The Hunt Is On

It's Saturday. It's the middle of Easter Weekend. For most of us, spring break is upon us, and people are hunting, people are searching. People are hunting for stuff to do, we must occupy our time. We must fill every moment of time and every space on our calendar. Kids are hunting Easter eggs all over. There is excitement in the air.

We had about 50 kids, plus parents, on our campus this Am hunting, and I pray they find more than they were expecting to find. The hunt is on.

Question--what are you hunting? What are you searching for? It might be a better job. It might be a better relationship. You might be searching for peace. You might be searching for joy and happiness. You might be searching for help and answers. The reality is that most people are hunting something. The reality is the most people have varying opinions as to what a person needs to find. There are probably as many ideas about what to search for as there are people who are searching.

I want to encourage you to search for things that last. Don't waste your time, don't waste you life hunting things that are temporary. To do that is like trying to grab a handful of water. You can try and try and try but you just can't hold on to it. But something that lasts, now that's something you can hold on to for the long haul.

People are for the long haul. Relationships are long haul material. Be a learner. Be a follower when it's necessary and be a leader when it's possible. Point people towards things that last.

I'm a Christ follower. I believe that nothing can outlast my relationship with King Jesus. I love the fact that He will be with me forever. He will be with you too, if you come to Him on His terms.

Character

In the last few weeks I've met and started to get to know a man who has a talent for drawing. He is an artist. I've seen some of his work and it's pretty impressive. His favorite work is comic book heroes and villains. He does great character work.

But the reality is that those characters aren't real. They are fiction. People might get lost in their stories, but it's all make believe. It saddens me to watch people waste lots of their time on fiction and make believe. I've seen it over and over again and it's never pretty to watch. I bet you know what I mean.

John Maxwell says, "Character is not about intelligence. It is about making right choices."

Character is not about intelligence. It is about making right choices.
Character is not about intelligence. It is about making Right CHOICES.
Character is not about intelligence. It is about making RIGHT CHOICES.

I hope and you pray you will be men and women of character. Your marriage needs you to be a person of character. Your children need you to be a person of character. Your grandchildren need you to be people of character. You need to teach people to be people of character. It will not happen by accident.

Make your kids work. It will make them responsible people of character.
Clean up your messes. It's about character.
Take care of your stuff. It's about character.
Lead them well. It's about character.

Broken but Unbroken

I am reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. It is the biography of Louis Zamperini. I've seen the movie, and it was very powerful. Now I'm reading the book. There is actually another movie that is coming out soon that will tell the rest of Zamperini's story. He became a Christ follower during the Billy Graham Los Angeles crusade in the 1950's.

The truth about Zamperini is that he was a broken man. He was flawed in many ways. He had numerous struggles. His story is common in that we are all flawed, broken, and desperate. I know that is an adequate description of my life. And yet, even in his brokenness, he refused to be broken. He suffered greatly, but wouldn't allow his suffering to brake him. He refused to surrender even when he was in captivity. He fought the good fight as a POW. He was a true American hero, but what made him famous was his refusal to break. Even in his weakest moments, he somehow found the strength to take another breath, another step, he chose to live another day.

I want to encourage you in this also. You and I, we are broken people, but we don't have to brake. We can keep moving forward. We can, if we choose, make it through the darkness of our situations. We can refuse to surrender. I don't know what you are facing, and I won't share what I'm facing. What we are facing is secondary. The struggle to fight and succeed is more important. But where will we find the strength to persevere?

I will find my hope, my help, my comfort, and my strength in King Jesus. He is my source. He has always been faithful. He has never let me down.

Acts 19-20 (19:11-20)

The War is Real

September 27, 2015

Things are continuing to get “interesting” in our country and in our world. One of the great religious leaders in the world has been in the US, the pope, and in my estimation, he failed. He talked more about global warming that the value of life and the need to protect it or the stance of the Roman Catholic Church on marriage. I am constantly reminded when I think of what we read in the paper, on the internet, and what we see on TV, that the war is real. Gandalf said, “The enemy is strong beyond our reckoning, yet we have a hope at which he has not guessed.” When we think of war I first think of winners and losers. I think of soldiers and battles, wounds, death, and family. In our text Paul is on his third and final missionary journey. He too is a soldier. He too has many battles to fight, the war is real and it rages around him. Satan is trying to stop Paul, destroy the church, and prevent people from being saved. Living as a disciple of Jesus in not easy. The reason is that to be a disciple of Jesus means you are constantly engaged in spiritual war. There is an increasingly common misrepresentation coming from preachers, especially on TV (Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Jessie Duplantis, Creflo Dollar, Joyce Myers, Paula White, and others), that the Christian life will be easy (life on vacation at the beach). The Bible says the Christian life looks more like this (picture of soldiers moving out).

