Persistence

I just got home from my last Elders Meeting of 2010.  Tomorrow, weather permitting, Sandy, Tricia and I will get on a plane for Dallas and we’ll spend Christmas with Andrew, Kara and Grace.  While we’re in Dallas we’ll get to see my mom, my sister Candy, and my Uncle Mike Nuthman and his family.  I’m really looking forward to our time away.

I’m also looking forward to what God is going to do both in and through Mount Pleasant Christian Church in 2011.  At our Elders meeting we went through our monthly “Ministry Report” where we were able to see some of the highlights of the past month.  The truth is there have been many highlights in 2010.  Throughout the year we spent our time in studies like Contagious Generosity, A New Command, Where is the Hope (a verse-by-verse look at I Peter), Let’s Pray, and The Joshua Project.  On the weekend after Easter (April 10/11) we had the incredible experience of baptizing 114 people in our four services.  Our Easter weekend, Patriotic weekend and special Christmas weekend were all outstanding.  This year’s Christmas services saw a record attendance of 4,930.  In 2010 we saw the completion of a massive re-model of our facilities that included Bibleopolis, an interactive children’s ministry space that is absolutely incredible.  There were Mission trips, VBS, Sports camps, a Blue Bell ice cream truck at our Volunteer Appreciation picnic- I could go on and on. 

As I think about 2011 I understand the importance of things like vision and strategic planning.  But I’m also convinced that one of the most important elements of continued growth and ministry will be persistence.  To that end let me share a series of inspirational quotes and truths about persistence.

If Columbus had turned back, no one would have blamed him. No one would have remembered him either. --Unknown

Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm. –Unknown

There is nothing so fatal to character than half-finished tasks. -- David Lloyd George

We can do anything we want to as long as we stick to it long enough. --Helen Keller

The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success. --David Sarnoff

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes short again and again, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. -- Theodore Roosevelt

Failure is our teacher, not our under-taker. Failure is delay, not defeat. It's a temporary detour, not a dead-end street. --William Ward

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated failures. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. --Calvin Coolidge

It is never too late to be what you might have been. --George Eliot

So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles of success: if I persist long enough I will win. --Og Mandino

Genius, that power that dazzles mortal eyes, is oft but perseverance in disguise.
--Henry W. Austin

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. --Dale Carnegie

Great works are performed not by strength, but by perseverance. --Samuel Johnson

As inspirational and challenging as these words are they pale in comparison to what Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9.  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  (NIV)

Here’s to continuing to discover the power of persistence.  I love you all and I’ll see you next year,

Pastor Chris

Dreams

One of the interesting things about the Bible, the Old Testament in particular, is that God often chose to speak to people through dreams.  Personally, I don’t believe God speaks to us through dreams today in the sense of revealing things.  Revelatory dreams in the Bible took place as God’s Word was unfolding.  Now we have it as a finished product, and it’s all we need.  And while I’m no expert on dreams, I believe they are, for the most part, subconscious thoughts that reach the conscious level when we are asleep.  I’ve read that dreams are usually a projection of fears, anxieties, tensions, hopes, ambitions, etc.  One of my favorite authors and preachers, John MacArthur, has written that it may be possible that you have a dream connected to a specific passage of scripture because that’s what you’re studying.  He goes on to say, “The Spirit of God might even prompt you to think a certain way in a dream.  I know some people have had very fearful dreams and it has driven them to know Christ.”  I guess the bottom line is that God may use something like a dream to accomplish His purpose but not as vehicles for some new revelation.    

Some people wake up with a vivid memory of their dreams.  That’s the way my daughter Tricia is.  When she has a dream she can (and will) tell you all the details.  Me, on the other hand, I have dreams, but I have a hard time remembering more than bits and pieces.  But here’s something interesting.  Recently I have had several dreams in which my children (26 and 22) are young again.  I don’t really remember anything significant about the dreams but my children are there, and  it’s like I’ve stepped back into time. 

Now, I like seeing them that way.  Andrew has a little round face, and Tricia has that curly blond hair.  But I’m not sure what, if anything, this means.  Maybe it’s because we’re about to get a new baby in our family and that has been a big part of my thoughts and prayers.  And while I have had many questions about her as we anticipate her arrival there are, I know two things for sure.  First, she will never be wanting for love.  Second, she will be special.    

When my children were young, I chose a special Psalm for each of them, and I read those Psalms as a prayer for their lives.  For my son, I chose Psalm 112.  It begins like this: “Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in his commands.  His children will be mighty in the land…”  That word “mighty” in the Hebrew language basically means “honored” and “distinguished.”  The idea is honored and distinguished for their virtue, their influence, and their success in life.  Those are some big words and big thoughts for such a little baby and while I don’t know exactly how those things will unfold for little Grace, I genuinely believe God will make them true.   

