Interpretive Coffee Psychology

There’s no way around it.  I am a huge fan of coffee. When we built our home two years ago, we actually installed a coffee maker that is plumbed right into the water supply so we don't have to measure water - the machine does it all by itself. After it measures the water for me, it superheats the water and makes an incredible cup of coffee. 

It’s not what you think.  Yes, I have a cup of coffee in the morning, to get a little caffeine into the system, but, the lure of java isn’t so much a dependency, it's like spending time with a comfortable friend. Within the sealed canister in the cabinet near the futuristic coffee maker lies an emotional connection to something warm, dark, and fragrant. Coffee is one of the simple pleasures in life that I’ll never tire of and will always quietly keep me company.  It’s freshly brewed very often, and is great fuel for conversation. 

So, this morning, with coffee in hand, and Bible before me, it’s no surprise that I associate coffee with the Word of God. Is there any connection to what kind of coffee you enjoy and what kind of Bible reader you are? Let's examine the possibilities! 

Black Coffee – Likes the Word plain and straight.

You are a hard core Berean, who enjoys printing out the text without paragraph breaks, line by line.

Your Bible is clean from notes or commentaries, just the Scriptures and maybe a concordance. You hold a separate collection of Bible dictionaries and commentaries for reference and stuff your notes in 3-ring binders that cause your shelves to sag. You are an experienced Bible scholar with defined positions on all things Biblical. You approach Scripture hoping to add to your faith and already established positions. 

Coffee with Cream and Sugar -Likes additional materials in your devotional time.

You are among friends! You enjoy adding things to your devotional time, perhaps an extended prayer time, or writing your own tune to one of the Psalms. You will find one phrase in your devotions that really stands out to you and will mark it in your Bible. You will write it all over your notes in a meeting just to keep it in your mind all day. You are a free thinker who enjoys both traditional and cutting edge sermons, as long as you learn something new about your Creator. You approach Scripture hoping to learn something new about your Bible, God, and yourself.

Cappuccino – Likes the Word like a shot of espresso, indulged with frothy foam.

 

You enjoy digging into the Word with notes and commentaries readily available, inserted alongside the text.

Your Bible is a Study Bible, and it’s most likely the "best Bible you own".  You underline and make notes in the margin.  Your Bible is covered in either (faux) leather or in a canvas Bible cover. You approach Scripture with a magnifying glass and highlighter, looking intently for something to meditate on from your study time.

Latte – Likes the Word, rich and creamy, and enjoys a foamy mustache.

 

You love walking through the Word with companions of devotional thoughts or inspirational questions.

Your bookshelf is never short of a fave devotional or Bible Study series. Your Bible might be a Life Application Bible, or it’s simply paired with your favorite “Daily Bread” or stacked on top of a study book.You approach Scripture with a stack of books, and a desire for practical instruction.

Mocha – Likes the Word, like a chocolaty treat, a rich confectionery splurge.

 

You love journaling in the Word, reflecting on Christian writing, meditations or even art, music and photography. The Word comes alive in a mosaic of artistic expressions.  Your Bible might be a journaling Bible where you weave whatever prompts your heart into God’s words.  You are an artist who takes in the Word and sees it reflected in unexpected places. You approach Scripture with an imaginative spirit, painting pictures in your mind's eye of what is happening on the pages you are reading. 

If you don't like coffee, well, that's a different problem altogether! Keep on being faithful to the Word though, regardless of your love for a smooth, wonderful cup of joe. 

Forgiverence

In November, 2001 I flew home from college for Thanksgiving break, and on that flight home, I learned a spiritual lesson. I boarded the plane in Tampa, heading for New York City when we got delayed and had to circle in a holding pattern for a few minutes. This holding pattern literally lasted about 10 minutes, but what happened lasted ten years so far. As we were circling above NYC, we were able to see some of the destruction of what used to be the World Trade Center. Everyone on the plane had been laughing and smiling and talking to one another about their destinations, and how much football they were going to see on Thanksgiving day. All of a sudden the pilot announced that if we looked out the left side of the plane we could briefly see what used to be there. 

Silence fell over the plane. People held their breath and had a range of emotion rushing through their body. A feeling of patriotism coursed through our veins as we beheld in awe what had happened there merely two months prior. That was pure awe. It was reverence for that scene that silenced everyone on the plane. It was a moment that has been etched in my mind as strongly as the moment I heard about the towers falling. That moment changed a part of me. 

That was awe. All of us on that 747 experienced what the Bible tells us is how we relate to God. 

We have many reasons to stand in awe of God - He is everything we are not, and that causes us to revere Him and stand in awe - He is perfectly holy, He is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, omnitemporal. He exists everywhere at once, and holds the world in motion. He directs mankind and draws all men to Himself. He provides salvation and eternal life to anyone who asks in faith. In comparison to me, I can, tie my shoes by myself seems to be the best thing I can come up with!

However, this morning, I found another reason to stand in awe, and this one is a shocker. This one is a game changer. 

Psalm 130:3-4 says “If you, O Lord, keep a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness; therefore you are feared. 

What we have here is the understanding that God does not keep a record of all our forgiven shortcomings and forgiven sins. In His omniscience, He certainly could, but there's a conscious decision not to. 

Forgiveness is at the forefront of our heavenly Father’s thinking. The power of pardon is permanent with God, and He is ready to forgive in an instant. So go to God with guilt, and leave it with Him, because He saves and forgives to the uttermost.
 

Even more, forgiven sin is even more reason to fear God. Because you have experienced His redeeming love, there is immense reverence and awe for Him because He does not rain down judgment. God’s grace leads us to have such a holy regard for Him that we fear grieving Him with continued sin. Forgiveness leads to reverence: forgiverence.

God has every right to destroy us and leave nothing but a pair of smoking shoes where we used to be, but He forgives us, not keeping a running total of those forgiven sins of the past. Think on that today, and be most grateful! Experience forgiverance today!

8? What? I didn't learn that one...

In my reading this morning, I came across an interesting statement. A man by the name of Evagrius of Pontus, a 4th century monk who coined the phrase "The 7 Deadly Sins" originally had 8 on the list, but hacked it to seven because, as we all know, 7 is the most holy of numbers! The eighth deadly sin? Gloom. That's right, along with Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride, we have Gloom.

After some interesting investigation, I am convinced that 8 deadly sins are more complete, and here's why. In the early church, the spirit of joy was abundant. Joy is the opposite of gloom, and joy was seen throughout early Christianity. They were accused of possessing overflowing joy, beautiful, and most dangerous of all, contagious joy.

Contrast these early believers with some of the other 1st century pagan religions - these pagans were in a settled position of despair, sadness, and pessimism as they worshiped with unsettled doubts in their hearts. These early Christians were filled with joy and hope that radiated outward!

