Jamie Duncan

Who? Me? Holy?

2011-02-28T16:40:00.005-05:00

We are starting a new series on Sunday, where we will walk through the book of Ephesians together. This series is entitled "Identity" because the entire book answers the questions: "Who am I in Christ?" and "What should I be doing as a Christian?" From the beginning of the book, Paul tries to instill a confident DNA in these new Ephesian believers. In verse 1 of the first chapter Paul writes, "Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to God’s holy people in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus:" Paul calls his audience holy. In fact, the implication here is that all the Christians who are faithful to Jesus are holy.

Let me ask you a question: Today, do you feel holy? "Holy" is one of those words we usually reserve for special objects or special people. The literal word means, "set apart," and the implication is that those set apart things or set apart people are perfect. Most days, I'm not feeling perfect. I know my heart. I hear my thoughts. I know what I do throughout my day and I cannot, with a good conscience, describe my activity or motives as pure, holy, or perfect...or even kinda pure, kinda holy, or kinda perfect. So how can Paul tell a bunch of sinners, like you and me, that we are holy? The answer to that question is that our holiness is not based upon our actions or our hearts. Our holiness is the marvelous gift that Jesus gives to us. He gives us His righteousness. This little fact has amazing implications in your life. Read this from Romans 3: 21-22.
"But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe."

How amazing is that fact!? You and I are given this gift of righteousness when we put our faith in Jesus. This fact gives me comfort when I fall and when I don't feel holy at all. Our belief in Christ is attributed to us as our righteousness. I don't deserve this kind of favor, but I'm sure glad the Lord offers it! I hope this encourages you today. You, yes you, are made holy through faith in Christ!

Everything.

2010-12-29T15:58:00.004-05:00

Luke 14:33, "In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples."
I've been preparing the first message in the Radical series this week. In my preparation I came across this passage. Take a moment and consider the implications if this passage were taken literally. Everything. In the Greek, it means...um...everything. I can't get away from this thought. As I analyze American Christianity I see a group of people who are content with sacrificing so little. We are very comfortable with the professionals, such as ministers and missionaries, to make great sacrifices for the Kingdom. In fact, many people are Christians for what they perceive they can get from it, such as: stability, morals, Heaven, peace of mind, a good marriage, moral kids, etc. The idea of sacrifice is foreign because we want the sacrifice to be made for us. What does your Christianity cost you? Maybe that's why I get frustrated so many times as I see Christians not taking the initiative to give of themselves or to share of their resources. People want to receive more than sacrifice.
Everything. Think about the sacrifices Jesus asked of people wanting to follow Him. To the rich man, He told him to sell his possessions and follow Him. To the family man, He told him to hate his family or leave his dying father in order to follow Him. To the religious man, Jesus asked him to recant the error of his religious ways and start over. To the living man, Jesus warned that he would die for his faith. So what might Jesus be asking of you? I wonder what my reaction would be today if Jesus turned to me and asked me to leave the treasures of my life? I've been working through my life this week, analyzing what I've been holding back from consideration...and actively giving those things/people over to Jesus in my own way. Everything has to be on the table in a conversation like this. Is there anything you've kept off the table from Jesus? Why wouldn't you offer it to Him? Just some thoughts...

Boring Churches...

2010-10-18T11:53:00.008-04:00

I have the privilege of leading a Bible study for 4th/5th graders each week at Iva Elementary. It is so cool to see anywhere from 40-60 kids meet in the library each week to listen to the short Bible study and to pray together. A few weeks ago I overheard 2 boys talking right after we finished. One boy told the other, "Hey, that guy is the pastor over at Good Hope Baptist Church." The other boy rolled his eys and said outright, "I don't go to church. CHURCH IS BORING." I wish I could have videoed the scowl on the boy's face as he made this pronouncement...or indictment, I should say, against the churches he has visited in the past.

It would be very easy, at this moment, to rip on this young man for not liking church. I mean, what is there not to like, right?! Take a moment and look at your church through the eyes of an unchurched young boy. What is there that would capture his attention and get him excited to be there? Maybe the teacher came in 10 minutes late and had to make up a lesson on the spot, since she didn't have a curriculum. Maybe this young man encountered an unprepared, half-hearted teacher who read the lesson out of a book to him. Maybe all they sang were sad, slow songs with complicated words. Maybe everything invovled construction paper, glue, crayons, and scissors. Maybe no one took the opportunity to find out his name and to get to know him. Maybe all they did was "sissy stuff." Maybe they made him wear stiff clothes, sit as still as he could be, and never engaged his curious mind. Maybe no one showed him about how awesome it is to follow Jesus. Maybe no one made him feel like he was important. Maybe that is your church...

I believe it breaks the heart of God that His people can't capture the heart of a 10 year old boy. We have to ask these kinds of questions about our church, and not just for 10 year old boys. I am consumed with the goal of reaching the unchurched and dechurched people in my community. I want to reach laid-off mill workers, lonely single mothers, and crackhead loners. I want to reignite the heart of the middle aged man who got burned by a bad church experience a long time ago. I want to capture the heart of a 20-something young person who is asking lots of questions about life. I want to captivate a young married couple with the transforming grace of Jesus. I desperately want to reach that 10 year old boy so he can see that following Jesus is the most exhilerating adventure of his life! I am constantly trying to look at our church through their eyes. I don't want to create a stumbling block, because of my laziness, my stubbornness, my traditions, or my preferences that would keep someone from experiencing the love of Jesus. I will do whatever it takes the capture the heart of my community for Jesus. If that means doing things a different way, so be it. Whatever the case, we cannot let church be boring.

As I heard the boy's comment I stepped in and said, "I'm sorry that the churches you've been to are boring. You've obviously never been to my church. My church is awesome. I promise that my church isn't boring at all. If you come some time I guarantee you'll have an awesome time." And I meant that. Good Hopers, help me make sure that my promise to this young man is kept. Let's strive to captivate whoever walks through our doors with our message, our innovation, and our excellence. Church ought to be a place that captures the heart of a 10 year old boy. If we refuse to do it, who else in our society is poised to do it?

Abortion Survivor's Testimony

2010-09-30T12:21:00.005-04:00

The videos I posted below are of Gianna Jessen, an abortion survivor. Watch these videos and think about the mass genocide of millions of children, our future, that we have allowed to die under our watch. Gianna's testimony is a powerful reminder of why Christians must be the voice of the "least of these" in our society. If Christians will not defend the rights of the voiceless, who will? Remember that every "fetus" is a life. Psalm 139:13-16 tells us how God sees all babies in the womb, "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." Every life matters!

Book Review--Lee:A Life of Virtue by John Perry

2010-09-17T15:27:00.005-04:00

Occasionally I get advance copies of books to read and review from Thomas Nelson Publishers, which is a real blessing. When I got the opportunity to review a biography recently I accepted . Let me start by saying I usually don't get the opportunity to read biographies because I usually focus more in the religious/academic realm for my regular reading. However, I jumped at the chance to read a book on an enigmatic character that has always intrigued me: Gen. Robert E. Lee. I am a history buff and have always enjoyed the great story of our past. I admit that most of my knowledge of Lee before reading this book was based upon History Channel documentaries and small biographical glimpses from school history lessons. Sadly, his name is synonymous with racism and the ugly era of our past. Perry's biography is an attempt to go beyond the stereotype and see a genuine man who had a heart for his family and his country. This biography is nice in that it doesn't get mired down with the dates and battles, as many biographies about military heroes outline. Rather, Perry attempts to give you a glimpse into his family history and their interaction throughout Lee's full life, of which the Civil War is only a small part. One of the most interesting things I learned from this work is the connection between Robert E. Lee and many of our nation's founding fathers, mainly George Washington. For example, did you know that Arlington National Cemetery was actually Robert E. Lee's family home before the Civil War? Did you know that Lee's wife was the step-great granddaughter of George Washington or that Lee's father was a governor of Virgina? I found this to be a fascinating tie in about which I never knew. Beyond the history lesson, Perry offers glimpses of a devoted Christian man who was dedicated to many virtues lost in our time: love of country, devotion to family, and the power of hardwork. I recommend this book to any of you history buffs out there for an informative, casual read.

Eat, Love, Gain

2010-08-23T09:32:00.007-04:00

I came to the realization 3 weeks ago that I had gained some weight over the summer. That realization came pretty easy as my pants were feeling more snug and my belly was getting sore from hanging over my belt just a bit. I stopped tucking in my shirt, becuase it just felt a little too tight! I could trace back where it all started. I guess you could say I "let it go" for the week leading up to our big trip in July...after all, I needed to carbo-load to get ready for our big Grand Canyon hike, right! And then I was on vacation after the hike so I ate what I wanted. Then we had home group where everyone brought desserts. Then we started eating out a few more times...Soon, the weeks of eating what I wanted turned into a month. I was jogging about once or twice a week, slowing down a bit from my regular routine. The realization hit when I stood on the scales one morning and saw the 13 pound swing in my weight. "Aw crud!" I thought.

At that moment I recognized I was at a crossroads: Do I continue with the recent pattern of being slack, or do I buckle down and set my course straight before it gets out of hand?

Admittedly, every other time I've gotten to this point in my lifelong battle with weight I have either excused it away, or postponed getting back on the strict diet until it got totally out of hand. This is how one falls off the wagon.

This battle is just like our fight against sin. You slack up on the little things. You eat ice cream here and there. You indulge in a big burger and fries one day and then start craving it again soon. Before long you are sneaking a snack every now and then when no one is looking...and you slowly fall off the wagon. Most failures aren't cliff drops, they are baby steps. The culmination of those baby steps results in being a few degrees off-course. With the right perspective you can trace the trajectory of where those actions are headed. At that point of perspective you have to decide...am I going to continue this slow slide, or do I, as the great philosopher Barney Fife so aptly stated, "Nip it! Nip it in the bud!"?

James 1:14-15 tells us about sin, "(B)ut each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death." I preached on David and Bathsheba a few weeks ago and referenced this progression found in James. If we can catch ourselves at the point of temptation, or desire, we can keep from allowing ourselves to fall into sin. Desire breeds sin in our lives. My ice cream temptation is no different than your porn issue, or your alcohol problem, or your struggle with gossip. Whatever you struggle with--when the desire hits, recognize it, think about where it will take you, and run away!

For the first time in my life, when at this crossroads, I made the right choice a few weeks ago. I buckled down and went back on the strict phase of the South Beach Diet. So far I've lost back 10 pounds of the weight I gained. I've been running between 17-20 miles each week for the past 3 weeks. I'm back on track, and it feels good. I'm so glad that I buckled down and took care of my problem instead of excusing it away and letting it get worse.

My prayer for you in whatever battle you face, is that God gives you the strength to stop the downgrades before they become landslides. Let's press on together and defeat the sins that drag us down!

The Power of Planning

2010-07-08T14:27:00.003-04:00

I apologize for taking a bit of a break from blogging. Everbody needs to drop the unnecessary things some time just to get a bit of clarity. I'm not one of those guys who feels that he has alot to say. It's what kept me from blogging for a long time. I thought, "Why would anybody want to know what I have to say anyway?" But I've come to realize that it is important to share what is on my heart from time to time for my sake and for yours...but I digress.

What has been on my heart is an upcoming excursion with my wonderful wife, Chrissy. This upcoming Monday we fly out West for a long awaited trip in honor of our 10th wedding anniversary in August. We will fly...without our 3 children (a special thanks goes out to Papa and Nana Duncan for that detail)...to Las Vegas and then on to the Grand Canyon for a few days. We plan on hiking to the bottom of the canyon, spend the night in a lodge there, and hike out the next day. Both she and I have been preparing for this trip for a long time. To be honest, it's one of the reasons I started on my weight loss journey last year. I have spent countless hours on the internet pouring over the details of this trip: from planning our accomodations, to buying hiking equipment, to figuring out our routes. I've also spent countless hours getting ready physically through running and getting used to being out in the heat. It's almost surreal that the time is now here to strike out on this great adventure!

