Best of the Bloggies....

My random collection of good reading from the bloggie world. Here it goes.

Shawn's trip to the DMV

Jason on his blogging journey

Chris talks about social networking from a sports information director's perspective

Thoughts from David May

Lessons Learned #1--Fatherhood Lessons from my Heavenly Father

This morning we are going to do something a little different. The sermon is broken up into three parts. When I was trying to think about what I should say for Father’s Day, a number of things ran through my head. I opted for something kind of similar to my article in the Tribune the other week.

What I want to share with you this Sunday, very briefly, are some lessons I have learned about who God as a heavenly father from my two-weeks as an earthly father. I realize this is dangerous because, well, I don’t have a lot of time on the job. On the other hand, being fresh to the fatherhood experience, I might have some perspective that might bear reminding for some of us.

Anyway, not a lot of this is really based on my experience. It is based on the word of God, and some Scriptures that teach us about the love and character of our Heavenly Father.

The first passage is this one, from the minor prophets:

Zephaniah 3:17
17 The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”

The prophet Zephaniah writes this to Israelites as they were exile. He points them to a future hope when they will again be at home, and again be at peace. To give them a picture of what this is going to be like, he gives them an image of a Father caring for his young child, possibly as the child is just born. It talks about God being full of rejoicing over us, trying to lovingly quiet us, and singing over us.

When Karis was born, I was lucky enough to spend the first moments of her life with her. I assisted in the delivery by holding and pushing against one of Jennifer’s legs. Karis greeted her mother. I cut the cord. I carried her over to the little burrito warmer. I helped the nurse with the footprints, the weight, and the measurements. They cleaned her and swaddled her. I held her as they were finishing caring for Jennifer. I got to rock her.


As I began to hold her she whimpered a little. I talked to her and welcomed her to the world. I told her how lucky I was that out of all the little girls in all of the world, God had given me the best one. She quieted and kind of put her eyes in my direction. I sang over her. I sang songs I knew, and songs I just made up for the occasion—which I am known to do. I may have even shed a few tears. She was one of the most beautiful people I had ever seen.

That tenderness I felt as I held that new life in my arms—that tenderness you have felt with your own children—that is the kind of love God has for those who are his faithful children. Those who are born again.

God says that your life may be difficult. You may have felt isolated and alone, like those Jews who spent a generation in exile. But you can count on the hope that at the end of your heartache and despair, your isolation and loneliness, that God will sweep you up in his arms. Like a little child that is newly born he will rejoice over and sing over you, he will comfort you with his love.

He won’t do this because of anything you have done or anything you can do. He will love you like a tenderly loving father because you are his, and he is yours, and to your Heavenly Father you are one of the most precious and beautiful things he has ever seen.

Lessons Learned Part 2: Lessons Learned about my Heavenly Father

I John 3:1
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

It is always nice to belong to someone, isn’t it? To have someone say….look at them….they are mine! To have someone say, “That’s my baby! That’s my boy! That my girl! That’s MY man! That’s MY woman!” Or vise versa. It is always nice to have someone to say that about.

When we are believers in Christ we have this privilege. When God watches us and looks upon us, he looks on us and says, “those are my kids”.

At one point in my life I had a pastor who did this prayer exercise where he challenged us to ask God, “God, what do you think of me?” Then he told us to listen for a response.

The pastor told us if we heard stuff that was like “you are worthless” or “I hate you” that this was the devil, who is called the accuser, and to rebuke him. But he also challenged us to listen to what God would say, and if God gave us some mental image to think about that as well.

I don’t always do well at these touchy feely exercises, so it took me a while to slow down enough to hear what God was saying. But when I slowed down this picture came to mind. I was with God in a room, a small living room with white walls and pictures all around. I asked the question. And God said, “I think of you all the time.” And then I looked around. And all around the room there were pictures of me at important and fun moments of my life. And it seemed to me that it was obvious that God was there at every moment those pictures were taken, taking those pictures. Furthermore, I noticed that God loved me so much that it was my pictures that he had on his wall, on his table, near his chair. And the thought of this moved me to tears. Why? Because I knew my Heavenly Father loved me like only a perfect father can. This vision I believe God gave me told the story of what it means to have a Heavenly Father that treasures me as only he can.
When God calls us his child he has given us his name. He has created us to look more like him, to act more like him, to share more and more of our life with him as we grow. He has given us an identity as his child, his heir, a member of his family. People can look at us and say “that is God’s child!” What a privilege!

The moment Karis was born, and I began to hold her in my arms, I knew that no matter what she did, or no matter what happened to her, I could not love her more in that moment, and I could not love her any less than I did in that moment for the rest of my life.

Let me say this again. One of the things I learned very quickly as I gazed into my child’s barely able to focus eyes was that there is nothing that she could ever do that could make me love her any less. Would I want bad things to happen to her? No. Would I want her to rebel and make a lot of bad mistakes? Of course not! But no matter what happens, deep down in my heart, I know my love for her can only grow.

The same is true of our Heavenly Father. There is nothing that we have done, or could do, that would make God love us any less. Does he want us to rebel? No. Does he want us to run away from him? Of course he does not. But if we run away from him or rebel against him, he offers us forgiveness and restoration. He loves us more than we will ever know.

Lessons Learned #3--A Father Welcomes Us Home

Luke 15:11-24
11Jesus continued: "There was a man who had two sons. 12The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them.
13"Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17"When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men.' 20So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21"The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.[b]'
22"But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. 24For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate.



When you are a new parent, one of the big moments of excitement and worry is when you get to take your children home from the hospital and welcome them into your home. I think this might be especially true with your first child. You have been preparing your home for months. You get a room ready as a nursery. You get all those little baby toys and baby furniture items put together. You gather hand-me downs. Your church throws a baby shower for you, your bride, and the little baby to come.

You organize the clothes by age. You buy plenty of diapers. Or at least, what you think is plenty of diapers until a week after you get home. You prepare the house for the baby to be in it. You get the base for the car seat set for the new little child to be in it. Jennifer even wanted me to take the car into that Octopus car wash and get an express detail for the baby so that the car would be as clean as it could be when we brought our baby home.

The moment comes when the doctor says that momma and baby are free to come home, and you put that precious cargo in your car. I told Jennifer not to be surprised if I drove 5 miles an hour down Highway 50 all the way home. The truth was I went about 50, but I was still driving slow, deliberately, and cautiously.

I discovered my normal laid back approach to driving fading, and being replaced by a newly minted road rage as I got frustrated at every car that cut in front of us or rode to closely to our bumper. I scolded them from inside my car, and told them in no uncertain terms, that we had a baby on board inside our car and should show us more respect.

