Jesus + Baseball = Awesome

A couple of weeks ago we went to Houston to celebrate Olivia's birthday with some family there.  We planned a pretty jammed pack couple of days and even managed to fill in some activities we wanted to do during summer vacation.  The day before we left, my dad texted and said that his church had some extra tickets for the Astros' game Saturday night.  Every time we go I scout out the schedule to see if there's a game.  I knew about this game already because this one had a special treat...David Crowder playing at Faith & Family Night after the game.  If there are two things that are nearly impossible for me to pass up, it's baseball and David Crowder.  Put them together (even in the Astros are ridiculously bad), add my family, and it just doesn't get much better than that.  So, we decided that some things are worth losing sleep over (we had to drive back for Sunday morning), and this was one of them.

The game was predictable as the Astros got smoked, but the Faith and Family night ensued.  I am usually somewhat skeptical of forced, large scale Christian events (yes that is strange for a pastor).  I didn't really know what to expect, but I figured I would endure some lame testimonies from rich baseball players to get to the Crowder part of the night. They invited all the fans down to the 1st base side where our first surprise happened. A young lady who was in our 1st youth group in Sugar Land appeared right next to us. Her family and ours are close, and to make it more fun she recently got hitched to a Ukrainian guy.  Since there were only a handful of people at the game to begin with, the odds of finding another Ukrainian couldn't have been that good.  But we found him, and they sat with us.  He spoke to the girls in Ukrainian while they got embarrassed and giggled. It was good fun and great to see them.

First out of the shoot was Reid Ryan. Since the Astros couldn't woo Nolan from the Rangers, they did the next best thing by hiring his son.  He is the president of the Astros, and he came out and welcomed everyone. Not only that, he said that he was excited to be a part of helping people know Jesus Christ personally.  He dropped a big fat JC, and gave some other heartfelt remarks that were really strong. He went on to introduce the chaplain for the 'Stros, one of the radio announcers and a couple of players.  The chaplain said that Major League Baseball is very quietly a 3,000 member church every given week across the country. He went on to tell of the chapel services and Bible Studies they conduct and told stories of MLB players coming to Christ through those things. The announcer was Steve Sparks, a former pitcher, who talked about believing in Jesus after realizing his identity had previously been wrapped up in baseball. A couple of players and one of their wives talked about the ups and downs of chasing your dream and the sacrifices they made for each other to get to where they are. They explained in detail how their faith in Jesus helped them navigate through uncertain seasons.  I was blown away.  They weren't just speaking in generalities, they were quoting specific scriptures and testifying to the role the Word had played and continues to play in their life.  It was awesome, and God was glorified by their stories.

After that, Crowder came out and rocked, well blue-grassed the house down. It was so, so good. This is cheesy, but I found myself losing it.  This monument built to worship baseball was suddenly transformed into a house of God. The bazillion dollar HD jumbotron became nothing more than a ProPresenter backdrop as worship filled the stadium.  It was the worst worship environment ever, and it didn't matter. I glanced over to see Jake get swept up in it all. The girls enjoyed it too, but they were more excited that b/c of the smaller crowd, their chances of getting on the big screen increased drastically. The whole thing was a tremendous blessing, and the Spirit was just there.

It's silly how God can use things that bring you joy to fill your soul. This year has been challenging and has had a lot of ups and downs for us.  We've spent a great deal of time being tired, And even though we sacrificed yet more sleep for the concert, it was worth it for souls to be filled.  A sweet time of refreshing caught us by surprise, and it reminded me of how important positioning for refreshment is. Next time I hear about baseball and Crowder, it's going to be even harder to keep us away. Just think how awesome it would've been if the Astros were actually any good!

Custom Made Crisis

Two Sundays ago, my dear friend John McComb gave up a Sunday to come and preach to our church family.  John is one of the most honest and faithful people I know, and my life is better because he's in it.  He preached from 2 Samuel 6 and focused on what he called a "Crisis of Faith." Days later his sermon is still resonating in my heart and soul.  So, I thought I would unload a few of those thoughts.

