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Archive for the ‘Community’ Category

It’s Just a Building

Posted in Church, Community, Hope on December 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Remember when places of worship were sacred?  I have always been somewhat surprised when someone attacks a church – whether it be theft or vandalism.  I remember as a child, I was taught that one should treat “God’s House” with more respect than you do your own home.  I am not confessing mind you, but there may have been an instance as a kid when I stuck gum under a table in Sunday School.  But I can assure you, if said instance may have happened, I felt guilty for weeks.

Those were simpler days.

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It would seem that those days may be over – at least here.  Christmas Eve our church building was vandalized.  The only blessing in the whole thing is that nearly all the areas that were painted were glass.  Either the vandals were not very good at what they were trying to do or they were conscientious vandals.  Either way, I am glad the clean up will not be terrible.

But the whole incident has caused me to think.

I am so glad that the church is not a building.  This reminds us that the building is just that – a building.  It is the place that the church meets but there is nothing particularly special about it.  If the church met in a barn, that barn would be sacred – not because of the barn but because of the people meeting in it.

God’s people are the church and we cannot be held back by a can of paint.

Now – where is my scraper?

Be blessed today!

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What a Disturbance

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on December 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I referred to the story of the magi that came from the east to see the new born king.  Matthew chapter 2 tells the story and you can read it here.

In verse two, we are told why they traveled all the way to Israel.  They made their way to Jerusalem – which would make sense as they were looking for the king.  When they got there the began talking to people asking, “where is the one who has been born king of the Jews?”

As you can imagine, this began to stir up some talk.  It wasn’t long before Herod, the current ruler got wind of it.  In fact, that is what has had me thinking since reading this story again yesterday.  Verse three says that when King Herod heard what they were asking, he “was disturbed, and all of Jerusalem with him.”

Think about that for a second.  Three strangers show up asking to see a baby and all of the sudden the entire city, including the king, is concerned.  Jesus was born and even as an infant, he was already starting to impact the world.  As we know – that was just the beginning.

Jesus’ coming shook things up.  Jesus’ ministry was one of turning things upside down.  Most of everything he did and taught was counter-cultural – it went against the grain in the first century and it remains to be the case today.

In just over a week we will celebrate the in-breaking of Deity into the human existence – we will celebrate the birth of Jesus.  We will remember that Jesus came to love and live and die. He came to teach us how to love and live as well.

Today, we as followers of The Way are to be Jesus in our world.

So here is my question for you today:

“How disturbed is the world because of you?”

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Simply Faithful

Posted in Church, Community, Missions on November 28, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Monday and Tuesday of this week, I had the pleasure and privilege of giving a tour.  There were 8 ministers from our area that loaded up in a van and drove 6 hours to El Paso on Monday morning.  We went so that churches in our area could get to know a minister in Clint, just east of El Paso, and hear his vision for their church and the surrounding area.

That was the focus of the trip.

But yesterday morning, on our way out of town, we decided to stop by another ministry just a little further east in Fabens, Texas.  A church has a dormitory there where mission groups can stay at ridiculously affordable rates when they go to the are to do mission work.  We wanted these leaders to see where they might stay if their churches were to decide to take a group back to the area to work.

But another thing this church in Fabens sponsors is a ministry called Crossing Borders.  This is a ministry that provides food staples to pastors who live their lives ministering just across the border in Mexico.

For 11 years, this ministry has been dedicated to serving those pastors.  But over time it has expanded to not only providing food for the pastors and their families, but also giving enough food to them that they can go back and give food to people in their congregations as well.

Every Tuesday morning, a team of volunteers gather in the church fellowship area and begin bagging rice and beans as well as other groceries.  Then, throughout the morning, pastors make the trek across the border to pick up their allotment.  At 10:00 am, one of the pastors will lead a Bible study for the workers and any one else from the community who would like to attend.

This goes on every week.  As we watched this process happening and listened to the two saintly ladies who serve as domestic missionaries in this ministry, it became clear to me.

So often, we in our churches, talk about doing ministry.  We pray about it.  We organize it.  And occasionally we may actually do something – an event or an emphasis.  But as I watched the work going on right in front of me and realized the number of lives this ministry would touch, what kept running through my mind was “they are actually doing it.”  One of the gentlemen on the trip, as we climbed back in the van to come home said it best, “They are getting it done.”

It wasn’t flashy.  There weren’t any media personnel there taking pictures or doing interviews.  This is just a simple ministry that gathers every Tuesday morning – and has for 11 years – to meet the needs of people.

