Happy Birthday & Reformation Day

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith.'"
- The Epistle to the Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)

We know today as Halloween but for many Followers of Jesus, October 31st is an important day because it marks the time the Church sought to return to the Gospel. On this date in the year 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the doors of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. The theses detailed the doctrinal corruption of the church and opened the door for the Protestant Reformation. It was a good day.

It also happens to be the day my local church began in 1993. We are fourteen years old today! I've been here for close to ten of those fourteen years and am grateful for every day.

So Happy Reformation Day (#490) you Followers of Jesus Christ! And Happy Birthday those of you at my church!

In honor of these two great events, we've worked it out with the nation that if you go to people's homes, most of them will give you candy. ;)

A Kid Who Gets It.

The following is a phone call into our local Christian radio station KSBJ. It is from a 12 year old kid named Logan who listens on Sky Angel because he lives on a ranch in a remote Nebraska town. He called the station distraught because he had to "put down" an animal. After numerous requests to place this online KSBJ graciously posted it. It is quite remarkable. Listen to the call from the kid they refer to as the Sky Angel Cowboy.

Logan's call

Having a "Moment"

Today I had the chance to speak very briefly with the leadership and volunteers of our children's ministry and experienced one of those "moments" of what it's like to be a part of a church who, while far from perfect, is trying to fulfill the mission of making disciples.

In December we will kick off a second campus and the children's ministry will have a space station theme in the new location. In light of that, the children's director showed a video from our two church members who happen to be in space at the moment (see earlier post). Both gentlemen spoke of the importance of the volunteers' service in light of eternity compared to their own fleeting fame. It was really an incredible sight - watching a video from two guys who were literally nowhere on earth. It was cool. But it wasn't the "moment" for me.

That came when after the video we had another person briefly address the team. She too was an astronaut, quite an accomplished one at that. As she introduced herself, in trying to give context to the space theme of the children's ministry, she noted her numerous space flights, NASA duties and current space responsibilities. Then she said, "But greater than that I'm a member of the church," and proceeded to talk about the mission of making people fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

I was done. I didn't need to say anything to these volunteers. They had all they needed in what they had just heard! It actually choked me up to hear a person who many admire and adore for all she has contributed to space exploration clearly communicate that while those things are wonderful they pale in comparison to making disciples. She spoke so matter-of-factly. It was simply true for her. Helping others know Jesus was more important than anything she had done in her spectacular career. It wasn't that what she had accomplished in a rocket ship was worthless, it just wasn't greater than her work for the Kingdom.

That was a "moment" for me! All I could think of us was, "Wow! I'm so very glad and incredibly grateful to serve with people like her!"

O God, thank you for missionary-astronauts, missionary-teachers, missionary-stay-at-home-moms, missionary-accountants, missionary-engineers,
and everyone who chooses to make your name in Christ known!

I Kissed "Once Saved, Always Saved" Goodbye

For those of you sound in doctrine my title may disturb you. Let me calm your fears. I believe that when a person is genuinely saved their salvation is secure forever. However, like Joshua Harris with dating, while the teaching of “once saved, always saved” isn’t inherently bad, it’s lost its luster for me. For quite some time I’ve ditched that angle on eternal security for the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints (where God will ensure the faithfulness of the faithful). It's a much better and biblically defensible alternative. You could say it’s the courtship of dealing with the security of someone’s salvation.

“Once saved, always saved” while having merit (because it’s true) far too often gets used by Christians and church staff trained on the denominational party line as a false sense of security for people who’ve shown no demonstrable sign of regeneration but can stir up a yarn of how they said a prayer when they were little. This view of eternal security mistakenly places the weight of salvation in the wrong thing– the person’s decision. However, it seems the New Testament’s idea of helping people feel secure in their salvation revolves around their present-day faith and practice. A cursory glance at 1 John, which was written for those “who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life.”(5:13), highlights areas like submission to God’s Word, trusting in the Gospel, love for the church, etc. (e.g., 2:23-24; 3:9-10, 24; 4:6; 5:18)

From a biblical perspective, the focus is always on the current obedience of the believer, not a decision he made years, if not decades, ago. Thus I believe the perseverance of the saints is a much better road to walk when helping other Followers of Jesus understand their eternal security (a term who's usefulness I question in light of this discussion). It should grant confidence and peace to the one who pursues Jesus and deliver uncertainty and sober introspection to the one who doesn’t. There is nothing better than "Perseverance" to best frame and give perspective to that biblical tension on the issue of eternal security, something “once saved, always saved” fails at miserably. You've got a better chance with helping others avoid false confidence, empty confessions and cheap grace.

Therefore, while not rejecting “once saved, always saved” in principle, I have essentially jettisoned it from my vocabulary in pastoral discussions with those under my care. In my humble opinion, the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is a much better (and biblical) alternative to others teachings on eternal security.

"They went out from us, but they were not of us;
for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us.
But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us."
- The Epistle of First John 1:19 (ESV)

3...2...1...LIFT OFF!

One of the blessings I have in serving at the church is that I get to bump into the best and brightest this nation has to offer. Living next door to NASA has filled our church with people like rocket scientists, spaceship engineers and astronauts. When a ship goes into orbit it's not just a national event, for us it's personal. Tomorrow will be another example.

At 10:38AM (CST) the crew of the Discovery will launch from Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. Two guys who belong to our church will be part of the crew - astronauts Doug Wheelock and George Zamka. My wife and I were invited to attend this launch but unfortunately were unable to go.

Please pray for these men and the entire crew as they prepare for their fourteen days in space. This mission will be to bring the Harmony module to the International Space Station which will provide attachment points for European and Japanese laboratory modules.

For our friends, Doug and George, this will be their first trip into space and what they have dreamed about since they were accepted into NASA's Astronaut Candidate Training Program in 1998. May God be glorified in the journey they are about to undertake. Blessings upon them.

