I've always known that a pastor has to love his people. And I do. Our people at ACC are the best you'll ever find.  They amaze me on a weekly basis.  I always tell people that the biggest strength of our church is not what happens onstage every week.  Our biggest asset, aside from the power of God, is our people.  I absolutely love our people.

But I've also been convicted that a pastor has to love the city where his church is planted. If I don't love our city, then I'm not going to do all I can to reach the people of our city. If I don't love our city, then I'll spend a lot of time wishing I was somewhere else rather than giving my ministry everything I've got.

Over the last few months, I've really done some soul searching.  Do I love our city? Do I really, truly love it?

And actually…I do.  I really do.

I love Amelia.  I love Clermont County.  I love Cincinnati.  I really do.

Tomorrow I'll blog about a few reasons why.

This last excuse leaves me lost for words.  Well, almost. If I was completely lost for words, this would be a pretty lame post.

A lot of people seem to think that God never wants to make them uncomfortable. God would never ask them to do something out of their comfort zone.  God would never call them to make a change that is difficult. God would never command them to step out in faith when the end result is not guaranteed.

Hmmm…

Then why did Jesus say things like, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me." (Luke 9:23)

Jesus doesn't call us to coddle ourselves.  He tells us to deny ourselves.

He doesn't call us to take up our couch.  He commands that we take up our cross. That's not comfortable. In fact, I can't find anything in the Bible that says that Jesus died to make us comfortable.

For far too long, the mission of the American church has been self-centered and self-indulgent. The goal is a nice, comfy building to meet in…songs that are comfortably familiar…a preacher who preaches against all the sins that I don't personally struggle with…warm, comfy traditions…and turning a blind eye to a world that needs the church to be the church now more than ever.

I'm not indicting every church.  Not at all.  And I don't hate the church.  See the first post in this series if you doubt that. I love the church with everything I've got.

But God has not called His church to stand still or remain stagnant.  And He certainly hasn't called His church to value our comfort more than His Kingdom.

If you feel like God is calling you to play it safe and remain where you are comfortable…the odds are good that it's not the voice of God that you're hearing. It could be a very different voice.  One who wants the church to stagnate and Christians to pursue their comfort over God's Kingdom.  One who wins every time that happens.

But the unfortunate reality is that a lot of Christians use this as an excuse to sit on their rear instead of a catalyst to bring actual growth.

Sometimes "I want to go deeper" actually means "I want to sit around and study the Bible…but not do what it says."

The last thing most Christians need is another Bible study. As Mark Batterson likes to say, "We are educated far beyond our level of obedience."

True Bible study means that the person is not just hungry for information.  They are hungry for transformation. They want to be transformed by the will and the Word of God.

It really doesn't matter if you know who the father of Mehujael was or how old Methuselah was.  That might matter in a game of Biblical trivial pursuit, but if all you have is that information…then it really is trivial.

Are you applying what you are learning from the Bible? Are you just sitting around and debating the finer points of theology or are you doing what the Bible says (James 1:22)?

I can't remember who said this, but it is spot on.  If you want to really study the Bible, start reading until it tells you to do something. Then go out and do it. Do not start reading again until you have obeyed that command.

That would would take us deeper than we ever dreamed possible.

"If you have not the time, God gave it to you, and you must have misspent it."

We all have the same amount of time.  We all have 60 minutes in an hour, 24 hours in a day, and seven days in a week.  All of us. No one gets eight days a week (I'll wait while you sing the old Beatles' tune in your head).  God gives us all the exact same amount of time.

What makes us all different is our choices.  We all get the same amount of time, but we choose to fill it differently. And if you haven't left time in your schedule for the most important things, your schedule needs to change.

"I don't have time to read my Bible." Do you have time to read the latest book in the Twilight series? Or the latest work from John Grisham or Clive Cussler?  Nothing wrong with reading other books…so long as you make time first and foremost for God's book. If not, then time isn't your problem.  Your priorities are your problem.

"I don't have time to serve." How many TV shows do you watch in a given week? How many movies? Nothing wrong with taking time to decompress and relax, but if you are not serving, you are missing the whole point of following Jesus. Again, your problem isn't with time.  It is misappropriated priorities.

"I don't have time to __________________." This list could go on endlessly.  Go ahead and fill in the blank with your excuse.

The bottom line is that relationships take time.  A friendship takes time.  A parenting relationship takes time.  A marriage takes time. A relationship with Jesus takes time. If you are not willing to give your time to a relationship, then you simply don't have a relationship at all.

Now, I've seen a ton of churches that abuse peoples' time. If you look at their church calendar, it is crammed full. Front to back. Stem to stern. It is jam packed.

We don't do that at ACC.  We understand how busy and crazy life can be.  And we don't want to simply add busyness. Busyness does not equate to effectiveness.  We want to strategically plan our calendar to have maximum impact.  In many ways, less is more.

But that doesn't mean that we don't ask for your time.  We most certainly do. We ask for your time every Sunday.  We ask for your time to be in a small group.  We ask for your time to serve and do ministry.

We don't just plan events for the sake of having events. If you're like me, you get very, very frustrated when you feel like your precious time has been wasted.

Everything we do has purpose.  When we ask for your time, you can be certain that it is worth your time.

Just don't say that you don't have time.

Ditching institutional religion is hip right now. (Heard of Anne Rice?)  There is a popular belief that you can still dig Jesus even though you leave the church.

The only problem with that is that it's not Biblical.