As the time for this trip draws near I know that all of the planning and attention to detail will make the time we share special. Planning is an art that I have learned to appreciate over the recent years. Before, I was one who enjoyed the thrill of doing things "off the cuff." Spontaneity was my preferred M.O. I was the sick0 college student who intentionally waited to write the entire research paper until the night before it was due. It was the thrill of the deadline and the all-nighter buzz that drove me. Now, that kind of mentality drives me crazy. Planning eliminates the potential for problems to arise, which can derail the endeavor...like when I accendentally erased the all nighter paper in the middle of the night and had to start all over again. Planning and details do matter. This week I am preaching on the importance of excellence in the things we attempt for God through the church. When we plan ahead and carry out those plans with excellence we are telling the world that what we are doing matters to us. On the opposite hand, what does it say when we do things for Jesus halfway? I've come to realize that HOW I do things matters just as much as WHAT I do for Jesus. If I can spend so much energy on a measley trip for myself, then surely I can focus that kind of extra attention on things for the Lord. Let's all aim to do things excellently, well-planned, and in advance so we can do our best for our main audience--Christ!

Great Blog Post

2010-06-03T13:32:00.003-04:00

"Third Generation Conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention" by Steve McKinion

I just found this blog from February by a well-respected professor at SEBTS, where I attended. He explains exactly how I feel about the situation of the SBC and the generational divide that exists among the leadership of our churches. Let it be known that I do respect and honor our SBC elder pastors and denominational leaders. I do believe that we all can work together. We just have to be able to embrace the generational diversity that exists as healthy. It takes all kinds of churches and all kinds of leaders to reach all kinds of people. Apologies go out to my blog readers who aren't real interested in the SBC situation right now. As we get ready for the Annual Meeting in 2 weeks, it has caused some real soul searching for me.

Empowering Whose Kingdom?

2010-05-21T10:38:00.003-04:00

This is an article that I submitted to our state denominational paper this morning for consideration. These are my thoughts on the state of our denomination, in light of the Great Commission Resurgence report, which will be voted on at the SBC Annual Meeting in June.

Empowering Whose Kingdom?

I am the product of many Southern Baptist institutions who nurtured my faith. Of all the values instilled in me from my religious education, the most important of those values is the Great Commission. The Great Commission is the bedrock of our denomination, founded some 165 years ago. Our faith forefathers decided it was better to pool our resources to exponentially multiply our effectiveness in spreading the Gospel to the nations. That missions focus, together with our cooperative spirit and doctrinal integrity, is what compelled me to remain a Southern Baptist as many of my ministerial peers decided to align themselves with other faith families. Like many of you, the past few years have been rather strange for me. Like you, I sensed that something was wrong. We all became increasingly aware that we were becoming less effective in reaching our country for Christ. Most of our churches were plateaued or declining. Many of our churches were aging fast, as we failed to reach the next generation for Jesus. There was also an increasing disconnect among us. We began to fight over worship styles, church planting, political activism, and CP percentages. I saw an unhealthy devotion to an outdated set of practices and institutions that was slowly killing us from within. The sinking sense set in that we were on the brink of fostering an ineffective Baptist subculture that resembled the Pharisees of Jesus’ time more than the Acts church. The Great Commission was taking a backseat to petty politics, musical preferences, and generational bickering.

I was greatly encouraged by the clarion call last summer in Louisville to examine ourselves to see what changes needed to be made to make us more effective, aptly named the Great Commission Resurgence. I closely followed the GCR progress through the past year with great anticipation. To me, it was a chance for our convention to analyze ourselves from within and make changes that could greatly impact our collective futures. When the report was released in March, I was initially disappointed because I expected greater wholesale changes. Most of what I saw were token gestures, hinting at bigger changes that really need to happen. What really encouraged me, though, was the renewed emphasis upon fulfilling the Great Commission by prioritizing money toward the IMB and the starting of new churches in the areas of our country yet to be infiltrated with the Gospel. I saw a call back to our 165-year-old purpose, pooling our resources to share the Gospel with the world. Instead of the normal badgering pleads for Southern Baptists to simply give more money as in times past, this report actually called for the realignment of funding structures to support these changes.

What I didn’t expect to see was the groundswell of negativity concerning this report as national, state, and associational leadership rang the bell of alarm. Many of our denominational stalwarts felt threatened by the changes. I have attended a few denominational meetings in recent months to speak and to listen. Many people talk about the GCR changes as if they are a slippery slope to splintering our denomination. They talk about the fear of cuts and the unhealthy competition for funding that is likely to ensue as churches feel more empowered to fund individual entities, circumventing the Cooperative Program. The Cooperative Program is a wonderfully effective way to give, but it is not the only, divinely inspired, way to fund God’s Kingdom work. This method of giving was born more out of pragmatism than biblical inspiration.

I understand it is extremely difficult for large institutions to change because, inevitably, somebody appears to lose. Everybody will not receive the funding they have always received as we realign our priorities because there is a limit to the dollars we all share. All of us will need to sacrifice to make up for the proposed missions focus shift. However, instead of concentrating on what we lose with the proposed changes, I encourage you to think about who wins. Lost people groups who have yet to hear the name of Jesus spoken in their native language win if we can get more missionaries on the field. The great American cultural centers of the Northeast and West win if we can start vibrant churches that reach the millions so distant from God for many generations. The Kingdom would win from the changes, but our smaller kingdoms might have to take a hit.

The statewide theme for many years was “Empowering Kingdom Growth.” It was a call for us to see beyond our own church and denominational dominions to grasp a full vision of God’s movement in the world. It was a call to fight the spiritual nearsightedness to which we naturally gravitate. The question that hit me lately through the ensuing debates is “Whose Kingdom are we really trying to empower?” Our hearts and pocketbooks are closely aligned. Our financial spending highlights our priorities. If our focus is saving our denominational legacy over and above reaching the lost outside of our region of the country and the dark corners of the world, what does that say about our hearts? We say we are Great Commission Christians, but does our spending reflect that heart? I think most Southern Baptists would be disappointed to know how small of a percentage of their Sunday offerings actually support these endeavors. The irony is that we use international missions as the great motivator to spur our people to give their money and then turn around to spend most of it on ourselves. Most of our Sunday offerings stay in-state through local church budgets, the large percentage of CP undesignated funds kept in-state, and regional NAMB partnerships. Pennies on the dollar actually make it overseas and to the unreached North American regions. I know we need to reach our Jerusalem and our Judea, but it should not be where we spend a majority of our mission money. Otherwise, we have an unhealthy fixation on building our own denominational kingdom. I call on all of us to support the GCR this June to reverse our financial focus to the greater Kingdom to come.

In the Garden

2010-05-18T12:00:00.009-04:00

^{Matthew 26}
³⁹Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."
⁴²He went away a second time and prayed, "My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done."
⁴⁴So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.

Over and over in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus offered this request to God. Over and over, I believe, He received the same answer. "There is no other way. You are the Way, my Son." I hear the agony in Jesus' voice as He cried out to His Father. "This cup" is the sum total of God's wrath. There are many references to the devastation of God's wrath being unleashed with the cup imagery. (See Jeremiah 25:14-16 and Revelation 14:9-11 as examples. Not so pretty!) Jesus knew He was going to endure the full weight of humanity's sin and their consequences. The cross was nothing...it was merely the physical death. What He dreaded, yet so obediently endured, was the penalty of your sin and mine. In His heart, Jesus knew there was no other way. He knew the full weight of that punishment greater than anyone. Today, take a moment and ponder the price that Jesus paid for you. Consider the death He willingly died so that you may live.

Romans 8:1-4
¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, ⁴in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

Luke 11: Persistance

2010-05-10T16:30:00.005-04:00

In this passage, we have the "less popular" version of The Lord's Prayer. Most of the time, the unabridged Matthew version is the most popular. Some of you guys may be a little freaked out because the 2 versions are different. Luke leaves out some of what Matthew keeps in his version, but the gist is the same. When you pray: exalt the Lord, focus on His will for your life and not you own, depend upon God for your daily needs, seek forgiveness through repentance, and pray for spiritual protection.
The latter part of this passage is what I want to talk about today. The next story in verses 5-8 has a great lesson we need to hear. In this story, a man has a surprise guest in the middle of the night and needs to feed him. Knowing he has no food, the man pounds on his neighbor's door so he can borrow some food. Because he is a friend and because of his persistance (v.8), the neighbor relents, gets out of bed, and helps the guy out with some bread to share. I love the 2 criteria by which the neighbor decides to act: relationship and persistance.
In other words, he wouldn't have just done this for just anybody. Because they were friends, the neighbor wanted to help him out. Friends have each other's back. Friends look out for the best interest of each other because they are committed to each other. Is God your friend? Do you have an intimate relationship with the Lord as such that when He needs for you to do something you would do it for Him?

"Now wait," you say. "I thought this passage is about God doing what I ask Him to do for me?"

This passage is about just that...but friendship is reciprocal. Most of the time when I think about prayer I think about me asking God to do what I want him to do. I'm just reversing that thought for a second, since friendship is a reciprocal act. Let me ask you again. Since you are a friend of God, would you be willing to do whatever He asks you to do because you trust Him? Jesus speaks here as if the Lord feels that way about us.
The Lord also responds to persistance. The NIV calls it "boldness." Have you quit praying about something because God didn't answer it? Maybe you should consider asking again. God answers all prayers. Sometimes He answers yes, sometimes He answers wait, and sometimes He answers no. But we have to know, based upon verses 9-13, that He answers out of a heart of concern for me. He is my Heavenly Dad and He knows best. Aren't you glad God hasn't granted everything you ever prayed for Him to do? If that were the case, I would be married to someone else. I wouldn't have finished college. I would not be pastoring a church...the list could go on. My life would be dramatically different, for the worse, if God just did everything I asked Him to do simply because I asked Him to do it. That's where the Lord's Prayer fits in. Remember the part in the prayer about "Your Kingdom come." My life is ultimately about ushering in God's Kingdom on this earth. Admittedly, most of my prayers revolve around my kingdom. Prayer is about lining up my heart with my best friend's heart. So pray about your life...pray with persistance...and accept the Lord's answers!

Day 26: Will You Be My Neighbor? - Luke 10

2010-05-07T13:20:00.006-04:00

Many of us will gloss over the story of The Good Samaritan when it comes time to read this assignment. "Oh, I know that one." I've said before. But take a minute and think about the moral of the story. Don't think so much about the details of the plot, the people who walked by, etc. Think about the "big idea" that Jesus is trying to convey. The conversation leading up to this parable is interesting. A pharisee is trying to impress Jesus and the crowds with his question...and Jesus returns volley, closing with the command to love your neighbor as yourself. At the heart of the passage is the pharisee's question as he tries to "justify himself," or save face. Mr. Smarty Pants asks Jesus, "Who is my neighbor?"

In my little world I have a few neighbors. In fact, the closest one lives a quarter of a mile down the road...welcome to country life! If Jesus just means to love those people who live one house in each direction, then that's doable/tolerable/comfortable. But the point of this story is that EVERYBODY is my neighbor. (Cue the Mr. Rogers' theme song here..."Will you be my neighbor?") The gist of the parable is that the most unlikely people are your neighbors. In fact, the people who are the farthest from you socially, racially, and economically should be considered neighbors. He defines that subgroup as "everybody," then reminds you to love them as much as you love yourself. Jesus refers to this as showing "mercy" to them (v.37). When I think of mercy, the perspective of the mercy-giver is a position that is higher than the mercy receiver. A mercy receiver is in need of help. I extend mercy to someone who NEEDS it. That usually means they are in a bad situation, likely lower than my own. So mercy drives our hearts as we extend concern for everybody. This concern should not be in a "well bless his little heart way," but in a way that empathizes and genuinely cares about that person's welfare. So, to narrow it down...or really to broaden it out...love everybody as well as you love yourself with an empathetic heart of concern. Why should we do it? Because Jesus demands it. And it reflects the heart of God, who gave great mercy out of a heart of concern for us.

