LIFE Together

Our church plant, The Hallows Church, will begin hosting weekly worship gatherings on February 12, 2012. We are super excited about reaching this point in the process. However, we do so having been gripped by the conviction that such worship gatherings are a necessary part of sharing life together but not the sole point of sharing life together. We do not live for an hour and 1/2 gathering each week. The gospel’s comprehensive claim on our lives involves a lot more than, albeit no less than, gathering with other brothers- and sisters-in-Christ to worship God once a week.

I will begin a sermon series on 1 John titled LIFE Together. The study will bring us into contact with the person and work of Jesus Christ. In so doing, we will discover how the gospel sweeps us up into the life-creating community of the Triune God. I will include on the sermon audio page of this blog a link to The Hallows Church’s sermon podcast if you desire to follow along.

I appreciate your prayers as we turn this corner in the life of our church plant here in Seattle!

walking,

Andrew

 

Suspension and Provision

On March 22, Kim, Delaney, and I pulled into Seattle, Washington where we will begin the process of planting a church. Thus far, the journey has been marked by a burdensome joy. We are still trying to get settled. All of our possessions remain in storage. We will not be able to move into our home for another couple of weeks. As a result, we have been living in suspension–that has been the burden.

Joy has come through the ways in which God has provided for us. Not having a home has allowed us to fashion a friendship with John and Amy Cook as well as their two boys–Jake and Brady. They welcomed us into their home and have shown us tremendous hospitality. What we thought would be a week has lasted over a month and will continue for another couple of weeks! Meanwhile, God has lead them to join us on this church planting venture. We are grateful to have them as co-laborers.

Additionally, the Lord has connected us with several people who are interested in planting with us. We started meeting weekly with each of them to pray and seek God’s presence, power, and provision for the near future. Building relationships with like-minded laborers is a joyful experience.

The next few entries will be part of a series titled “The Burdensome Joy of Church Planting.” I will expound upon our church planting experience–both the pain and the pleasure.

walking,
Andrew

 

Don’t Give Up On This Blog

I promise that new and more frequent posts are coming soon!

 

A Tale of Two Lost Sons (Pt. 2): Thoughts on the Relationship Between God’s Kindness and Our Repentance.

Since this is the second entry pertaining to the parable of the two lost sons (Luke 15:11-32), I will not recap the story. I will simply pick up with where we last left off.

The younger son’s decision to go his own way was devastating. As his life deteriorated, he eventually found himself “longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything” (v. 16). At this point, the younger son hits rock bottom. Jewish men did not eat pigs, much less feed them, and much lesser still envy them! Yet, this is where the younger son finds himself. He’s reached the epitome of hell on earth. His reckless quest for freedom landed him in a ruthless quagmire of slavery. Life could not get any worse.

Fortunately, hitting rock bottom caused him to remember what life was like at his father’s house. He “came to himself” (v.17). He woke up from his rebellious stupor and remembered that his father treated his servants much better than he is treated in the far country. What we find is that thoughts of his father’s kindness compelled him to repent. He resolves, “I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants” (vv. 18-19).

The truth of God’s kindness is meant to lead us into repentance. Unfortunately, however, people tend to mistake God’s kindness with indifference. People assume that because God is kind, he will tolerate our rebellious search for “freedom” regardless of how far that search leads us away from Him. Yet, this is exactly what Paul warns against in Romans 2:4-5, “Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteousness will revealed.”

Perhaps the most devastating, yet common, errors of our culture is widespread presumption upon God’s kindness. Presuming upon the kindness of God prevents repentance because it assumes God disregards disobedience. Such an assumption leads us to think that repentance is unnecessary in order to enjoy God’s grace and favor. This may be the most devastatingly common errors of our culture. Had the younger son remained in the far country, he would have certainly perished. In order to experience his father’s grace and favor, he had to return home (i.e. repent). Confusing God’s kindness with indifference renders repentance unnecessary and redemption unavailable.

Jesus is very intentional to describe the son’s repentance. He “arose” and “came to his father” (v. 20). Repentance requires changing directions.  Not only that, such a change in direction must also be accompanied by an appropriate confession. Both are present here. The younger son returned home having realized that he had sinned against heaven and before his father (v. 18).

