The Next 800

If you want to help build the kingdom, build the church in the east Central Missouri region, and help your Pastor reach thousands of people for Christ, then help me make the next 800 blog entries greater than the last 800.

The first 800 have produced these results:
--6,331 different users have read the blog at least one time.
--Over 53,000 hits have been registered to the site since its inception in May of 2009.
--People have read pages from The US, Russia, Germany, Canada, The Netherlands, Latvia, Israel, The UK, France, and Japan.  These countries are listed in order of most visits.  There are other countries but their numbers are much smaller.

Let's stop thinking small.  The trend in Washington and Union, Missouri is to think: "St.Louis is big, big things happen there.  We are small, so we do things small."  Let's put that thought in the garbage where it belongs.  Our church in Washington can change the world.  So. let's do it.  The blog is one tool for that work.

I know that I am not the best writer.  I know that I am not perfect in grammar or punctuation.  But, there are good thoughts in these posts that can help people.  I am going to try harder to be more excellent.  Will you help me?  You can share these posts on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the share link in the lower left corner of the posting.

Help me meet some goals.  Keep me accountable by asking my to check the stats in December of 2012.
1.  Let's see if we can get up to 10,000 readers by the end of 2012.  It is possible.
2.  Let's see if we can use the blog as an invitation tool that introduces people to Jesus.
3.  Visitors often tell us how they found our church.  Let's see if we can start recording responses that include the blog.

800

FYI.  That last blog entry was my 800th.

Here's Your Body

We went to the St. Louis Science Center on a field trip today.  We stopped at a booth where kids can learn about genes and how dominant and recessive traits relate.  The display involved a game where two kids scramble traits and then create an animal with various parts.  At one point we reviewed the traits for the body style and color.  The college student handed my little girl a thing like a Mr. Potato Head and said, "Here's your body," in an amazingly casual way.

All of a sudden I responded to the young man, "Do you ever feel like God handing these things out?"  It was the funniest thing I heard all day!  I think that we often feel the way I felt watching that boy hand out bodies.  I don't care what you get, its all random, here's your body.

I think we all feel like that from time to time about our own bodies.  Here are some thoughts that bring us back to center.
1.  God knit you together in your mother's womb and you are wonderfully made.  The process is scientifically random, but God is lovingly particular.
2.  When you accept Christ, that random system that God created and sin corrupted becomes the vehicle for providing a temple for the Holy Spirit of God.  The body of a Christian becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit.  Sin is removed, a new creation is begun, and the Holy Spirit moves in.
3.  God is our healer.  Even if you feel like you were jipped in the randomly heartless, corrupted by sin, biological process, God is a healing God through Jesus Christ his son.  Trust him for healing, even if the Dr. says it is genetic.
4.  When I get to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, following the rapture and the resurrection of believers, I will hear God say, "Here's your body."  To get some blessing and detail, read 1 Corinthians 15 today.

May God bless your body today through Jesus our Lord.

God Sings Over You!

Zephaniah 3:17 says,

The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.”

It is true that the God of the Bible is our judge. But, most people only think about him as our judge. He is also our Father. Have you ever sung over your children? I do. You don't have to sing well for it to be cool for them. My dad was a horrible singer, but I always liked to hear him sing in our old farm truck as we worked together.

I learned a little bed time song years ago and I have sung it to my kids over and over, and I sing it over them, confirming my love for them.

Now, did you know that God takes such delight in his children that he sings over them? Knowing how I sing over my kids, I think that is pretty cool. Very powerful!

A Leadership Dilema

I love Pastors and I love the Church. So, it is difficult for me not to always be thinking about a bigger picture than the church I lead. That can be dangerous because it can take my eye off the ball, but it can also be God's leading for me to help and be involved. Because I love the church and I think about these things a lot, I have stumbled upon an interesting thought.

In the Assembly of God District where I serve there is a bit of a disconnect between the younger ministers and the older ministers. Overall, I know that we have a very respectful and unified District and I am proud of it. It has been my home for all my life, even in the years before I was saved, this is my land, my country, my roots. But, there is what I would call a temporary and fixable rift between two different generations.

Here is one of the problems, and I have thought it for a long time, and it was proven Monday. We were doing some surveys with our instant response system and did an age survey. The smallest group of people present in the meeting of about 500 voting members and minsters was the 40 to 50 range!

Here is the problem, we have many small towns and many small churches. Some churches stay small because of the problem. We attract many young pastors in their twenties and early thirties to our small churches. They are full of fire, passion, vision and full of the Holy Spirit. They are good leaders gaining great experience. But, when they hit 40, they leave our district or leave to who knows where. People in their 40s need income and security to raise teenagers and growing families. It is a difficult time to take a huge pay cut in faith or to take big risks. A degree of stability must be given to children. Thus, for ethical and personal reasons we loose the pastors who have energy and youth, and also have 15 to 20 years of experience. We have lost some of the connecting generation that can unite the under forty group with the mentors in the 55 plus group.

