Suddenly.

I was recently reading through the book of Esther and came across this passage –

“… like the days when the Jews had rest from their enemies, and like the month when things turned around for them—changing from sorrow to joy and from mourning into a favorable day—so that they could celebrate a season of feasting and rejoicing and sending food portions to one another and gifts to the poor.” – Esther 9:22 MEV

It’s an incredible story. If you’ve never read it you need to. God’s people were just days from being wiped off the face of the earth. They were already in captivity as if that wasn’t bad enough. But God in His infinite wisdom had orchestrating everything to absolute perfection. What looked like a setback was really a set up for God to reveal Himself to His people and to everyone else for that matter. God used the very thing the enemy had built to destroy the Jewish people to deliver them. In a day the enemy’s own weapon was used against him.

“The Lord will grant that the enemies who rise up against you will be defeated before you. They will come at you from one direction but flee from you in seven.” – Deuteronomy 28:7 NIV

God is the master of suddenly. Sometimes we look at our situation and we lose sight of the light at the end of the tunnel. We feel like God has taken us TO the valley of the shadow of death and not THROUGH it. We sing songs that say ‘He will never forsake us’ but do we really believe it? Really? If I’m really being honest there are some times when I feel like victory is a million miles or years or dollars away. And it may be but what is a million anything to the God we worship?

I just want to encourage you that you are just as much a son or daughter of God as Mordecai and Esther were. He loves you just as much. Their seemingly hopeless situation was God’s perfect plan to deliver His people. What if God has you in a hard place to make a huge difference? What if God wants to use your life to reveal Himself? What if everything you are worried about today never comes to pass? What if this is the day or the month where things turned around for you? What if your ‘suddenly’ is just around the corner?

The plastic church isn’t ever going to reach the real world.

First let me say that I’m not fussing – I’m amused. Back in college I had a roommate that smoked like a freight train. Never in the room but everything he owned smelled like he had just chain smoked a pack of generic cigarettes. Because he probably had. Hey that’s his choice but I specifically requested a non-smoking room. Both of my parents smoked when I was a kid and I had pretty bad allergies, regular asthma attacks, recurring bronchitis, sinus infections, etc. They all cleared up when I moved out so I obviously had a sensitivity to smoke, hence my request. He was a nice guy but at the end of the semester I requested a different room. When he was notified he came to me to talk about it. I gave him my reasons and left it at that. His answer was that he didn’t want his parents to know that he smoked. So when they were filling out the admissions information he lied. Here’s my point. Dude you are a grown man, you need to act like one.

Fast forward a couple of decades. Has it really been that long?! As a pastor in a college town one of life’s little joys is when a college student brings their parents to church. Or should I say when parents take their college student to church. It’s the same scenario every time. The parents come up and introduce themselves and Johnny’s or Jane’s parents with their son or daughter in tow. I can always see it on their face. ‘PLEASE PASTOR DON’T SELL ME OUT! I’M BEGGING YOU.’  I usually pause just long enough to make it a bit awkward and then say something like, ‘It’s great to have you with us today!’ You can see the relief on the kid’s face as they finally take a breath. Although I’ve never seen their son or daughter in my life I know the deal. They’ve told mom and dad that they’ve been attending church since they moved off to college. But they haven’t. And they’re too afraid to tell the truth.

It’s been the same since the beginning.

“Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” – Genesis 3:8-10 NIV

People are afraid of being exposed so they hide. Adam and Eve hid in the bushes. They tried their best to cover up their embarrassment with leaves. And we do the same thing with our lies. Let’s be honest. No really. Let’s be honest. Let’s own our decisions. If we’re not proud of our choices let’s repent and make different ones. Let’s be real about our struggles so we can get the help we need to overcome (James 5:16). Because these little games we play aren’t fooling anyone (except maybe parents of college students although I doubt it). Let’s embrace each other, as real people with real problem and tackle them together. The plastic church isn’t ever going to reach the real world. 

Too Many Tomatoes!

I was talking with a good friend this past week about sowing and reaping.

“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers. – Galatians 6:7-10 NIV

He began to ask me questions.

“What do you get if you plant tomatoes?“

“Tomatoes.”

“What do you get if you plant corn?“

“Corn.”

“What do you get if you plant a little tomatoes?“

“A little tomatoes.”

“What do you get if you so plant a lot of tomatoes?“

“A lot of tomatoes.”

“What do you get if you plant nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“WRONG. You get weeds!”

Let me share another passage of Scripture with you.

“Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’ “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.” – Matthew 13:24-28 NIV

You don’t have to do anything to grow weeds! And that applies to every area of our life. That is one of the things I really appreciate about what Paul said in Galatians. God’s law of sowing and reaping applies to natural things and spiritual things. It applies to relationships and money. It applies to this life and eternity.