The gospel begins and ends with joy. Have you ever considered that? It's true! Gabriel's words to Mary when she found out that she was carrying the Son of God were, I bring you good tidings of great joy (Luke 2). How does it conclude? Luke 24, following the resurrection and ascension of Christ, we read that the disciples headed out to Jerusalem with great joy. In John 15, Jesus promises His joy to be with them, and that joy would be made full.

Joy is an attribute of God - God has joy when a sinner comes to saving faith, and the sign of God in someone's life is joy!

Joy should be one of your obvious characteristics that people know about you. Don't be "the guy with the beard," or "that lady who always cracks her knuckles". Work today on showing joy to others - have a settled peace that comes across loud and clear.

A Constant Battle

I read an article this morning entitled, "Despite missing goal, Girardi proud of Yanks". This was an article, about how the coach of the New York Yankees was disappointed in the outcome of the 2011 baseball season, but very proud of his team members for putting on such an excellent display on the field.

This got me thinking about my failures, and my shortcomings as a Christian. Sure, there are a few (who am I kidding, there's a myriad of failures in my life) struggles that I have, and in the 20 years that I have been a Christian, I have never reached the goal of complete obedience to Christ, or total faithfulness to the things of the Lord. I have fallen short every time of reaching a spiritual peak. And so have you. Multiple times.

Christianity is a constant battle of progress and failure, struggles and breakthrough. If it were a simple, sinless path of righteousness with no challenges, we wouldn't have to rely on God for our strength! Today, accept your shortcomings as opportunities to grow. Accept the defeat as a means to pull yourself closer to your Heavenly Father.

The Yankees didn't meet their goal of world championship number 28 this year, but when they do (next year?) the celebration will be sweet, and the defeats of the past will be forgotten. How much time are you going to spend on your defeats and shortcomings when you are in heaven? My guess is...none. Embrace this day as a gift from God and grow as a Christian through both your shortcomings and successes.

Community Relevance

We have just had one of the most exciting outreach efforts at our church in the time that I have been here. We held Praise in the Park, an off-site service that enabled us to cancel our regular Sunday evening service and move it to a city park, right in the downtown area of Delmar, a small town on the Delaware/Maryland line (hence Del/Mar).

We had to postpone the initial event due to the hurricane, but the second time was the winner! We had excellent attendance, and experienced some incredible music from a couple of our musicians in our church. The casual atmosphere created a very non-confrontational invitation to others in the community, and we got to meet some new faces in our midst.

All in all, this was a wonderful, incredibly new and exciting event to put on, and be a part of in our community.

Ministry has evolved into community interaction. We have got to be engaged in our community, and while we are living our lives in the community, we should be showing other Christ through our words, actions, and attitudes. The great commission expects us to be active in our community - Literally, the Commission says "As you are going [about your daily lives in your community], make disciples..."

Today, look around for someone that you see every day, or pass in the hallway, and think of how you, as you go about your daily life, can make another disciple for Christ.

Wisdom isn't in your teeth.

Last week Julie had some wisdom teeth, and as is the classic response to anyone getting their wisdom teeth out, we heard a lot of "Oh, you're going to lose all your wisdom now". Ha. Ha. Ha. <note the sarcasm> This is almost as funny a response to the classic post-jail ministry response of "Oh, they let you out again?" Once again, note the sarcastic laugh...

Back to the wisdom teeth thing though, it got me thinking about wisdom and how we react to it. The very word 'wisdom' conjures up various responses: often we hear prayers for the doctors to have wisdom as they operate on a sick friend or family member, we think of old people having lots of wisdom, we can recount the great wisdom of Solomon, especially the cutting the baby in half idea to identify the true mom. We think of owls as having wisdom (no earthly idea why that is?), and coaches giving us words of wisdom. If you go to Amazon.com and search for 'wisdom' in the books department, you come up with 35,021 results. Wisdom is everywhere!

The Bible has some interesting things to say about wisdom. In the book of Proverbs we see wisdom personified in contrast to folly (Prov. 9), and in my favorite wisdom passage, James 1, we see how to get it. Here's the awesome part about wisdom: if anyone is lacking, ask God for it, in faith, and He'll give it to you! Talk about simple! This is the very definition of an easy button! One might oppose by saying, "you're telling me if I ask for wisdom then God will give it to me?" Sounds too easy, huh? Well, for something that easy, not many of us are doing it!

Today, ask God for wisdom, in faith, believing, and He will give it to you. That what He said, and His word is good!


So, does losing wisdom teeth makes you lose wisdom? Nope. Quit spreading the lies. Instead, spread the simplicity of gaining it - simple faith that God will do what He says: He'll give liberally if you ask!

Waxing Nostalgic

The blog has been quiet for a while, and that is because I have been extremely busy with our two summer interns, but the interns' summer requirements have been met, and I am all alone in my office once again. It's so quiet in here now without swirling topics of sublapsarianism and post-tribulationism and Greek diagramming of Scripture!

I am in no way trying to compare myself to the Apostle Paul, but this is what it must have felt like for him after sending Timothy out to minister! There's some excitement about mentoring, and excitement about iron sharpening iron that will be missed on my part. I am thankful that I got to have a small part in helping guide and shape future church leaders.


I was thinking about this mentor thing this morning, and I was reflecting back to some influential people in my life that helped me on my journey, socially, spiritually, and emotionally, and I am so thankful for the guidance and small part in their minds that played such a huge role in my life.

Although this blog is short, yet very nostalgic, think today about what part you have in someone's life: one conversation could change the course of their life for good, or for bad. One word of encouragement, or one challenge could make that person soar or turn them into a trainwreck. Be that person who is remembered 20 years later who brings a smile to someone's face; be that person that only a handful of people know at a wedding as that teacher, or friend who 'put me where I am today.'

Think of those people who shaped you into who you are and thank God for them. Then thank them for their part in your life!

Surprise!

I hate surprise birthday parties. I hate surprise scare attempts, and I hate surprises at the checkout counter that demand I pay more than expected. Surprises are fun on occasion: surprise endings are always exciting, and surprise victories in athletics are always welcome. Surprises are very often a part of life - sometimes planned, or not.

Have you ever thought that God is never surprised? For a true surprise to happen, one has to have no preconceived idea that whatever is about to happen actually will happen. The afore mentioned surprise birthday party is not a surprise when the "surprisee" is aware of the effort (and this is how I prefer my birthday celebrations, just so you know).

Imagine for a second if God was capable of being surprised. That would completely take away from His very nature! If He could be surprised, it would indicate a lack of knowledge and understanding on His part. Psalm 139 indicates God's omniscience, and to ascribe to Him anything less is blasphemy!

