Motivation & A Change of Clothes in Cayman

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.

Given this call to endure in the Christian life through this rather clear race analogy, I recently was compelled to ask myself the question: What spurs on or motivates a person such as myself, whose "sin clings so closely," to "run with endurance the race set before us"?

The clinging problem: There is something about the weighty clinginess of sin that becomes comfortable or, at least, something to which one becomes accustomed. We are approaching our first Summer in Cayman and it is getting toasty. Add to that my vehicle's air conditioning broke a few weeks ago. Sufficed to say, our poor folks at SCC watch their pastor walk into every meeting looking like he's been trying to lose water weight through a series of steam baths & sauna bakes. The bigger issue has become the need to change clothes. Due to the vehicle/heat concoction, I'm already up to two showers & a rinse a day. But even worse is that, starting a couple months ago, I started cycling through a week's worth of clothes in 2 1/2 days. Clothes just cling to the body and its initially uncomfortable. But as a male who neither wants to do too much laundry nor wants spend over 5 minutes a day on new wardrobing, I decided I'd try to get used to a little bit of clinging. I traded some initial discomfort for time/effort in the hopes that I'd grow accustomed to the feeling. I use this somewhat twisted (and likely far too personal in hygienic details) analogy to point to the problem when applying Hebrews 12:1 to our lives.

For most of us, due to time, effort, and to desire to satisfy ourselves, we daily feel just how closely sin clings. And it is far easier to adjust our lives in getting accustomed to sin, even when it's sticky & clingy, than it is expend the effort to endure on the race of faith. Adjustments might include white lies to cover up white lies, small compromises that no one will see, and rationalize inaction when God commands us to act. While most would acknowledge this takes some effort, the notion of giving up one's own will in submission to Another's, dying to self, and absorbing ridicule from other's takes far more effort & endurance.

What motivates us to endure the race of faith?

First, we must recognize that sticky substance, that stench that clings so closely to our life -- Sin. Call it what it is. We must look at our own heart and be honest about our struggles. We all want the good news of Jesus to penetrate our lives but that news is oh so good because it is set against our enmity toward God and the depth of our lostness in sin. As an old pastor Thomas Watson once said, "Till sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet."

Second, we remember and make a daily pilgrimage to the offer of forgiveness, of grace that our Father continually holds out to us through trust in Jesus Christ. His grace is sufficient to pay for all of our sins & to even make His power perfect through our weaknesses (II Corinthians 12:9-10). But I must ultimately ask what effect forgiveness of sins ultimately has. In other words, Forgiven for what? FOR HIM. We are forgiven and that fact is so glorious because it means you and I get to be with our Abba, our Father both now and always (see 1 Thess. 5:10). Which leads to our third and arguably most important step in motivation.

Thirdly, what motivates us is forgiveness for the sake of reward. That is what spurs on a person like me. When Hebrews 12:1 speaks of "so great a great cloud of witnesses" it is referring to men and women from the Old Testament who approached God by faith -- they were saved by faith, just as the requirement is for salvation in the New Testament. But Hebrews 11 shows that they were consistently spurred on in their faith by future reward.

They desire a better country, that is a heavenly one...for He has prepared for them a city" (Hebrews 11:16).

During a Bible Study, I once asked a crowd of young people if they were at all motivated by future reward. Genuinely curious and unsure of what they'd say, they replied that they weren't. They loved Jesus and their motivation for following him was the cross, what he'd achieved for them and responding by serving Him as He would like them to here on earth. I get this. There was a time I was only spurred on by present grace along. But even while I am yet relatively young, I have two children now and life has hit me with some cold realities that require the motive of a future reward.

As the motive Turns. Peggy Noonan, former speech writer for U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, greatly helped me articulate my feelings recently:

“Our ancestors believed in two worlds, and understood this one to be the solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short one. We are the first generations of man that actually expected to find happiness here on earth, and our search for it has cause such – unhappiness. The reason: If you do not believe in another, higher world, if you believe only in the flat material world around you, if you believe this is your only chance at happiness – if that is what you believe, then you are disappointed when the world does not give you a good measure of its riches; you are despairing.”