God has called us all to do our part – regardless of how simple or menial it may seem.

Stay faithful to that calling today!

(If you want to learn more about Crossing Borders Ministries, you can check them out here.)

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Thanks for Reading

Posted in Community, Hope on November 26, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Last night i had the opportunity to share what I am thankful for during our evening service.  I expressed to folks gathered in our chapel how blessed I feel to minister along side of them – how thankful I am to be their pastor.

Today, I thought I would take a quick second to do the same here.

Clay In The Hands has been around for over three years.  During this time, I have done a lot of rambling with words.  I have shared insights, experiences and hopefully a bit of encouragement.  But the blessing has been mine.  I won’t say that each morning I have ideas pouring out of me.  There are days when words have a hard time making onto the screen.

But the effort has been worth it!  For whatever reason, God has used these posts to reach folks.  It is in the encouragement I receive from you, the readers, that keeps me going on those days when words are illusive.  It is knowing that somewhere around the world, there might be a person who needs to hear from God on that day that gives me the incentive to work at it.

So thank you for reading!  You are a blessing!

Continue to stop by and I’ll keep sharing my journey.

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A Picture of An Awesome Church

Posted in Church, Community, Missions on November 19, 2012| 3 Comments »

You know how we pastor types can be – always looking for the cutting edge ideas and surfing the web for cool church websites.  When we have the opportunity to visit another church we do so like spies in a foreign land, taking notes on how we are greeted and how the service is conducted.  Mind you, we don’t do this in an adversarial role – we just like to see what other churches do and glean ideas.  We watch the people to see how they interact with others – both their guests and their family members.  It can often be very enlightening.

So let me tell you about one of the most awesome churches i have ever encountered.

I had the opportunity last night to observe over 100 people from this particular church, open their doors and invite the community to a fully prepared, fully served, fully free, sit-down Thanksgiving dinner.

Places were set for 400 guests.  The food was prepared all day in anticipation of the event.

When the doors opened, I watched countless servants welcome and seat the guests.  Others were immediately at the tables getting tea or water for the guests.

Behind the scenes there were two service lines making plates that were then handed to a crowd of servers who carried the plates with a welcoming smile to the guests.  As the folks finished their meals, there were literally teams of people to bus the tables and make sure the guests had what they needed.

I was blown away by not only the number of folks who committed their time to serve but also by the attitudes with which they worked.  Rarely does a pastor get to see such service in action – it was amazing and a true gift from God.

I am always looking for sources of inspiration and illustrations I can use in my writing and speaking.  I was truly blessed to be able to observe and witness such an outpouring of God’s love by so many believers at one time in one place.

But the most humbling thing about this experience was that it occurred at our church.  This act was carried out by the people God has allowed me to serve and I got the opportunity to literally watch God at work.

It was a picture of an awesome church serving an amazing God!

I am so blessed!

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Thank a Veteran

Posted in Community, Motivational on November 12, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak at the local Veteran’s Day service.  Our community has an impressive memorial right on one of the main streets through town, and on Veteran’s Day, folks gather at the memorial for a time of remembrance and thanks.

To be honest, I approached this opportunity as just another thing I had to do on an already over-committed Sunday.  It is not that I dreaded it, but I was not passionately looking for another engagement.

As I got out of the car to walk to the memorial and join the folks who were already gathering there, it didn’t take more than 2 seconds to realize the wind was blowing 30 – 40 miles per hour and the 50 degree temperature felt more like 20.  So my attitude did not improve.

But as I stood before the crowd gathered there, I looked on a multitude of faces.  I looked on the faces of men who stood on ships and served in wartime.  I looked on faces of men who flew planes to defend their country.  I looked on faces of men who marched to protect my way of life.  And I looked on the proud faces of widows whose husbands served faithfully.

And in that moment I realized something.  I really have no clue what this meant to those folks.  I have no context from which to develop a real understanding.  So as I stood at the back of the crowd, after my talk, I watched as one by one, the anthems of each branch of the military was played.  What I saw was men and women, many using canes, stand in honor of their branch.

I was humbled and speechless.  The only words I could muster were “Thank you for your service.”

Tell a vet thanks today!

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Bridge the Gap

Posted in Church, Community, Hope on October 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »

I have been at the Texas Baptist Convention this week in Corpus Christi.  It has been a blessed time to catch up with fellow ministers from around the state – to hear what God is doing in their churches and communities.  We serve a big God and it helps to remember sometimes that my little world is not the only world that exists!