I was more excited, I think, to bring our new baby inside the home we had been preparing for her arrival than when I came into our apartment for the first time as a married couple with Jennifer after our honeymoon. We had prepared a place for our baby. We were welcoming her home.

When Jesus was about to go to the cross, he said this, “In my Father’s house are many mansions (or rooms depending on the translation). I go to prepare a place for you…”

Just like we spent over 9 months waiting for our baby to arrive in our home, preparing, anticipating, hoping and dreaming, God has a place set aside for you. Jesus is preparing that place for you. There is a lot of anticipation in God’s heart, and hope for your homecoming.
Jesus told this story about this father, who son had spurned him. The Father is supposed to be like God, the son like those who had strayed far from God and went their own way. The rebellious son had taken his inheritance early and ran away to a land far away. He had gone broke spending all his money on loose women and wild living. He had his share of fun, sure. But when the money and parties had run out, so did the fun. He looked around and he was broke, he was lonely, friendless, with very little hope. All those things he thought would make him happy had led to a dead end.

He decided to go back to his father’s home and be a hired hand for his father. When the father, who represents our heavenly father, was out one day he looked off in the distance. He saw the son. He must have been looking out there every day hoping his child would come home. The father ran to his son and threw his arms around him. He called him his son. He put the family ring on his finger. He threw a party for the lost son. He prepared a feast. He welcomed him.
Friends, our Heavenly Father is always ready to welcome us home.

You may be coming toward the end of your life, and you may be thinking of eternity. Remember, just like some parents preparing a place for their newborn child, God is preparing a place for you.
You may have run away from God. You may have wasted most of your money and your life on wild, selfish living. Know this. God is eagerly awaiting your return to him and his ways. He has a feast prepared for you. He is eager to welcome you home.

Either way, God is waiting eagerly for your homecoming. He is anticipating that moment when he can walk you into his home, and say “Here is my boy! Here is my girl! After all this waiting, the family is finally home. Together.”

Catering to the Least Responsible Among Us: Reason #2 I still consider myself a conservative

Before Karis was born and while Jennifer was pregnant we participated in a childbirth class. It was something that was recommended to Jennifer, and she thought it would be helpful for us.

As her pregnancy went on, her enthusiasm for the class waned. Once Jennifer was put on bedrest by her doctor, she became even less excited about the one day intensive on the joys of giving birth . The class, as it turned out, happened to coincide with a visit from my wife's father and my wife's aunt. We decided to attend anyway, believing that since we had paid for the tutorial, we most likely should attend.

We showed up to the event in Pueblo. The building was approximately 45 minutes from our house. We were told we needed to bring our lunch with us, because we would work through lunch. In order to be prepared for this lunch, we drove to Rocky Ford (about 25 minutes one way) to get the Subway sandwiches we wanted.

We showed up that morning on time. The meeting started about ten minutes late. Although some of the information was basic, we learned a few things in the class. Jennifer was getting tired. It was getting to be lunch time.

When it was time to have lunch the instructor asked how many people had brought their lunch. About half had not. So the instructor told the class that instead of taking a short break and working through the class they would take an hour break and let people go out and get their lunches and come back.

This made me very angry. I had made a special effort to be prepared for the "working" lunch. I had made an effort to get to the class on time, and it had started late. We both were perturbed enough to confront the issue directly to the teacher.

"I thought we were having a 'working lunch', weren't we?" Jennifer asked.

"Yes, we were," the instructor responded, "but half of the people did not bring their lunches, and we cannot go to four without letting them eat, can we."

"You know what you are doing," I responded, "you are catering to the least responsible among us."

She shrugged. We went out to the car. We ate our lunch. We skipped the rest of the childbirth class because we were frustrated with the way the class was run, and because most of the second half of the class was a lot of standing up and moving.

This class demonstrates another reason why I consider myself a conservative. Many liberal policies and liberal persons tend to be so enamoured with their concerns with mercy and justice that they enable people's lack of responsibilities. Instead of offering people subsidies or incentives to become stronger people, liberals tend to pity people and offer them handouts to keep them weak and dependent. At their worst, liberals cater to the least responsible among us.

Compassionate conservative ideals (though often not conservative practice) attempt to address poverty and injustice through offering incentives for people to be more responsible. This is one of the reasons I became a conservative when I was young. This appeal to the best in us instead of the worst in us is also why I continue to consider myself a conservative today.

Review of Hunter's Moon by Don Hoesel

Hunter’s Moon begins as a homecoming story. CJ Baxter is a successful author, but his personal life is a mess. As he returns to his hometown for his grandfather’s funeral he begins to question his choices, those of his powerful political family, and the secret they are all trying to keep hidden.

The story begins a little slow, but the characters and plot all become intertwined in the family secret. As the pace of the story picks up, Baxter finds himself in a life or death struggle that forces him to come to terms with both his personal choices and his family’s history. As CJ struggles with his difficult circumstances, many readers will identify with him, which makes this novel even more interesting. He begins to realize that all he can do is move forward from the past and do the right thing in the present. It is when this realization comes upon him that he begins to understand matters of faith more clearly, and make his faith a real and active part of his life.

The nice thing about Hunter’s Moon is that it incorporates a number of different elements that people are looking for in an enjoyable reading experience. Baxter has to deal with significant relational struggles. The main characters are developed clearly. At the same time, as the story ramps up the pace of the novel increases, it becomes a mystery novel. Then the storyline turns a corner later in the novel and becomes more of a thriller. There is something for everyone’s taste in this fine book.

*This review was written in parnership with my mother, Patricia J. Walker

**This book was provided to me at no cost by Bethany House publishers in exchange for an honest review. As positive or negaitve review was not required in order to obtain the book.

NCAA Conference Realignment

Conference Realignment in the NCAA Division I is happening quickly these days. There are some things that seem to be settled. Those things are:

1. Colorado is becoming a part of the Pac 10 Conference. (Yipee)
2. Nebraska is becoming a part of the Big 10 (makes sense)

As you can see, both teams are from the Big 12 North, which has gotten short shrift in light of the dominance of Oklahoma and Texas in the conference. There move is understandable. Unfortunately, it puts the rest of the Big 12 North (KU, Mizzou, KState, Iowa State) in a lerch regarding being in a BCS Conference. In the Big 12 South, it also puts Baylor in a precarious position.

These leaves several possibilities:

1. The Big 12 going down to 10 teams as it is, moving Ok. State to the North.

2. The Pac 10 superconference

3. The Big 12 pulling in some mid majors like BYU and TCU to keep the conference alive.

4. The Big 12 imploding in a number of directions.


What do you think is going to happen? What teams are going where? Why do you think that?

