Sermon Notes

For anyone who is interested I am trying out WordPress for my Sermon Notes (click here) as well as Blogger (click here). I've posted my texts for this coming Sunday. Any comments, insights, applications, illustrations, or whatever are greatly appreciated. I am hoping that you ladies who might be reading this will come and offer some comments. I want to make sure that I give voice to feminine concerns in my lessons. I'm starting a series from Colossians called "Living Heavenly Values on Earthly Soil." On Sunday evening I'm continuing my pattern of preaching from our daily Bible reading schedule. My text will be 1Samuel 17. Hope ya'll have a good week.

Spring Break Campaign 2007

Our spring break campaign is now part of Mt. Dora's history. But the work continues on. Here are the fruits of our efforts granted us by our gracious God:

Doors knocked 1386
Contacts made 527
Studies set up 16
Studies taught 15
Correspondence Courses set up 28
Prayer requests 125
Door slammed in our faces 5

The students came from Heritage Christian University (formerly IBC - International Bible College) in Florence, AL. There were 11 students and 7 adults plus Stephen Guy. The adults came from two congregations in Strickland and Booneville, MS. What a great bunch they were! All of the students and adults were good workers. All of them had a passion to serve the Lord.

Brother Guy's theme for the week was Revival. Starting Sunday morning and going through Wed night he preached lessons designed to reach those who were searching and those in the congregation. We had several of our folks go forward to ask prayers for strength and renewal. We had one baptism - one of our teens (Tyler Newton). His dad (Jeff Newton) baptized him. Jeff really got choked trying to get out the words as he baptized his son. We had several of the people that we contacted through our door knocking attend at least one the meetings. So we have a lot of work ahead of us as we follow up and make sure that we try to help these folks come to Jesus.

One of our teams actually came across a Hindu family that had never heard of Jesus. What a time they had trying to help this family understand the gospel. They spoke to them at the door and really had an interesting discussion with them. Who knows where this might lead.

Several of our members came out each door and door knocked with the students. It was great to see so many of our folks involved in this way. We had quite a food crew that served breakfast and lunch to the campaign workers each day. It was a great effort.

Door knocking consisted of taking a religious survey of five questions. I wasn't all that impressed with asking the first and last questions. As I interviewed people I tried to listen to their answers and ask "take off" questions. Sometimes it would lead to some interesting side issues. For the most part those who were home seemed willing to answer the questions. I've been told that the first three questions on this list are what Rick Warren used when he first began in the Saddleback community.

1. What do you think is the greatest need of people in our community?
2. Why do you think people do not go to church today?
3. If you were looking for a church to attend, what kind of things would you look for?
4. Do you have any prayer requests?
5. Would you like to study about the church mentioned in your Bible and how you and your family can be saved?

The prayer requests (125) mentioned above were actually community prayer requests from our survey. We wrote down their names and requests and then put the requests up on PowerPoint and then specified someone during the service each night to do the community prayer. What a joy to pray for our neighbors.

During one morning of door knocking we (the group I was with) met a young homeless couple. They were recently evicted from their apartment and were just visiting the neighborhood where we were knocking (God certainly was at work that morning). After talking to them we invited them to come have lunch and breakfast each day with the campaign workers. They came a couple of times but have since disappeared. One of our elders was trying to contact some local business people that he knows to help them find jobs. We also have some food and other things left over from the tornado disaster relief materials that we can give them. We have a cell number so we hope to contact them and help them even more.

I know that door knocking campaigns have pretty well run their course. Not many congregations think they are effective so they don't do them anymore. It does seem strange to knock doors during the day when most are working. However, regardless of whether of not this is considered effective I'm convinced that God did direct us to people that needed the gospel or needed help. As a congregation we will be thanking God for the fruit borne during the campaign and for the fellowship we enjoyed with these wonderful campaign workers for quite some time.

