Stuff

Stuff:

  • We’re almost halfway through the series “Revealed” at CrossWay.  It’s going well, but I wish I had another two or three months to prepare for it!  Guess I’ll always feel that way.  Sermons are like paintings–it’s hard to reach a point where I can say, “It’s finished.”
  • Laura Marie is eating “solid” food!  Doesn’t look that solid to me, but I guess it’s solid compared to milk.  She really likes the peas, green beans, and carrots, but the sweet potatoes seem to be her favorite so far.  It’s so cute to watch her eat with a spoon!
  • I’m really pulling for a Yankees-Dodgers World Series.  That’s the classic matchup, and it hasn’t happened in 28 years.  Unfortunately the Phillies don’t seem like they’re keen on the idea.  And the Angels aren’t exactly one step away from elimination.  We’ll see.
  • Cheez-its rock.  And now they have some made with whole grain, which are even better.
  • Greg Cooper, the youth pastor at Ocean City Worship Center, is leaving soon to become the pastor of a church in Columbia (Maryland, not South America).  I’m sad.  Happy for Greg and his wife Heather, but sad for the community, the Worship Center, and me.  Greg is such a tremendous asset to our community.  His absence will leave a hole in our ministry to the teenagers in this area.  He’s also a lot of fun to hang out with and very encouraging.  Today we’re having our last hurrah at Plaza Tapatia, which I think is the only place we’ve ever met for lunch except for one time in D.C.  God bless you, Greg and Heather!  (Sniff sniff.)
  • Autumn is totally the best.  I love the smell.  If I ever took two months off, I think I’d take all of October and November and just sit on the back porch watching the trees, drinking Vanilla-Macademia coffee, and listening to the wind.  And maybe reading a 19th-century Russian novel.
  • A couple days ago I finished reading Monster by Frank Peretti.  It was really a great read.  I’d forgotten what an amazingly talented writer Peretti is.
  • About a month or so ago, Carolyn and I started having a community group at our house.  We talk, pray, read the Bible (we’re going through the Gospel of Mark), and eat.  It’s wonderful.
  • Speaking of Mark, I’ve been studying it for a couple months.  It’s been great to slow down and really spend time in Mark.  It’s been spiritually invigorating.
Published in: on October 20, 2009 at 9:51 am  Comments (4)  

The Christ of Daniel

I never thought I would find myself sympathizing at all with the religious leaders of ancient Palestine who opposed Jesus.  But today I read a study note in my Bible that really helped me to see some things from their perspective.

In the Book of Daniel, the Bible teaches that the Babylonian Empire would be succeeded by the Median-Persian Empire, followed by the Greeks and then the Romans.  After Rome, the Christ would come to demolish the kingdoms of the world and establish His own eternal kingdom.

At the time of Jesus’ ministry, Babylon had fallen.  So had Media-Persia.  As had the Greeks.  And now the Roman Empire was at the height of its power.  So the religious Jews expected the Christ to overthrow Rome as Rome had overthrown Greece, Greece had overthrown Media-Persia, and the Medes and Persians had overthrown Babylon. These kingdom had been actual, literal, political kingdoms, so they expected the same from the Striking Stone of Daniel.

Instead, the Romans killed Him.  Of course, the Jews did have something to do with that.

I’m not trying to justify these religious leaders, who after all were the ones who were supposed to recognize and proclaim the Christ.  And, of course, there are plenty of other Messianic passages in the Old Testament, especially those about the suffering Christ in Isaiah, that they apparently disregarded completely.  I’m just saying that for the first time I can understand why they might have been confused about Jesus’ identity as the Christ.

Makes me feel sort of creepy, like a heretic or something.

Published in: on September 29, 2009 at 10:01 am  Comments (2)  

Coaching…But At What Cost?

The apostle Paul was imprisoned in a dungeon a short time before he was to be executed.  He sat down to write one last letter.  He’d written many letters to many churches and individuals over his long ministry.  This final letter was written to Timothy, a younger man that Paul had coached as Timothy began his own journey in gospel ministry.

In 2 Timothy 2:2, Paul instructed his protégé: “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.”  In other words: Just as I have invested in you and trained you, so you must invest in others and train them–let’s keep this thing going.

