Miles To Go

Un trivial pursuit: Jesus' timeless wisdom

2010-12-20T11:23:00.001-06:00

Jesus is a wise master builder. His words are the foundation of life. They are meant to be taken seriously and learned through active pursuit and practice.

We used to play a board game called trivial pursuit. Someone even invented a “Christianized” version of the game. We might have even owned the game at one time. I know we have a copy of Bible win lose or draw. My purpose is not to either exalt the use of such games or decry them; my purpose is to say that we it seems we often trivialize the bible. We engage the bible as the pursuit of trivial (useless, meaningless factoids) information, rather than approaching the scriptures as a means of relationship with a wise mentor whom you desire to please; demonstrating respect by both hearing and heading His vast reservoirs of wisdom.

Wisdom is timeless, therefore always relevant

Jesus is Lord

Learning through doing

Join me in pursuing and practicing Jesus’ teaching

Wisdom, timeless and relevant

Recently a friend called because they were in a conversation about the Bible and the topic of relevance came up. Is the bible relevant? While I don’t want to spend a lot of time on this, I will just make the quick point that the Bible is (even if you don’t believe it is the inerrant Word of God, which I do) a book chocked full of wisdom. Most everyone will say that Jesus was a great teacher and that his teaching would make our lives better. In fact Gandhi attributed much of the success of India’s secession of India from Great Britain to Jesus’ teaching of none violence and social change. A most quoted adage that people use, even if they generally don’t read and accept Biblical teaching is Jesus teaching about non-judging. Of course it is usually misquoted and taken out of the genuine context of Jesus’ teaching, but hey, they are using an argument that is based in the wisdom of the Bible. In fact it has often been the practice of people who are trying to appear smart to quote from some ancient literature. They may quote Confucius, or Plato, or Aristotle, or Solomon, or Jesus. Why? Because the wisdom that they glean from these people is often valid and relevant. In fact the reason they quote it is because it is true wisdom that has born itself out time in again in space, time and across culture.

We would say that wisdom like this is true. I find it interesting that when Jesus speaks of his words and teachings they are not merely true, but He describes them as ‘truth.’ They are not just factually true; ‘I am wearing blue jeans,’ but they are existential truth. They don’t just conform to reality, they actually describe the way things really are. At Jesus’ trial, Pilate asks, “So You are a King? Jesus answered, “You say correctly that I am a king. For this I have been born, and for this I have come into the world, to testify about the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears my voice. Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38)

Jesus is the truth and His words are truth. They reveal to us the way things really are. There is a God who rules over the whole creation. Man is in a state of rebellion against this loving rule. God, in his freedom and because of his great love sent Jesus to reveal God and to be the sacrifice that restores the whole created order to God. Therefore Jesus says concerning himself, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No man comes to the Father (God) except through me.” (John 14) This is truth as revealed through the Bible. See how important it is? It describes life the way it really is.
To be continued

Travel Day

2010-11-10T22:38:00.000-06:00

What a long day of travel. Fort Scott to Long View, TX from 8:30 AM - 4:30 PM. I caught up with Levi and Mariam Self. We toured the LeTourneau Campus and ate at Bodacious Barbecue (delicious).

LeTourneau has a nice campus. Levi and Mariam's apartment is pretty sweet for a college apartment. I really like those guys.

I finally got here to the Radisson in Keller, TX about 9 PM. That is way to long in my little Malibu.

I did listen to several seminars form Together on a Mission 2010. "I Can't Preach on That" with Greg Haslam (Preaching the OT), John Hosier (Preaching through Revelation) and Stephen Van Rhyn (Sex) was really challenging. "Fighting for Charismatic Life in the Church was challenging in quite a different way. Stef Liston's talk on worship is exceptional. We can over program meetings and miss out on all that God has for us in our church meetings.

OK, I need to sleep and get ready for tomorrow. I already miss my family.