March 17, 1980

In January of 1980 Tom and Karen DeGarmo showed up at services. I had just been at the Dover Church of Christ (in Randolph, NJ) for about nine months. They were newlyweds and Tom was fresh out of college with a degree. Tom had been hired by Bell Labs in Whippany, NJ. They moved to an apartment complex that was within 1/2 mile of our building. Karen was raised in a Church of Christ in Mill Hall, PA (not too far from State College) and Tom in the Catholic church. Tom however was quite interested in learning more about us.

Pat, Lisa (she was all of five months), and I went to visit Tom and Karen the very next evening. Tom and Karen seemed pleased and Tom was willing to study. He proposed that we take turns coming to each other's home and eat dinner together and then study. We were so pleased at his willingness. So we studied and studied (and ate and ate) for the next few weeks. One Monday night Tom looked at me and said, "So when are you going to baptize me?" Tom can be direct when he needs to be (a good trait that he often uses well). So we made a few calls and went up to the building. I don't remember who all was there but a few showed up and Tom was baptized by faith into Christ. It was March 17, 1980.

Tom and Karen were a real asset to the congregation. They were both quite involved. Tom actually called me about two days after his baptism to get my advice on what to say to a co-worker on his van pool about the gospel. I couldn't believe that a babe in Christ only two days old was out evangelizing. There were a good many people who were brought to Christ because of Tom and Karen.

After a few years they moved to Bethlehem, PA so that they could afford a home. Now years later Tom is a deacon for the King of Prussia congregation outside of Philadelphia. He and Karen have raised three children (Beth, TJ, and Seth). They have continued their involvement with the local congregation and are surely as valuable today as they were back then.

Tom calls me every March 17th. He started calling the year they moved to Bethlehem (somewhere around 1986). He called me today. He calls to say thanks. He calls to say "I love you." And I look forward to his call every year. He almost had to call me from the Mid East. His company has sent him over on occasion. I am blessed to know such a gracious servant as Tom.

The Restart and Undo Button

I enjoy some distraction during my work day. The computer and Palm has afforded an opportunity to provide that distraction. Both have a "Games" folder where I keep a couple of games, mostly some form of Solitaire. What is really cool about these games is they come with two buttons - the undo button and the restart button. I usually go through a game and then when I lose I hit the restart button and do the game over. I can usually see two or three moves that I can make differently and possibly win the game. You may wonder why I do that - the games keeps statistics and I'm looking to best my win streak of 13 games. During a game I can see two possible moves (e. g. two red sevens and one black eight show up) and the undo button allows me to see which move might be the best. In spite of the two buttons, I don't always win but I keep trying.

Don't you wish life came with a restart and undo button? When we find ourselves down the wrong pathway we could hit restart and get on the right pathway. Or when we say something that someone obviously is offended by we could hit the undo button and say something more appropriate. But alas, life doesn't come with these two buttons. And even if life did that wouldn't guarantee that we would always win.

However, most of us know when we make certain decisions know what the consequences will be. When a man decides to cheat on his wife, he knows that the other woman could become pregnant. He also knows that if she is a minor he could go to prison. He also knows that his ministry will not only end but will have a bad reputation and outsiders will trash the church (Romans 2:21-24). He also knows that his sin will find him out (Numbers 32:23). And yet a decision is made and an action taken. He has placed his desire above all else. Sometimes the decision is easy - we want pleasure or whatever else the action might bring. Sometimes the decision is not easy - the battle between the flesh and the Spirit rages on (Galatians 5:17).

There are a some good posts in light of what has happened recently to the Pitman congregation in Southern New Jersey. Trey Morgan has two posts - here and here. Steve Pucket (here) has a good post with links to some resources . Finding out that a fellow preacher (and in particular a preacher I know personally) has committed sexual misconduct used to surprise me. Not because I believe we are immune to such temptation but because I have always thought they (the ones I knew personally) were so strong. A preacher friend from eastern PA that committed such an act would have been the last one I would have ever thought would give in to such temptation. I thought I was the only one who struggled with such feelings. But I am not the only one. I read a newsletter a couple of months ago about a young fellow going into the ministry. The church where he started had just been rocked by the sexual misconduct of another minister who was in his 50s. The young man had a wise grandfather (around 70) that he consulted. He wanted to guard himself against such a sin. He asked his grandfather when these sexual urges stop. His grandfather said when I find out I'll let you know. He was surprised to find out that his 70 year old grandfather was still dealing with the urges.