Big Brother in the Baby Ward

My daughter was born last week. Because of that fact, we have spent a lot of time at the hospital. I think as far as hospitals go, Parkview hospital is a good hospital. However, the more time I spent at the hospital, the more I got frustrated and angry about all of the control and power I had to give away to the hospital staff and administration. It felt like big brother is running amuck in the halls of our labor and delvery wards.

After our baby was born, my wife and I got to hold her briefly. Then the powers that be took the child away to the hospital nursery. I asked if I could bathe the baby. They told me I was welcome to stay in the room and watch. Are you telling me they could not tell me how my baby needed to be washed? Or they could not have done it in our own room instead of taking her to another room. Ridiculous.

They also had to tell us when we could take our child home. If we did not wait for her to be released to go home we would have been in trouble. We sat in the room and waited for hours for someone to come and let us take OUR BABY home. Crazy! Who is the hospital or the government to force us to fill out paperwork to take our child to our home whenever we see fit.

Then there were the small things. The nurse who changed our child's diaper when we specifically said we wanted to change her ourselves. The insistance that many patients must wear robes, which are supposed to be more hygenic, but really have been worn by several hundred other people before you have worn them.

All the unecessary tests that are run. All of the intrusive control and power they take in your family and with your friends.

Did you know that you can not take pictures of your own child's delivery, or video tape it, at the hospital we were at. Do they know that we chose to come to their hospital? That it is our insurance that puts food on their table? Shouldn't they then give us more power and control in our own family health and development.

All of this really makes me angry. It makes me remember why I still consider myself a conservative. More government does not make things better. It makes a citizenry weaker and with less individual power over their own lives and the lives of friends and family.

Uncle Steve Retires

It seems like yesterday that Mom packed us up to Alaska in a Mazda GLC with plans to stay with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Tammy for a month or two during the summer until we got on our feet. She had a job lined up in a frame shop, and hopes of becoming a teacher. Steve, if I remember right, was working on the "Binkley Street Project", which meant that he was turning the heart of Soldotna from gravel roads to paved roads with curbs and sidewalks. Quite an adventure!

That was 23 years ago. This month Steve retired from the city of Soldotna having constructed or reconstructed most of its infrastructure. Starting out in Alaska with next to nothing, he did what many people coming to the last frontier did. He worked hard, made friends, made a life and a reputation for himself through his honesty, integrity and hard work.

I am so thankful that the Clarion honored him with THIS ARTICLE. I hope you will take time to read it.

DVD Review for READ AND SHARE: THE JESUS STORIES, LIFE AND MIRACLES

This evening I recieved the opportunity to watch the DVD Read and Share: The Jesus Stories, Life and Miracles. I was excited to watch this DVD for several reasons. First, I am thinking about what children's videos might be appropriate for the congregation I am a pastor of. Second, I am a father of an infant looking for videos that would properly teach my baby girl about Jesus from early in her life. Finally, I was interested in how a publisher would choose what to show and what not to show in their videos.

Many videos in this series are chopped into short three minute segments of parts of the Bible witness about Jesus. This section of the series was a half of an hour long. The video quickly moved from the flight from Egypt, to Jesus in Nazereth, to the Miracles and Teachings of Jesus, to Maundy Thursday. Each of the stories were told pretty close to the Biblical text.

There were several things I enjoyed about the video. There were several attempts by the creators of the video to be true to Jesus' Jewish heritage. I have no idea if they did this correctly or not, but I thought the effort of presenting Jesus as a Messiah in a Hebrew context was worthwhile.

Also, I enjoyed the simplistic animation the video was presented with. I think this would be especially appropriate for young children, much like Blue's Clues works with its simple presentation.

Unfortunately, as I watched I wondered about some of the choice of content for the video. For instance, some of the teaching they featured is highly metaphorical, and thus difficult to understand by younger children. Also, I wondered why there was such a strong emphasis on Judas.

Overall I would recommend this video for a nursery/preschool audience, and their adult caregiver who both need to learn a little bit more about the Bible.

(Thomas Nelson gave me this video in exchange for reviewing this video. No favorable or unfavorable review was required in order to receive the video)

Through a Father's Eyes

1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!—I John 3:1

On June 2, my wife Jennifer gave birth to our baby girl. Her name is Karis. For most of my adult life, I was not sure I wanted a child. One week later, Baby Karis has captured my heart and defined my new world.

When the baby was born I got to be the first one, after my wife, to hold her. I rocked her, held her in my arms, and quietly began singing to her. As the doctor finished up caring for my wife he came to me and said, “Pastor, I have to tell you, I don’t think your preaching will ever be the same.”

I replied, “Probably not.”

I thought, “I hope not.”

During those late nights when you are snuggling that little child to your chest, you have a lot of time to think. One of the things you do is pray for your family. Another thing you do is meditate on what being a good father is. There is nothing like becoming a father to help you grow in your understanding of who God is as our Heavenly Father.

One of the things I learned very quickly as I gazed into my child’s barely able to focus eyes was that there is nothing that she could ever do that could make me love her any less. Would I want bad things to happen to her? No. Would I want her to rebel and make a lot of bad mistakes? Of course not! But no matter what happens, deep down in my heart, I know my love for her can only grow.

The same is true of our Heavenly Father. There is nothing that we have done, or could do, that would make God love us any less. Does he want us to rebel? No. Does he want us to run away from him? Of course he does not. But if we run away from him or rebel against him, he offers us forgiveness and restoration. He loves us more than we will ever know.

Book Review of Sleep: It Does a Family Good by Dr. Archibald Hart

I just loved reading Sleep: It Does a Family Good by Dr. Archibald Hart. It is an excellent book filled with good information and it is also a book that is written in a very readable manner.

Published by Tyndale Publishing in partnership with Focus on the Family, Dr. Hart shares how most families are so active and busy that they are about to burn out due to lack of rest. Following that, he shares how sleep is essential to healthy physical, emotional, and spiritual lives. Then, he shares some techniques and skills to increase the amount of sleep that you and members of your family get, and the benefits that will provide. He integrates his research on the importance of sleep and rest into a thorough theology of sleep and rest. Finally, Dr. Hart shows how integrate some ancient prayer practices into your life that will not only aid restful sleeping, but less anxious and busy living.

