Christians are WHAT?

I am sitting here at my desk thinking about how some sales people will tell you anything to make the sale whether it is true or not. "Yep, This here 1984 Ford Pinto can do an 8 second quarter mile...no problem." Do we ever do that when trying to lead someone to the Lord? Just like the guy who drives the Pinto off the lot and finds it really needs a quart of oil each tank of gas to keep running and the quarter mile is more like 8 minutes than 8 seconds, he won't be coming back to that car dealer for another car in the same way, people who "make a confession of faith" due to a high pressure "sales pitch" or misinformation are likely to just as quickly turn their back on God and "religion" when they realize that being a Christian doesn't mean that you will get rich or suddenly everyone will like you... Here in America, people aren't often killed for their faith in Jesus, but shouldn't those people who decide to follow Jesus do so knowing that they could be killed for their new found belief?

Scripture memorization

This week, our senior pastor asked the staff of 5 Point Fellowship to memorize Colossians 4:5,6 "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." As I have worked on getting this verse not only into my head, but also into my heart, God has been using it to speak to me. The horrid thing for me to admit is that I haven't consciously tried to memorize scripture since the summer of 2007! There is a difference between just reading and studying God's word, and memorizing it so that it is a part of you. I know that isn't new to anyone reading this blog, and it isn't "new" to me either, but it seems that I had forgotten this truth somewhere along the road. Now that I have written about it, hopefully this will help me be accountable to the people who read this and I will stay on track putting Gods word in my heart so that I won't sin against HIM.

Redefining Church Membership

I was sitting here thinking about church membership. At our church, people who want to become members must go through a class and then sign a covenant agreement. People can serve in our church without being members. One would think that with such a system in place, only those serious about participating in the ministry of the church would want to join. Over the years however, I have seen that many people still join just to get their name on the roll list. Which by the way won't get you any discounts, or a get out of hell free card or anything...but they still want to join. When joining doesn't require anything, than it also doesn't mean anything.
In 8th grade, my friend Adam joined the AARP. While the AARP is a great organization for retired people or people over 50, it doesn't cater in any way to a 13-14 year old. For some reason, maybe his lack of a job at that time, Adam was accepted and received his AARP card in the mail. Many churches seem to be like that. Anyone can join. Let's be honest, we are a very inclusive club. We are a family of like minded people who love and serve Jesus Christ and we want everyone to be in our club. However...if we give people a card that says they are in the club while they still haven't met the requirements like loving Jesus with all their heart, serving Him or at bare minimum having asked Him to forgive them of their sins...are we really doing them a disservice? Like my friend Adam who when he turns 50 may have some trouble getting an AARP card due to the fact that he will have already had one for almost 40 years, will these people stand before God on judgment day and say, "But Lord, I know I didn't know you, but I have my membership card from ________________ Church! Doesn't that get me into heaven?" While not wanting to revert to a legalistic draconian method like the board inquisition that led to D.L. Moody not being able to join his local church, I would love to hear suggestions on how to make church membership be an accountability tool and to mean something. Now you get to post a comment!

Individualism vs Collaboration

Nate Larkin, founder of The Samson Society said, " Almost everything changes when Christian faith escapes the prison of individualism and becomes truly collaborative." Nate and I have a similar history in many ways, so I really appreciate his ministry! This quote of his really spoke to something more than just pastors who were/are porn addicts or struggling with sexual addictions. We as an American society tend to fight for our individual rights. We find in life that we can do so much more when we work with others in a collaborative way. We have a tendency to see our faith as personal, I challenge each of us to see our faith in a more community oriented way. We challenge each other as we grow in the Lord when we are open and transparent with our brother's and sisters in Christ. Ultimately, our strength comes from the Lord, however, I have found that when I am weak spiritually, having a Jesus with skin on is a great help. Having a brother in Christ who can hold me accountable, encourage me, etc. is a great thing. I pray that I can be that same brother in Christ in return when others are weak and I am more spiritually/emotionally strong. As we share with each other in a safe environment, we can say exactly what is going on in our lives without fear of being ridiculed for our weaknesses. That is what the church should be. All of us who are Christians are redeemed sinners striving toward holiness. Let us strive together in that journey!

