July 3, 2008
Take a Sabbath (rest), or a Sabbath will take you. That is the lesson I learned this week. For about two weeks some kind of sickness has been chasing me around, but never quite caught me. During that time I ignored two things that came back to haunt me. First, I ignored my body. It was practically screaming at me to REST. Slow down a bit. But of course I couldn’t do that. Much was going on. Much work to be done, VBS, Sermons, Visitation, etc. There will always be much to do. So I figured I can just push through, tough it out, and be just fine. I argued with my body. My body won. Second and more importantly I ignored the command of God. It is not for nothing that God tells us to take Sabbath rest. He designed our bodies to need it, in fact setting the example for us before the fall of man by resting from creation on the 7th day.
So, I did not heed the call. This week, the Sabbath I neglected took me over. On Monday night I hit a wall. Went to bed at 9:30 (1st time in years) and when I woke up Tuesday morning I couldn’t even get out of bed. I was weak, feverish, sweats, headache, sinus aches, miserable. For almost 3 days I couldn’t be out of bed for more than 10-15 minutes at a time. It was the worst I’ve felt since I had mono in 11th grade.
Americans place much value on hard work. I believe it is a perfectly fine value, and strive for it at all times. Yet it is quite possible that we value it out of proportion. We in fact wind up idolizing it to a place where we ignore the clear mandate to rest. When we do that we are asking for trouble. It may catch up to you in 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years, or 20 years, but if you live a life without taking regular Sabbath rest then Sabbath rest will eventually take you. It will bend and break you to the point where you are left without a choice but to listen. I would far rather willingly do this then let it happen to me. We ought to value hard work while at the same time valuing good rest. Neither out of proportion. Both under God and to His glory. Work with all your might, and rest with the same vigor!
June 29, 2008
We’re in the beginning stages of a new sermon series titled “A Vital Connection.” It’s about, as “vital” implies, life and vitality in the local church. The first three sermons are about taking our church’s vital signs. Week one was the heartbeat of the local church, worship of God. Week two was about breath, specifically inhaling and serving one another. Week three will be exhaling and serving the world.
The point is that these three vital signs will be present in a local church if we are alive, and that we must constantly monitor these sign to see how we’re doing. Then it will transition from what a vital church is, to being vitally connected to that church. The theme is “God wants you to be vitally connected to your local church,” and the idea is that vitality flows both ways. We receive life from being vitally connected, but we have life to give as well. We’ll examine our gifts to show how that is the life God has empowered us with for the benefit of the entire body.
If you are not vitally connected to your local church you are not a vital Christian. How that looks from church to church and christian to christian might be slightly different. God’s gifts are “manifold” (1 Peter 4:10). But the premise will always be true for every Christian. Are you vitally connected to the body of Christ?
June 27, 2008
Anybody can do just about anything for one week. We can suck it up, grit our teeth, bite our lip, and make it through. When it becomes difficult is when we’re called to maintain that momemtum after the week is over. VBS is a time when we all pull together, work very hard, and for one week, engage in a high level of ministry. Now that the week is over, reality sets in hard and fast. What will we do to continue to engage the prospects? Who will stand in the gap on a weekly level to continue to minister to the children who we reached this past week? Who will teach them the Bible in Sunday School? Who will volunteer to engage all their senses in our SonLight Worship (Children’s Church)? Who will come a little early to drive the bus and pick them up? Who will love them constantly in our new AWANA program?
The high off of a special week is especially high, and the low is especially low. Burned out? Fatigued? There is still much work to be done. The real ministry is not done in a special week one time a year. That is not how disciples are made. The real ministry is the grind of every week. Say a prayer for our workers. Ask God to move in their hearts to commit to the ongoing work of the ministry. Ask Him to raise up new workers to work this field alongside the already hard workers we have. If our church is to see any real growth for the future it will NOT be me that makes it happen. I can stand there and cast vision, dig in and do some of the work, recruit and hopefully train. But I will not make it happen.
Summer time is the time when we line up the workers for the new church year. So far in my short tenure as a pastor it is the most frustrating time personally. I see so many gifted and talented people check out this time of year. I see so many more who are simply apathetic. They just don’t care. Others believe they have served their time (as if you can retire from serving God!). How do you maintain the momentum of a spectacular week like we just completed after the high is gone? How do you keep the spirits raised? Much of that falls on me. Yet I know there is one greater than me who can carry this burden. Any time I forget that I am deeply depressed. So say a prayer for me as well!
