Early Mornings

I'm sitting here in a recliner thinking of a Matchbox Twenty song…I believe it was titled "3 a.m."  Why? Because, for some reason, I'm awake.  At 3 a.m.  This is not my normal time to be awake.  Typically, I'm sound asleep right now, anticipating an alarm in about 2 hours that will start my day.

Instead, I'm in here by the fireplace, considering things.  What things?

1.  I'm wondering about the future of the church I lead.  Honestly.  It's not just doubts about the pastor, but questions in general about the future of the way we Americans do church.  It's very challenging to operate a church, especially a smaller one like ours.  It's actually not that we're that small, as we're truly just a little above average size for a Southern Baptist Church.  We're small compared to a few other churches in town, and we're small enough that sometimes things are hard to deal with.

Part of the challenge with church is that we American Christians don't see church as mandatory.  We may accept the idea that being a part of a fellowship of believers is required by Scripture, but we don't see being a part of a specific church as truly required by God.  In fact, while many people look at the decline in worker/employer loyalty as a major shift in American culture, that there's no long-term relationship there anymore, many pastors have long seen it.  Americans have been quick to adopt the consumer mentality to church, and it's one of the quicker changes people make.

Since church participation is seen as voluntary, it makes for quite a conundrum.  There are times when people honestly have issues with their church, and need to have those problems addressed.  There are times when people need to change what church they attend, either because of doctrine or practice.  Then there are times when people are just being lazy or selfish and don't come.

The difficulty for church leadership is sorting out what's going on in the church.  For example, if attendance is down, are we doing something wrong or is it just a season in several people's lives?  Add in that people will, for whatever reason, evade the question "Are you avoiding church for a reason?" like the plague, and it gets very challenging to know what in the world is going on.

Financial issues in church connect to the same thing.  People in many Baptist churches aren't required by the church to give, and give anonymously so that there is no telling who gave, who gave what, and who didn't give anything.  The problem there is that when people are upset, the first thing they do is stop giving to show they're mad.  Except that the people (usually parson, I mean person) they're mad at doesn't know they quit giving.  He only sees a drop in giving.  And it's impossible to tell from an overall drop in giving whether it's angry people or people that, because they work in the woods and it's so wet out there the ducks are buying umbrellas, have had major income drops and so give less.

Throw in that many people facing economic challenges are either embarrassed or stressed by those factors, and they start to withdraw, making it a spiral, and a downward one at that.  Meanwhile, ministry almost always involves the possibility of making someone upset.  The church's primary role is to be a group of believers glorifying God in their actions and behavior.  This results in seeing the lost saved and the saved grow.  However, it's not always easy to grow and it's not convenient to see the lost saved.  Truth is an essential element, and sometimes, we all know, the truth hurts.  Church is also not about us, but about Him, and that's sometimes offensive, even to Christians, because we desperately want it to be about us, where all of our needs and wants are met, and then we get mad, and quit coming….

So, you have both things weighing on a church body.  What can you do about it?

First of all, we need to face the fact that everybody cannot be made happy.  Happy is, for the most part, an individual choice to respond a certain way to circumstances.  You can choose to be happy that God has saved you and you're not going to hell.  Or you can choose to be unhappy that the Pastor brought up politics last week and you don't like his political leanings.  Which one really matters?

Second, we need to carefully consider the impact of our actions.  Church participation, really, isn't voluntary.  The New Testament knows nothing of Christians that are uninvolved in a local body of believers.  In truth, there's nothing of Christians that get miffed with one local body and bail out for another one or that go to the church in town with the best youth ministry.  It's believers that gather, learn, pray, and evangelize.  They live committed to one another and to the call of Christ.  They understand that if one of them is weak, the others will strengthen them.  They also understand that is their responsibility to be there to strengthen each other rather than act in a way that hurts their church family.  When we don't go and don't give, it hurts.  It hurts ourselves and our church.  It hurts our ability as Christians to reach the world for Christ.