This book is countercultural. Our society teaches us that we can do it all, and do everything well. Our culture tells us to always look for ways to work harder, and to be better. Thus, we often rob ourselves of the sleep and rest that Scripture commends over and over again. God commands us to keep a Sabbath. The Lord Jesus offers the invitation, "Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28). In many ways our attemps to live without rest are an attempt to at best earn God's approval, and at worst build an altar to the God of self. In either instance, choosing not to sleep and not to rest is an affront to the grace of God that we are called not only to be saved by, but to live in each day as well.

One thing I loved about this book is that it is well-researched, but at a very accessable level. Thus, there are lots of little tidbits about sleep and rest that drew my attention. I kept reading something to myself, and then re-reading little parts of the book outloud to my wife after I read them.

Sleep: It Does a Family Good is a wonderful book and an easy read. It should find a place on the bookshelf of Christians who want to be happier and healthier. It should also find its way into the hands of any Christian leader who wants some simple tools to help people become happier with their lives and healthier in their relationships.

(I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for reviewing it for Tyndale Publishers. A favorable review was not required in order to get this book, just an honest one.)

Scripture for Memorial Day Sermon: The Final Church of the 7 Churches of Revelation

14 “And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans[a] write, ‘These things says the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God: 15 “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot,[b] I will vomit you out of My mouth. 17 Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing’—and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked— 18 I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and anoint your eyes with eye salve, that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. 21 To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”’”

Memorial Day Sermon: Be Hot or Cold

As most of you know, I played football in High School and in College. I went to two colleges actually, one in Illinois and the other in Kansas. No matter where I played in the country, no matter what the culture was in that area, no matter the offensive and defensive philosophy, there were certain truisms and statements that I heard whether I was in Oregon or Alaska, Illinois or Kansas. One of those statements we heard over and over again as players was, “Football is not a contact sport. Basketball is a contact sport. Football is a COLLISION SPORT.”

Football was a collision sport. You just didn’t touch each other, you HIT each other. That was part of what was so fun about football. It was violent. It is part of what I loved about playing football. It is part of what I still love about watching football. There is nothing like watching a pancake block or a slobber-knocking tackle when you are watching people play the sport of football. It is part of why we all come.

Another thing they taught us, which is much more applicable to the Scripture we are looking at right now, is that the surest way to get hurt was to give a half-hearted effort. You want to be hurt when someone tackles you? You start jogging a long and just goofing off and have some guy come at you full speed and knock you down. That is the surest way to sustain and injury. You go full speed and the guy comes at you full speed at you, you have a chance of hopping right up from that collision. You sit on the sidelines and nobody will come close to hurting you. But give a half-hearted effort on the field of play in a collision sport and you will find yourself with an ice bag around your knee and you will be asking everyone what day of the week it is.

This lesson from football can teach us a lot. Half-hearted faith is toxic to the church, and toxic to your soul. Half-hearted faith is condemned in this passage.

Jesus makes it very clear to the people in Laodecia. Be hot, be on fire for God if you will, and stand for everything that is true and right, and stand strong for Jesus. Or, be cold. Be uninvolved. Don’t care and don’t say you care. But do not be half-hearted about the gospel of Christ! Do not just float along. Don’t think you will be pleasing God by giving him just enough of your time, just enough of your energy, just enough of your heart. Give him your whole heart, or
give him nothing at all!
These are pretty stern words. This is pretty hard to hear really. I mean who can be on fire for Jesus all the time really? Who can really be THAT passionate?

It is always telling in these letters to the churches how Jesus defines himself to the churches. In this particular passage he calls himself the Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, and the Beginning in the Creation of God. Each speaks to his faithful intent to humanity. He is one whose word can be trusted. Who is the beginning and the End. The one who speaks the first word and who has the last word. He is worthy of our praise. He is worthy of our trust. He is worthy to base our life upon. ALL OF OUR LIFE UPON.

Jesus goes on to tell us that this church is rather comfortable. They are rather cozy in their lifestyle. They tell everyone they are wealthy. They have it all together. But from God’s perspective they are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.

This is a very confident and self-assured church, this church in Laodacea. A church that has a congregation. A church that gathers regularly and gives generously. But the church in Laodecia is a church that seems to have outgrown its need for Jesus. At least in their own mind. Because of their security and their material well-being. Jesus is an add-on to the life of the lukewarm church, not at the center of their lives.

Certainly this warning of half-heartedness is not exclusive to this church and this time. Jesus said something similar when he said, “You cannot serve two masters, for either you will love one and hate the other, or hate one and love the other, you cannot serve both God and mammon.” Jesus’ brother James said something similar when he talked about people who were “double-minded”.

Believers in Jesus have always been tempted to be half-hearted, double-minded, lukewarm Christians that serve two masters. We have always preferred comfort over faithfulness, popularity over piety. We have always preferred to make Jesus a part of our life, but not let him be Lord over all over our life. We have always preferred to offer our prayers when all of our life is out of our control, instead of praying for the Lord to take control of our life. And then we wonder why our faith seems so powerless and why the church seems to have so little impact on our nation and our culture in the present day.

Memorial Day Sermon: Laodacia and the American Church

I hate to say this, on the eve of Memorial Day, but most of the American church has become the church of Laodecia. Eager to keep up a good image. Eager to be comfortable. Eager to talk more about our faith than live our faith. Eager to live by faith in the Almighty dollar than Almighty God. Eager to play church on Sunday, and pay our dues with the “church thing”, but then live the rest of our life as though God does not exist—pursuing our egos and our pleasures with reckless abandon. Quick to talk about compassion, slow to be compassionate. Willing to talk about how we as Christians are strangers and aliens in a land that is not our home, but unwilling to welcome the literal strangers and aliens in our midst.

We would do well to remember the saints that came before us. Prophets who were killed. Martyrs who refused to worship the emporer. Reformers who refused to repudiate solid Biblical teaching. People who did not see faith in Jesus as part of their life, but as the way the truth and the life itself.

We would do well to remember our forefathers and foremothers, who in spite of their foibles and failures at certain points had the courage to live their faith wholeheartedly and courageously. People who were so committed to their faith that they set out to make a home in a strange land rather than compromise their convictions in Europe. There were the puritans that faced death on sea, and starvation in the Massachusetts colony. There were the Baptists who were jailed in England and whipped in Massachussets until they found a home in Rhode Island. There were Quakers who stood for peace through the many wars in the new land, and who stood against slavery even when it cost them everything. There were abolitionists who stood against slavery in the name of Jesus. Sufferagists who fought for the right for women to vote because they believed men and women were both made in the image of God. Civil rights leaders in the last century who believed that nonviolent protest was better than violent uprising for civil rights because they believed that they should live the commands of loving our neighbor and the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount in order to effect change.