June 26, 2008
Tonight we finished our VBS. All in all it was an absolutely wonderful week. We averaged 61 children and 45 workers. 3-4 Children accepted Jesus. We had a great opportunity to invite unchurched or marginal (whatever that really means) people to our church. The workers worked so hard, and the children had one of the best VBS they have ever had (I feel confident saying that).
We collected money each night this week to go towards providing scholarships to community children to attend our new AWANA program and we collected 607 dollars (FANTASTIC). I could not be happier with the way God moved, our people responded, and the children and adults alike were ministered to. Pray that there will be continued fruit from this week in the weeks, months, and years to come. I’ve said this a dozen times already, now all the work really begins.
June 26, 2008
If the angels in heaven rejoice more over one sinner who repents than 99 who need no repentance then what a beautiful night in the halls of heaven last night! It is always difficult working with children to determine if they truly understand what they are asking, when they “pray to receive Christ.” We had around 12 or 13 who did last night, and upon further counseling, I feel certain the number is more like 3. But those 3 make everything worth it!
The son of one of my best friends at the church declared Jesus to be his King last night! I will hopefully have the honor of baptizing him Sunday night. There are potentially 3 others I may be able to baptize with him, and I look forward to that as much as Christmas. There is nothing like leading people to Jesus and watching them follow Him into the waters of baptism.
I presented the children’s version of the “2 Ways to Live: The Choice we all Face.” I will grant I got carried away and went a little long for a child’s attention span (I do that sometimes. If you go to Little Mountain NO SMART REMARKS!). But the 2 ways is a wonderful, full fledged account from Creation to Consummation of the Gospel Storyline. It tells us about Jesus Kingship, and our fight to take over rule from God. It tells us the punishment of being left out of the new kingdom one day, what we call hell. It tells us the Good News of Jesus life, death, and resurrection. And it tells us the glorious news of eternal life.
Right before I spoke I read 1 Corinthians 2. Paul is speaking of himself, Apollos, and whoever else may preach the Gospel. He says “What then is Paul? What then is Apollos?” I might add, “What then is Josh?” We are nothing but field workers. We may plant. We may harvest. But we don’t give life to the seed that’s sown. That is God’s job alone. Last night I planted the seed for some. I harvested a few others. And I praise God for the increase. I believe I was faithful to the message. That is my first job. Even one. Even one is worth it all.
June 25, 2008
Yes. VBS is hard work. There must be times when every leader and volunteer ask themselves the same question: Is all of this work worth it? The answer must be yes. Most all of our workers come straight from a full-time job in which they have just completed 8-12 hour shifts, go home to change, round up all the kids, and then come for another 3 hours of VBS. Why is it worth it? The faces of those children. As the week progresses they know you. They trust you. They spend time with you. They give you high fives. They smile, laugh, and joke with you. They begin to see you as more than just a “worker” but as someone who genuinely cares. There are kids each year with parents so absent any form of encouragement or affection, and some are clearly starved for it. This shows up typically in seeking to gain attention. Again, however, as the week moves on the disruptive behavior calms a bit. Jesus begins to saturate their minds. They listen a little better. The impact goes a little deeper.
We will likely never see some of these kds again. The time when most any American parent brought their children up in church is gone for the majority. For those parents, VBS is a few hour escape from child-care, and a chance to do what you want. But the kids never forget it. Life long memories form of VBS, and I too am a product of those. My sincere desire is that the impact in these children’s lives will be felt long after this week is over. My prayer also is the same for the parents. As much as we are able to do, we can do only so much before we must say, “Without reinforcement at home this just might not stick.” I do not want to see the seed that has been planted in the kids’ lives to be choked out by the people who have the most influence; the parents.
In many ways, and for many children, and also for our church, VBS is only the beginning. What happens after VBS is the real and lasting indicator of how much they will actually come to practice what they’ve been taught. Some of the children know all the right answers already. Some know only a partial and incomplete set of answers. Some know nothing of answers and do not even know the questions. At the end of the day and week,it will be infinitely worth the small amount of time we invest, that may pay dividends into eternity. We had 62 children and 40 something volunteers tonight. If you ask me they know it must be worth it too. No one spends that much time on something that isn’t.
June 23, 2008
For years Vacation Bible School has been a staple of American Churches, and from what I can tell it doesn’t appear to be going anywhere. I don’t think that’s really a bad thing at all. Kids are still kids, and I have a good deal of permanent memories pressed into my head of VBS as a child. Little Mountain began our VBS last night, and we started the week with 49 children. In terms of raw numbers that may not sound very high, but in terms of percentages it is HUGE. In addition we kicked off on a Sunday night which is typically the night with the lowest turnout.