An idea I have come across in recent years is the erroneous thought that something is only sinful if it affects other people in a negative way. I have heard people say that God doesn’t mind how they choose to live as long as their behavior doesn’t harm anyone. Such a statement limits sin to the horizontal sphere of human relationships. But that is not what Scripture teaches about sin, and it is not what the younger son realized in this moment. He realized that his sin was first and foremost “against heaven.” In other words, sin is always–without exception–relevant to the vertical sphere of the divine-human relationship.

This is exactly what David realized in Psalm 51. After committing murder and adultery, both of which affected other people in a negative way, David confesses to God, “Against you, you only, have I sinned” (v. 4). He confessed that sin is first and foremost an offense to God. My sin may not always affront others, but it always affronts God. Whether a person sits alone behind his computer exploring lust-inducing images that decimate the imago dei without anyone else ever finding out or goes on a shooting rampage in a public square, he or she has offended God and needs to repent. Thus, repentance always requires a change in direction and an appropriate confession that acknowledged all sin is primarily against God.

Moreover, repentance is led by God’s kindness. This is what prompted the son’s change in direction and confession. He remembered his father’s kindness. He had a point of reference. We too have a point of reference–the gospel. The gospel reveals God’s repentance-inducing kindness.

I am tempted to write more because more is needed to be written. But, I am weary on time and you may be weary on reading. So, I’ll leave it here and discuss the father’s ridiculous reception of the repentant son in the next entry.

walking,

Andrew

 

A Tale of Two Lost Sons (Pt. 1): Thoughts on God’s Wrath and Human Freedom

This summer I preached on Jesus’ parable of the two lost sons for the first time (Luke 15:11-32). Studying this famous story has been rich and rewarding. It has prompted many thoughts, some of which I will share over the next couple of posts.

The parable is about a father’s relationship with his two sons. The story begins with the younger son deciding he no longer wants to live under his father’s roof. He is discontent and wants to go his own way. He approaches his father and asks for a share of the inheritance. Being the younger son, he is legally entitled to 1/3 of his father’s possessions.

By asking for his portion while his father is still alive, the younger son has committed a most offensive act. He basically tells his father that he prefers to live as if he is already dead! The younger son holds out one hand wanting his father’s stuff while flipping him the bird with his other hand. In so doing, he heaps shame and disgrace on his father’s name and reputation.

Many in Jesus’ audience then expected to hear a story about how the father unleashed his wrath and drove his son from the house with physical force. They assumed the father would take action and save face in their honor/shame oriented culture. No one expected Jesus to say what he says next. Instead of pummeling his son with fists of fury, the father actually grants his son’s request!

When I think about God’s wrath I imagine fists of fury. I think Bruce Lee or Jet Lee destroying people. In His wrath, God pummels sinners. I think this is the most common picture that comes into people’s minds when they think about God’s wrath. As a result, many people tend to assume that if nothing cataclysmic is happening in their lives then what they may or may not be doing must not warrant God’s wrath. If it did, then God would cause the ground to shake or lightning to strike or something else dramatic.

Although I do believe such things are signals of God having subjected the world to futility as a result of human sin (see, Romans 8:20) and that God is sovereign over all things, I am likewise convinced that we need to learn how to recognize the more subtle and digressive expressions of God’s wrath.

I believe this is the picture presented in Romans 1. In verse 18, Paul writes that “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.” God’s wrath is a present day, real-time experience for all people on the planet. At this time, however, it is not ordinarily taking the form of fists of fury. Instead, it seems to take the form of a subtle nudge. In verses 24-28, Paul writes three times that “God gave them up.” In His wrath, God hands us over to the lust of our hearts, dishonorable passions, and a debased mind. In wrath, God responds to people the same the father responds to his younger son’s request. He lets them go their own way.

Here’s the warning. If we insist on ignoring our consciences by living our lives as if God doesn’t exist or by believing that what we do with our lives does not matter, in many cases, God will let us. If we want life without God, we can have it. C. S. Lewis said, “There are only two kinds of people—those who say ‘Thy will be done’ to God or those to whom God in the end says, ‘Thy will be done.’ All that are in Hell choose it. Without that self-choice it wouldn’t be hell.” The journey towards hell, the final and fixed fists of fury form of God’s wrath, begins as we reject God as God and choose to go our own way.

The younger son rejects his father and chooses to go his own way. And the father lets him! He even gives him the resources he would soon squander in the far country on reckless living. There, he spends all his money on prostitutes and the pursuit of other twisted pleasures.