Let's make it personal now: God is not surprised with our circumstances. That car accident? That hospital stay? That loss of employment? God never put on His surprised face. Why? Because through those trials, He wants to be glorified. He knew that very struggle was going to be a thorn in your flesh years before you were born. He knows the trial you are in, and unlike us, knows the timing for the end of the trial.

Because God is God, and God is all-knowing, and never is surprised, we must be thankful today. You can be surprised, that's always a little fun (except when it's me) but rest in the fact that God isn't surprised by our actions.

Time Slaves

We are slaves to timepieces. I probably check the clock about 50 times a day, no exaggeration. I am such a stickler for time. In my book, being five minutes early is being 5 minutes late, because ten minutes early is most appropriate my book. Regardless of your position of what "on time" means, we are always looking at the clock.


When I was younger, I was always looking forward to the future, when all the great things were going to happen. I wished many times that I was 12, or 16, or 18, or 20 so I could do all the awesome things that had to be coming my way. There was always something to be looking ahead for. Things have since slowed down, and I wish I had more time in the day, or more hours in a week to accomplish what I need to do! Reflecting on these things makes me think of the words of a famous comedian of the 90's:  "Wait up!" That's what kids say. They don't say "wait", they say "Wait up! Hey, wait up!" 'Cause when you're little, your life is up. The future is up. Everything you want is up. "Wait up! Hold up! Get up! Mom, I'll clean up! Let me stay up!" Parents of course are just the opposite. Everything is down. "Just calm down. Slow down. Come down here. Sit down. Put that down." There comes a point where hurry up definitely turns to slow down, and I am nearing that place in my existence.


Have you ever thought that Jesus probably didn't wear a watch? He was always on time, and was always where he needed to be, when he needed to be there! There's a southern gospel song that says "But his way is God's way, not yours or mine. And isn't it great when he's four days late he's still on time." This song obviously refers to the death of Lazarus, and Jesus coming after he had died, but that was all in God's plan to bring glory to the power of God.


Today, you may be in a tough spot. You may be hoping for the clock on the wall to speed up, or just wanting this day, or this week to be over. All that wishing to speed or slow the timepieces won't change the time one bit, but looking at the clock can remind you that we operate on God's time, and His timing is impeccable. So, the next 50 times you look at your watch today, thank God that He is never late, even though many of us often are.

Funeral Talk

In the past 4 weeks, I have been at 4 funerals. I attended 3, and performed my very first funeral. Four funerals in as many weeks is really overwhelming, however, it has been interesting to look back over those 4 and see the similarities and differences. Each of them had a vastly different life story, and each of them had family and friends that came to remember their lives and memories.

The interesting thing about each of the funerals was the sharing and reflection time. Each funeral had a significant amount of time spent remembering the lives of each person. Some had humorous stories, some shared time spent fishing, or watching football. Other memories included funny explanations of a nickname, and some were fond memories of a favorite time shared with the individual. At the funeral that I officiated, I didn't know the lady very well who had passed away, so the sharing time was a time for me to grow the window into her life that I had no knowledge about. Each of the 4 individuals' services increased my knowledge of their lives and gave me a clearer picture of who these people were on their time on this planet.

One thing that was never shared, however, was a negative thought about someone who was upset because they "were owed $20 and were never going to see it now!" Nobody said "the world is a better place now that they aren't here to make me miserable." No one even used that time to share a juicy tidbit of gossip about the deceased that they "just had to share." No one said any negative words about anyone for those few moments gathered in a church.

Something like that makes me think of the dumb kid in Algebra who finally gets an 'A' on a test. If he can do it once, we expect it again. If we can keep thoughts positive and uplifting for an hour at a funeral service, why do we struggle so much to do it at other times? The Bible invites us to live at peace with all men; to come alongside and bear one another's burdens, and most importantly, to love one another!

If you can get a group of 150 people or so together in a room at a funeral and not one person has any unkind words to say about another person, surely, you can tame your tongue when it's just you and a few others together! Today, try to speak well of others. It's not easy, but you can do it if you really try. Just like how I passed Algebra.

Inspection Time.

Very often I get sent to the grocery store to pick up a few items. Most of the time, it's contact solution, milk, bread, or Chips Ahoy, because I love Chips Ahoy. No matter when I go to the store, I will inevitably walk through the fruits and vegetables section and have a little laugh to myself. Here will stand grown men and women, systematically inspecting their potential purchase. These people will knock on watermelons, listening for some type of response; a 'who's there' to continue a punchline perhaps? People will hold cantaloupes up to their noses and smell, and by that one act can tell if it's going to be a keeper or not. People will poke avocados, push on tomatoes, and examine bananas thoroughly, right in the middle of the produce section. And, yes, we all see you sneaking grapes out of the plastic bags to test them to check and see if they are good!

This thorough testing is not something that is carried over to other experiences. When I am preaching, I am very thankful that no one pokes me, or smells me, or knocks on my head to see if I am of top quality! This is an isolated bit of strangeness that applies only to the produce section. I wonder if everyone actually knows what they are looking for when they put fruit to the test. Perhaps their mom or dad knocked on a watermelon and gave an approving look, so you in turn go through the same routine? I have no clue why some people knock on fruit - unless they are professional fruit inspectors!

In Matthew 7, I believe we are called to be fruit inspectors. Not melon knocking, avocado poking, tomato squeezing fruit inspectors, but spiritual fruit inspectors. Jesus says that you will be identified by your fruits. These words, spoken by Jesus, are very simple to comprehend on a physical level. However, He was presenting the “fruit test” as an analogy to convey spiritual truth. Just as a tree can be positively identified by the product that it yields, so is one’s true nature and character revealed by his attitude and conduct. That orange tree is gonna have some nice oranges. Only. Same for the apple tree - apples, only.

While the trees may all look similar in many respects during the non-fruit bearing season, as soon as they start producing fruit the difference is obvious. A Spirit-led person cannot bring forth evil fruit (that which is carnal or sinful). It is just as impossible as a coconut tree producing watermelons. An individual who believes himself to be “good” or “holy” or “saved” yet produces attitudes and conduct contrary to the principles of God’s Word is, in reality, a hypocrite who deceives himself.

Just as nature teaches us that a coconut tree will always produce coconuts, a Spirit-led individual will always produce the “fruit of the Spirit” which is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness and temperance (Galatians 5:22-23).On the other hand, if a professing Christian does not produce the “fruit of the Spirit” he does not actually possess what he thinks or claims.

So, inspect your fruit, because you are called to be a fruit inspector! Exhibit your genuine, authentic faith, and evaluate others, but don't knock on their foreheads - save that for the watermelons!

Expect the Unexpected Reality

Part of my job here at the church is promotions. I conjure up an idea, present it to the church, and try to get people excited about the upcoming event. Some of these events have been spectacular, and some have not, but I get to promote them either way.

