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Archive for the ‘Community’ Category

The Power of a Team

Posted in Church, Community on September 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Last night we had our first Wednesday Evening Meal here at the church.  The church has offered one in the past but over the last couple of years had discontinued it.  I have to admit, I was not sure how it would go.  When we stopped the meal, we continued feeding children in our gym on Wednesday nights and feeding our students in our youth area.  The problem with that set up (other than the obvious duplication of work) was that everything was segregated.  It just did not seem like a picture of the church to me.  So we pulled it all together and last night was our pilot run.

I am not blind to the fact that we had some minor bumps to work out, but I have to tell you, it went really well!  And the most amazing thing was that I didn’t have to feel like I needed to stand over the process.  There was a team of people who worked together to make it happen and it was awesome!  Thanks folks for your work and your attitude in being willing to give this a try.  It would not have happened without you!

Another example from last night came from our student ministry.  Right now we do not have  a paid minister in charge of our student ministry.  I had a meeting a couple of weeks ago with the adults who are working in this area of our church and we did some planning and thinking about how to organize things.  Last night, we had a lot of students here but I knew that things were taken care of because of our ministry team!  As a pastor, I cannot tell you how much of a burden that lifts from my shoulders to know that our students are being ministered to and taught by a dedicated team of men and women.  The results of last night – – we had a young lady make a decision to follow Jesus and entrust her life to him.

So I just wanted to take a few words here to brag on our teams!  You guys ROCK!

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Extinction of Faith

Posted in Church, Community, Formation, Hope on September 15, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This morning, my reading and prayer time focused on the book of Jude.  The primary purpose for this one chapter book or letter was the concern for keeping the faith.

As I read the verses, I became challenged – which often happens when we read scripture.

In verse 3, the author says this:

I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.

Contend for the faith.  I had to ask myself, “do I ever find myself in a position that I must contend for my faith?”  I had to admit that I don’t feel I have to do that very often.  So that made me wonder, “why not?”

Part of the answer for that is I don’t run in circles very often that go against my faith.  Or do I?

Could it be that we have made our faith so comfortable that we fail to see what meaningful faith looks like any more?  Just wondering.

The other factor in this verse is the statement that this faith has been entrusted to God’s holy people.  I am not sure I qualify as a “holy person,” but as I think about it, the church is God’s primary source of holy people.  So how are we doing?  Are we keeping the faith?

Here is the stark reality – and it is no different today than it was in the day in which this letter was written by Jude – our faith is always one generation away from extinction!  Is the faith with which we have been entrusted being kept?  Are we passing on the faith God entrusted to us?

Think about it today!

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I Wonder What God Will Say?

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on September 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This coming Sunday is the National Come Back to Church Day.  We have decided to make that a matter of focus here in our congregation.  We have mailed out cards and put the word out.  We have communicated to our community that if they have a church home, they should attend there but if not, they are welcome here.

As I have thought about the approaching day, I have thought a lot about why we should make gathering together a part of our lives.  Scripture reminds us that we should not stop meeting together, but rather we should gather and encourage one another to continue living for Jesus – “to spur one another on to good works” as the apostle Paul says.

The reality is that we were created for community – to be together.  Look at the growth in popularity of the trendy coffee shops.  I admit, there is something attractive and hip about hanging out with friends while sipping on a coffee in a setting where conversation is open and acceptance is not forced.

That used to be the church.  What has happened in our culture?

I think in part, the church has lost it’s appeal due to the fact that the focus was taken off of relationships and put on religion.  Don’t get me wrong, I believe the Bible with all my heart.  And beyond that, I choose to associate with the Baptist denomination because I feel the belief system more closely fits my thinking about theology than any other system.

But I have to wonder . . . when we get to heaven, will God look at me and say, “Just think of how many more lives you could have impacted if you had been a little less concerned about religion and more focused on loving people in my name.”

I wonder . . .