As I grow older, more tired, more burdened by the scars I carry, more troubled by the petty, egregious sins I observe in my own life & the lives of others, more forgetful of a name or a prayer request - in short, as I see & experience the nastiness & brutishness of this short life -, I am in desperate need to look toward future grace as well. To remember, reflect upon, and celebrate "the better country" (11:16), the "city" (11:16) that he has prepared for us.

I somewhat recently remarked to my brother after he & I had experienced tiring weekends that my favorite description of heaven has become "The Sabbath Rest" in Hebrews 11. An appropriate motivation. I don't need to the cross alone, I need to know what the cross achieved and, even further, what forgiveness of sins achieves -- an eternal Rest in Jesus who is our Sabbath. He is a worthy reward that helps us change clothes, cast off the clinging sin, and run towards Him with endurance.

A Visit to Prison

Last night I was given the opportunity speak to and visit with male inmates at Northward Prison. An article I read (from a couple years back admittedly) said that there were more inmates per capita on Cayman than virtually all developed countries! This visit was possible through a prison ministry set up by a woman named Ms. Kathy (whom I haven't met but for whom I'm grateful). Ed Solomon, who has attended Sunrise and has been working with inmates for over a year now, asked me to give a message.

One of my main points was this: The key to your life's direction is how you respond to sin. I tried to communicate that, for years, I thought trying to make progress as a Christian was accomplished by sinning less. However, if you focus on trying not to sin, you will fail because sinning is part of who we are. As one inmate called out, "We were born in sin." Exactly.

But we grow through taking our sins to the cross -- even if, like on most days, it's more like dragging them to the cross. Confessing that sin and receiving and experiencing His forgiveness. These men basically ate up the message -- it was a message that the gospel of grace doesn't just apply to a one-time decision to 'accept Jesus' but applies to us every day of our life as we trust He continually & effectively forgives us.

So applying the key to my life's direction: How do I respond to sin. Really this is the only thing different from the direction of my life and the direction of many of these guys lives. And even that ability to respond is a gift from God. I was reminded this morning of what Paul says to his young friend, Titus, who is a pastor of the church in Crete:

At one time we also were foolish, disobedient, deceived, and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, not because of righteous things we have done, but because of His mercy. (Titus 3: 3-5).

I was very refreshed by my time with these men. Perhaps it is because God reminded me that without His merciful action in my life I still would be foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved -- hating and being hated. The difference is God's pursuit and my response (and again, even the response is a Divine gift).

So often I forget this and, when I do, relating to others becomes a labor as I go between feeling like I should be able relate to this person and the self-focused thought of "My life is different. Well done Ryan" [pats self on back]. But God was gracious enough to remind me and I pray He does again & again.

It was the English reformer, John Bradford, who in the 16th cent. watched a criminal walking to the gallows and said, "There but for the grace of God goes John Bradford." We would do well to repeat this same phrase to ourselves everyday when viewing the self-inflicted wounds of others: "There but for the grace of God goes (insert your name here)" while also praying diligently for God's grace to become active in their life.

I can't wait to visit these men once more -- after all, it should just as well be me in prison...if but for the grace of God.

How my life can be worse than dung (Luke 14:34-35)

It's really pretty amazing that Jesus could get away with saying some of the things he did--well, he didn't really. He just managed to escape death for a while.

I didn't realize, until recently, that he was explaining to me, through His Word, how my life could actually be worse than dung. I've seen some lives that have been pretty darn crappy -- including my own at times. But Jesus says there is a life spent that is not even fit for a pile of crap -- that's right, not even fit for the dung heap.

What got me thinking: Luke 14: 25-33 chronicles the height of Jesus' ministry (if you judge height, as many do, by # of people following you on tour). Instead of trying to make his ministry bigger, he those that wished to follow him that, compared to a passionate love for him, every other kind of affection toward anyone else better seem like "hate" in comparison (Luke 14: 26). And if you're not able to give up all that you own, just save your feet the corns -- no use walking with him (Luke 14:33).

Jesus calls people to count the cost and judge him more worthy, a greater treasure than any other possible cost (Luke 14: 27-32).

Then Luke 14 ends with two verses that seem like they accidently wandered over from the Sermon on the Mount (like a Flava Flav going front row at a Depeche Mode concert).