When I look at some of those saints of old, and I look at our “me first”, let me do what I feel, God is here to make me wealthy, I go to church to help me feel good kind of Christianity, I only want to sing my favorite kind of music in church or I won’t go kind of Christianity and it is no wonder the lukewarm church made God want to puke. It kind of makes me want to do the same once in a while.

Sermon: The Lukewarm Test in 3 parts

But, where does that leave us…here in Fowler? Are we a lukewarm church? Are we lukewarm Christians?

I have three questions to ask you that will help you determine where you are at and where we are at. Examine your heart. See if you sense that your are lukewarm in your faith, or passionately committed.

1. Are you just a FAN of Jesus, or are you his follower?

Jesus does not need a fan club. Christianity is not a spectator sport. Jesus does not need us in the stands, choosing when to clap and when to boo. Jesus needs us in the game. In the midst of the game, in the middle of the battle. He needs us taking the truth of God to the field of life. Christianity is less about giving intellectual assent to a series of ideas, it is more about living those truths in every moment of our lives.

There are plenty of people who say they believe in Jesus because they agree with his ideas, but the way of Jesus is not shown in their life’s journey. These are the folks display the Bible in a prominent place in their house, but they don’t let the Bible into their heart. They have “God so loved the world” on their bathroom wall, but the minute they are unforgiving and short-tempered with their family, have alienated all their friends, and have fueds with their neighbors. They talk about the importance of sharing the name of Jesus with those who don’t know him, but the only time the name of Christ comes out of their name among their friends is as a curse word. They feel comfortable with the facts about Jesus, but they don’t surrender their lives to his lordship and mission.. They like Jesus, but they don’t live Jesus. They are fans of Jesus, but not his followers

2. Are you living a life of comfort or of dependence on Christ?

We don’t like the world dependence. We like to be independent. Self-sufficient. Yet the Scripture over and over again shows us that we need to live our lives depending on his grace and his provision for us.

The Laodicean church was comfortable. They had their toys. The stuff they wanted. Yet, they were wretched, naked, poor. Why? Because they trusted in the wrong stuff. They chose safety and ease and comfort over a complete dependence on Jesus.
If we are not careful, we can be the same way. We can choose the comfort of what we know and feel safe with over the call of Christ in our day to day lives.

We can know that we are supposed to talk to that stranger, but never do it. We can know we are supposed to give that gift to someone in need, but hold on to what we have for the rainy day ahead. We do these things because we are afraid to put ourselves in a place of dependence on God. We would rather try and control things.

The Scripture is full of people who took risks and completely depended on God. Abraham trusted God to lead him to a new land. Moses trusted God to lead him and his people out of Egypt. Paul and Silas trusted God to provide for their needs as they went from strange town to strange town to share about the good news of Jesus.

3. Do you want to do all you can for Christ and his kingdom, or you want to do “just enough” to be a good Christian

We are funny creatures. Christ sets the world before us, and tells us the harvest is much but the workers are few. Then we try to look for the least we can do to somehow make him happy or get his approval, or more likely the approval of others.

We spend time trying to figure out if when we tithe we should give on the gross or the net, and then we give10 percent to the penny. Or less if we think we can get away with it. We impress ourselves doing just enough Bible study. Of showing up to church just enough to consider ourselves good Christians. We believe we should wait for sex until marriage, but instead of asking ourselves how pure we could be, we ask how far is too far to go physically.

We treat God like an obligation instead of loving him. We want to spend just enough time with him to appease him, give just enough to keep him off our backs, obey him in a way where we can give him just enough of our lives instead of all our lives.

God wants us to love him passionately, devote ourselves to Him completely, trust Him implicitly, offering Him our total allegiance. And we settle for an hour on Sunday like we are punching a clock at work and expect him to be impressed.

Close of Sunday's Sermon

Francis Chan tells a story about a man who stood up at a funeral that was a member of his church to eulogize a man that had passed away. He knew his dead friend to be a Christian and he shared this with the people there. He told them when his friend passed away, he was ready to meet God. Then he challenged the people at the funeral about whether they were ready to meet Jesus or not. He said several times, “Are you ready?”

He stepped down from the platform in that church. He came and sat with his family in the pew in the front of the sanctuary. He sat down, and within a minute he fell over and died. Right there in the church. His name was Stan.

His wife and children were grieving. But they were so proud of him. His son was excited as Francis came to the door. Did you hear what my dad did? He died doing what he loved! Telling others about Jesus! Francis Chan said about this man, “One minute Stan Gurlach was saying to the crowd “This is who Jesus is!” and the next moment he was in heaven and he was hearing Jesus saying “This is who Stan Gurlach is!”

Friends, I hope to live to grow old with my life and see my daughter grow. There is so much I love about my life right now! But if I die today, the one thing I hope nobody ever says was that I was a half-hearted Christian. I may be a fat, slow-witted fella that is a little spacy and stumbles over his words a little too much, but I hope you will see how much I love my Jesus. I hope you would talk about how passionate I was about how Jesus loves each of us, no matter who we are and what we have done. I pray that even though you may talk about the Hawaiian shirts I like to wear, you will also talk about how I was passionate about taking our faith beyond the four walls of our church into tangible service in our community. I pray that you will talk about my love for Jesus spilled into how I treated my wife, my baby, my momma and each one of you. You may talk about how you disagreed with some things I have said or done. But I hope and pray you will never call me a lukewarm Christian.

And I hope nobody will say that of you either. Because, I don’t think there is anything more tragic than a half-hearted Christian.

Enjoyed this the other night in television

As most of you know, my least favorite TV guy is Glenn Beck. Lewis Black skewered him well, mostly with his own word. I think there should be a moratorium on comparisons to Hitler

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

Sermon for Sunday May, 23

CHURCH OF THE OPEN DOOR

Scripture

⁷ "And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write,
'These things says He who is holy, He who is true, "He who has the key of David, He who opens and no one shuts, andshuts and no one opens":^{[ c]
8} "I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it;^{[ d]} for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. ⁹ Indeed I will make those of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews and are not, but lie—indeed I will make them come and worship before your feet, and to know that I have loved you. ¹⁰ Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. ¹¹ Behold,^[e] I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. ¹² He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
¹³ "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'Sermon

There are some things in life that you know are important. Things like food and shelter. Blessings like friends and family.

Then there are those things that you have and use every day that you take for granted that are also important. One of those things that are important that we often dismiss is a door.