Beat Down!

Last night, I had one of those conversations that any pastor hates to have. It doesn't matter if you are a senior pastor or a staff pastor, this one makes your stomach turn into knots. An old friend, who is called into the ministry and was, until this point serving on a church staff contacted me. He lost his job and his wife due to his letting his guard down and having an affair and now his life is all upside down. Men, pastors, keep your guard up! Unfortunately, we as men have been falling for the same tricks for thousands of years! Samson wasn't brought down by an army...it was one pretty woman. Way to many pastors and lay leaders in the church are brought down by pornography and women with whom they have an affair. Sometimes, we have to be a little rude, but you can't be alone with a woman, and at very least, you can't be alone with her on any kind of regular basis. (If you are a female pastor or lay leader reading this, just switch the gender, it goes for you too.) Billy Graham is famous for not even riding an elevator with a woman if they were going to be alone. I used to think he was extreme in this, but the older I get, the more I not only respect him, but feel he was on the right track. Can't say I have gotten off an elevator yet because everyone else got off except one woman, but it isn't a bad idea. Sorry for ranting, this just rips my heart out!

Updating on Year Goals...

For those of you who have followed my blog...Hi Mom. Just wanted to update you on the progress of my goals I set back on my birthday in November. On the goal of reading through the Bible twice, I just finished the first read through this morning. On the professional goal of presenting at at least one conference; last month, I presented a workshop at the SCFLTA (South Carolina Foreign Language Teacher's Association)Conference. The third goal was to have the Home TEAM ministry representing 50% of the church or more. We have three new Home TEAMs, but our church is growing faster than the Home TEAM ministry, so I need to do more on that goal! Please keep me in your prayers on that one!

Floating Axe Heads...

I am really feeling like a spiritual wimp today. As I continue to read through 2 Kings, I am in awe of the miracles that God did through His prophets! Jesus told us that if we have faith the size of a mustard seed, we could move mountains. These Old Testament prophets had a faith that I have never experienced. It is easy to pray for someone to be healed of a cold, and if they feel better, great! As a child I remember seeing a real healing miracle. My babysitter had fallen off her barrel racing horse and dislocated her elbow...which she had done many times. It swelled up quite large. In front of my eyes, as men prayed for her, the swelling shrunk down and her elbow went back into place and she was completely healed! There was no trick photography or fancy shouting, just a group of guys from the church that both she and I went to began to pray for a young lady in pain and God chose to intervene. What I learned this morning as I read is that God doesn't only care about our health or the big government stuff. He also cared about a man who lost a borrowed axe head in the water. He didn't have the money to replace the axe head I am sure, so God saw fit to allow that axe head to float! Wow! I pray that God will allow me to have the faith that flowed through Elijah and Elisha!

Empty or Full?

There are times in church leadership when we feel like we are trying to pour out of an empty glass. It is in those times that we most need to spend less time doing and more time with God! Only HE can give us the spiritual fill up that we need to be able to pour our lives into other people without ending up with an empty tank. If you are anything like me, as life gets busy, it becomes harder and harder to spend time praying and in God's Word that isn't related to the job part of the ministry. (Yes, I am speaking to myself.) Do whatever it takes to carve time in the schedule to spend quality time with God every day so that we are pouring out from a glass that is overflowing rather than almost empty. Have a great day with God!

This Morning

This morning on my way to work, I heard the news pop in at the top of the hour on my favorite radio station. One ten second news blurb suddenly caught my attention. It was a fatal car wreck, but the part that grabbed my attention was that it is the street corner by the school where I teach. I still don't know who died, but it made me think. People die every minute in this world, but it often isn't until we are or, like in the case of the wreck this morning, could be affected by an event that we really take notice. That hit me like a ton of bricks! How often do we overlook people who represent souls going to hell just because they don't directly affect our lives? Those people are somebody to someone, and God's will is that none should perish! Let us get the blinders off and reach out to people beyond our circle of friends and family. (In this blog, I am mostly preaching to myself...if you are along for the ride, bless you!)

