How was church today?
That’s a pretty common question in my family. With four households all involved in some sort of ministry, all living and attending four different worship venues, it’s not unusual for me to ask.
But it’s also important for me to remember that I’m asking a consumer question.
I’m basically asking somebody in my family to evaluate their experience. To interpret an event. Yes, to tell me what they got out of it or whether they liked the goings-on down at the church house.
Is that wrong? Not necessarily. But it’s a pitifully limited – and limiting – question. [click to continue…]
In one of old his “Peanuts” cartoons, Charles Schultz has Linus bringing manager Charlie Brown a statistical report on the baseball team. “In twelve games,” he said, “we almost scored a run and in nine games the other team almost didn’t score before the first out. In right field, Lucy almost caught three balls and once almost made the right play.” Then Linus concluded in the cartoon’s last frame with this classic statement: “We led the league in ‘almosts.’”
No doubt about it – Linus is prime preacher material. How many times have you heard a pastor say, “We almost met our offering goal?” Or, “We almost reached our attendance goal.” How many people have you known who almost came to church, who almost decided to follow Christ, or who almost trusted their situation to God? It happens – er, almost every weekend.
Come to think of it, we almost do so many things, we could start a whole new church – the First Church of Hand Grenades and Horseshoes. [click to continue…]
Raise your hand if you want tomorrow to be better than today.
Raise your other hand if you would rather God give you prosperity than calamity.
Good. I’ve got you where I want you. Now give me all your money.
You and I were hard-wired for hope. Something in our DNA makes us want to believe that tomorrow can and will be better than today. When times are easy, we tend to presume on that. When times are tough, we go looking for it.
Maybe that’s why Jeremiah 29:11 has become such a popular verse in recent years. Go into any Christian book store or gift shop and you’ll see it on coffee mugs or on some idyllic painting or poster:
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Doesn’t that do something for you? It certainly does for me. It tells me something about the heart of my God for me as an individual, and for the people I care about.
Trouble is, we take it completely out of context. [click to continue…]
Beyond the riot of the noise and the fury of the storm
I hear Your voice, and all else is peace and quiet.
Above the swelling of the sea and the tossing of the waves
I hear Your voice, and everything becomes so still.
Within the darkness of despair and the sinking in my soul
I hear Your voice, and rise again to living hope.
Against the doubts of unbelief and the questions in my mind
I hear Your voice, and rest in knowing You believe. [click to continue…]
When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22).
They’re called watershed moments. Critical turning points. They’re moments in time when nothing that follows will ever be the same as before. And for the most significant of those, we may spend a lifetime unpacking what actually changed.
The watershed experience in the life of Jesus described above – when He was baptized – reminds me of the most significant watershed experience you or I could have – the day Jesus comes to indwell our lives. And just as the experience of Jesus was a triune experience, with the Holy Spirit descending and the Father affirming, so, too was mine. And the same is true for you, if you have trusted Him as your Lord and Savior.
Just what did you receive at conversion? [click to continue…]
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised,
And His greatness is unsearchable (Psalm 145:3).
Lots of comfortable, well-worn words here. Sometimes familiarity can hide the truest meaning of the language.
For example, God is “great.”
(God is good, let us thank Him for our…)
Hang on a minute. [click to continue…]
Okay, time for a little famous brands trivia.
Without Googling for answers, see if you can guess how many of the following brand names were/are actual people:
Aunt Jemima
Ben and Jerry
Betty Crocker
Chef Boy-Ar-Dee
Duncan Hines
Marie Callender
Martha White
Orville Redenbacher
Sister Shubert
Uncle Ben
Answers are below: [click to continue…]
I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the gods (Psalm 138:1)
Gratitude is not for the half-hearted.
It’s all-in…mind, will, and emotions.
And it’s a choice, regardless of our current state. [click to continue…]
There are over 3,000 words in the English language to describe some kind of feeling. According to design student Pei-Ying Lin that’s about 21 words short. Lin, in working with colleagues from London’s Royal College of Art, identified 21 words from other languages for which there is no English word. Example: The Russian word, Tocka, which means “Great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause…ache of soul, a longing with nothing to long for.”
You can find out more, and see Lin’s infographic, by clicking here.
Of course, what Lin has accomplished, while significant, is no real surprise – especially for anybody who’s ever found themselves not knowing how to express exactly how they felt.
Sometimes the gratitude is too great. [click to continue…]
This morning I have the privilege of preaching at Shadow Hills Baptist Church here in Lubbock. After dreaming about hearing John Piper preaching in my head all night long that “God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in him” (and I’ve never actually listened all the way through to one of his messages), I believe the Lord was “instructing me in the night watches” (Psalm 16:7) to preach on joy, and specifically how we can lose it. Here’s a quick summary of what I’m sharing there…
The most joyful people on the planet are believers in Jesus Christ.
The most joyless, miserable people on the planet are Christians, too.
Those who don’t have a relationship with Christ don’t know any better, and as they say, “Ignorance is bliss.” But those of us who have tasted and seen that the Lord is good, then somehow lost that sense of His presence, know there is something missing.
I’d like to show you how that’s possible. How can someone who has experienced this amazing joy suddenly find themselves without it? [click to continue…]
