On sabbatical

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

SabbaticalArticle
Click on image to enlarge and read newspaper article in the Wilson Times

“The apostles returned to Jesus from their ministry tour and told him all they had done and taught. Then Jesus said, ‘Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile.’ He said this because there were so many people coming and going that Jesus and his apostles didn’t even have time to eat. So they left by boat for a quiet place, where they could be alone” (Mark 6:30-32 NLT).

WCC started its “ministry tour” in our living room in November of 1991. We had our first public worship service on Sunday, January 26, 1992. For the first three years I preached every Sunday, taught Sunday School, led worship, did setup and tear down, taught Wednesday nights and led a small group in my home. It was very rewarding, but hard work. Hard on me and especially hard on my family. We didn’t take a family vacation until our church was in its 4th year.

Soon, we’ll be coming up on our 22-year anniversary! Over the years, we’ve gotten better at taking vacation time, but we really began to have a deep and longing desire to take an extended break to be with the Lord to rest and recharge.

Even though the work is never ending, “with people coming and going,” our ministry leaders have recognized the importance for us to “go off by ourselves to a quiet place” to be with Jesus to get refreshed, replenished and refocused. That’s when we began to discuss the idea of taking a sabbatical (from the word “sabbath,” meaning “rest”).

So, with the support of our staff, deacons, and trustees, last year I wrote a grant proposal to the Lilly Endowment to participate in their National Clergy Renewal Program which offers funding for up to $50,000 per congregation to support a renewal program for pastors. It was a lengthy process and had many eligibility requirements, but it was well worth it. This past October 2012, they announced that 147 congregations had been approved for a grant. And WCC was among them (see photo)!

This coming Sunday is my last one preaching for a while. I’m finishing up the book of Jonah, we’re baptizing some new believers, and recognizing some high school and college grads. At the end of the 2nd service we’re going to ask for you to pray for us and commission us for our sabbatical.

Then, starting next Monday we’re off on sabbatical… to a secret destination to celebrate our 34th Anniversary, then to Turkey and Greece to walk in the footsteps of Paul and John, and finally to Israel to spend a month in the Holy Land. We’re leaving gaps between each trip to rest and think about our learnings.

DSC_0018Lord willing, we plan to be back in September, ready to start the next chapter of our journey together and to pastor WCC for another 20 years! While we’re gone, please pray for us as we will pray for you. And remember to support those who have stepped up to lead in our absence. They’ll need your encouragement, prayers, and presence this summer.

We love you! Thank you for releasing us to go on sabbatical!

Wishing for a “do-over?”

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

images“Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time” (Jonah 3:1 ESV).

Don’t you wish life came with a “do-over” button? You know, so that after you really mess up, blow it, miss an opportunity, or take the wrong path… you could just press the button. And “presto!” You get a fresh start.

That’s what happened to the Jewish prophet Jonah. God gave him a “do-over.” He gave Jonah a second chance to obey. At first, Jonah didn’t want to answer the call that God put on his life. He tried to run from it. He went the opposite direction. But God pursued Jonah. And after Jonah prayed and turned back to God, that first call returned to him afresh.

In truth, life doesn’t come with a “do-over” button. There are no guarantees for second chances or new tomorrows. But today, at this moment, God offers all of us a fresh start through Jesus, His Son. You can’t just press a button, but you can fall to your knees and call out to Him.

Has God called you to something and you’re afraid you missed it? It’s not too late. Call out to Jesus and listen for a “do-over!”

Prayers from the pit

Posted by & filed under Religion, Weblogs.

pit-200x200 “Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying,“I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice… I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever; yet you brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God” (Jonah 2:1-6 ESV).

I think it’s safe to say that most of us have never found ourselves in the belly of a fish like Jonah. But if you have lived at all, you’ve found yourself trapped in one of life’s “pits” – A time when our plans and endeavors grind to a halt and there’s nothing left to do but… pray.

I remember one such “pit.” It was 1982. My wife and I had just found out we were expecting our first child. My company had informed me that I was getting a promotion with it a big pay raise. Life was good. At least externally. Yet, spiritually we were a mess. I was a mess.

In 1978 I had gone forward at a Christian conference to answer the call to full-time ministry. I knew that God was calling me. I was willing to do anything God asked. Yet, after getting married the next year, life got more complicated. I became so busy with work and paying the bills that I didn’t even take time to go to church most weeks, much less pray and read the Bible. One of the ongoing fights that Robin and I had was my sleeping in on Sunday mornings.

“Aren’t we going to church?” She’d ask accusingly, while slamming the closet door.

“I’m too tired. I have to work every other Sunday anyway. This is my only day off this week.” I’d reply sleepily, feeling guilty inside, but not showing her my feelings.