Usually, when people reject God and seek to go their own way, they do so in the name of freedom. They say, “I want to go my own way do my own thing. I don’t want people telling me what to do, especially a God I can’t see. I want to be free.” In wrath, God hands them over, knowing that what they enter into is not a life of freedom but is actually a life of slavery.

This is what the younger son soon discovers. After squandering all that he had on reckless living, he had to sell himself as a slave to survive. He finds that the far country is not a land of freedom but of slavery (v. 15)! In choosing to go his own way, he goes from being the son of a father to the slave of a stranger!

Here we discover certain aspects of the relationship between God’s wrath and human freedom. In his wrath, God hands people over to their sinful desires. As we pursue those desires under the guise of freedom we actually become slaves to those desires. Our lives become mastered by lust, arrogance, selfish-ambition, unrighteous anger, etc…

There is a reason why one of the most frequently used biblical metaphors for salvation is redemption! God in Christ entered the world to liberate the captives! For human beings are only as free as we are faithful to our natures! When God stamped each of us in his image, he wired us for relationship with Himself. That’s what it means in part to be created by God and for God. Therefore, we find our true freedom, our true humanity, and our true identities only when living in grace-dependent relationship with God. Actual human freedom is found only in God, not in the far country.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ liberates us from being slaves in the far country that we might live as sons and daughters of God. “When the fullnes of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman,  born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so taht we might receive adoption as sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”

walking,

Andrew

 

Too Full to Follow?

One indisputable condition for following Christ is that it must be free from conditions. No one who truly follows Christ can qualify their followship. Jesus isn’t someone we bargain with to become his disciples. He isn’t a peddler of stolen goods on the streets of New York with whom we can negotiate.  He is the God of all creation who says forsake all for the sake of all. A true disciple cannot say, “Okay, I’ll follow you, Jesus, in that direction but not that direction.” Or, “I’ll follow you, Jesus, under these conditions.” To approach Jesus in such a way would be absurd.

As I prayerfully consider planting a church, the biggest concern I have at the moment is where I should plant. I am asking Christ to lead me in the direction He would have me go.

What if Jesus wants to send me where I do not initially or naturally want to go? What if He wants to send me not to a flashy city, which is all the rave in church planting today, but to an obscure community that may result in an obscure ministry? Would I be willing to go in that direction? What if He wants to send me not to a place where people can easily be gathered for a so-called worship service but to a place where people do not have any cultural affinity for the church? What if He wants to send me to a place where people are perfectly content, and have been for decades, with life without church?

What if He wants to send me to a place where there are not enough Christians to siphon off from other churches in the community and the first worship gathering consists of me, my wife, and my new baby? (yes, if you haven’t already heard, Kim’s 9 weeks pregnant!). Or, to a place that is far from my parents, sisters, nieces and nephews? Or, to a people who do not fit my preferred demographic?

This entire journey is causing me to do some serious self-examination. I must confess that I do not always like what I am finding. The question dominating the process is “Am I too full of my self to follow my Savior?”

The Lord brought this question to my attention while meditating on Acts 20:24. There, Paul writes, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” In these words, Paul exposes his heart to the Ephesian elders who were trying to talk him into staying in Ephesus. They worried that if he went to Jerusalem, he would be persecuted. Where they did not want to give up their beloved leader, Paul did not want to forsake his beloved Savior. He had one mission in mind. He desired to be found faithful with the gospel. If that meant going to Jerusalem rather than staying in Ephesus then that’s what he wanted to do. Following Christ even to his death meant more to him than pleasing people, even those he loved dearly. The chapter ends with an intensely emotional departure.

In the end, Paul did not stay in Ephesus because he was not too full to follow Christ. He did not consider himself indispensable to the people of Ephesus. Nor did he consider himself too important to take risks for the sake of the gospel.

One reason why some people do not risk more to make disciples of all nations, particularly those serving as leadership in churches, is because they do not share Paul’s attitude.  Instead, they consider their lives very valuable and very precious to themselves and to everyone else. They’re not willing to go to Jerusalem and die. That would cut their ministry short and maybe limit the reach of their influence. Rather than being full of the Spirit and faithful to the call, they’re full of themselves and faithful to the crowds.