Each of you has a picture of a threshold. By a threshold I mean a gate or a doorway or something like that. I want to look at the pictures. Some of you will look at your picture and it will just make you shrug. Others of you will see a beautiful picture that touches you and you don't know why. A lot of times doors speak to us for a number of different reasons. If your picture of a door speaks to you for any reason, I encourage you to keep you picture, look at it during the sermon, take it with you to remind you about what we learned today. If you don't care, just set the picture on the back table when you leave.

In ancient thought, thresholds like doors and gates had great spiritual significance. When you look at the design of the temple and the tabernacle in ancient Israel, it is designed with a series of thresholds as you go further into the structure. Each one only allowed certain people in it at certain times. By the time you get to the holy of holies, one priest was able to enter the room once a year.

When you walked through a door or a gate, you in many ways walked from one reality to another. There was a reason that the Lord commanded ancient Jews to post Scriptures on their doorposts as they went in and went out of their homes. They wanted them to take the Word of God and the presence of God with them as they moved through every passageway—into each new world and each new place that they entered.

Think about it. When a couple leaves their parent's homes or their individual homes and moves into their own homes, the husband often traditionally carries his spouse across the threshold. That is because the life they had before has changed forever once they walk through that door together.

You stand in a doorway from the outside, and you really never know what is going on from the other side of the door. A door, a gate, a passageway is a boundary that can keep secrets, hold power, provide safety, and insight fear in people.

Sometimes we talk about things we should do "behind closed doors" because what we talk about in those moments is not for everyone to hear. We talk about encountering a closed door that we cannot get through. We talk about opportunities that we missed or are unavailable to us as closed doors.

Jesus talked a lot about doors, gates, and thresholds. He commands his followers to ask, seek and KNOCK, as in knocking on a door. He tells stories of widows knocking at the door of a judge until the judge give the woman the justice that she deserves. Jesus encourages us to pursue what we want in prayer with the same kind of urgency.

At one point Jesus refers to Himself as a gate. He says that if people want to find salvation and get to the Heavenly Father, they need to go through him.

Similarly, when we get to the church in Philadelphia, Jesus says that he is the one that has the keys to the kingdom. What he locks, nobody can open. What he opens, nobody can shut. Then he says something rather amazing to the people at that church. He says that he has set before the church in Philadelphia an open door. And that open door nobody could shut.

Whereas the church we discussed last week had no good thing, no encouraging word said to it, the church in Philadelphia had no word of condemnation delivered to it.

The church in Philadelphia has been faithful. They have endured. They have kept God's Word. They have not denied his name. Even in the face of persecution. Even when they have been beaten down to the point where they only have a little strength left, they have remained true to their faith. Jesus promises to remain true to this church.

Philadelphia is a small town compared to the others. It is most likely a small church. A struggling church. Yet, at this time and in this moment, Jesus promises an open door that nobody can shut is set before them.

What does it mean to have an open door set before you? How does that speak to you to have an open door in front of you?

Have you ever known someone who had an open door policy, or whose home was always an open door? When we hear about someone having an open door we think about someone who is friendly, honest, and transparent. We think about someone who is honest and true. With someone who is hospitable. Who is willing to talk and willing to listen. Certainly this is true of Jesus. The beginning of the letter talks about Jesus being true, doesn't it? So when we hear Jesus offering us an open door, we should think about the accessibility we have to him. But when he says, "I set before you an open door" Jesus is saying much, much more than that.

Three times in his epistles the apostle Paul uses the phrase of a "door being opened". Each time is speaks of an opportunity that Paul has that Paul either wants to take advantage of or is in the process of taking advantage of. We know this about open doors, don't we?

Have you ever been in a situation where you are seeking God's will, and you ask God to open doors of opportunity to show you what to do or where to go next? I have. When I seek to discern whether God calls me to go somewhere I ask God to open doors that I know that I must walk through.

Have you ever had a moment that you had an opportunity that you did not expect, and you knew that the opportunity was a God thing, a divine appointment? Maybe it was a moment when you received a special blessing. Maybe it was when you accepted Christ. Or perhaps it was when you walked through the doors of this church. And you knew…you just knew…God had put a chance in front of you that you could not resist. An open door.

Specifically, when the apostle Paul talks about having an open door before him he is talking about having an opportunity to do some sort of ministry, especially the kind of ministry that reaches people for Christ. I don't know about you, but when I pray for the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life for Christ and in his kingdom I pray for open doors in their heart. I pray for opportunities to reach them and share with them.

Jesus says that the church in Philadelphia has an open door that it set before them. A big part of what he is saying is that this church has an opportunity or opportunities were set before them as a church. The church in Philadelphia may have been a small church that was struggling to keep going in their small community, but they still had an open door before them. They still had opportunities for ministry. They had opportunities to reach their community where the church was planted. They may not feel like they have a lot of strength left, but they stood on the verge of something new. Jesus was giving them an opportunity to walk through another door. And once they claimed that opportunity, their reality would be different and unexpected blessings would follow.

Many of you have an open door set before you in your life. You have not chosen to accept Christ. You have heard about Him, but you have ignored him and pushed him away. Today you have an open door before you. Will you walk through it?

Others of you have an open door before you to be baptized and join our church. You have thought…maybe tomorrow. Maybe next month. Maybe next year. Today you have an open door set before you.

As a church we have opportunities set before us as well. We have an open door to be THE open door that points others to Jesus. There are folks that are scared to ever set foot in a church like ours, scared that it might fall in on itself if they set foot inside our building.

We have chosen in our last church business meeting to find ways to open our doors wider to those who need to experience the love and the power of Jesus in their lives. We have chosen to focus on finding ways make our church feel more homey to those who are members, as well as those we have yet to get to know. We have chosen to focus on extending our welcome by focusing more on hospitality to strangers, community service, family ministries in the next couple of years. We see the open door to new life that Jesus offers. We want to point others to the hope that we have found.

Certainly this is a big part of what Jesus means when he says, "I set before you an open door." But it is not all. Jesus is saying all this plus something even more exciting.

When Jesus says he sets an open door before us he is inviting us into his home and his presence. When we get to the end of the book of Revelation we see that there is a gate to God's heavenly kingdom that nobody can shut. He sets an open door before us. He invites us into his land and into his home. Into his eternal kingdom. Even more though, we are invited into his eternal presence.

When Jesus invites us to walk through the open door, he is inviting us to come home. To come home to God. To come in and sit on his couch, be in his presence. To share our lives with him. Our hopes and our fears. Our worries and concerns. To walk through that open door and know that whatever may happen, that we can always come through that open door. He will keep us safe. He will bind up our wounds. He give us nourishment, joy and laughter. And whatever we have done, we can come home to him and know we are treasured and loved. He sets an open door before us.