The first thing is that everyone will go through a crisis of faith.  John challenged us that often a crisis will come when you've been doing everything right.  When crisis comes, many people often wonder what they've done wrong to deserve such a terrible or challenging situation, but in scripture we often see people of consistent faithfulness presented with difficulty, suffering, or pain.  The purpose of the crisis is growth.  Crisis has the ability to take you to a place of faith that you never would've gotten to otherwise. God doesn't send hardship because He's mad at you.  He sends it because He loves you and wants you to know Him more.  Each crisis that we endure is custom made to take us to a new level of faith, to a deeper place of knowing and trusting God.

One of the harder things resonating with me is the idea that a crisis is designed to kill part of you.  God wants to prune away the areas of your life or church that aren't bearing fruit consistent with the calling that God has ordained for you.  Nobody enjoys pruning, but there isn't growth without it.  This reminds us of the cross.  Jesus could not have been raised in new life or power if He had not died first.  A crisis gives us that opportunity to identify with Christ in His sufferings in order that we may share in the resurrection power.  Over and over the Bible teaches this.  Suffering brings identify with Christ and closeness to God like nothing else.  Crisis builds character and maturity.  It's not fun to be pruned, and it requires faith to believe that there is life on the other side of the death.  The truth is that there is something in all of us that needs to die in order for there to be more life.  There are things in our churches that need to die in order for God to bring new life.  It's hard, but it's true.

The final thought I wanted to share is something that came back to me about a sermon I preached in Africa last December.  It's easy to blame the devil for bad things that happen, but the enemy is limited in what he can do.  God is ultimately sovereign over everything.  I told a group of pastors that the church belongs to Him. It's His church.  It's possible that a church will suffer because of sin or corruption.  Many people do a fine job of killing their church on their own.  However, it's also possible that a church will go through a crisis simply because God wants them to.  It's not that they've done anything wrong.  It's God's prerogative to bless or prune.  It's His job to protect His mission, and we pray for Him to do whatever it takes for us to be the people He has called us to be.  This may mean that circumstances in a church are radically altered.  We have prayed this at River Stone from the beginning.  If we have become anything other than what you want us to be, make whatever adjustments are necessary.  Crisis forces us to live in what we claim to believe - everything is the Lord's.  The church, our lives, everything.  He is responsible.

In crisis, the natural response is to focus on the casualties and pain. However, the spiritual response is to be open to God's why.  Everything He does is on purpose.  Everything He does is for the good and protection of His children.  As a result of believing in this, I've come into this week more open to the Lord's pruning and praying things like this...

 Kill what needs to be killed.  Prune what needs to be pruned.  Do whatever you need to do to demonstrate your power and faithfulness.  Make me into the person you created me to be.  Mold our church into the vessel of your Kingdom that will bring you the most glory.

Thanks, John for speaking so much truth and love to us.  We are better for it.

3 John Recap

We've spent the last couple months working through 1st, 2nd and 3rd John at River Stone.  They are not lengthy books, but they are rich with practical teaching.  John repeats himself over and over again over issues of Love, Light, and Life. Billy finished off the series a few Sundays ago, but I keep thinking about some of the things he said.  So, I thought I would recap/paraphrase...

What you say doesn't always matter...

Grandpa John called out two different people in the church. He first noticed a member of the church who disagreed with the direction of the church and was making accusations of the church leadership.  He then recognized someone else in the church who was building people up and being a blessing.  Billy did a great job talking about the importance of discernment in the context of community.  John's Gospel says that fruit is the evidence of the Spirit's work in a person.  Just because someone says they're an authority, spiritual or makes an accusation doesn't mean they're right. There will always be people in the church who create division, and there will be people who encourage and build up the church by being a blessing.  It is important to identify which is which and both confront the issues of division and encourage the issues of blessings. There will be both kinds of people in every church.

Self-centeredness prevents submission...