Global Faith Forum

2010-11-09T19:45:00.000-06:00

I leave tomorrow for Texas to go to Northwood Baptist Church led by Bob Roberts, Jr. He is hosting the Global Faith Forum. It will be interesting for me as a mid-west small town pastor to be in a room with people from all over the world, some of whom will have very different perspectives than I do on God, worship and life. Why would I want to do such a thing? I want to be a part of this because I realize that I am called to love people.

It may seem simplistic to say that we need to love people, but I realize that loving people means I must know them, listen to them and treat them with respect. I don't know many people who hold vastly different perspectives than I do. I am usually afraid of that which I don't really know. Therefore I am going to Keller, TX to get to know people and perspectives that I probably won't agree with.

I am reminded of a couple of things from the Scriptures that really help me. John the apostles says that perfect love casts out fear and Jesus tells me that I am sent just like he was sent into the world. The reason that Jesus came was that He was sent. He loved perfectly and in the face of certain death, he overcame fear. I don't expect anything terrible to happen in this conference. I certainly don't think I will die, so I can proceed fearlessly in the love of God.

I am deeply loved and I can afford to love people. Jesus didn't say to just love the people who were like us, but to honestly love the people who were even against us. This is a powerful gospel that we believe in. I am looking forward to practicing loving people who aren't like me.

You may not be going to a conference, but are there people that you are having trouble loving? What are you afraid of? How can the Lover of your soul help you to overcome your fear and actually love your enemy?

I will try to post my thoughts throughout the week. Stay tuned.

The Seed and soils

2010-06-29T12:16:00.000-05:00

Check out my post on www.abundantgrace-fs.org/blog.

Celebration Midwest 2010

2010-04-29T13:15:00.000-05:00

Like most people, I am inspired when others make sacrifices for others. Recently, 23-year-old Megan Moss caught the attention of the St. Louis area with her deteriorating heart condition. However, on April 18, she received a miracle heart transplant that saved her life. What a story! But let's not forget, she got to live because someone else died.
This story for me communicates a Kingdom reality that I want to encourage you to pursue. Consider John 12:24, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
You have a choice to make in your life. You can hold on to your life (these 80-90 years) and your life is all you have. However, you can invest your life (die to yourself) and it will bear much fruit...30, 60 or even a 100-fold.
If you belong to Abundant Grace Church, you have an opportunity in front of us with Celebration Midwest to make an investment that will require personal sacrifice, but if we make it, will produce life in others. Here's how:
1) Sign up for Celebration Midwest .
2) Give money so that others can go. I would suggest paying the amount it would cost you to go and someone else. Cost varies (see brochure), but a single adult would pay $110 and a family of four would pay $330. Even if you can't make it to Celebration yourself, I would encourage you to give as an expression that we are all in this together. You can simply place "abungrach100" in the memo of your check.
In order to do both 1 & 2, it requires a desire in you to die to yourself. There are perhaps other things you would rather do the weekend of June 4-6. You will have to die to your own preferences, to join a community vision. Or maybe, you have other ideas of how you want to use your money and to give to this would require real sacrifice. I do not want to minimize the sacrifice. It is real and if it's producing fruit, it's usually significant. So I don't want to minimize the sacrifice, but I do want to highlight the benefit. Dying to yourself WILL breed life in others. It's a kingdom principle that will never go void.
If you want your life to be about more than just your life, I want to encourage you in this principle and to practice it today!

(Shamelessly stolen and modified from Bryan Mowrey.)

Week of Prayer

2010-04-27T14:30:00.000-05:00

We are praying this week during the evenings from 7-8. We are praying for our connections in the city of Fort Scott, outreach to the East side of Fort Scott, Church planting in the top 100 cities and working into Ethiopia.

These are some big vision items that we feel God has given us to go for. We are taking simple steps as we seek God and hear from him what to do next.

The men met last night and had a great time. Guys were really going for it. We felt God raising our faith to meet the agenda He has set for us.