Discovery's Crew for STS-120

*UPDATE: Flawless liftoff!!!

My Family Portrait - Simpsons' Style

Dealing with the Pharisee in Me

"...but set the believers an example in speech,
in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity."
- The First Epistle to Timothy 4:12b (ESV)

I hate the fact that I'd much rather tell someone what to do than do it myself.

This evening was a perfect example of my Pharisaical heart. I spent the better part of an hour telling (berating, really) my wife how she needed to share the Gospel with a specific person. I was overly intense, unrelenting and unforgiving. More claws than compassion, more grit than grace, speaking more at her than with her.

Adding to my hypocrisy is the cold hard truth that there are more than enough people God has put in my life with whom I should share the Gospel. Why am I not as fired up when I look at myself? It's because it's easier to call other people to be obedient to Jesus than to do it yourself. When you talk to others about what they need to do you can look mature, bold and fearless - "Man, that guy can tell it like it is!" - but if there's no personal commitment to those same things then you've become a paper tiger only a few raindrops away from being exposed.

In reflecting upon this unfortunate conversation with my wife (of which I repented to her), along with a good sense of humility and contrition, I'm soberly reminded that the first person who needs to hear (and practice) my sermons is me.

In Rainbows

Ahhhhhhh...

The greatest band in the world, Radiohead, has released their new album In Rainbows via the internet a few minutes ago.

Of course, I downloaded my copy right away. Now I'll surely be up to the wee hours of the morning listening with glee (it's already 1:15AM).

Image Problems

"Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time."
- The Epistle to the Colossians 4:5 (ESV)

Time magazine recently ran a story about the Christianity's "image problem". Leaning heavily on David Kinnaman's new book UnChristian, the piece relates how more and more Americans negatively perceive Christians.

Kinnaman says non-Christians' biggest complaints about the faith are not immediately theological: Jesus and the Bible get relatively good marks. Rather, he sees resentment as focused on perceived Christian attitudes. Nine out of ten outsiders found Christians too "anti-homosexual,"

While the statement is contradictory (the Christian understanding of homosexuality is directly tied to theology), the point is quite clear. Non-Christians don't like the latest version of Christianity they see.

I think many Christians would agree with them.

Yet we must be careful in our response because their angst with the church is more complex than we may think. Some of their belly burn may come from stances we hold (e.g., homosexuality) because they are clearly biblical while other issues may be because the church is dropping the ball due to hypocrisy, ignorance, etc. Thus, while I might nod my head in agreement to some of their grievances, I might also find myself graciously and lovingly disagreeing with them.

This article is another sober reminder to continually examine our beliefs and behaviors to see how much of what we do is shaped by the Bible or the culture. Because if we are going to suffer an "image problem" let it be for the right things.

Advice to a Timothy

By no stretch do I think I'm over the hill or some big shot in ministry, but I have been able to share and counsel with many who, by nature of their age, are a little further back in the road of teaching ministry. The following is an excerpt from a recent note I sent to a "young gun" (and collegiate baseball player) with advice about how he should use his time ministry-wise. Let's call him "Jim"...

So the plan for the year is no school, just ministry? Alright here's the deal. Teach your tail off! Hone your skills/gifts during this season as much as you can. Work hard at it! Think of it like taking some time in the batting cage...working on your swing. So when you reach an old age of 30-something you'll be light-years ahead of your contemporaries who decided to start learning how to teach/preach later on in their ministry. When people think of Jim and teaching God’s Word they’ll say, “Man, that guy can bring it!”

What to do in the cage-phase? Evaluate! As you spend this time speaking/teaching be relentless evaluating yourself. Remember this is the cage! (Not that this season isn't important and real for the people you teach but I'm thinking of the long-term perspective) You want to try to rid yourself of as many bad habits you can which are so easily picked up in teaching. Grab mp3's of yourself. If the places you speak don't do that, ask them to, or grab your own recorder. Once you've got yourself recorded, listen to it a day or two later. This extra time away from the preaching-event will give you more objectivity. Okay, now here's the tough stuff...

When you listen to it, be as painfully honest/critical as you can be. Ask yourself stuff like, "Did that transition work? What was the one thing I was trying to communicate? Did I address the 'why' they needed to hear this message? Did I deal with their next step? What was my emotional level like? Did it match the moment? Did I faithfully exegete the Scripture? Did I teach in context and not sellout by forcing the Scripture into my message?" Stuff like that. I know of fewer things that are as helpful becoming a better teacher than that. By the way, if they can get you a video it's even better.

Just know that you'll hate doing this stuff! Teachers are their worst critics. Frequently I'll listen to myself and think, "You better find a new job brutha because you’re terrible at this!" Seriously! But that's where you must believe a very essential truth...

God calls us to this, empowers us to do it and enables our listeners to respond. In short, it's up to him anyhow. Therefore, we preach by faith. Let that counter-balance any hard feelings you might have after evaluating (or after a sermon you just gave that makes you want to stick your head in the sand). I can't tell you how many times I felt like I put a "poor swing" on a sermon only to have God move mightily in people's lives as a result. It's God's way of saying, "Don't get too big for your britches. If I don’t do it, it doesn’t happen!” That shouldn’t surprise you but it will. When I’ve depressingly thought I hit a weak single with my message, it became a homerun for someone else listening. That’s humbling and reassuring that when it comes to the teaching/preaching event, it’s not about me.

Jim, I’m proud of you! I’m grateful that you’re staying the course and diggin’ in with all you’ve got. Grace to you as you grow in him. There is no better place than being in the center of his will! Love what you do and who you get to do it with. Settle for nothing less!

Now get out there and take your hacks!

Gucci Little Piggy