The issue of submission is very counter-cultural for Americans. There always seems to be a strong, "You can't tell us what to do" mentality among us.  We are always hearing about our rights and freedoms.  The interesting thing is that when we enter into the Kingdom of God, we forfeit our rights.  Our opinion is no longer authoritative in our lives because we have chosen to submit to the truth and belief in God.  The man accusing the leaders of the church in 3 John was identified as putting himself first.  Individual preference, feeling, or opinion is not the same as Gospel Truth.  It is important that we don't let those preferences, feelings or opinions carry the same weight as God's Word. Just because we have a thought about something doesn't mean it's biblically accurate.  Not every feeling is from the Spirit.  Putting self first will lead to rejecting the authority of church leaders.  Rejecting the authority of church leaders is rejecting a very important principle of the Kingdom of God. This was the root issue of the man identified as divisive.

On the prowl...

I had never thought about Peter's referral to Satan as being an imitator of an image of God.  Jesus is called the true Lion of the tribe of Judah.  In Satan's prowling, he makes himself look like something that should be worshiped.  I think the aforementioned preferences, opinions and criticisms are some of those things. The only thing worthy of worship is our Savior.  Worship always glorifies God and edifies the church.  If it doesn't do both of those things, it isn't worship.  If it isn't God-worship it is self-worship. We have to constantly evaluate our worship by how it glorifies God and edifies the church.

I am amazed at how practical these lessons from 3 John are.  One of Billy's main thoughts was that experience makes us better prepared and equipped to operate in discernment.  As we see this more and more in the church, we are more and more responsible to respond appropriately to the two types of people mentioned in this short book.

A Faithful Man

1996 was a critical juncture for me.  I found myself torn between my pursuit of a career in Physical Therapy and a growing passion for investing in Jr. High and High School students.  Until that point, I thought my life would be include both.  I had many great people who invested in me during my teenage years who loved students and also worked in the real world.  They probably didn't realize how closely I was watching and taking notes for who I wanted to be.  They set a great example, and I was following that example post- high school.  

After working that plan for 18 months or so, I found myself with a greater role in the student ministry at my home church after our Youth Pastor left. As time went on I felt like this was becoming something more than a way to spend my free time.  I was pretty sure it was turning into a calling.  As soon as I allowed that possibility to become my reality, everything changed. 

I moved from the church I spent the last 8 years at to a new church plant where my dad had been playing the piano.  It was a place where I was welcomed and invited to be a part of both working with students and helping out with music. At the same time I was moving to be a part of this church, a new Worship Pastor had come.  I didn't know then that this man would be my father-in-law within two years.  What I did know was that this man had been a Youth & Music Pastor for 21 years at the same church, and he had now followed God's call to build the Kingdom in a new place.  He immediately welcomed me, a mediocre guitar player into his band.  He also invited me to choir practice, and the first time I went mutual friends set Holly and I up for what became our first date. 

The next several months were defining in my life.  Not only did Holly and I begin our relationship, but I was transitioning from something I had been planning to do for years into something unknown.  After volunteering with the students at the new church and working with some great Youth Pastors, I felt like this was something I wanted to give my life to.  I remember applying for a summer intern job for for a church in the Woodlands, and they asked my questions about my philosophy of ministry.  I asked Rick what my philosophy of ministry is.  His said "2 Timothy 2:2." I had no idea what that verse said, so I looked it up...

and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2 Timothy 2:2, ESV)

I didn't have any better ideas, so I put it down.  

This week, one of those faithful men that my father-in-law poured himself into was tragically killed at 41 years old.  From the first time I started hanging out with Holly's family, I would always hear them talk about BJ.  He was part of the family.  As I've read testimonies of those who were close to BJ, I see the fruit of 2 Timothy 2:2 at work. 

My father-in-law Rick is one of a kind.  He has a gift for taking the mediocre things of this world (like me) and making them feel meaningful. I've never met a more patient person.  I've never met another person willing to risk more to make one person feel accepted.  I'm a closet perfectionist, and I would always struggle with how Rick would pull together musicals, worship services, or projects.  I would always feel like they weren't ready, but he'd go for it anyway.  It never bothered him, because for him it's always more about the people than the product.  And, to my great surprise, every single time, the product was good...really good. 