If you go to a sporting event, very often you will have the opportunity to get some free promotions: a bobble head of a player, or perhaps a t-shirt with a players name on the front and a sponsoring company on the front. I have received everything from shirts, to hats, to posters, to foam fingers as a way of promoting a company, event, or team.

In 2000, the Toronto Blue Jays decided to promote an event called "Hot Dog Blaster" as a way to get fans to come to the game. This event promised free hot dogs to those in attendance, as long as they could catch them as they were shot out of a modified cannon in their direction. The modified cannon was never used before the night of the event. As the cannon made it's debut, it shot out foil wrapped hot dogs in the direction of the fans. Unfortunately, instead of producing wieners in a bun, it shot them out at such a rate that the cannon simply shot hot dog fragments all over the people in the stands! Cries echoed throughout the stadium as people were plastered with bits of ballpark franks. Mistaking the cries of the crowd for cheers, the operators of the blaster continued to assault the fans with scraps of meat falling from the sky.

To make matters worse, the action on the field was also a disaster! The Blue Jays were getting blown away by the Anaheim Angels. In fact, the Angels notched 16 runs in the final 5 innings of play.

The Toronto fans experienced a night of disappointment. Free dinner and a good game were on many of the fans' agendas, but they got only hot dog stains on their clothes, and  a lousy game for the home team. The expectations of the fans were most definitely not met.

Isn't that kinda how life is though sometimes? Often in sports as well as life, our expectations far exceed the reality of the situation. The expectations that we bring to the table each and every day may, or may not be reality. The challenge for today is to remember that it's okay if your agenda gets smashed in order for God's to be fulfilled, because when God changes your agenda, it something He has designed for your good.

If you get invited to a hot dog blaster event, politely decline the offer in light of the knowledge you now have. Now, go live out God's agenda for today!

When The Cat's Away...

When the cat's away, the mice will play, right? Well, in my life, when the Senior Pastor's away, I get to preach, and that makes me happy!

The Assistant Pastor position is an interesting position. Some people see it as a junior pastor, kind of like the take-your-son-to-work-day and he just tags along with the "real" pastor. Some people think that the Assistant Pastor is like the administrative assistant for the Senior Pastor, and some just don't have any idea what to think, because they know a Senior Pastor is necessary, and a Youth Pastor is necessary, but who's this guy who isn't old enough to be a senior pastor, and wants nothing to do with teenagers? I've heard all these, and each of them are tremendous (he said with great sarcasm in his voice).

My bread and butter, the very icing on my ministerial cake, is getting to preach on Sundays. It only comes every so often because that is the role of the Senior Pastor, but when it comes, I cherish it. All that to say, I am preaching on Sunday, June 5th, and I am excited.

I love every aspect of the sermon; from the preparation, to the illustration development, to the proposition, to the delivery, to the figurative light bulbs that pop on in peoples' eyes when they grasp a concept that is new to them, all the way down to the audience exegesis (thinking through who your audience is, and preparing a tailored message for each person represented in the congregation). The only part I don't enjoy is the final 'Amen' as the service closes in prayer, because it will be a few months before I get that pulpit again! I even welcome the criticism afterwards, and especially the comments for me to slow down (honestly, that's not gonna happen, so just listen faster, people of the Eastern Shore!).

As I have been preparing for the sermon on Sunday, I have the sermon completed and prepared at this point. But as I was thinking through the message, I had an epiphany this morning! This isn't the proposition for the message, this isn't even anything that is going to make an appearance in the message, but as I was working through 1 Kings 18, I had this thought: The remedy for unbelief is answered prayer. Very simple, very plain, but incredibly profound! The context is Ba'al's priests and Ahab and Jezebel trying to call fire from heaven all day long, and nothing happens. Elijah steps up, prays a 62 word prayer (it's actually much shorter in Hebrew) and the fire is there.

The prayer is answered, and people believe! Granted, it's a lot easier to believe in God after a fireball comes and blazes on an alter right before your eyes, but the principle is the same. The remedy for unbelief is answered prayer. Perhaps today you have been feeling off. Maybe you haven't been feeling very 'Christiany' because you've been too busy with everything else. Fix your unbelief with answered prayer. Pray specifically for someone, or something, and see if God doesn't return with answered prayer.I'm quite certain that he will.

See you Sunday from behind the pulpit!

Pump It Up!

For the final 2 years of seminary, I worked for my father-in-law's septic contracting company. This experience was nothing short of interesting! Most of our jobs were installing new septic systems at homes that were in the final stages of construction. These jobs were not too bad! I enjoyed learning the whole process of the septic systems - they are actually much more detailed than you would think! The new construction jobs were relatively enjoyable; the service calls on existing systems, were not. For the obvious reasons. Yuck.

When the call would come in that someone's septic system was backed up into their house, you can pretty much guarantee that you are heading into hostile territory. No one takes a backed up septic too well. So, we would arrive and try to diagnose the problem, and most of the time, probably more often than not, the problem was with the pump. Septic systems have a pump that moves the, shall we say, 'septic material', from the tank out to the drainfield. If the pump is not working, no 'septic material' is going anywhere, and the drainfield is dry. Thus, it comes back into your house. Yuck.

Now, I can pretty much guess what you are thinking at this point. You are wondering how we are going to go from 'septic material' and drainfields, to getting to a devotional thought for the day. I am starting to wonder that too, but I have a plan in motion, no worries!

You see, pumps in septic tanks have a job to do: they disperse 'septic material' out to a drainfield where it makes some of the greenest grass you can imagine! If it's not working right, you have a major problem on your hands (well, a major problem on your bathroom floor, actually).

If you are a Christian, you have a job to do: you are disperse the good news of the gospel out to a mission field of people who don't know the Savior, where those fields are white unto harvest! If you aren't working right, you have a major problem on your hands (well, a major problem in your heart, actually).

I fear that way too many of us have weak gospel pumps, and may need to call the repairman to come and evaluate our focus. Thankfully, changing out a pump isn't too difficult, even in the midst of a stinky septic tank, and it's even easier to change you spiritual pump. You don't even have to get your hands dirty! All that is required is a recognition of the need to change, and the motivation to do something about it. Here's your motivation: When Christ died on the cross, he took our punishment upon Himself. He died, was buried, and rose again in demonstration of His power of sin and death. Just as God raised Jesus from the dead, so God is making all things new! Including your pump.

Set the pump setting to 'high' today and outflow your love to someone who needs it. Let someone benefit from your high performance pump and share that good news with someone!

Blue Ribbon Pumpkins!

Among all the various hats I wear, I decided this year to put on the gardener hat. This year, as I look out my kitchen window, I have the pleasure of seeing a massive garden. A garden that is just about 900 square feet. Yeah, that's no joke. This thing is huge! As intimidating as it was knowing that I was going to have to work that garden, I found some sense of excitement as I planted and watered and protected it from birds and other critters. We bought mostly starter plants that had begun growing and planted them, and now we are waiting for their return.

