Amazing day!  The baptismal celebrations are my favorite Sundays of the year.

Excellent crowd to watch a dozen people get baptized! 

Highlights:

• Watching Glenn, Barb, Nikki, Cathryn, Jessica, Anya, Laurence, Sammi Jo, Ashlynn, Julie, Brittanie, and Johnnita get baptized!!!  Right on dudes and dudettes!
• The video Doug Harsch put together of everyone’s story and confession – most excellent.
• A baptistry that was as warm as bath water!
• Dedicated one more baby.  Aletta Holloway (Matt & Karen’s baby girl) unfortunately went to the hospital last week on our baby dedication.  She is a miracle baby.  The Holloways have suffered through six miscarriages, 2 1/2 years of fertility treatments, and after ending the treatments…God answered their prayers with little Aletta.  So sweet!
• Martin’s Fried Chicken.  Great meal afterwards.  We had to go with Plan B (eat inside) because of the weather.  But it worked out great.  Thanks to everyone who set up and cleaned up…you were awesome.
• TONS of children.  Note to parents: next week we resume normal children’s activities you have endured well.
• I preached for about seven minutes.  I think that is a record.
• Memaw’s Growth Group served lunch (much better than everyone grabbing their own stuff).
• Hardly any leftovers…very close count and prediction on amount of food to get.
• Dana Hooton had a garage sale at her house this weekend and gave the money towards the church’s vision…how awesome is that?
• Parking lot lights are ALL in working order…thanks Chad Newport.
• Watching volunteersall over doing their thing…some as early as pre-6:00 a.m. (seriously) it’s beautiful!  I am always amazed at the things I “happen” on that no one could possibly know is going on at the Living Stones Church.  And there is no telling how much more is happening that I have absolutely no clue about!
• Muchos Gracias to Ann Lynn for coordinating/organizing the WHOLE day.  Everything ran smoothly (except our stupid MediaShout/computer program which she had nothing to do with).

Excellent day!  But on this Sunday evening…I’m wiped!

I’m feeling stuck in life (confession time).  I’ve felt it for several weeks, if not months now.

I am a routine guy by nature.  I like predictability and having a set and constant schedule.  I wouldn’t mind setting my clock to the habitual routines of my day (that sounds more impressive on print than it is in the reality of my world…or not )

I’m in favor of routine UNTIL your routine is no longer moving your forward.  That is how I feel.  I’m not moving forward.  I’m not progressing.

• In my spiritual life
• In my work ethic/productivity
• In my marriage
• In regards to health (diet/exercise)
• In regards to relationships, etc.

I’m stuck.  I wouldn’t say I’m crumbling, just stuck.  Now I need, by the grace of God, to get unstuck in these areas.  I’m in process of thinking through and making some life changes to the routine.  I’m taking some time this week to come up with some possible moves that might move me out of my “stuckness.” (is that a word?)

Went to the gym today.  I wonder if the fitness staff giggles when I walk in.

2008, in regards to diet and exercise, thus far has been in one word – INCONSISTENT!!!

A have a few good weeks exercising and eating great and then a few weeks of TOTALLY blowing it!!  And I am an “all or nothing” sort of dude.  When I’m in – I’ll workout daily, eat healthy food with obsessive clarity, etc.  But when I’m out – I’m talking NO exercise (or anything that might resemble physical activity – except remote control flipping) and Cheese Fries as if today might be the last day to ever eat them!

So…I have to think of something to keep me focused.  I’m thinking about imposing upon myself a penalty if I don’t reach my goals.  I’m thinking about forcing myself to post a picture on this blog of me at my top weight with my shirt off (which I have)!!  Trust me – I don’t want to do that…and you don’t want to see it. 

So, to my friends who care about me – when you see the donut in my hand – slap it out!!!  Come on and help a brother out!

I read the other day a little excerpt from Max Lucado’s new book 3:16 - The Numbers of Hope.  In the excerpt, he was discussing the popular notion that when it comes to religion and spirituality that “all roads lead to God.”  In other words, it doesn’t matter what path you take – Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, Christian – they will all lead to the truth that is God. 