I knew I needed a change. I was a husband and I was soon going to be a father. I was called of God, yet I couldn’t even take my wife to church. I was miserable.

Then, it happened. I was involved in an accident at work. It caused a compound fracture of my lower leg. There were casts and surgeries, a bone graft, a steel plate and weeks and weeks of time at home alone, missing work.

At first I was angry and depressed. I hated being out of control. I couldn’t take a shower. I couldn’t even drive a car. My wife had to wash my hair and chauffeur me around, while I lay my full leg cast across the back seat. But after a couple of weeks, I stopped complaining and started praying.

I didn’t have anything else to do, so we went to church every time the doors opened, Sunday mornings, evenings, Wednesdays… The pastor even asked me to lead the Wednesday night Bible study one week while he was out of town, from crutches no less. I got my guitar out of the closet and started writing songs for the Lord. I played them at home and at church. My pregnant wife was working her hands to the bone taking care of me, but she was smiling again. The man she’d married had returned… only better.

Eventually, my leg healed and I returned to work. But my time in the pit had changed me. I was never the same afterwards. I don’t know where my life, our marriage, my children would’ve ended up, if God hadn’t allowed me to fall into a pit. He had to take me out of the busyness of life to get my attention, so that I would focus on what really mattered.

But God didn’t just leave me in the pit and He didn’t leave Jonah there either. He heard our prayers from the pit. And He answered them, rescuing us and giving us a second chance to obey His call.

Are you feeling too busy to answer God’s call? You better watch your step (and where you swim too)! God may interrupt your life with one of life’s pits.

 

 

 

No not Nineveh!

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

Basic RGB“Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,  ‘Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me.’  But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of theLord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went down into it, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the Lord” (Jonah 1:1-3 ESV).

We’re starting a new sermon series this Sunday through the book of Jonah. It’s really an amusing little book. Most people think it’s a story about a big fish. Or maybe even about a man named Jonah, but really it’s about God. It’s about how God responds to man’s rebellion and running from Him. Because we’re all like Jonah. None of us want to obey God and go to Nineveh.

For Jonah, Nineveh was the capital city of Assyria and the home of Israel’s most hated enemy. For God to ask him to go to Nineveh was to request the unthinkable. Nineveh was the last place on planet earth that Jonah would want to go. So, Jonah ran away. Or at least he tried.

What qualifies as Nineveh for today? Is it the Middle East? Or across the railroad tracks in town? Is it the bully at school or work. Or the terrorist in Boston or Afghanistan?

Nineveh represents whatever puts us out of our comfort zone. It’s the place where God calls that we really don’t want to go. It’s the people who have hurt us and God sends us to tell them about His forgiveness. Nineveh is dangerous and discomforting. It’s whatever we hate or fear that God loves and cares for deeply.

Following the Lord, there will certainly come a time when we will hear His voice say, “Go to Nineveh.” And everyone of us will have to decide whether to answer like Jonah or not.

But if we answer, “No not Nineveh!” and try to run away. Then, we’d better be on the lookout for terrible storms and large fish, because God is still in the business of capturing attention and changing hearts and minds.

 

 

The upside-down, inside-out effect of the gospel

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

upsidedownworld“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17 ESV).

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’” (John 3:3 ESV).

“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me'” (Luke 9:23 ESV).

The gospel is the good news that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose from the grave, and that anyone that would believe this news would be saved. This news, like all news, is either believed or not. But unlike other news, believing it has a surprising effect…

… It turns our world upside-down.

Many of us misunderstand the gospel. We come to it evaluating whether it will be helpful, make us happier, or more successful. Like reading the latest best-selling, self-help book, we hope to follow the model of Jesus’ life that we see in the gospel as a kind of guide for living. Or we see the gospel as a kind of worthy addition to our investment portfolio, helping us to become more prosperous. But the gospel works according to a different economy.

When the rich young ruler came to Jesus asking what he “must do” to “inherit eternal life,” Jesus gave him some upside-down instructions. He essentially told him that since he was rich, he should become poor, since he was young and strong, he should become weak, and that since he was a ruler, he should become a follower. The young man went away disheartened. The gospel demanded too much. He had hoped to add the gospel to his worldly endeavors, but instead the gospel demanded his letting go of everything in order to follow Jesus.

The religious Pharisee, Nicodemus, had a similar experience. When he encountered Jesus, he was told that his religious heritage and birthright as a Jew was insufficient. He was told he had to be “born again.” The gospel challenged his religious approach that only worked on him from the outside-in, barely scratching the surface of his life and failing at any heart change. Jesus spoke to him of being born of the Spirit, of a gospel that would go to work on him on the inside. The gospel that Jesus described…

… turns our lives inside-out.