Two sections of the garden are potatoes: one section is sweet potatoes, and the other is white potatoes. These are the most frustrating for me because you have to wait until August to reap the benefit! Other plants, like peppers and string beans, are already showing signs of life and I saw one bean already yesterday! It's an exciting thing when your work comes to reality.

As I was driving by the garden on the way to church this morning, I had an interesting thought: Being a gardener is a whole lot like being a pastor. Now, obviously they are much different, but hear me out on the interesting epiphany I had as I drove the next 4 miles past the garden to my office at church. As a pastor, it is my job to look out for the people in the congregation. I encourage them, visit them, pray for them, and help them any way that I can. All of these things are with the intent to grow them to be more mature as Christians, as well as individuals. You probably saw this comparison coming. This is the obvious, not-so-profound comparison. Here's the one that grabbed me this morning: I don't know which of my plants in the garden are going to be successful. I want every one of them to thrive and grow, but some will not be very abundant, or some may just wither away, but there are those who will take that Miracle Gro that I fed them and grow incredibly. Those prize winning giant pumpkins that you see in the newspaper came from the same garden that produced a few duds, too.

The profundity and challenge is not to focus only on the successful parts of the garden, and I think we err on that side of gardening, as well as ministry. It's very easy to take a picture of my beautiful red hot chili pepper plants and post it on Facebook, but I am certainly not going to put any pictures of the sweet potato plant that my son pulled out and planted in a new spot that currently sports a yellowy-brown hue.

Here's the challenge: if I put them in my garden, they're my concern. If God put you in my church, then you're my concern! But don't forget the part where the illustration breaks down. In my garden, I'm responsible for everything that goes on. In our church, you can help the other plants, I mean people, to grow and thrive! Paul writes in Galatians (In the Pastor Chris Paraphrase that fits the blog this morning) If someone is withering in their spiritual garden, you who are healthy can help them grow to make the garden successful!

Look around your garden and see who you are planted next to. Can you encourage them? Have they been pulled up by a 3 year old and planted elsewhere? Have they been picked at by some pesky critters? Chances are, you'll need some extra care soon. We can't all be prize winning pumpkins, but we can encourage each other towards that!

Galatians 6:1 "Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness..."

Words with Friends!

Words are very important. Words can be strung together in such a way that they can encourage, motivate, entertain, or simply just inform others. I love words. On my ipad, I have no less than 6 applications that have to do with word games, and I have one on my cell phone. My wife and I play Scrabble so much, that when we play with friends, we are constantly being challenged as to the validity of a word because it's a rare word, or a strange use of a 'q' without a 'u' following it (and yes, there are several!). We use words every day - they are pretty important!

We get excited when our little children begin saying words that seemingly only their parents can understand, but they are still words to them! We get excited when our children move on to correctly conjugating sentences and utilizing proper tense in their various verb usages, and even employing the proper article at the proper location (please don't tell me I am the only one who gets excited about this...). Words are the very life blood of society, and without them we would be completely confounded and unable to communicate intelligently.

This morning, I want to talk about the word "ish".  In Hebrew, ish means man, but that has nothing to do with the blog today. Ish is that little suffix that we tack on to a word when we don't want to be specific about something:

"I'll be to your house about 6-ish..."
"That meal only has about 1200-ish calories..."
"We drove about 500-ish miles today..."

The little ending 'ish' completely negates the specificity of the word it's attached to. Arriving at my house at 6-ish for a dinner that you were invited to at 6 makes you late; however, an 'ish' on the end seems to magically cover your lateness! Many diets have been destroyed because of 'ish' calories!

If we transfer this to practical Christianity, the question this morning is, Are you a Christian, or are you an Ish-tian? One of them is the real deal, completely authentic, and genuinely devoted to the things of the Lord. The other is the one that has a convenient Christianity. Church doesn't interfere with their busy schedule because it's the first thing to go. Their Bible stays in the car because they'll need it next Easter when they go to church. They throw out Christian words when they need to, but forget them in the 'real life' situations. You know these people, and I know these people. Let's do our best not to be these people!

The question for you today: Are you a Christian, or are you an Ish-tian?

Living out loud

Television has become very sitcom light, and reality show heavy. Most of the shows on tv these days seems to be a reality show in which someone gets sent home by a majority vote, or a panel of judges. In a cursory observation of a six day period on tvguide.com, I saw a bunch of listings of reality shows: Wipeout, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance, America's Best Dance Crew, America's Got Talent, Chopped, Kitchen Nightmares, Parking Wars, and the list goes on! We have been inundated with reality tv! However, the one that jump-started the whole reality genre has to be Survivor. (Disclaimer: I am not promoting, supporting, encouraging, or in any way inviting anyone to watch Survivor; I am using the show as a reference for the blog) This show has been on since May 2000, and has given away a pile of money, and has made some contestants famous. It features exhibitions of strategy, stamina, endurance, brain power, and at times, deception. This is the 11th year, and 22nd season of Survivor, and this one is breaking new ground. Why, you ask?

Well one of the contestants, Matt, lives out loud as a Christian. This guy has made no attempts to hide the importance of his relationship with Christ. From day one in Nicaragua, he humbly informed his teammates that he was a Christian. He is on camera praying, he is on camera sharing his faith to other members of his tribe, he is on camera asking God for strength, and then winning challenges and giving God the credit. This kid is a testimony and a half! Because of his overt Christianity, two other Christians made their faith public, and one female contestant, upon getting voted out, said that she wanted what Matt has, and has currently found a church to attend in her area! The reason this Survivor is breaking new ground is because of the Christian influence. Don't get me wrong, there are still other contestants on the show who are ungodly, but the breath of fresh air of unashamed Christians on the island is such an encouragement.

The challenge for this morning is this: why is it that we get that nervous feeling in the pit of our stomachs when we bow our heads to pray at a restaurant? Why is it that you never invite your friends to church, or tell your co-workers that you go to church? If a 22 year old can live out loud as a follower of Christ, on national television, in front of 10.99 million people (last episode's number of viewers), then shame on us for hiding our light under a bushel in front of 10.

Today, live out loud for Jesus, and see what happens!


Christianity Today interviewed Matt April 26th, check out his comments! http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/movies/interviews/2011/hardplacetobe.html

Go Yankees!

I am a big sports fan. I enjoy watching sports, playing sports, and talking about sports. I enjoy being a New York Yankees fan and talking to Boston Red Sox fans, and I hope at some point in my life to go to a Yankees vs. Red Sox game before I die.