Third, we ought to seek the best.  I'm naturally pessimistic.  I even have a mug and set of glasses that have a line on them at "half-empty."  (Really.)  However, pessimistic attitudes in church can kill it.  And stop thinking "I'm just being realistic" because that's a cover.  You're being pessimistic.  We're all well aware that a church can run out of people and money.  It doesn't have to be brought up or carried on your face.  Look back at the being happy comment.  Can you try a smile?  One that doesn't look forced?  Do you still believe that God has a purpose for the church you attend other than as a negative example for others?  I do.  God has a plan and a purpose, and it is positive.  Let's let our hearts be encouraged that God's grace is always sufficient, and that we, as individuals, will be obedient, which will build a church that's amazing.

Finally, we have to live like there is no hope for ourselves other than the Redeemer who has called us.  That we can cling to nothing but our obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ. That His provision must be our supply.

After all that, what else am I awake for?  I'm also:

2. Praying for the 2 couples I have scheduled to marry this year.  Our culture has taught young people marriage is disposable.  Our churches haven't always done well to counteract that, and I am determined that we will help these folks prepare well for what they're doing.

3.  I'm considering going on a shopping binge for my wife.  She deserves lots of stuff that I haven't been able to give her over the years.  However, I have to remember that "Available Credit Line" does not equal "money that can be spent freely."

4.  I'm wondering how I'll pay for the seminary education I'm applying for.  It's not excessively costly, but it isn't cheap either.

5.  Thinking about our church podcast and whether it's worth the trouble.  It here at the iTunes store or here for the RSS Feed.  Seriously wondering if anyone listens….or if it's working right.

 

That's about it.  I'm going to try and go back to bed now…

 

Doug

Famine in Egypt

I'm listening through the Bible again this year.  I'm following the ESV Chronological plan.  (Here's the link to Justin Taylor's blog with the links to all the podcasts and instructions.)  Something struck me as I was listening to it. 

I've often wondered how in the world the people of Egypt were able to store up enough food in the good 7 years to last the bad 7.  I realized as I listened, they didn't.  Take a look:

19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for food, and we with our land will be servants to Pharaoh. And give us seed that we may live and not die, and that the land may not be desolate.”

Genesis 47:19 (ESV)

and this:

24 And at the harvests you shall give a fifth to Pharaoh, and four fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and as food for yourselves and your households, and as food for your little ones.”

Genesis 47:24 (ESV)

It wasn't that the famine eliminated all of the food, but rather that the famine reduced the agricultural production of Egypt (Canaan too).  The reduction was such that there was enough to eat for a time, but there wasn't enough to replant for the next year.  The land still provided, but the people had to consume all of it to survive.  It was from the stockpile that Joseph had made that the seed for the next year had to come.

What did this create? It allowed Pharaoh to take ownership of the private lands of Egypt.  Many people gave themselves to slavery to the King of the land.  It's likely that this was lived out not in a bitter slavery, but rather in an exchange of labor for the sake of the Pharaoh's projects.  It's more of a forced/mandatory labor, especially during the non-agricultural times.  Also established was a long-lasting taxation system.  It was a flat tax: 20% of the harvest. 

What is the warning here? First of all, there's a warning to prepare for disaster.  It is, however, sometimes impossible to be totally prepared.  You might try, but there are some things you can't be ready for.  Second, be cautious in how you accept help.  Do you wonder if any Egyptian farmer wondered, 20 years after the famine is over, whether or not he could have found a better way to handle the situation?  When he had to leave his family for a few months to handle his forced labor, when he was separating the produce of the land he worked 1 for Pharaoh, 4 for my family (and realize, out of the 4 had to come the seed to plant next year)? 

There's also a warning about how we help people.  Pharaoh, in truth, wanted his people kept alive, but he wasn't really interested in them.  He needed labor, food for his people, and an army.  Whether it came from sharecroppers or landowners didn't matter much to him.  In fact, the light of history shows that landowners tend to fight a little harder against government control they don't like, so Pharaoh's better off with the sharecroppers on land he owns.  When we help people, we need to consider their own best interests as well as our own.  It's ok to encourage people to either repay the help or to ask them to "pay it forward" to someone else in need, but don't get carried away.  The Egyptians would have more than paid back Pharaoh after 20% during the famine and another 20% for about 5 years afterward.  Don't help people just to strengthen your own power.