Jesus sets an open door before us. An open door of access to Him. An open door of opportunity for blessing. An open door of opportunity for mission and growth. An open door to offer the world around us. But most of all, we have an open door to walk through that is the open door to our rightful home with our friend and savior Jesus, and our Heavenly Father. Will we walk through that open door set before us. I hope we will. I hope you will. I hope I will. God bless us in our steps across the threshold of grace and love. Amen.

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Reflections on Got Style: Gross v. Net evangelism effectiveness

I recieved a complimentary book from my denomination's publisher (Judson Press) on evangelism entitled Got Style: Personality Based Evangelism.

When I recieved the book, and read the introduction, I was not sure I would like reading the book too much. Part of the reason is that the book seemed like a rip-off of the Contagious Christian materials from Willow Creek Community Church and ministries. So far, I have been pleasantly surprised. Got Style comes from the same school of thought as Contagious Christian but it is not the same material, and it is a little more descriptive than Contagious Christian about how personalities mesh with evangelism styles.

I am now through chapter two, and have had some time to think through what Johnson calls the Assertive Style. The assertive style is the kind of style of sharing the good news of Jesus that is direct, forthright, and does not beat around the bush.

Johnson shares that the Assertive Style is often the kind of evangelism that "closes the deal" with people who are on the journey to accepting Christ. Thus, Johnson argues, the gifts of the assertive evangelist are essential in bringing people to Christ.

Johnson points out that the danger is that people who are overly aggressive in the assertive style of evangelism can often push people away from the gospel as much as they draw people to Christ. This is especially true if the assertive evangelism persons lack strong people skills. Like every style, Johnson says, assertive evangelists need to hone their evangelistic gifts for the greatest effectiveness.

In part of this chapter, Johnson adds in statistics about the effectiveness of various types of assertive evangelists. I find these statistics objectify people (which is a story for another day), and I find that they are inherently misleading. Every statistical study on evangelism that I have seen overestimates conversion rates. They do this by double counting converts (of the 100 people accepting Christ at camp this year, Susie counted for five of those conversions by coming forward at the altar call each day of the week), estimating large groups of people praying a sinner's prayer simultanously, and by offering extra food to men who come forward during the altar call at the gospel mission for example.

The other way that statistics can be skewed when studying evangelism is by grading the effectiveness of an evangelism technique on the "gross" numbers instead of the "net" statistics. Let me explain. A man I know is especially skilled at confrontational evangelism. Yet, in his evangelistic fervor his confidence in his intelligence and his belief in his ability to be correct about every issue, he often pushes people away from Christ uneccesarily. People like this tend to gain a lot of decisions for Christ, but the self-centered, insensitive way they share can make people run from Christ uneccessarily. Thus, to gage their effectiveness as evangelists, if you really want to track their "score" or their "stats" you need to also figure in how many people have been lost to Christ and the church due the way they share their faith. I think you will find, if you do this, that an assertive evangelist is a less effective evangelist than they advertise to their churches, friends, and family.

Just something I am thinking about. What do you think?

Sermon on May 16—The Seven Churches of Revelation--Sardis

ZOMBIE CHRISTIANS

Scripture

¹ "And to the angel of the church in Sardis write,
'These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: "I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ² Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.^{[ a]
3} Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you. ⁴ You^[b] have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵ He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
⁶ "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."'

Sermon

Fred Craddock, probably one of the most influential preaching teachers in the United States, tells a story of when he started out early in his ministry. He went to this church in Eastern Tennessee. The community was having an energy plant being built nearby. This was maybe 50 years ago. The church in that community had a beautiful building. It was all built out of a giant poplar tree, and the church and the building were about one hundred and twenty years old at the time.

Now, like I said, there was this power plant being built outside of town. There was not enough housing in town to hold all the workers. So the workers and their families lived in makeshift trailer parks, campers, and tents. They would be there for a year or two at most while the plant was being constructed.

Pastor Fred decided to approach the church leadership about trying to reach the people in those trailer parks and camps. He talked to them about starting an invitational and calling plan to visit with the people in these areas and invite them to church.

One of the more vocal leaders said, "Oh no, I don't think we will do that. Those people won't be here very long. They're construction workers. They're just temporary. They will be leaving pretty soon."

Pastor Fred, "Well, we should invite them while they are here. Make them feel at home."

The leadership of the churched argued and debated on the issue. The next week was a business meeting of the church. The first motion was that anyone who was going to be a member of the church had to own land in the community. There was a little debate. And the motion passed.

Pastor Fred, who was a young pastor at the time, moved on to another church, then to his teaching and preaching activities with seminaries, then toward the end of his career back in the Southern part of the country. He went back to see that church with his wife, who he had married after that first pastorate.

He had a hard time finding it at first, but then, bit by bit as he searched for it he found that church out in the woods. It was the same building. It was glimmering white in the distance. There were all sorts of cars around it. Motorcycles and trucks too. On the front of that building there was a big sign that said "Barbeque, ALL THAT YOU CAN EAT".

It is a restaurant now you see. All the pews were pushed to the side of the building. There was all sorts of tables in the middle. The kerosene lights were replaced by electric ones.

Pastor Fred sat down. It was getting late after their looking around. It was time to eat. As he dug into the barbequed pork and chicken and ribs he said, "It is a good thing this is not still a church building, otherwise these people couldn't be in here".

When I was in Colorado Springs, and we were looking at starting this new outreach-driven worship service, I was trying to do something to communicate the importance of the task we were embarking on. One day I had an idea, and I went to take pictures of all of the church buildings in the downtown Colorado Springs area that were now housing something other than a church. Within a few blocks I found a hip-hop night club, an alternative, progressive newspaper, a photography studio, and among other things. It was kind of sad really. It has had an impact on me ever sense.

It is, in some ways, an image of what Jesus is telling us through John about the church in Sardis. The Church in Sardis, Jesus says, was the church of the living dead. It was a church full of Zombie Christians, that is Christians that appear alive on the outside, but are really dead. The Christians of Sardis walk around, live their lives, and appear to be upstanding citizens. But from God's point of view they were appearing to be alive but spiritually dead.

This must have come as quite a shock to the people there in Sardis. Sardis was the kind of church that everyone appreciated and respected. This is why verse 1 says that the church "has a name that they are alive, but they are dead".

The Sardis church was a church that everyone wanted to be like. It was a nice place to be. It was a comfortable place to be. People that had good reputations in town were a part of that church family. A good number of people were showing up. There was no record of the church being persecuted by the Jews. There was no record of the church being persecuted by the townspeople or the local government. It appears to have a good financial campaign. Yet for some reason in God's eyes, it was a horrific church. A church that walked around like it was alive, yet was rotting and decomposing and a stinking mess at the same time. It was…a zombie church.