When you watch baseball, particularly the Yankees, very often one of the batters in their All-Star lineup will swing as hard as they can and make contact with the ball and it sails out of the ballpark into the stands, awakening a sea of hands and arms hoping to catch the ball and bring it home as the one souvenir at the ballpark that they can actually afford! The announcers will often speak of the batter hitting the sweet spot on the bat as they sent the ball into short orbit. This ever elusive 'sweet spot' is the place on the bat that it the prime spot for contact. There isn't a specified 'sweet spot zone' on the Louisville Slugger, but you just seem to know it when you find it because of the results that it shows.

There's a lot of mechanics in baseball to the art of batting, but the one element to level the playing field is the bat. It's kind of a standard in the game. The rules say that the bat "can be no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches in length. It typically weighs no more than 33 ounces." On some days the sweet spot feels like the entire bat and you can do no wrong; on some days, that sweet spot feels like an ever elusive dream.

If we take this sweet spot out of professional baseball, and bring it into a practical Christianity context, we can identify that we have a God-ordained sweet spot! This is a place of intersection where God has called us to live in and function out of. We cannot be anything we want to be, or even anything people want us to be. But we can be everything God created us to be, and this only happens as we are operating in our sweet spot. When we identify and reside in that sweet spot, we will find ourselves in a prime spot to be faithful in our walk with the Lord, and we will find ourselves having success as we go through our everyday events.

Now, remember, this sweet spot is ever elusive, and some times will be working for you, but other times it's going to be tough! Work through the tough times, and thrive on those sweet spot moments when you feel like you can knock one out of the park over the center field wall.

Next time you check out a baseball game on ESPN or attend a Little League game, think about your God ordained sweet spot, and evaluate your spiritual home run average. Also, if any of you have any Yankees vs. Red Sox tickets you'd like to part with, I would most willingly take them off your hands!

Food Lovers Unite!

I love food. I love cooking food and eating food. I love cooking shows, trying new recipes, practicing new methods of preparing food, and shopping for kitchen stuff. I know that "real men" don't cook, they only grill, so I have been told, but I also have heard in my life that boys don't play piano, wear pink, or carry their wife's purse. If that's the case, then I am not a real man. Oh well. No worries on my end.

Because of my intense fascination with food, I can look to the source of food, the very creator of food, and gather a few thoughts: First, God is incredibly lavish with His creativity to us! We could live our entire lives eating biscuits and water and be sustained and full for our entire lives. This has carbohydrates and sugars and the necessary nutrition for our daily lives. But given the opportunity to eat either a biscuit for appetizer, a biscuit for my entree, and a biscuit for my dessert or oysters Rockefeller for an appetizer, a medium rare Delmonico steak marinated all day in a flavorful marinade for my entree, and a strawberry balsamic reduction over vanilla ice cream, I would choose the latter every time. God had created some incredible foods and food combinations.

Another thought is that God has been awfully generous to us. Did you know you can eat dandelion leaves? Did you know that sweetbreads are not sweet, nor bread, but are a combination of animal organs, and it actually is rather tasty? Did you know that there is a coffee bean that starts out poisonous until a jungle animal, called the civet cat, eats it, digests it, and shall we say, expels it, making it not poisonous, able to be processed, and sold for about $150 a pound! God has put so many things on this planet that we can eat, and as we sit to thank Him for our meals, we should thank Him for His creativity and generosity!

The entire human race was plunged into sin due to food, remember Adam and Eve and the bite of fruit from the forbidden tree? Food is important to understanding our depravity, but it is also key in understanding our redemption! We have been invited to a feast of God in heaven, but that invitation comes at a price, namely the death of Jesus on the cross. As you sit at your meals today, think of the creativity and generosity of the Creator, as well as the coming feast. Do you have an invitation to this lavish meal? I hope you do!

Important Messages

As a youngster, I had a few aspirations in life for what I wanted to be when I grew up. Of course I wanted to be a fireman, like every other young boy. Sirens, dalmatians, and fire? This is the definition of excitement for a young boy! After I realized the danger of fire, I backed away from that dream and wanted to be a journalist. I don't have any idea why, other than perhaps getting to wear a black fedora hat with a 3x5 card sticking out of it that says 'press' and having the nickname "Scoop". I'm not sure, but this morning I was thinking about that career path. What a busy week this has been for journalism! First, the Royal Wedding that seemed like something straight out of a fairy tale, I'm told. I was not one of the early risers to watch it. I had one, and it was royal enough for me! Then the week started off by proving Obama was alive, and yesterday, proving Osama was not. If I were a journalist, I would have calloused fingers from all the typing I would have done over the last 10 days or so trying to cover all of the details of every single event that transpired this week! The most important message for a day or two was the wedding in England, and then the most important message for a day or two was President Obama's birth certificate. Currently, the death of Osama bin Laden is the most important message for us to keep current on! It's tiring trying to play the "What's-the-ever-changing-most-important-message-of-the-week" game!

Thankfully, for Christians, the most important message hasn't changed. We have enough to keep current on - sports, stocks, politics, religion, children, schooling, work - we don't need to wonder what the message is this week. The Apostle Paul tells us what the message is as he writes in 1 Corinthians 15, informing us that the gospel is that "Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, was buried, and that He rose again the third day..." This is the message that has been the most important message, and will continue to be the most important message throughout eternity.

So, if you are feeling particularly journalistic today, grab a pen and a card and share the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus with someone who needs it. You can talk about Obama, Osama, or your mama later on. Just get that message of the gospel out of your hands and share it with someone today!

Old Testament Text Messages?

Cell phones are wonderful. I remember the early days when my father brought home this massive black leather bag that was called a "bag phone" and we were in awe. A few years later I was heading to college and got my very own cellular phone, a Motorola flip phone, and I was sure that I would be the coolest kid on campus because I wouldn't have to use the antiquated dorm phone. A few years later I got a phone that could take pictures, and that was the coolest thing I had ever seen. At that point I could take a grainy picture and save it on my phone. Fast forward to text messages. These things are wonderful. I can send my wife a quick note to say "I love you" and it saves me the $1.79 that Hallmark would have charged me for the same words. I can list out some grocery items and take a picture (they are much clearer now, that on the early phones) to double check with my wife that I got the right item. Cell phones are a wonderful invention...except when they make you look dumb. Specialty ringers are always fun, but when John Phillips Sousa, a cartoon character, or the theme song to Star Wars appears at full volume in the middle of a wedding, funeral, or church service, you are made to look like the fool. Even worse than specialty ringers, however, are the wrong destination text messages.

Let's say I decide to utilize my $1.79 Hallmark savings and send my wife a lovely little "I love you" message early in the afternoon when she least expects it. So, on my touchscreen phone I open a new text message, say 'I love you' and then head to my contacts list where I see...Josh, Joyce, Judy, Julie, Justin...I tap on 'Julie' and send my personal Hallmark-ish message. Expecting to receive a message back about how sweet I am, I see that I receive a text message from a very confused Justin. I am guilty of the wrong destination text message. I try to laugh my way out of it, but it makes me think just how many messages I have sent to the wrong person by not double-checking before I pressed 'send'.