A thought when looking at this: why did the people have to go Pharaoh? Because he was the only centralized figure to go to.  Do you think that if small bands of farmers had gotten together and worked with just each other they might have saved their freedom? Saved their land and their lives?  I think so.  I think we see here why we need to be in relationships with each other that extend beyond our daily "hi, how are you?" "fine" normality.  We need to work on relying on each other.  And being reliable to each other.  If not, we'll someday face the same crisis the Egyptians faced.  And we'll lose the same things they did: freedom, future, and financial independence.

 

Doug

 

Note: this also one of the oldest known examples of "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help."  It was scary then, too.

The State of the Union

No, not the President's speech last night.  I didn't watch it.  Why not? If John Piper can present eternal truth in the excellent manner which he does every Sunday in under an hour, there's no reason to listen to the President politic for more than an hour.  Also, for those of you who think I'm just hating on President Obama, I never watched Presidents Bush (either one) or Clinton during the State of the Union.  Why? It's supposed to be a presentation to Congress about what the President has done for the country, what results he has gotten, and what are his plans for the current situation.  It's been nothing but political grandstanding for years when it is supposed to be about facts and realities.

Which comes to my point.  The state of the union I'm thinking about right now is the state of your marriage union.  Whether you have one now or intend to have one in the future, your marriage is something to stop and think about.  If you've got one, it's something to stop and talk about.

Many of us that are married know that.  We've been told that over and over again by experts that we need to occasionally take stock of where our marriage is, where it has been, and where it's going.  That part of the advice is sound.

The problem is, we've taken a page out of the Presidential playbook.  We've changed our need to address the state of our marriage into a political effort.  It's occasionally a self-promotional "look how awesome I've been" effort.  More often, it's like the typical Presidential State of the Union: here's what's wrong, and here are all the ways it's not my fault.  We then follow it up with good sounding, but vague, statements of intent.  Of course, those statements usually are conditional and often involve things that are completely beyond our ability to control.

I'd like to challenge you to something: sit down with your spouse and consider your marriage.  Not like a politician does, but openly and honestly.  What things are strengthening your relationship? What things are hampering it?  What specific things are you doing to strengthen your marriage?

Then, honestly, try and brainstorm 10 things that you will do that are measurable that will improve your marriage. They don't have to all be noticeable by the other person, just that you know you can  see if you have done them.  Then, take that list of 10 and reduce it to 5 items.  Ask your spouse to choose 1 they want you to commit to doing, and you pick 2 additional.  Do this together and then get back together in a few months to talk about it again.

If you're not married?  Consider asking someone you trust to give you guidance on things you can do now to strengthen the relationship you'll have then.  At the very least, read or listen to something to strengthen your marriage.  I'd read The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman (linked at the bottom to Amazon.  It's an affiliate link: if a million people by the book, I'll get a million dollars).  Passion and Purity by Elizabeth Elliot is a good one as well.  If you're in a relationship, talk through these issues with the person you're with.

Too often we allow our efforts in marriage to be like a politician's speech: rhetoric, defense, inaction.  Do you want real hope and change? It begins at home.  With you.

 

Doug

The Five Love Languages Gift Edition: How to Express Heartfelt Commitment to Your Mate

Revealing the Heart

I'm still reading through the book of Romans.  It's taking a long time, but I think I'm beginning to understand some of what's actually being taught through this book.  Today I was reading Romans 4:13-15, and I realized something.  Let's look at the text and see what's there:

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

Romans 4:13-15 (ESV)

(by the way: I use ESV inserted in blog posts these days because the Bible Verse Inserter plug-in for Live Writer is ESV-based.  I still prefer the NASB, personally, but I do like the ESV.)

Taking a look at verse 15, I was thinking about the statement "where there is no law there is no transgression" and wondering whether or not it would have been better, then, for there to be no law.  After all, if it's the law that makes transgression, then wouldn't it be better to have no law?

That's not what's really being said here, though.  Whether there is law or not, sin remains.  Consider this: we have seen various examples in recent years of things that we know to be wrong even though they were not illegal.  In my lifetime we've seen laws added against stalking.  I remember the first pushes to make DUIs a felony, or to at least make them a serious crime.  There was no law against complex market derivative investing.  It took a person's death to make people consider 'cyber-stalking' and its legality.