I’m grossly paraphrasing, but Max made the counter point that no where else in life would we ever accept this as true.  All roads and all paths never lead to the same place.  Each road leads to a particular destination.  Each path has a different end point.  And if you wanted to get to Rome, you would never accept from anyone that all paths/roads ultimately lead to Rome.  Some, in fact, lead to Budapest, or Beijing.  You would never call the airline industry trying to book a flight to Washington D.C. only to have the employee respond that all flights going into Washington D.C. are booked and then suggest you take a flight to L.A. because after all “all flights lead to Washington D.C.”  The idea is absurd.

A college student wouldn’t go to their adviser to schedule another semester of course work to complete a degree in educationand accept the adviser’s advice to enroll in biology major courses because after all “all degree lead to a major in education.”  NO they don’t! 

Yet for some reason, in the realm of religion and spirituality we often hear the axiom that “all roads lead to God.”  Such an idea is just as absurd and just as ridiculous as if it were spoken in any other area of our life.  If you commit yourself to the path of Buddhism, you will end up at a different destination then if you committed yourself to the teachings of Muhammad.  The teachings of the Vedas will lead you to a different place than if you committed yourself to the teachings of Jesus. 

Each path has a final destination.  But to say that all end up at the same place is counter to what we would accept in any other area of our life.  And from a Christian perspective, this is counter to what Jesus himself teaches.  For whether we like it or not, he seems to claim an exclusive place in regards to the Way in which we encounter the God of the Bible.

John 14:6 NIV

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

I am so totally for the Holy Spirit!!

I’m down with the dynamic, indwelling, empowering presence of God (the Holy Spirit).

I’m all for the fruit that He wants to manifest in my life (Galatians 5:22-26).

And I’m ”swinging on the vine” of God’s spiritual gifts as well (1 Corinthians 12:7-11).

I believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  I mean for TODAY!  I mean ALL of them!!

I don’t believe the gifts passed away for some mysterious reason.  I don’t believe when the last apostle took their final breath so did the last remaining spiritual gift (or the last person who had the apostles “lay their hands on them”).  Nor do I believe the spiritual gifts passed away because the Bible showed up.  I believe the historical, theological, and biblical evidence suggests otherwise (although many godly people – friends and family included – disagree with me on this – which I’m O.K. with). 

I believe the gifts are for today and are meant for the purpose of empowering Christians for the mission of God as we live “in-between-the-times” of Christ’s death/burial/resurrection and his Second Coming.

In short, I’m not a cessationist (fancy theological word that implies the spiritual gifts have passed away).

That being said – the charismata of God just isn’t my test of fellowship.  It isn’t on my list of “essentials.”  I have my own views, my own experiences, and my own perspectives…but on this issue…I’m not letting it dictate who is IN the Kingdom of God and who is OUT.

So – if you are looking for a “spirit-filled” church that can bless, pursue, and affirm the spiritual gifts…we can do that (although we have a lot of room to grow).

But more often than not, when people say they are looking for a “Spirit-filled” church, what it seems they REALLY mean is they are looking for a Pentecostal Church with its accompanying worship experiences (as in a typical classic Pentecostal church).  If you are looking for a classic Pentecostal worship experience, that we [Living Stones Church] aren’t.  You wouldn’t come to our worship on Sunday morning and think… ” These are the craziest Pentecostals I’ve ever seen” (unless you automatically equate drums, guitars, keyboards, etc. with Pentecostal…come on now…you know who you are).  You wouldn’t join us on Sunday morning and think, “Azusa Street Here we Come!”  Hopefully, you wouldn’t walk in and think, “WAKE UP PEOPLE!!” as the Pepsi Max commerical suggests either.

So, if Pentecostal worship is what you are looking for…we aren’t that. 

If you come to Living Stones Church and leave disappointed that it wasn’t ”Pentecostal” that’s O.K.  But if you leave and say we aren’t “Spirit-filled” that implies something else (and honestly it’s a little offensive).  I know you mean “I would like to have here, what I had in my Pentecostal church.”  But in my experience and understanding (as feeble as that is) you can be “Spirit-filled” without being “Pentecostal” (in the sense of the classic Pentecostal denomination).

The spiritual gifts CAN very much be at work in your life even if it they don’t always manifest between 10:00 – 11:30 a.m. – somewhere close or on a stage (which seems like the least likely context when reading the New Testament) on Sunday morning.