I Peter 5:8-10, James 1:2-4, Ephesians 6:10-18

READ TEXT Discuss the battles we see in these 2 chapters.

1. The losing side of the war. v. 11-12, 13-16
1. Satan and the demons are on the losing side of the war eternally but also now. Jm. 4:7-8
2. 7 Sons of Sceva were on the losing side. v.13-17. No relationship with Jesus. Guaranteed to lose. Eternal losers are outside the umbrella of God’s grace. Their attitudes and actions reveal their rebellious hearts. Proc. 27:19

1. The winning side of the war. v. 11-12, 17, 20
1. God wins. Jesus is triumphant. The Holy Spirit is victorious. The gospel advances. Every time someone gets saved God wins and Satan loses. Every time a Christian grows in his faith God wins and Satan loses.
2. God’s soldiers win. II Cor. 10:4-5, 11:16-12:10

1. What do you need to do to win? v. 18-20 Take only what you need to fight, to win, into the battle with you. Remember the pic of the soldiers, they didn’t have beach chairs and volleyballs, they had their armor on their weapons in hand. The disciples in Ephesus destroyed the things, the books of magic, because of the destructive nature of those things to their new lives and their new mission. What do you need to lose now?

1 Peter 5:8-10(ESV) 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

James 1:2-4 (ESV) 2 Count it all joy, my brothers,[a] when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Ephesians 6:10-18 (ESV) 10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 14 Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. 16 In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; 17 and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, 18 praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication.

Coach or Critic

I don't know about you but I've had a lot of coaches in my life. I played sports growing up and had coaches on every team I've ever played on. Coaches are awesome. Coaches want to help you so they teach you new things. Coaches are awesome. Coaches want you to reach your full potential so they encourage you. Coaches are awesome. Coaches want you to succeed so they are honest with you but they are honest in a way that motivates you to do better and try harder. Coaches are awesome. Coaches see the big picture, they see more than you do because they've been around longer, in most cases, and have more experience. Coaches are able to communicate with you so that you are able to hear, process, and apply. Coaches are awesome. Coaches ultimately build you up.

Critics are people in our lives, and I believe they, for the most part, want to help, but what critics do is beat you up. Critics are present, but they see the negative, and repeated point out your mistakes and failures. Critics are present, but they feel it their responsibility to put you in your place. Critics are present, but they...really get some kind of sick pleasure out of seeing you fail.

You have a choice to make today: Coach or Critic. One is a person that anyone would want to have walk through life together. The other is a person no one wants to have in their lives. Determine that you will be a coach today. Build up or beat up.

I'll take a few more coaches and would love to get rid of a few critics. I choose to be a coach to others. I want to be a builder-upper.

Dig A Little Deeper

I just finished reading a blog by Seth Godin, I want to give credit for the initial idea of what I'm about to write. His idea was shallow vs. deep.

We are on information overload: emails, blogs, social media, apps for news, weather, sports, and stuff for all our hobbies and pleasure. I know when it comes to social media and all it's glory I'm a skimmer. I very seldom go deep. I don't want to get bogged down with the endless chatter and debates. Most of it is simply ridiculous, immature, and completely unnecessary. I also realize that people are, most of the time, presenting a picture of themselves that's not quite as real as real life, much like "reality TV." People let others into the best 5 seconds of their lives, and those watching actually think that that picture represents the norm for the presenter. NOT TRUE!!! We should dig a little deeper before we start wishing we had "their life." If you dug a little deeper into the lives of others you would come to realize pretty quickly that what's going in their lives isn't all that great, and you would might just start appreciating your life a little bit more. You might start investing in your own life, digging a little deeper, a little bit more so that you grow to maturity and are able to do some good and maybe even help someone else along the way. Dig a little deeper.

If all of these this is true in our daily lives I wonder if it's true in our spiritual life as well? Could it be that the reason our physical lives are what they are is that we have often failed to dig a little deeper in our spiritual lives? Have we really gone as far with Jesus as we hope others think we have? Do we spend our days with our religious, spiritual friends trying to make them think we are spiritual giants when we can't see over the dashboard yet? I bet if we spent as much time with Jesus as we spend trying to convince others we are spending time with Jesus we might just grow up in the faith, catch that first glimpse over the dash at the road ahead, be filled with wonder and amazement at our Heavenly Father, and develop a hunger to dig a little deeper.

I pray your hands get a little dirty as you dig.