Great Commission Resurgence

2010-05-03T10:00:00.004-04:00

I want to take a break from the 40 Days with Jesus blog today to highlight, what I believe, is an important issue for all of us. Let me start by affirming this, I am proud to be a Southern Baptist. I choose to remain a Southern Baptist, not because I of my heritage or my job, but because I feel that we are one of the most doctrinally and missionally sound denominations in the world. God is using our denomination, and will continue to use the SBC, as long as we remain true to the task to which He has called us. That task is the Great Commission...to go into all the world and make disciples. It is cool to think that when you give each Sunday at Good Hope you are supporting the largest mission sending agency in the world.

Having said all of that, I do affirm what other leaders within our Convention have been sensing for a while now. As good as the SBC is, there is room for improvement and refocus. Just like any other institution with age, there is a wonderful litany of programs and initiatives that we have taken on. The problem is that, with time, that litany continues to grow. Most organizations gravitate toward complexity and doing more stuff...we usually don't have a mechanism that evaluates and says "no" to ineffective or superfluous things. Churches are guilty of this, too. That's why I am huge fan of the book Simple Church by Geiger and Rainer. Please read this book, if you've never read it. I have 2 copies in my office if you'd like to borrow one! We have to define our priorities as an organization...those 3 or 4 things that we really want to do well...and then focus all of our effort and resources into those initiatives. If we don't, we'll turn inward and spend all of our energy and resources on maintaining the bloated institution we've created!

Last year at the Southern Baptist Convention we voted to form a task force to evaluate our entire convention to see what needed to change. Their report came out today. Their inquiry and consequent findings have been associated with the movement called "The Great Commission Resurgence." I will be in Orlando at the convention this summer to vote in favor of the changes they recommend. Honestly, I think this is just the beginning of the changes that need to be made...but you have to start somewhere! I encourage all of you to read over this report, watch the video, and process the changes recommended. Let me know if you have any questions. I would love to help you understand what we are trying to do to make the SBC a viable strong arm for the Lord in reaching the world for Jesus!

The report can be found here .

Day 19: Increase our faith!

2010-04-29T22:51:00.002-04:00

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" - Luke 17:5

What an honest plea here! Jesus had just given a difficult teaching. He challenged them to live a strict regimen that included a clean public testimony and forgiving people who repeatedly sin against you. The life that Jesus demanded was impossible within one's own efforts alone. It's as if the disciples were saying, "That kind of life takes supernatural power to live out, Jesus. Help us!" I've always considered faith to be one of self-determination. In other words, my faith is my capacity to trust and believe this Jesus and His teachings. The disciples' plea here is an appeal for Jesus to give them more faith as if it were something He personally could deliver- faith as an entity. To me, this is good news. If that is the case, then I want more faith, too. I want the ability to trust and obey Jesus. Jesus, help me not to depend so much on my ability and what I can do...but to ultimately have confidence in what You have done on my behalf. Increase my faith so I can be bold for you. Increase my faith so that fear doesn't determine whether or not I move forward. Give me more!

Day 11: How Not to Pray for Your Enemies

2010-04-21T22:38:00.003-04:00

We had a good time unpacking Luke 6 at Coffee House on Wednesday night. I don't know about you, but I felt really challenged about how I should treat my enemies. Jesus' words really struck a chord with many of you. Loving our enemies...bless those who curse you...pray for those who mistreat you. The Holtzclaw's told me about this song after our study and I couldn't resist posting it for your enjoyment. Remember, this is NOT how to pray for your enemies!!!

Day 9: The Plain Truth

2010-04-20T15:57:00.005-04:00

This passage, often referred to as the Sermon on the Plain, sounds very similar to Jesus' Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5-7. The glaring differences are three-fold to me:

#1) It was delievered from the flat ground, and not on a hill.

#2) This is much shorter...more simple...more direct...more "plain" :)

#3) Jesus not only gives the "Blessed" statements, but He also gives "Woes" to their counterparts. Check out the woes and really take some personal inventory today.

Take a really close look at the "plain truth" (sorry...2 plain jokes in 1 blog) in verse 35.

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. - Luke 6:35

The life of the Christ follower is one of self-examination and discipline...2 words that turn most people away. In this verse Jesus probes deep into the heart level of why you do what you do. If I want to be like Christ, then I have to treat people the way Jesus treated people...even His enemies. Who are your enemies? You might say, "Well, I don't hate anyone." But down deep somewhere there is someone, or a group of "someones" you don't like...or you don't gee-hah with...or who has hurt you. That person is your enemy. You don't like them. They are not like you.

Jesus is a radical. He tells you to do the thing that is opposite of how you probably would act on your own. He says to respond to them with goodness. Why should you do this? Because your Jesus showed His enemies great goodness. Have you ever considered that before you gave your life to Christ that you were an enemy of God? Check out Romans 5:9-11 for further explanation. We were reconciled to God through Jesus. Only enemies need reconciliation. At one time I stood as an enemy of God by my rebellion. I chose to spit in God's face and do things my way, denying the sovereignty of the Master of the Universe. So, if God can love His enemies, shouldn't we?! Decide today to love them for Christ's sake.

Day 7: Calling the Disciples

2010-04-19T11:47:00.007-04:00

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. - Luke 5:4-6

Peter and his professional fishing partners had been fishing all night with no luck. Honestly, I've been fishing quite a few times and I've never experienced the exhileration of when "they're really bitin'"...so I know how they feel. Unlike me, these guys knew what they were doing. This was their job. They knew this sea like the backs of their hands. They knew the hot spots and the honey holes. They did everything right that night. The fish "just weren't bitin'."

So along comes Jesus, the carpenter/traveling rabbi, who pops in and takes command of operations. If I was Peter, I would have been thinking, "Who does this carpenter think he is?! I've been out here all night long and, from what I can tell, it's just a bad fishing day." The other funny part is that Jesus told them to throw their nets in the deep water. Real fishermen knew that you only throw your nets into the shallow waters. What was this guy thinking?! Despite their reservations they obey what the carpenter says to do and they get overwhelmed with the results. Lesson learned. I can do things my own way, from my own limited (albeit knowledgable) perspective. But if I'm not being obedient to the Carpenter, it is utterly futile. How many times have I pridefully continued to do it my way, ignoring Jesus' advice, and totally missed the big catch He had waiting for me?! But I know what I'm doing, right!?

Day 5: A Hero's Welcome

2010-04-16T09:33:00.007-04:00

"All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." - Luke 4:28-30

Nazareth was a really, really small town...maybe a few hundred people. Many of you are from small towns. Living in a small town is definitely interesting because everybody knows everybody's business. We know family histories, triumphs, and troubles. Rumors fly and whispers get passed around. Jesus was already the talk of Nazareth...you know...Mary's son, the one who claimed that God impregnated her and who married the carpenter Joseph (v.22). That guy. And now he has the audacity to walk into their synagogue and basically claim that he is the fulfillment of the messanic prophecies (v.21).
Most communities are supportive of their bright, up-and-coming youth. I love to see it when a small town prodigy emerges and everyone rallies around that person. It's what endeared me to the show American Idol when it was first broadcast back in 2002. When Kelly Clarkson won, her entire town showed up for a huge parade with great fanfare. She was the champion of Burleson, TX who made it big. Compare that reception to Jesus' neighbors! We all love to see someone rise from humble beginnings to make it big.
I wonder sometimes how I would have reacted to what Jesus said and did if I was an average Joe living in and around Nazareth or Jerusalem. Would I have been so quick to believe that this guy who I watched grow up in my town be who he claimed to be? Surely, God wouldn't use somebody from pittely ol' Nazareth to do something that great. (Read John 1:45-46!) Aren't you glad that God uses small town, out-of-the-way people and no-name regular Joe's to do His work!? Let's not discount where we are from, or who we are, as being useless to the Lord. And let's not be so blinded by our prejudices and sensibilities that we miss Jesus completely when He shows up at our church!

Day 4: The Woman at the Well

2010-04-15T17:44:00.005-04:00

The Samaritan woman said to him, "You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?" (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) -John 4:9

I'm preaching from this passage on Sunday...and can't wait! This is definitely on my short list of favorite all-time stories. Just a thought about this verse. The racial divide in Jesus' time was much like the racial landscape of the segregated South, if not worse. Jews and Samaritans did not associate with one another. In fact, Samaritans were considered second class people. The very fact that Jesus was willing to talk to this lady in public startled her. Aren't you glad Jesus is willing to associate with people who don't deserve it?! (like me and you) Come to think of it, there is not one reason why Jesus should have anything to do with me. My ways, my heart, my intentions are so awry many times. And yet He chose to stop, consider me, and value my life. I'm glad He took the time to reach down and give me a sip of living water.
Just like Jesus, we have to be willing to cross man-made barriers that keep us sequestered from people not like us. Who are your Samaritans? Who are the people who are scary, or dirty, or different that make you uncomfortable? These might be the very people to whom Christ sends you. And you would miss out on the blessings if you don't do it. Jesus' compassion rocked this lady's world. I pray our compassion does, too.

Day 2: Matthew 4:1-17

2010-04-13T17:14:00.000-04:00

Matthew 4
• It is comforting to me that our Lord had to withstand temptation as well. He did walk a mile in my shoes…and He kicked Satan right in the teeth through it.
• (v.1) “The Spirit led Jesus into the desert”…God uses temptation to make us stronger. God doesn’t tempt us, but He can use Satan’s schemes to toughen us and taunt the Evil One.
• Jesus endured the common temptations we all face: lust of the flesh, lust of pride, and lust of power.
• (v.11) I love how simply it reads. When you resist Satan he has to flee. When you resist Satan angels are there to attend to you and restore your strength.
• Jesus’ first recorded sermon: “REPENT!” (v. 17) Why? Because the Kingdom is near: Sounds like immediacy and urgency, for all who heard the sermon from Sunday.

40 Days Reflections- Matthew 3

2010-04-12T13:17:00.003-04:00

As we do the 40 Days of Jesus readings together, I just thought I’d put down some bullet points about some of the passages each week. I’d love to hear what you are learning as well! Please fill me in on the Comments section below!

Matthew 3
• Throughout this passage, I am reminded of what truly following Jesus is about. Take a look at the verbs used in this passage that described the new disciple’s actions and John the Baptist’s message to the Pharisees: Repent (v. 2), make straight paths (live righteously) (v. 3), confessing their sins (v.6), being baptized (v.6), produce fruit (good deeds) (v. 8), being filled with the Spirit (v.11).
• Sounds like our message today, eh?
• Repent and obey…sounds so simple, yet so hard to follow through.
• Jesus talks about “fulfilling all righteousness” by being baptized (v.15): public profession of your faith is extremely important! If Jesus thought it was a big deal, maybe we should too!!!
• Jesus didn’t have to repent, He was sinless…and yet He considered it important to submit Himself to someone else. Humility always characterizes a good leader.
• The end of Chapter 3 is one of the few times that we have all 3 members of the Trinity represented at the same time….so cool.

Welcome to Super Bowl Week!!!

