of us who follow Christ. It should be a way of connecting with God through his amazing creation. It should also be a means through which we can introduce others to the Creator and his desire to know us. Taking care of the environment just makes sense. It also means following through with an area of responsibility that has been entrusted to us.

As a follower of Christ I am responsible for helping people see Christ and his Kingdom. It seems like it will be a little easier for others to see the kingdom if I am doing my part to make it a little greener and more appealing. It may also give me a chance to hug someone who needs to feel the touch of Christ more than they need to hug a tree. Green is good, especially if it helps point the way to the one who made it all possible.

Emerging

Yesterday I was riding around with my parents, talking about various things when my mom made a comment about what would my grandfather think of all of the technological advances we have made since his passing in the late 1960’s? That comment got me to thinking about what Jesus would think if he walked through the door of most churches. Would they resemble what he intends for them to be, or would they be so far off base that he would say something like, “Call this something else, because this is not what I intended for you to form when I left it in your hands.” There is a movement taking place within the body of Christ called the “Emergent Church” movement. The basic premise of the movement is that the church has gotten a very long ways away from where it is supposed to be. In other words, the focus has shifted somewhere along the way to things that are not really central to reaching a lost world. Just look at the churches involvement in politics. Now, I believe that Christians should vote and be involved in the democratic process. The problem is that many believers have made their faith synonymous with their political affiliation. I consider myself to be conservative, but not in the sense of the so called “religious right” who have hijacked many a pulpit with a message that is much more political than it is scriptural. The problem that this has caused in our society is that while many believers have dedicated great amounts of time to political efforts with the hopes of getting certain people elected. These elections have come with the expectation that those elected officials are going to change things for the better by using the political machine rather than enacting real change from the place that should be it’s point of origin. The Church should b this point of origin, not a denomination, not a building, not even an ideology, so to speak, and, certainly not a “political party.” The Church, as defined in the book of Acts, is the body of believers (Christians) following the instruction of the head (Christ) in order to make a difference in this world that leads people to saving faith. They are not just to point people toward heaven as the finish line, but should teach them that once they enter into a personal relationship with Christ they are to follow his leading in bringing a little bit of the kingdom into the world around them. Remember what Christ said about giving a drink of water in his name?

This is where the emerging church is focused. It is not easy, nor is it always fun. It is messy on many levels and it is not without it detractors. I find myself drawn more and more to the people who are willing to get their hands dirty and risk their reputations for the sake of the kingdom. The longer I strive to be a follower of Christ I the more I realize that it requires looking more at what Christ said and less at what some people have done in his name if we are to find out what it truly means to “take up our cross daily and follow him.” It means taking chances. It means getting out of our comfort zones. It also means confronting and establishment that in many ways has lost sight of its real purpose and mission. The emergent church seems to understand that Christ instructions were to “go”, not sit and wait for the world to come to you. Do I believe this movement has it all figured out? No, but I do believe it is raising some questions that need to be asked.

Where are you in your pursuit of doing what Christ has called us all to do? What are you struggles? What are the victories that you have experienced by letting Christ direct you, rather than some institution? I am still trying to figure a lot of this out. Not just about how it relates to me, personally, but how it relates to ministry and spiritual impact in a world that seems to reject everything I stand for. It doesn’t always make the way clear, but it does make it much more interesting along the path…