"Salt is good, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is of no use either for the soil or for the manure pile. It is thrown away. He who has ears let him hear" (Luke 14: 34-35).

I have ears, Jesus, but I've never understood what that has to do with following you being worth whatever it costs me.

Esplain: So I did what people call "research." Discovered that in the Palestinian world of Jesus' time bakers covered their ovens with salt to have a catalytic (or sparking) effect on the burning fuel. (Kind of like lighter fluid on some hot coals). The fuel was usually, ta-da, cattle dung. After a time, the effect wore off and the salt was thrown away -- no longer fit for the "manure pile" (14:35).

Jesus' point (err, i think): Our lives remain salty when we treasure Jesus as worth any cost we might have to pay. To fail to weigh Jesus as worthy of any cost and, thus, fully trust our lives to him, is a tragic waste. A life that doesn't value Jesus as worth whatever it costs isn't even worth the dung heap. (This put a healthy fear into my priorities & made me consider how I'm directing my affections).

In the famous words of missionary Jim Elliot: "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep (ie. his life) to gain what he cannot lose (ie. Jesus)." Parentheses and ie.'s mine.

So here's what I'm thinking: Counting the cost isn't so much about the cost, it's about the treasure. Sometimes I catch myself thinking, what am I really sacrificing for Jesus right now? Now, at times, this is obvious. But sometimes it's not. But either way: I'm asking myself the wrong question. The question is: Am I currently treasuring Jesus above all else?

Do I value Jesus & his words, as Simon Peter did, when hundreds had visibly started to leave Jesus upon a hard teaching?

" So Jesus said to the Twelve, 'Do you want to go away as well?' Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (John 6: 67-68).

In the face of public humiliation of sticking it out with Jesus, Peter's view of Jesus' great worth remained crystal clear. There is no one else.

Everyone else is retreating to a crappy life. No....it's even worse.

God's plans: How they start becoming our plans.

I recently listened to a sermon by Pastor Tim Keller on Proverbs 16 entitled, "Your Plans, God's Plans." In it, Keller draws out a misunderstanding on what of my favorite Proverbs, Proverbs 16:3:

Commit to the Lord whatever you do,

and your plans will succeed.

I've often thought this to mean: If I offer my wise, well-thought-out, even prayed-over plans to God, he will help them succeed. Ehhhh...not so much. Most commentators agree the sense is this: Radically commit yourself to God, to every circumstances He plans & puts in your life, and to the little things -- then you will find that you will begin to form plans according to God's will and, in fact, find yourself in the "current of God's will" (as Keller describes it).

Keller, who is 60, goes on to say that if the desires of his heart had come to fruition in his 20's, about 1/3 of them would have actually been good for him. Thankfully, the circumstances God ordained drew Him away from many of these decisions and He learned to radically entrust Himself to God in the little things & in the circumstances.

It's true, isn't it? What fool would actually be upset that the desires of his/her heart failed to happen?! I Thank God most haven't happened in my life. God has had something better planned every time.

I want to share one very vivid example from my own life. I converse with a Prayer Team Katie and I've assembled back in the States. They labor in prayer for us in this awesome endeavor of shepherding & loving Sunrise Community Church. Well, about 10 days ago I asked for prayer regarding occasional feelings of isolation and melancholy. One of the strange things about being the Senior or Lead Pastor of a church is that you are always everybody's pastor. If you meet your doctor on the golf course, the relationship ceases to be doctor-patient. Meet your therapist at a dinner party -- if you want to talk, let's schedule an appointment. Not so being a pastor - it's always a reality in every church relationship (and I love me my local church fellowship...would never want to do without it!!). So I asked for prayer on these issues...

How does God answer? I desired that he give me friends who want to take me out on their yacht, encourage me during my practice swing on the 15th tee, or love to talk about last week's sermon (oh, you mean that poor sermon I preached last week...come on...aw, shucks). Instead, He puts me through some a very difficult circumstance, which forced me to tears at times, made us question some things, and compelled me to depend on Him. I thought these circumstances would make me feel more isolated & melancholy. Not so. In fact, He used these difficult circumstances to rally other folks (especially other brothers in Christ) to encourage me, pray with me, and support our family. But each act of support & encouragement has related back to this difficult circumstance.