2010-03-31T13:55:00.002-04:00

I know some of you will read the title and think the pastor is going out of his mind. If you are a football aficionado like myself, you know the Super Bowl is over and done. The Super Bowl is the pinnacle for football fanatics like myself...just like the opening of your favorite hunting season (attention turkey hunters---just a few days)...or the Masters, for your golfers. There is that One Day that is the epitome of experiences for your respective passion. For passionate Christians, our "Super Bowl" ought to be Easter. I know, some of you really, really love Christmas. It's a close second. I mean, you can't go to Myrtle Beach and shop at a year-round Easter store! We know what most people think is the most important holiday. What happened on Easter, though, is the reason we exist. Granted, you can't have Easter without Christmas...but you can't have eternal life without Easter. It's the pivotal event of all human history. So it should be the biggest celebration of the year! Our hearts should beat a little faster and our minds should race when we think of it. Take a moment and ponder what the Resurrection means for you. Jesus' resurrection was the fatal blow that destroyed Satan. Easter morning is the exclamation point on the end of God's redemptive plan for humanity. We echo Paul's thoughts in I Corinthians 15:54-55 on this day, "Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The one thing all people universally dread has been nullified, emptied, and deemed impotent by the One who conquered death on this day. For believers, death is just a doorway that ushers into eternal life with our resurrected savior. Death actually initiates what we will come to know as "real living" for eternity to come. When Jesus burst out of the tomb some 2,000 years ago He illustrated what we should expect will happen with us. He is the first of many who will explode out of the tomb in power. So, yes, we do have something to celebrate on Easter. The whistle is blowing, it's time for kick-off. The crowd is jumping up and down as "Zombie Nation" pulsates over the intercom. Let's celebrate this Sunday like it's supposed to be done! Who's in!?!

How I Feel Today...

2010-03-15T14:51:00.006-04:00

As with any job, some days are just plain better than others in ministry. Sadly, I find myself more or less motivated than other days...yes, I am human and not a cyborg. :) Yesterday was a perfect day in terms of ministry and church life. We had a great service in the morning. There were new faces in the crowd and people responded to the word. It was so cool to see new families that I met through the week actually visit with us and enjoy their experience. I got to preach on the cross...which never gets old! That afternoon I got to play a great game of ultimate frisbee with a group of young Good Hopers who braved the cold and the wind to play. It was a great time to hang out and catch up with some of our young people. It's fun being their pastor, too. I then turned my attention to pulling off our first, but definitely not last, Night of Worship. It was refreshing to see the level of engagement in the service. The band did a great job leading us. In the midst of that wild schedule I got to share both lunch and dinner with some young couples from our church. It was a busy, but fun day...which probably explains why I feel like I got pancaked by Julius Peppers today! I made myself hit the pavement this morning and churn out a few miles before coming in to work, which felt great. My new smaller pants are getting a little snug and I've got to get back on the workout/stricter diet plan to drop a few pounds as I head into the Spring. My children are all healthy. Brooke has started to walk, which makes me beam. She is a complete joy. I love my wonderful wife, a wonderful advisor and friend. Life is just good and balanced right now. I feel whole and healthy in most every way imaginable. Life is good. Thank you Lord for my job, my family, and my life. I delight in You and the life with which you've blessed me.

Isaiah 55:1-2
Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

Laughing at God

2010-02-09T15:04:00.016-05:00

To see the lyrics to this song, click here.

Music is one of my heart languages. To me, there is nothing like a well-crafted song to deliver truth because it affects both our minds and our emotions. I discovered a song today that really struck a chord with me…no pun intended. J Regina Spektor is neither a scholar nor a theologian, but she is a master poet. I don’t endorse everything she sings about, but some of her songs are wonderfully inspiring. In the song I’ve uploaded for you here, she laments the fact that our culture has lost a high view of God. If you think about it, most references to God around us usually involve curses, crude satire, or silly caricatures. The same treatment is reserved for other deep issues in our culture: spirituality, sexuality, and relationships. (Just watch the Comedy Network and notice the subject matter!) We've lost the ability to deal with such heavy issues because it makes many of us uncomfortable. We mock the serious, mysterious aspects of life because we don’t quite know how to handle the gravity that accompanies them. These subjects are difficult work to unpack and analyze internally…so we slough it off and laugh. Spektor has a way of punching that thought straight in gut. When times get serious…when we get hurt…when the future seems uncertain…no one laughs about God then. When the chips are down, who is really laughing then? Trust Him!

Psalm 62:5-8

⁵ Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from him.

⁶ He alone is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, O people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

Why Churches Plateau

2010-01-28T15:21:00.006-05:00

My friend, Rob Tims, is the pastor at Lake Murray Baptist Church in Columbia. He had a thought-provoking post on his blog today that I want all of us to consider. Are there any of these signs prevalent in our church? Let's all commit to make sure these attitudes don't pervade us, as a church or as individuals!

Click here to read his post!

Celebrate the Baby Steps

2009-12-30T11:58:00.008-05:00

I've heard the definition of leadership is taking a group from "where they are" to "where they need to be." Vision is knowing "where they need to be." When God puts that in your heart, you desperately want to be there NOW....not months or years from now.....RIGHT NOW! There is a fire in your belly to see it through to completion. There is so much that needs to be done to get there, which can be completely paralyzing because the goal seems so far away. So how do you keep from getting paralyzed by the distance between "where you are" and "where you need to be"?

Here's my secret: Instead of getting mired down in the frustration of what is not happening yet, I have to celebrate the small steps we are taking in the right direction. There have been way too many times I did not celebrate the little victories because I was so frustrated with not being at the final destination yet. To keep the frustration from dominating my mind, I choose to focus on those little steps toward "where we need to be." The funny part is that most people don't see those baby steps. They don't pat you on the back in recognition of the of those positive forward nudges. Many times, people who follow you even question why you're doing what you are doing. As long as you have a clear picture of where it needs to be, the path toward the goal becomes more obvious. Just follow the path. Take the next step...however small it is....and celebrate the fact that you're not going backward or stagnating, as so many do. Remember, you won't know if those baby steps are victories unless you have the final destination in mind. So we can't ever forget where the final destination should be! Don't beat yourself up for not being there yet...just know you're getting there!

"Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the LORD's purpose that prevails." -Proverbs 19:21

Book Recommendation

2009-12-22T23:36:00.006-05:00

There are a few national pastors that I enjoy following by reading their blogs, reading their books, and listening to their messages every now and then. Mark Batterson, the pastor of the National Community Church in Washington, DC is one of those thinkers who constantly challenges me. When I was given the chance to preview his new book, Primal, before it's nationwide release I jumped at the chance. Primal is a call to rediscover the love for God that has been diluted, convoluted, and distorted by our modern lens. My first, of many, highlighted quotes is from page 3, "I couldn't help but wonder if we have accepted a form of Christianity that is more educated but less powerful, more civilized but less comapssionate, more acceptable but less authentic than that which our spiritual ancestors practiced."

Batterson calls on believers to rediscover what it means to love God with your heart, soul, mind and spirit...what he terms as "compassion, wonder, curiosity, and energy" as the answer to rekindling this lost Christianity of our culture. This book is chocked to the hilt with many illustrations from science (my favorites), pop culture, and literature to show the wonder that we need to rediscover. The result is a clear challenge for all of us to bust out of the modern mediocrity miring us down. The title reveals the heart of this challenge: getting back to the heart of our faith by being awed at the wonder of the God we serve, His work around us, and the Word He gave us. I highly recommend this book as a jumpstart to your new year!

You can purchase it directly from the publishers here.

Update on Matt Chandler

2009-12-16T22:13:00.003-05:00

Here is the link to the update shared on Matt Chandler's church website. I wish there was better news to post, but I firmly believe that God is in control.

http://fm.thevillagechurch.net/blog/pastors/?p=453

Apparently, the brain tumor is malignant. Please join with me in praying for Matt's healing and for his family as they go through this difficult time.

Matt Chandler- One of my heroes...

2009-12-07T15:55:00.007-05:00

Over the past few years I have been greatly inspired by Matt Chandler, who pastors the Village Church near Dallas, Texas. He's one of those clarion voices in the American church landscape sounding the call for clear biblical preaching and progressive methodology. Recently, at the age of 35, he was diagnosed rather abruptly with a brain tumor. Within a week he was scheduled to have the tumor removed. The video below was a message he recorded just days before his surgery for his congregation to watch in his absence. As I watched the video I kept thinking about the Steve Fee song we do often here at Good Hope, "Glory to God. Glory to God. Glory to God forever!" It is so easy to praise God when everything is smooth and going our way. My prayer is that each of us will see every circumstance, good and bad, as opportunities to echo back praise to God for His goodness through it all! Consequently, the surgery went well and Chandler is recovering in the hospital. They await tests of the biopsy some time this week. Keep him in your prayers!

Here's the link to the video:

http://hv.thevillagechurch.net/blog/hvpastor/

Rain, rain fall away!

2009-10-14T09:23:00.005-04:00

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day. It's yet another rainy day. Many of you find yourself complaining about a dreary, cold day like today. When that feeling hits you, remind yourself of how dry it was this past summer. We would have begged for this kind of rain back in July. I promised God this past summer during the big drought that I would never grumble about the rain ever again. Rain is a blessing from God. In fact, the Scriptures describe rain as a powerful instrument God uses to get our attention.

God's control of the rain is a sign of God's power and stregth. Remember the last huge thunder clap that made you jump, or the helplessness you felt looking out at your brown yard this summer? "God's voice thunders in marvelous ways; he does great things beyond our understanding. He says to the snow, 'Fall on the earth,' and to the rain shower, 'Be a mighty downpour.' So that all men he has made may know his work, he stops every man from his labor." (Job 37:5-7) The fact that God provides rain for us is amazing when you think about what we deserve. The older I get the more I realize that I don't deserve anything good from God. My heart is deceitful and dark. God allowing the sun to shine on me, or the rain to fall around me, just illustrates His patience and mercy toward me. I was God's enemy, and yet He chose to save me, adopt me into His family, shower me with love, and make me His son.

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:43-48). So, God provides the sun and the rain on those who deserve it and those who don't deserve it. He gives us more than we need, and yet we complain when He sends the rain. As the rain falls today, remember God's favor on you and breathe a prayer of thanksgiving. Rain really is a beautiful thing...

Keeping off the Weight

2009-09-16T12:52:00.005-04:00

I've been on a weight loss journey since January that now finds me 50 pounds lighter and feeling better than I have in many years. This weight loss journey is now in the "weight management" phase, as I have met my goal. I seriously think that losing the weight was the easy part. Keeping the weight off requires constant effort and attention. Here are the lessons I'm learning about keeping the weight off:

1) Fight boredom. I lost a lot of the weight by eating a steady diet of the same entrees just about every week. Some of them I ate every day. For example, I have now eaten approximately 200 western omelets since the end of January. That's a lot of eggs! The food I ate was appetizing....the first 8 months of the diet....but now I'm starting to actually be repulsed by the very things I craved while on the strict phase. I've had to tweak my meals and find new healthy alternatives for foods that I crave. This takes extra effort to plan and cook, but it's worth it.

2) Don't beat yourself up when you slip. I ate 2 oatmeal raisin cookies this week in a moment of weakness and literally felt sick with guilt and the sugar high. I never knew cookies could give you that kind of headache! I confessed it to my wife. I also woke up the next morning and went back to the diet. You will slip up sometimes. Sometimes, you even need to cheat just to enjoy rich foods occasionally. The key is get back on the saddle and continue. Let the slip-ups be the exception, and not the norm.

3) Quit weighing yourself so much! I now check my weight every 2 weeks or so. I was checking every day for a time and had to stop. I was getting fixated on the day to day fluctuation of my weight. I do not want to get consumed with my weight to the point that it paralyzes me. If I gain a pound here or there, I will just modify for a short time until I get back to my target weight. If I am not careful, I will let this area rule over me. I've had to battle being prideful and more concerned about my appearance as the weight has come off. Keeping track every day only feeds that pride in me.

I am still glad that I was able to lose the weight. Now, the real challenge begins. This diet can't be a passing fad that I tried. It must be a lifestyle of discipline. What this boils down to for me is maintaining self-discipline and focus.