John Stott wrote, "I am assuming that we are all committed to the church. We are not only Christian people; we are also church people. We are not only committed to Christ, we are also committed to the body of Christ. At least I hope so. I trust that none of my readers is that grotesque anomaly, an unchurched Christian. The New Testament knows nothing of such a person."

Nowhere…and I mean NOWHERE…can you find a churchless Christian in the Bible.  Go ahead and look.  I'll wait.

Find it?

Didn't think so.

If you think you need Jesus but not the church, think about this…

If the church is not important, why did Jesus die for her? Seriously, if the church is unimportant or optional, then Jesus really isn't that bright because that would mean that He gave His life for something that is trivial or insignificant. That's pretty stupid, isn't it?

If the church is not important, why does the Bible call her the bride of Christ? Saying, "I like Jesus but I hate the church," is like telling your buddy, "I like you, but I can't stand your wife." You really want to do that? Only if you like the taste of your own blood, because you're probably getting ready to lose a few teeth.

If the church is not important, then why is much of the New Testament comprised of letters written to various churches? God really wasted a lot of time and energy writing to some antiquated, out-of-touch institution like the church.  He should have written to organizations like Habitat for Humanity. He should have written to people like Bono instead of young CHURCH leaders like Timothy.

Look…I know that the church isn't perfect. She needs to change…A LOT. Much of what the church has done and is currently doing is sickening.  It makes a mockery of our mission, which is taking the gospel to a lost and dying world.

BUT…that doesn't mean that we don't need the church. We can't let what's wrong with the church keep us from being a part of God's redemptive plan for mankind.

God is calling all people to return to Him, by the blood of His Son, through His church.

For the record, I'm not down on organizations like Habitat. I think what they do is awesome.

I don't dislike Bono. I'm glad he uses his platform to promote good.

But nothing can replace the church.  Nothing.

One more thing that we have to understand…someone who claims that they don't need the church has probably been burned by the church.  I get that.  I'm a pastor…which means I've been burned by the church more than you have. The church is filled with very imperfect people who can do very stupid and hurtful things.

But it's also filled with people who love Jesus. Who really do want to learn to love others like He did. Who have a heart that is breaking for people who don't know God. Who want to join together to be a force for love and good and, most importantly, the gospel in a dark and broken world.

That's the church. Beautiful and ugly. Sparkling and stained.

But it's the church that Jesus died for.  It's the church that Jesus is coming back for.  And you need to be part of it.

Before we get started, let me give this obligatory disclaimer.  I don't have any specific individual(s) in mind. I'm not using my blog to beat someone over the head without confronting them to their face.  I don't play that way. Never have. Never will.

If you feel like I'm writing about you, then take that for what it is. An opportunity to be convicted, repent to God, and then step up your game.

Ok?

Good.

We'll explore the first excuse this afternoon, so tune back in at lunchtime.

Obviously the cultural context of Whitefield is much different than ours today, but truth is unchanging.  Here's one of my favorite quotes from George Whitefield.

"It is a poor sermon that gives no offense; that neither makes the hearer displeased with himself nor with the preacher."

I've had people tell me that I preach too strong or say things that are offensive.  Earlier this year, someone called me a jerk because of what I preached.  If you said that to George Whitefield, he would thank you for the compliment. And so do I.

I step onstage every week knowing that I will comfort someone and I will offend someone. If you are offended by a sermon, it's probably because the sermon touched a nerve. It hit a little too close to home.  The preacher called you out on something and you don't like it.

I actually don't enjoy offending people…but I'm not going to stop. And here's why.  John the Baptist didn't stop.  Peter didn't stop.  Paul didn't stop.  Jesus didn't stop.

All these Scriptural preachers preached the truth.  The hard, unvarnished, offensive truth. They created a lot of tension…but the truth they preached also saved a ton of people.

If I have to offend someone to save someone else, I'll do it. Every time.  Because, generally speaking, the person who is offended is already going to heaven.  The person who needs to be saved is not.  And I'll do anything to change that.

I am in lockstep with George Whitefield. If a sermon offends no one, that really is a poor excuse for a sermon.  Because the truth always offends.

And it always saves.

That's a problem in many areas…but it's a tragedy when we do that to the gospel.

God's plan to redeem mankind is intentionally simple.

We are sinful (Romans 3:23).

God's justice says that sin must be punished (Romans 6:23).

God's grace says that an avenue of forgiveness must be offered (Ephesians 2:8).

The cross was the perfect combination of God's justice and grace. Jesus was punished (justice)  for our sin (grace) (1 Peter 2:24).

That's the gospel.  Let's never complicate what God intended to be so beautifully simple.

Go. Read It. Now.

Why Is Failure So Sexy? – Tim Stevens

It's the quarterback who has mastered the two-minute drill and drives his team 80 yards down the field to score the winning touchdown.

Clutch players are a rare and special breed. But we have to remember this…the players who make the clutch plays are almost always the players who also make the routine plays.

The guy who gets the game-winning hit also knows how to lay down a sacrifice bunt.

The player who hits the three-pointer at the buzzer is also the player who consistently sinks free throws.

If you want to be a clutch player, you've got to master the everyday, ordinary plays.

If you want to be a parent who can come through in the clutch, you've got to come through in the everyday routine. Your child won't trust you with the game on the line if that trust hasn't been built up in the ordinary, everyday stuff.

You won't be a clutch player at work if you aren't consistent everyday. You won't have the capital you need for the clutch if your supervisor hasn't seen your consistency in the everyday.

You can apply this to any area of your life. A lot of people want to be the clutch player, but they are unwilling to put time and effort into the everyday.

If you can't make the ordinary plays, you'll never come through in the clutch.