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed. -Proverbs 16:3.

Radically entrust your prayers to God, radically trust His bringing circumstances in Your life, and then You can discern His working His will all around you. I see it now. It's our job to be faithful in these little acts of obedience to His Word and to pray, and we don't need to worry so much...we will see His will...because we will find ourselves smack dab in the middle of it.

Part III: What does local church leadership look like, esp. at Sunrise?

I'm finishing up my three-part re-cap of our church's first ever Introducing Leadership event that was held last week. So, without further ado...Part Tres

Following the Paul's key principle for leadership expressed in my last post, leaders are those who demonstrate the fruit of this principle: Leading by Following.

How then do we produce leadership fruit? Same principle of John 15:5, but it's also expressed in leadership lingo in a very cool verse from the Book of Jeremiah, where the Lord says about His people:

Their leader will be one of their own; their ruler will arise from among them. I will bring him near and he will come close to me, for who is he who will devote himself to be close to me ? (Jeremiah 30:21)

I do believe this verse is primarily messianic (its referent is mainly Jesus). However, I do believe it can have a powerful secondary application to us -- especially as we're called to 'follow the example of Christ' (1 Cor. 11:1). The one who leads and rules well, devotes himself well to closeness with God. As I said earlier, being a good leader starts with being a good sheep.

When a person devotes himself/herself to closeness with God, he can't help but produce fruit. Specifically, one starts to demonstrate the qualifications of an elder or deacon/deaconness. We went over the qualifications of an elder (1 Timothy 3: 1-7; Titus 1: 6-9) and a deacon/ness (1 Timothy 3:8-13). You can read these on your own if you like, I won't list them here. Elders & Deacons/nesses are the main leaders of the church as described in the New Testament.

While elders and deacons/nesses (okay, from now on, let's just go with deacons...like actresses are sometimes called actors, right?) have demonstrate similar fruit/qualifications, their roles or functions are quite different. Again, I don't want to get into too much Biblical data here other than to summarize (you can email me for the specifics I gave at the meeting if you like). An Elders role: To manage, teach, rule, counsel, protect. As one pastor put it, you might say an elder's specialty is leading with words. A Deacon's role loosely involves: Administration, Maintenance, Caring for physcial needs. You might say a deacon's specialty is leading with works. Both serve with works and both serve with words because both MAJOR in loving Jesus and His Church, but they each MINOR in different roles.

I say 'loosely' above for the role of deacons because all we ultimately know about deacons is that they are servants (Deacons are only mentioned in 1 Tim.3, a brief 'hi, how are you?' mention in greeting of Philippians 1, and the verbal version of the word in Acts 6). But that their role isn't more specifically defined is a good thing. Says Pastor Mark Driscoll,

The Bible brilliantly established a theologically and morally qualified ground of senior elder leaders, and grants them the freedom to appoint whatever deacons are needed to help them lead the church, in whatever areas they deem require a deacon to lead. (Mark Driscoll, On Leadership)

Talking with other grizzled veteran pastors, they seem to concur with this statement. A church almost necessarily needs to establish its elders before working through establishing deacons -- because the elders need to assess and determine the needs that they cannot address without neglecting of their biblical functions summarized above.

It's important that I also comment on the disticntion between elders and deacons. I'll just, again, appeal to a feller older and wiser than myself:

It is signifcant that nowhere in the New Testament do deacons have ruling authority over the church as elders do, nor are deacons ever required to teach Scripture or sound doctrine (Dr. Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology)

For Sunrise, I would also suggest adding the post for Small Group Leader into the leadeship mix. Romans 12:8 does mention leadership as one of the spiritual gifts. While we certainly desire elders to be involved in leading Small Groups or Fellowship Groups, we may not have enough. Also, there needs to be an initial training or proving ground for future elders. Where else but leading small groups? (Where a person gets to teach, manage, and, on a small level, counsel on a bit smaller scale).