I worked through 1 Samuel 11 this morning, and I noticed something interesting. This is the David and Bathsheba narrative, and throughout the chapter, David does a lot of sending and receiving text messages. Obviously not via text message on his cell phone, but verbally. He sends a servant to get information about Bathsheba (v.3); He sends messengers to go get Bathsheba (v. 4); He sends a message to Joab to send Uriah to David, and Joab sends Uriah to David (v.6); a message is sent to David to inform him of Uriah's death (v.22); David sends for Bathsheba to come and be his wife (v.27).

David did a lot of sending and receiving text messages to set this whole ordeal up, and at the end of chapter 11 we read that all of these text messages displeased the Lord. Chapter 12 shares one text message to David. And it's from God Himself through the prophet Nathan. God sent the message to His desired recipient, and the message was loud and clear. God never has to double check before he hits the 'send' button, because the message is tailored specifically for you.

Today, when you send a text message, or make a call press send, thank the Lord that He sends clear messages to the precise recipient He means to.

Ho-Hum...

The Eastern Shore is not my original stomping grounds. I was not born here, raised here, or educated here. As far as I am concerned, I am a toddler in the ways of the Eastern Shore, having been here for 5 years. There is much to learn about this area before one can become familiarized with it, for example "Getting up" with someone means contacting them. Where I am from, that means either increasing your elevation, or waking up at the same time as them! I never knew you could eat muskrat, or get bit by a tick at the drop of a hat, but I am learning!

Let me tell you where I am from. I come from a land of mountains and snow. The high school I attended sits at the base of a 4000' mountain range, known as the Green Mountains of Vermont. There are fields of crops as far as the eye can see, and more cows than people! We can tap a tree for sap that turns into maple syrup, or create the best ice cream money can buy (Ben & Jerry's, of course!). We can swim, skate, sail, or relax on the shores of Lake Champlain, or take an international trip to Canada, just a short distance away. Billboard are actually illegal because they would take away from the beauty of the state. This ethereal land, this incredible jewel of New England, is what I called home for 18 years.

For those 18 years, guess how much I cared about the natural beauty of Vermont? Not too much. Guess how much the mountains meant to me? Not too much. Guess how important is was that Canada was so close to me? Not much at all. Now that I am exactly 528 miles away from Vermont I miss all that.

Why am I waxing nostalgic on you this morning? Well, here's the point. Every day I would wake up, and see towering mountains all around, and smell the fresh air of living so far above sea level, and sometimes look out my window to see a moose, or a bobcat, or just a neighbor's black lab, and that was normal. Mundane. Run of the mill. Everyday life for me was living surrounded by beauty. That was my ho-hum life.

I fear that in a church setting we can drop into the ho-hum life very easily. The Sunday sermon that used to be as challenging to us as a hike up a 4600' mountain is reduced to just another part of the service. The worship that could be as incredible as a silent early morning ride on a glass smooth lake on a sailboat turns into a necessary evil before the sermon starts. The challenge for today is to prepare yourself early on in the week for Sunday morning. Let the excitement begin brewing for the possibilities to come. Could this Sunday be the day where the message motivates you to move to Africa as a missionary? Could this Sunday be the day where those words in a song you haven't really given thought to before strike you anew about Christ's sacrifice on the cross? Shake off the comfort of the church service you have been a part of your whole life, and approach it this Sunday like a first time visitor.  My guess is that you'll once again see that majestic mile-high mountain of a sermon, and experience the spray off the worship sailboat and be roused to authentic worship.

Who needs logic?

I love logic. Throughout my various educational experiences, my most enjoyable classes have had to do with logic. I hate math; however, when it came to doing proofs in geometry class, I awoke from my slumber to participate. In seminary I learned a method or process to logically understand the structure and context of a passage and include or exclude possible meanings of a portion of text. This, at least to me, is enjoyable. In discussions with my wife, or office debates, or kids in my Sunday School class that desire to play "stump the pastor", my default is logic. If you like to make a logical argument, I'm all ears.

Then, I look at the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, and I put myself in a tough place. Jesus very rarely explained things logically, but, I am okay with that. When you are a member of the triune Godhead, you can have the freedom to make such decisions! I think though, it's the non-logic that makes me hit the brakes and go back to re-look and reexamine what it is that I just saw. The classic ones from Scripture are 'the last will be first, and the first, last' and 'Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.' There's some poor logic, but powerful teachings contained in these strange sayings.

This brings me to the Easter season and the illogical, profoundly brilliant phrase that was introduced to me recently that stopped me in my tracks and made me think. The phrase explains that Christ trampled death by death, and gave life to those in the grave. Logically, this makes little sense. Spiritually, this makes all the difference! As we come into the Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday celebration, throw logic out the window - a sinless God takes my sin upon Him and dies on my behalf so I can live? That's not logical! After three days in a tomb he raises Himself from the dead as He predicted? That's not logical!

Logical or not, I. Don't. Care. Put the logic aside and thank Him for his sacrifice. His profoundly brutal death led to a resurrection, and that resurrection is what makes all the difference. Enjoy Easter - not for the logical understanding you can gain, but for the eternal benefits of the death, burial, and resurrection!

Onomatopoeia? Huh?

Onomatopoeia? If you aren't a word nut, English teacher, Scrabble player, or crossword puzzle aficionado, you may not have ever heard or seen this word before. Onomatopoeia (on-uh-mat-uh-pee-uh) is a great word. It comes from the Greek words onoma, meaning name, and poieo, meaning I make. Basically, onomatopoeia is a word that makes the sound of it's name. Confused? This may clear it up. A bee says what? Buzz. Hold it out now...buzzzzzz. Doesn't that word kind of imitate the source of the sound that it suggests? Oink, meow, roar, tick-tock, are all examples of this. (On a side note, if you could see me testing all these onomatopoetic words as I write, you would be quite entertained). This is a concept that is not only in the English language, it is universal across the board. Even Scripture contains onomatopoeia, however you must look in the original languages to grasp it.

As I consider onomatopoeia, I think of words that sound like what they look like. At church, I see a lot of very nicely dressed people, and various dress code requirements throughout my educational history have forced me, and many other people, to look nice and dress nice, but the question for us today is, do I sound like I look? Am I an onomatopoetic Christian?

Anyone can dress up nicely for any occasion - a pig could wear a hat to church, but that's not who he is! The challenge for all of us is to become onomatopoetic Christians - not that we walk around perpetually saying, "zip, bang, pop, ribbit, woof, snap, and cuckoo" but that our actions match our speech. I could tell you that I am an excellent singer, but until I actually sang, there would be no validation of that. Today, let's validate our Christianity and live this day as an onomatopoetic Christian.