How disappointing, then, to see the greedy and carnal route that so many pastor-coaches are taking.  Instead of discipling younger pastors as a ministry, the new trend is for pastors of large churches to mentor younger pastors as a business.  They charge a hefty fee for their services: One website I saw today charges $4,500 for six coaching sessions!  No wonder the church is struggling the way it is today, when pastors are becoming parasites leeching onto other pastors.  It makes me sick.

I’d love to see some of these pastor-customers take what they’ve learned through these mentoring businesses and turn around and coach others for free–in other words, as a ministry.  Now that would be a biblical movement!

If one pastor is going to charge another for coaching him, the price should be a promise that the student will then become the teacher and take someone else under his wing to pass along what he has learned.  Then we can be faithful to the instruction in 2 Timothy 2:2–found in many other places in Scripture, as well–instead of taking advantage of younger pastors of smaller churches.  Then the gospel will spread and God will be glorified… even if no one makes a big buck from it.

Just had to get that off my chest.

Published in: on September 10, 2009 at 12:36 pm  Leave a Comment  

Philemon

We concluded the Postcards series yesterday at CrossWay with a message on Philemon.  This is a fascinating letter that the apostle Paul wrote to a slave owner named Philemon on behalf of the runaway slave Onesimus. 

It’s a masterpiece of persuasive writing, but even more than that, it gives us a clear picture of what Christ has done for us.  In Philemon 17-19, Paul writes: “So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me.  If he has done you any wrong or owes you anything, charge it to me.  I, Paul, am writing this with my own hand. I will pay it back…”

We’ve all done things wrong, and we have a debt to God–called sin–that we can never repay (Romans 3:23).  But Jesus Christ died to pay for our sins, so that we can have eternal life through faith in Him (Romans 6:23).

Thank You, Jesus!

It’s been real challenging but also a lot of fun doing an expository preaching series like this one.  I’m looking forward to the next one!

(By the way, the podcast might actually be up and running again this week.  I’ll be glad to have it in full swing again.)

Published in: on July 20, 2009 at 5:08 am  Leave a Comment  

Postcards

Wow, it’s been a long time since I’ve blogged!  I’m going to try to get back into it, though I’m amazed that anyone with kids can ever keep up with a blog.  But I’ll give it a shot.

The past couple Sundays at CrossWay we’ve been in a series called “Postcards,” where we’re studying the little one-chapter books in the New Testament: 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and Philemon.  All four books are short letters with huge significance.

Last week we walked through 2 & 3 John.  In these letters, the apostle John highlights hospitality as an important display of commitment to Christ.  He teaches the importance of partnering with Christian workers by supporting them with hospitality; on the flip side, he explains how anyone who extends  hospitality to false teachers “shares in his wicked work” (2 John 11).

Yesterday we studied Jude.  This is possibly the most severe book in the New Testament, but with good reason.  Jude begins by saying he wanted to write about the joy of salvation, but instead of celebrating with the recipients of his letter, he felt instead the need to issue a dire warning against false teachers who had snuck into the church.  He totally reams them out, and describes them in great detail so that Christians who want to walk in truth can steer clear.  He ends the letter on an up note, giving praise and glory to God our Savior.

Next week: Philemon….

During the month of June we had guest preachers at CrossWay.  They all did an excellent job, and we’re grateful for their ministry!  It’s nice to be preaching again.  As demanding as it is to do every week, I sure did miss it!

Published in: on July 13, 2009 at 10:21 am  Comments (1)  

The Comeback Church

Yesterday at CrossWay we talked about the comeback church.  A comeback church is an underdog congregation that is headed toward decline but turns things around to begin reaching people for Christ.  A comeback church sees lives transformed by the power of the gospel. 

There are certain spiritual dynamics at work in a comeback church.  They include:

(1) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to the mission that Jesus Christ gave His church.  You can read about Christ’s commission to His church in Matthew 28:18-20.  At CrossWay we constantly remind everyone that our mission is to make lifelong followers of Jesus Christ throughout our community and around the world.  We will only do things that serve this purpose.

(2) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to servanthood.  We recognize that we’re not here just for ourselves.  Rather than turning inward and becoming collectively self-centered, we turn outward.  We recognize that nothing we have is really ours: our bodies, our time, our possessions, our abilities–they all belong to God.  He lends us these things to enjoy and meet our needs, but also to share with others.  You can read about the attitude of a Christian servant in Philippians 2:5-11.