I didn't know BJ well, so I can't speak with any authority about him, but I do know that because Rick made room for him, he came to be a faithful follower of Jesus.  Not only that, he became a minister of the Gospel who continued to pour himself into others who needed someone to make room for them.  I saw the words his son spoke about the power of forgiveness, and all I can think about is 2 Tim 2:2.  

I grieve the loss of such a close friend and minister of so many of our friends and family.  However, I can't stop thinking about what it would've been like if the Crestmont folks hadn't made room for BJ.  What if Rick and many others hadn't invested Gospel into BJ?  The memorial service today would have a completely different feel.  By the grace of God and faithfulness of His people, today's celebration will be focused on the fact that BJ is with His heavenly father.

I am praying for BJ's family, and for my family and friends in this.  I am also reminded that this Gospel of the Kingdom saves souls, changes lives and reproduces faithful men.  I'm grateful that somewhere along the way faithful men poured into Rick and Rick poured (and is still pouring) into the next generation and that generation is pouring into the next. May we all be reminded of our opportunity to make room, love, teach, and entrust.  Faithful men (and women) will be the result.  

In my prayers...

This morning I met with a group of men from our church for a prayer breakfast.  I shared a little devotional based on Paul's introductions to many of his letters.  I noticed that before he gets into theology, preaching, teaching, rebuking, encouraging, etc. that he shares with his audience how he has been praying for them.

I realized that just because I rush into the "meat" of God's Word when I study the Bible, doesn't mean that Paul rushed into anything.  The beautiful truths in Paul's letters that continue to shape our faith and organize the Church were birthed out of prayer.  Paul started with prayer.  He loved the people he was writing to, and he prayed for them.  While he could've been minding his own business, he was praying.

I realized also that I have a tendency to assume prayer.  I assume that people know that I'm praying for them.  I assume that others are praying for me.  I assume that people are praying about the problems that they're talking to me about.  I think this is dangerous.  I've tried to make a focused effort to participate more in prayer.  Not that I didn't pray before, but when someone's in my office and talking about something, that's the time to pray.  Paul prayed before he wrote.  If we want to be people with significant things to say, we must be people who start with prayer.

River Stone family, we will have another Men's Prayer Breakfast on June 5th -7am at Rogelio's in San Marcos.  We'd love for you to join us.  Let me know if I can be praying for you...

If you love me...

In John 14, Jesus promises that His followers will do even greater works than He did.  That is literally impossible and unbelievable.  There is some debate as to what "greater works" really refers to, and it could be a few different things.  What's amazing to me is what makes the impossible possible.  It seems to be loving Jesus back.

John's Gospel is very clear on love being God's motivation for sending Jesus to the world.  Jesus' love for the people entrusted to His care was clear in how he carried Himself.  It's also clear that Jesus charged His followers with loving each other.  He said, "...love one another: just as I have loved you..."    (John 13). We've been told a million times that God loves us. That's not a surprise.  We also know that we're expected to love each other.  However, Jesus breaks some new ground in 14:15 when He says, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."  

God's love for us and His subsequent command to love other people doesn't guarantee that we're responding appropriately to Him.  It doesn't even mean that we're a Christian. The most important thing about our response is that we love Him back.  He shows us here that loving Him back means thinking highly enough of what He has instructed to actually do what He has asked.  To use language from James, being doers of the word is what demonstrates that we love Jesus back.  It shows that we are serious about faith.  It shows that we're about more than religious activity.  It shows that we're willing to following Jesus.  

The next part is the key to the impossible.  Obedience to the commandments of Jesus is met with a gift.   Jesus promises to give His Spirit to those who love Him and keep His commandments.  Without the Spirit, Christianity is just a bunch of rules, aspirations, hopes, religious habits, and behaviors.  With the Spirit, it is freedom, life, light, power, miracles, cleansing from sin, truth, assurance, salvation, eternal life, and so much, much more.  I pray that it's not enough for us to just believe that Jesus loves us and to do our best to love each other.  I pray that we would go the next step and love Him back by obeying His commandments and unlocking the power of the Spirit in our every day lives.