The Heart

2009-08-19T10:15:00.009-04:00

I was just reading this week in I Samuel 16, where the young boy David is annointed king of Israel. If you'll remember, David was the scrawny kid who didn't even get asked to meet with Samuel when Jesse was asked to present his sons for kingly consideration. In fact, David was sent out to watch sheep while Samuel was judging the other guys. The oldest, tallest, and most athletic son, Eliab, passed the prophet and Samuel thought to himself that surely this was the Lord's annointed. (I thought, "Hello! Didn't he learn that lesson from the Saul situation!") At that moment, God corrects Samuel's misguided criteria in verse 7. "But the LORD said to Samuel, `Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'"

Being a rather short man, my first reaction to reading this statement was to smile! YES! God doesn't care about who looks like a leader. (Think about most high school football quarterbacks :) Most look like Abercrombie models....AKA: my polar opposite.) I once got to meet the leadership of a nationally prominent church and was intimidated by their towering height. I literally was looking up to them, as these 2 pastors are over 6' 3" easy. I felt like a little kid standing next to them.

So I was relieved that God doesn't care about my vertical challenges.

But then I got to thinking. Do I really want God to make my heart the criterion for whether or not He uses me? You can engineer all kinds of external changes to what man looks at (makeovers, diets, clothing updates...or even elevator shoes). At that moment I had to do a heart check. Is my heart qualified to lead? Are my desires and passions positioned in the right direction so God can use me? I had to pray David's words from Psalm 139:23-24 and soul search a bit, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." I had some confessing to do...a heart check. I advise you to take some time today to take a heart inventory as well. Can God use you, based upon your affections, devotion, thoughts, and attitude?

Mission Trip Reflection

2009-07-25T09:43:00.002-04:00

We had a wonderful trip to Bluffton, S.C. this past week to help a new church plant there, Crosspoint Church-Bluffton. Our days were usually split into a morning and an evening segment, as far as work. Every night, we put on a Vacation Bible School for Crosspoint and a sister church in the area in a borrowed facility. During the morning ministry time we did some nursing home ministry and an outreach at a local Boys and Girls Club...the highlight of the week for me! I learned a few interesting things about our team and about the work to be done in Bluffton that I thought I would pass on to you:

-Beaufort County is the most unreached county in South Carolina, with only 9% of its population considering themselves to be Evangelical Christians. Wow.

-Many of the residents we met this week were transplants from up north...and I don't mean North Carolina! In our conversations with residents at 2 nursing homes, we determined that about 90% of them were from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut. Who woulda' thunk that?! Come to think of it, I only met a handful of people who were actually from Bluffton. That being said, there are many people who have little exposure to Evangelical Christianity.

-The population of Beaufort County is expected to double in the coming 3 decades....a little boom town! There were subdivisions popping up everywhere...and strip malls...and lots of road expansion. You could tell that this area is getting ready to explode with people!

-When you think of the general Hilton Head area, you usually think of very wealthy people. However, it takes many, many "regular" people just to keep things going there (retail, business owners, construction work, etc.)

Having said all of that, there is much work to be done in this area. I'm glad we partnered with Crosspoint this week and hope to continue supporting their work. I was so proud of our Good Hope mission team. All in all, 20 people went with us on this trip. Each one of them worked very hard, and with very little complaining. They did what was asked of them and beyond! I had a blast getting to hang out with this group.

-We have some men who would intimidate grizzly bears with their snoring, no lie. I have never slept with ear plugs...until this week! Thanks Jesus for inventing ear plugs.

-Danny Owens is a cooking machine. We ate well.

-We had a few children who went with us and they were great assets to the ministry, especially the nursing homes and the VBS. Great job kiddos!

-The teens/college students who went with us really made me proud with their effort. Whoever out there who has lost faith in teenagers just don't know the good ones!

-The construction crew were real troopers: lugging it 50 minutes each way to get to the site each day and completing everything they were asked to do!

-Jody, Michelle, Tim, Justin and the other adult leaders did a great job of ministering to the kids at VBS. I couldn't have asked for better quality in preparation and effort.

As I said, the trip was a great success. If you're a Good Hoper, I hope you consider going to Bluffton with us the next time we get a trip together. See you Sunday!

SBC Reflections

2009-07-03T10:19:00.004-04:00

The Southern Baptist Convention was a wonderful experience for me a few weeks ago. It reignited a passion in my heart for both the Great Commission and my denomination. Of course, there are always knuckleheads in every large meeting who try to make weird resolutions...like the weird guy from New York in a bad toupee who made the resolution for our seminary professors to stop teaching that the world was coming to an end in May 2011...and the Mark Driscoll bashers who want to incite friendly fire on a strong brother who is on our own team. But, on the whole, the experience was positive and uplifting. The highlight of the Convention for me was the SBC Pastor's Conference. For some of you this might be considered torture...but to me it was absolute delight. For an entire day...all day long...I got to sit under powerful preaching from some of the leading voices in our denomination and beyond. My dad and I were literally sitting on the front row directly in front of the podium. The experience was like trying to get a sip of water from a gushing fire hydrant! The most awesome experience, to me, was David Platt's message on the state of the Church today. I highly encourage you to follow the link below to the video and watch. It might be the most impacting 35 minutes you'll ever spend. The Brother started off his message by quoting from the Psalms for a really long time...completely awesome! I watched it again 2 nights ago just because I needed to hear it again. If I'm ever sick and can't preach, Good Hopers will be watching this video message in my place.

For a video link to David Platt's message, click on the link below:

http://www.keithsewell.net/?p=121

With all of the good things, there was also some discouraging news that requires action from each of us. The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering is a special SBC offering that all churches in our denomination take up to support our international mission efforts. There was a 30 million dollar shortfall this past December, severely crippling the IMB from sending out new missionaries. We were told there are 2,000 missionaries who are "in the pipeline" to be sent out. Many of them have sold their homes, gone to school, and are waiting to be sent. At the present time, we can only send 300 of them to the field due to the budget shortfall. I am joining with other SBC pastors in calling for a "Christmas in August" special offering to make up for this shortfall. Good Hoper's, please be in prayer and prepare to give sacrificially so we can provide for our missionaries who are depending upon us for the resources to "go and tell." We can't let these guys down!!!

SERVE: Summer Missions

2009-06-05T15:24:00.005-04:00

Summer is here! Can you believe it? It snuck up on me before I even knew it. Summer is a great time at Good Hope: VBS, the churchwide family campout at Hartwell, outdoor Home Group meetings, and church fellowships involving ice cream :) usally make for some great times in our summer calendar. We also like to spend quite a bit of time doing some kind of recreation or trips with our families. You deserve it and should relax a bit.
Having said that, I want you to also consider how you can use your summer to impact the world for the Gospel. I want you to experience the JOY of serving others in the name of Jesus. Hopefully your Home Group is carrying out an outreach for the "I (Heart) L.A." campaign in the coming weeks. Our Home Group is distributing bread tomorrow to some apartment complexes and trailer parks in the hope of sharing the Good News. Good Hope is offering some great opportunities to serve others and share the Gospel in the coming weeks. You'll never regret reaching out! There are a couple of mission opportunities available that I you want you to check out:

1) Vacation Bible School is a great outreach for our church. There will be many children and families from our community who will be on our campus that need to see we care. We have a real opportunity to reach these families for Jesus this week. You might not be a "children's ministry worker," but you might can help with crowd control or engaging parents as they drop off their kids each night. VBS starts this Sunday and runs through Thursday night. If you can help and haven't contacted Jody Slice, then jump in now and help out with this awesome outreach.

2) Backyard Bible Club is a little pet project that Sierra Sevy is coordinating this summer. Our plan is to do a weekly Bible club for a couple of hours in one of the local apartment complexes in Iva. She'll be doing this program the last 2 weeks of July and the first 2 weeks of August on Tuesdays. Let her know if you can help prepare lunches, lead/play games with kids, help with crafts, or teach Bible stories.

3) The Bluffton Mission Trip is an opportunity for you to help a new church plant in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. Our goal is to help Crosspoint Church in Bluffton do a jam up VBS. We'll need people to lead the various VBS stations: craft, snack, Bible lesson, and games. We also need some cooks to help us prepare the meals for the team and some skilled labor to help renovate a homeless shelter nearby. The dates for this trip are July 19-25 and the cost is about $100. Contact me if you're interested in this trip. Did I mention that Bluffton is one town over from Hilton Head? Come suffer for Jesus at the beach with me...

4) Our Firstfruits Ministry is getting off the ground. Beverly Arthur has been working to make this food pantry ministry a reality. We need perishable and non-perishable items to give away. (Remember to bring in those fruits and vegetables from your garden so we can give them away this summer!) We also need helpers to keep things organized and to walk clients through the process when they come on our distribution Sundays.

I know you can't do all of these things...but you can do something! Make sure you use your summer to make a difference for the Kingdom of God. You'll never regret serving others!

Basketball just isn't my thing...

2009-05-07T22:25:00.006-04:00

I just got back from playing basketball with some of the guys from church. We do this on the first Thursdays of every month. Every time I go I realize just how bad I am at basketball. I'm short. I have poor aim. I try way too hard to make creative passes. In fact tonight I single-handedly blew a 6-4 lead by passing the ball to the opposing team 3 times in a row and then completely missing shots when I had the chance to shoot. We lost the game: 10-6.

I only played organized basketball for one season in 5th grade. I had 2 points the entire season. The coach was my neighbor and he would let me play the last 2 minutes of each game out of the kindness of his heart. Jim Goodman was a merciful coach. He pitied me. I say all of this to reiterate that my basketball game stinks...and that's okay. I'm not good at basketball... but I'm pretty good at other things:

I take really good pictures...lots of practice now with 3 kids.
I can relate with most people pretty well.
I usually can come up with some good ideas.
I'm a good dad to my kids.
I can run 3 miles now without feeling like I'm going to pass out or die.

Like I said, I've got some things I can do well. That's the way God made me. He did not make me to be an NBA player. The key is to know what I do well, what I was made to do, and then do those things to the best of my abilities. It'd be ridiculous for me to spend hours on the court trying to better my basketball game when I know that I'll never be that good at it. I need to work on my strengths and make those the best they can be instead of focusing on my weaknesses. Most of us try way too hard to make our weaknesses stronger when, at best, with lots of attention and training, all they'll be is mediocre. Meanwhile I'll have taken too much precious attention away from my strengths. Even my strengths suffer when I'm focusing on my weaknesses. Find out what you're good at and work hard there.

I think this thought can transfer to many areas of personal and organizational philosophy. As churches, we sometimes try way too hard to do many things when there a few things that we're made to do. We need to spend our precious resources (time, people, facilities, energy, and money) to do those things we were made to do and be. It's difficult to not spend energy on those areas/ministries/programs that will only be mediocre, at best, with lots and lots of attention. But sometimes we just have to eliminate our weaknesses in order to really focus on the few strengths that will help us grow. If we can get to that sweet spot as an organization, where our strengths are really humming, then we'll soar. Otherwise, we'll waste lots and lots of energy trying to maintain and improve the many mediocre things we feel that we have to maintain. Let's pick a few things and do them excellently!

Everything is spiritual.

2009-04-26T22:57:00.004-04:00

Words cannot describe the kind of week I have had. It has been a week of extremes.

Joy and sadness. Exhileration and despair. Good news and horrible news. Confrontation and avoidance. Progress and regression.

All of this occurred while adjusting to 3 children and striking that fine balance between work and home. Some weeks are just crazy! Looking back on what I've been through this week reminds me even more that I am engaged in spiritual warfare. My tendency is to get caught up in the urgency of the immediate...solving the problems, fixing stuff, when in reality the surface problems are just fronts for the real spiritual battles behind the scenes.

Paul reminded us of our real war in Ephesians 6:10-13 when he wrote: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand."