The Leader is Dead

I try to read a portion of the Bible every day. I have done this most days since the fall of 1999. It has become a great spiritual discipline in my life. I am also training myself to journal. I haven't gotten to the everyday normal part of my routine, but it's becoming more common than not. It's amazing what flows through that pen from time to time. Today I was reading in the Book of Deuteronomy. It's in the Old Testament, and it's the fifth book in the OT. Moses wrote this book along with the four books that precede it. I read chapters 31-32 today. In these chapters Moses has finished reminding the Israelites of all that God has done for them. He has seen them through many trials and difficulties. God has protected them. God has fed them. God has sustained them. God has given them water to drink when there was no water to found. It's been an amazing ride. But sadly, it's time for Moses to die. He is 120 years old at this time, and it seems like he is still vigorous and strong. Nothing about him would lead anyone to believe that it is his time to go, and yet God says it is. Moses had messed up. He got angry and he disobeyed the instruction of the Lord, haven't we all done that, but his failure to obey was such a great offense to the Lord that God told him He would not allow him to enter the Promised Land.

God takes Moses up on mountain to show him all the land that the Israelites would take possession of. God passes the mantle of leadership to Joshua who will lead the people to victory in the Promised Land, and then Moses drops dead. The leader is dead. The one who, in human terms, led them out of slavery in Egypt is dead. The one who stood in the presence of the Lord is dead. The one whom they had depended on for 40 years is dead. He is gone. God buried him in a place that no one knows. God didn't even leave a marker. But understand, the next step was not back for God's people it was forward. God wasn't about to give them another reason to hesitate. They must trust Him. They must obey Him. They must follow Him.

Joshua, it's your turn. Step up to plate. Take a great big swing. "Don't be afraid. Be strong and courageous. I am with you." I love the fact that God never asked Joshua to be Moses. God never asked Joshua to be like Moses. God wanted Joshua to be Joshua. God wanted him to be just like He created him to be. That is refreshing to my heart and soul. God doesn't want me to be someone else. He wants me to be me, but me completely surrendered to Him.

An Open Door...

For the last few days those words have been bouncing around in my mind. I've actually had them on my heart for a while now. As I look around at my community, county, and across the country, for some reason, I see an open door.

Open doors are cool. It speaks of access and availability. It speaks of trust. It is welcoming. It speaks of acceptance. Open doors feel like home. You are welcome here. You are wanted here. No pressure. That sounds absolutely fantastic.

I'm a Christian, and I'm not ashamed of that fact. I'm not ashamed of the Christ that I have identified with and the Christ who, most importantly has identified with me. His identifying with me and accepting me is what makes me a Christian. It's an open door! I'm accepted. I have found my value and purpose by walking through that open door. It is a door that only Jesus could open, and man, did He open it! He opened it as wide open as a door can open. He made a way when there seemed to be no way. That sounds absolutely fantastic to me too.

I'm not just a Christian, I'm also a pastor of local church in a rural community in North Carolina. I love the life God has graciously called me to. It's an open door, and I'm as free as bird living this life. It's an honor and a privilege to serve King Jesus in this capacity. I can't imagine doing anything else for all my life. I've been serving King Jesus in this vocation for 18 years as a senior pastor and am celebrating 20 years of serving the church in ministry. Talk about God's grace and mercy, I'm living proof. It's an open door.

I've been serving Highland Baptist Church for 6.5 years now, and although it hasn't all been easy, I wouldn't trade God's call to shepherd this congregation for anything in the world. There is no way to describe with human words a shepherd's heart. The only way you will ever understand it is to become a shepherd yourself. And King Jesus has placed before us an open door (Rev. 3:7-13). He is giving us an opportunity to serve Him, to be His hands and feet. We are the only Jesus some will ever see, and if they were watching us Sunday, they saw the real deal. I'm so thankful for my church family and I'm so proud of you all. God bless you. I love you.

Who You Marry Matters

At Power Hour this past Wednesday I talked about the power of influence and decisions we make. We are currently in Genesis 24 as we study the life of Abraham. In Genesis 24 we find the story of Abraham sending his servant to get a bride for Isaac. If you grew up in church you’ve probably heard this story quite a few times, but on Wednesday I talked about the decision and impact of who you marry. I said, “Who you marry matters.” I didn’t ask for testimonies, but I could have. I wonder how you think about the truth of that simple statement, “who you marry matters.”

Abraham looked around at the culture and practices of the families of Canaan. He saw how they worshiped. He saw how they worked. He saw a lot of stuff that he didn’t like, and he said, “I don’t want that for my son, no way, no how.” He knew those influences would more than likely pull his son Isaac away from worshiping and serving the Lord than he pull them up toward God. So Abraham said, “I won’t have that in my house. I won’t allow that for my son.” Abraham was looking, not only at his immediate family, but at the generations to follow. Abraham wanted the generations of his family that would come long after he was dead and gone to be people who would worship and obey and serve Jehovah. He was determined to do everything in his power to make sure that Isaac was encouraged to follow God rather than led astray. Abraham knew that "Who you marry matters," He knew the impact of that decision on his life and he knew it would have a profound impact on Isaac and his family. Influence is powerful. Influence is critical. Influence is directional.