MLK Day!

This year, Martin Luther King Jr.'s holiday has a very special ring to it. This week, our nation will inaugurate the first black president in the history of the United States of America. Even for those of us who did not vote for him due to political differences still acknowledge the great historical event that is occurring. We also must pray for Barrack Obama. When we agree with him, we must pray for him and work to support him. When we don't agree with him, we must pray that his mind will be opened to see the truth. (Assuming we are right on that particular issue.) God tells us to pray for our leaders in 1 Timothy 2: 1-2 and He also reminds us that "The kings heart is in the hand of the Lord" Proverbs 21:1. I realize that Obama will be president, not king, but he is still the ruler of the country. His heart is in God's hands. Celebrate this week of success! Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, and that dream is one step closer to being a reality! And enjoy the day off if you got it!

Feeling very blessed!

Do you ever feel sorry for yourself. You start thinking, if I didn't work for a church or not-for-profit I could earn a descent salary and buy a big house, new car, cool shiny stuff? OK, maybe you don't, but I admit that I occasionally have those thoughts. This morning, I was reading a magazine article about a guy who pastors a homeless church. I don't mean that his church has a ministry to the homeless, or that they run a soup kitchen. His entire church is homeless people. Then the next article I read was about a guy ministering to AIDS patients in Uganda. Suddenly, I felt very convicted for ever having the aforementioned thoughts. God is so very good to me! Just the fact that I haven't had to miss a meal for financial reasons and that I have a roof over my head and a car that runs make me part of the richest group of people in the world. Sure, I am not rich by American standards, but compared to the whole planet, I am filthy rich! I pray that God will help me to be more generous with what He has blessed me with. Have a great day!

Happy Birthday!

This morning came, and I turned 36. It is looking to be the best year of my life! God is doing amazing things here in Pickens County, SC! The church I attend is having wonderful growing pains! The college where I teach is still growing amidst the national trend of downsizing. Life is good!
I come to goals each year at my birthday. Last year, one of my goals was to read through the Bible once, and the New Testament twice. It was the first year for that goal, and God used it to teach me many things! This blog has been something new from this last year. The surprising thing to me still is that some people actually read it! I have really enjoyed the feedback from y'all, and enjoyed that it isn't just people from my own church! Another goal, which those of you trying to lose weight will want to kill me for,was to get back up to 180Lbs. About three weeks ago, I got there! It is the first time since my sophomore year of college that I have weighed this much. (It is a good thing, If you don't know me, I am a tall skinny guy who could use a few more pounds.) This year, God allowed me to pray with someone to lead them to Him! That was an incredible experience!
My goals for next year are to read through the Bible twice and pray that God will let me lead someone to the Lord. My work goals are to present at at least one conference - University job. And at the church, I want to help take the Home TEAM ministry of 5 Point Fellowship to the point where at least 50% of the church are actively involved! Have an awesome day, and thanks for helping me celebrate my birthday by reading my blog...and maybe leaving a comment!

This Morning...

Last night, I started reading a great book by Robert Morris entitled, The Blessed Life. This morning, I woke up at a little before five. For some, that may be normal, but I don't usually drag myself out of bed until about six. I went ahead and got up to spend some extra time in prayer and reading God's word. So why share? It was incredible! The getting up earlier isn't spiritual at all, but the uninterrupted time with God was AWESOME! Honestly, I never before understood people who said things like, "I got up at 4:30 this morning and spent time with God." I always figured they were just bragging or wanted me to feel sorry for them for getting up so early! Now I understand! Sorry to all those who I had bad feelings toward in the past!
Back to the book, when I finished praying and reading the Bible, I still had a little extra time before having to leave for work, so I picked the book back up and read a couple more chapters. It is challenging me in some incredible new ways! I don't know Robert Morris, and have never heard him speak, but he has written a wonderful, yet easy to read book! I highly recommend it, not just to pastors but to all Christians!

