A Big Bite of a Mistake

I had a meeting in Northern VA this morning and had to be back in Richmond by 2 for a wedding rehearsal. I left later than planned and stopped by 7-11 because of the time crunch for lunch. As i was going in a saw a sign that said Big Bites 2 for $1.99. I'm cheap and that sounded like a good deal. So i fixed the hot dogs up and got back into the car. Midway through the first Big Bite i knew i had made a mistake. That was my first and last "Big Bite."
What food does you in?

The Hope of the Resurrection

One of my highlights each week is when i get my Sports Illustrated. This week Pat Tillman was on the cover. Pat Tillman was the much celebrated professional football player who left the millions of dollars on the table to enlist in the army so he could join the fight against terrorism. A couple of years latter he was killed in a Afghanistan by friendly fire. The article was about what happened the day he died and the controversies surrounding it.

The bummer of the article for me was that Tillman was an atheist. At his memorial service his brother said, "Pat's not in heaven with God, Pat's f*****g dead."
I could not move beyond that quote and have thought about it everyday since.
He's saying that this is the end. Pat is no more and he's not in a better place, he is died. We will not be reunited with him someday, its over, death is the end.

How sad it must be for people who live it that reality. That death is indeed the end. We really would have reason to be sad if that was the truth.

But the good news of the gospel is that it does not have to be that way. One of the many promises God has given us is the hope of the resurrection. Jesus said "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me even though they die, yet shall they live."

Chloe Grace

Leigh Ann and I are pleased to announce to birth of our 3rd child and daughter Chloe Grace. She was born on August 23, 2006 weighing 7lb 13 oz. Chloe and Leigh Ann are doing great. Jordan and Karis love their new sister.

In each of our girls' room we have a Bible verse. In Chloe's room we have parts of Luke 18:16&17. "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly i tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."

The reason we picked these verses is that I heard Dallas Willard teach on this and he explained these verses in a way that i have never heard before. Willard said that a child is utterly dependant upon others for their existence. And for us to experience the kingdom of God to the fullest we have to have that same utter dependence upon Jesus. This really spoke to me. Am I utterly depended upon God? The utterly part is the problem. In the same way that Chloe is entirely dependant on my wife and I, we are to be just as dependant on God.

Something For Nothing?

On our recent youth mission trip the small group of teens that I got to work with spent 2 days building a wheel chair ramp. This was huge for me because of my ungiftedness in that area, i usually have to paint. While it was not pretty, it worked!! After 2 days of working on the ramp in the 100 heat we were done and very proud of ourselves. As we went in the house to tell the family that the wheel chair ramp was ready we got a less than enthusiastic response. You could sum it up by saying, "thanks and don't let the door hit you on the way out." Our emotions went from being pumped to being bummed to being angry in a matter of moments.
How often do we (or at least I) do something and expect something in return? I know I do this a lot. This something in return that you might expect could be a verbal thank you, a constant stream of praise the next several times you see this person or maybe some kind of equal action back. And if we don't get this "praise" it changes our opinion of the other person or persons.

Matthew 6:1-4 says "Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness in front of others, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

This speaks to what happened on our youth mission trip and it also speaks to one of my lingering sins and struggles; "the need to be praised by others."

The praise we should be worried about is not others, but God's. When we get this order mixed up we are committing idolatry and we stifle our relationship with God. I think pastor's (including myself) really struggle with this praise. We want to be liked, we want to have big churches so other pastors and people will like us and seek us out. It is so easy to shift our focus from Jesus to other people's approval. And this is not just true for pastors but for everyone.

I like what I've heard Pastor Tim Keller of Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC say, "I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe and I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope." That statement describes me to a fault. Remember who you are doing it for. Help me Jesus!

Down with the Old, Up with the New

On July 23rd we had one of the best services that we have had since I've been at St. Matthew's. We had a gospel band, "The Barkers" lead us in worship. I did not think I liked old school gospel but I connected with God through their music. It was awesome. My sermon was on Baptism as we were going to a have an adult baptism after the service. I talked about 3 dimensions of Baptism. First we have to die to self, second we have to bury our selves, and third we then experience new life. What helped me the most during preparation was how often I don't bury my sins. If you don't bury something, the stench is going to get you. I put my sins away but i will put them in a place where i know if i need them, or want them, or desire them, i can get to them. This is dangerous. What we need to do to experience the new life, and abundant life Christ offers us is with the help of the Holy Spirit is to bury our selves and our sins, not just put them away. Because if you just put them away they will eventually get you. At least that has been true in my life. After the sermon we had a remembering your baptism service and at both services many people came forward.