What does all this look like at Sunrise Community Church? Pastors & Elders who pray for the church, counsel hurting folks, teach & lead, and make rulings on church matters -- all while laying our lives down for the sake of God's flock (see 1 Peter 5:1-5). Deacons. Deacons are appointed by elders to help administrate & maintain ministries that are established and ultimately overssen by Elders. Fellowship Group/Small Group Leaders - Pracitice gifts of leadership through caring for and leading Fellowship Groups with the help and guidance of Elders. Deacons and Fellowship Group leaders will need opportunities and natural outlets to both provide input to the Elders and have accountability with them.

You can pray that the Spirit helps us with the best way forward in these endeavors.

A final word: Leaders, following the example of Jesus, are always called to be servant leaders (Mark 10: 35-45). If you aspire to serve on God's church, begin practicing being a bridge -- to lay down your life so that you might serve as bridge for others to walk on to get to Jesus. Thanks be to Christ, who gave us the supreme example and empowers us through the cross!

Part II: I'm a local church leader: What the heck am I doing?!

I'm continuing a three-part post re-capping our very first Introducing Leadership Night that took place last week. (This is for those who couldn't attend but are interested in what's going on behind the scenes at Sunrise):

Part II: I'm a local church leader: What the heck am I doing?!

When it comes to leadership, the Apostle Paul’s Principle is fairly simple: “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1)

This verse comes as a conclusion to a discussion on the issue of freedom/liberty. Should we be allowed to eat meat sold in the Meat Market even though it may have been offered in sacrifice to an idol? YES. But if a young believer invites you over and they say “Hey, did you know has been offered in sacrifice to an idol?!” Say NO to eating the meat so as not to cause the other person (especially a young believer) to stumble.

In one way, this is a weird passage from which the major leadership principle comes.

In another way, it’s perfect. When it comes to making decisions and carrying them out as well as giving counsel to others, most of the time we’re dealing with grey area matters. That’s why you come to a leader: If the answer was clear, you wouldn’t need to run it by someone. But because it’s not clear…and you’re looking for wisdom, experience, knowledge, & guidance.

Thus, the core principle of leadership to which I adhere: Leading by Following. Leading by following Jesus while in the midst of others.

Jesus always sought the good of others – to benefit them, even if it mean sacrifice to himself. Paul is saying, when it comes to eating, I do the same. Being a good church leader starts by being a good sheep. This idea of leading by following is repeated elsewhere by Paul in Philippians 4: 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me-- practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

“The follow me” component has caused me to alter the way I ‘do’ discipleship. Perhaps in the past, you experienced discipleship by reading a book of the Bible or some other book with another questions. You asked questions about the book, learned together, & prayed together. These kinds of studies have been beneficial in my life. A few years ago I heard a pastor named Francis Chan talk about this and he admitted he read 1 Cor. 11:1 and his perspective changed. There was something missing and that was a hands-on component to discipleship. Come follow my example as I seek to follow Jesus' example.

What does that look like? (a) Taking along someone to a coffee shop with you, read through your book, but look for opportunities to share the gospel with others there; (b) having someone serve alongside you in Children’s Ministry or on the Hospitality Team; (c) Parents having young couples (that may or may not have children) be around your family. Let 'em just hang around and watch -- perhaps even let them, over time, do some babysitting (a lot of young couples have no other model for healthy parenting...or healthy marriages for that matter); (d) For me, I enjoy helping to teach people to teach, showing them what I do, and then empowering them to do it. (e) Might come in the context of Small Group leading/Discipleship – spend 6 months getting into God’s Word together, then pull in one or two more persons and let your ‘trainee’ lead.

No matter what we do, as leaders we are called first to be good sheep, trust that others will take notice, and then be intentional about inviting them along for the ride. Yes, this can happen in ye ole local church.

Recap of Introducing Leadership - Part I - Why leadership?

This past Tuesday Night was our church's very first Introducing Leadership Event, where we introduced the concept of local church leadership and what that looks like at Sunrise to any who wished to attend. It was a good way not only to become more educated on the subject but to show to those interested in leadership and those just interested what is going on behind-the-scenes at Sunrise.

This is the first of three blog entries that will re-cap what was covered:

Part I - Why does a Church Need Leadership?