The teens are meeting tonight at Max and Karen's to pray.

Wednesday our Small groups will be meeting.

Thursday is time for families to stay home and pray together.

Friday the whole church will gather to worship and pray. I encourage you to consider fasting from food or activity through the day and set your heart to seek God. We are planning to do great things for God and expect great things from God.

Resurrection in the Psalms

2010-03-31T11:18:00.003-05:00

I am excited about this week. It is a chance to reflect and celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead. Maybe that is what influenced my thinking this morning as I was reading in Psalm 49.

"Why should I fear in times of trouble, when the iniquity of those who cheat me surrounds me, those who trust in their wealth and boast of the abundance of their riches? Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life, for the ransom of their life is costly and can never suffice, that he should live on forever and never see the pit."

The ransom of a life is costly. You and I can't pay it, but Jesus did. He is the one who will live forever and never see the pit. Yes, he was buried, but he did not suffer decay.

This means great hope is available. The Psalmist asks, "Why should I fear in times of trouble?" God paid our ransom through the death of the perfect and holy Son of God, Jesus. Because he lives, I don't have to fear. I know he is with me.

Adventure

2010-03-16T08:26:00.003-05:00

When you are faced with new challenges, new surroundings and new direction how do you respond? What is your typical way of dealing with and talking about these changes? What if you through into the mix that the organization or business you have been a part of changes leadership at the same time?

I must admit that I often get agitated and fretful in the face of such difficulties. Rather than seeing an adventure, I see overwhelming odds and more hardship for me. I look for opportunities to pull back and try to maintain some recognizable patterns in my life that I can hide away in them. I can find some sense of security in my family, my hobbies, my music, my clothes. I look for patterns of similarity with the past so I can somehow make sense of the future.

While these coping mechanisms don't seem unreasonable, they reveal my heart; showing me that I trust in something(s) besides God.

In Deuteronomy 31 Moses makes this statement that I found very comforting in the midst of transitions. "It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you, or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed."--Deut. 31:8

This statement is not made in a vacuum. Israel is about to cross the Jordan river and enter the promised land. They can see the walls of Jericho in the distance. Moses will not be going with them; this young kid named Joshua will be God's man to lead now. The manna is about to dry up. New leadership + new direction + unknown provisions = dismay in our calculations. God gives us a different equation. God + with you = no fear.

Rather than looking at how the circumstances are changing and trying to preserve some sense of continuance in our lives outside of God, we are called to find this recognizable pattern: God is still with us. He is the one leading this expedition. He will not leave, or forsake you. He is the faithful God who has proven himself reliable in every circumstance up until now. He is the one constant in life that will not change.

Hear what God is saying. He is the one leading you through. Rather than looking for familiar patterns or relationships outside of God. Why not trust him and believe what he has said. He will not leave, or forsake you.

Doing Servant Evangelism in small towns

2010-03-09T15:06:00.004-06:00

I don't often find articles that are particularly pointed at helping people who are in a small town environment. The assumption is that any place where people are formed into a city or town is essentially the same. I appreciate this article from Steve Sjogren about doing Servant Evangelism in a small town setting. Serve is the name of Steve's blog.

In this article Steve answers six questions about doing Servant Evangelism in small towns.
Here are the questions (you can click on the words "article" or "serve" and they will link you to the article):
“Are you here to stay?”
“Do you love me or are you just trying to build your church through me?”
“How should I interact with people?”
“How do you see the future?”
“How do you relate to money?”
“Are there projects that work especially well smaller settings?”

Abundant Grace Church is exists to connect people to Jesus, that doesn't just happen on Sunday morning. That happens every day of the week. Why not grab a couple of friends and see what we can do to turn SE Kansas upside down.

A Giving Husband

2010-03-02T10:14:00.003-06:00

I just read an article by Bob Roberts, Jr. about a new online business his son Benjamin dreamed up and put into action. I have signed up my self and would like the men of Abundant Grace to do the same. This seems especially important to guys like me who are a bit romantically challenged.