I am grateful that my wife is of such a personality that she will let me know when she thinks a situation isn't wise for me to go alone. I am grateful that God has provided me with other escape pathways. But I know that Satan is lurking around every corner waiting for any of us to come into a situation that he can exploit. When certain decisions are made and actions taken there is no restart or undo button, the damage is done. The rest of us need in these situations to throw out a lifeline. Satan may have claimed them for the moment but God is still waiting for them to come back.

God's Mysterious Ways II

Last year a brother in Christ, named Jim, called me from California. He is a Lt. Colonel in the air force reserves stationed at Beale AFB but full time. He is getting transferred to McGuire AFB which is about 20 minutes away from Tabernacle, NJ, in order to be a wing commander. I sent him information on real estate agents in the area. About a month later he emails me and asks if I went to Sunset. I emailed back and said yes. Then he asked if Steve Davis was best man at my wedding. I of course said yes, knowing that there was more to these questions. It turns out that Cindy Davis had remarried. Her husband and Jim were elders in Yuba City, CA. Cindy is his wife's best friend. Jim and his wife, Nancy, were really excited to find a friend of Cindy's out there in desolate New Jersey. I emailed Jim back and told him our situation, that we were moving to Florida. I haven't had time to find out whether or not Jim and Nancy got situated but I found Jim's email address and sent him a message. I haven't heard back just yet.

Last month here in Mount Dora, FL one of the elders told me that a fellow was moving up from Clermont (about 30 miles away). He had some foot or leg problem and was in a wheel chair. The congregation he was attending down there was of the type that didn't believe in helping benevolent needs out of the church treasury. Apparently their benevolent nature didn't extend much beyond their talking about it because this fellow didn't feel very welcome and he claims they didn't do much to help him in terms of giving him a ride to services.

David McCaig showed up (he wasn't in a wheel chair but on crutches) one Wednesday evening. The elder who had originally told me about him picked him up for services. He lives near another one of our members who also needs to be picked up. Anyway, after a couple of weeks, David and I found some time to really talk with each other. I thought he was a new Christian but he said no he was raised in the church even though his parents have since fallen away. I asked if he was a Florida native (some natives are called "crackers") but he said no he was from California. Mentioning California always gets my attention. So I asked where. He said up north (people are usually vague about things like this because they assume that most people won't know the name of the town in which they lived). I asked specifically and he said Livermore. I said I knew a preacher at Livermore, Don Downey (actually it's Ron, Don is his father). He said he didn't know a Don but did know a Ron. Well, we got to talking further and low and behold he knew Steve Davis! Steve was a counselor at a summer camp where David attended. Couldn't believe it (well actually I could because this sort of thing happens all the time).

I know some of you are waiting for the big - there were hundreds of baptisms kind of ending to this story. Actually the story isn't over. I don't know why David is here in Mount Dora and if the connection we have to Steve is even relevant to our current situation. This is just another quiet chapter in God's mysterious ways. There are a lot of questions about this story I have that I hope God will answer when we get heaven.

1. Why didn't Steve get to go to Liberia with the Crons and Littlejohns? (maybe his family didn't need to be there or maybe one them needed to be here for some task that God had for them)
2. Why did Jim and Nancy make contact with us just as we were leaving?
3. Why is David here? (This one may be answered some day soon)

God's providence surprises us all the time. Sometimes we are in the right place at the right time. Sometimes all our plans fall into place. Sometimes the signs are there but nothing (or at least nothing that we can actually see) ever comes of it. Through it all I know that God is in charge. That is what faith is all about - trusting that God is in charge and holding on to him whether or not plans fall into place. I may never get the answers to my questions while we are here under the sun, but God's light is still shining in my life and my family's life.