A. Used to think...

I used to think: Why can't we all just use our gifts & talents to serve the church?! We'll gather round in a circle, hold hands, sing kumbayah, and Jesus will be the center. So we won't need a leader or leaders if this works.

But it became clear to me, thanks to my friend simply pointing to the New Testament, that there were leaders in the church -- the New Testament spoke at length about these dudes called 'elders.' Paul, Peter, and John were often calling themselves 'fellow elders.'

The next thought I had was that God gave us leaders because the 'system' was broken. We are all one body, each of us using our gifts as members of that body, and Jesus is our leader. But because we are sinners and live in a fallen world, God uses leaders to get us in line. And while there is some truth in that...

B. I've grown to believe that leadership in a church serves a grander purpose

Just like Spiritual Gifts. Last Sunday we examined Ephesians 4: 7-16 in asking the question: What's it all for? Specifically, using our gifts as a unified body of believers -- what's it all for. My plea was: To get & give a taste of Saving Grace & Future Glory.

Using gifts as a church gives others a taste of Saving Grace. Grace is God's love made active through an unconditional, undeserved gift. The supreme pinnacle of grace is Jesus Christ & his saving work on the cross. So while not every example of God's love made active (grace) is saving grace (see even Eph. 4:7a -- here 'grace' is a spiritual gift) -- every example of grace is based on and stems from saving grace (see 4: 7b-10). So every time we use spiritual gifts, we are giving and getting a taste of saving grace. Why? Because when someone sacrifices time & energy to use their gift(s) is such a way as to bless someone unconditionally (without asking anything in return), we're reminded of...well, another unconditional sacrifice.

Using gifts as a church gives others a taste of Future Glory. Three pairs of words are repeated in Ephesians 4: 7-16 - Build, grow, fill. Verses 12-13 show how in using my gift to minister to you, you are built up to then turn around and use your gift to build me up (and the cycle of goodness continues). As we build one another the body grows upward into Christ (v.15) until we, as the church, get to be Christ's visible representation on earth of filling all things (v.10). Build, grow, fill and we almost get there on earth -- but will only see that vision of the church when we're reunited with Jesus in eternal life. BUT we do almost get there by using our gifts to serve one another, and that gives people a taste of future glory (see 1 Corinthians 13: 8-10 for how gifts hint at future perfection).

And so using spiritual gifts to benefit the body serves a greater purpose than just a functioning church.

Just like marriage. In Ephesians 5: 23-34, Paul shows how the marriage relationship serves a grander purpose than simply the relationship between a man and woman. Hence: "But I am talking about Christ and the church" (v.32). The sacrificial, "I'm giving myself up to serve your interests" leadership of a husband and the responsive respect & submission of a wife serves a grander purpose of being the most gospel-magnifying human relationship one can have. There is no other relationship on earth that can better and more vividly demonstrate Christ's love for his church and the church's love for him than marriage.

Just like leadership. Leadership in the local church is ultimately meant to give us a taste of, to illustrate the mystery of the Godhead, the Trinity and, specifically, the relationship between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (HS).

The Father, Son, & HS are all mentioned in God's Word as being divine. They are of the same substance. Yet, they are three different persons and have different functions. While they are all equal in divinity, in God-ness, they are not equal in function or roles.

Jesus says that the HS defers to Him, to His authority, and only speaks His words: When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare what is yet to come (John 16: 13-14). The HS, while equal to Jesus in stature, is not equal in role/function. So he defers to Jesus.

Jesus also says the he defers to God the Father, to His authority, and only seems to imitate what He sees His Father doing. Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise (John 5:19). The Son recognizes all authority belongs with His Father. While He is equal to the Father in nature, in stature, he is not equal in role/function. So he defers to the Father.

C. Why is this important?

Without leadership, would we be missing organization and direction? Yes. But more importantly, we'd be missing out on an opportunity to give others a taste of the relationship between God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Wow! What an opportunity!! We get to be Bob Barker and show what's right behind the curtain so people can jump for joy.

When we grow weary of leadership, get annoyed by or question certain leaders, how we respond doesn't just reflect upon our church, it reflects upon how people see the Trinity. So even when we need to respond by asking questions or disagreeing, how we ask those questions or how we disagree (I would suggest: Go directly to the person without anger and without discussing the matter with others) again affects how people will see the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit.