This is why I so admire Jim Elliot, a 28-year-old missionary martyr. Elliot believed Jesus wanted him to take the gospel to an unreached people group in Ecuador. When he began to tell friends, followers, and family members, they objected to his conclusion. They tried to talk him into staying in North America where he would no doubt become an influential pastor of a big church. Some even suggested he could become as influential and famous as Billy Graham was in the process of becoming at the time. Elliot was an incredibly gifted man. He possessed some remarkable gifts in leadership and preaching. So, many discouraged his decision to go elsewhere, thinking he would waste his gifts.

But Elliot refused to consider himself as indispensable as many others had come to consider him. After reading through Ecclesiastes one day, he wrote, “Let me read this passage when I get hungering after civilizations, excitements, and excesses in some lonely place. Take counsel, then, my soul, the whole of life is vanity, and you would be no happier in brighter atmospheres. Woe and loneliness may be miserable but hollow happiness and many in a crowd are much more so.” Faithfulness to the call of Christ and His gospel meant more to him than than any other possible endeavor. If he thought otherwise, he would have stayed in America surrounded by agreeable admirers, rather than risking and eventually losing his young life at the end of an Indian’s spear. Had he done so, an entire generation within an unreached people group would have remained unreached.

I do not know for certain where Christ will lead me to plant a church. I believe one reason why he has not disclosed the exact location with convincing clarity is because He is conforming my character. He desires to empty myself of my self so that I might be filled with Himself. He is working to produce within me Paul’s perspective, so that whether He sends me to Boston, MA or to Bastrop, LA, I can go faithfully.

One cannot be full of self and follow Christ faithfully at the same time. The self will always desire decisions that will serve its inflation rather than its deflation. Yet, Christ alone is worthy to be exalted in our lives. Paul loved Jesus and did not consider himself too valuable or his life too precious to follow Him. I pray that I will be the same way for I do not want to be too full to follow Christ.

walking,
Andrew

 

the ministry of melanoma

i’ve been thinking and praying through this post for several weeks now. i’ve hesitated sharing some of these thoughts because i wanted to make sure i honored Christ and help others with what is written. i know of several people who are battling cancer and other disorienting diseases and in no way wanted to come across as insensitive.

it is important that we do not attempt to draw a uniform application from what the Lord may do in one circumstance assuming it is exactly what He’ll do in every circumstance. that simply is not the case. in John 21:18, Jesus tells peter how he will one day die; yet, He encourages peter that he will glorify God as a result. but then peter turns his attention to john in verse 21. he asks, “Lord, what about this man?” and Jesus replied, “if it is my will that he remain until i come, what is that to you? you follow me!” (v. 22). this is the rub. Jesus’ plan for peter was different from his plan for john. Jesus did not want peter to become preoccupied with His plan for another. church history tells us that john outlived peter although neither man died comfortably. john most probably died alone exiled on an island. peter most probably died by way of an upside down crucifixion. both men honored God though they walked two different paths, which is the goal of all things.

several months ago, my wife noticed some odd looking spots on my right shoulder blade. she advised me to go see a dermatologist. i thought i had better things to do, so i didn’t prioritize it. had we still been in new orleans, that would probably still have been the case. however, the day we moved to bham, i got a phone call from david wilson. he and his wife have shown kim and i incredible hospitality. we live in their two bedroom, basement apartment. he called to tell me that he had been diagnosed with malignant melanoma. since then, he went in for surgery and has received a very positive report.

well, that prompted my incredible, servant-minded wife to take it upon herself and schedule me for an appointment. i went in about a week later. the doctor immediately cut off the three suspicious spots. the next day, kim and i boarded a plane for boston. i didn’t think about my doctor visit, until they called with the results. one of the spots was in fact malignant melanoma. that discovery caused me to do much reflection and self-examination. as soon as i returned, i went in and the doctor made a four inch incision on my right shoulder blade and cut it out.

i knew melanoma was bad. but i didn’t realize how bad until the doc said that had i waited six months, i would’ve died. i’ll go in for check ups every three months for the next year and every six months after that.

i’ve titled this entry “the ministry of melanoma” because that is exactly what its been for me. the Lord has used this entire process to produce some of the most profound changes in my life. He’s used melanoma to teach me truths about providence, dependency, humility, urgency, and eternity, the implications of which i may not have been able to internalize otherwise.

