Living for the Weekend

It’s getting harder and harder to concentrate this week. On Friday Michele and I will head to Dallas for a couple of things:

1) Santiago, Chile Mission (partial) Team Reunion – On Friday night through Saturday we’ll be getting together with some of our ex-teammates from our work in South America. Kelley and Julie Grant are hosting the gathering; the Grants moved back to the States in January after ten years of service. We’re looking forward to being with the Grants, Scott and Holly Emery (still in Chile but back on furlough), Mark and Denise Dean, and Elizabeth and Filipe.  It’ll be just like old times, though we’ll miss the Perkins and Hatcher families (still in Chile) and the Del Rios (stateside but unable to come this weekend).

2) NBA All-Star Weekend. Since Dad and I still have our Mavericks season tickets we had ticket options on all the the All-Star Weekend events in Dallas this year. Dad, Mom, Michele and I will be attending the All-Star game in Cowboys Stadium on Sunday night. Also, Michele and I have tickets to All-Star Saturday night (dunk-contest, 3 pt shootout, etc).  It should be a blast.

Welcome to Antarctica

We’ve had some serious winter weather since moving to Northwest Arkansas (at least it seems serious by Texas standards). The kids are finally back in school today after having missed Friday and Monday due to slick road conditions.

This past Sunday we only had a 10:30am service; no Bible classes, no evening assembly, no life groups. Still, the work of ministry goes on even when people are forced to slow down.

Now About Spiritual Gifts…

“Now about spiritual gifts, bothers, I do not want you to be ignorant.” I Cor. 12:1

Gifts aren’t supposed to provoke fear and apprehension but bring up the topic of spiritual gifts in a Bible class or small group discussion and watch people sweat. Not everyone is comfortable thinking of themselves as spiritually gifted. But if we “remain ignorant” about spiritual gifts aren’t we missing out on  something valuable that God has blessed us with for the common good?

Some of my own thoughts (opinions) about spiritual gifts:

- Not all gifts mentioned in Scripture were intended as permanent gifts. Should we expect to experience tongue-speaking or be endowed with miraculous powers in the 21st century church. I don’t think so. (Hint: If a gift served a temporary function then the gift itself was probably temporary; if, however, the need is permanent than the gift was probably intended as permanent or on-going) The church still needs teachers, encouragers, leaders, givers, etc. I belive the Holy Spirit still equips Christians in these and other areas.

- There are spiritual gifts not mentioned specifically in Scripture. I think the lists of gifts found in the NT (Rom. 12, Eph. 4, I Cor 13-15) are suggestive rather than comprehensive lists. I Cor. 12:7 teaches that the manifestations of the Spirit are given for the common good. Might the modern church benefit by people gifted in technology or architecture or some other area? Is the Holy Spirit still in the equipping business?

The Richland Hills church of Christ website has a neat online spiritual gifts survey (take the survey here).  I scored highest in teaching and other related areas. My lowest scores were in the areas of service, administration and giving. If you have some time take the survey and let me know what you find out.

Haiti Relief Efforts

It’s difficult to imagine the destruction, devastation and loss of life in the country of Haiti. Be in prayer for the people of this country.

From the Christian Chronicle here is a list of church-affiliated organizations who are collecting money for relief efforts and distributing aid: (Christian Chronicle link).

Woods, Hume and Proselytism

Semi-retired broadcaster Brit Hume has been widely criticized for making the following comment about Tiger Woods on a Fox News program: “He’s said to be a Buddist. I don’t think that faith offers the kind of forgivenss and redemption offered by the Christian faith. So my advice to Tiger would be: ‘Tiger, turn to the Christian faith and you can make a total recovery and be a great example to the world.’”

Hume stood by his comments when interviewed on the O’Reilly Factor. He said that he was surprised by the extent of the criticism levied against him but also surprised by the amount of support he has received in his defense.

One defender of Hume, Michael Green in the Washington Post,  makes the point that his critics are the real agents of intolerance in all of this:

“Hume’s critics hold a strange view of pluralism. For religion to be tolerated, it must be privatized — not, apparently, just in governmental settings but also on television networks. We must have not only a secular state but also a secular public discourse. And so tolerance, conveniently, is defined as shutting up people with whom secularists disagree. Many commentators have been offering Woods advice in his travails. But religious advice, apparently and uniquely, should be forbidden. In a discussion of sex, morality and betrayed vows, wouldn’t religious issues naturally arise? How is our public discourse improved by narrowing it — removing references to the most essential element in countless lives?

True tolerance consists in engaging deep disagreements respectfully — through persuasion — not in banning certain categories of argument and belief from public debate.

In this controversy, we are presented with two models of discourse. Hume, in an angry sea of loss and tragedy — his son’s death in 1998 — found a life preserver in faith. He offered that life preserver to another drowning man. Whatever your view of Hume’s beliefs, he could have no motive other than concern for Woods himself.”

Thanks to my buddy Ryan Richardson for sending me a link to the above article. You can read the entire article (here).

I’m Glad Somebody Was Listening

On Sunday nights I’m currently preaching a series on the 10 Commandments. This week I was on the third commandment: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”  We discussed the reasons for God giving this commandment:

• To prevent false oaths in the name of the Lord
• To guard against irreverence
• To guard against hypocrisy

It’s certainly more that just using God’s name as a swear word; although, that’s part of it.

Anyway, Michele just called me from home and put my son Clay on the phone (he had just arrived from school). Clay told me that in class today he “talked over” a girl who was reading a book aloud just as she got to a part that took God’s name in vain. I can’t imagine myself acting as quickly. Could you imagine: just when someone begins “Oh my G…” you plug your ears and start saying loudly “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, I CAN’T HEAR YOU! BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!” Maybe not the most adult response but I bet it would get their attention.