The kids had an absolute blast. They have a music time led by three of our youngest and most energetic girls in the church. They had a craft time where they did, well, I don’t know…crafts. The most important time was the lesson they were taught. They learned a very basic lesson, which is that God is real. If it were all in my hands, VBS would NEVER have happened. We have a team of around 30-40 volunteers that make it happen, and I will say they worked VERY hard to be ready for this. The night went smoothly, and I am confident in the rest of the week.
I am also confident there are children there who have no personal knowledge of Jesus, and VBS has historically been a significant tool to help them know Him. The danger is being content with “conversions.” Our goal is to make disciples of Jesus. Therefore what happens in the days, weeks, and months after VBS is probably even more important than what happens during. Pray that this week God will make new disciples of His Son. The good times and lasting memories are a given.
June 17, 2008
To Coldplay’s new song, Viva La Vida. The lyrics are amorphous enough that even though it sounds like a song sung in first person by a deposed tyrant (not in any way like me!), I relate. And Coldplay, love ‘em or hate ‘em, know how to craft excellent melodies. 
Here’s my obvious run down of places this song resonates. As the “king” he roamed the streets as a king. They, in essence, belonged to him. With a word earth shattering events took place (I think of the movement of armies specifically). Now looking back, those same streets he commanded are swept by him. He seems to have accepted his downfall from power. OK, nothing in that is terribly similar to my life. BUT, there’s resonance yet with me.
He writes of the fickle nature of people. Out with the old king, “Long live the (new) king.” Soon, however, those same people (now I’m thinking Jesus) will be out for his own head (”revolutionaries wait for my head on a silver plate”). Pastors (which if you don’t know, that’s what I am) as much as anyone understand the fickle nature. They love you until you offend. Some for seemingly no reason, though I must think there is one, are out for your head from the moment they meet you. You realize the shakiness of your position all the time (”castles stand, upon pillars of salt and pillars of sand”). People desire to pour you into their ever changing mold (”a puppet on a lonely string”). And if not for the call of God Himself, “who would ever want to be king?” (No a pastor is not a king).
Every pastor has moments where the pain of being the shepherd seems outrageously difficult. Moments where if it weren’t for God’s call, he would certainly quit, walk away, and never look back. Yet for all the resonance, even if the similarities are a stretch, I can’t imagine walking away. The pressure is not nearly so heavy as the weight of God’s call (”Woe is me if I preach not the Gospel”).
Yes I probably overanalyzed and read more into it than was meant. But maybe not. You may not get that much out of the song, but if you like well-crafted, tight, catchy, sweeping rock then you will thoroughly enjoy “Viva La Vida,” (The song. I enjoy the entire album as well). I’ve probably listened to it 1,000 times in the past week! That tells you maybe more about me than the song.
May 30, 2008
…when you live in the 21st Century. That’s sort of what it feels like to preach from the King James Version of the Bible. Let me first say that I truly love this version. It is without a doubt the most beautiful, most majestic, English translation ever made. 
The words and phrases have been burned into our consciouses without us even realizing it. “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,” for example is a supremely beautiful and stirring translation. As many beautiful and majestic passages as there are, there are a few really strange ones as well. I can’t remember the exact reference but Jesus is called, “that holy thing.” And this Sunday I get to read a line about 30 sons riding on 30 asses from Judges 10.
I’m not a KJV only advocate. I think it is silly to think there is only one English Bible with God’s stamp of approval, and I’ve read all the arguments. But I have thoroughly enjoyed becoming reaquainted with a translation I haven’t read very much since childhood. The church where I pastor is predominantly KJV reading, and I tried to go against the grain when I first got there. Eventually, I gave in. It wasn’t worth the fight. Some things are, that just isn’t one of them. I rarely read the KJV when I am engaged in devotional reading or study, and if you’re like me maybe you haven’t either. If you haven’t read it in a while, I would encourage you to pick it back up again. Yes we no longer speak that way, but in some ways it adds to the “otherness” of the experience. And, if you grew up in church it may just take you back to your childhood again.
May 27, 2008
OK, I’ve gotten lots of helpful advice about my addiction to expensive Bibles. Marital counseling. Check. Addiction counseling. Check. 12 Step Program. Check. So….nothing really has changed except that I don’t buy the Bibles at this time. I just stare at pictures of them. The creme of the Bible crop is reportedly Allan’s Bibles based in Glasgow, Scotland. I wanted to throw a link in so you could see first hand how beautiful and luxurious these Bibles really are. This is one of the Bibles I purchased in the last 2 months. At only $100 it was a steal. The Bible in the photos is not mine, but one like it, and these pics are far better than any I could take right now. So look at the pictures and weep for the beauty and tragedy of the Highland Goat.