Looking back, law as interpreted by people has consistently held problems.  The first problem is self-centeredness.  Laws are typically made that suit the interests and desires of those who make laws.  That's where you get slavery laws, Jim Crow laws, and much of the law you see in Islamic nations that hold back women and non-Muslims.  The second problem is inadequacy.  No law actually changes people's hearts.  You can make discrimination illegal, but you can't change the hearts of racists. 

What do inadequate laws do, then?  They reveal the heart.  It's the same with the law which God gave to the people of Israel.  It wasn't so much about that if they could make all the festivals and sacrifices and never do what they ought not do, they'd be alright.  It was that the law and their efforts to meet it would reveal if their hearts were longing for God.  In national governance, the same is true.  The law reveals where our hearts are.  If a financial institution is honest, then disclosure laws reveal that heart (need an example? Whether their advice is really sound, I don't know, but the folks at Motley Fool have long been willing to disclose their personal biases, but do so lightheartedly. Other stock advisers, not so much).  Laws related to discrimination reveal the heart.

The same is said of God's laws: the heart is reveal by the instruction given.  If we are truly passionate to seek after God, then we will follow what He's given us.  What do we have? Not a lot, under the New Covenant: love Him, love one another, encourage one another by meeting together, spread His Word, live like you belong to His kingdom not the kingdoms of this world, look after widows and orphans, and be faithful to your marriage (whether you've got one yet or not).

That about sums it up.  Yet we sometimes chafe against these ideas, and it's not because they are hard to follow or even really need discussed. It's because our hearts are rebellious inside and we don't want to do it.

God provided laws so that we might see our sinfulness, which is there, down inside, whether we admit it or not.  The law helps that.  The great news is, though, that He didn't just provide a mirror to see who we are and then sit back and leave us in despair over the truth.

He gave us the opportunity to be forgiven those faults and to have that heart made new by the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  He allowed the one perfect heart to count for all who believe.

And that's really good news.

Doug

Proverbs 27 by Doug

Proverbs 27:1 (NLT) –>Keep your bragging restricted to what you have done, not what you will do.  See the case of many high profile young athletes and their non-existent professional athletic prowess.  Or businessman.  Or preachers.  Or, well, anybody.

 

Proverbs 27:2 (NLT) –>I'm just the most awesome person at this.  On a side though, learn to let others praise you.  There's a line at which it's not humility, it's insulting to your Maker and your encourager.

 

And when you take 1 and 2 together: don't boast about tomorrow, since it's out of your control, and don't praise your own yesterday, let somebody else do it!

 

Proverbs 27:5 (NLT) –>Wisely give this love, but give it! I see it too often, especially in church! Churches claim to love one another, but then keep things hidden, and I've heard one too many pastors express that the first time someone shared the complaints was at the business meeting to fire them.  Don't be cruel, but be open.

 

Proverbs 27:17 (NLT) –>Sharpens.  Not bludgeons.

 

Proverbs 27:21 (NLT) –>Write up a nice, long article about how amazing someone is and see what happens.  It's a challenge.  I was given what I thought was a very high complement this past week, and it was hard to keep it from going to my head.  It might yet make me a little more arrogant than it should.  I'm hoping it will just make me more confident.  We'll see.

Political Rantings

Well, I had a big long post written and realized all I was doing was complaining about politics.  A couple of quick thoughts instead:

1.  If corporations have rights, including free speech, why don't people?  As in, if a corporation can unlimitedly pour money into politics, why can't nonprofit organizations, including me?  Why don't high school valedictorians?  Why do people fuss about Tim Tebow's speech?

2.  If winning the Massachusetts Senate seat was a good thing for the Republican Party, if it's the beginning of a Republican resurgence, do they have a real plan? Yes, the pseudo-socialist agenda of Pelosi/Reed needs to go away.  However, the Saints aren't in the Superbowl simply because of defense.  Although it helped (tremendously) denying the Vikings the ability to score wasn't the only thing.  It took some positive motion.  What's the plan guys?

3.  H&R Block wants Congress to do more regulation of tax software and tax preparers.  H&R Block? Really? How about we either simplify the tax code (flat tax, anyone?) or eliminate it, go with a national consumption tax, and be done?  Or at least let Consumer Reports or some non-involved party push the regulation.  Besides, the last time I let H&R touch my taxes, they screwed them up. Not exactly the best example…and would you trust Ford to be the push for auto regulations? Wouldn't you expect they were out to help their business as much as anything?