Farmers plant every year so they can harvest every year.  And we need to keep sowing faithfully. We need to invest in our families, in our health, in God’s Kingdom, in friendships and in our walk with God. My friend also pointed out that we need to sow the most in our areas of need, not our areas of abundance. See if you have more tomatoes than you know what to do with maybe you should focus on something else like corn.

And that’s a sacrifice. When there is an area of need in your life it takes an act of faith to let it go. But faith is the real seed that moves God’s heart. When you plant that seed of love, of compassion, of forgiveness or of generosity you are putting it into God’s hands where it can truly begin to grow.

“So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” - 1 Corinthians 3:7 NIV

All God asks is that you trust Him with your seed. You will reap what you sow IF you don't give up! I used to see that as waiting patiently, but then I noticed the 'therefore'. Not giving up isn't sitting around, it's getting up and sowing some more, "as we have opportunity."

Mirror, Mirror.

Once Jesus was asked what the most important commandment was -

“Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”” – Matthew 22:37-40 NIV

There are a couple of things that I want to draw attention to –

First Jesus says the second greatest command is ‘like’ the first. The original Greek word for ‘like’ means similar or resembling but it can also mean corresponding. Jesus was saying that loving your neighbor is connected to loving God. Of course He elaborated on this when he taught,

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ – Matthew 25:40b NIV

The second point I want to make is that we are to, ‘love others as ourselves’. Here we find the foundation of the ‘Golden Rule’.

Here is where the problem lies. To truly love others as ourselves we must learn to genuinely love ourselves. Since the Fall the devil has been peddling his lies and offering a counterfeit to everything God has. Most people either have very little love for themselves or if they do it’s not the ‘agapao’ love spoken of in this verse.

The lie is that I/you/we are unlovable. That is simply not the case. You were created in God very image and so loved by Him that He traded His Son for you. I wish we could really get that to sink in to the core of our being. The lie robs us of our confidence and keeps us either isolated from others or trapped inside of destructive relational cycles. People who don’t value themselves frequently find themselves the victim of their own insecurity. True validation cannot come from an outward source, it can only come from an inward revelation of who we are in Christ.

The counterfeit to confidence is arrogance. Arrogance elevates oneself above all others seeing them as simply a means to an end - the end in this case being self. On the other end of the spectrum is false humility which whispers to us that we are less than everyone else. It may appear more ‘spiritual’ but is no less detrimental in the end. To see yourself as anything less than what God sees is to say that He made a mistake and doesn’t know what He is doing!

True confidence and humility brings everyone else up to our level as we begin to see ourselves and others as God sees us. It is from that place that we can begin to love others as Christ commanded -

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” – John 13:34-35 NIV

How we see ourselves is THE most important opinion there is because that is the one we will become. Take time today to forgive yourself, to take care of yourself and to see yourself through God’s eyes. It may seem silly but for the next seven days I would like you to start your day by looking in the mirror and telling yourself, out loud, “I love you.” Say it like you mean it and keep saying it until you believe it!

P.S. Remember that God loves you and so do I!

When The Worship Train Came Off The Tracks.

Periodically I am blessed with the opportunity to help lead worship. It is something I enjoy very much and feel quite honored to do. I was playing the drums and the worship team and I practiced our transition from one song to the next several times before service. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t interrupt the ‘flow’ of worship and so we worked until we had it down.

Except that we didn’t. Things didn’t go as planned and honestly the song got off to a rocky start. At one point I was pretty certain that the worship train was so far off the tracks we were going to have to stop and start again. But the team pulled it together and by the chorus things were steaming ahead. As a matter of fact the presence of God showed up in a powerful way through that song.

Afterwards I commended our worship leader for pressing through. God showed up in spite of our hiccup and at the end of the day, or the set list, that is the goal. God’s ability to perform does not depend on our ability to perform. Worship isn’t a performance. Worship after all is first and foremost a matter of the heart.

The whole situation got me thinking about the difference between perfection and excellence. First let me say that there is only one who is perfect and it’s NOT me! Perfectionism is a cruel task master and I believe the enemy’s counterfeit to excellence. My definition of excellence is, ‘doing the very best we can with the resources and training we have currently available with a heart to grow better in the future’. That is attainable. Perfection is not. We didn’t go into worship half-hearted and unprepared. On the contrary, we were giving God our very best.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” – Colossians 3:23-24 NIV

See with perfection everything depends on us. With excellence we have left room for the Holy Spirit to move. God is worthy of our best in everything that we do. But excellence gives us room to grow, to mature and even to fail. Because excellence leaves room for His grace! And that is what we experienced that day. Maybe that is what the apostle Paul was talking about.