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Simplicity of Worship

Posted in Church, Community, Formation on September 12, 2011| 2 Comments »

After listening to my daily podcast devotional on my drive this morning, I switched over to a little David Crowder.  On their album, Illuminate, there is a song titled Only You.  As I listened to the words of that song, I was reminded of the simplicity of worship.

It occurred to me that we have done it again!  We have done a great job of taking something really simple and making it very complicated and even a point of contention in many churches.

The chorus of the song is this:

And I will worship You, Lord
Only You, Lord
And I will bow down before You
Only You Lord.

That’s it.  Pretty simple.  On Sunday morning, we have become so concerned about the sound we are looking for or if it sparks some memory of worshipful moments in our past that we have forgotten that the goal of worship is not about us.  It is about bowing down to the one true God.

I wonder if we were to get back to the basics of worship if that would take care of a lot of our problems in most of our churches today.

Just wondering!

 

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Why Do You Turn To Jesus?

Posted in Community, Formation on September 6, 2011| 1 Comment »

I had an early morning today and so, as I drove to work, the sun was just beginning to cast an orange glow across the eastern horizon.  It was a beautiful sight.  I put in my ear buds and turned on my morning devotional podcast from Pray-As-You-Go.  Today’s reading was out of the Gospel of Luke.  The text began with Jesus going to the mountain to pray all night alone.  I was reminded that if Jesus felt the need to be alone with God in prayer in order to be recharged for his day, how much more should I seek those times of solitude with God?

But then the reading turned to what happened next.  Jesus came down from the mountain to a multitude of folks who had come to see him.  The guide for the devotional then asked a question that I have been wrestling with since.  She asked the question: “Why do you come to Jesus?”

That seems like a simple enough question.  I mean, I know why I turn to Jesus – don’t I?   But the reality that hit me is that often I turn to Jesus out of desperation or need or want.

So I am making this a matter of prayer today as well as a focus for meditation throughout the day.  Tomorrow we will talk about this agian, but for today, I ask you the question: “Why do you turn to Jesus?”

I would love to hear your responses – leave me a comment or shoot me an email and let me know what you think.

Be blessed today!

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Community On Friday Nights

Posted in Church, Community on August 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »

If you live in west Texas, then this is a special day.  What’s so special you may ask?

High school football.

Even if you don’t live in Texas, as long as you live in the America, high school football is a big deal.  BUT . . . if you live in west Texas – it’s a huge deal!

People take off work early to travel hours to watch 16, 17 and 18 year olds put on pads and take the field.  Car windows (or in west Texas – truck windows) are covered in shoe polish with encouraging words and images to spur their teams to do their best.  The fields are prepped and ready for action.  The fans fill the stands and get settled in anticipation of the kick off.  Everyone is wearing their school colors and waving flags and pom poms.  And usually their is that one really annoying person with the propane tank full of rocks sitting right behind you – shaking that thing incessantly – to the point that you want to take it and . . .  but I digress.

The point is, Friday nights in west Texas have become THE community event.  People who would not really socialize on any other day of the week, sit side by side on Friday night for a common cause – to cheer their team on.

How cool would it be if that same sense of community could be found at church?  Think about it – people from all socio-economic backgrounds, from all parts of town, from all different races – coming together for one common purpose – to worship, learn and grow together.

So today, here is my challenge for each of us: head out to support your local team this evening.  As you sit in the stands, take a look around and then offer this prayer:  Lord God, may my church become a place for community that far surpasses what I see here tonight – and use me to make that happen!

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Real or Fake? Your Choice

Posted in Community, Formation on August 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This past Sunday we talked about the fact that we all carry burdens.  We have things in our lives we wish were not there.  But when we come to church, we feel like we have to hide those things.  I was reading one of my favorite authors (Thomas Merton) this morning and ran across this passage in New Seeds of Contemplation:

For me to be a saint means to be myself.  Therefore the problem of sanctity and salvation is in fact the problem of finding out who I am and discovering my true self.

Trees and animals have no problem.  God makes them what they are without consulting them, and they are perfectly satisfied.