I’ve lived on both sides of this issue.  And as one who believes in and to some degree experiences the gifts of the Spirit…I’m telling you…I still have problems.  And churches who move in the charismatic still have problems.  Don’t they?  Don’t they still experience painful splits?  Don’t they have agonizing, relationship-ending conflicts?  Don’t they at times drop the ball on doing what Jesus wants for us?  Don’t “spirit-filled” Christians still fight with their spouses; have kids that move into rebellion; struggle with sin?  Etc. 

In my personal experience…I haven’t found the spiritual gifts (which I’m TOTALLY for) to be the great panacea of all that is wrong with life.  But just because I’m not Pentecostal doesn’t mean I’m not ”Spirit-filled.”  Nor do I believe that our church, just because it doesn’t have a Pentecostal worship experience doesn’t mean that it isn’t “Spirit-filled.”

And there it is…

…my first…”pick a fight” blog post of the year!!! I love it!!!   There will be more to come!!  

New Year’s Resolution #1286 – be more feisty!

God is just wildly crazy about you!!!

“And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.”  Romans 8:10 

O.K…this is a follow-up to yesterday’s post where I talked about why it was good to show your weaknesses and to go ahead and confess whatever sin and crap we have in our life.

This is my part two qualifier to what I said yesterday.  While confessing your sin is always a good idea, I have found in my life that staring at my sins or really focusing on them has been counter-productive.  This might not be true for everyone, and maybe there are sins out there that need more focus…but the more I “focus” on the sin in my life, the more I find I’m in that sin!  Even when I’m trying to “focus” myself through repentance, I find that the thought of the sin is still with me.  It is in my mind, it has my attention, it has a space in my heart, it is in my life purview.  I used to think reading a book that might deal with my sin was a good way to deal with my sin.  But in the end, I find reading about my sin only keeps me focused on my sin, and then I never move beyond it.  I only feel more guilt or more shame which spirals into spiritual depression or giving up altogether! 

The thing in my life that has most allowed me to move beyond sin, is to confess it, receive God’s grace (which means truly stop thinking about it and beating myself up over it), and place my mind on the reality of God’s grace.  Focusing on the depravity of a sin has never led me out of the sin.  Focusing on God’s grace for me (even when I still stumble in the same sin) seems to be the only thing that draws me out of my sin.

This seems to me to be the process of renewing my mind.  Quit thinking about the garbage and start thinking about God’s grace. 

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)

It is interesting to me that when Paul writes his letter to the Philippian church (and specifically to that fight going on with Euodia and Syntyche) he doesn’t tell them to concentrate on their problems, or focus on the nature of their sin, or spend eight weeks going through a book that highlights self-centeredness and conflict.  He tells them:

Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.  (Philippians 4:8)

So, in the middle of your weaknesses and sins, let me encourage you to confess them, and then LET THEM GO!  Stop thinking about them.  Stop focusing on them.  Put the book down.  Stop the tape/CD series you are working through hoping that it will be the answer to your sin problem.  Give yourself as much grace as God does (which by the way is more than you can imagine).  Shift the focus of your thoughts away from your sins and onto grace.

God’s kindness leads you to repentance (Romans 2:4)

Years ago an Austrian kid named Arnold Schwarzenegger came to the United States to fulfill his dream of being a body builder (which he clearly went on to do).  Because of his size, they called him the “Austrian Oak.”  While Arnold had a great physique, he had one glaring weakness – his calves.  So, he did what most people do when you have a weakness…you hide it.  You do everything you can to pretend it doesn’t exist, to conceal it from view, to compensate in other areas.  Most of Arnold’s earliest photos are of his upper body.  If he were trying to show off his lower body, he would do so standing in water to hide his calves.

One day, Arnold figured the only way to improve his weakness is to come out with it.  To confess it (sort of speak).  To confront it for what it was and take action to improve.  Arnold’s solution…he cut his workout pants at the knees to expose his calves.  No more hiding.  In order for his calves to improve he needed to see them in the mirror, let others see that they were disproportionate to the rest of his body, and then do something about it.  And man did he! (in the photos you can see the great similarities the Austrian Oak has with me…I knew most of you were thinking it anyhow).