God's mysterious ways

Steve Davis was best man at my wedding. We met in class at Sunset School of Preaching (now Sunset International Bible Institute). He was from California (Marysville, outside of Sacramento) and I was from California (Lompoc, up the coast from Santa Barbara about 55 miles). For some reason we became instant friends. We teamed up with two other guys in class (David Cron and John Littlejohn). We were the "wolfpack." David was the only one of the bunch who was raised in the church. We asked a lot of questions. We didn't accept anything until we could see it. We weren't rebels in the usual sense, we just wanted to be sure. I'm sure we wore our teachers out. Steve was married (Cindy) when he came to Sunset and he had one son (Matthew). While at Sunset Cindy gave birth to another son Joel. I finally found a wife myself (the lovely Pat). Steve was obvious choice for my best man. We had a great wedding and great honeymoon.

Toward the end of school I had told the elders at Lompoc (the church that put me through school - with the help of my wonderful, supportive parents) that we would come back and work with them after school. Just after that promise, two churches showed up at Sunset wanting four families to go to Liberia. If not for my commitment to the church in Lompoc it would have been a match made in heaven. I wanted so bad to tell the elders I wasn't coming but my parents had taught me to keep my word (and so did the Lord!). So Pat and I finished the missions program and in July 1977 we headed to Lompoc. Steve and the rest of the "wolfpack" stayed for the third year graduate program at Sunset with plans to go to Liberia.

Steve and gang finished Sunset in January 1978. I had heard from Steve that they were having trouble getting visas to Liberia. Then I didn't hear much at all for awhile. One Saturday night in April 1978 we were having a youth devotional. Someone had prepared some questions that everyone was supposed to answer in an effort to get to know each other. One of the questions, "If you could get a phone call from anyone who would it be?" I naturally said Steve, since I hadn't heard from him. The next morning just before the alarm went off, the phone rang. Not it wasn't Steve it was Don Downey, Steve's father-in-law. His voice was quiet, almost a whisper. He said, "Bob, Steve was killed last night in a traffic accident." Pat and I were crushed. That morning at worship, all we could do was cry (literally!). We had Joy Bus kids sitting in our laps who couldn't understand why we were crying.

We drove up to Marysville for the funeral. Everyone kept asking "why Steve?" and Cindy kept responding "Why not Steve?" It was a wonderful service for such a faithful young man. I miss those days in Sunset. But there is more to this story.

Lines in the Sand Revealed

The president who said the quote (click here) I liked so much was former president William Jefferson Clinton. The occasion was the dedication of his presidential library in Little Rock. The date was November 18, 2004. If anyone is interested in the transcript you can read it here. The speech is not long so don't be afraid to read it. I'm amazed at how ugly politics and elections can be and then how the same politicians are so gracious to each other at times like a library dedication. President Clinton was gracious to President Bush (both H and W) as one can read in the transcript. President Bush apparently sent quite an entourage to the dedication.

President Clinton's special quote came toward the end of his speech when he tried to blend the value of both conservatives and progressives in our society at the close of the 20th century. I'm not sure that his application is exactly the way the two sides would have seen it but it was an interesting application. The quote continues to speak to me about the need in our fellowship to talk with each other and recognize the need for each side. I don't know if we will ever have that kind of harmony but it is worth the dream.

Papa's Got a Brand New Blog

I'm launching another blog (click here). This one is about my sermons. Each Monday I will post my sermon title and text for the next Sunday. Anyone can stop by and share with me your thoughts on the text. If you have any insights, stories, illustrations, applications, or sermon outlines I would appreciate such. Just something I'm trying to do to improve my preaching skills.

I tried to use WordPress but didn't find it as intuitive as Blogger. I've got a site started on WordPress and maybe one of these days I will work with it but for now I'm sticking with Blogger. Plus PC World did a little comparison article on blog sites and Blogger came out on top. So here I take my stand.

Thanks.

Lines in the Sand

I ran across this quote the other day. It is absolutely fantastic! At least to me. Guess which president said this. I'll reveal in the next post who said it.