“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”” – 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 NIV

So be your very best but make sure to leave room for Him to be His very best!

Why I shaved my legs.

No I’m not trying to get in touch with my feminine side. The truth is I injured myself training for a race I ran last weekend. I’ve been pushing pretty hard building up my mileage to get ready for an 8+ mile obstacle course race. I didn’t warm up and stretch properly and pulled a muscle in my calf. I was about 100 yards into my run when it happened and instead of turning around I kept going… for 8 long miles. It wasn’t the best life choice I’ve ever made. It was painful to walk on and turned a cool rainbow of colors.

So I was nursing it and doing everything I could think of to hasten the healing process. Hence this story. I purchased some Kinesiology Tape hoping it would help. For those who are unaware this product is basically a next level ace bandage. Physical therapists swear by the stuff. Endurance athletes cover themselves with the neon strips like it is a badge of honor. I figured I’d give it a try. I went online to watch the ‘how to’ video and the first thing they say is to apply it to clean, dry skin. They went on to say for ‘best results’ you should ‘remove all hair from the affected area’ before using the product. Wait? What?! Now I’ve had some friends who were serious about cycling or swam competitively who shaved their legs. Now let me be clear. I HAVE MADE FUN OF EVERY SINGLE LAST ONE OF THEM!!!

But I was desperate. So much to the chagrin of my daughter I borrowed her razor and asked if she had any pointers. She said, ‘Try not to cut yourself.’ Gee thanks.

Here is my point. I was desperate. I had trained for almost a year for this race. I had spent real money registering for this event. So I was willing to go to take drastic actions to make this happen. And that is what it takes. We have to get to the point that we are so appalled with where we are at that we are willing to do whatever is necessary to move forward. Maybe it’s a recurring sin in our life. Maybe it’s a destructive behavior or addiction or even a toxic relationship. It’s time we got sick and tired of being so sick and tired. It’s time to break the pattern of being broke every month. It’s time to get so fed up that we are willing to swallow our pride, get the help that we need and make the changes that will finally set us FREE! Although hell stands ready to resist our efforts all of Heaven is cheering us on and God is on our side!

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” – John 10:10 NIV

“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” - Romans 8: 31 NIV

““…no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the Lord.”- Isaiah 54:17 NIV

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” – Galatians 5:1 NIV

“…and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” – Matthew 16:18b NIV

By the way - my calf did great, I finished my race and now I'm ready to tackle the next challenge. 12-14 miles, 30-35 obstacles, November 4th. Who is with me?

Making A Difference.

Yesterday I had the honor of attending the ribbon cutting for the ‘Little Pantry’ in Sylva. If you haven’t heard about the ‘Little Pantry’ it’s a small box that was recently placed at our Sylva Campus where anyone can come and get food and personal items, anytime, for any reason. If you want to check out the article the Sylva Herald wrote about it just CLICK HERE.

Today I had the honor of seeing it at work. I was taking care of a few odds and ends at the office when I happened to see a minivan park out front. A woman stepped out of the passenger seat, walked over to the ‘Little Pantry’, picked out an armload of necessities and headed back to the car. I don’t know her name or her situation but God does. Today I witnessed someone being loved and God alone getting the glory.

Fourteen years after his encounter with Jesus on the way to Damascus Paul traveled to Jerusalem. He met with the Apostles to discuss his message to the Gentiles because He wanted to make sure that he was on track. They had one encouragement for him -

“All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.” - Galatians 2:10 NIV

James said it this way -

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” - James 1:27 NIV

We have a list of 16 Core Values that make LifeWay well… LifeWay. The first is an Outward Focus. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He also came to serve not to be served. Another Core Value is Gracious Generosity – see ‘God so loved the world that He gave…’ We give because we can, not because we have to. We are gracious because it is who He is and it is who we are! The final Core Value I want to mention is Personal Responsibility. She may fuss but I want to thank Ruby Peoples for making this happen. Ruby attends our Sylva Campus and works with our Children’s Ministry. A few weeks back she came to me with this idea. She had the vision, took personal responsibility and made it happen. Well done Ruby!

Don't wait for someone else to do something that God has called you to do. Focus outward, be graciously generous and take personal responsibility. It will change your life, it will change someone else's life (and maybe their forever) and God will get the glory!

Over the years we have had the opportunity to help launch several ministries that serve those in need including The Community Table, God’s Abundance Soup Kitchen and the Jackson Neighbors’ in Need Homeless Shelter. I am proud to pastor such an amazing church! Well done LifeWay! This month we celebrate 20 years of God's faithfulness as a church and from what I have seen today I am absolutely convinced that He is just getting started here at LifeWay.