Clay in the Hands

This week you have probably noticed that the posts have been around a common theme – the Church.  Today is following that same theme.  Believe it or not, there is a method to my madness (for those of you who know me that may be even more unbelievable).  I am playing with the idea of working toward Sunday’s sermon with the posts.  We will see how that turns out.

At any rate, I had the opportunity this morning to have breakfast with a wonderful group of people.  I have been in several different communities and a lot of churches and never have I experienced the unity and fellowship that we experience here in our town in the Ministerial Alliance.  My post yesterday talked about the Church (big C).  That is what I see when I meet with those folks.  Each church is called to a specific mission in our community but all of us work together toward the call to make a difference for Christ in our town.  It is a wonderful thing.

I am Baptist and most likely will die a Baptist.  But at the end of the day, Christianity should be about a relationship not a “religion.”  Praise God that the work of the Gospel can cross denominational lines!

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Yesterday I rambled about the future of our church – and looking back at it – I was thinking specifically of our church, here – First Baptist Church of Levelland.  But today I am thinking more about the Church (Big C).  This is a frustrating time to be in ministry but, if you look at it from a different perspective, this could very well be one of the most exciting times in the history of the Christian movement.

Marjorie Thompson, in Soul Feast, has said that we are living in an era not unlike the environment in which the First Great Awakening took place.  If that is really true, how cool would that be to be part of a new and fresh inbreaking of God’s spirit into our world.  She says that people are more “spiritually minded” today than they have been in many, many years.  But the flip side of this reality is that at the same time, they are anti-religion.

As I think about that fact, I am reminded of the world in which Jesus lived.  People were spiritually hungry but religion had moved beyond its intent and become a structure void of much meaning.  We tend to see the Pharisees of the Bible as extremists.  But in reality, they were the mainline denominational folks.

Don’t hear me say that I am anti-denomination – it has its place.  But if the structure is void of spiritual meaningfulness – what are we really trying to accomplish?  Maybe as a Church (big C) we need to focus on a relationship with God and then on the people God would have us reach out to on a daily basis with God’s love and grace.  There is a plan and a future for those who humbly and earnestly seek God’s face.

Are you  in?

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This Sunday I will be preaching on the future of our church.  At least that is my intention.  We will be celebrating Memorial Day.  As such, I have been thinking about what we do when we remember.  So many times we are tempted to remain in the past.  We get lulled into the mindset that things were so “great” way back when . . .

The point of looking back is to understand who we are and where we have been.  But we don’t need to – no, we must never live there.  God has been so good to our church, blessing us with riches we have not even begun to value.  But God has not blessed us so that we can live in comfort or sit on our traditions.

God expects us to make a difference – otherwise, what is the point.  Because of the way God has blessed our church, we are positioned in such a way to have an eternal impact on our families, our community and our world.  We have a lot to be excited about!  

Are you excited?

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How many times have you walked out of a worship service and thought, “Well, at least it was entertaining.”?  I don’t have the Bible memorized, but I don’t know of a place in scripture where God said anything like, “Come to me and be entertained.”

Now don’t get me wrong, church should be the highlight of our week – in fact, I think it should even be fun (maybe this won’t get me fired).  But if church is not real then it is not pleasing to God.  Our goal in worship should always be to please God.  I believe we do this when we present a worship opportunity for folks to focus on the creator and experience God’s presence.  This cannot be forced but the opportunity can be offered.

It grieves me when I here of churches using gimmicks to get folks through the doors.  I have been in a few services that I walked out and thought, “Man, that was just cheesy! Am I  so shallow in my faith that it takes something like that to get me here?”

I am committed to the fact that we are going to make our church a “cheese free zone.” I pray that God will grow us to be deeply rooted and that everything we do will be authentic and meaningful.  God expects nothing less and neither should we.

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We are back from two days at Plains Baptist Assembly and a church staff retreat.  It was a great time!  The retreat did a lot of things for us and for me personally, but two primary things it did was give us time to regroup and draw closer to each other as a staff and closer to our maker.

The other thing it did was to help me  renew my focus.  God is at work all around me. There are so many good things to plug into but whatever we decide to involve ourselves in has to be moving us closer to Jesus and being like him in the way we live – the way we talk, the way we work, the way  we love.

I am so excited that God has put me here, now, in this place!  I believe with all my being that God is waiting on us – on me – to bring a fresh wind, a renewal of his people – a new Great Awakening!  I want to be a part of it.

Come Lord Jesus, Come!

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We are off to a staff retreat this morning and we will return tomorrow evening.  I pray that God will use this time to help us clarify our goals and strategy for the coming months.  I am looking forward to the time away with our staff.  It will be good to be in a different environment together.

I am asking for a favor today.  Please pray for us as we meet and search out God’s will for our particular ministries and our church.

As always – thanks for reading!

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I am thinking today about what it means to be a Christian.  Not so much a definition of being a Christ follower, but rather, what does that look like?  How should I live?  How do fellow Christ followers relate to one another.

I am overwhelmed with the idea that being a Christian carries with it an inherent idea that we do this together – in community.  God designed us that way – to need one another.  The apostle Paul used the illustration of a human body with all the descriptions such as an eye not being more important than the foot, etc.  All parts are good and more importantly, necessary. 

As I think about this, Paul was not trying to make everyone feel important.  He was stressing the importance of the obligation that each of us has as a self-professed follower of Christ.  The body will be dysfunctional (handicapped or challenged if you will) if I withhold my gifts, my being, from the community.  The body will not be able to function as it should if we do not each truly “plug-in.”

That is a huge truth we all need to remember.  God called you – yes you!  God called you to be a part of the local body, the church.  Are you hurting the body – God’s Kingdom – by failing to truly engage as you are gifted to do?

Think about what God could do in our community if all followers were engaged at the same time fulfilling what God called them to do!  Now that’s a body I want to be part of – and so will everyone else!

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I have been thinking a lot lately about the state of the church, not just our church (although that has been on my mind constantly) but the church in general.  As I think about our culture and the era and environment in which we live, I can’t help but think about the incredible opportunities we have as a church to reach the world.  In some ways, I think the harvest is as ready as it has ever been.  People are hungry for something more than they are finding in life.  And I believe as followers of Christ, we have what they need.

The church has been placed in an opportune place and time to make an impact in this world.  So why are so many churches either maintaining or even worse, in decline?  I believe the most fundamental downfall for any church (or individual for that matter) is when it ceases to look to God for direction.  The minute the church begins to focus on what it wants and away from being concerned about God’s plan, the stagnation begins.

But what about the church that is concerned about following God’s will?  I think the biggest problem that churches face is focus or lack there of.  We hear a lot about mission and vision in church growth circles these days.  But even with a clear mission statement or vision, the church can float along making little to know headway.  Once a church has a clearly defined vision, it needs to focus everything toward that vision.  An illustration that might help to make this point is the power of light.  A flashlight does a good job of helping us see in the dark.  But think about the power that light can have when tightly focused – it becomes a laser, capable cutting steel.

I truly believe that if the church, our church, is to be effective in our world today, we need to focus on what it is God has called us to do.

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