"Conservatism, at its very best, draws lines that should not be crossed. Progressivism, at its very best, breaks down barriers that are no longer needed, or should never have been erected in the first place."

I think it speaks volumes. Conservatives are those who try to identify what is important and what should never be forgotten. They identify what is fundamental, what is foundational, and what all of us should agree to. They draw a line in the sand and demand that we never cross it. Doesn't mean that everything conservatives identify as important is right, this is just the reality of the situation.

Progressives challenge those fundamentals. They dare to cross the lines in the sand that conservatives have drawn. They challenge what has become central to us. Sometimes the practical becomes identified as fundamental. For instance, four-part harmony is certainly singing without instrumental accompaniment but that particular type of singing isn't central to Scripture. In some instances progressives help us to rethink our understanding of what is truly fundamental. We should also realize that progressives, as conservatives, are not always right. This is just reality.

Sometimes what the conservatives identify as important needs to be shown that we no longer need such. Perhaps we could use playing cards as an illustration. I don't know all the reasons why cards were outlawed by churches (I suspect that it may have something to do with gamblers who used them in the saloons in the West). Some conservatives probably still hold on to this one. At one time not using cards had validity and no one should have used them. With time and other cultural changes the reasons no longer exist so cards can be a part of a family's entertainment.

Even though dialogue between conservatives and progressives is never easy, it is a necessary one. Both sides benefit (if they can stay at the negotiating table long enough) from the discussion. But both sides need to give grace to the other side. Dogmatism exists on both sides of the aisle. Judgmentalism exists on both sides of the aisle. I don't know how to accomplish keeping both sides talking but I just know they should.

Prayer Time

This past Wednesday we had a prayer devotional for our upcoming spring campaign. I always am encouraged when we as a congregation spend time in prayer mostly about one particular event. I interspersed the time with some songs and scripture reading, both designed to support the prayers about our spring campaign (we had five men offer prayer during this devotional time). Wade Tannehill's series on prayer (Can God be Persuaded to Act? click here) has caused me to think a lot about prayer and how God responds.

When I was asked to leave Tabernacle, Pat and I increased our prayer life - individually and together. We prayed fervently about where God wanted us to go, where we wanted to go, and hoping He would do it soon. We had our wish list but we knew that God would take us to where He wanted us in His own time. The frustrating thing was listening to the "quick responses" that others experienced when they prayed about their situations. One preacher friend told me he was fired by this congregation on a Monday some years ago. He and his wife prayed when he got home. That Thursday another congregation called to ask him to consider leaving his current congregation and come to theirs. Our prayers were not answered for almost a year (long search!).

I'm frustrated when prayer is made a mantra (say this prayer for 30 years and God will be with you each step of the way), when optimism rules (I'm an optimistic guy but my optimism doesn't
doesn't always seem to rule God - I think C. S. Lewis said something about people manufacturing positive feelings about prayer in the hope of getting a positive response from God), when faith is the key (I guess sometimes I must not have much faith) or when some formula is thought to activate God (say it in this way and He will listen). There is no magical formula about prayer and getting what you pray for. There is just me and God walking through this dark world together on the way to the land of rest. I pray about my situation and God guides me as only He knows best. Regardless of what happens (good stuff, bad stuff, really bad stuff, really good stuff, bland stuff) I stay faithful and continue praying until we reach our destination. We live in an imperfect world and our prayers will often produce imperfect results. So I continue to trust that my God and my Savior will be with me until the end of the age.

Allowing Time for Growth

A passage that has fascinated me is 2Kings 5:1-19. It is the story of the healing of Naaman, who is the captain of the army of the king of Aram. He is a valiant warrior and well respected by his people but he has leprosy. Naaman is told by a servant girl that Elisha can heal him. So he goes off in search of Elisha. Naaman arrives and is told by Elisha to go dip himself seven times in the Jordan River. He is furious because he thought the healing would be more sensational than a simple dipping (v.11). Besides he has some rivers back home that are better (v.12). One of his servants suggested he go try Elisha's solution even though it wasn't quite what he wanted (v.13). So Naaman goes and dips himself in the Jordan and is healed (v.14). He returns to Elisha and praises the God of Elisha (v.15) for the healing. He promises never to sacrifice to another god again (v.17). He is converted and becomes a servant of the Lord. He recognizes his need to be loyal and serve God alone. However, because of his role as captain of the army he must go into a house of worship and assist his master (v.18). He knows what he is doing is wrong and goes against the promise he just made but he is not quite ready to make a clean break. He asks the Lord to pardon him for this violation and Elisha grants him a blessing as he leaves (v.19).