Responsibility

Erwin McManus, once quoted an unnamed source, "Is it possible that Christianity has rejected this gospel because it demands too much of us?" Jesus changed the world with his life. He didn't call us to be comfortable or even successful by the world's standards. He called each of us who know Him to share that testimony of His grace with others. That quote is stuck in my head. Are we causing sinners to reject the gospel because we make it look to easy? There isn't a club in America that doesn't ask its members to do something, yet we so often try to get people to come to church and believe in our God with an promise that Salvation is free. We know that true faith in Jesus Christ costs us everything! He freely gives us salvation, but are we doing our job sharing with new believers the cost of the decision they have made? And do we really think that unsaved or un-churched people don't have a clue that if they commit to this Jesus following stuff that they are going to have to do more than pray once and it is all over? Please do not misinterpret what I am saying, I know that we are saved by the grace of Jesus Christ, and not by anything we do. I am however saying that once we are saved by grace, that there are things that we are called to do. Are we adequately sharing that with the people that we share the gospel with? I would love to hear comments on this one!

Thoughts on the last weeks.

Sometimes we humans sin just from our own stupidity and human nature, and sometimes Satan is gunning for us. I just want to mention an interesting "coincidence" from the last few weeks. A while back my pastor asked me to start a pornography addiction recovery group at our church. At first, I thought, how in the world do you get guys to come to a group like that? But then, after praying about it and talking to my wife about it, I agreed. Two weeks ago, we had our first meeting of "Monday Night Porn Talk". Here is the interesting part. Almost immediately, the level of e-mails inviting me to visit singles and/or porn sites arriving in my inbox went up drastically, and those are just the ones that got through the filter! So, why am I sharing this? On one hand, keeping a low profile is easier, but when we begin to challenge a stronghold of Satan not only outside the church, but one he has IN the church, I do believe he gets upset and fights back. The great thing is that our God is much more powerful than Satan can ever hope to be! We already have victory over him through Jesus Christ. So if you feel like Satan is keeping you from doing something that God has asked you to do, I am encouraging you to do it! And while Satan will retaliate when provoked, our Lord God is not challenged at all by the forces of darkness. Thanks for reading. Sorry I haven't posted in a week or so.

Monday Night Porn Talk

At my church, we are starting a new ministry called “Monday Night Porn Talk”. My personal opinion on the subject is that it is killing marriages and families. I had originally thought the room would be filled with married guys who are scared of losing their wives to divorce if they don’t get a grip on the habit. I am realizing that I was quite naïve! We haven’t even started yet, but just having let the church know that the ministry will be starting in a couple weeks has had men from teenager to senior citizen asking if they can attend, or letting me know they will be there! If you want to get something going in your church, or if you already have a pornography addiction recovery group, I would love to hear from you. The following information comes mostly from www.safefamilies.org
Here are some groups that are online to help with pornography addiction recovery.
Pure Intimacy - www.pureintimacy.org
Focus on the Family’s section on sexuality, including sections for ministry leaders, couples, and parents. The website has many articles and resources for addressing the issue of pornography.
Blazing Grace - blazinggrace.org
Biblically-based website and ministry addressing the epidemic of pornography use, providing help for those who struggle and support for those affected by pornography users.
XXXCHURCH.COM - www.xxxchurch.com
Billed as the number one Christian porn site, this ministry tackles the issue of pornography head on with irreverent and in-your-face presentations. xxxchurch offers, among other resources, Porn Sunday, a holistically constructed event-based program to help your church confront the issue head-on.
Porn-Free.org – www.porn-free.org
With many articles, resources, and online studies, porn-free.org is a content-packed site designed to help people discover the truth about pornography and sexual addictions.
Beating the Bunny - www.beatingthebunny.com
This website has numerous resources for parents and pastors in helping young people acknowledge and overcome struggles with pornography.
Morality in Media - www.moralityinmedia.org
A national, not-for-profit, interfaith organization established in 1962 to combat obscenity and uphold decency standards in the media. This site features articles and information about how to fight obscenity in the media and the detrimental effects of pornography on society.
Overcoming Temptation (Webcast) - safefamilies.techmission.org/webcasts/temptation
Learn about the structures to set in place, the groundwork to be laid, and the direction to take for your recovery work. Learn to embrace ongoing habits for a new lifestyle and what to do when temptation is strong and things are very stressful.