I'm not sure that I like, in any way, shape, or form, the current practice of dating in our culture. Not that hanging out is bad, but it is influential. Decisions are made and lives are altered. Why would I want one of my daughters allowing that kind of influence from someone they probably will never marry? I know this for sure, they won't marry the wrong person if they aren't dating the wrong person. And I think that's just part of my job as "Daddy," to keep they from hanging around, hanging out, and/or dating the wrong person. "Not my kids, and not at my house."

How about you and your family? Are you willing to stand up and say about your house, considering the ways of the world, “Not in my house! Not for my sons and daughters!” Are you willing to say like Joshua, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”? I am willing to lead my family like that. Will you join me? Will you do all that you can to raise a family that worships and serves the one true God? I pray that blessing on your family and mine.

As long as there is Life there is hope. -Steven Hawking

The title of this blog is a quote Steven Hawking made. I saw yesterday morning that he has died at the age of 76. No one had given him a chance of living with the debilitating disease he had, and yet he defied the odds and lived a long and "productive" life. He was very productive from the world's perspective. He became one of the most brilliant physicists the world has ever known. He influenced generations of mankind. His work will continue to influence generations in the future.

Mr. Hawking was a renowned scientist and he was a renowned atheist. He didn't believe God existed, and he spent his life trying to prove that God doesn't exist. He hated the very idea that God might exist, and he did everything in his power to lead people away from event entertaining the notion that God exists. And yet on March 14 Steven Hawking entered eternity. He died never having found any concrete evidence to validate what he believed to be true. One of his goals in life was to figure out why the universe came into existence at all. This is an impossible task to accomplish having "determined" that it came into existence accidentally rather than by design at the hand of a Master Creator. He proposes that order came from chaos, and yet we have never found that to true in any other reality at any other time. There has never been one proof that order has ever come from chaos. It is impossible. Order comes and functions because it is designed that way.

Take the order of something simple...the human hand. It is absolutely impossible, even if you give a clump of grey matter 10 billion years, to evolve into something so complex as the human hand. Order and complexity come by design, and if something comes from design there must therefore be a Designer.

Now back to the title of the blog...the great quote by the brilliant scientist. "As long as there is life there is hope." As I read that line I began to think on it for a while. "As long as there is life there is hope." I couldn't agree more. As long as someone is alive there is hope. "Hope for what?" you might ask. Just hope. Hope for a better life. Hope for a better future. Hope for a better job. Hope for a better relationship. Hope for a cure. And the list of "Hope for..." just goes on and on. What are you hoping for today? What are you hoping for tomorrow? What are you hoping for while there is still life in your hands and breath in your lungs?

I remember the words of an old song we use to sing in church, "My Hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus name. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."

Jesus told us these simple truths in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the LIFE, no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me." In essence Jesus is saying, "Because I am life, I am hope. I died so that you could live. I rose from the dead, and I am alive forevermore. Nothing can kill me. Nothing can dethrone me. As long as I am...there is hope. You have hope." But the Bible also says this, "It is appointed unto man (each man, every man) once, to die, and after that, the judgment."

Steven Hawking died. There is now, no hope for him. As he left this world, the condition of his heart, so he will be for all eternity. He made his choice. He lived his life. He now knows the truth, but there is nothing he can do to change his current and eternal destination and reality. If you are reading this, there is still hope for you because you are still alive. "As long as there is life there is hope." Let the words of Hawking bounce around in your mind for a while. Think about it. Ask yourself some serious questions about that quote. If Hawking was right and death is the end and there is nothing after, then I have lost absolutely nothing. I have only chosen to live a good moral life helping people. But if Hawking got it wrong, and I believe through personal experience that you can't argue with and I believe with every fiber of my being that he did get it wrong, then he took his last breath on earth, death came, he opened his eyes on the other side of death in a literal, real, and eternal place called Hell. It's not a party. It's not fun. It's more horrible than anything you could ever imaging on earth, and he is there.

"As long as there is life there is hope." When Hawking said this he was right. There is still hope for you. Reach out to Hope, His name is Jesus. He will hear you. He will save you. He will extend grace to you "that is greater than all your sin." Jesus would have done the same thing for Steven Hawking had he asked, and He will do it for you if you will only ask Him.

Jesus, Friend of Sinners

That song by Casting Crowns has been on my mind today. As I sit here reflecting, could it be that I am sinner and I need a friend? The answer to those two questions is "Yes," a big fat YES!

It's Friday and I came up to my office to make sure my sermon notes are just the way I want them. I emailed them to my wife and asked her to look them over. (Probably need to do that more often.) I'm preaching the second part of a message I called The Humanity of Jesus Christ. We will be looking at the empathetic Savior on Sunday, and I that phrase, "Jesus friend of sinners" just keeps going through my mind.

What a friend we have in Jesus!