"My son, Ben, likes to start companies! Here is his latest. It’s a brilliant idea. Wish something like this would have existed when I started out! It still isn’t too late - I’m going to be signing up.

What I’m curious about is how did he come up with the idea? DId he forget something for his new wife Ashley - and said “never again?”
http://www.GivingHusband.com is a free service dedicated to providing the tools husbands need to make their wives feel special. Through the http://www.GivingHusband.com Giving Guide we are able to help husbands pick out gifts, and plan special evenings for their wives so they might feel loved and appreciated.
Here’s how it works:

1. Husband creates a login name and password which includes his wife’s email

2. Wife receives auto email which asks her to finish the profile her husband started

3. Wife finishes profile and an email is sent to the husband so that he can immediately begin buying her gifts, and planning special evenings

http://www.GivingHusband.com is like a registry which stores important information needed to buy a surprise gift for your wife. We make sure a husband doesn’t have to blow his cover to buy his wife a surprise by asking her what her ring size is, or if she prefers blue to orange."

Let's love our wives sacrificially and intelligently.

Newfrontiers

2010-02-24T10:36:00.004-06:00

Abundant Grace Church in Fort Scott, KS is a part of a world-wide family of churches called Newfrontiers. Beginning Thursday February 25 the leaders of churches across the US, Mexico and Canada will be gathering in St. Louis for Equipped for Mission.

This year we are taking 11 leaders and wives to this conference for refreshing times of worship, encouraging and challenging teaching and just a heck of a good time with our extended family. I am incredibly excited about this trip. I am excited because of the fun I am going to have, but I am also pumped about the impact being with other leaders is going to have on those going and the long-range impact on our mission to Fort Scott, Bourbon County and the world.

Another aspect of this conference that will make a big difference is that we will be bringing John and Flor Evans from Guadalajara, MX. I am full of expectation about what they are going to impart to us as a church. I am also anticipating we will impart somethings to them.

On Sunday evening we will be praying at 5. John and Flor will join us and we can spend some extended time praying for their new adventures in church planting in Rio.

What a great family we have! Want to learn more? click on Newfrontiers or NewfrontiersUSA

Centered

2010-02-17T08:56:00.004-06:00

Often when I feel uncertain and threatened, I put myself in a position of defense of putting my back against the wall. I figure if something is threatening my security I want to see it and be able to face it. If I am with a group of people we might all put our backs together each facing outward to defend each other. But what if there were a different position to take? What if our focus was shifted to someone who was greater and could effectively deal with our enemies?

The Old Testament sometimes challenges us in unexpected ways. I was reading this morning in the book of Numbers. It begins the story of Israel's conquest two years after being set free from slavery to Egypt. In chapter 2 God commands the people to arrange themselves around the tabernacle, the place of God's presence. They are going into unknown territory and there will be opposition so I assumed that they would be arranged with their focus outward toward the potential dangers. God commands them this way, "They shall camp facing the tent of meeting on every side."

This is amazing. God is taking His people whom He loves into dangerous and unknown territory (from our perspective) and commanding them to face Him, not their dangers. Why? The greatest danger is not the enemy outside. The greatest danger is forgetting God; letting other things occupy our focus than Him.

What dangers are you facing? What worries occupy your mind? Rather than trying to face them in your own strength, you should face God and worship Him. The wonderful news is that because of Jesus, we don't need an external temple. God has chosen, by His Spirit, to be with us in every circumstance of life. Re-orient your life toward Jesus. He is your strength and protection.

Sarah and Ezra FSCH Chapel

2009-09-29T17:19:00.001-05:00

My kids singing their first duet in chapel at their school. The guitar's a little loud, but I am proud of them for going for it.