I think this is a good analogy for confession.  We all have areas of weakness and sin.  Let me repeat…WE ALL have areas of weakness and sin.  Our first reponse (as has been the case throughout human history) is to hide our weakness, to conceal it, to pretend it doesn’t exist, etc.  But as long as we take this route, there is no way for our weaknesses to see the light of God’s transformative grace.  It is only in the act of confessing (which means that we agree with God’s assessment of our condition) that we bring it to the open.  In the moment of vulnerability, God’s grace flows, forgiveness happens, and often, a power that kept us in bondage to the concealment, is broken.  Maybe it is time to cut off at the knees those things in our life that are our greatest weaknesses.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD” – and you forgave the guilt of my sin.  Psalm 32:5

 Tune in later for either:

• A list of my weaknesses (By the way, I’m not asking for comments to help me develop my list!). 
• Why I believe concentrating on our weaknesses is a bad idea! (coming clean and concentrating are two different things).

2007 Pentecost at the Living Stones Church has come and gone.  Some of the highlights are:

• Impromptu question and answer session in the middle of the welcome and announcements!  So that everyone is clear and on the same page: 1) we are starting growth groups on the week of June 10th.  If you happen to sign up for a growth group that would have started on Sunday afternoon of June 10th you will begin a week later or reschedule for another time so we can go to Potato Creek; 2) our combined worship with and at Kingdom Life Christian Catheral on June 3rd at 4:00 p.m. is an additional service to our one at 10:00 a.m. 
• Normal attendance was definitely effected by Memorial Day travel plans and graduations (although still up 38% from last year’s Memorial Day weekend).
• Several new guests.
• Looked like some good prayer time was happening after the service.
• Preaching on the Holy Spirit…and making up new grammatical phrases as I went along (I should have majored in English!).
• I love the song I Am Free.  Noticed a new ending to Deeper, which I enjoyed – and watched baby Gwen worshiping with gusto during the opening song.

Follow up from message.  Let me encourage you to spend time (daily if possible) praying and seeking after the things of the Spirit.  Trust and depend on Him to reveal Jesus’ truth to you in every aspect of your life this week.  Ask him to produce greater fruit in your life (and prune those areas that are keeping you from producing more).  And place yourself in ministry-life-opportunities that require empowerment and gifting from the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is the dynamic, life-giving, empowering gift of God that desires for you to live a miraculous life!  There are things that come into our life that we can only overcome though the supernatural empowerment of the Holy Spirit.  However, one of the principles of the Kingdom of God (in the main) is that God does not force himself on you.  If you don’t want more of him, he will not force himself on you.  But it is God’s great pleasure to give you more of the Holy Spirit.  Simply ask, seek, and knock.

I was witness to quite a significant thing tonight.  And honestly, I almost missed it.  Years ago we departed, as a church, what would be typical roles for women in conservative Acappella Churches of Christ.  After awhile you forget that there was a time when women were not allowed to…[fill in the blank with some role in worship].

Well, I’m here at Rochester College, which is an acappella Church of Christ institution at their sermon seminar and tonight’s preacher was D’Esta Love.  I was looking forward to hearing her speak as I’ve heard her name for years as she serves as a campus minister at Pepperdine University and is an editor of a periodical called Leaven.  David Fleer introduced her and said something about this was the “fulfillment of forty years of waiting” (or something like that).  It was at that moment I remembered…oh yea…this is quite significant.

What was most moving to me, however, was the response to D’Esta by the other women in the room.  D’Esta got up and to compose herself in what was clearly an overwhelming experience quoted a hymn.  As she did, many women in my purview were also overwhelmed by this event.  It was as if D’Esta (this 66 year old 5′2″ woman [I'm guessing] …I hope she doesn’t mind me posting that info. on a blog for the world to see…I just thought it was important to understand we aren’t talking about some young renegade but someone who has patiently waited decades!) stood there and bore on her shoulders the collective experiences of women in the room had walked through discrimination, marginalization, and the awkward conversation with some church leader somewhere who was trying to explain how much they love and appreciate them but that they would not be allowed to or couldn’t because…blah blah blah.  And then, I was overwhelmed by it.  D’Esta delivered a powerful, even prophetic word.  It was great.  But was most important tonight wasn’t necessarily what she said…but that she said. 

I appreciate Rochester College, David Fleer, D’Esta Love, and many others for the courage to break through barriers and boundaries.  I have a five year old little girl.  I hope that in experience, the events of tonight will be quite foreign to her.  But I’ll tell her the stories of what it was like.  And together we’ll be grateful that boundaries and barriers were torn down by the courage of others and she will continue to use the gifts that God has given her, whatever they might be, for the glory of our King!