The gospel introduces us to a kingdom economy where addition takes place by subtraction, living begins with dying, and greatness comes from following and serving. As Jesus described the effect of responding to the gospel on our lives, he said that it would look like self denial, cross-carrying and following him.

This is the effect of the gospel, that it turns us upside-down and inside-out. And in so doing, the gospel puts everything in our upside-down world…

…right-side up again.

 

Who needs the gospel?

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

everyone_image“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV).

“The gospel is not just the ABCs but the A to Z of the Christian life. It is inaccurate to think the gospel is what saves non-Christians, and then Christians mature by trying hard to live according to biblical principles. It is more accurate to say that we are saved by believing the gospel, and then we are transformed in every part of our minds, hearts, and lives by believing the gospel more and more deeply as life goes on” (Tim Keller, Center Church).

Who needs the gospel? Most believers agree that every person that is far from God needs to hear the gospel. But what about those who already believe? Isn’t the gospel just the basic “ABCs” of believing? Sure, we want the preacher to talk about it at the end of every sermon for the benefit of the lost in the audience. And we want to learn the gospel, so that we can share it with others. But we tend to think that we’re ready to move on from the basics of the gospel to deeper truths when it comes to our own spiritual growth.

But this is a terrible misunderstanding of the gospel. The truth is that we need to be constantly “reminded” of the gospel. This is why the apostle Paul “reminded” the believers at Corinth. They had already slipped into false understandings of the gospel. Paul wanted them to be constantly reminded of:

  1. How they had first “received” the the free gift of the gospel.
  2. How they could depend on the gospel’s power and not their own to “stand.”
  3. How their future hope rested in the gospel by which they “are being saved.”

The gospel is about receiving, not earning. A gift is not earned, it is received. Most of us understand that this is how we first received the gospel. But then, we default to our old economy of earning. We understand that it is the free gift of God’s grace that saved us, but we fail to see that it is this same grace that works in us and sustains us, even keeping us unto Him for eternity. We know we need the gospel to get saved. But we forget that we need the gospel to live.

The gospel is the gift that keeps on giving! And we need to keep on receiving its power and focus. It is not just a set of truths to believe. It is like a powerful lens that continually affects our entire worldview and way of life. As Lesslie Newbigin has said, “The Christian story provides us with such a set of lenses, not something for us to look at, but for us to look through.” We must constantly put on our gospel glasses to rightly and clearly see our true selves and the world through God’s eyes.

So, who needs the gospel? Everyone everywhere, all the time.

Two gospel thieves

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

Gospel Centered“Just as Christ was crucified between two thieves,” so the gospel “is ever crucified between two opposite errors” (Tertullian, early church father).

“If our gospel message even slightly resembles ‘you must believe and live right to be saved’ or ‘God loves and accepts everyone just as they are,’ we will find our communication is not doing the identity-changing, heart-shaping, transformative work…” of the gospel.  (Tim Keller, Center Church).

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NKJV).

I designed the above graph with the cross of Christ at the center to illustrate the way the gospel challenges both sides of the coin of human religion (this was inspired by Tim Keller’s graph in Center Church). I describe it is as one coin with two sides because although both approaches seem radically different, they both have in common their avoidance of Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord and their desire to retain control of their lives. These two sides of the coin are like gospel “thieves” as Tertullian described them, misrepresenting and robbing the gospel of its appropriate focus on the person and work of Christ.

On one side is the legalistic/religious approach that takes the idea of truth and holiness to the extreme. It says that one must obey the truth and keep the rules/laws of God in order to be saved. On the other side is the relativistic/irreligious approach that takes the idea of love and grace too far. Believing that all are accepted by a loving God (if there is a God), they say that everyone has the right to follow their own sense of right and wrong.

The first approach emphasizes truth without grace. The second, grace without truth. But truth without grace is not really truth, and grace without truth is not really grace. However, the gospel is neither religion nor irreligion. The gospel is about a relationship to Jesus Christ who is “full of grace and truth.”

The gospel is good news that Jesus has already accomplished our salvation reconciling us to God and satisfying both His holiness and mercy. The true gospel hangs between the two gospel “thieves” offering two striking corrections:

  • “I am more accepted and loved than I ever dared hope.” (vs. legalism)
  • “I am more sinful and flawed than I ever dared believe.” (vs. relativism)

By believing and receiving the Person of Jesus Christ as both Savior and Lord, who is full of grace and truth, we rightly respond to the gospel and put away the two gospel “thieves.”

Evangelium: What the gospel is… and isn’t

Posted by & filed under Current Affairs, Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

“Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand,  and by which you are being saved” (1 Corinthians 15:1-2 ESV).

We’re starting a new 4-week sermon series this Easter weekend talking about the gospel. As the apostle Paul saw the need to remind the church at Corinth of the true meaning of the gospel, so we still have the need to be reminded.