Sarah's first gig

2009-09-26T15:10:00.001-05:00

Conuquerors and Cowards

2009-09-16T08:29:00.001-05:00

Revelation 21:7-8 reveal two groups of people: conquerors and cowards. I am glad the bible uses those words so I can't take credit for the alliteration. Conquerors have great promise: they can lay claim to God as being theirs and they have God calling them sons. To be a son is a great thing (I will try to remember to post about this at another time). These great promises are made more clear because of the contrasting statements concerning those God calls cowards (vs. 8). Being called a coward by anyone hurts, but being called a coward by God has dire consequences. The outcome for cowards is not good. I will let you read it for yourself.

What makes us cowards rather than conquerors? Cowards have no faith. There is a list of sins that is included in this cowardice, but primarily, they are faithless. They won't face their own broken humanity and realize that they need a savior. This is true cowardice. They won't believe that God is good and that through his grace they can truly be conquerors.

You may begin to think that conquerors are buff warriors with brilliant character. That would not be accurate. They are men and women who realize they are broken and can only be made whole by Jesus. Conquerors are weak and fragile recognizing that their strength and their hope is in God, not in their ability to keep the rules, nor in their disability to do so. The gospel writer, John, says that we overcome the world by faith.

Conquerors simply believe God. We believe him when he says that we are in need of a savior. We believe him when he says that we are no longer children of wrath, but beloved of God. We believe that we are free from the law of sin and death. We are made alive in Christ.

Believe him today. "For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world - our faith."--1 John 5:4 (ESV)

Pray Big, Live Big

2009-09-15T20:58:00.000-05:00

I was recently at a pastor's prayer meeting and as we were praying I had a recollection of my high school basketball coach reminding me when I post up to get big and stay big. I was 6'3" 175 pounds and when the ball went to the corner my arms were to be outstretched and I was to have a wide stance so that the man with the ball could see me and potentially pass to me and theoretically I would turn and score a high percentage basket.

That's when the words in my mind changed to pray big, live big. I like to pray big prayers. I am a part of a relatively small group of churches called Newfrontiers. We like to pray big prayers. What I mean is that we pray for things like planting churches in top 100 churches in the US even though we just now have ten of those top cities. We pray for churches that will reproduce and plant more churches. We hold to promises that the knowledge of God's glory will cover the earth like water covers the sea. We pray for harvesters to get into the work of harvesting souls. That means when people become Christ followers, we want them to join us in the mission of being disciples who make disciples.

All of this praying for big things must be followed by living big. We live big by believing that this is the kind of stuff that is in line with the character of Christ and we can actually take bold steps and big risks because God will give us what we need. This is the part that really impresses me. It doesn't do much good to pray for big things then be fearful of talking to our friends about Jesus or talking to the church about a new idea to serve the community, or asking someone to take a new responsibility in the church.

Fear causes us to live small. It doesn't make any sense to pray these big prayers then not have any confidence in our great big God.

Let's pray big. Let's live big. Let's have faith in a great big God.

Getting Started

2009-09-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

I am a diver. I don't mean I am very good at it, I just mean that I usually dive into things rather than dabble and wade in slowly. I am also very good at procrastinating. These may seem like they are mutually exclusive ideas, but they aren't.

Procrastination is not the same as research and good planning. It just means you waste a lot of time making excuses and hoping that if you wait long enough you won't have to. Some people take their time making decisions because they are researching and considering a problem from different angles so that they can make a well informed and intelligent decision. I am not usually that careful. I spend time wishing I didn't have to do something, or trying to figure out how I can get out of doing something. Eventually, either the pressure passes and I have made a non-decision (I waited for the opportunity to pass) or I give into the pressure (internal or external) and dive in.

This blog is a good example. I haven't really researched how to blog. I don't know exactly what all I am going to say, but here I am jumping in. I hope it is helpful to people.

I guess sometimes we just need to jump in and do things even if we don't feel prepared. God wants people who are willing and daring enough to believe him and do what he asks them to. Sometimes we call it a leap of faith. Usually, they are just steps, but whatever you call them just jump in. The water is fine.