Everything is spiritual. The physical world in which we live is just a facade of the superstructure of spiritual activity around us. It is very easy to look at everything through physical eyes...when someone hurts you....or when things don't go as you planned....or (as what really happened to me at 11:30 last night) your laptop dies just as you are finishing your Sunday message manuscript and you have to start over again. When this happens, I take a deep breath, say a prayer, and remind myself that my battle is not with people, calendars, personal agendas, or computers. My battle is against Satan himself. Satan hates me and my work. He hates my church. He hates the fact that I have a great life and that I love my family. He so desperately wants to subvert the work of God in my life that he will do whatever he can to distract me and throw me off course.

Satan has this crazy way of orchestrating things to happen around us that affect us without us ever giving him credit. He wants you to get mad at people, and agendas, and computers. He wants you to get so wrapped up in the surface world that the spiritual realm never enters your mind. So remember, the next time something happens...it's not just physical. Consider the devil and his schemes...and stand your ground. Remember that greater is the force within you than that which is in the world! (I John 4:4)

Change

2009-04-22T10:17:00.005-04:00

I've been thinking alot about change lately. Our family has really changed over the past few weeks with the new addition. Our family has had to make major adjustments to accomodate our sweet Baby Brooke. We hope to bring her to church this Sunday...be prepared to get a squirt of hand sanitizer before you touch her, though. She's fragile and it's still "sick season."

Our church is also changing and adjusting, which has been a fun ride. It seems that "change" is in the DNA of Good Hope. I'm very thankful for the previous pastor who ushered in new changes way before I got here. He helped to establish a culture of change. The expectation of our people is that we can't be happy where we are. Many churches resist change as if it were inherently evil. Most of it stems from the fear of the unknown. After all, change brings about different results than what has always happened. Those results might be good and they might be bad..but they are unpredictable at first. This unpredictability scares people. Ironically, most change brings with it a new set of problems with which to deal.

This brings to light a question: Why do you change?

I'm glad you asked it. :) You must change in order to solve problems. If you have problems and you don't make adjustments, then you will perpetuate those problems. There are many churches who have problems, but refuse to make the necessary changes that will solve those problems. The answer, for many of them, is to work harder at the things they've always done or to get new people to lead the things they've always done. The answer is usually not in effort or personnel. The answer is usually in "how" you do things. "How" is always a harder issue to tackle than effort and personnel. I've heard someone say that the definition of insanity is doing what you've always done and expecting different results. I never want to get caught up in the trap of perpetuating ineffective things just because we've always done them that way.

Here are 4 thoughts about changes in church life that I came up with the other day:

1) As a Church, we can never feel that we have arrived.
The minute we get comfortable and rest is the minute we start to die. It’s called atrophy.

2) As a Church, we can never feel we have a handle on how to “do church.”
The minute we stop being innovative is the minute we start to become irrelevant.

3) As a Church, we cannot do what we’ve always done and expect different results.
The minute we do something because “we’ve always done it that way” is the minute we start creating idols out of our traditions.

4) Change is not easy, but it is necessary to grow.
The minute we refrain from changing because of what it might cost us is the minute we start turning inward instead of facing outward.

What needs to change in your life? In your family? In your church? The other options with change is to resist the solutions or to ignore the problems. That's the choice we all have to make.

New Additions to the Family...

2009-04-06T17:12:00.006-04:00

We are scheduled to induce the birth tomorrow morning starting at 5am. I am excited! As I type this blog, "Cinderella" by Steven Curtis Chapman is playing and I'm getting teary-eyed. Brooke hasn't even been born yet and I love her so much. The anticipation level is high at our house...and the ANXIETY. Anna Beth announced today that she did not want another sister. She didn't say this with a nice tone of voice either! When asked what we should do with the new baby when she comes, Anna Beth promptly told us to "give her to another family!"

It's tough for children to adjust to a new baby in the house. There are still only 2 parents, but the number of ones requiring added attention increases. The end result is what my friend Steve calls going from "playing man-to-man" to "playing zone coverage" around the house. I think children sense that they will get less attention than before and are scared.

There's an analogy here as to how many church people respond to new growth and new faces. Some people feel threatened by new people coming to their church. New additions require extra resources. Staff end up running zone instead of man-to-man in taking care of people. New babies are tough. They require more time, energy, and attention than mature children. New babies spit up and poop everywhere 24-7. They might even get more attention from the leadership than the people who have been there a really long time.

But aren't new additions fun?! People gloat over them and pinch their cheeks and take pictures with them. Don't you wish the church would feel the same way over new additions at church?! I mean, they can't do a thing on their own but we stumble over ourselves trying to take care of them, making sure their needs are met. I'm thankful that most of the people at Good Hope have the right perspective about new people. They are really excited about where we are going. Let's just keep the right perspective as new people join us! Let's gloat over new additions to our family. Remember, the most important people at Good Hope are those who are not there yet!

Waiting for baby...

2009-03-27T23:26:00.004-04:00

Our next child is due March 31st, and the Duncan house is brimming with excitement about a new Duncan girl...(#3!)...entering the world. There is a sense of anticipation and impatience that hovers as you get closer to the expected due date. We're all talking to Chrissy's belly, trying to persuade Baby Brooke to hurry up and make her entrance into the world. Someone asked me the other day why Brooke hadn't come yet and all I could say was, "She probably hears all the commotion going on in the world outside and she's barricaded herself in." I'm sure she hears the Spring hyperactivity around our family right now...crazy soccer games, muffled music and TV programs, young sisters yelling and playing, lots of jostling from a stay-at-home mother's daily activity. Brooke has no idea what she's getting into!

She also has no idea how much we're really looking forward to holding her. A new friend asked me the other day how many children I had and my automatic reaction was "Three." Brooke's already a part of my life. I can't wait to see if she looks more like me and Anna Beth (mini-me) or Chrissy and Sarah (mini-Chrissy). Anna Beth's only concern is whether or not Brooke has blue eyes like her so she won't be the only one in the family with blue eyes. Statistics and genetics dictate that we should have another Brown Eyed Girl among us.

This anticipation and adoration is yet another parallel to how much our Heavenly Father dotes over us and longs for our "birth." He can't wait for those of us who haven't been "born yet into the family" to do so. A bigger difference, though, is the perspective of potential. I try to figure what Brooke is going to look like. I dream about what each my children will do with their lives...fear what decisions they may make...sometimes fretting over their futures prematurely. God has the perspective of eternity already. He knows what we will become. He's living that potential already...and He loves us. Oh, how He loves us!

How to Handle Worry

2009-02-25T11:27:00.003-05:00

Have you been under alot of stress lately? Do you find yourself worrying alot about the future? I corresponded with a friend recently about worry and thought this might give you some encouragement today.

When you worry...

1) Don't forget who is in control.

When you worry remember that God is in control of everything. Nothing happens in my life that caught Him offguard or has Him wringing His hands. Psalm 139:16 says, "All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be..." He knows what's happening in your life and He wants you to trust Him. I've realized that I can categorize everything that happens to me in life under 2 categories: "Things I Can Control" and "Things I Cannot Control." Most of the things I worry about usually fall under the "Things I Cannot Control" list. When you think about it rationally, it really does no good to worry about things I cannot control because I cannot control them! Jesus talked about this in Matthew 6:24-35. We really do worry about stuff that we can't do a thing about!

2) Choose to pray instead of worrying.

The next time you feel yourself paralyzed by worry turn that moment into a prayer. I think that Worry and Prayer are actually the same mental exercise. In both instances I'm thinking about a particular situation and wondering how it's going to turn out. In both instances, I'm focused on the issue and am blocking out other things around me. The difference between Worry and Prayer is that when I worry I'm asking how am I going to solve the problem...and when I pray I'm asking God how is He going to solve the probelm. That's a HUGE difference!

Here are some great verses when you feel paralyzed by worry:

Matthew 6:25-27 in particular

Psalm 55:22

Psalm 139

Proverbs 3:5-6

I Peter 5:7

Phillipians 4:6-8

Men and Emotions

2009-02-02T16:39:00.009-05:00

We're starting the message series "Fireproof Your Marriage" this coming Sunday and I'm extremely excited about it. We had a packed crowd on Sunday to watch the movie this past Sunday morning. The day was a success. I really hope that many of our new visitors will return to catch the messages on marriage this month. A much deserved shout-out is due the college students and other adults who watched the nursery and children so our regular children's ministry volunteers could watch the movie. I could tell that people were engrossed in the film. One girl told me that she couldn't tell what was happening during one part of the movie because her dad was crying so hard behind her. She turned around to check out the commotion and he sobbed out, "I hate this movie!" I admit it. I'm a softie, too. I cried both times I watched it. Later that night in our home group we talked about the differences between men and women. We touched on an interesting topic that was off-script, but very apropos. The topic came up about how many men don't show their emotions - ever. This is not just in public, but also in the context of the most intimate relationship of all, marriage. I know some of you wives are "amen-ing" here because your hubby seems distant. In fact, you've probably said at some point in frustration, "Why don't you tell me how you're feeling?!" Many men don't show emotions to anyone because we've been trained from childhood to "suck it up" or "don't act like a sissy"...or worse...when we cried.
Sadness, hurt, and pain are universal emotions.
Don't lie men.
You get hurt.
We've just been conditioned from years and years of cultural pressures to not show it. I have one question: How does crying, or showing emotion, equivocate weakness? In actuality, it's being honest. When we tell a little boy to "suck it up and not cry" we're encouraging him to lie about what he's really feeling. From the start, we're encouraging him to not share what he really feels. Is it no wonder that these boys grow up to be men who have difficulty being emotionally open with their spouses...or anyone...for that matter?
In Acts 20:36-37 Paul is bidding his Ephesian brothers and sisters goodbye and the Scripture says, "When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship." Do you think this crowd was a bunch of women?! The Ephesians had become tight with Paul and they were genuinely overcome with the emotion of never seeing him again. What a beautiful sight! When is the last time you cried with emotion over an important issue...loss...sadness...sin...lost friends...?
I encouraged a recent convert recently to give his testimony in front of the church because his story is SO POWERFUL. He outright refused, as tears welled up in his eyes, because he said he'd start crying and didn't want people to see that. But that is exactly what our people need to see. Brokenness is not evil! Blessed are those who mourn (over their sin), etc. etc. We need emotional men to lead out in our churches. Men not afraid to really convey how they are feeling. Men who will raise their hands and cry out to God in worship. Men who will cry over the lostness around them.

I had a father who cried. He didn't mind sharing what he felt. It was always a touching thing to see him cry because it was usually over spiritual things or family issues. Aren't these the 2 areas where we should see men cry...where they should be passionate and emotional!? How awesome would it be if men were open with what they were feeling or thinking? I think a revival would break out in both churches and homes if dads would tear down the walls they've built inside...constructed over years and years of emotional denial...and lead with emotion. The women in our lives need to see ALL of us. We're actually hiding (ie: being dishonest and lying) when we're not conveying what we're feeling inside. Crying is not weakness, it's honesty. Just a thought... here's a tissue.

I (Heart) My Wife

2008-12-31T10:31:00.005-05:00

First of all, I apologize for not blogging in 3 weeks. I really enjoyed my family time this holiday and didn't spend much time on the computer...which is a great thing. Speaking of family, I just want to brag a bit about mine. As referenced before, I've gotten to spend some substantial chunks of time with mine recently. I love my wife and kids more and more every day.

I really appreciate the sacrifices my wife makes to keep our home and family operating smoothly. She's smarter than me and could do anything she wanted to do. Yet she chooses to be a stay-at-home mom and raise our children. It's a noble calling for her. She keeps the house up, does the bills, cooks the meals, shops for the household...and the list goes on...all while being pregnant with our third baby. I leave for the day and come in about 2 or 3 hours before our children go to bed. I really enjoy that time, but it's not the ENTIRE DAY with the girls like she has to spend. I know this blows many of your minds, but my children can be a handful. They are cute and sweet, but they also have this little sin nature problem that creates many opportunities for strife and selfishness.