A guy commented on my other post on pornography asking if I am familiar with accountability software. Just to give a quick response to that, if you want to check these out, I am not endorsing or condemning the following programs, just letting you know they exist.


X3watch
www.x3watch.com
• Free
• Ministry of xxxchurch (www.xxxchurch.com)
• Regularly sends list of questionable web visits to
selected recipients
• Best free monitoring software
• X3watchPro version available for $14.95; includes tech support

Covenant Eyes
www.covenanteyes.com
• $74.99/year or less
• Pricing for households/ministry staff/business
• Regularly sends list of ALL web visits to selected recipients, with objectionable sites highlighted
• Most widely used monitoring software

ComputerCOP
www.computercop.com/homeprods.html
• $19.95 for download
• Scans computer files and Internet history for potentially
offensive material
• Deluxe version ($39.95 + S&H): includes keystroke
monitoring, scans chats and emails, expanded
dictionary of key words
Parents CyberAlert
www.itcompany.com/cyberalert.htm
• $39.95 for download
• Free trial
• Records email, IM, websites, keystrokes, file access,
screen snapshots
• Website, email, chat, IM blocking
• Games & applications alerts & blocking

Guardian Monitor
www.guardiansoftware.com
• $39.95
• Monitors websites, email, chat, IM, p2p applications
• Records keystrokes & downloads
• Website blocking

Chat Checker
www.chatchecker.com
• Free
• Records instant message (IM) conversations
• Login online to review IM conversations from within the
last 24 hours
• Receive daily usage summary via email
• Receive alerts to dangerous conversations or watch-
words via email

Accountability Groups

In your church, there are men and women who struggle with sin! If this comes as a shock to you, I suggest leaving the bubble you live in. Satan likes to tell us that since we have all sinned that God can’t use us anymore and that we should just give up and be sinners. Accountability groups allow us to confess our sins one to another as James 5:16 exhorts us to do without the fear that our deepest darkest sins will be broadcast from the bell tower for all the land to hear.
So you think this sounds like a good idea and don’t know how to get started. Here are a couple pointers.
1. Pick people of the same gender! While hanging out with people of the opposite gender is great fun, they make for lousy accountability partners. Men are more open with men, and likewise women are more open with women.
2. Pick people that don’t gossip. Proverbs 20:19 says, “A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid a man who talks too much.” (NIV)
3. Set some ground rules. One good one is that what is said in your Accountability group stays in your accountability group. I don’t even share with my wife the things the men in my accountability group share with me.
The following are the questions we use, though feel free to modify them or make up questions of your own that challenge your group in the areas that you and they are struggling with. (Disclaimer: I didn’t come up with these. I hope there is not a copyright on this list of questions. If you are the author; feel free to contact me and I will either give you credit or remove them at your option.)
1. Have you spent daily time in the Scripture and in prayer?
2. Have you had any flirtatious or lustful attitudes, tempting thoughts, or exposed yourself to any explicit materials, which would not glorify God?
3. Have you been completely above reproach in your financial dealings?
4. Have you spent quality relationship time with your family and friends?
5. Have you done your 100 percent best in your job, school, etc.?
6. Have you told any half-truths or outright lies, putting yourself in a better light to those around you?
7. Have you shared the Gospel with an unbeliever this week?
8. Have you taken care of your body through daily physical exercise and proper eating/sleeping habits?
9. Have you allowed any person or circumstance to rob you of your joy?
10. Have you lied to us on any of your answers today?
My personal experience has been that as I grew to know and trust the men in my accountability group, my spiritual walk with the Lord also grew and I learned to trust HIM more too. The first step can be scary, but I highly recommend getting together at a set time and place each week to grow in the Lord with a small group of people with whom you can let your guard down. You will also see great new friendships bloom out of these relationships. Don’t forget to have fun!