I really believe that this passage speaks to we Christians today as well. We will share Jesus with someone who is truly converted and wants to be loyal and do what is right. They may even recognize what is right but for whatever reason cannot stand as firmly as they should at that moment. I hope to grant them grace and a blessing, not to stay in their current state but to continue to grow and eventually say no to whatever they need to say no to. It would be nice if everyone we converted (ourselves included) could change immediately upon conversion. However, those of us who are spiritual need to allow them some time to grow. We don't expect our infant children to walk so we shouldn't expect babes in Christ to walk as firmly as they hopefully one day will. We also should realize that we will meet people who are not yet converted and our goal should be to get them into Christ. So preach Christ and him crucified and then once they pledge their loyalty to Christ, give them time to grow.

The Gospel is for all

Trey Morgan has a good post (click here) challenging us to make sure that we don't turn people into our vision of what is respectful before we convert them. What if the individual above turned up at your church? After picking yourself up off the floor would you not only invite them in but ask them to sit with you?

Let me tell you about an experience I had in my last congregation (Tabernacle, NJ). A young couple (late 20s) showed up with two young children. He was Caucasian and she was Asian. Both had rather extensive piercings (she - nose, lip, tongue, eye brows; he - bridge of the nose, eye brows, lips, tongue) and some tattoos. I think we did a pretty good job of welcoming them in without staring too much. It turned out that they were looking for a church that was a little more traditional than where his parents (actually Mom and Step dad) were attending. At the other church the deacons wore Bermuda shorts, sandals, and waved in the air. They wanted something more sedate. At first we seemed to fit the bill. They were pretty regular in their attendance for a while. During my visits with them I discovered that she was still married to some other guy and the oldest child was his and the youngest belonged to the current guy. They wanted to know if their marital situation (or lack of) would be a problem. She had trouble getting a divorce from her husband because of his obstinance. So she gave up. The current guy was content to live this way and their previous church encouraged them to not worry about it. I had never experienced anything like this and was so surprised that an evangelical church would encourage such behavior. I told them yes it would but now I wish I had told them that our goal was to get to know them first. They quit coming after that. I'm not sure they quit coming because I told them their situation would be a problem because I continued to pursue them and tried to make sure they felt comfortable with us. After a while it became evident that they were no longer interested in coming for whatever reason.

I have no doubt that sooner or later we would have to deal with their situation. But I think we try to clean up people's lives before we get them into Christ and we lose some because they don't fully appreciate their position. That means we miss some in our evangelism because they don't clean up as easily as we want. I don't want to suggest that we accept sin but we do accept sinners who need to learn and grow and that may take a while. Better to get them into Christ first and then demand that they grow.

Super Hero

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man 55% The Flash 55% Catwoman 45% Robin 40% Hulk 30% Wonder Woman 25% Green Lantern 25% Iron Man 25% Superman 20% Batman 20% Supergirl 10%

You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.

Click here to take the "Which Superhero are you?" quiz...

Happy Birthday Nathan from Gramps

This is my favorite picture of Nathan and me. It was taken in Radford, VA when Dan, Lisa, and Nathan moved from Arkansas to Virginia in 2001. We were in Dan and Lisa's new home and I guess Lisa took this picture. I've forgotten all the circumstances. But it's still my favorite of the two of us. Happy Birthday Nathan and many more!