(3) A comeback church has a renewed commitment to strategic prayer.  We pray seriously, continually, and strategically.  We pray for things that matter.  You can read an example of this in Acts 4:23-31.

Of course, the ultimate comeback story is the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  After all, He was dead and buried–you can’t get more hopeless than that!  But He  conquered sin and death and made the ultimate comeback.  Since we’re His church, we too can make a comeback.  We can be a comeback church!

If you’re interested in learning more about this subject, I’d encourage you to check out Comeback Churches by Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson.

Published in: on June 1, 2009 at 1:21 pm  Comments (2)  

$kittles

Yesterday at CrossWay we talked about Skittles.  Pastor Ed Young from Fellowship Church in Grapevine, Texas, tells a story about a time he was at a high school football game with his daughter.  She wanted a pack of Skittles, so he bought her some.  As he watched her eat them, he decided they looked pretty good.  So he asked for a couple Skittles, but she refused.

Pastor Young pointed out three things that his daughter didn’t seem to realize about her Skittles:
(1) He was the one who had given her the Skittles.
(2) He was bigger, stronger, and faster than her, so he could take away all of her Skittles.
(3) He had enough money to go back to the concession stand and buy her more Skittles than she would ever be able to eat.

We’re in a very similar situation with God and the stuff He gives us.  Everything we have is from God, but sometimes when He asks for us to give back a few Skittles, we refuse.  We clutch tightly to our Skittles.

As we talked about Skittle management, we looked at a few basic Bible truths:

God wants us to enjoy the tangible blessings He gives us, but He also wants us to be His channel for blessing others.

Naturally, we just had to close the service by giving everyone a pack of Skittles.  :)

Published in: on May 18, 2009 at 10:27 am  Leave a Comment  

Why It’s Good to Be a Sorry Loser

At CrossWay yesterday we wrapped up the series “i am second” with a message called “Why It’s Good to Be a Sorry Loser.”

We started with a video testimony from Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton, then talked about everyone’s favorite subject: repentance.  Repentance doesn’t seem like a very fun word, but it’s actually the means that God has given us to draw close to Him.  We talk a lot in various circles about change, and repentance is the key to real, true, lasting change.  Repentance can be broken down into simple steps:

(1) Admit my sinfulness.

(2) Humble myself.  This means:
       A. Submit myself to God.
       B. Submit myself to others.

(3) Resist temptation.

(4) Draw near to God.

To delve deeper you can read James 4:4-10 and listen to the podcast when it’s up.

Published in: on May 4, 2009 at 3:26 pm  Leave a Comment  

How to Love Someone to Death

At CrossWay yesterday we had the second week in the series “i am second.”  This week’s message was “How to Love Someone to Death.”

We started with this testimony from Chris Plekenpol.  Then we read Romans 5:6-8 and Matthew 5:43-47.  These two passages are summed up in Ephesians 4:32, which says to “be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”

We naturally live according to our own standard of love, which says that we’re kind to those who are kind to us.  But Jesus teaches us to be kind to everyone and to even pray for people who persecute us!  That’s a different way of doing things, and it’s the kind of difference that sets God’s people apart.

The podcast at least recorded this week, though the sound quality isn’t too great.  But a new recorder is on the way!

Published in: on April 20, 2009 at 1:24 pm  Comments (1)  

Looking Out for the Real #1

Easter Sunday at CrossWay was great!  We knew that Easter attendance is usually higher than normal, but it was a LOT higher this year–easily the most people I’ve ever seen at this church on a Sunday.

We launched a new series called “i am second.”  The idea comes from the website iamsecond.com.  We watched the testimony of Brian “Head” Welch, formerly of the band Korn.  Then we read Colossians 1:15-20 as we began exploring the topic for the morning: why Jesus is #1.

Based on this passage, we see several reasons why Christ is #1:

  • He is God.
  • He died for us.
  • He rose from the dead.
  • He reconciles us to God.

It was a wonderful Sunday.  Great to have so many worship with us!  Unfortunately the recording device we use to capture the message for the podcast shorted out on us yet again, so it’s headed for the electronic cemetery.  Pretty bummed about that.  But Jesus is still alive!

Published in: on April 14, 2009 at 12:19 pm  Leave a Comment  
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