4.  Does anyone think that Congress will actually ever listen to people again?  Unless we unemploy 434 Congressmen and 34 Senators this fall, the nonsense won't stop. (There's probably 1 worth keeping.)

5.  Book banning is back in the news, thanks to some knuckleheaded decisions by people that didn't do adequate research before proposing to ban specific books.  First observation: book banning is a lousy term.  Nobody banned a book.  They prohibited it in a certain forum, which is done on a daily basis in education.  You are required to read certain books.  You are, in some classes, given freedom to read your choice from a list of books.  Literature teachers and academic folks are constantly requiring you to read their preferences over your own.  That's just life.  Second: you make everyone who shares a portion of agreement with your viewpoint when you prohibit things like dictionaries look silly.  Stop it.

6.  Just a quick reminder: everyone's problems aren't the same.  There are times your psychological issues should be solved with the effort of the will.  There are other times when you need help.  Guess what? If someone expresses that some people should "get over it" don't be so hypersensitive that they have to be insulting you.  As a pastor I have recommended some people seek out medical-based care that included the possibility of *GASP* medication for their issues.  For others I've told them to build a bridge and get over it.  Mental and emotional issues are diverse and have diverse solutions, just like physical injuries.  Some pains need surgery, some need rest and Advil.

7.  I'm certain that the 25 million plus people out of work are glad Congress is digging into NCAA College Football Championships and NFL head injuries.  First of all: if the colleges feel bad about their system, let them change it.  Second, are we concerned that football impacts have deprived us of rocket scientists?  The recent revelation that the Florida State Football team had many players that read on a 2nd Grade level should allay those fears. (although the recent action in a Texas school system to not allow Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See? has many FSU and University of Texas players concerned they'll never know how it ended.)  Seriously.  We're fighting 2 wars,  (according to France, we're also conquering Haiti. I'm not sure why we'd want it) having massive unemployment, and not even the Treasury Secretary understands the tax code.  Can we fix a real problem?

 

Amazingly, that's the calm version of my ranting….

 

Doug

January 24 Sermon Outlines

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Text: Matthew 4:1-11
Theme: Temptation
Date: January 24 2010
Location: CBC Monticello
I.Temptation comes to everyone!
1.It is the result of sin in the world, not just sin in our lives
2.Usually when we have freshly expressed our commitment to walk with Christ or intensified our efforts to obey
3.Usually when we are in a weakened state:
1.Rod Loy of First Assembly in N. Little Rock used the acronym HALT as a reminder:
1.Hungry
2.Angry
3.Lonely
4.Tired
2.These are the times that Temptation comes the strongest
II.Temptation thrives in shortcuts:
1.To Material things: the bread. Whether wants or needs
2.To glory and fame: Jumping off the temple
1.Also to test God//see if He really means what He says
3.To power: The Kingdoms
III.Knowledge of Scripture is the front line of defense to temptation
1.Remember, temptation comes to all of us
2.We must know the text: it is the foundation
3.We must also know the context
1.Note verse 6 and Satan's misuse of Scripture
2.We must know what the text is about, and understand the whole of Scripture---else we will come unbalanced and miss the point
IV.Temptation can derail us from what God intends us to do
V.Temptation will fall to the Word of God if we know the Word!
1.As followers of Christ
2.Guided by the Word
3.Empowered by the Spirit
VI.We do not have to fall to temptation: God has given us what we need to Follow Him and not fall to it.

Text: Philippians 2:1-2
Theme: Unity
Date: January 24 2010 PM
Location: CBC Monticello

I.Certain things are true:
1.Consolation of love
1.God's love
2.Love for each other
3.Console us in trying times (look back at 1:29-30)
2.Fellowship of the Spirit
1.Intimacy with God
2.Intimacy with each other
3.Affection and compassion
1.Active caring for one another
2.Suffering with each other
II.Certain things we need
1.Complete joy
2.Same mind
1.Not uniform
2.But using the same criteria for decisions
3.Same love
1.Love for Christ
2.Love for each other
3.Love for the lost
4.United spirit
1.Not angry
5.One Purpose
1.GLORIFY GOD!!
1.By spreading the Gospel
2.And living lives of faith