If you could own any car

Others have done some spiritual questions about "what if. . ." so I thought I would do something a little materialistic. If you could have any car in the world what would it be and why? Mine is the above. 1991 Porsche 944 S2. Dual overhead cams, 16 valves, 5 sp manual, turbo-nose, and what a sight she is! This was the final year Porsche made the 944. I loved it the first year (1982) it came out. I loved the turbo model because the nose was smoother than the regular. So when they put the turbo nose on the regular with a better engine, I was really hooked. Maybe because it was a little more affordable than the 928 or the 911. Actually I just fell in love with how it looks. Maybe not everyone would like its lines, but I did. It was more muscular looking than the 924 which it replaced. Now of course they are slowly becoming classic or antiques. Every now and then I cruise eBay just to see how much they cost. But if I had the money ($10,000 plus in good condition), this would be mine. It would be either dark green or black with a tan or cream colored interior. Ah, dreams.

Post fad

No the title is not about "posting" on blogs as a fad. I just notice that "post" anything today seems to be a fad. Let me share with you what I mean.

1. Post modernism (this philosophy actually began in the architectural field contrasting newer styles with traditional styles. Of course it has morphed into those who distrust "modernism" which came from the Enlightenment era. Modernism is the belief that there are truths and universal facts to our universe. Post modernism rejects universal or absolutes. Francis Schaeffer's book Escape From Reason mentioned one author involved in what became the post modern philosophy long before anyone really recognized post modernism.)
2. Post liberalism (George Lindbeck's book The Nature of Doctrine attempted to explain this new movement. Hans Frei's books also are about the post liberal approach to Christianity. Actually post liberalism has quite a bit that our fellowship would like. Lindbeck's book however is a difficult read. One reviewer called it "tortured prose.")
3. Post conservative (don't really know much about these folks but have read a couple of articles so I know that they exist.)
4. Post restorationist (just saw this the other day. Don't know much about them either but their title provided the inspiration for this "post" of mine.)

Are there any other "posts" out there that I'm missing. I'm sure there are. Actually considering the mind set of our society today "post" could be applied to almost any philosophy or field. We appear to enjoy changing the traditional, so "post" seems an apt prefix.

Tag, you're it! Or maybe not

Matt Dabbs has tagged me. So now I'm supposed to tell you six weird things about myself. Actually I've already done this, click here. I was tagged by Lisa, my oldest. For those of you who didn't get to that post I reiterate my weirdness but I think I'll change #4 & #6.

1. The buttons on my shirt, my belt buckle, and the button or snap on my pants must all line up. I don't have OCD but this is just an occasion of weirdness.
2. I want to wear long hair. I had it long in college and would do anything to grow it long again.
3. I get up early every day (5:00 AM, seven days a week). I seldom sleep in unless I'm sick. I can't go to sleep at night if I sleep in. You know that OCD thing is starting to look real.
4. I still love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, especially on hearty, whole grain bread.
5. I hate to sweat in nice clothes. I really hate it when my DW (the lovely and gracious Pat) wants me to do something Sunday afternoon that might require me to sweat. I feel I have to shower again after sweating. I would rather take a nap.
6. I have this really quiet side to me. I love to be around people. I love to be in meetings where we work together as a team in producing something (like curriculum or a DVD about our congregation). I sometimes start conversations with strangers at the store (depends on whether or not they are buying something weird that I can comment on - you know it takes one to know one). I sometimes go up to strangers to find out information. We saw a Harding sticker on a van at Sonics with no one in it. So I started to quiz all the folks sitting down at tables until I found the owners of the van. But occasionally I just want to go unnoticed or be by myself. Sometimes I don't want to talk to anyone. Weird perhaps, but my weirdness.

Since I tagged others earlier I won't be passing this tag on unless I come across someone more weird than myself. If I think of anything else that's weird about me I will save it for the next time this tag comes around.

Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day to the love of my life. You have traveled with me from Texas to California to New Jersey to Florida. I'm glad that God brought us together for this journey. May our love for each continue to grow throughout our journey in this life.

more on church buildings

A few years back I think some congregations got tired of spending such a big chunk of Sunday's contribution on their facilities when the building was used only three times a week. They wanted their facilities to be more practical and usable. After all, the church building is not holy or sacred. That's when auditoriums became gymnasiums and they started adding family life centers. The purpose was to get the most out of their buildings. They also thought they could attract more people to the building for evangelism. Think about having a basketball game after Sunday evenings services where the community is invited. I think they had a good idea I'm just not sure the implementation was right. Instead of revamping their use of the building maybe they needed to revamp their understanding of the building altogether.

William Willimon once quipped (I've forgotten where) that the church needs to be the church. It isn't an entertainment company, it isn't in the business of doing things that the world can provide. It is here to be the church. Mainline denominational churches in the 60s tried to be more socially relevant. Certainly some of the issues they dealt with are important to us as Americans and as individual Christians, but they became so focused on those issues that they lost their relevance as people serving Jesus here on the earth. Their evangelism suffered as a result. Willimon's book, Good New For Exiles, deals with some of the results of this focus (maybe that's where I read the quote I mentioned earlier). Some of the "conservative" evangelical churches today are trying the same tactic but with global warming and poverty. My guess is that these issues will dominate their agenda and they will become less relevant as a spiritual community.

We need to ask whether or not church buildings, social issues, or anything else takes us away from being the community of God. If we focus too much on this world and its issues then we become less than we should be. Perhaps the environment of a church building feeds our need to be relevant whether through social issues or through events designed to attract the community. If we are not willing to give up our buildings, perhaps we need some different thinking about its use. I don't like making it an exercise center or a place where we discuss social issues (although sometimes social issues do need to be discussed in reference to how we are affected as the church). We are the people of God and we gather to take the Lord's Supper, preach, worship, and tell the story of how God sent His Son to this earth to save us from the coming judgment. All that we do should be focused on that. All else is a distraction from our spiritual purpose.

church buildings

When I was in Sunset (around 1975) a church in our fellowship was hailed as the first one to give one million dollars in a single contribution. That took a lot of sacrifice on the part of many in the congregation but it was for their building. It wasn't for evangelism (although I'm sure that they thought evangelism would be done as a result of their new building), it wasn't to feed or help the poor, it wasn't for overseas mission work, it wasn't for a children's home, it wasn't for a ministry, it was for a building.

Our preacher's group in North Jersey read an article from back in 1920s about a church in Nashville that built a new church building for $100,000.00 (back then apparently that was a lot of money - still is but in a different way). They hired a preacher that would help them raise the money. They were severely criticized because of their extravagance. A lot of the criticisms is that the money could have been spent on evangelism or benevolence.

A Christian friend told me of a big congregation that was building a new building. They were arguing about whether or not to put marble in a certain part. An elder stated during that discussion that nothing but the best should go in the church building. Nothing but the best for the church.

A friend of mine left the mainstream churches of Christ years ago and joined with the non-institutional group. I happened upon his email not too long ago and we corresponded for a while. Since he was in a group even more concerned about doing things the first century way, I asked him about justifying using church treasury money for the building. His answer was the usual - since we are commanded to meet together it can be inferred that we must have a place. I thought about that response over the years and think I've come up with a response. I would ask, "Were they commanded to give in the first century?" Then I would ask, "Were they commanded to assemble in the first century?" Then I would conclude, "They had the command to give and to meet together (which they did), yet they never purchased a building. Seems to me that if we are to exactly like them we would do well to follow their lead and not purchase a building." But I'm probably preaching to the choir here.

An interesting theory in a book not related to church buildings is found in Shane Hipps's book on the electronic culture (it's listed on my reading list) is that form communicates a message. The church building communicates a message by itself regardless of the message we may be preaching inside. The church building becomes the church. We go to church. Buildings suggest permanence. Buildings suggest belonging. "This world is not my home" is kind of hard to sing in a building that suggests we are permanent and belong to this world.

Matt Dabbs has a good post about this issue (click here). I don't know the final conclusion to this subject. Maybe we need to educate a new generation and hope that they will continue the discussion. Well, that's my blather on the subject of church buildings.