She handles our kids with firmness and grace...true discipleship. I walk in and the kids rush to me for playtime....giving her a respite. But she's been with them for 8 or 9 hours before I come in. Not only is she a great mother, but she's also a trusted confidante and friend. I genuinely enjoy the time we get to spend together. Admittedly, time together...especially alone together...is a precious commodity these days. Anyways, I wanted to brag on Chrissy. I could say alot more, but time doesn't allow this morning.

Troublemakers.....

2008-12-08T14:19:00.009-05:00

This past Sunday I continued in our Heroes series with a message on Elijah vs. The Prophets of Baal in I Kings 18. This is an awesome story! King Ahab and his vindictive wife Jezebel had been leading a Baal Revival (no that's not an agricultural movement of God....that would be a "bale revival"...furthermore, a "bail revival" involves prison ministry...setting the captives free...but I digress.) Jezebel had killed off most of God's Prophets in the land and reinstituted idol worship. Elijah declared a drought on the land as punishment for the nation turning its back on God. After 3 years of the drought, God tells Elijah to confront Ahab yet again.

Here's the conversation as they first meet up:

When he (Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, "Is that you, you troubler of Israel?"
"I have not made trouble for Israel," Elijah replied. "But you and your father's family have. You have abandoned the LORD's commands and have followed the Baals." - (I Kings 18:17-18)

Isn't it ironic that Ahab sees Elijah as the troublemaker?! To him, Elijah is the reason for the drought when, in reality, it is his own sin that brought punishment upon the land. All Elijah did was to speak up for God. Elijah told Ahab exactly what God told him to do. If that is what it means to be a troublemaker, then so be it. Often people want to shoot the messenger when the news is bad.

As Christians, God has called us to be His voice in this world. We must say what needs to be said...confronting the idolatry of our own culture....defending the defenseless....advocating morality...harboring the widowed, orphaned, and unborn. The world might see us as the problem, and not the glaring sins of our culture as the issue.

But I keep hearing God ask us, "If you don't speak up, if you refuse to say what needs to be said, if you sit idly by, who will speak the truth to this world?" We may be called troublemakers for speaking truth and living with conviction. It would be an honor to be included with that lot.

Chuck E. Cheese

2008-11-26T22:29:00.003-05:00

Tonight we celebrated Anna Beth's 5 year old birthday with the family at Chuck E. Cheese. I've never been to this establishment as a parent. In fact, my only remembrance of this place is when I went as a child. Back in the day it was known as Showbiz Pizza. Not much has changed. There is still the cheesy knock-off "Country Bear" animitronic character show. The pizza was okay. And there was still a Pac Man game. The place is just a whole lot smaller...and lamer...than I remember.

It was cool to see Anna Beth discover skee-ball for the first time...and the thrill of amassing gobs of tickets. She had a blast. It was interesting to watch her wonderlust for tickets increase as the night progressed. I took the gob of tickets to the Ticket Muncher, which made a gravely chewing sound as you pushed in the tickets. This contraption was a lifesaver, in that it counted the tickets for you and printed out a receipt.

My only consternation was in that fact that we won all 208 of our tickets in groups of 2 and 3. So here I am feeding this ticket muncher these tickets 2 or 3 at a time. As I was feeding this machine I was thinking to myself, "All of this buzz and excitement and play and all we'll get to show for this time is some cheap-o spider ring." I was also contemplating the Catholic concept of purgatory and how it had to be similar to this experience, especially when 2 impatient teens got behind me in line with their 2,000 tickets which were all connected together from the 3 hours that they sat in front of the Token Tilt Machine.

One of the weirdest moments was watching a grown man....a grown man....fighting with his wife because she didn't want him to waste their tokens on him showing off his basketball prowess in the free throw game. They got downright huffy with each other and were making a scene in front Chuck E. Cheese, God and everybody....all over tokens and tickets! I felt sorry for the kids who have to watch that kind of stuff. This establisment is known as the place "where a kid can be a kid."...and grown-ups can act like kids.

Tokens and tickets and trinkets are part of the fun in parties like this, but they don't amount to much. It's amazing to think that we get so fixated on winning them at places like Chuck E. Cheese. Alot of people spend great quanitities of their life chasing after the tokens, tickets, and trinkets the world has to offer, too. Yes, there is a rush in earning them. There's even some pride in showing off what you've accomplished. But in the end you're like me at the Ticket Muncher questioning the real worth of what you've just spent your life doing. This Thanksgiving, ponder the value of the things you live for. Don't just thank God for material blessings...the tokens, tickets, and trinkets. Thank Him for the spiritual blessings, the intangibles, the invaluables around you. Your spouse. Your kids. Your salvation. And, for the little cheapy spider rings He has allowed you to own along the way.

The Real Source of Change...

2008-11-13T14:16:00.008-05:00

I've been doing a lot of personal study in the Old Testament lately, in preparation for a series I'm doing on O.T. Heroes. I'm amazed by the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of God's people we see in these stories. It's really easy to look at the Israelites and their struggles and accuse them of idiocy...like why did you make a golden calf when God is manifesting Himself to you daily in the cloud by day and the fire by night? Or how can Gideon make a pagan idol for his family right after he witnesses the power of God take out 135,000 Midianites with an army of just 300?

The other thing that gets me is Israel's desire for a king. For centuries Israel was a theocracy with the leadership of the country loosely distributed between representatives who spoke for God: the prophets, the judges, and the priests. This loose triumvirate of leadership was tricky because there were times when one or two of this group stunk it up. The elders of Israel would gather and beg for a king...

Judges 8:22-23
The Israelites said to Gideon, "Rule over us—you, your son and your grandson—because you have saved us out of the hand of Midian." But Gideon told them, "I will not rule over you, nor will my son rule over you. The LORD will rule over you."

It wasn't enough to have this idealistic, pie in the sky, God as their king. They wanted a REAL king who could speak for himself and look them in the eyes. Besides, His representatives were not God. They were failed individuals with sinful hearts and desires. Israel also wanted one person to make decisions and, consequently, to blame when things went awry. Within the prophets, the judges, and the priests there was a lot of finger pointing. But ultimately, they wanted a human king, because he would surely bring the unity, stability, and presence they desired. People crave strong, tangible leadership.

In I Samuel 8 the elders approach Samuel and demand a king because Samuel had some lousy sons coming down the pike. Samuel goes to God, upset at the demands of the people. God comforts Samuel in verse 7 by correcting who the hurt should be directed toward, "...it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." Israel's hope for real change came in the form of a man and not in God. Israel thought that a political revolution was the answer to their problems. They put their eggs in that basket...and they eventually got Saul, the crazy tyrant. How did that solve their issues?!

There is a lesson to learn here. We, as the people of God, have to be careful that we don't put all the eggs of our hope for societal change in the political basket of our society. No one, no Conservative Right Republican or Liberal Ideologue, can really solve the ills of our society. Only the Gospel will bring the change we so desperately need - change we can believe in. Many people reacted with either uber-euphoria or utter disdain when Obama won the recent election. Both of those reactions are completely wrong. A new president will not save us, change us, or redeem this fallen land. We need real change- spiritual change. We need King Jesus to be the sovereign over the hearts and minds of America. Until that happens, it doesn't matter who is in the White House. The Religious Right sinned by buying into the guise that a "genuine" Believer in the presidency would usher in a spiritual/cultural revival...(How's the past 8 years been under a supposed strong believer in the Oval Office?) The Liberal Left has sinned in thinking "the One" will spark the social justice conscience of our culture and bring about a Utopian society where all Americans are treated equal (both medically and socially). If the Church acted like THE Church, fleshed out the Gospel, and took care of the widowed, the orphaned, and the poor, there would be no need for a Welfare system.

My prayer is for Christians to see the political arena as a peripheral venue instead of our primary means of seeing real change. We can and should be involved in politics. However, we should not depend on the political system to bring the Kingdom revolution we need. Lord bring spiritual revival! Bring spiritual change, instead of political change. Amen.

I (Heart) October!

2008-10-27T10:30:00.009-04:00

Here recently I have decided that October is one of my favorite months. Not only is it football season :) , but it's also a great time in the life of the church. Typically I see more new faces at church because people are getting settled into their regular schedules. I love to meet new people at Good Hope! I also get to go to my favorite conference (Catalyst) earlier in the month. On top of that we just had an AWESOME married couples retreat in the North Georgia mountains this past weekend. Last but not least...drumroll...our big Fall Festival outreach is later this week. Wow! That sounds really busy, and it is...makes me tired just typing it out...but it's just alot of fun.

I am very excited about our Fall Festival on Wednesday night. From what I hear over 1,000 people attend this event. We're trying really hard this year to be intentional about presenting the Gospel and to demonstrate a heart of service to our community. My prayer is that people see and hear the Gospel as they walk around the field on Wednesday. If you would, just take a moment and pray for Good Hoper's who are working this week to make this event a success. Pray that people will hear the Gospel and respond. Pray for good weather. Pray that the logistics of setting up and tearing down will go smoothly. Also pray extra hard for the follow-up evangelism after the event. I hope this event demonstrates to our community how much we love them.

P.S. We had one of the FUNNIEST moments at church yesterday. As I was introducing my parents I got a little "verklempt" and had to pause to regain my composure. Right when the pause occurred, the sound system backfired and made a rather loud sound that resembled the violent bodily release of flatulence :). I cracked up with laughter, the crowd roared, and I had to pull it together. I've included an audio file of that moment below.....Enjoy!

Catalyst Conference Musings

2008-10-13T09:40:00.004-04:00

We took our leadership team and a few other interested people from Good Hope to the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta a week and a half ago. We had a great time. We got to hear from some awesome Christian/secular/business leaders and we got to participate in some awesome worship experiences. I love going to conferences like this because they inspire and motivate me. The difficulty, though, is in the take away. I struggle with what to do with all of this great info that I've learned. I try to ask myself what are the 3 things I learned that will change what I do from now on. So this little blog has a 2-fold purpose: for me to solidify what I learned and to share with you some tidbits that might help you. Here goes:

1) On a plaque in Andy Stanley's office is the following quote: "To reach people no one else is reaching we must do things no one else is doing." (quote by Craig Groeschel) I want to lead a church that isn't afraid to try new things for Jesus, even if it sounds off the wall to others. We can't just sit by idly and let our community slip away. The real question is, "What can we do that no one else is doing?" Creativity is hard because, sadly, much of what we do in the modern church is copying what worked at someone else's church. We have to really think of what we can do to contextualize and incarnate the Gospel to the greater Hartwell/Starr/Iva area.

2) “If we got kicked out and the board brought in a new CEO, what would he do? Why shouldn’t we walk out the door, come back in, and do it ourselves?” - (Only the Paranoid Survive, Andy Grove) What changes have to be made now at Good Hope that will make her more efficient and more effective to inact community transformation? Why aren't we doing it right now? We're burning daylight! This really hit me and I'm still chewing on this one. Sometimes you have to be patient with the vision God places in your heart. This statement challenges me, but it is also a secular business philosophy that may not apply always in the church.

3) “When your memories exceed your dreams, the end is near” - (Michael Hammer) We cannot revel in what we've done so far as a church. The best visions, life changes, and history are ahead of us and not behind us. Many churches celebrate what they've done and are satisfied with the status quo. I refuse to be satisfied with where we are. We have never arrived!

Expiration Date

2008-09-20T08:49:00.005-04:00

"Now listen, you who say, `Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.' Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. " - James 4:13-14

"...man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment..."- Hebrews 9:27

For a moment imagine that you have been diagnosed with terminal cancer. By the time the doctors figured out what you had it was too late. The cancer has spread and your options were exptremely limited. I can't imagine how that feels- to know that "your time" is on the horizon. If this were you, what would you do with the time you had left? How would you live today differently?

