When thinking about our world, raw population statistics can be overwhelming. If you were to shrink the world’s population to one village of exactly 100 people and apply the appropriate ratios here is how the village would look:

• 60 people would be Asian, 12 would be European, and 13 would be from Africa. The remaining 15 would be from the Western Hemisphere – only 5 of which would be North American.
• 80 would be non-white, 20 would be white.
• 20 people would be receiving 90% of the village’s total income.
• 25 would live in substandard housing; 17 would be illiterate; 13 would be malnourished
• 33 would label themselves “Christian”; the other 67 would claim no allegiance to Christ.

 Consider the words of Matthew 9:35-38:

“Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in the synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’”

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.”  Rom. 3:21-24

I’m convinced that the only explanation for joyless faith is that people haven’t grasped the truth in these verses.  I was recently in the presence of a brother whose facial expression resembled the little girl in the above picture - I wasn’t offended by the lack of warmth it just made me sad for him.

I want to be a joyful person who worships with other joyful people, not because every circumstance in our lives is perfect but becasue we are all clothed with the righteouness of Christ!

‘Over a month since my last blog post, so what’s got me angry enough to come out of semi-retirement? LeFraud James’ decision to go to the Miami Heat.

I know this is going to sound like a rant from an angry Mavs fan (it is) but the Mavs had a real case to bring James to Dallas. I know they never were identified by the national media as a possibility but the Mavericks, due to Eric Dampier’s large non-guaranteed  expiring contract, could have pulled off a sign and trade that would have:

• Given Lebron the most money (a max six year deal instead of five with another guaranteed 30 mil)
• Allowed James to build a dynasty (just as he might now do in Miami)
• By going the sign and trade route he wouldn’t have left Cleveland empty-handed. They could have gotten cap relief, picks, players and prospects and been much farther along in their rebuilding.

I even think a Kidd, Dirk, Lebron, Marion, Haywood starting lineup would have been better than a Lebron, Wade, Bosh, Joe Smo, Joe Smo lineup.

I went to www.lebrontothemavs.com this morning. Here’s what is posted there now:

I couldn’t agree more. Go Mavs!

I just finished spending a couple of months teaching the teen guys at Robinson Avenue on Wednesday nights. I really enjoyed getting to know this great group. We swam in the deep end of the pool during our study time: we studied the Holy Spirit.

One part of Scripture that we really spent some time with was Jesus’ final discourse in John.  Jesus calls the Spirit the Paraclete (the anglicized form of the original greek word parakletos). I know that to a group of athletically minded teenager guys the term Paraclete must sound a lot like “pair of cleats” – I don’t know if this made things confusing or provided an easy way for them to remember a Greek word. Paraclete is a combination of two Greek words: Para is a preposition meaning “beside” or “along with; Kaleo means “to call”. Putting these two words together we learn that the Paraclete is one who is called beside or summoned.

Our English translations attempt to translate this word in so many ways: counselor, comforter, advocate, helper, friend, etc. Which translation is best? I don’t know – I’m just glad that the Holy Spirit has been summoned into my life to help me in my journey. The way is treacherous and slippery and I know I need the traction and footing that only the pair of cleats paraclete can provide.

Michele and I went to Tulsa Saturday night to see Conan O’Brien’s Legally Prohibited from Being Funny on television Tour. I got the tickets on Ebay because I wanted us to do something bigger and different from just dinner and a movie for our Anniversary date (we celebrate 15 years on Thurs).

Neither of us had ever been to any comedy shows other than a few acts that came to Harding when we were students there and a show or two in Branson over the years. Our expectation was that we would see something like the Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien (which he hosted for too short a time).  Much of the show was like the Tonight Show only funnier and with more energy. Here are my thoughts…

The Good and the Funny

Conan was hysterically funny! Michele and I both like his self-deprecating, quirky humor – it’s not for everyone but it makes us laugh.  O’Brien is at his best playing off of the crowd and his sidekick Andy Richter.  My favorite parts of the show: Conan trying to boost Tulsa’s self-esteem (he was very funny comparing his stop in Tulsa to other tour cities such as Dallas and Chicago); Conan’s singing – Conan played a number of songs such as a closing rendition of I Will Survive complete with really funny personalized lyrics; my absolute favorite part of the show was Conan showing random out-0f-context clips of Walker Texas Ranger (that probably doesn’t sound funny – but if you’ve seen him do it on the Tonight Show you know what I mean – I was in tears!).

All in all Conan kept things in the PG to PG-13 range.  His guests were another matter…

The Bad and the Ugly

We almost didn’t make it past the opening act. The opening comic’s act got progressively worse and more vulgar. Michele kept squeezing my hand as we got more and more uncomfortable. Were we the only ones not laughing? Probably.

There was a brief intermission after the opening. Michele and I were agreed. If Conan’s show was like this we weren’t going to sit through it no matter what we paid for the tickets.  I was almost expecting us to end up at Braums eating ice cream for the remainder of our date.

Fortunately, Conan came out and was Conan. No, he wasn’t a squeaky clean and yes there were still some parts of his act that I could live without, but not raunchy like his opening act.

Where is that line?

The tension of living in the world but not being of the world is always present.  Most of us have walked out of movies, turned of television shows, and left the presence of certain people simply because we knew we were someplace we didn’t belong. During that opening act when Michele was squeezing my hand we both were feeling the same thing. Michele said to me “this is how we’re suppose to feel.” She was right; we shouldn’t feel comfortable in those settings.

If we had left the show it wouldn’t have been any kind of protest; there seems to be little use in cursing the darkness. We can’t expect that those who don’t know Christ will live as Christ. But for those of us who do try to live as Christ sometimes that realization of our distinctiveness can be a little painful (as it should be) and we just have to get away from it.