So a letter comes from Jesus as written by John to them. They are not told that their church is being told that their church has bad doctrine. It has not been infiltrated by some heretical group. From the sounds of it the folks have just become lethargic about their faith. They had become apathetic.

Apathy was not unusual for the people of Sardis. Spiritual apathy or any other kind of apathy. The history of Sardis was that it was destroyed over and over again due to a lack of vigilance.

Sardis was a city that was built up upon a hill. Behind it was a mountain. On the three other sides of the city were steep drop-offs, which were then built upon with a series of large pillars called a Parthenon. The drop off to the ground below the main part of the city was 1500 feet down. They felt like their home was inpenetratable. They were arrogant about it. Twice the city was humbled by a sneak attack. First by the Persians. Then 400 years later by the Greeks. Then, a few decades earlier, they were forced to rebuild the community due to a massive earthquake. They were always expecting the easy life, and then getting surprised when bad things happen to them up in their little perch of a city.

Jesus seeks to call them out of their apathy by shouting a number of warnings: WAKE UP! STRENGTHEN WHAT REMAINS! REMEMBER! OBEY! REPENT! IWILL COME UPON YOU LIKE A THEIF! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT HOUR I'M COMING.

Last night we had a tornado warning. If the tornado would have come through town a siren would have gone off. Many of us would have been running for basements or bathtubs or door awnings. The warning of Jesus is like a tornado warning in a spiritual sense. Wake up. Pay attention. Be ready. You have been apathetic and lazy in your faith and it has corrupted you, he says to the church in Sardis.

Jesus was teaching the church not to live by faith in the attendance numbers, the bank account, or the vague belief that everything will work out in the end.

Sardis teaches us that we can be very religious, look very Christian, and even have a growing church and be spiritually dead. Sardis was. And it serves as a warning to us.

I have spent many years as a youth pastor taking youth to water parks in the summer. In the middle of most of the water parks is a thing called the lazy river. A lazy river is a flow of water where you can just get on the inner tube, float along, get some sun, and stay cool in the water. Without hardly any effort, you can go round and round in this little river. I like that I can get somewhere without much intention or effort.

Being a Christian is nothing like being on a lazy river. Being a healthy church is nothing like being on a lazy river either.

Being a Christian is about consistent, continual growth in the grace of God. Think about the metaphors for the Christian life. Growing in Christ. A Faith Journey. A Spiritual Walk. Maturing from Childhood to Adulthood. Nothing about a healthy spiritual life speaks about floating along, sitting back on our easy chair, doing nothing. Never is lethargy or apathy condoned in Scripture in relationship to our life with Jesus.

Trying to just coast in your spiritual journey is like trying to take your foot off the gas in the middle of rush hour traffic in Denver, putting a blindfold on, and waiting for something good to happen. It won't. And with that approach, it won't be long before at the least you get a ticket, and at worse you make a wreck for yourself and everyone around you.

Jesus speaks this word to Sardis, but Sardis is a warning, even a parable if you will, to people like you and I. Even more, it is a warning to us as a church.

No church can rest on its history and previous accomplishments and expect God to bless it. Every church needs to be vigilant about opportunities for ministry. Each church needs to be vigilant to be faithful. To be standing for Christ. Each church is only as strong as it cares for each other today, as it reaches the lost for Christ today, as it studies the word day to day, as it prays day to day. There is no such thing as retirement in the kingdom of God. God is not impressed with our plans for the future as a church, or our history as a church. He looks at who we are right now. He asks us are we growing? Are we taking steps in the journey?

Neither can we rest on past accomplishments in our personal lives. We are who we are right now. Are we growing in Christlikeness? Can people see the fruit of Spirit in our lives? Or are we just hoping to float along in our spiritual journey, like the lazy river?

You are who you are in relationship with Jesus right now. Have you accepted Christ? Are you growing? Or is the spirit calling out to you like it did the church in Sardis saying WAKE UP! GET READY! You know what God is saying to you. And, you know how to respond. As the book of Revelation says, "Here what the Spirit is saying to the churches."

Book Review: The Sacred Journey by Charles Foster

I just finished reading a book by Charles Foster. It is a book called THE SACRED JOURNEY, and it is all about the practice of pilgrimage. It is the final installment in The Ancient Practices Series from Thomas Nelson Publishers.

This book on pilgrimage is not just a book by an academic that has studied pilgrimages, it is by a man who has practiced the discipline of pilgrimages for what seems to be decades. The author shares authentic insight as he talks about his highs and lows on journeys to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago, and Canterbury.

The first portion of the book lobbies persuasively for the importance of pilgrimage for spiritual development. It also makes the argument that God made humanity to be nomadic. The author clearly goes through Biblical history to make the point that "God is on the side of the wanderer".

The next portion of the book tends to the practical aspects of going on a pilgrim journey. In this section, Foster attempts to answer some basic questions about how to go on a pilgrimages, some of the things you need to do as you go, and some of the attitudes you need to have or avoid as a pilgrim.

The final portion of the book attempts to answer some criticism of pilgrimages. Those critics include those who have physical limitations that prohibit pilgrimage, as well as the arguments of most of the reformers who saw theological and financial abuses of pilgrimage sites.

I loved this book. I had to read it slow, and take it all in a little bit at a time. The Sacred Journey makes a persuasive argument for all believers to go on some sort of pilgrimage if they are physically able. It made me think about the journey I would like to make, and whether it would be somewhere traditional or something I would want to go that is unique to me.

What I loved more than the concept of going on the pilgrimage was the Biblical foundation for being a wanderer. As a minister, it made me think a lot. On one hand, there are a lot of pastors and church leaders out there that lobby strongly for settling in one place for 10-20 years in ministry. Many also believe that this is healthy for people, this physical commitment of being "grounded" in one place.

I have always felt like more of a wanderer. Having moved several times as a child, and moved around a little bit in my adult years, I have at times felt judged for not staying in the same place. I have also felt the loss of being "from somewhere" and feeling like I could "go home". Yet, Foster makes the argument for being nomadic, and how this was true of Jesus, Abraham, Moses, and others. I felt comforted.

I recommend you read this book. Be ready to be challenged. Be ready to see things from a different point of view. If you do see things from a different viewpoint, you have taken the first step toward a new journey.

*This book was given to me in exchange for reviewing it by booksneeze.com and Thomas Nelson publishers. I was free to review the book as I saw fit, and a favorable review was not requested or required.

I think that Steven Curtis Chapman and McGyver look a little alike. Do you?