My church is an anecdotal, but a perfect example. It is a 46 year old church that has had seven pastors, I am the eighth. It has never had a pastor older than 44. Why? In part, the church never grew to the place that they could practically afford a leader with age and experience. I am determined to change this!

I am also determined to change this in our district. I believe that we must teach our church boards and Sectional Committees to recognize this issue. We can fix this. We can do it in love and in faith believing that God will provide. If we will use his provision correctly, he will provide the leadership and unity that we need to thrive.

The First Grader's Prayer

Saturday night my wife felt really bad. She is pretty private and so I will not relate the source of her physical trouble, but in our family and with a close church family, we have people praying for her. At bed time she laid down and I took the kids into another room and we stood together holding hands for bed time prayers and thanks to God. At the end of our prayer I said to the kids, "Come on, lets go pray for mom."

We went into the other room, gathered around her and laid hands on her for prayer. I asked my seven year old daughter to pray and the nine year old twins and I would pray along with her. I assumed that I or one of the boys would need to finish of the prayer making up for anything Elizabeth might miss.

This happened next. Elizabeth closed her eyes and prayed, "Dear Heavenly Father, we come to you in Jesus name. Your word says, 'By his stripes we are healed,' and mom does not feel so good right now. We ask that you would heal her and make her feel better and that you would take this away forever." She may have prayed a few other words, I can't remember the rest because that prayer just blew me out of the water! No one else needed to pray after that, she got it all.

When you pray, I suggest that you follow Elizabeth's powerful and Scriptural example. First address your Heavenly Father, address our almighty God in the name of his Son Jesus. Second, when you pray, pray the Scriptures and stand on the promises of Scripture. They are not magic potions to speak, but they build our faith and in our relationship with God it is appropriate to discuss his specific promises to us with him. Third, present your request, simply and without disclaimers. Ask for the very best. Don't ask half way or you might get it. Fourth, and I don't remember what Elizabeth said, but she ended with thanks to God.

Parents, I have never given Elizabeth a lesson on prayer. But she has been to church every Sunday of her life except a very few vacation Sundays, maybe four. She has been to church on Wednesday night with the same regularity. We pray every day together in the morning, at meals, and at bed time. We pray out loud and she has learned to pray and pray Scripture by example.

Never fail to pray with your kids. Some day you may need a miracle and who will you call to pray and "effectual, fervent prayer" (James 5) for you? By building a foundation, you may have the blessing of calling your children to interceded with God for you! I think something powerful happened Saturday night. I don't know that we have seen the manifestation of God's answer yet, but I believe that God answered a prayer for us, led by Elizabeth.

Weekend Rewind

Good morning! It is Tuesday and I am in Springfield, MO at our District Council. I am able to begin my work day early, because I am at the hotel and have already prayed, read the word and talked to my wife wishing her a good day. On a normal Tuesday I am done praying and then helping my family get ready for the day at this time. I normally read the word by myself an study between 7:45 and 9:00 a.m. Enough of that.

This last Sunday was AMAZING! I am so proud of our church! We had the highest Celebration Sunday attendance on Palm Sunday. We had the highest Easter Sunday attendance in our Church history on Easter. Yesterday, we had our highest regular Sunday attendance ever. Then on Sunday afternoon, we had our largest baptismal service ever with over 150 in attendance and our largest number baptized at one time.

It is not all about numbers. But numbers count because every number is one soul that Jesus died for that we are loving, serving, and encouraging to follow Jesus! Jesus would have given up his life for any one of these numbers. So, YES, numbers matter.

The other reason it is not all about numbers is because quality matters. We moved our service times one hour later, 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. The intended consequence was accomplished! First service was 151 and second service was 63. Our goal was to build the early service and make room for more visitors in second service. The other quality was the great passion and attitude of worship and prayer response in both services. If people in the Washington, Missouri region want to meet God, our congregation will provide the individual and personal examples to follow to do just that.

Just Look At This, I Said Look!

Remember when you were a kid and your parent would say, "Just look at this!" We usually did not need to look or want to look.

In Habakkuk 1:3 the prophet prays, "Why do you make me look at injustice? Why do you tolerate wrong?"

This is totally the cry of a Pastor's heart. As a Pastor you are required to help people, to look at injustice, and you can not choose to avoid it. You can watch the news and choose to not care about the distant story. But you can't avoid the story that is sitting patiently through your sermon, in the hospital, or in your office. You are sucked into problems as you help and encourage people.

The next question is equally powerful. Why dose God tolerate wrong? Honestly, I am glad God is tolerant to the Holy degree that he is. His tolerance is called MERCY, and I have needed it many times. In our frustration with wickedness and our intensity to study the Scriptures week after week our cry is the same as Habakkuk's. We strain to understand God's holiness and his mercy mingled.