Anyway, I’m proud of my son for listening to a sermon that I had no idea he was listening to. I’m even more proud that God’s name is important to him.

Spectators or Participants?

         For much of the past two weeks I’ve been a spectator. I’ve enjoyed the College Football Bowl season as well as beginning of the NFL playoffs. Next weekend I’ll make a quick trip to Texas to take in a Friday night Mavs game at the American Airlines Center in Dallas – that will get me closer to the action but it still won’t get me in the game. As much as I might want to participate I have to be content as a spectator.

            In our worship (specifically in our public, corporate assemblies) we don’t have to settle for the role of spectators although too often we do.  Jesus expressed the nature of true worship in his words to the Samaritan woman in John 4:23-24: “… the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Bible scholar Jack Cottrell comments on this verse saying: “…the very essence of worship is an inward attitude of the heart along with specific mental activity directed toward God…one cannot worship at all unless the spirit or heart is actively involved.” A keyword in that statement is the word “involved”; a spectator can remain uninvolved – a participant cannot.

             I realize that even the design of our church buildings suggest that we are spectators. Our auditorium design is much like that of a theater: all seats facing forward towards the stage area. A person could easily conclude that the spectators sit in the pews while the participants stand in front leading singing, voicing prayers, and bringing the message.

            What occurs in the pew is every bit as important, if not more so, than what occurs in the pulpit. We come together to worship and praise God as our Creator and Redeemer. We come to edify and encourage our brothers and sisters. We come to “fill our cup” in order that we may, in turn, pour out God’s grace into our world. We come as participants!

 

Tiger and Redemption

Tiger Wood’s Stats:

• 14 majors won
• 14 alleged mistresses

I love Tiger Woods the golfer. A highlight for me back in 1997 (give or take a year)was to attend the Byron Nelson golf tournament with a friend and get to see Tiger tee it up in person (we stood just a few yards from Tiger when he teed off on a Par 3. My friend and I both commented that he looked even younger in person than he did on T.V.

I rarely watched golf on T.V. before Tiger came along. Now I’m fascinated. Most sports fans without a particular rooting interest cheer for the underdog. So why do so many cheer for Tiger? Because Tiger isn’t competing against the field – he’s competing against history. We want to see him do what’s never been done before.

Now all that is on hold as Tiger has taken and indefinite break from golf to work on becoming a better person.  He’s losing millions of dollars in winnings and endorsements but that’s nothing compared to what else tiger stands to lose – his family.

I’m wondering how I should feel about Tiger as a Christian. Angry? Deceived? Sad? Admittedly, sometimes my moral outrage gets the best of me (I’ve stopped watch David Letterman altogether since news of his indiscretions came out).

I recently saw an article with the title “Can Tiger Woods find Redemption?”  I’m sure the article dealt mostly with Tiger’s public image and future in golf.  But it’s an even more compelling questions when posed to a Christian. I’m sure most of us would answer with a resounding “YES” even while we continue to pile-on Tiger for his moral shortcomings. The humbling part of all this is that God still has a rooting interest in Tiger Woods even if we’ve lost our reason to cheer for him.  I doubt if God cares if Tiger ever achieves more that 14 majors and I’m quite sure He doesn’t want Tiger’s mistress tally to exceed 14,  but God still loves Tiger like he loves all of humanity.

The story of woman caught in adultery in John 8 is cherished by Christians even though we often fall short of matching our Lord’s compassionate spirit. No, Jesus doesn’t condone sin but he does show us the value of a sinner (which all of us are).

I’m going to start rooting for Tiger again – not as a golfer but as a person. I’m rooting that he’ll find strength in God, find peace for his Spirit and heal the wounds in his family.

Joy in the Journey

On Sunday I’ll be beginning a new sermon series based on the book of Phillipians. The series title is Finding Joy in the Journey.  I’m excited to preach a fresh new series. Up until this point I’ve been sharing a lot of messages that I previously preached at League Street while getting my feet wet at Robinson Avenue.

I’m convinced that when Christians and Churches don’t live with joy something is wrong. I agree with these words from Charles Swindoll in the book Laugh Again: “This long-faced, heavy hearted attitude has now invaded the ranks of Christianity. Visit most of our congegations today and search for signs of happiness and sounds of laughter and you often come away disappointed. Joy, “the gigantic secret of the Christian,” is conspiuous by its absence. The one place on earth where life’s burdens should be lighter, where faces should be reflect genuine enthusiam, and where attides should be uplifting and positive is the place this is least likely to be true.”

I hope all of us will experience favorable circumstances in 2010; but even if we don’t, I hope and pray that our lives, our homes and our churches will be full of the Joy of the Lord!

Dreaming of a White Christmas

This has been a great Christmas. I’ve always been a “Christmas person” and this ranks as one of the best ever.

We had a great time in Waxahachie with Dad and Mom; Mamaw; Kelly,Jonathon, Connor and Luke; Kay Ann and Jeff; and Scott and Wendy. We even came back from the movies one evening to find a surprise visitor at my parent’s house – ol’ Santa himself.

Santa's helpers

We drove back from Waxahachie earlier on Christmas Eve morning than we had planned. We left at 5:30am to beat the winter storm moving eastward into Arkansas from Oklahoma.

On Christmas morning we woke up to a white Christmas. It was pretty exciting that our first Christmas in Springdale was complete with snow.

Michele’s mom, Bytha, is with us now to wrap up a great Christmas season.

We’re all looking forward to this new year! We hope and pray that God will bless you and your family richly in 2010!