With us it is different.  God leaves us free to be whatever we like.  We can be ourselves or not, as we please.  We are at liberty to be real, or to be unreal.  We may be true or false, the choice is ours.  We may wear now one mask and now another, and never, if we so desire, appear with our own true face.  But we cannot make these choices with impunity.  Causes have effects, and if we lie to ourselves and to others, then we cannot expect to find truth and reality whenever we happen to want them.  If we have chosen the way of falsity we must not be surprised that truth eludes us when we finally come to need it!

Merton is talking to believers.  God gives us a choice to be the person we were created to be – the person God intends – or to be someone else.  We have a tendency to want to make people believe we have it all together as if to show who we really are would be less attractive or would be less lovable.

The community of believers has to be a real community.  None of us are perfect – so why do we want others to believe it is so?

My challenge to each of us today is simply this:  Be Yourself – Be REAL!

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Things Learned in 500 Posts

Posted in Community, Formation, Hope on August 19, 2011| 2 Comments »

Wow!  It is hard to believe but today marks a significant milestone in this area of my ministry.  Today is post number 500 for Clay In The Hands.  It doesn’t seem possible that I have been involved in sharing my musings that many times since April of 2009.  But here we are – number 500.  So today, I thought I would list some things I have learned through this experience.

  1. It is really hard to have anything to say if I am not focusing regularly on my walk with Jesus.
  2. I have had to learn to be much more observant in order to see God at work around me.
  3. God can use the thoughts I share in ways I could not have imagined or planned.
  4. How humbling it is to have people actually read what I share here.
  5. How much better Mac’s are than PC’s – OK that was not necessarily learned through my efforts here – but it is true none the less!
  6. The joy I have experienced when someone from another part of the world sends me a message about how they have been affected by this ministry.
Those are just a few things I have experienced through this effort.  So I wonder how God will work through the next 500 posts?
Thanks so much for reading!
Be blessed today!

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Fly Fishing and Building Relationships

Posted in Church, Community on August 18, 2011| 1 Comment »

I have been silent for a few days.  I have to admit, it has been different to be away from the keyboard.  Actually, being away from technology has been difficult.  I spent 4 days on a trip to Colorado with a group of 11 men.  We did not even have cell service where we went much less internet.  We saw the sights from a jeep, we had worship around a campfire, we got to see rain (which is not a usual sight here in west Texas).  I even tried my hand at fly fishing.

You know, when I was in college, I contemplated getting an ear ring (not for long – but it did cross my mind).  But I never once thought about piercing my nose.  But I am here to tell you, if you don’t cast that fly just right, you could come home with a new piercing.  A note for the future – when you are fly fishing and in the midst of casting, don’t attempt to change the direction of your cast.  I learned that the fly will pierce the skin on a person’s nose – and it might even draw a little blood.  Lesson learned!

The best part of the trip was building relationships with a group of guys I had not had the opportunity to get to know very well before the trip.  It is always great to hear a person’s story.  I was reminded that being a part of a body of believers is getting to know one another.  It is hard to really care deeply for a person if you don’t know them.  But why does it take getting away and being secluded with a handful of folks to make that happen?

Here is my challenge for you today – think about the acquaintances in your life.  Who can you set aside a little time for today to really get to know them?  Take the time to invest in a relationship today!

Now where is that antiseptic cream?

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Headed to Rock the Desert

Posted in Community on August 5, 2011| Leave a Comment »

We are getting ready to load the van and head to Rock the Desert with students for two days of music, sun, dust, heat and worship.  It almost sounds like more of a chore than a blessing.  I must admit, it is not for the faint of heart.  But if you can get past the heat and dust you’ve got it made!  In fact, the worship experience and pure fun make up for the discomfort every time!

So pray for our students – pray that this will be a life-changing experience for them.  Pray that God will keep us safe and that we will return with a renewed passion to live like Jesus everyday.

And if you aren’t doing anything today or tomorrow – head to west Texas (half way between Midland and Odessa) for some Jesus music!  (You can check out the line-up here)

Now where did I put that sunscreen?!

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