God answered Habakkuk in verse five and said hang on my friend, "Look at the nations and watch - and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told." Hold on friends, answers are on the way. In Habakkuk's day the answer was God's judgement for 70 years. In our day it may be judgement, but it may also be the saving mercy and grace of Jesus Christ.

Tax Collector

It is a little unbelievable, but on Sunday April 15th I am preaching about a tax collector! I will be continuing the sermon series through the book of Matthew. We have been in it for over a year. When I pray for God to give me a series, it is amazing how things work out. I have known for a while that this would occur, but the irony of it just hit me today.

< 100 Years

I am studying the book of Nahum this morning. The entire book is a prophecy against the wickedness of the city of Nineveh, which was the capital of Assyria until about 612 B.C. when it was destroyed by invaders.

We usually think of Jonah when we hear the name Nineveh. When Jonah finally went to Nineveh to preach, the entire city repented from their sins and turned to God in sackcloth and ashes, a sign of mourning. If you wonder what Jonah might have preached in Nineveh, it may have been a lot like the text of Nahum. But, the question is, who preached there first and how far apart were the messages of these two Galileean preachers who both preached to Nineveh?

From what I can tell, Jonah went there first. Likely around 770 to 750 B.C. Nahum spoke his message later based on what we know about him being younger than Jonah. Nahum may not have actually traveled to the city, we don't know. But, Nahum had to prepare his message from God before the city fell about 612 B.C.

Here is the point. From Jonah to Nahum, there may have only been a span of 60 years. At the most about 80 years. It is very safe to say it was < 100 years.

How can a community and the capital of a nation fall so far in such a short span of time? From the closeness to God that was produced in the days of Jonah, to the promised destruction from Nahum which came to pass. When Jonah preached the people responded. When Nahum preached there was no response, except the response of God who allowed the city to be destroyed.

The truth of the Bible narrative is speaking to us today. The messsage is applicable because human nature has not changed. In < 100 years even our nation can move drastically from a place of revival and Godly repentance to a place of violence and greed. In < 100 years we have improved in the areas of racial unity and the rights of female citizens. But, we are still racially violent, and that violence is not limited to one of our many minorities. We value the rights of women, but the sexualization of the woman in pop culture has demeaned her as an individual and destroyed female identity apart from body image.

We must be careful. Nineveh was the lead city of the most powerful nation on Earth. < 100 years later it was completely destroyed.

New Service Times

REMEMBER that this Sunday service times change.

Early - 9:30 a.m.
Late - 11:15 a.m.

Have a great week.

Weekend Re-Wind

Easter was a great day at church. People chose to accept Christ and we had a great time of worship in each of the three services.

I want to say a huge THANK YOU to all the people who worked hard to make Easter a wonderful day. A lot of people put in extra time for Easter Sunday, and that on the heels of a celebration Sunday. Great work.

Happy Easter!

Easter services:
6:30 a.m. Sunrise Service

8:30 a.m. First Worship
10:15 a.m. Second Worship

If you invited a friend, call them today and remind them of the invitation.

My family Devotions

This week in my family devotions we have been reading the book of Ruth. In chapter one we are introduced to Ruth, a Moabite woman who marries into a Jewish family in the years before the kings of Israel. Then tragically, all the men in the family die. We don't know how or why, but the ladies are left as widows.

The highlight of chapter one is when Ruth's mother-in-law attempts to send her back to Moab and her family and culture of origin. Ruth responds firmly by saying, “Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God."

In chapter two Ruth and Naomi (the mother-in-law's name) move back to Israel and they meet one of Naomi's deceased husbands relatives, a man named Boaz. The highlight of chapter two is when Boaz watches Ruth work all day in the field and learns of her choice to move to Israel. he says, “I’ve been told all about what you have done for your mother-in-law since the death of your husband—how you left your father and mother and your homeland and came to live with a people you did not know before. 12 May the LORD repay you for what you have done. May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” Boaz not only noted that she helped her mother-in-law, and chose their nation, but that she had chosen the Lord! She had chosen to take refuge in the Lord our God.

How determined has your choice to follow the Lord been? Ruth left everything she knew, everything comfortable, all logical possibilities for advancement, her family religion, to follow the Lord. She struck out on a fools errand, to befriend a widow who had no claim to money or property, no leverage to provide Ruth another husband and no source of income. Let's make our determination to follow the Lord complete! Don't regret what you leave behind. Don't fear the unknown future. Trust the Lord.

A Good Friday

Have a Good Friday.

Let's remember why it is called Good Friday, even though we are remembering something so horrible as the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a Good Friday because we remember what Jesus did for us. Take time to remember, reflect and rejoice. Have a Good Friday.