Maybe I’ve been seeing/remembering my children when they were very small in my dreams as a way to be reminded that God holds little lives in the palm of His hand.  I see their tiny faces then, think about them now, and know that God has always been in charge of their lives just like He will be in charge of Grace’s life.  In the end I’m thankful for those dreams, those memories and that reminder. 

When Andrew and Tricia were young, people would always say, “Enjoy every minute, because they grow up too fast.”  They were right.  Now that baby Grace is on the way, people always say, “There’s nothing like being a grandparent.”  I’m very confident that they’ll be right once again. 

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

One of the best books I’ve read in recent years is 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life[ELaC1] .  The book was written by Dr. Henry Cloud (you can buy the complete book or a condensed version).  The basic premise of the book is identifying the difference between people who win at love and life and those who fail.  Dr. Cloud said that when he carefully observed successful people, they gave him a certain “déjà vu” feeling.  It wasn’t that he had met them before, but he had met people like them.  The result was nine different “practices” that set them apart. 

One of the practices identified in the book was that Déjà vu people (his name for successful people) “play the movie.”  Now, I know that sounds a little crazy, but keep reading. His point was that Déjà vu people…successful people rarely take any action without considering its future implications.  Another way to say that is that they never see any individual action as a singular thing in and of itself; they “play the movie.” And by playing the movie, they see how actions and choices today can impact tomorrow.  This is how Dr. Cloud describes it in the book: “Any one thing you do is only a scene in a larger movie.  To understand that action, you have to play it out all the way to the end of the movie.”   

One of the difficulties of being a leader is that you not only have to give your best to each and every moment or day, you also have the responsibilities of thinking about and planning for tomorrow.  That means you’ve got to spend time “playing the movie.”  This isn’t one of my favorite things about being a leader, but I certainly understand the importance. 

Life will always be filled with difficult choices.  Oftentimes we choose the immediate comfort that comes from doing nothing.  The problem with that, though, is that while it will bring immediate comfort, the comfort will be short-lived.  The third servant in the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30) who received only one “talent” from his master chose the immediate comfort of doing nothing (remember he buried his talent in the ground).  However, when the master returned (the future will always come), he paid for his choice (vs. 24-30).

Most people don’t live the individual scenes of their lives today with the end in mind.  Most people aren’t interested in “the big picture” or “the final scene.”  But while the Bible gives us clear instruction about not worrying about tomorrow because each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew 6:34), it also shows us the value of living in a way that allows you the privilege of one day hearing the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant!”  When you’re faced with a difficult decision…when you hear about difficult decisions that have been made by others…play the movie.  There’s more going on in the story of your life and my life than what happens in each day (scene).  At least there should be…

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

If you asked my wife, she would tell you that I have a great memory.  She might go on to say something like, “Don’t tell him something you don’t want to ever hear about again because he won’t ever forget.”  Now she has good reason to say that.  I have a knack for remembering things.  I can remember things about the Bible I memorized when I was a kid at church camp.  I can remember the entire starting lineup for The Big Red Machine (Cincinnati Reds in the 70’s).  I can remember trivia, names, golf courses (every hole and what I shot), etc.  I am noticing that my memory is slipping a little with age, but I have a good memory.

That said I find myself wishing I had a better memory today.  I say that because last night (November 4^th) one of my lifelong friends in Oklahoma suffered his second heart attack in four days and died. Duane was 53-years-old. We became friends when I was in the eighth grade, and we shared a lot of great times growing up together.  He had one of those “larger than life” personalities.  He was friendly, he was funny, and he had one of the best tenor voices I’ve ever heard.  I could listen to him sing for hours. Sometimes we sang for hours.  We were very close as classmates and remained close even though life brought all the natural changes that getting older can bring.  One thing that helped is that we were both pastors so we shared not only the bond of friendship but the bond of living out a calling.  And even though I’ve spent the last few days remembering him and our time together, I really wish I could remember more.

I’m mindful today that the Bible has a lot to say about “remembering.”  Most of it is a reminder to us to remember the presence of God, the promises of God and the way God has provided for us in the past.  No doubt God knows that remembering is not something we do well which brings me back to wishing I had a better memory today. 

There are certain things I don’t ever want to forget.  Here are a few in no particular order.  I don’t ever want to forget the sorrow I feel when I am confronted with the reality of my sin because that feeling helps me to avoid sin in the future.  I don’t ever want to forget that God has forgiven my sin and that once it has been forgiven; He has chosen to remember it no more.  I don’t ever want to forget how I feel each time I hear Tricia sing.  I don’t ever want to forget how Sandy looked on the day Andrew got married.  I don’t ever want to forget how I feel when my son asks me for advice about ministry.  I don’t ever want to forget all the ordinary people in the church I grew up in who loved and encouraged me.  I don’t ever want to forget wanting to be exactly like my Uncle Mike when I was growing up.  I don’t ever want to forget the unique bond I have with my brothers and sisters because no one else will ever know what it’s like to grow up together.  I don’t ever want to forget that my mom and dad did not grow up in perfect homes.  I don’t ever want to forget how much I love the local church.  I don’t ever want to forget to be thankful for everything I have and thankful I don’t get what I deserve.