i’ve never felt my dependency upon God more than i have during this time. when something like cancer shows up in your body, there is absolutely nothing you can do about it. you feel helpless. all you can do is trust God’s wise, providential, and fatherly care, taking refuge in the fact that He is sovereign over all the cells of our bodies–good or bad (Col. 1:15-20). God does not simply rule over suffering; He rules through suffering. God’s not just benevolent while walking with one beside still waters, but while leading us through dark valleys (Ps. 23). for me, the Lord saw fit to orchestrate events in such a way that my melanoma was caught and eradicated. for that i am very grateful and have been very humbled. i know that’s not how every story ends.

so as i move forward, i am trying my best to do so faithfully. i want to use the time i’m given to honor Christ. i do not want to be surprised by cancer one day and think–what have i done with my life? i want to be able to echo paul and say that i have fought the good fight of faith. i want to finish strong. this is true whether the Lord gives me another week or another thirty or forty years.

the Lord is breaking me of the sin of presumption. i do not want to presume that i will be alive tomorrow. i had the pleasure of traveling with my pastor, david platt, to capitol hill baptist church recently. i was able to feed on the crumbs from mark dever’s table for a few days. one thing that struck me was the lack of presumption in the lives of those i met. every sentence geared toward the future was qualified by the statement “if the Lord wills.” that’s what i mean by a lack of presumption. all of life should be qualified by that phrase. by not presuming into the future, one is able to redeem the present. the Lord has used melanoma to minister that truth to my life.

the Lord has also used melanoma to make me more sensitive to the suffering of others. i can’t explain the deep stir of emotions that well up every time i hear the word cancer or tumor. my prayer life has changed. i give a larger percentage of time in prayer interceding for those who are sick and suffering. i do ask God to heal them, for i know He is able. in any case, i pray that their faith in Christ would be fortified and that their affections for Christ would be amplified.

ultimately, the ministry of melanoma has drawn my gaze to the beauty of the Gospel. one day i will die, but through the Gospel, i know that in that moment i’ll exit a world plagued by cancer and enter a world filled with the pleasure of Christ. all because God in Christ entered the world, lived a life of perfect obedience, died in my place on the cross, rose from the grave conquering sin, satan, and death, and ascended to the right hand of the Father guaranteeing the recreation of all things. because of the Gospel, my future is hopeful whether my days on earth are many or few.

so until that day comes, i want to redeem the present by bearing witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. our mortality this side of heaven or hell is inescapable. let us not presume otherwise. in the end, we will either make much of God’s saving grace or the justice of His wrath. i want to spend whatever time i am given calling people to gaze upon the beauty of Christ, desiring sin to be forsaken and the Son to be exalted. in so doing, we will walk well into eternity.

walking,

andrew

 

Surrounded in Solitude

It’s been a while since my last post. Since then, I’ve been flooded with thoughts, feelings, and experiences after having transitioned to Birmingham and adjusting to a new schedule. I don’t really know where to begin to articulate all that’s been taking place the past couple of weeks. So, I guess I will just tell you about my friend James.

Last week, I attended the Global Church Advancement conference in Orlando. I recommend it to anyone either seriously entertaining the idea of church planting or anyone currently engaged in church planting. But be warned–its not for the faint of heart. The leaders pack a lot of information into a very short amount of time. Hours upon hours of workshops will leave your head spinning and perhaps even second guessing your calling to plant a church. One meeting after another. One strategy after another. One complex piece of counsel after another. So much to process and very little time to do so b/c you’re constantly surrounded by busy, ambitious church planters.

I attended the conference with a couple of guys named James and John. I told people  they were brothers. Everyone looked surprised because they’re different colors. John is a fair-skinned, Oklahoma boy; James is a much darker skinned, former naval officer. I enjoyed creating that awkward moment.

I’ll be honest. I don’t get jazzed up about riding in a car with two strangers. I worry about feeling pressured to sustain a 9 hour conversation. I don’t have that kind of verbal stamina. Nor do I look forward to sharing a hotel room with a grown man I’ve never met. He might snore or stink. Plus, I knew solitude would be hard to find. Hotel rooms are small.

And I need solitude. Not only do I need it for my spiritual health, but I also need it for my sanity.  Entering the week, I worried about not being able to process prayerfully all that I would hear and learn b/c I’d be constantly surrounded by people.