Whether you’re a new believer, a mature believer or someone seeking to understand the true meaning of Easter, you should come this weekend to hear what the gospel is and what it isn’t.

Two weeks in God’s story

Posted by & filed under Religion, Uncategorized, Weblogs.

week-calendar-icon“The next day the large crowd that had come to the feast heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem. So they took branches of palm trees and went out to meet him, crying out, ‘Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!'” (John 12:12-13 ESV).

The Bible has been described as the story of God. And for the most part it tells the story with broad strokes, sweeping across the calendar of history generations at a time. But there are two times that the story slows down and zooms in for a closer look. These two times are the weeks of God’s creation and of Christ’s passion.

The seven days of the creation story are found in Genesis, the first book of the Bible. The week of Christ’s passion is described in all four of the Gospels, the first books of the New Testament. Creation week begins with God saying, “Let there be light!” And Passion or Holy Week begins with Jesus, the Light of the World, entering the city of Jerusalem on what has come to be called Palm Sunday.

In the first week, God created everything and declared it good. Yet because man chose to disobey God, sin entered into creation and along with it, death. In Holy Week, God sent His Son to re-create that which was fallen, to redeem, restore and reconcile His creation to Himself.

                        Creation Week                                                            Passion Week

      • Day 1 –  Light                                                                                 Triumphal entry
      • Day 2 –  Sky and seas (separated expanse)                   Cleansing the Temple
      • Day 3 –  Land and plants (plants and fruit)                   Teaching in the Temple
      • Day 4 –  Sun, Moon and stars (to mark/govern)        Anointed in Bethany
      • Day 5 –  Birds and fish                                                             Last Supper/Garden of Gethsemane
      • Day 6 –  Animals and Man                                                     Crucifixion and Death
      • Day 7 –  Sabbath rest                                                               In the tomb
      • Day 8 –  Man’s Fall                                                                    CHRIST’S RESURRECTION!

The Bible really focuses on two important weeks in God’s story. In the first He got everything started and in the second He began putting everything back on track again.

The power of story

Posted by & filed under Family, Religion, Weblogs.

MyPapaw1976
My “Papaw” while sitting on his front porch telling one of his amazing stories (Photo by: Bruce Denton 1976).

“And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death” (Revelation 12:11 ESV).

“The universe is made of stories, not of atoms” (Muriel Rukeyser).

“God made man because he loves stories” (Rabbi Nachman).

“Tell us another story, Papaw.” I begged my maternal grandfather, Walter Dillon, while sitting with him on the front porch of his century old farm house. I’d brought some high school buddies of mine down to the old farm to do some hiking in the woods and wanted them to hear some of my grandfather’s stories before we left.

“Which one you wanna hear?” He asked. Our family had heard him tell his stories so often and so well that we all had a kind of internal library card catalog of them. In fact, if he tried telling an amended version of a well known story, the grandkids would correct him.

“You left out the best part, Papaw!” They’d shout, if he skipped over some minute detail.

My grandfather quit school and started working in the coal mines when he was 13 years old. He wasn’t well educated. He dug coal for 30 years. Worked a farm. Drove a school bus for 20 years. All he knew was hard work… and story-telling. He was the best storyteller I’ve ever known.

I spent a lot of time with my grandfather. My father died when I was eight, so I often spent summers living and working with my Papaw on his 70 acre farm. I learned many things from him. I learned how to be a man and how to work hard because these were things he valued. But looking back, perhaps the most important thing I learned from him was the power of story and the art of telling one well.

I think my love of story and of story telling has had a lot to do with God’s calling on my life to be a preacher of the gospel. Reading and studying God’s Word, the ancient stories come alive for me. My supreme joy is to share biblical stories with others, so that they come alive for them too.

I think one of the greatest gifts you can give someone is the gift of telling them your story. Certainly equal to that would be to ask them to tell theirs too. And if they are willing to tell it, listen to it well. Give them the gift of laughing or crying, raising your eyebrows with surprise or trembling with fear when their story calls for it. Applaud their story and therefore their life by listening and allowing yourself to be moved by its telling.

There is power in telling your story and in listening to those of others. It builds a relational bridge of trust that can bear the weight of truth. This is especially so for those of us who have had our stories intersected by the greatest story ever told, which is the story of love and redemption revealed in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the book of Revelation, John reported that the saints had overcome the power of Satan “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” In other words, there is evil-conquering power in the combination of the gospel and our testimony, our story.

Our stories are really just supporting threads to the epic tapestry of God’s story. Our testimonies are like trophies of God’s grace sitting on heaven’s mantle, declaring the glory of how He redeemed us and is conforming us into the image of His Son.

There’s power in the testimony of how God’s story intersected ours.

Who are you sharing stories with?