Here are some examples of the power that the gift of the Spirit unlocks in us:

• The Spirit Gives Life. (John 3:6-7, John 6:63)

• The Spirit Empowered Jesus. (John 1:32 - on Jesus, Luke 4:18 - Spirit is Upon me)

• The Spirit Empowers followers of Jesus for ministry.  The Spirit manifests the presence of God through his activity. (Acts 1:8, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11)

• The Spirit Empowers prayer. (Romans 8:26)

• The Spirit cleanses us from sin. (1 Corinthians 6:11)

• The Spirit sanctifies us and builds in us the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)

• The Spirit guides us into truth. (John 16:13)

• The Spirit testifies to our status before God and gives us assurance. (Romans 8:15-16)

• The Spirit brings unity. (Ephesians 4:3)

Thank you, Jesus, for not leaving us on our own and for giving us this amazing gift that allows us to follow you and do the works that you did.  

Church Overtime

This last week our worship leader had a great Kingdom building opportunity that required him to be gone Sunday, so we called an audible.  I moved over to cover the music and asked a missionary friend in our church family to preach. Then, my missionary friend did what many missionary friends do...he preached for a long time.

I understand that people's time is valuable, but a preacher going long doesn't bother me (as long as he's got something to say).  People followed Jesus around for days at a time because what he was teaching was worth listening to.  My friend preached a long time, but it was all rich and rooted in the Scriptures.  It was spoken from someone whose life and family has been radically changed by the power and truth of the Gospel and is bearing undeniable fruit for the Kingdom.  I could've listened all day.

Our services usually start around 10:40am (10 minutes later than the advertised time because there is never anyone there at 10:30).  We are usually done between 12:00-12:15.  As the 12:00 mark came and went on Sunday, people started to get antsy.  As 12:30 came, some people were visibly annoyed.  Four different groups of people got up and walked out.  One lady left her seat to come and ask when it was going to be over and left irritated minutes later.

This troubles me.  When we watch sports, we celebrate overtime.  At our favorite concert, we beg for an encore.  We want to get our money's worth at every other thing that we do. We'll sit through a 3 hour movie and talk about how amazing it was. At church, if it goes 15 minutes longer than normal, we get antsy, silently complain and can't wait to leave. The thing that troubles me the most is that I don't think it is people seeking to know God who are annoyed.  I think it's church people. I would understand if it was lost people, skeptical people, sojourning people who couldn't take any more and wanted to check out.  That would be fine.  But, it seems to be church people with church backgrounds who are the most annoyed.

If we are teaching that worship should conform to our expectations of time and experience, then we are not teaching about the Kingdom.  Even with a longer than normal sermon, our gathering was over maybe 15-20 minutes later than normal.  Are we really saying that the Kingdom of God is not worth another 15-20 minutes of our time? Is it really that big of a deal?

I understand that people make plans based on the time we normally get done.  I understand that sometimes those plans can happen at certain times that may begin to conflict with our end time.  I understand that some of those things may even be Kingdom things that are important. However, I think that most of the time that's not the case.

When I was first in ministry, I was mentored by some really great guys that I still look up to very much.  One of the things we used to talk about was how to evaluate a successful worship experience.  It's easy to scrutinize the music, the preaching, the announcements, the externals and the other people.  However, for followers of Christ the question shouldn't be about any of those other things. It should be "how was my response to what God has revealed?"  Heaven is going to be an eternal worship gathering.  Worship on earth is supposed to be a taste and reflection of that.

Maybe I'm off because I see it through the lens of someone who's been walked out on a time or two.  Maybe there is a Kingdom-justified reason why an extra 15 minutes is unreasonable.  Maybe I just needed to vent and rant for a bit. Maybe I'm missing something, but it seems to me like church overtime is a good thing.  I wish more people felt that way...