I think I’m going to be asking this question to some brothers this week (the guys I meet with on Tuesday mornings and to the teenagers I teach on Wed nights): “How much of the bad and ugly can we/ should we tolerate to get to the good and funny?” How do we respond? How should we respond?

I’m not going to lie. . . I took this year’s first round playoff exit by the Mavs really hard. I was depressed after the Game 6 loss to the Spurs – I just knew we would force a Game 7 back in the friendly confines of the American Airlines Center in Dallas. ‘Not to be.  My expectations for the Mavs were so high this year – its devastating.  It’s taken me a whole week to be able to blog about this.

I don’t know what it is about us as fans that makes us take losses so hard and so personally. After all, I’m just a fan and I can’t control things.

I always got a kick out of a quote from Mav’s forward Josh Howard (so glad he got traded) after he dribbled the ball off his foot during a critical moment in last year’s playoffs; he said, and I quote: “I can’t control what the ball do man!” Actually he could control the ball – that’s why they teach Basketball players fundamentals…you know…like dribbling.

Anyway, I know I can’t control what the ball does, or the matchups, or Rick Carlise’s crazy substitution patterns. I can only root, cheer, and send out concern waves. I’ll be ready to do my part again next basketball season. In the meantime, Go Cowboys!

On Sunday while I was preaching to our Hispanic brethren in Spanish, Harry Fittzgerald, our Adult Ed minister, filled in for me in the main auditorium.

Harry preached from I Sam. 7:12 about Samuel’s “stone of help” (Ebenezer) that was erected after a victory over the Philistines. The verse reads: “Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, ‘Thus far has the Lord helped us.’”

Due to an incredible event earlier in the week Harry had the perfect personal sermon illustration. A week ago Tuesday Harry was at Pontiac Coffee House (a local establishment here in Springdale) having a cup of Joe and preparing for an afternoon Bible class. He was one of two customers in the store. At one point Harry’s coffee had gotten cold and so he went to the counter to ask to have it warmed up.  Harry’s change of location would turn out to be a blessing.

A pickup truck, traveling at about  40 mph, crashed through the plate-glass window on the South side of Pontiac Coffee (the side opposite the counter). The only other customer in the store was at a table that was hit; he found himself outside the store through the plate-glass on the west side, he was blessed to somehow only have received a bloody nose and lacerations to the face.

We’re all grateful that Harry is ok and made it through such a traumatic event. Maybe when they reopen Pontiac we should call it Ebenezer’s.

 

This morning our staff talked about and even laughed some about the challenges of plucking sinners right out of the world and getting them into church.

I shared three memorable experiences from Chile. All three involved things that were brought to the worship assembly by Chileans.

1. At our inaugural service one of our invitees brought her tambourine.
2. One palm Sunday one of our new Christians, steeped in a Catholic background, brought a palm branch to services.
3. At our first potluck one of our regular attenders brought cerveza (beer) to share!

Each occurence required tact, sensitivity and grace. Yes we still retained our a cappella, Protestant, and non-alcoholic character.  We also found some positive things to affirm about our Chilean friends’ offerings:  a refusal to come into the Lord’s presence empty-handed, a desire to remember and retell the story surrounding the last week of Jesus life, and a willingness to share.

It’s unreasonable for us to expect that those who are new to our assemblies will automatically know and understand our doctrines, expectations, preferences, and church culture. A few weeks ago a gentleman stopped by my office to visit with me about a ministry idea that he had (He was a new, recently converted Christian from a sister congregation). I think he cursed three or four times during the course of our brief conversation - I don’t even think he was aware he was doing it. Old habits die hard. The glory of transformation is an “ever-increasing glory” (I Cor. 3:18).

Monday night I went out on a couple of visits with one of our shepherds. We made a couple of stops speaking with individuals who are looking for a church home. Both have broken lives – both are searching – both bring baggage. That’s the one thing all of us bring to church – baggage. Some of course bring more than others.

Can we deal with people with tact, sensitivity, and especially, grace? Can we trust that the Spirit can bring about transformation in a person’s life? Will we be alright when it doesn’t always happen on our time schedule?

Anybody watch the March 3 game between the Mavs and Timberwolves on Fox Sports Southwest? No? Too bad, you missed my cameo appearance.

We were in Dallas for one of the kids’ doctors appointments. The Mavs were in town that night but the game wasn’t part of my half-season ticket package so I went to Ebay.

I was able to bid on and win a single ticket just 2 rows behind the Mavs bench – much, much, much closer than my usual cheap seats. Anyway, each time the camera panned to that end of the floor I was on T.V.  I was even in a few close-ups like this one:

Me and Mav's guard Deshawn Stevenson celebrating a "3"

If I get to attend any playoff games I’ll be back in my normal seat in section 302 Row H! That’s o.k. at least I got my 15 mins of fame.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”  2 Tim. 3:16-17

One of our goals at RACOC for 2010 is to encourage one another to be in the Word. We’re trying to promote the importance of being Daily Bible Readers. Our goal is not only that “we get into the Word” but also that “the Word gets into us”; we want to be shaped, molded, taught and encouraged by what we read.

If you want to join us as a Daily Bible Reader here are a couple of tools you might find helpful:

1. The Daily Bible is a chronological order of 365 daily readings. The readings begin on Jan. 1 but since I just started my reading plan this month I’m trying to read the assigned reading plus additional reading to catch myself up.

2. Check out our blog www.racocbible.wordpress.com; here we will post each day’s assigned reading. If you are at work or out and about and don’t have your Bible you can still read the days text from your computer or smart-phone. Also, there is a place to post comments if you have any reflections, thoughts, or questions to share.