That’s just a very partial list.  I don’t have enough room for everything I’m thinking.  But if I were going to add just one more, it would be that I don’t ever want to forget the blessing of having some special and unconditional friendships when I was very young.  And I don’t want to forget to look for my good friend Duane when it’s my time to walk on streets of gold.  I don’t think he’ll be hard to find. I’ll just listen for his voice and follow the applause.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Never Alone

We’re just a couple of weeks from beginning a new weekend series called, The Joshua Project. What we will be doing is looking at selected passages (stories) in the first six chapters of Joshua to see what lessons we can learn about Promised Land living.  It should be a great study.

One of the things that I have noticed over the years is the tendency that we all sometimes have to make excuses for our lives rather than take responsibility for our lives.  A classic example of this can be found in the familiar parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30.  In this parable Jesus talked about a man who went on a journey but left three different servants with varying amounts of talents (5 -2 -1).  The first two servants put their talents to work and doubled them so that when the man returned, he was able to celebrate their efforts.  The third servant, I’m sure you remember, simply buried his talent in the ground.  When the man returned, he presented him with what he had been given along with an excuse (I know you are a hard man so I was afraid of losing your talent).  As a result, the talent was taken from the third servant, and he was thrown “into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  (Matthew 25:30).

How many of us live our lives with no results but plenty of excuses?  Part of the good news of God’s Word is that we don’t have to live this way, in part, because we are not alone.  When God gives us a responsibility or a challenge, He also gives us Himself as our number one resource.  When Moses died and God gave Joshua the responsibility of leading His people into The Promised Land, He said to him in Joshua 1:5, “As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you.” (NIV) Now that promise wasn’t exclusive to Joshua and the challenge before him.  This is a promise that God gives to all believers. 

You can take ownership and responsibility for your life and leave all of your excuses behind today.  You can face the giant or mountain or whatever it is in your life that’s keeping you from experiencing God’s best today.  You can be a leader today.  You can accomplish whatever goal and realize whatever dream you have today.  You can do it if you remember that God will be with you, the same God who parted the Red Sea and multiplied a handful of fish and loaves to feed thousands.  But you also need to remember that God expects you to do your part.  Here’s a simple truth to remember about your relationship with God.  God will do the God things, and we have to do the people things.

Identify the challenge(s) in your life today, take the first step, and remember that you are never alone.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris

Certain Truth's for Uncertain Times

As we look back on the last ten years, one thing that seems to be consistent in our world is some level of economic uncertainty.  Just consider the following:

2000 – Tech bubble bursts in March 2000

2001 – Terrorist attack of 9/11

2002 – Enron, Arthur Andersen, Tyco, Qwest, Global Crossing, ImClone, and Adelphia – hiding debt and misrepresenting earnings

2003 – War waged by the U.S. and Britain against Iraq begins; North Korea withdraws from the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons

2004 – Spain rocked by terrorist attacks; UN Atomic Energy Agency tells Iran to stop enriching uranium.

2005 – Hurricane Katrina; Rising interest rates

2006 – Political corruptions scandals; Interest rates rise; Housing markets begin to slump.

2007 - Housing markets melt down.

2008 – Credit crisis hits financial sector.

The truth is you can go even further back in time and find some event or threat that has created uncertainty in the economy.  The question isn’t, “Will there be economic uncertainty?” The question is “How will we handle economic uncertainty when it comes?”  There’s no better resource than God’s Word when it comes to answering this question.  Here are some biblical instructions that will never let you down:

1.     Keep Track

Proverbs 13:16 says, Every prudent man acts out of knowledge but a fool exposes his folly.  (NIV)  The first step to handling economic uncertainty is to know your own economic condition.  Ron Blue, founder of Ron Blue and Company (a firm that provides financial services from a Christian perspective), says that every person or family should take a financial physical.  This involves answering four questions: What do I have?  What do I owe?  How much am I spending?  How strong are my safety nets (insurance/savings accounts/etc.)?  Once you do that, you simply need to begin to keep track of your finances. 

2.     Plan Ahead

This means make a budget (Call it a “spending plan” if you hate the word budget).  Rick Warren says, “A budget is telling your money where you want it to go rather than wondering where it went.”  Proverbs 21:5 says, The plans of the diligent leads to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.  (NIV)  A budget is critical to personal economic health because financial freedom is not based on how much you make. It’s based on how much you spend. 