Part II - I'm a Local Church Leader: What the heck am I doing?! (stay tuned)..

Follow up on Spiritual Gifts Q & A

This Sunday we looked at Ephesians 4: 7-13 and talked specifically about the Holy Spirit. My main point, in nutshell, was: The Church Body won't grow because you are unique -- you must use your uniqueness to serve.

Most people spend their lives going back and forth between wanting to set themselves apart and wanting to belong to something greater than themselves. The tension seems never ending. And many organizations, religions, even nations cater to this (see United States and former motto until 1956: E Pluribus Unum - 'out of many, one').

But among organizations and institutions only one is able to sustain both a radical sense of togetherness and a freedom of individuality -- the church. God gives these gifts to each believer that are divinely-powered so that he/she can make a unique contribution in serving the body to which you belong. The set of spiritual gifts set us apart and make our contribution unique; we all benefit and increase unity because we serve and are served by these gifts. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ!

Now I wanted to post a couple of resources for learning more about spiritual gifts, since ours was a quick overview followed by 7 minutes of Q & A:

#1 - A very rich series of online articles under the heading: Who's Afraid of the Holy Spirit? Included among the authors are J.I. Packer and one of my favorite seminary professors, Richard Averbeck.

#2 - On spiritual gifts specifically, I would like to start something myself as its an area in which I've had a good deal of experience and done a good deal of training. But I've neither the time or energy, so for now I refer you to this resource from Pastor Mark Roberts (Boerne, Texas). He did a very helpful blog series on Spiritual Gifts in the Body of Christ: Part I (Contains 5 articles) & Part II (Contains 9 articles).

I don't fully agree with his definition of Spiritual gifts, but pretty close & his treatment of the use of the gifts is excellent.

#3 - Please pray for Sunrise Community Church. One, that our new, biblically-sound leadership structure would get in place by the end of April. With the foundation of a team of elders, we can then move toward the creation of new ministries (where you can use their gifts) and a membership class of sorts (where you can identify, pray about, & learn how to begin using gifts). So, two, pray for God's timing and patience as we get down the 'fundamentals' of doing church before rushing ahead to the other, more 'exciting' stuff.

Resources for Right Beliefs

2.2.10 - Resources for Right Beliefs

The past couple of Sundays during our worship time together we've taken a hard look at how, over time, our beliefs determine what we value/prioritize, which determine what we do & say in our lives. Beliefs --> Values --> Behavior. We saw this in Acts 20. And we also saw it as Paul encouraged his young disciple Timothy to "watch his life and doctrine closely, for by doing so you will save both yourself and your hearers" (1 Timothy 4:16).

A number of you had some great responses to the teaching of God's Word about this. So I've decided to post a few resources that might help you examine and shape right belief (what smart Bible people call "orthodox belief'), according to God's Word:

Here we go.

1. The first six days of a little booklet called "My First 30 Quiet Times" which look at some of the basics of Christianity. It's geared toward a new Christian. Includes some lively explanation as well as some verses to read and a prayer for each day. I've scanned these and uploaded them as PDF files. You'll need to go to our church website, under BLOG, to view:

Day 1 - What is a Christian?

Day 2 - How can I be sure I'm a Christian?

Day 3 - What happened? Gospel, Grace, Repentance, Justification, Atonement

Day 4 - Your New Resident

Day 5 - What really is Sin?

Day 6 - Forgiveness.

2. A Simple explantion of the Basics of Christianity from bible.org (Click here)

3. A test on what you know about Christian beliefs. Disclaimer for jaded Christians:

You won't feel all dirty as if you just endured Bible Trivia with your Youth Group (Click here)

4. A wider selection of various areas of Christian Beliefs (Click here)

Starting a blog...

Hey, friends. So here we go, I'm starting a blog. Never thought ...bla..bla...bla. Doing this for Sunrise Community Church and anyone else who happens to stumble upon this page. It's mostly going to be thoughts on God, what He says, culture, random you-decide-if-they're-funny musings, and perhaps a photo every once in a while. That's all. I'll start with something I wrote on Facebook not too long ago...