Love This Time of Year

Sunday Mind Dump – June 3, 2012

Great day!

Today the Word was faithfully preached, worship was sincerely offered, and fellowship was authentically practiced.  It was a God-honoring day.

Loved the music, the new song, and the spontaneous worship I witnessed in the congregation. 

Loved seeing the new singer on the stage too.  :-)

After church was over people hung around in the atrium for 45 minutes!  I kid you not.  I really appreciate the fact that our church family enjoys each other’s company so much.

For the last three weeks I have been teaching from Matthew chapter 10.  It’s been a verse-by-verse exposition (my favorite way of teaching) and has proven to be very insightful.  I learned a few things during this study about God AND myself.

I particularly like sermons that stay very close to the scripture because (1) that’s the way I learn the most, (2) I can speak with greater authority if the message is straight from the Bible, (3) it makes me feel more like a “faithful” teacher when I’m speaking God’s Word instead of my words, and, (4), God’s people are learning what the “Bible” actually has to say.

I will probably go two more Sunday’s in this series, ending on Father’s Day with a significant challenge to all the men.

The Sunday after that we will have Communion (or a baptism) service.

The next message series is probably going to be a character study on the life of Elijah.  It will be a verse-by-verse exposition from the book of I & 2 Kings in the OT.

You’re going to like this guy Elijah.

Moving on…

Friday after work Renae and I went to Walnut Hill, in Mennonite country, to buy fresh produce.  It was a great trip.  Loved the countryside, the Mennonite people, and the farm they had.  The farm was quite an operation.

Saturday morning we mowed the grass on our property.  I stirred up a wasp nest out of the ground and got stung.  It hurt.  I flung the weed eater on the ground and took off running!  Renae said I didn’t look very good (or graceful) running across the field slapping myself. 

Saturday afternoon we put up the produce we bought in Walnut Hill.  We sat in our driveway under the shade provided by the crepe myrtle trees and shucked three bushels of corn and one bushel of snap beans.  Then we blanched them, along with another bushel of field peas, bagged it all up and put it in the freezer.  A total of four bushels.  We are now ready for winter.

I am also ready for the Mayan Calendar Countdown.

:-)

From the Garden Yesterday

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God’s Periodic Judgment

The person who presumes upon God’s kindness and patience, while continuing in stubbornness and an unrepentant heart, is simply storing up wrath for himself.  To stubbornly refuse God’s gracious pardon through Jesus Christ is the worst sin of all.  To do so is to greatly magnify one’s guilt by rejecting God’s goodness, presuming upon His kindness, abusing His mercy, ignoring His grace, and spurning His love.  The person who does that increases the severity of God’s wrath upon him in the day of judgment.

Yet, in the meantime God’s judgment falls upon people from time-to-time to serve as a reminder that there are consequences to sin.  Otherwise, we would go on blissfully presuming upon His grace.  The apostle Paul soberly reminded the Corinthian believers of this fact in I Corinthians 10:1-11, and ended the discourse by saying, “Now these things happened to them as an example, and they were written for our instruction.”

Modern man looks upon the OT, finding it impossible from a purely human perspective to explain the seemingly brutal acts of judgment on the part of God.  We are puzzled as to why God destroyed the whole world through the Flood, except for eight people.  And why did God turn Lot’s wife into a pillar of salt simply because she looked back?  Why did He harden Pharaoh’s heart and then punish him for his hardness?  Why did God allow the Mosaic law to prescribe the death penalty for some thirty-five different offences.  Why did He command His chosen people to annihilate and eradicate the inhabitants of Canaan?  Why did God send a bear to kill forty children for mocking the prophet Elisha?  Why did God instantly strike Uzzah dead for trying to keep the Ark of the Covenant from falling to the ground, while at the same time allowing many grossly immoral and idolatrous Israelites to live?  Why did God not take David’s life for committing murder and adultery, both of which were capital offenses under the law? 

Even in the NT, Ananias and his wife Sapphira were struck dead in a church service for lying.

If God did not occasionally exercise His judgment in this manner we would abuse His grace even more than we already do.  So He gives us periodic reminders of the consequences of sin.

Every day we live we should thank the Lord for being so patient and merciful with us, overlooking the many sins for which we deserve His justice.

Purple Hull Field Peas Coming In

Faithful Teachers

The main function of a pastor is to teach because this is only gift that is identified in the list of qualifications for pastors.  The word is Didakikos – and is rendered “able to teach” in I Timothy 3:2.

A pastor must be a highly skilled teacher who works hard in his studies and proclamation.  He "labors" in the Word and doctrine according to I Timothy 5:17.  This is the single qualification that sets him apart from deacons.

Furthermore, we are to all teach the same truth.  We don’t have the option of developing our own theology, or to teach anything except the Word.  Developing our own stylized ministry and making ourselves the center of attention is not an option either because it’s not about us.  It’s about Jesus.

The more faithful a pastor is in teaching the more he will sound like other faithful pastors.  Faithful teachers all sound the same.  They are saying the same thing.  They are standing in the same line as previous faithful teachers.  They are content to be numbered among the faithful.  They don’t need a personalized, stylized ministry that features “them.”  Instead, they feature the Word of God because that’s all we have been given.

If you listen to someone who sounds like nobody else and says things you never hear anybody else say, go find another teacher because he is not faithful.  If you hear someone teach extra-Biblical revelations, go find someone else because he is not a faithful teacher.