After the service we drove over to a church members' house who has a lake in their backyard and we had the baptism there. I was my first time doing an immersion baptism and it was cool. We hope to do this again. I hope to post some pictures of Serena's baptism in the upcoming days. Serena gave a testimony before she was baptised. She read Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight." I thought what i perfect baptism verse. When we die to our selves we have to put our trust in Jesus and trust not our understanding. If not we won't get to experience what he has in store for us.

Shadow Mission

On Sunday I wanted to people to leave thinking about their life mission. I believe that God has a mission for each and every one of us and this mission could be a multitude of things. Competing against our God mission is what i call a shadow mission. A shadow mission could be, television, Internet, a sport, a child, a spouse, popularity, wealth, and even blogging! Your shadow mission has the potential to keep you form realizing your God given mission. Many people go through their whole life only knowing their shadow mission. Many believers go through their life and spend more time, energy, and resources focusing on their shadow mission than they don on their God given mission. I wanted people to leave thinking about both their shadow mission and their God mission and be able to identify them, (one of the many flaws in the sermon was that i should follow this up with some kind of guidance on how to go about finding your God mission.)

My shadow mission is what i would call spiritual procrastination. I spend a lot of time reading, studding, and doing God's work. But when it comes to spending time in God's presence I believe i have much room for improvement. Say i sit down at my desk tomorrow and there is no urgent matter. I could easily take a moment like that to pray and be in God's word. What i usually do it that situation is find some kind of administrative work, make a phone call, or read something that's not of the devotional sort. This has been my shadow mission since i entered the ministry. My best defence against this has been mutual accountability. My former accounability partner Chris, (he moved several weeks ago) and I would hold each other accountable to this. We had to spend a minimum of an hour a day in prayer, Bible study, and jounaling. If not, we had to pay the other a 1$ for each day we failed to do this, (for the record no money ever excanged hands). This worked really well. Its amazing what accountability can do.

My God mission at this time is discipleship. I want people to realize that their is much more to Christianity than getting to heaven. We can experience God's Kingdom here and now but so many people don't know this. I believe my mission is to share and show this to others.

So, what is your shadow mission and what is your God mission?

The Holy Land?

The Holy Land?
My first Blog, i hope i do this right. For the first time in my life I am in Boston and as a result I have now experienced two parts of the baseball stadium trinity; Yankee Stadium and as of last night Fenway Park. Only Wriggly Field is left. I will make it some day.

Although i am a Yankee fan, Fenway Park is sacred ground. And as blasphemous as it sounds, I had a Holy experience. It was awesome.

Props to my main man Bob Welby for hooking us up in a first class way! You enable me to have one of the best experiences of my life. If anyone needs a new car get a Nissan. This picture is for you!!

I am in Boston as one of 25 young clergy from across the nation selected to be one of the Lewis Fellows. While this is a big honor the truth is there are only about 35 young clergy, (under 35) in the entire country. Slight exaggeration but not as much as you would think. While i am in Boston, my wife Leigh Ann, 8 months pregnant, and 2 daughters, 3 year old Jordan and almost 2 year old Karis are in Richmond Virginia. My wife is the joy of my life and i thank her being such a blessing to me and for encouraging me to come to Boston.

I am preaching about Esther this week. A great book if you have never read it. Esther is also my favorite Veggie Tales video. I heard a sermon by John Ortberg where he talks about your "shadow mission". A "shadow mission" is anything that gets in way of your real God created mission. An example of a shadow mission could be something like.....blogging!..... or sports......or television! Any thing that is taking you away from what God might what you to do. Kind of scary don't you think? I'm not saying we can't have hobbies or do things for fun but when they become our main focus or obsession they can and do take us way from our God given mission. In the story of Esther the characters have to decide if they are going to follow their God mission or their shadow mission. What might possible be your shadow mission.

If any of the one person that reads this (hi Ben) has any thoughts or opinions about this let me know. I guess i am now a member of the blogging universe!!