Not to be a big downer, but we're all "terminal." All of us are going to die. A person with a terminal prognosis just happens to know the window of when it may happen. None of us is guaranteed tomorrow. Only God knows. We all have an expiration date, but we live oblivious to when that will happen. How weird would it be if we had an expiration date tattooed on us from birth, like alot of items we buy at the grocery store!? It would probably drive many of us crazy to know when "our time" is appointed. Whether we are 32, like myself, or 80 we never think that we're going to die anytime soon. But wouldn't it make you live with more of a sense of urgency, to take advantage and appreciate every moment? If your date was October 5, 2008 what would you do on October 4? I think we all need to live like that today because it could very well be our last.

If you think about it, we're all on bonus time from God. Life is so short in comparison to eternity. We all need to make sure that we're ready for eternity because our time may come quicker than we know. (Cue "Live Life Like You Were Dying" by Tim McGraw)

"Live Like You Were Dying"

He said, "I was in my early forties with a lot of life before me

when a moment came that stopped me on a dime.

And I spent most of the next days looking at the x-rays

Talking bout the options and talking bout sweet time."

I asked him, "When it sank in that this might really be the real end?

How’s it hit you when you get that kinda news? Man what’d you do?"

And he said, "I went sky diving.

I went Rocky Mountain climbing.

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fmanchu.

And I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter.

And I gave forgiveness I’d been denying.

And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying."

He said, "I was finally the husband that most the time I wasn’t.

And I became a friend a friend would like to have.

And all the sudden going fishin wasn’t such an imposition.

And I went three times that year I lost my dad.

Well I finally read the Good Book and I took a good long hard look

at what I’d do if I could do it all again."

Like tomorrow was a gift,

And you got eternity,

To think about what you’d do with it.

And what did you do with it?

And what can I do with it?

And what would I do with it?

Sky diving I went Rocky Mountain climbing.

I went 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fumanchu.

And then I loved deeper and I spoke sweeter

and I watched an eagle as it was flying

And he said, "Someday I hope you get the chance to live like you were dying.

To live like you were dying.

Relational Evangelism

2008-09-15T17:05:00.007-04:00

I've been both humbled and challenged by the current series we're doing at Good Hope - LOST.

I've been challenging our people to see the "lostness" around them and do something about it. The real question is "What do we do about it?" I preached Sunday on Jesus' Lost Stories in Luke 15.

The passage starts off like this in verse 1: "Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming to hear him. But the Pharisees and the experts in the law were complaining, `This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.'”

What a telling indictment the Pharisees give of Jesus! They are upset that Jesus actually hung out with the people who needed or wanted Him the most. They probably were upset that Jesus wasn't particularly chasing after them to hear their pompous teaching and talk. The Pharisees didn't need Jesus. They thought Jesus needed them. We're like Jesus in that we don't particularly like to stay where we're not needed or wanted. He preferred to hang out with those who needed answers and didn't have it all figured out.

Don't you love Jesus' evangelism plan here?! He welcomed sinners and He hung out with them. No outlines. No string of verses or slick questionnaires. It was all about relationships. I'm sure many of the conversations dealt with spiritual issues around that table and in those parties. I'm sure there were lots of questions asked and answered. The key is that Jesus knew how important it was to look someone in the eyes that you know and talk to them about what matters most to you. Otherwise, it's more like a sales pitch to strangers.

Just yesterday I had a door-to-door salesman knock on my door and offer me a free bottle of dish detergent. Smiling, he tried to initiate a series of questions leading toward a demonstration of his particular brand of vacuum cleaners. I smiled back and politely said, "No thank you. I'm not interested" a few times while he did his best to get the foot in the door. I gave him his detergent back and closed the door. It really made me think about how we present the Gospel. Do we do the "bait and switch" method with our events and carnivals? Do we ask leading questions to illicit the right response so we can get someone to agree with us?

The 2 main ways we think of evangelism in most churches are Events and Gospel Presentations.
Both of these options have their place in the church and can be used within the context of relationships to bring people to Christ. For example, an event gives you an awesome excuse to invite someone to church. It would be awesome if Good Hoper's took the initiative to invite a lost friend to the events we do at the church. The problem is that most attention and effort gets spent on pulling off the event instead of asking our neighbors to come with us. We can't just throw out a blow up jumpy box and expect people to come see us.

Events give us great opportunities to invite friends to come to church and to build upon the relationships we're working on. Likewise, Gospel presentations are important to know so you can simply and easily show someone how they can know Jesus. It's handy to memorize the Romans Road or to practice your testimony so you can be ready to share your faith. What I want to see change is the CONTEXT in which that information is given. Instead of strangers, share with a friend who trusts you and wants to hear what you say. Otherwise, you'll probably get the same response I gave the door-to-door salesman yesterday, "No thanks. I'm not interested."

Watch the video below and tell me what you think!
I've not read the book these guys wrote, but it is on my "Must Read" list. **Disclamer**I don't know if I agree with every premise in the book these guys wrote. However, the insights of Casper, the Friendly Non-Christian, reiterate my point about the importance of relationships in evangelism. Enjoy!

How Important is the Backstory?

2008-09-05T10:01:00.010-04:00

Between the Olympics and the 2 political conventions, my sleep quotient has greatly diminished this past month. I enjoy both sports and politics. When you think about it, they are really similar. It's a way for people to compete, hear the roar of the crowd, root on a cause, and pump up the bravado. There's even a little contact if you're in the Taiwanese Parliament (check out the videos below).

Recently, the Olympics and the conventions have taken on a new angle over the past few cycles. Our country is mesmerized by the biographical back stories of the participants. In many cases, the biographical histories are featured more than the real competition at hand.

There's the Somalian runner Samia Yusuf Omar from war-torn Somalia, featured in a recent blog on the Olympics...

"Samia Yusuf Omar headed back to Somalia Sunday, returning to the small two-room house in Mogadishu shared by seven family members. Her mother lives there, selling fruits and vegetables. Her father is buried there, the victim of a wayward artillery shell that hit their home and also killed Samia’s aunt and uncle.This is the Olympic story we never heard.It’s about a girl whose Beijing moment lasted a mere 32 seconds – the slowest 200-meter dash time out of the 46 women who competed in the event. Thirty-two seconds that almost nobody saw but that she carries home with her, swelled with joy and wonderment. Back to a decades-long civil war that has flattened much of her city. Back to an Olympic program with few Olympians and no facilities. Back to meals of flat bread, wheat porridge and tap water."

Then, on the political side, there's Barack Obama who came from a single parent, wandering existence before his meteoric rise to being a community organizer and legislator. There's John McCain who spent 5 and a half years in the Hanoi Hilton.

I guess I would be a really boring Olympian or politician. I can hear Bob Costas now saying my story: "A man brought up in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, young Jamie struggled with stuttering early in his life and battled obesity, often suffering the ridicule of wearing Husky jeans...."

My questions are: Are our athletes or politicians in these contests to showcase where they came from, or are they here to show what they can do today? Does your past really matter? Does your past qualify you better than someone who came from a semi-normal background? We Christians are just as guilty when we emphasize the "powerful testimonies" of "really bad sinners" who came to Jesus. You know what I'm talking about. We'd rather hear how God saved somebody from drugs, child smuggling, and other illicit activity than know what God is doing TODAY in someone's life. I've counseled with people who said that their testimony was boring because God shielded them from many of the pitfalls in which many people fall. Which is more important to God- our past or where we are today? Isn't it an awesome story that God shielded a person who accepted Christ at an early age and who lived a beautiful, uneventful life? Our past is important because it demonstrates the powerful work of God in bringing us to our current state. But I'm more interested in what God is doing in your life today. If the past is all we have...if our old life story before Jesus is the most important qualifier for us to share or to minister then I feel we're negating a whole lot of people who have a bland, powerful story to tell.

2008-08-26T14:21:00.004-04:00

Chrissy and I just celebrated our 8th anniversary last Tuesday, which was fun. I got to surprise her for an overnight excursion to Asheville. We spent some quality time together, which is a premium when you have 2 preschoolers who take up most of the conversation time in your life! On the way back from Asheville we both agreed that we talked more in that 24 hour excursion than we had in the previous month. You know, marriage is one of those great gifts God gave us to both encourage us and to make life interesting. Marriage is like most things, it’s what you make of it. You have to invest time and energy for it to work. Great marriages don’t just spontaneously mature and grow. In fact, if left unattended, married couples tend to drift apart and lose their connection. The reality is that we all want connection. We all want to be loved and to love others. But life happens, distractions take over, and before you know it two people who passionately cared for each other realize they’ve become strangers over time. The cure for this relationship killer is intentionality. Couples have to make time to be together or it just won’t happen. We can get so busy in the day-to-day activity of our lives that we just assume that intimacy will remain.

And slowly we drift…

Quite frankly, my fear is that our church relationships can suffer from a lack of intentionality as well. We get busy with the day-to-day activity of life, whether it be work, or family, or recreation. And before you know it, people at church seem distant. Church just becomes something you do on Sundays. People are friendly to you and you are friendly to people at church, but it’s mostly just an exchange of pleasantries a few minutes before or after service once each week. The Christian life can and should be more than that. It is supposed to be lived out in the context of a community.

Community at most churches is found in small group ministries of various kinds: Sunday School, Bible Study Fellowhip, Home Groups, etc. The reality at Good Hope is most adults who attend our church are not involved in Bible Study Fellowship, our version of Sunday School. Another reality is that if we wanted everyone to be in a Sunday School class we wouldn’t have a place to put them because we are limited in our classroom space! So my conclusion is the best, most reasonable way for us to stay connected at Good Hope is through Home Groups.

As a pastor, I desperately want my people to feel connected and cared for at Good Hope. In my heart of hearts, I know that involvement in a vibrant Home Group will greatly increase the chances of this happening. We have been taking attendance at Home Groups over the past few months at Good Hope. We have come to realize that half of our families are currently not engaged in a home group. I worry about these families. In fact, when I hear that a family is drifting from our church I can almost guarantee that they are not connected to a home group. I worry for these disconnected families much like I would worry for a couple who are not intentionally taking time for each other. We all need intimacy. It’s my heart’s desire that all Good Hopers be connected to other people in the church so we don’t drift and lose our connection with each other, and eventually with Jesus. If you are a Good Hoper and are currently not in a home group I want you to consider the reasons you are choosing to not be in one.

Has it been a matter of family schedule, or of comfortability, or of convenience? Maybe you’ve been disappointed before. Maybe the last one you were in didn’t go so well. Maybe you’ve just not felt comfortable being with people in that kind of setting. Maybe you’ve just not seen the need for it. I am challenging all of us to be more intentional about building community and connecting to each other. Invite another family over for dinner. Check out a home group when we get restarted this September. Let's not take our connectedness for granted. We need each other now more than ever.

Introducing Baby Duncan #3

2008-08-18T22:28:00.006-04:00

I experienced a humble moment today as I stared at the ultrasound screen, transfixed upon the 8 week old baby growing in Chrissy's womb at the OBGYN's office today. It confounds me to think that we created this little being. I mean, really, God does the work, we just get to have a small hand in it! We'll know whether or not this little wonder is a boy (who'll have to be named Slam Duncan) or another gorgeous Duncan girl in about 20 more weeks...but who is counting!?! This little 1.6 centimeter long wonder has a heartbeat and measurable brain function. Amazing! I sat there in awe as we watched his/her little heart beat. Just 2 months ago this little one was just a gleam in my eye! People may argue that life begins at birth and not conception, but I sure know it's at least at 8 weeks! "I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well"(Psalm 139:14)

Hello Blogging World

2006-03-27T15:02:00.001-05:00