“Preach the Word!........ For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine….. but will heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears, and they will turn away from the truth and be turned unto fables”  (2 Timothy 4:2-4)

That’s one of the problems we have in churches today – they are personality driven – instead of being scripturally driven.  It’s almost a celebrity culture.

Do everything you can to get “sound teaching” and “sound doctrine” embedded into your spirit.  In addition to sitting under faithful teachers, break out that old black book yourself and begin devouring its pages.

Sunday Mind Dump - May 27, 2012

Solid day.

After being out of town all week I felt a little rusty while preaching, but the message was still solid and edifying.

Bottom line of the message:  A disciple does not fear the world, but fears God instead.

After service we hosted a reception for all our graduates (from high school, college, etc).  It was a lot of a fun because we really appreciate the young people of PCC.  I was very pleased to hear that a few of the graduates are not moving away, but will attend college locally.

Attendance was off about 40 people I think, but still very good for Memorial Day weekend.

I had to fill in on bass guitar because our regular bassist had to work.  I enjoyed all the songs and got a lot of enjoyment playing.

This evening we had a house full of people, family and friends, over for dinner and homemade ice-cream.  It’s what summers are for.

Tomorrow I will be spending some time in the garden.  My tomato plants are under attack by pests.

Mind Dump is brief tonight because I am wore out.

Life is good.

Going to bed.

When Helping Hurts

Recently I skimmed this book – When Helping Hurts (How to Alleviate Poverty Without  Hurting the Poor or Yourself) – written by Dr. Brian Fikkert.  The basic premise is that when we try to help the poor without having a proper understanding of poverty we often do more harm than good, both to those we are trying to help and ourselves.  Dr. Fikkert cites an example of a church who handed out turkeys and toys in a poor neighborhood every year at Thanksgiving and Christmas.  After several year they discovered that the neighbors felt more poor and more shame, and the church people felt more self-righteous and more superior; each worse off than they were at the beginning.

About two years ago I read this book – The Hole in our Gospel – written by Richard Stearns, President of World Vision.  This particular book totally changed the way I viewed poverty and the gospel.  The premise of the book is the same as the book mentioned above – that is, our helping often does more hurt than it does good.  The author cites example after example of missionary efforts to Africa which only deepened poverty rather than alleviate it.  Don’t read this book unless you want to be challenged.  It radically changed my view on a lot of things.

I think there is a lesson we can learn regarding being a local church in our own community.  Do we really understand the needs that exist around us?  What are the root causes?  How can we help in a way to turn things around?  Are we handing out book bags and grocery cards to feel good about ourselves (or boost attendance)?  Is being “missional” just a code word for marketing?

Giving people a hand up is better than a hand out.

Maybe this Chinese proverb will shed some light:  Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.

Purple Hull... almost ready to pick

Will be picking this week.

Reflections...

It’s Friday evening.  Renae and I have been gone all week on a fishing trip to Lake Talquin near Tallahassee.  We left last Sunday after church and have had five days away.  It was a great trip.  We went with two other couples, renting a cabin together on the lake.  The cabin was on a high bluff about 40-50 ft high overlooking the water, with live oaks providing lots of shade.  It could not have been a nicer location.  I posted a few pictures earlier in the week that gives you an idea of how nice the place was.

More importantly, it was a much needed get-away for me and Renae.  We’ve been very stressed lately and this trip was timely. 

After four or five days I finally started “settling in” to the routine of a slower pace of living.  We would get up about 5:30 AM, eat breakfast, go fishing until mid-day, come in for an afternoon nap, then go back out in the evening to fish again until dark.

I could live in a van down by the river :-)

Between the six of us we caught more than 260 fish.  Very exciting.  Renae and I caught our fair share too.  Well worth the trip.

We took hundreds of pictures.  Mostly of wildlife or nature shots.  Lake Talquin is a very beautiful place.

On the trip home today we avoided the interstate and traveled along hwy 20 and hwy 90.  It was very scenic.  Along the way we stopped at a few hardware stores and antique shops to shop for unique items.  Renae ended up with twenty antique milk bottles that she intends to use for flower vases (or wine carafes (;-).

We had lunch in Mossy Head along hwy 90 at a place called “Something Good, Country Cookin.”  It was a local favorite and a very positive experience for us.  We interacted with the owners and had a pleasant visit.  During the exchange, the owners’ son gave us a couple of small containers of their homemade BBQ sauce.  As he gave it to me he said, “We are very proud of this sauce.  Dad worked on this for decades until he was finally satisfied with it.”  I said “thank you” and went out to the parking lot where Renae and I dipped our finger in for a taste.  It was so good we wanted more, so she went back in to ask if they sold it by the bottle.  They didn’t, but he did sell us a quart of the stuff in a jar!  It was a great experience.

When traveling we love to visit diners that appear to be local favorites.

After being away for the week I was concerned about our garden.  As soon as we got everything unloaded from the truck we went to the garden to check it out.  There was plenty to pick (the picture is what we harvested today) and I spent about an hour watering.  In the next week or so I will be picking purple hull peas (family heirloom). Yea!

LAST SUNDAY’S SERMON.  If you were in attendance you will recall I talked about the difference between the word “Christian” and “disciple.”  All I can say is “wow!”  The response has been enormous.  I think this message stimulated a lot of thought.  The text was Matthew 10:24-25.  This Sunday we will expound on v.26-31, and next Sunday we finish the chapter by expounding on verses 32-42).

This current series (Becoming a Disciple) has been a game-changer for a lot of people.  I intended it to last for 2-3 weeks, but we are now on week seven!