So, I decided to be proactive, the first morning I tried to wake up earlier than James, but then realized he was a former naval officer, so  that didn’t happen. I went down to the continental breakfast hoping to find a quiet place to sit and pray. That didn’t happen either. The breakfast wasn’t great, but judging by sheer numbers you might have thought Slim Goodies was catering. Loud people everywhere. I gave up and retreated to my room thinking this may be a long week. But then I saw James…

When I entered the room, I found James kneeling down between his bed and the wall with his Bible open before him. His hands clasped together holding his head. The door slammed behind me, but he didn’t budge. I dropped my bag noisily before realizing what he was doing. Not one flinch.  He was surrounded in solitude. For the next 45 minutes, James did not look up once. He communed with Christ regardless of how crowded he may have felt. My presence was irrelevant. He was focused on Another.

James managed to find what I had been looking for. Solitude is often hard to find in our fast paced, ambitious culture. But James reminded me that it CAN be found. I just needed to stop trying so hard to find the perfect place, the ideal circumstance. Such searches are like looking for unicorns. They don’t exist. I was more focused on my setting than my Savior. That shouldn’t be.

Being able to get alone is a great necessity for our walks with Christ. Jesus regularly retreated from his noisy disciples to meet with the Father. When given the opportunity to sit in silence, we should do so. But the lack of opportunity to get alone due to a busy schedule or a house full of people should not keep us from feasting on Christ by faith through prayer and meditation. It’s possible to be surrounded in solitude. Had James not reminded me of this, I might not have benefited as much from my time at the GCA conference.

walking,
Andrew

 

Holiness in Spite of High Stress

Moving is easily one of my least favorite activities in the entire world. I put it on the bottom of the pleasure rung right next to raking wet pine straw and P90X wall squats. Something always gets broken. Most of the times its stuff like our lamps this go around. Other times its people like the bass guitarist’s hand the last time we moved (Sorry Jeremy!). Something always gets lost or temporarily misplaced. Turns out a box filled with some of my favorite literary classics is wedged in the back corner of our storage facility. I lack the necessary motivation to retrieve it due to my sore latissimus dorsi and gluteus maximus. Maybe one day I’ll read Faulkner’s A Light in August or Greene’s The Power and the Glory again, but not until enough time lapses for me to no longer cringe and curse at the sight of a box filled with stuff.

I find it hard to be holy in a moving truck. The deciding, organizing, packing, loading, unloading, unpacking, and reorganizing is far less therapeutic and far more stressful for me. Sometimes when stress rises, my personal holiness fades. In those moments, expressing the character of Christ through embodying the fruit of the Spirit becomes much more difficult. I’m tempted to be more sharp tongued, impatient, and stubborn rather than loving, patient, kind, and self-controlled.

I thought about naming this entry something like “The Highway of Unholiness” or “U-Hauly?” but settled on “Holiness in Spite of High Stress” because 1) it’s not as ridiculously cheesy as the alternatives and 2) it’s not only hard to be holy in a moving truck but also while planning weddings, studying for tests, applying for colleges, deciding on careers, etc. High stress environments can hinder personal holiness, but they do not always have to. Being a Christian involves liberation from the dictatorial demands of the flesh. Instead of hindering holiness, such situations should serve as platforms to display one’s growth in Christ-likeness.

When Jesus first called Simon to walk through life with him as his disciple, he nick-named him Petros, which means rock (Jn 1:42). But as you follow Peter’s story-line throughout the four Gospels, he behaves more like silly-puddy than a stone. He often folded under the stress of his situations. Pressure often got to him, and he rarely responded in a way that honored Christ. If he didn’t like what Jesus taught, he’d immediately object with his own opinion and alternative perspective (Mt 16:21-23). When soldiers came to arrest Jesus, instead of submissively trusting the sovereignty of God, which in itself has a way of producing the fruit of the Spirit, he pulled out a sword and cut off a soldier’s ear (Jn 18:10). When faced with an opportunity to confess allegiance to Christ, he denied Jesus in response to the inquisition of a schoolgirl (Jn 18:17-18). She didn’t even use a form of “enhanced interrogation.” He simply folded under the pressure of the moment.

Fortunately, Peter soon received the Holy Spirit in Acts 2. In so doing, he became much more apt to display holiness in high stress situations. The same guy who folded under the pressure of a school girl’s investigation stood before thousands of on-lookers and preached the Gospel boldly and effectively. As a result, three thousand people trusted in Christ. From that day on, he did not display a holy commitment to Christ in every circumstance (i.e. Galatians 2:11-16)  but he did do so with a greater degree of consistency than what we see in the Gospels. Church history tells us that in what could have been the most stressful moment of his life, he exercised holiness. Story goes that as executioners fastened the cross upon which Peter would soon die, he asked if they could flip it upside down because he did not feel worthy to die like Jesus. Instead of begging for his life, he stood steadfast and self controlled. He honored Christ, which is the goal of all things including personal holiness.