Church Skipper!

I'm guilty of skipping church, but it's a valid excuse, unlike so many of the excuses I hear regularly! I was not attending yesterday because I was holding my hours old newborn son. Even now, I sit in room 4136 while my wife and youngest son sleep and I make my blog contribution.

As I ponder the last few hours, I had an interesting scriptural epiphany: this is so simple and profound that this may insult your intelligence, but I'm gonna share it and hope for the best.

Peter speaks of newborn babies desiring the sincere milk of the word, and that is the place I find myself back at with baby Griffin. He's a milk only kid at this point. Alex, at a three year old enjoys milk, but with real food. The reason he is okay with milk is because we had to teach him to like it. This is what Griffin needs to learn! He doesn't automatically like it because he's a baby, he has to learn that this is something that he needs. Throw in the spiritual aspect - those new Christians don't automatically just love the Bible because that's what they are supposed to do, they need to be taught! Bring back the great commission with it's emphasis on teaching, and you have got a convincing argument!

Thanks to my 23 hour old son for teaching me this spiritual lesson! He may have a future in ministry! Or he could write my sermons for me...

Box Brain.

The blind man pulled into the driveway, walked up to the house, knocked on the door, and a woman answered the door. He gave her a box, said goodbye, walked back to his car, and drove away. What was in the box?

Imagine beginning a semester in a graduate level class with this being one of the first exercises presented to you. This sounds more like a game one would play at recess than something that would be shared with a bunch of intelligent 20-30 year olds in a seminary setting, but this was day one for me in one of my favorite classes. What was in the box? Blinds. There you have it. This is called a lateral thinking exercise, or in layman terms, thinking outside the box.

I love outside the box thinking. I humbly pride myself in the understanding that I have taken up permanent residence outside the proverbial box. Perhaps it is due to my age? Perhaps it is a personality thing? Perhaps it has to do with me being left handed and thrive on creativity? Whatever it is, I am a fan of creativity and "wow, we never did that before" kind of reactions. As an outreach pastor, I get to exercise creativity in outreach events, and every so often I find something that makes me jealous that I didn't come up with, and it stirs me to find that next great idea.

I believe that change must be congruent with the past, but mere replication will inevitably lead to decline and stagnation. It is up to us free-thinkers, as I like to refer to myself, to brainstorm and use our resources to come charging into the room with new ideas for everything. This includes outreach, as well as a myriad of other avenues.

I often that a horrible punishment for me would be for someone to steal my creativity and lock me in the box, and turn me into a Box Brain. Would that be a punishment for everyone? Probably not, but for me it certainly would be. So a challenge for today is to find something you can be creative with and go for it. Try that scary new recipe, or make up an improv bedtime story for your children. Start small and see if you don't like it!

Set your mind to creativity, and go through the Scripture and check out God's creativity in just His communication with us! Talking donkeys? Burning bushes? Jonah swallowed by a Whale? Miracles? Pentecost? God uses creativity to grab attention and make sure the message is not missed - be creative in your invitations to church, be creative in your daily devotions, and most importantly, be creative in your approach to the Gospel.

Surprise!

It seems like just a week ago I was all depressed because the Missions Conference was over. No more field updates for another year, no more personal interaction with missionaries for another year, and no more international flair to our auditorium decor. But, alas, God had one more missionary in store for us! Bruce and Natalie Tuttle (missionaries in Ukraine) were traveling back to PA from Virginia, and were able to share with us their ministry, and their ministry in surrounding areas. It was such a treat!

Our church family has been praying for pastor "River" who has faced much persecution in an Islamic country. This missionary shares the gospel under such extreme conditions that his family and co-laborers in the ministry live under the understanding that it is not if they go to jail for preaching the gospel, but when they are going to be jailed, and how much persecution they will be facing. These are men dedicated to the gospel in a level that we can't comprehend. What a challenge to me as a church leader to share what I've got in this community!

So, I pass that challenge to you - when your conversation turns to spiritual things, and you begin to feel uneasy, and your armpits and palms get all sweaty, and your throat gets dry (maybe it's just me?), start off with a story that goes something like this:

"We just had an update in our church of a man overseas who has been jailed, persecuted, threatened and arrested for what I'm about to tell you. Can you handle it?"

This will gather interest in the gospel like a snowball rolling down a snowy hill. Let's use every tool we can to expand the kingdom today!

Reading Anyone?

Two of my favorite things, among many, in this life are reading, and simplicity. When both of those come together in one place, it's a really exciting thing for me! If you happen to wander into my office, you'll see a ton of books. Many are books from college and seminary, a fair amount have been given to be from retiring pastor friends of mine, and the minority are books that I have bought after hearing great things about, and friends have recommended them.

A pastor friend of mine recommended the book Just Do Something: A Liberating Approach to Finding God's Will, by Kevin DeYoung. It was a relatively thin book, about 130 pages, so I figured I could afford it! I finished it recently, and am looking through it again this morning to mark it up and highlight it and see what new information I can find (I know it's kinda nerdy, but, guilty as charged...). So as I peruse this small book for a second time, I am coming across things that are so profoundly foundational, yet practical and "smack-your-own-forehead-and-say-duh" simple. Here's the wow quote from this morning that I though was profound and simple:

"I believe God guides us in decision making. But note the key word there 'God guides us in decision making.' I did not say 'God expects us to discover His plan for our lives.' The difference between the two sentences is huge."

That was my forehead smacking discovery this morning. If God did expect me to discover His plan for the rest of my life, He would cease to be God, and I would cease to be a finite human.

If you are looking for an easy read, but a practical and profound book on the will of God, pick up (or borrow from me) this book. 

Missions Conference Depression

For me, Missions Conference is one of my favorite times on the church calendar. Ever since I was a little guy I always looked forward to different missionaries' presentations. I remember very clearly the click of the slide projector with each new photograph showing a different view of an exotic location of people needing the Lord. Now we enjoy multimedia presentations that resemble National Geographic shows, only we see more than scenery, like National Geographic - we see souls in need of a Savior, and boy did we see an incredible cross section of the world:

Wednesday we met Joel and Deanna Porcher, and took a visual trip to the faraway land of Ghana. Thursday we learned about Hong Kong and the creative ministry that is required for ministry in that field. Friday we met Jonathan and Lorena Templeton. Jonathan is graduating from Calvary Seminary in May and then will be working towards a ministry in Salamanca, Spain. Both at the banquet and on Sunday we heard from Jason and Adele Rice, who introduced us to the open field of Slovakia.

Why is this entry called Missions Conference Depression? Well, as a little guy I loved Missions Conference, and as a 30 year old, I love it even more, only now, I am in charge of planning major parts of the conference, so I get to be excited about it for months before anyone else does, and then, it's over. Thus sets in the depression. Until next year which I'll begin working on soon...