At any rate, the view from my window has had me thinking this week.  When I look through the window to the right, I see a vast expanse of water – the bay.  But straight ahead is an impressive bridge. It connects one part of the city to another part of the city while allowing ships to pass underneath.  Being from west Texas, I don’t get to see too many bridges so this one is pretty impressive.

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As I have been thinking about bridges this morning, I am reminded that God calls us to be bridges.  All of us have been put in place to bridge the gap between a loving God and a world void of real love.  We must be the path by which the people around us can come to Jesus.

There are all kinds of analogies we can draw from this metaphor but let me just ask you one question today.

Are you the kind of bridge that connects people with God?

Think about it today.

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It’s About Relevance

Posted in Church, Community, Hope on October 23, 2012| 1 Comment »

I was on a flight recently and overheard a conversation between a young journalist from Florida and another passenger next to me.  At first I was minding my own business but I heard a statement that piqued my interest.  I don’t know what the question was, but the young journalist answered by saying, “I am somewhat dissatisfied with the church.”

Again, I was trying to mind my own business, but as a pastor, when I hear a statement like that, my ears perk up.  The reason for the dissatisfaction?  She said, “The church just doesn’t seem to be involved in the community – it just seems to take but gives nothing back.”

I wanted to jump into the conversation but I didn’t.  I sat the rest of the flight and wrestled with this perception of the church.  As I sat and pondered what I heard, I began to try and see the situation from the eyes of a young professional.  There were lots of excuses I came up with in my head for why this person might feel the way she does.  Maybe her church experience has been unique.  Or maybe, she approaches church from the mentality of “what’s in it for me” (and she would not be alone in that approach).

But as I tried to take an objective look at church in general, I became convicted that she might be more right than she knows.  A church that does not look outward toward the community with the eyes of Jesus has lost focus of why the church really exists in the first place.  Is it possible that our churches have taken on more of a social club mentality than the focus of a family of believers seeking to share God’s hope and love to a hurting world?  It’s an issue of relevance.  How relevant is church to a person who is trying to make it in the world?

Here’s the challenge – couldn’t we all do a little better?  Couldn’t we all seek to see things as God sees things?  Couldn’t we all try and love others as God loves them?  God calls us to be light to a dark world and salt to a tasteless existence.  Be light and salt today!

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Crossroads

Posted in Community, Formation, Grace, Hope on October 15, 2012| Leave a Comment »

Yesterday, we were blessed to have a wonderful ministry come and share with our congregation what God is doing in the lives of their students.  Teen Challenge came and shared about the ministry and led in worship.  Scattered throughout the service were opportunities for the students to share their stories of how God is at work in their lives.

As I sat and listened to story after story of God’s miraculous intervention in each life, I began to pick up on a common theme.  Each one, in their own words, said the same thing.

Some talked about coming to the end of the road.  Some described it as a realization they weren’t raised to live as they were living.  Some described it as a crossroads.

Regardless of how they described it, they all communicated that they had been living their lives one way and reached a point of having to decide to continue on their current path or change directions.

The decision they made affected everything.  Once they committed to turn their backs on their old path and turn toward following God, their lives were changed.

All of us reach crossroads in our lives.  Some are very dramatic and others, more subtle.  But all of us come to those times in our lives when we are faced with the reality that we must make a decision – the results of which could change our lives.

Maybe you are there today.  If you are, let me tell you that deciding to follow God’s plan for your life is a decision you will never regret.

I am always happy to hear from you through email or comments here on this site but I don’t always tell you. But today, I feel compelled to let you know that if you find yourself at a crossroads and just need someone to talk to, I would be happy to try and give you direction.  Just reach out to me here and we will see what God does from there.

Be blessed today!

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What Do You Stand For?

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on October 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

What do you stand for?  There is an old cliche that says, “If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.”

While this statement has become trite, it is very true.  Part of the problems facing the church stems from the fact that people are unclear on the truth.  In fact, people in the younger generations are being taught that truth is subjective and relative.

The effect is a decline in the church.  I read this morning that for the first time in US history, Protestants are no longer the majority.  You can read more about that here.

The decline of Protestantism has not been caused by the increase of any other major religion.  In fact, it has been the growth of the non-religious population.  20% of Americans now declare no religious affiliation.  They have bought into the lie that religion is pointless and truth is what they want it to be.

Somewhere along the way, the church has become irrelevant to a growing number of people.

Perhaps the perceived irrelevance is due to an opinion that the church doesn’t stand for anything at all.

Jesus said that when he is lifted up, people will be drawn to him.

Is the church lifting up Jesus day in and day out?

Are you?

What will you stand for today?

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