Initially, Peter did not live up to his nickname. He had to grow into it.  Jesus saw him not necessarily as he was but as what he would become. Jesus named him according to what He would make him. In some ways, Jesus has done the same for all of His disciples. Time and time again in Scripture, God refers to Christ-followers as saints, which simply means “holy ones” (i.e. 1 Cor. 1). In Christ, that is exactly what we are every moment of every day–God’s holy people. But, many times, especially in high stress situations, our attitudes and activities betray that Divine designation. The name is too big for us. Yet, like Peter, the Holy Spirit resides in us and steadily enables us to grow into it.

As He produces His fruit in our lives, soon our default mode in high stress situations will no longer be to operate out of the flesh but to walk by His Spirit. As Paul writes in Galatians 5:16, 25, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. . . . If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” Though it may be hard for me to be holy in a moving truck, it is possible because God says I am and insures that I will be.

walking,

Andrew

 

The Next Step, Part 2

In addition to praying for Birmingham and New Orleans, I prayed for Massachusetts when deciding what the next step should be. Prior to hearing from the Church at Brook Hills, I had a couple of conversations with a couple of different people serving Christ in New England. Listening to all that God is doing in their lives and ministries excited me and stirred my heart for that area. Honestly, I’ve always been interested in the Northeastern region of the U.S. I’ve also been interested in Canada and the Pacific Northwest.

Meeting people ministering in Massachusetts moved my heart to pray for their work. I prayed that God’s glory would be manifested in the hearts and minds of many New Englanders. I prayed for the ministers to be encouraged and to persevere in their efforts to represent Christ and to relay His message of reconciliation. I continued communicating with my new friends in New England. In so doing, I began to entertain the possibility of joining them in their efforts. Turns out they are looking for someone to provide the kind of leadership and service that I believe the Lord has gifted and wired me to provide. Suddenly, moving to Massachusetts became a viable option on my radar screen.

In the end, however, I decided the next step wasn’t directly towards Massachusetts but Birmingham. That surprised me a bit. Everything in me wants to be serving as a pastor of a Christ-centered church right now. If you had asked me six months ago if given the choice between becoming a pastor or church planter and becoming an intern for a year,  I would have chosen the former hands down. Yet, that’s not where Christ is leading. Apparently, He’s not ready for me to do that at the moment. Once again, Christ is calling me to exercise patience.

Throughout most of my walk with Christ, impatience has posed the biggest threat to my obedience. It always has. I am somewhat of an impulsive, obsessive personality. When I get an idea in my head, I can’t shake it until its acted upon. I don’t do well letting things simmer. I have a hard time waiting for things. Christmas mornings began at 2:30 for me as a kid. Although I don’t presume to know all the reasons why the Lord has yet to make me a pastor, I do think this aspect of my character is a likely candidate.

The Lord desires ministry leaders to take preparation seriously, which is hard to do when American definitions of success seep into our self-understanding as ministers. I know it’s been hard for me. The temptation is to move at the pace of our culture rather than the pace of our Christ.  You begin to think that life’s passing you by and become aware at just how greedy time can be. A fog of anxiety and discouragement rolls in as you entertain thoughts that you may be wasting your life in the waiting room.

But, in a moment of providential meditation, you’re reminded of how Jesus waited thirty years before beginning His public ministry. You remember that he accomplished more in three years than a thousand men in a thousand lifetimes.You remember that God can do more in you in three seconds than you can in thirty years of impulsive activity. You remember that Jesus lived according to a Divine time table (Jn 2:4; 12:23, 27). You remember that God is God and you are not. You remember that God is more concerned with His agenda than You will ever be. You remember that God is not “served by human hands as if He needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling places” (Acts 17:25-26). Humbled, you step back and stand behind Christ resolving to follow Him at whatever pace He sees fit to set. As you do so, the Holy Spirit whispers, “I will not leave you nor forsake you.”

I am not sure what the Lord intends to do in my life over the next year. I don’t know what all He plans to teach me or how He desires to change me, but I trust whatever it is both me and the people I serve will be the better for it.

Oh, and Massachusetts is still on the radar.

walking,

Andrew