3.     Save Consistently

Proverbs 13:11 says, Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers little by little makes it grow.  (NIV)  The Bible says that it is a mark of wisdom to save for the future.  Proverbs 21:20 says, In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has.  (NIV)  American Demographics magazine shows that the majority of baby boomers (those born between 1946-1964) will be broke at retirement age.  What’s the problem?  The problem is materialism funded by debt.  I know that in our current economy many people are showing more of a willingness to save, but materialism has already done its damage.  And if we were completely honest, we’d have to admit that we got into debt before the economy began to struggle.  When times are good, we buy, and then we pay for it by signing away our future.  When times are bad, we struggle.  Proverbs 22:7 says, The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.  (NIV)  When debt keeps us from being good stewards (saving – giving - etc.), then debt is a big problem.

4.     Give Habitually

Proverbs 3:9-10 says, Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.  (NIV)  Giving is an act of gratitude.  When we give, we acknowledge that everything comes from God.  Giving is an act of priority in the present.  When we give, we demonstrate that God has first place in our lives.  Giving is a statement of faith.  When we give, we put ourselves in a position to allow God to fulfill His promise of blessing in whatever way He chooses to bring that blessing. 

Economic uncertainty won’t steal your happiness and peace if you live prepared. In the end, it’s just a matter of obeying God’s Word.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris 

The Future

Recently I read an article on crosswalk.com by Ed Stetzer called “Future Trends in Evangelicalism.”  The article began by talking about how for the first ten years of this new millennium churches have been finding new and successful ways to communicate the gospel.  Stetzer went on to say, “For that to continue in the next decade, several issues will need to be discussed and resolved.”  Here are four specific issues he highlighted:

1.     Evangelicals must learn to navigate what I call a “post-seeker context.”  In the past churches have targeted “seekers” from the Baby Boomer generation who, for the most part, have some kind of religious or spiritual memory or knowledge.  In the future we will need to develop new models of outreach that recognize people who don’t have that same memory or knowledge.

2.     Evangelicals need to regain confidence in the gospel.  In the past several years many churches have experienced numerical growth by catering to the superficial needs of people rather than the one great need of all men everywhere, a need that can only be met with a clear proclamation and acceptance of the gospel.  In the past decade the emerging church (however you want to define “emergin” because everyone seems to define it differently) has sought a broader and more “holistic” gospel that was less authoritative and more inclusive.  That’s a false gospel.  We need to get back to the pure gospel of the Bible.

3.     Evangelicals will need to address the definition of evangelicalism.  Stetzer writes, “Right now, people often define evangelicals as anyone from Joel Osteen to John MacArthur” (If you’re familiar with those two men, you know they could not be more different in their approach to the Scriptures, to preaching, and to the stewardship of their influence).  If you apply the term evangelicalism to everyone and everything, it will end up meaning nothing.

4.     Evangelicals must address our shallow definition of discipleship.  Stetzer reveals that Life Way Research has published a book called The Shape of Faith to Come by Brad Waggoner.  Based on a study of 2,500 regular Protestant church-goers, he found statistics revealing that only 16% of participants say that they read their Bible daily, and another 20% say they read the Bible a few times a week.  Only 23% agreed strongly with the statement, “When I come to realize that an aspect of my life is not right in God’s eyes, I make necessary changes.”  In the past six months, only 29% said that they had shared with someone how to become a Christian twice or more, and 57% said they had not done so at all.  Perhaps the most disappointing, however, was what had happened when they were surveyed again a year later.  There was very little change in the actual data, but over 55% indicated that they had grown spiritually in the past year. 

It’s this last observation that troubles me the most.  James 1:22 says, Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves.  Do what it says.  (NIV)  Jesus says, in Matthew 7:24, Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man. . .(NIV)  The key to discipleship is not just “hearing” God’s Word; it’s putting it into practice. 

I’ve got some very real concerns about what the future holds when it comes to the local church.  One of my biggest is what kind of influence will the church have on the world when it’s filled with people whose lives are indistinguishable from the world?  It’s time for Christians to recognize and embrace the call to be different.  Not odd. . .different.  When Peter wrote his first epistle to encourage suffering Christians scattered throughout Asia Minor, he wrote, But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (I Peter 2:9 – NIV)  That’s a great description of what it means to be different.  We need to be people marked by different priorities, different passions, different parenting, and different pursuits; different. . .you get the idea.  But this only happens when we make knowing and obeying God’s Word the foundation of our lives. 

My prayer for Mount Pleasant Christian Church is that we would be a people who love God’s Word, know God’s Word, and live God’s Word so that we can be a church that presents a clear reality of who Jesus really is and how He wants to heal and change broken lives.

Jesus cares,

Pastor Chris